The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 28, 1859.

THE GALES.

THE METROPOLIS AND RIVER.

The accounts from all quarters tend to show the
extensive destruction to property occasioned by the
gale of Wednesday, and, unfortunately, the loss of
two more lives, and injury to many persons. The
vessels in the 00l have received extensive damage,
and several of the crews have been much injured.
The vessels in the tier in the Pool were consider-
ably damaged, a large number being forced from
their moorings and driven on shore. Upwards of
60 vessels suffered in their rigging, the topmasts
being shivered and blown away like reeds. The
shore on both sides of the river below the Tower
presented a singular aspect; pieces of cordage,
sails, rigging, and wood being scattered about, as
though wrecks had taken place. Many of the fish-
ing vessels moored off Billingsgate were stove in
and considerably injured. While the gale was at
its height the body of a man, apparently from the
dress that of a seaman, was washed ashore at Erith.
Two vessels, named respectively the Joan of Arc
and Royal Albion, were driven from their moorings
off Erith and came into violent collision, the head
of the latter being stove in, so that she eventually
filled and went down. Two of the crew are supposed
to be drowned. An old man named James Fortes-
cue was in the act of crossing Bermondsey-street
when a stack of chimneys, blown from the roof of a
house, fell upon him and knocked him down, crush-
ing in his skull. On raising the poor old man it
was found that he was perfectly insensible, so that
it was deemed advisable to convey him to Guy's-
hospital, where it was discovered that he was dead.
The outside walls of the premises in White's-ground,
where the recent conflgration took place, were blown
down with a loud crash, some portion of the frag-
ments falling on another house, crushing the roof,
and doing MUCK-di:image. A-ma.n, who is at present
unknown, was killed at Richmond. Ile was passing
along the road, when a large tree was blown down
with a terrific crash and fell upon the unfortunate man
crushing him so frightfully that when discovered he
was found to be dead. The roofs of several houses'
at Mortlake were torn off, and at one place a child,
named Edward Holmes, aged 5 years, was so se-
verely injured by the fragments falling through
the roof into the room where he was in bed that
great doubts are entertained of his recovery. The
dead body of a woman was yesterday discovered
near Richmond, on the shore, and it is believed
that she was blown into the river and drowned.
The high wind and storm on Wednesday caused
extraordinary damage in the suburbs of the metro-
polis, more especially in the more elevated districts
of the northern side. In the vicinity of Hamp-
stead, Highgate, St. John's-wood, and Holloway
chimneys were blown down, glass houses were
completely shattered, and young trees torn up by
the roots; and at the residence ef Mr. J. M. l'em-
berton, St. Andrew's Villa, in the Finchley-road, a
large stack of chimneys and a part of the roof were
carried away, and a portion of the brickwork and
fragments, having fallen on the roof, fell through
into some of the upper bedrooms, seriously injuring
some of the domestics, wlio were in bed at the
time. The most extraordinary occurrence, how-
ever, reported is that which took place on the
Great Northern Railway. Not only was the wind
so high that the firemen and engine-drivers of the
goods trains were compelled, in order to ensure
their personal safety, to tie themselves to portions
of their engines, but on the arrival of some of the
covered goods carriages at the goods-department
terminus, King's-cross, it was discovered that the
roofs had been completely blown off, and a con-
siderable amount of other damage sustained.

of shapes. About 1,500 deals are stated to have
been washed away, which had been stowed on the
pier. Fortunately the wind shifted to N.W., or the
damage must have been much more serious. The
sea walls on the water frontage of the estates of
Mr. G. Young and Mr. Le Merchant Thomas have
received serious damage from the gale, as also that
of Captain Gardiner, all within a short distance of
Ryde, and from their position peculiarly liable to
suffer from a south-easter. At Priory Point, too,
great damage has been inflicted by the violence of
the gale, and the high tide on the earth at the base
of the woods belonging to the estate.

