The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-02 00:00:00

P-IVIE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 2, 1859:

But who can picture the breathless agony of sus
pence wringing the very souls of those who had
been looking ou while
‘‘ Red battle stamped his foot, and nations felt the shock."
Since writing the above we have received another
account from another correspondent of the Times.
giving a vivid picture from the French and Sardi-
nian side, so that our readers may judge for them-
selves, and render justice to both. His description
of the early Part, of the conflict is admirable. The
morning had scarcely dawned when the conflict
began, for preparations had begun on the Austrian
side the night before
that dreadful morn which
ushered in

" Battle's magnificently stern array !"

" Three hosts combine to offer sacrifice ;
Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high
Throe gaudy standards flout the pale blue sky
Their shouts are France, Sardinia—Victory
And Austria proves—the victim—

And so we trust it will ever be with those who
oppress their fellow-men—for the harsh, the brutal
conduct of Austria-for upwards of forty long years
of tyranny in Italy was enough to sink the heart
of the hitherto most favoured nation on the face of
the earth.

The-French admit the loss of 720 officers put hors
de combat, 120 of whom were killed, and 12,000
privates killed and wounded. Among the killed are
seven colonels and six lieutenant-colonels, and
among the wounded are five generals. This proves
how gallantly the officers led on their men. Now,
mark how stingily the Austrians admit their loss as
compared with the frankness of their conquerors.
The Austrians say—" the loss at the battle of the
24th, as yet ascertained, is 1,900 killed and
8,100 wounded." Had they admitted their
loss at three times the amount it would be
much r. earer, and, perhaps, even then, fall far short
of the truth.

The French are now under the walls of Verona.
The arrival of Prince NAPOLEON with 35,000
men has enabled the Emperor NAPOLEON to leave
a corps d'armee at Goito to watch Mantua,
while an other army is assembling at Brescia to
watch the passessof the Tyrpl. Before another
week is I yell over we may hear of the fall of
Pesclieira„ as well as Venice and Verona to boot.

Mr. Co: EDEN has decided in a manner worthy of
his great , reputation. Returning to this country
to find him self nominated to a seat in the Cabinet,

