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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent itre fiimte A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film* i partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche k droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent lb m^thode. 1 2 3 i- 1 2 3 4 5 6 PIUS IX. """''''' AND HIS TIME. 1 THE EEV. .ENEAS MACDONELL DAWSON. SEMINASRE ^'OTTA^J> LONDON : FEINTED BY THOS. COFFEY, CATHpUC RECOBD PRINTING HOUSB. 1880. 1^1 CONTENTS. Preface 3 Birth of Pius IX 5, Mission to Chili 6 Ripa Grande (hospital) 7 Archbifihop of Spoleto 8 Bishop cf Imok 9 Biblical Academy founded 10 MaBtai Cardinal « 11 Sylvio Pelico 18 Mastai Pope 18 I^joicing at Rome 1$ Amnesty 14 Reform 16 Finance 16 Gixzi Minister 17 Periodical Press established 19 Jews protected 19, 80 Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem 81 Ireland's Liberator 88 Pius IX. eulogizes O'Connell 83 ObeeqaiesofO'Connell 84 Funeral Oration..... 26 Padre Ventura Praises O'Connell 86, 87 FoUy of the Romans 88 " Pio nono soio" 89 Religious Orders 36 The Pope's sermon 31 Socialists and Conservatives 38 The friends of order 33 Municipality of Rome 34 Ooimcil of State 35 Duties of the Council of State 36 Popular satisfaction 37 The Red Republic 38 Complete Representation 39 Italians excited by the Revolution in France 40, 41 Rome saved by the Popes 48 Pius IX. resolves to grant a Constitution , 43 The Constitution 44 II. I'AOX. The Pope'H influence with AuBtria 44 Wurdiscuflsed 45,46 Wtr in defiance of the Pope 47 Ent^dical forbidding war 4^ Minister forced onthe Pope 49 Political movements 66 Mazzini 65 Abbate Rosmini— Confederation of Italy 68, 66 The Roman Circle 62 Difficult position of the Pope 63 Count Rossi named Minister — M. Mignet 63 Character of Rossi 64 Rosa's political views 66 Rossi prepares to address the Roman Parliament 67 Rossi basely murdered 68, 61) The Holy Father attacked 71 Murder of Monsignore Palma 71 Bonapartist ingratitude 71 Swiss Guard and foreign Ambassadors faithful to the Pope 72 Pius IX. protests agaiuMt the Socialist ministry and its acts 72 Lord Minto 73 PiusIX. in danger Flight of the Pope to Gaeta..... 75 Armellini and his wife 76, 77 Revolutionary dedarations 77 European opinion 78 Peter's Pence 79 Powers resolve to restore the Pope ....80, 81, 82 Action of the Powers delayed 83 Prince L. Napoleon declares for the temporal Sovereignty 83 Several Powers xiudeitake to restore the Pope 84 France sends an army to Rome 84 Treachery of the Roman Populace 84 Determination to besiege Rome 84 Excesses of the Revolutionists 85 Offer of the King of Naples and the Spaniards to assist the French declined 85 Rome suiTendered to the French 86 Colonel Niel conveys the Keys of Rome to Gaeta 86 Gratitude of Pius IX 86 The Pope's letter to General Oudinot 87 Q^ieralOudinot at(}aeta 87 Attempt of the French Gk)vemment to coerce the Pope 88 III. I'AOI. Dietation — the famoita letter to Colonel Edgar Ney 88 The French Republic's dictation indignantly rejected 69 The National assembly decides in favor of the Pope 8ft 1L Roman muniopality invites the Pope to return 90 Pius IX. returns to Rome 91 State of the Church 91 Photian Schism 91 Islam 91, 9S Russia 92 Missions-Society of theHoly Qhost 98 Bishops in iEgypt 103 The ex-Khedive 104 Africa 104 Religious asBociatious of Laymen in Germany 105 Peace among Germans 106 Remarkable expression of Opinion 107 Spain, Portugal and their Colonies in the time of Pius IX 108 The Catholic Church in England 109 Pius IX. restores the English Hierarchy 110 Dr. Wiseman and thirteen other eminent Ecclesiastics raised by Pius IX. to the dignity of Cardinal 118 Increase of Catholics 119 Hierarchy of Holland restored 1S3 Persecution in New Granada — action of Pius IX — Persecutors discom- fited : .,. 134 Repeal of penal laws in Sweden — Pius IX sends a Pastor to Stockholm. . . 186 Danish penal laws abolished — ^remarkable number of conversions 127 Athens 127 Persecution defeating itself in Germany 127, 128 Pius IX. and Sardinia 121> Pius IX. puts an end to GoA Schism 130 Encyclical on the ImmacuUto Conception 130 Dogma promulgated 133 The Ckssica— Dispute settled by Pius IX 136 Accident at St. Agnes — Pius IX. in danger 140 Piedmont seeks a French alliance against the Pope 141 Count Rayneval's report 143 Pius IX. — the Meceenas of his age 149 Cavour rebuked by an English Minister of State 160 " Motu Proprio " 160 Donoso Cortes 161 Principles in *' Motu proprio " recognized by allstatesmen 153 Cuionizations at Rome — ^American Saints 169 New Sees IB» IT. Napoleon III. denns to be eroum^ by the Pope 10(> FiuiIX. sponsor for Napoleon's Son 160 Pius IX. sponsor for Alphonso III 161 Pius IX. concludes Concordat with Austria 161 Difficulties in Spain and Spanish countries 162 Errors of Ounther 163 Pius IX. makes a progress through his States 163 The Mortara case ,166 ^ew Sees erected by Pius IX. in Amef;^^ 167 , G*nonizations 168 ,, Count Onini attacks Napoleon III 168 The war of 1809 — ^The Legations severed from the States of the church. . . 16tt Pius IX. proteato 172 The Truth about Perugia 173 The Peace of Villafranca 177 Foreign bandits led by GMibaldi 182 Lord Normandy on the state of Italy 188 Duplicity of Napoleon in *. 193 Bishop Dupaoloup CKU the twiipQ^ power 194 Cardinal Donnet and other eminent Bishops qt the same mind 197 European Congress proposed 199 "The Pope and the Congress" — a revolutio.^aI7 pamphlet 19B TheEncycli(^"n«tfMCflfi8twW»" 203 Non-intervention ; 205 T\iscany, Panna, Modena and the Legations finally annexed to Pied- mont — ^Pricepf the spoil 206 Letter of Pius IX. to Victor Emmanuel 207 Napoleon III. and excommunication 208 ,Ee8ult8 of revolutionary Government 209 The two Sicilies invaded 210 Spoliation .»...;..... 211 .Peter's Pence 213 ■The Army of Order , 214 Castelfidardo 219 Ancona 228 (The Bishop of Poitiers and Archbishop Manning 232 (The Pamphlet "France, Borne and Italy" denounced by "Mgt. Pie 233 (Piedmont condemned by Pruasia 286 ,The Pope's allocution 285 ^ mock Plebiscite 936 Cardinal Antonelli replies to "France, Rome et L'ltalie" 237 first Italian Parliament and first Kmg of Italy 240 Death of Count de Cavour 241 rAiom. m« IielMuion.lIa«MNi.aad,I!lui CL t48 CimTcnion oCthe BolfMJUM. 143 *nM umexation to Piedmont of UmW* and (lie Manhas pabUelj Muaotioned hj Napoleon III t44 Piedmont Meks to xeign at Bona S4fi 11iePiedmonteMGoT«mmentpliuidcnthe(Siax«k. 946 Allocution of Piu« IX f46 QudinalAntonellipioteats SM7 Napoleon m. obliged to modify liii ItaUaapoli^ i48 Wamingj of M. Thien and other Slatamen..... i49 Aapromonte 800 The martyn of Japan 161 Piu IX addresMB the aaeemUed Biihopi, denowMang the enron of iih» time SS4 SeplyoftheBiahope 866 Pius IX. the wonder of Rome 367 Agitation in Turin Paritament 867 Penecution in Poland 868 Penecution— condemned by >PittB IX 860 The Bevolutionista commend bis courage 861 The RuMian Envoy insults tbePope 868 ifhe ex-King of Naples protected 868 liaTJTnilian at Rome 863 A Nuncio sent to MaTmilian 864 Ifazimilian abandoned by Napoleon — ^hiadeath 866, 866 Another step towards the abolition of the Pontifleal Sovereignty 866 TheSyllabus 868 Napoleon III humbles Austria 871 Pirns IX. devoted to his spiritual mission 873 JohnB. de Rossi , 873 John Sarcander 374 Benedict Joseph Labre 876 Mixed schooLi — Ireland 876 Troubles of the church in Hezioo ; 877 The eighteenth centenry of the Martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul 376 The Revolution advances 896 The Papal Zouaves and L^on of Antibes 397 The Papal SUtes invaded 1^9 The Zouave Music Band basely murdered 908 French army ordered to Rome 303 Ghazacter of Garibaldians 308 Mentana 304 DeMaistre— Muller 306 Garibaldian fanaticism 307 TI. ' PAOK. Two muideren executed 307 Pius IX. visits the wounded rebels 309 DelMte in French Parliuuent — Napoleon's Qoyemment defeated 309 Canadian Zouaven 311 The arts of peace — I'la vigna , 318 Anniversary of the Holy Father's ordination 319 Hassaoresin C^ina 313 The Pope's coinage 314 The Vatican Council 316 Infallibility 335 Comparative importance of the Vatican Council 339 No new Doctrine 341 V^anco-Prussian war — French garrison withdrawn from Rome — Ad- journment of the Council 343 Pius IX. endeavors to prevent war — His admirable letter to the King of Prussia 340 Pius IX. summoned to give up Rome — His attitude on the occasion.... 349 The Wolf in the Fold 361 Pius IX. welcomed by the Roman people 304 Foreign Ambassadors surround the Holy Father 354 The students of the American CoUegu offer to defend the Pope 365 Pius IX. orders a capitulation 365 Agreat country disgraced 356 A mock Plebiscite 367 The Quirinal seized 368 The Pope resolves to remain at Rome 359 The Jaw of guarantees 360 Subsidy refused 361 Peter's Pence 362 Benefactions of Pius IX 363 Works of art. 364 Remarkable anniversary 365 Queen Victoria congratulates the Pope 366 Sacriligious robbery !".', 366 The Emperor of Brazil at the Vatican 368 Creation of Cardinals — Tarquini.. * 368 Pius IX. really a prisoner 369 Viidt to St. Peter's 370 The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Pope 371 Allusion to Ireland 372 Loss of souls 373 Relations with foreign States 373 Fanaticism of Prince Bismarck 376 The "May Laws" 376 Small number of ilft OcUhoUea 377 VII. Victims of persecution— The German People shocked 880 Sympathy in England 38t Pius IX. laments the petsecution 833 The wants of the church provided for 384 The Church and ITutttirfaMHf/. S8A Education at Rome 386 JReligion at Rome 389 Military conscription 391 St. Peter's and St. John Lateran rohhed 391 Measureti for the extirpation of Religion 398 Crime in Italy 398 Why don't the people vote? 395 Russian cruelties 396 PiuB IX. remonstrates 397 The Church in the Turkish Empire 399 „ » CShina 408 „ » India 403 „ „ „ Japan 403 Persecution in Brazil 406 Pius IX. receives a persecuted Bishop 406 South American States and Mexico 407 Ecuador 408 Switzerhnd 410 Great Britain and the British Colonies 413 Canada 416 Australia 416 The United States of America 417 Hierarchy of Scotland 418 Number of Catholics, generally, in the time of Pius IX 421 Anniversary of Pius IX. 's Episcopal Consecration 423 Universal rejoicing — Jubilee 424 Death of Cardinals Antonelli and Patrizi 426 The Mancini law 427 Plan for electing a Pope 429 Illness of the Pope 430 Victor Emmanuel at the Vatican 430 Pius IX. restored to health ., 431 Decree regulating the Pope's funeral 433 Victor Emmanule dies at the Qn»wTi*1 434 Strange lamentations 436 Anniversary of Pius IX. 's first oommunicn 438 Illbess of Pius IX — -his death 439 The eminent Bishop of Poitiers applies to Pius EL— certain memorable words of St. Cyprian MO liW) XIII. elected Pope 441 PKEFACE. The history of Pius IX. will always be read with interest. His Pontificate was, indeed, eventful. In no preceding age were the &ii}ials of the Church so grandly illustrated. The spiritual sovereignty, "with which," to use the words of a British statesman, "there is nothing on this earth that can at all compare," was crowned with surpassing glory. Doctrines which, hitherto, had been open to theological dis- cussion , were ascertained and pronounced to be in accordance with the belief of all preceding Christian ages. The Church was enabled, through ,the labors of her Chief and the zeal of her Priesthood, to extend vastly the place of her tent. The life of Pius IX. himself was a marvel and a glory. None of his predecessors, not even Peter, attained to his length of days. On the other hand, the venerable Pontiff, and, together with him, the Catholic people, were doomed to behold and lament the loss of the time-honored patrimony of St. Peter. The Papacy, however, unlike all temporal sovereignties, was able to sustain so great a loss. More ancient than its temporal power, it still survives ; " not a mere antique, but in undimin- ished vigor." PIUS IX. AND HIS TIME.^ ' BIBTH OF PIUS IX. John Mary Count Mastai Ferreti was born at Sinigaglia, on the 13th of May, 1792. At the age of twenty-two he came to Eome. Anxious to serve the Holy Father, and yet not aspiring to the priesthood, he resolved to become a member of the Noble Guard. This the delicate state of his health forbade. Eepelled by the Prince Commandant, he sought counsel of the Pope. Pius VII. pronounced that his destiny was the Cross, and advised him to devote liimself to the ecclesiastical state. The words of the Holy Father were, to the youthful Mastai, as a voice from on high. He decided for the Church, knd, as if in testis mony that his decision was ratified in heaven, the falUng- sickness left him. His studies were more than ordinarily successful, and he already gave proof of those high qualities which were afterwards so greatly developed. The distinguished Canon Graniare, his professor, little dreaming of the exalted destiny which awaited him, held him up as a pattern of excel- lence to his fellow-students, saying that he possessed the heart of a Pope. Whilst yet a student, Mastai interested himself in an orphanage, which was founded by John Bonghi, a charitable mason of Eome. He spent in this institution the first seven years of his priesthood, devoting himself to the care of the orphans, who were, as yet, his only parishioners. The income which he derived from fa^aily resources was liberally applied in supplying the wants of these destitute children, and even in ministering to their recreation. 6 MISSION TO CHILI. It now became his duty to accompany, as a missiontury priest, Monsignore Mazi, who was appointed Vicar- Apostolic for Chili, Peru aiid Mexico. These countries had thrown oflf the yoke of Spain and adopted Republican forms of government. The Vicar- Apofctolic and his companions suffered much in the course of iiheir voyage to America. They were oast into prison, ct the Island of Majorca, by Spanish officials, who took it amiss that Rome should hold direct relations with the rebellious sub- jects of their government. Their ship was attacked by cor- sairs, and was afterwards in danger &om a storm. A single circumstance only need be mentioned in order to show what the faithful ministers of the Church had to endure when traversing the inhospitable steppes of the Pampas. Once, at night, they had no other shelter than a wretched cabin built with the bones of animals, which still emitted a t ^^^'^i6\is odour. In those arid deserts, they suffered from, thirst as well as from dearth of provisions. Great results can only be attained by equally great labors. If, after a period of privation, the travel- lers enjoyed no more luxurious refreshment than the waters of the crystal brook, it might well be said, "de torrente in via- bibet propterea exaltabit caput." (They shall be reduced to quench their thirst in the mountain stream, and therefore shall be exalted.) The delegates of the Holy Father were received with enthusiasm by the South American populations. Mean- while, the narrow governments that were set over those coun- tries raised so many difficulties that the mission was only par- tially successful. This mission, however, was not without benefit to the Rev- erend Count Mastai. It had been the means of developing the admirable qualities which he possessed. It had afforded him the opportunity of seeing many cities, as well as the manners and customs of many people. These lessons of travel were not addressed to an ordinary mind. His views were enlarged » elevated and refined by contact with so many rising or fallen civilizations, so many different nationalities, and by the s^ecta- RIPA GRANDE. 7 tacle of Nature, that admirable handmaid of the Divinity, with her varied splendors and her manifold wonders, astonishing no less in the immensity of the ocean than in the va. t forests of the New World. The mmd appears to grow as the sphere ol material life extends. Va^t hori-^ons are adapted to great souls, and prepare them for gi-eat things. The Abbe Mastai had thus received in his youth two most salutary lessons, which are often wanting to the best-tried virtues of the sacerdotal state — the lesson of the world, which Mastai had received before the time of his vocation to Holy Orders, and the lessons of travel, which dis- engages the mind from the bondage of local prejudices. Both of these te£(>chers he admirably understood. He had, indeed, drank of the torrent which exalts. Leo. XII. noAv filled the Apostolic Chair. This Pontiff, highly appreciating the good sense and penetration of which Mastai had given proof in the difl&cult mission to Chili, appoint- ed him Canon of Sancta Maria, Borne, in via lata, and, at the same time, conferred on him the dignity of Prelate. Never was the Boman purple more adorned by the learning and genuine vii-tue of him on whom it was bestowed. There is at Bome an institution of charity, the greatest which that city or even the world possesses, the immense hos- pital of St. Micliael a Ripa Grande. A whole people dwells within its vast precincts. It is at once a place of retreat for aged and infirm men, a most extensive professional school for poor girls, and a sort of workshop, on a great scale, for children that have been forsaken. The greater number leam trades. Some, who give proof of higher talents, apply, at the expense of the hospital, to the study of the fine arts. This hospital is, in itself, a world, and its government requires almost the qualities of a statesman. Pope Leo XII., anxious to render available the rare abilities of Canon Mastai, named him President of the com- mission which governs this great establishment. There was need, at the time, so low was the state of the hospital budget, of the nicest management, unremitting'^care, and the highest 8 ARCHBISHIOP OF SPOLETO. liMancial capacity. These qualities were all speedilj'- at work, wiiu in tlio course of two years all the resources of the institu- tion vrevH in aJrairable ordei'. The fear of banki-uptcy was removed, deficits of income made up, and receipts abundant. It had not been the custom to allow to apprentice-workmen any sha/e in the fruits of their labors. Herein Mastai effected a great anu certaiiily not vmcalled-for reform. Far from im- poverishing the hospital, this liberal measure only showed, by its happy results, that justice is in perfect liai*mony with economy, and that the best houses are not those which make the most of the labor of their inmates, but those which encourage industry by allowing it what is just. The orphans were thus, in two years, enabled to have a small sum, which secured to them, so far, a mitigation of their lot. Meanwhile, the proceeds of the hospital were doubled. This was remarkable success. Count Mastai' s reputation for administrative ability was now of the highest order. • In the Consistory of May 21st, X827, Canon Count Mastai was named Archbishop of Spoleto. Thus did Pope Leo XII. signalize his solicitude and affection for the city of his birth. The appointment came not too soon. It requii'ed all the in- fluence of a great mind to maintain peace at Spoleto. Party spirit ran high. One side clamored against abuses ; the other, dreading all change, clung pertinaciously to the past. Wrath was treasured in every bosom. If civil war had not yet broken out, it raged already in the breasts of the people. Spoleto re- sembled two hostile camps, and vividly recalled the state of those cities of the Middle-Age, where stood in presence, and armed from head to heel, the undying enmities of the Ghibellins and the Guelphs. The slightest occasion would have sufficed to cause the hardly-suppressed embers of deadly .strife to burst into a flame. Through the zeal and diplomacy of the Arch- bishop, such occasion was averted. Spoleto may yet remember, and not without emotion, how earnestly he studied to appease wild passions, with what delicacy and perseverance he labored to reconcile the terrible iBuds that prevailed, to calm the dire spirit ^"TBP'T^ IMOL.^. 9 of revenge, to bury the sense of wron^^ in the oblivion of for- giv'^ness. At^ength, u) 1801 and 1S32, a hopeless rebellion iinfiirled its b^ood-veci banner. It was speedily and pitilessly re- pressed. Such an occasion only was wanting in order to show w.. t on.e man can do when sustained by the power of '.iil;ue and the esteem of mankind. Tne foreign and Teutonic ai-Li which conquered tlie insurrection had been always hateful to the Italian people ; nor did ite display And exercise of military force, in restoring tranquillity to the troubled State, conciliate their friendship. Only when vanquished did the rebels appear before the walls of Spoleto. In their extremity, they came to beg for shelter and for bread. In the estimation of the benevolent Arch- bishop, they were as lost sheep whom it was his duty, if pos- sible, to save. He hastened, accordingly, to meet the wolf. The Austrian General, although a stem warrior, was, at the same time, the servant of a Christian Power. He listened to the Ai-chbishop's remonstrances, and resolved to refrain fi'om further military proceedings, the Prela-te undertaking to disarm the rebels, and thus siatisfy the sad re(]fuu-ements of war with- out any recoui?se to useless and hateful cruelties. Keturning to the city, he addressed the insurgents, and, to his unspeak- able satisfaction, they at once came to lay at his feet those arms which the Austrian soldiers could only have torn from their lifeless bodies. Thus did the good pastor, by disai*ming, save the rebellious flock. Mastai was now transferred to Imola. This city is less considerable than Spoleto. The diocese, however, is richer and more populous. Its Episcopal chau' leads directly to the Cardinalate. It has also thrice^ given to the Catholic Church its Chief Pastor. The people of Spoleto sent a deputation, but in vain, to beseech the Holy Father to leave the good pastor to his affectionate flock. He v;as destined also to reign in the heai'ts of the good people bf Imola. The numerous institutions there, which owe their existence to his Episcopal zeal and Christian charity, are 10 BIBLTOAL AOADKMY. m<3numentH of IIa pabtoial care. The virtue of which Arch- ))ibhop Masto' was so bright a pattern had no sourness in it, no outward show of austerity ; nor was it forbidding and in- tolerant, but sweet and gentle. Words of forgiveness were always on his lips, and his hand was ever open to distress. He labored assiduously to reform, wherever reform was needed, but, what rarely happens, without alienating affection from the reformer. It was his constant study to elevate the character of the clergy, and he ceased not to encourage among them learning as well as piety. Into the Diocesan Seminary, which was always the object of his most anxious care, he introduced some new branches of study, such as agriculture, practical as well as theoretical, and a general knowledge of the medical art. There was yet wanting to the clergy of his diocese a common centre where they could meet for mutual edification and in- struction. To this purpose he devoted his own palace, and founded there a BibUcal Academy. The members of this Academy met once a month in order to discuss together some subjects connected with the Sacred Writings. None can be ignorant how powerfully such meetings contribute to pro- mote the study of the Scriptures, pulpit eloquence, and the great science of theology. In order, moreover, to obviate the dangers to which students were exposed, who, whilst they studied at the Seminary, were not inmates, and enjoyed not the safeguards of its discipline, he founded an institution called the "Con vitto," where the poorer alumni were boarded without charge. Anxious also to provide for the comfort of the lowly poor^ aiid to guard against all wasting of their humble means, the good Prelate reformed the hospital of Imola, and set over it' the Sisters of Charity — that incomparable Order which owes its existence to the most benevolent of men, St. Vincent de Paul. Nor, in his higher state, did he forget his first care — the orphan. An orphanage at Imola is due to his munificence. There were no bounds to his liberality. At his own expense alone he repaired the tomb of St. Cassien, and decorated the Chapel of Our Lady of Dolours in the Church of the Servites. CARDINAL. 11 Whe > rafced to the dignity of Cardinal, by Pope Gregory XVI., in btccmber, 1840, Archbishop Mastai was abready uni- versally populai'. The cations of a later period may have originated in political motives — may even have been pro- moted by a political party ; but the honors now spontaneously heaped upon him were awarded to the man and the Ohristiau pastor. Congratulations in prose and in verse, illuminations^ fireworks, demonstrations of every kind, announced the joy with which the new Cardinal was welcomed everywhere. Gregory XVI. had the reputation of being highly conserva- tive. In the true sense of the term, he really was so. Never- theless, he was not averse to reform, and he showed that he was not when he elevated Archbishop Mastar, whose ten- dencies were well known, to the rank and office of Cardinal. More than this, in concurrence with the Great Powers of Europe, with whom he took counsel, he labored to introduce certain salutary reforms in his States. Such reforms, indeed, were needed ; and the aged Pontiff resolved on them, not only in order to render unnecessary the intervention of foreign arms in the affairs of his government, but also with a view to bring his rule into harmony with the spirit and civilization of the age. If in this most laudable undertaking he did not succeed, h& owed his failure to the SociaUst party, those enemies of law and order, of property, and life even, whose fatal action at a later period marred the political career of Pius IX. The Eoman people, generally, were capable of appreciating, and surely did appreciate, the enlightened efforts of their Pontiff Sovereign. They were not, as some writers would have, us beUeve, in a semi-barbarous condition. Sylvio Pellico, whose testimony cannot be questioned, speaks of theiL in the following terms : " The eight months I have spent at Bome in 1845 and 1846 (time of Gregory XVI.) have abomided in dehghtful impressions. It can never be sufficiently told how well this venerable city de- serves to be visited, and not in passing only. How the good an4 beautiful abound in it !" A little later, Pellico writes: "I continue to be quite dehghted with Bome, both as regards men 12 I 8YLVI0 PELLICO — MA8TAI POPE. and things. In the small hook, Dei Doceri, I haVe Bho"v but ^ that is a volimtary, love-inspired offering? What VENTURA 8 PRAISE OF CONNELL. 27 sovereignty is more glorious than that whose sword is the pen, and whose only artillery the tongue ; whoso only couriers are the poor, and its sole bodyguard the affections of the people ? What sovereignty more beneficent than that which, far from c ausing tears to flow, dries them ; which, far from shedding blood, stanches it; 'which, fai* from immolating life, pre- serves it ; wtich, far from pressing down upon the people, elevates them ; which, far from forging chains, breaks them J and which always maintains order, harmony and peace, without ever inflicting the slightest aggression on liberty ? Where is the monarch who would not esteem himself happy in reigning thus? Of such a sovereignty, we may with tr^th say Wi. 'i was said of Solomon's, that none can equal its gran- deur, its glory and its magnificence." So favorable an opportunity for instructing the Italians was not thrown away. False liberty was already strewing their path with its meretricious allurements. "As true liberty diffuses around it pvace and grace and calm, so does false liberty disseminate, wherever it is implanted, terror, dismay and horror. The brows of one are illuminated with the splendid halo of order, and those of the other are covered with the red cap of anarchy. One holds in her hand the olive- branch of peace ; the other waves the torch of discord. One is arrayed in robes white as thorte of innocence, and the other is enveloped in the dark, blood-stained mantle of guilt. One is the prop of thrones; the other a yawning abyss beneath them. One is the glory and the happiness of nations; the other their disgrace and their punishment. The latter bursts out of hell as if it were a poisonous blast issuing from the jaws of the devil himself; whilst true liberty descends sweetly and gently upon the earth, as if the spirit of God had sent it down to us a holy and blessed thing from heaven. Ubi spiritui Domini ibi Lihertas." None will be surprised to learn that on hearing these singularly eloquent words, the immense auditory could no longer control their emotions. A general murmur of approba- 23 FOLLY OF TBB ROMANO. tion was heard throughout the vast temple and was breaking out into loud applause, when the preacher, mindful of the reverence due to the holy place, made haste, to repress it. This great demonstration may well bo considered as the best testimony that could be given as to the real sentiments of the Italian people. They were not ignorant of the nature of that liberty for which O'Connell had so long and successfully contended. Nor were they under any erroneous impression as to what the gifted preacher meant when he extolled in such glowing terms that true liberty which is the glory, at once, and the best security of nations. If, a little later, they pursued the phantom instead of the reality, it must be consid- ered that, as yet, they had no political education or experience, and that no high -principled Tribune, like O'Connell, stood forward to lead them. All who aspired to guide them, and who won their confidence, were tainted with the doctrines of the Socialist party, whose ideas of government and liberty were utterly Utopian. If it could be said that public rejoicings afforded any assistance to the Pope, in his labors as the head of the Koman State, he was not left without aid in his great undertakings. Such things, however, rather hindered than promoted his endeavors. His people had, so to say, commenced, under his auspices, a long and laborious journey. There was no time for mere pleasure and amusement. Nevertheless, whenever a new scene or landscape opened to their view, they stopped to rejoice, and gave themselves up, without control, to the intoxication of delight. In so doing they laid themselves open to the snares and attacks of many secret enemies, who availed themselves of their frequent gatherings to sow the seeds of discord and corrupt their minds with false poUtical doctrines. Far better would it have been if they had left to the Sovereign in whom, at first, they placed unbounded confidence, and the wise Ministers whom he called to his counsels, the care of forward- ing the cause of reform. It had been most benevolently and successfully begun, and was prccaeding, in the estimation of all no NONO SOLO. 2» but an impatient people, with rapidity which had no parallel in the history of nations. The people, by assembling tumultuously on occasion of every popular measure, no doubt meant no more at first than to show gratitude and affection to their pastor and prince. Such meetings, however, were not without danger to the cause of reform. The political enemies of the Pope easily foresaw that, by his wise and popular improvements in the State, he would certainly secure to himself a peaceful, strong and glorious reign. So, laying hold of the general enthusiasm, they trained and disciplined to their will a people who were naturally good and unsuspecting. These men came at length to give the watchword, and, according to their wishes and the views which it suited them to insinuate into the popular mind, the uneducated and fickle multitude expressed satisfaction or discontent, as they defiled in imposing masses before the mansion of the Pontiff. Thus was formed 9, sort of government out of doors, which, if it did not yet oppose or appear to oppose at least, powerfully swayed the official authority. Cardinal Gizzi, whose ministry was so popular, deemed it necessary to require by proclamation that these noisy demonstrations should cease. It was too late. The people, defying the Cardinal's mandate, hastened in crowds to the Quirinal, saluted, as usual, the Pope with enthusiastic vivats, expressing, at the same time, their detestation of his ministry, which they were wont to applaud so loudly, and which, if it had not by any great activity done much to acquire,, had certainly done nothing to forfeit their favor. ^'VivaPio Nono! Pio Nono Solo/'* was now their cry. The Pope himself next came to be considered as intolerably dilatory in preparing measures of reform. Nor did he escape the accusation, at the same time, of sacrificing to his zeal, as a temporal ruler, the higher duties which he owed to religion and the Church. According to one set of refers, he was breaking with inviolable tradition. Others insisted that so enthusiastic a reformer of the State must be a revolutionist in the Church. Such attacks were met by anticipation in the Encyclical of 9th November,, 80 RELIGIOUS ORDKRS. 1846. This well-known document was received with applause by the civilized world. It leaves no ground for the charges in question. It would only destroy the Church to pretend to reform its dogma and revolutionize its discipline and govern- ment, ^uch an idea could proceed from no other source than the stratagems of unbelief, or from the snares of the wolf, who, in sheep's clothing, seeks to insinuate himself into the fold. It is nothing short of sacrilege to hold that religion is suscep- tible of progress or improvement, as if it were a philosophical discovery, which could advance with the march of science. The Holy Father enumerates also in this Encyclical the principal grounds of faith, and exhorts all bishops to oppose with all their zeal and learning those who, alleging progress as their motive, perversely endeavor to destroy religion by subjecting it to every man's indivlidual judgment. He condemns indifference as regards religion, eloquently defends ecclesiastical ceUbacy, and, mindful that the Church is the teacher of the great as well as of the humble, he enforces the obUgations of sovereigns towards their subjects, not forgetting the fulfilment of all the duties which the people owe to their rulers^ In a former Encyclical, Pitls IX. had expressed bis predilection for the religious orders. This expression was now renewed. Time may have interfered, more or less, with their discipline. Anxious to preserve them and promote their prosperity, he was ever willing to correct such abuses as may have existed. To some communities he offered the most admirable suggestions. Others hb honored with personal visits, evincing always a truly pastoral zeal for the well-being of institutions so precious to religion. Pius IX., although deeply occupied with affairs of State that would have commanded all the attention and energy of any ordinary mind, found time, nevertheless, for the discharge of duties of a stiU higher order. He never forgot that he was the Bishop as weU as the Sovereign of Eome» The Eomans, although inhabiting the Holy City, like all other people, stood in need of the instructions and warnings of religion. The THE POPE S SERMON. 81 Pope tvas aware, besides, that bad habits prevailed, such as profane swearing, luxurious living, the neglect of parents in the training of their children. The knowledge of such things grieved him exceedingly. He now resolved to have recourse to a measure which was as striking as it was unexpected. In the trying days of the Crusaders, and moved by their zeal for the safety of Christendom, the Popes of an earlieir time had addressed, as the ministers of God, immense public assem- blages. No Pope, however, had appeared in the pulpit since Oregory VII. The Church of St. Andrew, where the eloquent Father Ventjira was accustomed to preach, was selected, but, lest there should be too great a crowd, no notice of the Pope's intention was published. At ' half-past three o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, just as the congregation were expecting to see Abbate Ventura enter the church, the Pope himself made his appearance. The sermon was not a long one ; but it was memorable, and to be long remembered. "In this city," said the Holy Father, "which is the centre of Catholicity, there are men who insult the holy name of God by profane and blas- phemous language. On all those who now hear me I lay this charge : publish everjrwhere that I have no hope for such men. They cast in the face of Heaven the stone which will, one day, recoil upon them and crush them. I would also most earnestly exhort you as regards the duty of fasting. Many fathers and mothers come to me in order to impart to me the sorrow which they experience in considering the melancholy fact which cannot escape their observation, that the demon of uncleanness exercises a destructive empire over the youth of Rome. Our Lord Himself in the Holy Gospel assures us that, by no other means than prayer and fasting, is it possible to overcome this demon who poisons the sources of life and works the ruin of immortal souls." The sermon, although comparatively short, spoke of the chief obligations of a Chirstian life. It was delivered with great unction, and the Holy Father concluded with a fervent prayer for Borne and the Roman State. " Look d'^wn upon this vine, Lord, .f>:.J>' 32 SOCIALISTS AND CONSERVATIVES. which Thy right hand hath planted ! Look upon it in mercy^ and remove from it the hand of iron which weighs bo heavily upon it. Pour into the bosoms of the rising generations those two most precious attributes of youth, — modesty and a teach- able mind. Listen to my prayer, Lord, and bestow upon this congregation, on this city and all people, Thy most pre- cious blessings." Appropriate* gesticulations added to the power of words. Another influence, also, came in aid, — an influence peculiar to Pius IX., — that indescribable expression of goodness which lighted up his countenance as he spoke. The people, whose feelings are naturally fine, were moved even to tears and sighs. The occasion itself was well calculated to move the minds of a Catholic audience. It was an element, no doubt, which, together with the eloquence of the preacher, and the • power of apostolic preaching, could not fail to produce a profound impression. And, indeed, the whole congregation were filled with enthusiasm. Whilst thus finding consolation in the exercise of his sublime ministry, the benevolent PorMff was destined to encounter formidable attacks on the part of political oppo- nents. On the one hand, the ultra-Conservatives, who held in abomination the mere idea of reform, endeavored by every means to confound in the popular mind the beneficial mea- sures which the Pope was introducing into the economy of the State, with radical changes in the most essential points of religion itself. The Socialists, on the other Tiand, studied to excite the people and increase their impatience by mis- representing all the acts of the ministry, and causing it to be believed that, by the delay which was unavoidable in labors of such magnitude and importance, they were only abusing the confidence of the sovereign and betraying the cause oi reform. Some remains of chivalry might have been expected in the ranks of the high Conservative party. But, dlas ! too truly the age of chivalry was gone, and these sticklers for the usages of a bygone age, only showed by their modes of THE FRIENDS OF ORDER. 8d proceeding that they clung to an empty and inanimate form of things from which life and substance had departed. As was related at the time, they stepped down to the depths of calumny and published a cruel libel, in which the Holy Father was held up to the scorn of all right-thinking men as an ** intruder," " an enemy of Religion," " the chief of Young Italy." In the estimation of such men dis- cretion is the better part of valor. But whilst, they fought with the coward's weapon — slander — they could not wholly escape detection. Their libel was seized in the hands of a colporteur. This wretched man offered to disclose the lames of the libellers. Pius IX. declined Bis offer, generously for- gave him the offence, and even bestowed upon him a sum of money in order to induce him and enable him to give up his nefarious trade. Meanwhile, there was at Rome a still more numerous body who sustained the policy of the Holy Father. These friends of order, it is most pleasing to record, made every effort to aid him in carrying out the measures of reform which he contemplated. This influentit^il body of faithful and patriotic citizens, who can never be sufficiently praised, organized a considerable force which kept the populace in check. This party consisted, chiefly, of the burghers of Rome. They were encouraged and headed .by the higher nobles, such as the Borghese, the Rospigliosi, the Riguano, the Piombino, and the Aldobrandini. Acting as a noble guard, they were able to preserve order in the city, when, on occasion of celebrating the memorable amnesty, it was seriously threatened by the factions. They were, indeed, a party of reform, order-loving and law-abiding. It can never be sufficiently regretted that, unaccustomed as they were to political turmoil, they knew not how to keep their ground in the face of new dangers which arose so soon. The health of Cardinal Gizzi had begun to decline. The toils of office were not calculated to improve it, and so he relinquished 9, post which was, every day, becoming more c ^ 34 MUNICIPALITY OF ROME. onerous and difficult. There was another Cardinal whose high character had endeared him to the Romans. Ability and learning were not his only qualities. He was energetic and resolute, faithful, straightforward and self-sacrificing. When the dread scourge of cholera swept over his episcopal city and impoverished his people. Cardinal Ferretti gave up for the relief of the sufferers all that he possessed — money, clothing, plate, furniture, and remained in his empty Palace, as destitute as a pauper. To this eminent Cardinal Pius IX. appealed, offering him the high office which Gizzi could no longer hold. On 26th July, 1847, thie new Chief Minister arrived at Rom'B. He was warmly received. The citizens gave him an ovation. ^ Short' / before his arrival, news had come to Rome that Austrian troops were marching on Ferrara, a city of the Papal States.' They were, indeed, entitled, by the treaty of 1815, to occupy this fortress, as well as that of Camachio. They could urge no better excuse for a display of military power in the Pope's States on occasion of the threatened disturbance of 16th July. This parade was only the prelude to further military operations. On 13th August, General #ount Auesperg occu- pied all the posts of Ferrara. Whatever may be said as to treaty rights, this was, undoubtedly, an insult to the Papal flag. The most energetic remonstrances were immediately addressed to the Cabinet of Vienna. Austria endeavored to justify her proceeding by a wide interpretation of the right of occupation, by alleging the disturbed state of the public mind at Rome, and by insisting on certain precedents." But to no purpose. The diplomacy of Ferretti contended successfuUJr with that of Mettemich. And Austria, yielding with the best grace possible to the representations of the Holy Father, evacuated Ferrara. The Pope, far from allowing himself to be disquieted by the presence in his Statea of Croat troops, proceeded with the work of reform which he had undertaken, slowly, indeed, but with energy and perseverance. In these labors of the Statesman, COUNCIL OF STATE. 35 he was ably aided by the Cardinal Minister Ferretti. A prom- ise was given that before the end of the year two great politicaj and administrative institutions would be called into existence. Accordingly, so early as the month of October, two State papers appeared, the one instituting the municipality of Borne, which was to be called the Senate, the other decreeing an assembly that should be, to a certain extent, representative, under the name of Council of State (consulta). The City of Rome had not, for a long time, possessed, like the other cities of the Pon- tifical States, municipal institutions. It was now ordained that there should be a City Council, consisting of the mayor (in the language of the country. Senator), with eight colleagues and a hundred other members. This is not unlike our own municipal magistracy, wherein are the mayor, aldermen and common councilmen or councillors. With us, however, alder- men could hardly be palled the colleagues of the mayor. This functionary stands alone in his worshipful dignity. The first nomination of the members of this municipal body was reserved to the Pope. But it was appointed that, ever after, it should be chosen by free popular election. None will question the wisdom and liberality of the language in which the Pope expressed himself in the preamble to the new law. ** When we were called by Divine Providence to govern the Church and the State, our paternal solicitude was at once directed to every portion of the Dominion subjected to our Government, but especially towards thfe capital, the chief of all our cities, to which it is consoling for us to devote our watchings and our labors. What was, above all, important,' and what we think will be a subject of joy to aU, is the restoration to this beloved city of its ancient glory of communal representation, by grant- ing to it a deliberative council. The study of this project has been particularly pleasing to us, and we have not allowed our- selves to be discouraged by any difficulty." This important decree was published on the 2nd day of October, 1847. On the following day there was a national festival. The people were in raptures, and loudly demonstrated their jcpratihide to 36 DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE. the Holy Father for an institution which recalled the glorious associations of ancient Borne, and restored it to its place and rank among modern cities. The Cardinal-prince Altieri was named president. He opened the first session of the munici- pal council by a speech which was marked by the homage paid therein to Pius IX. "He considered not," said the orator, "whether the work be difficult. He sees its utility and hesitates not." The council almost unanimously elected to the post of Senator (Mayor) Prince Corsini,who was, at that time, de\oted to the policy of the reforming Pontiff. A measure of more general importance now occupied the attention of the Sovereign Pontiff aftd his Ministers. The Council of State (consulta) was established. It was a deUber- ative assembly. It was not sovereign, but possessed the right to advise the Sovereign. There were twenty-four councillors. The President was a Cardinal Legate. . Each councillor was chosen by the Pope from a list of three candidates presented by. each Province of the Pontifical States. The Council was divided into four sections, whose office it was to prepare laws relating to the Departments of Finance, Home Affairs, PubUc Works and Justice. It was the duty also of these four Com- mittees to hold a general meeting on certain days, in order to take counsel together on the draughts of proposed laws which they had separately prepared. On the 25th November, 1847, the National Eepresentatives met for the first time. Their place of meeting was the throne-rooni of the Quirinal Palace. Cardinal Antonelli was the first President. The proceedings were commenced, and most appropriately, by a respectful address to the Holy Father. It was well known to Pius IX. that the creation of this institution had awakened exaggerated and premature hopes in the minds of a portion of the people, sand that some of the Deputies were not disinclined to encour- age them. So he considered it necessary, in his reply, to define, in a very decided manner, the true character and functions of the National Eepresentative Body. "It is chiefly," said he, " in order that I mfty become better acquainted rOPULAU SATISFACTION. 87 with the wants of my people, and that I may better provide for the exigencies of the State, that I have called you together. I am prepared, in time, to^do everjrthing, without, however, diminisfiing the Sovereignty of the Pontificate. That man would be grievously mistaken who should behold in the func- tions which devolve on you, or in your institution itself, his own Utopias, or the commencement of anjrthing incompatible with the Pontifical Sovereignty." In concluding, he spoke in a still more determined . tone, and reproached his people with the ingratitude which they had already begun to manifest. "There are some persons who, having nothing to lose, wish for disorder and insurrection, and go so far as to make a bad use eVen of our concessions." There was in this Council a commencement of representa- tive government. Deputies from the Provinces assembled — deUberated. They heard a Speech from the Throne. They presented an address in reply. In due time this germ of con- stitutional monarchy would be developed. But the Sovereign would not proceed rashly. The full measure of reform, he was well aware, must, like all great works, be the fruit of time, of much labor and patient consideration. Count Eossi, the French Ambassador, considered that it was already time to introduce a lay element into the political administration of the Papal States. The Holy Father, accord- ingly, after due consideration, appointed some distinguished laymen to the Ministry. In so doing, no doubt, he sacrificed time-honored usage ; but not so much to the wishes of his friends and allies, as to the spirit of the age, which, whether right or wrong, will have men of the world to deal with the world. Italy, although divided into several States, looked to Eome. as its centre and its capital. Whatever occurred in the city of the Popes was at once known throughout the whole penin- sula. Such important and unlooked-for measures of reform as were now carried into effect could not fail, as they were com- municated, to affect deeply the ItaHan mind: Public opinion was aroused. The most profound sympathy was everywhere 88 THE RED REPUBLIC. felt and expressed. Liberty had revived under the auspices of Beligion. It had emanated as a new blessing from the Cross. The Chief of Eeligion, the Father ^f the Faithful, had become its High Priest. His name was held in benediction. His praises were proclaimed not only by the Italian people, but also by every civilized nation. It was no longer violence — no longer insurrection — that contended for liberty. The greatest of all sovereigns had announced its reign. It was not in- debted to any secret society. It relied upon society at large. It rested secure, so men believed, on the firm foundation of enlightened pilbhc opinion. Philosophy, as represented by M. Cousin, hailed its advent. The statesmanship of France, . headed by M. Thiers, ex- toUed its champion. Protestantism, forgetting its illiberal prejudices, re-echoed with enthusiasm the warm vivats of reformed Italy. Pius IX., meanwhile, enjoyed his reward, — not in the flattering echo of ' the thousand voices which sounded his praise, but in the one still voice of approving conscience. He was consoled, moreover, by a profound con- viction that the cause which he had taken in hand would, one day, prove triumphant. With every new concession came the desire for further change. The people" generally were satisfied, even grateful, and they frequently expressed their gratitude in the most sincere and enthusiastic manner. They were not, however, all sincere. There were not wanting those who studied only to make available for their own ends the tumultuous gather- ings and warm expressions of satisfaction in which the people so often indulged. This was the Socialist faction. It aimed at nothing less than to establish a Eepublic — a Republic, one and undivided, or, as it has been called, because of its cruel and blood-thirsty character, the Med Republic. With a view to the establishment of such a Eepublic, the men of this party took advantage of the numerous assem- blages, which could not now either be regulated or diminished in number, to gain new friends, to increase popular excite- COUPLETE BEPRESENTATIOM. 89 ment, and bo to discipline it as to bring it, through some favorite demagogues, under their control. It will shortly be seen with what a dangerous weapon they were arming them- selves. It can scarcely be doubted that but for the machiua- tions of these factionists and their influence with the masses, which was every day increasing, Pius IX. would have suc- ceeded in establishing a system of government as constitu- tional and as free as was at all compatible with his own rights as sovereign. These rights he was not at liberty to abandon. No greater measure of political freedom could be reasonably desired by any people. From all history it is manifest that Hberty is as fully enjoyed, and established on a more secure and permanent basis, under the fostering auspices of a con- stitutional monarchy, than in the best regulated republics. Such a form of government may indeed be said to be more republican than monarchical. But although possessing many properties, and all the popular advantages of a Republic, it does not cease to be a monarchy. The kingly dignity still remains with all that appertains to it, and is an essential element of its constitution. Such was the monarchy that Pius IX. desired to retain, and which he was bound in conscience, he believed, never to relinquish. That in this he was sincere his high character bears witness. Never was there a less selfish sovereign, or a man of more up- right mind and sounder judgment. No prince ever held less to prerogative. Essential rights he was firmly resolved to maintain, whilst he never would have shrunk from any legitimate concession. Whatever was adapted to the time and the circumstances of his country, useful to his people, and conformable to a well-informed and sound public opinion, he was prepared to introduce into the economy of the State. But, the complete secularization of public power in the Pon- tifical States, in other words, the establishment of a Republic based on anti-Christian principles, — the Bed Republic, — could never for a moment be contemplated. What may be called the consultative Government had just entered upon the dis- 40 THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE EXCITES THE ITALIANS. charge of its duties, when Pius IX. resolved to render it com- pletely representative. This important resolution was the subject of frequent conversations with M. Kossi, at the time ambassador at Rome of the French constitutional monarchy. M. Eossi wrote as follows, to his government, in January, 1848: "It is a problem which, after much reflection, I consider may be solved. The divisions of <«overeignty in the world have been numerous and diverse. And as they lasted for ages, we might even try one more, beginning by separating entirely the temporal frt)m the spiritual — the Pope from the Kingi Only it would be necessary to leave wholly to the spiritual, and the clergy, matters which with us are mixed." A few days afterwards, the ambassador communicated this more decided intelligence — ** The Pope will shortly give the constitution. It is his serious and constant study." Not many days later, the • ambassador imparted to his government this more decided intelligence : ** The Pope will shortly grant the constitution. It is his serious and constant study." M, Rossi earnestly recommended that there should be no delay in adopting this important measure. It would, he conceived, put an end to agitation, — a most desirable result, surely, when it is considered how. fatal to the cause of liberty and reform might any day become the too frequent tumultuous assemblages which, once constitutional govern- ment was established, would necessarily cease. The Pope held th6 same idea as the eminent diplomatist. The great idea was as yet, however, far from being realized. A new and most serious difficulty unexpectedly arose. On the 6th of March, 1848, a courier arrived, bearing the startling intelligence that the constitutional monarchy of France had fallen, and that a Republic was estabUshed at Paris. No greater misfortime could have befallen Rome. The public excitement was increased beyond measure, and exaggerated hopes were enkindled that could never be fulfilled. The people, at first enthusiastic only, wer6 now turbulent. The THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE EXCITEH THE ITALIANS. 41 events in France exercised a still more fatal influence. They caused anarchy to prevail. The extreme or Socialist Republi- cans, whom the proclamation of the constitution would have paralyzed, were now in the ascendant. What had been done at Paris, they conceived, might be done at Rome. And they induced the i'loxperienced multitude to share their conviction. Such belief was only an idle and a culpable dream. For surely it could not be guiltless to resolve on sacrificing thou- sands on thousands of precious lives for an Utopia, — a system tha* could never be realized. Events hav^ shown that in France itself, which was entirely free to make whatever political arrangement it pleased, a Republic was not possible, even such a Republic as was established at the downfall of the citizen monarchy, in preference to the Red Republic. How, then, should it be possible to build up at Rome an extreme system in opposition to the views and wishes of the whole Christian world, — in opposition even to the people of Rome themselves, who, when free from undue excitero . nt, were the loyal supporters of the sovereign who had already introduced into the economy of the State so many liberal institutions — institutions that were in perfect harmony with their ideas, and admirably adapted to the exigencies of the times ? * There was no need; as yet, that the Catholic na- tions should come to the aid of their Chief. It was neces- sary only to appeal, in defence of his sovereignty, from Rome drunk to Rome sober, — from Rome intoxicated with unwonted draughts of liberty to Rome in its normal state — to Rome, cool, and calm, and intellectual, even as in the days of her ancient glory, when her sages and grave sen- ators _sat by her gates sorrowing but dignified in their de- feat. With the like coimtenance ought modem Rome to ha^i^met the tide of Socialist invasion, which every succes- siye endeavor to establish the Red or Commimist Republic proves to be more destructive than the war of mighty legions, which can only cast down material walls. A Socialist Republic was impossible at Rome, the city of the Popes. It never could have held its ground against the 42 ROME SAV£D BY THE POPEU. sound principle which universally prevailed throughout the Pontifical States. Nor ^vould it ever have heen able to obtain the countenance, or even the recognition, of the European governments. Not- France and Austria only ; every other Catholic nation as well would have exerted all their influence against it. Nor in doing so would they have acted unwisely or unjustly. Had not Kome, been the residence of their Chief Pastor, that great historic city would have ceased long ago to exist, or would be known only as an insignificant village, scarcely perceptible on the map of Europe. How often has not the celebrated city been rescued froni destruction by the direct agency of the Popes ? How long have they not gov- erned it with wisdom and blessed it with prosperity ? If there be any such thing as prescriptive right, imdoubtedly it is theirs. If there be any right better founded and stronger than that of conquest, such right belongs unquestionably to the saviors of Kome. They have saved it for the Christian world, for mankind, for the Church. It is no man's property. It cannot be let, like a paltry farm, to those who shall bid the highest, in vain compromises and delusive hopes of liberty. Should the Eoman people, of their own free will, pretend to give themselves away, — to sell themselves to a faction whose subversive principles they abhor, their forefathers of aU pre- ceding ages would protest against their base degeneracy ; the children of the generations to come would curse their memory; all reflecting men of the present time would accuse them of black ingratitude, — ingratitude to the mighty dead among their Pontiffs, to whom they are indebted for their very name, the;'*" city's fame, its honored State, its very existence in mod- em times ; ingratitude, above all, to that ruler who offered them, who bestowed upon them, liberty, and who would have gladly rescued them in his day from tyranny, — the tyranny of faction, — even as his predecessors, in bygone times, snatched them from the cruel grasp of barbarism. Pius IX. had made up his mind to institute thoroughly representative and constitutional government. And this was all that the Roman people, as yet, deisired. They were THE POPE RESOLVED TO GRANT A COKSTITUTION. 48 only anxious that the views of the Pontiff should be si)eedily carried into effect. Accordingly, Prince Corsini, the Senator (Mayor), and the eight principal members of the Municipal Council, were commissioned to make known their wishes to the Pope. His reply was dignilied and candid. In declaring his intention to grant the constitution which they asked for, he took care to intimate in the most decided manner that he was not making a concession to the urgency of the moment, but accomplishing his premeditated purpose. ** Events," said he, " abundantly justify the. request which you address to me in the name of the Coimcil and Magistracy of Rome. All are aware that it is my constant study to give to the Government the form which appears to me to be most in harmony with the times. But, none are ignorant, at the same time, of the diffi- culties to which he is exposed, who unites in his own person two great dignities, when endeavouring to trace the line of de- marcation between these two powers. What, in a secular Government, may be done in one day, in the Pontifical can only be accompUshed after mature deliberation. I flatter my- self, nevertheless, that the preliminary labours having been completed, I shall be able, in a few days, to impart to you the result of my reflections, and that this result will meet the wishes of all reasonable people." On the 14th of March, accordingl}', was published the fundamental statute for the temporal government of the Holy Sec, and so was inaugurated constitutional rule in the most complete and straightforward manner which it is possible to conceive. The constitution was framed according to the model of the French Liberal Monarchy of 1830, so modified as to render it capable of being adapted to the Pontifical Gove nment. Under its provisions there were a Ministry which was responsible, and two Houses of Parliament, one of which was elective, and the other composed of members who should hold their appoint- ment during their lifetime. To the Council of State belonged the framing of laws to be afterwards submitted to the votes of the two Chaml^ers. 44 THE CONSTITUTION — THE POPE'S INFLUENCE WITH AUSTRIA. In all constitutional monarchies, the assent of the sovereign is necessary, in order to give the force of law to measures voted by ParUament. So, under the constitution promulgated at Kome by Pius IX., the College of Cardinals were constituted a^ permanent council, whose office it was to sanction finally the- decisions of the Legislative Chambers. Such, in substance, was the statute by which the Pontifical States became unde- niably constitutional. A few days later the Ministry was. named. Three-fourths of their number were laymen. Car- dinal Antonelli" was appointed President or First Minister, And thus the constitution was no sooner framed than it came into. operation, so anxious was Pius IX. to advance the inter- ests and meet the wants and wishes of his people. Now, one would say, gratitude only could await the Pontiff. But no ! at the moment when, of aU others, he was entitled to^ rely on the devotedness of his pepple, a new and great diffi- culty arose. By the diplomacy of 1815, at the close of the great Euro- pean War, certain portions of Italy had been left subject ta German rule. By war only, some Italians imagined, could this evil be removed. This was an extravagant idea. War could only raise up new enemies to the cause of Italy and that regeneration which appeared to be so near at hand. Diplomacy would have served them better. What it had done- at one time, under pressure of the most trying circuiAstances^ it. would have been ready to achieve when circumstances were changed, and imperatively demanded a new order of things. In the new emergencies that had arisen, the learning and ability of statesmen ought, at least, in the first instance, to Jiave been appealed to. As between individuals, it is reason- able that all peaceful means of adjusting a quarrel should be em^.! yed, so, in the greater affair^ of nations, all the arts of statesmanship ought to be had recourse to before resort is had to bayonets and blood. How successful such a course would have proved, and how beneficial to the cause of Italian liberty^ is more than sufficiently shown by the great result which; diplomacy obtained, when Austria, insistiiig on treaty rights^ WAR DISCUSSED. 45 uld be made to prevail. It was decided among the popular leaders that the question of war should be agitated in the greatest assembly which it was possible to gather together. The Coliseum was appointed AS the place of meeting, and it was destined to present an un- wanted spectacle, a grand but ill-omened scene. All Borne, it may be said, was congregated in the ancient arena, the favor- ite tribunes at their head. These demagogues were determined that the question of war should be settled by acclamation, hoping thus to influence the Sovereign Pontiff to induce him to abandon his policy of neutrality by this imposing display of opinion and excitement, by so much popular enthusiasm, by such intoxication, so to say, of patriotism. At an early hour ihe vast arena was already crowded. All orders of the State were there — Nobles, Burghers, Soldiers, Princes — everybody. Priests even came in tolerable numbers to s^ell the crowd, and monks of every ^rder, ecclesiastics of every college, mem- bers of every congregation. Such was the immense open air assemblage in which the question of the new crusade was to be solemnly discussed. It would have been a grand and note- 46 DISCUSSION CONTINUED. worthy spectacle, had it not been arranged beforehand by skil- ful leaders who were adepts in the art of getting up revolu- tiqpary displays. In the great assembly there may have been sincerity. In the chief actors there was none. Such a spon- taneous expression of pubUc sentiment, if really such, would, indeed, have been imposing — grand. Viewed only as a thea- trical performance of parts learned to order — ^nd it was nothing more — ^it was deserving of nothing but contempt. There was in this display, besides, a sinister and melancholy feature — a set of actors practising on the popular mind to-day, in prdev to discover what they might safely attempt to-morrow. Near the tribune which overlooks the arena were ranged all those agitators who were destined to become, at a later period, so notorious in the commotions of the' time. Among thent. was observed Padre Gavazzi, a Barnabite monk, whose puerile vanity made him aspire to distinction, and whose career was already marked by pretentious eloquence, a bom- bastic style, confused ideas, and a mind still undecided as to the limits of orthodoxy, which, a little later, he stepped beyond. He was the preacher of the crusade. Next came the shepherd poet, Eosi; Prince Canino's Secretary, Masi; a (young French monk of the order of Conventualists, Dumaine ; Grenerals Durando and Ferrari; the journalist, Sterbini, after- wards so fataUy popular; and, of course, the demagogue, Cicerruacho, who had been, at first, enthusiastic in the cause of the Pope, but who now burned for war, and, ere long, im- parted to the revolution a character of fitful fanaticism and absurd sympathies. The day was spent in magniloquent ad- dresses, which affected the style of ancient types, urgent ex- hortations to war, poetical orations, rounds of applause, raptm'ous demonstrations. The result was, lists for the enrol- ment of volunteers ; the establishment in the different quarters of the city of tables for receiving patriotic offerings, and a threatening demonstration against the Quirinal Palace, where it was intended to force the Pope to bless the colours for the expedition against Austria. WAR IN DEFIANCE OF PIUS IX. 47 The movement was now beyoi^d all control. -The orders of the Pope were treated with a sort of respect, but not obeyed. The spirit of reb-allion was abroad, although the people still made a show of reverence. They were no sooner from the presence of the Pontiff than they transgressed his most sacred commands. Pius IX. had distinctly specified, when he author- ized the enrolment and the departure of volunteers, that it was his intention and his will that the expedition should be exclusively defensive ; that it should protect the territory, but avoid passing the frontier. The leaders, notwithstanding, adding perfidy to rebellion, made use of the Pontift's name in order to deceive the people. General Durando had no sooner arrived at Bologna than he issued a proclamation, in which, falsifying the Pope's wishes, he adduced his authority in order to encourage the war. "Radetsky," said he, "fights against the cross of Christ. Pius IX. has blessed your swords together with those of Charles Albert. This war of civilization against barbarism is not merely national, it is a Christian war. With the cross and by the cross, we shall be victorious. God wills it." Nothing could have tended more completely to compromise the character of the Pontiff. It became necessary, accordingly, to pubUsh the Encyclical Letter of 29th April, 1848. " Men are endeavoming," said the Holy t'ather, in thie admirable document, " to disseminate suspicions that are injurious to the temporal administration of our States. It is our duty to pre- vent the scandal that might thus be given to the simple and unreflecting." He then proceeds to declare that he is resolved to expose clearly and to proclaim loudly the origin of aU the facts of his Government. He refers to the memorandum of 1831, which contained the collective counsels of the European Cabinets to the Apostolic See, recommending the necessary reforms. Some of these reforms were adopted by Gregory XVI. Circumstances and the danger of the times caused others to be deferred. Pius IX. considered that it was his duty to complete what his predecessor had begun. He does not disclaim hav- 48 ENCYCLICAL FOBBIDDING WAR. ing taken the initiative on certain other points. He had par- doned extensively, and he congratulates himself on this clem- ency. He repels the calumny which would ascribe to the reforms which he had inaugurated the general movement of Italy towards its enfranchisement. This agitation he attrib- utes to events that occurred elsewhere, and which became facts of overwhelming influence for the whole of Europe. Finally, he protests that he gave no other order to his soldiers than that which required that they should defend the Pontifical territory. He cannot be held responsible for the conduct of those amongst his subjects who allow themselves to be swayed by the example of other Italians. He had given his orders distinctly. They had been transgressed. On the disturbing question of war with Austria, the Encyclical bears the following words : " They would have us declare war against Austria. We have thought it our duty to protest formally against such a resolution, considering that, notwithstanding our unworthi- ness, we hold on earth the place of Him who is the Author of peace — ^the Friend of charity ; and that, faithful to the Divine obligations of our Apostolate, we embrace all countries, all peoples, all nations, in a like sentiment of paternal love. Nor can we refrain from repelling, in the face of all nations, the perfidious assertions of those who desire that the Eoman Pontiff should be the chief of the government of a new republic, consisting of all the peoples of Italy. " Moreover, we earnestly exhort, on this occasion, these same Italian peoples to keep particularly on their guard against these treacherous counsels. We conjure them to remain devotedly attached to their princes, whose affection they have experienced. To act otherwise would be not only to fail in their duty, but also to expose Italy to discord and factions. As regards ourselves, we declare once tnore that all the thoughts and aU the efforts of the Boman Pontiff tend only to increase every day the kingdom of Jesus Christ, which is the Church, and not to extend the limits of the temporal sover- MINISTER F0R0I5D ON THE POPE. 49 eignty, with which Divine Providence has endowed the Holy See, for the dignity and the free exercise of the sublime Apos- tolate." No better argument could have been offered in reply to those parties who clamored so unreasonably for war. Nor could the Pontiff have vindicated more eloquently the pacific character of that religion of whicli he is the Chief and Eepre- sentative on earth. At the same time, he offered wise and authoritative counsel to the Italian nationalities. It was too late. The voice of friendly warning remained unheard amidst the din of strife and revolution. Need it be added — the cause of liberty perished for a time, victimized by its own excess. The Socialist party had succeeded in gaining the populace of Eome, and they now constituted a power which prevailed in the city, whatever it might have been in the field. Skil- fully managed by its leaders, it gave law to the Pontifical government. The Pope was not, however, powerless. A merely secular sovereign would have been crushed. . He would have had lio other resource than to abdicate. The Holy Father was not reduced to this extremity. He was still able to repel the unacceptable measures which the Socialists en- deavoured to thrust upon him. They and their myrmidons vociferated for war with Austria. The Pope could still say there should be no war, and his people did not engage in the contest. A few among the Eoman youth took the field. But, as effeminate as they were ardent, their courage cooled at the first sight of a barbarian camp. They returned to their hearths, and there talked magniloquently of the tented fields ' which they had traversed, the savage hordes which they had . encouL ^red, and the dangers they had escaped. The party succeeded, however, in forcing a ministry on the reluctant Pontiff. Such ti thing, when done through the representative body, however unreasonable, does not so much shock our idea of constitutional government. Neither can we approve the conduct of a faction which, whilst it was anything but consti- tutional, imposed a minister who held its principles, oil tiie 50 POLITIt MOVEMENTS. prince who had, of his own accord, become a constitutional monarch. Count Mamiani was one of those whom the clemency of Pius IX. had restored to their country, of all the parties thus favored, he alone refused to become bound in honor to the Holy Father never to abuse the favor, but to remain always a good anfl faithful subject. He was not without ability; was %n H informed, cool and resolute, but without any fixed principle in politics. He would as readily have set up a Red Eepublic as a constitutional monarchy. His political conduct was guided more by events and circum- stances than by any well-conceived idea of what is right and fitting. He was one of those Italian Liberals who might be -compared to the Necker of the Frehch, Eevolution, whilst Mazzini and his followers were the ultra-radicals — the Robes- pierres of Roman politics. The Mamiani ministry necessarily arose out of the popular commotions, and was a protest of the excited masses against the Encyclical of 29th April. Its policy was no secret. In the days of popular turmoil they imme- diately preceded his nomination. Mamiani had declared dis- tinctly in his harangues to the people that no priest should be appointed to any public office y that although Pius IX. should remain at the head of the government, they ought to obtain from him the revocation of his Encyclical of 29th April, and a declaration of war against Austria ; that a new expedition should be speedily organized, and that an official bulletin of the war should be pubHshed daily. The warlike and revolutionary pronunciamentos, thus pompously made, could not fail to arouse the enthusiasm of the multitude, whose excitement was already so great. In matters of this nature, however, it is more easy to make fine speeches than to act. The popula" Tribune was no sooner elevated to the ministry than he came to experience this difficulty. So it was convenient to forget the grand lessons which he had labored so vehemently to im- press upon the people. He still, however, insisted, or appeared to insist, on the Austrian war. It may have been necessary for the new minister, in order to maintain his influence over POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 61 the masses, to announce a war policy. Such policy, never- theless, was chimerical. It was decidedly opposed by the legitimately-constituted powers of the State — the Sovereign on the one hand, who, by his name, his character, his virtues, his office, was still powerful ; and on the other, the representative body. Accordingly, when this body came together in the beginning of June, there was an end to the government of the streets. But there arose new difficulties, and these difficulties the government of the Holy Father diligently studied to over- come. Cardinal Altieri delivered, on the part of the Sover- eign Pontiff, an energetic /and moving exhortation in support of unity and concord. At the same time, he expressed his earnest hope that the newly-elected deputies would show their good will by concurring with the ministry in rendering the new adaptation of the consti- tution compatible with the Pontifical government. This address, however ineffectual, possessed the merit of being thoroughly constitutional. The same praise cannot be awarded to Count Mamiani's inaugural oration. Next day, which was the 9th of June, he ascended the Tribune, and there enunciated ideas which belonged more to the ministry in their individual capacity, than as the representatives of their Sover- eign. This was supremely unconstitutional, and could only be the result of inexperience. What knowledge could those men have had of a free and national constitution? They ought, at least, to have been guided by the laws of honesty and honor. "Who will say that they were so, when they gave out that the opinion which they expressed in favor of war was also that of the Pontiff? They endeavored thus to extend the sanction of a venerated name to designs that were sub- versive of Pontifical rule. Neither inexperience nor ignorance of constitutions presents any valid excuse, or even palliation of such a proceeding. No doubt they called it policy. It was the basest trickery. In the hands of honest and judicious ministers the new constitution might have proved successful. So thought many 52 POLlTiaVL MOVEMENTS. persons who were well informed and competent to form an opinion in regard to so difficult a question. It had also many well-wishers. But for the war agitation, it would, to all appearance, have had a different fate. According to the exag- gerated idea of Italian patriotism which' prevailed, all true Italians were bound to fight for their country. On the Mamiani ministry devolved the very arduous task of reconciling this warlike spirit with the pacific character of the Pontificate. The Pope, like any other sovereign, had a right, no doubt, to defend himself. But both the theology which guided him and the traditions of his sovereignty forbade him to wage war on any people. Such was the difficulty which it fell to the lot of his ministry to solve. The arguments to which they had recourse) however weU meant, were certainly very puerile. The Pope, as such, they insisted, might decide for peace, and r condemn the shedding of blood, whilst, as temporal sovereign, he would authorize his ministers to act as should seem to them proper, and they would declare for war. This miserable sophistry only showed the weakness of the government which employed it. The Pontiff could not be expected to act as if he were two distinct persons. Nor whilst his ministers waged war, could he, whose representatives they were, be considered as neutral. For a few months that this ministry remained in office, the Pope continued to save his States by resisting the war-cry in opposition to their wishes. They were constantly at variance with him on this one great topic. His repugnance to war they could neither comprehend nor overcome. Popular demonstrations of the most threatening kind were often made, but to no purpose. JuBtum et tenacem propositi virura, Non olvium ardor prava Jubentum mente quatit soUda. The Pontiff could not be moved from his firm resolve. The ministry, however, was shaken. With no better stay than sophistry and inconsistency, its weakness became apparent, and, as had been for some time clearly inevitable, it feU. Before considering fiurther the statesman-like efforts of Pius IX. in the cause of reform, it may not be out of place to politicaIj Movements. ^8 review briefly the political opinion of the time. Although all men cannot be expected to accept, especially in many important matters, all the ideas of those distinguished writers, Gioberti, Balbo, D'Azeglio, it would be unjust, nevertheless, to deny them the credit bf having imparted new vigor, if not its first impulse, to the cause of reform in Italy. They were not, like so many othefs, r^sh and inconsiderate. They desired not to hurry on recklessly to the wished-for goal. They thought it was unwise to aspu'e, all at once, to the greatest degree of liberty that might be attained. The end in view could be best reached, they conceived, by judicious and well-timed measures of reform, and by such institutions as might be developed at a later period, when the Italian people, unaccustomed as yet to a constitutional regime, should be- capable of a greater degree of freedom. Nothing more wise can be supposed than this view of educating the people for liberty before bestowing on them the precious boon. Their idea of commencing the work of refofm by waging war on Austria does not appear to be so commendable. It was not, surely, the part of prudence, when on the ev9 of a great and arduous undertaking, to stir up enemies on every side. And ihis was really what they sought to do by provoking Austrian hostility. The government at Vienna was not inclined to be hostile. It had joined with other powers in recommending reform to the late Pope. And now it would rather have been an ally than an enemy. But the " barbarian " Germans were entirely odious to the Italian people. The power of education ought to have been brought to bear on this same people, if only in order to disabuse their minds of this one noxious preju- dice. It^had become necessary at length to extend to them the benefits of a political education. And surely the eradica- tion of illiberal ideas would have formed a profitable branch of study. Pius IX., as has been already shown, was a practical Teformer, and he had zealously 'imdertaken the work of reform. Austria was not ipiclined to throw any impediments in the / 54 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. way of his patriotic labors. Only on one occasion did that powerful empire show a disposition to interfere. It was when Rome and the Sovereign Pontiff were threatened by popular commotions. Then, even on the representation of the Holy Father, Austria laid down her arms. With these constitu- tional reformers, if we except their insane idea of waging a needless war, very Httle fault can be found as politicians. So lately as the early part of the year 1848, their opinions were generally accepted throughout Italy. They were, at that time, also the most powerful party. Their numbers, authority and talent, gave them a decided superiority, whilst the Repub- licans were still a weak minority. In a few months, to all . appearance, everything was completely changed. Talent, respectability, authority, and influence, were still on the side of the constitutional reformers. But, in the meantime, the Red Republic had gained the command of numbers. How this came to pass it may be well now to enquire. In every great community there are many people who have no fixed principles in politics, and others, pertaps, not less nmnerous, who have no political principles at all. Both these classes of people depend entirely on other men for the senti- ments and opinions by which, at any given moment, they shall be guided. Such people were sufficiently numerous, at Rome and the other cities and provinces of Italy. Demagogues, therefore, who were not without ability and pos- sessed fluency of speech, found it no very difficult task to fashion as they had a mind, for these classes of citizens, any amount of political principles and programmes. Those even who were fairly imbued with constitutional ideas, but whose minds were not wholly decided, the leaders of the Red Republic endeavored, and not without success, to gain to their side, by persuading them to compromise, as regarded certain points, to modify their opinions on others, change their designations,, enter into coalitions, and adopt such ingenious arrangements, as were proposed to them. Thus, by degrees, and as was only to be expected in such circumstances, the ultra-radicals sue-. * POLITICAL M0VEMBNT8. 86 ceeded but too well in causing the most extravagant political notions to prevail among the masses. As fate would have it, the revolution in France of February, 1848, which brought to an end the constitutional monarchy, afforded no slight aid and encouragement to the Red Republic of Italy. The men of this party might have understood, on reflection, to what extreme peril France became exposed, when she preferred brute force to constitutional proceeding, and tore down by violence a system which was, in many respects, good ; and which, inasmuch as it was a constitution, could in due time have been extended and improved, receiving, as new wants arose, and wisdom and experience warranted, new developments, new adaptations, and daily increasing excellence. The constitutional element once removed, there was no medium between and safeguard against absolutism ; on the one hand, and on the other anarchy, or the reign of violence and terror. The extremists of Italy, however, behold only in the too successful action of the Parisian populace a new step towards liberty. It became the duty of the Italian people, they declared, to march onward in the wake of enlightened France, and seize the prize that was at length presented for their acceptance. By such counsellors were the people abused and led astray. The moderate reform .party were themselves excited by the enthusiasm which events had inspired, and heeded not the snares Tjvhich the radical chiefs were laying for them. They were thus caught in the toils . of those designing men, whilst they imagined that they were only working out their own iu^a. They supposed even that they were gaining Mazzini, whilst, in reality, Mazzini was making proselytes of them. Gioberti and his more-immediate friends, who certainly were not without their faults, were abandoned by the crowd. Reverting to what has been said already concerning Mazzini and his political doctrines, there need be no hesitation in pro- n' icing him the evil genius of modern Italy. In his book, *• ^«dly in its Relations with Liberty and Moral Civilization," which was published in France, where he was an exile, in 1847, 56 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. he formally declared that ** Young Italy " (the extreme Repub- licans) was the only party that could oxercise any decisive influence on the destiny of Italy, ut the same time, he treated with supreme contempt the ideas and hopes of the Reform party. In his mystic republic only was to be found, ho affirmed, the principle of unity, the ideal formula of actual pro- gress. This theory was the idol at whose shrine he offered sacrifice. His followers were also his fellow-worshippers, and he was their high priest. They were fascinated by his brilliant Utopias. He was no longer a legislator, a politician, a philos- opher only. He was a man of inspiration, a prophet, the Mahomet of a new hegira. His sayings were oracles. His doctrines were enunciated in sententious and poetical language ; and from his place of exile they were disseminated over the Italian peninsula. It has been shown already how generously Pius IX. had recalled from banishment many subjects who had violated the laws of their country. These men were, at one time, no doubt, sincerely grateful, and showed how highly they appreciated the clemency of the Pontiff. It is not, however, surprising, if, as is usual in such circum- stances, they began to consider more the severity which punished than the goodness which for^ve them. Maz- zini, among others, dissembled for a time. It may be — it has even been suggested that he was at first smcere, and had nobly resolved to sacrifice his favorite ideas to the cause of Italy. This opinion, however, was destined to be soon dis- pelled. It was not long till the newspaper Italia del Popolo, tevealed the fact that he still held to extreme and revolution- ary views. The minds of the people were poisoned by the ravings of this journal, and filled with mistrust. It became the instrument by which sects and parties were stirred up to work the ruin of the country. ** Unita e non unione. Assemblea del Popolo Italiano e non dieta" "Unity; not union. The assembly of the Italian people ; not a federal diet." Such was the watchword of Mazzini's paper. And now the masses in the streets, under the guidance of the revolutionary leader, POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. vociferated, " Live the Constituent Afisembly !" with as much wild enthusiasm as they had formerly shouted for Pius IX. And reform. They had no distinct idea as to the meaning of the cry, but held it to be something extreme — a boundless measure of Uberty. The populace wanted nothing better; and so they continued to shout, as they believed, for unity and Republican Government. Such a system was, from the very nature and position of the States of Italy, impracticable, and without pressure from without, foreign war— which the Maz- zinians so much deprecated — could never have been established. How bring under the yoke of a general popular convention so many diverse peoples ? They were all Italian, no doubt, but of different races, differeat nationalities, and each of them had for ages enjoyed its own national laws, customs, manners, preju- dices, predilections, and antipathies. Nor had they common interests. What would be good and suitable in one State might, by no means, be adapted to the requirements of another ; might even in some cases prove disastrous. The Grand Dukes had, by their mild and liberal rule, endeared themselves to tlie Tuscan people. Piedmont and Naples were alike devoted to their respective monarchies. The people of the Papal States, with the exception of the populace of Ropae, were loyal to their government. That populace was greatly increased in 1848 by the influx of strangers — men holding Republicaij opinions, who were diligently culled from foreign nationalities. AH but these abnormal masses were attached to the wise and clement rule of their Pontiff Sovereigns. Of late years many things had occurred to confirm their devoted loyalty. Above all, proof had been given that the sacred monarchy itself could, without any diminution of its real power and dignity, adopt such political reforms as were adapted to the wants of the time. All these monarchies, already so moderate and popular, were becoming every day more constitutional. Were they now to be overthrown ? The Mazzinian idea aimed at nothing less. And yet, what would it. not have cost ? So many time-honored rights would never have been given up without a struggle 58 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. without bloodshed, if they were at all to be sacrificed. The torch of civil strife would have blazed from end to end of the Italian peninsula. And the ruin of the ancient monarchies — if, indeed, they had been destined at that time to fall — would probably have been succeeded by more despotic forms of kingly rule. If, at the time in question, the people of the different States of Italy had acted in concert, uniting their influence, they would have assumed an imposing attitude, and might have obtained not only the forbearance but the aid even of their powerful neighbors in developing such of their institutions as already contained germs of liberty, in extending constitutional rights which had long existed in monarchies that were by no means absolute. In the place of political wisdom, however, a universal mania appeared to prevail. In the confusion of popular demonstrations, and the clamor of party cries, the *' still small voice of reason " was unheard. The revolutionary chiefs harangued anew for war,'and Italy, listening to their ill- omened counsels, took up arms against its sovereigns ; and so gave the death-blow to its political existence. The moderate Eeform party conceived a plan which, if it ,had been carried into effect, would have been attended, no doubfc, with great and happy results. They proposed to unite all the States of Italy by means of a Federal Parliament. They directed their efforts in the first place to promote union between the rulers and the people, recommending to the former moderation, to the latter a wise forbeaiance. They hoped thus to postpone the idea of absolute unity, and of the popular convention by which it was designed to establish and maintain it. The federal diet, an excellent idea of which was reduced to writing by the reverend and learned Abbate Kosmini, would have held the place of this assembly. According to this plan of confederation, the Pope, the King of Sardinia, the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the other Princes would have been united in an offensive and defensive league. Based on these principles;, and provided that nothing were admitted in its POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 59 details which could interfere with the sacred character and office of the Sovereign Pontiff, the proposed political arrange- ment would have found favor generally with all who held con- stitutional views. Eminent authors, at least, have written concerning it approvingly. M. Laboulaye, in his learned work on Count Balbo, says : " It was necessary that the Princes should be induced to take an interest in the independence which concerned them so much, by forming a confederation Hke the Zolverein, which has so powerfully contributed to the union and the greatness of Germany. A confederation is undoubtedly that organization which is most suited to the character and the history of Italy, and it is also the best means of reviving Italian nationaUty and of checking Austria." ' Need it be added, that when there should have been ques- tion of restraining Austria, there would have been at hand an influence which Austria respected, and to which that mighty empire and its disciplined armies would have yielded more readily than to all Italy in arms. Without a confederation, or an arrangement equally good, there could be no better lot for Italy than civil war and national ruin. Events, meanwhile, were hastening on with alarming ra- pidity. The Bed Republic persisted in maintaining its idea. The danger with which the country was threatened from with- out did not, in the] least, moderate its efforts, and they were atten led by the only results which they were calculated to produce. Italy remained divided. The sword of Charles Albert could not cope alone with the formidable arms of Austria. A united people might have stayed the tide of battle; The imposing spectacle of their union might even have influenced the German Cabinet, and the legions of Radetsky might never have presumed to cross the Mincio. But it was fated to be otherwise. Excess followed on excess, and the inevitable con- sequence was speedy chastisement. " Perish Italy rather than our idea" was the watch-cry of the Socialist leaders. And as if fate had combined with their phrenzy to destroy a people. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. Italy was crushed by the invader. What cared they ? What imported it to them that their country was brought low, and its Princes humbled in»tho field of Novara ? The downftiU of the Sardinian monarch, which at the same time was the defeat of Italy, was to them a victory. One more impediment to their designs was removed. " The tvar of Kings," said Mazzini, " is at an end; that of the people commences." And he declared himself a soldier. But Garibaldi did not long command him. His warlike enthusiasm was soon exhausted. The war of the people also ended disastrously; and the revolutionary chief, tiled of the sword, resumed his pen and renewed his attacks on the moderate Reformers, who alone had fought, hke brave men, in the Austrian war. The strife of words was more con- genial to the revolutionist ; and he set about editing a new publication. In this journal he raged against the Rtformers. They were a set of traitors, ante-chamber Machiavels, who had muzzled the popular lion for the benefit of kings and aristoc- racies. These Machiavels wet'e such men as Count Balbo, who had given his five sons to the war of independence; Signor D'Azeglio, who had been in the campaign with Durando, and who had a leg broken by a ball at Vicenza, whilst defending Monte Benico with two thousand men against twelve thousand Austrians. D'Azeglio, still smarting from his wounds, as weU as from the insults of these reckless politicians, replied in a pamphlet, which appeared under the title of "Fears and Hopes." He took no pains to spare those club soldiers, those tavern heroes and intriguers, who could wage war so cleverly against the men who had stood under the enemy's guns. " For my part," he wrote, " I do not fear your republic, but despotism. Your agitation will end with the Croats." And so it fell out. The prediction was but too speedily and too completely realized. A French author, M. Mignet, comments on this subject at some length, and with remarkable elo- quence : " A party as extreme in its desires as in its doctrines, and which believes that it is possessed of nothing so long as it does POLITICAL MOVEMENTS.^. not possess everything, and which, ■when it has everything, knows not how to make anything of it, imagined the establish- ing of a repubUc in a country which is scarcely capable of attaining to representative monarchy, and where the only thing to be thought of, as yet, was territorial independence. This party divided the thoughts, weakened the efforts of the country, and caused mutual mistrust to arise between those govern- ments and peoples which were reconciled under constitutional liberty, and had an understanding against the common* enemy. They thus compromised the deliverance of the land. The King of Naples, threatened by an insurrection in his capital, retained his troops that were on the point of marching to the theatre of war ; the Pope ceased to give encouragement ; the King of Pied- mont, already in full march, hesitated; and Italy, agitated, without being free, became once more powerless, because she was disunited, and beheld the Austrians reappear as conquer- ors, and re-establish themselves anew as masters, in the recovered plains of Lombardy." These eloquent words ".onfirm the view so generally enter- -tained, that the Eed Eepublicans were all along the cause of Italy's disasters. In consequence of the national weakness which their baneful operations produced, Eadetski was enabled to reconquer Upper Italy, whilst they themselves directed their steps towards Rome, spreading terror as they approached, even as if they had been an army of Goths and Vandals. Swelling by theii' presence the numbers of men who held the same opin- ions, who, like them, were dissatisfied, and whom nothing could satisfy, they occasioned an extraordinary agitation of the people, caused fearful disquietude, and excited inordinate hopes. They imbued the masses with their subversive principles, and there was an end to all transaction with the Papal govern- ment. They had already done all that lay in their power in order to destroy monarchy in Piedmont. They now brought into play every scheme that could be devised, in order to advance the sinister work of dispossessing the Holy Father. They succeeded in gaining many Reformers, who, too easily, allowed themselves to become their dupes. I 62 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. At first, as has been shown, the popular demonstrations in honor of Pius IX. were honestly expressive of gratitude to the beneficent Pontiff. The SociaUsts now succeeded in gaining pos- session of this great influence, and they employed it, certainly, with consummate ability. The masses, when once under the spell of agitation, are at the disposal of tlie boldest demagogues. The Keformers who had allowed themselves to be ensnared, continued to sing their patriotic hymns, the Rolnan Marseil- laises, without heeding that SociaUst radicahsm was imper- ceptibly taking the crown of the causeway, and that the popular demonstrations had imdergone a complete change. At an earUer date "Young Italy" had only used them as a threat. They were now an arm in its hands. And so it governed in the streets, making a tribune of every milestone. There was only wanting to them at this moment a common centre or general headquarters of insurrection, from which should go forth the word of command, the signal for every rising of the people. This was found in the celebrated Roman \ Circle. This circle was a kind of convention without commis- sion — a travelling cohort of two or three hundred agitators, who carried from town to town the dread and dismal flag of ' the Red RepubUc. This mob-power had, in opposition to the wishes of the Holy Father, brought into office the Mamiani ministry. This weak and irresolute minister broke the ranks of his own party, and passed over to ** Young Italy." This party now dictated to him on all occasions. They urged on him with special earnestness war wi*h Austria, knowing fuU well that the Pope would never agr(. to it, and so by his refusal would decline in popularity. The constitution was now in abeyance, the minister being at the orders of a party out of doors, and no longer the organ of the Sovereign and the representative body. The Pontifical authority, although still venerated by many, was no longer obeyed. It was only a name. The republic reigned, and only waited for the moment, too surely to como at last, when it should be openly recognized. In such circumstances the Mamiani ministry rapidly lost POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 68 ground. Now in its death agony, and impotent for good, it persisted, with a degree of perverseness which nothing could moderate, in reiterating its declarations of war against Austria. This only added to the confusion which prevailed. The ministers and their more ardent adherents were ready, as became patriots and heroes, to fight for their country. Never- theless, with all this boasting, they made no haste to be enrolled. Whilst these men were indulging in such idle and vain-glorious talk, the few who had volunteered and taken the field, returned from Vicenza, which, during two days, had been bravely but fruitlessly defended. The forum warriors had only set out in time to meet their defeated and wounded fellow-countrymen, and give them the honors of an ovation on their return to the city. The war agitation was evidently noth- ing else than a weapon of offence against the Holy See. In its results it was most improfitable, every day bringing news of fresh disasters. Circumstances now rendered the war-cry more inopportune than ever. Gharles Albert, King of Sar- dinia, had been driven from the Mincio to the Oglio, thence to the Adda, thence to Milan. He was now recrossing the Piedmontese frontier, vanquished, despairing and heart-broken. Piedmont, nevertheless, in the silence of her humiUation, set about preparing for a final effort. The various ministers whom Pius IX. had called to his •counsels were all ahke unsuccessful. Circumstances of greater •difl&culty than ever had now arisen, and not without a sad fore- boding of the greater evils that were yet in store, the Holy Father had recourse to the well-known statesmanship of Count Eossi, who had formerly been French Ambassador to the Holy See. • • M. Mignet, the able biographer of this eminent statesman, gives a distinct and interesting account of the difficulties with which, as Chief of the Pope's Council of State, he was called to contend : •"M. Rossi at first hesitated. He knew what formidable problems there were to solve. To conduct, according to consti- 64 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. tutional principles, a government that had been heretofore- absolute ; to administer by the hands of laymen the affairs of a country that had been hitherto subject to Ecclesiastics ; to imite in an Itahan league a state that had been almost always opposed to a political union of the Peninsula ; in a word, to establish all at the same time, a Constitutional Government, a Civil Administration, a National Federatiop, were not the only difficulties that he would have to overcome. The minister of a Prince, whose confidence others would dispute with him, a stranger in a country, where he would exercise public authority,, he would be liable to be left without support notwithstanding his devotedness, and without approbation notwithstanding his. services ; to be attacked as a revolutionist by the blind advo- cates of abuses, and disavowed as an enemy of liberty by the impassioned partisans' of chimeras. He continued to decline for a considerable time. The conditions which he at first pro- posed to the Sovereign Pontiff not having been accepted, M. Eossi thought that he had escaped the lot that was in store for him. But the Pope, after having essayed in vain a new ministry, pressed him more urgently, in the month of Septem- ber, 1848, to come to his aid, offering him at the same time his full confidence and unlimited authority. M. Eossi ac- cepted." At the time of his accession to office Count Eossi was sixty years of age. He was no stranger to politics. His life, indeed,, had been spent in the midst of poUtical turmoil. As may be supposed, he suffered much in the course of his checkered career. He had, at the same time, learned much at the stern school of experience. He had been several times an exile, and had thus become the citizen of more than one country. In 1815 he was banished from the Peninsula, on account of the part which he had borne in the cause of Italian liberty ; and having resided at Geneva and Paris, he had made for himself, in those cities, a brilliant reputation. He wrote on the important subjects of political economy and jurisprudence,, displaying intimate knowledge of these sciences, great intel- POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 65 lectual power and superior penetration. Although relying on principles and theory, he did not ignore facts, nor recuse to accommodate the lofty forms of science to practical require- ments. He was versed in the knowledge of mankind, and was far from being one of those, who, adhering rigidly to theories, would force nature itself to yield to their opinion. At a time when the affairs of Italy were in a most dangerous crisis, and anarchy actually prevailed at Rome, he was the ablest counsel- lor and auxiliary that Pius IX. could have placed at the head of his ministry. Possessing many rare endowments, Count Rossi was not gifted with those outward graces which tend so much to win favor for public men. His manner was such that he appeared cold and reserved ; and his keen, searching Ijmx- like eye, was calculated to cause embarrassment. Familiarity with the objects of science and habits of diplomacy had im- parted to him a gravity of demeanor which was easily mistaken for superciliousness and disdain. Withal he cared not to please, preferring to exercise influence by strength of will and the authority of superior intellect, rather than by attractive and amiable qualities and the charm of the affections. He had the mind of a statesman, but owned not that winning exterior which gains the crowd and disarms hostility. None but his own family knew how good he really was, and how tender-minded, so completely was all this excellence concealed by his cold and repulsive maimer. The new minister was resolved, above all, to preserve the sovereignty of the Holy See. " The Papacy," he wrote at the time, " is the last living glory of Italy." His conduct was in perfect harmony with his language. He applied with no less ardour than ability to the work that lay before him. In less than two months he accomplished more than can be well con- ceived, and further measures were in course of preparation. Those matters to which he first devoted his chief attention were the '^terior Government of Rome, the state of the Pontifical lances and the territorial independence of Italy. He found , the public treasury in imminent L - of bankruptcy, and he 66 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. \ saved it by obtaining three millions of ecus from the Eoman clergy. Through this munificent donation the minister was relieved from all disquietude as regarded finance, and go was enabled to direct his energies to the more difficult task of adapting the administration to the new institutions. The constitution was, indeed, legaUy established. The object now to be aimed at was to bring its wise provisions into practical operation ; in other words, to create a constitutional Pontifi- cate. With a view to this desirable end, M. Rossi prepared such legislative measures as were calculated nicely to determine the sphere of action that should be proper to each of the powers. By such means only could the disorderly force of popular movements be controlled and restrained within fixed limits.. The Civil Government of the R >man States required to be entirely reorganized. To this task also the minister diligently applied, impressed with the conviction that good laws are at once the strongest bulwark of liberty, and the most efficient check to arbitrary power. Count Rossi was by birth an Italian. He was so in feeling also, and was naturally led to consider how he should best avail himself in his political arrangements, of the sound and enlightened doctrines of Gioberti and Rosmini. With a view to this end he commenced negotiations at Turin, Naples and Florence, for a confederation of the Italian States. It was his policy that aU these States should unite under a general government, whilst each State retained the forms, laws and institutions to which it had been accustomed. Certain relations between them, suitable to the time of peace, should be established, as well as such regulations as would facihtate their common action in case of war. Pius IX. saw the wisdom of this great design, and favored its realization. It redounds to his glory, as a ruler of mankind, that he decided for this salutary measure from which, if it had been carried into efifect^ might have resulted, in time, the complete emancipation and regeneration of Italy. Time, however, was not granted, and as we shall presently see, anarchy resumed its dismal reign. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 67 -Anterior to the accession of Count Rossi's Ministry, the Legislative Chambers had only wasted their time in unprofit- able debates. It was appointed that they should meet on the 16th of December, 1848, and the minister prepared a bold and energetic, but conciliatory address. The representatives of the people, it was designed, should now hear no longer the ambiguous and factious harangues of a weak-minded dema- gogue, but the true and candid utterances of a Constitutional Government. Rossi showed himself on this occasion, tc which melancholy circumstances have added extraordinary solemnity, a grave and resolute minister, determined to appear as the counsellor of his Sovereign and the exponent of his views, not as the slave of the people and the organ of their blind passions. - This discourse was not destined to be deUvered. It commenced " as follows : . ' " Scarcely had his Holiness ascended the Pontifical throne when the Catholic world was filled with admiration at his clemency as a Pontiff and his wisdom as a temporal Sovereign. * * * The most important facts have shown to mankind the fallacy of the groundless predictions of that pretended philosophy which had declared the Papacy to be, from the nature of its constitutive principle, the enemy of constitutional liberty. In the course of a few months, the Holy Father, of his own accord, and without aid, accomplished a work which would have sufficed for the glory of a long reign. History, impartially sincere, will repeat — and not without good reason — as it records the acts of this Pontificate, that the Church, immovable on her Divine fomida+'ons, and inflexible in the sanctity of her dogmas, always intelligently considers and encourages with admirable prudence, such changes as are suit- able in the things of the world." The oration was, throughout, a bold and luminous exposi- tion of the ideas and policy which M. Rossi was charged to carry into effect. It was, at the same time, an earnest appeal to the representative body in order to obtain the aid, which was so necessary, of their loyal concurrence, and the minister «8 POLITICAL MOVEMENTH. held himself bound in honor to abide strictly by the provisions of thr constitution. The constitution, meanwhile, was in presence of very determined enemies. They had sworn its overthrow. They met, however, with a formidable opponent in the ministry, which was resolved to sustain the new order of things, and prepared to defeat all the schemes of the radical faction. The constitution itself was also a serious impediment- to their contrivances. Both constitution and ministry accord- ingly became the objects of violent attacks at street meetings and in the revolutionary journals. The minister was undaunt- ed. ** To reach the Holy Father," said he, "they must pass- by my lifeless body." This noble determination only rendered him more odious to the revolutionists. The leaders of the Red Republic party, on their retm*n from a scientific Congress at Turin, where the name of science was only used as a cloak the better to conceal their plots, decreed that Rossi should be put to death. Mazzini, in a letter which was published, declared that his assassination was indispensable. In one of the clubs of Rome the Sociahsts selected by lot the assassins who should bear a hand in the murder of the minister. The wretched man who was appointed to be the principal actor in the deed of blood actually practised on a dead body in one of the hospitals. The day on which Parliament was summoned to meef, 16th November, was to see the full purpose of the faction carried into effect. As almost always occurs in such cases, warnings reached the ears of the intended victim. Some of the conspirators, struck with remorse, had so far revealed the plot. Others boasted cynically that they would soon be rid of the oppressor. The Duchess de Rignano conjured the minister to remain at home. Equally solemn and urgent words of warn- ing came from other quarters, and were alike unheeded. If, indeed, he believed that .there was a plot, he relied on disarm- ing the hatred of the conspirators by his courageous bearing, and proceeded from his house to the Quirinal Palace. When there he addressed comforting words to the Pope, who was in a 41 state of great anxiety. Pius IX. , in bestowing a parting benedic- tion, earnestly recommended t^iat he should keep on his guard. A88ASBINATION OF R08HI. 6» At the door of the Pope's apartments lie met an aged priest, who boseeched him to remain. "If you proceed," said he, "you will he murderetl." M. Rossi paused a moment and replied : " The cause of the Pope is the cause of God." A guard of carabhiiers, treacherously disobeying the orders which had been given them, were absent from' the approach to the house where parliament assembled. The minister had reached the stairs, and was ascending when a group of con- spirators came around him. At first they insulted hiin. Then one of the assassins struck him on the shoulder. As he turned indignantly towards this assassin, his neck was exposed to the poniard of another, who, availing himself of the oppor- tune moment, dealt the fatal blow. The minister fell, bedew- ing with his blood the steps at the very threshold of the legislative chamber. As the details of the murder were related to the members, they remained ominously silent. Not one of them uttered a word in condemnation of this monstrous crime. They proceeded at once to the business of the day. Although in the open space at the foot of the stairs which led to the assembly hall the civic guard was stationed in arms, nobody arrested, or showed the slightest inclination to arrest, the murderer. On the contrary, the criminal was con- ducted, not only unpunished but in triumph, through the streets of the city by his accomplices. A new hymn was sung — "Blessed be the hand that slew Eossi." The dagger of the assassin was enwreathed with flowers and exposed for pubUc veneration in the cafe of the Fine Arts. The populace, in the excess of their phrenzy, insulted the widow of the murdered minister ; and, by an extravagance of irony, they required that she should illuminate her house. The newspapers expressed 'approval of the crime, as it was, they pretended, the necessary manifestation of the general sentiment. The whole people, by their silence, although not by actual participation in such demon-like rejoicings, declared themselves accomplices in the deed of blood. ' ' Together with the noble Rossi perished, for the time, the cause of Rome, the cause of Italy. What might not have been i 70 A LOST CAUSE. the gain to both, if the devoted minister had been allowed to fulfil his appointed mission? Constitutional government would have been established on a solid ^nd permanent basis ; the wild agitation of the streets would have been brought to an end, and the excited passions of the revolution, beholding the soimd, regular and beneficial working of free political institu- tions, would have been awed into composure. But, sad "refleo- tion ! by an act which history will never cease to stigmatize, the only man who, by the authority of his reputation, abilities and experience, was equal to the stupendous labor of building up on sure foundations the social fabric was struck down, and the nations of Europe, which had looked on hitherto in sym- pathy, recoiled with horror. Liberal men throughout the civilized world had long been deeply interested in the state of Italy. Such was their belief in the bright future, which they were confident awaited her, that they could pardon the ill- «onti'olled agitation of her children, and even their greatest excesses, when they first began to enjoy, before they knew how to use it, the unwonted boon of liberty. With crime and the evils which followed in its train they had no sympathy. A system which relied on assassination could not prosper. In- augurated by violence, it could exist only by violence. The better feelings of mankind were shocked. The die was cast, and Eome was doomed. The fated city had rejoiced in the exercise of unhallowed force, and through that legitimate force which, in due time, Divine Providence allowed to be brought against her, she met her punishment. With the death of Rossi ended all hope of liberty. ' The conspirators were resolved that nothing should be allowed to delay the benefits which they anticipated from their crime. All sense of propriety was nQt yet extinguished in the. representative body. There was question of sending a dejjuta- tion to the Pope, in order to convey to him the condolence of the Chamber, and express their regret for the sad event. This step, which good sense and proper feeling so urgently demanded, was opposed, and only too successfully, by Charles Bonaparte, Prince of Canino. ATTACK ON THE HOLY FATHER. 71 The revolutionists now resolved themselves into a kind -AttSkontheHoiy ^f permanent club. This club set about '•ather. Monalgnoro Palma. Murder of „j^iiiug ^ great demonstration, and req^uired that both the civic guard and the army should join them. When all was ready for this purpose, a mob which had for some time been in course of organization marched to the Quirinal Palace, where the Pope resided, and pointed cannon against the gates. They also caused muskets to be discharged from the neighboring houses. Monsignore Palma fell, mortally wounded, and expired* at the feet of the Holy Father. They next set fire to one of the gates. But the Swiss Guards suc- ceeded in extinguishing the flames. The rebels now threatened to put to death all the inmates of the palace, with the excep- tion of Pius IX. himself, unless he consented to their unrea- Bonable demands. Even he would not have been spared, &a was but too well shown by the balls which feU in his apart- ments. Until this moment the Holy Father had • resolutely refused to accept a ministry, to press which upon him was an insult. Now, but only in order to save the lives of the people •around him, he submitted to this indignity. Mamiani, with his former programme, supported by the constituent assembly, which consisted of the representatives of all Italy, together with Dr. Sterbini, Garetti, and foui' other persons equally unacceptable, constituted this Socialist ministry. They desired also to include in the sinister list the cele- brated Abbate Kosmini. But this gifted and eminent divine refused to take part with them, or lend any countenance to *In 1865 the Bonaparte family were without a name In that Kurope where they had possessed so many thrones. One man had compassion on them, and acted generously. Plus VIII. welcomed them to his States- A member of this ftimlly, Luc'en Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, having always shown great faith- AilnesB to . ue Holy Hee, Plus VIII. conferred upon him the title ol a Roman Prince and the principality of Canlno. Lucien's son has not been gifted to walk In the footsteps of his honorable father. Balleydler, in his history of the Roman revolution, thus portrays him : " Versed in dissimulation, Charles Bonaparte had, under the preceding Pontificate, acted two very opposite characters. In the morning attending In the ante-chambers of the Oardlnals, in the evening at the ConcUlabuIa of the secret .Societies, he labored to secure, by a doublagame, the ehances of the present and the probabilities of the future. He had often been ■een going piously to the Vatican even, to lay at the feet of Gregory XVI. homage which his heart belled." No doubt, in 1847 and 1848, he thought himself an abler man than his father, as he marched, poignard in hand, at the head of the malcontents of Rome. .• \ 72 PROTEST OF PIUS IX. their proceedings. On the 17th November several members of the representative chamber proposed that a deputation should be sent to Pius IX., in order to express to him their devoted- ness and gratitude. They were not wholly lost to all sense of propriety. But the Prince de Canino, true to his antecedents, succeeded in preventing so laudable a i^m'pose from being carried into effect. He declai'ed that such a step would be imprudent, and that they might have cause to repent it. /* Citizen Bonaparte," such was the appellation he gloried in, further said that the Italian peop^.e were undeniably the masters now, and that they well anderstood how to humble all parlia- ments, ministers and thron s that should oppose their ener- getic impulses. do^d^by h?s*peopie! Meanwhile the Pope, in such a fearful crisis, was abandoned by all save a few friends, the officials of his Palace, his faithful Swiss Guards and the foreign ambas- sadors. Among those who remained with him were six Noble Guards, and the Cardinals Soglia and AntoneUi. This was all the court and army that was left to the great Pontiff, who had been so deservedly the idol of his people and the hope of mankind. In so desperate a condition he ne^er lost confidence. Throughout all the trying circumstances he was self-possessed and serene. Nothing pained him so much as the ingratitude of his people. The new ministry of subversion had extorted from the Pope his foiced and reluctant consent to their forma- The Pope protests ^i^n. He deemed it his duty to protest, mini" fry SffiaJS whicL did in the most solemn manner, against them and all their acts, before all the Christian Euro- pean nations, as represented by their ambassadors. These ambassadors and diplomatists were Martizez Delia Eosa, the ambassador of Spain, with the Secretary of the Embassy, M. Amao ; the Duke d'Harcourt, ambassador of France ; the Cou. !; de Spaur, ambassador of Bavaria ; the Baron Venda Cruz, ambassador of Portugal, with the Com- mandant Huston; the Count Boutenieff, who represented at that time the Emperor of Russia and King of Poland ; Figucreido, ^^ST"'"^; LORD MINTO. xa ambassador of Brazil; Liedekerke of Holland, and several other diplomatists, of whom not )ne was an ItaUan. There was at Bome also on the occasion, although not in the apart- ments of the Pope, a British statesman, who was not an ambassador, inasmuch as, whatever may have been bis business at Kome, he had no recognized ' mission, if any mission at all, to the Sovereign of Eome. He was rather officious than official, and whether he had commission or not, he held, as is well known, serious communications with the enemies of the Pope. Lord Minto was enthusiastically received by the secret societies of Rome. The people, forgetting at the time the way to the Quirinal, went to serenade him. Lord Minto frequented " the popular circle " (a band of three hundred chosen agitators, whose office it was to carry the torch of discord into all the cities of the Papal States and of Italy) and the offices of the ' Socialist newsi^aper. He went so far as to receive courteously Cicervacchio, and made verses for his son Cicervacchietto. The Earl of Mint" was not, however, a faithful exponent of the opinions of British statesmen. Few of them, fortunately, * held the subversive doctrines that were countenanced by his lordship when representing at Rome the least respectable portion of the Whig party. The multitude, intoxicated with their delusive success, and the desperate men who led them, vere still celebrating their ill-gained victory, the frequent discharge of fire-arms and the impassioned vociferations of the crowd were yet reverberating through the venerable edifices of Rome when the Holy Father addressed the following words, giving proof of the deepest emo- tion whilst he spoke, to the ambassadors who remained with him : , *' Gentlemen, I am a . prisoner here. Now that I am deprived of all support and of all power, my "'hole conduct will have only one aim — to prevent any, even one drop of fraternal blood from being uselessly shed in my cause. ' yield every- thing to this principle , but at the same time I am anxious that you, gentlemen, should know, that all Europe should be 74 r:UROPEAN POWERS. made aware, that I take no part, even nominally, in this gov- ernment, and that I am resolved to remain an absolute stranger to it. I have forbidden them to abuse my name ; I have ordered that recourse should not be had evon to the ordinary formulas." The representatives of the European Powers received re- spectfully, and with feelings which found expression in tears, the protestation of Pius IX., who was now a prisoner in his €wn mansion, and a hostage of the revolutionary faction. " Pius IX. was in imminent danger. A prisoner, and sur- rounded by implacable enemies, he had no power to protect his own life or that of any faithful citizens. Many who were devoted to his cause had been obliged to leave the city. The Cardinals, indeed, were all true to their illustrious Chief. But several were driven by threats of assassination to go into exile. The children of Saint Ignatius withdrew, at the request of the Holy Father, in order to escape the wiath of the excited multi- tude. The Pope himself knew not whither to direct his steps. Unsettled state of The ir olution was everywhere. It had ^ns.^"'*'^*'^ °*" not yet conquered, but it distm'bed all Europe. The representatives of the Powers remained devotedly with the Pope. But the coimtries which would have sustained them were distracted by political commotions. The King of Naples was threatened on all hands by revolution. Lombardy And Venice were in a state of insurrection. Piedmont was making wai' on Austria, and all Hungary was in rebeUion. The Emperor Ferdinand was compelled twice over by civil commotion to abandon his capital. Unable to face the revolu- tionary tide, he handed over his tottering throne to a youth of eighteen years. The King of Prussia and other German Sovereigns, who hoped at first to direct the revolutionary movement as to derive from it new strength, were obliged either to fly before it or to struggle against it in the streets. France, who commenced the disturbance which was now so general, was compelled to fight for her existence against her own children. Her chief city, Paris, had become a battle-field, '■■t :■' :'-^ FLIGHT TO GAETA. 7S where wicked men and equally wicked women slew the soldiers of the country with poisoned balls. A greater number of the best ofl&cers of France fell in a single fight against Parisian anarchy than during the whole time of the w^r with the wild Bedouins of Africa. ' ^Pius IX. retires to ^.^ Rome the revolutionary faction was ' , gaining strength, and the position of the Pope was becoming v^ every day mure perilous. It was the opinion of his most devoted friends that he should leave the city. But to what country should he repair? All Europe was agitated by revolu- tionary troubles. The Holy Father was still undecided, when he received from the Bishop of Valence a letter of wise counsel, together with a precious gift — the Fyx which the venerable Pius VI. had borne on his person when an exile and the captive of an earlier revolution. Pius IX., on receiving a present . , which was so suggestive, resolved to remain no longer in the power of his enemies. With the assistance of the Duke 'j d'Harcourt, ambassador of France, and the Bavarian Ambas- .^ sador. Count de Spaur,he left the Quirinal Palace and the city of Rome. He was safely conducted by the latter personage to Albano, and thence in this ambassador's carriage to Gaeta, in the kingdom of Naples. As soon as his arrival there was inti- mated to King Ferdinand, who was not yet deprived of his royal power, this monarch, attended by a brilliant suite, em- barked for Gaeta, in order to welcome the Holy Father and assure him of protection. During seventeen months that Pius IX. resided as a voluntary exile in the kingdom of Naples, Ferdinand ceased not to afford all the comfort in his power to the Sovereign Pontiff. His conduct towards him in every respect was beyond all praise. As a fellow-man, he consoled him in his sorrows ; as a prince, he entertained him with truly royal magnificance, sparing nothing that waB calculated to lessen, even to do away with the pain and tedium of exile, whilst, as a faithful Christian, he fulfilled every filial duty towards the Vicar of Christ, expiating, as far as was possible? the crimes committed against him by so many ruthless enemies. • >• 76 EXCOMMUNICATION THREATENED. ' Treacherous opn- The revolution of another country had duct of sworn ser- vants of the Papacy, for chiefs such men as Robespierre. That of Rome and Italy gloried in Mazzini, who ordered the assas- sination of Count Rossi. There was at Rome another revolu- tionary leader, the Advocate Armellini, who pronounced the downfall of the Pope from his temporal sovereignty. This consistorial advocate had, six times Dver, solemnly sworn • fidelity to the Pontiff. He had even composed in honor of the Papacy a sonnet, in which are read these remarkable words : " I spoke with Time, and asked it what had become of so many empires, of those kingdoms of Argos and Thebes and Sidon, and so many others which had preceded or followed them. For only answer, Time strewed its passage with shreds of purple and kingly mantles, fragments of armor, wTecks of crowns, and cast at my feet thousands of broken sceptres. I then enquired what would become of the thrones of to-day. ■ What the first became, was the reply — and Time v/aved the direful scyihe which levels all things under its merciless strokes — these also will be. I asked if a like destiny was in store for the Throne of Peter. Time was silent; Eternity alone could reply." Not long after the departure of the Holy Father, this traitor, Armellini, gave a banquet to the principal chiefs of the revolution. His wife, who had often charged him with the vio- lation of his oath, remained on this occasion in her apartment, lest ^he should be contaminated by any, even an apparent association with, such men as Sterbini, Mamiani, Galetti and others. The guests enquired the cause of her absence, when sud- denly the door opened, and Madam Armellini, pale, animated, in a threatening attitude, and with a roll of paper in her hand, exclaimed: "You are all accursed! Fear the judgments of God, you, who in contempt of your oaths, although unable to slay, have banished his minister. Dread the Divine anger. Pius IX., from his place of exile, appeals to God against you. Listen to his words." She unrolled slowly, as she spoke, the MAZZINI AT HOME. 77 paper which she held in her hand, and read in a firm voice, emphasising every word, the decree of the Holy Fallxer, which contained a threat of excommunication. This reading came like a lightning stroke on the startled guests. Madam Armel- lini, after a moment's silence, resumed : " Sirs, have you understood ? The avenging hand which none can escape is suspended over yom- heads, ready to strike. But there is still time. The voice of G-od has not yet, through that of his Vicar, fulminated the terrible sentence. For the sake of your, hap- ' piness in this world and your salvation in the next, throw yourselves on his mercy. The cup of yom- iniquities is filling fast. Dash it from you before it] overflow." Having thus spoken, this courageous woman, whose just indignation was at its height, approached her husband and threw down before him, on the table, the decree of the Holy Father. She then withdrew. Sentiments and About two months and a half after the declarations of the ... PiiT^ , --i /^ Revolutionists. assassination 01 the rope s mmister, Count ' Kossi, the leading conspirators caused it to be decreed, in their ; revolutionary assembly, that the Papacy was fallen, de facto et de jure, from the government of the Eoman States. They made a fashion of providing, at the saiDe time, ciiat the Pontiff should have all necessary guarantees for his independence in the exercise of his spiritual office. Above all, they forgot not to declare that the form of government should be purely demo- cratic, and assume the glorious name of Roman Republic. All this jvas very little in harmony with the senti.nents which were expressed at the commencement of the popular move- ments. With regai'd to these ser+iments, which were so loudly and apparently also so sincerely proclaimed, new light was dispensed. Mazzini arrived at Rome as a deputy to the lievolutionary Convention. He had no sooner taken his place there than he declared that the reiterated vivats |in honor of the reforming Pope were lies, and were had recourse to in order to conceal designs which it was not yet time to reveal. Is there net reason to believe that the new watchword, " Live 78 SYMPATHY EXPRESSED. the Roman people!" was equally sincere? It is well known that they never would admit a fair representation of the people. And had they not declared that they are incapable of governing themselves, and must be ruled with a rod of iron ? What the world Public Opinion at the same time gave the Medin^gsatRome.'*" Ho to their unwarrantable pretensions. The revolutionary chiefs gave out in an official proclamation, "that a republic had arisen at Rome on the ruins of the Papal Throne, which the unanimous voice of Europe, the malediction of all civilized people and the spirit of the Gospel, had levelled in the dust." Not only the nations of Europe, but also the whole civilized world and people, the most remote,who scarcely yet enjoyed the blessings of civilization, made haste to deny an assertion which was as false as it was audacious. All the nations of Christendom, were deeply moved when they heard of the outrages which the Roman populace had heaped upon the common Father of the faithful. Compassion was universally expressed, together with professions of duty and obedience, whilst there was only indignation at the base conduct of the faction which persecuted him. There was scarcely a Sovereign Prince in Europe who did not send to Pius IX. most affectionate letters, expressive of reverence and devotedness, whilst they promised assistance and defence. The four Catholic Powers, and not without the consent of the other States, united in. order to drive the rebels from Rome and the Roman States, and restore to the Pontiff his temporality. In the representa- tive assemblies of France and Spain, the most eloquent orators upheld the rights of the Holy See, the utility and necessity of the complete independence of the Roman Pontiff, both for the government of his States and the exercise of his spiritual power. At the same time numerous associt ions were formed under the auspices of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, for the purpose of collecting offerings in aid of the Sovereign Pontiff, impoverished as he was by the pr* ition of his revenues. These associations extended not oaly throughout Europe, but were established also in North and South America, PETER 8 PENCE. 79 India, China and the PhUipx^ine Islands. The poorest even, like the widow of the Gospel, insisted on contributing their mite. Many touching instances are quoted. Some young persons, who were only humble artisans, managed by great economy to save some thirty-five livres, and sent thera, accompanied with a very feeling address, to the association of their locality. " If, at this moment," they said, "we were near the Holy Father, we would say to him, whUst reverently kneeling at his feet : Most Holy Father, this is the happiest of our days. We are a society of young persons who consider it our greatest happiness to give proof of om* veneration for your Holiness. We claim to be your most affectionate children ; and notwithstanding the efforts of ill-disposed persons to separate us from Catholic unity, we declare that we recognize in your HoHness the suc- cessor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Jesus Christ. We are prepared to sacrifice all that we possess, and even our life, in order to prove ourselves worthy children of so good a Father." The testimony of youth and innocence is precious in the sight of heaven. Hence, allusion is made to this case in preference to so many others. Ex ore infantium et luctantium perfeci^ti laudem. On occasion of receiving such genuine marks of filial devotedness Pius IX. was often moved to tears. The revival of the offering of " Peter's Pence " recalls to mind the piety of the early ages. This practice was in vigor when tae world had scarcely yet begun to believe. It is not a little remarkable that it has been renewed in an age when so many have fallen from belief. The more the Church was per- secuted in the early days the more were her ministers held in honor. Such, one is compelled to say, is her destiny in aU ages. Pius IX., when an exile at Gaeta, was the object of the most respectful and devoted attentions of all classes of Christians in every land. Bishops, ecclesiastical communities, religious congregations, all orders of Christian people, vied with one another in their zeal to do him honor. As many as six, eight, eleven thousand signctures were often appended to the 80 INDEPENDENCE OF THE POPE. The Catholic Pow era resolve to reJn state the Po^. same dutiful address. The memory of such faith and devoted- ness can never perish. A selection of letters and addresses to the Holy Father was published at Naples in two large quarto volumes, under the title : TJie Catholic world to Pins iX., Suvcreign Pontiff, an exile, at Gaeta from 1848 to 1850. When Peter himself was in prison the whole Church was moved, and prayed for his release. It speedily followed. Prayer, no less earnest, was made in behalf of his successor. With what success a few words will show. The deliverers were the Princes and people of Catholic Europe. If there was still some delay it was only that for which diplomacy is proverbial. Austria, that had more than once obeyed the voice of the Holy Father, in with- drawing her troops from the Roman States, and against which he had so often refused to aUow war to be declared, was the first now to propose that measures should be adopted for his restoration. In a note addressed by this State to the other Powers we find the following words : "The CathoUc world is entitled to require for the visible Chief of the Church the pleni- tude of liberty which is essential for the government of Catholic society, and the restoration of that ancient monarchy which has subjects in every pai*t of the world. The Catholic nations will never aUow the head of their Church to be robbed of his independence and reduced to be the subject of a foreign Prince. They will not suffer him to be degraded by a faction which, under the cloak of his venerable name, is endeavoring to under- mine and destroy his power. In order that the Bishop of Eome, who is at the same time the Sovereign Pastor of the Church, may be able to exercise the duties of his exalted oflfice, it is necessary that he should be also Sovereign of Rome." Spain came next. On the 21st December, 1848, the Spanish ministry addressed to the other Catholic nations the following circular letter: "The government of her Mojesty has decided on doing whatever shall be necessary in order to reinstate the Holy Father in a state of independence and- dignity, which will admit of his discnarging the duties of his INDEPENDENCE OF THE POt>E. 81 sacred office. With a view to this end the government of Spain, having been apprised of the Pope's flight, addressed the French Government, which declared itself prepared to sustain the liberty of the Pontiff. These negotiations, nevertheless, may be considered as insufficient when we glance at the turn which affairs have taken at Rome. There is no question any longer of protecting the liberty of the Pope, but of re-establish- ing his authority on a solid and stable basis, and of securing him against violence. It is well known to you that the Cath- olic Powers have always had it at heart to guarantee the sovereignty of the Pope, and assure to him an independent position. Such position is so important for the Christian States that it cannot on any account be subjected to the will and pleasure of so small a portion of the Catholic world as the Roman States. It is the belief of Spain that the Catholic Powers cannot commit the liberty of the Pope to the caprice of tke city of Rome. Nor can they permit that, whilst all the * Catholic nations are warmly offering to the Holy Father proofs of their profound respect, a single town of Italy sliall dare to outrage his dignity, and restrict the Pope to a state of inde- pendence which could be so easily abused at any time as a religious power. These considerations induce the government '^of her Majesty to invite the other Catholic Powers to come to an understanding on the means to be employed for averting the evils which would arise, if matters remained in their present position. In furtherance of this object, her Majesty has ordered her government to address the governments of France, Austria, Bavaria, Sardinia, Tuscany and Naples, in order to invite them to name Plenipotentiaries, and appoint the place where they shall meet." The Catholic Powers welcomed cordially this admirable note, which expressed so clearly the idea which they all enter- tained. Piedmont alone, as if already casting a covetous eye on Rome and its territory, refused to concur. Its refusal was expressed by the pen of thei once so highly esteemed Abbate 'Gioberti, who was President of the Council. It was not long /■ 82 BESTORATION OF THE TEMPORAL STATE. \ till Piedmont reaped its reward. The following year, 1849, on the 22d of March, it had to lament the disastrous battle of Novara. Not long after. Cardinal Antonelli, who remained with the Pope, uddressed, on the part of the Holy See, to the govern- ments of France, Austria, Spain and Naples, a highly important paper. It recapitulated, in a clear and forcible manner, all that had occurred at Rome from the time of the Pope's departure till the 18th of February, and then requested, in the most formal and pressing way possible, the intervention of these four Catholic Powers. The governments thus appealed to promptly replied by sending Plenipotentiaries to Gaeta, where the Pope desired that the dipfcmatic conference should be opened. The Catholic countries had already anticipated the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff — some by acts, others by energetic resolutions. On the one hand, General Cavi.'gnac, to whoni 5'rance had for the time committed her sword, had concentrated, as early as the month of September, 1848, a body of troops under the command of General MoUiere, whose duty it should be to hold themselves in readiness to embark for Italy at the first signal. Spain, on the other hand, prepared her fleet. The King of the Two Sicilies could scarcely restrain the ardor of his soldiers. Portugal, even, which had not been mentioned in the document addressed to the four Catholic Powers, considered it a duty to cause it to be represented to the government of the Pope through its ambassador, the Baron de Verda Cruz, that the Portuguese people would be most happy to take up arms in the interest of the Papal cause. Portugal was among the first, on occa.sion of the 16th Novem- ber, 1848, to offer hospitality to the Sovereign Pontiff, and to invite him to one of the finest residences in Christendom, the magnificent palace of Mafra. * ^ THE KINO OF NAPLES. 88 Action of the Pow- ers delayed. The time of the Holy Father at Gaeta was employed, as it usually is, in prayer, the giving of audiences Fe^dlLaid'ofNapie^H! ^ud the business of the Church. In one towardi the exiled point, there was an exception to the rules of ^°^' the Papal Court. The King of Naples, the Queen and the Princes were admitted every day to the table of the Pope. King Ferdinand, notwithstanding his friendly relations with Pius IX., never availed liimself of this privilege without a new daily invitation. In all other respects, like- wise, his conduct towards the H0I3' Father was all that the most devout Catholic could desire. The internal state of the Catholic Powers caused their action to be delayed. The political troubles of the Austrian Empire obliged the Emperor Ferdinand to abdicate in favor of his youth- ful nephew, Francis Joseph. France was laboring to con- solidate her newly-founded Republic. There was question of electing a president. And if, on the occasion, Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte secured the greatest number of votes, he owed this success, if not wholly, in great measure, at least, to his repudiation of the undutiful conduct of his cousin, the Prince of Canino, at Eome, and his declaration in favor of the temporal sovereignty of the Pope. On the eve of the election he wrote as follows to the Papal Nuncio : " My Lord, I am anxious that the rumors which tend to make me an accomplice of the conduct of Prince Canino at Rome should not be credited by you. I have not, for a long time, had any relations with the eldest son of Lucien Bonaparte ; and I am profoundly grieved that he has not understood that the maintenance of the temporal sovereignty of the venerable Head of the Church is intimately connected with the glory of Cath- olicism, no less than with the liberty and independence of Italy. Accept, my Lord, the expression of my sentiments of high esteem. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." Prince Loula Napo- leon repudiates the conduct of the Prince of Canino.— Declares for the temporal sov- ereignty. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // tA 1.0 I.I S ^ IB 2.0 Ui U 1.25 1.4 1.6 .4 6" — ► V] <^ /i Jf, /, '/ /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^tf vV :f % 84 TRAITORS AT ROME. Spain had alieady despatched a fleet to Gaeta, the Austri- ans had advanced in the direction of Per- Several Powers an* dertaketoreatoretbe rara, and the King of Naples at Terracina, r^^tr Jj^tTiS^l' w^en, on the 26th of April, 1849, a French an army to Bome« , x- » » -' army, under the command of General Oudinot, disembarked at Civita Yecchia. This military expedition wa&» at first, considerably thwarted by diplomacy. The gencral- in-chief was assured at the outset that he had only to show himself before the walls of Eome, and the gates would be opened immediately in consequence of the reaction which was taking place within. Accordingly, the army advanced, on the dOth April, to the foot of the ramparts, and was \ received with a discharge of fire-arms. Nevertheless, one of the gates was opened to a French battaUon. The- Eomans came out in crowds, waving white handkerchiefs, and shout- , ing, " Peace is concluded ! Peace for ever ! Enemies in the morning, we are brothers this evening ! ^oZnZlil'''" I^«^8 li^« *h« French!" The soldiers, de- ceived by these demonstrations, were per- suaded to enter the city. They were at once disarmed and declared prisoners of war. It was now manifest that a regtdar siege was necessary. An impediment was, however, thrown in the way of military operations, by a civil or diplo- matic agent who entered Bome, and in the course of a few weeks concluded with the revolutionists a treaty which was contrary to his instructions; to those of the com- mander-in-chief, to the honor of France and the objects of the expedition. Odillon Barrot was, at that time. President of the French Ministry — the same Odillon Barrot who, in 1880, was prefect of poUce, and al- lowed the mansion of the Archbishop to be demolished without taking any measures for its protection. Such conduct, as has been well observed, showed that this official loved anarchy more than order. Hence, probably, arose those impediments to the Boman expedition which gave time to Determination to besiege Borne. The siege delayed by dl- plometlo m a n oe • uvreg. MOCK BISTEBS OF CHABITY. 85 the revolutionists to organize, under the leadership of a chief of banditti, Garibaldi, of Genoa. They R^yohHu^iBU. ^^ availed themselves, at the same time, of the leisure afforded, to massacre many faithful priests, to enable some renegade monks to pro- fane the solemnities of religiop, and to commit, in the hospitals, outrages which were, until that time, imheard of. Unfortunate soldiers, sick and at the point of death, beholding persons dressed like Nuns and Sisters of Charity, expected to hear from them the language of religion, in order to assist them in preparing for a Christian death. It can easily be imagined how greatly they were shocked to hear only lascivious expressions and the most infamous provocations to vice. These pretended Sisters of Charity were nothing else than professed prostitutes. Their president, a revolutionary princess, admits, in her memoirs, this melancholy fact. The King of Naples and General Cordova, commander-iii- The King of Naples c^^ie^ 0^ the Spanish army, offered to Gen- lSr*to ffit^'he eral Oudinot the aid of their arms. He *'"°«'^- thanked them, but decUned their offer, desiring,' for the honor of the French army, that as it had begun, so it should complete the duty which it had undertaken. The French general represented, and with reason, to the Spanish commander, that tie would have «ntered Rome several weeks sooner but for the diplomatic negotiations already alluded to: The P'anipotentiary, who conducted these negotiaticms, having beon disavowed,^ the general held himself alone responsible, and it was his duty to simplify matters as much as possible. He urged, more- over, that when an army is besieging a place no foreign troops cain approach it, unless their assiBtance is requested either by the besiegers or the besieged* The latter were far from having any claim to the protection of Spain, and the French army was in a position to meet every contingency. 86 KEYS OF ROME TAKEN TO PIU8 IX. On the 30th June, 1849, the city surrendered, uncondition* Rome aurrenders »%• ^n 3rd July the French army entered to the French. Rome, amidst the joyous acclamations of the native Roman people. On the same day General Oudinot despatched Colonel Niel Colonel Niel de- to Gaeta, in order to deliver to the Sovereign Tlflf*v*° °."fK* Pontiff the keys of his capital. Pius IX. witk the keys of the •^ ^ city. was overjoyed at the arrival of the French officer. His people were now free. The war was at an end. Blood no longer flowed. There was nothing wanting to his satisfaction and happiness. " ! speak to me of my children of Rome and France," he exclaimed. **How they must have suffered ! How earnestly have I pfrayed for them !" He then listened with interest, and the feel- ings of a father, to the recital of the sufferings of the French army and their prolonged labors, which were patiently undergone, in order to save the edifices and monuments of Rome from irreparable destruction. Unable, at length, to con- tain his emotion, he spoke thus to Colonel Niel : " Colonel, I have often said, on other occasions, and I am happy to he abl& to repeat the same to-day, after so great a service, that I have always relied on France. That country had promised me nothing, but I understood full well, thai when opportunity offered she would give to the Church her treasures, her blood,, and what is, perhaps, still more difficult for her valiant chil- dren, that bravery which can restrain itself* that patience and perseverance to which is due the preservation of Rome, that treasure of the world, that beloved and sorely-tried city, towards which, during these days of exile, I have always looked in great anxiety of mind. Say to the commander-in-chief, to all the generals and all the officers — ^would it could also be Raid to every soldier of France ! — ^that there are no bounds to my gratitude. My prayers for the prosperity of your country will be more fervent than ever. My love for the French people has been increased, if, indeed, anything could make it greater than, it was, by the great service which I now acknowledge." PIUS IX. THINKS THE FBBNCH ARMY. 87 At the same time, Fins IX. addressed an appropriate letter Letter of Pine IX. to *° General Oudinot. He recognized the well- oenerai oodinot. knownvalor of the French armies, which was sustained by the justice of the cause 'which they came to defend, and which won for them the meed of victory. In congratulat- iii^ the general on the principal share which he bore in the important event, the Holy Father was careful to say that he rejoiiced not over the bloodshed which had necessarily occurred, but m the triumph of order over anarchy, and because liberty was restored to honest and Christian people, for whom it would no longer be a crime to enjoy the property which God had bestowed upon them, and to, adore Him, with becoming pomp of worship, without incurridtg !^e risk of being deprived of life or liberty. In the difficult circtunstances which might arise, the Holy Father would rely on the Divine protection. As it might prove useful to the French army to be acquainted with the events of his Pontificate, he sent, along with his letter, a number of copies of the Allocution, in which these events are related. This paper, he stated, proved abundantly that the army had won a victory over the enemies of human society, and th^t their triumph, consequently, would awaken senti- ments of giatitude in the breasts of all honest men throughout Europe and the whole civilized world. The President of the French Bepublic, Louis Napoleon, the French Minister of War and the National reX'i^'o^'::! Assembly, all joined in congratulating Gen- Invites the Pope to eral Oudinot and his army. Pius IX. had retarntohis api . ^^^ appointed (31 st July) a commission of three Cardinals for the government of the Boman States, when General Oudinot arrived at Gaeta, and u-ged the Pope to return himself to his capital. Pius IX. had already stated to M. de Corcelles, the Plenipotentiary of France, his objections to an immediate return. He now held the same language to General Oudinot. He could not, he said, so far forget the purely moral nature of his power as to bind himself in a positive way, ^en -there was nothing settled as to matters M 88 THE EMPEKOR L. NiiPOLBON ATTEMPTS COBBCION. detail, and especially when he was called npon to speak in presence of a first-class Power, whose exigencies were no secret. Ought he to condemn himself to appear to act under the im- pulsion of force ? If he did anything good, was it not neces- sary tHat his acts should he spontaneous, and should also have the appearance of being so ? Were not his inclinations weU known? Were they not calculated to inspire confidence? Nevertheless, it was his intention to return, in a few days, to his States, and to remain some time at Castel-Gandolfo, in the midst of the French army. General Oudinot returned to Rome fully assured of the speedy return of the Holy Father. About this time it became manifest that the French Bepub- lie desired to restore the Pope as a mere he tries to coerce the agent of their newly-instituted government* P ope.-Lett er to r^j^g Prench ministry, of which Odillon Bar- Co.^onel Edgar Ney. , . , . rot was the head, saw, with mipatienpe, that Pontifical affairs were not proceeding to such a conclusion as they wished. Accordingly, General Oudinot was recalled and replaced by General Bostolan, the next in command. Two days later, a letter signed " Louis Napoleon," and addressed to Colonel Edgar Ney, who was also the bearer of it, was despatched to Borne. This letter contained insulting allusions to the Pontifical government ; and its requirements would have amiihilated, in the estimation of Europe, the independence of the Sovereign Pontiff, whilst personally dishonoring him. " I thus recapitulate," said the president, in this memorable epistle, the temporal power of the Pope, a general amnesty , stecularization of the administration^ and Uberal government." It was appointed that General Bostolan should publish this ill- timed letter, and carry it into effect. He refused to do so, tendered his resignation, and thus firmly replied : ** Conscience requires that I should sacrifice my position and my sympathies. My successor, more fortunate than myself, will perhaps enjoy the signal honor to terminate peacefully the work which we have begun at the head of the army. As a soldier and a Christian, I will rejoice on account of the Sovereign. Pontiff, THE POPE MUST BE INDEPENDENT. 89 who will have been restored to his people, and because of France, which will have accomplished a noble and most vrorihy mission." To the Odillon Barrot ministry, which at one time disowned the letter, and at another acknowledged it, and ordered its publication, the general declared that he would never identify himself with an act which, besides being unjust, would endanger the peace of all Europe. According to his view, which was the same as that of the French ambassadors, M. de Eayneval and M. de Corcelleo, a general war would fol- low the official publication of the letter- of 18th August; and such a war could not but prove fatal to the ideas of order which were beginning to resume their empire. He loved his country too weU to bear part in incurring for it such fearful risks. Messrs. de Rayneva? and de Corcelles wrote to the same •effect, and communicated to the French Government the reso- lution of the Sovereign Pontiff to seek the protection of Austria, glory by restoring the Pontifical State, and fifty years after Napoleon, in the zenith of power and prestige, had failed in his endeavor to undo the work of his predecessor ; history will say that France has remained true to her traditions and deaf to odious counsels. History will say that thirty thousand French- men, under the leadership of the worthy son of one of the giants of our great imperial glories, left the shores of their country, in order to re-establish at Bome, in the person of the Pope, right, equity, European and French interest. History will further say what Pius IX. himself said, in his letter of thanks to General Oudinot : * The victory qfthf. French arms is won over the enemies of human society.' Yes!- gentlemen, such will be the judgment of impartial history ; and it will be one of the brightest glories of France and the nineteenth century. Tou will not attenuate, tax aish,> eclipse this glory by plunging into a mass of contradictions, complications, and inextricable inconsistency. Know you what would dim for ever the lustre of the Frendh flag ? It would be to set it in opposition to the Cross, to the Tiara, which it has delivered. It would be to transfoim the soldiers of France, the protectors of the Pope, into his oppressors. It would be to exchange the role and the / glory of Charlemagne for a pitiful mimicry of Garibaldi." A large majority of the legislative assembly agreed with The Monidimiity Montalembert. JThe news of their decision, of Rome invitea the which was in accordance with the general Pope to return. sentiment of the French nation, \^as speedily conveyed to the PoiitificfJi Court. It dispelled all the un- RETURN TO ROME. 91 pleasant apprehensions which had hitherto prevailed, and gave great satisfaction to the Holy Father. The influence which it> exercised ove^ his plans for the future may be learned from the reply which he gave to a deputation from the municipality of Borne, which now came to pray that he toRjnT** "*""" ^ould return to his States. " It was repug- nant to us," said he, "to return to our States, so long as France made it a question whether we should be ind0p6ndent. But now that a happy solution has been reached, which appears to put an end to all doubt on this point, we hope to be able, in a short time, to return to our city of Borne." Accordingly, on 12th April, 1860, Pius IX. made his entrance into Borne amidst the dutiful ^nd joyous acclama* tions of the French army and the Boman people. On the 18th day of the same month he formally blessed the arms and co] ;rs of France in front of St. Peter'H Church." Thus ended at Bome a political revolution, which nothing less powerful than Catholic sentiment could have overcome. Whilst the comparatively small Pontifical State was agitated state of religion la by revolution, the greater kingdom of the thrpirtil^J^iflm Church was steadily pursuing, under the and the Mahometan auspices of its august Chief, its grand career impocture. q£ progress and development. A new era seemed to have dawned over all those great countries which the Photian schism had so seriously affected. About the time of Pius the Ninth's accession, more favorable dispositions had come to prevail among the Greeks of Constantinople, of Syria, of Palestine, of Egypt. Among the Armenians and Chaldeans there were numerous conversions, whilst even the Turks phowed a better feeling towards the Catholic people, among whom their lot was cast. We have already seen how well such sentiments were encouraged by the newly-elected Pontiff. £Qs words of kindness were repaid by increased affec- tion for the Catholic people, and the wish, not to say the belief, that when the Turkish Empire fell, the fragments of its once great inheritance would be gathered up by Catholics. " Are 92 EASTERN CHURCHES. this belief and friendship," asks the At)be Etienne, "an indica- tion of the speedy, reunion of the children of Mahomet with the great Christian family ? We have much reason to think 80, when we behold Islamism everywhere dwindlmg away and giving place to the true faith." Damascus, so sacred in Mussulman estimation, and so intolerant that no Christian could pass within its gates except bareheaded] and on paying a. capitation tax, now beholds with pleasure the celebration of Catholic Tites. So great was the change that in a short time a.11 the inhabitants of a village in the neighborhood embraced the Catholic faith. The Mahometans who are most capable of appreciating reUgious questions, study Christianity sr^cretly. Not long ago, a Turk of Damascus caused a Catholic priest to be called to his deathbed, and begged to be baptized. Great was the surprise of the missionary to find him as well acquainted with the truths of religion as he was anxious to receive the sacrament of regeneration. -A few moments later the good priest beheld his neophyte expire, expressing the most pious sentiments. In Bussia, the most powerful seat of the great eastern schism, Catholics were long subjected to the most trying per- secution. It is well known what influence the venerable Pontiff, Gregory XVI., exercised over the mind of the late Emperor Nicholas, and that he succeeded in causing him to mitigate the evils which weighed so heavily on his Catholic subjects. Pius IX. was still more successful. Having con- cluded a Concordat with the Czar, which was signed at Borne on the 8rd August, 1847, by Cardinal Lambrusohiai, on the part of the Holy See, and Counts Bloudoff and Boutenieff, on the part of Bussia, Pius IX., in a consistory held on 8rd July of the same year, instituted bishops for the following Sees of the Bussian Empire : The Metropolitan Church of Mohilow, the united dioceses of Luceoria and Zitomeritz, in Yolhynia, the diocese of Yilna,. in Poland, and a coadjutor, with right of suc- cession, for the archbishopric of Mohilow. The Concordat contained 81 articles. Article lst« Seven Boman Catholic CONCORDAT WITH RUSSIA. 98 dioceses are established in the Russian Empire — an arch* bishopric and six bishoprics, viz. : the archbishopric of Mohi- low, which comprises all those parts of the Empire which are not contained in the undermentioned dioceses. The Grand Duchy of Finland is also included in this archdiocese. The diocese of Vilna, comprising the governments of Vilna and, Grodno, according to their present limits; the diocese of TelsQa, or Samogitia, comprising the governments of Gourland and Kowno ; the diocese of Minsk, comprising the government of Minsk, as at present limited; the diocese of Jjuceoria and jZitomeritz, containing the governments of Kiovia and Volhynia ; the diocese of Kaminiec, comprising the government of Podolia ; the new diocese of Kherson, containing the Province of Bes- sarabia, the governments of Ehersonesus, Ecatherinaslaw, Taurida, Saratow and Astracan, together with the regions that are subject to the general government of the Caucasus. In glancing at the articles of the Concordat, the Catholic refader will be agreeably surprised to observe that in so many important things the wishes of the Holy Father were acceded to, whilst it is matter for regret that in regard to others the Plenipotentiaries could not come to an understanding. It is provided by the 2nd and 8rd articles that apostolic letters under the leaden seal shall determine the extent and limits of the dioceses, as indicated in article 1st. The decrees of execution shall express the number and the names of the parishes of each diocese, and shall be submitted for the sanction of the Holy See. The number of sufi&agan bishoprics, as settled by the apostolic letters of Pius YI. in 1789, is retained in the six ancient dicceses. In the following articles, from 4 to 10, it is agreed that the sufiEragan of the new diocese of Kherson shall reside in the town of Saratow. The annual allowance to the Bishop of Kherson shall be 4,480 silver roubles. His sufEragan shaU have the same income as the other bishops of the Emi»re, viz.: 2,000 silver roubles. The chapter of the Cathedral Church of Kherson shall consist of nine members, vi2.: two prelates or dignitaries, the president and archdeacon; four ^ ARTICLES or BU88UN CONCORDAT. canons, of whom three shall discharge the duties of theologian, penitentiary and reotor; and three resident priests, or hene- ' ficiaries. In the new bishopric of Kherson there shall be a diocesan seminary, in which from fifteen to twenty-five students shall be supported at the cost of the government, the same as those who enjoy a p'^usion in other seminaries. Until a Catholic bishop of the Armenian rite is named, the spiritual wants of the Armenian Catholics of the dioceses of Kherson find Kaminiec shall be provided for by applying the ninth chapter of the Council Df Lateran, held in 1215. The bishops of Kaminiec and Kherson shall determine the number of Catholic Armenian ecclesiastics who shall be educated in their seminaries at the expense of the government. In each of these seminaries there shall reside a Catholic Armenian priest, in order to instruct the students in the ceremonies of their national rite. As often as the spiritual wants of the Armenian Boman Catholics of the newly-instituted diocese of Kherson shall require it, the bishop, besides the means hitherto employed for / this purpose, may send priests as missionaries, and the gov- ernment will supply the funds that shall be necessary for their journeys and sustenance. * Articles 11 and 12 provide that the number of dioceses in the Kingdom of Poland shall remain the same as ordained by ifte Apostolical Letters of Pius YII., of date 80th June, 1818. There is no change as to the number and designation of the ,sa£EraganB of these dioceses. The appointment of bishops for the dioceses and the suffiragan bishoprics of the Empire of ^jBussia and the Kingdom of Poland shall only take ofifect after •each nomination shall have been agreed upon between the Emperor and the Holy See. Canonical institution will be ^ven by the Boman Pontiff in the usual form. In articles 18-20 are contained the following regulations: the bishop is the sole judge and administirator of the eoolepi- astical affieurs of his diocese, having due regard to the canonical obedience which he owes to the Holy Apostolic See. Certain fififairs must be, in the first place, submitted to the delibera* 1 TEAOHINO ACOORDINO TO TjIE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 95 tions of the diooesan oonsistory. Such affairs are decided hy the bishop, after having been examined by the consistory, which, however, is only consultative. The bishop is by no means bound to give the reasons of his decision, even in case of his opinion being different from that of the consistory. The •other affairs of the diocese, which are called admintBtrative, and among which are included cases of conscience, and, as has been isaid above, cases of discipline which are visited only by light , punishments and pastoral admonitions, depend entirely on the authority and the spontaneous decision of the bishop. All the members of the consistory are ecclesiastics. Their nomination and their revocation belong to the bishop. The nominations :are so made as not to displease the government. The officials of the consistorial chancery are confirmed by the bishop, on the presentation of the secretary of the consistory. The secre- tary of the bishop, who is charged with official and private cor- respondence, is named directly by the bishop ; and an ecclesi- astic, as the bishop thinks proper, may be chosen. The duties of th^ members of the consistory cease wheii the bishop dies or resigns, and also when the administration of a vacant See comes to an end. " From articles 2).-29 we read as follows : The bishop has the supreme direction of the teaching of doctrine and disci- pline in the seminaries of his diocese, according to the prescnp- tions of the Council of Trent. The choice of rectors, inspectors and professors for the diocesan seminaries is reserved to the bishop. Before naming them, he must ascertain that, as regards their civil conduct, they will not give occasion to any objection, on the part of the government. The Archbishop Metropolitan fof MohHow shall exercise in the ecclesiastical academy of St. j|||tersburg the same jurisdiction as does each bishop in his diocesan seminary. He is the sole chief of this academy — its supreme director. The council or directory of this academy is only consultative. The choice of the rector, the inspecttiir and professgfs of this academy, shall be mf^de by the archbishop, after he has received the report of the Acadeini- I 06 PATRONAGE ACCORDING TO THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. caJ. Council. The professors and assistant-professors of Theo- logical science shall always be chosen among ecclesiastics.. The other masters may be selected among lay persons, profess- ing the Eoman Catholic religion. The confessors of the students of each seminary and of the academy shall take no^ part in the disciplinary government of the establishment.. They shall be chosen and nominated by the bishop or arch- bishop. When the limits of the dioceses shall have been fixed' according to the new regulation, the archbishop, with the- advice of the ordinaries, shall determine, once for all, the num- ber of stu'lents that each diocese may send to the academy. The programme of studies in the seminaries shall be regulated by the bishops. The archbishop shall decide upon that of the: academy after having conferred with the Academical Council.. "When the rule of the ecclesiastical academy of St. Petersburg- shall have been modified conformably with the principles agreed upon in the preceding articles, the Archbishop of Mohilow will send to the Holy, See a report on the academy like that which was made by Archbishop Koromanski when the academy was restored. , Articles 30 and 31. Wherever the right of patronage does not exist, or has been discontinued for a certain time, parish priests shall be appointed by the bishop. They must not offend the government, and must have undergone examination and (SEimpetition according to the rules laid down by the Council of Trent. Boman Catholic churches may be freely repaired at. the expense of communities or individuals who shall please to take .cl&arge of this work. When their own resources are insufficient, they may apply to the Imperial Government in order to obtain assistance. New churches shall be constructed, and the number of parishes augmented, when such measures, become necessary from the increase of population, the too great extent of existing parishes, or the difficulty of communica- tions. Such matters as could not be agreed upon and embodied in the Concordat may be gleaned from the allocution which COMPLETE LIBERTY WANTING. 97 Pius IX. addressed, at the time, to the Cardinals. " Many things of the gieatest importance still remain, in regard to which the Plenipotentiaries could not come to an agreement, and the omission of which awakens our most lively sblicitude, and causes us the utmost pain ; for they concern, in the high- est degree, iLe liberty of the church, its ri^jhts, its essential principles, and the salvation of the faithful in those Bussian countries. We allude to that true and complete liberty, which ought to be secured to the Christian people, of being able, in regard to the things^which relate to religion, to communicate, without impediment, with this Apostolic See, the centre of Cathohc unity and truths [the Father and Master of all the Faith- ful. All men may understand how deeply grieved we are, when they call to mind the multiplied appeals which this Apostolic See ha» never ceased to cause to be heard at divers times, in order to obtain free communication of the faithful, not only in Eusaia, but ako in other countries, where^ in certain affairs of religion, it is seriously impeded, to the great loss of souls. We wo^ld speak of the property which ought to be restored to the clergy. We would have removed from the Episcopal Consis- tories the lay person chosen by the government, in order that, in these assemblies, the bishops may be able to act with all liberty. We must advert to the law according to which mixed marriages are not recognized as valid, until they have been blessed by^ a Busso-Greek Catholic priest; and also to the liberty which Catholics ought to possess of trying and judging their matrimonial causes, in cases of mixed marriages, by a CathoHc^ ecclesiastical tribunal. Finally, we would allude to divers laws prevalent in Bussia, which fa the age at which religious professions may be made, which d€8troy entirely the schools that are hel^ in the houses of religious orders, which prevent the visits of provincial superiors, which forbid and interdict conversion to the Catholic faith." In this same allocution the HolyJFather deplores the miser- able state of the illustrious Buthenian nation, which, dispersed throughout the ^•ast countries of Bussia, is, from various causes, Q 98 CONCESSIOMS BY RUS8I4. exposed to great dangers as regards sakation. Without bishops, they have none to guide them in the paths of righteous- ness, none to administer to them spiritual succour, or to wain them against the insidious approaches of heresy and schism. The Holy Father is confident that the Latin priests will bestow all their care and employ every available resource in affording spiritual aid to these ** most dear children." " From om* in- most soul," concludes the venerable Pontiff, "we exhort, earnestly and lovingly in the Lord, and urge the Euthenians themselves to remain faithful and steadfast in the unity of the GathoUe Church, or, if they have been so unfortunate as to abandon it, to return to the bosom of their most loving mother, to have recourse to us, who, with God's assistance, will do whatever is best calculated to secure their salvation." As regards some of these highly important matters, the wishes of the Holy Father were acceded to by the Eussian Emper r. The bishop of Kherson was allowed a second suffragan. It was also regulated that matrimonial and other ecclesiastical causes, whether in Eussia proper or in the ^jfag- dom of Poland, should, on appeal from a sentence pronounced by the ordinary, be heard before the tribunal of the metro- poUtan, or before the more neighboring bishop, in cp,se of judg- ment having been first given by the metropolitan. Such causes, in the event of final appeal, should be referred to Eome — to the tribunal of the Apostolic See. In considering, at some length, the Concordat with Eussia, and the more favorable terms by which it was followed, we learn what hopes may be entertained as regards the spmtual well-being of the more numerous Catholics, Armenians and others, who will now, in all probabihty, come under the sway of Eussia.^ The Society of the Holy Ghost had labored successfully in France, the Indies, Canada, China, Acadia, foreign missions.- or Nova Scotia, the islands, Miquelon and ^^^^'^ St. Peter. In the countries referred to, there were bishops, vicars apostolic, of this society, and several mis- * This danger is past. A . •a^ii^ji^j^a^- FOREIGN CHURCHES AND HISSIOKS. 99 sionaxy priests. In Cayenne and French Guiana^ they main-- tained an apostolic prefect and twenty missionarie. apostolic, ^he troubles of the French revolution all but extinguished this> zealous and infiitiential missionary society. It was revived in the year 1848, under the auspices of Pius IX., and resumed its- labors under the title of Society of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. During the negotiations which led to the restoration of this society, the Vicariate Apostolic of Madagascar became vacant bv the death of Bishop Dalton. Abbe Monnet, Superior of the Society of the Holy Ghost, was appointed to succeed him, and Bev. Abbe Liebermann, a dis- tinguished convert from Judaism, was unanimously elected to the post of superior-general of the two united societies. The labors of Abbe Liebermann were crowned with complete suc^ cess. In 1860, the Holy Father, in order to confirm and per-^ petuate the fruit of so much apostolic labor, erected three bishoprics — one in the low country of Guadeloupe, another at Fort Francis, in Martinica, and a third at St. Denis, of Bour- bon Island. The eminent con^ ert died in 1852, after hayiixg had the satisfaction to behold such great developments of hia missionary work. The death of the first superior-general did not, by any means, retard the increase of the new society. Qa the contrary, new blessings seemed to descend upon it. IJnder the guidance of the second superior, the 'Abbe Schwindenham- mer, who had been the friend and confidential counsellor of the first, the society came to be as an order of three ohoirs — Fathers, Friprs, Sisters. To the Rev. Fathers, who were mis- sionaries apostolic, the Father of ithe great Christian Family, Pius IX., assigned a field of labor, a hundred times more extensive than the land which was promised of old to the chil-. dren of Israel — a territory from eleven to twelve hundred leagues in length, and broad in proportion. The friars wera lay missionaries, whose duty it was to assist the Rev. Fathers, teach the neophytes the arts- of Christian civiUzation,. and change the desetts, the wild forest ladids and dismal swa^mps, into smiling fields. A brother, who is a printer^ has. ajready ^■ttllOTHCCA 100 FOREIQN CHURCHES AMD MISSIONS. departed for those missions, carrying with him a complete set of types. The sisters, in order to «>draw down the mercy of heaven on the negro lands, devote themselves to prayer, works of charity and self-denial, perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the continual ofTeriag of themselves in sacri- fice for the Balvation of the souls that are most neglected. They ^vould even, if it weie the call of heaven, repair to Africa, and found there religious communities, in order to confirm the good work commenced by the missionaries. So early as their first year, 18()2, they had established two or three houses m France. This great missionary society came into existence at a singularly opportune moment, and none can tell what an important part it may bear in carrying the light of Christianity into that benighted Africa which modern discovery, the discov- ery of our age, the age of Pius IX.> is now throwing open to the many blessed influences of civiUzation. In the early days of the Pontificate of Pius IX., the Guhiea missions extended over regions of negro-land nine hundred leagues from east to west, and seven hundred leagues from north to south; with a coast-line of eleven hundred leagues. These African countries are very populous ; and there are towns of 20,000, 30,000, and even 60,000 inhabitants. The greatest barbarism prevails. With the exception of a few Mahometans in Sanegambia, the people are idolators. They are also cannibals, and human sacrifices are frequent. Polyg- amy is one of their vices, and those on the sea coast of Guinea have learned many others from contact with Europeans, such d.s hard drinking and all kinds of excess. Their women are in a degraded condition, doing all the drudgery, arid not being admitted to an equality with their husbands. Notwithstanding all this, the missionaries give them a high character. They bear pain with fortitude, and have a horror of slavery, although So many of them are reduced to servitude by greedy traders. A sea captain once offered a negro any amoxmt of money, on condition that he should become his slave. " Ail the gold your ship could hold," said the spirited African, "is no price for my FOREIGN CHURCHES AND MISSIONS. 