The Express.
London, England, 1848-08-04 00:00:00

the erpregis.

TIM mane for the Brazils, the—Ri—;er—Plete, Monte Tidvo, Nice.
bcco,....t.gßabaiktmaledetra,4u,
Augua.and Buenos Ayres, will oe madeuy
The mega for !Welsh North America, and the United 1%.
will he made up ea the evening of the 4th Aug.
The overland classed mails, via Marseilles, to the Msli
Egypt, Aden, Ceylon. India, Bong-Kong, btu will be mideteu74
evening of the 7th Aug.
The malls for Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, Madeira, Cadia, and Giuviii
will to made up on the morning of the 7th Aug.
The scam, India Mails, excluding Bermuda, barren,
Madams, New Ortesna, Vera (Vim, Tampico, and Porto Ifire,4
ineluding those for Madeira, Jacmel, Cartbagen., nanta
Chaves, Panama, West Coast of South America, and st
Nicaragua, will be made up on the morning of the 17th Augue-".
The overland malls for Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the 1011;4121e.,
Egypt. Aden, Ceylon, India, 1.10111-liong, and China,
UM. will be up on the miming ot the 19th August,
The ail, New South Wales, Van Inemaws Land, Yd.
Zealand will be made up on the evening of the 31st August.
The melt, for me West tuest of Afnca and Miami. will be
up oa tleeeveniar of the 314 August.

NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS.
The number of STAMPS issued by the authorities el%
Stamp-office, during 1847, to the
DAILY NEWS was 3.447.000
nil', we believe, is within rig/4 per cent. of the sumo
issued to the Morning Herald, Morning Chroniek ri
Yarning Pose, ALL PUT TOGIETIIIA.
In addition to the above, issued to the DAILY Ngwg
.Verning Paper, there were issued for the Errnati
THE EXPRESS 7'78.714
Which was more, we believe, than were issued eithart
'he Globe or Standard. Evening Papers.

TIMR M. AT LONDON IMMITE.
mIA pea by MArnmeA MIR
MmA
lALM 11•14. Napea by AnIPINIVIN W.left

LONDON, FRIDAY. AUGUST 4,
THE result of five days' hard fighting has het.,"
regret to say, the retreat of the Piedmontese anq
under CHARLES ALBERT, before its too successful aid
too numerous adversaries. The Italian m' parch and
his army have abandoned the line of the Mincio
gether, and fallen back upon that of the Oglio, vn.*
however it may serve as a protection for the anal
behind it, still leaves freely open to the Austiisna the

road to Milan.
The headlnarters of the Piedmontese army was
at Bozzolo, with a strong division at Macereta on the
Oglio. It was reported that an Austrian divide,
was already at Crem na. which would thus clue
the Piedmontese from Milan, the road on which they
are stationed being, in fact, the high one between
Mantua and Cremona.
All accounts from the scene of war mite

admitting, that the Piedmontese and their Risg,
their troops and generals, behaved with the utmoet
gallantry. But they were completely outnumbered,
and even out-genera led by their wanting that infant*
Lion of the enemy's force and movement, whch shook/
have been supplied amply to them in the
their own country. The arm'es contended on vey
unequal advantages. The Austrians, possessing thrill
fortresses, and able to move from one to the other
without fear of attack, were able to coucentrate
an overwhelming mass in secret, whilst the movetaaa
of the Italians were plainly to be seen and known,
and guarded against. CHARLES ALBERT'S attentia
was altogether directed towards Mantua, whet
ItADETeKI and NCGENT, calling to them all the gon
risons and forces scattered through the Venetia
towns and territory, issued from Verona. The Tuoc
corps gave way before them, and indeed throughoet
the five days fighting the Milanese and other Italia
corps behaved very badly. The whole brunt fell
upon the Piedmontese, who were not aided
they ought to have been by Lombards, or by 4
Venetian., or by Romans. Dispirited and pat.
lyeed as the Austrian government has been, it a
kept pouring in reinforcements and supplies V e
It/airman, whilst the Italians crossed their amid
made no proportionate efforts. The consequence I,
that a campaign so happily commenced, by the •
pulsion of the Austrians from the Milanese, and the •
defeat at Goito, has ended in a reverse of !atm
and in an Austrian army re-crossing Loeb*
as victors.
In these trying circumstances a Signor GUERRIDI
was first despatched by the old provisional governed
of Milan to Paris. He was, however, but the anti
courier of a serious mission, for M. GUERRIERI me
without regtlar powers. The Marchese Rim,
did arrive in Paris on the afternoon of \Vedas
day with the mission, no doubt, of inducing da
French government to march to their aid.
It is not so easy on the part of the French Meant
to this, for the army of the Alps is, a great porticad
it, under the walls of Paris, and that a war in Laa•
hardy would be accompanied by war on the MUNI
an event too inevitable not to be prepared for. TY
Globe, however, was, we believe, quite inearatii
stating that the French government had refuel
intervene. For, we repeat, GUERRIERI had no me,
and RIM only reached Parrs at two o'clock •
Wednesday.
In the opinion, however, of many influeutie pers
ticians, even in Paris, the successes of &Mil
rather facilitated an accommodation, than minis
intervention necessary. The Archduke 3,11
opening the Vienna Diet, declared, that he wm iea.
pared to respect the nationality of Italy,
that more warlike operations were Beam?
for the conclusion of peace. The operands
that have taken place have had the reins
of entitling the Austrians to demand the line of tit
Adige. The Italians cannot now dispute this, al
can no longer insist on the Venetian territory. Eov
ever regrettable it may be, and however insecure t
renders a peace, that peace is impossible now oat
on the condition of leaving the Venetian tern*,
to Austria. England, which hitherto refuted I
mediate on this basis, can no longer refuse
do so. And it certainly wou'd be
better for the Italian cause and for Europe theta mu*
ea
Mate should be formed, consisting of Savoy, Piedra,
Lombardy to the Adige, with the duchies of Maim
and Parma :—:t would ba better to establish a nod
Italian monareny like this, in peace, than risk an is,
mediate and general war in Europe for the mere oh
of giving Venice to Italy. We regret the seversts
of Venice, and we cannot think that severanc:
list
but it is inevitable, and-we must sae that the sepias
ness of the Venetian towns and population defense.
We have reason to know that Austria win to
averse to such a plan of accommodation. The dean
men of Vienna and even of Innsprimk had pr_efal
a desire to waive all claim on the .11ihnese. Whel*
RADETa
ol'STpiientiOornis ai
victories
rweimlllnes o leave them in the
moderate
11 if the Anstnans are called on to practise
bearance, French statesmen are called arl
to do no less. For, certainly, public opinioe
France is setting strongly towards a miiitary la!
sion of Italy; and it' peace be not soon concluded'!
human power will arrest that tide. Gems
CAVAIGNAC is powerful and patriotic euorgh.°
do so, we should think. But even in dal
so, we have no doubt that his chief atr
ment will be that the present will be but s Ira,
that the Lombard kingdom, once formed, will Ilk"
CHARLES ALBERT'S organising. an army arida:
vernment, which cannot but in the end expel._
Austrians front Italy, but towards mondial
which task something more than Piedmostese re

