The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-10 00:00:00

interference in that war, in concert with Trance and
Spain, instead of remaining, as she had hitherto done, a
passive s?ects,tor of events, may altar the conduct of the
Junta or of the populace of Oporto towards British resi-
dents in shat city, and it will be necessary, therefore,
that immediate steps should bo taken to give those
British residents the means of removing themselves,
their families, and their movable property from Oporto,
if they should wish to do so.
It is mwh to be desired that the objects which the
allies have in view may be accomplished without any
assault of Oporto, and without the loss of life and blood-
shed which at attack upon that city, fortified and gar-
risoned as it now is, must occasion.

ORDER OF THE REDEMPTION.
Among the moat illustrious sovereigns that have done
honour to Italy, the Princes of the House of Gonzaga
occupy the first rank. Fruitful in great captains, hie-
rary men, and poets, this ancient and noble House of
Gonzaga has deserved, in the highest degree, every
species of distinction, and has furnished to the heroic
and religious history of Italy its fairest pages. The city
of Mantua, which is the cradle of their infancy, and the
capital of their sovereignty, is now the honoured keeper
of the relics of those august Princes.
Invested with supreme command, the powerful Dukes
of Mantua have many times, at the head of numerous
armies, delivered Italy and the Holy Church from the
repeated attacks of the Northmen.
Rome was proud to reckon among her cardinals nine
Princes of the House of Gonzaga, who at different epochs
exalted the splendour of the purple of the Sacred Col-
lege, and invested it almost uninterruptedly, until Pope
Paul V., desiring to fill up the vacancy occasioned
by the death of one of them, raised to the Cardinalate
Prince Ferdinand, second son of Duke Vincent I.
All Italy hailed this nomination, and Mantua beheld
it with delight, because it was announced to her at the
same moment with the tidings of the marriage of Prince
Francis, elder brother of the new Cardinal, to the Princess
Marguerite, daughter of Duke Charles Emmanuel, of
Savoy. Duke Vincent was desirous of perpetuating the
memory of a day so auspicious to his house, by founding
a noble institution, and he thought he could not better
celebrate it than by associating it with his own joy as a
father and the head of one of the most powerful sove-
reign families of Europe, the name of the Redeemer of
the world, a precious relic of Whom—the blood which
trickled through his veins—had for many centuries been
preserved in the city of Mantua.
It is known that Longinus, an Isaurian soldier, after-
wards crowned with the palm of martyrdom, having col-
lected a few drops of the blood of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, brought them to Mantua, and concealed them in
the ground, on the spot were now stands the church de-
dicated to St. Andrew. This sacred relic, after being
lost for several ages, was discovered by a revelation in
the reign of Charlemagne; and Pope Leo 111. having
learned the fact, repaired to Mantua, gathered up the
sacred blood, gave some particles of it to the Emperor,
and confided the sacred deposit to the devotion of the
Mantuans.
After this time, Italy, unceasingly attacked by the
Emperors of Germany, was ever and anon exposed to
.he danger of becoming the prey of ber enemies, and
Mantua did not escape the general disaster; her pious
inhabitants, justly alarmed for the preservation of that
precious treasure, the object of their profound veneration,
deposited one portion of it in the church of St. Andrew
arid another portion in that of St. Paul.
A ceiiuryasterwards, all trace having been lost of the
places in which the precious blood was deposited, the
Apostle St. Andrew, in pity of the general affliction of
the Faithful, deigned to reveal to St. Adelbert the part
of his church in which a divine relic might be found.
Pope Leo IX. repaired, as his predecessor had done,
to Mantua, to consecrate the second and miraculous dis-
covery of the blood of our Divine Redeemer. It was an
occasion of general jubilee to all the Christian world;
and in the sequel many emperors, among whom were
Henry 111. in 1055, and in 1534 Charles V., contributed
by their grants and the concession of important
privileges to the propagation of the worship of the blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lastly, the solemn suffrage of the Council held at
Mantua in 1459, in the presence of Pope Paul 11., con-
secrated the authenticity of the divine blood which sprang
from the bosom whence flowed our redemption.
Duke Vincent 1., full of devotion for this precious
blood, as all his ancestors had been, gave the most striking
testimony of that devotion by instituting in the year of
Grace 1608, on the occasion of the marriage of his son
Francis, and the elevation to the Cardinalate of his other
son Ferdinand, the Equestrian Order of the " Redemp-
tion," or the " Precious Blood." Among other magnifi-
cent ornaments assigned to the new Knights, he decreed
that the collar of the order should be formed of an antique
emblem of Francis of Gonzaga, one of his ancestors, and
he composed it of many oval patens of gold, on which
verges of gold were engraven in relief in a creust of fire,
which patens were disposed alternatively with other
cartouches of the same form, bearing for device these
words, taken from the 138th Psalm of David—
Domine Probasti me.
To this collar was suspended a rich gold medallion, en
which was artistically engraved the ampulla, appearing
to contain three drops of the revered blood of the
Redeemer.
With the collar he prescribed a mantle and train
capitular and ceremonial of crimson satin, lined with
while, with large sleeves embroidered in gulden creusets,
alternating with the device Domine Probasti me. It is
fastened at the shoulder with a cord of gold knotted in
front ; the under vestment, or just-a corps, is of cloth of
silver damask, the pantaloons, stockings, and shoes being
all of crimson.
The creation of this pious Order could not fail to
obtain the high approval of the Sovereign Pontiff, who
ratified the clause of the decree of institution, by which
Duke Vincent declared himself and his legitimate suc-
cessors on the throne of Mantua, perpetual Grand
Masters of the Order of the Redemption.
(Here follow the thirteen articles of the Institution; a
fourteenth article prohibited the wearing of the insignia
of any other Order by the Knights, but this was, by an
ulterior disposition, removed.)
Duke Vincent then proceeded to the reception of the
Knights, and was himself invested with the insignia of
the Order by the Cardinal, his son Ferdinand, and re-
paired with great pomp to the church of St. Andrew,
with a numerous and brilliant assemblage following, in
which appeared the Cardinal, the Infanta Marguerite of
Saxony, as a bride, the Duchess of Mantua and Ferima,
the Princes of Sweden, &c., each of the recipients
having previously signed with his own hand a formal
engagement to observe the statutes.
The oath of the Knight and the acr of induction
were accompanied with the greatest solemnity, and the
chief nobles of Italy were enrolled among the earliest.
This most honourable Order has never ceased to adorn
the breasts of the Princes of the august house of Mantua,
either at home or in exile, and it has recently been re-
stored by the Most Serene Prince Alexander, the present
direct and legitimate inheritor of all the rights and pre-
rogatives of the Sovereignty of the ancient Dukes of
Mantua. He has, in the terms of the statute, declared
himself Grand Master, and having introduced some
slight modifications demanded by the present period, the
venerable Order will hereafter consist of three classes of
unlimited numbers : Grand Crosses, Commanders, and
Knights, with differing insignias.
The Grand Master has annexed to the Order that of
the " Ladies," created in 1668 by Eleanor of Gonzaga,
Empress of Austria, under the name of the Noble
Order of the Cross, divided into two classes, Is idles
Grand Crosses, with the coronet and title of Countesses,
and Ladies Chevalieres, with the title and coronet of
Viscountesses. They have a special costume and in-
signia, resembling in. a great degree the decoration of the
Knights.—The 7.abkt.

