The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-15 00:00:00

1186 ing in that country, the bishops and dignitaries of the Roman Church were ready to do honour obsequiously to their disobedient son. A. widely different reception had been foretold, and the faith ful of the Immaculate Conception had been promised an exhibition of ecclesiastical discourtesy and sacer dotal condemnation, such as would vitiate the little credit the King of Sardinia might be able to glean from his imperial and royal visit. The Roman priests were confounded by a superior power, untold, but not the less felt ; and a " volonte de fer," unseen yet active, dissipated the premeditated indisposition of the Papal Nuncio. Another scene was in store, and a fresh lesson was to be read on the obedience of the priest to his sovereign. It was a manifesto issued to Italy and the priesthood on the particular relation betwixt the Crown and the Tiara. The Emperor of the French attended mass at the Tuileries. After the reading of the Gospel the newly-consecrated bishops knelt be fore the Emperor, and took the oath of allegiance according to the ancient formula of the monarchy:— " I promise and swear to God and the Emperor ;" " Dieu vous en passe la Grace," replied his Imperial Majesty, and he might have added, " Gare it vous," fully aware that temporal means and temporal fear alone would preserve the oath from spiritual evasion. And Victor Emanuel, the excommunicated, stood by and witnessed the Roman bishops subscribe in all humility to the dogma of a temporal supremacy, for the legislative establishment of which in his own kingdom he had been placed, and was at the moment, under the ban of the Roman Church. That instant and that spectacle were fraught with a deep moral. Human ingenuity could not exceed the deli cacy of the compliment to Victor Emanuel, or add to the proportionate bitterness of the Roman priest; and here in beautiful Italy, to whom Providence has been so generous, and to whom the priest is as " Nemesis," the joy at such a manifestation is loud and overflowing. There is not another man in Europe who would have conceived or performed such a wise and subtle achievement, full of deep signification. It is an answer to the Concordat, challenging atonce the usurped supremacy of Rome over kings and peoples, and allotting the seemly place to the priest as spiritual pastor and master, and teaching him due sub jection to the temporal governor. Impressionable as the Italians are well known Lo be, the effect of this startling passage in the history of passing events cannot be overestimated. It is as a bond seal to their permitted emancipation from Papal thraldom. The precedent has been afforded; the will exists, and the hour may be at hand. Report has notified an approaching visit of the Emperor of Austria to Rome, in order to receive a special benediction for agreeing to the Concordat, whereby he consented to a divided rule, and re established a new Inquisition in Italy and Austria. The effects are already beginning to be felt. Signor Bal—i, a well-known avocato in the district of Spoleto, ha 4 suddenly disappeared, without leaving any trace. He was summoned to Rome on particular business, and no intelligence appears to have been received since his arrival, neither can any clue be obtained beyond Civita Castellana. His ever having got so far as Rome cannot be verified, and is pur posely doubted by the police, who wish that it should be supposed he was waylaid by banditti between Baccano and la Storta. In that case the banditti themselves would soon have applied for the ransom. The transfer of the Inquisition from its old locality to the Vatican places that insatiate tribunal still more under ecclesiastical vigilance, and insures greater secrecy. It forms a worthy part and parcel of the palace of the Pope. Formerly the persons sum• moned to appear could not be mistaken on their sad passage through the dark and foreboding portals; now they are blended with the throng that may visit St. Peter's for prayer or for curiosity, and no evi dence reaches their relatives of their ultimate fate. If spared, they are compelled to swear by oath on the crucifix, and on pain of death, that they will never disclose the dread secrets of the Court, and when condemned the " oubliette" is for ever silent. Thus is the Inquisition, dominant in all its olden horror, re instated in Italy by Pio Nono and the Cardinal Antonelli, and legalised in Austria and Hungary by Francis Joseph of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The bride of the Jesuit may yet cost the young Emperor a Crown. M. T. A. THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT isiextremely desirous to calm the apprehensions or its Protestant subjects with regard to the Concordat, and