The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-01 00:00:00

THE FAILURE OF THE RAILWAY.

One enduring monument of our folly, our short-sighted
extravagance and our official incompetency, shall we leave
behind us. I need hardly say I mean the railway,
which, commenced as long back as November 1867,
has not yet been and never will be completed. Is it
a credit to our military engineering department that their
combined efforts have proved unequal to laying down
thirteen miles of tramway over a dead level in six months?
Before even the pioneer force left Bombay an eminent
firm of English contractors offered to construct the
line before the Ist of January. I -have the best
authority for stating that had their offer been accepted
a saving of nearly half a million would have been
effected in our expenditure. But no ! red-tapeism was too
rampant ; departmental jealousy revolted from civilian
interference; and here we arc, on the 14th of May, on the
point of quitting the country, and our much-vaunted
railway is still two miles short of Koomayloo, and all the
labour and money expended are simply wasted.

ROMAN AFFAIRS.

(From the Roman Correspondent of the Westminster Gazette.)
ROME, May 23.
The Pope keeps his birthday with so little
ceremonial that I quite forgot to mention it last
week when it occurred (on the 13th) ; but he
entered his seventy-seventh year in unbroken
health.

On the Ascension, he went according to
custom to St. John Lateran, where he assisted
at the High Mass, sung by Cardinal Patrizi,
who holds the title of Arch-priest of this church,
at the end of which, preceded in procession
by all the cardinals and dignitaries in attend-
ance, venerated the Heads of SS. Peter and
Paul preserved here. Afterwards he was borne
in the sediA gestatoria to the Clementina Loggia,
and gave the solemn blessing with a voice clear
and sonorous as ever. The crowd not only
filled the vast area in front of the basilica, but
spread over the esplanade leading to Sta. Croce.
The people cheered, and the cannon saluted as
usual.

He attended the funeral of Cardinal d'Andrea
on Tuesday at S. Giovanni de Forentini—when
I thought him looking remarkably well—and
pronounced the absolution. The ceremonies
were much as usual, the Sistine singers attend-
ing. The cardinalitial hat hung at the foot of
the coffin, but there was no scarlet beretta on
the cushion. The attendance was not large.
The remains will be buried at S. Agnese fuor
la nava, which was one of the churches under
the Cardinal's patronage. As I returned from
it down the Via Giulia, I found a crowd at the
door of his residence, the Palazzo Sacchetti,
where a grosso was being distributed to all the
poor who presented themselves, as funeral
alms. There has been a post-mortem examina-
tion of the body, and the lungs were found to
be completely destroyed by consumption, and
the medical men present wondered how lie
could have lived so long. The energy of his
character had, however, made him think him-
self stronger than he was, and having been
ordered to try the waters of Eaux Bonnes in
the Pyrenees, he had arranged to pay a visit
first to Sorrento, and that contrary to the phy-
sician's advice. The day before his death he
had taken his drive as usual, and had even
got down from the carriage and walked some
little distance. In the course of the evening
he felt faint and sent for his doctor, whose
apartment happened to be in the same palace.
He advised him to lie down, and as he did so
he said pleasantly, "sara, cosi the si inuore."
(This is how we shall lie down for our last
sleep). And he never spoke again ! Of course,
you will see from this account of his end, that
there was no question of his being able to
receive the last Sacraments. He had had
an audience of the Holy Father on the Tries=
day, two days before he died, when they had
talked over his intended journey.
The Rogation Processions of the clergy are
on Monday from S. Adriano to Sta. Maria
Maggiore; on Tuesday, from Sta. Maria Nuova
in the Forum, to St. John Lateran ; and on
Wednesday, from S. Lorenzo in Damaso to
St. Peter's. The little orfalini in their white
cassocks go first ; then the Religious of the
Third Order of Penance in brown tunics and
blue cord ; next the discalced Augustinians
habited in black; then the Capuchins with
their flowing beards and brown habit ; then
the Jeronomites in brown ; the Minims of S.
Francis de Paula in black; the various branches
of Franciscans in their distinctive habiliments;
the Augustinians, Carmelites, Servites, Domi-
nicans. Then the clergy of the fifty-four
parishes of Rome in cotta and stole ; the col-
legiate clergy, and the Vicegerent in his episco-
pal dress, his carriage follows the procession,
which is preceded by three banners ; they sign
the Litanies as they go along. On the third
day the clergy thus assembled elect their
chamberlain, or prior, for the year in the Sac-
risty of St. Peter's. The Cardinal-Vicar gives
in a list of three names, from which one is
chosen by a majority of votes.
On Tuesday was kept the feast of Sta. Pu-
denziana and of S. Ivo, avvocato de' poveri,
who is regard ,!d as the patron of lawyers; it is
kept as such in the chapel of the Sapienza, in
the dedication of which he is included along
with St. Luke and St. Leo the Great. A
Capella Cardinalizia, is held, which is attended
by the members of the bar. After it a Latin
panegyric of the saint is pronounced, and the
rector of the university presents each of the
cardinals present with a bouquet.
Last Friday was St. Isidore's day, which is
kept by the guild of agriculturists at the chapel
of the Irish Franciscans. On this occasion ears
of corn are mingled with the branches of sweet-
scented shrubs with which the churches of
Rome are strewn on festivals, to typify that
St. Isidore was a labourer.
The weather continues magnificent ; we have
had one pretty severe thunderstorm this week.
Aostofleoauvrens
forort Englandhern on Monday.
visitors have left. Mgr.
Talbotl
The prophets of war circulate a report
this week in evidence that the French Govern-
ment participates in their anticipations, to the
effect that General Dumont wrote lately to
the Minister of War here to inquire whether
he could, by a certain day, provide accommo-
dation for 10,000 men. Whether the Govern-
ment here expects it or not, they do not relax
in strengthening the army. Following is a
translation of the circular letter which Cardi-
nal Barnabo, Prefect of the Sacred Congre-
gation of the Propaganda, addressed a few
days ago to the bishops of the United
States :