THE LATE CATASTROPHE ON THE NORTH•
WESTERN RAILWAY.—WOLYERTON, WEDNESDAT.—This
forenoon Captain Coddington, the Government inspector of
railways, arrived at Wolverton, and investigated the circum-
stances connected with the late fearful and fatal collision.
The gallant Captain made a minute examination of the
points at which the train entered the siding, the exact dis-
tance of which from the Wolverton station is stated to be
580 yards. After completing his survey, he pursued his way
to Liverpool, it was understood, to attend the adjourned in-
quest with regard to the falling in of the Dee bridge. Captain
Coddington had a long interview with Captain Bruyeers and
other high officials of the railway, at the London terminus,
before he started for Wolverton, but none of them accompa-
nied him to the scene of the accident. The whole of the
bodies of the sufferers have been removed by their friends for
interment, the last one waiting for identity being this morn-
ing recognised as that of Mr. H. Smith, solicitor, of Birming-
ham. The report as to the condition of the parties injured
is that they are progressing favourably ; some of them, it is
believed, will be able to attend the adjourned inquest. The
company have directed that all the funeral expenses of the
sufferers should be charged to them.
PROPERTY AND INCOME TAX.—Since we drew
public attention to this subject, on the 15th of May last, we
understand the Basinghall-street Commissioners have had a
most searching inquiry and investigation into the system of
surcharges, and have inflicted most summary justice on one
' of their officials ; but, if all we hear is true, their vengeance
has fallen upon a minor offender when compared with an
officer connected with the Stamps and Taxes, who has been
in receipt of no less a sum than GOOL, arising from the
poundage allowed by Government out of the City income-
tax ! We wait the decision of the Board before we make
further comment, but it is quite impossible this tax can be
renewed until Parliament has inquired into the whole pro-
ceedings connected with what has been taking place during
the last three months in Basinghall-street.Times.
THE GALLERY OF CLAUDIUS TARRAL, EsQ.--
The private view of a collection of pictures, which is about
being submitted to the hammer by Messrs. Christie and
Manson, took place yesterday. The collection was formed
on the continent by Mr. 'Dural, and comprises fifty-six
works, none of which, with a single exception, have before been
in this country. Nearly one half were procured at the sale
of the celebrated gallery of Cardinal Pesch. They are prin-
cipally by Italian and Dutch masters, and some of them are
of considerable merit. We would particularly mention " The
Judgment of Paris," by W. Mieris. A " Nativity," by
Menge; " Lot and his Daughters," by Jan Steen ; and some
exquisite landscapes by Wynants, Fred. Moucheron, Decker,
and Ruisdael.
ROYAL BEULAH SPA GARDENS, N ORWOOD.—
Yesterday these beautiful gardens wneexrteotetonhpseeiynuee; for the sum-
ith uaalndattarraecttis
nnui etr
ws oank.i Tanhde gt
arsotuen. d sI
na veryraeddtia
to be met with at places of this descriptionga,ttohpelelratrcifualmseadi spal,
well entitles Beulah to a visit. Therfestaiiiised
ionfewd-iactienraflr(olonai
litthiees.sprliphge,,ruda;
iiotnios
dPenssseaslstollgiegill:ieLr
is charming; and from some of the elevations a magnificent
view may be had of the surrounding country, which just now
l looks
visitors s very lovely.a
s We regretted to see so small an attend-
ance yesterday graced the grounds, a ekelll7
stance owing, probably, to the want of sufficient publicity
having been given to the opening.
.ttnint, JUNE B.—lt is currently rumoured to-
day that we shall have a sharp contest here the en-wing
tth-ction, as the Earl of Beclive is coining f ,rwarti " aC3'!
didat'' under tte influence of his fat, ef-in.iso-, Mr. A:,ltr •
man
Thompson, and Mr. Crawshav, of CoverNhalil Paris anti
of C:.f4rthta Castie, Merthyr, and Mr. Anthony Hill, of
Plymouth Lodge, and other influential persons in the
borough.

