The Sun.
London, England, 1828-08-22 00:00:00

POISONING BY PRUSSIC ACID.

The attention of the public in this country has
recently been directed to the subject of poisoning
by Preisic acid, in consequence of the suicide of
a concieriscl felon by this means ; and in
France, at the re,sent moment, there is much
excitation on the smile subject, from the occur-
rence of a most lamentable catastrophe in one
of the public hospitals, no less than seven patients
having been poisoned by the Incautious use o';'
it. It may not, therefore, be considered mal-
lapropos, at the present juncture, to speak of this
most energetic poison generally.
The Prussic or hydrocyanic acid is a colony-
less liquid, having a smell similar to peach-blos-
soms ; it has a sharp taste, at first cooling
to the tongue, but afterwards hot and irrita.
ting. It exists as the poisonous ingredient in a
great variety of native combinations in the vege-
table kingdom, al in the cherry laurel (prunus-
lauro-cerasus), bitter almond (amygdalus com-
(minis) ; the kernels of various fruits ; the pips
of apples.; leaves, flowers, and kernels of the
peach,` &c The Prussic acid was first ob-
tained from the well-known colouring matter-
called Prussian blue, by Scheele, a German
chv-
mist, in 1782, and hence the name Prussic acid.
It %to not, however until the year 1808 that
ehymista were fully acquainted with its nature.
Gay-Lussac, a French chymist, at this period,
obtained it in a state of purity, and pointed out
the elements of which it is composed. The re-
sult of his researches was, that the base of the
acid is‘ a compound of azote and carbon, which
he denomitisted cyauogen, because it is the prin-
ciple which generates blue, or, literally, the blue
maker ; and this cyanogen, uniting with hydrogen
constitutes the hydrocyanic or Prussic acid,, the
hydrogen being the acidifying principle.
Prussic acid, in its concentrated state, is u:2lic
of the most violent poisons yet known, and in,
virulence is in proportion to its purity. Ma-
gendie states, as the result of his experiments,
-that a single drop of Prussic acid being conveyed
into the throat of a strong dog, the animal fell
down dead and stiff after two or three inspira-
tions. When a rod, dipped into it, is brought
in contact with the tongue of an animal, death
ensues before the rod can be withdrawn. A
particle of the acid, applied to the eye, produces
equally sudden death ; and if a bird ,be held a
moment over the mouth of a phial containing
the acid, it dies. Scharinger, a Professor at
Vienna, having prepared a pure and concentrated
Prussic acid, spread a small quantity on his
naked arm, and died very shortly afterwards.--
Orfila relates the following instance :—M. 8., a
Professor of Chemistry, inadvertently left upon
his table a flask, containing alcohol impregnated
with Prussic acid. The girl enticed by the agree-
able smell of the liquid, swallowed a small glass
of it. At the expiration of two minutes she
fell dead, as if she had been struck with apo-
plexy. Hufeman relates the case of a man, who,
being apprehended as a thief, swallowed some
Prussic acid at two P.M. ; he staggered a fee
steps, and fell ; the pulse could not be felt, and
theme was no trace of breathing. In a few
minutes a single and violent expiration took
place; the extremities were cold; the eyes half
open and shining, but without any irritability.—
At night he was stiff.
In respect to the antidotes to Prussic acid
strictly speaking there none, for when the
concentrated acid has been given, it acts with.
such tremendous rigour, that life is extinct before
any succour whatever can he given. If the
symptoms have been produced by a dose of the
weak acid, or by plants which contain it, it is ad-
visable first to excite vomiting by means of tartar
emetic, and then to administer ammonia, brandy,
camphorated, spirit, or oil of turpentine, separately
or conjointly.
The account which has reached us, respecting
the death of seven patients by Prussic acid, in
one of the French Hospopiiteraultssitslie(cßicetre), is as
follows Fer,pritliiosny,dioenrigie of the physicians, wa,F,
acid,
consisting
the for formula
ou
flaonwebpiealrithe f used
medicinal‘s.as
oafesi)d,ruipn
oefaiseiy.s,
tinhatthoefhAaibaitgeolfuleime
dopfrroteiciiiali etc:: cs ra
acidc;
to 128 of syrup. In private practice
the medicine has always been procured at the
shop of M. Pelletier, and an ounce was usually
prescribed for a dose. M. Ferrus, wishing w
try the medicine in the hospital, ordered it in the
dose of an ounce to fourteen epileptic) patients.
The house surgeon represented to M. Ferrus
that drachm doses only were given, and that these
occasionally produced unpleasant symptoms.
This induced M. Ferrus to prescribe half an
ounce, although he had, as before stated, usually
directed half an ounce to his patients in private
practice. The medicine
was procured from the-
Pharmacien Centralc des
Hopitaux, where the
syrup is prepared according to the Codex, or
French Pharmacopccia, which is, one part of
Prussic acid to nine parts of
syrup. The in-
firmary man commenced the exhibition on the
14 epileptics; by the time he had given it to
the seventh, the first was dead, and the others
• din the course of 20 •
expire minutes. Magendie
uses the acid prepared according to formula
of Gay-Lussac ;he adds six •
times its volume, or
B_s dines its weight of distilled
water, and he then
designated it medicinal
Prussic acid. The acid
directed in the French Pharmacopoeia is prepared
according to the process of Scheele, which, in
the opinion of
Magendie, is exceedingly uncer-
tain in its
results. The formula of Gay-Lussac,
Or of Vauquel, should always be followed. Mr.
Garden, of Oxford-street, prepares it according
to Vauquelin ; it is made at Apothecaries' Hall
by Scheele's process.—Lancet.

