X^:t::;X;:^>X':^-X^:jf:.X-
JOUR
E Y
THROUGH
SPAIN
IN   THE YEARS I786 AND   I 7 8 7 i
WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION
AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE, POPULATION, TAXES, AND REVENUE
OF   T H A ?   C 0 U N T R T
REMARKS
IN  PASS1JJ0 tflXOUCH
A PART   OF FRANC
By   JOSEPH   TOWNS END,   A, M.
RECTOR. OF PEWSEY, WILTS } AND LATE OF  CLARE-HALL, CAMBRIDGE. .
IN   THREE   VOLUMES.-VOL. II.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR C. DTLLY, IN THE POULTRY.
Mi DCC XCL
ERRATA.
Page. line. ii.   17. for Saana, kgc Sarna,
55,   22. When we, lege Having
f 2- charge on, /,£<• charge of one third on J7° I 3. one-third.
J 10. I have already ftated, Ugc I fliall ftac^.
L 24. I have already given when I v\ as, lege I fliall givfi vvher
214.   16, finance of war, lege finance and war.
330.    (5. lay Virgen, lege la Virgai.
360.    9. ninety, four, ninety-four.
CONTENTS
O F
VOL. II.
OPage VIE D O and its Environs, with a De-fcription of Aviles, Luanjo, and Gijon, with refpeSi to Manufactures, Commerce, Natural Hijlory, and the Manners oj the Inhabitants in the Afiurias  —      — I journey from the Afiurias to the Efcurial, through Leon, with an Account of the Merino Sheep, and Salamanca, with a Defcription of that Vniverfity, and of the Irijh College — — 59
S. Ildefonfo and the Palace, with its Gardens 109 Segovia, and its Manufactures — 116
The Efcurial, and Convent of S. Lorenzo,
with the Diverfons of the King —- 119 Return to Madrid, with an Account of the principal Characters about the Court, the Manners of the Age, the Palaces of the Great, and their Eftablifhments     — 134 Digeft of the Taxes and Revenue gf Spain   160 Debts of Spain, and Qbfervations on Finance 188 The Bank of S. Carlos and a Statement of their gains —1 — 196
Population
iv CONTENTS.
Pag*
Population of Spain, and the Caufes of its
Depopulation afigned —- ■— 207 The Miniflers of State, with an Account of
diftinguiped Characters employed by them 240 Journey from Madrid to Seville through the Sierra Morena, with Obfervations on the common Objlacles to Population      — 256 Seville, with an Account of the principal Paintings, the Manufactures of Snuff and Silk, the Mint, and the Inquijition, &c. 288 Cadiz, with a Defeription of the City — 344 The general Workhoufe at Cadiz        —   3 co General Observations on Population    — 361 The Commerce of Spain with the Colonies, with an Account of the Philippine Company, the Treatment of Slaves in the Spanifh Settlements, and the Rebellion in Peru. — 1— — 367
The Spanifo Navy in the Tears 1776 and
1788 — — — 394
General Obfervations on War —- 401 Diverjions, Manners, and Cuftoms at Cadiz 405 Weights and Meafures at Cadiz        — 413
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
THROUGH
THE ASTURIAS.
OVIE DO, the capital of the Afiurias, ftands near the conflux of two little rivers, which pour their, water into the Bay of Bifcay, at Villaviciofa.   It was built by Froila, or Fruela, the fon of Alfonfo I. furnamed El Catolico, and made the feat of his dominion. This city contains one thoufand five hundred and fixty families, and has five thoufand eight hundred and ninety-five communicants, befides children under ten years of age, who are computed to be about one thoufand fix hundred; fo that the whole population being feven thoufand four hundred and ninety-five, they are not five  to  a  family.    It has  four parifli churches, eight chapels, fix convents, and a fuflicient number of priefts, with a bifhop, his auxiliary, and thirty-fix canons. The Vol. II. B bifhopric
bifhopric is worth fixty thoufand ducats, and the chapter is reckoned eighty thoufand $ the former being equal to £.6,591. I5J-. 11 Id. and the latter £.8,789. is* 3^/. per annum.
The family where I took up my abode* was that of the auxiliary bifhop. He is-more than fix feet two inches high, very flout, remarkably well made, handfome, youthful in his appearance, cheerful, active, and confiderably more than threefcore years of age* His manner is eafy, and his convention lively. The title given to him is, Moil Illuftrious; and upon the firfl approach to him, you bend the knee, and kifs his ring, having previoully received his benediction, fignified by crofTing with his right hand.
His palace is far from elegant, yet by no means uncomfortable. You enter by the eoach-houfe, and from thence pafs through a door into the fkble, or up the flair-cafe to the dwelling, which is over thefe. When alcended, you go through a kind of gallery, or lobby, to the bifhop's apartments, con-jifting of a drawing-room of about thirty by eighteen, a little fludy, and a corresponding
fponding bed--room. The dining-room k about twenty-four by twenty-two, and not far from it is the little kitchen, with a few bed-rooms in the intermediate fpace. The whole has white walls, and ill-jointed floors. . The chairs and the long table are of oak.
If the palace itfelf is plain; the ftile of living is frill more remarkable for its fim-plicity: enough for comfort, although little for luxury, and lefs for orientation. Our dinner commonly confided of a fopa, or bread ftewed in broth, followed by an olla, compofed of beef and mutton, a bit of bacon, and fome faufages, with garvanzos, or large Spanifh peas (cicer arietinum). At other tables they add veal and fowls. This was fucceeded by fome kind of roan: meat, or game; and fifh, in fome fhape or other* brought up the rear. Every morning and evening, inftead of tea, chocolate, with Naples bifcuits, was handed round.
The good bifhop filled up his mornings, with the duties and functions of his office, after dinner he took his iiefta, then either rode or walked, and in the evenings convened with his friends, who afTembled round him. His family confifted of his B z chaplain,
chaplain, his fecretary, and two pages; befides thefe, his nephew, who is one of the canons, lived with him, and his great nephew, my travelling companion, was oc-caflonally there. The pages wait at his table, and attend him when he goes from home. The remainder of their time is occupied with ftudies, and when qualified, they rife into the priefthood, and, admitted to the table, become companions, till a living offers to which the bifhop can prefent them. The padre cura, that is, the rector of S. Andres de Aguera, had been one of thefe, and whilfl I was at Oviedo, an amiable young page was ordained prieft, faid his firft mafs, and fat down with us at table.
Having been recommended by count Campomanes to the intendant, I fometimes, with the canon, frequented his tertidla, or evening affembly, where I never failed to meet the count de Penalba, a friend of Campomanes. Here I found two apartments, one for cards, the other for conver-fation, both neat, the former fpacious and well proportioned. The company afTem-bled in the card room was numerous; their game was lottery, a game requiring neither
judg-
judgment nor memory; but the room for converfation was deferted. The count indeed was fo polite as to quit the card-table; but as I felt that I had no right to expect fuch a facrifice, I ftaid only a fhort time, and then either tormented the bifhop, who was no Frenchman, with my miferable Spanifh, or, when I thought that I had fuf-ficiently trefpailed on his goodnefs, I retired to my room.
A few days after my arrival, I was pre-fent at a grand procefiion of the bifhop, with his canons, attended by the principal inhabitants, carrying torches, and preceded by the allies of Santa Eululia, to implore rain from heaven. But this patronefs of the diocefe, deaf to their petitions, would not intercede for one refreshing mower, and in confequence the maize was fcorched up, and produced but little grain; being at the time in blofTom, it required daily fhowers to prevent the blight.
From the frequency of procefhons, the confumption of wax becomes confiderable in every part of Spain, more efpecially where the country is not watered, either by rivers or by the noria.   But I am inclined
B 3 to
to think, that the fame expence, if properly applied, would in moft places fecure a never failing fupply of water, and pay good intereft for the capital employed. Government is feniible of this, and with a view to watering, as well as to navigation, encourages the canals, not as with us, by leaving this moil important work to private adventurers, but as a national concern, at the national expence.
After the procefTion, I went to vifit the Hofpicio, or general work-houfe, and found the numbers confined to be, men, fixty-five; boys, fifty-five; women, ninety; girls, feventy; not including infants out at nurfe. The houfe is large and commodious, con-fifling of four fpacious quadrangles, three flories high, and perfectly well fitted up, with comfortable work-rooms and dormitories ; fome of thefe I found two hundred and fifty feet in length, lofty and wide. To fupport this eflabliihment, the funds are thirty thoufand ducats annually, arifing from licences to fell brandy in the Afiurias; three thoufand from rents of land; and fome other emoluments; being together equal to four thoufand pounds flerling, befides the
pro-
produce of their labour, which is flated at three thoufand reales, or thirty pounds per annum, including what they make for their own confumption. Among the two hundred and eighty perfons ihut up in this hofpicio, I law no cripples, fo that their labour may be fairly reckoned at two millings and three halfpence each per annum. The expence of every pauper to the public is not fo eafily calculated, becaufe they receive all deferted children. Here the mother has nothing to do but to put the child into the cradle, ring the bell, and then retire.
Befides this refuge for the poor, and for their children, the bifhop caufes feventy reales to be diftributed every morning at his gates, giving either a quarto or an ochavo to all who come, and weekly pen-fions both to widows and to orphans. In addition to all this, the canons fcatter their alms plentifully as they walk the ftreets; and the fix convents admin ifter bread and broth at noon, more efpeciaily the Benedictines, who, as the moil wealthy, are moft liberal in their donations. When lick, the poor have a commodious hofpital always ready to receive them.
B 4 Notwith-
Notwithftanding all that has been done, and what more, in the way of charity, can be devifed ? beggars, clothed in rags, and covered with vermin, fwarm in every ureet. Is it not therefore evident, that they have done too much, incrcafmg both the numbers and the diftrefles of the poor by the very means which have been employed to relieve their wants.
What incitement can we here find to in-duftry ? for, who will dig a well when he may draw water from the fountain ? Is he hungry ? the monafleries will feed him. Is he fick ? an hofpital flands open to receive him. Has he children? he need not labour to fupport them; they are well provided for without his care. Is he too lazy to go in fearch of food ? he need only retire to the hofpicio.
Dry up the fountain, and every man will inflantly begin to dig a well; burn the hoipicio, or diflipate its funds; give no relief but as a reward, that it may prove a ftimulus to induury, and although at firfl the diftrefs will be increafed, and the population will be diminifhed, yet, as the fruit ©f that induftry, which can fpring only * / from
from diflrefs, the population will afterwards advance in a conflant and regular progreflion, wealth will be diffufed, and diflrefs will be confined to the cottage of the flothful.
I was exceedingly pleafed with the an-fwer of the bifhop, when I one day took the liberty to afk him, if be did not think he was doing harm by the diftribution of alms. " Moil undoubtedly," faid he; " but " then it is the part of the magiflrate to " clear the flreets of beggars; it is my " duty to give alms to all that afk."
Among i the widows penfioned by the bifhop, were many who had lived in affluence whilfl they had hufbands. Thefe were the widows of lawyers, who are numerous, and fpend all their gains.
I went afterwards with don Antonio Durand, and don Francifco Roca, to vifit the hofpital, of which the former is phyfi-cian, the latter furgeon. The mofl remarkable cafes were, tertians, dropfies, and a difeafe peculiar to this province, called Mai de la Rofa.
The tertians were only remarkable, as yielding to the lancet, followed by emetics,
cathartics,
cathartics, and the bark. Perhaps the latter were the really efficacious remedies, and all the merit of the former might be merely negative. The dropfies were foon cured by cathartics, and abilinence from drink, allowing no liquid but half a pint of wine in twenty-four hours.
The Mai de Rofa has been confidered as a fpecies of the leprofy; but to me it appears to have no affinity with that difeafe. It attacks the back of the hands, the in-iteps, and the neck, where it defcends the fternum, almoft to the cartilago ziphoides, but the refl of the body is free. < At firft it appears red, accompanied with pain and heat, but ends in fcurf. In the progrefs of this difeafe, vertigo and delirium fucceed, with foal tongue, laffitude, chillinefs, tears, and, according to the teftimony of Dr. Du-rand, a peculiar propenfity to drown them-felves; it goes away in fummer, and returns in fpring. The difeafe may be cured by nitre and gentle cathartics; but, if neglected, it terminates in fcrophula, marafma, melancholy, and madnefs.
At Oviedo, as in mofl of the great towns in Spain, an hofpital for the lues is opened
three
three times in the year, to receive as many as the hofpital will hold; but the furgeons all over the pcninfula complain that patients are tardy in their application. This may arife either from the violence of their treatment, or from the mildnefs of the fymptoms; but whatever caufe may be af-figned, the confequence is, the univerfal prevalence of that complaint.
The difeafes which feem to be endemi-cal in the Afiurias, are, intermittents, drop-fies, hyfleria, hypochondriafis, fcrophula, bronchocele, glandular obflrudions, cachexies, fcurvy, leprofy, madnefs, epilepfy, attended with worms, apoplexy, and palfy, rheumatifm, phthifis, and eriiipelas, with the mal de rofa, and the faana, or the itch.
For the leprofy they have in the Afiurias twenty hofpitals, called Lazaros. It appears in various forms: fome patients are covered over with a white dry fcurf, and look like millers; in others the fkin is al-mofl black, very thick, full of wrinkles, unctuous, and covered with a loathfome crufl; others have one leg and thigh enor-moufly fwelled, and full of varices, puflules,
and
and ulcers, fending forth a moil abominable fmell. All complain of heat, with moil intolerable itching. Some patients, inflead of the great leg, have a mo ft enormous fwelling of one hand, more efpecially the female fubje&s, or elfe have the features of the face fwoln to fuch a degree, as hardly to retain the human form; others again have carbuncles, big as hazle nuts, all over the furface of their body.
The common itch (fcabies) is little leis difgufting than the leprofy thus tranfiently described. It ufually attacks the heads of children, and is attended with ulcers of the foulefl nature, itching intolerable, and lice innumerable. It is commonly preceded by horripilation and a frebricula, which terminate in the expuliion of numerous little pimples like the fmall pox j thefe, in healthy fuhjects, are large, pointed, red, quickly fuppurating; but at the end of nine or ten months they' go away. Bad fUbje&s have this difeafe for life. The females are more expofed to it than males.
Agues, fevers, and even pleurifies, are faid often to terminate in fcabies, and this frequently gives place to them, returning
however
[   *3 J
however when the fever ceafes. In adults it takes poffeffion of the hands and arms, with the legs and thighs, covering them with a filthy crufl. In wet weather the itching becomes more troublefome, and towards midnight is infupportable. The patients, who labour under this difeafe, breed hrones, a kind of vermin exceedingly minute, yet vihble without the afliilance of a lens, which form channels between the cuticle and the fkin.
The predifpoiing caufe of all thefe dif-eafes may be fought for in humidity, arifing from the peculiar iituation of this province* This hilly country, bounded on the north by the Bay of Bifcay, and to the fouth by fnowy mountains, is always temperate, and generally rnoifl. The N. E. wind indeed is dry, attended with a bright fky, and with a bracing air, but with every other wind the fun is obfcured by clouds. The north wind always produces the moil dreadful tempeils, and the N. W. is little better; both bring rain in fummer, and the weft wind comes loaded at all times with moif-ture from the Atlantic Ocean. In May, June, and July, they frldom fee the fun;
but
[   H 3
but then, to balance this, in Auguft and September they as feldom fee a cloud. The coafl is here not only temperate, but moll free from rainj but fuch is the moiflure of the hills, that no care is fufficient to preferve their fruits, their grain, their in-flruments of iron, from mould, from rot, from rufl. Both the acetous and the putrid fermentation here make a rapid pro-grefs.
Befides the relaxing humidity of the climate, the common food of the inhabitants contributes much to the prevalence of mofl difeafes which infefl this principality. They eat little flefh, they drink little wine: their ufual diet is Indian corn, with beans, peas, chefnuts, apples, pears, melons, and cucumbers; arid even their bread, made of Indian corn, has neither barm nor leaven, but is unfermented, and in the Hate of dough.   Their drink is water.
This account, collected from gentlemen of the profefTion, is confirmed in the valuable work of don Gafpar Caflal, an old phy-fician, of more than common obfervation and experience, who has given to the public a natural hiflory of the Afiurias.
Although
[ is ]
Although fubjedt to fuch a variety of en-demical difeafes, few countries can produce more examples of longevity: many live to the age of a hundred, fome to a hundred and ten, and others much longer. The fame obfervation may be extended to Gal-licia, where, in the parifh of S. Juan de Poyo, A. D. 1724, the curate administered the facrament to thirteen perfons, whofe ages together made one thoufand four hundred and ninety-nine, the youngeft of thefe being one hundred and ten, and the oldeft one hundred and twenty-feven.    But in Villa de Fofinanes, one Juan de Outeyro, a poor labourer, died in the year 1726, aged more than one  hundred  and forty - fix years.
When we confider the temperature of the climate, arifing from its humidity, together with the cooling winds from the Atlantic and the fnowy mountains, we muft naturally expect to find instances of protracted age, with the prevalence of chronical complaints, fuch maladies as are feldom mortal. Whereas in warmer and in drier climates, nature comes fooner to maturity, 6 is
[   i6 ]
is fubjecT: to more acute difeafes, and, like combuflibles when burning with a vivid flame, is rapidly confumed.
The phyfician reported a cafe too lingular to be eafily forgotten: a young man, aged twenty-eight, complaining of a fever, was bled twice without relief and having fome fymptoms which indicated a different treatment, they gave him a bitter purge, which brought from him, in one day, one hundred and feventy - three large worms, (the teretes). Five days after this he paf-fed one hundred twenty-four, and the next day feventy-three, and died.
From the general hofpital, I went with don Nicolas Trelles to vilit an hofpital for pilgrims, of which he is chaplain and con-feffor. It is a miferable building, with a wretched hall, and numerous cells, by way of bed-rooms. Here pilgrims from every quarter of the globe, who are going to proftrate themfelves before the altar of S. Jago, in Gallicia, are received and lodged for three nights. When they arrive in O-viedo, they prefent themfelves before one particular altar, and receive every man ten
quartos*
quartos. Should he chance to die here, he is buried with more pomp than the firff. nobleman of the province, and is attended by all the canons to the grave.
The rage for pilgrimage is much abated; but there are people living, who remember when it was the fafhion for all young men of fpirit, both in Italy and France, before they married, to go as pilgrims to S. Jago ; and even now it is not uncommon to fee ftraggling fome few old men, and many companies of young ones, purfuing the fame route. We met twelve fine made fellows, who came from Navarre, Ringing the ro-fary, and hastening towards the next convent, where they expected to lodge, and receive more money for the journey.
S. Jago, if I am not mistaken, was the firil who preached the gofpel to the Spaniards ; but however this may be, their devotion fprings from gratitude; and the reverence of all furroimding nations, who are acquainted with his military fame, is the juft reward of his undaunted prowefs, when, mounted on a white horfe, he appeared in the air fighting againft the infidels, and putting them to flight before Vol, II, c Ramiro,
Ramiro, at the battle of Simancas. (A. Dt 927.)
The fight of pilgrims naturally reminded-, me of relics, and excited a curiofity to vifit thofe of the cathedral; and for that purpofe I made application to the bifhop, who the next morning fent his nephew, the canon, to fhew me every thing moft curious among their treafures.   Tradition fays, but I da not undertake to vindicate the truth of its report, nor indeed would our good bifhop % tradition fays, and our good bifhop, with becoming modefty, confiders it as' pofhble, that when Cofroes, king of Perfia, pillaged Jerufalem, God, by his omnipotence, transported a cheff. of incorruptible wood,, made by the immediate followers of the apoflles, and filled with relics, from Jerufalem, by way of Africa, to Carthagena, Seville, and Toledo, and from thence, with the infant don Pelayo, to the facred mountain near to Ovi-edo, and finally to the cathedral church of San Salvador.    Upon its being opened,, in the prefence of affembled prelates, by the command of the fovereign, Alonzo the Great, were found portions of all the following articles; the Rod of Mofes; the
Manna
£   *9 1
Manna which fell from heaven; the Mantle of Elias; the Bones of the Holy Innocents; the Branch of Olive which Chrift bore in his hand when he entered Jerufalem; great part of the true Crofs; eight Thorns of his Crown; the San&ifllmo Su-dario, or napkin flamed with his blood; the Reed, which he bore by way of fcep-tre;  his Garment;   his Sepulchre; the Milk of the BleiTed Virgin; the Hood, which fhe gave to S. Ildefonfo, archbifhop of Toledo; one of the three Crucifixes carved by Nicodemus; and a Crofs of the purefl gold, made by angels in the cathedral.
" Whofoever, called of God, mail vifit u thefe precious relics, fhall obtain remif-" fion of one-third of the punilhment due " to his fins, with indulgence for a thou-*' fand and four years, and fix quarentines, ** &c. &c."   Thus at leafl runs the pro-mife, in the name of the pope, and by authority of the bifhop; yet I doubt much, if thus worded, the promife be agreeable to tile faith of catholics.   All their bifhops and men of learning, with whom I have C 2 had
had the honour to converfe, have folemnly affured me, that without repentance, and a firm belief in the atonement, no power upon earth can abfolve the guilty; and that the church claims no prerogative reflecting indulgences, but that of remitting the punishment which would otherwife be endured in purgatory, by thofe who (hall not have performed the penance appointed by the church for each particular offence. When they promife forty days indulgence, or as many forty days as mail make one thoufand and four years, they do not mean abfolutely days and years, as if endlefs duration could be divided into portions, to be meafured by the rotation of the earth, for they hold fucceffion to be inconfiftent with the idea of eternity; but they mean, if I underftand them right, the remiffion of fuch a portion or quantity of punishment as mall be equal to forty days, or one thoufand and four years penance, mould their lives be protracted to fuch a period as would allow them to perform the whole. When the points of difference between proteflants and papifts Shall be fairly and distinctly Stated,
the
the fubjedts of difputc will vaniih, or at lcaft they will have the better chance of coming to agreement.
Some days after I had examined all thefe relics, the Sanclifltmo Sitdarto, or facred napkin, on, which the Redeemer, during his paflion, imprefTed his image, was expofed in the cathedral, to eight or ten thoufand peafants collected from all the furrounding villages, mo ft of whom had bafkets full of cakes' and bread, which they elevated as high as poffible the inftant the curtain was withdrawn, in the full perfuafion that thefe Cakes, thus expofed, would acquire \ virtue to cure or to alleviate all difeafes. Many lifted up their beads, and every one had fome thing or other to receive the divine energy, which he conceived to be constantly proceeding from the facred image of his Lord.   After a few minutes, one of the canons drew the curtain, and the multitude retired.
The monasteries in Oviedo are not highly interesting; yet two of them excited my cu-riofity; both of them belonging to the Benedictine order: the firft was of monks, whom I vifited for the fake of father Feyjoo, C 3 whofo
whofe fame has extended to the rnofl dif-tant nations. I went into his cell, and con-verfed with thofe who had reverenced him living. I examined the features of his huft, but this having been taken when the clay was ho longer animated, it was from his works alone that I could form any judgment of his mind. All who are converfant with thefe, will agree with me in thinking him, for general literature, the firfl writer of the Spanifh nation.
The convent of the Benedictine nuns 1 vifited chiefly on account of their great wealth. They are only fifty, and their revenue is allowed to be twenty thoufand ducats, or £.2,197 5*. 3^. a year. They invited us to tea. I went with the canon and my young friend to their parlour; and they affembled with the lady abbefs at the grate. Their converfation was lively, and their behaviour perfectly eafy. I ventured to folicit one of them to fing; me was young and handfome, genteel and delicate, and her countenance was highly interesting; but when fhe began to chaunt a portion of the litany, fhe made me ftart; for having long fince forgotten all the fongs of
infancy,
infancy, and being accuftomed to fing only in the choir, her voice was become harm and grating on the ear. When we took our leave, they invited us to repeat our vi-fit; but my curiofity was fatisfied, and my time was fhort.
The building itfelf is worthy of attention for its vaft extent, and for its elegance.
The perfon to whom I was chiefly recommended was the count of Penalba, a man of good abilities, of gentle manners, and of uncommon information, for a nobleman of Spain.
I went with him to fee the hot fprings of Rivera de Abajo, at the diflance of fome. miles from Oviedo. The fituation is mbfl enchanting, in a little valley every where fhut in by lofty mountains, excepting only a fmall outlet for the Stream. The rock is limeftone, and the waters refemble thofe of Bath, both in temperature and in tafte. The principal fpring rifes from the rock, and is near two inches in diameter. The baths are ill contrived, and feparated by a cold palfage from the dreffing rooms.
The virtues of thefe waters have not been afcertained, nor have they been analifed;
C 4 Lmt
but the cafes in which they have been chiefly recommended are, rheumatifm, pal-fy, jaundice, and Sterility; and for thefe they are in the higheft eftimation.
In the centre of the valley, on a little eminence, is a caftle with round towers, called San Juan de Priorio; and near to it a church, moft romantically placed, with a beautiful back ground of oaks and chef-nuts.
As we returned, we vifited a new manufacture of petroleum, eftabhfhed near the city, according to a plan fent from Paris by count d'Aranda, and which I understand to be the fame with that invented by lord Dundonald. This will certainly become an object of importance, becaufe coal every where abounds in the Afturias, although it has never yet been turned to profit, on account of its abominable fmell, arifing perhaps from the rock, between which it lies, and the fulphur, with which it is impregnated. It is well known that alcali and fulphur form the liver of fulphur, than which nothing is more ofFenfive to the noftrils. Now the whole province abounds with marie, chalk, gypfum, pifolite, or calcareous,
careous freeftone, limeftone, marble; and the rock, which confines the coal, is wholly-calcareous.  But mould they ever penetrate this Stratum, and find the coal in fchift, I have no doubt that their coal would ceafe to be offensive.   At prefent they have not Sufficient encouragement  to  work thefe mines, becaufe the country abounds with wood, and the prejudice againft coal is fo Strong, that men to whom the multitude look up, have not fcrupled to attribute all the consumptive difeafes of our ifland to the prevailing ufe of coal.
The limeftone of this province every where abounds with foffil Shells.
To the weft of Oviedo the foil is gyp-feous, but they make no faltpetre, nor is there any fign of nitrous earth.
The trees are, elm, afh, poplars, and a fpecies of the oak, called robles, an appellation perhaps derived from robur. In the low lands they get two crops in the year, taking after barley either maize or flax.   Their wheat is very fine.
The ploughs about Oviedo are, without exception, the worft I ever Saw, and perhaps the worft which the imagination can
conceive,
[   9$ J
conceive. The coulter is fixed in a beam by itfelf, with two oxen and one man to work it; this goes firSt, then follows the plough in the fame tract, with no iron excepting at the point of the (hare. The handle is curved, to ferve the purpofe of meets, and has a mortice to receive the tenon of the beam, and itfelf is morticed into the tail of the Share, It has a retch to raife and to deprefs it. The whole is made in the moft clumfy manner, and at belt can only fcratch the ground, which, being rnoft.ly Strong land, requires to be well ploughed.
The harrows have no iron, and are only ufed for maize; the wheat and barley be-jng always left unharrowed.
The cart wheel has no fpokes, but con-fiSts of a wooden ring or felloe, compofed of four quadrants, and is bifected by a plank of about eight or ten inches wide, to receive the axis, which, being faftened to the wheel, turns round with it, making what is called an axis in peritrocheo. Some of thefe, for heavy work, are bound with iron, and have fpike nails with enormous heads, I had the curiofity to meafure the axis, and
found,
t 27 ]
found it commonly more than eight inches diameter, but fometimes ten   yet, I muft confefs, that I was not furprifed at finding this quantity of friction overlooked in the Afiurias, having obferved fo little attention paid to it even in England, where, till within thefe few years, the large wooden axis was univerfal; and where, even in the prefent day, few farmers have adopted iron.
To fet any matter in a proper light, it is often neceffary to view it in the two opposite extremes.   Now it muSl be evident, that were it poSBble to have the axis, of the fame diameter with the circumference of the wheel, the friction would not be in the leaft abated, but would, as may be proved, and has been proved by the moil accurate experiments,  be equal to one-third of the whole weight moving on a fmooth furface. Were it poffible to reduce the axis to a mathematical line, friction would altogether vanifh.   Having found the two extremes, the imagination readily feizes a general idea of the proportions which lie between them.   Let us however examine thefe proportions with a more minute
fiute attention. It is evident, that in the former cafe, always fuppofmg the plain to be horizontal, a power more than equal to one ton would be necefiary to move three tons; whereas in the latter cafe, a fly would give motion to ten thoufand tons.
Stating the diameter of the wheels to be four feet, and that of the axis to be eight Inches, which are -the ufual dimenfions in the Afiurias, fomething more than one ton would move eighteen tons; but, fuppofmg the wheels to be five feet high, and the diameter of the axis to be two inches and an half, then fomething more than one ton would fet in motion feventy-two tons, the friction being always directly as the diameter of the axis, and inverfely as the diameter of the wheel. Here I mufl take occafion to obfervc, that in point of friction, to diminish the axis will be found more advife-able than to increafe the diameter of the wheel, becaufe the friction will be dimi-nifhed only in the Ample proportion of the diameter; whereas, the degree of flrength being given, the weight of the wheel will be nearly as the fquare of the diameter. Whilft the motion is horizontal on a plain
which
which is perfectly hard, wheels which are high, and confequently heavy, will have no other difadvantage than the fuperior coll, but on foft roads, and in moving either up hill or down, the weight of the wheels mull not be overlooked, nor mull the diameter be diiregarded.   The weight in both cafes tells againft the horfe; but, as to the diameter, a distinction muSl be made. Going up hill, in proportion as you elevate the axis above the horfes breaSl, fo as for the line of draft to make an angle with the hill, in the fame proportion you lofe power. The truth of this proportion may be caught by moving in imagination the line of draft up and down in two oppofite extremes. Elevate or deprefs it till it becomes perpendicular ; the whole force of the horfe will tell for nothing, and he will act only like a log of wood equal to him in weight.   Let the line of draft make an angle of 450 with the plain, on which the waggon is afcending, and one half of the force will be loft. In like manner by the composition and refo-lution of forces, the exact, proportion of lofs may be afcertained.   In going down hill, the diminution of friction, which is directly
as
[   3° 1
as the diameter of the wheels makes it needful to create new friction by chaining the wheels, or by a Hiding piece to prevent their rotation,
In the Afturias, not fatisned with the quantity of friction ariling from a wooden axis of eight inches diameter revolving without greafe, they fix two wooden pins, which confine the axis in its place, fo near together, that they bind hard againft it and this they do only for the fake of the noife ariflng from the friction, and which, whilft it appears to lull the oxen, and to incline both them and the driver to fleep, as they move flowly on, is confidered as exciting them to labour, and thereby precluding the neceffity of either fpeaking to them or pricking them with goads. This mu-lic, refembling the found of a poft-boy's horn, is heard from morning to night in every part of the Afturias, and,, when at a great diftance, is not unpleafant even to a ftranger, but to the native peafant it appears to fupply the place of all other, and to be the never-failing fource of calm enjoyment.
In this country oxen fupply the place of
horfe s,
[   P J
Tiorfes, and confequently beef is cheap, be-* ing fold for ten quarts the pound of twenty-four ounces, which is i£ penny for a pound of fixteen  ounces; mutton is fourteen quarts for the Afturian pound, or 21> penny for fixteen ounces, including the alcavala, millones, and arbitrio.    The bifhop tells me, that within his memory provifions-were exactly half the prefent prices. Barley is twenty reales; maize or Indian corn, thirty; French beans, forty; wheat, from forty to fifty the fanega, which in the Afiurias differs little, as I apprehend, from one Englifh bufhel and an half; wheat therefore is from $s. 4^/. to 6s. 8d, a bufhel, or about 6s. on the average.
Monday, Augitjl 21, I went with my young friend to pay a viiit for a few days to his father at Aviles, on the fea coaft, about five leagues from Oviedo.
The occaiion of this vifit was to be prefent at the feria, or church feaft, which in catholic countries all over the world, and even among proteftants in a degree, gives occaiion to much traffic, and is confidered as a licentious feafon.
The wd was over the mountains.' This x . . they
[   3> 1
they are making at a vaSt expence, and in a moft fubftantial manner, without the leaSt attention to economy, or to any thing but their own ideas of utility and beauty. For fome miles near to Oviedo, and like-wife near to Aviles, the road is made perfectly Straight, very wide, and rounded in the middle. The foundation is laid with large maffes of limeftone rock, covered with Stones broken to a fmaller fize; and, to fupport the arch, which they apprehend would fpread like the arches of an edifice, fuppofing them to have no lateral Support^ they abfolutely build two walls the whole extent of way. This certainly contributes much to beauty, but not in the leaft to the principal purpofe for which it is defigned. The fides of the road being planted with trees, makes it a delightful walk for the inhabitants.
The ambition of Spaniards, in aiming at perfection, is no where more vifible than near Aviles. The ancient road turned about two hundred yards, in order to avoid a low and fwampy meadow; but now, at a vaff. expence, they are determined to have a Straight and fpacious avenue of near three
miles,
t   33 1
miles, like thofe of other cities. From Oviedo to Gijcn, a little fea-port to the eaft of Aviles, they are making another road in the fame ftyle, and at fimilar ex-pence.
Aviles contains eight hundred families, with two parifh churches, three convents, and two hofpitals, of which one is for old women, the other for pilgrims going to San Jago. They have no manufactures, except of copper and brafs pans for the fur-rounding villages, and of fome thread for their own confumption.
Aviles is fituated on the bank of a little river, about one league from the fea, but within reach of the tide. It is every where furrounded by hills, which, for the .moft part, are fertile to their fummits, and are either covered with flocks or (haded by the roble and the chefnut; whilft the low lands are loaded with luxuriant crops of wheat and maize.
The houfe of my young friend is one of ■|he moft commodious I have feen. After the faihion of the countrv, it is built round a court, but with only half the ufual corridor ; for commonly this runs all round the Vol, II, D court,
court, like that Still feen in fome of our great old inns. In this houfe the gallery is wide, and open to the fouth, and to the morning fun. The ground floor is given up wholly to the fervants, except one corner occupied by a chapel. The apartments are, a dining-room, a drawing-room; both fpa-cious and lofty; one to the weft, looking to the Street, the other to the eaft, commanding a lovely profpect, which is bounded by the lea; four principal bed-chambers, and others inferior. Of thefe, two only were Single bedded, the reft contained, two, three, or upon occafion, four beds; for in Spain, even in refpectable families, three or four gentlemen will occasionally occupy one room.
Cultom reconciles to this; and, by the practice of Scotland, France, and Spain, I fee clearly that other nations can be reconciled to that which is molt difguSting to an Englishman; and certain it is, by what we fee daily in our cottages of the poor peasants, that our olfactory nerves may be reduced to fuch a degree of torpid infenfibi-lity, as to be happy and contented in the midSt of filth and naitinefs,
Im
«
In this refpecl:, no nation can furpafs the Spaniards; who, without difguft, without regard to decency, when lodging thus together in one room, conceal only by a napkin that which the French fhut up in boxes, and hide in the little clofet where they keep their clothes.
Upon occaiion of this church feafl or feria, which, by the by, marks the origin of our word Fair, the concourfe of ft rangers to Aviles is confiderable, and every gentleman opens his houfe for the reception of his friends.   At this feafon the morning is fpent in lounging about to view the fhops, the cattle, arid the people aflembled in the fair; and the evening is clofed by dancing. The balls are given by the principal per-fon in the city, and fuch is the fimplicity which reigns in this diftant province, that the fervants and peafants are allowed to crowd about the entrance of the room to fee the dance.    The moil favourite dances are the Englifh, the minuet and the country dance; but fometimes they dance the cotillion, and, towards the clofe of the evening, the fandango,
Sunday, Augufl 27, being the fourth day D 2 of
of the fair, and remarkably fine, the con-courfe of people, with the multitude of cattle, was furprifmg, and the market was brifk. As proteftants, we muff be allowed to wonder at this practice. Beef here is fold for feven quarts and an half the pound of twenty-four ounces, and mutton eleven; bread, five quarts for the pound of twenty ounces; wheat, thirty-two reales the fane-ga, which weighs a quintal, and which, if fuppofed equal to the quintal of Catalonia, will be ninety-two pounds Engliih; barley and maize, twenty-eight reales; beans, thirty-fix.
It is Striking to obferve how corn finds l.s level all over Europe, whilft butchers meat, which is not of fuch eafy tranfport, varies exceedingly in price. Thus, at Aviles, beef is under three halfpence; mutton is z4s pence for a pound of fixteen ounces, whilst bread is ii. penny for the fame weight.
No distinction in price is made between the prime pieces and the coarfe, nor between fat meat and lean, becaufe the prices are fixed by the magistrate, without refpecl: to quality. The confequence of this arrangement
rangement is, that the meat is never ib good as it might be, were the market free.
The government of this city is in two corregidors, four regidors, and a fyndic, who is annually chofen by the people to infpedl the meat, to vindicate their rights, and take care upon all occalions, that juf-tice mail be done to them.
Whilft. I continued at Aviles, I difcovered, for the firft time, that the vifit is always to the lady; that the matter of the family is perfectly at liberty to come or go; that there is no neceffity to take notice of him; and that, if the daughter is handfomer than her mother, fhe may, without offence, occupy the whole attention. This idea I found afterwards confirmed in the great metropolis, by feeing gentlemen introduced to ladies of the firft fafhion, and vifiting them on the moft familiar footing, without the leaft acquaintance, or even perfonal knowledge, of their hufbands.
The fcience and practice of medicine are at the loweft ebb in Spain, but more efpe-cially in the Afturias. Fiat venefectio is ftill the favourite prefcription, notwithstanding D 3 the
the ridicule of Le Sage, and the ferrous rea-foning of Feyjoo. When the fond hufband meets the phylician in the ftreet, and urges him to ftep in to fee his wife, Sangrado pulls out at once his lift of patients and his watch, tells him that he can not flop one moment, orders him inftantly to fetch the furgeon, and to have her blooded, promifmg faithfully to fee her in the fpace of half an hour. Palfies moft undoubtedly are frequent, but it is by no means clear, that thefe are always caufed by plethora, although in many cafes they certainly originate from fulnefs. Sangrado however has fuch a dread of palfy, that he bleeds his patient into a dropfy, or leaves him to languiih between life and death, a prey to the moft gloomy of all difeafes to which humanity is fubject.
At the requeft of the bifhop, I vifited a friend of his, an old canon, who was threatened with a palfy by his phyficians. He had been twice blooded, and the queftion was, whether he fhould lofe more blood. I went to him immediately, and found him furrounded by his friends, who all flood looking on, expecting every moment to fee the fatal ftroke, whilft he, fitting in his
great
great arm chair, apparently in perfect health, yet with a gloomy and dejected countenance, feemed to be waiting for the awful moment, without one ray of hope to cheer his mind. Thofe of his friends, who could be fpared from bufinefs, continued with him; his neighbours dropped in to look upon him; but all continued filent, excepting fuch of them as thought it needful to afk him from time to time how he felt. No one entered into converfation with him, nor would they fuffer him to look into a book. Notwithstanding this repeated venefection, his pulfe was remarkably full and Strong. He was of a certain age, lived well, and took no exercife, I could not hefitate what advice to give. At my requcft the room was cleared; he adopted the vegetable diet, and took exercife. Thus by degrees his fears were diflipated, and he returned once more to join the little circle of his friends in their innocent amufements.
At the delire of my friend at Aviles, I went to vifit a monk, who was related to the family, and found the good old man crying with agony of pain, ariling from the Stone. The phyfician ordered nothing but D 4 Madame
[  4° ]
Madame Stevens Solvent; but this was too flow in its operation, and could give no prefent eafe from pain. I ordered the Enema Moliens, by way of warm fomentation, to be ufed immediately, and to be repeated, if occaiion mould require; but the firft application gave relief, and all the monks crowded round me to confult, each for himfelf, what would be proper for his complaint. Among all thofe who came to me, I did not find one who was not afflicted either with the ftone, the gravel, or with the hypochondriacal difeafe. For this I could aflign no other caufe, but their inactive life, and the want of animating hope, both common to the cloiftered tribe.
From the monks I was fent for to a convent of nuns, where I was confirmed in my idea, that man is formed not only for focial life, for that is found in convents, but for domeftic cares. Without a purfuit the mind muft languifh, and the health will fuffer. The two nuns, whofe friends had requefted my advice, were hectic, and I am fatisfied that others who confulted me were running the fame courfe; nature certainly never intended them for nuns. Other considerations
[   4i 3
tions apart, the feverity of their difcipline, their riling at midnight from a warm bed to go into a cold chapel, is ill fuited to the delicacy of the female fex, and muft be inevitable ruin to the tender conftitution.
I was much pleafed with the good fenfe, and flattered by the confidence of the lady abbefs. When fhe was defcribing a dif-eafed breaft, and I had faid, " If this young *' lady were my fifter, I fhould defire to fee " the breaft;" fhe anfwered, " Every lady *' is fifter to the phyfician who attends " her;" and immediately defired the nan to go with me to a parlour. On examination I found it was a cancerous cafe, and recommended them to make application to a furgeon.
After having paifed ten days very plea-fantly at Aviles, I went with the count Penalba to ftay as many at Luanjo, or, as we fhould pronounce it, Luanco.
Luanjo has three hundred and feventy houfes, and one thoufand eight hundred fouls, of which one thoufand three hundred go to confeffion and communion, the other five hundred are infants. It is a little fea port, and carries on a coafting trade.
The
The ride from Aviles to Luanjo is chiefly on the fea coaSt. When we arrived, the fun was fet, and the evening was fhut in.
The habitation of the count is maiTive, chiefly calculated for Strength, and to refift the waves, which always wafli its folid bafe, and occasionally breaking againft the houfe, fend their foaming fpray over the lofty roof into the Street. Whilft I was there I was fo fortunate as to be witnefs to this fight. To enter the dwelling, you pafs through the coach-houfe, and find the ground floor given up to Stables.
When we arrived, the great hall was already occupied, as ufual, by the neighbours, who were amufmg themfelves with cards; but, as we were under no obligation to join the party, which was not of the genteeleSt eaft, we went up Stairs, and took poffefhon of a room which occasionally ferves for eating.
The family confifted of the count and countefs, with their children, his two Sifters, and her mother. His brother, a genteel young officer, was there upon a vifit. The family being thus numerous, and the greateft portion of the houfe being occu-
pied with offices, little remained for bedrooms. Thefe were few in number, and upon a contracted fcale. The room, in which I ilept, was about eleven feet by fourteen, yet contained two beds, one for me, the other for the brother of the count. The walls are white limed, the .floors are fmoothed with the addice, but not one is plained, and I do not recollect one ceiling. The beds have no curtains. The great hall where we dined is a double cube of about fifty by five and twenty; with thefe dimenfions, if well fitted up, it would be elegant.
The ftile of living refembled the old Britifh hofpitality; and the long oak table, furrounded by ftrong oak benches, was every day well covered.
I was at firft furprifed, and much difgufled, with a ragged and half naked vilitor, who came up at dinner time, walked round the table, fpoke freely to all the family, but in a manner to me quite unintelligible, fat down occafionally at the bottom of the table, and fometimcs feized a bone, then laughed and chattered like a baboon; yet,
with
with all this, appeared to give no offence. Upon enquiry, I found that this miferable object was the idiot of the village; and, as fuch, enjoyed the privilege of going where he pleafed, and of doing what he pleafed, without reStraint.
Nothing can exceed their Simplicity of manners in this diftant province. Polifhed nations would be offended at their freedom, and the plainnefs with which they fpeak of things, which in the more advanced State of fociety muff not be even hinted at; yet fuch language neither gives difgufl, nor tends to excite the paffions. But at the fame time familiarities, fuch as in other countries are efteemed innocent, and, being rightly understood, neither imply nor lead to guilt, would here, and all over Spain, be highly offensive; would, if practifed in public, excite univerfal horror, if in private, level every fence which virtue is engaged to maintain.
They ufe no paint, no powder, no curls, no cap; nothing but a bit of riband bound round the head. In this Simplicity of drefs, youth and beauty may enjoy their triumph;
t   45 ]
but the old women, for want of borrowed charms, have nothing which can pleafe the eye. Yet gentlemen are not altogether void of attention to them, nor are they infenfible to thefe attentions. A tradefman of Luanjo had cut his little portion of tobacco, and had rolled it up carefully in a Strip of paper, making a cigar about the fize of a goofe quill; he had doubled back, and pinched carefully the ends, then with mature deliberation, taking up his fteel, his flint, and his little bit of amadou fboletus igniarius) he ftruck a light, kindled his cigar, began to fmoke, and finding it wrork well, he prefented it to the countefs. She bowed and took it, fmoked it half out, and reftored it to him again.
After the countefs had done with the cigar, and had joined the converfation, in a few minutes Ihe opened her mouth, and fent out a cloud of fmoke. She faw my furprife, and afked the caufe of it. I told her; and immediately the perfon who was fmoking drew in fome hearty whiffs, then opened his mouth to convince me that nothing continued there, and after many minutes he breathed out volumes of
fmoke.
fmoke. This I find is their common mode of fmoking; and without making it pafs through their lungs they think it ufe-lefs.
The government of Luanjo is in a cor-regidor, affifted by eight or ten regidors and two fyndics, who are to protect the people from oppreflion. Thefe magistrates once a year make a contract with the butcher who will fupply the market cheap-eft. In confequence of this agreement, beef fells for feven quarts ; mutton, ten; bread, fix per pound of twenty-four ounces. According to this, fuppofmg the pound to be fixteen ounces, beef will be i-tV penny; mutton, i-l-'y bread, i^- per pound.
Labour is from three to five reales a day, or, without fractions, from feven pence to a milling.
The land in all this province is eftimated by the dia de buyes, or quantity which a yoke of oxen is fuppofed to plough in one day: but this differs in every district. About Oviedo they reckon the dia de buyes at Sixty varas by thirty, or eighteen hundred fquare varas; at Luanjo it is fixty-four by forty-eight, or three thoufand and
9 fixty-
j&xty-two j and about Gijon they call it fe~ venty by thirty-five, or two thoufand four hundred and fifty varas fquare; but in general the dia de buyes may be taken for about half an acre.
Near Luanjo the land produces, of wheat, ten for one upon the feed, and as it pays one fanega, or about ninety-two pound of wheat for every dia de buyes, we may reckon the rent at about fixteen millings the acre.
After fpending a few days at Luanjo, we went to Carrio, another country-houfe belonging to the count, or rather to the countefs, becaufe in Spain the property of the hufband, and of the wife are perfectly diftincl:. As long as fhe lives no one can take it from her, and when fhe dies, it paffes to her children; or, fuppofmg it to be entailed, it devolves immediately to her eldeft fon, who, at the age of twenty-one, or fooner if he marries, takes poffeffion, even though his father mould be living. If fhe has titles of honour, fhe carries them with her to her hufband, and tranfmits them to her heir. Upon marriage, the hufband makes a declaration of the effects
belonging
belonging feverally to himfelf and to bis wife; and ber property is fo much vefted in her, that, in cafe of her hufband's bankruptcy, his creditors have no power to touch it; but if at his death it is found that he has profpered in the world, fhe may claim her proportion of all the favings. The latter provifion is unquestionably wife, but it may be imagined that the former muft give much fcope to fraud, and certainly it does; but then there are not wanting considerations to make men honcft. A tradefman of Oviedo, at marriage, gave in a falfe fpecification, with a view to defraud his creditors, fhould he unfortunately break. The wife died foon after, and her relations claimed all the effects of which he had delivered in his declaration, as her property; and he, who had been well to pafs previous to marriage, was left destitute, and could find no redrefs.
Carrh is a commodious habitation, neat and comfortable, but without higher pretentions, fituated in the midft of a fertile country, near to a little river, and not far distant from the fea. In the domeflic chapel, the count
fhewed
Shewed me an altarv which is one lblid block of marble/ with the following infcription :
Imp. Cajfuri Augufto Divi F. Cos, 13. Imp. 20. Pont. M. 10. Patr. Patriae Trib. Pot. 32.
Sacrum.
•■--
This block was found at Cape Tauris, near the entrance into Gijon (Jixa of the Romans) and is mentioned, together with two others, difcovered near to the lame fpot, by Mariana and Morales.
From Carrio we rode into Gijon, a considerable port, to which the Englilh refort for filberts-and chefnuts. It contains about eight hundred families. This harbour, made and maintained at a vail expence, is not reckoned fafe ; but there is no other in the vicinity, which can Hand in competition with it.
We were entertained with great hofpi-talky by Don Francifco Paular Jove Llanos, a captain in the marine, who is retired from fervice. An old officer in every country is a pleafant companion, and in no country more fo than in Spain.   In this gentleman
Vol. II, E I found
L J
I found all that a foreigner can wifh for, good fenfe, politenefs, and great information.
The next morning, we returned by Car-rio to Luanjo j and, in the way, flopped in a beautiful meadow near Candace, to partake of a little fete champetre.
At Reran, in this vicinity, in the limeftone rock, I met with a rich variety of extraneous foflils, of corals, corallines, and coralloides, with cockles, expofed by the fretting of the waves; and, upon examination, I traced this ftratum running up into the country much above the level of the fea.
