- 331tortIlantono.

We have reason to believe that Sir William Denison, K.C.B., who has been for six years Governor of New South Wales, will in all probability succeed the late Sir Henry Ward as Governor of Madras.—Globe, We recently had occasion to comment on the administration of Prussian justice—or rather the administration of the Code Napoleon, the over- praised body of arbitrary laws, in Rhenish Prussia. The following letter, addressed to the Times by " Civis," explains a new feature in Prussian character-

" It is not many days since you gave an account of and commented on the ruffianly violence used by the Prussian officials to an unoffending English traveller ; but can you imagine the Prussian Customhouse officers having the insolence to attempt to board and search her Majesty's yacht Fairy when going up the Rhine to wait the orders of her Royal mistress at biaycnce ? The attempt was made at Emmerich, and the Customhouse officers had a narrow escape of being run down, boat and all, by the indignant officers of the yacht. Enraged at being frustrated in their outrageous attempt, the Customhouse people telegraphed to their comrades at Cologne, when another attempt was made to board the yacht, but of course admittance was refused. The Cologne authorities then had the audacity to refuse permission to the officers of the yacht to land, although in their uniform, until the British Consul made his appearance on the scene and rather altered the case. Tele- grams were sent to Berlin, and in due course orders were received to allow the yacht to proceed to Mayence without further molestation."

"We believe," says the Globe, remarking on this ourtage, "we may say that it is a thing unheard of in the civilized world (it certainly is in England) to exercise any Customhouse inquisition in the case, not merely of august personages, but of foreign public personages of any kind. Even Cardinal Wiseman passes unsearched, and may smuggle unchallenged into England whole stores of red hats, violet gloves and stockings, or any other contraband wares he pleases. The English at Bonn were not so far wrong lately—though the supposition seemed extravagant—in put- ting the case of her Majesty travelling in Germany, and meeting insult and ill-usage, such as her private subjects have recently had to encounter from Rheno-Prussian functionarism. This last most outrageous doing of these gentry has fairly put them out of court as future witnesses, or fitting castigators, of alleged English improprieties."

Lord Llanover has improved the occasion of his visit to Naples by laboriously examining the prisons, of which we have heard so much

from the pen of Mr. Gladstone and others. Lord Llanover, whose letter appeared in the Times, before being introduced to the first of the series of prisons, was told that the Neapolitan dungeons were "paradise" in com- parison with those in Sicily. The Prefettura was first visited-

" We were shown into a dark room. We ordered the door to be closed, and the light was very imperfectly seen through an iron grating over the door. The room was about twelve feet square. We were assured that it had been cleaned out some time ago, but the smell was very bad. At the end of this room was a door which, on being unlocked, was found to open into another cell. Into this place no light or air could enter. It was about twelve feet wide by about sixteen long ; near the door it might be nine or ten feet high. But a few feet from the door the roof sloped downwards until it nearly touched the floor. These two rooms may be called the 'lock-up' of the Prefettura. They were used to receive persons of all kinds who were taken up on suspicion, and who were lodged there previous to their depo- sitions being taken. These rooms were seldom cleaned, and were described as reeking with filth and every sort of abomination when they were occu- pied, and they were used for purposes too disgusting to describe, and too horrible to contemplate. In these rooms persons were placed on bare suspi- cion, and there they were detained for eight or ten days, or more, at the ar- bitrary will of the authorities under whose orders they were arrested We were then shown into a room about twenty feet square, without any light or air, and in which the stench was so bad that not one of the party could remain in the room for literally one minute, and vet this room had been cleaned out and is now in use. What must have been its condition when the tyrannies practised by the late King were in full operation ! But in this room were placed persons of all degrees, suspected of political or other

offences. They were left there for days without any trial or any inquiry, and we are informed by one of the officers that instances had been known of persons so incarcerated, who, when taken out at the expiration of eight or ten days, had been partially devoured by the rats, which swarm in this charnel-house !"

