The Express.
London, England, 1859-08-12 00:00:00

"NOTHING NSW."

An musing book, by M. Edouard Four nier, with
the title of Le Vistas IVnEf, contains a number of illustra-
tions, collected with much industry, and grosped with con-
siderable ability, of Bolonsou'd proverb, "Nothing nee under
the sun." There is no such thing, homy*, as au Invention ;
every so-called discovery is but the revival otaaniethieg which
bad been forgotten. Lida I VI., alter seeing at Versailles
what be supposed to be the lint balloon, gave the brothers
Montgolder pension. and decoration", and conferred hotAlby
upon their father. But, 400 years before the Christian era,
Archytda exhibited ea artificial pigeon which, "being flied
with lighter air than that of the atmosphere, sustained Itself
aloft and Buttered itd wings." In 1784 the Academy of
Lyons awarded a prize to Lenormand for tie undisputed
Invention of the parachute, but in 1617 F. Veranziu had
written about a square canvas etrembed tight upon four
pulps, by mean, of whioh a man might eddy throw humid
from the top of the highest tower. The idea of photographic
picpuree was ventilated ae early as 1760, by one Tiptiaigne,
who published • volume of quaint reverted, entitled "La
Gipbantie"—act anagram of hie name. Hero of Alexeadria
was aware of the mechanic power of steam, and the Em-
peror Conizoodus had ea/Magee which kept account of
time and distance as they ran, just like modern
ragulatiag cab.. M. Fournier show, with patriotic
unction that all the great disooverice for which • deluded
world gives credit to Englidimen were in fact pirated from
henchmen, who, if DM the true inventors (tor, as we have
seen, his theory ulnae as each thing ea an invention), had
at ell events a better title than thoed with whore names an
unjust posterity bee associated the improvements in gumption.
The brat railway In England waa wade about the year 1630,
by a. Frenchman named Beaumont, who laid down a line of
rails to transport coal from a pit in Northumberland. The

English areMteet who built tie first iron bridge, in 1793,
had bought the plan for a meg from an obscure
end forgotten Lyees pointer sad Paster who had devised
it in 1767. The Thames Tunnel was preceded by s tunnel
tinder the &Ms, which win from the flue Saint-Pterre-anz-

Deeds to the Duo do Foment, and which certainly existed
an hefty as ibSO. Oar author sun thinks it might be found
low. The bomb. which wee. brought out m England by
Mr. Fens In 1811 were pirated from th• hooch postal.
Espinasse, who had Invented Ohs word will thrust itself
upon the author is spite of his principles) them in
The ooagreve rocka• were invested by a InniMman named
De Montgery, who found the recipe Er them in a manual of
artillery by Louis Colisdo, engineer to Charles V. Eon-
' castor's syrem of teaching was practised long before his
time by the Chevalier Puget, and vaceication, which sn
inacription on • statue to cleaner at this moment exhibited
in the apace between the Pout des Alto and the Louvre,
attributes, in common with universal belief, to Mat phy-
sician, was an idea stolen by the Empietunan from M. itabaut-
roomier et Matailarguce. near Leiner, who mentioned it to
a Mr. Pugh, who wee a friend of Jeants'a. With obundsnos
of each lestances, M. E. Fournier proves, to Ms owa utile
faction and that of hi. French readers, that, in respect of
Ins eution., a Frenchman is invariably the Chratopher
Columba of the English Amalie Verpuccio.

It is stated that the Grand Duke Constantine, on
leaving Ride, will ey a visit to the Emperor Nap,leon et
Bturits.

The monster steam frigate boat in America for the
&swiss governmest, on the lines of the United States frigate
Niagara, has anived at Cron•til from New York. She is
called the General Admiral, out of compliment tr the Grand
Duke Cunstentise, who is at the head of the Russian navy,
and is nut yet timed se s nhip•uf•wer with her formidable
armanisst, but suede the voyage from &series freighted
with a lame and valuable cargo of cotton, stresperlll4, and
other predates of dm United Stem. She drew too much
water to enter the Baltic by the Sound, and mom through
the Great Belt, where the channel is considerably deeper,
though more dangerous, from the number and extent of the
esod-bestks among the Duluth Islands.

ITALY.

SARDINIA.

(molt or& aricam.

TIRANO, Avousr 6.

