The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-23 00:00:00

-THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY AUGUST 23, 1862

presenting an aspect of desolation and ruin. Then
came the point at which our infantry lines advanced
through the open fields and engaged that of the
enemy. For a mile the ground was thickly strewn
with the mangled and dying, showing with what
desperate energy our men had advanced, and with
what energy they were repulsed. Men, mangled
in every conceivable manner, to the number of
10,000, were strewn out before me. The painful
details of our own wounded I will spare you ; but
will pass to the enemy's side of the field, where one-
half of the number lay ; there were men with their
arms, legs, and hands shot off, bodies torn up, fea-
tures distorted and blackened. All this I could see
with indifference, but I could not but pity the
wounded; there one poor devil, with his back
broken, was trying to pull himself along by his
hands, dragging his legs after him, to get out of
the corn rows, which the last night's rain had filled
with water ; here another, with both legs shot off,
was trying to steady the mangled trunk against a
gun stuck in the ground ; there a fair-haired
Yankee boy, of 16, was lying with both legs broken,
half of his body submerged in water, with his teeth
clinched, his finger nails buried in the flesh, and his
whole body quivering with agony and benumbed
with cold. In this case my pity got the better of
my resentment, and I dismounted, pulled him out
of the water, and wrapped him in a blanket—for
which he seemed very grateful. One of the most
touching things I saw were a couple of brothers
(boys) both wounded, who had crawled together,
and one of them in the act of arranging a heading
for the other, with a blanket, had fallen, and they
had died with their arms around one another and
their
thesecheeks
itlos g,e a tsh.
mine
e
d at yours he
art t
hweiml sicken
and
I
will cease."

GARIBALDI IN SICILY.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times,)

TURIN, AUG. 20.

It was announced yesterday morning that Gari-
baldi was marching upon Catania, and was only a
few miles from that city. A strong detachment of
Royal troops under Mella had sallied from the
threatened place, and hastened to meet the insur-
gents. The Royalists had already reached Aderno,
a town placed at the spot where two roads branch
out, one in the direction of Taormina and Messina,
the other towards Catania, at the distance only of
14 miles from the latter place. Garibaldi was said
to be at Leonforte, about 20 miles west of Aderno,
on the road coming from Castro Giovanni. General
Ricotti, as we all know, was close upon the track
of the guerilla chief, encompassing him all round
with his widely-drawn military cordon, pressing
upon him so as to blockade him,yet carefully avoid-
ing any hostile encounter with him. Garibaldi
was thus shut in between Ricotti and Mella, and
it was difficult to conceive how he could extricate
himself without resorting to violence ; yet the in-
telligence came to Turin late in the afternoon of
yesterday that he had reached Catania, and the
news has received repeated confirmation to-day. It
was added, indeed, that a collision had occurred
between the Volunteers and the Royal forces under
Mella, and we were further informed that the com-
bat was still raging at the time the despatch was
forwarded ; but we had been assured that the object
of the movements of the King's troops was to pre-
vent Garibaldi's, entrance into Catania, and it is,
nevertheless, very evident that the volunteer leader
has accomplished his purpose, though we cannot
as yet ascertain whether he had to cut his way
through his opponents, or whether he out-gene-
ralled them. The latter hypothesis is all the more
plausible, as we know that Garibaldi's son, Menotti,
at the head of 500 men, advanced from Leonforte
upon San Fillippo d'Argiro, whence he not
unlikely continued his march upon Troina and
Cesaro, as if bent upon going round the skirts of
Etna to Taormina, a mancevre which may have per-
plexed Mella at Aderno, and thrown him off the
scent, so as to leave the way open to Garibaldi to
reach his real destination at Catania.

