THE EXAMINER.

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and plundered, but it has not been held; and vengeance, even in this world, has generally overtaken the sacri- legious spoiler.

On the present occasion it needs only a word from England to stop the invading host. One word spoken with vigour, aud indicating a resolution to act, would be amply sufficient to check Austria in her career of unjust aggression. Will this word be spoken? Lord Palmerston, so valiant against Chinese, and Affghans, and Portuguese, and Greeks, and all kinds of minor Powers that are thought to be powerless—will he speak the one necessary word? Wecannot guess. All Eng- land would support this just and seasonable exhibition of heroism; but we have little hope that England will have an opportunity.

Ifthe Times is to be taken as any exponent of the Ministerial intentions, it is the purpose of the Foreign Office to drive a small traffic with the Pope, before giv- ing any help. What the British Cabinet thinks we are nowhere inforined; but the Z'imes and its correspond- ents, speaking not otherwise than with good feeling, have discovered sundry difficulties of a most extraordi- nary kind. ‘They are thus set forth inso many words :—

“These difficulties, | conceive, are to be found in the following three items :—

“Imprimis. Up to this hour the legitimate title of {Queen Victoria to the throne of Britain, is unrecognised by the Prince-Prelate of Rome.

“2. Up to this hour, the sentence of excommunica- tion and deposition, put forth by the predecessors of Pius LX. against the Queen of England and all her ad- herents, are unrevoked by him.

“3. Up tothis hour, the Bull “In Cena Domini,” put forth by Paul V., whereby our Queen, our Clergy, our nobles, our whole people, (excepting only the Pope’s adherents among them), are excommunicated and ana- thematised for disobedience to the Roman Pontiff, which sentence of anathema is appointed to be renewed afresh every year on Maunday-Thursday, is uncancelled,. un- repudiated by Pius LX,

What can we make of this extraordinary farrago of absurdities? At least we have a threefold answer.

Imprimis. Up to this heur the legitimate title of Queen Victoria has never been denied. But suppose there were outstanding some antiquated denial of the right of some of Victoria’s ancestors—W hat then? For four centuries, down to the reign of George III., the monarchs of these realms, so far from “ recognising the legitimate title” of the Kings of France, assumed this very title into their own style royal. Yet this did not prevent Anne, Queen of Great Britain and of Franee, sending ambassadors and making treaties with Louis King of France; nor did it prevent Charles 11., King of France, receiving pensions from the same Louis whose title he thus officially claimed for himself.

(2.) There has never been—so far as we are aware —any sentence of “excommunication and deposition” that, in its most strained official meaning, can even no- minally be extended to the present Queen. Ifthe Bull of Pope St. Pius V. against Elizabeth is referred to, we beg the diplomatists of the Times to read that document. When they have done so they will discover that it con- tains not one word about Elizabeth’s successors; and that even if it were a revelation from Heaven, its whole earthly force and effect have been exhausted more than two hundred and forty years ago.

(3.) But then the Bull “ In Cena Domini,” put forth by Paul V. against our Queen, &c. &c., which sentence is “appointed to be renewed afresh every year,” and has never been cancelled. We desiderate here a little more accurate knowledge of history. Paul V. occupied the Papal Chair from A. D. 1605 to A. D. 1621. When the Bull was first promulgated historians are not agreed. It is certain that in 1536 Paul III. describes the publi- cation of it on Maunday-Thursday as “ an ancient:cus- tom.” It is certain, also, that in 1510—that is, seven years before Luther commenced his rebellion—it was protested against by the Council of Tours in France. Some writers trace it up to the reign of our Henry V., and some carry it back a century or two further. This Bull then, framed when the English King and nation were both Catholic, contains a general excommunica- tion of heretics, and those who favour them, of the rea- ders of heretical books, of pirates, forgers, and cther classes of evil-doers. It has no more special reference to England, than it has to the Grand Turk, or the Em- peror of Russia, or the King of Prussia, or the King of Hanover; none of whom, however, find any diplomatic difficulty in the contents of this famous Bull. The Times should also be informed that in the year 1770 the pub- lication of it was formally suspended by Pope Clement XIV., and has never been renewed. According to the Times, therefore, it would seem that a grand obstacle to diplomatic connection with Rome Is a Bull, which from the battle of Agincourt down to the siege of Ben- der, was regularly published every year, but which, for the last seventy-seven years, has never reared its head “in public view.

AID TO THE POPE!

