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diff --git a/38116-tei/38116-tei.tei b/38116-tei/38116-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..81e2fd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/38116-tei/38116-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,24060 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Letters From Rome on the Council</title> + <author><name reg="von Döllinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz">Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>November 23, 2011</date> + <idno type="etext-no">38116</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="la"></language> + <language id="el"></language> + <language id="it"></language> + <language id="de"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2011-11-23">November 23, 2011</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Steven Giacomelli, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + (This file was produced from images generously + made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian + Libraries.) + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">Letters From Rome on the Council</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">By <q>Quirinus</q></p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">(Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger)</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Reprinted from the <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeiting</hi>.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Authorized Translation.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Rivingtons</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">London, Oxford, and Cambridge</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1870</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<p> +These Letters of the Council originated in the following +way. Three friends in Rome were in the habit +of communicating to one another what they heard +from persons intimately acquainted with the proceedings +of the Council. Belonging as they did to different +stations and different classes of life, and having already +become familiar, before the opening of the Council, +through long residence in Rome, with the state of +things and with persons there, and being in free and +daily intercourse with some members of the Council, +they were very favourably situated for giving a true +report as well of the proceedings as of the views of +those who took part in it. Their letters were addressed +to a friend in Germany, who added now and then +historical explanations to elucidate the course of events, +and then forwarded them to the <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Much the authors of these Letters could only communicate, +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +because the Bishops themselves, from whose +mouth or hand they obtained their materials, were +desirous of securing publicity for them in this way, +That there should be occasional inaccuracies of detail in +matters of subordinate importance was inevitable in drawing +up reports which had to be composed as the events +occurred, and not seldom had only rumours or conjectures +to rest upon. But on the whole we can safely +affirm that no substantial error has crept in, and that +these reports supply as faithful a portrait as can be +given of this Council, so eventful in its bearings on the +future history of the Catholic Church, and not only +conscientiously exhibit its outward course, but in some +degree unveil those more secret and hidden movements +whereby the definition of the new dogma of infallibility +was brought about. If it were necessary here to +adduce testimonies for the truth of these reports, we +might appeal to the actual sequence of events, which has +so often and so clearly confirmed our predictions and +our estimate of the persons concerned and their motives, +as well as to the Letters and other works of the Bishops, +whether published with or without their names. +</p> + +<p> +This collection of Letters then is the best authority +for the history of the Vatican Council. No later historian +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +of the Council will be able to dispense with them, +and the Liberal Catholic Opposition, whose ecclesiastical +conscience protests against the imposition of dogmas +effected by all kinds of crooked arts and appliances of +force, will find here the most serviceable weapons for +combating the legitimacy of the Council. +</p> + +<p> +In order to preserve the original character of the +Letters, as a chronicle accurately reflecting the opinions +and feelings of the Bishops of the minority, they are +published now in a complete collection without any +change, with the exception of a few corrections here +and there in a foot-note. Some articles from the +<hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi> are prefixed to the Letters, which +have an important bearing on the previous history of +the Council;<note place='foot'>[It may be well to add, to preclude misconceptions, that both Letters +and Articles are exclusively the work of Catholics.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> and an appendix is subjoined containing +documents partly serving to throw a further light on +the history of the Council and partly to corroborate our +statements. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>September 1870.</hi> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Views of the Council. (Allgemeine Zeitung, May 20, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +Cardinal Antonelli is said on good authority +to have replied very lately to the question of +the ambassador of a Northern Government, that it +is certainly intended to have the dogma of Papal Infallibility +proclaimed at the ensuing Council; and, +moreover, as this has long been the belief of all good +Catholics, that there would be no difficulty about the +definition. It by no means follows, if this report is +correct, that the importance of the new principle of +faith to be created is not well understood at Rome. +The <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà Cattolica</hi> leaves no room for doubt that one +of its principal effects is already distinctly kept in view, +and that a further principle, which again must involve +an indefinite series of consequences, is being deliberately +aimed at.<note place='foot'>The weight to be attached to the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> on all questions connected +with the Council may be gathered from the Brief of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> of Feb. 12, +1866, printed in the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, Serie vi. vol. vi. pp. 7-15. The Pope declares +that this journal, expressly intrusted with the defence of religion and with +teaching and disseminating the authority and claims of the Roman See, is +to be written and edited by a special staff to be named by the General of +the Jesuits, who are to have a special house and revenues of their own. +The previous censorship, as is known in Rome, is exercised with particular +care, so that nothing appears without the approbation of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>.</note> In the number for April 3, it has +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +spoken with full approval, with reference to the approaching +Council, of the famous Bull of Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>, doubly confirmed by Papal authority, +and addressed as a supreme decision on faith to the +whole ecclesiastical world, and treats it as self-evident +that all the contents of the Bull, with other doctrinal +decrees issued throughout the Church, will come +into full force after the Council, and thenceforth form +the basis of Catholic doctrine on the relations of +Church and State. The maxims that will have to be +adopted, as well by the learned as in popular instruction, +when once Papal Infallibility has been defined, +are these:— +</p> + +<p> +The two powers, the temporal and spiritual, are in +the hands of the Church, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the Pope, who permits the +former to be administered by kings and others, but only +under his guidance and during his good pleasure (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ad +nutum et potentiam sacerdotis</foreign>). It belongs to the +spiritual power, according to the Divine commission +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +and plenary jurisdiction bestowed on Peter, to appoint, +and, if cause arise, to judge the temporal; and whoever +opposes its regulations rebels against the ordinance +of God. +</p> + +<p> +In a word, the absolute dominion of the Church over +the State will next year come into force as a principle +of Catholic faith, and become a factor to be reckoned +with by every Commonwealth or State that has Catholic +inhabitants; and by <q>Church</q> in this system must +always be understood the Pope, and the Bishops who +act under absolute control of the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +From the moment therefore when Papal Infallibility +is proclaimed by the Council, the relations of all Governments +to the Church are fundamentally changed. The +Roman See is brought into the same position towards +other States which it now occupies towards Italy in regard +to the provinces formerly belonging to the States of the +Church. All States find themselves, strictly speaking, +in an attitude of permanent revolt against their lawful +and divinely ordained suzerain, the Pope. He indeed +on his side can and will tolerate much which properly +ought not to be—for it has long been recognised in Rome +that right, even though divine, by no means implies +the duty of always exercising it. In numberless cases +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +silence will be observed, or some such formula adopted +as that of the Austrian Concordat, art. 14: <q>Temporum +ratione habitâ Sua Sanctitas haud impedit,</q> etc. But +that must only be understood <q>during good behaviour,</q> +or so long as the times do not change or it seems +expedient. In conscience every Catholic is bound to +be guided, in the first instance, in political and social +questions, by the directions or known will of his supreme +lord and master the Pope, and of course, in the event +of a conflict between his own Government and the +Papal, to side with the latter. No Government therefore +can hereafter count on the loyalty and obedience +of its Catholic subjects, unless its measures and acts are +such as to secure the sanction, or agreement of the +Pope. As to non-Catholic Governments, moreover, the +former declarations of Popes against heretical princes, +which receive fresh life from the dogma of Infallibility, +come into full force. If it is already a common complaint +that in countries where the Government or the +majority are Protestant, Catholics are treated with +suspicion when they take any part in the service of +the State, and are purposely excluded from the higher +and more important posts, how will this be after the +Council? +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>The Future Council. (Allg. Zeit., June 11, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +We have received the following interesting information +from a trustworthy person, who is returned to Germany +after a long sojourn in Rome, where he was in a +position, among other things, to get to know the projects +for the Council. The relations of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> to the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> +may be fully understood from the fact—attested by the +officials of the Chancery—that the editors are regularly +admitted to an audience with the Holy Father, like +the prime minister, usually once a week, never less +often than every fortnight. At these audiences the +manuscripts prepared for the next number are laid before +the Pope, who reads them, and, according to his interest +in the contents, comments on them or returns them +unaltered to the Chancery. The ideas of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> +are therefore not only not unknown to the Pope, but +are published with his express and personal approval. +The chosen model of Pius IX. is Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi>, and his +favourite notion is to discharge that <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> in the present +Church which Gregory did in the middle ages. He is +therefore thoroughly given up to theocratic tendencies +in the contest against the modern State, and the attacks +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> upon it and the whole system of modern +civilisation express his innermost thoughts. Even the +General of the Jesuits is said often to be uneasy about +the language used by members of his Order in their +journal, and unable to avoid the apprehension that it +may seriously prejudice the Order hereafter. +</p> + +<p> +In the Chancery, where Antonelli's confidant Mgr. +Marini revises the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, it very seldom happens that +any alterations are made in the articles, partly because +the Cardinal Secretary of State would at no price get +into bad odour with the Jesuits. Only the record of +contemporary events (<hi rend='italic'>Cronaca Contemporanea</hi>) is submitted +<foreign rend='italic'>pro formâ</foreign> to the Dominican Spada, the Master +of the Palace, for inspection. But although there can +be no shadow of doubt that in all its utterances about +the approaching Council the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, is simply the organ +of the Holy Father himself, Antonelli does not cease to +give the most reassuring answers to questions addressed +to him on the subject by the various diplomatic agents. +Rome, he assures them, will not take the initiative in +making either the propositions of the Syllabus or Papal +Infallibility into dogmas. Many representatives of +foreign Governments have been deceived by these declarations, +and have written home in that sense, the +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +immediate consequence of which was seen in the +reception accorded in some Courts to the despatch of +the Bavarian Government. But they will not allow at +Rome that they mean themselves to give the first +impulse for these solemn dogmatic decisions. That +only proves the confidence felt in the Vatican that a +considerable number of the Bishops will come forward +to demand it. It is a secret already pretty well published +in Rome, how the play is to be put on the stage, +and who is to be the protagonist. Nor does any one +there venture seriously to deny the fact that a version +of the Syllabus, composed by Father Schrader, at the +wish of the Pope himself, changing its negative theses +into positive, is already drawn up. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Manning and Cardinal Reisach are the +leading persons in all these designs. Reisach,<note place='foot'>[Cardinal Reisach was absent at the opening of the Council, and died +soon afterwards, Dec. 26, 1869, in Savoy.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> who is +accounted in Rome a man of eminent learning and +wisdom, and who always manifests the most unbounded +devotion to the Pope, takes an unfavourable view of +German affairs. It was through him that Dr. Mast, +well known through what occurred at Rottenburg, was +placed on two of the preparatory Commissions (<hi rend='italic'>Politico-Ecclesiastica</hi> +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +and <hi rend='italic'>De Disciplinâ Ecclesiæ</hi>) as consultor. +So again, he has sought out Moufang of +Mayence and Molitor of Spires, for his own Congregation, +because he presumes them to be like-minded +with himself. The general rule in selecting persons +for the preliminary work has been to consider their +devotion to the cause, not their scientific capabilities. +First among them, in the directing Congregation of +Cardinals, must be named Bilio, who never loses an +opportunity in conversation of eloquently extolling +Papal Infallibility. To the same class belongs Panebianco, +a zealous friend of the extremest claims of the +Bourbons. Neither of them is known for learned +labours of any note, as neither are Barnabo and the +aged Patrizzi, who is named President of this Congregation +merely on account of his name and age. Among +the domestic consultors of the Commission on dogma, +known in literature, and as its very soul, sits the Jesuit +Perrone, who is become indispensable to the Pope; then +comes Spada, the Dominican, Master of the Palace, who +gained his theological reputation by a controversial +treatise in defence of eternal punishment; Cardoni, +who exhibited his strong views in a work advocating +the obligation of religious when named to bishoprics +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +still to live according to the rules of their Order; and +finally, Bartolini, who has vindicated the identity of +the Holy House of Loretto with the house of the Blessed +Virgin at Nazareth—all simply men of the most rigid +type. Among those employed in these preliminary +labours, Professor Biondo, of St. Apollinare, excels all +the rest, if in nothing else, in his conviction that true +devotion to the Church can only be found in Italy. +We may take as a significant illustration of the method +of choosing foreign consultors, the appointment of Mgr. +Talbot for England, who, when appointed, was out of +his mind, and has now been for four months in a +lunatic asylum. Among the French who are invited +the Abbé Freppel appears to be the most moderate. +But even in Rome there are many clergymen, and even +Cardinals, who do not conceal their opinion that with +such designs the Council will be an embarrassment for +Rome, and a danger for the Church. But nothing of +this comes to the ear of the supreme authority, nor +would information of it directly conveyed to the +Pope be likely to effect any change. Even the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +measures the sentiment of the Catholic world by the +homage paid to the Pope, and therefore the solemnity +can only encourage them in their designs about the +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +Council. It is sometimes feared that the French +Bishops may give trouble; any opposition on the part +of secular governments is not taken into account, for +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has completely broken with the modern State, +and has systematically ignored it both in the project +and the proclamation of the Council, while according +to the precedent of nearly all former Œcumenical +Synods, an understanding should have been come to +with the Catholic States as to the time and place of +holding it, and the subjects to be discussed. The +separation of Church and State in this last procedure +is the act of Rome, although the opposite theory is +sanctioned in the Syllabus. Anything like a literary +and scientific opposition, or a movement among the +laity, such as has here and there begun to show itself, +is regarded in the Vatican as a mere tempest in +a tea-cup. +</p> + +</div> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Prince Hohenlohe and the Council. (Allg. Zeit., June 20 and 21, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +In former times, the assembling of an Œcumenical +Council was caused by a general sense throughout the +Catholic world of some religious need, whether the definition +of an article of faith or the abolition of grave evils +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +and abuses—in short, a reformation—was felt to be +necessary. It was universally known what questions the +Council was to treat of. The sovereigns communicated, +for this end, with the heads of the Church and the +Pope, and brought forward their own wishes and requirements, +as at the last Œcumenical Council of +Trent, which had at least to be taken into consideration. +But how entirely different is this Council under +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>! Already, in 1854, an episcopal assembly, at +Rome, raised to the dignity of a dogma the thesis of a +theological school of the middle ages, combated even by +Thomas Aquinas, but which happens to have become a +favourite opinion of the Pope, although no ground had +been discovered for this new article of faith in any want +of the religious life which the Church has to cultivate. +And this was done against the judgment of a considerable +number of the prelates who were consulted, without +any basis for the doctrine being able to be found in +Scripture and Tradition, by the acclamations of the +assembled bishops—after a fashion, that is, in which +no dogma had ever been defined before. The Abbé +Laborde, who craved permission to lay his objections +before the assembly, received for answer his banishment +from Rome, and the name of another priest was +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +subscribed to the Bull proclaiming the dogma without +his knowledge or consent, so that he found himself +compelled to protest publicly against it. In view of +these facts, and under the just anticipation that at the +approaching Council the dominant party in Rome will be +equally tyrannical in their treatment of dissentients,—it +is already reported that three members of the present Commission, +who are opposed to Jesuit tendencies and practices, +have been suffered to retire—several distinguished +heads of the Church have renounced the idea of delivering +their testimony there. And how is this Council +the outcome of any urgent requirements of the Church's +life, and does Catholic Christendom know what end +it is designed to serve, and what is to be expected of it? +Nothing of the sort. The necessity of the Council, if it +will not put its hand to a reformation of the Church, +in accordance with the needs of modern civilisation, is +not everywhere understood by the clergy themselves. +Only this winter wishes were loudly expressed by some of +them that its assembling might be dispensed with, considering +the position of the Church in Austria and Spain; +but in the Holy Father's state of exaltation on the subject +these wishes could have no effect. Then again,—what +is perhaps without precedent in all Church history—the +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> +the matters to be treated of in the Council have been +carefully kept secret; the Bull of Indiction confines +itself to vague generalities, and the theologians employed +in the preliminary labours were bound to silence +by the oath of the Holy Office,—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Inquisition—imposed +under pain of excommunication to be incurred +<hi rend='italic'>ipso facto</hi>. It seems not to be necessary, therefore, at +least for the present, that Christendom should have +even any inkling of the doctrines on the acceptance or +rejection of which salvation or damnation is to be made +dependent. +</p> + +<p> +It is not the satisfaction of real religious needs that +is contemplated—there would be no need to shun publicity +in that case—but chartering dogmas which have +no root in the common convictions of the Catholic +world. Leibnitz used to call even the Council of Trent +a <q>concile de contrabande;</q> the way in which this +last Council is to be brought on the stage would make +the designation for the first time fully applicable. +</p> + +<p> +If these circumstances alone are enough to make +Governments that have Catholic subjects suspicious of +the designs of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, there are also further proofs +that their designs are not confined to strictly ecclesiastical +affairs, but involve direct encroachment on the life +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> +of the modern State. Not to dwell here on the too open-hearted +confidences of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, which, although published +with the approval of the Holy Father himself, +have been characterized by him as an <q>imprudenza,</q><note place='foot'>[See Introduction to The Pope and the Council, pp. 1-4.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +we will pass to other facts which sufficiently indicate +the projected decrees of the Council. +</p> + +<p> +To the inquiries of ambassadors about the reasons for +summoning a General Council, Antonelli could only +reply by referring to the great revolution and fundamental +change in civil and political relations. It may +be inferred from this declaration that the Council is +intended to discharge a political office also, and in what +sense, Rome has told us in the Syllabus and the condemnation +of the Austrian Constitution. For this +object an ecclesiastico-political consulting committee +has been formed, subordinate to the Commission intrusted +with the supreme control of the Council, with +Cardinal Reisach at its head, and whose Italian members +are as conspicuous for their want of scientific culture as +for their opposition to any concession to the requirements +of the age, and their hostility to all foreign +countries, and especially to the non-Roman portions of +Italy. The Syllabus will be put into shape in its +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +affirmative form by this Section, in order thus to be submitted +for sanction to the Council. One of its members +lately expressed himself in the following terms, with +the applause of his colleagues and of the Holy Father +himself:—<q>The Syllabus is good, but raw meat, and +must be carefully dressed to make it palatable.</q> This +skilful dressing, which is to make it everywhere acceptable, +it is hoped to effect by publishing the propositions +in the form of exhortations, instead of commands, which, +however, will come to the same thing, as the exhortations +emanate from the head of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +It is with good reason that Prince Hohenlohe, in his +despatch, expresses the fear that the Council, according +to the programme of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, will publish decrees on +political rather than ecclesiastical questions, and he +rightly states that the projected dogma of Papal Infallibility +is also an eminently political question. For +when once that is defined, the mediæval pretension of +the Pope to dominion over kings and nations, even in +secular matters, which has never been abandoned, is +thereby also raised to the rank of an article of divine +faith. Thiers lately made the remarkable observation +that the temporal power alone holds the Pope in +check;—a monk, who was Pope, would think himself +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +omnipotent. Certainly, without the temporal +power, the maintenance of which depends on the goodwill +of the French Government, and the administration +of which keeps the Pope within a political area, he +would give freer rein, when it was possible, to his views +of the corruption of the modern State. Once seat a +monk on the Papal throne, as many have already sat +there, unacquainted with the actual world, and in heart +alienated from it, and arm him with the prerogative of +infallibility,—his decrees in the present condition of +society are sure to evoke the most deplorable conflicts. +</p> + +<p> +The ultramontane press in Germany, which is itself +beginning to find the decisions sketched out by the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> intolerable, now adopts the tactics of denying +the official character of the Jesuit journal, and clings to +the straw of hope that neither Papal Infallibility nor +the Syllabus will be made dogmas. But it is no secret +in Rome that those alarming communications of the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> were letters written by French Jesuits, prepared +and published with the sanction of the Holy Father +himself, and cannot therefore be treated as mere chance +contributions of private correspondents. +</p> + +<p> +For several years past the Court of Rome, with the +aid of its indefatigable allies the Jesuits, has been preparing +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> +the way for securing beforehand the votes of the +Bishops on Papal Infallibility. Thus some years ago +the Bishops of different countries received, quite unexpectedly, +an urgent admonition from Rome to hold +Provincial Synods, and frame decrees at them. These +decrees had to be sent to Rome, to the Congregation exclusively +charged with the revision of such ordinances, +and were then returned, after correction and enlargement +by the Cardinals and Committees of the Congregation. +When they came to be printed, it was found that all +these Synods had shown a wonderful unanimity in adopting +Papal Infallibility as a self-evident principle into +their exposition of universally known Catholic doctrine. +The Jesuit organs have not failed to point triumphantly +to these decisions of so many Bishops and Synods. +</p> + +<p> +It is a fact that Antonelli publicly declared there +could be no difficulty about the promulgation of Papal +Infallibility, because it was a doctrine already held by +all good Catholics. And this is the watchword of the +whole ultramontane party at Rome. It is also a fact +that the question was brought before the directing Commission +in order to be put into shape, and then submitted +for confirmation to the Council. And although it is +certain that the discussion of it by the Commission is +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +finished, the decision will be carefully kept secret for +a time, because as yet courage fails them for a straightforward +course of procedure, and they hope to gain +their end by a sort of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>coup d'état</foreign>, viz., carrying the +dogma by spontaneous acclamation, to be evoked by a +foreign prelate.<note place='foot'>[Cf. <hi rend='italic'>The Pope and the Council</hi>, p. 6.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> And thus Governments will be deprived +of the opportunity of gaining any influence over +the decisions of the Council, and protecting themselves +against threatening eventualities. +</p> + +<p> +Well-informed persons, who do not deny the intention +of making Infallibility into a dogma, think that +some innocuous formula will at last be discovered, such +as prefixing a <q>quasi</q> to <q>infallibilis,</q> so that all the +trouble expended in gratifying this darling wish of +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix</hi>. will be almost labour lost. But so long as the +decision rests with the Jesuits, who have an overwhelming +majority in the preparatory Congregation, there is +no ground for this hope. They foresee the possibility of +being again driven from the helm a few days after the +death of the Pope, and therefore press for an unqualified +definition, that they may make capital out of the infallible +Pope for conquering a new position of influence for +themselves in civilized Catholic countries. And if they +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +could not reckon without some regard to other factors +also, still their calculations had a good prospect of +success, for Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix</hi>. is completely in the hands of the +Jesuits, especially of Father Piccirillo, the chief person +on the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> staff, who will act as <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>spiritus rector</foreign> of +the Council. The Pope is seldom left alone, lest he +should fall under the influence of others who judge +more correctly of the situation of the modern world and +the real wants of the Catholic Church; he lives in an +artificial atmosphere of homage poured forth by the +ultramontane journals. He is so possessed with a sense +of his own power that he believes he ought not to +regard or fear any possible opposition of the French +Government to the decisions of the Council. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile there are growing signs that at least a +portion of the French episcopate are not willing to +degrade themselves to the humiliating <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> of mere +acclaimers to the propositions of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. In two +articles of the <hi rend='italic'>Français</hi> (for March 18 and 19) Dupanloup +has already decisively disclaimed sympathy with +the tendencies and insinuations loudly expressed in the +notorious correspondence of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>. He gives a +specimen of the hopes and wishes about the Council +intimated by the French Bishops in their pastorals, +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +where he shows that they are all far from expecting +it to assail political and social liberty and freedom of +conscience, to condemn modern civilisation and widen +the breach between the Catholic Church and other +Christian bodies, by proclaiming new dogmas; but, on +the contrary, that they look for a reformation of Church +discipline adapted to the age, and a work of general +reconciliation with the great ideas of cultivation, freedom, +and the common weal. These declarations of the +French episcopate excited great surprise and deep disgust +at Rome, without, however, to all appearance, +having disturbed the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> in their plans, as they know +from the statistics that they can count on an imposing +majority in the Council. +</p> + +<p> +Seats are prepared for 850 Bishops at the Council, +but the question whether Bishops <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign> are to +have decisive votes is not yet decided. Since, however, +their admission will not materially affect the relative +position of the two parties, they may be left out of the +account. To these voting members of the Council must +be added 57 Cardinals, and the number might be raised +before its opening to 72, by the bestowal of the 15 hats +vacant at present. There are thus about 920 decisive +votes, including 40 Italian Cardinals, 294 Italian +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +Bishops, 66 Spanish, 22 Portuguese, 90 French,—in all +512 prelates of the Romance race in Europe, to whom +must be added 77 Brazilian, Mexican, and South American +Bishops, raising the whole Romance representation +to 600 votes. From this number about 60 must be +deducted for vacant Italian Sees, and some 140 who +may presumably be unable to attend. And so about +400 are left, whose votes, with the exception of a number +of French Bishops, are counted upon by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +The Court also reckons on the votes of 48 from England +and Ireland, 52 from North America, 20 from Greece +and Turkey, 6 from Belgium, 5 from Holland, and 16 +from Canada. If the Polish and Russian Bishops are +allowed to come, they too will swell the majority; and +so, it is believed, will the Armenian and Uniate Bishops +in Austria, Russia, and Bulgaria, numbering about 40. +Of the 65 German and Austrian Bishops scarcely half +will side with the Opposition. And so, if matters are +to be settled by majorities, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> is fully assured +of its victory. Cardinal Antonelli counts on from 500 +to 600 votes of those actually present. +</p> + +<p> +Under these circumstances the Governments of +countries with Catholic populations should be urgently +pressed to devote their serious attention to what is +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +already going on in Rome, and not to let themselves be +taken by surprise by the decrees of the Council, which, +when once promulgated, will place their subjects in a +painful dilemma between their duties towards the State +and their obedience to the Church; will everywhere +create disquiet and conflicts; and must, above all, involve +their Bishops in contradictions with the Constitutions +they have sworn to observe. In the present +difficulties of the general political and social situation +in Europe, a conflict in the highest degree fatal might +ensue with the Church, whose mission of culture is not +yet diminished even for the time, and whose co-operation +for its own purposes the State cannot dispense +with. In this contest the Church cannot conquer, +because the spirit of the age is against her; but the +very crash of so mighty an edifice would cover and +destroy with its ruins the institutions of the State +itself, perplex consciences, and entail universal mischief +by for the first time fully confirming the spirit +of absolute negation of the ethical and ideal conception +of life. The proceedings of Prince Hohenlohe +may have sprung from this statesmanlike consideration; +they are inspired by a friendly spirit towards the Church +herself, and are of a thoroughly loyal character. He +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +wishes the Governments openly to communicate with +their Bishops, in order to point out to them the deplorable +consequences which must follow from so premeditated +and systematic a revolution of the existing relations +between Church and State, and also, while there is still +time, to take precautions against the event of conciliar decrees +encroaching on the political domain. He challenges +the learned corporations of the State most directly competent, +to give their opinion publicly as to the practical +results involved in making the Syllabus and Papal +Infallibility into dogmas. This proceeding is far from +being premature, for it is the business of a statesman +not only to legislate in view of accomplished facts, but +to provide for menacing dangers, nor will his conduct +be blamed by any true friend of Church and State, whose +faculty of judgment is not utterly blinded by hatred. +The repressive measures which Governments would be +compelled to employ after the promulgation of the contemplated +dogmas would not be at all in the interest of +the Church. Suppose, for instance, freedom of conscience, +already condemned in the Syllabus, were anathematized +by the Council, and the doctrine of religious +compulsion sanctioned, the Bavarian Bishops who had +assented to this decree, or wished to obey it, would +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +have broken their oath to the Constitution, the Constitution +which guarantees freedom of conscience would +be under the ban of Rome, and the Government would +have to answer by publishing the Concordat. +</p> + +</div> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>The Council. (Allg. Zeit., Aug. 19, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +If the present situation in regard to the Council is +considered, the triumph of the Jesuit ultramontane +party there appears highly probable. The demonstration +of the Rhenish Catholics has as yet assumed no larger +dimensions, and will evidently gain nothing by the +projected Catholic meeting at Düsseldorf; for not only +is red-hot ultramontanism a decisive obstacle, but the +widely growing and deepening religious indifference +hinders men from taking any part in movements +based on a spirit of loyalty to the Church. In Rome, +accordingly, little notice is taken of the movement, and +satisfaction is felt at the prospect of expelling this +mischievous liberal element from the Church, because +then it is hoped the kernel which remains true may be +more boldly dealt with. Our German ultramontane +press, which lost no time in making a bitter and contemptuous +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +attack on the address of the Rhenish Catholics, +is therein only the exponent of the mind of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +Meanwhile the German Bishops are preparing themselves +to commit an act of doctrinal and ecclesiastical +suicide, by renouncing for ever their long obscured but +not as yet surrendered rank and authority as supreme +judges of faith.<note place='foot'>These fears, as is well known, were not realized at Fulda.</note> Two of them, Bishops Ketteler of +Mayence and Fessler of St. Pölten, have already pronounced +in separate works for the infallibility of the +Pope. +</p> + +<p> +The diplomatic action of Prince Hohenlohe in regard +to the Council has indeed created for the time a sensation, +which still continues among the States interested +in the matter, and which eventually culminated in the desire +to obtain further information about the propositions +to be submitted for the acceptance of the assembled +Bishops, but even the representative of France has +been baffled by the arts of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. When, in June, +M. Banneville put the decisive question whether they +were not prepared to deny the alarming rumours as +to the propositions to be laid before the Council, and to +take immediate steps for facilitating the representation +of Catholic States in the Council through ambassadors +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +of their own, Antonelli replied that he had no knowledge +of what was going on in the Commissions, but as +to the second point, the Church in her present changed +relations with Catholic States, which sometimes persecute +her and sometimes put her on an equality with +other religious bodies, could not take the initiative. +M. Banneville, who had simply spoken of the presence +of an ambassador at the Council, but had said nothing of +his rights, stated that this conversation had <q>profoundly +humiliated him.</q> Thenceforth the Court of Rome was +the more confirmed in its resolve to keep out diplomatists +from the Council. To an indirect question as +to the admission of an ambassador from non-Catholic +States, which have a large Catholic population, an +instant negative was returned. The quarrel of the +Austrian Government with the Bishop of Linz has +given a further impulse in the same direction, for then +Antonelli began to declare more openly that it was +indeed possible, but not likely, that any ambassadors +would be admitted, till now at last he makes no secret +of its being out of the question for Rome, under existing +circumstances, to think of allowing Governments to be +represented. It would not be feasible, he opines, to +admit France alone, and what other Catholic States are +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +there that have not already disqualified themselves for +taking part in the Council? Thus by degrees France +too is gently thrust aside with her inquiries and demands, +and the only question is whether Napoleon's +Government will be content with this. Unless the +clerical party in France itself causes the Emperor to +assume an attitude of opposition to the Jesuit ultramontane +programme of the Council, there is not much +to be expected from him, since in view of the +internal difficulties his Government at present has to +contend with, he is obliged to take that party into +account as an important factor in his calculations. +</p> + +<p> +The Jesuits work assiduously in France, as well as +Germany, to form a propaganda for the projected dogmas, +and to familiarize men's minds with the idea that +absolute certainty and inerrancy are only to be found +with one man, viz., the Pope. Bouix in Paris, and +Christophe at Lyons, have, with the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Univers,</hi> +already most urgently inculcated on the Bishops what +<q>good Catholics</q> expect of them in regard to the acclamation. +But, with the exception of the Bishop of +Nîmes, none of them have openly adhered to the +Jesuit programme of the Council; on the contrary, the +attitude of the French episcopate is perhaps at this +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +hour the only black speck on the horizon of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +And in fact with them rests the decision in the present +ecclesiastical crisis. To the French episcopate it belongs +to show that they still preserve the great traditions of internal +freedom in the Church, newly brought to light since +the mediæval reforming Councils by French theologians, +and thenceforth always conspicuously represented +among them, and that they are filled with the spirit of +Bossuet, who did not confound loyalty to the Church +with blind devotion to unfounded claims of the Pope, +but understood it to mean, above all things, loyalty to +the ancient spirit and original institution of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +But there are good grounds for hoping that at least +a majority of the French Bishops will constitute a free-spoken +opposition at the Council; the two French +theologians Freppel and Trullet, as well as Cardinal +Bonnechose, are said to have exercised a most powerful +influence in this direction.<note place='foot'>The Cardinal's subsequent attitude has not justified this hope. Freppel +too, as Bishop-designate of Anjou, has now declared himself for the +infallibilists.</note> The latter openly complains +that words of moderation are not listened to in Rome, +and that, up to this time, giving any definite declarations +of a reassuring nature has been avoided. He is understood +to have said plainly that the great majority of the +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +French episcopate wished to keep peace with the State, +and would lend no hand to the sanctioning of extreme +tendencies. It is even rumoured that a collective remonstrance +of the French Bishops on the notions prevalent +at Rome is already contemplated, but has not yet been +able to be carried out on account of some hesitation +about the mode of action. Much may be hoped from +Dupanloup's attitude at the Council; in him freedom +of discussion and voting is sure to find a representative +equally bold and eloquent. +</p> + +<p> +But even the opposition of the French Bishops will +produce no results, if the decisions of the Council are +to depend on majorities, for there can be no doubt that +Rome may safely count on the great majority upholding +her designs. We should have a repetition of what occurred +in the Doctrinal Commission, when the question of +Infallibility came before it, and a Monsignore and titular +Bishop, residing in Rome, produced a memorial intended +to prove that this high prerogative of the Pope had been +the abiding faith of the Church all along, and arguing +from this belief for the opportuneness of promulgating +the new dogma, on the ground especially, among others, +that at no period had the Bishops been so devoted to the +Holy See as now. It is natural to expect of men so submissive, +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +and so ready to follow every hint of the Papal +will, that they should joyfully seize the occasion for +offering this grand homage also to the Pope. This was +so conclusive to the Committee that they all decided +at once, without any discussion, for the promulgation of +the new dogma. Only one of the two German theologians, +Alzog of Freiburg, opposed it; Schwetz of Vienna, +on the other hand, fully agreed. For Rome, therefore, the +question is settled, and whoever is otherwise minded at +once forfeits his character for Catholic orthodoxy. +</p> + +<p> +Nor is there any more doubt about making the +Syllabus dogmatic, for Roman prelates, who wish to +have the character of being very enlightened, openly +affirm that the propositions contained in it might +already be regarded as dogmas. And it is stated on the +best authority, even by high dignitaries themselves, that +the whole of the seventeen questions laid before the +assembled episcopate by Cardinal Caterini at the time +of the Centenary, are to come before the Council for +discussion, on the basis of the opinions then transmitted +by the Bishops to Rome. And as a considerable number +of these questions concern the relations of Church and +State—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, civil marriage, the relations of Bishops to +the civil power, etc.,—it is clear enough what credit is +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +to be given to the assurances that the Council will +not deal with any matter that could involve the Church +in conflict with the State. It was found almost necessary, +after public opinion had been alarmed by the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, to change the method of procedure. It +was either expressly denied that the Council would +deal with such matters as the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> had indicated, +or it was said that even in Rome what subjects +would come on for discussion and decision was +unknown, since the intentions of the Bishops, at present +scattered over all parts of the world, were not +known, and on the general ground that the decisions of +a Council acting under Divine guidance cannot be conjectured +beforehand. As if the recent Provincial +Synods, and the answers of the Bishops to the questions +laid before them by Caterini, had not supplied +Rome with a perfectly clear understanding of their +views! As if it was not notorious that the work the +Council was desired to accomplish had been already +cut out for it in detail in the preparatory Congregations! +</p> + +<p> +Now, at length, if we may trust a communication +dated from Rome in the <hi rend='italic'>Donau Zeitung</hi>, the authorities +seem inclined to abandon this system of playing at hide-and-seek +with the public, and find it necessary, in some +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +measure at least, to lift the mask from their designs +for the Council. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> himself is said no longer to +make any secret of his intention to bring forward the +question of Infallibility; but he declares that the +Council will be left entirely free in discussing and +deciding on it, and that it will only be raised to a +dogma if a large majority pronounce for it. And with +this agrees a recent statement of Antonelli, made in +the teeth of his earlier declarations, that the Holy +Father will meet the Council with positive proposals of +his own, and that no doubt can be allowed as to the +acceptance of his authority. This last clause shows +what is meant in Rome by the so-called freedom to be +enjoyed by the Council. If then that freedom is all +of a sudden pointedly dwelt on, this is only one of +the devices of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> for hoodwinking public opinion, +just as eminent theologians of liberal tendencies +were summoned to the previous Commissions, which +were none the less occupied with duties of a precisely +opposite kind. +</p> + +<p> +It may be conceived that loyal but far-sighted +Catholics, like Montalembert, are profoundly afflicted +at the course things are taking in questions of decisive +interest for the authority and the whole future of the +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +Church, The religious indifference of the age will prevent +any open schism in the Catholic Church, but the +internal apostasy will be all the more extensive. All +modern culture will separate itself in spirit from the +Church, which has nothing but anathemas for the +development of the human mind. And when an Œcumenical +Council, which is the highest teaching authority +in the Church, degenerates into the instrument of +an extreme party, and sanctions doctrines in glaring +contradiction to the teaching and history of the Church, +the very foundation on which the confidence of faith +has hitherto reposed is undermined and destroyed. +And thus the ever growing rejection of Christianity +will be powerfully strengthened, so that even believing +Protestants watch with sorrow an Œcumenical Council +preparing to compromise its authority. Very different, +of course, is the view of men like Manning and Ward, +who fancy the definition of Papal Infallibility will be a +short and easy way for restoring their countrymen to +the bosom of the Catholic Church. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix</hi>. himself +is indeed convinced that he is only building up the +Church and crowning her work in placing the dogma +of Infallibility on it as a cupola. +</p> + +<p> +It has been thought fit by statesmen to exercise no +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +constraint on the designs of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, but to await its +decisions, and afterwards, if they should be menacing +to political interests, to employ measures of repression. +This conduct cannot, of course, accord with the mind of +believing Catholics who are not ultramontanes, as it +leaves their obligations towards those articles of faith +untouched, and cannot annul the definitions for their +consciences. But the question arises, whether from a +political point of view this expedient must not be pronounced +a mistake. Consider the dangerous influence +conciliar decrees provoking hostility against the modern +State and its civilisation may exert on those numerous +classes, which are always in the hands of the clergy, +and form an important factor in the life of the State. +Consider, again, what is to be expected in this respect +of a clergy who, as everything serves to indicate, will +hereafter more than ever before be alienated from all +modern culture, on the express ground of the decrees +of the approaching Council, educated in a spirit of +hostility to the State, and made into a mere passive +instrument of Rome. It is difficult to exaggerate the +conflicts between Church and State that may be expected +to follow. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>The Fulda Pastoral. (Allg. Zeit., Sept. 25, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +The Pastoral which the Bishops assembled at Fulda +ordered to be read in all the Churches under their +jurisdiction is an important document. It reflects the +excited and abnormal state of feeling prevalent among +Catholics, since the Jesuits, and some Prelates allied +with them, have announced the design of using the +Council for proclaiming new dogmas, especially that of +Papal Infallibility. <q>Even among loyal and zealous +members of the Church,</q> say the Bishops, <q>anxieties +calculated to weaken confidence are being excited.</q> +The object and main substance of their Pastoral is +directed to allaying those anxieties, and assuring German +Catholics that their Bishops at least will not +assent to the projected dogmas. They have solemnly +pledged their word, before the whole nation, that they +will avouch at the Council the three following principles—<emph>first</emph>, +<q>That the Council can establish no new +dogmas, or any others than are written by faith and +conscience on all your (German Catholics') hearts;</q> +<emph>secondly</emph>, <q>That a General Council never will or can +proclaim a new doctrine not contained in Holy Scripture +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +or Apostolic Tradition;</q> <emph>thirdly</emph>, That only <q>the +old and original truth will be set in clearer light.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This indeed is very re-assuring. The Jesuits have +proclaimed that the bodily Assumption of the Holy +Virgin and the Infallibility of the Pope are to be made +dogmas at the Council. The Bishops are aware that +the two Jesuit organs, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Rheinischen +Stimmen</hi>, from the Monastery of Laach, as well as the +Archbishop of Mechlin (Deschamps), and Bishop Plantier +of Nîmes, have put forward the erection of Papal +Infallibility into a dogma of the Universal Church. +Moreover, the assembly at Fulda knew well enough +that the preliminary materials for this definition were +already prepared at Rome. Now nobody will seriously +maintain that these two opinions are written +by faith and conscience on the heart of every Catholic, +or are doctrines contained in Scripture and Tradition, +and ancient and original truths. The Pastoral therefore +contains a promise, worded with all the distinctness +that could be desired, that, so far as it depends on +the votes of the German Bishops, the yoke of the new +articles of faith shall not be laid on the German +nation. +</p> + +<p> +The German Bishops cannot of course pledge themselves +beforehand for the whole Council, for they will +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +have at most only about 25 votes at their disposal—a +small number in an assembly of 400 or 500 bishops. +But if these 25 votes, which represent nearly eighteen +million Catholics, and the whole of a great nation, +remain united and firm, they are a guarantee that the +new dogmas will not be decreed. For it is not majorities +or minorities that decide on dogmas, but the Church +requires the actual or approximate unanimity of the +whole assembly. And it may be assumed as probable +that the Austrian Bishops will not separate themselves +from their German colleagues in these weighty questions, +except, of course, the Bishop of St. Pölten, who already +openly declares himself for the principal new dogma, +and will therefore no doubt vote for it. It may, moreover, +be confidently asserted that a considerable portion +of the French Bishops will unite with the German +Opposition against the new dogmas. And an Opposition +so numerous and so compact will make it impossible +for the Latin Prelates to carry through their pet +doctrines, powerful as they may appear, if their votes +are counted and not weighed. +</p> + +<p> +From another point of view, too, the Pastoral is noteworthy +and gratifying. It markedly discountenances +that pessimism which for some thirty years past has +characterized Papal documents, and which gave occasion +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +to the observation that Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> and his predecessor +whine whenever they talk Latin. Occurrences in Italy, +Spain, and Germany, and the history of the Austrian +Concordat, with many other things, have led most of the +clerical organs to take a gloomy view of the state of the +world; and we frequently find them maintaining that +a universal overthrow of the whole order of society in +the Christian world, a universal deluge, is inevitable, but +that the ship of the Church, the one asylum of safety, will +float, like the ark, upon the waves, and then will begin +a new order of things, and new period of history corresponding +to the ultramontane ideal. In sharp antithesis +to these gloomy pictures and predictions, the Bishops +declare, <emph>first</emph>, that throughout the world the kingdom of +God increases with fresh vigour, and brings forth fruit; +<emph>secondly</emph>, that all attacks on the Church, and sufferings +brought upon her, work for her good; and <emph>thirdly</emph>, that +religious and ecclesiastical life is strengthened. Such +a view as this is better calculated to arouse and sustain +attachment to the Church and confidence in her indestructible +powers of life and providential guidance than +the opposite view, which exhibits to Catholics everywhere +nothing but the humiliation of their Church and +the triumph of her enemies. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>The Bishops and the Council. (Allg. Zeit., Nov. 19 and 20, 1869.)</head> + +<p> +As the moment for the opening of the Council +approaches, the excitement and disquiet, not only of +Catholics but of all who concern themselves with the +movements of the day, increases in view of so important +an event. For the notion that the Council is merely +an internal affair of the Catholic Church, and that its +decrees will be confined to the sphere of the religious +conscience, will be accepted by nobody who has heard of +the projects entertained by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and who is not +ignorant of the close connection of the Church with the +culture of modern life, and the powerful position this +gives her in the State and in the social order generally. +</p> + +<p> +We may safely state that the Fathers of the Council +are already divided into two camps, and that anxiety +and painful uncertainty prevail in both of them. The +occurrences of the last few weeks have brought out +their opposite views and designs into sharp contrast. It +is now known in Rome that a considerable number of +Northern Bishops are not disposed to accept the <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> +assigned to them of simple assent to ready-made decrees, +and that the German Bishops, except those trained by the +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +Jesuits, most decisively object to making new articles of +faith. Many Bishops also dread the far-reaching consequences +of Papal Infallibility, and the retrospective +effects of the new dogma, and they know that the establishment +of such doctrines would drive the educated +classes of the country, if not into open schism, to an internal +and lamentable breach with the Church. Accordingly, +remonstrances have been forwarded to the Pope +from three quarters—from the Prelates of Hungary, Bohemia, +and Germany,—expressing the most emphatic +desire that the Council should not be forced to any decision +on Papal Infallibility, or on matters affecting the +relations of Church and State, in the sense of the Syllabus. +What reception this document met with in Rome +may readily be divined from the great astonishment the +Fulda Pastoral is known to have excited there, when a +translation of it was laid before the Pope. It is now +thought politic in Rome to deny the existence of these +letters of remonstrance, but they have taken such effect +that the highest authorities begin to hesitate, and ask +themselves the question whether they have not gone +too far in their confident assurance of victory. The idea +of being able to carry the Infallibility dogma off-hand +by acclamation seems at least to have been abandoned. +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +It is understood that some less summary method of +gaining their object must be resorted to, if it is to be +gained at all. And hence at the last moment they have +begun to look out for some Council Chamber where the +Bishops may discuss the matters to be decided upon, +for the chapels appropriated to the Council in St. Peter's +are only designed for solemn sessions.<note place='foot'>This design does not seem to have been persevered in.</note> It is said in +Rome that the pungent remark of a Cardinal to the Holy +Father has had something to do with the change of the +original scheme of an acclamation. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> had asked +his opinion as to the most effective way of carrying the +decrees, and he replied, that obviously the <emph>theatrical</emph> effect +would be greater if there was no debating, but simply +decision by acclamation, as though by inspiration of the +Holy Ghost. And thus the hope of getting the Council +over in three weeks is also given up, and it is now expected +to last to the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. +</p> + +<p> +The drawing up of the letter of remonstrance at +Fulda is said not to have been such plain sailing. The +Pastoral originally sketched out by Heinrich, Canon of +Mayence, but to which important additions were made +subsequently, was subscribed by all the Bishops, even +those who had been pupils of the Jesuits, who consoled +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +themselves with the belief that the dogma of Infallibility +did exactly combine the conditions specified +there as requisite for a dogmatic decree, and was +really scriptural, primitive, and written on the hearts +of all good Catholics. So their Jesuit masters had +taught and assured them. But the secret document +sent to the Pope had necessarily to be more explicit, +and though it was limited to pointing out how inopportune +the definition of new dogmas, especially of Papal +Infallibility, would be, that was precisely opposite to +what the Jesuitizers among the Bishops were convinced +of. The Jesuits themselves lose no opportunity of +proclaiming that nothing can be more opportune than +this dogma, and from their own point of view they may +be right enough, for the rich and ripe fruits of the +dogma would fall into their own laps, and would help +the Society to absolute dominion over science, literature, +and education within the Catholic Church. The +proposed dogma would give canonical authority to the +Jesuit theology, and identify it with the doctrine of the +Church, and the Order, or the spirit of the Order, would +always be required for teaching and vindicating the +new system. The Bishops of Paderborn and Würzburg +therefore refused to sign, and the representative of the +Bishop of Spires followed their example. +</p> + +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> + +<p> +The scruples of these Northern Bishops were so utterly +unexpected that they must have created great surprise +at Rome. Their informant in the matter of the Infallibility +dogma had assured the authorities, in the teeth of +the Northern Prelates, and with the full concurrence of all +the members of the Commission, that no fitter or more +favourable time could be found for establishing the new +dogma, for at no former period could the Court of Rome +reckon so securely on the unconditional devotion of the +Bishops, nor was there ever a time when they were so +ready as at this moment to surrender before the Pope +all exercise of their own judgment or independent +examination. The remonstrances of the Hungarian, +Bohemian, and German Bishops have of course poured +water into this wine, to the no small astonishment and +indignation of the Roman Prelates, with whom it is an +axiom that nobody is a good Christian who does not +believe the infallibility of the Pope as firmly as the +divine mission and truthfulness of Christ. Accordingly, +the <hi rend='italic'>Correspondance de Rome</hi> cast in the teeth of Prince +Hohenlohe, that since all true Catholics already hold +the infallibility of the Pope when speaking <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign>, +a decree of the Council will only confirm what is universally +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +known and believed.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Corresp. de Rome</hi>, 1869, p. 384: <q>L'infallibilité du Pape, décidant +en matière de foi <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign>, c'est-à-dire comme maître de l'Eglise étant +déjà admise par tous les vrais catholiques, un décret du Concil fera juste +l'effet d'une confirmation d'une chose universellement sue et crue.</q></note> Let those good souls who +flatter themselves that the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, with its expectations +and demands, stands alone, weigh well the utterances +of so well-known a journal. +</p> + +<p> +The Austrian Bishops have not thought it well to +follow the example of their Hungarian, Bohemian, and +German colleagues. One of them, Dr. Fessler, is notoriously +the most determined advocate of the whole +ultramontane system, and was the first Bishop to declare +the definition of the new dogma to be at once a +natural and suitable work for the Council. His services +were promptly rewarded; he is already named chief +secretary of the Council, and his hand will press heavily +on its decrees. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> may congratulate itself on +its choice. The silence of the Austrian Bishops is +further explained by the differences of opinion among +them about the questions coming before the Council. +</p> + +<p> +In their secret letters the Northern Bishops have +opposed the new definition only as being inopportune, +and it is known that the French Opposition Bishops +mean to take the same ground. But it deserves careful +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +consideration whether this line of action can be +really tenable or effective at the Council. Surely it +may be certainly foreseen that the far more numerous, +and, from its determined attitude, stronger party on the +other side will answer, <q>If your only objection to the +dogma is that it is unsuited for the times, you thereby +admit its truth; for if you thought it doubtful or +erroneous, you must have opposed the definition on +that ground. By not venturing to assail its truth, you +deprive your objection to its opportuneness of all +weight, for when was ever a religious truth, on which +eternal salvation depends, suppressed on such a ground +as this? Does this holding back, inspired merely by fear +of men, correspond to the ancient spirit and lofty mission +of the Church? How many of her doctrines would she +have dared to proclaim if she had chosen to wait on the +approval of the age? Rather, for that very reason, must +religious truths be loudly and emphatically proclaimed, +when a contrary opinion is growing among men, because +thereby an insidious heresy is marked out and +judged by the supreme authority in the Church. Your +plea of inopportuneness is therefore a fresh and urgent +ground for adhering firmly to the solemn definition of +Infallibility by the Council.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> + +<p> +How far better then would it be if these Prelates +were to declare simply and directly, what the German +Bishops have indeed said in their Pastoral, but, of +course, in general terms only, and without express +mention of the Infallibilist hypothesis; <q>This doctrine +possesses none of the requisite conditions of an article +of faith; it has no guarantee either of Scripture or +Tradition, and no roots in the conscience and religious +mind of the Christian world.</q> Such a line would be +incomparably worthier of the Bishops, and would make +their position far stronger and more unassailable. Instead +of letting themselves, as is intended, be yoked, like +willing prisoners, to the triumphal chariot of the sole +infallible and sole defining Pope and lord, they +would be making a beginning for the revendication of +their ancient apostolical rights, which the Papacy has +sequestered or robbed them of. They would be asserting, +by implication, that the Papacy and the Church +are not identical, and therefore that the Church cannot +be made responsible for all decrees and actions of the +Popes. Half-and-half courses, and false piety, in the +tremendous crisis the Catholic Church is now entering +upon, are not only powerless but fatal. And this half-heartedness, +which looks only too like fear, will make +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +the Ultramontane and Jesuit party all the bolder and +stronger in their plans. And they continue still as +firm as the rock of Peter. In the number for Oct. 2, +p. 64, the Civiltà maintains, against a new French +paper, the <hi rend='italic'>Avenir Catholique</hi>, that the relation of +the Bishops assembled in Council to the Pope is +simply one of most absolute subjection and obedience +to Papal commands, and declares, on the authority +of Ferraris, who is a classical authority at +Rome, what is meant by <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>præsidentia auctoritativa</foreign>, viz., +the Pope's right, not only to decide on everything, but +to coerce all opponents, by ecclesiastical censures—excommunication, +suspension, and deposition—and other +judicial means.