Gross 11. Nov. 1862. in any portion of the Holy See, however small and limited, with freedom and No. 513. independence, it was his duty to assert the temporal rights of the Church by britannien, remaining in it, until violently driven away by the enemies of religion. Now your Lordship, animated by a friendly feeling to both parties, suggested that the Pope should retire from the conflict, and expect in tranquillity the issue which, in the order of Providence, might await the Papacy and determine the fate of Italy. But the abandonment of Rome, so long as its possession was guaranteed by France, would be tantamount to that very abdication of temporal rights which the conscientious feelings of duty of the Sovereign Pontiff for ever precluded. If the Pope left Rome the Emperor of the French would naturally recall his troops to France, and Rome would be invaded by the enemies of the Church; a contingency towards which the Pope in his conscience could never contribute by any voluntary act of his own, so long as he could there freely exercise the spiritual and temporal duties of his high office. ¶ On the other hand, should it ever so please Providence, in the course of events, to allow the French protecting forces to be withdrawn, and the Piedmontese to invade Rome, and should the free exercise of the Pontiff's spiritual duties thereby be endangered, then, and not till then, would it become the Pope's paramount duty to seek protection for the independence of the Church in some foreign land, and the generous offers of hospitality now made by Her Majesty's Government might be gratefully accepted. Cardinal Antonelli then requested me to thank your Lordship in the warmest terms for the communication I had made to him, and asked me for a copy of your despatch, which he said he would submit to the Pope. &c. To Earl Russell, London. Odo Russell. No. 514. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Mr. Odo Russell in Rom an den königl. Min. d. Ausw. Weiterer Bericht über die englischen Vorschläge in Betreff der rö Gross 28. Nov. 1862. [Extract.] With reference to your Lordship's despatch of the 25th of No. 514. October, and to my reply of the 11th of November, I have the honour to state britannien, that I asked Cardinal Antonelli this morning whether he had submitted to the Pope the reasons for which your Lordship thought that it would become His Holiness to retire from the present conflict, and expect in tranquillity the issue which, in the order of Providence, might await the Papacy, and determine the fate of Italy; and I further inquired how His Holiness had taken the offers of hospitality made to him in consequence by Her Majesty's Government. ¶ Cardinal Antonelli replied that he had communicated your Lordship's despatch to the Pope the day after I had given him a copy of it, namely, on the 12th of November, and that His Holiness had fully acknowledged the friendly spirit in Gross 28. Nov. No. 514. which that communication had been made; but that, since it was his manifest britannien, duty to remain in Rome so long as he could do so with advantage to the spiritual interests of the Church, he could but thank Her Majesty's Government for their intentions, but he could not share their opinions, nor could he avail himself of their hospitable offers at present. Odo Russell. 1862. To Earl Russell, London. No. 515. No. 515. Gross 29. Januar 1863. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Min. d. Ausw. an den königlichen Botschafter in Pa- ris. My Lord, Foreign Office, January 29, 1863. There is in the volume called „Documents Diplomatibritannien, ques," presented by the Government of the Emperor to the Legislative Chambers, the copy of a despatch from the Ambassador of France at Rome dated the 27th of December, 1862*). ¶ In this despatch the Prince of La Tour d'Auvergne gives information „, which," he says, „he has reason to believe correct, concerning the proposition recently made to the Holy See by Lord John Russell to place the Island of Malta at the disposal of the Pope, in case he should consent, as England advised him, to abandon Rome to Italy." The information collected by the Ambassador is to the following effect: It is that in the course of the summer Mr. Odo Russell, who was about to leave Rome on leave, asked for an audience of the Pope. The audience being granted, he pleaded, as was usual with him, in favour of the cause of Italian unity. That when Mr. Russell was about to take leave of His Holiness, and when he was already at the door of the Pope's Cabinet, the Holy Father, without apparently attaching the smallest importance to the circumstance, addressed Mr. Russell in these words: ,,Farewell, my dear Mr. Russell; who knows whether one day I may not be obliged to ask from you a hospitable reception?" At these words Mr. Russell, it his said, returned into the Cabinet, and asked His Holiness whether, in fact, he feared he should