The Press.
London, England, 1856-12-20 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

1206

foreign i,orresponbeitre.

BRT'SSELS, Dee. 17.
Is the debate; on the educational question the Li-
berals had a marked advantage. They quoted the
encyclical letter of Gregory XVI., issued in 1832,
as an authority in support of their accusation against
the Ultramontane press of having adopted and pro-
mulgated the principle that a representative system
of government was contrary to the canons of Roman
Catholicism. This letter—made famous by its de-
nunciation of the liberties of conscience, of worship,
and of the press—admonished Roman Catholics
against the sin of constitutionalism, based of neces•
sity upon these three cardinal errors, of a nature
sacrilegious and blasphemous. Holding the infal-
libility of the Pope to be a primary dogma of
Romanism, albeit it was described by a Belgian Ul-
tramontane to be " tine histoire surannee," it must
follow that an obedience to this political axiom, made
spiritual by authority and thus becoming an article
of Raman faith, is imperative. An unreserved alle-
giance, therefore, to a form of government in down-
right opposition to the absolutism of this spiritual
law cannot be by a Romanist either sincere or pos-
sible. The strict terms of the Papal mandate forbid
any other construction than that a Romanist diso-
bedient to the principle would be committing sin.
Not sufficient stress was laid by the Belgian Liberals
upon this point, although M. Frere Orban estab-
lished the authenticity of the encyclical letter and
the matter it contained. The proof was ready had
the fact been disputed. So far the Liberals were in
the right ; but it was incapable of denial that the
Belgian professors, both in the schools and by pub-
lished works, had taught doctrines at variance with
the truths of revelation. To offer a philosophic code
of morality as a substitute for religious faith, and to
concur inferentially with the official journalist of
Geneva in the advised opinion that Christianity is a
worn-out creed, must challenge the disapprobation
of all parents having due regard to the spiritual
education of their children. The infidelity of Ger-
many is mainly attributable to latitudinarian pro-
fessors ; and no religionists, be they of what persua-
sion they may. would wish to propagate a similar
evil, or hesitate to protest against the " Life of Jesus"
by Strauss being made the text-book for the religious
instruction of youth. M. Dedecker, with sound
judgment, interposed between the excess of the two
parties. Together with M. Vilain XIV., he upheld
the authority of Government to prohibit rationalism
from sapping the foundation of Christian faith,
leaving full freedom to the teacher to inculcate the
lesson of science without verging upon premises
fatal to the cause of religion. It was a flagrant
error on the part of the Liberals not to accept the
Ministerial definition of the duties of Government.
They should have taken the declaration of M. De-
deek,-r at its just value, and have supported a line of
official conduct that was true in principle and honest
in practice.

A befitting target for their animadversation was
offered in the acts of M. Nothomb. The Minister
of Justice, in answer to the complaint of an im-
proper, not to say illegal severity, in exiling a Bel-
gian not proved to be guilty of crime, and not legally
subject to punishment, calmly replied that he was in
ignorance of the facts of the case, although the
alleged grievance bad been committed by his special
authority; and he added, by way of apology, that
being in the habit of signing from 400 to 500 orders
of exile every year, "sans cnnnaissance de cause,"
and apparently without inquiry, it was impossible to
be answerable for any particular case that might be
made the subject of complaint. It is not necessary
to criticise such preposterous conduct, or to expa-
tiate on this unblushing avowal of a person styled a
" Minister of Justice." MM. Verhaegen and Frere
Orban are not likely to permit official tyranny to be
exercised with impunity. Free trade and the cur-
rency have been discussed in and out of the Cham-
bers within the last week. Little progress seems to
have been made towards a practical solution of these
subjects. The discussions prove the accustomed
selfishness of the manufacturers in dealing with
their especial article of produce—that is to say, each
nominal free-trader would deny to the produce of
his neighbour the supposed benefit of protection,
always exempting his peculiar manufacture from the
action of commercial freedom. This exceptional
policy—and it is a line of conduct precisely similar to
that pursued by many of the Radicals in the House
of Commons at a former period—causes commercial
members to league together in a " politique de
clocher;" and thus, by a tacit understanding be-
tween themselves, offensive and defensive, whilst
• tnsenting to the principle, they will effectually mar
any endeavour to diminish the burdens upon the
springs of industry. The absence of M. C. de Brouc-
kere, the most enlightened free-trader in this coun-
try, from the Chambers is sensibly felt.

