The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-27 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 27, 1860.

appointment of the most unpopuble-maa it could
find to preside over the different districts was as
exceedingly nab act. A change has glace ittsit
made in the Government. Gextrommeu tes
resigned, or has been dismissed. But is these
aught to be hoped from the substitution of M.
84:111(ERLNO in his place ? Seesaws° was
minister in 1849, and is no doubt an able
lawyer ; but his ability was at that time
directed to the introduction of the Austrian
code into Hungary, than which no one measure of
the Vienna Government has proved more dis-
tasteful to the Hungarians. Is M. SCHMEELINO
the man to give the Hungarians the autonomy
they require, or to render more palatable that
which they reject ?
Austria, therefore, we much fear, offers no pro-
spect save that of political convulsion. Prussia seems
to be on the eve of a great ministerial change, the
nature and consequence of which depends much
upon the manner in which the Pelee' RIMANT
takes the votes and decrees of the Chambers. If
a liberal Ministry be formed in Prussia it almost
inevitably comes into collision with the Frankfort
Diet on the subject of Hesse Cassel, of which the
existing Chambers demand the restoration of their
ancient constitution.

What is more serious to us, a liberal adminis-
tration at Berlin would not only quarrel with the
German Diet on the subject of Hesse Cassel, but
with England on the question of Schleswig. Our
public men in England entertain the most anti-
Prussian and anti-German opinions as to how
Denmark is to be politically constituted and di-
vided ; and the project of an Anglo-Prussian or
an Anglo-German alliance against possible dis-
turbers of the public peace may completely split
upon that rock.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
ITALY.
TURN, Drc. 27.
Countikvour has been unwell. He bas been
bled twice and is now in a more eatiafeatory Mete.
Signor Riccardi, the eon-in-law of Farini, is
dead.

NAPLES, Dm 25.

The individuals belonging to the classes of 1857,
1858, 1869, and 1860, have been called to military
service.

Those who have been sent home are to be in
readiness to resume military service when required.

NAPLLS, D. 26.

Several persons have been arrested on a charge
of having been in correspondence with the Roy-
alists at Gaeta.

RONK, Dac. 23.
The liberal party is irritated against the police
for having ordered the closing of the Castenuovo,
and has set up an open opposition to the measure.
The last allocution of the Pope has not yet
been published.
The Giornale di Roma publishes a protest, signed
by 22 prelates of the Marches, against the acts of
the Sardinian government.

Several thousands of soldier+ who left Gaeta and
entered the Roman States, are returning to the
Abruzzi, where the reactionary movements con-
tinue.

ITALY.
•
THE SIEGE OF GAETA: .
LETTER FROM VICTOR EMMANUEL TO, Mir
FRANCIS IL

(non OUR &recut oocantrownerr.)
NOLA DI GAETA, Day. 14.
The same uncertainty still prevails in our camp.
Are we going to have an armistice or are we not ?
This is the question the officers ask one another.
Since orders were received by General Cialdini to
discontinue the fire of the battery of rifled guns
which we have established on Monte Cristo we
have not resumed it, quite indifferent as to whether
the besieged followed our example or not. When
we made General Salzano acquainted with the
orders received from Naples, the Neapo-
litan commander-in-chief declined to enter
into any compromise, saying that his royal
muster had nothing to do with the proposal made
by the trench cabinet. It is, therefore, evident
that up to the present day the enemy has not ac-
cepted the overtures which were made by Louis
Napoleon, and which King Victor Emmanuel has-
tened to follow at once. The batteries of Gaeta
were, indeed, silent for about 48 hours, and this
was the fact which led us to believe that Francis IL
had really made up his mind to go. These hopes
were, however, dispelled, for last night the be-
sieged fortress began to tire again with its usual
liberality. We have, therefore, come to the coon-
elusion, that the short respite they gave us
was the effect of a battery of 16 pieces
with which we had opened fire on the right side of
the fortress, and of the rifled one we have estab-
lished on Monte Cristo. The success we obtained
with this last was so great that even the fair Queen
got afraid, and sought refuge on board the
Spanish vessel which is lying in the harbour. Two
shells from this battery went through the roof of
the military hospital and exploded in one of the
wards, to the great consternation of the sick. The
poor creatures were so terror-struck that they ran
into the street, and the sight was most dis-
tressing. The particulars of that lament-
able occurrence were given me by a captain
of the Neapolitan staff, whom General Salzano sent
here to remonstrate. The offioer came to Cialdini
with • ridiculous air of indignation, saying that it
bad been agreed no bombs or shells should explode
in the building where the black flag was hoisted.
Cialdini, who knows well how to deal with fan-
/avow told the captain that he was too expert in
military matters to have for a moment entered into
such a foolish arrangement. " I have promised
your general," added Cialdini, " that my gunners
shall never point their guns at any of the build-
ings marked by the black flag. But between
such a promise and that you attribute to
me there is • wide difference. How can
we undertake that not a shell from our rifled pieces
shall explode in certain buildings when the guns are
fired at a distance of 4,500 metres ?" There was
no answer to be given to such a question, and the
Neapolitan captain was at last obliged acknow-
ledge that the Piedmontese general was quite right.
But if such has been the disastrous effect of a few
rifled guns, what will be the position of the be-
sieged when Cavern's guns arrive ? These new im-
plements of destruction can be brought to bear at
the distance of 5500 metres, and their practice is
reported to be so perfect that at such a distance
the shells can be lodged within a circle of two yards
diameter. We rather expect that both Francis 11.
and his generals will be taught a lesson they will
not soon forget.
When one considers the sacrifice of life which
the taking of Gaeta must cost, one cannot help
feeling indignant at the useless obstinacy of its de-
fenders. Had Francis H. the most remote chance
of reconqueriug his former state, I could under-
stand it. But even supposing the worst for
Italian unity the Bourbons will never be recalled
to the throne of Naples, for the civilised world has
condemned them. It is not, therefore, the fault of
Victor Emmanuel if their misgovernment and
tyranny has brought him to Naples. It is not
sufficiently known in Europewhat the King of Italy
lies done to bring the son of Ferdinand 11. to a
sense of justice and the adoption of a wiser policy.
I have just now oome into possession of a copy
of a letter, which was addressed by Victor Em-
manuel to Francis 11. when the former was at
Florence. The letter deserved au answer, though
it never received one.

