Washington sentinel., 1854-01-12

SIrIIy.--Ihis country, one OF the most fer
tile and lovely on the face of the globe, is
groaning under the oppressive rule Of the Nea-
politan government. The situation Of the Sicil-
ians, sad as it was before the revolutions of
la48, had been made by misgovernment still
suppressed. The following extract from, n
work entitled, "Naples and Sicily in ls50,''
gives gloomy picture Of the condition Of the
island:
formerly the most fruitful country in Eu-
rope, and the granary Of Italy, it now does not
produce corn enough for its own consumption,
but has to import it from Calabria. Over q
great part Of the country there is no other
means of communication than by mules and
bridle-paths; districts in which large cities
fourished are now silent and desolate wilder
ness; roads, which formerly existed, have been
interrupted some places by accidents, such
as the carrying away Of bridge by food !;
and no official person has been found inclined
to take on himself so much of public duty as
to see to its repair, though the inhabitants,
suffering greatly by the loss, would gladly pay
for the restoration. As long as there remains
a ledge foot broad, along which mule can
scramble, the means of communication are
thought good enough. Between Sciacca and
Girgenti, q great part of the way lies through
morasses, sandy dunes, bogs, and rivers, which
travellers must ford. Scarcely any of the
streams furnish regular and moderate supply
Of water, their beds being as in quite wild
countries, sometimes dry, and sometimes filled
with rushing torrents, which sweep everything
before them. Whole districts are becoming
sterile, from the gradual disappearance of the
trees, which the ignorance of the people in
duces them to consider unwholesome, and pro-
ductive of fever. This increasing scarcity of
wood is also highly injurious to the sulphur
works, which have often to obtain their supplies
from Calabria; and when the cargoes arrive,
the wood has to be carried on the backs of
asses to its place of destination.
'1t is scarcely necessary to say that the few
socalled schools, are, throughout Naples and
Sicily, in the most miserable condition. In
one which M. Helferich accidentally came upon,
the gentleman who officiated as schoolmaster
was, at the same time, carrying on his aproba-
bly, more profitable trade Of cobbler, sitting
at his door with the boot to be repaired in his
hand, while his scholars, a row of little boys Of
from six to eight years DID, were ranged against
q wall on the opposite side of the narrow lane.
In one article, however, the government is ex-
tremely liberal to the Sicilians: Immediately
after the revolution, a cargo of no less than
400 fresh priests was dispatched to the island,
many NJ hiiChl amohS tIC iuOot ouPiui1t AEho
rant and depraved Of their class. In the mag
nifcent harbor Of Syracuse, where thousands
of vessels, Of the largest size, could find safe
and convenient anchorage, there were lying
scarcely a dozen little skifs; the town was
swarming with soldiers, and the seamen were
begging in the streets In Messina, the streets
burnt down in 184S remain in precisely the
same state; and no hand has been stirred to
restore the villages that we're laid in ashes.
Of Calabria, General Strongoli himself stated,
in the Chamber of Peers, that its condition was
lin lS49) entirely that of country relapsing
into barbarism. The peasants no longer re-
hardly be cultivated for the banditti; whoever
possessed any capital was exposed to continual
plunder--his cattle was driven away; and if
he refused to comply with the most outrageous
demands, he was sure to see, soon after, his
house and farm buildings in hamesn