The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

SPAIN.

Colonel Napier, in one of those bold but felicitous passages'
which distinguish his History of the Peninsular War, has
compared the Spanish revolution tof A leafy *rub in a vio-
lent gale of wind, greatly agitated, but disclosing only slight
unconnected stems, which afford no sure hold for the ambi-
tion of a master spirit, if such there were. The comparison
holds good from the first outbreak of the war of independence
in 1808 to the lase absurdities or barbatities of 1844. The
master spirit has not appeared ; and if he had, it is not easy
to conjecture in what form he could have taken a firm hold
on the people of Spain. No new shoots of the old plant have
borne either blossoms or fruit; the ivy of tradition, which
still clung to the dead boughs, has been torn down; and if.
there be any vitality left in the body politic, it must lie at
the root. So detestable, indeed, were the effects of the igno-
rant and profligate A4ministrations.of the last Spanish Sove-
reigns, that even fort, years of war and confusion have been
less unfavourable to the progress of. the country in popula-
tion and in wealth, than the policy of the preceding reigns.
At the present moment the affairs of Spain, as they are
termed in France or in this country, mean little more than
the plots and intrigues of half-a-dozen ,adventurers who are
playing at tyrants ; but beneath . them still lies a people of
twelve millions of men, who are living on fbr the most part
unconscious of, or indifferent to, the incessant fluctuations
of the surface, and who are following a course of improve.
ment, slow-indeed when compared with that of other nations,
but marvAlously rapid when contrasted with their former
stationary or retrograde condition. It is vain, we fear, to
look amongst such a people for that efficient support which a
Government derives from the public spirit of an enlightened
community. The representative .system in Spain has pro.
duced the weakest of all Governments ; and in every serious
emergency the Constitution has been either violated; altered,
or suspended. With such results before us as the events now
going on at Madrid, it is not, therefore, unnatural that some
attention should be excited by the position of that party
which so long disputed the rights of Queen Isabella to the
crown. Those rights we take to be now as well ascertained
as those of any sovereign in Europe, nor are we prepared to
argue that they would gain anything in strength or validity,
if
most
tesyt
strecognisedubborn adversaries. without a dissentient voice by their
ies. But though the right to, and
mwbebr(emn
adv
the possession of, the crown has been established, much re-
mains to be done for the security of Isabella and for the
tranquillity of her dominions. The division of the Royal
family is one source of weakness--the non-recognition of the
Queen by several of the Powers of Europe is another; and it
cannot be doubted that much would be gained if these
breaches could be healed without sacrificing any portion of
the just rights of the Queen, or abandoning the constitu-
tional pledges of the monarchy. The Queen and the Consti-
tution can scarcely be exposed to greater dangers than those
which actually threaten them from the alternate abuse arid
suspension of the institutions which profess to defend them.
The time is said to have arrived when Don Carlos has been
induced by his advisers to contemplate a formal renunciation
of his pretensions to the crown. As far as he is personally
concerned, the interests of his branch of the Spanish family,
and the party passions associated with his name, are sup-
posed to require that he should abandon a contest so fatal to
the great interests of the monarchy; but this determination

. .
may be carried into effect in two ways—either by transferring
his claims, such as they are, to the person of his son, or by re-
nouncing them altogether by, virtue of a compromise to be
effected with the female line: The former course would only
reserve to Spain the chances of another civil war, whenever the
opportunities which a revolution too surely brings with it
might invite the young Pretender to try his fortune in the
mountains of Biscay; the latter suggests the possibility of ter-
minating many of the existing difficulties by a marriage be-
tween Queen Isabella and her cousin, the Prince of the
Asturias, who would then accept, in lieu of all his claims,
the rank of King Consort of Spain.
It were well if the final withdrawal from the scene of the
principal actors in the late war—of Christina on the one
hand, and Carlos on the other—could obliterate the vestiges
of those parties which were always deplorable and are now
effete. A younger generation might succeed in quenching
old animosities; and the only parties then known in the
kingdom would be that of the friends of the monarchy, and
that of its less formidable opponents. The less of foreign in-
fluence there might be in such an arrangement, the more
likely it would be to succeed. It ought to have the full
character of a national transaction, and to be based on
the assent of the nation, with a due regard to
those institutions which are less likely to subsist in
their present condition than under the legitimate protec-
tion of a temperate monarchy. The abrupt termina-
tion of the Regency, and the interval of military
power which has succeeded it, have naturally strength-
ened those. Conservative principles in Spain which are based
on the evident truth, that freedom is never in greater peril
than when it has been carried to excess for factious pur-
poses. Sooner or later some such reaction will be openly
felt, either in the sinister movements of violence and war, or
in the happier adjustment to which we refer. The former
alternative is fraught with the utmost danger to the Queen,
the' Constitution, and all their adherents; the latter at once
recognises The established order of things, and increases the
chances of its duration. If the fate of the Queen is bound
up with the ascendancy of a party, with that party the
monarchy may perish; it. may stand on the broader basis
which such a marriage would give to the government of the
nation.

