origin. Flowers and medicinal herbs grow wild in the mountains, and load the air with the rich fragrance of their perfumes. In short, such is the variety of the climate, occasioned by the difference of elevation, that there is scarcely a vegetable production of any country for which a fitting place may not be found.

The animal kingdom presents nothing remarkable. The horse is, however, entitled to particular notice. The Moors, when in possession of the country, stocked it with their finest breeds; and although the race, like everything else in Spain, has degenerated, it still shows many of the points by which it was once distinguished. The other domesticated animals are mules, asses, beeves, swine in vast numbers, sheep in millions, and multitudes of goats; nor are there wanting wild animals, as bears, wolves, and wild boars, which neglect and decay have left the undisturbed tenants of some of the wilder and more sequestered districts. The sea coasts abound with fish, which afford employment to many of the inhabitants, and furnish lawful food during the numerous fasts of the Catholic Church.

THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN.

THIS kingdom includes the greatest portion of the peninsula, of which we have already provided a sketch. It has an area of 176,480 square miles, and is divided into a number of large provinces, inhabited by people different in character, manners and customs, who speak different languages or dialects, and are separated as widely by their interests and feeling as by their locality.

From these circumstances it will be difficult to depict the Spaniards as a nation. The Castilians, especially those of Old Castile, are proud, gloomy and taciturn, more solemn and stately than the people of the other provin ces, but as upright, generous and sincere. The Galicians are the most industrious, and are the general laborers and reapers of the peninsula—and their very name has become synonymous with servant. Next to them the Catalans and Valencians, though differing as widely as the Scotch and Irish, are the most active and enterprising. The Murcians bear the worst character, and are represented as lazy, plotting and suspicious, but the Biscayans are their counterpart, being laborious, frank and generous. The Estremadurians are indolent and vain, and in Andalusia the people are a mixture of the Spaniard and Arab, and partake of the joint character of the two nations. There are many minor characteristics which need not be mentioned.

What is termed the Spanish language is the speech of Castile. It is evidently a mixture of the Gothic and Latin, enriched with a number of Arabic expressions. This commixture was the result of invasions at different periods. The pure Spanish is spoken only by a few who took refuge in the mountains; but even among these, dialects are numerous. Previous to the Moorish conquest the Provençal prevailed in Catalonia; in Asturias, Leon, and Old Castile, the Castilian; in Galicia the Gallego, the parent of the Portuguese; while in Navarre and some parts of Biscay the Basque predominated. When the Christians recovered Spain in the eleventh century, their language spread with their conquests, and Spain became divided in this

respect into three portions.

The Catalan, spoken in Arragon, extends from the Pyrennees to the southern borders of Murcia; the Castilian prevailed in the central districts from Asturias to Granada, and the Portuguese from Galicia to Algarve.

Old historians state, that in 1380 the population of Spain amounted to 21,800,000 souls. In 1681, however, the estimate was only 7,500,000, and in 1700 it amounted to 8,000,000. In 1723 it is stated at 7,625,000, and in 1726 at only 5,423,000. In 1769 it had increased to 9,301,728; in 1788 to 10,143,000; in 1800 to 10,351,000; in 1821 to 11,248,000; and in 1826 to 13,712,000; but according to the estimate published in August, 1837, it amounted only to 12,194,572, and now probably amounts to 12,500,000 beings, exhibiting a density of 73 to each square mile. According to the statement of 1826, the latest accessible details, the population was divided into the following classes-nobility, 1,440,000; citizens, farmers, and others having the qualifications of electors, 1,560,000; citizens and householders, 1,573,686; employed in agriculture, 8,613,470; mercantile and manufacturing, 2,318,256; domestic servants, 276,000; vagabonds, 140,000; smugglers, 100,000; custom-house officers, 40,000; officers of the inquisition, 22,000; wandering beggars, 36,000; convicts, 2,000. The condition of this population offers the most extraordinary contrast. Priests, monks and nuns, composing the religious body, hold a ratio of about one in each fifty of the total. The distribution of the population is extremely different; in Guipuscoa there are 700 to the square mile; in Valencia and Navarre, 466; while, on the other hand, the provinces of Cuença, Salamanca, and Estremadura, are nearly as thinly peopled as Tartary.

Education is greatly neglected in Spain, and for this many reasons might be adduced, among which the natural dread, on the part of a corrupt government, of knowledge and its effects, is not the least. The priesthood is also instrumental in keeping the people in ignorance, well knowing that their own influence must decrease in a ratio with the increasing knowledge of the people. Spain, of all other countries of Europe, however, is the richest in endowed schools, but nowhere have the objects for which they were founded been so completely disregarded. During the last years of Ferdinand VII., education was entirely in the hands of the Jesuits, study of the physical and mathematical sciences was denounced, and many a university was dispossessed of its endowments. This lamentable state of affairs has since increased rather than otherwise; and through the efforts of the priests and co-operation of a despotic government, such schools as do exist are worse than none, and prejudicial to the morals of the community. The legislature will not interfere. Individuals, however, have been of late endeavoring to accomplish what the government will not. A society is now established for educational purposes, but its attention has been chiefly turned to the establishment of infant schools in the metropolis, and it is their intention to form higher institutions. With this exception, no effort is made to redeem the rising generation from the ignorance and debasement which now wraps the whole kingdom in gloom and superstition.

