The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1868.

native squadriglieri and gendarmi, they have
everywhere proved an effectual barrier against

their incursions.

It would quite suffice for them to be sta-
ioned at a small number of posts along the

line to shut them out entirely. The mere fact
of their presence in the neighbourhood would
do away with all necessity for encounters, were
it not for the support meted out to them over
the border. The design being to keep up

tation, to make the people think their: position

•
under the ancient Government insecure, to

make Europe imagine that it is weak and in-
capable, to harass and distract its attention,
and to exhaust its resources ; of course it be-

comes worth while to employ any number of
brigands to effect these ends.
It seems strange that such unworthy means
can be resorted to, openly, and in the face of
all, in our age ; that Europe cannot keep in
check the dishonest propensities of the youngest
member of its body corporate ; that public
opinion, which has done so much towards its
establishment, can do so little to restrain its
extravagances. That the case should be as it
is, however, is not to be regretted, inasmuch
as it provides a field for exercising and mani-
festing the faith and the devotion of Catholics.
It is the boast of the Christian religion to be
one of faith and sacrifice, and here is the prac-
tice-ground and the test of those virtues.
It cannot be denied that so far they have
shone more brightly through the cloud of ad-
verse influences than those who judged the cen-
tury from its opening years would have been
inclined to expect. We have had bright ex-
amples of self-sacrifice, even to the death,
worthy of the most heroic ages of the Church,
and a crowd of acts of silent, unknown abne-

gation. But none—neither those who have
already tasted the satisfaction of generous ser-
vice, nor those who from one cause or another,
through diffidence, maybe, or want of heed,
have held back till now—need imagine that
there is no call for their exertion left. On the
contrary, every token and every clear judgment
pronounces that there is a struggle yet to come;
that if men care about their faith they will
yet have to come forward and show it, and
deny themselves for it, and, maybe, like those
whose memory is yet fresh and dear among us
here, to die for it.
There is no question but that the enemy is
preparing for the attack, and will have either
to be convinced that all attempts on the serried
ranks of the Church's defenders are hopeless,
or to be met and conquered in the field. In
either case there is work for all, and dearly
bought would be the ease or comfort of any
who, for fear of loss or travel, withhold their
hand from it.
Of the stational churches this week, none
calls for mention more than that of S. Anas-
tasia, at the base of the Palatine. It was built
by Apollonia, a Roman matron, about the year
300, over the remains of S. Anastasia, a mem-
ber of a noble family ; her mother, Fausta, is
commemorated in the Roman martyrology on
the 19th of December. A letter written by
her to S. Crisogono, who converted her, has
been preserved, and is a model of terseness,—
"Ar m
As mye body has reached its end, pray
fur me,
hatHe, now
.for love of whom I endure
these afflictions, may support and receive my
soul. Farewell." This is the first church dedi-
cated to a Virgin Martyr. It has been restored
at various times by many of the Popes, and
almost rebuilt in 1636 by Urban VIII. It has
lately been repaired and put in order at some
considerable expense, and will be improved
when time has toned down some of the vivid
colouring. .Its greatest ornaments are the
fluted pasovazzetto columns, from the Temple
of Neptune, on the Palatine ; the recumbent
figure of the saint under the high altar, by a
pupil of Bernini, is not without grace. Among
its relics is a veil of our Lady's, and part of
the cloak with which St. Joseph covered the
young Child and His Mother during the flight
into Egypt ; and for this reason when the Popes
celebrated the first Christmas Mass at S. Maria
Maggiore, where the greatest relic of the Nati-
