The Sun. — London, England, 1859-03-31 00:00:00

* This passage between brackets will not be found in Mr. Gladstone's first letter of 1851, but in his subsequent letter, "An Examination of the Official Reply of the Neapolitan Government," published in 1852. t He had solicited Voerio, when minister, to get him ap pointed one of the ushers or door-ke_ epers to the Chamber of Deputies, and he vowed revenge on bebg refused. NR. GLADSTONE'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIAL AND IMPRISONMENT OF PDXBIO AND HIS COMPANIONS. (From the Daily News.) In the Daily News of weekwe supplied some extracts from the letters addressed by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone to .the Earl of Aber deen, in 1851, on the cruelties and iniquities of the Government of Naples. The portions which we have already quoted are a general description of the in t olerable perversion of official power and wholesale practice of lawless violence, fraud, and inhumanity, which have so long been permitted in that unhappy kingdom, and which are the practical consequences of the Austrian domination throughout Italy. We now resume our examination of Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet, taking from it his account of the mon strous prosecution of those distinguished men- 2 -a very few out of the hundreds and thousands of victims since 1848—who have just been received with so much respect and sympathy in England:— " And now, perhaps, I cannot do better than fur nish a thread to my statement, by dealing particu larly with the case of Carlo Poerio. It has every recommendation for the purpose. His father was a distinguished lawyer. He is himself a refined and accomplished gentleman, a copious and eloquent speaker, a respected and blameless character. I have , had the means of ascertaining in some degree political position. He is strictly a constitution alist ; and while I refrain from examining into the shameful chapter of Neapolitan history which that word might open, I must beg you to remember that its strict meaning there is just the same as here, that it signifies • a person opposed in heart to all violent measures from whatever quarter, and having for his political creed the maintenance of the mo narchy on its , legal basis, by legal means, and with all the civilising improvements of laws and establish ments which may tend to the welfare and happiness of the community. His pattern is England, rather than America or France. I have never heard him charged with error in politics, other than such as can generally be alleged with truth against the most high minded and loyal, the most intelligent and constitutional of our own statesmen. I must say, after a pretty full examination of his case, that the condemnation of such a man for treason is a proceeding just as much conformable to the laws of truth, justice, decency, and fair play, and to the common sense of the community, in fact just as great and gross an outrage on them all, as would be a like condemnation in this country of any of our best known public men, Lord J. Russell, or Lord Lansdowne, or Sir James Graham, or yourself. I will not say that it is precisely the same as re spects his rank and position, but they have scarcely any public man who stands higher, nor is there any one of the names I have mentioned dearer to the English nation—perhaps none so dear--as is that of Poerio to his Neapolitan fellow-countrymen. " I pass by other inqurnfut remarkable cases, such as that of Settembrini, who, in a sphere by some degrees narrower, but with a character quite as pure and fair, was tried with Poerio and 40 more, and was capitally convicted in February, though, through a humane provision of the law, the sentence was not executed ; but he has, I fear, been reserved for a fate much harder. [He is confined, with eight more prisoners, at San Stefano, in a room 16 palmi square (rather less than 13 feet square), which they are never allowed to leave. One of them, named Cajazzo, is a man condemned for murder 49 years ago, who boasts of having at different times mur dered 35 persons. Several of these exploits he has committed in the prison upon his companions ; and. I have been assured that the murders in this Ergas tolo have exceeded 50 in a single year. What 'kind of protection, I want to know, is thus afforded to the life of Settembrini?*] " I shall likewise say very little upon the case of Faucitano, who like Settembrini was tried with Poerio in the same batch of 42 prisoners during last winter. This case is peculiar, since there really was a foundation for the charge. The charge was an intention to destroy, by means of some terrible explosive agents, several of the Ministers and other persons. The foundation was that he had in his breast-pocket, on a great public occasion, a single bottle, which exploded there without injuring him in life or limb ! It is likely that he intended some freak or folly, but he was condemned to death. Till within a few hours of the time appointed it was believed that he would be executed. The Bianchi were in the streets collecting alms to purchase masses for his soul. He was in the chapel of the condemned, with the priests about him, when dur ing the night, his case having been discussed at a council in the daytime, there came down from Caserta a messenger, with orders for his reprieve. I have learned the agency through which that re prieve was procured, but the notice of it is unne cessary for my present purpose. " Carlo Poerio was one of the Ministers of the Crown under the Constitution, and had also one of the most prominent positions in the Neapolitan Parliament. He was, as regarded the Sicilian ques tion, friendly to the maintenance of the unity of the kingdom. He was also friendly to the war of inde pendence, as it was termed. But I have never heard that he manifested greater zeal in that matter than the King of Naples; it is a question, of course, wholly irrespective of what we have now to consi ; der. Poerio appeared to enjoy the king's full confi dence ; his resignation, when offered, was at first declined, and his advice asked even after its accept ance. " The history of his arrest, as detailed by himself in his address of February the Bth, 1850, to his judges, deserves attention. The evening before it (July 18, 1849), a letter was left at his house, by a person unknown, conceived in these terms ' and fly with speed. You a r e b e t ra y e d! th e Govern ment is already in possession of your correspondence with the Marquis Dragonetti. From one who loves you much.' Had ho fled it would have been proof of his guilt, ample for those of whom we are now speaking. But he was aware Of this, and did not fly. Moreover, no such correspondence existed. On the 19th, about four in the afternoon, two persons, presenting themselves at his door under a false title, obtained entry, and announced to him that he was arrested in virtue of a verbal order of Peccheneda, the Prefect of Police. He pro tested in vain ; the house was ransacked; he was carried into solitary confinement. He demanded to be examined and to know the cause of his arrest within 24 hours, according to law, but in vain. So early, however, as on the sixth day he was brought before the Commissary Maddaloni, and a letter with the seal unbroken was put into his hands. It was addressed to him, and he was told that it had come under cover to a friend of the Marquis Dra gonetti, but that the cover had been opened by mis take by an officer of the police, who happened to have the same name, though a different surname, and who, on perceiving what was within, handed both to the authorities. Poerio was desired to open it, and did open it, in the presence of the Commis sary. Thus far, nothing could be more elaborate and careful than the arrangement of the proceeding. But mark the sequel. The matter of the letter of course was highly treasonable ; it announced an invasion by Garribaldi, fixed a conference with Mazzini, and referred to a correspondence with Lord Palmerston, whose name was miserably man gled, who promised to aid a proximate revolution. I perceived at once,' says Poerio, that the hand writing of Dragonetti was vilely imitated, and I said so, remarking that the internal evidence of sheer forgery was higher th an any amount of ma terial proof whatever. Dragonetti was one of the most accomplished of Italians ; wherea s thi s l etter was full of blunders, both of grammar and spelling. It is scarcely worth while to notice oth er absurdi ties, such as the signature of name, surname, and title in full, and the transmission of such a letter by the ordinarry post of Naples. Poerio had among his papers certain genuine letters of Dragoneti's ; th e y were produced and compared with this, and the forgery stood confessed. Upon the detection . of thi s monstrous iniquity what steps were taken by . the Government to avenge, not Poerio, but