off at the grand point; but the inventive genius and admirable addrefs of our heroine easily enabled her to furmount these little difficulties. Now whether it was the extreme facility fhe generally had in triumphing, as far as a woman could triumph, over the virtue of the fair-fex, or her own fuperior address, that gave her that low idea it is well known the enter tains of Female Virtue, we pretend not to fay: Certain it is, that no man however accomplished, or fitted for the arts of feduction, could humble the pride of the obdurate order of females more effectually than our heroine has often done. . Her appearing in a character like this must have greatly affifted her in perfonating mens characters on the ftage. It muft have given her a freedom, a grace, and ease few actreffes can attain. Nor was another method fhe took to behold the chequered walk of life lefs productive of its purpose. She has not unfrequently, report fays, attired herself as a balladfinger, and in that garb and profeffion folicited the notice of the paffing paffengers. A genius that can accommodate itself to every fituation enabled her often to pass undiscovered; but the melodious warblings of this favourite daughter of Euterpe were fo enchantingly sweet, that fpight of her Protean art, they as often revealed her; as the fwimming air of the Mother of Eneas discovered her, and fpoke her queen of love.

Her amours have been very numerous; her first gallant (at least, it is reported) was Sir Francis Blake Delaval, who bought her indentures from her master, Mr. Bates, in the year 1763, and took her into high keeping, till her father commenced a prosecution against him for feducing his daughter, and againit Mr. Bates, as an accomplice; however on a trial of the firft, in Westminster-hall, in 1764, it appearing that the whole tranfaction was with the confent of Mifs Catley, the father was non-fuited.

Sir Francis was too inconftant a lover to remain long fixed to one woman; but yet he did not difmifs our heroine till he fixed her with Lord W, but that connexion was foon broken by her engaging with Mr. Moffop on the Dublin theatre, where the was fo much admired and fo univerfally followed, that she had fuch a number of temporary alliances (befides the manager) that it was wittily faid "that, fuppofing the bishops to be out of the question, to fecure a majority in either house of Parliament, it would be only neceffary for Catley to inftruct her own members."

Some time after the commenced that connexion with Colonel Ls (by whom she has two fine children) which has continued till now, and in which she has behaved in fuch a manner as to entirely put a stop to the further animadverfions of cenfure.

We shall only add, that the extreme eafe and freedom Mifs Catley difplays in her deportment, both on and off the stage, has been often taken for an offenfive affurance, and a contempt of the audience. We fhall briefly give our opinion on this point, as it is the only thing in her, cenfure has had to carp at, for fome time.

But, indeed no perfon can entertain a greater respect for the majefty of a freeborn audience than Mifs Catley does : Yet with her vivacity and ease, and the fprightly characters the is to play, it may be obferved, the frolic airs of humour may not only be pardoned, but are wonderfully becoming: Befides, it is only looking and acting the character. We have indeed fome performers, who after their Speech is Speeched, think no longer of their affumed part, but fink or rife into their real one; and thus they continue till another fpeech is to be speeched. These are indeed Nature's journeymen and journey women: But Mifs Catley's character does not end with the sentence: She maintains it throughout; and though her voice is filent, and no longer utters its enchanting mufic, yet there is eloquence in that filence.

A Song on Mifs Catley.
To the Tune of Nancy Dawfon.
F all the nymphs upon the stage,
Who can delight this stage- ftruck
age,

Fair truth affirms, and will engage,

There's none like fweet Mifs Catley. She moves her limbs with so much grace, There's fo much beauty in her face, That Peers would with it were their cafe,

To live and die with Catley. Though London Yates and Baddely boaits,

With many other famous toafts, There's none on all the world's wide coafts,

Can please like sweet Mifs Catley. To form this fair one quite compleat, The Deities in Synod meet, Refolv'd the world fhould all he beat

By charming, fmiling Catley.

And firft, the lovely Cyprian queen
B ftow d an eafy fhape and mien,
As ever fure were drawn or feen.

