its exhibition would sow between her tinguished position in the court of and Le Prun suspicion, fear, and enmi- Louis XVIII. ty enough to embitter their lives. She The king remitted a large portion had at first intended declaring all the of the fine in favour of Julie and of truth, but feared the explosion of Le Lucille. As, however, some grave Prun's fury, and doubted, too, whether suspicions were entertained by the ad. the girl would believe her. The rest visers of his majesty both as to Lucille's the reader knows.

avowed, and, as we know, real igno. As there was no reason to doubt rance of the existence of Le Prun's Blassemare's statement, and no actual first wife when she consented to marry suspicion attached to him, he was him, and also as to her subsequent merely examined as a witness.

conduct in relation to De Secqville, the Le Prun is, we need scarcely remind remission in her favour was coupled the student of old French criminal with a condition that she should take cases, a celebrated name in the annals the veil. This was in effect a command; of guilt. Suspicion, by a strange co. and Lucille entered a convent with a incidence, fell upon the servant whom cheerful acquiescence in this condition we have mentioned, and this man hav. which astonished all who knew the facts ing been, according to the atrocious

of her story practice of the civil law, put to the Julie, of course, on learning

the pretorture, confessed his having, at the engagement of De Secqville's affections, instigation of Le Prun, murdered the and being relieved from the influence unfortunate Marie Guadin, so contriv- which had hitherto held her to her ining as to make it appear that the house voluntary engagement, demanded her had been entered and plundered by freedom, and De Secqville, as may be thieves.

supposed, offered no vexatious resis. A full confession, after condemna- tance to her request. tion, was extorted by the question, Julie, indeed, had never loved him, that dreadfulordeal, from Le Prun, who and consequently had little difficulty ultimately suffered the extreme penalty in forgiving Lucille her treason. Inof the law, as every body knows, upon spired by the example of her compathe Place de Greve.

nion, she proved the sincerity of those That portion of Le Prun's immense professions which so few had believed property which was not appropriated in, by taking the veil on the same day by the crown, went, of course, to Ga- with Lucille. briel, the peasant boy of Charrebourg. The astounding and mysterious adHe purchased an estate near it, and was venture which, under these melancholy ultimately ennobled.

His grandson,

circumstances, closed the hazardous the Count de St. M—, distinguished romance of Lucille's existence, would himself in the Austrian service, and form in itself a story, too long, howafter the Restoration, obtained a dis- ever, to be told in a single page.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL ON THE PAPAL PRETENSIONS.

LORD Joun RUSSELL's letter on the Papal invasion of England lies before us. We have read it with all the attention to which such a document is entitled, but, it must be confessed, without being able to share in the feelings with which the nation has welcomed it, or with those in which, the noble lord instructs his right reverend correspondent, it was written. The spirit which has taken possession of minister and people alike, seems to us effervescing rather than stable. It is an “ignorant impatience” (if we may be allowed to give a new application to that remarkable expression) of Romanism, rather than an intelligent appreciation of its constitution and character. In such a spirit there is more of temper than resolve ;-the promise of safety is not contained in it.

The noble lord, prime minister of England, proclaims that “his alarm is not equal to his indignation.” This denotes a state of mind in which we cannot sympathise ; nor can we congratulate either the premier or the country on the predominance of his angry emotions. If he felt deeply for the nation, and thoroughly understood the genius of Rome, we firmly believe he would be less angry than alarmed, and we have no hesitation to avow that we shall continue to have

fear of the noble lord, until we see proof that he has become apprehensive for his country.

Much has been said upon the encouragement which may have stimulated the Pope to an aggression which is now so passionately inveighed against. Much has been said, and idly said, respecting the parties upon whom the guilt of such encouragement should be charged. It is of little moment how this guilt may be apportioned—what amount of it shall be imputed to the followers of Sir Robert Peel; how much to the ultra-Tractarians; and how much to those who, for want of manlier and more consistent representatives of the name, are miscalled Whigs. We hate idle recrimination ; it is the vice and the disgrace of conquered captives making sport for their oppressors. Evil as the days are, England is not fallen so low as this dishonour. She can yet hold her head high; can assert her rights, and vindicate her reputation. She can turn away from the squabbles of mortified partisans, and require of those whom she sets in authority to do the momentous duty which the crisis assigns to them.

