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

THE PRESS.

tartign 6otresponttntt.

FRINKFORT, Dec. 12.
" LEs nouvelles d'Allemagne ont generalement an-
jonrd'hui une teinte pacifique, mais elles ne sont
reellement que le reflet des bruits et des pretendues
revelations dont la source est a Paris." The Russian
organ is anxious it should be understood that the
Muscovite faction will not accept the fall of Sebas-
topol and the destruction or immolation of the
Russian fleet to be valid reasons for concessions fur-
ther than those proposed at Vienna.

As the Englishjournals are read everywhere, Ger-
many is sensible that the feeling in England, held in
common by military men and civilians, is one that can-
not be improperly controlled, and that it would not per-
mit any Minister to treat for and to conclude a peace
at variance with the objects of the war. On the
other hand, Conservative England would not counsel
such terms as would bring into immediate action the
men of the revolution. Russia, however, by her own
obstinacy may precipitate a state of affairs wherein
she will be the greatest sufferer, and it will entail
upon her the entire and sole responsibility. " L'hon-
neur resterait debont an milieu des flsastres." No
wish hostile to that sentiment shall be expressed.
Far be it from us to decry national and honest pride.
An insincere treaty that should do violence to Russian
honour, and sow the germs of another war, quickly
ripened, and only awaiting the opportunity for out-
burst, would be far more obiectionable, far more
ruinous, than a continuation of the present conflict ;
for it would be neither more nor less than a general
irruption of the Republican hordes, followed b) a
deluge of blood such as no page of history has yet
recorded.
Doubtlessly the Russians, well acquainted with the
spirit of the English journals, are highly and reason-
ably incensed at the accusation of barbarism and
want of civilisation. Human nature, unhappily, does
not require a stimulant for passion, and, so far, these
harsh expressions may be unwise and inconvenient
of memory when returning to more friendly rela-
tions ; but no benefit can accrue to Russia from obser
vations like the following :—" Les rapines et la
froide cruaute du leopard Britaneique sont déjà
l'objet des conversations, et des resits du foyer."
After the Hango massacre has been proved in fact
by the account of Lieut. Geneste, this comes with a
bearing not a little ungracious. To say the least it is
useless, and assuredly not destined to soften the irri-
tation and asperity that the unwarrantable inhumanity
of the Russian officers, with or without orders, has
excited. " Restons polis," exclaims the Russian
journal; "Amen," shall he the wiling response.
The Nouvelle Gazette de Prusse is loud in joyful
proclamation of the triumph of the "cote droite."
"Le Gouvernement est assure d'une forte majorite."
Count Eulenbourg has been elected President of the
Chamber, in opposition to M. Schwerin, by a majority
of 187 against 138; and after careful examination it
does not appear that the Extreme Left consists of
more than 116 members. In this minority, however,
is included the chief talent in the kingdom ; and it
must also be remembered that many of the leading
members have refused to take their seats for the
places for which they have been elected. They have
a thorough confidence in the spirit of the country,
and are unwilling to join issue with tbeir political
opponents at the present crisis. There are also
other and most potent reasons that have determined
the friends of the Prince Royal to abstain from taking
an active part. This is the true explanation of what
otherwise might appear a culpable apathy. It is
worthy of remark, as demonstrative of a general con
sciousness of the strength possessed by the " Gotha"
party, that a vote of thanks was unanimously passed
by the Chamber to M. Schwerin, the late Liberal
President. Much offence was given by the King of
Prussia when, in answer to the members of a depu-
tation from a town having returned a " Gotha" can.
didate, he reproached them for electing "an enemy
to himself." Language of this description is moat
improper from a sovereign in speaking to constituents
ion their exercise of the franchise, more particularly
I as, in order to obtain a majority of " his friends," the
Ministers employed bribery, intimidation, and every
undue influence to an unlimited extent. Frederick
William is treating the Prussian Constitution in the
same manner as did Louis Philippe that of France.
History and experience afford no advantage to the
sovereigns of the Bourbon, Hohenzollern, Hapsburg,
and Romanoff dynasties ; and this sturdy resistance
to enlightened government contrasts unfavorably
for them with the brilliant course pursued by the
Emperor Napoleon, the Queen of England, and Victor
Emanuel. A report is prevalent .6 dans les cenloirs
de la Chambre" that this assured majority will be
used to effect many changes, whereby the Constitu-
tion is to be made " a truth." What is truth ? The
Diet also is expected to propose modifications of
certain articles "gni reesenteut trop de repoque