Poerio's dungeon, so specially interesting from our subsequent know- ledge of the distinguished prisoner, is vividly described- " Some boards were fixed on the aide of the cell, on which was placed a mattress about six feet long and two feet wide. We saw some of these mattresses, which were filthy in the extreme. To render the punishment of imprisonment more severe, the view from the windows was denied to the unhappy inmate of the cell ; heavy shutters were put up, which were kept closed, and in these shutters were pierced four round holes, of about an inch in diameter, but so high that the prisoner could not look through them. Behind these shutters were windows, which were necessarily closed also, so that no air could be admitted, and the same stench that rendered the cells of the Prefettum pestiferous, must have been inhaled by Poerio and the other victims of tyrannical persecution. These shutters were useless as a precaution against escape, inasmuch as not only was there a heavy iron grating to each window, but, supposing this impediment to escape had been overcome, the height of the window from the ground was so great that any person attempting to leave the prison must have been dashed to pieces.

"But every species of suffering that the ingenuity of tyranny could de- vise seemed to have been inflicted on the prisoner. There is one cell so low as not to admit of an upright posture. In this cell was confined a priest named Saro. He was a cousin to Agesilao Milano, and being his cousin, and for no other reason that I could learn, he was suspected of being impli- cated in a conspiracy with his cousin. I was told that a sort of wall was built in one corner of the cell, out of which inclosure the prisoner could not stir, and at different periods vases containing the filthiest matter were emp- tied upon him. In No. 7 is a large sketch on the well of a Madonna, and wretched on one of the folds of the garment are these words—' Virgin° irri- macolata, liberate quest'uomo innocente,' and on the other side I saw the following inscription, evidently written by a different hand—' Virgins San-

ajutate Finnocenza, 20 Marro, 1860;' thus showing that the un- fortunate prisoner was confined there up to the very time when Ganbaldi made his attacks on Palermo, one :of the consequence of which was the

pardon or release of many. political prisoners. In cell No. 8 was also in- scribed—' Guglielrno Maatmese de Leeoe sepolto vivo per 4 mesi in queato carcere nel 1860.' " There are subterranean dungeons under St. Elmo ; and the prison of Ischia where at one time Poerio was immured, are also minutely pour- trayed-

" The first cell into which we were shown was No. 13. It was dark, damp, and gloomy ; at one end of it was a small grated window, being a borrowed light. In this cell Felice Capellano was immured for eight months. Near to it a small winding staircase led to a sort of well, in which a man could only just stand without moving from right to left, and which we are told was constructed by order of the King. Another staircase led to the Nuova Galleria.,' a large vaulted room with a broad piece of stonework built round parts of the two sides, which we were told was the bed. Fifty- three Swiss soldiers who had mutinied were confined in this chamber. It would be useless to enumerate the different cells and dungeons and the places of terror which were shown to us. If I attempted to do so I should only repeat the horrors I have most imperfectly described, and if I were to enter minutely into the details of St. Elmo I should fill at least two sides of your paper. It is probable that this great fortress may be dismantled by Garibaldi ; at the present moment the guns which were pointed towards the town, and which were a constant source of terror to the inhabitants, are reversed in their position, and the fort is occupied by the National Guard and a few of the Bersaglieri from Piedmont. At Ischia," say Lord Llanover, " we entered a guardroom, in the centre of which was a raised structure, somewhat like a table, but under the top part were gratings, through which the soldiers could look down into the rooms in which the prisoners were confined. We were conducted down a flight of steps to a lower floor, and approached a heavy iron-grated gate. Inside this gate and in the thickness of the wall was a turnabout,' similar to those for the exit of visitors at the Zoological Gardens, but as high as the roof, and made of strong timber, and through which only one person could pass at a time. Inside this 'turnabout' was another heavy iron-grated gate, and having passed this we were in the courtyard in which Pnerio and others were per- mitted to walk in chains, and chained in pairs r