Dear Cousin,—lt would be umlaut for me to point out the
political state of the peninsula, since the great victories of
Magenta and &Merino annihilated the influence which
Austria exercised upon our country. The Italians are no
more the people of thirty years ago, to be led like sheep by
their rulers. They have acquired the full knowledgeof their
rights, and they possess the wisdom and strength necessary
to defend them. Public opinion has on the other hand
sanctioned the principle, that every nation has the ineon-
teatible right of governing itself as it thinks best. When
once the overpowering influence of Austria was conquered,
it was natural enough that the people of Italy should get rid
of the minor princes and try to constitute • power-
ful and independent community. We have, therefore,
reached an epoch at which Italy must be divided
into two powerful states, one in the north the other in the
south, which, by adopting a similar course of national
policy, should assist the Italian leading idea of our times,
which is unity. But to carry this project into effect it is,
I firmly believe, necessary that your Majesty should at once
abandon the fatal course you have hitherto pursued. Should
you resist my pressing advice, which I beg you to believe
is the result of the truest affection for your welfare, and
for that of your royal dynasty—should you repudiate my
friendly proposal, a time may come in which I
should be placed in the terrible alternative of endangering
the most urgent interests of my own dynasty or of be-
coming in fact the chief instrument of your ruin. The
principle of dualism, which, if successfully established and
honestly carried out, will at the same time ensure our
happiness and the happiness of our country, may be still
willingly accepted by the Italians. If you allow • few
months to pus without following the friendly advice I give
you, your Majesty will, in all probability, expe-
rience the bitterness ofof those terrible words, "It is
too late," as a member of your family did at Paris
in 1830. The Italians will then concentrate in me
all their hopes, and there are duties which, how-
ever painful they may be, must be fulfilled by an Italian
sovereign. Let us therefore work together at such • noble
work ; let us urge upon the Holy Father the necessity of
granting the requisite reforms ; let us unite our states in a
bond of real friendship, from which the greatness of our
country will sorely spring. Grant at once • liberal consti-
tution to your subjects; surround yourself with the In-
fluence of the men who are most esteemed for all they have
suffered in the cause of liberty ; dispel all kinds of suspicion
io your people, and let an everlasting alliance be established
between the two most powerful State! of the Peninsula. We
will then work together to insure to our country the great
blessing of being the sole arbitrees of her future destinies.
You are young, and experience is not generally the lot of
youth. Allow me, therefore, to impress upon your mind
the neoesaity of following the advice I give you in my two.
fold capacity of a near relative and of au Italian sovereign.
I anxiously wait by the return of the confidoutiel courier
who will present thisletter to your Majesty a satisfactory
answer —Believe me, your Majesty's most affectionate cousin,
Florence, April 15, 1860. Vlcrort Egriarrucr..

