The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-14 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEIM' E 14, 1868.

of the 2nd) ; Edward Cahill (6th of theist) ;
and Patrick Conolly (6th of the 2nd). There
was a very large number of competitors.
Among the contributions for the army which
have been received this week are sixty mules
sent by the department of the Vendee.
I have already alluded to the disunion rife
among the enemies of the Holy See ; another
instance has just been brought to my notice.
Part of their faVourite tactics, as you pretty
well know, is the spreading of false reports
respecting what is doing in Rome. I have
frequently had occasion to expose untruths
thus spread abroad, and it is instructive occa-
sionally to observe how, as was the case with
some other false witnesses, their testimony
agreeth not. One of the latest fictions of this
nature has been the accounts given of numer-
ous desertions in the Pontifical army. You
may form your opinion of their truth after
perusing the following ironical remarks with
which the Corriere Italiano disposes of the
statements in a French paper of its colour :
" The chronicler of our contemporary has
discovered the true solution of the Roman
question---a solution which will save all blood-
shed. Every morning he makes a certain num-
ber of the Pope's soldiers desert, and if we
come to multiply his numbers by his morn-
ings, we shall find that be has disposed of a
good many thousands up to the present date.
This is so much gained, indeed, but is as
nothing to the promise of future successes
which may be argued from his singular ability.
We fully expect to find some fine morning
that he has made Cardinal Antonelli desert,
or perhaps even the Pope himself. Then he
would have settled the Roman question in-
deed, and that without having recourse to
the new secret society of the Vendetta di
Mentana.

" Nevertheless there are those who think
they have good reason to persist in believing
that all the Papal soldiers Florence has seen
are but the original four who pass and pass
again through the columns of our contem-
porary like manikins in a puppet-show. In
this manner ' the army of Xerxes may be re-
presented by half-a-dozen dummies.' "
The llifornkt has been publishing, the last
few days, a series of articles, intended to pave
the way for the violent measures to be proposed
in the "Parlamentino" of Naples. They are
from the pen of the Deputy Crispi, a name
well known in the chronicles of Mentana. He
sets out by asseverating that the Parlamentino
is intended to be the most peaceful' of meet-
ings : in fact, " nothing but a friendly meeting
held in public." But then-he goes on to his
complaints, which bear anytting but a friendly
tone. " Parliament his been prorogued," he
exclaims, " after a long and laborious session,
and has left unsolved all the problems of the
national reconstruction. In all its 202 sittings
it has done nothing but vote taxes and pay-
ments, and with all this has not advanced one
step towards establishing the financial position
of the country. The whole machine
of Government is cumbersome and unfit for
its work. . . The organic laws are but
patches on the antiquated mantle of a little
State, quite inadequate to cover the august
members of redeemed Italy. What we must
have is the Government of the people • aye,
of the lowest of the people. The Parliament
cannot but work ill,
having consideration to
the conditions upon which it was constituted.
. . . All parties are agreed about this.
The Senate (Upper House is at present nothing
but a convenient tool of the Executive Govern-
ment. . . . We must infuse into it the

energy of the popular element, by making
membership electoral. Further, and as a re-
form preliminary tc all others, we must have
the legislative power entirely distinct, not only
in theory but in practice, from the Executive.
Neither senator nor deputy may be a member
of the Council of State, nor of the Corte dei.
Conti, nor of the Bench of Judges ; still less
may they be permitted to belong to any branch
of the Administration, to the army or navy.
. . . Then, as to the constitution of the
electoral body, I have always held, and the
experience of years confirms me in maintain-
ing, that we want a great extension of the
franchise, and that every day's delay is of pre-
judice to our institutions. Every citizen who
has attained the age of 21 should have the
right to vote, with no other condition than that
he should be able to read and write. Every
Italian who has attained the age of 25 should
be eligible as a deputy. All rights of free
postage and privileges of all sorts should be
abolished, alike for senators and deputies, but
they should have an allowance of 25 francs a
day for attending Parliament."
The Programme of the Association of the
beenV
from it to
sehnedde t. t a
eixliternatcatnaa
fewh as
Slei
nk
teewnics
eepub-
show you how elaborately it is organised
" The Association of the Vendetta di Men-
tana is the fraternization of the various cities
to produce, by a common action, the complete
unity and liberty of Italy.
Every city to have
be to correspond
asce, whose
committee,
dutytob it shallecalled 'of the Roman
f.as,
with the other committees, to spread the move-
ment,arms to a
" The committees in various towns are to
communic. catffie eachaffiliate
all good youths, prepare
other the news of their
n impossible, to decipher.
success, taking care to make use of means
cul, T
t,,aoncl
eacheo committee is to be attached a cer-
taine
number of tried and zealous youths, who
will
tak6e,ffit the
tonii a.
direct the people in their respective quarters
maendot
affiliators and popular
caPi-popo/o), who shall
heads
accordingof the local committee.
never to communicate to
he
are
he members of the local
committeert place where they meet,
o
They may only speak
t
tTheafl
affiliated
aaffitteoidlia theNt
who
irl orders r d
ters
obit out to them the
otother
ero f
particulars. may
generalities,
p
deplorable condition of the country, and the
advent of the propitious moment for avenging
it, at the same time inculcating the duty of
being ready for action at any moment, and
to keep scrupulous secrecy.
" Every capo-popolo to be charged to keep a
watch on our adversaries, to make himself ac-
quainted with their place of abode, the people
and places they frequent ; to keep a note of the
armourers' shops in their quarter, the quota
of arms they would yield; also of the names
of all reactionaries, monks and priests. To
observe the best mode of barricading their quar-
ter, in case of need, —in a word, to watch all,
make himself acquainted with all, and refer all
to the Committee. _

" All Ehall be required to subscribe some
monthly subsidy according to their means.
Every committee to hold a meeting every ten
days, and any member absenting himself
without being able to show a satisfactory excuse
to be considered highly reprehensible."
All this is in the usual claptrap style, calm-
. lated with the additional spicing of mystery,
and meting out numberless little posts of im-
portance and authority, to attract youths whose
minds the disorganized state of the country has
unsettled,same t
whileime htthaet
theyexacted subscriptions fill
the pockets of the promoters of the scheme, at
the
give their dupes a
stake in its promotion and success.
And in the midst of all this ferment, Rome
wears her serenest aspect. The preparation
of the acts of the Council is being pushed for-
ward. So general is the presentiment that
God will not suffer any machinations to hinder
the gathering of this august assembly, that the
Committee on Ceremonial is at present occu-
r pied with arranging the order of precedence
to be observed by the prelates and others
composing it. Among the minor matters to
be treated I hear that of church music will
undergo a serious revision. The distinguished
Hungarian convert, Listz, who is at present
gone to Grottamare for sea-bathing, is engaged,
am told, in the consideration of several ques-
tions connected with Christian art, which have
been submitted to the Council. Mgr. Tizzani
(the blind Archbishop of Nisibis in partibus)
has just completed the first volume of his great
I work on the General Councils of the Church.
The present volume contains the Eastern Gene-
ral Councils ; the two others, comprising the