The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-08 00:00:00

7.flE NAVY.

Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Fanshavve, K.C.8., late
Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, has been
selected to succeed, as Commander-in-Chief at
D.:..vonport, Vice-Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds,
whose period of service has expired.
The Barracouta, 6, ...paddlewheel steam sloop,
300-horse power, Commander Wm. Wood (recently
commissioned at Sheerness), is taken into dry dock
to undergo a thorough examination.
The Dwarf gunboat is to have her engines and
boilers taken out in order to find the extent of the
rot and any other defects.

The Phaeton, screw steamer, 51, 400-horse power,
left Sheerness harbour yesterday, under the com-
mand of Capt. Schoenberg, for a trial of her machi-
nery (built by Messrs. Bolton and Watt). There
were present Mr. Langland (the builders' repre-
sentative), Messrs. Price and Dennen, inspec-
tors of machinery, ~and Mr. Blaxland, chief
engineer of her Majesty's dockyard. The trial,
so far as the ship and machinery are concerned,
was of a highly satisfactory nature, but is con-
sidered incomplete owing to the roughness of the
wind and sea. Another trial will be made.

The repairs of the hull of the paddlewheel steam
sloop Geyser, 6, at Devonport, are so far advanced
that she will be ready for a trial cruise outside
Plymouth breakwater when the authorities think
necessary.
The gunboat Partridge having been found de-
fective will be replaced in the steam reserve at
Devonport by the Porpoise, which is in an advanced
state.

The schooner Lark was placed in the basin at
the Devonport dockyard on Wednesday for the
purpose of being broken up.
The Netherlands screw steam frigate Zeeland,
50, Captain H. Wipff, got up steam in Plymouth
Sound on Wednesday and left for Lisbon.
The screw steamship St. George, 91, was ap-
pointed to he taken out of Keyham dock yesterday
evening.

Mr. W. C. Pyper was yesterday appointed
master, additional, to the Pembroke.

THE ARMY.

His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in-Chief will hold a levee at the Horse Guards on
Wednesday next, the 13th inst., at 1 o'clock.

Yesterday Major-Gen. S. R. Wesley, the Deputy-
Adjutant-General, resumed his inspection of the
Chatham division of Royal Marine Light Infantry
from the portion concluded on the previous day. It
is generally believed that the official report to the
Lords of the Admiralty will be most flattering to
the officers and men of the division.

The Istamboul, 1,310 tons, Capt. A. Denchar,
East India troopship, which arrived in the Thames
from Bombay on the sth inst., disembarked her
troops at Custom-house-quay, Gravesend, yester-
day morning, when they were immediately for-
warded to Fort Pitt Hospital, Chatham. The
Istamboul embarked her cavalry and infantry
troops at Bombay on the 2d of March, and sailed
on the following day; touched at St. Helena on the
29th of April, and left that island on the Ist of
May, the passage to the Thames occupying 95 days.
During a portion of the voyage the ship experienced
very tempestuous weather, and on the 25th of
March, when in the Indian Ocean, off the Mauri-
tius, encountered a fearful hurricane, which lasted
24 hours, causing some damage to the vessel and
carrying away several of her sails. Another heavy
gale was also encountered on the sth of April off
the Cape of Good Hope, which raged furiously for
three days, during which the jibboom was a
second time carried away, the vessel labour-
ing heavily. Four soldiers, who had been
tried by general court-martial in India and
sentenced to penal servitude, were also brought
home as prisoners. During the voyage there
were 12 deaths on board—viz., nine soldiers, one
passenger, one sailor, and one prisoner. After the
troops had disembarked it was found necessary for
six of the invalids, who were too ill to be forwarded
to Chatham, to be kept at Gravesend. On the ar-
rival of the remainder at Fort Pitt nine insane
solders were sent to the lunatic asylum, and nine-
teen men admitted into hospital for treatment, the
remainder being conveyed to the invalid establish-
ment at St. Mary's barracks, to await an inspection
by the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital.

CONVOCA7ION OP THE PROVINCE OF
CANT_ERBURY.

