The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-28 00:00:00

LONDON, II EDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1861.

COMMODORE NUTT and MINNIK WARREN.
BT. JAMES'S HAIL, PICCADILLY.—TBRILE GRAN!.
LEVEES DAILY during the Ilolidm s, at 11. 3, and 8 o'clock,
Natttre's smallest Edition of her choicest welts, a Bachelor
and Bello of mature age, not larger than two infante! At
11 o'clock they appear In the identical costume worn by them
at the marriage of General Tom Thumb, and they also perform
smut dances, duets, &c., OVID% several cosh permeations.
with an entire change of programme at each Levee. They wilt
be drawn toned from StJamee's 11411 in their Lilliputian carriage,
by four of the steeliest ponies in the world, presented to them
by General Toni Thumb. Box-office open from 10 to a o'clot.k :
Admission, It and Is. ; refereed seats, 35.. children, half-price
da. and Is. matt

GREAT ST. JAMES'S-HALL-LAST WEEK
ONL—Vrotessor ANDERSON, WIZARD of the
NORTH, will pcsitively terminate his most prosperous season on
Saturday. the Tth Jan., 1885. The WORLD at MAGIC, SUMS D
MIGHT, the Ravaging Mystery, and the Mousier Christmas
Tres will be exhibited hVERY ISSN IND during the week at 8,
and special day performances on Saturdays, at 3 o'clock. To
prevent disappointment stalls for these attractive entertain-
ments should be secured without delay at Mr. Tit, bells Royal
Library, 33, Old Bond-street, and at the Hall. Admission, la.

Ilas OXFORD.-ORPHER AUX ENFERS,
°Halbach's beautiful Conde Opera, and the NEW CAN
TATA. KING CHRISTMAS, written by Litehflekl Moak% .
and composed by Herr Meyer Lutz ,espresay for this ,
meat) will be performed Every Evades mita further =eke.
The Ozfurd and Coaterbury ilea Company (Limited).

IHE LONDON PAVILION.-GRAND
HOLIDAY I.NTERIAINIIIENT.—The Oriental bream
OWIiVENING. An entire change la every department,
with the Introduction of novel attractions. Great success of
lionsioar

arWRISTMAS.—The HOLLAND HAMPER,
vv coutalfGag SIX Bottles of CHOII'I WINES sad SPIRITS
of the first qty. namely, Port. Shen y, GUN arm, Pols or
Brown Brandy, sad Irish far Scotch Whiskies -
CARRIAGE sad HAMPER FREE for Ns. 6d. CASH.
GIORGI SHEPHERD.
No. 1, HOLLAND.PLACE, KENSINGTON, W.

TELEGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE.

(untia's entaaaans.)
RUSSIA AND THE PAPACY.
ST. PETERSBURG, DEC. 27.
The Deutsche Pctersburger Zeitung of tc-day,
commenting on the relations between Russia and
Rome, says that the object of Baron von Meyen-
dortf's journey to Florence was to attend the
Czarewitcb, and that the rumour of his passports
having been presented to him was unfounded. The
same paper adds, that the preservation of friendly
relations with Russia is of great importance to the
Pope, on account of the effect which a rupture be-
tween the two governments would have upon the
Pope's influence over the Roman catholic subjects
of the Russian empire, whereas Russia would be
but slightly injured by such an event.

ROME.
lIALSEILLES, Drc. 27.
Letters from Rome to the 24th inst. announce
the return to that city of Baron von 3leyendorff,
the Russian representative at the Papal court. It
was believed that he would be present at the recep-
tion of the diplomatic corps at the Vatican on New
Year's-day.
Signor Rattazzi has obtained permission to
visit Viterbo, on business connected with his family
affairs.

THE POPE'S ENCYCLICAL LETTER.