101 lib'"rty." They are very sensitive, grateful, and even affection- ate towards those who befriend them. To the missionaries they always showed hoepitelity; and the peaceful exploi r, Livingstone, and his friends generally met with the same kindness. If it was otherwise with ^he adventurous discoverer, Stanley, he owed the hostility with which he was often received by the Afirican tribes to the armed force by which he was accompanied, and his determination to traverse theit countries, whether they liked it or not. They listened attentively to the missionaries, aiid this circumstance induced these excellent persons to express the belief that, with proper precautions, they may be induced to embrace the Christian faith. Many things have occmred, in the course of this favored age, to encourage this hope for the future welfare of so many millions of the human race. Science has thrown its light into the hitherto dark regions oi Central Africa, where no European had, as yet, been able to penetrate. The petty and corrupting traffic on the coasts will speedily expand into wide extend^ and improving commerce. The slave trade is gradually diminishing, and must, ere long, disappear under the blessed influences, more active than ever, which are now at work ; the whole church is moved by the edifying narratives of zealous missionaries; and the countenance of the Apostolic See is willingly bestowed on missionary effort. So, it is not too mneh' to say that, with such auspicious commencements ia the age of Pius IX., the days of some future Pontiff, at no very distant epoch, will be blessed to behold Africa, so long neglected, happily, at length, brought within the pale of Christianity and civilization. * The missionaries speak of a Prince, whose history, if related by less trustworthy parties, could not fail to be con- sidered fabulous. His territory is situated on the river Gabon. He speaks English and French fluently, as well as an African dialect called Boidou. He is a man of gentle and polished manners, and possesses the self-control of the most accomplish- ed European. In point of sobriety, he is equal to the best of 102 FOREIGN CHUKCHES AND MISSIONS. Europeans. He never drinks intoxicating liquor, and forbids his children to use it. He is beloved by his subjects, and redpected by the iieighboring triT)e8, who hold with him com- mercial and friTdly reiat^ons. He shows groat friendsiiip to the missionaries, and takes great delight in assisting them'. A go 3d bishop is also mentioned, whose horror of the slave trade was such that he would not allow a negro to serve him. In addition to the mission-hoase, which is a solid stone building, there is also a Seminary, where some of the native youth are educated for the duties of the Christian priesthood. The aboriginal populations receive the bishop and the heads of the missions with extraordinary honors. The salubrity of the climate is favorably spoken of, being nowise inferior to that of France. Everything appeared to favor the Guinea missions in the early years of the Pontificate of Pius IX. With the aid of continued countenance and encouragement, they cease not to be developed every day more and more throughout the vast countries extending from Senegambia to the Equator. At Joal and St. Mary of Gambia, there were flourishing missions so early as 1852. In 1850 M. L'Abbe Arlabosse founded a mis- sion at Galam, 150 leagues in the interior of Senegal. Another mission was siiccessfolly established at Grand Bassam, in 1851. The printing press, already referred to, has contributed power- fully to facilitate missionary work. Seven diverse languages are now taught, viz. : Wolof, Serer, Saracole, Abule, Mpongue, Bingue and Balu, or Boulou. / It is somewhat remarkable that in all the countries con- nected as colonies with Great Britaiq, where Protestantism is so persistently adhered to, there should prevail the greatest liberty as regards the exercise of the Catholic religion. Thus, Cape Colony (Cape of Good Hope) was no sooner transferred from the rule of Holland to that of Britain than the Holy Father was enabled to extend his care to the Catholics of that remote land. A bishop was appointed, and missions speedily «stablished. There are now three bishops, vicars apostolic, at Cape Town, Graham's Town, Natal. The islands Mauritius I FOREIGN CHURCHES AMD MISSIONS. 103 and Bourbon, each of which has a population of more than 100,000 souls, share the solicitude of the church and its august Head. They are not both cqiiaJly ia^ored by their civil rulers. The foMjer was annexed to Great Britain in. 1810. The Holy Father ftrovides for its spiritual vreMaxe, confiding its admin- istration *> a bishop and a sufficient number of priests, all of -whom receive salaries from the government. The bi&hops hitherto have been members of the illustrious order of St. Benedict, and some of them have enjoyed a high reputation in the church, such as the learned and eloquent Bishop Morris, and the pious and accomplished Bishop Collier. Bourbon Island, until of late, 1850, when a bishop was appointed, had not been so fortunate. An eminent French writer rather satirically remarks, that it would have to wait until France ceded all her colonies to vbe British. There are, however, some priests who, together with the bishop, minister to the spiritual wants of the people. Great efforts have been made to establish missions in the large and populous Island of Madagascar, which, according to geographers, is 1,000 miles in length. The priests of the congregation of St. Vincent of Paul, as zealous now as in the days of their illustrious founder, have penetrated into Abyssinia, and are laboring to bring about a ■complete reconciliation of that once eminently Christian nation to the church !of Pius IX. The ^Ethiopian may not, indeed, change his. skin. But, according to the reports of the mis^ sionaries, these people are changing then." ideas, and giving proofs of a disposition to return to the centre of Christian unity. Everywhere the missionaries are received with kind- ness by princes and people, and favored with a respectful hear- •mg. ? So great is the reverence of the nations of the Turkish Empire for the character of the Pope, that one would say that he had a Concordat with those nations and their chiefs. The legate of the Holy See, Archbishop Auvergne,*of Iconium, was received with the greatest honor by the Sovereign of iEgypt, on occasion of his legation to that country and Syria. A Catholic 104 FOREIGN CHUBCUE8 AND UISSIONd. bishop vr&B established at ilexandria, a city so intimately associated with the memory of Saint Athanasius. His jurisdic- tion extends over the ^EthiC|4an countries, and this circum- p- nee, considering their relations in bygone ages with the Patriarchtt of Alexandrid,, faciUtates their commmiion with the centre of unity. The Cathohc bishop ^of ^Cairo, assisted by thirty priests, so long ago as 1840, governed a -flock of nearly twenty thousand Copts of the anci^it rac6 of iEgypt. This body of faithful Christians is daily increasing, by the adherence of other Copts who had fallen into the Eutichyan heresy, more from want of instruction than obstinacy. Nothing could sur- pass the generosity of the Khedive towards the church. He presented to the Pope several marble colunms, for the restora- tion of the Basilick of St. Paul at Rome, and built for the mis- sionaries and sisters of St. Vincent de Paul a college, schools, and an hospital in the city of Alexandria. At Tunis and Tripoli there are 7,000 Catholics, who are ministered to by nine priests of the order of St. Francis. So early as 1840,. Sisters of Charity went from France in order to establish a conimunity at Tunis, with the full concurrence of the Mussul- man government. * It is well knoMrn that as soon as a French colony was founded at Algiers, a bishop was appointed. That African Christendom, so happily commenced, still prospers, and extends its labors under the auspices of the august Head of the church. It is condoling to observe that there are so inany nascent and even flouritfhing churches around the vast coutinent of Africa,, from Senegambia and Sierra Leone, by the Cape of Good Hope, the islands o.n the south-east coast, Ethiopia and ^Egypt, to the gates of Hercules. They stand there as sentinels, ready to- intimate the moment when the army of the Cross may pene- trate to the central continent, and conquer new kingdoms to the cause of Christ. This is surely not too much to hope for in an age when science has done so mudi, and commerce, that great handmaid of civiUzation, is opening a highway to the darkest recesses of the wide and long-lost heathen land. FoAEION CHURCHES AND 1IIS8ION8. 105 Oernii»n bmo *- tlons iscopal titles. Until the year 1625, the English mission was under the guidance of an aroh-priest. In that year Pope Gregory II. appointed a vicar-apostolic for all England. Circum.itances appearing favorable to the church after the accession oi King James II., Pope Innocent XI. placed the EngUsh mis&. >n under the spiritual charge of four vicars-apostolic, who were bishops, with titles taken from churches, in partihus infidelium. The country Atras, at the same time, divided into four missionary districts — the London, the Eastern, the Midland and the West- em. The numbers of Catholics having greatly increased during the early portion of the present century, the Holy Father, Gregory XVI., took into consideration the new require- ments that had arisen, by letters apostolical, of date 8rd July, 1840, made a new ecclesiastical division of the English counties, and doubled the number of vicars-apostolic. There were now eight districts under the spiritual jurisdiction of these vicars- apostolic, who goverhed and were governed by the wise consti- tutions given to their predecessors by Pope Benedict XIV. Meanwhile, the state of the Catholics of England was rapidly 110 THE ENOLISH HIBRARCHY. improving. Relieved of so many of their disabilities by ike- gracious Act of 1829, there were no longer any serious letfal impedimei^s to the legitimate developmei)^ of their church. It grew accordingly, and by the year 1840 had become com- paratively flourishing. It possessed many stately churches,, eight or ten important colleges, the Jbuildings of which were of a high order of aurchitecture; numerous charitable institutions, each of considerable extent ; over six hundred public churches- or chapels, and eight hundred clergy. Many of the most ancient families of the land wero among its devoted adherents,, and it also claimed a not unequal share c' the intellect and learning, the literary and scientific distinction of the country. Many of the British colonies had already been favored, and, not without the full concurrence of the Imperial government^ with that more suitable and normal state of church govern- ment, which depends on the institution of bishops in ordinary. Was the Mother Country, the seat of empire, whose church was so much more developed than that of any of the colonies,, alone to be deprived of so great an advantage ? Were the- CathoUcs of England, who were certainly in no respect behind the rest of their fellow-countrymen, even in an age of light and improvement, to rest satisf ed with a primitive state of things, when a broader, a more free, and in every way a more bene- ficial system of spiritual rule was within their reach ? The Chief Pastor was willing to ina^igurafe an^ch rule, provided that he found, on examination, that it was suited to the spiritual state and religious wants of the Catholic people. There waa nothing, besides,, in the legislation of the country that could bo called an impediment to a new and better condition of ecclesi- , astical government. , For some time the Catholics of EngUnd had desired that their church should enjoy the advantage of being governed by bishops in ordinary. So early as the year 1834, they petitioned the Holy See to this effect. At that time, however, nothing waa concluded. In 1847 the vicars-apostolic assembled in London^ Pius IX. restores the EngUsh Hlemrcby. TH£ KNGLISH HIERARCHY. Ill ^nd deputed two of their number to bear a petition to the Holy Father, earnestly praying for the long-desired boon. It was craved, not as a mark of triumphant progress, far less as an act of aggrefision on the law-established church, but simply in order to aMor<{ greater facility for the administration of the affairs of the church, and more effectually to promote the edifi- cation of the Catholic people. The existing code of govern- ment had been adopted about a himdred years before, when heavy penal laws, together with endless disabilities, were in force, and religious liberty was unknown. Part of this code had been repealed by Pope Gregory XVI. But it still tended to embarrass rather than to aid and guide. Since Emancipa- tion, in 1829, the CathoUc church had greatly expanded, and the bishops, vicars-apostolic, were in a situation of great diffi- culty^ as they were most anxious to be guarded against arbitrary decisions b;' fixed rules, whilst as yet none were provided for them. No doubt the system of church government by vicars- apostolic could have been amended and made more suitable to the altered circumstances of the church. But it would have been necessarily complicated, and at best could only have been a temporoiy an'angement. It was thought expedient, therefore, that the ordinary mode of chvrch government should be extended to the Catholic church in England, in as far as was compatible with its social position. It was, accordingly, necessary that there should be a hierarchy. The canon law could not be applied under vicars-apostolic, nor could provincial synods be held, however necessary their action might be, with- out a metropoUtan and suffragan bishops. The vicars-apostolic petitioned only with a view to improve the internal organization of the church. They had no idea, of attacking any other body, and surely never dreamt of rivalry with the established Anglican church. What they did, besides, was perfectly within the law, and according to the rights of liberty of conscience. The Holy Father kindly listened to the petition, an(f referred it for further consideration to the congregation of Propaganda. When every point was carefully examined, and objections satis* 112 THE ENGLISH HIERARCHY. factorily replied to, the favor petitioned fcHr was granted. Diffi- culties baying been started in regard to some matter of detail, tbe publication of the new code of church administration was delayed. These difficulties were removed the following year by Bishop Ullathome. But the measure was again retarded by the revolution which broke out at Rom^ in 1848. The delay was not without its uses. It gave time to the statesmen of England to become acquainted with and consider the mea- sure of reform which Tvas proposed for adoption in the internal organization of the Catholic church in England. It was officially communicated to them when printed, in 1848. They made no objection. And yet, when it was promulgated in 1850, their chief spoke of it, in his ill-timed letter to the Bishop of Durham, as "insolent and insidious." For many an age to come. Catholics will read with astonishment 'that so inoffensive an act of the Holy See, done at the request of the Catholic , bishops of England, and in the interest of the Catholic people, at the time some se^jen millions in number, should have excited the anger of so great a portion of the English nation. The isle was literally frighted from its propriety. From the Queen on her throne to tbe humblest villager, all were seized with sudden and unaccountable fear, as if the monarchy had been threatened with immediate overthrow. The Queen, in terror, called her Council of State around her. But her chief adviser, a weak-minded old man, had very little comfort to bestow. He could only help her Majesty's bishops to inflame the public mind. In all conscience, they had done, quite enough in this direction without his assistance. The spirit of bigotry was enkindled, and the clergy, with their chiefs, gave proof of their bitter hostility through every newspaper of the 4and. This acrimonious opposition was, however, chiefly con- fined to the ministers of the church by law established. They believed, or pretended to believe, that the titles and legal rights of their bishops were aimed at, whilst, in reality, care had been taken to avoid offending them, or violating the law, by confer- "ring on the new bishops the titles of the ancient Sees which THE BNaLISH HIERARCHY. llg were held by the established church. It is impossible to men- tion anything connected with the establishment of the hier- archy which can at all explain the violence of the bishops and «lergy)|generally of the establishment. The popular commotion arose from misconception and the absurd falsehoods that were industriously disseminated. The masses were still raging, when Dr. Wiseman, who had just been raised to the dignity of Cardinal, published an appeal to the people of England, in which he showed that the measure which had occasioned so much disturbance concerned only the internal organization of the Catholic chiurch, that the Pope had not sought such a mea- sure, but had only acceded to it at the earnest request of the bishops, vicars-apostolic of England ; that there was nothing connected with it contrary to the laws of the coimtry, or that •could not be reconciled with liberty of conscience, which was now so completely and generally recognized. It was as ridiculous as it was illiberal to heap torrents of abuse on the Pope, as if he had sought to usurp the rights of the Crown, or seize on the territory and revenues of the established Anglican church. As for himself, he was reviled because he had received the title of Archbfshop of Westminster, whilst, in reality, as regarded the church of that name, and any territory or prop- erty connebted with it, it was only an empty title. He was to be metropolitan. The title of London was inhibited by law. Southwark was to be itself a diocese. To have taken the title of a subordinate portion of the great metropolis, such ae> Fins- bury or Islington, would only have excited ridicule, and caused the new episcopate to be jeered^ at. Westminster was naturally selected, although not by himself, as giving an honorable and well-known title. He was glad that it was chosen, not because it was the seat o( the courts of law, or of parliament) but because it brought the real point of the con- troversy more clearly and strikingly before the opponents of the hierarchy. "Have we, in anything, acted contrary to law ? And if not, why are we to be blamed ?" But he rejoiced, also, for another reason. The chapter of West» 'ter had 114 THE EMOLISH HIEBABCHY. been the first to protest against the new archiepiscopal title, as though some practical attempt at jurisdiction within the Abbey had been intended. To this more than absurd charge, the Cardinal eloquently replied : " The diocese, indeed, of West- .minster, embraces a large district, but Westminster proper consists of two very different parts. One comprises the stately Abbey, with its adjacent palaces and its royal parks. To this portion the duties and occupations of the dean and chapter are mainly confined, and they shall range there undisturbed. To the venerable old church I may repair, as I have been wont to do. But perhaps the dean and chapter are not aware, that were I disposed to claim more than the right to tread the Catholic pavement of that noble building, and breathe its air of ancient consecration, another might step in with a prior claim. For successive generations there has existed ever, in the BeniBdictine order, an Abbot of Westminster, the repre- sentative in religious dignity of those who erected and beau- tified and governed that church and cloister. Have they ever been disturbed by this titular ? Have they heard of any claim or protest on his part touching their temporalities ? Then let them fear no greater aggression now. Like him, I may visit, as I have said, the old Abbey, and say my prayer by the shrine of good St. Edward, and meditate on the olden times, when the church fiUed without a •oronaiion and multitudes hourly worshipped without a service. But in their temporal rights,, or their quiet possession o^any dignity and title, they will not suffer. Whenever I go in I will pay my entrance fee, like other liege subjects, and resign myself meekly to the guidance of the beadle, and Hsten without rebuke when he points out to my admiration detestable monuments, or shows me a hole in the wall for a confessional. Yet this splendid monument, its treasures of art and its fitting endowments, form not the parts of Westminster which will concern me; for there is another part which stands in frightful contrast, though in immediate contact with this magnificence. In ancient times the existence of an abbey in any spot, with a THE ENOLieB BIEBABCHY. 116 large staff of clergy and ample revenaes, would have suf- ficed to create around it a little paradise of comfort, cheer- fulness and ease. This, howevei, is npt now ihe caise. Close under the Abbey of Westminster there lie concealed labyrinths of lanes and courts, and alleys and slums, nests of ignorance, vice, depravity and crime, as well as of squalor, wretchedness and disease; whose atmosphere is typhus, whose ventilation is cholera; in which swarms a huge and almost countless population, in great measure, nominaUy, at least. Catholic ; haunts of filth which no sewerage committee can reach; dark comers which no lighting board can brighten. Thib is the part of Westminster which alone I covet, and which I shall be glad to claim and to visit, as a b'essed paMure in which sheep of Holy Church are to be tended, in which a bishop's godly work has to be done, of consoling, converting and preserving. And if, as I humbly trust in God, it shall be seen that this special culture, arising from the establishment of our hierarchy, bears fruits of order, peacefnlness, decency, reUgion and virtue, it may be that the Holy See shall not be^ thought to have acted unwisely, when it bound up the very soul and salvation of a Chief Pastor with those of a city,, whereof the name, indeed, is glorious, but the purlieus infamous. — in which the very grandeur of its public edifices is as a, shadow to screen from the public eye sin and misery the most appalling. If the wealth of the Abbey be stagnant, and not diffusive ; if it in no way rescue the neighborin, * population from the depths in which it is sunk, let there be no jealousy of any one who, by whatever name, is ready to make the latter- his care, without interfering with the former." In the passage which follows, the established clergy are rather unceremoniously handled ; ajid not ujideservedly, for there can be no doubt that their reckless diatrilnes in the pulpit, on the platform, and in the press, were thei chief cause of the unhallowed uproar which attended the publication of the new and much-needed organization of the Catholic ehurch in £ng. land. It certainly was not their fault if the country was not lU OBOWTH OF THS.CHUBCH. cfiflgraced by deeds of violence. In one or two places, indeed, such things were attempted. At a town in the north of Eilg- land» \;here there is a Catholic mission, a mob of excited people threatened the chapel and priest's house. The presence of a connter-mob from a neighboring colliery speedily restored tranquillity. In another town a crowd of the unwashed were plroceeding to bum the Pope and Cardinal in effigy, when these august persons were wisely sehed by order of the magis- trates, and, with some of their unruly escort, secured within the prison walls. AUhough a few hired ruffians could attempt such things (it is known that those last named were hired), the English people were far &t)m contemplating anything lite vio- lence. So it is with no small pleasure that is here recorded the high compliment paid to them in the following eloquent passage of Cardinal Wiseman's appeal : " I cannot conclude," he says towards the end, "without one word on the part which the clergy of the Anglican church have acted in the late excitement. Catholics bave been their principal theological opponents, and we ^ia\e carried en our controversies with them temperately, and with every personal consideration. We have had no recourse to popular arts to debase them ; we have never attempted, even when the current of pubUc opinion has set against them, to turn it to advantage, by joining in any outcry. They are not our members who yearly call for returns of sinecures or episcopal incomes ; they are not our people who form antichurch-and-state associations ; it is not our press which Bends forth caricatures of ecclesiastical dignitaries, or throws ridicule on clerical avocations. With us the cause of truth und of £pith has been held too sacred to be advocated in any but honorable and religious modes. We have avoided the tumult of public assemblies and &rthing appeals to the igno- ' raaaoe of the multitude. But no sooner has an opportunity been given for awakening every lurking passion against us than it htui been eagerly seised by the ministers of the Establishment. fPhe pulpit and Ute platform, the church and the town hall, 'ixave been equally their field of labor ; and speeches have been GBOWTH OF THE CHVBCH. 117 made and untruths uttered, and calumnies repeated, and flasib- ing words of disdain and anger and hate and contempt, and of every unpriestly and unchristian and unholy sentiment, have been spoken, that could be said against those who almost alone have treated them with respect. And little care was taken at what time or in what circumstances these things were done. If the spark had fallen upon the inflammable materials of a gunpowder-treason mob, and made it et|)lode, or, what was worse, had ignited it, what cared they? If blood had been inflamed and arms uplifted, and the torch in their grasp, and flames had been enkindled, what heeded they? If the persons of those whom consecration makes holy, even according to their own belief, had been seized, like the Austrian general, and ill- treated, and perhaps maimed, or worse, what recked they? These very things were, one and aU, pointed at as glorious signs, should they take place, of high and noble i'rotestant feeling in the land, as proofs of the prevalence of an unperse- cuting, a free, inquiring, a tolerant gospel creed ! Thanks to you, brave and generous and noble- Hearted peo- ple of England ! who would not be stirred up by those whose duty it is to teach you, gentlemen, meekness and forbearance, to support what they call a religious cause, by irreligious means ; and would not hunt down, when bidden, your unoffend- ing fellow-citizens, to the hollow cry of ** No Popory," and on the pretence of a fabled aggression. The London Times might well say, referring to this mag-- niflcent appeal, that the Cardinal had at length spoken Eng- lish. It was easy to mystify the people in regard to theological utterances. They could be no longer deceived now that the Chief of the new hierarchy had addressed them in rotmd Sa:i^oii terms, about the meaning of which there could be no mistake. The ajypeal first published in the London Tmes was repro- duced in all the newspapers of the country. The public min^d was tnuiquilHzed, and very little was heard,. afterwards, ciMp ' ' Papal aggression." The Prime Minister, however, was bound* for the sake of consistency, to do something. What he did was 118 OBOWTH OF THE CHUBOH. Number andaamefl of the new Sees. highly in favor of the hierarchy. It proved that everything had heen done according to law, 8im|)ly by the fact that parlia- ment was urged to make a new law by which everjrthing that had been done would be illegal. This was the famous Ecclesi- astical Titles Bill. It was designed to accomplish a great deal — to extinguish for ever the Cardinal Archbishop, and all the other newly-instituted bishops. It proved utterly futile— telvm imbelle sine ictu. The people could not be made to put down the Catholic institution; and religious liberty was bb thoroughly recognized that even an act of parliament was powerless against it. The new Sees constituted by the Letters Apostolical of 29th September, 1860, were thirteen in nimiber — Westminster, the Metropolitan See; South- wark, Hexham, Beverly, Liverpool, Salford, Shrewsbury, Newport, Clifton, Plymouth, Nottingham, Bir- mingham and Northampton. At the time of the restoration of the English hierarchy, Dr. Wiseman was created a Cardinal, not so much in honor of the important act to which it was his charge to give effect, as because the Holy Father having resolved on a crea- tion of Cardinals so eminent a man could not be overlooked. At the accession of Pius IX. there were sixty-one living Cardinals. Of these only nine were not Italians. When, on his return to Borne, after his sojourn in the king- dom of Naples, he determined to add fourteen Cardinals to the Sacred College, only four of the prelates selected were natives of Italy. The rest were, at the time, the most distinguished men of the Catholic world. Of this number Archbishop Geissel of Cologne was one, and the King of Prussia, more liberal than certain magnates of England, thanked the Holy Father, in an autograph letter, for the honor thus done to thK Catholic church of his country. Since that time the Prussian monarch appears to have changed his sentiments as well as his ministry. Dr. Vlseman and thirteeu othar emi- nent persons raised by Plus IX. to the d ig- nlty of Cardinal.. QBOWTH OF THE CHDBCH. 11» Notwithstanding the noisy demonstrations in opposition to the Cardinal Archbishop and his brother iifh^Htorarohy! ^°' bishops, they were allowed to pursue in peace their labors of Christian zeal. / The English grumbled, as is their wont. But discovering in time that they were neither attacked nor hurt, the rights of liberty of con- science were respected, and no persecution followed what it was at first the fashion to call the ** Papal aggression." The Emancipation Bill of 1829, by which liberty of con- science, which was so proudly called the Increase [of Catbo> xr •/ • Hot during the de- birthright of every Englishman, was extend* <5ade-i84o-i8(io. ed to CathoUcs, tended powerfuUy, no douW, to promote the development of the Catholic church. It grew also by emigration from Catholic Ireland, and there were some conversions occasionally from the Protestant ranks. It lyas not, however, till the decade immediately preceding the res- toration of the hierarchy, that there was a very marked and decided movement of the educated and learned men of England towards the Catholic church. ' It is not recorded anywhere that Catholic missionaries or envoys of the Pope had penetrated into those sanctuaries of Protestant beaming — ^the celebrated universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There, at least, there was no " Papal aggression," and tract upon tract was issued from the press of those seats of learning, in which it was argued that the doctrines taught by the Fathers of the first five centu- ries were the real Christian teaching which all men were bound to accept. It apjpeared to have escaped the learned men of Cambridge and Oxford that these were the very doctrines so perseveringly adhered to Wonderful growth or the Catholic Charoh In England daring the Pontlfl- cateofPlaitlX. GROWTH OF THE CHURCH. 121 lation and immigration from Irelai^d, accounts for the increase of Catholics throughout the British isles in the days of Pius IX., as well as for the great additions to the number of their clergy, churches, religious and educational institutions. Mon- signore Gapel ascribes these extraordinary developments in great measure to the action of that section of the Church of England which is known as the High Church or Bitualist division of the Establishment. This is true, no doubt, as re- gards any augmentation of the church through conversions from Protestantism, and the impetus given by the movement towards Catholic union. "It is scarcely possible," says the Bev. Monsignore Capel, " to find a family in England that will not own at one of its members, or, at least, some acquaint- ance, has relations with the Catholic church, or observes some of the practices of that church, whether it be adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, auricular confession, devotion to the Bles- sed Virgin, or veneration of the saints. This movement is of such powerful proportions, jind possesses such vitality of action, that ro power on earth, no persecution on the part of Prot- estantism, the government or the press, is able to suppress it. Catholics would never have been able, themselves alone, to realize what is now accomplished by a section of the establish- ed Anglican church. The members of this party, by their dis- courses in the pulpit, have familiarized the public mind with expressions which Catholics never could have spread among the English people to the same extent, such as altar and sacri- fice, priest and priesthood, high mass, sacrament, penance, confession, &c. The movement has produced this result. Many persons have become seriously religious, who had been in the habit of considering that the service of God was only a fitting employment for Sunday. In fine, the spirit of God which breathed on the waters at the commencement is now passing over the British nation and impelling it towards Catho- lic truth." Not a few of those who were once distinguished min- isters of the Anglican church are now officiating, with great 122 OROWTH or THK CHUBOH. aooepianoe, as Catholic priefitB. Of the 264 priests of the dio- cese of Westminster, there are 40 who were members of the official or law church. There passed not a week, M. Capel assures us, that he did not receive four or fite Bitualkts into the communion of the Catholic church. This was no fruit of his labor and ability, he modestly as well as truly declares. They were persons with whom he had no relations whatsoe: r, rntU they came to him, their minds made up, and expressed that serious determination which is so characteristic of them. The publications of the celebrated statesman, Mr. Glad- stone, although they have not won for him reputation as a theologian, have, nevertheless, promoted the 'cause of Catholic theology. The opinions of so eminent a man were naturally subjects of general discussion; and thus, whilst ho opposed Pius IX. and his decisions, he caused many, who would never probably have thought seriously of anything a Pope could say, to give their attention to matters spiritual of the highest im- port. As regards his own theology, it is partly sound, partly the reverse. Whilst entirely misapprehending the doctrine of infaUibility, and denying what he conceives it to be, he vigor- ously maintains the indefectibility of the Catholic church, and acknowledges the claim of her pastors to " descent in an un- broken line from Christ and His apostles." Such js one of the powerful ageiits in the great movement of the age. The most influential of all, however, was Pope Pius IX. himself. Eng- lish people and Americans often sought his presence. And who shall tell how many, after having conversed with him or his representatives, have been disabused of their erroneous notions, or have even embraced the Catholic faith ? One chief cause of the remarkable development of the Catholic church in the British isles, is the complete religious liberty which Catholics enjoy. This important fact was thoroughly recognized on occasion of the celebration of the anniversary of O'Connell in August, 1876, when a solemn Te Deum was ordered in all the churches by the Cardinal Arch- bishop, in thanksgiving for the liberty of conscience which was PnUnOUTED CHUROBBS. 128 state of the O»tho- lloOhurob^lnHolland anterior to the res* toratlon of Ita Hler- Afohy In 1868. fio gloriously won for the United Kingdom as well as Lreland and all the colonies. Pius IX. and the whole Catholic world joined on the same occasion in acts of thanksgiving with the spiritual heirs of Sts. Patrick, Augustine, Golumha and St. Thomas of Canterbury. It is a noteworthy fact that the number of archiepiscopal and episcopal sees, together with vicariates-apostolic, &c., created by Pius IX. throughout the British Empire, is not less than one hundred and twenty-five. For three hundred years the Catholics of Holland were sorely tried by persecution. Until the time of the Concordat of 1827. they were governed by archpriests, whose superior or prefect resided at the Hague. When Holland was separated from Belgium, the king of the former country wisely resolved to act as a constitutional mon- tirch. He was considerate as regarded his Catholic subjects. His successor, William II., to whom in 1840 he resigned the •crown, treated them with still greater benevolence. He sought :an understanding with the Holy See, and gave effect to the Concordat of 1827. Vicars-apostolic, invested with the episco- pal character, were now the chief pastors of the church of Hol- land. The king also sanctioned the establishment of several religious communities, among the rest the Society of Jesuits and the Liguorians. These arrangements were jo3rfully accept- ed by the Catholics of Holland, and pr.ved the way for greater developments. Thes^ worthy people were, for a long time, believed to be few in number, and scarcely more than nomi- nally Catholics. Believed, at length, from the pressure of per- secution, they astonished the world, not only by their num- l)ers, but also, and even more, by their zeal in the cause of rehgion. According to the census of 1840, they were nearly one-half of the entire population of Holland. Total population, 2,860,450; Protestants, 1,700,SS76 ; CathoUcs, 1,100,616. The ifemainder was made up of Jews and other dissenters. Thus were the Catholics of Holland as eleven to seventeen, ^ince that time they have not e^sed to inc.-ease. Nor 124 PERSECUTED CHURCHEB. Hierarchy In Hoi- jj^j^ye they lost the high character which land, 186S. induced Pius IX., in 1868, to restore, the king concurring, their long-lost hierarchy. An archbishopric, Utrecht, and ^om episcopal sees were established — Harlem, Herzogenbodch, or Bois le Due, Breda and Boermonde. This wise and necessary measure was followed by an outburst of wrath on the side of the anti-CathoUc party. But in Holland, as in England, it soon subsided, and left only the impression that Protestants and other non-CathoHo people claim an ex- clusive right to religious Uberty. Pius IX. never ceased to entertain a high opinion of the good Catholics of Holland. '* Ah !" said he to visitors from that country, " could we ever forget that these singles-minded, loyal, patient Hollanders formed the majority of our soldiers, who were not native Italians, at Castel&dardo and Mentana." Whilst in the old world, wherever really free political insti- tutions existed, the spirit of persecution quail- Peraeoation In New ,, » ., . , • • i <• t. • Granada. Plus IX. ed before the recognized prmciple ofreugious remonstraten. liberty, in certain portions of [the new it appeared to gain strength, and to increase i^ the violence of its opposition to the liberty of the church. This was particu- larly the case in New Granada, where politicians, without statesmanship or experience, imagined that they had made their people free, when they succeeded in separating them from Spain and estabUshing a repubUc, in which the first principles of liberty were ignored. It is not recorded that the clergy of New Granada sought to do violence to any man's conscience, or ever thought of forcing any one to accept the Catholic creed* To say the least, they were too wise to attempt, tiius to fill the church with hypcf lites and secret enemies. Of such there were already too many in those societies wliich shun the light, and in the new world as actively as in the old intrigue and nuanoeuvre in order to overthrow every regular and legitimately est^lished government. Even the repubUo of New Granada, which had been fasiiioned so much according to their will, was f9f from perfect in their estimation, so long as the church was PERSECUTED CHURCHES. 125 not completely subject to the. state. So early as 1847, Pius IX. addressed a fatherly remonstrance to the President of the New Republic. It was of no avail. The evil continued. Anti- Cathohc legislation was coolly proceeded with. In 1860 the seminary of Bogota was confiscated. The following year bishops were forbidden the visitation of convents. Laws were enacted requiring that lay parishioners should elect their parish priests, and that canons should be appointed by the provincial councils. The clergy were robbed of their proper incomes, and the congress or parliament of the republic arrogated the tight to. determine what salaries they should enjoy as well as what duties they should fulfil. This surely was nothing less thaQ to reduce the church to be nothing more than a department of the civil government. The church could not so exist. Its principle and organization were Ifrom a higher source. The Socialists and secret plotters fully understood that they were so, and that in this lay the secret of the church's power to promote virtue and check the course of evU. It consisted, it appears, with their ideas of justice and liberty, that the church should, if possible, be deprived of this great and salutary moral power. So, whilst neither its members, generally, nor its clergy desired radical and subversive changes in the essential constitution of the church, the republican leaders determined that it should be completely revolutionized. The bishops and priests protested, with one voice, against such fundamental innovations. The republicans, no less resolute, and bent on their wicked purpose, imprisoned and banished the clergy. One dignitary alone showed weakness. He was no other than the Vicar-Caputular of Antioquia. Pius IX. charitably rebuked him, and exhorted him to suffer courageously, like his brethren. ' The persecution, meanwhile, was very sweeping. The Arch- bishop of Bogota, Senor Mosquera, and almost all the sufiGragan bishops, were driven from the country, so that there 'was scarcely a '.bishop left in the republic. It was now speedily seen that the godless radicals had overdone their uhgrttcions work. The country was roused. The tide of popular indigna- 126 PERSECUTED CHUBCHES. tion set in against the short-sighted politicians who persecuted the church, and they, dreading an insurrection, withdrew, with the best grace they could command, from the false position which they had so unwisely assumed. Whilst the spirit of persecution brooded gloomily over many „ , countries of the new world, its influence be- Peneoution ceaaes . ■, t- • ,■, \ ■, i , At iM„ la the iBoan- gan to decline m those lands where for dinaviwi countries. centuries the idea of liberty of conscience was unknown, where even the slightest toleration existed not. Those northern lights, those champions in their day of Prott- estantism and ''religious liberty" Gustavus Wasa and Gus- tavus Adolphus, were not mistaken when they bequeathed tO' their country laws which were intended to be as unchangeable as those of the Medes and Persians, and which forbade all Scandinavians, whether Swedes, Danes or Norwegians, under pain of death, to embrace the Catholic faith. Those princes, were wise in their generation. They understood the power of Truth ; they knew that half measures were of no avail against it ; and that in order to stifle it, even for a time, all the ter- rors of worldly tyranny must be brought into play. Their laws, more terrible than the code of Draco, remained in force and without mitigation until a great revoliitioix had swept over Etirope, and sent a military adventurer tc' fill the regal seat of the formidable Wasas. In the time of Bemadotte (the- Doct Baron), the infamous penal laws were relaxed. To be- come a Catholic now only led to imprisonment or exile. Six ladies of Sweden, in defiance of this milder law, came to pro- fess the Catholic faith. They were tried, condemned and. sentenced to be banished from the country. The execution of this barbarous sentence roused all Europe, and caused the abtogatiim of the Swedish penal laws against religion. Thu» ~ ,- ^ was a new field laid open to missionary zeaL Pins IX. MDds a j t>- tv -i* i.- i* ^ ^ Ofttkoiio pMtor to and Pms IX., availing himself of so favor- stodch<^im. g^ijig ft change of cireumstanoes, appointed a Catholic pastor missionary apostolic at Stockholm. This devoted priest labors assiduously and in the midst of diffi- PERSECUTED CHURCHES. 127 Denmark— 000 con< versions. culties, but not «vithout fruit. He contends, with all the suc- cess that can he as yet expected, against prejudices hostile to the religion which brought civilization to the Scandinavian nations, and which have been accumulating for three centuries and a half. Denmark followed in the wake of Sweden. Within ' the first two years after the abrogation of the cruel Danish penal code, there were six hundred conversions to the CathoUc faith. The CathoHc church in the recently-erected kingdom of Greece was governed by vicars-apostolic. aM^tio^ml^^rt It grieved King Otho, who, as is well known, A******* was of the Catholic royal family ^f Bavaria, to see his country treated as if it were a heath^i land. It was not, however, till the time of his successor, who is a son of the King of Denmark, that Pius the Ninth was able to establish a hierarchy in Greece. There is now an archbishop of Athens as well as an archbishop of Corfu. At a time when crime abounded, the governments of certain petty States of Germany, instead of direct- Germany- wars f„„ +V, -, .„..^-.a ♦^t^o Uo ..«,.ooi^« against the Church. i»« ^"©"^ energies towards its repression, and so fulfilling one of the chief duties in- cumbent on the State, employed all the authority with which they were invested to disorgai\ize the church and destroy its salutary influence. As is usual, when States, forgetting the great objects for which they are entrusted with the sword of justice, follow such a course, they attacked the ministers of the church, banishing, unprisoning, .thwarting and molesting them in every possible way. In the Grand Duchy of Baden the civil authorities arrogated the right to appdnt parish priests and other members of the sacred ministry. They went 80 far as to endeavor to poison religious inslaruction at its source, and declared that tilie students in Catholic seminaries must undergo, before ordination, an examination by civil offieifds. This tyrannical law was courageously opposeii by the 128 PERSECUTED CHURCHES. An arohbiahop and other priests cruelly persecuted. Hustaln- ed by Pius IX., and finally by the people. strated. venerable archbishop, Vicary, of Friburg. Although eighty years of age, he was dragged before the courts, and . placed like a criminal under charge of the police. The faithful clergy were banished, imprisoned and fined. The Holy Father, with his usual zeal, remon- It was to no purpose. At length the GathoUcs of Germany were roused. They could no longer be indifferent. The day was come when the church, in her utmost need, could not dispense with their assistance. All must now be for her or against her. The great majority flocked around her standard. Meanwhile, the public offices in the churches were suspended. The bells and organs were heard no more. Silence and death- like gloom overspread the land. Baden gave way. Wurtem- berg, Hesse Cas^el and Nassau, which had done their best to follow in the wake " Baden, paused in their mad career. Thus, throughout those lesser States peace reigned once more, and continued to reign in Germany until a greater State, Prussia., unwisely disturbed the religious harmony which so happily prevailed. The chiefs of States, alarmed by the revo- lutionary spirit which spread, like contagion, throughout Ger- many as well as the rest of Europe, adopted a more rational policy. They encouraged the clergy to hold missions every- where. They invited the Liguorians and Jesuits, as well as the secular clergy, to assemble the people in the towns and throi^h- out the country, knowing full well that they would preach peace and concord no less than respect for property and life. These pastoral labors were attended with extraordinary suc- cess. Faith, piety, and every virtue flourished among the Catholic people. All honest Protestants were filled with ad- miration. Among the latter there was also a remarkable move- ment. Some striking conversions took place, especially in the higher tind better educated classes -of society. The Countess de Hahn, so renowned in the liti^rary world for her wit, 'abili- ties, and fine writings, joined the Catholic church, and pub- PERSECUTED CHUBCHES. 129 liehed her reason^ for so doing. Not satisfied with this step, she came to the town of Angers, in France, and placed herself as a novice under the direction of the devout sisters of the Good Shepherd. It is on record also, that a Protestant journalist of Mecklenbnrgh, in view of jthe commotions which prevailed, and the anti-social doctrines which pervaded society, went so far as to declare that there was no other remedy for Protestant Germany than a return to the Cathohc church. His remarks conclude with the following words, extraordinary words, indeed, wlien it is considered whence they proceed : *' Forward, then, to Bome !" In countries nearer the Holy City, and professing to be piuB IX. laments Catholic, the venerable Pontiff found not the state of reiiation guch a souTce of consolation. Sardinia had demoa tbe^ctsecu* banished the archbishop of Turin. It not lariBing marriage. only refused to recall him, but added to ita list of exiles the archbishop of Cagliari. Many more bishops- were, At the same time^ threatened with banishment. A pro^ fessor in the Royal University of Turin, encouraged by the government, attacked the doctrine of the church, and was sa bold as to deny, in public, that matrimony is a sacrament. Pius IX. issued a condemnation of his anti-Catholic writings. The sentence did not move him. Nor did it stay the hand of the Sardinian government which was raised against the church and her institutions. It continued the preparation of its anti- mai^age law. In addition, accusations were laid against th& clergy. The king himself, evading the real question at issue, accused them of disloyalty, and declared that they were warring: against the monarchy. The Holy Father, in the following let- ter to the king, distinctly set forth the real state of the case : "If by words provoking insubordination are meant the writings of the clergy against the proposed marriage law, we declare, without indorsing the language which some may have adopted, that in opposing it the clergy simply did th^ duty. We write to your Majesty that the law is not Catholic. Now, if the law is not Catholic, the clergy are bound to warn the 180 PBBSECUTED CHDBCHBS. fioithful, even though by doing so they incur the greatest dangers. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, whose Vioar» though unworthy, we are, that we speak, and we tell your Majesty, in His sacred name, not to sanction this law, which will be the source of a thousand disorders. We also beg your Majesty to put a check to the press which is constantly yomit- ing forth blasphemy and immorality. Your Majesty complains of the clergy. But these last years the clergy have been per- sistently outraged, mocked, calumniated, reviled and derided by almost all the papers published in Piedmont." That country, unfortunately, appears to have been entirely at the mercy of the party of unbeUef. It was ever ready to inflict new wrongs on the church, and occasion anxiety and sorrow to the Holy Father. There are few readers of ecclesiastical history who are not deeply interested in that portion of India end to the celebrated which was the first field of the extraordinary GosBohUiminissi. apostoUc labors of Saint Francis Xavier. The blessing of the Saint appears to have rested on the land of Ooa ; for after many years of trial and difficulty and schism, this Portuguese settlement, once so great and important, atill remains a province of the churdb. The Portuguese govern- ment, by unjustly claiming right of patronage, originated the schism which, unfortunately, was of such long continuance. It was reserved for Pius IX. to restore harmony to the Colonial church of Goa. Happily, in 1851, the schism was brought to an end, Pius IX. was stiU an exile at Gaeta when, observing the En 11 1 th uicreasing piety of the CathoUo world ' to- imauMBaiate Oonoep- wards the Blcsscd Virgin, and moved by the tion— i8«. representi^ons of many bishops that were in harmony with his own conviction, he issued the Encyclical of the 2nd Febniaxy, 1849, addressed to the Patriarchs, Pri- mates, Archbishops and Bishops of the whole world, in order to ol)tain from them the universal tradition od. la this the to- the ■were ilical Pri- irder the this IHM&CULATE CONCEPTION. • fil Encyclical the Holy Father recognizes the fact that th^re was a universal movement among Christians in favor of the belief in question, so that the complete ackiiowledgment of it appear- ed to be sufficiently prepared both by the liturgy and the formal requisitions of numerous bishops, no less than by the studies of the ipost learned theologians. He further states that this general disposition was in full accordance with his own thought, and that it would afford him great consolation, at a time when so many evils assailed the church, to add a flower to the crown of the most holy Virgin, and so acquire a title to her special protection. He declares, moreover, that with this end in view he had appointed a commission |of Cardinals in order to study the question. He concludes by inviting all his venerable brethren of the Episcopate to make known to him their senti- ments and join their prayers with his in order to obtaio^ light from on high. As the cross itself was folly in the estimation of the early unbelieving world, so were such theological occupations, at a time when the Sovereign Pontiff had not an inch of ground whereon he could freely tread, a subject for jesting and sarcasm to the worldly-wise of the nineteenth century. It was some time before they came to understand that a Pope is a theologian more than a king, that, as such, he is sure of the future, and that the solemn proceeding in regard to the Immaculate 'Con- ception was a triumphant reply to all the errors of modem thought. This dogma brings to naught all the rationalist systems which refuse to acknowledge in human nature either fall or supernatural redemption. The means, besides, which were adopted in order to prepare its promulgation, tended to bring the various churches throughout the world into closer relation with their common Head and Centre. They who had hitherto laughed, now raged when they saw this gr^at result, and attacked with the utmost fury what [they called the *'new dogma." Both sectarianism and the schools of sophistry descanted loudly, although > certainly not learnedly, on the ignorance and ineptitude of the institution which so powerfully 13 V IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. opposed them. All this was only idle clamoring. It never hindered the Holy Pontiff from prosecuting calmly the im- portant work which heaven had inspired him to hegin. The Encyclical was warmly responded to by the Episco- pate. Six hmidred and three replies were duly forwarded to the Holy Father. Five hundred and forty-six urgently insisted on a doctrinal definition. A few oidy, and amohg these was Mgr. Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, doubted whether the time were opportune. But there was no doubt as to the senti- ments of the Catholic world. Only in our time, when the facilities of communication are so much greater than in any former age, could the plan of consulting so many bishops in all parts of the world have been successfully adopted. Pius IX. was now at Kome, and invited around him all bishops who could travel to the Holy City. No fewer than one hundred and ninety-two from every country except Bussia sought the pres- ence of the Chief Pastor. The absence of the Bussian bishops was all the more surprising, as the Busso-Greek church vies with Bome in the honor which it pays to the Blessed Mary. The bis)iop8, however, were not to blame. Their good pur- poses were frustrated by the jealous (policy of the Emperor Nicholas. The bishops assembled at Bome, in obedience to the wishes of Pius IX., did not constitute a fopnal council. They were, nevertheless, a very complete representation of the universal church. There were of their number some highly distinguished cardinals, archbishops and bishops, such as Cardinals Wiseman and Patrizzi, Archbishops Fransoni of TTi^in, Beisach of Munich, Sibour of Paris, Bedini of Thebes, Hughes of New York, Kenrick of Baltimore, and Dixon of Armagh, together with Bi^ops Maz^nod of Marseilles, Bouvier of Mans, Malon of Bruges, Dupanloup of Orleans, and Ketteler of May- ence. Who will say that the learning of the Catholic world was not at hand to aid with sound counsel the commission of cardinals and theologians whom the Holy Father had ap- pointed to prepare the Bull of definition ? There had never been so many eminent bishops together at Bome, since the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 188 Occumenial Council of 1215. On so great an occasion Hus IX. had requested the prayers of the faithful, and throughout tlie Catholic world supplication was made to heaven, in order to obtain, through the light of the Holy Ghost, such a decision as could tend only to promote the glory of God, the honor due to the Blessed Virgin Mary and *the salvation of mankind. The hishops at one of their sessions gave a very practical utterance as regards the infallible authority of the Pope. The question having arisen whether the bishops were to assist him as judges in coming to a decision, and pronounce simultane- ously with him, or leave the final judgment solely to the word of the Sovereign Pontiflf, the debate, as if by inspiration from on high, came suddenly to a close. It was the Angelus hot^*. The prelates had scarcely resumed their places after the short prayer, and exchanged a few words, when they made a unani- mous declaration in favor of the supremacy of St. Peter's chiiir: Petre, doce nos ; conjirma fr aires tuos — " Peter, teach us^ con- firm thy brethren." The teaching which the Reverend Fathers sought from the lips of the Supreme Pastor was the definition of the Immaculate Conception. The 8th December, 1854, was the great triumphal day which, according to the fine language of Bishop Dupanloup, " crownedHhe expecta- tion of past ages, blessed the present time, claimed the gratitude of the centuries to come, and left an imperishable memory — the day -on which was pronounced the first definition of an article of Faith which no dissentient voice preceded, and which no heresy followed." All Bome rejoiced. An immense multi- tude of people of all tongues crowded the approaches to the vast Basilica of St. Peter, which was by far too small to con- tain the imposing host. Then were seen advancing the bishops, in solemn procession, placed according to seniority, and fol- lowed by the cardinals. The Sovereign Pontiff, surrounded by a brilliant cortege, closed the procession. Meanwhile was heard the grave chant of the Litanies of the Saints, inviting Plus IX. BOlemnly promulgated the Dogma of the Im- maculate Co>cep- tion. 184 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. the heavenly court to join with the Church militant in doing honor to her who was Queen alike of angels and of men. Pius IX. ascended his throne ; and as soon as he had received the obedience of the cardinals and bishops, the Pontifical Masa begap. When the Gospel had been chanted in Greek and in Latin, Cardinal Macchi, Dean of the Sacred College, ac- companied by the deans of the archbishops and bishops, by an archbishop of tl^e Greek rite, also, and an Armenian archbishop,, advanced to the foot of the throne, and begged of the Holy Father, in the name of the whole church, " to raise his apos- tolic voice and pronounce the dogmatic decree of the Immaculate Conception." The Pope, bowing his head, gladly welcomed the petition ; but wished once more to invoke the aid of the Holy Ghost. Then rising from his throne, he intoned in a clear and firm voice, which rang through the grand Basilica, the veni creator apiritua. All who were present, cardinals, bishops, priests and people, mingled their voices with that of the Father of the Faithful, and the sonorous tones of the heavenly hymn, resounded through the spacious edifice. Silence came. All eyes were rivetted on the venerable Pontiff. His countenance appeared to be transfigured by the solemnity of the act in which he^was engaged. And now, in that firi!n and grave, but mild and majestic, tone of voice, the charm of which was known to so many millions, he began to read the Bull, which an- nounced the sublime dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It established, in the first place, the theological reasons for the belief in the privilege of Mary. It then appealed to the ancieni and imiversal traditions of both the Eastern and the Western churches, the testimony of the religious orders, and of the schools of theology, that of the Holy Fathers and the Councils^ as well as the witness borne by Pontifical acts, both ancient and more recent. The countenance of the Hobr Father showed that he was deeply moved, as he unfolded these magnificent docvments. He was obliged, several times, so great was his- emotion, to stop. " Consequently," he continued, " after h*Y- ing offered without ceasing, in humiUty and with fasting, our IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 185 own prayers and the public prayers of the church to God the Father through His Son, that He would deign to guide and confirm our mind by the power of the Holy Ghost, after we had implored the aid of the whole host of heaven, to the glory of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, for the honor of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Chustian religion; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own " — at these words the Holy Father's voice appeared to fail him, and he paused to wipe away his tears. The audience was, at he same time, deeply moved; but, dumb from re- spect and admiration, they waited in deepest silence. The venerable Pontiff resumed in a strong voice, which shortly rose to a tone of enthusiasm : " We declare, pronounce and define, that the doctrine which affirms that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved and exempt frqm all stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception, in consideration of the merits of J sus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, is a doctrine revealed by God, and which, for this cause, the faithful must firmly and constantly believe. Wherefore, if any one should be so presumptuous, which, God forbid ! as to admit a belief contrary to our definition, let him know that he has suffered shipwreck of his faith, and that he is separated from the unity of the church." As the Pontiff concluded, a glad responsive " Amen " resounded through the crowded temple. The Cardinal-dean once more reverently approached, and petitioned that order be given for the publication of the apostoHc letters containing the definition ; the promoter of the Faith, accompanied by the Apostolic Protonotaries, also came to ask that a formal record of the great act > should be drawn up. At the same time the cannon of the castle of Saj^t Angelo, and all the bells of Bome, proclaimed to the world that the ever-blessed Mary was gloriously declared immaculate. Throughout the evening the holy city echoed and re-echoed to the sounds of joyoue^ music, was ablaze with ^e-works, and decorated with innumerable inscriptions and emblematic trans- parencies. 186 0LA88ICH. The example of Home was immediately followed by thou- sands of towns and villages over the whole surface of the globe. It would require libraries rather than volumes to reproduce the expressions of pious concurrence which ever3rwhere took place. The replies of the bishops to the Pope before the definition, were printed in nine volumes ; the Bull itself, translated into all the tongues and dialects of the universe, by the labors of a learned French sulpician, the Abbe Sire, appeared in ten volumes ; the pastoral instructions, publishing and explaining the Bull, together with the articles of religious journals, would certainly make several hundred volumes, especially if to these were added the many books by the most learned men, and the singularly beautiful hymns and poems which flowed from the pens of Catholic poets, no less tljan the eloquent discourses of the most gifted orators. Descriptions of monuments and cele- brations would also immensely swell the list. Sanctuaries, altars, statues, monuments of every kind, as well as pious associations rose everywhere in honor of the Immaculate Con- ception. The ever-increasing devotion to Mary had become greater than ever. It was to the unbelieving a phenomenon in the moral world of the nineteenth century, which they could neither comprehend nor account for. They could only see that it was as a source of new life to the church. The education law of France, enacted in 1850, had given rise to differences of opinion among earnest Catholics. These only increased after the celebrated coup d'etat of 2nd December. M. de Montalembert, who had become hostile to Prince Louis Napoleon, on occasion of the iniquitous confiscation of the Orleans property, M. de Falloux, and their friends of the Correspondant and the Ami de la Re- Ugum^ insisted that they ought not to accept the protection of Oan^ur in place of the general guarantees which were so profit- able to the liberty of the chui^oh. They were right, as was but too well ahowji in the seqael. M. Louis YeuiUot and the writers of tiie Univen opposed their views, and so they accused these gentlemen of servility. But this was too much, as the, event also showed. Dlipates oonoero- Ing the studjr of tbe anolent olaaaios hap- pily terminated by Pioa IX. CliASUCS. 187 The congregation of the " Index " had condemned several French works, some absolutely, and others only until they should be corrected. Among these last were books generally used, notwithstanding their faults, in the public schools, such as the Mamial of Canon Law, by M. Lequeux, vicar-general of the Archbishop of Paris, and the theology, so long in use, of Bailly. The authors of these works at once submitted. One of the sentences, however, that which affected the Dictionary of M. Bouillet, greatly offended the Archbishop of Paris — Mgr. Sibour, who had signified his approval of this publication. He blamed the Univers and the lay religious press in general. He formulated his complaints in a charge of 15th January, 1851, and by a still more vigorous one in 1858, which was written at the instigation of a Canon of Orleans, M. L' Abbe Gaduel, who had accused Donoso Cortes, in the Ami de la Re- ligion, of several heresies, and who complained of having been refuted in the Univers with a warmth that was far from respect- ful. Mgr. Sibour forbade the priests of his diocese to read the Univers, and threatened with excommunication the editors of this journal, if they presumed to discuss the sentence which he had pronounced against them. A similar sentence came to be uttered by Mgr. Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, against the «ame writers, condemning the opinions which they held con- -ceming the study ol the classics. M. Yeuillot, following in the wake of M. L'Abbe Gaume, maintained that one of the prin- 'Cipal causes of the weakening of faith since the time of the renaissance, was the obligation imposed on youth of studying, almost exclusively, Pagan authors. Mgr. Dupanloup contend- ed rather against exaggerations of this opinion than against the idea itself. But having developed his views in an episco- pal letter to the professors of his lesser seminaries, he would not allow them to be opposed; and so, like Mgr. Sibour, inter- dicted the UnivcTB to bis clergy. M. Louis Yeuillot appealed to the supreme bishop. • The Frdnoh episcopate was greatly divided on the subject of these untoward controversies. The Bishops of Chartres, 188 CLASBICS. MouUns and others, had publicly defended the Univers in op- poBition to the Archbishop of Paris. Cardinal Gousset, Arch- bishop of Bheims, patronized the opinions of M. Yeuillot in reffavd to the use of heathen classics. An anonymous paper on the right of custom, addressed to the episcopate, now added to all these subjects of controversy the recriminations of Galli- canism, which was almost extinct. The author denying that the customs of the church of France were abrogated by the Concordat, maintained that the disciplinary sentences of the Popes could not be applied in any diocese until they were first promulgated therein. He disputed the authority of the decrees of the ''Index, "^blamed the liturgical movement, reproached the relijgious journalists with seeking, above all, to please the Court of Home, and concluded by advising the bishops to come to an understanding among themselves, in order to obtain from the Pope a modification of his decisions. Pius IX. could be sUent no longer. Accordingly, he addressed to all the French bishops an Encyclical, which is known in history as the Encyclical inter rmUtipliees. He commenced by acknowledging the subjects of joy and consolation afforded him by the progress of religion in France, and especially by the zeal and devotedness of the bishops of that country. He gave special praise to these prel- ates, because they availed themselves of the liberty which had been restored to them in order to hold Provincial Councils, and expressed his satisfaction, "that in a great many dioceses, where no particular circumstance opposed an impediment, the Boman Liturgy was re-established." He could not, however, dissemble the sorrow which was caused him by existing dis- sensions, and for which he blamed, although indirectly, political opposition and party spirit. " If ever," said the Holy Father, ** it behooved you to maintain among yourselves agreement of mind and wil\ '* is, above all, now, when, through the disposi- tion of our very dear son in Christ, Napoleon, Emperor of the French, the Catholic church amongst you ei^joys complete peace) liberty and protection." In speaking of the good educa- tion of youth, which he e^jrnestly recommended as being of the BT. AGNES. 189 highest importance, he gave a practical solution of the vexed question of the classics. " It is necessp^y/Vhe insisted, "that young ecclesiastics should, without being exposed to any danger of error, learn true elegance of language and style, together with real eloquence, whether in the very pious and learned works of the Holy Fathers, or in the most celebrated Pagan authors, when thoroughly expurgated." In this same En- cycUcal also, the venerable Pontiff, speaking of the Catholic press, declared it to be indispensible. " Encourage, we most anxiously ask of you, with the utmost benevolence, those men who, filled with a truly Catholic spirit, and thoroughly ac- quainted with literature and science, devote their time in writing books and journals for the propagation and defence of Truth." Catholic writers, in return, it is added, ought to acknowl- edge th^ authority of bishops to guide, admonish and rebuke them. The anon3nnous paper is then severely censured, and the Pope concludes by a new and pressing appeal in favor of concord. As soon as this Encyclical of 21st March, 1853, wa0 pubUshed, M. Louis Yeuillot and his feUow-laborers addressed to Mgr. Sibour a letter expressive of respect and deference, in which they promised to avoid everything that could render them unworthy of the encouragement of their archbishop. This prelate immediately withdrew the sentence which he had issued against them, and thus was peace restored, once niore, by the authority of the Supreme Pastor. On the 12th of April, 1855, the fifth anniversary of his re- turn from Gaeta, Pius IX. drove By the via Nomentana, the beautiful Church of St. Agnes and the Porta Pia, to a spot five miles from the city, where, on grounds belonging to the congregation of Propaganda, cata- combs had been recently discovered. In these subterranean recesses were found, among other venerated tombs, that which contained the relics of St. Alexander I., Pope and Martyr, and those of the companions who shared his sufferings. The pro- Accident at St. Agnes. Narrow es- cape of Piaa IX. and many eminent per- sons. 140 ST. AGNK8. fessors and students of Propaganda had assembled at the place m honor of the Pope's visit. They descended with him to the Crypt, where the Holy Father, as soon as he entered, knelt in prayer beside the remains of his sainted predecessor, who, more than seventeen centuries ago, had sealed his faith with his blood. After examining the long corridors of the catacomb, the Holy Father took his seat on the ancient ^^hrone of the chapel, which, no doubt, in the dark days of heathen persecu- tion, several of his predecessors had filled. So placed, he deUvered to the pupils of Propaganda a feeling allocution on the high career which lay before them b.s preachers of the true Faith. He then addressed a few words to the eminent persons who surrounded him, and proceeded back to the Church of St. Agnes. Having adored the Blessed Sacrament, and venerated the relics of the Virgin Martyr, he entered the neighboring convent of canons regular of St. John Lateran, where a suit- able repast awaited the august visitor. This was followed by a conversazione in the parlor, in which the distinguished parties who had accompanied the to^ took part. Almost every Catholic country was represented there ; and, among the rest, were Archbishop CuUen of Dublin (long since a Cardinal), and Bishop . de Goesbriand of Burlington. The Pope was on the point of departing, when the Superiors of Propaganda prayed him to grant an audience to the students. Pius IX. graciously complied, and resumed his seat in the chair of state which was appropriately canopied. A hundred young ecclesi- astics now rapidly entered the room. All of a sudden the floor gave way with a loud crash, and the whole assembly disap- peared in a confused mass of furniture, stones, plaster, and a blinding cloud of dust. The joists had given way, and the whole flooring fell to a depth of nearly twenty feet. The voice of the Pope was first heard, intimating that he was safe and uninjured. As a few inmates of the convent had remained outside, assistance speedily came, and the Holy Father was promptly extricated from the ruins. Solicitous only for the S'ifety of the company, he urgently ordered that they ^ould PIEDMONT COUBTS — THE GREAT POWERS. 141 all be withdrawn as rapidly as possible from their perilous posi- tion ; and he waited in the garden till every one of them was rescued. Not so much as one was dangerously injured. " It is a miracle," said the Pope, who was greatly rejoiced. " Let us go and thank God." Followed by the whole com- pany, as well as those who had come to rescue them, he entered the church, where, deeply affected, [he intoned the Te Deumy and concluded with the solemn benediction of the most Holy Sacrament. The news of the accident spread rapidly through the city. The people flocked to the churches. At St. Agnes the wonderful deliverance was commemorated by a special service. The interior of this church has been since restored at great cost by Pius IX. A fresco in the open space in front repre- sents th^ scene at the convent. The 12th of April is now a holiday at Rome, and it is observed every year with piety and gratitude. Twenty years later — 12th of April, 1875 — ^the Romans held a magnificent celebration of the anniversary of the accident at St. Agnes. It was also the day of the Pope's return from Gaeta, in 1850. In reply to the address, expres- sive of duty and devotedness, which was presented to him on that occasion, the Holy Father alluded, in the language of an apostle, to the mysterious ways of Providence. "Our fall at St. Agnes," said he, "appeared at first to be a catastrophe. It struck us all with fear. Its only result, however, was to cause the works by which the ancient Basilica was renewed and em- beUished to be more vigorously prosecuted. The same will be the case in regard to the moral ruins which the powers of darkness are constantly heaping up against us and around us. The church will emerge from the confused mass more vigorous and more beautiful than ever." Piedmont, surely, had little to do at the Congress of Paris, the object of which was to make the best Krelcr .mSc: arrangements possible for the Christians, acainat the Pope. and especially the Ga41iohc8, of the East. Count Cavour, its representative, neverthe- less, found a pretext for being {u-esent, and introduced as he 142 PIEDMQVT COUBTfr— THE GREAT PO^t^RS. was by the Minister of France, Count Walewski, and sustained by the British Plenipotentiary, Lord Clarendon, he became more important than the power of his country, or the share it had in the Crimean War, would alone have warranted. He airailed himself of his position to attack and undermine two of the minor sovereigns-^the Pope and the King of Naples. ** The States of the Holy See," he insisted, ** never knew prosperity, except under the rule of Napoleon I., when they formed part of the French empire and the kingdom of Italy. Later, the Emperor Napoleon IIL, with that •precision and firm- ness of view hy ichich he is characterized, understood and clearly pointed out in his letter to Colonel Neyi the solution of the problem : Secularization and the Code Napoleon ; but it is evi- dent that the Court of Eome will struggle to the last moment, and by ev^ry possible means, against the realization of this twofold combination. It is easily understood that it may ap- pear to accept civil and even political reforms, taking care always to render them illusory. But it knows too well that secularization and the code Napoleon, once introduced into the edifice of the temporal power, would imdermine it and cause it to fall, simply by removing its principal supports — clerical privileges and canon law. Clerical organization opposes in- surmountable impediments to aU kinds of innovations." Cavour urged, in conclusion, that ** the legations " must be separated politically, and a viceroy set over those provinces. Waleuski and Clarendon supported these views, but cautiously using the enigmatic language of diplomacy. The Plenipotenti- aries of the other Powers were silent, or refused to give an opinion, on the ground that they had no instructions. M. de Mauteufifel alone, the Prussian representative, sternly observed that such recriminations as M. de Cavour had brought forward were very like an appeal to the revolutionary movements in Italy. Prussia did not, at that time, foresee what advantage it was destined to reap from the alliance of the Italiui revolu- tion with Napoleon III. France, however, had reason to dread lest the chief of her choice should return to the dark practices of his*yonth. Her too well-founded apprehensions were con- COUirr tkYK&YtLB REPOBT. 143 fiijned and aggravated when it came to the public ear, throngh the newspapers of the time, that the Emperor had held a too intimate interview with M. de Gavour at the waters of Plom- bieres. All this, notwithstanding an alliance of France with Piedmont, for the destruction of the Pope's temporal sover- eignty, appeared as yet to be so completely out of the question, that the French ambassador at Borne refuted publicly the calumnies which M. de Gavour had so selfishly promulgated. Gount de Bayneval had been a long time at Borne, first as Secretary of the Embassy of King Louis Philippe, and after- wards as Plenipotentiary of the Bepublic, before he was ap- pointed to represent the Emperor Napoleon. None could be better qualified to give a luminous report of the state of mat- ters at Borne. The revolutionary press, however, never noticed it, and the government refused to publish [it in ihe^Moniteur, preferring the wretched pamphlet of M. About on the Roman Question, The French, who wished to be well informed, sought the words of M. de Bdyneval's report in the columns of the London Daily News : ■ - \ COUNT BAYNEVAL^S REPORT TO THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. "Pius IX. shows himself full of ardor for reforms. He himself puts his hand to the work. From the very day Pius IX. mounted the throne he has made continuous efforts to sweep away every legitimate cause of complaint against the public administration of affairs. "Already have civil and Criminal cases, as well as a code relating to commerce, all founded on our own, enriched by lessons d nved from experience, been promulgated. I have studied tht»se carefully — they are above criticism. The Gode des Hypotheques has been examined by French j'l^m conder the protection of the Great- Powers. " The affairs of Rome," wrote the Russian Chancellor in a circular, " cause to the government of his Majesty the Emperor great concern; arid it were a serious error to think that we take a less lively interest than the other Catholic gov- ernments in the situation to which his Holiness Pope Pius IX. has been brought by the events of the time. There can be no room for doubting that the Holy Father shall receive from the Emperor a loyal support towards the restoration of his temporal and spiritual power, and that the Russian government shall co-operate cheerfully in all the measures necessary to this re- sult; for it cherishes against the court of Rome no sentiment of religious animosity or rivalry." Sardinia alone held aloof. Its minister did not, like the other European ambassadors, seek the presence of the Pope MOTU PROPBIO. 153 Lord Lansdowne, together with all the fltatesmen and]8tatea of Christendom, rec* ognlze the principles laid down In Plus the Ninth's " motu pro- jprio.^' -when he was pressed by the revolutionists. Nor did he repair, ns they did, to Gaeta, but remained in Borne, and, to the great surprise and scandal of all the European Courts, transacted business with the governments which reigned there in the absence of the legitimate sovereign. The absorption of all the states of Italy, not excepting that of [the Pope, by Piedmont, was the ruling idea of Piedmontese statesmen. They were guided by a selfish view to what they considered their own interest, not by principles that were universally recognized. Such were continental liberals. The English liberals, the party of reform, thought differently. One of their chiefs, Lord Lansdowne, whose high character as a states- man gives weight to his words, declared, in the British House of Peers, when the French expedition to Bome was discussed there, that "the coniition of the Pope's sovereignty is especially remarkable in this, that so far as his temporal power is concerned, he is only a sovereign of the fourth or fifth order. In his spiritual power he enjoys a sovereignty without its equal on earth. Every country which has Boman Catholic subjects has an interest in the condition of the Boman States, and should see to it that the Pope be able to exercise his authority independently of any temporal influence that could afifect his spiritual power." Thus did all Christendom — all the states which owned the Christian name — ^true to immemorial tradition, consider that they lay under the obligation to watch over the freedom and independ- ence of the great central power whence proceeded their early civilization. The French government, in restoring Pius IX., only obeyed the will so often and so clearly expressed of the European nations. Now that. he was onc(> more firmly seated on the Pontifical throne, it was time, thought the Cavour-Napoleon- Mazzini party, that he should introduce into his states what they called true reform — the Code Napoleon and the secularization of his government. This, as has been seen, he could not do. 154 MOTU PROPRIO. It was tantamount to the abdication of his sovereignty. That he did reform, however, wisely and efficiently, Count de Eay- neval has abundantly shown. His measures of reform were large and liberal, and, in the judgment of eminent statesmen, left little room for improvement. It is necessary to bestow a few words in making this fact stiU more apparent ; for it was long the fashion to say and insist that the policy of Pius IX., after his restoration, was reactionary, and that the once-re- forming Pope had, with inconceivable inconsistency, ceased to be a reformer. » In the tnotu propria, published by the Pope on occasion of reorganizing his states in 1849, '50, there was inaugurated as full a measure of liberty as was compatible with the circum- stances of the country and the character of the people. Two )litical bodies, a council of state and a council of finance were instituted. These were designed as temporary institutions, whose object it should be to remedy the fearful dvils caused by the revolution — in plain terms, to bring order out of anarchy and chaos. M. de Bayneval has shown that in this they were successful, and that they also put an end to the disorder and difficulty caused by the issue of forjy . millions of worthless paper which the Republic had bequeathed to them. The Moniteur, as well as the ambassador, admitted that by the end of the first seven years the finances had nearly reached an equilibrium, the deficit at that time being only half a million of dollars. This temporary state of things was destined, once its objects were accomplished, to give place to a more ample con- stitution, which certainly would have been granted in due time but for the hostile intrigues of those who blamed the most free and complete constitutional system. It will not be without interest to consider what was thought among distinguished foreigners in regard to the Pope's early measures — measures which, it is well known, were intended as a preparation for more advanced constitutional government. The French Eepublic appointed a commiesion, consisting of fifteen of its hep/: statesmen, to ex- amine and report upon the political wisdom and practical value MOTU PROPRIO. 156 of the institutions which Pius IX. had granted to his states. M. Thiers, to whop none will give credit for being over ?riendly to the Holy See, drew up, -signed and presented this report : ** Your commission," the report states, " has maturely ex- amined this act, motu propria, in order to see whether the counsels which France believed herself authorized to offer had borne such fruits as to prevent her regretting having interfered in Koman affairs. Well, by a large majority, twelve in fifteen, your commission declares that it sees in the motu propria a first boon of such real value, that nothing but unjust preten- sions could overlook its importance. We shall discuss this act in its every detail. But limiting ourselves, at present, to con- sider the principle on which is based the Pontifical concession, we say that it grants all desirable provincial and municipal liberties. As to political liberties, consisting in the "^ower of deciding on the public business of a country in one of the two assemblies, and in union with the executive — as in England, for instance — it is very true that the motu proprio does not grant this sort of political liberty, or only grants it in the rudi- mentary form of a council without deliberative voice. This is a question of immense gravity, which the Holy Father alone can solve, and which he and the Christian world are inte' ested in not leaving to chance. That on this point he should have chosen to be prudent ; that after his recent experience he should have preferred not to reopen a career of agitation among a people who have shown themselves so unprepared for parlia- mentary Uberty, is what we do not know that we have either the right or the cause to deem blameworthy." A well-known British statesman expressed simUiar views. " We all know," said Lord Palmerston, ** that the Pope, on his restoration to his states in 1849, published an ordinance called motu proprio, by which he declared his intention to bestow institutions, not indeed on the large proportions of a constitu- tional, government, but based, nevertheless, ou popular elec- . tion, and which, if they had only been carried out, XLast have given his subjects such satisfaction as to render unnecessary 156 MOTU PROPRIO. the intervention of a foreign army." These words were uttered in 1856, when Lord Palmerston ought to have known, if indeed he did not actually know, that the proposed reforms of tlie Pope had been faithfully and successfully carried out. The report of Count de Rayneval was before the world, and so im- portant a state paper could not have been unknown to a states- man who interested himself so much in European affairs gen- erally, and those of Eome in particular. The Rayneval report, besides, which showed how completely Pius IX. had fulfilled his promises — how assiduously and effectually he had labored in the cause of reform — had been specially commimicated, as has been seen, to an eminent member of the British Cabinet, Lord Clarendon. It is not so clear that the Pope's subjects were not satisfied. None knew better than Lord Palmerston, that there was always a foreign influence at Rome which never ceased to cause discontent, and was ready, on occasion, to raise disturbance. This alien and sinister influence was only too powerfully seconded, both by some members of the British ministry and the intriguing head of the French government. Baron Sauzet, who was President of the French Chambel* of Deputies in the reign of Louis Philippe, and who was, by no means, over partial to Rome, wrote in 1860 on the system of legislation which obtained in the States of the Church, and gave utterance to the opinion that it was a solid basis on which Pius IX. was endeavoring to raise such a superstructure of improvement as was adapted to the v ,nts of modem society. Criminal law was regulated according to the wise codes of Gregory XVI., which were a real progress. Civil legislation had for its groundwork the old Roman law, which the Popes, at various times, had wisely adapted to their age and the cu'- cumstances of their people. There are certain points of great delicacy, with regard to which, in Christian communities, re- ligious authority only can legislate. These excepted, the Justinian code, with some necessary modifications, prevailed. Few changes ha^, e been made since Gregory the Sixteenth's time, and they are codified with such perfect scientific lucidity MOTU PROPRIO. 167 the led. I'S lity as to be available to practitioners. This is one of the special labors of the Council of State, which is aided by a commission consisting of the most eminent and learned jurists of Eome. The distinguished statesman (Baron Sauzet), moreover, repels the idea of thrusting on the Eomans the Code Napoleon, as was intended by the Emperor Louis Napoleon, Galeotti, who was Minister of Justice in the Mazzini min- istry, and who cannot be suspected of much favor to the Holy See, declares that, " in the Pontifical government there are many parts deserving of praise ; it contains many ancient institutions which are of unquestioned excellence, and there are others of more modern date which the other provinces of Italy might well enjoy. One may confidently say that there is no other government in Italy in which the principle of discus- sion and dehberation has been so long estabUshed and so gen- erally practised." Galeotti | further says, speaking of the Judicature : '' The tribunal of the Bota is the best and the most respected of the ancient institutions of Bome. Some slight changes would make it the best in all Europe. The mode of procedm-e fol- lowed in it is excellent, and might serve as a model in every country where people would not have the administration of justice reduced to the art of simply terminating lawsuits." Another author, whose remarks are deserving of attention, Monsignor Fevre, says that law expenses are very moderate, the proceedings very rapid, and the rules of the Judiciary among the very best of the kind. Besides, the poor are never taxed by the courts, while they are always supplied with coun- sel. In Bome itself the pious confraternity of St. Yeo (the patron saint af lawyers) takes on itself, gratuitously, the cases of all poOT people, when they appear to have right on their side." The arch-confraternity of San Girolamo Delia Carita, also undertakes the defence of prisoners and poor persons, e^specially widows. " It has the admmistration of a legacy left by Felice Amadori, a noUe Florentine, who died in the year 1689. The principal objects of their solicitude are yer- 158 MOTU PROPRIO. sons confined in prison. These they visit, comfort, clothe, and frequently liberate, either by paying the fine imposed on them as the penalty of their offence, or by arranging matters with their creditors. With a wise charity they endeavor to simplify and shorten causes ; and they employ a solicitor, who assists in settling disputes, and thus putting an end to litigation. This confraternity embraces the flower of the Eoman prelacy, the patrician order and the priesthood." One is naturally inclined to ask how it came to pass that a people, possessing such [wise institutions, such an admirable system of legislation, and a sovereign who constantly studied to enlarge and improve their inherited benefits, were never satisfied ? , It would be hard to say that the Eomans, the real subjects of the Pope, were not satisfied. But there were not wanting those who succeeded in making it appear that they were not, &nd who also contrived to induce many of the Romans themselves to believe that they had cause to be discontented. It was the fashion in Piedmont to rail against everything clerical, and to such an extent. did this mania proceed, that they began to persecute the clergy. .Through the agency of the secret societies, whose chief was Mazzini, this anti-clerical prejudice spread through aU Italy, and even extended to Rome, the government of which, as a matter of course, was bad, for no other reason than that, being conducted by the Chief of the clergy, it was reputed to be clerical. Thus did Count Cavour and the Piedmontese government use the Mazzinian faction for the furtherance of their own ambitious ends, whilst thiB Mazzinians beUeved that they were using them as they intended to use them, and their king and all kings, as long as there should be - kings, for their subversive purposes, in the first instance, and for the establishment, finally, of their Utopian republic on the ruins of all thrones and regular governments whatsoever. As will be seen, most recent history shows the first act of the drama has been played, apparently to the profit of a king. Time will prove to whom, in the end, victory shall belong. One institution at least will remain, for CANONIZATIONS AND FRIENDSHIP WITH POWERS. 