ART. VII.-Souvenirs du Midi, ou l'Espagne telle qu'elle est sous ses Pouvoirs Réligieux et Monarchique. Par Rd. Faure, Médécin des Hôpitaux Militaires, &c. Paris, 1831. 8vo. Qu'est ce que c'est que l'Espagne? What is Spain? This is a question which has often been asked of late years, but it is one to which, as far as we know, a satisfactory answer has not yet been given in any of our journals. The object of the present article is to furnish the solution required; or, in other words, to exhibit a view of the actual condition and circumstances of Spain, as determined by the joint operation of physical, moral, political, and religious causes; and thus to supply the means of forming a correct judgment as to its chances of future amelioration and improvement. We are not blind to the somewhat adventurous nature of this undertaking; nor have we failed to appreciate, in its fullest extent, the difficulty of dealing with a subject so vast in its dimensions, and so complicated in its details. But still we are inclined to think that, by means of methodical arrangement and elaborate condensation, we shall be able, within a reasonable compass, to lay before our readers a body of information which, if its interest bear any proportion to its value and importance, will probably be found in no ordinary degree attractive; at the same time that it is calculated to throw new light on the state and prospects of a country, which, although "sunk in its glory, decayed in its worth," possesses within itself all the great elements of national regeneration. And

I. Of the physical condition of Spain.-The Iberian peninsula, aptly compared by the ancients to the distended hide of a bullock, occupies the south-western extremity of Europe, and is surrounded by the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea, except on the north-east, where part of the Pyrenean chain forms the conterminous boundary with France, or, in other words, the neck of the hide. The most remarkable feature in the physiognomy of this country is its system of mountains. From the Pyrenean chain which runs almost due east and west, a number of secondary ranges take their rise, and, shooting out boldly to the southward and westward, spread themselves, in a magnificent reticulation, over the whole peninsula. The principal of these are, the Asturian and Gallician range, which may be regarded as a continuation of the Pyrenean chain; the Guadarrama range; that which the geographer Antillon has denominated the Iberian range; the Sierra Morena, whose "passes are dreary;" and the mountains of Granada and Ronda, which skirt the shores of the Mediterranean, and are the most elevated of all the secondary groups, pressing

on with so much boldness, that, according to Mariana, "they seem to have pretended in various places, to cross the sea, dry up the strait, and unite Europe with Africa." From this system of reticulation results the distinctly marked division of Spain into two unequal compartments, one of which includes the central region, and the other that of the coast. The whole interior of the country, indeed, may be considered one vast mountain; for although it consists chiefly of extensive plains traversed by lofty ridges, yet even these plains form a plateau or table-land raised to an elevation varying from eighteen hundred to two thousand feet above the level of the sea, and constitute part of the mountainous formation of the great central region, which towers, everywhere, to the height just mentioned, above that of the coast.(Year in Spain, vol. ii. p. 279.) "If then, on entering Spain, and traversing the eastern coast along the Mediterranean, I was surprised (says the author of the work just quoted) to find the western horizon everywhere bounded by lofty mountains, my astonishment was much greater when, on abandoning the sea at Valencia, and toiling up these inland mountains, I beheld, instead of the valley, a weary arid plain, extending on a level with their summits as far as the eye could reach. In fact, I continued travelling on this vast plain for hundreds of leagues until I reached the Sierra Morena, and thence descended suddenly by the Despeña Perros into the regions of Andalusia."-(Ibid.)

A conformation so mountainous would naturally lead us to expect a corresponding system of rivers. But, owing to various causes, particularly the nakedness of the country, arising from the almost total absence of trees, which serve to collect and retain moisture, and the consequent dryness of the atmosphere during the greater part of the year, the rivers of the Peninsula are neither so numerous nor so large as to comport with the number and elevation of the mountains. The principal are, the Ebro, the Duero, the Tagus, the Guadiana, and the Guadalquivir. The Ebro has its source in the mountains of Navarre, and pursues its course in an easterly direction, between the primary chain and a secondary branch or ridge of the Pyrenees, until it empties itself in the Mediterranean beyond Tortosa. The Duero takes its rise to the north of the Guadarrama range, and swelling gradually in its course, flows through Portugal until it reaches the ocean at Oporto. The Tagus, which has been justly denominated the prince of Spanish rivers, also originates in the Guadarrama mountains, but on the opposite side of the range, and after watering the gardens and groves of Aranjuez, half-encircling Toledo, and receiving the contributions of numerous tributary streams, opens into an estuary, reflecting the image of the Portuguese capital. The Guadiana has its source

amongst the marshes of Ruidosa, whence it issues a full-grown river, and flowing through delightful meadows, which afford pasture for many flocks and herds, discharges itself into the ocean in the gulf of Huelva. Lastly, the Guadalquivir rises between the Sierra Morena and the Sierra Nevada, and being fed by tributaries from both chains, flows gracefully towards the ocean, laving the walls of Cordoba and Seville, and diffusing fertility throughout the fairest portion of Andalusia. These are the principal rivers of Spain, the great arteries as it were of the country; and although the volume of water discharged by them is probably not greater than that discharged by the rivers of France, and the extent to which they are navigable is in all cases considerably less, owing to the great elevation of the central region of Spain, and their consequent descent, yet their direct and almost rectilineal courses through the valleys which they water afford great facilities for the construction of canals, and the almost indefinite extension of an improved system of cultivation. The rivers of Spain, like the river of Egypt, might be rendered sources of boundless fertility, if man were encouraged or even permitted to avail himself of the advantages which nature and Providence have placed within his reach. This country has no lakes of any importance.-(Year in Spain, Antillon, Mariana, Laborde.)

