The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-07-31 00:00:00

"THE POPE'S OWN."

WE all know that every Irishman is a real born
gentleman, but not over fastidious as to the con-
gruity or entirety of his wardrobe. The native
idea of full court 'dress, consisting of nothing more
than a waistcoat without buttons, and a pair of
short' gaiters, may be obselete, if ever anything
more than a musty joke. It does not appear,
however, that the Pope's quartermasters at
Ancona and Macerata have 4 very different esti-
mate of what is a suitable uniform for Paddy
when he enlists as a crusader. " An old flannel
shirt,"—no doubt out at elbows and considerably
shrunk at waist and wrists—" and an indescri-
bable pair of knee breeches"—little more than
gaiters, we presume—are, by the latest accounts
from some of themselves, just returned—" the
uniform of the Pope's Irish Brigade!" Coats are
not only not supplied, but, it seems, are positively
prohibited. The traditional Irishman's personal
wants are generally set down at a very moderate
and easily supplied ratio,—namely, " plenty of
fighting, and something to ate." Even in these
respects General LAMORICIERE seems to have left
"the Pope's Irish" tj find themselves. In providing
the former commodity Irishmen seldom have much
difficulty, and are always ready to extemporise
13,T1 affray. We all remember a rather ludicrous
instance of this well-known facility, which occur-
red recently, when a few hundreds of Irish
gentlemen had paid their half - crowns to see
Tom SAYERS and the BENECIA BOY illustrate
"the manly art." The rival champions of the
ring, as usual, being a few minutes past
the appointed hour for commencing, the audience
first shouted playklly, and then a promiscuous
challenge was given and accepted all round.
Every man thereupon fisticuffed his neighbour
heartily, and in a minute or two every body had
a black-eye or a bloody-nose ; and when the
professional combatants made their appearance
in the arena, they also were attacked by the

throng; and obliged to fly—the would-be spec-
tators being satisfied with their own performance.
So the Irishmen who went out to see the fighting
in Italy, for want of employment against the
Pope's enemies, seem to have taken to fighting
amongst themselves, and the only alternative has
been that of. sending them away "to the place
from whence they came." Not even " something
to ate" was supplied them : for we hold that what
did not please an Irishman in that respect, could not
have been worthy of the name of human food,
either in quantity
,or quality. Thirty miles a-day,
with nothing .to eat, or means to procure any !
That was too much even for a god-son of St.
PATRICK. Four copper coins, about the size of a
halfpenny,an d called a bojaccio,even with the Pope's
arms impressed on it, was too poor pay even for
an Irish gentleman. The Most scanty allowance
of genuine " taters," laughing through the seams
of their jackets, over a peat fire in the
ould country, are preferable to bits of macca-
roni and • salt, with a bit of dark brown
coarse bread. Verily the chivalry of these
pious and faithful - sons of Holy Mother
Church seems to have been little appreciated in
the Eternal City. Those who have been shot by
the Pope's own general would seem to have had
the best of it—for their miseries, we hope, are at
an end, We know not whether to pity more
those who have returned to the land of bogs
reduced in purse, person, and reputation—if they
ever had any—or those who have remained to
eat maccaroni and salt, and rot amid squalor and
filth which completely eclipses the most famine-
stricken cabins of the western counties.

