race was expelled, assassinations have almost entirely ceased so that what population lost on the one hand it has much more than gained on the other. The continual use of the cuchillo, which these baptized Jews and Moors persevered in, was much more injurious to population and to civil society, and much more inhuman too than their total expulsion. Perhaps indeed it would not be fair to conclude that all the assassinations were perpetrated by those people; but certain it is, that in the present day they are the persons who chiefly commit such acts of barbarity both in Spain and Portugal. As a proof of the rapid increase of the Valencian population we find that between 1718 and 1761 it has nearly trebled and amounted at the latter period to 604,612 souls; in 1768 to 716,886; in 1787 to 783,084; in 1795 to 932,150; in 1799-1800 to above a million, and at present to about a million and a quarter! It contains 630 cities, towns, and villages. On the moral character of the people, Mr. Fischer observes

“The Valencian seems to combine all the advantages of the inhabitants of the north with those of the natives of the south. He possesses the strength of the one and the susceptibility of the other; he is hardy as the Norwegian and ardent as the Provençal. The same observation applies also to the women. From the beauty of their complexion, their light hair, and charming embonpoint, they might be taken for daughters of the north; but their graces, their sensibility, their vivacity, loudly proclaim them the natives of a southern land. If we pass to the moral qualities, we shall find that in this particular also the influence of this fortunate climate is equally apparent. In the men we discover that activity and vivacity, that vigour of health, and warm southern glow of life;-in the women that enchanting courtesy, and ardent temperament; and in both sexes, that cheerful, good-natured vanity, and that unaffected gaiety which are the source of the sweetest social enjoyments. Among them you find none of the coldness of the phlegmatic Castilian, or of the deceit of the officious Andalusian; none of the cunning of the Biscayan, the rudeness of the Galician, or the stiffness of the Catalan. In a word, if you wish to see the best tempered, the most amiable and the gayest people in Spain, go to Valencia."

Our author states, that the city of Valencia has only four gates; he should have added, at which goods are permitted to enter and where custom-duties are levied, but there are seven or eight gates by which the citizens may pass and repass either on foot or in coaches. It contains above 6,000 houses, as all the north-west quarter formerly devoted to rameras is now covered with the houses of honest, industrious artisans. In Valencia Mr. F. justly observes, you rarely meet

with any beggars, loungers, or artisans in want of employ ment; and the streets, though not paved, are nevertheless to lerably clean, as the country-people who carry away the dirt for manure, are obliged to bring a load of round, clean gra vel. Of the general character of this city we have already given some account in our Appendix to Vol. xxx, and our statement of its public libraries and museum is more complete in some respects than Mr Fischer's. The literary character of the Valencians, notwithstanding the celebrated names of Stoani, Vives (the Spanish Bacon), Gelida, Nuñez, Perez, Perpiñan, Perera, Trilles, Mariner, Jorge Juan, Marti, Gregorio Mayans, Franscisco Perez Bayer, Juan Bautista Muñoz, A. I. Cavanilles (the naturalist), Lasalle the poet, who is still living, and above 400 other authors, cannot be ranked so high as that of the Castilians, who on almost every subject discover greater profundity, more solidity, taste, and higher excellence.

The greatest errors which we have found in this picture is its exaggeration of the cheapness of living. Vegetables and fruits of all kinds are indeed cheap*; but meat and bread are not so much so; the bread is very light and not nutritious, as it contains a mixture of maize flour which makes it yellow, and instead of being only a penny a pound, it is oftener nçar 2d, and one pound of English bread is worth at least two; the meat is not good, but seldom exceeds 3d. a pound; fish, either fresh or salted, are much dearer; admirable melons are sold from 1d. to 6d. two pomegranates may be had for a halfpenny, and dates for 2d. per lb. that would sell for 2s. in London. There is no chocolate sold under 8 reals vellon (20d.) instead of 18d, as stated by our author; firing is also very dear, but fortunately not much required: good silk stockings, instead of 5s. 6d. are oftener s dollars, and are dearer than in London, and a very indifferent cloth coat costs £5: still however it is much cheaper living at Valencia than Hieres, Nice or Montpellier, and the climate and amusements are greatly superior. Fine linen are also very dear, as well as cotton; but brandy and wines are cheap and good enough.

It is acknowledged, that the vegetables have very little substances, and that indigestions are not common among the Valensians, whose food is certainly light enough; the great abundance of sugar however which exists in almost all the vegetables, must be the chief sources of the nutriment which support these lively, good-natured, and hard-working people.-REV.

In this Picture Mr. Fischer is most defective in his account of the fine arts; of the numerous paintings and pieces of sculpture which ornament the churches, and statues on the public walks and bridges of Valencia, he gives a very meagre and very imperfect account. If the Valencians excel their countrymen in any branch of human art, it is in that of painting; Valencia has unquestionably produced some of the finest painters in Spain, artists who may be fairly put in competition with any in modern Italy or France, if not with the ancient masters. The lively imagination of the people, and the fine images which are incessantly placed before it, assisted by the mechanical instructions of the Academy of San Carlos, must soon make Valencia one of the first schools in Europe for painters. This city also abounds in amateurs among both clergy and laity of fortune, and many of them have very fine collections; but the Inquisition, with the most laudable regard to morality, has wisely prohibited the scandalous exhibition of naked figures. This measure indeed was rendered the more necessary, that the serenos or watchmen (for Valencia has been enlivened and guarded by such men since 1777) ventured to exhibit pictures by their lamps in the night. The art of printing has also been carried to great perfection in Valencia, where books were printed so early as 1471, two of which are still extant in the library of the Convent of St. Domingo. Montfort is the successful rival of Ibarra of Madrid, Bodoni of Italy, or Didot of Pa

ris.

