The journal treats these machinations with great contempt; we learn, however, soon after, that the army of Naples had been raised to its full complement of 50,000 men, corps of which were daily reviewed by his Majesty. The military division of Naples, on September 1st, presented a very loyal address to king Joachim, in which they affirm the sentiments of the army to be "eternal attachment to his Majesty and his dynasty, entire obedience to his orders, and inviolable fidelity to his throne;" and they pledge their lives to his service, after the example of all their brothers in arms who have had the honour of serving under him. That he might not appear indifferent to those devotional feelings which, in the midst of the grossest licentiousness, the Neapolitans are so fond of indulging, Joachim and his queen, with all the royal family, paid a visit in great ceremony to the sanctuary of the Virgin, called the Foot of the Grotto, and displayed all the usual marks of piety on the occasion.

About the close of September, Neapolitan troops were continually arriving at Ancona by sea and land. Nothing could now be of greater importance to Joachim than to secure the friendship of the Emperor of Austria, with whom their co-operation before. the termination of the war bad connected him more intimately than with any other power. The Duke of Rocca-Romana, his Master of the Horse, having been sent on a mission to that emperor, arrived at Portici on October 29th, on his return, bringing with him a ratification of the treaty of alli

ance between the two powers, to gether with assurances of the Emperor's constant friendship, and his unalterable disposition to support ! by all the means in his power the interests of his ally, and the tranquillity of Italy. The accounts from Naples in the remainder of the year relate dubious movements of the troops towards the territories of the church. The last, dated from Fundi, December 4th, mentions that the corps of reserve, organised at Naples and Benevento, and 20,000 strong, was put in motion, and that the advanced guard was expected on the next day in Fundi. Also, that the two divisions of Macdonald which had returned to the Abruzzos, had been ordered to advance; and the three divisions of Campana which occupied the Marche of Ancona, had been directed to bold themselves in readiness. It was supposed that the king in person would set out on January 1st. In this increasing state of preparation, of which, however, no distinct object was assigned, the year closed.

The island of Sicily, which the circumstances of the war had so long almost converted into an English garrison, naturally returned to its pristine condition after the peace; and in the beginning of July, it was announced from Palermo, that his Majesty Ferdinand III: had resumed the reins of government, and that every thing was changed in the ministry and administration. On the 18th of that month, the Sicilian parliament was opened in great state by the king in person, and a speech in his name was read to the assembled houses. It is chiefly observable from the notice

taken

taken in it of the constitution. "Henceforth (the king is made to say) Sicily has a written constitution, destined to establish order in the movements of power, that they be not thrown into confusion; to assign limits to the various poJitical functions, that they do not invade each other; to fix the grand point where private rights and public wants should meet; to protect civil liberty, and the full and entire security of persons and property. Destined henceforth to lay the foundation of the prosperity and welfare of the Sicilians; modelled after that of a great and elevated nation, which has given and continues daily to give proofs of its wealth, its power, and magnanimity, this constitution has always been the object of my affectionate and paternal sentiments." The speech proceeds to remark, that this constitution, however, has not hitherto fully answered to the general expectation, which is imputed to the effects of war, and the convulsions usually occasioned by great and sudden changes. After expressing a hope of future unanimity, it gives a summary view of the business which is to Occupy the present attention of the parliament, of which the most urgent is stated to be providing for the payment of the public debt. It concludes with a compliment to his august ally, the king of Great Britain, and to Lord William Bentinck, as captain-general of the united forces.

An unfortunate proof of the yet unsettled state of the Sicilian constitution appeared in the disputes which immediately occurred respecting the elections of deputies; and the representatives of

Palermo, Messina, Catania, Syracuse, and several other towns; were excluded, as having been unconstitutionally chosen. New elections were therefore ordered, and the parliament was adjourned, or rather closed, on the 23d. This was probably a manœuvre of party; for we are informed that after the dismission of the parliament, great discontents prevailed, the government appeared in open opposition to the English, and persons who had obtained offices through English influence were every day dismissed, and some of them arrested

The sentiments of the Sicilian court with respect to the possessor of its former continental dominions were explicitly expressed, by an order communicated in October from the commandant of the district of Messina to the commander of the Neapolitan troops in Calabria, importing that upon no pretext whatever, should any vessel bearing the flag of king Joachim be admitted into the ports and on the coasts of Sicily.