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tation." Some of these having vference to ecelesias-
tical discipline will bring into collision the Protestant
and Catholic parties. Whether in the present ex-
cited state of Germany it is judicious to make large
alterations in these attenuated frameworks of Liberal

institutions will remain to be seen.
The same gross craving is manifested by tho
" partt de la Croix," to excite and to direct public
acrimony against the Emperor Napoleon and
France--" le seul pays dont l'Allemagne redoute par
experience l'ardeur conquerant." Has Prussia for-
gotten the partition of Poland ? How came she
possessed of her porta on the Baltic—of Silesia,
Gratz, Breslau, Neufchatel, Westphalia, the Rhenish
provinces, and of the German and Austro-Imperial
city of Charlemagne, the capital of the holy Roman
empire? To calm the exultation of political spirits
on the possible eve of dangers. regniriog the
greatest judgment and forbearance to avert, M. de
Gerlach, the friend of the King, and the reverse of
such character towards the Prince Royal, appeals to
the German people by anathematising tl!e French,
and with the published postulate of " Les Fran-
cois en Allemagne—oui ou non ?"lhat ques-
tion is disposed of by the speech of the Em-
peror of the French, wherein be calls upon
Europe "to pronounce " upon the actual conflict,
a demand which has been the cause of misunder-
standing and dissatisfaction in Germany. The
Gazette d'Elberfeld replies to the Imperial challenge
by affirming that the war in the Crimea is no longer
the one primarily waged for an avowed and definite
object. "La premiere guerre a ete provoquie par
]'egression impolitique de la Russie." This unre-
served admission on the part of a country that has
hitherto resisted the acknowledgment of that simple
verity, is tantamount to a plea of guilty by collusion,
and goes to confirm the justice of the Imperial ex-
pressions at Paris. Then the Gazette continues—
"The second war, differing from the first, as an
honest fight does from an act of murder, is derived
from la jalousie d'Angleterre qui redoute lea
progres de la Russie en Orient.' " But this so-called
jealousy on the part or England proceeds imme-
diately from " Pagression impolitique " of Russia,
trans Crimean, trans Danubian, and trans-Cau-
casian. In reprobation of that conduct France
fully and truly participated ; and it is further de-
scribed and confessed by the Gazette d'Etherfeld to
be a " combat loyal, engage la visiere haute,"
wherein l'Allemagne a reconnu que le droit etait
du cote des puissances qui in,crivaient sur lours
drapeaux la defense de l'equilibre Europeen." And
in what point does the war differ now ? Have the
allies, one or other of them, shown a desire of
conquest ? The object of Russia in breaking
through the boundaries of Turkey and Persia is
identical, and eminently destructive of that Euro
peen equilibrium set forth by the Gazette d'Elberfe
to be a righteous cause of warfare. Let fair aid
honourable guarantees be given against a future dis-
turbance of that equilibrium, and the war is at an end.
This is the question, and will remain a question,
until solved by reason or the sword.
J. E. L.

&INA, Dec. 8.
ITALY has been occupied with but one topic, the
reception of the King of Sardinia by the Sovereigns
of France and England. It is impossible to over-
estimate the value which has been set upon the
open recognition and approval of the first liberal
and constitutional Ring that has been firmly seated
on an Italian throne. The great struggle, of which
this is the happy consummation, was the work of his
father, Carlo Alberto, to whom history will award the
just' yet ever tardy weed of deserved praise. Revo-
lutions have taken place, Parliaments have assem-
bled, and the mockeries without the realities of free
institutions have occasionally dazzled the eye of an
ignorant multitude; but this is the first occasion
when a rational state of freedom, guaranteed by the
sovereign, has been perfectly established in a part of
the Italian peninsula. Personified by that Sove-
reign, such liberal system of government has been
cordially acknowledged and congratulated by power-
ful monarchs amidst the acclamations of their
subjects. It is an era in Italian history. Scme
doubt had been entertained upon the conduct of the
Papal Nuncio at Paris, and the Roman priesthood,
towards an excommunicated prince. Such hesita-
tion was soon dispelled. The Papal Nuncio, it
appears, who was about to be seized with a con-
venient colic, was ordered to be well and to remain
at his post. He did more—he complimented the
excommunicated King upon his arrival at Paris, and
upon his recovery from long and painful disease.
What had been the nature of that disease? It is
difficult to realise the effect which that single circum-
stance has had in Italy. The vain boastings of the
Vatican, and the open gratification at the promised
insult to Victor Emanuel in France, have given
place to evident dismay. On the King's land•

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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.