Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-05-16
From the London Evening Mail.
Ferdinand. King of Naples.

What is the difference between the solitary con-
fnement to which the King of Naples has con
demped his prisoners Of State, and that solitary
confinement to which he has condemned himself
In the dungeon of the prisoners there may we'll be
found more suffering of body, but in the Royal
DUNGEON there is assuredly far more anguish o
mind. We know what manner of place is Monte
ssrebio. in which Poerio is confined, with hack
iTr cough. with blindness imminent, and with the
feii hand of consumption already busy with the
more vital parts of his exhausted frame. There
he lies. Door man, with his chains upon him, and
the Neapolitan Monarch will not Tighten them by
2 single link. The prison, we are told, is very
DAMP the vaults are deep. the windows narrow,
the cells without ventilation or fresh air. Judges,
advocates, writer's lie chained near each other,
though apart One of them is mOtiOnless from
rheumatism another is struck with paralysis, sew
eral are afflicted with consumption; but they wear
their chains when dying-they wear them still
when dead Let them but utter word or grOan,
and they are summarily cast into the reeklng un-
dercround vaults, and chained to the floor This
IS but sorry state of things, and yet it is much
70 be doubted if the King who keeps his fellow
creatures in such suferings might not envy the
condition of the most suffering among his prison
ers. If the reports we receive from Naples be true
King Ferdinand is constantly in terror lest the
sassiu's knife should catch him umawares. For
this reason he avoids the capital city of his domln-
ions; for this reason he refuses to travel by the
railway, lest treason should reach him there in
some new and startling form. He seeks to secrete
himself in his remoter palaces, and to avoid all
contact with those upon whom his presence falls
ike shadow. Nor can it be said that his appre-
tensions are destitute of foundation No one can
know as we'll as himself the dark secrets that lie
hid behind that scowling brow and within that un-
t,n
Ferdinand himself the fearful extent of the ven
geance he has provoked For moment. at the
review when the assassin dealt him the stab which
was meant to be fatal, he to have acted with
courage and selfpossession. 1t is, however, one
thing to pass with decency through danger which
is at end almost soon as it exists, and quite
another to spend long nights listening fur the
sealthy 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 ship, sometimes powder-mag
azlne blows up near where he Is, and no man Car
say how it came to pass. The ground is mined
BENEATH his feet, and he knows it. La whom car
he but his trusti His Swiss Guards may preserve
what is called the public tranquility, but they can
not guard him from the unseen death which is ever
present to his minds eye like the pillar of smoke
by day and the pillar of fire by night. He car
have no confidence in his own native troops. They
inspire him, probably, with more terror than any
other class of his subjects. Now it is necessary tc
put one regiment, and now another under surveil-
lance. They cannot be trusted at all events. Such
being the state of things at home, whittier can he
turn to look for support from abroad There is
not one OF the leading nations of Europe which has
not addressed to him earnest remOnstranccs upon
his reiterated barbariues. There is not one OF
them which does not regard his reign as revival
Of the worst times of the old Roman Emperors, as
Lar as his power extends
1t is no wonder that it should be so, and we must
ever regard it one of the most affecting proofs OF
the fallen condition of Italy that such power can
be supported by the strong arms of a few mercena-
nes from the Swiss mountains, and by the black
guard 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 gath.
er from the communications of MIR. Petre to Lord
Clarendon that he believes the order given to Cap
ram Acuti, the ex-Commandant of Procida, to in
met % strokes each upon 54 of the prisoners real
y Gld emanate from the King himself Conceive
an M English Sovereign taking delight in apportiOn
slg the pYant nunohor Of otr,roa xrbiob cbould hs