vity—the Manger of Bethlehem is preserved—
they used to come here to sin° the second.
Another motive of veneration for this church
is to be found in its connection with S. Jerome,
to whom it is said to have given the cardinali-
tial title, and who lived here during his stay in
Rome. The glass chalice which served him at
Mass is preserved on one of the altars. In the
left transept is a monument to Cardinal Mai,
by Benzoni, one of the greatest Roman sculp-
tors at the present day.
On Friday the Quarant' Ore was at another
church full of ancient memories, S. Francesca
Romana. It was originally built to commemo-
rate the confusion of Simon Magus when lie
undertook to prove before Nero his claim to
divine honours by soaring in the air after the
manner of the tradition of our Lord's ascension.
St. Peter met him only with the weapon of
prayer, and he fell to the ground covered not
only with confusion, but with wounds, of which
he died. The church was either built on
the spot where it was popularly held the oc-
currence took place, or this was inferred from
its enclosing the stone flag on which St. Peter
knelt on the occasion, and which is yet pre-
served for veneration, cemented into the wall
of the south transept. Among its numerous
restorations was one in 705, when the sacred
relics and vessels of a neighbourinc, ruined
church—Sta. Maria vecchia—beingtsbrought
into it, it received the name of Sta. Maria
nuova, which, singularly enough, it has retained
ever since. In the south transept is also a
handsome monument to Gregory XI., erected
to him by the Roman people out of gratitude
for his restoring the seat of government from
Avignon back to Rome, though himself a
Frenchman. A. bas-relief of some merit pic-
tures forth the event. The high altar pos-
sesses one of the seven Maddonas of Rome,
ascribed to S. Luke. A. Frangipani brought
it from Troy in the year 1100. The church
is at present under restoration ; the shrine for
the body of Sta. Francesca Romana in the con-
fession, is consequently vacant. At present
the cassa containing it was taken when the
works were commenced, to the convent of
the Tor de Specchi, of her order. The vault
of the apse is decorated with very early mosaics,
the gold background of which formed in its
glittering reflections a beautiful crown to the
circles of light surrounding the monstrance at
the Quarant' Ore devotion.
The Dominican churches, notably the Mi-
nerva and the Sta. Sabina, are keeping to-
day the festa of St. Thomas Aquinas.
My fears that S. Luigi del Francesi would
prove all too small for the would-be hearers of
Pere Hyacinthe were fully realized on Sunday.
The crowd overflowed down the steps of the
church, and many had to go away unable to
obtain standing room. All the approaches
were thronged with carriages, many of them
belonging to the Roman nobility. In person
he is less attractive than Peres de Ravignan
or Lacordaire, and his style is too declamatory
to be altogether pleasing ; but there is no want
of vigour in argument or flow of language.
His theme was the temptation of our Lord,
and his application of it to the language held
by the world towards the Church at the pre-
sent day, and in all ages was striking and nerv-
ous :—" . . . If Thou be the Son of God,
do this and that which may display a Divine
power. . . . If you are indeed the Church
of God, why are you harassed by enemies ;
why are you continually cheated and defeated
by simple mortals ; why stand you in need of
human means, and offerings of gold and silver,
and the defence of armed men ? . . . If
Thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread. . ."
And I heard those who were capable of judg-
ing, but who had heard no evil suspicion whis-
pered, pronounce his discourse as fine an
apology of the Church as could be heard from
any preacher of the time. Yet, there is no
doubt that among the masses who hung on his
lips were many actuated by the excitement of
surprizing a word which could be construed as
un-Roman, or too " liberal," or which could
in any way be made to bear out the sugges-
tion that he is a man who has more admira-
tion for the present than the past.