<note place='foot'><q>Præsidentia auctoritativa dicitur ... insuper cum auctoritate +coactivâ compescendi etiam per censuras ecclesiasticas, et alia juris media +contradictores et rebelles et contumaces, prout ex constitutione <hi rend='smallcaps'>xi.</hi> Martini +<hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, etc.</q></note> If the Pope strikes down every contradiction +or refusal of a Bishop at once, with the thunderbolt +of his anathemas, according to the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> he no +more violates the freedom belonging to the Fathers of +the Council, than a man who keeps within his own +rights in his dealings violates his neighbour's rights of +property. We must remember, as to this definition of +freedom, that the logic of the Jesuits has always gone +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +its own way without troubling itself with the logic of +the rest of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +It deserves notice, however, that two months before +the opening of the Council the Jesuits had traced out +for the Bishops the extent and nature of the freedom +they are to enjoy there. They do their part frankly +enough in dispelling any illusion on the subject. If +any complaint from the Bishops should be heard in Rome, +such as was made by the Spanish and French Bishops at +Trent, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> can reply that they were told all this +beforehand. The <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> has the most direct sources of +information, and may therefore be safely trusted when it +says, in a recent number, <q>We are not the authors of the +Papal thoughts, nor does Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> speak and act under +our inspiration, but <emph>we are certainly the faithful echo of +the Holy See</emph>.</q> And, as an echo of the Pope, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà,</hi> +in its last number, p. 182, gives a more precise explanation +or statement of the infallibility of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign> +decisions, as extending, not only to all dogmas, but to +<q>all truths and doctrines connected with the various +kinds of revealed dogmas, and so to all sentences and +decrees concerning the common weal of the Church, +her rights and discipline.</q> In truth, if the Bishops don't +even yet see the precipice to the edge of which they have +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +been led step by step for years, and which they are just +going to spring into, that is no fault of the Roman +Jesuits, who have honestly done what they could to +open their eyes. It is therefore to be earnestly wished +that the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> may be read and well weighed as +widely as possible, for then one may hope they will +be <q>forewarned, forearmed.</q> They have certainly had +no lack of signs and warning voices, who are expected +and are willing to subscribe the intended decrees of the +Council. <q>The true echo of the Holy See</q> proclaims to +the world that every Pope is, ever has been, and ever +will be infallible, <emph>first</emph>, when he teaches or maintains anything +in any way connected with revealed truths of faith +or morals; <emph>secondly</emph>, when he decrees anything affecting +the welfare, rights, or discipline of the Church. Clearly +therefore, henceforth the question will be, not in what +cases the Pope is infallible, but what are the few cases +where he is not infallible. He, as being infallible, will +have the first and only right to determine what is the +welfare of the Church, and what it requires. And since, +in the whole range of public life, of politics and science, +there is scarcely anything not permanently or incidentally +connected with the weal of the Church, and with its real +or assumed rights and discipline, he will have it in his +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> +power to make every secular question a Church question. +For it must certainly be anathematized as an error, +as the Syllabus says, to affirm that the Pope has exceeded +the limits of his power. How can he possibly do so on +this theory? He is infallible alike in the definition of +doctrine and in its application to concrete cases. He is +therefore always right in every claim and every decision, +and whoever opposes him, or does not at once +unconditionally submit, is always wrong. Whatever +demand he makes of any State or Sovereign, whatever +law or constitution he abrogates, he must at once be +obeyed, for he acts for the good of the Church, and he, as +being infallible, can alone judge and settle what that is. +The episcopate and clergy must blindly submit to his +infallible guidance and serve dutifully under his banner, +when he proclaims war against a State, or an institution. +</p> + +<p> +Need we explain in detail what painful conflicts with +their Governments and the Constitutions they have sworn +to, Bishops and clergy, nay all Catholics, might be precipitated +into on this system? What caused that lamentable +persecution and oppression of Catholics in Great +Britain, and their loss of civil privileges for centuries, but +Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>'s prohibiting their taking the oath of allegiance +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +to their Sovereigns? Although the oath contained nothing +against the religious conscience of Catholics, the +Pope condemned it because, identifying his own pretensions +with the interests of the Church, he thought it intolerable +that it denied the power of Popes to depose +kings, absolve subjects from their allegiance, and excite +revolt and treason against the Sovereign and the State. +It is a maxim of the Decretals that no oath against the +interests of the Church is binding.<note place='foot'><q>Juramentum contra utilitatem ecclesiasticam præstitum non tenet.</q>—Lib. +ii. tit. 24, c. 27; Sext. Lib. i. t. 2, c. 1.</note> But what is for +the benefit of the Church the infallible Pope determines. +How often have Popes identified their own political +interests with the good of the Church, and required +and occasioned the breach of oaths and treaties! Thus +Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> absolved John from his oath to observe +Magna Charta, on his consenting to receive back his +crown as a gift from him. When, in the fifteenth century, +Eugenius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> was at war with Francis Sforza, and +the general Piccinino had promised not to attack him, +the Pope absolved him from his promise, because it +was prejudicial to the interests of the Papacy, and <q>a +treaty prejudicial to the Church is not binding.</q> Charles +<hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> and Francis <hi rend='smallcaps'>i.</hi>, in their treaty of Madrid, had stipulated +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +that neither should have his oath dispensed without +the consent of the other; but Pope Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> +was the first to seduce the King to commit perjury, in +order that he might form an alliance with him against +the Emperor. So again did Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> release Henry <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> +from his five years' truce with Charles <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, confirmed by +oath, in order to gain the King of France as an ally +against Spain. +</p> + +<p> +The Jesuit theory of the infallible Pope and the +extent of his powers is in no way less extravagant than +that which deluded Agostino Trionfo into his deification +of the Pope under John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxii.</hi><note place='foot'>Cf. <q>Janus,</q> p. 230.</note> Once admit the maxim +of the Syllabus, that the Popes have never exceeded the +just limits of their power, and it must obviously be their +right to dispose of crowns and peoples, property and +freedom, since they have in fact claimed and exercised +the right. Thus, for instance, Nicolas <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> did not at all +violate the common rights of men, but only made a proper +use of his own absolute authority, when he gave +full power to King Alfonso of Portugal, and his successors, +to subjugate unbelieving nations, appropriate their +territories and all their possessions, and reduce their +persons to perpetual slavery. Nor was Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +less justified in conferring on Ferdinand and Isabella of +Spain and their successors the newly discovered countries +of America, and then drawing the famous line from +north to south through the New World, and dividing it +between Spain and Portugal. It was to the authority +of the Pope, as the lord of all mankind, to whom all +men are subject, wherever born, and of whatever religion, +since God has subjected the whole earth to his +jurisdiction, and made him master of it, that the Spanish +conquerors appealed against the natives. On this plea +they treated all refusal to submit as rebellion, for which +they meant to take vengeance on the natives—as in fact +they did in the most horrible manner—by cruel wars, +confiscation of property, and slavery. Their lust of conquest, +with all the abominations they perpetrated, could +always be excused and justified by the remembrance +that they were only acting with the sanction of God's +earthly representative, and punishing the refusal to +recognise his legitimate dominion over the world. +</p> + +<p> +In the article we have cited, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> affirmed anew, +on the authority of the Minorite, Bonaventure of S. +Bernardino (<hi rend='italic'>Trattato della Chiesa</hi>), that the Pope can +dispose of the whole <q>Temporali</q> of kings and princes, +their authority and possessions, whenever, in his judgment, +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +the good of the Church requires it. The work +of a French writer, Maupied, gives the Fathers of the +Society of Jesus the desired opportunity of again commending +their <hi rend='italic'>Magna Charta</hi>—their favourite Bull, +<hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>—as the completest exposition of the +relations of Church and State (p. 213): <q>Fall down on +your faces, and adore your lord and master in Rome, +who can after his pleasure depose you, deprive you of +your rights and bishoprics, and bid you draw or sheathe +the sword.</q> This is a compendium of the teaching the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> addresses to princes and magistrates. If Papal +Infallibility is defined by the Council as an article of +faith, the whole system is sanctioned, down to its extremest +consequences, and the Jesuits will not fail to +point to it as proving that their political doctrines also +are now approved. +</p> + +<p> +Under such auspices does the Council open, when the +Bishops, according to the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>—<q>the faithful echo of +the Holy See,</q>—have only to say Yea and Amen to the +teachings and commands of their master. Never in +her whole history has the Church had a severer task +imposed upon her, or passed through a more perilous +and decisive crisis than the present. It is not only a +question of internal freedom; it is, above all, the question +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +whether she is to be involved in an endless war +with the political order and civilisation of the modern +world, or by keeping to the really religious sphere, +and thus guarding her rightful independence, is for the +future too to fulfil throughout the widest area her +blessed mission towards mankind. The Council, which +has to decide on this alternative, acquires a weight and +significance such as none had before it. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, December 1869.</hi>—The Council is opened. It +is, we may say, in full swing, and the situation has to +a certain degree revealed itself. Two great questions +are in every mind and on every tongue—<emph>first</emph>, <q>Wherein +will the freedom promised to the Council consist, and +how far will it extend?</q> and <emph>secondly</emph>, <q>Will Papal +Infallibility be erected into a dogma?</q> +</p> + +<p> +As regards the freedom of the Council, the position +of the episcopate is in some respects better and in +others worse than at Trent three centuries ago. Then +the Italians had the most complete and undeniable +preponderance over the Spanish and French Prelates, +who were the only others that came into the reckoning +at all. The opposition of the latter could at best only +stop the passing of some particular decrees, but, generally +speaking, whatever the legates and their devoted +troop of Italian Prelates desired was carried, and as +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +they desired it. The numerical relations are entirely +changed now, and there is a far more comprehensive +representation of National Churches. The Italian +Bishops, even if unanimous among themselves, do not +form a third of the whole Synod. But what they have +lost in numbers is abundantly made up by the lion's +share the Papal Court seizes beforehand for itself, and +thereby for the Italian <foreign rend='italic'>prelatura</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +The first step taken, and the regulations already made +by Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> for the present Council, prove that it is not +to follow the precedents of the ancient free Councils, +or even of the Tridentine. At Trent all decrees still +ran in the name of the Council. <q>The Œcumenical +Tridentine Synod, lawfully assembled in the Holy +Ghost, ordains and decrees, etc.,</q> is the heading of every +session and its decrees. Very different is to be the +arrangement at Rome. There has already been distributed +to the Bishops a <hi rend='italic'>Methodus in primâ Sessione +Concilii observanda</hi>, which prescribes thus: <q>The Pope +will hand over the decrees to the Secretary or another +Bishop to read, who reads them with the heading, +<q>Pius, Episcopus, servus servorum Dei, <emph>sacro approbante +Concilio</emph>, ad perpetuam rei memoriam.</q></q> After reading +them he asks the Cardinals and Bishops whether they +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +assent. If all say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>, the Pope declares the decrees +carried <q>nemine dissentiente.</q> If some answer, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non +placet</foreign>, he mentions the number, and adds, <q>Nosque, +sacro approbante Concilio, illa ita decernimus, statuimus +atque sancimus ut lecta sunt.</q> This is the formula +first introduced after Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi>'s time, when +the Papacy had climbed to its mediæval eminence. +The first to use it was Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, at the Roman +Synod of 1079.<note place='foot'>[The third Lateran Council.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> It stands in glaring contrast to the +practice of the ancient Synods for the first thousand +years of Church history, which drew up and promulgated +all their decisions freely, independently, and in +their own name. Here the Pope appears as the author +of the decrees, the one authoritative legislator, who out +of courtesy allows the Bishops to express their opinions, +but finally decides himself, in the plenitude of his +sovereign power, as seems good to him. In another +Papal document communicated to the Bishops it is +said still more emphatically, <q>Nos deinde supremam +nostram sententiam edicemus eamque nunciari et promulgari +mandabimus, hâc adhibitâ solemni formulâ, +Decreta modo lecta, etc.</q> Meanwhile one concession +has been made, which might possibly have some value: +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +the Pope has declared that, though the right of initiating +measures belongs entirely to himself, he is willing to +allow the Bishops to exercise it. This would give +them the opportunity of at least bringing forward for +discussion some of the worst evils—such as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, what +many of them feel to be the hateful nuisance of the +Index—and preparing remedies. But then it must be +borne in mind that on every question the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has at +its disposal a majority of Prelates, who are its own +creatures, and many of them in its pay. With the +help of this troop of devoted followers it can get rid of +every disagreeable proposal before it is even submitted +to discussion. +</p> + +<p> +The Sessions of the Council are solemnities only held +for the formal promulgation of decrees already discussed +and passed; the real business is done in the previous +Congregations. Every Bishop who wants to speak +there is to give notice the day before, but those who +wish to speak without having given notice are not to +be prevented. A congregation of twenty-four members +is to be chosen by the Bishops from among themselves, +for the purpose of specially investigating subjects on +which differences of opinion have been expressed, and +reporting on them. At least nine-tenths of the Prelates +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +are condemned to silence simply from being unable +to speak Latin readily and coherently through want of +regular practice. And to this must be added the diversities +of pronunciation. It is impossible, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, that +Frenchmen or Italians should understand an Englishman's +Latin even for a minute.<note place='foot'>The Scotch pronounce Latin much as the Germans do.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There will no doubt be some subjects on which the +Bishops may really speak and determine freely. But +the moment a question in any way affects the interests +and rights of the Roman <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, there is an end of their +freedom. For every Bishop has sworn not only to +maintain but constantly to increase all the rights of the +Pope, and it is notorious that at Rome, and in regular +intercourse with the Papal Congregations, one can take +no step without being reminded, directly or indirectly—by +courtly insinuation, or rudely and openly,—of +this oath, and the enormous extent of the obligations +incurred by it, which embrace the whole range of +ecclesiastical life. The Bishops then are so far free in +Council, that no Bishop who expresses an opinion +unpalatable to the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> is threatened with imprisonment +or bodily injury.<note place='foot'>[Even this must be taken with reserve.—Cf. <hi rend='italic'>infra</hi>, pp. <ref target='Pg174'>174</ref>, <ref target='Pg175'>175</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Those Bishops enjoy a larger +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +freedom who have the moral courage to incur the reproach +of perjury and the threat of Papal displeasure +and its consequences; who, knowing well that they can +only carry out the most indispensable rights and duties +of their office by virtue of Papal privileges and delegations—quinquennial +faculties and the like,—yet vote +simply according to their convictions.<note place='foot'>[Most of the rights originally inherent in the episcopate are now reserved +to the Pope, who only allows Bishops to exercise them during +good behaviour, by virtue of <q>faculties</q> renewed every five years. Cf. +<q>Janus,</q> p. 422, note.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> The only question +is how many Bishops will act thus. +</p> + +<p> +The members of the Court of Rome vie with one +another in assurances that perfect freedom will be left +to the Bishops in the grand question of the proclamation +of the new dogma of Papal Infallibility. This is confidently +asserted by those Germans who are more deeply +initiated into the views of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, such as the +Jesuits Franzelin, Schrader, and Kleutgen. And above +all, Bishop Fessler, the Secretary of the Council and +favourite of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, who was the first among the +Bishops to declare that it was the main business of the +Council to formulate and proclaim the new dogma, takes +especial pains to convince the Bishops that the Pope +has no intention of bringing the subject before them +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +himself. He admits that the preparatory Commission +has discussed this most important and comprehensive +of all doctrines, and has almost unanimously decided it +to be both true and opportune; and that their reporter +has shown conclusively, that considering the boundless +devotion to Rome of the present episcopate (at least +the majority of them), no more favourable moment +could be chosen for enriching the Church with this +new and fundamental article of faith. +</p> + +<p> +This is now their watchword. All the initiated +repeat it, and some episcopal optimists try to persuade +themselves and others that the danger is really +past, and the scheme abandoned for this time. But +the truth is this: the authorities know well enough +that the absolutists among the Bishops—all those who +hope to strengthen their dominion and extend it over +secular matters by means of Papal Infallibility—are +both numerous and organized, and only await the intimation +that the right moment has arrived to come forward +themselves with a motion powerfully supported. +To begin with the Germans, there is the Bishop of +Paderborn, whose Jesuit theologian, Roh, says that, precisely +because Papal Infallibility is called in question by +Bishops like Dupanloup and Maret, the Council must +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +define it, to make any repetition of this atrocity impossible +for the future. Then there are the Bishops of +Regensburg, Würzburg, St. Pölten, and Gratz, the +Belgian and English Prelates, and those of French +Switzerland, among whom Mermillod rivals Manning +in his fanatical zeal for the new dogma; the Spanish +Prelates—men selected for promotion by Queen Isabella +and the nuncio at Madrid, simply for their thorough-paced +ultramontanism—pure absolutists in Church and +State, who would gladly see the new dogma ready-made +at once, but have to be restrained for a while. To +these must be added such French Prelates as Plantier +of Nîmes, Pie of Poitiers, the Bishops of Laval and +Montauban, and others. One knows least of the votes +of the Italian and United States Bishops, who, like the +Irish, will probably be divided. In any case the Court +party can count on a considerable majority in favour of +the new dogma. +</p> + +<p> +Of course the opposite party, who wish to stave it off, +is strong and numerous. To it belong the majority of +the German and Austrian, as well as the Bohemian and +Hungarian Prelates, and among the French, the Archbishops +of Paris, Rheims, and Avignon, the Bishops of +Marseilles, Grenoble, Orleans, Chalons, and many more. +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +And on the point of the time being inopportune for defining +the Infallibilist dogma, a portion of the <q>old +Papal guard,</q>—viz., the Italian Bishops—will join them, +not to speak of American and Irish Prelates. +</p> + +<p> +But—and in this lies their weakness—they are only +held together by a very loose bond. The one point +they are agreed upon is that the promulgation of the +new dogma will cause great embarrassments to the +Church and to themselves personally, and involve them +in all sorts of conflicts. On the main question, whether +this substitution of an infallible man for an infallible +Church is true, and attested by Scripture and Tradition, +they are themselves divided. If the confidants of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> understand how to insert the wedge into this +split, and drive it home, they may perhaps contrive to +break up the whole Opposition, and carry through, by +an imposing and apparently almost unanimous vote, +this Alpha and Omega of ultramontanism, in which all +their wishes and hopes are concentrated. Meanwhile +no stone will be left unturned, and very various methods +will be applied, and arguments used, in working upon +different Bishops. The earnest desire of the Holy +Father will be urged on some soft-hearted Prelates; +they will be told that the only way the Council can +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +rejoice his heart amid his bitter trials, and brighten the +evening of his life, is by freely offering him that crown +of personal infallibility which former Popes have striven +for, but never obtained. To others it will be intimated +that the Council itself must look like a play with the +chief figure left out, or an abortion, if the Syllabus and +Infallibility are not made into dogmas, for there is no +other question important enough to justify collecting +500 Bishops from five quarters of the world. Those +who agree with the doctrine, but shrink for the present +from the unpleasant consequences it might entail upon +them, will be told, <q>Now, or perhaps never.</q> With freedom +of the press established everywhere, it will be impossible +much longer to keep the poison of historical criticism, so +especially rife in Germany, out of the theological schools +and seminaries, and so perhaps the next generation of +clergy will not believe so absolutely in Papal Infallibility +as the clergy in many countries do now, and then the new +dogma will come at an unseasonable time, and encounter +powerful opposition. Besides, it is best to lose no +time in putting the iron bar of the new dogma across +the way, for then all historical facts that witness against +Infallibility, all results of criticism and investigation, +all appeals to the forgeries and fictions which helped to +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +build up the edifice, are once for all got rid of and +destroyed, at least within the Church. No Catholic +will any longer venture to appeal to them, and if he is +an historical student, he will only be able to console +himself by saying, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Credo, quia absurdum</foreign>. The dogma +has triumphed over history, as Manning has so admirably +explained in his last Pastoral. +</p> + +<p> +Their favourite argument is the common one about +increasing the strength and security of the coercive +power of the Church. The Bishops are told that the +personal infallibility of the Pope will make not only +him but them, his delegates and plenipotentiaries, much +more powerful, and that under its shadow they will rule +with a stronger hand, for resistance will, in most cases, +be blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, speaking through +the Pope and his chosen instruments. Who, for instance, +would any longer dare to defend a book condemned +by the Congregation of the Index, after it had +become infallible? On the other hand, the Bishops +have their scruples, and some of them may be heard +saying that this would be a poor consolation for losing +half their episcopal authority, and that it is hard to ask +them to degrade themselves, and renounce their former +dignity as the supreme tribunal of faith, by making the +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +Pope infallible. It might not be pleasant to return +home from the Council with the consciousness of having +themselves abdicated at Rome the best, and what has +hitherto been held in the Church the highest, part +of their authority, and burned it as a holocaust on the +altar of Papal autocracy. The <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> of a Papal courtier, +however convenient at Rome, has its dark side north of +the Alps. +</p> + +<p> +Already many symptoms of uneasiness betray themselves. +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> said the other day to a German Prince +of the Church, who formerly gave his opinion against +the Immaculate Conception, and has now again pronounced +openly against the Infallibilist dogma, <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Ce dogme +de l'infaillibilité passera, comme l'autre, malgré vous</foreign>. +On the other hand, the <hi rend='italic'>Regolamento</hi> has excited great +discontent, for it unmistakeably indicates the design of +giving the Pope the decision, and making the Bishops +only consultors. Had the assembly been in some +degree prepared for it, and had time allowed them for +coming to an understanding, there would certainly have +been opposition to it. But the heads of the French episcopate +have only just come together, and no attempt even +has been made to bring the German and French Bishops +into communication with each other. And a feature of +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +Roman policy about the Council, now first introduced, +is not exactly calculated to promote confidence and a +happy expectation of the prosperous results of the +Synod. I mean the rigid secrecy. According to the +last directions, all, bishops and theologians, are to maintain +the strictest secrecy about everything, and the +preliminary labours, as is well known, had to be carried +on under the seal of secrecy of the Holy Office (the Inquisition). +Nothing was communicated to the Bishops +themselves, who came to Rome in complete ignorance +of what they were to vote about—a procedure without +any precedent in Church history. It really seems sometimes +as if the object was to turn the Church topsy-turvy, +and take pleasure in doing exactly the contrary +to what the Church of earlier ages did when nearer her +original foundation. Formerly the idea of a Council +was associated with the notion of the fullest publicity, +and the common participation of all the faithful; the +deliberations were conducted with open doors, and all +were admitted who wished to hear them,—for from the +beginning all secrecy was strange and unnatural to the +Church, which was distinguished from heathenism in the +very point of neither having nor tolerating any esoteric +doctrine or secret compact. But the Roman <foreign rend='italic'>prelatura</foreign> +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +too shares the Italian predilection for making mysteries,—as +evidenced in the number of secret societies in the +Peninsula,—and then the Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, and their +French and German copyists, had so solemnly promised +that the Council would provide in its decrees a sure +and effective remedy for humanity, sorely diseased as +it is, and threatened with destruction. As yet we +have waited in vain for any intelligible intimation of +what this panacea is to be. Beyond Papal Infallibility +and the Syllabus, nothing has transpired. Were +the curtain to be drawn back at the beginning, and the +secret betrayed,—that the much lauded panacea is +only moonshine, and that the Council is not in a position +to prescribe any other medicine to the patient +named mankind than the usual and well-known remedies +of faith, hope, and charity—the discord, already +growing, would be still further increased. It is well +therefore to lay the finger on the lips. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the Pope has united the most thorough-paced +Infallibilists, Manning, Plantier of Nîmes, Pie of +Poitiers, Mermillod of Geneva, and Deschamps of Mechlin, +on a Committee said to be intrusted with the discussion +of very important questions. Manning appears +to be recognised as their leader by all the adherents of +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +the new dogma, and Mermillod strongly supports him. +Cardinal Pitra, the French Benedictine formerly intrusted +with a mission, which proved unsuccessful, to +the Archbishop of Rouen, Cardinal Bonnechose, has +lately tried the same plan with the German Bishops. +He began by describing the Bishop of Orleans as a +mischievous teacher of error, and was obliged to hear, +much to his surprise, that these German Bishops quite +agreed with Dupanloup, and the Hungarians with the +Germans. Thus all have taken their side, or will do +so in the next few days. All the Spanish, Belgian, and +English<note place='foot'>[This must be taken with some reserve, as will be seen further on.