The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-25 00:00:00

TILE ARMY.

A corps of artillery arrived at the camp at Col-
chester on Wednesday and Thursday. There are
now eight heavy guns at the camp. Col. Bloomfield
has succeeded Major-General Slade as commandant
of the force now in camp; which is about 2,000
strong.
Two companies of Royal Engineers, the 35th and
36th, will proceed from Brompton barracks, Chat-
ham, this day—the 35th, under the command of
Captain W. J. Stuart, to Aldershott ; and the 36th,
commanded by C. E. Harvey, to Portsmouth. The
28th and 29th companies, now at those stations,
will return to headquarters on Thursday next, pre-
paratory to embarking for the Mediterranean, the
28th company proceeding to Corfu, and the 29th to
Malta.
A close holiday was observed throughout the
whole of the departments in Woolwich Arsenal,
with one exception, from Thursday evening until
Saturday morning, under the restriction that the
six hours of ordinary labour on Saturday morning
shall be made good by the operatives working two
extra hours during three days of the present week.
By reason of the multiplicity of orders on hand for
the delivery of war stores the principal military
storekeeper was obliged to retain the services of
his entire department on Saturday, notwithstand-
ing the deprivation which the circumstance in-
volved to those who had anticipated the usual boon
of a three days' freedom from business. The whole
of the horses usually employed by the separate
establishments of the arsenal were thus rendered
disposable in the removal of stores, and an additional
amount of labour in stacking guns, shot, shell, &c.,
for transmission to the coast stations was accom-
plished without extr I expense to the Government.
Captain Gleig, Inspector of Military Schools,
Southern district, was engaged during the whole
of the last week inspecting the Royal Artillery
schools at Woolwich. The inspection will be re-
sumed after the Easter holidays. Large additions
to the establishment 'are in course of erection, and
the schools, already the largest in her Majesty's
service, under the superintendence of Mr. Wharry,
will soon be capable of accommodating nearly 1,000
pupils at the same time. The average daily atten-
dance is about 1,200, and the total strength of all
classes is now 2,200.
The head-quarters of the Waterford Militia Ar-
tillery proceeded, from Portsmouth to Parkhurst
on Saturday, to reinforce the artillery in the Isle of
Wight.
The Durham Artillery, consisting of 13 officers
and 231 men, are expected to remove from Bishop's
Auckland to the. Isle of Wight.
The. Suffolk artillery, consisting of 11 officers and
350 men; are expected to remove from Ipswich to
Portsmouth.

Tilt 'WEATHER IN SCIYITAND.—For the last
eight or ten days (says the litlittbecult Courant) we have
experienced.more severe weather than we have felt at almost
any period of like duration during the winter months. A
keen, biting, frosty wind has prevailed, only varying between
north and east, and without mitigation of its biting cold,
except in occasional hours of sunshine in the afternoons.
To make the wintry visitation complete, both on Tuesday
morning we experienced the falling of
snow, lasting in both instances for several hours, and leav-
ing the landscape in a sheet of white. This late coming of
winter, following after several days of almost sultry heat,
and after the sprouting foliage and exuberant blossoming
of sping, must, we fear, prov.e highly detrimental to vege •
tation. The North fifitisk Agriculturist says :—On
Sunday last, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, the thermo-
Meter in the morning marked 2d deg., and the same
on Monday morning. Collected rain water was on Sunday
covered with ice one-eighth of an. inch thick, and on Mon-
day 346ths. Such unseasonable weather in the month of
April has not occurred since the year 1331. In that year
the character of the weather in April resembled that of the
present as to lowness of temperature, with the occurrence
of snow showers, but the season `as late. In the pastoral
districts sheep stock have suffered considerably. Field
labour is now somewhat behind, even in the districts in the
south-east of Scotland, but particularly in the west and
north, where the fall of rain has been untisnally great.
The sowing of oats and barley has been retarded, and in
laic districts a considerable breadth of land still remains to
be seeded. In the more advanced districts the braird of
oats and barley is regular, and shows a healthy growth.
The planting of potatoes, well advanced in the Lothians, is
behind in most counties. The cold weather has given a
severe check to vegettatiO4.

