The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Lucy Crgfion.

By the author of " Margaret

Maitland," &c. Hurst and Blackett.
Those who have read " Orphans," a former pro
auction by this author will willingly avail them•
selves of this _opportunity of learning more of the
fate of its heroine. The work before us is charac-
teristic Of its composer in many a truthful record of
home life, and in many a thoughtful passage. It
cannot be compared to some of those brilliant fic-
tions Which have preceded it, but as it is, in its sim-
plicity and grace, it is well calculated to impress
the reader. Lucy Crofton, the heroine, is a most
repulsive character; which in itself is some sort of.
novelty from the fascinating persons who' are often
introduced as the most prominent actors on the
stage. Luey is one of those disagreeable individuals
whom all must have encountered at intervals in their
intercourse with the world. She did not commit
any open offence, but she nevertheless irritated One
beyond endurance. She was always the same, un-
ruffled and plausible, but one had far rather that
she had done some definite injury that could be
preferred against her, than be for ever annoying in
that indescribable manner. It is eminently satis-
factory to know that she was at last induced by
self-interest to leave the happy home at Hilfont over
which herpresence cast ablight from the first day on.
which she entered its domains. Clara Nugent of
Estcourt is a delightful person, rather sentimental
at times, owing to her life of seclusion, hilt ever
alive to the claims of others on her bounty, and
ever zealous to further the best interests of all who
were in any W,-ay connected 'with her. Bertie
Nugent is a straightforwardToang man, whom it
is sad to see attracted by the deceitful Lucy. The
success of this lady in her designs on Plantagenet
Hall is only natural when her energy and dexte-
rity are taken into consideration. The passage
which relates the discovery by her aunt of the
shameful trick practised on the entire family by
the unknoAvn lovers is a very exciting one, and the
conduct of Dervent is just what is probable under
the circumstances, he thinking himself remarkably
wise in his own perceptions, and believing his wife
to. be prejudiced. Before thiS final escapade Lucy
had created great disturbance in the house by being
nearly the agent in bredking off the marriage of
Hugh Sedgwick with the gentle Clara Harley.
He was a member of Parliament and a distin-
guished man in his county, while she was only a
school girl. :However, no one had a right to
interfere with . them, still less Lucy, who
was secretly engaged to Broom at the time.
Fortunately for their welfare Clara had the
courage to,spe-ek boldly in vindication of her in-
jured dignity, aM. Sedgwick possessed the justice to
rectify his • mistake. There are many characters
introduced in these pages who form a sort of back-
ground to the chief persons; and the chronicles of the
Christmas festivities, present a bright and attractive
picture of honk life, with its minute cares and simple
joys,
tem nothing in themselves, yet
containthat
witlin them the happiness or misery of a
lifetime. "Lucy Crofton" is a work of fiction that,
without making any pretensions, has a fair chance
of success, from its truthful pictures, its earnest
tone, and its pleasing delineations. It is written
by one wbo has long been a favourite with a numer;
ens olassof readers, and who may lay claim to
having impressed them more successfully' than
many ktthors who are greatly her superiors in
Point of literary ability. The effect of a simple
style that is the result of a feeling heart is always
gaining the approbation of those who
eaflire
are
in
he
best judges, and to the ranks of those who
charmwith unadorned eloquence, this authoress
belong.

CO UN!' CAYOUR IN PARIS.

