The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-13 00:00:00

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44PAPE' 14-
THE PREATA7 COYDIT
ASRBASTOPOL.,
;\
fistworthy COrrespondent, i 4 c
Constantino
~ .
t
sent state of Sebastopol, regardinguC 7/111
:et
eontradietor3- accounts have lately n\Riiiiitaa-A4P4''
We haye, accomplished an excurs44 toilhe
Crimea, and were much gratified With it: -Sebasto-
pol Was our head-quarterS for a week, so we had
plenty of time. fully to examine the various places
of interest in.connection with the war,. Everything
at preset-Al.-mains in very much the same state as
at the coOlii*TOff of the war. The
.town; has
been a very fine one) is now but a scene ()finial and
desolat ion. The present population (reduced from
-40,000 to, 6,00)) mostly live in th,•Wooden huts
left 1)-3-- the •liviti -h tilid French armies •SOMP few
stone howies ha`; c', hat ywr. few, an d
of a very common sort. The magnificent. docks
remain Mlle state of total ruin to which 'they were
reduced daring. the ofeupalion
.. of the tow-ii by
the,allies, and heaps -of stone are the only indi-
cations of the positions of the forts on the south ,
side of the harbour. But on the -north side the forts
are in ON efficient- a-state as ever, it being perfectly
ludicrous to observe haw little damage they have
received from the bombardment given them by Lord
Lyons. The trenches, batteries, and other earth-
NV mks remain as they were during the war, with
mercly the slight alterations caused by wind and
weather, and, even at this distance of time, cannon
balls, shot, powder, cans,- broken pieces of shells,
&c., are found lying. on the (-round (especially in
the neighbourhood of the batteries) in such quanti-
ties as to keep men at work collecting them for
their value as old iron, and taking themlway by
cart-loads. Even whole unexploded shells are yet
occasionally to be met with. -• We fell in with one
the very day of our arrival; but they are not plea-
sant things-to meddle with, as they at times explode
with no very apparent good rew-ou ; and anunfor-
tunate English sailok was blown all to pieces a few
Months ago by an accident of this sort. I remetnber
seeing some months ago in the Times some state-
ment
to the effect that the graves in the Crimea
were not taken proper care of, hut I must say I
came-to quite a different conclusion. I visited most
of the English cemeteries at Balaklava, Inkermann,
and the Alma, as well as those nearer Sebastopol, •
and with one exception did not sec a single monu-
ment injured or defaced. The one and only excep-
tion is the ease of the obelisk erected by the British
army in front of the Redan, which is mutilated by ;
divers Visitors having cut ihe'ir names in the
stone, and the in.serkption on it is also partly
defaced, very probably, I think, in some drunken..
frolic. Dunng our short residence among the
Russians, we found them all, whether rich or poor,
most civil and desirous of obliging us, and apparently
bearing us no ill-will on account of our country. In
the harbour of Sebastopol they are very busily
employed, under the direction of an American, m
working with the sunken ships. They have relin-
quished all hope of getting up the large men-of-
war entire, and are now blowing them up, and so
getting them up piecemeal ; but with some of the
smaller craft they are more successful, and we saw
one small steamer that had been just raised when
we were there. It certainly looked a queer
affair ; but they said the wood was sound, and that
a few repairs would make the engines all right.
The steamer that .took us from Constantinople to
Odessa, on our way to the Crimea, had been sub-
merged for about a year, and according to the cap-
tain (whose statement I receive with doubt) the
engines recommenced working without any repairs
being required."—Seotsman. .

~~

THE NEAP OLITAN PRLS'ONER.S%
NAPLES, Sept. s,—The public interest whivh has
)een -awakened by the Salerno trials has been so
teat that the following letter will be acceptable.
was written by one of the prisoners to a friend

in Naples, and though it gi;'es some particulars
already known, it communicates others which shed
a light on the character of those who arc chosen by
Government to do its bidding; and displayA"the in-
domitable spirit by which those lately condemned
are animated.

