The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-31 00:00:00

SDAY EVENING, MAY 21, 1859

Reform! They have not held the reins of govern-
ment like Lord PALMERSTON for three years—during
which Reform appeared only in illusory " words" in
the Speech from the Throne ! They have shrunk
from compromising in this way their gracious
SOVEREIGN. They have not made her MAJESTY
talk about reform unnecessarily. They have
striven to carry out their own views of Reform, so
far as they could carry them out conscientiously—
in distinct propositions, laid in the shape of a sub-
stantial bill upon the table of the House of Com-
mons. That is literally the present political situa-
tion. And unless the rival chiefs of the Liberal
Opposition can somehow contrive, and that speedily,
to arrange their differences, and to combine their
350 supporters, and keep them by the bond cif
principle together—the 300 Derbyites will yet
prove too many for them, and the country will not
yet awhile he called upon to witness any convulsive
change in the organisation of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment.

Mr. HOPLEY, of Eastbourne, the author of vari-
ous well-known publications having for their ob-
ject the physical, intellectual, and moral improve-
ment of the country, is, it appears, about to erect
in the vicinity of Eastbourne or Brighton a house
which, so far as we can judge, is likely to prove a
specimen of a Model Domestic Dwelling for the
upper and the wealthy middle classes. In it he
"is desirous that there should be manifested the
most advanced principles of building science as
applicable to health, domestic comforts, domestic
economy, the saving of time, labour," &c. " Effi-
ciency, simplicity, and lowness of price will be
conjointly considered in judging of the value of a
principle ;" and all engaged in the manufacture or
sale of articles applied to house construction are
invited to forward any circulars explanatory of
new inventions, or well-approved plans for ven-
tilation, drainage, water supply, house-warming,
bell-hanging, &c., and these will receive
careful attention. The best approved water
closets, traps, drain-pipes, grates, kitchen-ranges,
locks, taps, &c., are all, so far as is possible in
connection with one simple dwelling-place, to
have a fair trial. In fact, this is likely to prove

a very valuable undertaking. No one who has
noted how the practical abounds in all Mr.
HoPLEY's writings, will think it likely that he
will be led away by enthusiasm to attempt more
than will be practically useful. He appears
fully aware that to serve its intended purpose
the house must be a model of cheapness as well
as of everything else that is good. Strength
and durability are to be kept constantly in view.
The style to be aimed at is a chaste but elegant
simplicity. Taste is to be studied everywhere ;
but no unnecessary shilling is to be expended on
unnecessary ornament. We augur well of this
undertaking. Mr. HOPLEY, in his " Essay on
Respiration," has laboured hard to bring about a
better style of dwelling for the poor ; and now, it
seems, the common defects in the houses of the
wealthier classes are to be practically pointed out.
What these defects are, most people are pretty well
aware of—smokey chimneys, comfortless and most
un philosophical grates,ill-ventilated and low-pitched
bedrooms, especially for the servants ; wall-papers
exhibiting colours which are known to the scientific
world as giving forth matters of a deleterious and
often of a highly poisonous character ; bell-wires
that are constantly wanting mending; drains that
are constantly wanting cleansing ; ceilings that
are constantly cracking—and so on. He who
shows by an assemblage, at a reasonable rate, all
the domestic building proprieties under one roof,
or upon one building plot, that such common
disagreeables are quite unnecessary, will be doing
we take it, no mean thing for the domestic com-
fort of England. We believe we cannot wish Mr.
HorLEY any greater reward for his endeavours in
this direction than that he may live to see many
houses similar to that which he proposes to build
spring up in his own immediate neighbourhood
and throughout the country.

Yesterday afternoon the Royal steam yacht
Victoria and Albert arrived at Gravesend, and took
up her position at moorings set down for her oppo-
site the Clarendon Hotel, before which there is a
very beautiful lawn on which parties can walk
about and enjoy the grand sweep of river and
country scenery to the greatest advantage, and
and when tired of their walk they can retire to
the enjoyment of a comfortable evening at the
Clarendon Hotel.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and the Princess Mary, accompanied by Baron
Knesebeck, arrived at St. James's Palace yesterday, from
Cambridge Cottage, Kew, for the season.
The Duchess of Somerset will not be " at home "
to-morrow, on account of the death of the Duchess Dowager
of Hamilton.
The Lady Bateman gave birth yesterday morn-
ing to a son, at his lordship's residence in Lower Brook-
street. Her ladyship and her infant son are progressing
satisfactorily.
The Earl and Countess of Verulam have arrived
at the Countess (Dowager) of Verulam's, in Grosvenor-
square, from Gorsambury Herts. The noble earl goes in
waiting upon the Queen to-day.
_ _

Mr. and Mrs. Crawshay Bailey have arrived at
their residence in New-street, Spring-gardens.
Mr. Merry, M.P., and Mrs. Merry have arrived
at Claridge's Hotel from Scotland.

