21 MAY 1831, Page 17

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SIR ARTHUR DE CAPELL BROOKE iS a traveller in whose com- pany we have made some very pleasant and instructive imaginary voyages. His Winter in Lapland, and his Travels to the North Cape, are books from which we derived, to say the least, great amusement. They contain new and strange views of an amiable and worthy people living in an extraordinary climate, surrounded by extraordinary productions, and who were by no means well known to the rest of the world. Sir ARTHUR'S style suited the subject— it was sprightly without affectation, pioturesque without effort or pretension ; and though his works did not aim at science, the author is not deficient in general knowledge, and in all social matters is exceedingly well instructed. The Sketches in Spain and Morocco are of lighter materials, as no doubt their name is in- tended to convey : the author staid but a short time in either country, and of course was not able in his observations to go much deeper than the surface. The surface, however, is here de- picted in its true colours, with all the variety of its hues, its in- equalities, and excrescences. Sir ARTHUR is an artist both with pen and pencil ; and we know no traveller whose descriptions are so little laboured, so elegant, and at the same time forcible.

The author, one morning in July, threw his portmanteau into a hackney-coach, and drove to the Tower, where he embarked in a steam-boat--neither for Calais nor Ostend, but for Cadiz and Gibraltar. He then crossed the Straits, and left Europe for Africa—not in a steam-boat; though if the French drive out the Moors, and establish themselves in Tangier as well as Algiers, we may expect to cross from Gibraltar to the opposite coast at the same expense of time and money that it now costs to traverse the straits of Dover ; we shall be able to leave Europe for Africa in our carriages, as is now done on the deck of the Calais packet. Landine. at Tangier, our traveller pursued his route to Tetuan, and successively visited some of the principal places of Morocco— visited to his cost its grandees and princes—was robbed by the Moors, and plundered of all that remained by the Jews. The princes, under the pretence of making a present, exacted tenfold the value in return, either for themselves or their servants. A Chris- tian cannot look at a Moor without paying for it ; and the Jews, who are a numerous race in Morocco, and live partly reviled and partly privileged, maintain their national character in all its force. Sir ARTHUR communicates to us no desire to follow his example and travel in Barbary. As a Christian, the traveller is spurned ; his life is, as indeed is human life in general, considered as a mat- ter of perfect insignificance ; hospitality is unknown ; a Moor would esteem his house defiled for ever by the presence of a Christian ; and, were it not so, its accommodation is of the lowest description, and would hardly repay the trouble of crossing the threshold. To prepare for travelling, is like preparing for a cam- paign, with tent, arms, and guards. The climate is torrid, the soil is arid, and the country but poor either in productions or beauty ; and though nothing is had and nothing is to be obtained, still it is not possible to approach the dwelling of the barbarian lord without paying dearly for the disadvantage. The objects of interest are the different and remarkable races of men, the Moor, the Arab, the Jew, and the African of the interior,—their manners and ideas so alien from those of Europe, and the institutions and buildings and cities which have grown up and accommodated themselves to the singular habits of the various classes of people who have given rise to them.

The following sketch of the nuisances of Tangier will show the contrast between the externals of a European and a Barbary city.

"In such a miserable place as Tangier, it might naturally be supposed that the most profound silence and tranquillity would reign during the night ;—quite the reverse ; and a stranger, on his arrival, does not find at an easy matter to close his eyes, so incessant is the noise echoed through all parts. This is owing to the military patrol, who are stationed in dif- ferent parts, and perambulate the town throughout the night, calling out the watchword ; which, being repeated by the next, circulates in an in- stant through the whole of the place, and is repeated about every five minutes during dark. In vain the poor stranger tries to close his eyes, and, turning from side to side, wonders at the cause of the savage cries that he hears thus echoed. Through many a weary hour is he constrained to bear this uproar, when, towards dawn, the wretches who have been murdering his repose slink away, and for an instant his weary eyelids are closed by sleep. I say for an instant, for the cries of the night patrol have scarcely died away, when he is suddenly aroused by a loud sepulchral voice, whose unearthly tones appear to his drowsy senses to descend from the air : this is the muedden or crier, who, from the top of the mosque, calls out to the true believer to shake off sleep and repair to prayers. It is the universal custom in Morocco, the use of bells being unknown both in Barbary, and, I believe, in other parts of the world where the Maho- znetan religion is professed. According to its rules, every Mussulman must repeat his prayers five times during the day ; and this injunction by no means adds to the repose of the inmates of the consular house, from its immediate vicinity to the great mosque. "Every morning, when it is still almost dark, the muedden ascends the tower or minaret, and begins to exclaim from the top with a loud sten- torian voice, in order to wake and give notice to the inhabitants. Having cased for a short time, he recommences, continuing his exhortation cr prayer for nearly half an hour, while the people are dressing and pre- paring themselves for the mosque. A third time he commences: when

