1810.] 
moment,) and the French line-of-battle 
ships that lay in the harbour, had not 
yet been compelled to surrender; ap- 
pearances such as these only warranted 
the mob, at least, to concludé that they 
sere to be consigned to French mercy ; 
but a mob perhaps always is not put 
in motion, except by some higher power, 
and, generally speaking, they are only the 
combination of amachine worked by that 
power, Had Solano acted openly on the 
occasion, his life might. have’ been 
spared; had he intended seriously to 
wish to defend the city, he should have 
taken active measures that might have 
indicated his inclination: on the con- 
trary, the people wanted to be satisfied 
in their enquires, and Solano would not 
indulge them; he hesitated whether he 
should deign to communicate with them 
or not, during four days, and when it was 
too late, he issued a proclamatiun which 
was burnt before his face; and he was at 
once accused of treachery, which it 
was resolved should be expiated by his 
death. aA 
The tumult having subsided, certain 
officers of the city were desired to 
examine Solano’s papers; they did so, 
but could not find in his portfolio any 
correspondence indicating in the least 
degree an inclination to favour the 
enemy’s plans. This was a period of 
importance, aud the people ought to 
have been fully satisfied by their gover- 
nor, that he would protect them ; had he 
acted candidly instead of contemptu- 
ously, had he been condescending, and 
not haughty, he would not probably have 
been sacrificed; and for these reasons 
his memory 1s now blamed by his 
friends, and his enemies express pity for 
his fate. 
His house will long remain as a mark 
of the transactions; the marble pillars 
and sculpture of the door are studded 
with bullets; cannon-shot battered the 
walls in various directions; fire consumed 
the whole of the wood work, furniture, 
&c. and atwenty-four-pound shot entered 
the house‘at a window, with such force 
as to break an iron bar of a balcony, and 
turn it into a neat scroll. The populace 
wished to annihilate. whatever could 
remind them of his name, and they 
destroyed a plantation of trees which he 
had made to adorn a small square, called 
the Queen’s-square ; but it is remarkabie, 
that no other person was killed in this tu- 
mult,which began on the 27th of May, and 
continued nearly five days; and that the 
Journal of a recent Voyage to Cadiz. 317 
city should be tranquillized so soon, not 
withstanding the convicts were freed 
from the prisons; though their liberty 
was short, as the barriers were closed, 
and they were nearly all speedily re- 
loaded with their chains. 
December 12, 1808. 
I have by this time, as you may ex- 
pect, seen some of the churches and con- 
vents. The public places of worship are 
not so numerous as may be supposed in 
so populous a city as this, which is di- 
vided into five parishes, having one 
cathedral and ten convents; but they. are 
all spacious, and, being without benches 
or seats in the area, like our’s, they 
contain a greater number of people. 
Some of the churches are almost always 
open for service, bells are toiling at 
almost all hours of the night; and on my 
first arrival, [ was sadly annoyed, as may 
residence was adjoining one where the 
bell was unsound, which added to the 
doleful and unaccustemed disturbance. 
Protestantism not being tolerated im 
Spain, there is not consequently any 
public place for our religious duties, and 
Sunday is passed according to inclina= 
tion; for it must, I think, be considered 
little better than mockery, when we en- 
ter the churches during service, merely 
for the snake of *£ going to church,” and” 
bending to the altar—a ceremony of 
course not exacted, though considered 
respectful, 
There is a great deal to attract adini- 
ration in the churches; they are magni- 
ficently decorated with many beauuful 
altars, glittering with gold and silver 
ornaments; the hivh altar — especially, 
superbly towering to the roof, and sur- 
mounted with carvings and painungs of 
the lamb, the virgin, the crucifixion, &c. 
&c. The walls are crowded with con- 
fessional boxes, large paintings, and 
sculptures of saints, gaudily dressed 3 
some of them inclosed within glass 
frames, having lamps burning before 
them; but the exterior of these buildings 
is not worth notice. 
The handsomest church that I have 
seen, belongs to the convent of Carme- 
lite Frars; it is spacious, heht, and 
clean, but full of ornaments, which vives 
the idea of being in a room of an aca- 
demy of arts. IL was conducted to the 
convent by my friend, the Abbe M-——, 
who is a French emigrant. The friars 
were remarkably polite; I was shewn a 
private chapel where are two fine paint- 
ings, one by Poussin, representing the 
Day 
