The Express.
London, England, 1850-08-12 00:00:00

ITALY.

LEGHORN, Aco. 2.
So much has lately been put foitb, with regard to
British claims for indemnification in various parts
of Italy, that I have made it my first object, on arriv-
ing in this port, to collect such information and verify
such particulars with respect to the leases undergone
by British subjects in Leghorn, and their conseflocot
claims on the Tuscan government, as may enable you
at once to term a proper estimate of the whole case.
The demands hitherto made may be divided into
two classes—First,thoee tkat seek reparation for pro-
perty destroyed or pillaged by the Austrian soldiers,
upon their entry into Leghorn on the 11th May,
1949; and, secondly, those advanced by British mer-
chants in consequence of certain sums of money (which
they refused to pay) having been forcibly seized in
their counting-houses, on the 10th September, 1819,
as their quota of a forced loan decreed by the Toecap
government.
The principal claim in the first category is that of
Mr. Alfred Hall, whose residence, the villa Beeicachi,
nr ar the Porta Maremmaaa, was completely sacked by
about a hundred Austrian soldiers, under the com-
mand of an efficer, on the 11th May, 1819 ; although
there was not the slightest provocation to such an act,
the:villa not having been occupied by any of the defen-
ders of the city, and no shots having been fired from
the grounds. The house itself was shut up, Mr. 1131 i
being with his family at Florence, and over the prin-
cipal door was fixed a paper with the words "
lish Domicile" in Italian and English, accompanied
by the seal of the British Consulate; notwithstanding
wt ieh the soldiers battered down the Persian b:indd
and shutters of a back door, entered trinmphantly
into the house, and commeteed their work of plunder
and destruction, varying their occupation with re-
peated applications to the cellar, where they drank or
wasted nearly 400 bottles of choice wine in a few
hours. I have myself visited the premis- s, and ques-
tioned eye-witaesses of the transaction, and I
feel convinced that an instance of more wan-
ton destruction could not be found. The
furniture destroyed and the property stolen, even
at the very low valuation set on them by a Livorneec
pub'ic appraiser, amounts to 24,480 Tuscan lire, or
8:61. sterling, besides other articles which could not
be va'ued by description, and which are valued by
Mr. Hall himself at 5301. The next sufferer upon the
list is Mr. Joseph Pate, whose residence on the Piazza
del Vottone, distinguished, like 'those cf all British
subjects in Leghorn, by a paper stating it to be an
English domicile, was forcibly entered no less than
three times during the day in question, the servants
turned out and kept waiting on the stairs, whilst the
work of pillage was carried on by the Austrians
within. Mr. Pate was at the time at Genoa; his
losses are set down at 1,975 Tuscan lire. The next
claim is that of Mrs. Bisect fur property destroyed,
initrefl, or plundered to the amount of 26e2 lire
(e9l. 7s. Bd.) Mrs. Bisect and her son were at
Florence, but Mr. Mancini, who was in charge of
their house in forgo Beale, did not leave it until
some hours after the Austrians had entered the town,
and consequently eo further di; order was appre-
hended. Upon his return, however, he found
a plundering party of Austrian soldiers in the
act of packing up their booty in the house, nor
was he allowed to leave the premises until the
pillagers bad got safely off with their plunder. In
their avidity to fill their knapsacks with stolen
goods, the soldiers turned out on the floor some of
their own regimental shirts, which, being numbered,
may lead to their ultimate detection, and are carefully
preserved as evidence. Humphrey Murray, residieg
in the Via del Gran Principe, retired on board an
English vessel anchored in the port on the 9th of
?lay, after having carefully locked his door ; and
about 2, p.m., on the 11 th (the Austrians having
entered at half-past 10, a.m.), he returned and found
Ilia dwelling in the same state; but going back for his
wife, he returned with her on the following morning,
and found his door had been broken open and his
house plundered, constituting a loss of 228 lire
(71.125.) Tne next claim is that of Mr. John Udny,
' for damage produced by the bursting of a *hell in his
house durieg the fight on the 11th of May, the neces-
-1 earl repairs Lavin,' cost tii:a about 250 lir: .
'l .:want is Elizabeth Kerr, who was on board an
English vessel during the fight, but whose house was
ascertained to be safe by Humphrey Murray when he
visited his own at 2, p.m., on the 11th of May. On
the following morning, however, she found her door
smashed, and property destroyed or stolen to the
value of 181 lire.