sources are required.
We may therefore conclude by expressing a tf#
that the victory of the Austrians may lead to plo
without their again molesting Milan, or without*
extreme of a French army once more peal Y
Alpe. English mediation will, no doubt, last": f
employed, and it is to be hoped it will not ay
Gs*
DEMI eo pertinacious and intractable as WIO,
We may here, too, add the hope that the pet''
of WRANGEL will be overcome, and an &reindict. 01'
eluded on the Eyder, as well as peace on the OP

The close of the chartist trials at York 000!
in a singular manner the remarks we made 00'"'
necessity of a public prosecutor. Out of the 55 Fe'
soners committed for trial, 25 only have received Or
thing more than a nominal sentence: of the lar
proportion, 33, some were acquitted, and the resut;
der were released upon their own reco6niesal7tt,
keep the peace—in other words, the judge
...a
counsel for the proeecution were united in Me OPM
that the majesty of the law was amply riUdw!".:i
and justice fully satisfied by the convicuon
punishment of leas than one half of three, %lc° ;
magistrates committed to York gaol, and ahFor
em
real.of the grand jury sent down for, trial! till
months has the county been pat to the uul!tuel
expense of providing for the residue ; their wires
families have been left without the ordinary
subsistence; witnesses have been taken to TrLf,.
the joint expense of the county and e
of the
dated fund, that true bills might b foun;

have been dm
what might h,
at infinitely
authorised pet

There may
ultimately Deb
this is cntirel:
mode of condi
happen that I
now at tarp
the several atl
dupes. Be tl
grant enough
and kept fur
mination writ
and the great
tried six wet
without tr:e
an assize pre
magistmt4
always temp
low as of co
upon 811010
tion. Some
cases in t
political oil
the nor,li
clearest noti
country jusr
the evidence
of the court
payers' pock
in the Y.,lk
aible Mhos',
by which th
putting a se
on recognise
ting at the s
his not s
that the mil
the present!