It is ivell known that the peach leaves are used for the
purpose of flavouring the liquor called Noyeau ; as laurel
leaves are also for custards.

Last week, such was the lanientable state of
the marsh lands in the. neighbourhood of Bridgewater, that
the reapers were seen making the best use of their sickhs
that the extraordinary circumstance allowed them, whilst
they literally waded up to their knees in water; little more
than the ears of the corn could be cut off.--Taunton Courier.

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FRENCH

PRELACY TO THE KING.

" Stai—:-Time does not moderate the grief which
the bishops of yoUrkingdomhaVe experienced on the
occasion of the ordinances of the 16th of June. On
the contrary, they feel that it becomes deeper and
More lively in proportion as they; perceive the fatal
period of their execution approach.
The alarms of
.conscience join themselves to this grief to render it
unsupportable. If the bishops ought to remain only
Passive spectators of what .is taking place, th-ey-
would hope to find at least,-in undergoing this cruel
Pant.:, ft. mitigation which patience and resignation
';could render meritorious;, but, wounded as they
are by a hand which they are accustomed to bless,
they cannot mourn in secret and await in silence the
aceomplishment of those measures which must deso-
kte them, and, afflict their churches. They are
asked to co-operate directly in acts which they can. !
!lot:help. regarding as humiliating to religion, harsh
towards the priesthood, and vexatious to that spi-
ritual authority, of which they ought to give'an
etc-
count to God alone, because it is'he alone who has'
entrusted it to them. It is expected, that by a di-
rect and immediate consent on their part, they should
seem to approve what their principles appear to
them to condemn, and that they should themselves
labour in rivetting fetters which evangelical liberty
forbids them to suffer. Placed thus between. the
dearest affections on the one side, and the most sa-
cred. duties on the other, the French Episcopacy
knows not how to satisfy at once the sentiment of
the heart and the voice of conscience. Full of an
inquietude with. which their very enemies would not
dare to reproach them, the Bishops directed their
looks by tu:nti towards Heaven, where presides the
supreme Majesty, whose commands they' are bound
to respect, and towards the throne where sits the
.se,,,ond Majesty, whose least wish they are anxious
to gratify. .

In their anxiety, Sire' tiler havinginvoko by.
long supplication those tights and aids which come
from on high, the Bii.hops do not think-they exceed
the limits .of that respect and submission of which it
belongs to them'more than to the rest of the faithful.
to set ate example, if they strive to lay at the feet
of the King, as they know that some of their col.
leagtses assembled at Pads have alre:dv done by the
intervention of one of them, before the publication
of tlip ordinance, their inquietude.s and their fears in
treseeching his goodness to introduce into these or-
dinances such modifications as shall withdraw them
from the cruel alternative in which they see them-
selves placed. They obey not the impulse of the
passions, they borrow not their language it is pat
till after having mastered the first movement of grief
that they desire to bring to the ear of the Most
Christian ;King, the plaintive voice of religion and
the :orrowfui accents of the church, to him whom
the loves to call the first-born of her sons.
'The Bishops are not ignorant that their right of
examining and discussing the ordinances of the 16th
of June is disputed; that it i 5 affected to consider
them as legal regulations which belong to the secu-
lar power. They are continually told, that as these
ordinance in no way injure the interests:of religion
or of ecclesiastical power, they ought not to inter-
fere, but should subMit and second the act of the
Government. Would to God that.it.were so! It
would then be seen that they are what they have
elWays been,—zealous and faithful, commanding
respect and obedience as much by their example as
by their addresses ; kit it is, on the contrary, too
manifest that the ordinances are of a nature to occa-
•sion deplorable mischief to the prosperity, of the
Catholic religion in France, and that they attack, in
many of their provisions, the honour and the autho-
rity of the episcopacy.
,These motives are more
than sufficient to authorise,. we will not say the re-
sistance, but the. inaction of the Bishops, who can
well support an onerous yoke, but who cannot
im-
pose it upon theniselveS. This is the result of a
close examination of the two ordinances, in what-
ever point of view they are regarded, 'whether in
the aggregate or in their details
" Both ordinances seem
_to .rest upon this prin-
ciple—totally opposed to the rights of the episco-
pacy in a matter evidently spiritual, since it regards
the very perpetnityofthe priesthood,—namely, that
the secondary ecclesiastical schools, otherwise called
small seminaries, should' be so far under the control
of the •civil authority, that that authority aforie can
institute them, and introduce -therein -the form and
modifications it judges proper—can create or destroy
them; or confide then at its will to superiors of its
own choice---change. their direst* and government
as it pleases, without the consent of thebishops; or
even contrary to their will ; and all this under. the
Pretext, that profane literature being taught in these
schools, they thereby come within the exclusive pro-
vince of the secular power. • - •

