GERMANY, Etc.
The only question of political or general interest respects the annexation of the non-Germanic portions of the Austrian Empire to the Germanic Confederation. Diplomatic notes protesting against the admission were presented to the Diet from the English and French Governments. That body replied, that the question was a purely German one, which admitted of no foreign interference.
In Austria an imperial ordinance respecting the press has been promulgated. If any periodical "takes a hostile direction to the throne, the unity and integrity of the Empire, religion, morality, or the maintenance of the public peace," the Stadtholder has the power of suspending it for three months, after two public warnings. Suspension for a longer period, or total prohibition can only be decreed by the Council of Ministers. But foreign works of all kinds may be prohibited, throughout the whole empire by the Minister of the Home Department.
In Hesse-Cassel a decree has been issued annulling the oath taken by the officers of the army to the Constitution. An amnesty has been proclaimed to the officers and soldiers who resisted the Government during the quasi revolution last year; but the amnesty is coupled with conditions by which its efficacy is greatly impaired.
It is said that the Russians have lately suffered severe losses in Circassia, though no reliable and authentic details are furnished.
SOUTHERN EUROPE.
Italy presents the same aspect as herefore. The only signs of life are reports of assassinations, petty violations of law, and still more petty decrees on the part of the rulers. In consequence of an assassination at Milan, which Marshal Radetzky considered to have been committed from political motives, the whole Lombardo-Venetian kingdom has been declared to be in a state of siege; the communes are made responsible for similar acts, and are threatened with severe treatment unless the assassins are delivered up. At Perugia the Austrian commandant issued a notice that, notwithstanding the prohibition of Government, some individuals of both sexes "are still seen wearing red ribbons, cravats, and shoes. In order to put a stop to such practices, it is hereby declared that three days after the promulgation of the present notice, any person wearing any such ribbon, cravat, or shoes, shall be brought before a court martial." Two letters by Mr. Gladstone, the English statesman, to Lord Aberdeen, have been published—setting forth the horrible state of the administration of justice in the Kingdom of Naples. More than thirty thousand people are confined, he assures us, in prison upon political charges, subject to the most brutal treatment. Among these, are an absolute majority of the Deputies who, at the same time with the monarch, swore to the Constitution, which he has found it convenient to violate. The Russian Minister, Count Nesselrode, is reported to have addressed a dispatch to the Russian envoys at Naples, Florence, and Rome, directing them to inform those Governments that the three Northern Powers have agreed to place at their disposal all the forces they may be compelled to require in order to suppress revolutionary movements.
In Portugal affairs have assumed a somewhat unstable aspect; and public confidence is greatly shaken as to the ability of the present government to sustain itself. There have been military disturbances at various points.
THE EAST.
In China the insurrection, at the latest dates, continued in full force.—The difficulties between the Sultan and the Pasha of Egypt are reported to be in process of adjustment.