The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-12 00:00:00

SPAIN.

We have received the Madrid journals of the
7th. _ _ _

. _
The Gazette publishes an article calculated to
tranquilise the alarm which is felt with respect to
the deficient harvest. The substance of the article
is, that as the harvest has been excellent in Russia,
North America, and France, and as such large
quantities of wheat have been imported into Eng-
land, " the first market of the world," as to cause
a diminution in price, Spain may be certain that
sufficient quantities of corn will be conveyed to her
ports to render a famine impossible ; and the
article declares that the Government has spared no
exertions and no sacrifices to attain that result.

The Gazette publishes the royal decrees which
accept the resignations of M. Olozaga and M. Gon-
zales as ambassadors at Paris and London, and
they say that these gentlemen shall " receive the
emoluments to which their services have entitled
them." M. Maths, who has been very active in
establishing electric telegraphs, has been nominated
director-general of telegraphs. The Gazette con-
tains several nominations of superior employes in
the Ministry of the Interior to places which they
formerly filled ; most of these gentlemen are of
moderate opinions. The Nation says :—" It ap-
pears that the Emperor of the French has written
a letter to the Queen in the same spirit as the
famous article in the Moniteur on Spanish affairs."
Brigadier Smith, who played a part in the insur-
rection at Saragossa, has arrived in Madrid to de-
fend himself, but had been exiled to the Canaries.
The other officers who took part in the insurrection
were, says the Parlamento, to be put on half-pay.
At 'Valencia, all the political prisoners arrested in
the recent events had been set at liberty, except the
democratic deputy, M. Orense, who was to be exiled
to Castro Urdiales.

The Clamor Publico says that the terms of a
treaty with Portugal respecting the navigation of
rivers had been settled. The sales of national and
ecclesiastical property, according to the last re-
turn, amonuted to 584,459,520 reals, which were
359,528,783 more than the upset price. The Go-
vernment had ordered that 7 steamers and 107
smaller vessels should be employed on the coasts
and in the Balearic Isles to prevent smuggling.
A letter says :—" There is a rumour with,
it appears, some foundation of sending General
.Ilarvaez as Ambassador to the coronation of
the Emperor Alexander. The Government is
actively engaged in making new nomina-
tions of governors of provinces, and in so
doing it displays a conciliatory spirit. Everybody
form conjectures as to the line of policy it proposes
to follow, but some days will probably pass away
before public curiosity be satisfied. The statement
that all the national guards of the kingdom are
to be dissolved is not confirmed. Some papers
state that M. P. de Escosura, late Minister of the
Interior, has left for Portugal, but there is reason
to believe that he is still at Madrid. Incendiary
fires take place from time to time in Castile. The
cholera has broken out at Valdemorlelo, near the
Escurial. At Madrid it also exists, but we have
not more than twenty cases a day."

A letter from Paris in the Iniependance Beige
says :—" The names of the two vessels of light
tonnage which are charged by Russia to cruise in
the Black Sea are the Kunk and the Wolga, under
the command of Captain Tcheringoff, who has
hoisted his pennant on the last-named vessel.
They will proceed to their destination in the middle
of the present month."

A letter from Copenhagen of the 7th says :
" Prince Oscar of Sweden visited this capital two
days ago from the country residence of the King,
and examined the arsenals, dockyards, and slips.
Yesterday the Prince dined with the Queen
Dowager, and then returned to the royal country
residence. He leaves to-day for Sweden, and the
King will accompany him as far as Cronenbourg."

M. De Scheele, Danish minister for the Duchy
of Holstein, who is just on the point of appearing
before his judges, has addressed an official repri-
mand to the burgomaster of Ilzehoe, who sits in
the Diet, and who, according to the ministerial
rescript, has been guilty of the high impropriety of
not coming in person to pay his respects to the
minister when he passed through that place.

The council of the Order of St. Maurice and
Lazarus of Piedmont has subscribed the sum of
2,000 f. for the ordnance intended for the fortifica-
tion of Alessandria.

HER MAJESTY'S CRUISE TO THE CHANNEL

ISLANDS.

DARTMOUTH, AUG. 11.

The Royal squadron put into this harbour at 1 p.m.
The Victoria and Albert, the F4iry, the Irene, and
the -Vivid left Portland Roads at 9 a.m. The Black
Eagle and Salamander, with several despatch gun-boats,
are in sight.
The squadron remained the night.
On board the Victoria and Albert are her Majesty,
Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal,
Prince Arthur,' Princesses Helena and Louisa, Colonel
Phipps, Captain Du Plat, the Right Hon. H. Labouchere,
and Sir James Clark.
Wind, S.W. ; cloudy.

