The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-19 00:00:00

royalty a rush. And yet there is a poetry about his
perils, a something to linger and sigh over, even in the
cold, uncharitable pages of history; and while we censure
the man, we seem to have a wish to love him. Poor his-
torians should we make after all; our love of leaning
towards human frailty would often cause us to show jus-
tice a cold shoulder.

"What a doing and undoing does this short sketch
present ! Ten years ago it would have been a pic-
ture overhung with green and garlands, teeming with
flowers and steeped in sunshine. Poetry without re-
flection, sentiment without thought, life such as we see
on the stage, where the actors move, and cross, and
smile, and bow to each other, but have n 3 other share in
the stirring events of the drama; they come and go, and
so ends a pretty scene. Neither Charles nor Cromwell
would have appeared in our part had we written it then.
Whence comes this change ? Is the day at hand when
the name of the Royal Martyr will be blotted out of our
Litany, and that, too, by the consent of good and pious
men ? When Cromwell, instead of being considered
a kingly scourge, will be hailed as the great benefactor
of his country, and looked upon as one of the mightiest
minds that ruled the age in which he lived? That day,we
believe, is not far off, neither is that change very re-
mote. The light which two centuries have clouded is
about to break forth, and reveal all the progressions
and improvements which science has made during this
long night of silent labour ; and the old mind, which
during this long period has seemed to sleep, is up and look-
ing out upon the new field which time has prepared for ac-
tion. The fossil bones of freedom have become hard as iron
durit g their long slumber, and now clothed with a new
body and a new life, they bid defiance to the old batter-
ing rams of bigotry, become stronger through the very
blows which are rained down upon them, and shrink
not, as of yore, at the touch of ancient superstition.
What England has been we know; what it will be hath
not yet enteree into the heart of man to conceive.' "
This constant antagonism of principles—the linger-
ing love of old prejudices, and the earnest advocacy
of the very reforms calculated to overthrow them,
somewhat reminds us (to compare small things with
great) of Mr. Macaulay's description of Milton's
" inconsistency" where the imagination of the poet
is captivated by illusions against which the statesman
is proof. "It is the very struggle of the noble
Othello. His heart relents, but his hand is firm.
He does nought in hate, but all in honour. He
kisses the beautiful deceiver before he destroys her."
Perhaps the most interesting chapter is the " Summer
Ramble," where our author, taking us by the omnibus
to Camberwell, leads us a delightful ramble through
the beautiful country in the close vicinity of London.
From the wonderful naturalness of the descriptions,
from the careful painting of the minutest objects, the
whole is invested with an air of reality—rather let
us say the whole is real. We do not read the
author's hook, we hear him speaking at our side ; we
do not ponder over his descriptions, we see before us
the scenes of which he speaks. "English Villagers"
contains some very natural portraits of country
people. After giving us some mournful details
of the domestic economy of the rustic poor, the
author very justly observes, " one half of the world
do not know how the other starve." The following
is a beautiful comment on the example afforded by
the life of the poor, speaking of a very aged man
grown old in poverty, the author asks :
"For what purpose was he born? what gap has he
filled up in the world, during his long life? Reader!
that old man is set before us as an example of patience,
endurance and long-suffering,—one of those set up to
show, that

"'They also serve who wait.'
" All his life-long has he had to battle with poverty.
What veteran ever endured such continued hardships,
without murmuring ? His very rags are venerable me-
dals, won in a long warfare with privation and want.
They tell of the hard campaigns he has weathered,
while his placid countenance bespeaks that all is calm
within. Is he forgotten by the rich ? No. There are
moments when his silver hairs, and his calm, resigned
features, rise up before them, and they feel as if they
ought to touch their hats, and pay respect to him, in-
stead of receiving such an act of undeserved honour
when he passes."
" County statutes," contains a little tale—very me-
lancholy, and rendered doubly so, because it is almost
true, founded on some of the cruel regulations which
cast such disgrace upon the authorities of poor-
houses, but which are now, we believe, somewhat
modified. Mr. Miller is as enthusiastic an admirer
of Shakespeare and of poets, as of the country, and
his volume is adorned with many quotations. The
illustrations by Samuel Williams are beautifully
designed and beautifully executed, infinitely superior
to those generally found in such works. The tnle
of "Morton Marsh Manor-house," is not natural, it
may be as the author tells us, founded on fact, but it
would have been as well omitted. We have, how-
ever, said enough of this pleasant volume, we will
conclude, by quoting the author's remarks on the
changes of modern days. In the preface, he observes :
" Surely that man has lived in an age worth recording.
who, from travelling three miles an hour in the old pon-
derous stage-wagon, or snail-paced market-boat, has
been whirled fifty miles in the same space of time by a
railway engine; who has ser.t a letter three hundred
miles for a penny, and seen her Majesty " black• balled,'
by her own paid postmaster, after she had been kind
enough to countenance dr: transmission; and is hen there
are grave men who believe with Wilkes, that hanging a
man is the very worst use you ea.' make of him; and
others who think that it would be no sin to erect a sta'ue
to o.iver Cromwell—that the stern Protector did not
covers England so badly after all, and that had not
King Charles been a knave, he would never have been a
martyr. Thf se are bold thoughts to utter, yet we hear
them every day, and no one now seems to make them a
matter of wonderment."

