The Sun.
London, England, 1821-11-12 00:00:00

SPANISH CORTES.

LtsaoN, OCT. 21.—1 n this sitting a project of a decree pro-
posed by the Committee of Public Instruction was read : to en-
act that a copy of any book printed in the kingdom shall be de-
posited in the public library : periodicals are included, but they
need only be delivered every three months.—(To be read a se-
cond time.)

M. BORGES CATINEIRO made a proposition for abolishing
the Order of the Knights of Malta, which he prefaced by a long
speech on the happiness of countries, whose inhabitants consist
of productive classes—that is, such as subsist by agriculture,
commerce, or manufactures, contrasted with the misery of a na-
tion, where a great part of the people live by public employ-
ments or ecclesiastical benefices—that is, at the expence of the
productive classes. Such, when they are numerous, do no-
thing—or nothing useful, or what is only vexatious to their fel-
low-citizens ; 4 I call them drones legal vagrants, swarms of
troublesome flies. And what shall I say of those who live on
Commanderies, alcaidarias, and other favours graciously con-
ferred ? I call these things legal robberies, and sanctified idle-
ness.' The orator quoted Switzerland, and the United States
of North America, as a contrast ; proposing that all such use-
less burdens should be diminished, and that the Cortes should
begin with the Order of Malta, and the Commanderies belong-
ing to it.
The Orator fully recognised the utility of the Order when
first established for the purpose of attending the hospital at Jeru-
salem, and the valour with which the Knights had subsequent-
ly combated the Musselmen. But all is changed ; there is no
hospital at Jerusalem, nor pilgrimages to the Holy Land : nor
do we now judge it conformable with the spirit of Christianity,
to combat the believers in the Koran with arms. We have a
regular army and navy to navy to defend ourselves against the
attacks of other Powers, whatever be their faith, and from pirates.
It is not necessary to mix up those things with religion, which
consists in prayer, patience, and doctrine. The Order of Malta
was in fact abolished by the occupation of the Island, first by the
French, and afterwards by the Enulish, and though the re-esta-
blishment of it was mentioned le the basis of the Treaty of
Amiens, yet the Treaty of Paris decided to the contrary. He,
therefore, moved, Ist, that the Order of St. John of Jerusalem
be abolished in Portugal, as in the rest of Europe ; 2d, that
the Commanderies shall remain to the present holders for their
life, and then be applied to the payment of the national debt.
To be read a second time in another Sitting.
In the same Sitting, the second-reading was continued of the
opinion of the Ecclesiastical Committee, respecting certain cases,
in which it would be requisite to apply to Rome. A very great
debate arose on the first article, which was, relative to the ap-
plication to the Pope for a Bull to suppress certain Convents.
Many Members were of opinion, that no such application
was necessary, and that the Cortes were competent to proceed
to such measures of reform without any Bull. Others thought,
that even allowing the civil power to have the right, it was
however reasonable to comply with the prejudices of the Portu-
guts:.—The debate was adjourned.
OCTOBER 23.—1 n this sitting a letter from the Counsel of
Pernambuco was read ; stating that having notified its installa-
tion to the districts) (comarcas) that of Guianna refused to re-
cognise its authority ; that, in consequence, troops had been
sent with instructions not to employ violence, but to make them
return to their duty. The Counsel begged that two battalions
might be sent to maintain tranquillity in those Provinces. It
sent, copies of the correspondence with the Provisional Junta of
Guianna, which acknowledges no Government but that at
Lisbon and the Cortes, the sole bulwarks which can secure the
inhabitants from the despotism of Luiz do Rego Barrelo.
The papers were referred to the Committee of the Consti-
tution.
Ltenow, OCT. 26.—The Carta, besides the other objects
of discussion,. continue the consideration of the Articles of the
Constitution in regular succession—ln the Sitting of the 25th,
M. B. Carneiro made a proposal for the encouragement of the
national manufactures, by ordering that all citizens who eat the
bread of the nation, that rr, all persons filling public offices,
shall be bound to clothe themselves in articles of the national
manufacture.