During my refidence at Luanjo, the count fhewed me a royal ordinance, dated 22d October 1785, ftating„ That the principal caufe of the decay in agriculture was the unlimited power of the landlord to eject his tenants at the expiration of their leafes; and appointing, that, from henceforth, in the Afturias, the farmer, provided he cultivated well, and was not confiderably behind hand with his payments, fhould neither be ejected at the expiration of his term, nor have the rent raifed; referving both to
the
i si i
the landlord and the tenant, an appeal to Skilful perfons, who mould regulate the value of the farm, and make compenfation to the occupier, on his quitting it, for any improvements made either by himfelf or by his ancestors. This provifion, moll undoubtedly, is both wife and jufl; becaufe it not only Stimulates the indullry of the farmer, but encourages his , parfimony, by Shewing him where he can immediately make all his gains productive^ and thereby promotes the higheft improvement of the foil. But, as for wifdom or juStice in the former provision, I muSl freely confeSs, I cart difcover neither. Every thing is worth what it will fetcli and if men, who wiSh to find employment for their capitals, are willing to advance the rent, why Should not the landlord avail himfelf of this ? In moft countries, the ruling powers are too bufy, and will be meddling, when things would naturally, and without their interference, much better regulate themfelves*
September 11, I returned to Aviles, and the count went to fpend a few days at another country-houfe, whither he preffed E 2 me
[ J2 ]
me much to bear him company | but I had neither health nor fpirits for this excurfion.
The refemblanee between the Afiurias and many parts of England is very linking. The fame is the afpect of the country, as to verdure, inciofures, live hedges, hedgerows, and woods ; the fame mixture of woodlands, arable and rich paflure -3 the fame kind of trees and crops of fruit, and cattle.
Both fuffer by humidity in winter, yet, from the fame fource, find an ample re-compenfe in fummer; and both enjoy a temperate climate, yet with this difference, that as to humidity and heat, the fcale preponderates on the fide of the Afiurias. In iheltered fpots, and not fir diflant from the fea, they have olives, vines, and oranges.
The cyder of this country is not fo good as ours; but I am not able to determine, whether the fault is wholly in the making, or whether there is not likewife fome natural imperfection in the fruit. Certain it is, that they pay little attention to this article, neither fuffering the apples to hang the proper time upon the trees, nor felect-
ing the heft kinds, nor leaving them to fwcat, nor picking out bad fruit, nor racking off the cyder when it is fine.  The op-pofite of all this, both as to the liquor and the fruit, is the practice of our be ft cyder counties. Not contented with racking once,' we draw it off three or four times, if needful, always obferving to do this when the cyder is become fine.   For this purpofe, they, who are moft curious, wuT even fit up with it, when the time draws nigh, that they may feize the proper moment.   If the Afturians paid attention to this, their cyder would become a considerable article of export, and, together with their nuts, and other fruits, wTould bring great wealth into the country.—Yet, with the beft information and the moft minute attention, it is by no means certain, that they would ever be able to produce a liquor equal in ftrength to that of our bed counties, hccaufe of the 'prevailing humidity; on account of which, every thing this principality produces is inferior in its quality to the productions of a warmer climate.  The herbs here dry away to nothing; and the wood burnt upon the hearth, makes little or no afhes, yet pro-E 3 duces
duces fo much foot, that the chimneys are perpetually choked. Such is the humidity of this province, that the mifletoe grows not only on the oak, but on apples, pears, and thorns.
All the way from Aviles to Oviedo, we found the harvefi over, and the people, men, women, and children, in the field threShing out the grain with flails; becaufe, in this moiSl and temperate province, they cannot ufe the trillo.
Their flail is very heavy, and extravagantly long, not lefs than five feet in common, and the handftaff is nearly of the fame length. In confequence of this, the motion of the flail is flow, and the exertions of the threfher turn to little account. To under-Hand this fubject, we muff recollect the laws of motion. Now, when quick motion is communicated to the grain, whilfl the ftraw remains unmoved, or when the Straw receives the Stroke, whilst the grain continues in a State of reft, a feparation is the confequence. When either moves Slowly, the other follows, and no feparation is effected ; but the greater the velocity of either, the more certain and fpeedy is the
feparation
feparation of the grain. The fame effect will follow, fuppofing the ftraw and grain to be moved with diiferent velocities, in proportion to that difference. We muft always remember, that the weight of impinging bodies being given, the magnitude of the ftroke is directly as the velocity. This principle rightly underftood and applied, would not only long fince have banifhed heavy flails for threfhing the lighter grains, but would, from the beginning, have led to the machine for coining now recently introduced at Birmingham.
Threfhing is by no people better underflood than by the Wiltfhire peafmts, who for wheat prefer a flail of three feet, weighing about twenty-four ounces, with a handftaff of the fame length.
In the Afturias, they depend upon the wind for winnowing, and have no idea of a machine for performing that operation in a barn. Were they to fee the fan, formed after the model of a machine, iirft invented by Reifelius of Wurtemberg, called rotattlis fuclor etpreffbr, but difcovered by Dr. Papin, and from Holland introduced into this ifland, Jt is to be hoped, that, without either pre-E ^ judice
judice or fcruples, they would immediately adopt it; and that no fanatic prieft, as in North Britain, would condemn the ufe of it as impious, under the idea of not depending upon providence for a favourable breeze.
When I returned to Oviedo, a gentleman gave me a collection of amber and of jet, of which there is great abundance in this province j but the two mod confidcr-able mines of it are in the territory of Be-loncia, one in a valley called Las Guerrias, the other on the fide of a high mountain in the village of Arenas, in the pariih of f&i de Soto.   The former is found in Hate, and looks like wood; but when broke, the nodules difcover a white craft, inclofing yellow amber, bright and tranfparent. Jet, and a fpecies of kennel coal, abounding with marcafites, univerfally accompany the amber.   The natural hiftory of this curious fubitance is fo little underftood, that every fact relating to it mould be treafured up., Till of late years, it was found only on the iea-fhore, eaft up by the waves ; but even then the various infects inclofed in it, filch as ants and flics, proved it to be a production
t   57 ]
of the land. But now we find it fofiil, and hence trace a connection between bitumens and refins. We fee it like wife as one link in a vaft chain, the origin of which all phi-lofophers are labouring to difcover. We find it in a country, where the inclofing Strata, and all the furrounding rocks, charged with marine ihells and plants, fhew clearly, that both it and they are the depo-iit of the ocean.—This fubject will be frequently refumed, and, from its vaft importance, merit's the moft minute attention.
When every one began to talk of winter, I thought it expedient to prepare for my return towards the fouth, before the mountains fhould be covered by the fnow, which ufually falls at the beginning of November, and fometimes even in the middle of October. I was not indeed in a condition to undertake the journey; but the fear of being fhut up in the Afturias, till the return of fpring, prevailed over all other considerations, and made me refolve to venture.
As the account of my indifpofition may ferve towards the natural hiftory of the country, I Shall briefly give it. The 21ft of Auguft, riding from Oviedo to Aviles,
on
on a rainy day, I was wet through; and at the end of our journey, as I had nothing at hand to change, I fuffered my clothes to dry upon my back. I had, however, no reafon to think that I had taken cold, till I perceived that I was gradually lofing the ufe of all my limbs, without either pain or fever. The phyfician, at the end of one month, confined me to my bed, and forbade me the ufe of wine, allowing me only water and vegetables, till he had reduced me to the lowefl flate of debility. I fubmitted; but, feeling evidently that I was going fail from bad to worfe, I took my leave of him, and, by the ufe of the bark, with a generous diet, I regained fome degree of Strength, and, getting myfelf placed upon a mule, I ventured to fet forwards on my way towards the fouth.
The bifhop and his family exprelfed their concern at my departure; yet, confidering the humidity of their climate, and the near approach of winter, they were kind enough to confent that I fhould undertake the journey, in hope that a warmer and a drier air might reflore my health.
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
FROM THE
ASTURIAS to the ESCURIAL,
OCTOBER 2, I left Oviedo, and paf-ling through feveral little villages, came to Mieres in the middle of the day. At night I found a comfortable bed at Cam* pomanesy having travelled ten leagues and an half over delightful hills, all either covered thick with wood, or highly cultivated.
In both thefe places I was much fur-prifed at the moderation of their charges. At Mieres, for a difh of eggs, for dreffing my fowl, and for the ruido de la cafay that is, for the noife of the houfe, or rather for attendance, the good woman required only a real, or fomething more than two pence farthing. At Campomanes, for the fame and for my bed, the demand was two reales.
As
As we approached the confines of the principality, the fcene greatly changed; for, inflead of foft and fwelling hills, covered with grafs or clothed with woods; fcarcely any thing wTas to be feen but flupendous rocks of limeftone, fome in long ridges riling perpendicular to the height of two or three hundred feet, others cragged and broken into a thoufand forms. In this route, the way winds chiefly by the fide of little rivers, brooks, or torrents, till it has pafTed the fummit of that vaft chain of mountains, which feparates the Afturias from the Old Caftille : yet in the midft of thefe flupendous mountains, a few rich vallies intervene, each with its little village, in iize proportioned to the extent of land fufcep-tible of cultivation.
In the ravins through which we pafTed, I obferved that all the mills have horizontal water wheels. Thefe grind the corn very flowly, being fed by fingle grains; but then to compenfate for this defect, they place many near together, and the fame little ftream having communicated motion to one wheel, paffes in fucceffion to the reft.   Thefe are well fuited to a country
abounding
[  6i ]
abounding with Hone for building, where water runs with rapidity down a Sleep defcent, and where difpatch is not required.
'October 4, as we defcended towards Leon, we overtook a Merino flock, belonging to the monaftery of Guadalupe, in Eftra-madura. Thefe monks have fuflicient land near home to keep their flock during the winter months ; but in the fummer, when their own mountains are fcorched, they fend their fheep into the north, where, having no lands, they are obliged to pay for paflurage. They were on their return towards the fouth.
The great lords, and the religious houfes, to whom belong thefe trafhumantes, or travelling flocks, have peculiar privileges fe-cured to them by a fpecial code, called laws of the Mefta; privileges, by many confidered as inconiiftent with the general good.
This institution has been traced back to the year 1350, when the plague, which ravaged Europe for feveral years, had defo-lated Spain, leaving only one-third of its former inhabitants to cultivate the foil.
But
But perhaps we ought to look for its origin in more remote and diftant ages, when the whole country was occupied by fhepherd nations, and when agriculture was but little known. Thefe certainly were the firft inhabitants, or if not the firft, at leaft, as the votaries of Pan, that venerable protector of the fleecy tribe, they may claim precedency before the more modern worfhippers of Ceres. Occupying the hills with their numerous flocks and herds, it was natural for them in winter to quit a country then covered deep with mow, and to feek the more temperate regions of the fouth; till thefe, burnt up by the returning fun, refufed them pafture, and drove them back again to the mountains of the north, which, during the dimmer months, are covered with perpetual verdure by the gradual melting of the fnow.
The numbers of the Merino fheep are continually varying. Cajalerueia, who wrote A. D. 1627, complained that they were reduced from feven millions to two millions and an half. Uftariz reckoned in his time four millions; but now they are near five. The proprietors are numerous, fome having
only
only three or four thoufand, while others have ten times that number. The Duke of Infantado has forty thoufand. Each proprietor has a mayoral or chief fhepherd, to whom he allows annually one hundred do-blons, or £. 75, and a horfe; and for every flock of two hundred fheep, a feparate fhepherd, who is paid according to his merit, from eight millings a month to thirty, be-fides two pounds of bread a day for himfelf, and as much for his dog, with the privilege of keeping a few goats on his own account.
The produce of wool is reckoned to be about five pounds from every ewe, and eight from the wethers; and to fhear eight of the former, or five of the latter, is reckoned a good day's work. Some, indeed, allow twelve fheep to every fhearer but even this comes fhort of what we do in England, where a common hand will difpatch Sixty in a day, and a good workman has been known to finifh half as many more.
The wool of the Merino fheep is worth little lefs than twelve pence a pound, whilft that of the Stationary flocks fells for only fix pence; and every Sheep is reckoned to
yield
[ H ]
yield a clear profit of ten pence to the pro-prietor, after all expences are difcharged.
When the fheep are travelling, they may feed freely on all the wafles and commons; but, in pafling through a cultivated country, they muft be confined within their proper limits in a way which is ninety va-ras wide. Hence it comes to pafs, that, in fuch inhofpitable districts, they are made to travel at the rate of fix or feven leagues a day; but where pafture is to be had, they are Suffered to move very flow. When they are to remove, either in the Spring or autumn, if the lord has no lands, where his flocks are to be Stationed, the chief Shepherd goes before, and engages agistment, either of thofe proprietors who have more than fufficient for themfelves, or of the corporations, who, in Spain, have ufually extenfive wafles and commons round their cities.
It is to thefe claims of the Merino flock that fome political writers have attributed the want of cultivation in the interior provinces of Spain.
On defcending once more into the plains 2 of
£ % ]
of Old Caftille, an obfervatlort, confirmed by all with whom I had any communication on the fubject, occurred to me, that the wine on the fouth fide of the mountains, being tranfported to the north, improves greatly in its flavour, precifely as other wines improve by being removed to warmer climates.
At the end of three days, when I arrived at Leon, I was fo well fatisfied with the attention of my guide, that we made a freih agreement, and he accompanied me to Salamanca. For himfelf, and for his mule, I was to allow him a hard dollar, or about four millings a day, both in going and re-* turning, he being to pay all his own ex-pences on the road, which, for a Stranger, is the beft plan, although the natives find it more advantageous to maintain their guides.
Having fettled all preliminaries, and made proviiion for the journey, on the 6th of October, we turned our backs on Leon; and, being by this time tolerably acquainted with each others dialect, we began a convention by the way. The honeft fellow, taking a hearty fwig at the borracho, or leathern bottle, which contained our wine,
Vol. II, F broke
broke the filence, by telling me, that this was the fkin of his moft favourite cat, and then, continuing his difcourfe, gave me the hiftory, both of the cat and of the countries through which he had travelled with her fpoil.—This was to him, in all his journeys, a conftant companion, a never-failing fource of confolation; and he appeared to be as fond of her now dead, as it was poffible for him to have been whilft Hie was fenfible of his careffes.   The (kin contained about a gallon, and ufually ferved us, when filled, for more than half a day.
The v/ay was over an extenfive plain of land and gravel, evidently brought from diftant hills, all fmooth, and rounded -by the action of water. The crops are chiefly rye, with fome wheat and barley. The trees are the ilex, the poplar, and the elm.
I was ftruck with the conftrudtion of their ploughs, not merely as having neither fheet, coulter, mould-board, fin (for to this defect I was become familiar), but as having the fhare morticed into the curved beam .at leaft three inches above its heel, creating thereby a degree of friction, which rnuft itly increafe the labour of the oxen.
Wqmen
Women hold the plough. The cart-wheels are of plank, fixed upon the axis, like thofe in the Afturias, only they are better made.
The numerous villages contain from fifty to five or fix hundred mud-wall cottages, but feem in general to be going to decay. The inns are more wretched than thofe of the Afturias, and are thought to be considerable, if they make up more than one bed.
At Toral, where we flept the firft night from Leon, as foon as we arrived, I fur-veyed the premifes, and made out my inventory of the furniture ;  finding in the chamber (for they had only one) two beds, two broken benches, one crippled table, and a little lamp dripping its oil, and fmok-ing in the middle of the room.   This cir-cumftance is not uncommon, becaufe they have no candles, and their lamps are of the moft rude construction.   I was, however, too much of a traveller to feel difguft, and was preparing to fettle myfelf comfortably, when an old canoi  of Oviedo, with two fchool-boys, and a young friar, entering, told me, that they had befpoken this room fome days before. I bowed fubmiffion, but F 2 flopped
[   6S ]
flopped one moment to enquire the age of this young friar. He informed me, that he was now in his feventeenth year; and that, two years before, at Aviles, in the Afturias, having accomplished his noviciate, he had bound himfelf by the irrevocable vows.
When I had retired, my faithful guide informed me, that he had procured a bed for me at the houfe of the curate, who was a friend of his, whither he inflantly conducted me. Here I met with fuch a reception, that I had no reafon to lament my disappointment at the pofada.
The next morning we arrived at Bena-vente, and in the way had occafion to ob-ferve a change of drefs. In this refpect, every province has fomething peculiar to itfelf. The peafants, who attracted my attention, were from Aftorga. They had round hats, leather jackets without fleeves, and trowfers fomewhat refembling thofe of Dutchmen, perfectly correfponding with what were formerly worn by the Brachath Benavente is at prefent. remarkable only for the palace of the dutchefs, a vafl and fhapelefs pile, polfe/ling the marks of great
antiquity,
antiquity, and .commanding a moil extensive property. This city feems to be going to decay, yet includes fix convents. It is divided into nine parishes, and reckons two thoufand two hundred and thirty-four fouls.
Bread is here three quarts, or $( penny a pound of fixteen ounces; beef is feven quarts, or a fmall fraction under two pence; and mutton is two pence farthing a pound. The bell wine is about five pence a gallon. Thefe are the Slated prices, when beef and mutton are to be had; but my guide having neglected to make provifion for himfelf, mufl have been contented to pick the bones of my miferable fowl, had it not been for the bounty of a traveller who had more than he could eat.
The road from Leon to Zamora is about eighteen SpaniSh leagues, all the way near the Ella, a little river whofe water runs into the Duero below Zamora. From this circumflance the way is moSlly level; the foil, to a great depth, is either granite fand, or clay of a weak contexture; and the villages are compofed of mud-wall cottages.
At Santa Qvena, having the curiofity to F i meafure
[  7° ]
meafure the room, which, like moil in Spain, ferved the double purpofe of bedchamber and parlour, I found it to be twelve feet by ten yet, in thefe contracted limits were contained, a bed, the treffels for another, a chair, a table, with two large chefts for the king's tobacco, for barley, linen, and all the treafures of the family. The kitchen is nearly of the fame dimenfions f yet in this pofada 1 counted thirty-five horfes, mules, and affes, with their riders and drivers, who all found lodging for the night.
Whilft I was at fupper, an old beggar entered; when I had given him bread he kiffed it, bowed his head, and left the room. Struck with his behaviour, I followed him inftantly, and gave him money; he bowed, kiffed it in filence, and left the inn.
Zamora, a city of great antiquity, is at prefcnt reduced very iow, but formerly it muft have been considerable, and will, I have no doubt, foon regain its confequence. Situated in a fertile country, on the confines of Portugal, watered by the Duero, and near the conflux of the Efla, it muft always have invited plenty, and when the
communi-
communication mall be opened by the canal, for the tranfport of its productions, it will daily grow in wealth. The extent of its fortifications, twenty-three parifh churches, and fixteen convents, inclofed within the walls; in fome meafure ferve to fhew what it was; and the recent decorations of the cathedral give a good fpecimen of what it may hereafter be. This building is old, but the altar is modern, and is much to be admired for the variety of its marbles, chiefly from the Afturias, for the elegance of its compofition, and for the beauty of its hangings, which are made of crimfon velvet, richly embroidered with gold.
The chief manufactures are, of hats, ferges, coarfe cloth, and nitre; but for the latter the climate is by no means favourable.
Beef is cheaper than at Benevente, being here only fix quarts, or fomething more than three halfpence a pound; but pork is nearly three times as much.
From Zamora we^ travelled only three leagues, and refted for the night at Corraks, a village of three hundred and fixty cottages. It was not till next morning that I F4 ' fully
[   7* 1
fully comprehended for what reafon we had1 made fo Short a journey the preceding day; but, upon our entering an extenlive foreft, my provident conductor told me, that he always chcfe to meet the morning, rather than to be overtaken by the night, whenever he was to pals through a foreft, and that, by fuch precautions, he had frequently efcaped unmolested where others had been robbed.
From Corrales we afcended gently for three leagues, and then defcending as many, at the end of feven hours we reached CaK zada -de Valdeunciel, having travelled for at leaft five hours through a foreft, in which, as we proceeded, my guide told me the names of the eminences to be paffed, all diftinguifhcd by one generic term Confef-fionarios, implying, that on thefe the traveller would Stand in need of a confeffor to prepare him for his fate, Considering the vaSt extent of this foreft, and its vicinity to Portugal, no Situation can be more favourable to robbers, or to the Smuggler who, when he has been plundered himfelf, is apt to plunder others.
The foil here is moft evidently decom-
pofe4
pofed granite, with its quartz, feld fpat, and mica. The trees are chiefly ilex, roble, and the cork tree.
- All the way from Leon to Salamanca, for three and thirty leagues, or about one hundred and fifty miles, the country is fo flat and open, that the Moorifh horfe, when they invaded Spain, muft have met with nothing to impede their progrefs; becaufe, in fuch extenlive plains, an opprefTed people, difpirited and difarmed, could have little inclination to make refiftance; and had it not been for a more hardy race inhabiting the mountains of the north, the whole peninfula might at this moment have been numbered among the followers of Mahomet.
When I directed my courfe towards Salamanca, it was with a view of paying a vifit, by appointment, to the marquis of Oviedo; but, unfortunately for me, on my arrival, I found that he was detained by ill— nefs at Madrid. This difappointment was the more vexatious, becaufe I had no letters, nor any profpect of being introduced. I ventured, however, to prefent myfelf to Pn Curtis, prcfident of the Irifh college,
whs
I  74 ]
who received me with politenefs, took me under his protection, and, during my ten days abode at Salamanca, confidered me as part of his family.
His fituation is refpectable, and the convent, part of which he occupies, is one of the belt in Spain. It was built A. D. 1614, by the jefuits, but, upon their expulfion, being found much too extenfive for any one fociety, it was divided; the fouth fide being given to the Irifh, and the north to the bifhop of the diocefe for his ftudents.
The wing, in the occupation of the former, is three ftories high, and more than two hundred feet long. In the middle of each, through the whole extent, there runs a wide gallery to form a communication between a double range of bed-rooms. Thefe long galleries having no light excepting at the ends, are well adapted to the climate: for .even at noon, and during the moft diflblving heats of fummer, they afford a cool retreat. The whole building is covered with a terrace walk, commanding all the country; and here the young men take the air.
The wing devoted to the bifhop's college
lege is nearly fimilar to this, with the addition or a cloifter, and an elegant apartment of fixty' Met by thirty, defigned for conference and disputations.
The church is in common to both efta-bliihments, and is built upon fuch a plan as muff do credit to the tafte as well as to the wealth of the difgraced community.
In the Irifh college, threefcore ftudents are received at a time, and when thefe are fent back to Ireland, the fame number from thence are admitted, to be like them trained up for the mimftry. Their courfe of education requires eight years. They are expected to come well founded in the languages; and of the time allotted to them in Spain, four years are given up to the ftudy of philofophy, the remainder to divinity. The fyftem of philofophy includes logic, metaphyfics, mathematics, phyfic, and ethics: for thefe they read Jacquier; and for theology they follow P. • Collet. They rife every morning at half paft four, and have no vacations.
The mode of giving lectures is perhaps peculiar to themfelves, but worthy to be followed in our univerfities.   The ftudents
have
have queSKons propofed for their difcufiiori twice every day, and on thefe they ar^j/informed what books to read; the», fuppofmg the fubject to admit of a difpute, it is carried on by two of them under the direction of a moderator, who gives affiit-ance when it is wanted, and guides them to the truth. Where this, mode of proceeding is not admiflible, the tutors, instead of giving formal lectures, employ themfelves in the examination of their pupils, and the bufinefs of instruction is thus greatly expedited.
Doctor Curtis lives with his pupils like a father with his children; and, although in a State of banifhment, feems happy in the difcharge of his important functions. It is, however, much to be lamented, that he and they Should be reduced to the neceffity of feeking that protection in a foreign and dif-tant country, to which they are entitled in their own. This kind of persecution is neither juit nor politic. It is certain that ignorance and bigotry have a Strong connection. Would you overcome inveterate prejudices, and are you anxious to baniih fuperflition ? let in the light.   Would you conciliate the
affections
affections of thofe who differ from you in their religious creed ? no longer perfecute ; embrace them, and from enemies they will become your friends, let in the light, and difference of opinion dies away. Catholics, in the more enlightened countries, are no longer papifts, their whole fyffem is going to decay; and, without claiming more than common fagacity, we may venture to fore-tel, that in proportion as the limits of toleration fhall be extended, all that cannot bear the light will gradually vanifh, till the diftinction between catholics and proteflants fhall ceafe.
To flatten this event, the education of catholics in Ireland, for the purpofe of the ministry, fhould not only be connived at, but fhould meet with all poffible encouragement.
The univerfity of Salamanca was founded in the year 1200, by Alfonfo IX, king of Leon, and regulated by Alfonfo, furnamed the Wife, (A. D. 1254) under whofe protection flourifhed the greatest astronomers of Europe. This feminary foon rofe into importance, and became eminent in Europe by acquaintance with the Arabian authors,
f 78 ]
triors, and, through them, with the Greek. Its profeffors translated Avicena, who took the lead in medicine, and Averroes, who had bellowed much time in studying Arif-totle; but not fatisfied with copying from the Arabs, they laboured much themfelves, and became justly famous in their day for their knowledge in jurifprudence, and for their progrefs in all the fciences then cultivated in Europe.   The reverence of the first profeffors of this univerfity for Aristotle and for Thomas Aquinas, continues to the prefent day.  ■ The court indeed has long declared war against them both, and repeatedly commanded that they fhould be abandoned; but, not having adopted fuch methods as are practicable, to fecure obedience, the old profeffors walk in the fame path in which their fathers walked before them.
We are not however to imagine that Salamanca produces no men of liberal ideas; far be it from us to entertain fuch a thought; becaufe we know that even in the darkest ages, fome men of fcience were hid in convents, who, had they lived in more favourable times, would have diffused light,
and
[  79 1
and have been admired in the world. One fuch, and I doubt not there may be many, I met with in D. Jofeph Diaz, a father of the Auguftines; who, for learning, good fenfe, and liberality of fentimenr, would be an ornament to any country.
The ftudents were formerly reckoned about fixteen thoufand, but they are now much reduced; and, in 1785, the number matriculated was nineteen hundred and nine.
The library is fpacious, and tolerably well furnished with modern books; yet the bulk is traSh, confifting principally of fcho-laftic divinity.
Of all the public edifices, the cathedral is the moft worthy of attention. The foundation of this ancient Structure was laid A. D. 1513, but it was not finished till 1734. It is three hundred and feventy-eight feet long, one hundred and eighty-one wide in the clear, one hundred and thirty high in the nave, and eighty in the ailes. The whole is beautiful, but the moft Striking part of this church, and of many public buildings in this city, is the fculp-ture, which merits admiration, not only for
the
[  8a 3
the tafte therein difplayed, but for its excellent prefervation. Over the principal door is reprefented, in bold relief, the adoration of the fages; and over another, the public entrance of Chrift into Jerufalem ; all appearing as frefh and fharp as if they were but recently put up. ■ .
The church of the Dominicans comes little Short of the cathedral ill point of fculpture. It has a representation of Sr. Stephen Honed, with a crucifix above it, all as large as life, and not apparently injured by the weather. Indeed in both thefe edifices the carvings are in fome meafure protected, not from a driving rain, but from its perpendicular defcent, becaufe they fink back as much as the thicknefs of the wall will permit, which is at leaft fix feet, and are furrounded by mouldings projecting considerably beyond the wall. The precaution, without doubt, was prudent* yet I was not a little struck when I obferved the ornaments of bafs- relief preferving their Sharpest angles, even when expofed to the full force of the destructive elements. This circumstance may be readily accounted for, when we consider that the Stone is a grit,
which
which when firft taken from the quarry, is foft; but, upon being expofed to the air, acquires hardnefs. Hence it is peculiarly valuable both to the architect and the fculp-tor; and to thefe properties we may attribute the beautiful monuments of art which abound in Salamanca.
It would be tedious to defcribe the convents and public feminaries of this once famous city; yet, to pafs them all in filence, would be inexcufable. I therefore briefly mention fuch as are moft worthy of attention.
Among thefe may certainly be reckoned the old college: here the quadrangle is fmall, yet elegant; and the cloifter, with its four and twenty columns, one of the prettieft in Salamanca : the apartments are commodious, and thofe of the regent are in a fuperior ftile.
The college of the archbifhop is built Upon a larger fcale, more light and airy, and having four galleries of one hundred and thirty feet, with two and thirty columns fupported by as many, which form the cloifter, it may be called magnificent. The date of this building is 1550.
Vol. IL G Cucnca
t 82 ]
Cuenca college is remarkable at prefent for its neatnefs and fimplicity; but the portico, when hnifhed, will place it among the moft elegant buildings of this city.
The college of Oviedo, with the churches of the Augujlinos Caizados and of the Car-mditas Defca/zos, deferve attention.
Of all thefe colleges and convents, it were endlefs to enumerate the treafures and rich jewels defigned for the fervice of the altar, Whatever is moft valuable, the produce of Europe, Afia, Africa, and America, is here collected; and the beft workmen, in every country, have exerted all their tafte and Skill, each in his feveral branch, to fhew the perfection of his art. The ornaments and dreffes of the priefts are both rich and beautiful; but the moft coftly piece of furniture, in moft convents, is the Cuftodia, that is, the depofitory cf the hoft, or, according to the ideas of a catholic, the throne of the Moft High, when, upon fo-lemn feftivals, he appears to command the adoration of mankind. It is not uncommon to expend fix thoufand ounces of fil-ver upon one of thefe, befides gold and precious ftones 5 yet, in moft of them, the
work-
workmanfhip furpafTes the value of the materials.
The great fquare, although laft mentioned, is not leaft worthy of attention. I had almoft hourly occaiion to pars through it, and never faw it without plealure. It is fpacious, regular, built upon arches, and Surrounded with piazzas. Such a fquare would be admired even in London, or in Paris; but in a city like Salamanca, where all the Streets are narrow, it gives peculiar expanfion to the lungs, when you find yourfelf at liberty to breathe, when light burfts upon you by furprife, and when fymmetry unites with greatnefs in all the objects by which you are encompaffed.
The portico is not more to be admired for its beauty in the day, than for the protection it affords by night; becaufe in this city they have an execrable cuftom, both offenfive to the noftrils, and deftrucf ive of good clothes, Similar to that for which the inhabitants of the Old Town in Edinburgh have been defervedly reproached.
In the year 1030, there was not a Single convent in Salamanca; and in 1480 they had only fix for men, and three for women; but now there are thirty-nine.   In 1518,
G 2 they
they counted eleven thoufand virgins; at prefent the perfons under vows arc happily reduced to one thoufand five hundred and nineteen.
The houfes are no more than three thoufand, yet they have twenty-feven parifh churches, with fifteen chapels, and the clergy are, of thofe that are parochial, three hundred and ninety-nine; of the cathedral, one hundred thirty-two; befides the royal clergy of S. Mark, forty-nine; amounting in the whole to five hundred and eighty.
Jn a city where the convents and clergy are fo numerous, it may be well expected that beggars will abound, and agreeably to this idea it is feen, that by the ample provision here made for lazinefs, every Street fwarms with vagabonds, not merely with thofe who are proper objects of compaf-fion, but with wretches, who, if compelled to work, would be found abundantly able to maintain themfelves. There is indeed an hofpicio, or general work-houfe, for their reception; but as the funds are limited, and do not amount to fixteen hundred pounds a year, it can fupport only four hundred and fifty paupers. Should, however, the government be inclined to in-
creafe
C 85 ]
creafe thefe funds, it will make no great difference, becaufe the numbers both in the work-houfe and the Streets will always bear proportion to the food distributed. This truth can fcarcely be inculcated too often; but I Shall defer my obfervations upon it, till I come to treat of Cadiz.
Among the various implements in this hofpicio, I was much pleafed with one for weaving tape, both cheap and iimple in its construction, and fo expeditious in its work, that a little child weaves near fifty yards, and a woman more than one hundred and twenty, in a day. I fhall defcriba it by the afiiStance of a drawing.
to wind the warp. ;;. 0. The lantern to flrain the warp.
k.   Treadles to work the /. '£ The roller and ratchet-
harnefs, wheel to wind the tape.
m.   The roller and ratchet  r. The bobbin.   /. The Hale.
G 3 The
c riutniuui
a. b. c. d.   Is the frame. e. f.   The warp, or chain E> b.   The two harneftes.
The bobbin is worked by the left hand alone, the fingers being kept under the chain, and the thumb above it. The flaie is held in the right hand to beat up the work.
I was much pleafed with the hufbandry in the vicinity of this city, as being fuited to the foil. The plough has neither coulter, fin, nor mould-board; but near the tail of the mare it has two pins, fo dif-pofed as to lay the furrow in high rafters or ridges, like the roof of a houfe. In this condition the land is left till feed time, when the ploughman firft. fows the grain, then flits the furrow; and thus the feed, being all covered at an equal depth, fprings away together, and appears as if it had been drilled. This, in a light foil, is certainly much better than either to plough clean before the grain is put into the ground, or to fow it under furrow, according to the practice of fome Englifli farmers; yet I am inclined to think that the Hampshire method of fowing upon ftale fallows, and letting in the feed by drags, would be found more profitable.
It is well known, that by this modern improvement, the value of land has been
more
[ s7 3
more than doubled upon all the Hampfhire hills. When they were accuftomed to plough often for their wheat, as in the low countries, and upon ftrong land, it has frequently happened, that after fowing four bufhels to an acre, they have reaped only eight, and fometimes not more than half as much. But now, by fuffering the land to fettle, by fcattering their feed upon the ground, when the whole perhaps is covered with thirties, and by pafling their heavy drags twice over the field, moving each time the length-way of the furrow, they make a faving on the quantity of feed, and more than double the produce they were accuftomed to receive. By improving on this practice, that is, by pufhing the principle fo far as to fold his fheep upon the land as faff as he had fown it, a judicious farmer, who lives at Cholterton in Wiltfhire, a few years fince reaped forty bufhels from an acre, on land which, with different management, would probably never have yielded back the feed he fowed,
When I exprefs myfelf fatisfied with the hufbandry in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, it is only fo far as it relates to G 4 ploughing;
ploughing i for, in no other refpecl: has it any claim to approbation. The ploughman and the grazier, inftead of being united in the fame perfon, are here eternally at variance f and as the latter is the bert tenant, the great proprietors give him the preference. Hence the country has been depopulated, and the lands, which are in tillage, for want of cattle to manure and tread them, produce light crops of corn. This bifhopric formerly contained feven hundred and forty-eight corporation towns , but now it has only three hundred and thirty-three, the Other four hundred and fifteen being de-ferted, and their arable lands reduced to pafture. To fuch an extent is the depopulation fpread, that, in a fpace of feven leagues in length, and five in breadth, which formerly contained one hundred and twenty-feven towns, each with its corregidor and council, only thirteen remain. Thefe have forty-feven churches.
The foilj I have faid, is light. It is a fand, and 'evidently a decompofed granite, becaufe, upon examination, it is feen to be plentifully charged with a fine white mica. Tne rock is chiefly granite, covered in fome
places
[ s9 ]
places with fchift, but in others with fili-cious grit, which, as it appears to me, is nothing but the fine land or broken quarts of the granite, united by a cement.
All men are fond of fyftem : they affem-ble facts, and are never happier than when from thefe they can deduce fome general conclufion. The facts I with to have recorded, are fuch as may trace out the origin of grit; and I am at prefent much inclined to think, that hereafter it will be given to the granite. The connection, as it relates to vicinity, Stands confeffed, and may be fo far ufeful in making out the hiftory of that great revolution which once happened to our earth ; but, from my own obfervations, I am ready to infer a more intimate connection, and that they Stand related to each other as effect and caufe, or as the parent and his offspring.
J have already fuggefted this idea, and have ventured to draw one conclufion from it in refpect to Monjouy, near Barcelona. If well founded, this will afiiit us to account for the aftonifhing number of large grit Stones, or grey whether^, as they are called, on the Wilt/hire Downs, and will
confirm
confirm the diluvian fyftem firft fuggefted by Mr. King, in the Philofophical Tranf-actions of 1767, I muft, however, referve what I have to fay upon this fubject, till I come to the defcription of the Alps, on my return from Spain.
The government of the city is in a cor-regidor, one alcalde mayor, and forty-eight regidores.
When I had Satisfied my curiofity at Salamanca, and found my Strength fo far restored that I could with fafety profecute my journey, I made an agreement with a Mozo del Camino, for himfelf and mule, to go with me to the Efcurial, not by the direct road, but by a fmall detour, in order to fee, at Piedrahita, a famous country-feat built by the Duke of Alba. The next day, after dinner, October 22, I took leave of Dr. Curtis with a cordial regret at parting, and fet forward on my way, proceeding towards Alba.
For the firft two leagues we afcended gradually ; then entered a foreft of ilex, which, as my guide informed me, ftretches eaft and weft near forty leagues. The acorns here are of the kind defcribed by Horace,
as
[   9' 3
as the origin of war among the rude inhabitants of an infant world, " glandem " atque cubilia propter." Not au.fr.ere, like thofe of the oak, or of the common ilex, but fweet and palatable, like the chef-nut, they are food, not merely for the fwine, but for the peafants, and yield considerable profit. Beyond the limits of this foreft, we began to defcend through a fine cultivated country, abounding with corn and wine ; and, at the distance of four fhort leagues from Salamanca, we reached Alba.
This city contains at prefent only three hundred houfes, and has feven convents,. One of them, that of the Carmelites, merits attention for its pictures, and for its trea-fures ; but the greatest curiofity is the caStle, with its round tower, fupported by four fquare ones, in which is deposited the armour of all the dukes of Alba. To this ancient edifice they have added, at fuccefTive periods, more modern habitations, forming a considerable quadrangle ; but unfortunately all the rooms are fmall.
About three leagues from hence, we entered another vast foreft of the ilex, where we faw many droves of fwine, a village with
a church,
t 92 ]
a church, and only four cottages, including the habitation of the curate.    Here we took up our quarters in the middle of the day   and having left it, were proceeding towards Piedrahita, when a fall of heavy and inceffant rain compelled us to flop fhort of it, and to have recourfe for Shelter to a miferable village called Malpartido. The pofada had only one bed for the ufe of the whole family; and as that was occupied by a lad, fon to the good woman of the houfe, then dying of a putrid fever, we had a moft uncomfortable profpecf for the night. Besides the bed-chamber, they had, as ufual, a kitchen, a room of about ten feet fquare, with an elevated hearth in the centre of it, over which a little opening in the roof afforded a vent for the fmoke.   Around the hearth was a wide bench, which by day fupplied the place of chairs, and by night ferved the purpofe of a bed.   Upon this they defigned to fcatter ftraw for me, leaving my guide to meafure his length on the bare board at the other end of this magnificent apartment. Plappily, however, I had a pafs from count Campomanes in my pocket.   This I fent, with my humble duty
to
to the alcalde, requesting that he would be pleafed to procure me a lodging for the night. In a few minutes the meffenger returned, and foon after the alcalde was announced. I rofe up instantly, prepared to meet him with profound refpecl: ; but, instead of a haughty magistrate, fuch as my imagination had conceived him, behold a little insignificant man, humble in his appearance, dretfed in a coleto, or leathern jacket destitute of fleeves, and bound clofe round him with a girdle of the fame materials. He informed me, that he had made all arrangements, and that the best bed in the village was preparing for me. He had fcarcely finifhed, when the young man, vvhofe place I was to occupy, entered to expostulate; but the alcalde cut him fhort with no bay remedio; and therefore, finding that it was to no purpose to complain, he quitted possession with a good grace, and took up his lod^inp- in the houfe of fome relation. Having thus fecured a bed, I left my guide to take good care of the alcalde, as a token of gratitude for his at-tention, and retired to my quarters for the night.
In
In my new habitation I met with a comfortable bed, clean meets, and a kind reception from the family and when I was to quit them in the morning, they could not be prevailed upon to accept a recompenfe. I was much furprifed at finding fuch generous fentiments in a cottage : but I have fince had frequent opportunities of admiring the high fpirit of the Spaniards, and, in many injlances, their contempt for money.
The putrid fever was not confined to the pofada ; it raged without reftraint ; and, not only in this village, but in thofe of the vicinity, there was fcarcely a houfe from which they had not lately buried one of the family.  It is much to be lamented, that the curates in Spain are not taught the management of fevers.   As they muft attend the dying,   to adminifter the facraments, it would be a deed of mercy well fuited to their character, and by no means inconfift-ent with their facred functions, mould they learn to prefcribe the medicines, which, in England, when properly applied, generally fucceed in checking the difeafe, and refcu-ing from death.   This knowledge may be eafily acquired; and whenever it (hall be
univerfally
universally diffused, fevers will ceafe to be fo deflructive as at present, and will be feared in many cafes no more than fire, which, well regulated, is not only fafe, but falutary; yet, if suffered to fpread, is fatal to the houfe. It is not my intention to insinuate, that the two professions of physic and divinity fhould be united, but only that in every place there fhould be fome one at hand who might endeavour to extinguish this destructive flame the moment it appears ; and, considering how fmall and thinly fcattered are the villages in Spain, and how wretched their inhabitants, the curate is the only perfon from whom they may naturally expect relief.
The country beyond Malpartido is exceedingly broken; and the 'granite rocks, exposing their rugged fronts without a covering, fhew clearly, that the iummit of this great chain of mountains is not remote. We had been afcending all the way from Salamanca 5 but when we left the Tonnes, as we draw nigh to Piedrahita, the waters take another courfe, and run into the Adaja.
Piedrahita is a village of one hundred and fifty houfes, with three convents and a bea-terio, belonging to the dutchefs of Alba, and 4 famous
E 96 ]
faihdus only on account of a country-feaf. erected here by the late duke, in imitation of the Ehglilhu Inftead of being built round a court, with a corridor, like the Spanifh houfes, it prefents a front of one hundred feet, with two projecting wings of fixty feet; and the ground floor, inltead of being abandoned to coach-houfe and ftables, is occupied by the kitchen, the offices, and the principal apartments; and over thefe, are bed-chambers for fervants. Contrary to the Spanilh cuftom, every room is ceiled, and the walls are papered. Altogether, it is a comfortable residence ; but, to an Englishman, it has no great pretentions; Had not the fake ft part of its furniture been removed, it would have feemed more beautiful; for the dutchefs, who had been there with her friends for a few weeks during the greateil heats of furrirner, was lately returned to court, and her prefence would have made a more humble habitation appear enchanting.
In leaving Piedrahita, we continued along the valley, (hut in between high mountains, all covered with the ilex and gumciflus. Thefe, mixed with the grey granite rocks,
make
make a beautiful appearance. As we advanced, we overtook feveral Merino flocks returning to the fouth. Near the Co/as del Puerto, we entered another valley, running eaft and weft, near ten leagues, and never much more than a mile in breadth. At the end of it, itands Avila.
The foil is fand; the plough is like that laft defcribed; the fields are divided into fmall portions; and the pafture is common. Their fheep are folded, and the Shepherd remains all night with his dogs near his flock, fheltered only by a Straw cabin, juft-large enough to Stretch himfelf at length. They have no iron about their carts, either on the wheels or axle-tree; the whole is wood. The oxen are yoked in pairs, and draw heavy burdens by their horns. The drefs of the peafant is the coleto.
As foon as we arrived in Avila, I vifited the market, to make, as ufual, provifion for the day; and having purchafed a kid, which, when the Merino flocks are paffing, fells for about ten reales, or two millings, I fent it to the cook's Shop, and then began my rambles. Whilst I was making fome enquiries, a gentleman accofted me, gave
Vol. II. H me
[08 j
me the informations I required, undertook himfelf to be my guide, and, before we parted, made me engage to dine with him. This was D. Baltafar Lezaeta, a prebendary of the cathedral; from whom I received as much attention as if I had been recommended by a friend.
Avila has at prefent only a thoufand houfes, or one-iixth part of its former population; yet the convents are not diminished, being Sixteen in number, nine for men, feven for women. Befides thefe, it maintains eight parish churches, a cathedral with forty canons, five hofpftals, and a univerfity. No wonder, then, that it Should fwarm, as it does, with Sturdy beggars.
This city, built upon a granite rock, and inclofed by a wall, with eighty-eight projecting towers, has every where the appearance of great antiquity, but more efpecially in the cathedral.
In this are many things worthy of attention, but principally the cloifter, for its exquifite neatnefs, and elegant Simplicity. The facrifty is a good building, and the treafure contained in it, both in plate and
jewels,
jewels, would in England be called inestimable. The cuftodia, as ufual, of folid Silver, is four feet high, adorned with Ionic, Compolite, and Corinthian columns, and difplays much taSte both in its defign and execution. Among their jewels they have the pectoral of the late archbifhop of Toledo, the infant don Luis, valuable chiefly for its gems, all large and of the fineSt water.   The choir has beautiful carvings.
Of the convents, the moft remarkable are thofe of the Carmelites; one for nuns, the other for friars; the latter built upon the fpot where S. Terefa was born, the former where She took the veil. In this, the principal thing at prefent worthy to be noticed, is a picture by Morales, reprefenting a dead Chrift in his mother's arms; of which, nothing need be faid after having named the painter, becaufe all his works have fuch peculiar foftnefs and exprefiion, that men have univerfally agreed in calling him, divine. The Carmelites of Avila once pof-feffed a treafure infinitely more valuable to them than all the pictures ever painted by Morales: this was the body of S. Terefa. It was originally interred at Alba, A. D.
H 2 1582.
[    ioo ]
1582, but three years afterwards it was fecretly taken up, and conveyed to Avila, where it was not iuffered long to reft; for the duke of Alba finding all other expedients vain, made application to the pope, and obtained an order for its return.
The life of S. Terefa, lately published among thofe of other faints, by the Rev. A. Butler, is peculiarly interefting. Her frame was naturally delicate, her imagination lively, and her mind, incapable of being fixed by trivial objects, turned with avidity to thofe which religion offered, the moment they were prefented to her view-But unfortunately meeting with the writings of S. Jerom, fhe became enamoured of the monaftic life, and quitting the line for which nature defigned her, fhe renounced the moft endearing ties, and bound herielf by the irrevocable vow.   Deep melancholy then feized on her, and increafed to fuch a degree, that for many days fhe lay both motionlefs and fenfelefs, like one who is in a trance.   Her tender frame, thus fhaken, prepared her for extafies and viiions, fuch. as it might appear invidious to repeat, wrere they not related by herfelf, and by her
grcateft
greateft admirers. She tells us, that in the fervour of her devotion, fhe not only became infenfible to every thing around her, but that her body was often lifted up from the earth, although fhe endeavoured to refill: the motion and bifhop Yepez relates in particular, that'when fhe was going to receive the cucharifl at Avila, fhe was raifed in a rapture higher than the grate, through which, as ufual in nunneries, it was prefented to her. She often heard the voice of God when fhe was recovered from a trance, but fometimes the devil, by imitation, endeavoured to deceive her; yet the was always able to detect the fraud. She frequently £rw S. Peter and S. Paul Handing on her left hand, whilft our Lord prefented himfelf before her eyes in fuch a manner, that it was impoflible for her to think it was the devil; yet, in obedience to the church, and by the advice of her confeffor, fhe infulted the vifion, as fhe had been ufed to do the evil Spirits, by crofling herfelf, and making figns of fcorn. Once, when fhe held in her hand the crofs which was at the end of her beads, our Lord took it from her, and when he reftored it, fhe H 3 faw
[ im 1
faw it compofed of four large gems incomparably more  precious  than diamonds. Thefe had his five wounds engraved upon them after a mod curious manner; and he told her that fhe fhould always fee that fame appearance: and fo fhe did; for from that time fhe no longer ■ faw the matter of which the crofs was made, but only thefe precious Hones, although no one faw them but herfelf.   Whenever devils appeared to her in hideous forms, fhe foon made them keep  their  distance,  by  fprinkling the ground with holy water.   She had often the happinefs of feeing fouls freed from purgatory, and carried up to heaven; but fhe never faw more  than  three which . efcaped the purifying flame, and thefe were F. Peter of Alcantara, F. Ivagnez, and a Carmelite friar.
It is acknowledged, that many of her friends, diltinguifhed for their good fenfe and piety, after examination,were of opinion,that fhe was deluded by the devil; yet fuch was the complexion of the times, that fhe was at laft univerfally regarded as a faint. She had indeed every thing needful to conciliate the good opinion of her friends, and the
admiration
[ ■ i°3 3
admiration of the multitude. The grace-fulnefs and dignity of her appearance, the foftnefs of her manners, and the loveliness of her difpofition, the quicknefs of her wit, the strength of her understanding, and the fire of her imagination, all her natural accomplishments receiving lustre from her exalted piety and zeal, from the fanctity of her life, and the feverity of her difcipKne, all confpired to eftablifh her reputation, as one that had immediate intercourfe with heaven.
It is curious, yet most humiliating, to fee a perfon of this defcription, amiable and refpectable as S. Terefa, deceived, and, with the best intentions, deceiving others. In this instance, we can readily account for the delusion from the delicacy and weakness of her frame, the strength of a dif-turbed imagination, and the prevalence of fuperftirion. But when we fee men of the finest understandings, in perfect health, of different and distant nations, in all ages, treading upon the fame inchanted ground, we can only wonder; for who can give any rational account of the aberrations of our reafon ? The history of myfticifm, if well H 4 written,
written, would be highly interesting, as embracing fome of the fineft characters that were ever admired in the world. Should any able writer be engaged to undertake this work, he will explain to us the principles upon which Boffuet, that prodigy of learning, perfecuted Fenelon, the moil amiable of men, whilft S. Francis of Sales was the object of his adoration; and why he poured contempt upon Madame Guion, whilft he had the higheft reverence for S. Terefa.
This extraordinary woman, cherifhed by fovereign princes, univerfally admired whilft living, and worshipped when dead, had the happinefs of leaving behind her fixteen nunneries, and fourteen convents of friars, founded by herfelf, and fubject to the order of Carmelites, which fhe had reformed.
Avila, although it no longer poftefTes her remains, yet, as the place of her nativity and chief residence, is much reforted to at the feafon of her feftival. It has no manufactures. Some years fmce they began making cloth, but the situation not being favourable, the project was abandoned, and their dependence at prefent is on the produce
of
[   k»5 1
of the foil. The country abounds with faf-fron, and this for a feafon finds employment for the women and the children. Were it not for the cathedral and the convents, the city would be deferted, becaufe not one proprietor of land refides here; the whole being either rented, or held in adtninijlration, as they exprefs it; that is, cultivated b) Stewards on the proprietors account.
