The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-28 00:00:00

THE 111U_RATS AND NEAPOLITAN

BOURBONS.

The Civil Tribunal of Naples is at this moment
engaged in hearing a claim brought by the descen-
dants of King Murat and Queen Caroline, against
the Minister of the Household of the King of Italy
and the Director of the Sinking Fund, of the King-
dom, for the recovery of Property confiscated in
1815. Napoleon 1., in giving the throne of Naples
to his brother Joseph in 1806, reserved to himself
an annual income of one million out of the property
of the Crown, and when, in 1808, he put his brother-
in-law Murat in the place of Joseph, he transferred
to the former and his wife Caroline Bonaparte the
half of that income, not as a donation, but in ex-
change for palaces and property which the Murat
family possessed in Paris and other part of France.
Certain estates in Italy were appropriated to the
payment of this income, and were administered as
privato property belonging to the Royal family.
King Ferdinand 1., on recovering the throne of
Naples, although he had by a decree of the 14th of
August, 1815, declared all property inviolable,
afterwards disposed of that belonging to the Murat
family, adding a part to his own private domain,
and returning the rest to the State. The heirs of
Murat now demand the restoration of that pro-
perty, which has considerably increased in value,
and which all became national property by the
decree of September, 1860. They also claim pay-
ment of the rent received on that property since
1815. The Present claimants are four; the Prin-
cess Louise Murat, daughter of King Murat and
Caroline Bonaparte, and three daughters of her
sister, the late Princess Letizia Murat, Marchioness
Pepoli. The other descendants of the family re-
siding in Paris do not take part in the suit.

THE HARTEST IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.—Under
the influence of most splendid weather farmers have been
enabled to make considerable progress with the harvest
since last week. Along the banks of the river Trent for
miles the cutting of wheat is general, and many fields have
been carried in first-rate condition. Around Ruddingtcn
there are some splendid crops, and the yield will be pretty
nearly to the average. Barley is likely to turn
out far beyond anticipation. Oats are exceedingly plenti-
ful. Beans acd peas have done very well indeed. In the
vicinity of Basfotd some of the best crops in the county
have been grown, and in this district wheat will be a
fair crop, but cn the poor land around Mansfield
the yield will be light. In the central part of the
county a good deal of grain has fallen to the sickle,
leading is general, and farmers speak far less gloomily
of the anticipated yield. Wheat looks best on the heavy
soils ; the ears are larger than for some years past, both
on the light and clay soils. Barley scarcely ever looked
better, and cutting will shortly commence. Peas are re-
markably well podded. Beans have suffered to a slight ex-
tent from the smother fly, but the crops will be abundant.
The second crops of red clover are exceedingly promising.
Swede and white turnips look splendid. The disease among
potatoes, at present, is very exceptional, and the tops look
healthy. Harvest work is general in the vicinity of East
Retford, and wheat is well spoken of.

A hawker who had taken refuge under an oak
between Saint•• Denis and Sablons (Gironde), during a
storm a few days back, was killed by lightning, the electric
fluid stripping him of a part of his clothes, and carrying
his hat into a tree at some distance, and his port monnaie
was wholly consumed.

The terrible conflagration which occurred two
days since in the neighbourhood of the Brotteaux, at Lyons,
first began in the carriage-building establishment of MM.
Fallot and Robergeot, and owing to the combustible nature
of the stock, the flames spread with fearful rapidity, and
defied all the efforts of the firemen. Nearly the whole block
of houses adjoining the above premises was also burned
down, and more than eighty families, chiefly working
people, lost all they possessed. No life was lost, but several
persons were more or less injured in their efforts to save
the contents of the burning houses. The damage is
roughly estimated at 900,000 fr.
A RIVAL TO THE ROLL OF BATTLE ABBEY.—
One of the most remarkable learned gatherings of thepresent
year was held recently at the small Norman town of Dives,
to inaugurate the affixing in the old church there of a%new
and a carefully compiled list of the companions of William
the Conqueror, in his conquest of England in 1066. Dives,
though now an almost unknown seaport, was once among
the most important Norman ports, and is still a locality of
mighty memory, for nigh to it, at the mouth of the river
Dive, according to Hume and Lingard, and all historians,
was the appointed rendezvous of William and his leading
warriors prior to their embarkation. In the church of
Dives, still standing, William, before he started, offered up
a prayer to God. An eminent and munificent Norman
savant, M de Caumont, erected last year a commemorative
column on the very spot where the famous host of the
Conqueror met ; and it is under his auspices that the recent
inauguration of the roll of them has taken place. It was
intended to be an international fete, but owing, in all pro-
bability, to the notice :of the event being about to occur
having been given in the English papers, no English were
present. The stormy weather, too, prevented many from
attending. Nevertheless, the fete went off brilliantly. A
meeting in the Market-hall of Dives, a religious service with
choice music in the church, a promenade to the lately
erected column, and a banquent with 200 covers, formed the
principle features of the affair.
MARVELLOUS AFFAIR.—Some of the Paris jour-
nals relate the following extraordinary history :—About a
dozen years ago a man, rather shabbily dressed, but bearing
an air of distinction, entered a cafe of modest appearance in
the Faubourg St. Germain, and asked for a cup of coffee and
a roll. This he swallowed rapidly as if pressed by extreme
hunger, and then slowly retired, without, however, seeming
to avoid the demand for payment. The waiter, stupifi ed,
hastened to inform his mistress, a widuw burdened with a
family, but a kind-hearted woman, of what had taken place.
The latter, who had observed the air of dejection of the
stranger, immediately replied, "It is all right, I know the
gentleman." The next day the stranger returned, asked
for the same things, and retired in the same manner with-
out paying. This continued for about two months, after
which he was seen no more. About a month ago the widow
was invited to call upon a notary to receive a sum of money
which had been left to her by will. She could not believe
her good fortune, and thought there must be some mistake,
when the notary afforded her an explanation by reading the
following extract from a will which he held in his hand :--
"I bequeath 60,000 f. to the widow —, proprietress of
a cafe (giving the address) to thank her for giving me a
breakfast every day for two months, without demanding
payment, which it was then impossible for me to make. I
was then in misery, but since, fortune having smiled on
me, it is only just that I should pay for the 60 breakfasts
to which I owed my life."

