Brookes’ Universal Gazetteer, page 690
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SPA    690    SPA

End is properly nothing but the suburb to the oth-
er. The houses of the New Spa are mostly of
wood and plaster ; but the more modern ones are
of brick and stone. The church of the Capuchins,
and the parish church, are both seated upon emi-
nences. The names of the 5 principal wells are
Pouhon, Geronflerd, Saviniere, Watpotz, and
Tunelet. The inhabitants are employed in mak-
ing toys for strangers. Spa was taken by the
French in 1794, and afterwards annexed to
France ; but in 1814 they delivered it up to the al-
lies. It is seated in a valley, surrounded by moun-
tains, 17 m. S. E. of Liege.

Spain, a kingdom of Europe, 640 m. long and
500 broad ; bounded on the N. hy the Bay of Bis-
cay, N. E. by the Pyrenees, which separate'it
from France, E. and S. by the Mediterranean. S.
W. by the Atlantic, and W. by Portugal and the
Atlantic. It contains the provinces of Old and
New Castile, Andalusia, Arragon, Estremadura,
Galicia, Leon, Catalonia, Granada, Valencia, Bis-
cay, Asturias, Murcia, and Navarre, some of which
have been separate kingdoms and still retain the
title. The air is dry and serene, except during
the equinoctial rains, but excessively hot in the
southern provinces in June, July, and August.
The vast mountains, however, that run through
Spain are beneficial to the inhabitants by the re-
freshing breezes that come from them in the S.
parts; though those in the N. and N. E. are in
the winter very cold. The soil is very fertile ;
but there are large tracts of uncultivated ground :
and the superior attention paid to the large flocks
of sheep greatly impedes the progress of agricul-
ture. The produce of the country consists in
wheat, barley, saffron, honey, silk, sah, salt-petre,
hemp, barilla, and even sugar-canes, with the
richest and most delicious fruits that are to be
found in France and Italy; and its wines are in
high esteem. Wolves are the chief beasts of
prey that infest Spain. The wild bulls have so
much ferocity that bull fights were the most mag-
nificent spectacle, the court of Spain could exhib-
it. The genet, an animal producing a perfume
similar to that of the civet, is found in this coun-
try. The domestic animals are horses (which are
remarkably swift), mules, asses, beeves, and
sheep. Spain abounds in minerals and metals.
Cornelian, agate, jacinth, loadstone, turquois
stones, quicksilver, iron, copper, lead, sulphur,
gypsum, calamine, crystal, marbles of several
kinds, porphyry, the finest jasper, and even dia-
monds, emeralds, and amethysts are found here.
Anciently it was celebrated for gold and silver
mines ; but since the discovery of America no at-
tention has been paid to them. The principal
rivers are the Duero, Tagus, Guadiana Guadal-
quivir, and Ebro. Spain, formerly the most pop-
ulous kingdom in Europe, is now very thinly in-
habited ; to which various causes have contribu-
ted, as the expulsion ofthe Moois, the emigration
to the colonies, the vast numbers and celibacy of
the clergy, the indolence of the natives, and the
late desolating war. Here are some considerable
manufactures, especially of silk and woolen, but
these are far short of that flourishing condition
which they might attain, being checked by the
royal monopolies, which extend to broad cloth
china, glass, pottery, paper, salt-petre, salt, sul
phur, tobacco, and some others.

The Spaniards in general are tall, their com-
plexions swarthy, their countenances expressive.
The beauty of the ladies reigns chiefly in their
novels and romances: in their persons they are
small and slender. Jealousy is no longer the
characteristic of a Spanish husband : the married
ladies have here their cortejo, or male attendant,
in the same manner as the Italians have their
cicisbeo. The established religion is popery.
There are eight archbishoprics, 46 episcopal sees,
and 24 universities, or rather academies. The
Spanish language springs from the Roman, but
many of the words are derived from the Arabic
used by the Moors, who for seven centuries held
dominion in the country: the speech is grave,
sonorous, and very melodious. The government
of Spain, once the most free, is now one of the
most despotic monarchies in Europe. It had for-
merly its cortes or parliaments, which had great
privileges; but now, though not absolutely abol-
ished, they have no part in the government
They are assembled, indeed, occasionally, as at
the accession of the monarch, but merely as an
appendage to the royal state,-without power, or
any other consequence than what results from
their individual rank.

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The present population of Spain is estimated at
13,650,172, and its lerrittoral extent at 183,000 sq.
m. The revenue of the kingdom is 26,520,000
dollars ; the debt 230,443,062 dollars. The army
consists of 46,000 men : the "navy is insignificant.

The colonies of Spain are the islands of Cuba
and Porto Rico with the city of St. Domingo in the
W. Indies; the Philippine, Caroline, and Ladrone
Islands in the E. Indies; the Canary Islands in
the Atlantic and a few settlements on the coast of
Africa. The Population of the colonies is estimat-
ed at 4,088,000. The capital of the kingdom is
Madrid.

Spain was conquered by the Carthaginians and
Romans. The Visigoths founded their empire
here in 419. The Saracens and Moors invaded
and conquered the Southern part of the kingdom
in the 8th century. The Moors established a
kingdom in the Mediterranean provinces of Spain,
and their sovereigns reigned in great splendor at
Granada. The Spaniards were roused to resist-
ance by Don Pelayo, and maintained a struggle
against the Moors, which the Spanish historians
dignify with the name of a continual war of 700
years. The territories gained from the enemy
were formed into several distinct kingdoms
These were gradually amalgamated, and in 1469
the marriage of Ferdinand, king of Arragon with
Isabella, queen of Castile, united the whole oi
Christian Spain into one kingdom. These sover
eigns conquered Granada, and completed the total
subjugation of the Moorish power in the peninsula,
at the same time that Columbus under their aus-
pices discovered America and gave them a new
world in the west.

In the 16th century, under Charles V., who was
king of this country and Emperor of Germany,
Spain, was the most powerful monarchy in Eu-
rope. Philip II. the successor of this monarch
expelled all the
Moriscoes, or descendants of the
Moors who remained in the country, which caused
an immense loss to the kingdom in wealth and
population. The war of the Succession in the
early part of the 18th century, completed the im
poverishment of the country, and Spain has been
only a second rate power since that time.

In 1808, Napoleon seized the kingdom and
placed his brother Joseph upon the throne, but the
resistance of the people who were assisted by
the
armies of Britian, and his reverses in Russia frus-
trated the design. This event caused the revolt
of nearly all Spanish America. In 1820, an
in-




















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