The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, J ULY 20, 1868.

AUS7RIAN LIBERALISM.

The Allocution of the Pope against the
" Confessional" laws decreed by the Reichsrath
and ratified by the Emperor of Austria, is
exciting the fury of the Austrian Liberals.
Their rage knows no bounds. The most offen-
sive epithets which the Jewish journals of
Vienna can invent are applied to the Pope.
They call the Father of Christendom the
" mummy, the dead man of the Vatican."
From abuse, according to the fashion of
Liberalism, they proceed to threats. They call
upon the Government to withdraw from the
clergy the registers of births, deaths, and mar-
riages, so that the priests may be deprived of
some of their emoluments. The Neue-Wiener-
Tagblatt urges the Government, in answer to
the Papal Allocution and to the Pastoral Let-
ters of the Bishops " to re-establish the Placet,
to interdict every communication of the bishops
with the Holy See, to take away from the
bishops their title of Privy Councillors, their
decorations, their offices of dignity and honour,
to withdraw from them the fiefs they hold,
to deprive them of the money allotted by the
State to Catholic worship, to sequestrate their
estates, and to put under administration the
dioceses of the most obstinate of the bishops,
and to forbid the collection of Peter's Pence."
The municipal councils, following the lead of
the anti-Catholic press, and in obedience to
the dictates of the Liberal clubs, pass resolu-
tions against the Allocution, proclaiming "the
necessity of resisting this act of usurpation on
the part of an alien Power on the legislation
of a free, constitutional, and independent
State." The municipal council of Vienna,
speaking in the name not only of the city itself
but of the entire empire, passes the following
resolution, proposed by a publican and twenty-
six of his friends, against the Papal Allocu-
tion :—" So hostile an act by a foreign Power
against the free and constitutional government
of a great State, a government which possesses
the entire confidence of the people, cannot
and ought not to be tolerated. It is the
sacred duty of the representatives of the people
publicly to protest against so unworthy a
proceeding, provocative of civil war, and to
assure the Government that in carrying out
the confessional laws, it may count upon the
entire support of the people." This resolution
was opposed by only two members of the coun-
cil, who were priests. The democratic societies
of Vienna counting, however, not more than
50 or 100 members, each " proclaimed in the
name of the people, their indignation against
the encroachment by Rome on the common
rights of the people, and of man." The Yolks-
Verein of Fiinfhaus, demanded " that rela-
tions with Rome should be broken off, until
it showed itself more inclined to conciliation."
" Give his passports to the Papal Nuncio," is
the cry raised by the anti-Catholic press,
and echoed by the Democratic Unions and the
municipal councils of Vienna, and of a few
other cities. The question at once suggests
itself, what is the value of these declarations,
and in what manner do they correspond to the
feelings and ideas of the Catholic people of
Austria ? In other words, does this anti-
Catholic Liberalism of the Viennese press, and
of the municipal councils, represent the nation,
or a class ?)Last week we argued that Liberal-
ism, that the modern State, that the power
which dictates laws to Europe, was the out-
growth of one class to the exclusion of every
other ; and that the Crown, the Church, the
landed interest, and the peoples, were alike
sacrificed to the opinions and interests of the
moneyed section of the middle and professional
classes, and we pointed in illustration of this
corrupt and degrading tyranny to Austria and
to Italy Towards the corroboration of that
general statement, and in answer to the
question as to the value of these demonstra-
tions on the part of Austrian Liberalism, as
represented in the Municipal Council of
Vienna, we are now able to adduce the testi-.
mony of a competent witness. The Vienna
correspondent of the Univers, commenting on
the demonstrations of Austrian Liberalism
against the Papal Allocution, and on the arro-
gant manner in which it assumes to speak in
the name of the entire nation, writes thus :
The noise commenced by the papers is pro-
longed in the Municipal bodies and in the
different societies, ycleped Democratic, Ger-
man, Liberal, of the people, of progress, of
Liberal progress, of Democratic progress, of
the workmen's societies, all of which, since the
commencement of the new era, grow apace
like evil weeds. Each of these corporations and
of these societies professes to speak in the name
of the entire population, whereas, when it is
known out of what these societies are formed,
how these Municipal Councils are elected,
such a pretension is ridiculous in the extreme.
To speak only of the Municipal Council of
Vienna, all the world here knows that it re-
presents but a minimum fraction of the popu-
lation. The members of the Council are chosen
for the most part by a very small number of
electors. It is a district in which the electors
amount to many thousands, but of whom
scarcely a hundred vote. Such are the Muni-
cipal Councils, which profess to speak in the
name of the entire population, and as if there
Were not a single true Catholic to be found."
It may, with the greatest certainty, be said
that the vast majority of the peoples of Austria
does not participate in the views of the Vien-
nese press, nor in the votes of the Municipal
They may
nboer
dinullthe and
dactles of the Reich
thargic, srath.
d
mpeinrodre,da,nodrovthererylil medaybybtehewpearke.,
like
theirwo r 1 dEym-
s sure, and deafened by the uproar of the
Liberals, but, in heart, they are true to their
Church and loyal to the Pope. Persecution
may quicken them into life, and open their
eyes to the dangers which surround them.
The imprisonment of a Bishop, an event not
unlikely to happen if the Liberals have their
way, would to a certainty revive, as was the
case thirty years ago in Prussia, when Clemens
August, the noble Archbishop of Cologne, was
thrown into prison, the religious feeling of
the somewhat unspiritual people of Austria.
In the day, however brought about, when this
Catholic people arises from its long decadence,
and throws off its spiritual lethargy, the small
section of the people composed of Liberals and
JeWs, which now governs the press and the
country, will at once have to return to more
congenial pursuits at the Bourses of Europe,
or in the dens of the secret societies in more
corrupt and revolutionary countries.—West-
minster Gazette.

