The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-24 00:00:00

ITALY.

" Our letters from Turin and Paris," say the
Nord, " speak simultaneously of the proceeding
of a part of the Italian clergy, in opposition to the
new state of things ; it is even affirmed that the
disturbances which have been already mentioned,
and which have led to five provinces of the king-
dom of Naples being put into a state of siege, are
the work of that party who could only find a small
sum to assist the defenders of Gaeta, but who
no longer want money when the object is to
organise and pay brigands, in the hope of thus
operating a diversion. In the meantime
General Fanti bravely attacks the difficulties
accumulated by the provisional Government,
and which will render the reorganisation of
the Southern army a most difficult matter.
As to the Government of the Lieutenant-General,
it finds itself in presence of impossibilities, but
which must nevertheless be overcome ; the treasury,
for instance, is empty, and all the sources of
revenue stopped, particularly in Sicily, where all
duties have been suppressed and the land tax re-
duced. Our correspondent at Turin, in order to
give us an idea of the pro-dictatorial administra-
tion, informs us that the 30,000 volunteers of
Garibaldi, who are in want of everything, and
whose officers only receive 2f. a day, have cost
much more than the Royal Government would
have paid for an army of 100,000 men. It is just
to observe also that the number of functionaries
and of pensions and subsidies is incalculable; the
whole budget, as has been before stated, would
not suffice for them."

The following is an extract from a Naples letter
of the 19th, in the Debits:---" The Treasury is
positively empty. Hitherto they have made shift
to struggle on by issuing Treasury bonds and
other securities, as well as appropriating the sums
deposited in the Bank of private individuals. In
short, paper has been issued very freely. M.
Scialoja, with whom the King'a lieutenant is well
satisfied, has stopped this ruinous emission of as-
signats, and taken rational means to provide fresh
resources ; but he has a hard battle to fight against
routine, and a still harder one against smuggling.
After recovering theirliberty, the Neapolitans seam
inclined to regard that occupation as one of the
rights of man. The smugglers had made an alliance
offensive and defensive with the can2orristi, a kind
of civil brigands, who haunt gaming-houses, or act
as wardkeepers in the prisons and convict establish-
ments, to whom the inhabitants pay a kind of black
mail, as an insurance against assassination. The
police had taken these worthies from the prisons to
assist them in hunting down thieves. But the coml.-
risti, far from having reformed, worked for two
masters ; they shared the plunder of the thieves,
and received pay from the police. The camorristi
and the smugglers had formed an alliance for carry-
ing on an extensive business without the interference
of the Customs officers. M. Scialoja was determined
to break up this association, and called in the aid of
the carbineers. A conflict consequently occurred the
other night at the Mercati and in the Porto quarter,
and blood was'shed. M. Parini has given orders for
arresting the cantorristi(3oo inn umber) and keeping
a strict watch over smugglers. These honest fellows
did not confine themselves to smuggling, they also
received the money of his Majesty of Gaeta, and
often shouted for Francis 11. A priest of San Gio-
vanni a Reduccio invented a more ingenious cry.
Followed by a crowd of lazzaroni and women, in the
Borg° - San-Antonio, he paraded the streets, shout-
ing, Long live Victor Emmanuel, who has published
the decree restoring the throne to Francis 11. !'and, so
saying, he tore up:a tricoloured flag, and hoisted a
white one with the Bourbon arms. The National
Guard did not like the joke, and the Piedmontese
carbineers liked it still less. So they at once
arrested some forty of the women, with as many

lazzaroni, and soon after wlao
had made off and hid himself. While I am
writing this, a number of women, who have been
making a similar demonstration at Fuori-Grotta,
are passing my window in custody. Many parts
of the provinces have witnessed the same scenes,
and in some places blood has been shed."
King Victor Emmanuel. has addressed the fol-
lowing letter to M. Farini, Lieutenant-General of
Naples :

"My Dear Farini,---On arriving in this city I
desired to be informed of the state and wants of
the poorer classes, and was painfully affected on
learning that the institutions of popular education
have hitherto been much neglected. The in-
struction and religious and civil education of the
people have been the constant object of my en-
deavours. I know that the industry and mora-
lity of the whole nation are thereby promoted.
The liberal institutions granted by my father and
upheld by me must be understood by all and do
good to all, in order that they may be useful to all.
I am sure you will be the faithful interpreter of
my intentions. But I wish personally to contribute
to the spread of popular education, which I have so
much at heart. I therefore have given orders that
a sum of 200,000 francs be paid out of my privy
purse, to be distributed for this charity to mind and
soul. In applying this sum you will keep in mind
the advantage resulting in a large city from the
institution of popular infant asylums. You will,
moreover, take proper measures to call public
attention in the provinces to the serious subject of
popular education. I desire that the represen-
tatives of the Government, the municipal autho-
rities, and associations of citizens, be through your
intervention encouraged• and aided in promoting
this work of Christian and civil progress, to
which, both as men and governors, we owe the
greatest attention.

" VICTOR EMMANUEL.

" Naples, Nov. 14, 1860."

M. Farini has entered into negociations with the
municipality of Naples for the furtherance of great
public works, in order to procure work for the
people. He also, by a decree of the 16th, abolished
the entrance duties which Naples levied on corn
and other breadstuffs.

