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Leader (1850-1860), 4th February 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20

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      Letter From Italy. (Spkcial.) K The L'Ai...

      in a , number of foolish sneers against the " Ke , # alantuomo , ' winch have nothing to do with the point in question ; repeating- a series of hearsay reports from Roman priests and Swiss officers , and . expressin a general conviction ^ unsupported by any Faces , that there wias very little harm done to things or pel-sons during : the siege , and that what there was , was all the fault of the rebellious townspeople . This letter , which , to any the least , is a foolish mis-statement of facts well established , was communicated , it seems , by the lady ' s husband to some of the Papal authorities , and by them republislied in the official journal . When will my countrymen and countrywomen learn not to disgnu-e our country by taking ' part in matters which do not concern them ; and part too . in favour of absolutist despotism ? Alas ! that the horrors of Perugia should find an English lady for their sole apologist .

      120 The Leader And Saturday< Anah/Sl -.P...

      120 The Leader and Saturday < Anah / sL -. pE * . 4 * 1860-. .

      Italian Evangelicals. {Extract From Priv...

      ITALIAN EVANGELICALS . { Extract from private Correspondence . ) Florence , January 20 , 1860 , MUC H has been said about the harsh treatment which the Evanhelicals have received at the hands of the Tuscan ministry , but in this there has been gross exaggeration . The Government protects and defends religious liberty , whatever may be said to the contrary by foreign journals : the Times in particular has shown itself very ill-informed on this ' point . The same exaggeration and mis-statement have been made respecting the division into two bodies of the small evangelical -. party , and their abandonment by their most , eloquent preacher , Mazzarella . and their titled patron , Count Pieteo GuicciAttiHNi . The Count is collaterally descended

      from the ancient and noble family of that name , whose remote ancestor , Francesco Guicciaiidini , the eminent historian and statesman , was so averse to republicanism , and evinced such strong j ' . ristpcratie tendencies . In 1851 he was summoned before the police , imprisoned , and banished for reading the Scriptures and ; i ' . tending a Protestant place of worship . From that time . until hist summer , though always associating , as far as possible , with Italians whose Views were the same as his own , he was compelled to keep at a distance from his Tuscan friends . His reappearance here was a matter of great rejoicing among us , and lias been , I believe , almost equally acceptable to the Government . From his respectable standing and well-known probity and discretion , they could look to

      him to assist them in moderating any excessive zeal for proselytiem which the dissentients from Catholicism might be supposed likely to manifest . They could also obtain from him any information they wished as to the number ' s and movements of the body . The Count has been accused of npnthy ; of doing more harm than good in Florence ; of not showing the energy and activity which he ouglit in pleading the cause Of the evangelicals with the Government AH this is false : and it is my opinion that it is thanks to the presence and exertions of Count Guicqiardini that the meetings of : the evangelicals have not been totally suspended during these difficult times for the Tuscan rulers . As you are perhaps aware , the Government instructed Oount Guicoiardini to speak to Mazzarella

      and courteously request him to close the place of worship in Barbano temporarily , and see that his friends met elsewhere in as quiet a manner as possible , so as to avoid exciting priestly or po p ular tumult . They represented the serious difficulties by which they were surrounded , and urged upon the evangelicals not to enhance these difficulties . Under these circumstances , the place in Barbano was closed for a time ; ifc was decided that brethren should be sent to preach in different places beyond the city , and a smaller place of worship formerly used , on the other side the Arno , was reopened for worship . This place was immediately filled to overflowing-, though the preacher earnestly entreated that any who believed iu the Pope as their spiritual head would abstain from attending 1 , and confine themselves to the ministration of their own priests , by whom they would be excommunicated for attending * non-catholic service . Indeed , the evangelicals haye never sought to proselytise in tile

      ordinary acceptation of the term . They will not suffer themselves to be called protestants , but simply Christians , and are most anxious to si void giving 1 their fellow countrymen reason to suspect that they it i in at the establishment of a sect or party . They object to those established institutions which place the , Church , and its ministry fir st , and make Cjjiusx aud the Gospel secondary ; , but they hold " out no inducements to any to join them . They only say , If your views are the same as oui : s como with us to the Saviouk . A few days after the closing of the place of meet ing in B . u-bnno some of the brethren , unknown to thereat , thought well to reopen it fox * worship . No doubt , they thought that as Mazzab £ ixa was preaching on tlio other side of the Arno their meetings would attract little attention , and thus be no infringement of the orders conveyed to them by Count Guicciakdini from the Government . This caused a difference of opinion , and lust a collision with the temporal or clerical powers hhotild arise in consequence , Makzaiikl & a thought it better to leave Florence , and is now gone to Genoa .

      Letter From Germany. Iianovku, January 8...

