quarters, where there would be a cupboard of plate to attend him. Major-general Morgan, instead of going for his cupboard of plate, went for England, and his Majesty of France had never the kindness to send him his cupboard of plate: so that this is the reward that Major-general Morgan hath had from the French King for all his services in France and Flanders.

Killed at the battle of Dunkirk, Lieutenant-colonel Fenwick, two captains, one lieutenant, two ensigns, two serjeants, thirty-two soldiers; and about twenty wounded.

Killed at the storming of Ypres,

One captain, one serjeant, eight private soldiers, about twentyfive officers of thirty-five; and about six soldiers slightly wounded, after they were lodged upon the counterscarp; Sir Thomas Morgan himself slightly hurt, by a shot in the calf of his leg.

For Cowper, &c. tried at Hertford, see Vol. II. p. 250 (where, by an accidental Error of a Figure, it is misplaced.)

AN ACCOUNT OF ST. SEBASTIANS,

IN RELATION TO ITS SITUATION, FORTIFICATIONS, GOVERNMENT, CUSTOMS, AND TRADE.

BY ONE LATELY COME FROM THENCE.

[From twenty-two Pages in Quarto, printed at London, 1700.]

ST. Sebastians, in the province of Guiposcoa, in the kingdom of Castile, is a free town, in manner of a republick; subject to the crown of Castile, on conditions approved on by the kings of Spain. And in all their writings they stile it,

The Most Noble and Most Loyal City of St. Sebastians.

The kings of Spain have given them this title for the services they did the crown, in their wars against the French and kings of Navarre.

The province of Guipos coa enjoys great privileges, and does not obey the king's orders, when that, which is required of them, is contrary to the privileges and liberties of the province, which is governed thus:

Every year there is a convocation or assembly, whither every town does send their deputies to concert affairs jelating to their

county or province. Their meeting is in four different places by turns, and they are called,

St. Sebastians, Tolosa, Aspeitia, and Ascoitia.

The head, or chief of such as are chosen for the governing this province, is a judge, called Corrigidor, who is as Lord Lieutenant of a county, or intendant of a province. It is to him the king sends his orders to be executed in the county. Besides this Corrigidor, there is chosen, for the governing the said province, a deputation, so called by the Spaniards, consisting of several representatives of the several places in the said province, who have power of refusing the king's orders served to them by the Corrigidor, if any such orders, or commission, presented them, are against the rights of the deputation, or places whom they represent; but if the king's commission, or orders to the Corrigidor, do not contradict the rights of the deputation, they let him put them in execution to the full. For example,

When the king asks of the said province to supply him with a certain number of men, either landmen or seamen, the Corrigidor serves the king's orders to the province, and acquaints the deputation; they tell him they are a free people, and that they cannot oblige any inhabitant to leave his family to serve the king; but, when they find that the demand is not against their liberties and rights, they are so civil to give the king leave to order a drum to be beat, and they will not oppose it; otherwise they do as in the case of the Corrigidor, Duke Corsano, a few years ago, who requiring of this province of Guiposcoa, and in particular of the city of St. Sebastians, some things contrary to their privileges (which I shall not mention) they presented their Leij secundo, or charter, in one hand, and a sword in the other, with orders to him in four hours to leave the province; the Duke was fain to scowr for it.

The government of the city of St. Sebastians, whose magistrates are chosen once a year, about a week before Christmas, is thus:

There are about an hundred electors, who must be qualified as you will hear hereafter, for no body can be of the government of St. Sebastians, nor of the province, nor indeed of the least village, till he has proved his higuidalquir, viz. that he is noble.

Their magistrates are chosen thus:

There is a great silver bowl, into which are put, confusedly, all the electors names; the first eight, which a boy (like one of our blue-coat boys) takes out, are those who are to be Alcaijde, Subalcaijde, and Syndect, i. e. magistrates and jurates for the following year.

These eight name, every one of them, one to be Alcaijde and Subalcaijde; the first two of these eight, the boy takes out, are Alcaijde and Subalcaijde; the first Alcaijde, the second Subal

* i. e. Judge or Sheriff.

caijde, and so after the same manner of the Syndect and other

officers.

Notwithstanding this fair way of chusing their magistrates, there is faction and interest made to get in their friends into the magistracy. They are generally very poor, despising industry and arts; and when they come to govern, or to be Alcaijde, have opportunities of exacting even upon their own people as well as strangers, and which they make no scruple of doing in the face of the world. I could relate several particulars to my knowledge, but that I should expose them too much; and, indeed, it would hardly be believed that such tricks and little things were practised in Spain, where every one, from the highest to the lowest, value themselves on their families, nobility, and punctilio's of honour.

In order to be thus qualified to get into the government (as I said before)

They must be noble.

Their nobility is thus, not to have had any of their kindred a Jew, Moor, Turk, or Heretick.

And, to prove this, the person, that would be of the government, presents a request to the province of Guiposcoa, in which is explained his intention, and asks to be a Cavallero Dillegenzero *, viz. that his birth and estate may be enquired into, in order to his being made a nobleman.

The province or town orders their Syndect, whose business it is to enquire into his family (and for which he has a pistole a day) to go to the place of his birth along with him, and there take both private as well as publick informations of his family, which afterwards he reports to the province or magistrates of the place, where such a one would be of the government. If the report is allowed, the Cavallero Dillegenzero is declared noble.

Besides these qualifications already mentioned,

There is one yet very remarkable, and without it, if they were descended from Cæsar's or Achilles's race, they cannot be noble, viz.

