The Sun.
London, England, 1837-01-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 1837.

LITERATURE.

,
REV OL U MOATS 44 A.,..Y.1:0;;: 1608 to the end if
1835. In 2 Vols: ✓
By TV. IVAzi6:47, Liiiicloh; R. Bentley, 1837.

Of the liihriheig ‘'iildliat.i; 'i4.4itt.i:,ii iii ..-.1.111.--ieit of tl.

claims of Don Carlos, Mr. Walton deserves to occupy
the place of honour in the very first rank. His worl;
displays a degree of patient research, of curious in-
formation, of skill iii tho dill tit detail i ifild an
elevation of style, Ivhich all hut raise it to the dignity
of an historical composition: We cannot, therefore,
but regret that so much valuable labour has heen sa-
crificed in an evanescent struggle between parties, nei-
ther of which will be either injured or benefited by it.
The war in Spain will be long orer, before either the
Carlists or the Christinos will allow themselves to be
instructed by the perusal of Mr. Walton's book ; and
as for the people of England, our Government has
already decided upon the course which they are likely

to pursue with respect to the belligerents.
Had Mr. Walton not been blinded by his preju-
dices, or led astray by his visionary enthusiasm in fa-
vour of the Spanish Pretender, he never could have

drawn such strange conclusions from the premises
which he himself has laid down in his introduction.
He there rightly states, that by the ancient Constitu-
tion of Spain, the will of the Cortes was the supreme
law of the Monarchy—that they set aside the testa-
ments of the Sovereigns, and even changed the order
of the succession by their mere motion—without assign-
ing any other cause for so doing than their zeal to pro-

mote the public good. He further admits that the
ancient Kings of Spain could not levy taxes—impose
ordinances—declare war—make peace—or enter into
alliances, offensive or defensive, with Foreign Powers,
without previously obtaining the consent of the Cortes.
This is strictly true. Hallam, in his History of
the Middle Ages, asserts that Spain was the first
country in Europe, in which all the necessary
elements of a strictly representative Government
were developed and perfected ; and that such was
the extreme vigilance, on the toad of the people,
that the King was not allowed a more unlimited power
than is usually granted to the Presidents of Federal
Governments elected for life. From the accession of
the Emperor Charles V., however, the Kings gra-
dually encroached upon the liberties of the Cortes,
and in process of time stripped them of their
most valuable privileges. To obviate the necessity
of summoning them to vote supplies, they created mo-
nopolies to the ruin of trade and commerce, and the
destruction of the ancient barriers which protected
from invasion institutions so dear to the memory of the
Spanish people. Nevertheless the direct power of the
Crown was always less influential than that ofthe Juntas
in most of the Provinces. It was therefore through
them that it exercised its chief authority, and though
it made the people wretched, it failed it its efforts

to enslave them. There were besides certain grave
questions which it never dared to decide upon without
the consent of the Cortes, and to whose sole jurisdiction
it judged them to belong. Of these the most momen-

tous was that of the succession to the Crown. On the
death of King Henry IV., the Cortes set aside his
will, and changed the succession from the deceased
King's daughter to his sister, though that Princess
had previously taken the oath of
.allegiance to the in-
fant Queen, as did likewise the great functionaries of
the Kingdom. In the reign of Philip V. the Cortes
decreed the non-eligibility of females to the Crown ;
and again in that of Charles IV., they met to
annul that law, thereby proving—before the accession
of Ferdinand Vll.—that they considered themselves
fully competent to change the succession in any manner
they pleased. This, in our opinion, decides the ques-
tion of the legitimacy of Isabella 11. We give up at
once the will made by Ferdinand on his death-bed in
favour of his daughter. We are indifferent to what
he might have done under any conceivable circum-
stances, persuaded as we are that he had no more
right to dispose of the Crown of Spain than have we
to dispose of the imperial diadem of Austria. Spain
neither belonged to Fredinand nor to his family ; and
were it the will of the people to rid the country of
every Bourbon upon its surface, there is not an honest
man in Europe acquainted with her history from the
accession of Charles IV. to the present moment, who
could lay his hand upon his bosom and pronounce the
deed an infraction of the principles of eternal justice.
The Bourbons from first to last were the curse of
Spain. Charles IV. was a doting idiot—the tool of
his wife's acknowledged paramour ; Ferdinand was not
a jot better; and of Don Carlos, it is enough to say
that he was one of the very first to abdicate all claims
to the crown in favour of Napoleon, as is attested by
his signature attached to the Convention of Bayonne—.
a circumstance which, if we remember rightly, is par-
ticularly set forth in the memoirs of Godoy, the Prince
of the Peace, but of which Mr. Walton appears to
have no knowledge.
We may, without any injustice to the Author, pass
over his vivid descriptions of the civil war in the Basques
since the rising of the Carlists in these provinces. The
various events are too fresh in the minds of our readers
to render a recapitulation of them desirable. With all
its faults, we again repeat, that Mr. Walton's book is
by far the best that has yet appeared in this country,
respecting the civil polity and present condition of
Spain. But for the spirit of petty partizanship which
pervades it—which blinds the author to the crimes
of the Government, and leads him to cast all blame
upon the Cortes —these volumes would have formed a
valuable addition to our modern literature. The work
is embellished with handsome portraits of Don Carlos
and his late Consort, under the style and title of King
and Queen of Spain and the Indies.

