The Express.
London, England, 1857-11-07 00:00:00

THE TWO SICILIES.

(1,101 001 OWN COI.IISPONDENT.)
NAPLES, Ocr. 31.
I bad hoped to have given you a complete report
of the trial of the men arrested on suspicion of having
murdered poor Mr. Blandford last spring, but
another delay has prevented my doing so. It came
on last Friday, and continued during the Satur-
day, when it was put off till Wednesday. Since
then it has again been deferred till the 6th of
November, as the medical men allege that they
cannot attend on Wednesday. I must therefore give
you a report of it u far as it has goue. Two men
are under arrest, a third is not forthcoming ; and
though both bear abed character, and one is sufficiently
bad looking to justify any. saspicion, I scarcely
think that the legal evidence is sufficiently strong to
convict them. On their being charged with the
crime, and on the depositions being read over to
them, the youngest rose in a state of great excite-
mentto say that his deposition was false, because
compulsory. He had been arrested for having
stolen a watch, which offence he admitted,
and by dint of " legnate," he had been com-
pelled to incriminate himself in this affair of
Blandford. How far this may be true or false it is
impossible to say, but at least the assertion of the
man throws much light on the system which I have
Rom time to time exposed as being adopted by the
police. The bad character of the men is sufficiently
attested by their having called as witnesses to cha-
racter three of their fellow-prisoners condemned to
various degrees of punishment for murder. Two of
these perjured themselves. Mr. Roskilly, an English
medical practitioner, resident in Naples, gave his
evidence as to the cause of death, which arose from
the body having been stamped on. He also stated
that during his Muse Blandford declared that he
had given one of the men who attacked him a blow
on the mouth ; sad toe of the prisoners at the time
of his arrest had a severe swelling upon the lip. It
is the general feeling, however, that the evidence is
far from being strong enough to convict them, and
the Neapolitans assert that these are not the men

who committed the murder. I think the trial is
conducted with considerable impartiality, though it
is evident that there is some degree of feeling against
men of such notoriously bad character. The case
has excited considerable interest amongst the Eng-
lish, and Mr. Barber' the British acting consul, has
been each day in court on the judicial bench.
The trial of the Sapri prisoners makes no appa-
rent progress, though an important fact I have to
communicate, which is, that 11 of the crew of the
Cagliari were released as innocent, and left for
Genoa last Wednesday, the 28th inat. Four months
have they been imprisoned, a severe punishment for
many offences. Eighteen more of the crew, amongst
whom are the two Englishmen, yet remain in con-
finement, and these will, I believe, be brought to
trial.
Another trial will be that of the men who landed,
and endeavoured to make their way into the coun-
try. The neighbouring provinces have been swept of
all suspicious persons, and we know that trifles
light as air generate suspicion in a country where
the expression of all sentiment is forbidden, so that
the original number of those accused of participa-
tion in the affair of Sapri has increased vastly.
When they will be brought to trial, heaven only
knows. We all know the system adopted here.
Many will lie in prison without ever being brought
to trial ; some will be dismissed after many months
of suffering, and some will lie forgotten. But the
Neapolitan government does not court the publicity
which a trial gives in political cases, where awkward
and damaging truths are elicited which disturb its
repose, so that it is a rare thing to hear of • political
trial coming on, though one hears much of the pre-
vious arrangements.
Vesuvius is again comparatively tranquil, after a
magnificent eruption which took place last week.
The concussion of the mountain was felt even in
Naples. The Prince de Joinville is said to have
been in some little danger during a recent descent,
from the falling stones.
NAPLES, Oc-r. 31.
Since writing my first letter I have been informed
of the following additional details regarding the de-
cision of the Grand Criminal Court of Palermo. In
their proces-verbal the names of Raffaele Rabattari,
the proprietor of the Cagliari, of the captain and all
the crew, are given. The court: reserves to itself the
right of pronouncing judgment on Rabattari and
the company, in their absence, at some future time.
It liberates eleven of the crew, retaining, however,
all the papers affecting their case in the archives of
the court. Eighteen more of the crew are ke"t
under arrest by the unanimous consent of the judges,
but the two Englishmen are not mentioned in the
document. The omission is singular enough. Appli-
cation has been made again by Mr. Acting-Consul
Barber, by express order of Lord Clarendon, to see
them, but it has been refused as contrary to the
Neapolitan law. In what condition, therefore, our
unfortunate countrymen are is quite uncertain,
though I believe I may assert that the reports re-
garding the state of mind of one of them are
quite true.
On the 27th inst. the effects of the captain of the
Cagliari were given up to him by order of the court,
and an act was drawn up as verbose and as compli-
cated as though intended for the consignment of a
kingdom. Judge of the shifts to which the Neapo-
litan government is driven, when I state that the
articles that have now been detained for four months
comprise six shirts, two pair of black pantaloons, two
flannel waistcoats (the others not to be found), six
pair stockings, five silk handkerchiefs, one black silk
cravat, two white waistcoats, and two cassimere
ditto, one cloth cap, leather hat case, with one white
and one black hat, three woollen scarfs, two overcoats,
two pair shoes and boots. From fear that the decency
of the captain might be offensive to not too pure a
government, all these necessary articles of dress had
, been kept in the hands of the authorities for four
; months.

THE LIBERATION OP THE 150 PRISONERS AT
CAwNr otte.—lt is a singular fact that none of the recent
official letters from India even hint at the alleged liberation
of 150 prisoners by Mr. Grant at Cawnpore, and the private
letters are equally silent. There is a letter in town from an
officer high in command, dated Sept.l6. from the spot, and
it contains no mention of the transaction.

