The Express.
London, England, 1863-08-18 00:00:00

BOURBON INSIEUMENTS OP TORTURE.

Under thin heading certain lecture, have been
announced to be delivered by Mademe Clara Seyton•Seesid,
at St. James's-hall, and tee series was commenced lot
night. The object is to bring before the public and to exelain
certain tastruments of torture alleged to have been recently
discovered in the fortress of Caetellamare at Palermo, and
supposed to hare been used ou political prieooers doting the
reign of the two last Bourbon King. of Naples. The intro.
duetory part of the lecture consisted of a rentllle of the go.
veromeotal system of Francis 1., Ferdinand IL, sod
Francis U., Kings of Naples, and instances of the torture
of offenders were or less innocent or guilty of political
offences were adduced. The instruments of tor-
ture were then produced, end it was stated that
a certain Di. Guieeppe Mani, of Palermo, haying bad
reason to believe that peculiar butrumenta of torture were
ooncealed in the fortress of Gastellamare, obtained a com-
mission from the present goveranseut to search for them ;
and ia the result, within • walled-up men three special
devices for cruelly punishiog perverse and Don-cenfelaiog
prisonen were ducovered. They consist of • foot-burner,
made of plates of copper, beneath which Lunen are kin.
died, and which monk the soles of the fete of • person
chained nom it ; of • chair of iron and copper, very inge-
niously and with mach mechanical skill devised, in which
the suff seer is helplessly «endued, while beneath him • fire
is caused to bine ; and a cap of inn, which fits on the bead
and beneath the chin of the wearer, and can be screwed
up to any given point of tightness. These singular ma-
chines for indicting pain were exhibited in a harmless
fashion on the person of a free-born Briton, who, when a
" little fire" was about to be created beneath the iron chair
in which be was bound fast, inserted his liberty by very
decidedly deehning to have it brought into contact with the
candescent mete' on which he was ended, sod within which
be was enclosed. To say the truth, the attempt to exhibit
the torture " in action," so to speak, involved • touch of
the ludicrous seder the peculiar eireumetauees. The field-
ing of the machines is very punctiliously Red authoritatively
attested, but no clue is given as to the period to which they
could positively be assigned. Besides that, this exhibition
labours wider the difficulty that its pertinency to the pee-
-1 sent moment is by no neaps obvious.

The Maama. of yesterday says in its bulletin :
" In consequence of ■ freak demand from the Minister of
the Emperor at Pekin, the Meese government, chisel fulfil-
hog its eopgeaients, the execution of which:had been de-
layed by interior difficulties, has just taken measures for the
Punishment of the authors of the murder of the Abbe Mel.
1 A sew viceroy has been appointed in Hopei-Tatou, troops
' have been sent into that province, and ceders have been
given for the ex-Imperial Coaunisioner to be immediately
. brought is triaL
1 DZAPATCH OF THE Went INDIA AND PACIFIC
Minn.—The Royal Mail Company's steamship TO.lllllllliill,
Captain Sawyer, sailed from Southampton ysterda►, at
3 pm., with the fortaightly mails for the British sod
vegeta West Indies, t►e Pacific, California, Central
America, Ice., together with 96 pamengen. The Tasmanian
takes out on freight 55 boxes, 4 tom at copper cola, 100
beetles of quicksilver, vain* 7001. ; silver ono, 200/. ;
French jewellery, 9,6411.; English jewellery. 7401., ands full
1 argo of French end English merchandlee.