‘through the whole. 
/ 
Mr. Jacob’s Letters from Spain. 
shouid despair of doing it justice. It is 
said that this kind of stucco is composed 
of lime mixed with the whites of eggs ; 
but whatever be its composition, its du- 
rability is such that, after the lapse of at 
least five centuries, not a flaw or crack 
is to be seen in the whole of the surface, 
and it is as hard as a stone: this apart- 
Toent would alone be a sufficient proof to 
me of the superiority of the Moors over 
the Spaniards in their taste for decora- 
ting their dwellings. . 
THE INQUISITION. 
The terror of the inquisition has con- 
siderably abated of late years; one of 
the last victims in this city was Olavide, 
a most respectable man, who applied the 
wealth he had acquired in South Ame- 
rica, to the patriotic purpose of cultiva- 
ting the Sierra Morena, with a number 
of German settlers, and to adorning and 
improving the public walks of the city, 
_9s well as the wharfs on the banks of the 
Guadalquivir, He had read the writings 
of some of the French unbelievers, and 
was suspected of having imbibed a por- 
tion of their opinions, and for this un- 
proved, if not unfounded, charge, he was 
immured within the walls of a prison, 
and passed many years of his life amid 
the horrors of solitary confinement. 
Since that period. the discipline has been 
confined to a lower class of crimes, and 
Tam informed, thatthe only prisoners af 
Jate, have consisted of those who merited 
punishment for having acted as the pan- 
ders to illicit pleasure. 
‘I found no difficulty in obtaining per- 
mission to see the Inquisition, and went 
Tt is a cheerful, 
pleasant abode, and does not at all @or- 
respond with the ideas of Englishmen 
respectingit. The hall ofjudgment con- 
tains simply a table, three chairs for the 
inquisitors, a stool for the secretary, and 
one which is lower for the prisoner. On 
the table is a silver crucifix, upon which 
the deposition is made; and on a small 
stand, a latin prayer said by each inqui- 
sitor before the trial commences, The 
prayer is appropriated to a judge, and 
merely implores divine guidance to ena- 
ble him to discharge his duty with up- 
rightness and impartiality. The records 
of this court, with all the processes 
against those 'who have been confined, 
are preserved with reyularity in an ad- 
joining room, but are not allowed to be 
examined. The church is simple and 
elegant. The interior is of white marble. 
The foria is circular ; and it is lighted 
from a beautiful dome, I saw one of 
611 
the apartments in which prisoners are 
confined, and was told the others were 
similar ; itis hight .and airy, placed ina 
little garden planted with orange and fig 
trees ; the door of this garden is strongly 
securéd, and no person can have access 
to it when the cell is occupied. TI in 
quired if there were any prisoners in con= 
finement, any subterraneous cells, or in- 
struments of torture; but to these ques- 
tions Icould obtain no replies. The al- 
cayde who attended us, exulted not a 
little at our remarking the neatness and 
comforts of the building, and, I suspect, 
mistook us for pious Catholics, because 
we gave vent to no execrations at the. 
existence of such an infamous tribue 
nal, 
This building was formerly the college 
of the Jesuits, the most able and enligh- 
tened, but the most dangerous, of all the 
religious orders of the catholic church, 
On the abolition of that order, the inqui- 
sition was removed, from its former sia 
tuation in the suburb of Triana, to this 
building, which I hope will be the last it 
will occupy in Spain; for, whatever po- 
litical events may take place, its destruc. 
tion is inevitably at hand. The remarks 
T have made on the religion of Spain, 
you will recollect are drawn from what 
I have seen in Seville, a city more es. 
teemed for its piety than any other in 
Spain ; so rigid, indeed, is the religion of 
this place, and so great the influence of 
the clergy, that neither a theatre, nor 
any place of public amusement is pers 
mitted, 
SPANISH FAIR. 
A large fair, which is annually held at 
Santi-ponce, a few miles from this city, 
afforded me an opportunity of observing’ 
national manners in their most unmixed 
state, and I according went there on 
Sunday last, with a party of Englishmen, 
It is held on an open plain between the 
town ‘and the river Guadalquivir, and 
was crowded with bvoths, cattle, and 
Spectators, to agreat extent. Even in 
this scene of revelry, the solemnity of the’ 
Spanish character was visible, and its so- 
briety may be inferred from this circum. 
stance, that there were very few booths 
in which wine ar brandy was sold, but 
a considerable number for the sale of 
water cooled in porous jars; an article 
which forms so great a luxury in this 
country. 
The young farmers gallopped about to 
show the beauty of their horses, and theic: 
skill in managing them. Their dresses 
were very fantastical, and the trappings 
o! 
~ 
