Star.
London, England, 1831-03-15 00:00:00

7',:F ItErOLUTION IN ITALY.

Fnin the Sheila!! Courant,
ROME, FED. lA.
Kerry soul of ur. for some time past, have been looking forward,
veldt most laudable eagerness and anxiety, to the fun and frolic, and
pleasures of a revoltttion. viz. titre. rapine. robbery, murder, bloodshed
--r: hoe WRVS o,nne. But we have hitherto been disappointed.
I f::: there is nu chance of a lilt of confusion and upsetting
ese it ;rvs •rthi..4 place in Rome. within the period of my sojourn
t• t.:n.. The tide of injured anti indignant feeling is fast sub.
loth to its accustemed larcl. and all seems quiet again. But
stop• i.eui cotste—it will come. The Tyber, of which you
gave read in Iflonote, ee no doubt—the river that runneth through
~,.r ettv—i* row smooth and •7. -• -4^PT Dad be; but he can
Ist-ext.,. rapid anti violent, and °vete, i`i.. I k with precious little
seeeimg. So is is it, some respect with the tralittis of the people ;
therefore la Pope and Cardinals, and priestly enthority look
tit it. En r since the late Revolution in France. the Ceotrn
in Italy have been in a sad " funk," and site people anticipating
sons itesel—sense relief—something of which. It seems to me.
thee have not gist a very clear anti accurately defined idea; nor are
.1,, aitogether up to the means by which it is to be obtained.—
But let them try again. Last week was the Ca-nival ; and accord-
ing to some shapeless reports. Saturday night was the night ap.
rotated for the busy and choke spirits of the time to assemble and
try their strength upon the existing order of things. Well—Satur-
day.nston there came out three proclamations :—one calling upon all
seta:gees. subjects of the Pope and sojourning in Rome. to give an
account of themselves. and of the reasons and motives which had
brought them to the capital. Another, authorizing the enrolment of
one hundred men, as a sort of constabulary force, our of each region of
the city—for we are divided into regions, as in the time of Augustus:
there are fourteen regions in all. The third, puttine a stop to the
festivities of the carnival to horse.racing, masking and the-
atrical exhibitions. It was amusing to witness the effect of this
latter proclamation. About one o'clock, I took a turn through the
torso ; the inhabitants thereof were henging out their drapery, adorn.
ing their windows and balconies. and making sundry other arrangements
in expectation that the usual fun and frolic Hurd dissipation were to
take place ; when lo ! the proclamation made its appearance. It
operated like magic. The people read it and looked at each other
in silence. The spirit of activity and alertness died away within
them. Men appeared moody and undetermined, and prowled
about without any definite object in view. At length, when they
seemed to have fully comprehended Its import, they went plied, to
work to remove the preparations they bad made, and in a short time
the Corso assumed its ordinary appearance. As evening approached
bodice of troops were stationed in different parts of tint city ; yet,
I think, with so little soldierly skill, that, if the people had been
eraitithous and decided, they might have attacked them and cut them
off in detail before they could have communicated with, or come to the
relief of each other. Ilowever it would seem these prompt and and-
een measures somewhat deranged the plans of the revolutionists ;
and they had no opportattity of concerting others before the time
came at which it hail been determined to pat them into execution.
Between seven and eight o'clock at night, in the Piazza Colonna--
sa called from the column of Antoninus which standeth therein—a
shut was tired by one of the mob at she soldiers. A volley was in-
stantly discharged by the military, and the vagabonds scampered off
in all directions. (lnc of the courageous revolutionary supporters was
shot in the breech while attempting to make his escape through a door.
Another it is said is mortally wounded. This is about the sum of the
mischief done. A door perforated in two places has become quite a
lion ; and a bullet, or rather the mark thereof, in the column, stick.
in.: in between the letters E and L in the word Aurelius,—is just a
curiosity. This, you will say, is not putting the character of the
Romans in a very favourable point of view ; but it is the true one.—
They ate not a courageous people. They are a people of passion and
under the excitement of passion will do strange things ;—but they
have not the courage,—the fortitude—which, like charity, endtireth
all things. Singular and novel as the opinion may seem, I am in-
clined to think that this has always been the case with them. Much
as we have heard about the elevation of' the ancient Roman character,
it is my conviction that, even in the brightest epochs of their history,
they were a lose people ; in the mass I mean. There were numbers