reputation.
The refusal of Mr. COBDEN to accept office is the
first embarrassment of the Coalition Government.
It is mitigated in some measure, it is true, by the
triumph won down at the University of Oxford,
almost simultaneously by the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Chancellor of her MAJESTY'S Exchequer.
A clear majority only nine short of 200, out of
1,909 voters, considerably more than compensates
Mr. GLADSTONE for the week's annoyance of the
contest between himself and the heir to the
Dukedom of Buckingham. That contest, more-
over. has helped at once to simplify his rather
dubious position between. the Liberals and
the Conservatives. Hesitating long between the
two, lured at the same time to each by every
imaginable blandishment to the influence of which
a statesman could be subjected, short only of aPar-
liamentary Dictatorship—Mr. GLADSTONE now
finds the path he is to follow pretty clearly marked
out before him. The Conservatives, irritated by
his prolonged vacillation, have broken with him
at length in a moment of petulance. Scandalised
by the somewhat bewildering inconsistency with
which his vote in favour of Lord DERBY was fol-
lowed up instantaneously by his adhesion to the
cause of Lord PALMERSTON, the sympathisers
with the former, not unnaturally, we cannot but
think, under the circumstances, indicated their dis-
pleasure, or rather their profound indignation, by
bringing forward the Marquis of CHANDOS as a
rival candidate for the University of Oxford. At
the commencement of the contest there was appa-
rently some danger of the right hon. gentleman's
rejection by his old constituency. That danger
has now, however, been signally dissipated. The
Coalition Ministry has at least been spared the
additional embarrassment of having to look else-
where than to the first of the Peelites, and one of
the most gifted intellects of our time, for their
financial Administrator. There is simply now to
be taken at once into account by the Government
the one great embarrassment resulting to them by
the refusal of the member for Rochdale to assume
his proffered place in the Administration. Now
that Mr. COBDEN has thus decided, what course,
let us ask, will be taken by Mr. GIBSON ? Will he
continue to occupy upon the treasury bench, in
reference to the Manchester School, the forlorn and
ludicrous position defined as that of the late Mr.
WALTER by the irresistible vie comics of the great
Irish Liberator. Will he, too, continue there—
" Like the last rose of summer left blooming alone,
All its lovely companions being faded and gone?"
Or will the glaring anomaly of his position lead to
the withdrawal once more, among his associates of
the back benches, of the right hon. member for
Ashton-under-Lyne ? Certainly there are reasons
which do not render this -withdrawal by any mean
incumbent upon Mr. MILNER GIBSON. For ex
ample, his very enrolment so long since among the
ranks of her Majesty's Privy Councillors, when
Lord JOHN induced him thirteen years ago (in the
July of 1846), to become Vice-President of the
Board of Trade, indicates clearly enough, his readi-
ness to work in harness, without companionship,
even under aWhig Premier. Let it be remembered,
moreover, in illustration of the member for Ash-
ton's aptitude otherwise "to turn and turn and
yet go on and turn again," that when he started
in public life and took his seat for the first time in
the House of Commons twenty-two years ago,
namely in 1837, as M.P., for Ipswich, he did so—
as a Conservative ! Mr. GIBSON'S course need not
therefore be expected to tally with the clearer,
simpler, and far more consistent course pursued
throughout the whole of the public career of Mr.
COBDEN, as member for Stockport, as member for
the West Riding of Yorkshire, or as member for
Rochdale—in fact during the whole of the eighteen
years which have elapsed since the date of his
first entrance (July, 1841) into the Commons
House of Parliament. There remains, however,
for the Premier now to decide, as speedily as may
be, the question—Who shall be nominated to the post
in the Administration still left vacant by the self-
abnegation of the Great Free Trade Leader of the
political school of Manchester. And here we can-
not but recall to mind one name strangely enough
passed over altogether in the formation of
this singular Coalition Government. Who could
more appropriately be inducted to the post of the
Presidency of the Board of Trade, or to
that of the Poor Law Board (supposing
the latter to be vacated by Mr. GIBSON'S
acceptance of the former), than the eminent
precursor in the House of Commons of the great
apostle of Free Frade principles, the Right Hon.
CHARLES PELHAM VILLIERS—(in age, two years
Mr. COBDEN'S senior—six or eight in Parliamentary
experience)—who, we ask, could more fittingly be
inducted to the vacant seat than the Right Hon.
CHARLES PELHAM VILLIERS, for now very nearly
one quarter of a century the distinguished Liberal
representative of Wolverhampton ?

If Mr. GLADSTONE perpetuate the iniquities of
Schedule D beyond 1860, much more, if he increase
them—and any augmentation of the duty is an in-
crease of the iniquity—he will overthrow the Go-
vernment of which he forms a part. One thing,
indeed, may save him—that justice to those who
toil and spin can be done only by removing the un-
just exemptions of those who neither toil nor spin.
We are told that there is a very heavy deficiency
in our annual income to be made good—from four
Or five to, as some have said, seven millions ; and
that Mr. GLADSTONE, the author of the act by
which the income tax should cease in 1860, is to be
the Chancellor of the Exchequer who shall restore
it to life again. When a Cabinet Minister openly
tells his Halifax constituents that the deficiency is
nearer five than four millions, we are, of course,
bound to believe him; and we have little doubt the
worst will prove true. We have already adverted
to the object of thus magnifying the deficiency to
the uttermost : it is, no doubt
pre-
pare the public for the re , done in order to
newed perpetration of
income-tax injustice. Again the pretext is to be
that it will be needed but for
a short time, and
that, however unjust it may be it
will not be worth
while to alter it for a year or two. This
trick can
no longer be tolerate 3. If Mr. GLADSTONE cannot
make a just income-tax—one which the country as
well as his own ingenious brain can t

just—he must let it undergo the sentence
under which it now lies. He can no longer solicit
a reprieve for a conflicted rogue; and all his
sophistry has failed to convince the country that
Scheciule D, and perhaps others in their measure,
can be personified by any other name.
Mr. GLADSTONE may not like even a small loan

