Chapter 26

FOOTNOTES:[402]Vitelleschi, p. 158.[403]Quirinus, p. 532.[404]Quirinus, p. 533.[405]Frond, vol. ii.[406]Documenta ad Illustrandum, ii. 209.[407]"Meum honorem graviter læserunt."—Documenta ad Illustrandum, i. 189.[408]Documenta ad Illustrandum, pp. 187-224.[409]Aliquid humani passum esse.[410]He showed that Tischendorf read προβἁτια in both cases, and that other editors had read πρὁβατα in both. Of course, in the fifteenth verse, the word "lambs"—ἁρνἱα—is the proper translation.[411]Acta Sanctæ Sedis.As to MacHale, Kenrick omits whatFrondstates, that he was of a "very ancient" family.[412]Documenta, ii. pp. 415-24.[413]Documenta, i. 209.[414]Documenta, i. 223.[415]"Quod si non fecissent nunquam ad libertatis civilis consortium admissi fuissent aut debuissent" (p. 219).[416]Quirinus, 584.[417]Vitelleschi, p. 168.[418]Quirinus, p. 597.[419]Documenta, i. 215.[420]Ibid., 215.[421]Quirinus, p. 661.[422]His name does not occur in theActa Sanctæ Sedisfor the third.[423]Quirinus, p. 608.[424]Acta Sanctæ Sedis.Friedberg, p. 47, says there were two hundred and fifty signatures, but this is evidently a mistake.

FOOTNOTES:

[402]Vitelleschi, p. 158.

[403]Quirinus, p. 532.

[404]Quirinus, p. 533.

[405]Frond, vol. ii.

[406]Documenta ad Illustrandum, ii. 209.

[407]"Meum honorem graviter læserunt."—Documenta ad Illustrandum, i. 189.

[408]Documenta ad Illustrandum, pp. 187-224.

[409]Aliquid humani passum esse.

[410]He showed that Tischendorf read προβἁτια in both cases, and that other editors had read πρὁβατα in both. Of course, in the fifteenth verse, the word "lambs"—ἁρνἱα—is the proper translation.

[411]Acta Sanctæ Sedis.As to MacHale, Kenrick omits whatFrondstates, that he was of a "very ancient" family.

[412]Documenta, ii. pp. 415-24.

[413]Documenta, i. 209.

[414]Documenta, i. 223.

[415]"Quod si non fecissent nunquam ad libertatis civilis consortium admissi fuissent aut debuissent" (p. 219).

[416]Quirinus, 584.

[417]Vitelleschi, p. 168.

[418]Quirinus, p. 597.

[419]Documenta, i. 215.

[420]Ibid., 215.

[421]Quirinus, p. 661.

[422]His name does not occur in theActa Sanctæ Sedisfor the third.

[423]Quirinus, p. 608.

[424]Acta Sanctæ Sedis.Friedberg, p. 47, says there were two hundred and fifty signatures, but this is evidently a mistake.

CHAPTER VI

To the Close of the Special Debate on Infallibility, July 4—Proposal of the Minority to resist—They yield once more—Another Protest—Efforts to procure Unanimity—Hope of the Minority in Delay—Pope disregards the Heat—Disgrace of Theiner—Decree giving to Pope ordinary Jurisdiction everywhere—His Superiority to Law—Debate on Infallibility—Speech of Guidi—Great Emotion—Scene with the Pope—Close of the Debate—Present view of theCiviltáas to Politics—Specimens of the Official Histories—Exultation.

Anyone who had observed the course of the minority in emergencies would have probably foretold that, under the new trial, they would feel indignant, would speak of doing something, and would end with a protest. So it proved. The very day of the forcible conclusion of the general debate, the French bishops met, and were favourable to some determined action.[425]But the next day, eighty congregated in the rooms of Cardinal Rauscher. The Hungarians, French, and Americans, with Strossmayer, Clifford, and Conolly, are named by Quirinus as recommending that the Fathers of the Opposition should cease to take any part in the Council, reserving themselves for the final vote, and should then give theirNon placet. The Germans, however, always marplots, urged that the better course would be to adopt a protest, and continue to take part in the proceedings. This counsel prevailed. Rauscher drewup a form of protest, which was signed by some eighty prelates, and many of the bishops took a trip to Naples or elsewhere.

Among the things represented by Quirinus as having been said on this occasion, one was to the effect that in a Parliament speeches were of some use, for if they did not influence votes, they did enlighten public opinion; but in this Council, most of the hearers were, from their degree of culture, quite incapable of apprehending theological arguments, not to add that, in a moral point of view, many of them stood so low that even if convinced they would not act on their convictions. The ground taken in the protest is clear, namely, that the right of supporting their votes by a statement of reasons, is one which, by the very nature of a Council, belongs not only to some of its members, but to them all, and that such a right could not be taken away by any vote of a majority.[426]

The Hungarians now declared that they would take no further part in the debates. On the other hand, theUnitá Cattolicaforetold how those who had written or spoken as Gallicans would be converted by a miracle of the Holy Ghost, even in the Council Hall; and as the Galileans had been constrained to speak in other tongues, so would the Gallicans be constrained to proclaim in that Hall before the astonished multitudes the doctrine they had gainsaid.

