The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-09 00:00:00

SuN, LON OON, MONDAY EVENING- DECEMBER 9, 1867.

'STION.

Alletter from Rome, dated Nov. 80, says :
The Pope continues his visits to the wounded
soldiers, not only in the hospitals, but:also in the
private places and convents where accommodation
has been improvised for them. There is one at St.
Nicola di Tolentino on a very small scale, where
there are about nine soldiers, among them the fer-
vent Peruvian Sevilla I mentioned to you before.
In spite of the confined space, he went even there
on Monday, to the great consolation of the men.
There are two very bad cases among them, which
are likely to be a long time in getting well ; the
others are going ou very favourably. After the
Holy Father had visited and consoled the sick he
suffered the little children to be brought to him,
the care of whom is the ordinary occupation of the
Sisters of Charity in this house. He listened while
one little thing spoke an address with great arch-
ness, as well as great clearness of enunciation. The
King and Queen of Naples, Marchese Patrizzi, who
founded the institution, and several who have
tended the wounded there, had the honour of being
present.
The Florence journals are propagating reports of
his Holiness being in ill-health. 1 have seen him
frequently of late, and I never saw him looking
better.

Deputations from the liberated provinces, with
addresses expressive of devotion to the Holy See,
continue still to come up. The Pope received one
from Viterbo on Monday ; the wording of their
address is even more energetic than that of Albano,
which I sent you.
Of the prospects of a Conference you probably
hear more particular accounts than we do. It would
seem that we are a long way as yet, however, from
arriving at any common basis for discussion.
There was a military reunion on the 24th ; more
important in its bearings than either of those re-
ported in my last. All the French officers present
at Mentana and all the Pontificals were invited by
the Roman nobility as a demonstration from the
whole body. Prince Barberini again threw open
his palace, and the guests filled eight or nine of
its large apartments. The assemblage was most
brilliant. The Roman ladies wore their celebrated
diamond parures, and the varied uniforms of the
officers almost vied with their costumes in display
of colour. The greatest cordiality reigned through-
out the evening. Everything was conducted on a
scale of great liberality. The wine was reported
to be particularly recherche, and the fête could not
have cost less than from two to three thousand

scu di.
It would be curious to know from what occult
source the writer of the Queen's Speech obtained the
information, so unhesitatingly—l had almost said
flippantly—vThlunteered, that the Papal territory is
now relieved from all danger of external invasion.
Was it a leap in the dark, or was it a weak reliance
on false news, or a wilful perversion of obvious
facts ? That a great victory has been obtained
by the cause of order over disorder there is,,-no
doubt, though the Queen's Speech forgets to con.
gratulate us on that fact. But for any and who
ought to have a statesman's knowledge of the
mind and passions and propensities of the revolu-
tionary party in Italy to state, in the face of Eu-
rope, that the Papal territory is relieved from all
danger of external invasion (" invasion" might
have sufficed, by the way, without " external "), is
worse than puerile ; it is very much like an insult
to common sense. Before the journals of Europe,
with all their rapidity of printing, have been able
to reproduce the words, they are already falsified
The Gazzetta d'ltalia, of the 26th, writes openly :
—" . . The Garibaldian party is preparing
for another coup de main on some quarter of the
globe or other. We are infoimed that some thou-
sands of red-shirts are in activejpreparation. Feelers
have been thrown out to try what is the disposi-
tion of the usual leaders of these affairs towards a
new expedition ; others have declared their readi-
ness to embark in it without, however, guaranteeing
the concurrence of their former companions in
arms."

Meantime the news has been coming in every
day for a week past that red shirts are gathering
all along both northern and southern frontiers.
In spite of their being called " volunteers," it seems
so difficult to find men to fight in such a cause
that the most enormous bribes, besides the promise
of booty, have to be held out to lure them into
it as on the former occasion. At. Grvieto, for in-
stance, there are public recruiting depots, where
a bounty of forty-five lire is offered, and two
francs a day pay. Then, as all hordes of ma-
rauders want a captain, the moment the telegraph
announces that the French fleet has left Toulon
to fetch back the superfluous troops from Rome,
Garibaldi, who all the time he has been in prison
has been treated en prince, gets a convenient in di-
cal certificate that Varignano does not agree with
his health (how many poor fellows at Portland
Island might do the same !), and so he is forthwith
sent to Caprera, that island so eminently easy to
escape from, and consequently eminently wel
aiapted to restore the drooping spirits of a pri-
soner.

It is not impossible that the gathering bands may
be reinforced by some, at least, of the 600 prisoners
whom the Pope's clemency liberated last week. It
is to be hoped the present news will keep him from
letting loose any more, though, to he sure, their
maintenance is a serious charge on the Pontifical
exchequer, as they receive the same rations as the
Papal troops, who are better fed than the French.

