The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-28 00:00:00

ROMAN AFFAIRS.

1837. And the press at the cathedral to-day
could not well have been surpassed. I will
say honestly that the devotion of the Neapoli-
tans does not come up to the standard of per-

(From the Correvondent of the Westminster Gazette.)
ROME, Sept. 17.
There was a rumour a little while ago that
the police had come upon the track of one of
the most frightful attempts the Revolution has
yet made, which was nothing less than to blow
up the military wing of the Hospital of San
Spirito, as there was at the time a very large
number of soldiers laid up there, and it was

fection one has in one's English mind, bit it
is necessary, in some measure, to rate people
by their own standard. Anyhow it was a most
remarkable scene, and entirely a thing of
Naples. I have not many minutes left before
we start for Castellamare, but I will tell you

candidly just what I saw.
The cathedral is a very large, lofty church,
and the south transept, in which is the altar
of the Saint, is a church in itself, having
besides, what may for distinction's sake be
termed its High Altar (where the ceremony
takes place), two other large and handsome
altars in its transepts, and four others, smaller.
We had places promised us and arrived duly
to our appointment at the sacristy, (not of
the Cathedral, but of this transept-church),

expected to make a good Lill. As it is it has
only served once more to show the Roman
people what manner of men are their would-
be liberators. The scheme was so altogether

inhuman and beyond all palliation that I-could
not bring myself to believe in it, and therefore
omitted mention of it till I had further con-
firmation. This has, however, come to me
now, and there can be no object in keeping,
silence longer. The Pope's visit to the Hospi-
tal, mentioned in my last, was prompted by the
renewed interest their escape from so horrible a
fate had given him in his defenders. The tele-
grams will also have informed you of an im-
portant seizure of arms in a hut on the borders
of the Tiber, and they are arms which prove
the most butcherly intentions. There are 600
hatchets, 50 axes, and thirty cases of daggers.
The movements of troops to the frontier seem
to have afforded a useful warning that the Go-
vernment is on the alert, and we have conse-

by 8 a.m., though the ceremony was not to
begin till 9. There were Masses going on in
another sacristy, which was as well, for S.
Gennaro is a day of obligation here.
Our privilege, however, did not bring us all
the ease I had hoped. First, we had a great

squeeze to get to this sacristy at all, for hiving
forgotten we were to have gone to a private
entrance, we made our way through the cathe-
dral. lam not on the whole sorry, now it is
over, as it afforded me an acquaintance with
such a collection of physiognomies as could
not perhaps be studied on any other occasion.
Meantime, however, the inroad of persons, even
with privileged admissions, was enormous, and
at 8.45, when the order was given to proceed
to the High Altar (of the transept always
understood) the rush and the crush was some-
thing appalling, and this only among the scelti,
for when a reserved and draped passage,
guarded by soldiers, had been prepared, we
were allowed to make our way up to the very
altar from which the head of the saint, which
had previously been standing at the north end,
had been removed. (It is the custom in most
of the churches here to have a large head of
a saint—generally a bust of S. Gennaro him-
self—at the north end of the chief altar.)
Presently it was brought in and put in its
usual place, and soon after the reliquary, con-
taining the two phials with the blood was
brought from behind the altar, accompanied
by six or eight priests bearing tapers. It was
given into the hands of one of the canons who,
with difficulty, found standing room close to
the altar, so hardly were we and those around
pressed upon from behind. Certainly the
closest access for inspection was allowed, and
only one ministrant remained with the officia-
ting priest, and he bore a lighted candle close
behind the reliquary, so that the most perfect
view of what was going on might be afforded
whilst the Canon held it aloft. It is a round
frame with a double glass, deep enough to hold
two phials, the larger about 3 inches in diameter,
with a neck and a seal, the other much smaller,
set in silver, with an ornament at the top. The
Canon kept turning it close to the light, and
one could plainly see that the substance inside
was solid, because when he held it topsy turvy,
the lower part of the bottle remained empty.
lasses were being said at the other altars, none
at this ; but some ten or twelve old women, I
must say of most unprepossessing appearance,
for whom a red curtain was prepared inside the
altar rail, were vociferating prayers, rosaries,
litanies, ejaculations of their own, making the
most deafening din imaginable. I tried to re-
concile myself to it by remembering that their
ways are not as our ways. A young English-
man near me whispered it was like an army
of frogs, and really, though I tried to keep
up all my respect for the old things' devo-
tion, I could not deny the force of the com-
parison.
By 9.20 I noticed a slope in the surface of
the contents of one phial, as the reliquary was
being turned over, and a minute after people
observed, above a whisper, that the liquefac-
tion had commenced. The vociferations to
St. Gennaro now became even louder, and
people within the privileged enclosure pressed
I even more. In about five minutes a consider-
able quanti4 had become liquid. And then
everybody exclaimed so loudly, that it was
hardly necessary for the Canon to make the
usual movement with his hand, which is the
signal for the Te Deum to be struck up by
the organ. The sound of the instrument was
literally dunned by the singing of the people,
yet even above this you heard the nasal screech-
ing (I can call it nothing else) of the old women,
ringraziamo la, San,tissinza Trinity !
the "relations" of St. Januarius, with their
riugraziamo San Gennaro ! Gloria Patri,
fyeirvent
etc," which never ceased after this. Many of
them added to the excitement of the scene by
bursting into sobs, and altogether one had to
pinch oneself to make sure that one was really
assisting
The liquefaction, as I saw it, never seemed
to be entire. I mean there still was a nucleus
century
of solid matter left, which floated in the very
edvididneonttliqlicluthefdy. The matter in the smaller phial
at all, which I believe the people
consider bodes evil, but it is seldom the lique-
faction is accomplished so soon as to-day—
namely, in thirty or thirty-five minutes.
After a while we all got near enough to kiss
the reliqnary, and after we, within the sanc-
tuary, had been so admitted, the Canon moved
down to the rail, and after the said "relations"
had venerated it, another priest went on hold-
ing it for the general public to come up and
kiss.
The ceremony is repeated every day in the
octave, and after it the Sacristy and Treasury
are opened for the visits of the public.