- NAVAL INTEL.LIGENCE.
TORTSMOUTII, WEDNESDA . T-• —A court-martial, cern -
prising Rear-Admiral Sir Chit, rlcs Napier, K.C.13-, pre-.
sident ; Captain Pasco, of do ? Victory ; Captain Silr
James Stirling, of the Howe; Captain Chads, of the
Excellent ; Captain Lushingt .m, of the Vengeance ;
Captain Milne, of the St. Vince. nt; Captain the Hon. D.
Pelham, of the Odin ; Captain Dacres, of the Avenger;
and Mr. G. L. Greetham, De, puty Judge-Advocate of
the Fleet, assembled this mor, ling at nine o'clock, on
board the Victory, 104, Captain. Pasco, flag-ship of Ad-
miral Sir Charles Ogle, Conranander in-Chief, to try
William Thurman, private mi zinc) of the third class,
belonging to her Majesty's stet tm-sloop Scourge, Com-
mander J. C. Caflin, on the folk wing charges, preferred
by that officer:-
1. For disobedience of the ca-der of Lieutenant W.
Crawford, in having, on or about the 21st of May, 1847,
at ICillybegs, Ireland, left the Scourge, while a prisoner
at large, and got on board her Majei;ty's store-ship An-•
dromeda, alongside which the Scourge was then lashed,.
and afterwards, when brought back to the ship by Bom-
bardier W. Ramsay, of the Royal Marine Artillery,
refusing to remain under charge of the sentry at the
gangway, and making use of Most disgusting language
to Corporal Staples and Colour-sergeant Forward. .
"2. For having on various occasions, between the 233
of February and the 25th of May, 1847, behaved in an
insubordinate and threatenin3 manner towards Colour-
sergeant Jacees Forward, of the Royal Marines, and
Corporal Staples, of the Royal arineArtillery, of .' her
Majesty's steam sloop Scourge, ior disobedience of the
orders of the said colour-sergeant avd corporal, and for
using disgusting language towards tLem."
These charges were in direct violation of the 2d, 19th,
and 22d articles of war, for a breach of Is•hich it should .
be understood the prisoner was tried, ;...he penalty
therein prescribed for conviction thereon heilig
cr such other punishment as a court• martial shall 'hink
fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of the offence
shall deserve. From this the Court have no powet to
deviate.