When we came down from the_" Compresa
i" (pres-
oom 9) we found that our Genoese brothers had
already put on the chain of martyrdom. There
were present at the scene the executioner and his
two assistants, the inspector of police, the principal
gaoler, and the lieutenant of gendarmes. As soon
as we were ironed we all of us, without exception,
kissed our chains ; and on some of us being asked
by the executioner why we did so, we replied,
" Because after _ much trial and suffering we

had won the brightest ornament in the world." At
so much intrepidity and self-sacrifice the very offi-
cers were moved, and especially --. Sublime
Facrifiee made to liberty in an age of corruption !
Two by two we then descended into the court, where
we met that grieving mother (Madame Poggi) who,
with the courage of a true Italian matron, after
having kissed all .the prisoners, exhorted -us to be
firm and fearless in presence of our enemies. During
the short time that we remained we never ceased to
be cheerful and to sing. At length we moved out
of the prison, and passed through the Strada della
Marina, which was crowded with people, who as
usual did not.hesitate to show themselves grieved
at our misfortunes, and some were seen to weep. On
arriving on the beach we passed through a double
line of the rifles, first having been unscrpulouslv
examined both in our persons and effects, and being
deprived even of our needles. We then entered
five boats, followed and preceded by soldiers in
other boats, besides those whom we had with us.

I have omitted to say besides the chain, we
were fastened with ropes and manacles during our
passage through the city. On getting on board the
steamer, the Stromboli,'the Genoese were compelled
to go below, whilst we remained above. At the
hour of night She wheels began to cut the water,
and we bade a tender' adieu to Salerno, to our
prison, and to our friends, followed by the looks
of a weeping and terrified multitude, -filiolTrzrii--
with horror on that moving scene. In the morn-
ing we knew that the steamer was under the corn-
mand of Captain Caracciolo. . . (The orders were,
to treat them with the utulost rigour, and to attach
them to the " puntale," an iron bar). At Messina
we arrived after a voyage of 24 hours, coasting
along by the Calabria-.. Here our wounds were opened
afresh by being compelled toseparate ourselves from
Our dear brothers, who, it is said, have been sent to
the Bagno of Favignana. After resting here a day,
we continued our route to our destination, not with-
out giving our salute to beautiful Sicily, which had
awakened within us tender recollections of the sacri
fiees she has made to preServe her liberty. Majestic
city, whose traditions and history attest too well her
grandeur ! After stopping :wain at Brindisi and for
we arrived
Lccce,signtt for a pilot, •
twoatr
cdsacyasr
ac.o a stTiinieg fired captain Cap
e who, after a few moments, came alongside, and re-
ceiving his orders, returned to land. A large boat,
full of ferocious looking policemen, then made
its appearance. From the
packed
d a kind
steamer
intowe were
transferred to the boat, and
of well, so narrow, that we were as close to
gethcr as salt herrings. On landing we came in
view of the sad looking bUilding of the Tiagno,
which, like the ancient feudal castles, rises dark
and gloomy above the river. Always surrounded
by the 3d battalion of rifles, we entered the prison
amidst the ceaseless clank of chains, and at the
sight which presented itself of shackles and of
sbirri, we could not help exclaiming, " Lasciate
ogni speranza,.voi ch' entrate." But, thanks to the
firmness of our principles, tyranny can never crush
us—the blood which has been shed does no de-
stroy us, but renders us yet more determined. We
passed before our dwelling-place, prepared for us 15
days before, and I assure you that it is a true den.
for wild beasts.' On arriving in the court, the
keepers-ranged us in two lines and began to search
us in our persons and baggage. They he
ad-
dressed us regarding the conduct we were to ob-
serve in the Bagno,. directing that we were to take
our hats off whenever we came into their presence.
IWe observed silence whilst they talked, but did
not obey the direction. After the lapse of half an
hour, the commander of the Bagno made his
appearance, and asked for La Sala. On his
being pointed out to him, he began by giving
him a blow, saying, at the same time, " Qui
non si fa it Camorista" (you will not play
the Camorista here.) At this indignity- the
young man boldly replied that his principles and
his education protested against the abject cruelty
of oppressing the oppressed, and that he should
have well investigated an intrigue which might
have cast a stain upon him that would have been
extremely injurious. In fact the charge was cleared
up, and it was evident that it arose from the com-
mander's having misunderstood the report he had
received from Salerno, in consequence of being un-
able to read well. At last our irons were taken off,
and other larger and heavier chains were put on.
On fastening the chains upon Tacchio, the com-
mander having ordered the sbirri to make him rich.
by giving him a bit more of iron, the courageous
youth replied, " You say well Signor Commandante,
for I value this chain above all treasure." Our
cheerfulness and our firmness are measureless ; our
chain, far from being a weight, is as a precious or-
nament to us ; since we have this consciousness,
that it is not that which criminals wear in expia-
tion of their sins, but that which is worn by illus-
trious martyrs, already marked in the book of im-
mortality. We have found here 20 of our excellent
brothers who salute you warmly, but weseparatedheld
have
no intercourse with them, for we ar
from all in the den I have described above, where
we receive light by three air-holes two palms long
and vile ptilra aide; &c.,