quently heard less of preparations for invasion,
though all who hold any rank in the Garibal-
dian hordes have received notice to be ready

for any orders at any moment. The opinion
most authoritatively rumoured this week is that
we shall have nothing till there is first a revo-
lution in Florence, and an overthrow of the
Government there would be by a simultaneous
rising in other towns. Something certainly
seems to be occupying the Democratic world,
and calling their attention for the moment
off us. Even the Naples Parliamentino, so
boasted of a few days ago, is, it seems, not to
come off after all. The rumour of Garibaldi's

escape, which created so much excitement
among the Mediterranean fleets last week, is
explained now to have originated in an English
vessel having carried him a visitor, who it after-
wards took on to Malta, and that that visitor
was Mazzini. We shall soon know, of course,
what it is that is brewing, and there is no
doubt it is no relinquishment of their preten-
sions, but only preparation for a more acharne
attack.
That the Government is in great alarm
lam most credibly informed. Such constant
ill-luck follows whateverit attempts that really,
in spite of all its errors and impiety, one cannot
help being almost sorry for it. The vigorous
move of sending a military governor to put
down the increase of crime, which has been
advancing with rapid strides since the expul-
sion of the Pontifical Government, has been
marked by a new assassination being perpe-
trated at Faenza on the person of one Count
Calton. What a trump card it would be if the
Ministry could meet the next Parliament with
the announcement that the French protection
should be removed from Rome. What a
titude of evils it would cover and save enter-
; ing into account for ! Constant and urgent
negotiations are going on for the purpose with
the Emperor, but with the same steady hand,
as all along, his troops are still establishing
themselves at Civita Vecchia, and it is impos-
sible that any proximate relinquishment of the
position can be contemplated. At the same
time tltere is a strong rumour that he is willing
to give up the province of Frosinone to the
Piedmontesc—if they can take it.
The Papal army will be only too glad to
have the task of defending it. So earnest is
the desire for work, that I believe they would
not hesitate to throw themselves into it, even
if the whole army of Italy were opposed to
them. •
I am glad to see you have been working up
our people at home to remember their obliga-
tions to the cause of the Pope. Already your
efforts have borne fruit. I hear several Eng-
lish volunteers have arrived within the last few
days, and that others are on their way, among
them being represented the name of I'etre and
other honourable patronymics.
The Consistory I announced for the 21st is
now put off till the 24th, when it will certainly
take place, and intimations are being sent out
to-day to members of the S. College and others
who have to attend it.
The report I gave you some time ago, that
the bishops of various schismatical Eastern
churches have been invited to come to Rome
at the time of the Council,is confirmed. I have
been shown a copy of the epistle inviting them,
from which I will send you some extracts the
first moment I have time to translate them, as
it is a most interesting document. But at the
present moment I am busy preparing to go to
Naples, whither eN ery one is already gone ; in
fact the streets are quite deserted, and for some
little time past there has not been such a thing
as a forestiere's carriage to be seen. Only the
Pope remains here, as trustful in Providence as
ever, inspiring all with confidence ; and some
of the Cardinals and the indefatigable labourers
in the sections for preparing the acts of the
Council. The canonization of Blessed Nicolas
de Finch, hermit of Saxeln, one of the patrons
of Switzerland, the process for which was com-
menced two years ago, will, it is expected, be
carried through in the course of this winter.
Cardinal Reisach has the caseunder his care.
I believe, too, Count Armand, who acts for
M. de Banneville till he comes in November,
remains in town.
You will probably have heard further parti-
culars than myself of a lamentable accident
which occurred on Tuesday, on the Mont Ce -
Railway, near Lansbourg. Some matches
in a goods waggon caught fire by some unex-
plained cause, and the fire spread with such
rapidity that 100,000 francs' worth of damage
was the result.

