The Express.
London, England, 1848-07-27 00:00:00

ITALY.

NEAPOLITAN INVASION OF SICILY.
NAPLES.— A letter from oar Naples oorre-
spondent of the 17th inst., which we subjoin, brings the
important news that in consequence of the intelligence
of the election of the Duke of Genoa as li;ng of
Sicily, preparations on an extensive scale for the inva-
sion of Sicily were made. This inteldgence appeared
t xelusieely in part of our impression yesterday. Orders
were issued to prepare all the steam-frigates and gun-
boats in the bay. and harbour, and all the commercial
steamers were seized, as well as every description of
boat capable of carrying arms.
The British merchants resident in Naples were
made to contribute to the forc..l loan. The Five per
Cents. fell to 851.
Our correspondent writes as follows :
NAPLES, JULY 17.
Minor events, in the Neapolitan political world, are at the
present moment entire ly absorbed in the threat. ned Inca.
s.on of Sicily by the King of Naples. In consequence of the
news that the second son of Charles Albert had been chosen
King of Sicily by the parliament assembled in Palermo,
orders were lamed to prepare stnin-frigates and gun boa%
as well as to detain all trading reamers now in thenaants
y of
Naples. Every description of boat capable of bear
has been seized by the government, as well as all milers
employees in the coasting trade, not only at Naples but in the
islands of the kingdom. The prsperattons for the army are
equa`ly active. The Jib and 10.11 losst, which bare just re-
turns d from Lombardy in a very disorganised state, Mg
under orders. The whelp army is being augmented
in every possible way. The party in Naples
which regards any event threatening the prMat
dynasty with pleasure are in high spirits. The ti feat'
cued invasion is looked upon se a hopeleffort 0
tie part of Naples, since the Sicilians are united, endin
Albert is certainly strong enoneh to protect his s. n,
saosll
events require it.
I hear a British steamer is to bring the now King of Sled/
to the Wald. It now remains to be seen if the Nesellitaa
chambers will accord with the desire of the Kiag to :nude
Sicily. Lip to the present moment the constitution bag been
a dead letter, but so important
.a question as the pretest
must of =me: ay call forth the opinion of the house.
;sad
There are some 20,000 Neapolitan troops in Calabria and
the citadel of Messina may contain 5,000 men : thred frese, ,^tb
about 8,000 or 8,000 troops, which may still be spios
the city cf Naples, will form the army of inva
anion,
the It is To'
nerrilly believ..d the troops will leave Naples ut
of this month, and land at Syra use. I have visivd
of the steamed, and, from what f can sea and hsar, a OS
deal must be done before they can go to sea. T.te
have been much neglected, and there are only some
mine sr
four English engineers caplhle uf putting the kh
The Fret.ch fleet is at Palermo and Messina, 'AA pasa
WO English frigates sod steamers. Fier hitOty's
.steelar

Porcupine is expected from Genoa, with official despatches
for Naples.
The Calabrian revolt has been almost entirely quelled by
the Coy,' forces, with a loss. however, of • considerable num-
ber of officers and men. On the 14th a Neapolitan steamer ,
captured • trading vessel very near Corfu, containing several
chiefs of the insurrection' who were flying from Calabria for
Sicily. The Teasel was taken by stratagem. It appears the
Neapolitan steamer hoisted the Bri ish flag, spoke the trader,
and by this means capturel her, bringing the crew to Naples.
Amongst them are Giacomo Lunen, Delifrange, Dinette,
Libiotti (a Piedmontese ceiteral). Burgle, and 27 ethers,
leaders of tho Calabrian rcv.et. 'Dun is a question
now rending, whether the Neapolitans were justified
in using the British dig, or capturing • vessel in
the British dominions. I have not karat the result. An
English lade, the wife of one of the Sicilians taken, has been
liberated. The irsurgents, on their arrival at Naples, were
taken to St. Elmo, the political prison of this city. It is
supposed the leads r' wid be shot.
The Chamber of Deputies, after a long deliberation on the
15th, have agreed to form a commis-ion to inquire into the
finance et the Isingdom. There is a deficit of ten millions
of ducats. This is the first really practical step which the
constitteional parliament has m tile. From what we hove
seen there appears to be a sad want of knowledge in tie
means to be employed in bringing about any useful reforms.
The bad government ard ignorance of past years will long
act as a stumbling-blxk to the new constitution.
There is still a very hat feeling existing between the
troops and the people, and scarcely a day passes without
some outrage. Yestertiny the coachman of the Twean
minister had his arm nearly cut off by one of the royal
guards. The journals we continually atta,king the official
organ of the governmen• for its false statements. Tue King
has not appeared in public since the 27th of May.
The forced loan, in which the British merchan's were
made to participate, has been paid by them with • proter, as
they are exempt by au article of the treaty. The money
will be refunded.
The funds have slightly fallen. The last quotation of the
5 per Cents. wal.
LOMBARDY.—The Turin journals of the 21st
announce a victory obtained at Governolo by General
Barg over 2,000 Austrians, from w'iom he has taken a
standard, two pieces of cannon, and MO prisoners.
Tee Sardinian head-quarters were at Mat-mind°,
within five miles of Mantua. Among the prisoners
taken by General Baca and sent to Cremona, were
nine (Ali :ere, including one field officer.
The Twin Gazete gives the following details
respecting the success of General Bava. That General
while on his way. to protect the Modem se by forgo-
forte, with the brigade Regina, the cavalry regiment of
Genoa, two batteries, and a company at the 2nd batta-
lion of Craillenns, heard of the precipitate r treat of the
Austrians from Ferrara. Ile led his troops upon
Governolo, which defends the passage of the Lower
?Mingle, and was strongly occupied by the enemy.
The Austrians rai,:ed the draw-bridge at the appeir-
nue° of the Piedmontese ; but the ,kirtnishers
having crossed the Po unperceived below the
mouth of the Mincio, attacked the Austrians in their
rear ; and this maueuvre being vigorously seconded
by the et her troops, they became masters of the bridge,
and, after a severe engagement, the Austrians were
put to Hight, with the loss of a standard, two pieces of
cannon, and 100 prisoners.
The Rim,rginie Oa of Turin, of the 21st, states, from
Milan, that General Zuechi is in the warvi.a of the
Provisional Government, anal that Garibaldi has been
charged with the organisation of the volunteer bat-
talions; his head-quarters are at Coma.
ROME.—LI Contemporaneo of the 16th says that the
reports of pretended projects of revolution at Rome
are devoid of foundation. The ministerial crisis is at
its height. The rumness of Marniani showed that
either -his principles would triumph, or that he would
retire. This would be resolved in 24 hours.