The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-15 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

WRSTMINSTER REVIEW, No. XLII.
Simphin and Marshall, London, 1834.
the besetting sin of this number is want of interest.
there
ir is no lack of information or sagacity, but they
e a cold, dry, repelling character. We miss the
ree, ful learning the occasional fine play of wit and
ti7---the subtle criticism—the historical portraiture—
toe.esse--the spirit—and the variety—that delight us
b,lll the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. In the
estininster—as regards the present number at least
is formal and pedantic, and lifeless as the dry
leaves 41 autumn. We have read it with some atten-
tru, but can scarcely find one article, whose mode of
15:talent is likely to render it popular. The best,
nal3s is the " Diamond District in Brazil," though
si tgliiiise,vdoeussly in
ps pite the stores of information it contains,
point of dullness and prolixity.
ject4rabie Manuscripts in Spain," which, from its sub-
eo_, should have teemed with interest, comprises but
the Passage worth remembering, viz., a description of
scurial Library. We subjoin it accordingly
the hil when he completed the magnificent edifice of
the ps.curial, ordered a library to be collected for. the use. of
tr 4 the who were to inhabit that dull and giganti.cmansion;
spacegoeinUmber and quality of the works collected in the short
of the
ti two years, did not disgrace the grandeur of
.the rest
Pettse _ealgn• Philiphis successor, spared neither ex-
sersuor trouble in of the literary treasures that were
all ovrraer the Peninsula, and conveying them to the
At a later period, in 1611, some Spanish vessels
Ith;g, nI the Sea of Barbary, attacked near Salle two vessels
kteieeen were effects belonging to Muley 'Leiden, Emperor of
'444 til! and sotne chests containing three thousand volumes,
tette , Is Prince, extremely fond of literature and worthy of
Zeid:uaYs, had caused to be bought in the East. Muley
for thlel felt excessively this loss, and offered to redeem them.
ev'ete4tstlin uf seventy thousand gold ducats ; and the
.Ki.ng
!hoe, ; 11,,011 condition that he would give up all the Christian
it •" Qis dominions, to which the Moor agreed ; so that,
kterall?Cbeen for the civil war which at that time agitated.
Welk tire, his nephew Muley Sheikh having rebelled, Spain
Yefertha''e been for ever deprived of these literary treasures.
tbe4:oately the greatest part of these volumes perished in
aSttl; which consumed part of the Escurial in the year 1671.
4tekee remains which have been preserved from that calamity,.
itiv ehn sufficient to class its library among the richest,
tale mo
• 4,1,„ st extensive, in the world.
14 fine library of the Escurial is divided into three parts ;
Icrfer Library, the Upper Library, and the Manuscript
Ittrsek The principal one, which is the Lower, consists of
usok one of which is 197 feet long and 32 wide. The
ltisoiCles are magnificent, and composed of the choicest
(„laiooo The number of volumes which they contain are
nek',,aillong which there are about 700 Spanish, Latin, and
74,07anliseripts. Among this number are to. be seen
q neks written in the seventh and eight centuries ; there
,Oat th famous made at the be(rinning of the fourteenth century,
,ki„ book called :la Historia del ConclF Ferran
"4idi •-`l. one of the oldest monuments of Spanish literature,
I,heyel a history of Spain from the invasion of the G.oths, to
'eti 84'267- Another book of the poems of a Rabbi called
"gt t'qb t°S Carrion, and a great number of old chroniclFs.;
Nt to—ere is not a printed catalogue of the books, it isdifh-
Lktipi..estnuate the value of the whole. The Upper Library
„lit ie.; tile, same number of rooms as the lower one, and was
;hi t:ra, years after the principal one, when it was perd-
elllerai dat it would not hold all the books. The number an
4114' the 0-tehseerlption of its contents are nearly the same as those
bibiekers The books which are generally shown to
visit these two libraries, are some old MS.
If; ticlllY painted and illuminated."
'we remember rightly, Mr. Beckford in his delight-
6°iunle of Travels through Spain and Portugal,
be Cve.4 an account of a visit to the Escurial, in which
the In part forestalled the information contained in
tio:Le°ve Passage. In the " History of the Revolu-
the 1688," the Reviewer strives hard to depreciate
titreet,,-4racter of King William. He even goes the
potiop- length—so bent is he on being original in his
4sil„°l saying, " the character of William is more
keee' understood than that of James, for it is of a far
Nil:4l4l°l'Y description," by which, we presume, he
ieo indirectly imply that the bigotted Catholic was
he it:flless capacity than the tolerant Protestant.
tpihio viewer will find few to agree with him in this
tare, 64' which, we suspect, he would never have yen-
Willia.:Put forth, had he read Defoe's character of
hetter %au whom no man knew that able Monarch
oftener
o,wtittd h the exception of his Ministers, was
to his presence. The author of the
witikecie Boric
Englishman" was not one to be hood-
ke w or Carried away by his prejudices or partialities.