The Diario do Governo, published at Lisbon,
contains a Report from the Criminal Judge of
Oporto, in which he gives an account of his in-
spection of the Convent of the Barefooted Car-
melites in that city, which he visited for the pur-
pose of releasing from its dungeons the unfortu-
nate Friar GABRIEL, who was condemned to end
his days there, and bad been confined since
1813. The Judge gives a melancholy picture of
the state in which he found Friar GABRIFA, and
the horrors of the imprisonment he had under-
gone. lie has been removed to another Convent ;
and precautions, it is said, are taken to place him
out of the reach of ulterior vengeance.
Advices from Stockholm to the 24th ult. state,
that the application of the city of Bremen, and
the Duke of OLDESBURGH, for certain commer-
cial immunities, on terms of reciprocity, had been
rejected by the Swedish Council of State. The
trade between Sweden and Finland has, in five
years, left a Im.ance against the former of five
millions of dollars. Owing to the declining price
of corn in the Mediterranean, it has been found
necessary to warehouse in a French port, the
shipments recently made to that quarter on ac-
count of the Swedish Government.

WINDSOR, Nov. 11.—We understand that
Monday, the 19th of this month, is the day
fixed by the Dean and Chapter of St. George's
Chapel for the election of a Lay Clerk (counter-
tenor), in the room of Mr. G. B. SAUNDERS, de-
ceased.

When the BISHOP of LiNcotAt held his Visitation and
confirmation at Loughborough, after 479 children had been
confirmed, and a Sermon preached by the Rector of Wanlip,
the usual proceeding of calling over the Clergy of the district
took place. Ills Lordship's Chaplain distinctly questioned
each whether he ,was duly licensed or not ; other interrogatories
were also put, some of them not of a very welcome nature ; for
instance, when the Minister of flown was called over, his Lord.
ship himself asked how often Divine Service was performed!
" Once a year" was the reply. " What is the population ?"
" Near four hundred." His Lordship very energetically dc.
dared that lie should consider it his duty forthwith to order the
strictest investigation of such an extraordinary case. When the
calling over was finished, his Lordship delivered an elaborate
charge to his Reverend Brethren, enjoining them to be vigilant
and attentive to the duties which belonged to them, urging
them to continue upon their benefices, and not forsake their
flocks in the manner they had hitherto done ; his Lordship at.
tributed the great increase of the Dissenters more to this cause
than to any other, and advised his Clerical auditory to imitate
their rivals in diligence and activity, in public preaching and
private exhortation, for the purpose of bringing back the Se.
ceders ; his Lordship concluded by extolling the Church system
of religion as the purest of all.—(Leicester Journal, Nov. 9.)

PITT Ctxn.—lt is a great pleasure to us to
find that our observations upon the conduct of
some of the members of this Club, in voting for
a triennial celebration of the Birth-day of the
immortal PITT, have called forth an almost una-
nimous expression from the members, for restor-
ing the annual assembly of the Club.—Our opi-
nion is, that the Society ought to meet more fre-
quently instead of annually, and at such periods
proper subjects might be discussed, which could
not fail of proving advantageous to the general
well-being of the Society.—(l3irrningham Herald,
Nov. 10.)
ESSEX, Nov. 9.—Yesterday the Members of
the Chelmsford PITT Ctun held their half-
yearly meeting at the Black Boy Inn ; the re-
spectable part of the town and neighbourhood
attended. The dinner and wines were excellent,
especially the French wines, which were pre-
sented to the Club by the High Sheriff.

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

No. XLVIII.

MEMOIRES HISTORIQUES, POLITIQUES, et LITE-
RAIRES sur le ROYAUME de NAPLES : i. e.
rical, Political, and Literary Memoirs on the Kingdom of
Naples, by Count Gregory Orloff; Senator of the Russia'
Empire ; with two Geographical Maps, Notes, and Addi-
tions, by M. Amaury Duval, Member of the Royal Institute
of France. Bvo., 5 vols.—Paris, 1821.