No doubt the factions and the factious ambitions which it is
so essential to subdue would offer the main obstacle-to such a
conclusion. Such arrangements are not often effected by ac-
cident or by party intrigues, but by strong resolution and strong
patriotism; and we know not to whom the partisans of this
settlement can look for such qUalities. But such an expe-
dient, judiciously handled, might command the support of no
inconsiderable portion of the people; and it has at least little
to fear from the political energy of its opponents.
The measure, as we have already observed, depends in no
degree on foreign influence; but it might become the duty
of the Government of this country to take care that no
foreign influence interfered to thwart it. In France alone, we
may suspect that the zeal of the reigning Sovereign for the
house of Bourbon does not extend to all the branches of it ;
and that a compromise which' should re-unite the Royal
Family of Spain might be viewed with at least secret dissa •
tisfaction. There is, however, no real analogy between the
respective positions f the Sovereigns and the. Pretenders in
the two countries ; and the question will be considered, if ever
it be seriously raised, not with reference to the convenience
of contiguous States, but to the internal welfare and dignity
of Spain herself.—Times.

LLOYD'S SIIIPPING.
LONDON, MARCH 25.—Light South-Westerly breeze, and
cloudy, with rain at times.
DEAL, MARCH 23.—Wind E.S.E. to N.N.W. and N.W.,
moderate.—And. Viscount Sandon, Lancaster, China, sld.
Nov. 27, St. Helena, 3d. ult. ; H.M.S. Forte, Plymouth.
Sid. Agatina, Launceston; Druid, Singapore; Chandos, Ber-
bice ; York, St. John's, N.B ; James, Halifax ; Lady Seaton,
Montreal ; Isabella Wood, Ceylon. The Corsair, Aikin, from
New York to London, ashore on the Goodwin Sand, has
been got off, in the Downs, with darnage,loss of anchors, &c.
PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 24.—Wind W.S.W. to W.—Acrd.
Royal William, Shields, for Rio. Sid. Mediator, New York;
Sir John Falstaff, Quebec; Spectakir, Bordeaux.
COWES, MARCH 23.—Arrd. Malcolm, M'Farlane, Manilla,
out 194 days.
SOUTHAMPTON. M.Ancif 24.—Arrd. Severn, steamer, West
Indies ; Ski. Swiftsure, ditto.
BRIDPORT, MARCH 23.—Skl. Devon, St. John's, New-
foundland.
PLYMOUTH, MARCH 24.—Wind W.—Castor, Newfound-
land. The sloop Mounts Bay, got ashore on Battery Point
this morning, but was assisted off, without apparent damage.
The Commerce, Bean, from Bordeaux to Havre, which put
in here 20th instant, with damage, is discharging to repair.
FALMOUTH, MARCH 23.—Wind N.E. to N.W., fresh
breezes and squally. 24.—Wind W.S.W., fresh breezes.—Off
port, Cowslip, Colledge, Mauritius, sailed Dec. 20.
LANCASTER, MARCH 21.—Arrd. Thomas Hughes, Ichoboe.
CLYDE, MARCH 21.—S1d. Jane Blane, Madras and Penang ;
Athol, Bombay; Glasgow, Trinidad..
DUBLIN,
Apprentice,im JohnsOn; Mauritius.
a, Cape of Good Hope.
Oo
PETERHEAD, MARCH 21. Sid. Joseph Green, and Travel-
ler, Davis' Straits.
11ARIACnici Napar
JERSEY, MARCH 21.--Sid. Welcome, Newfoundland; Di-
ton; Gaspe; P.R.C., Arichat.
HAYLE, MARCH 21.—The schooner Ivy, in leaving the
harbour yesterday, got ashore, but is expected off.
YARMOUTH, 22.—The Cosmopolite of Sunderland,
is reported to be riding at anchor in the roads, with broadside
stove.
DEAL, MARCH 24.—Wind S.W. to S.W. by W.—Arrd.
Isabella Wood, Ceylon.
LtvErtPoon,MAncit 23.—WindN.W. rood. ;24,W.N.W. do.—
Arrd. Woodstock,Nicholson,Mauritius ; Mathew Peace, Lovey,
La Guayra,Feb. 4. ; Kingston,Thompson, La Guayra (Jan. 29) ;
Letitia Heyn, Arnold, New Orleans; Hibernia and Oxford,
New York: 24.—Duchess of Kent, Atkinson, Calcutta;
Robert Bain, Ritchie, Bombay; • Barbara, Peerse, Mauritius,
Dec. 27; Sarah, Fletcher, Savannah; Thos. P. Cope, Phila-
delphia ; Southerner, Palmer,New York ; ElizaAnn,VAllister,
St. John's, N. B (24 days); Meliza, Quebec. Sld. Brooke,
Cape of Good Hope, Iron Queen, Rio ; Princess Royal, Africa ;
Governor of Jamaica, Thos. Battersby, New Orleans; George
Washington, New York ; Real, Newfoundland. Put
back, Susan, for Africa. The Arabian, for this port, was
on the Bar of the Mississippi about the 20th ult. The Thohas,
hence to Belfast, was run down this morning offCrosbyLight
by the Nithsdale (st.) from Dumfries, master, mate, and one
man saved. A brig, water-logged and abandoned, supposed
the Queen, of Sunderland, was passed on the 15th inst. in lat.
51 lon. 14, by the Mathew Peace, arrd. at Liverpool.
GOOLE, MARCH 24.—A schooner, from Scotland to Swine-
fleet, supposed the Magnet, upset this morning on Whitson
Sand—crew saved.
EAST INDIA SHIPPING.
Arrivals—Viscount Sandon, Lancaster, from China, in the
Downs, sailed Nov. 25, Anjer Dec. 17, St. Helena Feb. 2 ;
Apprentice, Johnson, from Mauritius, off Cork, sailed Dec.
10, Cape Jan. 10 ,• Cowslip, Colledge, from Mauritius, off
Falmouth, sailed Dec. 12 ; Malcolm, M'Farlane, from Ma.
nilla, at Cowes, sailed Aug. 31; Barbara, -Purss, from Mau•
ritius, at Liverpool, sailed Dec. 27, St. Helena, Jan. 29
Robert Benn, Ritchie, from Bombay, at Liverpool, sailed Oct
13, St. Helena, Jan. 26.

