The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-19 00:00:00

The Pope's Speech on New Year's Day.

The following is a literal translation from the
Osservatore Romano of the speech delivered by his
Ilotinesl to the French officers on New Year's Day :
" I accept with paternal affection the congratula-
tions and the good wishes which you, General, have
the goodness to offer me in the name of the army
you so worthily command, and I gladly seize
the present occasion to demonstrate my grati-
tude to that same army which, by the will
of your august Sovereign, is placed here for
the purpose of guaranteeing the free exercise of
his jurisdiction to the Vicar of Christ.
Though the French army is glorious in the field
by its valour, and in time of peace by its disci-
pline, I do not hesitate to assert that it is more
glorious still by the mission it now fulfils in the
name of God, as the noble instrument in His hands
for the maintenance of the rights the most legi-
timate and the most holy of the head of the Catholic
religion. This city, which all the world calls
eternal,' was destined of God from the first days of
Christianity to be the residence of His representaft
five on earth. This city, made precious by the blood
of martyrs, adorned and sustained by the example
of saints, enriched of God in the person of his
vicar, whoever he may be, even unworthy as
the present who speaks to you,—enriched, I
say, with the gifts of counsel, of wisdom
and of firmness,—this city is made the mark
of revolution, and of the impious of the whole
world, who strive to make it the capital of I know
not what kingdom. No; such is not the truth. The
very persons that proclaim it the capital with their
lips cannot entertain any such will, because their
depraved intentions are far different. Yes ; their
end attained, they would have this remnant of the
temporal dominion, to be able to combat the religion
of Jesus Christ. Already have they put in practice
his perverse design in the usurped provinces, cast-
ing into prison both bishops and priests, usurping
the possessions of the Church, exposing to scorn
and want and hunger the spouses of Jesus Christ,
and multiplying disorder and all kinds of immo-
rality. But to prevent the consummation of this
horrible attempt God has set you here, my most
beloved children, assigning to you the mission of
an enterprise so fraught with glory, When God
created theseas and the oceans, which in the moments
of tempest raise their threatening waves on high,
as if they would swallow up the earth, he yet
affixed their limits, forbidding them to pass beyond.
' Usque hue venies, et non precedes amplius, et hic
confringes tumentes fluctus tuos.' So revolu-
tion and impiety, threatening on every side the
capital of the Catholic world, God, by means of you,
imposes on the passions of men that they should
not go beyond the limits assigned by him for the
present. You then must well see, my most beloved
children, how lively is the desire which I feel to
raise my hands on high to impart to you the Apos-
tolic benediction. I bless you and your parents and
friends. I bless the whole army of the French
wherever it may be found. I bless the Imperial
family, and moreparticu tarty the young Prince who
is united to me in spiritual bonds. I bless the ad-
mirable French Episcopate and its worthy clergy;
I bless the millions of Catholics scattered tnrough-
out the entire Empire, who in a thousand
ways have laboured, and continue to labour, to
sustain and comfort this Holy See and the Father
of all the Faithful. And because I am the
Father of all the Faithful, I desire with all my
heart that this benediction may descend copi-
ously on all who are scattered over the face
of the earth, the more so that they have united in
consoling the common Father. And why is it not
given to me to bless also the enemies of the Holy
See and of the Church ? But if the hand be not
lifted over them to make the sign of redemption,
the heart turns to God to implore the Divine
mercy upon them. Jacob, the holy patriarch,
wrestled during the course of an entire night, but
at the dawn of day Jacob discovered that his ad-
versary was an angel of God, then prostrate on the
earth, end, full of love and respect, he exclaimed
that he would not let him go till he, the holy angel,
had given him his benediction. Those wretched
blind ones, who battle in the dark night of ignor-
ance and of error without perceiving the terrible
abyss which yawns before them, do -battle against
the Church, against its ministers, against the
faithful, and against the angels of God,
and therefore must we pray that the Lord himself
may open their eyes, and that they may be enabled
to recognise the immense error they commit, and
the imminent peril in which they lie ; that under
the influence of salutary remorse they may abandon
the abominable enterprise they have taken in hand,
and, prostrate in penitence, may demand—first,
pardon, and then the benediction of Heaven. Mean-
while I bless you in the name of the Eternal Father,
to the end that in His omnipotence he may give you
the strength to believe and to hope. I bless you in.
the name of the Eternal Son, that name whereof
the Church this day celebrates the greatness—in
that name before which the heavens bow down, and
the earth and hell itself, to the end that you may
be inspirei for that name with respect and confi-
dence and love. I bless you in the name of the
Holy Spirit—of that Spirit of Charity, to the end
that you may love one another."

