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

. •
TUE SUN, ONDOS, MONDAY EVENING, 'StPTEMBER 14, 1.868:4

of the 2nd) ; Edward Cahill (6th of the Ist) ;
and Patrick Conolly (6th of the 2nd). There
sir
was a very large number of competitors.
From the Correspondent of the Westminster Gazette.) Among the contributions for the army which
ROME, Sept. 4. have been received this week are sixty mules
The efforts of the Revolutionary party are sent by the department of the Vendee.
divided between two courses of action. The I have already alluded to the disunion rife
first to procure the withdrawal of the French among the enemies of the Holy See ; another
troops from Italy, and the second to get instance has just been brought to my notice.
ready for another attempt at surreptitious Part of their favourite tactics, as you pretty
invasion. In regard to the first, it is now well know, is the spreading of false reports
avowed that Menabrea left no argument un- respecting what is doing in Rome. I have
tried to induce the Emperor to authorize him frequently had occasion to expose untruths
in announcing to the Florence Parliament, be- thus spread abroad, and it is instructive occa-
fore the session broke up, that the army of ob- sionally to observe how, as was the case with
servation would be recalled to France ; but, of some other false witnesses, their testimony
course, without effect. The papers continue agreeth not. One of the latest fictions of this
to agitate the question nevertheless, some nature has been the accounts given of numer-
trying to argue into a grievance a measure ous desertions in the Pontifical army. You
necessitated solely by the bad faith of their may form your opinion of their truth after
own Government, while others, adopting the perusing the following ironical remarks with
policy of asserting the wish which is father which the Corriere Italiano disposes of the
to the thought, content themselves with an- ' statements in a French paper of its colour :
nouncina that the French are shortly to be . " The chronicler of our contemporary has
removed. Meantime news from Civita Vecchia ' discovered the true solution of the Roman
leads to the directly opposite conclusion. The question—a solution which will save all blood-
language of General Dumont at the banquet of shed. Every morning he makes a certain num-
thelsth of August, and the administration of ber of the Pope's soldiers desert, and if we
affairs on the spot, point equally to a continued ' come to multiply his numbers by his morn-
occupation. New stables are being built, fresh ings, we shall find that he has disposed of a
tenements for the occupation of the troops good many thousands up to the present date.
hired, and a continuous supply of stores and i This is so much gained, indeed, but is as
munitions continues to be received. The; nothing to the promise of future successes
second affords scope for a variety of congenial I which may be argued from his singular ability.
intrigues. The key to them all is given in We fully expect to find some fine morning
i
Mazzini's last published " letter," which may that he has made Cardinal Antonelli desert,
be analyzed thus :-1. The acquisition of or perhaps even the Pope himself. Then he
Rome is the goal of every present endeavour. would have settled the Roman question in-
2. The mistakes of last year's campaign must deed, and that without having recourse to
be avoided this time. 3. Consequently greater the new secret society of the Vendetta di
care must be taken to conceal the mode of
Mentana.
procedure. That the attempt came from without
" Nevertheless there are those who think
was too apparent on that occasion ; this time they have good reason to persist in believing
it must be managed so as to appear to be a that all the Papal soldiers Florence has seen
rising of the people. are but the original four who pass and pass
The French and Italian press well under- again through the columns of our contem-
stands this cue ; consequently we hear less porary like manikins in a puppet-show. In
fanfaronnade about the volunteers rushing to this manner ' the army of Xerxes may be re-
deliver the capital of their country ; of their presented by half-a-dozen dummies.' "
spirit of devotion and sacrifice ;of their readi- The Raforme has been publishing, the last
ness for action ; of their boast of assured sue- few days, a series of articles, intended to pave
cess. The line now adopted is to blind Europe the way for the violent measures to be proposed
to what is going on round the borders of the in the "Parlamentino" of Naples. They are
Roman State. When allusion is made to the from the pen of the Deputy Crispi, a name
Garibaldian bands, it is to say they are not well known in the chronicles of Mentana. He
of heart with their enterpise, that they see sets out by asseverating that the Parlamentino
they have no chance at present., that Garibaldi is intended to be the most peaceful of meet-
himself is changed into the most peaceful of ings : in fact, " nothing but a friendly meeting
old men, only aspiring to end his days in rest held in youblic." But then he goes on to his
and retirement. The very meetings which are complaints, which bear anything but a friendly
planned to supply from Genoa., Turin, &c., the tone. " Parliament has been prorogued," he
entrain which was poured out from the Geneva exclaims, "after a long and laborious session,
Congress last year, are said to be co-operative and has left unsolved all the problems of the
