The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, DEC. 5, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 195, 5 December 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

TUESDAY, DEC. 5, 1876.

filing. ".'> In- fln>j> ••: iufe Miiivr »f «n » f.h-uiC"

The ♦k-.-.th *-f the iUustriotn statesman f-tirtt:«...l AvroN-;;L;j I-.:-* \n-n\ noticed hi every j.»-nrn,ti thr».*w:jh«>ttt the length and Kre.-uUh ok' the latK.t. and tvo verily believe that at the present we are tttc single exception. But rw'twi-thsLv.wling the fact that w- have nut hitherto adverted lu the subject, ~e were forcibly a truck with the t.':ir ait-.t impartial spirit «n which the acts a:ul character of thi Cardinal were reviewed, thtwa jucimaU which criticised his career gKiig hun credit for pure and disinterested, though perhaps in" their opinions mistaken, motives. While all tore cvi Janes to tAc and ability displayed by the djcaaj-'d Minister in the service of his nuator, it remained for one paper to throw dirt on the grave of the {Marriotts d.al. With singularly bad taste, in which happily it stands alone, the LkiivxiV'k'n.t'L-rS GszitU hascopied into its Catalans an extract from a most

disreputable organ of the King 'party—the Union?, of Turin—in which the mo3t slanderous statements are made upon the dead Cardinal, his family, and ancestors. The rduiblc authority quoted by the Gnzrftc states that the Antoneli's have been the most noted brigands of modern times ; that some have been hung, others killed in their murderous forages, and the father of the deceased statesman nothing more nor less than a retired murdering | freebooter. As a specimen of the entire article, we clip t'.ic following extract which refers to the early daV3 of his Eminence, and from the slanderous tone of which sufficient will be gleaned of the malicious spirit which prompted it. Speaking of Giacoma it says : ''Through the wife of a friend of LamnuoscnzNi, Secretary of State under Gki:c;oi:y XVI., he was introduced to the Cardinal, where he found himself in his proper clement. He surpassed all in his assiduous adulation and hypocrisy. None like him amongst all the Cardinal's parasites exhibited so much humility in the presence of Ltis Eminence, by frequent genuflexions, kissing hands, &c. His plastic face, with downcast eyes, was advantageous to play his sycophantic farce. j Under his masked exterior lay hid a heart void of conscience but full ef wiliness and malice. By means of his patron he soon got a.prclaturo, and soon after the important Delegation in the province of : 3l:;cjra'a. So the Abbot- became a Monsignore, and was put in a fair way of anta«ing riches : for a Papal Delegation ' is a rich miirj.'' About this time it would appear to have dawned upon the Gazette it was exceeding the bounds of propriety, and there was just a probability of its authority proving unreliable, for we find it stops short in its pleasing task to state that '* The memoir then gives details which we refrai.i from quoting—having no means of ascertaining how far the circumstances can be verified or explained." We wonder it did not strikj our contemporary that it would have exhibited a fairer spirit to have taken that wise course before heaping .-dander upon slander and blackening the name and e!iarae:er of one of the most eminent :»tate.;uieu of modem times. Having causer to imagine that the statements made by the reliable Unlonc were of such a character as to require further confirmation before insertion, how comes it that tiic Gazette did not discredit the whole fabrication, an:: that it still gave publicity t-j an a/tiei-j a portion of which it believed to be untrue. We do not imagine the GaZ'Alc itofif believes the extracts it has unnis.iy ins.rted, yet it has gained for itself an unenviable notoriety in the exceptional cour.ie it has taken.