public ju s tice ? None whatever, the papers were simply laid aside. _ ____. "I have taken this detail from Poerio himself, in his defence ; but all Naples knows the story, and knows it with disgust. "Poerio's papers furnished no matter of accu sation. " Tt was thus necessary to forge again, or rather perhaps to act upon forgeries which had beeen pre pared, but which were at first deemed inferior to the Dragonetti letter. _ _ "A person named Jervolino, a disappointed ap plicant for some low office,f had been selected for the work both of espionage and of perjury ; and Poerio was now accused, under information from him, of being among the chiefs of a republican sect denominated the Unita Italiana, and of an inten tion to murder the king. He demanded to be con fronted with his accuser. He had long before known and named Jervolino to his friends, as having falsely denounced him to the Government, but the authorities refused to confront them; the name was not even told him ; he went from one prison to another ; he was confined, as he alleges, in places fit for filthy brutes rather than men ; he was cut off from the sight of friends ; even his mother, his sole remaining near relation in the country, was not permitted to see him for two months together. Thus he passed some seven or eight months in total ignorance of any evidence against him, or of those who gave it. During that interval Signor Antonio de Du chi di Santo Vito came to him, and told him the G overnment knew all,but that i f would con fess, bis life would be spared. He demanded of his judge: ; on his trial that Santo Vito should be exa mined as to this statement ; of course it was not done. But more than this, Signor Peccheneda himsel lf, the director of the police, and holding the station i of a Cabinet Minister of the king, went re peated Ily to the prison, summoned divers prisoners, and w ith a flagrant illegality examined them him self, W rithout witnesses, and without record. One of thf 3se was Carafa. By one deposition of this Caraft i, who was a man of noble family, it was de clared. that Peccheneda himself assured him his matter should be very easily arranged, if he would only testify to Poerio's acquaintance with certain revolutionary handbills. It could not be ; and the Cabin et Minister took leave of Carafa with the word.% Very well, sir ; you wish to destroy your self; *I leave you to your fate' " &Etch was the conduct of Peccheneda, as Poerio did not fear to state it before his judges. I must add that I have heard upon indubitable authority of other proceedings of that minister of the King of Naples, which fully support the credibility of the charge. " Besides the denunzia, or accusation, of Servo lino, ,on which the trial ultimately turned, there was against Poerio the evidence given by Romeo, a priinter, and co-accused, to the effect that he had heard another person mention Poerio as one of the heads of the sect. The value of this evidence may be estimated from the fact that it included along with Poerio two of the persons then ministers, the Cavaliere Bozzelli and the Principe di Torella. It was in fact abandoned as worthless, for it spoke of Poerio as a chief in the sect ; but this was in con tradiction with Jervolino, and the charge of mem bership only was prosecuted against him. But again, you will remark, the prisoner in no way took benefit from the explosion or failure of any charge; all proceedings went on the principle that the duty of government was to prove guilt, by means true or false, and that public justice has no interest in the acquittal of fhe innocent. " There was also the testimony of Margherita, another of the co -accused. He declared, upon an a ft er -thought, that Poerio attended a meeting of the high council of the sect. He declared also that, a s a member of this republican and revolutionary sect, Poerio was one of three who contended for maintaining the monarchical constitution, and that he was accordingly expelled. On this ground, not to mention others, the evidence of Margherita was unavailable. "It is too easy to understand'why these efforts were made by the co-accused as inculpating Poerio and other men of consideration. But they did not issue in relief to the parties who made them, per haps, because their work was so ill executed, or even their treachery not thought genuine. Mar gherita was confined at Niaida, in February last, in the same room with those he had denounced. Na*, he had actually been chained to one.of them. I shall hereafter describe what this joint chaining is. " The accusation, then, of JerTolino formed the sole real basis of the trial and condemnation of Poerio. Poerio was named in the evidence of Ca rafa, but in a manner tending positively to prove his innocence. " Upon this evidence of a man without character or station, and who was a disappointed suitor for office that he thought he should have had by Poerio's means, a gentleman of the highest character, re cently a confidential and favoured servant of the King, was put upon trial for his life. " The matter of accusation was this—Jervolino stated that, having failed to obtain an office through Poerio, he asked him to enrol him in the sect of the Unita Banana —that Poerio put him in charge of a person named Attanasio, who was to take him to another of the prisoners, named Nisco, that he might be admitted; that Nisco sent him to a third person named Ambrosio, who initiated him. He could not recollect any of the forms, nor the oath of the sect ! Of the certificate or diploma, or of the meetings, which the rules of the sect when pub lished (as the Government professed to have found them) proved to be indispensable for all its mem bers, he knew nothing whatever ! " rlow did he know, said Poerio, that I was of the sect when he asked me to admit him ? No answer. Why could not Nisco, who is represented in the accusation as a leader, admit him ? No answer. If I, being a Minister of the Crown at the time, was also a member of the sect, could it be necessary for me to have him thus referred to one person, and another, and a third, for admission ? No answer. Why has not Ambrosio, who admitted him, been molested by the Government ? No answer. Could I be a sectarian, when, as a minister, I was decried and reviled by the exalted party in all their jour nals for holding fast to the constitutional monarchy P No answer. Nay, such was the impudent stupidity of the informer, that, in detailing the confidences which Poerio, as he said, had made to him, he fixed the last of them in May 29,, ; 1849; upon which Poerio showed that in Mayl . 4:or seven days be fore, he was in possession of ft. Written report or accusation made by Jervolino, as the appointed spy upon him, to the police • and Yet, with this in his hand, he still continued to make him a political confidant. " Such was a specimen of tbe tissue of Jervolino's evidence ; such its contradictions and absurdities. Jervolino had shortly before been a beggar; he now appeared well dressed and in good condition, and he stated that the multitudes of witnesses called by the accused in exculpation were in no case but one allowed to be called. That one, as I have learned it, was this. Poerio alleged that a certain arch priest declared Jervolino had told him he received a pension of 12 ducats a month from the Govern ment for the accusations he was making against Poerio, and the arch-priest on the prisoner's demand was examined. Tl arch-priest confirmed the statement, and mentioned two more of his relatives who could do the same. In another case I have heard that six persons to whom a prisoner appealed as witnesses in exculpation, were thereupon them selves arrested. Nothing more likely. "I myself heard Jervolino's evidence discussed for many hours in court ; and it appeared to me that the tenth part of what I heard should not only have ended the case, but have secured his condign punishment for perjury. " I must, however, return to the point and say, even had his evidence been self-consistent and free from the grosser presumptions of untruth, the very fact of his character, as compared with Poerio s, was enough to have secured the acquittal of the accused with any man who had justice for his object. Nor do I believe there is one man in Naples, of average intelligence, who believes one word of the accusation of Jervolino. " Two exceptions were taken in the course of these proceedings. It was argued by the counsel for Poerio that the Grand Court Extraordinary, before which the trial took place, was incompetent to deal with the case, because the charge referred to his conduct while a Minister and a member of the Chamber of Deputies ; and by the 48th article of the Constitutional Statute all such charges were to tried by the Chamber of Peers. The exception was rejected, and the rejection confirmed upon appeal. " The second exception was this. It was distinctly charged against