------
They were costing over 2,000 francs a day. -
About 3,000 are said to be collected at Sora,
500 of whom have received full arms and equip-
ments, and were to start for Rieti, which seems

whelming political necessity to leave Rome a prey
to them. If he should, I am credibly informed there
is a well-organized movement set on foot through-
out the country to send one Zouave, thoroughly
equipped, and paid for year by year, if necessary,
from every parish in France, which would provide
an army of ninety-seven thousand men ! There
seems something almost fabulous in this grand
promise, but the following simple fact is scarcely
less grand--that a subscription lately set on foot
by the Bishop of Marseilles for the Papal army,
produced in one day 50,000 francs, and 200,000
in less than a week.
Some of the foreign papers, in speaking of
the Irish and English contingent of the Papal
army, were led, by a simple misapprehension of
nationalities, into a curious fiction, which it would
be well could it be realized. A short time ago a
band of between fifty and sixty Irish volunteers
came out under the leadership of a Scotch gentle-
man named Gordon. The account of this event,
after undergoing various transformations, ap-
peared at last in this form :—That a band of 100
Scotchmen had come out equipped in their own
national costume, and paid by Scotch Catholics,
to be called the " Pope's own Highlanders," or
" The Pope's Scottish Guard."
I am glad to find that the barricades, which I
mentioned last week were being taken down at the
gates, are not to be removed altogether, for the
best way to keep the Garibaldians at bay is to show
them they would have no easy prey here. The
barricades will be maintained, but they are being
arranged so as not to interfere with the traffic
through them. This is particularly interesting to
visitors in the case of the Porta del Popolo, as it
is through it you pass for the English, American,
and Presbyterian Sunday service.
We have had one or two instances this week of
the ungrateful results of the too great lenity of
the Pontifical Government towards political
offenders. Had it a little of the ferocity ascribed
to it, it might be better. So far from any unneces-
sary arrests being made, there are well-known Pied-
montese agitators,Mazzinian andGaribaldian agents,
suffered to be living here at large. Government
knows the temper of the people, and that it has
nothing to fear from their attempts to tamper with
them. But there remain their bomb-throwing and
gunpowder-plot propensities, and in consideration
of these it might have been wiser to have locked
them up, out of the way of mischief, or to have
requested them to return to their own country. A
poor young Zouave was murdered in a dark alley,
near the Piazzi di Venezia, a few nights
ago, and the same night, almost at the
same moment, a bomb was thrown near
the Capitol, fortunately without doing mischief.
The malefactors were luckily caught in both in-
stances—the one with his freshly-used dagger yet
in his possession, and the other with an Orsini
bomb in his pocket. It is much to be hoped that
the Government here will take a lesson in firm-
ness from our own, and make an example of these
two wretches, which would probably be sufficient
to cure any others who may have similar dastardly
inclinations. About fifty more Orsini bombs, and
a barrel containing 100 lbs. of powder were found
in the cellars of the Capitol. A quantity more
were thrown into the Tiber to escape the hands
of the police, as soon as it was found they were on
the right scent. What would have been gained,
beyond the satisfaction of brutish passions, in the
destruction of a building which has been the centre
of all popular movements in former ages, and is
now the deposit of many priceless gems of art, it
is difficult to see.
Another instance of the savagery of these gentry
is an official programme, which is in circulation in
Florence, and everywhere else where they can
push it, declaring what they would do if they
could get the upper hand here. Fired by the
glorious example of the first French Revolution,
they would begin by a similar Reign of Terror,
and lists of persons are marked for the guillotine
to the number of between 8,000 and 9,000 ! It is
confidently reported here, and that in well-in-
formed circles, that among the various takes of
murderous weapons which the police have made
were no less than four guillotines, with all in readi-
ness to be put together for use.
This is hardly more remarkable than the dis-
covery, in certain large and heavy cases, addressed
to Mr. Odo Russell, of Orsini bombs. Of course,
an English diplomatist could not have lent himself
to a scheme for the introduction of these " in-
fernal machines ;" but as he is known to be on
terms of intimacy with several who pass for being
heads of the revolutionary movement here, it
seems to have been calculated that in his absence
from Rome this liberty might be taken with his
name. The police, however, who had only the fact
of the bombs arriving with his correct address to
deal with, naturally considered it their duty to
visit an apartment thus rendered suspicious. It is
situated, by an odd coincidence, in the Chigi
Palace, belonging to the Papal Nuncio in Paris.
On his arrival, Mr. Odo Russell complained to
Cardinal Antonelli of the indignity offered him,
and the Cardinal, with great moderation and de-
licacy, only referred the visit of the police to
another circumstance which had also occurred,
namely, information received that the Palazzo
Chigi was one marked out by the Revolutionists
for blowing up, and the police were seeking traces
of a mine. It is not surprising, under the cir-
cumstances, that the telegraph announced on
'Wednesday evening that the English Government
had pronounced itself perfectly satisfied with the
Cardinal's explanations.
This is, I am afraid, not the only instance in
which English names have got mixed up in this
dirty work. A quantity of gas pipes, sent out
from England one day this week, were found by
the police to be packed full of rifles. Of course,
the English agents of the gas company disclaim
all knowledge of the affair, but somehow the rifles
there are, though fortunately now divested from the
mischief for which they were destined.
Before the new movements on the frontier, men-
tioned above, were declared, the French troops
had been getting ready vigorously for departure,
and as a preparatory measure they have been re-
turning to Rome from the provincial towns, and
reinforcements of Papal troops have been sent out
to take their place in garrisoning them. Every-
where within the Papal State the greatest tran-
quillity and content prevails.

