The Express.
London, England, 1858-09-20 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1858.

withheld her from this closer intimacy with a despotic
and semi-barbarous power. Bat we cannot forget
. .

that it was the Minister whose name is now invoked
as the steadfast and vigilant antagonist of Russia,
who disappointed the just hopes of Sardinia on a
question of vital importance to her. We remember
the gallant part the Piedmonteee acted in the
Crimea, and how their reasonable expectations ware
dashed at the Paris Conferences. We and others
have pointed out repeatedly that the ocaine taken
by our Government was driving Sardinia towards
alliances that would be distasteful to her statesmen,
and which we could not regard without regret. Not
to repeat ourselves, we will borrow the true words
of our contemporary, the Spectator, on this subject:

We aD remember how the mistaely, fir, and wasteatiel
assassilime of IY Amer wee tressed when Cavour brought
k bekee the 000/1111ffial ; how art day wea given to that
pest ripet, sad to few Main, including the paltry
grievers el the Plana Govenuret raises the Belgian
jemensie. The enbeessent reseesstrancee al the Sardinian
Gemersmest at this perfesokwy Milliner of en obligation
wen Iroslid with coldness. Sardinia bad ems his support
is as Crimes, and when she presented the persiseary note
tsr payment, she wee told then were "so sire." It is
Is be believed that even dale that pried the statesmen of
Wag VW= Emmanuel have Inked to the Western Powers,
end espidelly to coostitutiosal Wirt, !or support against
that power whose unisterrapted preperatisse ea the frontier
of Piedmast rem to point to no other desks than the
waling of Serdirs. The support has not been gives.
Ilsrdtnia sided se is obtaining the objects of the Busks
yr. We bar forgotten our obligation to Sardinia; and
she mod relsolantly, it is to be presumed, his been the M-
amma el ear enemy he the attainment of his oblset ; and
It Is pessilde that the reran he that breach of sairlateacy on
the pre el Sardinia may be found in a promise et support
spier Austria from despotic Ruda, when carlitational
Begird has failed.

It would have been well if we had retained the
confidence of the Piedmontese, and so prevented the
approximation to Rivals which the concession of
privileges at Villafranca involves : but we should
have occupied a singularly unworthy position if,
after disappointing her of the fruits of our alliance, we
quarrelled with her because within the boundary of
her sovereign rights she grant, favours to powers
able and willing to render her effectual service.
Our Turin correspondent has, in a few words, given
the key of Sardinian policy. Sardinia is small,
but she nevertheless feels called by Providence to
foster the Italian cause. For this she is hated by
Austria, who is still keeping under arms from four
to five hundred thousand men. It is, therefore, a
paramount necessity for her to seek friends where
she can find them, and she thinks she is most sure of
those who, like herself, are enemies of Austria.

EXPREsb F KUM rAitlb.

(7110 Y ova OWN

PARIS, SUNDAT EPINING•

The Turin correspondent of the Prune gives the
following versiou of the manner in which England
has been, to use a popular phrase, thrown over by
Sardinia in the Villafranca affair. According to the
writer, Count Canoes owes Lord Malmtabury " an
ancient grudge" which he ha. taken the present
opportunity to " feed fat." The grudge goes back
to the days of the Cagliari crew.
In point of fact, it is pretty notoricus that Lord
Mtlmeebury, who took such high ground (under
the pressure of public opinion at home) with the
Neapolitan government in the matter of the two
English engineers, showed Count Cavour the cold
shoulder when he demanded English support in
behalf of the Sardinian crew. The slighted Sar-
dinian Minister, 'acceding to this account, has given
Lord Malmesbury a Roland for his Oliver, by taking
counsel with the Emperor of the French, but none
with the cabinet of St. James's, before he agreed to
the Villafranca lease with the Russian Company.
The decree of the dissolution of the Spanish
Cortes is published. The new chambers will meet
on the Ist of December.

Arrests had ;been made at Naples on the 7th of
September, the eve of the fête of the Madonna;
but the persons arrested were speedily released.
The police of these absolute princes must do some-
thing to keep their hand in.

The Council-General of the Miranit passed a
motion at the conclusion of its last session, in which
the departmental assembly expressed a hope that
Prince Napoleon would visit the port of Cette, oc
the occasion of his approaching voyage to Algeria.
The substance of the motion was forwarded
to the Prince' by MM. Michel Chevalier
and B. Cazelles, deputy for the Menult. The Prince
replied as follows :

Paris, &pt. 14„ 1868.