they repair to the mosque, and the first prayers are repeated, it being now dawn. The second prayers, which are announced in a similar man- ner, take place at twelve o'clock. The third time the muedden cries is nearly two o'clock ; the fourth time, at gun-fire or suuset ; the fifth and last prayers being announced at the close of day, and when the last gleam of light has disappeared on the horizon. " From the foregoing circumstances it will be easily conceived, that, however agreeable and quiet Tangier may be during the day, it is not so during the hours when one feels most inclined to repose. A powerful addition to these miseries might well be enumerated in the never-failing lungs of one of those personages whom the besotted ignorance of the people dignifies by the name of Saints, and who is one of the curiosities of Tangier. This holy man, who is easily recognized by his uncovered head, his filthy raiment, and a long staff, with the aid of which he slowly

perambulates the streets, is distinguishable from other saints by a loud peculiar bellowing, which is so strange and incessant as to induce some to suppose that it is the howling of an evil spirit which by some means or other has got possession of the good old man's inside. At cock-crow his daily roarings commence, usually stationing himself at the door of the fondak or caravansery, which is a short distance akive. the English house. The utmost respect and obedience are paid by the Moors to this old mad- man, who acts in some respects with considerable method and fore- thought. Evcry market day he makes his appearance in the sOk, provided

with a capacious basket, which he fills at the different stalls with what- ever pleases his fancy best, and for which payment is never demanded. It is amusing enough to see how well the holy man forages for himself: from one he takes a piece of meat, from another bread, from a third vegetables; until at last, having got sufficient to stop the throat of Ins noisy companion within him, he makes a quiet and orderly r: treat. " The nightly police or watch at Tangier, barbarous as it may be, is greatly superior to what exists in Spain ; where indeed the towns are generally destitute of any protection whatever after nightfall. In point of vigilance, the watch at Tangier far exceeds that even in our own country ; and their never-tiring throats would afford a good example to the sleepy cries of the London watchmen. The former consists of the captain of the watch armed with a gun, and several followers provided with long poles, who keep silently patrolling the town, while the station.- ary posts keep up a constant communication by means of their voices in the manner before mentioned. In imitation of Gibraltar—Tangier being considered a garrison town, and that too a pretty strong one,

by the Moors—laughable as it seems, no one can appear in the streets, after dark, without a lantern, under punislunent of being sent to the castle, and receiving some strokes of the bastinado the next

day. It is not an easy thing to get out of the way of these people, who, with naked feet and noiseless steps, go poking their way in the dark through the narrow streets ; and more than once have I been pounced upon when without a lantern, having had the good luck, however, to escape the usual consequences. This patrol, as it proceeds through the different streets, examines every shop-door; and if any one is found unfastened, the proprietor is liable to the bastivado, the Moors thinking, with reason, that the person who holds out temptations in this manner to commit crime is as deserving of punishment as the thief. Owing to this vigilance, and the arm of justice, which does not temporize with its victims as in other countries, robberies are rarely committed.

Justice or injustice is at least summary, as in other Mahome- tan towns, and is administered with no useless ceremony.

"The law is administered with little form : the judge hears the different causes and suits frequently in the open street, and sitting, probably, at

the door of some shop, where the respective parties plead their own causes before him ; and the point in dispute is at once decided in a manner rather more expeditious than in our Court of Chancery, and as summa.-

rily as a country bench of magistrates disposes of a question of rates or a settlement case. Matters, however, are often left to be determined by ar- bitration.The usual punishment is the bastinado ; which is so unspar- ingly administered upon all ranks and orders, that it may be considered indeed the birthright of a Moor. Arising out of this little instrument, three general divisions or classes of society exist in Morocco, as I have,. heard it observed,—first, the sultan ; secondly, those who beat ; and, lastly, those who are beaten ; the latter class always living in hopes to advance in life, and change places with the one immediately above them— a pithy arrangement, but very significant of the people and country.-

"Beheading prevails in cases of criminal delinquency ; and in this operation the Moors are as expert as their other Mahometan bre- thren. The sufferer being thrown on his back on the ground, his

legs and arms are held steady, while the operator, by means of a long sharp knife, removes the head, with a quickness and dexterity attained by practice alone : when in the hands of a novice, some hacking, as I have been told, naturally occurs. Decapitation, indeed, is so usual in Morocco, that it is thought little of; and a body is shortened with as much unconcern and ease as an Englishman slices off the head of turnip. In many countries men's heads are their own ; in this they belong to the Sultan, before whom every Moor, proud and haughty as he may appear, crouches with the most abject slavery, in token of his being master of his life, and every thing he possesses.

