The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-02 00:00:00

ADDRESS OF THE POPE ON 7HE
TEMPORAL POWER.

We translate from the official Journal of Rome
the allocution delivered by the Pope at the canoni-
sation, on Tuesday last, in the Church of the Mi-
nerva, of three martyrs of Japan :
Nothing certainly could be more agreeable to
my heart than the ceremony of which we are all
witnesses, and which increases the number of the
servants of God and the saints, who, while increasing
in numbers, do not cease to intercede for us and ob-
tain for us desideratum propitiationis abundantiam,
abounding mercy to defend the rights of justice ; to
obtain the conversion of the wanderers and the apos-
tates ; to sustain with firmness and resignation war
and sufferings, and to assist finally in the triumphs of
peace. Yes, it is consoling for us to think that in the
solemnity which we shall have shortly to celebrate
we shall be surrounded by the choicest souls, by the
college of cardinals, and by our brethren the bishops.
It will be a noble spectacle to see the supreme pas-
tor surrounded by other pastors who have supported
unanimously the rights of this Holy See, and
have allayed by their consoling words our profound
grief.

It is fitting to mention here a letter which we
received only 48 hours ago, from a large town of
Italy, or rather from the capital of Lombardy. This
letter has been forwarded by an ecclesiastic who
calls himself a canon, and it is there said :—" Take
good care that in the approaching assembly of the
bishops at Rome the temporal power is not de-
clared to be a dogma of faith." If this poor priest,
whom we should like better to call good priest, were
present here we should say to him as we say to you
who were present—Rest assured that the Holy See
does not maintain the temporal power as a dogma
of faith, but it declares that the temporal power is
necessary and indispensable as long as the order
..+.blished by Providence shall endure, to sustain
the independence of the spiritual power. We should
say to him—Think of the very holy martyrs who
did not fear to give, and who did give, their blood
and their life in defence of the church. We should
say to him—Since you are in such haste to manifest
your fears that you have brought them under the
eyes of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, hear his .voice,
which enjoins you and the chapter to which you
belong to listen to your own pastor, to follow not
only his orders, but also his advice ; if you, with
your colleagues, obey not, you and they will be
miserably lost. We should say to him—Recom-
mend yourself to the holy martyrs who have lost all
that they might not lose God.
From a neighbouring kingdom we have received
writings, signed by some ecclesiastics, in which they
address to us the hypocritical insinuation that we
should renounce the temporal power, which is for
them, or rather for those who advise them, very in-
convenient, and impedes the consummation of their
anti-Christian and anti-social designs. But we at
the same time receive letters also signed by eccle-
siastics which are filled with respectful attachment
to the Holy See. It appears from these letters that
the Government of that kingdom, or its representa-
tives or emissaries, sent printed forms which we
have seen and read, persuading some priests or
miserable clerks to sign them, with the double view
of causing it to be believed that the clergy sustain
the absurd principle of the incompatibility of the
spiritual with the temporal power, and of separat-
ing the inferior clergy from their bishops, whose
admirable concord in these times has astonished the
whole world.

The good ecclesiastics who write to us beg us to
give no heed to the observations of the handful of
deluded individuals by whom some have been en-
snared, and others led by fear, into giving their
signature. Let the Holy See be persuaded, say
these good priests, that their convictions are such
that they do not admit any doubt as to the necessity
of the temporal power. They invite us consequently
to pardon those blind men who know not what they
do, and we, on our part, add that these blind men,
led themselves by other blind, will fall into an abyss
from which it is almost impossible they should ever
escape.

Let us, on our side, take care that the intrigues
tending to separate the pastors from the flocks do
not attain their object ; let the holy martyrs obtain
this for us from the Lord, and that there may be
given to us through their intercession the necessary
power to sustain with courage the combats to come.
May the Holy Virgin, under whose all-powerful
auspices we have been kept safe and sound up to
this hour, deign to continue to us her protection ;
and may she inspire us with a perfect resignation to
the Divine will, so that even as she pronounced the
fiat expected by human generations, Ecce ancilla
domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, we may, in
like manner, animated by her, say also to the Lord,
Ecce serve tui, fiat nobis secundum voluntatem tuum.

It now only remains for us to pray to the Lord
that He will cause His blessing to descend
upon all of us ; that it may descend upon the
country which has produced so many heroes
for heaven, and so many defenders of the
church ; and that it may give it strength to main
tain regular observances and exemplary precepts of
life, in spite of so many contests. May this bless-
ing give intelligence to our poor mind, and may it
communicate strength to this poor arm! May this
blessing solace and protect all those who endeavour
to sustain the vessel of the church tossed about by
the waves, that their voices may not be drowned in
the noise of the tempest which has been let loose !
May this blessing serve, in the last place, to encou-
rage all the good, and to convert the souls of the
wicked !

Loss AT SEA.—FALMOUTIL—The large Ameri-
can ship Ocean Monarch, bound from New York to Liver-
pool with a general cargo, was abandoned in a leaky state
on the 10th of March, the crew amounting to 47 in all em-
barking in four boats ; the crews of three boats were picked
up by the Danish bark Jurger Lorentser, bound from New
York to Rotterdam, while those of the remaining boat were
still missing. Seven of the rescued sailors were subse-
quently transferred to the Lifio, Gregor master, arrived on
Monday (31st) at Falmouth.

LARGE ARRIVAL OF SHlPS.—Yesterday up to
half-past 4 o'clock, upwards of 37 vessels arrived in Liver-
pool from foreign ports; besides these, there were also
numerous arrivals on Monday. Of these vessels a large num-
ber are corn laden, and many others have brought heavy
consignments of different kinds of p7ovisions. Notwith-
standing the immense imports of corn and other provisions,
the general trade of the port has been much depressed. As
an instance of this, it may be stated that for the nine months
ended yesterday the amount of dock revenue has been about
£60,000 less than during the same period of last year.

A FATAL SHOT.—On Monday evening an inquest
was held at Birmingham by Dr. Birt Davies, the borough
coroner, on the body of the child who was killed by the
firing from rifles. The evidence adduced established com-
pletely the charge against the three men under the circum-
stances before stated. The shot took effect at the distance
of 668 yards, the arm used being a breech-loading rifle,
sighted to shoot at 300 yards. The verdict of the jury was
manslaughter against one of the men for causing the death
of the child, and against the two others, his ccmpanions, as
eiders and abettors. The nurse still survives.

CONSANGUINITY.—Dr. Devay, professor of clini-
cal medicine at the School of Medicine at Lyons, has just
published an interesting work on the disastrous effects of
in us
e agh
cer-
tain marriages
pdegrees
af
rohibaimtedongrelations.connsaengstawistyt,htaht
point of fact, was only favouring the observance of one of
the most important laws of nature, the infringement of
which is punished with inevitable degeneracy. Unions
within the limits of consanguinity are not only hurtful to
the human race, but also to animals. It is true that
such unions among the latter may be promoted by
breeders for profit's sake : the Disley and Durham oxen,
so admirable in the eyes of the breeder, are in-
stances of this ; but sterility is the usual conse-
quence of the practice. Among the human race, two cir-
cumstances have contributed to favour marl lag( s among
relations : the first occurs whore a small population is pent
up in some remote hamlet not easily accessible. In such
places consanguinity between married people is the rule.
Tho second ease is that of families desirous of maintaining
their rank in society, or preventing the dispersion of their
fortune by marrying within their own circle. Dr. Devay
states that out of 121 marriages of this kind, observed
by him, 22 were barren. Only four of the number
were marriages between uncles and grand-nieces ;
the others were between cousins-german or the issue of
cousins-german. 'When sterility does not occur, the issue
is diseased, or afflicted with blindness or deafness ; also in
many cases affected with irregularity of conformation: 0
all tuese irregularities, poly dactilistn, or a multiplicity (f
fingers, is the most frequent. Dr. Devay has observed this
in 17 out of 121 cases above-men tioned. Ile states that in a
certain secluded spot, where the inhabitants had no com-
munication with other populations, the being born with six
fingers had become quite endemic; and that this strange
anomaly disappeared some time after a now road had been
cut through the place.