Well, to this letter not only no answer was given,
but the orderly officer who took it to Naples was
not even allowed to deliver it to the king, as he
had been directed to do. It was just on that occa-
sion that the first domestic quarrel took place be-
tween the young queen and her obstinate husband.
This lady having beard of Victor Emmanuel's
letter, telegraphed through a friend to Commenda-
tory di Martino, then at Rome, to ask his advice.
Di Martino answered that it was of the utmost
importance that the proposal of the Sardinian
monarch should be accepted at once. The unhappy
queen, therefore, urged her husband to accept
but the disastrous influence of the Queen Dowager
had already borne its fruit. Francis 11. obsti-
nately repulsed the wise advice of his young con-
sort, and from that moment the fate of the Bour-
bons of Naples was decided. You know thn rent.
Dec. 16.

The tire of the place still continues with the
usual briskness. As the left flank of the Sardinian
positions was thought not to be strong enough,
General Menabrea ordered that a bridge which
crossed the wain road leading to the short, of the
open sea should be blown up at once. This

geration, which was intrusted to Captain de la
Poe* of the Royal Engineers, was both most
difficult and mast dangerous. The bridge being
situated on an open pieos of ground opposite to the
bastion which surrounds Monte Torre d'Orlando
it was necessary to destroy it under the heavy fire
of the place. the operation was, however, auccea-
fully carried out by the gallant captain, although
with the loss of a few men, who were hit by the
Neapolitan shells.
Foreign officers are daily arriving at our camp
to inspect the siege operations. A few days ago a
Russian General came with a letter of Count
Cavonr. He was, of course, very much Med by
both Cialdini and his officers, because his visit had
great importance in a political point of view.
The Russian visitor did not the least dia-
ries his opinions on the matter. Hee-
-1 rag said that he had got the authorisation
of his imperial master to come here, he hastened to
add that all true Russians viewed the present strug-
gle between the new King of Italy and the late
King of the Two Sicilies as a struggle between
Austria and Italy. "I wish you," said the Rus-
sian general to au officer of the Sardinian artillery,
" God speed, and may you in a short time revenge
on the Mincio and the Po Austria's treacherous and
ungrateful abandonment of us in the Crimean war."
Some officers from the Danubian Principalities are
also guests at our camp, and they most heartily fra-
ternise with these brave Italians. The French, you
know already, are not great favourites here
just now. Since hurt night a report has
bn spread that Admiral de Tinau had
received orders to remain—news which, accord-
ing to the Neapolitan deserters, was also spread at
Gaeta, to the great satisfaction of Francis 11. and
his generals. What will be the result of this
doubly-faced policy I canuot tell, but what is cer-
tain is, that the Italians are thoroughly sick of it.
Louis Napoleon makes the proposal of an armis-
tice, which is at once accepted by the cabinet of
Turin. The same overtures are made to Francis IL,
who is told that if he does not accept, the French
fleet will retire. He decline% and the French
vessels not only remain, but they are increased
by a screw frigate and a brig. How long
will Europe endorse this bullying policy of his
Imperial Majesty 1 When will she call on him to
respect the principle of non-intervention laid down
in the treaty of Zurich ? These are the questions
which Italians put to me without my being able to
answer them. The new incident that Las occurred
in this question as regards the French policy has
made the more impression upon the Sardinian
officers, inasmuch as the sudden appearance at our
camp of General Guyon, chief of the staff, was re-
garded as a proof of the good offices of France, and
u the forerunner of Admiral Barbier de Tinan's
prompt departure. This, however, has not been
the case. Hence an increasing feeling of distrust
towards Louis Napoleon and his government.
Dec. 17.

In spite of the bad weather our workmen have
made wonderful progress, and within a few days
we shall have surrounded Gaeta with a double line
extending across the isthmus from one sea to the
other. If therefore nothing happens to stop
our works we shall be able to open a tremendous
fire against Gaeta by the 6th or 7th of next
mouth. It is a long time to wait, but
you must bear in mind that the difficulties
General Menabre* has to contend with can only be
appreciated by those who are acquainted with the
ground, and who know bow strong are the posi-
tions of the besieged. To get rid of a part of the
garrison Francis 11. has shipped the two regi-
ments of his guards, and sent them to Ter-
racina. On arriving there the repudiated sup-
porters of the Bourbon cause made their
way to our camp, where they arrived yesterday
evering. About 8(10 of them were sent to Naples
last night ; the others will follow either to-day or
to-morrow morning. This is the way iu which the
son of Ferdinand U. treats poor soldiers who have
sacrificed the comforts of life and family affections
for his welfare.