No country can Suffer more than Spain for want of a rich tenantry; and, perhaps, none in this refpecl: can rival England* We find univerfally that wealth produces wealth; but then, to produce it from the earth, a due proportion of it muft be in the pocket of the farmer. Many gentlemen among us, either for amufement, or with a view to gain, have given attention to agriculture, and have occupied much land; they have produced luxuriant crops, and have introduced good hufbandry; but, I apprehend, few can boaSt of having made much profit, and moft are ready to confefs that they have fuffered lofs. If, then, rending on their own efiates, with all their attention, they are considerable lofers, how great would be the lofs, if in distant provinces
vinccs they employed only stewards, to plough, to fow, to fell, and to eat up all the produce of their lands ? In France they are fo fenfible of this, that for want of wealthy farmers, the proprietor finds ftock, and takes-his proportion of the produce; but in Spain, excepting a few provinces, the lands are commonly in administration; and hence, extenfive districts yield only a contemptible revenue to their lord.
From Avila we proceeded about a league, through a rich valley, and then began to climb thofe mountains, which, dividing the two Caftilles, formed for many ages the strong barrier between the Christians and the Moors; till Ferdinand I. defcending with the united forces of Castille and Leon into the plain, drove the infidels before him, and difplaycd his victorious banners in Guadalajara, Alcala, and Madrid.
On thefe high mountains we travelled near five leagues without feeing a human face, or habitation, and fcarcely a beaten track.
At a lower level we found the ilex. As we afcended, thefe were succeeded by the roble oak; but near the fummit we faw
only
only pines, with the juniperus europeus, ■ the daphne mezereum, the matricaria fua-vis, the genifta, and a variety of aromatic herbs, but chiefly thyme. At almoft every level, the ciftus tribes abound upon the granite mountains, excepting where, like thefe, the fummits are covered with an eternal mow.
The firft little village we pafTed through, is called Naval Feral; the next, at the difi-tance of a league, Navas del Marques: this, although it has only fifty cottages, has a church, a chapel, and a convent. From hence we proceeded about three leagues, and then began defcending into the plains of New Caftille.
All the way from Salamanca I obfcrved faffron growing wild, which, if collected, would help to employ the poor in their villages, and yield considerable profit.
As we approached the Efcurial, we entered upon the king's hunting road, made like thofe of England, rather for ufe than beauty. Had the Spaniards been every where fatisfied with Such, where they have finiihed one league, they might have completed twenty.    Their ambition aims in
every
every thing at perfection, and by feeking too much, they often obtain too little. The idea they have formed to themfelves of a perfect road, in point of utility, is moft undoubtedly well founded; but in attempting to reduce this to practice, they are forced to lofe much time, and to expend more money than the benefit to be derived from it is worth. Had their ambition been lefs afpir-ing, ere now a communication would have been opened between all their great cities, and much of their produce, now loft, would have found a market. This hunting road fhould convince the theorifts among them, that a high-way may be firm without fide walls, and fupport any given weight without fuch a foundation of huge rocks as would be needful for a caftle. And although, for the mere purpofe of expedition, to be perfectly both ftraight and level would be defireable, yet the traveller is better pleafed where he finds variety, and is charmed, as he proceeds, with a con flan t fucceffion of new profpects.
Oil my arrival at my journey's end, I found a letter from our minister, Mr. Li/ton, to inform me. that when the court
left
I   I09 1
left S. Ildefonfo, where he had been for. fome time expecting me, he had vifited Madrid, and that he mould not come to the Efcurial till the beginning of the week.
Having therefore fome time to fpare for the excurfiori, I immediately proceeded to repafs the mountains, not returning by the fame road, but going eaftward by Guadar-rama, and crorTing by the Puerto de Fuen-friay a pafs fo called from the coldnefs of its waters. This puerto is elevated, and the profpect from it is delightful; but with the fcorching fun, the afcent to it is fcarcejy bearable. In looking down towards Segovia, the whole country appears level, like the furface of a lake, and extended like the ocean; but, as we defcend into this plain, we fee the mountains rife before us. The country immediately around us, near thi> iummit, is majestically wild, with deep ravins and projecting rocks, covered with pmes wherever pines can grow, and torn by raging torrents.
In a deep ree'efs, open and expofed only to the north wind, Hands S. Ildefonfo, enjoying frefhnefs, and gathering the fruits of
fpring,
fprlng, when all to the fouth of thefe high mountains, fainting with heat, are engaged in reaping, and collecting the autumnal crops. This change of climate, in the fpace of eight leagues, for that is the distance from the Efcurial to S. Ildefonfo, induced Philip V. to build a palace here.
S. Ildefonfo occupies three fides of a fquare, the two wings of which being joined, each by a long range of buildings, designed for the king's retinue, and clofed in at bottom by iron gates and rails, the whole forms a beautiful and fpacious area. The principal front, of five hundred and thirty feet in length, is to the fouth, looking to the garden, and through its whole extent the apartments communicate with all the doors on the fame line.
To give fome idea of the pictures, it may be fufticient to name the mailers, whofe works have been here collected by Philip, and by fuccceding princes. The principal are, Leonardo de Vinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Hannibal Caraci, Guercino, Gui-do, Carlo Maratti, Correggio, Rubens, Poufin, Paul Vcronefe, Woverman, Te-niers, Martin de Vos, Andrea del Sarto,
Vandyke,
Vandyke, Dominicini, Tintoret, Albert Durer, Jordano, Velazquez Ribera, Ri-balta, Valdez, Murillo, Mcngs. In the church, the frefco paintings are by Bayen, Mariano, and Maella.
In the lower apartments is a collection of antique ltatues, made by Chriflina, queen of Sweden, and confide red as inestimable.
The church is dark, but elegant; and, with refpect to treafures, has few to rival it in Spain. Among the valt variety of gold and filver ornaments, the molt finking is one of the cujiodias, valued originally at feventy thoufand ducats, or 7,690. 8j. 6d. flerling.
The garden occupies a ridge, rifmg to the fouth, and falling both to the eaft and to the weft. Near the palace it is laid out in the old tafte, with clipped hedges and Straight walks, adorned with numerous fountains; but in proportion to the dif-tance, it becomes more wild, and terminates in the uncultivated and pathlefs foreft, where the cragged rocks appearing among oaks and pines, prefent a ftriking contrail with the works of art.
This
This garden, delightful for its walks, which, although Shady, are neither damp nor gloomy, is moSt to be admired for its fountains.   Of thefe, the moil remarkable are eight, dedicated to the principal heathen deities, and adorned each with its proper emblems.   In one, Diana appears attended by her nymphs, who are hiding her from Acteon.   In another is feen Latona with Apollo and Diana, Surrounded by Sixty-four jets of water.   The moSt furpriling is Fame feated on Pegafus, with a trumpet to her mouth, throwing up a Stream of more than two inches in diameter to the height of one hundred and thirty-two feet. But the moil pleafing fight is the Plazuela de las Ocho Calks, where eight walks unite, each with its fountain in the centre, and where eight other fountains, under lofty arches, fupported by Ionic pillars of white Italian marble, form an octagon, adorned with the images of Saturn, Minerva, Veil a, Neptune,  Ceres,  Mars,  Hercules, and Peace, Handing round it; and Apollo, with Pandora, in the middle.   The Statues are all of lead, varnifhed in imitation of brafs, and were made by Fermin and TierrL
Befides
Befides fountains innumerable, here are vail feferyoirs and falls of water, fo dif-pofed as to contribute much to the beauty of the place. When we coniider, that the whole of the garden was a barren rock, that the foil is brought from a great dif-tance, and that water is conveyed to every tree; when we reflect upon the quantity of lead ufed for the images, and of call iron for the pipes, with the expence of workmanship for both, we lhall not be furprifed to hear that this place colt forty-live millions of piaftres, or, in English money, near Six millions and an half.
Nothing is more whimfical than taite; but, if it be true that beauty is founded in utility, this place will always deferve to be admired. In the prefent day, it is not uncommon to build the manlion in the middle of a field; open and expofed to every wind, without Shelter, without a fence, and wholly unconnected with the garden. Near the habitation all is wild, and art, if any where, appears only at a distance. In all this we can trace no utility, nor will fuc-ceeding generations difcover beauty. On the contrary, in. the garden of S. Ildefonfo,
Vol. II, I we
we find every thing which in a fultry fea-fon is deiirable; a free circulation of air, a deep fhade, and refreshing vapours to ab-forb the heat; whilft from its contiguity to the manfion, the accefs to it is eafy, and at any time thefe comforts may be inftantly enjoyed; yet, without thefe numerous fountains, the clipped hedges, and the narrow walks, the circulation would be lefs rapid, the Shade lefs deep, and the refreihing vapour would be wanting.
The glafs manufacture is here carried to a degree of perfection unknown in England, The largeft mirrors are made in a brafs frame, one hundred and fixty-two inches long, ninety-three wide, and fix deep, weighing near nine tons. Thefe are defigned wholly for the royal palaces, and for prefents from the king. Yet, even for fuch purpofes it is ill placed, and proves a devouring monfter in a country where provisions are dear, fewel fcarce, and carriage exceedingly expensive.
Here is alfo a royal manufacture of linen, employing about fifteen looms; by which, as it is laid, the king is a considerable lofer.
Being
Being now within the diflance of two fhort leagues from Segovia, I could not return without paying a viiit to that intereil-ing city. In the way to it, there is little appearance of cultivation, and the obvious reafon is the continual depredations occasioned by the royal deer. As we palfed through the woods, before we came into the open field, we faw vafl herds of them, unconfined, and free to range unmolefled over all the country.
In Segovia, the firft. object to attract the eye, is the aqueduct. It contains one hundred and fifty-nine arches, extends about feven hundred and forty yards, and, where it croffes the valley, it is fomething more than ninety-four feet high.
The cathedral has no great pretensions; yet in one of the chapels there is a good altar, with the Defcent from the Crofs well executed in mezzo relievo, by a difciple of Michael Angelo, and finifhed A. D. 157^ The church is nearly upon the model of the great church at Salamanca, but it is not fo highly finifhed.
The Alcazar, or ancient palace of the Moors, has been fo often defcribed, that I I 2 mould
ihould pafs it over in filence, did not the attentions I received there deferve a particular remembrance. I had no letters, and count Lacy, the infpector, was abfentj but, upon prefenting myfelf to his lieutenant, as a ftranger, he received me with politenefs, and conducted me to every apartment. This ftrong tower is no longer, as formerly, a ftate prifon: it ferves a more honourable purpofe, and is devoted to one hundred cavaliers, who are here inftructed in the military fcience. The light of this building gave me pleafure, more efpecially the great hall, with the images of all their monarchs; but the higheft fatisfaction was, to fee the Spanim character ftrongly marked in the countenances of many among the young gentlemen who are educated here. A Spaniard may porTibly grow rich in trade, he may make a progrefs in the fciences, but, were he left to follow his natural inclination, he would certainly betake himfelf to a military life; and for that, if generofity, if patience and fortitude, if a fpirit of cnter-prize, are requifite, in all thefe the true Spaniard will excel.
Segovia was once famous for its cloth, 2 made
[  1*7 ]
made on the king's account; but other nations have fince become rivals in this branch, and the manufacture in this city has been gradually declining. When the king gave it up to a private company, he left about three thoufand pounds in trade; but now he is no longer a partner in the bufinefs. In the year 1612, were made here, twenty-five thoufand five hundred pieces of cloth, which confumed forty-four thoufand fix hundred and twenty-five quintals of wool, employed thirty-four thoufand one hundred and eighty-nine perfons; but at prefent they make only about fpur thoufand pieces. The principal imperfections of this cloth are, that the thread is not even, and that much greafe remains in it, when it is delivered to the dyer, in confequence of which, the colour is apt to fail.
In the year 1525, the city contained five thoufand families, but now they do not fur-pafs two thoufand; a fcanty population this for twenty-five parifhes : yet, befides the twenty-five churches, together with the cathedral, they have one and twenty convents. When the canal is finimed, and the communication opened to the Bay of Bifcay I 3 at
[   »8 ]
at S. Ander, the trade and manufactures of Segovia will revive; but, previous to that event, there can be nothing to infpire them with hope.
As we returned (October 28,) towards New Caflille, my intention was to have travelled at our leifure; but, obferving fome degree of impatience in my guide to repafs the mountains before night, I was happy to indulge him ; and the next morning, when I looked back and law the lofty Summits covered deep with mow,I comprehended the reef on of his folicitude. The ways behind us were rendered thus for the time impaflable, whilft all before us had been only watered by foft and refreshing mowers.
In the Old Cattille, the ufual price demanded by a muleteer is four reals a day for himfelf, as many for his mule, and fix for barley, altogether equal to 2 J. 9 d.; but, fhould you omit to ma'.c a bargain, you muft depend upon his mercy. The whole expence of travelling may be reckoned at ten millings a day, if you go Straight forwards ; but if you make a circle, or return with the fame mule, it comes to about 7 j. 6d.
The
The convent of S. Lorenzo is feated in a deep recefs, at the foot of thofe high mountains which feparate the two Caftiiles, and protected from every wind except the fouth -eaft; it looks down upon a wide extended plain, with all the neighbouring hills covered by thick woods, whilft the mountains to the north are bare, or covered almoft perpetually with fnow. It was built by Philip II. in obedience to his father Charles V. to accomplish his vow made after the battle of S„ Quintin, which he gained by the inter7 ceflion of S, Lorenzo. In honour of that faint, the architect, Juan Bautifta de Toledo, took his idea from a gridiron, the instrument on which he Suffered, making the royal residence project by way of handle, and representing, not only the bars by multiplied divifions, but the legs, by four high towers placed in the angles of this edifice. The dimensions of the convent are feven hundred and forty Spanish feet by five hundred and eighty, and the height is Sixty ; but the dome of the church is three hundred and thirty. The whole was finished under the infpection of Juan de Herrera, who was pupil to Bautifta.
The friars of this convent are one hun-I 4 dred
drcd and Sixty, and their annual revenue is five millions of reals, or about fifty thoufand pounds, ariling partly from land, and partly from their flock of thirty-fix thoufand Merino fheep, befides one thoufand kept constantly near home, for the confumption of the family.
Their library confifts of thirty thoufand volumes, contained in two magnificent a-partments, each, one hundred and ninety-four Spanifh, or fomething more than one hundred and eighty-two English feet in length. In the lower room, are chiefly printed books j yet in it is depofited the fv mous manufcript of the FourGofpels, written in gold letters, a work of the eleventh century. Over thefe arc collected four thoufand three hundred manufcripts, of which five hundred and iixty-fevcn are Greek, fixty-feven Hebrew, and one thoufand eight hundred Arabic, the latter well defcribed in a catalogue lately published by Cafiri.
In the middle of the lower room is a temple, with a great variety of figures, containing one thoufand four hundred and forty-eight ounces of filver, and forty-three of gold, befide rich gems.
To a connoiffeur in paintings, no place
can
PC
A%/B%%-
[ *** ]
can afford higher entertainment than the convent of the Efcurial. In every part of it are feen the works of the belt mailers, and fome of their moft capital performances, It were endlefs to enumerate particulars. Suffice it to fay, that during the refidence of a month, I never failed a Jingle day vifit-ing the convent, and never left it without regret; always giving a more minute attention to the productions of thofe artifts who are the leaft known in England. I had peculiar pleafure in finding here, fo many monuments of Titian, who, during a residence of five years in Spain, constantly ex-ercifed his pencil to enrich this nation, and to immortalize his name. The pictures which moft rivetted my attention, were the famous Supper of Chrift with the difciples, by Titian; and a Holy Family, by Raphael; the latter once in the polfefhon of our Charles, but fold by Cromwell, and purcha-fed by the Spanim ambafFador, for two thoufand pounds: it is called La Per/a. The belt of the pictures are collected in five principal apartments: in the ficrifty, a room of one hundred and eight by thirty-three; in the iglefia vieja, which is one hundred and five by thirty-four; and in two hali.?
of
of eighty by twenty, with their antichamber. Thefe laft are called Las Salas de los Capi-tulos, and, whilft the court is here, are occupied by count Florida Blanca, on his public days. The great ftair-cafe is beautiful, adorned with frefco paintings of the battle of S. Quintin, by Luca Jordano.
The pantheon, or catacomb, where the royal family, beginning with Charles V. are buried, is a fubterranean vault of beautiful marble, highly finifhed, capable of receiving twenty-fix bodies, each in its own recefs.
As for the treafures of the church, they are ineftimable. The image of S. Lorenzo alone contains four hundred and fifty pounds of filver, with eighteen pounds of gold, yet this bears a finall proportion to the reft.
At a little diftance from the convent, the prince of Afturias, and one of his brothers, the infant Don Gabriel, have each a little box, fitted up with exquifite tafte, and hung with the beft pictures, to which they often retire with their friends.' That of the prince is the moft elegant, and, 'as far as can be warranted by one fpecimen, forms a happy prefage for the arts, whenever he fliail mount the throne.
The Efcurial, as a refidence, is far from
pleafant.
t    *23 ]
pleafant. Were it low, and Sheltered, like Aranjuez, it would be agreeable in fpring; or, were it elevated, hanging to the north, and covered by thick woods, like S. Ilde-fonzo, it might be delightful as a retreat in fummer; but expofed, as it is, to the full Stroke of the meridian fun, and raifed up near to regions covered with eternal mow, without Shelter, and destitute of Shade, it has no local charms at any feafon of the year. The ministers, foreign and domeftic, give good dinners, and do every thing they can to make this folitude fupportable; but, as few ladies can be accommodated here, the aflemblies want that gaiety which is peculiar to the fex.
The king Spends moft of his time in mooting. In the middle of the day, after a Short excurfion, he returns to dinner, con-verfes with the foreign ministers, retires for a few minutes with his confeffor, and, generally before three, fometimes much fooner, leaves the palace, and goes to the diftance of twenty or thirty-miles before he begins to hunt. When the light fails, he gets into his carriage, and returns. No weather deters him, becaufe he is not afraid of either
thunder.
thunder, lightning, hail, rain, or fnow, but when one cloak is wet, he puts on another $ and as for his attendants, he tells them coolly, " Rain breaks no bones." No holidays detain him from his fport, except two in the paffion-week j and then, although he is naturally of a moft placid temper, he is faid to be fo crofs that no one choofes to come near him. Even when one of his fons was thought to be at the point of death, he went out as ufual, always infilling that he would certainly recover; and when informed that his fon was dead, he replied, with his accuftomed calmnefs, " Well, then, fmcc ** nothing can be done, we mufl make the u befl of it." Kis ufual attendants are the prince of Afiurias, the captain of the guard, his mafler of the horfe, his groom of the flole, his phyfician, and his furgeom All thefe occupy five carriages, befides which, there is one for medicines, guns, ammunition, dry clothes, &c. Each carriage has fix mules; and as, upon the road, there are fe-veral relays for them and for the guards, the number required for daily ufe is about two hundred. Their rate of travelling is twelve miles an hour \ in confequence of which,
accidents
[   «5 ]
accidents happen frequently to the men, and to the mules.
In hunting, the king does not depend altogether on his dogs: he has commonly about two hundred men employed to beat up the game, and drive it towards him at convenient places, where he and the prince are ready, with fervants attending to charge the guns, and to hand them forwards as fan: as they are fired. No game comes amifs to him} but he is peculiarly flattered with the idea of delivering the country from wolves, of which he keeps an exact account, and, when I was at the Efcurial, the number he had Ihot w^as eight hundred and eighteen. Whenever one is heard of within a rcafon-able distance, a multitude of people, from fixteen hundred to two thoufand, according to the extent of the mountain, are fent out to watch, furround, and drive it into fome fpot, where the king may have the belt chance for killing it. To thefe he gives lix reals each j but if he kills the wolf, the watchmen have double pay. This ex-pence, it muff be confeffed, is needlefs j becaufe a few peafants would often be fufH-cient, either to deftroy the enemy, or make
him
him quit the country ; but where a good fovereign has pleasure in a purfuit, his Subjects will be the hit to think that he can purchafe it too dearly. It were happy, however, for Spain, were this the whole expence; but it certainly bears a fmall proportion to the fum total of what the nation lofes by the king's rage for hunting. All round the Jitios, or royal manfions, the wafles are of vail extent. I am informed, that the foreft of the Pardo is thirty leagues in circumference; and if to this be added, all the uncultivated land near Aranjuez, S. Ildefonfo, and the Efcurial \ if, moreover, , we confider that the deer, being unconfined, range freely over the intermediate country, how high will be the eftimate ! It is true, the king pays the farmers to the utmoft for the damages they fuifer; but then, the injury fuitained by the community cannot be fo eafily compenfated, becaufe the country, wanting food, is depopulated, and the villages are gone to ruin.
I have been told by thofe who are befl acquainted with the king, that in his youth he had acquired a tafle for letters, but being checked in that purfuit, he had given 4 fcope
[    127 1
feope to the family propenfity, a propensity not only now confirmed by inveterate habits, but encouraged in himfelf with a view to avoid entanglements. He is certainly a man of principle, and is univerfally allowed to be one of the moff. virtuous men in his dominions; but this purity of morals he himfelf attributes to his mind being constantly amufed, and not to his natural constitution.
I prolonged my Stay at the Efcurial, chiefly for the purpofe of being, prefent at the Batida, or royal hunt, of which there are four every year. This was ordered for the 28th of November, previous to the departure of the court.
On the day appointed, Mr. Lifton had the goodnefs to place me with the Neapolitan ambaffador, who, as representing one of the family, gave a Sumptuous repaft upon the occasion; and in his carriage I proceeded to the fcene of action. It was an extenfive plain, with a rifing ground commanding it, and, at the distance of about half a mile from this eminence, rofe a little wood, in which the king, with his three fons, were hid, attended by their fervants.
For
[    «$ ]
For many days previous to this, two thou 3 fand men had been difperfed in parties over the whole country to difturb the game, and to drive it towards the common centre, by patroling night and day, and constantly, yet flowly, drawing nearer to each other, Soon after we had occupied our ftation on a rifmg ground, we began to fee the deer at a vaft distance bounding over the plain from every quarter, and making towards the fatal fpot. As they approached, we heard, faintly at first, then more distinctly, the found of guns, and faw the confufion of the game^ moving quick in all directions, but changing their courfe at every instant, as if uncertain where to look for fafety. When the fcour-ing parties came first in light, they appeared to be feparated by intervals, and to confine the game merely by their fhouts and by the firing of their arms; but as they advanced upon the plain, they formed a wall, and as they drew nearer, they Strengthened this by the doubling of their ranks, compelling thus the game to pafs in vaft droves before the royal markfmen.   Then began the carnage and for more than a quarter of an hour the firing was inceffant.   Some of
the
the deer, who had either more difcernment than the reft, or a better memory; who were actuated by Stronger fears, or, perhaps, by more exaltdd courage, absolutely refufed to proceed, when they approached the ambufcade; and, making a quick turn, notwithstanding the Shouts, the motions, and the firing of the guards, they leaped clean over their redoubled ranks, and efcaped into the woods.
When the riving ccafed, the carriages a\\ advanced towards the wood, and the company alighted to pay their compliments, and to view the game. We found part of it fpread in two rows upon the field of battle, and the king, with his fons, furveying it. The game-keepers were returning loaded with fuch as had been mortally wounded, but had yet efcaped to a considerable distance ; and, as faff, as they arrived, they deposited the fpoil at the Sovereign's feet. Having the curiosity to count the numbers, I found one hundred and forty-five deer, with one wild boar. Whilft thus engaged, I heard a murmur, and faw every one in motion. Directing my attention to the fpot
Vol. II. K to
[   *3° ]
to which all were preffing, I faw at a distance a little company coming with a boar tied neck and heels together, and flung upon a pole. As they approached, the monarch and his fons, arming themfelves afrefh, drew up in a line; and when they were at a convenient diflance, the burthen was deposited, the cords, one after another, cut, and the poor crippled animal was allaying to move, when a well directed volley freed him from his fears.
The expence of that day's fport was reckoned at three hundred thoufand reals, or, in sterling, three thoufand pounds.
In the evening, the game, as ufual, was all depofited in the room where the king took his fupper, and there the family ambaffa-dors attended to pay their compliments. By family ambaffadors are understood thofe of Naples, Portugal, and France, who having more free accefs, and being expected to pay more minute attention, think it incumbent upon them to exprefs their interest in every thing which gives him pleafure, and not only congratulate him upon thefe great occasions, but every night, whilft he is at
fupper,
[ til ]
flipper* make enquiries, and afterwards inform their friends, what the king has killed.
Mr. Liflon, defirous of quitting the Efcurial previous to the departure of the court, ordered a Cocke de Colleras to be ready the day after the Batida. This precaution is taken by the foreign ministers to fecure mules, becaufe, when the court is in motion, no lefs than twenty thoufand being required for their ufe, the whole country is laid under an arreSt, and neither horfe nor mule can be obtained for any other purpofe.
In this little journey I was exceedingly diverted and furprifed with the docility of the mules and the agility of their drivers. I had travelled all the way from Barcelona to Madrid in a Coche de Colleras, with feven mules, and both at that time, and on fubfequent occasions, had been Struck with the quicknefs of understanding in the mule, and of motion in the driver; but till this expedition, I had no idea to what extent it might be carried.   The two coachmen fit upon the box, and, of the fix mules, none but the two neareSt have reins to guide K 2 them;
them; the four leaders being perfectly at liberty, and governed only by the voice. Thus harneffed, they go upon the gallop the whole way, and when they come to any fhort turning, whether to the right or to the left, they inftantly obey the word, and move altogether, bending to it like a fpring. As all muft undergo tuition, and require frequently fome correction, ihould any one refufe the collar, or not keep up exactly wTith the reft, whether it be, for example, Coronela or Capitana; the name pronounced with a degree of vehemence, rapidly in the three firft Syllables and flowly in the laft, being fufficient to awaken their attention, and to fecure their obedience, the ears are raifed, and the mule inftantly exerts her ftrength. But, fhould there be any failure in obedience, one of the men fprings furious from the box, quickly overtakes the offending mule, and thrafhes her without mercy; then, in the twinkling of an eye, leaps upon the box again, and calmly finifhes the tale he had been teliinp- his
o
companion. In this journey I thought I had learnt the names of all the mules, yet one which  frequently  occurred created
fome
f   *33 1
fome confufion, becaufe I could not find to which individual it belonged, nor could I diffinctly make out the name itfelf. It founded like Cagliqjira, and led me to imagine that the animal was fo named after the famous impoftor Caglioftro, only fuiting the termination to the fex, becaufe the mules in harnefs are ufually females. In a fubfe-quent journey the whole difficulty vaniihed, and my high eftimation of the mule, in point of fagaciry, was confirmed. The word in queflion, when diflinclly fpoken, was aquella otra; that is, you other alfo, and then, fuppofing Coronela and Capitana to be pairs, if the coachman had been calling to the former by name, aquella otra became applicable to the latter, and was equally efficacious as the fmarteft flroke of a long whip; but if he had been chiding Capitana, in that cafe, aquella otra acted as a Stimulus to Coronela, and produced in her the mofl prompt obedience.
We did not leave the Efcurial till four in the afternoon, and at. half after feven arrived at the duke of Berwick's, where we had been engaged to Upend the evening, having travelled feven leagues in about three hours and an half.
K 3 MADPvID.
MADRID.
"TJEING thus returned to the capital of I J Spain, where I fpent the fubfequent winter, it may not be improper to give fome idea of the life a stranger leads here, with a few obfervations on the manners of the age.
Having been once introduced at court, you are at liberty to go as often as you pleafe. I availed myfelf frequently of this privilege, both for the fake of viewing the paintings at my leifure, and for conversation, becaufe at court is the general rendezvous, where men of distinction asfemble eveiy morning to pay their compliments to the feveral branches of the royal family, whilst they are at dinner, and to talk of what is paffing in the world.
When the king gets into his coach, to gq out, as ufual, to his favourite amufement?
the
[   '35 J
the company retires; and, as the corps diplomatique is here remarkable for hofpita-hty, a perfon well recommended is never at a lofs for the moft genteel fociety at all hours of the day. Gratitude requires that I fhould exprefs my obligations, in this place, to thofe, not only of the foreign mi-nifters, but others, who honoured me with their fricndfhip and protection. I fhall therefore take the liberty of defcribing briefly the kind of life I led whilft I was near the court.
Count Florida Blanca muft certainly claim the firft place in my remembrance; for although at Madrid he gave no entertainments, yet in the fitios he had always the gqodnefs to admit me into the number of his guefts when he gave his weekly dinners. From our own minifter I every where experienced, not merely that general protection which he gives to all, and thofe minute attentions for which he is univerfally admired, but the kindnefs, hofpitality, and friendfhip of a brother. His houfe was at all times open to me, and when he gave a dinner to his friends, I never was forgotten.
K4 My
My invitation to the duke de Vauguion's was both general and Special. Here the dinners were magnificent, the company numerous, and the conversation interesting; and here I dined more frequently than at any other table in Madrid, attracted, however, neither by the magnificence of the entertainment, nor by the company which reforted to the houfe, fo much as by the eafe and elegance of the duke and dutcheSs, and the lovely fimplicity of their children.
With the American, Ruffian, and Pruf-fian ministers, I felt perfectly at home; and not much lefs fo with thofe of Genoa and Venice. The other foreign ministers often honoured me with invitations, and I was always happy in accepting them.
Whenever I wiflied to cultivate the Sciences, or to converfe with men of letters, I frequented the more humble, but not lefs hofpitable, tables of fome native Spaniards, where I never failed to meet with a kind reception. With Izquierdo and Angulo, I increafed my knowledge in mineralogy; and on whatever Subject I was defirous of gaining information, I was fure to meet with fatisfaction, either from them or from
their
[   *37 3
their friends. Ortega has been already mentioned as a botanist; D. Fr°. Bayer will always be remembered as a polite fcholar; and D. Juan Bautifta Munoz will be celebrated as an historian, whenever he mail favour the public with his work on the conqueft of America; Clavijo de-ferves the higheft commendation, as a faithful and elegant tranilator, and as a man of general information. Betides thefe, I met w ith two brothers Fernandez, who have distinguished themselves in chemiftry, and the Abbe Guevara, who excels in his knowledge of Spanifh hiftory, and political ceconomy. With all thefe gentlemen I was upon a moft friendly footing.
I dined frequently with the marquis Imperial^ a grandee of Spain, moft defervedly admired for the goodness of his heart, and the foftnefs of his manners; and once I had the honour to dine with the marquis de Ovieco, who is likewise a grandee.
This gentleman is pointed out as an example of an old Spaniard; and, if from one individual we might Venture to form a general idea of a community, the politenets,
probity,
[   '3§ ]
probity, and true dignity, confpicuous in, his whole deportment, muft fill us with the higheff reverence and effeem for the Spanish nation.
Like the French, the Spaniards drink their wine at dinner; but as foon as they have finished their defert, and taken coffee, they retire to their couch.
When they rife from the fie ft a, they get into their carriages to parade up and down the prado, never going fafter than a walk. As they move flowly on in one direction, they look into the coaches which are returning in the other, and bow to their acquaintance every time they pafs. On fome high days I have counted four hundred coaches, and, on fuch occafions it requires more than two hours to proceed one mile.
At the clofe of day, people fay the ufual prayer, then wiih each other a good evening, and begin retiring to their houfes, where they take their refrefco of chocolate, with bifcuits and a glafs of water.
When you are properly introduced into a Spanifh family, you are told at parting, " Now, Sir, you are matter of this houfe ;"
but
[   139 1
but the extent of the grant muft be judged of by your own natural fagacity; becaufe, fuch is the politenefs of a Spaniard, that he makes life of this expreffion when nothing more is meant than that you are at liberty to call upon him j accordingly you fee many retire before each meal, or drop in after it: but when it is taken in its full extent, the grant means dinner, refrefco, fupper, any or all, whenever it may fuit you to partake of them.
Moft families, efpecially the great, have their tertulla, or evening fociety for cards and converfation, after which, they, who are upon a footing of intimacy, ft ay and partake of a little fupper. At thefe evening meetings you fee the fame faces from day to day. The fociety I chiefly frequented was at the dutchefs of Berwick's 3 but I went often to the dutchefs de Vauguion's, fome-times to the countefs del Carpios, and too feldom I vifited count Campomanes. Now and then, with a view to get an infight into the nature of fociety, I wandered away to other families, but not meeting any one yvith whom I had been previoufly acquainted,
[   '4° I
ed, befides the lady of the family, I was foon weary, and could feldom prevail upon my Self to prolong my flay.
Without any difparagement to the reil, I may venture to fay, that the fociety at the dutchefs of Berwick's was the moft pleaS-ing; it was frequented by the foreign mi-nifters, and, not only were the dutchefs and her lifter, the princefs of Stolberg, moft engaging in their manners, but the eafe and freedom which every one enjoyed made the time pafs delightfully.   The dutchefs herfelfj and three of her friends, occupied a whift table, fome feparated themfelves for converfation, and the princefs commonly, for a part of the evening, amufed herfelf with drawing, under the infpection and tuition of the Prufhan miniiter, who, for tafteand execution, is one of the firft matters in that line; others were engaged at the piano forte.   For my part, I commonly took up my pencil, and profited by the lef-fons given to the princefs.    At. eleven o'clock we fat down to an elegant fupper, and about one in the morning I retired, having nearly two miles to walk. The duke generally came home to fupper, but
he
[   I4I 1
he feldom fat long before he retired to his bed.
At the dutchefs de Vauguion's the fociety was chiefly French. The amufements were cards,, tricktrac, and chefs, concluding with a fupper.
At the countefs del Carpio's all were Spaniards, excepting one Italian, and the amu Semen t was fome game at cards. The evening clofed with a light fupper. The count was commonly at home before ten, and, except when at the play-houfe, he fpent his evenings in his family. He is a fenfible man, and well informed; and the countefs muft give life to every fociety, where fhe is found. She is far from hand-Some; yet, from the fprightlinefs of her wit, and the foftnefs of her manners, fhe is highly interefting, and the more fo from her delicacy of conftitution, and the weak-nefs of her health.
Count Campomanes gives no fuppers, and cards are feldom Seen; but his conversation fills up the time, and renders all other fpecies of amufement needlefs. The fociety is chiefly from the Afturias, where he was born.
Befide
Befide thefe quiet tertullas* all through the winter the dutchefTes of Berwick and Vauguion gave balls once a week, and the countefTes of Cogulludo and Penaiiel gave concerts and balls, attended with fplendid fide-boards of ices, cakes, and jellies. After the ball, every one retired to fupper with his own fociety.
When you pay a vifit to a lady, (for, wherever there is a lady in the family, the vifit is to her) you neither knock at the door, nor afk any queflions of the porter, but go Straight forwards to the room where fhe ufualty receives her company, and there you feldom fail to find her, morning, noon, and night; in winter, fitting near the bra-her, Surrounded by her friends, unlefs when She is gone out to mafs. The friends are moftly gentlemen, becaufe ladies feldom vifit in a familiar way; and, of the gentlemen thus aifembled, one is commonly the Cor-tcjo; I Say commonly, becaufe it is not uni-verfally the cafe. During the whole of my residence in Spain, I never heard of jealoufy in a hufband, nor could I ever learn, for certain, that fuch a thing exilled; yet, in the conduct of many ladies, whether it
proceeds
proceeds from the  remains of delicacy, from a fenfe of propriety, or from fear, you may evidently fee caution, circumfpec-tion, and referve, when their hufbands are in fight.    Some have addrefs enough to keep the  cortejo  in   concealment; and this, in Spain, is attended with no great difficulty, becaufe, when the ladies go to mafs, they are fo difguifed, as not to be eafily diftinguifhed.   Their drefs upon that, occaiion is peculiar to the country. They all put on the bafquina, or black iilk petticoat, and the mantilla, which Serves the double purpofe of a cloak and veil, fo as completely, if required, to hide the face. Thus difguifed, they are at perfect liberty to go where they pleafe. But fhould they be attended by a fervant, he is to be gained, and therefore he becomes little or no restraint. Betides this, every part of the houfe is fo ac-ceffible by day, and the hufband is fo completely nobody at home, fo feldom visible, or, if vifible, fo perfectly a stranger to all who vifit in his family, that the lover may eafily efcape unnoticed.   This, however, will not always fatisfy the Spanifh ladies, who, being quick of fenfibility, and remarkable
[   »44 1
able for Strong attachment, are miferable, when their cortejo is out of fight- He muft be prefent every moment in the day, whether in private or public, in health or ficknefs, and muft be every where invited to attend them. There have been recent examples of women, even of high fafhion, who have Shut themfelves up for months, during the abfence of their corte-jos; and this, not merely from difguft, but to avoid giving them offence. If the lady is at home, he is at her fide; when fhe walks out, fhe leans upon his arm; when She takes her feat at an aflembly, an empty chair is always left for him; and if She joins in the country dances, it is with him. As every lady dances two minuets at a ball* the firft is with her cortejo, the fecond with a Stranger; with the former, if She has any vivacity, She makes it viiible, and if fhe can move with grace, it then appears; but with the latter fhe evidently Shews, not indifference, but difguft; and feems to look upon her partner with difdain.
As foon as any lady marries, She is teafed by numerous competitors for this diftinguifhed favour, till fhe is fixed in her choice;
-   • when
[  HS ]
when the unfuccefsful candidates either retire, or fubmit to become, in future, what may be called cortejos of the brafier, without any preteniions beyond that of fitting round the embers to warm themfelves in winter.
It is reckoned difgraceful to be fickle; yet innumerable inftances are feen of ladies who often change their lovers.   In this there is a natural progrefs, for it cannot be imagined, that women of fuperior understandings, early in life diftinguimed for delicacy of fentiment, for prudence, and for the elevation of their minds, mould haftily arrive at the extreme, where pafTion triumphs, and where all regard to decency is loft; as for others, they foon finifh the career. It is, however, humiliating to fee fome who appear to have been defigned by nature to command the reverence of mankind, at laft degraded, and funk fo low in the opinion of the world, as to be never mentioned but with contempt.   Thefe have changed fo often, and have been fo unfaithful to every engagement, that, univerfally defpifed, they end with having no cortejo.
Vol. II. L I have
I have obferved, that jealoufy is feldom, if ever, to be discovered in a hufband; but this cannot be faid in favour of the new connection, becaufe both parties are tormented by fufpicion.    This, it muff be confelfed, is natural; for, as both are con-fcious that there is no other bond between them but the precarious tie of mutual affection, each muft tremble at the approach of any one who might interrupt their union. Hence they are conftantly engaged in watching each other's looks, and, for want of confidence, renounce, in a great meafure, the charms of fociai intercourfe.  Even in public, they live as if they were alone, abstracted and abforbed, attentive only to each other.   He muft not take notice of any other lady ; and if any gentleman would converfe with her, in a few minutes fhe appears confuted, and filled with fear that ihe may have given offence.   In all probability fhe has, and fhould fhe be the firft dutchefs in the kingdom, and he only a non-commiffioned officer in the army, fhe may be treated with perfonal indignity, and we have heard of one who was dragged by the
hair
hair about the room. But if, in/lead of giving, fhe fhould happen to have taken the offence, even the more delicate will fly like a tygrefs at his eyes, and beat him in the face till he is black and blue. It fometimes happens, that a lady becomes weary of her firft choice, her fancy has fixed upon fome new object, and fhe wifhes to change ; but the former, whofe vanity is flattered by the connection, is not willing to diflolve it. In lower life, this moment gives occafion to many of thofe^ affaffinations which abound in Spain ; but, in the higher claffes, among whom the dagger is profcribed, the firft poffeffor, if a man of fpirit, maintains pof-feflion, and the lady dares not difcard him, left an equal combat fhould prove fatal to the man of her affections. In this conteft the hufband is out of fight, and tells for nothing.
In a catholic country, with fuch depravity of morals, it may be naturally enquired, what becomes of confcience, and where is difcipline ? It is well known, that all are under obligation to confefs, at leaft once a year, before they receive the eucharift. Every one is at liberty to choofe his efe-L 2 feffor
[   i+8 ]
feffor and pfieft, but before he leaves the altar, he takes a certificate that he has been there, and this he delivers to the curate of his own parifh, under pain of excommunication, fhould he fail to do fo. When, therefore, a married woman appears, year after year, before her confeffor, to acknowledge that fhe has been, and still continues to be, living in adultery, how can he grant her abfolution, or how can he be moderate in the penance he enjoins. Without penance, and unlefs the priest is fatisfied that there is contrition, with full purpofe of a-mendment, there can be no abfolution , without abfolution, no participation of the euchariff ; and, in the neglect of this, excommunication follows. Yet, from the univerfal prevalence of this offence, we may be certain, that there muff be fome way of evading the rigour of the law. Nothing is more eafy. As for the penance, it is imposed by thofe who can have compaffion on the frailties of mankind, and is therefore fcarcely worthy to be mentioned. In many instances, it is ridiculous. Were any confeffor fevere, he would have few at his con-feflional.   The abfolution is commonly a
more
more ferious bufinefs; becaufe the penitent mull not only teftify contrition, but muft give fome token of amendment, by abstaining, at leaft for a feafon, from the commif-fion of the crime which is the fubject-matter of confeftion. The firft absolution may be eafily obtained; but when the offender cqmes, year after year, with the fame confefhon, if he will obtain abfolution, he. muft change his confeffor; and this practice is not only difgraceful, but fometimes ineffectual. Here, then, it is needful to adopt fome new expedient. Two naturally pre-fent themfelves : for, either fome prieft, destitute of principle, may be found, who, for certain considerations, will furniih billets ; or elfe, which is a prevailing practice at Madrid, the common prostitutes, confef-fing and receiving the holy facrament in many churches, and collecting a multitude of billets, either fell, or give them to their friends. I have certificates before me. As thefe carry neither name nor signature, they are eafily transferred. They are fimply thus: Comulgb en la Iglejiaparroquial de San Martin de Madrid. Ano de mil fetccientos ochenta
L 3 The
I" *5° ] The principal cortejos in the great cities are the canons of the cathedrals; but where the military relide, they take their choice, and leave the refufe for the church. In the country villages, the monks bear rule, at leaft within their limits, and even in the cities, they fet up their pretenfions. As for the parochial clergy, one thing is certain, that many of them have families, and all are involved in the common cenfure. Even in the Afiurias, my friend, the good bifhop auxiliary of Oviedo, a man of high principle, yet of great humanity, fevere only to himfelf, but companionate to others, made it a rule, that none of his curates mould have children in their families. This facri-fice, at leaft, he infilled they fhould make to decency. Beyond this he did not think it right to be too rigid in his enquiries. In fliort, during my refidence in Spain, I never found one perfon inclined to vindicate the curates from the common charge; but, at the fame time, all, with united voices, bore teftimony to the fuperior virtue of the bi-fhops. Indeed, thefe venerable men, from all that I could hear, and from what I faw in the near approach to which they graci-
oufly admitted me, for purity, for piety, for zeal, can never be furficiently admired; but too few of the clergy, either fecular or regular, till they begin to look towards the mitre, feem to think it neceffary, that they mould imitate thefe bright examples, or afpire after fuch high perfections.
This universal depravity of morals, if I am not much mistaken, may be traced up to the celibacy of the clerpy. It is true, the example of the court, fince the accef-tion of the prefent monarch, has given prevalence to practices which were before restrained, and made that honourable which had been attended with difgrace; but the effect muft always, in a meafure, have been coeval with its caufe. Nay, fhould we be inclined to blame, in the firft instance, the Italians, who are faid to have brought this practice into Spain, we fhould be obliged at lafl to trace it up to this mistaken principle, that conjugal affeclion is inconjijient with the due dijeharge of the minijierial funBions. In conversing freely with the clergy on this fubject, I never met any one, befides the archbifhop of Toledo, who attempted to vindicate this principle; and h 4 where-
[ ]
wherever I was, I had no difficulty in declaring war againft it, becaufe they do not confider it as an article of faith. The principle is abfurd; yet upon it is founded the celibacy of the clergy, and from that, in my opinion, is derived the corruption of their morals. It has been common for proteftants, who travel in a catholic country, to inveigh againft the clergy, and to laugh at the people, as prieft-ridden: fuch abufe is exceedingly illiberal. The priefts themfelves are to be pitied, but the law which binds them, the cruel law which requires that they fhould offer violence to nature, or, more properly, the power which can abrogate that law, fhould bear the blame.
The purpofe of the law is however frustrated; for nature is like a rapid river, which, checked in its progrefs, fcorns restraint, and, when diverted from its proper courfe, either overflows the country, or forms new channels for itfelf. What then is gained ? The parochial clergy, and thefe are the only clergy who fhould be suffered in a ftate, have their connections and their children, but not as they ought, in the
moft
[   >53 1
moft honourable way. They are difgraced in the eyes of the people, who are taught by their example to live in the violation of the laws; and their children, for want of a proper education, are fitted only for the vileft employments in the community. How different is the picture, where mar- ', riage is allowed,' The minifter is like the father of his parilh, and his wife performs the office of a mother; both fet an example of virtue, and in every village teach the peafants how to value their domeftic comfort. In the ftreet, their children, commonly a numerous offspring, are diftin-guifhed by their look of health, by their cleanlinefs, and by the decency of their conduct; and, when fent out into the world, they form the moft valuable members of fociety.
Should the Spanifh government refolve to fet the clergy free, more ample provision muft be made for their maintenance, becaufe at prefent it is fcarcely fufficient for their own fupport; and this might be eafily accomplished out of the vaft revenues of the bifhops, or by the fupprelfiQii pf fome ufelefs convents.
The
t   *54 ]
The play-houfes in Madrid are not much frequented: the genius of the people does not allimilate with this fort of amufement. This will evidently appear by the receipts at the two theatres; for, taking the average between them in December, they each produce fifty pounds a night, but fome nights lefs than twenty pounds; and, even in the Chriftmas week, not more than feventy-fix. They have lately introduced the opera, but with little profpecf of fuccefs; becaufe moft of the genteel people keep to their own focieties, except when they attend the balls.
Few people here difcover any love for the fcicnces. The cabinet of natural hiftory is open to all the world, but it is not frequented; and although D, Ant"\ Fern. Solano, the royal profeflbr of experimental philofophy, in point of clearnefs, elegance, and precifion, may be reckoned among the iirft in Europe, and delivers his lectures gratis, yet nobody attends him. Books are little read; all who are not engaged in bu-finefs, are occupied in their attendance on the ladies, with whom nothing of this kind is heard of.
In
[   *55 1
In confequence of proper introductions, I had an opportunity of feeing moft of the principal rnanfions in Madrid.   The firft, without exception, in point of magnificence, is the duke of Alba's: the principal front is to the fouth, and is two hundred feet in length, with eighty-five windows. The eaftern and weftern fronts will be fix hundred feet when finifhed; yet in this vaft pile there is not one room, fuitable to the rank and fortune of its lord.   The upper ftories will be occupied by four hundred bed-chambers, which are fcarcely fuf-ficient for the family, considering that all the fuperannuated fervants, with their wives and children, are to be lodged and pensioned there. The duke informed me, that he paid one hundred thoufand reals, that is, one thoufand pounds, a month, in wages only at Madrid.
For commodioufnefs and elegance, no houfe in Madrid is equal to the duke of Berwick's. Built on a declivity, with the principal front towards the weft, it occupies, like other Spanifh houfes, the four fides of a fquare, yet is perfectly modern, both in ftyle and furniture. You enter
ter a fpacious hall, then, afcending a wide ftaircafe, you find a fuit of magnificent apartments, communicating all round, and, upon the fame level with the garden to the fouth and to the eaft. From this circum-ftance, all the ground floor is kept exceedingly cool for a fummer's refidence, and the principal apartments are warm and comfortable in winter. Such an habitation would be ill fuited for the accommodation of numerous domeftics, with their widows and their children, defcending by tradition from his anceftors; and therefore the duke, very wifely, is fatisfied with giving them fmall pensions, and leaves them to provide a lodging for themfelves.
He was fo obliging as to let me fee his accomptant's offices, in which he has introduced a fyftem of ceconomy little known in Spain. They confift, as ufual, of four departments, but then in thefe he has only one accomptant general, with three clerks; one principal fecretary, with three under him; one treafurer, and one keeper of archives, with an affiftant. On all his eftates he has fimilar eftablifhments, but upon a irnaller fcale. His whole property produces.
duces, grofs, one million eight hundred and eighty-eight thoufand fix hundred and eighty-three reals, and from this deducting three hundred and forty-one thoufand nine hundred and eight, for the charge of management, it netts one million five hundred and forty-fix thoufand feven hundred and feventy-five reals, or £.15,467 fterling.
The late duke of Arcos had more than three hundred people in his establishment at Madrid. The marquis of Penafiel, who is married to the young dutchefs of Bene-vente, and is at once duke of Orfuna, of Arcos, of Vejar, of Candia, &c. &c. with an income of about fifty thoufand pounds ilerling, employed, when I was at Madrid, twenty - nine accomptants, including his two Secretaries, and I understand that he has fince increafed their number; befides thefe, he has an advocate, and a family phyfician, for whom, with his principal Secretary and his treafurer, he keeps four carriages.
The duke of Medina Cceli has thirty accomptants in Madrid, befides vaft establish-ments on his estates, more efpecially in Catalonia, molt of which belongs to him,
and
[   '58 1
and in the province of Andalufia, where he has extensive property. His fon, the marquis de Cogolludo, who has a separate eltablilhment, informed me, that he himfelf paid, only at Madrid, thirty thoufand reals a month, or near four thoufand pounds a year in Stipends to his fer-vants.