be obliged to quit Rome, and whether in that case he would be really disposed to go to England. The Pope at once tranquilized Mr. Russell, adding that he did not know what trials Providence reserved for him, but for the moment he had no apprehension, and had no thoughts of quitting Rome. Mr. Russell, the French Ambassador says, no doubt, transmitted the account of this conversation to his Government, exaggerating, perhaps, its importance, and was soon after, it is affirmed, recalled to London by telegraph. The narrative given by the Ambassador goes on to affirm that Mr. Odo Russell on his return to Rome in the month of November, presented to the Cardinal Secretary of State a note from Her Majesty's Government advising the Pope to leave Rome, and to go to France Spain, or Malta. This note Mr. Russell is said to have given to the Cardinal, authorizing him confidentially to make such use of it as he might think proper. The Cardinal is said to have hastened to reply that he had no use to *) Nro. 504. Such is the narrative which Gross 29. Januar 1863. make of the note, since the Pope had not the smallest intention of leaving Rome. No. 515. The Ambassador then proceeds to accuse Mr. Russell of violating his duty by britannien, communicating on the subject with a Diplomatic Envoy accredited to the Holy See. The Cardinal Secretary of State, however, it is said, considered the incident at an end when Mr. Russell presented himself again to his Eminence on the occasion of the festival of Christmas, and informed him that he had just received a private letter from Lord Russell, in which Lord Russell expressed his deep regret at learning that the Pope was not for the present disposed to accept his proposals, adding that he had reason to believe that His Holiness would soon find himself under the necessity of profiting by it. But Cardinal Antonelli, it is said, made no reply to this communication. the Ambassador of France has compiled from the hearsay of Rome, and which the Minister for Foreign Affairs has published to the French Chambers and to the world without apparently asking you whether this despatch contained a true account of the transaction to which it related as having passed at Rome. ¶ Such being the hearsay account given by the French Ambassador at Rome, I owe it to Mr. Russell to state what really happened so far as he was concerned; and it is due to Her Majesty's Government that I should place in the hands of M. Drouyn de Lhuys a statement of what they have done in this matter. ¶ That which happened was as follows: Mr. Russell, on the 25th July, 1862, received unexpectedly from the Vatican a written intimation that the Pope would receive him at 12 o'clock on the next day. Mr. Russell, accordingly, went to the Vatican on the 26th of July, and in the course of a conversation of some length the Pope expressed a wish to know whether if any circumstances should at any time lead him to desire to take refuge in England he would be well and hospitably received there. To this question Mr. Russell could of course give only a general answer. From this statement it will be seen that, instead of Mr. Russell asking an audience of the Pope, and at that audience making to the Pope an offer of an asylum at Malta, it was the Pope who sent for Mr. Russell, and it was the Pope who started the idea that he might, under certain circumstances, wish to reside in British territory. This conversation having been reported by Mr. Russell, led to the despatch of the 25th of October, of which I send your Excellency a copy, to be communicated to M. Drouyn de Lhuys, together with some other parts of the correspondence on this matter. It is right that I should explain that Mr. Russell was not called home from Rome, as the French Ambassador imagined, in consequence of his interview with the Pope; Mr. Russell simply received a direction to absent himself from Rome on account of his health during the unhealthy season in that city. As to the private letter which the French Ambassador states that I wrote in December to Mr. Russell, and which he imagines that Mr. Russell communicated to Cardinal Antonelli, I have only to say that I did not write such a letter, and that consequently no such letter was communicated by Mr. Russell to the Cardinal in any shape or manner. ¶ Your Excellency will read this despatch to M. Drouyn de Lhuys, and give him a copy of it. ག I am, &c. Russell. To Earl Cowley, Paris. No. 516. 