We are destitute of regular reports of the public proceedings in this island; but an account from Palermo, dated November 10th, mentions that the parliament was then continuing its sittings; and that it had passed a decree recognising as a national debt, the loan negociated with Great Britain by the princes of Castelnovo and Bonano, but without meaning to authorise the illegal conduct of those ministers, who, by contracting this debt without the consent of the parliament, had violated its constitutional privileges. If that body manifested a vigorous character in this point, it gave a proof

of

of the existence of much bolder views, at least in some of its members, by a measure brought forwards in the Chamber of Commons on November 7th. The large proportion of landed property in Sicily possessed by the ecclesiastical corporations is the cause that the number of landholders is very inconsiderable, to the great detriment of agriculture. As a remedy for this evil, the plan of a law was proposed, enacting the perpetual alienation of all ter

ritorial property, domainal or feudal, held by churches, pious foundations, orders of knighthood, episcopal sees, and universities, under the condition of an annual payment to the present titulars, calculated upon their existing emoluments. There seems, however, little probability that such a sweeping innovation, so contrary to the spirit elsewhere prevailing, will be adopted in an assembly of which the noble and ecclesiastical orders are a constituent part.

CHAPTER

WHILST be dinette states on

HILST the greater part of

the European continent were waiting, in suspense, and under provisional occupation, the decision of the great powers respecting their future condition, the Swiss confederacy was employed in settling at a national diet the terms on which they were hereafter to exist as an independent community. In the beginning of July, a Federal Compact of the Cantons was accepted by the Grand Council. The sovereign cantons composing the confederation, in number nineteen, were thus enumerated Uri, Schweitz, Underwald, Lucerne, Zurich, Glaris, Zug, Bern, Friburg, Soleure, Basil, Schaffhausen, Appenzel, St. Gall, the Grisons, Argovia, Thurgovia, Tessin, and Vaud.

The plan of confederation, consisting of a number of articles, was based upon a principle of equality of rights among all the communities forming the Hel

in theory, as conducive to a solid

vetic body, which, however wise

union, could scarcely fail of exciting discontent in such of the cantons as were reduced in their relative importance, and especially those which had possessed subjects. At the head of these was Bern, long the most wealthy. and populous of the cantons, and the sovereign of several dependent districts which it had ruled as a master. Not long after the publication of the federal compact, the Avoyer and Council of the republic of Bern issued a proclamation addressed to "their faithful and dear subjects of the Canton,” which began with reciting the infraction of the ancient Swiss confederation by the power of France in 1798, and the restoration of the legitimate government in Bern, under the influence of the allied powers, in the last December. It then complained of the renewal of all the former acts of injustice towards the canton by the new

federal

federal pact, which had parcelled out the canton of Bern still more than heretofore, had stripped it of rights over countries acquired by their ancestors, and separated it from its ancient subjects. After stating some other grounds of complaint, the proclamation proceeded to mention the sacrifices which the canton had been willing to make for the sake of union. The grand council had not only abandoned the rights of the state over the ancient common seignories, but had expressed their intention to leave, upon equitable conditions, its liberty to the country of Vaud. They could not, out of gratitude to their subjects of Argovia for their fidelity, renounce the Bernese part of that country, but they had opened a plan for their union with the canton, and had offered them a share in all the rights and advantages of Bernese subjects. The paper concluded with expressing a desire to defend the constitution and rights of the canton against all attacks, and called upon all to whom it was addressed, for their support.

Switzerland was at this time far from being in a tranquil state. The Vaudois and the Argovians were resolute in asserting their independence on Bern. Some time before, a conspiracy was formed at Soleure for taking possession of the town, and deposing the ruling party, which was disconcerted by an accident; and its ill success was said to have prevented the execution of a similar plot at Bern. The canton of St. Gall having made a demand of a federal aid from the Diet, on account of a spirit of disobedience manifested in the districts of Uanach and

Sargans, the ministers of the allied powers thought it proper to interpose by a note addressed to the Diet on August 8th. In this, the ministers express their regret for the doubts they have been compelled to entertain of the firmness with which they hoped that body would maintain the arrangements of their circular of May 31st, which established the immutability of the status quo of the possessions of every canton, and of the political relations of their inhabitants, till the definitive se:tlement of affairs in general; and in a tone of authority they require the preservation of the public peace by a vigorous execution of that provisory law. This interposition, together with the disturbed state of Switzerland, appear to have excited very serious apprehensions in the political leaders, and on August 16th, the President of the Diet addressed in his own name (that body not then sitting) a circular to all the governments of the cantons. After reciting the violent opposition which the Federal Compact had met with, and the necessity under which the Diet had found itself of framing a new plan with various modifications, the President warmly exhorts the cantons to unanimity, and proceeds to say, "A note of the ministers of Austria, Russia, and England, officially communicated to the deputations in our sitting of this day, shews the danger which a longer division may draw down upon our country. The opening of the General Congress, a period of the greatest importance to Switzerland in particular, as well as to Europe in general, is approaching. Switzerland