The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-22 00:00:00

AN HISTORICAL PARALLEL.

Somewhat more than a century and a half ago King
Charles 11. of Spain and bis Queen Louisa, were in a
very unhappy position. A domineering intriguer had,
indeed, been dismissed front the control of affairs, and a
new Administration had been formed of as good mate-
rials as Madrid and Buenretiro could supply, to the de-
cent satisfaction of the King, and the tolerable content
of the Court. But the work was only half done. It is
true that the new valido had made a magnificent entry
into office, and had signalised his triumphant accession
to power by a levee conducted with the profoundest
Castilian etiquette. In one of the chief Royal chambers
was placed a gorgeous bed, and herein the Duke de Me-
dina Celi lay in state, with his collar, mantle, fea-
thered hat, and all the diamonds of his house. The
obsequious visitors swept in silent scores by this genial
couch, and nobody could doubt but that its possessor
was indeed First Minister of Spain. But in this
romantic country there is a camera came? uncut, an
inner and a closer room, a more compact, indeed, but a
less manageable body than that to which our Charles 11.
first thought of reducing the straggling and unorganised
privy council of ancient royalty. Though the Duke de
Medina Celi was Lord of the Council he was not lord
of the closet, and the camarilla was quite powerful
enough to disconcert him and to discompose his master.
The members of this faction were but three in number,
and cf these the Carnarera-mayor was by far the most
terrible. She was na less a personage than the Duchess
of Terranueva, and not a woman was there in all Madrid,
from the Queen to the most humble maze, who did
not heartily wish that her residence could not be perma-
nently fixed in the land vv hich conferred her title. Tho
craft and subtlety of this old ogress were really frightful,
and all the privileges of her place and the powers of her
presumption were exerted to worry the unfortunate
Queen and upset the Roy al household. It was a sacred
and eternal article of the Court code that a Queen of
Spain should go to bed at ten &clock in summer and
nine in winter, and any deduction from the siete partidas
might probably have been suspended with less uproar
than this solemn edict. The unhappy Louisa liked to sit
up a little later, but the Duchess and her maids were be-
hind her, and ten minutes before the hour approached
these satellites, at a signal from their mistress, used
to: pounce upon her while yet at supper, pull off her
shoes under the table, undress her head, and
hurry her off to bed with a discipline surpassing that re-
commended for the House of Commons by Mr. Brother-
ton. Every human or brute companion in whom the
Queen delighted was persecuted and hunted eut of her
reach by the morose old Duchess, who even succeeded
at last in establishing a suspicious coldness between the
royal pair. Charles was in reality very warmly attached
to his Queen. " Ali Reyna, mi Reyna," he once cried
out to her, "ores la mas perfecta de todo el orbe." But
the old Camarera-mayor told such dreadful stories that
he did not know what to think, and at last be took a trip
to the Escurial without her. The day after his depar-
ture, however, the Queen sent him so loving a letter that
he quite relented, and dispatched to her, as a token of
his undiminished affection, a sandal-wood bracelet, with
a billet doux from his own hand :—" Madam, it is a great
storm of wind here. I have killed six wolves."
But the mischief still continued, and bid fair to do so,

for nothing could cure it but the riddance of the Duchess;
and the Duchess, as the old hag very well knew, could
not be got rid of without such a revolution as would
convulse to its centre the constitution of the Palace.
The King of Spain was a mighty King, but his maid-
servants presumed to be mightier, and it was ruled that
the absolution of the Most Catholic Crown stopped short
at the Royal bedchamber. A Camerara-mayor never
had been dismissed. The thing was quite impossible.
They had often been very much in the way; but nobody
had dared to put them out of it. At last the Duchess
outstripped even her own spite. The poor Queen had a
pair of parrots, the only relic of her pets, which talked
French and screamed at the duenna. The Duchess watched
her time, and when the Queen went out one day, she ordered
the parrots into her room, took them out of their cages,
and twisted their necks off. Female nature could en-
dure no longer, and Queen Louisa, selecting a judicious
opportunity,_ told the King that the Camarera-mayor
must be sent adrift. Charles turned very pale at the
mention of the word, and the desperation of the deed ;
but at length, with the boldness of a Royal namesake,
and happily with better fortune, he signed the fatal or-
donnance. As soon as an intrepid messenger could be
discovered, the Duchess was told that she " must go."
She wavered for an instant between incredulity and
frenzy, and then burst into a Castillian torrent
oft buse and defiance. She said she had nothing
to do with the Queen, that the King ordered her
to stay—that she couldn't be turned out that