"The punishment of tossing is thus quaintly described in an old work on Morocco : 'The person whom the Emperor orders to be thus punished

is seized upon by three or four strong ncgroes, who, taking hold of his hams, throw him up with all their strength, and at the same time turn- ing him round, pitch him down bead foremost ; at which they are so dex- terous by long use, that they can either break his neck the first toss, dis- locate a shoulder, or let him fall with less hurt. All this time, the person that is tossed must not stir a limb while the Emperor is in sight, under penalty of being tossed again, but is forced to lie as if he was dead.'"

A very peculiar race of Jews exists in Morocco, whose descent has puzzled the most learned Rabbis, and given rise to the most absurd genealogies : they are a tribe of Jewish mountaineers,—the description of them forms one of the most interesting passages in these sketches. The following passage embraces an account of them, along with a sketch of the Jews of Barbary in general, "The Jews of Tetuan live, as they do in most of the other towns of Morocco, separate from the Moors; the Jewish town being divided from the Moorish by gates which are closed at a certain hour at night, and all communication between one and the other prevented. In going from the Moorish quarter into that of the Jewish, a most striking difference is visi- ble in the appearance both of the buildings and also the people, and the

change is almost as great as crossino. from Gibraltar to Barbary. In the .0

Moorish town, the streets are winding and irregular, and the usual inacti- vity prevails which pervades every thing Mahometan : in the Jewish, the streets are lofty, narrow, and regular, intersecting each other at right angles, and would vie with those of Lisbon in filth ; while the crowdia

extraordinary ; and one would think, from the bustle that prevails, and the eagerness displayed on every countenance, that it was the emporium of commerce of the whole world.

" The Jews of Barbary—at least those who inhabit the towns—are in a situation of the most lamentable debasement and ignorance ; and in wit. messing the uniform oppression, contempt, and persecution to which this unfortunate race is subject under the hands of their cruel task-masters, one cannot help contrasting their once powerful condition with their pre- sent humiliated state. Tyrannical and severe, however, as is the yoke under which their necks are bowed, it is admirable to observe their cheer- fulness and patience under all circumstances ; and when it is considered how powerful they are in numbers, and how far superior to the Moors in reason and intelligence, one must perceive in their passive submission the restraining hand of that great Power which first scattered them abroad, and will at the appointed season again collect his chosen people. " The Jews who are found at the present day in every town of Morocco are the descendants of those who first took refuge in the country when driven out of Spain by the bigoted zeal of the victorious Ferdinand ; and who, in expelling the polished Moor and the ingenious Israelite, paved the way for the miserable state of ignorance, poverty, and decline into which Spain has ever since been gradually sinking.

What has become of the Andalusian Moor ? Where is the Spaniard of former ages? Both races have passed away, and in their descendants Scarcely a trace remains of a once powerful, generous, high-minded peo- ple. The Jew alone remains unaltered ; and, in exchanging the shores of Spain for those of Barbary, he has only fallen into the hands of a more tyran- meal master. It is indeed curious to observe, in accordance with the old re- mark, how completely the Jew remains the Jew in every part of the globe. What successful efforts does this extraordinary race make against the op- pression of a whole world I and how—assailed as they are on all sides by per. secution, midice, and tyranny—by ingeniously bending to their enemies, do they succeed, in the end, in turning the tables upon them, and in becoming, In point of fact, their masters ! This is more particularly observable in Mo- rocco, where, in spite of injury, contempt, cruelty, and the most ignomi- nious treatment, they succeed, by their unwearied assiduity, compliance, and adroitness, in obtainining an ascendancy over the haughty, bigoted, and persecuting Moor himself.

