The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-28 00:00:00

NAPLES.

A letter from Naples, dated June 21, says :—We
begin to have details of the retreat of the Neapoli-
tan troops from Palermo, and it would appear that,
while the officers are amenable to the charge of in-
capacity or cowardice, the soldiers thought more of
stealing than fighting. A sergeant in the Foreign
Battalion, who had just returned from Palermo, was
in the same house with me yesterday, and said that
in many cases the soldiers fought without being
officered. Their commanders kept within the
houses, as happened especially in the Royal Palace.
As for the soldiers, I told you before they left that
there was a general expectation of plunder, and I
mentioned several cases where obligations had been
incurred in the prospect of booty. The result has
proved the correctness of my assertion. Both in
Sicily and on the continent the stolen property has
been sold, and the stories one hears here of such deeds
are numerous. An officer told a friend of mine
yesterday that he knew one man who had loose dia-
monds to the value of several thousand ducats.
Robbery was not confined to the soldiers, and as to
receiving stolen goods, as my reports have already
proved, it was considered quite a venial offence. It
;s said of the Vice-Intendant of the Army, a man
named Carelli, that his magazines, which had been
abundantly supplied with every species of material,
were found empty. He asserts that they were at-
tacked by the Royal troops ; and, further, his report
goes on to say that he could give no account of the
balance which had remained in his hands, the
same troops having burnt the archives. It is
calculated here that the said balance amounted to
the pretty little sum of 56,000 ducats. In fact, in
this country—this be-priested and be-policed coun-
try—there is neither public honour nor private
morality. The very persons about the King are
betraying him ; he is too obstinate and too incapable
to see it, or to be persuaded to the contrary.
Every branch of the Administration is a den of
corruption, and things are done and laughed at
here, or called clever, which would set a mark on
the forehead of a man for life in England. That
which the Bourbons have sown they have reaped.
For years they have done their best to sow the
seeds of suspicion and hypocrisy ; all manliness of
character has been destroyed, and the meanest and
most contemptible vices have replaced it. There is
an universal scepticism of all religion ; some of the
best go to mass to " levare un pensiero ;" and there
are numbers who are practical atheists except in
danger, when St. Anthony or St. Christopher, or
any other saint is invoked. The enemy is now
upon them, and what have the Bourbons to support
them ? The men they have formed—councillors
without intelligence or good faith, and soldiers with-
out patriotism, whose loyalty is valued at 5 grani
a-day, and whose sole object in war is to rob. The
results will be the same on the continent, if the
affair goes on ; for a Bourbon, a priest, and a
policeman will never make a man, any more
than six tailors, according to the proverb, can
form one. From what I hear, all counsel seems
to be thrown away at the Palace. A general
officer not many days since saw the King, and
said, " Your Majesty is betrayed by those who
surround you. The people have an impression that
the city will be bombarded and pillaged. Restore
confidence by appointing a national guard among
the most respectable classes, and then concert other
necessary measures." He is listened to, and then
others, high in the Royal confidence, are called, and
the same questions are repeated. " What am Ito
do ? General -- says you betray me !" "We in
the Palace," says the officer of whom I speak, "are
all ready, knife in hand, to destroy each other ; and
some morning we shall rise and find ourselves
without a King."
The 13th number of the clandestine journal, the
Corriere Mercantile, has just made its appearance.
It was given to me yesterday by an officer in the
army, who folded up with it a most inflammatory
address of the Neapolitan army from the Comitato
Generale. It concludes thus :

" We confidently feel that you, soldiers, together with
your chiefs; feel your bosoms burn with holy national love.
But if in the case of some we are deceived, let them know
that in despite of them the redemption of Italy will be com-
pleted, and one sole cry will echo from the Alps to the ex-
trem est shore of Sicily—' Viva l'ltalia ! Viva l'lndepen-.
denza !"

A brigade, or, as it is called, a " flying column,"
was sent off yesterday in the direction of the Lago
d'A guano, Bagnoli, and Pozzuoli, in order to guard
against an apprehended disembarkation near Naples.
It consists of two battalions of Chasseurs, a squad-
ron of cavalry, a regiment of the line, and a battery
of artillery. There has been a report of either a
landing in the Abruzzi or of a conflict between the
troops and the people. I am too much in the dark
about it to speak positively.

