to Charles the third for. bringing the whole to its-
prefent flate of. beauty, and'making the new road from:
Madrid, and the noble ftone bridge over the Jarama :
if the defîgn is continued of planting trees on each fida
of the roadj.it will-add greatly to its magnificence.
■ A- topographical plan o f Aranjuez and the. improvement
there, has been executed by. Don Domingo de
Aguirre, captain of engineers, in fixteen iheets-, and thé:
views in eight more. In fhort,, thefe rural places have
fo many charms-, that they cannot fail, o f pleafing every,
fancy, and meeting, univerfal acceptation, as Lupercio
Leonardo de Argenfolà, has happily expreifed it, in. a;
little poem in praife o f thefe gardens-. ,
Qualquiera aqui fu condition aplica,,
Aunque fu.origen trayga de otra parte,
Do el fol. menos, o mas fe comunicà,!:
But this is only to be undcrftood with refpeét to the prosper,
feafon o f the year, fuited to its fituation, for as it'
lies in a bottom furroundèd with, mountains, the air is
of courfe confined; which added to the great- quantity,
o f water,, and- numerous plantations, makes it agueifli
when the hot weather begins,, for which reafon the
court generally removes about; the end o f May, and
gpes foon after to St. Ildefonfoj which is a very high:
fituation. amongit the mountains of Guadarrama, where
they
they begin a new fpring and breathe a clear refreihing
air during the fcorching heats-of fummer.
Great quantities o f liquorice grow wild near the
road between Aranjuez and Toledo, as well as on the
banks of the Tagus, where one alfo finds thofe curious
reeds made ufe o f by the Romans for writing, and
celebrated by Martial, in an epigram addreifed to Macer,
•who had been pretor in Spain.
Nos Celt as, Macer, et truces Iberos,
Cum deiiderio tui petemus,
Sed quocumque tamen feretur, illic
Pifcofi CalamoTagi, notata
M a c r u m , p a g i n a n o f t r a n o m i n a b i t , L i b . x .
The caftle o f Aceca dependent On the jurifdidiion o f
Aranjuez though kept in good order, is more taken notice
o f on account o f its former reputation, and antiquity,
than from any other circumftance. Its diftrid is
fuppofed to have belonged formerly to a colony o f
Jews from Toledo, and fo named from azeba in Paleftine
peopled by Jofhua (a). There is no doubt that the Jews
were in great repute in Spain in the early ages, info-
much that in 686, under the gothic king Ervigius, they
had the boldnefs to alfert, and endeavoured to perfwade
the king, that the Meffiah Was not come. Their de-
(®) Kings. Book 1. chap. 17.
fcendants