The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-11 00:00:00

THE PAPACY IN PIEDMOMT AND

SARDINIA.

While the Church of Rome is putting forward pre-
tensions such as may remind us of the days of Hilde-
brand or Innocent 111., and settling, by a simple act of
assumed authority, a controversy which dates front the
scholastic era of the middle ages, she is menaced nearer
home with .a danger which all her art and all her in-
trigdes will Scarcely suffice to avert. Considering the
rapid and simultaneous progress which the reformed
opinions made in so many parts of Europe, it is remark-
able that they should have taken so little hold on the
soil of Italy, where the abuses of the Church were most
rife and most notorious, and where, by a series of satiri-
cal writers, from Dante and Boccaccio downwards, they
were most completely and thoroughly exposed. There
were circumstances, too, in the then condition of that

country— broken up into a number of small States, each
warring and intriguing against the other—which might
seen► not unfavourable to the espousal of the. new ideas
by princes seeking protection against' a powerful neigh-
bour, and anxious for new strength, from whatever quar-
ter it might be gathered. The failure of the Reforma-
tion in Italy is probably to be attributed to the circum-

- - .
stance that, owing to the scandalous state of the
. —•-

Papacy and the notorious corruption of the Church, it
broke out prematurely, and was extinguished before it
had time to spread t• other countries. Had the move-
ment of Savonarola been contemporaneous with that of
Luther, who can say low large a portion of the Italian
peninsula—nay, of the patrimony of the Church itself—
might have been snatched from the grasp •f the Court of
Rome? But, as it had been with the Albigenses in the
thirteenth and the Lollards and Hussites in the fifteenth

century, so it was with the Italian Protestants. The
Reformation was quenched in the blood of the first Re-
formers, and those people who were the first to rise
against the tyranny of Rome have been unable up to the
present day to cast her yoke from off their necks.
It is, therefore, with no common interest that we wit-
ness in the constitutional country of Piedmont the pro-
gress of a contest which that little State is carrying on
with a brave and steady resolution against the domi-
neering power of the Papacy. The able men into whose
hands the conduct of the first attempt at rational and
moderate freedom which has been made in Italy since
the fall of the Republic of Florence has fallen seem fully
to have apprehended the truth, taught no less by reason
than by history, that the predominant influence of_ the
Church of Rome is inconsistent with the permanence of
liberal and enlightened institutions. 'We do not mean
to say that countries professing the Catholic religion
have not at different times possessed some share of free-
dom, but that such freedom is inconsistent with the
active interference of the Court of Rome in the affairs
of the national Church.
It is very hard for institutions whose essence is free-
dom and publicity to co-exist with the dark and despotic
influence which the confessor exercises over his penitent;
but this difficulty becomes an impossibility if the con-
fessor, instead of being actuated by the feelings of a
citizen, is the mere servant and emissary of a foreign
Power. Had the tendencies of the King of Piedmont
been less consistently and uniformly unconstitutional he
would have found, as so many other princes have found,
in Rome an ardent and unscrupulous ally, ready to over-
power the wisdom and patriotism of the middle and upper
classes by an appeal to the fanatical ignorance of the
lowest of the people ; but as a constitutional King, Vic-
tor Emmanuel has nothing to hope from Rome, and from
this acknowledged incompatibility of interests rather
than any wish ou his part to precipitate a rupture have
arisen those contests with the Papacy which have dis-
turbed the commencement of his otherwise calm and
prosperous reign. The point at which the quarrel has
arrived is not one of doctrine, but of internal policy.
The question involved is, whether the Government of
Piedmont has the right claimed by every independent
State to regulate the ownership and distribution of pro-
perty within its own dominions, or whether that right is
to be exercised only with the allowance and subject to
the veto of a foreign Power.
This is no insignificant question, but one going to the
root, not only of internal liberty, but of external inde-
pendence. Sardinia is, in fact, passing through ;that
stage of her history which corresponds with the period
of our own when the Government, not assuredly with-
out the consent and approbation of the hest and wisest
in the nation, broke up the establishments of monasteries
accumulated by the superstition and avarice of 700
years, a change not necessarily implying a complete
reformation of doctrine, but certainly an indispens-
able step towards it. We do not presume to judge
how far the existence of monasteries in Piedmont
may have impeded the accumulation of wealth and
cursed the land with the evils of pauperism and
indolence ; but we cannot be wrong in thinking that
this is a question which the Piedinontese Parliament
ought to be allowed to decade without the interference
of any foreign priest or potentate, and in this conviction
we heartily wish success to their labours. The struggle
must needs be an arduous one. In addition to the in-
fluence of large and wealthy corporations contending fur
their very existence, the fanatical spirit of the moun-
taineers whe people the high valleys of SavoY and the
southern side of the Alps is sure to be stimulated against
the Government. From the Republican party in Pied-
mont, at least from so much of it as is under the control
of Mazzini, the Government of the King has little but
hostility to expect. They hate constitutional monarchy
even mom than despotism, and have ever been ready to
plot against the only State in Italy which respects per-
sonal freedom, administers justice with impartiality, and
allows free and fair discussion on all matters of public
interest. From France, of course, whatever support
they may receive on other matters, they have on this
none to expect, and Austria must regard with the
utmost disapprobation a policy which stands out in
such marked contradistinction to her own. When we
see these things we are at a lOse which to admire
most, the clear discernment which has enabled the
statesmen of Sardinia to discern the absolute neces-
sity for vindicating, at whatever risk, the indepen-
dekce of the newly-established monarchy from the
interference and dictation of the Roman Pontiff, the
boldness with which they have entered on a struggle so
arduous in itself, so liable to misrepresentation, and so
beret by powerful and opposing influences, or the discre-
tion with which they have gone steadily forward, and
without heat or violence matured the measures they
deemed necessary for the public safety.
Let them be assured that in this great crisis of their
destiny, in which they are contending for the perpetua-
tion of their dearly-won constitutional privileges, while
asserting their independence of foreign dictation, and in
which also they are virtually fighting the battle of all
Italy, whose future destiny is involved in the fate of the
Sardinian monarchy, they carry with them the hearty
sympathy of the English nation, and of the true friends
of constitutional freedom all over the world. It is doubly
pleasing to us togive utterance to this sentiment, because
we are aware that expressions of English sympathy are
not merely a relief to our feelings, but a powerful stimu-
lus and encouragement to exertion and perseverance. It
is natural that the country whose institutions have been
modelled on our own, hitherto with such happy results,
should feel not indifferent to our approbation. Pied-
mont is now passing through that state of probation
from which no nation in its pursuit of freedom can hope
to be exempt. Let her go on and prosper but a few
years longer, and we are convinced there is reserved for
her a position which will more than reward her for all
her exertions and sacrifices.—Times.