THE CLOCK AT THE WESTMINSTER PALACE.-
Yesterday the clock in the clock tower of the Westminster
Palace was set in motion, but the hands on two of the dials
only acted effectually, viz., those on the west and north
sides. No hour was struck, nor were the quarters chimed.
The cause of the hands referred to riot acting is stated to be
that the machinery by which they are turned is not of suf-
ficient power to put all in motion, and that it will therefore
be necessary to remove them and put up others of a lighter
construction. It will, we believe, be some time yet before
the machinery can be attached to the bells upon which the
hours and quarters will be struck.

GALWAY, Monday, 4.30 p.m.—(By British and
Irish Magnetic Telegraph.)—The steamship Argo, adver-
tised to have sailed
with mails on Saturday, has just left
port with a large number of passengers for St. John's and
New York.

COMMITTAL FOR MURDER AT LIVERPOOL.—AIice
M'Alister, a female of quarrelsome and dissipated habits,
was yesterday committed for trial by the Liverpool magis-
trates upon a charge of murdering a neighbour (Mrs. Sarah
Evans), whom M'Alister attacked with a chimney orna-
ment and wounded so seriously in the temple that Evans
died on Friday,
DRINKING FOUNTAIN ON BLACKIIEATIL—Lord
Haddo has erected a drinking fountain near Chesterfield's-
walk. This will indeed be a boon to many a " thirsty soul"
visiting our splendid heath. We would suggest to the
commissioners of the Royal Hospital the propriety of erect-
ing another fountain in Greenwich-park, near their , well
known reservoir.—Greene'ich Free Press.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.—OXFORD, May 30.
—MAGDALENE HALL.—The following gentlemen were on
Saturday elected to the vacant Scholarships and Exhibition
at this hall, viz.. Mr. C. Buckmaster, from Henley School,
to the Lusby Scholarship; Mr. W. Jackson, Commoner of
Exeter College, to the Meeke Scholarship; and Mr. F.
Theobald, to the Lucy Exhibition.
THUNDERSTORM IN GLASGOW.—A violent thun-
derstorm passed over the city yesterday afternoon. It
began a little after three o'clock, and continued till about
half-past four. During its continuance heavy rains fell,
which will prove valuable in an agricultural point of view,
and which were, in reality, received by the citizens most
gratefully. The only melancholy event which took
place in the city during the continuance of the storm,
so far as we have heard, occurred in the West-End
Park, and there is a singularity about it deserving
of special notice. About four o'clock, the follow-
ing parties took shelter under a tree in the park
when a heavy shower was falling, viz. :—Mr. Joseph Ben-
son, shipping agent, 202, Broomielaw, and his daughters,
Jessie and Louise, Capt. Gundaine, and his son Alfin, 14
years of age ; Mr. Thomas Mackie, 2'2, Broad-close, off
High-street ; and Agnes M'Kendrick, mill-worker, 23,
Possil-road. In a moment a flash of lightning struck the
whole of the above parties to the ground, injuring them all
inure or less severely about the face and other parts of the
body, but not so seriously as to endanger life. They were
removed to the Western Police Office in a carriage;
from whence they were conveyed to their respective homes.
In the case of Mackie, a curious circumstance was dis-
covered. On pulling off his boots it was found that he had
been burned on the corresponding part of the hollow of
each foot to the extent of the size of a fourpenny piece.
The stocking to that extent also was found destroyed ; but
the boot was found untouched. This is a curious fact
worthy the attention of those skilled in the eccentricities of
the electric thud. Dm. Fleming and M'Conville attended
the parties, but their services, we are glad to say, were not
rectufrcyl,—Glasgow Z'tellettn,

LATEST NEWS.

THE WAR IN ITALY.

The following telegrams have been received a
Mr. Reuter's office :

TURIN, MAY 30.

OFFICIAL BULLETIN.

The Piedmontese army has passed the Sesia in
the face of the enemy, who were fortified at Pa-
lestro. After a severe conflict our troops, under
the command of the King, took the village from
the enemy, and made many prisoners. The details
'of the victory are still wanting.
The Emperor has to-day visited the soldiers
wounded at the battle of Montebello, who are now
in the hospital at Alessandria. He distributed
money among them, and spoke words of consola-
tion. His Majesty subsequently departed at three
o'clock p.m. for 'Vercelli.

TRIESTE, MAY 30,

Froth the Bth June next the steam communica-
tion between Trieste and Constantinople will be
re-opened by the Greek steamer Catherina.

Yesterday the Archduke Leopold, and last night
the Emperor, the Archduke Wilhelm, the Heredi-
tary Prince of Tuscany, and General Hess passed
through Nabresina.