"From their wretched appearance and the degraded state of slavery in which they exist, one would little suppose them to be so necessary to the very existence of the Moors as they are; yet such is the case; and this Indolent, cruel, and helpless race could no more dispense with the aid and assistance of the Jew, than the Arab could with the services of the camel. Beaten, taunted, unprotected by the laws, a by-word of reproach and contempt, with the hand of every urchin lifted against them without daring even to complain, it is the Jew, nevertheless, that does every thing, and the whole commerce of the country is carried on through his means. To the European consuls the assistance of a Jew is indispensable, both in diplomatic affairs and in every kind of business. Even the Sultan him- self cannot do without Jews, and their services are requisite in a variety of ways connected with the highest offices. In short, the Jew of Morocco, abject as his state is, has succeeded by his address in ruling the Moor him- self.

"The costume of the Barbary Jews is very different from that of the Mahometan. On their heads, which, like the Moors', are kept shaved, they are obliged to wear a small black skull-cap, which distinguishes them at once from the Moors. Their dress consists generally of a long, loose black robe with sleeves, with a white, close-plaited under-vest; loose, short white linen drawers ; and a broad silk woven sash tied loosely round their waists. Their legs are bare, like the Mahometans', wearing merely a pair of slippers, the colour of which must be black, as a further distinguishing mark. The youths are frequently dressed in a garment of bluish-gray or orange-coloured cotton-stuff. With these exceptions, the Jewish costume is black, and, though sombre in appearance, has a neat and ri.-.11 aspect ; particularly on the sabbaths and other occa- sions, when their dress is often of black velvet, on which is worn ob- liquely over one shoulder a kind of sulham of fine cloth, or of the same manufacture as the hayk. The dress of the working Jews and poorer classes is a common brown jelibea with a hood; but this they are not al- lowed to wear up, to distinguish them from the Moors.

"When passing the mosques, they are obliged to take off their slip- pers and proceed barefoot, and in the Moorish quarters are sometimes not allowed to wear any slippers at all. They are not permitted to ride on horseback, or to appear in a European dress, except by licence of the Sultan. The whole of the Barbary Jews are very subject to complaints of the eyes ; the latter of which are almost always sore and weak, which is not the case with the Moors, although blindness is common : the occa- sion of this may be from their being so crowded together, and from the generally filthy state they live in.

"Besides the Jews who inhabit the towns, and are the descendants of those who have emigrated from Spain, there are others in Barbary whose lot is far happier and freer than that of their enslaved brethren; these are the Jews who are scattered among the lofty mountains of the Atlas chain, and who, associating in friendly brotherhood with the wild tribes of those regions, receive from them protection in return eor the many benefits which their talents and ingenuity confer upon them. These people are very interesting not only from the mutual compact which is kept up between them and the Brebers or Schilluhs, their defenders, with whom they have lived from time immemorial, but from the obscurity which attends their origin and the very little that is known of them. Buried among the wild retreats of this elevated chain, and living with a savage race among whom no European or even Moor dare venture to set foot, it is not to be wondered at that our information relating to both these races should be so scanty. "The following is the only account I was able to collect concerning them. The Jews are scattered in various parts of the Atlas mountains, and living not separately, hut together with the different tribes of the Schilluhs or Brebers, with whom they are on the most friendly terms. Each Jew makes choice of a Schilluh as a protector for himself and family, to whom he is ever after attached by the ties of friendship and mutual ob- ligation. Should the Jew receive any affront or injury, which is not often the, case, it is severely resented by his guardian ; and instances have occurred in which several lives have been lost in avenging an injury done to his protege. In cases of this kind, the Jew is not allowed to take -notice of the wrong done to him ; but must remain passive, and leave the affair in the hands of the Schilluh, his protector.

"The condition of these Jews, who live along with the Schilluhs in tents or conical-shaped straw huts, is far superior to that of their miserable

brethren of the towns, being well treated, and enjoying a considerable degree of freedom ; and, like their masters, are secured from taxes, tribute, and the oppression of the Moors, by the inaccessible nature of the country they inhabit. It may easily be conceived that mutual neces- sity was the origin of this kind of alliance, which proves so serviceable

