Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-05-13 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES, FRIDAY, MAY 13 1859

can afford Austria without the assent of Prussia ? We may
add that the opinion of the German nation sympathises so
little with the cause of Austria in Italy that the people
everywhere refuse the horses which the respective goverzl-
-111 ents require to place their armies on a war footing, and it
becomes necessary to take them by force. On the other
hand, we can certify that up to the fatal moment of pre-
senting the famous ultimatum Austria might have preserved
the possession of her Lombardo-Venetian provinces by making
some very trifling concessions. Now, however, the die is
cast, and no Cabinet in Europe doubts of the defeat of
Austria, who has for so long a period been devoted to the
malediction of all nations. Such are the consequences of
an over-cunning policy, which the Emperor Nicholas, of
ipperishable memory, designated the policy of subter-

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, May 9.—As it may excite some surprise
that the intelligence from the seat of war contained
in some of my more recent letters was not forwarded
by electric telegraph, it will be well to observe that
information relative to the strategic movements of
the different corps can never be sent along the wires.
No important news received from the head quarters
of the army will be withheld from me, but there is a
tacit understanding between my informants and
myself that no intelligence which is likely to be of
service to the Frenc and Sardinians shall be tele-
graphed. It would appear that the sudden rising of
the Po, and the inundation of, the adjacent districts,
has led to a change in the plan of operation, for
we now learn that the gros of the. Austrian army
is marching on Turii and Susa by way of St.
Germano and Chivasso. On. Saturday, the 7th inst.,

Count Gyulai had his head-quarters at Vercelli,
with the right. wing of his army at St. Germano.
Columns have also been pushed forward to Trino,
and as they passed shots were fired at them from
Casale. IN they passed
the Austrians, and will serve as points d'appuz for
the army, should it be forced to make a retrogade
movement. It does not admit of a .doubt that the
Austrian commander intended to send a_ corps to
Novi, to destroy the railroad at that place, but the
sudden rising of the Po rendered it necessary that
the troops should .return to the left. bank of the
river without delay. Had the Austrians been able
to reach Novi,, they would have cut off. the railway
communication between Genoa and Alessaudria,
and between those two places and Tortona,
but the rain was so tremendously heavy, and
the danger of a general inundation so imminent,
that the commander of the detached corps did not
deem it advisable to go far beyond Voghera. The
Po rose so suddenly that it " burst " the bridge
at Cornale, and four or five of the pontoons in the
centre were first violently lifted and then carried
away by the stream. It is said that it took-no less
than four hours to repair the damage done to the
bridge. In general a great deal of rain falls in Lom-
bardy and Piedmont in the months of- May and
June, and I recollect that in 1848 it rained almost
incessantly during six weeks. In the year in question
the bad weatherset in on the 26th May The Austrians
have learnt that the French troops which entered
Piedmont by way of Mount Cenis are not in good
fighting order, and it is highly probable that they
will attempt to break through the Dora Baltea line
in order to, attack them before they have recovered
themselves. The Austrians are accused of being
slow in their movements, but it should be remem-
bered that they have had great difficulties to con-
tend with. They expected to find the roads de-
stroyed, but they certainly did not expect that it
would rain in torrents for several days consecu-
tively. Water has been a valuable ally to the Sar-
dinians and French, for it has saved them from
being taken at a disadvantage. The corps d'artnee
now at Trieste, under the command of Feldzeug-
neister Count Wimpffen' is about to march into
the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and the corps
in garrison in this city is now leaving for
the maritime coast. The most contradictory state-
ments relative to the strength of the Austrian
forces in Sardinia, are in circulation, and it may
therefore be well to state that they now consist of
about 150,000 men. It is generally believed here
that the corps under General von Benedek, left
Piacenza, and marched by way of Corte Olono to
Pavia, but the fact is that it went straight from the
province of Venice to the Ticino. A ,military
correspondent of the Militar Zeitung, states that the
army was exceedingly vexed at being kept nearly
three days, the 27th, 28th, and 29th April, in
inactivity. When, in the afternoon of the 29th of
April, Count Gyulai gave orders to the van-guard
to cross the Ticino, there was a joyful cry in half-a-
dozen different languages, of "At last ! at last "
When the troops got into Piedmont they found
the roads broken up, but the pioneers soon made
them passable. We are told that the inhabitants
of some of the Piedmontese villages cheered the
Austrian Commander as he passed, but it is not to be
presumed that they did so from any kindly feeling
towards him.