-geiency of regular income; and though
to meet de—
t.
growing at a rate' ha. t the income of the country is
we think it plain
which would soon repay it, we
may sympathise NNitill his reluctance while we think
he ought to overc, ,n 1 it ;—but there is a better
alternative, one whi, .;:li woldSl completely meet the
difficulty—EqualisatOn of the Probate as well as
the Legacy duties. Wt' know -ale very mention of
such a thing is treason. , or ludicrous folly, accord-
ing to the degree of seecarity felt by the class who
thus set themselves against other classes more than
JOHN BRIGHT can set ether classeS against them.
Viscount WILLIAMS wLU be jeered, and JOHN
BRIGHT frowned upon, but the fact remains, that
the class which claims e xemption from tolls and
the horse duty claims also exemption from the yet
more important probate disty. The farm horse is
untaxed ; if sold to a tradesman or manufacturer
the next day it pays duty. The horse draws
a load of guano, or oilcake, or other manure
through a toll-gate, it pays no toll ; but if it
takes coal to the manufacturer's engine, toll must
be paid. This may not, however unjust an exemp-
tion for the manufacturers of food, throw on the
manufacturers of all other articles any very heavy
additional burden.

Not so, however, the probate duty. If paid on
landed property, as it is on all other property, it
would not amount to less than two millions per
annum—probably to much more ; and, as a million
a-year means just one penny in the pound income-
tax, it is easy to see how much the public gene-
rally must pay to make good the taxes from which
our landlord-legislators so unjustly relieve them-
selves. Will the country consent to have the
income-tax doubled, or even to have any new tax
inflicted, when by merely equalising the taxation of
all classes—by not suffering taxation to be any
longer a battle-field between class and class—the
wants of the State can be fairly met ? The
landed-gentry are favoured also in the legacy duty
which they do pay. If all inequalities were
thoroughly removed, we think it likely that we
might get through the year without additional
taxes at all. There seems no reason to fear that
the increased revenue of next year will not be as
great as that of the present one ; indeed, were we
disposed to prophesy, we should predict from the
sound character of our trade that it would be
greater ; and though the equalised probate duties
would not take full effect at once, they would
begin immediatbly to yield something, and be a
foundation on which any small advances might be
accepted, without causing the slightest fluctuation
in the public securities.
We warn Mr. GLADSTONE, therefore, and all
his colleagues—including Mr. GIBBON not less
than the others—that if a renewed Income-tax, or
any new tax is talked of at all, we shall commence
war to the knife in favour of fiscal equality for all
classes. Landed property is now exempt from a
charge borne by all other property. Mr. GLAD-
STONE, we acknowledge, did to his credit abolish
a part of this exemption—we only demand that he
perfect his work. He mitigated the amount of in-
justice inflicted by the Income-tax by gradually
lowering its rate, and sentencing it to extinction
next year. He lessened, also, the amount of unjust
exemption of landlords' property by his succession
duty—he must now remove all injustice by Fatting
the Income-tax die its appointed death, and re-
moving the unrighteous exemption of real pro-
perty from probate duty.

LATEST NEWS.

THE WAR IN ITALY.

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

PARIS, July 2.
The 3loniteur of this day contains the following

:elegram

VALLEGGIO, JULY 1.
THE EMPEROR TO THE EMPRESS.

The whole army has passed the Mincio. The
Sardinians have invested Peschiera. The reinforce-
ments which I have received by the arrival of
35,000 men led by Prince Napoleon, have enabled
me to approach Verona without compromising my-
self in any way, as I have left a corps d'armee at
Goito to watch Mantua, and am about to assemble
another at Brescia to watch the passes of the
Tyrol.

The Moniteur also contains the following official
bulletin of the battle of Solferino. The force of the
enemy amounted from 250,000 to 270,000. The
new artillery produced terrible effect. Its dis-
charges reached the enemy at a distance whence
the heaviest guns could not reply, and covered the
plain with dead.
The loss of the French is 720 officers put hors
de combat, 120 of which are killed, and 12,000 pri-
vates killed and wounded. Among the killed are
seven colonels and six lieutenant-colonels and among
the wounded are five generals.

VIENNA, JULY 1.

The Austrian Correspondence says :—The loss at
he battle of the 24th ult. as yet ascertained, is
1,900 killed and 8,100 wounded. Further informa-
tion will be published.

VERONA, JULY 1
(Via Vienna.)

The Emperor is in perfect health since 24th June.
There have merely been unimportant skirmishes
between the outposts.

