one to go to the Castle, or come from it, without his leave, and endeavoured to raise a battery at the great cistern. I myself saw them cock their guns at the Castle. All this was to stop provisions going to the Castle. This they could not suffer, and fired down through the town, and killed many of the rebels, and dislodged them out of the Weigh-house; and there is two houses burnt on the hill, and one at Livingstone's Yards. Poor By Wn, at the Bow-head, was turned out of her house in the night, and she was forced to leave her brother, who was confined to his bed, carried on a pallas to the lower end of the town. Imagine what a terrible thing this is, to have the Castle and them firing at one another, and the poor people frightened out of their wits. Some friends of yours dare not be seen, nor so much as known where they are. Thank God we are all well. Don't sign your name when you write.

The young gentleman that we have got amongst us busses the ladies, so that he gains their hearts. We must certainly have the Duke of Cumberland to kiss the ladies, and fight those dogs, or there will be no living here for honest people.

LETTER II.

WE left our own house on Wednesday, because the Highlanders had possessed themselves of the Assembly Room, and had it full of straw, to the door, for beds. On Tuesday night they had got in drink, and light, so that we were afraid they might fire the house in their cups, and burn themselves and us too. I own I could not think of going to the other world in such company; so on Wednesday we sent your friend to the Castle, and all the rest of us went and lived in James's Court. I was in the Castle once every day, where every thing was looked after with great care. Poor old General Preston was carried round the batteries several times a-day, and General Guest was no less watchful; he never goes to bed till six in the morning, when the other is up. * * *

She means her husband, a person of known integrity in a very honourable station at Edinburgh, the duties of which he discharges with the highest reputation.

On the Saturday after our men were defeat, through the cowardice and want of conduct of that poor hurried body Cope, I began to think we might not be so well used. So in the evening I went to the Castle, and begged your friend to go along with us to the country before the Highlanders could come to town again; if they were come to town, possibly we could not get off so easily; so at last, with some entreaty, I got your friend to go; so off we came, with eight of us in company, at five o'clock at night, on foot, and then we concerted where we should go. Think what a poor equipage this was. Nothing with us but what was on our backs. We had a shirt and some frocks for the poor little baby, who had never been used to hardships. She was very good, poor soul, indeed it was her only that gave us pain, fearing she might be the worse of the night air. We could not get either horse, coach, or chaise that day if we had given three prices for them. They have been at Douglas, and got forty stand of arms, and some say L. 200 in money. Then they went to Duke Hdined, and stayed all night, and carried off the Duke's fine tents which he kept for his goat-whey expeditions, and some horses, and took all the good horses they could find on the road. You cannot imagine the hurry the poor people in the country are in, for they break into the houses, take their clothes, their linen, and their horses, and off they go. Duke H-n is in England, so it is not known how he is affected. But sure it is that Mr W. his principal manager, and even some others of them, like the cause that these bare tails are engaged in very well.

-n's and

The Highlanders behaved very discreetly in town for some time; but now that they have left their camp at Duddingston, and are all in town, or in the little towns about, they do nothing but break houses and rob, and play the mischief. They robbed our servant 'tother day in view of their camp, but he durst not call out, for they threatened to shoot him if he did..

Threat to batter down townCastle fired-killed a good many people-shook Haddow's Hole and Luckenbooths.

I am sure there was no officer in the Castle but would have hurt him

self as soon as they would the poor inhabitants. If I can guess at anything by what I saw myself, they seemed to be in real concern, lest any thing unlucky should happen us; and, indeed, I never could think that a king that had governed us so mildly, should ruin us for the fault of one man, without hearing us, I mean our p-st, who has brought all these mifortunes on us, God forgive him!

[She defends the loyalty of Edinburgh, and gives the following instance of the false reports that are circulated.]

I was told about fifty young gentlemen came from the north, on hearing the Castle was surrendered. When they came near, and heard the firing, they asked, What is the Prince firing for? The answer was,-It is not the Prince, it is the Castle. Is not the Castle the Prince's? No. Hum, this is a bite indeed, but there is no help now, we must go on since we have come so far, we cannot go back.