There are no symptoms of an amicable settlement
of the Neufchatel feud. The memorial of the
Federal Council claims the canton as an integral
portion of Switzerland, " per fas ant nefas," making
use of the following language :—" By its history and
national antecedents, Neufchatel belongs to Switzer-
land (par son histoire et sa vie toute entiere,
Neufchatel appertient a la Suisse)." This version
of history is manufactured for the occasion. In every
chronicle of reputation that treats of the affairs of
Switzerland, where a list of the cantons is given
with their respective modes of government, Neuf-
chatel is invariably said to be subject, more or less, to
the King of Prussia. It is stated in the last edition
of " The System of Universal Geography," for the
use of schools in France, compiled from the works of
Malt Brun, that, "The sovereignty of the canton is
vested in the King of Prussia, who is bound by the
Constitution to maintain all its ancient laws, cus-
toms, privileges, independence, and religious tolera-
tion." Subsequent revolutions do not affect the
" litera scripta" of history, to which the Swiss memo-
rial appeals wrongfully, and in vain. The document
further says, " Il ne lui appertient pas moins par la
situation geographique." This is treading on dan-
gerous ground. Is Switzerland prepared to lay
claim and to wrest Ferney and the " Pays de Gez,"
within the natural bounds of the Jura mountains,
from France, on the plea of geographical position ?
or to lose the German portion of Schaffhausen, north
of the natural limit of the Rhine ? Again, geogra-
phical propriety would give Bellinzone, Locarno, and
Lugano to Lombardy ; rejecting the non natural and
imaginary line of demarcation that crosses the Lago
Maggiore from Tronzano to Bartolomeo, and that of
the Lago Lugano from Portresa to Morcole. A State
paper more loosely drawn up, and more wilfully
incorrect, than the memorial of the Federal Council,
was never published. To falsify history, and to
advance absurd pretensions, in order to gratify
democratic spleen, is an act act neither beneficial nor
respectable.

The Nord has been refused admittance into Aus
tria. In the differences subsisting on the interpre-
tation of the treaty of Paris in regard to Bolgrad and
the Isle of Serpents, the Russian journal has used
the language of commendable moderation ; but in
treating of overt acts and recorded occurrences in the
Principalities and elsewhere, it would have failed in
its public engagements had such matter been inten-
tionally omitted. Its version of the Danubian and
Moldo-Wallachian tales was true, and was not palat-
able to Austria. The prolonged occupation of the
Principalities has been constantly maintained by the
Nord to be contrary to the stipulations of the treaty
of Paris. So said the Times once upon a time. The
succession of intrigues by which Austria sought to
suppress the general desire for a Moldo-Wallachian
reunion, was patent to every one cognisant of Mold°.
Wallachian affairs; and if the Nord had trustworthy
intelligence of the insidious strategies of its former
petitioner for protecting grace, it had fuil right and
ample reason to reveal the delinquencies that were
also an infraction of the spirit and an absolute vio-
lation of the treaty of Paris. Moreover, its record
of Austro-Italian policies and Austro Italian misad-
venture was always correct. The prohibition of the
Nord by Austria proceeds from an incompetency of
defence against unanswerable accusation. It is a
tacit plea of guilty.

The private marriage and exile of the Grand
Duchess Marie of Leuchtenberg, eldest daughter
of the late Emperor Nicholas, notwithstanding even•
effort to keep the transaction from obtaining pub-
licity, could not be concealed. There had been
sundry disagreements on the subject of conduct
during the lifetime of the late Czar, of whom she was
the favorite daughter. On the accession, however, of
the present Emperor, those misunderstandings in-
creased, and the displeasure of the present Empress
was of a nature effectually to preclude every hope
of reconciliation. The Grand Duchess, with her
morganatic partner, Count Stroganoff, has taken her
departure from St. Petersburg for Berlin on her road
southward.

The capture of Herat by the Persians has long
been anticipated. Religion was made an active
agent in the conflict, a circumstance not unfrequent
in civilised States. The Persians, it is welt known,
are Shiites, or worshippers of Ali and his sons Hus-
sein and Hossein, whilst the inhabitants of Herat
and the Affghans belong to the more orthodox and
Mussulman congregation of Sunnis. A correspon-
dence was secretly established betwixt the Shiites of
the town with their co-religionists in the besieging
camp of the Persians, and it was concerted that
when Issa Khan, the Affghan leader, and his chief
officers were engaged at their prayers in the Mosque
a body of Persians should surprise and take posses
sion of the Khouschk gate, and the tower of Khodja
Abdoul Mit which guarded IL On the 29th of
August the attempt was made with success, and the
gate and tower were taken by a small detachment of
Persian troops, but the main army hesitated to

