the two brothers: and having procured fresh testimony, he declared both of them innocent. The business was then carried, by appeal, before the Supreme tribunal of the Inquisition, at Madrid. And here, too, the Grand Inquisitor resisted nobly the giant child of favour; and obtained the victory over him. One of the brothers, who had been imprisoned, was set at liberty; and the other, who had taken flight, returned quietly to his friends.

On another occasion, previous to the aforesaid instance, the Grand Inquisitor, Aveda, making the visit of the prisons of the Inquisition, found in them certain individuals, hitherto unknown to him. "And who," he said, 66 are these men ?"-" They are men," was the reply, "who have been arrested by the orders of government, and sent into these prisons, for such and such a cause."-" Well," remarked the Inquisitor, "but all this has nothing to do with religion." And he, accordingly, ordered them to be released.

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Besides the aforesaid accounts, which I have learnt from the most unquestionable authority, it would be easy to adduce a thousand others, which, like them, attest the happy influence of the Inquisition, considered at once as a Court of Equity; as an instrument of national policy; and as an organ of censure. is, in fact, in this threefold point of view, that this Institution ought properly to be considered. For, at times, its gentler influences serve to mitigate the severity, and the often ill-graduated inflictions, of the criminal law. In some instances, it enables the Sovereignty to exercise, with less inconvenience than it can do in any other tribunal, a certain kind of justice, which, under one form or other, exists in every country. In short, on many occasions, more fortunate, and successful, than the tribunals of other nations,-the tribunal of the Inquisition represses vice, and immorality, in a way, of all others, the most useful to the State,—threatening, whenever any disorder becomes notorious, or alarming, to efface the line, which separates the sin from the crime.

It is my firm conviction, that a tribunal of the above description, modified according to times, places, and the character of nations, would be, every where,—in every kingdom,—peculiarly

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useful. At all events, it has certainly rendered to Spain the most signal services; and this illustrious kingdom owes to it the tribute of immortal thanks. This, however, is a point, which I propose to establish in my succeeding letter, so as to leave, I flatter myself, no doubt upon your Lordship's mind.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

(A.)-English Travellers.

THERE is no set of men under the sun, who correspond so exactly with the character of Rabelais' Lamian Witches, as do our English travellers. "These Witches," says Rabelais, "are so sharp-sighted, and lynx-eyed, when they are from home, that they can see every thing,can see objects, which had never before been observed, nor so much as heard of. Whereas, when they are at home, they can see nothing ;— they are downright blind. The case is, that, when at home, they regularly, and always, put their eyes into their shoes."

Such precisely as this is the character, and such the case, particularly of our English Travellers: for, the travellers of other nations are neither, when from home, so keen sighted; nor when at home, so blind, as ours are. Our travellers, true Lamians,-in their Journeys, and Tours, and Voyages, to different countries, discover an endless, countless, multitude of the strangest, and most astonishing, things, that were ever heard of,—monsters, chimeras, &c.,—which no human being, but themselves, had ever so much as suspected to exist. Hence, therefore, their very interesting volumes are full of the most important discoveries, -beings, and scenes, and actions, and objects, alike curious, and wonderful, as they are important. These important discoveries relate principally, however, to the Catholic religion,-to the professors, the follies, the vices, the superstitions, the bigotry, &c., of what they call "Popery." And, then, it is equally true, that the descriptions, which they give of these things, are so eloquent ;—their tales of wonder are so admirably told,-as to excite the delight of the pious Protestant; and to confirm him in the orthodoxy of his faith :—whilst, indeed, some of their tales are so frightful, as to terrify the pious ladies; and half the old women of the nation. A Book of Travels, without these recommendations, and our Lamians know it well,-would be lifeless, and insipid;—it would hardly find a reader. Hence, therefore,-for, the trade is, moreover, a very profitable one,—hence, the quick-sightedness of these men in seeing; and their zeal, and eloquence, in describing,

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what they represent, as the Catholic religion. The real fact, however, is, that their representations, and accounts, are, for the far greater part, neither more nor less than a tissue of silly lies, and pitiful tales,— the dictates of prejudice, and the inventions of bigotry, and interest. "There is no wonder," says Dr. Moore, that the English are peculiarly prejudiced in their notions of foreign countries; and still more so, in regard to the religious tenets of foreign nations. Well stocked with prejudices, before they begin to travel, they are always sure to look out for those objects, which confirm them . . . . Many English travellers remain, four or five years, abroad; and during all that space, have hardly been ever in any other company but that of their own countrymen."-Travels through France.