the prisoners that their supposed sect had conspired against the life of some of the ministers, and of the Judge Domenic Antonio Na varro, the President of the co art ; first, by means of the bottle that exploded in the pocket of Fauci tano ; secondly, by means of a body of pugnalatori, or assassins, who were to do the work if the bottle failed. Their intention purported to be founded on the cruelty of the judgments he had pronounced upon innocent persons. The prisoners protested against being tried by him, and he himself pre sented a note to the court stating he felt scruples about proceeding with the case, and desired to be guided by the rest of the court. The court unani mously decided that he ought to sit and judge these men upon a charge including the allegation of their intent to murder him ; and fined the prisoners and their counsel 100 ducats for taking the objection ! This decision, too, was confirmed upon appeal; and the courts both sagely observed, that the scruple felt by Navarro was such a proof of the impartial, delicate, and generous nature of his mind, as ought to show that he could not possibly be under any bias _; while th e y a d m i tted that under the law of Naples, if he had even within five years been en gaged in any criminal suit as a party against them, he could not have sat. So this delicate, impartial, and generous-minded man, accordingly, sat and tried the prisoners. In the case where I have heard the detail of the voting of the judges, Navarro voted for condemnation, and for the severest form government metnhtat ought l h p t persons be of punishment. I have been told, and I believe, he makes no secret of his charged by the King's found guilty. I have been told, and I fullybelieve, that Poerio, whose case was certainly a pretty strong one, even for the Neapolitan judges, would have been acquitted by a division of four to four (such is the humane provision of the law in case of equality) had not Navarro, by the distinct use of intimidation, that is of threat of dismissal to a judge whose name, has been told me, procured the number necessary for a sentence. But I need not go into these foul recesses. I stand upon the fact that Navarro, whose life, according to the evidence for the charge, was aimed at by the prisoners, sat as president of the court that tried them for their lives; and I ask whether language can exaggerate the state of things in a country where such enormities are perpetrated under the sanction of the Government. " So much for the exceptions. I must observe on another curious point with reference to the court of justice. It did not sit as an ordinary, but as a special court. When a court sits specially, it is with a view to despatch. On these occasions the * But this disgusting scene, which Mr. Gladstone relates, is nothing in comparison with the shocking spectacle wit nessed day after day by our own correspondent who reported, just twelve months ago, the trial of the Sapri insurgents be fore the Grand Criminal Court of Salerno. Our readers can not yet have forgotten his description of the ghastly crowd, nearly 300 half-starved and halt -naked men, and some of them wounded or sick, who filled the prisoners' dock. One day the proceedings were twice interrupted in order that one of the fainting wretches, who sank to the ground with speedy death marked upon his features, might be removed. Another day, a man who had been driven mad by terror and the brutal ill-treatment of the turnkeys and police, burst out raving and tore his shirt to pieces in open court ; more than one prisoner died before the trial was over. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 31, 185 c). process is shortened by the omission of many forms most valuable, as I am assured, for the defence of the prisoner. Above forty persons on that single occasion were thus robbed of important aids with a view to expedition, and yet these men had been sixteen or eighteen months and upwards in prison before they were brought to trial. " I shall now give an indication not of the im partiality of the court, but of the degree of decency with which its partiality is veiled. In two cases it happened to be within the knowledge of the counsel for the prisoners that the perjured wit nesses against them did not even know them by sight. In one of these the counsel desired to be allowed to ask the witness to point out the accused persons among the whole number of those charged, who were all sitting together. The court refused. permission. In the other case the counsel chal lenged the witness to point out the man of whose proceedings he was speaking. If lam rightly in formed, the judge, Navarro, whom I have so lately mentioned, affecting not to hear the question, called out to the prisoner, Stand up, Signor Nisco ; the court has a question to ask you.' This was done, and counsel then informed him that he might pur sue his examination. A laugh of bitter mockery ran through the court. " I must now place before you an example of the humanity with which invalid prisoners are treated by the. Grand Criminal Court of Naples. The state ment is not mine ; but it proceeds from a gentleman and an eye-witness, and one who thoroughly understands the language. "'The original number of the persons under trial for forming part of the imaginary society chris tened by the police the " Unita Italiana," was 42. The list was headed by the name of Antonio Leip necher, now no more. His illness prevented the court sitting for some days. At last, Navarro in formed the medical men attached to the prisons, that their consciences must find means to certify the possibility of Leipnecher's attendance on the fol lowing morning. On the following morning I was on my way to the tribunal with a friend, when we met one of the doctors, with whom my friend was acquainted. He began to talk about Leipnecher, and said the man was dangerously ill, but that his own position was such that he could not safely certify to the impossibility of his attendance, and that he had consequently informed the President that Leipnecher might be brought into court in a sedan-chair, provided restoratives were allowed him, and no questions were asked him. I entered the court, and after the other prisoners had taken their places, the sedan-chair was brought in, from which Antonio Leipnecher was led, or rather carried, in a state of mental and bodily prostration. Navarro opened the proceedings by calling upon the cancel liere to read the interrogatorio of Antonio Leip necher ; and when finished, called upon him for his observations. His lawyer said that he had already endeavoured to speak to him, but that he was unable to answer or understand.: „Navarro then addressed him in a menacing tone, cautioning him that by shamming illn es, he was ruining his own cause. Leipnecher made some inaudible observations, which were repeated by another prisoner, to the effect that the doctors had not taken any pains to cure him. " Oh," said Navarro, " write down that ,he says the doctors would not cure him." The Pro curator-General, A. elillo, then desired that the doctors might be 4ain called in to give their opinion as to his present state, which they did in an hour, and reported him suffering from an acute fever, and unable to remain ? "But," said Ange lillo, as he is here, why can he not remain." "He cannot," said the doctors, " without immediate danger to his life." The court then broke up, and when it again met, in the course of two or three days, Leipnecher was in his grave:* " Three of the 41 prisoners in what I may call the Poerio case were condemned to death—Settem brini, Agresti, and Faucitano. Poerio himself was condemned to 24 years of irons. I believe the vote on him was as follows :—Three judges for acquittal, two for irons, three, including the deli cate, scrupulous, and impartial mind of Navarro, for DEATH—on that testimony of Jervolino, which I have sufficiently described. The two latter sections then joined in voting for the lighter punishment, and thus the majority was obtained, one vote having been at first drawn off from the side of acquittal by the bullying process to which I have before referred, and which was fitly en trusted to the delicate, scrupulous, impartial, and generous Navarro. " A strange error is said to have occurred. It seems that the Neapolitan law humanely provides that when three persons are found guilty capitally, the sentence can be pronounced only on one; but that this was forgotten by the judges, and only found out by the procurator-general, or some other party, after they thought they had finished. I have even heard it stated that Settembrini and Agresti received, as of mercy, a reprieve, to which they were entitled as of right. As to Faucitano, [ will not enter into details of what occurred at Caserta in the palace, but I have heard them, and minutely too ; and there appears to me too good reason to