and ecclesiastics, and from a false pride, which teaches men of rank and opulence that it is disgraceful to pay a personal attention to the improvement of their property in either of these lines.*

One of these facts is the low state of population in Spain, compared with other countries under circumstances not more favourable.-That of Spain, it has been seen, is only seventy persons to a square mile, whilst that of England and Wales is eighty-six.

Another fact is the low state of their manufactures.-In 1762 the silk raised in Valencia amounted to 1,150,000lb. in Murcia to 400,000lb, in Arragon to 170,000lb, and in Granada to 100,000lb. "And yet," says Zimmermann, of 70,000 looms which Spain formerly had, Uslatiz found only 10,000 remaining in 1724. Since that time, however, their number has again increased." And, according to a citation of Anderson from the same Spanish writer on commerce, who published in 1753, they had projected a great extension of that branch of manufacture,

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Cotton is another considerable production of this kingdom. Valencia alone, in a favourable year, produces 120,500 lb. But the greatest párt of it is exported raw."-The same is observable in the export of wool. of it is e To these particular articles we may add the general amount of the exports. In a kingdom where, beside those before mentioned, there are many other very profitable natural products for which they find a certain market in the neighbouring countries, such as wine, oil, rice, flax, and fruit of various kinds, the total amount of exports was estimated at 80,000,000 livres only, about £.3,333,330, while that of Great Britain amounts to above twenty millions sterling."

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*

Another

The abbé Raynal speaks with his characteristic acuteness of observation upon this subject. Their idleness," says he, "proceeds in some degree from foolish pride. Because the nobility were unemployed, the people imagined it was a mark of nobility to do nothing. They all "wanted to enjoy the same prerogative; and the starved, half-naked Spaniard, carelessly sitting 68 on the ground, looks with pity on his neighbours, who are well clothed, live well, work, and laugh at his folly. The one, from a motive of pride, despises the conveniences of lite; while "the other, from a principle of vanity, endeavours to acquire them. The climate had made the "Spaniard abstemious, and indigence hath rendered him more so. The monkish spirit, to which "he hath long been subject, makes him consider poverty, which is occasioned by his vices, as a "virtue. As he hath no property, he covets none; but his aversion for labour is greater still "than his contempt for riches."-Raynal's East and West India Settlements. 4. 319. Zimmermann. 308.

k

VOL. IV.

1

Anderson. 3. 289.

2 U

Zimmermann. 309.

n

Idem. 304.

Another fact is supplied by the state of agriculture; and this is exemplified in the constraint under which the proprietors are laid by the government respecting the celebrated Merino flocks, and also by the privileges which the proprietors themselves enjoy with respect to pasturage on their periodical removal from the yales to the mountains. One of the “greatest obstacles to agriculture in this kingdom," says Zimmermann, "is the breeding very large flocks of sheep, the value of which is esti"mated in Spain at 30,000,000 livres. They take up too great an extent of ground for their subsistence, to the prejudice of agriculture and population. The number of those sheep whose wool is of the finest sort, is estimated at 5,000,000; the profits arising from them amount annually to 8,500,000 livres, of which 2,200,000 are paid to the king, "5,600,000 must be deducted for the necessary expences, and only 700,000 livres are the clear benefit of the proprietors. Of this fine wool 40,000 cwt, is annually sent off to London and Bristol about the same quantity to Rouen; 20,000 cwt. to Amsterdam, of which only 6,000 cwt. remain in Holland; the rest is exported chiefly to different parts of Germany.

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These facts sufficiently prove how incompatible a despotic government is with national industry, with a prosperous trade, and improvements in agriculture and manufactures.

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Mr. Townsend gives the following account of these flocks. "The numbers of the Merino "sheep are continually varying. Cajaleruela, who wrote A. D. 1627, complained that they were "reduced from seven millions to two millions and an half. Ustariz reckoned in his time four "millions; but now they are near five. The proprietors are numerous, some having only three or four thousand, while others have ten times that number. The duke of Infantado has forty "thousand. Each proprietor has a mayoral or chief shepherd, to whom he allows annually one "hundred doblons, or £.75, and a horse; and for every flock of two hundred sheep, a separate "shepherd, who is paid according to his merit, from eight shillings a month to thirty, besides two 66 pounds of bread a day for himself, and as much for his dog, with the privilege of keeping a few. goats on his own account.

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"The produce of wool is reckoned to be about five pounds from every ewe, and eight from the. "wethers; and to sheer eight of the former, or five of the latter, is reckoned a good day's work, "Some, indeed, allow twelve sheep to every sheerer; but even this comes short of what we do "in England, where a common hand will dispatch sixty in a day, and a good workman has been "known to finish half as many more.

"The wool of the Merino sheep is worth little less than twelve pence a pound, whilst that of "the stationary flocks sells for only sixpence; and every sheep is reckoned to yield a clear profit

"of ten-pence to the proprietor, after all expences are discharged."-Tour through Spain. 2. 62,

Zimmermann's Political Survey. 305.

