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or disapprobation are forbidden in the sittings of the Legislative Body . The proclamations of the President , adiourning , > rbroguing , or dissolving the Legislative Body are to be read in public sitting , all other business being suspended , and the members are immediately afterwards to separate . Strict rules are laid down for maintaining the authority of the President of the Legislative Body over the' members , arid the decree concludes with an article promising both the Senate and the Legislative Body the services of a military guard , who will render their respective Presidents due military honours " when proceeding to their sittings . M . Henon , the Socialist candidate , has been finally elected at Lyons . The correspondent of the Daily News reports a recent visit of Lord Cowley , accompanied by the Belgian ilinister , to M . Turgot , the Mi * nister of Foreign Amurs in France .
« The object of this diplomatic interview seems to hare been twofold . In the first place , explanations were demanded , with regard to the attitude and intentions of France towards Belgium ^ and , secondly , with regard to the reported design of effecting a change in the government ^ as it was said that preparations were making , not only for holding a . vast review , but actually for proclaiming the empire on the 5 th of May , anniversary of the Emperor ' s death . On the first point the answers of . Count Turgot were considered satisfactory , The Minister of Foreign Affairs repeatedonce more the same assurances of a pacific policy , which the government of Louis Napoleon has not
ceased to avow since the coup $ itai of December . As to the other subject of demand . Count Turgot was more reserved . He said that France was the only proper judge of what government suited her best ; that the President had reserved to himsetf the right of appealing to the nation on questions touching changes in the form of government ; and that experience had proved that such appeals would be answered by the universal assent of France . That tribunal was the only one to which the Prince was responsible on such matters , and the government could not admit the pretensions of any foreign power to meddle with such questions . Such is the outline given of the result of this conference . "
The King of Wurtemberg , a couple of years ago , referring in his speech to the plan of raising the King of Prussia to a sort of protectorship over German states , used expressions so offensive that Prussia at once brokeoff all diplomatic relations . Now , at length , an ambassador from Wurtemberg , M . von Linden , has arrived at Berlin . This tends to remove some apprehension , entertained by Prussia , that Wurtemberg which is more under Austrian influence than even Bavaria , might assume a hostile position at the Zollverein ' s conference . The semi-official Oest . Correspondent has a very indignant article on the non-invitation of Austria \ o the approaching Customs Congress at Berlin . It gives its readers to understand that a demand for admission will be presented in one of the first sittings .
The chambers have just been opened in wurtemberg , Nassau , and Oldenburg . The chief business in all these assemblies is to revise the constitutions , with a view to cancelling all clauses that guarantee popular rights , or enable the popular will in any way to influence affairs of state . The governments of the three states named have strong majorities , as everywhere else . in Germany . A letter from Constantinople , from a well-informed party , writing on the 3 rd inst ., says that Austria was reported to have demanded from the Porto a cession of territory , as indemnification for injury sustained through the assistance given to the Hungarians during the late war . —Daily News .
There was an extremely agitated sitting of the Chamber of Deputies at Turin on the 18 th inst . Interpellations on the measures taken by Government to suppress the late insurrection in the Island of Sardinia , were addressed to Ministers , and defended by them as perfectly constitutional , and in accordance with the precedent of Genoa in 1849 . A hostile resolution proposed by the Opposition was rejected by a largo majority . " On Tuesday afternoon , " says the Koman correspondent of the Daily News , in a letter dated tho 12 th inat ., " his Holiness was indulging in a drive beyond tho city walls , and had loft tho precincts of tho Vatican by tho Porta Angelica , when , tempted by the beauty of the day , ho ordered his oortSge to halt , and alighted to walk , followed by his major domo and two dismounted noble guards . In vici
me nity of the Milvian Bridge , close to tho ostona which tempts tho Romans so frequently to saunter out and imbibe a flask of Orvieto wine , a person in tho garb of a priest observed tho" papal oquipngo , arid was suddenly Bowed with an irresistible impulse to approach tho person of his sovoroign j whioh ho did in so rapid and unceremonious ft manner that Pio Nono was alarmed , and the noblo guards considered it to be their duty to collar the intruder , and prevent his actuall y throwing himself at tho feet of tho Pope , irritated by this opposition , tho priest insisted in a loud voice upon being allowed to carry out hia intention , and proceeded to give utteranco to moot unorthodox assertions respecting the equality of priests , and of the human race xi general , winding up his diatribe by shouting at tho top of his lungs to tho reluctant ears of tjho retreating Pope , that ho was sorry to see the Vioar of Christ surrounded by such a herd of knaves and scoundrels , Imagine the effect
produced by these awful and fearless denunciations . When his Holiness had got out of his unceremonious visitor ' s immediate neighbourhood ^ he gave orders-that he should be released from the gripe of his captors , but strictly kept in sight ; by two gendarmes , and his dwelling and avocations ascertained , in order that a report of the whole affair might be drawn up for Cardinal Antonelli ' s perusal . This was done , and the unasked and unwelcome adviser of his Holiness turned out tobe a-Dalmatian-. of known eccentric habits , who hadprobably felt more eccentric than ever on the day in question / from the discussion of a couple of flasks of the before-mieritioned Orvieto wine , in the potation of which he was disturbed b y Pio Nono ' s arrival . His subsequent attack on the Pope ' s advisers may therefore be t tins