Of the delightful and variegated walks or alamedas around Valencia we have the following account:

"I doubt if all Europe can produce a promenade superior in beauty to the Alameda, What magnificent alleys!-what admirable vegetation!-what a refreshing coolness, even in the hottest days of August! Here the elm, the cypress, the plane-tree, the orange, the pomegranate, the cinnamon (laurus cinnamomum), and mastic-tree (schinus molle, which here grows to a lofty, spreading tree), may be seen growing beside each other in all the luxuriance of a southern clime; while between them a number of tall, shady, South American trees, as the chirimoyo (annono squamosa), the aguacete laurus persea), the sassafras (laurus sassafras), and the dragon tree (yucca draconis), flourish in all the beauty of their native land.

"This magnificent Alameda is almost every afternoon and evening the rendezvous of all the people of fashion in Valencia. The principal alley, which is kept watered, is for carriages, and the four smaller collateral ones, intersected by canals bordered with flowers, are for pedestrians. In every part there are benches, arbours, and green-plots; and in short, the greatest pains have been taken to NO. CXXIV. VOL. XXXI. M.

provide in every possible way for the pleasure and accommodation of the public.

"The stranger, who for the first time enters this Alameda, will assuredly imagine himself to be all at once transported into the groves of Paphos. From all sides are wafted the perfumes of the rose, the orange, and the narcissus; every thicket resounds with vocal and instrumental music, from all quarters O delicious, O celestial evenings, when all the senses revel in delight, and the benign goddess sees none but happy mortals around her.

"From the Alameda, a charming road, bordered with beautiful country-houses and noble alleys, leads almost in a direct line to the village and port of Grao: it is not, at most, above half an hour's walk; and by the way you observe a multitude of mimosa, palms, sodom-apples, &c. mingling their superb foliage with that of a thousand other shrubs and trees.

"Grao is much frequented on account of its situation on the sea, and its marine-baths. Several hundreds of tartans and calesins sometimes arrive there on one day; nay, many families, and even whole parties, pass months together in their country-houses at that place. At such times Grao exhibits much the same kind of scene as other bathing-places-a great deal of luxury, many 'amusements, and much gallantry. Parties from this place likewise make frequent excursions upon the sea, along its enchanting coast."

Among the curious and interesting botanical details which occur in the volume before us, we must not omit to mention the Algarrabos, or carob-trees. One of these trees frequently yields 25 cwt. of a fruit resembling beans, but with a pod rather longer and thinner: they spread like oaks to be several hundred feet in circumference, and grow with astonishing rapidity in a favourable soil, although they have hard wood. Young trees only a year old often have stems 10 inches thick, and 12 feet long. The extraordinary vital force of this tree, which blossoms twice a year (in Jan. and Sept.) and the sap of which is consequently in continual motion, probably contributes to their rapid growth. In very hot weather the vessels of the bark often swell to such a degree as to burst it with a loud noise: they cannot however bear a temperature below 36 degrees.

Mr. Fischer strangely misrepresents the Alpargatas, or sandals used by the Spaniards: they have no quarters or soles besmeared with pitch, this must be a German idea: they are merely made of hemp or bass-weed or feather-grass (stipa tenacissima L.); a flat rope from half to three-fourths of an inch in breadth is wound round, till it has acquired a size sufficient to extend the whole length of the foot, when its two sides are sewed together either with a hempen or bass-weed cord: this forms the sole. A flat narrow piece is then sewed to this sole on each side of the heel so as to pass over the

upper joint, and a small piece is woven to cover three of the toes; this is all the parts of the foot which an alpargata covers, the sides, top of the foot, and point of the heel being entirely bare, it is tied on with cords, tape or ribbon, according to the taste and wealth of the wearer. Some alpargatas have a flat cord sewed round the sole to enclose the foot, but in Valencia they generally consist of only the three pieces here described. In Madrid indeed perfect formed shoes are made of hemp, and are very comfortable wear, greatly superior to the French wooden sabots. Alpargatas are never bound with ribbons, they require no binding, as the author asserts, they are only tied with them.

In describing the manners of Valencia, the Water-festivals ought not to be omitted. Crevillent is the grand theatre of these exhibitions. On the discovery of a new spring of this life-giving element, a canal is made, an aqueduct finished, and the joyous inhabitants meet in their holiday clothes, generally on a Sunday afternoon, to witness and participate in the usual ceremonies of letting a spring into a canal. When the current is let flow into the canal, drums and trumpets hail its issue, and loud acclamations of rejoicing rend the air, while crowds jostle to be the first to catch some of the water, from which they expect particular advantage. The aged wash with it their feeble eyes; the maidens look upon it as a powerful cosmetic; the married women drink it to promote fecundity; and the young fellows regard it as a specific for every disorder. Persons aged 120 years have attended these festivals, and some have lived 22 years longer!

It is calculated that Benicarlo and Alicanta export annually about 3500 tuns of wine, worth from £20 to £30 per tun. The whole exports of Valencia have been estimated by Cavanilles at 13 millions of piastres; at present it is not too much to estimate them at 20, or 5 millions sterling. The wool of Valencia, although inferior to the Andalusian, is yet not bad; but their silk is not what it might be, did they adopt a proper method of winding it; it is even inferior to that of Murcia. About 6200 silk looms are employed in this province, of which 3247 are in the city of Valencia, and 1000 in Gandia. The manufacture of azulejos, or Dutch tiles glazed or painted blue, is of considerable importance; these tiles serve to ornament the piazzas of the convents, the fire-places, and the under part of the walls of the houses; a coarser kind of unglazed tiles serve for floors, as in France. We cannot deny our readers the amusement of reading the following extract from the article very properly entitled Sug

PERSTITION.