PARIS, MAY 31.
The Moniteur of to-day publishes the following
telegram :

ALESSANDRIA, May 30th.—The Imperial head-
quarters are about to be removed from Alessandria.
Before leaving Alessandria the Emperor visited the
wounded, giving to each one words of consolation,
and encouragement.

ALESSANDRIA, MAY 30,

The King has passed the Sesia with his corps
d'arrnee and taken Palestro, after a rather sharp
fight. All the advantage remained on the side of
the Piedmontese.

BERNE, MAY 30 (via Germany,

General Garibaldi yesterday suffered a defeat by
a superior force of the Austrians, and has with-
drawn into the Canton Tessin.

BERNE, MAY 30 (via France:

General Garibaldi's vanguard is at Cantu. The
elegraph to Como is worked by Sardinian employes.
[t is stated that 8,000 Sardinians are at Verese, and
hat a French corps d'arnzee is expected there.

A letter from Alessandria, of the 27th, in the
Constitutionnel, says :—" I have again visited the
field of battle of Montebello. I passed about five
hours yesterday in the twice celebrated village,
which now serves as the head-quarters of Marshal
Baraguay d'Hilliers. I met with a foot chasseur
who very kindly pointed out to me the roads, the
little hillocks, and the different houses where the
principal episodes of the struggle took place. On
seeing the ground, it would be difficult not to com-
prehend the great efforts which it must have re-
quired on the part of General Forey's division to
resist the attack of the Austrian army. The latter
occupied all the elevated points ; their batteries
swept the plain and commanded the roads, and it
was by those roads and by the plain that the French
troops came up. Each elevated position required,
as it were, a particular attack. The soldiers of
Count de Stadion and General Braun fired from an
elevation and without any irregularity, and most of
their shot must have told; The French, however,
by their vigour made up for inferiority of number
and of position. On a little slope (which might be
compared to the first step of a staircase) leading to
the town, the Austrian artillery took up a fine posi-
tion. But they were in the end obliged to retire,
being pressed so closely in by the French batta-
lions, and when the struggle had drawn to a close
the slope was covered with dead bodies. Led by
my guide, I crossed corn-fields and vineyards,
where the enemy had made a short resistance, and
nearly at every step I was obliged to made a cir-
cuit in order not to trample on a newly covered
trench filled with bodies. The ground is covered
with remnants of cartridges, and here and there
were shreds of clothing of the French and Austrian
soldiers, torn from them by the stakes of the vines
or by the sabre and bayonet. It is really astonish-
ing how the Austrians could have abandoned a po-
sition like Montebello. Such a step can scarcely be
comprehended. Everything was in their favour ;
they had forces certainly three times superior to
the French ; they held the ground with artillery,
firmly established, and with cavalry strongly
posted and well placed for acting. After having
gone over the ground near the village, I entered
several of the houses which had been sacked by
the Austrians. In one of them a wounded Aus•
trian soldier had been discovered only two days
before. A ball had passed through his thigh, and
the unfortunate man had had the resolution to
remain concealed for four days behind a large
wine cask, without food, and suffering severely
from his wound. He was half dead‘by pain and
fear, and yet dared not show himself. The night
after the battle he had strength enough to dress his
wound by covering-it with a coloured handkerchief,
but the dye of it had brought on violent inflamma-
tion. He is now in the hospital at Voghera. The
fortitude shown by the wounded Austrian, during
four days of privation and suffering, has its source
in the exaggerated fear which had been excited in
his mind with regard to the French soldiers. The
Austrian generals have represented them to be so
many savages, and stated that they put all their
prisoners to death. The Austrian, therefore, pre-
ferred dying from his wound to having his head
cut off. Turning to a point of etymology,
it is stated that Montebello derives its name
from the Romans having called it Mons belli
bacause its position in the middle of a valley,
which leads towards Central Italy, always
made it a field of battle. The adjacent village of
Casteggio'appears to have derived its name from
the Romans having established there a defensive
camp (castrum). The supplying the French soldiers
with provisions at Casteggio and Montebello is
difficult, as they have to rely solely on their own
resources. The country has been completely
devastated, and both the inhabitants and the cattle
are deprived of food. The organisation of the army
is, however, such that the supply of provisions goes
on with perfect regularity."

When General Garibaldi entered Varese, he
appointed M. Carcano, the podesta of the place, to
be provisional commissioner extraordinary acting
in the name of the King of Sardinia, as appears
from the proclamation of the 24th, already pub-
lished.

