FATHER PASSAGLIA'S ESCAPE FROM ROME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 117, 1 April 1862, Page 6

FATHER PASSAGLIA'S ESCAPE FROM ROME.

A letter in. the; Morning Post says :— ■ '••" "Father. Passaglia, 'notwithstanding his; civil courage, has at'last ■■: found -Rome: too hot to hold liim, so that, yielding.to the earnest entreaties of his friends^ and the suggestions of his own cooler "judgment, he "abandoned his attitude of defiance on < the night of the' isth; and bought* safety in flight/ 'Ho small ingenuity- tieing -' required .to.. elude the vigilance .of-the. -shirri stationed" round his residence. This determination was, no doubt, quickened by a domiciliary .visit which the police •paid him in the,punning,'thus proving,that if an Englishman's house isihis"'castle, in England, an English lady's jDflfazzo is by .rib. means her castle in Koine ; for thetfactof Father Passaglia's living: in the Palazzo Spada, under: Mrs.. Foljambe's matronlyßegis', was'no impediment to the official perquisition* of his"apartment-by a captain' of gendarmes and" a detachment of men.'in plain clothe?. Mrs. Foljambe's 'maid raised' such, an' outcry at the "invasion of the1 "premises by this posse ebmitdtus, that the father inside, had no difficulty in guessing the state'of affairs,^ and collecting a few papers, which he was anxious to.save from the.clutches of the, police,l he eluded the capture by: going': round into : Prince-Spada's part of the palace, Where he took; refuge- in the picture gallery,1 and- remained unmolested whilst thesbirri turned liis books and paperstopsy-turyy,-and 'filled two large trunks with sthenv to be I taken off forthednspection of the Director of Police; It* seems that'they-had; instructions likewise: from other quarters, for they were very eager to find the manuscript works'V.of-Cardinal Tdlomei, in six volumes-^-a valuable'piece of inedited literary prop^rty,l which;- they, said,; they'had been informed were in Father Passaglia's possession, but 'whichj they failed to'discover, and which will probably be published,in duetime. Cardinal Tolpniei was. a man of much literary merit and ecclesiastical, reputation, hut having secceded from the confraternity of Jesuits, to which he at one time belongcdjthat body, would prefer his works jto remain in oblivion; raud would, therefore, have been glnd to rescue the manuscripts from Father Passaglia's possession of this lavorable opportunity. No political correspondence of any importance, was sequestered, except a note from Baron \ Kicasoli, . ■'••■• •.-.'•• . i ' "'. ■■ . " Whilst the'-police.agents, were,biisy<with their researches a'mongst,booksand papers, their captain^ gallantly :sat down to converse with Mrs^Foljambe and inquired of that lady—who, in her "quality of convert to Cathblicism,''might beexpected to know —whether it was true .that the Queen of England had become-a-member-.of-the~Ronian.Church I Mrs. F;.> perhaps a little, irritated;:^ the linceremonioiis invasion .of her residence, replied that the present moment was not a-favorable one for fresh conversions ; on the contrary, it was! to be apprehended that ;.by its present conduct, the Roman Government would induce those whohad been converted- to return again their former creed. • .