31. Januar GROSSBRITANNIEN. No. 516. Min. d. Ausw. an den königl. Botschafter in Paris. Weiteres in Betreff des englischen Anerbietens eines Asyles für den My Lord, I have to state to your Excellency, with reference to my britannien, despatch No. 130 of the 29th instant, that I have received a further despatch 1863. from Mr. Russell at Rome, who, it appears, was admitted to an audience of the Pope on the 7th instant, to offer His Holiness his good wishes on the commencement of the new year. On this occasion the Pope was pleased to state to Mr. Russell that he had been gratified by the offers of hospitality made to him by Her Majesty's Government: and he requested Mr. Russell to convey to Her Majesty's Government his thanks for the despatch which he had communicated to Cardinal Antonelli, offering His Holiness the use of a mansion at Malta. His Holiness was pleased to add that although under existing circumstances he would not avail himself of the protection of England, he nevertheless desired to thank Her Majesty's Government for their good intentions. I am, &c. Russell. To Earl Cowley, Paris. No. 517. . Gross 24. Nov. 1862 No. 517. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Mr. Odo Russell in Rom anden königl. Min. d. Ausw. litanische. Rome, Nov. 24, (received Dec. 18) 1862. [Extract.] The Bourbon Committee have lately sent a further detachbritannien, ment of 260 men to join Tristani's band on the frontier. ¶ They were well armed, and wore blue overcoats and red trousers, so as to look like French soldiers at a distance, and thereby deceive the Italian outposts and patrols. The men enlisted are chiefly Bavarians, Belgians, and Spaniards. Tristani's headquarters are, according to circumstances, either at Santa Francesca or at Strangolagalli, and he draws his rations and supplies from Veroli. It is difficult to understand for what object the Bourbon Committee continue to keep up and organize these useless bands of foreigners, who, beyond annoying the inhabitants of the Neapolitan frontiers, have achieved no other result than to discredit the cause of King Francis II. &c. To Earl Russell, London. Odo Russell. No. 518. GROSSBRITANNIEN. — Min. d. Ausw. an den königl. Botschafter in Paris über die Unterstützung des neapolitanischen Bandenwesens von Rom aus. Foreign Office, Dec. 27, 1862. No. 518. 27. Dec. 1862. My Lord, Her Majesty's Government have freely and candidly expressed their opinion to the Government of the Emperor respecting the French britannien, occupation of Rome. Her Majesty's Government have no desire to pursue that argument further for the mere purpose of controversy. But, upon a question closely connected with the French occupation of Rome, Her Majesty's Government must, in justice to the interests of Italy and of Europe, call upon the French Government to interfere with the Pope's advisers. The Pope himself, with the benevolence which is characteristic of him, has always held that his temporal dominion ought to be a territory free from foreign quarrels and sanguinary conflicts. In this spirit, in 1848, he declared in his allocution of April 29 that he would take no part in the war of Italian independence. The passage alluded to is as follows: ,,It is wholly abhorrent from our counsels, seeing that we, although unworthy, discharge on earth the office of Him who is the author of peace and lover of charity, and agreeably to the duty of our supreme apostleship regard and embrace with equal paternal earnestness of love all tribes, peoples, nations." In the same spirit, when the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Communion from all parts of the world went to Rome in the course of this present year, they described Rome, in an address to the Pope, as the seat of a temporal authority, independent of any other;,,the centre, as it were, of universal concord; a place where no human ambition breathes; where no one ever intrigues for territorial dominion." They remind the Pope of his own words, that,,it is by a special disposition of Divine Providence that the Roman Pontiff, established by Christ the centre and chief of His whole Church, possesses a temporal power." If the French army at Rome protected a power thus holy, religious, and charitable, the evils of the French occupation would be in some degree mitigated. But there is a long distance between the theory thus stated and the existing fact. The political banditti who infest the southern provinces of Italy have their head-quarters at Rome. They constantly issue from haunts, rendered secure for them by the cover of the French flag, to destroy whole villages and to murder the peaceful farmers of the south. A detachment of 260 men lately went from Rome well armed, and clothed in blue overcoats and red trousers in order that they might look like French soldiers, and thereby deceive the Italian outposts and patrols. If such detachments of robbers were to be sent from Switzerland into Lombardy the Italian Government would at once protest, and the Swiss Republic would at once put an end to such an unfriendly proceeding. At Rome, however, things are done in a different way; and the high dignitaries about the Pope's person, as well as his illustrious guest the late King of Naples, are believed by the world in general to be the instigators of these incursions. It is obvious that if the Roman Government were 6 Staatsarchiv IV. 1863, |