The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

urges the " parti de la Croix" to have recourse to any
expedient to defame England and the English. This
is the intent of that party, in order that Prussian
malpractice may be shielded by the clamour of the
blatant cry.

J. E. L.

SIENA, Dec. 15.
BRIGANDAGE, political tyranny, and ecclesiastical
persecution are doing their best or worst to brutify
the " amate sponde" of the poet Monti. When the
string cannot bear a harder strain, the snap of the
chord will be heard far and wide. For the moment,
in Tuscany, the " caccia al heretico " is the chief
amusement of the priest. The Austro-Papal Con-
cordat has given an increased energy to the celibats
of the tonsure, never inclined to be dormant when a
Protestant bible is heard of, or supposed to be in the
neighbourhood. Gifted with a keen power of scent,
the priests range through their respective parishes,
and quarter their ground in drawing for their game
with the dexterity of practised adepts. . _

. -
Amongst the more noted of these worthies is Fra
Bernardino Rialti, curate of the convent of Ogni
Salta at Florence. It is difficult to go in quest of
bibles and outlying Protestants without the help of
trained beaters, and therefore Fra Bernardino bad in
his employ a most useful and active spy—quiet and
civil in his bearing, quick, intelligent, and careless
of the means adopted to arrive at his object, having
received previous absolution for the daring feats he
might accomplish in the Protestant hunt. This
man, Palli, had given information to Fra Bernardino
of having tracked a Protestant to his lair. The per-
son thus stalked was an expert carver and gilder, by
name Francesco Balestriori, of middle age, with a
wife and young family dependent upon him for sup-
port. He was attacked with cholera, as well as four
of his children, and thereupon the curate imme-
diately commenced his operations. He visited the
sick man daily, preached, examined, and exhorted
him to confess previous to receiving absolution ; but
Balestriori refused to do the one and denied the
power of the priest to remit sin ex officio, adding that
his trust for pardon rested in a merciful Redeemer.
" Ah !" exclaimed Fra Bernardino, "these are Pro-
testant doctrines taught by the father of lies." The
house was searched for heretical evidence, and no
crucifix or orthodox image of the Virgin was found
anywhere, but in their place were two prints repre-
senting the story of Dives and Lazarus and the good
Samaritan. These were removed by the priest as
having been taken from a Protestant bible, and a
crucifix with a Madonna and " bambino " placed in
their stead on the wall. Francesco got worse, and
Fra Bernardino was unremitting in his persecuting
exhortations that he should receive the rites of the
Roman Church. " I believe," said the dying man,
"in God the Father, God the Son, and in God the
Holy Ghost, and that Christ, my Saviour, blotted out
my sins by his one sacrifice." " That is faith," re-
marked the priest, "but only faith, which is a part
and not the whole of Catholic duty. You must
receive the rites of the Roman Church, and ac
knowledge the authority which Christ has given
his Roman Church, whereby all things necessary
are known to the Roman priest. Faith alone cannot
confer salvation. We must hold to the traditions of
the Roman Church, which, with the Fathers and the
Councils, inform us, by the permitted means of the
priest, what is the true Word of God?" " That,"
said Francesco, "is found' nel libro della verita '"—
the Bible. " No," shouted the iracund shaveling,
" that is a Protestant maxim —it is accursed, and
comes of the Evil One." The man died. Upon
the representation of Fra Bernardino Rialti, the
Archbishop of Florence prohibited the burial of
Balestriori in consecrated ground. Upon a certifi-
cate of his having died a Protestant, and having
refused the sacraments and extreme unction of the
Roman Church, the body was taken possession of
by the police, accompanied by a throng of low vaga-
bonds, who flung stones or filth on the coffin. After
being taken to the cemetery of Tespiano, it was left out •
side the "case dei mortis' with every mark of degra-
dation, and never more heard of. Unless the wife
and children return to Romanism they will be
deprived of the possibility of gaining their bread,
and be plunged in the lowest misery. And should
they consent to recant, a " festa" will be held in the
convent " d'Ogni Santi," to celebrate the miraculous
conversion of a family from heresy through the Im-
maculate Conception, and their salvation from Pro-
testant perdition. This is a specimen of what is
done in this country by the Jesuits.
The letter of Manini, the late President of the
Republic of Venice, has been much canvassed.
" L'invita e l'independenza d'ltalia," are high-sound-
ing words, and the difficulty of their practical illus-
tration is not unknown to the republican himself.
The offer of the "marine bridegroom," minus his
Bueentaur, to give way if Piedmont will take the