believe that the threat of the withdrawal of certain useful support from the Government of Naples, and not humanity, dictated at the last moment the commutation of his punishment. But, whatever capital punishment may be in other points of view, I do not hesitate to say it would be a refined humanity, in respect to the amount of suffering which it inflicts, in whatever form, through the agency of men, as compared with that which is actually undergone in the kingdom of Naples, in sentences of imprisonment. " I have spoken of Settembrini and his reported and too credible torture. I come now to what I have either seen, or heard on the most direct and unquestionable authority. " In February last Poerio and sixteen of the co-accused (with few of whom, however, he had had any previous acquaintance) were confined in the Bagnio of Nisida, near the Lazaretto. For one half-hour in the week, a little prolonged by the leniency of the superintendent, they were allowed to see their friends outside the prison. This was their sole view of the natural beauties with which they were surrounded. At other times they were exclusively within the walls. The whole number of them, except, I think, one, then in the infirmary, were confined, night and day, in a single room of about 16 palms in length by 10 or 12 in breadth, and about 10 in height ; I think with some small yard for exercise. Something like a fifth must be taken off tkese numbers to convert palms into feet. When the beds were let down at night there was no space between them ; they could only get out at the foot, and being chained two and two, only in pairs. In this room they had to cook or prepare what was sent them by the kindness of their friends. On one side the level of the ground is over the top of the room ; it therefore reeked with damp, and from this, tried with long confinement, they declared they suffered greatly. There was one window—of course unglazed ; and let not an Eng lishman suppose that this constant access of air in the Neapolitan climate is agreeable or innocuous ; on the contrary, it is even more important there than here to have the means of excluding the open air—for example, before and at sunset. Vicissitud e of climate, again, is quite as much felt there as here. and the early morning is somtimes extremely cold. "Their chains were as follows. Each man wears a strong leather girth round him above the hips. To this are secured the upper ends of two chains. One chain of four long and heavy links descends to a kind of double ring fixed round the ankle. The second chain consists of eight links, each of the same weight and length with the four, and this unites the two prisoners together, so that they can stand about six feet apart. Neither of these chains is ever undone day or night. The dress of common felons, which as well as the felon's cap was there worn by the late cabinet minister of King Ferdi nand of Naples, is composed of a rough and coarse red jacket, with trowsers of the same material— very like the cloth made in this country from what is called devil's dust : the trowsers are nearly black in colour. On his head he had a small cap, which makes up the suit; it is all of the same material. The trowsers button all the way up, that they may be removed at night without dis turbing the chains. " The weight of these chains, I understand, is about eight rotoli, or between 16 and 17 English pounds for the shorter one, which must be doubled when we give each prisoner his half of the longer one. The prisoners had a heavy limping move ment, much as if one leg had been shorter than the other. But the refinement of suffering in this case arises from the circumstance that here we have men of education and high feeling chained inces santly together. For no purpose are these chains undone; and the meaning of these last words must be well considered ; they are to to be taken strictly. " Well, it may be thought, the practice is bar barous, and ought not to prevail; still, as it does prevail, it might be difficult to exempt these per sons, though gentlemen, from it. But this, my lord, is not the true explanation. On the contrary, it was for the sake of these very gentlemen that the practice of chaining two and two was intro duced into the Bagnio of Nisida. I was assured that tw o i or th ree wee k s b e f ore , among 800 pri soners n that Bagnio (which to the passer-by looks hardly bigger than a Martello tower) these double irons were totally unknown ; and there were many political offenders then there; but they were men of the lower class, to whom this kind of punish ment would have been but a slight addition. But just about the time when Poerio and his compa nions were sentto Nisida an order came from Prince Luigi, the brother of the King, who, as admiral, has charge of the island, ordering that double irons should be used for those who had been brought into the prison since a certain rather recent date—l think the 22d of July, 1850. Thus it was contrived to have them put on Poerio* and his friends, and yet to have a plea, such as it is, for saying that the measure was not adopted with a view to their case, and to the extreme moral (as well as the not slight physical) suffering which it would secure for them. Among these, as I have already said, had been chained together, the in former Margherita and one of his victims. Among these, I myself saw a political prisoner, Romeo, chained in the manner I have described to an ordi nary.offender—a young man with one of the most ferocious and sullen countenances I have seen among many hundreds of the Neapolitan criminals. " The inspector of this prison, General Palomba, had, I was informed, never, or not for a very long time, visited it. But he had come just before I was there, and it is impossible to avoid the inference that he came in order to make certain that the orders for increased severity were not evaded or relaxed. " I had heard that the political offenders were obliged to have their heads shaved; but this had not been done, though they had been obliged to shave away any beard they might have had. " I must say 1 was astonished at the mildness with which they spoke of those at whose hands they were enduring these abominable persecutions, and at their Christian resignation as well as their forgiving temper, for they seemed ready to undergo with cheerfulness whatever might yet be in store for them. Their health is evidently suffering. I saw the aunt of one of these prisoners, a man of about 28, weep when she spoke of his altered looks, and of the youthful colour but a few weeks before in his cheeks. I should have taken him for 40. I had seen Poerio in December, during his trial, but I should not have known him at Nisida. He did not expect his own health to stand, although God, he said, had given him strength to endure. It was suggested to him from an authoritative guar- ter, that his mother, of whom he was the only prop, might be sent to the King to implore his pardon, or he might himself apply for it. He steadily refused. That mother, when I was at Naples, was losing her mental power under the pressure of her afflictions. It seemed as if God, more compassionate than her fellow creatures, was taking them away in mercy ; for she had, amidst her sorrow, trances and visions of repose. She told a young physician known to me, that she had been seeing her son, and with him another person. The two were in different gaols, and she had seen neither. _ ",,Since I left Naples, Poerio has slink - to a lower depth of calamity. He has been taken, I under stand, from Nisida to Ischia, farther from public interest and, perhaps, to some abode like the dun geon where Baron Porcari is confined. What I saw was quite enough. Never before have I con versed, and never probably shall I converse again, with a cultivated and accomplished gentleman, of whose innocence, obedience to law, and love of his country, I was as firmly and as rationally assured as of your lordship's, or that of any other man of the highest character, whilst he stood before me amidst surrounding felons, and clad in the vile uniform of guilt and shame. - But he is now gone where he will scarcely have the opportunity even of such conversation. I cannot honestly suppress my conviction, that the object in the case of Poerio, as a man of mental power sufficient to be feared, is to obtain the scaffold's aim by means more cruel than the scaffold, and without the outcry which the scaffold would create. "I have endeavoured to avoid multiplicity of detail, and have referred particularly to the case of Poerio, not because I have the slightest reason to believe it more cruel or wicked than others, but because I was able to follow it some what better through its particulars, and because it is one which will more readily than most others attract interest out of his own country. Crimine ab uno disce omnes. It is better that the veil should be