The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-12 00:00:00

PROCLAMATION BY GEN. GYULAI.

The following has been published as the text of
a proclamation addressed by General Gyulai to the
inhabitants of Piacenza :
" A provost-marshal's court is organised, and.
only applies one punishment—that of death. The
following are considered crimes incurring that
penalty :-1. High treason, or any act tending to
forcibly change the system of the empire of Austria
and of the duchies, or to attract or increase any
danger from abroad against the said states. 2. The
concealment of arms or ammunition of any kind.
The publid- are particularly reMinded that the
,
punishment
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proachable his previous conduct may have been.
who shall be found in possession of arms Or ammu-
nition, either on his own person or in his house, or
in any place to which he may be supposed to have
access. 3. Taking part in assemblages, whether
armed or unarmed. 4. Illegal enlistment, acting
as spy, seducing soldiers, whether they belong to
the Austrians or allied troops, and generally all
that may occasion disadvantage to the Austrians
and advantage to the enemy. 5. Armed resistance
or any aggression against sentinels or patrols, and
the slightest violence against any Austrian or allied
soldier. A warning is also given that the senfinelo
and patrols will not only have a right, but are
ordered, to use their arms against any one who
shall not yield at the first summons."
Numerous comments are made by the. French
preis on this proclamation. The Siecle has the fold
lowiqWe could hardly believe in General Gyula.'
proclamation, but several journals published it
though declining to vouch for its authenticity. It
is the first occasion, after a long lapse of time, that
a general threatens peaceable inhabitants with
death, and that courts of provost marshals make
ready to do execution on any citizens even who
may happen to join some unarmed meeting—aye,
on such even as may be suspected of having arms
or ammunition in some spot to which they may -be
suspected of having access. It is the first time that
the idea has ever been conceived of dragging before
a court-martial the keepers of coffee-shops or of
eating-houses for not closing at the hours specified
by the regulations of the police.
" Barbarous proceedings like these are Austria's
condemnation ; it is the commencement of the grind•
ing tyranny imposed by her on Lombardo-Venetia
and the Duchies. When we read"documents of this
stamp, when we compare them with authentic
documents proving that the Austrians have flogge,d,
women, we understand why the Austrian rule Will
be impossible in Italy for the future. They must
be expelled from this sacred land. of art, freedcons
and civilisation. By General Gyulai's proclama-
tion Austria puts herself out of the pale of the WI.
She alienates the sympathy of statesmen who had
blindly favoured her cause, the English Tories, the
petty German princes."
The following is from the Pays :
wile conduct of the Austrian troops on the
Piedmontese territory excites deserved indigna-
tion. In Europe one had no longer an idea of
such warfare; there was a tradition of it only, but
the Croats are renewing the exploits of the Farr
dours. Pillage, robbery, rape, burnings—there is
no sort of outlawed villany they have not com-
mitted.

" What a difference from the scene presented by
the Russians and French in the Crimean war'
where the officers exchanged bottles of champagne/
whilst the soldiers gave each other bread an
brandy. They fought with courage, but felt mutual
respect, because the same sentiments of honour and
humanity obtained on either side.
" The Austrian troops appear to have been
brought up in another school ; far from alleviating
the miseries of war, they delight in aggravating
them, and already the iDiedmontese Government
has found itself obliged to lay an embargo on Aus-
trian vessels. Thus excesses elicit reprisals, but
the entire responsibility rests upon the head of the
provoker.

The following fact, taken from a thousand of
such, will prove the thorough patriotism of the
Piedmontese in this contest, in which the-barba-
rism of the assailants will be shattered on its co:-
lision with the courage and self-denial of the de-
fenders of Italian independence. In the province
of Vercelli the Austrians captured the brother
of M. Noe, the director of the Sartarina reservoirs,
by means of which the whole country can be laid
under water, 'lf you wish to save your brother's
life,' said a letter to M. Noe; 'stop the inunda-
tion.' By way of answer, the intrepid and pa-
triotic official ordered his men to discharge twice the
quantity of water already given off from the flood-
gates, so that the whole detachment of Austrians
found themselves up to their breasts in water. The
letter from which we obtain this information does
not say whether the Austrians dared to put their
threat in execution on discovering the energetic
resolution 91 M. Noe." - • -