VIENNA, FRIDAY EVENING.
The Emperor will probably stay in Italy.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs has just le.

for Verona.

VOLTA, JUNE 30,

The Emperor left this morning to establish his
head-quarters at Valleggio. His Majesty is in
perfect health. The sanitary condition of the
army is excellent. Prince Napoleon was expected
to arrive at Valleggio in the course of the day.

BERNE, JULY

The Federal Council has made animadversions
;$3 the. Sardinian Government on the subject of the
11-treatment suffered by the Swiss at Milan.

The Federal Council has also instructed the
Swiss diplomatic agents in England to enlighten
public opinion as to the nationality of the foreign
regiments in the service of the Pope and the King
of Naples.

THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO.

The following is the Sardinian account of the
battle of SoVerino from the Opinione of June 29 :
"In combination with the movements of the
French, his Majesty the King of Sardinia ordered
General Fanti, who was with his division in re-
serve on the hills to the south of Lonato, to proceed
_ _

along a ravine between Castiglione and Solferino,
and issue into the plains to support the French.
His Majesty also sent word to General Durando
that, at the moment when he had repulsed the
enemy in his front, he should bear to the right
also. General Durando directed his right to-
wards La Madonna della Scoperta, sustained by
artillery, and his left in the direction of Sojeta,
Molina, and Podone, in this way drawing on
towards the French positions. General Fanti
was preparing to accomplish his movement
when intelligence arrived to the King of what was
happening on our left—the reconnoitring parties
of the 3d and sth divisions having had to contend
with far superior force, and having been forced to
retire by the rail Way track, and, at a short distance
from Rivotella, having been in danger of being cut
off from Desenzano, when the arrival of several bat-
talions had for the moment opened the way to
Desenzano. In order to oppose the enemy to the
extent of our powers, the King recalled General
Fanti, who was on the point of issuing into the
plain of Castiglione by a very narrow road, which
was consequently ill-adapted for a countermarch.
His Majesty then ordered the 2d brigade of that
division (the Aosta brigade) to return as quickly
as possible, and directed it on San Mar-

tino. General Fanti, by a narrow road, corn
menced a retrograde movement, and towards two
o'clock found himself on a line and to the right of
General Durando, with the Piedmontese brigade,
which remained with him. At this moment Mar-
shal Baraguay d'Hilliers took possession of Solfe-
rino, and proceeded towards Cavriana. The Aus-
trian troops, pressed by the Fiench, retreated from
those hills, but seemed to meditate a fresh attack
in the front and on the left of General Durando, so
that it was judged fit that General Fanti, with the
Piedmontese brigade, should wait, in order that if
needful he could come up when desired. His
Majesty, informed that in spite of the prodigies of
valour of the 3d and sth divisions, it was impossible
for them to force the position of San Martino,
which was defended by superior numbers,
ordered, towards four o'clock, that in an hour
and a half a general attack should be made
on San Martino. The 3d and sth divisions, with
the Aosta brigade, were to operate in the direction
'of Rivotella, whilst the Ist division, with the Pied-
montese brigade, under General La Marmora, at-
tacked on the opposite side. This order was given
at four p.m., when a violent storm broke over that
part of the country. Wind, hail, and torrents of
rain intermingled, rendered an advance impossible,
It was difficult to maintain even one's footing. The
roads were little known, the peasants had hid from
fear, and guides were not to be found. Notwith-
standing this Gc‘neral La Marmora proceeded with
the Piedmontese brigade towards Pozzolengo,
whilst he ordered General Durando to make the
shortest cut possible to San Martino. The Pied-
montese brigade, when it arrived in front of Feni-
letto, and was preparing to descend on San Martino,
found itself attacked on the side of Pozzolengo.
The 4th Regiment charged the enemy in the front,
whilst the 9th Bersaglieri, turning to the left of
the village, beat the foo back. On account of the
advanced hour and the smallness of our force it was
not thought prudent to occupy Pozzolengo; but
some cannon which were run up to the heights
played upon the enemy, and molested them consi-
derably in their retreat. General Durando, in con-
sequence of the storm and absence of a guide, had
great difficulty in joining ,them, but did so just at
sunset. He announced his approach by two cannon-
ades, but .at the same moment the Aosta brigade
and the 3d and sth divisions had succeeded in dis-
lodging the enemy from their most formidable
positions, and thus ended this splendid victory,
after a battle of 15 hours. Our losses are heavy,
owing to the force and number of the enemy's
artillery, and their numerical superiority as regard:-
men ; but the bravery of our troops and their ener-
getic valour was irresistible, and they carried
everything before them. In the 3d division
General of Brigade Arnaldi was wounded. Out
of four colonels three were killed—Caminati,
Beretta, and Balegno. The sth division had also
to deplore the death of some most distinguished
officers, amongst others Major Poma. General
Cerale of the Aosta brigade was also slightly
wounded. It is not yet possible to state the amount