159 no power, not. even that of hell, can prevail against it. As in the early days, when society had fallen to a state of chaos, and orderly government had become impossible, it may, once more, raise the standard of order and reconstitute the broken and scattered elements. Eome and the Catholic world were yet rejoicing on occasion of the happy restoration of Pius IX. to his . Cauonlzations at i •, . imi a i i <• Rome.^Two Ameri- states, and pilgrims still flocked from every can Saints. region of the universe to the holy city, when two remarkable events came to add new glory to the flourish- ing church of America. Hitherto America could reverence and invoke only one native saint. On 16th July, 1860, took place the beatification of the venerable Peter Claver, of the Society of Jesus, the apostle of New Granada ; and in October, Mariana de Paredes, of Flores, " the lily of Quito," was beati- fied. The latter was first cousin and contemporary of Saint Eose of Lima. This circumstance vividly awakens the idea, that already saints, although there ^ere few as yet who could claim the honors of cononization, were not uncommon in America. Whatever may have been the measure and excel- lence of her children's sanctity, the church was rapidly extend- ing. So great was her growth that, in the year 1850, Pius IX. considered it opportune to erect four metropohtan sees in the United States — New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis Baltimore, the primatial see, was already^ Plus IX. erects four Metropolitan Sees In the United States. and New Orleans, metropolitan. The Holy Father showed no less solicitude for the welfare of the church in France, Spain, and other European countries. Napoleon III.,^anxious to gain the good-will of Cathohc France, prayed the Holy See to erect a new diocese at Laval, to raise the see of Rennes to E^ettv nolitan dignity, to reorganize the grand chaplaincy, and . tore the chapter of St. Denis. All this was done by a brief oi SIst March, 1857, and there w now a thoroughly good New See of Laval. — R e n n e s becomes Metropolitan. — Res- toration of the Chap- ter of St. Denis. 160 CAMONIZATIONB AND FRIENDSHIP WITH POWERS. understanding between the Pope and the Emperor, ))etween the latter and the people over whom he NapoieondejireB to ruled. It was eveu said that Napoleon III. Pope. desired, like his uncle, to be anointed Em- peror by a Pope ; that with a view to this end, he made many advances to Pius IX., and went so far even a& to propose in confidence the abolition of the organic articles, and a modification of the Code Napoleon, in so far as that parties who marry before the church should be exempted from the civil ceremony. A still less doubtful pledge of the con- tinuance of amicable relations between Rome and Paris waa the baptism of the Prince Imperial. The Emperor had asked the Pope to do him the favor to, act as for Napoieon'B son.— sponsor for the child that Providence had Golden rose sent to deigned to give him, and Pius IX. readily tn6 £jiiipr6SB« Til 1 1 1 • consented. As he could not be present in person at the ceremony, he caused himself to be represented by his legate, a latere, Cardinal Patrizzi. This cardinal, at the same time, presented to the Empress the golden rose,, which is blessed every year on the fourth Sunday of Lent, in order to be sent to the princes, cities and churches on which the Pope desires to confer special honor. The blessed rose was a small rose-tree in gold, covered with rose-flowers. The vessel which contained it was of massive gold. It stood on a. pedestal of lapis lazzuli, which bore in Mosaic the arms of the Pope and the Emperor. On the vase itself were sculptured the birth of the Blessed Virgin, and the Presentation in th* Temple. It would have been well if all this friendship had been aa sincereras it was warmly expressed. It cannot, however, be forgotten that the government of the Emperor Napoleon had suppressed the Bayneval report, and Pius IX. must have thought, although prudence forbade him to say, that there waa reason to doubt the fidelity of his apparently devoted ally. ** Timeo Danaos et donaferentes." CANONIZATIONS AND FRIENDSHIP WITH POWERS. 161 m aa [r, be had Ihave was. ally- Concordat Austria. wJth It may be said that, at this timo, the Powers of the world vied with one another in seeking the favor to Aiphonw XII. ;of of the Pope. Isabella II., Queen of Spain, ^v»in. ijjjQ Napojeon of France, was anxious that Pius IX. should, through a representative, stand godfather to her son, who afterwards became Alphonso XII. Other princes sought the like consideration, and among the rest, Victor Emmanuel, whose daughter, the Princess Pia, thus became the godchild of Pius the Pope. This princess is now the Queen of Portugal. Another bond of friendship with the world's Powers was secured, apparently, by the conclusion of a Concordat with the great Austrian Empire. The negotiations which led to this Concordat had lasted several years. It was abundantly liberal in the true acceptation of this term. Nevertheless, it awakened the haired and contempt of the professed liberals, who enjoy this appellation, one would say, simply because they are not liberal, just as in Latin a grove is called by a word expressive of light, because it is not light (liicus a non lucendo). How can they be called truly liberal, who have no liberality for any but them- selves, who know no other liberty than that which enables them to iyrajmize over the church, and trample under foot her most sacred and beneficial institutions? The Concordat with Austria provides that the Catholic, Apostolic and Eoman religion shall be preserved in its integrity throughout the whole extent of the Austrian monarchy, together with all the rights and prerogatives which it ought to enjoy in virtue of the order which God has established and the canon law. The Boman Pontiff having, by divine right, in the whole church the primacy of honor and jurisdiction, mutual com- munication, as regards all spiritual things, and the ecclesi- astical relations of the bishops, the clergy and the people with the Holy See, shall not be subject to the necessity of obtaining the royal placet, but shall be wholly free. 162 DIPPICULTIE8. In a coQsistorial allocution of 5th November, 1855, Pius IX. gave expression to the joy which it afforded him to have obtained, after ho much tedious negotiation, such happy results. The following year, on the 17th of March, he addressed a brief to the bishops of the Austrian Empire, exliorting them to avail themselves of the spiritual independence which they had once more won, in order to guard their dioceses against the ravages of rationalism and indifference. Meanwhile, new difficulties arose in Spain and Spanish America. The government of Isabella II., DlffloultleslnSpaJn •=• i • i .. i j and Spanish coun- rcgrettmg the good to which it had so re- *'"*®'- cently been a party, commenced a new war against the church^ Notwithstanding the Concordat, it ex- posed for «ale such ecclesiastical property as was not yet sold, forbade religious communities of women to receive novices, and forcibly removed several bishops from their dioceses. The excesses were such that Pius IX. was obliged to recall his representative from Madrid. There were similar persecutions in the South American Kepublics and in Mexico. The congress, of Mexico, forbade monastic vows, banished the Archbishop of Mexico, and imprisoned the Bishop of Mich- Errors of ounther. ^ 7^. oacan. Germany, at the same time, was not without its troubles. A learned theologian of the diocese of Cologne, Dr. Anthony Gunther, had allowed himself to drift from the sure ways of tradition, imperceptibly gliding into rationalism, and confounding reason and faith. His ideas had partisans in several countries of Germany. The vigilant eye of Pius IX. discovered in them germs of heresy, which it was important to check before they attained development. Gunther j on being condemned, accepted humbly the judgment of the Holy See. But there was a long contest with some of his partisans who were less pious than himself. PROOREflS AND POPULARITY OP PIW8 IX. 163 The record of Pius the Ninth's progress through his States, in 1857, is alone a sufficient reply to the progreB8^hrou?h'hi8 caluionies of those enemies who never c eased 8tate8.-Hi8 popular- to assert that ever since his return to Borne ^' he had pursued a retrograde policy. Reform was always an object of his solicitude. It was with a view to improve the condition Of his people that he undertook, when almost a septuagenarian, a four months' journey through the States of the Church. He travelled slowly, and sometimes on foot, in order the better to observe and ascertain the state of the provinces. All could approach him and address him freely. He visited churches, hospitals and workshops. He examined the works of the ports and the public ways. Many addresses and petitions were presented. Far, however, from asking the abolition of priestly rule, the petitioners prayed for a return to the former state of things, when cardinals and prelates only were set over the provinces. The progress of the Holy Father was a series of joyous ovations from the time that he left Rome— 4th May — till his return on the 5th September. His journey was at first in the direction of Ancona, Ravenna and Bologna. He returned by way of Florence and Modena. His progress would have been crowned with success if it had only served to show the loyalty and devot.edness of his people. But it was attended with still greater results. The Holy Father bestowed much time at fevery place in seeking, personally and through his ministers, information which became the basis of reform and improvement. Thus, as is known by the authentic accounts which have been published, many localities derived very material benefit from the Papal visit. The port of Pes^xo was, to be almost entirely reconstructed, the Holy Father be- stowing $80,000 from his own resources. The port of Sinigaglia was also considerably improved, and a new sanitary office built. The cities of Ancona and Civita Vecchia were to be enlarged. At Bologna the High street was widened and beautified ; the fine fagade of the cathedral was to be com- pleted, the Pope contributing $5,000 for fifteen years. At 164 PROORESB AND POPULARITY OF PIUS IX. Perugia new prisons were to be constructed, and the condition of the prisoners was to be in every way improved ; a liberal annual contribution was given towards preserving the splendid native collections of art. Bavenna, although long neglected and in decay, was not forgotten. Pius IX. wished to revive, as far as possible, the ancient commercial prosperity of this city, and promised $4,000 annually for ten years towards improving the port. At Ferrara many improvements were ordered, and $9,000 contributed for the completing of the Pamfilio canal. The Holy Father also appointed a commis- sion of engineers, in order to devise a plan by which the river Beno should be turned into the Po, and an extensive tract of fertile land thus saved from periodical inundations. Funds were provided for the relief of poor sailors. Liberal grants were allotted for artesian wells, where required, and for bridges and public roads. Especially were large allowances devoted for the improvement of the highways at Pesaro, Macerata, Imola, Camerino, &c. Telegraphic communication was widely established. Prisons, hospitals and schools were special objects of the Holy Father's care. It wl3 the duty of Monsignor de Merode, who accompanied the Pope, on arriving in any city or town, to Yi.'«it the prison, enquh'e into ever3rthing connected with it, and report accordingly. Monsignor Talbot had com- mission to look to the state of charitable, industrial and educa- tional institutions, in all of which he aided in promoting valuable reforms. It is impossible to consider, without emotion, the reception which greeted the Holy Father in his former diocese of Spoleto. At every step proof upon proof was given of reverence and affec- tion, which time had not diminished. Etiquette and state seremony were laid aside. The youthful and ihe aged alike would see their good shepherd, and he was anxious to salute his people, and converse with them all. Many a face, familiar to him of old, was recognized with pleasure, and even names were not forgotten. As has been seen, the days of the Holy Father's journey were not aU spent in pleasurable greetings or official recep- PROOREBS AND POPULARIT"^ OF PIUS IX.' 165 tioDB. He never forgot or neglected the work of reform and improvement. Nor were such care and labor new to him. It had often been said that the Popes were hostile to all modern improvements. Why did they not favor railways ? Why did they liot drain the Pontine Marshes, and cause the Campagna to be cultivated ? Let the labors of Pius IX. reply. A rail- way through the States of the Church was one of his favorite ideas, and he beheld it realized. It must have afforded him no ordinary satisfaction to see tho railway which hitf princely care had provided now winding along the valley of the Tiber, now climbing the heights and stretching its arms across the Apennines, reaching down to the seaboard at Ancona, now passing beyond the limits of the Papal territory, and extending away to the Tuscan capital. The uneducated or half-educated traveller, who surveys the uncultivated and malarious plains around the city of the Popes, at once discovers, in this desolation which prevails, an argument against priestly rule. With a little more informa- tion, however, he would see the ruins and the vestiges of a mighty empire, the works of which, like its conquests, were the wonder of the world. How such works came to be so success- fully executed is easily understood, when it is remembered that heathen Eome commanded the wealth, ihe intellect, and the strong arms of many subject nations. The Popes, on the other hand, though they often tried, as did Pius IX. among the rest, to cultivate the Campagna and drain the Pontine Marshes, had so little means at their disposal, that they could never accomplish anything important. Among other diflfi- culties that the Boman Pontiffs had to contend with, was that of obtaining an outlet towards the sea, whilst , ancient Eome commanded all the seas and lands of the known world, Surely it does not require a Solomon to understand that without access to the Mediterranean, it is physically impossible to drain and cultivate such low-lying lands as the Pontine Marshes. At Perugia the Holy Father received the kindly visit of the Archduke Charles, who came, on the part of his father 166 MORTARA — NEW SEES — CANONIZATIONS. Leopold, to compliment, the Sovereign Pontiff. Archduke Maximilian, of Austria, who, at the time, little thought of a Mexican Empire, came to salute the Pope at Pesaro. Neither he nor Pius IX, had been, as yet, betrayed and abandoined by . Napoleon III. The Grand Duke of Tuscany and all his family, together with the Dukes of Parma and Modena, came to pay their homage at Bologna. The Holy Father accepted their pressing invitation to visit Tuscany and Modena, the sover- eigns showing publicly, in pi'esence of their people, such rever- ence and devotedness as recal'jd the faith and loyalty of the Middle Ages. The Pope himself bears witness to the truly- noble and chivalrous conduct of these provinces. "He intro- duced us hiiuself into Florence," says Pius IX., in speaking of the Grand Dnke Leopold, " walking by our side, and ac- companied us to every Tuscan city which we visited. All the archbishops and bishops of his States, aU the clergy, the cor- porate bodies, the magistrates and the nobles showed their delight by testifying their devotion to us in a thousand ways. Not only at Florence, but wherever we went in Tuscany, the people from town and country, far and near, came forth to greet us, acclaiming the Chief Pontiff of the church with such ardent affection, showing such an intense desire to see him, to do him reverence, to receive his benediction, that our fatherly heart was moved to its inmost depths." On the Holy Father's return to Eome there wat '-^h jubilee among all classes of the people a fact which the traducers of Pius IX. would do well to note, as it proves beyond a doubt how idle and ill-founded was all their clamor, to the effect that in the holy city his popularity had departed. A case in itself comparatively unimportant now became a luse celebre, and agitated all Europe. One The Mortara case. jy^o^tara, a Jcw of Bologna, had, in violation of the laws of the country, taken into his service a Christian maid. Meantime, one of his children, a boy about seven years of age, bejame dangerously ill. The Christian girl, unad- visedly, and also in opposition to the law , baptized him. Her act could not be undone, and the law required that every MORTABA — NEW BZ:E8- — CANONIZATIOKS 167 baptized person should be educatec ns a Christian. Pius IX. refused to interfere with the actioxi of this law. Hence the torrents of abuse that were poured upon him by the infidel liberal press of Europe, as well as by the ultra-Protestant organs of England. He had ignored liberty of conscience, abused his authority, &e. Now, let us suppose that he had acted otherwise, and prevented the execution of a well-known law, what would have been the result ? He would have been denounced as a despot, whose arbitrary decision was the only law. But might not he, who was so great a reformer, have con- trived to cause the law to be altered ? Such alteration could not have affected the Mortara case. A change, besides, would have been quite unnecessary, as it was not probable that after Bjch a storm, and the lesson which it taught, either Jews or Christians would expose themselves to the consequences of a violation of their country's laws. And were not those laws a sufficient protection to t^^e Jewish people ? From the first days of his Pontificate, America engaged the solicitude of Pius IX. So rapid was the by Pius IX. in Amer- growth of the church on that continent that ^^^' it became necessary to give bishops to several countries where the Catholic 'aith had been scarcely known. So early as 1846 Oregon -^as constituted an Archi- episcopal See. In 1850 Episcopal Sees were erected at Monterey and Santa Fe, in the Spanish American territory, which was recently annexed to the United States, and in Savannah, Wheeling, St. Paul and Nesqualy. The Indian territory became a Vicariate ApostoHc, undfr the jurisdiction of a bishop. Three years afterwards six more sees were es- tablished — San Francisco, Brooklyn, Burlington, Covington, Erie and Natchitoches. Later still, 1857, Pius IX. gave bishops to Illinois; Fort Wayne, in Indiana; and Marquette, in -Michigan. This last city derived its name from th'^ celebrated missionary who first ei^plored the river Mississippi. It was nov/ more important than ever, having become a centre of Catholic life and action. 168 0R8INI 8 ATTEMPT. In 1852, Pius IX. beatified John de Britto, a martyr in India, John Grande and the renowned Paul ed to the number of of the Cross, who founded the zealous and theSaintH. austere order of Passionists. In 1853, the like honor was conferred on the pious Freach shepherdess, Germaine Cousin, and the Jesuit father, Andrew Bobola, who was martyred by the Cossacks. In 1861, John Leonardi was beatified. ,. ;>, ,^ It is now time to record events of a less pleasing nature. In 1853, several attempts had been made temptirto murder the on the life of the Emperor Napoleon III. Emperor .Napoieou Xn 1855, Pianori made a similar attempt. In 1858, Count Felix Orsini almost succeeded in assassinating him. This Orsini was an accomplice of Louis Napoleon in raising an insurrection in Eomagua in 1831. He was condemned for conspiracy in 1845, and was amnestied by Pius IX. In 1849, he was a m'^mber of the Eoman Constituent Assembly. In his political testament, dated at the Mazas prison, and read before the jury by Jules Favre, his counsel, he coolly declared that the object of his crime was to remind the Emperor of his former secret engagements in favor of Italian independence; that he was only one of the conspirators who had charge bo to remind him ; and that, although he had failed in his aim, others would come after him who would not fail. " Sire," he wrote, " let your Majesty remember — so long as Italy is not independent, the tranquillity of Europe and that of your Majesty are mere chimeras." French authors remark that it is painful to enquire what measure of influence these threats may have exercised on the subsequent resolutions of the man to whom they were addressed, and still more painful to be compelled to recognize the unworthy motive of fear at the first link of the fatal chain which inevitably led to Sedan, where this same man had not the courage to seek a manly death. God only could see his secret mind. But it is impossible not to observe very sad coincidences. Immediately after Orsini had penned his memorable testament, the imperial policy was WAR ON THE POPE. 169 completely changed. The declaration of Orsini is as the dividing point between the two portions of the Emperor's reign, the former openly, reasonably conservative and glorious, the latter sometimes decidedly revolutionary, sometimes vacillating, contradictory, or unwillingly conservative, and finally termin- ated by a catastrophe unexampled in the annals of France. All who take an interest in public affairs cannot fail to re- member the startling words which the Em- The^%ItTor^8yv2ed Peror Napoleon III. addressed to the repre- from the states of the sentative of Austria, on occasion of the diplomatic reception at the Tuileries, on New Year's day, 1859 : ** I regret that my relations with your f^overnment are not so good as in the past." This language of Napoleon astonished all Europe. It was as a sudden clap of thunder on the calmest summer day. Ten days later, Victor Emmanuel gave the interpretation of this mysterious speech, at the opening of the Piedmontese parliaAbt, when he de- clared that " he was not unmoved by the ipis of pain which reached him from so many parts of Italy." Finally, the mar- riage of Prince Napoleon, the Emperor's cousin, with a daugh- ter of the Sardinian King, removed all doubt. France was made to adopt, without being consulted, the enmities and the ambition of the Cabinet of Turin. On the 4th of February appeared a pamphlet which in- creased^ the alarm of the friends of peace and order. It may not have been written by Napoleon, but it was according to his ideas and dictation. Its title was, '^Napoleon III. and Italy,-" and it set forth a programme of the political reconstituting of Italy, it exonerated Pius IX, of all the things laid to his ■charge by the revolution, but only in order to lay them at the door of the Papacy itself. "The Pope," it alleged, "being placed between two classes of duty, is constrained to sacrifice the one to tho other. He necessarily makes political give way to spiritual duty. This is condemnation, not of Pius IX. but of the system ; not of the man, but of the situation ; since the latter imposes on the former the formidable alternative of im- /■ 170 WAB ON THE POPE. molating the Prince to the Pontiff, or the Pontiff to the Prince." The pamphlet further taught : " The absolutely clerical charac^ ter of the Eoman government is opposed to common sense, and is a fertile source of discontent. The canon law does not suffice for the protection and development c'' modem society." The document concluded by proposing the secularization of the Koman goveniment, and the establishment of an Italian con- federation, of which the Pope should have the honorary presi- dency, whilst Piedmont should have the real control. The pamphlet urged, in support of its arguments, the "abnormal position " of the Papacy, which was obliged, in order to sustain itseK, to rely on foreign armies of occupation. *' Such a re- proach on the part of one of those who lent succor to the Pope was anything but generous. Pius IX. hastened to remove this cause of complaint. On the 27th of February Cardinal Anto- nelli notified France and Austria that the Holy Father was grateful to theni|fcfl: their good services, but that he thought he could himself ml^Ptain order in his States, and so would beg of them to withdraw their troops. This would not have suited Piedmont, which was interested in maintaining the grievance, as well as in rendering it possible to involve the Eoman States in the war which was so rapidly approaching. The troops were not removed. Pius IX. was too clear-sighted not to fore-^ see what was so soon to happen. In an Encyclical of 27th April, he asked prayers for peace of all the patriarchs, pri- mates, archbishops and bishops. "Pax vohisf pax voUs!" he painfully repeated. But it was already too late. The young and rash Emperor of Austria, driven to extremity, thought him^ self sufficiently strong to contend at once against France and the revolution. He summoned Piedmont to disband such of her regiments as were composed of Lombards and Venetians, who were Austrian subjects. As this was refused, he declared war. He fell into a second error. He ass'imed the offensive tardily, and did not push forward rapidly to the point where the French army must concentrate, before its concentration could be accomplisked. He made a third and more serious WAB ON THE POPE. / 171 mistake, which proved mmous. He withdrew from the war after his first defeats when his army was beat, indeed, but neither broken nor disorganized, when he still held the uncon- quered quadrilateral, ahd when Prussia and Germany were arming to support him. In 1866 he w^s equally imprudent in the war against Prussia, when a continuation of the contest would have obliged France, whether willingly or otherwise, to intervene, and would probably have saved both Austria and France. i Meanwhile, Napoleon felt that it was necessary to reassure the Catholics of France. ** We do not go to Italy," said he, boldly, but imtruly, in his proclamation of 3rd May, "in order to encourage disorder, nor to shake the power of the Holy Father, whom we have replaced on his throne, but in order to liberate him from the foreign pressure which weighs upon the Avhole peninsula, and assist in founding order on legitimate interests that will be satisfied." M. Eouland, the Minister of Public Worship, wrote to the bishops, in order to inspire them with confidence as to the consequences of the contest. ** The Emperor," he said, hypocritically, " has weighed the matter in the presence of God, and his well-know::? wisdom , energy and loyalty will not be wanting, either to rehgion or the country. The prince who has given to religion sO many proofs of defer- ence and attachment, who, after the evil days of 1848, brought back the Holy Father to the Vatican, is the firmest support of Catholic unity, and he desires that the Chief of the Church shall be respected in all his rights as a temporal sovereign. The prince, who saved France from the invasion of the democ- racy, cannot accept either its doctrines or its domination in Italy." These declarations, which promised so much, were joy- fully accepted by the Catholics. Events, however, soon made it appesir how hollow they were. The grand conspiracy, whilst it amused the friends of order and legality with fine words and lying protestations, acted in such a way as to favor the revolu- tion and meet all its wishes. On the 27th of April, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, uncle of Victor Emmanuel, wrs overthrown 172 WAR OK THE POPE. in consequence of intrigues and plots at the house of Signor Buoncompagni, ambassador of the Piedmontese King, a fact to which Mr. Scarlett, the British representative, bears witness in an official despatch. The same blow was struck, and with the like success, against the excellent and popular Duchess of Parma. But this princess was immediately recalled by the people, who had been taken by surprise, and remained until Piedmont took miUtary possession of the Duchies, which it iiever gave up. Prince Napoleon, who commanded the 5th French Army Corps, looking out for the enemy by a devious route, in the direction of Eomagna, reached the battle-field of Solferino too late to take part in the fight, but quite in time to make it available to the revolution. The Austrian troops who occupied Bologna, being threatened by the movement, made haste to recross the Po, without waiting to be replaced by a Pontifical garrison, and without even advising the Holy See. M. de Cavour's emissaries immediately availed themselves of so good an opportunity, took possession of the city, where there was not a soldier left, and offered its government to Vi«tor Emmanuel. f i^v>. They were preparing at Eome to celebrate the thirteenth anniversary of the coronation of Pius IX., when the news of these sad events reached the city. The addresses of the Pope, on this occasion, therefore, were necessarily full of melancholy feeling. "In whatever direction I look," said he, in his reply to the cardinals, "I behold only subjects of sorrow; but, *v<« homini illi per quem scandalum venit /' Woe to that man by whom scandal cometh ! For my part, personally, I am not shaken ; I place my trust in God." Three days later, the 18th June, he announced, in a consistorial allocu ion, that Cardinal Antonelli had been commissioned to protest at the courts of all the Powers against the events in Bomagna. But his position as sovereign required of higa something more than words, and he did not shrink from any of his duties. Perugia had followed the example of Bologna, and to the former city he despatched troops, who retook it without any difficulty. In the contest -r WAR ON THE POPE. 178 some twelve men were either killed or wounded, and the clamors of the revolutionary press rung throughout Europe, denouncing the massacres and the " sack of Perugia." Letter of the Honorable Mrs. Eoss from Perugia, vide Weekly Rigester, February 11th, 1860. • The Truth about Perugia. — ^We have received from Eome an original English copy of the letter of Mrs. Eoss of Bla- der\sburgh, written from Perugia on the 23rd of June last, and an Italian version of which we announced last week to our readers as having appeared in the Giornale di Roma of 23rd ult., and which is referred to in our special correspondence from Eome this week. We really never expected that our former Perugino antagonist, Mr. Perkins, of Boston, should have turned out to be such a very unfortunate man. We have now a fair sample of the authorities consulted by travellers of his class to procure evidence against the Pontifical govern- ment. ,sm ^H c^l'v^, f • [Extract from a letter written by the Hon. Mrs. Eoss of Bladensburgh, to her husband, from Vilja Monti, at Perugia, dated Perugia, June 21st, 1859.] . " To David Eoss, of Bladensbiu*gh, Hautes Pyrenees, France. , , "I wrote to you last Wednesday, 15th inst., to announce a revolution which occurred here on the previous day ; now I write to relieve your mind of anxiety in case an exaggerated account of what has occurred here be given in the public papers. I have to tell you of the re-entrance of the Papal troops, which took place yesterday after a stubborn resistance of four hours on the part of the revolutionists. " When the revolt at Perugia was known at Eome, orders were given to a body of Swiss troops to replace the little gar- rison which had been driven out. The revolutionary junta was well informed of what had been decided on at Eome, and immediately prepared to oppose the re-establishment of social order in the town. Victor Emmanuel, to whom they had 174 WAR ON THE POPE. offered the town, returned no official answer, but, instead, re- ports were industriously circulated among the citizens of sym- pathy and support from Piedmont. An honest refusal on the part of Victor Emmanuel, or an open acceptance, would have prevented subsequent events, which his calculated silence brought about. On Saturday last, the 18th inst., w.e heard that the Pope's troops were close to * * * and on Sun- day that they had actually arrived there. In the * * * Buoncompagni sent from Tuscany, I am told, 300 muskets in aid and wagons were despatched to Arezzo for arms and ammunition; barricades were commenced. The monks were turned out of their convent at St. Peter's Gate (one of them came down to us) ; and 500 armed men instead were put in to defend the gate and first barricade. After two o'clock p.m., the gates were closed, and no one could go in or out of the town without an order. It was then I wrote a note to Mr. " Perkins, warning and requesting him and his family to accept a shake-down with us ; and with difficulty I got the note con- veyed up to town by a woman who happened to have a pass. Nothing could induce any of the peasants about us to go near the town, as the revolutionary party were making forced levies of the youth of the place, and arming them to resist the coming troops. Next morning (Monday the 20th) a body of shepherds coming up from the place, told us that they had just seen the Swiss troops at Santa Maria degh Angioli, where they stopped and had mass,* having heard that the citizens contemplated resistance. About ten o'clock that same morning I got Mr. Perkins' answer to my note ; it was to this effect— that he had gone to the president (of the Junta), who assured him that the Swiss had not yet even reached * * * and that certainly they would not arrive before the next day at sunset. And the inn-keeper (the notorious Storti), he added, said that they were not coming here at all, but going to Ancona ! I cannot imagine how he could trust such people, who were all implicated in the ♦ Mr. Perkl»'8, in his letter to the Timet, makes out that they forced open the houses of tae inhabitants to maice them give up their wluc, and that they got druaku WAR ON THE POPE. . 175 business. His messenger, who was one of the servants of the hotel, said, as he gave the note, * Don't delay me, or I shall not be in time to kill my three or four Swiss,' showing how well informed and prepared the hotel was. I should have written again to the poor Perkins' to imdeceive them ; but it was too late, for almost immediately the columns of the Swiss appeared in the plain below, which you know we see from our villa, and the presideift (revolutionary Jimta) and other heads of the rebellion had their carriages and horses ready waiting. They fled at the first gun, leaving the people to act for them- selves after having inflamed, deceived and armed them, and gathered into the town all the canaille they could get from the neighboring country. From the moment the troops appeared, all the peasants belonging to the villa flocked around us. Anxiety was depicted on every face. The countenance of one old man in particular was very striking — 'bad times,' he mur- mured. * We have fallen on evil days — respect and awe are gone, and the people are blinded.' The parish priest was also with us, and the monk I mentioned before. We watched with .great anxiety the slow ascent of the troops up the long five miles to the city gate. There the colonel and his men halted, and he parleyed with the people. We could see him stop and address them, and then we saw a volley fired down on them by the armed men in the convent windows. The first fire was from the people on the troops. We could see all from our villa windows like a scene on the stage ; while the distance was sufl&- cient to veil the horrors of war. Then we saw some troops separate from the main body and advance to the foot of the wall, and in the twinkling of an eye they scaled it, amid a hot fire from the insurgents, whom we heard shouting out, * Cor- aggio! coraggio!' from behind the walls. Then we saw one soldier rush up and tear down the revolutionary flag, and carry it in triumph back to the main body of the troops, and then we saw the Pontifical flag float where the revolutionary one- had been. In the meantime the rest of the troops had planted their cannon opposite to the city gate. Boom ! boom ! they went at 176 WAR ON THE POPE. the barricades, and in an hour after the firing of the first gun, they had driven out the 500 armed men from the convent of St. Peter's, and entered the first enclosure of the town. We then saw no more, but sat all tliat afternoon in the window, listening to the incessant firing in deep anxiety. As the sol- diers fought their way up to their barracks, and as the report of the arms became more and more distant, we could judge pretty well of the advance of the troops, knowing as we did the chief points of resistance within. The first gun fired was at three o'clock p.m. precisely, and at seven p.m. all was silent again ; the soldiers had reached their barracks. I hear that * * * have fled out towards Arezzo ; all the canaille of the villages of the place were enlisted to defend the city, and it waa the talk of the country that had the Swiss been beaten, the city was to have been pillaged by that armed mob. They say that had they not had promises of succor from Victor Em- manuel (the *Re Galantuomo'), and of encouragement from Princess Valentini (nee Buonaparte, who resides here), they would not have resisted as they did : thus were they de- ceived ! There is more in it all than one sees at first; and. clearly it was an affair got up to make out a case against the Pope. Piedmontese money was circulated there just before the revolution. N got it in change in the shops. "June 22. — P.S. — Our servant has been to town to-day ; he brings me a letter from the Perkins', and such news as is the general talk of the cafes. Our poor friends in the Hotel de France (Locanda Storti) suffered much. Deceived to the last,^ they had not even been told of the actual arrival of the troops,. . and had just sat quietly to dinner when the roar of the guns- startled them. They strove to go to another hotel, but alas ! the gates of their inn were fastened ; they could not stir. The letter I got from them said that the troops were irritated on account of the firing from the roof. We knew beforehand how it would be there ; and in fact they did shoot an officer and twa men while passing the door. It was on this that the soldiers, infuriated, rushed and assailed the house. * * j hear PEACE OF VILLAPRANCA. 177 every one blames the imprudence of thiBHO people. They could not afford to be hostile ; for the hotel, if you remember, com- mands the Htreet from the base up the hill. No troops, there- fore, could risk Roing up that hill with a hostile house in that position ready to take them in the rear. The escape of the poor Perkhis' is a perfect miracle ; they, I hear, lost everything. The innkeeper, waiter and stableman, they say, were killed in the fray. The number of deaths among the Swiss were 10, and 33 of the Perugians. Several prisoners were made. I went up on this same • afternoon (June 22) with the two little boys to see the colonel of the regiment. The town is wonder- fully little injured, only broken windows * * after a mob riot, with the exception of a few houses in the suburbs, between the outer and inner gates. One was burned by the accident of the falhng »f a bomb-shell. The other was can- nonaded as being a resort of the rebels. There is great talk of how the heads of the revolution scampered off, betraying thus the tools and dupes of their faction." [Extract from another letter to David Ross of Bladens- burgh : " There is great terror here among all the country people, who dread, sooner or later, vengeance being taken upon them by the revolutionary party, because they would have nothing to say to the movement."] It is well known how rapidly events succceeded one an- other, when Napoleon's friendly relations fr^cT**'^ °' ^"'''" with Austria came to an end. On May 3rd he declared war. On the 12th he arrived at Genoa, commanded in person, on the 4th of June, at the battle of Magenta, where, but for the superior generalship of Marshal McMahon, he would have lost his life, together with his army, and on the 24th of the same month won the great victory of Solferino. He now gave out that he had enough of glory and would fight no more, whilst in reality he was con- strained to yield to powerful pressure from without. Prussia, foreseeing that, if Austria experienced a few more defeats, she herself would suffer, deemed it wise to interfere. Prussia had. M .-.*;viBi«L^Ev!o. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I ^^ m 'H 1^ 112.2 io 11112.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ► >/ W o / /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 WJ' p ;V ■■.',■.* ..^3^-: :J*fea3ife 1:. : :■ im^- f^V.^,*/^' ^' 178 PEACE OP VILLAPRANCA. indeed, concerted matters beforehand with the Emperor of the French, and had undertaken to isolate Austria, her hereditary rival in Germany*. But at the first rumor of the Franco-Piedmontese aggres- sion, the German States were moved. The Diet of Franc- fort insisted that the confederate nations should proceed to assist the Emperor, who was President of the German -Confed- eration. It fell to Prussia to head the movement. But, as may be conceived, she was not hearty in the cause. Her statesmen hesitated, argued, equivocated, and made a show of preparing, but slowly, for war. MeanwhUe, the news of the successive defeats of Austria roused still more the patriotism of the Germans. The Prussian monarch, finding that he was on the point of being overwhelmed, addressed to his Imperial accomplice, the day after the battle of Solferino, a most press- ing telegram, informing him that he must make peace, cost what it would. Napoleon, it need hardly be said, obeyed, and so the peace of Villafranca was concluded. By this treaty was established an Italian Confederation, under the honorary presi- dency of the Pope, Lombardy given to Piedmont, Venice left to Austria, the rights of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the other sovereigns, who were for the moment dispossessed,, expressly reserved. Thus app'eared to end the intrigues'of the revolution. Pius IX. promptly invited the faithful of Eome to join with him in offering thanksgiving to God. His letter thus concludes : " What do we pray for ? That all the enemies of Christ, of His Church and of the Holy See, may be converted and live." So clear, apparently, was now the political atmosphere, that men could not avoid accusing them- 0^°;^^*"*'^ "^^ selves of having judged rashly tho mighty conqueror, who, by a word, could restore serenity as easily as he had disturbed it. It was not yet known Jby what power he was restrained. In compliance with the requirements of the treaty of Yillafranoa, Piedmont, indeed, "wiindrew her commissioners from Central Italy. The public, PEACE OF VILLAFBANCA. 179 however, soon learned, to its great astonishment, what, at first, it could not believe, that provisional governments took the plaoe of the Piednjontese Commissioners, and that Baron Ricasoli, at Florence, Signor Farini, at Modena and Parma, and Cipriani, at Bologna, all agents of Count de Cavour and the revolution, dismissed everywhere such officials as were suspected of looking seriously to the return of the legitimate sovereigns, and had recourse to popular suffrage. This, it is no exaggeration to say, was a mere mockery. The voting directed, expurgated by these parties, never extended to the landward districts, but, confined entirely to the towns, was necessarily calculated to produce the result at which they aimed — a plebiscitum in favor of annexation to Piedmont. In Romagna, for instance, where there were about two hundred thousand electors, only 18,000 were registered, and of these only one-third presented theii' votes. By such means was a national assembly constituted. This assembly met at Bologna on the 6th of September, and at its first sitting voted the abolition of the Pontifical government, and invited Victor Emmanuel. This potentate dared not, at first, to accept, but appointed Signor Buoncompagni, governor-general of the league of Central Italy. It did not appear from the state of the polls, if, indeed, the polling of votes was even made a fashion of, that the people of the Papal States were at all anxious to do away with the government under which they and their fore- . fathers had enjoyed so many blessings, together with the sur- passing honor of possessing, as their capital, the metropolis of the Christian world. They were too happy in being ruled over by the elective monarch whom they tht mselves had chosen, to desire, in preference to him, the mere shadow of a king — ^the satrap of an Imperial despot. It was not they who, in a pre- tended patriotic endeavor to shake off the Pontifical yoke, raised the standard of rebellion in so many cities and provinces of the Papal States. This was wholly the work of foreigners. A Bonaparte, attended by a numerous and well-disciplined army, invaded Italy. His arms were, to a certain extent, sue- i 180 PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. cessful; and so rebellion was encouraged. Another Bonaparte excited to revolt the city of Perugia. The disturbance was speedily settled by a handful of troojis whom the sovereign had despatched from Rome, to the great satisfaction of the citizens of Perugia. In other cities, by the like instrumentalities, were like movements occasioned. They were invariably suppressed by the loyal and devoted people. So much was this the case that the Pontifical government warmly thanked the mayors and municipalities of no fewer than seven or eight cities for their good services in putting down the nascent revolution. At Bologna,- the capital of the Romagnol or ^milian provinces, ■ a cousin of the Bonapartes, the Marquis Pepoli, whom the benevolence of Pius IX. had restored to his country, stirred up rebellion, and caused the Pontifical government to give place to revolutionary misrule. The abettors of Pepoli, in this most base and ungrateful proceeding, were his associates of the .secret societies ; others who were foreigners at Bologna, and a few malcontents of that city ittielf. But all these were far from being the citizens of Bologna, far from being the people of the Bolognese provinces. Whilst such things were done, where was the peace of ViUafranca ? It had become, or rather, never was an3i;hing better than, waste paper. The head of the Bonapartes was the offender, and he contrived to make France the partner of his guilt. " It is France," the illustrious M. de Montalembert affirms, ** that has allowed the temporal power of the Pope to be shaketi. This is the fact, which blind men only can deny. France is not engaged alone in this path, but her overwhelming ascend- ancy places her at the head of the movement, and throws the great and supreme responsibility of it upon her. We know all the legitimate and crushing reproaches that are due to England and Piedmont ; but if France had so willed it. Pied- mont would not have dared to undertake anything against the Holy See, and England would have been condemned to her impotent hatred. ^ * The Congress of Paris, in 1856 — hav- ing solemnly declared, ' that none of the contracting powers PEACE OF VTLLAFRANCA. 181 had the right of interfering, either collectively or individually, between a sovereign and his subjects '* — after having proclaimed the principle of the absolute independence of sovereigns in favor of the Turkish Sultan against his Christian subjects, thought itself justified by its protocol of April 8th, and ixx the absence of any representative of the august accused, in pro- claiming that the situation of the Papal States was abnormal and irregular. This accusation, developed, aggravated and exaggerated in parliament and elsewhere, by Lord Palmerston and Count Cavour, was, nevertheless, foi*mally put forwai'd under the presidency and on the initiative of the French minister for foreign affairs. Consequently, France must be held accountable for it to the Church, and to the rest of Europe." The war which " the skilful but guilty perseverance of Pied- montese pohoy " succeeded in occasioning between France and Austria facilitated not a little the work of revolution in the States of the Chiu'ch. In order to dispel the fears that pre« vailed, the following words were addressed to the Bishops of France by the minister of the Emperor: "The prince who restored the Holy Father to his throne in the Vatican wills .that the Head of Ihe Church should be respected in all his rights as a temporal sovereign." A little later, the Emperor of the French, elated with his military success,, issued a procla- mation which renewed the apprehensions that had been so happily allayed. " Italians ! — Providence sometimes favors nations and individuals by giving them the opportunity of sud- flenly springing into then- full growth. Avail yourselves, then, of the fortune that is ojffered you ! Your desire of independ- ence, so long expressed, so often deceived, will be reaHzed, if you show yourselves worthy of it. Unite then for ona sole object, the Uberation of your country. Fly to the standards of King Victor Emmanuel, who has already so nobly shown you the ^way to honor. Remember that without discipline there can be no army, and animated with the sacred fire of patriot- ism, be soldiers only to-day, and you will be to-morrow free citizens of a great country." * Protocol, March 18th. 182 PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. "The Romagnese," continues Montalembert, "took the speaker at his word. Four days after the appearance of this proclamation, they rose against the Papal authority, created a provisional government, convoked a sovereign assembly, voted the deposition of the Pope, and the annexation to Piedmont. Finally, seeing their audacity remained unpunished, they organized an armed league, officered by Piedmontese, and com- manded by Garibaldi — that Garibaldi, who, having been vanquished by French troops ten years ago, now avails himself of our recent hard-won victories, to boast that he will ' soon make an end of clerical despotism.' " Three months after the revolution had been estabUshed in the Romagna, M. de Montalembert wrote : " The revolution, triumphant, is still asking Europe to sanction its work. France has to impute to herself all the scandals and all the calamities that will follow. G^eat nations are responsible not only for what they do, but for what they permit to be done under the shadow of their flag, and by the incitement of their influence. The war which France waged in Italy has cost the Pope the loss of the third part of his dominions, and the irreparable weakening of his hold on what remains. The eldest daughter of the church will remain accountable for it before contempo- raries, before history, before Europe, and before God. She will not be allowed to wipe her mouth like the adultress in Scripture, qtus tergens os suum dicit, non sum operata malum." Another power which was, in the full sense of the term, foreign in the Roman States^ still more directly aided the revoluMon. This power was the army of Garibaldi. It will be seen, when it is considered what troops this army was com- posed of, ihat it was wholly alien in the States of the Church. In this motley corps there were : 6,760 Piedmontese volunteers. 3,240 Lombards " 1,200 Venetians. 2,160 Neapolitans and Sicilians. 500 Romans. PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. 188 1,200 Hungarians. 200 French. 30 English. 150 Maltese and lonians. 260 Greeks. 460 Poles. 370 Swiss. 160 Spaniards, Belgians and Americans. 800 Austrian deserters and liberated convictB. Gould such an army as this be held to be a representation •of the people of the Papal States ? One-third of it was sup- plied by two hostile nations, one of which, Piedmont, had actually, by the intrigues of its government and in pursuance of a pohcy which an able statesman, a most ^-andid writer and an honorable man, Coimt Montalembert, hae. stigmatized as criminal, caused the rebellion in Homagna, and has since earnestly labored to avail itself of the state of things, by annex- ing Central Italy to the territories of the Piedmontese King. It were superfluous to direct attention to the numbers of foreigners from various states. It is, however, deserving of remark that the whole population of the Papal States, amount- ing to 3,000,000, should have shown its alleged sympathy with the "cause of Italy," by sending only 600 men to fight its battles. They did not want courage, as was shown in 1848, when neither the considerate advice and paternal remonstrancea of the Holy Father, nor the wise counsel of grave statesmen and learned cardinals, could moderate the ardor of the Eoman youth, believing, as they had been persuaded, that patriotism and duty called them to foUow the standard of King Charles Alberi;. Then they took up arms, as they conceived, in the cause of Italian liberty. But now that honorable cause was manifestly in abeyance; and they would not leave their homes and endanger their lives for the phantom of national independ- ence offered them by the revolution. The Frepch were equally wary,. They sympathized with Italy. They fought for their Emperor. But they had no 184 PEACE or VILLAPRANCA. admiration for Piedmontese ambition, or that oi MuratB, and Pepolis, and Bonapartes. England was more cautious still. Howe/er much her demagogues may have exerted their oratorical powers at home, they cai-efully avoided perilling either life or limb in the cause of the revolution. A more numerous band of fighting men of English origin, in Garibaldi's ranks, would have shown more sympathy with rebellion in some Italian States than the pro- posal made by a right honorable member of the richest peer- age in the world to raise a penny subscription in order to supply the rebels with bayonets and fire-arms. When we call to mind that this suggestion was made by that very lordly peer who was once Governor-General of India, we have Uttle difficulty in understanding why his superiors, the members of the East India Company, dismissed him from the high and responsible office with which he had been entrusted. It cannot be pretended that the army of Garibaldi was, in any degree, a national representation. No nation or commu- nity can be fairly represented by a number of its people, insig- nificantly smaU, unless, indeed, these few individuals hold commission from their feUow-countrymen. We have not read anywhere that the Garibaldian army was thus honored. Social status, character and respectability, may, on occasions, give to individuals the privilege of representing Ineir country. But on these grounds the motley troop of the revolutionary leader poasessed no claim. Thay were men for whom peace and . order have no charms. The powerful corrective of military dis^- cipUne was applied to them in vain. Their insubordination was notorious. To Garibaldi even it was intolerable. And this man, daring as he was, withdrew from the command in disgust. He had scarcely retired when many of his men deserted. These the people refused to recognize, and would not afford them assistance on their journey. Some fifty of them arrived at Placentia, after having been reduced to mendi- cancy before they could reach theii- homes. The revolution- ary governor, Doctor Fanti, issued an order of the daj,. PEACE OF VILLAFRANOA. 185 requiring that these men, on account of their insubordination and bad conduct, should not be admitted anew into the army of the League. The general-.* chief also pubUshed an order, under date of 26th November, 1859, absolutely forbidding ta accept any person who had belonged to Garibaldi's force. An army so composed could, by no means, claim to represent the highly refined, intellectual, and moral populations of Italy. Far less did it aliord any proof that the people of the Papal States were anxious to forwaid the work of the revolution. The inhabitants of Rome and the Roman States, far from showing an^ inchnation to side with the revolutionary party, were wont never to let pass an opportunity of manifesting their satisfaction with the government of the Pope. ' His Holiness walked abroad without guards. And although he sough|,the most retired places, for the enjoyment of that pedestrian exer- cise which his health required, numbers of the people often contrived to throw themselves in his way, in order to testify to him their reverence and affection, as well as to receive his paternal benediction. When taking his walk, one day, on Monte Pincio, many thousands came around him, declaring loudly their unfeigned loyalty. The following day, still greater ^crowds repaired to the same place. But .the Holy Father, with a view to be more retired, had gone in another direction. It ought not to be forgotten, that when returning, in the autumn of 1869, from his villa at Castel Gandolpho. the road watt thronged on both sides to the distance of four miles from Rome with citizens who had no other object in t lew than to give a cordial and loyal welcome to their Bishop and Prince. This was an ovation — a triumph which the greatest conqueror might well have envied. It has already been recorded that, on occasion of the progress which the Holy Father made through his States, he was everywhere received with the most lively demonstrations of enthusiastic loyalty, reverence and affection. On the 18th of January, 1860, the municipal body, or, as it is called, "the Senate," of Rome, presented to the Sovereign Pontiff, as well in their own name as on behalf of all the 186 PEACE OF VILLAFRANOAr. people, an address expressive of their filial duty and loyal sentiments. On the following day, January 19th, one hundred and thirty-four of the nobility of Rome, who are, in all, one hundred and sixty, approached the person of the Pontiff in order to pijsent an equally loyal and dutiful address. The sentiments of this address will be best conveyed in its own plain and energetic language — language which does honor td the patricians of mod m Rome : '* We, the undersigned, deeply grieved by the pubUcation of various libels which, emanating from the revolutionary press, tend to make the world beHeve that the people subject to the authority of your Holiness are wishing to shake off the yoke which, 'as it is reported, (has become insufferable, feel necessitated to show fidelity and loyalty to your Holiness, and to make known to the rest of Europe, which, at the present moment, doubts the sincerity of our words, the fideUty of our persons towards your Holiness, by a manifestation of attach- ment and fidelity towards your person, proceeding from our duty as Catholics, and from our lawful submission as your subjects. " It is not, however, our intention to vie with the miser- able cunning of your enemies — enemies of the faith — of that very faith which they profess to venerate. But placed, as it is our fortune, by your side, and seeing the malignity of those who attack you, and the disloyal character of their attacks, we feel bound to gather ourselves at the foot of your twofold throne, with vows for the integrity of your independent sover- eignty; and once more offering you our whole selves, too happy if this manifestation of our fidelity may sweeten the bitr terness vidth which your Holiness is afflicted, and if you ate Ijleased to accept our offerings. Thus may Europe, deceived by so many perverse writings, be thoroughly convinced that if the nobility have hitherto been restrained from the expression of their desires by respect and the fear of throwing any obstacle in the way of a happy solution, so anxiously desired, they have not the less retained them, and expressed them as individuals ; PEACE OF VILLAFRANOA. 187 and that they, this day, nnite to declare them, heartily and sincerely pledging to them before all the world their honor and their faith. "Accept, Holy Father, Pontiff and King, this energetic protest and the unlimited devotedness which the nobles of Borne offer in reverence to your Sceptre, no less than to your Pastoral staff." — {In the Weekly Register of Jamiary 28,1860, from t!(C Gioriialc di Roma.) Th.! like loyal and patriotic feeling was manifested through- out all the cities and provinces of the Papal States. One of the most eminent of liberal British statesmen, the Marquis of Normanby, bears witness to the fact that very few of the citizens of Bologna could be compelled, even at the point of the sword, to express adherence to the revolution. A portion of the peri- odical press labored to keep such facts as these out of view. But they would have required better evidence than they, were ever able to produce in order to convince reasonable and reflect- ing men that people, blessed with so great a degree of material prosperity as the subjects of the Pope and the other Princes of Italy, were anxious to see radical chajiges introduced into the governments under which they were so favored. That they were highly prosperous and but slightly taxed, many dis- tinguished travellers, members of both houses of the British parliament, and others bear witness. None will question the evidence of these facts which are known on the authority of such men as the Marquis of Normanby and his Excellency the Earl of Carlisle. The Hon. Mr. Pope Hennessey stated in the House of Commons : " That the national prosperity of the States of the Church and of Austria had become j^reater, year after year, than that of Sardinia (where a sort of revolutionary constitution had been established), and that documents existed in the Foreign OflBce, in the shape of reports from our own consuls, which proved it, with respect to commercial interests in Sardinia. Mr. Erskine, our minister at Turin, in a des- patch of January 7, 1856» gave a very unfavorable view of the manufacturing, mining and agricultural progress of Sardinia. 188 PEACR OP VILL'AFBANCA. But from Vent tia, Mr. Elliott gave a perfectly opposite view, showing that great progrees was being made there. The shipping trQ,de of Sardinia with England had declined 2,000 tons. But the British trade with Ancona had increased 21,000 tons, and with Venice 25,000 tons, in ^he course of the last two years. Ho attributed these results to the increase of taxa- tion in Siirdinia, through the introduction of the constitutional (the Sardinian constitutional) system of government, and to the comparatively easy taxation of Venetia. The increased taxa- tion of Sardinia from 1847 to 1867 was no less than 60,000,000 francs. With respect to education in the Papal States, he con- tended that it was more diffused than it was in this country — Great Britain." In countries that were so prosperous, every man literally " sitting under his own vine and his own fig-tree," it is diffi- cult to believe that there was wide-spread discontent and a general desire for radical changes. To prove that there was, it would have required evidence of no ordinary weight. All testimony that can be relied on shows a very different state of feeling. Lord John Russell, in his too memorable Aberdeen speech, gave expression to an opinion which, through the labors of the newspaper press, had become very prevalent in Eng- land, that " under their provisonal revolutionary governments the people of Central Italy had conducted themselves with per- fect order, just as if they had been the citizens of a country that had long enjoyed free institutions." * The Marquis of Normanby, in his place in the British House of Peers, made reply to this allegation : * "If we Were to sift the pretenoionB of all our public men, to discover that one person who is necessaiily best informed of the past and present state of Italy, and the causes and means that have produced the anarchy which now prevails over the greater part of that unfortunate peninsula, Lord Nor- manby would inevitably be the man for our purpose. His long residence in Italy, his intimate acquaintance with all that is there distinguished for literature, science, art and statesmanship, and his unquestionable liberality of sentiment, as a poUtician, give him a paramount claim to our respectful attention, and even to our confidence, when he conaes forward to enughteu his countrymen, with respect to Itahan affairs — a claim to which no other PEACE OF VILL^FAANCA. 189 " I Bliould like to know where the noble Lord found that information. There is not in Central Italy a single govern- ment that has resulted from popular election. They were all named by Piedmont — which had, as it were, packed the cards. Liberty of speech there was none, nor liberty of the press, nor personal liberty. * * The Grand Duchess of Parma was expelled by a Piedmonteso array, and restored by the sponta- neous call of her people. She left the country, declaring that she would suffer everything sooner than expose her subjects to the horrors of civil war. * * Numberless atrocities have been committed under the rule of these governments which, according to my noble friend, are so wise and orderly. I road to you the first day of this session the letter of a Tuscan, whose character is irreproachable. Since that time I have received from him another letter, in which he says : ' You will not be surprised to learn that my letter to you has been the occasion of the coarsest invectives. For what reason I can- not tell, if it was not because it spoke the truth.' " Here is a second letter, which I received a few days ago from an English merchant of the highest standing at Leghorn : ' No intervention is allowed in TuscaAy ; and nevertheless, my Lord, intervention appears everywhere ; even armed and foreign intervention. The governor-general is a Piedmontese ; the minister of war is a Piedmontese, the commander of the armed police is a Piedipontese ; the military governor of Leg- horn is a Piedmontese; the captain of the port is a Pied- montese ; without reckoning a great number of other function- aries of the same nation. This is whet I call armed and foreign intervention. Let us be disembarrassed of all this; let .cover state ^hich Hor- ace in id for lity of «otful Hghten ■ other member of the legislatnre can have tho HhghteBt pretensions. He lias, too, throughout a long pubhc career, always main tamed Huch an independence of character, and ho nobly and generously subordinated his personal interests to his sense of public duty, as to entitle him as a right to our confidence, when he nnboBoms himself either in print or in speech, of that knowledge which he has acquired by long study and experiejice in official and non-official life, and tells us important truths which it is necessary for us to know, in order to be able to form a correct judgment upon momentous passing events." — Weekly Regltter, February 11, I860. 190 PEACE OF YILLAFBANCA. US be free from the despotic pressure of this government, and the great majority of the country would vote the restoration of the House of Lorraine. Almost all the anny would be for the Grand Duke, and on this account it is kept at a distance from Tuscany. I can say the same of two-thirds of the national guard. All tha Great Powers have observed strict neutraUty here, inasmuch as they have not been present at any ceremony which could be looked upon as a recognition of the existing go . emment. But since the peace of Villafranca, the English agents have taken part in all the ceremonies, in aU the balls.' Assuredly, thus to recognize such a government is far from being faithful to the assurance given last session by the noble Lord at the head of the foreign department (cheers)." Lord Normanby's trustv/orthy correspondent says, more- over, in the letter referred to, that the Tuspan troops being kept at a distance from Tuscany, the people dreaded making any demonstration, being well aware that an imprudent word would be punished with imprisonment. ** At Leghorn, how- ever, some private meetings were held, at which influential persons were present. Public meetings Jare impossible. Twen- ty-three members of the assembly asked that it should be con- vened. This was refused them. At the private meetings, however, ifjwas decided that Ferdinand IV. should be recalled, on condition of granting a constitution and an amnesty. The people have been dreadfully deceived. All promises have been violated, the price of provisions ^has risen, the national debt has been enormously increased." Lord Normanby also laid before the House of Peers the tes- timony of a distinguished Italian writer, Signor Am'peri, whom he described as a man of high character. This gentleman addressed the governments of Central Italy in the following terms : » ** The false position in which you have placed yourselves has reduced you to the necessity, in times of Hberty, as you pretend, but of false liberty, as I conceive, to make falsehood a system of government. Of the promises of Victor Emmanuel PEACE OF VILLAPRANCA. 191 )m pg rou that he would sustain before the Great Powers the vote of th& Tuscan Assembly, you have made a formal accepting for him- self of this vote, and, in order to deceive the ignorant multi- tude, you ordered public rejoicings in honor of a fact which you knew to be false. You declared yourselves the ministers of a king who had not appointed you. You administer the government in his name ; you give judgments in his name ; you pledge the public faith of a sovereign who has given you no commission to do any such thing ; and although you forced the Tuscans to acknowledge him for king, you despise his authority to such an extent as to impose upon him the choice of a regent. What right have you to do this, if he be really king, and if he be not, is your right ary better founded ?" The Marquis of Normanby laughs to scorn the various attempts that were made to establish a government in Central Italy against the will of the people. First of all, a certain Signor Buonoompagni was appointed governor-general by the Fing of Sardinia. The Emperor of the French judged that the ambitious satrap had exceeded his powers, and Buon- oompagni was inmiediately recalled. The Prince de Carignan was then offered the regency of Central Italy. He thought it prudent to decline ; but, unwilling wholly to relinquish a cherished object of ambition, he named in his place the above- mentioned Signor Buoncompagni. It would be hard to say in virtue of what right he so acted. The appointment, it is weU known, caused the greatest indignation at Florence, and elicited a protest from the liberal representatives themselves. Will it be believed, in after times, that the British ministry, at that time in power, actually recognized this spurious government, ordering the Queen's representative to pay an official visit to Signor Buoncompagni ? Whilst aU Europe held aloof, anxious to avoid wrong and insult to the Italian people, whence this zeal and haste on the part of the British cabinet? At first they had resolved to be neutral. But there occurred to them the chimerical idea of a great kingdom of Central Italy ; and, as Lord Normanby stated, they hastened in their ignorance 192 PEACE OP VILLAPRANOA. to carry this idea into effect. " Yes," continued the illustrious Peer, when assailed by the laughter of the more ignorant portion of his hearers, "yes, in complete ignorance of the aspira- tions and the prejudices of the Italian people." "It is a painful duty," said the illustrious statesman, in concluding his eloquent appeal to the common sense and hon- orable feeling of the British peerage, " to have to dispel the illusions of pubUc opinion in regard to Italy. I have endeavored to fulfil this duty by laying before you information that can be relied on ; and I have the pleasure to observe that light is now beginning to penetrate the darkness which has hitherto envel- oped this question. There is already a greater chance that Italian independence will be established on a more legitimate basis, free from all foreign intervention, and in such a way as to favor the cause of fidelity, of truth, of honor and general order (cheers)." . If there were no foieign intervention, it n-as long the fashion with certain parties to say, we should soon see the end of Papal rule, as well as that of all the other sovereignties of Italy. Such, however, were not the views of the great majority of the Italian people. It has been satisfactorily proved, those people themselves being the witnesses, that such of them as were subjects of the Pope, far from being discontented and anxious to do away with the government which was set over them, and substitute for it either a republic or a foreign mon- archy, highly appreciated and were steadfastly devoted to the wise and paternal rule oi' their Pontiff Sovereign. The subjects of the other Italian Princes, as well as the inhabitants of the revolutionized portion of the Papal States, were only prevented by the armed intervention of foreign Powers from declaring in favor of their rightful sovereigns. There is no pretension to deny that there were reformers' and constitutionalists in those States. Of their number the Pope himself was one. But the well-informed and intellectual Italians were not ignorant that all reforms must be the fruit of time and of opinion, and that under the sway of enlightened and benevolent sovereigns, / PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. 198 le le Aided by the leprning and wise counael of able and consci- •entious statesmen, such change^, in matters of civil polity, as were adapted to the wants of the people would not have been delayed beyond the time when circumstances called for and justified their adoption. All eyes were turned towards the victor of Solferino, who was the absolute master of the situation per?rUnre«aUhe' ^Vhat WOuid he do? Would he allow to be ▼loiattoii of the violated the definitive treaty which his "* ^' Plenipotentiaries were actually completing At Zurich ? Napoleon III. did positively nothing. He repeated in the treaty the stipulations in favor of the dispossessed sover- ■eigns, just as if the pretended plebiscitums were null, and he had no knowledge of them. He quietly permitted these plebis- citums to take effect with all their consequences, quite the eame as if the treaty had never existed. Austria saw the treaty ■executed, as regarded every sacrifice to which she had con- sented, and not with9ut pain, that it was set aside in all the points which set a limit to those sacrifices. But Au fcria was not the strongest Power. Piedmont, meanwhile, adhibited her signature without wincing under those of France and Austria. Thus, as Mgr. Pie of Poitiers declared, the church was deprived >of all human stay. Such a state of things was not witnessed -without emotion. Even in the frivolous society of France a change had taken place since the days of the great revolu- tion. CathoUc sentiment had gained among the lettered classes. The dethronement of Pius VI. had passed unnoticed, like that ■of an ordinary sovereign. That of Pius VII. had excited only fiome isolated animadversions. That of Pius IX. raised storms of protestt!,tion on the one hand, and on the other thunders of applause. One party so hated the Papacy as to become traitors tc their country, and bind themselves with a sort of wild enthusiasm, first to the car of Italian unity, afterwards to that of Germany. They who thought otherwise carried thek love of the imperilled institution to such an extent as to forget all their calculations, all their political alliances, and to incur N 194 PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. freely the displeasure of men in power, even to sacrifice the favor of the multitude, favor which was not less valuable in times of universal suffrage than that of power. The Roman question became the inexhaustible subject of public discussions apcl private conversations. It sometimes even occasioned family quarrels, and was a trying ordeal for long- established friend- ships. S-ich extrp ordinary emotion nn account of an idea — an abstraotion. as it waa called by tne indifferent, who took part with neither one side nor the other — showed that society was not yet corroded tc the core by selfishness and purely material interests. It was sick, indeed, but far from dead. The French government ought, surely, at the outset, to have taken warning. It ought to have learned something from the unauiiiiity with which all the enemies of order, who were also its enemies, supported its new policy, and the unanimity, not less remarkable, with which religious people who, generally, had been its friends, combated that policy. Both liberal and ultramontane Catholics, Protestants even, such, at least, as were earnest Christians, and practised what they believed, forgot their divisions. The bishops were the first who spoke out. Mgr. de Parisis, who had so nobly contended for the liberties of the chm'cli in the reign of Louis Philippe, gave the keynote, and all took part with him and their venerable colleagues of Italy and Germany, of Ireland and Spain, of England and America. To say all in a word, the note of alarm was sounded throughout the whole extent of Christendom. In this magnificent concert was heard the courageous lan- guage of Mgr. Dupanloup, the learned and illustrious Bishop of Orleans. On the 30th of September, 1859, thiy prelate wrote, no less boldly than eloquently : ' " People say that to touch the sovereign is not to touch the Pontiff. Certainly his temporal power is not a divine iustitu- tion ; who does not know this ? But it is a providential insti- tution, and who is ignorant of the fact ? Doubtless, during three centuries, the Popes only possessed independence enough to die martyrs ; but they assuredly had a right to another sort PEACIi: OF VILLAPRANCA. 195 of I of I the litu- Isti- tring igh jort of independence; and providence, which does not always use miracles for its purpoc9, ended by founding on the most lawful sovereignty in Europe the freedom and the independence necessary to the church. History proves it beyond the possi- bility of doubt ; all eminent intellects have confessed it;; all true statesmen know it. Yes, that the church may be free, the Pope must be free and independent. That independence must be sovereign. The Pope must be free, and he must oe evidently so. The Pope must be free in his own interior as well as in his exterior government. This must be so, for the sake of his own dignity in the government of the church as well as for the security of our own consciences. This must be 80, in order to secure to the common parent of all the faithful that neutrality which is indispensable to him amid the frequent wars between Christian Powers. The Pope must, not only be* free in his own conscience, in his own inter' >r, but it must be 'evident to all that he is so ; he must show himself to be so, in order that all may know and believe it, and that |io doubt or suspicion be possible on this subject. Bat, say the Italian revolutionists, we do not propose to do away with the Papal sovereignty; we merely wish to limit and restrain it. And why so, I ask you in my turn, if thereby you also diminish and debase the honor of thes Catholic religion, its dignity and independence? Why do so, if thereby you lower and degrade the most Italian sovereignty of the whole peninsula ? jSjfcWhy,, more especially, do so now, in presence of all these unchained evil passions, |nd thereby give against the Holy See a sentence of incapacity, and thus, in the eyes of Christendom, insult that unarmed and oppressed Majesty ? You say he will only lose the Romagna and the Legations. But allow me to ask you by what right you take them ? And why not take all the rest,. if you please ? Why, in your dreams of Italian unity, should other Italian cities'fare otherwise than Bologna and Ferrara ? Why have you not made up your minds to take everything outside of Rome, with the garden of the Vatican ? You have said this, you know. But why leave him, even in Rome? 196 PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA. "Why should not Dioolesion and the catacombs be the best of all governments for the church ? Where are you going ? How far will your detestable princii^l's lead you ? At least, tell us clearly? Is this a clever calcuiati''"^ of youra ? and, not daring to do more at present, or unable to do moic ars yon waiting lir time and the violence of events to accomplish the rest ? But who, think you, is to be deceived by you ? Must we say, with the highest organ of the English press, that in the present business France is aggressive and insidi ^us ? I do not admit that our country is willing to play the part designed for her. Such calculations are not suited to French generosity. For my part, I protest, with ray whole soul, against the perfidious intentions that we are supposed to entertain. But, in con- cluding, I must iH'otest, still more solemnly, as a devoted son of the Holy Roman Church, the mother and teacher of all others — I protest against the revolutionary impiety which ignores her rights and would fain steal her patrimony. I pro- test, in the name of good sense and honor, indignant at behold- ing an Italian Sovereign Power become the accomplice of •insurrection and revolt, and at the conspiracy of so many blind and unreasoning passions against the principles proclaimed and professed throughout the world by all great statesmen and politicians. I protest, in the name of common decency and European law, {against this profanation of all that is most august, against the brutal passions which have inspired acts of inconceivable cowardice. And if I must speak out, I pro- test, in the name of good faith, against this restless and ill- disguised ambition, those evasive answers, that disloyal policy, of which we have the saddening spectacle before our eyes." These burning words of the eminent and patriotic French bishop must have pierced the soul of Napoleon III. To any other man, at least, an Orsini shell would have been less ter- rible. But, ** Perverai difficillime corriguntur.'' No reprcaohes, however severe and well deserved, no remonstrance, however well founded, could move the French Emperor. A greater power than that of words had impelled him towards the evil PEACE OP VILLAFBANCA. 197 courses which the great majority of the French nation tageiher with the whole Catholic world, coridamnrd. The bishops, nifianwhile, continued to protest. The Ajrchbishop of Bens, Mellon- Jolly, dared to say. in accents of oOxrow: •* Events, ftlas ! are far beyond all that we feared." De Prilly, Bishop of Chalons, Dean of the x ench Episcopate, thus wrote a few days before his death : " Ah ! who deserved less than Pius IX. to be ai iacked by so many enemies ! If the tears which he sheds are so bitter for himself, they are terrible to those who cause them! A poor bishop, at the point of death, so assures him and craves his benediction." The cxpiriiig prelate, one would say, had foreseen the humiliation of Sedan. The coura- geous language oi thrj bishops was bo much feared that it was thought necessary to silence them. Napoleon, having endeav- ored in vain to remove their disquietude by renewing his hol- low protestations, denoimced them as violent agitators, aban- doned them to the jeers of the infidel press, for which alone there was liberty in those days, and finally forbade all journals whatsoever' to publish episcopal writings that bore any relation to the Boman question. Thus did he think to escape the danger with which he was threatened by silencing the tongues which warned him. The learned Cardinal Donnet, so celebrated as a theologian, .now showed the abilities of a diplomatist. When Napoleon ' III. was at Bordeaux, on the 11th October, 1859, the cardinal, whose duty it was to compliment the Emperor as his sovereign, failed not at the same time to remonstrate against his tortuous policy. "We pray," said the pious cardinal, "we pray con- fidently, persistently, and with hope which neither deplorable events nor sacrilegious acts of violence extinguished. Our hopes, the realization of which appears to be so remote, are founded on yourself, siire, next to God. You were and you still desire to be the oldest son of the church, and it cannot be for- gotten that you spoke the memorable words : * The temporal sovereignty of the venerable head of the church is intimately connected with the lustre of Catholicism, as also with the 198 PEACE OF VILLAFBANCA. liberty and independence of Italy. Grand idea! perfectly in barmony with that '^^ tlie august Chief of your dynasty, who Baid in regard to i .e tomporal powoi ol the i'opes : * The centuries made it, and they did well.'" jihe only reply of the all-powerful Emperor was a refusal to reply. " I cannot here," he said, " discuss all the weighty matters, the development of which would be required by the serious question to which you have alluded. So I confine myself to reminding you that the government which restored the Holy Father to his throne can only give him counsel inspired by sincere and respectful devotedness to his interests. But he is anxious, and not with- out cause, as to the time, which cannot be fur distant, when our troops must evacuate Rome. For Europe cannot allow the occupation, which has already lasted ten years, to be pro- longed for an indefinite period. But when our army shall be withdrawn, what wiU be left behind ? These are questions of the importance of which none are ignorant. But, believe me, in order to solve them, we must, considering the age in which we live, avoid appealing to ardent passions, calmly seek truth, and pray Divine Providence to enlighten both peoples and kings, in order that they may wisely use their rights and fully discharge their dutib;^." From these last words the Emperor appeare-^. to have forgot that when there are duties to be ful- filled prayer alone will not suffice. His speech at the opening of the legislative session, 7th March, 1860, showed that either irresistible illusion or a foregone conclusion of complicity guided his Italian policy. He accused the Catholics of becom- ing excited without grounds, and of ingratitude towards him. The logic of events, so plain to all besides, was a dead letter to the imperial mind, blinded as it was by the habit of dark manoeuvres. " I cannot pass unnoticed," said he, " the excitement of a portion of the Catholic world. It has accepted, without reflec- tion, erroneous impressions, allowed itself to become passion- ately alarmed. The past which ought to have been a guaran- tee for the future has been so ignored, and services rendered \ . EIDOPEAN CONOUESS. 199 80 forgotter*, that profoun'i ^'umction, absolute confidence in the public good sense, Vias Ov^i^Sttary for me, in order to pre- serve, amid the agitation which '"'p^s industrioufiiy occasioned, that serenity of mind which alone maintains us In the way of truth." Meanwhile, a Congress for settling the difficulties of Italy was announced. This Congress was to be grt™^ p'rTOd^ for composed of all the great Et.-opean Powers aettiiDg the aflfhirs of — of France, whose government had no * '■ good will ; of Austria, which had not the power to cause the treaty of Zurich to be put in execution; of «chismatical Eussia ; of Protestant Prussia, and of Protestant England, which favored revolution so long as it kept at a dis- tance from its own doors. Pius IX. beheld in it many causes of disquietude. Nevertheless, he accepted the congress. The pubUc were discussing, and not without impatience, the names of the presumed negotiators, when there appeared on the 22d of December, 1859, a new pamphlet which, like the former, was anonymous, and was ascribed as it also had been, to an author who was in too high a position to append his signature. Its title was, " The Pope and the Congress.'' It abounded in high sounding words, and was full of contradictions from beginning to end. It demonstrated, indeed, that the temporal power of the Pope was an essential guarantee of his spiritual independence, but ^that this power could only be exercised within territorial limits of very small extent, which could not enable him to sustain himself, whilst, nevertheless, his dignity and the general interest forbade him to seek foreign interven- tion. The pamphlet concluded by insisting that the Pope ought to begin by giving up all claim to Bomagna, and so pre- pare for ceding, a little later, the rest of his states, when he would be satisfied to hold the Vatican with a garden around it, and receive a magnificent salary provided by all the Catholic Powers. Hundreds of pamphlets and articles in the Catholic journals appeared in reply^to this anonymous writing. They proved that the proposed arrangement would subject the Head 200 EUROPEAN C0N0RE8B. of the Church to the caprice of the Powers, and then enquired what security he would have against those who were his secu- rities, especially at a time like the present, when the ancient law of nations, which was founded on respect'for the weak and sworn faith, is suppressed by the revolution, and the reason of the strongest is the only one attended to ; when the most solemn treaties are violated with impunity by those who have signed them, and as soon as they have signed them. The bishops raised their voice anew. They stated with sorrow that the pamphlet decided in favor of the revolution. But the boldest condemnation 'proceeded from Rome itself. The Popes, it is well known, hesitate not to use the proper terms when there is question of stigmatizing iniquity. No matter though th6y bo at the mercy of those whom they brand, they define each error and each act of injustice with the same precision as in writing a theological thesis. Pius IX., who was mildness itself, more than once startles the delicate ear by the liberty of his lan- guage, so different from the minced and often ambiguous style of diplomacy. On the 30th of December, the official journal of Rome published the following note : ** There appeared lately at Paris an anonymous pamphlet, entitled, ' The Pope and the Congress.' This pamphlet is nothing else than homage paid to the revolution — an insidious thesis addressed to those weak minds who have no sure criterium by which they can detect the poison which it holds concealed, and a subject of sorrow ta all good Catholics. The arguments contained in this writing are only a reproduction of the errors and outrages so often hurled against the Holy See, and so often victoriously refuted. If it was the object of the author, perchance, to intimidate him whom he threatens with such great disasters, he can rest assured that he who has right on his side, who seeks no other support than the solid and immovable foundations of justice, and who is sustained especially by the protection of the King of kings, has certainly nothing to fear from the snares of men." BUROl'EAN CUNORESS. 201 On lat January, 18G0, Pius IX., in his reply to the com- plimentary address of General Goyon, who commanded the French military at Home, characterized the pamphlet aH " a signal monument of hypocrisy, and an unw(Mrthy tissue of con- tradictions." The Holy Father further observed, before ex- pressing his good wishei^ for the Emperor, the Empress, the Prince Imperial, and all France, that the principles enunciated in the pamphlet were condemned by several papers which his Imperial Majesty had some time before been so good as to send to him. A few days later the Moniteur published a letter of the Emperor to the Pope, dated Slst December, 1859, in which the former renews his hypocritical expressions of devotedness, but admits, at the same time, that " notwithstanding the pres- ence of his troops at Rome, and his dutiful affection to the Hcly See, he could not avoid a certain partnership in the effects of the national movement provoked in Italy by the war against Austria." In this same letter Napoleon III. reminds the Pontiff, that at the conclusion of the war he had recommended^ as the best means of maintaining trarquillity, the seculariza- tion of his government, and he still beUeves that, " if, at that time, his Holiness had consented to an administrative separa- tion of the Romagna, and the nomination of a lay governor, the provinces would have come, once more, under his autho- rity." What, then, could the people have meant when they petitioned, on occasion of the Pope's progress, to have a cardinal for governor, as formerly, and not lay prefects, as was then the case, under the regime inaugurated, by Pius IX. ? The Pope having neglected his advice. Napoleon, of course, was powerless to stay the tide of revolution. " My efforts were only successful in preventing the insurrection from spread- ing, and the resignation of Garibaldi preserved the marches of Anco^a from certain invasion." No doubt it did. But, as will soon be seen, this modem crusader was let loose in order that he might follow his calling more vigorously, i.e., rob and slay on a more extensive scale. The Emperor now approaches the subjects of the Congress. In his letter he recognizes the indis- 202 EUROPEAN CONORiESS. putable right of the Holy 8ee to the legations. But he doen not think it probable that the Powers would think it proper to have recourse to force, in order to restore them. If the res- toration were effected by meano of foreign troops, it would be necessary, for a long time, to hold military occupation of these provinces ; and this would only feed the enmities and hatred of the Italian people. This state of uncertainty cannot always last. What then is to be done ? The Imperial revolutionist concludes, expressing the most sincere regret, and the pain which such a solution ;;ives him, that the way most in harmony with the interests of the Holy See is that it should sacrifice the revolted provinces. For the last fifty years they have only caused embarrassment to the government of the Holy Father. If he asked of the Powers to guarantee to him, in exchange for them, the possession of what remained, order, he' had no doubt, would be immediately restored. This letter left no room to doubt that the policy'|of the pamphlet, " The Pope and the Congress," was that of Napoleon III. As 'soon as this was known the Congress became impossible. The Pope could not agree to deliberations based upon the principle of his dispos- session. Austria could not be a party to combinations which removed the bases of the treaty of Zurich. This opinion was expressed by Count de Rechberg, first Minister of Austria, in a note of 17th February, 1860, and by Lord John Russell, in a despatch to Lord Cowley, the British Ambassador at Paris. " The pamphlets are important," said the latter statesman; *' the result of the onie entitled, ' The Pope and the Congress,' is to prevent a Congress, and to cause the Pope to be deprived of one-half of his dominions." It was not without significance that M. Thouvenel was French Minister of Foreign Affairs from the 4th of January. Piedmont u.. derstood this fact. It caused its troops to cross the Romagnese frontier, whilst M. de Cavour, triumphant, affirmed, in the Piedmontese Senate, that the letter of Napoleon 111% declaring that the temporal sovereignty was not sacred, was a fact as important in the Italian question as the battle of Solferino. EUROPEAN CONORRHH. 