The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-07 00:00:00

BELGIUM.

The Chamber of Deputies, by a vote of 53 members
against 39, has rejected the Government measure
for the fortification of Antwerp.
At two o'clock on the morning of the 2nd instant
the Antwerp Exchange was totally destroyed by fire.
Nothing was saved. AU the archives of the admi•
nistrative bodies are destroyed.
The Indipendance Bilge of Tuesday contains the
following letter from Antwerp, dated Monday, 2 30
a.m.:—

At the moment I write an immense disaster is occurring
in our city. The Bourse of Antwerp, that place to which
so many glorious souvenirs are attached, and which by its
late improvement, its fairylike covering, had become the
admiration of all foreigners, is nothing more than a heap of
rubbish and smouldering ashes. The glass roof fell with a
frightful crash, and the enormous pieces of the metal
framework broke like glass on falling to the ground.
Every part of the building, in fact, is destroyed, and it was
with great difficulty that the neighbouring houses could be
preserved. The civil and military authorities, the troops,
the firemen, every one, indeed, did their duty, but nothing

could be done as to the Bourse, which will be burnt to the
last fragment of wood. The fire appears to have arisen
io
an upper room, on the side of the Courte Rue des Cla:res,
It was there, at least, that the names were first seen, and is
half an hour the place was enveloped in fire. The Bourse
chamber of Commerce, the Tribunal, and
theo n
the Syndics' Chamber of the Stock.
bcroktaßeirensce,°dtrcl htYffiSycne.
ti ice! Chamber of the Antwerp Broken,
and the Telegraph Bureaus. Nothing, absolutely nothing,
is saved. All the archives of these various bodies are lost
. I have just returned from the scene of the disaster,

and, in spite of the united efforts of a crowd of workmen
and the engines, the fire continues. The ceilings which
surmounted the arches of the interior galleries have jug
caught fire, and Dart of the turret on the side of the Place
de Meir has fallen.

NAPLES.

The following is the account given of the court and
prisoners during the late political trial :—Thejud
es
who have presided at it have been the President,
Dallis (who was Attorney-General at the trial of the
unfortunate Bandieres), Corona, Baeeicalupi, Sabelli,
De Mann's, Tommasuolo, Politi, Coneihs, and
Attorney-General Pacifico. The President through-
out has conducted himself with great mildness, and
generally with impartiality, while the Attorney
General, who like March opened with storms, has
calmed down into a lull. Francesco La Francesca,
the first of this distinguished band, was " latitanti"
for three months last year. It is a term well known
in this country, and describes one who flies and con
ceass himself for fear of persecution. Why was he
menaced ? God knows ; ask the Government.
Francesca was the counsel for Captain Sitzia and
his crew, and they can never forget his devotion.
Raffaele Carelli was counsel for the mass of the Ponza
prisoners, and defended them bravely. Two years
only have passed since he was confinato in Naples
for four months, to the injury of his professional
occupations and the 'interruption of his social peace.
Diego Tajani, counsel for Nicotera and his sixteen
associates in one of the most daring and ill-judged
enterprizes ever undertaken, was confinato to Vieui
at the commencement of the trial for fifty-five days,
was prohibited from bringing a dying wife to Salerno,
and even now is compelled to return every night to
Vieth. Antonio La Mea, a young advocate, who also
defended the Ponza prisoners, if he has not suffered
persecution himself, belongs to a family that has
been, and that is, marked by the police ; yet both
he and the other advocates above named have
never shrunk from duty, but have given proofs
of civil courage which have awakened the admira-
tion of all who have witnessed their conduct.
During the trial Park and Watt have been rescued
from the fangs of injustice. The Sardinians were
liberated after a long interval of time; one of them,
Fromento, has since died, and the responsibility of
his death rests upon the treatment he received in the
prisons of the Two Sicilies. Others, too, have died.
Two hundred and one prisoners now wait to be seat
to their several destinations ; fifty-six others will be
sent to Ponza to enjoy the very doubtful privilege of
being under the surveillance of the police. The
sentence had granted a suspension of punishment to
four, as having voluntarily given themselves up
after the conflict; a rescript, which was not opened
till the last moment, accorded the same to the other
three. No one, therefore, entertained any doubt as
to the reprieve; and there was, in fact, no ground for
doubt. The consternation was, therefore, general
when it became known that on the evening of July 20
the Attorney-General had sent for Signor Tajani, the
counsel for Nicotera, and told him that he had made
a mistake; that the order which be had received was
not to suspend the execution, but to report the result
of the trial ; and that if by midday of the 21st an
order for suspending the execution did not arrive he
should be compelled to put three of the prisoners In
capella. Tajani protested in the strongest manner
against this barbarous deceit, but to no purpose. Ho
and his brother advocates were compelled im me-
diately to start for Castellamare, where the h.ing
is
residing, and demand an audience. They were re-
ceived, it is said, coldly by his Majesty, who would
not hear them, but simply ordered them to leave
their statement and petition with his secretary,
Major
Severino. Even from this unsatisfactory reception
it was nevertheless inferred that a grdzia would be
granted, and the relief to the inhabitants of Salerno
was great and general. During the interval of anxiety,
which prevailed very many bad visited the churches
and interceded for the preservation of the lives of the
prisoners. Of the public executioner, it is added
that
during the day he had been occupied in getting tl!e
chapel ready and preparing the instrument of death,
and that at night he presented himself at the prtson
door to know if his services were needed, and vikr,
driven away by the soldiers, who were indignant at
his brutality.
By the latest intelligence we learn that the King
has commuted the sentences of death passed upon_
the seven men, convicted at Sapri. Nicotera arid
two others are to be sent to the galleys for lite. The
other four will remain prisoners in irons for twenty-
five years. The sentence makes no allusion either
to the English or Sardinians.