734
THE TABLET. [Saturday, December io, 1S70.
tion to respect ancl defend the Pope’s freedom and independence, and to take care that adequate provision shall be forthcoming for the due support of his dignity. I have, &c. (Signed) W. E. Gladstone.— E. Dease, Esq., M.P., &c. &c. This letter might as well have been written by the Premier o f the Cabinet o f Florence as by the Premier o f the British Government. L ike Mr. Gladstone, the Italian Government professes to be solicitous for the “ adequate support o f the dignity o f the Pope,” for “ his personal freedom,” his “ independence in the discharge o f his spiritual functions,” and “ the protection of the person of the Sovereign Pontiff.” And,
like the Italian Government, Mr. Gladstone seems to be blind to the scandal and the crime o f a public breach of plighted faith and o f international Treaty— the Pope being the victim o f it— and to the flagrant violation o f all law against which the Catholic millions in these countries and throughout Europe and America are publicly protesting. His marked silence would seem to indicate approval. A fortnight ago his Cabinet was prepared to lead us, though totally unprepared, to war with Russia rather than sanction “ the entire destruction o f Treaties in th e ir essence” by the Czar, and their agent, Mr. Odo Russell, is reported to ‘‘ have given “ Count Bismark to understand from the outset that it was “ not upon the Eastern Question, nor that of the Black Sea “ fleetand fortresses, nor the guarantee o fTurkey’s existence “ and integrity, that England would fight Russia, but upon “ the arbitrary breach o f Treaty and the modus operandi “ adopted by the Imperial Government.” Yet Mr. Gladstone has not even one word o f disapproval for the conduct o f Italy, but seems to endorse it by his silence- What are we to believe ? What course will the Catholic millions o f these realms be forced into adopting? We trust that the Premier, who has hitherto received the generous support o f Catholics, will not leave us long in suspense. It is open to him to remove the uneasiness which his silence as to the conduct o f Italy has excited in the minds o f Catholics. His silence has been already interpreted in a sense favourable to that conduct, not only in England and Ireland, but also in Italy.
t h e a d - Two candidates have presented themselves d r e s s e s o f to the electors o f Co. Meath for the place t h e c a n d i - vacated by the death o f Mr. Corbally; the Hon.
George Plunkett, brother of Lord Fingall, a member o f one o f the most Catholic and in
fluential noble families in Ireland, and Mr. Palles, a Queen’s Counsel and a most distinguished young barrister. Both o f these candidates pledge themselves to work for the establishment o f Denominational Education in Ireland. And Mr. Palles advocates the endowment o f the Catholic University. This shows what are the feelings o f the higher class of Catholics in Ireland upon the question o f religious education. But still more important to the Government must be the consideration that a pledge to advocate the Temporal authority and independence o f the Pope is becoming a necessary condition in Ireland for obtaining a seat in Parliament. Every candidate addressing, for the future, Catholic constituencies in Ireland will be obliged to follow the example given in Meath. The gréât meeting in Dublin, which we reported last week, is not only producing its effect, but it is also the indication and measure of determination o f the Catholic people o f Ireland, not to support any Government that will make itself, either by friendship or by connivance, the accompliceof the public usurpation andsacrileges perpetrated under Italian rule. Fr Burke no doubt spoke the mind, not only of the meeting in Dublin, but o f the people of Ireland when he said last week :—
Ireland has spoken her mind and her determination clearl universally, and emphatically, and it is this— We will not alio Victor Emmanuel to keep Rome and to oppress the Hoi Father. We can and will make th is a question f o r the hasting and from the hustings i t may pass to the Cabinet. It may l>' come worth the consideration of our governors to secure by great act of international justice and equity the enthusiast loyalty of the Catholics of Ireland. Events are looming befoi us, and great questions starting up, the solution of which ms strain every sinew of England’s power. The day is fast a] proaching when her very existence may depend on the attituc of Irishmen at home and abroad. If ever there was a momci when it was important and imperative to conciliate Ireland an the Irish race, to inspire them with some feeling of esteem an affection for the Government under which they live, to give the; some tangible argument in support of the principle of loyalt that moment is the present ; for who can tell what lightnirq may be hid in the thick clouds that havfc gathered on the pol fical horizon ? Is it not more than probable that England ma be forced, and that very soon, to withdraw from this counti every one of her soldiers, and send them to some new Seba topol ? If ever there was an act by which England could gai
the very heart’s core of Ireland’s affection, that act is the restoration to his just rights of the Head of the Catholic Church. I verily believe that if William Pitt were at the helm of the State to-day the world would see an English fleet in the waters of Civith Vecchia, and hear English cannon thundering in the cause of justice beneath the walls of Rome.