Osatkmim,—l have received your letter Of the 29th ult.,
enclosing a ropy of the report of the deliberations of the
Comma-General of the Hammalt. I would willingly sword
with the desire cd the Commil•Oimeral sod your own, bat
the short time I shall be We to devote to ply visit to Algeria
will probably not permit me to stop at Cate. I fully:ap-
preciate the imp:Maws of this fine port, and the community
of interests which binds it to our A/gerbsepomessions. I should
have been happy to have &soused with yes the future which
is in More for it by the development of ourcokety. The question
of oommordsl liberty mimed by the Conseil-Omen' of your
department Is one of thoes,wbio► partkalarly excites my
sympathy. Our industrial pogrom mum that question to
soaks a dolly advance, and NI keg the revision of our ctiatom-
house tarifa will come to alarm any Merest.. I request
that you will omen my seatiments and my regreta to the
Conseil-Geseral, ka.

(Slimed) The Prime charged with the !titulary
at Algeria sod the Colonies,
NAPOLEON (JEROME).
To MX. Michel Chevalier, President of the Council-
Noea; sod Crones, Deputy of the Hennit.

An appeal is to be lodged in the Cour Imperials
against the judgment of the:tribunal of Correctional
Police at Poitiers, by which a sentenoe of two
months' imprisonment was passed upon M. de
Curzon, and one month's upon M. de Maine, for
getting up an illegal address to the :Count de
Chambord.

The government has resolved on the establish-
ment of a coaling depot at Macao :for the accommo-
dation of French vessels of war in the China, seas,
and the two sailing frigates Africaine and :Nereid'
are to be freighted with coal for that smrposs.
Some economy may be realised thereby. The price
of coals isawfal in those parts of the world.
The following appears in the Mesa/tor
- . . .

am& journal; have announced, for some days put, that
He government of the Btoprem to reenecuplatteg the Mtn:i-
dle:ince of important modifications into thoCcommercia
nifisme of Algeria. These pretended projects, sod the dis-
tort= to which they have given rise, have excited some
tun adars in the manufacturing districts ; but In order to
put a atop to the rumour', It is sufficient to say that the
gemsaisit has never entertained the thought of making
any dump in the mamas laws which are in force in Alge•
rim, and which determine its relatkoa with France.

EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE HAMBURG
AND NEW YORK STEAMER HAMMONIA.

(ram 001 OWN

HAMBURG, Barr. N.
Great excitement was created in this city on
Thursday, by the announcement of an accident of a
mysterious nature having happened on board]the
iron screw steamer Hammonia, Captain Schwensen,
of and from this port to New York, which left Cux-
haven the day before yesterday with the usual
'American bi-monthly mails, a large and valuable
icargo of manufactured goods, and 293 passengers.
It appears that the steamer—which belongs to the
' German line of packets that touch at Southamp-
ton, and have hitherto been distinguished by their
splendid runs across the Atlantic and the
total absence of all accidents or misfor-
tunes—left the Elbe on Thursday afternoon, and
had not been many hours at sea, when from
looms hitherto unexplained cause an explosion took
place in the after part of the ship, and it wu found
that the powder-magazine, containing the vessel's
stock of blue lights, signal rockets, and powder for
@eluting, had blown up. This magazine being
situated under the chief saloon, the passengers of
the first-clam cabins were the principal rofferers, as
the poop decks were forced up by the violence of
the explosion. The ship was immediately turned
round to retrace her steps to the Elbe, whilst medi-
cal assistance was speedily offered by the surgeon of
the Hammonia, and Dr. Neander, one of the cabin
poultry.

