himfelf mafter of the general plan. The former are gilt or painted; and time has not faded the colours, though they are conftantly exposed to the air; the lower part of the latter is Mofaic, difpofed in fantastic knots and feftoons; a work new, exquifitely finished, and exciting the moft agreeable fenfations.

"From the bath a fecond door opens into the court of the lions, an hundred feet in length, and fifty in breadth, environed with a colonnade seven feet broad on the fides, and ten at the end; the roof and gallery are fupported by flender columns of virgin marble, fantastically adorned; and in the centre of the court are the ftatues of twelve lions, which bear upon their backs a large bafon, out of which rifes a leffer. A volume of water thrown up, falls again into the bafon, paffes thro' the beafts, and iffues out of their mouths into a large refervoir, whence it is communicated to the other apartments. "These apartments are decorated with whatever the art of the age could invent, or commerce could fupply. The floors glitter with marble; the walls and the windows are enriched with Mofaic; and through the latter the rays of the fun gleam with a variety of light and tints on the former; the air is perpetually refreshed by fountains; and the double roof equally excludes the extremes of heat and cold; from every opening fhady gardens of matic trees, beautiful hills, and fertile plains meet the eye; nor is it to be wondered that the Moors ftill regret the delights of Granada, and ftill offer up their prayers for the recovery of that city, which they deem a terreftrial paradife." Vol. i. p. 440.

The melancholy effects of the power of the inquifition, exerted by the bigotry of Philip II. are thus detailed:

"The fuperftitious difpofition of Philip was confpicuous in every action of his life; his vow to St. Laurence in return for the victory of St. Quentin, has already been noticed; and, on his efcape from the danger of the fea, he folemnly dedicated his reign to the defence of the Roman Catholic faith, and the extirpation of herefy.

"His fubjects had foon too much reafon to lament the rigid punctuality with which he fulfilled the holy engagement. The opinions. of Luther, which had rapidly fpread through the greatest part of Europe, had been checked by the fevere policy of the inquifition; that tribunal, which had originally been established by Ferdinand and Isabella, to prevent the Jews and Moors, who had been baptized, from relapfing into their ancient errors, had ftretched its jurisdiction over the united kingdoms of Caftile and Arragon. In the various provinces 20,000 fpies were interested to accufe, and 18 inquifitorial courts were impatient to condemn the unhappy wretch, whofe flightest expreffion could be tortured into difapprobation of the established church. Such were their zeal and vigilance, that a number of perfons, fufpected of inclining to the doctrines of the reformed, had been committed to the flames. When Philip arrived at Valladolid, there were ftill thirty in the prifons of the inquifitions, against whom the fame dreadful fentence had been denounced; he commanded these miferable wretches to be dragged to execution; the dreadful cere

mony

mony was conducted with a pomp which only the rage of fuperftition could infpire; Philip himfelf, accompanied by his fon Carlos, by his fifter, and attended by his courtiers and guards, was the unmoved fpectator of the inhuman facrifice; as the executioners led a Proteftant nobleman of the name of Seffa, to the ftake, he invoked the mercy of his fovereign; "Canft thou, O king," exclaimed he, "thus witness the torments of thy fubjects; fave us from this cruel death; we have not deferved it." No," replied the furious and bigoted monarch, "I would myself carry wood to burn my own fon, "were he fuch a wretch as thou art." Vol. ii. p. 287.

The expulfion and fufferings of the unfortunate Morescoes, form also a striking and well-touched picture:

"The total expulfion of the Morefcoes was accordingly determined on; but as they were formidable from their numbers, and, could they fupply themfelves with arms, were capable of a vigorous resistance, their fate was involved in the most guarded fecrecy. Orders were privately given to the naval commanders of Portugal and Italy to rendezvous, under pretence of an expedition against the Moors of Africa, on the coaft of lentia; the fame motive was affigned for confiderable bodies of ps which were ftationed throughout that province; at length, the force affembled was fuch as might defy all oppoficion, the royal edict was publifhed, in which all the inhabitants of Valentia, who profeffed the Moorish faith, were commanded, under the penalty of death, to repair to the fea-coft, and embark on board the fhips provided to convey them to Africa.