Be this as it may, there is little doubt now that
Garibaldi has reached the eastern coast of Sicily,
and the whole land of Calabria, the Gulf of Tarento,
and the Adriatic shores are open. before him. The
Royal cruisers are plying backwards and forwards
to prevent his landing, it is true ; but, if sailors do
not display more zeal and quickness than soldiers
have done, it is not very likely that their obstruc-
tion will be of much avail against the most dashing
and enterprising of modern adventurers. Indeed,
from the very outset I expressed my sure conviction
that Garibaldi could move from one end of Sicily to
the other ; that he could quit the island, and effect
a landing on any point of the terra firma whenever
he had a mind. My previous letters have been
written to little purpose if they have not conveyed
my impression that Garibaldi has all this time been
sole master of the situation—the only real ruler and
sovereign in Sicily.
Garibaldi arrived at Palermo, if not as a Lieu-
tenant of the King, at least as his intimate friend,
well conversant with his secret thoughts and wishes,
the guest of his Royal sons, the object of the utmost
demonstrations of honour and regard on the part of
all the Government authorities. Since then the
King's proclamation has almost outlawed him. The
public functionaries who did him homage have been
disavowed and recalled; large Royal forces have
been sent in pursuit of him ; the Sicilians have been
earnestly called upon to fall off from him. No doubt,
public opinion has been greatly staggered, and the
Garibaldi party, which embraced the whole popula-
tion of the island, has dwindled down to rather mo-
derate proportions. Those who still side with him,
however, are noisy, active, and daring, and those,
on the contrary, who have forsaken him are wofully
puzzled ; they can hardly believe.their own senses,
and still wonder what egregious farce is being
played before their eyes.

The Government have invaded the island with
scores of thousand troops. These march and coun•
termarch around the handful of youths whom they
call " rebels," yet they keep at a respectful dis-
tance, they shun all collision, and are inconsolable
whenever any casual encounter takes place. In
the meanwhile Garibaldi publishes edicts in the
name of " Italy and Victor Emmanuel," and " by
virtue of the full powers conferred upon him by the
nation." In Palermo General Cugia puts up with
the most arrogant and outrageous behaviour of the
Mazzinian party. At Messina and Catania the
Mazzinian committees are invested with almost dic-
tatorial sway, while the official authorities have to
bear it and hold their peace !
The King's Government at Turin and the Prefect
at Palermo tell us, indeed, that all this takes
place in obedience to a long prepared and deeply
laid plan ; that their aim is to avoid civil war and
fratricidal bloodshed; that their wish is to allow_
Garibaldi and the revolution to wear themselves
out ; that, when once the leader of adventurers is
either starved out, or by any other means driven off,
things will again take their own course, and order
will be restored in the island. That, indeed, may
or may not be ; but, in the meantime, to allow a
parcel of rebels to run riot in that beautiful island
kingdom for nearly a month, to encourage a whole
population to set the Royal authority at naught,
and to suffer self-styled patriot bands to ransack the
people like so many lawless marauders—more than
that, to permit Garibaldi to open the prisons, and
let not only political offenders, but also minor male-
factors, loose upon society, as it is said ho did at
Caltanisetta and elsewhere—all this cannot easily
be accounted sound or provident policy.
The island will be ruined wholly and irreparably,
and the mad freak of Garibaldi will cost the State
no less than 50,000,000 E; and be it so, but itis now
the same game to be played out in Calabria, in the
Basilicata, all over the Neapolitan provinces ? Is
Garibaldi tobe allowed to lay waste what hasbitherto
escaped the rapacity and wantonness of the Bourbon
brigands ? Truly, the landing of Garibaldi in Cala-
bria is an
event not to be contemplated without
shuddering ; the elements of mischief have already
preceded him on the mainland. Indeed, they have
long been at work there ;
they have allowed those
provinces no rest ever since they were rescued from
But w
tthhee
Ceziyde grace to convert those Bourbon thraldom. Is Garibaldi's arrival to be
happy districts
into a desolate
ere
such
ueh
wilderness
calamities to befall the Italians
, alone, Were the Garibaldian movement to have no