His Majesty was suffering slightly from fever
yesterday.

Letters from Messina, dated the 18th, say that
the garrison had not been increased from Palermo ;
on the contrary, embarcations had taken place for
terrajirma. Desertions continued, though the gates
were well guarded, and no soldier was permitted to
leave the city. The Customs duties •f Sicily were not
acknowledged in the province of Messina, nor within
a few miles of the gates. From Catania we hear of
disturbances in Biancaville, where the country
people had taken vengeance oa some of the old re-
gime. The conscription had also excited discontent,
but it will be submitted to on seeing that many
belonging to the first families in Messina had en-
rolled themselves. The post communication was
'established, and the courier arrived three times a-

week from Palermo. The Neapolitan Government
had decided that merchandise embarked shall not
pay any other duties on being again landed in
Porto Franco.

GARIBALDI'S FLEET.
GENOA, JUNE 25.

I think you may like to know that a steamer, of
800 tons and 300-horse power, which arrived this
morning at Genoa, has been sold to Garibaldi for
460,000 f. It belongs to a French company, and is
called the Provence, a screw. This is the fourth
steamer bought by Garibaldi. The others are the
Amsterdam, Helvetie, and Belzunee, besides two
tugs.

THE CAPE MAIL.

PLYMOUTH, WEDNESDAY.

The Dane, Captain Hoffman, with the above
mail, arrived here this evening. She brings 52
passengers and a full cargo.
Her dates are—Cape, May 22; St. Helena,
June 1; and Ascension, June 5.

Much gratification was expressed at the Cape at
the coming return of Sir George Grey and the ex-
pected visit of Prince Alfred. Preparations were
being made to give the Prince a right loyal wel-
come.

Government affairs were much neglected, and
were left to stand over until the return of the Go-

vernor.

A parliamentary finance committee had been ap-
pointed to consider whether the government of the
colony can be carried on with the present revenue.
Some method of direct taxation was expected.
A motion had been made in the House of Assem-
bly for instituting a responsible Government. The
dissolution of the house was expected to take place
at the close of the session.
A census was ordered to be taken in March, 1861.
The schedules contain 74 distinct queries, one of
which is—How many pigs have you ?
The Convict Exclusion Bill had passed both
houses. The subject of more frequent mails to Eng-
land had been brought before Parliament. A fort-
nightly mail was wanted.
All the Paarl district canteens had been shut up
to prevent drunkenness.
The population on the Kaffir border was very
unsettled.
A Dutch Reform Church conference on doctrinal
subjects had been held. The Church of England
financial question was still unsettled. Major
General Bolton was dead.
Business was very dull, and no speculation was
going forward. The rate of discount had not ad-
vanced. The Bank was 'allowing 5 per cent, inte-
rest on deposits.
White wine was quoted £10; Pontac, £l3;
sweet wine, £18; brandy, £24. Wool, unwashed,
lid. to is.; washed, is. 6d. to is. 10d: Nothing of
importance from the Orange Free State.

AMERICA.

SOUTHAMPTON, THURSDAY.

The Hamburg American Company's screw
steamer Savonia, Captain Elhers, which left New
York on the 15th instant, has arrived here. She
brings 244 passengers, and 300,000 dolls, in specie,
of which 277,870 dols. are for England ; the re-
mainder is for Hamburg.

On the 27th, twenty miles south•east of the
Lizard, she spoke the American ship Rhine, of
New York.

•
The news brought by the Savonia has been an.
,icipated.

LITERATURE.