"The anguish and distraction that fuch an order produced may be conceived, but cannot be defcribed. The first remonftrance against it proceeded from the Barons of Valentia, who represented that the execution would not folely be the ruin of their particular eftates, but would convert into a defert the greateft part of that fertile province; but the only mitigation they could obtain, was the reluctant permiffion for fix families out of every hundred, with all children under four years of age, to be excepted from the general fentence of exile.

"This indulgence was rejected by the indignant Morefcoes; in the firft agonies of despair, fome of the moft daring had excited them to oppofe by force the cruelty of their oppreffors; but this propofal was deemed rafh and impracticable by a majority of the affembly; they were, they obferved, without arms or military ftores; and the Spanish troops diftributed over the country were ready to attack them on the first appearance of refiftance. Little time was allowed for deliberation, and obedience was all that remained; they crowded down to the fea-coafts, and were fucceffively conveyed to the fhores of Africa. As they proceeded up the country to implore the protection of the Viceroy of Tremezen, they could not reftrain their tears, when they compared the barren plains through which they paffed, which the delightful regions they had been driven from. A few, who preferred death to exile, endeavoured to defend themselves in the mountains; but the paffes were explored on every fide; they

Α

were

were hunted by their inhuman tyrants like wild beafts; part perished by the fword, the reft by hunger; their chief was made prisoner, and, after having fuffered every infult that triumphant tyranny could devife, was publicly excuted.

"Caftille, Arragon, and Granada prefented the fame scenes of mifery and oppreffion; and according to the lowest computation it is fuppofed, by the bigotry and mistaken policy of Philip the Third, near fix hundred thousand of his most industrious fubjects were driven into exile. The majority of thofe from the dreary deferts of Africa implored an afylum in the bofom of France; and the wifdom of Henry has been severely impeached in refufing the proffered acceffion of half a million of people, whofe filent labours might have fertilized the barren plains of his kingdom, and repaired the fatal ravages which had been inflicted by religious commotion." Vol. iii. p. 47.

The hiftory prudently concludes with the death of Ferdinand VI. for the following reasons :

"The reign of that fucceffor had been included in the original defign that I had formed of the work which I now fubmit to the judgment of the public; but I was difcouraged from pursuing it by the occurrences with which it is diftinguifhed. The American war is too recent an event to be related without fome tincture of partiality; that war has proved the fruitful parent of great and rapid revolutions in Europe; the United Provinces, the Netherlands, and France, have each felt the influence of it; and the mind of man is too much agitated to inveftigate, with candour and accuracy, the vast and important scene which presents itself to his obfervation."

ART. XIII. The Female Mentor; or, Select Obfervations. 2 vols. 12mo. 6s. Cadell.

THESE volumes are prefented to the world by a lady, who, in the introduction, ingenuously acknowledges herfelf to have performed the office merely of an Editor: the is, accordingly, fatisfied with refting her claims to public approbation on its appearing, that her Female Mentor is founded on truth and nature, and is intended to promote the cause of religion and virtue.

From fuch claims, urged with fo much modefty, far be it from us to detract any thing, by minute and unimportant objections. We willingly, therefore, allow to these converfations the praife which is their due; and we have little fcruple in recommending them as likely to be useful prefents for youth. They confift of a number of didactic effays; for the title of Converfations is rather improperly applied. Some of them are original; but they principally confift of portions of anecdote E

BRIT. CRIT, VOL. I. MAY 1793.

and

and history, felected from our own, or tranflated from French writers. Of thefe, the fketch of the Life of Fenelon is, pers haps, the best, from which the following extract may not be unacceptable:

