Catalonia, from the remotest times, has been famous for its manufactures ; and here every profession that is connected with the useful arts is as much honoured and respected, as in the other provinces it is despised. Its woollen and cotton stuffs, silks, velvets, and linens, were celebrated even in the 13th century ; and though its manufactures and commerce afterwards met with se veral severe checks, and were almost annihilated in the 16th and the beginning of the I Sth century, yet from that time their revival has been gradual and constant ; and it is now the most active and industrious province in the kingdom. Besides ( of almost ( %cry des( ription, it has manufactures of all kinds of workings, es, tapes, ribbons, &c.; also iron ware, cutlery, earth( n wale, and shoes, for exportation ; and above 200 mills arc em ployed in making paper, which produce annually about 480,000 reams, estimated at 160,000/. sterling. These articles, together w ith its natural productions, supply Catalonia w ith many ;linable exports ; and its grevi ex tent of coast and excellent harbours, render it peculiarly favourable fur au extensive commerce. Its inhabitants have indeed profited by these advantages. The sea-polls are filled with ships, and peopled by traders and seam( ii, who are equally industrious with their brethren in the in terior. Of its coarse cloths and serges, the greatest part is made up into clothing for the troops, and st lit to the different provinces of Spain ; the line cloths are car ried to Madrid, Arragon, &c. Two thirds of its linen., cotton-velvets, nankeens, and muslins, are exported to the colonies ; about one-twelfth and it half is kept foi the consumption of the province : and the remaining two-twelfths and a half are sold in the markets of the peninsula. About 10,000 dozen of silk handkerchiefs and sashes, manufactured at :\ lanresa, are annually to Arragon, Biscay, and the two Castles, and 35,0( a to America : 30,000 quintals of cork, and 470,000 reams of paper, are exported to different parts of Europe : Eng land receives 20,000 sacks of nuts ; 10,000 pipes of brandy are sent to the same place ; 4,000 to Guernsey and Alderney, and about 20,000 to Holland and the north of Europe : 8,000 loads of oil are carried to Fiance and Holland, and 4,000 loads of wine to Italy : 200000 pairs of shoes go to America, and 500,000 are distributed in the interior of the kingdom : and of 24,000 pairs of worsted stockings furnished by the town of Vice!, one half pass into the adjacent provinces. A considerable quantity of silks and silk stockings, are exported to the New World, which also receives lire-arms, iron-ware, printed calicoes. laces, &c. The sweepings of houses, which are shipped annually from Barcelona, amount to nearly 60,000 ducats. The following Table gi% es an exact account of the quantity and value of its principal exports.
The imports of this province consist chiefly of corn, wool, and silk. From 400,000 to 600,000 quarters of wheat arc supposed to be annually imported from Ame rica, Sicily, and the north of Europe ; and in 1775 Ca nada alone scot about 80,000 quarters. It receives 10,000 quintals of wool, and 80,000 lbs. of silk, from Arragon : 100,000 lbs. of silk from Valencia ; and Lyons silks, Gauge and Nismes silk stockings, fine cloths, linens, essences, perfumes, pomatums, jewellery, and millinery, from France. England furnishes it with superfine cot tons, herrings, and cod-fish ; and Holland with a few spices. The amount of these, however, is far from being equal to its imports. About 1000 vessels arc almost con stantly employed in trade, and the government can de pend upon 18,000 Catalonian seamen, who arc register ed, and always ready for any emergency.
