The Express.
London, England, 1860-12-24 00:00:00

ITALY.

NAPLES, Lac. 21.
It is stated upon reliable authority that the
French fleet is about to quit ita station off Gaeta.
Great demoralisation prevails among the besieged
army.

The batteries planted on the heights of Tortola
reply to the fire of the city.
Naples is tranquil, and the state of things in the
provinces is satisfactory.
A reactionary conspiracy, organised at Rome, has
been discovered.

The city of Naples will give a grand ball to the
army.

A great rise in the Neapolitan and Sardinian
funds has taken place here.
The insurrectionary bands have intrenched
themselves in the mountains.

It is said that a decree is in course of prepara-
tion ordering an extraordinary levy of men between
18 and 85 years of age.

AUSTRIA.
VIENNA, SUZDAT.
The official Wiener Zeitunp of to-day publishes a
circular addressed by Baron von fichmerg to the
governors of the provinces explaining the leading
principles of his policy. The baron says :
" It is the minion of the ministers of state to
carry out fully and effectively the resolutions and
intentions of the Emperor, as expressed in the
imperial manifesto of the 20th October.
As regards freedom of religious worship, it is
the will of the Emperor that political and civil
rights shall in that revcst also be preserved against
any encroachment, and that the mutual relations
of the different confessions shall be established
upon an equitable footing and upon the real love
for one's neighbour (nhchstenliebe).
"Public instruction will be promoted by every
possible means.
The free development of the nationalities is
accorded.

" With respect to the public press every pre-
ventive interference is removed.
"The development of agriculture, commerce,
and industry will be pursued with redoubled
energy, on the path hitherto followed.
" The communes will enjoy an independent
existence.
" The administration of justice is to be sepa-
rated from the governmental administration.
" Publicity and the oral form of proceeding are
to be introduced into the civil and penal courts of
law."

As regards the provincial statutes, the Ministry
of State has been authorised to introduce into the
fundamental laws the principle of representation of
the different interests by means of direct elections,
and the extension of electoral rights and eligibility,
the right of initiative, and the publicity of debates.
On the Council of the Empire, to whose province
belongs the general legislation, while the provin-
cial diets are only competent to legislate on pro-
vincial questions, is therefore conferred the right
of originating projects of law and publicity of
debates.

The Council of the Empire will be composed of
members unconditionally elected by the provincial
Diets, and will besides receive additional members.
The provincial governments of the minor crown
lands, recently suppressed, are to be re-established.
In conclusion, Baron &timerling exhorts the
public functionaries to a conscientious discharge of
their duties, to the furtherance of the interests of
the inhabitants of their provinces, to a strict ob-
servanoe of the laws, and to candour in their offi-
cial reports on the condition of the country.