lifted from scenes fitter for hell than for earth. " I will, however, give your lordship another specimen of the treatment administered at Naples to men illegally arrested, and as yet uncondemned. From the 7th of December last to the 3d of Feb ruary, Pironte, who was formerly a judge, and is still a gentleman, and who was found guilty on or about the last named day, spent his whole days and nights, except when on his trial, with two other men, in a cell at the Vicaria, about eight feet square, below the level of the ground, with no light except a grating at the top of the wall, out of which they could not see. Within the space of these eight feet, with the single exception I have named, Pironte and his companions were confined during those two months ; neither for mass were they allowed to quit it, nor for any purpose what ever. This was in Naples, where by universal consent matters are far better than in the provinces, as the presence of strangers has some small influence on the Government. This, I say, was in Naples; it was the case of a gentleman, a lawyer, a judge, accused, but uncondemned. Do not suppose it is selected and exceptional. I had no'power to select, except from what happened to become known to me, from among a sample quite insignificant in comparison with what must have remained un known to me. There was another case I learned, which I believe I can report with accuracy, though my knowledge of it is not quite the same as of the last. When I left Naples, in February, the Baron Porcari was confined in the Castle of Ischia. He was accused of a share in the Calabrian insurrection, and was awaiting his trial. His prison is a dun geon without light, and 24 feet or palms (I am not su're which) below the level of the sea. He is never allowed to quit it day or night, and no one is per mitted to visit him there, except his wife once a fortnight." In his subsequent and explanatory letter, pub lished the next year, Mr. Gladstone, whilst he finds ample cause to adhere to the description he has already given of the general state of things in the kingdom of Naples, adds some other particulars re lative to the prison at Ischia, and the outrages there inflicted upon the unfortunate gentlemen confined there, such as would scarcely be suspected by the " butterfly visitors " to Naples, when they look at " those lovely islands scattered along the coast, whose picturesque and romantic forms delight the eye of the passing voyager, ignorant what huge and festering masses of human suffering they con ceal.", He completely demolished, by facts and statistics of the most authentic and precise kind, the insincere and miserable attempts of Mr. Charles Macfarlane, and M. Jules Gondon, editor of the Univers, to protect their patron King Bomba from the scorn and detestation which these horrible dis closures have brought upon him. But whilst these are " the gigantic horrors" of the Two Sicilies, it is well to recollect that throughout the other Italian States where the Austrian ascendency pre vails, it makes itself felt in the same intolerable oppression, and in the Roman states especially, which are in the possession of an Austrian army, the Pope's prisons of Paliano and Fort Urbane have been shown to be only a few degrees better than those in the kingdom of Naples. A minute account of their condition, and of the treatment of the political prisoners confined in them, appeared in our journal two or three years ago. The ille gality of judicial governmental proceedings, which makes the government of Naples, as Mr. Gladstone says, "the great law-breaker and malefactor of the country," exists all over Italy. • About three years ago, it was mentioned in one of our own letters from Naples, that during a very critical and pain ful medical operation which it had become necessary for Poerio to undergo, his chains were not removed ; and if we are not mistaken, the Hon. Mr. Petre, of the British Lega tion, mentioned this fact in a letter to Lord Palmerston. t Pironte has been frequently mentioned in our own letters from Naples, as suffering from prolonged and painful disease. He is not one of those whom the King has recently let out of prison, and we belive he still wears his chains, unless death has taken them off. THE SHIPPING INTEREST.—The committee ap pointed by the House of Commons to inquire into the ope ration of those burdens and restrictions which specially affect merchant shipping have appointed Sir George Come wall Lewis chairman of the committee, and Wednesday next has been fixed for the first sitting to receive evidence. A special meeting of the London and South- Western Railway Company is called for the 7th April, to consider a number of bills pending in Parliament, one of which authorises the company to " make new works and to raise further funds," whilst another authorises an amalga mation with or a lease of the Portsmouth Railway. DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF HARROWBY.—We have to aunounce the demise of the Countess of Harrowby, who expired yesterday at the family mansion in Grosvenor osquare, after a painful illness of several week's duration. The deceased Countess was daughter of John, first Marquis of Bute, by his second marriage with Frances, the second daughter of Mr. Thomas Coutts, and was sister of the late Lord Dudley Stuart. Her ladyship was married Sept. 15, 1823, to the Earl of Harrowby, then Viscount Sandon, by whom she leaves surviving issue Viscount Sandon, M.P. LADvEßTisEmENT.l—Holloway's Ointment.—Measles, Cough, Wheezing.— he symptoms of coming measles are generally recognised by every parent ; but the safe mode of treatment is not so universally known or happily followed. The grand object is to keep the rash well out, to prevent inflammation, to check cough. Holloway's ointment, as sisted by a regulated ter4erature, ensures these desirable results ; when well rubbed upon the back and chest it is absorbed, and acts so wholesomely on the entire system that the morbid matter is naturally expelled, and with moderate care afterwards all danger of pulmonary or head disease passes away. It is prudent, m every case, to use this remedy, nor should the mildest attack lull us into delusive or ceusurable security. LAW INTELLIGENCE. Marcia 30. COURT OF PROBATE AND DIVORCE. (Before the Judge Ordinary.) SWINFEN v. SWINFEN.-JUDGMENT. _ Sir C. Cresswell said this was an application re specting the costs of proving the will of the late Samuel Swinfen, who died about 1855. The result of the proceedings taken in the Court of Chancery was that the will, which was in favour of the widow of the testator's son, was established, and probate was not now opposed. The executrix did not ask that the next of kin, who had opposed the will in the Court of Chancery, should be condemned in the costs of the proceedings in the Prerogative Court, but the next of kin asked that his costs might be paid out of the estate. If he had thought that the proceedings in the Prerogative Court had been instituted for the simple purpose of obtaining the judgment of that Court upon the will, he should have considered it a proper case for giving costs out of the estate ; but he could not help believing, from the circumstances that had come out in the course of the case, that they were merely in stituted as ancillary to the object of obtain ing a decision against the will in the other courts. The next of kin having had the advan tage of something in the nature of a bill of dis covery, he thought he ought not to decree costs out of the estate. No costs would therefore be paid on either side. CHERRY V. CHERRY. This was a petition by a husband for a restitu tion of conjugal rights, which was opposed by the wife upon the ground that he had treated her with cruelty. The case was tried in December last, be fore the Judge Ordinary and a jury, when a ver dict was returned for the petitioner. His Lordship subsequently decreed that the respondent should return to the petitioner. Dr. Deane, Q.C., now moved for an attachment against the respondent, Mrs. Cherry, for contempt. It appeared from the affidavits that she was per sonally served with the order of the Court on the 26th of January ; that the petitioner had written her a letter on the 4th of February earnestly im ploring her to return, and that he had made every preparation for her reception, but she had taken no notice of the order or of the letter, and had not returned. Sir C. Cresswell said an ordermust be served upon Mrs. Cherry to obey the decree of the Court within a week or ten days, and that if that order was not obeyed an attachment would issue. ALLEN V. ALLEN AND D'AROY. This was an application by Mrs. Allen, the re spondent, that the petitioner, Mr. Allen, should be ordered to restore her infant child to her custody-. Sir C. Cresswell, having taken time to consider his decision, now rejected the application, observing that the affidavits left ri'doubt upon his mind that Mrs. Allen had gressly miscopducted herself in her attempts to obtain:p9sscssicin of the children since the suit was commenced. After her - husband had obtained possession of the child in respect of whom this application was made, she did not think fit to resort to this Court in the first instance, but only asked for its assistance when she had failed to re cover possession of the child by violence. He also thought that the husband ought not to be burdened with the costs of this application, but that they ought to be paid out of the alimony which had been awarded to the wife. MASSIE V. MASSIE.