The absorbing care of the Curia and its instruments was now directed to the one end of constraining all to voteplacet. The victory was no longer doubtful, but to procure unanimity was of great practical moment. The Pope himself was indefatigable. His admirers resented such epithets as "unscrupulous" when applied to his conduct. But they took good care not to grapple with the details of alleged facts which, if they could be credibly told about the conduct of one of our sovereigns in respect to his nobles or to Parliament, would be described in much stronger epithets than unscrupulous. His tongue was evermore scattering rebukes or blandishments, and enlivening the city with crackling sparks of gossip. There were but few bishops of note among the minority whoseportraits, etched by the infallible acid, were not handed round thesalons, lay and clerical. His letters were bitter and undignified. Quirinus quotes the words of a French bishop (p. 627): "There is no longer any scruple as to what is done to gain votes. It is a horror. There has never been anything like it in the Church." These words recall to us a scene in Rome. A remarkable head—one of those heads which bear on the brow a diploma of gifts and letters—was stooping in the light of a lamp by which pages had been penned that had been heard of beyond Italy. The stoop was pensive, and the thinker said, "I saw so much of what was done during that Council, that it has destroyed all my faith in anything that ever was done in the Church before."

It would seem as if, at the last, argument and appeal had begun to tell on some of those who were of a milder mood among the Curialists. It is said that even of the chosen three champions, Manning, Deschamps, and Pie, the last wished to find some formula less offensive than the one projected. Martin of Paderborn even proposed a note which contained a recognition of the teaching authority of bishops, though in an indirect way. On the other hand, the members of the Opposition tried to discover some turn of expression which would save the Church from the shame of being publicly disavowed by her wilful lord. Conolly spoke of proposing, as a formula which would still give her a recognised voice, words declaring the Pope infallible when he spoke, "as head of the Church teaching with him." Others again wished to reinstate the formula of St. Antoninus, of Florence, declaring the Pope infallible when he acts with the counsel of the universal Church.[427]

Men now began to realize the full effect of the proposed dogma, both in its executive and in its retrospective aspects. Many must have remembered how happy they had been in argument, or in diplomacy, when the ambiguous state of the case, as it had hitherto existed, enabled them to evade thecharge that such and such were the principles of the Church. It was so convenient to be able to say No, they have never been sanctioned by a Council; they are only the words of a Papal Decree. Now, however, all these words were to have fresh life breathed into them, and whatever they contained affecting a general principle of belief, or practice, was to be taken for divine,—was, in fact, to rank as the word of God.

Delay now became the forlorn hope of the minority, and expedition the watchword of the majority. The minority were sure that the Pope would not be so cruel as to force them to continue in Rome during the summer heats. Hence, they thought that by delay they were certain of a prorogation before the fatal deed was done. They forgot the history of the Pope's prisons and executions. Perhaps they had never read it, or had used their fatal facility of calling an unpleasant statement a lie. Antonelli had generally carried away the chief part of the blame for the blood of the political victims. However, he seems completely to have escaped reproach for the broiling of the bishops. Whether the fierce language ascribed to the Pope was correct or not, nobody doubted its aptness.[428]When even the faithful M. Veuillot said, Since they have put the Council upon the gridiron, they shall broil (ii. p. 352), everyone treated him as only echoing the language of his idol. When once the heats had begun to tell, the feelings of majority and minority, as Vitelleschi points out, changed. Men from the north, accustomed to the bracing air and pure streams of Germany, could ill bear up against the miasma from the Roman marshes and the torrid heats that were withering the city and making even natives look pale. They therefore began to long for an escape, and not a few of them took their way homewards. They received not only ready but glad permission. Thus every day was diminishing the strength of the Opposition. The majority, on the other hand, consisting of Italians, South Americans, and Spaniards, were inured to the heats, if not to the malaria, and felt that the sun and themarshes were conspiring with them. Apollo had come to camp shooting over the heads of the natives, but laying low the men from beyond the sea.

There was now only one consideration that would make the Pope anxious for despatch, and that was the daily pressure upon his finances caused by supporting his three hundred boarders. This certainly had proved a useful ground of appeal for funds. The sums collected everywhere had been great. TheCiviltáreproaches the Liberal Catholics with not sending money any more than they had sent men to fight for the Holy Father, and sets in contrast with their stinginess and want of military spirit the fact that theUniversalone had sent in more than nine thousand pounds (234,410 francs).[429]The Holy Father said, "They fear making the Pope infallible, but they do not fear making him fail."[430]But M. Veuillot, on the contrary, did not fear making him infallible, and did everything possible to prevent him from failing. Hence it was no wonder that he should have briefs to publish which would perform a service for the exchequer of theUniverssimilar to what theUniversperformed for the exchequer of the author of the briefs. The words of the Pope spoken to the deputation of scientific men were representative words, "Here I am to receive your offerings."

Theiner, the celebrated Prefect of the Vatican archives, now fell publicly under displeasure. He had allowed Hefele and Strossmayer, and perhaps others, to see the order of procedure of the Council of Trent, and probably had in other ways shown leanings not acceptable to the Jesuits. He was ordered to give up his keys to Cardoni, who had been the first chosen secretly to prepare Drafts of Decrees on Infallibility before intentions were disclosed, and had kept his counsel well. The archives were actually closed against Theiner. It is said that the passage into them from his own rooms was walled up. The disgrace of Theiner, and the honour of Cardoni, sharply symbolized the favourite saying that the dogma must conquer history. Here again Antonelli escaped all reproach of a sharein the blundering injustice. Cardoni was one singled out by name in a celebrated letter of Döllinger as having largely employed falsified authorities. But that charge, to us so revolting, is a familiar sound wherever the shadow of the Curia extends.[431]We ourselves once heard a member of the Congregation of the Index claim, unmindful of the presence of a Protestant, "You must never trust any edition of any work whatever that has passed through the hands of the Jesuits."

