The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-21 00:00:00

SWITZERLAND.

BERNE, Max 18.
The Grand Council yesterday passed several arti-
cles of the new law on the press without opposition.
The article proposing to require a deposit of caution
money from responsible editorswas, however, thrown
out by 76 votes against 37. The debate wss ad-
journed.
A placard, dated Fribourg, May 13 and signed
" The Provisional Committee," has been Footed, to
urge a full attendance at the great meeting at
Posieux, on the 24th. The authorities ordered the
destruction of this manifesto, but it was found
to have been every where taken down be-
forehand. It urges the people to vindicate
in the face of day the sacred right of
meeting to declare their wants, to discuss their in-
terests, and to express their wishes. It counsels
them to march in order under the direction of a chief
chosen by the inhabitants of each commune, to ab-
stain from cries, insults, and provocations; not to
stop in any public places even for refreshment, but
to take with them provisions for the day, and, follow-
ing the precepts of the Gospel, to practice true fra-1
ternity, the rich helping the poor. Observing these
counsels, every man may hereafter be able to say
with pride, " And I also contributed to the pacifica-
tion and well being of my country ; I was at Posieux
on the 24th of May."

ITALY.
ROMAN STATES.
ROME, Mar 14.
The remonstrances of the British consular agent,
and the petition of the British residents in Rome, in
favour of Edward Murray, now under sentence of
death, according to the judgment recently passed by
the inquisitorial tribunal of the Sacra Consults,
appear as yet to have had but little weight with the
papal authorities, as no farther communication on
the subject has been received by Mr. Freeborn from
the Cardinal Secretary of State, and the prisoner
himself has been taken out of jail, together with the
participators in his condemnation, and sent off to
Ancona, as is generally believed, for execution; it
being customary in this country for criminals
to be shot or beheaded, as near as possible to the
places in which their crimes have been committed.
It is difficult to suppose that the extreme sentence of
the law will be thus carried out by the Papal autho•
rities, in defiance of every remonstrance against the
exceptional nature of the tribunal, and without com-
municating the details of the trial. In ordinary cri-
minal cases it is customary here to publish a sum-
mary of the facts, the evidence, and the sentence, on
the very morning of the prisoner's execution;
but if this system is observed in Murray's
case, it will be too late for the British
consul to be of any service to him by making
objection to the style of the judicial proceed-1
ings against him. Either British influence is stronger
, at Leghorn than at Civita Vecchia, or else the Tuscan
government is more blandly disposed than that of
his holiness, for I hear that the Stratford. are daily
expected to be released from confinement, and al-
lowed to depart in peace from Tuscany. Her Ma-
jesty's steam-frigate Growler will leave Leghorn so
soon as this point is accomplished.
'fhe apartments recently occupied by the Russian
princes at the Hotel des Isles Britanniques are now
consecrated to the use of a celebrity of a different
stamp, M. Thiers having been domiciled there for
the last two days. lie has arrived here on his way
southwards, from Lombardy and Tuscany, and will
stay some little time before proceeding to Naples, if
his presence does not give umbrage to the suscepti-
bilities of General Ocmcau and the French diplomatic
representative. Before entering the Papal domi-
nions, M. Thiers had the prudence to write
to Cardinal Antonelli, in order to ascertain
what kind of reception he might hope for in Rome,
and he soon received an answer from his eminence,
assuring him that the principles for which he had
suffered exile from his native country were too dear
to the Papal . government for any objection to be
made to his visiting the Eternal City. This victim
of Napoleonic jealousy is gone to pay his respects to
Cardinal Antonelli this morning, but he will most
probably abstain from requesting an audience of the
Pope, and leave it to his Holiness, is so disposed, to
command his attendance at the Vatican.

The Romans are just now in a very bad humour
at the evident determination of the government to
carry into effect the minister of finance's "new way
to pay old debte," in the shape of an annual contri•
bution, to be levied on all persons exercising the li-
beral professions throughout the Papal States. A mi-
nisterial order has just been published, announcing
that a list of the individuals in Rome liable to this
tax had been drawn up and presented to the Cardinal
Presidents of Rome and Comarca. The tax-payers
arc to consider themselves eight months behinaand
in their payments, for the accomplishment of which
they will be allowed time until the 15th of next
month. The amount of these contributions is so dis-
proportionate to the general rate of professional in-
comes in this country that great difficulty will be in-
evitably encountered in collecting the tax.
This tax has always excited serious disturbances
at Velletri, a city hitherto considered as devoted to
the papal authority. Many of the townspeople have
refused to pay, and their goods have been seized in
consequence and carried to the palace of the cardinal
legate, the keeper of the town depots having refused
to take them in, some of the government officials
have been dismissed for declining to act against their
tallow townsmen in this affair, which is likely to be
repeated in many other districts.
Exchange on London, 496. Roman Five per
Cent. Console, 96.
NAPLES.
NAPLES, MAY 14.
It is reported that his Sicilian Majesty is about
to follow the example of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
and publish a decree abolishing the constitution.
Such an event would be received with indifference
by the people, the last act of a tragedy, written with
tfie iodine of hypocrisy.
The French beetwill leave Naples in a few days
for Sicily.
Neapolitan Fives, 106. Sicilian Fives, 100. Ex-
change on London, 674.