The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-27 00:00:00

BRITISH SHIPS OF WAR AT CI VITA
VECCHIA.

On the 15th inst: the Vanguard of the British
squadron arrived at Civita Vecchia, composed of
the Centaur, steam peddle wheel frigate, Capt. W.
0. Clifford, C.B , 6 guns and 200 men ; and the
Osprey, despatch gunboat, Capt. H. J. Blomfield,
4 guns and 100 men. These vessels left the port
of Ajaccio on the 14th, and are to remain at Civita
Vecchia until further orders.
Captains Clifford and Blomfield, with several of
their officers, left Civita Vecchia on the 15th inst.,
in the evening, and arrived in Rome next morning,
to take a hasty glance at the Eternal City before
proce. ding on their Neapolitan mission. Non-
combatant foreigners aro also beginning to flock
in. No fewer than 17 diligences arrived from
Civita Vecchia last night full of passengers by the
Mediterranean steamers.
It may he easily imagined that the British flag in
aPapal port is an eyesore to the ecclesiastical autho-
rities, and Monsignor Delegato of Civita Vecchia
will certainly not share the admiration of the French
naval commandant on the station, who pronounced
the proportioas of the Osprey to be perfectly
' delicious."

OCT. 18.
Captain Clifford, and twelve officers of the Cen-
taur and Osprey, are still at the Hotel d'Angle-
terre in this city, but their passports are vises for
Civita Vecchia, to which port they expect to return
this evening or to-morro x morning. They profess
to be ignorant of the exact motive of their visit to
the Papal shores ; but as Captain Clifford is in
hourly expectation of despatches, it is probable that
Civita Vecchia forms a convenient centre of com-
munication between the squadron at Ajaccio and
the government at home, for orders received at
Rome, by electric telegraph, might be sent down
by estafette to Civita Vecchia in four or five hours,
and forwarded to Admiral Dundas by the des-
patch gunboat Osprey in six or seven hours more.
Should these orders require the presence of the
fleets in the waters of Naples, the Centaur would
be within a short distance of the scene of
action, and would probably receive on board
the members of the British embassy on the
suspension of diplomatic relations with Naples.
The result of the ultimatum is now anxiously
looked for, as it depends upon that whether Aus-
tria is to assume the merit of whatever conces-
sions may be obtained, and to cast her soporific
influence over the more energetic line of action
adopted by Great Britain, or whether, on the
other hand, King Bomba will actually be so rash
as to risk having his warlike sobriquet come into
effect on his own stronghold.
The excitement here is unbounded meanwhile,
and the sensation produced by British naval uni-
formsamongst the astonished Romans and disgusted
priests is not easy to be described. It is curious
enough that the Governnaent pretends to ignore
the whole occurrence, and the official paper, which
goes into the minutest details whilst giving us
intelligence from China, Madagascar, or California,
never once hints at events so near home as he
arrival of a couple of British ships of war in the
port of Civita Vecchia.

Oar. 20.

Captain Clifford, and the officers who accom-
panied him on his flying visit to the Eternal City,
left Rome on Saturday evening, and arrived at
Civita Vecchia again yesterday morning. The
despatches which are to regulate their further
movements not having been received up to yester-
day afternoon, the Centaur and Osprey continue
to enjoy the hospitality of his Holiness's port; but
their stay is not anticipated to be very long, espe-
cially as we have telegraphic intelligence this
morning of the French fleet preparing to leave
Toulon. At Civita Vecchia Capt. Clifford will be
able to receive telegraphic information either from
London or Naples in a few hours. He thus occu-
pies a central position ou the base of a triangle
of which Admiral Dundas's squadron at Ajaccio
occupies the apex, enabling him to keep up a rapid
and complete system of communication.