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Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Lucerne, Madrid, and Lisbon, in compliance with the provisions of the chirographs above mentioned.

When that Loan was paid on account of the Pontifical Government the banking houses charged with the payments abroad were as follows:

For Paris and London, Edward Blount and Co., of Faris.

For Brussels and Antwerp, Cte. Gerald Leyrelle.

For Amsterdam, Kazemann.

For Frankfort-on-the-Main, Brothers Bethmann.

For Vienna, Henikstein, now Anglo-Austrian Bank.
For Munich, Robert de Irvelich.

For Berlin, Charles Kitz.

For Lucerne, Sebastiano Crivelli and Co.

For Madrid, A. Miranda and Sons.

For Lisbon, Testa Gio. Battista.

The Italian Government, however, having confided, as already stated, to the single house of Rothschild Brothers, of Paris, the payments of the above debt in foreign countries, cannot say whether these are in future to be made by the firms named in those towns; although, with the exception of London, where they will be done by the same house, it is probable that such will be the case.

I avail, &c.
(For the Minister).
(Signed)

R. PEIROLERI.

No. 100.

(Extract.)

Sir A. Paget to Earl Granville.-(Received December 14.)

Florence, December 10, 1870. YESTERDAY the President of the Council, Signor Lanza, presented to the Chamber the following Government Bills:

1. Bill for converting into law the Royal Decree accepting the plebiscite in the Roman States.

2. Bill for the transfer of the Capital to Rome.

3. Bill relative to the guarantees to be given to the Church, and prerogatives to the Pope for the free exercise of his spiritual power.

Which Bills the Minister recommended should be taken into immediate consideration. They were accordingly declared "d'urgence;" but as the "exposé des motifs" of the third Bill was still wanting, the Articles could not be read, and I am therefore unable to give your Lordship at present any details of the measure proposed.

(Extract.)

No. 101.

Sir A. Paget to Earl Granville.-(Received December 16.)

Florence, December 12, 1870. YOUR Lordship will doubtless have received from Mr. Jervoise an account of some disturbances which took place in Rome on the 8th instant.

They were made the subject of inquiry in the Chamber the day before yesterday, when Signor Lanza, the President of the Council, related the facts which had come to his knowledge.

In themselves the circumstances do not appear to have been of very great importance, brt as a symptom they are very bad.

The disorders began with shouts directed against some ex-Pontifical gendarmes, which were followed by a fight with sticks and umbrellas, and it is said that one or two shots from revolvers were fired, and three persons wounded. Some arrests were made, among others Tognetti, a brother of the man who, with Monti, was beheaded for blowing up the Zouave barrack in 1867.

I saw this morning a Monsignore who told me that Tognetti had been released very shortly after his arrest, and that there had been fresh disturbances in Rome on Saturday, but I am unable to say whether his information is correct or not.

No. 102.

(Extract.)

Sir A. Paget to Earl Granville.-(Received December 16.)

Florence, December 12, 1870. WITH reference to my despatch of the 10th instant, I have the honour to inclose herewith in translation the Bills proposed to Parliament for the acceptance of the Roman plebiscite, the transfer of the Capital to Rome, and the guarantees for the Pope.

The original term proposed by the Government for the transfer of the Capital was eight months after the promulgation of the law. The term now fixed in the Bill is six months. The calculated expense of the transfer is fixed at seventeen millions. The Government is to have the faculty during the space of two years of expropriating edifices belonging to Religious corporations in Rome, indemnifying the holders with State Rentes.

According to the "Bill of Guarantee," &c., for the Pope, the person of the Sovereign Pontiff is declared sacred and inviolable; sovereign honours hitherto awarded to His Holiness are maintained (Art. 1), as well as his right to have his own guard for his palace (Art. 2). A yearly sum (3,225,000 lire) equal to that hitherto inscribed on the Papal budget is to be inscribed on the grand livre for His Holiness' own use, and to be paid exempt from all tax; the Pontiff to have the free enjoyment of the Vatican, of Santa Maria Maggiore, of Castel Gondolfo, the above palaces to be exempt from the jurisdiction of the State, as well as the places where conclaves and councils may be held, which the Government binds itself to protect with armed force, if necessary; consequently, no Government official may penetrate into the above-mentioned localities except at the requisition of the Sovereign Pontiff, or of the President of the conclave or council. Any one who may have committed an act contrary to law in the above-named localities, or should seek an asylum there after having committed such act, cannot be sought for there or recovered without the requisition or permission of the Pontiff. No perquisition or sequestration of books or documents can be effected in the Dataria, Penitenziaria, Apostolic Chancery, or any of the sacred congregations.

