SPAIN.

Τηε kingdoms of Spain and Portugal together form what is called the Pyrenean Peninsula, the most southerly, and at the same time the most westerly, portion of Europe. Ex cept on the northeast, where it is connected with the rest of Europe by an isthmus about one hundred miles in breadth, this peninsula is wholly surrounded by the ocean. Spain, which occupies by far the greater part of it, has for its boundaries on the south and southeast the Mediterranean Sea; on the west, partly the long and narrow territory of Portugal, partly the Atlantic Ocean; on the north, the Bay of Biscay; and on the northeast the Pyrenees, a chain holding the second rank among the mountains of Europe, and forming a well-defined line of separation between France and Spain.

That the Peninsula was peopled at a very early period seems abundantly certain, but by whom it would be vain to inquire. The traditions which ascribe its colonization to Tubal, the grandson of Noah, may be allowed to repose undisturbed in the obscurity of the chronicles in which they are embodied. The earliest inhabitants whom his tory makes known to us were the Iberians, a race probably of Asiatic origin. At some period lost in the depths of antiquity, the Celts, amid their widespread migrations, penetrated into the Peninsula; but we are still ignorant how they entered the country, and whence they came, al though these subjects have been matter of keen disputation. The two nations appear at first to have contended for the sovereignty of the soil, but finally to have amalgamated, to have shared the country between them, and, as a united people, to have assumed the compound name of Celtiberians. They were split into numerous tribes or clans, each of which occupied its own particular territory.

The delightful climate which Spain enjoys, the fertility of its soil, and the mines of gold, silver, and iron, by which it is enriched, proved powerful attractions to the Rhodians and Phoenicians, who established colonies in the country at a very early period. But the Carthaginians were the people who obtained the firmest footing in it. Availing themselves of the pretext of commerce, they frequented the coast of Cadiz, where they succeeded in erecting fortresses, dwell inghouses, temples, and buildings where business was transacted; and pushing their conquests into the interior as well as along the coast, they at length made themselves masters of the whole of Baetica or Andalusia, employing force when artifice failed. The Spaniards were roused to make resist ance, but it was too late. Hamilcar, father of Hannibal, succeeded in overrunning a considerable part of the coun try, and bringing it, at least nominally, under subjection to Carthage, 238 years before the birth of Christ. He extend ed his conquests towards Murcia, Valencia, and Catalonia, in the latter of which provinces he founded the city of Barcelona. This conqueror having perished in a battle fought with some of the native tribes, was succeeded by his son inlaw Asdrubal, who built the port of New Carthage, now called Carthagena. The rapid strides which the Cartha ginians had made towards the total subjugation of the Peninsula, aroused the fears of the Greek colonies situated on the coast of Catalonia and Valencia, and alarmed those tribes in the interior who still stoutly maintained their independence. Too weak to make head against Carthage themselves, they applied to the Romans for assistance. This great nation had long regarded with a jealous eye the growing prosperity of its rival Carthage, and eagerly em braced the cause of the discontented states. In the character of ally and protector, Rome sent a deputation to Car thage, and obtained from its senate two important con cessions; that the Carthaginians should not extend their conquests beyond the Ebro; and that they should not dis turb the Saguntines and the other Greek colonies. But these conditions, although agreed to, did not correspond with the gigantic designs which Asdrubal had formed. The Romans, fully aware of the vast riches which the Car thaginians drew from Spain, and of the immense value of such a country to themselves in prosecuting their own am bitious schemes of foreign conquest, had entered into close alliance with some of the discontented tribes, no doubt with the ulterior view of subjecting them to their own domination. Saguntum, one of the most flourishing cities of the Peninsula, was one of these allies of Rome; and Asdrubal, in the prosecution of his design of subduing the whole of Spain before Rome could send succours to the confederates, collected a considerable force and marched against this city. On his way, however, he was assassinated by a slave; but the chief command passed into still abler hands, those of the renowned Hannibal. This famous Car thaginian was then in his twentyfifth year, and greatly es teemed for his valour and his talents. After having con quered the kingdom of Toledo, he besieged Saguntum with his whole force, which is said to have amounted to 150,000 men. The Romans lost much time in fruitless attempts at negociation, and failed to send prompt succour to its faithful ally. The consequence was, that after a vigorous defence, the Saguntines were so reduced by hunger and fa tigue, that they retired from the walls into the centre of the city, where they amassed all their valuable effects, and every thing combustible, into one vast pile. Placing their wives and children around it, they themselves issued from the gates and plunged sword in hand into the midst of the Carthaginians. The slaughter was prodigious on both sides, but in the end the Saguntines were cut off almost to a man. No sooner was their fate known in the city than their wives set fire to the pile, and precipitated themselves and their children into the devouring element. Thus perished Sa guntum, one of the largest and most flourishing cities of Spain; and its destruction may be regarded as the opening of the second Punic war. Of the contests carried on be tween the Carthaginians and the Romans, till the final sub jugation of the former, and the consequent incorporation of its territories with the Roman empire, an account will be found under the articles Carthage and Roman History . We shall only in this place notice such leading events as are necessary to give clearness and connection to our nar rative.

Two centuries were required by Rome to effect the total subjugation of Spain, that is, from the first invasion of the country by Cneus Cornelius Scipio in the year 218 b. c., till the last tribes, the Cantabrians and Asturians, laid down their arms to Augustus in the year 19 b. c. No other conquest had cost Rome so much. The numbers who perished in the field of battle, and the amount of treasure sacrificed, are not to be calculated. At the same time, scarcely any other acquisition was productive of so much advantage to the state, from the inexhaustible riches of the country. After the destruction of the Carthaginian power in Spain, this country was regarded as a Roman province, received the name of Hispania, and was divided by the senate into Cite rior and Ulterior, or Hither and Farther; the Ebro sery ing as a boundary between the two. Each of these was governed by a praetor, annually appointed by Rome. The extortions of these functionaries very soon became so op pressive to the natives, that they at last resolved on attempting to rid themselves of their unprincipled rulers. Viria[7:20:491] thus, a native of Lusitania, the most remarkable man in the ancient history of Spain, collected a considerable body of malcontents, and took the field against the Romans. Not only by stratagems and sudden surprises, but in regular pitched battles, he succeeded in foiling the most valiant officers of the Roman legions. For above eleven years he bade defiance to the formidable hosts of the invader. To subdue him by force of arms was found impossible, and the base spirit of Q. Servilius Caepio had recourse to treachery. The offer of a magnificent recompense stimulated three of the followers of Viriathus to assassinate him, which bloody deed they accomplished whilst he lay asleep. It is some consolation to record, that the murderers were disappointed of their reward, and dismissed from the Roman camp with insults and contempt. The indomitable spirit of independence which animated the Spaniards was not, how ever, broken by the death of their great leader. The Nu mantians, in particular, still remained fiercely hostile to the Romans, and the destruction of Numantia was decreed by the senate. Scipio Aemilianus, the conqueror of Carthage, was appointed to the command of the legions destined for this service, and the city was closely invested by a powerful army. While food was left to the besieged, they defied all the efforts of the Romans to take their city. Famine however humbled them into submission, and they sued for mercy, but in vain. Driven to desperation, the wretched remains of the defenders issued from the gates, and fell with fury upon the Roman intrenchments; but they were forced back within the walls. Aemilianus had formed the cruel resolution of starving them into an unconditional surrender. Rather than yield to this, the Numantians determined, in imitation of the Saguntines, to make a sacrifice of them selves, and of all that was valuable which they possessed. This resolution they carried into effect under circumstances even more shocking than those which accompanied the de struction of Saguntum. When the victor entered the city, not a human being remained alive to grace his triumph; nothing met his eyes but smouldering ruins and a horrible solitude. This event took place in the year 133 b. c.

After the destruction of Numantia, three fourths of the Peninsula submitted to Rome; and nothing very remarkable occurs in its history till the time of the civil war between Marius and Sylla. The latter having crushed the Marian faction, proscribed those who had taken a part in it, whom he could not immediately destroy. Among these was Ser torius, who had previously served in Spain as a tribune; a man of great bodily and mental endowments, of consummate valour, and experience in the art of war, but whose ambition was equal to his nobler gifts. Having es caped to Spain, he there succeeded in gaining over to his interest several of the native tribes, raised a considerable army, and routed the Roman legions in repeated engage ments. He introduced a strict order of discipline among his troops, founded public schools, constituted a senate in imitation of that of Rome, and attempted to establish in Spain a rival sovereignty to that of Italy. But, in the midst of these brilliant though ambitious undertakings, Sertorius was basely assassinated by his subaltern Perpenna, in the year 73 b. c. With the death of this great captain expired the last faint glimmer of national independence. Pompey, and afterwards Julius Caesar, reduced most of the native tribes to subjection. After the fall of Pompey in Africa, his eldest son selected Spain as the fittest scene for opposing the dreaded dictator. For the fourth time, Caesar hastened to the Peninsula, and, on the plains of Munda, gained a bloody but decisive victory over the younger Pompey, who was slain in attempting to effect his escape from the country. Augustus, ' the successor of Caesar, effectually secured the dominion of Rome over Spain, hav mg reduced the Asturians, Galicians, and Cantabrians, the bravest and most warlike of the native tribes. Spain now began to rest from the continual wars with which it had been devastated from the period of the Carthaginian conquest, and quietly submitted to the domination of Rome, from which it received its religion, its laws, its manners, and its language.

It has already been noticed that the country was at first divided into two provinces, Citerior and Ulterior, between which flowed the Ebro as the natural boundary. With the advance of the Romans the size of the provinces increased, but it is impossible to define their exact limits before the time of Augustus. This emperor, less desirous of effecting new conquests than of securing the old, made arrangements for improving the condition of the whole peninsula. Out of the two provinces he formed three, and gave them the names of Tarraco, Lusitania, and Baetica. Under the pretext of saving time and trouble to the senate, but really for the purpose of retaining power over the whole army in his own hands, he undertook the management of two of the provinces, in which, on account of the pretended inse curity of their situation, a considerable number of troops was maintained. Only Baetica came under the direct control of the senate. A proconsul, who had his seat at Hispalis, was installed governor of this province, but without any military power; whilst in the imperial provinces, a legatus Augustalis in Emerita, and a legatus proconsularis in Tarraco, exercised complete civil and military autho rity. Subsequently the province conceded to the senate fell entirely under the sway of the emperor, when the go vernor received the name of praeses or president. The districts being very extensive, it was found necessary to ap point inferior officers; under the legate of Lusitania was placed a vicelegatus militaris, and there were three placed under the consular legates of Tarraco. A legate and a quaestor were subject to the proconsul of Baetica. In this manner the country as a whole was divided. Let us now take a glance of the constitution and condition of the towns.

After the complete subjugation of the Peninsula, the co horts, composed principally of the natives of the country, were transplanted to the most distant parts of the empire, while Roman legions were sent into Spain to supply their place. No arrangement could have been made that was better calculated to give a Roman impress to the character of the people, and to their manners, customs, and establishments. In the interior of the country, towns purely Roman sprung up, small tracts of country having been conferred on soldiers as a reward for their services. Thus the town of Leon is indebted for its name and origin to the seventh legion, which settled there; and in the same manner arose Emerita Augusta (Merida), Pax Julia (Beja), Caesar Augusta (Saragossa), and many others. Originally, most of the cities managed their own affairs; but when Caracalla declared all his subjects throughout his vast empire Roman citizens, the constitutions of the cities of Spain were made uniform with those of the other cities of the empire. Rome, the capital, was the great type to which they all conformed. For purposes of general police, and for the superintendence of public works, for tresses, entertainments, and the like, aediles were appointed in provincial towns, whose office, however, was one more of pomp and honour than emolument. The affairs of the cities were universally administered by a council or curia, the members of which, called decuriones, were chosen from among the richest and most respectable of the inhabitants. As advocates or defenders of the people, there were the defensores civitatum, who neither belonged to the body of the decurions nor to the army, but formed rather a sort of check upon these, and resisted the encroachments of power on the rights of the citizens. We pass over a number of other subordinate functionaries, whose duties are either im perfectly known, or, where known, of minor importance.

All matters not cognizable by the legal tribunals, nor af[7:20:492] feeting the interest of the emperor, were discussed in the assembly of the decurions. For all important affairs, such as those affecting the welfare of the whole district, the de curions of the principal city of a province could call a general assembly, concilium, to which the other towns sent plenipotentiaries. Long after the comitia had ceased to exist in Rome, the province enjoyed the privilege of calling together such meetings; and they served at the same time as a means of making known their wants to the emperor.

Of all the provinces incorporated with the Roman em pire, there was not one productive of so much gain, not one in which such inexhaustible sources of wealth were discovered, as the Pyrenean Peninsula. Mines, rich in the pre cious metals,^[1. Gibbon very justly observes, “Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexicoof the old world. The discovery of the rich western continent by the Phoenicians, and the oppression of the simple natives, who were compelled to labour in their mines for the benefit of strangers, form an exact type of the more recent history of Spanish America.” Cbap. vi. ] satisfied the thirst of the Romans for gold; and a soil nowhere surpassed in productiveness filled their granaries with corn. During the republic the Peninsula was laid under the obligation of supplying the capital of the empire with the twentieth part of its corn harvests. The price paid for the grain was fixed by the Roman se nate itself, a convenient way of obtaining cheap provisions.

While Spain continued to be ravaged by war, the Ro mans did not in general bind themselves to a regular sys tem of taxation, but only drew as much from the Peninsula as it was convenient for it to pay at the time; but when the conquest of the country was completed, a fixed rate of taxation was introduced. Consequently, after Augustus hail divided Spain in the manner which we have described, the senate sent quaestors into the provinces to collect the taxes. In those provinces placed under the immediate control of the emperor, there were procurators em ployed; and functionaries of this class were also appointed to look after the monies received by the officers of the senate, the application of the whole being under the entire management of the emperor. These procurators were likewise extremely useful in preventing the subordinates from defrauding the emperor. By degrees their number increased, so that ultimately there came to be procurators, not only for the collective income of a province, but for separate branches of the taxes.

In Spain, as well as throughout the whole Roman empire, the taxes consisted of a capitation and a land tax; but by degrees, more from the extravagance of the empe rors than from the necessities of the state, the people came to be burdened with a multitude of other imposts. The towns had their own particular estates and incomes, inde pendent of those of the government, and which were managed by the civic authorities themselves. These served to defray the expenses of erecting public establishments, building fortresses, and instituting games. The contribution to the state taxes paid by the towns was levied by the magistrates from the inhabitants, in exact proportion to their wealth; hence the taxes, although they continued to rise, did not press with unequal and crushing weight upon individuals and classes. Never was Spain so wealthy, so populous, and so industrious, as during the first centuries of the empire. Aqueducts, bridges, amphitheatres, and other magnificent structures, even the ruins of some of which posterity surveys with wonder, still bear testimony to the flourishing condition of the country during that period.

When Constantine the Great assumed the purple, im portant changes were introduced into the empire. From the province of Tarraco he separated the governments of Carthagena and Galicia, thus making five provinces in the Peninsula, viz. Tarraco, Carthagena, Galicia, Lusitania, and Baetica. Theodosius the Great erected the Bale aric Isles into a province, and the African district of Tin gitania was also reckoned another, so that there were seven in all. The principal cities of these provinces were as follow:

of Baetica, Hispalis; of Lusitania, Emerita; of Galicia, Bracara; of Tarraco, Caesar Augusta; of Carthagena, New Carthage; of the Balearic Isles, Palma; and of Tingitania, Tingis. The first three were placed under consuls, and the others under presidents (praesides). Spain was subject to the prefecture of Gaul, and over these local governors was placed a vicar (vicarius), whose administration was chiefly confined to civil affairs, and the count (comes), whose functions were of a military nature. Sometimes, however, both the civil and military departments fell to the vicar. We have yet to mention one important event con nected with the Roman conquest of Spain, namely, the in troduction of Christianity into the Peninsula. This took place so early that the unanimous voice of tradition has ascribed it to St James the elder; and from the same autho rity we also learn that St Paul preached “Christ crucified” to the idolaters of Spain. Of course little or no reliance is to be placed on such statements; but whether the apostles or their successors propagated the gospel in these regions, certain it is that Spain can adduce her martyrs as early as the second century. There is abundant evidence to prove the antiquity of the persecutions sustained by the Christians of Spain, but our limits prevent us from entering into details.

The prosperity of the Peninsula began to decline after the death of Constantine, a. D. 337. A species of tax in troduced by Diocletian, which was made to fall with paralysing weight on the middle or industrious classes, proved so pernicious in its operation, that in a short time the coun try presented the melancholy picture of deserted towns, fields lying waste, fruittrees uprooted from the soil, that the possessors of the ground might lessen the value of their property, and thus escape the taxes; trade and manufactures at a stand; in short, nothing but desolation, poverty, and misery, everywhere presented themselves. It only required a strong impulse from without to overwhelm the whole country in ruins. The last day of the year 406 marks the passage of the Vandals, Alans, Suevi, and other Germanic tribes, across the Rhine. From this river to the Pyrenees, terror and dismay announced their ap proach, death and destruction marked their progress. For a time this great barrier of nature and of nations restrained the roving bands, and the mountainpasses were at first well guarded. But the prolific fields and wealthy mines of Spain were too rich a prey not to be reached at all hazards. Finding an opportunity, when negligence had weakened the line of defence (409), they burst like a torrent through the Pyrenean chain, and poured the tide of destruction from its base to the Pillars of Hercules. Native historians of the Peninsula describe the ravages committed by these barbarians as dreadful and revolting almost beyond parallel. The very wild beasts quitted their lairs to prey upon the human species, too emaciated by famine and pestilence to drive them back. In a word, the country was turned into a de sert; and, satiated with carnage and rapine, the barbarians sat down amidst its ruins and divided it by lot. Baetica fell to the Vandals, Lusitania to the Alans, and Galicia, with a great portion of Leon and Castille, to the Suevi. Tarraco alone seems still to have been retained by the Romans.

But a fourth people, more formidable than all the rest combined, came to disturb the new settlers in their pos sessions. These were the Goths under Ataulphus, to whom Honorius, the Roman emperor, had ceded the fertile provinces of Southern Gaul and the Peninsula. The Gothic monarch espoused Placidia, the emperor’s sister, in 414, and immediately proceeded to Barcelona, where, however, he was shortly afterwards assassinated. His successor, Sigeric, a detestable monster, shared the same fate; and the elec tion of the Goths now fell upon Wallia, a chief every way[7:20:493] worthy of their choice. Peace being made with Rome, hostilities were vigorously commenced against the kindred barbarians (418). The result of the war was the subjugation of the Suevi, the total destruction of the Alans, and the expulsion of the Vandals from Spain (427). But the restless and powerful Suevi were scotched, not killed. During the reign of Theodoric, Wallia’s successor, they be came formidable alike to the Romans and the Goths, and made many important conquests in the neighbouring pro vinces. Theodoric might easily have subdued them had he not been summoned to encounter a far more terrible antagonist, the renowned Attila, with his half million of mounted Huns. The death of the Gothic monarch on the plains of Chalons (451), the elevation of his son Thorismund to the vacant throne, his assassination by his brothers, and the elevation of the elder of the fratricides, Theodoric, were events which closely followed each other. The reign of the lastnamed prince was diversified by alternate suc cess and disaster. The Peninsula, become one great battle field to three contending hosts, the Goths, Romans, and Suevi, was plunged in misery, and, from the Pyrenees to the sea of Africa, was overspread with innumerable swarms, which, like so many locusts, utterly destroyed the spots on which they settled. While Theodoric was preparing to conduct an army across the Pyrenees against Remismund, king of the Suevi, he was assassinated by his brother Euric, in his capital of Toulouse (466).

The reign of Euric was unusually brilliant and successful. He rendered himself absolute lord of the country, by extinguishing the dominion of Rome in it, and completely subjecting the Suevi. Euric was the first legislator of his nation, and the founder of the Gothic kingdom of Spain; for hitherto the country had rather been overrun than sub dued. This prince died at Arles, the capital of his em pire, a. D. 483. He was succeeded by his son Alaric, a weak sovereign, who, after submitting pusillanimously to many indignities, was overthrown in battle, and slain by Clovis, king of the Franks (506). Amalaric, the son of Alaric, being a minor, was for a time superseded by his natural brother Gensaleic, but ultimately ascended the throne (522). He was the first Gothic king who established his court in Spain. He fixed on the city of Seville. From the death of this prince (531) till Recared I. became king of the Goths (587), a few obscure royal names occur, regarding whom it would be a mere waste of space to enter into details. The chief act of this sovereign was to reclaim his subjects from the heresy of Arianism to orthodox Catholicism. He died in 601. Of eleven monarchs who followed, occupying a period of seventy years, none is in any way remarkable. In 673, Wamba, a man distinguished alike for wisdom, valour, and virtue, was raised, by the unanimous voice of the Gothic electors, to the throne, left vacant by the death of Receswind (672). The early part of his reign was spent in quelling intestine war. During the latter part of it he successfully cultivated the arts of peace, and built a fleet for the protection of the coast; a very wise precaution, for the Saracens had already begun to swarm all over the sea of Africa. Had Wamba been succeeded by monarchs of equal prudence and activity, the scourge of Saracenic domination, the greatest perhaps that ever afflicted any people, would probably have been for ever avert ed from Spain. In consequence of having sunk into a deathlike trance, in which state he was apparelled in the garments of the grave, Wamba was compelled to relinquish the crown (680).

One of the most celebrated names in the line of Gothic princes is that of Roderick, who ascended the throne in 709. He owed his elevation to a party which rose against his predecessor Witiza, whose two sons, with their relations, Count Julian, governor of the Gothic possessions in Africa, and Oppas, an archbishop, are supposed to have aided the

Saracens in their design of conquering the Peninsula. At all events, the party which they formed against Roderick weakened the Gothic monarchy, and thus gave encouragement to the Moors to make a descent on the country, which they effected in 711. Roderick marshalled a large army, amounting, it is said, to 90,000 men, and advanced against the audacious infidel. The hosts met upon the plains of Xeres, where was fought a battle, so bravely contested on either side that it seems scarcely unworthy to have decided the fate of a kingdom. For three days, from sunrise to sunset, the embattled squadrons fought with equal ardour and obstinacy, till victory at last declared for the Mahom medans. Roderick himself is believed to have perished in the conflict, as he was never heard of more. By this decisive battle the Moors made themselves masters of nearly the whole of Spain. The wretched remains of the Goths retired into the mountainous parts of Asturias, Burgos, and Biscay, where they maintained their independence, and perpetuated their monarchy. In a few years their power began to revive under the renowned Pelagio or Pelayo, a prince of the royal blood. But before noticing the exploits of this warrior, we shall take a brief view of the political, civil, and religious condition of the people subject to the Gothic monarchy.

The local divisions of Spain, as already laid down, under went little or no change until some time after the descent of the Mahommedans. The power possessed by the Gothic kings was considerable; but its exercise was greatly controlled by the nobles, in general a fierce, turbulent, and haughty body. The jurisdiction of the monarch was not confined to affairs purely temporal. He nominated bishops, presided, if he chose, at ecclesiastical tribunals, convoked national councils, and regulated the discipline of the church. Next to the king in civil dignity were the dukes, who appear to have been governors of provinces. After them came the counts, whose jurisdiction is supposed to have been confined to particular cities. A number of other functionaries were subordinate to these; and besides the officers of the crown, each city or town had its municipal council. Of course there were regular courts of law in stituted throughout the country, where justice was administered; the forms of procedure in these tribunals being much the same as those practised in the Spanish courts at the present day, but less tedious. There was a Visigoth code of laws, partly of Gothic, partly of Roman origin. If we pass from the civil to the military state of the country, we find that the Goths were a nation of soldiers, the obli gation of service being imperative on all freemen. After the Gothic power was established in Spain, the constitution of the church underwent important changes. The pope was acknowledged as supreme head, and metropolitan sees were formed, which exercised an ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the suffragan bishops. The bishops possessed an irresponsible power over the rectors, displacing or removing them at pleasure. The cathedrals and parish churches were in general well endowed; lay patronage existed, and monasteries were introduced. As in other countries, the ecclesiastical councils were of a threefold description, diocesan, provincial, and national, convoked respectively by the bishop, the metropolitan, and the king. The Goths present nothing of literature worthy of particular notice. If we pass to the domestic arts, we find still less to admire; in every thing they consulted the useful in preference to the beautiful or magnificent. It is therefore to be concluded, that however devout, temperate, honest, and sincere the Goths might have been, as many historians attest, yet Spain under their dominion made little advancement in civilization and the elegant arts.