" In virtue of this principal it was,-that eight
ecclesiastical secondary schools were soddenly:'wit h-
out previous intitnation—without :those ,warnings
which so well become a paternal administration)
snatched from the government of the bishops under
which they prospered, hi order to be subjected to
the rule of the Universitn It is also in consequence
of tido; principle that it is ordered that in. future,
without regard to the institution of a 'bishop, any
more thait to his responsibility before- God and
man, no one can remain in charge' either of the di-
rection or of instruction in any oue of the ecclesias-
tical secondary schools who has not declared in
writing that he does not belong to any religious
congregation not legally established in France.
From this principle, moreover; have proceeded other
provisions, which limit, at the
.pleasure of the lay
authotity,the number of pupils • educated in these
ecclesiastical schools, which determine the condi-
tions under which alone they can receive ir, and
which finally ordain, that henceforward this educa-
tion shall be giver', so that the vocation to -the
priesthood cannokbe recognized and directed from
its very beginning without the intervention of this
game lay authority; for the superiors or directors
-
must obtain the sanction of the King .before they
(the pupils) can apply themselves, after the mission
of the -Bishops, to the proper studies for, and clinic,
titm of, this vocation. .
" To this length proceeds a Principle founded
upon an exorbitant ecension. , A principle
ceived, falsely applied, and too largely extended,
loads to objects to which reason, justice, and consci-
ence, are compelled to give way. Whatproteskta it
provokes—what ill-will—what . painful. contests
which might have been avoided, by retention within
those limits beyond which there are found doubt and
weakness, as well as violence' and collis'en
" Let, therefore, the principle of the authority of
the civil power, in regard to small seminaries, be re-
duced to its just limits, and all will be restored na-
turally; to order, because nothing, will..be compromis-
ed.. Let us endeavour to determine those limits with
precision.
"That the•prince ought to have, and tnat ne
in
fact has, over the ecclesiastical schools destined to
perpetuate the priesthood, the superintendence and
inspection necessary to secure public order, and
maintain the right and honour of the Crown,--that
he may require and execute by himself a reform of
such abuses as affect civil order,— that he ought;
eveh in the character of Evequcs du dehor:, to .cpul-
pel the reform 'of abuses in the spiritual order, and
lend the secular arm to maintain the Canonical rules,
there can be no doubt. Let.hitn-b6 free to grant or
to refuse
to these' establishments protection, pritti-
leges, favours, with the view of promotivg.
the pro-
gress of the
faith, in tontrNuting to perpetuate the
.'
ministers of the Gospel. Religion is not kngrAte.
fill, and will render•jiim a hundredfold for the
of his munificence, Not only gratitude and affectiou,
but also devotion and services. Thus let the cede-,
siastical schools receive a sanction which Tilly enable
them to enjoy all die advantages of which all the
other establishments legally recognized are in pos-
session;—let them have the power.
,of acqmring;
selling, possessing, &c. ; —let these itilvfmtages Le
granted to them only on certain conditions, without
the fulfilment of which they may not enjoy them.

There is nothing in all this which exceeds the po-
litical power, or invades the spiritual : beyond this,
usurpation is to be feared—it is, indeed, very near.
" To pretend, for example, -that no school., de-
stined to form men to piety and the' sacerdotal sci-
ence, and virtues, can exist without the authority of
I the Prince; . that-the Bishops, Subjected in other re-
spects to all the laws, cannot collect together the
young Samuels whom the Lord calls from infancy to,
the holy ministry, in order to render them more. tit
for the serviee of the altar and the tabernacle ; that
they should not have the liberty of confiding the
education, the direction, the instruction of this dear 1
and precious tribe to masters whom they should
.judge most skilful and most capable of guiding them
-through many dangers to the period of their pro-
bation ; that they cannot bless and multiply this
house of prophets, is to desire to enslave the Church
in that respect in which she is most independent; it
is to impair thu rights of her divine mission; it is
audaciously to contradict those words which ' have
been regarded throughout all nations ' Go and
teach;' it is. to falsify the history of the Church. In
the midst of persecution it wa,s.free to form its clergy
in prisons and in catacombs. In granting peace to
the Church, the Emperors did not subject to their
regulations the schools and monasteries whence she
culled 'the hope of her priesthood, and if they some-
times interfered, it was only by protection, . by their
liberality in things purely temporal. Since that
period the Church haS not been able, to divest her-
self of rights confided to her by her divine founder.
If she accepts the favours of princes en condition of
some privileges which touch .her.spiritual .functions,
-as the right of nomination, patronage, &c., she may
take engagements froth them, she may impose them
Upon herself, but she receives then] not ; she fulfils
them, but in that she obeys herself alone.
" And let no one say that the question here re-
lates to instruction in profane learning, which is the
province of the civil power,—let it he remarked,
that the question concerns ecclesiastical schools;
where this instruction is but accessory, which, after
all, religion-can do without; and that the principal,
which .supersedes all the rest, is plainly the province
of the spiritual authority. The ordinances them-
' selves establish this' difference. The first ordains
(article 2d),.'. That no'one can remain in charge,
either of direction or instruction, in any of time
houses of education dependent
.upon the Univer- .
Sity,' and it adds, ' or in one of the ecclesiastical se-
condary schools.' The distinction is a formal one,
yet all are there placed under the, same authority.
-" The second ordinance goes farther still, and is
still more express. There is not even any precau-.
tion taken to leave in it the means of defence against
the charge of a palpable usurpation. There is not
even the pretext derived from the instruction in
profane literature; for article Gth,of this ordinance
does not require the consent of the civil power far
professors who teach profane learning in, the schools,
but for the superiors or directors specially charged
-with thu.knowledge„ culture, and close examination
of the ecclesiastical vocation, and with forming pu-
pils to piety, knowledge, religion, and all the virtues
necessary to this holy calling : whence it follows
that it -is the very essential of the ecclesiastical
schools, and that which properly belongs to the '
Bishops which it seems to be intended to participate-
with them.
"No doubt this is not intended. We even be-
lieve that•the facilities which will be afforded for
obtaining the assent of the civil poWer will reduce
this formality alMost to nothing; but even this for-
mality may become dangerous by being a command.
Systemschange with men, and that which has for
its object the enslavement of the church,—which
has .already, , within a very short time, gained in=
portant advantages over her,—might, some day be
extended to-the demand of other concessions,' if a
strict watch be not kept ever its exaggerated pre:-
tensions.

