The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-04 00:00:00

THE .L/NDON, TUESDAY EVV,MINM; SEPTEMBER

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

(From the Times of this dray.)

There is an old distich, familiar enough in men's
mouths, in which the writer denies that Kings or Go-
vernments have much to do with the ills which men are
condemned to endure during their pilgrimage upon earth,
A more egregious fallacy was never licked into rhyme
and thrown forth upon the world to impose upon the
credulity of mankind. A trip to Naples would be an
appropriate punishment for the author's offence ; he
would there, quickly enough, see that a Bing can put
the cholera and the potato-rot to shame. Throughout
the whole of the habitable globe there is no fairer spot
than the territory which has received the political deno-
mination of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Whether
we look to that great island which is subject to his
sway, or to the portion of his dominions which lies at
the southern extremity of the Italian peninsula, there
is no spot where man has been so busy to deface the
choicest work of the Creator's hands. Who that has ever
sailed along those summer seas, inhaled the perfumed
air, or rejoiced in the glorious vegetation of that splen-
did climate, can ever forget the spectacle there pre-
sented to his eyes ? Who that was able to appreciate
the human interests of the scene but must shudder at
the recollection ? That fair land would seem to be a
Paradise—it is a Hell. Its vineyards and olive gardens,
its orange groves and chestnut woods, hold forth a pro-
mise which is cruelly broken indeed. Beneath them the
infamous police spy, the armed ruffian who disgraces the
name of soldier, the gaoler, and the galley-guard ply
their accursed trade. There we see the reign of suspi-
cion and terror. It is a crime to speak—silence is mere
heinous still. To smile is to deride the supreme au-
thority in the person of its agents ; sorrow implies
discontent, and discontent treason. In the theatre,
in the street, men look strangely upon each other, for
no speech can be so secretly uttered but that a bird
of the air carries it to the Master's ears. He may
seem to be far away in one or other of his secluded
retreats, but his agents pervade the air like a blight,
and he will know all that is said, distorted and exagge-
rated by unfriendly lips. The accounts which we pub-
lished last week of his manner of life would seem, how-
ever, to show that the King of Naples is not the one
happy man in his own dominions. He avoids his own
capital, but he cannot avoid himself ; he seeks seclusion,
but from his own thoughts no seclusion is to be found.
He will not bear to be spoken to upon business—for
what must that business be ? One can imagine few
situations in the world more painful than that of the
King of the Two Sicilies, with his Minister for Foreign
Affairs on his right and his Minister for Home Affairs
on his left, and receiving from them honest reports of
the situation of his dominions. The only analogous
position which we can conceive is that of a man who at
the close of a long and ill-spent life is suffering the re-
proaches of two consciences in place of one. No wonder,
then, that he shrinks from business ; but he cannot rid
himself of apprehension even in this life. How often
must his eye rest upon the ruin-capped summit of Capri
—how often must he long for the comparative security
of that Roman Emperor who nearly two thousand years
ago sought refuge on that little islet from the vengeance
of his subjects, and the still more awful suggestions of
his own heart !
Let it not be thought that we are indulging in rheto-
rical display or reading the story of modern Naples as
though it were a chapter from the Annals of Tacitus.
Here is an extract from the "Court Circular" of Naples,
under date August 24 :—"ln the month of October his
Majesty, will leave Castellamare for Resina, and already
the same cautions and severities are being practised that
are in full vigour at Castellamare. The names, sur-
names, length of residence, and motive of residence both
of foreigners and natives are taken down, and the
keepers of cafes are compelled to send in weekly the
most minute reports of those who frequent them, as
also the subject of their conversation." Last week
we published an account of the precautions used at
Castellamare, which are similar in all respects to the
above, with the addition that strangers arriving by the
railroad, or by any other conveyance, are not allowed to
remain. "Pass on ; pass on—the King is here !" Can
the history of any nation in Europe produce a parallel
to thislagony of apprehension ? Alexander, the Russian
Czar, towards the close of his fitful career, was urged to
his rapid and almost perpetual journeys by the stings of
remorse, not by dastard terror of the assassin's knife—
although no one knew better than Alexander how a
Russian Czar may die. The Eleventh Louis of French
history—wicked and fearful as he was—never showed so
craven a front to the world as this. It must indeed be
admitted in the king's favour that, if half be true of all
that is charged against his police agents, it is not so
wonderful that he should live in fear of the avenger's
steel. The streets of Naples are the scene of saturnalia
in which the spirri and police agents reign triumphant.
Men were arrested and beaten with sticks the other day
for having hissed in the theatre at Castellamare. At
Naples a police agent—one Pierro—denounced a nume-
rous society, among whom were advocates and other
persons of position. They were all straightway atTested.
In the lodgings of one was discovered a list of persons to
whom tickets of admission for the Olympic Circus were
to be sent. Every person whose name was inserted in
that list was instantly arrested. A sharp punishment
this for wishing to visit Astley's at Naples ! Two advo-
cates were severely beaten with rods by the police, one
well-nigh killed ; they were served, in fact, just as the
wretched Hindoo peasants are by the native peons in our
own Indian dominions ; and all this in Italy, in the
latter half of the nineteenth century ! The insolence of
the ruffian agents of the police exceeds all belief. When
we find it recorded that one of them actually dared the
other day to insult a gentleman connected with the di-
plomatic service of Great Britain it may readily be sup-
posed that their own fellow-subjects—their app iinted
prey--receive but scant courtesy at their hands.
The question is, how long is all this to last ? Would
it be amiss, when the French and English cruisers are
passing backwards and forwards in the Mediterranean,
if they were to put into the bay for a few hours., and
set matters a little to rights ? France holds Algeria at
the present moment as a compensation for an affront to
a consular agent not more gross than that which was
offered the other day by a scoundrel chef de police at
Naples to an English employe. France has not been
more civilly treated than ourselves on many occasions.
If any other reason were wanting, surely it would be
well if the two greatest nations in the world were, by a
simple effort of their will, to put an end to such a
hideous amount of suffering as is inflicted by this half-
crazy monarch and his police upon so many thousands—
not to say millions—of our fellow-creatures. Lord Ex-
mouth could show no better warrant for his proceedings
at Algiers than this, and his errand was approved by
the civilised world. We are very confident that we but
express the feelings of every intelligent Frenchman and
Englishman when we say that neither of our countries
would accept a rood of King Bomba's territory, beauti-
ful as it is, as a free gift. It is, however, a question if
France and England are not traitors to their high mis-
sion when they acquiesce in the infliction of such into-
lerable evils upon the defenceless population of the The
Sieilies. Let the King of Naples keep his countries
and govern them in his own way, if he can do so with-
out a constant outrage upon humanity—we have no
wish to meddle in Italian affairs. Indignation, how-
ever, may one day be stronger than policy. If King
Bomba's subjects should ever be strong enough to take
the matter into their own hands, there is no one in
Western Europe but would bid them God speed !

