The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-18 00:00:00

THE DESTRUCTION OF DIAGDALA.

Writing on April 17, the correspondent Thus speaks of
destruction of Magdala :—The town itself was unin-
teresting, save from its accidental associations as the
prison of our fellow-countrymen and other Europeans,
even for Abyssinia a charge so grave that no man, it is
to be hoped, would lightly bring it against any town
calling itself Christian. It consisted of the ordinary col-
lection of huts, most of them built of grass and wood,
with thatched conical roofs, and did not boast even one
building of exceptional beauty or importance. The church
was one of the meanest and dirtiest that we have seen in
Abyssinia, while the palace of the great Emperor Theodore
differed only from the surrounding huts of his humblest
subjects i❑ being larger, two-storied, and with a thatched
roof, not conical, but oblong, giving it much the appear-
ance of an English barn, except that no decent
English farmer would allow any animal that he
valued to live in a building so dark, dirty, and ill-
ventilated. After all that one had heard and read of this
undoubtedly great man, of his immeasurable superiority
to his people and the country upon which, unhappily for
him, his lot was thrown, of his enlightened appreciation
of the institutions of more civilised nations, and of his
penetrating practical insight into whatever was most
valuable in those of his own, it seemed strange, almost
beyond belief, to find that he had lived the squalid, grace-
less life of a savage, to stand in his so-called palace—a
rude, dirty cabin—and look everywhere around in vain
for even one slight trace of a refined or accomplished
mind. In the workshop of his European artisans there
were, of course, many signs of modern civilisation, though
nearly all of a practical, very few of a strictly ornamental
or luxurious kind. Workmen's tools and huge glass
tumblers; apparently of English make, seemed the prin-
cipal articles of import, drinking being, next to fighting, the
great business of a wealthy Abyssinian's life, and these
mixed up with crosses, censers, mitres, bells—the spoils
of Gondar churches—Amharic bibles, stray copies of the
Record, odd volumes of encyclopaedias, foolscap paper, old
matchlocks, pistols, swords, powder-flasks, and percus-
sion caps, formed altogether as strange a jumble as it
would be easy to find anywhere. The ' loot,' on the
whole, has rather disappointed the captors. They did not
expect much, but still it was believed that Theodore had
both gold and silver treasure. If he had, it has somehow
disappeared. By an oversight no orders were given nor
any precautions taken against looting, and there is little
doubt that the moment the place was forced many
Abyssinians, who knew best where to look, began
to search for plunder. Next day an order
was issued that everything taken should be given
back, but, as many things had already changed
hands and handsome prices been paid for them as curiosi-
ties and relics of Magclala rather than for their intrinsic
value, the order was unpopular, and I question whether
it has been very strictly obeyed. The late Emperor,
too, appears to have behaved to his prisoners and
artisans with a generosity which must have left him
nearly bankrupt. Scarcely an article of real value
has been found which is not declared to have been at
some time or other presented by him to some one
of them, which, therefore, does not go into the general
fund to be raised, by the sale of all loot, for the benefit of
the non-commissioned officers and men of the force. All
these deductions will, I fear, make the proceeds of the
sale very small. However, a few curious and valuable
relics have been found. Mr. Holmes, for instance, who
came out here as archaeologist for the British Museum,
and who has hitherto had a singularly disappointing and
unfruitful journey, was lucky enough to rescue a handsome
crown, probably an archbishop's, and a gold chalice, bear-
ing the following inscription in Amharic :
"The chalice of King Adam Segud, called Yasoo, the
son of Queen Brain: Mogussa, presented to Kwoskwan
Sanctuary (Gondar). May my body and soul be purified !
Weight twenty-five wokkits of pure gold, value five hun-
dred dollars. Made by Waldo Georgis."
The Emperor's own crown has also been found, and is, I
believe, to be sent home to the Queen. I saw in the hands
of a British soldier what, under the circumstances,
was certainly a very singular and interesting bit of
hot, a six-barrelled revolver, with an inscription declaring
that it was presented by the Queen to the Emperor Theo-
dore, in token of her gratitude for " the kindness shewn
by him to her servant Plowden." The soldier told me
that he had seen five pistols with this inscription, and had
had a bard fight to get one for himself, but, so far, only
one has been given up to the prize-agents.