••
CAVALRY FOR INDIA.—The East India Company
ts now recruiting with great success in various parts of the
country for cavalry to replace the =WONT" (of the Regular
Native Cavalry) of the present outbreak. The standard is
from 5 feet to 5 feet 1 inches, end the number of active young

men who daily come in to be enrolled has quite surpassed
expectation.
An Italian was arrested last night in the foyer of
the Italian Opera for wilfully damaging the bast of the
Emperor which is placed there. He used very strong language,
and end that Salrini (the tragedian) bad a better right to
such an honour, "as he was a mach better actor." It sp•
pears certain that the Italie'', who is described as a prince,
Is of deranged intellect. He woe st onoe taken into custody.
—Paris correspondent of the new, Second Edition.
The Moniteur contains the official tariff for tele.
graphic deapatches from France to Algeria by the Medi-
Jamaican eubtuarine line. The charge for 16 words to Bona
is 151 r.; Phalppeville, 16fr. 60,:.• Constantine, 18fr. ;
Algiers, 191 r. 60c.; and Oran, 22fr. 60c.
A despatch from Berne of the bth says:—"
Lary enlistments having taken place in some of the canton.
for a pretended British legion, the English reprenatative
has declared to the Federal Council that no such legion is in
existence."
GOVERNESSES' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. A
tu•Vcourt of this institution was held yesterday at the
ver-squere Rooms for the purpose of electing three
annuitants of 201., hom a list of 186 -candidates. The Right
Hen. the Earl of llarrowby presided. The election cora-
mama at twelve o'clock ud closed at two. The court then
proceeded to cast up the votes, and at four o'clock an-
mounded that the three suocerefol candidate, were Mies
Fenny Lee, 3,172; Mrs. Anne Clements. 2,709; and Mg
Hariet Noakes, 2,696. In addition to these, 101. had keen
collected for the highest unsuccessful candidate, and the
board proposed to lessen the disappointment of failure by
giving-10e to each of the next five upon the poll. The on-
anoceested candidates were Mire Marianne Vernon, 2,660;
lam BarshC. Betiding, 2,224 ,• Miss Emma H. Weldon, 2,070;
Mile Amelia L. Kinhold, 2,023: Mdse Frances Kent. 1,987;
sad Miss Elizabeth Jeffery', 1,903. Tha court then broke up.
THE LATE MR. BRITTON.—.At the first meeting of
the Royal Institute of British Architects, held on Monday
Let, a rubbing ot the bream, which bee been prepared as a
memorial to the late Mr. John Britton, to be erected in
Salsbury Cathedral, was exhibited. Two angels under •
canopy hold a scroll, Inscribed—" In memory of John
Britton, historian of this edifice, arid author of the noble
NOM of works on the Cathedral and Mediaeval Antiquities
of Englend, this memorial is erected [with the concureenee
of the Dean and Chapter] by members of the Royal Insti-
tute of British Architect*, to record their sense of the emi-
nent tervices by which he revived the admiration of English-
men for the venerable monuments of the taste and piety
of their forefathen, and legend for these majestic structures
the respect of foreign nations. Born July 7, rno, at King-
ton Bt. Michael, Wilts. Died January 1, 1867, in London.
Buried at Norwood Cemetery, Surrey." Around the whole
Lan ornamental border, containing in it • verse from the
48th Pealin—" We have thought of Thy loving kindness, 0
Lord Ood, in the midst of Thy temple I" The brass has been
executed by Hardman and Co, and will be ineerted in a slab
of marble. Mr. T. H. Wyatt, in presenting the rubbing,
said the committee had deputed to him its erection in Salis-
bury Cathedral: there was some little difference of opinion as
to the site between the Dean and the committee, and this
also had been left to him to settle—The Builder.
Two SIGHTS AT RONK—Thank!, to the Emmet
of Russia, we saw the two grandest tights of Rome to the
=advantage. On Monday St. Peter's was illuminated
pavement to the cross The night was dark sad
mild, end the lamps, suspended 430 feet in the air, ware not
once pat out by the wind. As the bell struck nine, the
torches were suddenly lighted all round the roof, and it
semi as if the great pile was on fire, while the bells fleeing
a yea mowed like alarm bells mug at a fire. It was difficult
to get the impression out of the mind that St. Peter's was en
lo s, and we awoke next morning almost inclined to ask had
Cho whole pile been burnt down in the night. We did not
Rita the Coliseum by moonlight, so we are eared a descrip-
tion of what is the common stock of all travellers to Rome:
we saw it instead by torchlight. At nine o'clock on &tar-
day evening, at the discharge of a rocket, the whole einem-
Armee of the Coliseum broke out in a blare of light. Bengal
lights, set behind every arch. sent out a glen of light which,
lir a few minute*, was as bright as day. Then thick columns
of smoke rolled up, covering the great amphitheatre as if
with a curtain—like the awning which once stretched amen
it in Oho days of its glory. Then as the lights turned red, fl
seemed se if some great conflagration happened in ths
city, and the crowds that elbowed their way out as the Bee
pees drove off, seemed to It
bee
Breit; for their line wig dr
MT of flee in their ears. Them:aside was them
lie sew way as the inside. Each story of arches could te
iblireey coveted—the plants that grew in the crevices se
lbs wells, and ems the marble pleb inserted here and thee
is On brick snifeos, with the name of the Pontiff wise ha
restored the Coliseum, could be distinctly reed, It was
glorious eight. Artificial lights yet off beet the works of
man, as God's two great lights alone can the works of Ord.
A mountain by torchlight is ridiculous—the birches are seat
not the riountoin ; but tbeColimum by torchlight nes ear
Lice—the building was not too rut for the illumining
power. Debles Univer say My (sins, for Novesabse.