Yesterday morning both Houses of the Convoca-
tion of the province of Canterbury assembled at
Westminster for the despatch of business.
THE UPPER HOUSE.
The Archbishop of Canterbury presided in the
Upper House, which assembled in Queen Anne's
Bounty-office, and there were also present the
Bishops of London, Winchester, St. David's, Ox-
ford, Lincoln, Bangor, Llandaff, Lichfield, Chi-
chester, and Norwich.
Dr. Travers Twiss, the Vicar-General of the
Province, Mr. F. H. Dyke, the registrar, and Mr.
Felix Knyvett, the Archbishop's secretary, were
also in attendance.
The Bishop of OXFORD moved a resolution to the
effect that this house had received a report from
the joint committee of both houses, containing a
draught of certain occasional services, had read
them from A (that of the harvest), and made cer-
tain alterations, and now sent down such draught
with alterations to the Lower House, desiring the
Lower House to take them into consideration, and
to report their opinion thereon. Without commit-
ting themselves entirely to the services, he thought
it would be well to send the draught down, not
adopting it as a perfect model, but simply express-
ing an opinion that such a form of service ought to
be drawn up for use in our churches.
The Bishop of CHICHESTER seconded the motion.
After some discussion,
His Grace the PRESIDENT put the resolution to
the house, and it was carried.
The Lower House was then summoned. The
Prolocutor (the Dean of Bristol) attended, accom-
panied by the Dean of Norwich, Archdeacon Sand-
ford, Canon Wordsworth, Archdeacon Bickersteth,
the Rev. Harold Brown, and the Rev. F. Vincent.
The draught of the services as amended was handed
to them, and the representatives of the Lower
House retired.

THE LOWER HOUSE.
The Lower House met in the Jerusalem Cham-
ber, the Dean of Bristol presiding as Prolocutor. There
were also present the Dean of Norwich, the Dean
of Canterbury, the Dean of Westminster, the Dean
of Ely, Archdeacons Dennison, Thorpe, Sandford,
and Bickersteth, Canons Selwyn, Wordsworth,
BroWne, and Mills, Drs. Brisco, Jelf, and MiCane,
Lord A. Compton, Sir H. Thompson, Sir G. Prevost,
the Warden of All Souls, Hon. and Rev. S. Best,
and Messrs. Mayon, R. Seymour, Oxenden, Joyce,
J. Jebb, Vincent H. Randolph, Ommanney, F. C.
Massingberd, Burton, Price, Harding, Hopper,
Fendall, Mildmay, Mackenzie, Bro.
Prayers having been read, and the minutes of the
session of February 18 confirmed,
The PROLOCUTOR named as his assessors the
Dean of Norwich, Archdeacons Bickersteth and
Sandford, Canon Browne, Drs. Wordsworth and
Vincent.
Canon SELWYN had a gravamen to present
against the Divorce Bill, which had been twice
presented before, in 1858 and 1859, and sent to the
Upper House as an artieulus oleri, a course which
he proposed should be adopted on that occasion.
After some discussion, permission to discuss the
matter was refused.
Some other business Was also despatched, and
the house adjourned.

'IMPORTMON OF
_FOREIGN GRAIN.—Duty paid
at Hull last week :—X27 1 ps, on 5,125 qrs. wheat ; £205 Bs.
on 1,108 qrs. barley; £685, 58. on 13,705 qrs. oats; £29 on
580 rs. beans ; £72 on 1,440 qrs. peas ; and £5B Bs. 101 d.
on 3,117 cwt. of wheat flour.
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PALERMO, MAT 27.
It is 2 p.m., and [ am writing to you with the
bombshells flying above my head through'the air.
'When the landing of Garibaldi produced the first fit
of terror at Naples, the youthful Bourbon sent to his
brave fleet concentrated in the Bay of Palermo the
order to bombard his faithful Pulermitans, and re-
duce their town to ashes if they should dare to
rise against his paternal authority. The Paler-
mitans had been treated once already in this
paternal manner by the illustrious father of the
present Sovereign, who, as you remember, figures
in history as King Bomba for having given these
souvenirs of his love to every large town of his
kingdom. Whoever has been in a town which
is bombarded will tell you that it is very unplea-
sant, especially if you have not got the means of
answering in a condign manner, and yet Palermo
has risen this morning. Yesterday an official bulle-
tin of the Government announced to the Palermi-
tans that Garibaldi's defeated bands were flying in
the direction of Corleonee, followed by the victori-
ous troops of the King ; that the bands which had
joined him in Sicily were going home gradually
and tranquilly; and that in a short time all would
be over. This morning at daybreak Garibaldi ap-
peared at the eastern gates of Palermo, and after a
comparatively bloodless struggle entered them.
By 10 a.m. the greater part of the town was in his
hands.

