592 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



never yet beheld any one similarlto 

 it, nor could it ever be forgotten 

 if once seen. 



" It combined every thing, and 

 yet there was nothing in opposi- 

 tion : it was grave and yet allur- 

 ing, it was solemn and yet gay ; it 

 bespoke equally the theologian, 

 the bishop and the nobleman. 

 Every thing which was visible in 

 it, as well as in his whole person, 

 was delicate, intellectual, grace- 

 ful, becoming, and,aboveall,noble. 

 It required an effort to cease look- 

 ing at him; all the portraits of 

 him are strong resemblances, 

 though they have not caught that 

 harmony which was so striking in 

 the original, and that individual 

 delicacy which characterised each 

 feature ; his manners were an- 

 swerable to his countenance; they 

 had all that ease which communi- 

 cates itself toothers, that air, and 

 that urbanity which can be de- 

 rived only from intercourse with 

 the best society, and with the 

 world, and which diffused itself 

 over all his discourse." 



Amusements of the American Spa- 

 niards. [From Mr. Waltoti's 

 Present State of the Spanish Co- 

 lonics.2 



If it be a fact, that the style 

 of amusements indicates the cha- 

 racter of a nation, it may not be 

 thought foreign to my subject to 

 give those of the American Spa- 

 niards a brief consideration. A 

 principal one is cock-fighting, but 

 without spurs, and the English 

 g9me are much esteemed. The 

 right of holding the cock-pit is 

 rented by govirnraent, and Sun- 

 day is the day of exhibition. The 



proceeds of admittance-prices go 

 to support hospitals of the poor. 



The general and national taste, 

 however, here, as in Old Spain, 

 runs principally on bull feasts; 

 and in those places where there 

 are no amphitheatres, the avenues 

 to a square is palisadoed, the 

 doors of the houses are closed, 

 the ladies crowd the grated win- 

 dows and flat roofs ; yet, though 

 the natives of South America are 

 extremely activeand nimble, these 

 representations consist more in 

 jading and harassing the poor ani- 

 mal, than in any display of dexte- 

 rity, and are very unlike those of 

 Spain. 



The Spanish national dances 

 have been marked by most travel- 

 ers amongst their peculiarities, 

 and appear beyond the imitation of 

 other people ; for though they are 

 attempted on our theatres in Eng- 

 land, being unaccompanied with a 

 certain association of ideas, they, 

 cannot be relished by any other 

 audience, or represented by any 

 other performers than natives ; 

 nay, in Spain itself, the sedate 

 Castilian does not exquisitely en- 

 joy the graceful and animated 

 movements of the Andalusian, 

 though he crowds to the dance. 



Of all these, the most elegant, 

 scientific, and peculiarly charac- 

 teristic, is the Bolero. It affords to 

 the well-formed female the most 

 graceful display of person, as well 

 as dexterity and agility of motion ; 

 the dancers beat the castenets with 

 their fingers in time to their feet, 

 going through varied interesting 

 changes and positions, accompa- 

 nied by the guitar and voice. A 

 great merit in this dance is the 

 bien parado, or peculiar position 

 of the two dancers opposite each 