The Pontiff will be free to fulfil all the functions of his Ministry, to affix to the doors of the basilicas at Rome, or to otherwise publish the acts of his Ministry and those of the sacred congregations, without any impediment on the part of the Government.

The Cardinals and other ecclesiastics shall likewise be irresponsible for any ecclesiastical act performed in Rome, having reference to the functions of the Holy See.

It shall be allowed to the Pope to correspond with the episcopacy, and to have his own post-offices, telegraphs, and couriers for this purpose. Legates and other Representatives of the Pope, as well as Foreign Representatives accredited to His Holiness, are to have the same prerogatives as those accorded to Diplomatic Agents.

The exercise of authority or spiritual jurisdiction by the Pontiff is free from the interference of the Civil Power, and consequently the appeal ab abusu is abolished. The employment of secular compulsion is excluded in ecclesiastical measures. Councils, chapters, and other ecclesiastical reunions can be held without permission from the Government.

The nomination to all ecclesiastical appointments in Italy will take place without the interference of the Government, but the nominees, except the "suburbican" Bishops of Rome, must be Italian subjects to entitle them to the temporalities.

66

Áre abolished, the oath of the bishops to the King, the Royal "placet" and exequatur," except in cases concerning property and the use of the temporalities belonging to ecclesiastical bodies and institutions.

The Apostolic Legation in Society is also abolished.

The seminaries, academies, colleges, and other Catholic institutions founded at Rome for the education and instruction of ecclesiastics will still be dependent on the Holy See without any interference from the scholastic authorities of the Kingdom.

All laws to the contrary are repealed. The abolition of the exequatur and the direct nomination of the bishops is, I believe, a concession for the first time offered to the Pope by the Italian Government; and the enactments as a whole, if adopted by the Chamber and fairly carried out, must, it appears to me, be considered as offering every necessary security to the Pontiff for the exercise of his spiritual power; but an ecclesiastic of some position and well acquainted with the Vatican whom I saw to-day declared them as utterly unacceptable, and as offering no sort of guarantee for the Papacy.

(Extract.)

No. 103.

Mr. Jervoise to Earl Granville.—(Received December 19.)

Rome, December 10, 1870. THURSDAY the 8th instant being the Festival of the Immaculate Conception, the clerical journals invited the faithful to celebrate it, as has hitherto been customary, by an illumination on the eve of the Festival as well as on the anniversary of the declaration of that dogma by Pope Pius IX.

This invitation, when translated, runs as follows:

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To-day, the 8th of December, is the Festival of the Immaculate Conception, a dogma enounced by the infallible Pope Pius IX. In each year this day has been kept as a fête by all the Catholics of Rome.

"Romans!

"We expect to see your windows illuminated this evening. It is necessary to show to Europe that the Holy Father has a party in Rome, and that this party is powerful. A paltry illumination would be ridiculous; we urge you to make it imposing, so as to show to the world that the Romans are true Catholics."

The Liberals considered that this advertisement partook of a political rather than a religious character, and determined to meet it by a counter demonstration. Accordingly they met in groups in the Piazza of San Pietro during the celebration of Vespers, and, as I understand, made offensive remarks on those who attended service in the Church. A principal actor in this movement appears to have been Tognietti, a near relative of the man who was executed in 1868 for blowing up the barracks.