-JUDGMENT. This was a petition for a judicial separation, pre sented by a wife on the ground o f h er husband's adultery and desertion. It was tried on the 11 th inst., and his lordship reserved his decision. His Lordship now pronounced the decree for a judicial separation. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-11Iarch 30. BOW-STREET.—Edward Mortimer, a middie aged person of gentlemanly appearance, described as of 2, Russell-court, St. James's, and Thomas Robert Marshall, milita r y t a il or , of 32, Jermyn street, St. James's, were charged with " unlawfully conspiring to bargain for the sale of a certain com mission in the army." Mr. Bodkin conducted the prosecution on behalf of the War-office ; Mr. Ribton attended for Morti mer, and Mr. Orridge for the other defendant, Marshall, Mr. Bodkin opened the case, observing that it was one which would ultimately occupy much of his worship's time, although he should at present confine himself to a brief statement of the circum stances, and then ask for a remand to a future day. The defendants were charged, in conjunction with a third person named Eicke (also included in the warrant, but not yet in custody), with having con spired to sell and receive money for an ensigncy in the 13th Regiment Light Infantry, contrary to the 49th of George 111., which made it a penal offence to receive any money, gratuity, or reward, either directly or indirectly, for any appointment in the naval or military service. A previous statute, passed in the reign of one of the Edwards, con , . tained similar provisions in relation to the sale of Government offices, and the penal cl auses o f thi s act were extended to the subsequent act. It ap peared there was a so-called office in Russell-court in which the firm of " Armstrong and Co., Mili tary Agents," were supposed to carry on the busi ness ; but he (Mr. Bodkin) believed that there were no such persons in existence, the real firm being composed of the defendants and others, and the real business carried on being the unlawful sale of army commissions. This was effected partly through the agency of persons known as military tailors, it being the practice to requiring the deposit of a certain sum of money at a banker's pending the negotiation, the deposit to be handed over to the defendants on the appointment in question being gazetted. A gentleman named Bridson who had interested himself to obtain a commission for his brother-in-law " without purchase" had been innocently let into these negotiations, and, the sum of £4OO having been lodgedat White's in the Hay market, the arrangements were carried on by a person named Pugh, who was intimat e ly associated with the defendants. It happened, however, that Pugh fell into some pecuniary embarrassment, and became a prisoner in Whitecross prison ; upon which the defendants and the others associated with them (whose names would probably transpire at' a later stage of the inquiry), appropriated to 'themselves the whole of the money. Pugh applied to them for his share, and sent his wife repeatedly to them, urging the harshness of their conduct in allowing him to remain in confinement. His entreaties were dis regarded, and consequently Pugh disclosed the whole circumstances to his Royal Highness the Commander in -Chief. This prosecution followed as a matter of course, and Pugh and his wife would state what had taken place. Their evidence, if corroborated by other witnesses, would be en titled to credit, and this he should be enabled to do at the next examination, when witnesses at present in the country would be present. The depositions of Pugh and his wife were then read over. They were in effect as follows : James Pugh, a military-looking person, wearing a profusion of beard and moustache, said he was at present a prisoner in the Queen's Bench, at the suit of George Andrews, tailor, of 9, Cork-street, Burlington-gardens, having been previously in the employ of Mr. Davies, tailor, of 19, Hanover street, Hanover-spare. In May, 1858, Mr. Davies made a communication to him, and he called upon Mr. Edwards, jun., tailor, of 10, Hanover-street, who gave him a card. On the same day he (Pugh) went to the British Hotel, Charing-cross, and saw a Mr. Bridson, who spoke about a commission in the army, and gave him the address of Mr. Cun ningham, of Harwood, near Bolton-le-Moors. He knew that " commissions " had been obtained by persons• calling themselves " Armstrong and Co., and he went to them at 2, Russell-court. He saw Mr. Eicke, a brother of one of the firm, which consisted of Mr. Henry Eicke and one Captain Mortimer, to the latter of whom he (Pugh) was introduced. He believed him to be the de fendant Mortimer. This person asked him if he knew any gentlemen requiring commissions, and ' said that he and his partners could get them with greater facility than usual. He said they could get a cornetcy for £250, and an ensigncy for £2OO, and anything they could get beyond that sum should be handed over to him (Pugh). Subse quently, on seeing Eicke, he declined to go on with the business, saying that they only got com missions for " their own people ; ' but about this time he (Pugh) had some business with Mr, Mar shall, tailor, of Jermyn-street, and, menticning the desire of Mr. Bridson to get a commission for his relative, Mr. Cunningham, Marshal said he knew Armstrong and Co.,and he would get them to d o it. Witness told arshall to offer £l5O for one, and, this being done, Marshall said they had con sented, provided the money were deposited at a banker's. Witness then wrote to Mr. Bridson, telling him to deposit £4OO, and direct Mr. Cun ningham to lose no time in reading up for the exa mination. This was in June or July last year. Much correspondence then took place (described by witness), and Mr. Cunningham was appointed in September, 1858. Witness about this time was arrested, and directed Marshall to bring him £250, being the amount in excess of the sum agreed upon by Armstrong and Co. Marshall came to him in the insolvents' prison, and laughed at the idea of paying him the whole of the money, although he (Marshall) had the outfit. He claimed half the amount for himself. He said he had only received £2OO from Armstrong, £lOO of which he claimed for himself, besides £43, which he said he had paid in advance on the commission, and would be re- Wiled to witnesuultimately. Witness then de- tailed the various attempts afterwards made by him to get the money, and the interviews with the partners at " Armstrong and Co.'s," who wanted him to settle it for £57, which he refused to do. Ultimately, hOwever, he consented to accept £57 (seeing no chance of getting more), but £2O only was offered to him by Mr. Dolman, the soli citor of " Armstrong and Co." and this was paid to him at the Queen's Bench. _ Catherine Penrice Pugh, the wife of last wit ness, deposed that she called on Mr. Dolman, solicitor in Jermyn-street, as directed by her husband, about the sth of November to receive £57. He said he had not received the money from Mr. Marshall, but would see him about it. She had several interviews with both Mr. Dolman and Mr. Marshall, the latter eventually declining to pay, on the ground that the matter had been mentioned at the Horse Guards. On the 25th she went to 2, Russell-court, and saw Capt. Mortimer (the defendant). The defendant, Mortimer, said he was not a captain ; he was in no profession. Witness represented the case to Mortimer, who promised to induce Marshall to give up the money. Addressing Mr. Eicke, he said, " This is Mrs. Pugh." Eicke answered, "We have nothing to do with it. We did not recognise Pugh in the trans action. Our agreement was with Marshall, and whatever he arranged with Pugh he ought to act up to, but we have no power to compel him." (The witness described several other interviews of a similar character with Eicke, Marshall, and Mr. Dolman.) Mr. Bodkin, said, this was all he proposed to submit to his worship for the present. Mr. Bridson would attend on a future day, and there being no object in hurrying the proceedings (which would eventually be moved into the Court of Queen's Bench by certiorari), he proposed that there should be a nominal remand for a week, with the under standing that the case should not be gone further into until a week later. Mr. Ribton assented to this proposal, although he did not think there was a tittle of evidence against his client, Mr. Mortimer, who had reason to com plain of the harshness of those proceeding by war rant, when every object would have been served if the usual course of proceeding by summons had been adopted. _ _ _ The learned counsel reserved their cross-examina tion of the witnesses, and applied that their clients might be admitted to bail. Mr. Crridge assured the Court that his client, Mr. Marshall, was a person of the greatest respectability, having carried on the business of a military clothier in Jermyn-street for many years. The very nature of his business occupations led him into constant connexion with military gentlemen, and his share in the transaction could be satisfactorily explained. Mr. Henzy—lt is a bailable offence, and I shall be prepared to admit both defendants to bail, on entering into their ovirn - recognisances in £5OO, and providing two sureties of £250 each._ Mr. Humphreys, the Crown solicitor—With the usual notice, I presume, sir ? Mr. Henry—Yes. The usual notice must be given to the solicitor for the prosecution. Shortly before the magistrate left the court bail on the part of Marshall was put in and accepted. MARLBOROUGH-STREET.