A letter of the 18th inst., from Fermo, says :
" We can assert that the Cardinal Di Angelis, now
at Turin, has addressed a circular to the curds of
the diocese of Fermo ; he orders them, on pain of
excommunication, not to supply the list of recruits
for the new levy. The curia, having met in
council, have resolved to obey strictly this order.
The most ardent defender of divine right in this
conclave was the curb of the Carmine of Fermo."

The following order of the day has been pub-
lished at Napier :

For the honour of the body to which they belong, I re-
commend the officers and soldiers of the Southern army to
abstain from every act which partakes of the nature of noisy
demonstration. My fellow-officers and soldiers, now that
the campaign is over, the leas that is said of you the more
honourable and honoured you will be. Imitate Garibaldi,
who is collecting himself in solitude for new enterprises.
The General of the Southern Army,
Dec. 15. G. Swim.

THE SUPPOSED ASSASSIN OP JUDGE
POINSOT.

The Siitle ways :—" It is known that the sup-
posed wassin of President Poinsot is named Charles Jud,
ands a malefactor of the most dangerous character, against
whom a writ of arrest has been issued. The following is the
description that we find on this subject in the Univa Boar
guigneame Jud, who hu recently acquired a
celebrity equal to that of the moat celebrated miscreants,
was on his way to Dijon in the early part of last month.
When on the 12th of September last he assassinated ins
carriage in the train from Retort to Mulhouse the Russian
Dr. lieppi, be was already under sentence of twenty years'
hard labour. On the 3rd of November he was travelling in
a compartment of a second-clarriage in the train from Mar
seilles to Baia, with a young civil engineer of the Hanle of
Haiti, who was returning from Constantine. He made his
acquaintance during the journey, and on the 4th they
stopped to Dijon at the Hotel of the CO' te.rl'Or,
with M. Gillet, in Rue Guillaume. ' Beware of my
travelling companion, he said to M. Gillet, for he had
not • sou in his pocket; I have lent him 20fr.
In the evening, when the engineer ceme back to fetch his
things, be found that his double•barrelled gun, his shooting
license a pistol with an ivory handle, his powder-flask and
shot-bag, had been stolen. His travelling companion, J ame.s
Jud (that was his travelling name), had vanished. The
police instantly signalled him, and his description was sent
to Paris. On the 28th of November this dangerous criminal
was arrested and confined in a luck-up house, but he ma-
naged to get rid of his chains, when he fled across country,
after knocking dawn three guards who tried to stop him.
At the time of his arrest they found on his person some
Russian lank notes and a double-barrelled min, which had
been doubtless stolen at Dijon. It was eight days after this
escape that the assassination of M. Poinsot was committed
on the Railway of the Ease"

The following English physicians have had the
high honour conferred upon them of being elected Asso-
ciates of the Societe Medico-Psychologique of Paris, viz. :
Dr. John Conolly, D.C.L., of Hanwell ; Dr. Forbes
Winslow, D.C.L., of London; and Dr. Bucl.nell, of Devon.

PRUSSIA AND JAPAN.—The Berlin journals of
the 22nd state that a German merchant, writing from
Yokohama. in Japan, confirms the fact that the negotia-
tions for a treaty of commerce between Japan and Prussia,
which bad been commenced by Count Eulenblug, had been
embarrassed by • number of difficulties raised by the
Japanese government, but that the count had declared
that he would remain near the isluid with his squadron for
eight months in the hope of removing them.
Abraham Lincoln is a gaunt giant more than six
feet high, strong and long-limbed. Ho walks slow, and,
like many thoughtful men (Wordsworth and Napoleon, for
example), keeps his head inclined forward and downward.
His hair Is wiry black, his eyes are dark-grey : his smile is
frank, sincere, and winning. Like most America',
gentlemen, he is loose and careless in dress, turn. down his
flapping white collars, and wear, habitually what we con-
sider evening dress. His head is massive, his brow full and
wide, his nose large and fleshy. his mouth wane and full ;
his eyes are sunken, his bronzed face is thin, end drawn down
into strong corded lines, that disclose the machinery that
moves the broad jaw. This greet leader of the " Repub-
lican " partv—this Abolitionist—this terror of the " HMO-
mats "—this honest old lawyer, with a face half Roman,
half Indian, so wasted byclimate, so soirrol by a lifo's strug-
gles, was born in 1809, in Kentucky. His grandfather, who
came from Virginia, was killed by the Indians. His father
died young, leaving a widow and several children. They re-
moved to Indians, Abe being at that time only six years old.
Poor, and stniggiam, his mother could only afford him some
eight months' rough schooling ; and is the clearings of that
new, unsettled country, the healthy stripling went to work
to hew hickory and gum-trees, to ple with remonstrating
bears, and to look out for the too frequent rattlesnake. Tall,
strong, lithe, and smiling, Abe toiled on as farm-labourer,
mule-driver, sheep-feeder, deer-killer, woodcutter, and,
lastly, as boatman on the waters of the Wabash, and the
Ili nusippi.—Oate a Week.