      LETTER FROM GERMANY . IIanovku , January 80 th , 1860 . rpIIE Qukkn ' s speech and the commercial treaty between England JL and Franco have occupied the most prominent place in the columns of the Gorman journals during the lust few days . Tho foniur has mad © no favourable impression , and the latter is considered to bo of little value , either its a proof of the free-trade

      tendencies of the Emperor , or as a guarantee of his peaceful intentions towards the continental States . The closer alliance of England and France renders the isolation and powerlessness of the other three great military nations , Austria , Russia , and Prussia , more apparent ; and the known discontent of the Russian and Prussian courts with the turn of affairs in Italy finds vent , for the first time , in the ministerial Prussian Gazette of last Friday . Great dissatisfaction is expressed with that part of .-the speech referring to the affairs of Italy ; and the English Government is condemned for its active interference , conjointly with France , in the settlement of a question which , without a congress of European powerscould only of right be decided upon by the belligerents .

      , The tone adopted towards Sardinia is altogether different , and the ministerial journal declares its belief that the annexation of all Central Italy is the sole aim of the King of Sardinia . This , however , far from making- him a powerful monarch , will only render him the satellite of the sovereign of France , for that by the cession of Savoy and Nice , Sardinia will be virtually only the second power of Italy . But the Prussian Gazette , or rather the Prussian court , cannot believe that the house of Savoy will abandon for so equivocal a position its hereditary possessions . Although the Prussian cabinet is decidedly alarmed at the prospect of an increase of territory and influence to France by such an annexation , yet it is not to be assumed that the Prussian Government has resolved upon

      any particular Course of action with a view to prevent it . It has been rumoured , and is now tolerably : certain , that the sovereigns of Russia and Germany are highly alarmed at the precarious situation of affairs in Italy , and that they feel a decided sympathy for Austria ; , but before another Holy Alliance can be effected , many discordant elements must be brought into harmony ; nevertheless , it must not be overlooked that , just nowv an alliance- between Germany , Prussia , and Russia iii . favour of Austria would not be unpopular . ^ Under these circumstances it is not-sii . rprisin . ir that rumours exist of a difference of opinion between the Prince Regent and the Minister for Foreign Afftiii-rf . The Kreuz , Zeitiing , too , promises to make some revelations touching- the ;' negotiations . 'between France and Sardinia relative to the abandonment , of'Savoy . .. Ib-is ^ asserted that all had been concluded during the presence of General Daboemida in Paris . ¦' .-.

      According to the Bavarian journals , the Bavarian Government has resolved to oppose the ' . Prussian proposals ¦• concern'ing- the revision of the Federal Military Compact . 'Instructions to'this effeqt have been transmitted from Munich to Frankfort ;^ With the exr ception of Wurtemberg , which appears inclined to accede to the views of . Prussia , this opposition pir ' . the part of . . Bavaria will be supported by . all the other central States . . As tlio refusal of Austria to join .- ' with Prussia upon this question hardly admits of a doubt , the reform of the military constitution " of Germany must proceed from a . totally different point of view to that insisted upon by Prussia ,, or rather we . may now rest satisfied that no reform at all will take place . : . :

      The Austrian journals , as lnight be anticipated , are even more angry with the speech from the throne than the'Prussian . The Ost-deutscJie Post says : We find in the speech of the Queim of England certain comments wortli noticing with reference to the policy of non-intervention . If we . may acuept the journals of France as a guide , we must assume that the principle of non-intervention consists in the resolution not to tolerate the armed interference of any power whatever , be it France , Austria , Sardinia , or Naples , in the affairs of Central Italy . The l £ uglish speech proclaims a totally different theory ; it enunciates an abstention from all military interference by non-Italian nations , which is equivalent to saying that the , armed interference of Sardinia is authorised . Upon the same principle , Naples , which i ,.- * as much tin Italian power us Sardinia , is authorised to march troops into the States of the Church . The logical sequence in , that Austria being- likewise an Italian power , has no less right than Sardinia to . send her troops across the frontiers of Venetia .

      Affairs in Hungary look gloomy : The Pesih-Ofen Gazette publishes an ordinance of the Minister of Education respecting the carrying out of the Imperial edict of 1 st Septeihber , 1859 . Tlio pror testants of Hungary and the Sclavonic provinces are required to proceed without delay , in conformity with the prescriptions of the Edict , tp elect delegates to the Synods of the Evangelical Church . The Minister informs them that obedience to these prescriptions is the only means of preventing 1 disturbances , and that n further continuance in their disloyal opposition to the benevolent intentions of His Ms \ jesty will but tend to bring confusion into the religious and educational establishments of the country . The heads of religious communities aro at the same time informed that they will not be permitted to resign their functions till their successors have boon lee-allv annotated . Those

      who in spito of this injunction refuse to fulfil their functions will not only be deprived of their incomes , but expose thomsolyos to be considered unworthy of the confidence of the Imperial Government , — in other words , they will be watched as traitors . Nothing _ ot particular interest to the outer world has occurred in the Prussian Chambers . The Upper Chamber will persist in its former oppositional course , and the , rejection of the ministerial bill concerning civil rnarringes is considered certain . The 25 th . inst . " being the anniversary of t \\ p marriage of Prinoo FnnfoKiuck WH . JJA . M with the Puinouss RovAp of England , tho Regent gave a grand dinner , and the English Minister , Lord BfcooMiriEiiP , ah evening concert . On the following day , tho Regent guvo u grand evening party , to which all the members of the Parliament were invited . Tho North-western countrios , » a represented by the journals , » ra

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 4, 1860, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04021860/page/20/