Z's,'
C

by a
diger

E
t
I
t
i
3

have been drawn and lawyers have been feed to do
what might have been done far more judiciously and
at infinitely less expense by some one able and
authorised person.
There may be little doubt that the worst cases were
ultimately selected for conviction and punishment, but
this is entirely a matter of chance under the existing
mode of conducting proetcations, and it may well
happen that some of the moat violent characters are
now at large, because they were less conspicuous in
the several affrays than others, who were merely their
dupes. Be this, however, as it may, the facts are fla-
grant enough. Here are nearly 60 persons in gaol,
and kept fur trial at the assizes, when a wise di-cri-
mination would have limited the number by one-half,
and the greater portion of that half might have been
tried six weeks ago at the ordinary q•iarter sessions,
without toe delay and the vast expense incurred by
an assize. prosecution. Besides, it is not always that
magistrates are itfallible, or that the great unpaid
always temper zeal with discretion. It does not fol-
low as of course that a man is committed to prison
upon such evidence as will probably ensure a convic-
tion. Some observations of Mr. Justice ERLR upon
cases in the York calendar, unconnected with
political offences, show that the committals in
the norai are not always based upon the
clearest notions ; and. in times of political excitement,
country justic,a do not always weigh very minutely
the evidence. Hence the gaol is crowded, the time
of the court turned to indifferent account, and the rate-
payers pockets sharply touched. If the depositions
in the Yii k cases had been submitted to some respon-
sible official, there would have been some line drawn,
by which the spectacle exhibited on Friday last, of
putting a score of prisoners into the dock, to be let out
on recognii-ance, and at the end of a fortnight's sit-
ting at the assizes, would have been avoided.
lt ia not with respect to the discharged parties alor e
that the mischief of the system is exemplified. Until
the presentation of the bill to the grand jury, the pri-
soner committed for sedition could not tell whether he
was to le tried fur the felony, or for the misdemea-
nour. It turns out that the same rule was observed
in York "a- in London, and that the old law, rather
than the new, was enforced. Hence
.:"Wsr TYLER"
has to endure his 18 months' imprisonment, without
hard labour, instead of paying a visit to Mr. MIT-
CURL at Bermuda. It might have been otherwi-e.
It is consistent even with the form of indictment
ultimately adopted that an accident only
led the junior counsel on circuit to commu-
nicate with the counsel who had been em-
ployed in town; and that to this accident may be
attributed the fact that there was not exhibited the
anomaly, of a man—who from the sentence of 18
months appears to have been less bad than others
—being transported, whilst the worse offenders were
expiating their offences by two years imprisonment.
This is an uncertainty which ought not to exist.
Among those committed for sedition one only was
tried fur that offence. We were curious to see what
the law officers would do with Mr. BUSFEILD ERR-
RAND'S committal on the canniuns gatheruns charge,
which we have already printed : a charge involving
almost everything, from the utmost sedition to the
mildest form of assault, and which it would take the
ingenuity of those who concocted the monster indict-
ment to rival. The result shows that the sedition
melted away, and that the offence really committed
was a riot, and simply a riot, and that the offender
was among the thirteen who have to receive from
twelve months' to two years imprisonment. In
troublous times offences magnify themselves in
the eyes of the local authorities, and it is
well that they should be sifted, and be
rtsluced to their ordinary dimensions; it would,
however, be well that this putting right names to
things should proceed from some one who can give
a reason atterwards for what has been done, and the
matter should not be left to the discrimination or the
fancies of some magistrate's clerk and some junior'
counsel employed for the crown.
The appointment of a public prosecutor would be a
far more efficient check upon the exuberant activity of
certain worthy country justices than the continuance
of the grand juries, where there is only an appeal
from A. B. to his fellow justices. The whole system of
grand juries ought to be abolished. We have out-
lived the days of their necessity ; they are now only
a hindrance and an incumbrance, with this additional
disadvantage, that they may be made the vehicle of
gross oppression. Bills are presented behind persons'
backs, and hound to be true on ex parte evidence,
sometimes without more than the semblance of truth,
and at others with the intended object of hushing up
the affair, it all things " are made straight." The
grand jury in the metropolitan court have more than
once made a presentation of their opinion that grand
juries are no longer required in places presided over
by a stipendiary magis!rate. They might have gone
the full length of declaring the system worn out,
even in places where the unpaid justices sit su-
preme : the cases at York are proof strong enough
that the magistrates in a body confirm what
the magistrates in petty sessions have done : in
no one poli•ical ease did the grand jury throw out the
bill, although the evidence against some of the fifty-
eight was of the weakest description. We would not
take away all check upon the great unpaid, we would
rather improve -and make the check effectual ; we
would have their whole proceedings calmly reviewed
by a competent person, and we should then see some
discrimination exercised; and it would no longer be
the magistrate who sends most prisoners for trial, but
the magistrate whose committals most often received
the approbation of the superintending authority, that
would be deemed most worthy of the bench. The
gaols would be less inconveniently crowded, the
county expenses, and the contribution from the public
funds, would be materially lessened, certainty and
uniformity would supersede the present variable
mode;and whilst the least mischievous offenders would
be treated leni'-ntly, there would be fewer loopholes
through which the most dangerous could escape.
These conclusions are true with respect to all of-
fences ; but they are worthy of a paramount consider-
ation when political offence.' have to be dealt with.
The supremacy of the law mu-t be asserted, yet it
must not be stretched beyond its ordinary limits. Its
administration must be beyond all suspicion. To be
effectual as an example the punishment must rot be
lightened by any sympathy for the offender arising
from any feeling that his committal has been hasty,
and the indictment little considered. The ATTORNEY
and Sotictnnt• GENERAL are popularly believed to be
the directors of all political indictments, than which
nothing is a greater fallacy: of the bulk they hear no-
thing save through the medium of a newspaper ; the
local authorities prosecute, in meet eases the local au-
thorities direct the indictment. It is to aid as well as
to control that we urge an efficient supervision.