The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-17 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid journals of the 11th have been re-
ceived :—The Gazette publishes the bull by which
the Pope proclaims the Immaculate Conception of
the Virgin to be an article of faith. Active prepara-
tions were being made in the Ministry of Finance
for carrying into execution the law for the sale of
public and ecclesiastical property. Thirteen new
eases of cholera occurred at Madrid on the 10th,
and three of them proved fatal. A fire had broken
out in the offices of the Treasury, but the money-
lying there was saved, and it was extinguished be-
fore any great damage was done.

THE AFRICAN MAILS.

ARRIVAL OF THE ETHIOPE.

The African Royal Mail Steam Shipping Com-
pany's vessel Ethiope, Captain Barnwell, has ar-
rived from Lisbon, which she left on May 10th.
She brings no news, having broken down twice on
her passage, and been obliged to put into Lisbon
on the 3d and Gth for repairs, from whence her
coast news has been forestalled. She brings a
general cargo, including 3,500 ounces of gold, and
a small mail from Lisbon. She has spoken no ves-
sel since she left Lisbon, but heard before leaving
that the Candace left Madeira on the 4th.

ARRIVAL OF THE CANDACE.
PLYMOUTH, TIIURSDAY MORNING.
The Candace, African Mail steamer, arrived here
at ten o'clock last night.
Her dates are—Bonny, April 3 ; Lagos, 5 ; Ac-
cra, 8 ; Cape Coast, 2 ; Liberia, 14 ; Sierra Leone,
16 ' • Bathurst, 22 ; Goree, 24 ; Teueriffe, May 3 ;
Madeira 5.

She brings the usual mail and a full general
cargo, with 3,061 ounces of gold, and 30 passen-
gers, among whom are a Royal Spanish Commis-
sioner for the Canary Islands and his Secretary.
At Fernando Po she left H.M.S. Philomel, and
at Madeira H.M.S. Teazer and Hecate.

A disturbance had taken pfacel;;eference to the
latter ship, in consequence of the natives attempt-
ing to convey rum on board ; and one of them had
been shot by an officer of the ship. Both vessels
left Madeira May sth for the Coast.

DEFICIENCY OF SERVANTS IN THE CRIM EA,—A me-
moriumlum forwarded to our correspondent in the Cii-
n,ea complains of the great inconvenience occasioned to
the officers of the army and the medical staff by a rega-
la!ion which debars them from the employment of mili-
tary or "soldier" servants. It appears that " civil"
servants cannot always be procured, and that when they
are forthcoming they are often useless, and frequently
desert in the hour of need. The civil servants are
mostly Maltese, Greeks, and Italians ; they are noto
riously lazy, and generally dishonest, and, from their
ignorance of the English language, they cannot commu-
nicate with the Commissariat Department. Hence
the medical staff officers are often obliged to draw their
rations in person, and to cook their own, food, clean
their own horses, and perform other menial offices, when
their medical duties ought to occupy their time exclu-
sively. It is suggested, moreover, that the employment
of these foreign hirelings may lead to the introduction
of ,:-;pies Whether it is reasonable to allow surgeons and
assistant-surgeons to have soldier servants till they are
promoted, and then t,) deprive them of this advantage on
service, or whether it is exactly creditable to the Eng-
lish army to accept the loan of' French soldiers from the
allied army, to supply the deficiency of military ser-
vants in our own, the "authorities " must be left to de-
ermine.