The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-31 00:00:00

(TWOPENC

matters also, of which little has yet been heard.
Chi rivra, 'err, 2 I It will be seen whether I
am right. And all the misfortune, which, in
this view, is about to fall upon Austria,
will be the consequence and punishment of

little worse than stupidity and incompetence.
Strong as may be our sympathies for Venice,
and clear as may be our conviction that
the only right divine by which a ruler can hold the
sceptre is the dearly expressed will of the people to
! be governed, still, under the circumstances of the
case, it cannot be maintained that Austria has front
her own point of view done wrongly or unjustly in
holding Venice. Still lees has she been guilty of
wrongdoing in any other quarter. But she has
been blindly stupid, to a degree for which even
the old German adage respecting Austrian block-
headism could hardly have prepared anybody. And
in marking the result, we may meditate on the
truth of that theory of Buckle's, which gave offence
to so many well-intentioned persons. Her Emperor
has also been guilty of the fault committed by a
gentleman who stoops to have dealings and con-
fidences with a black-leg, which he weakly hopes
may turn out to his advantage, but which are
certain always to end in the pillaging of the gentle-
, man to the profit of the scamp.

Here is a passage from the Naxione of this
morning, which is perhaps worth citing as a speci-
men of the condition of tone and feeling here. Do
not let your instinctive English' dislike of " tall
talk" prompt you to laugh at it too sneeringly.
Remember it is the talk of a people whose habit it
is in all circumstances to express—to " externare,"
as their own phrase is—to throw out the whole of
the feeling that is in their hearts, and that the
writer is truly expressing that which lain the inmost
heart of all around him. It is for this reason that
the words are worth quoting.
Italy, says the Nazi<me, Italy is at this moment offer-
ings spectacle to the world of which we are at a loss to say
whether it most affects our minds with love or with pride.
This alma tellus, this parrna dearum has risen again ;
and its sons have found again all the greatness and all the
courage of the ancient time. When posterity shall need
to cite examples of stupendous virtue and of heroic
patriotism, there will !henceforward be no necessity to go
back to the age of Codes, of Curtius, or of Regulus. It
Iwill suffice to read the Italian story of 1806 ; and to tell
how an entire people rushed to arms to rescue from the
stranger the last fragment of Italian soil ! /Xt.
And smile as you may Signori nici, when you
contrast this rhetoric with the business-like quie-
tude of phrase with which you tell the world how
many more millions worth of goods you have ex-
ported this year than you did last year, the sight
which Italy is now presenting to the world is a
grand, a, magnificent, and a moving one.

THREATENED BOMBARDMENT OF CALLAO
BY THE SPANISH SQUADRON.

"The mail just received from the South brings
us the news (says the Panama Star and 'Jerald of
the 6th inst.) that, after bombarding Valparaiso,
the Spanish Admiral had declared the blockade of
that port removed, and had sailed thence for Callao
with his entire squadron on the 14th April, which
port he reached on the 25th. Immediately on his
arrival admiral Nunes advised tho head of the
consular corps at Callao that within six days he
would bombard the town, and all possible precau-
tions were being taken by the inhabitants to remove
their effeigisitdoX4ma. The Lima papers speak In
thaw* goals of -the abthiy of the Pan- •
visas to est the enemy; 'and think their feria
and batteries more than a match for the guns
of the invaders. But private individuals are evi-
dently very uneasy as to the result, and fears are
entertained that not only Callao may be effectually
bombarded, but that even Lima itself, which is
four miles from the coast, may be shelled. A great
deal depends upon the courage of the Peruvians
themselves. They have good batteries and splen-
did guns, and if they evince as much pluck as they
promised to do, success will more than probably
attend them. We shall look with deep interest for
the next mail, which we trust will bring us tidings
of the complete overthrow of the invaders, the
sinking of whose fleet by Peruvian guns would be
hailed with joy, not only on the coast, but through-
out the United States and Europe."

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S CITY CASKET.-
The casket in which the freedom of the City of London is
to be presented, on the 7th of June next, to his Royal
Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, is from a design by the
same artist who wrought out the elaborate casket of gold
presented to the Prince of Wales on the occasion of his
marriage. In this instance, however, the old tradition of
having the box entirely of gold has been departed
from ; for the Common Council decided that it should be
emblematical of the great profession to which his royal
highness belongs. It was therefore determined that the
casket should be of oak, carved from a beam of the old
roof recently removed from Guildhall. There was, we
understand, considerable competition among the principal
jewellers for the honour of making this fine work
zf art, but Mr. Benson's design was selected.
The casket is about 16 inches long by 10 inches high, oval
in shape, and in the cinque canto style. It is difficult to
describe the minute traceryof carved work, or the fine gold
ornaments, in high relief, with which all parts of it are
covered. A superb gold and enamelled ornament, forming
the City arms, surmounts thespex of the casket, and in the
centre (in front), on an enamelled gold el, the prince's
arms are blazoned in colours ; two er panels of dark
blue, on either side, contain the prince's monogram, with
the Admiralty anchor. On the hack of the box, in a rich
gold framework, small raised letters of pure gold,
on blue enamel, form the following inscription
"Phillips, Mayor. Presented by the Corporation of
London, with the freedom of the City, to his
Royal lili,ghneas Prince Alfred, Thursday, 7th June, 1866."
On the inside of the lid, on a armed gold panel, is en-
graved, " This casket is carved from the oak taken from
the old roof of Guildhall." On the outside, at each end,
are beautifully carved masks ; and between the tripodial
supports of oak and gold, on which the casket rests, ere
winged seaborne, exquisitely carved and enriched. It is
impossible in a mere description to convey an adequate
idea of its general effect—of the rich coloured contrasts
which the dark oak, the enamelled plaques, and the
tinted gold ornaments afford. All its cornices are of gold,
with alternate wreaths of oak leaves and acorns ; and,
altogether, more than 30 ounces of pure gold are employed
in these decorations alone. The oak carvings are by Mr.
Raff•rs-

1./i1••••••...A. SUICIDE OF • YOUNG W0D1AN.....
An adjourned inquest was held in Newtown, Montgomery-
shire, on Tuesday night, on the body of Elizabeth Oliver,
a young women who had been found lying dead on her face
in a shallow brook near the town, on Sunday morning.
From the evidence it appeared that the deceased was the
daughter of a respectable farmer living near Newtown, and
that she had gone to Liverpool es domestic servant in a
gentleman's family. A short time ago she had an at-
tack of fever, and on Friday she left Liverpool to return
home, and was noticed in a railway carriage by a witness
from ber wild appearance sad strange behaviour. She was
next seen walking along the line about a mile outside New-
town, and on being warned bythegatekeeper of her danger,
she stared vacantly at him and asked for " something to
drink." His wife gave her a cup of milk, end, noticing her
strange looks, asked what had frightened her. She slid not
reply, but started to go along the hue again, and on the gate-
keeper asking her where she wanted to go to, she said
"There," pointing towards Castell-y-dale, and added thas
she was coming back again. He prevented her from
walking along the line, and put her on the Llanidloes turn-
pike road, up which she walked at a rapid rate. Nothing
more is known of her movements till Sunday morning,
when a man passing by Dulais-brook found her lying on
her fax in the water. In consequence of the long drought
the brook is almost empty, and the deceased must have
committed the act with singular determinatiois, as the
water just covered her face, and did no more than wet the
edge of her bonnet. From letters addressed from Liver-
pool to her relatives it seemed that the deceased I:ad been
' sent away from Liverpool in charge of the guard, as she
was delirious. The coroner commented in strs eg terms
upon this extraordinary proceeding, and adjourned the
inquest till Friday for further inquiry.