The soil of the Peninsula naturally exhibits great diversities. The central region consists for the most part of arid unsheltered plains, intersected with lofty mountains, which reflect with intolerable fierceness the scorching heat of summer, and sharpen into more piercing keenness the intense cold of winter. The region of the coast, less elevated than the interior plateau, and sloping gradually towards the sea, is broken into an alternation of mountains, and valleys, which produces the most agreeable variety, and presents a pleasant contrast to the bleak and barren sameness by which the central region is characterized. It is everywhere fertile, or may easily be rendered so by means of irrigation. With regard to the climate, its diversities are determined by the physical conformation of the country. The temperature of the air, always varying less on the borders of the sea than in the interior of the country, is much more equable on the coasts of Spain than in the different provinces of that kingdom. On the northern and western coast the prevailing winds blow from the west, and, loaded with the moisture they have absorbed in their passage across the Atlantic, discharge abundant rains in winter and in spring. The atmosphere is much calmer on the coast of the Mediterranean, where the east winds, which are the most frequent, never acquire the force which they possess at the extremity of the

Peninsula, especially at Cadiz. Thus the coasts of Catalonia, and those of the kingdoms of Valencia, Murcia, and Grenada, enjoy a mild temperature, which seldom descends so low as 320 and generally maintains itself above 57° of Fahrenheit. Winter, indeed, is almost unknown on a coast sheltered by the elevated land of the interior and warmed by the rays of a cloudless sun. On the plateau of the Castilles, the mean height of which is about eighteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, heat accumulates more slowly; and it is not until the beginning of July that the atmosphere, having then become calmer, acquires a temperature capable of sustaining itself between 57° and 68°, or of ascending as high as 77° of Fahrenheit. In the month of August the coolness of the nights, then become longer, shoots as it were into the morning, and also makes itself felt in the evening soon after sunset; by which means the heat of the day is considerably moderated. Except in the northern provinces, the climate of Spain is everywhere remarkable for its dryness. A freedom from rain and dampness, and a cloudless transparent sky are advantages which may generally be counted on. But this dryness sometimes becomes excessive, and degenerates into a scorching drought, by which the rivers are entirely dried up, vegetation is utterly destroyed, and men and animals die miserably of thirst. The annals of Spain record numerous instances of such droughts, with the fatal effects of which they were productive both on vegetable and animal life. In that elevated basin in which the capital is situated, the heats of summer are in fact always so great, that, according to the Spanish saying, Madrid has nine months of winter and three of hell (nueve meses d'invierno y tres d'infierno). In its wisdom, however, the administration has contrived to improve on the bounty of nature, and it may now accordingly, without any exaggeration, be said, that, to the greater part of the inhabitants of that capital, the whole year consists of twelve months of hell! Many of the mountains of Spain, rising above the line of congelation in that country, have their summits covered with perpetual snow; whilst the elevated and unsheltered plains of the interior are swept by cold blasts in winter, and burnt up in summer by a powerful and neverclouded sun. This is in a great measure owing to the want of wood, which is scarcer in Spain than in any other country in Europe. In fact, from Bayonne to Cadiz not a single forest is to be seen: excepting several patches in Biscay, the groves and avenues of Aranjuez, and some valleys or rather gorges in Andalusia, which are studded by trees of a certain thickness, all the rest of the kingdom in this direction is of a whitish arid aspect, which fatigues the eye and saddens the spirit. The mountains, destitute of vegetation, no longer attract the humidity of the air, necessary for the support of

plants in the valleys and plains; the rivers, as we have already said, are almost all inconsiderable throughout the greater part of their rapid courses; and the level grounds being in like manner wholly naked and unsheltered, the climate of this elevated region, untempered and unmitigated, necessarily produces those extremes of heat and cold which are so detrimental to the fertility of the soil, and to the health and comfort of its inhabitants. Nor is this nakedness the effect of natural sterility, or of anything in the climate adverse to the growth of trees. On the contrary, the example of Valencia shows that, in the luxuriance of its forests as well as of its crops, Spain might have rivalled or surpassed any country in Europe. But the people generally have an inveterate and inexplicable prejudice against trees, which are mercilessly cut down or destroyed ere they attain any considerable growth; and so universal and savage is this strange propensity in the central provinces, that the most watchful and rigorous measures are necessary to preserve the avenues and groves of Aranjuez from wanton destruction.-(Faure, Laborde, Year in Spain.)

The productions of Spain are rich and various. The gold and silver mines, which supplied the ancients with the precious metals, are now, it is true, with the exception of the silver mine of Guadalcanal, either exhausted or abandoned; but iron of the best quality, lead, tin, copper, quicksilver, and indeed every valuable mineral, abound in different parts of the peninsula. Coal* and salt mines are wrought in the Asturias, in Aragon, and in La Mancha, though by no means to the extent which might be done under a better government and a more rational system of law; precious stones are found in various parts of the kingdom; granite, jasper, alabaster, and marbles of the greatest beauty and variety may be quarried from almost every mountain. Wheat of the finest quality is produced in most of the provinces, and all who have tasted it will be ready to acknowledge the superior excellence of Spanish bread. In some provinces the quantity grown is not sufficient for their own consumption, but the deficiency is made up from the surplus produce of others or by importation. Wine is raised in great abundance all over Spain; and of the produce of the crops that grow on the coasts large quantities are exported to different parts of the world. "But the best and most generous wines (says the author of A Year in Spain) are found in the high

A stratum of coal was not long ago discovered near Seville about a gunshot from the Guadalquivir; but it has not been wrought on account of the quantity of sulphur contained in it. This valuable mineral is found in great abundance in Catalonia, where there is a considerable number of mines, one of the richest of which is at Montanola in the duchy of Vique; but none of them have ever been wrought to any extent worth mentioning. In Aragon, particularly in the valleys, embosomed in the Pyrenees, there are as many as eighteen coal mines.-(Faure.)