SPAIN. 



331 



before the wars with France, was 256,000 ; in 1826, 

 146,696, among whom were sixty-one archbishops 

 and bishops, 61,327 monks, and 31,400 nuns. Ac- 

 cording to an estimate of a member of the cortes, 

 the income of the clergy and convents in Spain, in 

 1808, from their real estate alone, was 51,000,000 

 dollars ; and, according to the statement of Arguel- 

 les, minister of finance in the time of the cortes, 

 the property of the church exceeded, by one third, 

 the domains of the state. 



The inaction of the Spaniard arises less from in- 

 dolence than from his frugality and fondness for 

 religious festivals, the fertility of the soil, and the 

 ease with which his few wants are supplied. The 

 system of taxation founded not upon the land, but 

 upon production and the privileges and monopolies 

 of particular classes and societies, also contribute 

 to discourage industry. The greatest activity pre- 

 vails in the maritime towns and provinces, where 

 industry is sure of its reward. The woollen manu- 

 factures are the most important ; but they do not 

 furnish more than one twentieth of the consump- 

 tion. The best stuffs are made at Segovia and 

 Guadalaxara. There are silk manufactures at 

 Talavera, Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Valencia, &c.; 

 but less flourishing than in the fifteenth and six- 

 teenth centuries. Iron and steel wares are exported 

 from Biscay, blankets from Valencia, and fine hand- 

 kerchiefs from Barcelona. The black Cordovan 

 leather, from Cordova, is of excellent quality, The 

 manufacture of hats at Valencia, Segovia, &c., and 

 of sail-cloth, is on the increase. The glass and 

 mirror works at San Ildefonso produce good articles, 

 but at a high price. The porcelain of Madrid is 

 much inferior to that of other countries. The prin- 

 cipal tobacco works are in Seville. The esparto, 

 or Spanish broom, is a peculiar product of Spain, 

 and is spun and woven into forty different articles. 

 The commerce has undergone an entire change 

 since the loss of the American colonies, from which 

 the mother country received 35,000,000 dollars 

 yearly in gold and silver, and 20,000,000 dollars in 

 cochineal, cacao, vanilla, sugar, tobacco, hides, cot- 

 ton, vicugna wool, cinchona, dye-woods, ipecacu- 

 anha, sarsaparilla, &c. The commerce with the 

 colonies was closed against all foreign nations, but, 

 since they have become independent, is carried on 

 by the North Americans, the British and Dutch. 

 Internal commerce suffers from the heavy tolls, and 

 the want of means of communication. Among the 

 five canals, none of which are completed, the imperial 

 canal, or the canal of Arragon, is the most important. 



The form of government is monarchical. The 

 king, who bears the title of Catholic majesty, is 

 absolute in Castile, Arragon, and in the islands ; 

 but the three northern provinces of Biscay, Guipuz- 

 coa, and Alava, have maintained their privileges ; 

 and they consented to pay the extraordinary taxes 

 of 1816, only on condition of the confirmation of 

 these privileges, and the removal of the troops sta- 

 tioned among them. The Cortes forms an import- 

 ant element in Spanish history. (See Cortes.) 

 The crown is hereditary, in the male and (according 

 to an act of Ferdinand VII.) in the female line. 

 The crown-prince has the title of prince of Asturias; 

 the other children of the king are called infantes \ 

 and infantas. The king is grand master of the or- 

 ders of the golden fleece, of St Jago (St James), of 

 Oalatrava, of Alcantara, of Montesa, and of Charles 

 III. The order of Maria Louisa was founded in 

 1792, for sixty ladies of the high nobility. Ferdi- 

 nand VII ascended the throne in 1814, and died 



in 1834. His three first wives died without 

 children ; his fourth wife, Mary Christina, sister 

 of Ferdinand, king of the Two Sicilies (born 1806, 

 married 1829), bore him a daughter, who is queen 

 of Spain, under the regency of her mother. The 

 old Salic law of Spain is the ground upon which 

 Don Carlos (brother of Ferdinand) contests the 

 succession of Maria Isabella, his niece. The pre- 

 decessors of Ferdinand have been, 1. of the Austrian 

 dynasty : Philip I., husband of Joanna of Castile ; 

 Charles I. of Spain (V., as emperor of Germany) ; 

 resigned the crown 1556 ; Philip II. (died 1598). 

 Philip III. (1621) ; Philip IV. (1665) ; Charles II. 

 (1700): 2. of the Anjou (Bourbon) dynasty; 

 Philip V. (abdicated in 1724, but his successor, 

 Louis, dying the same year, he resumed the crown, 

 and died 1746); Ferdinand VI. (died 1759) ; Charles 

 III. (1798) ; Charles IV. (resigned 1808.) Of the 

 Bonaparte dynasty, Joseph (expelled 1813). 



The colonial possessions of Spain are, in Asia, 

 the Philippine islands and the Carolinas ; in Africa, 

 the presidios (towns on the coast) of Ceuta, &c., 

 remnants of her former conquests in Northern 

 Africa ; the Canaries, and the three islands on the 

 coast of Guinea, Annaboa, Fernando Po, and 

 Prince's island : in America, Cuba and Porto Rico 

 are the sole relics of the magnificent colonial empire 

 of Spain. 



The administration is conducted partly by five 

 ministers, who have a seat and voice in the 

 council, and partly by the provincial councils, 

 of which the most distinguished, the council of 

 Castile, existed as early as 1246. Justice is ad- 

 ministered in the towns and villages by alcaldes, of 

 whom there are five classes. The alcaldes mayores, 

 or superior alcaldes, are also called corregidores. 

 An appeal lies from them to the royal courts 

 (audiencias~), of which there are twelve at Vallado- 

 lid, Grenada, &c., and to each of which is attached 

 a chamber of criminal jurisdiction. The laws, the 

 .judiciary, and the legal process, all stand in need of 

 a thorough reform. The public revenue is about 

 20,000,000 dollars; the expenditure is much greater, 

 and the public debt is stated at nearly 800,000,000 

 dollars. In 1817, the conscription was introduced ; 

 at the close of 1827, the forces^consisted of 91,000 

 men, including the militia, and of 350,000 royal 

 volunteers. The naval force is composed of ten 

 ships of the line, sixteen frigates, and thirty other 

 vessels, with 14,000 men. 



See, for the geographical and statistical accounts 

 of Spain, the works of Bourgoing, Townsend, La- 

 borde, Bory de St Vincent, and Minano's Diccion- 

 ario de Espana y Portugal. The fourth edition of 

 Laborde's Itinfraire de I'Espagne (5 vols., and an 

 atlas) appeared in 1827 For descriptions of the 

 life, manners and character of the Spaniards, see 

 Southey's Letters written in Spain and Portugal; 

 Doblado's (Blanco White) Letters from Spain ; A 

 Year in Spain, by a young American ; and Inglis's 

 Year in Spain (London, 1831, 2 vols., 8vo.) 



The ancient history of Spain embraces the period 

 previous to the great irruption of the northern tribes 

 into the Roman empire. As early as the third century 

 before the Christian era, the two rivals, Rome and 

 Carthage, contended for the possession of this im- 

 portant peninsula. The determined spirit of the 

 people is shown by the resistance of Saguntum to 

 Hannibal (B. C. 219), of Xativa (A. D. 1707) and 

 Barcelona (A. D. 1714) to Philip V., and of Sara- 

 gossa (1808 and 1809) to Napoleon. More thnn 

 one Roman army found its grave in Spain. The 



