other of an evening, except when specially invited; consequently you seldom find a family sufficiently large to form a dance; and they do not play at cards. "These stupid parties have, I think, been the cause of a general system of gallantry, which at present is a bar to social and general converse, and in fact almost to society itself, as every young man selects the fair one to whom he pays his attentions, and night after night he is found by her side, and does not appear at all pleased if you engage his charmer's attention for a longer period than is actually requisite to return the compliments you pay on entering the room. If forsaken, or neglected for a few evenings, the ladies generally choose a fresh beau, which often creates no small misunderstanding on the return of the former cavalier, who has, perhaps, been sipping at some other flower: he is of course rejected with scorn on his return.

"This, as may be supposed, causes the ruin of many a fair female, and introduces such a licentious feeling, that they in general consider themselves, after marriage, especially if their husbands are out of the way, entitled to act exactly as inclination prompts. I am far from asserting this as without exception, for there are many highly respectable, virtuous, and honourable families; but I fear, speaking of morality in general, that of Colombia is at a low ebb."

Another sketch of manners occurs in one of the excursions from the city.

"At eight o'clock we arrived at Watcheta, and were very kindly received by the worthy curate, who supplied us with some very

tolerable Islanian wine, which had been presented to him on account of a celebration of marriage: and as we partook very freely of it, forgetting that the demijohn before us might be the whole of the stock of the good padre's cellar, our humorous friend Pépe Paris, as each time we filled our glasses, called out' Very well, father, here goes another Misa;' meaning the value paid by the religious for the saying of an extra mass. The padre bore our carousing and our jokes with great good humour, notwithstanding he observed the demijohn to be manifestly fast decreasing.

"We all slept on sofas in the same room; and it was long before I could get to sleep, from the constant roar of laughter which our merry friend Paris kept us in, by telling most ridiculous stories, chiefly at the expense of the holy padres, in which our host most good-naturedly joined.

"Oct. 8th. At nine we left Watcheta, Senor Paris having previously bartered a double-barrelled pistol, with a broken pan, for one of the curate's mules. No sooner were we out of hearing, than he began to boast of having jockeyed the parson; but we had not proceeded far when the holy father's mule was done up, and could not keep up with the other baggage-mules. We formed a council to determine his worth, which we unanimously voted not to exceed twelve dollars; so that Rivero and myself had a famous laugh at the expense of poor Pépe, whose pistol had cost him forty dollars."

We shall add only one more characteristic trait.

"In the evening, attended high

mass;

mass; and afterwards witnessed an imitation of bull-fighting, in the front of the church. A man, the tallest and most powerful in the place, was selected, on whom was fixed, and well secured, a large ox-hide, with enormous horns, hollowed and filled with brimstone and other combustible materials; a pair of eyes, as large and round as a saucer, and a tail of most tremendous length. The moon had not risen, and the night was dark, when the burning composition in the horns was ignited, and the sport commenced. The fiery bull attacked all the assembled world; such shrieking, such running, such scampering: all was confusion and uproar! Some bolder than others faced the blazing bull, held up roanas before him, and shook flags in front of the flaming horns; some dexterously avoided the thrusts made at them; others, less fortunate, were falling beneath the force of the furious animal, who would frequently have set fire to his prostrate antagonist, but for the friendly interference of some companion, who would on such an occasion seize the bull by his convenient length of tail, and swing him round from his fallen foe, before he could satiate his revenge. This continued until the horns were consumed. I then visited Don Luis, brother to Senor Cacedo, who informed me that a guide and horses had been sent for my use. I immediately returned home, and retired to rest, being determined to start by three in the morning on my journey.