Protests have likewise been published from
Viterbo, Bagnorea (the first scene of Garibaldian
attacks on this occasion), Monte-fiascone, Acqua-
pendente, Bolsena, Toscanel!a, and other towns,
denouncing the farce of a plebiscite, by which
the pro-dittatori pretended to have annexed them
in pursuance of popular will to Italy. I shall be
curious to see if the English Protestant papers
have the honesty to reproduce these. Nothing can
be more outspoken nor better calculated to unmask
the nature of Garibaldian tactics. That from
Viterbo says :—‘, . . They have put down
more thousand votes than allowing for women,
minors, sick and absent, our town ever had
inhabitants at all ! A few emigrati we know
were there, and they it was who filled up the urn
with voting-papers. The pacific bearing of the
population on the night of the 24th of October,
on which the aggressive horde was put to rout by
the Pontifical troops, the public execration in
which they were held during the invasion, the
untiring vigilance of the Civic Guard (Guardia
Cittadina) in the defence of the constituted au-
thorities and the religious communities, their
lively exultation over their sudden departure itself,
caused by the threatening attitude of the people
towards them, and the spontaneous and cordial
ovation with which the allied troops were re-
ceived, are themselves so many acts of protest
against the above-named pretended popular vote,
and at the same time eloquent demonstrations of
the sincere attachment and filial devotion of the
whole city to the Holy See."
Bagnorea writes :—" . . . Our city was in-
vaded and retaken more than once by the Gari-
baldians after being delivered from their horrors
by the valiant troops. For they had no sooner
turned their backs than we were inundated by
above two thousand Garibaldian invaders, and
we will not here detail all the many difficult
and painful trials we were called to endure, nor

When stock-jobbers and brokers get up for their
special benefit lying telegrams, fabricated in con-
nivance with their brother courtier on the French
Bourse, or some other continental stock exchange, or
even the black hole in New York, the general
public very seldom hear of these dishonest pro-
ceedings, the dupe of the Exchange pockets his
loss, but does not complain in public print, and we
are sorry to say these occurrences are only too
frequent. But what shall we say when a respect-
able Government, through its agents, accuses an-
other equally respectable Government of spreading
before the world lying telegrams, and warns the
world not to believe such news, but only to believe
those they, the complainant Government, makes
known. Such a proceeding, although not very
diplomatic nor worthy of a great nation, would be
excusable if true ; but what will the public think of
a Government when the events prove that the very
news against which the public are warned are fully
borne out, and prove to be facts, and those which
are recommended for their veracity prove to be
false. The above remarks have suggested them-
selves to us on reading a small brochure just pub-
lished at Paris under the title cf "The War in
Paraguay : Falsehood and Truth," and which
ought to have some interest to us, besides the facts
it sets forth by an English gentleman in H.M.
service being mixed up with it. The little
brochure alluded to states "that in several
of the Paris journals, but particularly in
in the Presse of the 10th of November, the following
were published :—" The Brazilian Legation begs of
us to publish the following" :—Regularly on the days
of departure of each packet certain journals in the
Plate publish some false news, or some military
feats disfigured in a sense favourable to the Presi-
dent of Paraguay, and contrary to the Allies. It is
calculated that those lies (which there is no time to
contradict on the spot) will be believed in Europe,
at least during the interval between the arrival of
one steamer and the other. In this way, on the
same day, and after the last packet had left, a
newspaper of Buenos Ayres, partisan of the Mar-
shal President of Paraguay, has published a letter
of a certain Mr. Caminos, Paraguayan agent, cm-
taining propositions and counter propositions of
peace, officiously presorted to the belligerents by Mr.
Gould, Secretary of the English Legation. The
object of this publication is to make Europe believe
that Mr. Gould, in ' accordance with the Allied
Generals,' had presented to the President of Para-
guay a proposition of peace, in which the Allies
Lad renounced part of the object of the war they
made against him, who, without motive, or even
without pretext, bad broken peace by an entirely
unexpected aggression." As soon as the Brazilian
Minister at Buenos Ayres knew of this cariou,
publication, he hastened to transmit by telegraph to
the Imperial Government at Rio the following de-
spatch :

(By the bye, the Imperial Legation fit Paris must