" Oh, Irishmen will always be fools!" said, a
hearty, rollicking son of the Emerald Isle in our
hearing the other day, and he evidently gloried
in the folly-loving boast ; and there may be some
grain of truth in the description. We are very
much mistaken, however, if there are among them
many such fools as to set out for Rome in the face
of recent disclosures as to the treatment of
their fellow countrymen in the Papal dominions.
We are not among those who would abuse Irish-
men and Irish priests for having undertaken or
promoted this expedition. At the very time
that some parties in this country were
sending means to GARIBALDI to carry on
hostilities against FRANCIS 11., how can we blame
" the faithful," for endeavouring to strengthen
the hands of their chief pastor when he had
appealed to them for succour. We may differ in
toto credo with the Rev. Father O'REILLY of this
town, and we may especially regret that he played
so prominent a part in forwarding many of these
recruits en route for Rome, but we dare not call
in question his zeal, consistency, or honesty. No
more do we see any necessity for doubting the
good faith of any of the other priestly agents who
shared in this thankless task. Doubtless, accord-
ing to their convictions, all was done for the best.
The Irish and their priests were doing nothing
more, although in a very different cause, than the
agents of GARIBALDI, and many of the people of
England are doing at this moment. This is a
free country, in. which 'we permit the greatest
latitude of speech and action, and the best way of
converting those who do not fully appreciate
these blessings, or who would abuse them, is to
give them full scope, and, as in this instance, they
are likely soon to find out their mistake. One of
the best curatives of rabid republican discontent
with our monarchical institutions used to be
a brief residence in the United States of
America—the model republic. Perhaps, in
like manner, one of the best remedies for
Irish discontent with Saxon and Protestant
rule is a short stay under the paternal sway of
the Holy Father within the confines of his own
dominions Such an experience seems to have
speedily satisfied the Irish Brigade, and it might be
advantageous rather than otherwise to encourage
other pilgrims to go and taste at the same fountain
head. The brave, generous, and confiding people
of Ireland might,, after such a pilgrimage, feel
inclined to alter their views as to the propriety
of compelling the oppressed and remonstrating
subjects of the Pope to submit to his unbearable
yoke. They might then begin to see the imprac-
ticability of maintaining his temporal sovereignty.
We have at present nothing to say against His
Holiness as the chosen head of a great spiritual
organisation ; but we cannot help thinking that
the revelations we have received as to the suffer-
ings of. these noble and devoted " sons of the
church," is only another confirmation of the often-
repeated and demonstrable truth, that the Pope's
civil and military administration has been, and
still is, characterised by the gravest blunders, the
most wicked cruelty, and the blackest crimes
which have stained the annals of tyrannical
despotism ; and that the sooner " the Father of
the Faithful" is relieved of all the cares which
attach themselves to his political position; and the
marshalling of troops to defend it, so much the
better for humanity, for the progress of truth,
and the peace of the world—especially of Ireland.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Sunday Evening, July 29, 1860.

English pickpockets at present swarm here,
and before one of the Tribunals yesterday, three
of them were charged *ith this offence. They
gave their names and ages to the police as follows :
—Jackson, aged 28, lodging-house keeper; Mac-
donald, aged 26, cigar merchant ; a woman named
Gordon, aged 36, who said she was a dressmaker.
It appeared that they were in the habit of living
in the most expensive style at the best hotels
here. They were dressed with elegance, and
spoke with a genteel accent in English. Foreigners
frequenting the hotels where these pickpockets
put up used to wonder how they continued to get
the money which they spent so prodigally. They
. _
were not long in finding out their means of sub-
sistence. From representations made to the
secret police, they were placed under surveillance,
but for some days it was impossible to surprise
the three pickpockets in the act. They were
always together when they committed the thefts,
then parted quickly to meet again at the Rotonde
coffee-house, where they were arrested. Jackson
pretended that he had come here for the benefit of
his health; 'Macdonald said that he had brought
over a little dog to a lady who had very much ad-
mired it. Folsid guilty. Jackson was sentenced
to three years' imprisonment; Macdonald and
the woman Gordon each to two years.

The conferences which have hitherto been held
here between the Great Powers to determine -the
conditions under which they are prepared to
sanction the intervention of France in the affairs
of Syria have had no result of a definite kind.
Another meeting has been convened for to-mor-
row, at which it 'is expected the necessary
arrangements and guarantees will be agreed upon.
In the meantime there is no end of rumours
respecting the points what had been the subject
of debate at these conferences, though the only real
difficulty seems to have been the obtaining of the
acquiescence of the Porte in the proposed inter-
vention, and that—it• is now positively stated
.__,.has somehow or other been got over.
The latest accounts represent that matters have
so far progressed that the different Powers
have agreed upon the amour t of force
which each is to contribute towards the
expedition, which is to consist, in all, of 10,00,0
men. Nothing is said of the amount of the con-
tingent which Russia is to furnish ; but although
the report that Spain was allowed to take part in
these conferences is not confirmed, it is announced
that she is alsq tq be represented in Syria by two
steam corvettes. There is, however, an important
stipulation made by France, which is, that in
case the other powers shall not furnish, by a day.