The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-16 00:00:00

To His MAJESTY THE EMPEROR.

Sire,—Your Majesty will not be astonished at the
emotion which I now feel. I could not remain insensible to
the marks of benevolence which you have shown towards
me during the last 15 years, and God is my witness that I
have responded to them by a sincere devotion. Bat to-day
this purple which, to my confusion,' have on, this eminent
dignity which the Holy Father has deigned to confer upon
me, are they not, Sire, on your part, a new proof of esteem
and confidence—l almost venture to say of affection—which
exceeds all those which your Majesty has hitherto honoured
me with ? I cannot express what I feel. But this satis-
faction of the heat t is not without an alloy, and I am anxious
respecting how I shall fulfil the new duties imposed upon me.

Your Catholic faith, Sire, and your filial attachment to
the Church have opened the Senate of the Empire to the
cardinals. Your high intelligence has never separated in
its Christian views social and political interests fmm senti-
ments of religion, which are their most solid basis and safest
guarantee. You therefore wished that in this august As-
sembly, where sit the highest representatives of the military
and civil hierarchy, the Church should also be represented
by its highest dignitaries.
Such, Sire, is the cause of my anxiety. The more we love
and respect the cause we support the more do we fear to
compromise it. And what eauses can be so great, so noble,
so holy as those of religion and patriotism ? To those sacred
interests I have devoted my whole life. I could not under-
stand how to separate them, and when unfortunate circum-
staw es, arising from the clash of human passions, tend to
bring them into opposition, it is our duty as well as our heart's
wish to exert ourselves to reconcile them. This is what I
have always endeavoured to do during my career.
Educated and brought up in civil society, for many years
I studied its laws and their application, and I have been en-
abled to appreciate its real wants and its generous aspira-
tions as well as its errors and its dangers, Devoted later to
the more immediate service of God in the Church, in the
propagation of his Gospel, in the rule of Christian justice
and charity in the souls of men, whilst endeavouring to ac-
complish that sublime mission I never denied my origin ;
and oft times the Bishop has been happy to find at his ser-
vice for the government of ecclesiastical men and things
the remembrances and inspirations of the magistrate.
Resolved to live and die for the Church, I am, therefore,
equally resolved to live and die for France, for that beloved
land which gave me birth, to which, after God, I am in-
debted for everything, and to which I am linked by my
most tender and deepest affections.
But we have seen this France, 15 years ago, struggling
in the grasp of anarchy ; we have heard its cries of distress,
and we shuddered at the sight of the abyss into which the
blindness of party passion was about to plunge it, when
God brought you forward, Sire, to save it. The suffrages
of a whole people hailed you and proclaimed you. The
pontiffs and the holy tribe, as every class of citizens, saluted
you as the Elect of God and of the nation, the Prince who
has since re-opened the gates of the Holy City to the Vicar
of Jesus Christ, and who still defends it against the parri-
cidal manoeuvres of ungrateful and rebellious children; the
Prince through whom France, after three centuries, has
refound her conciles ; the Prince who has restored tran-
quillity at home and glory abroad ; the Prince, finally, who,
a hen the universe is troubled at the sight of human blood-
shed which inundates it, at the noise and threat of war
arising from every side, remains calm and serene even in
the midst of sinister conspiracies, and offers peace to the
world by the proposal of a Congress to settle its disputes.
With such features, Sire, who can fail to recognize, at
the same time, your Providential mission and the duty of
us all to give you the loyal support of our will and
strength?
Others can describe better than we your indefatigable
activity for the welfare of the State, the vast glance of your
intelligence, your decision of character, your patience, and
that goodness of heart which renders you sensible to the
afflictions of the most humble of your subjects, and which
gives you satisfaction in wiping away a tear or in prevent-
ing misery.
But what we might pourtray perhaps better than others
is that quality so rare in men whom God has elevated to
supreme power, that love of truth which makes you seek for
it in every path, which submits to contradiction, and which,
by a marked benevolence, encourages free speech and frank-
ness to flattery.
May your life be a long one, Sire, for the prosperity and
glory of France. May the Almighty, who has already pre-
served you from so many attempts against your person, deign
always to cover you with His protection, and enlighten your
mind more and mole, by giving it the necessary strength to
govern the vast empire entrusted to you in accordance with
the law I May its most precious blessings be showered upon
your Majesty, upon your august spouse, and upon the Prince
Imperial, the hope of future generations,
The Cardinal then addressed her Majesty the
Empress as follows:—
It gives me pleasure to inaugurate this sacred purple by
offering my homage to the mother of the young Prince who
amid so many glorious titles, possesses that of spiritual son
of the Pontiff, the successor of the Prince of the Apostles.
This prerogative, a mighty guarantee of the benedictions
which have consecrated the Imperial dynasty, also includes
your Majesty, and adds a marked ft attire to your desiiny,
which is so intimately bound up with the destinies of
France.

