The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-29 00:00:00

PIEDMONT.

The 24th of January being the day fixed for the
question to be addressed to the Piedmontese Cabinet
by M. Brofferio, of the Left, on the subject of the
condemnation of Dr. Mazzmghi, at Genoa, for
Protestant propagandism, the galleries of the
Chamber of Deputies at Turin were crowded to
suffocation.
M. Brofferio briefly related the facts of the case
of Dr. Mazzinghi, who had been condemned a few
days before at Genoa to three years' imprisonment
in virtue of Art. 164 of the Penal Code of Sar-

dinia, for reading the Bible in company with others.
He adverted to the manifest contradiction existing
between several articles of the code, and the gua-
rantees granted by the constitution, particularly as
related to religious matters. From the moment
the constitution was promulgated, the necessity of
subjecting the codes to a thorough reform was uni-
versally acknowledged, and it was only owing to
political events that such reform had been ad-
journed. The hon; deputy quoted several instances
of laws in contradiction to the constitution. About
a year ago M. Rangous, the responsible editor of a
Nice paper, was condemned to a small fine and a
few days' imprisonment, for having said that the
punishments of hell were not eternal. The sen-
tence was confirmed by the Court of Cassation, not-
withstanding it was proved by the counsel for the
defence that several fathers of the Church had
maintained that opinion. M. Borione da Graglia
wrote a pamphlet in support of the same opinion,
and happening to be in Switzerland at the time,
printed it there. But having, on his return, taken
a few copies with him, he was arrested, has been
now in prison for the last three months, and may,
in virtue of Articles 164 and 165 of the codes, be
condemned to twenty years' exile. Had he printed
his pamphlet in Piedmont, he would perhaps not have
been punished at all, or at most the punishment
would have been insignificant. Advocate Cattaneo
has been in prison for nearly a year for bringing
over from Switzerland a few copies of Ferrari's
Philosophy ; another person has been condemned
for three years for the introduction of a catechism.
Some have been condemned to from five to ten
months' imprisonment for talking on religious
matters, and a young girl of 16 has been imprisoned
at Chiavari for listening to a person reading Pio-
dati's translation of the Bible. The hon. gentle-
man concluded by recommending the Chamber to
correct the penal code.
The Chevalier Boncompagni, Minister of Grace
and Justice, contradicted M. Brofferio's assertion
that the existing laws prevented the free action of
the Constitution, and appealed to the conscience of
all present, whether an ample measure of liberty
did or did not exist in Piedmont. When the sen-
tence in the case of Dr. Mazzinghi was known, the
Cabinet recommended the King to grant an imme-
diate pardon. The spirit in which the laws on reli-
gion were applied in Piedmont was not a spirit of per-
secution or of intolerance. He perfectly agreed with
M. Brofferio that something must be done to
amend the existing laws, and pledged himself to
bring in a bill next session for the amendement of
the penal code. He then adverted to the two
opposite principles, which have always been strug-
jing for supremacy—viz., the inviolability of the
religion of the State, and the doctrine of absolute
liberty in religious matters. The former went into
the extreme error of supposing that man, in his
weakness, was to protect the infinite power of God;
the other erred equally in declaring that the State
was to be atheistical. He, for his part, thought
the Catholic religion quite compatible with liberty.
The Piedmontese government would neither follow
• those who wanted to deprive the church of the
Papal authority, nor those who oppose free in-
stitutions because they have lost certain old privi-
leges by them. The Minister concluded his speech
by declaring most explicitly that the Piedmontese
Government was favourable to reform, without
any intention, however, on its part to countenance
extreme opinions on any side. It would uphold
the constitutional banner which had been but a
few years ago raised throughout all Italy, even
at Rome, and was now everywhere struck down.
The
Minister's speech was received with unequi-
vocal marks of approbation.