she wouldn't go, with other allegations and-aete;Q:
nAatt iloans st
iotl
wt
ah
se
pliket
e!layn c i l
hinted
y aton dh
earg rteheaatb l et h
ec har
edicta c teorn.
this occasion was of that special class so fashionable in
China, and that her absence would be absolutely brought
about. She rushed into the Queen's chamber, eyed her
like a crouching tigress for a few moments, dashed into
small pieces a beautiful little table, a porcelain vase, and
an exquisite Chinese fan, and at last relieved the palace
from the incubus of years.
The theory of the cycle has lately been transferred
from history to meteorology, and tropical rather than
political storms have been illustrated by reference to
some imaginary law of recurrence. But if any of our
readers will compare our little histoirette of 1680 with
the venerable register of 1847, which we have lately
published, he will admit that the days of biographical
parallels did not cease with Plutarch. Spain has once
more got an energetic Queen as well as a corrupt Court,
and it will be hard if the ordinary results of ac-
tivity 'and vigour should fail in this particular in-
stance, when honesty of purpose and innocence of heart
are rendered-still more interesting by the helplessness of
uninstructed youth and the perils of unprotected Ma-
jesty. Unfortunately we have to ascend to a remote
height in Peninsular history before we reach a period
which any friend of Spain can hope may be paralleled at
present. Yet Spain's last Queen, and Spain's last Isa-
bella, were more than once in straits worse than those
to which the representative of that glorious name has
been deliberately reduced, and if no Mendoza or Ximenes
has
yet appeared to strengthen her weakness or direct
her goodwill, we can only hope that such aids may not
be long wanting to the instinctive and untutored energy
which the first year of freedom has developed in this
youthful Sovereign.—Times.

The Emperor of Russia has justltQoct3,heiighs iegsvhreaeanualttl
uobrmraedinliewnrocasfryetnahiaesi
will
the works of the railway from St. Petersburgh to Moscow
shall be pushed forward with-the greatest activity, and the
numberbb
year,ye 5e Clu ,ateoOlfyr:
eoworkmencrl(dmiaeppr ssfeetwe It tat i
i;ipsc
theesii
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course
ue
rtmshel:

PARLIAENTARY D

IVISIONS.

(From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21.
FACTORIES BILL (REPORTED).

Amendments read a soond time; Motion made, and Ques-
tion proposed, " That this House doth agree with the Com-
mittee in the said Amendments:"—Amendment proposed, to
leave out from the word " That" to the end of the Question,
in order to add the words, " the Report be taken into further
consideration upon this day six months," instead thereof:—
Question put, " That the words proposed to be left out stand
part of the Question." The House divided ;

