An

ease over the stones.

I understand that it is not the disposi tion of the Spaniards to travel much, even in their own country. This probably arises in a great measure from the want of accommodations on the roads, and, nothing but urgent necessity, or extreme curiosity in individuals, would lead them from hence to Madrid. The merchants and families of fashion have, however, their country residence at Chiclana, which is about twenty miles from hence; it is a small town pleasantly situated in the midst of a fine part of the country, and the prospect opens into a delightful plain adorned with verdure, woods, and flowers: this spot gives one an idea of the healthy climate of Spain and of its fertile soil; here they have their bella vistas and their promenades, and partake of the comforts of life, removed from the noise and bustle of commerce and the inseparable inconveniences attached to a trading city.

The first seven miles is on the Peninsula, already mentioned, which leads to the town of St. Isla de Leon, where is a beautiful bridge, called Puerto Zuaco, connecting it with the continent, and defended by strong fortifications; the tide flow's high enough to admit a seventyfour gun ship, to lie at anchor close to it. A great dependance for the safety of Cadiz, is on the resistance to be made

at this bridge, and at the Isla, against the approach of an enemy; but the Spaniards are so much attached to this bridge, on account of its beauty and antiquity, as it is supposed to have been erected by the Romans, that it is become very ques• tionable whether, in case of extremity, this measure should be resorted to. From hence, an excellent road commences, and extends two or three miles across a marsh, which the tide covers at high water, and it communicates with Zuaco, by means of a flying bridge. This road was formed by the Marquis de Solano, and shews, among other instances at Cadiz, that it was his inclination to introduce improvements into his country; this is a much esteemed one, as it prevents passing through upwards of s miles of wood and thickets, where there is no regular road.

There was found on the coast, about two leagues from Cadiz, a few years ago, a considerable part of a bronze statue," supposed to be the remains of the statue of Hercules. It is now in the possession of Mr. C a merchant of this place, and represents Envy, and a torch, with a wolf about two feet in length, lying at her feet; there are also two prints, or marks, where it is conjectured the figure of Hercules was fixed. This curiosity was dragged ashore by a fisherman, whose anchor bad fastened on it.

The pillars of Hercules, you know, were supposed to have stood somewhere in this neighbourhood; its situation has been assigned also to Gibraltar and Tariffa, each of those spots having been considered as the 'Ne plus Ultra' of the continent; but from this discovery it, would appear that it is erroneous.

In Cadiz, is a modern piece of fine sculpture in marble, erected at the end of one of the public walks, representing Hercules between two lions, from whose mouths used to flow a stream of water, supplied from a reservoir, which is now in decay.

At a short distance from this, towards the hospital, is an elegant marble column, about thirty feet in height, surmounted with the Virgin Mary, and erected to commemorate the dreadful earthquake that produced the melancholy distresses at Lisbon, in November, 1755; and which was, felt so severely here, as to threaten the overwhelming of the city by the sea. The column is placed on the spot, so far as which the water had swept all before it; and it was expected at the time, that if the rocks

running

running out to had not broken the whole place stroyed.

St. Sebastian's Castle, the force of the waves, would have been de

I had intended sending to you a drawing of this column, as well as of some others; but I am told, that I might cause an unpleasant suspicion at this moment, if I were to be seen using a pencil, at least without having permission from some person in authority.

A little farther on is a fine gravel beach, of some extent, which is frequented as a bathing-place in the summer season; but here are no machines, as in England, for the accommodation of the bathers. It is the custom for the men to bathe in the day-time, and for the ladies at night. They go attended by their servants, and carry their dresses and their carpets to spread on the sand; a guard of soldiers being placed at a sufficient distance to prevent insulting curiosity from disturbing them, while "they taste the lucid coolness of the flood."

I have to-day been at the Exchange. You will say that I ought perhaps to at-tend it every day; but the truth is, this place is not resorted to as is our Royal Exchange; it serves chiefly for the residence of notaries, and for a depository of certain public documents. There are a number of rooms assigned to the different departments of commerce, and one in which every broker belonging to Cadiz has a box with his name on it, to receive any notice it may be wished to communicate to him.

The area is about sixty feet, surrounded by a narrow portico, where are maps, advertisements, &c. and the price current of the week; this document is furnished at any time by a clerk, who fills up a printed list of the articles, for which he is paid about three-pence. The arrival and sailing of vessels is also to be as certained here at almost every hour of the day; as a signal tower is erected on an eminence in the middle of the city, commanding upwards of forty miles at sea, and is attended by persons who are always on the look out, and communicating with the coast. The persons at this tower print a list three times a-day, of the arrival and departure of every ship, specifying their cargoes, and the merchant who receives the consignment; they likewise note the weather, the wind, the age of the moon, the height of the tides, and other remarks that may be occasionally necessary to commerce,

There are a few portraits in some of the rooms of the Exchange; among them are Cortes, the discoverer of Mexico; and Philip of Spain, who was married to our Queen Mary.