The most important intelligence of the day is from Turin. We give it in the words of the Paris corres- ‘pondent of the Times :—

“ Letters from Turin, of the 22d inst., announce that

the King of Sardinia had formaily protested against the

occupation of Ferrara, and forwarded copies of that pro- test to all the Courts of Europe. Charles Aldert had, moreover, written to the Pope, offering to place at his disposal both his army and navy, should the indepen- dence of the Pontifical dominions be menaced by the Austrian troops. It was expected that the protest would appear on the following day in the Piedmontese Gazette, and the inhabitants of ‘Turin were preparing a genera! illumination to celebrate the event. SYMPATHY WITH THE POPE—A EUROPEAN PROTEST.

The following is from the Semaphore de Marseilles, in’ reference to the news from Rome of the 18th :—

“ The treaties, the law of nations, the respect and re- gard due to the holiest of men (says the correspondent of the Semaphore), have been trampled under foot by)

those pretended defenders of the throne and religion—|

the charter permits. Will it be believed that the Char- ter of 1880 contains an article which prohibits the arrest ofa Peer of France on any criminal charge, even if caught in the fact, unless by an order of the Court of Peers? He is, however, actually in custody. Two police officers are perpetually with him, and never lose sight of him. They remained in his bedchamber last night.

“In my hurry yesterday I omitted mentioning that a gardien (private watchman), had the nightly charge of the rear of the hotel (on the Champs Elysees), whose usual hour for retiring was six o’clock. This circum- stance remains unexplained tous as yet. It enabled

the murderer to get rid of the weapon with which he

committed the slaughter, for it has not been found. “It is not necessary that | proceed to narrate facts

the Austrians. Military possession of Ferrara was ta-|published in the newspapers on the subject. I shall ken on the 13th in the most brutal manner. The Legate therefore conclude my own portion of the task with one vainly protested against that act of violence worthy of observation— namely, that this crime, no matter by another age, and vainly requested the Austrian com-| whom committed—-strikes a deathblow to the privileges mander, when he found all resistance impossible, to/ ofthe peerage, already shaken to their foundation by the postpone until the next morning the execution of his/ proceedings against M. Teste. It is impossible, that in project. Inthe broad noonday those barbarous hordes|the present temper of the public wind any privileges invaded the town, and compelled the Pontifical garri-| will be continued to the members: of either House of

son to surrender the different posts into their hands. 'l'o) crown their insolence, they sent a guard of honour to) the Cardinal Legate, who immediately abandoned the’ Government house, and removed to the Bishop’s resi- dence. On receipt of this intelligence at Rome, a coun- cil of Cardinals was assembled, and, if we are to credit the reports in circulation, the Holy Father, moved by the signal insult thus offered to him, declared that he would protest; and, that ifa new protest was disregard- ed, he would decree a sentence of excommunication against the invaders ; end, that if that measure did not avail, he would hoist the /abarum and march against the

Legislature.

“The following are the articles of the Charter which porhibited the actual arrest of the Duke of Praslin:—

** Art. 34. No Peer of France can be arrested except by permission of the Chamber, and must likewise be tried by his peers for a criminal offence.’

** Art. 25. No member of the Chamber of Deputies can be prosecuted or arrested during the session, except when taken in the fact, unless the Chamber shall have authorised his prosecution.”

Galignant says:—‘We mentioned yesterday the murder of this lady, who was the mother of nine chil-

Austrians at the head of his people. You may rest/dren,the only daughter of Marshal Sebastiani, and niece certain, that in the present state of the public mind in'of Lieutenant-General Tiburace Sebastiani and the the Pontifical dominions, and in all Italy, the day the) Duke de Coigny. ‘The details of this lamentable event, Pope shall unfurl the Standard of the Cross against the | which took place at the hotel of Marshel Sebastiani, in Northern oppressors, 25,000,000 of men will follow him.'the Rue de Faubourg St. Honore, 55, near the British Austria is very imprudent in driving the Pope to that| Embassy, are various in many respects, but all the ac- extremity ‘counts concur in stating that the Duchess, who arrived

“Since the last events of Rome, the Sacred College only on Tuesday evening from the country, had retired is animated with better sentiments, and is determined to bed at her usual hour; but very early in the morning to support the Pope. This change will disappoint Aus-|the bell of her bedroom rang, and a servant rose and

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tria, as did the discovery of the horrid macchination on the point of exploding, and at the very moment she was: about to reap its sanguinary fruit. But Providence, who watched over Rome during the last year, will again cover it with her egis. We have been assured that English ships will shortly appear in the Adriatic, and that an order to that effect has been forwarded to the British Admiral from Ancona. We trust -that the French flag will not-suffer itself to be anticipated in the defence of the Sovereign Pontiff. M. Guisoet openly) proclaimed it in his last speech, and we rely on his) word.”

