this ignorance draws after it, efpecially when reduced to a fixed and regular fyftem, ought to be attributed to it, and are in reality of its creation." P. 402. The conclufion of the editor's preface has a sentence which we leave to him to explain. It has a terrific character; and tells us, not only that Popery is making advances, but that "the embryo of the Inquifition [may I never, he fays, find it neceffary to be more explicit on the fubject] is actually eftablished in every part of the united kingdom.' We leave this, not understanding it ourselves, to the confideration of the reader. ART. X. A View of Spain; comprising a defcriptive Itinerary of each Province, and a general fatistical Account of the Country; including its Population, Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, and Finances; its Government; Civil, and Ecclefiaftical Eftablishments; the State of the Arts, Sciences, and Literature; its Manners, Cuftoms, Natural History, &c. Tranflated from the French of Alexander de Laborde. In five Volumes. 8vo. 31. 13s. 6d. Longman and Co. and R. Dulau. 1809. M. DE LABORDE, the author of this work, is well known in the literary world, and more particularly fo by his Voyage Pittorefque de l'Efpagne, one of the most fplendid publications which modern times have produced. The prefent volumes are a tranflation of the Itineraire Defcriptif de l'Efpagne, which has been very favourably_received in France, and paffed through various editions. The two works are faid to have coft the author not less than twenty thousand pounds fterling. One inference may be juftifiably drawn, from the very great expence to which the traveller went for information, in collecting the materials of his Itineraries, that it was a work which had the fanction of the French Government; and that it was undertaken and accomplished with a view to the meditated operation of the French armies. Be this as it may, it is beyond a doubt the moft accurate and the most fatisfactory account of any country that has, in our recollection, been publifhed. It will alfo be perceived, that with whatever intentions, or under whatever patronage the undertaking was accomplished, most fedulous pains were taken to excite no jealoufy or irritation among any defcription of Spaniards. The delicate fubject of the Monaftic Orders, and the ftill more delicate one of the the Inquifition, are introduced and difcuffed with the extremeft caution and circumfpection. This view of Spain extends to five volumes, with an Atlas, forming a fixth, and commences with an elaborate introduction, of which we fincerely hope one of the first paragraphs may be prophetic. "This noble country, which has always been governed by fome foreign Houfe, though never conquered by any, always fwayed but never debafed, feems to rife with greater vigour, and to derive fresh luftre from changes which ufually cause the decline of empires." From the Introduction the author proceeds to make remarks on travelling in general, and in Spain in particular. These remarks are fucceeded by obfervations on the geography of Spain, or a chronological table of the Kings of Spain, and on its provincial and topographical divilions. The work then commences with a furvey of the Province of Catalonia, as entered from Perpignan, on the fide of France. It will appear, on examination, that the three fift volumes exhibit a defcriptive itinerary of this interefting country, and the two laft a view of Spain, in what relates to the different branches of government and of political economy. It may be proper to introduce a fpecimen from each, which will be fufficient to fatisfy the reader that we have not mentioned the work in undue terms of commendation. The account of Tarragona, in the first volume, and the character of the Spanish women, in the laft, will demonstrate the various talents of the author, and his perfect competency to his undertaking, however diverfified, elaborate, and difficult. "TARRAGONA, in Latin Tarraco, is one of thofe famous towns which only recall the remembrance of their former grandeur, and serve as a comparifon for the viciffitudes which may fall to the lot of the largest and most populous cities. We shall not ftop here to enquire either into its origin or foundation, which fome authors have carried back above two thousand years before the Christian era. Be that as it may, it must have been a confi. derable place before the Romans invaded Spain; and under its new mafters its limits extended to the fhore and harbours of Salona, which at present is a league and a half distant from them. It became, under the dominion of Rome, the capital of the Tarragonefe province, or, in other words, Citerior Spain. The town of Tarragona was the refdence of the Confuls and the Pretors. The Scipios, Octavius Auguftus, and Adrian, made fome ftay here; its antique walls built by Scipio, were repaired by Adrian; it had had all the advantages of Rome itself, an amphitheatre, a circus, palaces, temples, and aqueducts. In the time of the Emperor' Adrian, its circumference was 34,190 fathoms; its population was adequate to its immenfe fize, if what the hiftorian Antonio Auguftin fays be accurate; he ftates it at 600,000 families, which would make upwards of 2,500,000 inhabitants. This hiftorian, who lived in the 16th century, complaining of the decline of this illustrious town, grieves that in his days there were only 80,000 families in it, or about 380,000 inhabitants; but Mariana, who was almost contemporary with him, declares that the population of it was not above 7000 families, and that there were not 2000 houfes in it. Its power firft declined under the Goths. Euric, their king, took it in 467, and his foldiers, in revenge for its refiftance, destroyed it. It was again facked by the Moors, who befieged it in 714, and put all the inhabitants to the fword. Louis d'Aquitaine drove out the Moors in the year 805, but they recovered it. Raymond Berenger took it from them in 1150, and repeopled it the year following. Having afterwards fallen again under the yoke of the Moors, it was finally rescued from them by Alfonfo el Batallador, king of Aragon in 1220. Tarragona is at prefent reduced in its fize to about 1400 fathoms in circumference, a population of 9000 fouls, very ordinary buildings, and almost to a state of poverty. fixty feet It is furlittle im "Situation. Extent. Tarragona is at prefent fituated on an eminence of rocks elevated about feven hundred and above the level of the fea, and near the river Francoli. rounded with walls, and has fix gates and two caftles of portance, that of the King, and that of the Patriarch. "Clergy. Tarragona is the See of one of the most ancient archbishoprics of Spain; it exifted under king Wamba; and was re-established in 1088, by Raymond Berenger, count of Barcelona, after