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Thames ; but the principal current was towards Greenwich , that being the greatest fair within reach Of a Londoner , on Easter Monday . Not less than 100 , 000 persons are said to have assembled there on Monday , for the express purpose of enjoying themselves ; indeed it is said that though Easter fell so early in the season this year , there never was so large a number of holiday people at Greenwich Fair . . . There was no lack of visitors to the free exhibitions in London , most of which were crowded all day . At the British Museum there were no lees than 30 , 000 visitors , an increase of five or six thousand over the highest number ever known before .
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A MODERATE " REPUBLIC . " A Minister of Police for France is spoken of , the measures considered necessary for the maintenance of " order" being far too onerous to remain included among the duties of the Minister of the Interior . "What with anti-Socialist propagaridisrh , the discovery and inventing of plots , and razzias against the press , the defenders of " order" halve really enough to do . Incessant vigilance is requisite ; and so far do they carry it as to arrest even , harmless Protestant clergymen—distributors of temperance tracts , and republican old women who , selling their coloured eggs ( a Catholic Easter custom ) , cry them at " a penny
the White and twopence the lied . So low stoops the vexatious pettiness of the President's police . Nor only in such trifling incidents can be discerned the spirit of repression that animates the reactionary party in France . Soldiers who have voted for Socialist candidates are ordered to Algiers , to the severer discipline of military governors there , whose notions of liberty may be divined from a colonist ' s letter , appearing in 1 the Evenement , complaining that in the village of Montenotte , nearTenes the governor threatens with expulsion those settlers who refuse to take wives ( whether they want wives or not ) from
among a certain number of women of his selection . Schoolmasters who profess Socialist principles are dismissed by "wholesale . According to the National the number driven out since the 1 st of January amounts already to 4000 . And for the press , that worst of offenders , imprisonments , fines , and suspensions multiply daily . The rigour exercised towards the Republican party , tho object at which this rigour aims , may be well exemplified by the prosecution and conviction of the editor of the IWpublicain du Centre for publishing a letter , which , in itself , is a striking indication of the state * and temper of the country . Here are specimens of it : —
" I am a husbandman , and very badly off , as I shall learn you . As I don ' t know how to write , I dictate this lerrer to the schoolmaster of our village , and heg you to publish it , so that when they read your paper any good people who are interested about ua may know how we tret . O 1 J . "Ah ! if men would only explain themselves , and agree together , instead of each doing just what comes in his head , it seems to me that , with good will for one another and both sides doing their part , people would be a good deal happier in the world . It U my opinion that there are very few rascals and devils incarnate who torment their neighbour only for the pleasure of seeing him pained : it is fear and ambition that spoil all and people tho world with foolish wuked people—wicked boasts , —there !
" The worst , of it is that our master looks cross at me ever since the revolution , and that I don ' t get a good word from him because I love the Republic . ' You haven ' t gained anything by the Republic , have you ?' That ' s true enough , I haven ' t gained anything . * On the contrary , ( here are more taxes , the 45 centimes , and others too that I shall see that you pay . ' True , you Ml make me pay them , and , though the money doesn ' t pass from my hands into the tax-gatherer ' s , you take it out Dfiny pocket all the same . ' Well , don ' t split my head wi'h your cursed song" The peasant ' s roal Uopublic , "Wlieii will it come ? "
If I catch you at . it again , I Ml turn you off . ' That ' s the way lie reasons to disgust me with the Republic . And he ' s strong . I have my reasons , too , but I keep them to myself : what am I to say ? The Republic has done us no good , but I love it all the same . It is perhaps because t . may do pood to our children ; and some day , when the rood comes , our boys will be belter taught and our girls lonnicr , and they will all know how to read and write md speak as well as our master and the schoolmaster , who mts my country speech into good French . " In short , I love the Ilepulilie because I love if . I mve voted , I do vote , and 1 will vote for it . One isn ' t naster of his hcnrl ..
" This is what brings me into trouble . They aregoing o turn me away . They h ive threatened me already . Jy ( iiid ! what will become of me ? l' \> r ten leagues round int another farm will hire me . Karewoll then to the In stunt orchard thsit I planfi-d . * * ' Just hear what our mistress , when she saw her tying , said to her to comfort , her . That we had not any U'ht ' to be here at all ; that we must go away and sepa-: ite without crying out so much ; that it was our lot ; i .-it unless we had property we have no country or nnily . No country , no love of home ! * * *• I was oing to say a very foolish thing , enough to got me trown into prison . But it ' s gone now .
