The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-25 00:00:00

STATE OF THE HOLY SEE.

At a time when the attention of all Europe is drawn
to the election of a new Pope, the following details as to
the state of the Church and its government will not he
without interest to the reader. These details are neces.
sary to fill up the information published within these few
days by the religious journals, and which has been re--
published by the major part of the other newspapers,
The States of the Church, the temporal states of the
Holy See, have remained much about as they were
settled 31 years ago, by article 103 of the Congress of
Vienna. This article restored to the Holy See the
Marshes, with Camarino and their dependencies, as also
the duchy of Benevento and the principality of Ponte
Corvo. In virtue of the same article, the Holy See re-
took possession of the legations of Ravenna, Bologna, and
Ferrara, saving, however, that part of Ferrara situated
on the left bank of the Po, which Austria got given to
herself, as well as the right of garrisoning the places of
Ferrara and Comachio. The protest made by the Pon
tifical Government ,in favour of its ancient posoessions
has hitherto remained a dead letter. The terrik,ry of
the Church, as thus restored, extends over a surfite.' of
2,250 square leagues, with, according to the last statist.'"
cal accounts, a population of 2,908,115 inhabitants. The
revenue is about 50,000,000 of francs, or 2,000,0001.
sterling. If the duration of the Holy See as a temporal
power did not rest on foundations above human pru-
dence, it would be difficult to comprehend how its go-
vernment has been able to maintain itself during so many
centuries. It must be admitted that the office of the
temporal head of the state of St. Peter being elective—a
head which often changes, since he is always elected from
among old men, might be a good answer to the absoklte
partisans of hereditary thrones, if, as we have just re--
marked, everything in the church was kept up by means
of human policy alone. Be this as it may, the temporal
Sovereign of the States of the Church is elected by the
College of Cardinals assembled for this purpose in con-
clave, in conformity with the apostolic constitutions.
Within the last few days so many particulars and
details concerning the Holy College, the division of the
Cardinals into three orders, their number, their titles,
as well as the formalities which precede, accompany,
and follow the election of the Sovereign Pontiff by the
conclave, have been published, that we deem it super-
fluous to recur to them. Being elected, the successor of
St. Peter reigns and governs : but it is to be admitted,
that if his power be absolute in principle, there does not
in fact exist any Government surrounded with more con-
trolling power. In fact, the Sacred College, whether met
le consistory, presided over by the Pope, or divided
into numerous special congregations, decides on
all spiritual and temporal matters belonging to
the church. To speak of the latter only, they are
submitted to civil congregations or boards, which are
like the divisions of a great Council of State attached
to the different departments. Thus, there is the Con-
gregation of Good Government, the Consulting Board,
the Congregation of Rivers and Roads, the Study
Commission, the Congregation for Auditing Public Ac-
counts and Revising Public Administrations, &c. Each
of these special councils is presided over by a member
of the Sacred College, and has specified powers. Over
these councils there is the Pope and his Council of Mi-
nisters, consisting of a Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Minister Secretary of State for the Home Department, a
Minister of Justice, a Minister of Police, Governor of
Rome, a Minister of Finance, Minister of War, a Direc-
tor of the Post, a Camerliugo, and, finally, a Secretary
of Briefs and Petitions. An Almoner, Steward of the
Household, and a Master of the Ceremonies, constitute
the members of the Pontifical Government. The army
has been organised in a special manner. It is under the
management of a council (la presidenza dell' armi), con-
sisting of a prelate, of a first councillor, and of four
councillors who superintend the administration of mili-
tary matters. The States of the Church are divided into
three military divisions, those of Rome, Bologna, and
Ancona. The army consisted (in 1840) of 9,300 in-
fan try , of which 6,000 are natives, and 3,300 are Swiss ;
640 Dragoons, 160 mounted Chasseurs, 800 Artillery-
men, 1,700 Gendarmes, 300 Arquebusiers, 1,200 custom-
house officers, 80 men of the Noble Guard, in all 14,600
men, not including a reserve of 6,000 men and 3,000 Na-
-4
tional Guards for Rome and Bologna. The annual ex-
pense of keeping up this force is 1,756,029 Roman scudi,
or about 380,0001.
The territory of the States of the Church is divided
into 20 provinces, under the appellations of comarca,
legations, and delegations, as follows —First, the pro-
vince of Rome or " comarca," and the commissariat of
Loretto. Second, the six legations of Bologna, Ferrara,
Ravenna, Forli, Urbino and Hesare, and Velletri.
Third, the 13 legations of Ancona, Ascoli, Benevento,
Camerino, Civita-Vecchia, Fermo, Frosino, Macerato,
Orvieto, Perugia, Rieti, Spoleto, and Viterbo. These
provinces are administered by a legate, assisted
in the six legations by councillors taken from among
the more influential inhabitants. In these legations
the legate is always to be selected from among the car-
dinals. Such, in short, is the constitution of the States
of the Church, of which Cardinal Masted Ferretti has
just been proclaimed the head. This constitution and
this Government are subjected to a thousand attacks,
which a sectarian and a party spirit conjoined render
very bitter. In our opinion the complaints against
them have more of exaggeration than well-grounded
feundation, and we shall, perhaps, show it one of these
days. To make our information complete, we have to
mention the diplomatic body at Rome, which plays so
great a part in the election of the Pope ; but we have
not any recent documents.
We take from the Almanac of Gotha for 1846, the
list of the principal members of that body:—For
Austria, Count Rodolphos Lutzew, Ambassador; for
Naples, Count .T. C. de Ludolf, Minister Plenipotentiary;
for Spain, Don Castilloy Ayense; for France, Count
Rossi, Ambassador; for Russia, the Privy Councillor
Boutenieff, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo-
tentiary; for Sardinia, Count F. Broglio di Mombello
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, &c

DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING.—Ddring the
thunder-storm which we experienced on Monday night, the
lightning struck and fractured a large cast-iron wheel in the
foundry yard of Mr. Henry Gore's machine works, Lever-
street. In this case there are clear indications that the
current of tke electric fluid was an upward, and not a
downward one. For instance, two large pieces of metal
were thrown to a considerable distance, and into situ-
ations whither they could not by possibility have been
projected by a downward current. It is conjectured that the
iron in the immediate neighbourhood of the spot struck
(probably from thirty to forty tons), being intensely charged
with the fluid, at the time that a non-electric cloud was
passing over it, had discharged the fluid by an upward cur-
rent, which in its ascent broke the wheel, the weight of which
is about 2% cwt. Fortunately the men were not at workat
the time, or some severe personal injury, if not fatality, might
have been sustained.—Manchester Guardian.

MELANCHOLY SUICIDE.—A letter, of the 20th of
April, from the Malabar coast, gives the following account
of the suicide of Lieutenant C. G. Smith, of her Majesty's
25th regiment :—A party of officers, consisting of Lieute-
nants Priestley, Lea, Gough, and Smith, of the 25th Foot,
had obtained leave to proceed on an elephant-shooting ex-
cursion into the Wynaad jungles. It would appear that the
unfortunate deceased had been for some time in a very de-
sponding state, which is attempted to be accounted for by
the fact of his having been unsuccessful in his application
made at the commencement of our differences with the Sikhs,
to be allowed to join his relative, Sir H. Smith, as one of hie
staff. It is said that he had written to the General, but had
not received any reply. Oh the 28th of March, while at
the Tiroonelly Pew plantation, Lieutenant Smith was ob-
served by one of his friends to be in a very nervous state, and
trying to load his fowling-piece. On being questioned as to
what he was about, be is said to have rephed that he was
determined on shooting himself. From Tiroonelly the
party proceeded to Manantoddy and other parts of the
jungle. Nothing further occurred on Lieutenant Smith's part
tociase any uneasiness to the sportsmen, one of whom was
fortunate enough to be able to kill one elephant and wound
another. On the IGth of April, at a place named Coroth,
Lieutenant Smith is said to have been listening to one of the
party reading. He sometimes laughed at the history read,
and seemed amused. He had a short while before bor-
rowed a small sum from one of his comrades, for the pur-
pose of paying Coolies, it having been resolved by the party
to continue their journey. Lieutenant Smith suddenly left
the room. Shortly afterwards the report of a gun was
muchdispatched
beloved
andto
heard. Search was made, and on entering the bath-room
the body of the unfortunate man was found, quite dead, the
top of his head and face being completely shattered ! Ilia
esvmenitth was immediately
remains were conveyed back to Cannonore, where his corps
andlaeya,th qua ef or
sr m. a t
Lieutenant
i n o f the
esteemed by his brother officers as a quiet, agreeable,
gen-
