The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-04 00:00:00

THE TWO SICILIES

CONSTANTINOPLE, MARCH 23
A schooner from Chios with the Ottoman flag
came to anchor between Tophani and Sali-bazar,
one of the most frequented spots, not far from the
English gunboat Harpy and the French paddle
steamer Ajaccio. She was to sail early, and
the passengers were on board. ,No one was
on deck, and the sailors were %playing cards
below in the cabin, when all of a sudden eight
bandits, with their faces muffled up to their
eyes, and each brandishing a dagger in his hand,
rushed suddenly on the sailors and commanded
them to be silent. The Captain's strong box was
broken open and its contents extracted, 'to the
amount of 16 000 piastres, and then ithe robbers
seized what ren,skets and pistols they Could find.
At length the passengers heard a noise upon deck
and up they rushed in a body, but the thieves had
already tied, and one seaman lay dead, having
been stabbed mortally with a dagger. The cap-
tain of this schooner, Stephen Vassilaki, had
himself been gagged, and as soon as they removed
his bonds, be hastened with several sailors in a
boat to inform the police of the outrage, but to
no purpose, for the faces of the rcbbers had been
too effectively disguised.
The Minister of Finance has made a communi-
cation to the Sublime Porte, that both in Aleppo
,-.4.nd several other towns, during the levying of the
taxes and enrolling the recruits, several natives
disregirded the summons they had received from
the govertiment, alleging that they were under
he protectioti of a consul. A report of this having
been made to the Turkish government, the
latter has sent a note to all the ambassadors
and consuls, in which the ministers complain
of this abuse of power, and inform the
consuls that, should any Turkish subjects
or native Rayas refuse to pay their taxes in future,
or to fulfil their military duty, they will have
their property confiscated, and be sent out of the
country.
It ie certainly remarkable that the Console here

• NAPLES, MARCH 26.
The report that a speedy arrangement between
this governmeut and those of England and France
might be expected, circulates' widely in some quar-
ters. I must, however, confess that the grounds for
such au expectation appear to me to be very insuffi
eient. Surely the execution of the Argentine treaty
cannot be alleged as a basis for conciliation—an
act which commutes the punishment of condemned
prisoners into transportation to a'foreign country—
a punishment unknown'to the law, and which em-
braces. within the circle of its operations many
who have never been subjected" to any trial.
Amnesty, we all know, there has been none,
except the thieves' amnesty ; , and even had
there been one so full as•tO have comprehended
all the political prisoners, it would have been an
act so little affecting the condition •of the
country, that one is unwilling to believe that
it could have been accepted as satisfactory.
What, then, are the grounds, of the belief
I am at a loss to say, except it be
the promise of some attempts to develop,
the . resources of the country—attempts which
are here regarded with the. usual incredulity.
Indeed the' Neapolitans, have continually before
them so many abortions of projeets and promises
that they put no faith in any new designs, pointing
to four or five unfinished works as types of what
may be expected. All who benefit by these paper
ameliorations are commissioners and engineers,
and other 'employes. A vast deal of talk, and a
vast appearance- of activity, and a vast sum' of
money divided, and then nothing more is
thought of the subject. I may mention as cases
in point the Porto Guilio, which was
one of the abortions of last year, the Strada
Maria. Teresa, the strada from the Fosse del
Grano, and the Bazaar della Quereia, where a
street has been shut up for four years with a view
to the completion of the bazaar---4Orks become
now as dead as the faith of the Neapolitans in the
sincerity and sympathy of the British government
I am sorry to say that daily reports prove that
foreign intervention instead of doing good has.
added to. the sufferings of the people.. I am far,
however, from regarding this fact as an argument
against intervention, but rather against the mode
chosen.
The political prisoners in Montesarchio are
treated with"inereased severity; and,"spite of the
assertion of some royalist hirelings in the German
papers, wear their chains. ,
The police generally are-more arbitrary than ever,
and I hear continnally of excesses which appear to
be of almost incredible occurrence in a civilised and
a Christian country. In ,the Prefettura there have
been confined for many weeks, on suspicion, from
forty to fifty individuals, and I ant not aware
that they have ever been liberated. Take the his-
tory of one as a specimen of the usual treatment.
He went to Rome on business ; returned with a
clean passport ;' was sent for by the prefect, and
examined as to the motives of his journey ;. his
answers appeared to
,give satisfaction; but the
'next day he was arrested and lodged in the
'prisons of. the, prefecture. His family made
great exertions to obtain his release ; the
answer is, that one of these days he will be let
out. They redouble their efforts, and bring to bear
all the influence they have, and again are told that
it would have been better for him if they had re
mained quiet.: And so he remained two months,
depentlant on his family for the every bed he lay
upon and every morsel of bread he - put into his
mouth'. For all that lC know to the contrary, that
man may be there stilt. I know worse, far worse,
cases still than these ; the kingdom of the Two
Sicilies is full of them, and ,if an amnesty were
`granted to-morrow, morning, and no checks upon
arbitrary power imposed, the prisons would be as
full as they aranow in a short time. It is idle,
therefore, to talk as some of our statesmen do .of a
full amnesty, and a change in the system of admin-
istering public affairs as the great wants of the
country. No ; the 'great want is this:; a guarantee
fors the due4ecutienof the admirable laws which
theleapolitans have long possessed, hnt which
have 'lon begil virtual annulled or set aside.
Whilst speaking of t e administration of affairs,
I may mention a curious circular lately issued by
the Minister of Finance to , his employes. It is'
strongly illustrative of the character of Neapolitan
employes, and the character may be applied to most
public . officers. The circular complains of their
inactivity and thefts, and calls them " laciri." And
the complaint will continue to be made so long as
loyalty to the King is regarded as the sole passport
"to office,and se long as the dependent position of
the government makes it chary of interfering to
correct the license of its supporters.
. Amongst the many projects on the lapis has
been the railroad through the Abruzzi, and the
first portion of the caution money has been already
paid up. One of the most valuable parts of the
grant was resumed by government, that is, the
branch line to Ceprano, which will be connected
ultimately with the Frascati line leading on :to
Rome. The entire concession however, failed last
December, in consequence of the non payment of
the second sum of caution money. Baron di Riseis
has therefore again applied to his Majesty for a
renewal of the concession, which request has been.
granted, with an extension of time for six months
The branch line to Ceprano, under the auspices of
government, is progressing..
A Tunis vessel of war came into-port on Monday
last and brought with it an envoy to this govern-
ment He was to dine with his Majesty yesterday,
which is considered a rare and special honour.
The French frigate, Audacieuse, is on the point
of leaving- for Sicily, and the Malacca will, I believe,
leave us again on Saturday on anether Ornise.
A telegraphic despatch from London. arrived 'on
Sunday, ordering the immediate sale of the effects
of the late Sir Wm. Temple. .The Baron Brenier's
effects are also being sold off, and the two .facts
together have led to the conclusion that there isno
prospect of a speedy termination of diplomatic
difficulties; and unless such a termination can
be
arrived at with hononr to England and a prospect
of benefitting this people, it is farbetter that things
should remain as they are. .
It is the fashion, dUring Lent more particularly,
to send missions round the country to preach and
confess. A priest of one of these missions was
preaching this week on Monte Calvario, in the open
•r, d inveighing in. the strongest terms against
air,