The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-01 00:00:00

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PRINCE lIIURAT AND THE THRONE

OP NAPLES.

The Paris correspondent of the Times says :
One feels some curiosity to know whether the fol-
lowing document, which circulates here, and which
is regarded as an address from Prince Murat to
the Neapolitans, is authentic, and, if it be authentic,
whether a hand other than Murat's and more
cunning in using words to conceal thoughts may
not have produced it. The point of authenticity
might be settled by the Moniteur if the Moniteur
wished to do so. Be this as it may, the " unification'
of Italy is the exclusion of Murat or of any Prince
of the Bonaparte family from the throne of Naples.
The "unification" of Italy was Daniel Mania's
thought by day and his dream by night ; and those
who supported the pretensions of Murat or of any
one else, except Victor Emmanuel, the great patriot
denounced as traitors to the independence of
Naples, and to the cause of Italian liberty.

The document I allude to is said to have been
sent for circulation in every city, in every village,
and in the remotest corners of the Peninsula. It is
true that not very long ago the Emperor did not
conceal the very poor opinion he bad of Prince
Murat's capacity for government. Whether he
really meant what he said does not much matter.
The following is the document :

"Dear Duke,—lt is not only by you, but by a
great number of my friends, that I find myself
engaged to assume an active position in the affairs
of the kingdom of Naples.
" By making my reply public I reply to you and
to all.

" My words are dictated by a feeling of patriotism
and of duty. My mind revolts at the idea that my
influence and that of my friends should create an
obstacle to Italian unification. The recollection of
my father is sufficient to prove that, far from being
averse from that work, I desire to co-operate in it.
It. is for this reason that, in replying to you, I
declare• that I cannot raise any difficulty, and that
in any case I will ever respect the supreme decree
of the national will.

" I confine myself to that assurance. I might say
more did I listen to the presentiments which make
me doubt of the success as of the loyalty of the
means employed to attain the object.
" The work of Italian unity rests on the principle
of the sovereignty of the people, before which rises
still menacing the principle of Divine right. The
latter has prevailed for centuries ; it has created
and maintained powerful Monarchies of which the
history, it must be admitted, identifies itself glo-
riously with that of civilization and progress. It
has reigned respected, and the universal veneration
which so long surrounded it was the effect of the
sagacity and virtue of great Kings. At present it
is falling to pieces; but, in order to efface it from
the world without violence and without danger, it
is necessary that popular rights at its birth should
labour to surpass it in sagacity and in virtue.
" Such is my veneration for this new law that
the cause of my keeping aloof was to avoid all pre-
text for dissensions, of which its enemies would not
have failed to take advantage. But, as the life of
progress springs from the pure source of science
and of noble sentiments, I greatly deplore that the
accession of the sovereignty of the people in Italy
was not accompanied by the indispensable accom-
paniment of all the great civic virtues. I see, in-
deed, the ballot-box open in the public squares, but
I am indignant at seeing corruption and violence
prowling around it. It is truly painful to find that
a traffic in places and of public interests, always
revered by the fathers of Italian civilisation as
sacred and inviolable, has taken place at Naples.

" The events of 1848 are too recent for us not to
take example and instruction from them. The
French Republic fell because it menaced all, and
attempted to destroy all, before it had learned how
to create, or to reconstruct.

" Let the coalition of parties who govern Italy at
present not forget the lesson to be drawn from those
events. They have as yet proved themselves to be
more tyrannical than the governments they have
overthrown.
" Liberty cannot be inaugurated by suspicion and
tyranny. What means the disarming of so many
communes, the state of siege proclaimed in so many
provinces ? Such measures are far from proving
the spontaneous character of universal suffrage and
the confidence of the new authorities.
" May the genius of the nation preserve us from
fresh calamities As for my part, as long as the
future of Italy shall not appear under more favour-
able auspices I shall remain a spectator, confining
myself to good wishes that those who have under-
taken the regeneration of a people, hitherto the
model of glory and misfortunes, shall be inspired
only by the virtues, the sagacity, and the patriotism
of our ancestors.

" I proposed a federation because I believe it to
be more in conformity with the national traditions
and the customs and interests of Italy. I proposed
it particularly on account of my aversion to all
tyranny. I know that these hurried attempts of
violence have no duration, and the present attempt
at Italian unification appears to me perfectly artifi-
cial and violent. I believe that the federation alone
can produce the unity destined to reconcile liberties
and local interests with the national authority.
" When Italy shall have gained her liberty and
her grandeur, the dearest wishes of my father and
of myself shall be accomplished.
" LUCIEN MURAT.
" Chateau de Bouzenval, Nov. 25."