K k 2

On beautiful Mifs Catley. Mine

Minerva taught to gain each heart,
Bright Phoebus did his wit impart,
And Cupid gave his bow and dart,

To pleasing, sprightly Catley.
The Muses then bestow'd their fire,
The Graces did the foul inspire,
And fair Euterpe gave her lyre

To fweetly fmiling Catley. Whene'er fhe on the ftage does move, She emulates the queen of love, Enough to fire the breast of Jove;

So great's the power of Catley.

When the displays her wondrous charms, The coldest heart with love fhe warms, And e'en four critics rage difarms;

Such pow'r has fweet Mifs Catley. Ye bards, to her then tune your lays, Hibernia's fons, your voices raise, To fpread the fame, and found the praife, Of sprightly, sweet Mifs Catley. Defcription of a popular Entertainment, in Spain, generally known by the Name of a Bull-fight. Extracted from Mr. Twifs's Travels through Portugal and Spain, juft published.

IN

N Port St. Mary there are annually ten, in Cadiz twelve, in Seville four, in Granada four, and in Madrid and in Aranjues each fix, on the Sundays of the months of June, July, and Auguft, because the bulls will not fight except during the hot feaon.

The amphitheatre of Port St. Mary, as well as that of Cadiz, is entirely built of wood, and of no better architecture than the fcaffoldings at Tyburn. At four in the afternoon I fecured one of the beft places, paying fifteen reals, or three fhillings and four-pence. Thofe on the fide which is expofed to the fun, are only ten reals, and the loweft places are fixpence each. The amphitheatre was foon filled, the boxes with ladies and gentlemen full dreffed, and the benches underneath with the mob: the coup d'oeil was very pleafing, efpecially by reafon of its novelty. If women acted confiftently, it were to be wondered at how thofe who would either faint, or feign to faint, at the fight of a frog, a fpider, &c. can delight in fpectacles fo barbarous as thefe are, where they are certain of seeing a number of bulls expire in agonies, horfes with their bellies ripped open, men toffed on the beafts horns, or trampled to death, and every fpecies of cruelty exhibited; but, as they do not act confittently, the wonder ceafes: the greater the barbarity, and the more the bloodhed, the greater enjoyment they teftify,

clapping their hands, waving their handkerchiefs, and hallooing, the more to enrage the bull. I have feen fome women throw handfulls of nuts into the area of the combat, in hopes of caufing the men who fight the bull on foot to fall over them. But as no general rule is without its exceptions, I own with pleasure, that I am acquainted with many Spanish ladies who never were prefent at a bullfight, neither did they intend to fee one*. The governor of the city having feated himself in his box, the men who were to fight the bulls made him their obeifance; the area was then cleared of the mob, by a company of foldiers, who placed themselves juft within the rails, which are breaft high. Ten bulls, which is the fixed number, were to be killed. Three men on horseback were to encoun

ter the bull; these are called Picadores, jockeys: befides these, were four men who were to fight on foot, these they term Vanderilleros, flag-bearers, and three Matadores, flayers. These are all butchers, cattle-drivers, &c. trained up from their youth to, and who gain their livelihood by this perilous profeffion: the first are paid between three and four pounds each, every day on which they fight; the fecond have half that fum; but the laft, by being expofed to danger, and more dexterity being required of them, are allowed ten or twelve pounds each. Seventy or eighty horfes are kept in readinefs in an adjacent ftable: each of these beasts is of the value of about five or fix pounds; as they are often killed, and almost always maimed, these answer the purpofe fufficiently. The faddles have a high peak before and behind, without which it would be impoffible to fit on the horfes, which are with great difficulty made to face the bull; fometimes they tremble with terror, rear up, kick, and are ungovernable; they are then obliged to have a handkerchief tied over their eyes, especially those who have been wounded in fome former combat. Their riders wear a kind of breeches and boots made of very thick buff-leather, more impenetrable than even the bottes fortes of the French poftilions, but fupple; these are to prevent the bull's horns from goring the man fo eafily as he might otherwife do; ftrong fpurs are faftened to their heels. They are dreffed in a waistcoat and short cloak, a broad brimmed hat NOT E.

