The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-05 00:00:00

IN,STEAD OF A FAST DAY.

The Foochow Advertiser translates from the Pekin
Gazette an Imperial edict in which the Emperor,
lamenting the prevalence of drought, directs measures
to be taken for ameliorating the condition of the
lower classes :—" The Censor Liu-ping-hung has
memorialised the Throne, recommending reform in

the benevolent institutions of the country, with a
view to bringing down upon the earth the blessings
so long denied us. The Emperor is aware that
this year we have been more than usually de-
prived of the rains so grateful to the crops, and
that though our prayers for it have been frequent
and earnest, yet no copious showers have re-
warded our exertions. His Majesty therefore con-
siders that, as a last resource, acts of benevolence
should be performed in hopes of earning the grati-
tude of Heaven. Now the Nien-fei rebels have
recently made great ravages in the country, and the
poor people who have been turned out of their homes
by them, and forced to wander about, have in many
instances been killed by the troops, who have mis-
taken them for rebels. As this is utterly at vari-
ance with the law of harmony between heaven and
earth, his Majesty hereby directs the high provin-
cial authorities to take measures to relieve the people
from their destitution and protect them from their
unauthorised destruction by the soldiers. Again,
the families of the soldiers who are slain in battle,
and who give up their lives for their country, are
often miserably poor, and are still more deserving
of compassion. His Majesty therefore orders the
Viceroys and Governors of the various provinces to
make careful inquiries about their condition, and
if they have no means of gaining a liveli-
hood to devise some means of keeping them alive.
Moreover, though it is punishable by law for people
to cast away or drown their children, yet as it is next
to impossible for those who have no fixed place of
abode to help doing so, his Majesty orders the
establishment of more foundling asylums, that more
may be received within their hospitable walls.
Furthermore, in the disturbed districts there are
interment,
but corpses which have not received
but are kept in their coffins in temporary rest-
houses. His Majesty, therefore, orders the local
authorities to proclaim throughout the land that
they will be at once removed from exposure to the
rays of the sun and the dews of night, and be granted
a decent burial. Respect this."--China

THE CENSUS OF THE POPULATION OF ROME FOR
THE YEAR 1867.—The city and the suburbs are
divided into 59 parishes, containing a population of
215,573 souls, being an increase since 1866 of 4,872. Of
these 30 are Cardinals, 35 8i5h0p5,.1,469 priests and eccle-
siastics; and 828 seminarists. The occupants of religious
houses aro 5,017, 2,832 being monks and 2,215 nuns.
These belong to 61 different congregations or oriers.
There are also 49 seminaries or colleges, among which are
the French Seminary, tenanted by 48 pupils ; that of
South America by 50 ; that of North America by 33 ; the
German Seminary has 58 pupils; the English 21, and the
"Pie Anglais " 14; the Scatch 12; and the Irish 52, &c.
The number of males educated in colleges amounts to 258,
and females in pensionnats to 1,612 ; 775 males and 1,088
females live in charitable institutions. The number of
families is 42,313, composed of 98,176 males and 93,138
females—to whom must be added 7,300 following the mili-
tary profession, 320 detenus, 4,650 Jews, and 457 other
dissidents. nem have been 1,615 marriages contracted
during 1867,

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE PAPAL STATES.

FLORENCE, Oct. 4, Evening.

Advices received here from the Roman frontier
announce that the insurrectionary movement still
continued, and that new bands of insurgents were
assembling at different points.

FRANCE AND ITALY.

FLORENCE, OCT. 4, Evening.

A denial is given to the rumour that Chevalier
Vigra, the Italian Minister in Paris, is expected at
Florence. The Opinione, referring to the move-
ments of the same diplomatist, asserts that his jour-
ney to Biarritz has not at all the object ascribed to
it by the French journal La Patrie.

THE CALCUTTA, CHINA, AND AUSTRA

LIAN MAILS.

The steamer which arrived at Suez yesterday
with the Calcutta, China, and Australian mails was
the Mongolia, not Nyanza, as previously an-