According to this expose it follows, in the first
place, that the ordinances which have been. decreed
respecting the small schools have had the effect of'
giving to them a legal existence, and with this all
the civil and temporal advantages which accompany
it ; that .they may also secure to them assistance,
endowments, and .establishment:;; but this does-
nothing for their existence, properly so called, be-
cause that is the result of the, divine mission by
which the bishops, conforming themselves to the
laws of the land in other respects, have the right to
secure and to perpetunte;the preaching of the .Gos-
pel, the administration of .the sacraments, and the
• .
other. advantages -of a ministry which has for its ob-
ject the salvation of souls. The manner of exercis-
ing this right, or rather of fulfilling 'this duty, may
be different, according to times and circunistances;
but its exercise does not belong the lesS to the
bishops it should riot be contested with them.
" It will be useless to say that formerly there were
no small schools, or that, if there were, they were not
similar to those now in existence. ..If that were true;
the right of the Bishops, could not be weakened by
its lion-exercise, and no prescriptive right could he
claimed:on that ground; but it is by no means ad-
mitted that there.have been no small schools ; on the
contrary, it may be proved, by the most authentic
records, that the church and the state had. formerly
recognized them, and even recommended their esta-
blishment.*

It follows in the second plaCe, from the principle
laid down, that the pupils aspiring .to the sacred
ministry should be received, examined, selected, and
directed in their vocation; that their number, their
qUalificatiOns, those of the. masters who direct, in-
struct, and . conduct them in. this celestial path,
should all be regulated by spiritual authority. It
would be an attack on ,the independence of the
church; it would be imposing restraints and con-
ditions wholly inconsistent with her liberty, in the
choice of those whom she is charged to select for
the work of the Lord, and of those conductors whom
she considers most skilful in bringing this work to
perfection.. ,

" It
,follows also, that if the secular power believed
that it possessed the authority to refuse or withhold.
these favours, privileges, and all the advantages of a
legal existence, even the power of teaching profane
literature., from priests, who individually or col-
lectively adhere for, their private government to the
rules of a congregation, or an order of which the law
does not recognize the existence, it could not still
exclude those priests from teaching in the ecclesi-
astical schools for this fact alone, at a moment when
selected by the bishops,, and submitted in every
thing to the jurisdicton of the ordinary, like all other
priests of the diocese, they are intrusted with that
teaching and that 'direction. ,
" The Bishops, then, have a right to infer, and
they do ' i
so almost unanimously, that it appears to
thern'repuogrt,:taint to conscience to submit for the
.sw-tetion of the King the nomination of superiors and
directers
tion is centrariv4 small schools, because their obliga-
tion
Bishops eirgtolott tthoeefntjlolyaiTltheendtiiir.eeCldiboenrioyf"t'hheicSie
establishments,
object. Is theretatnacciount of their very nattirt and
the spiritual authority Itilulw.uhieichrigbhetlooncgsexlnorienintgo
the vocation.of those candidates who asp ire to the
priesthood, to form them to sacerdotal virtues, which
e choice of men fit to make
stici(ii,eriexClaYmilinlcultuio:el, to judge pf these vocations, and
to foim them to those virtues? .}low,eci.kaerearl;tl:::
vcouldotild
the Bishops recognize in . civil thorny the
power of accepting or rejecting men whose -duties
of a spiritualth
i‘tv°n'olit6bbeea"r'ehcooligynition of this power if they contri-
buted to airy into execution the ,ixth article of the
second of these ordinances.
" If it be objected that the bishops have already
submitted to similar formalities as far us regards the
nomination of vicars-general,. canons, and curates, it
is easy to answer, that, as far, us respects curates, that
they act in virtue
,ef a , formal clause of the Con-
cordat of 1801, and of course by the. express con-
sent of the Sovereign Pontiff, who, when the good
of religion requires it, may restrain the exercise of
that full and entire liberty which Jesus Christ has'

* See the Council of Trent, seilcion 23, cap. 18, 131°'3
edition; the Ordinances of Louis XIV: ; and F'leury's sth
Dibcourse on Ecclesiastical History'.

given to his church—a permission which exceeds
the power of a bishop with respect to those sacred
rights of which he is only the depositary. As to_the
vicars-general arid canons, it is known that this ap-
proval, imposed much later under a despotic Govern-
ment and by a snspicious,power, is looked upon as
only a mere formality, which has. no. more influence
in any respect on the canonical institution than it has
on the exereise of the power whielt it confers; the
necessity for the Royal sanction for the superiors or
directors ofs.the small schools being once admitted,
the refusal of that sanction might throw those pre-
cious establishments into disorder, and evert be the
means of their entire ruin.

