The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-06 00:00:00

ST. ANDREW'S BURGHS.

Mr. E. ELL ICE:Tun., was returned on Wednesday
for these burghs without opposition. After thanking
the electors for having continued their confidence in
him for 22 years, he said he was one of those who
had great distrust of Lord Derby's Government, and
believed that the object of their liberal professions
was simply that they might keep their places. He
was not prepared, however, in the next Parliament
to give them any factious opposition but wanted to
see what they had to propose, and if they did not
come up to his wishes they bad some certainty that
another and a better Government could be put in
their place. He went on to express his approval of
the ballot, as the only apparent means of preventing
such influence as had been exercised at South Dur-
ham and elsewhere, and such corruption as Lord
Derby's £20,000 was likely to promote. But the ques-
tion of reform must give place to that of our national
defences. On the question of foreign policy he could
not help reiterating his distrust in the Government.
Lord Palmerston's Government was turned out of
office for being too obsequious t 6 France. He
should like to kow what Lord Derby's Government,
had been. Lord Derby had believed, with the
utmost obsequiousness, the assurances of France
that there was no danger of war; and yet every-
body that had any brains in his head know now
that France had been determined upon war all
along. Why, what could all her preparations that
had been going on for years mean ? What could

be meant by the great extension of her navy, and by
the calling out of her contingents to the full extent?
The fact was that Austria had merely taken the
advance because sheknew that France -was prepared
and determined to do it ; and that, instead of the
Government taking those steps that they ought to
have done to ascertain the truth, they had believed
professions which ultimately turned out to be en-
tirely false.

THE WAR .1N ITALY.

(From the Times.)