F.RANCE AND THE WAR.

semi.official article appears in the
Com,n,Asteusitfutriatli i
fWa ng :
io°nsleL--doinfuliy rejected all the propositions of
Europe, ruined the last hopes of peace, and openly pro-
claimed her desire for war. What had Austria demand
having, to thed,
e
and what has been refused to her? After
surprise of all Europe, first demanded the disarmament of
Sardinia, herself remaining armed, she finished by proposing
a general and simultaneous disarmament. Europe accepted
the proposal. Austria had exacted that Sardinia should be
excluded from the Congress. The Imperial Government,
after having honourably represented that it would be sin-
gular to refuse the right of vote to a Power which accepted
the obligation of deposing her arms, decided, for the sake
of peace, to ask a her ally this final
oc_ontcleiessietrne.at The
f
Austria hers3elf o
principles laid down in the protocol f
a.rbnitYel,
tliokse. the other
Aix-la-Chapelle—principles invoked_
Ita. it with the
wertiale ;:dsoziteteds,wlhoutot rbeesemrveer.ely
repress:_qaTives the five great Powers, absolutely in the
treaty of Laybach in 1821.' But
same muni:sr as in tie.. -Aurance of France, has resolved,
of Europe and her word
teioresniatinthgethlone ginendiroe;_t.
" - to disband her
selling straight at her
of threei_
withoutoa
fi Austria,
mheohu e haswhich callwe called was
onengaged, Piedmonton nadirectly
volunteers and lay down her arms within a dela,
days. What object has Austria in view ? She canno..
ignorant of the fact that were this disbandment to be
effected the elements of insurrection would be disp.ersed,
and would be spread with these volunteers over all points of
Italy. The patriotism of a nation is not pros eked with im-
punity. The Vienna Cabinet, by its aggressions, !ts haughti-
ness, and menaces, has over-excited the moslegitimate as
well as the most dangerous passions. Such volunteera
assembled under a flag represents a force • but if disbanded
they would prove a danger. But this' danger does not
alarm Austria, or rather it enters into her calclations • &be
perceives in it a pretext for those armed interventions
which she knows so well to turn to account. But Pied-
• mont will not give way before this intimidation. So much
the better, thought Austria. The state of her fmances, she
has openly avowed, does not permit her to delay the con-
test ; a war must solve the question in some manner or
other. ,'N.ustria, like the ruined rake, has placed all her
stakes on ozse card, and seeks in the hazard of war a fortune
which she coußl not accumulate during eace. She more-
over imagines tliAt she has prepared t
game in her er fa
he
-
vour ; for in secret she has I;ing been preparingt
events which her conduct in Italy :oust sooner or later have
provoked. If on the Ist of January' the Empeuseror
he fl-
let fall
an expression of sadness and regret, it wi.s becao
lowed strictly the march of this policy.. Thee continuous
armaments, this absoluta interference in all Ital.); this sys-ws
tematic opposition, on various points, to the genermzs vie
of France, all revealed to him the dangers more or less rear
at hand of the situation. Since that time the ogreat -Powers
united in order to remove the actual crisis, and participated
in our efforts. Austria, seeing herself surprised, has thrown
away the mask and all control of temper. She has pro-
ceeded from breach of faith to anger, from anger to violence.
The violence is too much. The Cabinet of Vienna has mis-
taken the century; in spite of its proverbial skill, it has
forgotten that even strength inclines, in our days, before
the opinion of the world, and, before such a judge, Austria
is condemned before having been vanquished."
The Siecle contains this appeal to Government :
" We shall no longer hear of coalitions, invasions, and
division we shall wage war with Austria, we shall van-
quish her with the assistance of our ally Sardinia, with the
assistance of the Italian nation, which will receive us as
liberators, for we shall not pass the Alps as conquerors, but
as friends who are about to assist a friendly nations to re-
cover her independence and liberty. We are passionately
attached to liberty, but we place even above it independence
and the love of one's country. We are aware of the objec-
tion that has been advanced against Government. ' You
wish to introduce liberty into Italy ; is France then not
worthy of that blessing ?' This objection ought no longer
to be allowed to exist, and it is an error to suppose that cir-
cumstances like those in which we are engaged are in the
least unfavourable to the re-establishmentof liberty ; on the
contrary, they render it indienensable, for the moral force
of armies as well as that of Ctuvernments dwells in public
opinion, and if that opinion cannot manifest itself, an all-
powerful force is sacrificed. We appeal to Government,
that at the opening of this new period it may leave to public-
opinion its free manifestation."
The remaining journals, excepting the Univers
and the Gazette de France; are full of indignation
at the sudden decision of Austria, and renders her
responsible for all events which may arise. The
Univers is silent on the subject. The Gazette de
France seeks to restrict the limits of the war, basing
its argument on the following passage of an article
in the Moniteur published some time back :—" The
Emperor has promised to the King of Sardinia to
defend him against any aggressive act of Austria;
he has promised nothing further ; it is known that
he will keep his word. Consequently, the Gazette
is desirous that the approaching operations should
be confined to hurling back the Austrians over the
Ticino."
" The French Government," says a Paris letter
in the Nord," appears to have reckoned so little on
an approaching war that it had caused notice to be
given that the annual reviews of the soldiers on
renewable furloughs would take place from the
27th April to the 21st May. There was not even
a question of calling into active service the soldiers
on furlough, who are ).30,000 in number. But in
a week they can join their respective regiments."
A Paris latter, in the Independance of Brussels,

