The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-27 00:00:00

1 8 8 V.

deceiving as they were deceived ; the whole of these per- ;
sonagos were the bumble slaves of Napoleon, and the
Emperor of the French looked upon all with scarcely
dissembled scorn, while he prepared the way for placing
his brother Joseph on the throne of the imbecile Charles.
The latter, alarmed by the aspect of affairs, both domes-
tic and foreign, as they applied to him, contemplated for
a moment, took flight to Mexico. An insurrection of the
people rendered the accomplishment of this project im-
possible. Godoy was flung into prison ; French troops
were pouring into Spain ; the King, terrified for his owu
safety, and the Queen, caring for nothing but the rescue
of her favourite, thought that their respective objects
would be achieved by abdicating. Accordingly, the one
in an extremity of terror, the other under the impulse of
unbounded hopefulness, descended from the throne, and
on the 19th March, 1808, Charles resigned the sceptre
to his son Ferdinand. The first feeling that Charles had
of his uncrowned condition was on hearing that the new
King had ordered all the wolves and foxeste be destroyed,
which Charles had preserved for purposes of "sport"--
the only pleasure which, of late years, possessed any at-
tractions for him. The poor old man made no complaints
of his son's policy, but the idea that his son had sup-
pressed his bunting' establishment made Liin weep
heartily. Meanwhile, the subjection of Ferdinand to
Napoleon was complete. Not less so was that of Charles.
The former asked for the Imperial recognition of his
title ; the latter appealed to him to set aside the act of
abdication, to which Charles had consented only under
compulsion. Ferdinand repaired to Bayonne to plead
his cause, and he found himself a prisoner. Charles, his
consort, and Godoy, were ordered to be brought to the
same city, and the family feud was only embittered by
the parties being in presence of each other. It was the
object of Napoleon to rid himself of the pretensions of
all. The obsequiousness of the ex-King firthered, but
the obstinacy of Ferdinand retarded the accomplishment
of the desired end. Never was Spanish comedy built up
on half so many intrigues as were put in action in order
to dethrone the Spanish Bourbons altogether, and to
found a Bonaparte dynasty in Spain. The more serious
drama lingered, and Napoleon grew impatient. But
Napoleon's impatience contrived a striking close t the
disreputable affa.r. On the sth of May, 1808, the
Emperor visited the Spanish ex-Monarchs. Around the
aged Charles and his consort were assembled their se-
cond son, Carlos ; the evil ginius of the family, Godoy ;
the Minister Cavallos, and several Grandees. At the
end of a conference between the chief of these illustrious
personages, Ferdinand was summoned to appear. It
was not so easy as had been expected to bring him to
consent to the designs of the great conspirators against
the country of which he himself was unworthy, and at
length a scene ensued such as never has been paralleled
in history. The old Queen, Maria Louisa, unable longer
to control her rage, or perhaps desirous to gratify Napoe
leon, with whom she was partly suspected to hate
prepared the scene, thus assailed the wretched Ferdi-
nand :—" Traitor, you have for years meditated the
death of the King your father, but, thanks to the vi-
gilance, the zeal, and the loyalty of the Prince of he
Peace, you have not been able t ) effect your pur-
pose—neither you, nor any of the infamous traitors
who have co-operated with you in your infamous
designs. I tell you to your face that you are my son,
but not the son of the King ! And yet, without having
any other rights to the crown than those of your mother,
you have sought to tear it from us by force. But 1 agree
and demand that the Emperor Napoleon shall be umpire
between us,—Napoleon, to whom we ode and transfer
our rights, to the exclusion of our own family. I call on
him to punish y m and your associates as so many
traitors, and I abandon to him the whole Spanish na-
tion." There is something horrible in the idea of a woman
proclaiming her own dishonour in presence of her hue-
hand and her children. The object she bad in view was,
however, attained. Charles surrendered alll his territories
to the French Emperor. Ferdinand, as Prince of Astu-
rise, ultimately renounced all right to the throne; and
Joseph Bonaparte became King of Spain.

LAW INTELLIGENCM.—Jan. 26.

EQUITY COURTS.
(Before the Lords Justices of Appeals.)

CARTER V. CROPLEY.-RIGHT TO PRESENT TO THE

PERPETUAL CURACY OF CLERKENWELL.

Their lordships delivered their judgment in this case,
which was an appeal front the decision of Vice-Chancellor
Sindersley, whereby he had determined ilia:. the right of,
election and of presentation of a clergyman to the per-
petual curacy of Cl-rk, nwell had, by the effect of the late
statutes—viz , the 18th and 19th Vict , c. 120, and 19 h
and 20th Viet., c. 112, being the acts passed for the
better Local Management of the Metropolis—been trans-
ferred from the parishioners and inhabitants of the pa-
rish, paying tithes, rates, and assessments to the church
and poor, to a select vestry of the parishioners, consti-
tuted in manner directed by first of those acts. The
case was heard before the Vice-Chancellor, upon motion
for an injunction to restrain the truttees of the living
and the select vestry from presenting, and the Bishop of
London from inducting the Rev. Robert Maguire, who
bad been elected by the select vestry, to the living. The
motion had been refused by the Vice-Chancellor, with
cl.sts. Their lordships reversed the decision of the Vice-
Chancellor. The consequence is that there will be a
decree declaring that the right of election or f.rtsentation
has not teen altered or affected by the late stiitutei ; and
that the election of the Rev. • Robert 'Maguire winx null
and void, and directing that an ii.junction sholld issue
restraining the vestry from presenting him to the bishop
for a license as a candidate duly elected.