Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-07 00:00:00

MISS JESSIE MERITON WHITE.

We have received a lengthened narrative of the
treatment received by Miss White at the hands of
the Sardinian authorities. After detailing the par-
ticulars of her arrest with which our readers are
already acquainted, she says :
My next step was to telegraph to the British ambas-
sador, stating my position and my resolution to insist on a
trial. I also sent a despatelt to Avocato Brefferio, M.P.,
requesting him to defend noc. Brofferio telegraphed as
follows :—" I shall consider myself honoured to defend
you. This evening I will speak with the Minister —Yours,
ora e sempre, ANGELO BROFFERIO."
Saturday evening I received the following letter :
" British Consulate,TGenoa,:4th July, 1857.
Madame,--In accordance with instructions which I
have just received by telegraph from Sir James Hudson,
I have to acquaint you that he con-iders that your pro-
ceedings in this country have had for their object the
setting of the King's authority at defiance, and the sub-
version of the law and public peace; and that he, there-
fore, declines to take any steps in your behalf."
"Ihave the honour„to be, Madame, your most obedient
servant, " YEATS BROWN, H.M. Consul.
" To Miss Jessie White, Genoa."
Sunday evening, at half-'ast eleven, after two days' and
two night's detention in the house, surrounded by an
armed force, varying in number from twelve to twenty, a
RiTiaLeEtbEßstill/gaPrifFoti4 fiVs" "ICU tgareat
I was charged with the crime provided for by the 185th
article of the penal code :—" Any attempt or conspiracy,
whose object is to change or destroy the form of govern-
ment, or to excite the subjects, or inhabitants, to arm
themselves against the sovereign authority is punished
by death."
So, escorted by the carahinieri, in plain clothes, and
followed by those who had formed the body guard in
the house, I entered the prison of St. Andrea, at mid-
night, on the sth of July.
The individuals arrested for the plans of the 29th
June amounted to about one hundred. Thrust into the
dark and humid cells of St Andrea, among thieves and
assassins, the political prisoners were not even allowed
to take exercise in the corridors or courtyard allotted
to these latter. The greater number of them being
working men, they were unable to avail themselves of
the permission to eat at their own expense, and thus
were compelled to subsist as best they could on the Go.
vernment rations. These consist of twenty-eight ounces
of black bread and a basin of soup, made of water, beans,
and a sort of paste, which is said to be cooked with oil ;
but as an ounce of oil only is allotted to five persons,
instead of being boiled with the soup. it is poured in cold
at the last moment, and imparts a flavour and odour of
which all who have once partaken of this soup must
retain a life-long recollection. On Sundays and holidays,
this mess is replaced by rice, and in summer a few drops
of vinegar are poured into the water. A sack of straw
forms the prisoner's bed. Let a comparison be made
between the Sardinian and the Papal prisons, even in
the time of Gregory XVI., and it will be found that the
treatment of political prisoners in the latter, as far as
food and lodging is concerned, is infinitely superior; and
it is proved from the statistics that the prisons of
Sardinia send a far larger contingent to the hospitals than
do those of the Papal States. The position of the political
prisoners here may be considerably ameliorated or
aggravated by the Director and his subalterns. I shall
ever retain a vivid remernberance of the courtesy and
kindness which I received from Signor Colombo, the
Director of the prisons, and from his wife during the
whole time of my residence in St. Andrea. Alloting me a
large airy room, which I furnished at pleasure near his
own office, I was entirely separated from the other pri-
soners, male and female. A Pilfer and jailoress, were ap-
pointed to guard me, and while neither of them ever failed
in their duty or their vigilance, I never received a harsh
disrespectful word from either. During the first ten
weeks of my imprisonment, I was not allowed to see a
single friepd. All books, materials, and flowers received
from without, were scrupulously examined, and even the
permission to write my friends through the authorities,
was a- mere farce, as although I wrote several times a
week to my father, "he remained sometimes a month
without receiving a single letter.