tria in the very heart of her fortresses, would '
com-
pletely set Italy free, t• he was again surprised by
the news that an armistice had been concluded,
and that the two Emperors were to meet at Villa-
franca. Her astonishment was redoubled when she
learnt for the first time that Austria kept not only
Terona and Legnago, but Peschiera and Mantua,
belonging to Lombardy, which thus lost her
strategic importance ; next, that the Emperor
Francis Joseph had formally demanded the re-
establishment of the archdukes, and that the
Emperor of the French had consented to reserve
their rights. The war was made " against the
will of Europe," in the name of the most im-
portant interests ; bloody and glorious battles had-
been fought, and 100,000 men had perished; the
people whose destinies were at stake, called to arms
and invited to self-organisation, had responded to
the appeal, and victory, this time at least, had
crowned the right. Friends and enemies of Italy,
partisans and opponents of the war, expected results
proportioned to the greatness of the efforts, to the
extent of the sacrifices, and to the reasonableness of
the hopes. The disappointment caused by the pre-
liminaries of Villafranca was immense ; and since
it has been known that the treaty of Zurich is no-
thing else than these preliminaries formally drawn
up and reduced to articles, astonishment has as-
sumed, especially in the English press, a peculiarly
vivacious character. It has been found that the ob-
ject of the war has not been attained. And when
the Itioniteurannou need that Austria attached to her
concessions, as a condition sine qua non, the return
of the archdukes to their states, people have feared
to see her insensibly regaining in Italy that domina-
tion which was officially proclaimed six months ago
incompatible with the interest of France and the
repose of Europe, and which caused it to be said in
the programme of the first day that it was neces-
sary •itiFre'r tolet her rule as far is the Alps or to
drive her beyond the Adriatic. They have seen the
Italians in arms on the right bank of the Po, Aus-
tria on the left bank, and war as the end of this
violent antagonism.

In this situation the Italian question has appeared
more complicated than ever, nearly incapable of
solution ; and it is asked by what means Italy can
escape the fresh disorders and misfortunes that
threaten her. The English press has declared that
Europe was not condemned, like the humble Parlia-
ments of former times, to register in silence the im-
perial edicts, and that she had something better to
do than to ratify purely and simply the preliminaries
of Villafranca and the treaty of Zurich. Knowing
this treaty only from two incomplete and in certain
points contradictory versions, we shall wait for the
Moniteur to publish the official version of it, before
we judge it. But whatever be the text, it is evi-
dent that the arrangements of the two sovereigns
cannot content either Italy or Europe, or those
sovereigns themselves, and that nothing will be
serious and definite but what has received the sanc-
tion of public right, after a thorough and solemn
discussion of the state of Italy and the will of the
Italians.

• That is in the main what the English press says,
and we do not comprehend how that can excite the
bad humour and raise the bile of the officious press
of Paris and the departments. "Do you believe,"
said the Emperor of the French, in his speech at St.
Cloud," that it did not cost me mach to retrench
openly before Europe from my programme the ter-
ritory that extends from the Mincio to the Adria-
tic ? Do you believe that it did not cost me much
to see noble illusions destroyed, patriotic hopes
vanish in honest hearts ?"
The officious 'press ought to imitate closely this
modesty and frankness, and not commit the absurd
blunder of maintaining that the programme has
been fulilled, and that the Emperor of the French
regrets having left it incomplete, and not to com-
plain of the ingratitude of the Italians, when he
confesses that he has destroyed their illusions
and caused their patriotic hopes to vanish. The
Emperor of the French, after waging war " against
the will of Europe," made peace against his own
will, and solely, he said, "because the destinies of
my country might have been imperilled." This is
another reason for rigorously examining this im-
provised solution, for seeing
.whether it is conform-
able to equity, to the right of the Italians, to the
situation of Austria, to the private interest of
France and the general interest of Europe. To
' solve so complicated and important a question we
require an imposing tribunal, alsolute master of its
decisions, end this tribunal can only be Europe her-
self, represented by her diplomatists in a general
and sovereign congress.

FRANCE AND SPAIN.