814 ANNUAL REGISTER, ISOO. 



lazy are the women of every class, 

 the more do they fly from every 

 kind of occupation. The women 

 of the lowest class work against 

 their inclination to gain their living; 

 but, the moment they can do with- 

 out working, they give themselves 

 up to sloth, till necessity compels 

 them to work agaiti : those of a 

 higher class never think of work at 

 all, not even of such as belong to 

 the sex, or of reading : this indo- 

 lence is the fault of their parents, 

 who accustom them to idleness, 

 from their infancj'. 



However, in consequence of the 

 mutability of disposition peculiar 

 to the country they live in, the Va- 

 lencian women are always in mo- 

 tion ; they walk about the streets, 

 go from shop to shop without buy- 

 ing, and frequently into the 

 churches ; the festivals, and the 

 variety of appointed times and oc- 

 casions for prayer afford them ex- 

 cuses for their trips. They have 

 a singular predilectioa for St. 

 Catherine-square, which is a place 

 for the men to meet in ; they never 

 go abroad without passing through 

 it, if it be ever so much out of 

 their way. If a man were to re- 

 main a whole day in the square, 

 he would see three-fourths of the 

 women of Valencia go through it 

 twice or thrice. 



The Valencians are among the 

 most superstitious people in Spain: 

 they mix religious works with pro- 

 fane customs, and think by exte- 

 rior observances, which have no- 

 thing to do with the worship due to 

 the Divinity, to obtain pardon for 

 their sins. They have particular- 

 ly great confidence in the saints to 

 whom they attribute the power of 

 protecting from accidents and dis- 

 eases. St. Roche protects against 



the plague, St. Anthony against 

 fire, St. Barbara against lightning, 

 St. Casalida cures the loss of blood, 

 St. Appollonia the tooth-ache, St. 

 Augusta the dropsy ; St. Raymond 

 has the care of pregnant women, 

 St. Lazarus of lying-in-women, and 

 St. Nicholas of marrisigeable girls. 

 Every wnggoner carries about him 

 the image of a saint to whom he 

 expresses his gratitude if his jour- 

 ney be fortunate ; but should any 

 mishap overtake him on the road, 

 woe be to his protector ! he tram- 

 ples him under foot, loads him with 

 abuse, and sends him al Demonio 

 stintn Barbara ! a los Diabolos 

 S. Francisco ! al injcrno nostra 

 senora del Carmen ! There are 

 several other superstitions, but we 

 shall only notice that called the mnl 

 cle ojoSjJfiscination : the Valencian 

 women secure themselves from it 

 by little ivory hands, moles' feet or 

 scarlet tufts, and likewise tie them 

 about their children's necks. 



Though the Valencians, in ge- 

 neral, are rich, they do not know 

 how to make life agreeable: each 

 class of nobility, as we have said, 

 live among themselves ; they have 

 a great many useful servants. They 

 are pillaged by attorneys and advo- 

 cates, whom they cannot do with- 

 out ; drained of their money by 

 priests, convents, churches, and 

 saint days, and ruined in their in- 

 come by the excessive luxury of 

 the women; so that at the end of 

 the year happy is he who is not in 

 debt. Sometimes they give enter- 

 tainments in which gallantry and 

 magnificence unite ; these, how- 

 ever, rarely take place but on two 

 occasions, where a nobleman mar- 

 ries, or when it comes to his turn 

 to take the lieutenancy of the 

 raaestranza : in the latter case, 

 tournaments, 



