vifit each apartment whilft they are at dinner; a moft tiresome employ for thofe who are obliged to be there, and it would be thought particular, if the foreign ambafladors were not conftantly to attend: Don Luis, the King's Brother, who is the lowest in rank, is first vifired ;he is the strangest looking mortal that ever appeared, and his dress is not more peculiar than his perfon; ever fince he was a cardinal, he has detefted any thing that comes near his neck, fo his taylor has been particularly careful, to bring that part, which fhould be the collar of his coat, no higher than half way up his breaft; this prince is of a moft humane difpofition, and is univerfally efteemed. The next in turn, is the Infanta Dona Maria, who feemed to be a very inoffenfive little woman. Then to the two Infantes, Don Gabriel and Don Antonio: At the King's library, I faw an edition of Salluft, in Spanish, faid to be tranflated by the former; the type, in imitation of manufcript, and the engravings very fine. Thence to the prince and princess of Afturias; the latter is of the houfe of Parma, and feems to be very affable: the Prince looks like an honeft, plain man; it is fard, he has an utter averfion to every perfon and thing, Italian or French; but the Princess having contrary fentiments, it is most likely, in the end, she will prevail on him to change his mind: as an inftance of his diflike; the French ambaflador exclaimed loudly, that the Prince always converfed with him in Spanish: it coming to the Prince's knowledge, he asked the Frenchman, in what language the Dauphin fpoke to the Spanish ambaffador at the court of Verfailles? On being told, in French, he continued, without taking any further notice, to converfe with the ambaffador, as before, in his own tongue. The laft vifit is to the King, who has a very odd appearance in perfon and drefs; he is of diminutive ftature, with a complexion of the colour of mahogany; he has not been measured for a coat thefe thirty years, fo that it fits upon him like a fack; his waistcoat and breeches are generally leather, with a pair of cloth fpatterdafhes on his legs. Ac dinner, pages bring in the different difhes, and prefenting them to one of the lords in waiting, he places them upon the table; another nobleman stands on the King's fide, to hand him his wine and water, which he taftes, and prefents on his knee; the primate is there, to fay grace; the inquifitor-general alfo attends at a diftance, on one fide, and the captain, who has the guard, on the other; the ambaffadors are in a circle near him, with whom he converfes for a fhort time, when they retire into a room behind his chair; the reft of the court form in a second circle, without the ambassadors, at the end of the room; when he rifes from table, all who are to be introduced to him are prefented; and the governor of Madrid having received the parole, he enters the room to the amballadors: he goes out a fporting every day of the year, rain or blow, whilft at Madrid, once a day, in the afternoon; but in the country, at the fitios, morning and evening he often drives fix or seven leagues out, and back again, as hard as the horfes can go; it is a moft fatiguing life for his attendants, and it is no uncommon thing to hear of the Guardia de Corps getting diflocated shoulders, broken arms, legs, &c. by falls from their horfes: the country all around his palaces is enclofed for his sport."

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Of

Of the famous General O'Reilly we have a fhort hiftory, introduced as follows:

"The people, in general, here, have adopted the French dress; none but the lower fort wear the cloak; the women wear the mantilla, or manta, when they walk the street, or go to church. Since the infurrection in 1776, no man can wear a flapped hat in Madrid : to fhew the difpofition of these people, and as a very particular circumftance, I mult inform you, that at the time of that commotion, the mob regularly took their fiesta, and then returned to their different places of rendezvous; government alto was fo very fleepy, that it did the fame; fo that there feemed to be a convention between administration and the people for a few hours every day: the latter, for the lätt time, I believe, carried their point, for guards are placed now at every corner of the town; patroles of horfe and foot go regularly through the streets every night; and the famous O'Reilly governor of Madrid: the former conduct of this general at New Orleans, is fufficient to fhew how proper a person he is, to execute the mandates of a tyrannic prince; when I went to wait upon him, I found his addrefs most arrogant and imperious; the hauteur with which he treated the officers who vifited him, did not correspond with English ideas of fubordination. As this gentleman has made a confiderable figure in this part of Europe, I fhall, in a few words, give you his history.