All the above facts are supported by the fullest
testimony, although the Austrian general recently re-
fused to credit them, and asked Mr. Consul Macbean,
who at the time used his utmost efforts to prevent
the continuation of pillage, whether he really be-
lieved that Austrian soldiers were capable of such
conduct. That scenes of plunder should have occurred
in houses where the insurgents had taken refuge, and
whence they tired upon the troops, can of course
create no surprise, but that officers should have al-
lowed and authorised their soldiers to break into and
pillage the residences of uneffending foreigners, whose
nationality was indicated by an official paper over the
door is most astonishing. There is still upon the wall
of Mr. Alfred Hall's house his name written in pencil
by a mason then at work on the premises, to show to
the Austrian officer, who requested to know the name
of the occupant. This circumstance, related to me
by the mason himself, sufficiently establishes the cul-
pability of the officer. The pillsgets declared that
both Mr. Hall's house and that of Mr. Pate were evi-
dently the property of the brigands (the Austrian nick-
name for their Italian opponents), as they had found in
officer's uniform in each. The tint-named gentleman
was a major, and the second a captain, in the civic
guard of Leghorn ;
_and had been appointed to that
rank by the grand-ducal government previous to the
revolution. _ _ _

The second series of claims put forward by
British merchants resident at Leghorn, in con-
sequence of the forcible seizure of their money, in
virtue of a sovereign decree of the Grand Duke, in-
volves a mat important question, whether
foreign and despotic governments have or have not
the right to tax, or in other words mulct and tine
British merchants established commercially in their
dominion.

The British merchants at Leghorn, by their in-
dustry and the employment of their capital, must be
considered as conferring a great benefit upon Tuscan
commerce, and, if they enjoy the precarious protec-
tion of the grand ducal government, on the other
hand they pay the ordinary taxes of the country
cheerfully, although they are in no way spared in the
quotes assigned to them. Nor is it the amount of the
money wilted which they complain of, the sum being
about 9004 sterling out of the whole 12,0001., but
they object to the principle of arbitrary and extra-
ordinary impositions, which, if once firmly feta-
blishod, will pat an end to British commerce abroad
and it is evident that unless Sir George Hamilton hail
protested against Guerrazzi's forced loon in March,
1849, and the consular body against that of the pro-
visional government of Leghorn in Aprii following,
foreigners would have had to contribute four times to

the exigencies of the state in the
months. I Ceti
Remonstrances were made by Sir George Ilite,;
against the principle as well as 'gel. at the f
mode in which the tax was levied, but the Tu.:
foreign minister, the Duke of Castiglione, eoz.,d'42 that foreign merchants were quite as liable 10 &Cy
positions the government might think tit to dt.„4 the natives of the country, end thr, With sm.„
the mode of seizure, if they coneidered themselt..o
grieved, they were at I.berty to proceed
chamber of commerce in the ordinary
though it was his own op•aion that there lad
no irregularity, " it b,ring the custom in eir ry
Tined country in the world to seize the
~ pr 0p.,..
any individual refusing to pay 11:s delya." 4 e..:
bone of contention will probably be brought
on •
Lapis ete thin is well settled, since I hear ttat t t.se.'
extraordinary tax is in preparation.
Leghorn is busy and flouriehiegjuat now ;
cial activity is great, Red the prertce et
strangers, it being at pre sent the bathing eetwee
tribu•es to its gaiety. The garrison cratimr r,f
2,000 men, chiefly of the Kinaky Regiment, und. r
command of General Count de Grenville. Nr,
macy exists between the (there and the
the upper classes of whom, although eery
for the arrival of the Austrians in order to sects.
a state of anarchy, entertain the same
towards them that the ecclesiastical parry ,
Neri d 3 at Itlme towarde :their much lenged-fer
yam, the French. _