A correspondent from Florence says Captain
Stanley of the United States Navy and his wife are about
the only travellers in town. There are 14 resident
American families, and some of these talk of migrating for
a month or two, although it is so cool that I have only worn
summer clothes one or two days, and it has been necessary
to shut the windows in the evening. Tho great Italian
question is finance. Just enough has been raised by the
tobacco loan to tido over a month or two, but there is no
spirit of economy in the country, and the employes are
more numerous than over. There is no knowing how
many servants of the old dynasty are pensioned
by the present Government, though all talk and
work against it. Italians cannot understand that
they would be stranger with an army of 50,000 men
then 250,000 men, and do not sec that 200,000 men at pro-
ductive labour would benefit the country more than in eat-
ing it up in idleness. Compare Italy's small space inter-
sected by railroads and at peace with the world, with the
Continent occupied by the United States, with Indians and
Mexicans, an army of cnly 50,000 men. It is strange
to find gold hero at 81 premium, but if something
M'Cawber-like does not happen, we expect it to go to 12,
15, or even 20, before the end of the year. The taxes
even cannot at present be collected, and every day
some one has a tax bill sent in for the last six
months of 1866 or tho first half year of 1867. A
man who lets his house in the Piazza Pitti informed mo
he bad to pay 20 per cent. on the rents; even the servants
are taxed, but they cannot collect it, and yet to see tho
way Government throws away money right and left you
would think it the richest country in the world.
The manufacture of shad at Double Ditch, under
the authority of the Fish Commissioners, was togun
Monday, June 29, greatly to the delight of ie old fisher-
men and those who love shad. The river is fairly alive
with shad, and 118 were captured at three hauls. Messrs.
Green and Smith were both present, and gave instructions
as to the management of the factory.
The prices of Horniman's Teas are greatly reduced; their
well-known superiority has attracted a host of spurious
imitations; therefore notice all Genuine Packets are signed,
Horniman 4. C 0.," London. 300 Confectioners are Eizents
n London and 23200.Citoraiiits ja_the Country. -