The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-17 00:00:00

THE POLITICA

.L PF:ISONERS IN NAPLES.

(From the )

What is the difference between the solitary con-
finemen tto which the King of Naples has con-
demned his prisoners of State, and that solitary
confinement to which he has condemned himself ?
In the dungeon of the prisoners there may well he
found m.orestiffering of body, but in the Royal dun-
geon there is assuredly far more anguish of mind.
We know what manner of place is Montesarchio,
in which Poerio is confined, with a hacking cough,
with blindness imminent, and with the fell hand of
consumption already busy with the more vital parts
of his exhausted frame. There lie lies, poor man,
with his chain upon him, and the Neapolitan Mo-
narch will not lighten them by a single link. The
prison, we are told, is very damp, the vaults are
deep, the windows narrow, the cells without venti-
lation or fresh air. Judges, advocates, writers lie
chained near each other, though apart. One of
them is motionless from rheumatism, another is
struck with paralysis, several are afflicted with con-
sumption ; but they wear their chains when dying,
they wear them still when dead. Let them but
utter a word or a groan, and they are summarily
cast into the reeking underground vaults and
chained to the floor. This is but a sorry state of
things, and yet it is much to be doubted if the King
who keeps his fellow-creatures in such sufferings
might not envy the condition of the most suffering
among his prisoners. If the reports we receive from
Naples be true King Ferdinand is constantly in
terror lest the assassin's knife should catch him un-
awares. For this reason he avoids the capital city
of his dominions ; for this reason ho refuses to tra-
vel by the railway, lest treason should reach him
there in some new and startling form. He seeks to
secrete himself in bis remoter palaces, and to
avoid all contact with those upon whom his pre-
sence falls like a shadow. Nor can it be said that
apprehensions are destitute of foundation. No
one can know as well as himself the dark secrets
that lie hid behind that scowling brow and within
that unfeeling heart. Who could tell so truly as
King Ferdinand himself the fearful extent of the
vengeance he has provoked ? For a moment, at
the review, when the assassin dealt him the stab
which was meant to be fatal, ho seems to have
acted with courage and self-possession. It is,
however; one thing to pass with decency through a
danger which is at an end almost as soon as it
exists, and quite another to spend long nights lis-
tening for the stealthy footstep, and staring hard
for the shadow of the
,uplifted hand against the
wall. The King is well aware that danger is around
him on every side ; sometimes a ship, sometimes a
powder-magazine blows up near where he is, and
no man can say how it came to pass. The ground
is mined beneath his feet, and lie knows it. In
whom can he put his trust ? His Swiss Guards
may preserve what is called the public tranquillity,
but they cannot guard him from the unseen death
which is ever present to his mind's eye like the
pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by
night. He can have no confidence in his own
native troops. They inspire him, probably, with
more terror than any other clat,s of bis subjects.
Now it is necessary to put one regiment, and row
another under surveillance. They cannot be trusted
at all events. Such being the state of things at
home, whither can he turn to look for support from
abroad? There is not one of the leading nations
oflEurope which has not addressed to him earnest
remonstrances upon his reiterated barbarities.
There is not one of them which does not regard his
reign as a revival of the worst times of the old
Roman Emperors as far as his power extends.
It is no wonder that it should be so, and we
must ever regard it as one of the most afflicting
proofs of the fallen condition of Italy that such a
power can be supported by the strong arms of a few
mercenaries from the Swiss mountains, and by the
blackguard Lazzaroni of the capital. Is it that
there is something in that impulsive cringing
Southern race which delights in the union of cruelty
and power, although every one in turn may feel
the lash of the gaoler upon his own back—the halter
of the executioner upon his own neck ? We gather
froth the communications made by Mr. Petro to
Lord Clarendon that he believes the order given to
Captain Acuti, the ex-Commandant of Procida, to
inflict 50 strokes each upon 54 of the prisoners
really did emanate from the King himself. Con-
ceive an English Sovereign taking delight in ap-
portioning the exact numbr of stripes which should
be inflicted upon any of his enemies who might
have fallen into his power. We need not, however,
insist upon this part of the case. The atrocities
which have been perpetrated on the King's behalf
in the State prisons of Naples and the Islands are
so incredible, so degrading to human nature, that
the meanest wretch in the British Islands may,
when lies he down to rest, humbly thank his Maker
that he is not as Ferdinand, King of the Two Sici-
lies. But, admitting all this, it may bo urged in
