The settlement of the Italian question by diplomatic processes dbes
not appear to have made any great progress. Austria still withholds her answer to Lord John Russell's proposition ; the Pope remains in a state of confirmed obstinacy, and there is little sign of decisive movement except the regular march of the Italian communities towards settled order and freedom. M. Thouvenel, however, has taken a step which marks the relations between the Pope and the Emperor of the French. M. Thouvenel has replied to the encyclical letter of the Pope in a despatch to the agents of France abroad. Expressing in severe but polished terms his regret that the Papal Government should transfer to the field of religion a temporal question, pointing out that the responsibility of the present situation rests with the Pope, M. Thouvenel draws a strong line of distinction between the tem- poral and the spiritual power. To show that the temporal pos- sessions of the Holy See have never been regarded as inalienable, he cites the treaty of Tolentino, which transferred the Romagna and the territory of Avignon to France ; the treaties of Campo Formio and Luneville, which also severed the legations from Rome, the grant of bishoprics in Germany to Austrian archdukes, and the transactions between the Emperor Francis and Murat, which infringed on the Roman States. Thus neither Austria nor Rome itself, is exempt from the charge of dealing with the territorial possessions of Rome as things purely temporal. M. Thouvenel declares the doctrine of the encyclical letter to be in contradiction to the most positive data of politics, the general spirit of the times, and international rules. The fact, therefore, is officially established that the Emperor Napoleon III., not less than the Emperor Napoleon I., is prepared to deal with the terri- tories of the Holy See from a purely temporal point of view.
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