The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-03 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF NAPI ES AND SIeILY.

(From the Manchester Gem?dim* of yesterday.)

NAPLES, March 21.—His Majesty received a despatch
last Tuesday morning, at half-past 4 o'clock, which greatly
disturbed the royal mind. It is reported to have said that
Count Cavour had made mention of the affairs of Italy
at one of the conferences. Be it false or true, any agita-
tion of that subject must interfere with the stereotyped
system of policy which has becei pursued for so many
years in this country, and which is here regarded as al-
most of divine inspiration. Wh:tt that policy is has been
sufficiently indicated by the acts of Government itself ;
but in order to set it forth, as it were, more clearly from
time to time, its creatures have published it through
"defences," or "attacks," on ottier powers. I wish to
review these slightly at the present moment ; and, first,
let me call your attention to a work which was printed
is Genoa in 1853, and written at the instigation of
Mazza, the late police minister, and, what is more,
paid for by him ; a copy of that work was sent to the
home Government, so infamous was it deemed. Well,
it was an attack upon all liberal governments, and
upon that of England in parlicular. It contained
a gross insult to our Queen ; and, as if the
circulation of it in Naples was not sufficient, I
I have heard that it was sent to foreign courts. A pas-
sage or two will suffice to show the gentle and delicate
spirit in which it was written : "I am surprised tbat so
many have been fools enough to confute him [Mr. Glad-
stone], proving him to be a calumniator, rogue, and liar;
for, being English, it is well known that these epithet,
belong to him de jure. To such a wretch one answers
by spitting in his face. . . The world will have no
peace until the united sovereigns succeed in destroying
this piratical people, and striking them out of the list of
nations. May the people of England be dispersed and
destroyed like the Jews ; and may London be rooted
out and burned like Jerusalem, and Europe will be safe !"
Thank you for the wish His feeling towards the liberals
of his own country is not less tenderly expressed :--
"This great Christian king (Ferdinand II.) has a sin
upon his conscience, from which God alone can absolve
him. He deprived the executioner of so many portions
of human flesh which severe justice had condemned to
the scaffold as a public example, Jo." Now, all
this is very ribald and ridiculous stuff, but, written
by order of a man in power and favour, who after-
wards became the royal alter ego, it is but too significant
of the opinions and wishes of the highest personages in
the realm. Another work, too, of some importance as
showing the same tendencies, was published by Jules
Gondon, the editor of the Univers, in the form of a series
of letters to Mr. Bowyer. It was of the same anti-libe-
ral spirit, and, written under Neapolitan influences, may
be regarded as containing the creed of the royal party.
The last publ,cation of any note in the fame way is a
small pamphlet by Orajio Mazza himself, which I noticed
and quoted in a recent letter. All three united show
such a determination to assert the most rampant absolut-
ism—to put 'down anything of a liberal character—and
such a disposition to defend all the enormities of the

last few years, that one trembles at the prospect of an
European arrangement which imposes no check upon
the despots of the south,
It has been reported in various quarters of late that
the King of Naples had given up his hereditary Sicilian
privileges, commonly known under the name of tie
"Tribunate della Monarchia di Sicilia." They were con•
ferred on Ruggiero by Innocent, fr having driven out

•
the Saracens and restored the Greek churches to the
holy see. They were abolished by Clement XI. and re-
stored by Benedict XIII. on the remonstrance of Char lee
VI. What these privileges are, the limits of letter
will not permit me to explain ; the effect of them, how-
ever, is to render Sicily independent in its ecclesiastical
affairs of the court of Roma, and to throw all that power
into the hands of the King of the Two Sicilies. 01
course every Pope has been jealous of this power, but
Ferdinand IL has always► shown himself very tenacious
of it ; so much so, indeed, as to aggrieve, it was said,
Gregory XVI. Last year Mansignore Bizarro, of epis•
copal dignity, was sent as delegate from the Pope to
settle existing grievances, and to obtain this concession
if possible ; but Monsignore's papers were seized on some
excuse or other in his lodgings in the Monastery of the
Barefeet Augustine, and at last he left disgusted, and
without accomplishing the object of his wishes. Toe re-
port, therefore, that the King has yielded up his birth-
right is, I believe, a pure invention.
I have so fully exposed the deceitful character of the
late decree permitting (or more properly prohibiting)
the exportation of grain, that I shall not dwell upon it
much at length at present. No purchases either have
been or can be made for the French or English markets.
The French have on hand, purchased last autumn, about
500,000 tomoli of grain ; hut, up to the present time,
vessels for carrying off only 100,000 or 120,000 tomoli
h tve been chartered. The object in exporting even this
small quantity is probably to keep up the prices here,
so as to sell in Naples what remains of the old purchases
al-a-lels loss than would be incurred by selling it in
France.

