The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-10 00:00:00

contending sects ; and not unfrequently the square- !
capped Greek monk and the shaven Franciscan are
to be seen, on the most solemn occasions, in the most
sacred sanctuaries, seuffling.seizing each other by the
beard, and using their crucifixes as instruments of
warfare. The decline of the Latin church in the
East since the period of the crusades had led to the
gradual ejectment of the catholics from the numerous
shrines in which they once held sway, while the
wealthy indigenous Greek schismatics and Armenians
havesupplantedthem. Meanwhile the modern treaties
appealed to he France on behalf of the catholics, in
order to decide claims of this sort, are the capitula-
tions of 1673 and 1740. Meanwhile, the growth of
the Greek church and the decay of the Latin renders
in many instances the awards of these capitulations
as preposterous as the worst abuses of the Protestant
church in Ireland. Hence, by a series of decisions I
of the muftis, given commonly in favour of the
wealthier litigant, and often inspired by the influence
of Itussia, great part of these capitulations has be-
come a dead letter, and the dwindling Latins have
' been obliged to give way to their flourishing rivals.
Well, it seems that General Aupick, in attempting
to come to some understanding with the Porte on the
claims of the catholics, who are always addressing
memorials of fresh grievances to the Fiench govern-
ment, proposed to take for the base of negotiations
the capitulations of 1673 and 1740. The Turkish
government has just sent a note in reply, admitting
those capitulations only in part, as the base of the
new arrangement, and *propsing to include the fir-
mans and decrees of the Turkish tribunals as the
other part. This appears to have stirred serious ob-
jections on the part of France.
Another grave subject of negotiation between the
French and Turkish governments is the interpreta-
tion of the treaty of June 10, P 441, which settles the
relations of Egypt towards the Porte. 'The French
government regards the pretensions just put forth by
the suzerainstwer as quite incompatible with that
treaty, and altogether destructive of the quasi-inde-
pendence which is therein secured to Egypt.
A telegraphic despatch announces that Admiral
Romain-Destosses, having hoisted his flag on hoard
the steam-corvette Chaptal, sailed definitively on the
4th instant to take command of the station to which
he had been appointed in the Levant. Much noise
has been made on the subject of the admiral's
steaming away from Brest, instead of going by land
to Marseilles or Toulon and taking ship there, as
there is a great outcry about economy ; and this
crotchet of the ex-minister will cost the government
a thousand pounds in coal. Admiral Vaillant, the
present Minister of Marine, who rose from before the
mast, was greatly scandalised when he found that
his predemssor in office had appointed to take him
out from Itrest the finest stwmer in the French ser-
vice, the Descartes. At first he sent the admiral wont
that retrenchment was the order of the day, and he must
make the best of his was- to Toulon, and hoist his
Hag there. Upon this besfuss.s made viulent re-
monstrances, and at length Vaillant, at the personal
request of the President, somewhat mollified, con-
sented to let the commander of the Levant station
go out in the Chuptal, a steam-corvette. But, no
sooner had Desfoss s embarked, than the Chaptul
sprang a leak, and was obliged to put back. At last
the atfitir appears to be settled.

ITALY.

NAPLES, MAReir 3.

The political drama of court revenge continues:
no sooner are the 4'2 in irons than we are favoured
with two other prwcssi, got up to order, against a
poorer class of offenders than those who have hitherto
figured at the criminal court ; but as all classes are
to be punished for their constitutional opinions, the
whole transaction must be regarded as the earning
out of a system. Forty-seven persons are accused in
the cases called the 2fith of January, and forty-six
in those which are entitled the sih of September.
Most of the accused arc working men, and some lie-
long even to the class called hawnoti. They were
imprisoned nearly two years since under the follow-
ing circumstances : When the King felt strong
enough to defy his constitutional oath, the court
party organised /trz:aironi mobs, which were regu-
larly headed by a rapfr, and, as circumstances
dictated, issued forth with white flags, shouting
"Viva it lie!" The official journal designated these
mobs ns men whose "candid and spontaneous feel-
ings dictated their expressions of loyalty." Now, on
the days above named, these hirelings of the court
were met by a mob of men from another part of the
city, who shouted "Long live the constitutional
king;" A fight ensued, and the "candid and spon-
taneous" were well beaten. Whereupon the go-
vernment threw their opponents into prison. These
unfortunate men arc now accused of having shouted
seditious words on these occasions,and are to be pun-
ished accordingly. The trials, like those of the
• U,eita Idahoan, will simply register the means em-
ployed by the court party to get rid of the constitu-
tion, and heap fresh infamy on all concerned.
The ex-minister, l'oerio, has been removed to the
island of Ischia, still chained to a fellow-prisoner.
h is removal originates, it is said, from the governor
of his late place of confinement having shown some
pity for his sufferings.
Whilst all Europe, nay, all the world, is looking
forward to the approaching Exhibition with intense
interest and anxiety, Neapolitan subjects have been
refused passports to England; and " the children of
this world are wise in their generation," for not more
antagonistic are the principles and practice of the
government to every thing that would be seen and
felt and heard in the land of freedom thnn is dark-
ness to light. Doubtless, too, the holy Catholic church
would be most unwilling to expose her children to
the influence of the eloquence of a Gavazzi, whose
" words that burn" have found their way even here,
spite of custom-houses and Jesuits. One ChM of men,
however, have permission to attend—they are the in-
famous hireling spies; and I warn you that London
will term with them. They will, however, be known
by all those who have an interest in avoiding their
loathsome contact, as many of them are known here.
Five per Cents., 994.