MAJORITY-AYES, 104.
Acland, Sir. T. - Entwisle, W. Newdegate, N.
Adderley, C. B. Evans, Sir De Lacy O'Brien, A. Stafford
Ainsworth, Peter Ewart, William Ossulston, Lord
Archdall, Captain Finch, George Owen, Sir John
Arundel, Earl of Floyer, John recite, C. W.
Bankes, George Fuller, A. E. Paget, Colonel
Bentinck, Lord G. Gaskell, J. M. Pakington, Sir J.
Bentinck, Lord H. Gladstone, Captain Palmer,iltobert
lterestord, Major Godson, R. Perfect, Robert
Bernal, Ralph Gooch, E. S. Plumptre, J. P.
Blackburne, J. I. Gore, NV. 0. Plutnridge, Captain
Blackstone, W. S. Granger, T. C. RoHeston, Colonel
Bolder°, 11. G. Grey, Sir G. Round, J.
Brainston, T. W Grimsditch, Thomas Russell, Lord J.
Broadley, Henry Raiford, Sir Henry Rutherford, A.
lirotherton, Joseph Ilatton, Captain Saudou, Viscount
Browne, W. Henley, J. W. Seymer, .Henry tier
Buck, L. W. Hervey, Lord A. Shirley, E. J.
Buller, Charles Hodgson, F. Somerville, Sir W.
!Sunbury, W. Howard, P. H. • Spooner, R.
Cabbell, B. B. Hudson, G. Strickland, Sir G.
Chichester, Lord J. Ilurst, R. H. Tolleinache, J.
Christie, W. D. Hussey, Thomas Trollope, Sir J.
Christopher, R. A. Inglis, Sir It. Troubridge, Sir E.
Colvile, C. R. lrton, S. Tufuell, ileary
Cowper, W. F. Jervis, Sir John Turner, Edmund
Crawford, W. S. Kerrison, Sir E. Waklcy, Thomas
Davies, D. A. Lambton, H. ' Walker, Richard
Denison, E. B. Lowther, lion. Col. Wawu, JT.
Douglas, Sir H. Macaulay, T. B. Williams, W.
Duncombe, T. Malnwaring, T. Wodehouse, E.
Duncombe, A.; Manners, Lord J. Yorke, 11.:H.
Dundas, Admiral Milnes, R. Meuckton
Dundas, Sir David Monahan, J. H.
Du Pre, C. G. Mundy, E. M.
Ebrington, Viscount Muntz, G F.

Aldam, WilllaM
Balne, Walter
Baring, F. T.

Bell, Matthew
Bright, John
Brown, W.
Busfeild, W.

TELLERS.
Fielden,.rohn
Ferraud, IV. B.

MINORITY—NOES, 46.
Fellden, Sir W. Philips, Mark
Fitzroy, Henry Protheroe, E.
Gibson, T. M. Roebuck, J. A.
Gisborne, Thomas Scott, Robert
Greene, Thomas Sotherou, T. IL S.
Hawes, Benjamin Stanton, W. H.
Hay, Sir A. Strutt, Edward
Hutt, William Tancrod, H. W.
Langston, J. H Thornely, T.
Leader, J. T. Ward, H. G.
Legh, G. C. Wood, Colonel T.
Loch, James Young, John
Maitland, Thomas
Marshall, William
Marsland, Henry
Peel, Sir Robert
Pendarve.s, Edward

Colebrooke, Sir T.
Dalrymple, Captain
Dawson, T. V.
Deunistoun, J.
Dickinson, F. H.
Duncan, Viscount
Duncan, George
Egerton, W. T. -
Escott, Bickham
Evans, William

TILLERS.
Hume, Joseph
Trelawny, J. S.

Another Clause (And be it enacted, That if any accident
happen to the steam-engine, water-wheel, or mill-gearing in
any factory, whereby any part of the manufacturing ma-
chinery shall be stopped during the usual hours of work
allowed by this Act, it shall be lawful to recover the time so
lost in the following manner, that is to say, any child or
young person, or any woman, may be employed one hour in
each day more than the time to which the ordinary daily
labour of children and young persons and women respectively
is restricted by law, until such lost time be recovered),
brought up and read a first time; Motion made, and Ques-
tion pout, " That the said Clause be now read a second time.'
The House divided:—

MINORITY-AYES, 31.
Antrobus, Edmund Hay, Sir A. L. Roebuck, J. A.
Baine, Walter Houldsworth, T. Strutt. Edward
Bowring, Dr.
_: Hume, Joseph Thornely, T.
Brown, W. Lindsay, Colonel Trelawny, J. S.
Dennistoun,'John Lockhart, W. Walker, Richard
Duncan, Lord Marshall, W. Wood, Colonel T.
Duncan, George Marsiend, Henry Young, J.
Escott, Bickhaaa Manes, R. M.
Feilden, Sir W. Molesworth, Sir W.
Forster, Mathew Ogle, S. C.
Greene, Thomas Philips, Mark
lianmer, Sir John Protheroe, Edward

