The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-18 00:00:00

THE SECOND BORDEAUX SPEECH.

(From the Examiner.)
The speech of the Emperor of the French at Bor-
deaux is the most remarkable and pregnant event
of the week. It will serve the Italian cause more
than all tha blood and treasure spent in the late

war, and has already spoken comfort and encou-
ragementsio the friends of light and liberty all
over Europe.
The speech is a buffet dealt on the Garonne, to
be felt on the Tiber and the Arno. We are pleased
to imagine the box on the ear administered by the
Emperor propagating itself through Christendom,
like the celebrated yawn described by Pope in the
" Dunciad." From the burning cheek of the arch-
bishop the blow has lonc, since reached the vener-
able countenance of the Holy Father himself, and
reached him at the most opportune of all possible
moments, just as he was raising hii paternal arm
to repeat the correction of Perugia. But the expe-
rience of the Imperial rebuff will not be confined to
Italy. We feel the gratifying conviction that the
Ultramontane faction in the Church of Rome will
feel the same wholesome and humiliating sensa-
tions through its entire nervous system, even to its
extreme fibres in Ireland, making the ears of ut-
most Cullen tingle.
The consciousness that the Imperial slap in the
face was incurred by the commission of a gross in-
discretion must have greatly improved its effect.
The cardinal-archbishop approached the Emperor
with that presumptuous address, as if it were ex-
pressly to catch what he got. Flattery was never
more offensive ; unasked advice was never obtruded
with greater imprudence or effrontery. if Louis
Napoleon was ignorant of " the secret of the pros-
perity and glory of " his reign," he learned it from
the clergy of Bordeaux, who, like their order in all
times and places, see nothing but the Church, no
interests but those of the mitre and the stole :
" We now, site, pray with more fervour, if possible, that
God may give you the means, as He has given you the
desire, to remain faithful to that Christian policy which has
called down a blessing; upon your name, and which is, per-
haps, the secret of le prosperity and the source of the
glories of your reign."
The plain English or plain French of this is that
the Emperor owes his power and importance exclu-
sively to the Church • and why did the Church
patronise him, why did the French clergy make
Louis Napoleon what he is ? No explanation was
ever franker or more characteristic. Because his
rule was a blessing to France ? By no means—in
such a motive there would have been an admix-
ture of earth, for which there is no place in breasts
of priestly purity. By his services to the altar
alone the Emperor purchased their high-minded
and single-minded devotion. For what had he done ?
He had "restored the Church and the priest-
hood their crown of glory !" He had " inau-
gurated his great destinies by restoring to the Vicar
of Jesus Christ his city, his people, and the in-
tegrity of his temporal power !"
Now we know the meaning of " a Christian
policy" in the mouth of a Cardinal-Archbishop. Of
course the Emperor had only "to remain faithful"
to it to continue to enjoy the same distinguished
favour. And to press such fidelity. the more upon
him, the address proceeded to remind him how he
had formerly sketched out that policy for himself:—
"We pray with unswerving confidence, with a hope
which deplorable events and sacrilegious acts of violence
have not been able to shake, and the motive of this hope,
the realization of which appears now so difficult, is, after
God, you, Sire, who have been, and still wish to be, the
eldest son of the Church ; you, who spoke these memorable
words The temporal sovereignty of the venerable head
of the Church is intimately connected with the fame of
Catholicism and the liberty and independence of Italy.' "
It was doubtless thought a marvellous stroke of
art to reproduce " these memorable words," uttered
under other circumstances, when the events that
now agitate Italy were yet in the womb of time.
But the Archbishop must now feel that it may not
be wise to remember everything memorable. King-
craft proved more than a match for priest-craft at
Bordeaux. The Emperor made the memorable
words infinitely more memorable by the adroit turn
he gave them, at the same time putting a perfectly
fair and honest construction on them :
" I thank you for having recalled my words, for I enter-
tain the firm hope that a new era of glory will arise for the
Church on the day when the whole world will share my
conviction that the temporal power of the Holy Father is
not opposed to the liberty and independence of Italy."
This was only a preliminary rap ''over the
knuckles ; the box on the ear was yet to come.
There had not been a syllable about the liberty and
independence of Italy in the archiepiscopal address,
any more than about the liberty of France, which
was not what the clergy bargained for when they
brought their loyalty to market. It was a sharp
rebuke in itself to tell the clergy of Bordeaux that
there are such things in the moral world as liberty
and independence. It was a truth they had no
notion of until Louis Napoleon seized the opportu-
nity of enlightening them ; but they know it now
on the word of an Emperor and " the eldest son of
the Church!"