----~--

ITALY.

TURIN, May B.—l have just returned from a tour
of exploration as far as Genoa, and find Turin just
as calm and secure as I left it, though the Austrians
are at Vercelli, and completely masters of the coun-
try north of the Po, between the Ticino and the Doro
Baltea. From what I have seen during my trip, I
cannot consider the confidence of the Turinese ill-
founded. A large French and Piedmontese army is
concentrated south of the Po, and any attempt of the
Austrians to advance upon the capital would leave their
flank and rear opposed to its attacks, whilst the Pied-
montese forces, strongly entrenched on the D oraß altea ,
would meet them in front. It is not therefore at all
likely that they will attempt anything against Turin.
Their wisest plan is that which they have adopted—
to fortify themselves on the Sesia, where they have
concentrated the bulk of their army, supported by
an imposing cavalry force and (it is said) 400 guns,
and patiently wait the course of • events. From
Genoa to Novi the corps of Marshal Baraguay
d'Hilliers is encamped, and the late rainy weather
must have made their quarters anything but com-
fortable. A good many men in the French army,
have had to be sent into the ambulances with fever
and desentry, but the men were in excellent
spirits, and that with French troops is the essential.
Baraguay d'Hilliers' quarters were at Novi. The
French Etat Major had established there the same
system that answered so well during the stay of the
French RIMY ill.. Pir,lmNsky WAfen. €ll6-cAltilrat'e-ny
want of, is purchased a prix fixe. The extraordinary
enthusiasm which prevails for " i nostri liberatori,"
as the French are called, has made it necesssry
.for
the Marshal to issue an order of the day against
drunkenness, and a notification to the inhabitants
that any one found treating a French soldier to
la goutte, would be subjected to a fine, varying from
five to twenty lire. At Alessandria there are
about 30,000 Frenchmen (Canrobert's corps), and
some 25,000 Piedmontese. On the principal squares
of the town are about four batteries of artillery,
which I was told were rifled guns, but no one
being allowed to get near them, I was unable to
verify the fact. The troops were not well pro-
vided with necessaries, and several regiments were
without their tentes-abris, the want of which they
must have severely felt during the late rains.
Most of those in Alessandria are now comfortably
housed, but those outside the town are•exposed to all
the inclemency of the weather, and that is no joke
when you consider that the merry month of May in
Piedmont bears a strong family likeness to May in
England. The enthusiasm of the troops, however,
is very great, and the privates go about the streets
in bands, singing the " Marseillaise," and shouting
" Mort aux Autrichiens," with a degree of entrain
that shows how thoroughly ripe the French army is
for active service; a fact which may possibly explain
the warlike disposition of the Emperor, Here we
have daily the most extraordinary " Shaves."
The affair at Frassinetto, for instance, which the
Piedmontese staff themselves describe as a mere
reconnaissance, is magnified into the defeat of an
attempt of the Austrians to cross the Po. There is