The plan of attack which Garibaldi conceived
was to surprise the posts in the lower and compa-
ratively ill defended part of the town, to throw
himself into the town, and then gradually work his
way from street to street. The two roads leading
to this part of the town run almost parallel, and
not far from each other. That close to the sea-
shore was the least guarded, containing merely a
company or so, altogether cat off from all communi-
cation. The task would have been easier from this
side had it not been for the fear of the march of
a long column being discovered, and thus an alarm
given. The second, the high road from the inte-
rior, was therefore chosen as the line of operations.
It crosses, about half a mile from the town, the
route Del Ammiraglio, leads through a large open
street to the stradone on this side of the town, and
enters the town at the Porta di Termini. At this
gate the Neapolitans had made a sandbag barri-
cade, which was occupied by two companies. The
stradone before it was enfiladed by a couple of
mountain guns, placed at the gate of Sant' Antonio.
Beyond the stradone small forts extended all along
the road up to the bridge, and the outposts were
just on the other side of the bridge.
With that just coup d'ccil which Garibaldi cer-
tainly possesses, he had singled out this point as
the most practicable. Having, with the exception
of the troops he had brought with him, but rough,
undisciplined guerillas at his disposal, he saw that
the best chance was to concentrate all his forces
and surprise or break through by main force. The
operation was to be assisted by a general rise of the
people in the town.
Having sketched out his plan, he convoked the
different guerilla chiefs and informed them of his
intention. Ile told them that it was not his cus-
tom to have councils of war, but he thought it for
once good to consult them, as upon the resolution
taken must depend the fate of Sicily, and perhaps
of Italy. There were only two things to be done—
either to try and get possession of Palermo by a
coup de main, or else to withdraw and begin a
regular organisation in the interior, and form an
army. He, for his part, was for the coup de main,
which would at once settle the fate of the island.
He told tb em to be brief in their remarks• and
not deliberate long. Most were utterly astonished
at the boldness of this plan, and made some re-
marks about the want of ammunition for their
They were told, for the hundredth
,ime, that it was not long shots which imposed on
,he well-armed Neapolitans, but a determined rush
n advance—that they ought not to waste their am-
munition and fire off their guns for sport, and were
promised whatever could be spared. This objec-
tion being waived, all expressed more or less loudly
their approbation of the plan, and were dismissed
with the injunction to animate their people and
keep up their courage.
The first idea was to make the attack in the
middle of the night—the Neapolitans don't like to
stir at night, and there was every chance of a panic
among them; but there was some danger that way
likewise for the Sicilian insurgents, and it was
thought best to make such arrangements as would
bring the force at dawn to the gates of the town. ,
According to the original and better plan of the
General himself and his Adjutant-General, Colonel
Turr, the movement was to have been made along
the main road from Misilmeri, broad enough to
admit of considerable development of the columns,
and commodious in every respect. The native
captains, however, suggested the Pass of Mezzagna,
which descends from the heights behind Gebel Rosso
into the plain of Palermo. According to their state-
ments it was much shorter, and by no means diffi-
cult. Their statements were believed, and the whole
force received orders to be concentrated by nightfall
on the summit of the pass, crowned with a church.
According to the first disposition the troops
brought by the General himself were to lead the
way, and the squadre to follow ; but some of the
chiefs begged it as a favour for their corps to
have the honour of being first in the town—a claim
which could not be very well refused. The plan
was, therefore, modified. The guides, and three
men from each company of the Cacciatori delleAlpi,
were formed into an avant-garde, confided to Major
Tukori, a Hungarian officer, who distinguished
himself under Gen. Kmety on the 29th of Sept. at
Kars. Behind this avant-garde followed the Sici-
lians, commanded by La Maga, an emigrant, who
had come over with Garibaldi. The second line
was led by the riflemen of Genoa—excellent shots,
all armed with the Swiss carbine. Behind them
came the two battalions of Cacciatori delle Alpi,
and in the rear the rest of the Sicilians.

The order having been distributed, the different
bands gradually worked their way towards the sum-
mit of the pass. The packing up at head-quarters
did not take much time ; it soon after broke up its
camp and followed the troops. I was mounted on
a regular Rosinante, with a halter passed round the
jaw, and provided with a saddle which seemed to
have been formed to fit on the vertebrae of my lean
black charger. A blanket was, however, found in
due time, and on the whole I cannot complain.
The road up to the pass winds along rows of gigan-
tic cactus hedges, which give a thoroughly Eas-
tern character to the country. It was just sunset
when we arrived on the top, whore, through a
gap, we could see the bay and town of Palermo
and the sea beyond, looking more like a fairy
picture than reality. All the mountains, with
their rugged points naturally of a reddish tint,
seemed to have drunk in the rays of the setting
sun, and exhibited that rosy colour which I had
thought hitherto a special gift of the plain of Attica.
While you bad this charming scene before you, you
looked behind, as it were, into the hearts of the
mountains. It was one of the finest spots I ever
saw, and all the country was fragrant with spring
flowers, the perfume of which came out with re-
doubled vigour as soon as the sun had set. It
proved a bad road for the expedition, that moun-
tain pass, but it was lovely to look upon.
In order to entertain the Neapolitans with the idea
that all was safe on that side, the usual large fires
were kindled on the tops of the mountains, and kept
up long after our departure by men left behind
for that purpose. Garibaldi went up to look at
the position underneath, or perhaps, to indulge in
that kind of reverie to which he is subject in such
solemn moments, and which ends in a concentra-

