The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-20 00:00:00

The Neapolitan army is composed of three regl"
merits of infantry of the guard, two of which are
grenadiers, and the other of riflemen ; of thirteen regi'
ments of infantry of the line ; seven battalions of
light infantry, a corps of marines, and a battalion of
heavy artillery, a regiment of engineers, two regi•
ments of artillery, a regiment of veteran non-com-
missioned officers, seven regiments of cavalry,
both of the guard and of the line, and
two squadrons of horse artillery besides the waggon
train, and from seven to eight thousand gendarmes
disguised—the mounted under the name of carabi-
niers, the foot under the name of
guard of security
(guardia di .sicurezza). Each regiment is comppod
of two battalions, or four squadrons, independentlY
of its reserve, and these battalions and squadrons are
fully complete. Moreover, the cavalry is Well
mounted, and the ordnance department is consider-
able ; whilst the drilling, the steadiness, and the
discipline of the army leave nothing to wish for.
With respect to its bravery, we have only to mention
the brilliant conduct of the Neapolitan soldiers who
remained in Venice with General Pepe (last August);
but, above all, that of the 10th of the line, which
mustered 1,200 men at its departure from
aplesein
the month of April, and returned there three months
afterwards with a loss of 450, who gloriously fell in
Lombardy, so as to palliate and atone beforehand for
the excesses committed by other soldiers of Ferdinand,
in the fratricidal conflicts with Sicily.
The royal navy of the kingdom of Naples is also
very considerable, and it could by itself keep
in check all the maritime forces of Austria-
It is composed of one ship of the line, five
frigates, a great number of smaller vessels, and
more than twenty-five armed steamers. No other
power of the second order has ever been able until
now to maintain such a naval force.
Such are the maritime forces of Naples. Let us
hope, that instead of continuing to be the instruments
of Ferdinand against the spread of liberty, or under-
taking a ridiculous crusade in the name of the Pope,
these Neapolitan troops will ere long be driyin by
public opinion in Italy to participate themselves also
in the holy war of independence.

MARKET NEWS.-(THIS DAY.)

RN EXCHANGE—WEDNESDA Y.
A very limited supply of English Wheat having come
to hand for our market since Monday, the show of lain•
pies of that grain this morning was very moderate;
nevertheless, the demand for all descriptions was in e
very inactive state, at barely the depressions noticed in
the quotations on last market day. The best parcels of
Foreign Wheat moved off steadily at full prices. In the
middling and out-of-condition sorts scarcely any busi-
ness was transacted. The supply of Barley was on the
increase. Malting parcels were quite as dear, butgritid-
ing and distilling sorts were neglected. For Malt the
demand was extremely depressed, at barely stationary
prices. There was an improved demand for all kind of
oats, at fully, but at nothing quotable beyond, last week's
currencies. In Beans, Peas, Indian Corn, and Meal, next
to nothing was doing. The Flour trade was dull,-and
country markets were offering on somewhat easier terms.
ARRIVALS TIM WEEK.
Wheat. Barley. Oats. Flour.
1,110 qrs. 4,940 qrs. 630 qrs. 1,42045.
-- 400 2,910 2,14$ 3,160 —+
2,550 qrs.
BOROUGU 130 P MARKET.
The demand for the best New Hops is tolerably
steady, at fully last week's quotations. In all other
kinds exceedingly little business is doing, at almost no-'
urinal currencies. The supply on offer is not to say
large. New Hops:—Sussex pockets, 2/ 103 to 31 ss;
Weald of Kent ditto, 31 Os to 3/ 15s ; Mid and East
Kent ditto, 31 12s to 5/ 17s per cwt.

English ......
1ri5h.........
Foreign ......

HIT
WZCHE
Although our market, to-dayA,
w P
asT..
somewhat heavilY
supplied with each kind of Meat, the general demand
was steady, at very full prices. Beef, from 2s 6d W
3s 8d ; Mutton, as 6d to 4s 6d; Veal, 4s to 4s 8d; mid
Pork, 3s 10d to 4s 10d per Sibs by the carcase.

FATAL EXCESS.—An inquest was held yesterday
week, at fletton-le-Hole, on view of the body of William
Christie, a pitman. It appeared that the deceased and
several others were at a public-house in Hetton-le-Hole,
kept by Mr. Joseph Hall. Whilst there, the deceased
offered to drink with any of the company, the first drunk
to " pay the reckoning." His offer was accepted by
man named John Dawson, and a bottle of rum was called
for. The landlord was appointed to fill a wine-glass for
the deceased, and another man to do the same office 'for'
Dawson. They drank glass for glass without any water
being used till the first bottle was finished. A second
bottle was called for and furnished, and this nearly drank
in the same manner. The deceased then, as may be
supposed, became very drunk and unable to speak dis-•
tinctly, and fell asleep in the parlour. On going home
his wife sent for medical assistance, and Mr. Bustin
attended him on the following morning, and continued
to do so until his death, which took place on the follow-
ing Wednesday, from congestion of the lungs and brain,
caused by drinking the ardent spirits to such an excess.
The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the evi-
dence or the medical gentleman, and added they could
not tco strongly reprehend the conduct of the landlord,
Joseph Ball, for allowing spirits to be drunk to such ex-
cess by individuals in his house. —Newcastle Journal.
We hear that Mr. Baines, Q.C., will succeed the
late lamented Charles Buller at the head of al° Poor-law
Board.