After describing her various examinations before the
magistrates, which have been already published and
which ultimately resulted in her release, as there were no
grounds of accusation against her, she concludes as
follows

Such, sir, is a brief statement of the facts that concern
me personally during the last four months. I abstain from
speaking of my examinations, or of any persons or matters
connected with the trial, until that trial shall have taken
place. My object in addressing you, is to expose the con-
duct of the British Consul and British ambassador towards
a British subject furnish( d with a Foreign Office passport ;
to expose their system, I might say, for both my Italian
and English friends in Genoa told me, on hearing of my
arrest, " Hope for nothing from the British Embassy; if
you had an American passport the case would be different."
Setting aside the illegal and eccentric acts of Signor
Galleano, I, who have long since ceased to expect the
Piedmoutese Government to respect the statute, or to
regard, save with fear and dislike, all persons interested
in the national Italian cause, cannot complain of the
treatment I have personally received at their hands, con-
sidering that they were authorised to do their worst by
the conduct of the British Embassy, and also by Sir James
Hudson's gentlemanly expression, " Fate quel the voleto
co❑ questa pettegola:" (He would have been nearer the
mark, by the way, had he said, Fate quel the potete )
Be it remembered that I did not ask for protection
against the laws of Sardinia, but merely requested the
British authorities to insist on my being tried and judged
by those laws; that by reducing the Government to the
alternative of dragging me to the frontier by force or
according to my demand, I am, after four months'
imprisonment, released, cleared from any imputation, and
free to remain in Genoa as lone as its suits me so to do;
therefore, it is clear that Sir eHudson had no grounds,
either moral or material, for considering that my pro-
ceedings in this country had for their object the reason
designated in the letter of Mr. Yeats Brown, and hence
they can furnish no justification for having sanctioned the
violation of my safe passport. Whether the illegalities
committed by the British authorities furnish cause for
legal proceeding I am now taking steps to ascertain; that
the tree press of Britain will pees a just sentence on such
conduct I have the fullest confidence.—Zonclon Paper.

At LEWIS & OHPANTS, Ranelagh-street,
BOYS are CLOTHED from the Agee of Silk Tlreaty Years,

COURT OF CIIEEN'S BENCH.-DEC. 2.

TRILL FOR LIBEL.