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Bishops, the majority of the Italians, and a +considerable number of the French, have ranged themselves +under the banner of the new dogma. They all +declare that it must now be decreed that every one, +without exception, must inwardly believe and outwardly +confess Papal Infallibility on pain of damnation; +and all the more so, since Pius himself has now +abandoned the reserved attitude he had maintained up +to this time in presence of the diplomatists, and openly +proclaims, that, being himself profoundly convinced of +his own infallibility, he neither can nor will tolerate +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +any further doubt about it in others. And thus the +influence of this party is very powerful, and already +preponderates; the whole mechanism of the Council, +the order of business, the <emph>personnel</emph> of its officers, in +short everything, is substantially in their hands, or +will be placed at their disposal. All preparations were +made in their interest, and all alternatives were foreseen. +That great ecclesiastical polypus, with its thousand +feelers and arms, the Jesuit Order, works for it +under the earth and on the earth; <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Mea res agitur</foreign> is its +watchword. +</p> + +<p> +On the other side, ready for the contest, and resolved +at least to show fight, stand the German, Bohemian, and +Hungarian Bishops,—with the exception, of course, of +Martin, Senestrey, Fessler, and some others—and all +among the French, American, and Irish Bishops who possess +any culture and knowledge. These men still hope +to see a portion of the Oriental Bishops—the real ones, +not the mere Italian so-called Vicars-Apostolic—join +their side, and there is indeed a very general anxiety as +to what position the Orientals, especially the Armenians, +will take up in reference to the great questions at issue. +They would all like to keep the Church free from the +millstone of the new dogma intended to be hung about +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +her neck, though very few even among them have a +clear perception of the momentous consequences it would +entail, in science and literature, in politics, and in the +relations of the Catholic Church to other Churches. +But the whole party has wind and sun against it, and +has to join battle in the most unfavourable position, on +slippery soil, and confined to acting on the defensive +under the greatest difficulties. The Infallibilists, +from the nature of the case, are far clearer and +better agreed, both as to end and means, than their +adversaries, many of whom do not conceal their predilection +for the dogma, though they tremble at the consequences +of it. Moreover, many of them will allow +themselves to be gained over before long, whether +through devotion to Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, or by the threats and enticements +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> knows so well how to apply, and for +which it possesses an inexhaustible treasury to choose +from. There is, for instance, the honorary title granted +by Rome to about 250 Bishops, <hi rend='italic'>solio Pontificio assistens</hi>, +which seems to the short-sighted only fit for lackeys, +but is in fact greatly sought after, and will be most +graciously accorded to those who unconditionally surrender +themselves. And then there are those manifold +concessions out of the rich store of Papal reserved +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +rights, special benedictions, and the like, so that there +are always nine out of every ten Bishops who want one +at least of these privileges. +</p> + +<p> +We may readily conceive the excitement in the Jesuit +camp. After the patient, indefatigable toil of years of +seed-time, the harvest-time seems to them to be come at +last. Up to 1773, their Order, from its numbers, the cultivation +of its members, the influence of its schools and +educational establishments, and its compact organization, +was unquestionably the most powerful religious corporation, +but at the same time was limited and held in check by +the influence and powerful position of the other Orders. +Augustinians, Carmelites, Minorites, and, above all, +Dominicans, were likewise strong, and, moreover, +leagued together for harmonious action through their +common hatred of the Jesuits, or through the natural +desire to escape being mastered by them. Dominicans +and Augustinians possessed by long prescription the +most influential offices in Rome, so much so indeed that +the two Congregations of the Index and the Holy Office +were entirely in the hands of the Order of Preachers, to +the exclusion of the Jesuits. Since the restoration of +the Jesuits this is completely changed, and entirely in +their interest. All the ancient Orders are now in +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> +decline, above all, in theological importance and influence; +they do but vegetate now. Moreover, the Dominicans +have been saddled with a General thoroughly +devoted to the Jesuits, Jandel, a Frenchman, who is +exerting himself to root out in his Order the Thomist +doctrines, so unpalatable to the Jesuits. The youngest +of the great Orders, the Redemptorists or Liguorians, +act—sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly—as +the serving brothers, road-makers, and labourers for the +Jesuits. And hence, now that they enjoy the special +favour of the Pope, they have come to acquire a power +in Rome which may be called quite unexampled. They +have, in fact, become already the legislators and trusted +counsellors of the Pope, who sees with their eyes and +hears with their ears. To those familiar with the state +of things at Rome, it is enough to name Piccirillo. For +years past they have implanted and fostered in the mind +of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> the views he now wants to have consecrated +into dogmas, and have managed to set aside, and at last +reduce to impotence, the influence of wise men, who +take a sober view of the condition of the times. When +the Dominican Cardinal Guidi, who was then the most +distinguished theologian in Rome, freely expressed to +the Pope his views about the projected Council and the +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> +measures to be brought before it, from that hour he was +not only allowed no audience of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, but was excluded +from all share in the preparatory labours of the +Council, so that he remained in entire ignorance of the +matters to be laid before it. But the Jesuits are also +the oracles of many Cardinals, whose votes and opinions +are very often ready-made for them in the Gesu. The +Congregation of the Index, which they used formerly so +often to attack, blame, and accuse of partiality, when +their own works were censured by it, is now becoming +more and more their own domain, though the chief +places are still in the hands of the Dominicans; and +this may gradually take place with most of the Congregations +in whose hands is centralized the guidance and +administration of Church affairs in all countries. +</p> + +<p> +And thus, if Papal Infallibility becomes a dogma, +what inevitably awaits us is, that this Infallibility will +not merely be worked in certain cases by the counsel +and direction of the Jesuits; much more than that. +The Jesuits will for the future be the regular stewards +of this treasure, and architects of the new dogmas we +have to expect. They will stamp the dogmatic coinage +and put it into circulation. It is enough to know the +earlier history of the Society to know what this means, +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +and what an immense capital of power and influence it +will place at their command. <q>Rulers and subjects</q>—that +will henceforth be the relation between the +Jesuits and the theologians of other Orders. Worst +of all will be the position of theologians and teachers +who belong to no Order. At the mercy of the +most contradictory judgments, as is already, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, the +case in France, constantly exposed to the displeasure +of the Jesuits, of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and of their Bishop or +his adviser, and daily threatened in their very existence, +how are they to get spirit, perseverance, or +zeal for earnest studies, deep researches, and literary +activity? Every Jesuit, looking down from the impregnable +height of his privileged position, will be able to +cry out to the theologians of the secular clergy, <q>Tu +longe sequere et vestigia prorsus adora;</q> for now is +that fulfilled which the Belgian Jesuits demanded 230 +years ago in their <hi rend='italic'>Imago Societatis Jesu</hi>. Their Order is +now really, and in the fullest sense, the Urim and +Thummim and breastplate of the High Priest—the Pope—who +can only then issue an oracular utterance when +he has consulted his breastplate, the Jesuit Order.<note place='foot'><q>Obligatam hærentemque sanctiori Pontifici velut in pectore Societatem.</q>—Bolland, +<hi rend='italic'>Imago</hi>, p. 622.</note> +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +Only one thing was still wanting for the salvation of a +world redeemed and regenerated once again: the +Jesuits must again become the confessors of monarchs +restored to absolute power. +</p> + +<p> +It is one of the notes of an age so rich in contradictions +that the present General of the Order, Father +Beckx, is not in harmony with the proceedings of his +spiritual militia. Here, in Rome, he is reported to have +said, <q>In order to recover two fractions of the States of +the Church, they are pricking on to a war against the +world—but they will lose all.</q> But for that reason, as +is known, he possesses only the outward semblance of +Government, while it is really in the hands of a conference. +With this the fact seems to be connected that he +has appointed for his theologian at the Council the most +learned and liberal-minded man of his Order, Father de +Buck—a man whose views stand in much the same relation +to those of his fellow-Jesuits Perrone, Schrader, +and Curli, as the Bishop of Orleans's views to those of +the Archbishop of Westminster. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Dec. 18, 1869.</hi>—After the solemn receptions, +and the formal opening of the Council, visits, audiences, +and homages, the time for serious business has +arrived, and the Fathers have emerged from the dim +twilight of early synodical dawn into the clear daylight. +People have begun to get mutually acquainted, +and to question one another. The first chaotic condition +of an exceedingly mixed assemblage, some of whose +members scarcely understand one another, or not at all, +has been succeeded by a sort of division, through the +<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>rapprochement</foreign> and closer combination of men of similar +views. As we related before, two great parties of very +unequal strength have organized themselves, and the +shibboleth which caused this division is the question +of Papal Infallibility, which is universally and consistently +taken to imply that whoever is resolved to +vote for this dogma is also ready to give his vote for all +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +the articles of the Syllabus, and generally for every +dogmatic proposition emanating from the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +The Synod is unquestionably the most numerous +ever held; never in the early or mediæval Church +have 767 persons entitled to vote by their episcopal rank +been assembled. It is also the most various in its +national representation. Men look with wonder at the +number of missionary Bishops from Asia, Africa, and +Australia. If one considers the constant complaints +of want of funds in the missionary journals, the great +distance, the difficulty and expense of the journey, and +how much these men are wanted in the ill-organized +state of their dioceses, with so few priests, the question +occurs, Who bears the cost, and what means were +employed to rob so many millions for a long time of +their spiritual guides? Meanwhile most of the Bishops +are pupils of the Roman Propaganda, and obedient to +every hint of its will. And the more the new dogma +is combated, the more necessary is the imposing <emph>consensus</emph> +of five quarters of the world—of Negroes, Malays, +Chinese, and Hottentots, as well as Italians and +Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +More than two-thirds of the Council are either completely +agreed, or at least won over to the necessity of +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +making the personal infallibility of the last 256 Popes, +and their future successors, an article of faith now. +Since the original design of carrying it by simple acclamation +has been given up, Manning has renounced the +<foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> assigned to him of initiating it. But the Bishops +of the Spanish tongue on both sides the ocean—in +South America and the Philippine Isles—have declared, +in a meeting held in the apartments of their Cardinal, +Moreno, that they are ready to propose the dogma. +A Roman Cardinal said lately of Bishops of this sort, +<q>If the Pope ordered them to believe and teach four +instead of three Persons in the Trinity, they would +obey.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The other party, opposed to the dogma, includes +towards 200 Bishops, and this is more than even the +most sanguine ventured to hope at first. To it belong +the majority of the German, Austrian, and Hungarian +Bishops, half the French, all the Portuguese, some +Irish, at least half the North American and Canadian, +and a considerable number of the Oriental. If the +votes were not only counted, but weighed according to +the intellectual standard of the voters, the 200 would +be far the majority. Among the German Bishops, +besides those already named, the two Tyrolese, Gasser +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +and Riccabona, Leonrod Bishop of Eichstadt, and the +Vicar of Luxembourg, belong to the Infallibilists. Ketteler +of Mayence, half won over by his hosts—he lives in +the German College<note place='foot'>[The German College is conducted by the Jesuits.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note>—half succumbing himself, is said +to purpose deserting to the same camp. He, as well +as Stahl, Leonrod, and Martin are hampered awkwardly +by the Fulda Pastoral, which they subscribed, but when +once the knot is loosened or cut, they have only to +bring their assent to the new dogma. +</p> + +<p> +It is said in the ruling circles that an opposition of +40 Bishops and under is so small and insignificant in +so large a Council that no account need be taken of +it. This would be to give up the principle always +hitherto maintained, even at Trent, that no decision in +points of faith could be issued without the physical or +moral unanimity of the Council. But as the dogma in +question is one which for the future will make all +majorities and minorities of episcopal votes superfluous +and valueless, it may very well be that by anticipation, +or by virtue of an exception which is now to be made +into a rule, the minority should in this case be pronounced +non-existent and undeserving of any notice. +I hear other curialists say that, as soon as the Opposition +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +is reduced to 40, they, under a sense of their +impotence, will give up all resistance, and either quit +the field, or come over to the conquering side. And so +the present strength of the Opposition must be greatly +diminished, and this is being strenuously laboured at. +There are plenty of means for the purpose, and as long +as there are Bishops who think themselves fortunate if +they gain the title of <q>Domestic Prelate to the Pope,</q> +a gentle pressure or insinuation, the prospect of a privilege, +or a robe of distinguished colour, will produce the +desired effect on many. Such things act like those insects +which bore through the hardest wood. The episcopate +of course has still many men to show who are +inaccessible to threats or seduction. But we should like +to count up at the end of the Council how many have +passed unscathed through the fiery ordeal. Meanwhile +a confident certainty of victory prevails among the +majority. Manning said the other day to an acquaintance +of mine, <q>So sure as I stand here, the dogma of +Infallibility will be proclaimed,</q> and on the other hand, +one of the leading Bishops of the Opposition said lately, +<q>I came here with small hopes, and with a feeling of +oppression, but I have found everything worse than I +expected.</q> A German priest had been summoned to +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +Rome as theologian of his Order by the General, a +Spaniard. At first greeting him the General said that +the great end they were all bound to work for was to +come to an understanding on the dogma of Papal Infallibility. +And when the German professed an opposite +opinion, and handed him a work he had written in that +sense, the conclusion was soon arrived at: he was sent +home at once as useless, and even mischievous. When +he was taking leave of certain Bishops, one of them +said to him, <q>I should rejoice if any one recalled me or +sent me home; we Bishops have been ordered here to +the Council, without being told what we are to deliberate +upon, and now that I know it I would gladly turn +my back on the Council and on Rome.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The 500 Infallibilists have good ground for their +confidence. It is but natural, to begin with, that they +should trust the magical power of those resources of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> they have themselves had experience of. And, +next, they are well aware of their excellent organization, +which has hitherto proved irresistible. They are +commanded from two centres acting in common, the +Gesù and the Propaganda. The Jesuit General, Beckx, +if by no means in harmony with the line taken by the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, which has been removed from his jurisdiction, +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +thinks and feels about the Infallibility question in strict +accordance with the doctrine and rules of his Order, +and knows how to hold fast the threads with the support +and counsel of his assistants. Not a few Bishops, +without knowing it themselves, get drawn and moved +round by these wires which meet in the Gesù. If they +cannot be commanded at once, they will be slowly but +surely led into the right road by a chaplain or secretary +or consultor devoted to the Order. The Propaganda, +as we said before, provides for all missionary Bishops, +and it again is inspired from the Gesù. The whole +machine works so accurately that lately, in the selecting +of a Commission, 450 voting papers contained the same +names. So admirably is the discipline managed that +many a Cabinet majority might envy this scarcely attainable +ideal of the Council. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Dec. 19, 1869.</hi>—Since I have been here, breathing +physically and morally the air of Rome, and have +heard some of the most prominent Infallibilists, I can +understand a good deal which was an enigma to me +when in Germany. The leading spirits of this party +believe in the advent of a new spiritual dispensation, +a period of the Holy Ghost, which is to depend on the +turning-point of this definition of Papal Infallibility. +Archbishop Manning declared some years ago, in a +speech received with enthusiastic applause by the +Roman dignitaries, <q>La Chiesa Cattolica di oggidí esce +tutta nuova del fianco del Vicario di Gesù Cristo.</q> +This reference to the formation of the woman from +Adam's rib is very suggestive, for Eve, by the Divine +ordinance, was to be subject to the man,—and it includes +the notion which I have met with in several quarters +here, that the proclamation of the new dogma will be +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +immediately followed by an outpouring of the Holy +Ghost, and a renewal of the Pentecostal miracle. There +will of course be this difference, that henceforth the +Bishops will no longer speak with tongues, like the +apostles and disciples on the day of Pentecost, but +only with the tongue of the Infallible Pope, and will +utter in this way the thoughts and words of the Holy +Ghost. Hence not the slightest effect is produced when +any one, say a German or Englishman, points to the +terrible intellectual stumbling-block that will thereby +be obtruded on the faithful, and the perplexity and inward +alienation of so many thousands, and those too the +higher and leading minds, which may be certainly foreseen. +The gain will far exceed the loss; numberless +Protestants and schismatics, attracted by the powerful +magnet of Papal Infallibility, and the power of the +Holy Ghost, hidden in Papal utterances, will stream +into the Church—that is the sort of vision hovering +before these men. And a man who believes in an age +of the Holy Ghost cares nothing for what is said of the +breach with the views and traditions of the ancient +Church involved in the new article of faith: he thinks +it quite in order that a new dogma should inaugurate a +new era. Compared with such fanaticism, the speech +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +of another Infallibilist leader, a Frenchman, at a public +dinner, sounds sober, though in its way it is no less +extravagant, when he assures us that the great connoisseur +and discoverer of subterranean Rome, the Cavaliere +de Rossi, has detected Papal Infallibility in the Catacombs, +and whoever wants to see and appreciate it +there, has only to descend into them. +</p> + +<p> +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> finds that he can undertake what he likes +with a majority so absolutely devoted to him and +simply at his beck. The assurance, so often reiterated +not long ago, that nothing was meant to be decreed +which could disturb Governments or introduce conflicts +between Church and State, seems to be already forgotten +or held superfluous, and a number of Bishops, at a +general audience, heard, not without consternation, from +the mouth of the highest authority, the statement that +the Syllabus must be made dogmatic: it would be +better to yield in other points than give that up. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Opposition grows visibly stronger, and +men like Darboy, Dupanloup, and MacHale, Archbishop +of Tuam,<note place='foot'>[Archbishop MacHale does not seem to have justified this anticipation.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> are not to be despised as leaders. They are +not content with getting rid of Infallibility and the +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +Syllabus, but strive for some freedom in the Council, +and here they find sympathy even among the Infallibilists. +For to have their hands so completely tied by +the Pope's regulations, has surpassed all, even the worst, +anticipations of the Bishops. That first gleam of hope, +excited by the announcement that the Bishops would +be allowed to propose motions, has speedily vanished. +For it has become clear that this was merely intended +to save the Pope from having to propose his own Infallibility +to the Council, and provide for the motion +emanating from the Bishops—according to the present +plan, the Spanish Bishops. The right of initiation is +rendered purely illusory by the fact that the Pope has +reserved to himself and the Commission he has named, +composed of the stanchest Infallibilists, the sanction +or rejection of every motion. To this must be added +the regulations for the order of business, and the naming +by the Pope of all the officials of the Council, as +well as the scrutators and presidents of Congregations +or Commissions. This is an act of arbitrary power, and +a gagging of the Council, far beyond anything attempted +even at Trent. Yet at Trent the want of freedom was +felt to be so great that for 300 years the Catholic world +has manifested no desire to repeat the experiment of a +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +Council. But what will be the impression made by +the present Council, where the order of business is so +managed as to make any serious discussion impossible? +The strongest expressions of discontent come from the +French Prelates, they feel how undignified, not to say +ridiculous, is the <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> assigned to them,—of saying +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> to ready-made decrees—even more keenly than +the Germans, who are also greatly disgusted. Attempts +to protest against this oppressive code in the Congregation +were suppressed by the declaration of the President, +Cardinal de Luca, that the Pope had so ordained, and +no discussion could be allowed on the subject. He +would allow neither the courageous Bishop Strossmayer +nor Archbishop Darboy to say a word on these intolerable +restrictions. The whole scene made a profound +impression. +</p> + +<p> +On December 14 the two parties measured their +strength and organization in electing the twenty-four +members for the Commission <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi>, which is, of +course, the most important of all. The Liberals were +completely overmatched, and, notwithstanding their +200 votes, not indeed properly combined, failed to carry +one of their candidates. Neither Dupanloup nor +Hefele could be brought in. A list of names to be +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +voted for from the Propaganda was handed to every +trusted partisan; the Italians and Spaniards were also +furnished with one, and so all the Infallibilist leaders +appear on the list of the Committee, Manning and +Deschamps, Martin and Senestrey, Pie of Poitiers, +Reynier of Cambray, then some Italians, Spaniards, and +South Americans,—these therefore are the flower of +theological learning among the Bishops. One of these +men they must keep their eye fixed on, for he seems +called to take a place of supreme importance and honour +in this Council, and if all goes well, will certainly +be counted with the heroes of ancient Councils, Athanasius, +Cyril, and Augustine. This is Mgr. Cardoni, +Archbishop of Edessa, Secretary to the Congregation +for examining Bishops, Consultor of several other Congregations, +theologian of the Dataria, and President of +the Ecclesiastical Academy. Yet this man was not +long ago a very obscure personage, even in Rome, but +as First Consultor of the Preparatory Commission of +Dogmas, he composed the report or <hi rend='italic'>Votum</hi> of forty +pages on Papal Infallibility. This is now printed +and distributed, and serves as the basis for the discussion +on the subject to be introduced in Council. Cardoni +himself, as reporter, will discharge the necessary +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +offices of midwife at the birth of the new dogma; he +will have the last word if any doubts or objections are +raised, and then at least 500 votes will proclaim at +once the Infallibility of the Pope and the triumph of +the greatest and most fortunate of Roman theologians. +Cardoni will immediately be made Cardinal; as he brings +this Divine gift to the Pope, he will himself partake in +the enjoyment of what is so much indebted to him, and +will reap the harvest of his labours. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Dec. 20, 1869.</hi>—It may truly be said that +theology is now rare, very rare, in Rome. There is, of +course, no lack of theologians; the Pope himself has no +less than a hundred, chiefly monks; but if they were +all pounded together in a mortar into one theologian, +even this one would find some difficulty in getting his +claims recognised in Germany. If any one here were +to demand of the so-called theologians what, between +the North Sea and the Alps, is considered the first +requisite for a theologian,—the capacity of reading the +New Testament and the Greek Fathers and Councils in +the original language,—he would be ridiculed as a +dreamer. And as to the theology of many Bishops, +one is often reminded of the daughters of Phorcys, who +had only one eye and one tooth, which they lent each +other by turns to use. Not a few of them flutter about +Infallibility like flies about a candle, in evident fear of +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +getting burnt. But when the critical moment comes, +they will vote obediently as the master whose power they +have sworn to increase bids them. If the Prelates were +even slightly acquainted with Church history, they would +certainly recoil in terror from the maxims and doctrines +their decision will recall from the realm of shadows +they seem to have sunk into, and clothe again with flesh +and blood. They would recoil from the complications +and contests they and their successors must hereafter be +involved in with all nations and governments, as forced +executors of every infallible utterance of 256 Popes. +</p> + +<p> +The sudden departure of Cardinal Mathieu, Archbishop +of Besançon, is connected with the election of +the Commission on Faith, which turned out so unfortunately +for the Germans; the French Bishops after the +previous consultation had divided their forces, the Infallibilists +voting for Bonnechose, their opponents for +Cardinal Mathieu. The defeated party wanted to protest +against a scandalous intrigue about the election, +carried on by a man whose name I suppress; and Mathieu's +sudden departure was in order to avoid being +mixed up with the conflict, and from disgust at the +whole affair. +</p> + +<p> +A singular incident not long since created some +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +sensation and amusement in English circles. The +English Bishops, like their Archbishop, Manning, are +declared Infallibilists—a tendency first introduced +among the clergy there since Wiseman's time, for +before that Gallican views prevailed almost universally +in England, and definite assurances were given on +the subject at the time of Catholic Emancipation. +And as Papal Infallibility implied necessarily the +doctrine of the Pope's dominion over monarchs and +governments, which was formally abjured—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in the +Irish clerical seminary of Maynooth—the Infallibilist +theory was supposed to be shelved also. It chanced that +lately the <hi rend='italic'>Pall Mall Gazette</hi>, which is much read even +here, under the heading, <q>The Infallibility of the Pope +a Protestant Invention,</q> quoted the following question +and answer from a widely-used manual of instruction, +approved by many Bishops, and highly praised even in +Manning's journal, the <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi>, called <hi rend='italic'>The Controversial +Catechism</hi>:—<q><hi rend='italic'>Q.</hi> Are not Catholics bound to believe +that the Pope is in himself infallible?—<hi rend='italic'>A.</hi> This is a +Protestant invention, and is no article of Catholic +belief; no Papal decision can bind under pain of +heresy, unless received and prescribed by the teaching +body, the Bishops of the Church.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> + +<p> +At the moment I am writing, there is a pause, but +by no means a truce. <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>Le Concile ne marche pas, mais il +intrigue</foreign>, I heard a Frenchman say this morning. The +acoustic qualities of the Assembly Hall, which is the +whole height of St. Peter's, make it quite unfit for use. +If anything is to be proclaimed, it must be shouted at +full pitch to the four sides. It happened the other +day that the Bishops on one side were crying <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>, +while those on the other side expressed their opinion by +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet, quia nihil intelleximus</foreign>. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, who was +long ago made aware of the state of the case, really +thought that all discussion was superfluous. And as the +hall must be abandoned as utterly useless, the 120,000 +scudi lavished on preparing it are wasted. There is no +lack of funds, however; so much so, that 20,000 scudi +have been spent already on laying the foundation of +the memorial pillar of the Council. These things must +make an indescribable impression on those who have +heard most touching pictures drawn in the pulpit at +home of the wants and poverty of the Head of the +Church. +</p> + +<p> +Antonelli, to whom the impossibility of carrying on +the Council in this place has been represented, has now +taken the matter in hand, and another chamber is to be +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +found and got ready. A room in the Quirinal is talked +of, or the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>atrium</foreign> over St. Peter's in the Sistine. The +latter would be an ominous place, for in the <hi rend='italic'>Sala +Regia</hi>, which the Bishops must pass through to enter +the Sistine, is Vasari's famous picture, painted by order +of Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiii.</hi>, for the glorification of the massacre of +St. Bartholomew. The contemplation of this picture, +which now, since the publication of the nuncio Salviati's +despatches, the Pope is proved to have ordered with +full knowledge of the real nature of that horrible +occurrence, and full intention of sanctioning it, might +perhaps somewhat indispose the Prelates to vote for the +articles of the Syllabus on religious coercion and the +power of the Church to inflict bodily punishment. +Antonelli means now to take up the Council in earnest. +For him, indeed, who was formerly an advocate, the +theological side of Infallibility has little interest; but +he is too skilful and experienced a statesman and +financier not to appreciate keenly the gain to be derived +from the new dogma in all countries, in the shape +of power, influence, and revenue. He understands well +enough, and better than many statesmen this side the +Alps, the incalculable consequences of having it henceforth +taught and insisted on as a first principle in +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +every catechism, public school, and country pulpit, that +Papal decrees and decisions, not only in the domain of +faith but of morals, the relations of Church and State, +and the whole life of society, are absolutely infallible,—of +its being made the first and crucial question for +Catholics in all cases, What has the infallible Pope, +either the reigning pontiff or one of his predecessors, +decided on this point, or what will he decide if +asked? +</p> + +<p> +A Bull appeared yesterday, which, if read and understood, +would create great excitement. It professes to +abolish a part of the numerous excommunications <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>latæ +sententiæ</foreign>,<note place='foot'>Excommunications <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>latæ sententiæ</foreign>, as distinguished from excommunication +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ferendæ sententiæ</foreign>, are those which immediately take effect on the +commission of the forbidden act, without requiring any sentence of Pope +or Bishop to be pronounced.</note> which the Popes have gradually accumulated; +but virtually it is intended as a renewal or confirmation +of the Bull <hi rend='italic'>In Cœnâ Domini</hi>, which Clement +<hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> (Ganganelli) first dropped the custom of publishing +annually, and which, from his time, had been +regarded, everywhere out of Rome, as abrogated, though +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> always maintained that it was binding in +principle, as Crétineau-Joli shows in his Memoirs of +Consalvi. I am only giving here the judgment of a +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +friend who has read the Bull. If he is rightly informed, +it is but the first link in a chain of decrees embodying +the retrospective force of the anticipated dogma, +for the saying will hold good then, <q>Quod fuimus erimus, +quod fecimus faciemus.</q> Every claim once advanced +must be maintained, every doctrinal proposition +renewed, and so the living body will be chained to a +corpse. +</p> + +<p> +Desertions from the ranks of the Opposition to the +majority of 500, must, no doubt, be reckoned on, and +the renegades will say, like Talleyrand, that they are +not deserting, but only coming in earlier than others. +Whether these desertions will be numerous enough to +reduce the minority to 40 or 50, as the authorities +hope, will be determined when the question of opportuneness +gets disentangled from the question of principle. +For it requires more than common courage to +make open profession of disbelief in the Infallibilist +dogma at Rome, since the Pope, in his letters to Manning +and Deschamps, has indulged in severe censures +of those who question his infallibility; and every +Cardinal and Monsignore is accustomed to express +himself in the same sense. +</p> + +<p> +Can this Council, then, which can move neither hand +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +nor foot, be called free? Is an assembly free, when +no speech can be made, no single decision come to, +without the express permission of an external master? +If this is freedom, there has never been an unfree +Council. So I hear many saying, as well clergy as +laity, and even Bishops. The Pope, of course, has not +forgotten that, on the day of his election, sitting on the +High Altar of that very church where the Council is +now being held, he was adored by the Cardinals, and +four days afterwards crowned with the triple tiara, with +the words, <q>Scias te esse rectorem orbis.