Arragon has given birth to sei cral celebrated men. Martial was born at Bilbilis, and Laurence Gracian, an eminent modern political writer, at Calayatud.
The character of the Arragonese is, in a great mea sure, formed from local circumstances. A native of this country extols its properties, while he is blind to its de fects. He is haughty, reserved, and silent, and displays a natural asperity both in voice and manner. But these imperfections, which render him repulsiire to strangers, are compensated by courage, prudence, and discrimina tion. Indocility, and the love of ancient usages, con tribute to preserve the independence of the people, though they cannot fail to retard the progress of im provement. The want of united energy, the scantiness of population, and feebleness of the government, have precluded the possibility of forming an effective police : whole districts have been in a manner abandoned to the depredations of lawless marauders ; and monumental crosses continually remind the traveller of the dangers to which he is exposed. That Arragon is suceptible of a high degree of cultivation, is universally admitted ; but it must, begin with diminishing the wealth of the church, reducing the numbers of clergy, abolishing mo nasteries, restricting 'the power of the nobles, and ex tending agriculture. A country cannot flourish under such an immense preponderance of individuals, who make no useful return to the community : whence the most vigorous government could tend but little to the melioration of Arragon during the prevalence of defects so deeply rooted.
This was considered a powerful kingdom in its sepa rate and independent state. It was anciently occupied by a people called the Cehiberians ; it was first under the Roman dominion, and afterwards under that of the Goths. The Moors then rendered themselves masters of it, but were finally driven out of the capital, in Ills. It was governed by counts, who were elevated to the dignity of kings, though under a limited authority. Af ter various settlements, sometimes in a direct line, and sometimes otherwise, it ceased to be an independent kingdom, from being annexed to the sovereignty of Spain. This event took place by the marriage of Fer dinand, king of Arragon, to Isabella, the heiress of Cas tile and Leon. However, it was still ruled by a distinct body of laws, and had a government peculiar to itself. Among the most striking ordinations connected with the ancient administration of Arragon, were the rank, powers, and privileges of a great law officer, called the high justiciar. In some respects he may be considered superior to the king himself. lie was amenable to no higher authority, and held a tribunal, wherein the cause of the sovereign and his subjects was decided. When the king ascended the throne, the justiciar received his oaths to protect the liberties of the people. In these oaths he acknowledged them paramount to himself, and warranted their resistance immediately on infringement of their privileges. The justiciar was viewed in the light of an umpire between the king and the people. But the abuse of power at length occasioned his degra dation. In 1467, he was subjected to trial, by a com mission, consisting of seventeen members of the admin istration : and the justiciar having in a later instance, ventured to resist the authority of Philip II. he was ar rested, and beheaded at Zaragoza in 1591, and an end put to so dangerous and arbitrary an office. The right of succession to the crown underwent some remarkable changes and limitations in the twelfth century : all fe males were then excluded from it: and a law afterwards passed, conferring the right of succession on the male issue of the females thus excluded.
Although Arragon has ceased to be an independent kingdom, from its union with the Spanish monarchy, it has of late engrossed an unusual share of the public attention, from the hostile operations of foreign troops within its confines.
The treacherous attempts of the French, to render themselves masters of Spain, and their insidious devices to gain possession of the persons of the reigning family, are too recent to require any portion of our comments. Their unprincipled encroachments, viewed with abhor rence by the Arragonese, were long resisted with that de termination which the hatred of injustice inspires : and the inhabitants of the capital at length rising in a mass, an army was levied in the kingdom of Arragon, to repel the enemy. Repeated and bloody conflicts were maintained, in each of which the real character and independence of the Arragonese were successively unfolded. But their troops, trusting more to innate courage than to discipline and experience, were generally worsted in the contest. Nevertheless, a small regular force colleen Irated itself in the capital, aganst which the French detached about 9000 men, who, on the 14th of June, 1808, had advanced within sixteen miles of it. No soon er did the Arragonese obtain intelligence of their mo tions, than they resolved to give them battle ; and march ing from Zaragoza, met them in a plain. A speedy de feat however ensued, and the enemy availing themselves of it, advanced to the walls, and attempted to storm the city. A furious engagement then took place, in which the French in their turn were compelled to withdraw beyond the reach of the cannon of the Arragonese.