LEWIS v. LEVS.—Mr. O'Malley, Q. C.. Mr. Petersdeefne
and Mr. Laxton appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. En,
James, Q.C., and Mr Serjeant Ballantine for the defellhe
ant. The plaintiff in this action, Edward Lewis, Was Led
manager of a loan society called the Traders
ter,
Mechanics Loan Society, carried on at No. 16, Fetfs
lane, but which society consisted only of the plaint;
sister, a Mrs. Foster. The defendant, Joseph Moses Levi
was the proprietor of a newspaper called the P“
Telegraph, published in the Strand ; and the present ae.trirr
was brought against him by the plaintiff to recrueee
damages for several libels published in that ja°
imputing to the plaintiff that he had been guilty of We „rd
and corrupt perjury. The defendant pleaded under
Campbell's Act, that the articles in question werlee
correct, and true reports of proceedings which had bass,
place in a court of justice. It appeared that a hire' lot
who was seated to he the wife of the town clerk of 9?ti•
but was divorced from him by a decree of the Eeclestie;
cal Court, had obtained a loan from the plaintiffs ° wite
and, according to the plaintiff's case, she, together ,0
an attorney's clerk, named John Edward Collett,;s.
united to deceive the plaintiff. by representing that„rc of
Bass was a widow lady, and that in this way, a a"Tee
thirty pounds had been obtained from the society. of
plaintiff made a charge against Collett, at GuildbatLys,
obtaining money by false pretences, and swore that
and t°
'lst
Bass made a declaration that she was a widow, OS
the defendant Collett had confirmed the statement' god
this occasion, Mrs. Bass was examined as a witness, bet
deposed that she made the declaration without she
attention being called to that part which stated theft,
was a widow; and she added, that she had tole
plaintiff she was a married woman, the wife of the ttros
clerk of Dover Upon this evidence the mareele,
dismisse4 the charge against Collett, and, on the ardor
cation of Collett's counsel, he granted a summons-fora/0
plaintiff to answer a charge of perjury. When this orb.
came on to be heard, Mrs. Bass repeated the erideneaost
had given on the previous occasion. In giving an aecejoly,
of this hearing, in the Daily Telegraph of the 4th ote tee
under the heading "Wilful and Corrupt Perjury' but
defendant gave the substance of Mrs. Bass's evidenice,
he omitted to give Mrs. Base's cross-examination• told
it was now contended, on the part of the plaintiff. " set
have entirely destroyed the weight of her evidence,' the
so would have cleared the plaintiff's character lon
estimation of the public. The most material parts ave
cross-examination, as afterwards put in by the defenoel
were that she (Mrs. Bass) had on various oec,1011!
obtained goods from tradesmen, and on as many asshe
occasions, when sued, had Ideeded her coverturc
also stated that she was living in the same houtolea
Collett, and was often called Mrs. Collett, but nee
living with him as his wife. .The report conclude to
stating that the magistrate (Mr. Ald. Rose) remanded
obee
plaintiff for further evidence. In a subsequent ncee 0
of the Telegraph of the 18th of July, there Wee
report which stated that the plaintiff hadeeer a
rendered, in discharge of his recognisances to an'"sen,
charge of perjury; and it concluded with this P55 10
which the plaintiff complained of as amounting 410
imputation that he was guilty of the charge
magistrate dismissed the summons, there not behletill
cient evidence to secure a conviction." The plan'oe,
case was proved by putting in the several article) stet
plained of and proving that a bill was exposed in Irs:eg to
the defendant's office, containing among other na" sea
catch the eye the following ;—"Wilful'and corrupt r 1
by the manager of a loan office." Mr. James snaweee-PY,
that it was the duty of the plaintiff to prove his °roc
putting in the cross-examination of Mrs. Bass ; but nele.
Campbell ruled that as the plaintiff had proved thus
lication of criminatory matter, the defendant neast,Le.P.
his plea. Mr. James then called Mr. Martin, the Cm" see
the magistrates' at Guildhall, who producedso
read his notes of the evidence given by the various rdeol;
at the examinations which had been had at Ga"...003'
He read the evidence of Mrs. Bass, and the cross•fleeet
nation, as stated above, and his note made o.ce
occurred when the summons against the plaintiff Ass
dismissed. The latter ran thus—That the sumnlaees does
dismissed because the evidence was " not likely to P'„°,oo,
a conviction." Mr. Alderman Rose was all° be
and he said he dismissed the charge beeau'i to a
thought " the evidence was not sufficient to lea to
conviction." The Aldermrn added that he had re0;0
believe that the witnesses had been kept out of the 0.
Mr. James, in summing up his evidence, said it 'Ogee
traordinary that a man should bring an action t° lots
dicate his character, and yet should not dare tog ew,
the box to be cross-examined. One of the evitjle the
whom the Alderman had thought was kept out o
way was Gadem, a man in the plaintiff's employ,, tree
learned counsel contended the reports were fair arlo trie.
accounts of what had occurred; and as to giving a
cross-examination of witnesses, if that were dcfleee'eet
would fill the Times. At the most the plaintiff w")(f.
entitled to more than one farthing damages. Abiob
O'Malley, in his reply, enlarged npon the frauds, boot
vr,
the cross-examination of Mrs. Bass showed she bareio
in the habit of committing, and complained that, ate
that part of her evidence which was calculated to Zo %pe,
criminality to the plaintiff had been inserted in thaela
the whole of the cross-examination, which wealt"
e'
O.
CA°33
,are file
is summing up the evidence, said the jar> the 101;
guardians of the liberty of the press, It Was, ‘t Coati
importance to protect the press in giving a Isir "...—st the
of what passed in courts of justice; but it viZerilet,
same time of the last importance that the rrial rY
should not be abused, and it would be for the ee• Tee
say whether that had been'the case in this instano"
question was whether,the three numbers of the Telegaiset
contained true and fair accounts of the proceedingsthei
the plaintiff Lewis before Mr. Ald. Rose, font`t. 0.1
did the defendant was entitled to a verdict. But i„Hi°eiettat
contrary, the reports were not fair and bow fide, then; till:
would be entitled to a verdict. It was inepossioee'e
reports should be given verbatim; that would Ilna,;tbs
privilege delusory. Except in very important es's', etc
could not be done, but a reporter should give ,
abridgment of what took place, taking care, without tree
tiality, and with reasonable care and skill, to give2aelitel
account. With respect to the first article, on tht wellee
June, the jury would say whether the heading gt fae,
and corrupt perjury " meant anything more than tbto 011
the substance of the charge made. With respect set
of the articles his Lardship observed that
reporter should confine himself to a dry statement %Iola:
took place, without making comments or drawing cee-pr;
sions, at least in the article which contained the eener
It would, however, be competent for a journalist toe pott
the conduct of juries, and even of judges ; but ins re
gild'
his Lordship said, he never wished to see more then, Ale:
statement of what took place in court. His Lordship 0,0
he could not approve of the style of the report, inc,i,r:ottedet'
conclusions, instead of stating what took place 1:014,0
The report in question was not in the best style:
was generally found in the daily papers, in whice'sel e
he had leisure to look into them, his Lordship
67eliee:;
found very fair and impartial accounts of Pre° to
for which the public ought to be much indebted Waser
authors of those reports. But, though the reP°oosoo/
not in that style, the jury must still cde!' d
whether it was true. Having called the attel P 5115
the jury to Alderman Rose's evidence, his Lord of tb
there were many cases in which he thought it het bet be
pe
the parties should not be called as witnesseani'lbtele
thought that in a case like the present !,,,t,e-eircigeetb
expected that thee plaintiff would be called. uP.,.°O "'vie
advised the jury to compare the published eerd.teleigr
the notes of the evidence taken by the magietealere'ree
and so to decide whether the reports in question t terbie.
and accurate; but if they should find their verdineerreelf
plaintiff the damages ought to be very lincoaeo's "'"
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and - -
return into court found for the defendant.

