he applies his whip, but in general they are stimulated to exertion by his voice and example, for he will run briskly by their side for a considerable time, and then with no small agility resume his seat.

CHAPTER XVI

SPAIN.

SECTION I.

ST. SEBASTIAN.

HAVING arrived at St. Jean de Luz, they then crossed a small bridge over an arm of the sea, and proceeding southward, they reached the celebrated Bidassoa, immortalized in the last war by the celebrated passage of the British army; and in former times, by its forming the small isle of Pheasants, where Cardinal Mazarine and Don Louis de Haro met to settle the preliminaries of the peace of the Pyrenees, and the articles of a marriage between Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of Spain.

Dr. Walker and his pupil were charmed with the delightful country they traversed in Biscay. On all sides neat towns and villages presented themselves. The Biscayans enjoy many and valuable privileges, which are not participated by their fellow subjects. The northern parts of Spain have, in a great degree, retained their independence, and the Spanish monarchs have always been tenacious of encroaching upon the liberties of this part of their subjects. Every hill, every valley in Biscay is richly cultivated, and the inhabitants are the most cheerful and happy in the Peninsula.

Our travellers could not refrain from visiting St. Sebastian, situated at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by a strong double wall, and in all other respects so well fortified, that it was thought to be impregnable, till it was taken by the British at the time they drove the French out of Spain.

"

"The particulars of that siege make one shudder," said Edward," the French boast very much of their engineers, as being superior to those of any other country, but I think that siege must have convinced them we are equal to them, when our artillery fired heavy shot over the heads of their own countrymen, and within eighteen inches of their hats." DR. WALKER.—"I will grant you Edward, that the British distinguished themselves particularly in Spain, even at sieges; but it is in the open field, that British soldiers have always most signalized themselves. And this may be accounted for thus: surrounded as England is by the stormy billows of the ocean, she fears but little the attack of foes at home. Her sons, therefore, have no opportunity of studying the art of fortification, unless they go abroad. Fortification is a science to be acquired by intense study, only, and then that study would avail but little, unless it were reduced to practice. Gibbon says, the battles won by lessons of tactics may be numbered with the epic poems created from the rules of criticism.' The same observation may be, in part, applied to the capture of fortified towns. British soldiers are seldom beat in a pitched battle, because personal courage, cool intrepidity, and subordination to their officers, are their characteristic features; and a body of men possessing these qualifications, may be deemed invincible, unless overpowered by a very superior force. To use the words of Gibbon again, the discipline of a soldier is formed by exercise rather than by study; and he goes on by saying, the talents of a commander are appropriated to those calm though rapid minds, which nature produces to decide the fate of nations and of armies; the former (the discipline of a soldier) is the habit of a life, the latter the glance of a moment.

"But the honours of war are at all times evanescent and mutable, depending sometimes on the comparative talents of the opposing leaders, sometimes on numerical force; sometimes on the nature of the country, and often on the accidents of disease, want of supplies, failure of co-operation, or other casualties which mock both skill and valour *.'

"Spain," continued Dr. Walker, "is a country_that has become peculiarly interesting to the natives of Great Britain, of late years. The peninsular war familiarized it

* Turner's England.

to every one, and its history and geography have been more, perhaps, discussed within these last thirty years, than they have been since the reign of Philip II.

"The early history of Spain is generally enveloped in mystery, and is replete with histories no less marvellous than that of Romulus and Remus. There is scarcely a great town in the peninsula that does not boast a hero as its founder. Many of the Trojans are said to have sailed to this far distant country after the fall of their sacred city;' and Ulysses himself, it is affirmed, was driven on the coast of Portugal, during his long and wandering banishment from rocky Ithaca. Lisbon even claims him as its original founder. And now I will relate to you a marvellous story, which outdoes that of Romulus and his brother, for the fable of the wolf is considered, you know, as nothing more than that a shepherd's wife, named Lupa, nursed these celebrated twins.

