The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-19 00:00:00

ITALY.

The following is the correspondence exchanged
between Count Cavour and Cardinal Antonelli pre-
viously to the invasion of the Roman States by the
Sardinian troops. The Piedmontese Minister's
letter to the Cardinal is thus worded :

" TURIN, Sept. 7.

" Eminence,—The Government of his Majesty the King
of Sardinia could not without serious regret see the forma-
tion and existence of the bodies of foreign mercenary troops
in the pay of the Pontifical Government. The organisation
of such corps not consisting, as in all civilised Governments,
of citizens of the country, but of men of all languages, na-
tions, and religions, deeply offends the public conscience of
Italy and Europe. The want of discipline inherent to such
troops, the inconsiderate conduct of their chiefs, the irri-
tating menaces with which they pompously fill their pro-
clamations, excite and maintain a highly dangerous ferment.
The painful recollection of the massacre and pillage of
Perugia is still alive among the inhabitants of the Marches
and Umbria. This state of things, dangerous in itself, be-
came still more so after the facts which have taken place
in Sicily and in the kingdom of Naples. The presence of
foreign troops, which insults the national feeling, and pre-
vents the manifestation of the wishes of the people, will in-
fallibly cause the extension of the movement to the neigh-
bouring provinces. The intimate connection which exists be-
tween the inhabitants of the Marches and Umbria, and those
of the provinces annexed to the States of the King, and rea-
sons of order and security in his own territory, lay his Ma-.
jesty's Government under the necessity of applying, as far
as is in its power, an immediate remedy to such evils. Victor
Emmanuel's conscience does not permit him to remain a
passive spectator of the bloody repression with which the
arms of the foreign mercenaries would extinguish every
manifestation of national feeling in Italian blood. No Go-
vernment has the right of abandoning to the will and plea-
sure of a horde of soldiers of fortune the property, the
honour, and lives of the inhabitants of a civilised country.
"For these reasons, after having applied to H.M. the
King, my august Sovereign, for his orders, I have the
honour of signifying to your Eminence that the King's
troops are charged to prevent, in the name of the rights of
humanity, the Pontifical mercenary corps from repressing
by violence the expression of the sentiments of the people
of the Marches and Umbria. I have, moreover, the honour
to invite your Excellency, for the reasons above explained,
to give immediate orders for the disbanding and dissolving
of those corps, the existence of which is a menace to the
peace of Italy.
"Trusting that your Eminence will immediately com-
municate to me the measures taken by the Government of
his Holiness in the matter, I have the honour of renewing
to your Eminence the expression of my high considera-
tion. " CAvoun."

The following is the reply sent by Cardinal
Antonelli to the letter just given :-
4‘ Rome, 11th Sept.

" Excellency,—Without taking into account the manner
in which your Excellency has thought proper to have your
letter of the 7th inst. conveyed to me, I have directed my
whole attention calmly upon the subject you lay before me
in the name of your Sovereign, and I cannot conceal from
3704 that it has cost me uu extraordinary eilort_to do so,