other consequences than internal commotions, the
world might shrug its shoulders and take little
heed of it. Revolutions are not made of rosewater.
The Italians are paying for their fiddle. Its
s'organisent, as the English did in 1688 and the
French in 1793. But can Garibaldi's expedition be
without results for Italy's neighbours ? Will Europe
be allowed to look on and keep aloof from the fray ?
Behold ! Garibaldi has made his way into Catania.
From Palermo to that city he has made a short
triumphal march ; the island of Sicily has been as
passively subjected to his sway as if he had been its
crowned monarch. He casts now his glance across
the Strait. Ho is singling out the stop between
Naples and Reggio, between Taranto and Bari,
where to direct the prow of his fishingboat.
Wherever he may steer, whatever ground he may
choose, the same welcome awaits him that greeted
his presence at Palermo, at Marsala, at Caltanisetta.
From Reggio to the Garigliano, or from Taranto to
the Tronto, his progress will again be a triumphal
march. From those southern provinces, no less
than from the north, from priest-ridden Rome and
from heavy-chained Venice, volunteers will flock to
his standards. Wherever he moves enthusiastic
expectation will be on tiptoe to receive him ;
wherever he abides the authority of the Government
will come to an end ; whenever he leaves, disorder
and anarchy will remain behind him. The King's
troops, who vainly dogged and dodged him through-
out Sicily, may perhaps take the sea in pursuit, and
large forces may he sent to arrest his course from
Naples and from Turin itself. La Marmara may
have greater energy than Cugia, and his lieute-
nant may be less dawdling and forbearing. Still,
the chances are all in favour of Garibaldi giving
the Royal forces the slip in Naples, as he appears
to have done in Sicily, and there are the
additional risks that the population may learn
to have more confidence in his undertaking as it
thrives., that they may second him with greater
ner gy as he perseveres, and that some of the troops
wearied with toogong and too vain a pursuit of him,
may end by joining him. At the head of no matter
what host, Garibaldi would thus reach the Roman
frontier. He would, if a chance were given him, cut
up De Merode's Zouaves, and might court or shun
an encounter with the French, as his heart prompted
him. Is this really the goal of Garibaldi's enterprise ?
Will he be allowed to go so far, and are the Italian
Ministers at this moment any longer able to with-
stand him ? Or is the duty of repulsing, or thwart-
ing him to devolve on the French ? This is the
whole gist of the matter. Is Victor Emmanuel
to retain the Government of the South of Italy, or is
Naples to become a French province ? This is
matter of consequence to Europe no less than to
Italy. Truly, the Government here put a very
bright countenance on a losing game. M. Ratazzi
grins with a very good grace and pooh-pools the
whole matter. He is " cock-sure" of his affair. He
allows Garibaldi full swing, because he knows quite
well that it is always in his- power to stop him.
Hitherto the movement has nothing alarming or
distressing about it. If you hear him, it is all
" much ado about nothing." I happen to know,
however, that some of his colleagues in the Cabinet
by no means share this foolhardy security. The War
Minister, Petitti, a disciple of La Marmora, is for
resolute measures and speedy work. " Garibaldi is a
rebel ; should be proclaimed to be such; should be
dealt with as such. The troops who are to be de-
pended on at present may wear out their patience
by a too long shilly-shallying." On the other hand,
De Pretis, the late Garibaldian pro-dictator, and
more than three-quarters a republican, advises con-
ciliatory, above all things temporising dispositions,
and Conforti, an honest, soft-hearted man, backs
him in his mild suggestions. Ratazzi agrees now
with the one, now with the other fraction of his
Ministry; and in the meanwhile time is lost, and
the Government comes to no decision.
No wonder, under such circumstances, if many
honest people think the whole business a comedy,
though, no doubt, a dirty, dishonest, dangerous
comedy. In their opinion there is certainly ade
facto collusion between the Government and
Garibaldi, however unconsciously the latter may
play into the former's hands. The great drift
of Ratazzi, who has come to a secret under-
standing with the Emperor Napoleon, men think,
is to alloW the Garibaldians to press on through
Sicily and Naples as far as the gates of Rome, even
while apparently straining every nerve to stay them,
so that, when the French are beset there by a
whole armed and unarmed Italian multitude, the
Emperor may seem compelled to yield before an
irresistible national demonstration, and withdraw
from the Pope a support which has been too long
abused. Others, on the other hand, suppose that
the understanding between Ratazzi and Napoleon
may point to very different results. They see the
Italian Prime Minister giving full scope to the
Garibaidian expedition, as if he were interested in
bringing the two Southern kingdoms into utter
disorganisation and ruin. Could it not be, these
unfriendly politicians ask, that the drift is to let it
appear before the world as if Italy had no strength
to secure good government to those Southern pro-
vinces, thus lending the French Emperor a good
title to step in in their stead, breaking asunder
that Italian unity to which he has always been ini-
mical, and perpetuating his occupation of Rome by
extending his sway over Naples ?
That, you know, is supposed to have been the
Emperor's purpose for a long time.

