The Escurial, - is a royal residence of Spain, fifteen miles aorth-west of Madrid. It is the largest and most superb structure in the kingdom, and one of the finest in Europe. The word is Arabic, meaning "a place full of rocks." It is built in a dry barren spot, surrounded with rugged mountains, insomuch that every thing which grows there is owing to art. This place was chosen, it is said, for the sake of the stone wherewith the fabric is built, which is got from a mountain just by, and is very durable; and the design of erecting it was to commemorate a victory which Philip II. obtained over the French (by the assistance of the English forces) at St. Quintin, on St. Lawrence's day, in the year 1557.

The Spanish description of this structure forms a sizeable quarto volume. Its founder expended upon it six millions of ducats. The apartments are decorated with an astonishing variety of paintings, sculpture, tapestry, ornaments of gold and silver, marble, jasper, gems, and other curious stones, surpassing all imagination. This building, besides its palace, contains a church, large and richly ornamented; a mausoleum; cloisters; a convent; a college; and a library, containing about thirty thousand volumes; besides large apartments for all kinds of artists and mechanics, noble walks, with extensive parks and gardens, beautified with fountains and costly ornaments. The fathers that live in the convent are two hundred, and they have an annual revenue of £12,000.

It was begun by Philip in 1562, five years after the battle, and completed in twenty-two years. It consists of several courts and quadrangles, which all together are disposed in the shape of a gridiron, the instrument of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence; the apartment where the king resides, forming the handle. The building is a long square, of six hundred and forty by five hundred and eighty feet, and the height up to the roof is sixty feet all round, except on the garden side, where the ground is more taken away. At each angle is a square tower, two hundred feet high. The number of windows in the west front is exactly 200; in the east front, 366. The orders are Doric and Ionic. There are three doors in the principal front. Over the grand entrance are the arms of Spain, carved in stone; and a little higher, in a niche, a statue of St. Lawrence in a deacon's habit, with a gilt gridiron in his right hand, and a book in his left. Directly over the door is a basso-relievo of two enormous gridirons, in stone.

This vast structure, however, with its narrow high towers, small windows, and steep sloping roof, exhibits a very uncouth style of architecture; at the same time that the domes, and the immense extent of its fronts, render it a wonderfully grand object from every point of view.

The church is in the centre, is large, awful, and richly ornamented. The cupola is bold and light. The high altar is composed of rich marbles, agates, and jaspers of great rarity, the produce of this kingdom. Two magnificent catafalcos fill up the side arcades of this sanctuary: on one, the emperor Charles V. his wife, daughter, and two sisters, are represented in bronze, larger than life, kneeling; opposite are the effigies of Philip II. ar d of his three wives, of the same materials, and in the same devout attitude. Underneath, is the burial-place of the royal family, called the Pantheon: twenty-five steps lead down to this vault, over the door of which is a Latin inscription, denoting, that "this place, sacred to the remains of the Catholic kings, was intended by Charles the emperor, resolved upon by Philip II. begun by Philip III. and completed by Philip IV." The mausoleum is circular, thirty-six feet in diameter, and incrusted with fine marbles in an elegant taste. The bodies of the kings and queens lie in tombs of marble, in niches, one above the other. The plan of these sepulchres is grand, and executed with a princely magnificence; but, as a modern traveller observes, in a style rather too gay, too light, and too delicately fitted up, for the idea we are apt to form of a chapel destined for the reception of the dead. The collection of pictures dispersed about various parts of the church, sacristy, and convent, has been considered as equal, if not superior, to any gallery in Europe, except tnat of Dresden. Formed out of the spoils of Italy, and the wasted cabinet of that unfortunate monarch, Charles I. of England, it contains some of the most capital works of the greatest painters that have flourished since the revival of the art. In the sacristy is an altar called La Santa Forma: this is a kind of tabernacle of gems, marbles, woods, and other precious materials, inlaid in gilt bronze; in which, rather than in the excellence of the workmanship, or taste of the design, consists the merit of this rock of riches. Before it hangs a curtain, on which Coello has represented Charles II. and all his court in procession, coming to place this Forma..

This is esteemed one of the most curious collections of portraits in the world; for all the persons are drawn with the greatest strength of colour and truth of expression, and are said to be perfect resemblances, not only of the monarch and grandees, but even of the monks, servants, and guards. The statues, busts, and the medallions of the Escurial, are neither very numerous, nor remarkable for their excellence; but the library contains a most precious collection of manuscripts, many fine drawings, and other curiosities.

Notwithstanding the coldness of the exposure, the late king, for the sake of hunting, used to pass several months of the year at this palace.