It would be easy, indeed, to adduce the testimony of a few of our travellers,-for, they are not, every one of them, Lamian Witches,— reprobating the conduct, and the prejudices, of their fellow-travelling countrymen. Thus, the candid Mr. Temple says: "Every Englishman must own, after a little travelling, and mixing in foreign society, that our own prejudices, whether as a nation, or a sect, appear to us, as unworthy, and inveterate, as those of any under the sun. They will admit, that no set of men, in their private character, have been so injuriously aspersed by the cankered tongue of slander, as the Roman Catholic Priesthood, &c."-Travels.

If the tales of our travellers were read only by the candid, and enlightened, so far from wishing to check, I should wish rather to promote, their circulation :-because, to such minds, the reading of them would suggest only the feelings of contempt, and of reprobation, for so much injustice. In like manner, if their accounts, and tales, did us no injury, we should, in this case, laugh at them, as so many subjects of amusement. But, unhappily, so it is:-The number of enlightened Protestants, in regard of our religion, approaches, I fear, very near to zero :-" Malunt nescire, quia jam oderunt." Whereas, the multitudes, who read the lies, and fictions, of our travellers are immense,-in fact, nearly all, who can read at all. These, therefore, receive, and read them with greediness. They look upon their falsehoods, as so many truths;-their ridicule, as so much wit ;-and their insults, as so much orthodoxy. Thus it is, that the public form their notions of our religion; and thus contract their prejudices, and their hostility, against it. Calumny, indeed, insult, and ridicule, are awful things. They prove every thing to the ignorant, the prejudiced, and the weak.

If I were disposed to do so, how easy would it be for me to draw a picture of this Protestant country, which, for the darkness of its shades, and the horror of its scenes, would at least equal those descriptions,

which our travellers give, of Catholic nations. Our daily papers, indeed, as well as a multitude of Protestant writers,-for, all are not Lamians, -present to us constantly such proofs of vice; of ignorance; of irreligion, of fanaticism, &c., as would, I think, be locked for in vain, in any other Christian country.

Thus, for example, in regard of Vice;-take only, as a specimen, the account, which, in his Letter to the Bishop of London, the Rev. Mr. Noel gives of the state of our Capital. This boasted seat of wisdom contains, he asserts," its 500,000 Sabbath breakers, at the very least, -its 10,000 enslaved gamblers,-its 20,000 beggars ;-its 30,000 thieves,-its 100,000 habitual drunkards;—its 100,000 systematic, and abandoned, profligates." The proportion of these disorders will, of course, be somewhat less in the provinces, than in a capital. Still, the fact will not be denied, that they are, every where, but above all, in our manufacturing towns,-in a very frightful degree, prevalent. And then, too, what is equally the case,―vice, in this country, is far bolder, and more unblushing, than it is in other nations: for, in these, however prevalent it may be, it is, at all events, far more retired, and more modest.

In regard of the Neglect of Religion. Bishop Porteus, in one of his Charges says: "Scarcely one symptom of religion ever appears amongst us, except on the Lord's Day." Addison,-when the sense of religion was more common, than it is, at present,-observes, in his Freeholder : There is less religion in England, than in any other country,- -a fact," he adds, "which all travellers must have remarked, who take any notice of what passes in other nations."-"We are acquainted with no country in Europe," says the learned writer of the Black Book, "in which abuses are more prevalent, and in which there is so little piety.” In regard of Ignorance. Bishop Porteus again, lamenting the dreadful evil,-states, that, In some parts of his diocese, the people are in a state, little short of Pagan ignorance and irreligion." He tells us, that, in his own living, which he held in the country, "he found his parishioners absolutely ignorant of the God, who made them."-In like manner, the pious Hannah More,-in her Letters,-complains as follows: "While we are sending missionaries to India, our own villages are in Pagan darkness; and upon many of them scarcely a ray of Christianity has shone."—"The populace of England," say the writers of the Quarterly Review, "are more ignorant of their religious duties, than they are in any other Christian country."

In regard of Infidelity. Infidelity, and Indifference," say the writers of the British Critic,-there is no better authority,-" are the prevailing, and damning, sins of the nation." Voltaire, indeed, was so