The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-22 00:00:00

MINT° to the Sicilians in the month of March, 1848.
By the decree of the 6th Mirch sing FERDINAND
had adopted word for word the deeraration of the Ge-
neral Sicilian Committee of tica 26th February,
1848, by which,the Parliament, wlich was to adapt the
Constitution of 1812 to the requiements of the times,
and to provide for the. wants of :icily, was called to-
gether at Palermo. This Parliment was composed
of the Chamber of Peers, consistng of those temporal
peers whose names appe2red in tie rolls of the Parlia-
ment of 1812, and, in case of tleir decease, of their
successors in the title, provided such successors were
members of the same family ; and of the ecclesias-
tical peers according to the rolls of Parliament.
Thus Sicily, according to he' old Constitution, as
reformed in 1812, possesse3 In hereditary peerage
composed of temporal peers, and an ecclesiastical
peerage, composed of bishop, precisely resembling
the House of Peers of Great Britain. By the
new Constitution proposed ir the mediating powers,
the hereditary peerage is abolished, and a sort of
colonial legislative council sibstituted for it. Thus
runs Article 45 of the proposedoctroyee Constitution :
" The Peers shall be named by the King and for
life. The number shall be unlimited."

Surely the supporters of fie King of NAPLES, the
British House of Peers, are not aware of the cool
manner in which he proposes to destroy an hereditary
peerage of 700 years' standirg, and substitute for it a
council of nominees of the Crown.

By the decree of 6th March, all persons possessing
a. freehold of 18 ounces (91. a year), and all mem-
bers of learned societies, mechanics, merchants,:and
shopkeepers, were entitled to vote in elections for
members of the House of Commons, and any voter
was qualified to be elected. By the new Constitution—

" Article 53. The representatives of a district in the
Chamber of Deputies shall be elected by all those who
possess in that district a net rent, for life, of eighteen
ounces by the year, whether it proceed from freehold or
usufruct, Or from any JULIE 01 uat.n tgag., oa won so Any
other kind of property. • The representatives of the city
of Palermo shall be elected by -all those who possess in
the city of its territory a net rent, for life, of at least
fifty ounces by the year, whether it arise from freehold or
usufruct, or from any other rent. or mortgage, or any
other sort of property.
" The representative of ever other city or Parliamen-
tary territory shall be elected by all those who possess in
that city or territory a rent for life of at least eleven
ounces annually, whether it arises from freehold or usu-
fruct, or any rent or mortgage, or any other kind of
property."
So that not only is the freehold property qualification
for a vote doubled, but the whole of the commercial and
manufacturing population is absolutely disfranchised;
while as regards the qualification for a member the
new Constitution enacts—

"55. Those alone can represent a district who have in
Sicily a net revenue for life, either from freehold or usu-
fruct from rent or mortgage, or from any other kind of
property, amounting to 300 ounces by the year.
"Those alone can represent Palermo who are.in posses-
sion in Sicily of a revenue of the above-mentioned kind,
of 500 ounces by the year.
" Those alone can represent a city or Parliamentary
territory IA ho possess a revenue of the above nature of
150 ounces by the year."
The Constitution of 1812 (and the decree of the
6th March is founded on it) guarantees the liberty of
the press—that is to say, entire freedom of publi-
cation. The new Constitution says—
" 4. The Sicilians have the right of printing and pub-
lishing their opinion 4, conforming to the dispositions which
exist fur the repression of abuses of this liberty. The
King reserves to himself the plenitude of his power to
publish the aforesaid dispositions in a special law."
By the Constitution of 1812 the KING could not
maintain an army in Sicily without the consent of the
Parliament ; by the new Constitution he is to main•
tain in Sicily an army of Neapolitans, which are to be
paid out of moneys levied on the Sicilians, without the
consent of Parliament. By the Constitution of 1812
the Parliament fixed the amount of the budget ; by
the new Constitution—

" 30. The budget shall be entirely separated, and the
public expense of the Two Sicilies shall he apportioned be •
tween the two parts of the Kingdom in the numerical pro-
portions of their population, and shall be fixed at the sum
of three millions of ducats annually (3,000,000 ducats)."
The Constitution of 1812 granted to the Sicilians
the law of habeas corpus and trial by jury ;
neither of these are mentioned in: the new Constitu-
tion. By the Constitution of 1812 the kingdom of
Sicily is declared independent of that of Naples, the
6th article of the new Constitution speaks of Sicily
continuing to make an integral part of the united
kingdom of the Two Sicilies, &c., and yet this new
Constitution is represented by the reactionary party
as differing in no essential degree " from the terms
offered in March last by Lord MINTo, or from the
Constitution of 1812." The offer of a Constitution
which contains no guarantee either for the liberty of
the subject or for the liberty of the press, and which
deprives the House cf Commons of all control over
the supplies, might on the stage pass as an excel-
lent joke: as Lthe case stands, it is a bit-
ter and an insulting mockery. Should Sicily,
in consequence of her rejection of this mockery be
again exposed to the horrors of war, after having
for more than twelve months set an example of wis-
dom and moderation to the rest of Italy, it will not be
the Sicilian nation which will be responsible, the re-
sponsibility will rest upon those who have not only
abandoned but insulted her, more especially upon
England, who, by the mouth of Sir W. A'CouaT, in
1814, declared herself " THE PROTECTRESS AND THE
DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF
SICILY."