The Express.
London, England, 1862-07-09 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 9.

Ms. Pori Hssussv's Roman Catholic Pri-
sons's Bill stands for second reading in the House
of Commons to-day. The professed object of this
Bill is to secure the rights of Roman Catholic
Prisoners in respect of the exercise of their reli-
gion ; and it is reasonable to expect that so far as
it is calculated to effect that object, it will' re-
ceive general support. But there are clauses in
the Bill which, as it seems to us, are no:; necessary
to that end, but have been inserted for a very
different purpose--clauses which are false in
principle and mischievous in tendency—provisions

which do not contemplate the prisoner • rights of
conscience, nor his spiritual advantage, but the
installation of the Romish Church in a position
not conceded to any religious community whatever
in these realms. lf, on the one hand, the Romish
Church is not to be wronged in the persons of its
members because of its numerical weakness, on
the other it is not to be placed in possession of
privileges, detrimental to the community at large
on account of its extravagant pretensions to
authority.
A first glance at the Bill does not leave the
impression that it is conceived in the spirit of
liberty and equality. It starts from the proposition
that "largenumbers of theprisoners confinedin the
" prisons of England and Wales are members of the
" Roman Catholic Church," and that it is expo•
dient to make provision for their religious and
moral instruction in conformity with their convic-
tions. Even if it be admitted that a Church may
properly found a claim to supply chaplains to our
prisons on the fact that it furnishes a large number
of the prisoners, are there no other unestablished
Churches whose members have the misfortune to
be imprisoned for their lapses from rectitude—no
careless-walking Presbyterians or unsteady Me-
thodista—and if so, why is not a comprehensive
measure brought in by which the benefits now
sought for Romanist' might be secured for all
Roman Catholics have not been backward in times
past in seek;ng the assistance of Protestant Dis-
senters to get security for their civil and
religious liberties. If they do not now
unite with them in a matter in which they appear
to have a common interest, it is natural to ask
why. We have no doubt Mr. Pork HYSINIESBY
and his friends are well advised. Their aims
will not bear the scrutiny of the believers in vo-
luntaryism or the friends of religious equality. This
is not a Bill to secure the rights of the unhappy
prisoner, but to aggrandise the authority of his
Church.

The only authority which can be recognised in
a prison is the authority of the State, and the
only religious rights which require to be guaranteed
are the rights of individual prisoners. In
our English prisons the Chaplain is a
functionary of the civil power, chosen
by it, and responsible to it. The Church
of England, indeed, supplies the Chaphi-, but
the conditions under which he shall act are settled
by civil authority. Under such a system a pri-
soner not a member of the Church of England,
whether Protestant or Catholic, may justly claim
to be free from molestation in his religious belief
and practice. He ought to be protected against
proselytism, nor should he be compelled to attend
ceremonies and observances which offend against
his convictions. He ought further to be allowed
at reasonable intervals to see a minister of big own
religion, if he so wish. This seems to satisfy the
justice of the case ; and if Mr. Pore HES4NDIESY'S
Bill had been confined to these or similar objects,
it would no doubt receive the efficient support of
liberal Protestants. But its framers have other
designs. The first clause takes away the religious
liberty of the Roman Catholic prisoner by com-
pelling him to see the priest whenever the latter
may be inclined to visit him. And the :ollowing
clauses take away the liberty of the proper managers
of the prison. By the second clause it is pro-
vided that to every prison in which a certain num-
ber of Roman Catholic prisoners shall have been con-
fined, during a period of three months, the Justices
" shall without delay appoint a priest of the Roman
" Catholic Church, to be nominated for that pur-
" pose by the Roman Catholic Bishop exercising
" episcopal jurisdiction over the Roman Catholics
" of the place in which such prison, gaol, or house
"of correction is situate." By other clauses the
Justices are required to assign the priest a salary,and
appoint a convenient room for morning and evening
prayers, masses, and the like. The fourth clause
makes the right of the Romish Church to establish
its worship in a prison irrespective of the number
of prisoners confined or the appointment of the
justices, for it provides, that " Where in any gaol,
" prison, or house of correction, no Roman Catho-
" lie chaplain shall have been appointed under this
" act, or while no such chaplain is in office, a
" Roman Catholic priest, to be nominated by the
" Roman Catholic Bishop exercising episcopal
" jurisdiction over the Roman catholic' of the
" place in which such prison, gaol, or house of
" oorrection is situate, shall have all the same
" rights and privileges, and shall be at liberty to
" perform such duties in respect of then; as if he
" were appointed chaplain to such prison." It