I have heard several attempts to make a
case, but the most serious amounted to his
having extolled imperial policy a little too
warmly. It might have been better taste under
existing circumstances to have treated that
subject more mildly.

The Popolo of Naples published on the 25th
of February some revelations of the state of
the prisons of Naples, which, though they have
been repeated into many other papers, have,
I believe, met with no contradiction, and would
seem, therefore, to be but too well founded.
It is curious that those who were so forward
to show up alleged abuses under the Bourbons,
which it was afterwards shown only existed
in the imagination of calumniators, should
now be quite silent.
The accounts in the Popolo are so repugnant
that I cannot bring myself to translate them
in their entirety ; nevertheless, it is a duty to
give every publicity to such accusations, that
they may be either disproved or the evil reme-
died. I send you, therefore, an extract detail-
ing some of the modes of punishment which the
Popolo affirms are in use under the new tjginie
of promised liberty. Those who have cried
over the details of prison discipline worked out
in " Never Too Late to Mend," will, I fear,
not be able to read it at all ; but what of
those who are subjected to the horrors it de-
tails ?

Flogging with sticks and thongs seems to
be considered a mild form of correction—a
more effective one is found in what are called
ferri corti—short irons—by which the prisoner
is tied by the hands and feet, and sometimes
the head also, into a sort of bundle, and left
lying on the ground, regardless of the dis-
location of joints, which is too often the conse-

quence-
Another is called the puntale, and consists of
an iron collar fastened round the neck of the
prisoner with a padlock, and made fast to the
wall by a chain. The minimum duration of
this punishment is two days and nights.
Another is the camicia di forza, which is a
long, tight-fitting waistcoat of stout, coarse
sackcloth (traliccio), with long, tight sleeves,
the ends of which are crossed and secured be-
hind the prisoner's back.
The punishment of the palla, consists in strap-
ping the prisoner's elbows together behind him
with a leather strap, and then appending to
his wrists two chains weighted with iron balls,
which attach him to the wall by passing
through two rings fixed in the wall about six
feet from the ground.
The last mentioned is that called the cassone.
It is a sort of coffin, in which a prisoner may
be enclosed for twelve hours at a time, but so
that he cannot move, as there are straps fixed
to the sides of the box, so arranged that they
would strangle him if he attempted to turn
round. A certain Vito Demonte, sentenced to
imprisonment for theft at Naples in June, 1866,
was subjected during the term to this punish-
ment. It brought on a raging fever, during
which he was heard to cry out repeatedly—
" Rascals ! this is the reward of all my ser-
vices during the Revolution ! You didn't put
me in the cassone, but paid me, when I tore
down the Bourbon arms ! You didn't put me
in the cassone, but paid me, when I helped to
sack the police-offices !" &c. I have not time
to enter into the details of how and why and
when these tortures are resorted to ; that they
should exist at all is a proof that the self-imposed
government has failed to fulfil one of its loudest
promises.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS•

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, March 12.

The foreigner living in Paris cannot help being
struck with the admirable and paternal manner in
which France is governed. The head and chief
source of power is the Emperor, whose wise and
enlightened policy, patiently pursued for years, be-
neath the sharp scrutiny of suspicion, and the tar-
get at the same time for a thousand malevolent
attacks, is now triumphantly stamped with the seal
of progress, and of the interests of humanity. The
policy of the empire, said the Emperor long ago, is
peace ; and in the Universal Exposition of 1867 the
civilized world has received from the master spirit
who planned its details a lesson and a proof graven
in characters more durable than iron or marble, in
characters of living light, upon the intelligence of
nations, before which the clouds of ignorance, and
bigotry, and suspicion disperse like mists before the
sun. There have been many Expositions, but never
one like that of 1867. It showed the monarchs of
the four quarters of the globe that all petty and
personal interests must yield before the march of
civilization—before the welfare of peoples ; and the
lesson came with tenfold force from the monarchical
ruler of one of Europe's greatest and grandest na-
tions ; and the war demon spread his wings, and fled
away from before the face of the Angel of
Peace. When unoccupied with the cares of
State, where is the Emperor of the Franch to be
found? Amongst his people, founding this in-
stitution, supporting that driving round his
capital in an unassuming little phaeton, noting
down this or that alteration to be effected, asso-
ciating with him unceasingly in every work of well-
doing or progress his only son, that he may, in after
years, perpetuate the policy of his father and the
grandeur of France. For long years no country
looked with greater suspicion upon the policy of the
Emperor than England, and the institution of the
Volunteers took its rise mainly from this circum-
stance; but where now in Great Britain, and by
whom is the policy of Napoleon better appreciated
than by those very Volunteers, the intelligent mid-
dle classes, who form the most powerful element of
that mighty nation, and who cannot but see what
was long since foreseen by the Emperor of France,
that the position of those two great monarchies, in
regard to human interests and human civilization,
utterly preclude the possibility of their clashing in
a useless war, and that if a contest of any kind
is to arise between France and England, it should
be a contest as to which of the two should go further
in the cause of progress ; and that which may be
said of France in regard to England may with
equal justice and reason be said of her in
respect to the other powerful nations of Europe ;
that for the future it must be a moral weapon with
which the disputes of nations shall be decided, no
matter what provision or panoply of war they may
amuse themselves in preparing. Passing on from
the Emperor to his Ministers, we find the same
principles of liberality and progress ; and the bril
liant sophistries of the lawyers and newspaper
editors of the Opposition evaporate before the calm,
sound sense and close:cogent reasoning of the Minister
of the Interior, the Minister of State, and of Mar-
shal Neil, like feathers blown before the whirl-
wind. I was much amused this morning in casting
my eyes over the columns of the Siecle, which has
hitherto been carping incessantly over the proposed
measure with regard to the law of the press, to find
the following paragraph enumerating the principal
advantages of the present measure :—" The neces-
sity for permission to establish a newspaper exists
no longer ; the stamp duty has been reduced ; the
maximum of penalties lowered ; there are no more
admonitions ; the Judges have no longer the power of
depriving a person condemned for newspaper offence
of his electoral rights for five years. En SOMMe nous
regardoins le regime de 1852 comnzelavantageusemeht
modi fie. I think this little summary, coming as it does
from one of thebitterest supporters of the. Opposition,
speak volumes as to the liberal tenour of the mea-
sure which has now nearly passed into law ; and
unless these gentry wish to obtain an unbridled
licence as regards newspaper literature, than which
there is no more powerful nor dangerous weapon of
attack, I do not know what they want. Perhaps
they wish for the return of the days of red caps,
and that pleasant feeling of insecurity which cha-
racterised the reign of terror ; think a human head
on the top of a pike a very pretty ornament, and
breaking the baker'swindows and hanging the bakers
themselves, the shortest and most agreeable, from
of helping themselves to a four-pound loaf. There
is a popularity hunting, self-interested sort of feel-
ing which tinctures strongly of the oratory of such
pleaders as Jules Favre, and others of his stamp,
which always reminds one of O'Gibbet's advice to
Titmouse, iu the case of the Election Petition.

