[* Tariffa, now so conspicuous, near Gibraltar, for the defence lately made by Colonel Skerrett and the 47th regiment, was so called from Tariff’s landing there.]

Immediately on my arrival at my quarters, I received an invitation to dinner from General Lavoiser, and, en attendant, I accompanied him to visit the cathedral. It being the fête of St. Andrew, high mass was celebrating, so that we were obliged to wait until it was finished, to see the church more circumstantially. We visited the cloisters, the walls of which are finely painted in imitation of bas relief, by Francisco Bayeu, a modern artist, the painting not being twenty years old, and who certainly merits greater celebrity than he has acquired. The most striking picture represents the inside of a prison, the figures being the natural size, and the relief so perfect, that it is scarcely possible to avoid believing one’s self in the company of living captives, insomuch that one instantaneously looks round for a way to escape, which seems to be prevented by iron bars and surrounding naked walls. In short, this representation is, in painting, what Sterne’s picture of Captivity is in writing. Another of the paintings represents mendicants receiving alms, at the bottom of the staircase of a great house, over the bannisters of which two persons are leaning and giving them money; a third is the figure of a woman in the middle of a passage, soliciting charity; her out-stretched arm and open hand, her doleful countenance, tattered garments, and appearance of superlative wretchedness, so compleatly deceived me for the moment, that I involuntarily put my hand into my pocket to relieve her. There are also some paintings in the same style by Morelli, but so inferior, as only to serve as foils to those of Bayeu. At one end of the cloister is a column, with a Latin inscription denoting the consecration of the church in 630, and in the first year of the reign of the Gothic King, Flavius Recoredo. It is as follows:

In nomina Deli consecra
Ia eclesia Scta. Maria
In Catolico dio primo
Idus Aprilis anno felicitur primo regni Domini
Nostri gloriosissimi Fi. Recaredi regis era.
DCXXX.

In the sacristie are also the tombs of Alfonzo the Seventh, and of the Cardinal Pedro de Mendoza; the latter consists of several figures, of which an evangelist at each of the four corners, in bas relief, are inimitably executed: this monument is surrounded by an iron railing.

Of the numerous chapels within the cathedral, that of St. Peter is most worthy of notice; it was rebuilt in 1791, and now serves as a parish church. The architecture is gothic, and the altars and tables are composed of the most scarce and valuable marbles; the principal picture in it is St. Peter curing the lame at the gate of the Temple, by Vallego. The chapel de los Reges Nuovos, or New King’s Chapel, contains the tombs of many of the sovereigns and princes of Spain, particularly those of John, eldest son of Henry the Second, and his wife Eleanor; of Catherine, wife of Henry the Third, with a statue of John the Second, whose remains are at Mirapalous, near Burgos. This chapel has also a large picture of the birth of Christ.

In the chapel of St. James, among other objects of merit, are the magnificent tombs of Fereguolo, Archbishop of Toledo, who died in 1742, and that of Alvarez de Luna, Grand Master of the Order of St. James, and Constable of Castille, the favourite and prime minister of John the Second, but who lost his head by order of that sovereign at Valladolid, in 1452. At each corner of this monument is a figure the size of life, kneeling with the strongest expression of sorrow, and it has besides many fine bas reliefs.

Passing the chapel of St. Ildefonso, in which there are some things worthy of notice, that of Nuestra Senoria del Sacrario most forcibly calls the attention. It consists of three distinct chapels: one, from its octagon shape, is called the Octravo; the second is square, and immensely rich, the floor and pillars being of the most beautiful marbles, and the ceiling finely painted by Carducho; and the third is also an octagon, and equally rich, having several golden urns set with diamonds and placed in niches, and an image of the infant Jesus, a foot high, of solid gold, ornamented with precious stones. On a throne of massive silver formerly rested an image of the Virgin, but both throne and image have vanished; a large silver brasiero, however, still remains, doubtless to form, with the other valuables, a bonne bouehe for the French on a future day. The image of the Virgin in this chapel is of the most exquisite workmanship.

The vestriano, which adjoins the sacristie, as well as another adjacent apartment, still contains some rich church furniture, though the French have taken care of the most valuable. Amongst those which remain are a dress of the Virgin, covered the richest embroidered stuffs. In this apartment are also emblematical representations of the four quarters of the world.

The sacristie is finely ornamented, the dome painted by Jordan, the tables of beautiful yellow marble, and the numerous pictures encased in frames of gold, bronze, and different marbles. The most valuable paintings are a Samaritan by Reubens, the Deluge by Bassan, an Assumption, I believe by d’Onento, the Division of Christ’s Garments by the same artist, and a St. Augustine. The tabernacle is of the most superb workmanship; and the library contains a very large collection of books, and above seven thousand manuscripts.

