The Express.
London, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 24, 1856.

ITALY.

PIEDMONT.

(710 N AN OCCASIONAL CORIZSPONDINTI
GENOA, Mar 19.
A Count Walewski, who is supposed to be a brother
of the French Minister, touched at Genoa, en his way
to Civita Vecchia, on baud the steamer Calabrese.
His mission is understood to be to act in concert with
Count Colloredo, who has left Vienna for the same
destination. They are to propose a modification of
its government to the Holy See. In general France
sends her diplomatic agents direct from Toulon to
Civita Vecchio, through the Strait of Bunifscio,
which separates Sardinia from Corfu. The route
adopted on the present occasion may have been taken
in order that the envoy might find, on his arrival at
Genoa, new orders transmitted by telegraph to the
French consul here. It is possible that such new
instructions may have been transmitted in noose-
quence of the arrival of the Archduke Maximilian
at Paris.

It is not impossible that in these negotiations at
Rome, France may be outwitted by Austria. Cardi-
nal Vials Preis, who negotiated the concordat at
Vienna, has found opportunities, during his residence
of more than a year in that capital, to gain the good-
will and friendship of the young Emperor Francis
Joseph. The Emperor is anxious to have him
placed at the head of affairs in Rome—in other
words, to make him Prime Minister instead of
Cardinal Antonelli. The views of the Austrian go-
vernment reach beyond this : it intends at the first
vacancy to make Vials Peel& its candidate for the
papacy. Cardinal Antonelli, who wishes to retain
his poet, recommended, as soon as he got wind of this
project, that Vials Prela should be nomi-
nated to the archbishopric of Bologna. The object
of this was to keep the rival at a distance from
Rome. However, Vial. Peels, who perfectly under-
stands the game, is in no hurry to repair to Bologna,
but bides his time at Vienna. It is expected that if
the Pope yields to the demand for reforms to be
urged by Count Colloredo, Cardinal Antonelli will
resign ; and that M. de Walswski will then re-
commend Cardinal Viale Prela for prime minister
(minister* dir•igeant). Thus France, which has no
suspicion of the ulterior views of Austria, will, it is
thought, have no hesitation to entrust the manage-
meat of affairs to Vials Preln, and thus the Emperor
Francis Joseph will attain his ends. Cardinal
Antonelli, however, is determincd to retain his posi-
tion, and when he sets out to attend the baptism
of the Imperial child, he will leave the nine of go-
vernment in the hands of Monsignors Patrizi. A
memorial has been prepared intended to show that the
majority of the employes in the States of the Caurch
are laymen. Some extracts from this memorial have
already been published in some of the religious jour-
nals of Lombardy.
General Marmot& is expected here, and the muni-
cipality are preparing &fete in honour of him. It is
for this reason that the fete in honour of the troops
returned from the Crimea has been postponed. At
the last deliberation of the Council, in the Palace
Tarsi, a sum of 20,000 francs was voted for the oc-
caution, on the motion of M. Aleiaandre Centurioni.
There is some difference about the character of the
fete : some wish it to be a naval one, in order that
the sailors of the fleet may participate in it; others
wish to have a theatrical representation, with a piece
(composed for the occasion) founded on the events
before Sebastopol. As for the illuminations, they will
be splendid ; this is a matter which the Italians tho
roughly understand. M. Ottimo, the director of the
pyrotechnic fetes at Turin, has been summoned to
Genoa.
A distribution of medals to the soldiers who have
distingnisbea•themselves is talked of. This distribu-
tion will take place on the plain of Marengo. It is
even reported that the Duke of Cambridge will be
present, to present the medals conferred by the Queen
of England on the Sardinian army, but this need&
confirmation.

The ex-Queen of the French was desirous of being
present at the fetes of the Constitutional Statute be-
fore taking her departure for Claremont. To this is
attributed her sojourn of several days in Genoa. The
Duke and Duchess of Nemours were present at the
review of the troop. of the National Guard, the stu-
dents, and the societies of workmen. The Prince of
Saxe Cobourg Gotha, who has spent the winter at
Nervi, with the Orleans family, set out beforehand.
His mission is to persuade the Duchees of Orleans to
visit the ex• Queen of the French on her departure for
Belgium, for it is she who has hitherto opposed the
fusion which the Count de Chambord twice visited
Nervi to bring about.
The troubles of the Italian Legion have occupied
much of the attention of our townsmen, who saw
them embark here for Malta, and take a great in-
terest in them. Many lettere received from Valetta
have been published, and place the affair in a new
light. The Jesuits, expelled in 1848 from Piedmont
and Sardinia, took refuge in Malta, and have re-
mained there. It is they who have stirred up the
Maltese against the Legionaries, saying that they
had been excommunicated by the Pope, for the sale
of Church property which has taken place in Pied-
mont.

We read in the Patti. :—" Some disorders
have occurred at Genoa, on the occasion of the
Ft's of the Staeutc. Cries of ' The Unity sf
Italy!' were publicly uttered. Placards, con-
taining threats and insults against the Austrian
Consul, were posted is several streets, and were torn
down by the polies. In the evening "canal individuals
assembled under the windows of the Consul, threw
stones at the dear and the escutcheon affixed to the
hornet, and cried 'Down with the Consul—War with
Austria!' "