The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-17 00:00:00

VICTORIA.

MELBOURNE, Jan. 5 (via Brindisi).
The following gold ships have left for England
during the month :—The Marpesia, with 5,6250 z.
of gold ; the Dudley Castle, with 10,5000 z. ; the
Red Jacket, with 10,2500 z. ; the Mediator, with
3,5000 z. ; the Rockcliff, with 5,0000 z. ; the Suffolk,
with 20,2500 z. ; and the Conflict (?), with
23,2000 z.

The debentures of the new Victoria Railway
ban are sent to England by this mail.

THE PAPAL STA7ES.

(Front a Correspondent.)

ROME, FEB. 14.
The Pope went to San. Lorenzo to inspect the
new monuments and the progress of the frescoes,
which had been interrupted by the death of Fracassini,
the young talented painter to whom their execu-
tion had been confided. His Holiness was met by
the commissioners charged with the works, and by the
colonel of the Zouaves, M. de Charette, and after entering
the Basilica for a few minutes, proceeded to the cemetery,
where he minutely inspected the monumental sculptures of
Signor Loccardi, representing St. Peter arming a crusader
destined to adorn the base of the cross about to be erected
in the centre of the cemetery in memory of the dead of
Mentana. An immense crowd of persons followed the
Pope in his walk, and be was very warmly cheered on
leaving the cemetery. He visited the Church of the Cara-
vita on Saturday, and on Monday the Gesu and several
schools, convents, and colleges, as is usual during Car-
nival, assisting at the distribution of prizes and the reci-
tations of the pupils. Your readers may therefore imagine
that his health is as robust as usual, and that the tem-
porary fatigue visible on Candlemas Day has disappeared.
The Marquis of Bute arrived last night, and was pre-
sented to the Pope this morning, who will administer the
sacrament of Confirmation to him to-morrow morning in
the private chapel of the Vatican. His lordship leaves
next day for the Holy Land, and, as far as I can learn,
has not even a remote intention of joining the Roman
Catholic priesthood, were he even of sufficient age to
do so.

The accounts from Naples as to the King's reception
are, of course, as various as the opinions represented by
their narrators. On one point, however, all are agreed—
that politically the journey was a failure. The arrival of
his Majesty was the signal for the noblesse to absent
themselves from the public places of amusement and
to return the keys of their boxes at the opera to the
manager for the nights of royal command, and the grand
tier was filled by the least reputable class of women and
hundreds of employe's, &c., gratuitously placed by the
police on condition of cheering on the King's entrance.
Bouquets were showered into Princess Margaret's car-
riage, it is true, but most of them contained
insolent mottos or ribbons of the Bourbon
colours. A wreath of white lilies was thrown
from an upper tier into her opera-box, with the inscription
g, and who is a decided
"insolent" coldness was
" Long live Francis II." A Prussian officer who was
Liberal
p esent
ionn thep nl i
tai re
srival of the
states
that i
the only word which could be applied to the royal recep-
tion. It is much to be lamented that his Majesty does
not attempt to win back something like popularity by an
amnesty. There are above 5,000 political prisoners,
untried for three, four, five, six, and even eight years,
now lying in the dungeons of Naples, Caserta, St. Elmo,
Capua, Sora, and other towns. These are nearly all
partisans of Francis 11., and attachment to their own sove-
reign is the only crime they are charged with. A gaol deliver-
ance is absolutely needed, and till it takes place no
forgetfulness or old wrongs can be expected.
Ajani and Luzzi's sentence will be decided on next week,

the Supreme Court meeting for the frst time after the
Carnival. It will in all probability confirm the judgment
previously given, as the evidence is too strong for doubt,
did not Ajani's own
avowal put the matter beyond
hesitation.

Carlo Cattaneo, Mazzini's intimate friend and intended
successor in the leadership of secret societies of Italy, died
on the 4th of February at Lugano. Mazzini himself, who
has partially recovered from his recent illness, and who is
lodging with a Jewish family, named Notteau, remained
with his friend to the last. Cattaneo was a professed
Atheist during life, and taught Voltairean doctrines to his
pupils, in the college of Which he was appointed professor
by the Italian Government ; but lie seems to have
requested the attendance of his parish priest on his death-
bed. This was, however, refused the unhappy man by
the persons who surrounded him.
Fresh consignments of ammunition continue to arrive
from France for the use of the Imperial troops quartered
at Civita Vecchia. This does not look like evacuation.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, Mon-
signor Charles Eyre, has received his final audience and in-
structions from the Pope before returning to Scotland. It
is understood that the episcopate of the United Kingdom
have received most stringent orders from Rome regarding
the Fenian movement, and the recent circular of Dr. Ulla-
thorne to his diocese relative to the Fenians of Birming-
ham has been highly approved of in the Vatican.
The Carnival was closed on Tuesday evening by a very
brilliant masked ball at the Apollo Theatre, at which all
the Roman aristocracy, with a great number of the foreign
visitors, were present. The Pope distributed the ashes
next morning at the Sixtine Chapel, receiving them first
himself from the Cardinal Penitentiary, and then signing
the foreheads of each of the cardinals and prelates present
with them.

Balls and theatres are now over for six weeks, but the
usual receptions at the great Roman houses continue, and
there is a good deal of society among the foreigners, espe-
cially the Germans. The whole Fatherland seems to have
come on a pilgrimage to Rome, and every second name one
sees commences with " Von."