Agriculture, the chief support of civilized countries, is not in a flourishing state in Arragon. Notwithstand ing the favourable climate, and the fertility of the soil in many places, little is gained, comparatively speaking, because its principles are ill understood. The husband man, during a long interval between sowing and reap ing the crop, instead of employing himself in those suc cessive operations which elsewhere ensure a return for labour, passes his time in idleness. Nevertheless the products of this kingdom, particularly in the vicinity of the different rivers, are abundant, and more than suf ficient for the consumption of the inhabitants. The principal articles consist of wine, wheat, flax, hemp, wool, and silk, the total value of which has been com puted at L1,200,000 yearly. Great quantities of wool were formerly produced in Arragon ; and many woollen manufactures were established in different towns in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, such as Zaragoza, Jac ca, Turolia, Calcena, Rubielos, Illueca. In each of these it is said that not less than a million of pounds were manufactured into various stuffs : and, according to historians, the manufactures attained such perfection, that a certain Frenchman introducing them from Rubie los to his own country, in 1633, was ennobled. The ma nufactures of Arragon were thenceforward prohibited in France, under severe penalties. But in the end of the sixteenth century, the woollen trade had begun to de cline, and in the course of the subsequent one, instead of 16,000 looms formerly erected, there were scarcely 4000. In 1699, however, there was still calculated to be 1,500,000 sheep, and in 1782, the weight of fleeces was estimaterat 6,500,000 pounds. Most manufactures seem now on the decline, and some have totally fallen to decay : those of cloth at Tervel, of steel at Calayatud, of swords at Zaragoza, and the jet works carried on at Montalban by foreigners, no longer exist. There are yet manufactures of gunpowder, glass, soap, shoe-soles, spirits, and earthen ware, besides mining, which is car ried to a considerable extent.
Almost the whole trade of Arragon consists of imports, as its own exports are few in number. But this expor tation, instead of enriching the kingdom by a return, has been supposed by some intelligent persons to produce an opposite effect, from depriving it of the raw mate rials for manufacture ; a doctrine to which, in the pecu liar state of Arragon, we find considerable difficulty in assenting. The total value of exports has recently been estimated at L230,000 yearly ; of which hern#, wheat, and wool, are the chief, and indeed form nine tenths of the whole. The only manufactured articles are cloth from Albarazin ; stockings, silk, and woollen stuffs, from Jacca. and Biescas. So early as the year 1179, silk-worms were reared at Caspe. Of late silk appears to have increased ; for only 40,000 pounds were produced in the 17th century, while in 1783 or 1784 there were 300,000.
There are several towns of some celebrity in the kingdom of Arragon. Zaragoza, its capital, is well known from its recent participation in the convulsions of Europe. This city, which was called Caesarea Au gusta by the Romans, contained 42,000 inhabitants, ac cording to the census in 1787 ; but their numbers were estimated at 60,000 iu 1808 ; whence we apprehend that the population is uncertain. Its situation is magnifi
cent, it stands on an open, rich, and fertile plain, and its walls are washed by the river Ebro. The city consists of seventeen parishes, which comprehend forty-four mo nasteries and nunneries, a college of virgins, a house of penitents, and some other religious establishments. Za ragoza is an archiepiscopal see, and there arc no less than seventy-one churches contained in it, which renders the clergy extremely numerous. To a single church, that of St Salvador, are attached no less than 98 eccle siastics. There is an extensive university, with 121 in structors, and about 2000 students. This is an ancient institution, having been founded in 1118, though not in corporated into a university until 1474. There arc se veral other public institutions. A society was lately established, from whose funds money is advanced to enable poor husbandmen to recover their harvests. Cat tle are also purchased in place of those that die, and the peasants receiving them arc allowed two years to repay the price. The king granted a donation of L4166 to aid this truly patriotic society, whose first ope rations commenced in 1801. A laudable institution, the Hospital of Pity, was completed in 1792. There were maintained in it above 700 persons of both sexes, and of all ages, from infancy upwards. Those capable of work were employed in useful occupations, such as spinning silk and wool, and manufacturing cotton stuffs. Calay atud, another considerable town of Arragon, containing 9000 inhabitants, was built near the site of the ancient Bilbilis, while the kingdom was still under the dominion of the Moors. Here are eleven nunneries, and two other religious institutions. There are twelve or thirteen manufactories of soap carried on in the town. Daroca, about which the land is considered the highest in Spain, contains 5000 inhabitants ; yet there are five monaste ries, and one nunnery, besides more inconsiderable reli gious establishments.
One great public work in this kingdom merits parti cular observation : we allude to the famous canal of Ar ragon, which was to stretch across all Spain, from the bay of Biscay to the shores of the Mediterranean. The distance between the seas is about 250 miles, through 104 of which the canal was to pass, commencing at Tu dela, and terminating at Tastaga, where the Ebro be comes navigable. Nearly three centuries have elapsed since the canal was begun, under the direction of the Spanish government, but it has been frequently inter rupted, and even now is not completed. Notwithstand ing all the assistance which the government could af ford, the interruptions would have been still more fre quent, but for the patriotic exertions of a canon, one of the illustrious house of Pignatelli. This canal is of ve ry considerable dimensions, being 56 feet wide at the surface, 20 at the bottom, and 9 feet deep. At one place there is a declivity of 3000 feet, in the space of three leagues, and in another it passes through a hill, by a cut forty feet deep, and a mile in length. The locks and wharfs erected on the banks are said to be ex tremely beautiful. In the year 1786, three thousand men were employed in the work, two thousand of them 'soldiers, an example we should wish to see followed on an equal scale in our own country. They received a small addition to their ordinary pay.