rf brilliant exceptions to this rule ; and it is solely to these excep-
tions, and to the influence which, in consequence of the nature of
their early institutions, they were permitted to acquire over the
people whom they wielded as instruments. that the wetness and glory
which they achieved are to he nialtily attributed. This position I can
prove—at least give good reasons for—out of many passages in their
own writers ; passages in which facts and allusions, and remarks bear.
ins on this point are thrown out incidentally, and therefore the more
weighty because undesigned. They were, and always have been, and
still are, a base worthless set ; and a great radical change must be ef-
fectuated in their political and 'religious institutions before they can be-
come anything else.
But we have not yet done with proclamations; every day sends
forth a new one. Among these I must mention the Invite) Sagro,
tor the singular and extraordinary nature of its contents. Consider.
ing that it is put forth as one of the means of arresting the progress
of the revolutionary spirit, it speaks volumes as to the mental de.
gradation of the people. It will scarcely be credited in England....
Well this Invito Sagro— a copy of which is now before me, and
which I shall certainly keep as a curiosity, as a record of the super.'
stition and folly of mankind—begins by stating that in these sorrow.
ful times there is great need of prayer. Who doubts It? It then
refer, to the particular regard which the Great Mother of God is
well known to have for the eternal city, and to the numberless times
the said city has experienced the protection of St. Peter and Paul
And in order to obtain an especial manifestation of both in the present
awful circumstances, it is ordered tint diem be exposed to public ve-
beration two most sacred and choice images of the Virgin—and they
are never produced except on great emergencies—and the thanmatur-
gic—which is. being interpreted, mirnele-working—chains of St.
Peter! This bears the motion which, I see by the papers, was made
a short time again the House of Combines for a general feet. These
thaumaturgic chains were the chains wish which Peter and Paul were
bound when confined in the Mamertine dungeon - the state prison of
the old Romans. The legend sets forth that when these chains were
knocked off, in order to the captives being led away .o execution, they
spontaneously came together and united into one. I have been to the
churches where these most holy things are exhibieed. and it is quite
edifying to witness the numbers that flock tiddler to venerate them.
I am inclined to think that the Romans will, of themselves—of
their own unaided resources—find it no easy task to bring about a
revolution. The reasons which lead me to this conclusion are chiefly
the following :—lst The numbers who hold little offices and enjoy
little pensions from government—these of course are 'l'or the pre.
sent order of things. 2dly. The superstitious awe, the religious
dread, with which the lower orders regard the Pope; looking upon
hint as one possessed of power to dispose of their destinies both here
and hereafter—these would consider it sacrilege to oppose him.—
ally. The extensive system of espionage which prevails, from which
no rank or class is exempt. In private parties. in public places of
amusement, nay even in his own house, and in the bosom of his own
family, a man is scarcely safe—the very scamps who eat his bread, and
who move at his bidding. may be spies upon his words and actions.
Hence the difficulty—the danger—which the people find of talking
over their grievances. and of concerting means for their redress. Bologna
has achieved a bloodless revolution ; Perugia and other places are tread-
ing in its steps : and if Rome is to follow their example, it must be by
the support and assistance which they can render her.
21st. The pope has diminished taxation to e considerable amounte.-
has been borrowing money on mortgage,—and having, as he supposes,
laid the restless spirits in Rome,and put the city under the protection of
the civic force just enrolled, has collected and marched off the whole of
his military strength, amounting to some Six thousand men, to put
down rebellion in the north. Whatever may be the reptile of this wove.
ment, it will certainly bring things to a wine ; the whole papal domi-
nions flutist either return to their allegiance. ter the whole be revolution-
ized. if the insurgents get the better, they will, of course, make an
immediate docent uoon Rome. 'Would you believe it, the newspapers
have not put torch a single remark—not even a line, by way of news or
iiitormatinr. on the events and transactions which have just taken place.
This may serve to give you some little idea of the spirit in which the
peas is eneducted. It is likely we shall return to England very soon ;
e e hold outwit-es in readiness to start at once.

