To The Editor Of The Time...
| AOVERTISEM3ENT.1 Sir _ In four paper Of last-Tuesday, the 20th of July inst,, you hnave nsertedl an artiele signcel " John Smith, Chairmnan," diricated to Signor de Zlestre, treasurer to thc Italian Committee, in which the Engnflish Committee are mr.ade to express thleir satistaLtion for his correet and just distributionl among the Italians, of the sums intrust. Potent anl serious considerations have prevented us till now from makingarny disClosuires, the princi.al of whihl reasons was the feat of any way of Fending the members ot theEnglish Committee, for whom -we wiU aiways profess thelivelicst gratitude and greatest respect. But, as the said articlemigiht cause the public eocntertain an unfavourable opinion of the unfertunate Italian refugees, and to think that their but too just complaints against thclatecommitteeare ill-grounded, and their contendng for a rcddition of accotutts which they claim witb so muec rigbt and which so scanlalouhly the membera of the dislmissed Italisn Committee will not in any way. exhibit, is a very extrao?diti)ary proceeding; we see ourselveds under the necessity to depart froni our resolution in consequenCa of their arrogance, and to break a silence now become hurtful and prejudhicial. Notwith- standing, however, the novelty aid sinigu'arity of their acts and pre- tensions, we vill observe that circumspection the difficulty of the circumstanee reqnit,s, and which we owe to the English generosiry, the dignity of our own character, and honour of the Itahan refugees. Woe rssere, bowever, In tnwet to any arti* tlhi q9 px%t Icte et might call forth anj eXact relation of all.thb fa,t utiflties, ;n4 mnan - and dcapptid acts committed by the precedent ck )tnmttee to. etrds theif miserable countrymen, taking advantage of the?r wtetk less and disg3ram !-ce c.e'h T.o 7ia,ith* auttevoulrnble. interpretation, itud, to :rOt'We .the* ifuthlio be knoweti-we are constraincd to lay before the. pgbl1c. the rollowing explicitions, viiich cannot be doubted, sine6 2 they are rounded upon truth, justice, andl reaYon, and warranted 3by perran-. cent and incontrov'rtible facts, viz.- . 1. That the late Italian Committee, composed of MarcThese San- Alarzanrid Conte Torro, and Mlessrs. de Mestre, Cornati, anid Ange- loni, was appointed by the Italians with limited powers, and. fer the soleobject of receiving the.monies grarnted by seeveral Philanthropid Scleties. the English meeting, or private English andItalian bene- ficence, for the relief of the wants of the Italians, and distributing them equally, after having faithfully {stated the diQterent sumas to the. parties concerned. 2. That the said Committee havilngexceeded all the powers given them, and abused the confidence of their countrymen, these, after having exhausted all ronciliatory means to make them return to tea- son, observing the uselessness ot their attemps to obtain justice, were ohliged to dismiss them fiom a charge which they exercised in an inhuman, partial, and arbitrary manner, and in which they were contented to continue bv means far fronm honourable. 3. That the said Coimimittee having acknowledged their existence from thc will of the Italians, they were gonsequently bound by the decision of a mnajority of them, andl therefore obliged to give an at- couait to the same of tlheir administration and cotiduct. 4. That the examination of theaccounts mentioned in your paper of the 20(h of Jury inst., implies onlr a part of the Italian Commnit- tec's administratiorn, woto bfre recei.ved not indifferent sums whichl the generosity of private individuals, societies, corporations, have transmitted them for the relief of the Italiani refugees, and the re- ceipt or use of wich tlhey have taken patticalar eaie to k egp a screCt, 5. That the ?ood faitlh of the English Oomynittee misf have been I taken by surprise to give a certificate of such a nature to Signor De- | mestre andi his colleagues, whilst tse equity and correctness of tic distribution of the monies Intrusted to them cannot exist, and could not be substantiated. Ist. It cannot exist; for, besuies the many abusea and arbitrary measures which 'we folbear here to mention, only their iot having given any relief for the space of nearly two months to ten indivliuals, wli(t had perhtaps a particular claim to consider*eion, depriving themii thus of all mQeans of subsistence, and i leaving theum ex3oscd tO hunger and wretched;;css,_AVhil5t thpey wvere exactinlg t., monies granted weekly bv the gmetrosity of thle meeting, is a. constant and eyident proof of their want of equity and faithfulness. 31i, It could not be verified witliout the con- course of the administered, or one their deputee who must examine the authenticityof the iustiflcatiye pieces that may sup- port their just and impartial distributlon of the mnonies received from the meetinr, A&,c G. That the Englishi committee is quite foreign to any interven- tion in tile admlainistration of the monies the Italian committee has receive4 fro,n any other source; and further, that the sums grante by the generosityof the rTeeting to the Italian refufrces. who fought for the cause of liberty in Spain are beconme their property by their accepting the gift of them, and tiierefore the examination of all the accounts belongs by exclusive right to the sam.e, and through them o their new nmanigPrs. WVe finaliv add, that AMarchese San Mar- zano and Conte Torro, against all expectation, instead of giving the asked for account of their a(dministration, have removed fron Lon. "on, and that the ex-Treasurer, Signor Demestre, has not been able to make any answer to the official demands made him both by the Italian Committee. and Ar. Chippendale, attorney for the reddition of the said accounts. In thus exposing to the severe and unbiassed judlgmentofthe }nglish public, the present explications militating In favour of the Italian refugees, we beg ofit, in the name ofjustice, whieh is Its pe- culiar charactor. to observe that they have been provoked to come to such extremities by those who till noW Wanted to oppTess them, aand who procure bv all means to loose themR in public opinion, whiih thie Italians call tt their aid and protection. If, notwithstanding their innocence and reason. which isoii their side, they should be so unfortunate as to be fotsaken by their benefactors, the Italians will endeavour 10 console themselves in their utndeservetl disgrace-by the consciousness of their having given no cause for it, and of their havine preferred hunger and all the attendants of misery to the humniliation and degradation their -ppressors had condemned them is,ande to whom in their turn they leave the barbarous and diagracefrl satisfaction of se base a vengeance. Accept, illr. Editor, the assurance of out unfeignel respect, in behalf of ihe Italian Corn- I mittce. G('OLONMIL PAFFAELLE TOERIO. TO TIlE EDITOR OF TITA TIMES.