THE

will be seen at a glance that this Bill is designed to
give to the Romish hierarchy—a body irresponsible
to the State for the exercise of its power, rights,
and prerogatives, such as the Church of England
dare not ask. The chaplains to be appointed under
this Bill are to be appointed really and solely by
the Romish Church, and be answerable only to
that Church ; and as that Church claims to be
above the State, and refuses to acknowledge its
rights in religions matters, it is certain that any
attempt to uphold the discipline of the prison
against its subversive authority would be re-
garded as Protestant persecution. All difficulties
on this score will be avoided if the House
of Commons will take the simple course of
safeguarding the rights of the prisoners severally
to communicate with their priests for the purpose
of instruction, and to be protected from aggression
upon their conscience, but reject the demands of
an exacting and usurping Church. A bill such as
this is can only pass the House of Commons under
favour of a general ignorance of its contents.

THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF ROME.

This morning official papers respecting " the
French oocnpstiou of Rome" were issued, comprising font
despatches from Lord Cowley, with replies from Earl
Russell, together with a despatch from Sir J. Rudman,
addressed to Earl Russell. Earl Cowley, in his first mem
munication,l enclosed a lengthened extract from the
Journal des Mots, in which the suggestion of a mixed
garrison at Rome, of French and Italian troops, was advo-
cated. In his reply to Earl Cowley, Earl Rueell mays :
" With reference to your Excellency'. despatch of the
14th March, I have to state to you th►t • mixed French
and Italian garrison at Rome would not be convenient. It
would be much better that the Italian troops should be
allowed to occupy the whole of the Roman state on the
left lank of the 'Mier, and that the French should occupy
the Vatican region of the city, Civita Vecchia, sad St
Peter's Patrimony, on the right bank of the Tiber.
Were this plan adopted, as a temporary arrangement, the
Pope would be protected ; his dignity ea • sovereign prince
would be recognised ; and miter a time the King of Italy
and the Pope would by force of circumstances be reconciled.
M. Thouvenel ought not to shut his eyes to the evils of the
present state of affairs. They are: The French govern-
ment makes itself unpopular with the Italian, and espe-
cially the Roman people. 2. No Italian government,
whether of Ricasoli or Rstaul, or anyone else, can control
efficiently the Marsinians, who thereby obtain undue influ-
ence. 3. A war may spring up at any time, the vicissi-
tudes of which may fares the Emperor either to abandon
his own work in Italy, or to defend Italian independence at
the cost of a great and sanguinary war. Great Britain, so
far from interposing any obstacles in the way of France, is
desirous to co-operate with her io finding • solution for the
Italian question."
Is a subsequent despatch, Earl Cowley lays M. Thouvenel
was of opinion that his lordship's plan would not be ac-
cepted by either party ; the Pope declaring that he will
listen to no arrangement which did not restore to him the
possessions which he had lost, and the Italian government
refusing to sanction any settlement which did not recognise
Rome as the capital of Italy.
Earl Rummell replies that he
would accept the plan. "We know well that even the
liberal arrangement of 1815 met with a protest from
Cardinal Goundvi on the subject of Ferrero and Oornacchio.
The Pope, therefore, would not consent to anything less than
the restoration of Bologna and Ancona. But this oonsent need
not be asked more for Rome than it was for Bologna. Your
Excellency will recollect that as soon as the Austrian troops
left Bologna, the city threw off its allegiance to the Pope.
So it would be if the French troops were to leave Rome.
With respect to the consent of the Italian government,
your Excellency will perceive that her Majesty's govern-
' ment propose or suggest thin plan as • temporary
arrangement. If it were proposed as a final settle-
ment, an Italian min;ster would, no doubt, hesitate
or refuse to agree to it. But, as • temporary arrangement.
no one can believe that the evacuation of Rome, Velletri,