" Arran, and isn't he paid for it to say all this;" and
it would appear that some such impression appears
to take effect upon the Legislative Assembly
of France, for the bill of the Government will in a
brief time become, and very properly so, the
law of the land. All the world appear to be get-
ting on as rapidly as possible with their armaments.
The Reichsrath has devoted considerable extraor-
dinary expenses in its budget for the transforma-
tion of its arms, and the fabrication of 250,000
breechloaders. Prussia, as the head of the Con-
federation of North Germany, appears daily grow-
ing more powerful, and does not seem likely to give
up or neglect any of her advantages. A War
Minister has been sent to the Grand Duchy of
Baden, and it is said that others will be placed in
territory similarly situated ; whilst Bismarck, now
President of the Zollverein, announces his intention
to extend to the utmost the Confederate dominions,
taking in Lubeck and sundry ether petty States,
and extending the jurisdiction of North Germany as
far as Hamburg. It is said that some differences are
likely to arise between Prussia and Denmark as to
some portions of Schleswig Holstein, but there does
not appear any probability of their being carried to
any extreme. The late follies of the ex-King of
Hanover have been censured by both France and
Austria, which has probably emboldened Bismarck
to the confiscating the ex-monarch's property in
Prussia. It is said that the ex-King possesses an
enormous amount of private property, so that the
sequestration will not be so severely felt. Prince
Napoleon has been making a brief tour in L'Alle-
mayne du Nord, and public opinion, of course,
attributes to it a political motive of some kind
or other the Prince has been well received at
Berlin, the Prince Royal himself awaiting his
arrival. The Italian Budget does not appear at
all gay. The debt in 1859 being less than one
milliard, while it at present exceeds five. The
imports also, which previous to 1859 reached
about 450 millions, now exceed 600. All things
considered, an annual loss of some 600 millions is
probably the most approximate estimate. Ten per
cent. will be laid upon Italian Rentes, it is said (a
hint to the holders). There seems, therefore, no
great danger of a warlike outbreak in that quarter
at present ; whilst, as another peaceful indication,
the Italian generals commanding on the frontiers
have made overtures (since accepted) to the Papal
authorities for the re-establishment of that part of
the Convention of 1867 which permitted mutual ac-
tion in respect to the repression of brigandage, by
enabling each party to cross the opposite frontier.
For that purpose a small band of Canadian volun-
teers, who have arrived at Rome, have been drafted
amongst the Pontifical Zonaves. His Highness
the Prince Imperial has lately received a splendid
present through the agents of certain Daimios of
Japan, who attended the late Exposition, in the
shape of two Phares, exquisitely fashioned in porce-
lain, and two magnificent sabres. Speaking of the
Exposition, by the bye, reminds one that the pro-
posed Grand International Maritime Exposition at
Havre is rapidly approaching, and it is said that the
preparations are in an advanced stage of cmplete-
ness. It will have a most extended scope, and will
apply to everything having reference to the sea or
to maritime affairs, especially to all the varieties of
the finny tribe. Ample provision is being made in
the aquarium for the reception of the rare speci-
, wens that are expected. I should think now, if
ever, we may have a chance of seeing a mer-
maid. On Sunday last the lovers of sport as-
sembled in large numbers to witness the courses
of Porche Fontaine. The steeplechases were
good, and exhibited a tolerably fair sprinkling
of accidents. In the first, Royal Tartan, the fa-
vourite, and Perle Fine got into the river, dragging
with them Ocean Witch, ridden by the noted M.
Roy, who also came to grief in the second steeple-
chase and handicap when riding Loup de Mer, the
winners coming in in the following order:-1. Champ
d'Oiseau, Sharpshooter and Pigeon a good second
and third. The Course des Haies was won by
Druse, beating Mademoiselle do Varaville and Ca-
price, whilst the Plate Course was won in good
style by Fugitive, Brunchant and Magicien second
and third. An accident occurred on Wednesday at
the Gare du Nord in consequence of a waggon
train running into the express from Cologne, which
was arrested at the station ; no serious accidents
have, however, resulted, and beyond a few contu-
sions, the passengers by the express have escaped
with the fright. It is most fortunate that the
express train was not in motion at the time
A melancholy event took place last week, on Sun-
day morning, at the Rue St. Hilaire, which may
be likened to a second massacre of the innocents.
The heads of no less than fourteen cats, apparently
freshly cut from the trunks, were discovered upon
one of those dust heaps which in Paris await the
early street-cleaner. Great was the crowd (princi-
pally women) around, and loud and dire the wail-
ing, resembling very much that of the Macgregor
lament on the bagpipes, as the lineaments of a de-
funct favourite, now alas fixed in death, were recog-
nised and carried off probably for the purpose of
embalming, as in the case of La Mole, by his or her
disconsolate proprietor. I expect Civet and Gibelotte
du Lapin formed the principal article in several of the
neighbouring cheap restaurants for the next day or
two. A ball is announced for the 14th at the Theatre
Imperial, under the immediate patronage of their
Majesties the Emperor and Empress. It will be for
the benefit of dramatic artists. " Hamlet" is being
brought out at the Opera, but I have not, as yet,
had time to be present at its representation. " The
Forte St. Martin" has been reproduced, the play
founded on Dumas' celebrated work " The Three
Musketeers," and the Gaiete " La Reine Margot ;"
these two, together with the Theatre Imperial du
Chatelet, where" Gulliver"isnow supersededby " Le
Vengeur," are the attractions, rather to secure de-
corations and splendid tableaux than for any intrinsic
worth of the piece represented. But I have ap-
proached the limits permitted me, and, like the Ghost
in " Hamlet," must vanish into thin air until next
week.