The Roman Catholic faith is exclusively professed in Spain, and in no other country has the church acquired more complete control of both govern ment and people. The country literally swarms with ecclesiastical vampires in the shape of priests and monks, who live upon the fat of the land without contributing one iota to the welfare or improvement of the people. They

keep them, on the contrary, in an abject state of ignorance and superstition, and make everything subservient to their own interests. Perhaps the revolutions have loosed somewhat of their power; but still it is intolerable, and must long continue to retard social progress. The hierarchy consists of seven archbishops and 47 bishops. The archbishop of Toledo is primate of the kingdom, chancellor of Castile, and perpetual member of the Council of State. The clergy are paid by the state

Before the war of independence, (1808-'14,) the government was an absolute monarchy-and to all intents and purposes is still an absolute monarchy, the Cortes having lately been suspended. Spain, however, has a constitution, and the powers of the crown are circumscribed by its provisions. The Cortes, when in existence, consists of two houses; that of proceres, or peers, composed in part of hereditary members, and in part of members named by the sovereign for life; and that of procuradores, or deputies, elected by colleges of electors, who are chosen by the principal citizens. The Cortes have extensive legislative powers, but their existence and authority have emanated from, and are dependent on, the royal will. There are any number of privileged classes and privileged communities in the kingdom; but the people as a whole have only the privilege of obeying their superiors.

Spain, for judicial purposes, is divided into twelve royal courts, viz.The royal chancery of Valladolid, the royal chancery of Granada, the royal council of Navarre, and the royal audiencias of Galicia, of the Asturias, of the Canaries, of Estremadura, of Arragon, of Valencia, of Catalonia, and of Majorca. These are again subdivided into corregidorias, each under a corregidor, to whom are subordinate a certain number of alcaldes, mayores, and other officers.

In judicial matters, the civil and canon laws are sometimes adhered to, and Spain has several ancient codes, which form, what may be denominated, the laws of the country. Lawyers are numerous, but not remarkable for their knowledge; and amid the multiplicity of municipal and provincial laws, they usually contribute to throw matters into greater confusion.

The system of taxation in Spain is very defective, and has nearly every fault that can vitiate a revenue system and render it a curse to a country. It is grossly unequal and arbitrary, and the functionaries employed in collecting it are, from the highest to the lowest, guilty of the most flagrant corruption and abuse. The revenue never meets the expenditure, and at present the whole accounts are in disorder, and unintelligible. The expenditure amounts annually to $80,000,000, while the income seldom affords more than $50,000,000. The national debt exceeds $800,000,000, so that the whole revenue is not sufficient to meet the interest; and Spain is virtually bankrupt, without credit abroad, and without the means of raising at home a revenue sufficient even to meet the ordinary expenses.

For military purposes, Spain is divided into 12 great Captain-generalcies, and five smaller governments or commands. These military provinces are New Castile, Old Castile, Galicia, Estremadura, Andalusia, Granada, Valencia, Catalonia, Arragon, Navarre, Guipuscoa, and the Balearic islands; and the five smaller governments are those of Mahon aud Iviça, dependent on the captain-general of Majorca; Campo de Gibraltar, in the province of Cadiz; Ceuta, on the coast of Africa, and the Canary Islands.

The army of Spain, once the finest in Europe, has declined since the 16th century, and at the period of the French revolution it was found to

be utterly inefficient and useless, and rather an encumbrance than an aid to the allies. The body of soldiers that exists at the present time are a Scourge to the nation, and one of the greatest obstacles to its progress in civilization. The navy, though numbering so many vessels, is rotten, inefficient, and an unnecessary burden upon the country. Its force is represented at 21 vessels and 348 guns, all in commission, and four steamers; of the former, three are ships of the line. Previous to the French revolution, Spain owned 68 ships of the line, being at that period the second naval power in the world.

The three maritime departments into which the kingdom is divided, have their chief stations at the Isle de Leon, Ferrol and Carthagena, in each of which there is a captain-general of marine, with various subordinate officers. With respect to industry and wealth, Spain, which has had every opportunity, from geographical position and its connection with a number of colonies for becoming the foremost nation of Europe, is now the poorest and most abject state in the world. Every branch of industry has been paralyzed by bad government. Bigotry has driven from the soil all the intellect and genius with which nature endowed the people. At the commencement of the 15th century, the country contained a numerous population of Jews and Moors, who formed its most industrious and wealthy inhabitants, and rendered it the most flourishing kingdom in Europe. Both were expelled by reason of their inconvertible faiths, the first by Ferdinand and Isabella, and the latter by Philip III. This ejection of the merchants and mercantile capital and genius has been sorely felt, and has struck deeply at the root of national prosperity.

