The Express.
London, England, 1860-09-15 00:00:00

The 6,000 men brought by Dr. Bertain, now
general, will arrive here in a few houra, and have
therefore become the leading column of the army
under General Turn The Cosenz column, which
has been placed under Brigadier Sambre orders,
since General Cosene became, as fortunately
he has become, Garibaldi's mosti influential a&.
riser' follows closely, whilst Medici's division
has been sent on some mysterious errand.
The Bixio and Hebert brigades are those
forming the rear of the army, and cannot be here
till Friday or Saturday next. By that time I have
no doubt we shall have made our entrance into
Naples. Besides these forces Garibaldi can reckon
upon 40,000 insurgents of Calabria and of the Basi-
licata, which, as perhaps you know already, are in
full revolution. It is true that the people of Bali.
Heata greatly differ from their brethren of Cala.
brie. They are hot so apt to carry arms, nor are
they endowed with the moral and intellectual
qualities which distinguish the sharp and hard-
working Calabrian mountaineers. Generally speak.
ing, the ignoranceand superstition of the Basilicata
people surpass all credibility. This morning, se
I was talking with two priests of Castelluocio, whom
I met on my way to Lsgonegro, I asked them what
was the cause that prevented the wealthy people
of Basilicata from joining Victor Emmanuel's army
hi 1859, whilst the whole of the peninsula beside'
had sent volunteers to the Sardinian camp. As the
two priests seemed not to understand me, I asked
them whether they were well informed of the war
fought a year ago in Lombardy. The answer I got
was that they had never !leant of such a thing, and
they seemed still to be ignorant that one of the
most flourishing and rich provinces Austria
had been lost by her after Magenta and& lferino.
At first I thought they were making a fool of me,
but after • quarter of an hour's talk I *Neared the
conviction that the two dusty priests I had come
across were really and truly as ignorant of those
events as a Chinese mandarin would have been.
If such is the ignorance which prevails amongst
the clergy of this country, I leave you to
guess what must be the moral and in-
tellectual condition of the peasantry. Such
is however the case, and I cannot help shuddering
when I think how long and difficult will be the
work of regeneration in a community which for
centuries has been kept in such a disgraceful state
of ignorance and superstition. Believe me, what
Mr. Gladstone and other English authors have
written about the ignorance of the Neapolitan
peasantry is nothing compared to the reality. When
one travels in these mountain districts, where com-
munications are so difficult, and one comet in con•
tact with its populations, one may really think one.
self in the centre of Africa, or in some more remote
parts of the known world.
Colonel Boldone, formerly in the service of the
Sardinian government, has just arrived here to we
the general and to report on the satisfactory cousli-
tiou of the Basilicatan insurrection, whose bands he
commands. From what I heard, the insurgents of the
above-mentionedprovinceenumberaboutl4,ooomen,
who will be organised in small brigades, as the Ca-
Isibrians were, by the clever and earnest endeavours
of Colonel Corte, of Garibaldi's general stall; left
behind. This unanimous and enthusiastic out-
break of the revolution, both in Basilicata and Cala.
brie, which enables Garibaldi to carry out his
plans with success, and show to Europc the unex.
ampled rapidity of his movements, is an unques-
tionable proof of how the Bourbonic government
was detested in the country. The extraordinary
enthusiasm displayed by the Calabrians, under the
orders of Stucco, Morelli, and Pace, and by the
Basilicata insurrectionary bands led by Mignon,
will, on the other hand, enable the Dictator to
push for Naples in advance of his more or leas
regular troops, in utter defiance of methodical war.
Here, if I mistake nut, lies the true secret
ef Garibaldi's bold movements, which would
otherwise deserve the name of foolish imprudence,
when ono considers that he and a few of his followers
are always drawing a-head, sometimes 30, some-
times 40 miles in advance of the leading column
of the army. Were it not for the insurrection so
generally spread in the country we are paining
through, the general of our army would have been
made prisoner a hundred times without his army
knowing it till days after.