A telegraphic message has been received at the Conn cil-
c ffice stating that Earl Granville and all his suite have
a.erived safe at St. Petersburg.
The Earl and Countess of Clarendon returned to
town yesterday from visiting Viscount and Viscountess
Palmerston at Brocket Hall, Herts.
,She Earl of Powis has consented to preside at the an-
nual meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Society,
which will take place at \Velshpool on Saturday next,
the 16th inst.
The Tuscan Government has prohibited the Charivari
of Paris within its territory.
The Hamburg Correspondent says :--‘, Count Nessel-
rode, chancellor of the Russian empire, is at present in
this town."
GOOD NEWS FOR THE LOVERS OF Music. —Mr. Lum-
ley is about to open her Majesty's Theatre for the winter
season with English opera and ballet, as it is believed,
at playhouse prices.
CITY OF LONDON REGISTRATION.—Mr. T. V. M`Chris-
tie, the revising barrister, has appointed Monday, the
22d of September, on which to commence his revision of
the lists of voters for members to serve in Parliament
for the City of London. ,
CENTRAL ITALIAN :RAILWAY.—The Central Italian
Railway company have just deposited five millions of
francs at Modena as a guarantee for the execution of the
line, in accordance with the contract signed at Vienna
on 17th March last.
WOOLWICH, Aug. 11.—His Royal Highness the Duke
of Cambridge, Commanding in-Chief, has accepted an
invitation to dine with the officers of the Royal Artillery
on Wednesday evening next, the 13th instant, when
numerous other officers are invited to attend.
FRIGHTFUL SClOlDR.—Yesterday morning a woman
named Sarah Luckett, generally known by the name of
Williams, of 32, Beaumont-square Stepney, died from
the effects of injuries she received by flinging herself
from the back window of the house in which she dwelt
into the yard below.
Mr. David Buchanan, lately editor of the Caledonian
Mercury, and now in connection with an influential
paper in the West of Scotland, has just been presented
with a splendid service of plate and several valuable
l works of literature, by his brethren of the press in Edin-
*argh.
Belgium is to be represented at the coronation of the
Emperor Alexander by the Prince de Ligne, President
of the Senate, accompanied by Baron de Winck des Deux
Orp, secretary of embassy/ The Prince is to embark on
the 12th at Lubeck for St. Petersburg. Turkey is also
to have an ambassador at the ceremony.
THE TELEGRAPH FROM SARDINIA TO ALGIERS.—The
following telegraphic despatch has been communicated
by the Mediterranean Telegraph Company :—"
Saturday.—The cable is broken, owing to an accident.
We are endeavouring to find it, and to persevere in the
immersion. (Signed) CBA.IG, English Consul at Cag-
liari.—Paris, Aug. 10."

LITERATURE:.

Our Cousin Veronica ; or, Scenes and Adventures
over the Blue Ridge. By Mary Elizabeth
Wormeley, author of " Amabel," &c. Bunce
and Brother, New York.
There is an attraction in this story from its sim-
plicity, that of itself would be greatly in its favour;
but there is also a charm in its deep feeling that
possesses a higher claim on the regard and interest
of the reader. It does not treat entirely of Ame-
rica, a great part of the narrative is laid in Eng-
land, and thus it partakes in a great measure of
the character of the two countries. All the chief
personages were descended from old Virginia fami-
lies, who, in the different generations, had become
scattered abroad on the earth. Veronica, the
heroine, is a peculiar disposition, gentle in the
extreme if she believed all true about her, but once
her spirit was roused, stronger than could be
imagined. The chief point of the story turns on
her engagement with her cousin Max. It was an
unwise thing to make such an arrangement with
comparative children, as those were, at the time
of its proposal. It is seldom that an idea which
has its foundation so immediately in the expedi-
ency of the moment is carried out without much
anxiety and trouble. The young and happy chil-
dren who stood by the deathbed of the faithful
negro little thought of the dark shade that was
being cast on their lives by their early engage-
ment. It was also a cruel thing for the uncle
to frame his will in such a manner that the most
sacredobligatious were mixed with pecuniary affairs.
Yet as this is very often the case in testamentary
documents, all must allow that great skill is shown
in the description of this complicated story. Per-
haps the most interesting individual met with is
cousin Tyrell, because for him one feels unbounded
respect. The others seemed wafted to and fro
according as the fitful fancy of the hour or day
pervaded them, but he remains firm throughout.
Not that he had an easy life, for many difficulties
beset his path, and troubles environed him, but he
nerved himself to the task. " Blessed is he that
overcometh " was his watchword and his guide.
The influence of his superior mind, his right prin-
ciple, was felt by every one who was in his sphere ;
especially was it of service to one distracted and
bewildered spirit, Mary Mandeville, the sister of
Max, the hero of the story, and the narrator of the
work. Before she left England to seek out Vero-
nica, who had returned to Virginia, Mary had been
sad, and the succeeding incidents that befell them
in America did not improve her position. It was
then that Walter Tyrell was the hope of all ; the
impetuous Max, the sorrowful Molly, the gentle
Veronica, all turned to him. He had studied his
own course ; he was ready to help those who had
not energy to study theirs. He sympathised, but
he roused, and encouraged no repining. " There
is no remedy for unhappiness that I know of, but
an interest in the happineSs of other persons.
Work was the boon God gave to our first father
when He turned him out of Paradise, and
the five thousand years that have passed since
have given disappointment no better remedy."
He practised his own precepte. when in their
hour of trial she who had rejected him,
and he who had supplanted her, stood before him
helpless and bewildered. Then he roused himself,
and went forward, to the sacrifice of his hopes, in
a resolute manner. It is an exciting scene, that
of the court-house, where pride and affection are
struggling for the mastery in the heart of Veronica,
and when self-respect is urging on Max to act in
defiance of the interests of others. It was not
fated that their relations should be ordinary, The
engagement they formed in childhood was ratified
in a very different scene. By torch light in a court
beyond the seas, very different from the old-
fashioned marriage that the simple people of Castle-
ton had thought was to unite the heir and heiress
of their domain. It is impossible, by a slight
sketch, to convey an impression of the various per-
sons, scenes, and events that are to be found in
the pages of this story. English readers will doubt-
less be pleased at the accJunt given of the mari-
ners and customs in Virginia. Coming from one
who had just been describing the monotony of her
life at home, the contrast is more striking. The
interest that attaches itself to the records of those
in far countries is not lessened by the thought
that these, though dwellers beyond the broad At-
lantic, speak the same language as ourselves.
Macaulay has observed that " Literature has esta-
blished a tie, stronger than the tie of consanguinity,
between us and the commonwealths of the valley of
the Mississippi."