(From the Times of this day.)
The detailed accounts which have reached us
throw further light on the late severe conflict on
the Tchernaya, and on the position of the allies in
the more important operations against Sebastopol
itself. So far from haste and excitement having
exaggerated the Russian losses, it now appears that
they actually exceeded the first estimate of the French
generals. Upwards of 2,000 prisoners, of course mostly
wounded, remain in the hands of the French, and several
hundreds were taken by the Piedmontese. The French
buried at least 1,500, the Russians an unknown, but
probably large number, and they doubtless carried off
many wounded. A loss of from 6,000 to 7,000 men is,
after several days' consideration, the estimate formed by
those who have had full opportunity of learning all the
details of the action. Captured documents are said to
have fully proved one fact, which might have been sus-
pected from the nature of the operations and the way
they were carried out. The attack of the Russians was
in pursuance of positive orders from St. Petersburg, and
the generals, who have had an opportunity of learning
prudence, were urged on by the impatience and ignor.
ance of an autocrat at the other extremity of the empire.
It would seem that the boasted organisation of the Mus-
covite fabric does not free it from the evil of the Sove-
reign's personal interference in matters which he has
previously committed to subordinates. The ill-judged
military orders of the late Czar are well known. It now
appears that they are not peculiar to the irritable decline
of a monarch unaccustomed
.to opposition. The Russian
commanders, in an almost impregnable position, would
have been content to hold it, and to feed Sebastopol
with the necessary men ; a process in itsel sufficiently
exhausting. In obedience to an Imperial mandate, they
descended to their destruction amid the fords and Croken
ground of the Tchernaya, and proved their obedience
and
their former discretion at the expense of the lives of
many
n a high-placed officers and of several thousand men.
But- -this bloody episode seems likely to have
ttheeircounarsrerowof
payees to
Thetheir enemy
p have
ee
retiredeffe ct on
o!)
hplateau, and are not likealyy
baegairneparetoidve_nftre down.
Their losses in men
m3fal akisho to fffarilditat Redan, etdhae n
assault, and
reputa-
tion they seem to care little. The attention of the
world reverts to
the progress o f the stahpe
whichand capture of the strongest Russian position. Little
from on
which a judgment may be founded
can e b learnt
the accounts either of
very
commanders-in-chiefnear the Russian
That the sap has now approached
defences, that it has been carried round
lroeuanrdn thapaatr,t
owing
of
ng
the
position, we already knew. W
to the vigour and constancyoef
foremost parallel, which, having been
ends, could not be joined in the middle, has been
t h e
begun British
a t fire,the twotthe
com-
pleted. This occurred on the 18th of last month ; since
then more than a fortnight has elapsed, and nothing of
importance has followed. The last despatch from Genie
ral Simpson merely speaks of a small sortie, in which
the enemy had destroyed some of our gabions. The
daily life of the camp, its hardships or amusements, the
deaths or leave of absence of individual officers, the dis-
appointed hopes of others, fill both public and private
letters. Scientific siege-work may be proceeding, but
is results are still in the future. The three months of
sapping which was predicted after the failure of the 13th
want only a fortnight of completion. This is the anni-
versary of the memorable day when, amid the fortu-
nately early gales of the equinox, the armies of France
and England embarked for the enterprise in which they
are still engaged. The interval seems an age ; so much
of glory and disaster of exultation and despondency, has
filled it. But time rolls on, and we shall soon come