On the 26th the new commissioner issued a pro-

clamation, remarkable for the tone of certainty in
which the future is alluded to. It runs as fol-

lows:—

" Citizens !—No sooner had Kin.. Victor Em-
manuel, the First Soldier of Nationaandependence,
announced to Italy that he had once more drawn
the sword, than the people of Lombardy, turning
their eyes to the Ticino, called for the signal of
insurrection. Motives of humanity and prudence
and the general necessities of war induced us
to advise you to delay, which you did, as all
is at present disciplined in Italy, quiet, as well
as action. But now all further delay is unne-
cessary, as the brave General Garibaldi has come
to announce this to us, and everywhere on his
way the people rise, and declare for the national
iltalf i
cause and for the Government of King Victor
Emmanuel. As commissioner of
his Sad
r
Majesty, I come to assume the civil government
this spontaneous movement. Citizens! the Lom-
bard insurrection will be animated
_by that new
the
with the
secret
and admirable Italian spirit which,
secret of unanimity, has disclosed to us
of success. No disorder will come to disturb the
sublime spectacle of liberty; no blind convulsion
will disturb the civil organisation of the country ;
no spirit of improvident reaction will presume to

' consider as the triumph of a party that which is
the triumph of a whole .nation. Wars of indepen-
dence require great efforts ; you have before you
the example of generous Piedmont, which for the
last eleven years has been making the most heavy
sacrifices for that sublime hope which has now
become a reality, Our enterprise is certain ; the
brave Piedmontese army, led by the King, is march-
ing to our assistance; Italy is organising for the
war of independence ; Napoleon 111 has thrown the
sword of France, our sister and the naturally ally
of every generous cause, into the scales of destiny.
All Italy asks us for the formation of a powerful
State, the bulwark as well as the head of the nation.
The wishes of the country nourished for ten years
are about to be fulfilled, and you may rise with the
aertainty of the union you invoke, exclaiming :
Long live Victor Emmanuel, the constitutional
King !"'

The Opinione and other Sardinian journals
announce, with much indignation, that the general
in command of the 7th Austrian corps d'armee
published on the 24th, at Mortara, a proclamation,
threatening the inhabitants of villages, and the
villages themselves, with the most severe treatment
in the event of the Austrian authorities not being
informed of the presence of Piedmontese or French
scouts or patrols, or of isolated individuals, whether
in uniform or disguised, of either the French or
Sardinian army :
" Any village," says the proclamation, " in which
a detachment, or even a single individual of the
Austrian Army may discover scouts or patrols,
or any one person acting as such, shall be subjected,
without remission, to the most rigorous measures of
the laws of war; under pain of being given up to
pillage, all the village shall pay a penal tax. The
district compromised shall be given up to fire, and
the individual compromised shall be at once shot.
Order is given that the proclamation shall be pub-
lished by the clergy, from the pulpits of their
churches, in all the villages, and in any other
manner which may be considered opportune."

" General de Sonnaz, whose chivalric courage
has been so much admired," says a Turin letter,
" was on the point of being killed by an Austrian
chasseur, who was taking aim at him with his rifle.
A soldier, seeing the danger, dashed forward, and
himself receivedthe ball, and fell severelrwounded,
well satisfied, however, with having saved the life
of his commander. This soldier was one of the
Lombard volunteers, the Marquis Fadini. He is
now at Voghera, but his wound excites serious

uneasiness."

FRANCE.

PARIS, MONDAY.

Tho. Minister of Marine has just given orders
for the shipment for Italy of the siege materiel
accumulated at Marseilles and Toulon. It will be
put on board 40 vessels. The guns are all rifled,
and are 8 and 12 pounders; the field pieces are 4
and 6 pounders. The range of the small guns is
from 4,000 to 6,000 yards.
BOURSE, May 30.—The stock market has been
buoyant, with a fair amount of busineSs doing,
and railway shares in good demand. Threes varied
from 61f. 55c. to 61f. 75c. ; Mobilier, 522 f. 50c. to
600 f. ; Austrian, 365 f, to 366 f. 25c.; Orleans, 1,190 f.
to 1,195 f. ; Lyons, 790 f. to 800 f. ; Northern, 885 f.
to 890 f. ; Eastern, 600 f. to 602 f. 50c. ; Southern
445 f. to 447 f. 50c. ; and Lombards, 427 f. 50c. to
430 f. The following are the last quotations :-
41 per Cents. .... 89 75 , Credit Foncier 625
Do. end month .. Belgian 41
3 per Cents 6l 80 Piedmontese (5) .. 77 50
Do. end month 6l 85 Roman Bl 60
Bank Shares 2750 Austrian

Credit lVfobilier .. 600 —lSpanish Threes
Do. Account ..... 597 50 IHome Debt

RAILWAYS.

Ca.sh. Account.
Orleans
Northern
New ditto
760 .. 760

Lyons and Mediterranean 793 75 .... 797 50
Geneva 470 .. 472 50
Southern
Western 502 50 .. 500
Eastern
Sardinian 350 .. 34.5
Austrian
Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. sc, ; money,
25f.; three months, paper, 24f. 85c. ; money, 24f. 870 .