At the battle of Campo Santo, in Italy, he was wounded, and left in the field; an Auftrian foldier was just going to give him the coup de grace, before he ftripped and plundered him, when he prevented it, by telling the foldier, he did not know his prize, for that he was the fon of the Duke of Arcos, a grandee of Spain; this declaration held the plunderer's hand, and he conducted his imaginary treature to Marshal Brown, to whom the artful captive made himself known; the marshal, pleased with the deceit, ordered phyficians to attend him, and fent him back with eclat to the Spinith camp: the Duchets of Arcos, hearing the ftory, ever after patronized him, and hurried him. on to a company and majority: in the laft German war, he went a volunteer to the Auftrian army but fpeaking too free y, was obliged to quit it; when he joined the French, and ferved under Broglio: on the breaking out of the Spanish war, he returned to Spain, when he affumed a good deal on his knowledge acquired in the German campaigns; was made a colonel and brigadier: after the peace, was fent to take poffeffion of New Orleans, where his feats of baseness and cruelty are recorded; however, they only ferved to ingratiate him with the fovereign; for his promotion has been, from that time, most rapid; though amongst the youngest of the major-generals, he was made a lieutenant-general, and infpector-general of the infantry, over the heads of many of the first people in the kingdom. Here we may fay, with Polybius, "that in an arbitrary state, the zeal and courage "of mercenaries are rewarded with new advantages; for a tyrant, "in proportion as his fucceffes are increased, has itill greater need of "fuch affittance; for by accumulating injuries, he adds to the number "of those whom he has reafon to fear. The very fafety, therefore, VOL. VI.

H

" of

"of every tyrant, depends wholly upon the ftrength and the attach"ment of his foreign foldiers." As he has the ear of the King, he does juft what he pleafes in his line; the number of things he has to give, caufe many to pay him tulfome adulation; but his imperious behaviour must make him hated and defpifed; and fhould he once lofe the fmiles of the prince, he would foon be hurried from this pinnacle of honour, and precipitated into ruin, without a friend to contole -him."

Of the theatrical entertainments at Madrid, Mr. Dalrymple gives the fubfequent defeription.

"I was feveral times at the theatres, which have nothing remarkable "in their conftruction. Refined comedy has no place upon this ftage; neither is the tragic mufe fupported by the performers; diftrefs and joy, in long and tedious fpeeches, are alike repeated, with a compofed countenance, and a dul monotony, that lulls the audience to fleep. Buffoonery, indeed, has its full force; it is equally mixed with the ferious and comic. The graciofo and graciofa are conftantly introduced, to draw the attention of the audience, by endeavouring to make them laugh with grimace, jokes, and quaint expreffions. The farces, that are reprefented between the acts of the principal piece, are fometimes humourous, though often low; they are generally fcenes of gallantry at an inn, on the public walks, at an ice-houfe, &c. and as the great purfuit of thefe people is intrigue, the artful fchemes of both fexes to accomplish their ends, are ludicrously introduced. The fashionable vice of the cortejos, to married women, is conftantly lafhed. The tonadillas, or mufical dialogues, of a compofition peculiar to this country, fung between the acts, are lively and agreeable. The fandange, alfo introduced after the farces, is a lafcivious dance, brought from the Wett Indies, of which the natives are as fond as the English ufed to be of the hornpipe: I imagine this dance originally came from the coaft of Guinea: I have obferved at Tetuan, the Emperor of Morocco's black: foldiers dance, with cafnets in their hands, in a manner very fimilar. There is a kind of comic opera, reprefented in fummer, called the Zarzuela; I was at one of them; a tranflation of the French Roi & le Fermier, from the English Miller of Mansfield; the voices and mufic, in general, were but indifferent. I have been told that there are above 10,000 plays in the Spanish language; the perfon who informed me faid, he had feen a lift of 8,000, amongst which, Lopez de Vega, and Calderon, are moft refpectable figures."

Speaking of Madrid, our traveller tells us there is a weekly Gazette published there, in which the news of other countries is well related; but for the tranfa&tions of the kingdom of Spain, except it be the church and army promotions, and the movement of the Court, it is filent-One weekly Gazette only for the Metropolis of the kingdom of Spain! How very few or moderately inquifitive muft be the race of Spanish Quidnuncs in compariton with our English at London! How infinitely more fertile in political refources must be a nation like ours, that makes even popular curiofity a fund for fupport of govern

government! Of the military Academy, lately founded at Avila, by O'Reilly, Mr. Dalrymple gives a peculiar account; for which we must refer the reader to the book itself.

At Aftorga our traveller met with a peculiar kind of people, which he ftiles Mauregatas; a female of which tribe, in her proper drefs, is reprefented in a print prefixed to the work, and of which he gives the following account.