A Turin correspondent communicates the follow-
ing speech, making the subjoined statements as to
the position of the " Liberator" :

"The scales are gradually falling from our eyes,
and though we have still only a dim perception of
the truth, many important facts which have lately
come to light may give us some idea of the critical
nature of our situation. Garibaldi's brief stay at
Caltanisetta may be more appropriately termed an
occupation. He was sufficiently master of the place
to take possession of the barracks belonging to the
garrison, which had been ordered to Girgenti. The
doors of the prison were open to all its inmates who
had been confined on political charges, as well as to
all persons accused of small offences. His mandates
bore the formula of Italy and Victor Emmanuel,'
and were executed in virtue of the full powers con-
ferred on him by the nation.'"
The speech we have alluded to above was deli-
vered at Castrogiovanni, and is printed in the Pre•
eursore of Palermo :

People of the territory of Etna !—Nations have
their sublime moments ; the present is one of these.
Be of one heart and you will bo strong, oh, people
of Etna! I know you, and know what you can
do for freedom's cause. That is why you see me
among you. But I ask of you to forget private
rancours, municipal rivalries, and worn-out preju-
dices. I ask you to be truly Italian.
"I am grateful to you for all that you have done,
not for me, but for the principle which I proclaim;
but I desire to see your generous demonstrations
transmuted into deeds, which have an eloquence far
greater than that of words.
" Let my brave followers be your mirror. Look
upon them and you will see many of tender years
among these heroes that hasten to the rescue of the
noblest part of Italy, still groaning beneath the
weight of a degrading bondage.
"Take example by them you also who, like them,
are elect children of Italy. Unite your armed right
hands to theirs, and I promise you it shall not be
long before we, bearing aloft the flag of Italy and
Victor Emmanuel, enter the sacred gates of Rome
in despite of the stranger that mounts guard before
them. Ycs, I promise you we shall have Rome."
The following letter from Sicily has been ad-
dressed to the Turin correspondent of the Press,
dated Pietrapezzia, Aug. 12 :
" I write in great emotion. Yesterday I had the
honour of lodging General Garibaldi in my house.
Invited by the Unitary Emancipation Society, he
came among us. Impossible to describe the general
enthusiasm. The clergy, the National Guard, the
municipal junta, the entire people, conducted him
to where, after a solemn Te De-am,
a the
ndaneaadthderedsrsalby
Father Pantaleo, Gen. Garibaldi
announced to the assembly his programme of Rome
or Death.' All the population is in movement. The
Syndic and his two sons were enrolled. At this
moment a deputation is occupied in collecting money
to equip the new volunteers. Garibaldi is highly
satisfied. The Deputy Nieotera, Col. Oddo, Major

Basso, and Father Pantaleo are with Garibaldi.
(Signed) " GICENZO DI BLASI.