It is difficult to eftimate what, with good management, would be the revenue of thefe great lords. Such a property as the duke of Alba's, producing under administration eighty thoufand pounds a year ; what would it not yield, if let out to fub-itantial farmers ? If, whiltV they plough, and fow, and reap, and thrafli, and fell, and eat, and drink, upon the duke's account, he receives fuch an income, what would it be if every inch of land wrere made productive, and if that produce were expended with ceconomy ? With Such vaSt poSfeSlions, well managed, he might live in fplendor little inferior to the greatest fove-reigns of Europe. But, inStead of this, devoured by their Servants, they are moSt of them in debt; and, under the feeling of poverty, live exceedingly retired, fcarcely 8 venturing
t m 3
venturing at any time to give a dinner to their friends.
In many of their houfes you find good pictures, collected by their anceftors f but, as for the prefent generation, they feem to have little tafte^for the polite arts: thei? time and attention appear to be loft in trifles.   Among the houfes where the works
. d
of the beft mailers are to be feen, the principal are thofe of Alba, Medina Ceeli, Santiago, Infantado, and Santeflevan.   In the former is a very numerous and ineftimable collection; and, among them, the portrait of the prefent duke, by Mengs; and the great duke of Alba, by Titian; a Venus, by Velazquez 3 a Holy Family, by Raphael; and the famous. School of Love, by Correg-gio.   In this beautiful picture, Venus and Mercury are teaching Cupid to read: it was fold in London, with other valuable pictures of Charles I. All thefe pictures were, when I faw them, crowded in the old manfion of the family, and therefore appeared to dif-advantage;  but, whenever they fhall be cleaned and properly difpofed, this will be evidently a moft capital collection. All the other collections are in the higheft prefer-
vation,
t *6° J
Vation, except thofe of the late duke of Sari* teftevan,now the property of his fon-in-law> the marquis of Cogolludo, which, although ineftimable, as being the works of the moft ancient artifts, are wholly neglected, and fuffered to decay. The marquis was fo polite as to attend me and -the Prussian mi-nifter to fee them, and witneffed our lamentations over them.
During my winter's refidence at Madrid, I endeavoured to get fome iniight into the revenue, and, I truft, it will be found that my labour was not in vain: yet, after all my enquiries, I am inclined to think, that till fome great financier, like Mr. Necker, fhall arife in Spain, the confusion which reigns at prefent will continue to prevail in this department of the ftate.
Whilft the taxes were collected by farmers general, it was eafy to know the rent they paid; but now that all is in administration, to come exactly at the produce and expenditure will be attended with fome difficulty. Were the whole peninsula on the fame footing, were all punctual in their payments, and were the difburfements from one common treafury, this refearch would
be
be expedited; .but, as not one of thefe circumstances exists, we muft take the materials as we find them, and do the belt we can. I mall endeavour to give fome idea both of the revenue and- its expenditure, founded on authentic documents, procured from the foreign ministers, and -compared with an official paper, with which I was favoured from the treafury. But first, it will be necesfary to point out the variout articles which yield revenue, and to explain the terms relating to finance, briefly premising fuch an historical relation as can be collected from Spanim writers on the fub-ject.
The principal refources of the crown for Supporting its dignity, were anciently found in the demefnes of the fovereignj but when, during a minority, or a difputed fucceflion, thefe had been plundered by the great nobility, he was obliged to folicit grants from the national affemblies. Thus it was with Alonzo II. who, after he had compelled fome of his barons to restore the lands taken from himfelf and from his immediate predeceffor during their infancy, finding thefe unequal to his wants, in the year
Vol. II. M 1342,
1342, he obtained from the cortes, then affembled at Burgos, an alcavala, or tax upon all property transferred, to defray his expences at the iiege of Algeciras. Many cities had given him a fifth on the value of all commodities difpofed of by fale or barter, but when granted by the Hates, the tax was fixed at ten per cent, and made uni-verfal over CafHlle.   Whilft Peter, fur-named, but perhaps improperly, the Cruel, driven from his kingdom, was a fugitive in France, Henry, his natural brother, having been proclaimed king (A. D. 1361.) the cortes granted the alcavala, without any limitation with refpecl: to time, as a mark of their ftrong attachment to the fovereign of their choice. But neither was this grant, nor the aid of France, fufficient to eftablifh the ufurper on the throne; for Peter, powerfully fupported by Edward, prince of Wales, at the head of thirty thoufand men, gave him battle, and compelled him to retire.   When Peter had thus regained his fceptre, he began  to meditate revenge againil the pope, Urban V. who had excommunicated him.   His holinefs, however, readily found means to appeafe the
indignation
indignation of the offended monarch, by granting him the royal thirds, or two-ninths of all the tythes collected in Caflille, under pretence of a croifade. Peter took the money, and increafed his army, but not with the leaft intention of strengthening himfelf againft the infidels. He had more formidable enemies at home, and to them he bent his whole attention, but in vain. The prince of Wales having retired in dif-guft, his father, Edward III. was not inclined to continue his fupport; when, therefore, Henry appeared in the field once more, attended by moft of the principal nobility, Peter fell.   This was in the year 1369.
At the commencement of the fucceed-ing century, Henry III. obliged to affume the reins of government, when he was aged fourteen, with a view to prevent a civil war, found his treafury exhausted, and whilft his great barons were rioting over the fpoils which they had feized during his minority, he himfelf was reduced to the laft extremity of want. It is related of him, that returning one day from hunting, and afking for fomething to eat, his ftew-M 2 ard
ard told him plainly, that he had neithef money nor credit to procure a joint of meat j " Their," faid he, " take my cloak, and pawn it." He was not, however, fatis-fied with venting his indignation in empty words; but, roufed by hunger, he compelled his nobles to reStore the caftles, and to renounce the penfions which the regent had been compelled to grant them,
A. D. 1500, when the wealth of America began to flow into Spain, the internal revenue of the country ceafed to be an object of attention, and the ministers of finance looked chiefly to the mines of Peru and Mexico for their Supplies. But before one century had elapfed, the phantom vanished: the treafury, exhausted by incelfant wars, had contracted a load of debt, fuch as the country was unable to fupport; and, to fit out the invincible armada, new taxes were invented, under the denomination of Millones, fo called, becaufe the grant was for eight millions of ducats, /X-878,906. 5J.) To this the cortes, fome years after, added twenty-four millions, to be collected in fix years; of which, four and an half
was
was impofed on fait, the other nineteen and an half on wine, oil, vinegar, and butcher's ineat.
The country was not in a condition to be taxed. Rich in mines, but poor in money; exhausted by continued wars in Italy, in Flanders, and by emigrations to America ; wanting, at the fame time, every encouragement to industry at home; wretch-ednefs fo univerfally prevailed, that Dr. Moncada, in the year 1660, reckoned more than three millions in Spain who wore no fhirts, becaufe they could not afford to pur-chafe linen. Money was at that period lent commonly for twenty, and even thirty, per cent. Such was the state of their finance in the reign of Philip IV, His fucceffor, Charles II. who died at the end of the fe-venteenth century, was once reduced to fuch diflrefs, that, as appears by a letter to be feen in his own hand writing, he fo-licited money from the council of Caflille to pay the expences of his removal with his court to Aranjuez, where he was going for his health: the council anfwered, that, if upon examination, there was no other M 3 way
way to restore his health, they would grant the money.
We may readily imagine that the receipts at the treafury were inconhderable, when we eaft our eye upon their accounts, and, fo late as i j 14, fee them kept in ma-ravedis, of which four are nearly equal to a farthing.
At the beginning of the prefent century, Philip V. succeeding to the crown of Spain, found only a revenue of ten million livres, or £.416,666, and no money in the treafury; but, in the fuperior abilities of the president Orry, he had inexhaustible re-fources. This great man, who accompanied the young prince from France, and became his minister, raifed the revenue nearly to two millions sterling; and, at the end of an expenfive war, left the treafury not only free from debt, but with considerable fums in bank. In the year 1714 he retired.
j Previous to this period, the taxes were farmed, and the people were grievoufly op-preffed, not merely by the farmers general and by their judges, but by others who
rented
rented under them. The poor peasants were robbed and plundered with impunity, and when, unable to fatisfy thefe harpies, they took refuge in a convent, the province was obliged to make up the deficiency. To remedy thefe abufes, the new monarch thought it expedient to reunite many of the leffer farms; and, to prevent the vexation of his subjects, he recommended moderation to the farmers. His recommendation remained without effect. The farmers continued to nominate and to pay the judges, the judges continued to opprefs the people, and the people continued to utter their complaints. When, however, the mi-nifler reflected that, whilft the taxes continued to be farmed, the people muft be fubject to oppreffion, in the year 1714, he put the whole revenue in administration; but, at the end of two years, he reluctantly contented to renew the farms.
After this fhort refpite, when the galling yoke was laid upon their necks again, and the farmers were once more armed with power to opprefs them, the people became impatient, and their clamours reached the throne; yet to little purpofe for a feafon, M 4 becaufe
becaufe the necessities of the state were pleaded, and whilst Philip lived, the evil complained of was only palliated, but not removed.
A. D. 1746, on the acceffion of Ferdinand VI. D. Martin de Loynaz undertook to plead with him the caufe of a much injured people, as D. Michael de Zavala had done with his father Philip, but with more effect; for his minister, the marquis de la Enfenada, wholly aboliihed the farms; and from that period they have never been re-ftored. In confequence of this new regulation, the magiftrates of all the cities and districts in the twenty-two provinces of Caftille, adminifter the provincial rents, and remit the produce to Madrid, receiving fix per cent, for their trouble in collecting.
To reduce the fubject of taxation to a fyftem, we might divide and subdivide, till our attention fhould be loft in claries, orders, genera, fpecies, and varieties, but as this, in the prefent cafe, would not in the leaft contribute to clearnefs and precifion, I choofe rather to adopt an alphabetical arrangement.
Annats, called Medias Annatas, is a tax
of
[   i69 3
of half a year's revenue from the grandees and titular nobility on coming to their eft.at.es, or fucceeding to any office. The marquis de Squilace was fond of this re-fource, and, fince his time, near one thoufand titles have been given. From the clergy, the fovereigns of Spain received no annats, excepting only in America, and in the conquered provinces, till the concordat, A. D. 1753, between Lambertini and Ferdinand VI; but fince that time they are no longer fent to Rome. With thefe are included the eccle/iajtical months, being one-twelfth of all benefices under three hundred ducats, or £.33 nearly, and this rated according to the ancient valuation. Since thefe grants, the pope, A. D. 1783, gave to the king one-third of all fimple benefices, which are worth more than two hundred ducats per annum.
Apnfento, or Cajd de Apofento. When Philip V. fucceeded to the throne, his intention was to have made Seville the feat of his dominion; but the citizens of Madrid prevailed upon him to change this refolution, by offering him a fum of money, on condition that he fhould continue with them.
This
[   17° 3
This was afterwards changed for a rent-charge on all the houfes, with liberty of one-third redemption at twenty-five years purchafe.
Brandy is one of the royal monopolies. The king takes one-eighth of all the fpirits as a tax, the reft he claims a right to purchafe, paying for brandy twenty-two reals the arroba of twenty-eight pounds, and for fpirit of wine, twenty-eight reals, the former he fells at Sixty-four reals, the4 latter at one hundred. At this rate Madrid consumes ninety thoufand arrobas, or about five thoufand hogfheads of brandy, befides eighteen thoufand arrobas of fpirit of wine.' The cities agree upon a composition for thefe duties.
Cards are another of the royal monopolies.
Catalonia and Arragon. Under this article is comprehended the catafiro of Catalonia with the equivalent for Arragon, Valencia, and Majorca.
Crufadcs. The bull of the crufades grants the fame indulgences as were ufually difpenfed by the popes to thofe who went to make a conqueft of the Holy Land, extending thefe in the firft instance to thofe
who
who mould perfonally make war upon the infidels; in the fecond, to thofe who fhould fend a deputy j and, in the lafl place, to fuch as fhould aid, by liberal contributions, the foldiers engaged in this holy war.
The indulgences are, l% To eat fleih on fafl-days, with the content of their phyfician and confeffor, and, even without their content, to take eggs and milk. 2°, That, for every day they faft voluntarily, and pray for union among chriftian princes, with victory againft the infidels, they fhall be excufed fifteen years and fifteen forty hours of penance impofed upon, or in any manner due from them; and moreover, fhall partake of all the prayers, alms, pilgrimages, even to Jerufalem, which fhall be performed by the church-militant, or by any of its members. 3°, That, vifiting five altars, or five times one altar, and praying as above, they fhall obtain plenary indulgences for themfelves, or for any of their departed friends, in whofe favour they frail perform this.
4% That,
4°, That, once in life, and once at the time of their deceafe, they may obtain from their confeffor remiffion, even of thofe fins referved for the pope, excepting herefy, and of other fins, as often as they confefs.
5% That, dying fuddenly without confeflion, they fhall obtain the fame plenary indulgence as if they died under contrition.
6% That, vifiting five altars, and praying as above, on the days Specified in the calendar, of which there are eleven, they may, by their prayers, for each day, deliver a foul from purgatory. 7°, That, paying for two copies of the bull, a perfon may twice in one year enjoy all the indulgences, favours, and privileges mentioned above, and gain double the benefit he might claim on having purchafed one. For this bull the nobles pay about fix Shillings and four pence, the commons a-bout two Shillings and two pence in Arragon, but fomething lefs in the kingdom of Caffille.  Even the fervants purchafe thefe > and fuch is the demand, that they are reckoned
[   *73 1
<oned to produce more than £. 200,000 per annum. No confeffor will grant abfolution to any one who has not this bull.
The effects of the camera arife from vacant benefices. By the concordat, A. D. 1753, the kings of Spain enjoy not only the nomination to all ecclefiaflical preferments, which formerly was in the popes, but they take the benefit of vacancies, and feize the fpoils of the prelates, that is, their moveables, together with the effects of all clergymen dying inteflate. Thefe are called efpolios y vacantes.
Excufado. In every parifh, the king choofes the befl farm, whether for olives, corn, or vines, of which he takes the tythes both in Caffille and Arragon. The clergy formerly agreed with him for this, but afterwards it was farmed by the gremios, or five united companies of Madrid, at twelve millions of reals; but, in the year 1778, the clergy had the grant at one third lefs. Mofl of them accepted the offer; but they, who thought themfelves too poor to venture, refufed, and thefe farms are let to the gremios at four millions. The gremios have 4 been
[   *74 J
been accufed of having availed themfelves of this bargain, to purchafe corn in all the country villages when it is cheap, to lodge it in their granaries, and then, felling it out again at a high price, to ftarve the people, and enrich themfelves.
Extraordinary effects arife from feizures; from licenfes to export goods in the regifter ihips; and from the duty on the exportation of money. The amount is ftated only at thirty-five millions; but fometimes it has been a hundred. This properly fhould go to the aduana, or cuftorc- houfe.
Fines of the camera are levied by the council of the Caf die on magiflrates tranf* greffmg.
The Indian revenue will be confidered by itfelf. It amounts, in America, to near four millions and an half fterling; but although varioufly ftated in the fubfequent fchedule as productive of revenue, it is doubted whether it yields a profit, or becomes a lofs to Spain.
Lances. This tax is paid in lieu of military fervice, and is, for dukes, counts, and marquiffes, two hundred ducats, or about
[  '75 3
.£.22 for each title ; but a grandee pays " eight thoufand reals.   It is ftiled, Pccunia-ris compenfatio pro hafiatis milit'tbus.
head is a royal monopoly, and muff be moft uncertain in its produce.
Manufactures of cloth and glafs are ftated as yielding a revenue. The glafs is made at S. Ildefonfo, and is chiefly for mirrors, becaufe the glafs for common ufe is imported into Spain. It is to be feared, that neither the glafs, nor yet the cloth, yield any profit to the nation. It is impoflible they fhould.
The majierjhips of the three orders of Calatrava, Alcantara, and of S. Iago, were granted by the pope to Ferdinand and Ifa-bella, and fettled in perpetuity on the fove-reigns of Spain by Adrian, to exprefs his gratitude to Charles for having raifed him to the papacy.
The notaries, each pay two hundred du-> cats on his admiffion.
The pajiure of the mafterfhips arifes from extenfive meadows belonging to the three great orders: and the pafture of the ferena is from a tract, of country in Eftremadura, formerly considerable, but, from the frequent grants made by the crown to the 9 great
great nobility, now fo far reduced as to yield only about five and twenty hundred pounds of our money; whereas, fo late as the year 1722, Uztariz ftates the value at more than two millions and an half of reals, or about twenty-fix thoufand pounds per annum.
Pojis and Couriers. Thefe were formerly the private property of the counts d'Onate, grandees of Spain, but they now form one of the moft valuable branches of revenue to the Hate. Mr. Wall established a regular post to America, but, before his time, the Spanifh ambaffador to the En glim court was instructed to procure, at London, information of all that was parting in Spanifh America, and to tranfmit that information to his court.
The Propios and Arbitrios. Cities formerly levied taxes on wafte lands granted to private people, and on provisions, for the ex-pence of their municipal government, but the king now takes two per cent, on the produce, for general ufe.
General Rents are the duties levied in the fea-ports.
The Provincial'Rents are, i°, the Alcavalas
of ten per cent, on every thing fold or bartered,
[   l77 ]
tered, whether ufed in hulbandry or manufactures, to be paid every time the property is transferred, together with four per cent. laid on, at fubfequent periods, to the original tax. 2°, Mil/ones, granted by the cortes, A. D. 1601, for fix years, but ever fince collected, being eight maravedis, or about a halfpenny a pound for butchers meat and fuet fold in the market; and eight reals for every carcafe, whether brought to market, or killed for the ufe of private families. Under this grant, wine, vinegar, and oil, pay one-eighth on the price, eftimating wine at fixty-four maravedis the arroba, vinegar thirty-two, and oil at fifty. 3% Fiel medi-dor, which is another duty on wine, vinegar, and oil, of four maravedis the arroba, granted A. D. 1642. 40, The royal thirds, or three ninths of the tithes, firft granted to the Spanifh monarchs, A. D. 1274. 5°, The ordinary and extraordinary fervice, granted A. D. 1580; a tax on every thing belonging to thofe who are not noble, that is, hidalgos, or knights. Ecclefiaftics being free from the alcavala, the millones, and all municipal taxes, called arbitrios, they are refunded every year according to their con-Vol. II, N fumption.
fumption. All thefe provincial rents, in the year 1778, produced one hundred and thirty millions of reals; yet, fo late as the year 1745? they were farmed at ninety millions.
Rents of Madrid, called alfo Efeclos y ffas de Madrid, and Rentas de arrendamiento, are the produce of the alcavala and millones of that city, and of five leagues round, farmed by the gremios.
Patrimonial rents arife from thirds, tithes, rcferved rents, and lands let to farm, in Catalonia, Arragon, Valencia, and Majorca.
Rent of the priory of S. Juan, or S. John, is mentioned only by Uftariz, becaufe it was afterwards granted to die infant Don Gabriel.
The falt-works yield a considerable revenue. Thefe were formerly confidered as private property; but, in the year 1348, they were taken by Alonfo II ; and, in 1564, Philip II. feized them as a part of his demefne. The chief of them are in Andalufia, Valencia, Catalonia, and Majorca. The fait-works of Mata, in the kingdom of Valencia, would eafily furnifh one million and an half fanegas, of about one hundred
pounds
[   *79 3
pounds weight, which, could they find a market, would, at twenty-two reals the fane ga, make three hundred and thirty thoufand pounds flerling per annum; but, by railing the price, they have leifened the demand : fo that the whole amount of the kingdom is only about two thirds of what one work alone might furnifh.
Stamp-duties were introduced in 1637.
Subjidy is one per cent, granted by the pope to the kings of Spain, upon all eccle-fiaflical rents in their dominions, for the War againft. the infidels.
Saltpetre, fulphur, and gun-poivder, fealing wax, quickfilver, and tobacco, are all royal monopolies. Of the latter I ilia 11 fpeak % more particularly, when I come to treat of Seville. It was granted by the cortes, A. D.i336.
WooL In the year 1437, a tax was im-pofed on all wool in general, called Servicio y montazgo; but, to encourage the production, this was changed by Ferdinand VI. into a duty on fine wool exported. The coarfe wool is kept at home.
In my fchedule, the Indian revenue is ftated by Uztariz at forty millions, and by count de Grepi, the imperial conful, at N 2 more
more than ten times as much. The former means the. nett produce; the latter takes the grofs amount. Mr. Lifton's average of ten years agrees nearly with Uztariz; but Mr. Carmichael, the American envoy, ffates fixty millions. The fact, however, is, if we may believe thofe who are the best informed, that the Spanifh colonies yield no direct revenue to the mother country. This being the cafe, I cannot conceive upon what authority, the Abbe Raynal ffates the clear revenue from America at thirty-four millions rive hundred thousand livres, or, in reals vellon, at one hundred thirty-eight millions clear, befides eighty-two millions three hundred thirty-feven thoufand eight hundred ...   reals paid for duties in Europe.
Count de Grepi ffates the revenue in * America as follows :
Customs on European com-
modities, according to the P*8fcu
years 1785 and 1786,    - 42,240,000
Alcavala on ditto, introduced
A. D. 1591,     -      - 54,120,00a
Tobacco rent in New Spain and other provinces, introduced A. D. 1752,  -   - 100,000,000
Duties
Duties on gold and filver ex .
ported,   - -Tribute of the Indians, Crufad.es, introduced A. D.
1509, -----Quicksilver fold, -Stamp-duties, introduced A.D.
1641, ------
Coinage, -
Acapuico trade, - ~
Sale of the herb Mathe, - -Sale of paper on the king's account,   -   -   -   - -Rents of the Jefuits, Cards, and other monopolies, Rents of the Philippines, Tax on negroes, —.._-.„■-.
Rs vellon 426,360,000
The alcavalas on American productions are omitted, as are alfo fome other taxes, of which tire count was not able to procure any information.
The following fchedule will mew the produce of the taxes in the royal treafury. To reduce the reals to pounds iterling, drop the two last figures, becaufe one pound is equal to one hundred reals vellon.
N 3 A Digeft
60,000,000 40,000,000
20,000,000 6,000,000
20,000,000 6,000.000 10,000,000 10,000,000
10,000,000 8,000,000 6,000,000
30,000,000 4,000,000
A Digest, of the
Annats medias annatas Apofento on houfes M Braruiy        -       - -Cards
Catalonia and Arragon Coinage -Crufades -Effects of the Camera Excufado -Extraordinaries Fines of the camera Indian revenue Lances -Lead -Lottery -
Manufa&ure of glafs, St. Ild. ■ -of cloth
panish Revenue, taken from authentic Documents.
	Official account, 1768.	Count de Grep; . 1774-	ZfenowiefF, 1778, by approximation.	Carmichae!, average of 5 years.	Liflon, average of 10 vears, 177S.
—		1,382,060	l,300,COO	1,470,000	1,986,000
—	—-		l,2OO,CC0	1,000,000	1,084,257
—	289,863	4>5-+>Slr 1,493'3 6?	4,525,000	1,500,000	
—			1,500,000	1,000,000	400,253
33,980,000	-		47,000,000	30,529,303	32,109,481
—	-	—	-	l«^0,OCO	235>779
with fjbfidy	*7>29h74°	17,782.380	20,000,000	16,000,000	11,052,209
—	—	785,639	786,800	—	34°*237
with fubfidjr	11,908,700	2,133,166	I 2,000,000	10,000,000	8,525,000
—	—		35,000,000		
302,000	—		72,000	950,000	711,030
40,000,000	—	426.360,000	240,000,000	60,000,000	39,899,918
500,000	—	—	caid to annats	1,590,000	cai** to annats
—	1,226.-900	1,217,886	—	450,000	3,241,097
—	—	4,079,416	4,500,000	—	4,192,000
—	—>	1,230,326		- 1	6,213,686
*—	——	1,758,692		— J	
Mafterfhips of military orders Notaries      -      - -JPafiure of mailerfhips .--of Serena
Foils
Powder and faltpetre
Public houfes in Madrid
Proprios and Arbitrios y. Rents general Aduana
- provincial
4^ - of Madrid
- patrimonial
- of S. Juan
Salt works
Stamp duties
Subfidy
Sulphur -
Tobacco -
Wool fj Sundries -O
240,000	1,484,845	—	1,800,00c	4,6oO,000	i 1,128,050
—	—	61,688	62,000		
511,17°	424457	847,186		3,000,000	| 426,645;
2,6c2,I20	258,94.8	124,679	140,000		
2,484,060	—	—	34,000,000		
-	1,091,021	—	—	1,200,000	z>835'344
-	—	195,284	196,800		1,196,005
-	—	4Z5>233	500,000	—	
25,023,444	55,944,822	48,030,602	48,060,000	31,949,102	70,584,604
61,801,630	90,825,110	62,583,706	130,000,000	73,010,902	97,948,256
2,352,960	—	6,417,551	6,418,552	5,500,000	6,538,856
1,820,3 IO	—	—	—	741,800	
229,070					26,508,384
17,000,000	23,633,251	19,937,194	20,000,000	20,749,208	
891,950	4,127,269	4,311,866	4,312,000	3,300,000	2,489,308
14,000,000	3>576>497	4,831,85c	card toExcufado	3,530,000	5,865,310
—	1I7>431	—	—	—	305,311
24,278,030	66,866,319	68,960,855	80,000,000	70,000,000	67,138,082
-	12,602,304	14,458,271	14,500,000	16,549,767 3,615,000	17,397,745 6,912,008
4!93°5^°°					
32,946,744!	292,192,587!	749,103,873	707,873,152	360,375,082	417,264,835
Copy of an Official Paper, flating the Revenue as it flood A. D. 1768.
O I
Failures of the Serena Mafterihips of military orders Tobacco
Rents, general and aggregate Salt works
Pailure of mailerfhips Provincial rents Lead duty
Cards - -
Powder and faltpetre Sulphur
Bulls of cruzade
Stamp duties
Excufado
Subfidio
Medias annatas
Wool, and aggregate rents
	Rents.	Perfons em-	Salaries.
		ployed.	
-	280,977	12	17,100
1- '^1 tvvt	4,158,4.86 101,226,189	l7	1 5^4
-		18,291	21,878,505
-	67,259,482	4433	6,540,248
-	37,200,610	—	3,935-979
-	458,847	16	30,220
-	102,113,467	2,249	7,016,836
	1,668,126	100	441,226
- ■	724,355	8	»M33
-	3,401,041	117	570,054
-	242,567 18,663,440	5	31,198
-		49	354^53
	5'545,745	104	33°>53°
-	J 2,000,000		91,300
-	3,576,497	—	—
-	633,610		112,500
	14,998,284.	223	584,505
Expences
Nett produce n reals vellon.
4,929 2,657,877 12,481,365
4>744>412 9,641,380 4,170 4,271,521
422,059 1,739,965 93'938 1,015,447 1,087,946
1,811,475
258,948 1,484.845 66,866,319 55,944.822 23.633,251
424,457 90,825,110
1,226,900
289,863
1,091,021
117431 17>293'74° 4,127,269
11,908,700 3,576,497 521,110 12,602,304
00
I procured from the foreign minifters various ftatements of the expenditure, fuch as they tranfmitted to their feveral courts, but the one with which I was moft fatis-ficd, I had from D. Eftevan Zienowieff, ambaffador from Ruffia, confirmed by that of Mr. Lifton, our own minifter, on whofe accuracy I could depend.
Expenditure. 1778.
To royal houfoold
To pennons to the princes
To royal chapel
To penfions for fuperannuatcd ferv'* To wardrobe and jewellery To journies to the fitios To ftablcs
To hunting, including damages To charities and offering To buildings      "       7 ~ To (beret fervices of the court -
To military, for life guards
To infantry, 45 regiments of 953
To militia, io,S8o
To artillery, with officers, 3050
fo invalids, 7,200
To engineers       - -
To cavalry, I+ regiments of 480
To dragoons, 8 regiments of 480
To general officers
To treafurers, commiffaries, &c.
To fortifications
To clothing, forage, &c.    - -
Reals Veil.
24,000,000 I 0,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000
8,cco,coo 15,000,000
12,000,000 I 8,000,000 5,000,000 9,000,000
2,ooo,oeo 18,000,000
39,235,810
5,848,036 4,439,008 6,289,357
1,400,000 10,581,815 5,763,882
3,600,000 10,344,282 12,000,000 74,021,309
Reals Vellon. toS,ooo,ooo
To widows of officers and orphans -To military hofpitals To recruiting fervice in foreign 1 countries    -      -      -      - j To department of council of war To minifter of war and comis -
To navy, for 64 mips of the line, and 47 frigates, 50,000 failors 12,096 marines
To department of the Indies
To department of finance
To ditto of juftice ^
To tribunals of juftice
To foreign department for the minifter and his comis
To ambaiTador at Rome
Ditto at London
Ditto at other courts
To couriers, confuls, and fecret fervice
To china manufactory at Retiro
To Goblin tapeftry and Perfian carpet      - -
To painters, architects, and penfions
To academy, cabinet, and library -
To hofpitals -
To highways and canals
To penfions to ftrangers, and incidents -
To intereft of their debts, and liquidation -
Total reals vellon
4,378,615 5,800,000
700,000
1,000,000 800,000
1,140,000
900,000 710,000 6,003,162
6,000,000
436,188
397,100
440,000 900,000 400,000 4,000,000
3,300,000
204,202,194 100,000,000
8,000,000 4,500,000 1,100,000 8,422,769
9,873,28! 30,000,00a
488,851,413
In the preceding eftimate, the china manufacture at the Buen Retiro is made debtor only four hundred and thirty-fix thoufand one hundred and eighty - eight reals; but, from the extent of the concern, and from a more minute account received from Mr. Carmichael, I am inclined to think that one million has been inadvertently omitted: it would then ftand one million four hundred and thirty-fix thoufand one hundred and eighty-eight reals. Befides this miftake, if it be one, the ex-pence of the glafs manufacture is here overlooked, which Mr. Carmichael Hates at one million one hundred and thirty-fix thoufand eight hundred and eighty-four; and the lofs by the cloth manufactures, which is not ftated.   Yet, in the government returns, the manufactures of glafs and cloth are reported to yield, on the average of ten years, fix million two hundred and thirteen thoufand fix hundred and eighty-fix reals profit.
From an attentive examination of all that I have been able to collect, I am perfuaded that the revenue has not for many years been equal to the expenditure; and whilft 2 I was
1 was at Oviedo, in the year 1786, the minifter of the finance, in his circular letter fent through all the provinces, urged the col lectors to diligence and hrict attention in the collection of the taxes, becaufe the ex-pences of government were forty millions of reals more than the revenue. Since I quitted Spain, the revenue is increafed, and from good authority I underfland, that the laff. fiatement of Mr. Eden is five hundred millions, or five millions Britilh, and that now they have a furplus of revenue to dif-charge former debts.
The debts are of various kinds; fome of ancient date, others more recent. For the payment of the former, with the ftipulated intereft, the provincial rents were appointed as fecurity ; but thefe are kept out of right, becaufe the nett produce is brought forward in the accompts, after deducting the juros, or intereft. upon money borrowed. Thefe debts were contracted upon great emergencies, and the money was advanced chiefly by the Genoefe, the gremios, and by the rich nobility. Thefe have often been transferred in moments of defpair, at a confiderable difcount, and much has 9 been.
t 189 )
been redeemed, paying thofe proprietors, who made the moft. advantageous offers to the ftate, and were willing to part with their intereft in the debt on the loweft: terms.
The fecond clafs of public debts are thofe contracted by the emperor Charles V. in his rafh wars Thefe amounted, according to the abbe Raynal, to one thoufand million of livres tournois -y which, at twenty-four livres to the pound, is £. 41,666,666. But the intereft of this being then more than the whole revenue, the ftate, in the year 1688, became bankrupt.
At the death of Charles II. and the ac-ceftion of a new family, public credit was -reftored; and, in lefs than half a century, Philip V. availing himfelf of this reviving confidence, contracted frefh engagements, to the amount of near feven millions fter-ling. His fucceffor, Ferdinand VI. con-fulted the moft learned cafuifts in his em^ pire upon this queftion, whether a fove-reign is bound to pay the debts of the preceding monarch ? This fimple queftion was folemnly determined in the negative. Jt being therefore fettled, that the king
mould
[   19° 1
mould not difcharge thefe engagements* Ferdinand accumulated treafure, and left his coffers well replenished. Charles ITI. found, according to the abbe Raynal, one hundred and lixty million.of livres in his treafure on his acceffion, and formed the pious resolution of paying all his father's debts; but when he had expended half this fum, he confumed the remaining part in fruitlefs wars.
Thus matters flood till the Spaniards entered into the laft war for the emancipation of America; when, feeling diflrefs for want of money, the minifter thought of trying how far he could avail himfelf of paper credit; an expedient little fuited to the genius of a defpotic government, and leaft of all to one which had never fliewn regard to public faith. He began with iffuing nine million of dollars, in fifteen thoufand notes of fix hundred dollars each, bearing intereft at four per cent. Of this tranfa&ion I fhall have occafion to fpeak further, when I come to treat of the new bank, which has fo far reftored the credit of this paper, that, from being at twenty-four per cent, dif-count, it now bears a premium.
Govern*
Government avows the emiftion of twen* ty-eight million feven hundred and ninety-nine thoufand nine hundred dollars, at three feveral periods during the war; but pro-feffes to have withdrawn one million two hundred thoufand; fo that, eftimating the dollar at three (hillings, the whole of this debt is £.4,139,985, and the annual intereft of this £.165,599, a trifling incumbrance, when compared to the debts of France and England. The juros are not here to be carried to the account, becaufe they are deducted out of the grofs produce of the revenue, and the amount I have ftated is only what it clears.
All good Spaniards have exclaimed againft the operation of their taxes; and, in confequence of thefe expoftulations, as far as relates to foreign trade, government has fb regulated the cuftoms upon imports and exports, upon goods manufactured, and upon raw materials, as to encourage home productions; but then the alcavalas and millones operate fo powerfully againft thefe provifions, that the manufacturer cannot lift up his head, nor ftand the competition
witj^
with nations who are bleffed with a wifer iyffem of finance.
The alcavala, with its four cientos, is a tax of fourteen per cent, on every thing that is fold or bartered, even for oxen and mules ufed in hufbandry, for the raw materials ufed in manufactures, and for the commodity itfelf when fold, and this not once for all, but as often as the property is transferred. Were this tax collected with rigour, it would create either a general Stagnation or refiflance, and, perhaps, fome effectual remedy againft it.
The operation of the millones is not more favourable to manufactures. This tax may be confidered as an additional alcavala, under another name, confined wholly to provifions, and is collected with fuch rigour, that even private families are obliged to pay eight reals, or is. y^d. for every fheep or pig killed upon their own eftate, and deltined for their own confumption.
When the marquis de la Enfenada, prime minifter to Ferdinand VI. turned his attention to this bufinefs, he faw clearly that Spain could never rife up into confidera-tion under the preffure of fuch taxes, and
therefore
[ m 1
therefore he conceived the idea of fubfti-tuting in their place one contribution, to be fettled according to every man's ability, the whole amount being equivalent to the fum antecedently collected. For this pur-pofe he eftablifhed a commiffion of thirty thoufand perfons, to make the proper invef-tigations, and to carry his purpofe into execution. Before he could accomplifh this arduous undertaking, his mafter died, Charles III. fucceeded to the throne, and he was permitted to retire. His fucceftbr, a man of lingular abilities, never loft fight of fo excellent a plan. This was the marquis of Squilace, who, having ferved with the king in Italy as commiifary general, attended him to Spain, became his minifter, and, by his intrigues, foon contrived that every power in the ftate fhould centre in himfelf. This extraordinary man has been accufed of rapacity; but, however that may be, certain it is, that Spain, had he continued m office, would have had abundant reafon to admire the wifdom of his government. To him the people of Madrid are indebted, not only for the cleanlinefs of its ftreets, but for their fafety from aflaftins, became Vol. IL O he
[   J94 ]
lie made them lay aiide their capa and their llouched hats, by which both their perfons and their purpofes had been effectually concealed. This innovation, however excellent, this violence offered to deep rooted prejudices, excited indignation; and, being accompanied by an accidental fcarcity of corn, raifed a ftorm which nothing but his difgrace was able to allay. The fovereign himfelf felt the (hock upon his throne, and fled with his favourite, but was foon prevailed upon to return, and to (hew himfelf to his enraged people from the balcony, where the venerable count of Revillagige-do, viceroy of Mexico, on whofe word they could depend, allured them that the object of their refentment was difmifTed, and would never more return. The ftorm fub-fided; Squilace retired to Italy; and thus, in one moment of popular frenzy, all his well digested plans for the reformation of the finance, the encouragement of manu-. failures, and the renovation of the empire, were rendered ineffectual, and vanifhed with himfelf.
The commiffioners who were appointed to. take the va1u; of all the land, indudry,
and
[ m 1
and commerce of the twenty-two provinces comprehended in the kingdom of Caftille, after having made a deduction of one-third for accidents, eftiniated the remainder at two thoufand one hundred and fifty-two millions one hundred and hfty-feven thoufand three hundred and fixty-four reals vellon, or a little more than one and twenty millions and an half fterling. Then having calculated the average of the provincial rents at one hundred and thirty-nine millions reals vellon, or £.1,390,000; to raife an equivalent for this fum, it was found ncccifary to impofc 6-^1 per cent, oil lands, houfes, induflry, and commerce, including phyficians, comedians, muficians, fervants, labourers, and artifts, not excepting the clergy, wrho are ftated as poffefling two-fifths of all the cultivated land. For this purpofe an edict was publifhed in the year 1770 j but unfortunately, like fome others, it remained without effect. One proviiion in this edict fhewed the wifdoni of the head that formed it* for it was ordained that fertile land, although uncultivated, fhould pay the tax.
We have feera, that the paper mori^y O 2 ilfued
t '96 ]
iffued by government was depreciated to twenty-four per cent, when M. Cabarrus, by the inftitution of a national bank, restored the public credit, and faved the country. , This gentleman is distinguished for lingular abilities, for a clear head, and for a ready elocution. I have already related on what occafion I had firit the hap-pinefs of meeting him. He did me then the honour to take notice of me, and ever after admitted me when he had leifure to entertain his friends.
The bank of S. Carlos is too fingular in its hiftory to be palled by in lilence. It met with rough ufage in its beginning, but the indefatigable application of the projector, fupported by the good fenfe of count Florida Blanca, overcame all difficulties, and eftablifhcd it on a firm founda-* tion, if we may call that firm which the breath of a weak monarch, or one ftroke of the pen of a wicked minifter, can overthrow. At the firft inftitution of the bank, It confifted of one hundred and fifty thoufand. fhares, at two thoufand reals each, constituting a capital of three millions fter-ling, with liberty to add annually three
thoufand
thoufand fhares, for thirty years, in order that there might not be one citizen of the Spaniih empire excluded from this beneficial enterprize.
To create a confidence in the public, the directors were not to enter into any fpeculation, except where the king fhould give them a commimon, for foreign and diflant commerce, or to favour the agriculture and manufactures of the kingdom; anoj to remove all occaiion of jealoufy, the bank was to have no exclufive privilege, nor any monopoly; they were to receive at par, and thereby to procure circulation for the government paper, even at a time when it was from twenty to twenty-four per cent difcount.
By way of recompence, or, as it was called, equivalency, they were to make all contracts for the feeding and clothing of the army, and for the fupply of the navy, receiving ten per cent, commiflion for their trouble, and four cent, per annum for all the money they fhould advance; this grant was for twenty years. Befide this, they were to have the extraction, or the exclufive privilege of exporting fpecie, collect-O 3 ing
ing from the merchant four per cent, for the ufe of government, and three for the bank. They were to have one per cent, on all remittances from the court of Madrid to its minifters in foreign parts, and four per cent, for discounting bills. No entail was to be valid againll the demands of the bank.
Notwithstanding fuch encouragements, the Spaniards had no confidence in this new establishment, but cither locked up their money in Strong cheSts, or folicited the gremios to take it in at two per cent. ^ whilft. in France and Switzerland, monied men came into the fcheme with fuch avidity, that actions bore a premium of three hundred per cent, till fuddenly a panic feiz-ed them, and the whoje fabric was in danger of inftant ruin and destruction.
To regain their con fid: nee, the bank bought in muny actions, and lent money iXjour per cent, to the Stockholders on the fecurity of their action s4 engaging at the fame time to. pay them their dividend of feven per cent, or more, if it fhould be due. This Strange manoeuvre had the defired effect, for the proprietors in Paris, borrowing
C m 3
ing money of the bank to the amount of twenty millions of reals, for which they were charged only four, whilft, without any rifle, they received nine per cent, their former eagernefs returned, and the demand for actions was every where renewed.
It cannot be imagined that the bank long perfevered in this ftrange practice. Such conduct muff foon have ffript them of their capital ; becaufe every proprietor would have borrowed money to the full value of his actions, and the bank would have been annihilated. Therefore, at the fourth general meeting it was refolved, that no more than five hundred reals mould be advanced on one action of two thoufand.
The profperous condition of this new eftablilhment will appear from a Statement of its annual gains.
A. D. Reals vellon. M*.
1783 The bank gained -   3,301,255 8
1784 - - - - 17,137,622 23 *7*S - - - 48,346,675 18 1786      - 20,473,093 13
In this lafl year, the actionifts divided only feven per cent. • but in the preceding they had nine, befides inverting twenty-one O 4 millions
[    20O ]
millions of reals in the new Philippine com-* pany, of which I (hall hereafter treat. The reafon of this difference in their profits, and the nature of their operations, will be clearly feen, by giving their reports to the proprietors at their annual meeting in the years 1785 and 1786.
1785-
By interefl on government	Reals.	M!,
paper -	3>569>533	27
By difcount of bills   - -	1,260,519	iS
By interefl on money ad-		
vanced on actions - -	594.106	23
D°   —   for America	503,118	32
D°   —   provifions of the		
army    - ~	1,435,109	12
D°   —   Cadiz department	617,180	28
D°   —   on letters of ex-		
change	1,411,904	$
By corn million of one per		
cent, for the crown	253,164	14
P° — for America y -	197,450	3
D° —      Cadiz  -  - -	870,913	29
By extraction of fpecie, at		
three per cent,    - ■	11,883,656	23
By
JJy commiffion of ten per
cent, on provifions - 3,066,763 3
D° D° for prefidios   - - 407,024 32
D° D° of the navy   -   - 1,187,221 13
D° Da   —   timber - 765,892 29
D° D° ,—   h-on   - - 201,434 27
By increafe of value on
actions    «■ 21,552,840 —-
49>777>835 ^ Deduct expences   -   1,431,159 28
Total gain - 48,346,675 18 Deduct  inveftment in Philippine company - 21,000,000 —
Remains to be divided « 27,346,675 18
1786. ■ By intereft on government
paper   ----- 936,920 —•
By difcount of bills, deducting brokerage -   - 2,513,857 32
By intereft of money advanced on actions -   - 2,386,803 15
By
By operations of the bank
at Cadiz   - 4,007,960 20
By letters of exchange for
government   - 20,602 15
By commiffion of one per
cent, for the crown - 247,264 28 D° — for America      ~ 3,963 r
By extraction of fpecie at
three per cent. - - 10,234,299 22; By profit on purchafe and
Sale of actions - - - 310,060 —» By increafe of value on five
thoufand four hundred
and fifty-three actions
bought in  -   -   - ■	1,616,210	2Q
Deduct charges of ad-	22,278,842	
		
ministration	1,805,749	4
Remains to be divided -	20,473,093	13
By this Statement it appears, that, i!t, The credit of the bank procured a ready circulation for the government paper; becaufe the intereft of that proportion, which, during the courfe of the year, was in the pof-
feflion
[   s°3 ]
feflion of the bank, funk from more than three millions and an half to lefs than one million.
2'', The difcounting bufinefs increafed to nearly double in the fpace of twelve months.
311, The intereft for money advanced on actions, (hews clearly, that the proprietors of one-fifth part of the whole capital had withdrawn their proportion ; willing at the fame time to take their chance for a dividend, at the fole rifle of thofe, who, from rafhnefs, from folly, or from inattention, neglected to follow their example.
4th, The extraction or exportation of fpe-cie funk considerably. It was naturally to be expected that this fhould be the cafe. Previous to the inftitution of the bank, when government permitted the exportation of fpecie, it was under a duty of four per cent, the average produce of which was about three millions of reals; but when it became the intereft of the bank to watch the Smuggler, the duties rofe to fixteen millions. Merchants, however, when one road is flopped, exert their fagacity to find out fome other; and, where fuch a commodity
[   2b'4 j
modity as iilver is in queftion, they eafily fin-mount the obstacles oppofed to its exportation.
rth, One fource of profit, producing more than five millions and an half in the year 1785, is, in the fiibfequent year, dried up. This matter requires to be explained.
The government being much diftreffed for money, had, as all fpendthrifts are forced to do, borrowed on very difadvantageous terms, and then repented of the hard conditions to which it had confented. The commiSiion of-ten per cent, appeared exorbitant ; and the vouchers produced by the directors of the bank, for the articles they had purchafed on account of the army and the navy, were not fatisfactory to the minifter of the finance. Befides thefe objections, the exhaufled treafury was not in a condition to difcharge its moft reafdnahlc obligations to the bank, and to pay thofe arrears which itfelf acknowledged to be juft. All was in confufion; the minifter continued muttering his threats, and the projector of the bank was loud in his exooftulations. The latter fuggefted, with great propriety, that, in a country where juftice and fhe laws
were
were fil'ent, and where arbitrary power prevailed, the minifter might for once plunder and feize, with a ftrong hand, the whole of their capital; but that, in fuch a cafe, he muft not expect to be trufted a fecond time, and muft therefore renounce for ever the idea of a bank. This argument was felt; and the minifter determined, that the bank mould have the contract for the army and the navy at the fame prices as had been laft given to the gremios, and that this new regulation fhould have a retroipect. The bargain was thus made more advantageous^ for the public; but how far this tranfaction was agreeable to juftice it was for the minifter of the finance to fay.
The gremios, or the five incorporate*! companies of Madrid, have a joint capital, as factors, to purchafe all commodities, and fell to the retail dealers; the manufacturers being prohibited by law to fell by retail This body, with a considerable capital of its own, and borrowing as much as it could employ at two per cent, had all the contracts. for the court, for the preiidios, and for the army, both for food and clothing; but fince-the eflablifhrncnt of the bank, this monopoly has Shifted hands ; and government,
inflead
instead of availing itfelf of the competition between the gremios and the bank, has delivered itfelf up to the latter, for the advancement of its credit.
But, as it would not be furhcient to grant beneficial contracts, without fulfilling its engagements, government agreed to give an affignment of the four per cent, duties on the extraction of Silver for three years, unlefs the arrears to the bank Should be previously difcharged.
Upon coming thus to a mutual understanding, the directors of the bank agreed to advance money for making a canal from Guadarama, at the foot of the Sierra, which divides the two CaStilles, to Seville, and to fuperintend the work* receiving ten per cent. commiiTion, and four per cent, per annum, for all the money they mould expend.
I might proceed to give fome idea of the Philippine company, in which the bank has engaged two hundred and ten thoniand pounds Sterling, as I have already Stated ; but this I Shall referve till I come to Cadiz,-when I mall have occasion to treat of commerce, and more efpecially of the trade carried on between the mother country and its colonies.
The
t 207 ]
The population of Spain may now be afcertained, if we may depend on the recent returns to government. By thefe it appears, that, the whole amounted, in the year 1787, to ten millions two hundred and fixty-eight thoufand one hundred and fifty fouls.
In this number are included, Males, unmarried   -    -    - 2,926,229 Females, ditto   - 2,753,224 Married men  ----- 1,947,165
Married women   -   -   -   - 1,943,496
Widowers   ----- 235,778
Widows   ------ 462,258
Total population - 10,268,150
Among thefe we may dirtinguiih
Parochial clergy, called curas, -	16,689
Affirmants, called tenientes curas,	5//71
Sacristans, or fextons, -	10,873
Acolitos, to affiil at the altar,	5>5°3
Ordinados de patrimonio, having	
a patrimony of three reals a day,	i3>244
Ordinados de menores, with in-	
ferior ecclefiaftical orders,	10,774
Beneficiados, or canons of cathe-	
drals, or other beneficiaries, -	23,692
Monks	61,617
Nuns -	32,500
	Beatas.
[  ao8 ]
Beatas                           t-   - 1,130 Syndics, to collect for the mendicants,   ------- 4,127
Inquiiitors   ------ 2,70$
188,625
Men fervants, - Criados   -   - 280,092
Day labourers, - Jornaleros    - 964,571
Peafants,    -    - Labradores   - 907,197
Artifans   ------ 270,989
Manufacturers  -   -   -   -   - 39>75°
Merchants   ------ 34,3 39
Knights,    -   -   Hidalgos      - 480,589
Of thefe four hundred one thoufand and forty are in the provinces of the Afturias, Bifcay, Burgos, Galicia, and Leon.
The cities, &c. according to the lajl returns. Cities,    -     -  Ciudades   -    - 145 Borough towns,  Villas   -   -   - 4»573 Villages,   -   -  Lugares   -    - 12,732 Hamlets,   -   - AIdeas    -     - 1,058 Granjas, Farm-boufes, with cottages adjoining for labourers - 815 Cotos redondosy Parks, or wafte in-
clofed   ------ 611
Depopulated towns - - - 1,511 Parifhcs   ------ 18,972
*   Convents......_8*9 3?_
The
+
The proportion between the males and females, in feveral provinces, will appear by the following Table :
Andaluiia -
Arragon
Alturias
Caftille, Old -Catalonia -Galicia -Granada -Madrid -
Unmarried Males. Females.