• ' Only if you hear speak of that good Cabot , who ants the land to be for everybody , j ; ive me , please , mic news of him .
" The other farm-labourers think as above like me . To our minds , if our master would hear reason , it would be better for him and us too ; but he takes everything his own way , without caring even to tell us why or how . " Leonard , Husbandman at Bessines . " For writing and publishing this letter the editor of the Republicain du Centre has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 2000 francs . A number of persons , national guards and others , convicted of belonging to an armed secret society acting in behalf of " Henry V ., " have been sentenced to imprisonments varying in duration from six days to one month .
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THE RETURN OF THE POPE . The Giornalc di Roma of March the 14 th officially announces that the Pope will return to Rome in the first week after Easter . The Nazionale of Florence states that his Holiness ' s intention was declared by the Commission of Cardinals in these words , " His Holiness informs us that he will return to his dominions on the Sunday in Albis ( first Sunday in Easter ) , if nothing new take place against public tranquillity and security } ' In order to assure that tranquillity , the Roman prisons are crowded , and arrests daily take place . The clerical reaction has become so outrageous
that the Austrian commander at Ancona passes for a Liberal because he checked the rage for persecuting suspected persons , which was throwing thousands of families upon the streets . At Loretto all Government employes ( with one single exception ) have been dismissed . At Macerata sixty-nine physicians and surgeons have been forbidden to exercise their profession ; and at Jcrmo more than a hundred young men have been imprisoned on suspicion . The Austrians continue to advance towards . Home . The
Papal Guard is to be composed of Austrians , French , and Spaniards—or Swiss . The conditions entered into by the French Government , to obtain the return of the Pope , are to leave the French troops in Rome at his disposal , to allow him to determine their number , and to withdraw them when he may wish it ; or , if he prefer it , immediately to withdraw the whole of the French force from the Roman States . An order of the day requires the French soldiers to wear the decorations received horn the Pope , which ,
says La llcpubliquc , " their modesty had hindered them from displaying . " " Will they dare to wear them in France ? ' " ' In Spain , despite the exertions of the priests and the want of employment , the recruiting for the Papal Legion goes on but slowly . Not more than 200 men have enlisted , and those are of the lowest character . Cardinal Antonelli has addressed a note to the Sardinian Charge d ' affaires accredited to the Holy See , inveighing against the intended abolition of the Ecclesiastical Courts in Piedmont , as a violation of the rights of the Church and of existing treaties .
The Concordia of Turin quotes a letter from Florence of the 25 th March , giving an account of a misunderstanding that had arisen between the Sardinian Ambassador and the Tuscan Ministry , in consequence of the intention of the Austrian commander to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Novara by a religious ceremony in the church of Santa Maria Novella and a military review in the square adjoining that church . The Sardinian Ambassador , according to this account , had remonstrated against such a publicity given to the rejoicings lor the defeat of the Italian army , and announced his intention of celebrating an official funeral service in the church of Santa Croco on the same day , should the Austrian Grencial persist in his determination . To these
remonstrances the Tuscan Ministry had answered that it could not prevent allied troops from celebrating the anniversary of a victory of their own , and at the same time could not allow the funeral service threatened by the Sardinian Ambassador to take place , as it might bo a cause of public disorder . The Sardinian Ambassador replied , that if his wishes were not complied with he would take down his arms and demand his passports . To avoid an ripen rupture , the Tuscan Cabinet explained the matter to the Austrian co i nmiHior , and lugged him to celebrate the annivi'isjuy oursidf the town . Accordingly a . wooden barrack was constructed at the Ca-eine ( the Kensington Gardens of Florence ) , and high mass celebrated in it ; the military parade also took place in the Cascine .
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THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS DKSUltlBKD . Tin : dulness which has so long pervaded Naples , which even the Carnival could not nllect , was lor a while dispelled by <> " <¦ ' the Iinest eruptions of Mount Vesuvius ever known ; and , although the incident is no longer vvtrs , the graphic account in the Morninq Chronicle must not pass without notice .