</q> It has been +summoned to arrange and negotiate the transition from +the previous condition of the Church to a new one. +Till now, at least in theory, Councils were, or were +supposed to be, assemblies deliberating and deciding +freely. But, in the new condition of the Church, under +the rule of Papal Infallibility, assemblies of Bishops +are purely superfluous, or only useful as machines for +acclamation. The present assembly stands midway +between the old Church and the new, and participates +in both. The vital breath of freedom and independence +it is deprived of, but it is not yet a mere acclamation-machine: +it can still dissent and say, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>. On +the day when the new dogma is proclaimed, and the +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +eternal city again, as in 1517,<note place='foot'>When the news arrived from Paris of the abolition of the Pragmatic +Sanction, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, of the reforms of Basle.</note> declares its joy by +illuminations, the Synod will have killed itself with its +own hand, and marched into the grave as the last +of its generation. And just as when a knight died +the last of his race, his shield was broken and his arms +obliterated, so will the usual chapter <hi rend='italic'>De Conciliis</hi> be +obliterated from the dogmatic manuals. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Dec. 23, 1869.</hi>—The Council is suspended for +a while, for want of an available place of meeting, or is +occupied only in studying the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> that have been +distributed at home, and deliberating in different sections. +The German Bishops have resolved to address a +memorial to the Pope, protesting against being put into +a strait-waistcoat by the regulations for the order of +business, and claiming the right of proposing motions +freely. They think it intolerable that every proposal, +wish, or motion should have first to be examined, revised, +and mutilated or changed at their pleasure by two +Commissions, before it can even come on for discussion. +And how are these two Commissions composed? Of +course, the eight German Bishops who have already +separated themselves from their countrymen, and prefer +to associate with Spaniards and South Americans, hold +aloof from this proceeding too. If I am correctly informed, +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +a similar memorial has been handed in from +the French Bishops; it was, at least, being circulated +for signature during the last few days. +</p> + +<p> +You will have received, or found in the French and +English papers, the Bull of Excommunications I mentioned +in my last. As I said before, it is a re-issue of +the Bull <hi rend='italic'>In Cænâ Domini</hi>. Certain excommunications +nobody paid any attention to are dropped out, as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, +of sovereigns and governments who levy taxes without +permission of the Pope. But new censures of wide +application have come into their place. In reading +the Bull, one feels as if one had got into the thick of a +tempest, so fierce and frequent are the lightning-flashes +of the Vatican ban, darting and burning in all directions. +If they were to be treated seriously, there +would not be many houses in the cities of Europe that +would not be struck. The Bishops are hit hard; one +unpleasant surprise follows on another. While they are +considering how to secure a minimum of freedom in +the Council, they are suddenly overwhelmed with a hailstorm +of excommunications, many of which are directly +aimed at themselves, but all of which are to be administered +and executed by them and their clergy. +They are summoned to Rome, and hardly have they got +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +there when this Bull of anathemas, drawn up without +their knowledge or participation, and which thrusts the +souls intrusted to them by thousands out of the +Church, is sent to them; and the whole burden of it, +with all its endless consequences and complications, is +laid on their shoulders. They seem intended to drain +the cup of humiliation to the dregs. The only persons +pleased with the Bull, as far as I can see, are the +Jesuits, who are in the very best spirits here in Rome, +and see both present and future in the most rosy hues. +The view of the pious Bishops is simple and unanimous: +the more excommunications, so many more reserved +cases and perplexed and tormented consciences. +But the confessionals of the Jesuits will be doubly +thronged, who are furnished with all sorts of plenary +powers of absolution, and are thus made indispensable, +and placed in a very superior position to the secular +clergy. Moreover, the Bishops are deprived of the +power of absolving from these censures. So each of +these multiplied excommunications is worth its weight +in gold to the Order, and helps to build Colleges and +Professed Houses. +</p> + +<p> +The Bull containing directions in the event of the +Pope's death occurring during the Council was not +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +issued by Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> from any real anxiety to provide +for such an occurrence,—for he enjoys the best health, +and in all probability will falsify the old proverb, <q>Non +numerabis annos Petri.</q><note place='foot'>[This formula, often mistakenly supposed to occur in the Papal +Coronation service, refers to the traditional length of St. Peter's pontificate—twenty-five +years. No Pope has yet reigned to the end of his twenty-fifth +year, and only one has entered on the beginning of it. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> completes +his twenty-fourth year on June 16, 1870.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> No one really supposed the +Council would claim the right of electing in Conclave, +as occurred once under totally different circumstances, +after the deposition of a Pope (John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxiii.</hi>) at Constance. +The real point of the document lies in the +declaration that the Council is to be at once dissolved +on the Pope's death, as a corpse from which the soul +has departed. And this is a decisive intimation of the +relations not only of the dead but of the living Pope to +the Council. The Bull might be summed up in the +words, <q>Without me you are nothing, and against me +and my will you can do nothing.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The opposition of German and French Bishops to the +new dogma was more or less anticipated here; what +was not expected was that the Orientals, numbering +about sixty, and the North American Bishops, would +pronounce against it. The former declare openly that +no surer means could be found to throw back their +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +Churches into schism, and place them under the holy +Synod in St. Petersburg or the Patriarch in Stamboul. +The Americans ask how they are to live under the free +Constitutions of their Republic, and maintain their position +of equality with their (Protestant) fellow-citizens, +after committing themselves to the principles attested +by Papal Infallibility, such as religious persecution and +the coercive power of the Church, the claim of Catholicism +to exclusive mastery in the State, the Pope's +right to dispense from oaths, the subjection of the civil +power to his supreme dominion, etc. The inevitable +result would be that Catholics would be looked upon +and treated as pariahs in the United States, that all +religious parties would be banded together against them +as common enemies, and would endeavour, as far as +possible, to exclude them from public offices. One of +the American Bishops lately said, <q>Nobody should be +elected Pope who has not lived three years in the +United States, and thus learnt to comprehend what is +possible at this day in a freely governed Commonwealth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But even in the apparently compact and admirably +organized mass of the 500 Infallibilists, softly whispered +doubts are beginning to be heard here and there. +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +Before the eyes of some of these devoted Prelates +hovers a pale and warning ghost, called exclusion of the +clergy and of Catholic instruction from the public +schools. It would indeed be impossible to put more +effective weapons into the hands of the powerful and +increasing party who are aiming at this, than by giving +its due prominence henceforth in all Catechisms to the +supreme article of faith of Papal Infallibility, with some +of its consequences expressed, and others left to be +orally supplied by the teacher, so that boys and girls +would be trained in full knowledge of the glaring contradiction +between religion and the order of the State, +the Church and the Constitution of their country.<note place='foot'>[This point is forcibly dwelt on by Count Daru in his memorandum, +which the Pope refused to lay before the Council.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> A +Belgian layman here assured me yesterday that the +result of the new dogma in his country would be a +powerful movement against the position of the clergy +in the primary schools; the gymnasia and middle +schools they have lost already. One of the Belgian +Bishops even is said to begin to be troubled with these +apprehensions. And now a cry of distress is rising +from England. The National Education League has +published its programme for a system of compulsory +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +education of the people, excluding all denominational +teaching, and only allowing the Bible for religious +reading. The English Bishops now in Rome, who are +fanatical for the new dogma, may ask themselves if on +their return home they could make a more acceptable +present to the Committee of this already very powerful +League than by issuing a corrected Catechism, enriched +with the new article of faith. A penny edition of it +would bring in hundreds of thousands of members to +the League, and admirably further the design it now +openly proclaims of <q>absorbing in a friendly way</q> the +schools already existing. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Dec. 24, 1869.</hi>—The first part of a tolerably +comprehensive document, or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, has been distributed, +it is said, to the Bishops, <q>sub secreto pontificio,</q> +and no less than seventeen parts equally comprehensive +are to follow. The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> of a dogmatic constitution +<hi rend='italic'>contra multiplices errores ex Rationalismo derivatos Patrum +examini propositum</hi> is a sort of doctrinal compendium, +divided into chapters, and, as is easily seen, +is only an amplification of the opening propositions of +the Syllabus. In this way we shall have the unprecedented +occurrence of a Papal decree, extending to the +length of a book, issued with the approval of the Council. +If it is received and promulgated in this shape, it +will create astonishment by its wholly unconciliar form. +It is thrown into a declamatory shape; it indulges in +complaints and reproaches about the blindness and +misery of men, who have fallen into so many deadly +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> +errors, even materialism and pantheism; it carries on its +front the impress of the new Jesuit school, and seems to be +inspired by the aim of bringing before the contemporary +world, in their crudest form, all the hardest and most +offensive principles of particular doctrinal schools, which +it has hitherto been endeavoured to soften or set aside. +For the originator of this tractate assures us that the +aversion of men for such doctrines is only one of the +poisonous fruits of Rationalism. Here is a characteristic +specimen. At that Florentine Synod of 1439, +which bequeathed such painful recollections both to East +and West, Eugenius <hi rend='smallcaps'>IV.</hi> had it defined <q>that the souls +of those who die only in original, or in actual mortal +sin, descend into hell, but are unequally punished.</q><note place='foot'><q>Animas eorum qui in solo peccato originali, vel mortali actuali +decedunt, in infernum descendere, pœnis tamen disparibus puniendas.</q></note> +This proposition has sadly tormented theologians, and +they have devised all sorts of ways of softening or explaining +it, even assuming the very doubtful authority of +this Council, which was rejected by the whole Gallican +Church. For even the most resolute faith recoils in +horror from the logical inference, that God has created +the human race in order from generation to generation +to plunge into hell far the larger portion of mankind, +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +simply because they have not received the baptism +which in most cases was never offered them. The vast +gulf between this proposition and the Scriptural doctrine +that God is Love, and wills all men to be saved, +no theologian has undertaken to bridge over. But the +Roman Jesuit to whom we owe this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> really thinks +these are just the doctrines best adapted to cure men +of this age of the fatal Rationalism they have fallen +into.<note place='foot'><q>Imprimis itaque fide Catholicâ, tenendum est illorum animas,</q> etc. +The author seems really to believe that the Rationalistic tendencies of the +age can be cured with an emetic.</note> This reminds one strongly of Antonelli's saying, +that these Fathers have a special talent for ruining +whatever they touch. +</p> + +<p> +The death of Cardinal Reisach is considered here an +irreparable loss, and above all by the Pope himself, +whose confidence he enjoyed more than any other +Cardinal. He had the greatest share in preparing the +propositions laid before the Council, and had he been +able to make his influence felt, he would certainly have +given powerful support to the new dogmas. He passed +here for a man of comprehensive learning and great +penetration. His friends used to commend his friendly +and genial nature. For us Germans he was a sort of +phenomenon, a show specimen of his kind, so to speak. +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +In him we saw how far a German can go in the process +of being Italianized, so radically was his whole being +metamorphosed into that of the Italian <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>prelatura</foreign>, and +the peculiar circle of thought in which Roman clerics +and dignitaries move had become a second nature to +him. What distinguishes a Roman Prelate is, first, that +liturgical endowment—that willing absorption in the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>cæremonia</foreign>, as the old Romans partly originated and partly +borrowed it from the Etruscans—and next, the faculty +of calculating quickly and surely what loss or gain in +power and influence the settlement of any ecclesiastical +question will bring. Reisach was eminent in both respects. +No one excelled him in reverence for every line of +the rubric and every ceremonial detail, as practised here. +And again, in his dislike for German science, literature, +and theology, he had become a thorough Italian, +so that his ignorance of even the most famous intellectual +products of Germany was quite fabulous. To +him principally were addressed the denunciations of +German works not composed exactly to the taste of the +Roman Jesuits, and it was he who arranged with the +Congregation of the Index the censures pronounced +during recent years on the works of learned Germans. +</p> + +<p> +Thus then there is a niche left vacant in the Roman +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +temple of heroes. Another Reisach will not so easily +be found; for it is given to very few men to transmute +their originally single nature into the form of the +Siamese twins, inhabited by two souls, a German and +an Italian.<note place='foot'>[Cardinal Reisach, who was formerly Archbishop of Munich, used to +say he had almost forgotten how to speak German.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> If the vacant Hat is not to be the price of +desertion from the ranks of the Opposition, but the +reward of past services, three German Bishops may put +in a claim for it, Martin, Senestrey, and Fessler. In +fiery zeal for the good cause, restless activity, and unquestioning +devotion, they are on a par, and were all +Germany like-minded with this trio, the great sacrifice—<q>il +sacrificio del intelletto</q>—so variously commended by +the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, would have long since been accomplished, +and the Jesuits might hold up the Germans as a model +for all nations to follow. Meanwhile for the moment +Fessler occupies the most conspicuous position. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Postscript.</hi>—I have just learnt that the Pope is not +disposed to give up his Council Hall in St. Peter's. +Another attempt to hold a General Congregation there +is to be made on Tuesday, which can hardly be a success. +The natural consequence will be that the second +Solemn Session, announced for January 6, will fall +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +through from lack of any decrees ready to promulgate. +The protest of a portion of the French Episcopate +against the order of business has really been sent in, +and this has inspired fresh courage into the German +and Hungarian prelates, who have drawn up a protest +against the innovations differing so widely from the +form of the ancient Councils; they dwell especially on +the violation of the right belonging by Divine institution +to the Bishops. I need not say that the notorious +eight—the Jesuit pupils and the Tyrolese Bishops—declined +to join in this proceeding. Meanwhile scruples +have arisen among the other pupils of the Jesuits, which +again bring the whole affair into doubt. There is a +notion among the French of dividing the Council into +assemblies, formed according to the different languages, +so as to get over the difficulty or impossibility of carrying +on a free discussion in Latin. But then it became +clear at once that, through the number of missionary +Bishops, and Swiss or Belgians of the Romance tongues, +the majority would be on the side of the Infallibilist +party. And the Pope, who hates all these assemblies of +Bishops, has interposed by causing a sort of standing +order to be proclaimed, through the curialistic Cardinal +Bonnechose, that he will allow no meetings of more +than twenty Bishops. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +Cardinal Schwarzenberg has been the subject of +conversation in Rome for the last few days. He is said +to have formally gone over to the Infallibilist camp, +and the report will no doubt make the round of Europe. +But it is not true, and he himself declares, notwithstanding +appearances, that he has not changed, and does not +mean to change, his attitude and mind. The circumstance +which has given occasion to the rumour is as +follows:— +</p> + +<p> +In a combined meeting of German and Hungarian +Bishops, it was resolved, on Haynald's motion, to request +of the Pope a better representation, and one more accordant +with the dignity of the two Churches, on the +Commissions. It was hoped that a majority of the +French and a considerable number of the North American +and Oriental Bishops, and even some Spanish +and Italian Prelates, would join in this step. For +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +Haynald's object was to propose that the whole assembly +should be divided into eight national groups, +and that each of these <q>eight nations</q> should be +entitled to have two or three members, elected from its +own body,—some sixteen or twenty-four in all—added +to the four elected Commissions, and to the Commission +nominated by the Pope for examining all motions proposed. +This, it was thought, would secure a counterpoise +to the skilfully disciplined majority which was +crushing out all opposition. For it has already become +evident that the strength of the Romanist party lies in +the number of titular Bishops selected by the Pope, and +Vicars-Apostolic or missionary Bishops; in persons, +that is, who, having no flocks, or only having them in +expectation, represent in fact nothing and nobody, and +can therefore bear no testimony to the faith of their +Churches, which have no existence. The Germans were +greatly elated by this project; they admired and congratulated +themselves on having shown so much spirit, +and daring to tell the Pope something widely different +from the assurance that they were ready to die in +absolute subjection to him. Hereupon Schwarzenberg +came forward to declare that he would not sign the +petition, as he did not choose to compromise himself +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +further with the Pope, and Rauscher of Vienna, and +Tarnóczy of Salzburg, sided with him. This caused great +consternation, and at the first moment many thought +it betokened an entire apostasy, and that in Schwarzenberg's +case the Cardinal had triumphed over the +German. But he has so emphatically denied this that +he must be believed. It is very conceivable that +Schwarzenberg, seeing more deeply into the situation at +Rome, was led by grounds of expediency to take this +course; possibly the mere wish to make as sparing +use as they could of the fund of high spirit and courage +brought from Germany, and the fear of using it up too +quickly, in case the Council should last some time, may +have determined the three Prelates to decline subscribing. +Already a new demand has been made upon +the Bishops, to adopt the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> the Pope had intrusted +the preparation of to the Jesuits. +</p> + +<p> +The contest over this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> has begun in good earnest, +according to the impression made by the General +Congregation held yesterday, Dec. 28. The first part of +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was the one the speakers dwelt on,—as far, +that is, as they could be heard, for the acoustic uselessness +of the hall makes itself felt before and behind, and +the pulpit had to be carried about all round the room +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +before the right position could be hit upon for it. +Meanwhile it had transpired, who were the authors of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> which the Pope meant to promulgate, <q>with the +approbation of the Council,</q> as a binding rule of faith. +They were two German Jesuits, Schrader, and another, +either Franzelin or Kleutgen. It is remembered how, +a year ago, a great deal was made in the newspapers of +distinguished German scholars having been summoned +to Rome for the preliminary labours of the Council. If +several of the names mentioned created surprise from +their obscurity, it gave satisfaction to find among those +invited men like Hefele and Haneberg. It is now clear +that every work of real importance was intrusted to +other hands, chiefly to the Jesuits, while Hefele was +summoned to Rome to extract the ceremonial from the +Acts of the Council of Trent, after which he was dismissed, +and Haneberg was commissioned to prepare a +report on Eastern monasteries. Schrader has become +notorious as the advocate of the extremest Papal +system by his book <hi rend='italic'>De Unitate Romanâ Commentarius</hi>, +where he treats all episcopal authority as a mere +emanation of the Papal. According to him, every article +of the Syllabus is to be so understood that the contradictory +statement contains the true doctrine. It was +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +therefore with very good reason that he was chosen out +to draw up the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, or, in other words, to fabricate a +second strait-waistcoat for theology, after the Council +had already been put into one in the regulations for the +order of business. +</p> + +<p> +The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> has aroused manifold displeasure, even +among allies of Schrader and his brethren, and men +who, like them, are Infallibilists. What I hear said +everywhere is that the whole thing is a poor and very +superficial piece of patchwork, with more words than +ideas, and, as the blind old Archbishop Tizzani said in +the Congregation, is above all designed to stamp the +opinions of the Jesuit school as dogmas, and to substitute +a string of new obligatory articles of faith for the +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>theologumena</foreign> or doctrines of the theological schools +hitherto left open to the judgment of individuals. For +a Society, like that of Loyola's disciples, it is of +supreme importance to possess in the multitude of new +anathemas what will always supply abundant matter +for accusations; it appertains to their <q>arcana dominationis</q> +always to keep alive the fear of being charged +with heresy. It makes other theologians dependent on +the Order, and cramps their literary energies. And it +must be borne in mind that there are no longer any +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +powerful theological corporations which might meet the +Jesuits on equal terms. Were the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> to be +adopted, very few professors of Old Testament Exegesis +could escape the charge of heresy, so far is the inspiration +of the scriptural books, even the deutero-canonical, +extended here for the first time. +</p> + +<p> +And thus it happened yesterday that there was no +single speaker for the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, but all, beginning with Cardinal +Rauscher, spoke against it; and Archbishop Conolly +of Halifax said in so many words, <q>Censeo <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> cum +honore esse sepeliendum.</q> This of course has only +been the beginning of the discussion, and we are naturally +in suspense as to how it will proceed. But so +much is already gained, that a spirit of independence +is roused among the Bishops. Much is said here about +the desertion of certain Bishops from the ranks of the +Opposition, and new names are mentioned every morning, +often with the remark that So-and-so has let himself +be caught with the bait of one of the fifteen vacant +Hats. These Hats are held here to be capable of working +miracles. There is thought to be no more effective +means of working the conversion of a hardened anti-Infallibilist +than a decoration of that kind, and, in truth, +the number might not be great of those who would say +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +with Darboy, <q>Je n'ai point de rhumer de cerveau, je +n'ai pas besoin de chapeau.</q> As long as fifteen of these +Hats are suspended in the air ready to descend on a willing +head, so long, every Italian is convinced, there can be +no lack of conversions. The example of the Synod of +Constantinople in 859 is quoted, where the Bishops were +induced to vote for the deposition of Synesius by promising +each of them separately the Patriarchal throne. +Yet of the majority of French, German, Hungarian, and +American Bishops, no one who knows them would +expect this weakness; and so on closer inspection these +rumours come to nothing. Even Ketteler, who had +been given up for lost on account of his intimate relations +with the Jesuits,—he lives in the German College—shows +himself firm, and the most important personage +who as yet has deceived the expectations formed of +him is Cardinal Bonnechose, Archbishop of Rouen. +It is stated in German circles that fifteen Spanish +Bishops are wavering, and show a disposition to join +the Opposition. The apprehension that the other +party, whose admirable organization and adroitness in +manœuvring deserves the highest praise, will carry +through Infallibility by a <foreign rend='italic'>coup</foreign> still survives, and only +yesterday several Bishops entered the Council Hall in +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +dread of being taken by surprise by the acclamation. +Cardinal di Pietro says it is no longer possible to drop +the affair; things have gone too far already. +</p> + +<p> +I understand the feeling of the Roman clergy, and +their indignation at these stubborn Hyperboreans. It +is as though one wanted to snatch from the hands of +the thirsty wanderer, who, after long toil, had at length +reached the fountain, the cup he was raising to his lips. +With Infallibility, as it is now defined and made clear +as the sun at noonday by the Jesuits, all resistance is +broken, every attack triumphantly parried, every end +brought within reach. If the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> once becomes by +this means the horny Siegfried, no vulnerable point +even in the back will be left. The Jesuit Schrader, +in his book on Roman unity, has proved that every +act and every ordinance of the Pope is infallible. +For, as he says, <q>all Papal measures, as regards +their truth, belong to the order of faith, or morals, +or law. All decrees, whatever their subject, always +contain a true doctrine, whether speculative, moral, +or juridical. But the Pope is infallible in the order +of truth and doctrine, and therefore in all his decrees.</q> +Your readers will believe I am ridiculing or +calumniating the valiant Jesuit, who shines at present +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> +as a star of the first magnitude in the theological +heavens of Rome; but I have only given a faithful +translation, as any one may ascertain for himself. That +is the logic which prevails here, and which no Roman +cleric doubts to be of triumphant force. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Dec. 30.</hi>—The second Session of the General Congregation +on the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> took place yesterday. About a +third of the hall had been cut off by a partition, so that +the speakers could be somewhat better understood. +Among the five speakers, who, like the seven that had +preceded them, pronounced for the rejection of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, Strossmayer, and Ginoulbiac, of Grenoble, who is +considered the best theologian among the French Bishops, +commanded most attention. The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was again +censured for going much too far in its statements and +condemnations, and it was shown that the Council, by +accepting it, would enter on a wholly new path, widely +different from that of the earlier Councils, where the +Church would be forced into constantly narrower definitions, +until a complete dogmatic philosophy, stiff and +rigid, had been formalized. Strossmayer also observed +on the formula of promulgation selected by Pius, which +represents the Pope as a dogmatic lawgiver, and the +Council as a mere consultative body called in to assist +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +him, that it is an unheard-of innovation, departing from +all conciliar traditions. This led to an opposite statement +by Cardinal Capalti, one of the Presidents, and +a reply from Strossmayer. As yet no single one of +the host of 500 has said a word in defence of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. The excitement is, as may be conceived, +great. That even Rauscher came forward against the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> created the more sensation, as it was he who +brought its author, Schrader, to the University of +Vienna. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 8, 1870.</hi>—One month is now gone by +without any result, or, as many here say, simply wasted. +The first real Session, on January 6, went off without any +single decree being published. It has produced a very +painful impression generally, that, for the obvious purpose +of something to do, the unmeaning ceremony has +been adopted of swearing to the profession of faith +which every Prelate had already sworn to at his +ordination and at other times. The question was inevitably +forced on men's minds whether this profusion +of superfluous swearings, in an assembly of men on +whose orthodoxy no shadow of suspicion had been cast, +was at all fitting or reconcilable with the Scriptural +prohibition of needless oaths. But the Session had been +announced, and the Opposition Bishops, contrary to +expectation, had found a great deal to censure in the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> in general and in detail, so that in four General +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +Congregations nothing had been effected. The simplest +plan would have been to defer the Session, and anywhere +else that course would have been followed. But +in Rome? That would have been a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de facto</foreign> confession +of having made a mistake, and it is here a first principle +that the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> is always right. So they had 747 +oaths taken, and thus the Solemn Session was held. +</p> + +<p> +It is exceedingly convenient to have to deal with a +majority of 600 Prelates, who are simply your creatures, +obedient to every hint, and admirably disciplined. +Three hundred of them are still further bound to Pius +<hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> by a special tie, for they are indebted to him, as the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> of January 1 reminded them, for both food and +lodging, <q>sono da lui alloggiati e sostentati e assistiti in +tutto il bisognevole alla vita.</q> Nor does that journal +fail to point to the extreme poverty of many of the +Bishops or Vicars-Apostolic, drawn hither from Asia, +Africa, and Australia; even among the European +Bishops it calls many <q>poverissimi.</q> Who has paid +their travelling expenses, it says not. The <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> may +be easy; none of them will swell the ranks of the +Opposition, or attack the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, or refuse their votes +and acclamations to the infallibility of their benefactor. +And then the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> has another powerful factor to +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +rely upon; it says, and confirms what it says by the +words used by the Pope at the Centenary, June 27, +1867, that from the tomb of St. Peter issues a secret +force, which inspires the Bishops with a bold and enterprising +spirit and great-hearted decisions. If I rightly +understand the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, it means that for many Bishops +it is a risk, and requires a lofty courage, to vote for +Papal Infallibility here in Rome, while the clergy and +laity of their own dioceses, excepting a few old women of +either sex, never hitherto knew, or wished to know, anything +of this Infallibility, and the prevalent belief has +always been that the business of Bishops at a Council +was only to bear witness to the faith and tradition of +their Churches, not to construct new dogmas strange to +the minds of their flocks. <q>Nous avons changé tout +cela,</q> thinks the Roman journal, and therefore is the +Council held in St. Peter's, and not in the Lateran, that +the <q>secret force</q> may take full effect. Certainly there +is no lack of secret forces here, They are in full +activity; there is an address being hawked about, praying +the Pope to take up the Infallibility question at +once, and put the Council in a position to vote upon it. +This time the movement originated with two German +Bishops, Martin of Paderborn and Senestrey of Regensburg. +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +Slender causes and great effects! When the +pond is full, a couple of moles can produce a flood by +working their way through the dam. Both of these +men have become perceptibly impatient at the obstinate +and rebellious disposition of their German and Austrian +colleagues, and are seeking to hasten the day, when, +with the new dogma in their hands, they may triumph +as willing believers over the forced belief of their +brethren, only converted at the last moment. The +address seems to have flashed suddenly upon the world, +for—so said Mermillod and the rest of the initiated—its +very existence was hardly known of; and it had +500 signatures. It was not shown to Bishops of +notoriously anti-Infallibilist sentiments, but no labour is +spared with the doubtful, and others who have not yet +declared themselves, so that it is quite possible 600 +signatures may be scraped together. Papal Infallibility +is here limited to cases where the Pope addresses his +dogmatic decision to the whole Catholic Church.