----
Tlie official announcement in the Piedmontese
Gate of Count Cavour's nomination as represen-
tative of Sardinia in the approaching Congress
"iaeides with the publication of, the remarkable
PaMphlet on the Papacy, and confirms the belief to
\ltch its appearance has given rise, that the com-
%cement of the year 186'0 will be marked by a
Joint action of the French and Sardinian Govern-
tents on behalf of the Italian people, not dissimilar
b that which signalised the commencement of the
rear 1859. Count Cavour's retirement from office was
notoriously caused by his unqualified disapproval
of the conditions of the peace of Villafranca; and
the language, by no means measured, in which that
disapproval was communicated to his Sovereign
seemed, during a short period, likely to convert the
political difference between King Victor Emmanuel
and his Minister into a personal quarrel. The
frank, fearless honesty of the Sovereign, and
the self- sacrificing patriotism of the statesman,
have been evinced in the speedy termination of a
political separation which, on Lord Normanby'&
theory of political separations, " ought to have
been eternal," It is not only in, the country of
Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell that the
decay of all public spirit is revealed in the willing-
ness of public men, at a great national crisis, to
silence and stifle their private animosity. The
epidemic of mutual forgiveness has too evidently
extended to Piedmont. There is even a probability
that its ravages may be 'felt in Paris ; and that
whatever bitterness was at first occasioned by the
conditions announced at Villafranca will disappear
before the open avowal that the fulfilmept of those
conditions has been found quite impossible—that
France will not restore by an armed intervention
the authority of the Pope and the dethroned Arch-
dukes over Central Italy, and that still less can she
allow Austria to perform the task from which she
recoils.
It is the decided, unequivocal, unmistakable
character of these declarations in the pamphlet
which explain and justify the nomination of Count
Cavour as Sardinian repreeentative. ' We cannot
for one moment imagine him quitting his retire•
ment and lending his great talents and European
reputation to Carry out a policy which he has so
energetically condemned. The presence of Count
Cavour at Paris means simply the continuation of
that diplomatic war which Sardinia, during the last
10 years, has successfully waged with Austria and
Rome—a war of which the successes were, in their
way, quite as brilliant and scarcely less decisive than
the military achievements of this year's campaign.
To Count Cavour it was mainly owing that Aus-
tria was merely vanquished in the public opinion
of all Europe before she even crossed the
Ticino. But his great political tact has been chiefly
exhibited in the skill with which, whilst resisting
the pretensions of the Court of Rome, he has yet
been able to prevent the opposition of the Sardinian
bishops and clergy from creating disturbance, or
exciting discontent, in the dominions of King
Victor Emmanuel. Thoroughly acquainted with
all the intrigues and manoeuvres, with all the
audacity and craft, of the Papal agents, his pre-
sence at the same council board with Cardinal
Antonelli (if indeed his eminence is to honour the
council board with his presence) will furnish a
guarantee that the Papal phase of the Italian
question will receive full
justice in the discus-
sions of the Congress. If in these discussions any
clerical or lay defender of the Pope's temporal
sovereignty should venture on the statements which
find a ready credence at meetings of the. Irish
Catholics—statements to the effect that the revolt
of the Romagna is the mere work of a small
but audacious minority—we know the answer
which such statements will call down from the Well-
stored memory and well-trained logic of Count
Cavour. Nor is it the least merit of the Sardinian
statesman, nor his least qualification for the duties
he must discharge at the Congrese, that Whilst lit
home beyond all other Italians in every detail re-
specting the policy and the administration of the
separate Italian States, he is not less familiar with
the modes of thinking and reasoning of other
European politics. Count Cavour is emphatically
a European statesman. He has often been termed
the Robert Peel of Piedmont. His first distinction
as a political writer was acquired through his
familiarity with English principles of constitu-
tional government, and English views of commer-
cial legislation—principles and views which he
endeavoured to transplant and acclimatise in his
own country. Of his influence at the Court, of
France, of the influence which he has exer-
cised ever the mind of the French Emperor
since the commencement of this Italian question,
it would almost be superfluous to speak. It was
Count Cavour, not Count Walewski, whose counsels
determined the Italian war. And the reappearance
of Count Cavour in Paris must, we repeat, be viewed
as the strongest proof that the same policy which led
the armies of France to the Lombard plains is once
more in the ascendant, and that not many weeks are
likely to elapse before France and Sardinia will be
found presenting the same combined front to Austria
in the coming diplomatic warfare, which they exhi-
bited amidst the shook of battle and the clash of
arms.-11Torning Post.

At the meeting of the Canada Company, held
yesterday, the receipts for the year were stated at £51,488,
being £13,958 over those of 1858. Out of the available
balance a dividend of £1 per share, free of income tax, was
declared, leaving about £l,OOO to be carried forward.
Mr. C. GILPIN, M.P.—We regret to learn that
gentlemfm remains in rt. 1272ari011, :1 +A, Ire has re-
.

. . _ .
.u.,;wcv,;:, (it-rived little or no b.,nefit. The
nature of.his disorder being such'a, to prevent his swallow-
ing more than the smallest possible quantity of nourish-
ment, his strength is of course Much reduced. His atten-
tion to business of any kind whatever is strictly forbidden
by 4,51 r B. Brodie and his other medical adyiars.

