GENERAL HISTORY. 



[133 



the King, and that it was be- 

 lieved all differences with the 

 United States were terminated. 

 It was thought that a treaty had 

 been proposed between the two 

 countiies, and advantages had 

 been guaranteed to the Americans 

 in the ports of Sicily. 



On December l'2th, was pup- 

 lished by the king of Naples, a 

 decree for the purpose of con- 

 firming the privileges granted to 

 the Sicilians, and reconcilingtheir 

 inviolability with the unity of 

 the political institutions of the 

 United Kingdom. By its arti- 

 cles, all civil and ecclesiastical 

 employments in Sicily are to be 

 conferrsd exclusively on the Sici- 

 lians, as, on the other hand, they 

 can form no claim to the same 

 employments in the other domi- 

 nions of the crown. The great 

 dignities of the United Kingdom 

 are to be shared by them, in pro- 

 portion to the population of the 

 island, which is reckoned at a 

 quarter of that of all the subjects. 

 Offices in the army, navy, and 

 household, are to be conferred 

 without any distinction of the 

 part of which the persons are 

 natives. The government of the 

 whole kingdom is always to re- 

 side with the person of the King; 

 a governor of the royal family, 

 or some other person of distinc- 

 tion, being appointed to preside 

 over the port' m\ lying on that 

 side of tlie straits opposite to the 

 royal resilience. The lawsuits in 

 each part are to be determined in 

 the last resort by their own tri- 

 bunals. Feudal rights are to be 

 abolished on each side of the 

 straits. The permanent expences 

 of the state are to be regulated 

 every year by a partition, but 



in Sicily, they can never exceed 

 the sum fixed by its parlia- 

 ment in 1803, without the con- 

 sent of the parliament. From 

 the quota is to be deducted not 

 less than a particular svmi men- 

 tioned, for the payment of the 

 debt bearing no interest, and of 

 the arrears of interest, till the 

 entire extinction of both, after 

 which, the same sum is to be a 

 sinking fund for paying the Sici- 

 lian debt. Until the general sys- 

 tem of civil and judicial admi- 

 nistration of the kingdom of the 

 Two Sicilies is promulgated, all 

 its branches are to remain on 

 their present footing. 



Italy. The general weakness of 

 the Italian governments at the 

 present period, would necessarily 

 become conspicuous in a state so 

 ill constituted as the secular do- 

 minion of the Roman See; and 

 its incapacity to preserve itself 

 from piratical insults, and from 

 the outrages of banditti, is among 

 the first intelligence transmitted 

 from the ancient capital of Eu- 

 rope. In February, whilst a con- 

 voy of vessels was ])roceeding 

 down tiie Tiber to Civita Vec- 

 chia, and another was about to 

 sail from this port up the river, 

 a large Timisian xebeck made 

 its appearance, which, putting out 

 two boats, gave a general chace. 

 The vessels all dispersed, and 

 some of theni sought protection 

 under the guns of a small tower 

 on the coast. The pirates boldly 

 approached, notwithstanding the 

 fire, and took po.ssession of two 

 vessels, which, however, they af- 

 terward found it expedient to re- 

 linquish. On the 13th, two pi- 

 j atical vessels appeared off Fiu- 

 mara, and made captures ; and 



it 