tlemanly companion, and his melancholy fate has cast a
gloom over them and the society of ..
Times, May 2. the place..--Bombay
A fine specimen of the
Canadian goose was shot a few
days ago by Francis Simms,of Sh
eepwas h on the river
Wansbeck, near the aSt k
eford.—Newcastle Journal.
RAIIAV A.T TinEvEs.—The Newcastle Journal says
:
"This town is at present infested with a gang of audacious
pickpockets from the south, whose movements should engage
the vigilant attention of the police. The vagabonds have
been very successful iv their depredations on the North
Shields and other railways, particularly amongst females;
and those who uevel on the various lines would do well to
be on their guard in carriages occupied by strange supicious-
looking persons." A moustache should always be avoided, a
London magistrate having laid it down as a rule, that all
who wore moustaches, if not soldiers or foreigners, are mem-
bers of the swell mob.
SALMON FISHING IN THE RIVERS NORTH OF THE
NEss, Esc.—The grilse fishing commenced in the Beauly on
Saturday, and about 100 were got previous to Tuesday. The
fish are smaller than usual,
for. On the Corson, the fishing •
is exceedusgly backward,
and but few grilses have made their appearance. On the Shin
and Bonar, the grilse season is • fully one-fourth less up to this
date than last year; but the fishing, upon the whole, has
been one of the most productive within the last twelve
years. The salmon fishing continues, and last week, about
seventy boxes were dispatched south. On the west coast.
though the grilses are late, there are indications of a good
season ; and at Chanonry Point, the grilse sensors, though
eight or ten days later than usual, is beginning to produce,
about forty having been caught on Monday, of good size.
There is not much done yet on the Spey or Findhorn as to
grilses. The next stream will perhaps give a better supply
on these rivers, as well as the Conon, &c. We have heard
a very high authority in these matters state, that generally
this would be a bad grilse season.—Boss-shire Advertiser.
THE GUANO FowL.—The following account of the
guano fowl, in the Island of Malagas, near South Africa, is
given in the new number of the Perioidical Accounts of 111iti-
skins of the United Brethren (Moravian), just published :
« we had a visit from Mr. llertzog, a surveyor, who had
been sent to Saldanha Bay by Government, in order to see
whether the small Island of Malagas contained sufficient
guano to make it worth while to dispatch a ship thither.
He stated to us, that the fowls, called Malagas, after the
name of the Island, were so numerous that he had scarcely
room to set Isis foot down, and their nests covered the
island. lie estimated the guano at 60,000 tons, which lay
piled up to the height of twenty-two feet, resembling suuk
in colour and appearance. One of the fowls he had brought
with him; its plumage was of a dirty white, it was about
the size of a young goose, with a long neck and pointed
bill. They appear to be of exactly the same species with
those on the Island of Ichaboe."

MARRIAGE IN LIFE.—A marriage has been
arranged between Captain Frederick Grey, brother 01 Earl Grev.
and Mils Sulivan, daughter of the J.tcv. Mr. Sulivittl, recto: of Kai<
ten, IlextruUtire,