The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-09 00:00:00

THE S 1 N, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 9, 1860.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, SATURDAY MORNING.
THE GALWAY LEVER CONTRACT.
The report of the Canadian Government having
become the purchasers of the.Galway line, subsidy
and all, is, fortunately for the shareholders, all but

an accomplished fact. This piece of agreeable in-
telligehte is thus announced in the Mail of last
night
" Attempts have been made to throw doubts upon
the account we gave on Wednesday of the nature
of the arrangements in contemplation with a view
to the winding up of the Atlantic Royal Mail Steam-

ship Company. Our statement was nevertheless in
the main correct. The bargain is a little more fa-
vourable for the shareholders than we believed it
to be, inasmuch as the sum of £200,000, agreed to
be taken by the directors of the company from the
Canadian Government, is intended to be a conside-
tion for the postal contract with the British Go-
vernment only. It is exclusive of the value of the
old and new ships, and of any other contract or
property belonging to the company. The sale must
be approved by the shareholders, and sanctioned
by the British Government and Parliament before
it can be confirmed. It was clearly understood to
be a condition of the bargain that the Canadian
Government should guarantee all the commercial
advantages which the company proposed to confer
upon Galway and Ireland. We still hold to our for-
mer opinion that this arrangement is not a bad one
under the circumstances. More money might pos-
sibly have been got by holding out; and this was
the opinion of some of the more respectable of the
directors. It is not to be forgotten, however, that
the company is now in close grips with great com-
mercial difficulties, with the determined hostility
of the Post-office, and with a large amount of origi-
nal sin of its own. If money and a respectable
Irish direction were in the category of possibilities,
we would give our voice against concession."
THE IRISH BRIGADE IN ROME.

The Nation of this day publishes in its second
edition a letter from Rome, giving a full and suit-
able account of the affray which took place in the
Eternal City on the 27th of 'Tune between the Papal
troops and a portion of the Trish Brigade, enlisted
for the purpose of maintaining the Pope's autho-
rity against all his enemies, Subjoined is the more
material portion of the Nation's version of the royal

row :

