clergy feldom, if ever, preach. The monks indeed defcant upon the virtues of their patron faint; or labour to extol fome favourite feñora, and to fet up altar against altar; but they feldom appear folicitous to improve the morals of the people; and excepting during Lent, they do not often exhort the people to repentance. Their contemptible effufions have been justly ridiculed by a Spanish author, who, in point of wit and humour, has had few fuperiors; and all who have read his entertaining history of the famous preacher, Fray Gerundio, will acknowledge the juftness of his cenfure. Had not this work been moft abfurdly condemned by the inquifition, the fame reformation might have been effected in their pulpit eloquence, as was happily produced in England by a fimilar performance of our Echard, entitled, "Grounds and Occafions of the Contempt of the Clergy." Such has been the poverty of Spain in point of pulpit orators, that neither monk nor ecclefiaftic, among all with whom I converfed, could recommend one author, as worthy to be noticed; and even in the prefent prefent day, if a preacher of more than common abilities appears, he is admired as a prodigy, and almoft worshipped as a faint. Precifely fuch was a famous capuchin, Father Diego, of Cadiz, who visited Carthagena whilft I was there, and every evening preached in the great square to more than ten thousand people. Many of his admirers affembled early in the morning to fecure good places, but as he did not begin till after fix, the magiftrates gave orders that no one should be allowed to take a feat till two in the afternoon; yet finding the tumult and confufion, the broken chairs and broken heads, thereby increased, they permitted every one to use his own discretion, and consequently, some more zealous than the reft, again took their ftations foon after fun-rise. The good father is learned, eloquent, and modeft; and although the vulgar afcribe to him a variety of miracles, he difclaims all fuch pretenfions. This man, licensed by the bishop, and protected by the magiftrates, was constantly attended by a guard, to prevent his clothes L 2 from from being torn from his back for relics. What he spoke was heard with the most profound attention; and after one discourse on the forgiveness of injuries, many were reconciled, and became good friends, who had been before at enmity. One fermon, however, had a pernicious tendency; yet fo deeply is a sense of honour, of gratitude, and of filial piety impressed on the human heart, that few appeared to relish his doctrine, or to be convinced by his arguments; but most of his hearers feemed to fhudder with abhorrence, when he endeavoured to perfuade them, that in cases of herefy, they were in duty bound to accufe, at the tribunal of the inquifition, their nearest and their dearest friends. Before I left the city, I enquired into the price of beef and mutton; the former was fold for twelve, and the latter for thirteen quartos the pound of fixteen ounces. A quarto is one farthing and an eighth English. JOURNEY JOURNEY FROM CARTHAGENA TO ALICANT. Ο N Tuesday, May 15, at feven in the morning, I took leave of my obliging friends, and fet out for Murcia in a calafine; and traverfing the vale by which I had entered Carthagena, at the distance of four leagues, I came, about noon, to the Venta de fimenao. After dinner, in about three hours, we left the valley, and afcended by a beautiful new road among the mountains, moft of which are cultivated to their very fummits. The reafon of this, and of the extraordinary fertility of the vale from which we had afcended, appears to be the conftant mouldering of the high and tender fchiftous rocks, by which the foil is renovated |