Besides the soft sound of the _g_, there are two other sounds unknown in Spanish, though common in Portugal and France, left by their former Celtic inhabitants, those of the _sh_ or French _j_, and the disagreeable nasal pronunciation of the letter _n_. The latter is very slightly given in _Don_, and a few other words, but the other is unknown. In Portuguese it is so prevalent that they even use it for Latin words which it would be difficult to recognize at first as the originals from which the others were derived; thus the words _pluvia_, _plorare_, transformed in Spanish into _lluvia_, _lorar_, are in Portuguese further transformed into _chuva_ (_shuva_), _chorar_ (_shorar_). The natives of Galicia speak a dialect more allied to Portuguese than the Spanish, being of more decided Celtic descent, like the Portuguese, than the rest of the people of the Peninsula. The natives of Catalonia speak a dialect half French, half Spanish, which may be considered the representative of the ancient Provencal or Limoisin. It is very guttural as well as nasal. The Basque or Biscayan language is entirely distinct from the modern Spanish, and also from the Latin, the Celtic, or that of any neighbouring country, and is well deserving of study. It has no harsh or disagreeable sounds in it, and abounds in vowels, many words having not a single consonant in them. ERRATA. Page xxii line 30, _instead of_ association, _read_ assertion. -- 11, -- 18, ---- “make it a well,” _read_ “use it for a well.” -- 60, -- 7, ---- suffice _read_ suffices. -- 66, -- 11, ---- sensibly _read_ sensitively. -- 157, -- 23, ---- sage _read_ shade. -- 271, -- 29, ---- nineteen _read_ eighteen. -- 301, -- 12, ---- “of Lord Byron’s,” _read_ “in Lord Byron’s.” Page 145, line 4, “has been announced,” &c. This statement is erroneous, the reference having been made to Mr. J. Russell’s Life of Gonzalo de Còrdova, translated from Quintana’s first volume, London, 1851. CONTENTS. Page DEDICATION iii INTRODUCTION. On the character of Spanish Poetry, Ancient and Modern.--Causes affecting it suggested from considerations of Roman civilization, Moorish wars, and personal history of the principal Poets.--Works on Spanish literature: Remarks on translation and language.--References to other modern Poets.--Spanish metres and versification vii PRELIMINARY NOTE. On the pronunciation of Spanish names and words xxxiii PART I. I. GASPAR MELCHOR DE JOVELLANOS. Memoir of 3