The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-24 00:00:00

FUNERAL OF TILE MARQUIS OF LAJATICO.

FLORENCE, Dee. 17.—Yesterday was a sad and solemn
day in Florence. It will long be remembered as that on
which the body of Don Neri Corsini was conveyed to Santa
Croce, the Wetminster Abbey of Florence. The corpse,
which had been brought by the Tuscan Government
steamer, the Giglia, from Genoa to Leghorn, was conveyed
by the Leghorn Railway to the capital, and, under the
charge of the Commissioners of the National Assembly,
reached Florence at two o'clock in the afternoon. The
funeral procession from the railway terminus to the Porta
al Prato lasted three hours, and the oldest inhabitants of
Florence declare that no funeral solemnity—not even that
of any member of the Tuscan royal family—has surpassed
yesterday's in the imposing character of the melan-
choly rites themselves, but, above all, in the deep grief by
which all classes of the population were inspired. From the
Porta al Prato, or railway station, which was all hung in
black, Iho procession passed by the Borgo Oguissanti, by
the Via del Fossi, by Santa Maria Novella, the Via di
Bauchi, behind the Cathedral, the Prefecture, the Badia,
the Via del Palagio, tho Pagliano Theatre, and the square
of Santa Croce, until the body reached its final resting-place
in the Cathedral. A detachment of mounted carabineers led
the way, then followed a battalion of riflemen, then another
of troops of the line, then the 4th battalion of the National
Guards, then the 3d and the 2d. About three thousand
National Guards in all took part in the procession. Im-
mediately after the National Guards came the hearse.
By the side of the car walked all the members of the
Tuscan Ministry, with the exception of Salvagnolli, who, I
regret to say, is confined to the house by the very delicate
state of his health. The car was followed by the Secrei ary-
General of the Tuscan Government, Celestino Bianchi,
General Razzotti, and the secretaries of the Chamber of De-
puties. The members of the National Assembly followed,
and it is no exaggeration to say that, with scarcely a single
exception, they were all present. Even the blind old Mar-
quis Gino Capponi, though in extremely infirm health, had
caused himself to be led in the ranks of his fellow-deputies,
to show his respect for the memory of his departed friend.
After the deputies came all the officers of every Italian
corps now in Florence, some 300 in number, and then an
immense crowd of private citizens, comprising every person
of the least eminence in Florence, and very many from all
parts of Tuscany. The sad train wound up with the first
battalion of the National Guard, and with another body of
mounted carabineers.

Nothing, perhaps, produced more effect on the crowd
than the deep grief of all the domestics of the Corsini
family, who followed close behind the hearse. The magni-
ficent white charger of Don Neri, which had borne him
through the Lombard campaign of the present year, and
which, with all its housings covered with a black veil,
likewise followed close on the car, was also an object
of unusual interest. On the square of Santa Croce
all the troops halted—the National Guards round the
sides of the square ; the troops of the line in the centre, and
there, battalion by battalion, rendered the last military
honours to the deceased, as a major-general of the Tuscan
army, by salutes of musketry.
Tuscany could render no greater honour to the patriotic
statesman whose loss she now deplores than by placing his
remains in her great Pantheon, and thus associating his
memory with that of the illustrious dead who are honoured
there ; in rearing for him a monument in that sacred pile,
where Machiavelli, Galileo, Michael Angelo, and Alfieri
still speak through their monuments to the patriotism and
pride of Italy. But the true testimony to the worth of Don
Neri Corsini might be found yesterday, not in the funeral
pomp which accompanied him to the tomb, but in the deep
and general grief which all classes of his countrymen felt
and expressed for his untimely loss.

The petition of the merchants, bankers, and
others in favour of the sailors in prison for the disturbance
on board H.M.S. Princess Royal was presented yesterday to
the Home Secretary by Mr. It. W. Crawford, one of the
members for Lon Jon. There has never been an instance of
greater eagerness to sign a document than that exhibited by
all parties on this occasion.

Messrs. Baily Brothers, the well-known sporting
publishers, intend corsmencing in the spring a now Sport-
ing Magazine, to be entitled " Baily's Monthly Magazine
of Sports, Pastimes, and Racing Register." It will, we
understand, be a first-class publication at a low price.
NATIONAL BANK OF SCOTLAND.—The annual
general meeting of proprietors of this bank was held on
Wednesday, when the profits of the past year were declared
to exceed £91,000. Out of this sum a dividend at the rate
of eight per cent, was ordered to be paid, and an addition
made to the reserve fund of £14,000. This reserve of un-
appropriated profits uow amounts to £160,000 over and
above an ample fund to meet losses or other contingencies ;
the bank's position in every respect appearing to be sound
and satisfactory.
We extract the following from Le Sport :—"We
learn from the Sunday Times that Umpire, first favourite
for the Derby of 1860, is regularly turned out, weather per-
mitting, to grass. This system, adds the same journal, is
adopted with nearly all the American horses. We may
add, that it strongly resembles that adopted by H. Jen-
nings, of La Morlaye, who has trained many horses on this
plan, especially Lion, winner of the French Derby of
1856." .

DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM.—The extraordi-
nary occurrence of thunder storms in various parts of the
country during the lath intense frost, when the ground
was covered with snow, and in some districts to a consi-
derable extent, has been more severe and more fatal at Fir-
beck, near Roche Abbey, Oldcoates, than in any other
part of the kingdom yet placed on record. On WednesdaS,
last a storm of this description, accompanied' by a heavy
fall of rain, passed over this village and tee neighbourhood.
No event of recent occurrence produced more surprise and
consternation than this unusual visitation at a period of the
year when it was the least expected. The flashes of light-
ning, from clouds at 'no great elevation from tho earth,
wore intensely vivid and alarming ; and the peals of thun-
der which followed immediately astounding. It was ap-
prehended that some calamity would be the result. But if
human life was spared, the deprivation of animal existence
was serious, and Mr. Singelhurst, of Firbeck, is the unfor-
tunate sufferer. Thirty sheep, two beasts, and three horses
were struck with the electric fluid and killed on the spot, to
the very serious loss of the owner.—Doncaster, .Notts, and
Lincoln Gazette.

MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE.—The public ac-
counts exhibit some odd miscellaneous sources of income.
Thus, in the year ending the 31st of March, small
branches of the hereditary revenue produced £4,480 ;
the fees of the House of Commons, £41,212 ; the Privy
Council-office, £1,123 ; the Home-office, £989 ; the office
for the registration of joint-stock companies, £5,585 r
fees and fines from police- courts, £11,270 ; miscellaneous
office fees, £9,141 ; Scottish public offices, £36,832 ;
Irish ditto, £4,877 ; army and ordnance extra re-
ceipts, £1,002,808 ; navy old stores, £190,702 ; m-
ceipts in Office of Works for old materials, £5,003; graz-
ing rents, &c., on account of public parks, £5,433; soigne-
rage on bullion purchased for coinage at the Mint, £87,797;
productive labour of prisoners in convict establishments,
£13,105; London, Dublin, and Edinburgh Gazettes,
£21,260 ; abatement from salaries, £7,513 ; conscience
money, £3,015 ; various casual and miscellaneous receipts
not specifically detailed, £153,047 ; repayments by trustees
of the King of the Belgians, £37,600 ; unclaimed dividends,
£155,361; East India Company for pensions to her Ma-
jesty's forces in India, £60,000; contributions from East
India revenue for loss on account of mail service to India,
£35,017; and savings on grants of Parliament and over-
issues repaid, £231,061. The woods and forests revenue
was £120,328.

•REFUSAL TO BURY A BODY.—Considerable ex
citement has been caused at Bakewell, by a woman named
Mary Long, refusing to bury her mother, who had died,
aged 86. The vicar, the Rev. K. H. Cornish, and others,
failing to persuade her to comply, 17 days having elapsed,
steps were taken to enforce the burial. Two guardians, two
overseers, two surgeons, and two inhabitants, having made
the necessarycotnplaintonet at the Constabulary-office, and
Superintendent Rust was appointed their officer under the
act to carry out the necessary proceedings. Notice was
served on Mary Long, but ao she persisted in refusing,
at length the necessary steps were taken by Superin-
tendent Rust to view the alleged nuisance. After
much trouble an entry was obtained. The body
had been properly put in a coffin and shrouded. The
police being in possession of the house, the relatives,
on Thursday, the 15th instant, came down to the
town and buried this aged female in the cemetery at Bake-
well. The two females had lived a very secluded life, often
shutting up their house for weeks together. They were per-
sons of property. Their haystacks had rotted to the ground,
and the last year's crop was unmowed. The daughter,
though harmless, lives a life of seclusion, her only compa-
nion being a cat; she repudiates all interference and all.
authority.
IMPORTANT.—A correspondent, signing himself
" Sprot the Tinker," who is evidently au fait at concocting
a " Turf par," informs us that there is no truth whatever
in the report that Mr. E. Hall has sold or let The Roman
Candle to the Rev. Bryan King for the next session.—
Bell's Life. .