The Express.
London, England, 1863-10-19 00:00:00

THE BALLOON CONTINUING ITS COURSE.

A telegram received at 12.30 this afternoon
states that at half-past eight last evening
Hadar was over Compiegne, eighty-seven mile a
from Paris. He sent a message down, "All
goes well," and continued his journey towards the
north, having descended near the ground to speak.

ITALY.

(nom ous ow 4 col

TURIN, OCT. 14.

The removal of Count de Sartiges from Turin to
Rome has taken place sooner than I anticipated,
when I wrote that the official steps taken by the
Italian government for this purpose bad been suo-
oessfaL I need not repeat the explanations' which
I have already given respecting this affair.
An importance has been given in foreign countries
to the commercial treaty between Russia and Italy
which it does not deserve. For more than a year
the treaty has been in preparation, at first officiously,
then officially, and was one of the causes which
accelerated the arrival of Count Stackelberg.
The elements of a singular process are in course
of preparation at Milan. The Ambrosian Library at
Milan is rich in manuscripts, inch as that of Virgil
written by the hand of Petrarch, and historical
letters and documents of great importance. The
librarian was the celebrated Mai. A learned
Tuscan, Signor Canestrini, printed in the Paw
reran:a, in November, 1860, a minute description
of a third portion of a volume of documenta which
were preserved in the library. The documents
described by him had reference to the history of
the republic of Florence, and were, Ist, the original
document of the convention between Charles VIII.
and the Florentine Republic, 1494—a document
published in the first volume of the Historical
.4 rehires of the Marquis G. Capponi, a descendant
of Pier Capponi, who played so distinguished a
part with respect to the insolence of that conqueror.
2nd. The autograph correspondence between Cosmo
de Medici and Pier de Medici with Francis Sforza,
Lord of Milan, consisting of 64 letters, dated between
1442 and 1464. 3rd. Fifty-four letters of
the Duke of Milan to his ambassadors at Florence
conveying instructions as to the mode in which
affairs were to be conducted. Almost all of these
are drafted by Cioco and Giovanni Simonetta by
orders of the duke, dated between 1445 land 1468.
A short time ago Monsignor Gatti, prefect of the'
library, found ou the table of the room in which ho
was studying this volume, which ought to have been
on the shelf. A sort of presentiment struck him ; he
asked in vain how the volume was not in its proper
place ; he examined it, and found that it was per
For greater precaution he put it in his own
desk under lock and key. When, after dinner, he
opened the desk, he found that the volume was
spoiled, and the above documents were detached. It
was evident that there was some domestic thief, and
that be had been bought by some more experienced
robber to commit the theft. Meanwhile a student,
who had the misfortune of being suspected about
this business, and who had a son who was more than
suspected, made his appearance, and the librarian
had the imprudence to make a sudden assault upon
him, as though certain that he was the thief, thereby
probably making the discovery more difficult.
It is right that this should be made public, in order
that no gentleman may become the innocent
purchaser of stolen documents, for the principal
thief, it seems, is more in want of money than
papers. It also appears that other things of mrch
value, such as mathematical rarities, have been sent
to Rome, to a learned man there, who is making a
collection of matters of this kind.