" The Bishops . conclude, -secondly, that it does
not appear to Ahem possible to ,reconcile with that
holy and full independence which they ought to en-
joy in the organization of their ecclesiastical schools,
the obligation to demand individual declarations on
the part of the directors and superiors whom they
appoint. A bishop cannot deprive himself of the
power of laying down a special rule for the directors
and superiors of these small schools, of subjecting
them even to vows for their private, regulation, of
establishing, also a kind of congregation, in order
that more piety and more harmony amongst Priests
deStined to form the morals of their pupils to
,sacer-
dotal perfection—to make them observe a strict rule
towards their pupils—to edify them by all sorts of
good examples—to inspire them, and render them
familiar with the love of self-denial, obedience, and
poverty, and other evangelical counsels, the practice
of which; to a certain extent, is so necessary to in-
sure the fruits of the sacred ministri. Is there any
thing more spiritual in
.its nature than a religious
congregation, considered purely is such, and sepa-
rated froth all legal existence ? If bishops could
recognize in the secular authority the right of giving
or refusing to a religious eongregution this legal ex-
istence, it Could not recognize the right of refusing
to the spiritual authority the right of sanctioning,
establishing, and directing congregations whollY spi-
ritual; of employing their
.members in functions
equally spiritual, and consequently of forming young
minds to science and ecelesiastical Virtues, ',But the
execution of the second article of the first ordinance
would be a recognition of thiS authority in the-civil
power;. for that article forbids generally, without any
distinction, the employment in the direction or
teaching of the secondary ecclesiastical schools every
man belonging to a congregation nut, legally esta-
bliShed in France. -

" In the third place,-Bishops conclude that they
cannot conscientiously co-operate in any 'active
manner in carrying into effect the first and third arti-
cles of the second ordinance, which limits the number
of pupils in the secondary ecclesiastical schools, and
Which excludes from them day scholars, because that
would be in some degree to limit vocations, and to
throw obstacles in the way of a grace, of which, on
the contrary, it ought to be their wish, by every
means in their power, to favour the progress and
secure the end. That they should passively submit
to measures which prohibit young men called to the
priesthood from entering their secondary schools, is
all that can be required of 7 them; but it would be
unworthy of their character to employ themselves in
repelling them from the sanctuary, or in driving them
from the path which conducted thither, .under the
pretext that the number was already too great,' or
that not having the mean's of 'paying the required
pension, they could only visit the schools as day.
scholars. It would be equally contrary to the duties
of Bishops to recognize by any.positivieo-operation
a right fatal to religion, particularly at a period when
the scarcity of priests is the great affliction of the
church, and when it must be admitted that the edu-
cation given in the lay schools is such in general that
ecclesiastical vocations would want the means of
becoming known. Besides, the secular power is not
a competent judge of how far the wants of the church
extend, or of the extent to which they should be
relieved.

" Sire,—ln support of the motives which the
Bishops have the honour ;o lay before your Majesty,
to justify a conduct "whiCh will probably.be repre-
sented as a revolt-against your authority, they might
invoke that civil liberty and thtit religious toleration,
conseciated by institutions Which we owe to your
Illustrious Brother, and what your Majesty has
likewise sworn to maintain. But they do not wish
io enter into a questioii of public right, the maxims
and consequences of which are not yet well esta-
blished, respecting which 'even the most able are
divided in opinion, and which would plunge them in
a discussion liable to be extended and contracted
according to times and systems perpetually.ruoving,
perpetually varying.

" They have examined, in the secret of the sanc-
tuary, in presence of the Sovereign Judge, and with
that prudence and siMPlicity which have been en.
joined them by their Divine Master, what.they owe
to Caesar as well as what they owe to God ;' their
coniciencehas replied, that it is better to obey God
than may, when the obedience which they owe pri-
marily to God Cannot consist with that which men
demand of them. They do not resist; they do not
utter tumultuously harsh words; they do not express
imperious resolutions; they content themselves with
-declaring reapecifully, as the apostles did, non pos-
sumus—w6 cannot; and we conjure your Majesty
to remove an impossibility always so grievous to the
heart of a faithful subject towards a King satenderly
loved.

" Hitherto we have considered, in the new ordi-
nances; miry what they'aPpear to contain contrary to
the liberty of the ecclesiastical ministry, relative to
the education of the clergy, and the perpetuity of
the priesthood ; hut, Sire, we should net be satis-
fied with one of the dtitieS which your Majesty loves
that we especially should fulfil towards you,, that of
stating the truth without disgyise, if we were silent
with regard to, the other fatal consequences which
those ordinances may occasion to religion. Pastors
of the flock of JesuS Christ, our solicitude ought
not to be confined to forming guides, which may be
destined to condtict theM under our direction to the
pastures of eternal 'life. The care of the fold at
large concerns us; and it would be an unpardonable
error and illusion in us if we supposed.that we had
discharged all the call's of our pastoral oilice so long
as we'had neglected nothing to secure good priests
for our churches. It is doubtless the first and most
essential of our obligations,. for which we cannot
make too great sacrifices. But whatever can have
any,influence upon the sanctification of souls, de-
nim& likewise constant vigilance, attentioni.and
efforts.
" Besides, it is hut too manifest that the dis-
positions orthe ordinances, pretending .to interdict
rigorously the access of our ecclesiastical scholars to
a certain class of the faithful not destined to the
priesthood, will be most fatal to the faith and.to
morals. We say, it with pride, and without wishing
to depreciate any of the public institutions,
,in our
seminaries the milk of pure doctrine flows always
pare and abundant; precautions to preserve spotless
'the innocence of early youth are carried so far, that
we aspire to present before the holy altars a,sacer-
dotal virginity alone; respect
.for: the laws, love for
the monarch, and fidelity to all
:the other duties of
social life are taught, developed, inculcated there,
with so much the more energy upoa the hearts and
mindS, in that we have to , form men who, will be
obliged by their .contrition to preach all their life the
knowledge of those duties, and command the prac-
tice of them in the name of
,Heaven. The virtues
in which pupils are there exercised are so much the
more solid, in that they ought to sustain the honour
of them by the most courageous example. With
what alarm, then, ought not religion to be seized i
What tears has she not to shed in learning of the
order Which excludes for ever from the protection of
its lessoni.the Children of so many honourable families,
which would have wished to confide to a vigilance more
maternal what is most dear to them, and what is often
most precious to the state! But how much must
this alarm be augmented, hOw much more bitter
must be those tears, when it sees repelled from
public instruction those masters who are the most
capable of forming youth to the virtues of Chris-
tianity, when they are not even considered as the
most able to teach profane learning! Already she

cannot have beheld, without uttering the deepest'
sighs, the'use of the authority she ought to exer-
cise over the education of children, weakened, re-
strained, and almost reduced to a mere vote of con-
sultation. She could not but be affected rat thenew
humiliation which she has been made to untie*,
in withdrawing from her the confidence whiclOthe
late King had shewn to her some years before. Her
fears must redouble with her grief, since shelaw
removed, with so many precautions, from the rising
generation, those indefatigable and zealous precep-
tors of youth, which she always reckoned amongst
her
.most powerful auxiliaries. •
" We do not carry our reflections further, although
they occur in numbers. As Frenchmen, we would
nor recriminate upon .our age, nor against the sys-
tem of 'education organized in our country. As
bishops, we ought to be attentive to the perils which
Surround youth who are the hope of the Church
and the State. If we are not allowed to preserve
them wholly from all the dangers which threaten
there, we ought to desire, and urgently to demand,
that the salutary means f diminishing their num-
ber, and weakening their effect, ought not to be
rejected.
" Sire, however piofound the affliction of the
bishops to find themselves under the painful neces-
sity of, perhaps, vexing your Majesty, in asking that
some modifications may be introduced into the mea-
sures which you have ordered, which may dissipate
their apprehensions, they console themselves never-
theless, and are'encouraged by the belief, that these
measures have not been adopted without regret, and
in the persuasion, that if they can be allied to the
duties of Christianity, they are indispensable on ac-
count of the rigour of the times. They do not de-
ceive themselves in hoping that the councils of your
Majesty, more enlightened by the observations of
the episcopacy, will hasten to propose such modifica-
tions as may satisfy. at once what is.required by the
sovereign dighity, the authority of conscience, public
peace, and the too-long-continued sufferings of re-
ligion. Yes, Sire, all the Bishops of France now
solicit of your Majesty a remedy, for the evils of
which they jointly,bear the burdensome Weight, and
not merely a few isolated bishops, who seek to elude
an approaching misfortune. If there are any among
them, howeVer few their number, .who differ in opi-
nion in regard to the conduct to be pursued in these
difficidt circuinstances, there is not one who does.
not participate in 'the sentiments of common tine-.
don, and who does not firmly believe that the piety
of the son of St. Louis will not.repulse the respect-
ful complaint which the whole episcopacy presumes
to address to him.

" Once more, Sire: the Bishops of your king-
dom find themselves obliged to defend thus, by their
supplications at the foot of the throne, the sacred
cause of their churches against the invasions of the
secular power, placed in the hands of those ancient
bodies, respectable 'as they are, and Useful to the
monarchy, but which, unfortunately for religion 'and
for the state, haVe sometimes thought themselves
justified in subjecting to their jurisdiction the autho-
rity of the prince and that of the pontiffs: thus
uniting-in-7 the- same hand the sword of justice, the
pastoral crook, and the Royal sceptre. The episco-
pacy; then protected by its privileges, sustained by
its credit, placed by its social situation in a perfect
independence, contended, in some measure, with
equal 'arms with the magistracy; it was allowed to
it to unite in one and the same act all its means, and
to sustain with advantage the attacks against the in
dependence of its character. Then, Sire, it suppli-
cated, it implored the aid of the'SoVereign authority,'
it always addressed it with a-dignity full of respect,
and was alWays listened to with kindness, and often.
with success. At the present day; deprived of its
ancient resources, dispersed without being able to
act easily in concert, bue nevertheless invested with
the same spiritual rights, and responsible for the pre-
judice which its negligence or weakness may occa
sion, it still supplicates; and the voice of its prayers
and its tars will be so much the more poWerful
with the Most Christian King, since 'there' exists uo
longer any pretence of suspecting the Bishops of a
wish to employ other means of prevailing upon him.
" lf, notwithstanding this situation, humble and
respectful, capable of reducing to silence the most
imprudent tongues, there are still foUnd men who
tlare to paint our zeal and urgency in the colours of
revolt, and traduce us before France and. your Ma-
jesty as rebellions subjects; exalting, then, our tut-
, minuted forehead, We- would repel with a just
indiy-
-nation such odioUs calumnies; we would together re-
peat with-confidence those expressions of fidelity
which Our predecessors carried in former times at.
the foot of the throne of your august grandfather, at
the conclusion of . one of those: general assemblies,
the renewal of which is so imperatiVely' called for
by ecclesiastical discipline,- and the 'dearest interests
of religion ; we Would tell You, Sire, that 'in the
midst of the evils which afflict us, your prosperity •
and your glory are the subject of our most tender '
and lively acclamations; that to support and defend
the sacred rights of your crown will always be to us
-the object of a noble and holy jealousy; that the
more anxiously we feel obliged to cherish the liberty
of a ministry which cannot be essentially ravished
from us, the more we think ourselves engaged to set
an example of submission ; that this obligation will
ever serve only to carry to a further extent our obe-
dience, and impart to it the more merit; that ao
person can give us a dispensation of the slightest
duties of a true Frenchman ; and, lastly, that in this
kingdom, where your Majesty is everywhere chc-
ri.s;hed and revered, we know no enemies of him but
those.who charge us with being such, and who omit •
no opportunity of denying our res?ects for him, our
love, and our unshaken fidelity,' "

FOREIGN• INTELLIGENCE.

FRENCH 'PAPERS.

.(Froilfthe Gazette' de France, dated August 20.)

VIENNA, AUG. 9.---The mail from Odessa of
27tli July has arrived here, but brings nothing of
iMpOrtance. It was merely known at Odessa that
great preparations were making in the arniy, partly
to attack in‘front, and partlY to turn. the fortified
camp at Chumla, and that nothing decisive had
taken place since the news from the head-quarters
a fortnight before Letter's from Gallaez addressed
to mercantile houses in this. city, agree in these state-
ments ; and the accounts from:the frontiers announc-
ing-with mud' eon'fidenco a, few days ago that the
aniplatjC;hurnl4 had been stormed by the Rassians,,
turdi out to be premature, . though the persevering
valour at the Russians.,the presence of the EMperor,
and the superior force with which they will attack
this important point, promise them here also brit-
Brut succesS.
Prince Philip, of liessetionfbilig, who is going
to the Russian head-quarters, arrived at Gallaez the
22d July._
- - -

Count Leon Poloski, xvho was to go t►s Russian
Ambassador to Lisbon, 'and who Was on his way
to his destination, has arrived lyre ; but on account
of the late events in Portugal, is induced to wait
for ftirther- instructions.

Li GHORN, AUG. 6.--An Austrian Captain, who
has arrived here in thirty days frOm Alexandria,
reports that at the time of his departure thirty
transports were getting ready in all haste to fetch
the troops of Ibrahim from the Morea, .
PARIS, AUG. 19.—The Prince of Saxe Coburg,
after staying some days at Paris, has set out to re-
turn to Germany.
(From the Journal des Debuts.)
PARIS, AUG. 19.—The Russian army has only
made itelf master of one fortress—brail. The
other towns which fell into its power were unable to
resist ; but if it takes Chumla, it will find little dif-
ficulty from the riefiles of the Balkan. The Turks
will be forced to -retreat rapidly in Thrace, and to
unite under the walls of Constantinople. Bourgas
and Adrianople cannot be defended. From Adrian-
ople aßtissian corps d'armee will be sent to the
Dardanelles, to make itself master of this passage,
arid" facilitate the entrance of Admirals Heyden and
Seniavue in the Propontides. The arrival of this
fleet off Constantinople will render the comMunica--
tion of the Turks with Asia very difficult, and the

supply of the capital almost impossible, and will con tri-
bute to the reduction of the fortresses of the Bospho-
rus, while the fleet from Sebastopol will use all its
exertions to get out of the Black Sea and effect a
junction with the fleet from the Mediterranean.—
Asia Minor, preiised by the army of Gen. Paskewitsch,
will not be in a condition to give much succour to
the Ottonian-ympire, which will only be defended by
despair, and the religious fanaticism of the Maim- :
in dons. The forest of Belgrade, to the north of ,
the Bosphorus, supplies a strong position for an army
desirous of covering this passage and diSturbing the
troops appointed to besiege Constantinople. In that
spot the, fate of Turkey will be decided. Will vic
torious Russia content herself with uniting, ender an
independent Prince Moldavia and Wallachia, With ;
obtaining a pecuniary compensation, and with secur- :
ing the free passage of the Bosphorus and the Dar-
danelles to its ships? The situation of Constanti- I
nople is eminently one for defensive as well as offers-1
sive war. Situated between two vast continents,
this city domineers over both; she preserves Europe,
and commands Asia; the port of Bysance will be
the the seat of a great maritime power; the Black Sea
will carry to it the wood of the North of Europe and
-of the Caucasian mountains, iron, hides, hemp, and
Russian tars. A few years will enable them to con-
struct a sufficient number Of ships of all sizes, pro-
tected against all attacks, and even all danger, by
the closing of the passage of the Dardanelles. The
7-Russian peasants .may be instructed in navigation
and in evolutions in. the Propontides, and in the
Euxine Sea, in order afterwards to sail into the Me-
diterranean, of sach a strength as the Government
shall command. The Emperor is yet young, active,,
and enterprizing, the head of a nation now the most
powerful on earth, and may in a short time rival the
maritime porter of England, and if they should
unite, what will beCome of Europe ? Old enmities
and hatreds. reason wrong. Before such great dan-
gers, envious suspicions must disappear; becanse
.we must attend to the general danger; and assur-
ances of moderation must not lull us to sleep.
.If
only an advantage and reasonable compensation
he sought, they may be obtained ,by negoeiation
at Adrianople. From the centre of this town
laws may be dictated, and very severe laws.
But if nothing stops the Conqueror; if he follows
up his victories, his projects. are evidenthe
'will proceed straight-fOrward to execute the am-
bitious plans of Catherine ; he • will: take no ac-
count of the too well-founded uneasiness of. Europe;
and he will enslave it one day, at no distant period;
the independence of civilized nations is then
threatened ; they may yet defend it ; but they have
no time to lose in uniting and concerting measures,
in. order to make the young Autocrat hear reason.
If he is deaf to its voice, if he force the people of
the West to take up arms, they will know how to
save their dynasties, their wealth, their institutions,
their lands. We hive a more consoling hope. Rus-
sia not despise the council of prudence, and the'
Emperor Nicholas will acquire more pure and more
grand objects by opposing to fears and malignant
imputations a noble denial.. At present the King
'of France gives a memorable example of disinte-
restedness and generous policy. His armies march,
and his fleets sail to deliver Greece. Her treasures
are employed with this glorious object. No ambitious
view whatever disgraces this wise enterprise. Let
its break the fetters of the Eastern Christians—let
us give them a country released by us•---let them be-
long to themselves, so that they may govern . freely
and without restrictions the .eountry of their birth ;
will Russia be less generous to her co-religionists, or
has she taken up arms only to turn them against
more free countries and provinces ?
(From the Couritr Francais.)