(nom out ow' col

BEYROUT, Dec. 7.

- ,
The subject which is chiefly occupying all nieu'.,
minds here at present is the question as to the
departure of the French. That by the terms and
conditions of the convention their term of occupa-
tion will be up on the 16th February next we all
know, as it was on the 16th August that they
landed in the country. In my opinion their lepar.
ture would cause a panic, and a general exodus of
all the Christians that could by any means get
away, and we must remember that in this part of
Syria—from Latakia in the north to Tyre in the
houth, including the Lebanon and anti-Leban.,i,
ranges—the Christians of various denominations
form three-fourths of the population. Nay, so
much is the departure of the French dreaded that
I know many native Christian families in Beyront
who have parted with jewels, or realised on good.,
or sold land, so as to have by them available at ally
moment the money required to take them away.
And, much as this want of confidence in the
Turkish authorities is to be lamented, we who
saw all that passed in May, June, and July
last cannot wonder at it. There is no doubt that
Fuad Pacha is gradually gaining the confidence of
the Christian population, but it is equally true that
if the French leave Syria during the next sir
months—or until there is really some appearanm
of things being placed on a proper footing—all the
good that has been done will be undone.

- Then, again, the fraternisation which on all pos.
aible occasions takes place even now between the
Turkish soldiers and the Druses is naturally a
source of no small anxiety to the native Christians.
No longer than about ten days ago a party of Tur-
kish soldiers was sent up to the village of Bteta in
Lebanon to search the houses of the Druse Sheiks
and others, for plunder taken from the Christians
(luring the war. A European gentleman who was
an eye-witness of the scene told me that the
Turkish troops passed the day in feasting and
sings.• with the Druses, and came away with
rubbish of the value of two or three pounds, saying
the village contained no more plunder. The very
next day a party of French soldiers was set to
search the same village, when property recognised
to have belonged to Christians, such as church
plate, jewels, &c., to the value of more than 2,0001.,
was found in a very few hours. The French search
wars made under the directions of a French resident
iu the mountains, by order of the general, and with
Fund Pacha's approval ; but no sooner did the
Turkish governor of the district hear of it than he
did his best to stop it. And this is but one
of the instances which are happening every day.
Damascus still remains the greatest of the Syrian
difficulties. It appears useless for Christians to
attempt to live there. They not only are openly
insulted at every turn by the Moslems, but the
hitter tell them daily and hourly that they are only
waiting for the French and Fuad Paella to depart
in order to repay with tenfold interest the lives of
their co-religionists taken by Fluid when he tine
visited Damascus. A respectable Moslem of Da-
tnascus said lately to a native Christian, in whose
word I have every reason to believe, that the Mos-
lems of Damascus had sworn on the Koran that as
soon as the infidels had left Syria no Christian
should be left alive within a summer day's journey
of the holy city. I believe—and you must
allow that my long experience in Syria has been of
some use in prognosticating what was to take place
iu the country—l believe that if we want Syria
to be quiet, and don't wish for a renewal of the
horrors of last year, the present French army of
occupation must remain at any rate over the spring.
The mortality amongst the Christians of the
Lebanon is something fearful to contemplate. The
bad and insufficient food which they have had to
put up with, the want of houses to shelter them
from the weather, and the mental anxiety, only too
natural to men who have lost their all, and to
women who have lost their husbands, sons, brothers,
and fathers, is beginning to tell upon them. I have
the authority of Colonel Burnaby of the Guards,
that excellent English officer who has volunteered
for the mission of helping the Christians to rebuild
their es, for saying that in very many of the
Christian villages the people are dying at the rate
of sixty per cent. per annum ! This is something
fearful to contemplate. At this rate the whole of
the mixed districts of the mountain would be
entirely depopulated in less than two years.
And remember this mortality is, notwith-
standing the large sums spent by the British
Syrian Relief Fund and the various French
charities to relieve the sufferers. The French have
just allotted the large sum of 48,000/. towards re-
building the burnt-up villages ; but these cannot
be repaired in a day, and before they can be so,
many hundreds, aye thousands, of the Christian
peasantry of Lebanon will have died from the effects
of want and exposure.
Lord Dufferin and the other commissioners of the
five powers are still at Damascus ; they return
here to-morrow, I believe. 1 understand they are
astounded at all they have seen, and at the tales
of Moslem insolence they hear ; in short, that they
believe their task of settling the Syrian question
to be but just begun.