The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-15 00:00:00

MISCELLA.NEOUO.

Captain and Adjutant Henry, of the Royal Horse
Artillery, has left Woolwich for the Crimea, having been
appointed Brigade-Major at the seat of war, vice Adye,
promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel.
The following is an extract of a letter from the
Crimea, respecting Captain Frampton, of the 50th, who
was stated to be missing :—" I have just this instant
heard that Captain Frampton, one of the missing officers,
has since turned up."
The Sardinian flag was hoisted half-mast high yester-
day at the Consulate house, Portsmouth, Chevalier
Pappalardo (the Sardinian Consul) having received offi-
cial intimation of the death of the Dowager Queen of Sar-
dinia on the 12th inst.

The Cambria steam-transport is hourly expected at
Portsmouth, with the body of the late Major-General
Adams, which she is to land there ; also a great number
of sick and wounded from the seat of war.
A fatal accident occurred on board the Arethusa at
Devonport on Saturday to a young man named Evens,
of the carpenters' crew. He was struck in the side, and
his ribs broken, by a part of the main trysailmast, which
was being removed without proper security. The ship,
having been unmasted, was warped to the north jetty.
She is to be placed in ordinary at that port. Her crew
were granted leave of absence from Saturday until this
day, when they will be paid wages.
The Rev. Professor Moseley, D.D., will visit Devon-
port Dockyard in the course of the week, for the pur-
pose of examining the candidates for filling the vacancies
of foreman inspectors of shipwrights. Upwards of 50
candidates for shipwrights' apprentices have been exa-
mined during the past week.

MILITARY.
On Saturday a largo number of volunteers for the
Household Brigade, under the command of a colour-ser-
geant of the Grenadier Guards, arrived from the northern
and eastern districts, at the terminus of the Eastern
Counties Railway, and were immediately marched to
the Horse Guards, and thence to Wellington barracks,
and will be taken to-day to the Guards' orderly-room',
Horse Guards, where they will be tested for their re-
spective regiments. The men are tall, athletic, and
young, and have volunteered from the Militia aid from
regiments of the line.
On Friday morning draughts of the 39th, 14th, and
9th Regiments sailed in the Prince and Royal Alice
steamers for Queenstown, to embark on board her Ma-
jesty's ship Princess Royal, for conveyance to the Crimea.
The following is the number of officers and men which
accompanied each draught :-14th.— 9 officers, 152 rank
and file, under the command of Colonel Watson. 39th.
—8 officers, 173 rank arid file, under the command of
Major Tinley. 9th.-8 officers, 60 rank and file, under
the command of Captain Dunne. 50 drivers for the
commissariat department, in charge of Superintendent
Hill, sailed with the draughts.

THE MILITIA.
On Tuesday the Northumberland Light Infantry
Regiment of Militia, under the command of Lpineur tenant-
rniaonent
Colonel Biggs. assembled at Alnwick or
duty. Major Lord Lovaine, M.P., and a la!,
lion of the other officers were present. TheXotnlin°ari strength of the regiment is 900, and of that number nearly 600 have already come forward. The men seem
to have profited greatly by their previous training, and
their personal appearance is much improved.
It is stated by the Dublin Evening Mail that many of
the Irish Militia regiments are likely to be left as desti-
tute of medical care as the unfortunates of the army at
the seat of war. Several corps, it is said, have been
unable to procure assistant-surgeons, and it is added
that the surgeons of others will resign as soon as tho
regiments are fairly embodied. The cause of this strange
state of affairs is attributed to an old source of public
mischief—vii., pinching
and misplaced economy in small
'natters, while reckless and prodigal expenditure in
great is but too frequently regarded with indifference, if
not worse.
The 3d or Roy
al Westminster Light Infantry Regi.
n:ent of Middlesex Militia, under orders to assemble for
permanent duty,
disembodied at thece
were among the last corps of militia
se of the last war, hav-
who were
many parts of England, Ireland,
ing been stationed
Scotland, and the Channel
Islands during that eventful
period. The Royal Westminster Militia, as appears by
the aecient record books, furnished frequent and nume-
rous draughts of volunteers to tho several regiments em-
ployed on active service in the Peninsula. Since the
month of September, 1859, the regiment has been three
times out for training and exercise, under the command
of Colonel Viscount Chelsea, M.P., and during these
18 months past upwards of 250 mn have volunteered
into the regular service, and no doubt some of those
soldiers ere this are facing the Russian stronghold in the
Crimea, filling up a few of the sad gaps made in the
ranks of our brave army.
The FerManagh Light Infantry Regiment of Militia
assembled in barracks at Enniskillen on the Ist instant.
The corps then mustered nearly 200 men, and volunteers
have since joined at tho rate of 10 a-daun y.
Yon men of a very good description; 21 have
vroluni
teered to the line, The Earl of oolonta of

the regiment, is living in barracks, and takes great in-
terest in the men. His lordship, in uniform, headed a
fine party of recruits, preceded by the small band,
through the fair twice on the 10th instant, which no
doubt had a very beneficial effect on the recruiting, as
an unusually large number of men was raised that day.
The Louth Militia, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir J. S. Ro-
binson, has been constituted a rifle regiment, and is
ordered to be embodied forthwith.

