and the boy as yet unuseful for arms, may be thus arrayed in the defence of their country, and may effectually contribute to it, by contributing to the aggregate of our moral and religious pretenfions." P. 21. We have peculiar fatisfaction in giving thefe fpecimens from the difcourfe of a Prelate, who might almost have pleaded exemption, on the fcore of long fervices. ART. XIII. Travels in the South of Spain, in Letters written A. D. 1809 and 1810. By William Jacob, Efq. M. P. F.R.S. 4to. 466 pp. 31. 3s. J. Johnson and Co. IT 1811. T might naturally be expected that we fhould at this most interefting period have many publications on the subject of Spain. This has accordingly happened; but, with the exception of Laborde's elaborate work, of which we have lately given an account, we have had no detailed account of the country at large, but various defcriptions of detached parts and particular provinces. The volume before us con. fits of the fubftance of letters, written by the author, an enlightened and intelligent member of the British Senate, during fix months refidence in Spain, to his family and friends. He acknowledges in his preface, that he is indebted to the previous 1.bours of Ocampo, Mafden, and Mariana, as well as to the very accurate abstract of the state of the Moors in Grenada, by Simon de Argote. The book will certainly appear on the perufal to be replete with agreeable information and much fagacious remark. Mr. Jacob proceeded from England to Cadiz, where having remained for fome time, he vifited Xeres, on his way to Seville. Returning from Seville to Cadiz, he made a voyage to Gibraltar, and from thence went to Marvella, Malaga, and Grenada. These several places, their prefentcondition, manners, commerce, manufactures, &c. are reprefented in a very pleafing manner, and much interesting information is communicated. Perhaps the most curious and moft valuable portion of the volume is that which is Occupied by the hiftory of the Moors in Grenada, their progrefs in fcience, in the fine arts, manners, and govern ment. It is but juftice to the author to exhibit a fpecimen of his work, on the perufal of which we doubt not but most of our our readers will entertain an earnest desire to fee the whole. Indeed, we lament that we have room for one specimen only. "At this eventful period you will naturally expect me to fay fomething of politics; but the truth is, that it is difficult, in fuch a fhifting fcene as Spain difplays, to point out any thing which the occurrences of the next day may not contradict; and when the wide field of politics becomes a topic for correfpondence, it is difficult to fix on any object which will appear equally interefting to the reader and the writer. "There is, in the national character of Spain, one trait, which equally pervades all claffes of fociety; originating, I conceive, in the indolence which a warm climate, and the confequently luxurious habits, produce: this trait is the want of combination; the abfence of arrangement. The Spaniards are brave, acute, patient, and faithful; but all their characteristics are infulated; all their exertions are individual. They have no idea of combining, either publicly or privately, in a manner to call forth their respective talents, and render every one useful to the common cause. "The Germans may be faid to combine too much, and the Spaniards not at all. In my judgment the English have attained the proper medium; but certainly the Spaniards are deficient in this refpect, and to this deficiency their reverses may all be afcribed. If a commander should embark on an expedition, like that to Algiers a few years ago, it is not improbable that the powder would be conveyed in one fhip, and the balls in another; fo that if one were loft or delayed, the other would prove useless; nor would it be unlikely to happen in their army, that ballcartridges might be delivered to the foldiers for a review, and blank-cartridges for actual fervice; for I have feen errors committed equally egregious. "Nothing is more certain than that the Spanish nation, generally, is roufed to madness against France: few are to be found who would not willingly plunge a dagger into the breast of a Frenchman whenever the occafion might offer, but there is no government, no ruling mind, to concentrate this universal feeling: whatever is done by Spaniards is individual effort, not combined exertion; and when they have attempted military operations on a great fcale, they have been uniformly unfuccefsful they have only chofen the wrong means of warfare; and even should their armies be difperfed, and their ftrong towns taken (events which I anticipate) the invaders will be fo far from conqueft, that a warfare will commence of the most destructive species for France, and the moft fecure for Spain: then will thofe conflicts begin in which individual exertion is every thing, and combination unneceffary. From the defiles and mountains, where they will remain