All accounts from Italy concur in stating that Parliament will
not accept S. Scialoja's scheme for the conversion of Church property. Not fifty members, it is said, will vote for it. The majority, it appears, believe, with us, that it is dangerous to surrender State control over the priesthood, and add that the whole property of the Church is held in trust for the community at large. They fear, also, that if the cards are once handed over to the Bishops the hierarchy will be too strong for public safety, and are resolved to keep the priests dependent for livelihood upon the nation. It is believed that, his scheme having failed, Ricasoli will retire, and that the supple Piedmontese, Rattazzi, whose only merit as a minister is a certain official aptitude, will take his place ; but there is a rumour that the Baron will, for the sake of Italy, consent to work with Rattazzi, and thus secure an united majority. The deficit will, in all probability, be met by an immediate sale of a portion of the Clerical property. Every buyer becomes an interested adherent of the new order of things.
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