The Moors under Tarik and Musa subdued the fairest portion of Spain, including the largest and strongest cities of the kingdom, with a rapidity which shows how complete[7:20:494] ly the power of the Goths was broken. Still many of them preferred independence under severe privations amidst the wild rocks of the Asturias, to abundance and plenty on the fertile plains of Murcia. At the head of those who sought a refuge in this mountain sanctuary was Pelayo, a prince of royal Gothic blood, and who is recognised by Spanish historians as having acceded to the throne in 718; Theo domir, the legitimate monarch, having ingloriously submitted to the yoke of the infidel. Numbers of his countrymen flocked to his standard, and his force became at length so formidable as to create alarm in the Saracens. A large army was despatched to the Asturias to crush the rising insurrection; but in attempting to gain the position where Pelayo and his resolute followers were strongly posted, the Moors were repulsed with a slaughter so terrible, that for some years they showed no inclination to assail their for midable neighbours. Various successes followed, and the Asturias, now left in the undisturbed possession of Pelayo and his band, became the asylum of the liberty and the re ligion of the Christians in Spain. It formed the nucleus of a kingdom, which was destined slowly but surely to increase in size from century to century, until the invaders were finally expelled from the Peninsula. Little more is known of Pelayo, than that he gained repeated victories over the Moors, and died in peace in 737. He was succeeded by his son Favila, whose reign was brief and his end tragical, he having been killed by a wild boar in 739. The subsequent history of Spain is rendered so confused by the numerous kingdoms established by Christians and Moors, that some chronological guide is necessary to render it intelligible. We shall therefore present a chronological list of the various sovereigns who reigned over different parts of the country, which had been erected into distinct and independent sovereignties. The dates given mark the years in which the sovereigns acceded to the throne; the intervening periods, of course, indicate the du ration of their respective reigns. We shall commence with the Mahommedan succession, as during the earlier centu ries the greater part of Spain was subject to the Moors.

MAHOMMEDAN RULERS OF SPAIN.—CORDOVA.

1. Emirs.— Tarik ben Zeyad and Musa ben Nozeir, 711. Abdelasis ben Musa, 714. Ayub ben Habib and Alhaur ben Abderahman, 715. Alsama ben Melic, 721. Abder ahman ben Abdalla, 722. Ambisa ben Sohim, 724. Ho deira ben Abdalla and Yahia ben Zulema, 726. Othman ben Abi Neza, Hodeira ben A1haus, and Alhaitam ben Obeid, 727. Mohammed ben Abdalla, 728. Abderahman ben Abdalla (second time), 729. Abdelmelic ben Cotan, 733, Ocba ben Albegag, 736. Abdelmelic ben Cotan again, 741. Baleg ben Bakir, and Thalaba ben Sulema, 742. Husam ben Dhizar, 743. Thueba el Ameli, 744. Yussuf el Fehri, 746.

2. Kings.— Abderahman I. ben Moawia, 755. Hixem I. Abderahman, 787. Alhakem ben Hixem, 796. Abderahman II. ben Alhakem, 821. Mohammed I. ben Abderahman, 852. Almonahir ben Mohammed, 886. Abdalla, brother of the former, 888. Abderahman III. grandson of Abdalla, 912. Alhakem, II. son of Abderahman III. 961. Hixem II. ben Alhakem II., dethroned to make way for his cousin Mohammed, but restored in 1010; in 1012 finally removed, 976. Suleyman, 1012. Ali ben Hamud, 1015. Abderahman IV. 1017. Alcassim ben Hamud, brother of Ali, 1018. Abderahman V., and Mohammed II. cousin of Hixem IL, 1023. Hixem III. brother of Abderahman IV. 1026. Gewahr ben Mohammed, 1031. Mohammed ben Gewahr, 1044. Mohammed Almoateded, 1060. Moham med Almosstadir, 1099. Dynasty of the Almoravides.— Yussef ben Taxfin, 1094. Ali ben Yussef, 1107. Taxfin ben Ali, 1144. Dynasty of the Almohades Abdelmumen, 1147.

Yussef Abu Yacub, son of Abdelmumen, 1163. Yacub ben Yussef, 1178. Mohammed, son of Yacub, 1199. Abu Yacub, 1213. Abulmelic, and Abdelwahid son of Yacub, 1223. Almamon and Abu Alt, 1225.

KINGDOM OF GRANADA.

Mohammed I. Aben Alhamar, founder of the kingdom, 1238. Mohammed II. ben Mohammed, 1273. Mohammed III. Abu Abdalla, 1302. Nassir Abul Giux, brother of the preceding, 1309. Ismail ben Ferag, nephew of Nas sir, 1313. Mohammed IV. ben Ismail, 1325. Yussef Abul Hagiag, brother of the former, 1333. Mohammed V. ben Yussef, 1354. Ismail II. brother of Mohammed, 1359. Abu Said, brotherinlaw of Ismail II. 1360. Yussef II. Abu Abdalla, son of Mohammed V. 1391. Mohammed VI. son of Yussef II. 1396. Yussef, brother of Moham med VI. 1408. Muley Mohammed VII. son of Yussef

III. 1423. Mohammed VIII. cousin of Muley Moham med VII. 1427. Mohammed VII. restored, 1429. Yussef

IV. Aben Alhamar. Mohammed VII. restored a second time, 1432. Mohammed IX. Aben Osmin (nephew of Mohammed VII.), 1445. Mohammed X. nephew of Mohammed VII. 1454. Muley Ali Abul Hassan, son of Mohammed X. 1403. Abu Abdalla, son of Abul Hassan, 1483. Abdalla el Zagal, brother of Abul Hassan, 1484. Both princes survived the fall of Granada, which took place in 1491.

KINGDOM OF THE ASTURIAS AND LEON.

Pelayo, 718. Favila, son of Pelayo, 737. Alfonso, son inlaw of Pelayo, 739. Fruela I. son of Alfonso, 757. Aurelio, nephew of Alfonso, 768. Mauregato, bastard of Alfonso, 774. Bermudo I. nephew of Alfonso, 788. Alfonso II. son of Fruela, 791. Ramiro I. son of Bermudo, 842. Ordofio I. son of Ramiro, 850. Alfonso III. son of Ordoiio, 866. Garcia, son of Alfonso III. 910. Ordoño II. brother of Garcia, 914. Fruela II. son of Alfonso III. 923. Alfonso IV. son of Ordoño II. 925. Ramiro II. brother of the same Alfonso, 930. Ordoño III. son of Ramiro II. 950. Sancho I. brother of the same Ordoño, 955. Ramiro III. son of Sancho I. 967. Bermuda II. grandson of Fruela II. 982. Alfonso V. son of Bermudo II. 999. Bermudo III. son of Alfonso V. 1027. With this sovereign the male line of the house of Leon terminated. Leon and Castille now formed separate kingdoms, the contemporaneous sovereigns of which were :—

Leon.

1037. Fernando I. king of Castille; king of Leon in right of his wife.

1065. Alfonso VI. son of Ferdinando I.

1126. Alfonso VIII. (the emperor), son of Urraca.

1157. Fernando II. son of Alfonso the emperor.

1168. Alfonso IX. son of Ferdinanda II.

1230. Ferdinando III. son of Alfonso IX. (also king of Castille).

Castille.

1026. Sancho el Mayor, king of Navarre; first king of Castille in right of his wife.

1035. Fernando 1. son of Sancho.

1065. Sancho IL son of Ferdinando I.

1072. Alfonso I. son of Ferdi nando 1. (also VI. of Leon).

1109. Urraca, daughter of Ferdinande I., and Alfonso VII. (also sovereign of Leon).

1126. Alfonso II. (the emperor), son of Urraca.

1157. Sancho III. son of Alfonso the emperor.

1158. Alfonso III. son of Sancho

III.

1214. Enrique I. “on of Alfonso III.

1217. Fernando III. son of Alfonso IX. of Leon (afterwards king of Leon).[7:20:495] KINGDOM OF LEON AND CASTILLE UNITED.

Alfonso X. son of Fernando III. 1252. Sancho IV. son of Alfonso X. 1284. Ferdinando IV. son of Sancho IV. 1295. Alfonso XI. son of Ferdinando IV. 1312. Pedro the Cruel, son of Alfonso XI. 1350. Enrique II. bastard son of Alfonso XI. 1369. Juan L son of the former, 1379. Enrique III. son of the former, 1390. Juan II. son of the former, 1406. Enrique IV. son of the former, 1454. Isabel, daughter of Juan II. and her husband Ferdinando

V. (the II. of Aragon), 1474. Juana, daughter of Fernan do and Isabel, and Philip I. of Austria, 1504.

KINGDOM 0F NAVARRE.

The first independent count of Navarre was Sancho Inigo, 873. The kings reported to have reigned prior to this period are entirely fabulous. Garcia I. (Iniguez), son of Count Sancho, and the first king, 885. Sancho I. (Garces Abarca), son of Garcia I. 905. Garcia II. (el Trembloso), son of Sancho I. 924. Sancho II. (el Mayor), son or grand son of Garcia II. 970. Garcia III. son of Sancho, 1035. Sancho III. son of Garcia III. 1054. Sancho IV. (also I. of Aragon), 1076. Pedro I. son of Sancho IV. (also king of Aragon), 1094. Alfonso I. brother of Pedro (also king of Aragon), 1104. Garcia IV. 1134. Sancho V. son of Garcia IV. 1150. Sancho VI. son of Sancho V. 1194. Thibault I. nephew of Sancho VI. 1234. Thibault II. son of the former, 1253. Henri, in right of his wife, who was daughter of Thibault II. 1270. Jeanne, queen of Philip IV. king of France, 1274. Louis Hutin (king of France), son of Jeanne, 1305. Philip, brother of Louis (also king of France!, 1316. Charles I. brother of Philip (also king of France), 1322. Jeanne II. daughter of Louis Hutin, married to Philip count of Evreux, 1328. Charles II. son of Jeanne, 1349. Charles III. son of the former, 1387. Blanche, daughter of Charles III. and Juan her husband, son of Ferdinando I. king of Aragon, 1425. François Phoebus de Foix, in right of his grandmother, daughter of Juan, 1479. Catherine de Foix, sister of Phoebus, and her husband, Jean d’Albret, 1483. This kingdom united with Castille in 1512.

KINGDOM OF ARAGO N.

Aragonese independence is to be dated from 1035, when Sancho el Mayor, king of Navarre and Castille, divided his states among his sons. Aragon fell to the lot of Ramiro I. 1035. Sancho I. (afterwards IV. of Navarre), son of Ramiro I. 1063. Pedro I. son of Sancho I. (also king of Navarre), 1094. Alfonso I. brother of Pedro (also king of Navarre), 1104. Ramiro II. brother of Alfonso, 1134. Petronilla, daughter of Ramiro II. 1137. Alfonso II. son of Petronilla, 1163. Pedro II. son of Alfonso II. 1196. Jayme I. son of Pedro II. 1213. Pedro III. son of Jayme

I. 1276. Alfonso III. son of Pedro III. 1285. Jayme

II. brother of Alfonso, 1291. Alfonso IV. son of Jayme II. 1327. Pedro IV. son of Alfonso IV. 1336. Juan I. son of Pedro IV. 1387. Martin, brother of Juan 1.1395. Fernando I. brother of Enrique III. king of Castille, elected 1412. Alfonso V. son of Ferdinando I. 1416. Juan II. (also king of Navarre), brother of Alfonso V. 1458. Fernando II. (the V. of Castille), son of Juan II. 1497. This kingdom united with Castille in 1516.

COUNTS OF BARCELONA.

During the early period of Mahommedan domination in Spain, Barcelona and all Catalonia were subject to it. In the year 801, however, the Moors were expellled from Bar celona, and a count named Bera, a native of Gothic Gaul, was nominated head of the independency. The names of his successors, eleven in number, are too insignificant to require mention individually. Alfonso Raymond, the last count, acceded to power in 1131. On his death, Barcelona was united with Aragon.

To give a connected history of these various sovereign ties is quite incompatible with our limits. We can only briefly describe those more important transactions affecting the whole country, in which the Christians, by wresting portions of soil from the Moors, compelled them to retire within narrower limits, and thus circumscribed their power. Alfonso and Fruela, the sovereigns who immediately succeeded Pelayo’s son, inflicted several severe blows on the Moors, and overran a considerable portion of the flat coun try. But what proved a more effectual check upon the Saracens than the arms of the Christians, were their own domestic quarrels. So mutable had been the govern ment, that in the space of only forty years from the period of their first landing in Spain, no less than twenty emirs had been called, or had raised themselves, to the seat of power. On the establishment of a monarchy under Abderahman, intestine revolt was quelled for a time; but a more formidable foe from without made his appearance. This was no other than the celebrated Charlemagne, who poured his legions over the Pyrenees into the valleys of Catalonia. We shall not discuss the much agitated question as to the motives which brought this emperor into Spain. He appears to have received an invitation from some discontented Moorish governors; and in acceding to their request, he probably also listened to the dictates of his own ambition. Certain it is that he entered Spain with a powerful army, and, if we can trust his historian Eginhard, subjected the country from the Pyrenees to the Iberus. But he was soon recalled from the Peninsula by the revolt of the Saxons. In his passage through the mountain defiles, the rear of his army was attacked by the Navarrese, and cut to pieces.

It seems certain, that from the period when Charlemagne poured his legions into Navarre, he considered the country as a fief of his crown, and thus gave great umbrage to the Asturian kings. But the inhabitants of the province, averse to the sway of either, longed for independence, and this they succeeded in achieving about the year 885. The rise of this kingdom was another blow to the Saracens. So signal were the successes gained over them by the Chris tians of Navarre, that in the year 920 not a Mahommedan remained in the whole kingdom north of the Ebro. The kings of Asturias and Leon also rapidly extended their do minions. Ordofio II. invaded the Mahommedan possessions, and gained many advantages. In 932, Ramiro II. made an irruption into the states of the enemy, and ruined Madrid. Arabian writers boast of terrible reprisals having been made on the Christians, and assert that Ramiro himself was defeated. The Saracens having invested Zamora, Ramiro approached with a formidable army. The combatants met, and a battle ensued, more obstinately con tested and bloody than any that had been fought since the days of Roderick. There can be no doubt that victory shone on the banners of the Christians, but the success was less splendid than their writers assert it to be. The ac counts of all the battles fought between the Moors and the Christians in Spain are to be received with caution. The Arabian writers, to exalt the prowess of their countrymen, exaggerate mere skirmishes into great battles, and temporary and partial checks into decisive victories. In equivocal cases, they seem invariably to claim the advantage; and where they were defeated, they either obscurely hint the fact, or diminish the loss which they sustained. It is to be feared, that in many instances Christian chronicler* are chargeable with similar partiality.[7:20:496] The reign of Abderahman III. (912) has been extolled as the most brilliant period in the history of the Spanish Arabs. Commerce flourished, and riches were accumulated to an unexampled extent. A powerful navy was formed, and maintained in full activity; the arts and sciences were cultivated with ardour, because their professors were re warded with princely liberality; many splendid works were undertaken in the towns of Mahommedan Spain; and the king himself was the friend of industry and of merit. Still none of the territories which had been lost in previous reigns was recovered, and the Christians were gradually becoming more and more formidable to the Moors, when Mohammed, better known as Almanzor, appeared to restore the glory of the Saracen arms. He was an eminent general, an enlightened statesman, and a patron of the liberal arts. His campaigns against the Christians proved most fatal to them. The towns were ruined, the open country was ra vaged, and once more the mountains of Asturias became the inaccessible asylum of the native monarchy. At length the three powers, Navarre, Castille, and Leon, entered into a confederacy to repel the common foe. The armies met at a place situated between Soria and Medina Celi, where a drawn battle was fought. This check, and the fearful loss which he had sustained, so mortified Almanzor, that he sunk under the weight of his despair, and died, some assert by voluntary abstinence from food, in the year 1001. An event of some importance to the Christian cause was the erection of Castille into a distinct kingdom, by Sancho el Mayor, king of Navarre, the most powerful prince of his age and coun try. Besides Sobrarve, he held the lordship of Aragon; and in 1026, in right of his wife, a princess of Castille, he became king of that country. By his conquests he considerably extended his dominions; and the marriage of his son Fernando to the heiress of Leon gave him influence in the affairs of that kingdom; so that at the period of his death, in 1035, he was virtually master of all Christian Spain except Catalonia. Before his death he divided his states among his sons, and Aragon fell to the share of Ramiro. The in dependence of Aragon as a separate kingdom is therefore to be dated from 1085, the year in which Ramiro I. obtained possession of the throne.

About the middle of the eleventh century Spain may be said to have been divided into two unequal parts, by a straight line drawn from east to west, from the coasts of Valencia to a little below the mouth of the Duero. The country north of this belonged to the Christians, who as yet had the smallest and least valuable portion, while all the rest belonged to the Moors. In point of wealth and real power, both by land and sea, the latter were much superior to the former; but their perpetual dissensions materially weakened them, and every day facilitated the progress of the Christians. Indeed, had either party been united, the other must soon have been quelled; but the Christians, although they did not constantly make war upon each other like the Moors, continued from time to time to be so em broiled by domestic feuds, as to be unprepared for striking a decisive blow with the combined armies of all the kingdoms; while the same evils, existing to a still greater ex tent amongst the Mahommedans, rendered it impossible for their monarchs to take advantage of the untoward state of the affairs of the Christians. Among the Moors almost every city was a kingdom; and as these petty sovereignties supported one another very indifferently, they, one after an other, fell a prey to their enemies. The rapidity with which the kingdom of Cordova fell to pieces has few examples in history. Alfonso I. king of Aragon, also of Navarre, and for some time of Castille and Leon, is reckoned among the most valiant princes of Spain. From his warlike habits he was surnamed El Batallador. He conquered Tudela, Saragossa, Tarragona, Calatayud, Daroca, Mequinencia, and much of the country south of the Ebro. Since the con quest by the Arabs, he was the first who carried the Chris tian ensigns into Andalusia. In 1134, however, he lost a great battle, and either perished in the conflict or died of grief shortly afterwards. This was a misfortune, but the misfortunes of the Christians were in general soon repaired, although for nearly a century their conquests were less brilliant than those achieved by El Batallador. At the commencement of the thirteenth century, indeed, the Moors gained some decided advantages, and reduced several important towns. But the balance was restored on the celebrated plains of Tolosa, where an enormous army of Moors from Africa was nearly annihilated. Alfonso of Castille having made some destructive inroads into Andalusia, Mo hammed Abu Abdalla, emperor of Barbary, prepared to punish his audacity. It is related, on credible authority, that one of the five divisions of the army which he assembled mustered 160,000 combatants. To meet this over whelming host, the Christian kings, fortunately at this juncture brought to terms of amity with one another, united their armies at Toledo, where they were joined by nume rous volunteers from Portugal and France. On the 16th of July 1212 the Christian army descended the mountainous chain which divides New Castille from Andalusia into the plains of Tolosa, where the Mahommedan army was drawn up in battle array. The conflict which ensued was obstinate and bloody, but victory at length declared for the Christians, and its immediate consequences involved the ruin of the Mahommedan empire in Spain. The thirteenth century is distinguished by other important advantages gained by the Christians. Ferdinand III. king of Leon, afterwards of Castille, by his numerous victories made himself lord of Spain, from the Bay of Biscay to the vicinity of the Guadalquivir, and from the confines of Portugal to those of Aragon and Valencia. In 1233 he triumphed over Aben Hud, king of Murcia, Granada, Cordova, Merida, and Seville; and from that year to 1248 he successively obtained possession of Toledo, Cordova, the whole of Murcia, Jaen, and Seville. The loss of the city of Cordova, which in the eyes of the Mahommedans was sacred alike from its magnificent mosque, and from its having been so long the seat of their caliphs, was a severe blow to their power. About the same time King Jayme, the greatest name in the ancient history of Aragon, and surnamed the conqueror on account of his victories, reduced the Balearic Isles, and obtained other important victories. At this period Mahommedan Spain obeyed three sovereigns, who hated each other as cordially as they were all detested by the Christians. Mo hammed, who ruled in Jaen, was the least powerful, but the most successful, of these petty kings. He successively got rid of his two contemporaries, and fixed his court in Granada, resolving if possible to extend, or at the worst to preserve, his new states against the independent walis or local governors on the one hand, and the Christians on the other. Thus the celebrated kingdom of Granada was found ed in the year 1238, for that of Cordova no longer existed. During two centuries and a half, this Mahommedan state withstood the hostile attacks of its Christian neighbours, and only fell when all Spain became united under one sceptre, and was consequently rendered irresistibly superior to the kingdom of the Moors.

The first king of Granada was equally valiant in war and wise in council, but he was not in a condition to contend with Ferdinand of Castille. He submitted to do homage to him as his vassal; and during the lifetime of Ferdinand a good understanding subsisted between him and Mohammed. But in succeeding reigns war again broke out between the Moors and Christians. In 1303 the strong fort of Gibraltar was reduced by Ferdinand IV. king of Castille and Leon. But the reign of this prince was mostly one of disaster. An iniquitous league was formed by two native princes, who proposed to share the kingdom be[7:20:497] tween them. The kings of France, Portugal, and Gra na<la, were not ashamed to sanction this unhallowed corn pact. The king of Portugal invaded Castille, the king of Granada spread his ravages into Andalusia, and the fate of Ferdinand seemed on the point of being sealed, and his kingdom partitioned among the combined robbers. But dissensions among the confederates, and the want of money, dissolved the league, and saved Spain. The greatest battle which had been fought between the Moors and Chris tians since the mighty African host was destroyed on the plains of Tolosa, took place in October 1340, on the banks of the small river Salado. The Christians under Alfonso of Castille were a very small band compared with the enormous host led by the king of Granada; but the former gained a brilliant victory, the loss of the Moors having been immense. The consequence was the surrender of several fortresses; and in the following year the destruction of the Mahommedan fleet was effected by the Christians.

It is now necessary to mention some circumstances in the history of Navarre, relative to the intimate connection which so long subsisted between that kingdom and France, and which had a material influence on the destinies of Spain. The male line of the house of Sancho Inigo, founder of the sovereignty, having ended in Sancho VI., who died in 1234, leaving no issue, the Navarrese elected as their future king, Thibault, a French prince, and nephew to the de ceased Sancho. Of this monarch we know little beyond an expedition to Palestine, which he undertook along with several princes of France. His two sons, who successively occupied the throne of Navarre, espoused French princesses, and thus an intimate connection with France was establish ed. The relationship between the two kingdoms became still more close when Queen Jeanne gave her hand to Philip the Fair of France. In short, Navarre became a province of France, and for four reigns has no distinct history. In 1328, however, the kingdoms were again separated, though the sovereigns of Navarre were closely related to those of France. Charles II. surnamed the Wicked, ascended the Navarrese throne in 1349, and shortly afterwards married Jeanne, daughter of King John of France. His reign is one of perfidy, intrigue, and dishonourable alliances. Events which belong more immediately to the history of France, led to the arrest of Charles by the French monarch, and his detention in prison for several years. He effected his escape, and again resumed his old practice of intriguing, particularly against the king of France. In 1366 he entered into a league with the celebrated Black Prince of England, for the restoration of Pe dro, surnamed the Cruel, who had been driven from the throne of Castille on account of his many enormities. The expulsion of this detestable monster was the act of an indignant nation, which immediately elevated his bastard brother Enrique, or Henry, count of Trastamara, to the throne of Castille. The exiled king himself appealed in per son to the generosity of the English hero, and the consequence was that the Black Prince led a powerful force across the Pyrenees. In his combined army of English and Normans were some of the flower of English chivalry. Henry made every disposition in his power, resolving to hazard all in a battle. The recollection of the cruelties and oppressions of Pedro’s government were a strong stimulus to his followers, and might have insured success had he only been opposed by Pedro the Cruel and Charles the Wicked; but he had to contend with the victor of Cressy and Poictiers. The battle which decided the fate of the two kings was fought near Logrofio, a few miles south of the Ebro, on the 3d of April 1367. Henry nobly contested the day, as also did his antagonist, who was as brave as he was cruel. The conflict was for a short time desperate, but it terminated in the complete discomfiture of Henry, an event followed by the immediate restoration of Pedro to the Castillian throne. His gallant ally had soon reason to regret his connection with a prince equally perfidious, debauched, and bloody. Edward quitted him in disgust, without receiving payment of the sum promised to the English troops. Pedro, no longer overawed by the Black Prince, who was as humane as he was valiant, immediately set about punishing those whom he either knew or suspected of having been zealous in the cause of Henry. His late disgrace had sharpened his naturally keen appetite for blood; but we pass over the revolting details of the enormities which he committed. They produced their usual effects, the complete alienation of the minds of his subjects from him, and then a conspiracy to put an end to such barbarous tyranny. Henry, who had fled to France, entered Spain with a small force, which, however, soon became augmented to an army. Tyrants have few friends in the hour of adversity, and those who have been bribed by gold or overawed by authority to become their pliant tools, are too easily seduced from their allegiance to be trusted when the day of trial comes. Mohammed V., king of Granada, was induced to take the field in behalf of Pedro; but it was less to aid his ally than to take advantage of the confusion of the times. Pedro’s army gradually melted away, and he himself, compelled to flee for shelter to a fortress, and nearly deserted by his followers, was there shortly afterwards slain by the hand of Henry. Although, as we have already noticed, this prince was a bastard, yet he quietly ascended the Castillian throne, which he bequeath ed to his posterity.

