THE BAY OP BISCAY. 213 



public assemblies on Sunday and other fete days, 

 I have seen titled nobles mixing together with mer- 

 chants and even with persons who amongst ourselves 

 would rank very little higher than the common ar- 

 tisan. Marquesses and counts would figure in the 

 same country dance with the tailors and haberdashers, 

 and this admixture of ranks seemed to be perfectly 

 natural to all parties. 



The Basque fueros, which were exposed to serious 

 risks during the Carlist war, have been preserved 

 through the convention of Burgara and the pru- 

 dence of the Spanish government, with the loss of 

 two very unimportant privileges. The Carabineros, 

 who performed the duties of the French gendarmerie, 

 have been installed in the three provinces, while 

 custom houses have been established through the 

 provinces as far as the frontiers of France. But 

 even in this respect a very marked distinction has 

 been made in favour of the Basque provinces. Salt, 

 sugar, and tobacco, which are subjected throughout 

 the rest of the kingdom to a very high duty, are here 

 almost entirely free. As in times past, the sovereign 

 of Spain can neither raise men or taxes without the 

 express consent of the states, and every attempt to 

 establish any system of taxation or of conscription 

 would very probably be followed by a new insur- 

 rection. When the Basques fought for Don Carlos 

 with the cry of " Viva el rey neto!" Biscayans, Ala- 

 vans, and Guipuzcoans were alike agreed in applying 

 the term merely in the sense of the absolute king of 

 Castille, who was nothing more than the simple Su- 

 zerain of the Euskaldunac. Their true battle cry, 



P 3 