a
A POETICAL LOA' ER.—William Hamilton, of Bangor,
as a tiosperate lover—in verse. A Scotch lady.wboui he annoyed with
is addresses, applied to Home, the author of Douglas, for advice how
1.1 get rid of them. He advised her to affect to favour his assiduities.
She did so, and—th..•y were immediately withdrawn. Shenstone was
n inamorato of the same species; he might have had his Phyllis,
,Itt never he chose to ask for her.

The List India Company's ships Duchess of Atholl and
Thomas Coiitts arrived off Portsmouth on the 13th instant.
They sailfil from China on the 18th of November, and St.
Helena on the 2d of February. They left at St.. Helena
the Dunira and William Faulk., which were to sail on the
follott ing dad•. The Abercrombie Robinson was expected to
leave China on the 25th of November, and to touch at the
Cape. Ail the regular ships had arrived in China when
the Duchess of Atholl and Thomas Coutts left.

Tier. MURDER AT BETHNAL GREEN.—At the ad-
Inquest yestoray some more witnesses were exa-
mined ; and although the proceedi.l6z lasted till near one
o'clock this morning, nothing materially occurred in addi-
tion to what transpired at the first examination.—The In-
quest was further adjourned to this day.
BROACH, THE UPHOLSTERER.—SeveraI more charges
of a similar description to those Weedy mentioned were yes-
terday preferred against 'the prisoner. He was remanded
for further examination.

PANORAMA OF THE BRITISH

EMPIRE.

LEEDS PATRIOT.

Sir I. V. B. Johnstone has been severely tasked for having asserted
in the House of Commons that all the workmen in the manufacturing
districts were fully employed, unless where it was their own fault, and
at no former period whatever did the wages which they received pur-
chase a greater quantity of the necessaries of life.
Mr. Beaumont, of Almondbury, has published that this speech is a
libellous insult upon the labourers of this district, inasmuch as a great
number of them are not half employed, and a great number more have
been fora long time, and are at prevent totally unemployed; and so far
are the wages which they receive from purchasing as great a quantity of
the necessaries of life as at any other period, that, when these men are
fully employed, at fifteen hon.. per day, they even then find it difficult
to get as much of the coarsest of food as will keep body and soul to-
gether. If Sir John had'been sincere in his enquiry, If he had been
really desirous of ascertaining the true state of this part df the country,
instead of visiting the stately mansions of the wealthy he would have
visited the wretched cottages of the labourer.
Mr. Dickenson, of the same place, publishes that the speech has
excited surprise and indignation, as destitute of feeling, a
speech of falsehood and insult. It is truly a bitter aggravation
of the wrongs and privations the labouring classes have endured
that tells the poor distressed labourers they have nothing to expect
from the over-gorged aristocracy, it is calculated to goad the starving
people (for such the labouring classes are) into acts of outrage and vio-
lence, I would ask the honourable gentleman, how many of the neces-
saries of life the miseuble pittance of 2id. per day will purchase? For
could take the hon. gent. to numbers who have no more than that sum
to live on per day • and these must be told by a sprig of nobility who is
fattening upon their labour that they are in comfortable circumstances.
And Mr. John Wood, chairman of a meeting at Kirkheaton, in a
letter to the Baronet, says—" We cannot omit saying that there never
was a statement more incorrect, as far as this district is concerned ; and
we have yet to learn that our neighbours are much better off than our.
selves. The labouring poor in this parish have been in general distress
for the last five years, with the exception of those employed is the fac-
tories ; and so far from its being their own fault,' many, with font-
lies, are employed on the highways at 10d. and Is. per day, who used to
be employed in manufactures at more than treble that amount."

In reply to all this, Sir J. Johnson states that " It is quite true I
made the speech attributed to me in the papers to which you allude, but
which was not quite correctly reported. It was made on the spur of
the moment, in answer to a sweeping assertion, as I conceived it, on
the part of Mr. Hunt, relative to the distressed state of the manufac.
Luring operatives in the North ; and all that I meant to corvey in my
answer was, that the workmen, generally, in the West Riding, were
better employed than has been the case for several years, and that owing
to the cheapness of most of the articles of life (clothing especially),
their wages would exchange for more comforts than formerly." On
which the Leeds Patriot sharply observes—" If we wanted to
" sbew up" Sir J. V. B. Johnstone, Bart. one of Mr. Baines's P's
for Yorkshire, we should desire nothing better to work with than this
letter. The writer evidently shews that he does not possess an atom a
information, but what he has derived from the Leeds Mowry. The
hon. Baronet's ideas area strange compound of bFCulloclt and Mer-
cury—Free Trade and Fancy Weaving—utterly beneath notice, were he
not M. P. for Yorkshire."