I am told that matters were brought to a crisis by the arrival at about 4 P.M. of a cab containing two officers of the Guardia Nobile, dressed en bourgeois, who drove up to the entrance to the Vatican, inside the gate of which is always stationed a strong detachment of the Swiss Guard. Being recognized by the forty or fifty individuals assembled at that point (some of whom were partizans of the clerical party), they were saluted with howls and whistling; whereupon a mêlée ensued, in the middle of which might be seen struggling helplessly the Italian sentry posted at the foot of the stairs leading into the palace. I happened to arrive just as the disturbance commenced, which lasted for a very few minutes, but in the course of which one man was severely wounded by a blow from a stick on the head; a foreigner, a Roumanian, I believe, received a slight wound from a knife, and another man was wounded in the shoulder with a revolver. A great panic ensued, and many of the bystanders fled into the church, whilst others ran screaming in all directions. I hear that three men were arrested by the guard who shortly arrived-as being implicated, and amongst them Tognietti.

"

The Tribuno," one of the daily papers, published a statement on the following morning to the effect that a certain Colonel Azzanesi, formerly an officer in the Papal Service, had been very active on this occasion in inciting the angry feelings of the clerical party in consequence of a denial on the part of Colonel Azzanesi that he had been in any way implicated, the editor of the "Tribuno" invited him to attend at the bureau of that journal in the Via della Vite yesterday afternoon, in order that he might read the contradiction of the above statement, which it was proposed to insert in the next day's issue.

Colonel Azzanesi was recognized and pursued by the mob to the office of the "Tribuno," whence he escaped by a back way, while a considerable crowd was collected in front of the house: nor was it until after the expiration of some two hours that they were at length dispersed by a detachment of soldiers sent for that purpose.

I should add that it was perfectly well known for some days previously to the 8th, that some anti-clerical demonstration would probably take place then.

My Lord,

No. 104.

Sir A. Paget to Earl Granville.-(Received December 21.) .

Florence, December 17, 1870. M. VISCONTI VENOSTA called my attention yesterday morning to a passage in Archbishop Manning's recent speech at St. James' Hall, to the effect that the insult to religion was now so great in Rome that it was no longer possible to carry the Holy Sacrament to the sick through the streets, and that it had to be conveyed in secret. On referring to the "Times" of the 10th instant, I see that the paragraph runs thus: "The Cardinal Vicar of Rome had been compelled to issue an order that the Blessed Sacrament should be no longer carried openly to the sick, but through the streets of Rome should be carried in secret, without the tokens of adoration which in all Catholic countries were known."

With reference to this assertion, M. Visconti Venosta read to me a despatch from General La Marmora, the substance of which appeared in the "Official Gazette" of last night, and of which I have the honour to inclose a translation here with.

Inclosure in No. 104,

I have, &c. (Signed)

Extract from the "Italie" of December 16, 1870.

A. PAGET.

DANS un meeting Catholique tenu à Londres, on a affirmé qu'à Rome le Cardinal Vicaire a défendu de porter publiquement le viatique, pour éviter les outrages dont le très saint sacrement pourrait être l'objet.

Les autorités Royales ignorent si quelque curé ou autre autorité ecclésiastique, par crainte ou pour une autre fin, s'est abstenue de porter le viatique aux malades, ou bien a défendu de le faire, mais ce qu'elles peuvent certifier c'est que, récemment encore, on a vu porter le très saint sacrement dans les rues de Rome, au milieu du respect de la population entière.

(Translation.)

IT has been stated at a Catholic meeting held in London that the Cardinal Vicar at Rome has forbidden the carrying in public of the Viaticum, in order to avoid outrages to which the Holy Sacrament might be subjected.

The Royal authorities do not know if any curé or other ecclesiastical authority, from fear or any other motive, has abstained from carrying the Viaticum to the sick, or else has forbidden it to be done; but what they can certify is that, even recently, the Holy Sacrament has been seen carried in the streets of Rome, amid the respect of the whole population.

(Extract.)

No. 105.

Mr. Jervoise to Earl Granville.-(Received December 26.)

Rome, December 17, 1870. WHEN the Italians occupied Rome in September last, they found deposited in the Roman Treasury nearly 8,000,000 francs, which they have appropriated, as being State property. This sum, however, included upwards of 4,000,000 francs, which formed a portion of the Peter's Pence contributed by the Catholics of all countries for the personal use of the Head of their Church, and which was entered in the books of the Treasury as belonging to His Holiness' private account.