The exciting matters now remaining to be treated in the Council were the all-important particulars of those Drafts which had already been under a general review. The two chapters teaching the institution of the primacy in the person of Peter, and the transmission of that primacy through the Roman Pontiffs as his successors, were speedily disposed of. Had all the fathers attempted to answer the arguments of Desanctis on these points, arguments familiar to many Italians, they would not have found it light work. But the third chapter was one of immense importance. It defined the scope and nature of primacy, distending that term till it was made to cover absolute, immediate, and ordinary control in the whole domain of the Church—control over bishops and people, control over not only all matters ordinarily included under the expression "faith and morals," but over all things held to be necessary for the government or discipline of the Church. This last expression, as any one acquainted with the views of those in authority, even so far as they are recorded in our preceding pages, must know, covers almost every possible question that can arise. The words of Vitelleschi (p. 174) are well considered. He speaks of the "supreme jurisdiction, ordinary and universal, of the Pope over all Churches, singly and collectively, over pastors as well as flocks; from which doctrine it follows that bishops in exercising any jurisdiction or authority, only do so as official delegates of the Pope." Dr. Langen puts it thus: "Seeing that there can be only one bishop in a diocese, as soon as the Pope is declared to haveordinary jurisdiction in that diocese, he becomes its Ordinary, and the other person called a bishop is nothing more than his delegate and representative."[432]Men who cover a dominion of this sort under the pretext of primacy, and who advance a claim of primacy in order to deduce from it an absolute dictatorship, never do anything more sensible than when they decry reason and relegate Scripture to the tradition-heap; when they call for pictures instead of books, and processions and fireworks instead of a free press and free discussion. There was political philosophy in M. Veuillot's exclamation on witnessing the Easter rejoicings in Rome, especially the fireworks representing "the heavenly Jerusalem," that it was impossible not to respect a people for whom such entertainments were provided.

The first assertion in the Decree of ordinary and immediate jurisdiction over all Churches, oddly does not describe that jurisdiction as belonging to the Pope, but as belonging to the Roman Church (par. 2). No sooner, however, has principality been ascribed to the Roman Church than it is instantly transferred to the Pontiff, and is again instantly affirmed to be a truly episcopal power. This confusion, in such a document, would be amusing if the matter were not so serious. That a Church should be a bishop is certainly new; and that a truly episcopal power should reside in a Church which is not a bishop, is one of the many mysteries created by the Vatican Council. But that the source of the Pontiff's authority should in this very Decree be sought in the Church, is a proof how hard a task is theirs who determine to make dogma conquer history. In the very language of the Decree, history conquers the dogma.

If the document contains this one taint of dualism as between Church and Pope, it is clear of all reproach of dualism as between the Pope and Princes. The latter are legislated out of all rights that could possibly conflict with those of their Lord Paramount. Notwithstanding the slight dualism as between Pope and Church, the latter is also legislated out of all her ancient claims; but incidentally she appears in clauses which,if she was only infallible without the consent of the Pope, as he is infallible without her consent, might in time prove very awkward. He has only as much infallibility as she has: that is a clumsy admission just before the assertion that he is infallible without her consent. However, wherever the power resides, or springs from, it is a power over all pastors and all believers, and extends, as we have said, not only to faith and morals, but to all things which affect the government of the Church. Thus it includes every mixed question whatsoever, and all things of any kind which in the estimation of the Pope of Rome may relate to the interests of that kingdom of which he is the king. This power, moreover, is immediate, and as such can act without being legally restricted to any processes, any agencies, or any forms. Being ordinary, it can never be obliged to wait until the ordinary jurisdiction has been tried and failed. Being immediate, it can never be told that it must take this, that, or the other line of procedure. This language for ever settles the point which had been contested in the famous passage of letters with Darboy.

How it could be necessary to add another word after these affirmations we can hardly see. Even Councils, or the pastors collectively, had but one office assigned to them—the office of obeying. After this the abstract proclamation of Infallibility, or Irreformability, or Inerrancy, could add nothing to a power that was universal, ordinary, and immediate, and towards which the people or bishops, singly or collectively, stood in one relation only—that of subjects in presence of an authority which they were bound absolutely to obey. It naturally follows that it is in this obedience that Rome finds unity. That is, in fact, her ideal of unity. Christians are Churchmen, not by being Christians, but by obeying the Roman Pontiff. Under the Papacy a Christian is outside the family of God if he does not obey the Cæsar of the Church.