For nearly a century after these events took place, the history of Spain presents little or nothing that is remark able. The continued and petty hostilities between the native princes, or between any or all of them and the Moors, merit but slight attention. Henry IV. surnamed the Impotent, ascended the throne of Castille in 1454. The mis conduct of this prince, a frivolous and contemptible de bauchee, produced a conspiracy amongst his turbulent nobles, to resist his weak and flagitious administration. He was formally deposed at Avila, in a very extraordinary manner; an effigy which represented him being solemnly de graded from the royal dignities, while at the same time his brother Alfonso was proclaimed king of Castille and Leon. Henry was naturally anxious to punish the rebels, but they assumed an attitude too formidable for him. Civil war produced a total relaxation of the laws, and let loose bands of robbers, who pillaged the open country, and not unfrequently attacked and plundered the towns. In the midst of these troubles the Infante Alfonso died, an event for the present highly favourable to the king. Some attempts to raise the lnfanta Isabella, his sister, to the throne, proved at first abortive; but she was the person upon whom the nobles had set their eyes as the only legitimate successor to Henry. In 1469 was laid the foundation of a union which was to prove of such unbounded advantage to Spain. Juan II. of Aragon solicited the hand of Isabella of Castille for his son and heir Don Ferdinand, king of Sicily. By distributing largesses amongst the Castillian nobles, and firmly attaching the archbishop of Toledo to his interest, Juan succeeded in his object. On the 25th of October 1469, the royal pair received the nuptial benediction in the cathedral of Valladolid. The negociations had been secretly conducted, and the whole affair was brought to a conclusion without the knowledge of Henry or his queen, a princess as licentious as himself. She had borne a daughter, the Infanta Juana, whom the whole kingdom supposed, on pretty good grounds, to be the fruit of her intrigue with Don Beltran de la Cueva, count of Ledesma, one of Henry’s favourites. No sooner was Henry made acquainted with this precipitate marriage, than he resolved to leave no measure untried for securing the crown to Juana. He caused her to be proclaimed heir ess of his dominions, and in his last will declared her his suc[7:20:498] cessor. But popular opinion is too strong even for princes. The country believed her illegitimate, and on the death of Henry in 1474, Ferdinand V. and Isabella were elevated to the throne of Castille and Leon, it being stipulated that the king and queen should reign conjointly. The king of Portugal at first espoused the cause of Juana; but the alliance was productive of no event of importance, and peace was restored between Castille and Portugal in 1479. The very same year, Ferdinand, by the death of his father, Juan II., was called to the throne of Aragon. Having received the homage of his Aragonese subjects at Saragossa, of the Catalonians at Barcelona, and of the Valencians in the capital of that province, he returned into Castille.

The reign of Ferdinand and lsabella is distinguished by great events, events of the highest importance, not only to Spain, but to mankind. It was under their auspices that Columbus brought a new world to light, and it was by their arms that the power of the Mahommedans was for ever extinguished in the Peninsula. Their first object was the regulation of the government and the enforcement of the laws, which, from the license of preceding reigns, had fallen into desuetude, or were openly defied. The king and queen were noted for a rigid administration of justice; neither for money nor favour would they spare the guilty: and there was too much to punish and correct not to give their administration a character of severity, which would have had no existence had the country not fallen into a state of civil and political disorganization almost unprecedented. The local judges were overawed by the nobles, and extraordinary judges or corregidors were appointed to see that they did their duty. This not being found sufficient to eradi cate an evil which had existed for centuries, the aid of the Holy Brotherhood was sought and obtained. This association, which had existed since the middle of the thirteenth century, consisted of a number of confederated cities and towns, which maintained a considerable body of troops, in order to protect travellers and pursue criminals, and took cognizance of all violent offences against the laws, appointing courts and judges in various parts of the kingdom. New powers were reposed in this association, so that it be came a powerful instrument in the hands of government, and alike terrible to robber and rebel. By this means the territorial jurisdiction of the seignoral nobles was materially abridged, while the royal prerogative was greatly extended. The prompt and impartial administration of justice restored tranquillity and order; and it had been well for the fame of these sovereigns if their salutary severity had been only directed against the disturbers of the public peace. But unfortunately they were equally severe against all who ventured to differ from the established faith. Against apostates, all converts who, after baptism, reverted to Judaism or the faith of Islam, their hatred was impla cable. Their intemperate zeal led them to establish, or rather to reorganize, an ecclesiastical tribunal, which became proverbial throughout the civilized world for its enormous cruelties and injustice This was the court of inquisition.

We now approach what is not only an important event in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, but an era in the history of Europe, namely, the conquest of Granada, the last possession of the Mahommedans in Spain. A sovereign so zealous for the Catholic faith as Ferdinand proved himself to be, was not likely to allow such enemies of Christianity to remain long in the Peninsula, if by force of arms he could expel them; and accordingly he early turned his attention to the subject. Every thing conspired to favour his design; the Moorish kingdom was distracted and dis united by a civil war between father and son; and Ferdinand having obtained the bull of Sixtus IV. authorizing a crusade, put himself at the head of his troops, and entered Granada. He continued the war with rapid success; Isabella attended him in several expeditions; and they were both in considerable danger at the siege of Malaga, an important city, which was defended with great courage, and taken in 1487. Baza was reduced in 1489, after the loss of 20,000 men. Gaudix and Almeria were delivered up to them by the Moorish king Alzagel, who had first dethroned his brother Alboacen, and afterwards been chased from his capital by his nephew Abdali. That prince engaged in the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, who, after reducing every other place of eminence, undertook the siege of Granada. Abdali made a gallant defence; but all communication with the country being cut off, and all hopes of relief at an end, he capitulated, after a siege of eight months, on condition that he should enjoy the revenue of certain places in the fertile mountains of Alpuxarras; that the inhabitants should retain the undisturbed possession of their houses, goods, and inheritances; the use of their laws, and the free exercise of their religion. Thus ended the empire of the Arabs in Spain, after it had continued about eight hundred years.

Its overthrow was soon followed by the expulsion of the Saracens from Spain. This expulsion, however, was not entirely effected till the 17th century. Vast numbers of the Moors, indeed, oppressed by their conquerors, abandoned a country where they could not reside with comfort and with freedom. From the reign of Ferdinand of Cas tille, to that of Philip III. of Spain, more than 3,000,000 of these people quitted Spain, and carried with them, not only a great part of their acquired wealth, but that industry and love of labour which are the foundation of national pros perity.

The conquest of Granada was followed by the expulsion of the Jews, under circumstances of great injustice and atro city. This unhappy people had engrossed the greater part of the wealth and commerce of Spain, yet not being allowed to take away the value of their property in the precious metals, they were compelled to barter it for the produce or manufactures of the Peninsula, and this could not be effected except at a great sacrifice. One alternative was left them, to embrace Christianity. The inquisition exhausted first its art and then its fury to accomplish this object, but with comparatively little success. Many, indeed, to save their property, always dear to an Israelite, outwardly at least embraced the faith of the cross; but by far the greater number, in profound despair, and stripped of much of their wealth, took leave of the land of their birth. About the same time that this decree was promulgated, their Catholic majesties concluded an alliance with the emperor Maximilian, and a treaty of marriage for their daughter Juana with his son Philip, archduke of Austria, and sovereign of the Netherlands. To this period also belongs the contract concluded with Columbus for the discovery of new countries; an event which more powerfully than any other attracts the notice of posterity to this splendid reign, and which materially tended to raise the Spanish monarchy above any other in Europe. To Isabella must be ascribed the glory of the enterprise, for she it was who borrowed the sum of money necessary for the armament, and bade the great navigator depart. This great queen died in 1504, leaving her daughter Juana, and after that princess her own grandson (the celebrated Charles V.), heirs to the monarchy, but appointing her husband Ferdinand regent of the kingdom till the majority of Charles. The latter years of Ferdinand’s life were embittered by family dissen sions, which broke out even before Isabella had breathed her last. Juana was undoubtedly queen, for the Salic law, which excludes females, never existed in Spain. This was well known, and is important, as bearing on events which happened in more recent times. Philip therefore prepared to enforce his right, while Ferdinand, fond of power, and backed by the will of his late wife, showed a determination to maintain his position in the kingdom. But just as the affairs of Spain were assuming a serious aspect, Philip died,[7:20:499] and Ferdinand gradually resumed his authority over the whole country. Insurrection quailed before him, the laws resumed their empire, and prosperity revisited the people. The remaining events of his reign must be briefly summed up. He solicited and obtained the hand of Germaine, niece to Charles of France, in the hope of leaving a male heir to the throne; but his anticipations were not realized. In several expeditions to Africa, important conquests were made in that country, Algiers, Tunis, and other places submitting to become vassals to the king of Spain. In 1511 he went to Italy to assist the pope against the schismatics under the protection of the king of France and the em peror. But into the interminable affairs of Italy, the critical wars carried on by Ferdinand in that country in defence of his Sicilian and Neapolitan possessions, we cannot enter. This war, however, led to one memorable result, and one not very glorious to Ferdinand. Desirous of carrying hostilities into France, he demanded from Jean d’Albret, king of Navarre, permission to march his troops through that country. The Navarrese refused, but at the same time promised to remain neutral. He broke his engagement, however, and entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with France. Determined to accomplish his end by force, and to punish the duplicity of the Navarrese, Ferdinand invaded Navarre, and in a short time obtained possession of the whole kingdom, annexing it to that over which he formerly ruled, and successfully defending it against the invasion of the French. This was the last great event of Ferdinand’s life, and, however fortunate for the country, it was by no means honourable to the king. After a lingering illness, his death took place on the 23d of January 1516. In his last will he declared his daughter Juana heiress to all his dominions in Spain and Italy, and after her his grandson Charles. Cardinal Ximenes Cisneros was at the same time appointed sole regent of Castille till the arrival of his grandson. Ferdinand is justly regarded as the founder of the Spanish monarchy; and although his character has some dark stains upon it, intolerant bigotry being not the least conspicuous, he was certainly the greatest prince of his age, and one of the ablest and best that ever swayed the sceptre of Spain. We shall now glance at the civil and political condition of Spain under the Moors and under the Christians respectively, from the period of the Mahommedan conquest till the death of Ferdinand.

Mahommedan Spain originally comprehended nearly nine tenths of the Peninsula. Murcia, which the Arabs call Tadmir, though governed by the Christian Theodomir and his successor Athanagild, was as much dependent on the Saracens as Andalusia or New Castille. The districts over which the barbarian sway never extended were the mountains of the Asturias, Biscay, Navarre, and an angle of Aragon. Thus not only by far the greatest, but infinitely the most valuable, part of the Peninsula was comprised in the Mahommedan kingdom. Under the viceroys of the caliphs, and the immediate successors of the first Abderahman, that is, during the first three centuries, it was the admiration and terror of Europe. The revenues which the kings of Cordova derived from their ample possessions were doubtless immense, and this enabled them to main tain not only a large army of native troops, but great bodies of foreign auxiliaries. These mercenary soldiers are sup posed by some of the most distinguished Arabian histo rians to have been the principal cause of the downfall of that splendid monarchy. The spirit of nationality was not destroyed; it was fostered by transplantation from the original soil; the Egyptians in Beja and Lisbon; the Persians in Huete; the Assyrians in Granada; the Berbers and Slavones in most of the great cities, especially about the court; the inhabitants of Damascus, Emessa, and of Old Palestine, in Cordova, Seville, Niebla, Medina Sidonia, and Algeziras; became so many rival factions, all eager in the pursuit of power, and all mutually hostile. Their frequent quarrels occasioned great disasters in the state, and allowed the ambitious no less than the desperate a long continued impunity. In this distracted state of the king dom, rebel chiefs contrived to retain and even to extend their governments; while the Christians, ever ready to take advantage of circumstances, drove the Saracens from city to city, and from province to province, till they finally expelled them from the country. After Cordova fell from its proud eminence, the Mahommedan power declined with great rapidity. The rulers of Toledo, Badajos, Beja, Seville, Ecija, Malaga, Granada, Almeria, Lorca, Murcia, Denia, Valencia, Lerida, Saragossa, and Huesea, all openly aspired to independent sovereignty. Many of these petty states were annihilated by the king of Seville; but his own, with those which still remained, were swept from the Peninsula by Yussef, the first emperor of the Almoravides. This African dynasty was again subverted by the still more ferocious Almohades. In the decline of the latter, the local governors again endeavoured to establish inde pendent kingdoms. The Moorish domination thus be came circumscribed within the mountainous region bounded by the sea, and by a line drawn from Malaga through Archidona, Loxa, Guardia, the Sierra de Cazorla, to the environs of Lorca. This small state was still farther limited by the succeeding sovereigns of Castile, from Alfonso el Sabio downwards, till, as we have seen, it was finally subjugated by Ferdinand the Catholic.

In all the states of Spain, whether Mahommedan or Christian, the government was absolute, but not despotic. If the Christian, as a protection against arbitrary power, could appeal to the legal code of the country which he inhabited, the Mahommedan could also invoke the provisions of the Koran, for the laws of the followers of the prophet are founded in their religion. Several of the Mahommedan potentates were the munificent patrons of literature and literary men, the names of some of whom are mentioned with respect at the present day. At the close of the eleventh century, Mahommedan Spain could boast of seventy public libraries, and of colleges, or seminaries of learning, in all the principal cities. Thus learning was much encouraged; and among these numerous collections of books were many hundred volumes by native writers. So great, in fact, was the literary reputation of the Spa nish Arabs, that when the caliph of Egypt desired his library to be arranged and indexes to be made, he confided the task to two individuals of that nation. These men of learning comprised historians, poets, grammarians, ora tors, rhetoricians, mathematicians, astronomers, philosophers natural and moral, physicians, lawyers, and divines. It was in the physical and experimental sciences that the people most excelled, and that too at a time when many of the sciences were wholly neglected or totally unknown in the rest of Europe. Their knowledge of botany was far famed; that of chemistry was still more so. Indeed they are to be regarded, if not the founders, at least the regenerators, of that science in Europe. Their skill in medicine was great; in the mathematics they particularly distinguished themselves; the improvements which they made in algebra are well known. Optics and astronomy were much cultivated by them; nor were the useful arts less at tended to, more especially agriculture, including horticulture and planting. The mechanical arts and manufactures were also carried to considerable perfection by the Spanish Arabs. Commerce was deemed no less worthy of encouragement than domestic industry. The fine arts however were less cultivated; but still all the great cities of Mahommedan Spain, Cordova, Granada, Toledo, Va 1encia, Ubeda, Coimbra, were deeply indebted to the Moorish inhabitants; a fact sufficiently proved by the remains of their past magnificence, which still exist.[7:20:500] From the foundation of the Christian states, the extent of territory comprised by each was usually variable, dependent alike on their conquests over the common enemy and among themselves. The relative extent of each at different periods may be briefly noticed. 1. When Pelayo established his little court at Cangus, the Asturian king dom could only have occupied the mountainous district immediately surrounding that humble capital. By Alfonso I. this territory was extended into Galicia on the west, probably to Aragon on the east, and to the confines of Toledo on the south. Alfonso III. still further amplified the Asturian kingdom, by extending its frontiers to the Sierra de Cuenza, in the territory of Toledo, to the Duero, in Estremadura and Portugal; in one instance even as far as the Guadiana. The capital regularly continued to shift towards the centre of Spain as new territory was acquired. Thus the Asturian kingdom went on increasing till, on the incorporation of Castille with it, and the subsequent conquest of Andalusia by San Fernando, the capital of the monarchy was fixed at Seville. From the reign of San Fernando may be dated the true era of Spanish greatness. Murcia was conquered by his son Alfonso; and by his successors the Moorish kingdom of Granada was first circumscribed and finally subjugated. 2. Navarre (that is, Spanish Navarre), from its origin to its conquest by Ferdinand V. underwent little change in its dimensions; and its capital was always Pamplona. See the article Navarre. 3. The Lordship of Barcelona, which for some time continued dependent on the Carlovingian princes, comprehended anciently, not only Catalonia, but likewise Languedoc. The Spanish frontier, however, was subsequently held as a separate government, to which other lordships were subordinate. The dependence on France was of short duration, and appears nearly to have ceased towards the close of the ninth century, when Wifredo II., count of Barcelona, entirely cleared Catalonia from the infidels. That ruler decrees in the sovereign style, and is re cognised even by the French as the founder of an hereditary state; which continued as independent a sovereignty as any in the Peninsula, till its union with Aragon, about the middle of the twelfth century. 4. Aragon was at first buta small mountainous region at the foot of the Pyrenees, the capital of which was Jaen, or San Juan de la Pena. The conquest of Sobrarve, Ribagorza, and Pallas, by Ramiro I.; of the Mahommedan fortresses from the Pyrenees to the Ebro by Sancho I.; of Huesea by Pedro; of Tudela, Sara gossa, Calatayud, Daroca, Mequinencia, &c. by Alfonso I., amplified this little lordship into a considerable kingdom, the capital of which in 1119 was transferred to Saragossa. When Lerida and Fraga were reduced by the prince of Aragon, the Balearic Isles and Valencia by Don Jayme el Conquistador, Aragon became, next to Castille, the most extensive and powerful of the peninsular kingdoms.

The government of all the Christian states was absolute, and in the whole of them latterly it was hereditary. The powers of the sovereign varied at different times; latterly they became very great. He could concede or revoke, interpret or abrogate laws, declare war or make peace, ap point judges, levy and exact contributions, and the like. But still all was to be done according to the ancient form, that is, according to established custom. Other restraints were placed upon his power, and it is pretty certain that the Spa nish kings were not commonly tyrannical. The true tyrants were the feudal lords, who were at perfect liberty to exercise almost royal authority within their respective jurisdictions. Of their violence and rapacity there are innumerable com plaints in the national chronicles, and in the acts of the Cortes. It is worthy of remark, that the queens presided with their husbands in the Cortes, the councils, and the tribunals of justice, and that as judges, not merely as spectators. The only great feudatories of the crown, exercising a local jurisdiction, were the condes, who held different ranks and enjoyed different degrees of power. But, from the thirteenth century, the governors of provinces were termed adelantados (now captains generaD, while those of cities, towns, and fortresses, were known as alcaldes. As conquest gave the Christians additional territory, admirals and constables were appointed, with power over the affairs of sea and land respectively. Of the dignities, whatever their names might be, most were doubtless of a mixed nature, partly civil and partly military. But there were functionaries who exercised an exclusively military authority. Among the officers of administration, those of the law must have occupied a prominent place. The judgment in civil or criminal cases properly depended on the counts or viscounts, who some times decided themselves, sometimes in concert with men learned in the law, called counsellors, and at other times they left the duty to the ordinary judges. These counsellors or judges were expressly educated for the office, and otherwise well adapted for such a situation. The forms of proceeding, which were simple and brief, were conducted in public, and the sentence was also openly delivered. From the decision of all the ordinary judges, lay an appeal to the royal tribunal, which also took cognizance of certain offences and cases. Spain can boast of an ample body of laws promulgated during the middle ages.

As the circumstances of the country altered, and the state of society advanced, it became necessary to extend or limit the existing laws, and to enact new ones. To encourage the cultivation of waste lands, the Christian kings promised to the lower orders, that if they reclaimed unoccupied wastes, formed themselves into small communities, building villages and towns, and defended their pos sessions against the common enemy, they should enjoy cer tain social privileges in addition to the profits of their in dustry. Of these privileges the most highly prized were those which rescued the people from the jurisdiction of their feudal tyrants, which empowered them to elect their own magistrates, to form municipal juntas, and to dispose of cer tain revenues arising from forests and other possessions. It may well be believed that so brilliant a reward attracted many settlers, who were thus at once raised from the rank of serfs to that of citizens. Such was the origin of many fueros, or provincial laws, which varied in their spirit according to the liberality of the monarch and the relative importance of the colonies. These fueros were de vised with jealous care to preserve the inhabitants from feudal domination. No baron or noble could settle in a community, unless he abandoned his birthright, enrolled himself among the citizens, and owned obedience to the local fuero. So many temptations did these new communities present, in the shape of municipal posts, that many nobles were known to renounce their rank, and class them selves among the plebeians, for the purpose of obtaining them. The defects of such a system were not long in being felt, and a remedy was provided by the introduction of the “Siete Partidas,” so called from the seven parts into which it is divided. It is by far the most comprehensive code of Spain, being taken from the code of Justinian, the Visi gothic, the Fuero Viejo, the local fueros, as well as from the canon law.

Passing over the much-disputed question regarding the origin of popular representation in Spain, we find that there were present, at the Cortes held at Leon in the year 1188, “the deputies of towns, chosen by lot,” that is, representatives of the people, the third estate. On these municipal towns many important privileges were conferred by successive sovereigns, the direct tendency of which was to abridge the powers of the feudal lords. But even at the brightest period of popular representation, which was the fourteenth century, the representation was never definite. Many of the great towns neglected to send any deputies at all, and those which[7:20:501] did return them appear to have observed little proportion in the numbers. Two was the number which ought to have been returned by each, but some towns sent eight, while others of larger size sent only one or two. Indeed it seems highly probable that the privilege of sending deputies was a favour granted by the sovereign to such towns as it was his pleasure to honour. It is preposterous, therefore, to look upon the third estate as consisting of independent repre sentatives of the nation: the members were little better than nominees of royalty, and their numbers could be in creased or diminished just as it suited the purposes of government Much as the popular representation of Castille is extolled by national writers, it seems to have been better adapted for securing and extending the power of the crown, than for protecting the rights of the people. Under Ferdinand and Isabella the last lingering traces of popular liberty were destroyed; but the power of the other orders of the state suffered at the same time a corresponding diminution, as we have already noticed. Such is a brief outline of the government and laws of Castille and Leon, the most import ant of the peninsular kingdoms, and almost the only ones in which the reader will take much interest, or, indeed, regarding which authentic documents remain. It may be mentioned, however, with regard to the kingdom of Aragon, that, with the exception of the lowest order, the serfs of the soil, the Aragonese possessed a greater share of individual liberty than any other people in the Peninsula. The citi zens and nobles frequently coalesced for the purpose of obtaining fueros or privileges from the crown, and when thus united they were generally too powerful to be resisted. Hence numerous concessions were made by successive sovereigns, and an amount of popular freedom obtained by the people which frequently threatened the existence of the monarchy itself. Catalonia and Valencia were always distinct from Aragon, both in government and laws. Each had its Cortes, consisting of three estates, prelates, nobles, and deputies, all no less tenacious of their privileges than those of Aragon.

Several historians of note, whose works have come down to us, flourished in the various Christian kingdoms of Spain during the period of Mahommedan domination. Poetry sprung up about the middle of the twelfth century, and some very interesting specimens of these ancient compositions still remain, particularly the Poema del Cid. The old Spanish ballads are well known, and celebrated throughout Europe. The scientific state of Spain, as compared with the Mahommedan, exhibits a lamentable contrast; nor does it appear that in any of the useful arts of life the Spanish Christians were equal to the Moors. The most distinguished place in Spanish science during this period has been as signed to Alfonso X. surnamed el Sabio; but even he was greatly indebted to the Arabians for the perfection which he attained. The theologians of Spain, during the middle ages, were more numerous than all her other writers put together, and the writings of many of these shining lights of the church are to be met with in the libraries of Spain. With regard to religion it is only necessary to state, that the Catholic faith prevailed in full force, and was characterized by the darkest bigotry and the fiercest intolerance, as the doings of the inquisition amply testify.

Charles I. (V. of Germany) became king of Spain on the death of Ferdinand, but a regency had been nominated to govern the kingdom until he should attain his twentieth year. If the events and transactions in which this monarch was concerned were to be woven into the history of Spain, it would in fact be the history of almost all Europe during the period of his reign. But our business is with events purely peninsular; or if others of a more general character are occasionally noticed, it will be because they are too closely connected with the former to be separated without violence. His foreign wars, negociations, and other trans actions, arose from his position as emperor of Germany, not from his being king of Spain.; and an account of them will be found under the heads France , Italy , and England , to which articles the reader is referred.

The Cardinal Ximenes Cisneros, to whom the regency had been left by the deceased king, was bitterly opposed in his administration, principally by the nobles of Castille, who, envious of his dignity, displeased with his firmness and vi gour, and hoping for impunity under a young monarch, soon showed a disposition to refuse him obedience. Popular discontent reached a great height; and as his best measures were misrepresented to the king, Charles perceived the necessity of making his appearance in Spain, where he arrived in 1517. Nobles and prelates hastened to meet their sovereign, and among the rest the calumniated Ximenes. But that sovereign he was not destined to see; he suddenly sickened and died, not without suspicions of poison. Charles brought with him a multitude of Flemings from the Nether lands, who soon monopolized the principal situations in church and state, and in all their dealings evinced an unquenchable thirst for gold. The favour extended to these foreigners so incensed the people, that Charles found extreme difficulty in obtaining the homage of the Spaniards. Although they swore allegiance to him, it was on certain stipulated conditions, sufficiently advantageous to them selves. In 1519 occurred an event destined to exercise great influence over his future life, over his hereditary states, in fact over all Europe. This was his election to the imperial throne of Germany, left vacant by the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian. The Spaniards were pleased that this dignity was conferred on their sovereign; but as the old grievances continued to gall them, they were not so dazzled as to be insensible to their own interests. The leading men of many of the principal cities publicly remonstrated with Charles, and it was only by granting certain concessions that he could keep them from open rebellion. His presence having become absolutely necessary in Germany, he quitted Spain, but proceeded first to England to concert with Henry VIII. the means of humbling the power of the French king, Francis I. This monarch had been a candidate for the imperial diadem; but, disappointed in his ambition, and in hatred of his successful rival, he leagued himself even with the enemy of the Christian faith. He also laid claim to Italy, the Nether lands, and Navarre; so that war was unavoidable, and hostilities immediately commenced; for an account of which see the articles already referred to.