On Tuesday morning last a single man, named
John Johnson, was found in the snow at the village of
Streatley, near Luton, dead. It appears that he had come
from Streatley to Luton on the previous day, to assist in
clearing away the snow to allow the Ampthill waggon to
pass ; and that he remained all day at Luton drinking with
a companion, who, on their return, left him to perish in
the snow, within a short distance of their homes. It was
strongly suspected that the deceased had been the victim of
some foul play from his companion, as they had been
heard quarrelling as they passed the turnpike ; but this
was not borne out by the evidence before the Coroner, and
the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death."—Bed-
fird paper.

LEWES.—Since our last account a huge mass of
snow rolled down with great force on the ridge of the chalk-
pit, and carried away the roof of a granary, in which was stored
a quantity of wheat belonging to Mr. Hilman. The immense
accumulation of snow on the top °file Downs has rendered
it necessary to block up the road beneath, till the danger i 3
removed. A great number of men are still employed in
cutting away the snow from the top of the hills ; it rolls
down in heaps into the road, and is thence thrown into the
river by workmen below. Several days will probably elapse
before the road can be opened. A brig in the river was very
much shattered by the fall of snow, which stopped the na-
vigation. The following is a statement made by Mrs. Sher-
lock, one of the parties extricated from the ruins of the
cottages :—" My daughter-in-law and I were sitting by
the fire at about a quarter past 10, dressing and washing the
children, when Mrs. Potter came in, and told us to be
quick and dress the baby, for we must go, as they expected
the snow to fall on the houses every moment. She had
been gone about a minute or two, when it came over
at once pitch dark. We were all flung down. I fell close
to the bed, and I could feel part of the bedstead come
over me. My daughter-in-law, I think, fell with her head
against the chest of drawers. She moaned very much.
After some time the baby moved and cried.. I pushed it
on to her, and said, Jane try and give the baby the
breast.' She said, I've done that for the last time, mo-

ther.' I after that heard the noise of people overhead ;
I slipped my band along and laid hold of hers, and told
her to keep up her spirits, for I heard noise of spades
above, and I was sure they would dig us out. She made
no answer, but only squeezed my hand hard, and gave one
scream—she was dead. I then lay as still as I could till
we were dug out."—Brighton Paver.

BRIGiiTOStNDA*..

We bate great pleasure in stating that the Queen is a
great deal Veifer sorry oo report that the Du-
chess of Gloucester has putt sorry
niAti; and is not so
well to-day. Their Majesties did not attend bin worship
to-day, neither did their Royal relatives. The Bishop of
Worcesiel vI r6ictippw.
Baron Ompteda arrive calidflYri:46W,at the York Hotel.
The royal dinner invitations on Friday elegitik,
General Lord Lynedoch, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Daly, lion.
Captain Patiltt; Earl and Countess of Errol, Lord F. and
Lady A. aordtiiii iittfcl PqM€YEIT, Sir B. Stephenson,
and Mr. and Mrs. G. fiatitsOn.
Yesterday evening—Lieut.-General Lord Howard of
Effingham Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Bradford, Major-
General Sa. Jat.per Nicholls, Major-General Sir Charles
Pratt, Lieut.-Generai Sir W. Pringle, Major-General Sir
Arthur (,;lifton, Major-General Sir Charles_ Doyle, Sir L.
Otway, General Sir Samuel Dickens, Hon. (learn) Phipps,
Hon. Captain Paulett, Colonel Sir James Reynett, and
General Lord Lynedoeli.
His Majesty honoured Mr. Newton with another sitting
yesterday for his miniature.
The Kinc, gave audience yesterday to the Marquis Co-
nyngham and Sir James Reynett.
Among the calls at the Palace this day arc—General
Phipps, Sir J., Lady, and the Misses Lloyd, Colonel El-
phinstone, Lord Howard of Effingham, Major-General Sir
Loftus and Lady Otway, Major-General Sir C. Pratt, Earl
and Countess of Wicklow, Lieut,-General Sir W. Pringle,
Mr. and Lady Katherine Stewart.
The Duchess of St. Alban's had a splendid party on
Twelfth Night. Dancing was kept up till three o'clock in
the morning; The company included—Lord Adolphus
Fitzclarence, the Earl of Errol, the Duchess of Cannizzarro,
the Earl and Countess of Rosse, Lady C. Capel, Lady C.
Stewart, Lady Fitzwygram, Lady Fremantle, Lady Tier-
ney, Viscount Cantalupe, Misses Burdett, Beauclerk, and
Gibbings, Lady Manners Sutton, &c. A composition from
the pen of Horace Smith, Esq., was read by the Duke.
A gentleman of the name of Foord has recently invented
a fire escape, and yesterday morning, by permission of his
Majesty, he was allowed to make an experiment in the Pa-
lace grounds, in the presence of Sir Benjamin Stephenson,
Sir Horace Seymour, Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, and
several of the Royal suite. The construction of the appa-
ratus appears to be simple but effective. Mr. Foord says
that twelve persons might be removed from a third story in
a minute. Prince Edward ascended in the seat, as did also
Sir Horace Seymour. • His Majesty witnessed the experi-
ment, and afterwards honoured Mr. Foord with an audi-
ence, and expressed his Royal approbation of the invention.
We perceive by the circulation of some handbills that it
is intended to get up a hurdle race. Several gentlemen,
who take an interest in the amusement, are exerting them-
selves to carry it into effect, and the Marquis Conyngham and
the Earl of Errol have consented to act as stewards.