TILE LATE FATAL ACCIDENTS AT O.X.FORD.—On
Saturday morning last the mortal remains of the two un•
fortunate gentlemen who were killed on the previous
Thursday— viz., Mr. C. Marriott, of Christ Church, and
Alr. W. Barne, of Exeter College—were conveyed foi
interment, by railroad, the former to near Tiverton, and
the latter to Butterworth.

On Saturday Prince Arthur, attended by Major
Elphinstone, 0.13., V. 0., m 14]. , paid a visit to Chatham.
His Royal Highness inspected the ironclads now building,
the mould-loft, and model•room. The official residence of
the Capta:u-Superintendent in Chatham Docl:yard is, it
i 3 understood, to be set apart as a residence for Prince
Arthur and his suite during a course of study in military
engineering. The Prince took luncheon with Major-
C eneral Simmons, and returned to town in the afternoon.
lie is expected to join the corps of Engineers during the
lusuing month. -- .

ROMAN AFFAIRS.

,Fram the Roman Correspondent of the Westminster Gazette.)
ROME, May 2.

You may be interested to hear some inci-
dents of the late farewell audiences of forestieri,
which escaped me at the time when detailing
more important matter. At one of them, the
Holy Father, who has in many instances shown
a great fondness, after the model of our Divine
Lord, for young children, observed as he passed
round the kneeling ranks who had come to
venerate him, a group of little ones who had
been brought to him by their friends. As he
passed back, he took one little girl by the hand
and led her all the way up the Sala to the
throne prepared for him at the far end. The
phild, full of the confidence she had been
taught to repose in him, accompanied him with-
out fear or hesitation, or even looking back to
her father, but only blushing with pleasure at
the great favour of which she was the object.
Then he placed her by him to be as an emblem
of simplicity and love, while he delivered his
magnificent exhortation to unity and mutual
accord. At its close, he inquired for her
mother, and finding she had none, delivered
her tenderly, and with a gentle caress, to the
care of a young aunt.

The de-votions of the Mese Mariano have of
course commenced, and are well attended as
usual in numbers of churches ; at the Gesit
in the morning, but at most others in the after-
noon or rather evening, for the Ave is now at
7.30.

I am confidently informed that the Council
will take place this year, the work in the hands
of the various commissions cannot possibly be
got through in time. Among other points of
discipline, seventeen in number, to be brought
under consideration during its deliberations,
are the question of mixed marriages, of the
measure of submission due from priests to their
diocesan, the limit to the language of preachers
in expounding the gospel.
A blind school, which among the multifari-
ous charities of Rome has been hitherto the
least flourishing, is just being started on a large
and permanent basis, chiefly through the exer-
tions of Cardinal Milesi-Ferretti. It has two
branches at present, one near S. Onofrio, and
the other in part of the building devoted for
the deaf and dumb at the Termini. A sepa-
rate house will shortly be assigned to them,
when I shall take occasion to return to the
subject. •
The return of Lord Beaumont to the re-
ligion of his fathers, to which I alluded a
week or two ago, is now a matter of such
general congratulation that there is no longer
any reason of delicacy in withholding his name.
As we all know, it is not the first time he has
shown his desire to take this step. The same
resolution which in boyish earnestness took him
from Eton to the gates of the Jesuit college
at Beaumont Lodge, had upheld him against
all opposition, and now that he has attained an
age when it can no longer be gainsaid, he has
openly made it good. This abjuration was re-
ceived on Thursday by Cardinal Reisach, but
he was not baptized, as Cardinal Wiseman
baptized him in infancy. Prince and Princess
Borghese stood his sponsors at Confirmation,
and he made his first Communion on Saturday.
The 13th is now fixed for the marriage of
the brother of the King of Naples with the
Infanta of Spain. A Naples journal has I see
built upon the melancholy but simple acci-
dent, which I told you occurred to the work-
men lighting up the trophy in the Piazza SS.
Apostolic, an event of superstitious signifi-
cance and political importance. Instead of a
ladder, it represents that it was the column of
the Pope's statue itself which gave way, and
that it fell amid the thundering applause of
the assembled crowd ; while the workmen to
whose carelessness the contretemps might be
ascribed, were hurried off to prison. This is
how contemporary history is written !
Two Sicilians, forced by the conscription
into the ranks of the Italian army, having de-
serted from its ranks, applied last week to be
admitted into the Zouaves. They were dressed
as civilians, but still wore their military shoes,
and carried thele bribingirbayon whichetsw hasthem.thbeen
going icy
had heard
te inducet
tthat h
Papalatsoelydiweresutloddbees desert, nevernrdeeeived
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return by the Papalini. They were some
what surprised when they found themselves
placed under arrest and sent up to the capital
to have their case inquired into, after the
manner of civilized nations.