The turbulence of the times was not likely to be assuaged by the absence of the king from his all but revolt ed territories in the Peninsula. Opposition had now de generated into rebellion; and what before might have been dignified with the name of patriotism, could only be characterized as crafty schemes of personal ambition. Unfortunately for the interests of order, the regency of Castille, where disaffection had assumed the most serious aspect, was held by a man, estimable and virtuous, indeed, but little fitted for such stormy times. The appointment of this in dividual, Cardinal Adrian, who subsequently wore the triple crown, had at the first given great offence to the nobles and deputies at court; but the king, though solicited, would not change him for another. The persons upon whom the fury of the mob fell were chiefly the governors and deputies of the cities and provinces. Many were massacred; open insurrection spread from city to city; and no species of crime was left uncommitted. In this critical position of the royal cause, it was fortunate that Aragon, Catalonia, and most of Andalusia, stood aloof from the confederation. Had they joined it, the evils might have been long protracted, and the whole Peninsula plunged in misery and ruin. But the revolted cities followed one another in making their submis sion to government; and those which did not voluntarily[7:20:502] submit were reduced by the royal troops, now augmented to a considerable body. An attempt of the French king to seize Navarre was happily frustrated, so that in 1522 the whole country was restored to tranquillity.

In July of that year, the emperor, whose presence had been often requested by the royalists, arrived in Spain. It was expected that summary justice would be inflicted on those who had taken a prominent part in the recent disturbances; but on this occasion Charles showed a degree of clemency almost unexampled in history, very few being condemned to suffer. During the remainder of this prince’s reign, the domestic tranquillity of Spain was undisturbed, except by an insurrection of the Moors, which was soon sup pressed. Of two expeditions of the emperor to the African coast, to humble, if not to extirpate, the Mahommedan pirates, one was successful, the other disastrous. He compelled the Grand Turk, who penetrated into the centre of Europe, to retreat; and took his great rival, Francis I. of France, prisoner at Pavia. Such were some of his achievements in his foreign wars, by which the fame of the Spanish arms was ex tended throughout Europe. The mines of the west also had begun to pour their inexhaustible wealth into the country, so that the military and political power of Spain now attained its zenith, and became a source of uneasiness to other nations. In 1525 Charles married the Princess Isabella, sister of Joam III. king of Portugal. The issue of this union was, besides two daughters, the infant Philip, destined to be no less famous than his father. Charles made an ineffectual effort to procure for him the imperial crown of Germany; but in 1554 succeeded in obtaining the hand of the princess Mary of England. That the nuptial ceremony might be per formed with greater splendour, he invested his son with the regal title, by abdicating in his favour his Italian possessions, the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and the duchy of Milan. This was but a prelude to a still more extraordinary sacrifice. It appears that from the very prime of life the emperor had meditated a retreat from the world; and that on the death of his mother Juana, in 1555, he was determined on fulfilling his long-cherished project. Many reasons have been assigned for this memorable act, but the principal cause is to be traced to his superstitious temperament; something is also to be allowed for the bad success of his arms during the latter years of his reign. Having concluded a truce with Henry, the successor of Francis, and re called Philip from England, he assembled at Brussels the states of the Netherlands. There, amidst the most imposing solemnity ever witnessed since the days of the Roman Caesars, he resigned the sovereignty of the Low Countries into the hands of his son. With the same august ceremony he resigned the crown of Spain, and the dominions thereto belonging; and from the monastic retreat to which he retired, be sent his resignation of the imperial diadem. The place which he had chosen for his residence was the monastery of St Justus, one of the most secluded and delightful situations in Estremadura. Here, employed in religious observances, passed the latter years of the life of the most powerful sovereign Europe had seen since the days of Charlemagne and the empire of the west. His character has been variously described by natives and foreigners; the former can see little in it to condemn, the latter nothing to admire. His policy was always close, sometimes crooked, and in not a few instances dishonourable. He was no friend either to civil or religious liberty, and may safely be pronounced a bigot. Under him the condition of Spain was more splendid, perhaps also more prosperous, than in any prior or sub sequent reign. Notwithstanding his many wars, the people do not appear to have been overburdened in supporting them, for the New World poured its treasures at his feet. A new impulse was given to national industry by the markets opened for Spanish productions in the transatlantic colonies. But the brightest landscape has its masses of shade. The nobles held a power over the people which was often exercised with violence. Favouritism to foreigners was practised to an unprincipled extent, and the sale of offices be came a branch of traffic. Another baneful evil was the multiplication of religious orders. Lastly, the exemption from taxation of the nobles and clergy, which threw the whole weight of public contribution on the third estate, in creased the disaffection of that body, and was one of the chief causes of the subsequent decline of the kingdom. For an account of the private life and character of Charles, see the article Charles V.

The reign of Philip II. commenced in 1556, and extend ed to the year 1598. Much of it was occupied in foreign wars, to which we can only briefly advert. For an account of Philip’s long, bloody, and inglorious struggle with his revolted subjects of the Low Countries, see the article Holland. The circumstances which led to the invasion of Portugal, and the annexation of that kingdom to the Spa nish crown, will be found fully detailed under the head Portugal. An attempt was made by the pope, in conjunction with France, to wrest from Philip his Italian dominions, but without success. The duke of Alva, the viceroy of Naples, put his troops in motion, seized several fortresses of the papal states, and the holy city began to tremble for its security. Philip himself invaded France, and inflicted a severe blow on Henry under the walls of St Quentin. The French army, under the duke of Guise, was recalled from Italy; and the pope, left at the mercy of the duke of Alva, was compelled to purchase his safety by withdrawing from the French alliance. In 1559 peace was made with France; and Philip having become a widower, further ratified the treaty by marrying Elizabeth, sister of the French king. But the Turks continued to harass Naples, although they durst not make a stand before the Spanish forces. In 1565, Philip assisted the Maltese with 10,000 Spaniards in the famous siege which they underwent from sultan Solyman. Five years afterwards, the war between the Venetian re public and the Porte again brought the Spaniards into collision with the latter power, and they had no small share in achieving the glorious victory of Lepanto. The Mahom medans, however, still continued to make descents on the Italian coast, and to harass the African possessions of Philip; but, on the whole, the war with the misbelievers was honour able to the Spanish arms.

We now approach an event of peculiar and lasting inte rest to every Briton, the projected invasion of England by the famous Spanish Armada. Elizabeth had certainly done much to provoke the resentment of Philip. She had succoured the insurgents of the Netherlands, fomented the disturbances in Portugal, assisted France, and her naval captains had ravaged the dominions of Spain in both he mispheres. Philip’s patience being exhausted, he prepared a mighty armament for the invasion of England. A complete account of this famous attempt to plant a foreign standard on our shores, and its disastrous termination, will be found in the article England . A second expedition for the invasion of Ireland shared the fate of the former; and this effectually cured Philip of all ambition to attempt the subjugation of the most hated of his enemies.

The revolt of the Moriscos occupies a remarkable place in the native annals of the sixteenth century. These Christianized Moors still remained Mahommedans at heart, making amends for compulsory apostasy by celebrating in secret the rites of their religion. It was the jealous policy of Spain to destroy, if possible, every vestige of their nationality. To effect this end the government had re course to severe and unjust measures, which produced open revolt and civil war in Granada. Dreadful atrocities were committed by the Moriscos, and fierce was the retaliation of the Christians. The war raged with various suc cess for some time, but how the struggle must terminate[7:20:503] could never for a moment be doubtful. The Moriscos fled to the mountains, the ancient asylum of liberty; and in the deep caverns with which they abound they deemed them selves secure. But thither they were hunted by the Chris tians, and, like wild beasts, smoked to death by fires kindled at the mouths of these subterranean retreats. All who were in arms were cut off' in this manner, or by the sword. The total expulsion of the Moriscos, however, did not take place till a subsequent period. To some affairs of a private or more trivial nature it is unnecessary to advert, although some of them deeply implicate the character of Philip. This prince died in September 1598, in the palace of the Escu rial, of which he was the founder, and which is the noblest monument of his reign. By the last of his four wives, Anne of Austria, Philip left a son, who succeeded by the title of Philip III.; his other male children preceded him to the tomb. Don Carlos, one of these, is generally believed to have been murdered by the command of his bloody and un relenting father. The character of Philip was gloomy, stem, and cruel; he was suspicious, dark, and vindictive, the irreconcilable foe of civil and religious liberty, for which there can only be brought forward as a palliation his zeal for what he called religion. But Philip was eminently prudent, attentive to public affairs, and what he conceived to be the best interests of his country. It has been supposed that the sceptre of Philip was swayed over 100,000,000 of human beings, including the population of all the foreign pos sessions of Spain. At this time the state of the inhabitants of the Peninsula was one of comparative comfort. Agri culture, manufactures, and commerce, flourished to an ex tent even greater than in the best period of the emperor’s reign. Yet all his vast resources, especially in the New World, were unhappily wasted by Philip; and his own policy destroyed the very foundations on which they rested, and hastened the decay, or rather ruin, of the kingdom. The measures which exercised so fatal an influence over the destinies of Spain may be briefly enumerated. 1. His persecution of the Flemings and Dutch, which led to a re volt that cost him 150,000,000 of ducats; 2. his war with England, no less expensive and disastrous; 3. the treasures sent to support the abominable Catholic league, and wars in other quarters; 4. the subjugation of the Moriscos, and the proceedings of the inquisition, by which the most productive and useful classes of his subjects were ruined or expatriated. From these and from other minor causes, notwithstanding the enormous revenues and resources of the kingdom, Philip died insolvent.

The greatness of Spain having passed away with Philip II., from this period it declined with fearful rapidity. For a long period there is little to be recorded beyond the reign of worthless favourites, the profligacy of courts, and the feeble efforts of a government struck with mortal paralysis. Our retrospect of these reigns will therefore be charac terized by a brevity corresponding with their importance. The most signal event of Philip III.’s reign was the total expulsion of the Moriscos from all parts of Spain where they had sought a home during the struggle recorded in the last reign. The loss to agriculture and commerce, for they were by far the most ingenious and industrious portion of the community, and the blow which would be inflicted on the national prosperity by the withdrawal of so much wealth as they possessed, were never taken into ac count by the duke of Lerma, the prime ministers, nor any of his inquisitorial councillors. Orders were issued for their immediate expulsion in September 1609, and no fewer than 600,000 individuals were forcibly dragged from their homes, and landed on the African shore, there to be treated even worse, by the most cruel and perfidious of the human family. The foreign transactions of this reign are unimportant. Philip III. died in March 1621, leaving his kingdom to a son who bore his name, and also inherited his imbecility.

Philip IV. ascended the Spanish throne in his seventeenth year. Profligate extravagance and dissipation soon began to characterize the proceedings of the court, and murmurs and complaints to agitate the people, who were exhausted of their wealth in supporting pantomime and mummery at home, and iniquitous wars abroad. The reins of government were surrendered into the hands of the Conde de Olivares, a worthless favourite. An attempt to enforce an obnoxious measure drove the Catalans to revolt. They sought and obtained the aid of France, and this occasioned a feeble and unimportant war, which languished till 1660, when peace was concluded, but not till Spain had surrendered part of her territory to France. Contemporary with the origin of the Catalan insurrection was that of Portugal, by which the Portuguese freed themselves from the Spanish yoke. See Portugal. During his long reign, Philip was frequently at war with England, Holland, and France, and every power committed fearful ravages on his territories. England took Jamaica during this disastrous and disgraceful period of Spanish history. In Naples, a terrible shock was sustained in 1646, by the insurrection of Massaniello. See the article Naples. But the most calamitous of Phi lip’s transactions was the war in the Low Countries, which terminated in his recognising the independence of the seven United Provinces. Philip died in 1665. His character needs no description. Since the days of Roderick the Goth, a more disastrous reign than his had not darkened the annals of Spain.

Charles II. son of Philip IV. succeeded to the throne when only four years of age. As the affairs of the kingdom were then situated, they were not likely to improve under a child; and it was a further misfortune, that throughout his long reign the king remained little better than a child. He was feeble in body, and next to imbecile in mind; in proof of which it may be mentioned, that he believed himself bewitched, and submitted to the exorcisms of his confessor with devout solemnity. Louis of France, who espoused Maria Teresa, sister of Charles II. by a prior marriage, in right of his wife preferred a monstrous claim to the Low Countries, and poured his legions over the frontier to make it good. The union of Sweden, Holland, and England, to oppose the ambition of the Frenchman, saved the whole Netherlands from subjugation; but by the peace of Aixla Chapelle Louis retained the most valuable of the conquests which he had made. In this reign the complete independence of Portugal was recognised. In 1672, France invad ed Holland, now the ally of Spain, conquered Franche Comté, which belonged to Spain, made some destructive in roads into Catalonia, and reduced some fortresses in the Low Countries. By the alliance against France, in which England, Germany, and Spain joined, Louis’s career of ambition was effectually checked. But subsequently he reduced Valenciennes, Cambray, St Omers, and other places; Ypres and Ghent were assailed with equal success; and a place on the Catalan frontier also yielded to his arms. Most of these places, however, were restored at the peace of Nimeguen in 1078, one of the conditions of which was, that Charles should receive the hand of Maria Louise, niece of the French king. On the death of this princess in 1689, the French again poured the storm of war over the frontier of Catalonia. Destitute of money and of troops, Spain trembled to her most distant extremities. But circumstances of a delicate nature, into which we shall not enter, induced Louis to restore all his conquests at the peace of Ryswick in 1697. The health of Charles, always infirm, now rapidly declined, and he expired on the 1st of November 1700. He was the last of the Austrian dynasty; and glorious as the condition of Spain was under its early sovereigns, those who succeeded them had brought the kingdom to the verge of ruin. From the accession of the third Philip it had declined, from causes already specified.[7:20:504] The condition to which it was now reduced was pitiable. The army and navy were in a state of utter disorganization; the walls of towns and fortresses were in ruins; the public revenues had dwindled to little more than a nobleman’s in come; and trade, manufactures, and commerce, had all but ceased to exist. Another such reign as that of Charles II. would have dissolved the bonds of society.

Charles II. was succeeded by Philip V. duke of Anjou, grandson to Louis XIV. of France. He was the eldest son of Maria Teresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV., consequently the most legitimate sovereign; for Charles left no issue, and before his death he had subscribed an instrument, declaring Philip his successor. The foreign events of this reign demand our first attention. The transactions of the war which was soon declared against France and Spain, by England, Holland, and the empire, assisted by Savoy, Por tugal, and Prussia, have been already related under the article Βritian. The chief objects of the alliance were to obtain satisfaction for the Austrian claims on Spain, the emperor Leopold being not only descended from Fernando, brother of Charles V., but whose mother was the daughter of Philip III.; to rescue the Netherlands from France; to prevent the union of the French and Spanish crowns; and to exclude subjects of the former from the Spanish possessions in the West Indies. The treaty of Utrecht, which terminated the differences between the principal contending powers, was signed in 1713; and in 1715 a permanent peace was concluded between Spain and Portugal. By the celebrated treaty of 1713, Spain was stripped of half her European possessions. Philip was indeed acknowledged king of Spain and the Indies; but Sicily was ceded to the duke of Savoy; Milan, Naples, Sardinia, and the Nether lands, to the emperor; and Gibraltar and Minorca to the English. The Catalans, who had revolted and joined the allies, were likewise guaranteed a general amnesty, but without any stipulations for the preservation of their ancient fueros or privileges, which they had justly forfeited. Philip also renounced, both for himself and his successors, all claims to the French crown. In return for this renunciation, he forced rather than persuaded his council to introduce a measure to which subsequent events in the history of Spain gave great importance. This was to alter the order of succession, and establish a sort of Salic law, by which the most distant male of the family would be called to the inheritance in preference to the nearest female. The innovation was regarded with discontent. By the ancient law, which, in default of direct male issue, called females to the throne, the monarchy had been formed. By it Catalonia had been united with Aragon, and the latter with Castille; and by it Philip himself had inherited the crown.

Philip made an unsuccessful attempt to recover Sicily, Sardinia, and Naples; for he had now rendered both his navy and his army formidable alike by discipline and num bers. His fleet, however, was totally destroyed off the coast of Sicily, by our Admiral Byng, in the year 1718.

By a new treaty in 1720, Sardinia was given to the duke of Savoy, and Sicily to the emperor; and by the treaty of Seville, concluded in 1729, the duchies of Tuscany, Parma, and Placentia, were ceded to Spain. In 1731, the Spanish king invaded Naples, took possession of that kingdom, and conferred it on his son Don Carlos, in consequence of which war was declared between Spain and the empire in 1733. At the end of that year the palace of Madrid was consumed by fire, and all the archives relating to the Indies perished in the flames. In 1739, hostilities were renewed between Spain and Britain; but the only successes obtained by the latter power were the capture of Porto Bello by Admiral Vernon, and that of the Manilla galeon by Commodore Anson. Philip’s long and turbulent reign was now drawing to a close. In July 1746, he was hurried to the grave by an attack of apoplexy. One memorable event of his reign remains to be noticed. In imitation of the emperor, he resigned the cares of royalty into the hands of his son in 1724; but finding seclusion irksome, he resumed them again in a very short time. Whatever might be the weak nesses of this prince, he had a sincere desire for the good of Spain, and retrieved it from hopeless ruin by several judicious measures which he introduced, so that the country attained a degree of positive prosperity unknown since the days of the second Philip.

Ferdinand VI. a mild, prudent, and beneficent prince, reformed abuses in the administration of justice and management of the finances. He revived commerce, established manufactures, and promoted the prosperity of his kingdom.

Charles III. succeeded Ferdinand in 1759. The famous family compact was concluded at Versailles in 1761, among the four kings of the house of Bourbon. The English, alarmed by the naval preparations of Spain, declared war in 1762, and took Havannah in the island of Cuba, and Manilla in the East Indies. Notwithstanding this success, peace was hastily concluded at Fontainebleau, in Novem ber, by which the Havannah was restored. In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from Spain. An unsuccessful expedition was concerted against Algiers in 1775, the particulars of which it is unnecessary to detail. In the war between Great Britain and her American colonies, Spain, by the intrigues of the French court, was instigated to take up arms in support of the latter. At the conclusion of that calamitous war, Great Britain, in a treaty with Spain, ceded to this power East and West Florida, and the island of Minorca. Charles died in 1788, and was succeeded by his second son Charles Anthony, prince of Asturias, the eld est having been declared incapable of inheriting the crown.

Charles IV. had not long been seated on the throne be fore the portentous revolution in France involved Europe in a general scene of political and military contest. The king of Spain joined the general confederacy against the new republic, and in consequence was numbered among the objects of its resentment, by a declaration of war in 1793. The military operations of Spain, however, were extremely languid; and after two campaigns, in which she might be said to carry on rather a defensive than an offensive war against the republican armies, she was compelled to conclude a treaty of peace, which was signed at Basel on the 22d July 1795. By this treaty the French republic restored to the king of Spain all the conquests which she had made from him since the commencement of hostilities, and received in exchange all right and property in the Spanish part of St Domingo.

This treaty was soon followed by a rupture with Great Britain. On 5th October 1796, the court of Spain having published a manifesto against this country, the court of London made a spirited reply; and about the same time was published a treaty of offensive and defensive alliance, which had been concluded about two months before, between the king of Spain and the French republic. In the war which followed between Spain and Great Britain, his Catholic majesty could boast of but little honour or success; and the French republic gained little from its new ally but the contributions of money which it from time to time compelled him to advance. On the 14th of February 1797, a Spanish fleet of twenty-seven sail of the line was defeated by Sir John Jervis off Cape St Vincent, and four of the Spanish line-of-battle ships were left in the hands of the victors. From this time till the temporary cessation of hostilities by the peace of Amiens in 1802, there is nothing remarkable in the transactions of Spain.

On the renewal of the war in 1803, Spain was again compelled, by the overbearing power of France, to take an active part against Great Britain, and fitted out a formidable fleet, which was united to a considerable naval force belong[7:20:505] ing to the French. The Spanish declaration of war against Britain is dated at Madrid on the 12th of December 1804; and on the 21st of October 1805, the combined fleets of France and Spain were annihilated by Lord Nelson off Cape Trafalgar. After this terrible blow to the naval power of Spain, nothing of importance took place till 1808, when the liberties of Spain were subverted by the machinations of Napoleon. The designs of the French emperor, long suspected, became sufficiently apparent in 1808. Unfortunately the dissensions of the royal family of Spain were so favourable to his plans, that they may be said to have hurried on their execution. The dark and tortuous policy by which he effected his purpose, and the course which events took in Spain, will be found detailed in the article France , so that only a brief notice of the leading facts will be given in this place. At this time (1807) the management of state affairs was in the hands of Don Manuel Godoy, the favourite of Charles IV. and his queen, and better known by the name of the Prince of Peace. He had been raised from the humblest station to be the richest and most powerful subject in the kingdom, and to fill its highest posts. Ferdinand, the prince of Astu rias, had refused to marry the sister-in-law of this fortu nate minion, and to secure himself from his vengeance he wrote to Napoleon asking for protection. At the same time he exposed the administration of Godoy, in a letter to his father, and requested to be allowed some participation in the government. This so enraged the queen that she ordered his immediate arrest; but, on asking pardon of the king, Ferdinand was restored to liberty, not however before Charles had taken the fatal step of appealing to Napoleon regarding his son’s supposed treasonable conduct. The emperor of France was thus constituted umpire between father and son. French troops poured into Spain, which was thrown into a ferment by the rumour that the royal family were preparing to fly to America. Popular indignation was kindled against the hated favourite, who narrowly escaped with his life. At length Charles abdicated in favour of his son, but two days afterwards privately protested against his own act, and sent a copy of this strange paper to Napoleon, who afterwards made it a pretext for his ulterior designs.

The prince of Asturias, now elevated to the throne un der the title of Ferdinand VII. made his triumphal entry into Madrid. Shortly afterwards he was induced to under take a journey to Bayonne to meet Napoleon, and consult about the affairs of the kingdom. This memorable inter view took place, and the eyes of Ferdinand were now thoroughly opened to the designs of the French emperor, by finding himself a captive in his hands, and his right to be considered king of Spain rudely denied. The rest of the royal family eagerly rushed into the snare set for them by the master of toils at Bayonne. Here father and son sur rendered the crown of Spain into the hands of Napoleon, by whom it was transferred to the head of his brother Joseph. But such a momentous event as a change of dynastics, effected under circumstances of such atrocious perfidy, could not take place without rousing every loyal and every indignant feeling in the bosoms of the Spanish people. No sooner was the fact of the renunciation known, than the northern provinces burst into open insurrection. Asturias and Galicia set the example; and it was soon followed by almost every part of Spain not immediately occupied or overawed by the armies of France. One of the first steps taken by the leaders of the insurrection was to assemble the juntas or general assemblies of the provinces. When these were organized, they issued proclamations, calling on the Spaniards to rise in defence of their sovereign, and in the assertion of their own independence. Besides these proclamations from the provincial juntas, addresses were published in almost every province by the leaders of the popular cause; in particular, the province of Aragon was addressed by Palafox, a name celebrated in the annals of the Spanish revolution, in a bold and spirited manifesto. The junta of Seville, which assembled on the 27th of May, formed itself into a supreme junta of government, caused Ferdinand to be proclaimed king of Spain, took possession of the military stores, and issued an order for all males from sixteen to forty-five, who had no children, to enroll themselves in the national armies. On the 4th of July the alliance of Great Britain with the Spanish nation was proclaimed, and a struggle began which terminated in the complete ex pulsion of the French from the Peninsula. The events of this celebrated war will be found recorded in the article Britian .

The loss of the royal family, by which they were deprived of a directing power, a legitimate head to give the constitutional stamp to their proceedings, plunged the Spaniards in great difficulties. Unity of opinion was wanting to the junta, and vacillation and weakness marked its proceedings. It was unfortunate, that while one spirit animat ed the mass of the people against the French, many of the nobles and other influential individuals had given in their adhesion to the French dynasty. The successes of the lat ter were attributed, probably not without some reason, to treachery; and more than one Spanish general fell a victim to public indignation, whether justly or unjustly cannot now be known. But whatever victories the French gained, they only remained masters of the places which they occu pied. A vast system of guerilla warfare had been organized and vigorously prosecuted, which served to preserve the energy and confidence of the nation unbroken. The guerillas everywhere surrounded and harassed the French; no line of communication was safe for them. These petty achievements, however, could not compensate for the loss of battles on a large scale, and the capture of fortresses, the strongholds of the kingdom. The supreme junta fell under suspicion, and, unable to sustain the weight of government and the storm of public indignation, it was agreed that the Cortes should be convoked, and a regency appointed. The manner in which this celebrated Cortes was constituted has been a subject of keen disputation; but the circumstances in which the kingdom was placed at the time, rendered it impossible for the members being chosen according to the ancient forms. It has been alleged that this assembly was of a much more popular and democratic nature than the regular Cortes, which is undoubtedly the fact. It ought to be recollected, however, that the nobles were a suspected body, and therefore the burgesses and others might consider it dangerous to admit their voice in a matter which involved the liberties of the kingdom. But, we repeat, the situation in which Spain stood at this eventful moment made it a matter of necessity for those who directed the affairs of the nation, to act as they did. Had not the progress of the French armies dispersed the central junta, and concentrated the fugitive patriots at Cadiz, it is more than probable that the Cortes would have been assembled according to the ancient forms, and that the privileged classes, supported by the majority of the nation, would have defeated any attempt to alter the old constitution. But Cadiz offered to that par ty which has been since known by the name of liberal, the most favourable opportunity of striking a deadly blow at the very root of the monarchical power under which they had so long groaned in hopeless yet silent restlessness. Cadiz was not only in itself a place much more democratic than any other in Spain, but during the usurpation of the French it had become the asylum of all who professed liberal prin ciples. As they generally belonged to that numerous class of the Spanish gentry who look up to the patronage of government for the means of subsistence, the court drew them together from the provinces. On the prospect of the political changes which the captivity of Ferdinand opened to the country, these men attached themselves to the central junta, and finally followed its members in their flight from[7:20:506] Seville to Cadiz. Hither, too, flocked all the stragglers of the philosophical party; and on the dissolution of that dull, dilatory knot of ill-assorted men, who, under the veil of dignified gravity, had for a time concealed their unfitness to direct the nation, the Spanish speculatists found themselves in the midst of a population highly disposed to listen to their doctrines, to approve their views, and constitute them the organs of the new laws which were to remodel the kingdom.