The Ist Devon Regiment of Militia, which has now
been assembled at Exeter for some time, have during
the last fortnight been daily contributing volunteers for
the line. During last week the number of those who
were passed and accepted amounts to 75, and Mr.
Chanter, one of the officers in the regiment, has also
volunteered his services, so that he will, in all probability
receive a commission. Captain Holman, who has long
discharged the duties of Adjutant, has accepted the ap-
pointment of Paymaster ; and he has been succeeded in
the Adjutantcy by Captain Pitman, who formerly be-
longed to the line. _ _

The North Durham Regiment of Militia has received
orders to assemble for permanent duty on the Ist of
February, and on Wednesday the staff of non-commis-
sioned officers was inspected by Earl Vane,Colonel of the
regiment. Major H. J. Baker, and Captains Pemberton
and Lamb have resigned their commissions. The staff
are still recruiting, the regiment being short of its num-
ber. The south Durham Regiment is embodied at
Barnardcastle.
The second detachment of the 2d Royal Lancashire
Militia, composed of about 700 rank and file, left Liver-
pool for Edinburgh on Friday.

FESTIVAL IN HONOUR OF THE
MA DONNA.

The following is from a letter dated Naples, Jan. 2.
—The city has, for the last week, been turned upside
down in getting up a fete and procession in honour of
"Maria Vergine." The streets and purlieus of Naples
have been cleaned out as they never have been since the
halcyon days whet, nur beloved (big) brother, the Em-
peror of all the RuFisias, condescended to visit this hum-
ble of absolutism. Whether, as then, coachmen
were ordered to put on round hats and long-tailed
coats, and Lazzaroni to imprison their unaccustomed
feet in leather, I know not ; but everything was done
to give the-external aspects of decency to the city.
The king, it appears, went on foot from his palace
to the church of Gesu Vecchio, whence this extra-
ordinary procession started. The cardinal, bishops,
and clergy led the van—then came the gigantic doll-
like image of the Madonna, followed immediately
behind by his Majesty, supported by generals on
either side. The Hereditary Prince, supported by
his two uncles, then followed—the younger son of the
King succeeded—then came a line of royal carriages,
and the whole was closed by cavalry and a train of
artillery. In this way the procession made the round of
old Naples, returning, after four hours' walking, to the
spot from which they had started. Her Majesty and a
large assemblage of the court were at the windows of the
palace, and all Naples was out to witness this distinguished
act of royal devotion. His Majesty was so much over-
come by his feelings that ho was frequently seen to
wipe away the tears which rolled down his pious
cheeks. Would that but one tear had fallen for Poerio
and hundreds of others who at this hospitable season
are pining within dungeon walls. What is the mean-
ing of all this t I asked of a sharp-looking man, who
had been a curious spectator. " Why, sir," was the
reply, "two religions had a lite' with the Pope as to
whether the Madonna was immaculate or not, and
now his holiness has decided that all religions' are to
believe in her immaculate conception." So important
an event was not likely to be passed over in Naples,
and hence the great religious demonstration which has
just been made. To the man of thinking mind it cannot
but be matter of surprise that the 19th century has been
chosen for so broad an assertion of Papal infallibility,
and on a dogma which has for so many centuries been
permitted to repose in uncertainty. Some incredulous
minds, too, are apt to think that the decision of the
Pope was imperfect, inasmuch as it did not establish
the immaculate conception of all the ancestry of the
Madonna. Those who know Naples, however, will
not be so much surprised at the puerilities practised
here. I believe that there is quite as much knavishness as
folly in them, and that, like the " panem et circenses"
for the Romans, these are provided to amuse and to
divert public attention from political reflections. In fact,
the great effort here is to emasculate the public mind and
reduce it to complete subjection to the priesthood, and so
long as that subjection continues there are no hopes for
the reformation or resurrection of Italy. What an in-
sult it is to the best interests of man, that whilst
Europe is shaken to her foundations, by the mighty
political events of the day, the whole of the south of
Italy is drivelling about subjects which ought to have
slumbered under the cobwebs of antiquity ! On the 6th
of January a much more important act will be per-
formed—the Hereditary Prince will be declared of age
on his reaching his 18th birthday, and in presence of the
whole army, on the Campo, will be invested with the in-
signia of generalissimo of the army. Little is known
of the education of the future sovereign, but it may
'well be presumed that it has been of a narrowing cha-
racter. His disposition is, however, said to be good,
and much is hoped for from the son of • a princess
who was so universally beloved, and whose memory
often calls the tears into the eyes of the poor
people. If I cannot speak of political reforms, I can
at all events of great moral reforms which confirm the
acknowledged title of Naples to the odour of sanctity.
The reform of which I speak may be considered as a
pendant to the green trouser movement amongst the
Ballerine. The Journal des Demoiselles, highly popular
amongst the ladies of Naples, as might be inferred from
its title, is prohibited from being issued until certain al-
terations have been made in the figurini. The drawings
with the Parisian fashions were considered too prurient
for the highly moral population of Parthenope. Ac-
cordingly, pious hands are employed to lengthen the
upper part of the dress, and short sleeves are brought
down to the elbow. The mode of making the shapes
is also abstracted, so that ladies and mantua makers
are au clesespoir' and may get up a demonstration.
The figurini, I hear, however, are daubed in so
imperfect a manner that the fashions can be de-
tected underneath. Still no one will now take in the
Journal, and it bids fair to die of inanition. This is
another of the recent puerilities practised in Naples.
There are few people here this winter, and of those
who have arrived the majority are Americans. The
King and Queen pass the Ariaja daily, and on arriving
at Strada Nuova the King mounts on horseback.
An event has taken place which has put all the
foreigners on the gni vire. A third orifice has been
formed in Vesuvius. It is near the top of the cone, and
the opening is so clean that the strata of the mouetain
may be seen to a considerable depth. Much caution is
now required in the ascent, as this orifice is in the path
which visitors have been in the habit of taking. The
old guides are predicting an eruption, but without suffi-
cient reason, as many think.