THE GAME LAWS. The now and important
Game Poaching Prevention Act, 25 and 26 Viet., c. 114,
with a practical commentary, directions, and forms, is an-
nounced to he published in a few days by Mr. Geo. Coke,
of the Mansion-house Justice-room, who is the author of
the popular " Handy-book of the Game and Fishery Laws,"
"The Magisterial Synopsis," &c.; the eighth edition of
the latter work being also shortly to be issued.

INVENTIONS IN LlTTLE.—:Neglected and hidden,
and wholly unappreciated, what in pity's name are these
poor little fabrics of tin and wood which we light upon in a
very obscure corner of the Italian department ? Little sorry
wares these, made up of odds and ends of wood and small
scraps of tin and fashioned in the roughest way. They
look as if they were made by some workman at his sparo
moments. Perhaps they were. Perhaps his wife and
children watched their progress and thought London must
be electrified when these inventions were displayed before
it. They are, it seems, small models of certain inventions
designed to be made on a larger scale for the benefit of hu-
manity. Let us road the inscriptions upon them. One is
the " model of an instrument for smoothing muddi roads
with great speed and economy." Another is ,t a mechanis
that can be applied to different motory contrivances tts re-
quiring a rotary movement at various distances andin va-
rious directions" I Here, too, is " a machine for thrusting
the grain out of the ears of Indian corn," and also "a ma-
chine for an economical and speedy removal of snow from the
public streets, leaving but a thin layer of it"—this sounds
about these
i
slippery 4I easily swept away." There is some,
thing very pitiful and affecting innocent little
models, with their inscriptions n broken English, There
they lie in an unknown corner, unseen, neglected, like
many another object in this mighty show, which was ex-
pected by the maker of t, and by his friends, to mak° an
immense sensation. Never mind ; this
honest engineer of
Pavia may be in the right road, for aught we know, and
may some day construct a " mechanis,, which will not only
4, smooth the maddi roads" of England, but smooth his
own
road to eminence and fortane.—Diekens s "411
t rough
e,ear s ound."
TIIE REPRESEXTATION or STOKE UPON-TRENT.
—There are now three candidates for the representation of
:
the Parliamentary borough of Stoke-upon-Trent (the Staf-
fordshire Potteries), viz. —Mr. H. R. Grenfell (Liberal),
hope (Conservative),
Mr. A. J. B. Beresford
and Mr. Ser-
geant Shee (Liberal). 3lr. Grenfell is introduced to the
Liberal party by the Right Hon. C. P.Villiers, M.P., the
Hon. F. L. Gower, 11.1. P., and Mr. T. G. Baring, chairman
of the Liberal Registration Association. In his address,
just issued, be sage he is prepared to support an exten-
sion of the franchise, a well-considered re-distribution of
seats, vote by ballot, the abolition of Church-rates, the
extension of education, the foreign policy of the present
Government, and the local interests of the district.
Beresford Hope's friends are making a vigorous canvass,
and it is felt that his return may be regarded as certain,
unless the Liberals are united. Mr. S. Pope (Radical) has
also issued an address, in which he says he is prepared to
offer himself as a candidate on being invited to do €0 by
a considerable number of electors. Mr. Montagu Chambers
aPPeRrs to have retired freill the field.