"Ramsay has related various anecdotes of this amiable prelate during his refidence at Cambray, which prove the benevolence and excellency of his character. A clergyman of his diocese boafted in his presence, that he had abolished the dances of peafants on festivals and holidays; "My good friend," returned Fenelon, let us not "dance ourselves, but let us permit thofe poor creatures to dance: "for why fhould we deprive them of the momentary fatisfaction of "forgetting their wretchedness?" He frequently in his walks vifited the peasants, and not only comforted and affifted them in their weakneffes, but converfed with them in the moft familiar manner, and partook of their feanty fare. After his death many of them preferved the chairs in which he had fat, as relics; and would point them out to their family with a melancholy pleasure, “Behold the wooden chairs in which our good archbishop was wont to fit in "the midst of our families: alas! he now no longer exifts but in our "memory." Having loft his library by fire, "I had much rather," he faid, that my books fhould be deftroyed, than the cabin of a poor family." In one of his rambles he ferved a peasant in great diftrefs; and demanding the caufe, "Alas," returned the peafant, "I am juft driven from my cottage by the enemy; and had not "time to fave a cow which fupported my family with her milk; the enemy has carried her away, and I fhall never r find another." Fenelon inftantly departed in company with a fingle domeftick, and under favour of his paffport, found the cow after much trouble, and brought it back to the peafant." Vol. i. p. 42.

The fourth effay, or Converfation, gives an account of the Oracle of Delphos; we thought that the ufage of Delphos for Delphi was now univerfally rejected, both from the reafon of the thing itself, as well as on the authority of our beft and moft accomplished writers. It is true, that Swift, in defiance. of Bentley, whom he hated, probably becaufe he feared him, perfifted in writing Delphos. But we remember alfo, and not without a fmile, the obfervation of Jortin, that Swift, instead of foolishly perfifling to write Delphos for Delphi, fhould have fubmitted to reafon, and received inftruction from what quar ter foever it came, from Wootton, from Bentley, or from Beel zebub. In a lady, however, this flight deviation from correctnefs may be easily forgiven. The remarks on the character of Imogen are very fenfible and ingenious, and, indeed, not without their portion of original thought: the story of the Old Man and his Dog Trim is trite and puerile, and exhibits a very indifferent imitation of the manner of Sterne, and his incomparable story of the Old Man and his Afs. The hiftorical accounts of the Queen

Conforts.

Conforts of England are given in a very agreeable manner, and cannot fail of being useful to young people, by fixing their attention and curiofity on fome of the most inftructive parts of English history. The Converfations conclude with a very forcible warning against the ill effects of early diffipation, agreeably exemplified by fome interesting characters. Upon the whole, there is great reafon to commend the Female Mentor, and we do not doubt that the fair editor of thefe volumes will receive fufficient encouragement by the fale of her work, to induce her to amufe herself and the public by fome future publication.

ART. XIV. Alfred's Letters; or, a Review of the Political State of Europe, to the End of the Summer 1792. As originally published in the Sun. 8vo. 218 pages. 6s. 6s. Debrett.

WITHOUT attempting to decide upon difputed points of ftate expediency, which is not within our province, we do not hesitate to fay, that in these Letters much political knowledge is communicated, in a clear method, and a manly style. The profeffed intention of them is to give a fair and impar"tial view of the actual state of the feveral countries of Europe,

and fuch a retrospect of modern political transactions, as "may tend to elucidate their exifting fyftems and fituations:" a defign which appears to us to be executed with fingular ability.

The Letters are 43 in number. In the first 23, we find a diftinct confideration of the circumftances of every country in Europe, at the clofe of the fpring of 1791. The remaining Letters give briefly, but clearly, the hiftory of thofe leading events which produced the actual fituation of thofe countries; and explain the interefts of this nation as connected with the other European powers, and affected by their feveral movements. In the perufal of them, the leading idea impressed upon the reader is, that, waving the more immediate and temporary preffure of danger from the progrefs of French arms and French opinions, the great object of just apprehenfion to all Europe is the fyftematic, perfevering, and inordinate ambition of the Ruffian court which, governing a territory comprising nearly half of the ancient world, will no fooner gain the advantages that more Southern acquifitions muft infallibly confer, than it will have ftrength, as well as inclination, to crufh all other, powers fucceffively, as it has already done by Poland. All the eloquence and fire of Demofthenes could not roufe the Athenian people to a timely dread, or fteady counteraction of the formi