and Frosinone, and the left bank of the Tiber, by the French
troops, weed not be eagerly accepted by the Italian people.
Naples would be satisfied with a government aittiog at Rome ;
and the charge that • ministry at Turin were attempting to
Piemontizzare' Italy would fall to the ground."
Earl Cowley, on Marsh 28, informs the noble earl
of another conversation with the French minister :—" B.
Thouvenel then went into various argument" to prove, as
he said, the rights which the Pope still possessed es • tem-
poral sovereign,and to show that the claims put forward by
the Italian government to Rome as the capital of Italy, as
also to Venetia u an Italian province, were totally un-
justifiable according to the common understanding of inter-
national law. Ido not enter into these arguments, because
it was easy to convince him that they had no weight with
the imperial government, when the Legations, when Umbria
and the Marches, when Tuaceny, and when Naples and
Sicily annexed themselves to Sardinia. I merely mention
them thus cursorily to you- lordship as farther evidence
I say it with nefeigned regret —of the little hope that is
to be entertained of modifying by discussion or remon-
strance the coons which the Emperor's government is
resolved to pawns with regard to the Papal question. The
solution of it has been abandoced, to all outward appearance
at least, to the Pope, and 1 tee no other sure policy foe Italy
to pursue than to endeavour to consolidate the admieistra-
Mon of the countries of which she is composed. She will
thus acquire internal strength and impose external confidence,
and so be ready to take advantaged every favourable oppor-
tunity to complete her unity by showing the truth of the I
proverb, that in union there is foam"
Writing on the 2sd of April, Earl Russell (haves :
" B. Tbouvenel no longer speaks of the difficulty of per-
suading the Italian government to accept of such conditions
as her lifejMy'r government had suggested. Nor is there
any question of forc:ng the Pope to abandon his temporal
power, and remain in Italy se the subject of another
sovereign. The. whole question is, whether the Pope hub*
lost Romagna, the Marches, and Umbiiit should retain the
whole of the territors now occupied by Francs, or
whether the French troops should occupy for the Pope
only the patrimony of St. Peter, including the Vatiem.
Setting aside all dllerence between a protestant and
Roman catholic sovereign, it is manifest that the principle
thus Upheld is at variance with the principles maintained
everywhere else by France am well as by G rut Britain. Rome
is foreign ter:limy ; the Romans are to have nothing, and
foreign troops everything, to say to the form of its govern-
ment This system cat h►rdly be of long duration, it is too
directly opposed to the maxims of international law and the
Mahes of the Gallen people. Ido not, however, wish your
Excellency to enter into any polemics on this question. But,
on the other hand, the Frenchgovernment must not make
it a reproach to the government of Italy that the southern
provinces are not in • state of tranquillity, while the French
flag protects the Pope in maintaining • sanctuary where
every chief of brigands can find a refuge, and prepare his
band for future incursions on peaceful provinces. You are
not to read this despatch to EL Tbouvenel, but you may
state to him the subject of it."

The despatch of Sir J. Hudson, dated May 8, gives a most
favourable picture of the state of affairs at Ancona sod other
Italian towns and cities. "The aspect of the towns is the
Marches and Umbria," be says, " is that of cities awakened
to new life." Thu country from ADCOO4 to the Papal
frontier is anxiously exporting the completion of the rail-
ways, which are already commenced. "At the Tiber the
scene changes, and we enter also upon the desert. The con-
trast between the fertile garden of the Marches and Umbria
studded with substantial farms and well-kept country
houses, and the desolate Campine, was striking —between
the bustle and vigorous life of their towns and the solemn
measured tread of Rome. It is clear that the reason for
their secession was the inability or unwillingness of Rome
to keep pace with their progress ; they have outstripped
her, and left her far in the rear. Rome may join them ;
they never will return to Rome voluntarily."

