, 
216. 
only imprisoned for two years; but that 
such incautious conduct would, fifty 
years ago, have cost him his Jifes In 
Some recent cases of mockery, and such 
like, the inquisition and the priests have 
relaxed in their severity, requiring the 
offender only to ask pardon for his trans- 
gression. : ‘i 
I shall not enter into the praises or de- 
-merits of the Catholic religion; but it ap- 
pears, that the attachment of the. ad- 
herents to this faith partakes more of 
“the outward visible sign” than “ of 
the inward spiritual grace ;” for it seems 
that their excessive shew of piety, serves 
but as a veil to their want of virtue, 
The counting their beads, the sprinkling 
and crossing their faces, and their 
masses, are performed rather mechani- 
cally than religiously ; and the great body 
of the people only appear to practise 
what the priests require them to under- 
take. The liberty of conscience 1s out 
of the question, the exercise of reason is 
forbidden, and the Catholic rehearses 
his creed without being permitted to 
question its truth: superstition and ig- 
norance go hand in hand, I had a 
proof of this one day in conversation 
with a shopkeeper, who was very Inqul- 
sitive about the English; and, among 
other questions, he foolishly asked, whe- 
ther our king ever went to mass? On 
my explaining to him that the Protestants 
had a sacrament similar to their mass, 
and that the king attended it at certain 
times; he said, that “ the English na- 
tion was certainly deserving the gratitude 
of the Spaniards, but that the king was 
not a good man because he was not a 
Catholic.” 
But while the Protestants are degra- 
dingly called heretics, and looked on 
with jealousy, they may consider them- 
selves highly favoured in this country ; 
since a Jew. is not permitted’ to reside 
here. Itis but a few years ago, that 
ong of the tribe of Israel came out with 
‘merchandize, and he was not long in 
Cadiz before the priests scented him ; 
his friends heard of it, and advised him to 
quit the place without delay, but he did 
not listen to them: the poor Jew was 
hunted down, compelled to fly, and with 
such precipitation that he left his affairs 
unsettled, and he has not since been 
heard of by those who are at this moment 
indebted to him. Ile probably perished 
in prison, as it was next to impossible 
for him to shelter himself in the country, 
if he even got outside the barriers of 
Cadiz, 
Journal of a recent Voyage to Cadiz. 
[April hy 
The church sometimes affords a sance 
tuary to the Catholic, even in cases. of 
the greatest crimes, if he can only get 
within its walls; there he may live un- 
molested by justice, or until the injured 
party may forgive him. I heard of a 
mau who had committed murder, and 
ran into a church, for safety, where he 
remained some years, and was daily seen 
by his accusers, who dared not to touch 
him; they would not pardon him, and at 
length they hit on an expedient to en- 
tice him outside the door; accordingly, 
the alguacils, or police-officers, went im 
disguise to the church, and among them 
was one in the dress of a lady of fashion ; 
they conversed freely with him, and, on 
parting, the lady designedly dropped her 
fan while stepping into the coach; the 
politeness of the criminal induced him to 
go forward to take it from the ground, 
(which was exactly what was intended); 
he went just outside the door, was thus 
unexpectedly seized, and afterwards pu. 
nished according to his crime, 
I have wished to purchase a small 
Bible in the Spanish language, but the 
Abbé tells me, that it is not to be liad; 
Bibles are generally in Latin or French, 
excepting one edition only, which is in 
fifteen volumes octavo, containing the 
old and new testaments; he has shewn 
me his copy of it, which is beautifully 
printed with English types, and orna- 
mented with well-executed engravings. - 
The translation was made by Father 
Philip Scio de San Miguel, who has il- 
lustrated it with notes, and dedicated it 
to the Prince of Asturias (now Fer- 
dinand VIL.) to whom he was tutor; and 
in the frontispiece are their likenesses, 
representing the pupil and the tutor in 
their study. The cost of this work is 
upwards of ten pounds sterling; and as 
no other edition of the Bible in Spanish is 
extant, a recourse by the lower orders 
of the people to the sacred writings is 
not to be obtained. 
In this instance are upwards of eleven 
millions of people kept in ignorance: but 
the priests are sufficiently numerous to 
instruct them in religion, did they at the 
saine time correct their morals, You may 
judge how the clergy swarm in this coun- 
try, since it appears that when_the last 
census was made twenty years ago, there 
were nine thousand in Madrid, which 
contained not quite one hundred and 
sixty thousand inhabitants. If the same 
proportion held good throughout Spain, 
nearly one-sixteenth ‘of the population 
would belong to the clerical order, 
You 
H 