—Andrew Poster, William Wagner, alias Curtis, a ticket-of-leave man, described as a law-stationer, Frederick Hum phreys, jeweller and engraver, and William Wynn Bramwell, furniture dealer, were charged with being equally implicated as putters forth of forged bankers' cheques, and one upon the Union Branch Bank of London in particular, and Humphreys with being found in possession of a large amount of counterfeit coin, and the full means for manu facturing the same. The first-named prisoner was apprehended and remanded on Wednesday, the 23d inst., Wagner on the 28th, and the last two on the 29th ; but for obvious reasons it was not considered advisable to give publicity to the previous short examinations. No probability of further apprehension now exist ing, the case in its entirety, so far as it has been proceeded with, is here given : Mr. Mullins, on the part of the Society of Bankers, attended on each examination, and the case now gone into was the putting forth a forged cheque for £265 on the branch bank, Argyle-place. Mr. E. Lewis, of Ely-place, attended for the de fence of Wagner and Humphreys, and Mr. Wontner for Foster. George Watkins, 10, Grafton-place, Euston square, deposed as follows :—I am a baker out of employ, and formerly lived at 28, Church-street, Soho. I use the Three Crowns, Richmond-street, Haymarket, a house of call for bakers. In February last T became acquainted with Bramwell there, where we played at dominoes frequently. Had told him I was doing nothing, and at the end of February he asked if I had any objection to pre sent a cheque on the cross, and everything should be made right by advertisement to prove I was in nocent if taken. I promised an answer next day. I was to have £5O in gold as my share, and was to get the rest in notes for more convenience. It was planned that these were to be exchanged for fo reign money, which could be again changed after wards, and then we were to have a bottle of sherry on the strength of success. He knew I was hard up, as I was running a score at the bar. The con versation was on a Sunday evening. The following morning I communicated with Inspector Webb, at Vine-street station. The same day I went to the Three Crowns, and saw Bramwell again. Ile asked if I would agree, and I said " Yes." He said an advertisement should come out for a baker. I walked away with him, and he said it was desir able to get some one not known ; he had been se veral times, but could not go again, as he was get ting stale and had been stopped. I had only known him by the name Brown. Another appointment he made he did not keep, but I saw him on the sth of Maich at the same house. I told him I had been expecting him, and he replied he had been too busy and that they were not before prepared. He pro mised to bring me the money to advertise the next evening. I did not, however, see him till the 12th, and then only for a short time. On Sunday, the 20th, I went again to the Three Crowns, and had a communication from a man named Lambourn abou t Bramwell. In consequence of what I heard from a landlady where I had lodged, I went to Swinton street, Gray's-inn-lane, and met Bramwell, when he appointed a later hour of the day to see him. I met him accordingly, and we went together to the bar of a beerhouse, where he showed me the copy advertisement produced : " Wanted, by a respectable =riled man, a situation as light porter or messenger in a mercantile house. Address G. W., 10, Grafton. place." He wished me to copy this in my own handwrit ing. I did so, and gave it him. While there a gentleman came in and had a glass of ale, and looked at me. On his going away . Bramwell said, " We can go now," and I went with him as far as Harrison-street, where we parted, and the next day, as had been agreed on, I went to the same beerhouse, but he did not come. .0n reaching home I received a letter which had been sent, in which was a card, and ten minutes afterwards he came to my lodgings and gave me a receipt from the Tele graph-office for advertisements inserted. He said he had kept me at a beerhouse on purpose that the gentleman who came in for the glass of ale might see me. He appointed another meeting at the Three Crowns, but did not keep it, but I found a paper he had left with my wife on going home. Acting upon this I met him at the corner of Red Lion-street, Holborn. While I was talking with him I saw Foster and Humphreys together on the opposite side of the way. They them parted, and Foster came over, and Bramwell introduced him to me. They had some conversation together apart, and Humphreys passed and repassed me several times, looking hard at me. Bramwell left me with Foster, and he took me to a public-house in Red Lion-street. He said, " Now, I am a very particular man, and don't let a second person know my busi ness, and if you go in the check affair you must be as strict." He asked if I had a letter and Gard, and on my showing them he said he was not sure they were from our party, and took them away. Ten minutes afterwards he returned, and said it was not from our party. While he was away the door wars pushed open several times, and some persons peeped in at me, I spoke of this, and he said, " You must ex cuse our people, they are so very mistrustful; for instance, they cannot tell but I may have engaged a wrong man." I was there about half-an-hour. Foster left twice, and the last time he came in he said, " Youare to do this little affair." He made an appointment to meet him on the Wed nesday, at the Orange Tree, corner of George-street, New-road. I communicated that same evening with the officer Joy. I kept the appointment at the Orange Tree. Outside I met Bramwell, and we went in together. Foster came at half past 10. Be fore going to the house I had received a letter, to the effect that if I would meet Mr. Curtis at the Boar and Castle, Oxford-street, at 11, I should hear of something to suit me; Foster inquiring he if I had received a letter, I showed him this, an sub stituted another, that " G. W. had better call on Mr. Curtis at the University , Hotel, Grafton-street, and if references would suit h e would hea r o f a situation." He said he would walk part of th e wad remarked, " I feel this with me, and on the road affair will come off well, and whenever I do feel so it's always right." -Se pointed out th e U n i vers i ty Hotel, and I went in, and inquiring for Mr. Curtis was directed into the parlour, where I saw a man in one of the boxes, who had his bat on and a black bandage over the sides of his face, as though suffer ing from face ache. In reply he said he was Mr. Curtis, and asked if I had no t a d ver ti se d f ora situa tieti. On answering I had," he said "You are, I think, a baker by trade P" I told him I was. He said he should like Mrs. Curtis to see me before he fully decided, and she would meet him there at 1 o'clock. In the meantime, he said, " You can take the cheque to the bank for me, and be back in time." He added he did not want me earlier for he had business at Bayswater. When giving me the cheque he gave me a piece of paper with the address, " Mr. Curtis, Grove-house, Tottenham." The cheque is that now produced, and purports to be signed, " J. Feetum," and is for £265. The prisoner Wagner, to the best of my belief, is that man Curtis. On leaving the hotel Foster was waiting, and walked with me. I showed him the cheque at his request. He bad it in his hand more than once on our way, and observed that it was a capital imitation, and that they had five or six others in hand, and I might work them all if I liked. He said that it would be a bad half week if I did not clear £2OO for my self ; that he had made £3OO per week. He waited outside while I went into the bank in Argyle-place, telling me if he was not there on my coming out he should be at the American stores in Oxford-street, where we had called on our road. On presenting the check to the cashier, he referred me to another part of the bank, and I directly saw Foster brought in in custody. The witness was subjected to a long cross-exami nation by Mr. Lewis, but it did not shake his testi mony so far as the present case was concerned. The prisoners were remanded till Wednesday next, pro forma, fresh evidence to be given on Wed nesday week. His Highness, Prince Feroke Brecht, the great grandson of Tippoo Sahib, Sultan of Seringapatant was present on the bench during the proceedings, in Indian costume. COUNTRY . MARKETS. NEWARK - -MARm 30. There was a small show of wheat here to• day, mostly of good quality, however, and the trade was firmer than it has been for some weeks past. Peas were unaltered, and beans in demand. Oats remained quiet. White wheat, new, 40s to 48s Barley, grinding.. 