It is pleasing to contemplate in the midst of the compli•
cations of our epoch that mission so imbued with serenity
and grace which Providence has deigned to entrust to you.
In fact, though the thunder may peal around the Holy See,
spreading terror and sorrow in all Catholic hearts—though
a fratricidal war devastates the New World and causes sad
want amongst our country population, which it deprives of
work—your Majesty, by the rncrgy of your faith, and by
your sympathising charity, soothes the wounded heart, ba-
nishes sorrow, and rekindles hope. It was thus that in past
times many illustrious Princesses displayed their noble
qualities upon the throne of France, and we are happy to see
the reproduction of such noble examples. We feel that, as

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God has had a design in His love for P ranee, and has t
you by the hand to raise you to supreme rank; and th
what renders you so dear to our country, what makes us b 54.;:;";tL;;:
the intelligent, pious, and loving companion of the Empe.
ror. I am grateful, Madam, for the opportunity which this "
solemnity gives me to add this mark of homage to the re-
spectful expression of my devotion and fidelity.'!
The Emperor then made the following reply
I, Your eminence is right to say that the honours
of this world are heavy burdens imposed upon us by
Providence. It has seen fit, in its justice, to increase
duties in proportion to dignities; I, also, ask myself
frequently if good fortune does not possess as many
tribulations as evil fortune. But in both cases faith
is our guide and our support—religious frith and
political faith; that is to say, confidence in God and
consciousness of a mission to accomplish.

"You have appreciated this mission with the et-
tachment which you have always testified for me,
and you have d< fined it with r.I;P EXperience of the
magistrate and of the priest who has narrowly ob-
served whithur the abandonment of every principle,
of every rule, of every belief must lead. You must
also be astonished, as I am, to see at so short an in-
terval men hardly escaped from shipwreck summon
once more the Rinds and tempests to their aid. God
protects France too visibly to permit the genius of
evil again to appear to trouble her. The circle of our
Constitution has been widely traced; every honest
man can move within it at his ease, for each has the
opportunity of expressing his ideas, of controlling
the acts of the Government, and of taking his just
part in public affairs. Exclusion no longer exists.
Theclergy, as you have justly observed, has not only
the liberty of occupying itself with religious ques-
tions, but its most eminent chiefs find their legiti-
mate place in the first body of the State.
"It is therefore with pleasure that I shall see the
high dignity which has been conferred upon you
give you access to the senate. Yon will bring to it,
I doubt not, that spirit of conciliation which does
not separate the cause of religion from that of coun-
try—that spirit of toleration which attracts and
persuades ; finally, that love of country which un-
ceasingly tends to draw together those whom diver-
gence of opinion alienates.

"I thank you for thejustioe you do the religious
sentiments of the Empress. It is the happy privi-
lege of women to remain a stranger to reasons of
State and to the cold calculations of policy, to give
himself up entirely to the gee erous inspirations of
the soul, to offer consolation to misfortune, and en-
couragement to all that is noble and sacred.

" My son, whom tue blessings of the Church pro-
tect, will early learn his Christian duties as a citizen
and as a Prince, and at a later period will discharge
my debt of gratitude and affection towards his
country as well as towards the friends of his father."
The Cardinal then took the usual oaths.

The Discussion on the Address in the

Legislative Body.