ROME, May 9.
The Holy Father went on Sunday (the In-
vention,of the Cross) to the Basilica of Sta.
Croce, according to custom, to prepare the
Agnus Dei wax. This is done within the
convent enclosure. The extent of the venera-
tion of Catholics for the use of the Agnus Dei
may be gathered from the fact that some 25,000
pounds of wax are employed in its composi-
tion. He afterwards exposed the great relics
from the Loggia, and gave the Benediction
with them.

On Thursday, being the Feast of S. Pius
V., he went to Sta. Maria Maggiore, to vene-
rate the body of that Pontiff, which is preserved
in one of the chapels, and is vested in a lace
rochet, given by Napoleon I. to Pius VII., on
the occasion of his coronation.
In the afternoon of the same day there was
a grand assemblage of Zouaves and Gendarmi
in the Vatican gardens, to receive at the hands
of the Holy Father the colours destined for
the former by the ladies of America, and for
the latter by the ladies of Spain—the Queen
being at the head of the list. They were first
presented to the Pope by General Kanzler.
That of the American ladies is white and
yellow, embroidered in gold raised-work, with
the Pontifical arms, and bearing the inscrip-
tion Americae Matronarum obsequium an.
MDCCCLXVII. The staff is surmounted by
a statuette of S. Michael. That from Spain is
of red velvet, with the tiara in gold embroidery
on one side, and the Madonna of Monserrato
on the other. The staff bears a bust of Pius
IX.

The little ceremony was very impressive.
Representative corps of the various regiments
were drawn up to witness the fete of their
brethren in arms, and a crowd of some three
or four thousand spectators closed round them
in the form of a living amphitheatre. The
Pope pronounced a prayer, calling on the Lord
of Hosts mighty in battle to bless the banners,
that they might be terrible to the enemies of
the Christian people, and a certain earnest of
victory. Then he handed them to the respec-
tive standard-bearers, invoking on them the
grace to bear then, aloft through the midst
of the adversary in the name and to the
glory of God, concluding with Pax tibi. Be-
fore the assembly broke up he addressed the
troops before him in his novel, simple, and
paternal manner. He alluded to the triumph
at Lepanto of the troops blessed by the saint
that day celebrated by the Church, S. Pius V.
Just as that Pontiff had been called to struggle
with and overcome the special adversaries of
the Church in his century, so it was the work
assigned to the Pope of to-day to struggle with,
and, he added, after a pause and with peculiar
feeling as if waiting for an interior inspiration
to ratify the word overcome, the special adver-
saries of the church in this century, who rage
no less furiously than those of the sixteenth.
" These two standards," he continued, " sent
us, the one from the kingdom which in old
times received the title of ' Most Catholic,' and
the other from a young and thriving commu-
nity of the new world, are an earnest of the
respect and sympathy your prowess has drawn
on you from all parts of Christendom. Seconded
by your arms, I continue without hesitation to
uphold the sacred rights deposited to my keep-
ing ; though your numbers be small, I know
that your faith and your courage is invincible.
I know that I can rely on you to the last drop
of your blood, to support me to the uttermost
in resisting the yoke of the adversary. Strong
in the might of our God, you will break in
sunder the bonds he would fling around us,
and cast away his cords from us, and thus con-
tinue to call down on you the praise of your