Considerable doubt has been thr3wn on the destination of a
steam squadron at Toulon, which was suddenly placed under orders to prepare for sea. At first it was understood to be in- tended for a force to aid in reinstating the Pope as the Sovereign of Rome. Subsequently this account was 'said to have been "exaggerated," as the squadron had only been ordered to prepare, but not to sail at once; and recent communications from Rome represent the Pope as declining foreign intervention, for fear it should utterly alienate his subjects.
A step just taken by the Pope gives colour to this last repro-.
sentation. It is an attempt on his part to recover his temporal power by the simple exercise of his epiritnal authority : he pro- tests against the electiou of an Assembly, and reminds his sub- jects that those who contravene the temporal authority of the Pope become ipso facto excommunicate ! This effort of Pius to recall his aberrant subjects to their allegiance attests his sim- plicity of heart rather than his sagacity : it is evidently calculated to endanger the last relics of his authority, by provoking defiance and slight. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, falling in with the spirit of the time, and recognizing the proposed Constituent Assembly, follows a safer and perhaps a wiser course.
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