TELLTILS.
Leader, J. T.
Bright, John

MAJORITY—NOES, 94.
Ackers, James Evans, Sir De Lacy Muntz, G. F.
Adderley, C. B. Finch, G. Newdegatc, C. N.
Aglionby, H. A. Fitzroy, Henry O'Brien, A. S.
Ainsworth, Peter Fitzroy, Lord C. O'Brien. C.
Archdali, Captain Floyer, John Owen, Sir J.
Baillie, W. Frewen, C. 11. Palmer, G.
Barrington, Viscount Fuller, A. E. Perfect, Robert
Bell, John Gaskell, J. M. Plurnridge, Captain
Bennet, Philip Gisbome, Thomas Pollington, Viscount
Bentinek, Lord G. Godson, Richard Repton, G. W.
Bentinek, Lord H. Granger, T. C. Rollesion, Colonel
Beresford, Major Grey, Sir G. Round, John
Bernal, Ralph Grimsditch, T. Seynter, H. K.
Blackburne, J. I. Hall, Colonel Shell, R. L.
Brooke, Lord Hamilton, W. J. Sheridan, R. B.
Browne, W. Hatton, Captain T. Shirley, E. J.
Buck, Lewis W. Henley, J. W. Smith, Vernon
Buller, Charles Ilindley Charles Spooner, Richard
Buller, Edward Hodgson, F. Strickland, Sir G.
Banbury, William Howard, P. 11. Thesiger, Sir F.
Busleild, William Hudson, G. Tollemache, John
Cabbell, B. B. Irton, Samuel Troubridge, Sir E.
Carew, W. H. Pole Jervis, Sir Jokn Tufnell, H.
Colvile, C. R. Lambton, IL Vyse, H.
Crawford, W. S. Langston, J. U. Wakley, T.
Denison, E. B. Law, C. E. Ward, H. G.
D'Eyncourt, C. T. Lawson, A. Wawn, J. T.
Duncombe, A. Maitland, T. Williams, W.
Dundas, Admiral Manners, Lord .I.
Dundas, Sir David Miles, Philip W. S.
Entwistle, William Mlles, William
Esmonde, Sir T. Mostyn, E. M.
Evans, William Mundy, E. Miller

TELLERS.
Ferrand,..W. B.
Fielden, John

THE PRUSSIAN DIET.

THE ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO THE SPEECH

FROM THE THRONE.

We have received from Berlin a copy of the Address
of the Prussian Diet, in reply to the Speech from the
Throne, as adopted unanimously by the Committee
apt ()jilted to draw it up for the Diet. It is as follows:
" Very Gracious Lord and King,—Since your acces-
sion to the Throne, your Majesty has laboured inces-
santly at the noble development of the existence of the
nation, and the country enjoys with feelings of gratitude
the advantages resulting trum the lively interest taken
by the pt.ople in public affairs. A new and more elevated
sphere has been opened for this interest. Recognising
the necessity of a representative organ, common to the
whole nation, and its utility for the unity of the state
your Majesty has deigned to convoke in an united Diet
the States of all the provinces. By your free and truly
royal decision, your Majesty has made a great step, and ,
we accomplish a first and sacred duty in laying at the
foot of the Throne the expressions of the gratitude of a
faithful people, and of our immutable attachment
to the person and family of your Majesty. The country
increases in greatness by the elevated mind of its
Princes, and the power of public opinion; its future
prosperity is based upon this community. It is mani-
fested anew by the fact of your Majesty having, in your
letters patent of the 3d of February of this year, an-
nounced your intention of continuing to erect on the
basis of the laws given by his Majesty the late King, and
to which the people are attached as to a patrimony which
it has nobly acquired, as a recompense for its fidelity in
conflict. Your Majesty having realised the reserve ex-
pressed in the law of the sth June, 1823, and given the
name of United Diet to the assembly which in the said
law is called the General Assembly of States, and in the
law of the 17th January, 1820, the Assembly of the
States of the Kingdom, the laws founded upon the laws
there laid down, and upon other anterior laws, are ac-
quired by the states. the decree of the 17th January,
1820, compels the authority charged with the ad-
ministration of the public debt to give an account
annually to the Assembly of the States of the
Kingdom, and thus ensures to it the vital condition of
useful action, viz.—its periodical convocation. The same
law subjects to the co-guarantee of the States of the
Kingdom, not merely the loans for which the entire for-
tune of the state is given as surety, or which are destined
for the wants of peace, but also every new loan which
the state should be compelled to contract to secure its
own existence, or with the view to the increase of the
general prosperity. Thus the guarantee of the debts of
the states demands a correct knowledge of the financial
condition of the country and of the state of the national
wealth, and hence the co-operation of the states, when
the question affects the disposal of the domains which
are not comprised in the dispositions of the law of Ja-
nuary 17, 1820, forms part of the attributions which be-
long of right to the states. The law of the sth June,
1823, determines besides that so long as there shall be
no general assemblies of states the Bills of a general na-
ture shall be submitted to the provincial states. Hence-
forth this decision will cease to have any effect by the
creation of a united Diet of the states, so that the advice
of the latter is necessary for all the general laws having
for object to effect changes in the rights of persons or
property, or to levy taxes, and cannot be replaced by
the advice of provincial diets or united committees."