a long article lately appeared in the Augsburg Gazette with that view, but the writer could find no better ground to base his arguments upon than " the well known moderation of the Roman Catholic clergy," which a few days later was curiously enough exemplified in the pastoral letters of the Lombardo Venetian bishops, who laid it down as a primary rule that there could be no question of equality between the different creeds, as the Roman Catholic was the dominant Church," and that in Austria Protestants must be satisfied with being simply tolerated. Tilt PittSS. ajortign anb Colonial intelligent. FRANCE. The negotiation now in progress occupies the at tention of the Paris journals to the exclusion of almost every other topic. The Putrie of Monday had a remarkable article asserting that, not only have the Austrian proposals been considered accept able in Paris, but that Prince Gortschakoff at Vienna had given to them his preliminary adhesion. The Moniteur publishes this week a document of considerable interest, viz., the Russian official list of the Black Sea fleet, which, at the commencement of hostilities, appears to have consisted of 127 vessels, including 16 line-of•battle ships, 7 frigates, 5 cor• vettes, 12 brigs, 6 war•steamers, &c. ; the whole of which have been completely destroyed, either at Sebastopol, or in different parts of the coast, and the Sea of Azoff. The King of Sardinia left Paris on Sunday morn ing, at nine o'clock, and travelled direct to Lyons, where his Majesty rested for two hours, and then started en route for Turin. The expenses of the war, and the effect of the bad harvest, are beginning to be felt in France, the Government, it is reported, being about to augment the duties on foreign tobacco and spirits, in order to meet the increased pecuniary demands of the War °lce ; while the city of Paris has been compelled to raise a loan of 50,000,000 fr., to cover the expenses attendant upon the bakers selling the bread under the market price. A solemn funeral service, with great military pomp, was performed in the Invalides on Tuesday, over the body of Admiral Bruat. At the conclusion of the ceremony the body was conveyed for burial to Pere-la-Chaise. AUSTRIA. The Vienna papers announce the arrival of Sir Hamilton Seymour and the Viscount de Serres with instructions of the "most satisfactory nature." The constant communication kept up between Count Buol, M. de Bourqueuey, and Sir Hamilton Seymour is also thought favorable to pacific prospects. The Times correspondent, writing on the Bth, affirms that no material assistance in the event of a continuance of the war will be given by Austria, and that she has neither offered to forward an ultimatum to Russia, nor is likely to go beyond the treaty of the 2nd of December. The reduction of the Austrian army by 80,000 men would effect a considerable saving in the war budget, which, by command of the Emperor, had been brought down from 200,000,000fi. to 120,000,00011. The whole army, including the force in the princi palities, was to be put upon a peace footing, but with such arrangements as would M six weeks time bring up the army to a full war footing. The soldiers on leave of absence were bound to report themselves from time to time, and the cavalry horses were sold only on certain conditions of restitution. An Imperial ordonnance published on the sth pro hibited any further exportation of saltpetre, brim stone, or horses across the Austrian frontiers into Russia or Turkey. RUSSIA. The immense efforts of the Russian Government to recruit her armies and place her navy in the Baltic upon an efficient footing are becoming evident to Europe. The greatest activity reigns in every department. Inducements are held out to the junior nobility to enter the military service, and the recruit ing is pushed on with the utmost vigour. The Kreuz-Zeitung publishes the knowing from St. Petersburg under date of November 29 Since the snow has been covered with a crust of ice enormous trains of sledges, " six miles long," have en• tered the Crimea by Perekop and the Spit of Arabat, loaded with provisions and articles for the use of the army. The emancipation of the serfs is rumoured as a not improbable measure. A great council of all the leading military officers and eminent diplomatists was about to be held at St. Petersburg, while a loan of 50,000,000 roubles had been opened with a leading house of Hamburg. By an order of the Treasury the proportion of bullion in the Bank to notes issued is to be dimi nished. The stoppage of cash payments at Odessa had, it is said, created a panic, and it was rumoured that at Moscow, Astrakan, and Nishi Novgorod notes were refused by the people, though we have certainly no trustworthy accounts from those places. Of the policy of