An account of a popular demonstration which
took place in Naples on the 15th is given in a letter
from that city, dated the succeeding day :
"As it was well known that a demonstration
was intended, the Communal Council, the Syndic of
Naples, and the Prefect each issued a proclamation
in the morning, calling upon the people to tike no
part therein, but to have confidence in the King
and Parliament. These proclamations were torn
down as fast as they were posted, and written papers,
headed 'Protest of the People,' stuck up everywhere,
announcing that the demonstration would take place,
and that if any disorder occurred it would be the
fault of the authorities. Before 10 o'clock 8,000 or
10,000 persons assembled in the Strada di Toledo,
and paraded the streets shouting Victor Emmanuel
for ever!" Garibaldi for ever and ' Rome or death!'
The National Guard and troops had been under arms
from an early hour, and occupied the principal stra-
tegic points. Near the Royal Palace two companies
of Grenadiers barred the passage of the crowd,
which then proceeded towards the Large della
Caritti, and soon afterwards met a company of the
National Guard, preceded by its band, which at the
demand of the mob played Garibaldi's hymn three
times over, notwithstanding the prohibition of Gen.
Toputi. The crowd had dispersed before noon. The
only incident to be lamented was a bayonet thrust,
not dangerous, given by a National Guard to a fel-
low who called. himself a Bourbonist: The troops
remained on duty till late in the night, but no fur-
ther disturbance took place. A Te Deum was sung
at the church of Santa-Maria Capella in honour of
the Emperor's fete. Prince Colonni, the Syndic of
Naples, was present."

THE EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF

WHOLESALE POISONING.

FINAL EXAMINATION AND COMMITTAL OF

THE ACCUSED.

Yesterday, Constance Wilson, alias Catherine
Taylor, was again brought up and placed at the bar
of the Lambeth Police•court before the Hon, G. C.
Norton for further and final examination on the
charges of causing tl.e deaths by poison of Mrs.
Mary Soames and Mrs. Ann Atkinson.

The court as on former occasions was crowded
to excess, and the proceedings lasted to half-past 7
o'clock. Mr. Chipperfield appeared as before for
the prosecution, and Mr. Neale for the prisoner.
The prisoner remained seated in the dock in the
most perfectly unconcerned manner during the
lengthened proceedings.
Mr. Chipperfield said that he first proposed to
complete the evidence in the case of Mrs. Soames,
and this he should do by calling one or two more
witnesses to speak to the facts already in evidence.
He should also call a gentleman named Baker, who
was trustee under the will of the late Capt. Mawer,
of Boston, who would not only prove the amount
of the prisoner's income, but who would also speak
to her handwriting. He should also call a gentle-
man named Sleath, who had been educated for the
legal profession, but who was now the editor of a
Lincolnshire paper, who was an expert in hand-
writing, and would prove that the several letters
which had been produced in evidence in the case
were in the handwriting of the prisoner at the bar.
Mr. John IL Baker was then called, and deposed
that he was a builder, and the sole surviving exe-
cutor and trustee under the will of the late Mr.
Peter Mawer, the probate of which he produced.
Under that will the prisoner had a life interest in
eight dwelling-houses in Boston, producing £4B
per annum, and also was entitled to the interest on
the sum of £l5O which had been produced by the
sale of a share in a ship, and which sum had been
put out at interest at 41 per cent. On the 7th of
November, 1855, he had paid the prisoner the sum
of £8 125., which after deducting the succession
duties and the repairs of the houses,was the balance
due to her. In the year 1856 the payments he
made to her amounted altogether to £2l 16s. 6d.,
and he was not aware that she had any other in-
come. He was well acquainted with the prisoner's
handwriting, having received, he should say, up-
wards of 100 letters from her, and though he did not
remember that he had ever seen her write he had
always acted on and recognised her correspondence.
The letter already produced, and which reached
the house of the late Mrs. Soames on the Monday
following her death, and which purported to come
from the " man" with whom it was alleged by the
prisoner the deceased had formed a connexion,
was here handed to the witness, who, after minutely
examining it, said that to the best of his belief,
though written in a feigned hand, it was in the
handwriting of the prisoner. He formed that opinion
both from the spelling of some words, from the for-
mation of some of the letters, and from a comparison
with the correspondence ho had in his possession.
Mr. Neale inquired of the witness if there was
any money now due to the prisoner.
The witness replied not now.