" We had a row on Wednesday evening, which
has been the great topic in Rome during the last
two days. A young man named Laffan, very re-
spectable, and nicely educated, but with not very
much discretion, not being satisfied with the posi-
tion of ' full private' (being like a number of those
who seem to have expected officers' commissions to
be as plentiful as berries), put off his uniform, and
turned out in plain clothes. The officer in com-
mand, Mr. Howley, ordered him to put on his uni-
form. He refused. Lieut. Howley ordered him to
be arrested, and called on a sergeant named Wise-
man to arrest him. The latter, who was close by,
and seems to have had some partiality for Laffan,
instead of obeying the order, hailed some men at
hand to assist in resisting the execution. Others of
the battalion, however, most properly, with alacrity
turned out to arrest the insubordinates. These ran
off and took refuge in the Irish College. Some
French officers, not aware of the rights of refuge,
wanted to enter and arrest the men. The college
authorities refused to permit this, and the time bor-
rowed thus in representations, &c., allowed the
temper of all parties to cool, and Laffan and Wise-
man heartily to repent of their conduct as an offence
not merely against military discipline, bnt against
the credit of their native country. So they one and
all gave themselves up quietly that evening. Mean-
time the barracks where the Battalion of St. Patrick
is stationed was the scene of the greatest tumult,
on hearing that some of the men had acted in such
a manner as I have described—some saying this,
some saying that—some furiously calling for prompt
chastisement on those few who had as they asserted,
brought disgrace on the brigade and on Ireland,
and given a handle to their enemies ; others,
on the other hand, palliating the conduct of
the malcontents, and censuring the great strict-
ness of drill and discipline ordered by General
Lamoriciere. The Irish crowded in groups, ex-
citedly discussing the whole affair, the crowd being
swelled by Swiss and French idlers, all waiting to
see the upshot of affairs; and at the eross roads, as
well as at the Palazzo Aldobrandini, there were
crowds of Romans looking on in amazement at
what all the noise was about. By this time several
officers of the battalion began to arrive on the spot
from -various parts of the city, and they instantly
ordered the men back to their barracks. The men
obeyed grumbingly. as the curiosity of all was
greatly excited, and they wanted to learn the re-
sult of the affair. By singular and most fortunate
chance that very evening, by the train from Civita
Vecchia, who should arrive but the Major of the
Irish Battalion—Mr. Miles W. O'Reilly, of Knock-
abbey Castle. He barely reached the hotel from
the terminus when he heard of what was going on,
and off he hurried to the barracks. He came up
at the moment while the Irish were all gathered
together outside the barracks, about to enter it.
He instantly ordered the men to fall in, and put
them through their drill, and made them a brief
but beautiful address. You never saw any change
so sudden and complete. The men became as docile
and contented as possible, and everything wore a
most cheering appearance, when a deplorable inci-
dent changed the aspect of affairs. At the end of
the file next the barrack entrance there was a stout
athletic Irishman. I forgot to tell you there is
one division of Belgians and Romans in the same
barracks as our men. The Belgian officer in com-
mand had, at the very first outbreak of the row,
drawn up his men under arms in front of the bar-
racks. This gave great offence to the Irish, who
felt indignant at being, as they thought, guarded
lover by Belgians, and the man I have alluded to
kept saying, with bitter excitement, to his com-
rade, ' Look at these fellows ; they would sell the
Pope and join Garibaldi in the morning, and
look at them with their bayonets like sentries to
terrify us.' The thing seemed to sting bitterly,
and the moment Major O'Reilly gave the order
to right about face, this private passionately
dashed at the nearest of the Belgians or Romans,
and with one blow of his fist between the eyes
laid the poor fellow kicking and sprawling in the
dust, to the utter amazement and horror of every
one. The Belgian officer, with sad lack of discre-
tion, instantly gave the words, Prime and load—
make ready—present—fire.' O'Reilly rushed for-
ward, and putting himself between the muzzles of
the guns and the position of the Irish, in a vOlee of
thunder countermanded the rash and terrible order.
It was a moment of painful excitement. At
O'Reilly's voice of thunder—though having so re-
cently arrived he was personally unknown—the
Belgians held the levelled guns, but pulled no trig-
ger, then O'Reilly ordered his men once more into
line ; but by this time out poured every Irishman
in the barracks, and a strange scene ensued—the
Irish, however, merely desiring to disrirm the others
—wresting away the guns, twisting the bayonets
off like twigs, and tossing them in the air by
dozens. The Belgian officer drew his sword and
made a stroke at an Irishman, which, however,
wounded him but very slightly. This was the
first actual blow struck. On this another Irish-
man flung a stone at the officer, which missed him,
but hit one of his men. These, notwithstanding
the serious nature of the whole affair, proved to be
the only blows given throughout. O'Reilly's tact,
energy, and presence of mind were above all praise.
He soon, assisted by his officers, succeeded in bring-
ing them to obedience, and in a few minutes had
order once more restored, and by 9 o'clock every-
thing was as orderly as if nothing had occurred.
Upon all this I must make one observation. One
of the evils always and inevitably attendant on
volunteering is here seen. Men seem to imagine
that because they volunteer they must in a measure
be their own masters, and dictate, and choose, and
criticise instead of obeying discipline. The Irish
here display this exacting spirit. They underrate
all others, and imagine that they must be treated
in a special manner. In a special manner, no
doubt, they will eventually be treated, in so far
as to be deemed the crack' brigade of Italy,
for already the quick eye of Lamoriciere has
marked them out for that ; but at present their
bmeotrihcei ere
first sees
soldiers t h that
Etuhraetp
special treatment is specially strict drill and
tdhi seci
y pr liegn
he
i.
re
Lamoriciere
however, is not the taste of many e.isThaisll,
among them, espe-
cially the young officers, who cannot at all under-
stand or stomach Lamoriciere's order, that they must
(French fashion) take their place in the ranks till
they learn their drill, &c., reserving for them, of
course, however, their positions as officers. In my
opinion the Commander-in-Chief looks on the Irish
Brigade as a man would on a young horse of incom-
parable mettle and bottom, needing, however, great
trouble to break in, but, if once broken in, worth a
score of ordinary stuff. Of 1:500 out here, only 40
have been rejected on presenting themselves for en-
rolment. Some navvies from Youghal modestly
asked £l4 bounty, and 2s. a-day. Of course they
were spurned. Some 20 men from Limerick seem
to have come out in the same mercenary scheme.
These, in all about 30, are the only mercenaries that
have reached this country from Ireland.

DONEGAL ELECTION.
The Abercorn interest in the county has pre-
vailed. Mr. Stewart has quietly succumbed, and
Lord Hamilton will walk over the course.
KIDNAPPING.
Another case of alleged kidnapping—tkis time