REPRESENTATION OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE.—Lord
George Manners is still the only candidate for the vacancy
about to be occasioned by the retirement of Mr . E. Ball,
and there is little, if any, doubt, that he will be returned.
The noble lord was introduced ts the farmers in the New-
market district at a meeting held in the course of last
week, and was extremely well received.

WAVENEY VALLEY RAILWAY.-A junction has
been effected between the extention of this com-
pany's line from Bungay to Beccles and the Great Eastern
system at the latter town. A party of the Great Eastern
directors inspected the works last week, and traffic will be
commenced next month. The line will be worked by the
Great Eastern Company, and will be fused in that system
by an act, which will in all probability be carried through
parliament during the ensuing session.

BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY.—This com—
pany propose to raise an additional capital by the
creation of new shares or stock to the extent of £375,000, in
addition to the £4,000,000 already raised or authorised to be
raised, to be applied to the enlargement of their stations at
Yeovil and Exeter for the interchange of traffic with the
South Western, and for the enlargement of several other
stations on their line, also for the construction of the Chard
and Taunton line, and the lease or purchase of the West
Somerset and Bridgwater communication work, together
with the purchase of additional lands, and the alteration of
rates and charges.

GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY: PROPOSED EX-
TENSION TO NOTTINGHAM.—The proposed exten-
sion will start from the Nottingham and Grantham Rail-
way, near Sneinton, and after passing through places in
Nottinghamshire terminate by a junction with the Erewash
Valley branch of the Midland Railway, near the Butterley
Iron Works and Codnor Park, Derby, with a fork lino
from Greasley. The Parliamentary estimate amounts to
£350,000.

THE CASE OF THE REV. MR. M'LAUGHLIN.—At
the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, on Satur-
day, the court gave judgment in the case of the Rev. Patrick
...`Laughlin, the Roman catholic priest. The Lord Justice
General (11.P.Neill) delivered the unanimous opinion of the
seven judges, which was to the effect that Mr. M`Laughlin,
however unintentionally, bad been guilty of contempt of
court. Whatever privilege of confilentiality the law might
allow in certain circumstances between a penitent criminal
and his spiritual adviser, the privilege could not extend to +s
case like the present, where the question related not to any
communication between the penitent and the clergyman,
but to an act of the priest himself. With regard to the
limitation of the oath, that procedure was altogether is
mistake on the part of the justice, and it did not in any
respect take away the obligation of the witness to tell the
whole truth, inasmuch as that obligation rested on the
common law and not on the form of the oath. Their lord-
ships, however, in consideration of the priest having been
led into some confusion as to his obligation by the conces-
sion of the justice, and in consideration of his exertions gco
repair the offence the culprit had committed, resolved 0
mitigate the sentence to the term of imprisonment already
suffered, and to suspend the further execution accordingIY-
ANECDOTE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.—Dr•
Wap, a professor of Utrecht, who saw Mezzofanti
at Rome in April, 1837, wrote in the Cardinal's album a
pair of Dutch quatrains, expressive of his admiration•
Mezzolantr instantly replied in six lines of Dutch verse,
and asked if there were any mistakes in them. Dr. `Dap
pointed out three, but al very trifling. These lines of
Mizzotanti's were undoubtedly produced extempore, as
they are an answer to the lines of Wap, and they have a
more easy and flowing air than most of his compositions•
They are, perhaps, of all that Dr. Russell has produced,
the most extraordinary proof of his wonderful and unparal-
leled powers,