The heavy blow, however, and the great dis-
couragement was delivered in the succeeding pas-

sage :

" I cannot now enter into details which the grave ques-
tion you have touched upon would give rise to, and I con-
fine myself to reminding you that the Government which
replaced the Holy Father on his throne can only give him
counsel inspired by a respectful and sincere devotion to his
interests. But he is anxious, and with good cause, as re-
gards the day, which must soon come, when Rome will be
evacuated by our troops; for Europe cannot allow that the
occupation which has lasted for ten years shall be indefi-
nitely prolonged; and when our army withdraws, what will
it leave behind it ? Anarchy, terror, or peace ? This is a
question the importance of which no one can deny. But,
believe me, in the times in which we live, to resolve it, we
must, instead of appealing to ardent passions, endeavour
calmly to fathom the truth and pray to Providence to
en-
lighten Peoples and kings on the wise exercise of their
rights and extent of their duties."
It was here that the tingling of mitred cars, near
and remote, began in earnest.
" Churches and chapels instantly it reached,
• St. Peter's first."

The clergy had just had the assurance to assert that
the occupation of Rome was th© chief glory of the
empire, and the main source of its strength. " I am
sorry you think so," replies the Emperor, " as that
occupation has already lasted too long, and cannot
last much longer. In fact our army must withdraw,
and pray, my Lord Archbishop, has your wisdom
considered what the state of Rome wili be upon the
evacuation ? You take it upon you to counsel me, but
it would be more within the sphere of your duty and
office to tender your advice to the Pope's Govern-
ment, which must speedily be left either to enjoy the
peace of which he has laid the foundations in good
government, or combat the anarchy which he has
sown the seeds of in misrule. And now, since you
have kindly given me this opportunity of telling
you my mind, you shall hear a little more of it, and
perhaps what I say may reach to other dioceses, to
Orleans perhaps, and Poictiers—let me have no
more of your appeals to the passions, which holy
men ought rather to calm than excite. You forget
in what times you live. I must teach you to
understand your epoch. Not even the Papacy
itself is above responsibility to the opinion that
now sways the world. If the Papacy will only use
.its temporal power as it has hitherto used it, it must
rely on itself for its defence. I understand the
honour of France better than you do, and it is out
of the question that her arms can continue to be
disgraced by supporting even the Head of the
Church himself against the fair and reasonable de-
mands of his people. Go back to your cathedral,
4nd instead of imploring heaven to protect the Pope
in resisting the will of his subjecte, and the im-
provement of his dominions, pray that he may re-
ceive the light he so much wants both in exercising
his rights and discharging his duties."
We have developed the imperial correction a
little, even at the risk of diluting it, which now can
do no harm, the Archbishop of Bordeaux having
had his box on the ear with all the intensity of the
briefer and more vigorous original.
It will be interesting to watch the seqtal of these
things, and particularly what steps the Church will
take with " her eldest son" after such rude behavi-
our. And "the Immaculate Patroness of Bordeaux,"
will she continue after this to extend "her maternal
protection" to the Emperor ? " You will acquit
yourself," said the address, " of a debt of gratitude
to her by preparing a triumph for her son in the
person of her Vicar. Such a triumph is worthy of
you, Sire. It will put an end to the anxieties of
the Catholic world."

Ungrateful and graceless Emperor, who will
'wither pay his debts to heaven nor to its represen-
tative, on earth. He has plainly got the heretical
notion into his head that the triumph of Rome is
not the same as the triumph of France in the pre-
sent state of Italy and Europe. And ho has hit.
11130 n a way of his own of `putting an end to the
anxieties of the Catholic world. His Bordeaux
speech has done much already to relieve them.

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