219,770 178,762
94>5°3 20,638
222,369
191,141 1 51,009 101,799: 19,424 225,392
364>3Z3 394>633
187,305 42>°57
76,907
33>275
Married Males. Females.
32,589 21,711 63,886 14,806
13^445 121,095
64,166
14,816
146,63011 51,195 243,568243,568 120,4841121,389 30,215 28,313
Widowed Males. Females.
20,66642,542
15,262 7,410
i,442
18,671
33>321 14,243
3>5°5
26,229 14,069 2,764
37>345 60,789
32,662
10,178
[ ]
Such are the laft returns to government; and, as in the year 1770, the population, by the fame authority, was ftated to be nine millions three hundred and feven thoufand eight hundred and three, we might haftily conclude that Spain, in the courfe of feven teen years, had increafed nearly one million of inhabitants. In like manner, obferving, A. D. 1723, the number of fouls to be feven millions fix hundred and twenty-five thoufand, we might infer, that fince that period fhe was advanced in population more than two millions and an half. But the fact is, that the returns to government are not always juft; and Uflariz affures us, that the people, to leffen their contributions of men and money, conceal their numbers, and make falfe returns. He detected many which were a fifth, and fome one half, below the truth.
Now, if from the number above ftated as the population of A. D. 1787, we deduct three hundred and fifty-eight thoufand two hundred and fixty-four, thefe being out of the peninfala, and inhabiting either the iflands or the coaft of Africa, we fhall have for the remainder nine millions nine
hundred
t   211 I
hundred and nine thoufand eight hundred and eighty-fix; and if we allow the area of Spain to be one hundred and forty-eight thoufand four hundred and forty-eight fquare miles, we lhall find fixty-feven per-fons nearly to a mile. This, if compared with the Ruffian empire, is refpectable; but if with France, is below mediocrity. In the former they reckon five to a fquare mile; in the latter, one hundred and fifty-feven. England comes in between France and Spain; but Spain, if properly cultivated and well governed, might be the hrfl in Europe, not excepting Holland, which to its wife and equitable laws is indebted for a population amounting to two hundred and feventy-two on a mile fquare. (vide Necker and Zimmermann.)
All are agreed that Spain, in more dif-tant periods, was much better peopled than at prefent; and many have attempted to affign the caufe of its depopulation; but as they commonly fix on one, and feldom think of more than two or three among thofe caufes that are moft obvious, it may be ufeful to trace the various circumftances, which have contributed to deprefs this P 2 . once
once powerful nation, and to defolate, at leaff comparatively, one of the richefl countries in Europe.
iff, In the year 1347, the plague broke out with more than common virulence at Almeria, and, during three years continuance, ravaged Spain to fuch an extent, that many cities were left almofl without inhabitants; and throughout the whole penin-fula the population was reduced to one-third of what it had been previous to that event. Of this plague Alfonfo XI. died, whilft conducting the fiege againft Gibraltar. (Campomanes Induitria popular, p. 168. Ponz Viage, torn 8, cap. 5. feet. 60.) Subfequent to this, the country has frequently been laid wafte by peftilential fevers, introduced from Africa, or dating their origin from fome preceding famine. A. D. 1649, more than two hundred thoufand periihed in the fouthern provinces; and fcarccly ever is that part of the country free from putrid, intermittent, and contagious fevers. Such a vaft extent of territory as this peninfula contains, without communication either by canals or roads, divided into a multitude of independent
kingdoms,
f 213 J.
kingdoms, or, at a fubfequent period, into provinces, each exacting heavy duties on the introduction of grain, muft often have felt diftrefs for want of bread, in fact, one province has been reduced to the extremity of famine, whilft others have been ruined by abundance. In Seville, A. D. 1652, wheat fold for 15s. yi the buihel; and A. D. 1657, fo low as is. \d. It was not till the year 1752, that by a wife regulation of the marquis de la Enfenada, corn was permitted to pafs freely, even in Spanish velTels, from one province to another. (Camp. Educ. pop. Ap. part ii. p. 16.) The confequence of famine, as it is well known, is peftilence.
The common diet of the country pre-difpofes the inhabitants to receive infection; and the practice of phyiicians, in preferring venefect.ion indifcriminately to all their patients, tends only to increafe the evil.
From all thefe concurring circumftances, few countries have fuftained fuch lories by epidemical difeafes, few have been fo often ravaged by peftilential fevers.
2d, For more than feven centuries, from the year 714 to 1492, Spain was har-P 3 alfed
[   2H j
afTed by almoft inceffant ftruggles between warlike nations, in the heart of that divided country, contending for dominion; till the marriage of Ferdinand with Ifabella had united the two crowns of Cartille and Arragon, and the conqueft of Granada put a period to the empire of the Moors.
3d, A. D. 1493, Columbus opened a new channel for their ambition, and gave beginning to endlefs emigrations, by the dif-covery of America.
Previous to this, the nobility were moflly refident on their effates, and when not engaged in war, gave themfelves up to the management of their own concerns. Without accumulating treafures, many were able to conduct five or fix thoufand foldiers to the field; but when they had feen the gold and filver of Peru and Mexico, they became reftlefs and impatient to obtain employments in thofe countries, and neglected the flower, yet more certain, means of obtaining wealth, by the improvement of their lands. The people in like manner haftened to America in fuch numbers, that the maritime provinces fuffered feverely by the lpfs,
Emigrations^
Emigrations, if regular and in due proportion, neither weaken the parent ftate, nor fenfibly diminish the remaining ftock; but when they are fudden, and carried beyond certain bounds, they tend to weak-nefs and to defolation. The former may be obferved in the highlands of Scotland, in Switzerland, and in many parts of Germany; the latter was vifible on the firft: difcovery of America, and has ever fince been felt, (vide Oforio dijcurfo univerfal; addreffed to Charles II. A. D. 1686.)
4th, From the acceftion of Charles I. of Spain, but the Vth of Germany, (A. D. 3 506) the nation was engaged in war, with Short intervals, for more than two centuries, thereby exhaufting the treafures of America, and wafting the blood of its moft adventurous fubjedrs, in Italy, in Germany, in Flanders, and in France, only to gratify the vanity of its fovereigas, and to extend the bounds of their unjuft dominion.
The lofs fuftained, both of men and money, in thefe idle projects, could not eafily be reckoned; yet one truth was evident, that the empire became weak in pro-P 4 portion
[   2'6 ]
portion to its vail extent. At war fuccef-lively with all the powers of Europe, Spain enriched her enemies, and became poor herfelf; becaufe, wherever fhe difplayed her banners, fire difperfed her treafures, and after the moil fplendid victories never failed to find herfelf exhauffed of her Strength. At the end of the firft centuries fubfequent to the acquifition of America, fire was reduced to the fad neceflity of debafing her coin, and fo low in credit, that fhe gave more than thirty per cent, for money. This we have on the authority of the univerfity of Toledo, as quoted by count Campomanes in his Education popular.
5th, The eaufe commonly afligned for the depopulation of the country, is the ex~ puljion of the Moors, (A. D. 1613) and to this may be added the previous expulfion of the Jews, to the number of eight hun^ dred thoufand, by Ferdinand and Ifabella, jn token of their gratitude to heaven for the conqueft of Granada. This wound was grievous; but, before the nation had reco^ vered Strength, to banifh nine hundred thoufand of its moft indultrious fubjects,
was
[   2i7 ]
was fuch a ftroke, that to the prefent day it is fevereiy felt. Under the belt government, with the moft propitious circum-ftances,-it would require ages to retrieve lb great a lofs.
6th, Confequent to the expuliion of the Moors, their repeated and.almoft iiiceftant depredations along the whole extent of coaft: warned by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, rendered the moft fertile parts of Spain unfafe, and the produce exceedingly precarious. Government has recently fettled a treaty with the Algerines; and in that, according to the opinion of count Campomanes, the ministers have Shewn more difcretion than when they attempted to deftroy that neft of pirates. His judgment is founded on this maxim, divide et impera: fupport the Algerines, that you may weaken the empire of Morocco.
7th, Among the defolating caufes, muft be reckoned their change of government, not on account of the blood of their bell citizens, Shed in the doubtful conflict, for that lofs in time might be retrieved, but from the unremitted operation of a bad government.   It muft be confelfed, that
under
f   "8 ]
under defpotifm may accidentally be found wifdom and equity, with wealth and power; but, fince the lofs of liberty, thefe have not been feen in Spain. In national alfemblies, able leaders may arife to reprefent their grievances, and to feek redrefs. Had Spain enjoyed her cortes after light was diffufed in Europe, when citizens began to afcertain their rights, and to fhake off the chains of feodal tyranny, fhe would not fo long have groaned under opprefllon.
Although fome grievances, fince the re-prefentation of count Campomanes, have been redreffed, yet, by their long continuance, they tended to defolate the country, and therefore well deferve to be recorded. I fhall felect the mofl remarkable, and fupport them by quotations from his inef-timable works. Thefe relate to the revenue, the army, and the police.
No country ever invented a more ruinous fyflem of finance, or one lefs friendly to manufactures and to commerce. The alcavala, with its cientos, being a tax of fourteen per cent, on all commodities, both on the raw materials, and on the fame when manufactured, as often as the pro-
[ 2*9 1 perty changes hands, rated, not according to the prime coil, but to the felling price, and therefore constantly increasing, is almost Sufficient of itfelf to create a general Stagnation. This effect; is evident in Caf-tille, whilff in Catalonia and in the provinces of Arragon, where Philip V. exchanged this oppreffive tax for the equivalent, industry prevails, and manufactures flourish. The millones, being a tax upon provisions, tends to increafe the price of labor, and thereby indirectly proves an ob-ftacle to foreign commerce.
With fuch powerful inducements to defraud the revenue, to what innumerable vexations muft the manufacturers and merchants have been fubjected by government, more efpecially when the revenue was let to farmers, who, with their fervants, were an hundred thoufand. Thefe watchful harpies were authorized to place their fpies at the door of every Shop, to examine the tradefman's books, to put their feal on his commodities, to demand the testimony of thofe who were fent to purchafe, with the attestation of the purchafer himfelf, and to require certificates from thofe on whom
the
the commodity was found, (vide Camp. E. P. Ap. iv. p. 244.) The farmers of the taxes were originally Jews; but the wealth to be acquired by plunder made the employment honourable. Their mifconduct called loudly for redrefs, and this grievance is no longer found in Spain. But what mall we fay ! mould a more enlightened nation, boafting of freedom, fubmit to fimilar opprefiions ?
That the vexations fpecified tended to depopulate the country muft be evident; that they produced this effect, Oforio, as quoted by count Campomanes, afiures us in his difcourfe on the grievances under which the nation laboured. He afferts, that in the villages, not one-third of the houfes had efcaped the rapacity of thofe who farmed the taxes; becaufe, when nothing elfe remained to the miferable pea-fants, thefe mercilefs exactors fcized their houfes, and fold the materials to the firft-who was inclined to purchafe. This caufe of depopulation was not removed till the year 1749.   f^de Camp. E. P. Ap. i. p.
347-) •
Among a great variety of caufes producing
t    221 ]
duping this effect, and itfelf the genuine offspring of bad government, is the want of a free market.   Under the idea of preventing impofition, the magistrate authorized to intervene between the buyer and the feller fixed the price of all commodities, even of corn and manufactures, to the deftruction of agriculture, and to the dif-couragement of industry. This evil, introduced by Philip II. was confined to the kingdom of Caftille; and, confequently the provinces of Catalonia, Arragon, and Valencia, being free, were both more populous and better cultivated than it, although their foil, excepting Valencia, is far from rich. (v. Camp. E. P. Ap. i. p. 418.). As to manufactures, it was in the reign of Alonzo el Sabio, A. D. 1256, that the ma-giftrates firft interfered to fix the price, and this they did without regarding the goodnefs of the materials or the value of the work.   The confequence of fuch a regulation is obvious,   (v. Camp. E. P. Ap. iv. p. 64.).
With the intention of rendering provisions cheap, government, till the year 1765, prohibited the exportation of grain.
For
For the honour of Spain we may obferve, that nine years fubfequent to this, M. Turgot prevailed on Lewis XVI. to give fimilar liberty to France, and with the fame good effect:. The progrefs of agriculture, the vaft increafe in the quantity of grain, and the diminution in its price, in confequence of this wife regulation, and of the freedom granted to the farmer for the fale of his commodity, are fufficient to evince how much population muft have been retarded by the previous reftraint.
The ignorance and jealoufy of government were not confined to corn, for with the fame contracted views, and influenced by the fame fhort lighted policy, the kings of Spain effectually difcouraged, and continue to difcourage, the breed of horfes, which, if not restrained, would prove a never failing fource of wealth. The very means adopted to increafe the breed have had the opposite effect. To confine the market, and thereby to fink the price; to oblige all the farmers to register their horfes, with the age, the colour, and the fize; to exact from them a strict account, and to fubject them to heavy fines; to c harafi
{    223 1
harafs them with unfeafonablc visitors, and to leave them at the mercy of low men in office j furely this can never be the way to promote their industry, and to encourage them in producing the commodity fo much to be defired. The intention of the king is to mount his cavalry at a fmall expence; but mould the breeder continue Subject to fuch vexations, the race will fail, and mules will fupply their place. Let the ports be open; extend the market; give freedom to commerce; and leave the farmers unmo-lefted to purfue their various operations; Jet their industry have free fcope to move in; let them be protected in their perfons and their property; then, let the magistrate retire.
From the fame mistaken policy, dealers, or jobbers, in corn and cattle, have beendif-couraged, under an idea that they raifed the price. This error,however, has not been confined to Spain; for in the Engliih statutes are to be found provisions againft regrators, yet, without middle men, the attention of the farmer would be distracted, and for want of a ready fale for his commodities, he would have neither time nor capital to conduct his bufinefs to advantage. Thefe
middle
middle men create difpatch, and eventually increafe production.
Previous to the year 1750, the fijherks were much difcouraged by the rapacity of the corregidors, alcaldes, regidors, and other magiftrates, who plundered the fifhermen of their belt fifh, as a recompeufe for their trouble in making the affize, and then ruined them by fixing the price too low. Thefe grievances I have already ftated in treating of the fifhery at Carthagena.
Since the acceflion of the prefent family, found policy has led them to eftablifh barracks; but, previous to the commencement of this century, the military were lodged in the houfes of the peafants. In the year 1686, Oforio reprefented that quartering the foldiers had deffroyed moft of the villages in Spain. This may be readily conceived, when we are informed, that the military ftipend was far from being regularly paid.
The ftate of the police I have already given, when I was defcribing Cadiz and Malaga. Here it may be fufficient to ob~ ferve, that as the regidors have purchafed their office, they muft naturally feek to
indemrufy
indemnify themfelves ; and although deputies and fyndics, with equal authority, are now elected by the people, it is only fince the year 1766, that this palliative expedient has been provided. •
The people, thus every where plundered and opprefTed, could not increafe and multiply, as they would have done under a free and equitable government.
8 th, Convents are by no means favourable to population. Thefe in Spain are eight thoufand nine hundred and thirty-two, containing more than ninety-four thoufand monks and nuns, but the perfons bound to celibacy by vows are not much below two hundred thoufand. Yet this fuper-abundance of the drones is not fo much the caufe, as the effect of their declenfion, being much increafed by the Stagnation of their trade. The univerfity of Toledo, in a memorial delivered to Philip III. at the beginning of the Seventeenth century, complains, that not one-tenth of the ufual number of marriages took place; and particularly States, that whereas, whilst commerce flourished, it had been faid, Quien- ha oficio ha benejicioy He who has a trade has the befi '"Vol. II. benefice;
benef.ee \ now all parents, dreading the poverty and wretchednefs. attached to trade, were inclined to breed up their children nuns, monks, and parifh priests, or even expofed them to perifh in their infancy.
9th, Numerous fejiroah tend to depopulate a country.   Benedict. XIV. letTened the number in his temporal estates, and recommended a fimilar reduction to his clergy. In confequence of this, in the diocefe of Toledo, they have now no more than ninety-three general festivals, not including the fpecial festivals of each parifh, and of the religious houfes, which, in every city fwell the number of unproductive days.   If to thefe we add the occafional bull feafts, and the Mondays, claimed both by apprentices and journeymen for their own diverfion, we fhall have reduced considerably the number of working days; but even then we muft be obliged to make a frefh reduction from their time, becaufe the working hours are feldom more than fix j infomuch that all the unprofitable hours being carried to account, not more than one-third, or perhaps one-fourth, remains for labour. How then is it poffible to Stand a competition in
manu-
[ ]
manufactures with more industrious nations ?   (V. Camp. E. P. p. 274.)
10th, Prevalence of pafiure tends to depopulate a country. Grazing and tillage fhould ever be united. The fame quantity of land, which, in wild pafiure, would require the labour of one family, if tilled, would give employment to twenty, or even twice, that number. In Spain, ever fince the year 1350, at which period the plague had carried off two-thirds of the inhabitants, the laws of the Meffa have fet at variance the ploughman and the lhepherd, preventing each from deriving the leafl advantage from the other, infomuch that five millions of fheep, under the Sanction of a peculiar code, not only fail to enrich the lands on which they feed, but effectually prevent its cultivation. Independent of the Merino flock, many of the great landlords have fuf-fcred villages to go to ruin, and have let their estates to rrraziers.
O
nth, The want of an Agrarian Law. Previous to the recovery of the fouthern provinces from the dominion of the Moors, the distracted and divided State of the peninsula made it neceSSary for the peafants to Q^2 feek
feek refuge in the cities, or at leafl to affo-ciate in villages for their mutual defence. For this reafon, independent farms, detached and distant from a town, are feldom, if ever, feen in the fouthern provinces of Spain. The cities, towns, and villages, were built on the moft. fertile fpots, and between many of them intervened vatt tracts of land, little fufceptible of cultivation. When the plague of the year 1347 had fpread defolation through the country, many towns and villages were Suffered to go to ruin and decay, whereby the distance between thofe that furvived was considerably increafed. To this event has been attributed the extensive territories of innumerable towns, many of which are from ten to fifteen miles diameter, and therefore too far distant from the habitation of the farmer to admit of cultivation. Adjoining to the village you obferve vines, olives, figs, and grain; all beyond is defo-late and waste.
Previous to the conquest, when the christian princes were inclined to make war upon the infidels, they invited the great nobility of other countries, and their own feodal lords, to join them.   Many of thefe
could
r 229: ]
could bring into the field five or fix thoufand vafTals, and were bound to maintain them, at leaft to the frontiers, at their own expence. But then, as moft of thefe were little lefs than independent fovereigns, the prince was obliged to court them, and, if he would allure them to his Standard, it was by the hope of making conquefts for themfelves, that he prevailed on them to follow him. Hence they acquired, by arms, cities, towns, and villages, with ex ten five districts.
■ In fucceeding periods, the great nobility, taking advantage of their fovereign during his minority, when either contending for the regency themfelves, or embarrafling the regent, they extorted considerable grants from the king's demefne, confifting of cities, towns, and villages, with the adjacent territories; all which they tranfmitted to their posterity.
By intermarriages, many of thefe vaft pofleftions have been united, infomuch that three great lords, the dukes of Ofuna, Alba, and Medina Cceli, cover almoft the whole province of Andalufia 5 and the laft
[    230 1
of thefe, claims by inheritance, the greateil part of Catalonia.
Such vast pblfeflions pafling by entail, are far from being friendly to population, more efpecially as the proprietor never re-fides on his eftates, and, being often cm-barraffed in his circumstances, has little inclination, and lefs ability, to make improvements for his heir.
12th, To this want of yeomanry, mult be added, the defecl of fubjiantial tenants. I have already remarked, when fpeaking of the court, that molt of the great estates are in administration, that is, cultivated by stewards on the lords account, and therefore not productive. If tenanted, the rent commonly is paid in kind; and this, when, from bad crops, corn is dear, ruins the farmer. In fuch circumstances, it is difficult to raise a tenantry with furhcient capitals to stock a farm. In tillage, it is found, that, to occupy an estate to advantage recmires a capital more than equal to five times the rent. But in Spain, few fuch are to be found. Should they, however, perfect what the wifeft among them, with count Campomanes
pomanes for their guide, have been long attempting, an agrarian law; mould they, as propofed, allow every man to cultivate what quantity he pleafes of wafte land, without a fpecial grant from the proprietor, and to enjoy it as a copyhold, charged with a quit-rent equal to the value, previous to this improvement, in procefs of time they will raife up both a yeomanry and tenantry, and, in confequence, a more numerous population.
13 th, Royal Manufactures and Monopolies have a baneful influence on population ; for, as no private adventurers can ftand the competition with their fovereign, where he is the great monopolist, trade will never profper. The Spanifh monarch is a manufacturer of
Broad cloth, at Guadalajara and Brihuega; China, at the palace of the Buen Retiro; Cards, at Madrid and Malaga Glafs, at S. Ildefonfo ; Paper, in Segovia; Pottery, at Talavera;
Salt Petre, Madrid, and various other places j Stockings, at Valdemoro; Swords, at Toledo;
Q^4. Tapeftrv,
Tapeftry, at Madrid, Tiflue, at Talavara.
He has the monopoly of brandy, cards, gun-powder, lead, quickfilver, fealing wax, falts, fulphur, and tobacco.
14th, To this may be added, as a caufe of depopulation, the national prejudice againft trade. Whilft the Jews were merchants, and the mechanic arts were left, either to the Moors, or to the vileft of the people, the grandees or knights were ambitious only of military fame. After the conqueft of Granada, the Moors continued to be the principal manufacturers, and excelled in the cultivation of their lands. When thefe, with the Jews, were banifhed, a void was left, which the high-fpirited Spaniard was not inclined to fill. Trained to the exercife of arms, and regarding fuch mean occupations with difdain, his averfion was increafcd by his hatred and contempt for thofe whom he had been accuftomed to fee engaged in thefe employments. He had been early taught to consider trade as diftionourable; and whether he frequented the theatre, or liftened to the difcourfes of the pulpit orators, he could not fail to be confirmed in
his
his ideas. Even in the prefent day, many, who boaft their defcent from noble anceff ors, had rather starve than work.
We muff, not imagine that the Spaniards are naturally indolent; they are remarkable for activity, capable of Strenuous exertions, and patient of fatigue : if, therefore, unemployed, this muft be attributed to other caufes, of which, refpecting fome occupations, national prejudice is one.
15th, Among the defolating caufes, I muft be allowed to mention one, on the tef-timony of a native Spaniard, becaufe I never had occaiion to obferve the leaft trace of it myfelf. It is acknowledged by count Campomanes, that the national prejudice was a-gainjt the jcttlement of foreigners in Spain. Certain it is, that, for want of intercourfe with other nations, the native Spaniards, being chiefly refident at home, excepting thofe who migrate to America, and few ftrangers even pairing through the country, all the arts, fciences, and manufactures have been at a Stand, and appear to be at ieaft a century behind the reft of Europe. In the year 1655, don Francisco Martinez de Mata, an author of high re-
putationt
putation, in his feventh difcourfe on the depopulation of Spain, complained, that a hundred and twenty thoufand Strangers, working cheaper, and apparently better, 4han the natives, were allowed to fpread Over the country; entering it poor, but by their diligence acquiring wealth, and returning home loaded with gold. He afferts, that they carried out with them annually more than eight hundred thoufand pounds, or feven million three hundred and twenty thoufand ducats : thefe men only filled up the vacancy made by the expulsion of the Moors.   He recommends giving alms to Strangers, but not employment; and, to confirm his advice, relates the hiflory of a Spanifh farrier, as an example to be followed: This man went to Paris, with a view to work at his trade, but being threatened with death mould he there venture to exercife his art, he retired to Bourdeaux, where he hoped to find a more hofpitable reception ; but there they cut off one arm, that he might no longer work, and rob the native farrier of bread. (Camp. E. P. A. 4. p. 184.)
16th, Tcrfecutkn is a powerful caufe of
depo-
depopulation, and, like the national prejudice againft ftrangers, prevents many ufeful Subjects from being added to the ftate. It were endlefs to enumerate the advantages a community derives from toleration. As without an eflablifhed religion the poor would be neglected, and, in the villages at leaft, would be in danger of lofing all knowledge of a deity, fo, without a toleration, there could be no competition, and therefore little fcope for emulation, without which zeal would be apt to languish, morals to decay; and, in procefs of time, the moft important truths would, by the many, be totally forgotten.
The good bifhop of Oviedo, lamenting over the manners of the age, comforted himfelf at laft under a perfuafion, that, through the activity and zeal of the inquisitors, they had no infidels in Spain. For my part, I am perfuaded, that the torpid infidelity of ignorance prevails more in Spain, than the active infidelity of fcience in either England or France.
All the enlightened nations of Europe have at laft difcovered the folly of perfection, and feem to be perfuaded that the
re fort
refort of ftrangers, with their wealth, their knowledge, their induftry, and arts, will bear proportion to the extent of toleration. It is nuw generally felt, that thefe contribute to enrich, and, by the increafe of people, to make moft powerful the country in which the citizens, without distinction, enjoy moff civil and religious liberty.
17th, The gold andfiver of America, in-ilead of animating the country and promoting induflry, inftead of giving life and vigour to the whole community, by the increafe of arts, of manufactures, and of commerce, had an oppofite effect, and produced in the event, weaknefs, poverty, and depopulation. The wealth which proceeds from induftry refembles the copious yet tranquil ftream, which, parting filent and almoft invihble, enriches the whole extent of country through which it flows: but the treafures of the new world, like a fwelling torrent, were feen, were heard, were felt, and were admired; yet their firft operation was to defolate and lay wafte the fpot on which they fell. The fhock was fudden; the contraft was too great. Spain overflowed with fpecie, whilft other nations
[ m 1
tions were comparatively poor' in the extreme. The price of labour, of provisions, and of manufactures bore proportion to the quantity of circulating cam. The confequence is obvious: in the poorer countries industry advanced, in the more wealthy it declined.
Combined with all the forementloned caufes of depopulation, this became more fatal to the profperity of Spain than it would have been, had circumftances.been more propitious. Had the country been populous and well governed, had peace been cultivated, and had the manufactures flourished, had the convents been recently destroyed, and the festivals abolished, had emigration ceafed, and had ftrangers reforted to fettle in the country with their Industry and arts, this wealth would have given new vigour to the nation. But, inftead of this benign effect, hidden repletion produced a torpor, ending in a political difeafe, fimilar to that which, in like circumftances, affects the human frame. Even in the prefent day, fpecie being about fix per cent, lefs valuable in Spain than it is in other nations, operates, pre-
cilely
[ ]
eifely in the fame proportion againft her manufactures and her population.
18th, Had all Europe continued upon one level, the above Stated caufes of depopulation had not been fo Severely felt in Spain.   But, unhappily for her, thefe were rendered more destructive by the riling industry, and confcquent profperity, of rival nations, in which convents were left empty, numerous festivals abolished, to which Strangers might refort, where property had been long Since more equally divided, and where new learnt commerce led to wealth and power. Thefe- nations, in proportion as civil, religious, and commercial liberty advanced, grew into greatnefs; and, like the fpreading oak casting a Shade on the more weakly faplings, did not furfer them to rife.
Supposing all nations to be equally well governed, to enjoy the fame degree of civil, religious, and commercial liberty, the wealth and profperity of one will extend to all. But mould one nation continue free, in the full poffeifion of public confidence and public credit, whilft another is governed by dcfpotic fway, fubject to the capri-a cious-
clous will of a weak prince, or of a wicked minifter, and therefore deftitute of public confidence and public credit; the former will increafe in wealth and power, the latter will decay, and freemen will give law to Haves.
Should the people take advantage of the prefent crifis to baniih the inquifitors, and to affert their freedom; fhould they, happy in poffefiing one of the richeft countries upon earth, contract the bounds of their unwieldy empire; fhould they confine their views within the limits of their own peninsula, and cultivate the arts of peace ; fhould they, to cherifh induftry,abolifhthemonaftic orders, leffen the number of their festivals, eftablifh an agrarian law, and strike off the fetters, by which their commerce has been bound; considering the foil, the climate, the abundance of water, the natural productions, the rivers, the harbours, and the local situation, we may venture to affirm, that no country, of the fame extent, would be more populous, more wealthy, or more powerful, than Spain.
Let her for ever keep her true intereft
in
in view, and all Europe muff rejoice in her profperity.
- Before I turn my back upon Madrid, I mufi briefly defcribe the minifters of ftate, and fome principal characters about the court.
It is well known that the government was feodalj that Spain enjoyed the protection of its cortes; and that the power of the monarch was circumfcribed by laws. At prefent, no fovereign can be more de-fpotic. The transition forms a moft inte-refting epoch in their hiftory, but fuch as would require more time in its develope-ment than a traveller can beftow. Whenever I fhall have an opportunity to refume this fubject, I fhall endeavour to fhew, that Spain, like all other countries which have loft their liberty, was ruined by the inordinate ambition, and by the unjuft pretensions of the great. Whilft labouring to curb the monarch, and to depress the people, they themfelves have funk, have loft their power, and are become perfect cyphers, assembled round the fovereign like prifoners, or, at belt, like fervants, and not like pillars to fupport his throne.
The
The reigning monarch, Charles III. has never been considered as a man of more than common abilities j but all who know him, admire the goodnefs of his heart; and indeed it is impomble to look at him without reading distinctly the characters of benevolence and truth.   As a man of principle, he e(teems it his firft duty to promote the happinefs of the nation over which he reigns; and if at any time his conduct hath been inconsistent with his principles; if he hath contracted unnatural alliances, without either the plea of necessity or profpect of advantage; if, in defence of a relation, he hath hastily engaged in war, it hath been always from goodnefs of heart, and from the influence of'gratitude, that he hath erred.   In choofing his ministers he confults only the good of his people; and it must be confeffed, that commonly he is well directed in his choice.
His prefent miniiter, count Florida Blanca, is a man of Singular abilities, of upright intentions, and of indefatigable in-duftry. His father was EJcrhano Epifcopal in Murcia. He himfelf, early in life, was Vol. II. R taken
■ *
taken into the houfe of Benevente, as advocate to the duke of Arcos, under whole patronage he became fifcal, or one of the judges of Caftille.  In this employ he made himfelf confpicuous, by feconding the views of count d'Aranda for the expulhon of the jefuits, and by quieting the tumults which, upon that occafion, the bifhop of Cuenca, a prelate exceedingly attached to thofe intriguing fathers, had excited.   After their expulhon, he was fent as ambaifador to Rome, where he acquired much reputation, by obtaining the Sanction of the pope to meafures, which, in the event, have proved most fatal to the papal power. From Rome he was called by his fovereign to direct his councils, whilft the marquis of Grimaldi, who had been minifter, was ordered to replace him at the holy fee; and count d'Aranda, who, as prefident of Caftille, and governor of the council, had been omnipotent, was fent ambassador to Paris.
The new minifter was not unmindful of his friends: upon all occafions he has (hewn a marked attention to the houfe of
Benevente,
Benevente, and has proved, that he retains a grateful remembrance of the protection received at his hrft entrance into life.:
Whilft at Cuenca, he had lodged in the houfe of don Pedro de Lerena, one of thofe favourites of fortune, who, without natural pretentions, with little exertion, :and lefs merit, are raifed to the higheft ftations, and to the enjoyment of every comfort that wealth can pure hale :
Qualcs ex huroili magna ad fafligia rcrum Extollu, quoties voluit fort una jocari.
Juvenal.
Don Pedro de Lerena, fon to a miferable publican at Valdcmoro, was bound apprentice to a blackfmith, who lived oppolite to his father's houfe. In a lucky hour he married a rich widow of Cuenca, and, by the intereft of her family, became fome little official in that city. Here he had the * good fortune to receive under his roof Moiiino, now count Florida Blanca, and to fecure a place in his good opinion. When the count took the reins of government, he was not unmindful of his friend, but embraced the earliest, opportunity of ferv-ing him. Under fuch a powerful patron, R z Lerena
L   244 3
Lerena became agent to the army in Minorca, and, after the capture of that ifland, went with the duke of Crillon to Gibraltar in the fame capacity, and, at the termination of the war, he became intendant of Andalufia, and afliftant of Seville. Whilft he continued in that employment, he procured, after the cuftom of his country, certificates of his good conduct from all kinds of bodies, civil, military, and eccle-fiaftical, and from individuals of eminence, all which, being fubmitted to the infpec-tion of the king, procured him, on the death of don Miguel de Mufquiz, the appointment to the high and important offices of the finance of war.
The family of the Gahez, equally fortunate, were all men of fuperior talents. Don Jofeph de Galvez, marquis of Sonora, and minifter of the Indies, was of a mean family, near Malaga, in the fouth of Spain, but, by his great abilities, he raifed himfelf and his relations to the higheft honours of the ftate. His two brothers drove boricos, and were called Tio9 an appellation anfwer-ing to uncle, or to gaffer; yet one of them became viceroy of Mexico, and, at his
death,
death, was fucceedcd in the fame regal office by his fon.
Don Antonio Valdes, the prefent minifter of the marine, ftands indebted to his merit for his high ftation. As a captain of the navy, and as a commodore, he was diftin-guifhed; and how much the nation is indebted to his fingular abilities, and,more than common application, will appear, when, in defcribing Cadiz, I fhall give a Statement of the marine, and fhew the increasing power of the Spanifh navy. Till I had been at the fea-ports, I could form no idea of his Superior talents, and therefore profited little by his condefcending permission to approach him. I can only now lament that I did not fpend more time in his fociety.
Of Count Campomanes I have already fpoken. All who have the honour of being near to him, admire the boundless extent of his abilities, which embrace every Science; and the goodnefs of his heart, which turns all his knowledge towards one object—the profperity of his country. He fhines in all the feveral branches; but his peculiar excellence is in law, hiftory, and R 3 political
political cEConomy. He is wholly indebted to himfelf, and to the voice of the nation, for his elevation.
It muff be Striking to an Englifhman to fee all the molt important offices occupied by men who have been taken from the lower ranks, and not to find among them one man of fafhion, not one grandee of Spain, Thefe are all precifely where they ought to be: lords of the bed-chamber, grooms of the Stole, matters of the horfe, all near the throne, partaking of its fplen-dor, whilft the drudgery and refponfibility of office is left to others who are better qualified to bear that burden. In England it is far otherwife: our men of fafhion, from their infancy, are trained to high pur-fuits; at School they, learn ambition, and when they come into, the houfe of commons, they fee, that to be distinguished for application and for knowledge is the only way to gain coniideration, and to arrive at power. This proves fuch a fpur to diligence, that, in fpite of their hereditary wealth and honours, rnany of the greatest men, and the moft able ministers, are to be found among our principal nobility.
In
[ 247 1 In Spain, on the contrary, in the higher ranks, all is torpid. Satisfied with hereditary wealth and honours, the grandees fink into mere fenfualifts, and are loft. Nay, fuch is the general neglect of education, that the principal minifters find it difficult to procure proper men to fill the common offices.
When my friend, don Eugenio Izquierdo, returned from Paris, where he had been educated for the royal cabinet of natural hiftory, of which he was appointed director on the death of Davila, he was de-fired immediately to make out a catalogue, in order to convince the world that Spain was not behind other nations in this inte-refting branch of fcience, and that he might aflift to wipe away the reproach which M. Marlon had eaft upon the nation.   He was revolving this commiffioii in his mind, but ere he could begin the previous arrangement of the cabinet, he was hurried away to teach the art of dying, and to fuperintend the cloth manufacture at Guadalajara, where all was in confufion, and where every branch required a reform. According to the maxim of no con-R 4 temptibje
temptible philofopher, a wife man is every thing, either an humble mechanic, or a minifter, of ftate; and certainly, with time, he may be qualified for either. But however qualified my friend might be for this new employment, he could not lhew himfelf at Guadalajara without danger; for the moment he appeared, he found himfelf in a neft of hornets. All who had been accuftomed to eat the bread of idlenefs, to receive their falaries, and to neglect their work, or to fhare among themfelves the plunder of the ftate, became his enemies, and, as I underftand, never left him, till by their perfecution, at the end of two years, they had compelled him to retire.
His friend Angulo, trained by him at Paris for the branch of natural hiftory, whofe ambition it was to be vice-director of the cabinet, no fooner returned to court, than he was appointed chemical profeffor, and received orders to prepare for giving a courfe of lectures the enfuing winter. Afto-nifhed at this command, he enquired for the elaboratory and the apparatus. He was told, that the foundation of the former fhpuld be inftantly laid, and that he himfelf
muft
muft give orders for the latter.  But before he had time to look about him, he was fent by the minifter of the finance to fuperin-tend the working of a lead mine at Linares.   My friend acquitted himfelf to the fatisfaction of the minifter, and was appointed director general of all the mines in Spain.   In this capacity he was fent to Riotinto, where I engaged to follow him, but when I came near the place, I found he had been difpatched to another part of the kingdom, to infpect a mine fuppofed to be of cinnabar.   Samples of this ore had been fent to the minifter of the finance, with the  quickfilver  extracted from it, which was in abundance; and the moft flattering hopes were entertained at Madrid of the wealth to be obtained from this new difcovery.   But, unfortunately, the whole was a deception; and my friend, mortified at firft at not being able to detect a single particle of mercury, was at laft fo happy as to extort a confession from the impoftor, of the means made ufe of to deceive the minifter, under the expectation of being appointed manager of this rich mine. M. Clavijo had been manager of the
king's
king's theatre; but when a proper perfo* was wanted to conduct one of the public prints, he was appointed to that office, and, being a man of letters, he acquitted himfelf to the fatisfaction of the court. On the death of M. Davila, when don Euge-nio Izquierdo became the principal director of the cabinet, and a proper perfon, as vice director, was wanted to fucceed him, the minifter of finance fixed on my friend Cla-vijo, and will, I am perfuaded, find in him, that a wife man is every thing. This gentleman hath already translated the works of the count de Buffon; and, fhould he be left quietly in his department, from his abilities and his application, it may be hoped that he will make a rapid progrefs in the fcience of natural hiftory. Yet, fuch is the fcarcity of able men, that, in all probability, M. Clavijo will foon receive fome new com million.
During my winter's refidence at Madrid, I cultivated the acquaintance of colonel Nodin, an Italian officer in the Spanifh fervice, diftinguifhed for his proficiency in algebra. This gentleman was fo happy as to attract the notice of the minifter, and
received
[   *S* ]
received a commimon, to perfect, the navigation at Tortofa, where almoft infuperable difficulties occurred. He was preparing to fet out, when I left Madrid with the pleaf-ing expectation of meeting him at the place of his destination; but on my arrival, I found that he had been fent into the north of Spain, to make a road, where the minister of finance conceived that algebraical calculations might be ufeful.
It would be inexcufeable in fpeaking, even in the moft tranfient manner, of men who are diftinguiflied in Madrid, as employed about the court, not to mention the two brothers Yriarte, who, for tafte, for judgment, and for fcience, have few superiors in the molt enlightened countries. Don Bernardo has fome place in the finance, but his brother is the man of letters.
There was a time when the apothecary, don Cafimiro Gomez Ortega, was the only perfon qualified to teach either botany, chemistry, mineralogy, or natural hiftory; but he has lived to See many competitors for fame, not excepting his favourite fcience, in which he moft excels.
2 Do?i
Don Antonio Solano, profelibr of experimental philofophy, merits attention for the clearnefs and precision of his demonstrations; but, unfortunately, although his lectures are delivered gratis, fuch is the want of taste for fcience in Madrid, that nobody attends them.
Gratitude, as well as the higheft veneration, requires that I fhould mention don Francifco Bayer, firft librarian to his majesty, and late preceptor to the infant don Gabriel, a prince who Stands high in the republic of letters, for his elegant translation of Salluft: in this work we evidently fee the master's hand, but the pupil is Said to deferve his fhare of praife.
The laft perfon I fhall mention, who is diftinguiihed for his talents, although not the leaft deserving of commendation, is Juan Bautifta Muhoz, historiographer to the king, with fpecial commission to write the conquest of America. This gentleman honoured me with his friendship, and fuffcred me to examine freely all his manu-fcripts; he was feven years collecting his materials, and, for that purpofe, viSited every part of Spain where the families and
dependents
t 253 1 defcendents of the firft adventurers reside, or where any public records are preferved. His collections are voluminous, and, I have no doubt, will be given to the world with the impartiality becoming an hiftorian, and with that degree of elegance, which may be well expected from an author of his fupe-rior talents. He is a man of a clear head, a good clafiical fcholar, and perfectly acquainted with the characteristic excellence of thofe, either in Greece or Rome, who have been moft admired for historical composition. From him, therefore, not merely fomething new, but fomething highly interesting, may be expected.
Had Dr. Robertfon, or had his friend Mr. Waddilove, known where to look for records, and fpent feven years in making the collection, his work had been much more worthy of the public eye. He has, however, feized the ground, and when thefe new materials fhall appear, he will employ them to advantage; and, both by his arrangement, and by the peculiar graces of his stile, confirm the reputation his former writings have
acquired for him; and, if we may be allowed the expression*
put
t   2J4 ]
put the laft finifh to the temple of his fame.
When I was about to leave Madrid, I addreffed myfelf to my old friend Canofa, and, in a laughing way, defired that he would procure me letters of recommendation for the fouthern provinces. He at once promifed that I lhould have them; but, not Satisfied with this mode of application, I defired Mr. Lifton to beg from count Florida Blanca a letter for Murcia, the place of his nativity. The count obligingly enquired, what route I meant to take? and, in a few days, fent me letters to all the governors of provinces, and to fome principal perfon in every city, through which I was to pafs.
Nothing then remained, but to form a party, and to hire a carriage for the journey.
In the mean time I procured proper paff-ports, one from the minifter, another from count Campomanes, and a third from my valuable friend Efcarano. The firft was for the fake of form ; but the two latter might be of the moft effential fervice, and were actually ufeful to me on feveral occasions.
[  255 3
iions. I likewife got myfelf introduced to the inquintor-general, not merely to fatisfy a natural curiofity, but that, in cafe I Should if and in need of his protection, my name might not be altogether unknown to him.
Having adjuffed all matters for my journey, previous to my departure, I enquired into the prices of provifions at Madrid, and found them to be as follow :
Bread, 61 quarts per pound of 16 ounces; Beef, -  14 ditto ditto; Mutton, 15 ditto ditto. A quart is ^JL of a penny, or a fmall fraction more than a farthing.   Eight quarts are equal to i\ pence English.
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
FROM
MADRID  to SEVILLE.
15th February, 1787.
WHEN the day for our departure was arrived, we entered our coche de colleras, drawn by feven mules, and, pairing through Valdemoro, came to Aran-juez in the evening.
At Valdemoro, a town containing one thoufand nine hundred and thirty-eight fouls, with two convents, we found a royal manufactory of Stockings, lately eftablifhed by the minifter of finance, to honour the place of his nativity. The frames are about ' one hundred, not all as yet employed. The ftockings are very weak, and badly woven;
the worried is only of two threads, and not well fpun. In this manufacture, a good hand will earn twelve reals, or about 2 s. 47^. per day.
As the country was not new to me, my attention was chiefly occupied in reading my companions. With one of them, M. Seguier, a French captain in the Spanish Service, I was well acquainted, having met him often at the dukes de la Vauguion and Berwick. The two others were Colonel Davila, a native Spaniard, lately from Mexico, and a naval officer; the former going to Malaga, the latter to Cadiz. As thefe gentlemen had often travelled the fame road, they knew where to lay in provifions, and where to procure good wine j confequently we wanted nothing that money could procure.
The inn at Aranjuez is upon a large fcale, making forty-four beds, all very clean and comfortable. It is royal property, and the king receives from it a fent of fifty-four thoufand reals, or JT. 540 per annum.
The next day we paffed through Ocana, a considerable city, two leagues from Aranjuez, and nine from Madrid.   It compre-
Vol. II. S fiends
fiends four parishes, containing four thoufand eight hundred and eighty-fix fouls, and fupports ten convents. As it was too early to think of reft, we proceeded four leagues further, to La Guardia; and although it is not the ufual ft age, we found good accommodations. All the way from Madrid, the country is tolerably level, the foil is fandy, the rock is gypfum, the produce chiefly corn, with fome vines and olives. Here, in the famous country of La Mancha, we naturally looked out for wind-mills, which, as they have no Streams to grind their corn, we faw, as we expected, in the vicinity of every village. They have no oxen ; and nothing but mules, or affes, are ufed for all the purpofes of hufbandry.
La Guardia was formerly a place of Strength, and was long defended by the Moors; but now it appears to be verging to decay. It reckons ftill about one thoufand families, confifting, according to the returns to government, of three thoufand three hundred and forty-four perfons , but, in fact, they have more than three thoufand who receive the facrament, and about eight hundred children under the communicating
age*
age. They have no manufacture except fait-petre, and that is not considerable: hence their poverty and wretchednefs. Their lands are divided into fmall allotments, but the chief proprietor is Don Diego de Plata. The rents are paid in corn.
The church is a very handfome well-proportioned building , the altars moffly new, and simple. In one chapel are many good pictures by Angelus Nardi.
They have no beef. Mutton is twelve quarts, bread five quarts the pound of fixteen ounces.
After dinner we proceeded two leagues to fleep at Tembleque, a town of about two thoufand families, but reckoned to contain only four thoufand four hundred and eighteen fouls, with one parim-church, one chapel, and one convent. The moft remarkable thing here is a manufacture of faltpetre, in which are employed forty men in winter, ftxty in fummer, making fix thoufand arrobas every year. I found the manager more than commonly intelligent, fie told me, that the expences, notwithstanding the moft rigid economy, amounted to fix hundred thou/and reals ; that is, to about four reals, " S 2 or
[   26o ]
of nearly 9 ■£•</.' per pound, of which, according to this Statement, the labour coils no more than one penny; fo that the other eight pence halfpenny is for fewel, furnaces, management, intereff of capital, and other incidental charges. Should we carry this calculation with us to Madrid, how-much beyond what I have already ftated will appear to be the lofs on thofe extensive works, where fewel is fo fcarce.
He informed me, that he collected all his earth from fpots of ground, on which animal and vegetable fubalances had lain in a ftate of putrefaction.
On Saturday, February 17th, we pasted through Camunas, a miierable village containing about three hundred cottages, to las Veritas de Puerto Lapiche, having in thefe three laft days travelled two and twenty leagues.
The country is flat, and the view to the north extenfivej but before we reached las Veritas, we had loft light of the fnowy mountains which feparate the two Caf-tilles. Under favourable circumftances of air and elevation, I think they muft be Seen more than a hundred miles.   The foil is a
loofe
[    26l ]
loofe fand of quartz, and the rock is granite. It is ploughed with two afTes or two mules; and wherever it is watered by no-rias, produces plenty of corn. The wine is excellent, and in great abundance. The village of Lapiche is wretched; and the people appear half ftarved, although their crops can never be difappointed by the want of rain, for in the fpace of about fixty acres, I counted more than thirty norias.
The Venta is in the old Spanim ftile. It is one hundred and fifty feet in length, and, independent of a communicating fhed, or penthoufe, not more than ten feet wide. At one end is a chimney, by way of kitchen, ten feet fquare, with an hearth in the middle, furrounded on three fides by a bench, upon which the muletiers fit by day, and lie down to fleep by night; but open to the long range of ffables, that with primitive fimplicity, under one hofpi-table roof,
---•       Ignemque Lamemque
Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra.
Juvenal,
There is, adjoining to this, a court yard, S 3 with
with a well in the middle of it, and at one end a penthoufe for carts and coaches. The bed-room is over the ftable, and, according to cuftom, all night long we heard, or might have heard, the tinkling bells on the heads of our mules, at leaft as long as they were feeding.
Before we went to reft, we entered into treaty with the curate for early mafs, He flood tor lixteen reals; but at iaft, on clofing the bargain, he agreed for eight. Had he perluted in his demand, we muft have complied with it; becaufe, to hear mafs on heydays in a Catholic country, is indifpenf-able, and it would not have been convenient for us to flop upon the road.
From las Veritas we defcended into an extenfive plain, bounded by high hills on every fide, producing olives and corn, with faffron. At the end of eight leagues, we came to Manzanares. All the travellers on this road were well armed; and three monumental croffes proved that their fears were not ill founded. It was Sunday, yet many ploughs were working. Their crops are watered by numerous norias.
Manzanares has one thoufand eight hundred
[   *63 J
dred families, fix thoufand feven hundred and fixty-eight fouls. The houfes are built with mud, and the poor are almofl naked. In the church we faw four good pictures.
The Caffle, with a considerable effate and the tithes, all belong to the knights of Calatrava, and are held by the infant don Antonio, yielding him a revenue of thirty thoufand ducats, or ,£.3295 per annum.   We examined the premifes, viewed the extenfive granaries, and tailed the rich variety of wines. The steward was fending fome to court, for the table of the infant, which appeared to me, without exception, the befl in Spain: it had the flavour of the richeft burgundy, with the strength and body of the moft generous port. After praiiing this wine, and thanking the steward for his civilities, we purfued our walk till the clofe of day; when, at our return to the pofada, we had the happinefs of finding more than three gallons of this wine lodged there, and already depoiited in our botas, or leather bottles, for the journey. Unfortunately, the two coachmen foon discovered its peculiar excellence, and, by their affiftance, we finifhed in one day, g 4 what
what I had perfuaded myfelf would ferve us three.
The pofada is more comfortable, and upon a larger Scale than common, with two and thirty beds, all upon the ground floor. The building is about one hundred and eighty feet long,. by thirty - fix or forty wide, with one long range through the middle for coach-houfe and liable, from which the kitchen is fcarcely feparated by a partial fkreen. The bed-rooms to the right and left, are about fixteen feet by fourteen, each after the Spanish fafhion, furnifhed with four beds.