I assure you there are as good hearts and hands for our present happy constitution of Scotland, as any of our king's dominions, that would venture life and fortune if they were but trusted. All our great ones, indeed, have, like cowards, run into England and left us. If they would send us the Duke of Cumberland, there would be such a rising with him as was never seen in Scotland; he would see with what joy his father's Scots subjects would receive him.

never laboured harder upon any subject. That book I always considered as my chief performance; and the advance of ten years of my life since the last publication made me doubtful whether I would be able to make any improvement. It delighted me to find my mental faculties still entire, even so much as to be able to detect several errors that had escaped in the former edition. You cannot conceive my satisfaction in detecting these errors myself, instead of having my reputation wounded by their being detected after my death. I write this to you because I know you will sympathize with me. And now I hope to leave behind me a correct edition of the Principles of Equity that will leave little room for [a word torn.]

As you write nothing about Mrs --, we take it for granted that she is in a firm state of health. Your's affectionately,

HENRY HOME.

LETTER FROM A GENTLEMAN IN SPAIN, WRITTEN IN 1818.

AFTER a six months' stay in 'Madrid, Seville, Cadiz, and Granada, I feel quite saturated with Spain and Spanish literature. It is a country with which I think the most unprejudiced traveller can hardly be much pleased, allowing him, too, to have been well trained to disappointment by residing among other fallen nations. There is, indeed, some degree of interest in observing the very dif ferent way in which bad governments affect different nations; and viewing

TO A NEIGHBOUR IN THE COUNTRY.

Blairdrummond, 8th Nov. 1777. SIR,-This family are extremely sensible of your obliging, and, indeed, kindly invitation, which would be not a little agreeable to correct the depression of this bad weather. But we are fixed at home to-morrow by an expected visit which we would not avoid; and we have been long engaged to dine at Kinneil, Monday, and to be there all night. At the sametime, your invitation shall not be neglected when an opportunity offers.

I have been busy at my Principles of Equity for a new edition ever since I returned from the Circuit; and I

thing can so highly exalt the Spaniard over the Italian, to whom he is, nevertheless, extremely inferior in genius, application, arts, and letters; whilst, however, all ranks in Italy seem to be tainted with the greatest defects, and where the peasant and the prince are alike degraded, corruption in Spain has withered only the upper ranks, and has left the peasantry, and all that is not noble or clerical, with so many virtues, that I imagine they may safely compete with the mass of any other nation, more especially the Catalans, Gallicians, Arragonese, and Castilians, for the southern Spaniards do not bear so high a character. When I have said that the people of those provinces may

compare with other nations, I believe that I put them too low in the scale, for the instances, one hears of their extraordinary fidelity, honour, industry, and prudence, are not to be easily matched in any country that I know of, so misgoverned as this is, or has

been.

I consider them in this favourable light, from knowing the prodigious disadvantages they labour under, so great, as must, I think, have crushed the good qualities of a less enduring people. From examining the history, too, of the Catalans and Arragonese in particular, 1 must think, had they kept their constitution, (which Charles V. destroyed,) they would have taken the highest rank among the free people of the world. I do not think people are sufficiently aware of the great feats and prowess of the Arragonese, of the excellence of their constitution, and of the love they had for freedom. Before the year 1300, they had as fine a form of limited government as we had in 1688, and were so much beforehand, in point of civilization, as to have formally abolished the use of torture. I believe the long parliament first decreed its abolishment a

mong us. Not to annoy you by any farther account of these remote subjects, I will return to Madrid, where liveth and flourisheth Fernando Septimo, who is not an ill-looking man, of 32 or 34, and of good height. His wife is rather well looking, and as he affects popularity, she and all his court, in full dress, walk in public places twice or three times a week; every person standing still and taking off their hats as he passes. One would expect in a Spanish court, though ruined, something of magnificence, and something of this is aimed at, but the clumsiness of their ponderous and ill made carriages, the faded liveries of the numerous servants, the wretched harness of the mules, the poor clothing of the guard of nobles, undo, to any but a Spanish eye, the brilliancy of the cortage. It should be added, too, that almost all the noble ranks are remarkably short and swarthy, and have the meanest gait and carriage.

The palace is perhaps the most splendid in Europe, and a piece of exquisite acting is daily got up there; for the great staircase is lined by poor people with petitions, which, on the

king and queen's coming down, are received by them, and the petitioner treated with the greatest good-will and affability. To see this scene so well done, one would say, this king is, indeed, the father of his people. The poor, indeed, are treated with regard by every body, down to the beggar, who takes the slightest hint, and goes away. "Excuse me, Sir," immediately rids you of him, so that the importunity on one hand, and menaces on the other, are unknown. It surprises one to see how very independent, and how well off, the cottager is in most parts of Spain; the wretchedness, indolence, are among the other classes, the poor, indeed, are so little molested, either by taxes or authority, that I imagine they will be the last to take part in any commotion. Civility is more necessary in Spain than in any other country, for riches here without it are of no avail, and can procure you nothing. The muleteer must be treated with as much respect as if he were your equal; and he is so touchy, that reproaches on your part would cause you to be left in the road, as he would say nothing in reply, but composedly take away his inules. Threats would be dan gerous. Should any government be so weak as to do any thing to interfere in a sensible way with the lower ranks, I think they would quickly resent it, for they are all armed, and say the governnient is bad, but that they have not much cause of complaint.