Absolute authority over bishops and people having been asserted, next comes the assertion of authority over princes. This is done in a paragraph in which only students would see anything of the kind. The fourth paragraph of the thirdchapter begins by speaking of the Pope's right to free communication with the pastors and flocks of the whole Church. What could appear more natural, or less dangerous? Had we not seen how much the communications of the Pope amount to, we should have taken that as a meek and harmless claim. But the close of the paragraph shows that what the Pope means is the right of giving to his own edicts the binding force of a higher law in every country, whether the government consents or does not consent. As primacy means dictatorship, so communication means promulging laws in regard to which no human being has the right of reply, inquiry, complaint, or appeal; has, we repeat, no office whatever except that of obedience. We have seen that "teach" in our Lord's commission to the apostles means so to give law to thenationsthat they can never be justified in resisting. No prince can have any title to exercise anexequatur,placet, or any other form of check upon an edict of the Pope. Every man who denies the validity of a Papal law, because it is prohibited by the government of the country, is solemnly condemned; he interrupts the communication between the authority of the Pontiff and the conscience of his subjects. Indeed, the condemnation extends to all who even say that his decrees may be lawfully impeded in their execution. The reason of this appears in the next paragraph. The Pope is there formally declared the Supreme Judge of the faithful. Therefore all may justly resort to his judgment in all matters subject to ecclesiastical inquiry, and none may appeal from his judgment, for there is no authority greater than his. Matters subject to ecclesiastical inquiry must always include all those wherein the interests of the Papacy are in anywise involved. Next, even the old appeal to a General Council is formally condemned. Yet even that condemnation is bungled. None may appeal from the judgment of the Pope to a General Council "as an authority superior to the Roman Pontiff." Then, will lawyers say, we can only appeal to a General Council as an authority equal to the Roman Pontiff.

If these fourth and fifth paragraphs of the third chapter ofthe Decree on Primacy were read by a dozen educated Englishmen unused to Roman Catholic interpretations of Papal laws, nearly all of them would put aside clause after clause as not being of importance. They would take thedamnamusandreprobamusas so much sulphur, and let it pass. Far otherwise Vitelleschi. "From a practical point of view," he says, "the declarations of infallibility could add nothing to the weight of this paragraph" (p. 177). Vitelleschi looks upon the express declaration of infallibility, in the next chapter, as no more than "indulgence in the luxury of self-assertion, to which absolute principles are prone." Yet when Mr. Gladstone pointed out the true range of the authority here set up, many of our politicians treated him as a statesman who had strayed out of his domain into theology. Since then, specimens of minimizing interpretation have been put into our own tongue, as curious as any furnished by the history offinesse. If there be one Canon expressing a rule absolute that needs no exception to prove it, we have it in the words, Rome never minimises. She always interprets her own documents as a legatee interprets a will, that is, in her own favour.

On June 15 the Council disposed of all the matters that stood in the way of the great question. Seventy-five speakers had entered their names. Two speeches were actually made on that day by Cardinals Mathieu and Rauscher.[433]The latter said that he could never assent to the doctrine of the Draft without mortal sin. "We knew all that from your pamphlet," cried Deschamps, interrupting. "But you have never refuted it," replied the Austrian.[434]The following day was the grand procession of the Corpus Christi. If the "good press" was parsimonious in information regarding debates and decrees, it was profuse in description of the spectacles. On the 17th, Pius IX entered on the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate. This year, according to Roman tradition, is fatal to the Pontiffs, it being held that Peter reigned twenty-five years, and that none of his successors was to reign longer. Vitelleschi declares that the twenty-fifth year proved fatal toPius IX, as well as to the rest, because in the course of it he ceased to be a mere mortal. This phrase from a Liberal Catholic will seem natural when set beside one of M. Veuillot, on the day on which Pius IX completed the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate: "We are reminded of the radiance of Jordan and of Tabor, of the thunders of the Temple, 'This is my beloved Son, hear ye him'" (vol. ii. p. 468). On the next page he says, "God has left us His priest, His angel, the sacred interpreter of His law, the anointed intercessor between Him and the world ... a second Peter, a second Moses on the threshold of a new world." It remains to be seen whether the twenty-fifth year of Pius IX was or was not that of the final fall of the temporal power. If the speeches on the doctrine and polity of the Church were concealed, the Pope's speech this day, in reply to the Sacred College, was blazed abroad. He divided the bishops into three classes—the ignorant, the time-serving, and the good. So flowed abroad fresh streams from that fountain which, all the time, was sending forth both sweet waters and bitter.

On June 18, the debate on the fourth chapter, that is, on infallibility, really began. It was a day of Cardinals. Pitra, Guidi, Bonnechose, and Cullen were the sole orators. Hitherto, what with the heat and what with the feeling that all was over, no interest had attached to the renewed debates after the violent close of the general discussion. But the torpor was suddenly shaken. A speech by a Roman, a Dominican and a Cardinal (Guidi), came upon the city, says Vitelleschi, like a sudden thunderclap in a cloudless sky. The Cardinal, like nearly all the members of the Sacred College, was a "creature" of Pius IX. According to Vitelleschi, he began his speech as a Cardinal should, but, according to Quirinus, he offended at the very first. Unhappily, in a matter of difference of this kind, the writers who enjoyed "the radiance of infallibility" give us no light. So we are left at the mercy of those whose assertions were all lies in general, but somehow, when attacked in detail, generally proved to be truths in particular. In the present case, we do not remember that even M. Veuillotattempts to impugn any of the facts stated. However Guidi may have begun, he affirmed that the doctrine of Papal infallibility, as contained in the proposed Decree, was unknown to the Church up to the close of the fourteenth century. Proofs of this doctrine were to be sought in vain in either Scripture or tradition. As a practical question, when had the Pope ever defined one dogma alone, and without the Church? An act, he continued, might be infallible, but a person never. Hitherto infallible acts had proceeded from the Church, either by counsel of the Church dispersed, or by a Council. Inquiry was indispensable to ascertain "what was believed everywhere, and whether all Churches were in agreement with the Roman Church." After such inquiry, the Pope sanctioned "finally," as St. Thomas says; and thus only could it be said that "all taught through the Pope." Quoting Bellarmine, and even the modern Jesuit Perrone, he showed that "the Popes had never acted by themselves alone in defining doctrine, or by themselves alone in condemning heresies." At these words,Spaccapietra, an Italian, but Bishop of Smyrna, led in a disturbance. One bishop cried "Scoundrel!" another cried "Brigand!" Vitelleschi even speaks of violent gestures (p. 189). Guidi said he had the right to be heard, and that no one had given the right of the Presidents to the bishops; but he added, "You will have the opportunity of sayingPlacetorNon placet." Hereupon, from all ranks of the Opposition burst out a cry of "Optime! optime!"—excellent! excellent! "Do you agree with us?" asked a bishop of Manning. "The Cardinal's head is bewildered," was the reply. On this, says Quirinus, a bishop could not refrain from saying to the powerful Archbishop of Westminster, "It is your own head, Monsignor, that is bewildered, and more than half Protestant." If this language was really used, we must doubt whether it was infallible.

Guidi went on to advocate a change in the wording of the Decree, to the effect that the Pope acted with the concurrence of the bishops, and that after having, at their request, occasioned by prevalent errors, made inquiry in other Churches, he acted with the consent of his brethren, or with that of acollective Council. He contended that this was the doctrine of St. Thomas; that the word "final" implied something to precede, and that "supreme teacher and judge" presupposed "other teachers and tribunals." He concluded by proposing two Canons, the first of which declared Papal Decrees or Constitutions to be entitled to cordial faith and reverence, and not to be reformable; but the second said, If any one shall say that, in issuing such Decrees, the Pope can act arbitrarily without the counsel of the bishops as testifying to the tradition of the Church, let him be anathema.[435]On finishing his discourse, he at once handed his manuscript to the secretaries.

Quirinus relates that Valerga audibly said, in reply to some question, "Guidi is misguided." But his neighbour replied that Guidi's speech contained nothing but the truth. "Yes," rejoined the Patriarch of Jerusalem, "but it is not always expedient to speak the truth." The excitement was great. Groups of prelates who had left the Hall might be seen standing about everywhere in earnest conversation, while within doors Bonnechose and Cullen were discoursing to a thin audience with absent minds. It was related that Guidi did not speak as a solitary individual, but represented fifteen bishops belonging to the Order of Dominicans. He had gathered them together in the central convent of the Minerva, where he himself resided. They had considered the question, and accepted the views which he had now presented to the Council. This was much against the feeling of Father Jandel, their general, who was perfectly free from any taint of the episcopal system, a thoroughly right-minded Papist. Guidi asked how the Cardinals had taken his speech, and Cardinal Mathieu replied, "With serious and silent approval."

Rumours were soon afloat in Rome as to what followed between Guidi and his royal master. What we now give is traced by Quirinus to the authority of the Pope himself, who is notoriously fond of telling the people with whom he chats how he has lectured this or that dignitary.[436]

The "creature" was summoned to the presence of his mastersoon after the sitting, and was greeted with the words, "You are my enemy. You are thecoryphæusof my opponents. Ungrateful towards my person, you have propounded heretical doctrine." "My speech is in the hands of your Presidents, if your Holiness will read it and detect what is supposed to be heretical in it. I gave it at once to the Under-Secretary, that people might not be able to say that anything had been interpolated into it."[437]"You have given great offence to the majority of the Council. All five Presidents are against you, and are displeased." "Some material error may have escaped me, but certainly not a formal one. I have simply stated the doctrine of tradition, and of St. Thomas." "I am tradition. I will require you to make the profession of faith anew.La tradizione son' io, vi faro far nuovamente la professione di fide." "I am and remain subject to the authority of the Holy See, but I venture to discuss a question not yet made an article of faith. If your Holiness decides to be such in a Constitution, I certainly shall not dare to oppose it." "The value of your speech may be measured by those whom it has pleased. Who has been eager to testify to you his joy? That Bishop Strossmayer, who is my personal enemy, has embraced you. You are in collusion with him." "I do not know him, and have never before spoken to him." "It is clear you have spoken so as to please the world, the Liberals, the Revolution, and the government of Florence." "Holy Father, have the goodness to have my speech given to you."

It was said that the Pope stated afterwards that he had not sent for Guidi as a Cardinal, but as Brother Guidi, whom he had himself lifted out of the dust. The saying, "I am tradition," made an impression in Rome much like the celebratedone of the French monarch, "I am the State." It simply packed up and labelled the thought that had been more or less confusedly before the minds of all. Quirinus speaks of having often had the words "I am the Church" in his thoughts—l'Eglise c'est moi. We do not see that the Pope could have said anything more sensible or more exactly representing the theology and history which the favourite champions had put before the world. Quirinus very properly thinks that this formula fits well with the pregnant saying of Boniface VIII, "The Pope holds all rights locked up in his breast." Truths and rights go together. Tradition consists of truths, and the Pope is all truth. Rights are based upon the truths, and the Pope holds them all in his own breast. And if the poor old man himself at last uttered these sad words, it was only after the incense had smoked around him thousands and thousands of times, hiding the realities of heaven from him by clouds that were only fumes. For this others were responsible, at least in part. Under the influence of it, what wonder if his senses had become confused? Mankind will have reason to be thankful that one Pope lived long enough to be thoroughly overcome by the smoke of the sacrifices. The ordinary reason assigned in Rome for Popes being short-lived is, that it is necessary to prevent the effects of their power upon themselves.

Thegravamenof Guidi's offence could not be removed by any subsequent submission. Seeing that the Canon he proposed had emerged into the light, the record could not be got out of the book of history that a Dominican, a divine of repute, a Cardinal in high credit, did up to that last hour of liberty hold that it was a heresy worthy of anathema to affirm the very doctrine which was soon to be part of "the faith." The record could not be prevented from going down to future ages that what was, on June 18, and under the dome of St. Peter's, liable to be called a heresy, was on July 18 under the same dome, promulged by the voice of the Pope as truth, and as binding on every human being who would be saved. Nor can craft ever blot out from the history of the eccentricities of intellect the instance offered by the fact that after this hadbeen done, grave and learned men, even of advanced age and high office, went throughout the civilized world soberly affirming that the only reason why the dogma was then proclaimed, was that it had been clearly revealed by our Lord and His apostles, and had in every age been held as revealed truth by all Catholics, in all places.

Vitelleschi is not quite clear as to whether all the incidents reported of the interview between the Pope and the Cardinal were correct. To him that is of no importance; Roman-like, he did not want anything to illustrate the relation of the Pope to his courtiers or to the Church. A few such scenes, more or less, would to him make no difference whatever.

As if to prepare for the deeds directly tending to the restoration of facts when the Council should have completed the restoration of ideas, the tales of theCrusaders of St. Petercontinued to appear side by side with the notices of the legislative proceedings in the successive numbers of theCiviltá. To us one episode comes near home. It was on an April day that a company leaving Rome bore across the Campagna, with all the solemnity of a relic of the saints, the heart of one whose body, in the Agro Verano, the cemetery of St. Lorenzo, slept close by the tombs of the ancient martyrs, and amid those of the martyrs of Mentana. As the party reached a point on the hill within a few steps of the village,—a point from which St. Peter's appeared in the distance,—they saw a block of white marble, surrounded by four little columns, hung round by an iron chain. "Here," cried some zouaves who were of the party,—"Here is the spot to which Julian pushed on, chasing the enemies of God with fire and sword, passing through a thousand bullets, of which one carried away his cap; and here he fell shot down at point blank." Above the marble block rose "the cross of Mentana," and on it was cut the inscription, "Here fell, fighting for the See of St. Peter, Julian Watts-Russell, pontifical zouave, a young Englishman of 17 years and 10 months old, the most youthful who fell on the field of victory, and the nearest to Mentana." In this "angelic sepulchre," as the courtly historian calls it, the solemnparty deposited their holy relic. Around were grouped the villagers, with a few zouaves, among whom were Mr. Vansittart, who had come to take up the arms of his fallen friend, and Wilfred Watts-Russell, the brother and the fellow-crusader of Julian. The rites were celebrated by a venerable old man, yet, says the narrator, a new priest, who now, perhaps, for the first time performed the funeral service. It was the father of Julian and Wilfred. "As we returned," moralizes the zealous historian, "we felt that we had committed to the ground the seed of martyrs."[438]

After the Guidi incident the debate dragged on. The heats were growing worse and worse. At length, on July 2, the weary wheels seemed as if they would go no longer. The list of speakers still inscribed threatened very considerable detention. Hefele had entered his name among the earliest, and when he applied for his turn found he was somewhere "in the fifties," and when he next applied, that he was in "the seventies." Had the minority foreseen what was hidden behind clouds, but ready to thunder forth, they would perhaps have kept the debate open; and so the Papacy would have been saved from the last fatal step. Just now, by a strange coincidence, appeared in theCiviltáthe tale describing the march of the newly landed French troops for Mentana in 1867, with their sisters of mercy. "O France!" cried the literary crusader, "may the angels of God who to a field of just but terrible vengeance accompanied that host, warring only for celestial charity, evermore protect the land of generous hearts."[439]But, not knowing what was so near at hand, the minority at last reached the point at which men are ready to say, We are fighting in vain, and therefore fighting without justification. They agreed among themselves that they might as well give up their right to speak, and let matters be brought to a crisis. On July 4, when the Council met, Schwarzenberg and others gave up their right. The formidable name of Darboy was called. No Darboy was there. So that instead of a final argument in opposition, there was his conspicuousexample in favour of withdrawing. For a long time every one who had done so had received marks of approbation both from the Council and from the Presidents, and every expedient had been used to induce men to abridge the discussion. It was soon apparent that the leaders of the Opposition had adopted a common policy. One after another waived his right. A couple of inconsiderable men claimed their turn, but said little. The bulk of the men on both sides entered into the general movement, and to the relief of all, and the delight of the triumphant majority, Cardinal De Luca announced that the list of the speakers was exhausted, and that the debate was closed. So, as early as half-past nine o'clock, people saw the Fathers gliding down the cathedral and dispersing over the city. They wondered what had released them so early, and, as Vitelleschi says, little realized the importance of their decisions, either to the Church or to the world.

Dated on the very day on which the discussion closed, theCiviltáissued an article on the Decline of Liberalism, which shows how the political aspects of the legislation, now nearly completed, were kept in view.[440]A Catholic gale, says the writer, seems to be passing over the world, vivifying and gladdening society, corrupted and worm-eaten by Liberalism.

A single people, the Roman, finds itself, by the special providence of God, free from this universal Liberal domination; and this Roman people alone, still happily governed according to the laws of God, in contradiction to the great principles of modern society, enjoys the sweet fruits of true progress, and is the object of admiration and envy; for of it alone can it be said, Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. As a drunken slave used to be exhibited to the Spartans to inspire them with hatred of intemperance, so Providence in almost every part of Europe has allowed slaves drunk and mad with Liberalism, slaves of tyrants sprung out of the dung-hill, to be exhibited till Europe, now weary of Liberalism, could only look to Rome and to her civil and religious head,not merely the sole guardian and faithful depositary, but the infallible herald of the principles of universal religion and truth, civilization and prosperity, even natural and social, among nations as well as among individuals. We may say that from the first stage of the movement to the last, it is nations and not individuals that are kept in view.

In Bavaria, Belgium, and Portugal, the writer asserts, the Catholics are escaping from the trammels of the Masons. In Austria the same process is in preparation. In France they are more resolved than ever to sustain Rome. In Italy Liberalism is exhausted, despised, divided, and falling. "Even in Protestant and heterodox countries, Rome, with her civil and religious prince, stands in much higher credit than Italy and other Liberal governments apparently stronger."

Sneering at an allusion of theJournal des Débatsto the vaunted hopes of the Catholics, accompanied by the remark that in spite of their absurdity it was nevertheless prudent to keep an eye on the clock which was to sound the return of the hour for great things theCiviltásays it will not deny that Liberalism has some "bad quarters of an hour" before it. It equally thinks that now it is neither imprudent nor rash "to hope, and that within a time not remote, for the victory of Rome and its Pontiff-king, so far as Italy is concerned, and for the victory of the social, civil, and religious principles which that king represents and preclaims."

The triumph over intellect it holds to be patent and ascertained, and therefore this hope of a triumph in facts is reasonable.

Providence, continues the soothsayer, cannot permit the Church to be long the victim of the devices of the gates of hell, particularly of those devices with which the States of the Church are now beset. After making allusion to hopes which had been entertained of the Pope's death, and asserting his florid health and his prospect of living many years, he proceeds: "The Pontiff lives and reigns in Rome more secure, more glorious, more influential, more beloved than his enemies." Not only is the fact that this potentate was defendedby the arms of France entirely absent from the consciousness of the writer, but he indulges in jibes clearly addressed to the very Emperor who had restored the Pontiff and kept him up. "Sound Catholic principles now seem to politicians the only support of material order and of economical interests." The writer goes on to show that all the implements of Liberalism have been employed on behalf of the Papacy, and that with success—meetings, addresses, collections, votes, illuminations.

Writing with an expectation that before its words came under the eye of his readers (p. 174) they would have already learned that the great word had been spoken, and that Papal infallibility had taken its place among revealed truths, the writer proceeds to indicate the range of the new attribute:—

The Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ. Therefore is he the continuator of the work of Christ in the world. He, standing in His stead, is the witness to the truth in the midst of us. Christ is the voice of the Father, and the Pontiff is the voice of Christ. The Father, in the fulness of time, spake unto us by His Son. The Son, after His return to the Father, continues to speak to us by His Vicar. Now, is it conceivable that a lie can ever be found in such a mouth, in such a word?—and if it could be found, would not the mission of Christ and the duration of His reign have vanishedipso facto? Affirming the infallibility of the Pontiff, therefore, means no less than affirming the duration of the reign of Christ upon earth.

Many who, on beginning to read this work, would have shrunk from interpreting language as to the Kingdom of Christ or the reign of Christ in the Jesuit sense, will by this time be prepared to see how a fallen faith which in effect brings down our Lord to the level of the Pope, must impress itself on the language of those who hold it. Any thoughtful man who will spend a few minutes in calmly setting out before his mind the ideas here shown to rule the mind of a Jesuit, will ever after attach a more definite meaning to the language of Ultramontanes when they speak of the Word of God, the Kingdom of God, the Christian civil system, or use any other terms, affecting the relative positions of the Pope and of the rest of the human race.