On Monday, 19th February, we left Manzanares early in the morning, pafling through a level country to Valdepenas, at the diitance of four leagues, to dinner. The foil is fand with gravel, producing fome olives and much wine, but moftly corn. The norias are well constructed, with the gre.;t wheel of iron inftead of wood.
The rock is fchift.
In the way we paffed two monumental croffes.
Valdepenas is famous for good wine, which  is fent ehiefly to Madrid; but
whenever
whenever the navigation fhall be opened, as propofed, to Seville, this, with many other curious wines, the produce of La Mancha, will find its way to England, and will be in great requeft. In this town are feven thoufand fix hundred and fifty-one fouls.
From hence we palled through Santa Cruz, and then began to , afcend among rough uncultivated hills, till we took up our lodging at La Conception de AlmuradieL This little village, of thirty-fix families, is the firft we meet with in the new fettle-ments of the Sierra Morena. It was built A. D. 1781.
The inn furrounds a court yard of ninety feet by fifty, with a coach-houfe adjoining, of one hundred and fifty feet by forty, and has ftables in proportion. The rooms are well fitted up, each with a chimney, and two alcoves for beds. Above thefe are the apartments of the administrator, his deputy, and his Servants; with extenfive granaries, and a corridor, forming a communication around it. Every thing here is upon the king's account, and, of courfe, little attention
tion is paid to travellers. They gave me, for the firft time in Spain, dirty meets; but, after fome remonstrances, the administrator lent me a clean pair of his own.
Every fettler has ninety fanegas of land in emphiteufis, or as a copyhold, paying only the tithes to the king, and twelve quartos, or about three pence acknowledgment for the houfe.
Bread fells for eight quartos and an half a pound.
Ram mutton, ten quartos.
Beef they have none.
Wine is two quartos the quartillo, or about four pence Sterling the gallon.
Santa Elena is peopled chiefly with Germans. In the vicinity we met with numerous cottages, not collected together, but fcattered over the country, according to the plan recommended by the Abbe Raynal; but they foon difcovered, what in this instance he feems to have overlooked, that man is happier in fociety, and therefore gave up this mode of Settlement for villages.
The country is highly cultivated; yet fa
many
many frees are left, that the whole, at a little distance, appears like an extensive fore nr.
They plough with cows, and make dif-patch.
In one cottage we faw tame "partridges. Thefe are trained, like decoy ducks, to collect, others.
In the higher regions of the Sierra we find th- granite; but, as we defcend, the fchift again appears, with limeftone and gypfum.
At noon we came to Carolina, the capital of thefe new Settlements.
Their founder, D. Pablo de Olavide, is a native of Peru, who, being protected by count d Aranda, was made at first fyndic of Madrid, and afterwards ajjijiente de Sevilla. Whilft in this employment, he conceived the idea of introducing agriculture and arts in the deferted mountains of the Sierra, where rapine and violence had for ages established their dominion. The difficulty was to procure fettlers. One Turrigel, of Bavaria, contracted for fix thoufand huf-bandmen; but, inftead of men trained to agriculture, he brought only vagabonds,
who
who all either died or were difperfed, without advancing the work for which, at an immenfe expence, they had been brought.
Settlers were then invited from all parts of Germany, and, in order to encourage emigration from thofe hives, every new comer, on application, received a lot of land, a houfe, two cows, one afs, five ihcep, as many goats, fix hens with a cock, one pregnant fow, a plough, and a pick--axe, with other emoluments of inferior value. They begin with fifty fanegas of land, of ten thoufand fquare feet each; and when they have cultivated thefe, they receive fifty more, free of all rent for the firft ten years, and after that period, fubjecf only to the royal tithes. No proprietor can alienate his land to one who is in poffeilion of a lot, in order that the farms may never become either too little, or too big. They are not permitted to fettle, either near to a morafs or to ftagnant water.
The foil about Carolina confifts chiefly of fand; and the rock is either limeftone or gypfum.
They produce olives, oil, wine, filk,
wheat,
wheat,  barley,  rye,  oats,  peas, Indian wheat, and lentils.
They have no manufactures, and therefore cannot profitably employ all their people. Hence it is, that thefe new fettle-ments fwarm with half naked beggars.
The numbers, at prefent fettled in the Sierra Morena, will appear from the government returns, and are as follows: unmarried men, two thousand three hundred and eighty-eight; unmarried women, one thoufand feven hundred and twenty-four; married men, one thoufand fix hundred and twenty; married women, one thoufand fix hundred and nine; widows, three hundred  and  eighteen;  widowers, two hundred and nine; total, feven thoufand eight hundred and fixty-cight.   Of thefe, the huibandmen are one thoufand feven hundred and eighty-four; day labourers, four hundred and eleven; artifans, one hundred and feventy-two; fervants, three hundred and fixty-fix; employed by the crown, one hundred and eighteen.
Confidering that all thefe were affembled and eftablifhed in lefs than ten years, we muft admire the energy and zeal of Ola-vide.
vide. They have been collected, at a vaft expence, from distant countries, and enjoy lingular immunities, yet the colony is far from profpering. The reafon of this mull be fought for, either in the climate, the foil, the government, the morals of the people, or in the want of a market for the furplus of their produce.
It is allowed that no country, if the climate is unhealthy, or if the foil is barren, if it wants corn and cattle, or if it is defti-tute of fewel, can be populous; but, in the Sierra, excepting tertians, they are Subject to few difeafes; the foil is certainly productive both in fruits and herbage, and it abounds with wood. Supposing the government of a country to be either weak or vicious, the peafant having no certainty of protection for his perfon and for his property, the moft fertile foil, notwithstanding repeated efforts to increafe its population, will be defer ted. Or, mould the morals be corrupt, the people will not increafe and multiply; the births will not fill up the vacancies made by death; and, to keep up the population, emigrants muft be invited from more prolific
s
t 27* 3 line nations. But neither is it from thefe caufes that the Sierra languishes, becaufe the people are felf governed, that is to fay, rive villages unite to choofe a fenate for the administration, both temporal and Spiritual; and as for luxury, with its attendant vices, it is yet unknown. We muff refer, therefore, to the want of a market, for th^ un-profperous condition of this new, this fe-queftered colony.
The principles, thus briefly Slated, are confirmed by the experience of all nations. In favourable circumflances, a country, like America, will double its numbers at leafl every five and twenty years. Whenever, therefore, inftead of thus advancing, population is at a Sland, or going backwards, we may be certain that, if fought for, fome of the caufes above fuggefted will be difcovered.
At Carolina we met with comfortable rooms in a pofada, which is kept by a Frenchman, and fared fumptuouSly. It was February 20th, yet we had cauliflowers and green peas.
The people in this diftrict being fubjecr.
to
to agues, and to fuch intermittents, as, when neglected, foon turn putrid, I looked about for Stagnant water, and for marfli miafma; but I could find none, and am therefore Satisfied; that thefe difeafes may arife from other caufes, befide thofe which have been commonly alfigned.
Thus far the road through the Sierra is excellent; but all beyond is in a State of nature.
About two leagues from Carolina is Guadaroman, a village comprising one hundred families, each poffcili ng its fifty fa-negas of land. It is fituated on a gentle declivity, by the fide of a purling brook, in a fertile fpot, which is chequered with corn fields and little groves of ilex. The diftant hills are beautifully varied in their forms, and covered with wood. The foil is fandy, and the trees are healthy; yet the inhabitants fuffer much by intermittent fevers.
They have no beef. Mutton is feven-teen quarts, or four pence three farthings the pound of two and thirty ounces; and bread is half that price.
The
The inhabitants are chiefly Germans, who, both by their industry and frugality, do credit to their country.
As we increafe our distance from this little colony, we lofe fight of every thing which marks the residence of man ; but, in approaching Bailen, we pafs through im-menfe plantations of the olive, belonging, with that village, and a vaft extent of country round it, to the countefs of Penafiel. In the way we fee Banos, with its caitle, situated on a hiil, and commanding a diftant proipecc. Having quitted Bailen, we entered a foreft, and at the top of a hill faw one monumental crofs; then, leaving Zo-gitega, with its convent, to the right, we came to the venta of Sequaca; and after dinner, fometimes traversing extenfive fo-refts of the ilex, at others meeting with plantations of the olive, we came to An-dujar.
The rock, wherever it is laid bare by torrents, appears to be hard granite, of different fpecies, both of the red and of the white.
Andujar is Situated in a rich and highly Vol, II, T cul-
cultivated plain. It numbers fix thoufand eight hundred families, five parifh churches, and ten convents, but has no manufacture. Thecaflle carries the marks of great antiquity; it was taken from the Moors, A. D. 1225, by Ferdinand III, furnamed El Santo.
Thurfday, February 22, at five in the morning, when we left Andujar, after crof-fing the bridge over the Guadalquivir, and entering a plantation of olives, my companions each cocked his piftol, and held it to the window, whilft a foldier, with his gun, walked by our fide, and the coachmen were charged inftantly to flop, if any one appeared. Thefe precautions, I apprehend, were needlefs, becaufe it was well known that we were armed ; but as feveral robberies had been committed near the city, they thought it right to be upon their guard. At break of day, as we advanced into a more open country, our apprehensions vanifhed> and the piftols were uncocked.
All the hills we croffed, bounding the river to the north, are covered with fmooth, round, limeftone gravel, and fome flints;
but
,[275l
but in approaching to Del Carpio, the rock appears formed of filicious grit with mica, evidently from decomposed granite.
In Del Carpio are feven hundred and fifty houfes, with an old caftle, a pofl-houfe, and a well built pofada.
As foon as we arrived, we paid our re-fpe&s to the corregidor, and fhewed him our paffports, in order to fecure a good reception at our inn. The reafon of this precaution was, that one of our companions had formerly quarrelled with the good man of the inn, and had caufed him to be fent to prifon, for attempting to flab him with a knife. The man kept out of fight, but his wife was determined to take revenge: it was little fhe could do, but all me could, flie did, to teflify her refentment. For this purpofe fhe affigned us a miferable room, with four mattrelfes, each occupying its corner, and flretched upon the floor. Fearing to be devoured by fleas, I chofe rather to fleep in our carriage. In the middle of the night the treading of a foot awakened my attention; and, as there was a lamp, I looked out to fee who was in motion. My fituation rendered me invifi-T fit ble.
[   *7« 1
ble, and the light enabled me clearly to difcern every thing that pafTed. The per-fon who was moving was a muleteer, and his object, was to fee what he could ileal. For this purpofe he examined the kitchen, then vifited the paffage. communicating with the bed-rooms, and tried at every door, but finding them all fattened, he came to the coach; where feeing me, he fled back into the stable, and hid himfelf.
Frovifions here are cheap. They kill no mutton: beef, goat, and kid, are fixteen quarts a pound confifiing of thirty-two ounces.
The land in the vicinity is rich; it belongs chiefly to the dutchefs of Alba, and her corregidor administers it for her: he appears to manage well. The plantations of olives are extenfive, and the trees are not, like thofe of the countefs of Penafiel round Bailen, worn out with age, but young and healthy.
As we drew nigh to Cordova, the higheft hills are covered with flints and bowlder Stones, or fmooth tumblers, of limeftone, fiiicious grit, and granite; and, as we
approach the river, we difcovcr a bed of gravel, of all the above fpecies, twelve or fourteen feet in thicknefs.
Cordova is htuated in a plain of great extent, which is bounded on the fouth by fwelling hills cultivated to their very firm-mits, and on the north by a chain of rugged mountains, the continuation of the Sierra Morena. Through the midft of the plain runs the Guadalquiver; and the whole country being well wooded, well watered, and well cultivated, cannot be furpaifed either in riches or in beauty. Here, for the firft time fince I left Barcelona, I rejoiced to find the fig, the orange, and the palm, in great abundance. It is a moil enchanting fpot.
This city contains thirty-two thoufand fouls, fourteen parifh.es., and forty-four convents.
The firft, thing I did on my arrival, was to prefent myfelf before the intendant, with my letter from count Florida Blanca. He received me with politenefs, and preifed me to prolong my ftay; but, unfortunately, I had made engagements, and therefore proceeded the next day. All that I could do T 3 was
Was to vifit the great church, and with this I was exceedingly delighted. Its numerous pillars, arranged in quincunx, appeared like a grove of faplings; they are faid to be eight hundred, I had not time to count them, yet I mould conceive them to be many more. It was a mofque. The dimenlions are five hundred and ten feet, by four hundred and twenty.
I was ffruck with the multitude of beggars in every street; and, upon enquiry, foon found the caufe to be the miftaken benevolence of the bifhop, of the canons, and of the convents, in distributing alms to all who afk. The bifhopric is worth eighty thoufand five hundred ducats, or £. 8,843 pounds fterling, per annum; out of this income the bifhop gives money every day, alternately, to the men and to the women, and on fome days he has relieved more than feven thoufand perfons. Befides pecuniary donations, he distributes daily thirty fanegas of corn; yet, notwithstanding this more than ample provision for the indolent and vicious, many are faid to have perhhed last year for want of bread.
The chief difeafes are tertians and putrid
fevers;
fevers; thefe arife from the quantity of cucumbers and melons they eat, not only in the fummer, but early in the fpring.
Provisions are, beef thirteen quarts the double pound, mutton fifteen, pork twenty-two, wine fix quarts the quartillo, or about one milling the gallon; labourers expect feven or eight reals a day, or, if they are victualled, only three.
Cordova had the honour of giving birth to Seneca and Lucan; and when Abdoul-raman, after fubduing the fouth of Spain, had eftabli/hed here the feat of his dominion, (A. D. 759), the fciences, with arts and arms, which were every wThere elfe a-bandoned, took up their refidence, and flouriihed in this city.
Saturday, February 24, at fix in the morning, we fet forwards on our journey, having joined another coach, which was going the fame road with four gentlemen well armed. In travelling through Spain, I have constantly obferved, that, wherever danger is apprehended, travellers affociate, and form fometimes considerable bodies, yet without any communication, or verbal engagement for mutual defence, or any T 4 other
other bond of union beiide their fear& Influenced by thefe alone, they unite their forces, and make a tacit agreement to fup-port each other, or at leaft, by their numbers, to intimidate the thieves. One of our companions, the naval officer, not fatisfied with this reinforcement, in addition to the foldier, who attended our captain by way of a fervant and a guard, hired two marines. Thus efcorted, we proceeded with confidence, yet with circumfpecf ion, thinking at leaft to have a view of the villains who had been robbing on this road, but happily we faw nothing of them.
In traversing the downs, I obferved on the fummit of the higheft hill, at the dif-tance of about two leagues from the Guadalquivir, the furface covered with bowlder ft ones, of the fame fpecie s with thofe already mentioned in the approach to Cordova. Such fadts fhould be treasured in the memory.
We came at noon to Charlotta, a new fettlement, and at, prefent in its infancy, like thofe of the Sierra Morena. The country is. beautiful, the foil rich, the herbage luxuriant, and the oxen large. In
[  a»i ]
pofada we had a French cook, and fared well. The price of pro virions is here, beef eighteen quarts, mutton twenty, kid eighteen, bread eleven for a pound of thirty-two ounces, wine ten quarts the quartillo.
From hence, after dinner, we proceeded . over the downs, admiring their extreme fertility, of which, in a few cultivated fpots, we were able to judge by the luxuriant crops of beans then in full bloffom; thefe were well hoed. As wre approached Ecija, the face of the country improved, cultivation appeared to be carried on with Spirit, the oxen became remarkable for beauty and for ilze, and the plantations" of olives fhe wed the richnefs of the foil.
The rock is a pudding Hone, and therefore, with the fmooth tumblers above dc-fcribed, prove to a demonffration that the whole country partook of the grand revolution, to which I have fo frequently referred.
Ecija is eight leagues from Cordova. It is delightfully fituated on the banks of the Xcnil, with pleafant walks, ferving, like thofe of the great cities in Spain, for the evening refort.   It contains twenty-eight
thoufand
thoufand one hundred and feventy-fix fouls, and has fix parifh churches, eight chapels, twenty convents, and fix hofpitals.
The churches, built entirely of brick, are fitted up in the old tafte, and crowded with pillars, which are loaded with prepof-terous ornaments, and covered with gold. The moft extravagant of all is the church of nitefira Senora del Rofario, in the convent of the Dominicans; this may ferve as a model for the perfection of vitiated tafte.
The Plaza Mayor is a fine object, very fpacious, and much to be admired for its balconies, occupying the whole front of the houfes.
When we arrived, we found every one engaged in talking over a defeat which the king's troops had fuffered the preceding day from the fmugglers, near one hundred of whom, well armed, entering the city, had driven away the military, had killed one man, and had then, unmolefted, fold their muff to the inhabitants. This violence was more than ufual, and proceeded from the bad policy of government, in raifing the price of tobacco from thirty to forty reals the pound,
whilft"
whilft the illicit trader purchafed the fame commodity in Portugal for eight. With fuch encouragement for defrauding the revenue, it will never be pomble to prevent this trade; and whilft men have fuch powerful inducements to violate the laws, no government, how ftrenuous foever its exertions, and how cruel foever the puniihment inflicted on offenders, will ever be able to maintain a good police. In Spain, unlefs it be accompanied with murder, the penalty for fmuggling is commonly a confinement for feven or ten years to hard labour in the prefidios; where, by communication with profligate and hardened villains, who are under fimilar correction, they are prepared for the perpetration of the moft atrocious crimes; and, thus qualified, they are turned loofe upon the public. Previous to this part of his education, the fmuggler feldom robs on the highway, unlefs when he has been plundered, and is diftrefled for want of horfes, of money, or of arms. In fuch circumftances he becomes outrageous, and frequently begins with murdering the traveller whom he means to rob.
Farmers in this vicinity rent dear, paying 2 commonly
commonly two bufhels of wheat and one of barley for every bufhel of their feed; or if they pay a Stipulated fum of money, it is not immediately to the land-owner, but, as under-tenants, to rich land-jobbers; and therefore they can expect ho moderation. Farms, if inclofed, let much higher than thofe which are open, becaufe the latter are liable to be fed by the Merino fheep; whereas, fhould they enter the former, one-fifth of the number trefpaffmg would be forfeited. This, however, proves a never-failing fource of quarrels and contentions between the occupiers of land and thofe who may be called graziers, that is, the proprietors of the Merino flock, who, under the fanction of a peculiar code, claim the privilege of feeding, not only in the common pafiure, but even in plantations of olives. The murders confequent on thefe quarrels have been more than two hundred in the fpace of a few years 3 and the litigations have cofl the contending parties more than the value, both of their fheep and of their olives. The council of Caftille interfered, in the year 1570, to prohibit this* but the great iiJcep-maffers plead their pri-
vilegej
vilege, as granted by the Mefta code, and fupport their claim by force.
Throughout the whole province of An~ dalufia, cities and boroughs have immcnfe poffefiions, in many inftanccs extending to the diftance of three leagues from them every way, including thus more than two hundred thoufand acres, either of wafte land, or of fuch as might be cultivated, if it were not too remote from the habitation of the farmer. Of thefe, not one-fourth part is broken up by the plough, and that which remains uncultivated rather checks than promotes the breed of cattle. In lhort, according to the opinion of the beft patriots in Spain, Andalufia is ruined by high rents, and by common paftures. (F. Memorias de la Sociedad Economica, Madrid.)
February 25. At five in the morning, we left Ecija, and followed the Roman caufeway leading from Cordova to Seville, till we came to Carmona. The country through which we pafTed belongs to the crown, and will be improved as faff as emigrants can be induced to come. At prefent little is cultivated, and that little, bears the face of wretchednefs, exhibiting ruined cottages,
tagcs, and half-naked peafants. Wc con-verfed with a Frenchman, who had been here eighteen years, and during that period had been often removed from his plantation, becaufe, by his diligence and fkill, he had improved his allotment, which being given to flovens, he was compelled to take new land. It is true t. ey always gave him what they considered as an equivalent, not intending to injure him, but meaning only to avail themfelves of his fuperior application and abilities j yet, in the end, they reduced him to poverty, and broke his fpirit. This, he informed us, was no uncommon cafe and, from the mifery every where vifible in thefe new colonies, I am inclined to credit his report.
The botanical productions are chiefly the ilex, the myrtle, the gum ciftus, the lavender, a fpecies of the Daphne, and a plant called lentifcus.
Carmona is built on a declivity, looking down upon a rich valley, which is bounded by diftant hills, excepting only to the fouth, where a wide opening gives paffage to the Guadalquivir.
It contains twelve thoufand fix hundred and eighty-five fouls, and includes feven
parith
parifh churches, with live convents for men, two for women, and two hofpitals. Here they reckon more than a hundred oil-mills.
As foon as we arrived, although the fun was fet, I took horfes, and went off for Seville, that I might have a comfortable bed. The diftance is fix leagues, or about twenty miles, and the charge was one hundred and twenty reals, or four-and-twenty millings, including the licence, which muff always be taken out when you begin a journey with poll horfes.
It being dark, I could not fee the country, but I found that it was level, that the foil was fandy, and, by the inceifant croaking of frogs, I concluded that every ditch was full of water.
At ten in the evening I arrived at Seville, well contented with my horfes, having travelled the lix leagues in little more than two hours. Indeed, no horfes can move more pleafantly than thofe of Anda-lufia, cantering the whole way, without needing either whip or fpur. I took up my lodging at the pofada de la Baviere, and flept more comfortably than I had done fince we left Madrid.
SEVILLE.
SEVILLE.
/"Tf^HE morning after my arrival I ex-X aminecl my letters: among the per-fons of diftintlion and authority to whom I was recommended, I judged, as an eccle-fiaffic, my firft attention to Lj due to the archbiihop, and therefore I haftened early to ims palace. He received me with po-litenefs, permitted me to kifs his ring, made me fit down, and then,having readmy letter, he told me, that as long as I continued at Seville I muff dine every day with him, unlefs when I mould be more agreeably engaged. After fome little converfation, he defired to fee the addrefs of my other letters, and calling a page, he ordered that a coach fhould be got ready, and that one of his chaplains fhould attend me, to deliver my letters, and to fhew me every thing worthy
of
[  *89 3
fef attention in the city. When I left hiiri; he defired me to come back to dinner, telling me, that during my flay, that coach would be wholly at my fervice. Agreeable to this invitation I returned, and not only dined with him that day, but almost' every day during a fortnight's residence at Seville. 1 was indeed often preffingly invited by other families; but, as it was the feafon of lent, and as nfh/ in Spain, never agreed with me, I declined their invitations. At the arch bifhop's table were many aged per-fons, who were fuppofed to be infirm, and therefore for them were provided a variety of dimes, fuch as others did not feel themfelves at liberty to touch. To this circum-ftance I reckon myfelf indebted for returning health; becaufe, for want of custom, and in a weakly condition at the time, I fhould never have been able to endure a fast, which, with the exception of the intervening fabbaths, is in fact, although not by precept, a fafl of forty days.
The archbifhop is well lodged, and keeps a hofpitable table. He is quite the man of fafhion: his manners arc engaging, and his  converfation lively.    His ufual
Vol. II. U com-*
company at dinner was his confeiTor, his chaplains, his fecretaries, and a few friends. He was attended by his pages, who are generally young men of family, recommended to his patronage, and educated under his inflection. The librarian fometimcs fat down at the table, at other times waited behind a chair. He was commonly my guide, and with him I vifited every corner of the city.
Seville ffands on the banks of the Guadalquivir, in the midft of a rich, and, to the eye, a boundlefs plain. It is furrounded by a wall of more than a league in circumference, with, one hundred and feventy-fix towers. Over one of the gates is the following infcription:
Condidit Alcides, renovavit Julius Urbem, Reftituit Chrifto Fernandus Tertius, Heros.
Which, over another gate, is thus tranf-lated:
Hercules me edifico Julio Cefar me cerco De Muros y torres altas; Y el Rey fanto me gano Con Garci Perez de Vargas.
The
The ftreets are narrow, and fome of them fo contracted, that you may touch both walls at the fame time. Few are wide enough for carriages; and many, through which coaches pafs, (hew, by the deep furrows in the walls, that one nave touched, and often both at the fame time.
Seville is faid to contain eighty thoufand two hundred and fixty-eight fouls, and is divided into thirty parilhes. It has eighty-four convents, with twenty-four hofpitals.
Of the public edifices, the firft to demand attention is the cathedral, a building of lingular magnificence, but admired chiefly for its tower, the work of Giiever, the Moor. He made it originally two hundred and fifty feet high, but A. D. 1568, it was raifed one hundred more, and is therefore, at prefent, three hundred and fifty feet. It has no fteps, nor are they wanted; becaufe the inclined plain is fo eafy of afcent, that a horfe might trot from the bottom to the top; at the fame time it is fo fpacious, that two horfemen may ride abreaft. On the top of this tower is the Giralda, or large brazen image, which, with its palm-U 2 branch,
branch, weighs near one ton and an half, yet turns with the Slightest, variation of the wind.
The dimensions of the cathedral are four hundred and twenty feet, by two hundred and Sixty-three; and the height is one hundred and twenty-fix. It was built A. D. 1401. It receives light by fourfcore windows with painted glafs, the work of Ar-nao, of Flanders, each of which coll one thoufand ducats.
The treafures of this church are inefti-mable: one altar is wholly Silver, with all its ornaments, as are the images, large as life, of S. IMdore and S. Lcander, and a cuflodia or tabernacle for the hoSt, more than four yards high, adorned with eight and forty columns; yet thefe are trifling in value, when compared with the gold and precious Stones deposited by the piety and zeal of catholics, during the period in which all the wealth of a newly-difcovered world flowed into this city. The profusion of gold, of lilver, and of gems, would be more Striking, were not the attention occupied and loSl in admiration of innumerable pictures, the works of thofe Spanish n mailers.
mailers who flourished, immediately after the revival of the art, in Seville. Every chapel preferves fome monument of their fuperior Skill j of thefe, the moft confpi-cuous are of Luis de Vargas, and of Fr. Zurbaran, but chiefly of Murillo. By the laff is a Nativity in the chapel of the Conception, and, near the baptifmal font, S. Anthony of Padua, with the Baptifm of Chrili. In the principal facility, are his much-admired pictures of S. Ifidore, with his brother S. Leander; and in another fact iffy, his Holy Family, with an Ecce homo by Morales. The chapter-houfe is wholly devoted to Murillo, and the chapel of S. Peter is given up to Zurbaran. The works of Luis de Vargas are difperfed in various places; but his famous picture, called de la Gamba, is in a chapel near the gate of S. Chriftophcr, and merits particular attention.
To the cathedral belongs a library of twenty thoufand volumes, collected by Hernando, fon to ChriSlobal Colon, the firft difcoverer of America, a man of tafte, and much admired in his day for learning. It is to be lamented, that modern pub-U 3 lications
lications have not been added to complete what was fo well begun by him.
I was much pleafed with the conftruc-tion of a new organ, containing five thoufand three hundred pipes, with one hundred and ten flops, which latter, as the builder told me, is fifty more than are in the famous one of Harlem; yet, fo ample are the bellows, that, when ftretched, they fupply the full organ fifteen minutes. The mode of filling them with air is lingular: inftead of working with his hands, a man walks backwards and forwards along an inclined plain of about fifteen feet in length, which is balanced in the middle on its axis; under each end is a pair of bellows, of about fix feet by three and an half; thefe communicate with five other pair united by a bar, and the latter are fo contrived, that when they are in danger of being overflrained, a valve is lifted up, and gives them relief. Pairing ten times along the inclined plain fills all thefe veifels.
In the cathedral are eighty-two altars, at which are faid daily five hundred maffes. The annual confumption is fifteen hundred
dred arrobas of wine, eight hundred of oil, and of wax about one thoufand.
The wealth belonging to this chapter may be estimated by the numbers that are fupported by it.
The archbifhop, with a revenue of three hundred thoufand ducats j or, in Sterling, nearly thirty-three thoufand pounds a year.
Eleven dignitaries, who wear the mitre on high festivals, amply, but not equally, provided for.
Forty canons of forty thoufand reals, or about four hundred pounds each, per annum.
Twenty prebendaries, with an income of thirty thoufand reals each.
Twenty-one minor canons, at twenty thoufand reals each.
Befide thefe, they have twenty chanters, called Veinteneros, with three aStiflants, called Sochantres, two beadles, one maffer of the ceremonies, with a deputy, three attendants to call the roll and mark the ab-fentees, thirty-fix boys for ringing and for the fervice of the altar, with their rector, vice rector, and mufic mailers; nineteen U 4 chap-
chaplains, four curates, four confeiTorss twenty-three muficians, and four Supernumeraries; in all, two hundred and thirty-five.
Many of the convents are remarkable for the beauty of their architecture; but, in Seville, the eye covets only pictures, and amidff the profusion of thefe, it overlooks works, which, in other fituations, would rivet the attention, and every where fixes on the pencil of Murillo. His moft famous performances are in the Hofpital de la Ca-ridad, and, fuited to the inftitution, exprefs fome act of charity; fuch as, the miracle of the Loaves and fifties; the Smiting of the Rock in Horeb; the Pool of Bethefda; the Reception of the returning Prodigal; Abraham addreffirig the three angels, and pref-fing them to enter his habitation; the Deliverance of Peter from the Prifon; and Charity, in the peribn of Elizabeth, warning the wounds and curing the difeafes of the poor. Befide thefe, in the fame hofpital, is the Annunciation of the bleiTcd- Virgin; and two little pictures, the one of the infant Jefus, the other of John.
The church of the Capuchins is richly
furnifhed
furniflied with his works; and, although in thefe the compofition is more fimple than in the former, yet they may be confidered as fome of the bell of his productions. Eleven of his picture* are to be feen in a chapel called de la vera Cruz, belonging to the Francifcans. Thefe do much credit to his pencil; and, not inferior to them, are many preferved in other convents; fuch as, an Ecce homo, and the blelTed Virgin, with the infant Jefus, in the church of the Carmelites; the Flight into Egypt, in that of la Merced Calzada; a rich variety of fub-jects in S. Maria de la blanca; and S. Au-gultin writing, with S. Thomas of Villan-neva, stripping himfelf to clothe the poor, in the convent of the Augultin friars, near the gate of Carmona. In my opinion, the moft masterly of all his works is in the refectory of an hofpital deligned for the reception of fuperannuated priests. It repre-fents an angel holding a bafket to the infant Jefus, who, standing on his mother's lap, takes bread from it to feed three venerable priests; no reprefentation ever approached nearer to real life, nor is it" possible to fee more expression than glows upon
that
that canvafs. In the parochial church of Santa Cruz, are two pictures in a fuperior ftile, a Stabat Mater dolorofa, which excels in grace and foftnefs; and the famous De-fcent from the Crofs, of Pedro de Campana, which Murillo was accuff omed daily to admire, and oppofite to which, by his own directions, he was buried.
This great painter was born A. D. 1618, and died in 1682.
His name Hands high in Europe; but to form an adequate idea of his excellence, every convent mould be vifited, where he depofited the monuments of his fuperior fkill,
In.exadtnefs of imitation he was equalled, in clara obfcuro, and in reflected lights, he was furpafled by Velazquez; but not one of all the Spanifh artifts went beyond him in tendernefs and foftnefs.
In vifiting the convents, and in viewing their pictures, I had the happinefs to have for my guide D. Francifco de Bruna, a gentleman diftinguifhed for his judgment and his tafte, who had ftudied the peculiar excellence of every matter, and was perfectly acquainted with the merit of each
work.
work. Pie has himfelf a well-difpofed collection of the bell Spaniih painters, natives of Seville, or educated there -} fuch as, Luis de Vargas, Velazquez, Zurbaran, Valdez, and Murillo, *befide many of the Italian and of the Flenrifh fchools.
The houfe in which they are deposited, and in which he lives, was once the residence of Moorifli kings, and, as fuch, was called Alcazar.   It is an irregular building, but commodious and pleasantly fituated, comprising many large and well-proportioned rooms.   But, as it is fumclently defcribed by travellers, I fhall not add to their de-fcriptions.   The garden is lingular, and, having retained its pristine form, it is meant to ferve as a model of the Moorifli tafte. It is laid out in alleys, with clipped myrtle hedges, and in the middle of the parterres are fingle trees cut into the form of warriors, with fpiked clubs.   Its principal fruits are oranges and lemons. The whole of this pleafu re-garden, together with the palace and the court-yard, is furrounded by a strong rampart, communicating with, but much higher than, the city wall; and beyond this is an orange-grove of considerable
blc extent. For the winter and for the fpring, there cannot be a more delightful residence.
In fpeaking of pictures, I have confined myfelf chiefly to Murillo, becaufe of his fuperior excellence, and becaufe Seville, the place of his nativity, may be considered as the principal depofitory of his work. But although eminent, he by no means Hands alone. This once famous fchool, in which the art revived at the beginning of the sixteenth century, has produced a multitude of good painters. Among thefe, Hand fore-mofl Luis de Vargas, Velazquez, Herrera, Roelas, Zurbaran, Francifco Pacheco, and Valdez, with many others univerfally admired.
The works of thefe great maff ers, and of various foreigners, as well as of native Spaniards, are to be met with, not only in the churches, but in the houfes of the principal inhabitants. Among thefe, I vifited the collections of the marquis of Mofcofo, of D. Pedro de Castro, and of D. Donato de Arenzana. In the poffesTion of the latter is, perhaps, the moft perfect reprefentation that was ever painted upon canvafs: it is a
lamb,
Iamb, by Zurbaran, with which Velazquez was fo much ffruck, that he took the pains to copy it. This I had feen in the polTef-hon of D. Fr. de Bruna; but when I had viewed the original, the copy, much as I had before admired it, funk in my eftima-tion. D. Donato has, belide this, a good head by Morales, a Conception by Guido, a moft incomparable portrait of S. Ignatius Loyola by Careno; the Defcent from the Crofs by Luis de Vargas, and the Death of Abel by Bobadilla.
Of the convents, that which is upon the moil extenhve fcale belongs to the Francif-cans. It contains fifteen cloifters, many of which are elegant and fpacious, with apartments for two hundred monks; but at prefent they have only one hundred and forty in their community. Thefe, like all of their order, are fed by charity, and are much favoured by the people. Their annual expenditure is more than four hundred thoufand reals, or in flerling about four thoufand pounds, amounting to twenty-eight pounds eleven millings and five pence for each. But then out of this muff be deducted the expence of wine, oil, and wax, with the alms dif-
tributed
tributed daily to the poor, which all together is considerable.
Not one of the convents is equally frequented as this, more efpecially during the forty days of Lent. In the principal cloifter, which is intirely inclofed by a multitude of little chapels, are reprefentcd, in fourteen pictures, each called a fiation, all the fufferings of the Redeemer. Thefe are fo arranged as to mark given distances by walking round the cloifter from the firft to the fecond, and fo in order to the reft. Over them is mentioned the number of fteps taken by our Lord between the feve-ral incidents of his paflion in his way to Calvary, and thefe precisely are the paces meafured for the penitents in their progress from one Station to another. Over one is the following infeription: " This ftation " confifts of 1,087 fteps. Here the blefled " Redeemer fell a fecond time under the ** weight of his crofs, and here is> to be ** gained the indulgence of feven years and *' forty quarantines. Mental prayer, the " Paternoster and the Ave Maria." This may ferve as an example for the reft. I ob-ferved men; women, and children, rich and # poor,
poor, going their rounds, fome folitary, others in little groups, repeating aloud their Latin prayers, and kneeling at every station in regular fuccemon.
Among all the hofpitals I was moll pleafed with that of la Sangre, deiigned for the reception of female patients. The front is elegant, and the fculpture is much to be admired, more efpecially the three figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity. The wards are fpacious, and the whole is remarkable for neatnefs.
Were I inclined to enlarge in my de-fcriptions of the public buildings, the Torre del Oro, the Plaza de Toros, the Aqueduct with its four hundred and ten arches, but more efpecially the Exchange, would afford me ample fcope. The latter, planned by Herrera (A. D. 1598,) and worthy of its great architect, is a quadrangle of two hundred feet, with a corridor or fpacious gallery round it, adorned with Ionic columns, and fupported by an equal number of Doric.
The univerfity was founded in the year 1502, and foon rofe into consideration. The name of Arias Montanus, who lies
buried
buried at the convent of S. Jago, is alone fufficient to give celebrity to this feminary. His tranilation of the holy Scriptures will be valued by the learned, as long as the Scriptures themfelves fliall be the objects of veneration to mankind. The number of under-graduates here is about five hundred*
We meet at Seville with the favourite inftitutions of Count Campomanes, his academy for the three noble arts of painting, fculpture, and architecture, and his economical fociety of the friends of their country. Both thefe have been attended with fuccefs, and have given affiltance not only to the arfcs, but to agriculture, to manufactures, and to commerce. . About two hundred pupils attend the former.
The principal manufacture is fnutT. To this I paid particular attention. The edifice, elegant and fimple in its form, is about fix. hundred feet by four hundred and eighty, and not lefs than fixty feet in height, with four regular fronts, inclofing twenty-eight quadrangles. It colt thirty-feven millions of reals, or about three hundred and feventy thoufand pounds.   At prefent, no more
than
thSn fiventeen hundred workmen are elii«-ployed, and one hundred horfes or mules | but formerly, three thoufand men were engaged, and near four hundred horfes. This falling off is attributed to mifmanagementj and to the reluctance with which they contented to deftroy their damaged tobacco* They have now changed this fyftem; and, not many days before my arrivaj, they Condemned to the flames fifteen thoufand pounds weight as unfit for ufe. Yet the high price of the commodity restrains the tale ; for, fince they raifed the tobacco from thirty to forty reals, that is, from about fix tb eight fliillings a pound, the demand has gradually leffened. From the year 1780, the annual tale has been, of tobacco from Brazil, one million five hundred thoufand pounds, purchafed from the Portuguefe, at three reals a pound; and of fnuff, from the produce of their own colonies, one million hx hundred thoufand pounds, befide cigars to a very considerable amount. They have lying by them, more than five millions of fnuff unfold ; but, as it will not fuffer by age, they are not uneafy at this accumulation. Befide the peculiar kind of fnuff, with Vol. IL X which
/
which Spain was accuflomed to fupply the market, they have lately introduced the manufacture of rappee. There was a ne-ceility for this, in order to put a Hop to an illicit trade : whilft the king was felling at lixty, and fometirnes at fourfcore reals a pound, the fmugglers fold the fame commodity at forty, having themfelves pur-chafed it in France, from the farmers of tobacco, at fifteen ; but, now that government fells good rappee at twenty-four reals, the fmuggler's profit will not compenfate for the rilk. In this branch alone are employed, at prefent, two hundred and twenty people, old and young, with fixteen mules j but they mean to pulh their trade, when they can get a furficient quantity of tobacco, and to engage five times as many hands. The operations are fo numerous before the rappee is fit for market, that they require a multitude of workmen. Whilft fome are employed to unbind the little bundles of tobacco, o tliers are occupied in picking the leafy fubftance from the hard ftems. Some are engaged in dying, others either in ftrain-ing and prefling, or in fpinning the leaf into ropes, and winding it up into rollers to
be faggoted and prelfed, till a parcel of eighteen inches long, and two and an half inches in diameter, will weigh fix pounds. Thefe operations being finifhed, it is laid in heaps to fweat nine months; after which, it is cut and fifted, then grated, once more lifted, and finally packed up in caniffers for fale.
All the workmen depofit their cloaks at the door, and, when they go out, are fo ftrictly examined, that they have little chance of being able to conceal tobacco; yet they fometimes venture to hide it about their perfons. An officer and a guard is always attending to take delinquents into cuilody; and, that they may prevent refinance, no workman is permitted to enter with a knife. Were it not for this precaution, the confequence of a detection might be fatal.
The whole bufinefs is conducted by a director, with a falary of forty thoufand reals a year, and fifty-four fuperior ofEcers, aiTilt-cd by as many fubordinatc to them.
For grinding their fnuff, they have forty mills, each confuting: of a ft one - roller, moved by a large horfe, or mule, with the
X 2 traces
traces fattened to a beam of eight feet "m length, in the angle of forty-five degrees, confequently losing precifely half his force -I endeavoured to explain this to the officer who conducted me through the works, but he could not comprehend it. He is brother to the unfortunate young woman, who, in the year 1774* at S. Lucar, bled before the altar, a victim to the unhallowed paffion with which her beauty had infpired the prielt. This wretch,, whilft receiving her confeflions, had declared himfelf her lover,; but, at laft, enraged at the obftinate resist -ance of a virtuous mind, he turned his back upon the altar, where he had been partaking of the confeerated bread, and ftabbed her, in the prefence of her mother. For this moft atrocious of all crimes, he was —• mocking to relate! — fuffered to live in bail ifhment at Porto Rico.
The Silk manufacture was formerly considerable in Seville. When Ferdinand III furnamed el Santo, (in the year 1248) entered the city, he found, as it is faid, Sixteen thoufand looms, which employed a hundred and thirty thoufand perfons; and fuch was the population of the city, that the
Moors,.
Moors, who left it when it was furrendered to the Ch.rifr.ians, were four hundred thoufand, befide multitudes who died during a fixteen months fiege, and many who remained after their fellow citizens were gone.
Alfonzo, furnamed el Sabio, feeing the importance of this manufacture, gave it every polTible encouragement; and, trade being chiefly confined to Seville, on the firft difcovery of America, (A. D. 1519,) they once more reckoned fixteen thoufand looms; but the millones, impofed at the latter end of the reign of Philip II. to defray the expence of his wars, gave a Shock to commerce, and the frequent alteration in the relative value of their money, with the expulsion of the Moors, almost ruined this once wealthy city. Added to this, in the year 1649 more tnan two hundred thoufand perfons died of an epidemical difeafe in Spain.   In confequence of thefe misfortunes, (A. D. 1655,) there remained only fixty looms in Seville.   After the accession of a new family, the weavers amounted (A. D. 1713,) to four hundred and five: but in the year 1721, the farmers of the X 3 tax
tax on iilk having collected with rigour the fourteen per cent, for the alcavala and cientos, they not only ruined the manufacture, but reduced the revenue from eight hundred thoufand reals to let's than fixteen thoufand, Philip, however, giving attention to this important bulinefs, trade revived, and (A. D. 1732) the looms amounted to one thoufand. War with England recuced them fuddenly, and A. D. 1739 they were only a hundred and forty. Since the rcmonftrances of Bernardo de Ulloa, (A. D. 1740) the taxes have no longer been left to the rapacity of farmers, the alcavala has been taken off; and, by the laft account, the looms amounted to four hundred and fixty-two for wide iilks, with one thoufand eight hundred and fifty-ftx for other purpofes. Each loom is allowed annually, if for wide work, a hundred pounds of iilk duty free; if for narrow, they receive four-fcore.
Whenever the navigation of the river fhall be reftored to the condition in which it was when Magellan with five ihips failed from hence for thofe Straits, which have been called by his name; and when free-n dom
dom, civil and religious, fhall once more lift up her head in Spain; new channels will be opened for reviving commerce, and Seville will be reffored to her ancient fplendor.
The art of tanning is perhaps no where fo ill conducted as in Spain; in no part of which can good leather be procured, unlefs it come from England. Senhble of this, the minifter of finance became anxious to induce fome ftranger, fkilful in the bufi-nefs, to take up his refidence in Spain. Whilft he had this idea in his mind, chance threw in his way a tradefman travelling to receive orders, and to get in debts for himfelf and partners, who, as leather-cutters, have a mop on Snow-hill, in London. It immediately occurred to the minifter, that he had found his man; and therefore, fending for him, without lofs of time, he invited him to fettle as a currier and a tanner. This gentleman, confcious to himfelf that he was not properly qualified to conduct a bufinefs to which he had not been bred, withftood his felicitations, and refufed the molt advantageous terms: but at length, after considering the matter in every point
X 4 of
of view, he accepted the offer, and con-fented to eftabliSh himfelf at Seville. 1 vifited his tan-yard, and found him happy in the protection he enjoys.   The miniiler has given him the convent of the Jefuits, and about feven acres of good land, rent free, with the pre-emption of hides from Buenos Ayres, and of all Ikins from the Spanish fettlements; befide the privilege of cutting down, for bark, all the trees growing, either in the royal foreffs, or on the lands of private perfons, within a given dittance of the city.   He ufes the inner bark taken from the cork-tree, with myrtle leaves, which ferve his purpofe tolerably well; yet are by no means equal in Strength to the bark of oak.   He fays, that the Spaniards understand the art of tanning; but that they want fpirit, induStry, and capital for fuch extenfive undertakings; and I am inclined to think, that his obfervation is well founded.   Finding him a man of activity, with a command,of money, the minister has given him a contract to furniSh boots and belts for the cavalry, and a variety of other articles, fuch as fpurs and buckles, not connected with his peculiar
trade,
trade. He is certainly a treafure to the Spaniards, both for application and for weight of capital, and, I have no doubt, will puih this new eftablifhment as far as it can go, provided government mall continue to protect him.
Having been introduced to D. Juan Alvarez, the intendant of the mint, I vifited his office, in which at prefent a few workmen find occasional employment; whereas formerly one hundred and eighty were constantly engaged. They have here the lame flow procefs as at London and in Paris, in confequence of which their coinage is expensive ; whilft in Birmingham the operation, by a new invention, is expedited, and performed at a trifling expence.
In traversing the streets, I was struck with the multitude of beggars clothed in rags; and was at firft inclined to attribute this to the decay of trade; but, upon examination, I found a more abiding caufe in the distribution of alms at the archbifhop's palace, and at the gates of twenty convents, daily, and without distinction, to all who make application for relief. Such mif-placed benevolence is a bar to induftry, and
multiplies
[   3H 1
multiplies the objects of diflrefs, whofe numbers bear exact proportion to the provision made for their fupport. To have this principle rightly underftood is of fuch importance, that I can never let one opportunity efcape of bringing it into view.
My time pafTed away pleafantly at Seville. The mornings I   employed in viewing whatever was molt worthy of attention in the city, or in little excursions to the country.   At noon I paid my relpects to the good archbifhop, dined and took the Sielta at his palace; after which I fometimes went out in the carriage with his grace, at ether times joined the company in the Alameda, or public walk; and clofed th# day either with the archbishop, or in the family of fome cheerful friend.   The fea-lon of Lent is not favourable to gaiety, becaufe it does not admit of the ufual diversions j yet I had always reafon to be fa-tished with my evening's entertainment. The archbifhop received only gentlemen for converfation.   In other houfes they have generally fome round game at cards; but the family, in which I delighted moft, was that of a canon, for whofe fifter I had
the
the honour to he consulted as a physician. Thv eaft was highly in te re ft ing; an epi-tepfy, -iii tg from extreme fenfibility; and I . . d myfelf with the idea, that I was uf iul to her. My recompenfe was to enjoy her conversation, and to hear her fing.
In one of my morning vifits at the arch-bi/bop's palace, I had the fatisfaction of b ing prefent at an opposition, or deputation, between the candidates for a vacant benefice; a feene admirably defcribed by the author of Gil Bias, Vehemence, on fuch an occaiion, is not only Sanctioned by cuftom, but is certainly excuiable, in men who are contending, not merely for fame, but bread. The judges are the diocefan, afliftcd by fix of the chapter; and the examinations are in the fciences, ethics, divinity, and canon law. Many eccleiiaftical preferments are difpofed of in this way. Th us in every cathedral four canons are chofen by opposition, and are faid to be de meritoi thefe are, the penitentiary, for receiving the confessions of the chapter; the preacher; the profeifor of theology; and the civilian, who conducts their law-fuits. The reft are given through favour, either
by
by the diocefan, the chapter, or the king, according to the month in which the va-cancy happens.
When a candidate makes application to the great, either for protection in general, or upon a fpecial occaiion for preferment, he prefents a printed memorial, which he ftiles " Relation de los Meritos, tituksr grados y excrcicios hterarios de A. B." containing his name, the place of his nativity, his rank, his age, the univeriity in which he ffudied, with the degrees he has taken, his acquirements, his conduce in his profefhon as a prieff, as a preacher, and as a confeiTor; fetting forth his regularity, his zeal, and his fuccefs, with his peculiar privileges, fuch as that he is permitted to read the prohibited books, and to confefs both fexes; and Hating, finally, that he is every way qualified to receive any ecclefiaffical preferment to which he may be prefented.
One day, when I was at the archbifhop's palace, the old librarian took me afide, and requeff ed me to make application for him to obtain a living then vacant, and in the gift of the crown, de firing me to write immediately to count Florida Blanca, and to inclofe
his
his Relation de meritos. This, I remember, ftated, in the lift of his acquirements, that he had learnt Hebrew, that he had been examined in the verbs, but that he had never been rich enough to purchafe a lexicon. I made the application through our mini-fter, and obtained the promile of a living for him, but not that for which he then foli cited.
