I HAVE been so much pleased with the agreeable round of acquaintance to which I have been introduced by my friend General Virues and his amiable lady, that I think it will afford you some entertainment, if I devote the following letter to the description of societies from which I have derived considerable pleasure, and much insight into the general state of the higher orders of the community in Spain.

The Tertulla of the Countess Villamanrique is the most crouded of any in Seville, and is more frequented, by the English, than any other. It is in fact, a gaming house, where a bank is kept by the old lady, in partnership with the Marquis Ensenada, and considerable sums are won and lost at it daily. The male visitors consist chiefly of officers of the army, who might be infinitely better employed with the troops in La Mancha, than in the dissipation of this capital. Neither music nor dancing is allowed at their meetings: but there are some intelligent persons generally in company, who never enter into the spirit of the play table, and enjoy conversation in another apartment.

At this assembly I frequently meet Count Materoso, who so spiritedly embarked, in an open boat, at Gijhon to convey to England the first intelligence of the revolution in the Asturias. His friend, Arguilles, generally also makes one of the company in the evening; and by his good sense, and amiable manners, adds greatly to the pleasure of the party. Arguilles is of a very antient family in Oviedo he has seen and studied mankind in various countries, and made accurate observations on their customs, laws, and manners. He passed some time in England, where he increased his love of freedom, and his detestation of the intolerance, superstition, and tyranny, of the old government of Spain; and justly complains, that the Junta have hitherto attempted nothing to remedy the existing evils.

His hatred of the French has been increased by their cruel treatment of his family: and by his manly spirit and comprehensive mind, he is well calculated to serve the best interests of his country. Like all the ablest men in Spain, he is anxious for the convocation of the Cortes, and is now officiating without salary, as secretary to a committee, appointed for the purpose of regulating the number of deputies, the places from which they are to be sent, the mode of election, and the formalities to be observed in that expected assembly of the Spanish nation. The researches of the committee into the antient records have been very diligent; and, in addition to the precedents collected, they have invited, to the investigation of the subject, many of the most intelligent public bodies in the kingdom. With all this appearance of preparation, it is rally believed that the Junta will do all in their power to prevent the

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Cortes from assembling. They know that, as soon as the convocation takes place, their power will be annihilated; and they feel unwilling to return to that obscurity from which nature never designed them to emerge.

I must do justice, however, to some individuals of this body, who are known to be very sincere in their endeavours to assemble the representatives of the nation. Jovellanos is one of this number, and I believe Don Martin Garay, who gave as a toast, when we were dining at Lord Wellesley's on the anniversary of the King's accession, "a speedy assembling of the Cortes of Spain." As Don Martin appears a man of little finesse, I believe that he was sincere in the sentiment, and not merely flattering his noble host, who is known to have urged the measure very strongly.

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The ladies at the house of the Countess seldom engage at the card table, but form small parties for conversation; and do not appear to be at all discomposed by the tobacco smoke puffed in their faces from the segars of the men. There is a coarseness of manners among the higher ranks very visible in these parties, and language which in other countries would lead to serious conpasses sequences. To call a man a liar, or even to take him by the nose, would not here produce a duel, nor perhaps be thought of the next day; the point of honour is not observed, and there is in consequence none of that delicate sensibility which characterises gentlemen in England. Abstractedly considered, the appeal to single combat cannot be justified; but when all the circumstances of society are considered, it is probable that more benefit than evil have arisen from the practice. We owe to it in England much of that

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gentlemanly feeling which neither gives, nor will receive an insult, and that regulation of the passions and temper which, next to intellect, is the best charm of good society. I cannot also but think, that the practice of duelling has had a tendency to prevent assassination, by putting even the horrid passion of revenge under the regulation of the laws of honour.

General Virues has introduced me to the house of the Marchioness Calzado, where the play is for smaller sums, and where the company are gratified with music and patriotic songs. This lady is the daughter of Don Antonio de Ulloa, one of those Spaniards who were occupied, jointly with some French mathematicians, in measuring a degree of longitude at the equator, in order to determine the figure of the earth, in the years 1740, 1741, and 1742. After constructing triangles on the high mountains of Peru, the party separated, mutually disgusted; Condamine returned to Europe, by descending the river Amazon, which crosses the whole continent of South America; while Ulloa passed through Peru and Chili. He has given the world, in the account of that voyage, and in his "noticias Americanas," more information respecting those parts of the globe, than is to be found in the works of any other author. The Marchioness is a charming woman, and is universally esteemed; her society is more select than Villamanriques; but here too the men smoke, and the only lady I have seen indulging in that practice was at this house this is so common with the men that it ceases to be disgusting, but I cannot reconcile myself to a segar in the mouth of a woman, and I believe it is a very uncommon sight, even in this country.

I meet at the house of Angulo, an advocate of eminence where General Virues resides, a party of a different description, chiefly composed of persons who have escaped from Madrid; and as those who arrive daily, naturally associate with their former friends, the latest information from that city is to be acquired here. All who have recently left that capital give shocking accounts of the conduct of the French and the severe sufferings of the Madrilenos. The public places are deserted, and the theatre and the Paseos left to the French officers. No lady ventures out of her house, and few men, who walk in the streets, are bold enough to recognize or speak to any of their acquaintance whom they may chance to meet; the houses of the nobility are stripped of the plate; and the furniture, from the want of purchasers, is consumed for firing, or is wantonly destroyed. The tradesmen are starving, and the clergy turned out to beg where no one has any thing to bestow. A gentleman whom I met in this house had recently escaped from Madrid; he held an employment in the office of the secretary of state, and, when the French entered Madrid, was compelled to execute its duties for the usurper. He says, that the deepest revenge is the marked expression of every countenance in Madrid; that the inhabitants have secreted arms; that private signals of conspiracy exist; and that, at some future period, a second Sicilian vespers will be perpetrated. At the house of Angulo, cards are never introduced; the young ladies' are musical; one of them plays admirably on the violin, an instrument not common for ladies, and the others on the piano forte : patriotic songs are sung in chorus, and sometimes the fandango is danced; which amusements, mingled with agreeable conversation,