The suspension has been announced of MeserElf,'
Bovet, an old firm in the trade with China. 4001)
moderate. Difficulties understood to hare beepp` _no
caused by the late heavy fall in the silk market. 0007,0
HAMBURG, Friday.---The Senate has jugt.dhereffi •
another extraordinary convocation of the /311`1"tibufgeee
for to-morrow, to empower the former to
,1000
Government Discount Institution, with 30,Uu"
banco capital. irtsig
PARIS, Friday Evening.—The journal
-16 ee °f P.
been suspended for two months, in consequeteid bitoee
article which appeared in it yesterday, o,lge °gal
•
Peyrat, on the refusal of Carnot and Goudel4l,l',,
the oathe prescribed to members of the Corps o,olob'ett
Ties MEMBER FOll TOTNEsS.-.-OR 'Tuesday °O4l
Mills, Esq , and the Earl G.fford, the liberal pit
members of Totness, met their constituents in the ,0 witento
in that town, for the purpose of presenting t:i.eprlia:,h
iiieg
account of their conduct in the last session Of hob lea the
and of expressing their sentments relative to t„tioe °,rotr
questions 'which are likely to engage the atteb-igbli 7091
L-gislature in the next. Their reception Was opP po•
Eying, and showed that their conduct was Warts .7 Tbe the
by the entire Liberal party in the borongh'eecbd„* the
members addressed the meeting in able aPnth, ribst
address of Earl Gifford being of considerable le e_,,res ,ir
t plea" pa 'lll
coarse of which they reviewed the principal 0, 3 12e-
occupied the attention of Parliament last Ses.iorefoof
cussed the probabilities in favour of a 11,"..ti0e ° oits
being proposed by Lord Palmerston, the aLter,he plod
Bank Charter Act, and the Eastern question. liotinglosoo
of his lordship on the two last topics were b" cope pro•
by originality and fol argumen% At t tieo WWI
of the speeches of the hon. members, a resolt.l. fisl
val of their conduct, and thanking them for tn"
adopted unanimously.— Plymouth Journal'