conferences of workmen, animated only with national reconstruction. In. all its 202 sittings
desires of peaceful usefulness ; and even the it has done nothing but vote taxes and pay-
Parlamentino of Naples is to be but a friendly ments, and with all this has not advanced one
meeting, to consider the electoral laws. Mean- step towards establishing the financial position
time, stealthily and in the dark, the requisite of the country. . . . The whole machine
agents are being poured by small instalments of Government is cumbersome and unfit for
at a time into Rome, who, if they can contrive its work. . . . The organic laws are but
to elude the vigilance of the police, or bribe,
patches on the antiquated mantle of a little
cajole, or intimidate them, have their instruc-
State, quite inadequate to cover the august
tions, at a given signal, to simulate and repre-
sent the Roman people in a rising, and carry members of redeemed Italy. What we must
have is the Government of the people ; aye,
the place from within by a coup de main, when
cannot but work ill,
the of the lowest of the people. The Parliament
interference of the troops from Civita
having consideration to
Vecchia to dispossess them would, it is thought, the conditions upon which it was constituted.
be a very different matter in the eyes of Europe . . . All parties are agreed about this.
than resisting an attack made from without. The Senate (Upper House is at present nothing
One formidable obstacle to the success of
but a convenient tool of the Executive Govern-
this well-laid plot is the want of coherence be- ment. . . . We must infuse into it the
tween the different sections of the party. It energy of the popular element, by making
would depend in great measure on temper and
membership electoral. Further, and as a re-
discretion in carrying it out, but fanaticism is form preliminary to all others, we must have
boastful and garrulous, and already the most
the legislative power entirely distinct, not only
secret intentions have been supposed to ooze in theory but in practice, from the Executive.
out. More than this, the spirit of subordi-
Neither senator nor deputy may be a member
nation is necessarily wanting. There are a of the Council of State, nor of the Corte dei
dozen would-be heads, every one with a scheme Conti, nor of the Bench of Judges ; still less
of his own, and unwilling to submit to that of may they be permitted to belong to any branch
his neighbour, so that it is always most un- of the Administration, to the army or navy.
certain whether any one scheme can obtain . . . Then, as to the constitution of the
sufficient support to work it efficiently. This electoral body, I have always held, and the
spirit subdivides every division .of the party : experience of years confirms me anoninthus, for example, actions and counter-actions ing, that we want a great extensi of the
for charges of mal-administration of funds, franchise, and that every day's delay is of pre-
defamation of character, &c., are waging be-
judice to our institutions. Every citizen who
has attained the age of 21 should have the
tween the heads of the party which directed
the attack on Rome last year, Mistrali, Fab- right to vote, with no other condition than that
brizzi, Ghirelli, and others. All the while a he should be able to read and write. Every
state of unrest and insecurity is maintained, Italian who has attained the age of 25 should
some unknown change is always at hand, and be eligible as a deputy. All rights of free
men are kept from trusting the Government, postage and privileges of all sorts should be
which at the moment happens to have the abolished, alike for senators and deputies, but
upper hand. The local newspapers in vari- they should have an allowance of 25 francs a
ous towns find their account in keeping up the day for attending Parliament."
ferment, which now and then breaks into open The Programme of the Association of the
display of discontent, as at Monte Pulciano, Vendetta di Alentana has likewise been pub-
where the public notices concerning the new lished. I extract a few 'sentences from it to
meal-tax have been for two months past torn show you how elaborately it is organised :
down by the people as soon as affixed by order " The Association of the Vendetta di Men-
of the municipality, and are only now preserved Lana is the fraternization of the various cities
in their place by sending a number of the to produce, by a common action, the complete
boldest peasants to prison, and stationing a unity and liberty of Italy. Every city to have
guard on the spot ; and all this week at Flor- a committee, to be called 'of the Roman
ence the police have had work enough with fasces,' whose duty it shall be to correspond
defacing the chalked-up denunciations of the with the other committees, to spread the move-
King and Government. Of course such a ment, to 'affiliate all good youths, prepare
,:its se
o f towns
means
iifi t o-
state of things sets many calculating on what arms, &c.
the future will be, and optimists are not want- e The
tig carecommitteesi to mat r
eio
in various
ins who think they see clearly a not far-off communicate to each other the news of their
advent ent of a better order of things in the return success, tai i
of Italy to the regime of her mediseval re- cult, and even impossible, to decipher.
publics. A love of rule, it is thought, has been "To each committee is to be attached a cer-
evoked in too many breasts to subside into tain number of tried and zealous youths, who
