The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-21 00:00:00

ebrninaJmun

LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1848.

While the different peoples of Europe have evinced
a cordial sentiment of admiration and friendship for
the French Republic, it would have been an anomalous
circumstance if Switzerland had alone reserved its
gratulations. It would have been a coincidence as
incongruous and inexplicable as though the demo
crats of Marino had maintained a sullen appear.
ance of indifference when the Bolognese were first
proclaiming their civic independence. Ilistor), hour
ever, will not, in this instance, have to record an 3
suela inappropriate demonstrations of jealousy, for
the confederates of Switz;rland have revealed a 13,-0-
found reverence for the victors of February, and
sincere delight at the new-born institutions and un-
paralleled achievements of the Parisians. Among
the many brilliant manifestations which have, in
various countries, welcomed the triumphs of Frencl,
democracy, not the least memorable or significant
was the precession organized on the 12th instant 1)3
the Patriotic Association of Berne, a procession whicl,
indicated the thoughts of the whole Confederation
towards France, by the acclamations with which is
greeted General Tniaan, the representative of the
Provisional Government. Was it as an accidental
parody upon the effete royalism of the Continent,
that LOLA NONTEZ witnessed this jubilee of
Republicans from a balcony of the official
residence ? If accidental, was it not felicitous
Does it not breathe a reminiscence

those antique pageants of the imperial city
in which the captive lemans of subsidiary princes
were dragged as trophies behind the chariot- wheels
of Rome, when bands of lietors armed with the axe
of the People preceded the concubines of Pamphylia,
when the symbols of a conquered despotism were
mingled with the eagles and the 5.P.Q.11.--those
initials of what might almost be termed without
impiety a terrestrial omnipotence. Yes—the compli-
ments exchanged between the Republicans of France
and Switzerland were listened to by the favourite o:
the abdicated Louis of Bavaria. Not with the pert-
ness of a -NELI. GWY.SNE, or with the ostentation of
a Du
Posiranoust, or with the abject slavishness of a
BARRY—but covertly, through the half•oneo..l
joints of a jalousie-blind, as if in acknowledgment of
the fact that the foibles of kingcraft can
no longer
blazon their seductions in the sunlight of a victorious
revolution. Poor LOLA may rattle her castanets in
the face of a monarch, be he aa Pnopi njayv likec a r
ie
°1 ,
or a sensualist like Louis—
iniquity, a vanity in years"— her axed
voicebutdub,gn
and her feet are motionless, and her every line:nent
is expressive of timidity in the presence of the
of a triumphant People. If, say we again,ai"t3
this
coincidence at Berne was an accidental homage to
de-
mocracy, it was also singularly felicitous. e) 'a
Another incident, such as may be chronicled here-
after in an anecdotal chapter upon the Republic of
February, is said to have occurred recently at Non.
tron, according to the declaration of the Perigord of
the Dordogne. At a banquet given by the inhabi-
tants to the Government Commissary, that official
proposed a toast to the" health of M. LEDRU ROLLIN,
when his voice was drowned by a significant outcry
from the assembly—" Five LAMARTINE !" Was not
that outcry the spontaneous announcement of a prin-
ciple ? Was not that principle antagonistic to Com-
munism —a principle of peace, of order, and of fra-
ternity? Lookir.g at the occurrences throughout
Europe, you wculd swear that the future is no
longer ominous of bloodshed, you would become san-
guine as to the march of intelligence, you would feel
disposed to regard with some degree of credence the
.prethctions of a hopeful and prophetic statesmanship.
And you would
not be wrong. Europe vouches for
the truth of those pacific predictions, even amidst the
smoke and blood
ofherbattle-fields. Ihe voices of
and
Peace, and Order, Fraternity, are audible above
the guns of Goito, and the cannonade of Flensborg.
For although the oppressorsohfi Venetian Lombar(iy,
and the insurgents of
Se
evoked the agonies
the soil of
of
waresAfig-Holstein have
Italy and Denmark, the spirits of Peace, and Order, ;
and Fraternity are visible i
of CHARLES ALBERT and of FREDERICK, bulletins
bulletins
RICK. Sooner or
poso.
later these generous aspirations of the multitude must
inevitably be realised. Sooner or later the bil
sophic hopes of LAMIRTINE must be fulfilled.
recently become the fashion to ridicule the peaceful
doctrines doctrines of Mr. CosnEx, because, forsooth
large-heartednfs3
ofthat distinguished man has thein•
duced him to advocate rather prematurely the estab
lishment of a perfect entente cordiale among the dif-
ferent nations of Christendom ! Of Christendom !
Our words appear on the anniversary of that divine
day when the coming glory of Christendom was
proclaimed among the hills of Palestine, when its
point of radiation was Calvary, when the blood of its
Divinity incarnadined the rocks of Judaea. Upon
that august anniversary it is not unbefitting to main-
tain the possibility of a permanent and universal

peace, or to assert that a man is not the less a patriot
for being the more a cosmopolite. No : the experi-
ence of eighteen centuries does not falsify the hopes
of humanity, does not prove the lust of carnage to be
eternal, does not negative the harmonious deductions
of RoUsEAU—ot that ROUSSEAU, who has recently been
christened by a congenial writer,* "the Philosopher
of Love and the Poet of Politics." Our past experi-
ences have failed to demonstrate the frivolity of
these ideas because those experiences have never yet
shown that the rage of battle has been contempora-
neous with the diffusion of knowledge. For more
than thirty years peace has been preserved without
any very grievous interruption throughout the whole
of the European continent; and in that interval of
tranquillity the :wind of the nations has continued in
an unexampled state of activity. Knowledge has
spread over the social system ; it has penetrated the
darker recesses of the community; it has rendered
wisdom portable, and has popularised philosophy.
Science has emerged from the grove and the porch
of the Academy ; it has appeared in the streets and
in the workshop. Literature has been emancipated
from the bookshelf, and scattered abroad in the
homes of industry. The orator and the journalist
have competed with each other in disseminating those
ideas which fructify in the hearts of the million—
their tripod has been respectively the tribune and the
printing press. For more than thirty years this
rivalry has been sustained, and at the end of that
interval the most gigantic convulsions of government
have proved incapable of overthrowing the structures
of civilization ; they have attested that society can
no longer be embroiled when its cupidity
has been vanquished by rational enterprise and its
ignorance dissipated by systematic instruction.
What has been one of the most brilliant testimonies
of this transformation ? That sentence which was
pronounced but yesterday by the lips of ALPHONSE
DE LAMARTINE—" Our treaties are sympathies, our
diplomatists are nations !" On Good Friday, there-
fore, the epoch of the Redemption, the anniversary of
the Crucifixion of CHRIST, we. may dream without
derision of a permanent and universal amity among
the nations of Christendom.

The admirable letter which the Right Rev. Dr.
KENNEDY, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe,
has recently addressed to the Rev. Mr. BERMINGHAM,
P.P. of Borrisokane will, we trust, be extensively
circulated throughout all parts of the country, and
we also hope that the episcopal brethren of that truly
Christian prelate will follow the example thus afforded
by promptly and vigorously rebuking sentiments so
adverse to those by which a minister of the Gospel
should be actuated whensoever and wheresoever they
may be put forward. We gladly acknowledge the pro-
priety of conduct adopted by the great majority
of the Roman Catholic clergymen, but unfortunately
there are exceptions to the general rule. Men " who
(in the words of the respected Bishop), while profess-
ing themselves anointed ministers of the GOD of peace,
do not hesitate to counsel war with all its frightful
and indescribable horrors—who, instead of exhibiting
themselves the zealous and indefatigable apostles of
peace and patience, of self-denial and charity, do not
blush to assume, in the face of the world, the
unnatural characters of abettors of anarchy and
bloodshed, and in sustain men t thereof dare
to profane the sacred Scriptures by quoting
them against their DIVINE AUTHOR." To all
such persons the castigation so ably adminstered will
come home with the most powerful effect. They
have been repeatedly and emphatically warned. The
course of theological study which they must neces-
sarily have gone through to qualify them for the
position they have attained, should be amply sufficient
to teach them how utterly it is opposed to the
sacerdotal character to stimulate those whose
spiritual interests are committed to their charge
to acts of violence and outrage, of tumult and blood
shed, which must be wholly subversive of their tem-
poral and eternal welfare. But this is not all. The
recognised head of their Church has issued his re-
script from the Vatican, calling upon the various
classes of the clergy to abstain from all such un
seemly demonstrations, and requiring the several
prelates to see that this salutary admonition is
!uly obeyed in their respective dioceses. We
find, therefore, that such acts are alike op-
posed, to their duties as Christian men, as
ministers of the Roman Catholic Church, and
also to their allegiance as British citizens. And yet
such atrocious doctrines have been put forward as
that Ireland should rise to the contest as one man,
Ind that every man, as he is about to take up his
position, to perform this the most glorious act of his
life should make a vow to the following effect :—‘ I
vow, before GOD and my country, to lessen it'
I can, by one man at least, the enemies of
my native land, and to die.' " This is, indeed,
strange teaching for a minister of the Gospel
of peace. It inculcates not a fair and manly con-
test in the open field, but dastardly and cowardly
murder by the assassin's hand. Every man is to vow
that he will sacrifice at least one enemy of his native
land—but who is to define the parties who may be
included within that definition ? Does it not directly
imply a war of extermination, a war to the knife,
conducted on principles wholly opposed to those
which are recognised in even the most sanguinary
warfare ? What act of atrocity would not be justi-
fied under such a pledge ? But, lest it might not
be sufficiently explicit, lest some doubt might be
entertained that it was meant to be restricted
to persons arranged in hostile ranks, this Christian
minister adds—"Be sure you do all the mischief
in your power—or all the good I should say, for the
mischief is good in this case—by all the means within
your reach, and think not one moment of living—to
do or die, or to do and die be this your motto."
Well might the venerable Prelate conceive that it
would be folly to argue with such a person. A man
who could give utterance to such atrocities has mis-
taken his vocation, and should be stripped
of the gown he has disgraced, of the
sacred character which he has profaned.
Flow will he respond to the concluding sentence of
the letter of his indignant diocesan, who thus
addresses him—" As for me, I will only say that
these letters make you appear to be entirely out of
your place, and that you should either speedily
retrace your steps, or at once manfully retire from
the sanctuary." We would not desire to close the
gates of mercy to a repentant sinner. A prompt
obedience to the call thus made, a firm resolution
never again to offend in like manner, may again
qualify the Rev. Mr. BERMINGHAM when his mind has
been disciplined, and brought into a more Christian
spitribt b
e;
suuffteruednttil that
that weight
has arrived
tobi he
ssl d
sanguinarytoul
counsel that belongs to the arguments of a minister
of religion.

with doubt, filled with
lamentation at the recent aspect
The lovers of peace are,
out
of affairs throughout
Europe. Great is their disappointment and inex•
pressible their sorrow to see
thewsord unsheathed
Utopian u r eed r to
i
od
v
and the beacons of war ignited, after
of general pacification—after they had longe n t
anticipate the speedy realisation of their
a p
aspirations of universal amity and harmony.
Never-
theless, however much appearances may be against
them, we are inclined to think that the most ardent
philanthropists and advocates of peace have little 0e,..
casion to mourn over the present aspect of affairs.
It is true that violent commotions in various king:
doms have greatly agitated, and threatened to destroy
the peace of Europe ; but war, where war has actun
ally broken out, is now only a means of attaining
an object, is no longer itself the aim of any na,
Duct—forprotlati
tion's desires. Glory—that hitherto marvellous and
well nigh miraculous word—has lost its talismanic
power, its charm is departed. Glory is no longer the
rappel which rouses whole nations to arms, glory is
no longer the watchword which impels them irre
'iatihly to victory. Other and holier influences now
stir the hearts of nations ; other and holier objects are
now the coveted guerdons of popular ambition. This
lit is
atthhiouonsnsedoainht
adiefmannstration were we to turn over the
a most indubitable fact—would receive
published
danid century appeals of Governments and na•
back, and compare them with;
be the contrast, for example, present day. How vivid would+
discourses of
form example, between those eloquent
spirit of war,: aenrdtitnes' which breathed the very(
the ever i
ever admirable d memorable ands
declaration of
Minister, which n the French!
Proclaimed that the foreign!

* Histoire des dii.7nicf---7--
Inc Lib. xliv. cap. 7.