THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1378, 26 February 1861, Page 3

THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

Some details respecting the piesent state of Gaeta appear m the Naples con espondenee of the "Mormug Post," of December 21. They are given on the authority of a Neapolitan officer who had just suceeded m making his escape fioni the fortress, and inspire a conviction that the loy.ilty of Fiaucis's soldieis is, after all, not veiy aident oi piofound .—. — Piovisions aie dear in Gaeta, but as they aie abundant, and theie is no want of money, the high puce is not so much felt. The greatest want js th.it of clothing Almost all the soldieio aie still -wealing their summer uniforms, but those unifoims aie sadly torn andtatteied, and many of the soliUeis have their bodies quit? exposed As they aie all obliged to sleep only in the bombpioof parts of the foibress, both soldieis and officers, being too closely huddled together, aie in a state of hopeless filth, and iiave no means of changing then dress When Geneial Bosco disembaiked at Gaeta, he found a numbei of the Neapolitan ofhceis on shoie, aud shaiply addressed them, "What are you doing heie ' Piepaie at once to make a sally on the bcsiegeis " The officeis made no leply, but turned then backs on Bosco, having, if the truth must be told, no gioat desiteto rush on certain desti uction, Bosco t he'i wdivt to the king and pursiiaded him to give ouki s that a sally should be made without lo=s ot time It was necessary to make a special appeal to the omceis, noncommissioned oihecis, and soldieis bofoie a sufficient number could be brought together to execute the soitie. Theie aie stdl 17,000 Royalist tioops in Gaeta. Only 1200 answeied the appeal aud took part in the sally They came out headed by Bosco but veiy few letninod ; not, however, that they were killed— they almost all deserted as soon as they got beyond the walls of Gaeta On another day King Fiancjs himself called togethei the tioops, and said to them, "Fust let all the boldiei s, and then the officers, who wish to abandon me forth fiorn the lanks ; they may leave if they wish." The soldieis all cued, "We wish to leniain with you," aad none of tho officers ventured to say <i woid. Another day the lung called together all the officeis, and told them that he was •walling to give a wntten pcimission for an unlimited, leave of absence to all who wished to leave. Whereupon those officeis \\ ho leally desiied to go answered, "No, yoiu majesty ; with your written leave of absence we shoidd not be safe ill traveising the country. We would lather thiow up our commissions at once. " This accoidingly was done. Many officers left Gaeta, and made their way stiaight to the Sardinian camp, where they weio astonished on finding themselves leceived with military honouis by the Sardinian soldieis, and coidially welcomed by the officeis. The fact is that the soldiers of Francis 11. have never been able to form any coirect idea of what was passing in the Saidinlau camp at the distance of only few paces fiom the walls of tueir foi tress. The gamson is still buoyed up with the hopes of beholding "in a day, ma couple of days, in a week at the farthest," the arrival of Russian aud Spanish and Austnan flotillas, which, they are told, aio already on then- way, bunging large reinfoi cements, and under the influence of these hopes they endure patiently, if not cheerfully, their preseut hardships. Of the members of thb loyal family now at Gaeta there aie at present only the king and the queen, the lung's uncle, Don Lugi, and brother (likewise called Don Lugi.) In the course of the last few days a Sardinian conspiracy was discoveied at Gaeta amongst certain officers of the Royal Guards, who wheie carrying on a secret conespondence with Cialdmi. The three ringleaders of the conspiracy weie, by the king's orders thrown into the sea, and all the Royal Guards indiscriminately disarmed, and afterwaids despatched to Terracma, thence to be sent on to Rome, to keep company with the other Neapolitan soldiers already there. There is a, great want of fodder for the horses, and the king, rather thau allow the horses to fall in the hands of the Sardinians, has had them killed and thrown into the sea.