TOULON, AUG. 13.7--TUE EXIEDITIGN.—SitIee
yesterday the preparations have been carried on with
double activity; five Regiments of Infantry are em-
barked, and the orders from Paris being pressing,
General Maison has signified his intention Of going
to sea on the 16th, in the morning, without waiting
for the 3d Chasaeuts, who at first received orders to
be at Toulon only by the 18th, but to whom fresh_
orders have been sent to hasten their march as much
as possible. All the sailors and soldiers are glad.
They are not ignorant that they are going into a
country where nothing is to be gut, but the object
of the expedition pleases all the military; The
town is full Of soldiers; there are no lodgings to he
got, and many families are still expected frOm Mar-
seilles to behold the, spectacle. .

M. Febvier, engineer, of Samos, sailed this morn-.
ing, in the Rusebrig of war. General Maison is to.
go in the Me de Marseille, with M. Vollant, and.
the-Chief and Sub-Chief of his Staff, General So-
bestiani is onboard the Amphitrite, with Colonels
Cubieres,:Salperwick, d'lson, and Faudoas. Gene-
ral Ilugonet sails in the Iphignie, with Colonels
Rulhiere, and Laseerne. The first portion will con-
sist of 9,000 men. General Schneider wilt organize
his brigade, which will immediately follow. \Vc
know from our subsequent telegraphic despatches,
that the fleet sailed on the 174 h.
PARIS, AUG. 19.--When the Church is crying
out persecution, it will not be uninteresting to as-
certain what the Catholic religion has cost,the coun-
try since the restoration. The result of such an
examination will probably make the complaints of
that Church more ridiculous than the articles of the
Moniteur. Our statement tire drawn from official
sources. The Budget voted for the Catholic faith,
from 1815 to 1829, amountedin 1815 to 11;380,000,
francs; in 1816, to 10,400,000 francs; in 1817, to
,20,700,000; in 1818, 22,000,000, and so on gra-
dually increasing , till the Budget., for 1829, which
contained for' the Catholic faith a charge of
35,610,000, and making in 15 years the sum total
of 382,600,000_ francs voted-for this faith. We do
not see the necessity of this rapid increase. We
suppose, however, that a great increase in the num-
ber of persons belonging to this faith has tended to
increase the large amount of annual credits. The
Ecclesiastical Militia of France shall no* be com-
pared as it was in 1817, and at present. , •
1817. 1829.-

No. Salaries. No. Salaries.
Central Administration 60,000.. •—• .. 386,000
Cardinals 5 98,250... 5 ... 150,000
_ _ _

. - -
Archbishops.
Bishops

Chapter of St. Denis 22..•175,000... 46 ... 200,000
Vicars General 109 —168,000...174 ... 365,000
Canons 415 ... 6,240...660 .. 1,003,000

Totals 596 .1,670,730 965 3,513,500
Towhichweniust
aild,Cure, &c. 25,333 14,056,937 29,904, 2,748,050

• Thus ten years had added a fifth to the number.of
Catholic Priests in France. In 1517, each Cure had
on an average, 540 f.; and in 1828 each one has
6901. It has increased, therefore, a fifth; while
each member of the aristocratic part of the priest-
hood has-his revenue increased from 2,7801. in 1817,
to 3,690 f., or more than one third. In 1825,
1,796,836 f. were appropriated to preserve power,
Sze. of the Archbishops. In 1817, the article tecours
was 60,000 f.; thiS year it is upwards of one-third of
a million. The bursaries for seminaries, which in
1825 and 1826, amounted to 925,000 f., amount now
to '1';200,000f. without. including the new credit ,of
1,200,0001. granted by a law not included in the
current budget.
FRENCII FUNDS, PARIS, AUG.. 19.—Five per Cents.
1071. 20e. Four per Cents. 991. 25e. Three per Cents.
72f. 60c. ; Bank Stock, 1,670 f.
Fonuun FUNDS.—Neapolitan Rentes, Falc. Cer. 76f.
35c. Royal Spanish Loan, V?. Spanish Perpetual
Annuities, 481. Haytian Loan, 622 f. 50c.