argument, what had to do with the sufferings of
the Neapolitan people ? Why should we thrust
ourselves into concerns with which we had no
direct interest I—or, having gone so far, why
did we not go further ? The King of Naples
has been enabled to treat the two greatest
Powers in Europe with contempt, because they
uttered threats which they hesitated to carry
into execution. We much question if the King
of Naples has really had any such feeling as is
imputed to him • at any rate, his acts appear to
wear a very Afferent complexion. Nothing
more abject or fawning can well bo conceived
than the note which M. Carafa wrote on
i the 28th of August, by his master's direc-
tion' to do
,away with the effect of his former
petulant communication. The French and English
embassies are gone. By recent advises we are in-
formed that the King of Naples has actually adopted
measures by which he hopes to get rid of his poli-
tical prisoners, and procure his own readmission
into the comity of nations. So long as the remen •
strances of the great Powers were inerely.remou-
strances, we heard nothing even of so extremely
modified an act of clemency as the deportation of
the State prisoners from their fetid dungeons to
the interior of South America. The greatest Power
in Europe cannot sustain political isolation for any
considerable time, and how much less a little paltry
kingdom like that of the Two Sicilies. We deny,
then, that the demonstration involved in the with-
drawal of the French and English missions has
been unattended with effect. Still less can it be
doubted that we had a perfect right to carry inter-
ference up to that point. If the King of Naples
would continue to administer the internal affairs of
his kingdom in so barbarous a fashion, and his
subjects had not the spirit to withdraw their necks
from the yoke, at any rate we were not obliged to
stop and look on. There can be no reason why an
English Minister should be maintained at Naples
to listen to the groans from Montesarchio, and to
hear the appalling screams of the poor wretches
who were receiving the " King's allowance" in
Procida. If evil resulted from all this to the sta-
bility of Ferdinand'stbrone he had nobody to blame
for it but himself.
The correspondence relating to the affairs of
Naples has just been presented to both Houses of
Parliament by the Queen's command. In these
State papers the whole progress of the affair is
traced from May 19 of last year, when Lord Claren-
don first desired Sir W. Temple to remonstrate with
the Neapolitan Government, until the 15th of
November, when Prince Carini, the Neapolitan
Ambassador in London, received his passports and
his conge. It is impossible to read these papers
without seeing that it was eriginally the intention
of the English Government to push matters to a
. sharper extremity than has actually been done. It
must be remembered, however, that we were not
' acting alone in the matter, and are sometimes com-
pelled to accept the drawbacks in return for the ad-
vantages of a powerful and honoured alliance. Nor
should it be forgotten that, in consequence of the
political complications which ensued upon the mis-
understandings about the Treaty of Paris, this
country and Austria were drawn together far more
closely than has been usual for some time past.
The consequence was that one of the perils which
were most apprehended when these remonstrances
were first addressed to the King of Naples passed
innseurver inbl 0
beneath ltaly b became a m
oure anfee
feet—and
m paonsa-
sibili ty , and therefore the justification for interfe-
rence in the internal affairs of Naples passed away
too. There is, however, one ground for interference
awwhaicyl: coAulnd
never crumble
that is the ground of humanity. We can never
regret that the Governments of France and Eng-
land solemnly marked their disapproval of all those
hideous scenes which are enacted in the dungeons
of the Neapolitan King ; and the sternest reasoner
can scarcely maintain that we are bound to keep
an official representative at Naples when his very
presencewould e construed into a tacit sanction
of sueh atrocities.

APPREHENSION OF A GANG OF BURGLARS.—Tvro
men and two women were on Thursday brought t efore
the Earl cf Darnley and the other magistrates at Ro-
chester, charged with having entered the d welling-house
of Mr. Stephen Collison, farmer, at Staplehurst, on the
night of the Bth inst., and stolen therefrom three
sides of bacon, some hams, a double-barrelled gun, and
other articles. The prisoners gave the names of James
Miller, W. Green, Mary Anne Haselton, and Cordelia
Greensted. Superintendent Everist informed the rna.
gistrates that he had received information which left no
doubt that the prisoners wero implicated in numerous
other burglaries. They were remanded.
The continuance of the appeal from the Arches Court,
Liddel v. Westerton, on Monday, depends in a great
measure upon the health of Lord Wensleydale, who has
been attackediptoustop tosnuwebdi ts,
da ges ottuhutee bpofrtuel
further
et ihnnecite. he
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lord
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sCwhoinollusiblddeered indispensable.