Personalities of Modern Spain 53
ranean, he sees himself from the viewpoint of others, yet he
must live his life alone.
Now I want to deal more with this idea of honor, this
nobleza, this beautiful quality you find in Spanish literature,
and which the Spaniard calls Pundonor. That concept of
honor is his litany, and it springs from the pathos of the
lone individual who knows that he depends alone on him-
self; he does not offer or seek pity. And generally speak-
ing, the Spaniard cannot understand certain ideas in our
western justice. He cannot understand the idea of justice
you get in England, for the ideas of Spanish justice are en-
tirely different. I always think of that picture of Goya’s
which I saw while in Madrid this last spring—two duelists
stand facing one another, yet sunk deep in the sand so that
neither can have an advantage. That is characteristic of
the Spanish; both sunk knee deep in the sand. You will
find in certain parts of Spain where dueling is allowed
instances where two people are tied together by the left
elbow, while they hold the knife in their right hand.
This hard and austere element in the Spanish character
will also explain their institution of the Inquisition. Many
foolish books have been written about the Inquisition by
people who did not understand Spain. Their ideas of its
scope and enforcement were exaggerated; they branded it
as infamously cruel, without realizing that it was less cruel
in Spain than in other countries. When we examine the rec-
ords impartially we find that the tortures used were less
inhuman than in other countries. However we should all
admit that there is in the Spanish character a certain hard-
ness which appears whenever his passions are aroused.
There is another element in the Spanish character which
I want to mention, for we see it all through their literature,
whether ancient or modern, and that is their preoccupation