It is impossible we can give any portion of the en•
dence in this case ; it was too disgusting and impios
for repetition. We never beard a trial wherein the pri-
soner exhibited so thoroughly infamous a character as
in ;his. Commander Caffin's humanity was totally los;
upon him ; no man could have shown more forbearance
than that officer has done towards the prisoner—very
few half as much. The captain of the company to
which the prisoner was attached had been compelled to
refuse to take him on detached service to Ireland with
him. Ho came on board the Scourge without a cha-
racter, although he had been in the Marine corps
seven years.
. .

The Court showed a willing disposition to admitevery
point of extenuation in favour of the prisoner, but nowt
could be adduced.
After a trial of six hours, one and a half of which
was spent in deliberation, the Court adjudged the charges
to have been fully proved, except such parts of the first
charge which allege disgusting language to have been
used towards Colour sergeant Forward and Corporal
Staples, and sentenced the prisoner to receive 50 lashes
on board the Scourge, to be imprisoned 12 months in
Winchester gaol, and kept to hard labour the whole of
that time, except during one month (the last), when he
would be kept in solitary confinement, and to forfeit all
pay and servitude. He would inevitably have been
hanged at the peril-arm for less than one-hall cf the
crimes laid to his charge and proved before ►his court a

few y ears since.
When his Royal Highness Prince Oscar of Sweden
was going over the dockyard y estt rday he was much
struck with the facility with which the blocks were made
by Bineel's machinery, and also with the patent mode
(Brewer's) of maeufacturnig those important necessaries
in a ship's rigging, being quite different to the plan
practised in every other es!ablishmtnt. His Highness
asked for one of these blocks to carry to his own coun-
try with him, and this morning Captain Pasco sent one
(a 10 inch) with some treenails on board the Eugenie,
for the Prince's acceptance. The patent blocks now
manufactured in this yard are superior to all other kinds,
infinitely so to the galvanized iron article of the same
description, some of which were made trial of in this
establishment some years since, and condemned as
failures, the galvanism not preventing corrosion of the
iron, the sharpness of the edges of which and the friction
combined cuts and otherwise damages the ropes coming
in contact with them. It is believed the patent wood
block will become universal all over the maritime world
en account of its immense sustaining powers combined
with everlasting durability.
A private letter from the Collingwood, 80, Captain
Smart, flag of Rear-Admiral Sir George Seymour, Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Pacific, dated Valparaiso, Feb. 8,
1847, says—" The Cormorant steam-sloop, Commander
Seymour, and the Sampson steam-frigate, Captain Hen-
derson, besides ourselves, are in harbour here. The
Carysfort, 26, Captain Seymour, sailed on the 6th for
the Leeward Islands to get a freight of money for us to
bring home. She is expected to be away about nine
months. We expect to be homeward bound in twelve
months. We do not expect to sail from Valparaiso until
the middle of March, when we shall embark the Admiral
and family and sail for Callao and the Leeward Islands.
The Admiral shifted his flag from blue to white in con-
sequence of the late brevet premotion on the 17th of
January.

THE LATE CASES OF POISONING.
ADJOURNED INQUEST.
Yesterday Mr. T. Walley, M P., resumed, at the
Portobello Arms, Kensal New Town, the adjourned in-
quest on the bodies of Thomas Hickman, aged 34, and
his five children, an account of whose deaths by poison
has already appeared in this journal.
Mr. John B. Abercrumby, of Kensal New Town,
stated the result of the pea modem examiLation of the
bodies. From the analysis of the vomited matter there
is no doubt that death was caused by arsenic.
Mr. George Brown, surgeon, and 1)r. Robert Barnes
were next examined. Their evidence differed in no ma-
terial point from Mr. Abercromby's.
Thomas Hickman, a youth of 12 years, said—On the
Sunday in question we ell sat down to dinner between
one and two o'clock. I was called in to dinner by my
mother. My aunt and mother wade the pudding be-
tween them. I did not know that flour, or anything like
it, was lying about. I did not know the cupboard where
the arsenic was contained. I was never cautioned about
going to the cupboard. I never heard any one threaten
to poison father or mother. I was taken ill about half-
past two. I felt a pain at the chest, a burning in the
throat, and great thirst.
The CORONER—How much of the pudding had you
taken before you were taken ill? Witness—One plate
full.

