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    April 11, 1857.] THE LEADER. 341

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    OUR -CIVILIZATION:.-. . . ' . . ¦ . — ' ...

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    Continental Notes. Fr/Vnck. " The Jesuit...

    Diplomatic communication , between Austria and Sardinia S for the present suspended . " When the Imperial Royal Government ordered the Austrian Legation to quit Turin , " says the Oesterreicfiische Correspondenz , "it expressed its resolve that the measure should not be prejudicial to Sardinian subjects travelling to or residing in Austria , and the Sardinian Cabinet has declared that the cessation of the diplomatic relations sTiall neither interrupt the intercourse of Austrian subjects with Sardinia , nor be prejudicial to the rights of the same . In

    the official communication involved in this question the grievances of Austria against Sardinia were not toucled on . " The Sardinian , residents in Austria have been placed under the protection of M . de Bourqueney , the French minister at 'Vienna . In the despatch of the Sardinian Government to the Marquis de Cantano , recalling him from the Austrian capital , the previous recal of Count Paar from Turin is alluded to as an " unjustifiable" step ; but the general tone of the document is courteous towards Austria .

    The murrain has appeared among the cattle at TTngarisch-Hradisch , a station on the Northern Railroad ,, at a distance of about one hundred English miles from Vienna . Until now , only two oxen have died , but a cordon has been established , and the price of meat must rise , as there is a great cattle market at TIradiscli . — Times Vienna CoiT & spondent . ¦ ¦ ¦ ... MONTEXEGRO . A civil war is thought likely to break out shortly in Montenegro , the Russians haxing , for certain state reasons , conceived a strong feeling against Prince Daailo , and some new laws and taxes having given offen ce to the people . nELGiniiT .

    vicount v ilam XIV ., the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs , has spoken in the Chamber of Representatives with great indignation on the subject of the Protectionist riots at Tonrnay , during which there -were cries of " Throw the English into the water ! " The Minister remarked that such an exhibition of spiteful prejudice was peculiarly painful on account of its coming so quickly after the generous eulogium on Belgium pronounced by Lord Palrnerstoii at Tiverton .

    - . . . . ¦ ¦' .. •¦ ITALY . - ¦ ... ¦ The Grand Duke of Tuscany has declined , " for the present , " to conclude a Concordat with the Pope . The King of Naples , it is said , has intimated the same refusal , while professing unbounded love for the Holy See , and a willingness to make voluntary concessions . A Neapolitan Concordat , howeveiyis talked of ; . A bill for the reconstruction of the Jewish congregations in Sardinia has been introduced into the Chamber of Deputies . According to its provisions , says the Turin correspondent of the Times , " . all Jewish congregations composed of persons residing in the same commune will form separate corporate bodies . They w ill therefore be invested with certain privileges , and have the right of

    holding property . They will be governed , by Councils of Administration elected by tlic whole of the ratepayers . The Councils will he charged with arranging the general expenses of religion and administration . . Tlic expenses will be divided among the members of tlie congregation , according to their position , th & ir professions , and their means . The poor—those who do not pay any direct tax to the State—will be exempt from all charge . The Rabbis are to be elected by the votes of th o ratepayers . The bill encountered some opposition from those who would have liked to see lull and entire liberty granted in all matters of religion ; but the House finally expressed its approbation by a majority of 2 'J—i . e ., 7 (> to 47 . "

    Prince Rinaldo Simon etti has been placed under arrest in his own house at Bologna under ratlier peculiar circumstances . When the Emperor of Austria was in Italy , a certain linonafede , who liad been in confinement in Mantua , or Alilan , appeared in Bologna , and , by a piteous tale of ill-usage , induced the Prince to employ him in his household as an accountant . After a time , suspicions of the man were entertained ; he was watched , and a letter was intercepted wliich proved that he was an Austrian spy . Tlie Prince reproached liuonafede with his ingratitude ati < l treachery ; on which the man went to the Austrian Commandant ( to whom the letter had been addressed ) and told him what hiul

    occurred . 1 he Commandant , it is stated , then required of Monsignor Amici , the Pnpnl Commissioner Extraordinary , thut Prince Simonctti and n clerk at the Postoflice , suspected of being concerned in tho interception of the letter , should bo imprisoned . This was at once done with respect to tho clerk , but the Prineo it was thought necessary to deal with more circumspectly . However , he was confined to his own bouso , and a sentinel was placed at the door of his apartment , to prevent his issuing forth . Monsignor Amici afterwards visited and interrogated him , and , having reported the affair to his own Government , received un order to release tho Prineo from arrest , but at the smno time to recommend him to retire to his country-house .