The merchants, dispensing now with the Exchange, assemble to talk of business, or of politics, in the Plaza de San Antonio, which is an elegant large square, paved with marble, and having two rows of handsome white marble seats around it, interspersed with orangetrees, which are now in blossom, and bearing also their ripened fruit.

This square is the usual promenade for all ranks, previous to the dinner hour, and exhibits a scene of much gaiety and confusion and misery;—for here also come the beggars, in crowds, who are at every moment surrounding us with the utmost impertinence; for if one endeavours not to listen to them, they are sure to remind him of their presence by a tap on the arm, or a twitch of the elbow. They are now very numerous, since the plague, the war and the famine, that bave for these six years past visited this devoted country, and added to the natural distresses of the poor. This is a part of society that will unavoidably be found in every part of the world; and when it is considered, the state makes no provision for them here, and that the tendency of their religious governors rather depresses than encourages their physical exertions, it is not much to be wondered at that mendicity is so prevalent. Uneducated and disregarded from their birth, they seem only to be known as human beings, who have an existence which their country does not value; and who, on their sick bed, are deprived of what solace they might derive from their religious persuasion, if they should not have purchased in the course of the year the Pope's bull, which grants an indulgence for them to he attended by the clergy, and without such purchase they could not command their attendance, as they otherwise would,

To a city like this, which depends for its prosperity on the flourishing state of commerce in time of peace, a war nust bring incalculable evils; and as it ap pears that there are only two classes of citizens, the very rich and the very poor, you may easily imagine the sufferings of the people when trade is at a stand. There is of course a sort of middle rank, such as the shopkeepers, but they are not numerous; one half of these in Čadiz, is composed of foreigners, from all na

tions, and they very visibly denote and confirm the indolent disposition of the Spaniard.

It is not unusual to see the beggars extended in the street, in the agonies of death; they surround the churches, the convents, and the coffee-houses; in fine, wherever you go, they are to be met with in the most disgusting appearances of starvation, clothing, and misery. With out caution in walking, and turning the corners of streets, they are liable to be trodden on by the passenger, by day and at night; so numerous are they. Here is also a horde of gipseys, they have their abode in a distant part of the place, and possess the usual qualifications for plundering and murdering, as do their community in other countries. There is a strange custom here of exposing a murderer, previous to his execution. I saw one morning, two meu led through the streets, bound upon asses, with their backs naked, attended by a vast crowd of people; they were, at certain places, flogged with a lash, especially when they came to the dwelling where they had perpetrated a murder a few days before: the punishment of hanging was to be inflicted in the course of the same week, and perhaps two more horrid looking wretches could scarcely be seen.

Some of the beggars attract notice by playing the bagpipe, which is similar to the Scotch instrument, and whose "in flated pipe, with swinish drone," is often accompanied by a crazy violin: others sell newspapers and placards; but they often contrive to dispose of the account of a victory, &c. which has happened long since. The news-boys in London are no better; I recollect their selling gazettes, containing the account of Nelson's battle at Copenhagen, at the time that Lord Gambier succeeded in his attack on that place, by practising their cheat, under the title of the "Gazette Extraordinary for the victory at Co penhagen."

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

to the writer of this letter, as his own, at the Vicarage-house, in Kensington. Dr. Jortin published them himself, as his own, in three fine quarto editions of the Lusus Poetici; the third of which printed by William Bowyer, and dated 1748, this moment lies before me. Hawkesworth translated them into Euglish verse, as from Dr. Jortin; and they are known to all scholars who had the happiness of being acquainted with Dr. Jortin to be his composition.

Dr.

Add to this abundant proof, that they are not inserted in any of the earlier editions of Vincent Bourne's Poematia. The fifth edition of Bourne is now in my hands, dated 1764, and they are not to be found there. There was a subsequent edition of Bourne, in a larger size, published by some booksellers, who probably, deceived by their editor, inserted among other pieces this poem, copied, and perhaps a little altered, to facilitate deception, from the Lusus Poetici of Dr. Jortin. April 10, 1811.

To

SUUM CUIQUE.

the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

our gold, and the great scarcity HE almost total disappearance of of our silver coin, have justly excited the alarm and apprehension of the people of this country, many of whom, long habituated to receive in exchange for it every article of necessity and luxury, and therefore accustomed to regard it, not merely as the circulating medium of the country, but as its actual riches, forbode from its disappearance no less than the certain, speedy, and total, ruin of the country. Whether their fears are well or ill grounded, certain it is that the greatest and most serious inconvenience is felt by the want of sufficient silver coinage, for the common transactions of trade: almost every individual in the kingdom, whether engaged in business or not, feels it; and if its scarcity should encrease to a much greater degree, all trading intercourse, below the amount of a pound, will inevitably be wholly stopped. As it is, shopkeepers are frequent ly obliged to forego the opportunity of selling their goods, by the impossibility of giving change to their customers. A short time since, having occasion to go into the city, and wanting some refreshment, I went into a coffee-house to take some soup. When I ordered it, the waiter asked me if I had suffi

cient silver to pay for it, adding that as I was a stranger he took the liberty of asking me that question, as he could not give me change for a pound note. It happened that I had no silver, and I therefore found I could have no soup. I have frequendy, when I have wanted to purchase any thing, and have not had sufficient silver, been obliged to go from shop to shop to no purpose, the tradesmen not having change to give: and I dare say many, if not most, of your readers have experienced the same difficulty. But this, though certainly a great inconvenience to the purchaser, and (when frequently occurring) a considerable loss to the tradesman, is small and trifling, compared with the evils which are likely to be felt when the silver coin of the country shall totally disappear; an event which must ere Jong take place, if the quantity of it should continue to decrease as rapidly as it has done of late. When that time arrives, what will be the situation of a working man, who, after having toiled all the week, receives on the Saturday night his wages in a one or two pound note? He goes to the butcher to purchase meat for the family; buys, perhaps, four or five shillings worth, and tenders his note in payment; but the butcher cannot give him change, .and he cannot have the meat. He then goes to the baker: there the same thing occurs: having no change, he can have no bread. At the public house, he meets with the same inconvenience from the same cause. What is he to do? He has toiled hard all the week, and though he sees in the shambles, the baker's shop, and the public house, abundance of meat, bread, and beer,, yet he and his family must starve! Then will the true value of a bank note be known! Then will the folly and madness of those measures, by which our country has been drained of its gold and silver coin, be apparent! Then will the results of our intermina ble wars, our subsidizing system, and consequent transmutation of our gold and silver into paper, be obvious! Taking the proportion of the working classes, in relation to the rest of the community, as, ten is to fifteen, (and it must undoubtedly be much greater) and the population of the country at fifteen millions, there will then be ten millions. of people in this kingdom absolutely starving in the midst of plenty, though in the possession of money, if it would

pass, amply sufficient to supply their wants! But can it be expected that they will tamely submit to starvation under such circumstances? God forbid that the occurrence of the event should ever put their submission to the test :if it should, the horrors of a revolution must inevitably attend upon it.

Such, then, are the evils which this germ of anarchy and national ruin seems likely to produce; its branches already ramify through every town, and into every shop in the kingdom; and, unless its further growth be speedily and effectually stopped, it will soon become so deeply rooted as to be incapable of eradication, even by the most skilful band. How important then to the state is the application of a sutfi cient remedy to this growing evil! And how much worthier is it of the serious and immediate atention of parliament, than the inclosure of a coinmon, the making a road, or the recrimmations of two parties who are incessantly contending for places, pensions, and power.

April 7th 1811.

II.

at home.

your

your readers, I think I am competent to furnish them through the medium of your valuable miscellany, with five ItiBeraries; one for the South and West of England, one for Wales,-one for the Northern, another for the Eastern,--and another for the Midland Counties; comprizing notices of all the most picturesque views.

In return, I shall esteem myself indebted to any correspondent, who will make out similar circuits, containing ac counts of the different collections of pictures which lie along the routes. This must be done by some individual well acquainted with the country; as no book of Travels with which I am acquainted, affords satisfactory information on the subject. The publication of a map containing such information, and entitled a Picturesque Map, thus including both subjects, would be a most acceptable present to English travellers.

Although my own knowledge of collections, scattered through the different counties, is not very extensive, it is sufficient to enable me to contribute to

coarse one, being constructed by my own hands, and, when applied to the finer kinds of wool, was by no means correct. In the same year, Messrs. Gilbert and Son, of Leadenhall street, made, under my direction, a very excel lent instrument, exactly answering to the one which you describe as recently in vented. It was lost in 1806 out of my counting-house, at Leeds, and perhaps some one wishes to impose upon the world as a novelty, that which has been obtained by dishonesty. Gilbert's instrument enabled me to discover the er rors of former calculations, and corrections would have been made, had the treatise reached a second edition. Dr. Herschell, however, by applying a much higher magnifying power, has performed the same service to the public, and with far greater precision than I could possibly have attained. His paper, if I recollect rightly, was published in the communications to the Board of Agriculture. JOHN LUCCOCK. Rio De Janeiro, December 30, 1810.

SIR,

VIATOR.

N a Monthly Magazine for last year, you published the request of a cor respondent, who wished to be informed of a method to remove the shining quality of Indian ink, which so much destroys the effect in drawings.

The following means will produce the

phial with warm water, the mucilage will be so weakened (if the water is in sufficient quantity) as to be no longer capable of suspending the colouring matter, which will be precipitated to the bottom; the colourless liquor may be poured off, and the remainder is fit for use divested of its shining quality.

I have answered one quere, permit me to put another; some of your botanical readers may favour it with notice. Are there any methods by which flowers may be dried or preserved, their parts not being injured by the process, which is the case by placing thein in books, &c.

J. BENNETT,