If they live, or are to live in town, they must have a house of their own, or else they must have land enough in the province whereon they have two thousand apple-trees, or whereon they may raise two thousand apple-trees, and then the Cavallero Dilligenzero is admitted, or made capable of being admitted into the government. No man can be noble by his wife, or by her estate.

The town of St. Sebastians is seated on the south side, and at the bottom of a high hill of free-stone, in a square form; the town is hid by the hill, as you make towards the land, and is not to be seen, till you are in the road.

There are two gates, that of the Peer, and the other that is called the Passage-Gate, from which, goes a road to Passage, a

* A candidate for an honourable employment.

noble harbour. There is a horn-work with a ravelin before it, that covers the Passage-Gate, and but very ordinary, and in ill repair, and out of all due proportion.

The castle upon the top of the hill stands prettily, a noble prospect from it all along that part of the Bay of Biscay, from Cape Martinchauco to Arkason and Cape Britton in France. The going up, or access to this castle, is difficult, which adds to the strength of it, and, I think, all that can be said justly of this castle is this. Although the Spaniards are extreme proud of it, and quote you Charlequin, who said in praise of it (if you will believe them) that, if he should lose all Spain, and had only the castle of St. Sebastians, he would recover it.

The castle was blown up by the magazine's taking fire, but is now rebuilt, and in good repair. All the water in the castle is rainwater, which is conveighed into a well by leaden pipes from the roof of the guard-room, and barracks, which are indeed very fine, and capable of lodging two thousand men conveniently.

The garison at present consists of a serjeant and six men, which by detachment from the main guard (which does not consist of above twelve, besides a governor, captain, lieutenant, and ensign) is relieved every day by the like number, and by sometimes a lesser. The soldiers are all beggars, and, if a stranger refuses to give them something, they contrive to do him mischief.

There are two platforms mounted with guns, I suppose designed to secure the harbour, and play on ships that would force themselves into the road. They are too high to be of any use to them, as well as the castle for this purpose.

In the mouth of the harbour there is a hill called St. Claire, where there was, three months ago, a hermit of the order of St. Francis, who tells twenty legends and stories, and helps to fill the casks with wine. As he must live by begging, so the poor old fellow will be every day as drunk as a beggar; for this reason, they say, they turned him out of his cell, but it is rather believed it was to make room for one that is now there, a gentleman of a considerable estate in the kingdom of Castile. For reasons, he has his estate taken from him, and is confined to this island as a hermit, to beg his bread for fourteen years, and then returns to his estate again : the church and clergy enjoy his estate in the mean time.

All that die hereticks are buried here; when the corpse is carried out of town to be wafted over to this island to be buried, the mob of men and women follow, insulting over the corpse, crying aloud, He goes to Hell.' The hermit has the benefit of the ground on his island, and sells it as he thinks fit.

To give the clergy their due, they are not so troublesome to strangers when they are sick and dying, although hereticks, with their extreme unction and wafers, as in France.

The coming into the road, and over the Bar of St. Sebastians, is difficult, unless with a leading wind, a great rock lying under water in the middle of the Bar.

But, to run no hazard, the pilots will force themselves on board of you; which is commendable enough, if it was not on design to impose upon you, and make one pay what they please, and no help for it, nor no justice done, if you complain. The consul and merchant strangers, residing at St. Sebastians, have brought them to some better reason, and to composition, but, for all that, it is still as they please. Every fisherman looks upon himself as good as Signior Alcaijde himself: so that a man must sit down under all affronts and hardships, and be quiet.

Their way of living at St. Sebastians.

People that are of the better sort, and distinguishable, after having enjoyed the musick of serenading a little before day, they get up and drink chocolate, without which they will not stir abroad if their house was on fire; then they take, both men and women, a great deal of pains with their hair, dress themselves, and go to church; they and their priests understand what they pray to God for much alike, for not one in twenty of their clergy understands Latin.

After mass the men go to the Peer, where they tarry till eleven of the clock; then they go to the middle of the town, called the Four Corners, where they stay till twelve; after it has struck, if it was to save the town, they would not stay a minute longer, and oftentimes break off in the middle of a story or sentence, to go home to their Olio. The first thing presented at their tables is a chocolate cup of soop, or the gravy of meat boiled, and bread crumbled into it, served upon earthen platters; then comes the roast meat, then the boiled, and at last the desert.

They give this reason for bringing the roast meat before the boiled (which seems plausible enough). The best of the boiled meat, say they, is in the broth, and there is more substance and nourishment in the roast than the boiled; for that reason, this would pass, if they did not spoil their roast meat and fowl, by over-doing of them, and roasting them dry as they do their boiled meat, by boiling it to pieces.

But most people think it is rather in opposition to the rest of the world, for they shew it almost in every little thing else. Cyder they have cheap, and abundance of sweet apples, very large, all round the country. The corn of the country is Indian corn, and no other. With wheat they are supplied from the Sound, and sometimes from Barbary, and often from England. They have been so hard put to it this last year, that they have been forced to make bread of chesnuts, which is the reason they are prohibited to be exported. They have extraordinary good rabbits of Navarre, and wild-fowl plenty; their pigeons are much esteemed, and their red partridges of Arragon are excellent and large.

Fish they have plenty, and of good sorts, if they will be at the pains to catch it; and if the sea (which with a north-west blowing wind flies high on the Bar, and even up almost to the top of the island St. Claire, about six hundred feet) will permit. The sea often