ROME, DEC. 21.
The following is the full text of the Pope's Ency-
clical Letter of the Bth inst. :
To our venerable brethren ell the patriarchs, primates,
archbishops, and bishops is oommunion with the apostolic
see, we, Pins IX., Pope, send greeting and our apostolic
blessing.
Yon know, venerable brethren, with what can and what
pastoral vigilance the Romeo pontiffs, our predecewrs--
fulflllieg charge entrusted to them by our Lord Jesus
Christ himself in the person of the blessed Peter, chief of
the apostles—have unfailingly observed their duty in pro-
viding food for the sheep and the lambs, in assiduously nou-
rishing the flock of the Lord with the words of faith, in im-
buing them with salutary doctrine, and in turning them
away from poisoned pastures ; all this is known to you, and
you have appreciated it. And certainly our predecessors, in
affirming and in viodioatiog the august catholic faith.trutb,
and justice, were never animated in their care for the salve-
lion of soul by a more earnest desire than that of ratio"
guishing and condemning by their letters and their constitm
lions all the heresies and errors which, as enemies of our
divine faith, of the doctrines of the catholic church, of the
parity of morals, and of the eternal salvation of man, have
frwlnently excited serious storms, and precipitated civil and
Christian society into the most deplorable misfortunes. For
this reason our predecessors have opposed themselves with
vigorous energy to the criminal enterprises of three wicked
man, wise, spite/din blear dastarbiag opinions like the waves
of a raging sea, and promising liberty when they are slaves
to corruption, endeavour by their pernicious writings to
overturn the foundations of the Christian catholic religion
and of civil society ; to destroy all virtue and justice ; to
deprave all minds and hearts to turn away simple minds,
and especially those of inexperienced youth, from the
healthy discipline of morals; to corrupt it miserably; to
draw it into the meshes of error ; and funny to tear it from
the bosom of the catholic church.

But, u you are aware, venerable brethren, we bad
scamely been raised to the chair of St. Peter, above our
merits, by the mysterious designs of Divine Providence,
than, seeing with the most profound grief of oar soul the
horrible storm exciter) by evil doctrines, and the very grave
and deplorable injury caused specially by so many errors to
Christian p. ogle, in accordance with the duty of oar apos-
tolic ministry and following in the glorious footsteps of our
predecessors, we raised our voice, nod by the publication of
several encyclicals, oonsistorial letters and allocations, and
other apostolical letter, we have condemned the principal
errors of our sad age, reanimated your utmost episcopal
vigilance, warned and exhorted upon various mites on. all
our deer children in the catholic church to repel and also-
lately avoid the contagion of so horrible a plague. More
especially in our Gist encyclical of the 9th November, 1846,
addrered to you, and in our two allocutions of the 9th De-
cember. 1854, and the 9th June, 1862, to the consistories
we condemned the monstrous opinions which particularly
predominate in the present day, to the great prejudice of
souls and to the detriment of civil society—doctrines which
not only attack the catholic church, her salutary instruc-
tion ►nd her venerable rights, but also the natural, unalter-
able law inscribed by God upon the heart of man—that of
sound reason.

