The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-12 00:00:00

a miserable payment, not amounting to a quarter of their
value.
At length, at a recent exhibition, a young manr whose
same we shall suppress, a man of calm and gentle character,
from whom no one expected an act of such audacity, refused
to submit to the dictates of royalty.
He had painted a picture of the death of Socrates, which
excited universal admiration in the city, and the price be
expected for it was considerable. But for his misfortune it
pleased the King as well as the public, and he was speedily
informed it was selected for the palace, and that ho would b.
paid a sum for it, which did not amount to one-third of what
was considered its real value.
He immediately signified his discontent, but obtained no
answer. After a brief lapse of time, he waited on the Minis.
ter in person, and was then informed that his picture already
occupied a distinguished place on the walls of the royal resi-
dence. The painter, unshaken in his resolution, still insisted
on its being returned to him unless he was paid by his Ma-
jesty the same price which he could obtain from another pur.
chaser.
The Minister, probably astonished by such unusual auda-
city, replied, that if this were his final decision, he must sig.
nif y it in writing, as he should otherwise refuse to carry such
a message to his royal master.
The artist, to the surprise of all present, without hesita-
tion took a pen in hand, and wrote—" I refuse to sell my pic-
ture for one-third of its value, and demandthat it be returned
to me."

All hope of rising in his profession was ne•essarily sle-
stroyed by such an act, and he was obliged, immediately
afterwards, to quit the country. Though all admired, none
have since dared to imitate his conduct.

Another instance of this royal officiousness is re-
corded in the case of au impoverished nobleman,
who possessed three remarkable statues which an
English nobleman was anxious to purchase. The
owner glzdly availed himself of this opportunity of
mending his fortune, but all was put a stop to, as
the King refused to permit him to remove the
statues from the kingdom. It is remarked at the
conclusion that—
Sinch 1818 the conduct of the Government can only he
regarded as an ignoble and atrocious vengeance, by which
it has been the purpose of the King and his advisers to de-
stroy all those even suspected of holding liberal opinions,
and utterly to arrest the progress of civilisation, and the
hope of freedom in the south of Italy, by open, arbitrary
violence.

Gradually, since IS4B, this purpose has been more fully
developed, till now the prisons are actually crowded with
captives. There are five hundred and thirty prisons in the
kingdom, and these now contain two-thirds more than
their ordinary number. Though a great mystery is thrown
over the horrors of persecution, and it is impossible to ob-
tain any exact information as to the positive number of pri-
soners, it is supposed at present to exceed the estimation
made by Mr. Gladstone, when he stated that they amounted
to between twenty and thirty thousand 1
The number of exiles has never been calculated, but it
must be immense ; and who can count the thousands of rela-
tions and dependents who were supported by the labour of
the men whose captivity is their ruin ! It may well be
supposed that, for every innocent man it imprisons, the Go-
vernment makes ten enemies, not to speak of the public find
national indignation, which, though repressed, is not leas
deeply felt.

The perusal of these volumes will scarcely tend to
increase the popularity of his Majesty the King of
Naples, though it may increase the sympathy of
the reader for the poor oppressed populace, as it
shows the difficulties that they labour under, and
the unfortunate results that have always attended
their efforts for freedom. The work is quietly and

sensibly written, and will very probably Materially
enhance the author's reputation.

I Minutes of Proceedings in Parliament, 19 and 20
Viet., Session 1856. Edited and published by
• James Bigg, 33, Parliament-street.
The author of this work, looking at the wholly
unsatisfactory and unpromising state of the law,
comes forward with a scheme for the opening of the
Statute Book—a sealed book to the public, owing
to the want of consolidation, a want which he sees
no prospect of being supplied, notwithstanding all
that has been said and done about it. His pro-
position is the appointment of an editor of the
public statutes, whose duty it shall be to prepare
an edition of them, in which all repealed and ex-
pired acts shall be omitted, and in which every act
that has been amended shall contain a reference
to the amending act. This edition he would
have printed in the octavo size, and kept
constantly in type—each existing act, though part
of a series, to be printed separately. At the end.
of each session, he further proposes, a list of all
the acts of the session shall be appendod, with the
letters E S I, &c., affixed to each, denoting the
territory to which it applies, and in the case of re-
pealed or expired acts, with a note referring to the
repealing statute or the period of such expiration.
To this he would add an index, so framed that at
intervals of time the annual indexes may be cox-
solidated, and form a general index to the whole
series. The annual expenditure for editing such
an edition would not, he is of opinion, exceed
1,5001. The number of volumes required to coins
prise all existing acts he calculates at about twenty
or twenty-five, and the time required to complete
the task about five years. Into any further expo-
sition of his scheme it is unnecessary for us to
enter. We refer the reader to the work itself, in
which will be found a list of public statutes with
notes thereon—a summary of proceedings from
Jan. 31 to July 29—proceedings on public and on
private bill committees apponaie- d by the Lords and
ny the Commons—regulations respecting public
petitions—new writs issued and new members sworn
—leave of absence to members—Peers sat first in
Parliament—resolutions of Houses of Lords and
Commons during the session, together with a
general index—the whole constituting an exceed-
ingly useful book of reference to the politician, and
an exemplification of the plan suggested by the
editor. One feature is particularly noticeable—
viz., the association of members' names with the
acts and proceedings in which they were promi-
nently engaged. The work is one the Administra-
tive Reformer should buy.