Russia with regard to peaze nothing certain appears to be known. PRUSSIA. The election of the various Presidents of the House of Deputies has proved the great majority of the Government party. The President and two Vice-Presidents chosen Count Eulenbourg, and Herr Heinrichsdorff and Buchtemann—all belong to the ultra-Conservative party, who are decidedly averse to any departure from the " strict neutrality " of Prussia. SATURDAY, 1 The King had received M. Bismarck Schonhausen on his return from Frankfort, with marked distinc. tion. The Envoy returns to his post after Christmas. SPAIN. General Falcon has been named Captain-General of Aragon, in the place of General Gurreo. Th e sale of the national property continues very actively. A Royal decree suspends the new elections foe re newing the municipalities until the adoption of a law on the subject. The Epoca states that the 20,000,00) reals bor rowed by the Government were destined to pay the half-year's dividends on the foreign debt. The question of adhesion to the Western alliance was discussed favorably among all classes. SWEDEN AND DENMARK. Letters from Stockholm speak of the intention of the Government to mobolise an army of 60,000 m en in the spring of 1856, while the general feeling was greatly in favour of an alliance with France and England. ITALY. The King of Sardinia arrived at Turin on Tuesday night, being met at Susa by the Prince of Carignano.. The Ministers and an immense crowd waited to re ceive the King at the railway-station, and welcomed' his Majesty with the utmost enthusiasm. Tbe• Chamber of Deputies resumed their sittings. on the 10th inst., and received the report of the Commissioners upon the new financial measures.. Bills for the improvement of public instruction, and. for regulating and limiting the interest on money to. six per cent., were also under consideration. The arrest of Morandi at Rome had caused some. sensation in that city, as his papers were said to , implicate a vast number of persons of all ranks. Gennaraccio, the well known partisan of the Pope . and leader of the sun fedista party, was assassinated: a short time since in the open streets. TURKEY. The Turkish Government has conceded the Kus tendji canal to a company formed of English, Austrian, and French capitalists, and comprising for Turkey two wealthy capitalists, Mustapha Puha, and Kiamil Pacha. The canal will cost 500,0002. ster ling, and a large port which is to be formed will cost 1,000,0001. The Porte is seriously occupying itself with the drawing up of a code of proceedings in commercial matters in accordance with the general principles of consular jurisdiction in Europe. The commission, charged with the duty is composed of several. judges of the Tribunal of Commerce, Mussulmansi and Christians, and of the dragomans of the, different legations, and it is presided over by Rrmfcii Effendi. A strong protest has been sent to the Auserien Government against the arrest of Colonel Turs„ on the ground that at the time of his arrest Colonel Turr was in possession of a Armen from the Sultan. Permission has been given to the Moldavian Government to export salt as well as timber, pro— vided securities are given that the goods are not int• tended for Russia. The object of this permit is to, put a check upon the smuggling at present cartiaili on between Moldavia and Bessarabia. UNITED STATES. Despatches from New York up to the 28th ultimo arrived on Sunday• The report of kr.Buchanan, United States Minis ter at London, as to the cause of the lac:ease of our West India squadron, was general received as satis factory. The meeting of Congress was anticipated with , some expectation. It was believed that the Message would recommend a continuance of neutrality upon the great war in Europe, while, with regard to the disputes with England, it will intimate that the cor respondence with the English Government with reference to the increase of our West India squa dron, though still carried on, had every prospect of being satisfactorily concluded. The President will inform Congress of the entire adjustment of the dispute with Greece, and denounce any filibustering expeditions as illegal, and liable to be severely punished. _ _ In Mexico important events were shortly expected; to occur. The influence of the United States was. undeniably being exercised to bring about the an nexation of the entire country. General Alvarez had entered the capital with 5,000 men, and been well received. INDIA AND CHINA. The India mail has arrived with advices froms Calcutta of the Bth of November, and Bombay of thei 18th of November. The Santhal rebellion was being put down by' martial law. The Bengal army had been strengthened by 6,00 1 : 0 men. The Governor-General was at Madras, on his way' to Burmah.