This latter amount does not include contributions from the same source, for which a special destination was named by the donors, as, for instance, the payment of the foreign troops, the purchase of arms, &c.

Cardinal Antonelli informs me that he applied about six weeks since to Signor Giacomelli for a statement of the money which had not been as yet furnished to him. His Eminence at the same time showed me the books, in which are regularly entered from day to day each contribution to the Peter's Pence, with the name of the donor; as

these were paid into the Treasury a receipt was given for the same, placing the amount to the Pope's private account.

He also informed me that a considerable portion of this money was devoted by the Holy Father to the very extensive works of restoration and embellishment which were carried on in Rome under his patronage; and, besides that, it was his custom at the end of every year to have submitted to him a statement of the balance, and to assign a large portion of the surplus to the service of the State.

The contributions in Peter's Pence average annually 10,000,000 francs; and, between 1860-1870, 97,400,000 francs have been received from the Faithful in offerings under this head.

The 4th Article of the Project of Law, for the guarantees to be given to the Pope and laid before the Italian Chambers, proposes that His Holiness shall continue to occupy the Pontifical Palaces of the Vatican, of Santa Maria Maggiore, with all the buildings, gardens, and lands annexed to, and depending on them, also the Villa of Castel Gandolfo, with all its dependencies.

As no Palace of Santa Maria Maggiore exists, it has been supposed that the Lateran must have been intended. I yesterday inquired of Cardinal Antonelli whether there was such an Apostolic residence, and his Eminence replied that nothing of the sort was attached to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; but that when the Popes were in residence at the Quirinal, their Bulls, &c., were dated " Apud Santam Mariam Maggiorem," as being the nearest church to the Quirinal; that there is attached to the church a Canon's residence, containing a few small rooms, and a large hall where His Holiness usually changed his vestments after officiating at the great ceremonies held there; but that there is not, and never had been, a Pontifical Palace.

In the time of Pope Alexander VII (1655-67), a discussion arose whether it were preferable that the Pope should reside at the Vatican, or any other quarter of the city, and was argued by Cardinal Sforza Pallavicini and Monsignor Luca Olstenio: their essays on the subject were published in 1776, and it is there stated that Nicholas V (1334), restored a palace adjoining Santa Maria Maggiore, and previously occupied by the Popes, instancing Nicholas IV (1287-92), Calixtus III (1455-58), and Sixtus IV (1471-84), appear also to have inhabited this palace; but so they did the houses adjoining many other churches in Rome.

Cardinal Antonelli stated to me that he claimed as Pontifical Palaces the Vatican, the Quirinal, and Castel Gandolfo, which were maintained solely out of the Civil List, and not out of State Funds; this was not the case as regards the other palaces where the State Administrations had their bureaux.

No. 106.

Mr. Jervoise to Earl Granville.-(Received December 26.)

My Lord, Rome, December 21, 1870. WITH reference to my despatch of the 5th ultimo I have the honour to acquaint your Lordship that my attention has been drawn by Dr. O'Callaghan, the Rector of the English College, to a Royal Decree published in the "Gazzetta Officiale di Roma" of the 19th ultimo, a copy of which accompanied my despatch of the 23rd ultimo.

The effect which that Decree would have on the Church property in the Roman province is explained in Dr. O'Callaghan's letter of the 28th ultimo, of which I have the honour to inclose a copy herewith. Your Lordship will observe that it contains no article which excepts from its operation the foreign religious establishments, and I feel doubtful whether the Italian Government may not wish to prove that the mode of enfranchisement proposed does not infringe the promises given to Sir Augustus Paget by M. Visconti Venosta that all properties belonging to British subjects would be respected; and I have therefore referred this question to Her Majesty's Minister at Florence, and I have besides spoken on the matter with those of the foreign Representatives accredited to the Holy See who have similar interests under their protection. Some of them have, I know, acted on my suggestion, that they also should refer this question through the proper channels

to the Government at Florence.

This joint action was, I consider, all the more necessary, inasmuch as one of the tenants under the English College has sent a formal notice, and others have intimated their intention to avail themselves of the law so far as to get possession of the fee-simple by the purchase at a low price from the Government of such an amount of 5 per cent.

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