The evening gun in the fort had been long re-
echoed by the mountains, and the moon had risen
clear and bright above our heads, giving a new
charm to this lovely scenery, before we stirred.
During this interval the Picciotti (youngsters), as
the patriots are called, were put into some kind of
order, which, you will believe me, was no easy matter
in the comparative darkness which prevailed ; no
chief knowing his men and the men not recognising
their chief—every one acting for some one else, and
no one able to give an answer. With the exception-
of the troops brought over by Garibaldi, all the rest
seemed an entangled mass, almost impossible to un-
ravel. However, by degrees those belonging to the
same chief found themselves together, and the
march began about 10 p.m. Either the Sicilian
chieftains had never looked at the Pass of Mez-
zagna, or else they have curious ideas of a road ;
the whole is nothing but a track among big stones
crossing and recrossing the bed of a mountain tor-
rent, following not unfrequently the bed of the
torrent, leading over smooth masses of stones and
across most awkward gaps—all this at an angle of
25 degrees, to be passed on horseback at night
Even the men could only go singly, which made
our line of a frightful length, and caused cont:
delays and stoppages. The General vowed never
to believe another Sicilian report on the state
of a mountain road. However, in the end,
we reached the plain and came in among the
olive trees below, with few falls among the sure-
footed horses. A halt was made until all the
columns had descended, and during this halt an in-
cident occurred which did not promise much for the
future behaviour of our Picciotti. The horses in
Sicily are left for the most part entire, hence conti-
nual fighting and considerable neighing, which was
inconvenient in a night expedition of this kind that
several of the most vicious steeds had to be sent
back. One of them still remained and began its
antics ; the rider lost patience, which made matters
worse. These nearest threw themselves back in
haste, and communicated the movement to those
behind. Those, many of whom had sat down
and began to doze, mistook in their dreams,
probably, the trees for Neapolitans, the
stars for so many shells, and the moon
for a colossal fireball; at any rate, the majority of
them were with one bound in the thickets on both
sides of the road, several fired off their muskets in
their fright, and very little was wanting to cause a
general panic. Every one did what he oould to re-
store confidence, but the effect was produced and
reacted as you will see by and by. Another incident
occurred, which might have led to the failure of the
whole expedition. The Sicilian guides who were with
the avant-garde missed the road,and instead of taking
a by-road which led into the main road we had to pur-
sue, they confirmed on the road near the hill-side,
which would have brought us just where the Neapo-
litans were in the greatest strength. The mistake
was perceived in time and repaired, but not with-
out considerable loss of time. At last the column
emerged on to the main road, which is broad and
skirted by high garden walls. As we had lost con-
siderable time with all these contretemps, and as
dawn was approaching, we had to make haste, but,
whether from fatigue or the impression of the night
panic, the Picciotti could not be brought to move
very fast. It was just the first glimmer of dawn
when we passed the first houses, which extend in
this direction a long way out of the town of
Palermo. The squadri, who ought to have known
the locality better, began shouting and' evvivaing,"
just as if we had been close to the gates. Had
it not been for this blunder, the avant-garde might
have surprised the post on the bridge of the
Ammiragliato, and probably penetrated into the
town without the loss of a man. As it was, the
shouting not only roused those on guard on the
bridge, but likewise gave an opportunity to the
Neapolitans to strengthen the force at the gate of
Termini, and to make all their dispositions for a
defence from the flank.

Instead, therefore, of surprising the post on the
bridge, the acant-garde was received by a well-
sustained fire, not only in front, but from the
houses in their flanks. At the first sound of the
musketry most of the Picciotti were across the
garden walls, but not with the view of firing from
behind them, leaving thus the thirty or forty
men of the avant-garde all isolated in the large
exposed street which leads to the bridge. The first
battalion of the Cacciatori was sent up, and as it did
not carry the position fast enough, the second was
sent after it soon after. While these were driving
back the Neapolitans, every one did his best to drive
the Picciotti forward. It was not so easy, in the
beginning especially, when the sound of cannon
was heard in front, although its effects were
scarcely visible. However, the Picciotti, who re-
mind me very much of Arnout. Bashi-bazouks, can
be led on after the first unpleasant sensation has
passed away, especially when they see that it is not
all shots that kill or wound, not even the cannon
shots, which make so formidable a noise. They
could see this to perfection this morning, for al-
though the Neapolitan rifles are scarcely inferior to
the best firearms, I never saw so little damage done
by S.) much shooting. ",Every one put himself, there-
fore, to work to lead and urge on the Picciotti,
driving them out of the sheltered places by all
kinds of contrivances, and often by blows and main
force. After some trouble most of them were
safely brought through the open space before the
bridge, but the general tendency was to go under
rather than above the bridge, which is, like all
bridges over torrents, high, and was in this in-
stance exposed to a heavy cross-fire from the Piana
di Borazzo, where the Neapolitans had a loopholed
wall and some guns mounted, which threw a few
ill-aimed shells. While the General himself and
many of his staff did their best to make them leave
this shelter again and proceed, the avante-garde had
chased back the Neapolitans to the stradone which
runs down to the sea just in front of the Porta di
Termini. The Neapolitan fort at the gate, consider-
ably reinforced, opened a hot fire, which swept
down the long avenue of houses leading to the
bridge, while at the same time the two guns and the
troops posted at the Porta Sant Antonio brought
a cross fire to bear on the attackers. But this was
no obstacle to the brave fellows who led the way.
They did not lose time with firing, but rushed on
with the bayonet. The eommander of the avant-
garde, Major Tuhori, a Hungarian, and three of the
guides were the first across the sandbag barricade
in the town, but the leader was wounded by a shot,
which shattered his left knee. Otherwise the loss
had been trifling. While the avant-garde and the
Cacciatori chased the Neapolitans from spot to spot,
the Palermitans began likewise to stir, but, justice
compels me to say, only tin the parts which the
troops had left.

The same scene as at the bridge was repeated at
the crossing of the stradone by the Picciotti, who
followed in a straggling movement. And yet it
was important to get into the town, in order not to
be outflanked or taken in the rear by the Neapoli-
tans holding the Piana di Borazzo. In order to
avert this danger, the order was given to some of
the bands to get behind the garden walls which
line the road by which the Neapolitans might have
come down on our left. These diversions, and pro-
bably the dislike to fight in the open, were suffi-
cient to parry this danger until the greatest part
of the stragglers had passed. At the same time a
barricade was thrown up in the rear with anything
which could be laid hold of. This work pleased
the Picciotti so well that they began throwing up
a barricade in front likewise. At any rate. they
blocked up a part of the road before they could be
prevented.
But the most critical thing was decidedly the
crossing of the stradone, where the cross fire was
kept up, and all kinds of dodges were resorted to to
make them risk this sotto, which they thought
mortal. I and one of the followers of Garibaldi
held out one of the men by main force exposed to
the fire, which soon made him run across. It was
here, above all, that the bad firing of the Neapoli-
tans told. I was looking on for some time, and did
not see a single man even wounded. In order to
encourage the Picciotti, one of the Genoese rifle-
men took four or five chairs, planted the tricolour
on one of them, and sat down upon it for some
time. The thing took at last decidedly, and you

ing, shouting, crying, and hugging,
his hand and embrace his knees. Every moment
brought new masses, which debouched in troops from
one of the streets, anxious to have their turn. As
the Caeciatori gradually cleared the lower part of
the town, most of the inhabitants came to have a
look, and give a greeting to the Liberator of
Palermo and Sicily. The entrance was effected
about half-past 5 a.m., and by noon more than
one-half of the town was clear of the troops.
But two hours before this was effected, the citadel
had opened its fire on the town, at first moderately •
enough, but soon after with great vigour, firing
large 13-inch shells, red-hot shot-, and every other
projectile calculated to do the greatest possible da-
mage. About noon or so the ships in the harbour
opened their fire, and between the two they con-
trived to destroy a great number of houses in the
lower part of the town, killing and wounding a large
number of people of all ages and both sexes. Two
of the large shells were sent right into the hospital,
and exploded in one of the wards. Everywhere
you perceived ruins and conflagrations, daad and
wounded, not a few of whom must have perished
among the ruins of their houses. It was especially
the part of the town near the Piazza Bologni, and
some of the adjoining streets, which was ill-treated.
If the object of the Neapolitans was to inspire
terror, they certainly succeeded. Whoever could
took refuge in whatever he thought the most bomb-
proof place, and those who could not you saw
crying, praying, and wringing their hands in the
streets. It was a pitiable sight eed, and it did
more harm to inoffensive people t/Nn to those who
might have retaliated. Before opening the fire the
Commodore sent a polite message to all the men-
of-war which were in the way to get out of it, and
ls which were moored inside the Mole
had to slat their berths and take up positions
outside.