*The Reverend Mr. Clarke fays, that he faw ladies feafting with these bloody fcenes thofe eyes which were intended only to be exercised in fofter cruel

ties.'

on

on their heads, tied by a ribbon under their chins: their left hand manages the reins, and in their right they have a lance as thick as the wrift, and ten feet long, armed with a broad iron blade of a foot in length, but which is, by a thong twifted round it, prevented from entering more than a hand's breadth into the bull's body. The foot-men wear light jackets and a long cloak; they have each a fmall dart in their hands, with a barbed point; the dart is ornamented with cut paper, like fly-traps: there are baskets full of thefe darts behind the balluftrades, as the men frequently use half a dozen apiece to each bull, which, when dead, is dragged away with all the darts fticking in its body. The Matadores are habited in the fame manner as the laft mentioned; and likewife amufe themfelves by ftriking darts into the bulls. Their particular office will be explained hereafter.

Every thing being ready, the bulls remained to be driven across the area from the ftables where they were, to a fmaller ftable behind the amphitheatre, where each was to be kept apart. The firft itable was not far from the amphitheatre, and a wall of boards fix feet high was put up the whole way the bulls were to pafs. At a quarter past four the ten bulls were led into the area, in order to be put into the ftables at the opposite door; a man on foot led a tame ox, which had been bred with the bulls, before, to decoy him into thefe: they followed the ox very quietly; but they do not always do fo. The three horfemen placed themselves at a distance, one on each fide of, and the other oppofite the door at which the bull was to enter: a trumpet was then founded as a fignal to let a bull in, and the man who opened the door got behind it immediately.

During this last quarter of an hour the bulls had been teazed by pricking them in the backs: this is done by perfons placed on the ceiling of the tables, which was low, and confifted only of a plank laid here and there, and between thofe planks was ipace enough to use any inftrument for that purpose. The bulls were. diftinguished by a fmall knot of ribbon fixed to their shoulder, the different colours of which fhew where they were bred, which is known by the advertise

ments.

The bull made at the first horfeman, who received it on the point of the fpear, held in the middle tight to his fide, and paffing under his arm pit, which making a wide gafli in the bull's fhoulder, occaGoned it to draw back, the blood run

ning in torrents: the force with which the bull ran at the man was fo great, that the shock had nearly overset him and his horfe. It was then another man's turn to wound the bull, as only one is to cope with it at a time. They are never allowed to attack the bull, but must wait the animal's approach. The bull trotted into the middle of the area, and ftared about, frighted at the clapping and hallooing of the multitude; the man ou horfeback always facing the beast, and turning when it turned: it then ran at the horse, and got another wound in the breast, and a third from the next horseman it attacked. It was now become mad with pain, the blood iffuing from its mouth in ftreams, and faintnefs made it stagger, its eyes flashed fury,' it pawed up the ground, and lashed its fides with its tail; its breath was impetuously discharged like fmoke from its noftrils; fo that its head appeared as if in a mift. A trumpet then founded, which was the fignal for the horfemen to retire; and the men on foot began their attack, fticking barbed darts into every part of its body; the torture they inflicted made the bull leap from the ground, and run furiously at one of the men, who jumped afide; the bull then turned to another man, who had just stuck a dart into its back: this man took to his heels, and leaped over the rails, where he was fafe: in this manner all the men continued tormenting the bull, who could hardly ftand through lofs of blood. The trumpet then founded again, upon which the Matador appeared, with a cloak extended on a fhort ftick in his left hand, and in his right a two-edged fword, the blade of which was flat, four inches broad, and a yard long; he stood ftill, and at the moment the bull, in the agonies of defpair and death, made at him, he plunged the fword into the fpine behind the beaft's horns, which inftantly made him drop down dead. If the Matador milles his aim, and cannot defend himself with the cloak, he lofes his life, as the bull exerts all its remaining itrength with an almoft inconceivable fury The dead bull was immediately dragged out of the area by three horses on a full gallop, whofe traces were fastened to its horns. A quarter of an hour was elapNOTE.