The society in Spain is intolerable. The people you meet there are perhaps the most ignorant of any in Europe. They know no language but their own, and never read at all. If you ask them about Lope de Vega, Calderon, Mariana, or Masden, they tell you that they are all excellent, the best in Europe of their kind; that they have seen some of their plays acted, and have heard that the histories of the two last are the best possible. I remarked, that all Spaniards have an idea that their writers and painters are the best, and were the first who showed Europe the way; that they have been pillaged by all nations without acknowledgment. This opinion is the creed of all, and the most liberal writer they have solemnly winds up an encomium, saying, "Oh, how much does our coun

try owe to heaven, since it appears that upon her providence has poured down all the benignant influences which she has scattered among all other planets. It is Spain," he says, "alone which produces geniuses fit ted for every thing, being in this an exception to the general rule-"Non omnis fert omnia tellus." Feyjoo, the writer of this, was reckoned so liberal a writer, that he incurred great danger,

But

To succeed in society you must be the slave of women, who are totally without education, and who often have much more grace than real beauty, and if you are only an admirer, and not a slave, you have no chance. You must always have in your mouth the grandeur of Spain, the heroism of Spain; the genius of the men; the wit and beauty of the women. Laying on all this preposterously thick you will be liked. I could not imagine why I throve so ill; or rather why I did not succeed at all, for I had been at much pains to spoil my Italian by their Spanish, and to ingra tiate myself, but I found afterwards, that a man who says only what he thinks, who is not noisy, loud, and a great flatterer, will not get on. as I was leaving Spain and going to Gibraltar, I met a man who had the ear and the heart of every Spaniard. Why? I could not imagine till I observed that to every one of them he was always extolling the nation, its grandeur, nobility, mixing a more than quantum sufficit of commendation to the person, whoever he was, with whom he was speaking. All the English in Spain, who, indeed, are not many, all pursue this plan. Any foreigner, who will do this by the wo men, is sure of favour, for they prefer strangers. Upon first coming to Madrid, I naturally said how fine a province Catalonia was, what a noble people, how they have fought and suffered, (for the province is devastated,) what a dignified deportment the very carriers have, and so on. All this was thought due, and, of course, no answer scarcely made, and the commendation thought but a small one. This feeling of superiority and desert among the lower ranks is as it should be, and maintains in them a just pride, but it is revolting from the mouths of worthless placemen and a cowardly nobility, who

shrunk from every exertion in the time of trial. The distinction of character between the Italian and Spaniard is as strong in this as in any thing, for one of the best qualities of the former, and often pushed to an extreme, is his modesty and self-humiliation. He feels at most a little elevation when he alludes to the Italian Plutarch, and invariably quoting the famous verses of Filicaja, says, "We have been a great people, we might possibly perhaps be so again, but we are - -! Dio," &c. The Spaniard feels that he is a member of a nation that was great, is great, and must for ever, in spite of all misrule, be great, for whom no commendation is adequate.

They have three or four painters of the very first excellence, inferior only to the greatest of the Italians; as many sublime, pathetic, but extravagant writers of tragedies; a few historians, perhaps better than any we had, till the time of Robertson; some poets of merit, but not transcendant, and no epic poem of any merit.

THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE TRAVELS OF MR BRUCE.

THERE are few things more gratifying to our feelings than the applause of those whose genius has led them to similar pursuits with our own, and whose talents have qualified them for the due appreciation of our merits. This enjoyment, however, it is the lot of few men of great abilities to taste, as it is by no means common for men of the same genius to tread the same path at the same time, and, when they do, it is not always that they are disposed to bestow laurels upon others, when, by withholding them, they may have the chance of claiming them to themselves.

The traveller who devotes his life to explore distant countries, and to penetrate into regions hitherto con ceived to be inaccessible, can seldom hope to enjoy this pleasure; for many years, in all probability, must pass a way before taste, and talents, and circumstances, shall conspire to induce any one, to follow, for instance, the footsteps either of Bruce or of Park. Of the sentiments of the latter as to this matter, we, alas! have not had the means of judging; but we know