From this cause, assisted by the influence of climate and the ill effects arising from the fallacious idea of wealth impressed on the state and nation by the discovery of the mines of Mexico and Peru, it appears chiefly to have arisen, that Spain, with a fertile soil, with an extensive coast, with navigable rivers branching into every province, and a most advantageous situation for foreign trade, has remained half-peopled, and her subjects halfstarved and half-naked: whilst in other countries the spirit of industry which freedom inspires has compensated for the want of these natural advantages. In Switzerland, for example, before the revolution, every foot of land was cultivated; the sides of rocks apparently almost inaccessible were decorated with gardens and vineyards, and every natural product of the country was turned to the greatest possible benefit by the hand of industry.---Such was the natural result of the circumstances of the Spanish nation. Such an ill-constituted state, in which there are not the proper motives of action and rewards of merit, becomes a system of alternate vexation and oppression, in which each member contributes to the general misery.

Half-starved spiders feed on half-starved flies:*P

Whereas in a well-constituted society each member, being properly employed and remunerated, necessarily concurs in promoting the general prosperity. There were, however, some efforts made by the government and public-spirited individuals to promote trade and to encourage improvements

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in

* This wretchedness of the Spanish nation Mr. Townsend thus describes. "The country was not in a condition to be taxed. Rich'in mines, but poor in money; exhausted by continued wars in Italy, in Flanders, and by emigrations to America; wanting, at the same time, every encouragement to industry at home; wretchedness so universally prevailed, that doctor "Moncada, in the year 1660, reckoned more than three millions in Spain who wore no shirts, "because they could not afford to purchase linen. Money was at that period lent commonly for 66 twenty, and even thirty per cent. Such was the state of their finance in the reign of Philip the "Fourth. His successor, Charles the Second, who died at the end of the seventeenth century, was 66 once reduced to such distress, that, as appears by a letter to be seen in his own hand writing, he "solicited money from the council of Castille to pay the expences of his removal with his court

to Aranguez, where he was going for his health: the council answered, that, if upon examina❝tion, there was no other way to restore his health, they would grant the money."-Tour through Spain. 2. 165.

P Churchill's Poems.

in husbandry. In 1765 a society was established at Corunna in Galicia, for the encouragement of agricultural improvements.—And in 1776 a national institution was founded by his majesty and the grandees, under the denomination of Friends of their Country, for the encouragement of agriculture, manufactures, and trade.-The king, in the mean-time, endeavoured to people the uninhabited districts in the Sierra Morena by inviting settlers from other countries; and he promoted the trade of his subjects by his patronage of the new East India company established in 1786.

These wise and patriotic measures appear already to have had some effect. "From the manufactures of Grenada, Malaga, Seville, Toledo, Talavera, and especially of Valencia," says the abbé Raynal, "silks are produced which are in some repute, and which deserve it. The manu"factures of St. Ildefonso furnish very beautiful mirrors; those of Guada"laxara and Escaray supply cloths; and those of Madrid, hats, ribbands, "tapestry, and porcelain. All Catalonia is filled with manufactures of "arms and toys, of silk stockings and handkerchiefs, of printed cotton, of common woollen goods, and of gold and silver and other lace."

"

A strong appearance of reviving commerce is seen in the canals forming in different parts of the kingdom.-Mr. Townsend, in his Tour through Spain, gives a particular account of the canal of Arragon, to form a communication between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean, with the assistance of the Ebro, which flows through almost the whole breadth of the kingdom. -He also describes the canal of Castille as a work which promises to recover the trade and importance of the ancient city of Valladolid.' Enough appears to have been done, and sufficient effect to have been produced, to prove the practicability of reinstating this kingdom in her due weight among the powers of Europe by the application of proper means.

PORTUGAL.

Abbé Raynal. 4. 316.

Tour through Spain. 2. 210. 364.

PORTUGAL.

NATIONAL CHARACTER.

IT is a general observation, that the character of the Portuguese bears a strong resemblance to that of the Spaniards, but that the bad qualities of the latter prevail in them.-Dumouriez, whose residence in the country gave him opportunities of making observations and whose discernment enabled him to observe with discrimination, represents them as having the same general characteristics, resembling that of the Spaniards; but these blended with others which give the Portuguese themselves a character distinctly different in different parts of the kingdom. "The character of "the Portuguese," says he, "bears a strong resemblance to that of the Spaniards; they possess the same disposition to idleness and superstition, "the same kind of courage, the same pride, but more politeness and "deceit, which arises from the rigour of their present government; the

same national zeal, and, above all, a decided spirit of independence, "which incites the most violent hatred towards the Spaniards, who have "been their tyrants, and the English, who are their masters.

"The manners of the northern provinces of Portugal have a positive "resemblance to those of Scotland. Their inhabitants are a fine race of men, free, sincere, brave, full of prejudices of national hatred and patriotic love. They are universally hospitable, and, in the provinces. "of Entre Minho e Douro and Traz los Montes, there are no inns. In "the south, on the contrary, and, above all, at Lisbon, the inhabitants are robbers, misers, traitors, brutal, fierce, and morose, with an external.

appearance