to.both parties. . " The Jew—who, wherever you find him, is a kind of itinerant men. chant, and is acquainted with a variety of useful arts—proves here of the greatest utility to his patron, by exercising the trades of shoemaker, tailor, farrier, saddler, maker of bridles and accoutrements, besides a thousand other things of which the savage Breber would have no idea. Many of them, by the above means, become rich, and enjoy what their industry and ingenuity have procured in much greater security than the Jews who are under the dominion of the Sultan. Instead of being de. barred, like the latter, from the use of the horse, they are as expert in the management of this animal and firing at full speed as the Schilluhs themselves. When the tribe is at war, and proceeds upon any expedition, each Jew accompanies his protector, and gives his assistance ; and when the Schilluh has any business of importance to execute, he either takes his Jew along with him or sends him as his substitute. There is no dis. tinction in respect to dress between them, with the exception of the black cap, which alone distinguishes the Jew : the women also wear the hayk. The men are described as superior in their appearance to the Jews of the towns, and as being a remarkably stout well-made race ; which may easily be conceived from their happier state, and the greater degree of freedoms that they enjoy; while the Schilluhs, under whose charge they thus happily live, are represented, although Mahometant, as being far less bigoted than the Moors, whom they despise, and against whom they al- ways entertain, as it were, a natural kind of antipathy.

The schoolmaster is indeed abroad in Morocco! This is a peep at a Moorish school.

" Among the things that may be deemed worth looking or peeping at- which latter, indeed, is the most you are able to do, in regard to almost every thing that attracts your notice, from the suspicious jealousy of the people—is a Moorish school. This is a small confined place without windows, and receiving just sufficient light through the door alone. The master squats on the ground, in the usual manner of the country, and is surrounded by his boys, each holding a thin piece of board, on which is pasted a paper, containing, in writing, the lesson the master is reading, which is generally from the Koran ; this is repeated after him by all pre. sent, creating an uproar which is laughable enough. They do not like to be observed by a Christian ; and should you stop at the door in passing, even for a few seconds, the business will be suspended, and a general cry is made of--` Off 1 off !' which they express by the Spanish word ands. If you are backward in taking the hint, these little urchins, with the master at their head, will commence a volley upon you with their slip. pers, which are ranged on the threshold of the door." The character of the female beauty in the various countries through which he travels, is a favourite subject of comment with Sir ARTHUR. By classing together the following short passages, we get an opportunity of comparing the Moorish, Anda- lusian, and English belle ; and no three objects can form with each other a greater contrast. To these we shall add the magnificent description of the Jewesses of Barbary.

THE ANDALTJSIAN BELLE.

"That there is a very considerable difference in the appearance of the female sex in the Northern and Southern parts of Spain, has been re- marked by most travellers. I do not know whence the Andalusian beauties —fair ones I cannot call them—have derived that warm tint, and coal- black expression of eye, which so strongly characterize them. Many have imagined that it has been occasioned by the Moorish blood in their veins, and their features certainly are often decidedly Moorish ; but, at the same time, they are darker in their complexions than the Moorish women even of the present day, who certainly are not lighter than the old Moors of Spain. However this may be, the women of Andalusia, deep brunettes as they are, are as superior to the females of other parts of Spain as those of Cadiz shine above all the rest. The belle of the latter city is remarkable not only for her dress, and the taste with which every part of it is made, but for the-way in which it is Put on ; and whether you look at the disposition of her mantilla, or the rest of her attire, every thing sits well and looks well. She is distinguished, as Spanish women in general are, by that peculiar neatness of her feet which the French comprehend in the term ` hien chaussee,' and which, from the care and attention bestowed upon them, always look well, though the plump and fleshy swelling roundness of her foot, which is considered a beauty in Spain, would probably not be esteemed so with us; while her legs and ankles, also, though well-turned, display rather too much muscular power to come within our ideas of grace.

"A Cadiz lady would, however, be considered everywhere as a re- markably well-made person, not only from the beauty of her waist, but her general tournure ; while her swelling bosom and finely-rounded limbs contrast very agreeably with those sharp, angular points which one is so apt to come in contact with in our country, resulting from coldness of climate, constitution, or other causes. "An Andalusian lady never looks so well as at mass ; and nowhere does she look so bewitching. How can one regard her without emotion, when, attired wholly in black, and enveloped in her graceful mantilla, she advances up the aisle, and, kneeling down on the cokd marble, offers up her silent adorations with mingled fervour and simplicity, her dark eye flashing through the rich fringe of her head-dress ? How far more interesting, and how superior does she then appear to a belle of other countries' who, put together in the height•of the mode, repairs to her well-situated pew in the gallery of some fashionable Sunday exhibition, called a chapel, as she would to her box at the opera, and, instead of raising her eyes to an object above, casts them down upon an unworthy one below, while she freely subjects her person to the welcome gaze of empty beaux or powdered footmen, a spectacle of fashion and folly 1"

THE MOORISH BEAUTY.

