The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-30 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN ARMY IN ITALY.

A letter from Valeggio, dated June 20th, says :
There is nothing to record of any importance, save
that the movements by which the whole of the
Austrian army on the Mincio is placed in mutual
support are completed. Two army corps and part
of a third are still west of the Mincio, and the
whole line from.Peschiera to Mantua is under the
supreme orders of the Emperor, who, whether he
intends to assume the offensive or the contrary, is
in a position to hold every part of his enormous
force in hand. Although it is affirmed that the
allies are in strength .in Brescia, no one believes
that an attack from that quarter is imminent.
I was yesterday introduced to Count Schlick and
his Adjutant-General, Baron Von Stannovics. Their
welcome to the camp was exceedingly cordial. Count
Schlick is one of those veterans who seem to have
lived half-a-century in camp. Weather-beaten and
tearful in the one eye that remains to him, he has
an erect carriage, which permits the full advan-
tages of his tall person to be developed. His com-
mand is not, however, the responsible one which
Count Gyulai enjoyed. He only directs the move-
ments of the Second Army, while his predecessor,
in addition to that important trust, wielded the
higher powers of Commander-in-Chief. These the
Emperor is now determined to concentrate in his
own hands, and the ardour with which he is known
to be inflamed will probably be tempered by the
matured experience of Hess. All the army expects
and hopes that under this new state of things a for-
ward movement will be made, and it trusts that if
the enemy be really in force in front of the right of
these positions, Castiglione and Lonato may yet
become the fields on which battles more fortunate
than those of the last century, and greatly con-
trasting with that of the present year at Magenta,
may be fought. I have already told you generally
that the Austrian army is in a highly efficient con-
dition for active service. lam confirmed still more
in that impression by a closer inspection of it.
From the heights about this place several conside-
rable bodies of men are visible ; some are even en-
camped within this town, and their cheerful spirits
are very remarkable. Hard by, in the maize fields,
are men of various climes ; they are busy either in
cooking or cleaning their -accoutrements. They
are formed in lines at proper distances, and the
knapsack or the cloak of each marks the place where
he lives. Here are no tents, no standing huts,
none of the paraphernalia of an English camp, the
Austrians have not even the tente d'abri of the
French, which enables each soldier to keep at least
the upper part of his person under shelter of can-
vass. The Austrians sleep on the ground, exposed
in the day to a sun of which those who have
visited Italy can appreciate the power ' • exposed in
the evening
.to heavy dews, which fall chill and
damp on their frames, and they are further without
cover of any kind against the frequent storms,
which suddenly sweep down from the neighbouring
Alps and inundate the fields. They are allowed,
however, to exercise their ingenuity in forming
temporary cover for themselves, and for this pur-
pose every bough or stalk of maize is useful. This
is fatal to the crops of mulberry or Indian corn be-
longing to the peasants on whose land the camp is
pitched. But, after all, 160,000 men do not cover
a very large space of ground, and the damage must
be accepted as the inevitable result of war. All
the land is under cultivation. There are no coin-,
irons or vacant plains where troops can be brought
together, and whatever army occupies the country,
the result is the same.. _ _

Your correspondents in the Crimea have had oc-
casion to notice the speed and ingenuity with
which the French gave names to streets and num-
bered houses. The Austrians are perfect masters of
every detail of this kind. Officers and men told
off for that particular service occupy the place des-
tined for head•quarters two or three hours before-
hand. They choose the fit localities for each officer,
and in front of the houses they nail up little rolls
of cloth, on which are already inscribed the names
of the officers intended to occupy them. Thus,
there is no vain searching for the quarters of any
officer, and it is as well known where the smallest
aide-de-camp takes his rest as where the General-
in-Chief resides. The same system is everywhere
pursued, and there is not a cart that does not carry
the name and rank of its owner.

I have as yet seen no field hospitals, because the
army is so near Verona that sick establishments are
unnecessary, and the number of sick is at present
very small. The officers of the medical department
state that the number of patients may be taken at
5 per cent. of the whole force, many of whom are
suffering from sore feet consequent on forced
marches. It is expected, however, that the average
sickness will be higher as the heat increases. The
corps of General Urban, which, since its campaign
against the volunteers. of Garibaldi, has come to
the rear of the army, seems to have suffered most
from rapid movement. General Urban himself, a
short, energetic looking man, is now in high com-
mand at Verona.
Count Gyulai is still here much dispirited, and
asking for a court-martial, but this the Emperor
has refused, offering to the mortified pride of the
unsuccessful general the honourable post of Ban
of Croatia, vacant by the death of Jellachich.
Count Gymli i's father was himself Ban at
Agram, but the vanquished leader of Magenta
refuses the honours tendered to him, and seems,
like Olivarez in " Gil Bias,' to desire the retirement
of a country life. Count Gyulai, More this war,
is not kno ,vn to have been under fire. During the
disturbances of 1848-9 he commanded at Trieste,
and the fact that that city did not join in the
general outbreak was considered a proof of his tact
or ability. He was for a short time Minister of
War, and afterwards commanded at Milan under
Radetsky. He was known throughout Italy for
his great severity, not only as regards the Italians,
but as regards the troops under his command. The
death of Radetsky placed him in the high position
of Commander-in-Chief, in which he was main-
tained very much to the damage of the true in-
terests of the army.
Among recent arrivals at Verona are those of
Count Rechberg, one of the Austrian Ministers, and
Count Pourtales, the Prussian Ambassador at Paris.
As you may conceive, considerable interest is felt
even here as to the position which Prussia may
assume ; and alternate hopes and fears are expressed
when the calling out of the Prussian army. is the
topic of conversation. England's policy is also
much discussed, and the formation of the new
Ministry has been an object of considerable curiosity.
As news travels here but slowly, it was but yester-
day known to all at head-quarters that Lord Pal-
merston was at the helm in London, and the
intelligence caused no slight commotion.
The landing of a French corps on the coast near
Venice is still daily expected, but seems not as yet
to have taken place.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—June 9•

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

(Sittings at• •Nisi' Prins, in London, before Lord
Chief Justice Erle and a Common Jury.)

FERGUSON AND ANOTIIER V. BARRETT-STRANGE

CASE OF LUNACY.

This was an issue directed by the Master of the
Rolls to try whether so long ago as between the
10th of December, 1834, and the 16th of May, 1837,
Mr. GeOrge Watts was of sound mind. Within the
period in question Mr. Watts had. executed eight
indentures of mortgage.
Mr. E. James, Q.C., Mr. Lush, Q.C., and Mr. H.
James appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Bovill, Q.C.,
Mr. Sergeant Parry, and Mr. J. Brown for the de-
fendant.
Mr. E. James, in opening the case, said that the
plaintiffs represented Mr. Snook, who was formerly
a cutler in the city of Salisbury, a man of very con-
siderable. property, of extraordinarily penurious
habits, and who delighted in the name he had men-
tioned to them. (A laugh.) The defendant was a
person who was appointed on a committee under a
commission of lunacy issued against Mr. Watts in
1845. As soon .as the executors of Mr. Snook claimed
the money which he had advanced to Mr. Watts
upon mortgage, Mrs. Watts, who had herself been.,
a party to all the transactions, who had been pre-
sent when the mortgages were executed, and who
had had the benefit of the money advancedl alleged