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stopped to talk to some miserable-looking people, stretched out on one of the waggons of the country. When questioned, he said they were going to the hot waters of Banos.

"What!" said Frank, have they hot waters in Spain ?"

"Mineral springs," said his father, "may be found in almost all the provinces of Spain. Old Castille, alone, has three; besides five fountains. The spring of Banos is very much recommended. The heat is about thirty degrees of Réamur. It is a proof of the indifference of the Spaniards to all scientific research, that the greater part of these hot waters have never been analyzed; and though strongly recommended, nobody knows their nature, their mode of effecting a cure, or whether they are really salutary to the patients sent to them. The patients are received into one common basin; and lie in rows, with their heads resting on flat projecting stones. There is a showerbath for those who require it."

"And what is the proper season?" said Mrs. Delville, "for visiting them."

"From April to October. And no doubt they do a great deal of good, on the same principle that our Cheltenham and Harrowgate waters effect such cures. The rich keep better hours, have simpler fare, purer air, and more out-door amusements. The praise so frequently bestowed on the waters

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should, at least, be shared with their improved habits."

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"But, papa," said Ellen, are not the waters themselves often very useful?"

"Undoubtedly. But in a fashionable wateringplace, the imaginary invalid, the jaded in mind rather than in body, are as ten to one of the really sick. Where one is cured of real illness, many more shake off imaginary ailments. These are

traits common to human nature."

"We are approaching Salamanca, I perceive," said Mrs. Delville, " by the clouds of dust."

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No, mother," said Edward: "this intolerable dust is produced by a large drove of cattle."

"Are you sure they are cattle ?" said his father. "Let me look out. Ah! I see. We are in luck, Edward. They are a drove of bulls going to Madrid. The man does wisely to spur on before the crowd."

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The boys did not think so: they would have liked to have stopped the carriage, and got out in the very midst of them. They were disappointed; their driver continued his rapid pace, and they were soon delivered from all dust but their own. They were now approaching Salamanca, of which they had long had a perspective view. Its high towers and domes, surrounded with minarets or belfries, like an Arab mosque, had a fine effect at a distance. It was here that lord Wellington gave

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so celebrated a defeat to Marmont. Mr. Delville was pointing out to them all the localities of the river, and the direction in which the French ran, when they passed over the bridge, and thundered up the narrow streets. The first object that struck their attention in the town, was a young student of the college.

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Irish, I am sure," said Mr. Delville.

"What! papa, are there any Irish students at Salamanca ?"

"Yes. This seminary for the Irish was founded by Philip II. the husband of our Mary. He settled upon it a stipend sufficient for the support of a principal and sixteen students. These young men are selected by the Irish bishops; and after seven years' residence in Spain, they return to their country, and enter into holy orders. When Charles III. suppressed the order of the Jesuits in Spain, he granted to the Irish college a part of their convent at Salamanca."

"The university," said Edward, "was once more flourishing than it is now."

"As knowledge spreads," Mr. Delville replied, "the wants of the people, in this respect, become more generally supplied; and there is therefore less concourse to particular places, where formerly alone instruction was to be had. This celebrated university was first established at Palencia, and removed, in 1239, to Salamanca. At one time it

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could boast eight thousand native students, and an equal number of foreigners. Its reputation was then at its height. The separation of the seven united Dutch provinces from Spain augmented the prosperity of the universities of Leyden, Louvain, Halle, and Gottingen; and the progress of the belles lettres in France insensibly diminished the influence and attraction of Salamanca. The Spaniards themselves having, in different parts of the kingdom, the rival universities of Toledo, Cordova, Grenada, Valencia, and Alcala, naturally send their children to the one nearest their own houses. A Spanish writer, in speaking of Salamanca, calls it the seat of the muses, and the universal mother of all science. He is of opinion that all praise, however lofty and however judicious, will yet fall short of the merits of so illustrious an academy, and which has been so honourably known to the word."

But," said Ellen, "these narrow and dirty streets, with their ill-paved and irregular surface, hardly justify so pompous an eulogium."

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Wait," said Mr. Delville, 'till you see the great square and some of their churches."

To the great square they went immediately on their arrival. Nothing could be finer than the coup-d'œil it presented. It was surrounded by regular and magnificent buildings, which are remarkable for their clean and neat appearance;

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offering an agreeable contrast to the other parts of the city. These fine edifices are ornamented with three rows of balconies, that run all round without interruption. The first story is formed by arcades, the frieze of which is ornamented by medallions of the most illustrious personages that Spain

reckons among her sons. On one side are those of all the kings of Castille, inclusive of Charles III. The other side is occupied by the most celebrated heroes; such as Bernard del Caspio, Gonsalves de Cordova, and Hernando Cortez. Those to the east are yet unfilled: they remain a blank page, to be enriched with the future glories of Spain. Mr. Delville pointed them out to his children, as a noble national method of stimulating and rewarding the virtuous ambition of her citizens. From the great square they went to the cathedral, a splendid monument of Gothic architecture. was begun in the reign of Leo X.; a pontiff more celebrated for his taste and elegance than for his virtue. It was only finished at the close of the last century. As it has, in consequence, been the work of many artists, there is a striking irregularity of design visible throughout; but the boldness of the nave, and the exquisite finishing of the Gothic ornaments, make it a very remarkable edifice.

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The exterior is covered with a profusion of basrelief, in raised sculpture: one of the best executed is the representation of the magi adoring

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