The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-09 00:00:00

PAPAL AFFAIRS.

ROME, FEBRUARY 27.
The final appeal to the Supreme Courts has resulted in
a sentence of penal servitude for life in the cases of Ajaui,
Sterbini, and Luzzi, and of terms of minor duration for
the rest of the conspirators. The crime of high treason
was fully proved in all cases, but as sentence of death is
rarely pronounced—still more rarely carried out—for poli-
tical offences in the Pontifical States, the Consults only
acted in accordance with the clemency of the laws in
avoiding a difficult and delicate matter. After the threats
of the Italian Government, had sentence of death been pro.
flounced it must have been carried out, and as the facts of Traa-
tavero did not present the same features of cowardly guilt
as those of Serristori, the Pope would have felt great
repugnanze to an execution which it was possible to avoid.
The whole batch of prisoners will be sent to Pagliano to
undergo their sentence.
The trial of the gang of robbers who sacked the apart-
ment of the Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein, a few months
since, in the Via Balrimo, and carried off more thin
el,fi)o hi jewels and money, comes before the Roin an
tribunals this week. One of the heads of the gang, named
Maggioraai, also concerned in other extensive and sr -
tematic robberies, is the brother of Signor Maggiorani, the
Italian deputy.
There is not the slightest probability of the French
troops leaving Civita, Vecchia, and Menabrea's notes,
Bexio's interpellations, and Nigra's protests appear to
have no effect save one, that of increasing the provision
of warlike stores at Civita, Vecchia, where a gradual aug-
mentation of ammunition and arms has been taking place,
in view of emergencies, for the last year past, to the great
annoyance of the Italian Government. It might very
fairly be asked, if Italy has a firm intention of adhering to
the convention, what can it matter to her whether the
Pope's army is augmented or not. The constant
reclamations on this subject sound very like those of the
wolves who persuaded the sheep to•disiniss their dogs'and
trust to them for protection.

Mgrs. Talbot and Howard leave on Monday for
Brindisi, and thence for Constantinople, on a mission to
the Patriarchs in communion with Rome. Jcseph Karam,
the Sheik of the Ma mite Christians, KW arrived in
Rome, having been for the last few months in Greece.
In consequence of the accident to Mrs. Firmin and her
daughters, which I mentioned to you in my last, velo
pedes have been forbidden by the Senators and by
Prince Borglino in the villa and in the Pincio, as it was
through the fright occasioned by one of these vehicles
passing at full speed that the horses ran away. Mrs.
Firmin still lies in a very dangerous condition, and her
eldest daughter will, it is feared, be disfigured for life.
An address was presented on Tuesday to the Pope by
the various strangers of distinction now in Rome of diffe-
rent nations, among whom the names of Fiirstenberg-
Lechtenstein, Salm-Clury, Windischgratz, Von Blom,
among the Germans ; De Valori, De Sabian, De Mirepoix,
De Crazelles, De Blams, De la Ferronnaye, among the
French ; Maxwell, Stourton, Bodelsham7 of Rytturwas,
Vavasour, Melman, Wyse, and Petre, among the English,
were the most worthy of note. There was also a conside-
rable number of Spaniards, Milanese, and Belgian;
making altogether 450 gentlemen and noblemen of nearly
every country in Europe. The address was expressive of
the most devoted obedience to the Holy See, and of the

hopes Europe reposed in the assemblage of the General

Council for restoring peace and order to the world. It
was drawn up and read by Count von Thom, the ex•
Minister of Public Instruction in Vienna. Just
as he ended reading it, a very eccentric but zealous
adherent of the Pope, Don Antonio Almeida, nephew of
the late Portuguese Ambassador, the Duke of Saldanha,
rushed forward, and throwing himself on his knees before
the Pope, who with great difficulty maintained his gravity,
began a voluble protest against all the acts of the Portu-
guese Government since the Liberal Administrations
attacked the Church. Don Antonio was happily induced
to desist by his friends, and the Pope then proceeded to
reply in a short but well-worded discourse to the
gentlemen presenting the address. He thanked them
for their zeal and devotion, and said that much now
devolved on the Catholic laymen of all countries to stem
the tide of infidelity and immorality now abroad in every
part of Europe. He expressed a firm reliance on Provi.
deuce in the difficulties of the Holy See, and on the aid of
the Holy Spirit in the approaching Council, and concluded
by the usual benediction.
It is more than probable that a complete reform in the
discipline of the religious orders will be carried out
by the Council. The Pope, at the beginning of his reign,

was desirous of effecting it, and of restoring them to their.
primitive fervour. Those in Rome which have been
always under the eye of the Holy See leave little to be
desired, but in the provinces reforms on minors points are
required, and will be effected by the Church herself. I

do not- speak of so-called " scandals," for immorality is
extremely rare ; but of relaxation of sincerity, and of
separation from the original purpose and spirit cf
the institute. In the Sicilies and Tuscany especially thi4
has long been the case, from the jealousy of any inter.
_ _

ference which existed on the part of both the Grand Duke
and the King of Naples, and which prevented Rome from

carrying out the necessary reforms as she has done here to
a far greater extent.

