The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-10 00:00:00

TDB AUSTRIAN CONCORDAT.

The following is a translation of the circular let-
ter addressed by the Archbishop of Milan to all
printers, booksellers, vendors of books or prints of
every description, resident in the city or diocese of
Milan :

" As it is of the last importance for the intact preser-
vation of our most holy Catholic faith and of good mo-
rals, that no errors of any description whatever should
be propagated, in whatsoever manner, by means of books
or periodicals, either printed, lithographed, or engraved,
and that, in like manner, the faithful should not be in•
cited or led by the same into evil habits, we have re-
peatedly, urged by our archi-episcopal duties, publicly
deplored the deplorable license existing in this respect,
and have energetically called upon the faithful to abstain
from the lecture of bad writings, and from looking at or
buying licentious publications, and we have vividly
pointed out to all printers or vendors of such articles the
grievous damage they were doing their own souls, and
to the souls of others, by propagating such species of
books, prints, or pictures, even by simply exposing them
to the public view, and thereby transgressing the sacred
I regulations of the Index as regards prints and the pub-
Haring trade.
" Now, however, thanks to the Concordat happily
concluded between the Holy See and our most august
Emperor, not only is the remembrance of our duty of
keeping a vigilant eye on the press furbished up anew,
as expressed in the 9th article—' The archbishops,
bishops, and all local priests are to exercise freely their
own authority to condemn with censure books detrimen-
tal to religion and to good morals, and to keep back the
faithful from reading the same ;' but we are promised
the full support of the secular authorities to withdraw
these same pernicious objects from the eyes of the pub-
lic, and to prevent their sale throughout the empire, t
quote the words of the same article ; But the Govern-
ment also will provide every necessary remedy to pre-
vent the diffusion of such books in the empire.' We,
acting in concert with the most illustrious and most
reverend clergy of Lombardy, our suffrazants, firmly
resolved to care for the spiritual wants of our beloved
diocesans by preventing to the best of our endeavours
the abuse of the press, and thereby to fulfil our bounder)
duty as a faithful minister of that God who will one day
call us to a strict account for the souls intrusted to n
do think the moment opportune to make known this
communication to all printers, publishers, and all vendors
of books of every description, and printsellers in our
diocese, that they may avoid any disagreeable emergeecy
or material loss that'they might in future have to incur.
" That we, on the grounds of the dogma, of morality,
and of the respect due to the clergy and to ecclesiastical
affairs, will continue to exercise a vigilant eye upon all
periodical publications actually existing, and will also
keep a strict watch upon such as may in future appear ;
and that it may serve as a private warning to publishers
of works of a pernicious tendency towards religion and
morals, that we shall not fail publicly to suppress them
should they continue in the same spirit, and, having in-
curred ecclesiastical censure, declare them guilty of pro-
pagating impious and heretical doctrines, as well the
writers as thr printers and promoters of the same ; nor
shall we omit to implore the aid of the Government au-
thorities to suppress the same.
" That it he incumbent upon all publishers or editors,
as Foils of the church, first, to submit to our ecclesiasti-
cal revision the writings or books of whatsoever descrip-
tion which they intend to print or reprint, not even ex-
cepting books of piety and church books, that they may
obtain the necessary permission thereto; end we impress
this obligation upon them, that they may not have to
incur the loss that would fell upon them should we find
ourselves under the disagreeable necessity of calling in
the aid of the secalar authorities for the Isuppreniiou of
works already published.
" That it is incumbent upon all booksellers to procure
from our ecclesiastical revision the permission to sell
books coming from abroad, unless such are already pub-
licly allowed to he sold.
" Finally, we exhort earnestly all printsellers not to
damn their own souls, and the souls of their brethren,
by placing before the public immoral or scandalous print.,
or of a nature to throw ridicule upon the church or clergy.
" We again beseech all our above-mentioned sons of
the holy Catholic church, by the bowels of Jesus Christ,
our common Redeemer, not to lend a hand to the attacks
which human passions constantly incite against Divine
truth, not to prefer a sordid gain to their own eternal
salvation and to that of their brethren, also redeemed
by His most precious blood. Let them not become
themselves or for others the instruments of perdition by
violating the natural laws and the holy prescriptions of
the Church, but, trusting that God will bless them for
their obedience even in temporal things, they will soh-
mit with good grace to these wise measures, which will
tranquillise their souls before God, and shield them also
from every temporal annoyance or loss.
" In the sweet hope of our words being hearkened to,
we lovingly give our pastoral blessing to all of the above
indicated.
"Done at our Episcopal Palace at Milan, on the 23d
day of December, 1855.
(Sinned) "BARTOLOMMEO CARLO, Archbishop,
(Countersigned) "P. PIETRA PONTEGGIA,
"Archiepiscopal Canon."

TUE ROYAL HUMANE
.SOCIETY.-At a general court
of they Royal Humane Society, hold yesterday, Mr. R.
B. Cabbell, M.P., in the chair, silver medals and thanks
on vellum were awarded to the following persons, who
had exhibited great courage and risked their lives in
saving others from being drowned :—Alderman J. Hall,
aged 71, who saved John Dudley, on the 13th of July,
1854, in the River Tame, Taraworth ; Robert Mason,
jun., 37, who saved Alfred Brasier on the 16th of July
—Tumbling Bay, near Guildford ; Capt. W. J. Pen-
gelley, Royal Marines, of her Majesty's ship Colossus,
and Mr. E. N. B. Portman, midshipman, of the same
vessel, who saved Hardy M'Hardy, naval cadet of the
same vessel, on the Ist of July, 1855—Baro Sound,
Baltic ; Wm. Wilkes, jun. (hatter), who saved Mary
Ann Smith on the 29th of July, 1855—river Severn,
Worcester .
Oliver Dobbin cashier, Bank of Ireland,
who saved Michael Hogan on the 4th of August, 1855
—Bay of Galway ; George Gallagher, boatswain's mate,
her Majesty's ship Buzzard, who saved a boy belonging
to her Majesty's ship Buzzard on the 24th of July, 1855,
off Groytown, Gulf of Mexico ; Commander J. R.
Woodruff, R.N., 65, Admiralty agent, who saved a sea-
man at Gibraltar on the 4th of September, 1845 ; Mr.
Charles F. Walker, midshipman, her Majesty's ship
London, who saved Richard Cullis, A. 8., her Ma-
jesty's ship London, on the 16th of September, 1855,
off Sebastopol ; Samuel Welch, A. 8., her Majesty's
gun-boat Snapper, who saved Mr. T. Foal, boat-
swain, of the same vessel, on the Ist of October,
1855, off Nargen, Baltie ; Mr. John C. W. Ellis, 23,
undergraduate of Sidney College, who saved Mr. Peter
M. Clark, undergraduate of the same college, on the sth
of November, 1855—River Cam, near Bottißbam-lock,
Cambridge.