The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-25 00:00:00

A letter from Naples, dated Oct. 14, says :
The long expected Empereur came in this morn-
ing with a portion of the British Legion, and was
followed later in the day by the Melazzo with an-
other portion. Salutes were fired and returned
and the city was all alive with expectation. It was
believed, of course, that they would have landed
immediately, especially as they had been so long
on the voyage, the Melazzo having left England
on the 24th of September, and the Empereur a week
later. By some most astonishing mismanagement,
however, or want of management, no barracks had
been assigned them and no kind of preparation
whatever. Let the blame rest wherever it may, I
conceive the whole affair to be most disgraceful.
Our countrymen had been expected several weeks ;
their arrival had been the common talk of the whole
of the city, and yet when they entered the port
there was not a place for them to rest their heads.
I went on board in the afternoon by special per-
mission, and talked with the officers and men.
They were indignant at being kept in their wooden
prison for more than 24 hours after their arrival,
and, rather than remain, expressed their willing-
ness to sleep on the ground ashore, The cook and
staff had gone ashore, feeling confident that the
legion would have landed, so that our brave
countrymen on the first day of their arrival in
Naples were compelled to dine on bread and butter
and biscuit. The voyage had been favourable,
though the Melazzo people complained of having
been kept 10 days in Cagliari, and all said that there
was no system on board, breakfast sometimes not
being served till 10 or 11 o'clock, and dinner at not
before 6 or 7 o'clock in the evening. " Some of the
fellows I have seen in a half starving state" said one
man. I never saw a finer body of men in my life,
and I have no doubt but that they will do honour
to the British name. We have all classes of men—
such as officers, doctors, and lawyers, and trades-
men, and public employes, and all anxious to push
on to the front, but they want a week's feeding up
and good training. There are many old soldiers,
and in the ranks we have dozens of men who were
officers.

A very painful incident happened as soon as the
vessels entered, and one to which I desire to al-
lude with the greatest possible reserve at present.
Major Styles was put under arrest and still remains
so in his hetel:in Santa Lucia, with a sentinel at
the door. I regret that the entrance of the le-
gion should have been inaugurated by such a
fact, and that greater publicity than was neces-
sary should have been given to transactions
which might have been examined into in Eng-
land or on board ship. Styles expresses the most
perfect willingness to submit to a full inquiry, and,
such being the case, why was not that inquiry made
in a more private manner, before the harsh mea-
sures which I have already noted were resorted to,
and the scandal avoided of a commanding officer
being under arrest while the regiment was parading
in triumph through the town ? It is premature,
of course, to enter into the charges which are made,
but I shall watch the procedure impartially. It
was a gay sight which the red coats presented on
board, and great crowds of people had collected to
catch a glimpse; the general expectation, of course,
was that they would have landed, and parties of
the. National Guard, and of all classes of society,
with banners at their head, went down to greet
them. The harbour was crowded with boats full
of people, who circled about the newly-arrived
vessels, shouting " Viva Inghilterra !" " Viva gli
In glesi !" and bouquets of flowers were sent on board
as presents. I remained till late, and then, finding
that there was no chance of there being any land-
ing, went on shore.

OCTOBER 15.

It was a sulky, drizzling morning, and we were
in despair lest the brilliant spectacle might be spoilt
by the rain. As 10 o'clock, however, approached the
sun deigned to smile upon us a little, and then re-
tired into his gloomy reserve, and so he continued
yielding and sulking the whole day. There was
brightness, however, just sufficient to put us in good
humour, so early in the morning every one of us
turned out. The Neapolitans, of course, were out in
the prima mattina, so fond are they of spectacle,
and it would require a brush dipped in the rain-
bow to paint all that passed before me on this strik-
ing occasion of a landing of 650 of our countrymen.
On driving through the town we found almost
every one, like ourselves, making for the arsenal,
before the gates of which were assembled vast
crowds of expectants ; but, hearing that the pro-
cession was to come out on the other side, just
under the windows from which not two months
since I saw the Bourbons looking out, we hurried
back, and took up our place under the balcony
from which Ferdinand IL periodically reviewed
whole regiments of monks following in procession
the image of their patron saint. What a mighty
change. The ladders were planted against the
gateway, and the lilies had not only faded, but had
been removed by the hands of the workmen at is.
Bd. a day. Thus falls a dynasty of despots—of
despots who will not learn from experience or
march with the age, who regard themselves as the
Vicegerents of God, and all the earth as theirs, and
the cattle (read " Italians") on a thousand hills.
There are Padre Gavazzi and Saffi ; the Padre comes
up to us and talks of the great movement of which
he is the Luther, and hopes, with the blessing of
God, that he may give some light to the people.
He passes on amid cheers of " Gavazzi ! Gavazzi !"
Then comes procession after procession of National
Guards with flags ; of the populace shouting " Viva
Inglalterra !" " Viva gli inglesi !" and we take off
our hats; of crowds headed by young women with
banners over their shoulders, and flowers and ever-
greens; and the Piazza is crowded with thousands of
human beings, many of them doubtless only curious
to see a spectacle, many of them, however, entering
deeply into the real sentiment of the scene, and
regarding it as an expression of the public mind
in favour of liberty ; and the English—honoured
name—were the great centre of interest. I re-
member—a year ago, when the war is Lombardy
was raging, that Englishmen were pooh-poohed in
Naples, and now they are overwhelmed with honours.
Why ? Because we have spent our thousands for
the Italian cause ? No ! This change of feeling is
a homage to our national integrity and consistency ;
and let every Englishman remember that he is an
element in the composition of the nation, and is
bound, as a true son of his country, to stand by
and maintain the eternal principles of honour. For
myself, I think we should have merited yet more
if, amid the sympathies which every man must feel
with struggling Italy, we had been more precise in
condemning certain lines of conduct, instead of
calling black white or trying to gloss over what is
indefensible. I cannot, however, keep the crowds
standing while I am moralising. Here they aro
surging on, and music and clapping of hands an-
nounce that at last the real business of the day is
beginning. The flags of the National Guard appear
above the ascent from the arsenal, and then the
newly created militia, really fine-looking military
men, and they were greeted on all sides with IL
as
sung to the tunes of Garibaldi and Victor Em ma:
nuel. There is a great display of white hand ket.
chiefs, and the Vivas and the clippings are re-
doubled as the English appear, and all pass under
the palace windows, flanked and thronged by thou.
sands of spectators,
who applause them"
Viva Vittorio
it; e, mto the echo,
They carry the tricoloured,fiagwith
Emmanuele" inscribed upon
bouquet on his bayonet and a dahlia on his breast,
and young Styles has a garland round his hat. A.
finer set of fellows I never looked upon. Heaven
preserve them
amid the danger to which they will
be exposed! But where is the colonel, who should
have been on horseback at the head of his men, or
the Minister of War, or the Pro-Dictator, or some