Nearly ten months have elapsed since the ap-
pearance of the first two volumes of this import-
ant work ; they contain the historical _part,
comprising with much ability, in a small space,
the longest history, perhaps, and certainly the
most varied, of any in the annals of Nation?.---
Scarcely thirty centuries have passed since the
migration of the Greeks into the South of Italy,
and subsequently to that event no part of the
globe has experienced more frequent and com-
plete revolutions than the Kingdom of Naples.--
When the petty Greek Republics ceased to de-
solate it by their divisions, the Romans, by sub-
jugating it, associated in in their wars ; it be-
come successively the prey of the Carthaginians,
a second time of the Romans, then of the Ostro-
goths, of the Greek Empire, of the Arabs, of the
Normans, of the House of Suabia, of the House
of Anjou, afterwards of Aragon, and then of
Spain ; it enjoyed some repose under the sceptre
of the Bourbons, when a torrent, springing out of
the French Revolution, subjected it in the course
of a few years to the yoke of a Republic, of a
short-lived restoration, to that of Joseph, and of
Murat, to a second restoration, a revolution,
and lastly to a state of calm which will last a 5
long as Sovereigns shall be more occupied iii
securing the stability of their thrones than in ag-
grandizing their possessions. _ _

- What exits must it not have suffered in be-
longing to so many masters ? A small district
in Germany may form successively a part of Se-
veral German States without the people scarce!!
perceiving it ; its manners, its habits, its relations,
its language, nothing is changed ; but it is a very
different thing when in the same country we must
become Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Spa.niartis:
Germans, and French, and when soldiers front
the North, the East, and the South, meet on this
spot of earth, dispute for its possession, and de-
populate it. A country favoured by Heaven, ra-
vaged by men ; this is the description given is
all ages, by history, of Naples.
After having traced rapidly all the revolutions
of this charming but unfortunate Kingdom, Count
Orloff now gives us the history of the differeut Ad-
ministrations which have been Imposed on it. This
portion of the work is very curious and very in-
structive : it occupies the whole of the third vo-
lume, and with the preceding two completes the
historical and political divisions of these Memoir:4-
We would particularly recommend to the notice
of our Readers, chapter IX. of the third volume ;
for the excellent and numerous Institutions of
Charles 111., known under the name, of Don
Carlos, deserve to be as profound?), studied 0
they have been admired by all Europe.
The third part of these Memoirs commence;
with the fourth volume, and opens quite a Sir'
ferent career. It relates to the literary History
of the Kingdom of Naples, whkb it perhaV;
carries rather too far back, since it begins wilt'
Zaleucus, Charondas, and Pythagoras ; it mai
also, perhaps, be extended too widely, for it
comprehends in the number of its literary merry
Lawyers, Mathematicians, Writers eta Agrirtti"
tare, Physicians and Surgeons ; but the Anal°
being desirous of exhibiting the progress of the
human mind in every science, was fearful °'
omitting a single name which was entitled to the
public esteem in any branch whatsoever.
We confess that in this multitude of ceri-
brated names, respecting whom the Author rot'
given us rather long notices, the majority of theos,
are unknown to us, and others are remembered
only because they are enumE:rated le the cal S-
. of Tiraboschi and of Gingteen4K
names of Cicero, Ovid, Horace, Shins, StatiOF
Juvenal, Petronius, and some others, whorl
Count Orloff includes among the illustrious Nes'
politans, are quite familiar to all, nor are we e°'"
tirely strangers to those of Sannazarius, Potatger
and other modern Writers ; but the remainder 01`.
so new to us that we can neither approve or
disapprove the opinions of the Author, and tilt
warm praises he has bestowed on them.
On one passage, however, of the fourth volume'
we presume to differ from Count Orloff: be
ranges himself on the side of those learned mro
who place Petronius under the reign Of the
Antonines,.whilst others, on the contrail; Iziake
him the cotemporary of Nero, Lucan, and Senecai
If proofs, founded on a profound know ledge
%c `",
elegant latinity, are brought against us, ello":
be silent, for our sagacity does not -reach So high
as to be able to decide whether a Latin turn 0r
expression belongs to the year 67, or to the year
140, of the Chriitian a2ra. But the. reasons urge'
against our opinion appear to us extremely weals.l
some say, " Petronius is a noisy declaimer, ;". this
is certainly not a reason for removing him fro's,
the age of. Seneca, Lucan, and the Emperor t°
whom is attributed the
64 Tama rnimalioneis implerunt coma hombis."'
La Harpe says that the old Trimalcion, 10'411
a Sybarite and a Dehauchee, cannot be a cariciv'e
tare of Nero—granted ; but this does not pr°io
that the description of the famous supper'covhe
not have been written under Nero,- thatigb 1,4
Author, when he wrote it, might not have thong";
either of - Nero or' of Poppma. Moralig`
says Count Orloff, have been indignant at the
scandalous picture exhibited by Petronius : bs
not these good people read Suetonitisi The $4,1
in which an Empress and a mother:tiP Pear.:s,
naked before her son, in the midst of his 0rg309,
and in which some other equally infato4;lo scet
occurred, is, to our apprehension, the time suit
to the supper of Trimalcion. - The Collet °11760
Antonines was assuredly more decent, aa'.,ot
would be consequently the town. lie yvshh
discuss the opinion of those who make Petf°)
n
live under Constantine : if they are in the rlO a
we may affirm that very good Latin was cola

