to the exclusion of every atom of Japan work, in consequence of my remark.

It was on this occasion that the minister Florida Blanca in the moment of that favour and popularity, which I then enjoyed, addressed me in a very different style from any he had ever used, and with an air of mock solemnity charged me with having practised upon the heir apparent of the crown of Spain by some secret charm, or love-powder, to the engagement of his affections, "which," said he, "I perceive you are so exclusively possessed

of, that I must throw myself on your pro"tection, and request you to preserve to me "some place in his regard-" As I had found his excellency for the first time in the humour for raillery, I endeavoured to keep up the spirit of it by owning to the love-powder; in virtue of which I had gained that power over the prince, as to seize the bridle of his horse, and arrest him on the road, which led me to relate the anecdote of our rencontre on the way to Segovia above-described. He listened to me with great good humour, appearing to enjoy my narrative of the adventure, and at the conclusion observed to me, that my life was for

feited by the laws of Spain; but as he supposed I had no evil design against the prince himself, but only wanted to possess myself of so fine a charger, as an offering to my excellent and royal master, whose virtues made his life and safety dear to all the world, he would in confidence disclose to me that order was given out by his Catholic Majesty to select from his stud in the Mancha ten the noblest horses, that could be chosen, and out of those, upon trial of their steadiness and temper, to select two, which I might tender as my offering to the acceptance of my sovereign; and this he observed was a present never before made to any crowned head in Europe but of his majesty's own immediate family, alluding to the King of Naples.

A few days after my return to Madrid this gracious promise was fulfilled, and two horses of the royal stud, led by the king's grooms and covered by cloths, on which the royal arms &c. were embroidered, were brought into the inner court of my house, and there delivered to me. I flatter myself they were such horses, as had not been brought out of Spain for a century before, and not altogether unworthy

of the acceptance of the illustrious personage, who condescended to receive them. I was at dinner when they arrived, and Count Kaunitz, the imperial ambassador, was at the table with me. I had not spoken to him, or any other person of this expected present, and his astonishment at seeing that, which had been the great desideratum of many ambassadors, and himself amongst the number, thus voluntarily and liberally bestowed upon me, (the secret and untitled agent of a court at war with Spain) surprised him into some comments, which had the only tincture of jealousy, that I ever discovered in him. A crowd had followed these horses to the gates, which enclosed my courts; one of these opened to the Plazuela de los Affligidos, and the other to the street of the inquisition; I caused these gates to be thrown open, and when the people saw the horses with their royal coverings upon them led into my stable, they gave a shout expressive of their pleasure and applause. If my very amiable friend Kaunitz was not quite so highly gratified by these occurrences as I was, he was perfectly excusable.

. I kept these horses in my stables at Madrid, and should not have used them but at the special requisition of the royal donor; when that was signified to me, my daughters and myself rode them, as occasion suited, and as a proof how noble they were by nature, the following instance will suffice. As my eldest daughter was passing a small convent, not a mile from the gate of San Bernandino, a large Spanish mastiff of the wolf-dog kind rushed out of the convent, and seizing her horse by the breast, hung there by his teeth, whilst the tortured animal rushed onwards at full speed, showing no manner of vice, and only eager to shake off his troublesome encumbrance. In this situation she was perceived and rescued by a Spanish officer on foot, who presenting himself in the very line of the horse's course, gave him the word and signal to stop, when to my equal joy and astonishment (for I saw the action) the generous animal obeyed, the dog dropped his hold, and the lady, still firm and unshaken in her seat, though alarmed and almost breathless, was seasonably set free by the happy presence of mind of her deliverer, and the very singular

obedience of her royal steed, whose generous breast long retained the marks of his ignoble and ferocious assailant.

When I had received my recall I sent these horses before me under the care of two Spaniards, father and son, of the name of Velasco, who led them from Madrid through Paris to Ostend, walking on foot, and sleeping by them in their stables every night; and taking their passage from Ostend to Margate, arrived with them at my door in Portland-Place, and delivered them without spot or blemish in perfect order and condition to his majesty's grooms at the royal Mews.

If my gratitude to the memory of the late benevolent sovereign, who was pleased by this and many other favours graciously to mark the sincere, though ineffectual, efforts of an humble individual, defeated in his hopes by unforeseen events, which he could not controul, and afterwards abandoned to distress and ruin by his employers for want of that success, which he could not command; if my gratitude (I repeat it) to the deceased King of Spain causes me to be too particular, or prolix, in recording his goodness to me, it is because I na