The writer of this article gratefully recognizes the surpassing zeal of France and her title to the first place among nations devoted to the Church. Those who form exceptions to the general devotion of France do not belong to her. The Opposition in the Council are called the new Arians, a clear analogy being discerned between denying to our Lord His divinity and denying to the Pope his place as the infallible representative of the Lord. The dogma, continues theCiviltá, would now come forth with the double advantage of an acclamation and a discussion. The famous petition for the definition, by a vast majority of the bishops, was indeed an acclamation, and to this had been added an ample discussion. It asserts that there never had been in the history of the world so full and exhaustive an examination of any question. The writer is unconscious of the fact that before changing a principle of law, or even a fiscal arrangement like a duty on corn, we slow English sometimes employ as many years as they had employed months in settling the source of all principles for ever. Not only so, but with us each new thread shot into the progressive web of the discussion is laid bare to every eye and to every magnifying glass that nature and art can lend. TheCiviltáputs in even the word "ventilated" among the epithets denoting the unparalleled winnowing of this great question. Why, theCiviltáitself, during the progress of the discussion, readily told, indeed, who celebrated mass, who died, who received a title, a distinction, or a place, who got leave to stay away; but it did not even tell who spoke, much less anything about what was said. It gave not a word of information to the whole Catholic Church of what was proposed to be done with its creed, or of what the assembled bishops thought of the proposal. In the very same volume where these fine words are written, we have this specimen of theCiviltá'shistory, with which we connect one from Monsignor Guérin, as showing what free air will blow around the chairs of history in our colleges and around the tables of our editors when once dogma has achieved its Sedan (VII. xi. 237). "Our readers will be gratified"—a blundering English journalist would have commenced such a paragraph with apologies for not being able to tell his readers anything worth knowing, but the accomplished Jesuit begins with congratulating them on the amount of information he is about to give—"Our readers will be gratified to have under their eyes a view of how many spoke, or gave up the right of speaking, in the discussion on the 4th chapter,"—that is, on the great chapter containing the express statement of infallibility.

June 15, 1 Reporter and 2 Speakers.June 18, 3 Speakers.June 20, 1 Reporter and 4 Speakers.June 22, 7 Speakers.June 23, 5 Speakers.June 25, 6 Speakers and 2 gave up their right.June 28, 6 Speakers.June 30, 6 Speakers and 2 gave up their right.July 1, 6 Speakers.July 2, 9 Speakers and 14 gave up their right.July 4, 2 Speakers and 42 gave up their right.

The excellent Monsignor says (p. 113),—and it is for thoughtful men to spend a little time in forming a clear idea of what would be the condition of the world if its information on its supreme affairs was supplied in this fashion:—

There were General Congregations on the 8th of January, the 10th, the 14th, the 15th, the 18th, the 19th, the 21st, the 22nd, the 24th, the 25th, the 27th, the 31st, on the 3rd of February, the 4th, the 7th, the 8th, the 10th, the 14th, the 15th, the 18th, the 21st, the 22nd. An interruption of the General Congregations for a month; a resumption of the Congregation on the 18th of March, (thirtieth Congregation), the 22nd, the 23rd, the 25th, the 26th, the 28th, the 29th, the 30th, the 31st, the 1st of April, the 4th, the 5th, the 6th, the 7th, the 8th, the 12th, the 19th.

We do not know why this instructive method of writing the most important of histories, that of the process of making laws for the whole world, is not continued through and through. Vestments and processions, bulls or Papal briefs, are not in the same manner hidden behind Arabic numerals. Any one may,at the British Museum, feast his own eyes on a specimen of such luminous history. The seventh volume of Frond is the History of the Council. The student will find it a folio in sumptuous Morocco, with gilt edges, and paper thicker than vellum. He will find it faultless and very full in matters of rank, precedence, forms and ceremonies; each cope and favour, each lappet, and each heave of the censer is well and duly noted. But as to questions respecting what men thought, said, proposed, deprecated, or took delight in, the poor student may open three leaves in succession and find both sides filled with mere numerals, names, and titles.[441]One grave historical error is confessed in the corrigenda. On a certain occasion even the pen guided by the "radiance of infallibility" slipped so far as to say that their Eminences the Cardinals were to be in black stockings. The correction shows that "black slippers" were the proper words.

It would for a time have seemed as if the glories once foretold to follow the dogma had considerably faded from the eyes of the seers during the wearying months of debate. Now, however, that the goal was in sight, the vistas reopened, and if translucent clouds rendered the distant view indistinct, they greatly enhanced its splendour. Still there was no weak expectation that the great results would be instantly attained. As centuries were required to bring the Anti-Papal movement in society to the present pass, so was it calculated that centuries would be required to bring the counter-movement to its full development.

It is not to be believed that an event so glorious, and one brought about by God with dispensations so singular, is to remain confined within itself. It will be prolific of prodigious effects in every social sphere for the salvation of thenations. God does not work by accident, or set in motion great means for small ends. We do not hesitate to affirm that just as the subversive negations of authority which prevailed at the Council of Basle indicated the principles of the great politico-religious revolution of modern times, so the reparative affirmation of all the privileges of the See of Peter now so solemnly made by the Vatican Council will indicatethe principles of restoration in every public and private sphere of Christendom. Hence in the series of the centuries this of ours will be a day blest and magnified as that in which, thanks to the Council held under Pio Nono, the light again dawned on an oppressed world wrapped up in the darkness of the Revolution (pp. 178-9).

The writer does not overlook us non-Catholics. For us also the great event was pregnant with blessing, showing us, above all things, "the divine organization of the Church," and in it showing us the "remedy for the unbridled excesses of private judgment, the parent of that Babel confusion in which we are involved." Therefore,

to Mary, sweet Lady and Queen of this kingdom of Christ, be loving thanksgivings rendered, for after God to her favour do we trace the benefit obtained. Scarcely had we read in the Bull of Convocation that the Council would open its sittings on the day sacred to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, before we felt a firm and immovable hope of the definition of pontifical infallibility. It was fitting that the Pontiff who, amid the applause of the Christian world, had dogmatically asserted the highest prerogatives of her holiness, should himself behold the highest prerogatives of his apostolic ministry dogmatically affirmed (p. 180).

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