Advices from St. Peterburgh to the Bth inst. state
that in the grain-market there was less activity, in conse-
quence of the duller reports from England and France, but
prices were still firm, on account of the dealers having
already sold so largely. The weather having again be-
come wintry, threatened to retard the opening of the
navigation. From Riga, under date 10th instant, exchange
comes 39 7-16 d. The grain-market was slightly depressed,
and there were as yet no symptoms of the breaking up of
the ice.

SUICIDE OF A DESPERATE HUSDAND.—On Satur-
day night an inquest was held by Mr. William Payne, the
City Coroner, at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, on the body of
William Berry, aged forty-five, of Mail Coach-yard, Kings-
land-road. It appeared from the evidence that the deceased
had recently taken to ill-use his wife, and a month since
they were quarrelling together, when he took up a chair,
which he threw at her. The same struck her arm with such
violence as to break it. That circumstance bad preyed
heavily on his mind, and over since he had been itclli,nrida ex-
ceedingly disconsolate state. The night before G
he appeared quite mad ; he came home and told bra wife thaty
she should not eat another Sunday's dinner with him. He
then attempted to pull the stove out of the tire-place, and
afterwards collected a quantity of rags
his wife had been
saving up to purchase shoes for her children, which he set
fire to. The next day he went to his exployment at Hoxton
Old Town, and whilst he was sorting some cotton he took
the knife he had swung round his neck and deliberately cut
his throat. His employer ran out to procure medical assist-
ance, and, on his return, found him in the act of inflicting
another wound in the neck. The deceased was removed to
the above hospital, where he expired on Thursday last from
the effects of the injuries. Verdict. " Temporary insanity."
GREAT FIRE AT BUCHAREST.—We have seen a
private letter, which arrived last night from Leipsic, in
which it is stated, that on the evening of the 13th an ex-
press came in front Vienna, bringing accounts of a great fire
at Bucharest, in Wallachia. The fire had consumed a large
portion of the city, but had not yet reached the quarter
which the warehouses of the principal merchants
auraeser in
situ-
ated, although several warehouses in the city had been burned
down. The consternation in Leipsic was very great, and the
next post was looked for with the deepest anxiety. y.Pro-
perty, we believe, is not insured in Bucharest. There are iu
Leipsic just now many purchasers from that city, and the
intelligence which the express brought from Vienna, was
that the bankers there would not for the present accept any
drafts made upon them by Bucharest merchants.—Nan"
cheater Express.
THE LOSS or THE TWEED.—The subscription set
on foot for the purpose of rewarding the conduct of Captain
Camp, the master, the chief mate, officers, !nd crew of the
Spanish brig Emilio, whose intrepid exertiQnwasted thelives
of 79 persons, who were wrecked ou boar 4 thT"ed'alreaclY
=nuts to) I,Bta