mself, since as the Relations on
both Sides were considerable, he must consequently be in great Danger;
That in Cases of that Nature, no People in the World carry Things to
greater Extremities, than the _Spaniards_. He return'd me Thanks for my
good Advice, which I understood, in a few Days after, he, with the
Assistance of his Friends, had taken Care to put in Practice; for he was
convey'd away secretly, and afterwards had the Honour to be made a Peer
of _Ireland_.

My Passport being at last sign'd by the Count _de las Torres_, I
prepared for a Journey, I had long and ardently wish'd for, and set out
from _Madrid_, in the Beginning of _September_, 1712, in Order to return
to my native Country.

Accordingly I set forward upon my Journey, but having heard, both before
and since my being in _Spain_, very famous Things spoken of the
_Escurial_; though it was a League out of my Road, I resolved to make it
a Visit. And I must confess, when I came there, I was so far from
condemning my Curiosity, that I chose to congratulate my good Fortune,
that had, at half a Day's Expence, feasted my Eyes with Extraordinaries,
which would have justify'd a Twelve-months' Journey on purpose.

The Structure is intirely magnificent, beyond any Thing I ever saw, or
any Thing my Imagination could frame. It is composed of eleven several
Quadrangles, with noble Cloisters round every one of them. The Front to
the West is adorn'd with three stately Gates; every one of a different
Model, yet every one the Model of nicest Architecture. The Middlemost of
the three leads into a fine Chapel of the _Hieronomites_, as they call
them; in which are entertain'd one hundred and fifty Monks. At every of
the four Corners of this august Fabrick, there is a Turret of excellent
Workmanship, which yields to the Whole an extraordinary Air of Grandure.
The King's Palace is on the North, nearest that Mountain, whence the
Stone it is built of was hew'n; and all the South Part is set off with
many Galleries, both beautiful and sumptuous.

This prodigious Pile, which, as I have said, exceeds all that I ever
saw; and which would ask, of it self, a Volume to particularize, was
built by _Philip_ the Second. He lay'd the first Stone, yet liv'd to see
it finished; and lies buryed in the _Panthaeon_, a Part of it, set apart
for the Burial-place of succeeding Princes, as well as himself. It was
dedicated to Saint _Laurence_, in the very Foundation; and therefore
built in the