A priest, with whom I was acquainted in Madrid, telling me one day, that he had thoughts of going to London or Paris, to print an English and Spanish Grammar, and a German and Spanish Grammar, which he had written; I asked him why he did not print them in Madrid, since they were intended for the use of his own countrymen,--especially as they could contain nothing political? His answer was, that nothing was so difficult as to obtain a license to publish a book, even although it contained no allusion to politics: and “the better the book,” said he, “the more difficult it is to obtain a license, and the more dangerous to publish; because Government does not wish to encourage writing, or even thinking, upon any subject: and the publication of a good book sets men a-thinking.” This comprehensive reply explains, pretty nearly, the present state of literature in Spain; judging of it by the number and merit of published works: The number of books published, from 1820 to 1823, was very considerable. The energy then communicated to letters, from the removal of almost all restriction, was extraordinary: books upon all subjects issued from the press; and the best proof, perhaps, that can be given, that many of these were books of talent, is, that most of them are now prohibited. Literature, however, then received an impetus, which still continues in some degree to affect it, notwithstanding the difficulties to be overcome: for there is a considerably greater number of books published now, than previous to the revolution; and no reasonable doubt can be entertained, that another removal of the restrictions which press upon literature, would bring into the field a large accession of native talent. Even after a license has been obtained to publish a manuscript, its publication is still a dangerous speculation; because it frequently happens, that when the book is printed, and partly circulated, some great man, even more fastidious than the censors, discovers a dubious passage, and the book is prohibited. There are four difficulties, therefore, which an author must resolve to face, before he sits down to prepare his manuscript:--the probability that he may be refused a license; the probability that, before being licensed, his manuscript may be mutilated--a probability that, I am told, amounts almost to a certainty, unless the work be upon one of the exact sciences; the probability that, after the work be published, some caprice may forbid its sale; and the certainty, that if the work be a talented work, the author of it, whether obtaining his license or no, will be looked upon with suspicion; and, if in Government employment, will almost certainly lose his appointment.