The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-01 00:00:00

Week of an Emperor" is a record of the daily pro-
ceedings of the Czar during his recent visit to the me-
tropolis, and is happily adapted to the lounging
tastes of magazine readers. There is some ingeni-
)o3 speculation, bordering in places on the fawastic,
in the article headed " Traditions of Fairy Tales of
Upper Lusatia ;" but, as a whole, it is heavy, and
-ven were it not so, still the subject is one at variance
.vith the tastes of this incredulous matter-of-fact age
—an age that seems to have faith in nothing but the
steam-engine, the spinning-jenny, and the infallibility
of that most fallible of statesmen, Sir Robert Peel. it
is nearly two centuries since Bishop Corbett, in one of
the most delightful little poems of the day, lamented
the decline of the popular nelief in fairies ; and if his
lamentation was well-founded then, what must it be
now ? From the article on " Portugal," which com-
prises a short biographi.:al sketch of the celebrated
'Marquis of Pombal, we quote a description of the
great earthquake at Lisbon, which took place, it may
be remembered, during the administration oithat en-
ightened statesman :
" On the morning of All-Saints' day, the Ist of No-
ember, 1755, Lisbon was almost torn up from the foun •
lations by the most terrible earthquake on European re-
,,ord. As it was a high. Romish festival, the population
were crowding to the churches, which were lighted up in
nonour of the day. About a quarter before ten the first
shock was felt, which lasted the extraordinary length of
:ix or seven minutes ; then followed an interval of about
lye minutes, after which the shock was renewed, lasting
About three minutes. The concussions were so violent
in both instances that nearly all the solid buildings were
lashed to the ground, and the principal part of the city
drnost wholly ruined. The terror of the population,
•ushing through the falling streets, gathered in the
hurches, or madly attempting to escape into the fields,
nay be imagined ; but the whole scene of horror, death,
aid ruin, exceeds all description. The ground split into
hasins, into which the people were plunged in their
fight. Crowds fled to the water ; but the Tagus, agi-
d like the land, suddenly rose to an extraordinary
icight, burst upon the land, and swept away all within
is reach. It was said to have risen to the height of five-
old-twenty or thirty feet above its usual level, and to
lave sunk again as much below it. And this phenome-
:ton occurred four times.

"The dispatch from the British Consul stated, that the

,special force of the earthquake seemed to be directly
ender the city ; for while Lisbon was lifted from the
ground, as if by the explosion of a gunpowder mine, the
lamage either above or below was not so considerable,
One of the principal quays, to which it was said that
,nany people had crowded for safety, was plunged under
•he Tagus, and to►ally disappeared Ships were carried
town by the shock on the river, dashed to pieces against
•ach other, or flung upon the shore. To complete the
catastrophe, fires broke out in the ruins, which spread
over the face of the city, burned for five or six days, and
reduced all the goods and property of the people to ashes.
For forty days the shocks continued with more or less
violence, but they had now nothing left to destroy. The
people were thus kept in a constant state of alarm, and
tOrced to encamp in the open fields, though it was now
winter. The Royal Family were encamped in the gar-
lens of the palace ; and, as ►f all the elements of society
had been shaken together, Lisbon and its vicinity became
the place of gathering for banditti from all quarters in
the kingdom. A number of Spanish deserters made
:heir way to the city, and robberies and murders of the
cost desperate kind were constantly perpetrated.
" l)uring this awful period, the whole weight of go-
vernment fell upon the shoulders of the Minister ; and
.ie bore it well. He adopted the most active measures
for provisioning the city, for repressing plunder and vie-
enee, and for enabling the population to support them-
-4,-lves during this period of suffering. It was calculated
that seven millions sterling could scarcely repair the da-
mage of the city ; and that no less than eighty thousand
;ices had been lost, either crushed by the earth or swal-
lowed up by the waters. Some conception of the native
mortality may be formed from that of the English : of
the comparatively small number of whom, resident at
that time in Lisb in, no less than twenty-eight men and
fifty women were among the sufferers. The Royal Fa-
tally were at the palace of Belem when this tremendous
alamity occurred. Pombal instantly hastened there.
He found every one in consternation. What is to be
done,' exclaimed the King, as he entered, to meet this
infliction of Divine justice ?' The calm and re,olute
•tnswer of Pombal was—' Bury the dead, and feed the
living.' rhis sentence is still recorded with honour in
ihe memory of Portugal.'