says :
"The army of Lyons will consist, it is said, of five divi-
sions, prepared to march at any moment, and three divisions
of reserve. The troops stationed in the Var are to embark
without delay at Toulon, it is supposed for Genoa, as Cap-
tain Chingneau has loft for that city to superintend the
landing should the troops be conveyed there. The ccm-
menders of the three floating batteries in the putt of
Toulon, the Lave, Tonnante, and Devastation, have received
orders to arm them with the utmost possible speed. Three
regiments of African Chasseurs and a regiment of Zouaves,
still in Algeria, are to embark for France, the latter to join
the army of Lyons, and the Chasseurs to proceed to some
destination as yet imknown. The number of horses fur-
nished by 'Algeria to the army in France is calculated at
0;000. Lastly, the Minister of Marine, who had given
orders to raise to 18 the 12 gunboats to be provided, has
decided on increasing the number for the present to 20."

The Toulonnois says :
"The screw ship-of-to-line Eylau and the steam
frigates Impetueuse and Illy have been detached from the
Mediterranean squadron and sent to Algiers, to bring
troops, and amongst them the Ist Regiment of Zouaves, to
Marseilles and Toulon. The sailors of the recent levy are
beginning to arrive in our town, and they at once receive
their clothing. Several physicians of the Military Hos-
pital at Toulon have been sent to Lyons."
The Akkbar of Algiers announces that the Ma-
gellan arrived in that port on the previous evening,
and that she was to embark at once two squadrons
of the 7th Light Dragoons, which have been
orderd to France.
The whole of the division of General Yousouf
has received orders to leave Algeria for France.
The 46th, one of the regiments composing it, has
already reached Lyons. In this division is to be
found the famous corps of the Turcos, so noted for
their desperate courage.
A correspondent, writing from Chambery on the
20th, says
"I have just made an excursion to Lyons to judge for
myself of the state of the troops in that neighbourhood. As
to the formation of a camp at Culoz, nothing has as yet
been done; and as to the number of men about Lyons, the
corps cr armee is thus composed :-Ist and 4th Regiments of
Lancers; Ist and 10th of mounted Chasseurs ; sth, Bth,
11th, 12th, and 15th of Artillery ; Ist of Engineers and Ist
battalion of the 2d ; Ist battalion of Pontooners ; and 16
regiments of the line."

(From the Times,)