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MURDER OF THE DUCHESS OF PRASLIN.

On Wednesday morning all Paris was (to use a Par- isian exaggeration) paralysed by the discovery that the Duchess of Praslin, daughter of Marshal Sebastiani, had been murdered in the night, and was found dead in her' bed on that morning, having only returned to Paris from) the country onthe previous day. Inthe course of Wed-. nesday the tragedy assumed a yet more appalling as-| pect. The Times’ correspondent, writing at four o’clock on Thursday, says :-—

“So early as eight o’clock yesterday morning the ru- mour was generai that the Duke of Praslin was the murderer of his wife. The report originated in some} expressions of those of the servants who ran out to give)

the alarm and seek surgical aid forthe victim. Im-

went to the room, but could not enter, it being bolted in the inside. ‘The door was forced open, and the Du- chess was found welterivg in her blood from several stabs, not quite dead, but utterly unable to give any ac- count of the murderer. She expired soon afterwards.

As no robbery had been committed,it was evident that the act was one of private vengeance, but suspicion could not be fixed on any particular person, as the ami- able character ofthe Duchess did not permit her to have a known eneniy.

“The late Duchess had not yet reached her 42nd year. She was alike remarkable for her elegance of manners and the superiority of her education; and, in addition to being an excellent mother, was distinguish- ed for her active and extensive benevolence.” She is well remembered in London as having done the honours at the French Embassy when her Father was Minister here.

SUICIDE OF THE DUKE DE PRASLIN.

The Duke de Praslin died at five o’clock on Tues- day last, of poison. ‘The event was announced in the Moniteur Parisien of Tuesday night. The following are the terms in which the .Vational notices this antici- pated denouement of one of the most tragical affairs of modern times :

“NaruraL Dearu or THE Duke DE PRasiin.—

}We had foreseen this conclusion, and we had been pre-

mediately on the arrival of the authorities (the Prefect pared for it two dayssince. Nevertheless, it appears to Police, the Procureur du Rio, the Procureur-General, us, that the event ought to-have occurred a Jittle soon- and several other magistrates), the hotel was closed,/er or alittle later. ‘I'he Duke de Praslin died to-day and egress from it prevented by a posse of police agents (Tuesday) in his bed in the prison of the Luxembourg,

placed at all the doors. A rigid investigation, it will) easily be believed, was then commenced, in the course of which matter transpired which induced the magis- trates to place the Duke under arrest, so far as the Char- ter permits. Among other things, it was discovered that a liason was said to have existed between the Duke and the English governess of his children, and that in consequences of certain scenes to which the disccvery or knowladge of that fact by the Duchess gave rise, she was dismissed, and took up her residence in the quarter of Paris called the Marais. Thither police agents were sent yesterday forenoon, with orders to take her into custody, but she was notto be found. Her papers were, seized and delivered into the hands of the Procureur du Roi.

“Jn the interim, and, indeed, up to this moment (four o’clock, Thursday), the investigation was prosecuted with an assiduity and a perseverence seldom equalled. Blood is said to have been found in the Duke’s room; biood on his person, too, but that is accounted for by me? precipitate embrace of the body of his murdered wife.

“ Suspicion, however, was first excited by the evidence of the servants, who stated, that fora long while the Duke and Duchess lived separate altho’ under the same roof, and that violent scenes had occurred between them (‘respecting the English governess, it is said). The magistrates felt obliged, therefore, to order the Duke to be placed in custody, so far (as I have already said) as

and the following are the terms in which the official evening journal announces the fact :—

“¢M, de Praslin died to day about five o’clock in the prison of the Luxembourg. ‘The cause of his death has been ascertained and accounted for by men of science. It was with arsenic, taken in a large dose, that the Duke de Praslin poisoned himself, at the moment when he saw that the charges had become so serious as to ren- der necessary his arrest and trial. The copious vomit- ings which he experienced on Wednesday afternoon, and during the day of Thursday, appeared alone to have retarded the effect of the poison, which, after having ceased on Friday and Saturday, resumed its entire force on Sunday.’”

The .Vationel proceeds at great length to dwell upon the unsatisfactory nature of this report.

The .Nationel then ascribes to the moral atmosphere, or, rather, the immoral atmosphere, with which the Duke was surrounded, these awful crimes—denies the possibility of his committing suicide unpermitted, and repeats charges against the grote, carveces of the noblesse and the complicity of the Ministry.

Tue Feverin tHE Norta.—Our readers are already aware of the extent of the fever in the Manchester Union, but large as the number of cases undoubtedly is, there can be oe doubt that, but for the great —— of the board of gardians to procure ¢ the searching inquiries by the police and union officers,

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