It appears, that in the North of Spain, so little encouragement is given to the arts, that even physicians are not able to obtain support; that prints are unsaleable, and no new publications appear but newspapers; that the tradesmen neglect their persons, very seldom shaving, and having frequently a cigar in their mouths; that the breath of the ladies smells of garlick; that the gentlemen smoke cigars in bed; that there is hardly a single manufactory in the kingdom belonging to a native in a flourishing state; that, from recent political events, the flocks have been neglected, and the wool deteriorated; that cleanliness is neglected, and rats and mice unmolested; that the porters of the most respectable houses are cobblers, who work at their trades at their doors; that women are employed in loading and unloading ships; and that they, as well as the servants in houses, carry every thing on their heads, even lighted candles, without the least fear of their being extinguished; that oxen are tied to carts by their horns; that in the inns, generally, no one can read or write but the landlords; that the constitutional soldiers, for their fare, generally took a leathern bag, (barracho,) and got it filled with red wine as sour as vinegar; not appearing to wish for meat, bread and cheese, with boiled soup, onions, and garlick, forming the substance of their frugal repasts; that no memorial is erected on the spot where the battle of Vittoria was fought in 1813; and that, in fact, there is no national feeling in the country.

* * * * *

THE EQUIVOCAL GENTLEMAN

Must always keep his dignity, for his dignity will not keep him.  We have no objection to meet him at a dress party, or at the quarter sessions, nor to read his articles in the Edinburgh, the Quarterly, or the British Critic; but we request not his contributions for Maga, nor will Mr. North send him a general invitation to the Noctes.—­Blackwood’s Mag.

* * * * *

INTENSE COLD.

The lowest temperature witnessed by Capt.  Franklin in North America was on the 7th of February, of the second winter passed on the shores of Bear Lake.  At eight in the morning, the mercury in the thermometer descended to 58 deg. below zero; it had stood at -57.5 deg., and -57.3 deg. in the course of that and the preceding day; between the 5th and the 8th, its general state was from -48 deg. to -52 deg., though it occasionally rose to -43 deg..  At the temperature of -52.2 deg., Mr. Kendall froze some mercury in the mould of a pistol-bullet, and fired it against a door at the distance of six paces.  A small portion of the mercury penetrated to the depth of one-eighth of an inch, but the remainder only just lodged in the wood.  The extreme height of the mercury in the tube was from 71 deg. at noon to 73 deg. at three o’clock.—­Quarterly Rev.