The Empress has lately graciously received the
report of the Society of Maternal Charity, of which
she is President, and which has rendered assistance
to no less than 2,435 women during the past year,
who have safely brought into the world 2,605 in-
fants. Her Majesty, as a mark of the great inte-
rest she takes in the welfare of the society, has
announced to the treasurer ber intention to bestow
the sum of 6,000 francs upon the occasion of the
first communion of the Prince Imperial.

NAPLES, March 6.

Admiral Farragut arrived here yesterday evening
in the Franklin. This being Lent, and the Duke
and Duchess of Aosta having been obliged to leave
suddenly for Turin, in consequence of the death of
the Princess of Cisterna, the Admiral may not find
here the noisy demonstrations of other Italian
towns ; but the welcome due to his fame and popu-
larity will not be the less cordial on that account.
Vesuvius appears to have been waiting for the Ad-
miral's arrival to make a little exhibition of its
powers. The eruption has increased in intensity
the last few days, the explosions from the summit
and the increased run of lava attracting even those
tourists who had been there before. We add to
our correspondent's remarks the following telegram
received yesterday :

A grand banquet was given at Naples on the
12th of March to Admiral Farragut, Commander
of the American squadron in the Mediterranean, by
Admiral Provano, Commander of the Second Naval
Department. Generals Pettinego and Carrano, the
Prefect, and the principal military, civil, and muni-
cipal authorities were present. The greatest cor-
diality prevailed. The commercial community are
organizing another banquet in honour of Admiral
Farragut, to be given in the names of the citizens
of Naples.

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, Marcb 10.

The citizens of this place have formed a society
for various improvements and regulations to make
the city a pleasant abode for Americans and Eng-
lish. A club-room is to be erected, with a good
restaurant, and wines at very reasonable prices.
All the leading London papers—the G alig -
nani's Messenger, Continental limes, and Anglo-
American Times, as well also as journals from
the principal cities in the Union, will be taken.
The club is to be free to all wishing to read the