SATURDAY,

lead in revolutionising Italy, is gracious. How can
a person recede from a position which does not I Xiit
and where is Mazzini ? Has he abdicated? Man,„,i;
a man of very moderate abilities, in his Italian
letter does not point out the exact wishes and ex.
pectations of the republicans. When in power they
miserably failed amidst a mass of assassination,
robbery, pillage, forced taxation, and of every crime
imputed to the absolutist, in a tenfold degree. They
were a curse to their country, and a disgrace to
civilisation ; and therefore it is that they have not
a single partisan except amongst the ban,
ditti. These, also, in the kingdom of Naples are
against them, having been purchased by Mazza,
for the private service of King Bombe. It is per•
fectly true that things as they are now throughout
the peninsula cannot hold as a permanency. The
wisest, the only course, will be to let well alone in
Piedmont—to consider that country as the type of
what Italy might and should be, singly, or in a con •
federation of Italian kingdoms, distinct in govern.
ment, and united in a league offensive and defensive
under the protection of France and England, and
to rally round the patriotic king of that liberal
Government, as the true focus of Italian regenera-
tion, monarchical and constitutional.
M. T. A

3nrcign nn dolonial Intelligente.

FRANCE.

The question of peace is daily discussed in the
French papers. The amstitationnel of Wednesday
contains a prominent article upon the subject, assert-
ing that Austria and the Western powers have now
come to a "complete and absolute " understanding
upon acceptable terms of peace. Upon the eventu-
ality of a refusal on the part of Russia to entertain
the propositions borne by M. Esterhazy, the Ceasti-
tutionnel somewhat indefinitely remarks that under
any circumstances the accord of the treaty of Dec.
2nd would remain the same. Towards the conclusion.
of the article a peculiar view is taken of the even.
tualities and object to be desired in case of a con,
tinuance of the war, nothing less than the " recon-
struction of the map of Europe and revision of the
treaties of 1815," being propo,ed as " desirable and
popular."
The announcement by the Morning Post of certain
terms as the only ones upon which the allied powers
will consent to treat, is accepted with considerable
reserve in Paris. The Patrie does not consider it
usual to give premature publicity to those intricate
details of negotiations ordinarily kept secret, while
the Presse and the Debuts, notwithstanding " the
semi-official character" of the Post, can only accept
them with a prudent reserve. The Pays, in an
article founded on Colonel St. Ange's reply in the
Debats to the attack of the Times on Marshal,
Pelissier, considers that the ends of the war have
been obtained, but questions whether Russia wilt
sanction the results accomplished by the allies. In&
conclusion, the Pays sums up :
Peace is possible, because the object of the war basibeent
obtained ; because the moderation of the Western Rowers
is beyond a doubt; and because they continue the contest
solely to compel Russia to consecrate by a solemn treaty
the results already obtained.
Is Peace probable ?
. _

Yes I if Austria and Germany, adhering io the fount•
mental guarantees which the future of Europe demands,.
clearly make known to Russia that they adopt them,, mut
that they will impose them by force• it they are not
obtained by negotiation.

No! if Austria and Germany shut themselves up, the
one in its immobility, the other iu its neutrality.
The Constitationnel and the Siecle of Monday
speculated upon a future campaign in the Baltic
provinces, and saw in it thp permanent reduction of
Rnssian power in the North, and the restoration of •
the legitimate influence of the Scandinavian peoples
in the Baltic.

The last monthly account of the Bank of France
shows an increase of bullion to the amount ot. eight
millions in the Bank coffers.
AUSTRIA.

Count Esterhazy, the Austrian Ambassador at St'.
Petersburg, left Vienna on Sunday last for his po,t,
bearing despatches from the Court of Vienna con
taining "propositions" of a pacification ai finally
resolved on.

According to Vienna gossip, it was believed that,
in the evens of Russia refusing to accept the terms,
Count Esterhazy was to return to Vienna, when
Austria would present an ultimatum, which, if re.
jected by Russia, would lead to the immediate with-
drawal of the Austrian Ambassador from the Court
of St. Petersburg.

The English Government is stated to have de-
manded from the Court of Vienna an explanation of
the motives which have induced it to reduce the
Austrian army. _ _

No fewer than 70,000 cavalry and artillery horses
have been ordered for sale in the course of the re-
duction of the army.

DECEMBER 22, 1855.

HAN 0 V E R.

The elections for the Second Chamber are over.
The Liberal party have triumphed in all the large
towns. M. Stuve, the former Premier, has been re•
turned for Osnabruck, and M. Elissen, leader of the
Radical party, for Celle.