Not far from the city is a building, now verging to decay, near to which I often pafTed, without afking for what it was designed; but, one evening, walking with the gentleman to whom I had been recommended by count Florida BJanca, ftruck with its form, I dciired him to tell me what purpofe it had ferved. At firft he feemed to pay no attention j but, upon my repeating the queftion, I received an evaiive anfwer, fuch as tended only to awaken my curiosity, and to make me more urgent with him for information. At laft he told me, that this ftrange kind of edifice is called el S^e-madero; but begged that I would never dif-elofe to any one, from whom I had received my information. The name was fufficfent, together with the form, without further
enquiries,
inquiries, to explain the horrid ufe to which it had been too often put.   I urged him no further on the fubjec~t; and, without lofs of time, hastened from a fpot which my imagination painted all in flames. The next day, however, I returned with one of the judges, who, as fuch, could venture to be more communicative.   In anfwer to my queffions, he informed me, that the Que-madero, fo called from the verb quemar, to burn, ferved the purpofe of a fcaffold for burning heretics; and that, about four years before, a woman had fuffered on it, by a fentence of the inquifition, to which he had given his fancfion.   From him, and from others, I obtained the following particulars.   This woman was a beata, pro-feffing one of the three vows impofed on nuns, of which, poverty and obedience are the regular companions; yet that vow (he broke.   In the accusation fhe was charged with having corrupted her confeiTor; who, poor man! as the leaft culpable of the two, was merely banifhed.   Had this been her fole offence, it had been puniihed with lefs diftinguifhcd  feverity;   but, not Satisfied with having been guilty of Sacrilege in one
inftance,
I   3*9 J
inftance, (he went on corrupting the prieft-hood; and, either from palllon or from vanity, extended daily, over the fervants of the altar, the dominion of her charms; till, cither by pride, or by remorfe of conicicncSt ihe loff her under If anding, and foolifhly imagined that the was acting under a divine authority. Some fay, that (he vindicated her conduct upon the principle, that both parties were free from obligation; but others, and more jultly, fay, that (he pretended to have feen an angel. This being a crime within the cognizance of the inquisitors, fhe was brought to trial, was convicted, and was burnt.
Excited by this narration, I had the curi-ofity to vifit the court of the inquisition. It was formerly a convent of the Jefuits, and is fo light and elegant, that I could fcarcely conceive it to contain the dreadful tribunal and gloomy dungeons. I went into the chapel, and the hall of judgment, and ventured to afk fome queftions; but could obtain no anfwer: lilence and folitude feemed to have eltabliflied their dominion there.
The inquifition is certainly lefs formidable now, fince light is every where diffufed,
than
than it was in darker ages, when fuperiti-tion reigned; and the inquifitors of the prefent day, if not more humane, are at leaft more humble, than their predeceiTors in remoter periods. Yet we muff confefs, that, whilft their authority remains, it will be ever fubject to abufe. Every one knows the hiftory and the fate of Don Pablo Olavidc. The real caufe of his difgrace, was neither his impiety nor his immorality, but his hatred of the monks; who, in return, became his implacable enemies, and never ceafed to perfecute him, till they had banifhed him from Spain. They never could forget, that in the Sierra Morena he had built his houfe precifely on the fpot where had flood a convent, a convent which ferved as an afylum for the robbers, with whom the venerable fathers had been accustomed to divide their plunder. Nor could they forgive his having made it a fundamental law of his new fettlemcnts, thae they fhould have no monks. Unfortunately, he had married a rich woman, who was neither young nor handfome, and, by her means, the monks became acquainted with fuch circumftances as might have
©therwife
t   3*t ]
other wife efcaped them, and were enabled to treafure up againft him every unguarded expreftion, which at any time efcaped his lips. This valuable citizen was taken out of his bed, the 14th of November, 1776, and, after being fhut up twelve months in the prifon of the inquifition, his fentence was publicly read; all his effects were con-ftfeated for the ufe of the inquisitors his judges, and he was condemned to eight years confinement in a convent.
It muft be confelTed, that in the pcrfon Of Olavide, the inquisitors flew at noble game; but, a few years after this, they refembled the eagle, when fhe ftoops to feed on carrion. The hiftory of this tranf-action is worthy to be recorded. I fhall, therefore, give it from the relation of one who was prefent at the Auto de Fe, celebrated in the conventual church of S. Domingo, in Madrid, the 9th of May, 1784, when the whole procefs was publicly read.
The principal actor in this farce was Ignacio Rodriguez, a btsmti   The first
o co
profession of this man was arms; but of his conduct in that line little has tranf-Vol. II. y plred;
pired. It is certain, that he was with count O'Reilly in the unfortunate expedition againft Algiers, where he was wounded in the leg. In confequence of this he was difcharged as an invalid, and had an offer of the ufual penlion ; but he chofe rather to calf himfelf on the public, and to enjoy his liberty, than to be. loft in obfeurity with his companions. For this purpofe, he was careful to keep his wound from healing; and, fuch was his addrefs, that he procured a comfortable living, or rather, as it appeared, fared fumptuoufly every day.
After fome years, he was fo unfortunate as to attract the attention of D. Bernardo Cantero, the intendant general of the police, who, feeing him from day to day, enquired for what rcafon he kept his wound open, and ordered him to have it healed. Rodriguez, not knowing to whom he fpoke, replied with infolence, " I afk alms, and not advice." This ill-timed anfwer proved his ruin.
The intendant, (truck with his appearance, and offended with his infolence, watched him, and having obferved fomething uncommon in a long converfation
between
between him and a female, called Juliana Lopez, caufed her to be followed, and arretted. This woman, although artful, being taken by furprife, was confufed, and foon confeffed, that the paper (he had delivered to the beggar contained fome material; for making love powder. On this evidence Rodriguez was taken into custody, with another female named Angela Barrios, who, being a woman of inferior talents, acted under them, and was employed only in commiffions of no great importance. All three being committed to the common jail, were frequently questioned, and the refult of their examination was laid before the king, who, by the advice of his confeiTor, referred the matter to the inquisitors. In confequence of this the prifoners were removed, and confined in the prifon of the inquifition.
No tribunal has fuch advantages in tracing out the truth, nor can any other investigate a dark tranfaction with fuch a certainty of fuccefs as this court. Unfettered by forms, and not limited for time, they are at liberty to bring whom they pleafe before them, to take them from their beds in Y 2 the
the middle of the night, to examine them by furprife, to terrify their imaginations, to torment their bodies, and to crofs examine them at distant periods. With thefe advantages, the impoflor was foon made to confefs the whole of his practices, with all the molt minute particulars, and the names of the parties to whom he had fold his powder. He explained, in his confeiTion, the materials of which he had compofed it; but thefe, to a modeff ear, Should never have been mentioned; and he acknowledged, that every female, after taking it, had been obliged to grant him whatever he chofe to afk, without which the charm was to have no effect.. Whenever he adminif-tered it, he muttered fome necromantic formula, that he might give an air of myf-tery to the transaction, and infpire the mind with confidence in its fuccefs.
* Juliana Lopez, his affociate, ferved him as an emiilary and a panegyrift; and that She might in all refpects lend herfelf to his views a:.d to his wifhes, She hired a convenient garden, to which he might retire at ali feaSbns whenever it faited his convenience.
Angela
Angela Barrios acted as a fervant to the others, and being of a weak understanding, was never admitted to their confidence. Fidelity and filence on her part were fome-times however requisite, and in thefe fhe never failed.
The procefs, according to cuffom, contained the moll minute particulars. Their crimes were proved by a multitude of tef-timonies, and their guilt was confirmed by their own confeffions. From thefe it appeared, that his powder was administered to perfons of all ranks; and one of the inquisitors has fince informed me, that many ladies of high fafhion in Madrid were duped by him, although out of tendernefs their names had been concealed.
When the procefs was gone through, the judges rcfolved to celebrate an Auto de Fe publicly in the church of the Padres del Salvador, but the king would not con-fen t that the nuns of S. Domingo mould lofe their privilege of having the Auto in their church. The inquifitors gave way, but fent a request, that the nuns might not be admitted to the grate, left their ears fhould be offended, and the purity of their Y 3 imagina-
imaginations mould be defiled. This mef* fage had the effect which might have been expected. Their curiosity was the more excited, and of all the nuns four only were abfent from the grate.
On the day appointed, at fix in the morning, the people began to alTemble in the ffreet of the inquisition, and the troops took their station to preferve good order. About eight the beggar left his dungeon, leaning on his crutches, and attended by a capuchin friar of no refpectable appearance, named Father Cardenas.   As foon as he appeared in court, he fell upon his knees before one of the inquisitors, who with the greatest mildnefs and gentlenefs addreffed him thus: " My fon, you are going to hear the relation of your crimes, and the *' fentence pronounced for the expiation " of your guilt.   Our lenity is great, be-" caufe our holy tribunal, always most in-<< dulgent, feeks rather to reform than " pnnifli.   Let your forrow flow from your confcioufnefs of guilt, and not from V a fenfe of the difgrace you furTer."
This exhortation ended, which is the fcme, even when the criminal is committed
to the flames, they proceeded to throw over the moulders of the beggar his fan benito, or more properly his jhco bendito, being the fackcloth with S. Andrew's crofs, anciently worn by penitents. On his head they placed the cap with ferpents, lizards, and blackbeetles, a green candle in his hand, and round his neck a halter. To Juliana Lopez the fame fpeech was made, and when fhe had been .clothed in similar attire, fhe flood, although not with equal confidence, near to her companion.
Laft of all came forth Angela Barrios, who, trembling and bathed in tears, fell down upon her knees, and begged the inquisitors to fpare her life. She was an-fwered, that the holy tribunal was not accustomed to put any one to death; that they would do her no harm; and that as her offence was not equal to that of her companions, they had not even provided for her a fan benito, the difgraceful badge, by which all who have worn it are rendered, with their families, infamous for ever.
When every thing was thus arranged, the procession began to move. In front marched foldiers to clear the way ; then ap-Y 4 peared
pcared the Standard pf the holy office, Supported by alguazils, and followed by familiars, with the learned doctors of the inquifition ; next advanced the beggar, fupported by his crutches, and attended by two fecre-taries, who carried the whole procefs in a box lined with velvet; and the little capuchin, as confeffor, with the Marquis of Cogolludo, fon to the Duke of Medina Cceli, of the blood roya], and the firft nobleman in Spain, as alguazil mayor, brought up the rear.
No fooner had the pageant entered the church, than mafs began j after which they read the procefs in the hearing of the whole alfembly, which confifted of the principal nobility, with all the ladies of the court, who had been invited by la Marquefi de Cogolludo, and fat with her on a Stage raifed for this occaiion.
The fecretaries were frequently interrupted in reading by loud burfts of laughter, in which the beggar joined. The mirth was, however, in fome breafts, attended with a degree of trepidation, when in the procefs circumftances were related, in which ladies who were prefent, had been
concerned.
E   329 1
concerned, and who expected every moment wto be named.
After the whole of the procefs had been read, the chief inquisitor rang a little bell, and the prifoners drew nigh to hear their fentence. That of Ignacio Rodriguez was, to be whipped through the Streets of Madrid, to be instructed and fortified in the mysteries of the catholic faith, by a fpiritual guide appointed by the court, with whom he was to go through holy exercifes for one month, lasting on the Fridays on bread and water; and at the end of this 'period he was to make a general confession. He was to be five years fhut up in the penitentiary houfe of Toledo, and afterwards to be banimed for ever from Madrid and from the royal mansions, with an obligation to inform the holy office wherever he fhould happen to reside. The fentence of the other was not fo fevere.
The whole ceremony ended about three in the afternoon.
The day following, the beggar, naked down to his waift, was mounted on an afs, attended by the Marquis of Cogolludo. Thus accompanied, the impostor was conducted
ducted through the Streets, but without receiving any Stripes; and as he proceeded, he was frequently refreshed by his friends with bifcuits and wine; whilft many, who knew not the nature of his offence, thinking him a heretic, cried out, viva lar Virgen, viva Maria furijjima, to which he replied, for mi que viva.
This ceremony ended, the Marchionefs of Cogolludo gave a grand entertainment to the judges and officers of the inquifition.
Had it been the intention of the king to make the inquifition, preparatory to its abolition, contemptible in the eyes of the whole nation, he could not have taken any ftep more effectual for the purpofe, than he did, when he called upon that tribunal to examine into offences, which fhould have been infinitely below its notice, and to appear in the proceftion with a wretch, who fhould have been punifhed in fecret by the vile ft minifter of juftice.
Others have given the hiftory of this execrable tribunal, both as to its origin and progrefs, together with the form of its proceedings, and cruel treatment of its pri-
4- toners,
foners. Upon thefe particulars I mall be filent; but I muff obferve, that the original inquifition, under the appellation of the Spiritual Court, ffill exifls in England; where, as in Spain, the poor Suffer moft. by the abufe of its authority. The ferpent with us appears to have loft its venom; it is torpid, but not dead, and mould, at any future period, our government be changed, it may revive, and be as dertructive to our children as it has already been to our progenitors.
In the vicinity of Seville is a curious monument of antiquity, the amphitheatre of Italica, highly worthy the attention of all who are fond of fuch remains, but to me they were little interefting. It is an oval of two hundred and ninety-one feet by two hundred and four. If we may judge of Italica by the extent of its ruins, it was a considerable city, and although fo little now is to be feen above the furface of the foil, yet we know that formerly it was a bifhop's fee, and prior to that period, it gave birth to Trajan, to Adrian, and to Theodofius.
The country round the city to a considerable
ttcrable distance lies fo low, that it is fre«* quently overflowed, and upon fome occasions the water has been eight feet high, even in their habitations. The foil is rich, and being at the fame time very deep, its fertility is inexhaustible. The produce is corn, leguminous plants, hemp, flax, lemons, oranges and liquorice. The quantity of this exported from Spain is faid to be annually not lefs than four thoufand quintals, or nearly two hundred tons, a considerable part of which is fuppofed to be purchafed by the porter-brewers in London. Could they be prevailed upon to omit the cocculus indicus, they might bo permitted to ufe the liquorice without reft rain t.
I had the curiosity to make enquiries at the cuftom-houfe in London, where I found that the principal marts for this produce were formerly Italy and French Flanders, but that of late the importation from Spain has rapidly increafcd, and that from beiftg only two tons feventeen hundred weight three quarters and sixteen pounds, in the year J7S5, it became fifty eight tons three hundred weight one quarter and fourteen
teen pounds, in the year 1788. The whole quantity imported, I found to be as follows:
Tons. Cwt. Qrs. lb.
1785, into London and the
out-ports 109 14 318
1786, ditto.        — 150   2   3 14
1787, ditto, —-        128 19   o 16
1788, ditto, — 183 1 o 17 In this period the proportion of the out-ports has increafcd from twenty-four tons eleven hundred weight two quarters and twenty-five pounds, to fifty-five tons fourteen hundred weight two quarters and fifteen pounds. From which circumflance we may collect, that London has taught the country breweis the ufe of this innocent and pleafant drug in making porter.
In confequence of vapours and miafmata, occafioned by Stagnant water, and by frequent floods, the inhabitants of Seville and its neighbourhood are fubjedt to tertians, to putrid fevers, and to hyfterical diforders. The pre-difpofition to fuch difeaSes may be likewife fought for in the quantity of cucumbers and melons confumed by them all the year, in confequence of which they are
* likewife
likewife infested with worms, accompanied with epilepsies, efpecially in the more youthful fubjects. This connection I have frequently had occasion to obferve; and, from this circumstance I comprehend the principle on which an able phyfician is mentioned, in the London Practice of Phyfic, to have ordered the powder of tin, in a cafe of epilepfy. Yet, I must acknowledge a fufpicion, that the compiler of that valuable work, who appears to have been fome old apothecary in extensive practice, did not difcover, at the time when he made a memorandum of the cafe, that the phyfician was then prefcribing to the occalional caufe, and not to the difeafe. The fkill of a practitioner is difcerned, not merely by his readinefs in distinguishing difeafes, but by his attention to their pre-difpofing caufes. The empyric, often fatisfied with prefcribing to the Symptom, is liable to be fatallv mistaken in his distinctions, and ne-ver attempts to investigate the caufe. Hence it is, that the publication of formula1, fuch as thofe to which I have referred, will never be ufeful to him, or indeed to any one who has. not been regularly
bred
bred to the profession.' The fcience of phytic is not fo eafily acquired as fome have imagined, and have been taught to think by physicians, who, with the appearance of difintcreftednefs and candour, have published their fyftems of domestic medicine. To distinguish difeafes, and to investigate their caufe, requires much knowledge, deep reflection, and a natural Sagacity, to be improved by reading, and by exteniive practice. Even the moft Skilful and attentive are fomctimes miftaken; and at this we Shall not be furprifed, if we conSider the vaft variety of difcafes, to which the human frame is fubject. The bare infpection of any fyftem of nofology will be fufficient to convince a reafonable man that the fcience is abftrufe. In the Nofologia Methodic a of Sauvage, we find ten claifes, forty-three orders, and more than three hundred genera, in many of which are from ten to twenty -fpecies, each distinguished from the other, and denominate^ by its occasional caufe. Dr. Cuilen has indeed reduced the number both of genera and fpecies, by considering many of them as iymp-tomatic of other difeafes, and not as idiopathic;
[   336 j
thic; yet even this distinction ihews rhof6 clearly the abftrufenefs' of the fcience, and hotv liable they mutt be, who are not perfectly instructed, to make mistakes. I have dwelt upon this fubject, from a firm perfua-fion, that " fyftems of domestic medicine"^ have done much mifchief to mankind,- and that the moft dangerous idea which can be impreffed upon the mind is, that " ever)' man may be his own physician." In a coun-^ try like Spain, a perfon not bred to the profeffion may be reduced to the necessity of prefcribing to his neighbours'; but in England, this practice, unlefs in the clear-eft cafes, is much to be condemned.
I have mentioned the difeafes incident to the inhabitants of Seville, arifing from humidity ; but others there are which originate in heat. Whenever they have the Solano wind, that is, whenever the wind blows from Africa, they become liable to pleurisies; but what is chiefly complained of, both by phyficians and by magistrates, is an irritability of nerves, influencing the morals in a variety of ways.
Before I quitted Seville, according to my ufual practice, I enquired into the price of
labour
labour and provisions. They are as follow :
Day labourers, four reals and an half, or about 104^.
Carpenters, from feven to eleven reals a day. .
Joiners, if good workmen, twenty-four reals, or 4.1-. nd.
Weavers, with diligence, will earn fif-teen reals, or
Bread, from fixteen to twenty - eight quartos, or 4! d. to 7 ■£-*/. for three pounds of fixteen ounces.
Beef, thirty quartos for thirty - two ounces, or about 4-~d. a pound of fixteen ounces.
Mutton, thirty-eight quartos ditto, or
Srlrd. ditto.
Kid, twenty-four quartos ditto, or 34 ditto.
Pork, thirty-fix to forty-two quartos ditto, or s-t-d. to - )'Ld. ditto.
A. D. 1731, the whole confumption of item in Seville was one million feven hundred ninety-two thoufand two hundred and feventy-nine pounds; of which the ecclefiaitics had eight hundred eleven thou-'Vol. II. Z fand
land and ninety-one pounds, free from taxes; the pounds being here of thirty-two ounces, or two pounds each avoirdupois.
The price of wheat, at different periods, and at different feafons of the year, has been fo remarkable, that I fhall fubjoin a table.
Price of the Fanega of Wheat at Seville.
a. r>.	Months.	Reals.	a. D.	Months.	Reals.
1652.	April	80 to 120;	[752.	April	33.
	July	42 to 45;		July	25 t0 33
1655.	April	14 to 20	[755-	April	16 to 22
	July	1310 if		July	13 to 18
i°57-	April	11 to 18.	[757-	A pril	25 to 29
		16 to 23		July	18 to 27
1660.	April	45t0 53'	1760.	April	29 to 36
	J«iy	2210 27		July	30 to 37
1661.	April	17 to 2 2	1761.	April	30 to 37
	j July	2 I tO 20 1		July	24 to 32
If we reckon the fanega at one hundred and nine pounds and an half, and the bufhel at feventy, then the higheft price, A. D* 1652, will be equal to i$s. the bufhel, and the loweff price, A, D. 1657, to is.^kd.
In the correfponding periods, as taken from Smith's Wealth of Nations, the higheft price is ys. 6d. and the lowest y. gd. Had the commerce of corn been unrestrained, the price in Spain could never have varied in fuch wide extremes, to the deitrudtion of manufactures.
When I had fatisfied my curiofity at Seville, and had refolved next to vifit Cadiz, I fent and hired the cabin of a parfage-boat, which was to leave the city in the evening, and falling down the Guadalquivir, was to arrive in about fix and thirty hours at S. Lu car.
The common price for every pasTenger is eight reals, or about is. yd. but for the whole cabin I paid twenty reals, or a hard dollar, being a fmall fraction under four ihillings sterling. In this I had no great bargain, becaufe my apartment was not more than fix feet by five, and about three feet high. My only comfort was, that I could it retch myfelf at night upon a bear fkin, and faw myfelf by day feparated irom a multitude, fome of whom were not remarkable for cleanlinefs.
Among the rabble, I obferved a young Z 2 Fran-
Francifcan friar, and a genteel French merchant, who by no means Seemed to be Satisfied with their htuation. At the clo-fmg of the day, the whole affembly joined in the Ave Maria, our young friar taking the lead, and distinguishing himfelf by the Strength and melody of his voice; after which, he entertained the company with fome good jequidillas, tiranas, and other Spanish longs. I was fo well fatisfied with his voice and manner, that in the morning I invited him to my cabin, and was delighted to find in him a pleafant and converfable companion.
The wind was favourable, the Sky was clear, and the courfe being nearly in one Straight line, little attention was required to the helm. In Such circumstances it was not to be wondered at, that our Palinurus, who had been watching all the night, mould be inclined to nod by day. But whilSl Sleep had taken pofleffiori of his eye-lids, his attention feemed to be awake, for when at any time, by the Shifting of the wind, either the direction or degree of preSfure of the helm was varied, he inftantly moved his hand, and even before he opened his eyes,
he put the veiTel right. Thus it is refpect-ing founds. No noifc, however violent, roufes thofe who are accuffomed to hear it; but, if it be unufual, or if it be fuch as would call them to action when awake, although moderate, it makes them flart: thus it feems as if the foul was capable of exercifing judgment during lleep.
The country all the way, for the fpace of twenty leagues between Seville and S. Lucar, is flat, the foil is deep, and the paf-tures are covered with a perpetual verdure.
In this little voyage I was fo well pleafed with my young friar, that I bore his ex-pences, agreed to take him for my companion and my guide as far as Cadiz; and, fuch was the confidence I repofed in him, that when we had landed on the beach, and taken horfes to S. Lucar, I committed my baggage to his care, whilft I haitened to pay my compliments to our conful; but, to my aftoniihment, on my return, I found that I had been cherifliing a thief. He would have made an apology; but, as I wanted no explanation when I had ocular demonstration, I took my leave, without
Z 3 re-
reproaching his ingratitude; and hiring horfes, I made the heft of my way towards Cadiz,
The country is hilly/ the foil at a lower level, and near the fea, is fand; but all the intermediate fpace is a {tiff clay, and the road is abominably bad. The distance is fix leagues.
' About mid-way I counted twenty teams of oxen tilling one piece of land. The plough is by no means fuited to the foil, having no fin to the lhare, no coulter, nor any mould-board; but, instead of the latter, two wooden pins. This, in light fand, may anfwer very well, but is certainly little calculated to fubdue a stubborn clay. The higheft of the hills, expofed to the meridian fun, have vines, and the fcene is often beautifully varied by extensive plantations of the olive.
As foon as I arrived at Puerto de Santa Maria, I enquired for the paffage-boat to Cadiz. They informed me at the pofada, that no wherry would pafs that day. I, however, preffed forward to the beach, where I was foon furrounded by a number
of watermen, who all affured me, that I
was
was come too late for the common parfage-boat, but that for two hard dollars I might have a veifel to myfelf. Unwilling to be detained all day, I agreed, and was conducted to a boat half filled with paffengers, and, after waiting near an hour for the lull complement, we fet fail. As the wind was fair, we foon made our paffagej and, on quitting the boat, I had the mortification to fee each perfon pay two .reals, or four pence halfpenny, inftead of two hard dollars, or eight (hillings; but? it was to no purpofe to complain.
M
CADIZ.
(      A     D     I Z.
I m * H E city of Cadiz occupies a pro-JL montpry at the extremity of a peninsula, and is joined to the ifle of Leon only by a caufeway. It is walhed to the eaffward by the gentle waves of a well protected road j but, to the westward, it is open and expofed to the fury of the ocean.
The streets are narrow, yet well paved and clean. The moft beautiful part of the city looks towards the Puerto de Santa Maria, where the houfes are lofty, built of white free-stone, and ornamented with painted balconies; they have in front a wide parade, well gravelled, planted with trees, and communicating with the fea-road, where the merchantmen and mips of war find Ihelter.
Two.
Two considerable fquares, one for the market, the other called Plaza de San Antonio, with the Calle Ancha joining to it byway of mall? contribute both to beauty and to health; and the whole city being nearly furrounded by a rampart, this forms an elevated, airy, and delightful walk, much frequented in the evenings.
The moft advantageous view of Cadiz and its environs may be had from the signal tower: from hence you look immediately down upon the houfes, whofe flat roofs, covered with a white cement, have a lingular yet most pleasing appearance. To the westward, you command the ocean, with numerous vesfels, fome Stretching away, others entering the harbour; and, on the land fide, you difcovcr the four interesting fea-port towns of Rola, Santa Maria, Port Royal, and Caraca, with the ifle of Leon, and the connecting caufeway, whilft a rich country, hanging towards the fetting fun, bounds the aidant profpect.
They reckon now in Cadiz, not more than sixty-five thoufand nine hundred and eighty-fevcn fouls; but, about ten years fince, it is faid to have contained eighty-five
five thoufand, befide about twenty thoufand people who entered daily from the Sea, and from the adjacent country.
For their pavements, for the cleanlinefs of their Streets, for a well regulated police, for fome of th ir belt edifices, and for many wife inftitutions, they have been indebted to their late governor, Count O'Reilly. Previous to his appointment, this city was remarkable for filth and naff inefs; and from the mistaken clemency of Bucarelli, the former governor, robberies were frequently committed, murders were not uncommon, and fuch was the infolence of thieves, that they gave public warning to the inhabitants, not to make a noife when they fhould be flopped.
The moft distinguished buildings are the two cathedrals, one ancient, the other not yet finifhed. The former is chiefly remarkable for fome good pictures, and for its treafures, confifting of jems, filver candlesticks and lamps, both numerous and bulky ; three cuftodias, one of which, constructed of the fineft filver, Weighs fifty-one arrobas, or more than half a ton; another is mostly of folid gold.
The
The new cathedral is a vail pile, with large and lofty domes, and many well proportioned pillars; yet the whole appears heavy and difgufting. This effect is owing to the fingle circumstance of its being loaded with a very projecting cornice, fuch as would not be void of elegance in a rotunda of vaft dimensions, but by no means fuitable to an edifice, which abounds with angles. All who view this building are Struck with the abfurdity of thefe preposterous ornaments, yet the architect wants re-folution to retract them. It is not, however, impossible, that the waves may wipe away this difgrace to tafte, becaufe they have begun their devaftations on that fide, and not more than ten feet are interpofed between the building and the fea.
Near to the cathedral is the Plaza de Toros, for the bull-feafis, built intircly with wood, making externaJly a mean appearance; but within, it is both pretty and commodious. I had been folicitous to fee 'the dexterity of the most f-mous matador in Spain, named Romero, but at this ieafon the bull-feafts are prohibited.
Not far from hence is the obfervatory,
in
in a moft advantageous Situation; but unfortunately the inifruments, although the beat that our Englim artifis of the day could furniSh, are neglected, and will foon be ruined.
The academy for the three noble arts of painting, fculpture, and architecture, is at prefent, as a building, fcarcely worthy of attention. It will, however, be removed into the centre of the city, when a Sufficient fund can be provided for 'hat purpofe.
In the convents are a few good pictures; more efpecially in the cloifter of the Au-guftin friars; and in that of the capuchins we find fome moit worthy of attention, by Murillo. In the garden of the Francif-cans is the dragon's-blood-tree mentioned by Qner, in his Botany of Spain.
Of the three hofpitals, two are moft remarkable for neatnefs; the third delerves reproach for filth and naftinefs; yet this perhaps is the belt conducted for general utility. It is called the Royal or Military Hofpital, becaufe defl-ned for foldicrs, and has fourfcorc ftudents, who are maintained and educated at the king's expence. It has a good botanical garden, and a theatre
for
for defections furnifhed with fubject s from among the patients. One of the two dif-tinguifhed for neatnefs is fet apart for women ; the other, dedicated to San Juan de Dies, and designed for men, is elegant. All the wards are paved with marble in checkers of black and white; and instead of white walls, of wainfeoting, or of Stucco, the lides are covered with Dutch tiles.
In this hofpital, the beds having no curtains, I faw death in all its stages, from its distant approach to its closing fcene ; from ordinary difeafe to the laft and feeblest. Struggles, to the pale vifage, and the trembling lips of expiring nature. My attention was directed towards each dying object by a crofs at the bed's head, which indicated, that he had received the facraments of the cucharist, and of extreme unction. To one, who had formerly walked an hofpital; to' one, whofe office leads him to attend the dying and the dead, death muft naturally have loft much of its terror; but the view of fo many objects of diftrefs, Sinking under the preffure of difeafe, I muft confefs, fpread a gloom over my mind, fuch as no one fhould fubject himfelf
felf to, unlefs he is either called to it in the way of duty, or is bletXed with peculiar fortitude of nerves. t"
They have commonly in this hofpital more than fix thoufand patients, and out of thefe they annually lofe one tenth; but at different feafons the proportion varies.
Befide thefe hofpitals for the lick, there is a retreat for widows, founded by Juan Fragela, a Turkey merchant, born at Da-mafcus, and fettled at Cadiz, who died A. D. 1756, aged one hundred and four. In this hofpital forty-feven widows have each two good rooms, with a v/eekly allowance of fix reals. They appear to find in it a comfortable refuge.
The moft interesting eftablifhment in Cadiz, and die heft conducted of its kind in Spain, is the hofpicio, or general work-houfe. This building is large and lofty, handfome -and commodious. In it are received the poor of every nation, who are unable to maintain themfelves, and in the firft place, orphans, def-rted children, and the aged, who are palled the capability for labour, the blind, the lame, idiots, and mad people, but efpecially priests, when
aged
[ ss? I
aged and reduced to poverty. Even Strangers pairing through the city, with peniuilion of the governor, may be entertained two days.
NeatneSs univerfally prevails, and all who are here received are clean, well clothed, and have plenty of the belt provisions. Care is taken to instruct them in the christian doctrines, and every Six months the young people are publicly examined. Their education is to read, to write, to calt accounts; and fuch as manifest abilities, are not only instructed in the principles of geometry, but, if they are fo inclined, are taught to draw. The boys are trained to weaving, and to various crafts; the girls Spin rlax, cotton, wool, knit, make lace, or are employed in plain work.
Of the eight hundred and thirty-four paupers provided for at the time of my vifiting this establishment, the 2lit of March, 1787, the old men were one hundred and nine, the aged women one hundred and thirty-one, the boys two hundred and thirty-five, the girls one hundred and feventy-one, married people eighteen, id ots and mad people, thirty-four; under cor-2 rection,
rection, men fifty-nine, women thirty-eight; as fervants thirty-nine.   The number in-> deed is perpetually varying; but in the whole of the preceding year, the-rations of provision were three hundred twelve thoufand  four hundred and nine, which number, divided by three hundred and lixty-five, points out the average to have been eight hundred and fifty-five perfons maintained daily in   this  houfe. Forty-five looms, and  fixteen flocking frames are provided for their fervice, with a Sufficient number of fpinning-wheels, working benches, tools for carpenters, turners, fhoemakers, and taylors, a twirling mill, a fpinning jenny, and a machine for carding cotton.
To encourage industry, an account is kept for each individual, wherein he is made debtor to the houfe at the rate of three reals, or about feven-pence a day, and has credit given him for all the work he does; and fhould the balance be, as often happens, in his favour, it is paid to him, whenever he can make it appear, to the fatisfaction of the directors, that he is able to eftabliih himfelf without their future aid.    I examined  the accounts of
many
many, who cleared for themfelves more than half a crown a week; and were looking out for fettlements, that they might marry, and gather the fruits of their own industry.
Adjoining to the houfe is a fpacious mop for the accommodation of all who are willing to work; wherein are provided proper implements, and raw materials; and the moment any one has completed his work, he receives the price of his labour, without any deduction, being at liberty not only to lodge where he pleafes, but to fpend his gains according to his fancy. Here I counted more than feventy young people at their wheels.
But becaufe many, who would work, are indifpenfably confined at home, where, from poverty, they are unable to procure either wheels or wool, the governors provide both, and pay them, without any deduction, for their work. By thefe means, when I was there, of three hundred and forty-eight families, more than five hundred fouls, were trained to induitry. The directors informed me of three children, the eldeft nine years of age, who by fpin-
Vol. II. A a ning
nirig gained fix reals, that is more than fourteen-pence a day, and maintained a paralytic father.
Not fatisfied with thefe exertions, they have effablifhed fchools in the diffant quarters of the city, on the fame plan; and, providing the beft mafters in every branch of bufinefs, which they wi(h to cultivate, they admit freely all who are de-firous of being taught.
It is their intention to pick out from the brightefl of the boys the beft draftfmen, and having inflructed them in the various languages of Europe, to make them travel for the acquifition of knowledge, and the advancement of manufactures.
As the furrounding parifhes may not find It convenient to adopt fimilar inltitutions on a fmaller fcale, therefore they receive the infants, the aged, and the infirm, from any of them, on condition of being paid in due proportion for their board.
The management is veiled in twelve directors, who are prefided over by the governor of the city for the time being, with power to fill up of themfelves any vacancy which may happen in their body. Of thefe, fix take the general oversight of
the
the various departments; the other iix have each a feparate charge, that every one may enjoy, without another to mare it with him, the applaufe which his zeal de-ferves. One is accomptant general ; another is treafurer; a third is Steward, to collect the rents, and to manage the revenue; a fourth has the oversight of manufactures; the fifth takes the charge of the provisions; and the Sixth provides the raiment.
All their accounts are clear, diftmet, and kept with moit minute exactnefs.
The fources of their revenue are from voluntary contributions, legacies, a tax of one real a fanega on all the wheat brought into the city, and from the produce of labour in the houfe. The whole expence, in the year 1786, was one million three hundred and eighty-five thoufand reals, viz.
Reals vellon. Provisions       - 541,640 Clothes      -      - 58,409 Salaries      -      - 66,590 Sundries     -     - 718,361
1,385,000 reals vellon. A a 2 Which,
Which, dividing by one hundred, that is by cutting oft two figures from the right, leaves thirteen thoufand eight hundred and fifty pounds.
The preceding year the clothing was nearly three tunes as much; but the other expences differed little from the year now under examination. If we take the average at eight hundred and fifty perfons, we fhall find the food for each amounting to fix hundred and thirty-fevcn reals, or fix pounds feven millings and four pence, and the clothes to thirteen fhillings and eight pence. But in order to find out the whole expence on account of each individual, wc muff confider, that during the three years fince the hofpicio was firft opened, the goods unfold in the magazines amount to four hundred and feventy-three thoufand one hundred and fifty-one reals, which being divided by three, gives one hundred and fifty-feven thoufand feven hundred and feventeen for the proportion of one year. Now this being deducted from one million three hundred and eighty-five thoufand, leaves one million two hundred and twenty-feven thoufand two hundred
and eighty-three as the expence of the public for the year 1786, and this, divided by eight hundred and fifty, gives one thoufand four hundred and forty-three reals, or fourteen pounds eight (hillings and feven pence for the expence of each, not including the produce of his labour.
This accumulation of goods in their magazines arifes from the want of a market. Public bodies being deficient in watchlul-nefs, activity, and zeal, labour under this difadvantage, and will never hnd a vent tor their commodities, unlefs at a price greatly inferior to what private manufacturers will be able to obtain. From hence arifes one argument again(t fuch eftabiifhments; but although ftrong, it is by no means the ftrongeft, becaufe univerlady people in confinement, and deprived of liberty, cat too much, and work tco little. This beyond a queftion is the cafe at Cadiz, in the hof-picio, in which they have ninety-two holidays allowed them, and in which the ex-pence of food and raiment is double what it fhould be.
In the conduct of this establishment we find many things highly to be commanded, A a 3 and
and in the first  place we muff, admire the activity and zeal of  the directors. That gentlemen of diftinguifhed talents, and men of bufinefs, fhould be animated with fuch zeal for the public good, as to devote a considerable portion of their time to it, and affemble every evening to fuper-intend this work, can never be fufliciently applauded.   Jn the detail of this bufinefs we difcover not only zeal, but zeal well directed for the bell of purpofes. Nothing-can be more worthy of imitation than the public work-mop, with the practice of providing wheels and wool for thofe who are confined at home; nor can any thing more effectually excite the ingenuous mind to industry than the idea that he fhall be rewarded for his pains, and in the iffue reap the fruits of his own exertions. But inafmuch as many among the lower clafles are destitute of generous fentiments, and as moft of them have, by their fupinenefs, reduced themfelves to diflrefs and poverty; the regulation introduced into one of our world, oufes at Bradford, in Wiltfhire, by a molt ingenious manager, may perhaps, and,
I apprehend, undoubtedly will, be found
preferable
t   359 1
preferable for general utility. He calculates what every one is capable of earning, without oppremon, and accordingly appoints the morning and the evening talk, which muff be performed before they either eat or drink. When this talk is accomplished, whatever more they earn, they immediately receive. From this conduct of the manager, the poor feel constantly the two-fold incentive of hope and fear, which certainly is much better for them than to be under the influence of one motive only, and that more remote. His plan is to receive and to relieve the poor in the hour of diftrefs; but at the fame time to teach them induftry, and to get rid of them as foon as poSlible.
In certain circumftances it may be wife to take children from their parents, and to educate them in public feminaries; but then it Should be remembered, that thus trained up they are feldom hardy, and that they have never been found to make good domestics; nor are they qualified to rear a family, like thofe who have been bred up in cottages, and have, from their infancy, A a 4 been
been taught to turn their hands to every kind of work.
To take old people from their families, and, under pretence of providing better for their wants, to rob them of thofe endearments, and that tender care which they would have received from their neareff relatives and friends, is cruel in the extreme; and to leave empty a wretched cottage, or a miferable bed, for the reception of frem wretchednefs and mifery, is fo far from being either politic or wife, that no conduct can be more remote from wifdom and found policy. If, the moment you had provided for the object of diflrefs, you were to pull down the habitation, and fet fire to the bed; if you were to deltroy the neft, which nothing but wretchednefs can occupy, the cafe would then be different. The principle on which is built this ob-fervation, being little understood, and lefs attended to, I fhall endeavour to explain it.
If we fuppofe, in a good climate, with plenty of food and healthy habitations, the number of children in each fimily on the average to be four, and the mean age to
which
which they Shall arrive to be fifty years; if the men mould marry at the age of twenty-one, and the women at nineteen, then one couple, at the erjd of thirty-three years, will leave twelve descendants. *In fifty-nine years there will be twenty-four per-fons; and at the end of one hundred and twenty-nine years, one hundred and eighty-eight, or ninety, tour times their firft number. Father Feyjoo relates, that A. D. 1590, one man and four women efcaped from Shipwreck, landed in the iile of Pines, near Madagafcar, where, finding plenty of good fruit, they became, when difcovered by the Dutch, twelve thoufand. Should any one conceive either this fad: to be miftated, or my Supposition to go much beyond the mark, he is welcome to reduce the number as low as he pleafes, provided he leaves me in poSfefiion of this principle, that in certain circumftances and in given periods, men will multiply in proportion to their food.
We are informed that the Israelites, when they came into Egypt, were Seventy fouls; that they remained in the land of Go/hen four hundred and thirty years, and
that
[ & ]
that when they departed, omitting the Le-vites, the amount of all that were able to go out to war was fix hundred and three thoufand five hundred and fifty males, of twenty years old and upwards. From thefe data we may conclude, that the Ifra-elites doubled their numbers every twenty-feven years, or nearly within that term.
The population in North-America doubles every five and twenty years 3 but in fome provinces every fifteen years. In modern Europe it requires, according to Dr. Smith, five hundred years to double the number of its inhabitants. The reafon of this becomes obvious, if we call to mind the principles on which depend the propagation of the fpecies, and the caufes by which its progrefs may be retarded, or altogether limited.   Thefe are,
iff, Want of food, as on the highlands of Scotland, where a woman will bring twenty children, and rear only two; or in the woods among the hunting tribes; or even in the moft highly cultivated country, when the population is advanced to the utmoft ability of the foil to nouriih, like as in China, where numbers are expofed,
and
[   3«3 1
and perifh in their infancy, for want of food, and where many are deterred from marriage by the fear of wanting bread.
2d, Difeafes, either peculiar to the climate as at Senegal and at Batavia; or induced, as at Constantinople, and even in London, by infection, foul air, confinement, and bad nurling: difeafes not confined to woods, not ravaging the favage tribes alone, but fpreading with more fatal virulence in great, in rich, and in luxurious cities.
3d, Want of commerce for the promotion of in duff ry, and of a market for the furplus of its produce,
4th, War in all its forms, whether carried on by uncultivated or by polifhed nations, either for plunder, for conqueit, or for the extenlion of commerce.
5th, Superstitious vows impofed on the monaftic orders, and celibacy enjoined the prieSthood,
6th, Emigration of the breeding Stock, and transference of capitals, arifing either from a bad police, or from a vicious form of government, and the want of that fecurity of perfon and of property which can be enjoyed only where freedom reigns -f that
is,
r 364 1
is, where men are lure of being protected from the oppreSHon of arbitrary power, and are fubject to none but wife and equitable laws.
7th, Want of land, or the opportunity of acquiring it by induffry.
8th, Want of habitations.
Now in proportion as you remove thefe obffaclcs, your population will advance; when, therefore, it is yourobje- r to increafe the number of your people, the way to accomplish this is obvious, and the talk in Spain, under a wife government, would be eafy; but when the question is, how to baniSh poverty and wretchednefs, hoc opus, hie labor eft, Yet in the investigation of this queftion we have one general principle to guide us; increafe the quantity of food, or where that is limited, prefcribe bounds to population. In a fully peopled country, to Say, that no one Shall fuffer want is ab-furd. Could you fupply their wants, you. would foon double their numbers, and advance your population ad infinitum, which is contrary to the fuppofition. It is indeed poSlible to baniSh hunger, and to fupply that want at the expence of another; but
then
[ 365 ]
then you mult determine the proportion that fhall marry, becaufe you will have no other way to limit the number of your people. No human efforts will get rid of this dilemma; nor will men ever find a method, either more natural, or better in any refpecl, than to leave one appetite to regulate another.'
Having already enlarged upon this fubject: in a Separate trcatife, I fhall here only lay down general rules, by which'we may form a proper judgment of the workhoufe in Cadiz.
To inftitute public mops, where the in— dultrious may at all times find employment, is benevolent and wile: to fupply them at home with implements and raw materials is politic; but to expect a profit from the labour of people in confinement is abfurd.
To fupply the indigent with food and raiment, provided you thereby do not offer a premium to indolence, prodigality, and vice, is Salutary.
To correct the lazy and the fpendthrift, to Shut them up in houfes of confinement till they have acquired habits of fobriety and indufiry, is both juft and prudent; but
in
in fuch establishments, to feed, to clothe, to lodge them better than the fober and the diligent are lodged, arc clothed, are fed, is not agreeable to any principles of equity, and is inconfiflcnt with found policy.
Upon the grounds already Hated, I may venture to predict, that notwithstanding the zeal and efforts of the gentlemen who fuperintend the general workhoufe at Cadiz, and in fpite of all their wife regulations, unlefs the people in it are compelled to work more, and have lefs to eat, in a courfe of years the city will be nearly as full of beggars as before the foundation of this houfe was laid.   For whilft all the habitations, now recently emptied, remain to receive new tenants in fimilar diflrefs with thofe who quitted them, and whilst fuch a comfortable refuge is at hand for them, indolence, prodigality, and vice will have nothing to fear, but every thing to hope; and the molt improvident will not hesitate to contract thofe bands on which the propagation of their race depends.
I cannot  quit the hofpicio, without taking notice of the kitchen, on account of
its
its Singular Structure. The chimney is an octagon, in the middle of the room, fur-rounded by fixteen itoves, eight of them large, and contiguous to it, and as many finali, communicating by means of flues. The larger Stoves are three feet diameter, by three and an half in depth. Under the kitchen is a cellar to receive the aShes.
The merchants of this city, ever fince the commerce of Peru and Mexico was tranfported here from Seville, have rifen in consideration; but, in the prefent moment, they have received a fevere Shock by the removal of the barrier which had fecured that monopoly to them, The confequence has been, a plutted market in the Tranf-at-lantic colonies, many failures in Cadiz, and not a few in thofe cities which have eagerly engaged in new and flattering enter-prizes, without fumcient capitals to Stand the Shock of competition, and the heavy loSTes inevitable upon the firSt laying open of an extenSive commerce.
The Spanim government has never yet acquired any liberal ideas reflecting trade, and even at the prefent moment, ibme of their belt political writers refemble lag
hounds
hounds hunting the stale fcent, whilft the rleetcft are already in poffeflion of the game. Inftead of throwing down every obftacle to commerce, they labour to contract its limits, under the vain hope of efta-blifhing a monopoly, without confidering either their own want of capital, of induf-try, and of an enterprising fpirit, or the utter impossibility of preventing fmuggling, whilft other nations, with greater advantages for trade, can underfell them in the market. Until they fhall be more enlightened, until they (hall have banifhed their inquisitors, and until the happy period fhall arrive, when, under the protection of a free government, they fhall have restored public credit, all their prohibitions, all their feve-rities exercifed on the property and perfons of the illicit traders, all their commercial treaties, and all their commercial wars, into which ambition may betray them, will be frivolous and vain; becaufe no efforts will ever prevail againft the united interests of their own fubjects, and of all furrounding nations.
Even at home, the watchfulnefs and energy of government hath never been able
to
to enforce its prohibitions; for, notwithstanding thefe, when I was travelling through Spain, all the men appeared in Manchester cotton goods, and no woman was without her muilin veil. In Spain, as throughout Europe, it is found, that when the price of infuranee is lefs than the duties impofed on the commodity, no laws-are fufficient to control the operations of illicit traders.
Previous to the year 1720, the commerce of America was confined to Seville, not intentionally, but by a regulation of Charles V. in the year 1529, who, intending to lay that commerce open for all his fubjects of Caftille, permitted merchants to freight their mips from the chief ports of Bifcay, of the Afturias, and of Gallicia, with Malaga and Carthagena, provided they returned to Seville, under penalty of death, and confifcation of their cargoes, in cafe of noncompliance with that abfurd injunction. As for the cities belonging to the crown of Arragon, they were wholly excluded from the commerce of America, and could reap no advantage from the newly difcovered continent.   In confequence of thefe regu-Vol, II. B b lations,
ktiuns, and the heavy duties of twenty per cent, impofed on all goods exported to America, or imported from it, befide the duty of tonnage on the veifels, the contraband trade became fo lucrative, and of courfe fo extensive in its operations, that little could be carried on to advantage under the fancfion of the laws.
A. D. 1720, the emporium was changed, and the commerce, which for two centuries had proved a fource of wealth to Seville, was tranflated to Cadiz. At the fame time the duties were lowered, and, inftead of twenty per cent, on exports, rated according to their value, all bale goods and boxes paid a Settled tonnage of five reals and an half of plate for the cubic palm, without examination, or any consideration, cither of the nature or the quality of the articles contained in them. The tonnage varied according to a table comprehending the fixteen ports of Spanish America, being different in each. The inexpediency of thefe regulations is too obvious to efcape unnoticed by the reader.
Thefe were not, however, the only mif-takes made by the Spanish government in
its
its commerce with the colonies; for, inftead of difpatching fmall veifels frequently, as the market might require, previous to the year 1740, the whole trade was carried on by twenty-feven galleons, and flotas to the number of about twenty-three; the former failing annually to Porto Bello, the latter, once in three years, to Vera Cruz; the former for the commerce of Peru, the latter for that of Mexico; the fmalleff veffel being about five hundred and fifty tons, the others fi'om eight hundred to one thoufand.
The galleons firft touched at Carthagena for the convenience of'the merchants of Popayan and Santa Fe, who brought gold and bezoar ftones, carrying back with them, in exchange, proviiions and European goods. But the principal mart was Porto Bello, a town fituated in fuch a barren country, and fubject to fuch noxious vapours, that, except during the annual fair, which lafted forty days, it was deferted. Hither the merchants brought their gold and filver, with Peruvian bark, and Vicuna wool; and beyond this the Spanifh trader could not fend his goods, nor could the B b 2 Peru-
Peruvians difpofe of theirs, upon their own account, in Spain.
The Engliih, by an article in the peace of Utrecht, had the privilege of fending annually a (hip of five hundred tons to Porto Bello, loaded with all kinds of mer-chandife; but under covert of this indulgence they commonly freighted one of twice that burthen, accompanied by tenders from Jamaica, with which, when near the port, they exchanged provisions for piece goods; and by that contrivance, usually carried more articles of commerce than five or fix of the Spanifh fleet. From A. D. 1737, the fair, and, together with it, Panama and Porto Bello, have declined.
As long as the court confined the trade of Peru to galleons, it gradually deer cafe d, infomuch that in Head of employing fifteen thoufand tons, it was funk, in the year 1740, to lefs than two thoufand. (<y. Campomanes Education popular.). But no fooner had the marquis de la Enfenada fubfKtuted regifter (hips in the place of galleons, than the trade revived; and when, in the year 1765, the barriers were in part removed, and all Spain, the provinces of
Bifcay
Bifcay alone excepted, was permitted to fend its productions to Jucatan and the windward iilands of Margarita and Trinidad; and when, inftead of the duties of the tonelada and palmeo, only fix per cent, was laid upon all goods exported, the commerce, which had been like the hammer's brook, foon refembled a great river, and enriched all the countries through which it flowed.
In confequence of the benefits received by the partial removal of thefe impediments to commerce, which were clearly and powerfully ftated by count Campomanes, government, although reluctantly, at laft (A. D. 1778) confented to lay open the trade of America to all its subjects, thofe alone excepted, who, not being bound by the general laws of the peninfula, could not fafely be admitted to the enjoyment of this privilege. The inhabitants of Bifcay have received, however, ample compeniation for their lofs in the peculiar immunities which they inherit from their fathers, and more efpecially in the freedom of their ports.