"One of the native Kings of Spain, who reigned over the Curetes during the invasion of that country by the Trojans, (if it ever did take place) was called Gorgorius. He was a prince much esteemed for many private as well as public virtues. But virtue itself, among the heathen, bordered so closely upon vice, that we must not be surprised to find the former often degenerating into the latter. Gorgorius stained a life of virtue by his cruelty to his daughter and her ille. gitimate child Abides. He ordered his unfortunate grandson to be exposed to wild beasts, but they, forgetting their savage nature nourished him with their milk; the inhuman grandfather instead of relenting at this unusual spectacle, ordered him to be thrown into a path where a large number of cattle was to pass. This danger he also providentially escaped, but the miracles that had hitherto preserved him, no way softened the unrelenting heart of Gorgorius. He now commanded that he should be thrown to hungry dogs, and this scheme failing also, the young prince was committed as his grandfather supposed to a watery grave. 'But all things which were used to do him harm, refused their office.' The waves gently wafted him to the shore, and a doe happening to lie near the place, the child crawled to it, and received from the gentle animal that nourishment which prolonged its eventful life. Having attained the age of manhood he still continued to live in the mountains, supporting a precarious existence by acts of rapine and violence. The inhabitants made several ineffectual efforts to take him, but

he appeared to have imbibed some of the characteristic swiftness of his foster-mother; for if he were observed for one instant, he was 'out of sight the next. Wearied at length by his repeated depredations, they laid an ambuscade for him, and having succeeded in this enterprize, they with difficulty secured him, and carried him to Gorgorius.

"When introduced to the regal presence, he appeared no way intimidated, but preserved an air of conscious dignity. Gorgorious gazed on him at first with surprise, then with affection; but when by some peculiar marks in his body he recognized in the person of our lawless hero, his own grandson, whom he had so often exposed to a cruel death; he appeared for a short time overcome by various and agitated feelings; at length, however, recovering himself, he stretched out his arms and embraced him, in the most affectionate manner. Our poor persecuted wanderer was now acknowledged as the grandson of Gorgorius, and treated with all the respect due to the acknowledged heir of the kingdom. Gorgorius gave him the name of Abides, and at the death of the former he succeeded him, and reigned for many years, with particular discretion.

"He erected tribunals, instituted many wise laws, appointed judges, and by his impartial administration of justice, he became the darling of his people. After a long and truly glorious reign he was succeeded by his posterity, of whom no notice is taken; their names not being even mentioned by the Spanish historians. This prince, according to the accounts by the Spanish historians, was contemporary with King David.”

EDWARD.

Many thanks, Sir, I think the story of Abides exceeds in interest, though not in probability, that of the Roman founder."

Dr. Walker,—" You are right Edward.”

* Mariana's Spain.

SECTION II.

GENERAL VIEW OF SPAIN.

"Or the surface and climate of Spain," said Dr. Walker, as they traversed the fertile hills and plains of Biscay, "nearly all the provinces are either intersected or bounded by lofty mountains, of which five large chains, chiefly primitive and secondary, traverse this country from west to east, four of which terminate in a longitudinal chain, that connects the provinces of Granada and Biscay.

"Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona, in Catalonia, is famous for its height and hermitage, to which pilgrims resort, to implore the protection of the Virgin before her miraculous image. The whole extent of this mountain is supposed to be about twenty-four miles in circumference, consisting chiefly of round lime-stone, firmly conglutinated with a yellow calcareous earth and sand, with a further addition of round white quartz, streaked with red, as well as touchstone, all cemented together, and forming one solid mass. In the course of time, however, torrents of rain have washed away the earth, formed by decomposition, and have split the mountain into clefts and precipices of the most grotesque and frightful figures; whilst other parts consist of immense rocks, bare and blanched, in form of cones, pillars, and jagged fragments, apparently scaled upon one another to the height of 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. On the summit of this lofty mountain, the prospect is extensive and splendid. The lower part of the mountain, having been decomposed sooner than the upper parts, and converted into soil, produces corn, vines, and olives; while the shelving rocks, facilitate a passage to the summit, and exhibit to the curious botanist, above two hundred sorts of trees, shrubs, and plants, that seem to shoot up spontaneously. The direction of this mountain is from east to west, rather visibly inclining to the west; twenty miles north-west of Barcelona.

"These mountains are crowned with snow a few weeks in the year. In its neighbourhood, to the north. west, at the village of Cardona, is a hill of rock-salt, three miles in circumference: this salt is manufactured into ornaments. The rivers are large, rapid, and numerous. The atmosphere is tempered by breezes from the high elevations and surround