three centuries after ,Augustus. •
The firth and last'voiume is dividod eie
parts ; the first of which is a continuation 0'

foregoing volume, and the second, the sole pro •
-
duction of M. Amaury Duval, is entitled Pictures
of Naples and its Environs.
The biographical notices of this last volume
ppssess in our eyes much more attraction ; this
period, beginning with the reign of Ferdinand I V.,
that is to say in 1759, presents to us well known
names. Among them figures the Abbe Galiani,
whom Count Orloff treats with great indulgence,
and several literary and scientific men who died
a violent death, for having believed in the impe-
rishability of the Parthenopean Republic. Some
truly illustrious men are to be found in this gal-
lery, into which the author has perhaps intro-
duced rather too many persons. Among the
curious works mentioned by him, there are seve-
ral !hose titles alone strongly excite our curio-
sity ;''such as that of Melchiore Delfico, On the
uncertainty and inutility of History. What we
have seen for the last thirty years, and what our
enlightened men promise, lead us to fear • that
Signor Delfico is in the right. The Hellenist
Christ of Domenico Diodati will not less astonish
the reader. The author pretends to prove, that
after the partition of Alexander's conquests the
language and customs of the Greeks were intro-
duced into Juda, as well as into the remainder
Of Syria, and into Egypt, and that oar Saviour
and the Virgin rslary spoke Greek.
The reflections of Count Orloff are frequently
more interesting than his biographical notices :
he admits with sorrow that the fine treatises on
Public Economy, of which the Neapolitan philo-
sophers were so prodigal, have had no influence
on the destiny of this unfortunate and beautiful
country ; and he makes the same remark respect-
ing the excellent works on agriculture which
have frequently appeared at neither of which
circumstances are we surprised. The agricultu-
rist is irresistibly led to do as his father did ;
_example alone, and often repeated, can make
hirn abandon the beaten track : a farmer who, in
given space, shall constantly reap ten bushels
of• corn more than his neighbours, will produce
greater effect in favour of a new method, than
the best treatises on the subject. Jealousy pro-
duces imitation, and in this case envy is good for
something.
The author is astonished at not meeting with
good sacred orators in a country where religion
is clothed in such brilliant and majestic forms.
Thirty years we entertained the same notions;
we had heard strange stories respecting the
preachers of Naples, and determined to ascer-
tain on the spot the correctness of the reports.
Twice were we convinced that the accounts had
not been exaggerated. The gestures, the cries,
the expressions of the preacher were of the most
hideous description, and the famous ecco it vero
pulcinella seemed to us a probable anecdote.
nowever, after having observed the Neapolitan
People some time, we came to the conclusion
that their preachers are precisely those best
adapted to the country.
Count Orloff congratulates the Neapolitans on
not possessing in the present day many poets,
and he attributes this scarcity to three causes,
which have in fact operated very efficaciously :
A taste
for the Ossianic kind, the rage for im-
provisation,
and the inclination of most minds
towards politics and the sciences. These are
enough
Vir to extinguish the fire of Homer and of
g' ; and we wonder how that of Sannazarius
could have resisted their united effects. The
Sciences especially must have inflicted the most
fatal blow. Poetry delights in fiction, physics,
in realities ; when the latter predominates, the
former declines.
The author says, that Naples formerly main-
tained more than twenty millions of inhabitants ;
'we doubt it, for its mountains are too numerous,
and its forests, according to ancient writers, were
too extensive to render such a population pro-
bable. It should also be remarked, that Count
Orloff does not include Sicily in his statement.
Mesides, we are not disposed to place implicit re-
liance on the reports of antiquity ; and when we
read that 300,000 Carthaginians went at diffe-
rent periods to attack Syracuse, we are reminded
'I the million and half men of Xerxes, and of
the 80,000 combatants, fully armed and equipped,
who came out of the single town of Langres. if
we are to believe some writers, France and Italy
are deserts in comparison with what they were
in former times.