NAPLES, Sept. 19.

I posted a hasty letter to you before starting
from Rome, which I hope reached in due course.
As my stay here must be short, I tried to make
the most of it by starting on an excursion to
Bake early yesterday morning, though tired
enough with the journey from Rome, and in
spite of the threatening clouds. We had not
proceeded far when a most violent thunder-
storm came on, and as there was no promise
of clearing sufficiently to enjoy the scenery,
we were forced to turn baok and compromise
with the vetturino, who, I must say, was very
good-humoured over the disappointment. They
had a severe thunderstorm here also on the
14th, but in spite of this, it is better a good
deal than in Rome, and mosquitoes, of which
one is comparativelyfree there, are very trouble-
some by day as well as by night. Vesuvius is
provokingly sluggish. We have a charming
look-out upon it from our hotel on the
Lucia Quay. We shall move to Castellamare,
however, to-night, to see if that proves cooler.
The King bad been expected here yesterday,
but has been advised not to trust himself here
on St. Gennaro's day, and no other day is yet
named for his visit.

I was told a story just now by a person whose
disgust at the present state of affairs here may
perhaps incline him to exaggerate a little the
efforts which are being made to destroy the
religious feeling of the people, It was an ac-
count of a piece going on at one of the theatres.
—a pantomime, in which bishops are brought
on with asses' heads, and cardinals with mules' ;
a procession of clergy comes in and falls down
in adoration before the Chassepot rifle ; and
when public disgust has been sufficiently
ripened by this scene, a file of monks of gro-
tesque aspect passes across the stage to receive
the hisses and execrations of the excited popu-
lace. This was but a specimen, however, of the
revolting expedients to which, he assures me,
the most anti-religious section of the Italian-.
issimi have recourse. All the while, however,
there is still a large proportion faithful to their
devout practices. The concourse of pilgrims,
not only from among the peasantry but of all
degrees, in due proportion from all parts of
Italy, to celebrate our Lady's Nativity at Loreto
this year, was greater than any year since

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 28, 1868.

pleasant evidence of the spread of irreligion
among a class in which an appearance, at least,
of outward reverence was wont to be habitually
observed.—Westminster Gazette.

RECEPIION OF THE CHINESE EMBASSY

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
Some five years ago two gentlemen might often
have been seen in earnest conversation as they
strolled along the broad way which makes the top
of the Peking Wall appear like a road. On the
one side lay the Chinese city, on the other the
Tartar, and looking as they did over the vast as-
semblage of houses whose roofs were far beneath
them they must forcibly have felt the isolation among

a strange people. They were accredited from the
most powerful family of mankind to the most

numerous. The one represented the Anglo-Saxon
in his island home of Britai❑ ; the other the Anglo-

Saxon on the American Continent he had made his

own. Away from party squabbles, from all the me .m
jealeousies and disturbing influences which affect
the two kindred peop'es, these gentlemen took a

broad and generous view of the relations which
ought not only to exist between those they repre-
sented, but between them, aspiring, as they do,

to be masters of the world, and the swarming mil-
lions whose hum came up from below. It was natu-
ral that Sir FREDERICK BRUCE and Mr. ANSON BUR-

LINGAME should be filled with the philanthropic de-

sire to do a great good to a vast multitude, for even
men narrower in conception and inferior in in-

tellect could hardly fail under the circumstances to
be thus affected. Let any one imagine for him pelf a

position wherein he could guide the. course, and ad-
vance the interest of a third of GOD'S creatures, and
ask himself if he could refrain—throwing aside an

opportunity but rarely vouchsafed because it did not
involve a personal gain. Can we wonder that the
philanthropic feeling took strong hold of these
two minds—canny Scots though bath were—for

the one was the direct descendant of the BRUCE
and the father of the other left his native heather
to settle in America. Every subject connected
with China's exterior relations was appropriately