To allay the fears of the passengers' friends in
England, I here subjoin the list of wounded as
given by the company ;-1, Madame Andre, from
Offenbach, residing at Philadelphia, slight non-
tusion of the right hip ; 2, Herr Barth, from Costa
Rica, dislocation of the left knee cap; 3, Miss
Fanny Siermann, from Fiirth, a slight wound on
the left cheek; 4. Herr Fnedrieh Muller, from
Oldenburg, lower part of left thigh bone broken,
and fracture of right leg below the knee.
Owing to the praiseworty minions made by the
directors of the company, the repairs of the injury
will be completed this evening, and the manager has
publicly announced to-day that the vowel will sail
to-morrow morning (Sunday) for New York. Al-
though the police authorities have made the most
searching investigation, and examined the officers,
passengers, and crew, nothing has been elicited to
throw the slightest light on the cause of the explo-
sion, which is consequently Irrupt in the same
shroud of mystery as before, but generally attributed
to spontaneous combustion. The powder =wine
contained forty blank cartridges for the saluting
lour-pounders, live dozen blue lights, and about an
equal quantity of signal rockets. There was also soma
gunpowder in it belonging to the French govern-
ment Some of the slightly wounded proceed to
New York by the Ifammonia ; but Mr. Muller,
who was sitting in the smoking saloon Immo-
(Warty over the powder magazine when the explo-
sion took place, lies in the General Hospital
of this city in a most critical state, and Dr. RIWITO,
the head surgeon of the establishment, is going to
amputate both his legs to-dal, and entertains but
very feeble hopes of his surviving the operation.
Madame Andre is also not able to proceed to her
destination by this steamer, and remains for the pre-
sent at the Hotel de l'Earope under the surgical care
of Dr. Roorre. No damage was done to the screw
or any other part of the machinery of the Ham-
monis, which is an iron-built vessel of 2,500 tons.

ITALY.

FRENCH AND ROMAN CONFLICTS.

(MOW 091 OWN

ROM, Sirr. 14.

Hostilities have broken out afresh between the
French and Roman soldiery in this city, in spite of
the peace-making exertions of Cardinal Antonelli
and the French ambsseador a couple of months ago,
when, after several previous frays, order was res-
tored under the auspices of the French and Roman
generals, dinners on an extensive scale were given
to consolidate the somewhat fragile friendship of
the rival forces, and copious libations prepared to
wuh down the not always palatable toast of " Buon
Franoese!" " Boon Italiano !"

On Sunday morning four French sediers of the
40th Regiment of the line were discussing with the
puzzled master of a café, near Sant' Andrea della
Valle, the propriety of their receiving change for a
napoleon which they had not as yet produced, when
a Roman dragoon came in to ask for a wafer
to seal a letter he was about to send to
his mother, at Velletri. Whether the dragoon
showed his disapprobation of the unreasonableness of
the French soldiers by some gesture or not, certain
it is that they turned wrathfully upon him and
struck him, following him out of the café into the
street, where, in self defence, he was obliged to
draw his sword upon them, and a combat ensued in
which, in spite of the odds against him, the dragoon
with his long weapon might have had the beet of the
encounter, bad he not got entangled with his own
spurs whilst turning short round to defend himself from
the assaults of one of his foes who bad attacked him
in the rear, and fallen to the ground a helpless prey
to the sabres of his cowardly assailants. The
dragoon's head was split open before he could be
rescued, and he would probably have been hacked
to pieces if a patrol of French soldiers had not
opportunely arrived, having been previously sent
for by the muter of the café to settle
the difficulty about the napoleon. The four
soldiers, who had evidently been drinking
immoderately, left their victim on the ground, and
tied, pursued by the patrol, towards the Via del
Sudan, where they were captured and brought
back, amidst the hooting and hissing of the mob, one
or two of them bearing marks of the dragoon's
handiwork.

The wounded man was taken immediately to the
hospital, where he is still in imminent danger,
although not yet dead. So much irritation was
produced amongst his fellow-eoldiers on hearing of
the affair that the colonel of the dragoons gave
orders for the barracks to be closed and every man
to remain within ; but, being Sunday morning, and
after mass, many dragoons were already out on
leave, and three repaired in menacing attitude to the
French barracks near the Canoelleria Palace, where,
however, the officers succeeded in preventing any
further conflict.

It is expected that one or two of the French soldiers
who commenced the quarrel, will be shot, in accord-
ance with the severe measures ordered by General
de Goyon on a similar occasion, shortly before his
departure for France. He will find all his reconci-
liatory work to be done over again on his return
here, which is expected in a few days. The only
effective mode of putting a stop to these periodical
demonstrations of antipathy will be adopted ere long,
if we may believe such an often resumed report, by
the withdrawing of the French garrison from the
capital. Civita Vecchia is to be occupied some time
longer by French troops, and their reduction to that
seaport town is stated to be fixed for the beginning
of 1859, when the railway thence to Rome will be
in activity, and afford every facility for a rapid re-
turn of any number of French regiments, should
the safety of the Papal government again
require such aid from the Emperor Napoleon.
The Austrians are to withdraw simultaneously from
Bologna, and leave a garrison only in Ancona, as a
oounterpoise to the French in Civita Vecchia, and a
basis for the renewal of military operations in ease
of the legations once more giving signs of political
uneasiness. To supply the place of the imperial
forces, and to strengthen its own military position,
the Papal government is engaged in enrolling. an-
other regiment of Swiss soldiers, another regiment
of indigenous infantry of the line, and another bat-
talion of riflemen. Enlisting agents have already
been sent abroad to collect the heterogeneous
materials for the new Swiss, or, as it is more
properly denominated, foreign regiment ; but the
two already in the Pope's service are meanwhile
dwindling away, in consequence of illness, mal du
pays, and reluctance of the moldier, to renew
their engagements under the Papal banner.
The bounty to recruits in the state has likewise been
raised, to induce young men to come forward volun-
tarily (there being no conscription in the Pope's
dominions), and officers' commissions are given to
persons presenting themselves with the requisite
number of followers as common soldiers.