On Monday the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland laid
the foundstioessone el the Bing and Queen's College of

Physicians in Ireland, on the ite of the Kildmre-atresi
Club•homee, which was burnt some time ago. There was a
numerous sassmblage of the mobility, the medical profes-
sion, and OM retry of the city of Dublin.

The Duke of Devonehire gave a grand ball last
evening at Devonshire House, which was most 'amorously
and fashionably attended, there being over 60) persons
present. AU the saloons of this beautiful mansion were
thrown open and brilliantly illuminated. The Grand Duke
of Saxe-Weimar, Prince Herman of Saxe-Weimar, Prince
and Princess Edward a/ Saxe-Weimar, Prince George Solna,
and Prince Leichteastein honoured the Kunio,: with their
prereoce•

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION.

HOUSE OF 00M.MON&-JOLT 8.

CHINA.
Motion made, and queetion put, " That it is the opinion
of this house, that her Majesty's ministers should
direct the British authorities sod commanders of her
Majesty's naval and military forces in China to avoid
any intervention beyond that absolutely necessary for
the defence of those British subjects who abstain
from all interference in the civil war now raging in that
country :"—(Mr. White :)—The home divided; ayes, 88,
noes, 197.

AYFi.

Adderley, C. B. Agerton,W. Monson, W. J.
Aloock, T. d, W. R. North, CoL
Ayrton, A. 8. God= A. Northcota, Sir S. H.
Baines. F. Graham, Lord W. ilConor Don, The
Baas, M. T. Greenell, G. Onelow, G.
Beethick, G. C. Greene, J. Pak!neon, Btr J.
Bernard, T. T. Grey de Wilton,Vis. Parker, Major
Blackburn, P. Hadfield, G. Peto, Ur & M.
Blake, J. Hay, Ski. C. Pl&Wean, J.
Bridges, Sir B. W. Hennessy. J. P. Quinn, P.
Cave, 8. Heygate, Sir F. W. Bclaterßoeih, G.
LbSt, Lord R. Renate, W. 11. Seely, C.
Clifton, Sir B. J. Bibbed. J. T. Selwyn, C. J.
Cobden, R. Hodgson, B. Shelley, Mr J. T.
Cochrane, A. D. Hereby, W. H. Btansfeld, J.
Conlnitharo, W. Hume, W. W. Sykes, Col.
Con, W. Hunt, G. W. Talbot, W. C.
Crawford, Z. W. Kekewlch, 8. T. Taylor, P. A.
Crossley P. Kelly, Sir F. Treads, C. H.
COM, e. Kennard, IL W. Trollope, Kr J
Corson, Wick. Zing, J. K. Watkins, Col.
Dialed, Z. Lesson, W. Welby, 1!;,. IL
Dawson, B. P. Liddell, IL G. W he. J. L
fftedes„ W. Lindsay, W. B. Whiteside, J.
Dickson, Col. Lindaay, Gen. WYld, J.
Dillwyn, L L raitzi Yorke, Z. T.
Douiton, P. , Z.
Du Cane, C. M.Mahou, P. TiLLIOIII.
Duncombe, W. Z. Maguire, J. P. White, J.
Du Pre, C. G. Manners, Lard J. Palk, Sir L
Edwards, Major Mills, A.