ALMEITA, Sere 5.
The date of this letter will inform you how we
are more and more approaching the capital of the
kingdom. Garibaldi has moved to conquer with
a handful of hastily organised troops. Yesterday
afternoon I left the Dictator at Sabi, who
had just had a rather warm explanation
with Professor Tommassi, a Neapolitan gentleman
who had hastened to Garibalci's headquarters at
the head of a deputation, and strongly urged him,
once at Naples, to proclaim the annexation to
Piedmont. The general told them that he had
landed at Marsala, that he had crossed the [draft to
free the Neapolitan kingdom from the Bourbonie
tyranny, and that he would not hear of annexation
till Venice and Rome had been conquered to Italy.
Having left the general at Sala, I pushed on with a
few of my companions to Eboli, a village about 55
mike from Naples. Colonel Pearl, the well-known
" Garibaldi's Englishman," was our leading officer.
This gallant countryman of yours is one of those
bold and generous men who, once having embraced
a generous cause, never shrinks from danger, but
goes ahead without caring about the con-
sequences which may ensue. Our party having
arrived at Eboli at eleven p.m., Colonel Peard
took possession of the telegraph office, and swore
he would rout the 16,000 Neapolitan troops en- ,
camped at Salerno merely with a few well-digested
telegrams, which I am sure will have by this
time reached you through Mr. Reuter's agency.
Colonel Pearl set to work, and the first despatch
he addressed to General Piauelli, the Minister of
War in Naples, as if it wore a private friend who
was sending it. He said to the general that Geri.
baldi had arrived with 3,000 of his men and 3,000
Calabrese, and that another column, led by Medici,
was expected to land at Salerno during the
night ; that such being the case he strongly
advised the King should withdraw his
troops from that place, or they would surely
tut off. General Piauelli replied by asking
where Calandrelli's column was, and be was duly
informed that he had joined Garibaldi. Whilst
this burlesque correspondence, so advantageous in
its effects, was going on at the Eboli telegraph office,
General Bosco--the boasting hero of Males:4)-11d
ordered a squadron of Neapolitan hussars to re-
connoitre the road and push as far as Eboli. Both
Colonel Pearl and ourparty might have been caught
whilst indulging in the amusing trick of telegra•
phioally deceiving his Excellency the minis.sr
of Francis 11., had we not been warned of the danger
by the national guard of the village. We were
therefore obliged to fall back on Auletta, from
whence Colonel Peard is gone to Sala to inform
Garibaldi of what had taken place at Eboli. We
shall see whether General Phinelli has been caught
in the trap so ably arranged by your countryman.
SALERNO, Slim. 6, 10 P.m.
The stupidity of the Neapolitan general is indeed
glorious. Colonel Peard's telegraphic trick could
not have been more successful ; we are arrived at
Salerno, and the way to Naples is now wide open to
the national army. General Piauelli, in receiving
Peard's answer, that Calandrelli's column had joined
Garibaldi's, immediately ordered the evacuation of
this town, directing both General Afan de
Rivera and Scotti to retire on Nocera, eight
miles from Salerno and twenty from Naples.
Whilst this retiring movement of the Neapolitans
was going on, Pearl, having left Sala, had taken
the way of Salerno, passing again through Eboli.
He stopped at this last-named village just the time
required to telegraph to the Sinclaco of Salerno that
Garibaldi would arrive in that city at 5 o'clock of
that very morning. Great wits the excitement of
the town which had been left in the power of the
National Guard, at this unexpected announcement.
Almost the whole of its population took the road
of Eboli, so anxious were they to get a view of the
great Italian leader. At 5 o'clock a.m. _a casr:r
was seen drawing towards Salerno with all
Two gentlemen, one dressed in a military costume,
the other in plain clothe", were in it. The
military man had a long beard, and a large wide-
awake covered his head. There was no doubt be
was Garibaldi. I leave to you to imagine the recep-
tion the gentleman in question met. The southern