having expelled the Moors from it. Formerly its jurifdiation extended very far; but it has been diminished by the erection of new fuperior jurifdictions. At prefent this See has the bishop of Ivica, and the feven bishops of Catalonia, for fuffra gans. Its diocefe contains a cathedral chapter, and feven hundred and forty parishes; the archbishop has the title of prince of Tarragona; he crowned the kings of Aragon. The town has only one pariff, which is attached to the cathedral; it has monafte ries, four nunneries, and one houfe of Beguines of the order of Saint Dominic. "The cathedral has feven dignitaries, twenty-one canons, twenty-three prebendaries, and forty beneficed clergy men. "The States general of Catalonia formerly affembled in this town, and fifteen councils have been held there, that of 1228 annulled the marriage of James I. king of Aragon, with an infanta of Caftile. That of 1240 threatened the archbishop of Toledo with excommunication if he continued to act as primate of Spain. That in 1424 was the most remarkable; the cardinal de Foix, legate legate of Martin the Fifth, was the prefident, the object of it was to put an end to the fchifm which had long divided the church. Gil fans de Munos, who had been elected Pope by the cardinals, in obedience of the anti-pope Bennett the 13th, relinquished the popedom, and with his cardinals re-entered into the union of the Roman church. "Hofpitals. A general hofpital for orphans. "Civil and Military Adminiftration. Tarragona is the chief place of a corregidorat, which contains one hundred and ninety fettlements; it has a civil and military governor, a king's lieutenant, a major, a garrifon of fifty men, an alcalde major for the adminiftration of juftice, a minifter of the marine, a port captain, and a board of public economy. "Public Inftruction. A fchool for the education of young ladies, and a college for boys. "It likewife had a univerfity, which was founded in 1572 by the archbishop Gafpard de Cervantes; and which was included with the univerfities of Catalonia fuppreffed by Philip the fifth. "Edifices. The cathedral church is at present the only build. ing which can fix attention, nor is it of a style to detain us long. It is a fine fpacious edifice built of freeftone, one hundred and feventy feet long, and one hundred and twenty-feven wide, and is divided into a body and two aifles: which are feparated by five arches on each fide: they are fupported by great pillars of an enormous fize, on each of which twelve Corinthian columns are clustered; the architecture of the vault is Gothic. The cross of the church is large and opens well, forming a kind of octagon dome, but heavy and without grace; the principal altar is almost entirely formed by the union of feveral flabs of very fine white. marble in demi-relief, representing divers events of the life and death of St. Tecle; the figures being too numerous produce confufion, but there are fome parts in detail very pleafing. The chapels are worth infpection, that of St. Francis for two large pictures of him, that of St. Cecilia for the tomb of Cervantes Tautillo, cardinal and archbishop of Tarragona; that of the Conception for its paintings and gildings; that of the Holy Sacrament for the tomb of the famous hiftorian Don Antonio Auguftin, who was alfo archbishop of Tarragona, and legate of the holy See in Spain; that of St. Tecle for its form and decorations all in marble. We go from the church into a great fquare cloifter, which has fix large arcades on every fide, each of which is divided into three finaller arches; the latter are fupported by Doric columns of white marble; their capitals are ornamented with bass-reliefs of great delicacy, reprefenting different things, fuch as foliage, branches of trees, birds, other animals, figures of infants, of men, and other devices. "Promenades. There is nothing pleafant in the town except its fituation; in other refpects it is very gloomy, without pleafures, fociety, or public amufements; the streets are narrow, short, crooked crooked, and frequently hilly; the houfes are ill built, with the exception of a fmall number, which look well enough. There are no fquares, fountains, wells, or promenades; thofe in which they walk do not deferve this name, being only a beaten road on one fide of it, and a kind of terrace, very short, which looks over the fea; both are without trees, or any other cover. Within fifteen years a large street has been built leading to the gate of San-Carlos: it is very long, broad, ftraight, and contains fome fine buildings. "Climate. Tarragona has a fine fky, and the climate is temperate, but rather warm than cold. There are frequently violent winds here. Provifions are good, the fruits are delicious, and the wine excellent, but ftrong. The town had no fountain or well water; the inhabitants were reduced to drink ciftern water, which was commonly bad, when the laft archbishop built a fu perb acqueduct, which convey's excellent water to the town. This acqueduct is partly built on the ruins of a fimilar work erected by the Romans. "We have already fpoken of the feveral fieges which Tarragona formerly fuftained: fince then, this town, revolting with the rest of Catalonia against Philip IV. was befieged and taken by the troops of its fovereign in 1640. Four years after, it was befieged by the French, who were forced to raife the blockade; at the beginning of the 18th century it followed the Auftrian party; gave itfelf up in 1705 to the Archduke, and opened its gates to the English troops, who, after the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, fet fire to the town when they left it. This conflagration deftroyed a part of the buildings and fortifications. This was the period of the total decline of Tarragona: it is now beginning to recover itself. "The new port, the building of which was begun feven or eight years ago, and which will be one of the fineft in the Mediterranean, muft neceffarily contribute to the profperity of Tarragona; it will make it an important fortified town, and one of a profitable commerce.” Vol. i. P. 92. The above extract is fufficient to prove the minute and careful enquiries which the author directed to every subject he has undertaken to elucidate, while talents of a different kind are displayed in the fpecimen of his work hereafter exhibited. The one fatisfies us, that every production of an-" cient and modern hiftory has been carefully explored, the progreffive changes, which time has introduced, defined and illuftrated, all local peculiarities, and prefent condition and circumftances of the place defcribed, examined with acute attention, and reprefented with great ability. When the character of the people is delineated, it is impoffible not to fee and acknowledge profound and philofophic reflection: we meet |