The Espero of Turin says :—" General Turr had
tendered his resignation, but it appears that the
King's Government would not accept it. The
Hungarian corps under his orders is about to be re-,
organised at Nola., a town a short distance from
Naples. It is stated that the troops who are on the
frontiers will on the 24th begin their movement
to take up winter quarters."

THE AUSTRIANS IN ITALY.
Private letters from Venetia publish some details
respecting the number of Austrian troops in the
Quadrilateral and Venetia.

Austria has at the present moment in Venetia an
army of 130,000 men, divided into four corps. The
first, commanded by General Count Stadion,
guards the Mincio line, and has its head•querters at
Verona. The second, commanded by Archduke
Ernest of Austria, guards the line of the Etsch
(Adige), and has its head-quarters at Vicenza. The
third, under command of General Prince of Hesse,
watches the lower Po, and is encamped between
Rovige and Legnago ; its head quarters are at
Padua. The fourth corps, commanded by Arch-
duke Albert of Austria, is entrusted with the
defence of the city and province of Venice, and the
Venetian coast from the point of Maestro, to the
mouth of the Tagliamento.
This army is on a full war footing, and possesses
an immense materiel of artillery, consisting en-
tirely of rifled cannon. The cavalr3 at present
does not exceed 6,000 men ; but it is to be increased
to 10,000.

Independent of these forces, Austria possesses
another army of 150,000 men, which occupies a
very extended line, and which has for principal
points of concentration Brixen, Klagenfurt, Lay-
bach, Trieste, Fiume, and Cattaro. In case of war,
Austria has thus an army of 300,000 men to defend
her various possessions in Upper Italy and on the
Adriatic.

Austria, it is asserted, will not take the offen-
sive, but she expects to be attacked in the spring,
and she feels the struggle will be a terrible cne.
The Italians, more numerous and better organised
than in 1646, will have a fleet superior to hers,
and, moreover, they count upon a pv,v—e-1
Hungary. These facts will rendir the
chances of the war more equal, and may, by shift-
ing the scene of action, to a certain extent weaken
the advantages offered by the fortresses of the
Quadrilateral.

FIRE ON BOARD THE LA PLATA

STEAMER.

SOUTHAMPTON, SATURDAY.

The Royal Mail Company's steamer La Plata
took fire between one and two o'clock this morn-
ing in the outer dock.
Captain Vincent, the company's superintendent,
soon arrived, and took the general direction of the
men to overcome the flames, which raged with
great fury.
Altogether twelve engines and two steamtugs
were speedily got in readiness, and commenced
pouring vast quantities of water into the ship.
Tugs were also in readiness to haul the vessel
from the other shipping in the dock if necessary.

The fore part of the ship is entirely gutted.
Smoke is still issuing, and some of the engines are
still at work. She is much down at the head,
having about twenty feet of water in her hold.
Two men were brought ashore in a state of
exhaustion, having been almost suffocated.
Great praise is due to the prompt services ren-
dered by the Peninsular and Oriental Company's,
the Dock Company's, and the town fire engines,
without which assistance the ship must have been
totally destroyed.
The La Plata is one of the company's finest
steamers and the loss sustained is most serious.
9 A.M.

The fire was got under between 5 and 6 o'clock,
and the damage is confined to the fittings of the
fore part of the vessel and the ship's stores. The
hull is not damaged.

La Plata was to have taken out the West India
mails on the 2d proximo, but, fortunately, none of
the cargo had been shipped. A large quantity of
quicksilver was ready for shipment, and would have
been put on board to-day.
The fire originated in the boatswain's storeroom,
but the cause is not known.

Not the slightest 'symptom of any fire is left.
The water is being pumped out of the ship, and
the burnt stems removed.

ARRIVAL OF THE FOX EXPLORING! VESSEL.

SO UTH AMPTON, Nov. 23.

The celebrated exploring Arctic yacht Fox, Captain
Allen Young, arrived in Portland Roads this evening, from
the coasts of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland,
where she has been engaged surveying the route for the
proposed North Atlantic Telegraph.
The severity of the season in the northern regions has
been greater this year than has been experienced for 20
years past.
The Fox remained in Greenland until the Bth November,
when winter had fairly set in.
She succeeded in examining and sounding the fiords on
the south coast, and proving their practicability for the
reception of the cable.
The Fox also coasted don a considerable extent of the
east coast of Greenland, hitherto supposed to be inacces-
sible, besides making a series of deep-sea soundings.
She brings home a variety
of specimens in natural his-
photographs of scenery and costumes of the coun-
triesto ry and
visit ed.

It is inferred that the arrangement between
France and Sardinia regarding the assumption by France of
the portion of the Sardinian debt chargeable to Savoy and
Nice will involve a sunk of about £5,000,000, and hasten the
necessity for a new French Loan.
LIFEBOAT SERI ICES.—YARMOUTH, Friday.—
The schooner Admiral Hood, of Rochester, was during a
gale ofwind from N.N.W., with squalls of snow, totally
wrecked on the North Sand, off Yarmouth, a few nights
ago. On observing her signals of distress, the new life-
boat belonging to the National Lifeboat Institution was
immediately launched, and proceeded to ho spot where the
vessel was lying. After some difficulty she was reached.
and her crew of six men talon on board the lifeboat, which
afterwards safely brought them on shore. The Coastguard
officer and his men rendered every assistance on the occa-
sion, by firing rocket lines over the schooner, and chiefly by
means of the rope communication thus formed, the life-
boat was suceesquily launched through the heavy swell,