    A letter from Florence , of the 29 th of March , states that the small financial world in Tuscnny is in motion , ia consequence of tho principal merchants of Florence and Leghorn having announced their intention to establish a Tuscan bank , having branches in tho principal

    towns , issuing notes , discounting commercial bills , lending money on a deposit of public securities , and opening accounts current . The managers propose to lend 4 , 000 , 000 livres to the Government , who on their part engage to receive the notes of the bank in all the public offices . ¦' . .. ¦¦ Count Cavour received on the 2 ud of April a provincial deputation , thanking him-for-the language lie held in defence of the Italian cause at the Congress of Paris . On the other hand , the Neapolitan Government has made a complaint to that of Sardinia ahout the circulation of a medal struck in remembrance of Bentivegno , the chief of the late Sicilian insurrection , and of Milano , who attempted the life of the King of Naples . As the medal was struck at Geneva , in Switzerland , and has never been publicly sold in Sardinia , Count Cavour has remonstrated against being connected in any -way with the matter .- — MornbifT Star .,

    A placard , signed " The People of the City of Palermo , " has been circulated among the Neapolitans . It is highly revolutionary . i ; Ferdinand II ., " say the writers , " is crime personified . All that belongs to him is corrupt . The tree must fall with its branches . Repel the sword with the sword , the dagger with the daggerlife for life . . . . Pardon his ( the King ' s V yoimg wolves , yes ; but him , or the perfidious Austrian , never . . . . Long live Italian unity !" '¦ . . , ' . SPAIN .- . .. ' ¦ ¦ ¦ The elections in Spain have given a large majority to the Government ; but it is anticipated that , after the Cortes have inet , there will be many defections from the present avowed ; supporters of .-Karvaez , and that the

    various sections of the Opposition , uniting , will be able to damage , if not upset , the Ministry . At any rate , the success of the ruling party , whether temporary or permanent , seems to have been obtained by illegality , corruption , and the unsparing exercise of arbitrary power ; and the Government has exhibited a spirit of spitefulness where it has failed . Don Rafael Navascues , Governor of the province of Cadiz , has been deposed from his office because the Opposition candidates have succeeded there , contrary to all expectation—a result which , it is thought , the Governor sliould have prevented . The tyranny exercised over . the press is as rigorous as ever . 'The Iberia is to be prosecuted for an article questioning : the legality of the elections , and the Governiiieiit demands a penalty ' . of 800 , 000 reals .

    . ¦ ¦ . _ . ¦ ¦ . . ""• ¦ . ; SWKDKNV ; . ¦ ¦ ... - ¦¦ . ¦' . - - . . - The Diet has unanimously approved the abolition of the Sound Dues and the treaty concluded with the various powers . ; DENMAltlC . The Nord of Brussels says that , in the reply of tlie Cabinet of St . Petersburg to the circular despatch of M . de Sclieele , Russia . recommends Denmark to display deference and conciliatory dispositions towards the great German . powers , and solicits her to discuss the question ¦ with Germany ill a direct manner , without lieigbtening the difficulties by any intervention of other parties .

    DAXl'BIAJJ l'KIJf CIPAI . ITHS 3 .. A liorrible act of butchery has been committed by some Turkish soldiers on a gardener and his wife in the service of a Prussian , living at Bucharest . The latter was reported to be in possession of a considerable sum of money , which attracted the cupidity ol * several men in a Turkish regiment recently stationed in tho town . Luckily for the owner of the property , he only resided at Jluchfirest < 1 tiring the summer months , leaving his houses for the -winter in charge of his gardener , who lived there with his wife and two children , consisting of a boy niioitt eight years old , and a baby . One evening the . soldiers forcibly entered tlin house , and , to the great Hiirprisc and terror of the inmates , peremptorily ordered the man to

    deliver up his money to them . Three roubles wa . s all that he was able to & ive the riilHnn . * , at which they -were so exasperated that they . seized an axis and struck both tlie man and his wife several heavy blows with it , hiidcing and mangling their bodies in a frightful manner . An ahum was at once raised by their eldest child , but , before any assistance could be obtained , the perpctr .-itors of the outrage had lied , leaving tlie bodies of the m ; m nnd woinun lifeless on the floor of th < s room . The husband ' s skull was cKft in two , the axe still remaining in it , iind pinning him to the ground ; the baby lay stretched on its mother ' s breiut , and , although covered with blood , was altogether unhurt . No traces of tinmurderers have yet been discovered , the murdered iiihh ' n

    son not having boon aide to . identify any mun in the Turkish regiment , which hits been repeatedly paraded since tlie commission of the crime . Sonic persons assort that the authors of tins deed were Austrian soldiers in Turkish uniform , , but tlie only reasons for supposing this scorn to lie in the fnct of the assassins not being recognised by the boy amongst the Turks , and of tho murder being committed in the quarter where the Austrian troops were billeted . When , however , wo call to memory the numberless atrocities committed by the Auatriana during their occupation of the Principality , anil when , moreover , we find that the Turks have been free from any imputation of disorderly conduct , the reasons given for suspecting the troops of Francis Joseph acquire not a little force .

    April 11, 1857.] The Leader. 341

    April 11 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER . 341

    Our -Civilization:.-. . . ' . . ¦ . — ' ...