Mrs. Harriet Hickman was next examined. She said
On the Sunday morning. I proposed that m e should.
have a rhubarb pudding for dinner. It was to be made of
flour, bread, and rhubarb. The same morning ruy sister
came to me about half-past six o'clock, and said she
wanted some paper to light the fire, and inquired where
she could find some. I told her I did not know. She
then emptied the contents of the small bag in the large
one filled with flour.
The CORONER—Had you seen the small bag before?
Witness—Yes, on the previous Sunday my husband
showed me the bag, and asked me what was in it, when
I replied that I thought it was arrow-root. He then
placed it in the back room cupboard, where it remained
till my sister took it down.
The CORONER—Were you aware that poison was in
the house ? Witness—l knew that a small bottle con-
taining arsenic had been kept, but I gave that away to
my father some time back, to destroy rats.
The CORONER—What did your husband want with
arsenic ? Witness—Before he was in the police he used
to try experiments on glass with it. lie was in the
habit of placing it in crucibles over the fire.
The CORONER—Was your sister en friendly terms
with your husband? Witness—Oh dear, yes; more than
any other of the family.
The CORONER-Low long has she been with you?
Witness—Since the Thursday preceding. She came to
stop until she could get a situation. My husband was
at work in the New North-road, Islington, and only
came home on Saturday nights, and went away on
Monday mornings.
Caroline Bonamey was next called. She said—l am a
servant, at present out of a situation. I have been
stopping with my sister only a few days. On the Sun-
day morning. I got up and lighted the tire. I took the
bag containing the flour to my sister, and asked her
what it was? She replied, " I suppose it is flour." I
then emptied the bag into a large one. Both were flour
bags, and had the bakers' names or. them. I noticed at
the time that the ponder in the small bag was whiter
than the other, and I intended to mention it, but forgot
to do so by my brother speaking to me and asking the
time. I lighted the fire with one bag, but I don't know
what became of the other. I had eaten one plate of pud-
ding,and was about to take another, when my sister called
out, " Oh, take the baby." We were then all seized
with sickness. When one of the doctors spoke to me, I
remembered having put the contents of one bag into
an.
To thhiesr b e I
ingwast
hneowt ahwolaereoft htahtepoison e
nwcaes, itnh
et hce
Coroner
summed up, and the jury immediately returned a verdict
in each case, “ That death was caused by arsenic eaten
in rhubarb; pudding mixed with flour by the mother, in
ignorance of its nature, it having been left carelessly
within her reach on a shelf by her husband, but not
with evil intent."
g

----=-=
SUICIDE ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—
At an early hour yesterday a young woman deliberately
threw herself in front of the seven o'clock express down
train, as it was approaching the iron bridge which carries
the Wandsworth-road over the line near the Plough, at
Battersea. The line at this part forms a curve, and a person
upon the line would be concealed trent view of the driver of
a train until he gut very tear. The driver saw the young
woman, and called to her to get out of the way, and almost
momentarily the engine struck her, and hurled her a dis-
tance of several yards from the spot where she fell. She was
taken to the Wandsworth Union, where every attention v-as
paid her ; she survived, however, only ten minutes after her
admission. The deceased is an entire stranger to the neigh•
bourhood, and there was nothing upon her person to lead to
her identity.
srenAr
EvSzNtiIINCGID._EAot•
Mr. Benjamin Sheppard,
shocking l S tlit
G E
occurrence.— ll
that soon after twelve o'clocl, .
went to a druggist in Mea,chcap of this city,_ having
this afterncon, Mr. Sheppard
"ohßasCEhSaTpreln,edTuhEe
to-
day,
, en•strect, and asked for as ed a
committed a most surgeondetermined act of suicide. It appears
for a patient. The druggist, whose name is Stringer, know-
ingwell, giving lull,
credit
to his repre-
sentations, of prussic acid, which he represented that he required
Mr. Sheppard . and
.. .
sentations, did not hesitate in fur;ivhing him with what he
require• d r. Shepr soma then, on mo pretext, retired to
• 'd
Mr. Stringer's back sitting-room, and immediately after-
wards he was heard to fall to the ground. Mr. Stringer ma
into the room and found Mr. Sheppard in the agonies of
death, having swallowed nearly the whole of the deadly
poison, a tew drops pt vi, bleb would have been sufficient to
des.; r., ;it.. lie ,:i ,i aiat,s; i,stantaneoudy.
(4,,1CK G kIoWTH oF POTATOES.—In the garden of
a gentleman residing in Higher Broughton, there is a bed of
potatoes of about a quarter of an acre, the stems of which
have grown six inches in six days, bein at the rate of on,
inch per day during that period.—Marx TWA