Austria appears willing to let the world believe
that if she was precipitate in her diplomacy she will
make amends for such unaccustomed promptitude by
being very deliberate in her strategy. When she
astonished Europe and shocked grave, innocent, and
trusting statesmen by decisive action, at a moment
when she was thought to be waiting patiently the
peaceful solution of all her difficulties ; when she
appeared with that sudden menace, that three days'
pause, and that prompt act of war, we all believed
that she had resolved to seize a quickly passing op-
portunity for striking a decisive blow. She had
190,000 men in Lombardy and Venice, whereof
120,000 were drawn up almost on the banks of the
frontier river Ticino. The general of that army, as
he looked across the little river, could almost survey
the scene of his future operations. On his right,
rolling away in the distance, rise the peaks of the
Graian and Pennine Alps ; on the left the lesser alti-
tudes of Montferrat and the summits of Mont Apen-
nine mark the highland character of the country
into which he was about to advance. But between
these two northern and southern uneven districts,
stretching straight before him, like an irregular bay
which spreads its rippling surface deep into a rocky
region, extends a long vista of flat country. Through
the middle of it winds the Po, so renowned in song
and history ; and from north and from south,
from the Alps on the right hand and from the Apen-
nine range on the left hand, and from those distant
Cottian Alps that close the vista and shut out
France, descend little rivers, each bringing its
tribute from its own mountain—little shining ribs
that articulate to the backbone of Piedmont. In
those mountainous districts to the left lie the fast-
nesses of the Sardinians. The great fortress of
Alessandria stands almost at the entrance to the
Montferrat country, and over the high hills and on
the margin of the sea lies Genoa. The hills to the
right—those uplands which swell away towards
the frontier mountains of the Simplon, Mont Rosa,
and the Grand St. Bernard—are for the most part
undefended by art, and straight away before him,
up that flat alluvial plain, our Austrian General
can see no place capable of an hour's defence. The
great river winds about ; the tributaries stream
down into it from right and from left. There are
little indefensible towns like Novara, Mortara, and
Vercelli, the three points of a triangle ; but there
is nothing serious between him and Turin, which
lies away up at the top of this deep lowland level.
All Europe thought that this was Austria's object ;
that, bold in her great preponderance of force, she
would with a strong army mask the fortresses of
Alessandria and Casale, and all that southern moun-
tain district which they command, and that she
would with the remainder of her force rush straight
forward, never stopping till she reached the Royal
Palace at Turin. There would be some prestige of
arms in occupying the enemy's capital at the out-
set of the war, and there would be obviously some
strategic advantage in being in a position to destroy
that network of railways which now puts the
French who land at Genoa in direct and imme-
diate railway communication with the French
who cross Mont Cenis and attain the Piedmon-
tese side of the Alps at Susa. Master of Turin
and of the railways that centre at Turin, the Aus-
trian General would have divided the two French
armies, and would have been in secure possession
of all Sardinia, except only that mountainous
Montferrat region which we have supposed him to
survey, as lying on his left, while meditating his
advance across the Ticino.
This raid upon Turin was thought to bg an object
so material to the successful opening of the game
before her that Austria was believed to have acted
wisely even in incurring some moral odium while
securing so important a physical advantage. But,
for some reason or other, which is probably a very
good military reason, but which lessens our idea of
the necessity of her diplomatic precipitancy, Austria
has taken no advantage of her priority in point of
time, or of her superiority in point of force. She
moved her army forward in two main divisions.
One of them stepped cautiously over the river, and
set foot upon that alluvial plain, that flat bay of
land, which lay before them. Gradually, and with
much deliberation, this division occupied the two
little towns of Novara and Mortara—one on the
right wing, and the other on the left—and then
advanced a few miles further to Vercelli, where
they halted, surveyed, and reconnoitred, while every
hour was bringing laden transports into the har-
bour of Genoa and long lines of French infantry
were swarming over the Cenis. Perhaps the rains
that fell swelled the tributaries and damaged the
roads ; perhaps the revolution in Parma, Modena,
and Tuscany counselled caution or created irreso-
lution ; perhaps the Austrians were impressed with
the conviction that it would be less troublesome to
let the French come over the sea and over the Alps,
and assemble in their full strength ; that it would
be easier to meet them all on this hither side, as in
a cockpit from which there was no escape. We are
not in a condition to divine motives or critcise
strategy, for the telegrams are not very explanatory
and the knowledge vouchsafed to us by the mili-
tary authorities are not very perfect ; but we can see
that after being seven days on the Sardinian soil
the invaders have not yet advanced mare than 35
miles from the frontier river.
Of the division which crossed the Ticino, and
which appeared to be intended to march up the
level upon Turin, we can trace the movements with
some certainty. They have diverged rather south-
wards of their direct route ; that is to say, they are
tending towards the foot of the Montferrat range,
rather than towards the foot of the Alpine hills. In
this advance they find one of the windings of the Po
in their path, and on Wednesday evening they
crossed the river at Cambio. The point chosen for
this passage was near the town of Sala, and per-
haps indicates an attack on Alessandria. Higher
up the river, at Frassinetto, close to Casale, a for-
tress capable of some resistance, another body of
Austrians seems to have attempted to crass the
stream, after a cannonade which lasted 15 hours,
but were repulsed with some loss.
What can be the object of these operations ? If
the Austrian had kept the northern bank of the
river it would have taken him to Turin. But to
proceed by this route the Austrian must cross the
Dora—a little river which comes down from the
Alps, and flowing through the level country in
front of Turin, falls into the Po. The banks of
this river are said to have been fortified, and it was
thought that these lines had been chosen as the
battle-field on which France and Sardinia, profiting
by the sluggishness of the Austrian, had determined
to draw together and fight a battle for Turin. By
crossing the Po the invading division, whose ad-
vance we are now tracing, has turned that position
altogether ; for they are now on the south bank,
and the Dora comes down into the Po from the
north. The object of attack, however, is quite
doubtful. They may be either proceeding to-
wards Turin by the most direct route, or they
may be about, by the simple man ceuvre of" right
shoulder forward," to turn to the left, and ad-
vance upon Alessandria. If it be true that an
Austrian cannonade was commenced at Valenza,
it would appear, perhaps, more probable that the
fortresses are the object of attack ; for Valenza is
within a few miles of Alessandria, and the Austrian
reserves, which are said to be in great force at
Pavia and Piacenza, are well placed for taking part
in a concerted attack upon Alessandria, or even for
descending upon Genoa.
Thus have we traced the progress of one division,
which took the plain country, and was at the last
advises crossing the Po at a point not above 10
miles distant from the great fortress of Alessandria.
There is, however, another division of the invading
army which, instead of crossing the Ticino, went
up north to the lake whence the Ticino flows, and,
crossing the lake, penetrated into the northern and
Alpine districts of the kingdom they invaded.
Distant from railways and telegraph wires, the
movements of this force are as yet obscure. We
expected to find them coming down into the level
country somewhere about the line of the Dora, and
forming a junction there with the force advancing
directly through the plain ; but, as these have now
crossed the Po and trend to the south, we must
expect that the junction will be attempted at some
other point. On the whole, it would seem that the
Austrians have gained nothing at present by their
choice of the moment and by their sudden initiative
except the power of making forced contributions in
their enemy's country. Sardinia has her fortresses
secure. Alessandria, Casale, Genoa, and Turin are
in her hands, and all the positions she holds are
connected by lines of rail with each other and with
the sea, and with the Alpine passes into France.
It as yet seems as though Austria had staked
heavily for an opportunity, won it, and now thrown
it away.

CANADA.—LIVERPOOL, May s.—The Canadian
Royal Mail steam ship Indian, Smith, commander, arrived
this afternoon from Portland, Maine, with dates to the 23d
-ult., 40 after cabin and 27 steerage passengers. Her advices
are entirely devoid of interest.
LIVERPOOL, Thursday.—The screw steamer City
of Baltimore, which will leave Liverpool for New York on
the 11th inst., will call at Queenstown on the following day
for cabin passengers and despatches. The amount of specie
brought yesterday by the Lebanon, from New York, was
7;000 dol,