"The court-yard is open to the -sky, but has ncr side view, excepting through the grated gates above described. in the wall of the yard, and on the right, there is a grating about 3 feet square; at the bottom of which is a nearly semicircular opening of about 12 Males across and 9 inches high. We were told that this was the 'taverns,' that the prisoners were allowed to buy some extra food if they could do so, and which food was delivered to them through the little opening I have alluded to. I inquired what became of those who could not provide the means for purchasing extra food, and the answer was, "They were obliged to do as well as they could on the prison

allowance,' which was described both wretched. and insufficient.' The officer said that. Poeria did much for his fellow-prisoners, and that he shared with them all he had. The room in which these unfortunate men slept and lived in chains was of the same character as those we had previously visited, and in this place Poerio was incarcerated for about two years as a political prisoner. I send this account of what I have seen, but have said little of that which I have heard, and of the horrors which were detailed to me. I intended, as I have already stated, to see more ; but my intentions were frustrated by the filth which I had to encounter, and which was perfectly intolerable. However, one additional scene was only the counterpart of a former one."

- • " T " communicates a letter to the Times, which calls for explanation illrom the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company-

" Aden, September 11.

"'I think I told you in my last letter that we were going to take French troops on board at Suez. It turned out to be true ; and, though all the surgeons on board protested that it was very dangerous to take troops and overcrowd the ship at this season of the year, we went to sea. The conse- quences have been that we lost three passengers, besides having a good deal of sickness on board ; there was hardly any accommodation for the sick ; the cabins were as hot as ovens. I expect we shall start again this evening with the troops still on board. The passengers have signed a protest about the state of the ship, but I tun afraid the directors will take no notice of it. Mr. Dunn, Member for Dartmouth, was one of the passengers who died on board. He was buried here this morning ; and poor Mrs. Dunn goes back to England by the next mail."

Mr. Joseph Bond, a gentleman well known in sporting circles, has made a proposal to the Stewards of the Jockey Club, that 10 per cent an- nually of the value of the stakes for the Derby and the Oaks shall be set apart as an allocation for the use of six of the London Hospitals. Mr. Bond offers to contribute an equivalent sum on his own account in the hope of permanently increasing the funds by inducing the Club to ac- elst his proposal and stimulating subscriptions from other members of Tsttersall's.

Information has been received at the Admiralty, from her Majesty's Secre- tary of State for Foreign Affairs, that the lighting on the Austrian coast of the Adriatic is reestablished.

The Commander-in-Chief expounds in a "circular memorandum," for the benefit of magistrates, that the meaning of the words "on duty," in the 71s clause of the Mutiny Act is to exempt officers from payment of tolls, whether in private vehicles or not, if on duty. But the Duke promises the remova of ambiguity next session.

A deputation from Nottingham, consisting of Messrs. Heymann and Man- del's, has gone to Paris to assist Mr. Cobden in arranging the details of th French treaty.

The Earl of Aberdeen has returned to Haddo House from his marine re- sidence near Peterhead. The venerable statesman is enjoying much better health. Colonel the Honourable Alexander and Mrs. Gordon, and the Honourable Arthur Gordon, are staying at Haddo House with their father.

Dr. Chapman, appointed Bishop of Colombo in 1845, has resigned. The salary is 2000/. a year, payable out of the Colonial Bishoprics fund.

The town council of Wolsingham have unanimously chosen Mr. George Russell, of the Oxford Circuit, to fill the vacancy in the recordship oc- casioned by the death of Mr. Augustus F. Carrington. The Marquis de Moustier, French Ambassador to the Court of Vienna; has returned to his post.

The health of the King of Prussia continues much the same. It is feared the bad weather may prevent his long walks, which do him much good. All the terraces at Sans-Souci are lighted up every evening, to enable him to remain out in the air as long as possible.

The Earl of Leven and Melville died on Monday, at Melville House, in his seventy-fifth year.