It is said—in well-informed circles, too—that several
very important decisions as to the respective rights of the
___

Church and the civil power when opposed to each (Abe;

will be arrived at. Immense preparations are being matiki
_ _

everywhere for the Pope's jubilee of fifty years of priest.
hood. He will, on the anniversary of that day (the 11th
April), say Mass in St. Peter's, at the high altar, and will
afterwards receive the deputations from all parts of Italy
and the Christian world, who will each present him with
offerings in money, destined to defray the expenses of the
Council. A grand military review will take place before
St. Peter's, and the city will be magnificently illuminated,
besides other rejoicings, which are at present en 'tat de
projet.

The Infant Don • Alfonso, brother of the Duke of
Madrid, a corporal in the Pontifical Zouaves, has been
summoned to Paris by his brothers, in consequence of the
_ _

probability of civil war in Spain, where the Carlists are

preparing t 3 take the field. Constitutional monarchy, a
free Parliament, liberty of worship for foreigners at least,

municipal institutions, extension of railways, mines,

public works, and commerce at home and in the colonies,
and the gradual abolition of slavery in Cuba, form their
programme, a copy of which, privately circulated in the
party, lies before me. The Duke de Montpensier's candi-
dature is considered the most probable here ; but a

Republic will either follow it or precede it, and it is only
the certainty that Serrano has received an immense sum from

the Orleans family that lends credit to the probability of

the Duke's success. I incline to the belief that Don
Carlos will be the eventual King of Spain, chosen by the

entire nation.

A ridiculous scrap—a mere " memo" of the
editor—on the rise in the value of property in Ireland,
taken from " Tho Realities of Irish Life" by W. T. Trench,
found its way into a late issue, where it appeared as a
sort of Chinese puzzle. The facts are those :—The
Barony of Farney, when granted by Queen Elizabeth to
Walter Earl of Essex, in 1576, was a wild and almost un-
enclosed alder plain, consisting chiefly of coarse pasturage,
interspersed with low alder scrub. In 1606 the Lord
Deputy, the Lord Chamberlain, and the Chief Justice, when
passing through this district to hold a Commission of Assize
in the north, had to be guarded by six or seven score of foot
and two or three score of horse, which was considered an
improvement on former times when a thousand men was
the smallest escort. The lease of the whole Barony was
granted to Iver MacMahon at a yearly rent of £230, pay-
able in Dublin, a proviso necessary to secure any payment
at all. In 1618 the rental NVIS £1,500; in 1638, £2,022,
tenants 38 ; in 1692 (church lands excepted), £2,627 ; in
1829, £4,000 ; in 1843, before the famine, the population
amounted to 44,107. The extent of land was 67,333 acres!
the valuation, including church lands, was about £16,395
per annum. The increase appears greater than It really
is, for the £250 MacMahon paid in 1606 was intrinsically
worth five times the money of the present day, but st 11
enough remains to show a progress not unlike that going
on in America or in a British colony.
The Woman Suffrage movement continues to
make way under the active measures of the ladies who
have interested themselves in it. Mrs. Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony lectured at Moreau-
Illinois
tile Hall, St. Louis on Monday, the 15th Feb., under the
auspices of theFoman's Suffrage Association h
rth,oso:d addressiation started otfhMissouri,
f Lea-
venworth, Stantonta Miss
n t Anthony
onw a
s
audience.
and
Mrs.
s
ven a
wlao largo
Legislature at Springfield on the 19th Feb.

A new patented cattle car has arrived in Provi-
dence from Albany. It has made one previous trip from
Chicago to Boston. It is 40 feet long, divided into 14
stalls, each 34 inches wide, intended for one head of cattle
each. They thus have room to lie down at pleasure.
Each stall is provided with a trough to feed and water the
animal on the way. Under the centre of the car is a large
box for carrying feed. The inventor, James If. Aldrich
of Worcester, Massachusetts, has two patents, both ob-
tained in 1867.

Senator elect Pratt, to whom rumour had as-
signed the height of 7 feet, and weight above 4001b5., has
at length settled the question. He says be weighs 270
pounds, and, in addition, informs a wondering world that
he is 6 feet 4 inches high.
The death of Major-Gen. Barnes, of the United
States Army, at his residence in Springfield, Mass., is an-
nounced. He was a graduate of West Point.

DUNVILLE and Co., Belfast, are the largest
holders of Whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is re
commended by the medical profession in preference to French
Brandy. Supplied in casks and cases for home use or exports.
tion. Quotations on application to Messrs. Danville and Co.
Belfast; or 4, Beaufart-buil4ings Strand, London W.g---(Ad-
TOrti/ielZtent!