At a meeting of the committee of the Leeds Anti-Slavery Society,
Mr. Robert Jowitt in the chair, it was resolved unanimously—That
this committee retain unabated their desire for the extinction of negro
slavery, continuing to regard the system as utterly inconsistent with the
principles of religion and humanity ; and as this object has never been
espoused by them from party feelings, so no changes amongst
the Ministers of the Crown or the Members of Parliament,
can lessen their anxiety for its accomplishment, or their deter-
minating' to persevere, with renewed efforts, for its attainment.—
That this Committee, remembering the avowal of attachment to this
great cause by all the Members for this county, confidently exi.ect that
each of them will be found in his place in Parliament on the discussion
of this Question on the 29th of March, in order that the united and
strenuous support of the Representation of the County of York may be
given to the cause of Religion, Justice, Humanity, and sound Policy.
The Leeds petition against the Registry Bill has been sent off for
presentation. It was signed by 1,547 owners of real property in the
Borough, amongst whom are nine Aldermen, six Clergymen, two bar-
risters, three Physicians, nine Bankers, and almost all the principal
merchants and manufacturers in the place. Meetings in opposition to
the obnoxious measure, have been held in all the chief towns of the
county of York.
Yesterday, an inquest was held at the house of Mr. Matthew Ma-1
son, the Horn and Trumpet, in Briggate, on the body of Richard
Norton, paymaster-serjeant's clerk, in the 10th Hussars, lately quar-
tered at our barracks. It appeared from the evidence that thedeceased
was a native of Devizes. The verdict was—" That the deceased, R.
Norton, hanged himself during a temporary fit of insanity. At the
same time they wished to express in the strongest terms possible, the
disgraceful and culpable negligence displayed on this melancholy occa-
sion, by Mr. M. Mason, the landlord, in suffering the deceased to re.
main suspended an hour after be was first discovered, and they hoped
that the reporters present would give it the utmost publicity in the
newspapers."
Mr. Hunt said in his place in Parliament, on Saturday, that the
young men in Lancashire, are fast enterinkt into an engagement, that in
the event of their being ballotted to serve in the militia, they will rather
rot in gaol than serve, unless they have a voice in the election of mem-
bers of Parliament.

A meeting of the inhabitants of Manningham, near Bradford, has
been held, " to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning par.
liament for a full and fair representation of the people in the British
House of Commons." Mr. Joseph Town was unanimously called to
the chair.

Mr. Johnston, of Preston, Is giving a course of lectures In Leeds,
on the necessity for radical reform.
On Wednesday, John Wardl.le, otherwise Wardle, a well-known
"smasher," or wholesale dealer in counterfeit coin, was examined before
Thomas Binds, Esq. at the Court House, charged with having sold a
dozen base half-crowns. In his house was found a bag containing about
375 sovereigns and a quantity of silver plate.

WAKETINLD Coax-MaaKET.—We have this week but a moderate
ituantity of wheat fresh up, and of other grain the surly is less than
for some time. Although for wheat the holders generally are firm, the
market has been dull, and except for the best quality, even rather lower I
prices have been submitted to. There is very little good Malting Bar-
ley
here—such sells upon much the same terms as last week, but for
the interior sorts there is hardly any demand. Beans meet slow sale ar
rather less money. There has been more doing in Mealing cats and
Shelling at rather better prices than last week.
Wheat, per qr. of 601 b. to the bushel a 11. S.
Nortolk and Suffolk ... lied 66 to 72 Fine 76
Boston and Wiabeach ... do. 64 70 73
Riga and Petersburg .. 60 63 66
Archangel 64
111.4RR1ED.—Mr. Wm. Marshall to Mrs. Deborah Croft.—Mr.
R. N. Lister. of Bromley, to Miss Eleanor Bateson, of Farnley.—Mr.
Joseph Todd, to Miss Hannah Denton, both of Fernley.
DIED.—Mr. Francis Roper, of Bedford place.—At Bracewell, Eli-
zabeth, daughter of the late T. Cockshott, Esq.—The Rev. T. Laird.
40 years minister of the Independent Chapel, Pudsey.—.lllr. Thomas
Greenwood, organ builder, 61.-46, Mr. Thomas Craddock, stuff menu.
facturer.—Mary, wife of Mr. John Crampton, of Pudsey.— Mrs. Elie.
Stink, formerly of Otley.: