The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-28 00:00:00

THE SVN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENINGNMARCEI 28, 1865.

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with black soldiers some time back, how different
their present position might have been ! Still there
are two points which it is very necessary for the
reader to bear in mind—one, that all news
comes to us at present by means of New
York, so that Northern feeling colours it ;
and the other that the South has been employing
for some time a system of strategy which entails
the renunciation of several hardly-contested points.
The old joke about retreating " for strategic
ea may be quoted literally with reference to
recentrthesons
" proceedings of the Confederates. It is
probable, indeed, that the system of evacuation may
be carried a step further, and that Richmond itself
may be abandoned. Such a course seems to be in-
dicated by President DAvis's message to the
Southern Congress, which was to have adjourned
on the 11th, but which, at his request, extended its
session a few days in order to receive a communica-
tion of importance which he said he had to make
to them. It is very likely that this communica-
tion related to the abandonment of the capital,
which has been under discussion for some
time past in certain quarters, and which LEE may
think it advisable to carry into effect at this junc-
ture. SHERIDAN has succeeded, after his encounter
with EARLY, in pushing on to Charlottesville, an
important station on the Virginia railway. There
he broke up the railway from that town to Lynch-
burg, and destroyed the locks and cut the banks
of the James River Canal, inflicting great damage.
He afterwards destroyed an aqueduct of the canal
at Beaver Dam, 20 miles from Richmond. The
chief injury thus inflicted upon the Confederates is
the destruction of one of their channels of supply
in the James River Canal. Lynchburg, fortunately
for the Confederates, remained in their hands, the
fortifications being too strong for attack, though
SHERIDAN advanced to them.
SHERMAN'S movements are at length accounted
for. He has arrived at Fayetteville on the Cape
Fear River, and has succeeded in sending scouts to
Wilmington, about 70 miles distant. The Chicka-
mauga had been sunk across the channel of Cape
Fear River, 40 miles from the city, which prevented
communication by water. Boats were, upon the
receipt of this intelligence, at once despatched to
remove the obstruction, and open up the channel of
communication with SHERMAN, so that he will reap
the advantage of the Federal possession of Wil-
mington. Grant received a letter from him, dated
Fayetteville, the 12th inst., in which he stated that
his army was in good condition, and had met with
no serious reverse. The Confederate General
HAMPTON attacked KILPATRICK'S cavalry in the
rear and captured his staff. KILPATRICK, however,
recovered himself, and succeeded in recapturing
much of what he had lost. We do not learn this
from SHERMAN, but from the bearer of the de-
spatches. Had the attack been made by the Federals
upon their antagonists with similar results, we sus-
pect we should have heard of a great victory.
SHERMAN has now, it would seem, moved to Golds-
boro', with the evident design of advancing still
further northwards and combining with GRANT.
There has been an encounter between BRAGG and
the Federals at Kinston, North Carolina, which is
differently reported. LEE states that the Federals
were driven back three miles, with the lose of 1,500
prisoners, three cannon, and many killed and
wounded, while the Confederate loss was small.
SCHOFIELD, who arrived on the spot the next day,
reports that BRAGG was beaten in a renewed
attack two days later, and was retreating
across the Neuse, It is said that reinforcements
from JoIINSTON'S army are being sent to BRAGG.
With reference to the Canadian question we have
a significant paragraph from the Tribune, stating
that there is a rumour afloat to the effect that a
Federal commissioner has been for some weeks at
Montreal trying to ascertain the feelings of the
people respecting the union of Canada to the United
States. Such an annexation would certainlybe very
pleasant for the Canadians, who would have to
bear the burden of the enormous national debt of
the States ! One of the great blessings of a young
colony is supposed to be its freedom from the heavy
rates and taxes of an older country, and we
should hardly suppose the aspect of American
finance was attractive enough to induce the Cana-
dians to forego this privilege. It is evident, how-
ever, that the Confederation scheme has not been
set on foot too soon, for though the Federal
Commissioner may very possibly be untrue, yet the
fact of such a rumour finding its way to the public
journals shows that the idea is not new to the American
mind. The old storyof the kingwho sentenced.the cour-
tier to death, because the latter dreamed he had killed
him, suggests to us a similar reflection to that upon
which his despotic MAJESTY acted. If the annexa-
tion of Canada had never been thought of, such a
story would hardly have arisen from empty air.
Meanwhile, we are glad to see the Canadians are
showing a proper readiness for self-defence, having
voted a million dollars for the permanent defence of
the country, and 350,000 dollars for the Volunteers
on the frontier. Our Government will, it is to bo
hoped, come forward liberally and promptly, and if
such an undertaking is to be carried out at all, it
should be done quietly and thoroughly.

It is something very new to find anything con-
nected with the management of Unions or the
administration of the Poor-law satisfactory, but the •
large majority which last night decided in favour of
the second reading of Mr. VILLIERS'S Bill is cer-
tainly a step in the right direction. The right hon. •
gentleman had to encounter great opposition, but
he set forth his proposals at the beginning with so
much clearness that it seems strange that he met with
so little favour from some quarters. It is evident
that so long as the system of " parochial liability"
is retained there can be little done in the way of
amicable arrangement, or of satisfactorily settling
the complicated workings of the system. The
plan hitherto pursued is the occasion of great
confusion, for one parish naturally endeavours
to shift the burden of maintaining the poor to
another equally unwilling to incur the risk, and
hence arise endless squabbles and constant bicker-
ings, while, of course, the interests of the poor fall
to the ground, and many wretched applicants are
driven forth without shelter, and sometimes fall
victims to this false legislation. Sir R. N __IGHTLEY's
amendment was merely a put off to gain time, and
represented the feelings of those who dislike any-
thing in the way of legislation for the poor, and
always think it something grand to gain time in
the way of all improvements suggested. As for the
plea that by next session a better knowledge would
be had of the affair, it was quite untenable, because
enough is known now to enable those who are will-
ing to enter on the subject ; and those who
do not wish to do so will always find some

pretext, or make some very plausible excuse
to deprecate criticism and satisfy their purpose.
As for any measure that may be introduced filling
the Union workhouses to repletion, that is quite an
unnecessary alarm, for the experience of all time
shows that there exists an invincible repugnance to
entering the Unions among all classes of the poor
and destitute, and that they will put up with every
kind of privation rather than come within the hated
precincts of the workhouse. There can be no more
groundless complaint made than this, and it is
really gurprieing that any one Rhould attempt now.

adays, when so many repeated instances have been
adduced, to testify to its falsity. Perhaps if the
discussion had been put off until next Ses-
sion, as some so earnestly desired, other
questions of paramount importance of a foreign
or a domestic nature might have arisen to
the exclusion of these topics altogether. Hence
the opportunity of being of use to the most unfor-
tunate portion of society would have been hope-
lessly deferred, and at all events indefinitely post-
poned to the detriment of important interests, and
the injury of the community in many respects. Mr.
VILLIERS dwelt at some length upon the harm that
was occasioned in many cases by the tendency that
now existed to keep the poor down, which meant
" keeping the poor" out of certain parishes in order
to avoid the chargeability thus ensuing. Dwellings
are pulled down, and new cottages are not built,
however much they may be required, to obviate
the danger of this dreaded parochial liability. It
does not need much time and trouble to show that
such a state of things is bad in the extreme, and any
measure which promises to avert this evil or even
to remove it partially, must contain sterling
merits, and lay claim to respect and consideration.
Providing for the poor by compulsion is always so
ungracious a task, that every possible device is re-
sorted to with the object of eluding the vigilance of
the law, and shirking the responsibility which it
enforces. Another bad effect of the present system
Mr. VILLIERS showed to be, that people were al-
ways considering who was likely to come upon the
rates, and thus the idle and worthless often obtain
employment before the steady and sober of the
lower orders. Perhaps the worst feature of the
existing law is that the labourers are so frequently
compelled to reside at a great distance from their
places of employment, and to walk and frequently
lose two hours a day in getting to and from
their work. They also are obliged, from
want of proper accommodation, to reside
in places quite unsuitable for them, which
again furnishes us with an irrefragible proof
of the necessity for a change. A medical gentlemap
has [made a report to the Privy Council as to the
" cottage accommodation" through the land, which
will, said Mr. VILLIERS, " be read with surprise and
sorrow by every one in the country." It appears
from this statement that there are no fewer than
eight hundred parishes in which the number of
houses have diminished, so that the evils are evi-
dently not exaggerated which are complained of. It
is to be feared that the pictures drawn in " Sybil"
of the homes of the English labourers are still cor-
rect ones, and that Lord MAnxEY may serve as the
prototype of many landlords when he says, " I
build no cottages, and I destroy all I can." All that
tends to put a stop to such mischievous tendencies
must surely be worthy of welcome, and there is
no valid reason why Mr. VILLIERS' bill may not in
a great degree at least conduce to the satisfactory
settlement of these vexed questions, and obviate
partly, if not entirely, many awkward matters of
dispute. Sir W. JOLLIFFE showed that this mea-
sure was not a sudden attempt, as some supposed, to
make a startling alteration, but had, on the con-
trary, been expected for some time, and in a great
degree forestalled by many previous changes. There
is no reason to doubt that the House and the coun-
try will find the prophecy of this passage realised
eventually in the workings of the proposed scheme;
" when they had boards of guardians acting with-
out any conflicting interest, and carrying out a uni-
form system for a common object, then the
laws relating to the maintenance of the poor
would be better carried out than they now were."
On the whole, it may fairly be considered that the
second reading of the Union Chargeability Bill is an
advance in the right direction, and that when the
measure passes into law we may be so fortunate as
to find a better and a brighter prospect dawning
upon the poor, and a clearer understanding ar-
rived at of the real nature of the lia-
bility of providing for the hapless outcasts of
society, who are dependent upon the relief so grudg-
ingly doled out to them by their fellow-countrymen.
At all events, it is worth while to make the trial,
and we can safely affirm that so bad and insufficient
have been the arrangements hitherto in vogue that
any change must be for the better which removes
he evils occurring from the parochial system.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Himalaya screw troopship, Captan E. Lacy,
sailed from Portsmouth yesterday morning for
Dover, Kingstown, Malta, and Canada, on the
round of troop service mentioned in detail in The

Sun of yesterday.
The Edgar, screw wooden line-of-battle-ship,
Capt. G. P. Hornby, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir
Sidney Colpoys Dacres, K.C.8., went out of Ports-
mouth harbour yesterday to Spithead anchorage,
under sail. She anchored there to complete her
preparations for her forthcoming voyage to Lisbon
with the Earl of Sefton and suite.
The French steam aviso Averne, Captain Forget,
arrived at Portsmouth yesterday from Calais. Soon

after the Averne's arrival Capt. Forget was intro-
duced to the naval and military authorities by the
French Consul at Portsmouth, the Chevalier Vau-
denbergh. The Averne is expected to sail from
Portsmouth this morning for Weymouth and Dart-
mouth.

Her Majesty's old gun, sailing ship Daring was
yesterday towed up to Woolwich, from Chatham,
to be broken up.
The paddlewheel steamvessels Fearless, Locust,
and Adder, tenders to the Cumberland, Wellesley,
and Pembroke, at Sheerness, Chatham, and Har-
wich, yesterday arrived at Woolwich in charge of

Commander G. J. Hodges, assistant-master atten

dant at Sheerness, and accompanied by the Monkey,
Bustler, and Widgeon, tenders to the Fisgard at
Woolwich. They proceeded to the Victoria Docks,

to remove the iron ship Minotaur, 6,621 tons, into
the tidal basin, in preparation for her being taken
down to Sheerness to-morrow to be completed for
sea.

Her Majesty's troopship Megwra, Capt. M. B
Dunn, is under orders to sail from Woolwich this
morning with victalling and dockyard stores for Rio
de Janeiro and Ascension. One sergeant and four
artificers belonging to the Woolwich division Royal
Marine Light Infantry, having volunteered for ser-
vice in Ascension, have been provided with a pas-
sage on board.
wishicphs,yfoesrtcerodasaytgufoarrdthaendfollßoowiyanl
Various detachments of Royal Marines left Wool-
lunteer duties, viz.,
gN
Naval eCtio s t districtV o -
1 corporal and 29 privates for
her Majesty's
ship Lion, Capt. Arthur Farquhar, at
Greenock ; 29 privates for her Majesty's ship Done-
gal, Capt. James A. Paynter, at Liverpool ; and 29
privates for her Majesty's ship Trafalgar, Captain
John Borlase, C. 8., at Leith.
Private letters from Lucknow received at Ports-
mouth yesterday via Marseilles state that her Ma-
jesty's 55th Regiment, under the comtriand of Col.
Hume, which had only arrived in Lr icknow, from
Calcutta, a few weeks previous to tb e date of the
letters, had received orders by telegrs all to start the
next morning on its return to Calcutta, in order to
join with all despatch the Bhootan field force. The
letters mention the rumours of a SOY ious check to our
arms at the hands of the Bhooteas. as the reason of
this sudden recall of the regiment. Previous to the
departure of the 55th for India the regiment was
stationed in Portsmouth garrison, under the com-
mand of Major-Gen. Lord W. Pa ulet, C. 8., and
was remarkable for its excellent disf
The following appointments we' cc made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. H. C. • Wogan, Lieut. C.
R. Forrest, Lieut. F. J. Eastiu
and Lieut. E.
Roth= to the Rattlesnake.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAM.)

THE FEDERAL DIET.

FRANKFORT-ON-MAINE, MARCH 28.

An extraordinary sitting of the Federal Diet was
held yesterday, in which it was resolved, by nine
against six votes, that the discussion of the pro-
posal of Bavaria in favour of the claims of the Duke
of Augustenburg should take place on the 6th of
April nex

ROJIE, MAncil 27.
In a Consistory held to-day, the Pope approved
he nomination of 24 bishops.

CANADA.

QUEBEC; March 11.

At about 4 o'clock this morning a division was '
taken, upon the motion of the Attorney-General
West, resulting in a majority of 46, the numbers
being respectively—contents, 85; non-contents, 39.
Immediately afterwards a further division was
taken upon the main question for the Address to
her Majesty on the subject of the Union of the
colonies, when the contents were 91; non-contents,
33 ; giving a majority of 58 in favour of the New
Constitution.
Parliament will be prorogued after another week.

FRANCE.
PARIS, MARCH 28.
A decree of the Minister of War, published to
day, fixes the amount to be paid for exemption
from military service at 2,300 f. for each individual
during 1865.
The Constitutionne/ of this morn.nt,7 declares that
the rumour of the approaching marriage of the
King of Greece is a pure invention.
PARIS, MARCH 27.
In to-day's sitting of the Corps Legislatif, M.
Emile 011ivier, in speaking of the late elections,
said that he saw in them the expression of the
wishes of the democracy, which rises and triumphs
slowly. It does not, however, wish for revolution,
but for peace and liberty. The speaker highly
eulogised the late Duke de Morny, whose ideas
were identical with his own. M. 011ivier preferred
social and individual liberty to political liberty, and
desired greater freedom for the press, not inter-
mittent, but permanent. He also wished that the
Ministers should be held responsible, and entreated
the Government not to remain in its present isolated
state, but to prepare men capable of succeeding
those now in power by surrounding itself with the
youth of the country, which without this is becom-
ing embittered and perverted by idleness and bad
passions. M. 011ivier maintained that Governments
fall, not because they are weak, but because they
do not know how to yield at the right moment, and
said opposition is often the best means of assisting
a Government. "If what I ask be granted," he
said in conclusion, " I shall support the Govern-
ment, my dearest wish being that it may endure
and perpetuate itself."
To-day, in the Corps Legislatif, M. Latour
Dumoulin advocated Ministerial responsibility and
a greater extension of the right of members of the
Corps Legislatif to introduce amendments.
M. Plichon delivered a speech upon the Roman
and Mexican questions.
A grand dinner to commemorate the siege of
Sebastopol lately took place at St. Petersburg. It
was attended by the Grand Duke Nicholas and a
great number of officers. Before the company
separated, it was decided that a similar dinner should
be held every year on the 23d February, the anni-
versary of the day on which the Russian Council of
War resolved to make counter approaches to defend
themselves against the Anglo-French armies.
A project is at present under consideration in
Denmark ;for connecting Copenhagen and the
Danish islands with the continent by means of a
railway. The line would start from the capital
and, after crossing the island of Zolland, would pass
the straits which divides that island from Falster
by means of embankments and bridges, passing by
the small islands of Faroe and Bogoe. From Falster,
the line would again cross the sea by a bridge to the
island of Zolland, whence there would be a commu-
nication by steam-boats with the isle of Fehmarn,
belonging to Holstein, which would be joined to
the continent by an embankment.
A Kiel letter states that MM. Schroeder and
Tychsen, who had been arrested for having circu-
lated an address to the Emperor of the French, have
been set at liberty on bail.
At the last meeting of the Berlin Association for
the Promotion of Industry, the committee an-
nounced that the library now contains between
50,000 and 60,000 volumes on the different sciences.
This library is daily open to the public.
The Brussels Chamber of Representatives has
just decided on placing the portrait of the late M
Lebeau in the gallery of presidents of the Belgian
Parlament.
An Antwerp journal states that during a high
wind which prevailed there the day before yester-
day a servant girl who was leading a child along
the banks of the Campine canal was blown into the
water. She and the child were rescued by some
boatmen who happened to be at hand.
The Voix du Peuple of Ghent (Belgium) states
that great excitement was caused in that town two
days since by a report that M. Theodore do V-,
one of the directors of the Bank of Flanders,
had absconded, leaving an immense deficit. The
authorities immediately put the fugitive's papers
under seal and commenced an investigation. It has
been ascertained that the deficit does not exceed
$160,000, a considerable part of which is covered
by the caution money.
The Journal de Charleroi says :-.-"We believe
we are in a position to announce that the presumed
author of the murder at Favril, near Landrecies, is
in the hands of justice, having been arrested on the
23d. He is a relation of the woman Largilliere.
An examination of the bodies showed that the blows
were inflicted from the left, and the man in custody
is left-handed. The prisoner is said to have made

a confession."
BOURSE, March 27.—The aspect of the market is
excellent, and a rise in almost all kinds of Securities
has taken place. Threes, for the Account, are now
at 67f. 50c. Italian Loan 64f. 85c. Railway Shares
are in demand, and have in most cases gone up con-
siderably. Speculation was a little checked towards
the close of the market. The following aro the last

quotations :-
4i per Cents GG
Do. end month
3 per Cents. 67 40
Do. end month 67 45
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3520
Credit Fonder 1292 50
Roman

Italian Loan
Do. end month
Ditto Threes
New Mexican
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Home Debt
Deferred
rAYB.
Cash.
Orleans
Northern 1035
Lyons and Mediterranean 9Bl 25 ..•
Southern 585
Western 550
Eastern
Sardinian 3OO
Austrian
Lombard 543 75 ..,
North of Spain 3Ol 25
Saragossa 376 25 ..
Ditto to 8arce10na...............

64 85.
64 85
42 25

Acct.
923 75
1033 75
982 50
585 —:

-551 25

436 25
543 75
301 25
377 50

ITALY.
A Turin letter, March 23, has the following :--
" The King is to stop a few days at the palaces in
the environs of Turin ; but it appears that his Ma-
jesty has given up for the present his contemplated
excursion in the southern provinces. It is the
hereditary Prince, now at Naples, who will visit
Sicily, after having inaugurated the railway from
Bari to Brindisi. The inauguration of this line,
which is to take place in April, will not be of less
importance than the visit to the island. The open-
ing of the new line entirely solves the question of
the continuous communication between the Alps
and the farthest coast of the Adriatic. Travellers
will be able to go direct from Turin, or rather from
Susa, which is the Italian frontier village at the de-
clivity of the Alps, to Brindisi, on the most eastern
side of the peninsula. The Italian Government is
in negotiation with that of Great Dritaill for tin

conveyance of the Indianmails, the new route opened
by the railway just completed being the shortest
and the most direct."

France and Pope Pius IX.

The Paris correspondent of the 7imes thus dis-
cusses the vexed question as to whether it was
General Cavaignac, or Prince Louis Napoleon, who
first proffered aid in the name of France to the
Head of the Catholic Church, when beleagured in
his Palace of the Quirinal by armed insurgents :
M. de Laguerroniere having stated in his speech
in the Senate during the debate on the Address that
General Cavaignac, when head of the Executive in
November, 1848, proposed to the National Assembly
to send 6,000 troops to Civita Vecchia for the pro-
tection of the Pope after the assassination of M.
Rossi, and that the Assembly had issued a decree
to that effect, M. Bastide, then Minister of Foreign
Affairs, has written to the papers denying that
statement. He also denies an assertion of M.
Chaix d'Est Ange, made also in the Senate, to the
effect that the Government of the Republic limited
itself to sending to Civita Vecchia a small body of
troops to receive the Pope. M. Bastide declares that
General Cavaignac did not send " a small body of
troops," but only one man—namely, M. Francois
Corcelles—as representative of the people to offer
hospitality to the Pope ; that not a single soldier
was embarked, and that not a single ship set sail
for Civita Vecchia. "As for smothering the new-
born Republic of Rome," adds M. Bastide—
" The Government of General Cavaignac, even had it so
detestable a thought, could not have done so for a very
simple reason—namely, that General Cavaignac's Govern-
ment ceased to exist on the 20th of December, 1848, and
the :Roman Republic was not proclaimed till the end of
February, 1849."
M. de Laguerronidre replies to this letter. He
disputed the accuracy of M. Bastide's statements,
and says :
" What I wished to demonstrate was that the protection
of the Papacy was so closely connected with our national
history and the interest of French policy that no regular
Government could repudiate it. Was I mistaken with regard
to Gen. Cavaignac ? If M. Bastide refers to the Moniteur
ho will see that the official journal supportsmy view with an
authority against which his reminiscences are of no avail.
General Cavaignac was so deeply moved by the news of the
Roman revolution that he felt it his duty to resolve imme-
diately on sending a brigade. The news reached the head
of the Executive power of the French Republic on the 26th
of November. On that very day he gave orders for em-
barking troops on board four steam frigates lying at Tou-
lon, and sent M. de Corcelles to Rome on an extraordinary
mission. On the 28th of November he gave an account of
these measures to the National Assembly. I admit that in
his explanations from the tribune, and in tne instructions
given to M. de Corcelles, General Cavaignac justified the
despatch of a French brigade to Civita Vecchia by the ne-
cessity of guaranteeing the safety and the respect of the
person of the Holy Father; but everybody understood that
the head of the Executive power had engaged the attitude
of France beyond that end. An important debate took
place two days later, and the resolutions of General
Cavaignac, supported, on the one hand, by Count de
Montalembert, Baron Charles Dupin, the Marquis de la
Rochejaquelin, M. Poujoulat, and General de Lamoriciere,
and combated, on the other, by MM. Ledru-Rollin,
Jules Favre, and Quinet, were clearly characterised
in that discussion. Lastly, if M. Bastide wishes to be
thoroughly informed as to the thought which dictated the
act I have related, let him pursue the words of M. Dufaure,
then his colleague, as Minister of the Interior, who made
the following declaration :
" It is essential to secure not only the personal safety,
but the moral liberty and free action of the Sovereign
Pontiff.'
The conclusion of the debate left no doubt as to its bear-
ing. The National Assembly rejected the order of the day
proposed by M. Jules Favre and other members of the Loft,
which blamed the despatch of a corps d'artnee intended to
intervene between the Pope and the Roman people, and
adopted, by the enormous majority of 480 votes to 63, an-
other order of the day thus worded :
" The Assembly, approving the measures of precaution
taken by the Government to assure the liberty of the Holy
Father, and reserving its right to take a decision on ulte-
rior facts, passes to the order of the day.'
" This vote is clear enough ; the Assembly approved of
the despatch of a corps d'arrade, and reserved its liberty of
action on the political conduct which the Government
might have to adopt with regard to ulterior facts. I was
' right, therefore, in saying that General Cavaignac had
accepted the traditional obligations of French policy. Only
I did not render him full justice, for I attributed to the Na-
tional Assembly an initiative, the honour of which belongs
to him personally. Everybody knows what followed. Pope
Pius IX. having left Rome for Gaeta, the vessel was coun-
termanded; but its departure had nevertheless been decided
on in the manner I have just related."
M. Bastide publishes a rejoinder. M. Lagueron-
niere admits, he says, that General Cavaignac never
proposed, and that the National Assembly never
decreed, the sending 6,000 men to Civita Vecchia.
On this nothing more need be said. As for M.
Lagueronniere letting it be understood that Gene-
ral Cavaignac secretly intended restoring the Pope
to Rome, and profiting by the last 15 days of
his authority to declare war against the Roman
people, he opposes the well-known character of the
General " whose intentions are to be sought nowhere
but in his own words." Now, these words and acts,
as well as the instructions given to the agents of the
French Republic, ordinary and extraordinary, may
be summed up in a few words--protection to the per-
son of a fugitive Sovereign, absolute prohibition to
all and each to intervene in the internal affairs of the
Roman States, submission to the orders of the
National Assembly. On the Assembly alone, as is
evident from the quotations made by M. Lague-
ronniere, devolved the ulterior employment of the
troops assembled at Marseilles with a view to pos-
sible emergencies, but of these troops not a single
soldier was embarked. " I will add nothing more,"
he concludes, "for I have said enough to show that
General Cavaignac's Government never had the
culpable design of attacking the sovereignty of the
Roman people."
There is, I believe, a mistake on both sides. As
present circumstances gives a fresh interest to what
then passed, I may mention my own recollections.
After the assassination of Rossi, the Quirinal, where
the Pope was at the time, was attacked by a mob,
joined by the civic troops, and was defended by
some of the Swiss Guards. M. d'Harcourt, the
French Ambassador, was authorised by the Pope
to ask either for refuge in France, or for assist-
ance to restore order in Rome. In answer to this,
orders were sent by telegram to embark a brigade
which was then at Marseilles. It was to sail for
Civita Vecchia on board four steamers, whit
would contain 3,500 men. The instructions given
by General Cavaignac's Government to M. de
Corselles were that he should proceed at once
to Rome as Envoy Extraordinary, the object of
his mission being to obtain, in the name of the
French Republic, the personal liberty of the
Pope if he should find him deprived of it ;
that if the Pope expressed a desire to take refuge in
France M. de Cercelles, was to give him the means
of doing so, and at the same time to assure his
Holiness that he should find among the French
people a reception worthy of them and of him. M.
de Corcelles was, moreover, instructed that he was
not to interfere in any of the political questions then
agitated at Rome, that it devolved on the National
Assembly alone to decide what part the republic
should take towards the re-establishment of a regu-
lar government in the States of the Church, but that
for the moment his mission was limited to securing
the liberty, and respect for the person, of the Pope.
On his landing at Civita Vecchia M. de Corcelles
was to put himself in communication with
M. d'Harcourt, and act conjointly with him
within the limits traced by the Govern-
ment. He was not, however, to land the troops
placed at his disposal, unless they were deemed
necessary towards the success of his mission ; and
that measures were taken to reinforce the brigade if
requisite, of which he should be informed, if the
National Assembly saw fit to do so. He was again
reminded that his mission had no other object for
the present than to secure the personal safety of the
Holy Father, and in one extreme case his temporary
retreat on the French territory ; that he should
publicly announce the fact that he was on no account
to interfere in the dissensions between the Pope and
his people, and. that the Republic, " moved by a feel-
ing which is an old tradition in the French nation,
went to the succour of the person of the Pope, but
for no other thought:" Should anything unfore-
seen occur, M. de Corcelles was to ask for orders
from his Government, and the Government would
be guided by the National Assembly.
The mission of M. de Corcelles came to nothing,
and the troops did not leave Marseilles, for before
anything could be done uews reached raja of the

"Given at Gaeta, Dec. 7, 1848."
The Papal Nuncio at Paris also wrote to the Pre-
sident of the National Assembly a letter thanking
them for their sympathy towards the Holy Father.
The President replied in a corresponding style to
his Eminence :

"As the organ of the Sovereignty of the People, the
Assembly has responded to the sentiments of the entire
nation by testifying its lively and deep sympathy towards
the Holy Father. The Republic, which has the right to
choose from the traditions of the past, will over remain
faithful to those which make France hospitable to all great
misfortunes, and penetrated with veneration and devoted-
ness to the most noble virtues. The votes of the National
Assembly in sanctioning the initiative taken by the Exe-
cutive must have already conveyed to you the assurance
that the illustrious Pontiff will, when he visits our Repub-
lican and Catholic France, meet with all the respect due to
his exalted position, and this homage of the heart will be
touching and sincere as is all that law and liberty inspire."
It is curious enough that the President of the
National Assembly who wrote the foregoing was M.
Armand Marrast, who, not quite a year before,
took, as editor of the Republican newspaper, the
Nationale, so leading a part in all questions relating
to what was then called the parti pretre, and which
is now known as the parti