usia, of noble birth, proud and
beautiful. Distinctly feminine in her subtle, indefinable charm, like a
woman she changes with her surroundings, and her mutability adds to her
fascination. We never fathom nor quite know her, for she is one being as
she slumbers in the first chalky light of morning, another, in the
resplendent nakedness of noontide, overarched by the indigo firmament,
and yet another, in the happy laughter of evening when her mantle has
turned purple and her throbbing life is more felt than seen. The roses,
hyacinths and crocuses have closed in sleep, but the orange groves, the
acacia, and eucalyptus, jasmine, lemon, and palm trees and hedges of box
fill the air with heavy, aromatic perfume. To the exiled Moors she was
so sweet in all her moods that they said, "God in His justice, having
denied to the Christians a heavenly paradise, has given them in exchange
an earthly one." With the oriental languor of her ancestors, she keeps
the freshness and sparkle of the dewy morn. She is as gay and full of
youthful vitality as her Toledan sister is old and worn and haggard.
While Toledo is sombre and funereal, Seville is alive with the tinkling
of silver fountains, the strumming of guitars and mandolins, and the
songs of her women. She lies rich and splendid on the bosom of the
campagna, fruitfulness and plenty within her embattled walls. "She is a
strange, sweet sorceress, a little wise perhaps, in whom love has
degenerated into desire; but she offers her lovers sleep, and in her
arms you will forget everything but the entrancing life of dreams."

Andalusia and Seville justly claim an ancient and royal pedigree, which
through all the vicissitudes of centuries has still left its stamp upon
them. Andalusia was the Tarshish of the Bible, whither Jonah rose to
flee. Her commerce is spoken of in Jeremiah, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the
Chronicles: "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all
kind of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy
fairs" (Ezekiel xxvii, 12).

In passing the Straits of Hercules, Seville and Ceuta alone caught
Odysseus' eye:--

Tardy with age
Were I and my companions, when we came
To the Strait pass, where Hercules ordain'd
The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'd by man.
The walls of Seville to my right I left,
On th' other hand already Ceuta past.

_Inferno_, xxvi. 106-110.

The honor of founding the city of Seville s