The discussion in the Legislative Body on the
Address does not appear to the Debats to improve
in tone or to hold out a model for the debates of a
great political assembly; on the contrary, our con-
temporary conceives that the debate on the system
of official candidates pursues its way with a vivacity
which seems to increase and become more and more
envenomed :—" The contest," it observes, " which
had arisen between M. Segris and M. Ernest Picard
has been renewed with a still more lamentable
warmth and virulence between the Opposition and
Government speakers. The fact must be admitted
that the question at the present moment discussed
is assuredly the most irritating of all those raised
by the Address, as it touches directly on the origin
of the Assembly, the basis of its powers, and the
source of the authority which it holds from the
coantry. The Chamber is thus placed in a hazar-
dous situation, in which political passions must meet
and provoke each other, and become embittered by
the inevitable complications of private grievances
and personal susceptibilities. There is hardly
room for astonishment, although the fact must not
be the leas regretted, that the discussion should have
become a sort of tilting-match, a furious melee in
which the Opposition and the mujerity are engaged
in a contest of reciprocal accusations, bitter re-
criminations, and violent reprisals. What is
especially to he regretted is the kind of antagonism
which the last two sittings have caused to break
out between the Paris end the provincial rcprcEen-
tatives, between the deputies from the towns a,AI
the deputies from the rural districts. We shall ab-
stan from taking part in this violent collision of
personal recriminations, in which we should have
perhaps to censure digressions more or less Oka-
rionable, and manifestations of anger more or 1: ss
excusable. These tumultuous incidents, which to us
aro only a sad departure from the order of the day,
will not cause us to lose sight of the grave quasthu
of principle and constitutional right which we have
already recommended to all the solicitude and to all,
the patriotism of the Chamber. The amendment
which is at the present moment under discussion has
set forth the question in terms, the precision and
measure of which appears to us to represent
exactly the just grievances and the legitimate de-
sires of the Liberal party." The same journal has
some observations on the double system of tactics
which the Opposition had to select from in its con-
duct on the Address. They might, the writer re-
marks, have endeavoured in their private meetings
to come to an agreement, by means of mutual con-
cessions, on all the points of the home or foreign
policy, and to confine themselves to presenting in
face of the document prepared by the committee a
sort of programme containing only general views;
or they could have brought forward, en the prin-
cipal paragraphs of the Address, separate amend-
ments not implying any absolute unity of views :
" It was this latter system," says the Debats," which
they decided on adopting. In consequence of this
manner of proceeding, we shall see divergences of
opinion take place in the Liberal party upon more
questions than one. We do not regret that fact. If
there is a loss of unity, there must be an increase
in the sincerity of the discussion, and the Opposition
thus gives a fresh proof of its fair dealing. Besides,
public opinion at the present moment demands,
above all, that fair and full discussions shall take
place on those subjects which are of a nature to
enlighten the Government and the country ; the
nation appears to us to be iedifferent as to the
choice of means employed in addressing it (the
nation), provided that useful truths are enunciated
as often as possible. We should, however, have
suffered a feeling of regret if the deputies of the
Opposition, while declaring the points upon which
they intend to maintain their liberty of judgment,
had neglected to mark the common tendencies by
which they were united. It was their duty to show
that, if they sometimes followed different paths,
they are all tending to the same point—the unin-
terrupted development of liberty. We have thus
seen with extreme satisfaction all shades of libe-
ral ;opinion support the amendment directed
against the law of general safety, and the ex-
ceptional measure by which it is surrounded. "

Disastrous Explosion of Gunpowder at

Liverpool.

LIVERPOOL, Jan. 15.

A fearful explosion took place here at about 20
minutes past seven this evening, caused by the
blowing up in the river of a large ship heavily laden
with gunpowder. The gas is extinguished, and
enormous quantities of broken glass encumber the
streets from the river to beyond the Town-hall.
The neighbovrhood is in almost total darkness.
The amount of damage done and the number of lives
16st is, of course, e.t present unknown.

10 P.M.

The vessel which was blown up by gunpowder in
the river a little after seven o'clock this evening
was the barque Lottie L. She had been inking
in gunpowder for the West Coast of Africa about
Woodside, and caught fire early in the evening.
After burning some time the fire reached the
powder, and a fearful explosion ensued.
No lives are believed to have been lest, the men
engaged having lett the ship before the explosion
occurred. •
The dArenge done to pl lass for miles around
to
the town is enormous, and the evert is causing the
greatest consternation.
No injury is reported to the shipping.

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BONNET'S SILKS are said to be incapable of identifica-
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pos v:1 by the wry trade mark of the firm, as exhibited by

Messrs. JAY, of Regent-street.

The followitng• interwoven mark may be seen at the erid
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