Never, for the last 60 years, have the affairs of
Europe drawn towards so perilous a crisis as at this
moment. We can find parallels of singular com-
pleteness for the relative positions of France and
Austria, for the first incidents of an Italian cam-
paign, and for the downward rush of a French army
into the plains of Lombardy or Piedmont. But
these, which arc but the natural features of such a
war as is apparently impending, do not comprise
the most alarming symptoms of the present hour.
We can match all the probable points of strategy
and anticipate the scenes of conflict, but in none of
the great historical precedents are there such omi-
nous characters as we may decipher now.
It was at just such a season as the present, or
towards the middle of the spring, that in the
year 1796 an army of French soldiers looked
down upon Italy from the dreary summits of
the Apennines. They were about 40,000 in num-
ber, and they had about GO guns, but they had
neither magazines nor clothing, neither baggage
animals nor tents. The cavalry had no horses,
and even the Staff did duty on foot. So destitute
was the French Government of pecuniary resources
that when the Generals of this army received a gra-
tuity of £3 a-piece it was thought a considerable
remittance ; as for the soldiers, they had neither
shoes to their feet nor coats to their backs, and if
war could be prevented by penury, as some econo-
mists have imagined. stronger guarantees for peace
could never be desired than such as then pressed
upon the troops of the Republic. But these men
were capable of great deeds when well commanded,
and they had just received a new commander in the
person of General Napoleon Bonaparte. Beneath
them, in the territories of Sardinia, were ranged
their antagonists—the Austrians, with about 50,000
men and 200 guns; the Piedmontese then, as now ,
the best soldiers in Italy; with about half that
strength. At the beginning. of April the struggle
commenced, and its events could be designated by
a succession of names carrying their import to the
reader's mind without explanation or comment.
Montenotte, Millcsimo, Moudovi, Lodi, Milan, Ve-
rona denote but so many stages of a triumphant
advance. In 15 days, as Bonaparte exultingly pro-
claimed, his soldiers had gained six victories, had
killed or wounded 10,000 of the enemy, and had
captured 21 standards, 55 pieces of cannon, and
15,000 prisoners. On the 30th of March he had
been still standing on the Apennines, and by the 3d
of June he was in Verona. Before that day in the
year following he had traversed Lombardy in its
whole length and entered Venice, until at length,
en the 17th of October-18 months after the open-
ing of the campaign—the Austrians were fain to
make peace.
About two years afterwards these scenes were
re-enacted. In the interval Napoleon had gone
to Egypt, and had ventured his fortune in the
Desert ; but affairs had gone ill in his absence,
and when he suddenly returned from the East the
Austrians were once more in Piedmont, and the
French had much to retrieve. Once more, there-
fore, did,he concert a decisive campaign, On this