. .
NOD.
Adair, H. E. Garnett, W. J. Puget, Lord A
Adam, W. P. °Liken, J. M. =lord C.
Antrobtis, E. Gibson, T. H. , Sir B.
Arehdail, Capt. Gladstone, Capt. Ptharestos, Meet.
Astell, J. H. Gladstone, W. Papillon, P.O.
Atherton, Sir W. Glyn, 0. G. Peel, Sir IL
Bring,
A. H. Gore, J. B. Perenaey, Fiatt.
Baring, H. B. Gore, W. H. Fiassey, Col
Baring, I. G. Gower, F. L. W. H.
BarttelotsCol. Greenwood, J. rogvittn. J.
Bathurst, A. A. anion, 8. Powys. P. L
Bathurst, F. H. Gray, Capt. Pritchard, J.
Beale. S. Grey, 81r G. Proby, Lord'
Beaumont, B. A. Grosvenor, lord R. Puller, C. W.
Bentlnek, G. W. Gordon.. B. Renton, G.
=you, X. Hamilton, Vhot. Ricardo 0.
el., H.P. Hsnixu7, Z. Ridley, hir M. W.
Berkeley, C. P. Hankey, T. Boit, J.
Black, A. Reamer, Sir 1. Salome., Ald.
Hinnies, J. G. Hanicastle, J. A. Salt, Tomas
Booth, Sir X G. Hasesrd, IL Seymour, Sir H.
Bonne., P. P. Hayter, 81r W. G. Bhafto, R. D.
Brareley-tloore, J. Headisin, T. L. Sheridan, R. B.
Sramstoo, T. W. Heathoote, Sir W. Smith, 31. T.
&non, R. Healey, Lord Smith, Augustus
Enloe, H. A. Hesketh, alt T. G. Stoollett, P. S.
Brun, H. Hill H. C. flomerrillaSir W.M.
Buchanan, W. !folioed, R. 8. Somas, .I.w
Buller, J. W. Hopwood, J. T. Stanhope, J. B.
Burke, Sir T J. Howes. B. Stsaliand, M.
Burrell. Sir P. liambenton, P. B. Steel, J.
Butler.Joluistone,H. Jackson, W. Stoat; Col.
Butt, I. Jennie, Sir J. C. Stuart, Lint:oot
Caicutt, F. M.N. Kendall, N. Wan, Sir H.
Cardza t ~. Kershaw, J. Stun, I.4ent.-CoL
Cart Col. liingeoote, Col. Tempest, Lord A. V.
Caren lord G. Lintshd, A. X H. S.
Childen, H. C. R. W. P.
Choirneley, 8. H. LatoKnigrUZZ. Tin nne, X
y, J. 'Langton, W. 11. Thynne, lord H.
Clifford, C. C. Lard, J. 'lite, W.
Clive, Capt. Layard, A. H. Ullman:lse, F. J.
Cobbold, J. C. Leroy, A. Torrent, B.
Codrlngtoe, 81r W. Legh, W. J. Turner, J. A.
Cannily, T. Leg* C. P. Turner, C.
Cowper W. F. Loan J. Vansittart, W.
Davie, Col. Lowe, P.. Verney, 81r R.
Duff, R. W. Lys& G. Vernon, IL F.
Dunbar, Sir W. 441., W. I. Villiers, C. P.
DundaA F. Lin, Slr G. K. Vivian, H. H.
Dundee, Mr D. lisraring, T. Vyuer, X A-
U., Blr J. B. Mallon R. Walls)* S. R.
Egerton. H. C. Manoributka, D. C. Walter, J.
Enilold, Vises Martin J. Warner. E.
Brain, T. W. Mills,
...i. Z. Watlington, J. W.
Pane, CoL J. W. Mitchel, T. A. Weguelin, T. H.
Fellow., X Morgan, 0. Whitbread, 8.
Fenwlck, H. Morgan. )1408 White. L
Fergusson, Sir J. Man. D. Wickham, H. W.
Filmer, Sir E. IlLowbray, J. Z. Wood, Sir C.
Finlay, A. S. Mundy, W. Wood, W.
Forster, C. ftivy, Pk J. Wynn, Sir W.
Foster, W. 0. O'Hara, C. W. TELMA
Freeland, H. V. Pane, Col. Brand, H. B.
Gallwey, Sir W. P. Padmore; R. KnatchbritHugew
Gard, X 8. Paget, C. ten, IL