submission to the ordinary framework of any will take the name of affiliators and popular
one Government. Several centres of rule must heads (affiliatori and capi-popolo), who shall
be created to afford place for so much ambi- direct the people in their respective quarters
tion, and that these failing, as they must, to re- according to the orders of the local committee.
store confidence and security, will ultimately " The affiiliators are never to communicate to
drive the people back to implore them of the the affiliated who the members of the local
Holy See, as the legitimate source of right, and committee may be, the place where they meet,
sovereignty, and peace. or other particulars. They may only speak
The brunt of any immediate attack, it is to them of generalities, point out to them the
clear, will have to be borne by the Pontifical deplorable condition of the country, and the
army, and upon its firmnes, therefore, the advent of the propitious moment for avenging
ultimate advance of revolution will mainly it, at the same time inculcating the duty of
depend, and there is no sort of snare which being ready for action at any moment, and
may not be expected to be laid for them in to keep scrupulous seeresy.
the approaching conflict. While every con- " Every capspopo/o to be charged to keep a
fidence animates us that they will be as ready watch on our adversaries, to make himself ac-
for their work, and that the care of Divine quainted with their place of abode, the people
Providence will be extended over them as mani- and places they frequent ;to keep a note of the
festly as during their former trials, all who care armourers' shops in their quarter, the quota
for the cause of right and order, which is just of arms they would yield; also of the names
now as it were entrusted to their keeping, of all reactionaries, monks and priests. To
must feel a personal interest in promoting observe the best mode of barricading their guar-
their efficiency ; and there is no one who may ter, in case of need, —in a word, to watch all,
not have his part in this work. For the mo- make himself acquainted with all, and refer all
ment they are chiefly subject to two attacks, to the Committee.
one being the result of change of temperature, " All ;hall be required to subscribe some
which has crowded the hospitals with sick, and monthly subsidy according to their means.
already occasioned three or four melancholy Every committee to hold a meeting every ten
losses, among them a young Englishman, very days, and any member absenting himself
much liked in his company, and an Italian t without being able to show a satisfactory excuse
artilleryman, Antonio Goldoni by name, whom to be considered highly reprehensible."
his comrades regard almost as a saint ; the All this is in the usual claptrap style, calcu-
other the malicious reports of their opponents. lated with the additional spicing of mystery,
It has been given them to silence for ever the and meting out numberless little posts of im-
accusation of inefficiency, and the epitaph of portance and authority, to attract youths whose
mercenary applied to them so liberally when minds the disorganized state of the country has
untried. The untruth about them in which , unsettled, while the exacted subscriptions fill
Italian papers now indulge is, that they are ; the pockets of the promoters of the scheme, at
divided by faction and rivalry, and the old ', the same time that they give their dupes a
story of the jealousy of civilians is now and ' stake in its promotion and success.
then revived. As such stories generally get And in the midst of all this ferment, Rome
copied sooner or later into the English papers, . wears her serenest aspect. The preparation
it may be as well to point out that the games of the acts of the Council is being pushed for-
of last Thursday gave a more effectual prac- . ward. So general is the presentiment that
tical denial to the calumny than pages of arga- ' God will not suffer any machinations to hinder
ment. Not only the various corps competed the gathering of this august assembly, that the
with each other with the most friendly emu- Committee on Ceremonial is at present occu-
lation, but civilians entered the lists with them pied with arranging the order of precedence
also ; and it would be impossible to say to be observed by the prelates and others
whether the good-humoured applause which composing it. Among the minor matters to
greeted each effort of strength or ingenuity I be treated I hear that of church music will
was more hearty from comrades or townsmen, ; undergo a serious revision. The distinguished
so general was it. Marchese Cavaletti, Senator ! Hungarian convert, Listz, who is at present
of Rome, who is staying at Frascati, came over gone to Grottamare for sea-bathing, is engaged,
to be among the spectators, and Prince Dor- 1 am told, in the consideration of several ques-
ahese carried off a prize in one of the races. tions connected with Christian art, which have
0
While on the subject, it will not be without been submitted to the. Council. Mgr. Tizzaui
interest to your readers to add to my former (the blind Archbishop of Nisibis in. partibus)
account that the four prize-takers in the foot- has just completed the first volume of his great
race were all Irishmen, Charles McNally (Ist work on the General Councils of the Church.
comp. of the 3rd battalion), who received a The present volume contains the Eastern. Gene-
watch as first prize ; James McLoughlan (Ist ' ral Councils ; the two others, comprising the