SPANISH HONES' TL

_ Among the sundry acts of malice -imputed to
England on the occasion of the Spanieh expedition
uest ing payment against Morocco is that of having seized the oppor-
tunity to embarrass the Spanish Government by
suddenly presentingent for the same. Such a pro-
an old half-forgotten account,
and req
ceeding would, of course, admit of unpleasant 10-
terptetations. When an old friend who has been
your creditor for a long while, and has said nothing
about it, comes abruptly upon you with a demand
for. a settlement just as you are in want of every
sixpence you can raise for a Pressing and manifest
_emergency, the proceeding undoubtedly.savours of
hostility
actly analogous when the parties concerned are
or spite, and, though the case is not ex-
States instead of individuals, we should be free to
confess that if the facts were as they have been dene-
scribed the conduct of England would have be
rather shabby. It happens, howevr, that the facts
are otherwise, and that there is not the slightest
foundation for the story so freely circulated.
of Wthe
e
are in a position to place the whole truth
case before the public, and, if the affair is not a
very
the liberal.
important one, yet right may as well be done
us in small matters as well as grea
During the civil wars in Spain, when
part of the nation was struggling for constitutional
rights against the partisans of absolutism, the assis-
tance of England was contributed in various forms
to the supporters of Queen Isabella. In particular
we supplied them with the stores and munitions of
war indispensable for the contest. 11Iuskets,bayonete,
uniforms, and equipments of all kinds were de-
spatched from the arsenals of this country for the
use of the Constitutionalists, and these supplieg
aided very materially in securing the Spaniards
their freedom and the Queen her throne. As a
matter of course, the. stores in question, being
public stores, were public property, and of this
property- the British Government of the day
had to render an account. There was no vote
or resolution of the Legislature sanctioning a
free gift of such supplies to Spain, nor can we
suppose, indeed, that the Spaniards would have
desired them on smell conditions. They were do"
livered in the ordinary way at the ordinary
and, though it was not a ready-money transaction,
there was a perfect understanding on both sides
that sooner or later the stores were to be paid fol..
Accordingly, when the account was made up,
It
appeared that Spain was indebted to England in
the lawful sum of £440,000 for goods delivered.
These transactions took place in the year 18341
P
and in the very next year the Duke of IVellingtont
in a true businesslike spirit, called the attention of
the Spanish Government to the state of the theaccount
At the same time he observed that it was not
intention of the British Government to press for
payment at a period when the embarrassments of
the struggle were still felt, and the resources oosf the
country
therefore, that the settlement should stand over for
so imperfeCtly available. He proped,
the time, but that the Spanish Government should
fix, a period at which, with less inconvenience to
the Treasury, the claim migkt be liquidated. T°
these reasonable proposals the Spanish Minister,
M. Martinez de la Rosa, replied, with a most ample
acknowledgment of the obligation, though with a
less definite response to the Duke's concludinrate,
g
suggestion ; but Count Toreno went, at any
so far, in communicating with Mr. Villiers on the
subject as to say that her Catholic Majesty w
proceed to an arrangement as soon as circumstance°
would permit ; and he further intimated that;
though little could be della until the termination of
the civil war, tho debt would then undoubtedly be
discharged in full. With these assurances,there
foie, the British Government contented itself, 59,1
the Matter was allowed to rest on this footing tu
the year 1840, when Mr. Aston, our Minister at
ok'
Madrid, was once more instructed to opqn the eal
and to inquire whether the Spanish Government
could yet see its way to that period of convenien°
which had been fixed for the liquidation of the debt.
As this application produced no results, he was de
sired to take another step in the year following and to
express the hope entertained by the British Govern-
ment that the Spanish Ministers would be able to_
provide an instalment of £lOO,OOO in the course of
the year, and to authorise an announcement to that.
effect in the House of Commons. To this request
also, however, the reply was unsubstantial, for the
Spanish Government simply promised to occupy'
itself without delay in providing the means of com
plying with Mr. Aston's desires. Such being the
position of the affair, and the state of Spain being_
notoriously such as to furnish some explanation of
the case, the account was allowed to stand over.
on
It
would have been neither dignified nor politic
the part of England to press the demand year after_
year upon an impoverished exchequer. Spain had
acknowledged the debt, and had undertaken. at a
convenient season, to discharge it. That appeared
sufficient, and in that arrangement, therefore, We
acquiesced until the finances of the Spanish nation
had experienced a most material iniprovement•
When, however that fortunate circumstance became
known, and when the resources of the Spanish, Go-
vernment were matter of common boasting and gra-
tulation, we moved once more in the affair, and in
November, 1858, Lord Malmesbury instructed Mr.
Buchanan to bring our claims again under the no-
tice of Queen Isabella's Government. Once again,
too, that Government acknowledged with alacritedy
its liabilities and its obligations, and enter
promptly upon a discussion of arrangements for
liquidating the account.
The foregoing statement, which may be received
as authentic, will distinctly show that England is
not chargeable with the petty act of spite which
has been so volubly talkedabout. Our claim is a
just claim, and admitted to
be so by the Spaniards
themselves. It was never pressed upon them in
their times of difficulty ; it was always suspended
to suit their convenience ; and, though it was re-
vived after a long interval by the late Foreign Se-
cretary, that proceeding was suggested only by thO
improved circumstances of Spain, and wias,
adopted, be it remarked, before the expear
tion to Morocco had entered into anybodY!
conception. The application for payment 101.1'
been made and entertained, and the dis"
cussion of the matter was pending at Madrid, br
fore it was even so much as rumoured that a Spanis'
army would cross the Straits of Gibraltar on a caw-
paign against the Moors. We venture, in t°
think that we deserve credit rather than censur,
for our conduct in this affair, and that our proceed
ings are characterised rather by extreme liberality
than malicious rigour. We may further remarlc,
for the information of the Spanish people, that wes
are really not jealous of their progress or dcsirou
of their discomfiture. We do not think the war
.was unavoidable, and, in the interests of humanity,
we would fain see it terminated, but We acknow-
ledge that the Moors gave their Atagonists some
provocation, and we are by no means certain that
they offered sufficient amends. However, on
s
point we will add no more at present. Oar purpo
in these remarks has been simply to show that th
is
report of our proceedings in the matter of the debt
is utterly unfounded, and the proof,
undeniably complete.—Times. we submit,