The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-21 00:00:00

'TEE ATTE3IPT O 2 THR LIFe OF THE
P2!IPPROR OF THE FRENCH'.

A e6polide of the .Lilaneltebter OuarcLaii,
•writing from Brussels en the 18th inst., makes the
following statement
" You will have read, in ad lition to other details
relative to the Italian, Pierri, arrested as one of the
participators in the recent atrocious assassinations,
th-:t ha had visited this place on his way from Eug-
-1 ,nd to the scene of (rime. Of this thew is no
question. The follewieg incidsnt c 'tweeted with
-I.h s visit was made known to he police authorities
servanti lan_uage s, teed
fr England some time past,
s e .king two or three
u
yeserday or the day before, and is not without
interest. Aari
with good certificates from a person, named
Pierri, residing with his family at Birmingham.
Sl.e obtained a Eituwlori with a respeo able Bel-
gian family, and continued to give satisfaction to
her employers. Two days previous to the internal
expl,,siou at Paris, them,seer of the house, chancing
to stand at the window, saw a claik-looking man
ring the bell. The door was then opeticd by the
servant (411, who remained some time in conversa-
tion with the stranger, who in due time departed.
Thegentleman then asked the girl what Unsiness
the man had with her. •She replied, Oh, it was
only M. Pierri of Birmingham, in whose service I
lived, and who wishes me to return to England.
He said he was merely going to Paris one ommer-
cial business, should return hoe in a day or two,
and would then take me with him to England ; but
I -(leclined.' Having heard the name of Pierri, the
gentleman afterwards thought he might be the
individual implicated in the Paris abomination,
and he therefore questioned the girl, who was in
ignorance of the crime, relative to the occupa-
tions and associates of her former master. To
this she replied that he was in business at
Birmingham, bad a wife and child, and was ac-
customed to receive visits from other Italians,
among whose names she recollected those of
Orsini and Mazzini. Upon being asked if
she had ever overheard or recollected the subjects
of their conversation, and whether they talked po-
litics, she answered, Yes, they frequently spoke
of France, and on more than one occasion said the
Emperor must be killed for the good of the world.'
She athied that on one occasion a discussion arose
among them as to who should commit the act ; and
to the best of her recollection Orsini claimed a right
to this honour.' Haying heard this, the gentle-
man immediately waited on the Procureur du Roi,
and in the course of tbe day the girl was summoned
to his cabinet, repeated her depositions, and was
placed under surveillance, to await instructions
from the French Government, to whom the affair
was immediately communicated. The police have
discovered that Pierri only remained three or four
hours at this place, during which time he is asserted
to have had an interview with more than one
French refugee, the name of one of whom has re-
cently much occupied the attention of the conti-
nental press."

( Prom tit Birmingham. Daily ?rms.)

Few of our readers, we suppose, when they read
the accounts of the brutal and dastardly attempt
just made in Paris, imagined any more than we did
ourselves that the plot was concocted in Birming-
ham, that one of the principal actors has been for
years a resident of Birmingham, and that it was
with a pa.sport signed in Birmingham that he
found his way into France. Yet such we know to
be the case in some particulars, and have reason to
believe that it is so in all. M. Pierri, the Colonel
Pierri of the French accounts, has resided for a
length of time in Birmingham, formerly in Broad-
street, and latterly in Bath-row. Whilst here he
has been engaged as a teacher of languages, a pro-
fession which political exiles frequently adopt as
being at once honourable and useful, one which
men unaccustomed to labour can readily adopt,
and one iii which kindly-disposed people are
always ready to assist them. In the course of this
occupation he was introduced, we believe, to many
respectable families of the town, both professional
and tradespeople. During the time of his resi-
dence here M. Pierri has made more than one visit
to the Continent, Prussia being his usual destina-
tion. Whether the passports used on these occa-
sions were visel in Birmingham or not we cannot
say. His explanations of the causes of these visits
were that he had received appointments to teach
in noble familio4. With respect to another of the
principals in the tragedy, it will be remembered
that M. Felice Orsini appeared in Birmingham in
June last, and delivered a lecture in the Musio
Hall. This gentleman came to England with the
recommendations. He had been a sufferer
from the tyranny of Austria, had been incar-
cerated in, and male a marvellous escape from,
an Austrian prison. He was a person of
no mean literary ability, as his narratives of his ad-
ventures proved. Altogether, as a patriot of good
birth and connections, and unexceptionable man-
ners and appearance, he met here what seemed
nothing but his due—a respectful and kindly re-
ception. That Orsini and Pierri should be intimate
was what was to be expected. Both were political
exiles, and both had suffered iu the cause of their
country. We need scarcely say that the M. Felice
Orsini of the lecture room and the Count Orsini of
the Rue Lepelletier, are one and the same person.
Thus much for the former connection of the con-
spirators with this town.
The first appearance of M. Orsini in June was
openly and publicly announced—we have no doubt
that most of our readers remember it. Not so,
however, a second visit, which he paid about a fort-
night ago. That was a private one to M. Pierri,
and only a few persons knew of his presence here.
The two men held long conferences together, and
shortly after Mr. G. R. Collis, the French vice-
consul in Birmingham, was applied to by Pierri
to vise a passport to France. Having known that
the person applying to him had resided in the town
for several years, Mr. Collis complied with the re-
quest. He was then asked about performing the same
duty for Prussia, but for some reason declined.
Pierri then wanted the Belgian mark, but this Mr.
Collis was not in a position to affix, but referred
the inquirer to Mr. A. Everitt, who is the vice-
consul for Belgium. By the latter gentleman the
passport was made available for Belgium, and we
know that it was through Belgium that Pierri
enter( d France. It has been hinted to us that
not only did the conspirators meet here, but that
some the projectiles were also made here. On this
point, however, we cannot speak with any cer-
tainty. It cannot, however, be doubted that it
was in Birmingham that the final arrangements of
the plot were wade. This is a distinction of which,
if the town itself was in any way implicated, we
should be heartily ashamed, as with the cowardly
transaction itself every Englishman is heartily dis-
gusted.