Mr. Chipperfield—No ; the last payment of £l5
was made to you, Mr. Neale, and I have your re-
ceipt for it. (Laughter.)
Mr. J. S. Sleath was next called, and deposed
that he had lived in West-street•road, Boston, and
was the editor of the Lincolnshire herald. He had
known the prisaner for many years, and had him-
self been articled to the law. The prisoner had com-
municated with him as a sort of agent for her, and
received numerous letters from her in 1855 and down
to Jan., 1856. He had seen the prisoner write, and
was well acquainted with the character of her hand-
writing. The letter now produced (the " man's" let-
ter) he had already examined, and he believed it to
be in the prisoner's handwriting. He came to that
conclusion from having compared it with letters in
the possession of Mr. Chipperfield which had been
proved in the case, and he found that in eight or ten
particulars the letters bore a strong resemblance
both in the shape of the letters and in the spelling.
Mrs. Sarah Allen, who had been examined on a
former day, was now recalled, and in addition to her
previous testimony, deposed that she lived in
Alfred-place, Bedford-square, next door to the de-
ceased, whom she had known for six or Seven
yep►rs before her death, being very intimate with
her. She last saw her alive on the Wednesday
preceding her death, when the deceased was clean-
ing her door between nine and ten o'clock in the
morning, and was then in her usual good health.
The deceased was a very strong, healthy person,
and witness had never heard of her being ill. On
the Saturday evening after the death, she (witness)
was taken upstairs by the prisoner to see the corpse
which had a very shocking and dreadful appearance.
The fingers were very much drawn up, the hands
were partly clenched, and the features very much
distorted, and in consequence the witness said to
the prisoner that she thought deceased looked a
very dreadful corpse. In reply to Mr. Chipperfield,
the witness said she remembered the circumstance
of the robbery alleged by the prisoner to have been
committed in the room she had occupied in the
house of deceased. She had spoken to the prisoner
on the subject, when the latter stated she had been
out, had been detained longer than she expected,
and that when she came home a little after 12 at
night, she found her room door open, her drawers
broken into, and everything carried away, and she
added that she had lost nearly £2OO in money and
clothes.

Serjeant White, 16 D, said that on the 29th July
last he was present at the exhumation of the body
of the late Mrs. Soames, whose coffin bore an in-
scription which he had copied, and now handed in.
He received potions o[ the body of the deceased
from Mr. Whidburn. They were contained in six
jars, one bottle, and three parcels, the whole of
which he delivered at Guy's Hospital to Mr. Pryor,
the assistant to Dr. Taylor.

Mrs. Riley was recalled, and stated that she had
been regularly employed as char woman by deceased
on the Friday of every week up to the time of her
death, and that on one occasion the prisoner came to
her to the kitchen, and said she was so bad with a
pain in her face that she should be glad if witness
would go to a doctor's shop for her. Witness con-
sented, and the prisoner gave her a phial about the
length of her first finger, and a small piece of
paper, on which was written what she was to
get, together with sixpence to pay for it. Wit-
ness could not read, and therefore could not say
what was on the paper. She took it with the
bottle to the shop of a chemist in Tottenham-
court-road, where she handed in the paper, got six-
penny worth of the stuff in the phial, and came
away. She looked at the phial, because it seemed
such a little drop for sixpence. The liquid was
rather thick, and its colour was a dark brown. A
week or two before the death of Mrs. Soames, wit-
ness had a conversation with prisoner about that
lady. The prisoner came to her in the back kitchen
and said, " Mrs. Soames is going to change her
situation, but I do not think it will take place, as
she has found that the person had not turned out as
she expected, or what she thought he was." Wit-
ness thought that the prisoner also said " that the
person was a bus proprietor." In cross-examina-
tion the witness said she had not stated these
matters when she was last examined, because she
had not been asked about them. Last week she
was prepared to make the same statement, but
though in attendance she was not called.
On the deposition of Mr. Whidburn being read
over to that gentleman, he requested to make an
alteration in that part of it which ascribed the
death of the deceased to inflammation of the peri.