27s to 29s Red do. 3Bs to 42s Oats, old, .. 2Bs to 32s Old white 4os to 48s New do —s to —s Red do. 388 to 42s Beans. 44s to 50a Barley, malting.— 36s to 42s Peas ....—s to .-3 ." BOSTON—MARcit 30. A limited supply of wheat, but there was a better feeling in the trade, and all good qualities scarcely realised the prices of last week. Barley, beans and peas in good de mand, at previous rates. Oats dull. Wheat . ...36s to 40s Oats.... lBs to 24s White do .42s to 46s Beans —.s to —s Barley .37s to 40s Ditto, old ........403 to 44* MARKET HARBOROUGH—MAnon 30. At yesterday's market the show of wheat was moderate. The trade in other descriptions of grain was slow. MELTON MOWBRAY—MAncx 29. At this corn market , to-day there was an average show - of wheat, and the pr,ices- of descriptions of grain were the same as last week. i3usiness transactions were entirely ' confined to buyers for present consumption. DUBLIN s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Wheat, white.. 22 6t025 6 Do., new .116t0 13 0 Do., red 2l 6t023 6 Bere lO oto 12 0 Do., new .... 21 6to 24 6 Rapeseed Barley Oats Do., black lO 6to 11 0 Indian. corn .. 28 oto 30 0 •MARCH 29. COAL MARKET—Mims 30. (Prices of Coal per Ton at the close of the market.) s. d. Buddle's West Hartleyls 3 Davison's West Hart ley 15 3 Lambert's West Hart ley Wylam l4 0 Tanfield Moor 11 0 Tanfield Moor Butes ll 0 Walker Primrose 11 0 Ward's West Hartley .15 0 Walls End. s. d. South Kelloe l7 0 Whitworth 14 0 Framwellgate l4 9 Cassop l7 0 Gosforth 13 9 West Hetton 15 9 Shincliffe 14 6 Northumberland ..14 0 Riddell 13 6 Eden Main 15 0 Heugh Hall 15 0 Powell' s Duffryn Steam 21 0 67—Sold, 35. Walls End. Haswell ...,,.. 18 0 1 Ships at market, LOCAL SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL-MARCH 30. There was little doing to-day, and the market closed flat at 1 per cent. decline. Eastern Counties 12 1-16—Chester and Holyheads, 491 514—Caledonians, ' B4l I—Lancashire and Yorkshire, 94 I—London and North-Westerns, 94 East Lancashire, 921 3—Dutch Rhenish, 44 4 dis.— Grand Trunk of Canada, 81 9—Great Western, 58 58/ Great Western of Canada, 151 —Dovers, 21 / 5-16- -North British, 59 I—York and North Midland, 77 1— Berwicks, 921 4—Leeds Northern, 47 471—Midland, 1011 —Blackburns, 114 111—Birkenheads, 631 631—Sheffields, 38 1. LEEDS-WARCH 30. The market has been quiet to-day, and only a small amount of business has been done. North-Western, 14 3-16—Great Northern A, 86i—Midlands, 101f—Leeds Bank, 33. MANCHESTER-MARCH 30. There was a quiet business doing, and prices rather lower. Leeds, 94I—Dovers 211—North Staffords, 4 7-17 dis.—Londons, 94 i—Sheffields, 34—Midlands, 101— Ashton and Oldham Canal, 157. BIRMINGHAM-MARCH 30. There was a good amount of business done to-day in this market. Birmingham and Stour Valleys were dealt in at 81—Great Western Birmingham Guaranteed Stock at 73—. South Staffords closed at lin to 11. WESTMINSTER IMPROVEMENTS.—The committee of the House of Commons appointed to consider this ques tion will commence their deliberations on Tuesday, April 5. The committee will consist of the lion. Eliot Yorks (chairman), Viscount Pevensey, Mr. Ker, Mr. J. Hardy (Midhurst), and Mr. Onslow. [ADVERTISEMENT.] SIGHT AND HEARING. SPEC. TACLES.—POWERFUL TELESCOPES.—OPERA„ RACE, AND PERSPECTIVE GLASSES. Messrs. S. and B. SOIOMOns, opticians, 39, Albermarle-Street, Piccadilly. Observe— opposite the York Hotel, W.—Opera, Race-course, Field, and general Out-door Day and Night Perspective Glasses, very small, for the waistcoat pocket, each containing 12 a n d 18 lenses, constructed of German glass. Will show dis tinctly a person to know them at two-and-a-half and three miles, and an object from eight to ten miles distant. Her Majesty's Coast 'Guards are making use of them as day and night glasses in preference to all others ; they are also pre-. ferred for deer-stalking by sportsmen, gentlemen, and gamekeepers. Telescopes 3f inches long, by which a per son may be clearly seen and known at 3f miles' and a n object at 12 to 14 miles' distance; and with an extra astro nomical eye-piece, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, and the double stars are distinctly seen. All the above can be had of larger and all sizes, with increasing powers, and are secured by her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent. The Royal Exhibition, 1851. A valuable, newly invented, very small, powerful Waistcoat-pocket Glass, the size of a walnut, by which a person can be seen and known one and a half mile distant. They answer every purpose on the Race-course and at the Opera-- houses. Country scenery and ships are clearly seen at four to six miles. They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, game keepers, and tourists. Price 30s.—Spectacle Lenses of the greatest transparent power. The great advantage derived from this invention is, that vision becoming impaired is preserved and strengthened, and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occupation —can see with those lenses of a much less magnifying power, and they do not require the frequent changes to the dangerous effects of further powerful assistance. Persons can be suited at the most remote part of the world by send ing one of the glasses out of their spectacles in a letter, and stating the distance from the eyes they can read small print with it, and those who have not made use of spectacles by statingtheirage. Deafness.—New Discovery.—The Organic Vibrator, an extraordinarily powerful small newly-invented instrument for Deafness, entirely different from all others, surpasses anything of the kind that has been, or probably ever, can be, produced. Being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible. It enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church and at public assembhes ; the unplea sant sensation of singing noises in the ears is entirely re moved, and it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired.-39, Albemarle-street. Piccadilly. Observe -- apposite the York Hotel, W. BIRTHS. DURHAM.—On the 29th inst., at 122, Park-street, the Countess of Durham, of a daughter. HUME.—On the 29th inst., at 16,-Wilton-street, Grosvenor place, the wife of Lieut.-Col. Hume, C. 8., 61 re'er - Guards, of a daughter. HOPKINS.—On the 29th inst., the wife of the Rev. T, M. Hopkins, M.A., incumbent of St. Saviour's , Paddington, of a daughter. PETRE.—On the 29th inst., at 2, Cavendish-square, L a d y , Catherine Petra, of a son. MARRIA GES Oxford PRICE—TAUNTON.---011 the 29th inst., at Tri n ity Ch urc h, We s tbourne-ter r ace, the ee Rev. W. a Price, M.A., Fel low of Pembroke to Lucy Maria, only Taunton, Esq., of Walton House, Oxford. survivingdaughteretgh . late Daniel , SMITH— WOoD.—On the 29th inst., at Christchurch, High bury, August us B. ~,.S m ith. Esq., of Mornington-crescent, R e ffent's-Park, t° maria Matilda, only daughter of the late Bent Benjamin Wood, Esq., of Tavistock-square. DEATHS. ALEXANDER.---On the 28th inst., at Bromley, Kent, Mr. William Alexander. F R ANKLAND.—On the 28th inst., at Eshing-park, near Godalming, J. H. Frankland, Esq., aged 74. FREYBERG.—On the 28th inst., at 11, Grosvenor-street West, Eaton-square, Mr. Peter Frederick Freyberg, aged 72. GILLIAT.—On the 29th inst., at 22, Lewes-crescent, Brigh ton, A. G. Gilliat, Esq., aged 69. GRANT.—On the 29th inst., at Fairseat, Horace Grant, Esq., formerly of the East India House. HARROWBY.—On the 29th inst., at 39, Grosvenor-square, the Countess of Harrowby. HENRIQUBS.—On tho 28th inst., at Elm-grove, Hammer smith, Mr. John G. Henriques, late of Park• terrace, Regent' s -park. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG , of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of Middlesex, Thursday, March 31, 1859.