Only a Woman. A Story in Neutral Tint. By
Captain Lascelles Wraxall. 3 vols. Hurst and
Blackett.
This is a most peculiar story, and it certainly
affords ample scope for curiosity and novelty, but
at the same time it is not a probable one. Allow-
ing for the events to occur, the particulars are too
strangely worked out, and the character of Jessie
is not natural. Sir Norton Folgate is the best per-
son met with, but he is early removed from the
scene. He is uprignt ana stint6litforwara,
are qualities that the other dramatis personce are
lamentably deficient in, Herbert Leigh himself
is a despicable character, and his conduct towards
Jessie is disgraceful to a man possessed of any feeling
of justice, putting aside all ideas of generosity. To
leave a young woman on the other side of the
world to contend for herself, and to plunge reck•
lessly into all sorts of pleasures and dissipations,
was bad enough ; but to contract a second marriage
without being more sure of the death of his first
wife was most unfeeling. Jessie, however, stops all
sympathy by her strange conduct; it is hardly
likely that she would have concealed herself while
her husband was being married in her presence.
The motive of revenge that prompted her to such
a course was something so intense and dreadful
that really one cares very little afterwards as to
what suffering she underwent. Alice is really to
be pitied, she was betrayed on all sides, and her
gentle nature was ill fitted to cope with the dreadful
struggles she had to go through. Far happier would
she have been had they left her in the retirement
of the convent where she had taken shelter on her
father's death, but the absurd fancies of her sister
Blanche caused her to be dragged into the midst of
a cruel world again. The subjects introduced into
these pages are most painful, but it must be ad-
mitted that the exciting passages are narrated with
force and earnestness, and the hours of wrechedness
that were alternately gone through by the guilty
couple, Herbert and Jessie, are life-like in the ex-
treme. It is not satisfactory, however, to note how
at the conclusion things seemed in a manner
smoothed over, for the way in which they had gone
on did not give any such promise of attar happiness, as
we are led to believe was their portion when we take
leave of them. Mistakes of a grave nature, errors
that are very serious may be committed, but it is
another thing to plan deliberate sin like Herbert
did, and to indulgel dreams of revenge and ideas
of horror, such as Jessie revelled in till she seemed
possessed of an evil spirit. The friends of Herbert,
Bertie Dymocke, and Doctor Jones are refreshing
to meet with in their honourable and honest life
after the mingled confusion of craft and misery that
we are introduced to. Bad as Blanche is, it must
be agreed that Harriett, the other sister, is the
worst by far ; there is nothing more calculated to
create mischief and misery in the world than a
person acting as she did. Such a course under-
mines the strongest social foundations, and destroys
the surest prospect of happiness in the homes where
the destroyer enters. Gerald Folgate is a striking
instance of the misery that a prolonged course of
gambling is sure to result in. Some of the scenes
of the plots and counterplots of the conspirators
against each other are most vividly depicted, and
there is enough of exciting matter in these volumes
to ensure for them attention, even when the general
tenor of their narrative may not be appreciated.

A Summer Ramble in the Himalayas. Hurst and

Blackett.

Although the author has not chosen to disclose
his name, the fact of this work being edited by Mr.
Wilson, better known to the public under his nom
de plunze of " Mountaineer," is a sufficient guarantee
for the merit of the production. The author is an
officer in her Majesty's service, and rather a sports-
man for pleasure than a man devoted exclusively
to that avocation ; in fact, he does not pretend to
belong to the school of Gerard or Cumming, but he
makes up for his want of ardour in field sports by
his vivid descriptions of scenery and the eustoms
and manners of the hill tribes :

" On reaching a little rivulet at the foot of the steep hill
we had come down, I halted to rest a little, and the men had
a smoke out of a rather primitive pipe. With a small stick
they made a hole in the ground some inches deep, widen-
ing it a little at the top. A space from this they made
another, slanting to the bottom of the first. Into the former
they dropped a small ball of grass, rolled up, and over it the
tobacco. Putting their closed hands over the orifice of the
other, they inhale the smoke through it. What various
methods are pursued in imbibing the narcotic weed."
Now that gold digging has become a profession,
and has its representatives in all classes of society,
we may any day look for a new rush on the banks
of the Ganges, gold being daily obtained by the
natives in small quantities from the bed of the
river. This gold deposit is the washing from pa-
rent reefs, which must ultimately be drowned and
worked. The strange fancy which people have
for the dangerous is well shown in the following
extract :
" At one village I delayed the camp half the day to wit-
eength, extendedwhich
from i s
aan eminence
in loca l parlance
onthe
ness an extraordinary performance which deserves describ-
ing in detail. It consisted of a man sliding down
a rope
nearly e half
a mile
h rope length,
hill side above the village, over a ravine and down to a
8
green knoll in the fields below, and was drawn a tight as
several hundred men with their united strength could e
b.
They had just finished stretching it when we arrived, ffec
and I
could scarcely believe a man was actually
going to slide