explained on the principle , » mna verttas ^ However may be , he iB now paying the penalty of his temerity by a penitentiary sojourn in prison . It is said that not very long since a plan was submitted by the French to the Roman government for establishing a commercial league of southernItaly in connexion with France . As nothing further has transpired on the subject , it is to be presumed that it has been abandoned . Austrian and French influence rule the whole peninsula . The railway of central Italy owes its birth entirely to Austrian counsels , and Will place Modena , Parma , and Tuscany in immediate connexion with the Imperial States of Upper Italy . Electric telegraphs have been established between all these countries , and political circumstances make them dependent on the protectorate of Austria . At Florence , the Constituzionale has been suspended for
a month , ifor containing a correspondence from JNapies , m which some of the acts of that government are ^ censured . It is a matter of astonishment that that journal is not confiscated for its very name , which is in itself an anomaly under the present state of Tuscan government . At Genoa , a curious scene occurred at one of the churehes , which exemplifies the feeling of the population . A Mar in preaching alludedj amongst other matters * to the rights of the HolyPontiff on earth , and to the ignominious treatment he had experienced in being opposed , in these matters . The audience , who considered this language as a denouncement of the acts of the Piedniontese government with regard to the Siccardi Laws and the Church differences with Some , immediately burst out into exclamations of disapproval , and by then * hisses obliged the preacher to terminate his lecture .
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THE SOCIETY OF THE FRIENDS OF ITALY . The Hall of the Freemason ' s Tavern is well known to Londoners . It has been the scene of many gatherings for public purposes , and is famous in the annals of public agitation . It is a noble oblong room ; lofty , and well-proportioned . Portraits p ^ f royal and noble Grand Masters of the world-wide Order of Freemasons cover the walls ; behind the seat appropriated to the chairman is a statue of the Duke of Sussex j and the ceiling , blue and gold , glitters with stars and masonic emblems . Since the Revolution of 1848 new and strange gatherings have occasionally met there—the friends of the continental refugees ; and on "Wednesday the Friends of Italy held their second meeting , which they call a Conversazione , to listen to a lecture from Mr . George Dawson , M . A . ; and to explanatory statements respecting Italy from M . Mazzini . The room was well filled , and there were many foreigners among the audience . Professor Newman took the chair , and intimated that the course of proceeding would , first , be the delivery of a lecture , and next a colloquial discussion ; M . Mazzini having expressed his willingness to answer all questions that might bo put to him upon points rising out of the lecture . Mr . G . DawBon ( as the lecturer on the occasion ) then came forward , and was received with loud cheers . His address , which was lengthy , was marked by his usual ingenious discursiveness and artistic quaintness . He commenced by a defence of human weaknesses and human superstitions .
" Tho world , bethought , was becoming too cold-bloodedly enlightened ; and ho longed for a re-action to a faith in some of those emotions which Manchester docided to bo follies . One of the so-called follies now being denounced , but which ho desired to bo encouraged , was " nationality , " and another was " raco . " Ho believed in tho cravings of nations after nationalities , and he could not deny tho antipathies and incongruities of " races . " Cosmopolitanism was a good thing ; Dut to real cosmopolitanism nationality was necessary . Vienna treaties compelled the marriages of those whom God had forbidden man to put togothor ; and until those false alliances were divorced , and difforcnt peoples had drawn themselves off into it mig ht bo sulky { eolations , there could bo no shaking of hands across natu . xhc
rffl frontiers of rivers ,, mountains , and languages , Italians , of ono soil , ono language , and one blood , had hopos of nationality ; and ho , for ono , admired thorn for tho hoj > o JIo saw nothing unreal in Italian nationality , and nothing delusive in Italian unity . No doubt this all meant" an Italian republic , but ho would not shrink from tho phrase . In ordinary English society it was almost bettor to confess to atheism than to a toleration for republicanism . ' But > Italy could bo nothing but a republic . It was a dismal experiment—that of selecting a king ; and generally a dead failure . Besides , all tho glorios and traditions of Italy were republican j all her disgraces and disasters sprung from hor monarchies . Ho had a groat rospoot for tho Gorman people ; but it appeared to him that an Austrian blue eyd " in Italy looked as ugly and unnatural as tho engrafting ot a tropical fruit on a gooseberry bush . There was a "tneBS in things not to bo overlooked . An Englishman looked graceful enough in hia own country , but not , provorbwUy ,
out of England . He saw no failings in what were called the extravagancies of Italian politics . Periods of passion could he interpreted only in a passionate language that would read bombastic in tamer eras . It was just the same with nations as with individuals . Who dare go back to his love letters , or who did go back and not confess that he had once been an arrant ass ? England Had had her passionate ; epochs , which were also , let it be remembered , her most powerful epochs , and had done extravagant deeds , and outspoken extravagant thoughts . In the extravagance was the greatness ; and so with Italy- —he had h « pes of her because the great questions of Italians had found their utterance in a language suitable because wild and strange .