The majority of the first Cortes being composed of liberals, the project of a constitution was immediately set on foot, and a committee of the ablest members appointed to draw up the fundamental code of the monarchy. Such a task, at all times arduous, was, in the present circumstances of the country, beset with peculiar difficulties. Encouraged by the absence of the king, placed beyond any check from the privileged classes, and the weight of the landed property of the country, it is not surprising that the framers of the constitution allowed their zeal to carry them too far, especially when it is considered that the Spanish people were almost entirely unaccustomed to the exercise of civil rights. The government was wholly remodelled, so that from being the most absolute monarchy in Europe, it became the most strictly limited of all limited monarchies. As this constitution, with the exception of a few alterations, is nearly the same as that which is now in force, our introducing it in this place will serve to give greater clearness to the subsequent narrative of events. It was drawn up by 184 members of Cortes, on the 18th March 1812. On the 20th of the same month the regency, which consisted of Cardinal Bourbon and two other apparently incapable individuals, took the oath to maintain it. This constitution was acknowledged by the allies of Spain, namely, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, Russia, and other states.

By one of the first articles in the code, the sovereignty is declared to reside essentially in the nation, which, being free and independent, neither is nor can be the patrimony of any person or family. All Spaniards, without distinction, are subject to taxation. “The religion of the Spanish nation is, and shall be for ever, the Catholic, Aposto lic, and Roman, which is the only true religion.” “The nation,” it is added, “protects it by wise and just laws, and forbids the exercise of any other whatever.” The government of the Spanish nation is stated to be “a limited hereditary monarchy.” The power of making laws is vested “in the Cortes, jointly with the king.” In describing the class of Spaniards who enjoy the privileges of citizenship, per sons “reputed of AÏrican origin, either by the father or the mother’s side,” are excluded. A similar exclusion is given to Spaniards who obtain naturalization in another country, or who, without leave, absent themselves five years from Spain. The only basis for the number of representatives in the Cortes is population, to be taken from the census of 1797, till one more correct can be made. For every seventy thousand souls there is to be one deputy in the Cortes. The returns of the members are made by three successive elections. Every parish appoints electors for the district to which it belongs. These repair to the chief town of the district to choose another set of electors, who, lastly, meeting in the capital of the province, make the final appointment to the Cortes. The Cortes are triennial. No member can be elected for two successive representations. No debate can be carried on in the presence of the king; his ministers may attend and speak, but are not allowed to vote. There is a permanent deputation, or committee of the Cortes, composed of seven members, appointed by the whole body, before a prorogation or dissolution, whose duty is to watch over the executive, and report any infringement of the constitution to the next Cortes. It also belongs to them to convoke an extraordinary meeting of the Cortes in the cases prescribed by the constitution.^[2. The Cortes were separated into two bodies in 1836, and the election was made direct, not indirect. ]

The powers of the Cortes are chiefly these: 1 st , To move and pass the laws, and to interpret and alter them when necessary; 2d , to administer the constitutional oaths to the king, the prince of Asturias, &c.; 3 d , to determine any doubt or fact relative to the succession; 4 th to elect a re gency, and define its power; 5 th, to make the public re cognition of the prince of Asturias; 6 th , to appoint guardians to the king while a minor; 7th, to approve or reject treaties previous to ratification; 8 th , to allow or refuse the admission of foreign troops into the kingdom; 9 th , to decree the creation or suppression of offices in the tribunals established by the constitution, as well as of places of public trust; 10 th , to fix, every year, by the king’s proposal, the land and sea forces; 11 th , to regulate the military code in all its branches; 12 th , to fix the expenses of the government; 13 th, to impose taxes, contract loans, and direct every thing relating to the revenue; 1 4th, to establish a plan of public instruction, and direct the education of the prince of Asturias; 15 th , to protect the political liberty of the press; 16 th , to enforce the responsibility of the secretaries of state, and other persons in office.

Laws may be proposed, in writing, by any one of the de puties. Two days after the motion, the bill is to be read a second time. It is then determined whether the subject is to be debated, or to be referre<1 to a committee. Four days after the bill has been voted worthy of discussion, it is read a third time, and a day is appointed for the debate. A majority of votes decides the fate of the bill; the members present on these occasions must exceed half of their total number by one.^[3. Some alteration in the powers of the sovereign was made in 1836. when this constitution was adopted. It was then decided, that the crown should have an absolute veto in the enactment of laws, and should likewise have the power of convoking, proroguing, and dissolving the Cortes; but in the latter case to be under the obligation of assembling others within a given time. ]

The powers of the king are, 1. To suspend the passing of a law, by withholding his sanction. He can exercise this power against any decree of the Cortes for two consecutive sessions; but is compelled to give his assent if the same law is passed by three Cortes successively. 2. The executive power resides exclusively in the king, and extends to whatever relates to the preservation of public order in the interior, and to the external security of the state, ac cording to the constitution and the laws. The privileges and duties of the executive are thus detailed in the consti tution. The king may issue decrees, regulations, and instructions, for the more effectually enforcing of the laws; it is his duty to watch over the administration of justice; he declares war and makes peace, under the control of the Cortes; he appoints judges to all the civil and criminal courts, on the presentation of the council of state; all civil and military employments are of the king’s appointment; he presents to all bishoprics, ecclesiastical dignities, and benefices which may be in the gift of the crown, all by the advice of the council of state; the king is the fountain of honour; the army and the navy are at his command, and he has the appointment of generals and admirals; he has the right of coinage, and the privilege of impressing his bust on the metallic currency of the realm; the king can propose new laws, or amendments to those in existence. It belongs also to him to circulate or withhold the pope’s rescripts and bulls. He can choose and dismiss his own ministers.

The following checks are imposed on the king’s authority by the constitution.

1. The king cannot prevent the meeting of the Cortes at the periods fixed by the constitution, neither can he dis[7:20:507] solve them or disturb their sittings; his advisers and abet tors in such attempts are guilty of treason. 2. If the king should quit the kingdom without the consent of the Cortes, he is understood to have abdicated the crown. 3. The king cannot alienate any part of the Spanish territory. 4. He cannot abdicate the crown in favour of his successor without the consent of the Cortes. 5. He cannot enter into any political alliance, or make commercial treaties, with out the consent of the Cortes. 6. He cannot grant privileges or monopolies. 7. The king cannot disturb any in dividual in the enjoyment of his property, nor deprive him of his personal liberty. If the interest of the state should require the arrest of any individual by virtue of a royal order, the prisoner must be delivered over to a competent tribunal within eight and forty hours. 8. The king can not marry without the consent of the Cortes; he is sup posed to abdicate the crown by taking a wife against their will.

The council of state is composed of forty individuals, viz. two bishops, two priests, and four grandees; the other thirty-two must not belong to any of these classes. The members of the council of state shall be chosen by the king, out of a triple list presented to him by the Cortes. The councillors of state cannot be removed without a trial before the supreme court of justice. Their salary is fixed by the Cortes. The functions of this council of state are to ad vise the king on all important matters of government, and especially upon giving or refusing his sanction to the laws, declaring war, or making treaties. The king, besides, can not bestow any ecclesiastical benefice, or appoint any judge, but at the proposal of the council of state, who, upon every vacancy, are to confine his choice to one out of three individuals, whose names they are to lay before his majesty.

The laws for the security of personal liberty are these: 1. No Spaniard can be imprisoned without a summary pro cess, in which he is credibly charged with the infraction of some law that subjects the offender to corporal punishment; 2. the arrest cannot take place without the warrant of a competent judge; 3. prisoners are not to be examined upon oath; 4. the gaoler shall keep a register of the pri soners, expressing the warrant, and the alleged cause of his confinement.

The rapid series of misfortunes which had shaken the imperial throne of France to its foundations opened the way for the return of the captive Ferdinand to Madrid. The constitutionalists looked forward to his appearance in the country with no favourable eye, and the arrival of despatches from him to the regency threw them into great consternation. Ferdinand announced that he had concluded a treaty with Napoleon. This assumption of absolute power on the part of the king, without the knowledge of the Cortes, was aiming a direct blow at their authority, and violating the constitution recently established; and they accordingly rejected the treaty. They likewise suspended the king from the exercise of all power till he should take the oath which the new constitution prescribed. He entered the Spanish territory on the 24th of March 1814, and took up his residence at Valencia. On his way he had not been slow to discover that the lower orders were in general in different to the constitution. The fact is, the new political principles had scarcely struck root among the people; and with a very considerable party, consisting of grandees, dignitaries of the church, and others, the king was still absolute, and these flocked around their master. In the Cortes itself there was a strong body opposed to the new order of things. A petition, signed by sixty-nine members, was presented to the king, in which the Cortes was described as a mere tool in the hands of a republican party, without freedom of debate, and acting under the control of a mob regularly hired to take possession of the galleries. Nothing, therefore, could be more favourable to Ferdinand’s resuming absolute power. Accordingly, on the 4th of May 1814, a decree was solemnly promulgated, in which the Cortes were declared illegal, and all their laws consequently rescinded. Some of the leading members were arrested, as a prelude to what was shortly to happen. Under their usual leaders, the priests, the lower orders broke out into fierce demonstrations of joy when the news of these events reached the chief towns, and the king proceeded in a sort of triumph to Madrid. Further arrests of the deputies of the late Cortes took place; property was sequestrated and papers were seized; judges were appointed to try obnoxious members; but justice proving too tardy for the king’s eager spirit of revenge, he himself pronounced sentence on the prisoners in a wholesale manner, in open defiance of all law and justice. A few were capitally punished, and a great many more were con signed to dungeons. The inquisition was restored, and was urged to exert its powers against all persons suspected of liberal opinions. Monks became once more the sole direc tors of the king’s conscience, and the reign of absolutism and bigotry was completely restored.

But these arbitrary acts roused the dormant spirit of the Spanish people, and a revulsion of feeling was the conse quence. In vain did the court party silence the press or bribe it into their service; facts which could not be concealed from the people daily pleaded the cause of liberty. Bribery and venality were soon observed to prevail around the throne; the treasury was completely drained, and the army remained unpaid; while, to add to the difficulties and dangers of Ferdinand’s position, armed bands of guerillas, now become organized banditti, swarmed over the country, setting the helpless magistrates at defiance, and commit ting all sorts of atrocities. Freemasonry was abolished, and effectually kept in check; but a far more dangerous society, the members of which assumed the name of Comuneros, was secretly formed, and, in spite of the inquisition and its emissaries, held meetings in most of the principal towns, and kept up an active correspondence among their lodges. The constitution was publicly burned; but this served only to spread disaffection, and to give it an importance in the eyes of the people which it did not formerly possess. Cadiz having been fixed on as the headquarters of the liberals, a regular plan for the overthrow of the government was there formed, and its secret influence was extended through out the provinces. Our limits do not permit us to mention the numerous conspiracies which were discovered, and quenched in blood. They were sufficient to alarm any monarch but one wholly abandoned to the guidance of weak, wicked, or fanatical counsellors. Those who ventured to remonstrate with the king were banished or thrown into prison. The promise which he had made of granting a constitution founded on liberal principles remained un fulfilled, and for six years (18141820) Ferdinand reigned with absolute power. During that time there had been no less than twenty-five changes in the ministry', mostly sud den, and attended with severities. They were produced by the influence of the camarilla, or individuals in the personal service of the king. Every attempt to save the state was frustrated by such counsellors; and the overthrow of the government, now apparently inevitable, became accelerated by the loss of the American colonies.^[4. It is unnecessary to do more in this place than merely allude to the revolution in the Spanish colonies of South America, which broke out in 1808, and finally terminated in the achievement of complete independence. Under the beads Mexico , Peru, Plata, &c., the revolutions in the various provinces will be found described. ]

The army was the instrument of its fall. Amongst the officers several conspiracies had been organized for the restoration of the new constitution, at the head of which were[7:20:508] Porlier, Mina, Lacy, and Vidal. Mina had succeeded in making his escape, but the others were taken and executed, their friends at the same time being put to the torture or thrown into prison. But these severities had no effect in repressing the discontent of the army; for the cause which immediately produced it was not removed,—the arrears due to the troops still remained unpaid. The money which might have been employed for this purpose was foolishly lavished in fitting out an expedition to destroy the liberties of the revolted South Americans: by a singular destiny it became the instrument of the overthrow of despotism at home, and the restoration of Spanish freedom. The troops which were to embark in the autumn of 1819, were indis posed to the American service; and the officers, favourable to the constitution of the Cortes, took advantage of this state of feeling to effect their own purposes. Whole regiments had determined not to embark; and the commander himself, O’Donnel, count del Abisbal, was in the secret. But he basely betrayed the cause, and had the principal conspirators arrested in front of the troops. For this devotion to despotism he was rewarded by the court party by being removed from the command of the expedition. Such un grateful conduct towards a man who had forfeited his ho nour to save them, could not fail to bring the Serviles, as they were designated, into general contempt. A favour able opportunity soon occurred for the liberals carrying into execution the same plan which had failed through the perfidy of O’Donnel. The yellow fever having made its appearance at Cadiz, the safety of the troops which were there assembled demanded that they should be removed to some distance, thus leaving the members of the secret societies and other patriots at liberty to prosecute their schemes without fear of violent interruption. The embarkation of the troops had been fixed for January 1820; but on the first of that month, Riego, who had been placed at the head of the insurrection, gained over several battalions, and proclaimed the constitution of 1812. He arrested Calderon, the successor of O’Donnel; and finally joining Quiroga, a liberated patriot, and at the time in command of some troops, the combined force, amounting to 5000 men, marched on La Caracea, which was occupied. They had previously taken possession of La Isla. But still the coun try showed no disposition to second this bold movement of the army. In vain Riego led a flying column through the provinces, proclaiming the constitution, and expecting sup port from the inhabitants; few or none joined him. But several fortunate circumstances which occurred at this time materially contributed to the success of the insurrection. Mina, who had been obliged to fly to France, entered the Spanish territory of Navarre on the 25th of February, and a numerous band immediately surrounded his standard. Risings simultaneously took place in different quarters in favour of the constitution, which was publicly proclaimed in Galicia, Saragossa, Valencia, Murcia, Granada, and many other places. General Freyer, who had been appointed to the command of the troops in Seville, was himself obliged to publish the constitution in that city.

These insurrections could not fail to appal the weak, ignorant, and unpopular party which surrounded the throne. Ferdinand himself saw no general of sufficient ability or loyalty to be trusted with the command of a large army, which could soon have been concentrated, for there still existed fidelity among a sufficient number of the troops. It was however an expiring feeling, which could only have been reanimated by a great leader, but which, in the pre sent destitution of the country, a mere breath might extinguish. And it was extinguished. Ferdinand was abandoned by his troops. Even O’Donnel, who had acted the part of traitor to the liberal cause, became one of its principal supporters. At Ocana he proclaimed the constitution; an event which produced a great sensation in Madrid. The royal palace was surrounded by a crowd, who called on Ferdinand to accept the constitution, and he now found that no alternative was left to his choice. The humbled monarch appeared at the balcony, holding a copy of the constitution in his hand, as a pledge of his readiness to swear to its observance. This occurred early in March 1820. To give efficacy and legality to the restoration of the constitution, it was necessary that the Cortes should be convoked, and the oath of the king to uphold the new order of things taken in their presence. The Cortes assembled on the 9th of July, and all the formalities were regularly observed. Mean while the constitutional system had been put into complete operation. During its proclamation at Cadiz, a bloody and disgraceful transaction took place; some of the royal troops present wantonly fired on the unarmed multitude, and about 500 were killed or wounded. The inquisition was abolished, as inconsistent with it, the state-prisoners were liberated, and new ministers were appointed. In place of the Council of Castille, and that of the Indies, a supreme judicial tribunal, with appropriate subordinate courts, was established; national guards were organized in the provinces, and the municipal authorities were made to conform to the consti tution.

The meeting of the Cortes of 9th July, and their subsequent proceedings, mark the establishment of a new order of things, destined however to be of short duration. This assembly acted with extreme moderation, the measures of retaliation being infinitely less severe than those which followed the king’s triumph over the constitution. The members strove to temper the violence of the liberals, and endeavoured to restore the afrancesados (those who took the oath to support the French dynasty) to their rights, to counteract the machinations of the serviles, and to heal the wounds of the country. But some of their proceedings were characterized by less judgment and humanity. The suppression of many of the convents and of the majorates, the banishment of the nonjuring clergy, and some other of their measures, excited discontents. Various parts of the country became disgraced by popular excesses, while on the frontiers of Portugal the royalist party formed a junta for restoring the privileges of the crown and the church. Conspiracy and openly avowed disaffection to the new order of things spread so widely, that when the second session of the Cortes opened in April 1821, the country was declared to be in a state of danger. The command of the army having been intrusted to Morillo, quiet was in some measure restored; but still it was found necessary to summon an extraordinary meeting of the Cortes in September. Spanish affairs in America had now assumed their gloomiest aspect; and the government wished to compromise the matter by acknowledging America as a kingdom independent of Spain, but united with her under a common sovereign, Ferdinand VII. Such an absurd proposal was rejected with scorn. The absolutists, although beaten everywhere by the troops of the government, could not be entirely suppressed; and even the adherents of the constitution began to complain of the weaknesses and mistakes of the ministry. The Cortes requested the king to appoint abler men; and to this he reluctantly yielded in 1822. Notwithstanding the errors of the Cortes, considering that the king was with them, and that his brother Carlos, although approving of the conduct of the absolutists, had not ventured to join them, it is probable that the struggles, after continuing for a few years, might have ended in a compromise, had not the whole power of France been thrown into the scale of the serviles.

The events which immediately preceded Ferdinand’s restoration to absolute power, and the complete annulment of all the acts of the Cortes, were so various and compli cated, that, if fully detailed, they would of themselves more than occupy all the space within the limits to which this[7:20:509] outline of Spanish history must be confined. Into particulars, therefore, we shall not enter; only the most import ant transactions can be noticed. Disaffection to the government in the southern provinces, where a strong body of French troops was stationed as a sanitary cordon during the prevalence of pestilence in Spain, terminated in open revolt. The national guards were called out to suppress it, and they were everywhere victorious; but the pecuniary resources were chiefly in the hands of the supporters of despotism. In Madrid an occurrence took place in July 1822, which threatened the most disastrous consequences. This was a daring attempt of the friends of absolute government to overthrow the constitution. They were supported by the royal guards, while the national guards were ranged on the popular side. A conflict took place, in which nearly the whole of the royal guards were cut off. But insurrection, although thus suppressed in the capital, still prevailed to an alarming extent in Biscay, Navarre, and Catalonia, where armed bands, under the name of apostolical troops, feotas, or soldiers of the faith, committed revolting cruelties. Near the French frontier, and probably under French influence, the absolutists appointed a regency, which issued orders in the name of the “imprisoned” king, as they thought fit to call Ferdinand, although he had recently, under no compulsion, but in the most voluntary manner, again declared his adherence to the constitution. The avowed object of this regency was the restoration of every thing to the state in which it had been prior to the 7th of March 1820. But this band of outrageous serviles, unsupported by the nation, was compelled to fly to France in November 1822. The foreign relations of Spain now fell into a state of dreadful disorder; and the principle of armed intervention pronounced by Austria, Russia, and Prussia, in relation to this unhappy kingdom, was threaten ed to be acted upon by France. The restoration of Ferdinand to the full enjoyment of sovereign authority was demanded by the four powers named, while England advised the Cortes to yield, and offered her mediation. But the Spanish government repelled with indignation this attempt of foreign powers to interfere in its affairs. The consequences were the recall of the foreign ambassadors by their respective courts, and the march of 100,000 French soldiers across the Bidassoa. The duke of Angouléme, by whom this army was commanded, established a junta, consisting of Eguia, Calderon, and Erro, who formed a pro visional government, declaring the king the sole depositary of sovereign power, and that no change in the government should be recognised but such as the king should make of his own free choice. All the decrees of the Cortes were declared void; in short, the object of French interference was simply to restore the reign of absolute power. Unfortunately the Cortes had no ally. The relations of Portugal to Great Britain did not allow her to conclude a defensive treaty with Spain. Britain remained neutral; but the exportation of arms and ammunition to Spain was allowed, and, in parliament, Canning called the attempt of the French unjust, and wished the arms of the Cortes success; an expression of sympathy which led the Spaniards for a time to hope that Britain would take a part in the war. Ferdinand, for greater safety, had removed to Seville, and on the 23d of April 1823 he formally declared war against France; but he in vain called on the nation to support the consti tution. The great mass of the people were completely under the influence of the most bigoted priesthood in the world, who of course were absolutists, and hailed the arrival of the French; the adherents of the constitution were confined to the educated class, the army, and the in habitants of cities. The Spanish army might be equal in strength to that of the French, but a considerable part of it was disposed in garrisons and fortresses, scattered over a large surface of country. The military operations of the

French, during their advance upon Madrid, were the siege and capture of several strong towns, and a few partial engagements, in one of which, at least, that of Logroño, they were defeated. The southern provinces, where the absolutists had always a preponderancy, were occupied by the invaders with hardly any resistance; but in Lower Cata lonia, where Mina commanded, they were kept in check for a considerable time. The main body of the French army under Angouléme hastened to the capital, which was occupied on the 24th of May. One of the first steps taken was to appoint a regency, which put every thing on the same footing as before March 7, 1820. But the regency had no pecuniary resources, and no power, if they had the will, to prevent the furious ebullitions of party hatred. The Cortes had in vain tried to excite a general guerilla war; it was but too plain that the mass of the people, at once miserably ignorant and furiously bigoted, without any just notions of what rational liberty was, or in what the new constitution consisted, were content to sur render themselves entirely to the guidance of the priest hood, and consequently everywhere opposed the constitutionalists. Their hatred was still further increased by the seizure of all the property of persons of the opposite party, by a large forced loan, and by the coining of the superfluous church plate, to which measures the want of money compelled the Cortes to have recourse. The war had now spread from the south to the north over the whole breadth of the land, and was actively prosecuted in Andalusia and Estremadura. An attempt at mediation on the part of the English ambassador, Sir W. A’Court, failed; and the king having refused to go to Cadiz, the Cortes, acting on that part of the constitution which provides for the moral incapacity of the sovereign, appointed a regency with royal powers. We cannot regard this proceeding in any other light than as a gross indignity offered to the king, and most impolitic at the time. However, Ferdinand accompanied the Cortes to Cadiz, and the regency ceased to exist. On the other hand, the members of the Cortes who had declared the king morally incapable, were denounced as traitors by the regency of Madrid, which now became recognised by foreign powers, Austria, Prussia, and France, as the only legitimate government of Spain.

Meanwhile the war was briskly carried on, but nothing would induce the people to join the constitutionalists, who accordingly were gradually driven from stronghold to strong hold, although in some places they made a gallant resist ance. Defection among the officers of the army materially contributed to the downfall of their cause. Morillo and Sarsfield were among the deserters. The regency of Madrid conducted themselves in a cruel and outrageous manner towards the friends of the constitution, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of the French generalissimo to restrain their fury. The duke of Angouléme took possession of the city of Cadiz on the 4th October 1823. Previously to this, the Cortes had reinvested Ferdinand with absolute power, and requested him to remove to the French headquarters where he was received with becoming pomp. The first measure of the king was to declare all the acts of the constitutional government from March 7, 1820, to October 1, 1823, null and void, on the ground that during that period he was acting under compulsion. The war terminated in November; and on the 22d of that month the duke of Angouléme took his leave of the army of the Pyrenees. Among the crowds of fugitives were Mina and the count of Abisbal; and among the victims capitally punished was Riego, who suffered at Mad rid on the 6th of November.

