NAPLES.

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

NAPLES.

The " Times" correspondent wrote on November 23 : Victor Emmanuel has not made that impression on the minds and hearts of the Neapolitans which might have been desired. A rough soldier, and, perhaps, too honest a ra»n to resort to those obsequious forms by which tha Bourbons conceded the chains they threw around their subjects, he shows but little, and when he does, he bows but slightly, and manifests but little anxiety to couit the good opinion of his people. An instance of this was his omitting to pass through the city a few days ago, when the whole population were waiting for him, an offence for which his Majesty has since ofteied his excuses thiough the Syndic. As, too, it is a great misfortune to some men to have been born after their fatheis — though I shall not stop to ask whether they could by any possibility havo bean born befoie them — so it is much to bo lamented that Victor Emmanuel followed immediately after such a man as Garibaldi ; foi, without compiling the men, the- fact is undeniable that the Litter had <>o completely taken hold

I of the national' soUl that, no 1 other place remained in which to set up another idol. What, therefore, the sovereign has received is nothing more than the surplui I of the adoration which has been offered to the subject, and it is a misfortune that it should be so 'in a man who presents himself in the new character of the King of Italy ; but bo it is, and it' cannot be contradicted. I find that much unreasonable dissatisfaction exists here, arising, in a great measure from the general ignorance of constitutional government which prevailed in the country. As in the olden time, if the King does not receive petitions in the streets from the hands of a hunihed dirty applicants, and pass half the time in looking into details which belong to a clerk, and in making appointments which now is one of the duties of a minister, he is supposed to be doing nothing and to stand out in lamentable contrast with a sovereign who, if he scourged and tortured, well knew how to grasp whole folios of petitions, and bow and smile with a grace. In one word, the people do not understand as yet the forms and obligations of self-government. Theie are many others, too, who expect that all public matters are to be finished off with a dash of a pen, and that all the com plications brought on by the negligence and the iniquities of half-a-century can be allayed in 24 hours, 'lnus I hear on all sides people complaining that nothing is being done. The correspondent of the " Morning Post" deplwes in even stronger language the king's reserve nnd ap parent unwillingness to show himself frequently to the people — " Victor Emmanuel is, in fact, veiy seldom {visible, and when unable to dispense with the necessity of appealing in public, every imaginable precaution is taken to insure his safety. He is very seldom in Naples, but piefers remaining at Capo di Monte. The Neapolitans grumble, because they had been told so much of his accessibility and his affability ; that he was vastly populai , that he would be sure to pass wise measures ; and now, finding him scarcely visible, and not receiving at his hands all the boons and blessing which, with the cieduhty of ignorance, they have been led to expect, they exclaim, ' Why, he is after all ]usfc such a king as Franchischiello' — Little Frank — and view him with no peculiar admiration or respect. Such is the feeling of the 4 lazzaroni — indeed, of the lower classes generally ; but even persons of higher lank speak openly against the Government. I must not conceal the fact that King Victor Emmanuel hmnelf is not always free from blame , hib blunt, bluff ways, his off-hand, fxeeand easy mode of disposing of matters, is sometimes calculated to wound the amour propre even of persons that aie not even sensitive. Foi example, all the uffioei's of the Neapolitan navy who had gone over to GUnbaldi on the day that he enteicd Naples, and whose conduct has been unexceptionable during the two months of the Dictatonal government, went in a body to the royal palace to present themselves to the king, and to offer him the asbuiances of their attachment. After being kept waiting for a long time in the roytf ante-chamber, their presence was announced to tlie king, whose only answer to then- lequest to have an audience was, that he could not receive them, because he was already, for that day, bo terribly bored with audiences. You may imagine the towering indignation in which these ancient mariners left the royal palace. It is a great pity that by such mere petty oversights Victor Emmanuel Bhould raise up against himself serious ill-will. I have reflected much on the mode by which all this might be lemedied, and have come to the conclusion that what the new King of Italy most. wants is a good wife ; a sensible helpmate, endowed with that true feminine tact and delicacy which is all-important in smoothing away angularities in all stations of life, but especially in the precincts of a Court ; for these little bickerings create dislike, and the dislike will soon swell into hatred, unless something be done to obviate the cause. Then there is this unhappy jealousy on account of Garibaldi. It is useless to attempt disguising the fact that the Sardinian government is piqued and vexed with the Neapolitans because the latter, on every possible occasion, give vent to their admiration of the absent Liberator, by enthusiastic shouts of ' Long live Garibaldi !' You cannot mix with any circle of politicians without hearing Garibaldi's acts discussed, and the injustice done to him condemned. You cannot enter a theatie without hearing [ from the audience the demand that airs in honour of Garibaldi be played or sung. Now, after all, human nature in Sardinian statesmen and viceroys, and even in the Sardinian monarch himself, is just what it is in the lest of mankind, and you cannot wonder if these high personages dislike having their noses put and kept out of joint by Garibaldi's popularity. His fame feeenis to be even a gieater power than was his actual presence. The well-graced actoi has left the scene, and as for the king 'none cry God bless him.' Indeed, but foi the firm hope that Garibaldi will soon return, the lower classes of the Neapolitans would certainly break out into diaoider."

The "Home News" of December 26th, contains the following :—: — News fiom China has of late been of so exciting a kiud as almost to monopolise public attention, aud the inteiest with which the progress of affans in New Zealand has been watched lias yielded, foi the tune, to that which was awakened by a mattei ol still <*t eater urgency. Yet our lecent intelligence fiom Taranaki has not failed to create deep anxiety in those quartets in winch its unpoi t is undei stood , and it is only the want of moie complete mfonnition is to facts which pievents that anxiety fiom being more generally diffused. The spirit of party tinges m so marked a manner almost all the accounts which 1 each us that it is no wonder that public opinion m England has not yet been able to take up a decided attitude ou the New Zealaud question. So far as public opinion has hitherto been expiessed, it continues to follow the direction indicated m our last — that is, the duection taken by the New Zealand colonists m this country, of whose knowledge ot the facts of the case there was no doubt We .ne happy to be able to report that the colonists in London have oponed a subscuption for the settlers of Taranaki who have suffered in consequence of the lecent distiubances