AMERICAN GROUNDS FOR PRESERVING
FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA.

(Prom the New York _Herald of December 27.)

The British press has been loud in its abuse of "Ame-
rica siding with Russia." As republicans, we have been
accused of sympathising with despotism, and enjoying
its success over the so-called liberal powers of Europe.
But is it so ? We have certainly expressed our con-
viction that Russia must prove victorious in the end.
We have also pointed out the advantages to be derived
from maintaining peaceful relations with that empire,
but in all this we have done no more than give an opi-
nion, and reciprocate, in a measure, the kindly feel-
ings extended towards us by the Czar. From the supre-
macy of the allies we have much to dread—for war,
to a commercial and progressive nation like ours, may
reasonably be dreaded—while, on the other hand, from
the supremacy of Russia we have much to expect. By
the latter the right hand of fellowship has been
held out to us, and we see no reason to refuse • it,
though its government be despotic, and its Empe-
ror the enemy of our own immediate rival. Rus-
sia seems, as it were, to have just sprung into life,
and is no doubt advancing fast along the path
of greatness. We have now the opportunity of esta-
blishing with her a close commercial intercourse, which
will be greatly beneficial to both countries, and, as
we hope, be the means of spreading for thefirst time
a liberal influence among her people. With her des-
potism we do not sympathise, and with the cause of
the present quarrel we have nothing to do ; but it is
incompatible with our republicanism, and far less with.
our material interests, to destroy the friendly feelings

at present existing between us.
Let us illustrate this last assertion with a few facts.
At the present moment the earnest desire of the Czar
is to connect by telegraph and railroad all the im-
portant points of his vast dominions. Hence the faci-
lities afforded to Mr. Shaffner, who lately visited St.
Petersburg, to settle preliminaries d
and otherwise further
acing a girle round tho
the grand enterprise of ,e pl
earth." It is intended to traverse the Russian empire
from the capital to Sitka, and the line, throughout,
will run south of 60 degrees, with the exception of a
small portion, which diverges north, for the purpose of
reaching Yatousk, on the river Lena. It has also been de-
termined to build 2,300 miles of railway—the principal
road being from Moscow to Odessa. Iron is required for
this—the native metal being too soft—and to procure it
(the trade with England being stopped) the Czar must
necessarily turn to America.
Again, he has seen the destruction caused among his
troops by the screw ships of the allied fleet in the Cri-
mea. Both at Eupatoria and the Alma, the English
vessels as they lay along the coast, beyond the range of
the enemy's guns, did fearful damage with rocket and
bomb shell. The Emperor has already been taught a
Jepson from experience, To be even with his opponents
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