A section of this volume is dedicated to the
unrolled papyri, and to newly discovered manu-
scripts. The number is not so considerable as
Fight be expected. We were surprized at their
slowness in unrolling the volumes, almost reduc-
, .eu to cinders, which have been found at Ilercu-
nneurn ; but since we have seen these mann-
seCilotil, and observed the process of unrolling
thenkl *e 'have on the contrary been astonished
1,114 .b!ki have been able to read a single one.
PAtlence of man was never put to so severe
a Mat

In
allot-11er article we shall notice the Pictures
QfPke and its Envi; ons. This part is a very
ark!eable addition to the work of Count Orloff.
curious cannot be gratified with a more mag-
aecent .and diversified panorama than that of
,'"l'Pleg- Constantinople, in the opinion of some
reell°fls, presents a more imposing scene. We
contradict this assertion, but we doubt it ;
the 'Single circumstance of a volcano seated in a
Eden is a contrast which must make the
balance incline in favour of Naples. Z.

L
13.41CF.6 OF r'OREIGN gTOCK IN ,JolinoN.—Spa-
. bish bands from 58 to 58g. French stock from
SM. to 80f. 85c. Prussian bonds are quoted at
45; Russian metallic stock at 75 ; Neapolitan
• bonds at 73 ;
and Austrian metallic stock at 74:1‘.
MAJESTY was graciously pleased to grant
t•
t° Lady *BELL the privilege of studying the plc-
ures 1n Carlton Palace, during his visits to Ire-
iati(Vand Hanover, and by unremitting daily ap-
- Ilication, Lady BELL has produced most excel-
-1:11t copies of some of the finest Paintings in the
_‘ciYal Culleetion. The grand picture of enalsr
2storifig the Sick Man, by VANDYKE, is copied
ti!.
the greatest freedom and correctness ; as
teviise the exquisite Portraits of Rubens and
';'s "Ile. Her Ladyship had begun the admired
TeVtlre of the. Burgomaster, by REmarANDT, and
it in a state of considerable advancement only
-44.10ur or two before his AIAJESTY'S return to
the I).ltiace.

The French Papers of Thursday and Friday,
Brussels, liamburgh, and other German Jour-
nals, Madrid and Lisbon Papers, have arrived
since our last, from which we give extracts under
the head of FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. They will
be found to contain several articles of, great in-
terest ; and the inhuman conduct of the Turks
towards the Greek islanders, as depicted in a
letter from Corfu, cannot fail to excite the com-
miseration of the public in behalf of the Greeks,
and their utter abhorrence of their Mussulman