We would implore the Government to pause IN before it commits itself to complicity with the
Italian aggression, and to sympathy with
what are called “ the national aspirations o f Italy.” Our letters from Ireland are very unmistakable in the policy they point to. A person in high social and political position writes to us :— “ I do not think that Ministers at all realize their “ position in Ireland. Up to the present moment they have “ had the support o f the Catholic party, strong and united ; “ but if they approve o f the Italian misdeeds they will lose “ it. Nothing would be easier than to create almost in“ superable difficulties for them, as for instance, by going in “ strongly for Federalism. Hitherto the Bishops and all “ moderate men have deprecated this course. But it is a “ weapon which may be used, i f the Government (and I “ hope they will not) support the enemies o f the Holy Father. “ This is a question upon which I, and I believe every other “ Irishman, will stand no nonsense.” I f the Government does not intend to commit itself to the Italian cause, i f it has really any pretention to protect the public sanctity o f treaties in Europe, it need initiate no new policy, it need tremble upon no charge o f Popery before the supreme tribunal o f the House o f Commons; it has but to take its stand upon the sanctions to which England became a party at the Treaties o f Vienna and o f Paris, and upon the policy which was pursued by Pitt and Grenville, and Castlereagh, and even by Brougham and Palmerston. T o proclaim a policy favourable to Italy is to proclaim a policy o f revolution at home as well as abroad.
1. The Italian Bishops forbidden by the
p r o o f s o f a Government to go to Rome for the canoniza*' in rome 1H P °n- 2- Signor Reali’s circular ( riservatis-
s in ia ) to the Judicial Authorities (Aug. 15,
1870) informing them that Bishops and Parish Priests would be liable to the bagatelle of a fine o f 3000 lire and three years imprisonment for enforcing the constitution on Papal Infallibility. 3. Seizure o f the Bishop o f Bergamo’s Pastoral (Nov.) 4. Seizure o f the translation o f the Bishop of Mayence’s Pastoral in Rome (Nov.) 5. Seizure o f the Bishop o f Verona’s Pastoral in behalf o f the Pope, (Nov.) 6. Confiscation o f all the journals that published the Pope’s Encyclical, (Nov.) This last act was done in obedience to a formal decision come to at a meeting o f the Italian Cabinet. Yet the Italian Government, as well as Mr. Gladstone, profess to desire that the Pope and the Church should be entirely free. 7. The Pope in Rome is less free than any one ofhis spiritual subjects in F.ngland. H e is now subject to the Government in the matter o f popular and higher education.
The confiscated number o f the Opinione o f THE „ Florence, which is one o f the semi-official on' papal organs die Government, contained these l i b e r t y , memorable words and this powerful argument
in favour o f the perfect liberty o f the Sovereign
Pontiff:— “ We publish the Encyclical o f the Holy Father in “ order to prove to the U n it a Caitolica that the Pope is “ entirely free in his acts, and that his pretended captivity is “ but a mean parade. It was not necessary to have had this “ document printed at Geneva. It would have been “ enough to have given it to any Italian journal, which “ would have published it at its ease, just as we are doing.,r Yet, in spite o f the argument, the Opinione, like all the other papers that published it, was seized. Well may the Correspondance de Geneve add : Fere defecerunt scrutantcs scrutationes.
Congress has opened, and President Grant’s
u n i t e d message was delivered on Monday. The telesi a i l s . graphic summary obtained by the Times is a great feature in the week's topics. It is, however, but a summary, and any comments founded on, or conclusions drawn from it, are liable to be modified by the appearance o f the full text. Judged by it the tone o f the message is lugubrious, and not very reassuring as to thè security o f our friendly relations. The slow progress o f the negotiations for a settlement o f the Alabama claims, which the President recommends to be brought up by the American Government, the conduct o f the Canadian Dominion in respect o f certain fisheries, and the closing o f the St. Lawrence River to American trade, are the matters about which the Message is made to express itself querulously as regards England.