The spirit of industry which pervades Catalonia, has led its inhabitants to turn their exertions to the useful rather than to the liberal arts ; and, as mechanics, they are in general preferred to those of any other province. The sciences, however, have not been entirely neglect ed ; and among the Catalans have arisen several writers upon natural history, theology, medicine, and law, of no inconsiderable merit. Besides public libraries, and schools of different kinds, there were formerly two aca demies in this province, under the title of Gay Science ; One at Barcelona, founded in the end of the 14th century, by John I. King of Arragon ; and the other at Tortosa, in the beginning of the 15th, where verses were recited and prizes decreed to the victors. The duration of both, however, was but short ; and since their declension, the Catalans have made very little progress in the fine arts ; for excepting the works of Volfongona, nothing striking in their poetry is known. In their dispositions, the Ca
talans seem to be influenced by the nature of their coun try. They are proud, hardy, and impetuous, of a brown complexion, strong features, and brawny limbs ; and their chief characteristics are activity and a spirit of in depehdcnce. They are indefatigable in the prosecution of their schemes. No obstacles can deter, no dangers can terrify them. Their natural vivacity, their enter prizing spirit, and their love of money, lead them to every quarter of the world ; and there are few sea-ports in Europe, India, or Spanish America, where Catalans are not to be found. As soldiers, their bravery and firm ness has been always conspicuous, and has been often displayed against the most fearful odds. In the begin ning of the 18th century, they withstood the united ar mies of France and Spain ; and, in 1714, the inhabitants of Barcelona made one of the most vigorous and despe rate defences that is recorded in history. On a forlorn hope, or for a coup-de-main, the Catalans are excellent ; but they are in general averse to the strictness of regu lar discipline. When treated with kindness and mild words, they are docile and obedient ; but they rise against the slightest appearance of authority or subordination. The Catalans possess a haughtiness of demeanour, and authoritative tone, peculiar to themselves. They look down upon the rest of their countrymen as their inferiors; the loyal Castilians, in particular, they regard with aver sion ; and to their ancient enemies, the French, they bear a lasting and invincible animosity. Ilut though high spirited and overbearing, they are distinguished for their honesty, steadiness, and sobriety. Most of the principal families in Madrid have Catalans at the head of their af fairs ; and as muleteers and callcssirros, they are scat •.ercd over every province of the peninsula. "The de sire of wealth," says Laborde, ec makes them industri ous ; emulation makes them active, leads them to every part of the world, and enables them to brave the perils of long voyages ; and glory blinds them to every kind of danger. When they love, they love warmly ; but their hatred is implacable, and they have rarely sufficient strength of mind to stifle their resentment. But we are not, therefore, to imagine the Catalan disposed to mis chief; he is not so naturally. He works himself into a rage, and is loud, but seldom commits acts of violence. In a political point of view, the Catalan is restless and factious ; he is for ever sighing for a liberty, or rather independence, which lie has often attempted to acquire, and which has so frequently impelled him to take up arms. But as devoted in his attachment, as terrible in his hatred, he is ready to make every sacrifice for a prince who knows how to gain his love." With all their eagerness for money, the Catalans are capable of the most disinterested generosity ; and during the late revo lution in France, multitudes of French refugees of all ranks, whose loyalty had driven them from their country, were received, consoled, and protected by the republican Catalans. Instead of the mantle and Mayo jacket, com mon throughout Spain, the usual dress, in almost all ranks among the Catalans, is a close coat in the French fashion, and the peasants on the mountains wear a dou ble-breasted vest, with a kind of wide great coat, called a ganibeto, which reaches only to the knee. Their an cient and favourite slouched bats, white shoes, and large brown cloaks, Were long ago prohibited. Catalonia has a language distinct from the other provinces of Spain. It is the ancient Limousin tongue, but disfigured by hard terminations, and by a sharp and disagreeable pro nunciation, which gives an appearance of greater rough ness and asperity to the Catalonian character than in rea lity belongs to it. This language is spoken throughout the province, but with considerable variations in the different districts, and is preferred to the Castilian. It is purest on the mountains, but greatly mixed with Cas tilian in the large towns. Its harshness, however, is completely lost in the mouth of a Valencian, whose pronunciation renders it soft and harmonious, and though in the towns of Valencia, the Castilian is always used, yet the Limousin in some parts of that province has pre served its ancient purity.