Putsniats a stern, uncompromising lover of truth, in the
4ltert: and exposition of which he rendered himself
IllthbatelY the idol and the abhorrence of the
kiil4-; Naturally cool, sagacious, and intrepid ; his
the e disciplined by adversity, enlarged by travel, and
th:lidstant habit of mixing himself up with the topics
13t44„"aY, Defoe was, of all men of his age, the one
eh
‘Led to
sit in judgment on such a complex character
tttlea-: of William. We do not remember the exact
6p ,11 which he delineates this Monarch, but its
theNrsirs essentially at variance with that displayed by
lieforb,estminster Reviewer. " Second Session of the
>githed House" speaks of the Repeal of the Union
tlik earnestness and gravity that are less edifying
lUdicrous.
Under no possible circumstances that
I„ilate:ll+illiagine, can Ireland regain her domestic Par-
itC,excePt to the utter ruin of the empire. " New
litCustralian Colony" is unfavourable to the pro-
ithe rae has been lately set afloat on this subject.
l'ellgtialele is a useful one, though of most intolerable
).(14c4 c` Influence of the Press" is a seasonable,
last 1,„1
- the ast n --I-fly to some absurd suggestions put forth
Ply
but one of Blackwood's Magazine.

4.4 I)RTTE PLTBLIQUE ET DES FINANCES
,h. 1)E
44 MONARCHIE ESPAGAOLE
ktlit la',R A. BORREGO. PARIS, 1834.
11%kbi" Work has made its appearance at a most sea-
:e juncture at a time, in fact, when every person
heti 14terested in the affairs of Spain is looking for-
11\v';tiliotene anxiety to their definitive settlement.
og°, the aohor of the above brochure, seems
NI) a~ta'4
Well skilled in fi',73ancial matters, and his little
Ighilie: contains much usei9 information upon the
kttikiii and present state of Spain. It is most truly a
eug elample of the effects of misrelep that a coun-
41tIsb4'ed with the richest gifts of natuite, whose
rir4ag forth in abundance both corn and wine---
jitl -.ers are broad and navigable—and whose
Yield the useful metals to the enterprizing
I,°ah et a digs for them, should be so degraded and
the
41% s Spain has been. M. Borrego probes
Itpir ,8' and they are all financial, which have thus
kto lower his country in the scale of Euro.
44 att
e:l—tells ; and differs in Coto from the soi-disant
11qt t° tbell who tend that a great debt is a great be-
-1)11 Tooaraeluntr; He refers all the woes of Spain,
di an physical, to the extravagance of her
the foolish legislation which, soon after the
;11441.17:f America, struck a blow at her trade and
:et've ',,i "r°flt the effects of which she has not yet
Zect tut,low as Spain has been, a brighter pro-
Z'4ile:eetllls
at to be opening before her, and it is to be
our— a wise and liberal Government will en
oa joetslt:ire public confidence, that great im-
-4 her
ea prosperity, and thus enable her to
,k'or,gagernents and redeem her honour. Hte
I,4lakeites
east are Still great, and when she has completely
ai i °4‘ the nightmare which has sat so long upon
W, must e will re-awaken to new life. In eonclu..
Iles eol will
this book of financial statis-
-4t tbeall who are interested in the welfare of Spain ;
1/4cOti, iaTtle time remarking, that many of our own
ton would do well to give it their serious
alid, by bearing in mind the fate of another
earn wisdom regarding their own.
1, The
AoYerrintent
has furnished an hotel forb theur
'Z%ll,:lbassador in the Rue St. Dominique Faux. o g
eit which his Excellency has taken possession.—
,\%O 414134/1).,,, „
kir UNIVERSITY, °CT' 13' 7-I:HE
Ph•
Physic; Qeldart-e:%-;,rha.ncellor, Dr. Graham, Christ's, Divinity;
mnity-nall, Law ; Dr. Hariland, John:s
14441)her SiVorqs,al:oll2:Qeen's, Senior Non-Regent.; Mr.
Trinity, Senior Relent.