also anabsurd report of Garibaldi having driven the
enemy out of Vercelli, where there are something,
like 60,000 men. I' only mention this, as the tele-,
graph will probably have represented it as a great
victory by General Garibaldi. Touching this same
General Garibaldi,- -he is about the most unPopular
man in existence among the Piedmontese army. He
and his free corps are voted nuisances, and I have
heard very uncharitable wishes expressed with regard
to them. lam sorry to say that although no
engagement worth speaking of has taken place as
yet, the-war promises to assume the character of -war
to the knife —no quarter given or taken, The
Austrians have, it seems, behaved with great cruelty
since their invasion. No one who knows the state of
the exchequer at Vienna could reasonably expect the
Austrians to pay for what they took---but they might
have asked for it civilly, and refrained from _helping
themselves. They carry on the war, on the contrary, as
mere savages. The general levies a certain sum of money
in every village through which the army passes,
besides a certain number of rations, blankets, carts,
&c. Independently of this, the soldiers are allowed
to help themselves to what they please—wine casks
are smashed, costly furniture is used as firewood,
crockery is shivered, the men able to bear arms are
seized upon and sent handcuffed to Lombardy, and
as to the fate of the women, in the hands of a wild
and infuriate soldiery, I leave you to imagine. Here
in Turin the greatest indignation prevails in conse-
quence of these atrocities. In the cafes and all
places of public resort the outcry against the Aus-
trians is unanimous, and, I fear, but too well deserved.
Reprisals are loudly clamoured for, such as the bom-
bardment of Trieste, .and the shooting of prisoners.
It is said that the King sent an envoy under
a flag -of truce to the Austrian head-quarters. to
request the general not to make war like a savage,
but as a civilised being: A curt acknowledgment
.4,,ting. the
difficulty of restraining the common soldier, &c.

The French army themS'elves are not in point of fact
immaculate in this respect, and the brigade of 'Purees,
or Arab riflemen, are reported to have made so free
with the natives of Castel-Cerivolo, that a battalion
of the line had to interfere. I know not whether
you will have received Giulayi's proclamation to the
inhabitants of Placentia. It will excite throughout
Europe as much indignation as in Piedmont.

-.-.-..6......-.-.-.-----

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

AND ROMI

The follthving imperial decree was proclaimed by
order of the Emperor Napoleon I. at Rome on the
10th of June, 1809, accompanied by the firing of
cannon from the Castle of St. Angelo, fifty years ago
next month :

Rome, June 10, 1809

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, &c., taking into con-
sideration that when Charlemagne, Emperor of the French,
and our sublime predecessor, endowed the bishops of Rome
with various lands, they were given as fiefs to maintain the
peace of his subjects, and that Rome did not therefore cease
to form a part of his empire ; considering, further, that
since that.time the union of spiritual and temporal power
has been, and still is, the source of dissension; that the

popes have but too frequently availed themselves of the one
to support their pretensions to the other, and that with
spiritual concerns, which are in their nature immutable,
have been confounded worldly affairs, which change
with the circumstances and politics of the times ; considering
finally, that it is in vain to attempt to reconcile with the
temporal pretensions of the Pope all that we have
.concerted
for the security of our army, the repose and prosperity o
the nations over whom we reign, and the dignity and
inviolability of our empire, we have decreed and do decree
as follows

Art. 1. The Papal territory is united with the French
empire.
2. The city of Rome—illustrious for the recollection it
recalls, and for the monuments which it contains—is declared
to be a froe and imperial city ; its government and adminis•
tration shall be fixed by a particular decree.

3. The monuments of Roinau greatness shall L
and preserved at the expense of our treasury.
4. The public debt is declared to be the debt of the empire,
5. The revenue of the Pope shall be fixed at 2,000,000 fr.,
free from all charges and contributions.

ie maintainec

6. The property and palaces of his Holiness shall be subject
to no imposition, jurisdiction, or visitation, and shall besides
enjoy special prerogatives.
Au extraordinary consulta shall take possession in our name
of the Pamil dominions. and adopt measures that on the Ist

of January, 1810, the constitutional government take effect
NAPOLEON.

_....._-

HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT AND THE
FORMATION OF VOLUNTEER RIFLE CORPS

A copy of the following circular, relative to the
formation of volunteer rifle corps, has been issued
from the War-office to all Lords Lieutenants
of Counties :

War-office, Pall-mall, May. 1859

Her Majesty's government having had under considera-
tion the propriety of permitting the formation of volunteer
rifle corps, under the provisions of the act of 44th Geo. 111.,
cap. 54, as well as of artillery corps and companies in mari-
time towns in which there may be forts and batteries, I have
the honour to inform you that I shall be prepared to receive
through you, and consider any proposal with that object
which may emanate from the county under your charge.