"In the morning, I obferved a number of women in a peculiar kind of dreis: on enquiry, I found that they were called Mauregatas. Their habit is very particular; they wear large ear-rings and a kind of white hat, which, at a little distance, both as to fize and fhape, refemble what is worn, in like manner, by the Moorish women; their women; their hair is divided in the front, and falls down on each fide of their face; they have a number of little pictures of faints, &c. fet in filver, and other trinkets pendant to large beads of coral, tied round their neck and fpreading all over their breasts; their shift is stitched at the breaft, and buttoned at the collar; they wear a brown woollen cloth bodice and petticoat; the fleeves of the bodice very large and open behind. The Mauregatos, or men. wear very large breeches, which tie at the knee, and the loofe part hangs over the tie as far as the calf of the leg; the rest of their drets is a short kind of coat, with a belt round their middle.

"I enquired of every decent looking perfon I met, to endeavour to get fome account of these people, but I was not very fuccefstul; all I could learn was, that there are a great many villages of them about this town; that they have bound themielves by compact to certain regulations, from which they never deviate; that they intermarry amongit each other; and if any of them should change their drefs, or violate their established cuftoms, they are driven from the fciety; as their garb is different from the inhabitants of every other part of the kingdom, fo are their customs, manners, &c. When a young woman is affianced, she is not allowed to fpeak to any man, but he who is intended for her hufband, till the marriage is celebrated, on the penalty of paying a certain fiae, which is a quantity of wine; the young fellows follow and torment her on this occation, to induce her to 1peak: after marriage the temales never comb their hair, which is a mott filthy cuftom: the women work in the fields at all the labours of agriculture, whilft the men are employed as carriers from this country across the mountains into Gallicia, keeping many hundreds of hortes for that purpote; for here the carriage road from Madrid ceales. Thefe people are in affluent circumitances, being very industrious, yet they think it necelfary to live in indigence: they are supposed to be the Yargelian Carriers mentioned in Don Quixotte."

At this place (Aitorga) our traveller had an opportunity allo of feeing one of the holiday recreations of the na tives.

"This being the eve of the Affumption, I was told there was, what is called, a Funcion, at the cathedrai; thither I repaired, where I found the steeple and outfide of it lighted with many hundreds

of

of various coloured lamps, fuch as at the Pantheon, &c. which had a very good effect. There were bonfires all about; a band of mufic, which was very indifferent; and a prodigious number of people affembled from all the country around. I obferved, amongst the peafantry, that the women formed themselves into different fets, and had a peculiar dance: they were paired with each other, from twenty to thirty couple in each fet, and stood up in the fame manner that we 'do for country dances, every woman with caftnets in her hand; there was an old woman at the head of each fet, who began a fong, ftriking and beating time with her hand upon a kind of mufical instrument, like a tabor, only it is fquare, and has the addition of little bells hung to each fide of it; each girl immediately taking up the air with her cafluets, danced to the tune, which began flowly, and then quickened gradually to a certain pitch, when it was, at once, brought back to its primitive time; the old woman's voice, the inftrument, and caftnets, were in perfect concord, and the girls kept an exact time to them with their feet; they only footed to each other, turning round, and ufing lafcivious motions at certain parts of the tune; during the dance, the men ftood behind, making love to them: this amufement continued the best part of the night; but being fatigued, I left them at twelve, and retired to reft."

Of the industry of the Gallegos, or peafantry of Gallicia, our traveller gives an account, ill according with the general character of the Spaniards for indolence. Befides an incredible number that go annually from Gallicia into Caftile to gather in the harveft, there are, fays he, thirty thoufand that go every year into Portugal to the harveft and vintage.

The following is an extract from the journal of our traveller's fhort voyage, by water, from Corunna to Ferrol.

31ft, Left my horfes, and embarked in a paflage-boat for Ferrol: there were in company, a priett. a doctor, a cadet, a foldier, a drummer, a Maxo, and two females. The doctor and the priest took care to fecure to themfelves the fnuggeft places in the bark. The firit falutations being paffed, moft of the company, after having endea voured to difcover the profeffions and bufinefs of each other, became free and jocole; but felting out with a contrary wind, and a great fwell rolling in from the weftward, we had not got a mile, before every one, the doctor and drumn er excepted, became very fick. It were needle s to defcribe the scene that entued; if you have been in a ferry-boat, you must have experienced it; if not, you need not long rack your imagination to difcover it. Now in the bay of Betanzos, which we were to pats, there stands a rock, about a mile from the fhore, that we could not weather; the boatmen refolved to go between it and the land: the company, hearing their determination, it being efteemed a dangerous paffage, began to exclaim against the meafure: the prleft intreated they would return; but finding that he fued in vain, took out his breviary, and began to mutter the fervice of the day, with the utmott energy and expedition; the won en applied to their rotaries, and uttered arses and pater-nofers with all dili gence;' the cadet, though he did not carry the appearance of affidence,

offered

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