On Thursday last, her Royal Highness the Countess
of Trapani was delivered of a daughter. Her mother,
the Grand Duchess of Tu-cany, was here on the occa-
sion of the birth. On Saturday the baptism took place
in presence of the whole diplomatic body.
The Neapolitans are all much elated by the fact that
the man who placed the French flag on the tower of
Malakhoff was a native of Averna, not far from Naples.
His mine is Guilio Bianco, and he is by trade a shoe-
maker. Some time since ho determined to push his for-
tunes in Algiers, where he entered a company of Znuaves.
Thence he was sent to the Crimea, was present at the
capture of Seba,topol, and performed the feat which ham

surrounded kis name with glory. He has been raised to
the rank of captain, decorated with the Cross of the

Legion of Honour and the Order of St. Maurice and

Lazarus, and has received his captaincy. -
MAUCH 28.—1 must be allowed for some little time to
occupy your attention with occ :alone! details of rails ay
projects iu this country. Tney are of such vital import-
ance in a political and commercial point of view in the
kingdom of the Two Sicilie,=, that the impulse which is
now being given to there great undertakings seems to
me to mark -a new epoch in the history of Southern Italy.
The first step towards the construction of the Brindisi
line has been taken ; the first stone has been laid. I
now can rtate that waggons and materials fir work have
actually been sent for from England, and that the labour
will seriously commence in a few days. The portion
of the line from Naples to Marigliano, about ten
miles, will be completed, it'is calculated, and perhaps

opened in six months. The government line from Nola
to Sarno will not be sold to the Brindisi Company, as

was M first intended ; as the King wishes to pr.eseive it
SW a military road, and will carry it on probably to San

Giorgio, near which the Brindisi line will meet or pass
it. Taking the average of the commerce of thi- route for
ten year-i, it is calculated that the returns from the tran-
sport of merchandise and of beasts alone, will produce
six millions of ducats a year, according to the actual
movement ; whilst the total estimated expense of coo:

struction is 22 millions of ducats. What the returns will

be when TrieAte sends the productions of Germany and

of the Levant to the Mediterranean, and by the same
route receive those of France and Italy, it is difficult to
calculate. Altogether distrustand doubtaregradua!ly giv-
ing way, and those who from the first have been favourable

are no .v extremely sanguine. His Maje,ty expresses him-
self very desirous to see it completed. The royal brothers
take a most active part in promoting the speculation;
and Rothschild has promised to support it with all-
the power at his command. I am disposed, therefore, to
look at this grand line as an accomplished fact.
Another c )mmercial and financial operation which I
have often alluded to, is the establishment of a Credit

Mobdier in Naples. I have kept you informed of what
has taken place on the subject—of the attempts and
failures. The present and latest attempt is being made by
M. Bishoffstein (a partner in the firm of Goldschmidt)
who is now here. As the King will not recognise any fo-
reigner in any public undertaking, the prominent and re-
sponsible parties are three Neapolitan gentlemen. Their
project has been laid before his Majesty, and be has ap-
pointed a commission to examine it. Notwithstanding,
however, that it is received favourably on our Bourse, do
not think it will succeed; for one reason, amongst others,
that it will be superseded by another enterprise. You have
not to hear from me that an international Credit Mobil ier

between London and Paris is in contemplation; •nd I am
told is in process of organisation. A branch society
will be formed here, and I have seen letters to-day
offering the agency to a Neapolitan merchant and
banker. If this succeed, the ground will of course be

cut away from under any other r-imilar project, whilst an
immense good will be conferred on this country. Strong
arguments are opposed to the institution ; amongst
others, that it will promote commercial gambling ; but
in a country where confidence is at so low an ebb, when
its natural wealth is so undeveloped, and where roads
and channels of communication are so utterly wanting,
the risk is worth running.
M. Bayard is now to continue the Castellamare line
to Salerno, f,,r which purpose Rothschild has consented
to advance 600,000 ducats. This is considered, how-
ever, a very inadequate sum for a road of such difficult
construction, and many are of opinion that it will never
he completed, as the gradients are so cinsiderable. At
all events the expense will be enormous.
People are talking of a reduction in the duty on grain,
on peace being confirmed. It is merely a hope, but
there can be no doubt that the present duty is a pro-
hibition.

FRAUDS ON UNDERWRITERS.-MEETING AT LLOYD'S.

—Yesterday an adjournrd meetimg was held at Lloyd's,
to take into consideration a motion for a committee to
inquire into the existing state of the underwriting bu.i-
nese. Mr. 'Watts, who had placed the motion upon the
paper, repeated the statements and arguments urged byhim at the previous meeting with respect to the great
increase of frauds practised on underwriters, and the ne-
cessity of appointing a committee of investigation to in-
quire into claims, and of establishing also a registry of
claims. Mr. Watts was followed by Mr. Wills and Mr.
Robinson, old members of Lloyd's, who contended that
though, doubtless, improper claims were brought into
that room, as with life insurance and other offices, such
claims were the exception, and not the rule. There
were incompetent and inexperienced underwriters
who would estangle themselves in risks which
older and more experienced members would decline to
undertake. Members were not compelled to take risks,
and were, or ought to be, well able to protect them-
selves. If members thought they could makef ortunes
out of premiums, without due qualifications, they would
find themselves mistaken. One great cause of increased
claims was enlarged trade, and the frauds of the present
day could bear no comparison with those perpetrated in
forme: years. There was some truth in parts of Mr.
Watts' speech, combined with crude ideas and wrong
deductions, but as a whole it was uncalled for, injudici-
ous, and likely to do mischief. Mr. Watts having with-
drawn kia motion, the proceediege terminated;