The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-04 00:00:00

M. Billault declined answering that question.
For 11 years France had given proofs of her devo-
tion to the Holy Father, and no one had a right to
suspect her intentions. He then passed a severe
censure upon the "insults and odious illusions"
recently expressed against the Emperor.
Cardinal Donnet spoke in favour of the temporal
power of the Pope, and moved that the Senate
should adopt an amendment that the sword of
France should continue to protect the independence
of the Pope and the maintenance of his temporal
power.
M. Baroche (Minister, President of the Council
of State) did not think it necessary, after the
speech of M. Billault, to make any further reply.
He would only observe that the Government was
opposed to the amendment.
On Monday the discussion of the Address by
paragraphs will be commenced.

THE NEW AUSTRIAN CONSTITUTION.

(From the Correspondent of the Times.)
VIENNA, FEB. 27.

The Trener Zeitung of this date, which has 16
supplementary folio sheets, contains the long-e*-
pected decrees relative to the representation of the
empire, statutes for 15 provincial Diets, a statute
for the future Council of State, and four Imperial
documents in a condensed form, with abstracts of
those which are of less moment :

"I. We, Francis Joseph 1., &c., having, by
our diploma of the 20th of October, 1860, which
is based on the Pragmatic Sanction, decreed that
our right to give, alter, and abrogate laws shall
only be exercised with the co-operation of the Diets
and of the Reichsrath, do now—after having taken
the opinion of our Council of Ministers—publish
the following regulations, in order that our inten-
tions may be properly carried out :
" 1. The annexed law relative to the formation
of the Reichsrath, which is to represent the empire,
we hereby sanction and at the same time declare
it to be a State and fundamental law in and for all
our kingdoms and lands.
"2. In respect to the kingdoms of Hungary,
Croatia, and Slavonia, and to the grand principality-
of Transylvania, it is our intention that their for-
mer constitutions shall be restored in accordance
with our above-mentioned diploma, and within the
limits of the same. The necessary orders for such
restoration were contained in our autograph let-
ters of the 20th of October, 1860.

" 3. For our kingdoms of Bohemia, Dalmatia,
Galicia, and Lodomeria, with the grand duchy of
Cracow, and the duchies of Auschivitz and Zator ;
for our archduchies of Upper and Lower Austria, for
our duchies of Carniola and Bukovina, for our
markgravate of Moravia, for our duchy of Upper
and Lower Silesia, for our markgravate of Istria,
with Gorice, Gradiska, and Trieste, and for our
province of Vorarlberg, we have issued statutes and
electoral ordinances which we hereby declare to be
State and fundamental laws. The law relative to
Dalmatia cannot, however, be carried out until the
relations between that kingdom and the kingdoms
of Croatia and Slavonia have been definitively set-
tled.

"4. In order that Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg,
and the Tyrol may enjoy the same privileges as the
above-mentioned provinces, we have issued new
statutes for those provinces.
" 5. We have ordered our Minister of State to
draw up a provincial constitution on a similar basis
for our Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and directed
him to lay it before us at a fitting time. In the
meanwhile the congregations of that kingdom will
have a right to send the appointed number of mem-
bers to the Reichsrath.

" 6. By these presents we make known to the
world (verk widen) that the fundamental laws now
published do form the constitution (re?lassung) of
our empire. And we do hereby promise and vow
that we will, under the protection of the Almighty,
inviolably follow and uphold all the laws now pro-
mulgated, and we do engage (vernflickten) our
successors inviolably to follow and uphold them, and
to vow so to do in a manifesto which they shall pub-
lish on their accession to the throne.

" 7. We do ordain that this patent, with the fun-
damental laws accompanying it, shall assume the
form of an Imperial diploma, which shall be de-
posited in the archives of our House, Court, and
State.

" Given in this our metropolis and residence of
Vienna on the 26th day of February, 1861, and in
the 13th year of our reign. _

" FRANCIS JOSEPH (M.P.)
" ARCHDUKE REIGNIER (M.P.)
" RECIIDERG (M.P.) " SZECSEN (M.P.)
" MECSERY (M.P.) " PLENER (m.r.)
" DEGENPELD (M.P.) " WICKENBITRG (M.P.)
" SCHMERLING (M.P.) " PRATOBEYERA (M.P.)"
" LASSER (M.P.)
"11. FUNDAMENTAL LAW FOR THE REPRESENTA-
TION OF TIIE EMPIRE.

" 1. The Reichsrath forms the representation of
the Empire. The Reichsrath is composed of a
House of Peers (Herrenhaus) and a House of De-
puties.
" 2. The Princes of the Imperial House are, when
of age, members of the Upper House by right of
birth.
"3. The chiefs of certain aristocratic families
which have very extensive landed property will be
members of the Upper House. In such families the
dignity will be made hereditary by the Emperor.
"4. All Archbishops and Bishops who have
princely rank are members of the Upper House.
" 5. The Emperor reserves to himself the right
of making distinguished ecclesiastics, scholars, and
scientific men members of the Upper House for life.
" 6. The House of Deputies will be composed of
343 members—that is, 85 for Hungary, 54 for
Bohemia, 20 for the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom,
five for Dalmatia, nine for Croatia and Slavonia, 38
for Galicia and Lodomeria, 18 for Lower Austria,
10 for Upper Austria, three for Salzburg, 13 for
Styria, five for Carinthia, six for Carniola, five for
the Bukovina, 26 for Transylvania, 22 for Moravia,
six for Upper and Lower Silesia, 12 for the Tyrol
and Voralberg, and six for Istria, Gorice, Gradiska,
and Trieste.

"7. The members of the Reichsrath are to be
elected by the Provincial Diets. The elections t•
be direct. If, for any reason, the Diets should not
send members to the Beichsrath, the Emperor will
order the appointed number of members to be elected
by the districts, towns, and corporations.
"8. The Emperor will choose the President and
Vice-Presidents of each Diet from among its mem-
bers. All other functionaries are to be elected by
the Diets.

" 9. The Reichsrath will be convoked annually.
" 10. In accordance with Article 2 of the diploma
of the 20th of October, 1860, the following matters
are to be within the sphere of action of the Reich-
srath :—(a) Matters connected with military con-
scription. (b) Matters connected with the currency,
public credit, coinage, banks empowered to issue
notes, customs, commercial matters, post, railroads,
and telegraphs. (c) All those financial matters
which concern the empire at large ; such as the
budget, the State balance-sheet, the results of. the
manipulations of the finance department, the raising
of new loans, the conversion (convertirting of State
real
debts, the sale, change, or mortgageofntation of the
property of the State the a
present
present
taxesta x e s ,
to and
e
noel fea
repealed no ones.
consti-
tutional fepbt is under the
way. The National
control of the Reichsrath.
" 11. All those legislative matters mentioned in
Article 3 of the diploma of the 20th of October,
1860, which concern the whole
.empire—with the
exception of that part of it which belongs to the
Hungarian Crown—are within the sphere of action
of the Reichsrath. To this smaller (engerer)
thele levied
impositioniuntil
Drge
Reichsratht belong all those matters, with the
exception of those mentioned in paragraph 10,
which are not directly within the sphere of action
of the Provincial Diets.
" 12. The Government has a right to lay draughts
of laws before the Reichsrath. The Reichsrath has