" The signal marks of filial devotion which
reach the Holy Father from the faithful in all
parts of the world constrain him to desire direct
and public acknowledgment to be made from
time to time of the satisfaction afforded him
thereby. The bishops and the population of
North America have singular claim to this
token of regard, for at the moment when the
enemies of the Church have stretched forth
their hand to despoil the Vicar of Christ of
his temporal sovereignty and all authority over
Christian nations, they have come forward not
only to support the Holy See by their writ-
ings and their gifts, but also by offering their
own sons to enter the lists against the adver-
saries of the Church. The Holy Father, to
whom similar proposals are made from the
different countries of Europe, would accept
them willingly and with gratitude if the bare-
ness of the Pontifical Exchequer did not pre-
vent him. However, as the bishops of the
United States offer also the means to support
the contingent they propose to send, his Holi-
ness accepts what they propose as a token of
the Catholic charity and devotion of the clergy
and people of the United States. The Holy
Father, consequently, expressed his will on
the subject to the General-in-Chief of the army
at an audience of the 9th inst., and requested
him to draw up the programme for the orga-
nization of this new corps of volunteers, and
which I send you enclosed herein, praying
you at the same time to use your endeavours
that the men selected for the work be such as
are endowed with the piety of manners becom-
ing the defenders of Holy Church."
The corps is to be called the _Battalion of
American Volunteers. The men forming it are
to engage for three years, not to exceed a
thousand in number, and to be all Catholics.
-Dr. William Al`Closky, for seven years past
rector of the,American College, is to be con-
secrated to-morrow at the Chapel of the Col-
lege, Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky.
I do not know if attention has been already
called to the fact, but two of the ladies who
had the chief lia,ud in the marriage present to
Prince Humbert, which it was tried to make
out was a demonstration from " the ladies of
Rome," Duebessa Lanti and Contessa Garotti,
are both Americans and sisters. The adhesion
of the Doria family may be justified by the re-
lationship existing between it and that of Victor
Emmanuel, but neither can this Princess re-
present the ladies of Rome, as she is half Eng-
lish.

A solemn triduo was commenced at.- the
Minerva yesterday in honour of the Dorniniean
contingent to the martyrs of Gomm canonized