"At midnight a curious custom of the Roman-catholic church was performed, called the Cock Mass, in commemoration of the crowing

of the cock which took place on Peter's denial of Christ. When the curate commences the service, the people imitate and mock his gesture, tone of voice, and manner of reading; make all kinds of noise-shouting, bawling, hooting, and imitating the crowing of the cock, with every possible exertion of lungs; the whole forming an exhibition most deafening to the ear, and perfectly ridiculous to the eye. There is another church service, quite as ludicrous and preposterous, on the day of celebrating the Rending of the Veil of the Temple, when our Saviour gave up the ghost. The people have large hammers, with which they beat the benches, and have sheets of tin, &c. which they shake, to imitate the noise of thunder as nearly as possible. An English colonel, in the republican service, on this occasion thought he could add to the scene, by imitating the English foxhunter's tallyho, which he did with so much strength and clearness of lungs, as quite to exceed any noise of other persons: and gained by it so much of the curate's good will, who imagined that his religion was in proportion to the vehemence of his utterance, that after the service he came to him, and seizing his hand, thanked him most cordially for his kind addition to the devotion of the night."

The lake of Guatavita, which our countryman desires to drain, is famous in the legends of Colombia. The story runs thus:

66

Previously to the conquest of the country by the Spaniards, a large district, containing about a million of inhabitants, was subject to the Cacique of Guatavita; who there had a considerable capital,

and

and kept up an army of thirty thousand warriors, which caused him to be much respected by the neighbouring tribes, who brought him and his people gold dust in exchange for the produce of their fields, they generally being cultivators of the soil. This Lagoon, situated between nine and ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, and formed on the summit of a conical mountain, they considered as the residence of their protecting deity, to whom, from a religious motive, they thought it necessary to make offerings twice a year. In consequence of this, all the Cacique's subjects assembled at stated times, with their gold offerings; and, forming in grand procession, advanced with music to the Lagoon, winding up the mountain by a well-designed broad road, conducting to the summit, a few feet below which were then washed by the water of the lake. Arrived there, the Cacique and the principal chiefs embarked in large canoes, by steps formed in that break; (pointing to a rent in the top of the mountain which the eye could just make out.) The people at the same time distributed themselves all around the Lagoon. On arriving at the centre, the chiefs anointed the Cacique, and powdered him over with a profusion of gold dust from which practice, in various parts of South America, has arisen the name of El Dorado. "On a signal given, the multitude turned their backs on the Lagoon; and at the moment when the Cacique plunged into its bosom, they shouted, and threw in over their shoulders, as far as they could, their offerings. This done, the Cacique landed, and returned

:

to his capital, in the same manner as he came, considering that the sins of himself and people, committed during the last six months, were expiated. According to a calculation, made from a basis laid down by Monsieur de la Kier, of the Royal Institute of Paris, who particularly examined every document relating to the Lagoon, there ought to be gold and precious stones yet buried in it to the amount of one billion one hundred and twenty millions sterling. On the Spaniards conquering the country, they so cruelly persecuted the natives to obtain gold, that most of them threw what they had left into the Lagoon. The Cacique. himself caused to be cast into the centre of it the burdens of fifty men, laden with gold dust.

"Some of the chiefs, when afterwards taken prisoners, and ill used by the Spaniards, revenged themselves by saying, 'If it is gold you want, go and search at the bottom of the Lagoon, and you will find sufficient there;' supposing the undertaking to be impossible. The Spaniards, however, attempted it; and had got within fourteen feet of the bottom, when the sides fell in with a tremendous crash; and the Lagoon having springs in it, the waters began to rise. The Spaniards however had time, by examining the banks, and washing the mud and soil, to procure a sufficient sum to pay the government a quinta of one hundred and seventy thousand dollars (a quinta is three per cent.); and one emerald procured, and sent to Madrid, was alone valued at seventy thousand dollars. Several other attempts were made previously to the breaking out of the revolution; but

none

none succeeded. At last, having a speculating turn, (continued my friend Pépe,) I determined to undertake it. Getting a grant from the executive government, I formed a company with sixteen shares, each person giving me five hundred dollars, in all eight thousand, which I thought would be sufficient; but unfortunately it has now cost me twenty thousand dollars, and there are still thirtythree feet of water left."

Captain C. adds-" An old Spaniard, sounding in the centre, drew up with the lead a small branch of a tree, in the mud surrounding which was found a golden image, worth about one hundred dollars so there is every reason for hope."