Having occupied heights commanding the city, they invested it by a regular siege, while the inhabitants on their part manifested the most determined resolution to defend themselves to the last extremity. Bombardment and cannonading commenced with great destruction : numbers of the inhabitants were killed, and many build ings destroyed. A powder magazine, nearly in the cen tre of the city, unfortunately caught fire, and by its ex plosion laid almost a whole street in ruins. The found ling hospital, at that time devoted to the reception of the sick and wounded, was also reduced to ashes. Not withstanding these calamities, the citizens continued tnidismayed ; misfortunes seemed rather to augment their courage ; all personal considerations were aban doned, and nothing considered but extricating the help less infants, and the other sufferers from the flames. The city walls were chiefly composed of mud, and there were nine different gates to defend. Deep trenches were cast in the inside of these, and bags of sand piled up behind them, to prevent their being burst open by the enemy. Though the city was completely invested, and almost totally destitute of heavy artillery, various sorties were hazarded, and sometimes attended with success. The exertions of the men were animated by the women, who formed themselves into companies, and even braved the heaviest discharge of shot and shells, while administering relief to the wounded, and carrying provisions to the soldiers who defended the gates. Tne names of two of those heroines, the count ess of Burita, and Augustina Zaragoza, deserve peculiar commemoration. On the 3d of August, 1808, the French, after a temporary cessation, renewed a tremendous fire on this defenceless city : the walls were levelled with the ground ; the convent of St Engraeia was in flames, and tottering in ruin. Profiting by these advantages, and the consequent confusion within, they rushed for wards, and overcoming all resistance, made themselves masters of half the city before night. The inhabitants still resolutely refused to capitulate, and a scene of hos tility ensued, which has perhaps been unexampled in the annals of history. One side of a principal street was occupied by the French, and the other by the Arra gonese ; and batteries were thrown up by each, at only a few paces distance. During the night the hostile parties would mutually rush across the street, and at tack each other's entrenchments with a courage border ing on despair. But the intermediate space being soon filled with the slain, the Arragonese general became alarmed lest contagion should speedily be disseminated by the putrifying bodies. Here, however, he resorted to an expedient which quickly relieved him from all ap prehension; the French prisoners, retained by ropes, were urged forward to bring in the corpses of the fallen Arragonese, which they effected, secure from the at tack of their own countrymen. Happily for the besieged, a reinforcement of 3000 Arragonese, and other troops, made their way into the city on the 5th of August, which confirmed the resolution of the citizens, to maintain those parts that were not yet wrested from them. Now, for the space of eleven successive days, bloody conflicts prevailed " from street to street, from house to house, from room to room ;" and the inhabitants always gained on the enemy, until the space retained did not exceed an eighth part of the whole. Long before this period, all the materials for making gunpowder were put in re quisition; the monks were employed in forming cart ridges, the children in carrying them, and the women were assisting the wounded. But provisions became scarce, the inhabitants were severely galled by the ene my, numbers of men were killed, and also many women and children suffered from being constantly exposed. On the night of the thirteenth of August, the fire of the French was particularly destructive. When it ceased, flames were observed bursting out from numerous edi fices of which they had gained possession : and, to the unspeakable astonishment of the Arragonese, when morning broke, their columns were seen retreating across the plain towards Pampeluna.
Thus terminated the siege of Zaragoza, which, al though here comprised in few words, was fertile m in cidents, and will long be memorable in the annals of Arragon. Notwithstanding that the city was almost to tally destroyed by fire, by the bursting of bombs and the explosion of mines, and although many parents had to lament their lost children, and many individuals their ruined fortunes, all complaints were suppressed ; for every one was absorbed in just indignation against a treacherous foe, and in self-approbation at having main tained their national reputation and character. See Introductio izz Oryctographiam et Zoologianz 4ragonie, 1784. Bowles Introduction a la Historia Natural ya la Geograjia Fisica, de Espana. Schottus Hispania Illus trata, tom. 3. Frankenau Sacra Themidis lIzspance ./ir cana. Murillo de las excelencias de Zaragoza. Dillon's Travels in Spain. Journey into Spain, 1670. Townsend's Travels in Spain, vol. i. Laborde Itineraire de l'Espagne, tom. 2. Vaughan's ? Account of the Siege of Zaragoza. (c)