of our losses, but they must be near 5,000 between
killed and wounded."

The King of Sardinia has issued the following
order of the day to his troops :
Soldiers !—in the space of two months of war-
fare you have had an uninterrupted course of vic-
tory from the Sesia and the Po to the banks of the
Garda and the Mincio. In that glorious itinerary
which you have performed in company with our gene-
rous and powerful ally, you have everywhere given
the most brilliant proofs of discipline and heroism.
The nation is proud of you; all Italy, which sees
with pride her best sons in your ranks, applauds
your bravery and your exploits, which inspire her
with joyous,hopes and confidence in her future des-
tinies. To-day a new and great victory has been
gained. You have again shed your blood,
triumphing over a numerous enemy protected by
the strongest positions. On the now celebrated
day of Solferino and San Martino, you, fighting
from break of day until night, and headed by your
intrepid chiefs, repelled the repeated assaults of
the enemy, and forced them to recross the Mincio,

leaving in your hands and on the field of battle,
men, arms, and cannon. On their side, the French
efforts have been crowned with equal success and
an equal glory, furnishing proof of,that incompar-
able valour which, for ages past, has elicited the
admiration of the whole world. The victory has
cost serious sacrifices ; but by that noble blood un-
sparingly spilt for the most sacred of causes, Europe
will learn that Italy is worthy of taking her place
among nations. Soldiers !in former battles I have
often had occasion to mention the names of many
among you in the order of the day ; this time I put
toe whole army on the order of the day.
" From my head-quarters at Rivoltella, June 25,
1859. " VICTOR EMMANUEL."

(From a Special Correspondent of the Times)
AUSTRIAN HEAD-QUARTERS,
VERONA, JUNE 25.
A great battle was fought yesterday, as I ex-
pected, on the plain of Medole and the heights of
Solferino and Cavriana. On the side of the Aus-
tiians seven army corps, or about 140,000 men,

were engaged. The battle lasted from 6 in the
morning till 7 o'clock in the evening. The Austrians
have retired behind the line of the Mincio.

I was present during the whole of the action, and
From a commanding position in front of the village

of Cavriana witnessed the greater part of it. My
narrative is founded on what I saw and what I have

since gathered from competent authorities, and al-
though it is impossible to obtain as perfect an out-
line as I should wish, yet I believe that my relation

will be in the main tolerably correct.
On the 23d the Austrians moved their whole
army from the direction of Mantua, Verona, and
Peschicra, and on the evening of that day it was
concentrated in the following positions :

vv
Of the Ist army, under Wimpffen, the 3d and 9th
corps, commanded severally by Prince Edmond
Schwarzenberg and Gen. Schaffgotsch, bivouacked
in the village of Guiddizzolo, and in the plain be-
tween it and Volta; the 2d corps, under Prince
Edward Lichstentein, in their rear; the 10th,
under General Wernhardt, and 11th, still further

behind in the direction of Goito.
Of the 2d army, under Count Schlick, the Bth corps,
under Benedek, formed the extreme right of the

Austrian line, resting on Pozzolengo. The sth corps,
under Count Stadion, occupied the village of Sol-
ferino. The Ist corps, under Count Clam, held
Cavriana, while the 7th corps, under Zobel, bi-
vouacked on the road from San Cassiano to Volta.
The French head-quarters were at Castiglione
delle Stiviere ; large divisions, as it appeared to me,
lying on the road to San Vigilio and Medole, as
well as on that which leads to Solferino.
You will perceive by reference to a map that the
Austrian position formed a curve, the general di-
rection of which was from north to south ; that Sol-
ferino was the protruding part of the curve, and the

centre of the movements of the day. It was a position

the upper, or northernmost, portion of which was
high and commanding, resting, as it does, on the
hills overhanging the Minch), while the lower, or
more southern half, was on the great plain stretch-

ing from the heights of Castiglione southwards to
an immense distance. The position of the Allies
was similarly divided, their right being in the plain
between Medole and Castiglione, and their left on
the long spurs which stretch out all the way from
Lonato to Solferino. At the latter point, however,
the chain is cut at right angles by a valley, so that
Solferino stands out at the head of a triangle of hills
of which the sides trend south-west towards Volta,
north-west towards Pozzolengo. On the summit
of the pit stands the old square tower of Solferino,
" the traitor" or "spy" of Italy, because from its
battlements the country for miles is visible. The
hill on which the tower stands is, however, com-
manded by higher ground on the opposite side of
the vale. To the south and east of Solferino, and
separated from it by a vale of slight depth, is the
village of Cavriana, covered with stone houses and
old ruins, while a little to the south and west, in
the plain, lies San Cassiano. An excellent road
runs through Solferino to Castiglione, another
equally good from Castiglione to Guiddizzolo. The
highway from Solferino to Cavriana is through San
Cassiano, but there is a second road, over the hills,
in perfect order and repair. The plain between
Guiddizzolo, Medole, San Cassiano, and Castiglione,
generally called in military maps Campo di Medole,
is completely flat, interspersed with trees, but ad-
mirably fitted for the evolutions of the celebrated
Austria cavalry. It is cut in the centre by a road
almost due east and west, intersecting at right
angles that which runs between Guiddizzolo and
Castiglione.
The Austrians, having occupied the positions I
have mentioned, resolved to take the offensive at 9
o'clock on the morning of the 24th, but they were
forestalled by the Allies, who began the attack at
6 in the morning along the whole line from the
front of Pozzolengo to Medole.
The action had therefore commenced at the very
moment when the Emperor with his Staff, accom-
panied by the Archdukes, the Grand Dukes of Tus-
cany and Modena, took their departures from Valeg-
gio. The road by which we proceeded was a mere
cart-track leading direct from Borghetto or Cavri-
ana. It lay through the hills, and ran mostly over
a rough and stony ground, in which grew sparse
crops of maize and rye divided by rows of plane or
mulberry trees. As we advanced, leaving Volta to
bur left, we could hear distinctly the roar of the
guns on the battle-field, from which we were only
separated by the heights of Cavriana. By half-past
7 o'clock we entered the stony streets of the village,
where already the first batches of wounded men
were under the care of the medical department. A
large field hospital had been formed in a syacious
house near the gates, from which the Staff had just
emerged. Without delay we passed these melan-
choly accompaniments of every battle-field, and,
trotting through the streets, halted just outside the
village, and, leaving our horses to the orderlies,
proceeded to some high ground on the western face
of the hills, where one of the grandest sights I have
ever witnessed lay open to view. Looking to the
north,the tower of Solferino stood out in the boldest
relief, overlooking the vale in front of it and the
hills on the opposite side, where a battery of French
ctrtillery stood in position shelling the Austrians in
advance of the tower. In rear of the battery
columns of infantry were advancing in sections to
the front, while in the vale itself we could hear the
rattle of musketry. The air was filled with French
shells thrown to a great elevation, and exploding
as they descended. Not only was the action engaged
in front of Solferino, but to its in San Cassiano,
and to its right along the ridges in the direction of
Pozzolengo. Looking to the west we could see the
plain stretching to the horizon covered with low
trees, from the midst of which rose the roofs and
steeples of countless villages.. Stronglodies of troops
were moving in the open, and alre,ady the smoke of
the batteries in the hostile positions, and the dust
raised by the advance of tens of thousands of men,
were spreading a baleful cloud over the combatants.
In the level ground just outside Guiddizzolo stood an
Austrian battery facing towards Castiglione and ex-
changing shots with a crescent of French batteries,
presenting its two horns to the Austrian front, and
placing the latter consequently under a cross fire.
A large body of Austrian cavalry was manoeuvring
in the right front of its own battery, and diverting