The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-05 00:00:00

COUNT PERSIGNT ON TIE ROMAN

QUESTION.

Count Persigny delivered the following speech
at the laying of the first stone of a church at
Roanne :

M. le Care and Gentlemen,—l thank you for
he flattering manner in which you have been
pleased to allude to me, and, above all, for the
honour you have done me in asking me to lay the
first stone of the church so impatiently expected by
the piety of the fathful in this town. In bestowing
that honour upon a man whom his native country
only receives with so much eclat because it looks
upon him as the representative of the Em-
peror, you evidently entertained the idea that the
Government was the natural protector of religion
and its Ministers, and you were perfectly right.
(Applause). Such is the devotedness of the Em-
peror for the Church that he is above that immense
injustice which has lately agitated Catholicity and
astonished the world. (Loud applause.) Allow
me to say a few words on the subject. I will not
remind you that it was the Emperor who re-esta-
blished the Pope at Rome, and who maintains him
there with the sword of France. (Loud acclama-
tions) T proceed ttL once to the Italian war. At
that period the States of the Church were occupied
partly by Austria, partly by France, to secure the
existence of the Papal dominion. The two corps
d'strinee in the Papal States were instructed, seeing
what was going on in Northern Italy, to maintain
a strict neutrality, and await the progress of
events with grounded arms. Now, how was that
duty carried out by both parties ? Whilst France
faithfully executed her mission, by keeping that
part of the Italian territory which she had to pro-
tect, and still protects to this day, Austria, in
order to turn to account against us the forces which
she had in the Legations, abandoned that part of
the Pontifical territory committed to her care ; and
in consequence of this desertion on the part of
Austria the Pope lost the Romagnas. (Applause.)
But that abandonment of the Pontifical territory
did not prove fortunate for Austria—(sensation)
—for soon afterwards she was defeated at Sol-
ferino, and compelled to make peace. (Ap
plause.) Now, gentlemen, the basis of the
peace a basis enforced by the nature of
' by
by the at tsitt
autdeethe public
ofof the whole
mcirincudm, staannaces
of Europe, was this—that henceforth all interven-
tion in Italy was interdicted to France as well as
Austria. So that Romagna having been abandoned
by Austria, and the Pope being unable to recon-
quer it with the aid of French, Austrian, or any
other foreign forces, that province was inevitably
lost to the Pope. It was at that time and in the midst
of those difficult circumstances that the Emperor,
in his high wisdom, in his devotedness, equally ab-
solute and enlightened, for the Holy Father—
(applause)—showed himself disposed to make that
famous proposal which has given rise to so much
clamour and injustice. Now, what was that pro-
posal, gentlemen It was simply the safety of the
temporal power of the Pope ; it was a combination
at once the most simple, and most skilful, and
the best adapted to the object which it was in-
tended to realise for the independence and
dignity of the Holy See. You will judge of
it, The Emperor, seeing that in consequence of
the irretrievable fault of Austria, the Romagna was
irrevocably lost to the Pope, wished at least that if
that province was united to Piedmont. it should be
governed in the Pope's namo, in order to preserve,
and cause to be respectta as much as possible, the
right of the Holy ;See. But that is not all. -Whilst
in making this proposal the Emperor obeyed the
inexorable 'dictates of necessity, he derived from it
an enormous advantage for the Pope, as in exchange
for the sacrifice he offered to guarantee himself, or
to obtain the guarantee of Europe, or at all events
of all the Catholic States, the integrity of the pre-
sent dominions of the Church, and thus secured
for ever the independence and security of the
Pope. (Prolonged applause.) That those wise,
noble, and generous proposals—(bravo, bravo)—
should have been distorted for some little time
hatred of parties,
or the
by ignorance, error,
concealed beneath the cloak of religion,
is by no means surprising ; but what I can
tell you, gentlemen, is, that iwthe eyes of all poll..
ticians of any worth in Europe these proposals have
been looked upon as the most striking proof of the
devotedness of the Emperor for the Holy Father;
that all the religious enemies of the Papacy re-
joiced at their rejection •
, and, lastly, that had they
been
adopted, at tho
, present moment Italy would
be at peace, and the Court of Rome free from all
its dangers. (Applause.) Alit gentlemen, whilst
I am about to lay the first stone of the Church
of our Lady of Victories, whose name is such a
good augur, pray the Almighty to protect the
Holy Father, to
preserve hits
from the dangers
most that beset him, the to be dreaded of which
are not the attacks of his armed enemies, for the
Sword of the Eldest son of the Church, despis-
ing his calumniators, continues to protect the
f the Pontiff, and
august person 0 the venerated
throne of the 11°'-'
to

LE DEATH AT PROME FROM A BLADA
nedleaPinrßny: Eahci:ril
IrAel cAesigisitiss,A-sii;as in.clveh,
illreteehnehwei
chewing
thien
felthis mi
ho le'!,
—A Ppung man Earned Henry P. Harding.
Ifs has n
The deceased was walking Harding., a
)
miller at Ara-,1 ,:,es let With his death under extr,,ordi-
in. his gar-
piece of
.plariackly end
~ trate the skied beneath the ton
gyi for some days nothing
v—Gull it out,_ but she was unabb7G.. He asked his wife
The tongue soon,
tti
.wlohoa.N: to perceive aur-t, hing
111°P...s was thought of the -matter'.
however, began to swell. and recourse
,pathio practitico).tl'. On Friday last
oe ; Dr. White Vas called in and found
so,— ._....e much inflamed and swollen, an abscess having
edrently formed. No immediate danger was apprehended ;
but on Saturday night, about eleven o'clock, the deceased
suddenly sprung from his bed, fell into his wife's arms, and
in a few minutes expired. The singularity of the occur-
rence, and the fact that the decnsed was much respected,
has caused his molar:1401' death to excite great coustermt.
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