When the Matador fucceeds in killing the bull by a fingle thruft, the populace throw money to him: I faw a Spanish nobleman fling a gold piece of three hundred reals, three pounds fix fhillings and eight pence, into the area for him, on one of those occafions,

fed.

fed, which is the time allowed for the murder of each bull, five minutes to the horsemen, five to the footmen, and five to the flayer.

Another bull was then let in: this was the wildest and most furious of any lever faw. The horfeman miffed his aim, and the bull thrust its horns into the horfe's belly, making the bowels hang out the horse became ungovernable, fo that the man was obliged to difmount and abandon it to the bull, who purfued it round the area, till at last the horse fell, and expired. Four other horfes were fucceffively killed by this bull, which, till then, had only received flight wounds, though one of the horses had kicked its jaw to pieces. One of the horfemen broke his fpear in the bull's neck, and horfe and rider fell to the ground; the rider broke his leg, and was carried off. The footmen then fell to work again, and afterwards the matador put an end to the life of this valiant animal, whofe ftrength and courage were unavailing to fave it. The third bull killed two horfes, goring them under the belly, fo that the intestines hung trailing on the ground. The seventh bull likewife killed two horfes. In this manner were ten bulls maffacred, and the whole concluded in two hours and a half. The bulls fleth was immediately fold to the , populace at ten quartos per pound, which is about three pence.

When the last bull had been fufficiently wounded by the horsemen, the mob was allowed to enter the area; they attacked the bull on all sides, and killed it with their knives and daggers. The bull fometimes toffes fome of thefe fellows over its head,

The Spanish bulls are shaped like Englifh oxen; their horns are very long, and they never bellow, or make the leaft noise when they fight.

The foot-combatants are not expofed to much danger; their fecurity depends upon their cloaks, which they fling on the bull's head when purfued by it, and by that means evade the animal, which always fhuts its eyes before it pushes. Much of their fafety is likewife owing to their number; because when the bull runs at one man, another attacks it behind and makes it turn. Some of these fellows will wait the bull's coming, and then purposely fall flat down, when the beast runs over them, and fpends its fury in the air. Some caft their hats on the ground, which diverts the bull from the purfuit, Some bulls will not fight at all: but of those which do, each has its pe

culiar manner. I afterwards faw feveral of the former; the populace cried out, " los peros, los peros," the dogs, the dogs;" upon which three bull-dogs were fet loofe, and in a moment seized the bull by the noftrils, with a fiercenefs equal, if not superior to that of the En→ glifh dogs; they pinned it to the ground, and then the matador killed it, by ftrik→ ing a small dagger into the fpine behind the horns; the dogs could not be forced to quit their hold, even though the bull was dead, till their mafters had almost ftrangled them by twifting ropes round their necks. Thefe dogs are of the breed of those which the Spaniards carried with them when they conquered America, and by means of which they fo barbaroufly caused the natives to be torn to pieces.

The bulls fkins are generally pierced with fo many holes, or wounds, that they might be compared to fieves. Sometimes a bull leaps over the rails among the people; but this unwelcome vifitor is foon killed, being entangled between the benches. The horsemen always endeavour to place themselves fronting the bull, rather towards its left fide, when they can the better direct their lance which they have in their right hand. The next day being a festival, I saw another bullfight, which was performed in the fame manner, but the ten bulls were not fa quiet when they croffed the amphitheatre before the combat began: irritated by the noife of the multitude, they wreaked their vengeance on the man who led the tame ox: they toffed him on their horns from one to another for several minutes = the fellow however escaped with life, but terribly wounded. Nine of the bulls went at last into the ftable, but the tenth attacking the horsemen, was difpatched in the ufual way by all the combatants fucceffively. The bulls fometimes halt, and smell at the blood which flows on the ground; and often when they have advanced half way in their career, they ftop fhort, and survey the man on horfeback calmly, whereup on they feem to collect courage, and then their fury redoubles. Sometimes the horse and the bull are both feen standing on their hind legs, leaning against each other; the cavalier's fpear being in the bull's neck; but as this animal is the hea viest of the two, its weight always preponderates, fo that the horse has no means of efcaping but by flight, and the bull is fo fwift in pursuing, that it will follow a horfe on full gallop three or four times round the area without lofing

ground,