The author was descended from Irish ancestors; his grandfather left his country, and settled in Seville, where he was enrolled among the privileged gentry, and carried on business as a merchant. Yet, not forgetting his native country, he sent his eldest son, the father of Mr. White, for education there, that he might cling to that country also by early feelings of kindness; thus he combined in himself the two most powerful and genuine elements of a religionist-the unhesitating faith of persecuting Spain, and the impassioned belief of devoted Ireland. Both his parents were devotees of the warmest order. So high did the sacred reputation of his father stand, that, at his death, the house was thronged by the

populace eager to obtain a last view of the body. Such parents lost no pains to instil into the mind of their child the principles of their faith, and their son in no case opposed their endeavours. He was educated for the church, and attained progressively the degrees of master of arts, bachelor of divinity, fellow of the college of St. Mary, a jesu of Seville, licentiate of divinity, priests' orders, and magistral or preacher in the chapter of King's chaplains at Seville.

Not till he had attained this latter rank, which he won by his superior theological knowledge, did his creed admit a doubt: now, however, some clouds passed over his mind, which the warmth of devotion soon dissipated, but for a time only; his doubts returned; he read the works of the French apologists, but in vain;—he

He

soon took the usual and customary path from superstition to atheism: and this he describes to be the general state of the better informed part of the Spanish clergy-atheists, wearing a mask, which, to throw aside, would be at once to resign their country and all dear to them in it. would have fled; but fear, that such a step would bring his parents with sorrow to the grave, detained him for ten years in this state; at length, the approach of the troops of France enabled him to quit Spain, without exciting suspicion as to his real motive. He came to England; and, after passing through a state of mental discipline, which he describes at some length, he became a rational convert to rational christianity; he subscribed the articles, and has since been admitted a clergyman

of

of the church of England. From a man thus received from the bosom of the Romish church, more is to be learnt than from all the parliamentary examinations of Catholics before committees, guarded and studied, as their replies must be, and often required to answer what is entirely beyond their province.

Mr. White remarks, that in England, Romish writers are divided into two classes; those who write for the Romish church solely, and whose writings form the real portraiture of that church, and those whose writings, being intended for protestants, as well as papists, present only a softened and, indeed, an ideal portrait "of those, to him well known, features, which, unchanged and unsoftened, the writers are conscious cannot be seen without disgust by any of those to whom custom has not made them familiar." The most artful of these pictures, he describes to be exemplified in "The Book of the Roman Catholic Church, by Charles Butler, Esq.:" and, indeed, he gives some instances of mistatement, misquotation, and mistranslation, which Mr. Butler will find it difficult to defend. He instances, among others, Mr. B.'s account of the papal prerogative, and asserts, that it certainly does include, in the opinion of the pope and his hierarchy, temporal interference, whenever that interference is supposed to be for the good of the church. That the deposition of princes is one part of this pretended power, he instances the case of Elizabeth of England, and others for centuries before; instances which would be found in this day, had this spiritual potentate now,

as formerly, temporal swords to enforce his authority. But few things differ so much in outward appearance as popery in weakness and popery in strength: it is that which can never change; but, like the tiger, subdued by exhaustion or hunger for a time. A community truly Roman, wherever it is found, exhibits, even at this day, the blind cruelty and the dismal superstition of those ages, when all Europe lay beneath the cloud. In England, very little, indeed, is known of its virulence, or it would not have so many advocates. The inquisition of Spain was re-established in 1814.

The oath, not to interfere with the protestant establishment, Mr. White declares no Roman-catholic can, with a safe conscience, keep: that it is, in fact, a separation from the church of Rome, and the duty of every pastor to dissuade the members of his flock from taking it; and that, although English catholics reject indignantly the idea that the pope can dispense with these oaths, it is nevertheless a doctrine of the Romish church, and upon this point he quotes the high authority of St. Thomas Aquinas-"Sicut in voto aliqua necessitatis seu honestatis causâ potest fieri dispensatio, ita et in juramento." The papal see has, to this day, preserved impenetrable silence upon this point. The authorities to which Mr. Pitt applied were unable, or had no right to take the question upon themselves; and Mr. White observes, that if, instead of the questions offered, the following had been put, it would have given less scope to the versatile casuistry of those bodies :-" Can the pope, in virtue of what Roman-catholics

believe