" L'homme propose et Dien dispose," thus ram an
old French proverb, which is today quite applicable
to me. As I told yon in my last letter, I had made
up my mind to go to Milan by way of Brescia. I
could not, however, resist the temptation which
was offered to me of visiting the different minor
stations of Garibaides brigade, and hither I came
with the intention of proceeding to Milan via Como.
Under the escort of as intelligent guide I went
through the mountain passes of the Alpine valleys,
and I arrived here this morning after a fair share
of trouble and fatigue. In spite of the hard march 1
have gone through, I am glad to lave performed my
journey, for I am now in a better condition to send
you a correct report of the spirit which is prevalent
amongst these famous volunteers. You are already
aware that in this singular corps the soldier generally
belongs to the best class of Italian society. In
consequence of this peculiarity each of this gallant
band is a politician of the first class, and it is rather
amusing to find that the common soldier is sometimes
a better informed man than the epanletted
cotn-
maodsr. The doings of our ministers are sensibly
discussed in these bivouacs, the last speech of Lord
John Russell is closely commented on, and the con-
clusion which is drawn is that all the hopes of Italy
now depend on the attitude which England shall
take in any forthcoming Congress. A great many of
these volunteers have long resided in our country, as
artiste, literary men, or professors, and they are
quite familiar with our politics and with the names
and lives of our leading statesmen. The café of
Tirano, therefore, has been turned into a
regular assembly of politicians, where the
great questions of the day are as freely discussed as
they would be at the Temple Forum, or at Wylde's
Reading Rooms. One of the orators his perfect
faith in Lord Palmerston, another puts forth the
name of Milner Gibson, and describes to his listeners
the cordial hospitality he received at Wilton-crescent
during his stay in London. A third speaks highly
of Lord John's liberal speeches. In one word,
all their thoughts, all their sympathise are now
with us, and it oar Ministers know how to manage
matters well, there is no doubt we shall get beck
the influence we had lost at the beginning of the
Italian war. There is of course some incorrectness

in their judgments as regards our press and institu-
tions, but one thing is certain, that they speak
highly of our country, which they know is always
ready when there is a noble cause to defend. It is
not therefore to be wondered at if, with all the
Anglomania which is now prevalent in Garibaldi's
camp, the only Englishmen who is amongst them
has become the Icon of this singular corps. In my
former letter I had occasion to speak of Captain
Peard, the gentleman in question. He comes from
Cornwall, and belongs to a militia regiment, whose
uniform he wears with a decidedly martial bearing.
He is a mac of a tall and colossal frame, nearer 80
than 80, and is considered the best shot of the party.
Although he has been attached to Garibaldt's staff,
,he makes war at his own expense, and he was
always to be found in the thick of the
fray. It seems that his only object was that of
getting a good shot at the enemy, and whenever he
bad killed an Austrian he was seen to mark him
down in his pocket-book. A few days ago I met
Captain Peard at Brescia, and he was kind enough to
show me his book, from which it was apparent that
twenty-five Austrians were killed by him daring the
campaign, besides ten who were under the heading
of " uncertain." I was greatly amused at the unpre-
tending manner in which our eounuyman spoke of
his rather curious propensity for such a murderous
game, for he assured me he professes the utmost in-
difference to the cause of Italian independence. He
is like oos of those Italian condotrieri of the middle
ages who made war for pleasure, vrithoet
inquiring whether the cause he served was
the wrong or the
.right one. Such is Cap-
tain Peard, who is now anxious that war
should begin on the Arno or on the Termite, in order
to have a few score of Swiss soldiers to add to his
list, under the headingof "really dead." There are
also with Garibaldi two rather eccentric young
Frenchmen, dressed in a peculiar costume of their
own, who are members of the Paris Jockey Club.
These two gentlemen have been so charmed by the
gallant general that lam told they will abate his
fate, whatever it may be. Five American citizens
and a few Germans are going to do the same,
together with a Chinese, who, were I to believe
what he told me, is one of the few who escaped the
slaughter of Commissioner Yeh at Canton. Most of
Garibaldi's officers belong to the upper classes of
Lombardy, and have borne arms with him either in
South America or in Rome. The chief of his staff,
Colonel Carrano, was one of the most distinguished
defenders of Venice in 1848 and '49, and he is the
author of the military history of that war. Although
the taste of the French painters has clad Garibaldi
in a sort of medicerol costume, the general always
wears the Piedmontese uniform of his rank. The
only difference to be noticed is in the trimming and
the colour of the cloth. His manners are exceed-
ingly kind and unpretending, and he speaks more
like an Englishman than a man of the south. On
my arriving here I found all thee. young volun-
teers desirous to go to Tuscany, where
they hope to find good work for their rules.
Count Giovanni Arnvabene, a well-tried friend
of the general's, who only the other day got
the epaulettes of sous-lieutenant, told me that
Garibaldi hopes to be allowed to go to Central Italy.
If he succeeds in doing so, with the influence he
exercises over the Italians, there is no doubt the
peace and the security of those provinces will be
sewed at once. He will find there an army of
80,000 volunteers, and with such a force he can
easily rout the mercenary troops of Austrian arch-
dukes, should they be bold enough to attempt the
conquest of their lost thrones. On the other hand,
he will be able to restore internal order, should any
attempt be made to disturb it.