Before the grand gate of the cathedral is a small terrace, enclosed by an iron railing, with six columns of white marble, each surmounted by a lion of the same material. The gate itself. and architecture round it, are ornamented with a variety of sculptured figures, but rather too much crowded, and some good statues.

Having amply satisfied my curiosity in the cathedral, we next visited the archiepiscopal palace, now occupied by a French General. It is a large uncomfortable building, remarkable for nothing but a library, in which are some scarce books and manuscripts.

From this place I proceeded to the General’s, where I found a large party had been invited to meet me. The moment we sat down the General informed me, that he had purposely provided a treat of roast beef and plum pudding, both of which he assured me were drest à l’Anglaise; and carving an immense slice, which proved to be scarcely warmed, he exclaimed triumphantly, “du moins je crois que cela doit être à votre goût!” This exclamation drew on me the eyes of the whole company, who seemingly expected, with anxious curiosity, to see me devour this raw and tough carrion; and as I could not with politeness send it away untouched, I forced myself to swallow a few mouthfuls, which a glass of brandy assisted me to keep down. The plum pudding was then served up, and could only be equalled in execrableness by the beef, being a solid lump of half-boiled dough, that would have required the powers of an ostrich to digest. Added to these little désagrémens, the General was most tiresomely civil, particularly with his hands, which were scarce a moment off my shoulders. He also wearied me with the history of his achievements, when commanding a body of cavalry under General Pichegru, in Holland and Flanders; and when he learnt that I had been in the same campaign, he entered into some particulars which were not uninteresting to me. He, I found, commanded the cavalry at Boxtel, near Bois-le-Duc, at the affair of Michael Ghastel’s Bridge, where I was engaged under General Dœering, and where the Hesse Darmstadt troops were severely cut up, losing in killed, wounded, and prisoners, nineteen hundred men, out of two thousand five hundred, while the 89th regiment, which I commanded, successfully resisted the same force of the enemy, though not without considerable loss. To whatever cause the destruction of the Hesse Darmstadt troops was owing, General Dœering felt it so severely, I understand, that he shot himself shortly after the action; and my regiment, in consequence of its loss, was ordered to fall back on a detachment commanded by Sir William Erskine, at Middleroad. The following morning detachments of the guards, and of the 12th and 33d regiments, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, marched to attack the enemy, but finding them considerably reinforced by Pichegru himself, the British were obliged to fall back, and the retreat of the whole army followed. This military conversation being only interesting to the General and myself, I endeavoured to render it more general, by questioning a well informed priest respecting Toledo, and other subjects. The General, who is certainly one of the vainest of Frenchmen, although in all respects a bon garçon, soon interrupted our conversation by a long eulogium on his snuffbox, which on my praising he insisted on my accepting, with, “c’est bien à votre service, et je vous prie de la garder comme un souvenir;” and on my repeated rejection, it was “mettez-la dans votre poche, je vous en prie,” at the same time squeezing my hand with such warmth, that at one time I could have really thought him sincere. But à propos of snuffboxes and sincerity: I remember in Sicily a Highland Quarter Master, a rough diamond, who taking a Sicilian Marquis at his word, quietly pocketed a snuffbox thus pressed on him; but nothing being farther from the Marquis’s intention or expectation, he complained to me, as commanding officer, that he had been robbed of his snuffbox. On enquiry I found, from the testimony of all the officers present, that the Marquis had really pressed the box on the Quarter Master, who deeming his right to keep it undoubted, regarded not my representations, that such offers made by foreigners were considered by them as mere words of course. The value of the box, which he had nicely estimated, as well as the advice of the junior officers, who wished to see some fun, made him resolute in his determination, and it was with a good deal of difficulty that I at last persuaded him to return it. On enquiring if he was under any other obligation to the Marquis, he replied, that he recollected none except for a glass of water, and that he would repay it, when, calling for a tumbler of water, he presented it to the Marquis, saying, “now, Mynheer, we are quits;” for having served in Holland, where he discovered that mynheer signified sir, he concluded it was the same in every other foreign country.

But to return to the General’s. After dinner several visitors arriving, he proposed retiring up stairs, where were prepared a good fire, plenty of punch, and cards. After a sober rubber at whist, the punch beginning to mount, Trente et Quarante was introduced; but as my purse was rather low, I told the General I could not play deep, when he produced a heap of gold and begged me to help myself. At first I had a run of extreme bad luck, and became considerably in debt, but fortune changing, I at last rose a winner to the amount of four hundred pounds.