Spanish agriculture has many obstacles to struggle against. The rugged heights are often barren, and prevent the transport of produce; but in these elevated provinces, where comparative liberty is enjoyed, we find the best cultivated districts. Otherwise the land is owned by a few who retain the many as so many slaves; and, as a consequence, improvement is out of the question, for however the value of land may be enhanced, the laborers fare no better. The farmers are, consequently, very poor, destitute of capital, and oppressed by the burden of tithes and other exactions.

The grain produced is of excellent quality, and the wheat of Andalusia brings 15 or 20 per cent. more in the markets of Cadiz than any foreign grains. It is a deplorable condition, however, which so fine a country, and one so thinly peopled, must present, when it does not grow corn sufficient for home-consumption, but makes regular importations.

Spain produces three valuable articles: wool, wine, and barilla. The wool of the merino is of almost unrivalled fineness. The wines of Spain are produced on the fine plains of the southern provinces. The most important are the Xeres or Sherry, which has come into such general use with the English. It is estimated that the plain of Xeres produces 40,000 pipes annually, of which 15,000 are exported to England. Around Malaga is made a wine still more valued, though not in such quantities, which, when white, is called "mountain," and when red, "tent," (tinto.) The northern and central provinces yield wine only of an inferior quality.

Barilla is produced by burning various species of saline and aromatic plants, in the provinces of Murcia and Valencia, and is one of the few articles which other nations can nowhere else procure of equally good quality. Silk and oil, in the Mediterranean provinces, are only limited by the wants of culture and demand.

No considerable manufactures have been pursued since the expulsion of

the Moors. That industrious people introduced the silk manufacture, a branch entirely suited to a country where the raw material is so abundantly supplied. This is now lost to Spain, except at Valencia, where about 3,000 people are employed. The blades of Toledo were once famous over Europe, and the city still has a royal manufactory of swords, though of little importance. Spanish cloths have also some celebrity, but no considerable amount is produced. Porcelain is made at San Ildefonzo; paper in Segovia; cards and tapestry at Madrid, all rather for show than use. The greatest drawback on manufactures is a royal monopoly, assumed by the sovereign, who owns the largest workshop.

If the possession of the greatest facilities could guarantee prosperity to nations, then Spain must be one of the most prosperous commercial countries in the world. England is not better situated in this respect than Spain. Nevertheless, as in all other departments of Spanish industry, the whole commercial fabric is now a mass of ruins. It has been considered as of the utmost importance by the government, and has been used by the Solons of the country, as a child uses a bird, for fear of its escaping-it has been crushed to death. To absorb within its own circle the entire treasures of Mexico and Peru, was the first policy of the Spanish sovereigns. The gold and silver of those regions was to be brought exclusively to Spain, never to be taken out of it, and only the produce and manufactures of that country to be sent in exchange. By a sad fatality the commerce of the colonies was carried on almost entirely by French and English merchants; nearly all the goods exported thither were of foreign origin; and Spain, of all her neighbors, was the most destitute of the wealth accruing from the trade. These colonies, with the exception of Cuba, and Porto Rico in the West Indies, and the Philippines, are now gone, and with them the greatness of Cadiz, which, by the absurd monopoly granted to her, became one of the principal emporia of Europe. The trade of Spain consists now in the export of wines, fruits, brandies, wool, silk, lead, quicksil ver, barilla, and a few other articles, amounting in the aggregate to nine or ten millions of dollars annually. The imports consist of sugar, cocoa, salt fish, spices, wool, rice, butter and cheese; hides, cotton, wool, and almost every species of manufactured commodity, amounting to about fifteen millions of dollars a year.

Internal communication, on which so much depends the development of a country, is a particular in which Spain actually labors under natural disadvantages, from the obstructed navigation of its rivers, and its long and steep chains of mountains. A few local canals, it is true, exist; but they are purely local. The main roads maintained by government between Madrid and the other great cities are good, but the most of the other communications are mere tracks, worn by the feet of mules, which are chiefly employed in the conveyance of goods.

Of the divisions of Spain, the most prominent are into kingdoms and principalities, each of which, at some period of its eventful history, enjoyed an independent existence; though they are now merged into one sovereignty. More recently the country has been split into a number of smaller departments or jurisdictions; but the original distinction into kingdoms being founded upon natural limits, and maintained by feelings and impressions derived from former independence, is still the most interesting. The following tables exhibit the divisions and subdivisions, with the extent and population of each, as published in a decree, 3d August, 1837, with the names of the principal towns in each: