family, until one day the house was entered by three robbers, who muzzled the old woman with a towel, tied her to the bedstead, and then carried off, not only the earnings of Don Valentin, but silver spoons and forks and everything of any value, to the very finery of Florencia. This last blow laid poor Don Valentin completely on his back. All that he now did was to take the Diario and Gaceta, which his wife let out to such curious people as came to read them in the common entry of their house. This furnished the trio, of which the family consisted, with their daily puchero; his daughter with silk stockings and satin shoes, to go to mass and walk of a feast-day upon the Prado, and himself with now and then his paper cigarillo.' pp. 90–92.

The author having established himself with Don Valentin, of whose family and domestic economy he gives a very distinct picture, he sallies out from his lodgings daily in pursuit of the lions of the metropolis. He remarks in regard to the situation of this city, that it is by far the most elevated capital in Europe, being two thousand feet above the ocean, and accordingly many times the height of most others, and twice that of Geneva, which is the next highest. This extraordinary height of the metropolis and whole neighboring district is one cause of the severity of the winter in this latitude. He states that in the winter of 1825-6, some of the sentinels of the royal palace were frozen to death in their boxes, though stationed but for half an hour, and though they were Swiss, who might be supposed to be more able to resist frost than the native inhabitants.

Madrid has fifty public fountains from which the water is carried to the houses by people who make it a business, and this is wholly in the hands of Gallicians and Asturians, who bear water about the city until they have made a small fortune of two or three hundred dollars, and then selling out the good will of their district or range to some successor, retire to their native country to pass the rest of their lives in a comfortable independence. Some of the water-bearers carry water about the streets, selling it by the glass-full to those who pass. They are represented as a rough set, little regardful of ordinary courtesy, who never turn from the narrow side-walk for any one. One day Don Diego, the instructer of our traveller, entered his room with his hat in his hand, endeavoring to rid it of a dint, and cursing the Gallego who had run against him at the turning of a corner. He had undertaken to lecture him, but the Gallego putting down his keg, and drawing himself up with

dignity, said to him, 'I am a noble, and you, may be, are no

more.

We were struck with the author's account of the figure made by the prompter at the Spanish theatres.

'He is always placed in a tin pulpit, which rises a few feet above the floor, and which is reached from below. The tin, being polished and kept bright, reflects the glare of the lights between which the pulpit is placed, and renders it a most conspicuous object. Hence the prompter reads the whole of the piece, which is afterwards repeated by the players. His book and hand usually project upon the boards, and are seen pointing from one to another of the actors, to indicate whose turn it is. His voice is always audible, and, occasionally in a pathetic part, his declamation becomes loud and impassioned, and he forgets where he is, until called back by the audience. Since the prompter precedes the actor, you frequently know in anticipation what the latter is to say, and the idea is conveyed by the ears before you see the action which is meant to accompany it. After a while the actor draws himself up in a mysterious way, to repeat to you a secret which is already in your possession. This is even more monstrous than the custom which prevailed in the infancy of the Greek drama, of having one man to speak and another to gesticulate.' p. 129.

Some of the public institutions of Madrid appear to be upon a very liberal, magnificent scale, particularly the royal library, consisting of two hundred thousand volumes offered freely to the use of all persons, with a commodious provision of chairs, tables, &c., thirteen persons in all being employed in attendance upon, and superintendence of the establishment. Liberal provision is also made for lectures and instruction in the arts, especially that of painting, in which the Spanish masters hold a very high rank; and the author finds among their works numerous pieces of which he speaks particularly, and for the most part, with great admiration.

Though the Spanish national spectacle of a bull-fight has been often described, we should copy the very animated account of one witnessed by the writer at Madrid had we not already quoted so largely.

Having gratified his curiosity at the capital, the author took his departure early in April for Cordova; and on this journey also, besides those incidents and novelties with which he has a happy talent of filling his journal, he has another opportunity of giving an account of a robbery, for the diligence had but just passed the site of the inn where Don Quixote watched

his armor and was dubbed knight errant, when it was stopped by the robber, Cacaruco, who with his companions proceeded to plunder the passengers, alleging in excuse that he had no other way of bringing up a large family with any decency. But his family was not long to enjoy the benefit of his industry, for the author learned, before leaving Spain, that he had been seized and executed.

In his account of Cordova, as well as in that of Seville, Cadiz, and of Gibraltar, where the journey ends, the author perhaps introduces historical recapitulations a little too copiously, which can be usually resorted to advantageously by a writer of travels, only for those striking events and incidents, which give a greater interest to living characters and present objects or places visited. As the journal proceeds, there is a little abatement of the freshness of coloring and individuality in the discription usually imparted to a traveller's style by the novelty of objects on first entering a country, and the distinct and strong impressions consequently made upon his own mind. From this cause, as might naturally be expected, from Cordova to the termination of the journey, the journal is less free, rapid, and vivacious than before. But it does not by any means sink into indifferent travels-making. We cannot but think that the historical epitome in the concluding part of the volume, might have been advantageously omitted, for the same reason that we should have preferred less of history in some of the preceding parts; and the pages in which the latitude, longitude, climate, fertility of soil, and other well known geographical and statistical facts, are given, add little to the value of the work, not because the author betrays want of talent or information in those abstracts, but because they are not what readers look for in a volume of this description.

Some parts of the division under the title of General view of Spain,' are among the best portions of the book. The sections upon the revenue, the army, the government, and the clergy, are full of interesting facts and just reflections; and the general view of the Spanish character bears marks of a mind of penetrating observation and good skill in generalizing. In this part of the book the author takes occasion, in a note, to pay a just tribute to the character and reputation of Mr Everett, our late minister to Spain, whom he found at Madrid.

We quote the sketch of Ferdinand the Seventh, whose administration of the government, the author, and justly no doubt,

VOL. XXX.—No. 66.

33

attributes more to the clergy and the character of the great body of Spanish peasantry, than to any positive qualities and dispositions of his own.

'From these causes, then, and not from the sovereign will of a single individual, originate those persecuting decrees and apostolic denunciations, which have brought on Ferdinand the appellation of bloody bigot, and all the hard names in the calendar of abuse. There is much reason to believe, on the contrary, that he cares little for religion; and though by way of flattering the clergy and the nation, he may once have made a petticoat for the Virgin Mary, yet if the truth were known, he would doubtless be willing to do less for her than for any living Manola or Andaluza. The character of the present king is, indeed, little known in foreign countries, where, from the mere fact of his being called El Rey Absoluto, everything is supposed to emanate from his individual will. His character is not, in fact, so much a compound of vices, as made up of a few virtues and many weaknesses. He is ready to receive the meanest subject of his kingdom, and is said to be frank, good-humored, accessible, courteous, and kingly, in an unusual degree. He will listen attentively to those who appeal to him, appear convinced of the justice of what they ask, and promise compliance, without ever returning to think of the matter. Facility is his great foible, and yet is he occasionally subject to irritability and a disposition to be wrongheaded and have his own way, to the no small inconvenience of those who undertake to direct him. The faults of Ferdinand are partly natural, partly the effect of education. Instead of being trained up and nurtured with the care necessary to fit him for the high station to which he was born, his youth was not only neglected, but even purposely perverted.

'Godoy, whose views were of the most ambitious kind, took great pains to debase the character and understanding of Ferdinand. With this view, and partly perhaps to get rid of his own cast-off courtesans, he not only abandoned him without restraint to the ruling passion of his family, but even threw temptation in his way, well knowing the debasing effect of those early indulgences, which sap the moral and physical energies of youth. Thus a life of uninterrupted sensuality has deadened every manly and generous sentiment. The person of the king was noble and prepossessing in his youth, when he is said to have been the most graceful horseman of his kingdom. In 1808 he was the idol of every heart in the nation. Had he but proved worthy of this devoted loyalty, Spain would present us with a different spectacle. Even now, though his figure has been bent by long indulgence, and his features engraven with heaviness and sen

suality, yet is his appearance still rather pleasing than otherwise. There is about him a look of blunt good humor and rough jollity, which gives a flat denial to the cruelty ascribed to him. He is said to have a leaning towards liberalism-weak, perhaps, in proportion to the inefficiency of his character, yet rendered probable by the fact, that he is now more detested by the ruling party, and acting under much more restraint, than in the most boisterous period of the Constitution.' pp. 380, 381.

After what we have said, it is hardly necessary to add, that, on the whole, we think very favorably of the work; and the extracts we have made, being tolerably fair specimens, will, we doubt not, be thought by our readers to justify this opinion, and recommend it more effectually to their attention, than any general praise we could bestow. The modest pretensions of the author would entitle him to a liberal indulgence, if the faults of his production required it; but, compared with its merits, they are few and trivial. Though he proposes his book as the production of a youth, there is nothing in it of juvenile, excepting, perhaps, the rather enthusiastic admiration, and frequent mention, of female charms. The opinions seem to be formed with deliberation, and the reflections, in general, bear the marks of a just thinking.

J.£. Krigsley.

ART. IX.-Titi Livii Patavini Historiarum Liber Primus et Selecta quædam Capita. Curavit Notulisque instruxit CAROLUS FOLSOM, Academiæ Harvardianæ olim Bibliothecarius. Cantabrigiæ, Sumptibus Hilliard et Brown. 1829. 12mo. pp. 296.

THIS selection from the remains of the great Roman historian, is designed for the use of those students in our higher schools, colleges, and universities, who have surmounted the difficulties of grammatical construction in the Latin language, and who are prepared to enter on a course of reading, where the higher qualities of style, as well as the structure, sentiments, and general execution of a work, become objects of attention. For this purpose, we know not how a book could be better adapted, than that which we have now named Livy has been reckoned, even from his own time, among the greatest masters of historical composition; and his copiousness, no