"The Moorish ideas of female beauty differ from our English notions on that point in one considerable respect. With us a slender waist and graceful figure add very greatly to other personal charms ; and fat people, though much respected, are not much admired. This is the very anti- podes of Moorish criterion. A really handsome woman ought net to be able to walk, corpulence and comeliness being synonymous, and the ex- treme of the one being considered the height of the other. A woman of a ton weight is, in the opinion of a Moor, a morsel fit for the Sultan ; and instead of the waspish proportion of a modern waist, which is laced an as tightly as the stomach, liver, and other superfluous parts will allow, a Moorish shape, • If shape that can be called which shape bath none,' is considered, in the opinion of these sensual connoisseurs, as nearly ap- proaching to perfection when it resembles, or rather exceeds, the ors cumference of a butt, pipe, or any other large measure. In. order to at- tain to this degree of excellence, the Moorish ladies are at no inconside- rable pains to fatten themselves up so as to afford a substantial feast to their lords and masters. Tompeoraplish this, they eatlarge cLuaatities of

keuskousou, in itself very nourishing; and whose fattening qualities are increased by'the introduction of a small yellow grain, or seed, called al- holba (trigonilla), used also in Making bread.

"Among the beauties of the respective harems of the Sultan at Fez, Mequinez, Morocco, and other parts, there are some, I have been in- formed, of very surprising dimensions. These are no less prized than they would be in England to fill the interior of a travelling caravan. For- tunately for the whim and caprice of mankind, the standard of beauty is not fixed, and that by which it is estimated in Morocco is doubtless con- sidered the correct one."

THE JEWESS OF MOROCCO.

"The Moorish festival was closely followed by one peculiar to the Jewish nation, and intended to commemorate the sojourn of that people in tents in the wilderness, which is kept by them for the space of eight days. During the whole of this period, no Jew ought to sleep in his ha- bitation, but should take up his abode in the open air, or nearly so ; the only cover allowed during this period being what is afforded by a kind of hut composed of canes or reeds, erected for this purpose, during this festival, in the court-yard of ever' house. These, arising from the inte- rior of the habitations, present a singular appearance ; the lofty tops of the canes, while fresh and green, contrasting with the brilliant white of the town in general. Among the wealthier Jews, the interior of the house is prettily ornamented, each room being thickly interwoven with shrubs, evergreens, and flowers, producing a cool and pretty effect. The females of the family, during this festival, receive the visits of their friends in their best robes, decorated with their finest ornaments. "In no part of the world, perhaps, are more beautiful women to be seen than among the Jewesses at Tangier. Their complexions are gene- rally rather dark, but not swarthy, and mixed frequently with the most beautiful and inviting red possible : their eyes are brilliant, black, and sparkling : and if to the above be added a fine contour of countenance, and hair like shining jet, it will be seen that this place, miserable as it is, is not entirely destitute of objects of attraction. The iron claw of despo- tism, however different may be the case with regard to the other sex, has passed lightly over the countenances of these captivating females : for, who would imagine, on looking at them, that they were the daughters of slaves ? of slaves as degraded and persecuted as in any part of the globe subject to the tyranny of man?

"The costume of the Barbary Jewesses, and particularly that which is worn on Sabbaths and festivals, is splendid in the highest degree ; and the effect is remarkably rich, dignified, and becoming. Their robes, which fold over and are girt round by a silk sash worked in gold, are usually of superfine scarlet or dark-green cloth, richly embroidered in gold at the bosom, as also at the corners, which are likewise worked in crimson silk on the reverse side. On holidays they wear splendid ear- rings, and a magnificent tiara of pearls, emeralds, and other precious stones, with numerous rings on their fingers of considerable value : the trinkets that are then worn by a young Jewess of the middle classes amount frequently in value to more than a hundred pounds."

The account of Spain produces on the reader preCisely the same impression as the book of the young American, the Year, which we lately noticed. The country is in the lowest state of wretchedness and degradation, and as low as a bad govern- ment can bring any fine people. There is a large mass of the population, however, whom a had government can hardly touch : a Spaniard is happy if he can procure his cigarro, a bunch of grapes, and a crust of bread ; and as these, in ordinary seasons, are within his reach, how can the follies or the crimes of despotism affect him? - Idleness is the Spaniard's luxury, almost his neces- sity. If he can get the slender fare above named,—and in the land where the cigar is of paper, the grape as common as our crab- apples, and where whole plains of wheat rot on the ground because there are no markets to pay for the gathering, the Spaniard may easily procure his frugal abundance,—he can defy the tax-gatherer and the Government.