The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-01 00:00:00

THE PRESENT ROYAL FAMILY OF

SPAIN.

Isabella, the present occupant of the Spanish
throne, is the daughter of Ferdinand VII., whom
she succeeded in 1833, and Christina, daughter of
the late King of Naples, and sister of the present of
that ilk. She was born iu 1830 ; and, by the an-
cient law of Spain, could inherit the crown in de-
fault of male issue. The Salic law of France had,
however, been introduced by the Princes of the
House of Bourbon, and continued to exclude the
female till 1789 ; and though the ancient law was
restored by Charles IV., by means of a secret sanc-
tion of the Cortes, it was again abrogated in 1812,
by the same Cortes which framed the Constitution
of that year.
_ _

The lawful succession, therefore, rested with Don
Carlos, as heir presumptive. But Isabella was
hardly born when Ferdinand issued a decree, again
annulling the Salic la dr. In 1833, the King's life
being despaired of, his Ministers, seeing Don Car-
los at the head of a powerful party, surrounded Ira
death-bed, and made him sign a decree restoring
the operation of the Salic law. But in the very
moment of their triumph, though the King's death
had been announced, and his body exposed in one
of the halls of the palace—so near to death did
they think him—he suddenly rallied, was made
acquainted with his brother's designs, dismissed
his Ministers, and annulled the decree which disin-
herited his daughter.
His death happened a few days afterwards—on
the 29th of September, 1833—and then began the
war in which the Spanish Legion and Sir de Lacy
• E vans gained immortal honours. Insurrection broke
out iu the northern provinces, and soon spread to
Catalonia. In July, 1834, Queen Christina, who
had been appointed Queen-Regent, opened the
Cortes, in compliance with the Estatuto Real, a
sort of constitution which she had conferred on the
nation in the preceding April. A bill was passed
by both houses excluding Don Carlos from the
throne. For some time the advantage was on the
side of Don Carlos ; till the death of Zumalcarregui,
who was killed before Bilboa, 25th of June,
1835, turned the scale in favour of the Queen.
A new Ministry was appointed, a levy of
100,000 troops was decreed and raised, General
Cordova was appointed to the command of the
army in the north, and an auxiliary legion recruited
in England, and placed under the command of
Colonel de Lacy Evans, was added to the army of
operations in Biscay. A constitution similar to
that 'of 1812 was granted. Espartero succeeded
Cordova, who was found to have aided a French
plot to overthrow the Ministry. A rising took
place at San Ildefonso, which obliged the Queen to
sign a decree for the dismissal of her Ministry, and
to swear to the Constitution of 1812 ; which was
accordingly submitted to the Cortes, revised by
them, and publicly sworn to by the Queen Regent
on the 18th June, 1837. The Carlists having gra
dually lost ground before the successful strategy
of Espartero, the contest was terminated by the
convention of Borgaro, on 31st Aug., 1839. And
in the month of Sept., in the following year, Spain
was completely pacified by the breaking up of
Cabrera's army in Valencia, and the taking of
Morella by Espartero.—Morning Advertiser.

LIFE ASSURANCE.—In the report of the London Life
Assurance Society the name of the seconder of Mr.
Baxter's amendment should have been Mr. " Corry,"
and not " Corrie."