The party which now succeeded to power, although weak from want of means, was powerful enough to exercise a persecuting and vindictive policy towards the former partisans of the constitution. The French wished to secure[7:20:510] mildness and moderation, but the bad faith of the Spanish government frustrated these objects. To restrain the violence of party fury, which so widely prevailed, a treaty was concluded with France, by which that power agreed to maintain a large military force in the country, until the Spanish army could be organized. This was certainly a wise measure in the circumstances; for Spain, if left to itself, would probably have fallen into irretrievable confusion. It was divided by two parties, who mortally hated each other; and the bonds of society, already shaken loose by years of war and unrestrained licentiousness, required little more to dissolve them altogether. The reports from the provinces were appalling; the treasury was empty; home and foreign credit were alike destroyed; and trade and commerce were paralyzed. The personal moderation of the king led to the formation of a plot by the absolutists, to compel him to ab dicate, and to raise his brother Carlos to the throne. This was the origin of the Carlists, who make so conspicuous a figure in the sequel. An attempt to restore the inquisition was happily frustrated. In May 1824, a decree of amnesty appeared; but it was a mere mockery, for it contained so many exemptions, that those who were to enjoy its benefits seemed rather to form the exception than the rule. The year 1825 was disturbed by several insurrections of the Carlists, which were attended with numerous executions. The independence of the American colonies was recognised by foreign powers, but Spain herself did not acknowledge it till the year 1836. The general interruption of commerce and industry, with the flight of many persons of property, occasioned much distress. The disturbances continued for some years, attended with the same marks of feebleness on the part of the government, and a continuance of general distress. It was a period of terror for the liberals, who were plundered and imprisoned on the slightest pretexts. The army, purged of all officers suspected of liberalism, was recruited by a motley throng of adventurers, friars, smugglers, mechanics, publicans, and muleteers, who had been officers in the guerilla bands of Catalonia and Navarre. The ranks being replenished in this manner, the French troops were enabled to evacuate Spain in 1828. Some insurrections, which had broken out during the preceding year, were suppressed without much trouble; and in spite of the arbitrary rule of the Carlists, their tortuous policy, and their open violence, the country began to show some symptoms of improvement.

In May 1829, Ferdinand lost his queen, and on the 9th of November following, her place was supplied by a Neapolitan princess, Christina Maria. Unblessed with issue by his three former marriages, the hope and the desire of having a child of his own to inherit his honours and preserve the throne to his dynasty, probably hastened the nuptials of Ferdinand. The French revolution of 1830 caused much less sensation in Spain than might have been ex pected. The fact is, the liberal party had been so devour ed or dispersed by the sword, the scaffold, exile, and the dungeon, that in the country itself it was not powerful; but a rash and ill-judged attempt in the constitutional cause was made from without. General Mina assembled a body of refu gees and others, and invaded the Basque provinces; but they were speedily repelled, and sought refuge in France. Mean while, some events of momentous importance had taken place in the royal family. The Infant Don Carlos was presumptive heir of the throne; the succession to the Spa nish crown had been subjected to the Salic law by Philip V., so that, as matters stood at present, no daughter of the reigning king could interrupt its descent to his brother. The queen of Ferdinand' was about to make him a father, and in order to secure the crown to his own child, should the issue prove a female, he resolved on revoking the Salic law, which excludes females. It is important to observe, that, in 1789, Charles IV. issued a pragmatic sanction, having the force of law, and establishing the regular succession to the crown of Spain in females as well as males. The Cortes of 1812 likewise solemnly revoked the law of Philip V., and reestablished the old law of the Partidas. But as Ferdinand had annulled the acts of that assembly, and as the decree of Charles IV. might be cavilled at by the fierce and intolerant party who wished that Carlos should succeed to the throne, the king obtained the records of the Cortes of 1789 regarding the succession, and on the mar gin opposite the decree of Charles IV., with his own hand, wrote a decree to the same effect. The minister, Calomarde (a Carlist at heart), remonstrated with the king against its publication; but Ferdinand was firm, and ordered the resolution to be carried into effect. In compliance with this demand, the whole was forwarded to the council; and in the gazette of the 6th of April 1830, the edict was published to the world. It was likewise regularly proclaimed in the streets of Madrid with the usual formalities. Ferdinand’s foresight was justified. The infant with which the queen presented him was a daughter, born on the 10th of October, and christened Isabella Maria Luisa.

But the Carlists did not wait for the expected birth of the heir to the throne to show how terribly the publication of the decree had staggered them. They rushed into hasty plots against the government, which were detected before they were ripe for execution; and in various ways showed their chagrin and irritation. In order to render the succession still more secure, Ferdinand called a meeting of the Cortes, before which the edict of Philip V. was again repealed, and his daughter, the Infante Isabel, recognised as princess of the Asturias. An insurrection broke out in Cadiz in 1831, at the head of which was General Torrijas. It was soon quelled, and the leader, with fifty-three companions, fled to Malaga, where they were taken prisoners, and all shot in cold blood. The other events of this year are unimportant, with the exception of a sudden illness of the king, which so excited the hopes of the Carlists, that they strenuously urged their master to take advantage of the circumstance, and at once seize the crown. This re markable fact shows with what spirit they were animated. It was not a love of justice, but ambition, and a spirit of vindictive hostility to the constitutionalists, who now began to be tolerated, that instigated them to attempt the exaltation of Carlos to the throne, and that at all hazards, even before he possessed the semblance of a claim to it; for while Ferdinand lived, by what right could he grasp at his sceptre? Yet his partisans extol his magnanimity in refusing it at this time.

In the course of the year 1832, Ferdinand had an alarming relapse of his disease, during the paroxysms of which a transaction took place of the utmost importance in itself, and which has been very differently represented by different parties. It was the signing of a decree by which he re stored the Salic law to full operation, and the further confirming the disinheriting of his daughter, by annulling his testament in her favour. It is certain that the ministers strenuously urged him to adopt this measure; and that they were under Carlist influence, is no less certain. Every thing was accomplished to their wishes; the document was signed and properly secured, and the king appeared to have fallen into the sleep of death. His dissolution indeed was announced; but, contrary to all human expectation, the disease took a favourable turn; all symptoms of immediate danger disappeared, and consciousness and understanding were restored to Ferdinand. The use which he made of the lucid interval thus vouchsafed to him, was to dismiss his ministers, to appoint the queen regent during his illness, and to undo what he had lately done regarding the succession, thus restoring to his daughter her right to the throne. The decree to this effect was issued on the last day of the year. The former ordinance, he declared, had been extort[7:20:511] ed from him, not only when he was in the agonies of expected death, but under false misrepresentations that all Spain demanded it, and that the inviolability of the monarchy required it; whereas it had only been desired by an ambitious and unscrupulous faction, and was opposed to the fundamental laws of the kingdom. A more liberal minis try was formed, and some liberal measures were adopted; high expectations were raised that milder times were at hand, and the funds in Madrid rose ten per cent. Early in 1883, Ferdinand was able to resume the reins of govern ment. On the 20th of June he assembled the Cortes to swear allegiance to his daughter, and do homage to her as their future sovereign. This solemnity was performed with great pomp in the church of the royal monastery of St Jerome. Don Carlos refused to take the oath; but previously to this he had taken up his residence in Portugal, where his nephew was playing the same desperate game which he himself was about to undertake. Ferdinand survived the ceremony of the jura only a few months. He expired on the 29th of September 1833, leaving a will, in which he appointed his daughter Isabella heir to the crown, and her mother regent during her minority.

No sooner was Isabella II. proclaimed queen, than Don Carlos announced his claim to the throne, and the flames of civil war burst out in the northern provinces, where his par tisans, assembled in great numbers, stood ready armed for the contest. Of the bloody and protracted struggle for the throne which ensued, we can afford room for few details; indeed, an account of the numerous battles, skirmishes, sieges, and other warlike operations, would prove a very uninteresting and monotonous portion of the modem his tory of Spain. Isabella was acknowledged without opposition throughout all the provinces of Spain, and by the leading powers of Europe. The question of the Spanish suc cession, apart altogether from the bloody war to which it gave rise, has been keenly agitated in this and many other countries. It may be briefly stated as follows. Carlos’s right rests upon the Salic law, which had never the force of law in Spain. The Salic law was not the ancient rule of succession; it was first introduced by the Bourbon Philip V., the greatgrandfather of Don Carlos. Females could always succeed in Castille, Leon, and Portugal. It was by marriage with the heiress of Navarre that a king of France obtained a claim to that kingdom; and although females were excluded in Aragon, yet it was through a princess that its inheritance passed to the counts of Catalonia. It was by the right of female succession that the house of Austria reigned in Spain; it was by the same right that the Bourbons themselves occupied the throne. It formed a part of the Partidas, or system of constitutional law, which Philip swore to observe on his succession to the throne. The Salic law, on which Carlos grounds his claim, could only be established in two ways; by the old forms of the constitution, or by the despotic will of the sovereign. If the advocates of Don Carlos take their stand on the former ground, the answer is, that the forms as well as the sub stance of the constitution were violated when Philip V. established his law of succession; and that, conscious of its in validity, he did not register it in the form usual with similar acts; while again, if we pass over the Cortes of 1789 as secret and irregular, we have the Cortes of Cadiz in 1812, which abolished the decree of Philip, and restored the ancient law of the Partidas. But Ferdinand having annulled the proceedings of this body, its reestablishment of the right of female succession must fall to the ground with its other decrees. There is however Ferdinand’s own de cree, constituting his daughter his successor, which was just as regularly sanctioned by the Cortes as Philip’s law of succession. If, on the other hand, the sovereign is to be regarded as despotic in Spain, the question is at an end; for even Carlos must acknowledge that Ferdinand had a right to regulate the succession according to his own royal plea sure. This view seemed to have been taken by the king’s confessor, and his minister Calomarde,, when, during his dangerous illness at La Granja in 1832, they induced him to sign a new will, settling the crown on Don Carlos. Ferdinand’s recovery disconcerted their plan; but their effort plainly shows that the partisans of Don Carlos at that time felt that the Salic law was a very weak support to their favourite’s claims. The transaction by which Ferdinand (supposed to be on his deathbed) transferred the crown to his brother, is admitted by the Carlists to have been a perfectly legal proceeding. Can the subsequent transaction, by which, under exactly similar circumstances, the king ap pointed his daughter his successor, be considered otherwise than as an equally legal proceeding? If the constitution be referred to, the question is decided against Don Carlos; the will of the sovereign is against his claim; and, what is of yet more consequence, as the event has shown, the will of the majority of the nation is against him.

It was in the northern provinces, in Navarre, Guipuscoa, Biscay, and Alava, that the strength of Don Carlos lay. Here he was immediately proclaimed in several towns by the title of Charles V., and bands of Carlist guerillas assembled to maintain his right to the throne. He himself still hovered a fugitive on the frontiers of Portugal, his movements being closely watched by a royal force under General Rodil. Another strong division of the queen’s army, under General Sarsfield, marched against the disaffected provinces. The Carlists retired before him; Bilboa and other towns were occupied and garrisoned; the constitutional party was restored in several places where it had lost ground; and the insurrection seemed at first to have been happily put down without much loss. But early in 1834 the affairs of the Carlists assumed altogether a new aspect. Hitherto their operations were carried on in an unconnected manner; this system was now exchanged for one of steady unity of design. Indeed so numerous were the adherents of Don Carlos in the north, that there was only required a firm hand to seize the reins, control local jealousies, and direct aright the energies of the provinces. Such a man was Thomas Zumalacarreguy, who now assumed the chief command of the Carlists. He was admirably skilled in the desultory warfare of these provinces, and well acquainted with the country and with the charac ter of the inhabitants. By his activity and enterprise he repeatedly inflicted severe blows upon the forces of the queen, or the Christinos, as they were generally called. His method of fighting was to surprise the enemy in an unprotected position, and cut off as many of them as he could before they recovered from their panic. His troops would then suddenly separate and fly, but only to unite again at a predetermined point some miles in the rear. By this mode of warfare he caused great loss to the Christinos, while his own small band suffered little. The Christino army under General Rodil, who had now obtained the chief command, might amount to 20,000 men, and was thus sufficiently strong at least to have confined Zumalacarreguy to the mountains; but it was greatly reduced by several thousand troops having been distributed among a number of petty fortresses, most of which, one after the other, fell a prey to the Carlist chieftain. It was further weakened by being divided into different corps and scattered over the country. Rodil found it necessary to resign the command, which now devolved upon Mina, from whom much was ex pected. Nor did he disappoint the hopes which were formed of him. Just before his appointment, Generals O’Doyle and Asina had severally been defeated with great loss by Zumalacarreguy, which occasioned much alarm at Madrid, and loud outcries against the ministry. But the old war rior, though broken by sickness and infirmities, restored confidence by making head against the hitherto victori[7:20:512] ous Carlists, and bringing victory to the standards of the queen.

In the mean while, Don Carlos, after paying a short visit to England, made his appearance in Spain; and his presence among his partisans greatly strengthened his cause in the northern provinces. France and Britain had acknowledged Queen Isabella II. These two powers, along with Portugal, entered into a treaty with Spain, the conditions of which quadruple alliance were, that France should watch the fron tiers, so that the insurgents might receive no aid from that country; that Britain should supply such arms and munitions of war as the Spanish government should stand in need of, whilst at the same time she should guard the northem ports of Spain, so as to prevent the insurgents from receiving any assistance in men, money, or ammunition, and also assist the queen with a naval force; and that Portugal should cooperate by every means in her power: but that country was at the time in too embarrassed a situation to render any efficient assistance. As soon as the arrival of Don Carlos in Navarre was known, the four powers who had been parties to the treaty renewed its stipulations, in respect that its object had not yet been attained. This imparted confidence and vigour to the cabinet of Madrid, of which it stood greatly in need. A variety of measures occupied the attention of government during the year 1834, not the least important of which was the plan of a new charter or constitution. It is quite unnecessary to enter into any details of what the Cortes proposed should be done, as every thing was overturned and put upon a new footing by a revolution which occurred two years afterwards. The financial state of Spain, particularly the large debt which the government owed to foreign nations, formed a subject of protracted discussion. Doubts were raised as to whether a part of it was legitimately owing; but the debates in the Cortes terminated in the whole being recognised as justly due. This contributed to restore the credit of Spain in foreign money-markets, where it had been greatly shaken, and enabled the government to contract for a new loan. Another measure of importance which engaged the attention of the Cortes, was the passing of a bill of exclusion from the throne against Carlos and his descendants. During the year the ministry had undergone a complete change, chiefly through the instrumentality of a popular leader of the name of Llauder. Zea was superseded in the office of prime minister by Martinez de la Rosa, supposed to be a person of more liberal predilections.

The military operations of 1835 were prosecuted with great vigour on the part of the Carlists. Several import ant towns and fortresses fell into their hands, and siege was laid to Bilboa, the capital of Biscay. After sustaining a furious bombardment for several days, the place was re Reved, principally through the instrumentality of some British gunners under Lord John Hay, commander of a ship of war then on the coast of Biscay. It was during the attack on Bilboa that Zumalacarreguy received the wound of which he died on the 23d of June. The death of this chief threw a gloom on the affairs of Don Carlos; it was the severest loss which his cause had sustained, and he never properly repaired it. Among the Christines this event diffused a joy and hope which they made no efforts to conceal. Worn out by long service, by age, and by dis ease, the veteran Mina resigned the command, which ultimately devolved upon General Cordova, under whom was the celebrated Espartero. The Spanish government having been permitted to levy a body of mercenaries in Great Britain, several thousand recruits were raised in this country, and were led to the theatre of war in Spain under the command of General Evans. The British legion soon took an active part in the war, and distinguished itself upon various occasions. The Carlist army, although it abandoned the siege of Bilboa, still continued in the neighbour hood, prepared to take advantage of circumstances. An opportunity soon occurred for attacking the Christinos at the village of Arrigoriaga, which they made an attempt to pass. The royalists were driven back with considerable loss, and this check for the time interrupted the movements of Cordova’s army. On the other hand, the Christinos laid claim to more than one victory gained over their enemies; but these doubtful and unproductive skirmishes, which in the flush and enthusiasm of triumph were magnified into decisive battles, are too insignificant to require a detail in this place. At the close of 1835, matters stood much as they did at the commencement of the year. But the war was now carried on with more humanity than formerly. A strong remonstrance on the part of the British government, against the barbarous practice of putting prisoners to death, had the desired effect, at least for a time, of staying the effusion of blood in this inhuman manner.

Those parts of Spain exempt from the horrors of war, were for the most part subjected to the scourge of political anarchy. The new government of the queen-regent had been founded on an abandonment of the old system of un mitigated despotism. Her daughter’s throne was to be identified with more liberal institutions, and was thus to be protected by all political reformers, all who were inimical to absolutism. But the extent to which the old system was to be abandoned, and the form in which a popular government was to be established, were questions regarding which every possible diversity of opinion prevailed. The un quiet elements thus at work showed themselves first in a military revolt, and then in the revolt of several provinces, in which the democratic party sought to usurp the powers of government. For a time they set the lawful authorities at defiance, for the government of Madrid was helpless. Even here disaffection had spread to a most alarming ex tent, the urban militia having openly revolted. In vain were royal decrees issued, and strong measures put in force to repress the disturbances; an open war between the government and numerous sections of the liberals seemed on the eve of breaking out. Fortunately this was averted by a change of the ministry, which was loudly demanded by the factious opposition. The life and soul of the new ministry was Mendizabel, a man of great vigour, and very popular among the people, on account of his liberal prin ciples. He condemned the repressive measures which had been acted upon, adopted a more lenient system of dealing with the malcontents, and proposed various alterations in the constitution, the mere mention of which sufficed to restore the country to comparative tranquillity. But all the deliberations of the ministry and the Cortes were rendered abortive by the military revolution which broke out at Malaga on the 25th of July 1836. The object of the ultra liberals had uniformly been the restoration of the constitution of 1812. Without this no change of ministers could satisfy them, and no vigilance on the part of government could prevent them from covertly prosecuting their designs. It was with the national guard that the revolt originated. In Malaga the governor was assassinated, and a junta was appointed to proclaim the constitution. Intelligence of these events spread throughout the country with the greatest rapidity. Cadiz and Saragossa took up the signal nearly at the same moment; and they were instantly followed by Seville, Cordova, Granada, and Valencia. At length the capital itself joined the insurgent cities; and on the 13th of August the queen, now deserted and helpless, was compelled to issue a decree, promising the restoration of the constitution of 1812. But all men who were reasonable and honest in their politics felt and admitted that some alterations in that code were quite indispensable. The Cortes accordingly appointed a committee to consider and propose[7:20:513] such alterations as were necessary and advisable; and this they accomplished in a highly satisfactory manner. The changes recommended and finally adopted by the Cortes were, 1st, that the part of the constitution which contain ed mere regulations and forms, and regarded organic bodies and laws, should be entirely suppressed: 2dly, that in stead of the Cortes continuing to form, as they did under the constitution of 1812, only one body, they should now consist of two bodies, differing from each other in the personal qualification of their members, &c. but neither to be hereditary nor privileged: 3dly, that the crown should have an absolute veto in the enactment of laws, and should like wise have the power of convoking, proroguing, and dis solving the Cortes; but in the latter case to be under the obligation of assembling others within a given time: 4thly, that the election of members of the Cortes should be direct, and not indirect, as established by the constitution of 1812.

While Spain was thus undergoing the most momentous political changes, the very existence of the queen’s government was threatened by the Carlists, who were making alarming progress in the very centre of the kingdom. During the early part of the year the Christines attacked the position of the Carlists at Arlavan, but with so little success that they were compelled to make a retrograde movement. However, early in May, the British legion, under General Evans, gallantly carried the Carliist lines be fore St Sebastian; but unfortunately this victory, like many others gained, was productive of no important result, chiefly through the sloth and inactivity of the Spanish generals. The circumstance which created the great alarm to which allusion has been made, was the march of a large body of Carlists under Gomez through the very heart of Spain. This chief penetrated from province to province, to the centre of Andalusia, laying the country under heavy contribution, and carrying off loads of booty from every place which he visited. The audacity of this enterprise seems for a time to have paralysed the royalists. Consternation spread over Spain from Madrid to Gibraltar. Gomez at tacked and carried several towns, and some bodies of troops who attempted to arrest his progress were totally destroyed. No less than three distinguished Spanish generals, each with a large army, were despatched to cut him oft’; but all their efforts to entrap him and his daring band proved fruit less. He was repeatedly surrounded, and apparently on the eve of being taken, but always succeeded i n effecting his escape. At length, however, he was hemmed in to the seacoast at San Roque, and his destruction seemed inevi table; but, by a daring and masterly movement, he broke through the line which encompassed him, and secured his retreat to the strongholds of the north.

Towards the close of 1836, the town of Bilboa was again invested by the Carlists, to whom it was an object of great importance, as being a city of sufficient consideration to give dignity to the court of Carlos, and an appearance of permanence to his establishment. It was, besides, the capital of Biscay, and inseparably connected, in the eyes of the Basques, with their fueros and local parliament. The siege was carried on with an ardour corresponding with the importance attached to the place. The defence was equally spirited and heroic. During the sixty days which the in vestment lasted, the fortitude of the besieged was put to the severest test, not only by the long-continued fire of the Carlists, by their repeated attacks, and by their mining operations, but by want of proper food and by sickness. At length General Espartero succeeded in compelling the Carlists to retire with the loss of all their guns and matériel for the siege, and Bilboa was relieved. The intelligence was received at Madrid with unbounded enthusiasm, and honours and rewards were heaped upon the defenders, and those who had so opportunely relieved them. The Chris tinos, however, as usual, neglected to follow up the success, allowing the Carlists to remain unmolested in the neighbourhood. Near St Sebastian they mustered very strong during the early part of 1837, and here they were attacked by the Anglo-Christinos under General Evans, and driven back with some loss; but receiving a great accession of strength, the Carlists in their turn compelled the royalists to retreat with at least equal loss. The affair of Hernani would have been much more disastrous, but for the steady bravery of a small body of British marines, who checked the advance of the Carlists, and retired to St Sebastian in good order. In a subsequent attack on Irun and Fuent arahia, General Evans was completely successful; but it seems perfectly clear that this officer was never cordially supported by the Spanish commanders. The defeat before Hernani would never have taken place had Espartero and Sarsfield supported him according to the concerted plan. The time for which the British legion volunteered its ser vices expired in the month of May, and shortly afterwards it disbanded, nearly the whole returning to England in the most destitute condition. Meanwhile Don Carlos had follow ed the example of Gomez, by marching an army through the central parts of the kingdom. Our limits will not permit us to follow him in this daring but useless expedition. One body of Carlists advanced within a few leagues of Madrid, and all was consternation in the capital. But the Christino generals concentrating their forces, compelled the main body of the Carlist army to retire from the provinces into which it had made so fierce an irruption. Disunion also began to show itself in the camp of Don Carlos, so that, disappointed and disheartened, he retreated to his old fastness beyond the Ebro, accompanied however by a large convoy of booty. Besides these military operations, prosecuted on a large scale, there was a system of desultory warfare maintained all over the country, more destructive in its effects upon the inhabitants than the regular operations of an army. Brigandage, never viewed with much horror in Spain, had now become as common as a lawful trade. Remorseless cruelty characterized the proceedings of all parties; and civil life, except in the large towns, seemed for the time suspended.

The civil and parliamentary history of Spain for 1837 presents little that is of any importance. The new constitution formed a fruitful theme of discussion in the Cortes. After undergoing the alterations already mentioned, and some others of less moment, it was solemnly ratified by the queen-regent in the Cortes, and proclaimed to the nation. It is worthy of being noticed, that an attempt to introduce toleration in religious matters, by an amendment to the article which establishes the Catholic faith, met with the strongest opposition. This striking fact shows how deeply rooted the old Spanish bigotry remains in the national mind. During the year, bills were passed for the suppression of religious houses, and the abolition of the payment of tithes, the maintenance of the clergy being left to the government. Several judicious ecclesiastical reforms were projected; and among other important measures passed by the Cortes, was the abolition of the local parliaments in the Basque provin ces. Ministerial changes repeatedly took place during the year, but into these we shall not enter.

The military operations of the Carlists in 1838 were Iess successful and less enterprising than they had been during the two previous years. Cabrera, indeed, a general w ho had frequently signalized his talents for war, had firmly established himself in Aragon and Valencia, and the bands of partisans allowed no respite to the distracted provinces; but we have to record none of those daring and brilliant flying expeditions which more than once traversed Spain in all directions with such celerity and success as to command the attention of Europe. Something of this kind was indeed attempted by Basilio Garcia, and by Tallada, but[7:20:514] both these generals were signally defeated. The cause of Don Carlos was now visibly declining: the best and bravest of the chiefs who had served him had successively incurred his displeasure, and were either in disgrace, exile, or confinement; above all, the country was beginning to be favourably disposed to the queen. Her troops however were very unsuccessful in the field. General Orad was defeated at Morella, and General Alaix also suffered a repulse. But the principal battle fought between the Carlists and Christinos was that of Maella, where General Cabrera completely routed the queen’s troops under Pordinas, but sullied his victory by butchering nearly two hundred prisoners in cold blood. The war throughout had been disgraced by similar atrocities, notwithstanding the efforts of Britain to put a stop to them. Both parties appear to have been equally guilty of this inhuman practice. The operations of Eεpar tero were feeble and uncertain. He did little but march a large army from place to place, without striking a decisive blow. As usual, almost every part of Spain continued to be ravaged by guerilla bands, who swarmed over the pro vinces with no other objects in view but plunder and blood shed. During the year, the Cortes had twice met; their deliberations chiefly referred to the state of the finances and the negociation of a loan, which was not effected. The ministry, always feeble, had now become more feeble than ever, notwithstanding that changes were continually taking place. The queen-regent found it impossible to form a strong government in the present political state of the coun try. Its helplessness was such that the generals commanding in the different provinces found it necessary to act in dependently of its arrangements, and to appropriate the revenues of each province to the payment of the military expenses incurred in it, instead of allowing the monies to pass into the treasury. Thus General Van Halen, who had organized a fine army of 40,000 men, called the army of the centre, after declaring the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, and Murcia, in a state of siege for the rest of the war, and that in future the civil were to consider themselves in sub ordination to the military authorities, proclaimed, that the entire revenues of those provinces should be paid into the military chest, and exclusively appropriated to the expenses of the war. This was probably the very wisest measure that could have been adopted for bringing the war to a speedy termination. Want of pay had repeatedly paralyzed the operations of the Christine armies; it had dispersed the British legion; and at this very moment it was exciting discontent, if not revolt, in the camp of Don Carlos. To place the pay of the queen’s troops upon a sure footing, was therefore the first step to secure ultimate triumph in the field.

