FRANCE. 



325 



et Italit," furnished occasion for still more 

 violent denunciations of the Government hy 

 the bishops. Monseigneur Dupanloup, bishop 

 of Orleans, and the bishops of Laval, Nismes, 

 distinguished themselves especially by 

 their vituperative assaults upon the emper- 

 or : but boldest of all was Monseigneur Pie, 

 bishop of Poitiers, who, in a published charge 

 to his diocese, compared the emperor to Pon- 

 tius Pilate, who suffered Christ to be put to 

 death when it was in his power to save him, 

 and thought to free himself from guilt by wash- 

 ing his hands. This insolent language was pun- 

 ished by the Council of State by a severe repri- 

 mand to the bishop. The pope himself had 

 protested meanwhile against the pamphlet, and 

 Cardinal Antonelli, his prime minister, replied 

 to it in a despatch addressed to the Papal 

 Nuncio at Paris. This action of the pope and 

 the cardinal only inflamed the clergy to new 

 attacks, and they at length became so abusive, 

 that on the llth April, 1861, the Minister of 

 Justice addressed a circular to the prosecuting 

 officers of the departments, in which he called 

 their attention to the 201st and 204th articles 

 of the penal code, which prohibited under 

 severe penalties the criticism or censure of the 

 Government by the ministers of religion, and 

 directed them to prosecute all violations of the 

 law. Against this circular the Archbishop of 

 Tours protested as an invasion of the rights of 

 the clergy. Another incident gave great um- 

 brage to the higher clergy. Two ecclesiastical 

 orders of foreign origin, the Redemptorist Fa- 

 thers of Douay and the Capuchins of Has- 

 brouck, had established houses in France, and 

 had been tolerated, though never legalized there. 

 Charges were made against them of gross im- 

 morality, and substantiated by sufficient evi- 

 dence, and the Government on this proof dis- 

 solved their organization and expelled the 

 members from the country. The Archbishop 

 of Cambray at once came to their defence, but 

 was speedily silenced by the Constitutionntl, 

 which brought sufficient proof of their mal- 

 practices, to demonstrate that they deserved a 

 severer punishment than they received. While 

 thus assailed by the clergy on the one hand 

 and the radicals on the other, the emperor, 

 with that tact which has characterized his 

 whole career, on the 24th Nov. 1860, to the 

 surprise of the nation, promulgated a decree 

 greatly_ enlarging the liberty and scope of the 

 legislative body, and according a greater free- 

 dom to the press. The legislative body was 

 to have, within certain limitations, the right 

 of amending the Government bills ; it was to 

 have the privilege of replying to the emperor's 

 speech, and stating what measures it desired; 

 its sessions were to be public, and freedom 

 of debate allowed ; and the Government meas- 

 ures were to be explained and advocated in 

 open session by ministers without portfolio, 

 who had a seat in the Legislature. The re- 

 strictions on the press were greatly modified, 

 and all previous notices or warnings abrogated. 



It was under these circumstances that the ses- 

 sion of the lecislative body took place, on the 

 2d February, 1861. The Syrian, the Italian, 

 and the Papal questions were fully and ably dis- 

 cussed, but the wise policy of the emperor had 

 conciliated the liberals, and the clerical party 

 were defeated in every attempt to censure the 

 Government, in the wisdom and patriotism of 

 which, a large majority expressed their hearty 

 confidence. The English commercial treaty 

 yielding too great concessions, it was thought, 

 to that Government in respect to the fisheries, 

 the Legislature demanded a modification of it 

 in the interest of the national fisheries. The 

 sliding scale of duties was also, at their in- 

 stance, abrogated. A similar commercial treaty 

 was concluded with Belgium on the 1st of 

 March, and there were added to it three con- 

 ventions upon navigation, postal arrangements, 

 and guarantees of artistic and literary copy- 

 rights and patents. A copyright treaty was 

 also concluded between France and Russia, A 

 new topic of excitement was the defeat of the 

 Prince Murat as Grand Master of the Masonic 

 fraternity, in consequence of his advocacy of 

 the temporal power of the pope, and the elec- 

 tion, by a great majority, of his cousin Prince 

 Napoleon who had opposed it. This event 

 caused so many meetings and such intense agita- 

 tion throughout France, that the Government 

 deemed it necessary to interdict temporarily 

 their assembling, and to cause another election 

 for Grand Master to be held in October. 



On the 24th of June, the Moniteur (the offi- 

 cial gazette) published a decree of the emperor, 

 recognizing Victor Emanuel II., King of Sar- 

 dinia, as " King of Italy ; " and during the same 

 month diplomatic relations between the two 

 courts were reestablished. 



The elections of June, for members of the 

 legislative corps, which, in accordance with the 

 decree of Nov. 1860, had been conducted with 

 much less restraint on the voters than previous- 

 ly, resulted in the success of the liberal party, 

 by a small majority. In Paris, M. Jules Favre, 

 a representative man among the liberal or re- 

 publican party, who, as an advocate, had distin- 

 guished himself by defending those charged 

 with political offences, and was regarded as 

 the ablest opponent of the Government, was 

 chosen a member of the Chamber of Deputies 

 from Paris. 



The blockade proclaimed by the U. S. Gov- 

 ernment, and the privateering proclamations of 

 Mr. Jefferson Davis, had excited great interest 

 and attention in France ; and the French Gov- 

 ernment, on the 10th of June, announced its 

 intention of regarding the seceded States as a 

 belligerent power, and of maintaining strict 

 neutrality between the two contending powers, 

 following in these particulars, the course adopt- 

 ed by England. (See PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.) 



The stupendous defalcation of M. Mires, the 

 Treasurer of the Department of Railroads, his 

 arrest and the charges of complicity in his of- 

 fence openly made against prominent members 