occasion a new ar.ny was collected with extraordi-
nary secrecy on the French side of the Alps, and
conducted by ',;he passes of the Great St. Bernard
into the Itali_an plains before the Austrian com-
mander wErs well aware of the expedition. He
turned to fight, but the battles of Montebello and
ilhntadw fact, was
onlywll9
achieved,
am ins brief'd, Marengo destroyed his hopes, and again the French
eFebruary
were masters of the field. The second campaign,
and
ntt habayta as conclusive
victory
the first.
of
following
Marengo
Austria had made peace over again.
In the circumstances of these famous conflicts we
e vJuneeb
may discern many points of coincidence, but many
also of contrast, with the conditions of
the struggle
now impending. A week ago it might
have been
said that on one very important point the positions
of the belligerents at these periods were entirely
reversed. Both in 1796 and 1800 Sardinia was in
the hands of the Austrians, and served, indeed, as
the first and strongest barrier between France
and Lombardy. The principal object of Bona-
parte is the first campaign was to separate the
Austrians from the Sardinians and overwhelm the
two armies separately. In 1800, again, while
French General was collecting his army at
Dijon for the passage of the Alps, Melas, the
Austrian commander, was on the very frontier of
France, directing all his strength against the line
of the Var, and little dreaming of the surprise pre-
pared for him in his rear. The great French vic-
tories, in fact, were gained, not in Lombardy, but
in Piedmont itself, whereas, until the other day,
it appeared as if France would now take the
field with Piedmont already her own, and that the
shock of battle would occur, not at the foot of the
mountains, bat on the eastern side of the Ticino.
If, however, the recent menaces of Austria should
be fully executed, and her forces should overrun
the Sardinian territory before the French can
arrive to protect it, the battle-field may be found
in Piedmont once more. Of the relative powers
of the combatants at the two periods it is perhaps
hazardous to speak. All the States of Europe since
the beginning of the century have developed their
resources and, unhappily, in the direction of war as
much as in other directions. klardinia alone could
now produce a more powerful army than that
brought by either France or Austria to the campaign
of 1796. At this moment the Austrians can throw
10,000 men across the Ticino, and if France cannot
encaz.nter them with an equal array it is for lack of
preparation only. General Hess, the Chief of the
Austrians taff
, 72—just about the age of Beau-
lieu, Napoleon's first antagonist, so that the old
practice of Austria in this respect seems to be un-
changed. But in the face of Itadetzky's exploits we
cannot confound age with superannuation, and,
besides, there is no youthful Bonaparte in the oppo-
site ranks. The French army, save for the one great
loss of a transcendant genius at its head, is proba-
bly as well organised and as well officered as at any
former time, and if the Austrians have made greater
relative progress in military science it is only be-
cause their ancient defects of system left them
greater room for improvement. iudging frqm the
vigour and expedition which have characterised
their recent movements we need not anticipate any
repetition of the errors of Melas and Wurmser. On
the whole, they have perhaps done more than the
French, because they had more to do ; they have
passed within the last tan years through a tie,
mendous struggle, and they have fought a vic-
torious campaign on the very fields to which they
are now advancing. The French army is probably
as good as it was in 1800, and no higher credit
could be given to it; but the Austrian army is
undoubtedly better than it was at that period,
so that the struggle will not be so easy. And even
when we revert to the rapidity of Napoleon's con-
quests—not once, nor twice, but four times
achieved—when we discern that Austria signed
treates of peace, one after another, at Campo
Formic, at Luneville, at Presburg, and finally at
Vienna itself, we must not overlook the fact, that
this very succession of transactions showed the
vitality and tenacity of her power. She was only
four times beaten because four times, with uncon-
querable resolution, she had returned to the strife.
All these speculations, however, are ,but super-
ficial. There is no real analogy between the periods
we have been describing and that at which we have
now arrived. The great, the immeasurable diffe-
rence between them is, that 60 years ago these
Italian campaigns were but incidents of a strife
already established; whereas now, if France does
indeed encounter Austria in the plains of Piedmont,
it will be the siomal of a new war, the duration and
character of which no man can tell. The destinies
of Europe, after all, were but partially and tran-
siently influenced by the battles of Montenotte and
Marengo, for nations were already then in arms,
and it was but a campaign in Lombardy instead of
a campaign elsewhere. But the Italian war now
impending will, if it actually breaks out, terminate
the long peace of Europe, and lead us through years
of conflict which nobody can number to a new state
of things which nobody uan di`-inc. IVo 000 m
to
be approaching one of those great epochs by which
the course of history is marked. While we write
the die may be cast, and the Continent in a flame.
Our only assurance must lie in the reflection that
England has done its utmost to avert the catastrophe
—and also, we trust, in the resolution of this coun-
try and its rulers to stand aloof from the strife
which they have vainly endeavoured to prevent.

THREATENING A COUNTY-COURT

JUDGE.