But, although we have not hitherto omitted to proscribe
and reprove the principal errors of this kind, yet the canes
of the catholic church, the safety of the souls which have
been confided to us, and the well-being of human society
'itself, absolutely demand that we should again exercise our
pastoral solicitude to destroy new opinions which spring out
of them same errors as from so many sources. These false
and perverse opinions are the more detestable as they
especially tend to shackle and turn aside the salutary force
that the catholic church, by the example of her divine
Author and his order, ought freely to exercise until the end
of time, not only with regard to each individual man, but
with regard to nations, peoples. and their rulers, and to
destroy that agreement and concord between the priesthood
and the government which have always existed for the
happiness and security of religious sod civil society. For
as you are well aware, venerable brethren, there are a great
number of men in the present day who, applying to civil
society the impious and absurd principle of naturalism,
as it is called, dare to teach that the perfect right
of public society and civil program absolutely require •
condition of human society constituted and governed with.
out regard to all considerations of religion, as U It had no
runlet..., or at least without making any distinction be-
tweea true religion and heresy. And, contrary to the
tescbiog of the Holy Scriptures, of the Church, and of the
Fathers, they do not hesitate to affirm that the best condi-
tion of society is that in which the power of the laity is
not compelled to inflict the penalties of law upon violators
of the catholic religion, unless required by considerations of
public safety. Actuated by an idea of social government
so absolutely false, they do not hesitate further to propa-
gate the erroneous opinion, very hurtful to the safety of
the catholic church and of souls, and termed "delirium" by
our predecessor. Gregory XVI. of excellent me-
mory, viz., " liberty of conscieoce and of worship
is the right of every man, a right which ought
to be proclaimed and established by law in every well con-
stituted State, and that citizens are entitle/ to make known
and ded•en, with a liberty which neither the ecclesiastical
nor the civil authority can limit, their convictions, of what.
ever kind, either by word of mouth or through the press,
or by other means." But, io making these rash 'medicine,
they do not reflect, they do not consider, that they preach
the liberty of perdition (St. Augustine, Epistle it S, aL
164), eel that " if it is always free to human conviction to
discus, men will never be w►otine who dare to struggle
against the truth and to rely upon the loquacity of human
wisdom, when we know by the example of our Lord Jesus
Christ how faith and Christian sagacity/ought to avoid this
very culpable vanity" (St. Leon, Epistle 164, al. 133, sec. 2.
BolL ed.)

Since also religion has been banished from civil govern.
meat, sinco the doctrine and authority of divine revelation
have been repudiated, the idea intimately connected there-
with of justice and human right is obscured by darkness
and lost sight of, and in place of true justice and legitimate
tight, brute force is substituted,whicb has permitted some,
entirely oblivious of the plainest principles of sound reason,
to dare to proclaim "that the will of the people, manifested
by what is called public opinion or by other means, consti.
tate, a supreme law superior to all divine and hutaLn right,
and that accomplished facts in political affairs, by the mere
fact of their having been accomplished, have the force of
law." Bat who does not perfectly see and understand that
human misty, released from the ties of religion and true
justice, can have no further object than to anises riches, and
can follow no other law in its actions than the indomitable
wickedness of a heartigiven up to pleasure and interest
Fur this reason also these same men persecute with so re-
lentless a hatred the religious orders, who have deserved so
well of religion, civil society, so 1 letters : they loudly de-
clare that the orders have oo right to exist, and in so doing
make c 111113300 Mae with the falsehoods of the heretics.
For, as taught by our predeceesor of illustrious memory,
Pius VI., "The abolition cf religious houses injures the
state of pablie profession, sod is contrary to the counsels of
the Gospel ; injures a mode of life recommended by the
church, and in conformity with the apostolical doctrine ;
does wrong to the celebrated founders whom we venerate
upon the altar, and who constituted these societies under
the inspiration of God." (Epistle to Cardinal de Roche-
foucauld. March 10, 1791.)
to their impiety theme earns persons pretend that citizens
and the church should be deprived of the opportunity of
" openly receiving al= from Christian charity," and that
the law forbidding " servile labour on exeunt of divine
worship" upon certain fixed days should be abro-
gated, upon the fallacious pretext that this oppor-
tunity and this law are contrasy to the principles':
of political economy. Not content with eradicating
religion f ram public society, they desire further to banish it
from families and private life. Teaching sod professing
thine most fatal errors of socialism and communion', they
declare that "domestic society or the entire family derives
its right of existence motel} from civil law, whence is to be
concluded that from civil law descend all the rights of
parents over their children, and above all the right of in.
Dramatise and educating them." By such impious opinions
and machinations do these f►lse spirits endeavour to elimi-
nate the salutary teaching and influence of the catholic
church from the instructioe aced education of youth, and to
infect and miserably deprave by their pernicious errors and
their vice. the tender and pliant minds of youth. All thew