    OUR -CIVILIZATION :.-. . . ' . . ¦ . — ' ¦ —?——A SOMERSETSHIRE MURDER . A tkiai . for murder terminated the Spring Assizes at Taunton on Friday week , when Thomas Nation , a young man , was charged with slaying John Aplin , at Wiveliscom be , on the 23 rd of last December . The story was clearly told in the able summing-up of the Judge ( Lord Chief Justice Cockburn ) , and we reproduce the narrative as there set forth : — " The prisoner and the deceased were together during the greater pnrt of the day on which the murder was committed , aud it was proved that Aplin had five sovereigns in his pocket . The ostler said the-prisoner insisted upon going in the cart with the deceased . Alpin ( who was drunk ) took out his-money , and Thomas Alpin

    ( his brother ) said , ' Put up your money again in your purse ; ' he did so , and tbe ostler said the prisoner could hear and see that . The horse was young ami spirited . Aplin was starting when Nation jumped up into the cart and wanted to drive , but tlie deceased said he would drive himself , and they went off at a slow pace ' shortly before nine . They went through the turnpike , cam 0 back again , nnd then returned . What it was they turned back for is not known . Nation spoke to tho turnpike woman . They were then going on towards their home . At a point where Grant's-lane ' -turned o £ 3 " , a man named Waterman , who was at work at the corner , said lie saw a curt with two men in it turn down the lane . No other cart had gone through the turnpike .

    lie saw a barrel in the cart , and A pirn ' s cart had a barrel in it when tlicy started from Wiveliscombe . AVaterman hoard ; thc church clock strike nine at the time he saw the cart . The cart was now traced into the cutting in Grant ' s lane , and it must have been half an hour in Grant's-lane before the dead body was discovered . A person named Slocombe and his wife were passed by the cart . The horse was galloping . There was then , apparently , no one in tlie . cart . Mr . and Mrs . Slocombe walked slowly on to their home , half a mile off , and it was then ten minutes to ten . Then the witnesses spoke to the cart stopping and to finding the dead body of the deceased in . it . The body was searched , but there was no money nor purse . They then had evidence of the

    distances between the several points . Dr . Edwards came , and he traced back the marks of a horse's lioof till he came to a pool of blood , the size of a sheet of blottingpaper . Dr . Edwards afterwards described the state of the body . When did ¦ . they , next see or hear of the prisoner ? lie was seen by a young girl some distance oil" at ten o ' clock , and she hail a conversation with him , and they wished each other ' . good night . ' The alarm of murder ha « l been given , and , as it was known that Nation had bcx-n last seen with Aiilin , the constables went to his father'shoii . so , sonic ciyht mile ' s , oil ' , lie was not to be found . They watched the road , aiid about seven' in the morning the prisoner was observed craning , and they took him . They proceeded to search him , and they des-cribed what they found upon him . They tlien came to a footmark , and that was very important . Were thov satisfied that

    thut was the track oi the prisoner ' s boot ? because , jf they were , it was evident Unit the prisonur had gone from that spot on foot , lie must have gone there in the cart , and'returned on I ' imt . If , therefore , ' they traced him to the spot , what was the inference ? The evidence weighed with fearful force , . against the prisoner , and the lea rued counsel for tin-. defence had endeavoured to meet it . It wiis for thorn to say whether they thought tlie evidence identified tho track with the boot . The nails wen ! put in irregularly . Would that have happened to another- boot , although made by the sninc maker ? They then had the evidence of Mi . Jlorepnth , Hie analytical chemist , hh to the blood . Itliud been proved that on that < lay ( lie prisoner Jmd tluee teeth drawn , it would be dangerous , therefore , to attach any great , importance to the fact of some few iiiiimlc spots of blood being found on his clothes , lint , then came this'knife . The

    question was , was tln .-ro blood found on the knife ? Was it . liumau blond V 'J'hey would take the . kuife and look at , it . Mr . IlerepatJi had explained to them his view of it . lie mi id it could not . be tlie blood of an animal , as described by the prisoner . It exuitcfl . fmi'iirise . when they heard that Nation had eaten his meat raw . Still , that might be so . [ Some , of tho witnesses had Ktated that it . is not uncommon in that pnrt of the . country for tin : lower orders to cat . their meat raw when they have not got the timu or the meitiiH to cook it . 'J 15 ut Mr . Hi ' t'cpatli took iii . on himself to « ay it was not tho blood of a dead animal . It wa . s living blood , and it wa « human blood , arid he bad . shown them the marvellous powers of

    the modern microscope . At the same time , admitting the great advantages of science , they were conning to great , niceties indeed when they tt [> cculutcd < upoa things ulmo . il beyond perception , and lie would advise them not to convict <» n this scientific speculation alono . Then came the fact about the money . Nation at first denied having more than one Hovercign and l () d . in copper . Ultimately ho gave up three more sovereigns , but no silver . Aplin had five Hovereignu ; and on the prisoner were found Tour . What had become ; of the other sovereign ? it might have dropped in tlie ficufile . Tlic father says he let him have the money , and had given « n account ol tho money ho had , which had been confirmed hv the

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 11, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11041857/page/5/