The principal and most important provisions of the act
are—

That the corps be formed under officers bearing the com-
mission of the lieutenant of the county. _ _

That its members must take the oath of allegiance before
a deputy lieutenant or justice of the peace, or a commis-
sioned officer of the corps.
That it be liable to be called out in case of actual inva-
sion, or appearance of an enemy in force on the coast, or in
case of rebellion arising out of either of those emergencies.
That while thus under arms, its members are subject to
military law, and entitied to be billetted, and to receive pay
in like manner as the regular army.
That all commissioned officers disabled in actual service
are entitled to half-pay, and non-commissioned officers and
privates to the benefit of Chelsea Hospital, and widows of
commissioned officers killed in service to such pensions for
life as are given to widows of officers of her Majesty's regu-
lar forces. _

That members cannot quit the corps when on actual ser-
vice, but may do so at any other time by giving fourteen
days' notice. .

That members who have attended eight days in each four
months, or a total of twenty-four days' drill and exercise in
the year, are entitled to be returned as effectives.
. . .

That members so returned are exempt from militia ballot,
or from being called upon to serve in any other levy.
That all property of the corps is legally vested in the com-
manding officer ; and subscriptions and fines under the rules
and regulations are recoverable'by him before a magistrate.
The conditions on which her Majesty's government
will recommend to her Majesty the acceptance of any pro-
posal, are
That the formation of the corps be recommended by the
..2f the. oniuntv

already quoted.
That its members undertake to provide their own arms
and equipments, and to defray all expellees attending the
corps, except in the event of its being assembled for actual

service.
That the rules and regulations which may be thought
necessary, be submitted to me, in accordance with the 56th
section of the act.
The uniform and equipments of the corps may be settled
by the members subject to your approval ; but the arms,
though provided at the expense of the members, must be
furnished under the superintendence, and according to the
regulations of this department, in order to secure a perfect
uniformity of gague.
The establishment of officers and non-commissioned
officers will be fixed by me and recorded in the books of
this office ; and, in order that I may be enabled to deter-
mine the proportion, you will be pleased to specify the
precise number of private men which you will recommend,
and into how many companies you propose to divide them.
I have only to add, that I shall look to you, as her
Majesty's lieutenant, for the nomination of proper persons
to be appointed officers, subject to the Queen's approval.—
I have the honour to be, &c., J. PEEL.
Tier Majesty's Lieutenant of the County of —.

THE PENINSULAR MAILS.
SOUTHAMPTON, Thursday Morning.—The Penin-
sular and Oriental steamer Tagus, with Peninsular
mails, arrived here at one o'clock, bringing 4,2991.
in specie and 54 passengers, with a large and
valuable cargo of fruit, &c. She left Lisbon, May
7 ; Oporto, May 8 ; and Vigo, May 8. She brings
no news. Bartholomew Diaz arrived at Lisbon on
the 7th in4ant. Mails dispatched by special train.

THE SUSPECTED

.CASE OF POISONING

AT RICHMOND.
On Wednesday Dr. Thomas Smethurst, lately holding
temporary residence at 10, Alma Villas, Richmond, was
brought up before E. Penrbyn, Esq., and a full bench of
magistrates, at the Rfchmond Court of Petty Sessions,
charged with the wilful murder of a lady named Isabella
Bankes, by the administration of poisr

a iii small doses

his case, which are as Sc

The circumstam
but partly known, have so wrought upon the leek
local residents, iat long before the appointed
door of the court was surrounded by hundreds of
determined, if possible, to obtain admission. It is, therefor
almost needless to say that every avaliable s
to inconvenience, the zentlemen and

of the town being accommodated with seats at t