203 The PopeV reply to Na))oleon'B letter of Blst Decembt^r is of Bome length. Elegant in expression, forcible in reasoning, it can only be briefly reviewed. '* I am under the necessity of declaring to your majeety that I cannot cede the legations without violating the oaths by which I am bound, without causing misfortune and disturbance in the other provinces, without doing wrong and giving scandal to all Catholics, with- out weakening the rights of the sovereigns of Italy, unjustly despoiled of their dominions, but also the sovereigns of the whole Christian world, [who could not see with indifference great principles trampled under foot." .The Emperor had insisted that the cession of the legations by the Pope was neces- sary, in order to put an end to the disturbances, y^ /.ich, accord- ing to him, although he knew thai such disturbances proceeded wholly from foreigners, had, for the last fifty years, caused embarrassment to the Pontifical Igovennnent. "Who," said the Pope, '* could count the revolutions that have occurred in France during the last seventy years ? And yet, who would dare maintain that the great French nation is under the neces sity, m order to secure the peace of Europe, to narrow the limits of the Empire ? Your argument proves too much. 80 I must discard it. Your majesty is not ignorant by what parties, with what money, and with what suppoi-t, were com- mitted the spoliations of Bologna, Ravenna, and other cities." The Imperial letter was communicated to all the news- papers. The reply of the Pope was carefully withheld from them.' It only became known in France, some time later, through a German translation in the Austrian Gazette. Pius IX. was anxious, meantime, that the public should hear both sides of the question. He therefore brought to the knowledge of the Catholic world the principal points of his answer to Napoleon in the \ Encyclical, nullis certe verbis, of date 19th Jajauary, in which he declared that he was prepared to sulfer the last extremities rather than betray the cause of the church and of justice. He also invited all the bishops to join with him in praying tint Ood would arise and vindicate his cause. \ 204 EUROPEAN CONORESS. The government having information that there wafl a copy of this document in the hands of the distinguished Catholic journalist, M. Louis Veuillot, the Minister of the Tutwrior, M. Billaut^sent for this courageous writer, and gave hita to under- stand that if he published the Encyclical it would be the death- warrant of his journal. But M. Veuillot was not to be intimi- dated. Next morning, 29th January, there appeared in his- paper, VUnivers, the Latin text of the Pontifical document,, together with a French translation. The same day, without tri^tl or sentence, was signed a decree suppressLxg V Univers^ Yet was not wiis paper destined wholly to perish. Ten yeai^* later it reappeared, when the tyranny of Napoleon IIL was crushed for ever at Sedan. Several other Catholic journals, shared the fate of VUnivers, such as the Bretagne, of Saint Brieue, and the Gazette, of Lyons. The government of the Emperor thus showed by what spirit its counsels were guided. All the Catholic journals of France were alrea,dy under the ban of two warnings, so that they had only a precarious existence, a third warning, according to the legislation of the time constituting their death-warrant. j^ So early as 3rd December, 1859, whilst yet a Congress wa» believed to be possible, Pius TX. had written with his own hand to Victor Emmanuel, in order to remind him of hi& duties, and induce him to defend at the meeting of the Powers the rights of the Holy See. The latter had answered, 6th February, 1860, " that he certainly would not have failed in this duty ii the Congress had met.'" For, " devoted son as he was of the church, and the descendant of a most pious family^ it never T-'as his intention to neglect his duties as a Catholic Prince." He protested, therefore, that he had done nothing to provoke the insurrection, and that when the war was ended he had renounced all interference in the legations." But he added, "it is an acknowledged fact, and which I have person- ally verified, that in those provinces which, lately, were so unm&nagaable and dissatisfied with the court of Rome, the ministers of worshijJ are actually respected and protected, and. DIPLOMATIC DOCTRINE. 205 * the temples of God more frequented than ever." Victor Emmanuel eurely now thought that the Pope would never think of disturbing this happiness and self-satisfaction. "The interests of religion required it not." He even hrped that the Holy Father, not satisfied with refraining from a renewal of his claim on Romagna, would also hand over to him the marches and Umbria, in order that they might enjoy the same prosperity. And so he discoursed anew to Pius IX., about his *' frank and loyal concurrence, his sincere and devoted heart," and ended by craving the Holy Father's apostolic blessing. The King of Piedmont must have been sadly blinded by revolutionary teachings not to see — if, indeed, he did not see — that such professions of loyalty and devotedness were positively -derisive. Pius IX. so viewed them, and gave the intriguing monarch to understand that he did so. The moderation of his language is but slightly indicative of the sorrow and indig- nation which he must have experienced. ** The idea which your majesty has thought fit to lay before me is highly imprudent, unworthy, most assuredly, of a king who is a Catholic and a member of the house of Savoy. You may read my reply in an Encyclical which will soon appear. I am Modena, the Pontifi- cal States, &c. re, asBured of n&n-intervcntion by the presence of the flags of France, England and Sardinia, he made au easy conquest of the defenceless island. As soon as he got possession of Palermo, and had assumed the title and powers of dictator, he commenced, like a true revolutionist, the work of subversion. Garibaldi, no doubt, was a man of the age, and the great diplo- matic discovery which the age had fallen upon was never wanting to him. It served him at Naples as it had done in Sicily ; and so, a mere diplomatic idea — non-intervention — drove the king to Gaeta, and established the power of the revolutionist. As soon as Garibaldi was master in Sicily, the work of *^ revolutionary reform commenced. It was always the first aim of the revolutionists to strike at civilization and civilizing influences. Churches were desecrated, the ministers of religion insulted, reLgious orders suppressed. "The Society oi Jesus alone," said the venerable superior. Father Beckx, in his solemn protestation of 24th October, 1860, to the King of Sardinia, "was robbed of three residences and colleges in Lombardy ; of six in the Duchy of Modena ; of eleven in the Pontifical States; nineteen in the kingdom of Naples; and fifteen in Sicily." ** Everywhere," adds Father Beckx, "the Society has been literally stripped of all its property, movable and immovable. Its members, to the number of 1,500, were driven forth from their houses and the cities. They were led by an armed force, like so many malefactors, from province to province, cast into the public prisons, ill-treated and outraged in the most horrible manner. They were even prevented from finding a refuge in pious families, while in several places no consideration was had for the extreme old age of many among them, nor for the infirmity and weakness of others. "All these acts were perpetrated against men who were not accused of one illegal or criminal act, without any judicial process, without allowing any justification to be recorded. In one word, all this was consummated in the most despotic and 212 HEVOLUTIONABY GOVERNMENT. savage manner. If such acts had been accomphshed in a popular riot, by men blinded by passion, we might perhaps bear them in silence. But, as all such acts have been done in the name of the Sardinian laws ; as the provisional govern- ments estabhshed in Modena and the Pontifical States, as well as the dictator of Sicily himself, have claimed to be supported by the Sardinian government; and as your majesty's name is still invoked to sanction these iniquitous measures, I can no longer remain a silent spectator of such enormous iiyustice, but in my quality of supreme head of the order, I feel myself strictly bound to ask for justice and satisfaction, and to protest before God and man, lest the resignation inspired by religions meekness and forbearance should appear to be a weakness which might be construed into an acknowledgment of guilt, or a relinquishment of our rights. I protest solemnly, iind in the best form I can think of, against the suppression of our houses and colleges, against the proscriptions, banish- ments and imprisonments, against the acts of violence and outrage committed a^^ainst the brethren bound to me by religious ties. I protest before all Catholics, in the name of the rights of the church sacrilegiously violated. I protest, in the name of the benefactors and founders of our houses and colleges, whose will and expressed intentions in founding these good works, for the interest alike of the living and the dead, are thus nullified. I protest, in the name of the sacred rights of property, contemned and trampled under foot by brutal force. I protest, in the name of citizenship and the inviolability of individual persons, of whose rights no man may be deprived without being accused in form, arraigned and judged. I protest, in the name of humanity, whose rights have been so shamefully outraged in the persons of so many aged men, sick, infirm and helpless, driven from their peaceful seolosion, left without any assistance, cast on the highways without any means of subsistence." Such was the revolution which Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon III. were driven by fear, or even worse motives, to patronize and foster. It had, in the PETER S PENCE. 218 Revival of Peter's pence. days of its power, made France a desolation. It was now sweeping like devouring flames over Italy, and fast approach- ing the city of the Popes. Pius IX., although not unaware of the fearful calamities with which he was threatened, was far from allowing his mind to be shaken. He trusted in that Providence which watches over the church. "We are as yet," said he on 16th February, 1860, to the lenten preachers of the time, " at the beginning of the evils which must soon overtake us. At the same time, we are consoled by the cheering prospect that, as calamity succeeds calamity, the spirit of faith and of sacrifice will be proportion- ately developed." There was nothing now to be hoped for from the powers which nominally ruled the world, but which were, in reaUty, under the control of the revolution. Deprived of so great a portion of his states, and the revenue which accrued to him therefrom, the Holy Father resolved to sustain his failing finances by relying on the spontaneous oJBferings of the faithful throughout the world. His appeal was not made in vain. The piety and zeal of the early ages appeared to have revived. The word of the common Father was received with reverence in the remotest lands. Offerings of " Peter's 'pence,'" as in days of apostolic fervor, were poured into the Papal treasury. In Europe, especially, the movement >va8 ho general as to show that the people everywhere were resolyt d to act independently of their governments, which had so shcmefuliy become sub- servient to the will of the revolution. It was scarcely neces- sary that the bishops should speak a word of encouragement. In France, indeed, under a jealous and revolutionary govern- ment, there could be no associations for the coUeotion of Peter's pence. But the government could not, so far, place itself in opposition to the reUgion of the country as to forbid collections in the churches ; nor could it. reach such subscriptions as were offered in private dwellings. In Belgium, although the party of .unbelief, of Freemasonry and revolution, held the reins of 214 PAPAL ARMY. power, the constitution protected all citizens alike, and so the new work which the circumstances of the qhurch required was accomplished by association, pretty much in the same way as the work of the propagation of the faith. By the end of three months, there were in Flanders no fewer than four hundred thousand associates for the ccllection of Peter's pence. In Italy, a Catholic journal, Armonia, collected considerable sums of money, and caskets tilled with jewels and other precious objects. Poland, in her sorrow, was magnificently generous. And Ireland, renewing her strength after centuries of misgov- emment, persecution and poverty, emulated the richest coun- tries, America, Germany, Holland and England, One of the collections at Dublin amounted to ,110,000. All these rich donations, together with thousands of addresses which bore millions of signatures, were humbly laid at the feet of the Holy Father. -■^■'' ':'■■ ■ ■ v.- Now that it is well known that France was not less hostile than Sardinia and the revolution, to the The Pope forms an * ii -r. ., ^ t nrmy. — Lamoriciere cause of the rope, it appears more a loss o* oommands. j^jjoy ^jian a wise precaution, that the Holy Father should have assembled an army for maintaining order in his states, and repelling any attack on the part of the revo- lutionary faction. This was all that he contemplated. Deceived by the professions of his French ally, he was far from suspect- ing that the small force which he was collecting for the main- tenance of order would be no sooner organized than it would be attacked by the military power of Piedmont, supported by the Emperor of the French. On the contrary, Pius IX. had every reason to believe that the formation of a Pontifical army» destined for the duties which devolved on the French soldiers* then at Rome, would be acceptable to Napoleon III. The lat" ter had, more than once, said to his Holiness : '"Place your* self in a position to be independent of my army of occupation.'* This recommendation is repeated in a despatch of Messrs. Thouvenel and Gramont, so late as the 14th of April, 1860, As soon as it was known that the Pope desired to hare an army PAPAL APMY. 216 for maintaining internal poaoo, and finally, in order to roplaoe the foreign troops which occupied Borne, the youth of many countries freely offered their services. France, Belgium, Ire- land, Spain, Holland, and even distant Canada sent numerous volunteers. The nohle youth of France, whose education, for the most part, was eminently Christian, were only too happy to tear themselves from the luxurious life of Paris. Their joy was equal to their ardor, when they found that they could bear arms without serving a Bonaparte. Gontants and Larochefou- cauld Doudeauvilles, Noes and Pimodans, Toumons and Bour- bon Chains, came to range themselves, as private soldiers, when necessary, under . banner of the Pope. Nor were they attracted by any hope of gain. A goodly number, on the contrary, sustained by their ample means the government to which they offered their lives. The revolution signified its displeasmre by branding these devoted youths with the ignomin- ious title of "Mercenaries of the Pope.' This ungracious word proceeded from the palace of Jerome Napoleon, on whom merciless history bestows a more opprobrious epithet. As a matter of course, it was repeated in all the revolutionary journals. The command of the new force was oflfered to the brave and experienced General Lamoriciere. At first he hesitated, the cause of the Pope, as regarded his temporal power, was already so much compromised. Finally, on the representation of the Reverend Count de Merode, he gave his consent. It was pure sacrifice. No success could add to his milita>ry renown. And success was impossible. The general distributed his sol- diers, from 20,000 to 25,000 in number, in small bodies, through- out the towns of that portion of the Papal States which still remained. This was a judicious arrangement, as far as internal peace and order were concerned. Neither Lamoriciere nor the Pope had any idea, so firmly did they rely on the hol- low professions of France, that a foreign army would have to be met. The general spoke words of encouragement to his willing soldiers. " The revolution," said he, in an order of the 210 PAPAL ABXT. day, " like lulamism of old, threatens Europe. To-day, as in ancient times, the cause of the Papacy is the cause of civiliza< tion and of the liberty of mankind." The infidel press was excited to fury, and showed, by the violence of its writing, that the comparison of the revolution to Islamism was but too well founded. Were not both ahke ferocious ? Did not both spread terror and desolation in their track? Weigh them together — Islamitm has the advantage. In addition to all its other barbarities, the revolution violated the temples of God and the abodes of prayer. The followers of the prophet were commanded to respect every place where God was worshipped, and every house where dwelt the ministers of His worship. The organization of Lamorioiere's army was now so com- plete that a friendly convention was entered into with the Cabinet of the Tuilleries, and that the evacuation of Rome by the French garrison should commence on the 11th of May. .;— This was not at all to the liking of the revolutionists. M. de Cavour, who had complained so loudly at the Congress of Paris that the Pope had not an army sufficiently strong to render unnecessary the protection of France and Austria, pro- tested against the formation of such an army as soon as he saw that it was seriously contemplated. He denounced it to all Europe as a gathering of adventurers from 'every country, and feigned the greatest disquietude for the new frontiers of Piedmont. On the 4th September, 1860, Napoleon lH. was at Cham- bery, receiving the.homage and congratulations of his Savoyard subjects. A public banquet was held in his honor, and whilst the guests were yet at table, two Piedmontese envoys, Messrs. FariuLond Cialdini, sought a private interview with the Em- peror. Napoleon left the festive board and remained closeted with the envoys the remainder of the evening. The result of this conference was the immediate invasion of the Papal States by Sardinian troops, under the command of General Cialdini. This officer reports that he was fully authorized by Napoleon. It is even related that the Emperor, strongly encouraging him PAPAL ARMT. 217 UBod the wurds of our blessod Lord to Judas : " Qiu)dJ\u'iM,/ae cttttM." Napoleon, indeed, denied having uttered these words. It matters not. All his acts, at the time, expressed their meaning. Whilst conferring with the envoys at Chambery, there lay on a table a map of Central Italy, on which he traced in pencil and effaced several lines. The map having been left on the table, was afterwards found to contain oiio line in crayon, which was not effaced. It showed exactly the route which Cialdini followed in marching to the destruction of the Papa^ army. Between the conference of Chambery and the arrival of Cialdini on the Pontifical territory, there elapsed precisely the time necessary for the journey by post-carriage and rail- way. Seventy thousand men were waiting for him on the frontier, ready to march as soon as he brought them the required authorization. General Fanti, who also had an army corps concentrated on the borders of the Marches, had already intimated to General Lamoriciere, that if the Papal troops had recourse to force, ** in order to suppress any insurrection in the Papal State," he would, at once, occupy the Marches and Umbria, "in order to secure to the inhabitants full liberty to express their wishes." " The Sardinian generals evidently wished to raise fi.n insurrection, but as no insurrection occurred, they managed to do without one. In the meantime, it was thought expedient to perform a piece of mock diplomacy. Count Delia Minerva was despatched from Turin to Rome, charged with an ultimatum to the Pope. Without diplomatic negotiations or shadow of pretext, purely by virtue of the i?ght of the strongest and most audacious, the Holy Father was sud- denly summoned to dismiss his volunteers as foreigners, and was allowed four-and-twenty hours to give his answer. But the party did not wait so long. The ultimqtum, of a piece with their other proceedings, was a mockery. On 10th September, before the reply of the Pope could have been known,, even before Delia Minerva had reached Home, Generals Cialdini and Fanti, ' without any previous declaration of war, passed the Pontifical frontier. It was the barbarians once more at the 218 PAPAL ARMY. gates of Rome. The orders of t\ie day, which the Piedmontese commanders addressed to their troops, were inexpressibly savage. Pitiless history fails not to record them. " Soldiers," said Cialdini, "Head you against a band of adventurers, whom the thirst for gold and pillage has brought to our country. Fight, disperse without mercy, these wretched cut-throats. Let them feel, by the weight of our arm, the power and the anger of a people who strive to be independent soldiers.* Perugia seeks vengeance. And, although late, it shall have it." The xanguage of King Victor Emmanuel, although some- what more poUtely diplomatic, was not less false and savage. His proclamation is a master-piece of Count de Cavour's hypocritical style. " Soldiers, you are entering the Marches and Umbria, in order to restore civil order in the desolated cities and to secure to the inhabitants the liberty to express their wishes. You have not to meet powerful armies, bn.t only to deliver the unfortunate Itahan provinces from companies of foreign adventurers. You are not going to avenge the injuries done to Italy or to me, but to hinder the popular hatred from wreaking vengeance on the oppressor. You will teach by your example pardon of offences and Christian toleration to those who compare Italian patriotism to Islamism. At peace with all the Great Powers, and without provocation, I mean to banish from Central Italy a constant cause of trouble and discord. I wish to respect the seat of the Chief of the Church, &c." Whatever this king may have wished to do, he was compelled to obey the will of the revolution, and to justify by his acts the comparison of the party which he patronized with Islamism, — a comparison disparaging only to the followers of the prophet. The f arocious sentiments to which Cialdini gave utterance were not mere bravado. When Colonel Zappi, of the Pontifical service, dared to hold out with 800 men at Pesaro, and check for two-and-twenty hours the whole Piedmontese army before this village, Cialdini, instead of admiring such bravery, refused to cease firing, i^hen Zappi, crushed by numbers, was at last obliged to capitulate. For two hours longer he took pleasure CASTELPIDARDO. 219 in discharging grape shot at the little town which had ceased, to reply otherwise than by exhibiting a white flag and sending messengers of peace. Nor di(J this vandalic soldier show any consideration for the wishes of the people whom he professed to have come to protect. This contempt for the popular will was sufficiently well shown the following month, in his despatch to the Garibaldian Commander of Molise : " Publish that I cause to be shot all peasants taken with arms in their hands. I have this dav commenced such executions." Lamoriciere was far from expecting to be attacked by the armies of Piedmont. The most he cculd contemplate was an attack by the Garibaldians, and the probability of some partial insurrections in the interior. He distributed his tr jops accord- ingly in the towns and along the Neapolitan frontier. The insolent message of General Fanti contributed to confirm him in this idea. He had only 1,600 men with him when the mes- sage reached him. He held himself in readiness, but without •concentrating his force, which appeared to him dangerous and premature. He learned, unexpectedly, that the frontier on the ■side of Piedmont was violated at every point of attack at the «ame time ; that an army corps, commanded by General de Sonnaz, was marching on Perugia; another, led by Brignone, on Spoleto; another, under the Garibaldian Mazi, on Orvieto; finally, that Cialdini was advancing on Sinigaglia, thence on Torrede Jesi, Castelfidardo [and Loretto, and that his object was Ancona, the only city except Rome which was capable of making any resistance. Lamoriciere, unable to face so many enemies at once, saw, with pain, that his scattered garrisons were lost. He was far, however, from being discouraged. Recalling, hastily, all that were within reach, and unfortunately they were not the most con- siderable, he changed all the arrangements which he had made for another kind of con- test ; he gave up all idea of opposing Brignone, De Sonnaz and Fanti, who, nevertheless, were in a position to cut oflf his Duplicity of the French Government. —The Emiieror of Austria restrained l)y his Council.— La- moriciere's force cut to pieces by the Pled- montese at Castel- fidardo. 220 CASTELFIDARDO. retreat towards Rome, and rushed boldly to the point of great- est danger between these generals and Cialdini, with the design of piercing the lines of the latter and reaching Ancona before him. There he thought he would be able to hold out a week or two more than sufficient time for France and the other civilized nations to come to his assistance. He, a French gen- eral, relied on France, so completely were Frenchmen deceived. He also trusted, and with better grounds, to Austria. This confidence emboldened him to reply defiantly to the insolent message of General Fanti : " We are only a handful of men. But a Frenchman counts not his enemies, and France will support us." Before the invasion took place, the Ambassador of France, the Duke of Gramont, whose word was corroborated by the presence of a French army at Rome and in the neighborhood, had, several times, reassured Cardinal Antonelli, who was much disquieted, affirming that the concentration of Fiedmontese troops was intended to check the banditti, and protect the Pontifical frontier, but would not attack it. Lamoriciere testi- fies to this fact in the report of his operations.. When there was no longer any doubt as regarded the violation of Papal territory, the Ambassador, Gramont, communicated to Cardi- nal Antonelli, and telegraphed, in clear and distinct langua,^e» to the Vice-Consul of France, at Ancona, the following despatch • " The Emperor has written from Marseilles to the King of Sardinia, that if the Piedmontese troops advance on the Pontifi- cal territory he wiU be compelled to oppose them. Orders are already given for the embarkation of troops at Toulon ; and these re-inforcements will forthwith arrive. The government of the Emperor will not tolerate the criminal attack of the Sardinians. As Vice-Consul of France, you will govern your- self accordingly." M. de Couroy, the Vice-Consul, to whom the despatch was addressed, took it immediately to M. de Quatrebarbes, the civil governor of Ancona. His great age would not admit of his carrying it in person to Cialdini, but he lost no time in sending it by an employee of the Consulate, CASTELFIDABDO. 221 making no doubt that a despatch which bore the signature of France would prevent bloodshed. He was mistaken. Cialdini read the paper, and coolly put it in his pocket, sajdng : "I know more about these matters thar^ you. I have just had an interview with the Emperor." When the clerk asked for a receipt, he signed one, remarking that **it would make a good addition to other diplomatic papers." He then continued to advance. The general was no less explicit, a few days later, fi.t Loretto, when conversing with Count Bourbon Busset and other prisoners taken at Castelfidardo. " You astonish me, gentle- men," s£^id he ; ** how could you for a moment entertain the idea that we would have occupied the Pontifical State without the full consent of the government of your country !" As one of the bystanders, in reply to Cialdini, alluded to the fact which was announced, of the disembarkation of a new French division at Civita Vecchia, " And to what purpose ?" answered one of the higher officers of Cialdini's staff. " France has no need to re-inforce her army of occupation. See these wires, gentle- men (pointing to the telegraph), if they chose to speak they would suffice to stop us at once." It would have been impos- sible to express more plainly the omnipotence at that momen the interests of Italy, have not been able to prevent." Vain pretence ! inexorable history accepts not such apologies. With the exception of the Piedmontese, and perhaps also the Austrian ministers, there were none in Europe having knowledge of this document, and the despatch of M. de Gramont to the Consul of Ancona, who did not believe that a rupture was imminent, if it had not already taken place, between the Emperor Napoleon and King Victor Emmanuel. General Lamoriciere was too upright and loyal-minded not to fall into the snare. He wrote promptly to Mgr. de Merode, asking him to send provisions to Ancona, where he purposed establishing his quarters, not having had time to prepare for battle in the open country. He had no disquietude as regarded Umbria. He left it to be defended by France. He hoped also that Gen- eral de Goyon would not confine himself to guarding the walls of Bome, and that he would, at least, prevent invasion from the direction of Naples, and by way of the valley of Orvieto. He was confident that France would finally intervene. And it would be highly advantageous if, in the meantime, French troops garrisoned Viterbo, Velietri and Orvieto. The declarations of Napoleon were like the despatches of Messrs. Thouvenel and Gramont, nothing better than empty words — ** diplomatic papers," as Cialdini contemptuously called them. His only object was to lull public opinion, and let the Piedmontese have the advantage of B>fait adcompli. Of this there was no room to doubt, When, a little later, he took officially under his protection the fruit of that criminal aggres- CABTBLFIDARDO. 22& sion against which he had so loudly protested. Either from weakness or treachery he was an accomplice, and played a preconcerted game. At first he may have been sincere in threatening, in the hope of intimidating the revolution. But when there was question of acting, and he knew that it defied him, he recoiled. French historians remark, with pain, that this was a sad alternative, as regards the memory of a man who had the honor to govern France — the nation, more than all others, renowned for chivahy. . It was also a rebuke to that nation which was so weak as to submit, foi: twenty years, to his rule. His friends are brought to the extremity of demon- strating that he was a coward, if they wish to hinder mankind from believing that he was a traitor. Meanwhile, Lamoriciere, by forced marches, on the 16th September, reached Loretto, from which the enemy withdrew at his approach. His inconsiderable force counted scarcely 3,000 combatants, viz. ; 2,000 infantry, 800 troopers, and 200 artillerymen. But he had given rendezvous at the spot to the general, Marquis of Pimodan, who brought to liim from Terni 2,000 infantry, and arrived a little before night, on the 17th. Thus did it fall to his lot, with 5,000 men at most, and some old artillery which had not been sufficiently exercised, to face Cialdini, who had, at the moment, 45,000 men, and was pro- vided with rifled cannon. An engagement on the 18th was inevitable. The Piedmontese were echeloned along the hills which fill the declivity from Castelfidardo towards the plain» and extend to within 500 metres of the small river Musone. Their artillery swept the declivities in all directions. They occupied, in strength, two farms which were situated, the one 600 metres behind the other, towards the principal hill. By delaying longer, Lamoriciere would only have exposed him- self to be surrounded and compelled to lay down his armd. At four o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the Pope, with the two generals at their head, prepared for death, by devoutly participating in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. Ai eight, Pimodan rushed upon the two farms already mentioned* 226 GA8TELFIDAKD0. His watchword was to carry them and hold them as long as possible, as they commanded the pass of Musone, where the bulk of the army, with the baggage, must defile, and there was no other way than this pass by which the route of Ancona could be gained. The first farm, although warmly defended, was carried, and a hundred prisoners were taken. Six six-pound- ers were immediately brought up, in order to protect the position against a fresh attack of the enemy. Captain Ilichter, who commanded them, under the orders of Colonel Blumenstihl, was pierced in the thigh by a ball ; he would not, however, leave the field, but remained in the midst of the fire. Two howitzers, commanded by Lieutenant Dandier, with the aid of a liundred Irishmen, who had arrived the night before from Spoleto, were placed in the open space in front of the farm, exposed to the grape shot of the Piedmontese, to which they replied as if they had beon in force. Unfortunately, all parties did not do their duty so well. Pimodan was obliged to dismiss, on the battle-field, the commander of the First Bat- talion of Chasseurs. " The moment had come," says Lamori- ciere in his report, "to attack the second farm. General Pimodan formed a small column, under the orders of Com- mandant Becdelievre, composed of the Battalion of Belgian Fusiliers, of a detachment of Carabiniers, and of the First Battalion of Chasseurs. This column boldly advanced, not- withstanding a most active fusilade from the farm and the wood. There were 500 metres to march over thus exposed. But when about a hundred and fifty feet from the summit of the hill it was received by the fire of two ranks of a strong line of battle, which put so great q number of the men hors de com- bat that it was obliged to fall back. The enemy pursued. But when he had nearly reached our troops, the column faced round, waited for him at fifteen paces distance, received him with a well-directed fire, and rushed on him with the bayonet. Astonished at so much daring and coolness, the enemy, although superior in number, fell back in his turn, and thus allowed our soldiers to regain the position which liiey had left. The fire LAMORICISRE B BRAVE DEFENCE. 227 •of our artillery, which was well supplied and well directed, protected these movements. The enemy had lost more men; but, relatively, our losses were more felt than his. Pimodan had been wounded in the face ; but, nevertheless, he retained his command. I observed that his two battalions and a half were not sufficiently strong to carry the second position ; so I sent for the two reserve battalions, and ordered the cavalry to pass the river, and follow on our right flank the march of our columns. During this time the enemy had endeavored to overwhelm us on both sides. Major Becdelievre brought together what remained of his battalion, rushed upon the fusileers and forced, them back into the wood whence they had come." These were splendid feats of arms. But the excessive . inferiority of Lamoriciere's artillery and numbers made victory impossible. The revolution had its emissaries enrolled as sol- diers in the Pontifical army. One of these, by a traitorous blow from behind, slew the brave Pimodan in the height of the battle. These traitors also caused a panic at the decisive moment by spreading false alarms. The youthful soldiers of the reserve, who had never seen fire, became demoralized, and fled in confusion, without hearing the sound of a single ball. Others followed. The artillery, now no longer supported, and, fearing to l)e taken, sojiight safety in flight. But instead of gaining the road to Ancona, it fell back on Loretto, where it could not fail to fall into the hands of the enemy. Lamori- ciere, always calm in such terrible discomfitm-e, made unheard- of exertions, as did also his aids-de-camp, Messrs. de Maistre, de Lorgeril, de Kobiano, de France and Montmarin, in en- deavoring to guide the precipitate retreat. His orders either were not conveyed or were not executed. Then, as was his custom in Africa, he hurried alone on horseback to within a hundred feet of the lines, in order to ascertain the situation, rejoined his staff, labored to stay the flight, and when all was lost, he executed, with five-and- forty horse and a hundred infantry, a movement which with the army was impossible. He took the route of Ancona, which a Piedmontese squadron 228 BOMBARDMENT OF ANOONA. was preparing to bombard, and reached that place by five o'clock in the evening. The brave Franco-Belgians sacrificed themselves in order to save the rest of the army. They held cnit in the farm which they had occupied as long as their ammunition lasted. The neighboring fields and hedges were covered with dead and wounded Pfedmontese; but they them- selves were all either killed or taken. Among the slain and wounded were many of the best nobility of Europe — Paul de Percevaux, Edme de Montagnac, Arthur de Chains, Hyacinth de Lanascol, Alfege du Bandier, Joseph Guerin, Georges de Haliand, Fehx de Montravel, Alfred dB la Barre de Nanteuil, Thierry du Fougeray, Leopold de Lippe, Gaston du Plessis de Grenedan, Raoul Dumanoir, Lanfranc de Beccary, Alphonse Menard, Guelton, Rogatien Picou, Anseline de Puisage, George Myonnet. Such are a few of those noble youths who fell vic- tims to their zeal and bravery when engaged with General Lamoriciere in his hopeless attempt to stem the overwhelming. tide of revolution which, at the time, successfully defied all the Powers of Europe to move an arm in opposition to it. Lamoriciere succeeded in reaching Ancona, but only to prolong, for a few days more, a desperate contest. The avail- able force in the place amounted only to 4,200 effective men^ a number quite insufficient to man all the posts of such exten- sive fortifications. The general did not yet despair of aid from the French at Rome, and he flattered himself with the idea that if he only held out a few days, Austria and the other Catholic States would be shamed into activity. They, how- ever, knew too well the intentions of France, and France had won the battle of Solferino. The brave Lamoriciere waa assailed in his last retreat, both by sea and Ipud. The bom- bardment lasted ten days, and was heard at Venice, the islands of Dalmatia, and even at Trieste. But not a friendly sail appeared in support of the besieged. The prolonged struggle did not even attract such vessels of neutral Powers as are commonly sent for the protection of their consuls and others of their respective nations, as well as to offer their good / BOMKARDMENT OK ANGONA. 229 services to women, children and other non-combatants. Such disgraceful conduct was condemned alike by the Protestant and Catholic press of Europe. The London Times reproached M. de Cavour with not having understood that "candid and honorable conduct is not incompatible with patriptism." The same paper quoted, in this connection, the words of Manin, which are a condemnation of tlK whole conduct of the Pied- montese under Victor Emmanuel : " Means which the moral aense repels, even when they are materially profitable, deal a mortal blow to a cause. No victory can be put in comparison with the absence of self-respect. Ancona was yet undergoing bombardment, when the three sovereigns of the North, who alone could have undertaken efficaciously the defence of the violated law of nations, met at Warsaw; and Napoleon III. presented to them a, memorandum by which he engaged to abandon Piedmont in the event of her attacking Venice. But " he presupposed that the German Powers would also confine themselves to g-n attitude of abstention, and would avoid fur- nishing a pretext for an Italian attack of Austria." At length, the Piedmontese fleet, under Admiral Persano, succeeded in demolishing the more important portion of the fortifications of Ancona. A white flag was now displayed on the citadel and , all the lesser fortis ; and Major Mauri was sent on board the admiral's ship to negotiate a capitulation. The firing ceased on both sides. But now occurred a circumstance which stig- matizes to all time the character of the Piedmontese generals, Fanti and Cialdini. M. de Quatrebarbes relates, " that whilst the conditions of capitulation were under discussion, the land ■army, furious at having been repelled, and at having done nothing that could contribute towards the taking of the city, recommenced firing along the whole line. The bombardment and cannonade continued from nine o'clock in the evening of the 28th until nine in the morning of the 29th, and that, although negotiatiors had been sent, and bells had been rung, announcing the cessation of hostilities, in defiance e^n of a very pressing letter of the admiral, T^'ho would not participate SI80 PRINCIPLE OF LEGALITY A8BERTKD. in such an iufamouB proceeding. He also recalled on board his ships the marine who served a land battery. All this time not a single cannon was fired from the city. Thus the Piedmontese army bombarded incessantly for twelve hours a defenceless town, in violation of the law of nations, and all sentiments of honor and humanity. Admiral Pursano himself reported at Turin the refusal of the land army to cease firing. Such a fact must excite the indignation of all light-thinking people." The i evolution was highly offended when compaied to Islamism. \re the regular troops of Islam accused of such barbarities ? The Bashi-Bazouks could not have done worse. "When the capitulation was signed at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th, the small Pontifical array had ceased to exist, and the Piedmontese, now free to foll6w out their plans,, could go to join the bands of Garibaldi, under the walls of Gaeta, and, together with him, complete " the extirpation of the Papal cancer," or, as one of their school, Pinelli, said, " Crush the sacerdotal vampire." But although right had been, trampled down, it knew how to do battle and to die. " For the first time," observed a Protestant journal, the new Gazette of Prussia, " a general of the party of legaUty has dared to leid his troops against the enemy. For the first time the revolu- tion has been met in the field of battle. The effort has not been successful. We know it. And as we repeatedly said beforehand, we had no hope that it would. But the defeat of Lamoriciere raises the mind by contrast, For a long time we had been accustomed to the triumphs of cowardice, treachery and corruption, of all which the victories of Gpiribaldi pre- sented such a disgusting spectacle. We are assured that the Pontifical troops did their duty unto death. This is enough. It is easily understood how the adversaries of the revolution had become humble. For years they could only record the victories of their enemies. But if, at Castelfidardo, a few individuals were defeated, the principle of legality was at last asserted. Now, if men contend in battle for a principle its- final triumph is assured." ADDRERflRR OF BIBHOP PIR AND AROnillHHOP MANNINO. 281 It was to be expected that Pius the Ninth would avenge the memory of the brave men who had been branded by the name of Mercenarie$, the greater number of whom served without pay. No wonder if he did justice on the pretended moral order which Piedmont said it had come to restore in the States of the Church. Not only did he honor their noble efforts, he also foonded at his own cost, and for their benefit, tho chap- laincy of Casteliidardo in the sanctuary of the Scala Santa. He ordered the funeral obsequies of General Pimodun to be celebrated with becoming magnificence, and composed himself an inscription for his tomb in the French Church of St. Louis. He wished to confer on Lamoriciere the title of Roman Count. But the defeated hero declined the honor, saying that he desired always to be called Leon de la Moriciere. Pius IX. then addressed him a few words, which recall the piety of early times : "I send you what, at least, you cannot refuse, th& order of Christ, for whom you have combated, and who will, I trust, be your reward as well as mine." In France the government showed its revolutionary leaning by forbidding a subscription which was undertaken for the pur- pose of presenting a sword of honor to Lamoriciere. It did even worse than this. It meanly persecuted the vanquished soldiers of the Holy See, as well as those who had hastened to fill their places. This was pure revenge. And now that the Buccess^of Piedmont was no longer doubtful, it could serve no other purpose than to establish the fact of tks Emperor's com- plicity. Such of the soldiers of the Pope as were natives of France were deprived of their rights of citizenship. Thus were noble youths, the flower of France, on their return from Castelfidardo and Ancona, deprived of the electoral franchise^ and stripped of their right to serve on juries and in the army. Some even were interdicted from inheriting property on the pretext that, as strangers, their signatures required to be legalized. These men were, nevertheless,'the actual defenders of a sovereign whom the government pretended to defend officially. The revolutionary papers audaciously said that the 1282 ADDRESSES OF BISHOP PIE AND ARCHBISHOP MANNING. same law was not applicable to such French subjects as joined the bands of Garibaldi,^ on the ground that these bands were ^either a government nor a military corporation. This odd interpretation completely met the views of ministerial juris- prudence ; and so ^^0,6 presented the extraordinary spectacle of a country out lawing such of her children as served the same <}ause as her army, and in nowise molesting those who sup- ported the opposite side. All political allusions in the pulpit were now repressed with increased severity. The bishops, however, could not be intimidated. Besides, as they could not be displaced, they were not so easily reached. Mgr. Pie, the eminent Bishop of Poitiers, ascended the pulpit the Sunday after the battle. ** My brethren," said he, " 3'ou all expected of me that I would speak to-day in my cathedral. It is accord- ing to the customs of the church to know how to honor her -defenders, and to mourn for them when dead. And because, having taken upon myself a responsibility which I decline not, and having encouraged a^jd blessed the departure of several of those youthful volunteers, I would be ashamed of myself if now» restrained by the fears arising from a pusillanimous prudence, I did not offer them the homage of my admiration together with that of my prayers. Your sympathies are already with my words. If they gave offence to any hearers, I would, indeed, be afflicted. But, by the grace of God, the country which we inhabit is called France, which warrants, or rather •commands, that I should be candid." In the absence of that fame which victory confers, the vanquished were consoled by that immortality which eloquence bestows on those whom it celebrates. So long as the great art of oratory shall be appre- ■ciated in the countries of Fenelon and Bossuet, the funeral orations on Lamoriciere, by Bishops Pie and Dupanloup, together with the fine pages on the heroes of Castelfidardo, by Bishop Gerbet of Perpignan, ^gr. Plantier of Nismes, and other writers, will not cease to be read. " They died in order to defend us," said, as if prophetically* Archbishop Manning, who succeeded Cardinal Wiseman in the PRUSSIA CONDEMNS PIEDMONT. 288 new See 'of Westminster, already so illustrious; ** the cause for ■which they feU is our cause. They are. blind, indeed, -who can- not see that what has been begun by the head will soon be undertaken against all the members; that the attacks will -extend rapidly from the centre to the extremitiss; that revolu- tionary tyranny and the despotism of civil power will strive to establish everywhere, in detail, the domination which they are endeavoring to exercise over the will and the person of the Holy Father. We are at the commencement of a new era of penal laws against the liberty of the church. It is for us, *iiherefore, that they have given their life. They died whilst the profane world loaded them with its curses, as died the martyrs in the Flavian amphitheatre, whilst the cry resounded, *' The Christians to the lions !" {Chrisiianos ad leones), and in presence of thousands of spectators of the Imperial and Patri- cian families of Rome, and for the gratification of the multi- •iiude which thirsted for blood, and such blood as was most >noble and innocent. Thus died He who is greater than the martyrs, assailed by the insults of the Pharisees and the jeers of the ignorant masses. It is, therefore, glorious to die for a cause which the world will not and cannot understand. If they had died to defend commercial establishments against the indigenous inhabitants of some distant country, or to repel the attacks of a neighbor, Or to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, the world would have understood and honored them, as it did in regard to the combatants of Alma and Inkerman. But, to fall in battle for the independence of the Sovereign Pontificate, to sacrifice themselves for the liberty of Christian consciences, and that of the generations to come — this the world understands not, and for this we proclaim them great and glorious among departed heroes." Four months later, Mgr. Pie was obliged to refute a new pamphlet, entitled, " France, Rome andltaly,'' and so endeavor to prevent new iniquities. He feared not to formulate the fol- lowing terrible rebuke, which was denounced as seditious, but which history has already confirmed as a sentence : 234 PRUSSIA CONDE&rerS PIEDMONT. " Pilate had it in his power to save Christ, and without Pilate He could not be put to death. The death-warrant could only come from him ; rtohis non licet interficere, said the Jews. Wash thy hands, Pilate! declare thyself guiltless of the^ death of Christ. Our only answer every day will be, and the latest posterity will repeat the same : I believe in Jesus Christy the only Son of the Father, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, who was born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered death and passion under Pontius Pilate; Quipasstis eat sub Pontia Pilato:' It was no secret when these words were spoken, as it was to Lamoriciere and his brave army, that the government of the French Emperor encouraged and patronized the iniquitous aggressions of Piedmont, whilst it pretended, in the face of Europe, to support the Holy See. " It was not Garibaldi and his volunteers," said the Eeue des deux Mondes, "that General Lamori- Further expression of op in ion. -The cicre had to fight; the odds in that case Great Powers. would not have been so unequal. But he had the regular army of Piedmont before him — an army six times more numerous than his own. Nor was it the attack merely of a revolutionary party which was now directed against the temporal power of the Papacy. It was a government incomparably more powerful than the Pope's, which decreed arbitrarily itself alone, an'^ in the face of the other nations of the world, the suppression of this power, and which accom- plished that suppression by the irresistible force of its arms, and imder the eyes of our garrison in Eome." Whilst Austria, not from any want of sympathy with the Holy See, but from the dread her cautious ministry, who had penetrated the designs of France, entertained of a new French invasion^ looked tamely on from the heights of her quadrilateral, the French Emperor secretly expressed his approval of the Piedmontese attack on the Papal States, and at the same time publicly withdrew his ambassador at Turin, as a protest in the face of man- kind against this unprovoked and unjustifiable attack. Eng- THE POPE DENOUNCES PIEDMONT. 235^ land, which could not be supposed to have much sympathy with the Holy See, notwithstanding the declarations of her best statesmen in support of the temporal sovereignty, openly, pronounced in favor of the Piedmontese aggression on the Pope, who, in trying times, had been her most faithful ally. But the days of the elder Bonaparte were forgotten, and too much could not be done to conciliate the new ally whom the English had found in the second Bonaparte. So their repre- sentative, Sir John Hudson, remained at Turin, and was the confidential adviser there of Count de Cavour, while Sir Henry Elhot continued to reside at Naples after that city had become the headquarters of GaribMdi. The great Northern Powers, Russia and Prussia, acted a jnore honorable part. Even before the fall of Ancona was known, they both withdrew their ambas- sadorg from Turin. Voit Schleinitz, the Prussian Prime Min- ister, protested energetically against the unwarrantable aggres- sion of Piedmont. M. de Cavour, who understood the tendencies of the time, replied to Von Schleinitz, as if uttering^ a prophecy : "I regret that the Court of Berlin should judge so severely the conduct of the king and his government. I am conscious of acting in the interests of my sovereign and my country. I might reply successfully to what M. Von Schleinitz says. But, be that as it may, I console myself with the thought that, on the present occasion, I am setting an example which Prussia, within a short time probably, will be happy to fol- low." The cannonade had scarcely ceased to be heard at Ancona^ when the Holy Father raised his voice in a consistorial allocu- tion of 2&th September, which, although addressed to the cardi- nals, is intended for the whole civilized world. The allocution briefly enum,erates the several acts of aggression successively committed by the Piedmontese. It then alludes to Cavour's- audacious letter, which was intended as a justification before- hand of the violation, of territory, and the fearful bloodshed which followed. It expresses the false accusations, the repeated calumnies and insults which were put forward as a pretext for ^36 MOCK PLEBISCITE AND NAPOLEON's PAMP^ILET. the invasion. It also rebukes " the singular malignity with which the Piedmontese government dared to call the Pontifical eoldierp mercenaries, when so many of them, both Italians and foreigners, were of noble lineage, bearing illustrious names, and had resolved to serve in our troops without pay, and for the sole love of our holy religion." The fact is established, to the disgrace of Piedmont, that the Papal government "could have had no intimation of the enemy's purpose. The general- in-chief commanding our forces could not have entertained the thought of having to contend with the soldiers of Piedmont." The meed of praise is awarded to the fallen warriors, together with the expression of unfeigned sorrow for their loss: " Wliilst we must bestow merited praise on the general, his officers and his men, we can scarcely restrain our tears as we remember all those brave soldiers, those noble young men especially, who had been impelled by faith and their own generous hearts to fly to the defence of the temporal power of the Koman Church, and who have met with their death in this cruel and unjust invasion. We are deeply moved by the grief of their families; and would to God it were in our power, by any word of ours, to dry up the source of their tears !" If anything could be worse than the savage and murderous attack of Piedmont, it was the hypocritical pretence under which it was undertaken. The invaders came as " the restorers of moral order and as the preachers of tolerance and charity." The allocution concludes by denouncing this hypocrisy, together with the diplomatic principle of non-intervention, of which France and Piedmont set such brilliant examples. The King of Sardinia having violently seized Umbria and the Marches of Ancona, must also have a. umbrir^^and"°th^ T^^^^ plebiscitum, in order, no doubt, to Marches of Ancona make it appear that these provinces were annexed to Sardinia. , ■• n j. t,- -i • j mi. „ spontaneously annexed to his kingdom. The fall of Gaeta and the conquest of Naples by Garibaldi encouraged the ambitious monarch in these unjusti^able annexations, and although generally condemned by the European press, he most MOOK PLEBISCITE AND NAPOLEON'S PAMPHLET. 28T audaciously issued a proclamation in reply to the Papal allocu- tion. All these ne'irious acts, together with the outrages- everywhere peri)etrated against all who remained loyal to the Holy See and faithful to the sacred laws of the church, induced the Holy Father to publish the now celebrated allocution of March 18th, 1861. This allocution is perhaps the greatest doctrinal utterance of the Pontificate of Pius IX. But it must be considered in connection with the syllabus, which will now shortly be noticed. The Emperor Napoleon had, indeed, suspended public diplomatic relations with the court of Turin. This was intended merely as a blind, for he continued to negotiate secretly, through Prince Jerome Napoleon, concerning Eome, and what yet remained to the Pope of his states. He appeared to bind Piedmont to respect the sovereignty and independence of the Holy See, and had no objections that the Pope should raise an army designed only for defensive pm-poses. On such condi- tions the Emperor would acknowledge the new kingdom of Italy. In all this there was a want of sincerity. Coimt Cavour, Prince Napoleon and the Emperor, were perfectly agreed that the Holy Father was, in due course of time, to be given up to his enemies. In order to prepare the world for this consummation of Franco- Sardinian policy, there appeared a The pamphlet La ^^^ pamphlet, entitled La Frai^e, Borne et Vltalie. It was signed by M. de la Gueronniere, and published on the 7th day of March. It was suggested, if not actually written, by the Emperor himself. The allocution already alluded to, dealt by anticipation with the chief p-^mts of this pubHcation. It was, liowever, directly replied to 11. a letter of the eminent Cardinal Antonelli, to the Papal Minister at Paris. The cardinal begins by stating that the chief object of the pamphlet was " to throw on the Holy Fathei: and his government the responsibility of the condition to which Italy and the- Pontifical States in particular were reduced." He then proceeds hieidly, France, Borne et 1 'I talie.— Cardinal Antonelli's reply. ^88 MOCK PLEBISCITE AND NAPOLEON 8 PAMPHLET. logically, and not without eloquence, to attack all the positions assumed by the writer, and exposes the treachery, baseness and duplicity of the principal adversaries of the Holy See in its long struggle with revolutionary Piedmont, supported as it was by the Emperor Napoleon III. It Avill be recollected that it had been proposed, indeed it was one of the articles of the treaty of Zurich, that there should be a confederation of the States of Italy. The writer of the pamp.let audaciously accused the Pope of having rejected the plan of an Italian con- federacy, just as if he and not the Emperor and his aUy, the King of Piedmont, had violated the treaty which succeeded the battle of Solferino. " The official proposition of such a con- federacy," the cardinal states, " and of its presidency came only after the preliminaries of Villafranca and the treaty of Zurich; and the Holy Father showed himself disposed to accept it as soon as its basis should be defined. The author, nevertheless, says that it was then too late. He does not, in saying so, seem to perceive that he seriously insults his own sovereign, as if he and the other Powers had proposed as the basis of a solemn treaty and the great means of conciliation, a thing which was at that moment neither possible nor oppor- tune. Be that as it may, it was only then that the proposition was made by the person authorized to make it ; and it is unjust to pretend thdt his Holiness had taken any action thereon before it was laid before him. Since, therefore, the plan fell through independently of his refusal, how can he, without a positive act' of calumny, be accused of obstinacy on this point ?" The cardinal's letter is of great length. In one place he recapitulates the heads of accusation contained in the pamphlet. ** Putting aside," says he, "the unfounded assertions, the mat- ters foreign to the case, which helped to fill up the pamphlet, the obstinacy which it imputes to the Holy Father amounts to his having declined an abdication which his conscience con- demned, to his having deferred some reforms that were prom- ised till the revolted provinces had returned to their allegiance; MOCK PLEBISCITE AND KAPOLEOM's PAMPHLET. 239 a it it le le ly n- he lom- io bis having proposed to recruit an army* for himself instead of accepting the troops offered to him ; to his having preferred the voluntary offerings of the faithful to subsidies furnished by governments which are not all nor always equally disposed to be friendly. And these acts of firmness, of noble disinterested- ness, which must appear most praiseworthy to the uniDrejudicod mind, which have appeared and do still appear worthy of the admiration of Protestants, seem, on the other hand, to the Catholic author of the pamphlet, to be so blameworthy that he could not find more bitter words of censiu-e were he to write against those who are alone responsible for the sad disorders of the present time. But this is i3recisely what is cf a nature to surprise us. The Imperial government of France had given advice to his Holiness ; it had also given advice to the Pied- montese government. Now, if the Holy Father must be accused of not having followed such advice, the Piedmontese government does not seem to have been more docile. His Holiness did not deem it expedient to do some things desired by the French government. But Piedmont did a great many things which the French government had publicly declared it was opposed to. The Imperial government forbade the viola- tion of the neutrality of the Papal States ; and to this the Piedmontese government responded by occupying theRomagna. The Imperial government disapproved annexation ; and the Piedmontese government only answered by accomplishing annexation. The Imperial government forbade, in threatening language, the invasion of the Marches and Umbria ; and the Piedmontese government responded by pouring grape shot into the small Pontifical army, by bombarding Ancona from sea and land, and by refusing to observe any of the laws of war ackn-^wledged by all civilized nations. The author of the pamphlet allows his pen the most cruel license against the Holy See, but has not one single word of blame for the Pied- montese government. Who can explain such an attitude ? The explanation is a very natui'al one, and is given on the last page of the pamphlet, where the author tells us that the Emperor 240 "kino of Italy" and death of ca/our. of the French cannot gacrijice Italy ' to the Court b/ Borne, nor give up the Papacy to the revolution ; which means that the Court of Rome must be sacrificed to the exigencies of the pen- insula, that the temporal dominion of the Holy See must be done away with, because it is in the way of the unification of Italy, and that this suppression is to prevent the Papacy or the spiritual power from falling beneath the blows of the revolu- tion." It cannot fail to be remarked that in all the French Emperor'6 manifestos appears the pretext of protecting the Papacy from the revolution, whilst, but for his interference, it needed not such protection. Pius IX. was qu^te able to con- tend successfully against whatever revolutionary element therfr was ir the Pontifical States. With the aid of his allies, he could . -to have repelled the attacks of Piedmont, if unsup- ported by the French. But against a Power so great that it could command the non-intervention of aU other Powers, he was powerless. It may have afforded a momentary pleasure to" the Carbonarc Prince, Napoleon III., to annihilate, for the sake of his way of promoting Italian unification, the time, honored sovereignty of the Pope. It afforded him no lasting benefit. Germany caught the idea, and becoming unified, hurled her legions against the common European enemy, who,, in his day of sorest need, found not an ally, not so much as one powerful friend even in that Italy for which he had done and sacrificed so much. It now only remained for young Italy, revolutionized as it was, to assume and wear its blushing honors. • u^"iJ v"ctorEm". Piedmont having seized Umbria and the mannei proclaimed Marches of Ancoua, and having also, through King of ay. j^^^ agent. Garibaldi, taken possession of Sicily and Naples, was mistress not only of the greater portion of the Pontifical States, but also of almost all Italy at the same time. It became such greatness to have a parliament. Accordingly, the first Italian parliament assembled at Turin in February, 1861 ; and on the 14th of March, Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of Italy. It was not, bowevir, till th& "KINO OF ITALY" AND DEATH OF CAVOUE. at 24th of June that the French Emperor found it convenient to recognize this extended sovereignty. In doing so, no doubt, he was consistent with himself, although quite at variance with the professions of him who had so lately withdrawn his ambassador from the Court of Turin. Count de Cavour lived not to enjoy this recognition. He died on the 6th of June. This minister was Cavour. °' ^°"°* ^'^ ^ politician to the end ; and he had no wish ever to be anything else. He w as anxious, however, at the close, to have the merit of reconciliation with the chiu-ch which he had so cruelly persecuted, both in the ancient State of Sardinia and in th« newly-annexed territories of the " Kingdom of Italy." Finding that his latter end was approaching, he desired the presence of Friar Giacomo, Kector of the Madonna degli Angeli. This Friar, with whom, as is related, the Count had had a previous understanding, faithfully came. M. de Cavour remained alone with him for half an hour ; and when the priest was gone he called Farini, and said to him : " My niece has had Fra Giacomo to come to me ; I must prepare for the dread passage to eternity; I have made my confession and received absolution. I wish all to know, and the good people of Turin particularly, that I die like a gx>d Christian. I am at peace with myself. I have never wronged acv one." It is a trite saying that the ruling passion* of a man^s life asserts its power at the hour of death ; and the- last recorded words of Count de Cavour would seem to show, that to the end he was more bent on politics than prayer. As, Friar Giacomo was reciting solemnly by his bedside the- prayers for the departing sor^ "Frate! Frate!" he exclaimed,, whilst he pressed the Friiu 6 hand, *' libera chiesa in libera. statoT (a free church in a free state). Admirable, no doubt.. But how was the great idea to be realized, since the church i could only be free when her ministers were dictated to,, imprisoned, banished, and otherwise tormented ? And what freedom for the state, unless it were free to tyrannize over and persecute the church ? Judging Cavour and his party by. their a42 LEBANON MASSACRES. acta rather than their fine speeches, such wan their idea of a free church in a free utate. If it be true that, as men live so they die, it is not true that Count de Cavour died like a good Christian. None will be inclined to dispute with him the com- fort which he claimed of being at peace with himself. But they who are aware of the violence, the spoliation, the rapine, bloodshed, und unspeakable suffering, in all which he was, at least, an accomplice, if not the direct cause, throughout the States of the Italian Grand Dukes, the Pontifical territories and the kingdom of Naples, will not easily acknowledge that he spoke truth when he said that " he had ntever wronged any- one." But let us now be silent. There is One, and only One, who judgeth. . , ; , ., , ., Considering the assistance so recently afforded to Turkey by the Christian Powers, her Christian sub- ■acres. - Generosity jccts Were surcly entitled to her protection, of Plus IX. gy^ gratitude, it would appear, is not one of the virtues of Islamism. In June, 1860, the Pachas disarmed and delivered up to their deadly enemies the Christian Ma- ronites of Lebanon and Damascus. Over a hundred villages inhabited by these people were completely destroyed. Neither the aged nor the young that fell into the hands of the enemy were spared ; and, worse than all, seven thousand young women were carried captive into the desert. In these melancholy circumstances, Napoleon lU. acted honorably and independ- ently. He sent an armed expedition to chastise the guilty, and that in defiance of all opposition on the part of his allies, the EngUsb, who, from national jealousy, resisted a French protectorate Ji the East, and so assumed the disgraceful role of patronizing hordes of assassins . Incomprehensible conduct ! since, a few years later, the same people were so moved by Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria that no British government could have dared to raise an arm in defence of the crumbling Empire of the Sultan. Pius IX. was deeply moved by the sufferings of his fellow-Christians. In a letter of 29th July, to the Patriarch of Antioch and the Bishops of his Patriarchate, CONVERSION OP THE BULOARIANH. 248 he expressed bis sorrow and indignation at tlio fearful crimes that were committed. " It is particularly afflicting," said he, as be co*^.demned certain speeches that were delivered in the British Parliament in favor of the guilty parties, " that more sympathy is accorded, and even more assistance extended, in our age to the fomenters of troubles and revolutions than to their victime." He commended Franco, that had remembered in the circumstances her Catholic traditions, and intimated that he would encourage with all bis power the liberal offer- ings of the Christians of the West in support of their brethren of Syria. He himself, although he was deprived of his accus- tomed revenue, together with the greater portion of bis states, contrived to bestow considerable assistance. ' A little later in the same year, the Holy Father met with ^ -' ': unlooked-for consolation in the conversion of Conversion of the ^jj^, Bulgarian nation. On the 20th Decem- Bulgarians. ber, bishops, priests, and a great many lay persons of that country, abjured the Fhotian schism, and addressed to Borne a solemn act of union in the name of the majority of their fellow-countrymen. Pius IX. replied on the 29th of January, 1861. He was pleased himself to consecrate in the Sistine chapel their new archbishop, Sokolski. The latter, as he renewed the profession of faith, which had been already formulated in writing at Constantinople, said to the Holy Father : "It is your work that, although dead, we are come to life, and that, being lost, we are found again." Pius IX. referred all the glory to God. •' Such works," he said, " are wholly divine. To Thee praise, benediction, everlasting thanks ! 0, Jesus Christ ! source of mercy and of all consola- tion !" The Bulgarians were unfortunately situated. Jealous- ies of race prevailed among them, and did much to shake religious principle. Add to this that the schismaticai Patriarch of Constantinople agreed to grant ecclesiastical autonomy, as it might be called, to Bulgaria. This was a deadly blow to the noble impulse which b hem towards the. centre of Christian unity. At first they were three millions of Catholics. The 244 ITMBRIA AND THE MARCHES TAKEN FROM THE POPE. numbor Bpeodily diminiBbcd to some tens of thousands. Arch- bishop Sokolski suddenly disappeared. It is not known whether he abandoned his post or was carried away by force. Tho latter supposition is, as yet, the more probable. He. is tuv'^ught to have been recognized, several times, in a Bussian monastery, whither he i j supposed to have been taken by , surprise, and obliged to remain against his will. Pius IX., understanding how necessary it was that the new flock should have a resi- dent pastor, appointed a provisional successor to Sokolski, with the title of Administrator of tho United Bulgarians, and labored assiduously to found for him churches and schools. Three schismatical Greek bishops, who had sought protection at Bome from the violent proceedings of their patriarch, did not persevere any more than the majority of the Bulgarians. A fourth, however, Melethios, Archbishop of Drama, happily remained steadfast, together with the Protestant bishop of Malta, another Protestant bishop, who was an American of the United States, and several prelates of the Greek schism, Armenians, Chaldeans or Copts. All these, about this time, placed themselves under the crook of the Supreme Pastor. Shortly before the death of Count de Cavour, the Emperor Napoleon was pleased to define the new limits of the Papal domain. In doing so, he left the recently alienated provinces to Piedmont, and confined the Pontiff to a comparatively small territory around the city of Bome. He could not have sanctioned more decidedly or more publicly the unjustifiable spoliation of the Sardinian king. Such a proceeding cannot but appear inconsistent to such as are aware only of his apparent quarrel with this mon- arch, and the withdrawal of his ambassador from Turin. To those, on the contrary, who have knowledge of, and consider his secret conference with, the Piedmontese Envoys at Cham- bery, and the violent attack on the Papal States, which, not- withstanding the pubhc and official protest of the French gov- ernment through their consul at Ancona, immediately followed, The annexation to Piedmont of Umbrla and the Marches pub- licly sanctioned by Napoleon 1 1 r. PIEDMONT SEEKS HOME. 245 Piedmont aeeki to reifi) at Rome. it will appear that Louis Napoloou Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, was only acting up to his policy and char (cter. Soon after this new distribution of territory, the " Kl'igdom of Italy" was officially recognized by the government of the French Emperor ; and this recognition paved the way for that of the other Powers, by most of whom, after some time, it was reluc- tantly given. Cavour was dead. But Sardinian ambition died not with him. Baron Ricasoli, who succeeded him as Prime Minister, encouraged by the sup- port of France, which was no longer dis- guised, actually wrote, in the name of his king, both to tiie Pope and Cardinal Antonelli, urging them to give up the sov- ereignty of Rome. This was done, not, of course, from any ambitious motive, but with a view to carrying out their great designs, such as the regeneration of society, and, above all, their conception of a " free church in a free state." The min- ister concludes magniloquently : "It is in your power, Holy Father, to renew, once more, the face of the earth. You can raise the Apostolic See to a height unknown for ages. If you wish to be greater than earthly sovereigns, cast away from you the wretched kingship which brings you down to their level. Italy will bestow upon you a firm ueat, entire liberty, and new greatness. She reveres in you the Pontiff ; but she will not stop in her progress for the Prince. She intends to remain Catholic ; but she purposes to be a free and independent nation. If you will only hearken to the prayers of that daughter whom you love so dearly, you will gain over souls more power than you can lose as a prince, and from the Vatican, as you lift your hand to bless Rome and the world, you will behold the nations, restored to their rights, bow down before you, their defender and protec^r." The new minister, less wary than his prede- cessor, immediately set about realizing his grand idea. With what success will soon be seen. 246 PIEDMONT PLUNDERS THE CHURCH. The Fiedmontese conquests had not been made without cost. Enormous sums had been spent in oZlZTnulZ corrupting the Neapolitan people. Large cofltera hy plundering amounts wcre still Scattered throughout the tbechurcb. i . ^ • , , • ». • ',1. annexed provmces, m order to mamviain their loyalty to the new power ; and the press was liberally subsidized, both in Italy and abroad. For such heavy expendi- ture money must be had. Rem! quomodocunque modo remt An expedient which occurs so readily to revolutions was had recourse to. The properties of the convents and the treasure* of the churches were seized. Members of religious communi- ties were expelled from their monasteries and reduced to- mendicity. The laws of the church were trampled under foot^ together with the rights of citizens. The Jesuits • /ere banished and cruelly maltreated like so many felons. Keligious corpora- tions were suppressed, the faithful clergy were thrown intO" prison, and many dioceses and parishes deprived of their pastors. Pius IX. deplored these calamities in his Allocution of 30th November, 3861. In that of 18th March of the same year, he had replied to those who conjured him to be recon- ciled with modern civilijsation : " The Holy See," the Pontiff insisted, " is always consistent. It has never ceased to promote and sustain civilization. History bears witness to this fact* It shows most eloquently that, in every age, the Popes carried civilization into barbarous nations, and even to the remotest lands. But is that true civilization which enslaves the churchy makes no account of treaties, and recognizes not the rights of weaker parties ? It is quite certain that the church can never come to an understanding with such civilization. What is there in common, says the apostle, between Christ and Belial ? As to making friendship with the usurpers of our provinces, before they have shown repentance, let no such thing be hoped for. To make such a proposition to us, is to ask this see, which nas always been the rampart of justice and truth, to sanction the principle thai, a stolen object can be possessed in peace by the thief, and that injustice which succeeds is justi- CARDINAL ANTONELLI PROTESTS. 247 fied by success. We loudly declare, therefore, before God and men, that there is no reason why we should be reconciled with any one. Our only duty, in this connection, is to forgive our enemies, and tg pray for them, in order that they may be con- verted. This we do in all sincerity. But when we are asked to do what is unjust, we cannot give our consent : Prttstare Hon po88umn8." ., . v.. .. . , - — ; ^ ,. A little later, January, 1862, Calfdinal Antonelli replied in the name of Pius IX. to the Marquis de Lavallette, the French Ambassador at Eome, showing that it was by no means true to say that the Pope was at variance with Italy. " An Italian himself, and the chief Italian, he suffers when Italy suffers, and he beholds with pain the severe trials to which the Italian church is subjected. As to arranging with those who have robbed us, we never will do any such thing. All transaction .on this ground is impossible. By whatever reservations it might be accompanied, with whatever ingenuity of language it might be disguised, we could not accept, without appearing to consecrate the wrong. The Sovereign Pontiff, before his exaltation, as well as the cardinals before their nomination, bind themselves by oath to cede no portion of the territory of the church. The Holy Father, therefore, will not make any concession of this kind. Neither a Conclave, nor a new Pontiff, nor his successors in any age, would be entitled to make such concession." The revolutionists, however, could help themselves. It would not be difficult to imagine the people of Italy, a few generations hence, if, indeed, the kingdom of Italy be destined to last so long, looking back to their founders with that same kind of pride which animated the great Romans when they thought of Romulus and Remus, and Ihe band of brigands who helped them to found the city. 248 NAffOLEON HI. MODIFIES HIS ITALIAN POLICY. About this time the French parliamentary chambers began to enjoy, to a certain extent, liberty of speech. p^eon^3uo°ed^to They could now discuss an address to the modify his Italian sovereign, and give full publicity to their ^° *'^* debates. Inquiry could now be made to some purpose, whether the Italian policy of Napoleon III. was sanctioned by France, whether that aberration were national which impelled to the violation of all right and law, in order to unify Italy, and pave the way, at the same time, for the unifi- cation of Germany. The revolutionary left of the French par- liament, as a matter of course, favored the Emperor's revolu- tionary foreign policy. But the liberty of debate showed that there was a powerful minority opposed to them, and this minority enjoyed the sanction of the greatest statesmen of the age. In the Senate, notwithstanding the absence of every member of the T gitimist party, as well as that of Messrs. de Montalembert and de Fallou, whom a coalition of the despot- ism of the day with radicalism had caused to lose their seats, a tolerable number of the most devoted partisans of the empire showed a boldness of language, together with well-defined statesmanlike views, to which the Imperial regime was not accustomed. Several of the ablest orators concurred in pre- senting an amendment to the address to the throne in favor of the Pope's temporal sovereignty. It was, of course, opposed by the government, but was supported, nevertheless, by sixty votes to seventy-nine. In the legislative assembly, notwith- standing all the abUity displayed by the representatives of the government, the Emperor's Italian policy could obtain the support of only 161 votes, whilst it was condemned by the powerful minority of ninety-one. The radical leaders of the majority now thought the time opportune for demanding the recall of the French troops from Rome. The government went dead against it, and invited the deputies to join with it in condemning the inordinate and persistent ambition of the revolution. This the assembly did by a solid vote of the whole house to five. Of this precious quintet, Jules Favre and EmUe Olivier, the leaders of the government, were two. HIS VEXATION. 249 Such national demonstrations in favor of the sovereignty which he had done his best to crush were very irritating to the Emperor Napoleon ; and although he endeavored to appear wholly absorbed by his life of Csesar, he could not avoid show- ing by his acts how profoundly he was disturbed by being thwarted. Everywhere throughout France the Catholics were made to suffer. The clergy were persecuted as far as the laws of the country would allow, and the Imperial anger went so far as to wreak its vengeance on the poor by suppressing that benevolent and non-political institution, the Association of St. Vincent de Paul. Needless to say that, at the same time, the Catholic press was held in fetters. There was no relaxation in its favor till the year 1867, when the law extending the liberty of the press became available to Catholic as well as all other writers. The Emperor even sacrificed the best support- ers of the Imperial system on account of their dislike to his anti-Roman policy. Not only from such men did warnings come, but also from eminent statesmen of former regimes, such as Messrs. Sauzet, de Broglie, Vitet, and even M. Guizot, who was a Protestant, together with Messrs. Thiers, Cousin and Dufaure, who were only nominal Cathohcs. ** Madame," said M. Thiers, one day, to the Empress, with more truth than politesse, " history lays down the law that quicouque mange du P ape en creve.''* ''^ So many and such decided manifestations of public opinion were not without their effects. No less a personage than Garibaldi, relying, as he thought he could do, on Piedmontese support, now undertook to realize to the full the revolutionary programme — the Kingdom of Italy, with Rome for its capital. The King of Piedmont, whilst he publicly disowned the fili- buster, as he had affected to disown him in Sicily, held an army in reserve for his support. He expected himself to be officially condemned, whilst in reality, as usual, privately sustained. '0- • Whoever thinks to devour the Pope will die of Indigestion. These words, though not very polite, proved to be prophetic. 260 ASPROMONTE. Garibaldi defeated at Aspromonte. In the meantiii.e, however, the policy of his Imperial patron was considerably modified; and orders were despatched to his Sardinian Majesty, which he could neither take as a. blind nor dare to disregard. So the Piedmontese army, which was intended to aid the filibusters in the sack of Borne, was obliged to fight them. It came up with the bands of Garibaldi, at a place called Aspro- monte, on the 29th of August, 1862. The irregular force was defeated, its leader wounded in the heel and taken prisonei*. Garibaldi being so renowned a warrior — Achilles was nothing to him — was immediately released. Napoleon had spoken sincerely at last. If he had always done so there would have been less disorder, less violation of all right and less bloodshed, in bringing together the provinces and states of Italy. If it had been his policy to concur with the Pope and the party of true reform, instead of patronizing a filibustering prince, he might have lived to see a less objection- able and more lasting unification of Italy than that which he so powerfully aided in achieving. The intriguing Cabinet of Turin took great credit to itself for having so vigorously acted, although against its will, in preventing Garibaldi from seizing Rome. Ae a reward for this signal service, it boldly proposed to go there itself. But the time had not yet come. The fall of Bome was destined to occur simultaneously with another event, in which the Fmperor Napoleon was directly and personally interested. ' o do him justice, he was from this time anxious that matters should be settled advantageously to the Holy See, but without prejudice to the revolution. The idea was chimerical. But that is no reason for supposing that it was not sincerely entertained. MARTYRS OF JAPAN. 251 Canonization of the Martyrs of Japan. The venerable Pontiflf derived some comfort from the resolve of the French nation, in which all parties, as has been seen, concurred, and the determination of its Imperial head to check the career of revolution, and leave Rome to its legitimate sovereign. But meanwhile more abundant consolations in the spiritual order were showered upon him. In the course of the great struggle in which there was now, at length, a pause, he was practically abandoned, even by the most friendly nations. It now fell to his lot to fulfil a high duty incident to the Pontifical office, and the nations, through their numerous representatives, flocked around him. No earthly prince was e\ei so sustained by the sympathies of mankind. The time had now arrived, all research and investigation having come to a close, when those heroes of the Christian faith who, in the year 1597, had suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Japanese^ should be solemnly canonized. They were twenty-six in num- ber. One of these was an American, and suffered at Nagasaki in the year just mentioned. Another process of canonization had also been concluded — that of the blessed Michael de Sanctis, a Trinitarian, and member of the order for the Redemption of Captives. Pius IX, had invited the bishops to attend the important ceremony. The Sardinian government, which took credit to itself for having established a " free church in a free state," forbade the Italian bishops to visit Rome on this occasion. No fewer than ninety bishops protested against this mockery of liberty, and declared that nothing but the' strong hand of power could have prevented them from repair- ing to the holy city. Notwithstanding the forced absence of so many bishops, there were at Rome three hundred and twenty-three cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, more than"^ four thou- sand priests, and one hundred thousand strangers of various nations and classes. Humble curates of the Alpine regions, who were too poor to undertake the journey, subscribed in order to send a few of their number in the name of the rest. 262 MARTYRS OP JAPAN. Numerous ships which were, for the time, as floating convents, sailed from the ports of France, Spain and Italy, invoking Mary the Star of the Sea — Ave Maris Stella — whilst masses of people responded from the shore ; the hearts of all were with them. There was high festival at Rome from Ascension Day to Whitsuntide. AU thoughts of politics were dismissed ; the grand religious celebration absorbing all' attention. As often as Pius IX. appeared in public, he was honored with an ova- tion. On one occasion, in particular, there was a great demon- stration by the clergy and the artillerymen of the French army, on the day before Pentecost Sunday. The Bishop of Tulle, Mgr. Berteaud, Mgr. Dupanloup of Orleans, and other bishops, addressed immense crowds, and produced re- ligious emotion in which unbelievers could not help participat- ing. It is not recorded that Pius IX. had preached in public since the beginning of his Pontificate. He now, on the 6th of June, delivered the word of God in the Sistine Chapel, speaking first in Latin and afterwards in French. His audience con- sisted of four thousand priests, as many as could be assembled within the spacious edifice. All were deeply moved, and only refrained through reverence from giving vent to their feelings. As soon as the Holy Father had announced the apostolic bene- diction, one of the priests happily intoned the liturgical prayer : ** Oremus pro Pontiji'ce nostro Pio." ** Let us pray for our Pontiff Pius." All present, as if with one voice, responded: ** The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his ene- mies." One may have some idea how the Catholic mind was impressed, from the words of M. Louis Veuillot : "We traversed our beloved Rome with filial affection. And if the thought occurred to us that there existed a design to rob us of it, our feeling was one of anger rather than of fear. We passed from sanctuary to sanctuary, inquiring as to the places where Pius IX. would appear, in order to pay profoundest reverence to the Holy Pontiff. * No, no,' exclaimed a bishop, as he came fi!om the presence of the Holy Father, *' it is not true, it is not pos- MARTYRS OF JAPAN. 253 Bible! Do not believe that there are Victor Emmanuels, Garibaldis, Batazzis ! Such a man cannot have enemies !' " On Pentecost Sunday, June 8th, 1862, it was known that the Basilica of St. Peter would be open at five o'clock in the morning. All night the neighboring streets were crowded, and when the gates were thrown open that greatest of earth's temples was filled in a few minutes. The Pontifical troops were on guard inside. The foreign ambassadors, the royal family of Naples, and other distinguished persons filled the tribunes ; and the French infantry was massed on St. Peter's place. The church was appropriately decorated with paintings representing scenes in the lives of the martyrs and illustrious confessors. The thousands of lights which shone around added splendor to the scen«L At seven o'clock the great pro- cession began to move. First came a troop of orphans, then 9,ppeared the students of the ecclesiastical seminaries. These were followed by religious communities and tke secular clergy. Bishops came next, and archbishops, patriarchs and cardinals. Then appeared the Supreme Pastor, preceded by the banners of the saints that were to be canonized. All besides was now forgot, as the Holy Father was borne slowly along, seated on the sedia gestatoria, which was carried by twelve attendants in scarlet cloaks. The Tiara added dignity to t-ie noble figure of the Pontiff. In his left hand, which was veiled with white silk, embroidered with gold, be held a Ughted wax taper, while his right was left free to bless the people as he passed along. The correspondent of the London Times, who was p. Protestant, says : " Looking over the sea of heads placed between me and the procession, I observed that all knelt before Pius IX., the meek and the good, for it is only JAistice so to speak of him. The chanters of the Vatican chanted in angeUc tones : Tu ea Petrua, and these tones, softened rather than weakened by dis- tance, pervaded the whole edifice like spirits. At intervals, another group '^hauted : Ave Maria Stella, and thus the Pope was borne, thro .gh/..he thousands of Christians wh^^ had come from every country on which the sun shines, to . ' ''eth altar behind '"''• tomb of the apostles." 254 PIUS IX. DENOUNCES ERRORS. In the midst of so much pomp and glory, Pius IX. was humble and collected, referring all to Him of whom he was only the representative on earth. At the same time, his soul overflowed with happiness when he saw that there was still so much faith in Israel. Jhe Sovereign Pontiff now took his seat upon the Papal throne, and having received the obedience of the cardinals and bishops, he was approached by the con- sistorial advocate, who thrice petitioned him to permit the names of the glorious martyrs and confessors to be'inscribed on the diptych^s of the saints, which the church recognizes and holds sacred. Alter the request had been made the third time, the Holy Father read in a clear and audible voice the decree of canonization. He then intoned the Te Demn, which was chanted by the immense congregation. The ceremonies con- cluded with a solemn High Mass, which was celebrated by the Pope himself, surrounded by the cardinals and bishops. The people spent the remainder of the day in pious rejoicing. They were gay and expansive, but calm and brotherly ; thus exhibiting, without being conscious of it, a spectacle unknown to the inhabitants of other capitals. The demonstrations which took place at Rome on the fol- lowing day were not less important, and perhaps had greater significance, although not accompanied by so much pomp and ceremony. There was held in the Palace of the Vatican a semi-public consistory, at which all the bishops who were at Eome attended. The ven- erable Pontiff denounced, in his allocution to the attentive audience, those errors which are too ancieht to have even the merit of originality, but which are the more dangerous that, at the present time more than ever, they are loudly preached and widely disseminated. He alluded in particular to that German criticism, which views our sacred books as nothing better than a system of mythology, and to that too well- known romance of a French writer, M. Kenan, entitled : " The Life of Jesus." He condemned materialism, pantheism. The Pope's consls- torial allocution to the assembled bish- ops. He denounces the errors of the time. PIUS IX. DENOUNCES ERRORS. 265 naturalism, and all those more or less degrading systems whicb deny human liberty, proclaim a morality independent of the laws of God; which derive from material force and superior numbers all law and authority ; and whidh in philos- ophy make reason their God, the state in politics, and passion in the daily conduct of life. The Holy Father then thanked the bishops who were present, regretting the absence of those of Portugal and Italy, the latter of whom were restrained by the Piedmontese government, and exhorted them all to con- tinue to combat error, and to turn away the eyes and hands of the faithful from bad books and bad journals, and to promote, without ever wearying, the instruction of the clergy and the good education of youth. He concluded, in a voice which was impeded by his tears, and with his eyes raised to heaven, by joining with all present in beseeching the Father of mercies, through the merits of Jesus Christ, His only Son, to extend a helping hand to Christian and civil society, and to restore peace to the church. Cardinal Mattel, dean of the Sacred College, replied in the name of all the bishops. Three points chiefly, ^mong others, were affirmed in his declaration. First of all, the supreme ■doctrinal authority and infallibility of the Boman Pontiff. *' You are in our regard the master of sound doctrine. You are the centre of unity. You are the foundation of the church itself, against, which the gates of hell shall not prevail. When you speak, we hear Peter. When you decree, we obey Jesus Christ. We admire you in the midst of so many trials and tempests, with a serene brow and unshaken mind, invincibly fulfilling your sacred ministry." Next, the temporal sov- •ereignty of the Holy See. "We acknowledge that your temporal sovereignty is necessary, and that it was estab- lished in fulfilment of a manifest design of Divine Provi- dence. We hesitate not to declare that this temporal sovereignty is required for the good of the church and the free government of souls. It was necessary that the Supreme Pontiff should be neither the subject nor even the 266 PIU8 IX. DENOUNCES ERRORS. guest of any prince. Tnere was 'required in the centre of Europe a sacred bond, placed between the three continents of the ancient world, an august seat, whence arises in turns, for peoples and for princes, a great and powerful voice, the voice of justice and of truth, impartial and without preference, free from all arbitrary influence, and which can neither be repressed by fear nor circumvented by artifice. How could it have been that at this very moment the prelates of the church, arriving from all points of the universe, should have come here in order to represent all peoples, and confer in security on the gravest, interests, if they had found any jJrince M'homsoever ruling in this land who had suspicions of their princes, or who was sus- pected by them on acc6unt of his Hostility ? In such case their duties as citizens might have conflicted with their duties as bishops." Finally, the intimate union of the Catholic world with the Pope. " We condemn the errors which you have con- demned. We reprove the sacrilegious acts, the violations of ecclesiastical immunity, and the other crimes committed against, the chair of Peter. We give utterance to this protest, which we claim shall be inserted in the annals of the church, in all sincerity, in the name of our brethren who are absent, in the name of those who, detained at home by force, lament and are silent, in the name of those whom the state of their health or- important affairs have prevented from joining us in this place* To our number we add the clergy and the faithful people who give you proof of then* love and veneration by their assiduous prayers, as well as by the offering of Peter's pence. Would to God that all kings and powerful men in the world understood that the cause of the Pontiff is the cause of all states. Would t® God that they came to an understanding in order to place in security the sacred cause of the Christian world and of social order." Pius IX. made reply : " United as wo are, venerable breth^ ren, we cannot doubt that the God of peace and charity is with us. And if God be with us, who shall be against us ? Praise,, honor, glory to God ! To you, peace, salvation and joy I RSSULTB OF THE MAMIFEBTATIONB AT ROME. 257 Peace to your minds ; salvation to the faithful committed to your care; joy to you and to them, in order, that you may all rejoice, chaunting a new canticle in the House of Qod for ever- more!" \ The address which Cardinal Mattei read bore the signatures of all the bishops who were in Home. The bishops of Italy hastened to express their concurrence, with one exception, Ariano, who had participated in the revolutionary movement, and who came to an unhappy death within the year. There came, in due course, numerous adhesions from all parts of the world, together with countless addresses from the clergy of the second order. The laity, on their part, received the bishops on their return home with triumphal honors. They came around them and escorted them to the pulpits of their cathe- drals, in order to hear from their lips all that had taken place at Rome. The Bishop of Moulins, Mgr. de Droux Breze, admirably expressed in a few words the impressions of the venerable pilgrims : ** Rome is a city of wonders ; but the wonder of Rome is Pius IX." The moral result of all these manifestations was incalcu- lable. At a time when universal suffrage had come into vogue, it was impossible not to see in all this, from a merely wordly point of view, indirect, indeed, but strikingly universal suffrage. The vote of the whole Catholic world was shown, united with that of the Romans, in affirming the rights of the Catholic world over Rome, whilst appeared, at the same time, the deter- mination of the Romans to retain their cherished autonomy, and to remain the capital of the Catholic world. The parlia- ment of Turin was greatly agitated. There was indescribable confusion, so that discussioii was impossible. They voted, in opposition to the Episcopal and Pontifical allocutions, an address to Victor Emmanuel, the character of which may be gathered from the following few words : *' Sire, bishops, almost all strangers in Italy, have proclaimed the strange doctrine that Rome is the slave of the Catholic world. We reply to them by declaring that we are resolved, to maintain inviolable .8 ^58 PERSECUTION IN POLAND. the right of tho nation and that of tho Italian motropolis, which is, at present, retained by force under a detested yoke." It was of a piece with many other assertions of the revolution- ary party that the Romans detested the rule of the Holy Father. It was particularly audacious to make such an assertion in face of the enthusiastic demonstrations which had just been made in the city of the Popes. They had forbidden the presence of the Italian bishops at Rome, and nevertheless they dared to complain that almost all the bishops who gathered around the Sovereign Pontiflf were strangers in Italy, But what did this avail them ? Did not the Italian bishops decidedly express complete concurrence with their brethren ? It is still more surprising that the Emperor Napoleon took no warning from the words of tho Turin parliament, and went so far as to conclude an agreement with them for the pyeserva- tion to the Pope of the Holy City. It is difficult to understand how a people numerically so weak as the inhabitants of that portion of ,aX«e;ld"i?u" the once great kingdom of Poland, which IX. raises his voice fell to the RuBsian Empire at the time of in Its behalf. ^-^^ unfortunate partition, could have under- taken a rebellion against^ so great a Power as Russia. But provocation, patriotism, the sense of nationality, together with the ardent love of liberty, set the laws of prudence at defiance. That provocation must have been of no ordinary kind which could excite, in Russian Poland, a third rebellion, which had no better prospect of success than the two former, which resulted so disastrously for the unhappy Poles. And, indeed, what could be worse or more calculated to cause insurrection than the cruelties, crimes and sacrilegious acts which the Russian government was guilty of throughout Poland in the years 1861 and 1862 ? The churches of that ill-fated country were seized and profaned, divine service interdicted, and the bishops arraigned before courts-martial and cast into prison. Such atrocities, instead of crushing, only increased the patriot- ism of the people. Russian policy, baffled as was to l^e expected, PER8BCUTI0N IN POLAND. d59 an its design of oBi^blisbing tranquillity by suob bar- barous proceedings, had recourse to a rigid conscription intended to have the effect of forcing all the patriotic youth of the coun- try into the ranks of the Russian army. This violent recruit- ing was first attempted at Warsaw, at dead of night, on the 15th of January, 1863. When the news of this violence spread throughout the country, all the young men capable of bearing arms fled to the steppes and forests, and, in eight days, all Poland was in rebellion for the third time, in order to break the yoke of the foreigner. A word from the great Powers, or any one of them, would have restored peace. But they all alike refused to speak this word. The British, after having encouraged the Poles to resistance in public speeches, were on the point of intervening in their behalf, when a hint from M. de Bismark suddenly cooled their zeal, and determined Lord John Russell to recall by telegraph threatening de- spatches which were already on their way to St. Petersburgh. It need scarcely be said that Prussia, which was an accom- plice of Russia in the iniquitous partition, made common cause with Russia in the work of repression. Austria was at the time paralyzed, as Italy was threatening Venice. Italy simply expressed to Prince Gortsohakoff, the Russian Chancellor, "its confidence that the Emperor Alexander would peirsevere in the reforms so imfortunately interrupted by the rebellion." Inno- cent Italians ! They, of course, were not guilty of causing rebellion, which was now, in their estimation, so deplorable in Sicily, Naples, the Grand Duchies, of God, and with the benediction of the Holy Pontiff. "I am confident, therefore," he added, "that I shall be able to filfil my great mission to Mexico." > - . Unfqytunately for him, however, liberalism, or, rather, ill- ^sguised socialism, was enthroned, for the moment, in what was destined to be, for a little while longei', the chief seat of European Power. It is not difficult to imagine whence coun- sel proceeded, and the inexperienced Emperor came to believe that Mexico might be governed as France was, whilst its ruler 'thwarted the will of the great majority of her people. He may not, indeed, have been free to reject the advice which swayed Mm. Be this as it may, he most unwisely cast himself into the arms of the party to whom monarchy and religion were alike hateful. He now framed a Concordat which, whilst it could not be acceptable to his new friends, was far from being such as the Pope could ratify. The revolutionary party had gained the new Emperor. The Holy Father, ever anxious to promote the well-being of the church, sent a nuncio to Maximilian, to remind MaximS '^ Order to remind bim of his promises, and induce him to abolish the laws that had been enacted for the purpose of oppressing the church, and completely to reorganize ecclesiastical affairs with the full concurrence of the Holy See. The letter borne by the nuncio required that the Catholic religion should con- tinue to be the stay and glory of the Mexican nation ; that the bishops should be entirely free in the exercise of their pastoral ministry; that the religious orders should be restored and organized according to the instructions and faculties imparted by the Sovereign Pontiff ; that the patrimony of the church and the rights connected therewith should be guaranteed and protected ; that none be allowed to disseminate false and sub- versive doctrines; that public as well as private education be Ian of his promises made at Home. MAXIMILIAN. 265 •directed and superintended by ecclesiastical authority; and, finally, that those fetters be broken which had hitherto for come time held the church dependent on the arbitrary will of ihe civil power. "If," continued the Holy Father, '* the religious edifice be re-established, as we doubt not it will, on Buch foundations, your Majesty will satisfy one of the greatest wants and realize the most ardent aspirations of the religious people of Mexico ; you will dispel our disquietude and that of the illustrious Mexican Episcopate ; you will pave the way for the education of a learned and zealous clergy, as well as the moral reformation of the people. You will thus, also, con- solidate your throne, and promote the prosperity and glory of your Imperial family." In all this the Emperor would have been sustained by the great majority of the Mexican people. And there was nothing impossible required of him. It is not shown anywhere that the restoration of church properties, which had been long alienated and had often changed proprie- . tors, would have been exacted, any more than in England, .when religion was restair-^ under the reign of Mary. The policy indicated by Pius IX. would have won for Maximilian a host of friends aud supporters. The line of conduct which he pursued was most imacceptable to the CathoUc nation of Mexico, whiilst it was not in the least calculated to satisfy the revolutionary party. Refusing to concede everything that the church required, he wished to retain for himself the ancient regal privileges of the Crown of Spain — the investiture of bishops, the regulating of ecclesiastical tariffs, the limitation of the number of monastic orders and religiouB associations, .&c. So far the revolution was pleased. It wat; loud in its applause. With what sincerity events failed not to show. ; Pius IX. insisted on the Emperor's solemn pledges so recently giv«n at Rome. Maximilian was deaf to the counsels, the , complaints, the earnest prayers of the Holy Father. So it ;; remained only for the Papal Nuncio, Monsignor MegHa, to take his departure from Vera Cruz (Ist June, 1865). Mean- while, Maximilian's chief support, the French Emperor, drea'^.- 266 HOSTILE MACHINATIONS. ing the formidable hostility of the United States of America^ which could not tolerate an empire on the borders of their great republic, was obliged to withdraw from Mexico the army which, from the first, was necessary to sustain the new empire. Napoleon, one would say, was pledged to Maximilian, having induced him to assume the Imperial Crown, and having also promised all necessary support. He could not, however, com- mand success ; and chivalry, even if it had still existed, would have availed but little, when power alone could win. Maximilian was now all alone, face to face with anarchy and the Mexican nation which he had slighted. Faction ruled in his place. The revolutionary party which he had favored proved untrue ; and falling into the hands of his enemies, he was solemnly murdered by the ruling brigand of the day. The officers of Napoleon's army sincerely believed that no better fate could be anticipated ; for they earnestly advised him to- accompany them on their return to Europe. This he could have done without dishonor. The idea of a Mexican empire was Napoleon's, and he alone was answerable for its success. On the part of Maximilian it was more than chivalry to remain in Mexico when his guard was gone. But the idea of the youthful Prince in regard to honor appears to have been, like his policy, unsound. The policy may not have been, most probably was not, his. But the sentiment of honor was all his own. And although, in an age of chivalry even, it would have appeared exaggerated, it redounds to his credit. It is not surprising that a man animated by such noble sentiments should have died as became a hero and a Christian. : ;■ ■'*;-4t* The potentate, on whom, as far as worldly power ^w&a con* cerned, depended the Pope's temporal sov< wLf the'aboution ereignty, was thiwing himself every day of the. Papal sover- more and more into the hands of the enemies ****"*^* of the church. His ministers, more auda- cious than himsell, carried their blind hatred of " Clericalism " to such an extent as to sacrifice many of the best supporters of the empire. This was singularly apparent at the general HOSTILE MACHINATIONS. 267 election of 1863. M. de Persigny hesitated not to employ all the influence of the government against such Imperialists as had voted for or shown themselves favorable to the Pope's temporal power, He succeeded in causing such friends of Napoleon as De Caverville, Cochin and Lemercier to be replaced by the most bitter enemies of the Imperial regime. He also managed to exclude from parliament Messrs. de Montalembert, de Falloux and Keller. But Messrs. Plichou, Berryer and Thiers, notwithstanding his hostile efforts, were elected. This last-named statesman was himself a host, and his eloquent speeches in support of the temporal sovereignty made all the more impression that they were known to be dictated by far- seeing poUcy, rather than any leaning towards religion. They deeply impressed the parUament and the country ; but availed not with Napoleon III., whom an imprincipled ministry were leading blindfolded to destruction. Meanwhile, the question of Rome entered on a new phase. The Cabinets of Turin and Paris concluded an agreement in regard to the Eoman State on 15th September, 1864. The text of this notorious agree- ment was known to Europe, whilst its meaning remained a mystery. The ministry of Napoleon III. made it appear in France as a guarantee for the safety of the Pope. The Pied- montese government flattered the revolutionary element of Italy, by representing that it did not in the least change their programme, the keynote of which was " Rome the Capital." They were right. This proved to be the true solution of the mystery. The first article provided that the King of Piedmont should not attack, and he bound himself by oath not to attack, the remaining territory of the Holy Father, to prevent by force, if necessary, aU aggression from any other quarter, and to pay the debts of the former States of the Church. By the second clause France became bound to withdraw her troops in twa years. A protocol was added, by which Victor Emmanuel engaged to transfer his capital from Turin to Florence m six months. It was more th^n disrespectful to t'le Pope ; it was of evil omen, of sinister import, that the sovereign whose state ^68 THE SYLLABUS. "was concerned was not a party to the treaty — was not even consulted. The minds of all Catholics were greatly disquieted, and their anxiety was only increased by the Italian interpreta- tion of the agreement. Pius IX., who understood well by what men and by what principles the Cabinet of the Tuileries was governed, made a remark which indicated more his fears for the great French nation than for the fragment which remained to him of his territory. He would have nothing to do with the pecuniary compensation that was offered to him. He could only siiy that " he pTtied France." The crime of that country was that her government made any agreement at all with the monarch who had so unscrupulously violated the treaty of Zurich, and who was, besides, the chief hero of Gaeta, Naples, Castelfidardo and Ancona. One of the most eloquent of Bishop Dupanloup's publications, the one which, perhaps, has been the most generally read, exposes the hollowness of this arrangement, which is known in history as the September agreement. The 8th of December, 1864, the tenth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immacu- late Conception, was marked by the publica- tion of the Encyclical, " quanta cura," and, together with it, the " Syllabus." This great doctrinal act was a crushing reply to the erroneous assertions of the time, as weU as to the vain ideas of those politicians who boasted that, through their efforts, the spiritual office no less than the temporal sovereignty of the Pope was drawing to a close. The Encyclical letter is addressed to all bishops in communion with the Holy See, and through them to all the faithful throughout the world. It con- tains the teachings of Pius IX., and the Popes, his predeces- sors, in opposition to the errors of the present age — the mis- taken ideas of natural religion ; religious indifference which, falsely assuming the name of liberty of conscience and of worship, establishes the reign of physical force in the place of law and justice ; communism and socialism ; the subjection of the church to the state ; and the independence of Christians in regard to the Holy See. The Syllabus. THE SYLLABUB. 269 / The "Syllabus" consists of eighty propositions, which axe a summary of the false teachings of the enemies of the Catho- lic church, as found in the periodical press, as well as in their writings of a more permanent character. The first seven propositions briefly express the errors on pantheism, natm*al- ism, and absolute rationalism. All who have any Christian belief, to whatever denomination they may adhere, mnst surely acknowledge the justice of denouncing philosophers of the school of Strauss, who insist that Christ is a myth, and His rehgion a system of mythology. From the eighth to the fourteenth proposition inclu^vely, are pointed out and condemned the errors of modem rational- ism. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth, indifferentism and latitudinarianism' are exposed. Throughout the rest of the catalogue, secret societies and communism are condemned ; erroneous views, as regards church and state, natural and Christian ethics, and Christian marriage are expressed and denounced. Finally, are pointed out the errors that have been uttered in regard to the temporal power of the Pope, together with such as have refe^rence to modern liberahsm. These impoi-tant documents, the Encyclical, "quanta cura," and the " Syllabus,'-' are not so much the work of Pius IX. as of all the Popes of a century back, from the Council of Pistoia, Febronianism and Josephism. Whilst the "Syllabus" was yet in embryo, it wau, with the exception of a few propositions which were not yet formulated, confidentially communicated to the bishops on occasion of the canonization of the Japanese martyrs. Each bishop was at that time invited to select two theologians in order to examine the propositions, and give their opinion in six months. The church, therefore, was not taken by surprise, when the " Syllabus " appeared, however much its publication may have struck with astonishment and alarm the party of revolution and unbelief. Catholics, at least, could not fail to be swayed by such a masterly exposition of Catholic theology on so many subjects, all intimately connected with human conduct in private life as well as in affairs of pubUo 270 THS SYLLABUB. import. And there were Catholics everywhere — among the rulers of the world and its leading statesmen, no less than in all classes and grades of society. Such now could have no excuse for favoring opinions which were so distinctly condemned by that authority which they all recognized as the highest upon earth. Nevertheless, whatever impression the clear teach- ing of the ** Syllabus," in regard to the church and her rights, civil society, and both natural and Christian . morality, was destined, in time, to produce, but little disposition was shown to be guided by it at the outset. There was all but a universal clamor that the church had pronounced a divorce between modem society and the spiritual order. Nor could it be other- wise, so long as the former held principles which were essen- tially incompatible with the latter. Neither could reconcilia- tion be easily or speedily brought about. ' The principles which religion condemned were in the ascendant. The existing civil law of all European nationp was founded on them. There was no government that had not adopted them and shown itself inclined to be entirely guided by them. The formal condem- nation of the cherished ideas of the age was as a thunderbolt hurled against the social elettaents of the day. But why dis- turb their peace ? They had no peace. They were already discordant. ^' Non est pax impiis." Peace could not be born of unbelief. It could come only through the truth, even as health conquers disease by the most trying curative process. Napoleon III. was the first who openly resisted the ** encroach- ments " of Rome, just as if they had constituted the only danger to his throne. By a decree datedlst January, 1865, he forbade the publication of the Encyclical and the Syllabus, whilst he caused to be tried and condemned, as guilty of abuse, the Archbishop of Besan^on and the Bishop of Moulins, because they had read the Encyclical in their pulpits. The other prel- ates of France so far submitted as to avoid printing the obnoxious documents, lest their printers should be uselessly comprornised. Several bishops declared that the [Encyclircal was already sufficiently published in their dioceses by the voice '■y* SAOOWA — PRAOUB. 271 of the presB. They thus expressed the idea of the whole epis- copate. Pius IX. highly commended their zeal. ** We must go back," he said, " to the early ages of Christianity, in order to find an episcopal body that could show such courage." To persons accustomed to theological studies, it is suffi- ciently apparent why each proposition of the " Syllabus" stands condemned. To others, cause is shown in the consistorial allo- cutions. Encyclical and other letters apostolical of the Holy Father, in relation to each proposition. Some things must be interpreted by the conduct of the Pope himself. For instance, what is said in regard to the liberty of public worship and of the press must be read in the light of that reasonable tolerance which the Popes were accustomed to exercise when they ruled at Rome as sovereign Pi^nces. There is no libei'ty without some restraint. The press, in this respect, is in the same position as individuals. According to the laws of all civilized lands, when it abuses its liberty and commits crime, it is visited with severe punishment. The greater liberty which the press enjoys, and must enjoy, in the present circumstances of the world, by no neans clashes with the condemnation of proposition 79 of the ' Syllabus." The press can no more be free to publish anything whatsoever, however offensive it may be, than persons are free to perform such acts as necessarily sub- ject them, even in states where there is the greatest attainable degree of liberty, to condemnation and punishment. If every organized community possesses, as it certainly does possess, the right so to stigmatize an offending citizen, and that with- out any violation of liberty, it is equally entitled to judge and punish an offending press. Not satisfied with the blow which so greatly weakened _ Austria in the Italian campaign. Napoleon Succeesful eflfbrts of r <=> ' r Napoleon III. to HI. plotted with Prussia for a further hum- humbioAustriH. ^^^^ ^f ^j^^ ^^^^^ Catholic Power. To this ■ end he held dark consultations with Count Bismark, at Biar- jitz, as he had formerly done with Count de Cavour at Plom- bieres. The former, however, proved to be more than a match ^. ^, ^.►s^ -^^^ . f your Holiness, to enjoy a kindly welcome, an unrestrained liberty, and the peaceful contemplation of those venerable structures and sites preserved so happily by the Pontifical government from the sad alterations blindly wrought in other cities by the troublous hfe of modern commu- nities. May the Almighty One hear our prayer, and persuade both sovereigns and nations that their honor and glory will be measured,' in coming ages, on the degree of protection they 284 89. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. shall have afforded to the temporal power of the Papacy, which has ever been the unweiiried promoter of the development of all the noblest faculties in man, and which alone can continue to be the custodian of the works of art originated by itself, and by it so faithfully treasured for the benefit of all peoples !" This eloquent address will ever remain carefully guarded by history, a noble monument of gratitude, and not only this, but also as a testimony, all the more valuable as it is the sponta- neous utterance of men of the most cultivated intellect, in favor of that sovereignty the destruction of which was sought, and has been accomplished, by a party in whose ranks could be counted only rude soldiers, bands of filibusters and politi- cians, if such they could be called, whose counsels were inspired, not by the wisdom which distinguishes statesmen, but by blind passion, and the most unworthy of all passions, the passion of hatred — hatred of everything connected with the Christian faith. The great centennial celebration proceeded. Who would have dared to say, whilst Nero reigned at Eome, and Chris- tians were as pariahs, tolerated only in order to afford the spectacle of their tortures to a heathen multitude, that eighteen hundred years from Nero's time, Christianity would flourish djid celebrate in that city, which w&s the scene of its greatest trials, as well as ail over the world, its victory and the glorious martyrdom of its apostolic founders ! The month of June, 1867, will ever be memorable in the annals of the church. Never had so many bishops assembled in the holy city. Nor wore there ever there, at one time, so many priests and pilgrims of all ranks and classes. The duties of the time were com- menced early in the month. On the 11th and 12th of June, consistories were held in presence of the bishops, in order to make preparation for the canonization of two hundred and five Japanese Christians — priests, catecbiats, laymen, women and children— put to death in hatred of the Christian faith, from 1617 to 1682. On the 26th of February, 1867, the decree of canonization had already been solemnly read in presence of SS. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIM . 285 Pius IX., who, on the occasion, went in. state to the Eoman College. On the 22nd February of the same year, the Holy , Father signed decrees bearing on the beatification of several holy persons, among -whom was Clement Maria Hofbauer, a Kedemptorist. In an age of unbelief, it was only to be expected that the enquiry should be made why the Pope made so many saints ? v In February, 1867, his Holiness replied, on occasion oi a visit to the Convent of the Capuchin Friars : " I have been shown," said he, "a pamphlet, entitled 'Why so many Saints? Had we ever so much need of intercessors in heaven and pat- terns in this world ?" A little later he also said, alluding to the festivals at Paris : ** Man has not been placed on the ear^h solely in order to amass wealth ; still less in order to lead a life of pleasure. The world is ignorant of this. It forgets mind, and devotes itself to matter. Neither you nor I are this world of which I speak. You are come here in the good dis- position to seek the edification of your souls. I hope, there- fore, that you wiU bear away with you a salutary impression. Never forget, my children, that you have a soul, a soul created in the image of God, and which God will judge. Bestow on it more thought and care than on industrial speculations, rail- ways, and all those lesser objects which constitute the good things of this world. 1 forbid you not to interest yourselves in such transient matters. Do so reasonably and moderately. But let me once more beg of you to remember that you have a soul." None of the ten or twelve potentates who visited Paris came to Rome. But their absence was amply made up for by the immense concourse of clergy and people from every quarter of the civilized world. The reverence shown to Pius IX. by so many prelates was truly admirable. A Chinese bishop, Mgr. LanguiUat, Vicar-apostolic of Nankin, coming for the first time into the presence of the Supreme Pastor, fell prostrate on the threshold, and with his arms extended towards the Pontiff, began to exclaim : " Tu e$ Petrus /" (" Thou art Peter !") ( 286 SS. MITER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. ** Come to me, my brother," said the Holy Father. • " Tw es Petrusr replied the Chinese bishop, ** Tu ea Petrus!" Need- less to say that when he approached the venerable Pontiff affectionately embraced him, whilst both gave vent to their feelings in tears. The laity of all ranks and classes were no less devoted. A very moving scene which was witnessed this same year (1867) is beautifully described by the Protestant cor- respondent of the London Morning Post: "It is truly delight- ful to meet Pius IX. in the country on foot, walking faster than one would suppose his age could allow, his majestic person arrayed in a white soutane, and protected by a large broad- brimmed purple hat. The other day, when I was at Aricia, he was proceeding towards Genzano, followed by his guards and his carriage. The ex-Queen of Naples and the Infanta, lately Eegent, were walking in the opposite direction, followed by their equipages and domestics. At a turn of the road, exactly below the Villa Chigi, the two groups met. In a moment their Eoyal Majesties were on their knees. His Holiness quickened his pace in order to raise them up. The peasants of the neigh- borhood, who were returning from their vineyards and orchards, together with their wives and daughters, were struck with admiration. They also advanced and knelt on each side of the central group formed by the illustrious personages, call- ing out with all their might : * Santo Padre, la henedizione.' * Holy Father, your benediction !' It was a splendid tableau." On occasion of the centennial, substantial proofs of devoted- ness abounded. The numerous pilgrims not only gaye the homage of their faith, but also brought magnificent offerings, as Peter's pence, and presented addresses with millions of sig- natures. One day fifteen hundred Italians were received at an audience of the Holy Father, and made the offering of a monu- niental album, together with on© hundred purses filled with gold, as the homage of one hundred Italian cities. Cardinal Manning laid at the feet of Pius IX. £80,000 — a generous tes- timony of English piety. The Cardinal Archbishop of Mechlin brought to the centenary celebration £16,000, the Archbishop >^ SS. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. 287 of Posen £20,000, and the Mexican archbishop i£12,000, whilst Cuba offered 100,000 douros. ** We are reversing the order of nature," smilingly observed the Holy Father ; " here are the children supporting the Father." Nor was it too much for the wants of such a Tather. He received with one hand and gen- erously dispensed with the other. He took charge himself to lodge and entertain eighth-five of the poorer bishops from Italy, the East, and remote missions. None of these were allowed to depart without receiving abundant aid for their diocesan good works. Festival followed festival at Kome, from the 20th June till the 7th of July. On the former day was celebrated the grand solemnity of Corpus Christi. The Pope himself bore the holy sacrament, kneeling and surrounded by the greater half of the whole Christian episcopate. It was remarked that he was as calm and collected in the midst of such » great and imposing -' multitude as if he had been in his private oratory. The vast assemblage was also rapt in silent contemplation. Not a sound was heard save the murmur of the fountains. An eye-witness has observed that if one closed his eyes he could imagine him- self in a desert. Next day was celebrated the 2i.st anniversary of the coronation of Pius IX. He had already said, m reply to an address read by Cardinal Patrizi, when all the visitors to Eome were assembled on occasion of the commemoration of his election — 16th June — ** Modem society is ardent in the pursuit of two things, progress, and unity. It fails to reach either, because its motive principles are selfishness and pride. Pride is the worst enemy of progress, and selfishnesB,by destroy- ing charity, the bond of souls, thereby rendering union impos- sible. Now God Himself has established the Sovereign Pontiff in order to direct and enlighten society, to point out evil and indicate the proper , remedy. This induced me, some years ago, to publish the ' Syllabus.' I now confirm that solemn act in your presence. It is to be, henceforth, the rule of youi teaching. We have to contend, unceasingly, with the enemies who beset us. Placed on the mountain-top like Moses, I lift 288 SS. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL, up my hands to God in prayer for the triumph of the church. I ask of you, my brother bishops, to support my arms, for they grow weary. Take courage ! The church must triumph. I leave this hope in your hearts, not as a hope merely, but as a prophecy." Oh the 23rd was consecrated the Church cf St. Mary of the Angelrt. an admirable architectural monument, built originally accor.ling to the plans of Michael Ajif^elo, and rebuilt by Pius IX. The 24th, on leaving the Basihca of St. John Lateran, the Pope was the object of a more splendid ovation than any» perhaps, that he had as yet received. Kneeling on the vast place, and completely filUng it, the multitude which had not been able to enter the Basilica waited for the Pontifical bene- diction. After the Holy Father had raised his hand and pro- nounced the words of blessing, the whole people rose, and, by u simultaneous movement and with one voice, replied : " Live Pius IX. ! Live the Pope-King !" Arms and handkerchiefs waved amidst a rain of beautiful flowers. The Pope's carriage was detained a considerable time, and he himself, accustomed as he was to the demonstrations of a devoted people, was moved to tears. His hood was almost taken to pieces, thread by thread, by French ecclesiastics who were close behind his Holiness, and who deposited the fragments, as precious relics, in their breviaries. The crowd thronged around the Holy Father and continued their acclamations as far as the Vatican, a distance of three miles. Every new day gave proof of a like enthusiasm. . . Pius IX. was anxious to address words of encouragement to the twenty thousand priests of the church who had come to Rome. The greatness of their number was a serious hindrance to this laudable purpose. The spacious consistorial hall was by far too small to contain so many. On the 25th of June, howeyer, they came to the hall, crowding its approaches, the passages, the great staircase and the outer court. The Holy Father, desiring to showhis respect and affection for so many pilgrims of the sacred order of the prieBthood, came to the SS. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. 289 assembly in more than usual state. The throne was raised a few steps, in order to afford an opportunity of seeing and hear- ing the Supreme Pastor. The Pontiff was preceded by the noble guard and the household prelates. As he entered the hall, loud and joyous acclamatiims burst from the assembled priesthood, for whom it was impossible to restrain their feel- ings of love and veneration. The Holy Father himself was -deeply moved, and, gathering enthusiasm from the unusual scene around him, spoke so as to he heard even in the remotest corridors, whilst those at a still greater distance were visibly moved by the thrilling tones of his sonorous voice. There are no readers who will not be interested in the words which fell from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiff on this unique and solemn occasion. He began by thanking the assembled clergy for their attendance in such imposing numbers. They were the tribe in Israel, he continued, whose special inheritance was tho Lord. They stood between him. and his people evermore, offering with prayer and supplication 'le spotless victim of the new law. Let them look well to the ministry entrusted to them, shining in the presence of all men by the dignity of their bearing, the innocence of their life, by integrity and charity, and the golden ornaments of every virtue. ** You," he said, " who are the interpreters of the word of God, you must preach it unweariedly to the wise and the unwise. Preach to them Christ and Him crucified, not in loftiness of speech, but in the knowledge of the spirit, never ceasmg to call into the right road all who stray, and confirm them in sound doctrine. Dis- pensers of the divine mysteries tnd of the manifold grace of God, deal it out to the faithful people, to the sick especially, in order that no help may fail them in their last struggle with the evil one. Do not refuse to the little ones of the flock the milk which they need. Let it] be your dearest care to teach them, to train them, to form them. Be the faithful and devoted helpmates of your respective bishops ; obeying them in all things, zealous to heal in your parishes whatever is ail- ing, to bind up what is broken, to raise up what is fallen, to 390 88. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. seek what is lost, in order that in all things God may be hon- ored through our Lord Jesus Christ. Lift up your souls and contemplate the imTj\etisurable height of glory prepared by him for all true and faithful h.borers." On the 26th a greiil public consistory was held. The five hundred bishops then at Rome weve in-vitti to attend. So great a number had never before assembled in Italy or any part of Western Christendom. Nor indeed was there ever, or could there ever have been, so ^reat an occasion for their assembling. There was question of celel ratiiig the eighteen hundredth anniversary of the glorious martyrdom of Rome's first great bishop, so many prelates had come together, also, in order to venerate Peter in the person of his venerable suc- cessor, who had now so long and so gloriously borne witness to the Truth — the Truth in its plenitude, as first committed to Peter and his fellow-apostles. The world was no longer heathen, and no Nero reigned, but the spirit of unbelief was abroad, and its champions were even then seeking to drive the Sovereign Pontiff from the holy city, and were waging war with as I determined wickedness as that of the early persecutors against whom the apostles had so successfully contended. The number of pilgrims from all parts of the Christian world, who had come to Rome on occasion of the centennial celebration, is said by some writers to have been not less than half ^ million. The presence of so great a number of devoted Christian people on such an occasion was the noblest protest that could be imagined against the vain boasts and prophecies of the enemies of the Church which Peter founded. That church was not yet forsaken, or destined soon to perish, which, in the nineteenth century of her uninterrupted existence, could speak through so many witnesses — the representatives of every civilized nation of the world. The great consistorial hall in the Vatican Palace being too small to contain so great a crowd of dignified Msteners, the assembly was held in the more spacious room which is situated above the vestibule of St. Peter's Church. At the opening of 8S. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. 291 the consistory the cardinal's hat was conferred on the Arch- bishop of Seville, Luis de la Lastray Cuesta. A formal peti- tion for the beatification of Marie Rivier, the fouudieas of the presentation Nuns cf Fiance, was thcjn presented. A iter this ceremony, tha Holy Father, as was expected, delivered an allo- cution to the bishops. He was fall of admiration for their zeal in coming in such ambers oi^ his invitation, and he could not do less than express to them his gratitude. Their presence \'as a striking proof of the unity of the Catholic Church. "Yes, everything here proclaims that admirable unity by which, as through a mysterious channel, all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit How into the mystic body of Christ, calling forth in every one of its membisrs those acts of faith and charity which excite the wonder of all mankind. What has brought you here ? Are you not come to decree the honors of sanctity to those heroes of the church, the greater number of whom bore away the palm of victory in their glorious witness for Christ ? Of these some died in defending thd primacy of this apostolic see, which is the centre of truth and unity; others gave their lives in defence of the unity and integrity of the faith; others again shed their blood in the endeavor to bring back schismatics to the one fold. Is it not providential that such heroism should be commemorated and honored at the very moment when the Catholic faith and the authority of the Holy See are the objects of such furious and implacable conspiracies ? We are also here to celebrate with solemn rites the memory of that auspicious day, eighteen hundred years ago, when Peter and Paul consecrated oy their heroic witnessing and their precious blood this impregnable stronghold of Catho- lic uniiy. What can be more reasonable than that our joyous commemoration of tl;iis triumphant death of the prince of the apostles should be graced by your presence ? For he belongs to the entire Catholic world. It is also most important that the enemies of religion should conclude from what they witness here how mighty is the energy, how unfailing the life, of- that Catholic Church which they so bitterly hate; how little wisdom 292 SS. PETER AND PAUL — CENTENNIAL. they display in matching their strength and their temporary triumphs over her against that incomparable union of living forces -which *^e creative po;ver of Christ has bound aroand this centialr< jk. More thftu over is it jueedful in our age, that ail men should see and underbtand that the only strong and lasting tie between men's souls depends on the reign over all of the same Spirit of God. Besides, what can make a more abiding impression on CathoHc nations ; what can draw them more powerfully and bind them more closely in obedience to this apostolic chair and to us, than to see how much their pastors cherish the rights and duties of Catholic unity, than to behold them journeying from the farthest lands, notwithstaiid- ing every inconvenience and impediment, in order to visit Eome and the apostolic chair, as well as to revere in our humble person the successor of Peter and the Vicar of Christ ? We have been always convinced, from the moment we beheld you approaching Peter in the person of his successor, or even entering this city, which is impregnated with his blood, that from thence to each one of you should go forth a special virtue. Yes, from this tomb, where Peter's ashes repose amid the ven- eration of the Christian world, a hidden power, a salutary .energy, emanates which instils into the souls of the Chief Pastors the desire of great undertakings and of vast designs, inspiring that fearlessness and magnanimity . which enable them to put down the impudent boldness of their assailants. There cannot be offered to the eyes of men and angels a more magnificent spectacle than what one beholds in such a con- course .of pilgrims as this. You who come from the ends of the earth to this home of your Father remind us not only of that pilgrimage which leads us all to the eternal home, you also call to mind the journey of the chosen people from ^gypt to the promised land, the twelve tribes marching together, each under its chief, bearing its own name, having its own appropriate place in the camp. Every family there was obedient to its parents, every company of warriors hearkened to the voice of its captain, and the entire multitude to the 88. PETEB AND PAVL — CENTENNIAL. 293 (livliely-appoixiicd leader. All thtse tribes, nevertheless, were but one people^ aucnng the same Uod, worshipping at the aame altar, obeying iii if^me laws, having one Pontiff, Aaron, and one leader, Moses- '^j^h people, enjoying common rights in the perils and labors of v^^-fare as wfll as in the results of victory, dwelling in the same teni s, and fed by the same miraC' ulous bread, whilst all yearneu for the same end of their pilgrimage. Nothing is to us the subject of such ardent long- ing as to see both ourselves and the whole church deriving from this precious union the most salutary blessings. It has long been a serious matter of thought for us, and which, indeed, we communicated to several of the episcopal body, to hold an (Ecumenical Council, in which, with the Divine assistance, our united counsels and solicitude should devise such efficient remedies as are necessary for the evils that afflict the e battle of Mentana as a pledge of its sincerity. This declaration was greeted with prolonged applause, and it could no longer be doubted that the vote would be almost unanimous. The deputies, however,, determined that the head of their church should not be imper- fectly protected, required of the minister a distinct explanation of what he meant by defending Rorae^ They were resolved that the government should not have the power to give up to QARIBALDIANS DEFEATED. 811 Italy the territory around the city wliich the Pope still poa- eessed, and leave to him only the walls of Rome. This posi- tion was maintained by the veteran orator of French parlia- ments, M. Berryer. A great number of deputies came to his support, so necessaiy was it understood to be to guard against all subterfuge in transacting with Napoleon III. M. Roulier was constrained to reascend the tribune. He did so, he said, more fully to express his idea, and declared, whilst the Chamber loudly applauded, that the Emperor guaranteed not only the city of Rome, but also the territory actually possessed by the Holy See, in all its integrity. Such was the memorable sitting of 4th December, 1867, at which the will of France was forced on its despotic ruler. But both for him and the country, French v/riters assure us, it was too late. If the representa- tives of the nation, they say, had shown from the beginning the same decision ; if the empire had always spoken as on the 4th December, 1867 ; if, above all, it had acted conformably t» its words, it would either not have fallen or fallen with honor. But never would we have seen either Italian unity or German unity, and the black flag of Prussia would not wave to-day over Metz, Malhouse and Strasbourg. Piedmont having withdrawn its threatening force on the approach of the French troops, the Holy See had nothing to dread, for some time at least, from foreign invasion. It remained only to provide against the attacks of banditti such as had been just defeated at Mentana. In this important matter the Holy Father was not left to his own resources The whole Christian world was in sympathy with him, and anxious for his safety. Volunteers from all Catholic countries hastened to Rome. Even remote Canada, so early as 1868, had sent her three hundred. And these mercenaries, as the enemy called them, served at their own expense. The Bishops of Hungary furnished three squadrons of Hussars, who were all mounted, equipped, and in every way suppUed by Hungarian subscrip- tions. The bishops and nobility of Galioia sent lancers. France, Belgium and Catholic Germany, emulated one another in their efforts to maintain the Pontifical force. [ ^12 GOLDEN JUBILEE. Ihcre was nothing warlike in thus providing against pos- sible dinger. So long as France held Piedmont bound to treaty stipulations, any army in the service of the Pope could only be employed as a police force in naaintaining internal peace, or in repelling such attempts as had recently been made by the irregular bands of Garibaldi against the Pontifical States. Meanwhile, the arts of peace were not neglected. The Holy Father, as might be supposed, when freed from the fear of invap^'on and expulsion from his state, applied with renewed zeal 10 the duties of his sublime office. Nor to these alone did he confine the exerci°o of his well-directed charity. The agri- cultm'al school for children remains a lasting and solid proof' of his enlightened benevolence. This establishment is called, in honor of its august founder, the Pio Vignetird (Pia Vigna). It is provided with all the most Improved implements, and is confided to the care of the Belgian Brothers of Mercy. It is wholly maintained by the private funds of Pius IX. It may be seen on an eminence to the left of the railway as you approach the city of Rome. ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOLY FATHER S ORDINATION. The anniversary of the elevation of Pius IX. to the Chris- tian priesthood happily occurred during this interval of peace. There was but one feeling throughout the whole Christian world. The warmest expressions of love and devotedness pro- ceeded from every land. All the sovereigns of Europe con- veyed by autograph letters their dutiful congratulations, whilst the joy of the people everywhere knew no bounds. At Bome the feast of the golden wedding of Pius IX. lasted three da/s. Everywhere else, as it fell c:. the Sunday of the Good Shep- herd, it was c?lebrated in the churches, and often in public places or on the mountains by illuminations or bonfires. Under the name of handsel to Pius IX., the Catholic press opened subscription lists. Notwithstanding the regular pay- ment of Peter's pence, the public generosity was not exhausted. CHINA-ORGIES-— CT. GAB. MASTAI. 318 One journal might be quoted, which alone collected more than one hundred thousand francs. The Archbishop of Cologne, Monsigneur Melchers, observed, in a pastoral instruction which he issued on the occasion, that never before had a Pope been in such intimate and universal relation with the heart of humanity. And indeed it was more consoling to the Supreme Pastor than all other demonstrations to reflect that so many millions on millions of faithful united with him in prayer at the Mass oi the 11th of April, all on the occasion participating in the Holy Communion. He felt that the whole universe prayed with him and for him. " God !" he exclaimed, in presence of some pilgrims who had come to congratulate him in person, " God ! have mercy on me ! This is too much happiness ! I dread when, ere long, 1 shall appear before Thy judgment-seat, lest Thou say to me : Thou hast had thy reward on earth ! Not to me, but to Thee, Lord ! belongeth the love of Christians." He fully appreciated the numerous offer- ings and congratulations of the Catholic world. His servants conceived the happy idea of placing in symmetrical order throughout the apartments of the Vatican the rich and numer- ous gifts which were presented to him on the occasion of his jubilee. Beholding them, he exclaimed : " I also have my uni- versal exposition ! It is the fruit not of my industry but of the love of my children." Then, as he turned over the leaves of the gigantic manuscripts which were covered with addresses of devotedness, he added : " This is the true expression of the universal Catholic suffrage." This auspicious time of peace and rejoicing was not with- out its sorrows. Among these were the fenrful massacres of Christians in China. Nor were these the worst, for they car- ried with them their consolation. If the Church was cruelly persecuted in China, she won new glory in adding martyrs to the Triumphant army in heaven. The many scandals that occurred througliout Christendom were more truly afflicting. Above all, were truly trying to the paternal heart of the Holy Father those which happened among the Catholic people who 814 UNCALLED-FOE ACTION OF NAPOLEON III. protected liim in the ijosaession of what remamed of his dilapi- dated patrimony. A court and a political system which were destined soon to disappear were laboring to put an end to- Christian education. The prince, cousin of the Emperor, Napoleon III., and the Senator and Academician, Sainte Beuve, held heathenish orgies in the Lenten season, even on Good Friday. To crown the list of evil, apostacy was not wanting. It was of little co/ sequence that one who fell away, although a vehement declaimer, was a shallow theologian ; his loss was, nevertheless, to be deplored. The progress of a low sect in Belgium caUed Solidaires, the success of a new revolution in Spain, under favor of which the members of religious commu- nities, both of men and of women, were driven from their homes in the name of liberty, together with the opening of revolutionary clubs in Paris, caused Pius IX. to dread catas- trophes in the near future. Severe domestic affliction came this year (1869) to aggravate the sorrows of Pius TX. His brother. Count Gabriel Mastai, met with an accident which, at his advanced age, ninety, proved to be serious. The Holy Father, immediately traversing Rome, ascended on his knees the scala sancta. A few days later the death of the patient was intimated to him. He shut himself up several hours in his- private apartment, in order that none might witness the tearc which grief made him she^".. Finally, he repaired to ^jhe Vatican Basilica, where he prayed for a long time, both before^ the Holy Sacrament and at the tomb of the apostles. ^ AN EXERCISE OF SOVEREIGNTY. Those states which foimed the monetary division of West- ern Europe— France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Holy See, agreed at this time to refound their silver coinage. A model was chosen, which Greece, Portugal, Roumania and some other countries adopted in their turn, and it was understood that the new coinage for each state should be in proportion to its population. Hence it behooved the Pontifical State to issue forty millions of livres or thereby, for a population numbering. UNCALLED-FQR ACTION OF NAPOLEON III. 31& from three to four millions of souls, including Romagna and Umbria, which the Pope still claimed. The Florence govern- ment remonstrated against the issue of forty million Uvres, on the ground that the Pontiff could not now actually count more than from 600,000 to 700,000 subjects. Napoleon III., always inclined to gratify the revolution, summoned Pius IX. to sus- pend the issue of his exaggerated coinage, three-fomths of which, it was insisted, should be cast anew with the effigy of Victor Emmanuel. This interference of Napoleon was con- sidered inopportune and unacceptable, the operation of coining being almost completed. Cardinal Antonelli mamtained the right of the Holy See. The French and Italian governments agreed to exclude from their circulation, and consequently from that of the whole monetary union, all silver coins which bore the meek and noble likeness of Pius IX. This they did without offering to the public any explanation. The revolu- tionary party, however, were too honest not to supply this want. They at once gave cu'culation to the rumor that the coinage of the Pope was of inferior quality. He was^ointed out as a money-counterfeiter by the thousand organs of the infidel press. The people, grossly deceived, repelled with indig- nation, as if it were that of a robber, the likeness of the repre- sentative of justice on earth. The Catholics, meanwhile, observed with pain that while this storm of calumny was raging, one of their own number, once a champion of the temporal pow^er, held in the French government the portfolio of finance. The Pontifical treasury subjected itself to consider- able sacrifices, in order to diminish the losses and silence the recriminations of those who were compelled to stop its money, which could no longer be circulated. Chemists, in the interest of truth, analyzed the depreciated metal, and declared that it was exactly of the same value as the coinage of Napoleon III. But neither the officious nor the official press took the pains to publish this fact, and the calumny remained. The time was even then at hand, as French writers observe with pain, when France, in her downfallen and exhausted condition, would 316 VATICAN COUNCIL. have been glad to possess this Pontifical money and dispense with worthless paper. THE VATICAN COUNCIL- -PURPOSE OF THE POPE GENERAL COUNCIL. IN CONVENING A This time of sorrow, mourning and difficulty was succeeded by a period of unwonted activity. It was deemed expedient to convoke an (Ecumenical Council. This important measure was thought of on occasion of the centenary celebration of the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul. After two years of serious and mature deliberation and consultation, Pius IX. issued apostolical letters, convening a council of the whole church at the Vatican Basihca. The 8th of December, 1869, was ap- pointed as the day for its first assembling. The objects in view cannot be better described than in the words of the venerable Pontiff. After a few preliminary paragraphs in his Bull of Indiction, the Holy Father thus roceeds : *' The Eoman Pontiffs, in the discharge of the office divinely confided to them in the person of Peter of feeding the entire flock of Christ, have unweariedly taken on themselves the most arduous labors, and used every possible means in order to have the various nations and races all over the earth brought to the light of the Gospel, and by truth and holiness to eternal life. AU men know the zeal and unceasing vigilance with which these same Eoman Pontiffs have kept inviolate the deposit of faith, discipline among the ciergy, purity and science in the education given to the members of the church, the holiness and dignity of Christian marriage ; how they studied day by day to promote the Christian education of the youth of both sexes, to foster among all classes the love of religion, the prac- tice of piety and purity of morals as well as everything that might conduce to the tranquillity, the good order and the prosperity of civil society. Whenever great troubles arose, or serious calamities threatened either the church or social order, the Eoman Pontiffs judged it opportune to convoke general councils, in order that with the advice and assistance of the VATICAN COUNCIL. 31T bishops of the Catholic world, whom the Holy Gliost hath established to riile the Church of God, they might, in their united wisdom and forethought, so dispose everjiihing as to define the doctrines of faith, to secure the destruction of the most prevalent errors, defend, illustrate and develop CathoHc teaching, restore and promote ecclesiastical discipline and the reformation of morals. " No one at the present time can be ignorant how terrible is the storm by which the church is assailed, and what an accumulation of evils afflicts civil society. The Catholic Church, her most salutary doctrines, her most revered power, the supreme authority of this Holy See, are all assailed and trampled on by the bitter enemies of God and man. All that is most sacred is held up to contempt ; ecclesiastical property is made the prey of the spoiler ; the most venerable ministers of the sacraments, men most eminent for their Catholic character, are harassed by unheard of annoyances. The reHgious orders are suppressed, impious books of every kind and pestilential publications are disseminated, wicked and pernicious societies are everywhere and under every form mul- tiplied. The education of youth is, in almost all countries, withdrawn from the clergy, and, what is far worse, intrusted in many places to teachers of error and e'sdl. " In consequence of all these facts, to our great grief and that of all good men, and to the irreparable ruin of souls, impiety, corruption of morals, unbridled licentiousness, the contagion of depraved opinions, and of every species of pesti- lential vice and crime, the violation of all laws, human and divine, prevail everywhere to such an extent, that not only reUgion but human society itself is thrown into the most deplorable disorder and confusion. '* Wherefore, following in the footsteps of our illustrious predecessors, we have deemed it opportune to call together a General Council, as we had long desired to do. " This Ecumenical Council will have to examine most dili- gently, and to determine what it is most seasonable to do, in 318 VATICAN COUNCIL. these calamitous times, for the greatest glory of God, the inte^ rity of faith, the splendor of Divine worship, the eternal salva- tion of men, the discipline of the regular and secular clergy, and their sound and solid education, the ohservance of ecclesi- astical laws, the reformation of morals, the Christian education of youth, the common peace and universal concord. With the Divine assistance, our labors must also be directed towards remedying the peculiar evils which afflict church and state ; towards bringing back into the right road those who have strayed away from truth and righteousness ; towards repress- ing vice and error, in order that our holy religion and her sav- ing doctrines may acquire renewed vigor all over the earth, that its empire may be restored and increased, and that thereby piety, modesty, honor, justice, charity and all Christian virtues may wax strong and flourish for the glory and happiness of our common humanity." It has been alleged and persistently maintained by the ene- mies of the Holy See, that Pius IX. sought only to promote his own importance by convening a General Council. Of this calumny the foregoing words, which so plainly and distinctly set forth the purposes of the council, afford an abundant refu- tation. No man holding a great public office can fulfil faith- fully the duties of that office without exalting his own character in the estimation of mankind. Ought he then, because such •things exalt him, to leave them undone? This would, indeed, be mistaken humility. Councils, although not an essential element in the govern- ment of the church, are had recom'se to in times of difficulty, in order to settle doctrinal disputes, promote morality and establish or restore discipline. With the exception of the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, no council was held for the first three hundred years of the church's existence. • The church, nevertheless, as regarded her spiritual state, was highly prosperous and extended rapidly. Councils came as exigencies arose, and when there was no insuperable impedi- ment to their assembling. They were in their time a source VATICAN COUNCIL. 319 'rimates, 123 archbishops, 481 bishops, 6 abbots, 22 abbots-general, 29 vicars and vicars-general of orders ; in itll, 723 Fathers. On 20th December there were 743. The following Bishops of England were in attendance at the council: The Most Rev. Archbishop Manning, of West- minBter; the Most Rev. Dr. Errington, Archbishop of Tre- bizbnde; the Right Rev. Dr. Grant, of Southwark; the Right Rev. Dr. Comthwaite, of Beverly ; the Right Rev. Dr. Uulla- thome, of Birmingham; the Right Rev. Dr. Clifford, of Clifton; the Bight Rev. Dr. Chad wick, of Hexham; the Right Rev. Dr. Amherst, of Northampton; the Right Rev. Dr. Roskell, of Not- tingham ; the Right Rev. Dr. Vaughan, of Plymouth ; the Right Rev. Dr. Turner, of Salford ; the Right Rev. Dr. Brown, of Shrewsbury. There was a somewhat lor.ger list of Irish bishops, viz. : His Eminence Paul, Cardinal- Archbishop of Dublin ; the Most Rev. Dr. McGettigan, Primate of all Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh; the Most Rev. Dr. Leahy, Archbishop of Cashel; the Most ReV. Dr. McHale, Archbishop of Tuam; the Right Rev. Dr. Derry, of Clonfert ; O'Keane, Fermoy ; Kelly, Derry ; Moriarty, Kerry; Leahy, Dromore; Gillooly, Elphin; McEvilly^ Galway; Furlong, Ferns; O'Hea, Ross; Dorrian, Down and Connor; Butler, Limerick; Conaty, Kilmore; Nulty, Meath; Donnelly, Clogher; Power, Killaloe ; McCabe, Ardagh. The hierarchy had not yet been restored in Scotland ; so that country could send only three bishops to the (Ecumenical Council. These were the Right Rev. John Strain, Vicar- Apostolic/Edinburgh (afterwards, in the restored hierarihy, VATICAN COUNCIL. 828 Most Bcv. Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh) ; the Most Rev. Dr. Eyre, Archbishop, Glasgow; the Eight Rev. Dr. McDonald (in the restored hierarchy. Bishop of Aberdeen), Vicar-Apostolic, Preshome. All the other civilized nations, with scarcely an exception,* sent their bishops to the general assembly of the Church. France supplied the greatest number, eighty-one. The king- dom of the Two Sicilies cauio next, being represented by sixty- eight bishops. Next came the States of the Church, sending sixty-two bishops. From Great Britain and Ireland, with the colonies, including Canada, went fifty-five bishops to the great council. Austria and Hungary were nobly represented by forty-three bishops. Sp$,in and the United States of America sent each forty prelates, and the States of South America, thirty ; whilst of the Oriental rites there were forty-two bishops. Piedmont, Tuscany, Lombardy and Venetia, {together with Modena and Parma, Prussia, Bavaria, Mexico, Belgium, Hol- land, Portugal, Switzerland, the Isles of Greece, and even the Turkish empire, ch erfuUy willed that the Catholic prelates of their lands should bear their part in the grand (Ecumenical Council which was now about to assemble. All these, with the cardinals, abbots, mitred abbots and generals of religious orders, who were also members of the great assembly, made up the goodly number which has already been adverted to.f SUBJECTS WHICH IT WAS PROPOSED TO DISCUSS IN THE COUNCIL. The subjects for discussion were expressed in schemata, or draft decrees, which were drawn up by a " congregation," or, as we should say, a committee of one hundred and two ecclesi- astics, who were cardinals amid others learned in theology and canon law, selected from many nations on account of their superior wisdom and experience. By these alone the schemata •If Russia were a little more within the pale of civilization, it would be noted as an exception. Its bishops were not allowed to proceed to Koiue. t The number of prelates at Rome attending the council was never, for any length of time, the same. Aad writers give the nnmbers according to the time at which they noted them. 324 VATICAN COUNCIL. were prepared. They bore not bo much as the shadow of the Kupreme authority. So the council was perfectly at liberty to accept or reject, to change or to modify them, as it should deem fit and proper. Of this we are assured by the words of the Pope, who, in his " Constitution," at the commencement of the council, informed the bishops that he had not given any Banction to the schemata, and that consequently in regard to them there was complete freedom. The schemata, six in number, were very comprehensive. It is deeply to be regretted that the council was not allowed time to discuss them all. They concerned*: 1. Catholic doctrine in opposition to the manifold errors flowing from rationalism. 2. The Church of Christ. 3. The office of bishops. 4. The vacancy of sees. 6. The life and manners of the clergy. 6. The Little Catechism. The scJieina on the Church of Christ necessarily involved the question of infallibility. As this question, more than any other subject, . appears to have disturbed the equanimity of the outside world, it may not be inappropriate to consider the preliminary labors, as regarded it, of the great theological commission. The schema on the Church of Christ extended to fifteen chapters. Having treated, at length, on the body of the church, the commission or committee of 102 theologi- ans could not fail to treat also of the Church's Head. On this point they prepared two chapters. The one spoke of the primacy of the Boman Pontiff, the other of his temporal power. In treating of the primacy, its endowments also necessarily came under discussion. Among these claimed the first place the Divine assistance in matters of faith which was promised to Peter, and in Peter to his successors. This is nothing less than infallibility. On the 14th and 21st of January, the^ommission discussed the nature of the primacy. On the 11th of February, it took VATICAN COUNCIL. 825 Up the q .jtion of infallibility. It was onquired : Ist, whether the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff can be defined as an article of faith ; 2nd, whether it ought to be so defined ? The first question was answered unanimously in the affirmative. To the second, all, with one exception, replied, expressing concurrence in the judgment that the sabject ought not to be proposed to the council unless it were demanded by the bishops. The wording of the judgment is as follows : Sententia commis- ftionia est, nonnisi ad postulationem episcoporum rei hujus pro- positionem ah apostolica aede faciendam esse. (** The judgment of the commission is that this subject ought not to be pro- posed by the Apostolic See, except at the petition of the bishops.") One member of the commission considered the dis- cussion of the subject inopportune. Qn account of his dissent, the chapter beating on infallibility was never completed. Thus for a second time was the question of infallibility deliberately set aside. As for Pius IX. himself, he had no desire any more than he had need to propose that there should be a dogmatical definition. Even as his predecessors in all preceding ages, he was conscious that his primacy was complete. He had acted on this conviction, exercising kis sub- lime privilege with universal consent, in the face of all Chris- tendom. In 1854, 1862 and 1867, the bishops had abundantly testified in his favor. If an authoritative declaration was called for, it could only be on account of the few who disputed and doubted, and the still smaller number who denied that the Head of the Church on earth can neither err in faith and morals, nor lead into error the church of which he is divinely constituted the Supreme Teacher. OPENING OF THE COUNCIL. On the 7th of December, 1869 — ^Vigil of the Immaculate ■Conception— Pius IX., attended by an imposing ^ite, repaired to the Church of the Twelve Apostles, in order to inaugurate solemnly a period of nine days' prayer in honor of the Blessed and Immaculate Mary. The following day, at an early hour. S26 VATICAN COUNCIL. the cannon of the Castle of St. Angelo announced to the holy city the great event that had been so long looked forward to. As early as six o'clock a.m. the three naves of St. Peter's were filled with a crowd of the faithful, and all ihe approaches to the Basilica were thronged with people. At nine o'clock was seen the mag^^iilcent procession of mitred abbots, bishops and archbishops, primates, patriarchs and cardinals, that preceded the sedia gestatoria which bore the Pope. The sacred cortege required about an hour to traverse the hall (atrium) and the chief nave of St. Peter's, and reach the left* arm of the cross which forms the immense Basilica, and which had been set apart and prepared as a vast chamber for the celebration of the council by that skilful architect, Virginius Vespignani, 1,044 Fathers were invited to be present as members of the council. 803 attended *at the opening. Of these there were six archbishops who were also princes, forty-nine cardinals^ eleven patriarchs, six hundred and eighty archbishops and bishops, twenty-eight abbots, and tweuty-nine generals of religious orders. The entire number surpassed by one hun- dred and thirty-five the united numbers of all the Fathers of Nice, Constantinople and Ephesus. The day had gono by when the European sovereigns could be bidden to an (Ecu- menical Coimcil. Several of their representatives, however, attended at the opening. The highest of the Boman nobility were also present. The Colonna and Orsini families enjoyed the honor of being princes attendant at the Papal thrpne on occasion of all the public ceremonials of the council. Others of the Boman nobihty, sovereigns and princes, at the time in the city, were present. Among these were the ex-King of Naples, the Empress of Austria, the ex-Duke and Duchess of Tuscany, the ex-Duke and Duchess of Parma, together with the Doria and Borghese families. Several foreign princes, General Kanzler, commander-in-chief of the Papal forces, and General Dumont, who commanded the French battalions in garrison at Borne, likewise attended. ••s- /• *Tbe If/l arm looking from the door of the Basilica, the Hght looking trota the high altar. As was fitting, It was the Qospel side. VATICAN enty-t wo amend- ments. The same process was followed, in regard to these amendments, as in the case of the first and second chapters. The proceedings lasted two days. r The fourth chapter had fifty amendments, which were sub- jected to the same process as those of the three first, and sent back to the commission. On the same day, 8th April, the sec- ond chapter as amended was passed, an. m the 12th of April, the third and fourth, the former unanimously, the latter almost BO. When the whole was put to the vote, no non j>lacet was given, whilst there were eighty-three placets jiixta viodum. The , amendments were all sent, as before, to the commission, and printed in a quarto volume of fifty-one pages. The report was made on the 19th of April, and on the same day the amended text was unanimously accepted. All the time between the 14th of March and the 19th of April was consumed in passing this first schema. Sixty-nine members of the council spoke. Three hundred and sixty-four amendments were made, ex- amined and voted upon. Six reports were made by the com- mission upon the text, which, after its first recasting, had been six times amended. The decree was finally adopted unani- mously by the assembled JB^thers, all who were present, six hundred and sixty-seven, voting in the third public session, on Low Sui'day (Dominica in Abbis), 24th April. This solemn vote of the council was confirmed by the Pope, who, on the occasion, spoke as follows : ** The decrees and canons contained in the Constitution just read were accepted by all the Fathers, no one dissenting ; and we, the Sacred Council approving, by our apostolical authority, so define and confirm them." Con- tinuing, he addressed the Fathers of the Council : ** You see, beloved- brethren, how good and pleasant it is to walk in the House of God in unity and peace. As our Lord gave to His apostles, so I, His unworthy Vicar, in His name, give peace to you. That peace, as you know, casts out fear ; that peace fihuts the ear to unwise words. May that peace go with you in all the days of your life ; may that peace be with you in •death i; may that peace be your everlasting joy in heaven." VATICAN COUNCIL, 333 After much deliberation and painstaking, the third public session of the council came to a close. At less formal sittings was discussed the discipline relating to bishops. On this subject thirty-seven Fathers discovursed in the council. Seven sittings were employed in discussing dis- cipline as concerns the clergy, and thirty-seven Fathers spoke. Forty-one Fathers took part in discussing the schema on the Little Catechism. The discussion occupied six sittings. There was no hurrying of matters in the council. None of the dis- cussions were closed until none of the Fathers desired further to be heard. All the schemata, it is almost needless to say, having been discussed, were referred to their respective com- missions, in order to be revised in accordance with the speeches and the written amendments of the bishops. , ! Pius IX., meanwhile, was most anxious to aid and promote the labors of the council. Notwithstanding the great increase of ecclesiastical business occasioned by the presence in Rome of so many prelates, the affairs of whose churches, as well as their own more personal matters, required no small degree of attention, he followed, with unabated interest, every stage of its proceedings, and caused a minute account to be given to him every day of what was done in the various committees. These unwonted cares, and the unusual amount of labor and fatigue which they entailed, never induced him to omit any of those devotional offices with which he was accustomed to renew and strengthen his soul. He would not hear of any hurrying in the discussions on the first schema — that on faith, but, on the contrary, gave due praise to the pains and labor bestowed by the Fathers on every chapter, word and sentence. It was their object to secure that complete accuracy and perfection of expression which could not fail to prove eminei;iLtly useful in all time to come. As has been already remarked, the Fathers of the " Congregations " and " Commissions " labored most assidu- ously in preparing, for the acceptance of the council, the schema on faith and doctrine. In the course of the six weeks that it was under review, seventy-nine discourses were delivered, three 684 VATICAN COUNCIL. hundred and sixty-four amendments proposed, examined and voted upon, -while six reports were made upon the text of the ^chemUf which had heen six times amended. The introduction, the four chapters and the eighteen canons, having finally passed the council, were approved by the Holy Father, adopted and promulgated as a Papal " Gonstitutioiv" which will be known in history as the Constitution Dei Filins. It is a master- piece of theological science, and may be compared to priceless gems artistically arranged by jkilful hands in the richest settings. It would be idle, indeed, to recount all the hard and absurd things that have been said by the enemies of the council and *)ie Catholic religion. One of their accusations, if well founded, v.ould be truly crushing. Some scientists, who claim to be very profound, deem it necessary to abjure the Catholic faith, because the Vatican Council has placed an impassable gulf between religion and science, faith and reason. The council anticipated and met this accusation which is so vigorously and persistently urged by the false science of the day. Let us quote from its " Constitution :" "Although faith is above rea- son, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the |light of reason on the human mind, and cannot deny Himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. The false appearance of such a contradiction is mainly due, either to the dogmas of faith not having been understood and expounded according to the mind of the church, or to the inven- tions of opinion having been taken for the verdicts of reason. And not only can faith and reason never be opposed to one another, but they are of mutual aid the one to the other. For right reason demonstrates the foundations of faith, and, enlightened by its light, cultivates the science of things divine ; .while faith frees and guards reason from errors, and furnishes it with manifold knowledge. " So far, therefore, is the church from opposing the culti- vation of human arts and sciences, that it, in many ways, VATICAN COUNCIL. 885 helps and promotes it. For the Ghorch neither ignores nor despises the benefits to human life ^rhich result from the arts and sciences, but confesses that, as they came from God, the , Lord of all science, so, if they be rightly used, they lead to God by the help of His grace. Nor does the Church forbid that each of these sciences, in its sphere, should make use of its own principle and its own method. But while recognizing this just liberty, it stands watchfully on guard, lest the sciences, settmg themselves against the Divine teaching, or transgress- ing their own limits, should invade and disturb the domain of faith." FOURTH PUBLIC SESSION. There was only one point in the discussions on the Church of Christ in which the outside world appeared to take an interest, and it is one which the council did not at first con- template taking into consideration. The Fathers appear to have resolved to limit themselves, in treating of the Church, and consequently of the Head of the Church on earth, to the discussion of the primacy of the Supreme Pastor and of his /.temporalities. The commission of one hundred and two cardi- nals, and other learned theologians, had even set aside the question of infallibility when it came before them, one of their number pronouncing a decision on it as inopportune. A great majority of the bishops, however, were strongly of opinion that in view of the outcry which had been raised on this point, the opportunity of an (Ecumenical Council being held should not . be allowed to pass without defining the beUef of the Church in regard to the unerrin'^ nature of the decisions, in matters of doctrine and moralb, of the successor of St. Peter. At their request, accordingly, it was ordered that the important subject should be introduced in the eleventh chapter of the schema on the Churchf and prepared in the usual way for the considera- tion of the council. It could not be laid before the Fathers sooner than the 18th of July, when the fourth solemn session was held. It is proper to remark here that the doctrine in 336 VATICAN COUNCIL. question was never discussed, either in the congregations or committees of the whole council, as to its Divine origin, or aa to the fact of its having been revealed ; not one of the seven hundred members of the council expressed any doubt as to this. There was no discussion except as to the opportuneness of defining to be of faith what all believed to be so. The schema haying xmssed through all the preparatory stages, finally assumed the form of a " dogmatic constitution," which will be known in history as the Constitution, Pastor (eternus, from the words with which it commences. This Constitution was brought before the council at a solemn session, the fourth and last which it held, the 18th July, 1870. The session was opened with all the usual solemnities. The Pope himself presided in person. The Mass of the Holy Ghost having been celebrated, the Sacred Scriptures were placed upon the lectern on the high altar, and, as was customary, the Veni Creator was simg. The Bishop of Fabriano then read the Constitution, or decree de Romano Pontijice, from the Ambo (pulpit), and the Fathers of the Council were invited to vote. Each Father, accordingly, ae his name was called, took off his mitre, rose from his seat and voted. Of the five hundred and thirty-five who were present, five hundred and thirty-three voted placet (aye), whilst there were only two nays. The secretary of the council, together with the scrutineers, advanced to the PontifiK^al throne and declared the result. The Holy Father then confirmed the decision in the usual form. He prayed, zt the same time, that they who had considered such a decision inopportune, at a time of unusual agitation, might, in calmer days, unite with the grea .lajority of their brethren, and contend with them for the truth. The insertion here of the allocution which he delivered on the occasion cannot but prove acceptable to all English readers : " Crreat is the authority with which the Supreme Pontiff is invested. This authority, however, does not destroy. It builds up. It does not oppress. But, on the contrary, Fustains. Very frequently it behooves it to defend the rights of our VATICAN COUNCTL. 887 brethren, the bishops. If some liave not been of the same mind with us, let them consider that they liave formed their judgment under the influence of agitation. Let them bear in r*und that the Lord is not in the storm (2 Kings, xix., 11). Let them remember that, a few years ago, they held the op- posite opinion, and abounded in the same belief with us, and in that of this most august assembly, for then they judged in the untroubled air. Can two opposite consciences stand to- gether in the same judgment ? By no means. Therefore, we pray God that He who alone can work great things, may Him- self enlighten their mmds and hearts, that all may come to the bosom of their Father, the unworthy Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, who loves them and desires to be one with them, and, united in the bond of charity, to fight with them the battle of the Lord. Thus shall our enemies not dare to deride us, but rather be awpd, and at length lay down the arms of their war- fare in the presence of truth; so that all may say, with St. Augustine : " Thou hast called me unto Thy wonderful light, and behold I see." Te Deitm was now chanted, the Pope intoning the sublime hymn, and with the Pontifical benediction, ended the fourth solemn public session of the Vatican Council. With this coun- cil also ended all discussion within the church on those ques- tions in regard to which it pronounced authoritatively. No doubt the enemies of the Catholic faith would have been better pleased if there had been absolute unanimity when the final vote was taken on the widely-discussed question of infallibility. Such a coincidence would have aflforded them a pretext, although, indeed, a groundless one, for asserting that there was either collusion or compulsion, whilst in reality there was complete liberty. The two Fathers who voted, nay, constituting a mi- nority of two, acted according to tlieir right, and it was not ques- tioned. These Fathers were Monsignor Louis Eiccio, Bishop of Casazzio, in the kingdom of Naples, and the Eight Eev. Edward Fitzgerald, Bishop of Petricola (Little Eock, Aikansas), in the United ies of America. Immediately after the con- X 338 VATICAN COUNCIL. firmation of tlie " Gonstitution," these two prelates, advancing to the Fapal chair, solemnly declared their adhesion to the act of the council. The four dissentient cardinals — Rauscher, Schwarzenherg, Mathieu and Hohenlohe — who had left the council when the fourth session was held, also, in their turn, expressed their assent to the decision of the assembled Fathers. The oj)posing bishops did in like manner. All of them, not excepting Strossmayer, Bishop of Sirmium, who was the most eloquent orator of the minority in the council, and who appeared to hesitate longer than the rest, ended by promul- gating all the decrees of the council in their respectii^e dioceses. This is more than could be said of Nicea, Chalcedon and Con- stantinople. For the first time, no bishop persisted in resist- ing the decisions of an (Ecumenical Council. It waf now acknowledged by the whole episcopate that those meacures were timely, wise and salutary, which the Church, ever guided by the Spirit of God, had deemed it proper to adopt, but which so many, awed by the spirit of unbelief which was abroad, ha4 judged were inopportune. It may have been merely a coincidence. But there can be no doubt that grandeur was added to a scene, in itself suffi- ciently imposing, when^ as on Sinai of old, lightning flashed and thunder pealed, as the Fathers of the Council solemnly rose to give their final vote. " The placets of the Fathers," writes the correspondent of the London Times (Aug. 5, 1870), " struggled through the storm while the thunder pealed above, and the lightning flashed in at every window, and down through the dome and every smaller cupola. 