The sympathies of Englishmen with such questions , cravings after freedom , were natural ; and , to his mind , England had a duty to perform in aiding Italy . 3 Te utterly and heartily despised the snifflingnon-interventioa doctrines that were current . He could hot understand why that should be a policy with a nation which would be regarded as a meanness as a rule for the conduct of an individual . If he , living at No . 1 , were informed that at N " q . 2 a bully was thrashing the family , he would not lie thought well of to send word that he was doing pretty comfortable at No . 1 . That was the non-intervention policy . Italy was getting bullied ; and our foreign policy was to announce that we were doing a good stroke of trade , and hoped
everybody would go and do likewise . If suet a policy was Christianity he would prefer infidelity . He was not for war ; but he was for righteousness as well as for peace . There was cowardice in England now , and England knew it . The news of the day told them that a Belgian attorneygeneral had quoted Lord John Russell and Lord Derby against the freedom of the press in the course of a pro ceeding against somebody for saying something not pleasant to Louis Napoleon . Why hadXord Derby and Lord J . Russell attacked the English press P Confessedly because they quaked lest the press should vex the fellow over the water . Was this British ? If it was , he blushed for it . We had lost the pluck of standing by principles , and
leaving consequences to take care of themselves . But then , after all , he was for the non-intervention theory . By all means . But let there be no propaganda , or let there be two propagandas . Let Russia stop , or let England go on . Let despotism refrain , or loose democracy to "balance it . Meanwhile , until honester theories came round , the duty of Englishnien , not seeking a monopoly of liberty , was to aid foreign liberals in England . There Was a nasty talk turning up every now and then _ about foreign refugees . Well , let the government try it on . No government would ever be permitted to touch one of them . ( The meeting Italiaui
here cheered most enthusiastically . ) The question was an English question too . Who helped to make Italy free , helped to make conscience free throughout the world . In ^ ime , this would be understood ; and a society like this would work miracles in moulding public opinion . ; > It was quite possible to recreate John Bull—to put size into his voice , muscle into his arm , colour into his cheek , and human sympathies , weaknesses , and superstitions back into his heart ; and when he was himself again they would hear something of the honour , the morality , the Christianity , and even the expediency of * intervention / or , what would be the same thing , real and impartial non-intervention . "
The Chaibman then said that M . MazzJni would reply to any interrogatories that might be addressed to him . He ( the chairman ) would take advantage of the position he occupied to put a first question . He wished to know , and the answer would be most important , how Italians , in the event of future successful revolutions , proposed to deal with the papacy ? It was a problem , the solution of which was not very clear ; for in England it was concluded that Italians had too much respect for the religious attributes of the papacy to exterminate altogether the system of Roman Catholicism .
M . Mazzini ( who was very warmly greeted on rising , and who offered his apologies for his imperfect mastory of the English language—apologies which his complete command of our tongue rendered unneces sary ) said- — " The question is a momentous one ; I don't know whether , in putting tho question , Mr . Nowman is suggesting that tho papacy is still a strong power in Italy , and that we would have many difficulties to conquer in tho enter * priso of dealing with tho papacy . I said plainly , when X spoko to you last , that tho papacy was a corpse . I repeat it—tho papacy ie a corpse . Observe , I am not speaking merely individual opinion ; I am stating tho national
consciousness of a fact . Long before 1849 , when tho papacy was obliged to run away , no man hold up a fingor to recal it—so long ago as 1831 there was a general insurrectionary movement in tho Roman States . That movement was managed by a man of what is wrongly in Ital y culled tho modorato party : wrongly called because , rightly understood , wo are all moderate mon ; and in this cose tho moderate party moant mon who would reach an aim without fighting for it . Tho movement I refer to was triumphant in a week ' s time . It ran through tho Roman States and reached Homo itself . The modoruto party , not at all directing tho revolution , was obliged to manage- tho revolution : and it issued a decree , a single decree , tho whole
history of tho revolution of 1881 . And that dtforoe was ono abolishing tho temporal powor of tho Popo , and « ontoncing the papacy to a limitiftion to ita strictly spiritual sphere That aocreo found not a einglo opponent throughout tho Roman States . Thbro wore mon , then , who said that this was an exporimont which had never boon tried , that it was rash , and that this novelty would provoke a counter revolution from tho people . Vot not a singlo hand was raised to rOBist tho dooreo . You know tho result : that revolution was put down as uaual by * foroign , tho Austrian , intervention . But tho foot remained , and had been recorded s that if an insurrootionarjr powor could become powerful enough , and could wcftp «
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¦ MAftCg 27 , 1852 . ] THE : ¦ L EAPf ' ft . , ' ; 28 &
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Leader (1850-1860), March 27, 1852, page 289, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1928/page/5/
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