1:031AN AFFAIRS.

Western Councils, will appear in November.
As it is calculated to prove a book of refer-
ence of great general importance, it is being
brought out, in the first instance, in French,
but will Le published only in Rome, Pere
Dousset, the Dominican, having undertaken
the translation from Mgr. Tizzani's MS. It is
not, however, a mere historical record, but
displays a clear-sighted and philosophical ap-
preciation of the reciprocal action of the
Church and the world, as well as of the cha-
racters of the great men who have governed
their age. The work is dedicated to Car-
dinal Bonaparte. Mgr. Brancaleoni-Castellani
sostitato in the Segreteria de' brevi pontifici,
useful public servant and a very distinguished
Latinist, died last week at the age of fifty-
four.

M. de Sartiges is to have his farewell audience
of the Pope to-morrow. It is now. expected
that M. de Bonneville will come out before
November or December. M. Armand is to
come' to-night to take his place in the in-
terim.

A little intrigue has just been laid bare
which may have the effect of averting mischief.
A Pole has been dismissed from the Vatican
who, after obtaining a post of camerlingo by
urging the plea of his oppressed nationality,
was found to be a spy in the Russian service.
It is observable that his predecessor in the
office, Kulcyski by name, obtained, abused,
and lost his post in a precisely similar way.
The great religious celebration just now is
of course the Novena of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin • Mary, which is being duly
honoured in a great many churches.
The loyal address to the Pope I mentioned
a few weeks ago from the Catholics of Gratz
and circumjacent towns, has received 52,000
signatures, that against the Concordat only
bore 2,000.
The brigade stationed at Rocca di Papa had
another field day yesterday, making a feint
attack on Rocca Priora. It was a harder
day's work than the siege on Altano, as the
distance is greater, and the road all uphill.
It went off very well. The King of Naples and
his brother, the Count of Caserta, who is . an
officer in General Kanzler's staff, assisted in
the manoeuvres. The brigade is under orders
to return to Rome to-morrow. The cases of
fever are numerous, but it is well understood
here, and there is no special cause for alarm.
I have just seen a person who, travelling
out by the ordinary Mount Cenis route, was
put to terrible straits by the late accident.
Very little regard seems to be had for the con-
venience of passengers, who have not only to
walk a considerable part of the road in what-
ever weather, but to climb over heaps of de-
bris, and to cross mountain torrents, with the
aid only of the most primitive appliances. It
is many years since so considerable a landslip
has taken place; the inundations of the lower
country occurring at the sametime, Of course
complicate the difficulty and increase the delay
of bringing the line into working order again.
This will certainly require two or three weeks,
or more. Meantime the beautiful road over
the Brenner has, as far as I can learn, received
no injury. This line, which was completed
in the spring, affords a continuous railway
route all the way, travelling from Paris through
Strasburg, Munich, Augsburg, Innsbruck,
Verona, Bologna., and Florence, and may be

done in five days.
In anticipation of delay I despatch my
parcel two days earlier than usual. Should
anything of interest occur to me later, I will
take the chance, as last week, of the post-
scripts reaching you by via di mare, before
you go to press.