It will be seen that all these military
depend in part upon the French railway keitagNs.
Mires, and his timely completion of the Civita
Veochia lice. In his report upon the subject to the
general assembly of shareholders on the 26th ult. he
stated that the council of administration reckoned
upon opening the line to the public in the beginning
of December, a very opportune circumstance for the
crowds of foreigners who flock towards Rome in that
season. Meanwhile M. Mir& has adopted some
modifications in the number and value of the shares
representing the Roman railway company which
do not appear to have met with the approbation of the
Roman government, although decided upon by the
meeting of shareholders, in order to facilitate the
negotiation of the shares in the French Bourse. It
remains to be seen whether the Roman Minister of
Commerce and Public Works will exercise any influ-
ence over the determinations of the council of admi-
nistration and the general assembly of shareholders,
of whom the great majority are French.
Negotiations are pending between M. Mires and
the Austrian government for the connexion of the
Lombardo-Venetian and Pio-Central railways, by
means of a line from Ferrara to Rovigo and Padua.
This would greatly increase the Lombardo-Venetian
traffic oa the hue from Padua to Milan on
one side, and thence to the Piedmontese and
French railways, and to Cesare& on the other
side, which will soon be brought into direct
communication with Vienna and the whole of Ger-
many. This connecting link would also greatly
im-
prove the agricultural and mercantile prospects of
Ferrara and Bologna—districts richly productive of
maize and hemp, which are largely consumed at
Trieste and Pole, the maritime emporiums of Aus-
tria. The fertile province of Polesine, through
which the line would pass, would also gain more
facile amen for its products to the Adriatic. The
execution of the line would, of course, be of the
easiest kind in so level a country, intersected by no
large rivers except the Po.
IP-whinge on London, 472 g. Roman Consols, 94.

AURSIAX RAILWAYS.—Tbe Animal des Chemins
is lir sir M. Wallet end Bann J. de Rothschild have
jut emaciaded a very important negedatke at Vienna. The
Anstrient concedes to the Lombardo-Venetian
Nal the Trieste lime, 610 kilometres (lute nice
)in mod the Verona line, 220 Wan. Them
Iwo WNW the greeter pertiefebed sad ot work, the
pap will y 77 Willem of Mdse (ITO autism of hence) to
the Asetrim goverment. If, bowers., the receipt@ do slot
awned 7 moot. to 1871, the above stun will be Mooed to
136 MMus of francs. Isamu/24.d, of them lines
mid to the Lombardo-Venetisa Company, there hes
be.. semeeded to It the line from Botasn to Ins-
and a hue from Trieste to dram and Sea-
sick, and it is probable that it will shortly take
tram the Francis-J lines the railways from Path to
Warburg, and from Oldmbarg to Kanim. The capital ne-
cessary for these dilicest Knee, eselnalvely of that from
Tibiae to Vienna, is estimated at about MO millions, bat as
there le pried for ems @lotions • guarantee of lutenist of
6 per coot over and above the tinkle( fund, it is probable
that they will be constructed by means of bonds. What
Judie@ this prevision is that the pate of the Fronde-Joseph
line which have base purchased will be paid for in that
manage. It amen that 100,000 sow bonds will he created,
which will, it le meld, belong to the shareholder@ of the 1•01:12•
bardo-Venetian Company. This operation, which is the
most conidderahle that has bee. effected for many years,
completes the network of Italy, which, with the lines from
Nome to aeons and Bologna, sad to Civits Vecchia and to
Naphis, forms the easemble of the realise roihrops, sad pats
Estop la oteamnaiestke with those rich countries."