'Placet!' shouted his Eminence or his Grace, and a loud clap of thunder followed in response, and then the lightning darted about the Baldacchino and every part of the church and council-hall, as if announcing the response. So it continued for nearly one hour and a half, during which time the roll was being called, and a more effec- tive scene I never witnessed. Had all the decorators and all the getters-up of ceremonies in Rome been employed, nothing approaching to the solemn grandeur of the storm could have VATICAN COUNCIL. 889 "been prepared, and never will those who saw it and felt it for- get the promulgation of the. first dogma of the church." Less friendly critics beheld, in this raagnificent thunder-stonu, a •distinct voice of Divine anger, condemning the important act of the assembled Fathers. Had they forgotten Sinai and th^ Ten Commandments ? All of a sudden, as the last words were uttered, the tempest ceased ; and, at the moment when Pius IX. intoned the Te Devm, a sun-ray lighted up his noble and expressive countenance. The voices of the Bixtine chorisiers, who continued chanting the hjrmn, could not be heard. They were lost in the united concert of the venerable Fathers and the vast assemblage. COMPARATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE VATIACN COUNCIL. Ill whatever light we view the Council of the Vatican — the cecumenical of tlie nineteenth century — it strikes us as being, \ in ecclesiastical annals, the event of the age. It also marks, in a remarkable manner, the character and progress of the time. The Council of Trent was highly important in its day ; "and still, after a lapse of three hundred years, its teachings" govern the Church. Whilst, as regards the wisdom of its decisions, it cannot be excelled, it was suri)assed in many things by the Council of the Vatican. Trent was attended by comparatively few bishops, who were from Europe, the Eastern Chui'ch and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The Vatican Council consisted of prel- ates from at least thirty different nations, from the remotest regions of the habitable globe, from the numerous churches in ■ India which owed their origin to the apostolic zeal of St. Francis Xavier, from North and South America, China, Aus- tralia, New Zealand and Oceanica. One-iift]i of the churches existed not as yet in the time of Trent which sent their bishops to represent them at the Vatican Council. The countries in which many of the^e churches flourish had no place, when the Council of Trent was called, on the map of the world. From those vast regions which now constitute the United States of 340 VATICAN COUNCIL. America, there was not so much as one bishop at Trent. At the Vatican Council there were no fewer than sixty. There were never more than three bishops of Ireland present together at Trent, and four only were members of that council. Twenty Irish prelates attended the Vatican Council. England sent only one bishop to Trent. He is mentioned as Godveus : Anglus, Episc. Asaphensis. The Catholics of England were represented by thirteen English bishops at the Council of the Vatican. Scotland had no representation at Trent. The Catholics of that country were most worthily represented at the Vatican by Bishop Strain, now Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh; Archbishop Eyre, of Glasgow, and Bishop Mc- Donald, of Aberdeen. There was only a very small number of . EngUsh-speaking bishops at Trent. At the Vatican Council they were particularly numerous, constitulmg, as nearly as can be calculated, one-fifth of the assembled Catholic hier- archy. At Trent there were not many bishops from countries speaking different languages. Twenty-seven languages, and various dialects besides, were represented by prelates at the Vatican. The greater facilities for travelling, which this favored age enjoys, no doubt rendered it more easy to attend the Council of the Vatican than it was to journey ^o Trent, even from the nearest lands. Nevertheless, there viis laborious journeying to the Vatican. Prelates from the vast regions of Asia and Africa, America and Australia, knew what they would have to encounter, but they were not deterred. Some, on theii' way to the Vatican, travelled for whole weeks mounted on camels ' before they could reach the ports at which it behooved them to embark. Bishop Launy, of Santa Fe, was forty-two days on his land-journey, and travelled on horseback. Such of the laity as visited Trent were comparatively few, and only from places not very distant. One hundred thousand pilgrims, many of them from the most remote regions, repaired to the Vatican. The number of Fathers at any one time in council at Trent was somewhat under three hundred. Seven hundred VATICAN COUNCIL. 841 and eighty-three took part in the Council of the Vatican. The Council of Trent, however, must not be underrated. It was a most important council, and admirably calculated to meet the wants of the time. It marked an era in the history of the Church* It provided remedies for numerous evils, and safety in the midst of danger. It became a power which time has not diminished. For three hundred years it has guided the destinies of Peter's barque, prelates and people wisely accept- ing its discipline, and meekly obeying its rule. It added, no doubt, to the importance of the Vatican Council that it was held at Bome, in the very centre of Catholicity and of Catholic unity, and near the tombs of the martyred apostles, the found- ers of the Church. In this it contrasts with Trent, which, although the Fathers assembled at an obscure village in the Tyrol, was not less, on this account, an (Ecumenical Council. Papal legates presided at Trent, whilst the Holy Father him- self was present at all the solemn sessions of the Vatican Council which have as yet been held. INFALLIBILITY. There was no intention at first, as has been shown, of lay- ing the question of infallibility before the council. It happened, however, that a great clamor, in regard to this question, came to prevail both within and without the Church. The enemies of the doctrine railed so strongly against it, and they who did not deny it declaimed so loudly against the opportuneness of pronouncing any decision concerning it, that it was positively forced tipon the attention of the assembled Fathers. "When, therefore, they came to discuss the primacy and the temporali- ties of the Sovereign Pontiff in connection with the Church of Christ, they hesitated not to consider, at the same time, his immunity from error when speaking, as Head of the Church and successor of Saint Peter, ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. The learning of theologians and the ability of orators were brought into requisition, and the fact came prom- inently out that it had been according to the mind of the 342 VATICAN COUNCIL. Church at all times, that the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, is divinely assisted when pronouncing solemnly ex cathedra on questions of faith and morals. When so pronouncing, the decisions of the Supreme Pastor have always been accepted by the Church, whether dispersed or assembled in council. It is- a received belief among Christians that to every legitimate office is attached a grace of vocation. Is it not, therefore, in accordance with reason and Christian faith, thp,t such grace should belong, and specially to the highest and most important of all offices ? Such grace or assistance was promised to St. Peter, and through him to his successors, who are appointed to bear witness throughout all time to the truths of Divine revelation. For our blessed Lord declared, " I am with you aU days." He could not better have secm'ed the permanence of his religion — the kingdom of God on earth, for the salvation of men in e-"ery age of the world. When the Supreme Pastor speaks in uie exercise of his sublime office, the Church also; speaks. The teaching and testimony of the Head of the Church and of the great body of the Church are identical. They must always be in harmony, as was so admirably shown by the decision of the council on infallibility and the confirmation thereof by the Holy Father — coiifirma fratrea tuous — ** confirm thy brethren." Let not the opponents of the Church and her salutary doctrines be carried away by the idea that a subser- vient council wished only to glorify their spiritual Chief by ascribing to him imaginary personal gifts. They were incapa- ble of any such thing. They were an assembly of the most venerable men in Christendom, who felt all the weight of their responsibiUty to God and men in the exercise of their sacred functions. Their decision has not altered the position of the Supreme Pastor. Any writings or discourses which he may produce in his merely personal or more private capacity are received by the Christian world with that degree of considera- tion to which they are entitled on a'^count of the estimation in which he is held by men as a theologian and a man of learn- ing and ability. It is only when pronouncing solemnly ex^ VATICAN COUNCIL. 843 cathedra^ as the successor of Sfc. Peter and the Head of the Church, on questions of faith and morals, that he is universally believed to be divinely assisted so as to be above the danger of erring, or of leading int6 error — in other words (and we can- not help who may be offended), that he is infallible. FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR — WITHDRAWAL OF THE FRENCH GARRISON FROM ROME^ — ADJOURNMENT OF THE COUNCIL. Events were now at hand which made it impossible for the council to hold another session. The French Emperor had greatly fallen, in the estimation of the people of France, from the time of his shameful abandonment of the chivalrous Maxi- milian and the popular design of establishing a Latin empire on the continent of America. In order to make amends and regain his prestige, he had revived the idea, bo dear to the French, of rectifying the Rhine frontier of France by resuming possession of Luxembourg and some other adjacent provinces. He formally intimated his design to Prussia. That Power, however, aware of its rights and conscious of its mihtary supe- riority, declined all negotiation on the subject. From that moment Prussia held herself in readiness to repel, with the sword, if necessary, any insolence that, in the future, might proceed from her aggressive neighbor, for whose tottering throne war was a necessity. The candidature of Prince Leo- pold of HohenzoUem for the throne of Spain now afforded a pretext, which Napoleon HI. was only too anxious to find, for provoking by a fresh insult his powerful rival. It may be that he dreaded the accession of strength which might eventually accrue to Prussia if the crown of Spain were placed on the head of a Prince of the house of HohenzoUem. Napoleon remonstrated, and threatened war. The youthful German prince generously renounced a candidature which it was not hard to see would lead to a rupture between the two ^Powers, and cause a destructive war. The King of Prussia, head of the Hohenzollerns, sanctioned, if he did not command, this act of moderation on the part of the prince, his relative. But mod- 344 VATICAN COUNCIL. gentlemen, that the foreigner ente'** here only by violence, and that if ray door is forced, it is by -956 THE WOLF IN THE yOLD. breaking it open. This the world shall know, and history will tell it, one day, to the honor of the Eomans, my children. I speak not of myself, gentlemen ; I weep not for myself, but for those .unfortunate young men who have come to defend me as their Father. You will take care, each of you, of those of your country. There are some from all countries. I recommend them all to you, in order that you may preserve them from such maltreatment as others had to suffer ten years ago. I absolve my soldiers from their oath of fidelity. I pray God to give me strength and courage. Ah ! it is not they who suffer injustice that are most to be pitied." Having thus spoken, he took leave of the ambassadors, wi^ tears in his eyes. On the same day, Cardinal Antonelli, by his order, intimated the sad tidings to the governments of all civilized nations. Pius IX. also protested by an allocution to the cardinals. It only remains to chronicle the shameful violation of the treaty, which bound the French nation to protect the Holy Father, by the government temporarily established in France. " The Sep- tember agreement," wrote a represent^ *ive of the French' republic, under the date of 22nd SeptemiDer, 1870, " virtually ceases to exist by the proclamation of the French republic. I congratulate the King of Italy, in the name of the French gov- ernment and in my own name, on the deliverance of Rome and the final consecration of Italian unity." Thus was disgrace added to the misfortunes of a great country. It was some time before order could be restored at Rome. From four thousand to five thousand vagra,nts and bandits, chiefly Garibaldians, entered the city at the heels of the invading force. The prisons were thrown open, and swelled the ranks of these disorderly bands. During two whole days that these lawless hordes were allowed to commit all kinds of excesses, houses were fired, valuable property destroyed or carried off, some eighty unoffending citizens put to death, and such of the Roman soldiers as were recognized cut down or thrown into the Tiber. Nor was the Italian general in any hurry to repress such proceedings. '^ Lasciate il popnlo[sfo(fnrsir,'' coolly said 1S^»^^^ THE WOLF IN THE FOLD. 36T Cadorna to the parties who entreated him to jjut an end to such horrors. This general and the men with whom he acted were only robbers on a greater scale. Their commissioners lost not a moment. When tranquillity was somewhat restored, and complaints were made against housebreakers, it was found that everything was already confiscated— libraries, archives^ colleges, museums, etc. Victor Emmanuel had need of the mob which followed his. troops. Anxious to give a coloring of right to his brigandage, he resolved, according to the fashion of his Imperial patron and accomplice, to hold a plehiscitum. In the city of Rome, with the help of his numerous assemblage of vagrants, he had forty thousand votes, whilst against him there were only forty-six. Something similar was done in the land- ward part of the Roman State. Better, surely, no right beyond what the sword could give, than such a transparent semblance of right. No wonder that Victor Emmanuel's best friends condemned such an impolitic and ridiculous proceed- ing. None could be so simple as to behave that there were only forty-six ^'oters against him, when all the numerous officials, both civil and rhilitary, protested against his aggiTS- sion by resigning their offices. It is bad enough when men in authority play fantastic tricks. When the play is badly played, the trickery becomes ridiculous. It now remained to adhibit the seal of permanency to the fait accompli. This was done by the following decree : Art. let. Rome and the Roman Provinces constitute an integral portion of the kingdom of Italy. Art. 2nd. The Sovereign Pontiff retains the dignity, invio- lability, and all the prerogatives of a sovereign. Art. 3rd. A special law will sanction the conditions cal- culated to guarantee, even by territorial franchises, the inde- pendence of the Sovereign Pontiff and the free exercise of the spiritual authority of the Holy See. Thus was sacrificed to Italian unity the city of the Popes^ Was the sacrifice essential ? Florence might have well suf- ficed. 868 FURTHER SPOLIA!|:iON— PIUS K* REMAINS AT ROME. It was of little avail that the brigands who followed Jthe Piedmontese army were compelled, J by superior power, to moderate their violence. Their robberies were, for the most part, of a private nature, and committed on a small scale. Those of their superiors — the Piedmontese tisurpers — were grander and more extensive. They astonished, if they did not terrify, bj?^ their magnitude and the daring which achieved them. There were palaces at ^korae and soldiers' quarters' which had satisfied all the requirements of Papal grandeur. These Were nothing to the republican simplicity of the new order of things. No doubt the parliament which had just arrived from Florence required ample space. The costly equipages and hunting studs of a constitutional king were also to be provided for. Could not all this h^ve been done, especially in such a vast city, without expropriating convents, desecrating churches, and even seizing for their purposes the xefuges of the sick ? It was more than an idea that required such spoliation. But what shall we say when we ca)l to min4 that the mere desire to modernize everything threatened the destruction of all those monuments which re .dered Rome so dear to travellers from every clime ? It had been hitherto the city of the Consuls, of the Emperors, of the Popes. It must now become a commonplace town, with straight lines, rec- tangles and parallelograms, like Philadelphia, New York, or the Haussmanized Pai'is of Napoleon III. The Eoyal Palace of the Popes, the Quirinal, was unscrupulously seized, in order tio make a city mansion for the King of Italy. It was too magnificent, apparently, for this gentleman prince. He seldom entered it. It may be that he dreaded offending the revolu- tion, to which he owed so much, by too great an affectation of royal style. If the gratitude of such a heartless thing could be relied on, he had no need to fear. Without the sword of Pied- mont the revolution never could have entered Home. Meanwhile, the Pope was engaged in most anxious delibera- tion. At last, considering the disturbed state oj^ Europe gen- FURTHER SPOLIATION — PIUS IX. REMAINS AT ROME ^t^ 359 orally, he concluded that it was better for him to remain at Rome. A Pontifical shi}), which had not been included in the articles of capitulation, n. waited his orders in the waters of Civita Vecchia. This vessel was named the "Immaculate Conception;" and two years later, by order of his Holiness, was laid up at Toulon, imder the protection of the flag of France. A French ship, the "Orenoque," was then placed at the disposal of Pius IX., in case he should wish, at any time, to leave Rome; and later, the " Kleber," which was stationed in the waters of Bastia (Corsica). ■ The Holy Father had made up his mind so early as the first days of September, 1870, to remain in the city. His pres- ence, he felt confident, would so far prevent the evils which he feared. If he were gone, there would be less restraint on the usurping power, when it might wish to confiscate more con- vents, churches and church property generally. Almost all the foreign ambassadors remained with him ; and this circum- stance presented another cause why the new government would be more moderate and circumspect in its attacks on property. A beautiful leger>d which the Holy Father recounted, at an interview with Cardinal De Bonnechose, was well calculated to reconcilt the Catholic w^orld-to the stay of Piut: IX. at Pt /"^e, even although he was there as a prisoner of the victorious king. And a prisoner he really was ; for he could not have removed to any other country except by a successful stratagem, so closely guarded were all the approaches to the city by the myrmidons of the conqueror. Taking the cardinal aside; he informed him that he wished to present him with a memorial. ** The object in itself is of little value. The' intention with which I give it is all its worth." It was a small plate of ivory, .framed in gold, surmounted by the arms of the Holy See, and representing in the most exqi^isite manner a moving scene in , the life of St. Peter. *' You behold the subject of ray frequent meditations for many years. When the prince of the apostles, iieeing from persecution, quitted Bome, he met, not far from 860 GUARANTEES — PETER H PENCE. the gate of Saint SebaBtian, our Lord Himself, carrying His cross and looking extraordinarily sad : * Ihnniite quo vadis ? ' Lord, where are you going ?' exclaimed Peter. ' I am going to Rome,' replied our blessed Lord, ' in order to be there cruci- fied anew — to die in your place, as your courage has failed you.' " "Peter understood," continued the Holy Father, "and remained at Rome. T also remain. For if, at this moment, I left the eternal cit}', it would seem to me as if our Lord ad- dressed to me the same words of reproach. The representa- tion of this scene I am anxious to leave with you as a memorial. It may, in reahty, be nothing more than a pious legend. But for me it is a decisive instruction." Pius IX. then delivered the precious medallion to the cardinal. aUAEANTEES WHICH GUARANTEED NOTHING — iil20,000 WITH WHICH NOTHING WAS PAID PETER's PENCE WHICH PAID EVERYTHING. In order to give a coloring to his usurpation in the eyes of Christian Europe, and to set at rest any scruples which may have remained in the minds of his adherents, Victor Emmanuel caused a law to be enacted on the 13th March, 1871, which is known as the lair of ytixmintees. This law declared the person of the Sovereign Pontiff sacred' and inviolable, recognized his title and dignitj' of sovereign, assured to him an annual endow- ment of 3,225,000 francs (.i*120,000), together with the posses- sion of the Vatican and Lateran Palaces, as well as the Ponti- fical Villa of Castel Gandolfo, and provided for the complete liberty of all future Conclaves and CRcumenical Councils. It requires two parties to every contract or agreement. Tin; law of guarantees had no such condition, the Holy Father not being a party to it. He. could not accept the honors winch +'ie new government pretended to confer, nor the money which it offered. It was not a government by any other law than that of the sword — that of a war not only undertaken against the unoffend- ing, but also in violation of a solemn treaty. Neither was the treasm'e which it proffered its rightful property. It held it,. ">! -.:^' GUARANTEES — PETER S PENCE. 361 indeed ; but only as the robber holds the purse of his victim, whilst he mock's him by an offer of alms. It was also the merest mockery to pretend to recognize the Pope as a sover- eign, whilst, in reality, he was detained as a prisoner, who could not pass beyond the gate of his garden without coming into the custody of the armed police or soldiery of the usurper. By the provisions of this same law of guarantees, full liberty was secured, to the Sovereign Pontiff in the exercise of his spiritual office.. The persecutions to which the ministers of the Church were frequently subjected, when they dared to obey the orders of the Pope in fulfilling the duties of his and their ministry, show to what extent the framers of the law were sincere. It need only be added, without fm-ther comment, that ai'ticle eighteen confiscated, by anticipation, all ecclesias- tical i^ropeiiiies, under the pretence that they were to be reor- ganized, preserved and administered. No wonder that the Pope stigmatized such a law as hypocritical and iniquitous. In the supposition that he could have derived any benefit from accepting it, he would still have been at the mercy of a fickle king and parliament, to whom it was competent, at any moment, to change the law which they had made. The safety of the Holy Father, under Heaven, lay in this, that the newly- erected kingdom of Victor Emmanuel was most ambitious to figure [as a State among the States of Europe. To none of these would it have been pleasing to see the venerable Pontiff forcibly driven from the city of the Popes. It was necessary, as far as possible, to blindfold them. •' I have, indeed, great need of money," said Pius IX., when the sum appropriated by the law of guarantees was first pre- sented for his acceptance ; " my children, everywhere, impose on themselves the most serious sacrifices in order to supply my wants, at all times so great, but to which you are daily adding. As it is a portion of the property that has been stolen from me, I could only accept it as restitution money. I will never sign a receipt which would appear to express my acqui- escence in the robbery." Every succeeding year the form, or sm .1' OIJAIIANTERH — F'RTBR H PENCK. rathor th(! fiirce, of otferin*^' t)ie HuhHidy waH renewod and aw often rejected. That tli(! offer of ho large a Hum waH hypocriti- cal, and intended only for hIiow, \h well provcid hy the circum- etanoe that the liheral Italian j^overnment deprived of their incomes and drove from their places of r(!Hiden^ /. 01 /^ .-^ 'W o m Kiotographic Sciences Corporation o" .* '^j^ % ^■^ ^' 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. I4S80 (716) 872-4503 V ~T ' — -rT;"^- •-■•■• T vj-i :':c- *; ;i -: T-lwy;. -.;■'!, >.4 .

rnment. The Society of Jesuits had always been a special object of its hatred. They were the first whom it expelled from Rome, as has been the case in more than one persecution.. And now they were robbed, notwithstanding the hopes that the European ambas- CREATION OF CARDINALS — PRINCE OF WALES. d6» sadors were led to entertain of the Roman College which waa their property. The Holy Father met this new brigandage by raising a member of the society to the dignity of cardinal, Tarquini, professor of canon law at the Sapienza (Roman Col- lege), was the favored member. Thus did the despoiled Pontiff condemn the ignorance and rebuke the rob))ery of the new rulers of Rome. ** I am aware," said Pius IX. on this occasion, " that the Jesuits do not willingly accept ecclesiastical digni- ties. I had not, therefore, thought, until now, of conferring the purple on any of their itiembers. But the unjust acta from which yom- society is suffering at this moment have determined me. It appeared to me to be necessary that I should make known in this way what I think of the ignorant calumnies of which you are the victims, and at the same tim& give proof to yourself and your brethren of my esteem and friendship," • If, ever since the violent seizure of Rome, it was customary to speak of the Pope as " the prisoner of the Vatican," his enemies, on the other hand, ceased not to insist that he was perfectly free, whilst he obstinately persisted in remaining within the walls of his palace. It has been noticed already that every approach to Rome and the Vatican was strictly guarded by the soldiers of the usurping king. A circumstance which occurred on the evening of the 20th June, 18^4, further showed how close the imprisonment was. It was the twenty - eighth anniversary of the coronation of Pius IX. Te Deum was celebrated in the Vatican Basilica, and, what rarely hap- pens, the spacious edifice was completely filled. More than one hundred thousand people, as nearly as could be estimated, or two-thirds of all the Romans who were able to leave their houses, were massed as well within the church as on the places St. Peter and Risticucci. Whep Te Deum was over, Ull eyes instinctively turned towards a window of the second story of the palace. It was the window of the Pope's apartment. Sud-/ denly a white figure appeared at this window, and immediately a cry arose from below. It was the voice of the Roman citi- 370 CREATION OF CARDINALS — PRINCE OF WALES. zei^s; a voice so grand that it might be said to express the mind of a whole people, as they saluted their king, who was a prisoner. It continued for some time, and, although the •window was at once closed, the prolonged acclamation of the faithful Romans rose louder and louder, until the Fiedmontese troops came on the ground and swept away the crowd. The people departed viithout making any resistance. The police, nevertheless, arrested some twelve persons, of whom six were Ifedies of the best society of Rome. These ladies were at once set at liberty. But four young men of the number of those arrested were detained and afterwards condemned, one of them to two years, and the rest to several months' imprisonment, for having cried, "Long live the Pontiff-King." This crime they p/etended not to deny. Could it be doubted any longer that the Pope was a prisoner? It was not only on moral grounds that he could not leave the Vatican. There were also bayonets and fire-arms between him and the nearest streets of Rome. It was only in the beginning of the year 1875 that , Pius IX. could no longti lefrain from visiting the Basilica of St. Peter. He had not been within it for four years and a half. Every necessary precaution was observed on occasion of his visit. The gates of the temple were kept shut, and none were present but members of the chapter and some other per- sons required for the service of the Church. The Holy Father entered by the stair which forms direct communication between his palace and the holy place. As may well be understood, he prayed for some time with his accustomed earnestness, that it would please God to put an end to the evils by which the Church was so sorely afflicted. Pius IX. was indefatigable in giving audiences and recei^ing •deputations frojn every countiy where there were members of the Catholic Church. On such occasions he never failed to speak words of edification and encouragement. It was even said that he spoke too much. They were not, however, of the number of his friends vho call him \l Papa verhoso. He was -endowed with a wonde:.'ful gift of speech, and he always used CREATION OP CARDINALS — PRINCE OF WALES. 871 it eflfectively. His discourses were invariably to the purpose, the subject of them being suggested by the most recent events, by the nationality of his visitors, or by the expressed pious intentions which brought them to his presence. He made illusion very often to the Gospel of the preceding Sunday, or \o the festival of the day, and concluded by imparting his benediction, which his hearers always received kneeling, and seldom without tears. The addresses of Pius IX. delivered at the Vatican have been preserved by the stenogi-aphic art, and fill many volumes. His ideas sometimes found expression in conversations with distinguished visitors. Such was the case on occasion of the visit, in 1872, of the Prince of Wales, the heir apparent of the British Crown. His Royal Highness showed his good taste by declining the use of Victor Em- manuel's equipages in coming to the Vatican. The Princess Also made manifest her respect for the well-kn>own sentiments •of Pius IX. in regard to showy toilettes by appearing in a plain dress. There was a striking contrast between the placid •old man, so near the close of his career, and the handsome joung couple, in the flower of their age. The Prince and the Pope appeared delighted at meeting ; and the ej'^es of the Prin- ■cess, who looked alternately at the animated figure of her hus- band and the benevolent countenance of the venerable Pontiff, were suffused with tears. The Pope began the conversation by expressing his great admiration for the character, both pub- lic and private, of the Queen of Great Britain ; and smiling •expressively, and not without a slight degree of Italian irony, he thanked the British ministers who, more than once, had offered him, in the' name of the Queen, an asylum on British territory. " You see, Princo, I have not left Bome quite as soon as some of your statesiix^n supposed I would." The Holy Father then alluded to the existing state of things, adding: " In my present condition I am assuredly more happy than those who consider themselves more the masters of Rome than myself. I have no fear for my dynasty. It isjpowerfully pro- tected. Ood Himself is its guardian. He also looks to my 372 CREATION OF CABDINALS — PRINCE OF WALES. succesBion and my family. You are not imaware that these- are no other than the Church. I can speak without offence to- the Prince of Wales of the instability of Royal Houses, that which he represents being firmly anchored in the affections of a wise people." ** I am delighted," replied the Prince, smiling expressively, " to find that your Holiness has so good an opin- ion of our people." "Yes, indeed, I respect the English- people," continued the Holy Father, "because they are more- truly religious, both as regards feeling and conduct, than many who call themselves Catholics. "VlTien, oae day, they shall return to the fold, with what joy will we not welcome that flock which is astray, but not lost !" The Prince and Princess, being rather incredulous, received this benevolent aspiiation> with a good-natured smile. '* Oh ! my children," resumed the Pontiff, ** the future has in store for mankind the most strange surprises. Who could have imagined, two years' ago, that we should see a Prussian army' in France ? I hesitate not to say that your ablest statesmen expected sooner to see the Pope at Malta than Napoleon III. in England. As regards myself,, you will observe I am, indeed, robbed of my States, but God, who, at any moment, withdraws the possessions of this world,, can also restore them a hundred-fold. Is the dynasty of the Head of the Church, on this account, less secure ? I may, for a time, be driven from Rome. But when your children and grandchildren shall come to visit the holy city, they will see,, as you see to-day — let the temporal power be more or less con- siderable — an old man, clothed in white, pointing the way to- heaven for the good of hundreds of millions of human con- sciences. To compensate for the absence of subjects imme- diately around him, he will have devoted adherents at all times and everywhere." The conversation turning on Ireland, the Holy Father spoke in the warmest terms of the fidelity of the Catholics of that country. ** You know, //Prince, the results of persecution. It dees not make us any>me«e.,Catho- licB. Your Royal Mother follows a policy quite different from that of her predecessors, in regard to Ireland, and you are. RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOBEION STATES. 873 like her, aware that good Catholics are always good subjects." That country, the Pope continued to observe, had need of the vigilant and energetic superintendence of its devoted prel- ates, whom he praised in the highest terms. " For," said he, "the wolf — I do not mean Protestantism — but the wolf of anarchy and infidelity is abroad, I fflar, in the regions of the West." He referred to the organization called " the Interna- tional," and expressed his astonish'^ent that "any princes should be still ho blind as to take pleasure in making war on the Church, at a period when the foundations of civil society were threatened on every side.'* The chief cause of the Holy Father's grief and poignant iaorrow, under his calamities, was the loss of souls. " Ah !" said he, in a conversation with Mgr. Langenieux, Archbishop of Bheims, "I could bear my misfortunes courageously, and God would give me strength to withstand the evils which afliict the Church. But there is one thing 1 cannot forgive those who persecute us. They eradicate the faith of my people — they kill the souls of the children of unfortunate Italy." The Pontiff, as he uttered these words, moved his hand towards his breast, and as his fingers ruflled his white robe, he exclaimed, in a tone that was truly heartrending : " They tear away my heart!" "It was sublime," adds the archbishop, "the great soul of the Pope subdued us, and, at the same time, inspired us with hght and fortitude." RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN STATES — SWITZERLAND — GERMANY. The party in Europe who desired the suppression of the Pope's temporal rule professed to be acttfated by zeal for pro- moting a more free and useful exercise of his spiritual au- thority. It soon became manifest that this was the merest sham. Switzerland, guided by that narrow kind of Protes- tantism which has so often asserted its power, pretended to see only in the Pope the Chief of the small Koman State ; when 074 RELATIOHB OF PIU8 IX. WITH FOBEIQM BTATE8. deprived of that State, he was no longer a prince or dignitary, with whom diplomatic relations could be held. His legate at Berne, accordingly, was informed that he must take his de- parture from the territory of the Swiss Confederation. It is well understood that this ungi'acious measure was secretly advised and promoted by Germany. That Power speedily fol- lowed the example, although not at fi d in a very direct or open way. The German ministry appointed to the Embassy of the Vatican Cardinal Hohenlohe, the only one of the cardi- nals who proved unfaithful to Pius IX. in the hour of his great distress. The Pope remonstrated against the appointment. The inflexible Prussian minister, Bismarck, replied that he would send no other, suspended and finally abolished diplo- matic relations between the new EmjHre and the Holy See. It is by no means matter for surprise that a man of Prince Bismarck's views and character should have so acted, or even that he should have become the promoter of the greatest and most unwai'rantable persecution by which any nation has been disgraced, or to which any portion of the Church has been subjected in modern times. This minister, who may be truly i described as the political scourge of Germany, is as fanatical m religion as he is coarse and sceptical in politics. He abandoned his party, and became, or feigned to become, a liberal in order to gratify his hatred of the CathoUc Church. He belongs to that branch of Protestantism which is called ** orthodox " {luctis a non hicench). On occasion of the debate, 14th April, 1874, on the law which withdrew th§ salaries of*^ the CathoHc clergy, a Protestant conservative mepaber of the representative body, Coimt de Malrahn, declared that he wduld vote for this law, because it would affect only the -Catholics, without interfering with the rig^s of the Evangelical denomi- nation. Bismarck, by his reply, not only showed an utter absence of all politieal faith, but at the same time a degree of political hypocrisy with which all true history will never cease to stigmatize him. " I must express the great joy which I experience on hearing the declaration of the preceding speaker^ BELATIOKU OF PI(JB IX. WITH FOUEIUN HTATEU. 875 If, at the commencement of the rehgiouB conflict, the conser- vatives had taken this gromid, and sustained the government in the name of /the EvangeUcal religion, I never would have been under the necessity of separating from the Conservative party." From Chancellor Bismarck's own Words, therefore, it may be concluded that it was excessive sectarian fanaticism which made him an infidel and hypocrite in politics, a traitor to his party, and a savage persecutor of the Church. When there was question in December, 1874, of obtaining an act for the suppression of the Prussian legation to the Holy See, the deep- rooted hatred of Prince Bismarck and his absolute want of conscience became still more apparent. He audaciously ac- cused the Court of Eome of having been the ally of France,, and even of the revolution in the war against Prussia in 1870. He pretended that if the (Ecumenical Council was closed abruptly, it was in order to leave complete liberty of action to Napoleon III. ; and, as facts were necessary in order to sup-- port this extraordinary and false assertion, he ascribed to Mousignor Meglia, at the time nuncio at Munich, the words, " Our only hope is in the revolution." As the chancellor uttered this odious calumny, he suddenly took ill. He became pale, stammered, and had recourse, four or five times, to a glass of water, which was beside him, in order to recover hisi spirits and find the words which he should use. The whole parHament was struck with this incident. The Abbe Majunke^ editor of the Catholic journal Gemiania, was, however, the only one who spoke, of it publicly. Such an offence against the omnipotent chancellor could not, of course, be overlooked. M. Majunke was summoned to the police office, and thence consigned to prison, notwithstanding his inviolabiUty as deputy^ and the protestations of the Reichstag (parliament). What a grand conception Chancellor Bismarck must have had of con- stitutional government ! The great success of William I. in the Franco-Prussian war appears to have so elated that monarch that he considered i. '■ 876 RELATIONS OF PlUf} IX. WITH FOREIGN BTATB8. there was nothing which he might not successfully undertake. He had annexed to Prussia some of the lesser States of Ger- many, and made a German Empire. The Church in Germany enjoyed many privileges and immunities under his predeces- sors, who, fo» the most part, were, like himself, Protestants. Whether it was that he dedired to show himself a better Prot- estant than his ancestors, or that he could not emancipate himself from the control of the minister who had so long guidfd, with singular success, the destinies of the empire, as well as his own career, or that he believed it to be a political necessity to act according to the views and carry out the prin- ciples of the German and European " Liberals "—the party of revolution and unbelief— he resolved to oppose no impediment to his chancellor and the liberal majority of parliament in their endeavors to destroy the Catholic Church in Germany, unless it chose to become as a mere department of the State, acting and speaking in the name of the State, receiving its appoint- ments from the State, as well as the funds requisite for the support of^its ministers, acceptmg all its orders and instruc- tions, even in the most spiritual things, from the State ; in fine, looking to the State as the sole source of all its authority, honor, power and influence. There was nothing like the Ger- man Empire. It had conquered in gigantic wars with two Powers that were considered the greatest in continental Europe. It had attained a degree of power and greatness, scarcely if at all inferior to that of the first Napoleon, and, like Napoleon, it aimed at more. It sought, like him, to have the Church, no less than the police com-ts, in every respect, in all circum- stances and on all occasions, completely at its orders. This ill-judged ambition accounts for the long list of ' oppressive laws which were enacted at Berhn for the enslavement of the CathdUc Church. They are known as the " May Laws," all of them having been passed, although not in the same year, in the month of May. DoUinger, Hohenlohe and the rest of the anti-Catholic Bavarian coterie, deluded the Emperor and his minister with the idea of an independent German alt, or Old HELATIONB OP PTOS IX. WITH FOREIGN HTATBS. d77 Oatholic Church. They sold their country to the new empire, poHtically. But they could not sell its church. One of these alt'Catlwlics, Dr. Schulte, recommended persecution as the surest means of eradicating the ancient chi^rch. "Let his twenty thousand florins be withdrawn from such a one, his twelve thousand thalers from such another ; let the salaries of the bishops and chapters be suppressed, and the result will soon be manifest. The humbler clergy will rejoice. Since 18th July, 1870, there has been neither belief in Christ nor religious conviction among the bearers of mitres and tonsures." Thus was the Prussian minister led to imagine that he had only to transfer the benefices of the Catholic dignitaries to the nlt-Catholicg in order to constitute an independent German Church, which would unite the whole of Germany religiously, as he had already united it politically. All Catholics, of course, would be members of this new Church. The State Protestantism of Prussia would, in due time, join this State €hurch, and there would be, if not one Faith and one Bap- tism, one Church and one State. The calculations of Chancellor Bismarck were, however, at fault. He soon discovered that the clergy were grossly calum- niated, and that the alt-Catholic Church in which he trusted never counted more than thirty priests; that this number increased not, and that the hundreds of thousands of adherents •of [whom the pseudo bishop, Eeinkens, boasted, were only some twenty thousand to thirty thousand, scattered over all Germany. These had no principle of cohesion. They could not agree as to any fundamental point of religious doctrine or ^scipline. According to a census made in 1876, they num- bered only one hundred and thirty-six, in a population of twenty-five thousand Catholics, at the city of Bonn, which M. Reinkens had selected as the seat and centre of his episcopal ministrations. Meanwhile, there was a considerable reaction in prevaricating Bavaria. The Catholic minority was changed into a majority, and the Prussian Cathohc representation, which was called the fraction of the centre, was strengthened I 878 RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN STATES. at the elections of 1874 by an increase from twenty-five to- forty votes. The chancellor, although enlightened, was not corrected. Nothing could divert him from his evil purpose. By a strange confusion of ideas, he called Ktdturcampf {Qtmggle for civilization) the open war which he waged against the Church, the source of all civilization and of liberty of con- science, ''^lie persecuting laws which, with the aid of the so- called ** liberal " party, or party of unbelief, he succeeded in causing to be enacted were to the following effect. As was to be expected of the blind pohtical fanaticism of the party, the Jesuits .were the first objectq of hostility, and the first victims of persecution. The May laws required that these unoffending individuals should be expelled without any form of trial, and deprived of their rights of citizens. . At the same time, certain religious orders which, it was pretended, were affiliated with the Jesuits, were subjected to the like treatment : All ecclesiastical seminaries were suppressed, the solons of legislation pretending that it was necessary to oblige the can- didates for the priesthood to imbue their minds in lay schools,, with the ideas and wants of modem society. The new laws abolished articles fifteen, sixteen and eigh- teen of the Prussian Constitution, which guaranteed the auton- omy of the different forms of worship; they bestowed on the State the nomination to ecclesiastical functions, and went so- far as to forbid bishops the use of their right to declare apos- tates excluded from the Catholic communion. They suppressed the subsidies and allowances which the State, until that time, paid to the diocesan establishments and the clergy generally, notwithstanding ihat such subsidies were not gratuitously bestowed by the government, but were nothing else than, as in France and Belgium, the restitution, in part, of the' debt due by the State to the Church. It was provided, however, that such members of the clergy as should make their submission should at once have their salaries restored. By a refinement of cruelty, all collections and subscriptions,, whether public or private, for the requirements of public wor- RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN STATES. STP- ship and the support of the clergy were forbidden, and elective lay commissions were charged with the management of all ecclesiastical property. Finally, all religious orders, as well of men as of women, were suppressed, with the exception, and that provisionally only, of such as were devoted to the care of the sick. If Chancellor Bismarck really believed, at any time, that the Catholic clergy were without faith and conscience, ready to submit to any terms the State might impose, in order to save their incomes and the institutions of the Church, he must have been greatly surprised when he found them all, without excep- tion, prepared to welcome poverty, imprisonment and exile,, rather than abandon the inaUenable rights of conscience. On the 26th May, 1873, the Bishops of Prussia signed a collective declaration, in which they stated, with regret, that it \7a» impossible for them to obej'. " The Church," said they, " can- not acknowledge the heathon state principle, according .to which the laws of the State a^ the source of ail right, and the Church possesses only such rights as it pleases the State ta grant. By so doing, it would deny its own Divine origin, and would make Christianity wholly dependent on the arbitrary will of men." In regard to temporal matters connected with the Church they could afford to be less strict ; and so they authorized their people to take part in the election of the new lay managers of the properties of the churches. This wise policy was attended with the most happy results. The chan- cellor's plans were everywhere completely marred. He had reckoned that the Catholics would abstain from voting, and so allow a " liberal " (infidel) minority, liowever small, to dispose of the chm'ches and i)resb3rterieB. In reviewing the news of the day, we have been accustomed to think of only one or two more eminent prelates suffering under the lash of persecution. The truth is, that the whole Church suffered. The persecution was as cruel as an age which does not permit the shedding of blood would tolerate. The bishops were crushed with fines on account of each act ^80 RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN STATES. ■which they performed of their spiritual office. Such fines they refused to pay, lest they should acknowledge the justice of their condemnation. Their movable property, accordingly, ■was seized and sold at auction, and they themselves were immured in the prisons, where they were mixed up with felons condemned to the same labors, and designated, like them, by numbert. It was all in vain. Nothing could shake their constancy. At Berlin was erected a sort of ecclesiastical tribunal, which aiTogated to itself the power of deposing from sees, and which actually pretended to depose the Archbishop of Posen, the Bishop of Paderborn, the Prince-Bishop of Bres- lau, and several other prelates. The fortresses of Germany were filled with priests, wh^se only crime was that they obeyed God rather than nun. The public ways were crowded with priests who had been deprived, afterwards interned, and finally banished. Numerous religious people, both men and women, were in the like sad position, thronging the road of exile. The people, in tears, escorted these victims of hec henish rage. They chanted, as they went, the psalm, " Miserere" and the ■canticle, " Wir sind ini war en ChHstenthnm " ('" we are in true Christianity"), until they reached the railway depots. The Prussian gensd'armea, who were often no more than two or ihree in number, were astonished to find that they could so easily conduct their prisoners, whom thousands and tens of thousands of other men, the greater number of whom were veteran soldiers, accompanied, as they passed, expressing their regrets and good wishes. Persecution is impolitic no less thar^ it is cruel and im- moral. The German people, to say the least, were shocked by the tyranny of their government. Nothing could prevent them from showing what they felt and thought, on occasion of the release of the prisoners at the end of their two years' term of imprisonment. They took every possible means of express- ing their satisfaction. Thus, at Munster, when Bishop Waren- dorf returned, the inhabitants paid no attention to the pro- hibition of the burgomaster, who, by order of the government, KELATIONS OP PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN STATES. 881 intimated that lie would repress, by force, every external and public demonstration. The whole city rushed to the gate, St. Mauritius, by which the released prison jr was to enter. Count Droste-Erhdroste proceeded to receive him in a mc^^nificent carriage, drawn by four horses, which wap followed by four more carriages in charge of his sers'ants, who were in com- plete gala dress. An immense crowd strewed flowers along the route as the bishop advanced, and ceased not to hail him with joyous acclamations until he reached his residence, where the first families of the country were in attendance to receive him. In the even-ng, the whole town, with the exception of the public buildings, was illuminated. The citizens of Posen were preparing a like triumphal reception for their archbishop^ Cardinal Ledochowski, on occasion of his release in February, 1876, from the fortress of Ostrowo, where he had been incar- cerated for two years, when he was carried ofi* in the night- time and transported beyond the limits of his diocese, in which he is forbidden ever again to set foot. Two sufi'ragan bishops were left behind. They also were imprisoned at Gnesten, one for having administered the Sacrament of Confirmation with- out special leave from the government, the other for having consecrated the holy oils on Maunday Thursday, 1875. By such acts, which evidently belonged to the spiritual order, they were held to be guilty of sedition and a violation of the rights of the State. The whole CathoHc world was deeply moved by this modem and unprovoked persecution. All could not speak, indeed; but all were in sympathy with the clergy and faithfid people of Germany. The bishops of France would have brought war upon their country by uttering a word of disapproval. The irascible chancellor actually sought to raise a quarrel with that country on account of a slight and inoffensive allusion which fell from the lips of two of the bishops. Could he not see that he will be bsanded throughout the ages as a persecutor and a short-sighted politician? Great Britain and America could speak without fear or hindrance. And they were not slow to 382 RBLATI0N8 OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN SPATES. send their words of consolation and encouragement to their suffering brethren of Germany. The Cardinal-Archbishbp of Westminster wrote in a strain which may be described as apostolical, to the Archbishop of Cologne, the Primate of Ger- many, greeting " with the greatest affection both himself and his brethren, the other bishops who are in prison for having defended the authority and liberty of the Church." This let- ter was reproduced by all the newapapei's, and could not have ■escaped the notice of the Prussian minister. Nevei fcheless, he was nilent. Although sensitive in the extreme, as regarded France and Belgium, his Knowledge of geography and naval statistics, no doubt, enabled him to possess his soul in pa- tience. Pius IX. could not but feel for his afflicted children of Ger- many. He was moved, accordingly, to address a very earnest remonstrance to the Emperor, William I. This was done so ■early ias August, 1873. He could not beheve that such cruel measures proceeded from a prince who had so often given proof of his Christian sentiments. He had even been informed that his Majesty did not approve of the conduct of his government, and condemned the laws which were enacted against the Catho- lic religion. '^ " But, if it be true that your Majesty does not approve of these measures (and the letters which you formerly addressed to me appear to me to -prove sufficiently that you lo not think well of what is actually taking place), — if, I say, it is not with your sanction that your government continues to extend more and more those repressive measures against the Christian religion which so grievously injure that religion, must you not come to the conclusion that such measures can have no other effect than to undermine your throne ?" He may possibly have thought so, when, a little later, his life was attempted by parties who are known to seek the destruction of religion and civil government at the same time. Be this as it may, his reply to Pius IX. was not in his usual kindly style. It was scarcely polite, and appeared to be the work of the savage chancellor rather than of the good-natured monarch. BELATI0N8 OF PIUS IX. WITH FOBEION STATES. 888 The appeal of Pius IX. produced no result. The Emperor's government add^d to the harshness of his refusal by advising him to address a letter of congratulation to the new bishop of the alt-Catholics. This was done, as was expressed, ** on Account of his complete deference to the State and his acknowl- edgment of its rights." In another letter, which was also made public, WiUiam I. recalled to mind those ancient Em- perors of Germany who were the iiTeconeilable enemies of the spiritual supremacy of the Popes, and intimated that he was resuming the work of Frederick Barbarossa and Henry IV. The association was unfortunate. The chancellor's commen- tary was more so. "We shall never," he boasted, "go to, Canossa !" These words, spoken before the assembled parlia- ment, were a defiance of Divine Providence. Was it forgotten that there were other snows than those of Canossa, in which Emperors 6ould perish ? The first Napoleon pursued, in regard to the Church, the same policy that Germany was now pursu- ing. He defied the religious power, and contemptuously a,sked* whether tu w/ns could be made to fall from the hands of his soldiers / They did so fall, nevertheless, when the elemented Emperor led his legions into the ^nows of Eussia. Pius IX. could not behold without concern the deep dis- tress of his brethren in Germany. He addressed an Encyclical letter, under date of 5th February, 1875, to the Bishops of Prussia, lamenting the persecution which tried them so severely, dwelling at great length on the evils of the May laws, praising the constancy of the clergy, and exhorting them to continued patience and perseverance. The whole doctrine of the Encyclical may be said to be expressed in the following words : " Let those who are your enemies know that you do no injmy to the royal authority, and that you have no prejudice against it when you refuse to give to Csesar what belongs to God ; for it is written, * We must obey (rod rather tlmn men.' " Tliis eloquent letter, like everything else that vvas done in x)rder to mitigate the most trying persecution of modern times, 384 RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOltEIGN STATES. remained without any other result than to afford some com- fort to the clergy of the afflicted Church of Germany. Pius iX., in order to show still further his appreciation of the constancy under persecution of the German clergy, con- ferred the dignity of Cardinal on. Archbishop Ledjc'^owski, who courageously accepted the proffered honor. Thr^ pt'rse- cnting government prevented him from ever enjoying it in his diocese, by condemning him to perpetual banishment. This was, at least, an approach to the cruelty practised on Fisher, the illustrious English Confessor, who was consigned to the Tower of London because he would not sanction the divorce of Henry VIII., and acknowledge the Koyal Supremacy in ques- tions of religion. The Pope of the time sent him a cardinal's hat. But the enraged king took care that he should never wear it by cutting off his head-. The time was past when blood could be shed in hatred of the truth, even by so hard a tyrant as the Prussian minister. In the nineteenth century, however, as weU as ir. the sixteenth, there would not be want- ing those who would resist unto blood for religion's sake. It was comparatively an easy matter to deprive and banish the legitimate pastors, -but not quite so easy to find priests so unprincipled as to become their successors. The politic chan- cellor, apparently, had not thought of this beforehand. In the course of five years he could find only two ecclesiastics who would consent to accept benefices at his hands. All those on whom he might have counted for estabhshing a schism in the Church had already joined, with all the encouragement which the minister could bestow, t^e alt-Catholic sect, which, as has been shown, was destined to prove a failure. It is almost superfluous to say that the parishioners studiously avoided all communication in things spiritual with the nominees of the State. Meanwhile, the faithful people were not left destitute. Zealous young priests from the seminaries visited them pri- vately at their houses, and ministered to their religious wants. Such as so acted were arrested and conducted to the frontier. They returned by the next railway train. They were then cast RELATIONS OF PIUS IX. WITH FOREIGN BTATEH. 385 into prison. As soon as they were free they returned to the post of duty. There was in Germany a revival of the Primi- tive Church — of the zeal and self-sacrifice of the apostolic age. All this was met by the cJosing of the seminaries, the severest blow that had, • as yet, been struck against the cause of religion. The chancellor, nevertheless, was not feuccessfui. The newspapers in hia interest, which he designated at* the reptile jwcss, laughed at his Bhort-sigfctednees. . 3 had counted on accomplishing his purpose by some six months of persecu- tion. Generations would no\ suffice. The endurance, of the Church is unconquerable. It is as an anvil which wears out many hammers. That which Chancellor Bismarck applied, so vigorously, will prove to be no exception.-"^ Southern Ger- many, it is a pleasure to record, abhors the ridiculous Kultm-- kampf of Chancellor Bismarck. Louis II., of Bavaria, would fain follow in his wake. But, as is shown by the large Catho- lic majorities at the elections, he is not seconded, even passively, as in Prussia, by the Bavarian people. The persecution, attended by its essential results, is rendering all Germany more Catholic than ever. "When its work shall have been aiecomplished, what will remain ? The Church or the Kultur- kampf? In the meantime many innocent persons must suffer; many time-honored institutions will have been swept away ; in the pursuit of an ideal civilization, and by means of cruelties unworthy of an enlightened age, many monuments which owed their origin to the superior civilizing power of Christi- anity will have disappeared forever. In addition to all thisj feelings hostile to the Church, and prejudices hurtful as they are groundless, «je everywhere created. Pius IX. complained of this unfortunate state of things, when he said (10th Janu- ary, 1875): "The revolution, not satisfied with persecuting *There appeared at Munich, In 1874, an ingeniouB caricature- It repre- sented the Prussian chancoltor, endeavoring, with a Krupp gun, wbich be used as a lever, to overt.hrow ^church emblem of Catholicism. Batan comes on the scene, and says : " What are you doing, my friend ?" Bismarck. " This church embarrasses me; I want to upset it." Satan, " It embarrasses me, too. I have been laboring 1800 years to demolish it. If your Excellency succeeds, I pledge myself to resign my ofHce in your favor." AA 886 , ITALY — EDUCATION. €atbolics in Prussia, excites, on both sides of the Alps, those governments which profess to be Cathohc, but which have only too plainly led the way, in the shameful career of religious oppression. It excites them to persist, more boldly than ever, m the work of persecution, and these gove? aienta execute ita behests. God will arise, some day, and, audresaing: the Broi-r estant oppressor, he will say to him : Thou hast sinned — grievously sinned ; but the Catholic governments, on all hands, have still more grievously sinned. Majus peccatum hahent" I ITALY — EDUCATION. At the time of the Piedmontese invasion, there were in the city of Rome, one hundred and sixty-eight colleges or public schools. The number of schools was twenty thousand, whilst the whole population of the city was two hundred and twenty thousand. The pupils are classed as follows, according to the statistics of his Eminence the Cardinal-Vicar, in 1870 : Students, boarding in seminefries and colleges 703 .Students, day scholars, gratuitously taught in the schools J 6,555 iStudents, day scholars, who paid a small fee 1,603 Total 7,941 Girls, boarding m refuges. 2,986 * ' day scholars, gratuitously taught 6,52B " " who paid a small fee 2,871 Total 11,380 General total 19,321 Thus, including the orphans of both sexes, at St. Michael de Termini and other asylums, pupils are in the proportion of one to ten inhabitants. This is not inferior to Paris, a'nd sur- passes Berlin, so much spoken of as a seat of education. This ITALY — EDUCATION. 387 Prussian (now Germait oapitpl) "eckone*!, iu 1876, only eighty- five thouband scholars for a population of r.'ne hundred and seventy-four thousand wouls, or ten scholars to or ■? hundred and fourteen citizens. The Godless schools, establifhf.d by the new rulers, have impeded, only to a certain ext'^rt. the ■development given to education by the Government of Piua IX. In the poorer quarters of the city some parties have been either intimidated by the threats of the Department of Chanty, or gained by the offer of bounties to themselves and a gratuit- ous breakfast to their children. But, generally, the people of Bome still resist, and several Christian schools have consider- ably increased since 1870, the number of their pupils. This is all the more remarkable, as the ruling faction showed a strong determination to put an end entirely to Christian edu- cation. By the end of 1873, the usurping government had confiscated more than one hundred monasteries, convents, and other establishments of public education. A Lyceum was set up in place of the celebrated Eoman College, from which its proprietors, the Eev. Fathers of the Society of Jesuits, were finally expelled in 1874. The better to show their animus on the occasion, the new Bulers tore down a magnificent piece of sculpture, in marble, which adorned the gate, and on which was engraved the blessed name of the Saviour, replacing it by .the escutcheon in wood of Victor Emmanuel. As if to give zest to robbery, the Godless tyrants proposed that the professors of the Boman College should continue their . lessons, as functionaries of the ItaUan government, and after having qualified by accepting diplomas from a lay university It would, indeed, have been comical to see such men as Secchi, Franzelin, Tarquini, and many, besides, the first professors in the world, seated on scholars' benches, to be examined by the semi-barbaroiis officials, whether civil or military, of the Pied- montese King. Pius IX., although pressed by many wants, provided an asylum for science. He called together the Jesuit; Fathers who had been dispersed, in the halls of the American and German Colleges. There, although somewhat pinched for 888 ITALY — EDUCATION. room, they continued their international courses, the most extensive that ever were known. The new Rulers, however, it is only proper to observe, never dared to drive Father Secchi from his observatory. There ought never to have been any difficulty in Italy m regards education. The Itahans were, and are still, of one mind, and not divided, like us, into numerous denominations, all of which have to be . considered without prejudice to their religious views. The usurping Italian government allotted one million of francs (il40,000) per annum, for elementary education at Rome. Not one half of the children for whom this bounty is intended, avail themselves of it — a fact which shows that the popular want has not been met. The outlay only burdens the ratepayers without advancing the end for which it is designed — elementary education. Private persons supply the need according to the popular desire, by means of regionary schools, supported entirely at their own expense, and with a laudable degree of self-sacrifice. The same state of things prevails, generally, throughout Italy, as is shown by a circular of the minister of public instruction. The new gov- ernment aims at nothing less than the subversion of reUgious principle. This the Italians resist, and will cpntinue to resist. The government schools for secular and irreligious education, among the upper clfl-sses, are like those for elementary teach- ing, very thinly attended, parents preferring to send their children abroad, and, when this cannot be afforded, to such ecclesiastical colleges and seminaries as are , still in existence. The State schools have already a monopoly in the conferring of degrees and the consequent civ^ advantages. It is pro- posed to go still further, and, actually, to close by force, all the higher schools in which religion is recognized, even as the school established by the Pope in the city of Home, was recently put down. It is thus that these emancipators of mankind understand Hberty ! As regards female education, especially, the people will never, willingly, give up the schools that are conducted by IfALY — RELIGION. 889 ""Sisters" or "Nuns." The education which such schools afford is universally appreciated — among ourselves who are •divided, but more particularly among the Italians, who are all Catholics. It is in vain to Lick ngaiiiftt the goad, and this the Italian government will learn, some day, when it is cast forth as a rotten institution by the people, whose dearest wishes it ignores. It is of no use to suppose that Italy is advanced to a (State of irreligion, and so requires a system of Godless educa- tion. The contrary is well known. State systems, 'oased, not on statistical facts, but, on idle suppositions, must needs come to nought. • ITALY — RELIGION. " A free Church in a free State " — the great idea of such Italian liberals as had any conception of a church at all, was surely to be realized when the fellow-countrymen of Count de Cavour came to rule at Rome. What was the case ? There was neither a free church nor a free State ? That State is not free, wherein the people are not fairly represented. The new Italian State could not claim any such representation. It was lield in such contempt that the great majority of the Italian people, unwisely, indeed, we who are accustomed to constitu- tional government would say, declined to take part in the elec- tions. Thus the entire control of the country was left in the hands of two comparatively amall factions — the moderate and •the extreme radicals. It is of little importance to the mass of the Italian people which of these factions holds sway for the moment. They both legislate and execute the laws in opposi- tion to the will of the nation, and in th^^ sense amd for the benefit of the pirevailing faction. They are both alike charac- terized by hatred of the Christian faith and all religious insti- tutions. This feeling impels them to war against everything -connected with Christianity, and to substitue what the Ger- mans of the same school call Knlturkampf, or, a struggle for 'Culture, on principles the vfery opposite of those on which is founded the high civili?!ation of the nineteenth century. No doubt these apostles of Kidturhampf have a much higher eivilL 890 ITALY — RELIGION. nation in store for mankind. But it must be admitted that they follow a strange way of bringing about the much-desired consummation. Robbery and sacrilege they believe, or pro- fess to believe, will promote the great object of their ambition^ and so they practice, to their heaiii's content, robbery and sac- rilege. Have they forgotten that, according to their code, it is a Jesuitical teaching, that evil may be done in order to pro- duce good. These legislators and administrators of laws claim to be 8.:perior to the efete errors of the age. Why then should they still cling to those of the despised Jesuits f Because, no doubt, it serves the purpose of the moment, and affords some relief to, if it does not satiefy, an insatiable passion. On approaching Rome they affected much reverence for the Holy Father and the institutions of religion. They could do noth- ing less, accordingly, than enact their now famous laio of guar- antees, which assured complete protection to the Pope and . the institutions over which he presided. Let us enquire for a moment how this law was enforced. It surpassed, in gen- erosity to the church, the legislation of the most chivalrous monarchs. It gave up the royal rights of former kings in regard to nominating and proposing to ecclesiastical offices, tt dispensed with the oath of bishops to the king, and formally abolished (see articles fifteen and sixteen) the exeqtiatur, as it is called, authorizing the publication and execution of all nota- ble acts of ecclesiastical authority. Such clear and apparently solemn regulations appeared to be inviolable. Nevertheless^ whilst one hundred and fifty .bishops were named by Pius IX. » from the commencement of the Piedmontese invasions till the month of August, 1875, no fewer than one hundre?! and thirty-seven of this number were not acknowledged by the civil power, because they did not apply for and obtain the exeqtiatm. The ministry was not satisfied with this. It pushed its tyranny to P^ich an extreme as to refuse in future, to grant the exeqti a tur a,D.d to ex^el from their reiidences all bishops who should not possess it. Not only did the government withhold the incomes of the bishops, and confiscate the revenues which ITALY — RELIGION. 801 the piety of the people had devoted for their support, it also employed its gensd'armos and police agents in seizing the prel- ates at their homes and casting them into the streets. The new rulers went further still, and displayed their financial genius in a way peculiar to themselves. They actually 8ub> jected to the tax on moveable property, the alms which the bishops received from the Sovereign Pontiff, who, like them- selves, was robbed of his proper income. Thus did the beg- garly government make money out of the small resources of those who, when the exchequer failed to fulfil its duties, en- deavored themselves, as best they could, to make up for this, dereliction. Military conscription is essentially tyrannical. It is parti- cularly so when used as an arm of offence against the church » It was applied to ecclesiastical students, and even to such as- were in holy orders, expressly for the purpose of depriving the church of recruits from the seminaries. None could now be found to renew the ranks of the clergy, except such as were invalids or of weak constitutions, or who, by miracle, perse- vered in their vocation, after four years' service in military barracks. The public robbers, notwithstanding their professions and guarantees, audaciously laid sacrilegious hands on the proper- ties of the Basilicas of St. Ecter and St. John Lateran, which they themselves had expressly reserved for the use of the Holy See. They hesitated not even to seize the funds of the cele- brated missionary college — Propoganda. These properties they did not simply annex, as they did so many, besides, thai Ibelonged to the Church. They created a liquidating junta or commission, as they called it, which should change all im- movable ecclesiastical properties that were not already confis- cated into national rent. Such national rent, as is well known ^ had only an ephemeral value. It was, at best, variable ; and Italy, which was partially bankrupt when it reduced the inter- est due to its creditor?, will, sooner or later, according to the opinion of the ablest writers, land in complete bankruptcy. 392 ITALY — RELIGION. The rents substit'^tsd by force, instead of real property, will then possess the value of the assignata of the first French revo- lution, * The endowments of Propaganda, appointed by Christian generosity, at different epochs, were not designed for the use of Rome or Italy, or any Catholic country whatever. Their object was the sujiport of remote missions. This was well understood. The very name of the institution shows that it was. In vain did Cardinal Franehi apply to the tribunals. The properties of the great universal institution, as well as those of the Chapters, were sold at public auction, and the confis- cation, although not immediate, was ni course of being accom- plished. The state of thinf^s did not improve on the advent to power of Messrs. Nicotera and Depretis, the former a radical of the most extreme views, and the latter, very little, if at all, better. These revolutionists having gained the object of their ambition, might have been inclined to halt in their mad career ; but, their party driving them onward, they proceeded to still more rigid and cruel measures. It is not too much to say that such men are digging a grave' for the House of Savoy and Italian unity. The measures aiming at the destruction of religion may be summarized as follows : Ist. They have introduced civil registration of births, as an equivalent and alternative to Christian baptism. > 2nd. They have permitted and encouraged civil interment instead of Christian burial. . 3rd. They have abolished oaths in courts of law. 4th. They have systematically encouraged the profanation of the Sunday and the great festivals of Christmas, Easter, etc., by ordering the pro86cution of the government buildings and other public works on Sundays ; by ostentatiously holding their sessions on those days; by ordering public lectures in the universities and higher schoDls on Sundays as on week days, etc. ITALY — CRIME. 393 5th. They have estabhshed civil marriage as an equivalent before the law for Christian marriage, and aa necessary, in all cases, besides the religious ceremony. 6th. They have established a recognized syatem of public immorality by indemnities, and dpriving from this shameful source a revenue which is applied to augment the secret ser- vice funds. •It is easily observed that in every detail of this enumera- tion, religion and morals are directly attacked. The Pope, who is the chief of religion and the great preacher of morality, cannot give any countenance to such things. Far less can he identify himself with such anU-Christian legislation. This is the insuperable impediment to his reconciliation with the pres- ent Bulers of "United Italy." He can resist evil, and resist unto blood, as so many of his sainted predecessors have done. But when there is q:iestion of accepting it, his only word must be, as it has always been, non possumns. What would men say, if He, who is the Head of the Church, and the chief guar- dian of the truth confided to Her keeping, could be brought by the threats or caresses of ephemeral worldly Powers, to call good evil, and evil good? , ITALY — CRIME. Religion, when persecuted in any country, fails not to wreak vengeance on the persecuting power. In such countries, virtue, generally, respect for law, order and authority, as well as public security, rapidly diminish, and the State discovers, although too late, tha(<, in aiming at the Church, it has struck c-gainst itself a deadly blow. Since the inauguration of the much vaunted Kulturkampf, socialism has increased to such a degree in Germany as to appal even Chancellor Bismarck, whilst Italy, at the same time that it closed its convents and Catholic colleges, was obliged to multiply not only its military barracks, but also its prisons. In no part of Italian territory have these preventives of crime, if, indeed, they may be so-called, proved sufficient. So rapid 894 ITALY — CRIME. has been the increase of crime, that, according to official statistics, in the Province of Eome alone, seven thousand two hundred and ninety-three cases were ascertained and brought before the tribunals, in 1874. This is just double what ap- peared in the criminal courts under the Pontifical government. In the whole kingdom there were eighty-four thousand prison- ers, or criminals under restraint. This is thirty-five thousand more than in France, the general population of which is greater by one-third, and four times more than in Great Britain, the^ population of which is about the same as that of united Italy. This state of crime is not surprising when it is considered that the rulers themselves have never ceased to set the example of the most unscrupulous and merciless theft and robbery. The- new civil code, besides, appears to have had no other object in view than to obliterate all idea of right, and to legitimatize all robberies, past, present and future, in the unfortunate kingdom of Italy. Article seven hundred and ten of this code declares^ plainly, that property is acquired hy possession. At Eome, barristers, judges, and even the most revolution-- ary journalists are assassinated by private vengeance, in broacl day, in the street, or in their offices, and no one dare molest the murderers. In Eomagna it was found necessary to bring to justice an association of assassins, who were, for the most part, persons of good education and men of property. In Sicily matters were still worse. There, a society of Brigands, called Majia, holds the island in a state of perpetual terror. Numerous Garibaldians who have been without employment since 1870, and were long tolerated, on account of former com- plicity, added to the ranks of this fraternity. The MaJia ridi themselves of another society, the Kamorra, by the successive assassination at Palermo alone, of twenty-three of its chiefs. All these crimes remain unpunished, none daring to bear wit- ness against the guilty. In the departments of government there is not less moral disorder. The finances are mismanaged and dilapidated. Notwithstanding the enormous and oppressive increase of taxa- I RUSSIA AND THS EAST. 89S tion, together with the forcible appropriation of ecclesiastical property, deficits are the order of the day, and the nation has. been, more than once, and probably is still, on the verge of bankruptcy. Truly, may the Italians, who are twenty-three to one, exclaim, in their distress : Quo usque tandem ahuteru patientia nostra ? " How long, disastrous revolution ! wilt thou abuse our patience ?" Nor are the better thinking Italians without blame. Why did they not take part — why do they not still take part in the elections, and return, as they well may, a majority to the, would-be constitutional parliament? Their numbers would,, undoubtedly, be imposing and influential. So much so, indeed,, that they must finally obtain admission, without burdening their conscience with an obnoxious oath. What did not Daniel O'Connell, Ireland's liberator, accomplish, by causing himself alone to be elected for an Irish constituency, and by proceeding to demand^ the seat to which he was elected in the British parliament, without uttering an oath which shocked his con- science? '' • RUSSIA AND THE EAST. The cruel and sanguinary persecution of Catholics in the Russian Empire was a cause of intense sorrow to Pius IX. He could do nothing towards alleviating the sufferings of those unfortunate people. The Tsar, Alexander II., shows in his treatment of his Buthenian subjects of the united Greek Church, that he is wholly unworthy of the reputation for enlightenment and benevolence with which he has been cred- ited. The Empress, indeed, is blamed, together with her fanatical favorite, Melle. Bludow, the Minister of Public In- struction, Tolstoy, and Gromeka, Governor of Siedlce, for having urged him to use the power of the empire in forcing conversions to Russo-Greek orthodoxy. That the heads of a semi-barbarous nation should so advise is pot surprising. The Tsar, who is an absolute monarch, cannot be excused. There is every reason, besides, for holding him personally responsi- ble. When he was at Warsaw, a peasant woman, bearing a 896 RUSSIA AND THE EAST. petition, succeeded in obtaining admission to his presence. As soon as he learned that the petition begged toleration for the united Greek Church, he replied by inserting in all the newspapers a confirmation of the orders formerly given for the extinction of that church. Count Alexandrowicz de Con- fltantinovo was repeatedly warned by the Eussian authori- ties that he had no right to attend the Latin churches, which, being less persecuted, were a refuge for the i^ited Greeks, when, indeed, as was rarely the case, they were allowed to enjoy it. The Count, hoping to be more liberally dealt with by the enlightened Tsar, who was said to surpass in all that was great and noble, his tolerant predecessor, Alexander I., proceeded to St. Petersburgh. The Tsar made a reply to his representation, which, in the case of an ordinary mortal, would be taken for a proof of stupidity, or of impenetrable ignorance. " The Orthodox religion is pleasing to me. Why should it not please you also ?" It remained only for the Count to sell his properties and abandon his country. More humble members of the obnoxious church could not so easily escape. The savage treatment to which they were subjected can only be briefly alluded to here. A persecution which has lasted more than a hundred years, and is not yet at an end, is more a subject for the general history of the church than for the life of Pins IX. A few facts, therefore, must suffice* In the important diocese of Chelm, particularly, the most ingenious devices were had recourse to, in order to delude the Catholic people, and induce them to comply with the require- ments of the Eusso-Greek Church. All these failing, force was had recourse to, and it was used, assuredly, without stint or measure. Seizure of property, imprisonment, the lash and ■exile to Siberia, proved equally unavailing, as persecution, in «very form, must always be. Greater excesses were then had recourse to. They who dared to perform a pilgrimage, take part in a religious procession, or enter a Catholic Church, were shot down like the wild game of the forests, by the fanatical myr- RUSSIA AMD THE EAST. 397 midons of the Tsar. In January, 1874, the people of Ruclno- were forced to abandon their dwellings and take refuge in the woods. At Chmalowski, several united Greeks, of whom threes were women, were flogged to death by Cossack troops. At Pratulin, in the district of Janow, when a number of people assembled in a cemetery, were guarding the door of the church against apostate priests, a German colonel, who commanded three companies of Cossacks, ordered his troops to fire. Nine of the people fell dead on the spot. A great many more were mortally wounded. Of these four died within the day. "Thus does the Tsar punish rebels," said the savage colonel to the mayors of the neighboring villages, whom he had forced ta witness the execution. At Drylow, five men were slain on the same day, and in the same cruel way as at Pratulin. Sa recently as August, 1876, a body of peasants, returning from a pilgrimage, were attacked by Russian soldiers. They defended themselves bravely, as best they could, with no better weapons than their walking canes. Six of the troops fell, and thirty, one of whom was an officer, were wounded. Reinforcements coming to the aid of the military, |the peasants were defeated ,^ and a great number of them killed and wounded. Among the latter were many women, and seven children. Two hundred arrests were made, the next and following days. The prison- ers were at first immured in the Citadel of Warsaw. . It is not p^'obable that they will ever be allowed to visit their kindi-ed or their native villages. Pius IX., being partially informed of such cruelties, which it was utterly beyond his power to prevent, wrote to the United Greek Archbishop of Lemberg, Sembratovicz, conjuring him to send to the sorely persecuted people all the help in his power, both spiritual and materiftl. He declared, at the same time, by the Bull, " omnem sollicitudinem" dated 13th May, 1874, that the Liturgies proper to the Eastern Churches, and parti, cularly that 6f the United Greeks, whieh was settled by the Council of Tamosc, in 1720, were always held in high esteem by the Holy See, and ought to be carefully preserved. Hear- SOS RUSSIA AND THE EAST. ing that a Bull which conceined them had arrived from Rome, the Euthenian peasants sent secretly to Lemherg, in order to procure '^, Their envoys entering Galicia without passports, incurred the risk of being sent to Siberia. When the Bull was once obtained, the people assembled in groups, in remote places, and any one who could read, read it to the rest of the company. It was held in honor as a relic. When the Rus- sians discovered that the Bull was known to the people, they •did their best to cause it to be misunderstood, both among the clergy and the laity. They insisted, even, that the Pope had discarded the Greek rite ; that hencefprth, they who adhered to Rome, could not celebrate either the Mass of St. John Chryso- stom or that of St. Basil, and that the marriage of secular priests, together with the Sclavonic language, would cease to be tolerated. It has been attempted to conceal from the civiUzed world the more atrocious circumstances of the Russian persecution. But the darkest deeds of the darkest despotism cannot be always done in the dark. The press of continental Europe ha« informed the public mind. If anything were wanting to sr.tisfy English readers, generally, it would be found in the despatch of Mr. Marshall Jewell, Minister of the United States, at St. Petersburgh, to Mr. Secretary Fisb. This document is dated at the United States Legation at St. Petersburgh, 23rd Febru- ary, 1874. The minister begins by stating that he took great pains to be correctly informed, regarding the state of matters, before writing his report. This, he adds, was not done with- out difficulty, as the affair was kept very quiet at St. Peters- bjirgh. Certain repressive measures for the conversion of the Ruthenian Catholics having proved inadequate, "new and more stringent orders were given a few weeks later. In con- sequence of these orders, several priests (thirty-four, I have been told) who persisted in performing the former services, were arrested. In some localities the peasants refused to go to the churches when the Orthodox priests officiated, until they were forced to go by the troops. Iq other localities they THE EAST — CHURCH IN THE TURKISH. EMPIRE. 