The duty which Lord John Russell has chosen for himself is that of being angry at the insult which has been hazarded against the crown and dignity of his Sovereign. He would be contented to leave large masses of her Majesty's subjects exposed to the influence of Papal teaching, provided, only, that the emissaries of the Pope would labour in their vocation without making a parade of it.

“I not only,” writes the noble lord, and with manifest satisfaction, “promoted to the utmost of my power the claims of the Roman Catholics to all civil rights ; but I thought it right, and even desirable, that the ecclesiastical system of the Roman Catholics should be the means of giving instruction to the numerous Irish immigrants in London and elsewhere, who without such help would have been left in Heathen ignorance. This,” he continues, “ might have been done, however, without any such innovation as that which we have now scen."

It certainly might; and it indicates some confusion and rashness in the Papal councils, or else gives portentous notice of a great increase in the Papal power, that the noble lord's dream of security and repose should have been broken in upon so rudely. But we would ask, now that the disturbance has been given, and, we would add, the menace uttered, will the noble lord persist in his abandonment of millions of the queen’s subjects to the perils of being trained up at the mercy of that ecclesiastical system which has roused up into such a flame his indignant patriotism? We will give the premier and his supporters the benefit of that plea which sophists of the Church of Rome have contrived as an illusory mitigation of their doctrines of intolerance. Let the ministers and their adherents plead “invincible ignorance” as their excuse for past transgression and neglect. Let them plead that they believed the principles in which Roman Catholic ecclesiastics were pledged to train up the people confided to their charge, were principles bearing the character, as well as the name, of religion. That plea is no longer available. Romanism has now openly avowed itself. The principles in which Roman Catholic priests are solemnly sworn to educate their people are not those which are to be learned in the written Word of God, but in the canons and the decrees of Popes and Councils. If the noble lord hold himself free from the duty of ascertaining what these principles are, ignorance will no longer be an excuse for him.

But why do we say " no longer ?” Because, at the Synod of Thurles, the authorities in the Church of Rome in Ireland solemnly declared the nature of their mission, swearing that they receive, without any doubt, all that has been delivered, defined, and declared in the sacred canons and General Councils; that, without so believing, no man can be saved; and that, to the utmost of their power, they will inculcate the belief of this Catholic saving faith on all over whom their influence can be extended. Here is ample notice given to the nation what the Church of Rome purposes to do. If Her Majesty's ministers persist in remaining ignorant of what these purposes are, their infatuation is not less fatal, or more creditable, than that of the babe, or the brute, who closes its eyes, and thinks danger escaped by darkness, or than the embarrassed merchant, who, rather than look his liabilities in the face, suffers insolvency to come upon him unawares.

Ignorance can never again be urged in extenuation of a perseverance in error on the part of Her Majesty's ministers, which would now be unpardonable delinquency. We would not, however, stimulate them, had we the power, into any act that might savour of precipitation. We would no more urge them to act blindly against Romanism, than we would excuse the voluntary blindness in which they toiled most basely as its slaves. Let them become instructed, and let them instruct the nation. They know the engagements by which Cardinal Wiseman and his co-partners have bound themselves to do tắe Pope's work. They know the engagements which the Roman Catholic priests throughout the British empire have contracted to their own Church, and to Her Majesty's subjects. If these engagements are found to be compatible with the allegiance of British subjects, with the duties of Christian men, the public will rejoice in feeling, with the noble lord, that there is less to alarm than to irritate in the Papal aggression. If, on the contrary, it appear, that there are within the British realms six thousand educated men solemnly pledged to infuse into the hearts of those whom they can influence, intolerance, perfidy, and treason, the noble lord will hardly persist in thinking it desirable to betray even Irish immigrants, by consigning them to such teachers for their religious instruction.

INDEX TO VOL. XXXVI.