For twelve or fourteen days the mountain hncl been groaning and wail in ir , giving manifest indications of the approaching crisis . On the ( iih of Februarv volumes of smoke anil vapour , with occasional sheets of ilatne , preceded continual subterranean rumblings ; and on the morning of the 7 ih the lava made its appearance , running down the mountain in seven or eight distinct streams . On the evening of the 7 th a party ascended to the Hermitage ,
and thence on foot , with guides and torches , to the cone ; whence they could view the lava , pumped out of the crater at white heat , pursuing its way in rhe direction of Pompeii and the Bosco Reale . The roaring of thecrater , with the emission of smoke , vapour , lava , and huge stones and serrise , continued incessantl y throughout the 8 th and 9 th . On . the latter evening , a special train left Naples carrying some four hundred visitors . On the road they met scattered parties of peasants loaded with beds , furniture , and such other articles as they had found time to save from the lava . The sight from Bosco Reale was of the grandest . The lava presented a frontage of at least a mile and a half , and was advancing slowly but steadily , devouring everything in its way : —
" At times a row of three or four hundred saplings caught fire simultaneously , producing a vivid flame that lighted up the country for miles . Some splendid full-grown ilex , oak , and ash trees , offered in their ponderous trunks a momentary resistance ; but it Was to no purpose ; the larger ones generally exploding with a loud report and a leap of twelve or fourteen feet in the air , to be consumed like tinder on their descent . It was curious to observe , when , from a sudden rush of lava ,
which always occurred after a temporary obstruction , how the larger trees gave out tens of thousands of little jets of steam from the knees and elbows of the smaller branches . It was owing to the roots and trunks coming immediately and suddenly in contact with the lava , and before the whole tree had had a preparatory roasting previously to its final combustion . In these cases the tree generally exploded ; those , on the contrary , that had had their initiatory grilling , generally bowed their heads slowly and majestically . "
At night the stars shone clearly , and the sky was cloudless . About three o ' clock in the morning the eruption was at its height . The amount of lava was quintupled , and vast masses of stone were cast up in the air , with a roar like the broadside of a threedecker . The ground trembled under the spectators ' feet ; a wailing , sobbing , distressful sound seemed to indicate that nature was in the throes of some terrible agony . About four o'clock the lava advanced to a faimhouse , built of rubble-stone and Roman cement ,
whose solidity appeared likely to offer a stout resistance . But , as if endowed with instinct , the destroyer no sooner felt the momentary cheek than it commenced rising like the water in the lock of a canal , from a depth of twelve feet to about thirty ; attacking the bomb-shaped stone roof , and at the same time pouring in at the windows and doors , it caused a rarefaction and condensation of air , which blew up the whole building with a terrific report . A smooth , surface of liquid fire covered the place where the farm had stood .
A little church embosomed in the wood was also destroyed in a similar manner . " With a sort ot conscious power , the lava dashed forward to the attack ) despite the moans and chants of a few Franciscan friars and the mute sorrow of the poor cure . The ornaments of the altar , tho pictures , statues , and finery of the Virgin , had been removed ; but no entreaties could induce the peasants to remove two fine doors or the bells . They expected that tho Virgin or their patron saint would surely prcscive tho sacred edifice . The lava insinuated itself into
the crypt , undermining the building , which literally burst in twain ; and its two nearly equal portions rocked , and tottered , and fell , belfry , bells , and all , into the burning gulf . For half an hour an intense dark green flame ( probably caused by the fusion of the bell-metal ) played ovnr the spot . In other parts blue names of various degrees of density and colour flickered over the sea of fire . " When da \ light came , the beauty of the effect faded ; and in place of the glare and brilliancy remained only a black carbonaceous dulncss , with here and there a deep red glow . The volume of lava was lessened and the crater hushed . Nature seemed to have an intermission of her pnngs .
Hundreds of persons also visited the crater , tho mountain being literally dotted with thoir torches , ascending and flitting like will-o ' -the-wisps . Numerous accidents were the result of such rashness . One young man received a mass of hot calcareous matter in his right shoulder , which stripped tho flesh to the bone as far as the elbow . A Polish officer was struck on the left thigh by a mass of st' > ne of pome tons weight , which caused a compound fracture ; and there he lay and bled to death , his blood running down , boiling and hissing , into the crater . The damage lias been immense . Of the magnificent and extensive wood of Hosco ltealo not a
vestige remains . The f . iir fields of springing wheat , the pasture and mi able land , arc gone . The face of tho country to within a short distance of Pompeii is changed ; the roads and landmarks nre obliterated : all lies buried under a superstratum of from twelve u > fifty feet of lava , which covers a superficies of about fourteen miles , and nearly reaches to the sea . On the very night ol the outbreak of Vesuvius , spontaneous combustion took place in his Neapolitan Majest > ' s enormous stock of "English coals ( upwards of 7 o , 000 tons ) , stowed in subterranean caverns near the Arsenal . The quantity of smoke tliat burst out from these caverns nnri from under tlic pavement and road prevented all passage ; aim the whole
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28 ti $ t QLttiStt * [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), April 6, 1850, page 28, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1839/page/4/
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