Arrivals at St. Helena—Valentine, Feb. 1, from Bourbon,
London ; Benn from Bengal, and sailed to Liverpool ; Mo-
nado, from Batavia, and sailed 2d, to Rotterdam ; Urgent,
from Bengal, and sailed to London ; John Cree, Rogerson,
from Singapore, and sailed 2d, to London ; British Queen,
Brown, from Calcutta and Cape, and sailed to London ; Wm.
Turner, Roals, 2d, from Mauritius ; Cygne, from Bourbon ;
Aberfoyle, from Bombay ; John Whelan, from Calcutta;
Brooklyn, from Manilla; Ann, Farr, from coast of Africa; City
of London, Martin, from Mauritius; Juliet, Alexander, from
China; Wm. Lee, Shepherd, from Calcutta ; W. S. Hamil-
ton, Brown, from Singapore.
VESSELS SPOKEN WlTH.—Sophia, London to Madras, 11th
ult. lat. 6, lon. 20; Marquis Bute, Cardiff to Mobile, 22d,
Mt:2o, lon. 31, by the Apprentice, arrived at Cork. Gil
Blas, Clyde to Calcutta, Jan. 28, lat. 28, lon. 25 (out 35 days),
by the Donna Maria, arrived at Antigua. Indian Queen,
Cork to Barbadoes, 6th ult. (out 37 days), by the Clydesdale,
arrived at Antigua. Prosperous, London to St. Michael's,
13th inst., lat. 43, lon. 14; Three Sisters, bound to Venice,
16th inst , lat. 47, ion. 9 ; Ceres, of Rotterdam, for Batavia,
19th inst., lat. 48, lon. 8 ; barque. Beatrice, from Liverpool,
20th inst., lat. 49, lon. 9; Recovery, of Brixham, and Min
carlo, of Scilly, 21st inst., lat. 50, lon. 6, by the Emma, ar-
rived at Plymouth. Duthh barque Sooloo, Rotterdam to
Batavia. lat. 4, lon. 19, by the Malcolm, arrived at Cowes.
Sarah Maria, China to Ainsterdam, Dec. 15, lat. 33 S., lon.
31 E. ; Phoebe, Mainla to London, Dec. 17, in the Straits of
Sunda ; Zoe, Mauritius to Cork, Jan. 19, lat. 30, lon. 20 E. ;
Tigris, Ceylon to London, 20th (would call at the Cape) ;
Monado, Batavia to Rotterdam, 4th ult., lat. 16; Athena,
Liverpool to Calcutta, 16th ult., lat. 23 S., lon. 23 W. ;
Adelaide, from Liverpool, 18th inst., lat. 48 N., lon. 13 W.,
by the Viscount Sandon, arrived in the Downs. Queen of
England, from Calcutta, Jan. 17, lat. 33 S., lon. 31 E., by the
Zoe, spoken as above.

Comma, MARcif 16.—Positive information has
been received here that in consequence of the death of our
late Duke, his Royal Highness Prince Albert will pay a visit
to Gotha and to this city. The reigning Duke and buchess
will go next week with a great part of the household to
(lotha to receive their illustrious guest, and accompany him
hither. The Prince's journey from London to Gotha is to be
performed in 52 hours. It is understood that his Royal High-
ness will make but a short stay at Gotha.