" The sun himself has turned portrait- painier, and our
likenesses arc now drawn by the of Heaven ;
while Titmarsh, haying a week's holiday, sets out to
have a peep at the Pyramids, and just makes as much
preparation for leaving Coruhill for Grand Cairo, as our
forefitthers (lid when they journeyed from Cheapside to
Clapham. If these are not changes enough, let us glance
at the days when Dryden was paid sixpence a line for
his poetry, to cur own, when live hundred pounds are
offered fir the best play, the finest picture, and the
choicest statue, and neither a first rate author, ariist,
nor sculpture, thinks it worth his while to become a
competitor for any of the prizes."

MURRAY'S HOME AND COLONIAL LI-
BRARY.—No.:XXXIX. Gatherings from Spain.
—Part I. By Richard Foid.
Ever welcome to us is a work treating of " sunny
Spain,"—the land of the grape and the olive—the
land of guitars and duennas—the land of castanets
and sombreros. Whoever has read " Gil Blas"—that
peerless romance—whoever has dipped into " Calde-
ron," or roared over the pages of " Cervantes de Saa-
vedra," will always rejoice in anything appertaining
to the Peninsula. Those who have in itnagination
tracked the armies of Napoleon's marshals through
the cork forests, or followed the course taken by the
Duke in his different campaigns, will devour with a
peculiar avidity any book descriptive of those memor-
able scenes. What mind that has scanned the triumphs
of the great Isabella over Boabdil, in the plains of
Grenada, what heart that has leapt with emotion at
the stirring ballads of the Cid, what fancy that hoe
restored to itself the pilgrimage of the immortal Co-
lumbus through the groves of Andalusia, wll not
recur with a strange pleasure to a kingdom illus-
trated by such glorious memories ? It is from the
combination of these reflections, and beyond all from
the melancholy abasement into which the proud and
noble race of Spaniards is at present plunged, that
works relating to the Iberian peninsula are so nume-
rous, and (whereser they possess ability) so popular.
Washington Irving has written on Spain—and how
beautifully he has written! Borrow has written upon
it, X. Y. Z. has written upon it, Lever is always
felicitous in his delineations of Spanish society and
Spanish scenery. We could enumerate a thousand
whose pens have been devoted to the portrayal of
that country. But why refer to other quarters ?
Here is the author of these " Gatherings,' who has
already added himself to the number, by his delight-
ful " Hand-11,0k of Spain." The present sketches
are peculiarly vivid and peculiarly picturesque. Their
most prominent characteristic is their naturalness.
There is not the slightest ostentation or pretension
bout them ; and the only thing forced and quaint thein IG4 pages is the
"dedication." 'We expect much,
and our expectations on closing the volume are realised.

Cau

RT
U LAR
WINDSOR Majesty and
his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, accompanied loy the Prince of
Wales, V.Tinee Alfred, the Princess Royal, the Prin-
cess Alice, and the Princess Helena, arrived at the
Casile at two o'clock this afternoon, from Osborne
110u5,2, Isle of Wight.
T'ne royal suite consisted of the Marchioness of Douro
(r,ady in Waiting), the Dowager Lady Lyttelton, Baron
"6tockmar, the Groom in Waiting, the Hon. Colonel
Phipps (Equerry in Waiting), and Colonel Bouverie
(Equerry in Waiting to the Prince).
The escort was composed of the Ist Life Guards.
The Queen and Prince Albert were received, on
alighting from their carriage, by the Hon. Miss Kerr
anti the Hon. Miss Paget (the Maids of Honour in
Waiting), the Earl of Listowel (Lord in Waiting), and
Major General Bowles (Master of the Household.
The royal dinner party at the Castle this evening will
include her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the
Lady in Waiting of her Royal Highness, and the Ba-
roness de Speth.
The band of the Scots Fusilier Guards will attend
during dinner. Her Majesty's private band afterwards
attend in the Castle.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, and his Serene Highness Prince Frederic of
Hess?, visited her Royal Highness the Duchess of Glou-
cester, on Thursday, at Gloucester House.
A Cabinet Couucil was held yesterday afternoon at the
Foreign-office. The Ministers present were, Lord John
Russell. the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto,
Sir Ge, rge Grey, Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Earl of Auckland, Sir
John Hobbouse I iord Campbell, Viscount Morpeth, the
The Lord Chß
Earl of Clarendon, and the Right llon. T. B. Mac:aulay.
leagues. ncellor subsequently joined his col-
The Council srAt two hours and a half.
The Earl of 'Aountcashel had an interview with Lord
John Russell :4elterday his official residence iu Down-
ing-str:et.