took care to fecure every avenue by which they might approach; they even lavished gold, and contrived to obtain the countenance of minifters to fecure their impunity; and Limborch informs us, that by means of their indefatigable perfeverance and art in this courfe, as long as the house of Anjou reigned, the Inquifition in fact fubfifted in France, though it was never recognized by law." P. 407.

As we do not wish to contaminate our pages by any of the horrid particulars related in this work, facts which degrade human nature, almost below any other view of its depravities, we will conclude with fome reflections, (whether of the editor, or one of his original authors, we cannot fay) accounting for the milder effects of the Inquifition in Italy than in Spain and Portugal, and for the fact that it did not there fo much deprefs the human mind nor retard the progrefs of fcience as in the latter countries.

"The ftate of the countries," he fays, "was very different, and must be fo in the nature of things. The Popes created the Inquifition, the Kings of Spain and Portugal adopted it; but the Popes were too wife to fuffer it to be independent of their power in Italy; they were themselves its chiefs, they were the standing Grand Inquifitors. Thus it was neceffary that, under each pontificate, the Inquifitions of Italy fhould take a tinge from the character of the fovereign who bore the tiara. Haughty, violent, rafh, and tyrannical under the rule of thofe pontiffs, whofe bold, turbulent, and defpotic fpirits fcrupled no means to fubject the minds and inclinations of all, and to perfect their fyftem of univerfal domination: moderate, cunning, artful, and hypocritical, when fubfervient to those whofe timidity naturally led them to fubftitute intrigue in the place of violence, and whose less enterprifing temper made them dread to fhock the public opinion, and recommended to them a policy more gradual, more wary, more guided by circumstances, and more dependent upon the events, which arose beyond their influence. Thus a thousand circumftances, in this country, intermitted or relaxed its operations. In Spain, on the contrary, it experienced none of these interregna. Here, governing independently of the monarch, it was but of little confequence what his character or temper might have been [might be.] Here it advanced fteadily in its career, regardless of the varying difpofitions of the kings, flattering them when it experienced their favour, making them tremble when they ventured to circumfcribe its powers. Nothing diftracted it from the pursuit of its great object, which was to rule by opinion, by falfehood, and by terrer; and thus its influence upon the profperity of the country, and the manners of the people, was unrestrained and unimpeded. If, as has been fhewn, its principles demanded igno. rance to eternize its power, it is evident that all the evils which

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 fentence 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 says, find it necellary to be more explicit on the fu ject] is actually established in every part of the united kingdom.' We leave this, not underflanding it ourfelves, to the confideration of

the leader.

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 Hiftory, &c. Tranflated from the French of Alexander de Laborde. In five Volumes. 8vo. 31. 15s. 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'Espagne, 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, moft 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 elabora e introduction, of which we fincerely hope one of the firft 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 divifions. 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 last 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 demonftrate the various talents of the author, and his perfect competency to his undertaking, however diversified, elaborate, and diffi cult.

"TARRAGONA, in Latin Tarraco, is one of thofe famous towns which only recall the remembrance of their former grandeur, and ferve as a comparison 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 Chriftian 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 prefent 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 refidence 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 34,199 fathoms; its population was adequate to its immenfe fize, if what the hiftorian Antonio Auguftin fays be accurate; he states 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 day's there were only 80,000 families in it, or about 380,000 inhabitants; but Mariana, who was almoft 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 first declined under the Goths. Euric, their king, took it in 467, and his foldiers, in revenge for its refiftance, deftroyed 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.

Situation. Extent. Tarragona is at prefent fituated on an eminence of rocks elevated about feven hundred and fixty feet above the level of the fea, and near the river Francoli. It is furrounded with walls, and has fix gates and two castles of little importance, 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-eftablished in 1088, by Raymond Berenger, count of Barcelona, after having expelled the Moors from it. Formerly its jurifdiction 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 fuffragans. Its diocese contains a cathedral chapter, and seven hundred and forty parishes; the archbishop has the title of prince of Tarragona; he crowned the kings of Aragon. The town has only one parish, which is attached to the cathedral; it has monafte ries, four nunneries, and one house 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 moft 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 Ro- man 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 justice, a minifter of the marine, a port captain, and a board of public economy.

"Public Inftruction. A fchool for the education of young la dies, 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 prefent the only building which can fix attention, nor is it of a ftyle to detain us long. It is a fine fpacious edifice built of freestone, 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 crofs 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 smaller arches; the latter are fupported by Doric columns of white marble; their capitals are ornamented with bafs-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 plea fures, fociety, or public amufements; the ftreets are narrow, fhort,

8

crooked