The remains of the Reverend Alexander Fletcher, D.D., of Finsbury, were interred at Abney Park Cemetery on Monday, in the presence of a concourse of six thousand persons. Dr. Fletcher annually addressed the children of the Sunday schools on Christmas-day, and no man, probably, ever surpassed him as an orator capable of impressing young minds.

The saints and archangels are against the Poise. The Giornale di Roma informed its Italian readers that on the 29th of September the Pope went in state to the Basilica of the Vatican, in order to be present at the solemn triduurn in honour of the Archangel Michael, whose intercession was in- voked for the deliverance of the church. Whereupon the Corriere Mercan- tile of Genoa, with diabolical malice, observes how strange it is that on that identical day Ancona was occupied by the Piedmontese.

A solemn requiem mass was sung on Sunday morning at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Chapel, Soho Square, "for the repose of the souls of the brave men who have laid down their lives in the cause of our Holy Father the Pope."

On the 6th, a funeral ceremony was performed at Geneva, to celebrate the memory of Count Louis Batthiany, who was shot at Pesth on the 6th of October, 1849, and of the thirteen Hungarian generals who were hanged on the same day at Arad. Count Ladislas Teleki, General Klapka, and all the Hungarians residing in Geneva, together with a number of Italians, French, and citizens of Geneva, were present at the ceremony.

The Union and L' Ami de la Religion announce that they have received a notice from the Minister of the Interior, forbidding any subscription for a sword of honour to be presented to General Lamoriciere.

The Registrar-General reports 1075 deaths last week, being a slight in- crease on that of the previous week. The births were 982 boys and 834 girls total 1816, or an increase over the average of the same week in ten years of 351.

Mr. William Cohen, in a letter to the Times, reports the first fall of snow this year. On Monday., journeying by mail-coach from Keswick to Win- dermere, the driver pointed out "snow on Helvellyn." Last year the top of the mountain was not covered till the 22d October.

Commercial failures continue to occur, and the revelations of balance- sheets are not encouraging. Meetings of creditors have been held this week ; in the case of Archer and Son, flour-factors ; liabilities, 35,6871.. assets, 14,918/. ; a composition of 78. 6d. was offered, but amended, and Sc was accepted. Speculations in corn are stated as the cause of insolvency; and in connexion, "accommodation paper has been resorted to." The affairs of Mr. Thomas Nokes, of West Thorrocks Alills, show liabilities 18,0511„ " of which 13,2341. were for bills receivable, and in part repre- sented some irregular transactions with Messrs. Archer." The assets are 5090/., and 68. in the pound is to be accepted. Two failures at Manchester are reported—Messrs. Sosiano, Brothers, and Co., for 60,0001.; and Messrs. Lambichi, Brothers, for 25,000/.

The City writer of the Times tells a painful story in connexion with the management of the Pennsylvania Railway, U.S. An extraordinary inquiry is in progress as to the plunder practised by the employes. "Twenty-one persons are already implicated, and these seem to have the power of impli- cating others in much higher position, so that there is a strong desire for concealment. With one exception, the whole of the conductors of the line are understood to have long carried on a daily system of misappropriation. Some of them have confessed and disgorged as much as they were able. One gave up 5001., another 3000/. Others had lost all in gambling, and had nothing to return. In one instance, 17/. was proved to have been embezzled by a conductor in a single trip. This man, however, whose pay was 140/. per annum, on being asked by the examining committee how he had con- trived in a few years to accumulate 70001., replied that he would give a satisfactory answer if the party who put the question would explain how he himself had contrived to become worth 60,000/."

The brig St. Lawrence, of North Shields, was stranded on the island of Bofnholin, and shortly became a total wreck. Five of the crew, the captain, and the mate are lost ; the names of the survivors are not known as yet.

The Chamber of Citizens of Hamburg, on the 5th, resolved, by 70 votes to 50, that civil marriages should not be made obligatory, but should be allowed if required by the parties.