At the Wakefield County Court, on Saturday last,
Mr. Barratt, seedsman and nurseryman, of St.
John's, was summonedto show cause why he should
not be committed for contempt of court. Some time
ago an action had been brought against Mr. Barratt
by the executors of a person named Robinson to
recover the amount incurred by the latter in
making an orchard house for Mr. Barratt. Mr.
Barratt had sent the plaintiffs abill for the amount,
payable at three months. This the plaintiffs kept
in their possession for several days, and then re-
turned it to Mr. Barratt, refusing to accept it, and
demanding cash. During the hearing of the case
Mr. Barratt alleged that one of the testator's sons,
and an executor, had said he would take a bill.
This was denied by the party in question ; and the
judge (T. H. Marshall, Esq.), in giving a verdict,
said that he believed the truth was on the side .of
the plaintiffs, and decided that the acceptance was
worthless, as it had not been signed by the other
party, and put in circulation. This decision seems
to have preyed on Mr. Barratt's mind; and believ-
ing that the judge had imputed to him wilful and
corrupt perjury he had sent him two letters, which
his Honour considered to be of a violent and threat-
ening character, and calculated to interfere with
him in his duties as a judge.
Mr. Bond, of Leeds, now appeared in court, and
on behalf of Mr. Barratt, apologised for the matter
contained in the letters. Partly, however, in jus-
tification of sending these letters, and in mitigation
of his Honour's displeasure, Mr. Bond represented
that Mr. Barratt occupied a very respectable posi-
tion, not only in society, but with respect to his
connection with the religious world, and that an
imputation of wilful and corrupt perjury would be
felt by him keenly. Mr. Bond also took the
opportunity of assuring his Honour, that the
letters were written on the impulse of the moment,
and under the belief that when he did write them,
Mr, Barratt entertained the belief that he had the
same right to address his Honour as any other
person. If he had consulted any judicious friend
before he had put pen to paper he (Mr. Bond)
believed that no such letters would have been writ-
ten. Mr. Barratt, through him, now asked to b 3
allowed to withdraw the letter (the last one sent,
which was, it seems, the most obnoxious of the two)
and to express his sorrow that ever it had been sent.
He was now convinced that he ought not to have
sent these letters at all, and to apologise for ever
having sent them.
His Honour said when the second letter came to
him he had not fully considered the factS of the
case ; but Mr. Mason had called his attention to a
very full report of the case in the Wakefield Ex-
press, and he had also been told that substantially
the same report appeared in the other Wakefield
paper. These reports certainly. confirmed his own
impression that he had never imputed wilful and
corrupt perjury to Mr. Barratt. That was his own
impression. Mr. Barratt might recollect that there
was very contradictory evidence during the hearing
of the case, and he (the judge) hid given his verdict
in the face of what Mr. Barrat and his son had
sworn. Ile knew that. But Mr. Barratt was con-
tradicted by Robinson and other witnesses ; and
when he (the judge) gave his verdict, what he in-
tended to be understood was, that the probability
of the case was in favour of the plaintiffs. The
question was "aye "
fp.olraintthieffsilmiranaegereoem,dint,o tbaykedetflieendbalanntk acceptance
whole case it appeared that the plaintiff' had never
put his name to that acceptance, and never made
use of it, and from the first had refused to take it.
After the bill was tent to the plaintiff the defen-
dant received a letter stating that he would not
take it ; and he (the judge) thought that from all
was right. From the first he had re-
the probabilities of the case the plaintiff's versien
the acceptance, and it remained a piece
foufsieldie
to to
e
of waste paper. Now, with regard to the imputation
of wilful and corrupt perjury, it appeared that
Mr. Barratt, during the hearing of the case, got up
and said " Do you think that I am not to be
believed on my word ?" He (the judge) said in reply,
" If you ask me which side Ibelieve, I say I believe
the plaintiff." He would have said the same with
respect to the other side had he found a verdict for
Mr. Barratt. In cases liko these credence must
be given t 9 the one oide or sho 011cr; but

it was not to be supposed when a judge inclined to
believe one side that he imputed wilful and corrupt
perjury to the other. After some conversation be-
tween-his Honour and Mr. Bond, during which the
latter said Mr. Barrett felt hurt at the expression
made use of by his Honour, that " the truth was all
on plaintiff's side," Mr. Seniorsaid he unfortunately
happened to be the advocate on the occasion, and
he believed what his Honour had then said was
that " the preponderance of evidence was clearly on
the side of the plaintiff." His Honour said distinctly
that it was never his intention to impute wilful and
corrupt perjury to Mr. Barratt. At the same time
he considered that Mr. Barratt was very much in-
debted to Mr. Bond for the very proper course he
had advised him to take,because he (the judge)was
sure when he read the explanation it would be
found that there was just ground for the summons
which he had received to show cause why heshould
not be committed for contempt of court. His Honour
then quoted from one of the letters sent by Mr. Bar-
ratt,in which he had threatened to get up a" peti-
tion against his Honour, which he could get signed
by 40 members of both Houses of Parliament." The
longer he remained a judge the more cautious was
he of imputing motives to any man. He knew he
was quite liable to err ; but on deciding on the va-
rious cases that came before him he must conceive
the truth to be somewhere. He did not deny Mr.
Barratt's or any other person's competency to write
to him; but it was another matter when threaten-
ings were used. His Honour then referred to a de-
cision given in the case, " Lechmere v. Charlton"
(in Bingham's Reports, 339). By this it appeared
that a letter sent to a judge imputing to him im-
proper motives was held to be contempt of court, or
one sent to a judge with the object of diverting the
course of justice was also contempt of court. On the
ground of his having apologised his Honour then
only fined Mr. Barrett L 5, to be given to the Wake-
field Dispensary.