COMPENSATION TO PROCTORS.—Under the New Pro.
bate Act proctors are entitled to
fm theone-halfmroßoAT ._okr,.teehasetsieurrrdy.
net
profits,siyi
loNna anO OF
average
ooLfwfiiveea years,sT E
morning, at 11 o'clock, the Swift, Woolwich and London
steamboat, arrived eft Woolwich for the purpose of
landing her passengers, when, in consequence of the low
state of the tide, whilst in the act of rounding in order
to make for the pier, the aft part of the vessel struck
against the sharp point of an anchor. The result was
that a large portion of the flank timbers were torn away,
and a bole was made completely through the bottom of
the vessel. The passengers, who were much alarmed,
were all landed with safety, but the vessel was grounded,
and as the tide rose she rapidly filled with water and
sank. A large body of men will be employed at the
next IoW tide, in raising the vessel by means of chains
and lighters.
CON vxor DISCIPLINE AND TRANSPORTATION. —." FUT'.
ther correspondence" on the subject of convict discipline
and transportation in the Australian colonies has been
printed (as a blue-book) by order of both Houses of Par-
-1857. The papers before us include half.yearly reports
Par-
liament, in continued of papers peroeisoennitaedi
LegislativeiisnBscM Secretary,aaurnc
and details on the subject from the Governorof Western
FAruosmtraTliaas,maiinndia
at hne
addressreply of
of tee
°ffiterean.isnpojratnation to the
northern parts of Australia, and in May, 1857; P
was forwarded to the C, lonial-
Htesotuinseg
eagainst e
Assembly's
the
ly
,s revival
addresso f
the
e-
transportation to any part of aga
Australiainat the
trans-
mitted to Downing-street by Governor Youviraaegve.ivalThosf Assembly expressed a belief that the (to it) obnoxious
measure would cause universal discontent
deplorable consequences. Mr. L boufcb
r and induce
deplorable
of M
ay) to the effect that no
plan
h
a
of any convict settlement in the northoernt
eh replied (4t
parformationt
of
A
o•
tralia was in the contemplation of the Queen's official
advisers. The second address against the revival of
Iransportation to any part of the continent of Australia
is simply acknowledged by the Colonial Socr4ary of
Scate, without comment. The papers from New South
Wales refer merely to estima'es of expenditure. As
regards Victoria it appears that an address to the Queen
from the Legislative Council of that colony was forwarded
by Sir 11. Barkly to Downing-street on the 7th of May,
1857, praying that no measure might be sanctioned for
the transportation of convicted felons to Australia. The
Legislative Council of Victoria, adverting to the attrao.
tion'of the criminal element osf society to their colony
by the gold fields recently discovered (to such an extent
as to form one-sixth of the adult male population),
assure her Majesty that unless the landing of felons on
the coast of any part of Australia be prevented,
order will perish, the most frightful crimes reign
paramount, and the gold and wool exported to England,
and the va,t employment thereby created, be
keriously endangered, if not destroyed, by the convict
element. The argumentum ad hominem is also adduced,
it being asked how, if the mother country cannot bearn
the ticket-of-leavers in its society, even after a
f home
can pay for the coercion and penoiell_s i„d very
of months and years, a colony of limit.
offenders. The address thus sent_ :Ir.
at 07,7100 t of the
graciously" by her Majesty when 1 a
throne. pooPprOlb:tion