a folemn farewell of this manfion, which was built on the remains of a palace belonging to this hero, I returned back to Burgos, ftriking off a little to the right, to visit Miraflores a convent of Carthufians, given to that order by John the 2d king of Caftile, who is interred in their church before the great altar, and has a beautiful marble monument a dorned with infinite workmanship. This tomb the people call here a pantheon. I faw in the choir, an original portrait of his daughter Ifabella queen of Caftile, who appears to have been very handfome. There is a full length picture of her in the palace of Buen Retiro at Madrid.-You will say that I have quitted my ground fince I have penetrated into old Cas tile, tile, and have deferted the poets for the chronicles, but allow me this digreffion in favour of a hero who inspired the great Corneille, and furnished a subject for the fublime genius of that celebrated poet.---What would the bold Cid fay, if he was to appear again on the horizon? If he, who to preserve his precedency broke the chair of the French ambassador in the presence of the pope, was to fee his own countrymen making peace with the moors, and foliciting leave of the pope to eat fish in lent. Not like the devout heroes of those and fubfequent times, when the English and French, according to Rapin, fought a bloody battle juft before lent, to intercept a convoy of fifh, and num bers loft their lives to afcertain who fhould dine on a herring. In the reign of Henry VI. when John Duke of Bedford was regent of France in 1429, he fent from Paris to the English army then befieging Orleans, a convoy of falt fish, the lent season being come, which with the artillery and ammunition, made near five hundred carts, under the command of fir John Fastolf, one of the bravest generals in the English army. The convoy was attacked on the road to Orleans, by the French under the count of Clermont, at the head of three thousand men, but they were repulfed with great flaughter by the English, losing fix fcore lords and about fix hundred men. This action was called "The battle of Herrings." H LETTER LETTER XVII. Privileges of the different orders of nobility You in Spain. BURGOS, 4th SEPT. 1778. afk me what fort of figure the country gentlemen make in Spain, and who are the people ftiled Hidalgos. To the firft I fhall answer that as the Cortes, or parliaments have been abolished ever fince the acceffion of the house of Bourbon, all the confequence of the country gentlemen has ceased. The Hidalgos claim a descent from those valiant foldiers who retired into Caftile, and the mountains of Afturias, and other re mote from mote parts of Spain, on the invasion of the moors, where having fortified themselves, they fucceffively descended into the plains, in proportion to the success of their arms; the notoriety of their persons, or the lands they became poffeffed of, they acquired the appellation of Hidalgos notorios, Hidalgos de folar conocido, or de cafa folariega; of these according to Hernando Mexia, there are three forts, the ft being lords of places, villages, towns, or cales, from whence they took their firnames, as the Guzmans, Mendozas, Laras, Guivaras, and others; the 2nd, who recovered any fortress from the moors, as the Ponces of Leon, and others; and the third fort, from the places where they refided or held jurisdiction, as Rodrigo T 2 |