The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-20 00:00:00

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FRANCE AND ROME.

The following is a full translation of M. Grand-
guillot's article in the Constitutionnel :
" There is a party at Rome whose blindness
would end in ruining the most noble and the most
legitimate of causes.

" It is this party which for 11 years, opposing
every reform, has always endeavoured to separate
the Pope from the Emperor, the Holy See from
France. It is this extreme party which, after
having counselled a policy without concessions to
Pius IX. counsels him to a dishonourable flight.
" It is always an act of supreme gravity for heads
of States to abandon their capitals. History tells
us how they leave them ; it does not tell us how
they re-enter them. For Louis XVI. the journey
to Varennes was the first step towards the ,10th of
August ; for Charles X., and for Louis Philippe the
retreat on Rambouillet or Neuilly the first stage
towards exile. _ _

" It cannot, therefore, be explained why Francis
IL has thus given up Naples.• Family examples
were not wanting to this young monarch of 20
years of age ; and the defection which suddenly
created a void around him is scarcely an excuse.
The descendant of so many kings might well re-
main alone in a peaceful town,.as yet undecided,
where Garibaldi entered two hours aftewards, fol-
lowed by jive officiers d'aventure. Under similar
circumstances Henry IV. would have uttered his
proverbial saying, who throws up the game, loses
it,' and he would have remained.

"However, the flight of Francis 11. is only a poli-
tical desertion ; the flight of Pius IX. would be
worse than that, it would be a moral desertion. For,
after all, the King of Naples may explain his pre-
cipitate departure on motives of personal safety :
those motives would be wanting to the Holy Fa-
ther. It is well known at Rome that in the pre-
sence of our troops any insurrection is impossible.
It is moreover known that the person and authority
of the Pope are safe from any attaek, protected as
they are by the soldiers of France. There is not
one of those soldiers who would not encounter
death to obey his mot d'ordre, and to defend the
patrimony of St. Peter against an aggression from
any quarter whatsoever. And are they not, in
addition, commanded by an Aide-de-Camp of his
Imperial Majesty—by General de Goyon himself ?
And General de Goyon—in fulfilling with energetic
precision the orders of the Emperor—has he not for
a long time known how to deserve the confidence of
Pius IX, ?

" Those who, far or near, dare to advise the suc-
cessor of the Apostles to retire to Ancona, they are
the same men who in 1848 led him to Gaeta. The
venerable Pontiff was not the last to understand the
fault he had been made to commit then, and it is said
that on his return to Rome he made this noble de-
claration—' I will never leave Rome again ; a king
may leave his throne :--a pope cannot separate him-
self from the tomb of St. Peter.'

" We sincerely hope that Pius IX. will remember
in 1860 that declaration which he made in 1849
after sad trials—after misfortunes repaired by the
devotion of France, and of the Prince who already
governed there while awaiting the call to reign over
her.

" And, when we express this wish, we have only
the interest of the Papacy at heart ; for, it must
be admitted, what actually complicates the position
of France is her presence at Rome ; while, if her
occupation could cease, all would be simplified, at
least, in a political point of view.
" It is not Rome which we occupy ; it is the
Papacy which we defend. Our occupation is a
religious not a political one. It could under no
circumstance assume the latter character ; it is also
sanctioned by the duty of protecting the safety and
independence of the Sovereign Pontiff. With the
Vatican vacant we should have nothing to do, and
the faction we should set up there would be less a
guarantee than a menace.
" We therefore think that we are not wrong in
stating that the first consequence of the flight of
the Pope would be the evacuation of Rome by
France. Her policy would gain by it doubtlessly ;
but her sentiments of respect and devotion for the
Holy Father would suffer considerably. We should
be delivered from a great responsibility ; but, on
leaving Rome,we should carry with us great anxiety
for the fate of the temporal authority of the Pope.
" This is why, sacrificing our political interests
to interests of a higher order, we sincerely desire
that the detestable counsels given to the Holy
Father will not be followed. If a struggle is to
take place, however lamentable it would be, we
still prefer its dangers to the consequences which
would be entailed upon the Pope by the flight to
which he is urged by those same men who urged
him to absolute resistance.

" Such a struggle, if unhappily it became neces-
sary, would be, on our part, a new proof of that
devoted and faithful policy which no injustice has
been able to discourage. But for it to be possible, it
is necessary that the rope should be there to bless
those children of France who, in the interest of his
cause, well know how to fight like soldiers and to
die like Christians."