899 :q,s8embled in crowds, shut the churches, and prevented the priests from performing the offices. In one case, it is said, a priest was stoned to death. Conflicts arose between the peas- ants and the armed force. On such occasions many persons were maltreated, and in the case of the village of Drelow — ■28th February — thirty peasants were slain, and many more wounded. It is said, even, that several soldiers were killed. It is reported that the prisons at Lublin and Kielce ai*e crammed with prisoners. The peasants have also been flogged, men receiving fifty, women twenty-five, and children ten lashes each. Some women, more ^determined and outspoken than the rest, were punished with a hundred lashes. Like troubles, it is said, have occm*red at Pratulin and other locali- ties, with loss of life. . . . Last summer, the peasants of divers villages, in the Government of Lublin, were constantly obliged to submit to examination, and to appear before the courts. It was, in consequence, impossible for them to culti- vate their fields ; and, hence, they have been reduced almcit to a state of famine. (Signed.) Marshall Jewell." THE EAST — CHURCH IN THE TURKISH EMPIRE. It is comparatively an easy undertaking to create trouble and disturbance in the church. It is not so easy, however, to establish a schism. The Prussian chancellor learned this fact when he beheld the failure of his alt-Catholic scheme in Ger- many. Having tried the same game in Turkey, his projects, notwithstanding the aid and countenance of the Mussulman Power, proved abortive. The government of the sublime Porte had been very tolerant hitherto, as regarded its Catholic sub- jects. In the early days of Pius IX. it had concurred with the Holy See in establishing a Catholic bishop at Jerusalem ; it protected pilgrimages and processions ; it favored colleges and institutions for ecclesiastical education ; and to such a degree that, under its auspices and through its care, there are several flom'ishing' seminaries which renew the intellectual life of the people who follow the Latin rite. A united Bulgarian chuych 400 THE EAST — CHURCH IN THE TURKISH EMPIRE. has been founded and is daily gaining strength. The Maroniteef are ahnost completely restored after the disaster of 1860. The number of Greek Catholics or Melchites, has been almost doubled, so great is the number of conversions. The same may be said of the Chaldean or Armenian Catholics. These last are probably the best informed and the most influential of the Christian populations under the Sultan's rule. Prussian intrigue, and a momentary renewal of Mussulman fanaticism,, have done much to check, if not wholly to destroy this happy state of things. One Kupelian, aspiring to be patriarch of Armenia, was put forward by rich and influential parties aa the administrator of their nation, and they succeeded in obtain- ing from the Porte his investiture, as the only true Head of the Armenian Catholics. The legitimate chief, Hassoum,. Patriarch of Cilicia, protested. In vain, however, as France was no longer able to maintain his right; The last ambassa- dor of that country representing Napoleon III., had even sup- ported the pretensions and favored the machinations of the Kupelianites. The Porte was induced to treat Hassoum as a seditious person, and banished him from the country. The exile found his way to Rome, where he wa: kindly received by Pius IX. He did not return -to Constantinople till 1876. Meanwhile, persecution was cruelly carried on. Bishops were expelled from their sees, rectors from their parishes, churches, monasteries and hospitals were seized by force of arms. At Damascus, Broussa, Sinope, Mardyn, Mossoul, all the princi- pal towns of the Ottoman Empire, Armenian Catholics were forcibly driven from their churches, in order to make room for mere handfuls of Kupelianists. The persecution extended as far as Cairo. At Augora, twelve thousand Armenian Catholics were dispossessed in favor of twelve dissenters, one of these twelve being an apostate monk, the delegate of Kupelian. At Adana, the church, the school, and the residence of the Catho- lic Armenian bishop, with all the revenues attached thereto, became the prey of two individuals, a priest and a lay person. At Trebizonde, the bishop was expelled by Russian bayonettes,. I THE. EAST — CHURCH IN THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 401 :and (lied of grief. The value of property taken from Catholics is estimated at one hundred millions of livres. For what, it may be asked, was the power of an empire exercised, and so muoh robbery perpetrated ? In favor, at least, one would say, of somo important sect ? No such thing. It was all for the would-be Kupeiian schism, sevpn hundred strong. It is need- less here to say how soon the degenerate Sultan, Abdul Aziz, and his prevaricating empire met their reward, whilst the legi- timate Armenian patriarch, Hassoum, so long the victim of persecution, has been restored, is honored by the government •of his country and held in the highest esteem by the Chief Pastor of the Christian fold. All this was foretold by^ Pius IX., although, indeed, the Ho!y Pontiff pretended ilot to utter a prophecy. In a letter intended for the consolation of tlie banished Archbishop of Mardyn, in Mesopotamia, and the Armenian Catholics, he says: "It behooves us not to lose courage, nor to believe that the triumph of iniquity will be of long continuance. For, does not the Scripture say : ' The wicked man is caught in his own perversity ; he is bound by the chains of his crimes, and he who digs a pif for others will fall into it himself ; he who casts a stone into the path of his neighbor, will strike against it and stumbli ; finally, he who lays a snare for another will be caught therein himself.' This war, venerable brother, is waged, not so much against men as against God. It is because of hatred to his name that his ministers and faithful people are persecuted. Persecution constitutes their merit and their glory. God will at length arise and vindicate his cause. Whilst I applaud your firm- ness, I most earnestly exhort you never to let it fail you, but to possess your soul in patience, to wait confidently, and, at the same time, courageously, for, you rely not on your own strength, but on the power of God, whose cause you maintain. Your constancy will confirm that of your brethren of the clergy and of the flock confided to your care. It will lead to a moral victory, assuredly more brilliant and more solid than the' ephemeral success of violence." BH I 402 CHINA — INDIA — JAPAN — WONDERFUL CHANGE. It was not long till the news of the day bore that many distin^shed persons were returning to the one fold. A moral victory for the Armenian Catholics was following fast in the wake of succesHfiil force. The number of Kupelianists was diminishing. The churches and church properties of Adana and Diabekir, were abandoned by them in 1876, and the schism was in course of being extinguished. The Chaldean patriarch, Audon, rashly undertook tp estab- lish a schism. Towards the end of February, 1873, he was reconciled to Pius IX., and relieved from the censures which he had incurred. The Chaldean Catholics gave a great deal of trouble. However anxiously Pius IX. labored for their salva- tion, they are insignificant in point of numbers, scarcely as many as would constitute a parish in any of our cities. Any further historical '^otice of them may, therefore, be very pro- perly dispensed with. , ^ CHINA INDIA — JAPAN — WONDERFUL CHANGE. China, where the light of Christianity has sought so long to penetrate and dispel the dismal gloom of heathen darkness, may now, at length, be said to enjoy the greatest possible degree of religious liberty. The European Powers, Great Britain and France, whilst securing the freedom of trade, and generally that intercourse which is customary between civilized nations, neglected not, at the same time, to eBtablish such relations as render safe and available the labors of Christian missionaries. If, in Tonquin, there ofccurred a fearful massa- cre of Christians, it was due to the indiscretion of a French officer who exceeded his orders, and excited against his fellow- countrymen and the Christian populations, generally, the anger of the pagan Mandarins. The vengeance of these chiefs was prompt, sweeping and cruel. In the localities inhabited by Chiistians only some women and little children were spared. Not a house was left. The French government probably, from unwillingness to recognize, in any way, the action of its officer, refrained from punisliing these atrocities. A treaty, placing sV CHINA — INDIA — JAPAN — WONDERFUL CHANGE. 40a the whole country of Tonquin under the protection of France^ was concluded with the Emperor of Annam, who is the Liege Lord of Tonquin, and thus Uberty to preach the Gospel secured for the future. In India and "Western China, liberty of conscience has long prevailed. Pius IX. was, in consequence, enabled to increase • the number of vicariates-apostolic in those countries, as well as in China proper, in proportion to the growth of the faithful people, however inconsiderable it was, as yet, in the midst of (iountless numbers of heathens and Mahometans. The Pontificate of Pius IX. would be for ever memorable, if (mly on account of the new era which appears, at length, to have dawned for the long benighted em^pire -^f Japan. That empire was as a sealed book to all Christian nations. As is well known, no travellei*. or merchant from any Christian land could set foot on its territory without fu-st performing the revolting ceremony of trampling on the chief emblem of the Christian faith. At one time, nevertheless, there were many Christians in Japan, and, as wiU Ij seen, heathen prejudice and persecution had not been able to extinguish the Divine light. It may be conceived how searching and cruel the per- secution was when it is remembered that, in the early part of the seventeenth centm'y, there were two millions of Christians, and, about the same time, almost as many martyrs. All mis- sionaries who, since 1630, landed on the inhospitable shores of Japan, were immediately seized, tortured, and put to death. It was generally believed that the Christian people were totally exterminated. Pius IX., notwithstanding, as if actuated by some secret inspiration, the very first year of his Pontificate, created a vicariate-apostolic of Japan. Several endeavors to enter into communication v.ith the Japanese were ^nade ; but, for a long time, to no purpose. The sealed-up empire, at length, opened its ports to Great Britain and the United States of America. Such was the power of trade. The oth^r civilized nations could no longer be excluded. Japan concluded a treaty with France by virtue of which the subjects of the latter State \ 404 CHINA — INDIA — .1 APAN — WONDERFUL CHANGE . were secured in the free exercise of their religion among the Japanese. Mgr. Petitjean, who was, at the time, the vicar- apostolic, availed himself of such favorable relations to erect a church at Yokohama, and establish his residence at Nagasaki. All this was happily accomplished under the encouraging auspices of Pius IX. One day, as the vicar-apostolic had con- cluded the celebration of Mass, some inhabitants of a large vil- lage named Ourakami, near the city, came to him with counte- nances, expressive, at the same time, of joy and fear. Ad- dressing him, they said : " Have you and your priests renounced marriage, and do you honor in your prayers the Mother of Christ ?" The missionary replying in the affirma- tive, the Japanese fell on their knees and exclaimed : ** You iire, indeed, the disciples of Saint Francis Xavier, our first apostle. You are the true brethren of our former Jesuit Fathers. At last, after a lapse of two himdred years, we behold, once more, the priests of the true faith !" They gave thanks to God, shedding abundance of tears, with which mingled those of the good missionary; " religion," they added, " is free only to strangers. The law has not ceased to punish us Japanese Catholics with death. No matter; receive us, nevertheless, and instruct us. The lapse of time and the want of books have, perhaps, disfigured in our memories the teach- ings of truth. There will happen to us whatever it shall please God to appoint." Four thousand families, comprising fourteen thousand indi- viduals, had secretly persevered, clinging to the Catholic faith since the days of the Apostolic Xavier. Notwithstanding all the prudence of the missionaries, the secret of their relations with the natives became known to the local police, and more than four thousand inhabitants of Ourakami were arrested, bastinadoed, imprisoned or transported to the North. Their pimishment lasted four years. One-thii-d of their number died of want,' but few of them gave way. The survivors of these persecuted people were finally restored to their country, and through the representations of the European consuls, religious I PIBSEOUTION IN BRAZIL. 40f^ liberty >caH granted, at leaut, provisionally, to natives as well as strangers. Thus did Pius IX., at length, enjoy the conso- lation to behold, established in peace, the church which Ht. Francis Xavier had planted in the Empire of Japan, and which was so celebrated in the annals of Christian heroism. PERSECUTION IN BRAZIL. Gonsalvez de Oliveira, Bishop of Olinda, had fomid it neces- sary to waxii his diocesans against the ipachinations of certain secret societies, which were alike hostile to the Church and ta the State. Tli^^y had obtained so much influence with the lat- ter as to be able to attack, with impunity, the Sisters of Charity, and the priests of the Lazarist congregation, as well as all other zealous priests who sought to restore the discipline of the church. Whilst, on the one hand, the bishop was sus- tained by tho congratulations and encouragement of the Holy See, and by the deference to ecclesiastical authority of majny Catholics who had l)een accustomed to consider tho secret societies as most inoffensive associations, he was urged, on the other hand, by the fury of the chiefs of those societies, who, alone, know all that they aim at and hold secret. The Emperor, Don Pedi'O II., influenced by his free-think- ing entourage, judged that the pastoral letter should be de- nounced to the Council of State. The councillors declared that it was an illegal document, not having received the Imperial ■placet "required by the Constitution of the Empire." Now com- menced tho most heartless, and, as is always the case, unavail- ing persecution. By order of the ministry, the procurator- general summoned the Bishop of Olinda before the Supreme Court of Eio Janeiro. The intrepid prelate replied by a letter, in which he declared that he could not, in conscience, appear before the Supreme Court, because it was impossible to do so, without acknowledging the competence of a civil court in m&t- ter» purely religious. On 3rd January, 1874, the\bishop was ordered to go to J)ri8on. He intimated that he would yield only to force. The chief of police, accordingly, accompanied 406 PERSECUTION JN BRAZIL. by two array officers, repaired to the Episcopal palace, and conducted Mjnr. de Oliveira to the port where a ship of war was in attendance, to transport* him to the nraritime arsenal of jtv>j Janeiro, one of the most unwholesome stations in Brazil. There the illustrious prisoner was visited by Mgr. Lacerda, Bishop of Rio Janeiro, who took off his pectoral cross, which was a family keep-sake, and placing it around the neck of Mgr. Oliveira, said: "My Lord, you have full jurisdiction tl>roughout this land to which you are brought as a captive. My clergy, the chapter of my cathedral, all will be most happy to obey yom* orders. Have the. goodness to bless us all. The blessing of those who suffer persecution in the c^ase of Christ is a pledge of salvation." Bishop Lacerda, before retiring, handed to the prisoner a large sum of money, in ordei^ that he should want for nothing, and promised to renew his visit as often as the gaolers would permit. Almost all the bishops of Brazil sent congratulatory telegrams to the imprisoned bishop. One of them went 10 far as to identify himself with the action of the Bishop of Olinda, by doing in like manner. It was the Bishop of Para, who was speedily transferred from his Episco- pal palace to prison. The administrator who filled his place, having refused to remove the interdict which had been pro- nounced against certain confraternities which admitted mem- bers of the secret societies, was condemned rn 26th April, 1875, to six years of forced penal labor. Pour years of the like torture were decreed against the administrator ,of Olinda for a similar offence. So much for the humanitarian Emperor of Brazil and his enlightened advisers. It was not long till new elections raised to power, men who hacj more respect for the Episcopal office, and the wretched Brazilian persecution came to an end. The Bishop of Olinda was no sooner set at liberty than he repaired to Rome, in order to give an account of his conduct to Pius IX.. The Holy Father gave him ev«ii-y proof of the warm- est affection. SOUTH AMERICAN STATES AND MEXICO. 407 The lesser States of South America, which, on being -emancipated from the yoke of Spain, had chosen the republi- can form of government, became a source of intense anxiety to the Holy Father. Venezuela, Chili, the Argentine Republic, and, even Hayti, appear to have been seized with the spirit of the time. They had become too great, one would say, to accept humbly the teachings of religion. Even Chili, where comparative moderation prevailed, made an attempt to subor- dinate in all things, spiritual as well as temporal, the Chm'ch to the State. The bishops, as in duty bound, protested ; and, being unanimously supported by the people, the attack of Chilian free-thinkers, on public peace and libei-ty, was aban- doned. The trouble in Hayti arose more from a desire, on the part of the negross, to have native priests thai^ any real hostility to religion. The government ignorantly assumed the right to appoint the chief administrators of the Church. The people were painfully affected by this unwarrantal)le encroach- ment on the spiritual power. It was hardly to be supposed thafr Peru should be out of the fashion. Pius IX. appears, however, to have nettled the difficulties of the Peruvians, by granting to their presidents the same right of patronage which was formerly enjoyed by the Kings of Spain. Tlie religious troubles of Mexico were not so easily composed. The civil authorities of that- sadly unsettled republic, urged, it is beheved, by the secret societies, aimed at nothing less than the total suppression of religion. On 24th November, 1874, they decreed that no public functionary or body of officials* whether civil or military, should attend any religious office whatsoever. "The Sunday or Sabbath day," they impiously ruled, ** shall henceforth be tolerated only in as far as it affords rest to public employees." Religious instruction, together with nil practices of religion, was prohibited in all the establish- ments of the federation of the States and the municipalities. No religious act could be done except in the churches, and there, only, under the superintendence of the police. No jreligious institution w^s authorized to acquire real estate or 408 ECUADOR. any capital accruing from fiuch property. Article nineteen of" this detestable legislation, and which was carried by one hun- dred and thirteen to fifty-aeven votes, interdicted the Sisters of Charity from living in community and wearing publicly their costume. Thus were expelled from Mexico four hundred sis- 'ters, who performed their charitable offices in the hospitals, schools and asylums of the country. Public opinion was roused, but to no purpose. The good sisters were allowed to embark for France, bearing with them the fate of thousands of the unfortunate. They may, perhaps, be replaced by the Prussian chancellor's deaconesses ; of this sisterhood, the best suited for the Mexican climate, would, no doubt, be that por- tion which fled from Smyrna on the approach of an epidemic. ECUADOR. In the midst of so many discontented, turbulent, persecut- ing, semi-barbarous States, there was one where there was neither discontent, nor tm*bulence, nor persecution. This favored Republic of Ecuador was in close communion with Pius IX., and its president discarding all the fine-spun views and chimerical theories of the time, ruled, as became the chief of a free State, according to the wishes and the generally * accepted principles of his people. A republic, so governed, provided it remain uncorrupt, cannot fail to enjoy the highest degree of prosperity compatible with its position and material resources. Not only did Ecuador itself enjoy the fruits of its truly free and^ rational ly ^republican government, it %vas able also to extend the blessings of its Christian and liberal civili- zation to neighboring tribes. Moved by the example and the representations of the good people of Ecuador, nine thousand savages of the Province of Oriente were induced to adopt the habits of Christian civilization. The government of the en- lightened president, Garcia Moreno, was so abundantly blessed that, ill twelve years, the trade of Ecuador ^as doubled, as were also the number of its schools and the sui^ of its public revenues. ECUADOR. 409* So bright an illustration of the good-working of sound principles was not to be tolerated. The love of a grateful and prosperous people could nc*. protect their great and successful fellow-citizens against the weapons of secret conspirators. Political fanatics, who were strangers in Ecuador, and who, according to their own declaration, bore no personal ill-will ta the president, struclc the fatal blow. ** I die," said the illus- trious victim, as he expired, " but God dieth not !" The as- sassins were they who hold that God has no business in this world. " Dixit insipiens ; non est Deus," Pius IX. lamented the death of Garcia Moreno, as he had lamented some seven-and-twenty years before, the untimely fate of his own minister. Count Eossi. He extolled the Presi- dent of Ecuador in several allocutions, as the champion of true civilization and its martyr. . He caused his obsequies to be solemnized in one of the Basilicas of Rome, over which he still held authority, and ordered that his bust should be pla.ced in one of the galeries of the Vatican. . In the estimation of a cei-tain class of politicians, Moreno was behind the age In reality he was far in advance of it. The mania for Godless government, Godless education, God- less manners, and generally a Godless state of society, is only a passing phase on the face of the world. If, indeed, it be anything more, woe to mankind ! Despair only can harbor the idea of its long continuance. The social and political chaos which darkens the age, must, surely, a Utile sooner or a little later, give way to that order which is heaven's first law. Moreno beheld, through the storms that raged around his infant State, the early dawn of this better day. This light led him onwards. History will place him, not only among heroes and sages, but also among the most renowned initiators of great movements. His death is a glorious protest against the Godless, reckless, revolutionary sects. His high career will be as a monument throughout the centuries, constantly re- minding mankind that, in this age, which may well be called the age of chaos and confusion — confusion in politics, con- 410 STATES OF EUROPE — SWITZERLAND. fusion m the social State, confusion of ideas — there was, at least, one favored spot, where truth, order and justice reigned, and there was a contented and happy people. STAtES OF EUROPE — SWITZERLAND. The Protestant and free-thinking majority in Switzerland were jealous of the i)rosperity ■ of the Catholic Church. They must, therefore, if possible, divide, and by dividing, weaken, if not destroy, the Catholic body. The most efficient means they could think of was the estabhshment of an old or alt-Catholic Church on the model of that of Germany. The idea was at hand, and the elements were not far to seek. Among the Swiss Catholic clergy there were none so weak as to betray their church. In the coterminous country — France, where there are fifty thousand parochial priests, some thirty were found aheady in disgrace among their brethren, who were ready to form the nucleus of the proposed schismatical church. The pretext was the pretended novelties introduced bj'^ tlu Oecumenical Council of the Vatican, which, they insisted, changed the character of the ancient Catholic Church. The schism once on foot, the majority in the State affected, to treat the real Catholics as dissenters, and the handful of schismatics as the Catholic Church of Switzerland. Founding on this idea, persecution was speedily inaugurated. First came the secularization of several abbeys, -which the revolution of the sixteenth century had respected, in the northern cantons, and the confiscation of the Church of Zurich, which was handed •over to the alt-Catholics. Their next measure was the expul- sion of Mgr. Mermillod, Bishop of Hebron and <]oadjutor of Geneva. Mgr. Lachat, Bishop of Bale, was then deprived, and, on a purely theological pretext, his public adhesion to the Council of the Vatican, The sixty-nine parish priests of Bernese Jura, having declared in writing that they remained faithful to the Bishop of Bale, were, in thdir turn, suspended from their offices and driven, at first, from their parishes, and afterwards from the country. As j;here was not a sufficient STATES OF EUROPE — SWITZERLAND. 411 number of foreign priests to replace the dispossessed clergy, the number of parishes was arbitrarily reduced from seventy- six to twenty-eight. It was regulated that nominations should, henceforth, be made by the government alone, and by a single stroke of the pen were suppressed, both the Concordat con- cluded with Rome, in 1828, and the act of re-union of 1815, by which, when Bernese Jura, formerly French, was incorporated with Switzerland, an engagement was made with France to respect, in every way, the liberty of Catholic worship. France was not in a position, at the time, to enforce the terms of the treaty. They who dared to call it to mind, accordingly, were sent to prison or heavily fined. Almost all the Bernese clergy, when banished from their churches and presbyteries, sought shelter and protection on the hospitable soil of France. From that country they re- tmned often, under cover of night, to their forsaken parishes, in order to administer the Sacraments and perform other religious offices for the consolation of their flocks, hastening back to the land of liberty and safety before the approach of day. The persecution was carried to such extremes that the Catholics were not only deprived of their churches, but forbid- den, under severe penalties, to assemble for Divine worship, even in barns or such-like places. *' As an official of the State of Beam," wrote a school inspector to a school mistress, "you are bound to strive, with all your might, that the purposes of the said State, as regards attendance at public worship, be carried out. If your conscience does not admit of your at- tending the Church which is recognized and approved by the government, I leave you at liberty to refrain from attending any worship, but I forbid you to go to the barn, where the deprived parish priest officiates, because I would not have you set a bad example to your children." No encouragement or word of consolation that Pius IX. could bestow, was wanting to his persecuted children of Switzer- land. In addressing Bishop Lachat, whom he received with every mark of friendship, when he came to represent the sad 412 STATES OP EUROPE SWITZERLAND. condition to which he was reduced, the Holy Father said r *' To you also it is now given to experience the greatest happi- ness that can fall to the lot of an apostolic man. ^This happi- ness is thus expressed in the New. Testament : Ibant gaudentes,. qmniam digni habiti sunt pro nomine Jesu contumeliam pati. They went away rejoicing, because they were thought worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus." The Prussian chancellor, as devoid of huifaanity as he was short-sighted in statesmanship^ forbad the exiled clergy of Switzerland to set foot in the annexed Province of Alsace. The brutal conduct of the chancellor could, however, only injure himself. It stigmatizes him as a persecutor throughout the ages, as long as history shall be read, whilst the sujBferers to whom he refused shelter and bread, found abundant com- pensation in the generous hospitality of the French nation. Mentita est iniquitas sihi. The persecution brought little^ benefit to either the Protestant or infidel party in the Bernese Legislature, by whom it was inaugurated, whilst the moral power of the Catholics was greatly increased. Travellers relate that "the Catholics of Jura treat with a degree of con- tempt, as immense as is their faith, the apostate priests who banished the true ministers of God. They assembled in barns and all sorts of out-buildings, all remaining faithful to God, the Holy Chiurch and their parish priests. Faith which slept in some souls is reawakened and endowed with new life. Bernese Jura is more Catholic than ever." The Centr Council of the Swiss Confederation, at length, became ashamed of the inglorious name which the Canton of Bearn was making for the common country — the country of William Tell — so highly famed for its love of liberty and its noble hospitality. Perhaps, also, they were not unconcerned to find that travellers from other lands protested, in their way^ against the barbarous persecution, and left their money in more favored lands. The Bernese government was advised, either to proceed legally and regularly against the parish priests, or to recall GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH C0L0NIE8. 418 them. There being nothing on wliich to found legal proceed- irors, the exiles returned to their country at the end of 1875. The persecution was not, however, at an end. Neither churches, nor presbyteries, nor liberty, were restored. The faithful clergy, rich in the fidelity of their devoted flocks, fulfilled the duties of their ministry in the darkness of night, using every precaution in order to escape the snares of the police, and to avoid fines and imprisonment, which were now the punishment instead of ■exile. • ^ ' GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH COLONIES. Taking leave of the dark and dreary pages which bear the melancholy record tf persecution, we turn, with a feeling of relief, to the more cheering picture presented by those coun- tries where the'great principle of religious liberty has come, at length, to be fully unaerstood. It was a great day for the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, when the legal disabilities which weighed so long on the Catholic people, were removed. It was the noble and powerful protest of a mighty empire against the narrow and irrational spirit of persecution, which still disgraces so many of the European nations. If ever the Catholics, by superiority of numbers, which is far from being an impossible state of things, should come to sway the destinies of that empire, the glorious fact will be remem- bered and bear its ttuit. England, Ireland and Scotland, already enjoy an abundant measure of their reward, in the increase of piety and of that righteousness which exaltetli a nation. This is manifest in msiny ways. It is particularly shown forth by the more friendly feeling towards the Cathohcs of the empire which now universally prevails. AVe may not be supposed to know much, here in Canada, about the state of sentiment or opinion in England. But when we appeal to the testimony of so eminent an Englishman as Cardinal Newman, what we afiirm cannot be easily gainsaid. In a discourse recently delivered at Birmingham, on the growth of the Catho- lic Church in England, the very learned cardinal noted the 414 . GREAT nniTAIN AND THE BRITISH COLONIES. striking contrast between the feeling towards Catholics in Cardinal Wiseman's time and that of the present day, and accounted for the im]jrovement by showing that there is now a much better knowledge of the Catholic religion among Protes- tants. "What I wish to show," said his Eminence, "and what I beUeve to be the remarkable fact is, that whereas there have been many conversions to the Catholic Church during the last thirty years, and a great deal of ill-will felt towards us, in consequence, nevei-theless, that ill-will has been overcome, and a feeliiag of positive good-will has been created instead in the minds of our very enemies, by means of those conversions which, they feared from their hatred of us. How this was, let me now say : The Catholics in England, fifty years ago, were an unknown sect amongst us. Now there is hardly a family but has brothers or sisters, or cousins or connections, or friends and acq laintances, or associates in business or work, of that religion, not to mention the large influx of population from the sister island ; and such an interpenetration of Catholics with Pi^ocestants, especially in our great cities, could not take place without there being a gradual accumulation of experience, slow, indeed, but therefore the more sure about individual Catholics, and what they really are in character, and, whether or not, thev can be trusted in the concerns and intercourse of life • and I fancy that Protestants, spontaneously, and before setting about to form a judgment, have found them to be men w^hom they could be drawn to like and to love quite as much as their fellow-Protestants — to be human beings in whom they could be interested and sympathize with, and interchange good offices with, before the question of religion came into considera- tion." * The increase in the number of Catholics and of Catholic institutions in Great Britain, has kept pace with the growth of friendly sentiments in their regard. That island, "the mother of nations," appears to be destined to unite by means of her ever spreading language, the immense family of mankind. For what end and purpose none can tell. The hidden ways of GREAT BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH COLONIES. 415. Divine Providence, are known to God alone. We may, never- theless, in view of certain well-known facts, presume to draw ihe veil of mystery tiside, and discover so far the secret of God's mercy. In Pius the Ninth's time the number of Catho- lics has been doubled in Great Britain, as well as in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, remote India and the Cape of Good Hope. At the time of the election of Pius IX., there were in Eng- land and Scotland .eight hundred and twenty Catholic priests. There are now two thousand and eighty-eight.* The number of churches and chapels had grown from six hundred and twenty-six to one thousand three hundred and fifteen. Within the last twenty years religious houses for men had increased from twenty-one to seventy-three, and convents for religious sisters, from ninety-seven to two hundred and thirty-nine. Catholic schools and colleges had more than doubled their number, being now one thousand three hundred, whilst a little over twenty years ago it was live hundred. In the British colonies, generally, including British Am- ierica, Au8trali£i, India, and the West Indies, there were, in 1855, no more than forty-four Episcopal Sees, several of which owed their erection to Pius IX. By the year 1876, theJsolici- tude of the same venerable Pontiff had raised to eighty-eight, the number of archbishops and bishops who exercised the duties of their sacred office, throughout the Colonial Empire of Great Britain. In the whole empire there cannot be fewer than one hundred .and twenty-five prelates, whether vicars- apostolic, archbishops, bishops, or prefects-apostolic. • In no country have the benefits of religious liberty been more abundantly enjoyed than in ^c~ u^y^^'^^^ /^A*,^ve^c^ •A l»ter estlinatf than at page 120. ^416 CANADA. In 1869, the two Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, formerly Canada West and Canada East, counted ten dioceses and seven hundred and seventy-nine churches. Including Sherbrooke, Chicoutimi, and the vicariate-apostolic of Northern Canada, there are now thirteen dioceses in the two provinces, whilst, during the seven years anterior to 1876, there was an increase of one hundred and seventy-three churches, making, in all, one thousand one hundred and seventy-one. In the same period religious houses had increased from seventy-three to one hundred and ninety-six. Education of a religious charac- ter is, at the same time, amply provided for. There are, in the Province of Quebec, three thousand one hundred and thirty- nine parochial, and altogether three thousand wix hundred and thirty elementary schools, for a population of one million eight hundred and x-^ighty two thousand souls. These schools, with- out including educational institutions of a more private kind, which are very numerous in Lower Canada (Quebec), allow one school to every six hundred people. It may be doubted whether Prussia, even, which possesses greater facilities for •education than any other European country, comes up to this standard. The increase of Catholic people everjrvvhere, through- out the country, keeps pace with the building of churches and the establishing of Catholic schools and other religious institu- tions. This increase is particularly noticeable in the towns and cities, wltere the growth of the Catholic population is remarkably rapid. In all the British dependencies, liberty, as understood by the British people, prevails ; and, wherever it is held in honor and exercises its legitimate influence, religion flourishes. Contrast, for instance, Australia, Avhen a penal colony, and when liberty was unknown with Australia, as it is to-day. In 1804 two priests were permitted, by the civil power, to perform the duties of their sacred office. Their labors sufficed for the very limited spiritual wants of the colony. By 1827 these wants had so slightly increased that two priests were still able to meet them aH. One of these was Dr. UUathorne, now THE UNITED STATES OF AMBBJ^A. 417 Bishop of Birmingham, assisted by another, friesl and a lay teacher. So late as 1842, matters were little better, Hobart- town having one priest, but no church. Australia, meanwhile, was growing in importance, and it came to possess, as became an important British colony, constitutional g 426 DEATH OF ANTONBLLI AND PARTRIZI. illuminating their houses, of displaying white and yellow colors, or of expressing in words their loyalty to Pius IX., were sen- tenced to imprisonment. DEATH OF ANTONBLLI AND PATRIZI. / Shortly before the anniversary celebration, Pius IX. had to lament the death of his faithful Secretary of State, Cardinal AntoneUi. This intrepid statesman had done battle courage- ously during six-and-ty?enty years for the Church, the Holy See an^ he temporal sovereignty of the Eoman Pontiff, who had been threatened in his life, his priestly honor and his character for integrity. The devoted cardinal defied both the poniard and the toligue of the calumniator. Although able to . unmask the most secret intrigues of the revolutionists, he could not avert the blow which it was permitted that they should strike against the time-honored institutions of his country. They appear to have been destined to reign foa a time. Their success did not appal AntoneUi nor shake Jbis fidelity. In evil report and good report he stood by his sovereign, and shared his exile as well as the honor which he enjoyed in the more auspicious days of his glorious Pontificate. Three weeks later, Cardinal Patrizi, who was Vicar of Bome and chief counsellor of Pius IX. in all matters connected with the government of the church, was called from this earthly scene. Thus was the aged Pontiff destined to be tried by new afflictions. The suc^ss of his enemies and of the enemies of the Church, the privation and humiliation to which he was sub- jected, were rendered more severe by the death of his dearest friends who were also his ablest supporters. He was grieved, but could not be crushed by so many calamities. He re- mained until his health utterly failed equal to his high posi- tion. * i THE MANOINI LAW. 427 An additional cause of sorrow to the Holy Father was the •enactment of the Italian Legislature, known as the Mandni law. This law was in downright opposition to the law of guar- antees. It made it a crime to preach the Gospel. On pre- tence of repressing the abuses of the clergy, their offences against the laws and institutions of the State, it forbade all apostolic preaching. It was too late. Nero, even, was not in time, and all the fury of persecution could not uproot the belief in virtue which prevailed. The clergy shall no longer say that fraud, robbery, lying, violence and assassination are sins. But cui bono ? The world has already its convictions — prejudices, the philosophy of Kvlturkampf may call them — in regard to all such things, and no law that an infidel parliament can enact will suffice to eradicate them. It could only sadden the heart of the Chief Pastor to see the power which ruled in his coun- try and in his stead laboring so strenuously but ineffectually to demolish the edifice of the church, which, for so many ages, had been assailed in vain. It was the height of presumption, surely, when a few modern Italians, a miserable minority of their own nation, undertook a task which defied all the power of Imperial Eome. In a country where liberty is better under- stood, a powerful voice was raised in condemnation of the Mancini latv. The British Catholic Union protested against the cruel enactment as an attack not only on the liberty of the Church but also on the very existence of the Christian faith in Italy. This purpose was, indeed, avdwed by many, of its supporters in the Italian parliament. Pius IX. could not fail to protest against such an attack on that liberty which is the birthright of every Christian. In a Consistorial Allocution of 12th March, 1877, he exposed the plot which the revolutionists had prepared in order to prevent the Holy Father from accomplishing his appointed mission — ■ that of instructing and edifying the whole flock of Christ. That his protest was fully justi^ed and demanded by the cir- cumstances of the case was abundantly shown by the rage which it excited among the ruling faction. Their pr^ss did its 428 * THE MANOINI LAW. best to dissemble, and affected to treat with contempt the Pope's address. It contained only " lame and doubtful reason- ings — such arguments as are termed paralogisms or involun> tary sophisms, which escape the notice of their authors." The government, in unison with the press, sought to stifle the importunate voice of the I*ontiff. The council of ministers went so far as to resolve on prosecuting any journals that should dare to publish the Papal allocution. But they found it was too late. The obnoxious document was already printed in France, and, consequently, open to the civilized world. So- the wrath of the ministry was allowed to cool. It sought, revertheless, to be revenged. The ^minister of justice, accord- ingly, addressed a circular to the procurators-general, in which he denounced the language of Pius IX. as " xcessive and vio- lent." The Pope himsp^^^ he railed ^o a factious person,, as a fomenter of seditio. and revolt. He also charged him with ingratitude. For what was he ungrateful? Had they not robbed him of his sovereignty and his property ? Did they not now hold him closely guarded in the Vatican? They spared his life, indeed, but made hiru understand that he was their prisoner, as, in reality, he was. To have gone farther would have been to outrage all Italy, which they were so anxious to conciliate, and the great Powers, whose forbearance they so much needed. Cardinal Simeoni, who had succeeded Antonelli as Secretary of State, in a circular addressed to the Papal nuncios, pointed out the weakness and gross injustice of Mancini's letter. The secret societies, on the other hand, con- gratulated their most dear and most active brother, and ex- pressed the hope that he would not stop until he reached the end to which he so nobly tended. The minister of justice fuUy acceded to the wishes of the brethren, and they could rely upon it that he would persevere until he compassed the destruction of -the Papacy. Such good resolutions deserved a reward. They awarded him, accordingly, what they called a diploma of hsnor. PLAN FOR ELBGTINO A POPE. 429 The Mancini law, notwithstanding all the efforts of its sup- porters, never became law. There is not much in this history to be placed to the credit of Victor Emmanuel. Nevertheless, he, all of a sudden, opposed the enactment of the odious law which he had allowed to be prepared and presented in his name to the representative chamber. By expressing his repugnance to it, he caused it to fail in the Senate. It is related that it was on the representation of his daughter, the Princess Clotilde, that he so acted. PLAN FOR ELECTING A POPE. One of the most daring enterprises of the Italian ministry was their scheme, in conjunction with the Prussian chancellor, for the election of a Pope on the demise of Pius IX. Hitherto, when the Popes enjoyed their temporal sovereignty, the Cardi- nal Camerlingo, or high chamberlain, directed everything from the time of the Pope's decease imtil the election of a successor. It was the purpose of the ministry to arrogate to themselves the attributes of this high dignitary, who acted, temporarily, as the So^v^ereign of Rome. For the attainment of their end, fraud, lying and forgery were freely had recourse to. It being understood that there existed a BuU relating to the election of Pius the Ninth's successor, and that it was in the custody of Mgr. Mercurelli, the Secretary of Pontifical briefs, a high price was offered to any one who should treacherously deliver it into the hands of the revohitionists. Such a temptation was not to be resisted. A cunning scribe, who eould imitate the hand- writing of Mercurelli, made a copy of an ancient BuU of Pius VI., adapting it to the circumstances of the time. To the great <}onfusion of the astute chancellor and his associates, the Italian ministers, the forgery was discovered, id the sage statesmen befooled in the sight of all Europe by a common feion. Nothing, however, was to be left undone that was cal- culated, as the conspirators conceived, to secure the election of a Pope who would reject the decisions of the Vatican Council^ For this ^nd it was proposed to take military possession of the 480 ILLNESS OF THE POPE — VICTOR EMMANUEL. Vatican Palace, and appoint a commissioner to superintend the election and carry out the views of the faction. This iniquitous plot appears to have been overthrown by a vigorous article \^ich was published in the Oaservatore Romiano. It is said ta have been inspired by Pius IX. \i stated, among other things, that " the Vatican chanjges not with the changes of the times, and the Lord, who has protected it in the past, and given visible proofs of His continued protection,;wiIl protect it in the future, and defend it against all, whatever artifices, whether secret or open, its enemies may employ, in order to conquer and over- throw it." The revolutionary journals, whose constant cry was "war to the knife" on the Church and the Papacy, could not refrain from expressing their astonishment, it ought to be Baid their admiration, of this masterly document. "It is impossible," said the Repuhlique Francaise of 28th July, 1877, "not to be struck by the tone of authority, the vehemence and the menaces, the ardent and deep-rooted faith which prevail from beginning to end of this extraordinary production." ILLNESS OF THE POPE VICTOR EMMANUEL AT THE VATICAN. In the autumn of 1877, the health of Pius IX. began, to fail. He caught cold and had a renewal of rheumatic attacks. He was obliged, in consequence, to discontinue giving audiendes. Finally, by the advice of his physicians, he kept his bed con- tinuously for three weeks, from 20th November. The Pope's indisposition appears to have been quite a God-send to the ever- busy press of the hostile faction. There were, of course, spasms, fainting fits, mortification of the extremities, etc^. The Pope is dying — the Pope is dead! — and the enemy re- joiced, as over a hard-won victory But the end was not yet. The Holy Father recovered, and was able to hold a Consistory and deliver an allocution on the 28th of December. There was one at Eome who felt differently from the party with whom he acted in regard to the illness and possible death of the Pope. This was no other than King Victor Emmanuel. The dethroned Pontif was stiU a power that helped to stem ILLNESS OF THE POPE — VICTOR EMMANUEL. 431 the tide of red vepiibli.^ a revolution which rolled so angrily against the tottering throne of united Italy. The barrier was in danger. Only the slender thread of an exhausted hfe saved ii from giving way. The king was awe-stmck, and sought comfort in the Palace of thp Vatican.* What passed at the extraordinary interview none will ever know. All that can be found on record is that the King of Italy retired with a lightened heart from the mansion of the Sovereign Pontiff. Pardon, benediction, renewal of promises — what may there not have been ? That the meeting was not without result, an event which was not at that time far dis- tant clearly shows. The restoration of Pius IX. to comparative health was mat- ter for thanksgiving and congratulfetion. A consistory was held, accordingly, on the 28th of December, 1877. The cardi- nals having assembled, the Holy Father thus addressed them : "We rejoice in the Lord at having experienced how faithfully you sustain the burden of the apostolic ministry ; and, at the same time, for having enjoyed the sweet consolation to find the sorrows of our soul alleviated by your virtue and the con- stant affection of your charity." The venerable Pontiff con- cluded this address, which was destined to be his last in solemn consistory, by inviting the members of the Sacred College "to oflfer up their prayers assiduously to the throne of Divine mercy for himself and for the Church,'" representing that the strength of Christians is in prayer, in the power of God, which the prayer of His creature, made in his image, causes to be exerted. And who is stronger than God ? Quis ut Deus ? The aged Pontiff, whom the revolutionists of Italy and other coimtries cried out against with such vehemence of hatred and malediction, asked no other favor for himself of the Supreme Giver than the pleasure to impart once more hia benediction from the Vatican to the city and the whole world. On occasion of some foreign ladies resident at Bome coming to present l^m with a rich canopy for decorating the Vatican • Lm Omptivite 4e Fie IX. par Alexander de St. Aitnn. Font, 1878. Pages 61S- and 614 ^ 482 ILLMS88 OF THE POPE — VICTOR EMMANUEL. lodge, at the benediction he gave utterance to the following prayer : " Lend new strength, Lord, to Thy Vicar on earth; give new vigor to his voice and to his arm, in order that, in the present crisis, it may be permitted him, as a sign of reconcilia- tion and peace to bless once more solemnly the whole Catho- lic people, and that thus, through Thy assistance, society may be restored to a state of tranquillity and the practice of all the Christian virtues." He adored, without knowing it, the Divine will, which was not that he should ever again impart his apos- tolic benediction from the Vatican. This he knew not, and could not pretend to know. But he was comforted in the firm belief that the benediction would never cease to be dis])en8ed. On the same day, he said, addressing the Roman ladies who presented a carpet for the solemn benediction : "At this time of darkness and tribulation, when we are in the power of our enemies, you may say to me : * We have exerted ourselves so much, we have offered up so many prayers, shed so many tears, and, notwithstanding, all to no purpose.' The time will come when this present will be made use of. Tota node laborantes. . . The Romans have, indeed, prayed. They have given signal proof of their fidelity and their piety, amid the gloom and trouble of our national [catastrophes, and why have they, as yet, obtained nothing? But what do I say? Are those evidences of affection which every day reach the Holy See to be reputed as nothing ? Is that earnestness of prayer which prevails at Rome and throughout the Catholic world to no purpose ? In the most desert regions and remo- test countries vows and prayers are offered up for our deliver- ance. Your prayers and communions are so many petitions, laid at the foot of the altar, which cannot fail to be heard. As our Lord, who was pleased to show Peter where to cast his nets, in order to have an abundant draught of fish, teaches us aho how we shall escape from the abyss of calamity into which our sins, perhaps, have thrown us. . . Although I, who, at present, am the Vicar of Christ, may not, one of my succes- sors will, see Rome, which is our city, restored to its pristine FUNERAL OF PIU8 IX. — DEATH OF VIGIOB BMlf ANUBL. 4QS « «tate, tranquil and flourishing as it was some months ago. He will also behold all the rights of this Holy See completely recovered." By one of two things only, as far as man can see, is it pos- sible that Italy should be emancipated from its present bond- age, and governed according to the wishes of its people. A constitutional monarchy, such as Pius IX. sought so long to establish, would be the most secure and permanent guarantee for peace and liberty in the south of Europe. A remedy for present evils may also be found in a thoroughly representative system of government, which the system that prevails for the moment in Italy has no claim to be. There cannot, however, be representative government so long as the Italian people allow a reckless faction, which is only a small minority of the nation, to control the elections, manopolizc the votes, and con- stitute themselves the legislature of the country. Patience is a virtue. But it may be abused. It certainly has been so in the case of Italy, and by a base conspiracy. When will the people arise in their might, and, by their immense superiority in numbers as well as intelligence, cast off the yoke of the con- spirators — ^the incubus which crushes and degrades them in the •eyes of mankind ? KING VICTOR EMMANUEL SANCTIONS ARRANOBMENT8 FOR TBB FUNBRAL OF PIUS IX. — DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. On the 29tL December, 1877, King Victor Emmanuel came to Bome on business of the State, as if the city of the Popee were de jure as well as de facto his capital. On the 31st of the same month, his ministers induced him to affix his royal signature to some new acts of brigandage and usurpation, which they had prepared, but which could not be accomplished until the death of Pius IX. At the same time, a decree regu- lating the funeral of the Pope was drawn up and signed by the king. Boyal honors were to be restored, but only when they eould not be enjoyed. The Holy Father, although stripped of his sovereignty in life, was to be honored when dead as a sovereign prince. It was appointed that mourning should be worn throughout all the Kingdom of Italy. Court liveries, •even, were got ready, e^d also the minutest details of moum- DD . 484 FUNERAL OF PIUS IX. — DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. ing apparel. Nothing was wanting but death — and death came — ^but not the death that was so ardently desired. Scarcely had Victor Emmanuel signed the funeral decree, which was intended to be, at the same time, the death-warrant of the Papacy and the Church, when he was taken suddenly iU. He was anxious to leave Rome, where his stay was always- as short as possible, but was detained by the receptions of New Year's day, and in order to attend a diplomatic dinner on the 6th of January. Oir that very day, a three-fold malady laid him on his deathbed. He became at once the victim o£ pleuro-pneumonia, together with the fatal malaria and miliary fevers. There was no hope of his recovery. To leave Rome- was impossible. ** Carry me hence, at any rate," cried th& dying king, in an agony of horror; " I must not die at the- Quirinal." It was too late. The physicians would not allow him to be moved. Unhallowed force placed him in the sacred palace of the Conclave. Greater force held him there. Tha prince who said, "We are at Rome, and at Rome we shall remain," was doomed to die at Rome. After death, too, he must remain at Rome, notwithstanding the wishes of all higk kindred and of his son and successor. The n^w king expressed to a deputation of the municipahty of Turin with what pain he made the sacrifice which policy' required. The policy of the revolutionary faction would not allow Victor Emmanuel to have his last resting-place with his ancestors at the Superga. Policy forbade that death even should Uberate him who was> called the liberator of Italy. Policy hoped to perpetuate usur- pation, by holding the usurper in the usurped capital. Th& dead king remained in death, as he had ever been in .life, the baptive of the faction. As soon as Pius IX. became aware of the critical state ^f King-Victor Emmanuel, he sent to him his own chaplain^ Bishop Marinelli, with full authority to reconcile the dying monarch to the church on his expressing repentance and retracting. This dignitary ^eiit thrice to the palace, and was as often repelled hy the watchful ministers, who strictly guarded the person of ihe king. They dree4ed lest so public a retrac- tation as he was, at the time, able to make, and as would have ■ibeen teqpUt^, Aiovld prove injurious to their schemes. .^k /' * FUNEBAL OF PIUS IX. — DEATH OF VICTOR EICjIANUBL. 485 ■■.,i" \- Later, when there was no hope of recovery, anxious that ihe king should have the credit of being at petice wi£h the Church, they allowed his own chaplain, the Bev. Signor Azenio, io approach his bed-side. This worthy priest, being fully authorized, heard the confession of King Victor Emmanuel, And administered to him the Sacraments of the Chrrch. As the most Holy Sacrament was borne to the monarch's death- bed, Prince Humbert, Princess Margaret, and, together with them, ten ministers and dignitaries of the Court, bearing lighted torches, accompanied the priest ; and as Victor Em- manuel received the Viaticum and Extreme Unction, they all fell upon their knees. (9th January, 1878.) This conclusion, so consoling to the departing soul, was gall and wormwood to ■the worldly ministers. The founder of United Italy, before he could have the benefit of the last sacred rites, prayed to be pardoned all his crimes against the Sovereign Pontiff and the Church. By acknowledging and condemning his faults, he also condemned the unhallowed work which was forwarded by -80 much usurpation and sacrilege. The Christian-like end of Victor Emmanuel did not meet the views of the ministers. {Osservatore Romano of 10th January.) Accordingly, they endeavored immediately* to lessen its effect on the public mind. Their journals, unable to deny the truth, even acknowl- edging the benefit they had by the king's confession and com- munion, cunningly labored to counteract the same by the grossest misrepresentation. They related that the king, at the moment of his death, had spoken both as a Christian and an infidel revolutionist. They made him thus retract his retrac- tation. " In all that I have done, I am conscious of having always fulfilled my duties as a citizen and a prince, and of having done nothing against the religion of my ancestors." As his conscience was thus at ease, for what did he beg pardon of the Sovereign Pontiff and the Church ? Of what could he repent who acknowledged no sin ? U Osservatore Romano, in reply, reiterated all that it had already stated on the highest authority. " Let there be an end, once for all," said this excellent journal, " to the profane language which dares rashly to intervene between the dying man and his Grod, of whom the priest is the representative. 436 PUNfiRAL OP PIUS IX. — DEATH OP VICTOR EMMANUEL. The Church, appealed to rn so short a notice, and in the awful hour of the death agony, mercifully extends her hand to him who is ahout to approach the presence of the Sovereign Judge, and opens to him, as far as possible, the way of salvation ; but she strictly sees to it that her holy laws be fully observed." Policy makes laws which it violates as easily as it makes them. The Church can never break her laws, which are of Divine origin. Victor Emmanuel, accordingly, must have submitted to the laws of the Church, in order to be reconciled to the Churchy to Pius IX. and to God. At the death of the king the revolutionists were struck with consternation. "Victor Emmanuel is no more!" said the Liherta, " and Italy is ' - e a warrior without his sword." They aU felt as if the edifice which they had raised were falling to pieces. They took no blame to themselves, however. They ascribed not to their foil}'' or their wickedness the danger which threatened them. "God is un st," said one of the party, as he announced to the Bomans the king's death. Consider- ing the term of human life, it was no doubt unjust, to remove from this world a man at the advanced age of eight-and-fifty years ! Another, as the remains of the "father of his country" were borne to the Pantheon, blasphemously exclaimed : "Thai everlasting Pantheon ! so long the altar of inanimate gods- — ^now the temple of a hostile Deity /" Although Pius IX., with his usual goodness and consistency,, authorized the clergy to take part in the funeral of the de- ceased king, thus according what was due to the honor of a Christian who had been reconciled to God and the Church, the ceremony 'vhich, otherwise, would have been so solemn, wa» sadly maiTed by processions of secret societies. Grand Orients, and Garibaldians, which followed the funeral car to the Church of St. Mary of the Martyrs.* The Pantheon was not too grand for so great a king. li was only fitting that he who had lent himself to the baleful work of paganizing modern Eome should have his final rest- ing-place in the temple that was so long sacred to Rome's heathen deities. •* Tkat wat the Pantheon, or temple of all the Gods. It la now the Charolk called St. Mary oj (Ae Martyr* {ate Maria ad Martyrea). LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF PIUS IX. m The Holy Father had so well recovered from his illness^ and his health was so good during the months of December and. January, 1877-78, that he was able to transact business daily with the cardinals, heads of congregations and other prelates. It was for him the revival — the lucid interval — which 80 often precedes the fmal scene. Notwithstanding the pom- pous obsequies which the late king had prepared for Pius IX., the venerable Pontiff still lived, and was able to protest againsi the pretensions of the successor of that king, and to defend against his usurpation the Church and her inaHenable rights. The proclamation of King Humbert was met by a protest addressed to all the Powers from the Cardinal- Secretary of State, and Pius IX. himself raised his voice in order to vindi- cate publicly those writers who had spoken the truth concern- ing the deceased prince. The whole world was moved by the solicitude of the Holy Father in laboring so as that Victor Emmanuel should die as became a Christian, and in provid- . ing that his funeral should be conducted according to the con- soling ceremonial of the Church. It now became his duty ta take care lest the irreconcilable enemies of religion should suc-^ ceed in availing themselves of these circumstances in order to deceive and induce mankind to believe that the Godlesa revolution was in sympathy with Pius IX. and the Church*- The venerable Pontiff was still able to take to task the indis- creet writers who, from mistaken zeal, maintained that such an incongruous coalition had taken place or was possible. • A very great number of people of all ranks conceived the happy idea of celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of Piua the Ninth's first communion. This afforded another great occasion for uniting in prayer all over the wide extent of the - Catholic Church. The fete occurred on the 2nd of February, " Candlemas day," or the purification of the Blessed Virgin. The Holy Father was able, all exhausted as he was, to leave . his couch, celebrate Mass, and even repair to the throne-room of the Vatican, where he performed the ceremony of distribut- ing blessed tapers to the cardinals, bishops and heads of re-^ iigious orders. He spoke also with his accustomed eloquence to those whom it gave him so much pleasure to see gathered around him. He addressed himself particularly to the parish 438 LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF PI" .^ IX. priests of Rome, recommending above all things to their pas- toral solicitude, the children of the city who bore so important a part in the celebration of the anniversary. He expatiated on the value of Christian education, and exhorted the pastors iio stir up the zeal of parents. His apostolate had begun with children in the happy days of Tata Giovanni. It was only fitting that his last exhortation should be all in their interest and for their happiness. : "ii ^ v . "? All, in expressing his gratitude for the prayers that were offeired in his behalf, he asked was that they should be continued, hoping always *' that He who had commenced a good work would not fail to bring it to a successful termination." But it is not given to man to complete or perfect anything in this life; and that pontificate of thirty-two years, which was still more astonishing by its acts and labors than by its long dura- tion, was destined to leiave its good work incomplete. It will be continued, nevertheless, and men will be made to xmder- stand that it is not alone Mastai's work, or any man's work, but the cause of Him who guides, with irresistible power, the destinies of mankind. , ' i^ • viJ^-'^S Pius IX., however, had acc6mplished his appointed task. He had celebrated, and with a wonderful renewal of health, his last festival and his last anniversary.^ Four days later, in ibe evening of the 6th February, he was seized with a slight attack of fever, which caused no alarm. It was the* prelude, however, to more serious attacks, which shortly succeeded one tmother in rapid succession tiU the moment of his death. At four o'clock in the morning a potion was administered, in order to soothe the feverish agitation of the patient. Its good effect was only of short duration. As his physician entered, ** this time," said he, "my dear doctor, aU is over." He did not Bi. ore the hopes of those who attended the celebration of Candlemas day. He understood that his last hour on earth was near at hand, and he requested that the Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction should be administered. As soon as the doleful tidings reached the city, the people were bid to prayer by a general ringing of the bells. Great numbers of the faithful sought the approaches to the ViEitican. Many entered and crowded the halls and ante-chambers of the L^ST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF PIUS IX. 4d» m palace, offering up their prayers, with abundance of tears, aa Bishop MarineUi, whom, only one month before, Pius IX. had sent to assist King Victor Emmanuel, conveyed the Viaticum to the chamber of death and administered the Sacraments. As the malady increased it attacked the lungs (not the brain, as the inj&del newspapers falsely represented),* rendering diffi- cult and painful the breathing of the patient. Nevertheless,. Pius IX. calmly and distinctly repeated the prayers for the dying, which Cardinal BiUo had begun to recite. At the end of the Act of Contrition, he said, with great humility and cont fidence, " Col voatro adjutOy"\ and expressed his Christian hope, saying, " In Domtim Domini ihimu8."l As the cardinal^ bathed in tears, hesitated to pronounce the words of final adieu — " Proficiscere anima Christiana "§ — the Holy Father inspired the courage so necessary at the hour of separation, he^ himself uttering the words, " Si Profidscere." He must bless» once more, the SacVed College, the members of which were all kneeling around him. Cardinal Bilio, in their name, asked him to impart his blessing. Extending his right hand, he blessed them for the last time. Scarcely had the hand thai had been so often raised in blessing mankind fallen on the couch when the eyes became dim. A little before four o'clock the death agony commenced. A few moments before six Piua IX. ceased to live. " Eternal rest give to him, Lord," devoutly said the car- dinal, "and may perpetual light shine upon him." These words conveyed the mournful fact that Pius IX. lived no more. They were, at the same time, the occasion of an outburst of love and devotedness, which showed that this wonderful Pope still commanded in death that affection which, in his life- time, had been often so gloriously manifested. Cardinals, prelates, nobles, people of Borne, guards and servants, struggled and crowded on each other, in order to press, once more, forehead and lips on those sacred hands ♦Their purpose is sufficiently manifest. But the calumny did not avail Pius the Ninth's last Illness was of such a character as to render impoA* aible congestion of the brain. He i>osseH»ed to the end his mental faeultleo. them. And when the power of speech failed, he was still able to express hts thooislitA, which w^r* cleiir and distinct, by looks and gestures, t " With the aid of Thy graee. " )" We shall enter into the House of the Lord." t"D©p»rt, Christian soul." / ^. ..... ^ 440 LAST ILLNESS AMD DEATH OF PICS IX. which could never more be raised to bless them. It was a singularly affecting scene. The wail of sorrow and the un- feigned expression of esteem and love arose also as the tidings spread throughout the wide extent of the Catholic world. The deceased Pontiff needs no eulogium. His mfemory will be as green throughout the centuries to come as on the day of his decease. It is impossible, however, to avoid calling to mind the words of Saint Cyprian, spoken in praise of Pope Cornelius, and most appropriately applied by the pious and learned Bishop of Poitiers to Pius IX : '* After a promotion which he had neither desired nor sought, but which was due to him alone who makes Pontiffs, what activity from the first moment he was in office ! what boldness of initiative ! And, what we must chiefly consider and praise, what strength of faith and what courage in having perseveringly and intrepidly held the sacerdotal chair at Rome, at a time when, through opposition to the priesthood, were uttered such fearful threats, and when the Powers of the world were more inclined to un- dergo any kind of reverse rather than that the Priest of God should occupy at Rome a throne which was the rival of their earthly throne. If, in the midst of so much agitation, the power of the Lord evidently protected the priest whom he had chosen, that priest, nevertheless, in resisting, suffered aU that it was possible to suffer, and overcame, by his priestly energy, those for whom were in store other and ulterior defeats." St. Cyprian, Epist. LII., ad Antoniarmm. The death of Pius IX., Idng so ardently desired by the Italian ministry, came upon them unawares at last. They had no scheme or plot in readiness, to thwart the action of the cardinals in the election of a successor to the Pontificate.* The Conclave, accordingly, assembled in due course, and, on the third day of its meeting, elected to the Chair of Peter Cardinal-Archbishop Pecci, Bishop of Perugia, who will be known in history as Leo XIII. * The crisis in the Eastern question, tbie attitude of the Holy Father on the occasion of Victor Emmanuel's sudden demise, the consequent devolution of the crown to a n w overeign, the scandal of the Prime Minister's (Crispi's) notori- ous criminality before the law necessitating his unwilling reBlgnatlon and the tail of the nxinistry, the suddenness of the Holy Fat^er^s decease ; all theae events and conditions. In their several degrees and kinds, mmi** the moment »t which it had to meet astonishingly propluous for the holding of the Conclave In the Vatican itself. — PINlS.— PIUS IX. AND HIS TIME. TEOUBLES OF THE CHURCH IN MEXICO. ARTICLES OF A HOSTILE DECEEE. (Continued from Page 278.) Articles 8, 13 and 23 require to be considered together. The 8th article allows a certain sum to secularized religious persons ; but article 13 bears that those, who at the end of fifteen days, shall not have ceased to live in community, and to wear the religious habit shall lose all right to the allocation which was promised them, and shall be expelled from Mexico. These articles, thus taken ' together, show the perfidy of the revolutionists. In offer- ing a bounty to encourage apostacy, and in allowing to the Religious only fifteen days to find a position, they are tempted, on the one hand, by the lure of gain, and on the •other, constrained by the dread of indigence ; and, even s exile is threatened if they remain true to their conscience. Article 23 declares that all who shall oppose the execution of the Decree shall be banished the Republic, or arraigned be- fore the tribunals which will try them as conspirators. Several articles are devoted to Convents of Religious women. The decree permits those Religious to remain in their Con- vents ; but their suppression is not the less determined on,as they are forbidden to receive novices. They are author- ized, moreover, to leave their cloister ond resume possession of their dower. Such as rema' ^ in the Convent shall have the free use of their dowei in opposition to their n. PIUS IX. vow of poverty ; and the property of the Convents, witb the exception of what is required for the expense of public worship, shall belong- to the State. Article 2 leaves, indeed^ to the Bishops the vestments and sacred vessels of the suppressed churches ; but, on the other hand. Article 12 confiscates the libraries, antiquities and objects of art ; and these objects shall be adjudged by the Government, as it shall think proper, to Institutions belonging to the State.. The Archbishop of Mexico, the Bishops of Michoacan,. Linares, Guadalajara, Potosi and Puebla having deliber- ated on this decree and othei.^ of a like character, resolved to address a letter to 1 he Clergy and faithful of their respec- tive Dioceses, to all the inhabitants of tftie Mexican Ee public and to the whole Catholic world. This letter, of date 30th August, 1859, contains a history of the perse- cution of the Catholic Religion in Mexico since the year 1822, and, more particularly, during the last few years. It is, besides, an eloquent exposition of Catholic doctrine,, in opposition to the errors of the time, on the relations of Church and State. The Church, this letter insists, is a society perfect within itself Sovereign and independent civil society, or the State, in like manner, also, is independent and sover- eign, and possesses, within itself, whatever is necessary towards the ends for which it is constituted. It must be borne in mind, however, that the independence of the Church and cf the State is only relative, there being nothing absolute except in God, the source of perfection- The Church holds of God her attributes, and consequently is dependent on God and subject to him, being of his insti- tution ; but, on the other hand, independent of all that is- not God, sovereign as well as all the sovereignties which God has instituted. The same thing must be said of the State, Its independence, wholly relative to the- political order, excludes not, but, on the contrary, supposes. PIUS IX. 111. its absolute dependence o|i God. It is clear, therefore, that the Church and the State both being dependent on God, and endowed with independence and soverignty, in order to govern according to the Divine law, have mutual duties to fulfil, and that, consequently, the Church, whilst inde- pendent and sovereign, is not exempt from the obligation of co-operating in the preservation of public order and of promoting obedience to the laws ; and the State, although independent of the Church, is not exonerated from the obligations, incident to the temporal Government, in regard to the rights of Truth, the Catholic Religion and the Church. .-, , ?. - , The Juarez GoTernment, with inconceivable incon- sistency, pronounced the Church and the State mutually independent, each within its sphere, and in direct opposi- tion to this principle, tyrannized over the Church, abolished her institutious, persecuted her members. It is not, surely, matter for surprise that when the Emperor, Maximillian, adopted this anarchical policy, Pius IX., rather than give it a shadow of sanction, withdrew his Nuncio and ceased to hold public relations with the Mexi- can State. ..-...., ,..!»• :, -,..■,.. ■.:■;:••; ■ .,A By a brief of February 24th, 1862, addressed to the Archbishop of Tours, Mgr. Guibert, now Archbishop of Paris, approved and warmly recommended the recon- structing of the Basilica of St. Martin, the Thaumaturgua of France. v • . ^ Not unmindful of Africa, now more than ever open to missionary enterprise, the Holy Father erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Dahomey, and confided it to the Seminary of the African Missions at Lyons. The same and following years the new churches of the remote East ceased not to engage his zeal. There, barbarous princes, worthy rivals of the Druses of Lebanon and Alexander II. of Eussia, martyred the Christian people in thousands. The Empire France. BusiUua of St. Martin. Africa. \ IT. PIUS :x. of Annam, Tonkin China, the Island of Borneo, were reeking with the blood of Christian*. Napoleon III., guided by larger views than those which distinguished his European policy, took in hand the cause of Christi- anity and civilization in those distant lands. He joinsd with England in repressing the Chinese, with Spain in chastising Cochin-China, and Providence rewarded him with victory, with the conquest of Pekin and the only useful and permanent acquisition of his reign — the French Colony of Cochin-China. , , Haytian^Ecua- j^^ jggj p-^^ j-jj- happily negotiated a concordat for the restoration of the Catholic Religion in the Republic of Hayti, and another, the year following, with the Republic of Ecuador, which had been governed for some time by . the best Christian, and perhaps, also, the greatest states- man of the age, Garcia Moreno, since that time barbar- ously murdered. Disputes settled. About the samc time, the Holy Father addressed to the Bishops of Belgium an Encyclical which settled the dispute between the rationalists and the traditionalists ; another to the Bishop of Breslau, in order finally to gain >• the partisans of the doctrines of Gunther, and a third to the Archbishop of Friburgh on popular education. Other circulars were despatched to the Archbishop of Munich in condemnation of the errors of Froschammer, as well as to direct his attention to the dangerous tendencies of certain Bavarian Theologians, who, led away by vanity and pre- sumption, held rationalistic opinions. The venerable ^^^ • tontifl', always vigilant, was the first who pointed out the seeds of the Dollinger schism, which declared itself eight years later, but, which, being unmasked in time, was nevei widely disseminated, leading astray scarcely any but its authors. : ■ . ii^-«aiiea»...- PIUB IX. In 1863 Pius IX. wrote to the Bishops of Piedmont in Penwction oon- *■ demned. order to confirm them in their noblo perseverance, and, in like manner, to those of New Granada, whom their Gov- ernment wa.^ robbing", imprisoning or banishing. The same year, he denounced to the Christian world the out- rageous proceedings of Juarez in Mexico, where the dese- cration of the sacred altars and the suppression of Catholic liberty were added to the confiscation of the property of the Church. Japan, which the blood of so many martyrs ^^p*"* had rendered sacred, having unexpectedly broken down the barrier which, for two centuries, had kept it isolated from the rest of the world, Pius IX. took care that apostolic zeal should not be forestalled there by mercantile cupidity. Missionaries penetrated to Nangazaki and Yo- kohama as soon as traders. It will be shown, in due time, with what admirable discoveries their labors were rewarded. The erection of new Vicariates Apostolic or Bishop- New B'ghoprics * •'in Africa, etc.. ricff bore witness to the solicitude ot Pius IX. for the^nV**® ^"* Christians of Oceanica, Africa, Asia and America. In the commencement of 186Y, at the request of the French Gov- ernment, the Bishoprics of Constantina and Oran were instituted, and Algiers raised to metropolitan dignity. In March, 1868, in compliance with the wish of the Council of Baltimore, eight Dioceses and four Vicariates Apostolic were created in different countries of the United States. In 1864, Pius IX. preconized a Coadjutor Bishop of Authority in ad- _ * _ J *• dressing Bishopa Geneva, whose title was Bishop of Hebron, and was pleased himself to consecrate him. After the ceremony, he gave audience to the newly appointed Bishop, Mgr- Mermillod, together with four other Prelates who had alike been recently consecrated; the Archbishop of Tarra- gona, the Bishop of Edinburgh, whom, also, Pius IX. had consecrated, a Prussian Bishop and Monsignor Meglia, Archbishop of Damascus, at that time named to the Nun- , irif, ' PIUS IX. ciature of Mexico, and afterwards Nuncio at Paris. He thus addressed them : " The world disputes me the posses- sion of this grain of sand on which I am seated. But, its efforts are to no purpose. The earth is mine. Jesus Christ has given it to me. To him only will I yield it up, — never can the world tear it from me. You, Archbishop of Tarragona, bear unto Spain, which is agitated by revolu- tion, words of Peace and Truth. I so order you by virtue • ' ■ of the Power with which I am invested. You, Nuncio to Mexico, proceed on your mission, — pacify that country, maintain there rights which are ignored ; I so command you, in the name of Jesus Christ ! You, Bishop of Edin- burgh, labor to complete the conversion of Scotland to Jesus Christ. Bishop of Prussia, astonish your country by the example you shall present of moral courage and all the virtues." The Holy Father concluded by exhorting the G-eneva Bishop, whom he had just consecrated, and whom, in consequence, he called his Brother and his Son, to strive to gain that city which presumes to call itself the Protes- tant Rome. "Bless those people who, however ungrate- ful they may be, are still my children. Sustain, console the great Catholic family, and convert those whom heresy still retains far from the fold of Jesus Christ." Such was the high idea which the meek and single-minded Pontiff entertained of his authority as Chief Pastor of the Church, and such was the commanding language prompted by his Faith when discoursing on matters connected with it. churchftKome This was still morc abundantly shewn, as well as his in- terest in the English Church, on occasion of hi« laying the foundation stone of the new church in honor of St. Thomas of Canterbury, near the English College at Rome. At this ceremony, which took place on the 6th February, 1866, Pius IX. spoke in the following terms: " English piety has commenced this edifice, and English piety will bring it to completion Yes! England is PIUS IX. vn. devoting herself anew to the building of churches, not only here, but also in her own land. Catholic schools, hospitals, convents that had beenswt^it away, are spring- ing up everywhere The principal church of that country, the Protestant state church, beholds this change and is astonished. Abandoned by so many of her own children, and unable to replace them, exhausted and sterile as she is, she enquires who those christians are whom she has not begotten They are born of the true spouse, of her who has remained faithful to the Bridegroom, the most ancient as well as the most youthful church, whose fecundity shall never cease Hail ! O, Holy, Catholic apostolic and Eoman Church, of which I am the unworthy vicar and chief. I rejoice in beholding thy children spread over the whole face of the earth, notwithstanding the efforts of hostile powers. 0, Holy church, may they who Jcnow thee not, come to seek refuge under thy wing ! and by thy inspiration, O, Christ ! may they be a united fold ! I- You, my children, it behoves to be as the stones of this sanctuary which we are building, spiritual stones, which when placed together, are destined to form, in charity and faith, the church of Christ. Consider your- selves fortunate in being called to be the stones of this militant church, in order that you may also be elements in ihe construction of the church triumphant. Bear then, patiently, all trials, all afflictions, those strokes of the hammer of the Divine artist, who mercifully appoints what forms and what polish shall be given to the stones of the spiritual edifice before they are finally placed." There were duties, which, however wZ^ofp^'ir*''"''^"''" sacred, it must have been painful for so good a Pontiff to fulfil. On all occasions nevertheless, he showed unswerving firmness, whether in remonstrating against the enemies of the church or in meekly admonishing her dutiful children. Mgr. Darboy, rifjmw^vy^V.'- •'!f.nf(^~ ■'jTn™, TIU. PIUS IX, Archbishop of Paris, was a devoted supporter of the Papacy, and he failed not to serve the cause, with all his power, as a member of the French Senate in the discus- sions between the Pope and the Imperial Government^ He was» always anxious to conciliate, and, sometimes, made concessions which were considered exireme, and were regretted accordingly. Pius IX. wrote to. him con- cerning such things on the 26th October, 1865. He took occasion at the same time, to blame him for having attended the funeral of Marshall Magnan, a grand master of Freemasons, and for having himself given the absolu- tion, in presence of the masonic insignia, which were displayed on the coffin. The Archbishop excused himself, on the ground that neither he nor his cle) gy had observed the objectionable insignia. The Pope replied severely, " You knew that the deceased had been so unfortunate, in his lifetime, as to hold the proscribed office which is called • Grand Orient.' You could easily foresee, therefore, that the members of the sect would attend the funeral and would not fail to parade their insignia. You ought, accordingly, to have been on your guard, in order to avoid causing, by yourpresen ^and co-operation, astonish' ment and pain to all true Catholics." As is well known, this devoted Archbishop ranks high among the heroe -i and martyrs of the Catholic faith. Neither church nor Pope h ave ever given [KefaFSJmton*!' ^^Y counteuance to secret societies, On the contrary, such societies have al ways ■ been pointed out as unlawful and dangerous organizations which no good christian or loyal citizen, could, without a violation of principle, be connected with. 'lever theless, they had become powerful in continental Europe. Even freemasonry which claims so much excellence, had so far de% nerated as to be connected with some of the worst conspiracies of the time. ■\y.i J. ^w^'^^^i^fjwrr^ pms IX. IX The supreme Pastor could, at least, warn his people against the danger o^ all such secret organizations. This he failed not to Cto. In the consistory of 25th September, 1865,Pius IX pointed out anew.the perils in which such like institutions are apt to involve society, and deplored the blindness of G-overnments which make no account in regard to them, of the warnings of the Holy See or of the cruel lessons which so many revolutions have affbrded^^ Freemasonry, thus accused f'^ll upon a very simple but efficacious stratagem, in order, at once, to do away with the effects of the Pope's warning. This was to place him in contradiction with himself A letter from the Free- masons of Massia which became very public, having been circulated in the new as well as the old world, related that Pius IX. was a Freemason, that he had been received into the Lodge of Philadelphia and admittec, successively, to the companionship and grand mastership, and that all the time that he remained in America, few of the Brethren had atten<' ed the meetings more regularly. The letter went so far even as to quote the text of certain discourses in which was shown his enthusiasm for Freemasonry. It added that all this was of great notoriety in the City of Phil- adelphia, that there were preser^'^ed there as a treasure, many autographs of John Maria Mastai Ferretti, that these were exhibhed, in proof of his initiation, to all brethren from abroad, who came to the city, and that many travellers had already often seen them. So many details given with so much precision, left no room for doubt. Newspapers- could no more be relied on if this story was not true. Numerous testimonials affirmed it ; these appealed to other testimonies which spoke of it as a public and notorious fact, and the whole revolutionary press, which was three-fourths of all the Joui*nals,triumphantly maintain- ed the same. The chief party concerned, meanwhile, said not a word. Foitunately there are loyal soulis amon^ L X. PIUS IX. those men who profess to deliberate in the dark. The *'Masonic World" (newspaper) asked the " Grrand Orient" of Pennsylvania for an official report in order, it said, "to silence the Religious Journals!'^ In due time, was received from the grand Secretary of the grand Lodge of Philadel- phia, the following reply. It is dated 30th November, 1868. " I have examined the registers, according to your request; and have not found the name of John Maria Mastai Ferretti, as a member of any lodge of this jurisdic- tion, or, as having been receiA^ed a mason in any of them. The name the most resembling it which I find is ihat of Martin Ferrety, who was received a mason in 1819, but at Havanna, (Cuba). Thus fell to the ground, without any interference on the part of Pius IX. a most ridiculous story, which, nevertheless, was still more or less main- tained in the lower regions of the revolutionary press. The difficulties with which Pius IX. was Remarkable equanimity j j ^i i t i •!• of Pius IX. accounted for. surrouudea, the losses and calamities which came thick and fast, notwithstan- ding all his efforts to avert them, would have sufficed to break the spirits of any ordinary man in a high position. Appreciating as he did, more than less well informed parties can well understand, the value of his Temporal Sovereignty, as iLe only real guarantee for his freedom and independence in administering the affairs of the church throughout the world, he must have felt, more than can be described, the cruel strokes which were rapidly depriving him of this sovereignty. Nevertheless, as is so wel) shown by his unremitting attention to all the duties of his sublime office, he remained calm and self- possessed in the midst of so much trouble. Nor was this Mate of mind the result of indifference or want of feeling. He was sustained by faith in his mission and reflection on the history, nothing less than miraculous, of the church of which ke was and firmly believed himself to be, the PIUS IX. • xi. ■T divinely constituted head. Was the church to fail, under the trials of his time, any more than in those of bygone ages? It was appointed for her to encounter trouble, diflB.culty and opposition of every kind. Nor could the time be pointed out, or imagined, when such a state of things would cease. No sooner had her first apostles appeared than the un- believing Jews made war upon them and thought to crush the rising church before it had extended beyond the narrow limits of their nation. It defied their efibrts ; the church executing her high commission, " teach all nations" bore the light of truth into the heathen world, and fear- lessly proclaimed the condemnation of its iniquities. Her Ministers knew what this would cost them. They had been forewarned. But they knew, also, that the light which they bore could not be extinguished. It was given to -enlighten even heathen darkness, ' Lumen ad reA'elationem gentium," and neither ignorance nor brutish cruelty could overwhelm it. In vain did the nations rage, in vain did the CiBsars persecute. They hoped to drown the church in the blood of her children. They tortured, slew the body but they could not reach the mind. The most savage and searching persecutions which it is possible to conceive, were followed by a result quite the opposite of what pagan blindness had anticipated. The persecutors themselves became, unconsciously, the chief instruments in promoting the increase of christians. In shedding torrents of blood, throughout all the provinces of the vast Roman Empire, they scattered, far and wide, the seed of the church, which is the blood of Martyrs. A new system of persecution must be tried. It found its minister in the -apostate, Julien. This wicked Emperor with refined cruelty, attacked the very soul of Christianity. He pro- , scribed its learning, and bade it feed on a false and poisonous literature. Thus did he do battle with the .Galilean, as he was pleased to denominate Christ whom he ..■ "-^^^ :« tti. PIUS IX. haxi once acknowledged as his Saviour, To no purpose. He too was forced to own that the Gulilean was his con- queror. Heresy after heresy was crushed, and the light alone remained. Schism then hoped to rend the edifice of the church in twain. It struck a more terrible blow than any other power of opposition- Its strokes, however, recoiled upon itself. It was consigned to bondaf'e and darkness. The church remained in her pristine strength,, united and independent. In these latter days, all the hostile forces which assailed the church in earlier times, combined against her. The powers of hell appeared to have opened their storehouse of evils, and discharged upon the world heresy and schism at the same time, the more refined persecution which attacks the mind, together with that which thirsts for blood, incredulity and corruption of morals. For three centuries this new war has not ceased to be waged. The church has been stripped of her pro- perty, whole nations have been torn from her bosom, her authority over souls has been restrained and' her liberty at the same time, whilst all liberty was given to the work of evil, to books v/hich currupt the minds and hearts of men, and to a periodical press which is sustained by falsehoods, calumnies and scandals. The church, notwithstanding, still holds her ground. Unbelief was astonished, and enquired, whence came that wonderful power of resistance- that superabundant vitality which enables the Catholic church to renew her youth in the midst of so many death strug-gles, and to arise, stronger than ever from the ruins^ under whicli she appeared to have been buried forever. The indepen dence of the Sovereign Pontiff which protects true liberty of conscience, was recognized as the chief impediment to the victory of bad principles. This impediment it is now the study of hostile powers t© sweep away. In the 16th century dogma was struck at ; in the- Itth liberty; whilst in the 18th the veryfoundationsof chris- PIUS IX. ' N XUl. tianity were assailed. None of these things succeeded or could succeed, so long as the chief Pastor watched and resisted. Whilst he was free, and his freedom could not be complete unless he were a sovereign Prince, he would not cease to watch and resist. If the enemy would con- quer, they must strike down the Papal Sovereignty. This is their special work, and the great evil feature of the .age. A first attempt was made, and, for a time, it appeared to be successful. The blow which struck so hard, recoiled upon its author, and the most daring of modern perse- cutors perished miserably on a lonely rock of the ocean, whilst forgiveness and benediction were showered upon him from the throne of St. Peter. History too recent to be as yet forgotten, shews what became of another poten- tate who walked but too closely in the footsteps of his predecessor. The page must soon be written which will tell with whom is victory, with the church, which always conquers, or the ephemeral worldly poM'er, that so quickly follows the figure of the world, which like the meteor of a moment, passeth away. From such liLe reflections did the venerable Pontiff derive comfort in his many trials. f wtifpTifccfi ;