SATURDAY,

advance in their support; it remained inactive, and
gave time to lssa Khan hastily to collect his soldiers,
when he drove out the Persians with great slaughter.
The Shiites of the town, conscious of coming punish-
ment for their treachery, fled in every direction; some
few succeeded in reaching the Persian camp, others
were captured and executed with every excess of
barbarity. Two hundred women failed to make good
their escape ; their hands were tied behind their
backs, and attet their breasts were cut off they were
hanged. A proclamation was issued on the follow-
ing day, commanding that all the Shiites of the
town, friends or enemies, should be put to death,
and their wives and property confiscated and dies-
tributed amongst the orthodox servants of Islam.
" God is great, and Mohammed is his prophet,"
exclaimed the true believers, and with this pious
exclamation commenced a series of murders and
every possible atrocity that lasted for several days.
The exasperated Shiites, unable to avenge their
wrongs, waited patiently in the Persian camp for the
hour of retribution. Success has at last placed the
means of vengeful redress within their power, and
mercy certainly does not dwell for the moment in.
the Persian camp.

The withdrawal of the sequestrations from the
estates of the Lombard refugees in Piedmont will
apparently place the Courts of Vienna and Turin in
more friendiy relation. This political clemency is
not completely satisfactory, as it is accompanied
with several drawbacks. Among others, a sale can-
not be effected without the sanction of the Austro-
Lombard Government, and, as the owners still re-
main under police " surveillance," the possession of
the respective properties is regarded in the light of
a security for future good behaviour. In case of a
rupture betwixt Austria and Piedmont, it is easy to
conjecture what would become of these estates atter
a police order to their owners to return to the Lom-
bard territory. The amnesties also are limited.
Political prosecutions have been going on at Mantua,
and some of the accused have been already sen-
tenced. The " avvocato " Ronchi, one of the most
distinguished Liberals of Upper Italy, has died in,
prison after severe suffering. Several young men
have been sent to the galleys for life, and three have.
been condemned to death ; others have been arrested
at Milan for having meditated an attempt to enact a
" Vepres Siciliens" against the Austrians. They are.
accused of having intended to massacre the Aus-
trian officers in the theatre " Della Scala," and the
revelations of a spy gave timely notice of the danger.
Amongst the number of arrests appears the name of
Count Crivelli. Modena is not altogether tranquil, and
in Tuscany some of the suspected have been placed in
prison. In order to vary these insurrectionary doings,
it has been announced at Florence that Lo:d Nor--
manby is on the point of publishing a history of WI
embassy to Paris during the presidency of Louis Na-
poleon, with explanatory notes, and an appendix ot*
official documents of the highest interest.
The assassination at Ravenna of Count Fran-
cesco Lavatelli, the brother-in-law of Prince
Chigi, has caused the greatest consternation. He
belonged to the Liberal party, and was well known
for his constitutional opinions and his negation of
republicanism. In 1848 he retreated Into France-
from Jesuit persecution, and in 1848 he was nomi-
nated a Roman peer under the constitutional regime
of that day, and filled th• office of Governor of
Ferrara. Being a person of talent and eminence,
strong and continuous attempts were made by the
Mazzinian party to secure him to their cause, but
they signally failed. Since that time, although of
amiable manners, personal worth, and sound political
views, he has been regarded with malevolence by the
Republicans, and with distrust by the Papal Govern-
ment. He was entering his house in company
of his land steward, when an assassin quietly
approached and shot him. He lingered until the
evening of the sth. This is only one of an expected
series of Republican assassinations. A marriage
was projected last year, when Count Lavatelli was in
Paris, between his son and a daughter of Maria
Christina.

The Sicilian insurrection has been nominally put
down : the ramifications, however, are more extensive
than the Neapolitan journals are willing to allow. They
extended to the Abruzzi, where many have been im-
prisoned on suspicion. Baron Bentivegna, the leader
of the insurgents, was in 1848 a deputy in the Par-
liament of Palermo, and not long since was brought
before the Criminal Court of Trapani on a charge of
political conspiracy. He was acquitted from want
of evidence, but was sent under charge of the police
to Calense, where he was detained. He escaped
from this place in concert with his cousin, Count San
Marco, and secretly returned to Palermo. Here he
assured some of the rabble that he was certain of
foreign support; and having embodied about thirty-
lazzaroni malcontents, he directed his steps to Mez-
zojuso, where he broke into the town-hall, stole 480
ducats, and liberated twenty footpads, who of course
joined the patriot band. They then ransacked the
mail, on their road to Tillafrata, and by the wayaidtt

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