fheltered and concealed till opportunities offer, the Spaniards will harass and maffacre the French in detail; they L12 will will prevent all intercourfe between the different towns; they will top cultivation in the plains; and perhaps, after years of confufion and bloodshed, drive the French, as they formerly did the Moors, from their foil. "Every local circumftance is in favour of the Spaniards, in this kind of warfare. The roads are paffable only for mules, but no wheel-carriages can travel to the interior. The valleys between thefe mountains yield almoft fpontaneously all that a Spaniard requires; the climate is fo fine that the peafantry fcarcely ftand in need of habitations; and the flocks of theep will fupply them with skins for clothing without the aid of manufactures. "There are few villages, or even folitary houses, in Spain ; almost all the people live in towns, which are at a great distance from each other, and the fields confequently remain uncultivated, except in the vicinity of thefe towns; to this may be added, that the Spaniards are of all men the most frugal and moderate in their fubfiftence; a bunch of grapes, or a melon, with garlic, fuffices them, and they want no other drink but water. "Their animofity to the French is inflamed to madnefs; and their rage, fury, and revengeful paffions will burn with increased. ardour as the enemy continue their depredations. I have faid enough to fhew you my opinion on the future ftate of Spain: at prefent the defeat of Arcifaga has caft a gloom over the profpects of the privileged orders of fociety: thefe may be swept away; but the Spanish people, the peafantry, and the cultivators will remain, and will ultimately triumph." P. 202. An Appendix is added, containing Copies of Letters from Lord Wellington, then Sir A. Wellefley, to Marquis Wellesley, a Paper on the Population and Extent of Spain, and the Itinerary of Antoninus in the South of Spain. The book is very hand fomely printed, and contains moreover thirteen plates, which must be confidered as very elegant embellishments to the work, of which we cannot help thinking that an octavo edition will be highly acceptable. ART. 14. BRITISH CATALOGUE. POETRY. The Sea Shore, with other Poems, by Fortescue Hitchins. 8vo. pp. 173. 75. Seely. 1810. From his refidence in Cornwall, (of which we prefume he is a native) Mr. Hitchins has had fuch opportunities of obferving phenomena phenomena on "the fea-fhor,' as his brother poets do not, for the most part, enjoy. His principal poem, entitled "The Sea Shore," poffeffes a confiderable degree of merit; as must every poem, indeed, which is the product of independent thought and actual obfervation. The following paffage is picturefque: "So fmooth the fea, It seems a mirror of ethereal blue, Dappled with varied plumage. O'er its plain Oft have I feen, when not a vagrant cloud P. 6. If accurately drawn from nature, (which we doubt not but it is) this is of intrinfic value; and as conveying information, must be fo esteemed, even by thofe who have little regard for poetic imagery. We have often felt the juftnefs of the remark, that "Grongarhill" owes its principal charm to the happy intermixture of moral fentiment with local defcription. In "The Sea Shore," we are gratified by moral reflections, which show the fource whence they arife,-a thinking mind and a feeling heart. Nor is Mr. Hitchins afhamed, as fome poets have been, to write as a chriftian. Friends may drop off-yet nature in its courfe, Proceeds unfhaken; tho' to woe-worn hearts Her fmiles bring more of bitterness than joy. E'en kings and kingdoms, powerful in the esteem Of groveling mortals, meet their common doom Without one tribute from the face of Heaven. For him alone, the Almighty King of kingsEarth trembled to its centre.e. On the crofs Scorn'd by rebellious man, the Lord of life For man was ftretch'd! myfterious facrifice!" P. II, The "Edwin and Ellen," is an interefting tale. From this affecting narative, we return with a new relish to description, in which the poet freely expatiates; till the fpire of Hilaria ftriking on his fancy, points out the vicar's (his father's) wellknown roof; and his father (as a note from Polwhele's History of Cornwall informs us) was the Rev. Malachi Hitchins. him are addreffed fome lines of great piety and feeling. To Of" the Mifcellaneous Pieces," which make up the rest of the volume, we cannot refift the temptation to transcribe one, BEAUTY'S SMILE." At Beauty's fhrine I humbly wait And blunt the venom'd barb of care. "Ah! who can beauty's fmile difdain, The figh of her my foul adores." There is great facility in these little compofitions: and the epitaphs and epigrams have always a fmartnefs; or, "a point at the end." e. g. On Dr. Trapp's translation of Virgil ; From these few felections our readers, we doubt not, will receive a favourable impreffion of Mr. Hitchins's poetic talents; nor is this the highest praise to which he is entitled. ART |