The Express.
London, England, 1862-05-09 00:00:00

FRANCE AND ROME.

We read in the Stick of to-day :—" Letters from
Rome announce the departure of the ex-King of
Naples without anyone's knowing to what quarter
he intends to direct his steps. There is desolation,
it is said, in the camp of the faithful. The Prince
of Rufano, chamberlain of Francis 11., counter-
manded orders for flies which were to have
taken place at Paris on the occasion of the mar-
riage of his son. Everything serves to foreshadow
an approaching solution of the Roman question."
The Prease of to-day says :—" Belief in a near
solution of the Roman question is now general.
This great news, rapidly propagated, has produced
not only immense sensation, but immense astir/an-
tion. The catholic press itself, which for so long a 1
time fired off all its guns in favour of the temporal
sovereign, seems to have been surprised by the
possibility of the event. After having cried Out so
much, it has now scarcely a word to say."
The legitimist exiles present to the Roman people
a painful spectacle. The Gazette de France (clerical
journal) says :—" The exiles are more eager to sup-
plant each other than to release their country from
the Piedmontese. Instead of crowding round their
sovereign in order to open the way to Naples, they
are tearing each other to pieces. The chiefs of the
royalist bands who are fighting in the provinces
conceal their movements with greater care from the
Neapolitans of Rome than from the Piedmontese
of Naples."
A letter from Rome states that the conviction is
general there that the pontifical government has
made every preparation with a view to a sudden
departure. The pontifical archives are said to have
been divided into two portions, which will be con-
fided to the nunciatures of Vienna and ,Madrid.
The royal family of Naples has taken similar pre-
cautions, and all private letters from Rome leave
no doubt as to the common determination of the
Pope and Francis IL
A letter from Rome, in the Gazette de France,
contains the following :
Between 10 and 11 in the morning the Pope aed Kies
of Naples were, on the day of the tatters visit, enjoying
the sea breeze at Porto d'Ansio, when the smoke of a
steamer was observed on the horizon. Gradually the
vessel approached, appearing to come from the direction 1
of Genoa. No flag was displayed, and she was at first
thought to be a trader, but her deck was soon discovered
to be crowded with soldiers. The vessel approached within
gunshot. The Pontifical Zouaves were at their posts,
and the artillerymen were asking themselves if their
services were not about to be required. Opposite the
camp the vessel audaciously slackened her pace, and hoisted
the Piedmontese Bag. The display of those colours was •
defiance, an insult. The Neapolitan steamers are not even
allowed to show them in the harbour of Girlie Vecchia.
The pontifical army trembled with anger, and asked to be
allowed to sink the offending vessel. Mgr. de Mende
calmed them. Three minutes would have sufficed to MUM
fag, ship, and Piedmontese soldiers to disappear. But the
Pope, with that mildness which the insults of his enemies
have never been ►ble to impair, formally forbade any reply
to the provocation. "When lam present," he s►id,
"arms must not be used, I can only pray for them." The
pontifical soldiers were obliged to repress their indignation,
but the white and yellow flag was raised, and the Roman
camp resounded with cries of "Long live Pius IX. I 'nog
live the Pontiff King!" In the face of that demonstration
the Piedmontese vessel put about, and steamed away in the
-*ion of Naples.