r--
BOYS' CLOTHING MADE WITH GREAT TASTE s"
CO +1 PANY'S, RazseJagh-street.

NOTICE TO ADVERTISRS' fits,
Serf9tot
PERSONS seeking Employmertcigoirve,oolnogri
Assistants, Clerks, Apartments, or ° ~frr soci.o
bring their wants under the Notice of the Public, :Iwo el Laser
he No RTHERN TIMES, which is the most eiticient Inof acifertw—
n this district. The cash price for thrh sPecial%,l6ssm4l.4.
s reduced to THREEPKIICK for TWENTYn --

Ptzti

11V-
*41,c

kokt)

G.,,,

" ITERE WE ARE."
-I ALL IN PRICE OF BUrTER !

kll the past ten days I have received 1,847 letters,
giee~one subject, viz,—lnquiring the cause of my late
)7
treby reply oo the 1,847 inquiries by another inquiry—
ok'tlld
, sph expect any atLontion to be paid to my announce-
°t,t4l When the minis of all men (and some women) were
Y occupied by the news of
rp
lIE WAR,
ANK THE B -,
THE COMMERCIAL CRISIS,
PROFESSOR ANDERSON,
AVD

h THE ELECTIONS ?
Vit
oracle, me that on Monday some well-wishers of
~,tltzade, as attempt to dratme into the Local Pella-
-1,11 go.—My idea is this,—
lt t4oßreatest divarshion in under the sun,
TO, 11n,41 LUMP BUTTER, ald mind * Numer One."
When I make my " debut," it snall not b in the
sh.kt ti;°1111ell of Liverpool.
011basPtce in tha Noirrulatv Tim ES is now valuable, I
krttileS'" my yarn no longer. For the present I will con-
, trier giving you an amended extract from one of the
1te.,,.° Papers received last mail .-
1040 t,"" must come down, the high rates of the flash
1.40 ti °f 1856 cannot long co-exist with the levelling ten.
'.,k01-,':if 1857. Rents must come dawn—real estate roust
1,„1011" 'own—last horses must come down—fast young
,440.4,11)1115t Come down from their fast horses, and stre•ch
tliZbetieVl by a little wholesome walking. Provisions must
uwrl otel chlrges must comc down—the pews and
elarßes of our fashionable churches must come
4n, ead m
crinoline must come down, notwithstand ng the
!ttltlß down in dry goods. Every
thenlxry and almost
~,,‘Pq"ocessity must come down to new specie stan-
,:iroo;vPting—Wages—wh ch ought to go np. Talk of
00' ?,.,uolvn, we have been informed that The Butter-
, ,i4,of 14' Liveool is now selling his g)ods to shops at a
teuto arp
poind fr,-,m the prices of last month.
t:11 Butterman Exceldor my bay. Probably by
R 0144,7. You are trading out pound* of good Butter in
F.,47:0 for 9 cents."
ctt.,r, Your American cotemporary has gnessed right.
ceb,"los of UTTER are now SELLING here at a
1-0.--)N of THREEPE CE per Pound.
41.1, as usual,
KELLY THE BUTTERMAN.

*4O ------
I, ho UPPER DAWSON-STREET—THE BUTTER
. 1 PLACE.
k , ,i
~,, n 'AR LES-STREET—Under the Weight Office—
" Or THE S 1 ORES.
other of these plac,,s the No, 1 ButtermW is
always to be found.