KING FERDINAND 11. and SICILY.
(From the Patric.) • •'
It is sufficient to be a little initiated in the study of
history, and to know what the Sicilian people have
suffered from the iniquitous dominion of the Boar'
bons, to be no longer in doubt that reason and right
are on
,the side of Sicily. In fact, what country id
Europe can boast of posessing more ancient institu-
tions P Whilst all Europe was bending under the
yoke those very Normands, who, by cOnquerin&
England, destroyed all her franchises, endowed Sicily
with a constitution amazingly liberal for the ePneb:
and those franchises far from being either abolished
.
or limited by the different dynasties which succeeded_
to that of Roger, were not only respected but
developed and enlarged; to be finally exchanged in
1812 for one of the most liberal constitutions then
existing in Europe. The unenviable task of destror
ing the work of seven centuries was reserved for the
Bourbons. It was the grandfather of the present
King of Naples, who in 1816, that is to say, four
years after having sworn to observe it, suppressed the
Sicilian Constitution, probably, out of gratitude 1."
the immense sacrifice in lives and money made 11,
Sicily in order to assist him to remount the throne a
Naples ! But it was not enough for the BOurbona t°
have deprived Sicily of her secular franchises, they
did not rest satisfied until they had inflicted uP°ll
her the most .degrading slavery, that kind of slavery'
which, by leaving behind it misery and- brutalitY'
often enervates all moral strength in a pele, and de;
pries them of the sense even of their mopisfortunes I
Nevertheless, Sicily, such was the vigour she still re'
tained! availed herself of all possible occasions se"
lemnly to protest, by conspiracy, and even 'by rising
en masse, against the more odious oppression, and the
royal vengeance, which never failed to crush her In
the most atrocious manner at each time that fortune
betrayed her endeavours, did but add fresh fuel to her
hatred, and more than ever strengthen her deterrni'
nation to emancipate herself at all costs • and Perlis
from the dominion of the Bourbons. Thence the jai
surrection of the 12th of January, and the Bill °
Forfeiture of the 13th of April, 1848. The subse-
quent acts of the King of Naples, and principally tue
bombardment and taking of Messina, have rendered
still more impossible all reconciliation betisieen the
two dissenting parties.
This is the real position of Sicily, and the mediating
Powers ought fully to have comprehended it before
entering into negotiations. We grieve to have to
say that their conduct till now has been anything but
praiseworthy, because they have allowed the expedi-
tion against Messina to take place, after' having
almost recognised the independence of Sibily, by
ordering their fleet to salute the— Sicilian
flag when the new King (the son of Charles Albert)
was proclaimed. These Powers only imposed tbe
suspension of hostilities after torrents of blood bud
been shed on both sides, and when it was no longer
possible to come to terms. Oh, no; there must he
no mistake ; neither peace nor any treaty whatever
can be expected between the Sicilians and the Nil'
of Naples; and Ferdinand himself, were he enable,.
once more to subdue Sicily, could only keep it
uld
quartering in it the one-half of his Army, which wo
end by ruining both countries. This state of things
would indefinitely prolong the disasters of the Italian
cause, whieh, in order to triumph over Austria+
stands in need of the concurrence of all the forces ot
the nation. It is well known that the Two Sicilies
compose the third of Italy, and their military re'
sources are of the greatest importance.
We must consequently consider the Sicilian' war ae
a doubly impious war, for the hatred which is tills
kept up between two sister countries, and by tilt;
powerful aid which it is detracting from the gres
national cause. In order better to eulogise this last
subject, we shall offer some details on the natal*/
forces of the kingdom of Naples. According to the system of recruiting 11'
force in this part of the Peninsula, the ci ,„
t'.
zens obliged to enter the army must-- re'
main in the military service for the space of tell
years; the half of this time is passed in active fir'
vice, and the other half, in what the French Cs,'
disponibilitd, that is to say, they return to their homes
whence they are liable to be re-called to the rank!
at a moment's notice. And by this means, it 13 110 v
only possible, but very easy, to double in a few days
the effective of the army. This case is realised at the
present moment, since, instead of forty thousand men,
of whom, in ordinary times, the Neapolitan army P
composed (without reckoning the four Swiss regi'
ments), this army musters, in round numbers, eightf
thousand men, an enormous number for a country
which has but six millions of inhabitants, and .the
finances of which are in the most deplorable state,
thanks to the detestable administration of -the
Bourbons ever since 1821.