The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-09 00:00:00

THE PAPAL STATES.

The following is the eddress, already referred to,
:o the Empet or Napoleon 111. from the Roman pro-
vinces still subject to the Papal authority :
Sire,—At this grave and solemn niament, when
entire Europe is about to decide- the future desti•
nies of Italy, permit thoso who have devoted their
whale lives to the emancipation of their dear and
unfortunate country, and who have been called
upon more than once to represent it, to discharge
a duty of good citizens by expressing to you their
sentiments and legitimate wishes. Among the
claims to glory of your reign, the one which will
create most gratitude in posterity, the one that will
form the pride of the present generation, will be the
reconstruction of Italy into a nation. This mag-
nanimous work, commenced by your bravery and
patriotism, is about to be completed by your wis-
dom. Bet Italy has not La Cattolica and the
Thrasymene for her frontiers ; beyond these lines to
the kingdom of Naples (on which it is not our pro-
vince to speak at this moment), between the Tronto
on one side, and the Terra di Lavoro on the other,
a territory lies, which was once famous, which con-
tains numerous towns, an intelligent and robust
population, generous souls, minds truly Italian.
It would be superfluous to recall its ancient glories.
Rome is a name before which all nations bow.
Contemporaneous history does not prove this people
to have degenerated or to be less worthy than any
other of civil and just laws, of an equitable liberty,
of an honest and enlightened government. Its na-
tional inspirations, its patriotic desires, its strength
for realising them, are proved by the memorable
annals of 1831 and 1848, by the valiant men that
hastened to the plains of Lombardy, to Venice, and
Vicenza, by the blood shed under the walls of Rome,
by the martyrs that fell under the axe of the Aus-
trians and the Pontifical authorities. The world
knows under what oppression this unhappy people
have since groaned for so many years. It would be
superfluous to repeat it to your Majesty, who has
more than once raised your voice in their favour.
Our brothers of the Romagna, more fortunate
than ourselves, have on their part been able to
make themselves heard. And yet we have never
been treated with greater humanity, we have never
had better laws, and we have no fewer rights to de-
mand than they. The vices inseparable from a
system that the whole of Europe condemns have
naturally produced amongst us the same deplorable
effects as amongst our brothers of the other pro-
vinces. Let any one visit the towns and rural
districts, let him number the men, the workshops,
trees, houses, soldiers, ships, railways—he will see
what a destructive blast has passed over these
wretched countries, no responsibility on the part of
those who govern, no publicity in the administra-
tion, no guarantee for justice, the canon law placed
above the civil law. Such are the inevitable con-
sequences of a Government whose chief is a prince
fettered by religious obligations, and who, by de-
claring himself infallible, escapes all control, all re-
sponsilt ity.
This system was able to maintain itself and
cause itself to be tolerated when the administrative
organisation was simpler, the interference by the
State is public affairs far less, when the light of
civilisation was not sufficiently diffused amongst
all classes. Now that public business has increased
and become complicated, when each branch of the
administration requires special and eminent men,
it becomes more and more dangerous and injurious
to select them from a privileged caste. Now that
everyy one knows his own wishes and feels more
vividly the dignity of man, men feel themselves
less and loss inclined to bend their heads before
arbitrary and despotic rule. It is therefore clearly
to be seen, sire, what the efficacious remedy for so
many evils can alone be. We have suffered with
the Romagna; justice demands that we should
benefit by the same destinies.
Whatever the future reorganisation of Italy
may be, justice requires that, being ourselves
members of the great Italian family, we
should be entirely identified with it. The
mere modification of a worn-out form of rule, un-
sound from its very base, would be only a vain and
barren act ; it would only set aside for a moment
the dangers that threaten us, it would not suppress
them. A government may err through its nature,
b
principles, or members. The principles may
.e cor-
rected, the members maybe changed,
but the 'atm-
'
sic nature does not change, cannot be modified. The
et
manners
clerical system is incompatible with.sh to refornt it th
and civilisation of the age ; to w
would be to try an 1 galvaniseal corpse. If it be
wished to establish peace, to found
Europe,
anew Italy, if it
be wished to secure the tranquillity of it
cannot be effected until after the settletrnent of this
question. To leave in the centre of Italy a constant
furnace of dissent and disturbance wou 4 be to wish
to destroy the work accomplished in the other pro-
vinces.
Thus humanity, justice, the general interest, re-
quire full satisfaction to be given to the wishes of
Rome and its provinces. Your mission, sire, is to
save the papacy by delivering Italy ; you have corn-
prehended that this could only be achieved by
exonerating the head of catholicism from all those
mundane cares that lead him to acts incompatible
with his high dignity. It is not the greater or less