During 1839, the cause of Don Carlos rapidly declined, notwithstanding the desperate efforts made by Generals Cabrera and Maroto to maintain it. Espartero, the comman der-in-chief of the queen’s troops, after some hard fighting, cut off the Carlists completely from the plains of Alava, while Diego Leon likewise expelled them from the rich country between the mountains and the Ebro. Many towns and fortresses of importance, one after another, submitted to the triumphant Christines, so that almost the only parts of Biscay which now owned the authority of Carlos were rugged mountainous tracts of country, whither no regular army could follow the fugitives. An armistice was at length concluded between Maroto and Espartero, which was followed by twenty-one Carlist battalions laying down their arms. Don Carlos himself, reduced to the last extremity, fled for refuge into France, where he formally renounced his pretensions to the throne of Spain, under certain conditions alike reasonable and necessary. The question relative to the fueros of the Basques and Navarre, which, it will be recollected, had been abolished, caused much uneasiness. It seemed perfectly evident that these important provinces would not be satisfied, or completely surrender themselves to the queen’s authority, unless their local privileges were restored. After some debating in the Cortes this measure was agreed to, government stipulating that it would so modify the fueros as to reconcile the interests of these provinces with those of the nation, and with the constitution of the monarchy. The only Carlist chief who gave any uneasiness to the government was Ca brera, who, little affected by the pacification of the northern provinces, still maintained his footing in Valencia, determined to support the cause of Carlos while an army remain ed to back him. Towards the close of the year, however, sickness paralyzed his exertions; nor is it supposed that he will be able to effect much when the season again arrives for an army taking the field. It is to be hoped that this protracted, bloody, and disgraceful war is now virtually at an end. It has left Spain overwhelmed with a debt which at present she has no prospect of being able to pay for many years to come. National property, chiefly that of the church, was sold to the amount of L. 10,000,000, to meet the exigencies of the time, but even this large sum fell far short of what was required. The resources of the country are no doubt great, but a long period of peace, and a wise administration of public affairs, will be necessary before these are developed to their full extent. Spain has scarcely been free from internal war since this century commenced. The injury thus inflicted on agriculture, commerce, trade, and manufactures, is not to be estimated, while its effect on the morals of the people has been most pernicious, transforming the peaceful husbandman into a robber, and the aspiring student into a leader of banditti. That Spain has struggled through this sanguinary period of her history without being involved in total ruin, proves that the natural resources of the country are immense, and only require proper management to raise her above her former rank in the scale of nations.

statistics .

The position and boundaries of Spain have already been described. Its extent north and south is from Tarifa Point, in the Straits, in 36° north latitude, to Cape Ortegal in Galicia, 43° 46', making 7° 46' of latitude, or about 540 English miles. From east to west the extreme points are Cape Creus, in Catalonia, 3° 17' of east longitude, and Cape La Roca, 9° 17' of west longitude, the distance in this direction being 560 miles. The Peninsula thus forms almost a square, allowance being made for the irregularity of its outline; and the entire extent of Portugal being ex cluded, it is reckoned to contain about 176,000 square miles English.

Spain may be considered as composed of a series of mountain terraces, which, projecting successively their rugged edges towards the south, present a flight of gigantic steps from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean. The chains of mountains which terminate and divide the great plains of the Peninsula are branches of the immense ridge that, from the most elevated part of Tartary, runs across Asia and Europe, penetrates into the south of France by Switzerland, and, entering Spain in the direction of the valleys of Roncal and Bastan, separates Navarre from Guipuscoa, Biscay from Alava, the highlands of Burgos from the plains of Old Castille, and Asturias from the kingdom of Leon; then crosses Galicia, and dips into the ocean at Capes Ortegal and Finisterre.

The Pyrenees are lateral ramifications of this great trunk, which run east and west on the eastern side of Spain, and take a southwest and northwest direction on the confines of Aragon and Navarre. The accumulated mass of these mountains presents, towards the Peninsula, the convex side of a spherical segment, which, like a shield with its boss to[7:20:515] the south, rounds its edges near the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and rears the highest part of its curve on the Spanish territory, between the springs of the rivers Cinca and Ara. This eminence, called Mont Perdu by the French, is known, in Aragon, by the appellation of Tres Sorores, alluding to its three peaks, distinctly seen from Saragossa, of which the highest rises 4114 Spanish yards above the level of the sea. The line of perpetual congelation is there at the height of 2924 yards.

In the minor branches which strike off from the Pyrenees in a south direction, without forming a part of the great secondary chains, which we shall presently describe, there are some mountains too remarkable to be left unnoticed. Such are the Monsein, on the coast of Catalonia, near the town of Arens, and the well-known Monserrat, which rises, on the same coast, to the height of 1479 yards above the sea; such the Sierras of Ribagorza, Barbastro, Hucsea, and Jaca, which take their names from the principal cities in their neighbourhood; such, finally, those numerous spurs of the great ridge which run into Navarre, whose various appellations would only tend to confuse the reader.

Of the main ridges which run across the Peninsula, that which rises to the west of the source of the Ebro was called Idubcda by the Romans, and formed the limits of the ancient Celtiberia. In its course towards the Mediterranean, the natives, according to a general custom, distinguish the various portions or great links of the chain by the appellation of Sierras, adding the name of some town or notable height in their vicinity. Such are the Sierra de Oca of Urbion (the Distertiae of the middle ages), of Moncayo (Mons Caunus), of Molina, Albarracin, and Cuenza. Part of this chain forms the limits of Aragon and Castille; it then penetrates into Valencia, Murcia, and Granada, and ends in the Capes Oropesa (Tenebrium), Martin, Palos, and Gata. The small town of Alcolea, in the province of Soria, stands on this chain, at the height of 1486 yards above the sea. Its mean elevation, on the road between Molina and Teruel, in Aragon, is 1580 yards.

The first point where this great ridge splits into the minor chains, which lose themselves in the Mediterranean, is to the north of Albarracin, in Aragon. Of these branches the most remarkable is that which, entering the province of Valencia, is again subdivided into the smaller ridges which terminate at Peñiscola and Cape Oropesa. The waters that descend from these heights, to the north, mix finally with the Ebro, while the Turia and the Mijares are swelled by those which flow from the southern declivities. On the branch stretching towards Peñiscola, and in the limits of Ara gon, rises the Muela de Ares, a conical mountain, deprived of its apex; whose top is an extensive plain covered with luxuriant pasture, and surrounded by fearful precipices, at the elevation of 1562 Spanish yards above the sea. This is one of the highest spots in the Peninsula. The Tagus, the Xucar, and the Cabriel, take their rise among these mountains, and divide the waters which flow from their sides between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Numerous flocks of sheep, both itinerant and stationary, find, in the valleys formed by this chain, the most abundant summer pastures.

From Albarracin, this chain strikes into the territory of Cuenza, in a direction nearly north and south. It then sends off a branch to the east-south-east, on which the Collado de la Plata, or Silver Hill, rises 1598 yards above the sea. It contains a quicksilver mine, which was formerly worked. From the neighbourhood of this town the Sierra de Espadan runs, like an unbroken bulwark, to the sea near Murviedro, in a direction between southeast and north west. These hills are described as singularly grand and picturesque.

Near the source of the Tagus, the Iberian ridge sends off another branch, which, stretching in almost a southern direction, separates La Mancha from the province of Murcia, to the west of the town of Albacete, and rises into the lofty mountains of Alcaraz and Segura (the ancient Orospeda), dividing the waters between the Guadalquivir and the Segura, the two main streams which severally and finally convey them to the ocean and the Mediterranean. One of the two great limbs which terminate the Iberian ridge runs into the sea at Cape Cervcra; the other, bending to the south, skirts the kingdom of Granada, and disappears at Cape Gata. To the latter belongs the mountain called Cabezo de Maria, between Carthagena and Cape Gata, one league west of the town of Vera, on the coast of Valencia. It rises 2287 yards above the sea, and has its summit covered with snow during one half of the year.

Smaller brunches of this chain project between the Turia and the Cabriel, which loses itself in the Xucar at Cofrentes. A ridge runs between the last-mentioned river and the Al coy, another stream, which flows into the sea near Gandia. A minor chain separates the Alcoy and the mouth of the Segura. The province of Valencia is, in fact, divided by mountains into most fertile stripes, watered by numerous streams, and enjoying every blessing which nature grants to the most favoured climates.

The great ridge whose summits divide the waters be tween the Duero and the Tagus grows out of the Iberian chain, not far from the sources of the Xalon and the Ta juña, to the south of the city of Soria, and the site of the ancient Numantia. Where it divides the province of Guadalaxara from that of Soria, it is called Sierra de Paredes, and Altos de Baraona. On one of the hills, north of Sigu enza, rises the Henares, which gives its name to the ancient Complutum, now Alcala de Henares, the seat of a university. Near the source of the Lozoya, a rivulet which runs into the Xarama, these mountains are called Somosierra, till, more to the west, they bear the name of Guadarrama; an appellation which they preserve throughout the long course in which they skirt the provinces of Segovia, Avila, Guada 1axara, and Madrid. The Puerto de Navacerrada, the highest point on the road from Madrid to the summer pa lace of San Ildefonso, is 2204 yards above the sea.

The mountains of Guadarrama are a very striking object when seen from the neighbourhood of Madrid, on the road to Old Castille. They principally consist of naked, fractured granite rocks, heaped up together, and adorned only towards their bases with single evergreen oaks, while the upper parts are bleak, dreary, and barren, presenting fantastic prominences, and in many places covered with perpetual snow. This chain, in its course towards Portugal, where it ends in the Rock of Lisbon, rises into some re markable elevations. We shall notice that of Peñalara, be tween the sources of the Eresma and the Lozoya, 2834 yards above the sea; the Puerto del Pico in the province of Salamanca; the Peña de Francia, and Sierra de Gata, on the northern limits of Spanish Estremadura.

The minor branches run nearly north and south from the main ridge, and may be traced from the opposite course of the rivers which flow either into the Duero and the Mifio, or into the ocean, on the western coast of Galicia.

Almost parallel to the mountains of Guadarrama, we find the ridge which divides the waters between the Tagus and the Guadiana; but it rises to no great height, and is altogether of minor importance.

The third great branch of the Iberian ridge is the Sierra Morena (Montes Mariani), which divides the waters be tween the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. It begins in the vicinity of Alcaraz, near the eastern limits of the pro vince of La Mancha, issuing from that spur of the Iberian chain which terminates in Cape Palos, and, trending in a direction northeast and southwest, with La Mancha and Spanish Estremadura to the north, and Jaen, Cordoba, Seville, and Algarve in Portugal, to the south, ends in the[7:20:516] ocean at Cape St Vincent. The pass named Puerto del Rey, where the road from Madrid to Andalusia crosses these mountains, is 821 yards above the sea. Near Cordo ba, where the bold skirts of the Montes Mariani are seen, within a short distance to the north, like a skreen raised to protect the rich and extensive plains watered by the Gaudalquivir, the ridge borrows the name of the neigh bouring city. On the southern limits of Estremadura, and to the north of Seville, it is called Sierra de Guadal canal. The chain now bends to the southwest, forms the northern boundary of the Portuguese province of Algarve, and, through the Sierras of Caldeiraon and Monchique, connects itself with Cape St Vincent.

The brink of the last mountain plain towards the south of Spain is skirted by the ridge of Granada and Ronda, which, striking off at the extremity of the Iberian chain, is successively called Sierra de Gador, Sierra Nevada, Ber meja, and de Ronda, till it ends in various points of the coast, but most conspicuously in the Rock of Gibraltar.

Part of Sierra Nevada rises above the highest Pyrenees. The Cumbre de Mulhacen is 4254 yards above the sea, the Picacho de Veleta 4153. The line of perpetual con gelation is found in these mountains at the height of 3305 yards.

The five great streams which water the plains lying be tween the great mountain ridges, are the Miño, the Ebro, the Duero, the Tagus, the Guadiana, and the Guadal quivir.

The Mino, or Minho (Minins or Baenis), rises in Galicia, in the district of Lugo, from a beautiful spring called Fuente Miña. This river is navigable only to Salvatierra, two leagues above Tuy. The Ebro rises, near Reynosa, out of a spring so copious that it turns a corn-mill a few steps from its source. After a course of 110 leagues, it flows into the Mediterranean at Alfaques. From the boundaries of Navarre to the sea, the Ebro makes a progress of 1° 12' 42” towards the south. The chief towns on this stream are Logroño and Calahorra, in the province of Rioja; Tudela, in Navarre; Saragossa, in Aragon; and Tortosa, in Catalonia. It is a misfortune for Spain that this great river presents strong obstacles to navigation, both in its course and where it reaches the sea. Of the plans which have been conceived, and partly executed, to obviate these impediments, we shall presently have occasion to speak. The Duero, or Douro, has its source to the north of the city of Osina, in a deep lake, at the summit of that portion of the neighbouring chain of mountains called Sierras de Urbion. Its course is at first towards the south, passing by Garray and Soria, where it turns to the west, continuing in that direction till it reaches Miranda. From this town to Moncorvo the river falls again into a south direction. It lastly takes a decided course to the ocean, which it reaches near Oporto, having traversed a distance of 150 leagues. This river is navigable up to the tower of Moncorvo, a space of thirty leagues. The navigation, which was formerly obstructed by rapids, has been expedited through the exertions of the Portuguese company of Alto Douro. Some of the smaller streams flowing into the Duero rise at remarkable heights. The Adaja, which descends from the northern slope of the great chain between the Duero and the Tagus, is, at Avila, 1271 yards above the sea; the Eresma, when it flows by the castle of Segovia, is 1107 yards above the same level. We have mentioned that elevated part of the chain between the Tagus and the Guadiana which takes the name of Albarracin, and the truncated mountain called Muela de San Juan. An in considerable spring, denominated Pie Izquierdo, is the source of the majestic Tagus. In its course through the province of Cuenza it is considerably augmented by the contributions of several streams. Before its waters reach Aran juez, they surmount the rocky edge of its native mountain, and, dashing upon the plain beneath, sink into a pool of great depth, called Olla de Borlaque. The Tagus, now running placidly through the plains of Zorita and the royal gardens of Aranjuez, at the elevation of 621 yards above the sea, directs its course to Toledo, passes by Talavera, Alcantara, Abrantes, and Santarem, losing itself finally in the sea near Lisbon. The latitudes of several towns on the banks of the Tagus show the gradual inclination of its stream towards the south. The sources of the Guadiana are found north of Alcaraz, in La Mancha, at the pools of Ruidera. The course of the river is first to the northwest for eight leagues. It is then absorbed by the soil, and dis appears for seven leagues. The first gathering of its waters, after their subterraneous dispersion, takes place near Day miel. The spot is called Ojos (Eyes) de Guadiana. The stream now proceeds to Ciudad Real, the chief town of the province of La Mancha, to Merida, Badajos, Mertola in Portugal, and, reentering the Spanish territory, terminates in the ocean at Ayamonte. In its course to this point, the Guadiana passes over a space of more than 100 leagues, but it is not navigable higher than Mertola in Portugal. The Guadalquivir occupies the centre of the plain which lies be tween the Sierra Morena and the chain of Granada, where it takes its course to the northeast of Jaen. The chief towns on its banks are Andujar, Cordoba, Seville, and San Lucar (Templum Luciferi). At the ferry near Mengibar, on the road from Madrid to Granada, the Guadalquivir is 203 yards above the sea. This river is navigable for large vessels up to Seville; but its bed being constantly raised and obstructed by growing shallows, the navigation is extremely tedious.

If we except the series of small lakes from which the river Guadiana takes its rise, there are in Spain few lakes that merit particular notice. The most remarkable of these is the lake of Abulfera, in the province of Valencia. This lake begins near the village of Cataroija, about a league north of the city of Valencia, and extends nearly four leagues, as far as Cullera. When it is full, it is about four leagues in length, and two in breadth; but it is so shallow that small boats can scarcely float in it. To supply the deficiency of water, an engine is employed, by which the neighbouring waters are drawn into the bed of the lake; and any super abundant water occasioned by heavy rains is carried off into these by means of an artificial opening. This lake contains a great many fish, and numerous aquatic birds make it their haunt.

According to Professor Hausmann, viewing Spain as a whole, a threefold principal difference is to be observed. The northern zone, which extends to the Ebro, differs entirely in its characters from the middle zone; and this again is completely different from the southern zone, which is bounded on the north by the Sierra Morena and a part of the Ostrandes. The northern zone, which includes Galicia, Asturias, the Basques, Navarre, the northern part of Aragon and Catalonia, is a widely extended, mountainous, and hilly country. The snow-fields and glaciers of the Pyrenees on the one side, and on the other the north and northwest winds, have a marked influence in lowering the temperature of the atmosphere, and in increasing the sup ply of water. The increased humidity is favourable to vegetation, which on the whole very much resembles that of the south of France; and the variety of rocks containing lime, clay, and sand, and also their frequent alternations, operate beneficially on the soil. Everywhere it invites to cultivation, and the inhabitants of this region are active husbandmen. The middle part of Spain, which comprises Old and New Castille, a part of Aragon, Leon, and Estre madura, is not so favourably circumstanced. Generally speaking, it is deficient in either beauty or variety of aspect. The broad and lofty tablelands present a uniform and monotonous surface, destitute of trees, and scorched by the rays[7:20:517] of the sun. The cornfields are wretchedly cultivated, and desert heaths of cistus everywhere meet the eye. Plantations of olive-trees are rare; here, in short, every kind of vegetation dwindles for want of water. In most cases the rivers carry but little water in comparison with the extent of the land and the number of considerable mountain chains. The causes of this great deficiency are principally the extreme dryness of the atmosphere; the inconsiderable cover of snow on the mountains, and its short continuance; the absence of forests and great moors on the heights; and the comparatively inconsiderable breadth of the mountain ranges. The southern and southwestern part of Spain, which comprehends Andalusia, Granada, and Murcia, is very different from that just described. On the opposite side of the Sierra Morena the whole land has a more southern as pect, which announces itself not only by the vegetable, but likewise by the animal kingdom. The great difference of climate is produced by the southern situation, the exposure of the acclivity on the south and southwest to the African winds, and the strong reflection of the solar rays from the lofty naked mountain-walls. The mountain ranges are more closely aggregated, the valleys more deeply cut; and there is also a greater difference in the rocks and in their position, so that extensive tablelands cannot be formed. The south of Spain thus possesses not only a much higher temperature, one fit for the orange and the palm, but also a more varied and more favourable soil for cultivation. In East Valencia and Murcia, in the south of Andalusia and the Algarves, in Western Alemtejo and South Estremadura, the rich and varied vegetation rivals that of the fertile plains of Syria. In Andalusia frosts are unknown, and the snow, if it ever falls, melts the moment it touches the soil; so that it is not surprising that, in the cultivated districts, the Spa niards, so famous for their maritime expeditions of yore, should have introduced many vegetables from remote parts of the world, thus giving a perfectly tropical appearance to the country. There is, however, a deficiency of moisture, but it seems only to affect the growth of some of the lower species of plants.

Passing over such productions of the soil as are only interesting to the botanist, we shall enumerate those which come under the cognizance of the husbandman. Spain may be reckoned one of the most fruitful countries of Europe, and it presents a great variety of products. Wheat, secale, barley, maize, and flax, are cultivated in almost all the provinces, but still not in crops sufficient for home consumption. Oats are neglected, barley being given to the cattle instead of that grain. Oil and soda are the principal products of the southern shores of the Mediterranean; the others are sumach, and different esculent plants of an admirable quality. In the same part of the country are fields of saffron, plantations of rice, which stretch out like so many plains, and the cotton shrub thrives as on its native soil. The mulberry trees are very luxuriant, and their leaves afford rich nourishment to the bombyx, which easily accounts for the superior quality of the silk. In the south of Spain there is an immense variety of the most delicious fruits, not only such as are common in temperate climates, but many which naturally belong to the tropical regions. The sugar cane grows near the cotton plant, and numerous olives fur nish the oil which forms so important a branch of commerce. Kali, from which barilla is extracted, is produced in great abundance in Valencia; anise, maize, and different dye stuffs in Murcia; and the honey of Cuenza is still as celebrated as it was in the time of the Romans. Among the vegetable products we may briefly mention chestnuts and a variety of other nuts, the corktree, palm, lemon, banana, date, pomegranate, fig, citron, cheremoya, laurel, bay, cypress, almond, and strawberry tree; potatoe and other culinary vegetables; forests of oak, pine, and other trees, chiefly in Catalonia, the Asturias, Galicia, and the Sierra Morena.

Extensive valleys covered with rich pastures are found in Navarre, and numerous herds are fattened on them. In the Asturias considerable forests still exist, chiefly of evergreen oaks, from which naval timber is obtained. But of all the vegetable productions of Spain, the vine is the most important, the lands being almost everywhere favourable to its culture. The excess of the vintage above the quantity consumed in the country forms a considerable branch of the export trade, and it is capable of being greatly ex tended. The best wines are those of Peralta in Navarre; Ribadavia and Betanzos in Galicia; Mansanares and Val de Penas in La Mancha; Xeres or Sherry, San Lucar, and Rota, in Seville; Cabra, Lucena, and Campine, in Cordova; Malaga in Granada; and lastly, Alicant in Valencia. Sherry wine is produced in great quantities in the plain of Xeres, and a considerable portion is exported to this country. Mr Jacob estimates the quantity of this wine annually produced at 40,000 pipes, of which 15,000 are exported, mostly to England. The finest wine is produced in Malaga, but not in large quantities.

Mr Swainson thus describes the zoology. “The native zoology has been so little investigated, that nothing beyond a meagre list could be furnished of indigenous animals. In the mountains of Asturias the ibex is not uncommon, and the Alpine squirrel (Sciurus Alpinus) is only found in the Pyrenees. In the southern parts, bordering on the African shore, a few species of warblers have recently been found, which are as yet unknown to the rest of Europe. The European bee-eater frequents the vicinity of Gibraltar in large flocks during the season of migration. Among the domesticated animals, the horse and sheep deserve particular notice, as having been long celebrated throughout Eu rope. The best horses are generally about four feet six or eight inches in height; they have all the fire, docility, grace, and action of the beautiful Arabians of Barbary, and there can be no doubt of these noble animals having been introduced by the Moors and crossed with the native breed. Those of Andalusia, Granada, and Estremadura, are the most distinguished. At Zeres are found two perfectly distinct races; the one, which possesses the fine qualities above mentioned, is still preserved in all its purity at Chartreux. The other race is larger, stronger, less elegant, and used for common purposes. But little care has latterly been bestowed in keeping up the more noble breed, so that fine horses are not so common in Spain as formerly. The mule in so mountainous a country is particularly useful, and, with the ass, is principally used for conveying goods into the in terior. The breeds of the latter are very fine, anti are hardly excelled by those of Egypt. Spain is still celebrated for its Merino race of sheep. The flocks are kept constantly travelling during the greater part of the summer, but are carefully pent up in winter. This race, subdivided into breeds, is extended over the greater part of Spain, but those of Cavage and Negrate are the best. A third breed, the Sowan, appears more hardy, and passes the winter in Estremadura, Andalusia, and New Castille. These three constitute what is called the Transhumante, or travelling race, to distinguish them from the Estautes, or those of a some what interior breed, which do not migrate. The best fleeces are those which appear almost black on their sur face, caused by the dust adhering to the peculiar greasy pile; for it is invariably found that such fleeces are of the purest white beneath.” There is a very large breed of oxen in the country round Salamanca; but the cattle of Spain have been much neglected, the mountaineers deriving all their milk and butter from goats. Fine cattle, how ever, are reared in the Asturias; and pigs are very common on the mountains of the same province. The wild boar, the wolf, the bear, and different kinds of deer, are still found in Spain, but these are gradually becoming extinct. The chamois and the lynx still find shelter in the Pyrenees and[7:20:518] the mountains of Cuenza. The wild animals of the southern part of Spain are very similar to those of the north of Africa.

Spain has long been celebrated for its richness in minerals, and large veins of various metals are still found in several parts of the country. Gold and silver mines were formerly worked; but they have been given up, although grains of these metals are still found. Lead is found in considerable quantities; the principal veins, as the lead-glance veins of Sinares, are found in granite. The colossal deposit of galena, which yielded 600,000 quintals of lead in 1829, lies in irregular masses in a limestone formation. The principal mines are near Tortoza in Catalonia; nt Zoma, Benasques, and Plan in Aragon; in Estremadura, in Murcia, in Old Castille, in Seville; and at the district of Linares, in Jaen. Mercury is also found, and at Almaden there is a rich mine of this valuable mineral, which is wrought in the clay slate. Iron ore occurs in very large quantities, principally in the northern provinces. In the Pays Basque, the has formation is very rich in iron ore; and at Solomostro, near Bilboa, enormous deposits of carbonated iron are found. Veins of copper, antimony, and sulphur, are occasionally discovered, but not in such quantities as to be worth working. Coal also exists in considerable quantities in many provinces; and this mineral is gaining in importance every year, from other fuel becoming scarce.

