The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-15 00:00:00

DENMARK.

The Committee of Twenty-fire appointed to con-
sider and report on the royal message concerning the
order of succession in Denmark, has made its return
to the Diet. The commitleo is unanimous in re-
commending the transmission of the crown to Prince
Christian, pf Glacksbarg, and his descendants male.

SWITZERLAND.

The winter session of the Federal Chambers of
Switzerland was opened ou the 10th, by the Presi-
dent of the National Council, M. llungerbuhler, of
St. Gall.
In the course of his address, the President said,
"Lot us go forward, peaceably and with union, as
hitherto we have done, within the limits traced out
for us by the constitution, watching over and in-
creasing the prosperity of the people by a conscien-
tinni care of its alliances and material interests. Let
us not be led astray by the enormous military ex-
penditure which we behold on all sides, which ab-
sorbs the finances of our neighbour states, and adds
to debts under which their people succumb. In the
midst of this armed peace let us avoid federal debt',
and reserve the financial resources of our country for
the moment when the independence and integrity of
the fatherland may be seriously menaced."
M. Charles do Hinz, the active leader of the party
which pursues in Fricburg the politigue of the old
Sonderbund, has taken the oath as a deputy in his
canton._ _ .

The Grand Council of Lucerne has ratified, by 56
against 30 votes, tho sale of the convent of St. Ur-
ban. The debate was very stormy, and the decision
has produced great excitement in the canton.

GERMANY.

Letters from Lilienfield, in Austrian Silesia, report
the apprehension and imprisonment of Hermann
Kudlich, formerly a deputy to the German National
Assembly, and now suspected of complicity with a
revolutionary committee in London.
The Vienna correspondent of the Breslau Gazette
exposes, as the .Rankfort Post Gazette and other
journals which we have recently quoted had already
done, the illusory character of the reductions in the
Austrian army, alleged by the Augsburg Gazette and
Louis Napoleon in the Mon iteur.
The Prince of Wrede having been found guilty of
wounding M. de Lerchenfeld in a duel, has been
sentenced to six months' imprisonment in a Bavarian
fortress.

Herr von Prokesch, the newly nominated Austrian ,
plenipotentiary and president of the Frankfort diet,
is the stepson of Herr Schneller, a professor of his-
tory
.at Freiburg, and was born Dec. 10, at Gratz, in
Styria. There he received his early education, and '
afterwards studied public law. In 1813 he served as
lieutenant in a regiment which took part in the cam-
paign against Napoleon. After the peace his regi-
ment went to Mayenne, and Prokesch was employed
in tho bureau of the Archduke Karl. In 1816 his
regiment was transferred to Linz. He remained here
but a short time, and left to become professor of
mathematics in a cadet institution at Olmutz.
While holding this appointment ho wrote three
treatises on the battles of Ligny, Quatro Bras, and
Waterloo. From Olmutz he was sent for, by Prince
Karl zu Schwarzenberg, to Vienna, and having been
attached to his staff; he remained with the prince
till the death of the latter. In 1822 Prokesch pub-
lished the life of his patron. In the course of the
next year he returned to active service as captain.
From 1824 to 1827, he was chief of the general staff
of Count Dandolo, who was then cruising with the
Austrian flotilla in the Swedish waters. In 1830 he
was ennobled as " Ritter," or " Chevalier voa Osten."
As an officer of the general staff he was with the Aus-
trian army at Bologna in 1831 ; in 1832, was ap-
pointed ambassador at Rome ; in 1834, minister at
Athens; in 1843, he was made a major-general; and
in 1845, an Austrian baron. As Austrian minister
at Berlin, since March, 1849, ho has occupied a pro-
minent position in German politics. M. Prokesch is
by no means one of the most agreeable diplomatists
of the day, carrying too much of the corporal into
his intercourse with statesmen. His removal from
the Berlin embassy was considered as a concession to
Prussia; and his subsequent designation to Constan-
tinople was annulled at the desire of the Purte. M.
Prokesch is by some persons regarded as an autho-
rity upon Oriental affairs, having written several
works on the subject.