PIEDMONT.
The Piednion,ese Gazette of the 6th init., anns..
the death of the Caveliere Pietro de Itssei d,. s'
Rosa, Minister of Agriculture and Couloir: s,
Croce di Saguia and Cenc•)rdia mention
blame the rancorous bru :slaty of the prie-:e.
denying to the dying minister the rites of t•,,
catholic religion, the holy viaticum and
unction, unless he recanted the price:pies I:s isart
with regard to the church. Santa it an
fused, saying that he knew how
the duty of a minister of the :c
that of a good Christian. It was rep. red •.4
clergy would push the'r fury 11l far a, t.
rites of sepulture to his remains.
Advice. from Turin of the ith brings I') •
gence that two couriers had been sect t...
ceding dry to C'.urmayeur, to inform tie ti r.,
symptoms of disturbanc.ci had exhibited ..•
and to recall Count Siccardi. According tr,•,..
merit of the best informed peracus the M,
War waited on the archbishop tad askd
were by his order that the eiatica and it:.
been refused to M. de Saute ~
the archbishop was a decidsd .
' minister informed the council of mit r.
ply of the prelate, from whom the pr.,' s' .
queues. of his strange conduct had not •
ceand. Shortly afterwards the vicar-get..:
diocese waited on the ministe:s to .11f. en •
the archbishop had withdrawn h's order e•
interment of the body. Two reginto-....
were consigned to Orel barracks, and U. it
poste was done by the national ;rifted. i
ference of the military was cot, h saes- r,
sec scary. The journals contain thr,e p. •
calling on the inhabitants to attend tl.e far-
de Santa Rosa, one by the c'fensi e
of the naticnal guard, a second by the
public safety, and the third by :he mar r
proclamatiors recommend calmness 3... d
At nix o'ckck in the an reit g of It.,
naticnal guard, having assemble,' '
Charles, were, after the 'epee of an hots
tilts. The church of St. Chari-
but wi•hout haring any embireis ct
inscription. The people
tew young men began to thrum
near the church, commuoicatin4
of the ewes of St. Chi:l-e. I
forced, and cfrered icget9S o s'
who demanded the Cu.: l'
refused the erc-ament to M. de !.
no serious disorders occurred.
funeral corkile approac' ed ::.e c
bore the kepi of the rat
of flowers, the pall Lein.: b rr.e
!onager', amongst whom wall NI. N
was accompanied by the
was M. Ferdinand Brno: (narr....r
republic), the municipal bode, the se:
tits, the magistrates, the public
of Italian emigrant's, officers of the
&c. After the religious ceremony. t
borne to the cemetery by a ccmpany
guard, the senators, the eeputies. &c.
the aclemu obsequies will take place.
NAPLES.

in tr.e

:td

t:::

NAP

Notwithstanding the apparent.rar:
persons had been arrested during the la-
chiefly sm►ll tredtspeople. 'he Si
Gaeta, refused audiences. Tte tyrA
police was insupportable. The
Stores, baying refused to abscice the h
constitutional oaths, his majesty had a:
Pope.

The authorities had closed a seli,o
English lady for the education of fcri.
children. this was a subject of c,
between the English env..y and the
French protestant lady, whose s:h
similarly doted, htd quitted Nap:ts. I
continued.

The commission for the set alf II! f
in Sicily wire waiting at Mi-iina f:r
representative.

GERMANY.

Darcia de Yrints, itt.ttiaa
hagen, has notiti,d to his gore:
the King of Denmark was di
Schleswig side of the Eider it I

.t.:.GA

re L.

. -
irOUST 9 —Free per C.
Four-and-a-Half per Cents... Jim,. 3 .
Etc lump on London, 11.35.

PRUSSIA.