Although Spain possesses all the advantages of climate, and the soil is generally fertile, the agriculture of the country is in a state of deplorable backwardness. A variety of causes has been assigned for this, but the principal cause is what has been appropriately termed the curse of the Mesta. This is a privilege granted to the proprietors of flocks to conduct their sheep into different provinces for the sake of pasturage. In their progress the sheep commit considerable depredations on the crops. The law of entail, which exists in Spain in its worst form, is also supposed to hinder improvement in agriculture; but perhaps the most serious obstacle to improvement is the want of internal communication, and the indolence of the rural population. The farms are generally small, and the farmers of a district live together in villages. There is no rotation of crops, and the wheat, after a slight ploughing, is sown at the commencement of the rains. The operation of thrashing and cleaning the grain is performed in the open air, and the grain is left in the fields or concealed in caves till sold. Implements of husbandry are of the rudest description; fanners are un known except about the seacoast, and the spade is still in use in some of the mountainous parts of the country. The most careful cultivation is to be found in the huertas of Granada, Murcia, and Valencia, which are well irrigated by the waters of the Xenil, Segura, and Xucar. Rice is produced in Valencia, and a mild red pepper is the chief vegetable cultivated in Murcia. These three provinces are considered as the gardens of Spain, and annually yield three and four crops of vegetables, maize, and a mild red pep per. In spite of this fertility, however, it is calculated that the entire lands of Spain do not yield more than from one and a half to two per cent. to the proprietors. Some improvements have recently been introduced, but even now scarcely a fourth of the surface of the country is applied to any profitable use. A far greater extent of land is devoted to pasturage than is required for the maintenance of the cattle; and only about a twelfth of the superficies is occupied by wood. In Biscay, agriculture has made many improvements; and in spite of the disadvantages of soil, the population of this district is more numerous, and grain cheaper, than in the fertile plains to the south and east of Seville; which, if properly cultivated, might supply all Spain. “The kingdoms of Old Castille and Leon,” says a writer in the Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. v. “are justly considered the granaries of Spain. They have their outlets in the north by various ports from Gijon to St Sebastian, the principal being Santander and Bilboa. The provinces of Burgos and Palencia are the nearest points from which these ports get any considerable supply; the distance being from 130 to 140 English miles from each. The elevated and rich campos which extend from Logroño to Burgos, and thence on each side of the Arlanza and Pisuerga, and along the Cauvion, and numerous other streams which water the provinces of Palencia, Valladolid, and Zamora, yield immense quantities of wheat; and further to the west, and on the south side of the Douro, the provinces of Toro and Salamanca may be considered as forming a portion of the richest wheat country in Spain, or perhaps in the world. The crop is often so abundant for a series of years, that the produce of the fields at a distance from the villages is some times allowed to rot on the ground, the expense of conveying it home being considered beyond its value. It was calculated that the accumulated surplus of four or five successive years, in the silos and granaries of these plains, amount ed at the close of the harvest of 1828 to 6,000,000 of fane gas, or 1,200,000 Winchester quarters. The ordinary cost of carriage does not exceed seven or eight shillings for every hundred miles; but the means of transport are so defective and so badly organized, that when any extraordinary demand for exportation takes place, the rates advance accordingly. Thus, in September 1828, the usual price was seven or eight shillings; but in consequence of extensive demands from France and England, it rose two months after to fourteen shillings and sixteen shillings per quarter. The grain of Spain is of the finest quality, that of Andalusia bearing a price ten or fifteen per cent. higher than that of any foreign grain brought to the markets of Cadiz. In spite of her facilities for agriculture, it is remarkable that Spain regularly imports, upon an average, 400,000 quarters of grain. This may arise from the want of proper means of transporting grain from one province to another, and not from any deficiency in the produce of the country.” Several of the provinces, such as Galicia, Asturias, part of Leon, Santander, Biscay, and the kingdom of Navarre, barely produce sufficient for the consumption of their inhabitants. Catalonia does little more than maintain the half of its in habitants; Valencia exports rice, but both it and Murcia import wheat; Cuenza, Guadalaxara, Segovia, Avila, and Madrid, produce less than their consumption. The pro vinces of Old Castille, part of Leon, Estremadura, part of Andalusia and Toledo, produce such an abundance that they might supply all the deficiencies of the other parts of Spain, and also export to foreign countries in seasons of plenty. Miñano calculates the gross amount of agricultural produce in 1826 at L.76,965,000, and the net produce at L.28,403,666. The same authority estimates the number of cattle, &c. in the kingdom in 1826 as follows: horned beasts, 2,944,885; horses, 400,495; mules, 223,646; sheep, 18,687,159; goats, 5,187,668; asses, 641,788; swine, 2,728,283; beehives, 1,697,593.

The manufactures of Spain are in a very depressed state, although some thriving manufactories exist, principally on the seacoast. The manufacture of silk was formerly the grand staple of trade, and although now much depre ciated, it is calculated to furnish employment for nearly 16,000 persons. Numerous manufactures of various kinds have been established in Catalonia within the last twenty years; those of silk and cotton are the most extensive, and are in a thriving state. The looms of Valencia are calculated to employ at the present day nearly 3000 persons, and produce tissues, gauzes, and ribbands, equal to the French manufactories. The silk manufacture of Talavera de la Reyna and Saragossa are still in high repute. The latter province also produces cloth, which is much in request. Galicia annually imports 20,000 hundredweight of flax, which is conveyed to Santiago, and distributed throughout[7:20:519] the villages of this province to be converted into linen, and sold in the Castilles. In the north, Bilboa and Santander, in the south, Seville and Cadiz, are the great entrepôts for the exportation of wool, which is also spun and manufactured into cloth in Catalonia and Barcelona. These manufactures, however, are by no means sufficient for the inhabitants, and almost every species of manufacture is import ed. In Catalonia there are numerous manufactories of coarse cloth, which enjoy a monopoly; coarse cloths of fo reign manufacture being almost prohibited by a heavy tax. The finest cloth is manufactured in Valencia, and the trade is in a flourishing state, employing nearly 10,000 hands. Tanning is the most active branch of manufacture in the northern provinces. Potteries are numerous, but the articles produced are generally of an inferior description. There is a royal porcelain manufactory at Madrid, the produce of which is very superior, but it costs the government more than it returns. Hat and paper manufactories have also been established, and have met with considerable success. The manufacture of arms forms a part of the trade of Spain, but the quantity made is by no means great. There are two large factories in Biscay; at Abaceti and Toledo swords are made; at Segovia, firearms; and at this latter place, as well as at Seville and Placencia, there are good founderies. Seville carries on a considerable trade in leather, a species of which, prepared with gall-nuts, is in much request. Ferrol and Vittoria possess considerable tanneries; and the former has an establishment where varnished leather is made. Iron manufactories are very numerous in Biscay, but none of them is conducted on an extensive scale. In almost every village in this province some kind of iron ware is manufactured; horseshoes, fusils, locks, and bedsteads being the chief articles, which are sent to the interior. Cast iron utensils are prohibited from being imported into Spain; but this regulation does not seem to be attended with any great advantage, for there is only one smelting manufactory at Bilboa. Several other iron manufactories have been established throughout the country, the principal being at Pederoza and Martulla in Andalusia; but it does not appear that they have met with any degree of success. Iron ore is prohibited from being exported, but considerable quantities are nevertheless sent to France. Manufactures are much checked in Spain by the system of monopoly, several of the largest manufactories being in the hands of the government, and consequently ill conducted.

The commerce consists chiefly in the exporting of wines, wool, brandy, fruits, silk raw and manufactured, lead, iron, mercury, barilla, and a few other articles, amounting in all, according to a government return in 1826, to the value of L.1,584,000. Iron, in bars, is exported in considerable quantities from Bilboa, Cumana, and Vittoria, chiefly to Bayonne and Bordeaux. Malaga and Alicant wines are also important branches of commerce; and the coarse wines of Murviedro are extensively exported. The export of dried fruits gives activity to the ports of Alicant, Malaga, Seville, and Valencia; and the latter town is famous for its dyes. The imports of Spain consist of sugar, salt fish, spices, wood, rice, butter, cheese, hides, wool, and cotton, and al most every manufactured article. The transport of salt from Cadiz and Torrevieju, for the fisheries of Galicia, is an important branch of commerce, and, along with the fisheries themselves, employs a great number of hands, producing the best sailors, and giving activity to the towns and villages on the coast, which is seldom seen in the interior. The net produce of commerce and manufactures was estimated by Miñano in 1826 at L.14,660,000. It is difficult to arrive at any correct estimate of the value of the ex ports and imports of Spain, from the want of official documents; and even when these are obtained, little reliance can be placed on them. The following is from an official document published in 1826.

Value of the Imports and Exports in 1826, distinguishing the Countries.

Exports. Imports.

Africa L.340 L. 11,090

Asia 214,660

United States 45,925 68,940

England 637,800 957,395

France 450,350 726,170

Germany 26,670 150,510

Holland 56,185 133,525

Prussia 5 2,060

Russia 4,085 135,800

Denmark 11,585 30,070

Sweden 6,210 87,080

Turkey 55 31,255

Switzerland 8,930

Sardinia 2 110,895

Italy 83,740 146,300

Portugal 146,160 204,090

Spanish American Colonies 330,373 754,690

Total 1,799,485 3,773,475

Amount of importations from the different states of Eu rope, the United States, Asia, and Africa L.3,0l8,785

Importations from Spanish Colonies 754,690

L.3,773,475

Amount of exportations to states in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa L.1,469,112

Exportations to Spanish Colonies 330,373

L.l,799,485

This table shows a balance of L.l,973,990 against Spain, of the imports over the exports; and the important article of tobacco is entirely omitted; neither is there any account of the imports and exports to and from the free provinces of the north.

Banking is almost unknown in Spain, the principal mer chants doing the business of bankers. There are no substitutes for cash in ordinary transactions, bills of exchange being principally used; but these do not pass from hand to hand as cash, except by special arrangement. The difficulty of transmitting specie is the cause of these bills being much used; merchants preferring rather to pay a premium than run the risk of losing the specie altogether. The rate of exchange of course varies with the supply of bills in the market, and also with the character of the houses offering the paper. Most of the bills are at short dates, generally within one month. Some are as short as two days; and these are allowed eight days’ grace, unless the word fixed is written on them. Interest generally varies from three to four and a half per cent. on discounting bills, but this mode of negotiation is not much practised. Interest on mercan tile transactions is understood to be fixed at six per cent., and three per cent. on mortgages; but the law is easily evaded, there being no penalty inflicted on those who charge more than the legal interest. There are no bankers with whom money can be lodged; and it is customary for people rather to horde up their money than to run the risk of its being lost in the hands of merchants.

In internal communication, Spain lies under great dis advantages, both from the mountainous nature of the coun try, and the obstructed navigation of the rivers. In the hands of an enterprising people, these difficulties might soon be overcome. The roads and canals are not numerous, and, if we except the principal highways, are but imperfectly kept. The two roads which run from Madrid to Burgos, the one through Valladolid, and the other through Aranda de Douro, are kept in good condition; but the great eastern roads are[7:20:520] represented as in a wretched state. The road to France by way of Vittoria and Irun is kept in excellent condition, considering the mountainous nature of the country through which it runs. The road to Corunna and Ferrol, through Galicia, is in many places impassable for carriages or carts. That over the Sierra Morena to Seville is well kept. The roads of Catalonia are said to be in better condition than most in Spain. These roads are kept up partly by tolls, and partly by local taxes; but the amount collected is not sufficient for maintaining proper communications. It appears that L.92,400 were expended in repairing and making roads and building bridges in the year 1826, and L.89,240 for the same purpose in 1827. The ordinary mode of conveying goods is by means of mules, asses, or small carts drawn by oxen. Stagecoaches are becoming more common; but these can only be used on the great roads, the ordinary cross roads being generally too bad for such conveyance. In Biscay and Navarre the roads are under the superintendence of the provincial administration, and are more nume rous, better constructed, and more carefully managed, than any others in the country.

The canals are stated to be in a much more deplorable condition than the roads, and although many have been projected by government, none of any importance has been completed.

The most important is that which was intended to unite the Mediterranean Sea with the Bay of Biscay; but of this mighty undertaking only two portions exist, the canal of Aragon, running parallel to the Ebro, from Saragossa, and that of Old Castille, along the Pisuerga and Carrion, by Placencia. Neither of these portions, however, approaches the sea, and their benefit is therefore limited. The other canals are, that of Castille, which connects the port of Santander with the Duero; the canal of Segovia, which connects that town with the river of the same name; and the canal of San Carlo, which is constructed to give a port to Fortoza.

The population of Spain presents fluctuations which can only be accounted for by the fact of the internal wars which have so frequently convulsed her, or on the supposition that the returns which have been published are incorrect. It has been gradually increasing for the last two centuries, and latterly at a more rapid progression. It appears that in 1700 the population was estimated at 8,000,000. The following table, extracted from M‘Gregor’s Statistics of Nations, gives the population in 1803 as exhibited by the official tables, and in 1827 as given by Moreau de Jonnes in his Statistics, which latter, however, must have exceeded the real numbers, as the population was ascertained in 1837 to amount only to 12,168,572.
[table]

(a ) Official census. (b ) As given by M. Moreau de Jonnes, in his Statistics for 1834. It is generally believed that the census of 1803 is much below the actual number of inhabitants; and according to the returns of 1723 it would appear that in 103 years the population bad increased from 7.925,000 to nearly 14,000,000. It also appears, from the observation of most persons, that the actual population of Spain had increased more slowly than that of any other country, particularly before losing ber South American empire. M. Moreau de Jonnes estimates the population in 1834 at 14,060,000. According, however, to a return of the number of senators and deputies to the Cortes from all Spain, corresponding to the population of the provinces, which appeared in the royal decree of 3 August 1837, the exact population of the kingdom was 12,168,572.[7:20:521] THE OFFICIAL RETURNS OF THE POPULATION FOR 1826.

Householders having the Qualification of Electors. Nobility, including men, women, and children... 1,440,000 Citizens and farmers, &c 1,560,000

Heads of Families, viz.

Magistrates and advocates 5,883

Notaries 9,683

Attorneys and clerks of law-courts 13,274

Medical men 17,990

Public functionaries and clerks 27,243

Merchants 6,824

Agricultural proprietors 364,514

Heads of families 445,411

Women and children 1,128,275

1,573,686

Agricultural Population.

Agricultural proprietors 364,514

Farmers . 527,423

Labourers 805,235

Proprietors of flocks and herds 25,530

Shepherds 113,628

Heads of families and others 1,836,330

Women and children 6,777,140

Total agricultural population 8,613,470

Merchants and Manufacturers.

Merchants 6,824

Retail dealers 18,851

Manufacturers and labourers 489,493

Heads of families 515,168

Women and children 1,803,088

Total manufacturing population 2,318,256

Other Classes.

Domestics (one in thirty-seven inhabitants) 276,000

Vagabonds (one in seventy) 140,000

Smugglers (one in a hundred) 100,000

Customhouse officers 40,000

Officers of the Inquisition 22,000

Wandering beggars 36,000

Convicts 2,000

All other classes, or one in thirteen inhabitants 700,000

Extent and Population of the Colonies of Spain in 1827.
[table]

The population of Spain, according to the royal decree of August 1837, being 12,168,572, if we add the 3,528,444 of the colonies, the entire population of Spain and its dependencies will be 15,697,016.

The Roman Catholic religion exclusively prevails in Spain, and here in all ages it has assumed its most bigoted and intolerant form. The church establishment includes eight archbishops and seventy-two bishops, 2393 canons, and 1869 prebendaries, together with an immense multitude of other ecclesiastics, under various denominations. In the year 1835 there still remained 1940 cloisters, containing 30,906 monks. Of these the Franciscans alone possessed 651 cloisters, with 11,232 monks and lay-brothers. But by a royal decree of the above year, all the religious houses which did not contain more than twelve monks were abolished. The number of monasteries thus condemned amounted to 900. Their revenues were applied to the extinction of the national debt. The whole income of the church is valued at L.12,500,000 sterling, and the portion of the income which is consumed by the spirituality exceeds the collective income of the state by about L.2,000,000.

> Education.

The institutions for public instruction in Spain are the universities of

Valencia, established in 1411 Students in 1827 1569

Valladolid 1346 1247

Saragossa 1474 1175

Santiago...,. 1532 , 1054

Seville 1504 807

Granada 1531 812

Cervera 1717 573

Huesea 1354 537

Oviedo 1580 420

Salamanca 1404 418

Alcala. 1490 364

Onate 270

Toledo 257

Palma 177

Orihuela 124

There are two artillery schools, and a hundred and sixty three colleges and seminaries of a higher order, containing 3810 pupils. The common schools throughout the country have been estimated at about 20,000.

There are numerous public libraries in the more important towns, some of them of considerable extent. One at Madrid contains about 130,000 volumes, numerous manu scripts, and a rich collection of medals. The prohibition, however, of many standard works greatly limits their value.

Finances.

According to the budget of 11th February 1837, the expenditure amounted to 1,929,300,795 reals.

The income to 800,000,000 ditto.

With regard to the national debt of Spain it is impossible to obtain any thing like a correct estimate. For the last eight or nine years it has continued to accumulate with fearful rapidity, and loan after loan has been negociated. It seems almost impossible that so large an amount as from two millions to two millions and a half sterling, can be annually collected to pay the interest of the national debt in a country already grievously oppressed with taxes, and where trade is in some measure stagnant. The balance of her trade, ever since the loss of her colonies, has been in the ratio of two to one against Spain, while the whole value of her exportable produce, even in the most prosperous periods, has not exceeded three millions and a half; and this is now supposed to be greatly reduced, since the exports to Eng 1and, which is the greatest consumer of her fruits, wine, and wool, have barely averaged for the last four or five years one million sterling. In 1833, the public debts amounted to L.165,000,000, and as the expenditure exceeded the income, and various loans have since been nego ciated, it has now materially increased. Taxation in Spain is very heavy, and is levied with little regard to the well[7:20:522] being or comfort of the population. It is grossly unequal and arbitrary, no one ever being able to tell what he may be required to pay; and the greatest abuses exist in its collection. Scarcely one half of the tax laid on the in habitants ever reaches the government, the rest being absorbed by the various officers employed. No fewer than 10,000 persons are employed in collecting the custom duties; and being ill paid, they are open to bribery, and even levy contributions for their own pockets. The same duties are not imposed in the different towns, one merchant being called upon sometimes to pay L.40 of a tax, while an other in a different place may have only to pay L.20. The alcabala is a tax which is levied upon every article of use, and presses with great severity upon the poor. It was formerly an impost on the transfer of commodities from one hand to another, but is now paid by gate-duties. In towns which are not walled or have no gates, this tax is levied by a calculation of the amount paid by another town of the same size. Tithes are, next to the alcabala, the most oppressive of the taxes; but the clergy do not receive perhaps one half of the amount collected. There is also a tax of six per cent. on the produce of all rented lands; and on the accession of the heir to an entailed estate, the first half year’s rental falls to the government A tax of L.100,000 is levied yearly upon the merchants: the finance minister fixes the amount which each intendancy has to pay, and the intendant the pro portion which each town must pay; and another magistrate assesses the individuals. The revenue from tobacco and salt is considerable, they being monopolies in the hands of government. The amount of salt which each town ought to consume is fixed; and landowners and farmers pay in pro portion to the number of their dependents, and the cattle and sheep which they possess. The clergy pay an annual subsidy, in addition to some other contributions.

The state of crime shows Spain to be in a very imperfect state of civilization. The administration of justice is extremely slow and uncertain, and indeed all the legislation upon criminal affairs is as bad as possible. The crimes most complained of are those of assassination and robbery; and although these do not prevail now to the extent they once did, the returns show that murder is still a very common crime. The returns for the year 1827 give the number of murders as 1223, and attempts at murder as 1773; and this report is very inaccurate, as no returns were sent from either Aragon or Valencia. A person robbed or assaulted is bound over to prosecute; and should he fail to prove the guilt of the criminal, he has to pay all expenses of the suit. Witnesses are liable to imprisonment in case of the prisoner being acquitted; and this preposterous law has a strong and obvious tendency to interrupt the course of justice.

The poor in Spain are numerous, and begging is considered as no disgrace in many of the provinces. Even stu dents have been known to go on begging excursions during the vacation, labour being in their estimation a greater disgrace than asking alms. There are numerous hospitals in the large towns, chiefly under the management of the clergy. The funds for maintaining them are principally derived from legacies of lands and rents, partly bequeathed by private individuals, and partly by bishops. In the northern provinces the hospitals are supported chiefly by public subscriptions and collections in the churches, the legacies being unimportant. The convents and monasteries support many paupers; the Franciscan, Dominican, and Capuchin orders, although beggars themselves, keeping open table for a certain number of poor. A contribution of L.30,000 is annually made from the public funds, being a portion of the revenue collected by the vicargeneral of the cruzado. Notwithstanding these institutions, however, the number of beggars is still very great. Only in some of the towns is begging prohibited, and in these the vagrants are employed much in the same way as in our own workhouses.

The character of the Spaniard is grave, adventurous, romantic, honourable, and generous. He is not inclined to adopt foreign manners, and is possessed of great national pride. He is naturally brave, provided his heart be in the cause which he espouses; but he is easily excited to tumultuary violence, and is very unwilling to submit to the restraints of discipline. In prosperity he is apt to give way to supineness and false confidence; but in adversity which might overwhelm others, he will often display great courage and surprising resources. He is very slow in his operations, and often ruins enter prises by temporizing. In all the provinces except those of the north, the inhabitants are extremely indolent, and pos sess a most invincible hatred of labour. They are fond of amusements, dancing and cards being the favourite re creations. Theatrical exhibitions are not very popular, being generally insipid. They are still attached to the bullfight, but this cruel amusement is not now so common as formerly. It will however prevail as long as the coun try remains in its present state of ignorance. Dancing has acquired a national character; and to this day the Spaniard has many an allegorical dance, borrowed from the Moors. The pleasures of society are chiefly sought at evening parties, where only slight refreshments are presented; and indeed, both in eating and drinking, the Spaniards are remarkably temperate. Music also forms one of their principal amusements, the instrument most generally used being the guitar. Castanets are also extremely common, and are employed with great dexterity and address in the national dances. The music of the country is not remark able, being almost altogether light melodies, with a slight accompaniment from the guitar. Spanish architecture, from its being a mixture of the Moorish and Gothic styles, has somewhat affected the architecture of other countries. The innumerable churches scattered over the country are generally in the Gothic taste, but more light, from its con junction with the Moorish. Many of them are fine edifices; but the most remarkable architectural monument of Spain is the palace of the Escurial, which is built entirely in the Roman or Vitruvian style. Spain has produced few great painters, which is somewhat remarkable, considering the poetical character of the people. Murillo, Velasquez, and Lope de Vargas have acquired a fame which will endure wherever painting is appreciated. There is at Madrid an academy for painting, sculpture, and architecture, and the royal palace and Escurial have galleries; but it does not appear that these arts are much cultivated in the present day.

The literature of Spain, in the days of her greatness, was almost on a level with that of any other country in Europe; but it has now sunk to a very low condition. The ballad is what the early Spanish writers most excelled in; and this is characterized by romantic fervour, frequently of an oriental character. The language is peculiarly fitted to ex press the dignified and the pathetic, but its solemn dignity frequently seduces the writer into bombast. No language has such a store of ballads as the Spanish; but they are, particularly the early ones, little more than mere relations of chivalrous deeds. The wars with the Moors form the subject of an endless number of these ballads, which the chivalrous nature of the people of Spain during the middle ages brought to a state of excellence unequalled in any country in Europe. The song was the natural growth of the warlike period of Spain, and served to commemorate warlike exploits; but they were of a very simple character until the period of the conquest of Naples, when they assumed a more lyrical form. The national drama has always been peculiar, consisting chiefly of religious comedies founded on the lives of saints. There are however some noble comedies of an historical nature. The perfection of the intrigue is what the Spanish writers chiefly value; but their plots are con[7:20:523] structed without any regard to the unities. The drama acquired its greatest celebrity from Lope de Vega and Calde ron. In romance, Spain has accomplished much. The perfection of Spanish prose is to be found in the works of the inimitable Cervantes. After his time, and when the Bourbons ascended the throne, the literature declined with the state, and may be said to have remained ever since in a similar state of inactivity. Spain possesses at the present day few writers known beyond their own country. Jovellanos on political economy, Campany in philology, Llorente in history, Moralez in mathematics, have done much to rouse a spirit of re flection; and Juan Valdez is called the Anacreon of Spain.

The army of Spain, once the most formidable and best organized in Europe, is now comparatively in a low state. It is, however, represented as the best organized part of her establishment, the pay being regular, and the officers experienced. In the present unsettled state of the country it is impossible to form any estimate of its actual numbers. Besides the regular army, there is a large body of militia called royalist volunteers, who have frequently proved of great service as light troops. The navy now exists only in name; in 1823 there was but one ship of the line, which, being sent out to South America, surrendered to the Peruvian government. (R. R. R.)