Such have been the general regulations. But Spain, like England, and other nations B b 3 of
of Europe, has granted, from time to time, exclusive privileges to chartered companies, not only to the injury of its citizens at large, and of its manufacturers in particular, but to the oppression of thofe provinces which have been fubjecfed to a monopoly. If a country could be found uncivilized, yet free, and abounding with capitals unemployed in trade; or if large fums were required for hazardous undertakings, more than could be raifed on the credit of a private company, in inch a cafe, the grant of a monopoly, with peculiar privileges, might be endured; but that a trade, once open, fhould be confined for the benefit of a few, to the difadvantage of the many, is inconsistent with every principle of equity, and of commercial policy.
A. D. 1728, Philip V. granted by charter to a company, taking the name of Gui-puzcoa, the exclusive trade of Caraccas, in the province of Venezuela, with the privilege of refhipping, by Smaller veifels, all its furplus commodities for Cumana and Guayana,with Trinidad and Margarita, two iflands at the mouth of the Oronoco, that this company might exchange European
goods
goods for gold, filver, hides-, cacao, fugar, and fuch other fruits as thefe countries produced; but in the event, cacao became their staple commodity. A. D. 1752, the province of Maracaybo was added to their grant.
This company at first employed twelve. veifels to carry on its trade, with nineteen to guard the coaff from fmugglers, varying thefe numbers as fuited their convenience; and for both thefe purpofes they engaged two thoufand five hundred feamen. Such an expence, with the heavy charge of management by directors, fupercargoes, factors, agents, clerks, &c. &c. required considerable profits, beyond what the private adventurer would have been happy to receive, had the trade been free; and therefore, as was moft natural, produced exaction operating againft the colonift, a con-traded commerce checking the manufadu-rer at home, and feverities excrcifed in vain to reftrain the operations of the illicit trader,   (v. Campomanes Educ. pop.).
The ports they ufed in Spain were S. Sebailian and Cadiz, into which, in five years, from 1770 to 1774, they imported B b 4 one
one hundred feventy nine thoufand one hundred and fifty-fix fanegas of cacao, each fanega being one hundred and ten Caftillian pounds; and by this large importation funk the price of chocolate in Spain to one-half of what it had been before.
The cacao is the fruit of the Tbcobroma foliis Integerrimisy one of the Polyadelphia Pentandria, and nourifhes in America between the tropics, but more efpecially in the province of Venezuela. The fruit grows on the trunk and on the branches, and never fails at any fcafon of the year. In Spain they mix fix pounds of the nut with three pounds or three and an half of fugar, feven pods of vanillas, one pound and an half of Indian corn, and half a pound of cinnamon, fix cloves, one drachm of cap-ficum, fome roucou nut, to improve the colour, and a fmall portion of mufk, or ambergris, to give it a pleafant fcent. Some people, however, ufe only the nut, with fugar and cinnamon. The Indians, to one pound of the nut put half a pound of Indian corn, with an equal quantity of fugar, and fome rofe-water.
The
The vanillas are pods filled with minute feeds, from a parafitical climbing plant, de-fcribed under the name of Epidcndrum Vanillin, Sp. PI. 1347, belonging to the Gy-nandrous clafs, (v. Pulteney's View of the Writings of Linnseus.)
A. D. 1780, the Carraccas company received the fevereff Shock in the capture of a rich convoy by Lord Rodney, valued at more than two hundred thoufand pounds; and a few years after, their capital was ab-forbed in a new eilablifhrnent, called the Company of the Philippines.
This company, inftituted agreeably to the ideas fuggefted by the Abbe Raynal, in his view of the European Settlements, took its rife in the year 1785, with a capital of twelve hundred thoufand pounds, and with valuable privileges granted to it for a term of twenty-five years. Previous to this eftabliihment, two Ships Sailed annually, one from Acapulco, a fea-port of Mexico, and crofting the Pacific Ocean, carried the treafures of America to the Philippines; the other, returning by the fame courSe from Manilla, the capital of Luconia, came to Acapulco, where it was
met
met by velTels from Lima, loaded with cacao, quicksilver, and hard dollars; in barter for which the merchants fent back china ware, fpices, perfumes, fdk, callicoes, muflins, and printed linens, the produce of the Eaft.
When the Philippine company began its operations, this traffic ceafed; and now, under the fpecious idea of faving time, with freight and infurance, required in conveying the gold and hlver of Peru and Mexico, by Europe to the eaft, thefe precious metals are fent directly weft ward to the place of their final deftination, whilft the more bulky and perifhable produce of the Eaft, to the fame amount in value, is diverted from its former courfe, and made to defcribe, in the oppofite direction, that fegment of the circle which had anciently been traced by their Silver and their gold.
The Philippine iiiands, almoft innumerable, and call up by volcanos, are healthy, fertile, and, befide all the grains of Europe, produce gold, copper, iron, fhip-timber, hemp, alum, falt-petre, cattle, hides, figo, rice, raisins, cacao, fugar, tobacco, wax, fifh, and couries, which are the money of
Indoftan.
Indoftan. Thefe, with the filver, indigo, and cochineal of America, the company barters with the inhabitants of Ana for mullins, cottons, filks, fpices, tea, quick-filver, and china ware, which, with, the faperabundant produce of the illands, are now brought by the Cape of Good Hope to Europe, and are admitted under eafy duties into Spain, with a drawback of one-third on their exportation.
Nothing could be more flattering to the hopes of the minifter, than a plan apparently fo well contrived, and carried on under the aufpiccs of a moft able and enterpriiing foreigner, who had already iignalized himfelf by the formation of the bank. Yet pleafing as the profpect was, all his hopes, and all the expectations of the nation are upon the point of vaniihing. With heavy charges of adminiftration, with every dif-advantage in the purchafe of commodities, the chief articles of trade are either fpoiling for want of a* market, or fold to a consider-able lofs. As for tea, they never ufe it; china ware is little in requeft j the filks, the muflins, and the cotton goods, whilft they could find purchafers, had a tendency to
deftroy
deftroy their favourite manufactures j and now, fince thefe latter articles mull abide the iifue of a fair competition with the Englifh, the company may be faid to have received its mortal wound.
In a country fubject to defpotic power, if the minifter of the day will purchafc confidence, he muft bid high for it; if he will have trading companies incorporated, with commanding capitals, he muft grant them monopolies, with exclufive privileges, inconliftent with the general good. Yet after all, fuch companies will hold thefe privileges by a moft uncertain tenure, and when they come to balance their accounts, may find, that whilft they flattered themfelves with the hope of gaining more than jult and reafonable intereft for their money, they have loft the capital itfelf.
Should this be the event with the Philippine company, the nation will have rea-fon to rejoice, and the private merchant may triumph in its fall, not on account of its oflenfibly exclufive privileges, but becaufe the whole of America and of Africa being open to its fpeculations, no limited capitals can Hand a competition with it in
the market. Had they met with the Support they had reafon to expect, they mutt have fwaliowed up the whole trade of Spain, and in the ifTue have been the ruin of that country.
They have already extended their operations to Vera Cruz, to Buenos Ayres, and to molt fea-ports of America, and at the prefent moment they are purchasing Slaves on the coalt of Africa. Thefe formerly Were Supplied by the Englifh, agreeably to an article in the peace of Utrecht, known by the name of the Afjimto. After the expiration of this grant, various contracts have been made, and among others, one recently with Dawfon and Baker, of Liverpool, who have agreed to furnish three thoufand annually to the Spanifh iilands, and upon this contract have received three hundred thoufand pounds for thofe they have fupplied already.
The treatment of the negroes in the Spanish fettlements is fo humane, So wife, fo jult, and fo perfectly agreeable to the principles of political ceconomy, that I rejoice in the opportunity of giving to their government the praife which is So peculiarly
liarly its due. The Have, both in his per-fon and his property, is under the protection of the laws, and retains the right of redemption upon equitable terms. Thefe are fettled by arbitrators, the Have having the privilege of choofing one, and the mailer having the nomination of the other; and in cafe of their disagreement, the judge fixes upon a third.
As to acquisition of property, it is rendered eafy to the ilave, if he has either in-duff ry, or any defire to be free; becaufe he may claim the numerous feifivals, befide two hours in the middle of the day, to cultivate his garden, to feed his poultry and his pigs, and to carry his commodities to market.
Is not this regulation more beneficial to the whole community, than if all the iiaves indifcriminately were reiiored to freedom ? In the Spanim islands its good effects have been experienced to fuch a degree, that moft of the artificers, the tradeSinen, and mechanics, are negroes, who by their industry and frugality, or by their fingular fidelity, have obtained their freedom; and to the credit of this institution it has been
obferved,
r 383 i
i/bferved, that two of the beft. battalions at the Ilavannah are compofed of blacks, who have been Haves.
It were much to be wifhed that we might be warranted, with equal juftice, to beitow commendations on the Spanifh court for liberality of conduct towards the colonies; but unfortunately, the fame fpirit of monopoly prevails in that, as in the other courts of Europe, the fame narrow policy, the lame contracted views; producing both at home and abroad languishing manufactures, a crippled trade, with poverty and want of population, and in the colonies, difcontcnts^ tending towards difmem-berment of empire.
In confequence of oppressive regulations attempted in Peru, that rich province was well nigh loft to Spain, if its political feparation may be considered as a lofs. For the Marquis de Sonora, to whofe memory is due much encomium for his removal of impediments to trade, and for many regulations highly beneficial to the commerce of his country, when he attempted to efta-blifh in Peru a royal monopoly of tobacco, with fome taxes odious to the people, he 4 kindled
kindled the flames of civil war, (A. D. 1781) and had it not been for the indifcretion of the rebellious chief, the event would have been the fame which England experienced upon a fmiilar occafion. The leader of this revolt was Tupacamaro, cafique of Arequipa? who, pretending to derive his origin from the facred line, and to be de-fcended from the fun, called himfelf the Ynca. He had met with friendfliip and protection from the corregidor; yet he began his revolt by caufing this man to be hanged; and fuch were the numerous in-fiances of his cruelty and devaluations committed on the perfons and' the property of both foes and friends, that many of the Indians joined with government againft him. He was at laft taken prifoner, and hanged; and by his death a period was put to the civil war, yet not till more than two hundred thoufand perfons had perifhed in the conflict.
The minifter of the Indies rendered ef-fential fervice to the mines, by lowering the price of quickiilverfrom eighty hard dollars to forty-one, that is, to eight pounds four millings the quintal or hundred weight.
The
The mines of Spain, chiefly that of Alma-den, formerly produced a fufhcient quantity of this femi-metal for the colonies. They were at that time under the direction of the famous Bowles, an Irishman of Angular abilities, and of fuch integrity, that after having gained millions for the king, his widow has been left to fpend the residue of her days in poverty.   At prefent, Spain can furniih only fixteen thoufand quintals, and therefore, to fupply the deficiency, a contract has been made with the count de Greppi, the imperial conful at Cadiz, for twelve   thoufand  quintals  annually, for which government agrees to give fifty-three hard dollars, felling it again at fixty-three.   There was indeed a good mine of quicksilver at Quancavelica, in Peru; but, by covetoufnefs and bad management, it fell in, and was lost.   Even after this, UI-loa might have re-establiflied it, had he not been fo indifcreet as to detect and to oppofe the mal-adminiftration of fome men who were in power.
In confequence of thus reducing the price of quicksilver, and lowering the tribute of gold to one in twenty, and of fil-
Vol. IL C c ver
vcr to one in ten, inftead of taking, as formerly, twenty per cent, on each, the produce of both increafed, and in Mexico, A. D. 1776, double the ufual quantity of filver was coined, amounting to more than two millions and an half of fterling money.
The whole produce of the Spanish mines in America amounted, in the year 1776, to thirty millions of dollars, or, in fterling, 5 four millions and an half; but in the fpace of fix years it rofe confiderably, and is now ftated at five millions four hundred thou-land pounds.
On the firft difcovery of America, this treafure centered in Spain; and, as far as laws could operate, was confined to the pe-ninfula. T.he confequence of this was, the ruin of their manufactures at home; for, as the cortes juftly complained to the emperor Charles V. the quantity of gold and filver in ftagnation there, raifed the price of labour, (v. Campomanes Educ. popular, part iv. page 112, note 98.) Yet, in procefs of time, the fecret was developed, that no human power can ftop the natural progrefs of thefe precious metals; and Spain, exhausted of its filver, was over-x whelmed
f 387 ]
whelmed with bafe copper money, poured into it from fuYrounding nations. (v* Campomanes, E. P. part iv. p. 272.)
The fact itfelf is notorious, that the country is destitute of fpecie, at leaff relatively fo; and count Campomanes, with great propriety, points out the real caufes which have produced this effect. As fuch, he ftates the expensive wars carried on in the fupport of foreign dominion; and, in confequence of their having loft their manufactures, the fums expended to purchafe from their more industrious neighbours the molt common articles of clothings
In the year 1784, the value of exports to America was as follow, being reduced to pounds fterling:
Total produce. 3,621,443 2IO,68o
Spanifii produce.
Cadiz 1,438,912 Malaga 196,379 Seville 62,713 Barcelona 122,631 Corufia 64,575 Santander 36,715 Tortofa 7,669 Canaries 24,974 Gijon 4,281
Foreign produce. 2,182,531 14,301
39*543 21,240
39,962
9°>I73
289
10,190
93,256 143,871
i°4>537 126,888
7*9 5 8 24,974
i4>47*
£.1,958,849 £.2,389,229 |£.4,348,078 C c 2 The
The duties upon thefe produced one hundred feventy thoufand and eight hundred pounds.
The value of imports from America was as follow, being reduced to fterling.
Cadiz
Malaga
Barcelona
Corunna
Santander
Canaries
In money and jewels. 8,297,164
102,140 741,283 40,843 109,807
£.9,291,237 £-3,343>936
In merchandife.
2,990,757 i 8,605
OI>233 90,001
100,974
52,366
The whole import was £.12,635,173, being more than double what was ftated by the abbe Raynal; and the duty upon this amounted to five hundred twenty-feven thoufand four hundred and twenty-three pounds.
The various prices of commodities coming from America were, A. D. 1775* ha Cadiz, viz.
Cochineal, the beft, from ninety-feven to one hundred and four ducats of eleven reals of plate the arroba, or about fixteen lhillings the pound.
Indigo,
Indigo, from twenty-one to thirty-four reals of plate the pound, the real of plate being four pence halfpenny.
Cacao, from twenty-fix to forty-one dollars the fanega, but moffly at forty. As, therefore, fixteen fanegas are equal at Cadiz to twenty-five Winchefler bufhels, it may be reckoned at £.3. 161. qd. the bufhel.
Sugar, moderately white, twenty-five reals of plate the arroba, or about four pence halfpenny a pound.
Hides, from Buenos Ayres, Caraccas, and Orinoco, about five pence a pound; but from the Havannah considerably lefs.
Vicuna Wool, from Peru, about two pence halfpenny a pound; and from Buenos i^yres, at two pence nearly.
Cotton, clean, about three ihillings a pound.
Copper, from Mexico and Peru, twenty-lour dollars the quintal, or about eight pence a pound, on a fuppofition that one hundred and four pounds Spanim equal one hundred and twelve Englifh; from Chili it is twenty-five per cent, cheaper.
Tin, from America, was twenty dollars C c 3 the
the quintal, whilft that from England fold for twenty-five; the former being fomething more than fix pence halfpenny per pound, (v. Campomanes, Apend. a la Ed. pop. p. 144.)
The whole trade of Cadiz engages about one thoufand veifels, of which nearly one-tenth are Spanish.
The wines moft remarkable in Cadiz are Sherry and Pacaretti, both from Xeres and its vicinity; the former is fold for forty-eight pounds a ton, the latter for fifty-fixj and thefe, when they come to England, in the out-ports, pay, cuftoms, fixteen guineas; excife, eleven pounds eighteen fhillings the ton, being four hogfheads or two pipes; in London £.2. 16s. more.
Merchants are liable to peculiar difad-vantages in Spain, not only from the nature of the government, which is perfectly de-fpotic, and from the ignorance, misinformation, or inattention, too often to be lamented in the beft of ministers j not only by abfurd prohibitions, by monopolies, and by oppreflive duties, but by the mifconduct of the provincial governors, who frequently are influenced by mercenary views, in the
judgment
judgment they pronounce between contending parties.
A late military governor, much favoured by the king, being fupreme in all civil and hTcal caufes, when he was new in office, refuted taking bribes, and ruled his rapacious officers with a rod of iron; but long before he was difgraced, he became infected with the love of money, and received it upon the molt infamous occafions without a blufh. Under his protection, merchants defrauded the revenue, and bankrupts found inciter from their creditors. This was notorious; yet, when he was recalled, fuch had been his predeceffors, and fuch were they likely to be who mould be appointed to fucceed him, that he retired lamented, and carried with him certificates of his good conduct, Signed however, chiefly by the monks, whom, previous to his departure, he had much careffed.
On his retreat, Ins power was divided, and the civil government was administered by the alcaldes mayores of the city, each alternately holding it a week. One of thefe having, for the trifling consideration of twenty dollars, granted an order to a crc-C c 4 ditor
ditor in Spain to feize, for his own private benefit, the effects of a bankrupt; the agent of other creditors in England, taking the alcalde by the hand, with forty dollars, readily procured a reverfal of the order, and thus purchafed fubftantial juftice for his employers.
Another alcalde having promifed, for one hundred dollars, not to grant an attachment to a perfon who had pretentions to fome property, yet granted it, and being reproached for his conduct, replied with coolnefs, " How could I avoid it, when *,4 he gave me forty dollars; but be not un-*' eafy, for to-morrow I will take off the f* attachment."
Obnoxious to fuch abufes, how can commerce flourifh ?
The province of Andalufia, watered throughout its whole extent by the Guadalquivir, if properly cultivated, fhould produce corn fufficient, not only for its own confumption, but for exportation. Yet the wheat annually imported is little lefs than one million and an half of fanegas; the fanega being commonly one hundred weight, but at Cadiz, about three pounds
lefs. Nearly one half this quantity, in the year 1787, came from Africa; eighty-five thoufand fanegas were imported from America, and the remainder was furnilhed by Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia; the whole^ amount that year being one million four hundred and forty-eight thoufand fanegas.
It is remarkable, that though they have an opportunity of constructing tide-mills, yet, for want of thefe, they grind their corn with mules, which cores them ten reals, or two millings nearly, per quintal or fanega.
To prevent a fcarcity of corn, and to make a profit by the fale of it, the city has established a public granary, from which the bakers are fupplied at a given price; and, according to that, the magistrates regulate the aftize of bread.   I viiited this vail repository, and was much furprifed to fee the heaps of wheat full of all kinds of trumpery, not jonly barley, but vetches of various kinds, and a variety of noxious feeds.   Had the grain been winnowed by the machine now in common ufe all over Scotland, it would have been more beautiful
ful to the eye, and much more wholelbme for their food.
When I had fdtisfied my curiofity in viewing and contemplating the articles of commerce, under the protection of a friend, with whom I had fpent much time at Madrid, I made a little excursion to fee the arfenals at the Caraca. Cadiz itfelf is Itrongly fortified towards the fea by rocks, and, on the land fide, by works erected at a vast expence. Beyond thefe are market gardens on the Strand, watered by norias; and here begins the narrow caufeway leading to the hie of Leon, which is an extensive flat, uncultivated, and fcarcciy fufcepti-ble of cultivation. Although barren, it produces considerable profit by the numerous falt-pools, which require very little trouble or expence; becaufe the fun and air quickly occaiion the water to evaporate, leaving the fait crystallized.
The village of Port Royal, through which we pasted, is one long street, well paved, and very pretty. Here my curiofity prompted me to visit M. de Langara, who gave me a polite reception.   Pleafed with
I   395 1 his countenance and manner, I moil Sincerely pitied his misfortunes.
Ever fince the war, the exertions of Spain have been inceifant to render her marine refpeclable; but more efpecially at the time when I was there, all was in motion, and the minister of the marine was making the moft ftrenuous efforts to equip a formidable fleet. This was done to vindicate their- claims upon the Mofquito more, although that territory was nev«r fubjecf to the crown of Spain, and the independent princes, who have dominion there, had been for ages in alliance with the English nation.
When I returned to England, I examined the nature and extent of the fettlement which caufed fo much uneafmefs to Spain: it con fifed of no more than five hundred and Sixty-nine freemen, including the women and their children, with one thoufand feven hundred and Sixty-three black Slaves, and two hundred and four head of cattle. The uneaiinefs arofe, therefore, not from the number of the fettlers, but from their contraband trade; from their communica-* tion with the Mofquitos, who, in time of
war,
war, had been ufed to moleft the Spaniards $ and' from the apprehenfion that, by their means, the Engliih, in fome future war, might eftablifh themfelves in force on the lake of Nicaragua.
This fettlement was certainly valuable to England, as the connecting medium between Jamaica and the Spanifli Main, for the exchange of our manufactures with Guatimala, againft indigo, cochineal, filver, and hard dollars. Indeed the indigo, growing wild on all that coaft, yields the beft commodity, and no country produces finer fugar-canes. The infant colony made about a hundred and fifty hogfheads in one year; but being obliged to pay the foreign duty in England, the mills were fuffered to decay. Mahogany was a principal article of their commerce; and of this the annual export was about three million feet. Befide thefe articles, they fent to England four tons of turtle-fhells, paying a duty of one {hilling a pound, with a hundred and twenty thoufand pounds weight of farfapa-riila, the duty of which, at feven pence a pound, was three thoufand five hundred pounds; a fum more than furficient .to dif-
"charge
charge all the expences of this new fettle-men t.
Such was the value of our poffeiTions on the Mofquito Shore, that neither the mi-niffer who ligned the preliminaries of peace at the clofe of a difaftrous war, nor his immediate fucceffor in office, who ratified that peace, would agree to their relinquishment; yet, in the year 1787, the fettlement was evacuated, and our moft faithful allies were abandoned to the mercy of their inveterate enemies.
The magazines, all well arranged, are full of ftores, and new docks have been conftructed at a vaft expence, for, being funk in a bed of foft clay and loam, they are confequently difficult to conftruct, and require unremitted labour to keep them dry. For this purpofe they ufe chain pumps, to the number of fixteen, each worked by eight men, who alternately pump four hours, and reft eight. Thefe are criminals, moftly fmugglers, condemned to this painful fervice, fome for three, others for feven, and not a few for fourteen years. The fmugglers are, however, diftinguifhed from the thieves by a
« fingle
tingle chain, whilft the latter carry two. In this dock-yard alone are a thoufand of thofe miferable creatures. I obferved here a practice worthy of imitation. To pre-ferve their ftore mails from the worms, from the wind, and from the fun, they are buried in fand, and by this fimple method are preferved for many years.
In order to ihew how much their naval power has advanced in the fpace of a few years, I (hall fubjoin a ftate men t of their marine as it flood in the years 1776 and 1788.
A.D, 1776. Number of fhips.
f^orce. ill
94 80
74 70
68
64
60
53
54 40
34
— 4i
— 4
— 6
A.D.1788.
Number of ftiip;
— 10
— 3
— 3
— 42
~ 5
— 5
— 4
— 1
— 2
— 4°
^ take no notice of the fmaller frigates* they being of trifling imoortance.
By
By this Statement it is evident, that in twelve years the naval force of Spain has been nearly doubled, confidering merely the guns; but when we take into consideration the number of their leading iliips, in point of refpecl ability, it will appear to be much more than doubled; and if we pay attention either to the views of government, or to the peculiar tafte and disposition if the new Sovereign, we may conclude that no expence will be fpared, nor the moft watchful attention wanting, to render their navy ftill more formidable.
It is a queftion worthy of diicuflion, whether Spain ought to aim at being dif-tinguiihed as a naval power; or whether the fums annually expended with that view would not be more profitably employed in exciting" induftry, by opening communications, promoting agriculture, cherishing manufactures, encouraging trade, and by adopting every plan, followed by the moft enlightened nations, to facilitate commercial intercourfe. Should She adhere to the colonising Syftem, a powerful navy will be needful to protect her commerce, and to fecure her monopolies; but
then
then it fhould be enquired, will the pro-* portion of trade obtained, beyond what fhe would enjoy if fhe had loft her authority over thefe diftant provinces, or if their trade was free, pay the expence of arming thus in times of peace, and of employing fuch a multitude of revenue officers to guard extenlive coafts ? but more efpecially, will it indemnify her for all the commercial wars in which flie may be engaged $> fup-port her trade ?
Thefe are questions proper to be refolved; and her beft politicians think that fhe would be richer and more powerful without colonies. If their opinion is well founded, it is abfurd to expend fo much upon their navy.
No country can boaft greater advantages for trade than Spain; and even without a tingle ihip fhe might be powerful and rich. Her wine, brandy, raifins, .figs, almonds, oranges, and nuts; her olives, oil, foap-afhes and foap; her lilks, linens and cottons, were they properly encouraged, with the fineft wool, not omitting the cfparto, fo valuable for cables, &c. her iron, fuperior in quality to that of other countries,
with-
f ]
with tin, lead, and copper in abundance; with her furplus corn, were the land in proper tillage; all thefe productions of the foil, with the manufactures, which, under a good government, muff naturally find eftablifhment in Spain, would be fuch a never failing fource of wealth, that mould any of the furrounding nations wiili to diffurb her peace, me could have no caufe to fear, becaufe upon a well-peopled, compact, and united empire, no lafting impref-lion can be made,   But fuppofmg Spain, with fuch advantages of foil and climate, producing fuch a rich variety of articles for trade, without exhauffing colonies, armed for felf-defence, but not infpiring either jealoufy or fear, fhould confine her views wholly to domeff ic induff ry, which of all her neighbours could feel any inclination to moleft  her ?   In fuch circumftances muft not every one of them rejoice in her profperity ?
War, among the rude inhabitants of infant countries, has only plunder forks object. This kind of depredation a well difciplined people have no need to dread; and among Vol. II. D d the
the civilized it has been long fince forgotten. But the flames of war have been too often kindled among poliihed nations, with a view to'conquest; and projects of ambition have feldom failed to fpring from wealth and power. Yet the more enlightened begin to fee the folly of fuch purfuits; and all who are Ikilled in political arithmetic, are able to demonffrate their inexpediency. Not to mention the expence of conquefls, both in men and money, it is found, by experience, that an empire, not merely when poffefling distant provinces, but as it extends its limits beyond certain bounds, becomes proportionably weak. Whenever this truth fhall be univerfally acknowledged, only one fource of devastation will remain.
At prefent, the greatest danger to the profperity of Europe is from commercial wars. But when the colonies, Still fubju-gated to the European powers, mall eaft off the yoke, and the commercial nations, better acquainted with their true intereft, fhall duly cultivate the arts of peace, this fource of contention will be dried up» x and
I   4°3 1
and the only furviving conteft will be that of induftry; or, in the language of the eaft, men will beat their fwords into plough-fhares, and their fpears into pruning-hooks.
The benefits arifing to mankind from this fpecies of contention, are defcribed by Hefiod, with fuch beautiful fimplicity, that I lliall take the liberty to quote him.
A twofold envy, kindling twofold ftrife,
Marks the viciflitudes of human life.
On widely different principles they move ;
Who hates the one, the other muft approve.
Parent the one, of fierce protracted jars,
To man, predeftined fource of endlefs war*.
Night, fable goddefs, gave the better birth,
By Saturn wooed in lonely caves of earth.
This fpurs the lazy on to noble deeds,
While the bright flame juft emulation feeds.
The idle neighbour of the growing great
Envies that fource of wealth which forms his ftate.
Who plants, who fows, with him in both to vie,
Shall find fome mimic mortal ever nigh.
Pregnant with good this mild contention lives;
By her each meager artift eats and thrives;
Beggar on brother beggars keeps his eye,
And learns from them his humble fuit to ply.
E'en poets, kindling at another's name,
Subdue their hunger by purfuit of fame.
[   4°4 ]
Pcrfes, thefe precepts, which my lines iiripart, t
Grave on the living tablet of thine heart.
Nor let that worfe ambition fire thy mind,
To join the mad purfuits of mad mankind;
To whom enough from Ceres golden ftore
Earth yields for prefent day, but yields not more.
With this contented, foothe thine anxious foul;
Nor rifle thine half by grafping at the whole.
View foreign riches with indifferent eyes,
Toil is the ways and means of rich fupplics.
Hesiod's Works and Days,
As we returned from the caraca, on the caufeway, a little above the level of the fea, and afterwards in the higheft part of the city, I obferved a porous kind of rock, compofed of flinty gravel, and broken ihells, united by a cement, fuch as was fufficient to connect, but not to fill up the interilices between them. This fact fhould be treafured in the memory, becaufe it accords with many others, and points out a remarkable event in the hiftory of the earth, fubfequent to the grand revolution occasioned by the deluge.
As we returned to the city, I had the fatisfaction of feeing a company of young gentlemen, who amufed themfelves in the
foil
fofs of the ramparts, with their favourite diversion of the balloon. Their ball, about eight inches in diameter, is made of leather, flrongly inflated by means of a machine, fo as to be exceedingly elastic, after which it is fmeared with clay. This they finite very obliquely againft a wall, with their right hand; and to give it a greater momentum, as well as to protect the flit, the hand is inclofed in a wooden cafe, in which are many wide and deep furrows, crofting at right angles, fo as to leave a correfponding number of blunt points. The antagonists, at the distance of about fourfcore yards, receive the bal-loon as it rebounds, and before it falls, one of them drives it back again, varying the angle within a given fpace, fo as best to elude the attention of his opponents. This game, a fpecies of fives, yet more elegant than ours, requires much strength and good addrefs.
In the evening I went to fee the theatre. It is large, elegant, and commodious; but as plays would not accord with the folem-nity of Lent, they compromifed the matter, D d 3 and
and contented themfelves with an exhibit tion of rope-dancers, tumblers, pantomimes, and puppet mows, with fome moft whim-fical dances, in all which they had excellent performers. The dancers were in the ftile of lunatics, every one clothed in fome antic drefs, and the fcene reprefented the
court-yard of a madhoufe. They began with country dances, then fuddenly they changed to the cotillion, the allemand, the galliego, and the fandango, parting with quick transitions from one to the other, and concluding with a rich variety of figures.
As it was Lent I heard many fermons, but not one which to me appeared intereft-ing. The moft poliihed orators confine themfelves to churches; but as it is found ufeful to have fome who can adapt themfelves to the understandings and feelings of the vulgar, many preachers are appointed to harangue the multitude afemblcd in the market place, and this they do with a vehemence of voice and gefture fuited to their congregations. I obferved often three or four of thefe engaged at the fame time, yet keeping fuch a proper diftance as not to interfere.
One
One Wednefday evening, I went to the Francifcans to hear a penitential fermon delivered by a father of that fociety, who was famous for his difcourfes. This being fmiihed, all the lights were extinguished, and inftantly the fcourges were applied. We could readily diftinguifh a difference in the found, according as the part fub-jected to difciplme was more or lefs covered with elaftic mufcles, and in proportion to the degree of energy with which it was applkd; but mocieration was the prevailing fentimcnt, and many fcarcely let the left hand know what the right hand did. How much more fervent is the zeal of Catalans, who ieem as if the fcourge drew blood at every ftrokf ! here not a voice was to be heard; whereas at Barcelona the people uttered not only groans and howlings, but a mixture between both more horrible than either.
At times when the market place was not occupied by orators, the fcribes took pofleflion of it with their benches, at which they fat with pen, ink, and paper, %o write and read letters of all forts, and D d 4 to
to execute every kind of deed. The common price of a letter is eight quartos, or two pence farthing; and although this fum is trifling in itfelf, yet, considering the number of illiterate people who conffantly employ them, they contrive to make out a comfortable maintenance.
Before I left Cadiz, I had the fatisfaction of being witnefs to the ceremonies attending a funeral. After the phyficians have turned their back upon a patient, nothing remains for him but confeflion, abfolution, the euchariff, extreme unction, death; and no fooner is the laft event announced, than all the friends of the deceafed aifemble, dar la pejlime, that is, to condole with the afflicted widow, who, clothed in mourning, and ftretched upon a bed, yet fcarcely visible for want of light, receives their compliments, and in a low voice fpeaks to each of them. As it is fuppofed that no one in the family of the deceafed can pay attention to the wants of nature, fome friend takes care to fend in a dinner ready dreSfed, with plenty of every thing the feafon can produce. When they are retired,
tired, the widow, fon, father, brothers, uncles, coufins, and relations, each by name, unite in a menage of invitation to all the friends of the deceafed, requeffing their attendance when the body is carried, the day following, to the grave, and at the fer-vice to be performed the day after the interment for the repofe of the departed foul.
In obedience to this fummons, they af-femble at the houfe of the deceafed, and waffc in proceiTion to the church, where the corpfe is placed during the fervice before the altar, with the face uncovered, and the hands uplifted, as reprefented on our ancient monuments, with this difference, that the deceafed has a crucifix between his hands. After the funeral fervice, the neareff relatives affemble in the veffry, when all their acquaintance pay their re-fpedls, each by bowing to them, as hepaffes filently before them. This finiihed, they return in folemn proceffion to the houfe, where the falutation, with the fame filence, is repeated. ■•
If, as in the cafe of the gentleman whofe
obfequies
obfequies I attended, the deceafed was a perfon of condition, on the day fucceeding the interment, the church is hung with mourning, all light is excluded, excepting that of numerous wax tapers, a funeral pile is erected, and all the relatives affemble round it to attend the fervice of the mafs for the foul of the deceafed. On the lofs of a hufband, the difconfolate widow is under obligation to abicain fix months from all public amufements; but the widower is acquitted for a few days abstinence from thefe.
Few places are more healthy than Cadiz, Yet when the folano, or fouth wind, blows, which comes to them over the fcorching plains of Africa, having only the intervention of a flrait, all the paffions are inflamed, and during its prevalence, the inhabitants, who are mofl irritable, commit every fpe-cies of excefs.
For the pleafures of focial intercourfe, I did not meet with any city more agreeable than this. As all nations are here affem-bled within narrow limits, by their mutual intercourfe they (often each others manners;
[ m 1
ners; and as, notwithstanding the late fhockj, commerce flourifhes in a de 'Tee, with its never failing attenoants, wealth and hofpi-tality, a ft ranger may - pafs away his time with the higheft fatisfaction to himfelf. For my part, excepting the vice-conful Mr. Duff, and the imperial conful Count de Greppi, I chiefly affociated with Spaniards. Among thefe the principal was Don Antonio Ulloa, the well known companion of D. George Juan, to whom I had been particularly recommended. I found him perfectly the philofopher, fen-fible and well informed, lively in his con-verfation, free and eafy in his manners. Having obferved at his door two foldiers mounting guard, I expected fome pride of appearance, but I met with nothing like it. This great man, diminutive in ftature, remarkably thin and bowed down with age, clad like a peafant, and furrounded by his numerous family of children, with the youngeft about two years old, playing on his knee, was fitting to receive morning vifitors, in a room, the dimensions and furniture of which, for a few moments,
diverted
diverted my attention from himfelf, the chief object of veneration. The room was twenty feet long by fourteen wide, and lefs than eight feet high. In this I faw difperfed confufedly, chairs, tables, trunks, boxes, books, and papers, a bed, a prefs, umbrellas, clothes, carpenters tools, mathematical inftruments, a barometer, a clock, guns, pictures, looking - glaffes, fofllls, minerals, and lhells, his kettle, bafons, broken jugs, American antiquities, money, and a curious mummy from the Canary illands, or at leaft its trunk with the head and arms, for having been the common play-thing of his children, they had amufed themfelves with drawing its teeth, and breaking off its limbs.
Among the extraneous foffils, he ihewed me a variety of fea-fhells, collected by himfelf near the fummits of the higheft mountains in America, fome on the furface, but many bedded in the limeftone rock. When I went to take my leave of him, on quitting Cadiz, he prefented me with his Natural Hiftory of South America, a work highly deferving to be tranflated.
As
I   4*3 ]
As ufual, before I left the city, I enquired into the value of provifions, and found here, as in other cities, one contractor, who fupplies the cafcafes at a Stipulated price* making his contract for twelve months. Thefe the magistrates fell to the butchers, taking a profit for the city, and fixing the retail prices to the confumer. To avoid unufual fractions of a penny, I fhall give thefe in Spanifh quartos, of which eight are equal to two pence farthing.
Beef fells for fifteen quartos the pound of fixteen ounces; veal for Sixteen; mutton twenty-one; hog's lard twenty-four ; bread feven. Wheat is forty-feven reals the fanega, or five and ten pence nearly for a Winchester bufhel.
The pay of a labourer is fix reals, or fomething more than fourteen pence a day; but artisans require double. Merchants reckon one hundred and eight varas to be equal to one hundred yards; but in reality four hundred and five varas make three hundred and feventy-one yards. The feet and inches bear the fame proportion.
Five fanegas of corn are reckoned in trade to correfpond with eight Winchelter
bufhels,
f 414 ]
bufhels, but the proportion is fixteen to twenty-five.
Eight arrobas of wine make twenty-five gallons-One hundred and four Spanifh pounds are equal to one hundred and twelve English, at leaft in the rough calculations of a merchant.
end of THE SECOND VOLUSlL'
I       N       D       E X
TO THE
SECOND VOLUME.
ACORNS, the fort referred to by Horace 90 Agrarian law wanted in Spain 227
Agriculture of Salamanca 86 Alba, near Salamanca 91 Alba, the duke, his man-fion      -      -      - 155 Alcavala        162. 176. 218 Alcavales and millones operate againft commerce 191 Alcazar at Seville 299 Alcazar, of Segovia        115 Algerines, a treaty with   217 Almaden, qutckfilver mine 385 Almuradiel, la conception de 265
Alvarez, D. Juan, intendant of the mint at Seville  313 Vol, II,
Amber, in the Afturias 56 American fcitlements deftruc-tive to population 236 Andujar - - 273 Angulo, at Madrid 136. 34.8 Annats - - 16$ Apofento, a tax 169 Aqueduct at Segovia 115 Aranda, count de 242 Aranjuez, inn at 257 Area of Spain - 211 Affiento, with Spain 381 Aflize injurious to trade 36 Avila 97 Aviles      -      - 31-33
Bailen       - - 273
Balloon, a Spanifh game 405 Bank of S. Carlos 196 E e Banes
Bancs      - - 273
Bafquina      -      - 143 Batida, at the Efcurial 127 Bayer,   D.   Fi°.   at Madrid       - 137. 252 Beatas         -      - 318 Benavente      -      - 68 Berwick,, the duke, his man-lion         -      - 155 Bifhops, their virtue 150 Borracho, for wine 65 Botas, for wme      - 263 Bowlder ftones        276. 280 Bowles, his widow, negle&ed in Spain          - 385 Brandy,  a  royal monopoly 170
Br una, D. Francifco de 2.98 Bull of the crufades 170
Cabarrus, M. 196 Cabinet of natural hiftory 154
Cacao fruit - 376
Cadaitro, of Catalonia 170 Cadiz - 344 to 414 Calzada de Valdrunciel 73 Campomanes, in the Anurias
59
Campomanee, count, at Madrid - 141. 254 Camunas - - 26a Canal of Guadarama 206 Candyicc      -        - 50
Canofa, porter to Count Florida Blanca       - 254 Caraca, village and arfenals of Cadiz - 394
Caraccas Company 374, 377 Cards, a royal monopoly 170 Carmona - 285, 286^ Carolina - - 267 Carpio, count del, at Madrid
- - 141 Carrio - - 47 Cafa de Apofento 169 Celibacy of the clergy 151 Charles 111. his character 24s Charlotta - - 280 Chocolate, methods of making
376
Coal,, in the Allurias 25 Coche de Colleras 131
Cogolludo, marquis de, his eftablilhment 15& Coleto      - - 93'
Colonies, Spanim, opprefled
- - 383 College, Irifh, at Salamanca
"    ■ " Z5 Commerce of America 367
to 390
Confcffion obligatory 147 Convents unfavourable to population      -      - 22S Cordova      -      - 277
Corn finds its level all over Europe      *      - 3^-Corn-
f     N     D     E X.
Corn-mills,  with horizontal
wheels 60
Cortejo      -       - 142
Corrales      -       - 71
Crufades, a tax      - 170
Curtis, Dr. prefident of the
irifh college 73. 76
Cyder of the Afiurias 52
Debts, national of Spain 188 Depopulation of Spain 212 Del Carpio, a city 275 Dia de buyes - 47 Deputation of candidates for
a vacant benefice 315 Drcfs of the Afturian ladies 44 Drefs   of peafants coming
from Aftorga 68 Drivers of mules, their agility 131
Extraordinary efFefts, a tax 174
Fair at Aviles - 35
Fernandez, the two brothers, at Madrid I 37
Feftivals tend to depopulate a country - 226
Fever, putrid - 94 Fcyjoo, father - 21 Fiel medidor, a tax 177
Finance of Spain - 160 Fines of the camera 174 Flagellants at Cadiz 407 Flail at Oviedo - 54 Florida Blanca, count, at Madrid - 135.241 Flotas trading to America 371 Foflils 25. 50. 57. 404. 412 Friction of wheels 27 Funerals in Spain   - 408
Ecclcfiaflical months 169 Ecija        -      - 281 Efe&os   y  fifas de Madrid 178
Effe&s of the camera 173 EmigrationsdepopulatedSpain 214
Enfenada, marquis de la 192.
213. 372.
Efcurial 119. 121, 122.
Efpolios y vacantes 173 Excufado, a tax      - 173
Galleons   trading to Porto Bello       -       - 371 Galvcz, Don Jofeph de, his hiflory      -      - 244 Garden of S. Ildefonfo    111 Gardening, reflections on 113 Garvanzos 3 Gijon 49 Giralda, of Seville 291 Glafs manufacture at S. Ildefonfo       -       - 114 Government, its change, ad-E e 2 vcrie
verfe to the population of Spain        -      - 211 Gremios of Madrid 173. 205 Grit, theory of 89. 275
Grimaldi, marquis of, minifter -        - 242 Grey whethers on the Wilt-fhire downs        - 89 Gunpowder, a royal monopoly       -       - 179 Guevara, abbe,  at Madrid 137
Guadarrama - - 109 Guadaroman       - $72
Guadalquiver,a river 277.339 Guadalajara       - 247
Houfes,, SpaniPa      - 33 Hunting, mode of, in Spain 125
Hunt, royal   -      - 127
Jefuits expelled      - 242
Jet, in the Afturias   - 56
Ildefonfo, San       - 109
Indulgences, a tax 171
Inquifition at Seville 31910
33*
Italica, near Seville, its amphitheatre - 331 Juios, or public debts 188.
191
Juftice, not well adminiftered h Spain - 391
Izquierdo at Madrid 136.247
King of Spain, his mode of life and diverfions 123
Lances, a tax - 174 Lead, a royal monopoly 175 Lentricus - - 286 Lerena, Don Pedro de 243 Liquorice ufed in porter 332 Longevity, inftances of, in the Afturias - - i$ Lorenzo, San, convent of 119 Luanjo       - - 41
Mad ad       -       - 134 Malpartido 92 Mai de Rofa, in the Afturias 10
Manners of the age 134 Manfions at Madrid 155 Mantilla - - 143 Manzanares - 262 Marine, v. Navy of Spain. Marriage fettlcments 48 Mafterfhips of the military orders - - 175 Medicine, at the loweft ebb in, Spain - - 37 Medias Annatas - 168 Medina Cadi, his eftablifh-mcnt at Madrid - 157 Merino flock - 61. 284 Mieres       -       - 59
Millones       -       164. 177 Ministers of ftate at Madrid 240
Mint at Seville - 313 Monopolies tend to depopulate
a country 231.374-383 Montanas, Arias - 303 Moors, their expulfion 216 Moors, their depredations 217 Mules, their docility 131 Munoz,  Juan Bautifta, his
commiffion - 252 Murillo, his principal works
at Seville      -      - 296
Navas del Marques 107 Naval Peral - 107 Navy of Spain 395. 398 Negroes in the Spanifti fet-tlements - 381
Nodin, colonel, his commiflion      -       - 250 Notaries taxed       - 175 Nunneries injurious to health 40
Ocana -      - 257
Olavidc, D. Pablo de 267.
320
O'Reilly, count      346. 391 Owcga, D. Cafimiro Gomez 137.251
Organ, new conftruiUon of cms at Seville 294
Orry, prefident - 166 Ovicco, marquis de, at Madrid - - 137 Oviedo 1 Oxen ufed for draught 30. 97
Palmeo duty - 370. 373 Pantheon at the Efcurial 122 Paper credit not fuited to a
defpotic government 190 Papin, Dr. his machine Failure of the mafterfliips 175 Pafturc, its prevalence tends
to depopulate a country 227
Patrimonial rents - 178 Penafiel, marquis of 157 Penalba, count de - 4. Peran - - 5 a Perfecution, a caufe of depopulation - - 234 Petroleum 24 Philippine Company 377
Pictures, reprefenting the fuf-ferings of the Redeemer, in a convent at Seville 302
Pictures, private collections of, at Madrid        - 159
Picdrahita 95
Pilgrims going to San Jago
- I7-33 Pilgrims, hofpital for, at O-
viedo        -        - 16
Plague depopulated Spain 212
Playhoufes at Madrid 154
Ploughs
Plocghs of Leon - 66 Ploughs at Oviedo - 25 ——— of Salamanca 86 Population of Spain 207
--------■     of the Sierra Mo-
rena        -       267. 269
--, principles of 270.
271. 361 to 366 Porter brewers ufe liquorice 332
Port Royal, near Cadiz 394 Potk and couriers 176 Provincial rents- - 176 — prejudices againft trade 232 PiOcefUons at Oviedo 5 Propios and Arbitrios 176 Provifions-, price of, 31. 36.
46. 69. 71. 255- 259. 266.
276. 279. 281. 337. 413. Podding ftone - 281 Puerto de Fuenfria 109 Puerto de Santa Maria 342 Puerto Lapiche, Las Ventas • -      - 260
f^ocmadero      -      - 317
Qwickfdver mines and contrail      -       - 384
Rappee made at Seville 306
Regrators         - 223
Relacion de los meritoe 316
Rents, general       - 176
Rents of Madrid      - 178
Rent of the priory of S. Juan
- • - m
Rentas de arrendamiento 178 Revenue of Spain 160 Revenue, American 174. 180 Rivera de Abajo 23 Roads in Spain 31. 107
Rodriguez Ignacio, the beggar       - 321 Royal manufactures tend to depopulate a country 231 Royal thirds 163. 177
Saffron, growing wild 105.
107
Salamanca 73 Saltpetre, a royal monopoly 179
—--manufacture 259
Salt works, a royal monopoly
- - 178 San Benito, or Saco Bendito
327
Sanctiiamo Sudario, at Oviedo
21
Santa Cruz       -       - 265 Sar.grado, a common character in Spain       - 38 Santa Elena - 266
Santa Ovcha - 69
Sarna in the Afturias        11 Scribes in the market place at Cadiz       -      - 4°7 Ser^cvia      -      - llS
Sequaca
Sequaca       -      - 273 Sequidilla, a dance and fong 34°
Serena pafiure - 175 Scrvicio y montazgo 179 Service, ordinary and extraordinary - - 177 Seville       - 288. 290
Shearing fheep - 63 Sierra Morena 265. 269 Silk manufacture at Seville - - - 308 Si 1 ones, in the Afiurias 13 Slaves in the Spanifh fettle-mcuts - 381
Smoking in the Afiurias 45 Smugglers at Ecija 282 . — feverity of their punilhment - 397 — - underfold the go-
vernment in inufF 306 Snuff manufacture at Seville 304
Solano,Don Antonio 154. 252 Solano wind 336.410 Sowing,   Hampfhire method 86
Specie, duty on its exportation
-       - 197
Squilacc, marquis of 193 Stamp duties - 179 Stations, facred, in a convent of Seville - - 302 Subfidy, a tax       - 179
Sulphur, a royal monopoly 179
Tanning, at Seville 31 j Tape, weaving machine 85 Taxes farmed 166. 219)
Tembleque      -      - 259 Tenantry laws       - 50 Tenantry, wanted in Spain 105. 230.
Tercfa, S. life of 100 Tertullas - 4. 130 Threfhing at Oviedo 54. Tirana, a Spanifh fong 340 Toleration, advantageous ia
population * 235 Toral - 67 Trafhu'mantes, or travelling
flocks - - 61 Travelling, expence of 118 1 method of, in Spain 279
Tupacamaro, cafique of Are-quipa      -      - 384
Valdcmoro      -      - 256 Valdepenas, famous for wine 264
Valdes, D, Antonio, his character      -       - 245
Vauguion3, Duke de la, at Madrid      -      - 136
Vifits, in Spain 37.142
Ulloft, Don Antonio, at Cadiz
41 L
Univerfity of Salamanca 77 Uinverlity
index.
Univerfity of Seville 303
War, deflruetive to the population of Spain 215 Weights and meafures at Cadiz      -       - 413. Wheat, price of, in Seville 338 Winnowing at Oviedo 55 Wines of Cadis      - 390 Wine of Manzanares 263 Wine of Valdepehas 264 Wool      -      -      63. 179 Woollen manufacture of Segovia      -       - 116
Workhoufe at Cadiz 350 to 366
Workhoufe at Oviedo 6
----of Salamanca 84
Worm fever      - 16
Yeomanry, wanted in Spain 230
Yriartes, two brothers 250
Zamora - - 70 Zoguega     -      - 271
' M •••£*:v:-X-:V*': ■'••X