Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/5



CHAP. I.

descended from an ancient Spanish family, that traces its ancestors among the first Christians, and produced several heroes in the earliest ages of our monarchy. Don Juan de Grandez, my father, was a grandee of the first class, and the whole lineage of my mother always boasted of an equal share of wealth and respectability. Alcantara is my native place; I was bred for the honourable profession of arms, and served as a volunteer under the Duc De Crillon at the famous