<note place='foot'><q>Supremam ideoque ab errore immunem esse Romani Pontificis auctoritatem, +quum in rebus fidei et moram ea statuit ac præcipit quæ ab omnibus +Christi fidelibus credenda et tenenda, quæve rejicienda et damnanda +sunt.</q></note> That +was Bellarmine's view, and it would certainly offer many +advantages; for all difficulties and objections drawn +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +from the first twelve centuries of Church history would +be cut off at a stroke, as it is notorious that no Pope +during that entire period addressed any decree on +matters of faith to the whole Church. The idea never +occurred even to a Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> or Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> or Innocent +<hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> The two last only issued decrees at the +head and in the name of General Councils. Boniface +<hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, in 1302, was the first who in the title addressed +his Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi> to the whole Christian world. +This Bull therefore, which makes the Pope king of +kings and sole lord in political as in religious matters, +would indeed be covered with the shield of Infallibility, +and we should have a firm and immoveable +foundation for the policy and civil law both of the present +and the future. At the same time the various hypotheses +and attempted denials rendered necessary by the case of +Pope Honorious would be got rid of at one blow. Only +this little difficulty would remain: how it came to pass +that the Popes, who only needed to prefix the word +<q>Orbi,</q> or <q>Ecclesiæ Catholicæ,</q> to their decrees, in +order to make them infallible and unassailable, so +persistently despised this simple means, and thereby +tolerated or produced so much uncertainty in the +world? All their decrees before 1302, and most of +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +them since, are addressed to particular individuals or +corporations, and therefore fallible. +</p> + +<p> +The question now is, whether the minority of some +200 Prelates have spirit and harmony enough for a +counter-address. On this thread the fate of the +Catholic Church seems to hang. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> says, <q>As to +Infallibility, I believed it as plain Abbé Mastai, and +now, as Pope Mastai, I <emph>feel</emph> it.</q><note place='foot'><q>Per l'infallibilità, essendo l'Abbate Mastai, l'ho sempre creduto, +adesso, essendo Papa Mastai, la sento.</q></note> He could therefore +give us the best information, if he <q>feels</q> his infallibility, +as to whether he only feels it when he signs a +decree addressed to the whole Church, or also whenever +his dogmatic anathemas, of which we possess such an +abundance, are addressed to a single Bishop or national +Church only. Meanwhile, if that large section of the +Infallibilists who are fanatical get the upper hand, +no distinctions will be admitted; the matter will be +settled straight off by acclamation, and the Pope will +be simply told, <q>Thou alone art always inspired by the +Holy Ghost, whether speaking to all, to many, or to +one, and every word of thine is for us the command of +God.</q> Others naturally opine that the matter cannot +be so easily arranged, but that the question must be +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +taken up in good earnest and sifted to the bottom, that +it may be demonstrated to the whole world that Infallibility +admits of historical illustration. +</p> + +<p> +In a conversation which took place to-day between +two leading men of the opposite parties, a Belgian and +a Frenchman, the former said, <q>Je veux que l'on discute +à fond tous les textes et tous les faits.</q> The Frenchman +answered, <q>Je souffre de penser que le Saint Siége va +être discuté et disséqué de la sorte!</q> That is, in truth, +a serious anxiety. To begin with, no discussion among +the Fathers can be dreamt of so long as the Council +Hall in St. Peter's is kept to, for the speeches made +there already for the most part were not understood +at all, or only by very few. What is heard is waves +of sound, not words and sentences. But even if at +last a room better suited for human voices and ears is +found, the question of Infallibility would never be +submitted to a regular and really free discussion. How +would the Romance majority of Spaniards and Italians, +who are the slaves of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> but the masters of +the Council, and whose whole intellectual outfit is +based on the scholasticism of the seminaries—how +would they receive it, if an audacious German or +Frenchman were to throw the light of history and +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +criticism on the rambling Infallibilist evidences of, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, +a Perrone? What scenes should we witness! The +offenders would be reduced to silence, not only by the +throats but the feet of the majority.<note place='foot'>[This reads almost like a prophecy, when we remember how afterwards, +and on slighter provocation than is here supposed, hundreds of the Infallibilist +Bishops danced like maniacs round the pulpit when Strossmayer and +Schwarzenberg were speaking, yelling and shaking their fists at them.—Cf. +<hi rend='italic'>infr.</hi> Letter <ref target='Letter_XXXII'>xxxii</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Either the discussion +will be broken off, when it is begun, or it will never +be allowed to begin. And therefore so many favour the +plan of acclamation; and it is related how Archbishop +Darboy assured the Cardinal de Luca that such an +attempt would be followed by the immediate departure +and protest of a number of Bishops.<note place='foot'>[Archbishop Darboy's interposition stopped the conspiracy being +carried out at the first General Congregation, and four American Bishops +disconcerted a second similar plot on St. Joseph's Day, March 19.—Cf. +<hi rend='italic'>infr.</hi> Letter <ref target='Letter_XXXVI'>xxxvi</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 9, 1870.</hi>—The Opposition has become +exceedingly troublesome. The successive gradation +of Roman judgments about it is noteworthy. First, +it was said that the Council ran like a well-oiled +machine; that all were of one mind, and only vied +with each other in their devotion to the Supreme +Head. Then the local correspondents of foreign papers +reported that something which looked like opposition +was manifesting itself, but it was a mere drop in the +ocean. So said the London <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Weekly Register</hi>. +Next they allowed there was certainly an Opposition, but +it was already demoralized, or, as Antonelli said, must +speedily fall to pieces. In diplomatic circles it was said +that they were good people enough, but one must wait a +little till the impressions of Fulda had worn off, and they +had imbibed the <foreign rend='italic'>spirito Romano</foreign>; <q>il leur faut deux +mois de Rome, et tout le monde sera d'accord.</q> One +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +month more, January, has to pass, and then in February +conversions and desertions will begin. Meanwhile, +Simor, Primate of Hungary, Tarnóczy of Salzburg, and +Manning, are favourites for vacant Hats. It is hoped +that the first will split up the harmony of the Hungarian +Bishops, and bring over some with him as +trophies into the Infallibilist camp. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinals Schwarzenberg and Rauscher—that is now +become perfectly clear—have not budged an inch; +both of them feel thoroughly as Germans, and are +nowise minded to desert, cowardly and despairing, into +the great Romance camp. Schwarzenberg has circulated +an excellently composed treatise, which speaks out +very judiciously on the real needs of the Church, and +certain reforms which are become urgently needed, +and emphasizes the perversity shown in the demand +for the Infallibilist dogma.<note place='foot'><q>In specie ne Concilium declaret vel definiat infallibilitatem summi +Pontificis, a doctissimis et prudentissimus fidelibus S. Sedi intime addictis +vehementer optatur. Gravia enim mala exinde oritura timent tum fidelibus +tum infidelibus. Fideles enim ... corde turbarentur magis quam erigerentur, +ac si nunc demum fundamentum Ecclesiæ et veræ doctrinæ stabiliendum +sit; infideles vero novarum calumniarum et derisionum materiam +lucrarentur. Neque desunt qui ejusmodi definitionem logice impossibilem +vocant et ad ipsam Ecclesiam provocant, quæ ad instar solis splendorem +lucis suæ monstrat quidem, sed non definit. Jure denique quæritur, cui +usui ista definitio foret, de cujus sensu, modo et ambitu ampla inter +theologos controversia est.</q></note> Cardinal Rauscher has +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +done the same, and his treatise against Infallibility is +now in circulation. Something more has occurred also: +on the 2d of January, 25 Austrian and German Bishops, +with Schwarzenberg at their head, subscribed a protest, +drawn up by Haynald, Ketteler, and Strossmayer, which +is said to have been read and talked over fifteen times +before it gave entire satisfaction. They appeal to their +inherent rights, not dependent on Papal grace, but on +Divine institution; ready as they are to guard the +rights of the Head, they must also demand that the +rights of the members shall be preserved and respected; +the forms and traditions of the Tridentine Synod +should not be so far departed from. The tone of the +document is dignified. Rauscher has not subscribed +though he thoroughly agrees with it, it is said from +considerations the force of which the other Prelates +acknowledged. The petition handed in by 15 French +Prelates for an alteration of the order of business the +Pope has answered by a mere dry refusal. We shall +soon see whether the Germans will meet with similar +treatment; in the eyes of these Italians the most +modest criticisms and demands are open rebellion. To +many of the German and Hungarian Bishops even +this Protest seemed too bold and audacious, and they +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +have prepared another representation, with forty signatures, +expressed in much more moderate terms. They +entreat the Pope to be graciously pleased to allow them +to inspect the stenographic reports, and to let the +Bishops print their treatises on the questions laid before +them without the censorship, for the information of +their colleagues. Posterity will marvel at the humble +submissiveness of these Bishops, and the wisdom of the +Roman policy, which, after two years' preparation for +the Council, provides a hall where all discussion is +impossible, and furthermore prohibits the Bishops +from inspecting the stenographic reports of their own +speeches. +</p> + +<p> +Some ten of the leading Bishops of different nations +have formed themselves into an International Committee, +so as not, for the future, to ask concessions of the +Pope in the name of one nation only—the French or +German. They wish that every Bishop should be +admitted to speak in Congregation according to the +order of inscription, irrespective of hierarchial rank or +age, and that the speeches should be at once printed, +and distributed to the Bishops before the next Session; +and finally, that the Papal Commission for revising +motions, which holds the whole Council in its hands, +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +should be increased by the introduction of members +freely elected. Some further requisitions which I am +not acquainted with are said to be added. +</p> + +<p> +Against these things, which make the Pope very +irritable, two principal remedies are adopted. In the +first place, an attempt is made to prevent any number of +Bishops meeting together, either by direct prohibition +or by announcing the displeasure of the supreme +authority against those who take part in such separate +deliberations, which are said to be revolutionary. +And next, the Bishops are worked upon individually, +and every one is watched and taken stock of, on the +assumption that everybody has his price, if one could +only discover what it is. Two examples of this may +be cited here. One of the most distinguished German +Bishops, who is free from the usual clerical vanity, and +could neither be bought with titles nor with the cut or +colour of a vestment, was quite lately accosted by the +Pope—in full consciousness of his Vicarship of Christ—with +the question, asked in the most affectionate tone, +<q>Amas me?</q> What inference was attached to an +affirmative answer need not be specified. The other +case occurred somewhat earlier. Lavigerie, Bishop of +Nancy, came to Rome coveting some striking mark +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +of distinction. It seemed worth while to bind him +closer to the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and so an article of ecclesiastical +dress was hit upon, which he and no other Bishop of +the Western Church was to wear. It was called a +superhumeral, and is described as a somewhat broader +stole, thrown over the shoulders, and adorned with +fringes, with two maniples of the shape of shields +hanging down from it. The effect is said to have been +enormous, and of course since then Mgr. Lavigerie is a +profoundly convinced Infallibilist. <q>C'est avec de +hochets qu'on mène les hommes,</q> said the first +Napoleon; but it moves one's pity to look at Bishops +who let themselves be led by the nose by these childish +toys. +</p> + +<p> +Very instructive considerations may be formed here +on the representation of particular nations and national +Churches at the Council. Frenchmen and Germans must +practise themselves in the virtues of humility and modesty, +and learn how insignificant they are in the Catholic +Church, in all that concerns doctrine and legislation. +There is the diocese of Breslau, with 1,700,000 Catholics, +but its Bishop has not been chosen for any single Commission, +while the 700,000 inhabitants of the present +Roman States are represented by 62 Bishops, and the +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> +Italians form half or two-thirds in every Commission. +For the Kingdom of God, wherein the least is greater +than John and all the Prophets, lies, as is well known, +between Montefiascone and Terracina, and whoever +first saw the light in Sonnino, Velletri, Ceccano, Anagni, +or Rieti, is predestinated from the cradle <q>imperio +regere populos.</q> It is true the 62 Bishops of this +chosen land and people have not succeeded in restoring +the most moderate standard of morality in their +little towns and villages; there are still whole communities +and districts notoriously in league with brigands—but +the Council has no call to trouble itself with +matters of that sort. There are the Archbishops of +Cologne with 1,400,000, of Cambray with 1,300,000, +and of Paris with 2,000,000 Catholics, but any four +of the 62 Neapolitan and Sicilian Bishops can out-vote +these Bishops with their 5,000,000 Catholics at their +back. Thus the 12,000,000 Catholics of Germany Proper +are represented at this Council by fourteen votes. +Their relative positions may be expressed in this +way: in Church matters twenty Germans count for less +than one Italian. And should a German indulge any +fancy that his nation, with its numerous theological +High Schools, and its learned theologians, might reasonably +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +claim some weight at a Council, he only need +come here to be cured at once of that notion. There is not +in all Italy one single real Theological Faculty, except in +Rome; Spain gets on equally without any higher theological +school or any theology; yet here at the Council +some hundreds of Italians and Spaniards are masters, +and are the appointed teachers of doctrine and dictators +of faith for all nations belonging to the Church. +</p> + +<p> +Count Terenzio Mamiani has lately observed, in the +<hi rend='italic'>Nuova Antologia</hi>, published at Florence, that in Italy +there are not so many religious books printed in half a +century as appear in England or North America (or Germany) +in one year. And we must remember too that the +theological literature published in Tuscany and Lombardy +might almost be called copious in comparison +with the nearly absolute sterility of the States of the +Church. Here in Rome you may find a lottery dream-book +in almost every house, but never a New Testament, +and extremely seldom any religious book at all. +It seems as though it were a recognised principle that, the +more ignorant a people, the greater must be the share their +hierarchy have in the government of the Church. And +thus we have the question of nationalities within the +bosom of the Church. Everything done here is but +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +the expression of one idea and the means to one end, +and this idea and end are that the spiritual domination +of the Italians over the other nations, especially over +the Germans and French, should be extended and confirmed. +Above a hundred Spaniards have come from +both sides of the ocean to let themselves be used as +instruments of the Italians at the Council. They have +no thought, or will, or suggestion of their own for +the good of the Church. It is difficult to form a +notion of the ignorance of these Latins in all historical +questions, and their entire want of that general cultivation +which is assumed with us as a matter of course in +a priest or bishop. And up to this time I have always +found here that the predilection for the Infallibilist +theory is in precise proportion to the ignorance of its +advocates. It has been deemed necessary still further +to help on this immense numerical superiority, and so +the Pope, as I am informed, has appointed during the +two years since the proclamation of the Council 89 +Bishops <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, whose flocks are in the moon or in +Sirius. +</p> + +<p> +And now for something about the course of procedure +in the Council as to the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> during the last +ten days. There are only constantly speeches on each +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> +side, for a real discussion is impossible in the Hall, +and it is obvious that it was chosen, and is still kept +to in spite of daily experience, for that very reason.<note place='foot'>[Monsignor Nardi said this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>totidem verbis</foreign> to an Anglican clergyman +who was inspecting the Council Hall.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +Some speakers, however, whom nature has endowed +with a specially ringing voice, have made an unwonted +impression. The most significant occurrence was Cardinal +Capalti's interruption of Strossmayer's speech. +The Bishop had touched on the novel and unconciliar +form in which the decrees were to be published, as +decisions of the Pope, with the mere approval or forced +consent of the Council. It was an ominous circumstance +that the assembly sacrificed by its silence the +man who was speaking for its rights. Meanwhile there +has been a wholly unexpected attack on the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> by +a host of speakers, so that Antonelli, on leaving the +Council, said, in visible excitement, to a diplomatist who +was waiting for him, that this could not continue, or +the Council would go on for ten years. Strossmayer +was followed by Ginoulhiac, the learned Bishop of +Grenoble, who spoke in the same sense. The proportion +of speakers against the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> is overwhelming. In +the Session of January 3, all four spoke against it, even +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +the Patriarch of Venice. An impression was produced +by the warning of the Eastern Patriarch, Hassoun, +against embittering the Orientals, and driving them +into schism by dogmatic innovations. The Italian, +Valerga, named by the Pope to the Latin Patriarchate +of Jerusalem, represented the Roman standpoint in its +crudest form, but he had his speech read for him by +Bishop Gandolfi. +</p> + +<p> +It is now said to be certain that Darboy, Simor, and +Tarnóczy have been apprised of the intention to make +them Cardinals. As regards the two last, the abandonment +of all opposition to the Infallibilist dogma, and to +every other decree on faith in a Papal sense, is an +indispensable condition. But with Darboy the case +is different: the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> must take him as he is or +let him alone, for he cannot be bought at any price. +The irritation, complaints, and sighs of the Pope at +having to make this man a Cardinal, who will not +yield or apologize, have already lasted some years. The +Romanist party have published in a Quebec newspaper +the Pope's bitter and reproachful letter to him, to which +he made no reply. Darboy was and is resolved to be +the <foreign rend='italic'>bonâ fide</foreign> Bishop of his diocese, the largest in the +world, and will not admit any arbitrary encroachments +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +or concurrent jurisdiction of the Court of Rome to annul +his acts at its caprice. <q>This stinks of schism,</q> say the +Romans here.<note place='foot'><q>Questo puzza di schisma.</q></note> And therefore, according to Roman +notions, he is <q>a bad Christian,</q> for he does not believe +in Papal Infallibility, and will not vote for it even as a +Cardinal. Moreover, nobody sees better through the +whole web of curialistic policy, with its artifices, small +and great, and he shows not the slightest sympathy for +it, so that in any case he will be a very inconvenient +and unprofitable Cardinal. At the same time he is a +man of rare eloquence, rich experience and knowledge +of mankind, and easily outweighs ten Italian Cardinals +in culture and learning. And the worst of it is that this +bitter necessity of elevating Darboy has to be accepted +with a good grace, for France wills it, and France must +still remain the magnanimous champion of Rome and +the Council. Some consolation is found for it in the +now openly proclaimed apostasy of Archbishop Spalding +of Baltimore, who has hitherto been wavering, for +it is hoped that other American Bishops will follow his +example. +</p> + +<p> +If at the end of the first month we take a view of +the situation, it is clear that the word <q>Council</q> requires +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +to be taken in a very wide and general sense to include +this assembly. It cannot be compared with the ancient +Councils in the first thousand years of Church history, +before the separation of East and West, for there are no +points of contact. In the first place, the whole lay +world, all sovereigns and their ambassadors, are entirely +excluded from the Synod, which has never happened +from the Council of Nice downwards. That was, of +course, necessary, for even at Trent the French ambassador +announced, on entering the Council, that his +King had sent him to watch over the freedom of the +Bishops; and certainly the ambassadors of Catholic +Powers would have protested against the present +arrangements and order of business, which give +much less security than even at Trent. Here the +Bishops are in a sense the Pope's prisoners. Without +his permission they cannot leave the Council, they are +forbidden to meet together for common deliberation, +are not allowed to print anything till it has passed the +censorship, or to bring forward any motion without the +Pope's approval. It is the Pope who makes the decrees +and defines the dogmas; the Council has simply to +assent. Two rights only are left to the Bishops; they +can make speeches in the General Congregation, and +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> +they can say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>. There is a quite luxurious +abundance of means of coercion, impediments and +chains;—with the Pope's 300 episcopal boarders, the +62 Bishops of the Roman States, the 68 Neapolitans, +Sicilians, etc., all manœuvring with a precision a +Prussian General could not wish to surpass on the +reviewing-ground, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> might have fairly hoped to +gain its ends, even were a little more freedom allowed +to the Opposition section of the Assembly.<note place='foot'>[Compare with this account of the freedom of the Council the letters of +two French Bishops, published in the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi> of May 3, and the <hi rend='italic'>Journal +des Débats</hi> of May 10.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Tenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 15, 1870.</hi>—On Sunday last the Pope gave +audience to a great crowd of visitors,—some 700 or +1000, it is said,—at once, and took occasion to express +before them his displeasure at the Opposition Bishops. +He said there were some Prelates who lacked the temper +of perfect faith, and hence arose difficulties, which +however he, the Pope, should know how to overcome. +In Church matters no attention was to be paid to the +judgment of the world, as he himself despised it, for +the Church's kingdom is not of this world. It has +hitherto of course been held in the Church that the judgment +of the world—that is, of their flocks, who constitute +their own immediate world—is exactly what the +Bishops ought to attend to very much, and to avoid +giving offence to them and perplexing their consciences +in matters of religion. +</p> + +<p> +The prohibition to hold large episcopal meetings, communicated +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +to the French Bishops only through Cardinal +Bonnechose, is not obeyed either by the French or Germans, +who continue to take counsel together. The +united Germans and Hungarians have accepted in substance +an address drawn up by Cardinal Rauscher, and +on Sunday, January 9, bound themselves by a reciprocal +obligation, with forty-three signatures, to vote against +and combat in all conciliar methods the erection of +Papal Infallibility into a dogma. The Austrian Prelates +stand foremost in clearness, decision, and courage. +Rauscher, Schwarzenberg, Haynald, and Strossmayer +know what they want, are full of true love for the +Church, understand the greatness of the danger, and +are perfectly aware that no positive gain, nor any of +the important reforms so urgently needed, can be +expected from this Council—the Spanish and Italian +phalanx is too strong and impenetrable for that,—but +they hope, at least, by energetic resistance to ward off +positive mischief from the Church. +</p> + +<p> +The French on their part are active; Cardinal Mathieu, +who returned to Rome, January 5, has opened a +saloon in his house for the deliberations. Next to Dupanloup, +Bishop Place of Marseilles, Meignan of Châlons, +Landriot of Rheims, and Ginoulhiac of Grenoble, speak +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> +most decidedly. There are some thirty-five like-minded +with them, and the inopportunists among them and the +Germans are gradually coming to perceive that their +position is quite untenable, and that to persist in treating +Infallibility as a mere question of time and convenience, +is to give their adversaries a safe and easy victory. But +the Germans are further advanced in this conviction +than the French. The now famous Infallibilist Address +seems to have been simultaneously hawked about from +two quarters, viz., by the trio of Manning, Deschamps, +and Spalding, and by Martin and Senestrey. Who +composed it, and how many Bishops have signed it, is +still uncertain; the movement has come to a dead-lock, +perhaps because the Spaniards, who talk of presenting +an address of their own, don't want to sign it. Several +Italians too refused to sign, and so the result has not +been as satisfactory as was hoped, although it can +hardly be doubted that the dogma will have 450 or +500 votes when it is laid before the Council. +</p> + +<p> +It is a characteristic feature of the case, that throughout +Italy prayers are offered in all the monastic communities +still surviving, and in all zealously Catholic +families, for the definition of the new dogma. The fact +is mentioned in English journals, and I have heard it +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +confirmed here. It reveals the patriotic feeling, that +Papal Infallibility is an Italian possession more or less +profitable to every member of the nation. <q>The Pope,</q> as +one hears it said here, <q>will always feel and think above +all as an Italian; his decrees are manufactured by a +Court nine-tenths of whom, at least, are Italians, and +with his infallibility under our management, we Italians +shall be able to dominate and make capital out of +all other nations, in so far as they desire to be Catholic.</q> +The Italian is generally a good calculator. However, +Italian priests and prelates feel and know right well +what every nation and national Church owes to itself. +If the Papacy belonged to any other nation, the Italians +would never dream for a moment of acknowledging the +system of Papal absolutism with its grand prop of Papal +Infallibility. One soon observes, in conversing with +these Monsignori, how they despise in their hearts the +French and German Ultramontane Bishops, while at +the same time admitting the correctness of their views, +and praising them liberally for rolling in the dust before +the infallible <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and crying out to the Romans, as +that orator Ekebolius cried out to the Emperor Julian, +<q>Only trample us under your feet, the salt that has +lost its savour.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> + +<p> +Thirty-five German Bishops have declared at the +beginning, that they are ready to subscribe the above-mentioned +counter address against the dogma of Infallibility, +pretty fully expressed in the form of a petition +to the Pope, and among them are included those who +were before of opinion that they had sufficiently discharged +their duty by the letter they sent to him from +Fulda. This is a praiseworthy example of harmony, +but at the same time the greatness of the danger, which +has now become evident to even the most trustful mind, +is shown by the fact that all present at the consultation +on this address bound themselves in writing to +subscribe it. It is needless to say that the Tyrolese and +the pupils of the Jesuits, with Bishop Martin, held +aloof from the meeting. +</p> + +<p> +Another proof was given on this occasion of the very +different measure dealt to the two parties. The Infallibilist +Address was at once printed, though everything +else here has first to undergo the most rigorous censorship. +The Roman censors would, of course, have +refused their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>imprimatur</foreign> to the counter address, and +there was some scruple felt about printing it out of the +country, as though by an evasion of the Papal laws, and +so it cannot be printed at all. Even Bishop Dupanloup +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +has been refused permission to print his answer +to Deschamps. The address will probably be subscribed +by the Bishops of each nation in separate +batches, so that there will be five addresses, coinciding +in substance. Forty-seven Germans and Hungarians +are reckoned on—so many have subscribed already—and +thirty-five French. The Anglo-Americans have +somewhat altered the wording of the address, and say +they can command twenty-five signatures. But what +is most remarkable is, that a considerable section of the +North-Italian Bishops from Piedmont and Lombardy +now come out as opponents of Infallibilism, and give +promise of twenty-five signatures for the counter address. +The decisive point with them is their relation to the +Italian nation and government, for the Infallibilist +dogma must inevitably lead to a hopelessly incurable +rupture between it and the Church. To these must be +added six Irish and four Portuguese, making in all an +Opposition of from 140 to 150 votes. +</p> + +<p> +The great question daily mooted in the Vatican is +now, how Infallibility can be erected into a dogma in +spite of the resistance of the Opposition minority, for +there is no longer any illusion as to an obstinate residue +of anti-Infallibilist protesters being sure to be left, after +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +allowing for the fullest effects of all the alluring seductions +used. Precedents are sought for in the history of +Councils where the majority has passed decrees according +to its own will, without regard to the opposite +representations and negative votes of the minority. But +no such precedents are to be found. At all Councils +from Nice downwards the dogmatic decrees have always +been passed only with entire or approximate unanimity. +Even at Trent, where the Italians, commanded +from Rome through the legates, dominated everything, +many very important decrees were abandoned after +being drawn up, as soon as a few Bishops only had +pronounced against them. If only this fatal precedent +of the Tridentine Synod could be got rid of! The +Jesuits investigate and refine, but, unluckily for them, +one of their own body, Father Matignon, in 1868, when +an Opposition was still believed to be impossible, himself +established the fact, and justified it on doctrinal +grounds;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Études de Théologie</hi>, Janvier 1868, p. 26:—<q>Le Concile n'imposait +rien à notre foi, qui n'eût obtenu à peu près l'unanimité des votes. +L'obligation de croire est une chose si grave, le droit de lier les intelligences +est un droit si auguste et si important, que les pères pensaient n'en +devoir user qu'avec la plus grande réserve et la plus extrême délicatesse.</q></note> and that is made use of now. So there is +nothing left but to labour indefatigably for the conversion +of opponents. But people in Rome seem not to +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> +know <q>qu'on ne prend pas les mouches avec du +vinaigre;</q> and that methods of coercion, intimidation, +and discrediting character, are not quite the most +effectual means, psychologically, for converting adverse +Bishops, is clear from the tone again and again manifested +in the speeches on the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which has gained +conspicuously in sharpness and explicitness. On January +10, a Northern Prelate, distinguished for gentleness +and refinement, but accustomed to parliamentary contests, +said he had been obliged to speak in the vigorous style +usual in his own country of the entire absence of real +freedom in the Council, for the insolence of the other +party was becoming daily more intolerable. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Eleventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 17, 1870.</hi>—It is a remarkable phenomenon +that Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, who is every way inferior to his predecessors +of this century in theological culture, lets himself +be so completely dominated by his passion for creating +new articles of faith. Former Popes have indeed had +their hobbies: some wanted to aggrandize and enrich +their families; others, like Sixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi>, were zealous in +building, or, like Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>, in fostering art and literature, +or they waged wars like Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi>, or, finally, they +wrote learned works, and composed many long Bulls full +of quotations, etc., like Benedict <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> But not one of +them has been seized with this passion for manufacturing +dogmas; it is something quite unique in the history +of the Popes. Herein, therefore, Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> is a singular +phenomenon in his way, and all the more wonderful +from his hitherto having kept aloof from theology, and, as +one always hears, not being in the habit of ever reading +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +theological books. If it is inquired how this strange +idiosyncrasy has been aroused in the soul of a Pope +who began his reign under such very different auspices, +as a political reformer, the answer given by every one +is, that it is the Jesuits, whose influence over him has +been constantly growing since he took Father Mignardi +of that Order for his confessor, and who have +created and fostered in him this passion for dogma-making. +</p> + +<p> +The displeasure and discontent of the Bishops finds +constant nutriment in the conduct of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. They +say that if these momentous propositions had been laid +before them in good time, some months before the +opening of the Council, so that they might have carefully +examined them and pursued the theological studies +requisite for that purpose, they should have come duly +prepared, whereas now they are in the position of having +to speak and vote on the most difficult questions almost +extempore. The attacks and objections directed against +the first part of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> in their speeches have not +applied so much to the separate articles as to the general +scope and tendency of the whole, and I have not been +able to ascertain anything more certain about the +matter, for the real elaboration of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and discussion +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> +of its articles in detail, has to be managed in the +Commission; in the Council Hall it is impossible. As +yet there have been only long speeches on either side, +as in academies or in a school of rhetoric, which, for the +most part, were not understood, and in which the main +question—what shape the decrees are to take, if issued +at all—was never grappled with. +</p> + +<p> +On Friday, January 14, the debate on the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> +opened. This is occupied with the duties of Bishops—their +residence, visitation of their dioceses, and obligation +of frequently travelling to Rome and presenting +regular reports on the state of their dioceses; the holding +of Provincial and Diocesan Synods, and Vicars-General. +The duties of Bishops are the one thing +spoken of, and the design is everywhere transparent of +increasing their dependence on the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and centralizing +all Church government in Rome still more than +before. Archbishop Darboy observed on it, that it was +above all necessary, in examining this second <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, +to discuss the rights of Bishops, instead of only the +duties Rome assigned them. Cardinal Schwarzenberg +had really opened the debate in this sense, and he had +the courage to speak of the College of Cardinals, and the +reforms it needed. A simple Bishop would not have +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +been suffered to do this, but they dared not interrupt a +Cardinal. The speakers who followed, too, had a good +deal to find fault with in the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, especially Ballerini, +formerly rejected as Archbishop of Milan, and now +titular Patriarch of Alexandria, and Simor the Primate +of Hungary. This Prelate has protested so emphatically +against the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> and the treatment the Bishops +have experienced at the hands of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, that the +offer of a Cardinal's Hat seems by no means to have +produced the desired effect upon him. There are said +to be still sixteen portions or chapters of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> +in reserve, so that the authorities are already displeased +at the length of the Bishops' speeches; and lately one +Bishop gained general applause by saying he renounced +his right to speak. +</p> + +<p> +We may gain some very valuable evidences in Russia +and Poland as to how Papal Infallibility is already +conceived of, and what hopes and fears respectively are +entertained in reference to the projected new dogma. +The six or seven million Catholics of that empire are +very variously situated, and have different interests, +and therefore, in some sort, opposite wishes. Among +the Polish Catholics, who are just now being denationalized +and Russianized, many are always looking +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +out for the overthrow of the Russian dominion, and the +restoration of a kingdom of Poland. To this party +belongs Sosnowski, formerly administrator of the +diocese of Lublin, whom the Pope has admitted to the +Council. He is to represent the whole Polish Church +at the Council, and is an ardent Infallibilist; he has +accordingly given a severe snubbing, by way of answer, +to the Polish priests who had communicated to him certain +proposals of reform, with a view of restricting Papal +absolutism, to be laid before the Council. His reply +circulates here, and is also to be printed in a newspaper +published at Posen. Sosnowski represents to +the Polish clergy that the emancipation of Poland from +Russia must continue to be the great object; and that +for this a Pope recognised as completely absolute and +infallible is indispensable. He appears to mean that +such a Pope, being supreme lord over all monarchs and +nations, can even depose the Russian Czar, or at least +absolve the Poles from their oath of allegiance. He +moreover assures them that Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> has told him +he reckons confidently on this emancipation of Poland +from Russia. Here in Rome it is said and taught that +the Pope is supreme master even of heretical and +schismatical just as much as of Catholic sovereigns; for +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +through baptism, whether received within or without +the Church, every one at once becomes his subject. +And we are reminded, in proof of this, how Pope Martin +<hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, in 1282, deposed the Greek Emperor, Michael +Palæologus, and absolved his subjects from their +allegiance, simply because he had made a treaty with +the King of Aragon. This explains why the Russian +Government told the Bishops who requested leave to +attend the Council, that they might go to Rome, but +should not return. The 2,800,000 Catholics in Russia +Proper, in the ecclesiastical province of Mohilew, think +very differently from Sosnowski. A clergyman from +thence said to-day, <q>If Papal Infallibility is made an +article of faith, put into the catechisms and taught in +the schools, it will bring us into a most difficult and +desperate position as regards the Russian Government +and people. We shall be told that our Czar sits in +Rome, and that we obey him rather than the Czar at +St. Petersburg, to whom we only swear a conditional +allegiance, holding ourselves ready to rebel, if our infallible +master at Rome absolves us from the oath; that +we put his commands and prohibitions above the law +of the land and the will of the Emperor. And thus, +if Papal Infallibility is defined at Rome, it will be +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +almost equivalent for us to a sentence of death on the +Catholic Church in Russia, for everything will be done +to undermine a Church regarded as an enemy and +standing menace to the State.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Two new works have arrived here, each of which, in +its own way, touches on the great question of the +day. The one is a book of Dr. Pusey's, on the relations +of the English Church to the Catholic, where he +declares that making Papal Infallibility a dogma would +destroy all hope of a reunion of the Churches, or of the +adhesion of any considerable section of the English +Church.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Is Healthful Reunion Impossible?</hi> By E. B. Pusey, D.D. Rivingtons, +1870.</note> Manning has assured them in Rome of +precisely the reverse. The other work is the first +Letter of the famous Oratorian, Father Gratry, to the +Archbishop of Mechlin, a pungent criticism on that +Prelate's brochure in favour of Infallibility, and on his +gross misrepresentations of the history of Pope Honorius.<note place='foot'>[Gratry's four Letters have been translated by the Rev. T. J. Bailey.—(Hayes).—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +Gratry also exposes the Roman falsifications +introduced into the Breviary. It may alarm the curialists, +when they discover how all the most intellectually +conspicuous among the French clergy pronounce +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +against their favourite doctrine, and their design +of imposing it on the whole Church, and how the +disreputable means employed for building up this system, +by trickery and forgeries, are more and more +being brought to light. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope's attempt to reduce 740 members of the +Council to complete silence on all that goes on there +has proved a failure, as might have been foreseen. A +great deal has come out, and the Pope manifests great +displeasure at it. In a conversation with a diplomatist, +who asked him how, with this rule, trustworthy +reports could be sent to the different Governments, he accused +the French Bishops of violating the secrets of the +Council, and called them <q>chatterboxes</q> (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>chiacceroni</foreign>). +Accordingly, in the Session of January 14, a more rigorous +version of the order of business was read, to the effect +that the Pope had made it a mortal sin to communicate +anything that took place in the Council; so that +any Bishop who should, for instance, show a theologian, +whose advice he wanted, a passage from the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> +under discussion, or repeat an expression used in one +of the speeches, incurs everlasting damnation! If your +readers think this incredible, I can only assure them +that it is literally true, and must refer them to the +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +moral theology of the Jesuits on the foundation of the +Pope's right to brand human actions, forbidden by no +law of God, with the guilt of mortal sin, at his good +pleasure. A Papal theologian, whom I questioned on +the subject, appealed simply to the statement of Boniface +<hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, that the Pope holds all rights in the shrine of +his breast. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twelfth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 26.</hi>—The grand topic of all conversations +is Bishop Strossmayer's speech of yesterday; and it is +possible to give a pretty correct description of its contents, +which seem to have made a profound impression +on his 747 hearers. The Bishop declared it to be +unseemly to begin with the disciplinary decrees about +Bishops and their obligations, because this might raise +the suspicion in their dioceses that their recent conduct +had given occasion to it. When their duties were +spoken of, their rights should also be put forward. +But, in fact, the reform must be carried through from the +highest ranks of the hierarchy to the lowest, so that the +Bishops should be introduced in their proper order. +He spoke of the necessity of making the Papacy common +property, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, making non-Italians eligible; for it +is now a purely Italian institution, to the immense +prejudice of its power and influence. He pointedly +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +insisted on a similar universalizing of the Roman Congregations, +so that the important affairs of the Catholic +Church should not be arranged and settled in a narrow +and jealous spirit, as had unfortunately been the case +hitherto. And all matters not necessarily pertaining to +the whole Church must be withdrawn from the competence +of the Congregations, so that it might no longer +be the case, as before, <q>ut qui superfluis et minimis +intendit, necessariis desit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Strossmayer insisted on a reform of the College of +Cardinals, in the sense of its containing a representation +of all Catholic countries in proportion to their extent +and importance. The impression produced is said to +have been most thrilling, when he exclaimed that it +was to be wished the supreme authority in the Church +had its throne, where the Lord had fixed His own, in +the hearts and consciences of the people, and this would +never be the case while the Papacy remained an Italian +institution. And with regard to the more frequent +holding of Councils, he is said to have reminded the +Fathers of the <hi rend='italic'>Decretum Perpetuum</hi> of Constance, that +a Council should be assembled every ten years. But +the presiding Legates seemed to be greatly disturbed at +the mention of Constance. The Bishop proceeded to +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +point out that ordinary prudence urgently dictated to +the Church the more frequent holding of Councils. The +increased facilities of intercourse supplied means to the +Church to gather more frequently in Council round its +head, and thus show an example to the more advanced +nations, who transact their affairs in common assemblies, +of the open-heartedness and freedom, the patience and +perseverance, the charity and moderation, with which +great questions should be treated. Once, when Synods +were more frequent in the Church, the nations had +learnt from her how to bring their affairs to a settlement, +but now the Church must offer herself +teacher in the great art of self-government. +</p> + +<p> +Strossmayer urged that an influence over episcopal +appointments should be given to Provincial Synods, +in order to remedy the dangers connected with the +present system of nominations, which have become +incalculable. He lashed with incisive words and brilliant +arguments those who preach a crusade against +modern society, and openly expressed his conviction +that henceforth the Church must seek the external +guarantees of her freedom solely in the public liberties +of the nations, and the internal in intrusting the episcopal +Sees to men filled with the spirit of Chrysostom, +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +Ambrose, and Anselm. It cut to the quick when he +spoke of the centralization which is stifling the life of +the Church, and of the Church's unity, which only then +reflects the harmony of heaven and educates men's +spirits, when her various elements retain inviolate their +proper rights and specific institutions. But as the +Church now is, and in the organization designed to be +imposed on her, her unity is rather a monotony that +kills the spirit, excites manifold disgust, and repels +instead of attracting. On this point the Bishop is said +to have made very remarkable statements from his own +experience, proving that, as long as the present system +of narrow centralization endures, union with the Eastern +Church is inconceivable, and, on the contrary, new perils +and defections will be witnessed. He called the canon +law a Babylonish confusion, made up of impractical +and in most cases corrupted or spurious canons. The +Church and the whole world expect the Council to +make an end of this state of things by a codification +adapted to the age, but which must be prepared by +learned and practical men from every part of the +Catholic world, and not by Roman divines and canonists. +In repudiating the proposal of a previous speaker, that +the Pope should take a general oversight of the Catholic +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +press, he seized the opportunity of pronouncing a glowing +panegyric on a man who had been shamefully +maligned by that press, but to whom is chiefly owed +any real freedom that exists in this Council. Every +eye was turned on Dupanloup. +</p> + +<p> +Many single sayings are quoted from this magnificent +speech. A French Prelate had desired that Bishops +should not sit in the confessional; Strossmayer replied +that he must have forgotten he was the countryman of +St. Francis of Sales. Another speaker had maintained +that the reformation of the Cardinals should be intrusted +to their Father, the Pope; Strossmayer replied +that they had also a Mother, the Church, to whom it +always belongs to give them good advice and instruction. +</p> + +<p> +The speech lasted an hour and a half, and the impression +produced was overwhelming. Bishops affirm that +no such eloquence in the Latin tongue has been heard +for centuries. Strossmayer does not indeed always +speak classical Latin, but he speaks it with astonishing +readiness and elegance. Cardinal di Pietro, who +answered him yesterday, spoke of the <q>rara venustas</q> +of his speech. It is related in proof of his noble manner, +and the spirit in which he spoke and was listened +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +to, that the opponent he most sharply attacked immediately +asked him to dinner. He is said to have +received 400 visits in consequence of his speech. The +President paid him a singular compliment in putting +out a special admonition the day after his speech against +any manifestation of applause. +</p> + +<p> +There was the greatest excitement beforehand. His +eloquence was already known from his former speech, +which was rendered more significant from the Legates +interrupting him. Had he been again interrupted this +time, every one felt that the freedom of the Council +would be in the greatest danger. Strossmayer's tact +and moderation prevented it, although it was observed +that Cardinal Bilio wished on one occasion to make the +Presidents interfere. When Strossmayer mounted the +tribune, somebody was heard to say, <q>That is the Bishop +against whom the bell will be used.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Jan. 30, 1870.</hi>—A great deal has happened +since my letter of January 17. My last was exclusively +devoted to the impression produced by Strossmayer's +speech, and I must go back to several previous occurrences. +I will therefore enter directly on the most +important facts of the last few days. You have already +heard from the telegrams that the Pope has returned the +addresses of the Opposition, of which there were several, +divided according to nationality. They will be at once +handed over to the Commission <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi>, composed of +twenty-four members. These counter addresses are +subscribed by 137 Bishops, while 400 or 410 have +signed the first address in favour of the dogma. This +document, I can now inform you definitely, was the +joint production of a committee consisting of Manning, +Deschamps, Spalding, the German Bishops Martin and +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +Senestrey, Bishop Canossa of Verona, Mermillod of +Geneva, and perhaps one or two more. That none of +these gentlemen, or of the 400 signataries, have observed +the gross and palpable untruths and falsifications of +which this composition is made up, is marvellous, and +justifies the most unfavourable inferences as to the +theological and historical cultivation of these Prelates. +If the names of the Bishops on either side are, not +counted simply, but weighed, and the fact is taken into +account that the main strength of the Infallibilist legion +consists of the 300 Papal boarders who go through thick +and thin in singing to the tune of their entertainer—that +all the host of titular Bishops, with very few exceptions, +and of the Romance South Americans, who are +even more ignorant than the Spaniards, are ranged on +the same side—and if we then compare the countries and +dioceses represented respectively by the 400 and the +137, we shall come to the conclusion that the overwhelming +preponderance in number of souls, in intelligence, +and in national importance, is wholly on the side +of the 137 of the Opposition. It is besides affirmed +now that the Address of the 400 was not really presented +to the Pope at all, but withdrawn at the last moment. +If that is true, it must have been in consequence of a +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +command or hint from the Pope, either from his advisers +even yet feeling ashamed of exposing him by the reception +of a document bristling with falsehoods, or because +they thought he could not in that case reject the hated +counter address, as he has done, without too glaring +an exhibition of partisanship. The Spaniards have +drawn up an address of their own, which harmonizes so +well with the address of the 400, that Manning declared +himself quite ready to sign it. +</p> + +<p> +The second important occurrence of the last few days +is the treatment of the Chaldean Patriarch, an aged man of +seventy-eight. He had commissioned another Bishop to +deliver a speech he had composed, when translated into +Latin, in the Council, expressing his desire to preserve +the ancient <foreign rend='italic'>consuetudines</foreign> of his Church and to lay a new +compendium of them before the assembly. He added, +with indirect reference to the Infallibilist dogma, a warning +against innovations, which might destroy the Eastern +Church. The Pope at once ordered him to be summoned, +he was to bring nobody with him; only Valerga, whom +the Pope has named Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the +most devoted courtiers of the Vatican, was present as +interpreter. He found the Pope in a state of violent +excitement, trembling with passion, and after a great +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +deal of vehement language he was commanded either +to resign his office on the spot, or renounce all the prerogatives +and privileges of his Church. His request for +two days to consider the matter was instantly refused, +as also the request for leave to consult his own suffragans +then in Rome. Had he refused, he would certainly +have been incarcerated in a Roman prison; for it is +notorious that according to the Roman theory every +cleric is the subject, not only spiritually but bodily, of +his absolute lord the Pope. So nothing was left him +but to subscribe one of the papers laid before him, and +make his renunciation. +</p> + +<p> +The third recent circumstance to be mentioned is the +confidential mission of Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers, +to Paris. I have spoken of this man before as Bishop +of Nancy, and forgot to add that he had been translated +to Algiers. He is to persuade the Emperor and the +ministers Ollivier and Daru to make no opposition to +the passing of the Infallibilist dogma, and to offer in +return that the articles of the Syllabus on Church and +State shall be either dropped, or modified in their application +to France. He of course asserts that he has no +mission of the kind, and is only going to Paris about an +educational question, just as Cardinal Mathieu professed +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +to have only gone to France to hold an ordination.<note place='foot'>[Cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> pp. <ref target='Pg090'>90</ref>, <ref target='Pg091'>91</ref>. The <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi> made the same assertions in both +cases.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> In +Paris the strangeness of the situation is remarked on, +that the very State which used always most vigorously +to assert its independence against the domineering pretensions +of the Pope is now suffering, not only the +infallibility but the supreme dominion of the Pope, and +his right of interference in its political affairs, to be +decreed under cover of its bayonets. And in Rome it +is understood that, if the French troops were suddenly +to disappear during the rejoicings and illuminations +following on the Infallibilist triumph, the situation +might become very uncomfortable. It is therefore +thought that a couple of articles of the Syllabus might +the more easily be surrendered, as the shield of Infallibility +would cover the whole Syllabus, and no one could +hinder an infallible Pope from taking the first opportunity, +in spite of all secret promises, of again utilizing +the principle now made into a dogma. The Roman +clerics, whether high or low, are unable to comprehend +that not only the German but the Latin nations feel so +decided an antipathy to the domination of the priesthood +over civil and social life, and on that account only +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +must resist the Infallibilist theory, because it involves +the doctrine that the Pope is to encroach on the secular +and political domain with commands and punishments, +the moment he can do so without too great prejudice to +his office and fear of humiliation. It seems so natural +and obvious to a Roman Monsignore or Abbate that +the chief priest should rule also over monarchs and +nations in worldly matters; from youth up he has seen +clergymen acting as police-officers, criminal judges, and +lottery collectors, and has no other experience than of +the parish priest, the Bishop, and the Inquisition, interfering +in the innermost concerns of family life, and the +<q>paternal government</q> often taking the shape of a strait-waistcoat; +he lives in a world where the confusion of +the two powers is incarnated in every college, congregation, +and administrative office. Nowhere but in +Rome would it have been possible for Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>xii.</hi>, with +universal consent of all the clergy, high and low, +to re-introduce the Latin language into the law courts +after it had been abolished under the French occupation. +</p> + +<p> +Lately, for the first time, a local priest, Leonardo +Proja, in a work published here, has openly expressed +his confidence that the Council will at once condemn +the shocking error of setting aside the supreme dominion +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +of the Pope over the nations, even in civil matters +(<q>vel in civilibus</q>) as an invention of the Middle +Ages.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Adversus eos qui Sanctissimum R. Pontificis studium et Vaticani +Concilii celebrandi necessitatem vituperant.</hi> Romæ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Court of Rome and the Bishops are at present +studying in a school of mutual instruction. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +studies the Bishops individually, especially the more +prominent among them, and watches for their weak +points and the ways of getting at them and making +them pliable, and, above all, of dissolving national ties. +They don't always manage matters skilfully, for the +want of all real freedom, the use of coercive measures, +and this apparatus of bolts and bars, cords and man-traps, +by which the Prelates are surrounded and threatened at +every step in Council, by no means produce a <foreign rend='italic'>couleur +de rose</foreign> state of feeling, and the contrast between the +title of Brother, which the Pope gives officially to every +Bishop, and his way of treating them all, both individually +and collectively, like so many schoolboys, is too +glaring. Even the boasted freedom of speech does not +extend very far, for every Prelate speaks under threat +of interruption by the bell of the presiding Cardinal, +directly he says anything displeasing to Roman ears. +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +On the other hand, the Bishops, during their stay +here of six or seven weeks, have learnt a good deal +more than the curialists, and many of them have really +made immense advances, before which the Romans +would recoil with a shudder, if they could see how +things stand. A great many of these Prelates came +here full of absolute devotion to the Pope, and with +great confidence in the integrity of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the +purity of its motives. When they found themselves +oppressed and injured at home by its measures or +decrees, they still thought it was so much the better in +the other branches of ecclesiastical administration. But +now, and here, scales have, as it were, fallen from their +eyes, and they are daily getting to understand more +clearly the two mighty levers of the gigantic machine. +The dominant view in Roman clerical circles here is, +that the Church in its present condition needs, above +all things, greater centralization at Rome, the extension +and deepening of Papal powers, the removal of any +limitations still standing in the way in national +Churches, and the increase of the revenues accruing +from Papal innovations. This it is the business of the +Council to accomplish. When, therefore, two Bishops +lately attacked in their speeches the abuse of expensive +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +marriage dispensations, it was at once said, +<q>Well, then, if any change is made, what is to become +of our Congregations and the revenues of their +members?</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops will return home poorer in their happy +confidence, but richer in such impressions and experiences. +They will also carry back from Rome with them +a fuller knowledge of the Jesuit Order, its spirit and tendencies. +They now see clearly that the grand aim of the +Order is to establish at least one fortress in every diocese +with a Papal garrison, and to hold bishops, clergy, and +people under complete subjection to Rome and her commands. +A French Bishop observed the other day, <q>If +matters go on in this way, we shall have even our holy +water sent us ready-made from Rome.</q> And the Jesuits' +business is to see that things do go on in this way. The +Bishops have now an opportunity of seeing through the +tacit compact, perfectly understood on both sides, between +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the Order. The Pope accepts the +Jesuit theology, and imposes it on the whole Church, +for which he requires to be infallible; the Jesuits labour +in the pulpit, the confessional, the schoolroom, and the +press for the dominion of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the Romanizing +of all Church life. One hand washes the other, and the +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +two parties say, <q>We serve, in order to rule.</q> So far +the relations of parties are clear enough, and result +from the nature of the case. It is less easy to define +the attitude and disposition of the Bishops towards +each other.<note place='foot'>[Some idea of it may be formed from the answer made some months +ago by a distinguished English Prelate at Rome to an Anglican friend, +who had quoted the words of one of the Opposition Bishops, <q>You need +not quote <emph>them</emph> to me; <emph>they are no more Catholics than you are</emph>,</q>—thus +excommunicating at one swoop the very flower of the hierarchy of his +Church.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fourteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 2, 1870.</hi>—There is evidently a deep split +running through the Council. It is not merely the +question of Infallibility which divides the Bishops, +though this rules the whole situation. Each party has +an opposite programme. The majority, with their reserve +of the 300 Papal boarders, speak and act on the principle +that they are there to accept without objection +or substantial change whatever their master, the Pope, +puts before them; that they are as Bishops what the +Jesuits are as Priests—the heralds of the Pope's omnipotence +and infallibility, and the first executors of his +commands—and accordingly they mean to vote against +every motion not introduced or sanctioned by the Pope, +and to impede, both in Council and out of Council, whatever +would displease him or curtail the revenues of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. And thus the 130 or 140 Bishops, who wish +for improvement in Church matters, are thwarted and +paralysed at every step by an adverse majority of 400, +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +admirably generalled. Cardinal Barnabó, Prefect of the +Propaganda, is one of the most deserving men in the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> from this point of view. He maintains good +discipline among the missionary Bishops, and is not +ashamed to besiege an individual Bishop who is under +Propaganda, or supported by it, for a whole evening, +and threaten him with the withdrawal of his pay if he +does not vote just as the Pope desires. +</p> + +<p> +Midway between the two opposite camps there stands +a body of some 150 Prelates of different nations, averse +to the new dogma and to the whole plan of fabricating +dogmas, to which the Jesuits are impelling the Pope, +and alive to the necessity and desirableness of many +reforms, but who, on various grounds, shrink from +speaking out plainly and with the guarantee of their +names. +</p> + +<p> +As far as I can gather from personal intercourse of +various kinds with many of the Infallibilist Bishops, +their zeal is chiefly due to the following notions:— +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>First</hi>, They are more or less impressed by the representation +that there is a general need for new dogmas, +and that the old ones are no longer sufficient; but for +preparing and enforcing these a single infallible dictator +is better adapted than an episcopal assembly. For, +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +besides the inevitable opposition of a minority to every +new dogma, the Bishops could never come forward as +more than witnesses of the tradition of their respective +Churches, whereas the infallible Pope, under direct +inspiration of the Holy Ghost, can at once make into a +dogma and article of faith whatever is clear to himself, +without troubling himself about the past or the tradition +of particular Churches, even the Roman,—as, for +instance, at present, the doctrine of the bodily Assumption +of the Virgin Mary. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Secondly</hi>—and this is a crucial point,—The distinction +between Bishops learned or ignorant in theology +will become immaterial, because henceforth they will +be mere promulgators and executors of Papal decrees on +faith, and therefore ignorance of theology and Church +history, which still has some importance, and is felt as +a defect to be ashamed of, will no longer be any reproach +to a Bishop. He who has no judgment of his +own to form may well be incapable of forming one; he +is the mere speaking-trumpet of one above him. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Thirdly</hi>, Theology itself will be greatly simplified, +and its study rendered shorter and easier. Those +lengthy historical proofs of dogmas, the investigations +as to the range and consequences of a doctrine and the +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +like, will all become superfluous, and matters will be +settled out of hand by a brief question to the Pope and +his reply. A collection of these rescripts, under the +title of <q>The Art of Learning Theology in a Week,</q> +may henceforth be placed in the hands of every candidate +for the priesthood, and would supply the place of +a whole library. Even as a matter of economy this is +no despicable advantage. The majority of 400 and +minority of 137 are then opposed to each other in this +way:—the majority, or the Spanish and Italian section (<foreign rend='italic'>a +fortiori fit denominatio</foreign>) say, <q>We are resolved to abdicate +as a teaching body and integral constituent of the +ecclesiastical ministry; we desire to commit suicide +for the benefit of the Church, in order that the authority +of a single man may be substituted for the collective +authority of the whole episcopate and of all Churches.</q> +The minority think, on the other hand, <q>We are resolved +to hand down inviolate to our successors the inheritance +of eighteen centuries, bequeathed to us by our predecessors. +Our spiritual forefathers were judges and +definers in matters of doctrine, and such we desire to +remain; we do not choose to give a helping hand to +making ourselves and our successors mere acclaimers +instead of definers.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> + +<p> +For the rest, it involves a logical contradiction on the +part of the Infallibilists to lay any special weight on +mere numbers, for nothing turns on the votes of the +Bishops in their system, but everything depends on the +decision of the Pope. If 600 Bishops were ranged on +one side and the Pope with 6 Bishops on the other, +the 600 would be thereby proved to be in error and +the 6 in possession of the truth. Cardinal Noailles +observed very correctly, 150 years ago, that 300 Bishops, +who proclaim a doctrinal principle on the mere word +of a Pope whom they regard as infallible, have no more +weight than one single Bishop who votes on his own +personal conviction. The opposition of the minority, as +might be expected from their antecedents of the last +twenty years, is indeed wrapped up in cotton, but at +bottom it is positive enough. It comes to saying that, +if the Pope really wishes the Council to take in hand +the question of Infallibility, witnesses must be heard +on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +The Address of the forty-five German and Hungarian +Bishops objects to the boundaries, as they had been +hitherto drawn by the Pope for the teaching of the +Church, being transgressed, and the Council being compelled +to enter on a discussion of the grounds <hi rend='italic'>pro</hi> and +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> +<hi rend='italic'>con</hi>, which must necessarily bring much suspicious matter +into public debate. The definition itself would be sure +to excite hostility against the Church, even with men of +the better sort (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>melioris notæ viros</foreign>) and lead to attacks +upon her rights. It may be said that the whole German +episcopate, and the immense majority of the German +Catholic Church by their mouth, has spoken out +against the Infallibilist dogma. +</p> + +<p> +Simor, Patriarch of Hungary, has not, or at least not +yet, subscribed the Address, but he spoke emphatically +against the dogma in the meeting of German Bishops +on January 16. All the other Hungarian Bishops at +Rome, thirteen in number, have signed the Address; +only the Greek Uniate Bishop of Papp-Szilaghy has, +like Simor, omitted to do so. The North Italian +Bishops too have determined on an address, substantially +identical with the German one. +</p> + +<p> +The French Address, which thirty-three Bishops +agreed to on January 15, at a meeting at Cardinal +Mathieu's, differs somewhat in wording from the +German, but the contents are the same in the main, +and it is hoped to get forty signatures for this; twenty +French Bishops wish to abstain from signing anything, +and something under twenty have signed Manning's +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +address, so that there are still twice as many French on +the side of the Opposition as of the definition. We +may add seventeen North Americans, who have accepted +the German Address, with the omission of the +clauses omitted in the French one, while the North +Italians adopted it unaltered. The opposition to the +dogma has thus maintained an universal character, including +the most various nationalities. But it would be +hardly feasible to decide a new dogma by mere counting +of heads, treating the Bishops, like the privates of a +regiment, as all equal, so that one vote is worth just +the same as another. An analysis of the component +elements of this majority, and a comparison of it with +the Opposition in scientific culture and representation +of souls, would give sufficiently impressive results. +</p> + +<p> +The most startling phenomenon is presented by the +Belgian and English Bishops. The former are all on +the Infallibilist side, and there can be no doubt that +they understand the political importance of the new +dogma. They apparently wish to make the breach +incurable between the Catholics of the younger generation +and the Liberal party, who adhere to the Belgian +Constitution; for no Catholic for the future can at once +recognise the doctrine of Papal Infallibility and the +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> +principles of the Belgian civil law, without contradiction. +What makes the majority of English Bishops +zealous adherents of Infallibilism it is hard to say; +they are not in other respects disposed to be led by +Manning. Nor can we assume that, like the Belgians, +they deliberately wish to make the Catholic Church of +their country the irreconcilable foe of the British Constitution, +though that would be the inevitable consequence +of the doctrine. It has been pointed out to +these Prelates from England, that the solemn declarations +of English and Irish Catholics are still preserved +in the State Archives, in which they formally renounced +belief in Papal Infallibility, and purchased thereby the +abolition of the old penal laws and Emancipation. Thus +it is said in the <q>Declaration and Protestation,</q> signed +by 1740 persons, including 241 priests, <q>We acknowledge +no infallibility in the Pope.</q> In the <q>Form of +Oath and Declaration,</q> taken in 1793 by all Irish +Catholics, occur the words, <q>I also declare that it is not +an article of the Catholic faith, neither am I thereby +required to believe or profess, that the Pope is infallible.</q> +And a Synod of Irish Bishops, in 1810, declared +this oath and declaration to be <q>a constituent part of +the Roman Catholic religion, as taught by the Bishops; +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> +a formula affirmed by the Roman Catholic Churches +in Ireland, and sanctioned and approved by the other +Roman Catholic Churches.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I hear that, among the Irish Bishops, Moriarty is +averse to breaking with the ancient tradition of his +Church. Bishop Brown of Newport, an open and +decided opponent of Infallibilism, is kept away by ill +health; Ullathorne of Birmingham and Archbishop +MacHale of Tuam wish also to keep clear of it, but +without signing the address. Bishop Clifford of Clifton, +on the contrary, as I hear, has signed it. So Manning's +following among his countrymen is a very +divided one. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 4.</hi>—There is a good deal of interesting +matter to report of the Sessions of the last few weeks. +And, first, as to the Council Hall: notwithstanding the +great curtain, it remains a wretched apology for a +Council-chamber, and I must repeat emphatically that +such a discussion as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, was possible in St. Paul's +Church, at Frankfort, in 1848, would be hardly practicable +here. Bishops whose voices are feeble and not +penetrating enough, must give up the idea of speaking, +and even strong men among them feel thoroughly exhausted +after they have spoken. A French Bishop, +whose speech had produced a great effect, said afterwards +of the hall, <q>Elle est sourde, muette, et aveugle.</q> +But the Pope persists, on account of the neighbourhood +of the so-called <q>Confession of St. Peter,</q> from which +he thinks a force issues to bind the Bishops closer to +him, and fill them with contempt of the world. This +influence, however, has been very little manifested as +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +yet—rather the reverse. There have been many Opposition +speeches, and the bell of the presiding Legate +not unfrequently interrupts them with its shrill dissonance; +in the latter Sessions a new method has been +practised of reducing unpleasant speakers to silence—by +scraping with the feet. It is a striking fact that +talent, eloquence, and force of thought are observed to +be almost entirely on the side of the Opposition; very +few men of mark or able speakers can be mentioned on +the Infallibilist side. Manning and Mermillod would +be good and versatile speakers, only they are not sufficiently +masters of Latin. Deschamps alone on that +side has won great applause as an eloquent speaker, +though with sufficient poverty of thought. +</p> + +<p> +Among the Cardinals, de Angelis, de Luca, Bilio, +and Capalti are considered the four Papal pillars of the +Council. Bilio, a Barnabite, and still a young man, +passes in Rome for an eminent theologian, and while +the other Cardinals and Monsignori would hold it a +sin to understand German, he knows two German words, +which he constantly repeats, but always with a shudder, +<q>deutsche Wissenschaft.</q> He thinks German science +something like the witches' caldron in Macbeth—full +of horrible ingredients. +</p> + +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> + +<p> +The first dogmatic <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> has gone back to the Commission +on Faith after a long, many-sided, and severe +criticism, and is to be revised and again laid before the +Council as little altered as possible. The revision is +intrusted to three of the most zealous Infallibilists, +Martin, Deschamps, and Pie, with the indispensable +Jesuits, Schrader and Franzelin. The Bishops are then +simply to accept it without discussion. It is not to +be discussed, first, because there can be no discussion +in the Hall; secondly, because this wretched patchwork +does not bear discussion; thirdly, because there would +be no coming to an end this way; fourthly, and chiefly, +because an excellent precedent will be created, which +may be made a rule for the forthcoming <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>, and +will open the prospect of carrying through matters far +more important and more valuable for the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +If once the first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> were voted without discussion, +by the help of the devoted majority of 400, though +against the opposition of many Bishops, the same +method might be pursued with subsequent <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>, +and thus the most important of all, on the Church and +the Pope, could be carried, which contains the most +exorbitant assertions of Papal omnipotence, and implies +Papal Infallibility, which is introduced by a side-wind. +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +By this means the maxim observed at former Councils, +and even at Trent, that decisions can only be settled by +a unanimous vote, would be happily got rid of, and the +resistance of the Opposition broken or rendered useless. +Such a victory of the curialistic party would exceed all +other successes in importance and practical value. The +Council is accordingly come to a momentous crisis. +Father Theiner, the Prefect of the Papal Archives, has +had a part of the first volume of his <hi rend='italic'>Acts of the Council +of Trent</hi> printed. We find there a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>modus procedendi</foreign>, +which secures to the Fathers of the Council much more +freedom and action than the present regulations, of which +Italian Prelates say themselves that they leave no +freedom, and only allow a sham Council. Theiner has +been altogether forbidden, by the management of the +Jesuits, to publish his work, and has received the most +strict commands not to show the part already printed +to any Bishop. +</p> + +<p> +The introduction of the second <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, on Discipline, +gave occasion to many earnest and important speeches. +The Germans at first had to blush for one of their +number, Martin of Paderborn, who made a speech overflowing +with the most unqualified devotion to the will +of the supreme master, the authorship of which was +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> +attributed to his Jesuit domestic chaplain, Father Roh. +But the speech of Archbishop Melchers of Cologne made +all the more favourable impression. He spoke, with quiet +dignity and freedom, of the perversity and shamefulness +of the meddling Roman domination, the system of dispensations, +and the unmeasured centralization. Great +was the astonishment of the assembly; Cardinal Capalti +went on urging, with impatient look and sign, on de Luca, +the President for the day, to stop the German Archbishop. +At last, when he had nearly finished, de Luca interrupted +him, and said he must hand in his proposals to the +Commission. Melchers did not let himself be put down; +he replied that he had done that long ago, and had received +no answer, and observed that he spoke in the +name of more than a million German Catholics. And +then he quietly went on with his speech. The words +of Archbishop Haynald cut deeper still; he is the best +speaker in the Council after Strossmayer, and is also +subtle and circumspect, so that the Legate, who was +visibly anxious to interrupt him, could not discover the +right moment for putting his bell in motion. +</p> + +<p> +As little did they dare to interrupt Darboy, Archbishop +of Paris, when he ascended the tribune and +began as follows:—<q>We are told we are not to make +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +long speeches, but I have a great deal to say. We are +told again not to repeat what has been said by others, +but at the same time we are kept shut up in this Hall, +where for the most part we cannot understand one another; +we are not allowed to examine the stenographic +reports of our speeches, and the only answer made to +our representations is always the same—<q>The Pope wills +it.</q> I don't know therefore what has been said by the +speakers who have preceded me.</q> He then went on to +speak of the rights of the Bishops, their degradation by +the Roman centralizing system, <q>the caves, wherein +the Roman doctors have buried themselves from the +light of day,</q> etc. He spoke in admirable style, and +was listened to with rapt attention, though at every +word his auditors expected an interruption from the +Legate; but it never came. Darboy himself said afterwards +that he had done like Condé, and flung his +marshal's staff into the ranks of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +On January 22, Dupanloup made a speech in the +same sense, which has already been reported to you, +and took occasion to mention those courtiers who have +learnt never to tell the truth to the Pope. Courtiers +of this sort from various nations sat and stood in crowds +around him. He might have added what was said to +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +the Pope—vainly, of course—300 years ago, in a work +composed by his order, and is just as true now as then: +that the dream of omnipotence and infallibility, so +studiously produced and cherished in his soul by flatterers, +is the main cause, next to the avarice of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, of the decline and corruptions of the Church. +Meanwhile it is truly wonderful that so much could be +said at all; it was felt to be a moral discomfiture or +capitulation of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> in its state of siege. Cardinal +Schwarzenberg, and after him the Primate of Hungary, +had certainly struck the note which still rang on, but +the Legates had not dared to silence them with the +bell, and so missed the opportunity of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>principiis obsta</foreign>. +Schwarzenberg had already created a great sensation +by recommending the periodical recurrence of Councils, +afterwards taken up by Strossmayer, and then falling +back on the decree of Constance (for decennial Councils), +which is an abomination at Rome. No doubt they +would have no objection in Rome to Councils every +ten or twenty years, suitably modernized, manipulated, +and obedient to every wink, like the present majority; +but the fatal Opposition embitters this enjoyment, and +when once the great work is accomplished, and Infallibility +proclaimed, it will be found at Rome that all this +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +machinery is not worth its pay, <q>que le jeu ne vaut pas +la chandelle;</q> for it costs too much money to entertain +300 <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>-saying Bishops, to make it worth while often +to reproduce the drama, or rather the pantomine. +</p> + +<p> +Other Prelates, whom the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> reckons among the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Dî minores gentium</foreign>, have no indulgence shown them. +When an American Bishop spoke of the corruptions +and gross falsehoods in the Roman Breviary, and of the +fabulous interpolations in the works of some Fathers, +<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, St. Augustine, inserted there, Capalti rang his bell +violently—the Fathers were not to be so spoken of. +But the American did not let himself be disturbed, and +proceeded at once to quote the Breviary lections from +St. Gregory. He was again called to order, and told he +must change the subject or leave the tribune. +</p> + +<p> +In this second <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, compiled by Jacobini, the +second Secretary of the Council, the gross ignorance of +the author is glaringly exposed. With the usual self-sufficiency +of Rome, and with the aim of making the +Bishops still more dependent on the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> than before, +the special conditions of whole countries had been +ignored. Thus every Bishop, who wished to leave his +diocese, was first to get the Pope's permission from +Rome, and the Archbishops were to delate all who +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +acted otherwise at Rome. Simor observed sharply on +that, <q>This then is the position Rome assigns to +Metropolitans, after robbing them of all their ancient +rights: to be the accusers of their conprovincial Bishops.</q> +Another declared roundly that, if his physician sent him +to a watering-place, he should not think of asking leave +from Rome. Jacobini would not even recognise the +right of Bishops to attend the political assemblies of +their countries, of which they are members by the Constitution, +because, as the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> words it, <q>assembleæ +generales</q> no longer exist in the sense allowed by +Urban <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> The Pope was further to have the right +henceforth of giving away the benefices in the Bishop's +gift during the vacancy of the See, which would bring +in a large increase of taxes for the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and draw a +number of candidates to Rome again, as in the palmy +days before the Reformation. In Germany we should +get back the class of so-called <foreign rend='italic'>Curtisanen</foreign>,<note place='foot'>[The <foreign rend='italic'>Curtisanen</foreign> were clerical place-hunters, who came to Rome to beg +or traffic for benefices. Cf. <q>Janus,</q> p. 341.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> who notoriously +did so much to promote the Protestant division. +The Bishops inflicted many a blow on the abuse of +expensive dispensations to be elaborated at Rome from +artificially derived impediments of marriage (as of +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +cousins, godfathers, and the like) before the Legate's +bell could stop them. Then a Hungarian Bishop related, +how it often happens that a poor woman comes +weeping to the Bishop, to beg him to save her marriage +and her very existence by a dispensation. But the +Bishop must let the poor woman be ruined, for not he +but the Pope only can dispense, and <q>mulier non habet +pecunias—pecunias.</q> The Court Prelates said afterwards +that this Hungarian had made himself very disagreeable +with his <q>mulier non habet pecunias.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The following occurrence was comic:—You know in +what repute the supple and complaisant Fessler, Bishop +of St. Pölten, is held here, the first herald for retailing +the new dogma to the world. Not long ago, Charbonnel, +the Capuchin Bishop of Sozopolis, placed himself near +him, and began to speak of clerical place-hunting, the +eagerness for distinctions and promotions among Bishops, +and the crooked ways they often take to obtain them, +and pointed so unmistakeably by look and gesticulation +at his neighbour, the Secretary, that on going out Fessler +said it was high time to put an end to the Council, +which was every day getting more disagreeable. The +question was then started by German and Hungarian +Bishops whether it would not be better, as Martin +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +thought, to substitute lay-brothers for clergymen's housekeepers, +or whether the restoration of <q>the common life</q>—the +Chrodogang institute—of course in a very modified +form, should be attempted. They overlooked the fact that +such matters cannot be regulated by a Council, but must +be arranged according to the disposition and circumstances +of the clergy in the various dioceses. Haynald, +Meignan, Bishop of Châlons, and the Chaldean Patriarch, +insisted that mere school questions should not be decided +by the Council without any necessity, and that some +freedom of movement must be left to Science. But the +word freedom has nowhere so ill a sound as at Rome. +Only one kind of freedom can be spoken of here—the +freedom of the Church; and, in their favourite and accustomed +manner of speech, by the Church is intended the +Pope, and by freedom domination over the State, according +to the Decretals. And to talk of freedom of Science! +The Council, if it entertained such views, would be forgetting +altogether that it was only called together for +two purposes—to increase the plenary power of the +Pope, and to aggrandize the Jesuits. But the Order +has, like the Paris labourer of 1848, <q>le droit du travail;</q> +it is not content to exist only, but must work—of course +in its own way,—and for this it requires two things: +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +first, new dogmas; and secondly, plenty of condemnations +and anathemas. The business of the Council is +to provide both. +</p> + +<p> +The Cardinals, with the exception of Rauscher, +Schwarzenberg, and Mathieu, have taken no part in +the speaking, nor have the Generals of Orders and +Abbots. Only when the need for a reform of the Cardinals +themselves was spoken of, Cardinal di Pietro +rose, who is regarded as the most liberal-minded of the +Italians in the Sacred College, to show that such a +reform could only be a financial one, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, that the Cardinals +required larger incomes. What the Bishops +meant was something very different, viz., a better and +fuller representation of different nations in the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, +and a limitation of the Italian monopoly. But scattered +observations of that kind could elicit no sort of real +apprehension in the minds of the Italians, who are +firmly seated in the saddle; so secure do they feel in +their possession of a dominion many centuries old, and +so very odd do the claims of other nations appear to +them. In this point the present Romans or Latins are +of the same mind as the old Romans of the sinking +Republic, who sacrificed 600,000 men in the Confederate +war rather than allow equal political rights to their +Italian allies. +</p> + +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> + +<p> +The great blow, which brings matters near a decision, +has now been just struck, and all that the Jesuit and +anti-German party longed for, and the French and +Germans feared, is now before our eyes, the third +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, <q>on the Church and the Pope,</q> has been distributed, +and leaves hardly anything to be desired in +point of clearness and plain speaking. These transparent +decrees and anathemas may be thus summed up: <q>The +Christian world consists simply of masters and slaves; +the masters are the Italians, the Pope and his Court, +and the slaves are all Bishops (including the Italians +themselves), all priests, and all the laity.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This third <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which was distributed to the +Bishops on January 21, is a lengthy document of 213 +pages, entitled <hi rend='italic'>De Ecclesiâ</hi>, and it is the one the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +is chiefly bent on getting received. It is said to be the +work of a red-hot Infallibilist, Gay, Vicar-General of +the Infallibilist Bishop Pie of Poitiers, and is so drawn +up that by a slight addition the Infallibility of the +Pope, which it already leads up to and implies, can be +inserted in express form very easily, and as the necessary +logical supplement; and thus the internal harmony +of this important document, with its appended anathemas, +would be completely secured. Three main +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +ideas run through the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and are formulated into +dogmatic decrees guarded with anathemas: <hi rend='italic'>First</hi>, to +the Pope belongs absolute dominion over the whole +Church, whether dispersed or assembled in Council; +<hi rend='italic'>secondly</hi>, the Pope's temporal sovereignty over a portion +of the Peninsula must be maintained as pertaining to +dogma; <hi rend='italic'>thirdly</hi>, Church and State are immutably connected, +but in the sense that the Church's laws always +hold good before and against the civil law; and therefore +every Papal ordinance that is opposed to the Constitution +and law of the land binds the faithful, under +mortal sin, to disobedience to the Constitution and law +of their country. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 5.</hi>—On reviewing the situation, I believe +I may venture to say that it has become better, far better, +than it was a few weeks ago. For this the Christian +world is mainly indebted to the noble, dignified and +united attitude of the German and Hungarian Bishops. +These men,—I speak of course only of the majority +of the forty-six—while taking frequent and most conscientious +consultation with one another, and knowing +the three German Cardinals to be in substantial +agreement with them, have gained almost daily in +clearness of view, confidence and decision; and their +example, again, has encouraged the Bishops of other +nations. If, as many fear, Ketteler should, at the critical +moment, go over to the Papal side, and let his sympathy +for the convenient Infallibilist doctrine get the +better of his love for the German Church and nation, +his loss will be more than made up by forces newly +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +gained. Hefele, who is the first living authority about +Councils, has signed the Opposition address, and would, +I believe, have still more gladly signed a stronger one. +Three Cardinals of one nation who don't want to +have anything to do with Papal Infallibility! <q>It is +an unheard-of, an abominable thing,</q> say the Romans. +<q>O that we still had Reisach! his loss is bitter at so +critical a moment, and that we should have to console +ourselves for his death by the living voices of Martin, +Senestrey, Leonrod and Stahl, is still bitterer!</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Hungarians are greatly influenced by knowing +that they would find themselves isolated in their own +country, if they, the representatives of ecclesiastical +reform, were to return from Rome conquered, and as +forced believers in Papal Infallibility and the complete +system of ecclesiastical despotism. Their position +is one of close union, and by its union is imposing; +whereas the fifteen or sixteen Bishops of Austrian +Germany are somewhat weakened by the desertion of +Martin and the three Bavarians and the approaching +apostasy of Ketteler, who is already preparing the way +for it in the <hi rend='italic'>Mainzer Journal</hi>. From thence, as I perceive, +has the falsehood gained currency, that the Opposition +are ready to accept Spalding's (professedly) +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +modified proposals, and thus to acknowledge Infallibility +in its grossest form and vote the whole third +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>—that Magna Charta of ecclesiastical absolutism—absolutely +and without any change. That would +indeed be a catastrophe almost without precedent in +Church history. We should have to assume that the +Opposition Bishops had resolved to verify in their +own case Mazarin's saying about Parliaments, that their +policy is always to say <q>No,</q> and act <q>Yes.</q> Ketteler, +moreover, has special grounds of his own for gaining or +preserving the particular favour of the Pope; for remembering +his retirement from the candidature for the Archbishopric +of Cologne, he might effect the abolition of +the compact of Rome with the Governments, which +secures a veto to the latter, and the introduction of either +entirely free elections with Papal confirmation, or, still +better, of simple nomination of Bishops by the Pope. +He has spoken in Congregation in this sense, and was +of course cheered by the Infallibilists. +</p> + +<p> +No less strong and dignified is the attitude of half +the French Bishops, who have attached themselves to +men like Darboy, Dupanloup, Landriot of Rheims, +Meignan of Châlons and Ginoulhiac of Grenoble. On +the other side, there are about twenty decided Infallibilists, +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +while the rest of the French Bishops wait or +avoid speaking out. The party of Darboy and Dupanloup +have the double advantage of being supported by +their Government—while the Austrian ministry assumes +a wholly apathetic and indifferent position,—and of +belonging to the nation whose troops make the Council +and the civil Government of the Pope possible, and +whose Bishops therefore the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> is obliged to treat +with respect. A French Bishop can say a good deal +without, as a rule, having to fear being called to order +by the Legate's bell. +</p> + +<p> +The North American Bishops too are being gradually +educated to ecclesiastical maturity in the school of +Rome and the Council, and have already grown out of +that naïve belief in the disinterested generosity and +superhuman wisdom of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> which most of them +brought here. To-day the Pope paid them a visit at the +American College, conversed in a friendly way with the +Bishops individually, said obliging things, and, in a word, +displayed those well-known powers of fascination he +has such a command of. <q>A month ago this would +have taken effect,</q> said an American priest who was +present, <q>but now it comes too late.</q> He also assured +me that not five of the forty-five American Bishops +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +would sign the Infallibilist Petition or vote for the +dogma. +</p> + +<p> +I have heard many, and especially French, Prelates +say, during the last few days, sometimes in obscure +hints, sometimes clearly, that the Council will soon—in +a few weeks—be closed or dissolved; an opinion all +the more surprising, because nothing as yet has been +done. In that case the Bull with the many Excommunications +will have to be treated as issuing from the +Council.<note place='foot'>[The Bull <hi rend='italic'>Apostolicæ Sedis</hi>.—Cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> pp. <ref target='Pg100'>100</ref>, 1, 5, 6.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> But the only relation of the Bishops to that +Bull is as the suffering and punished party. +</p> + +<p> +The third Solemn Session was to have been held on +February 2, but had again to fall through from the +want of any materials. And there are still mountains +of work and numbers of elaborate <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> awaiting +the Council; for the decrees it is summoned to make, or +rather which Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> intends to proclaim to the world, +<q>with the approbation of the Council,</q> are to be veritable +pandects embracing the entire doctrine and constitution +of the Church, regulating all relations between Church +and State, and restoring the Papal supremacy over the +bodies and souls of all men. The domain of morals, properly +so called, is alone excluded; for there the Jesuits +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +have good reasons for wishing to keep their hands free. +In short, the projected work that still remains to be done +would occupy at least a year and a half. And for this +end everything has been chosen and sharpened into the +form of canons, which can only introduce complications, +provoke conflicts with the civil Governments, embitter +the relations of rival Confessions, prejudice the position +of the Bishops, and foster the hatred of the lay +world against the clergy. And accordingly, with many +Bishops, the wish to escape taking any part in these +discussions may be father to the thought, and a speedy +end of the Council may appear to them a sort of conciliar +euthanasia. To many a Bishop has the old proverb +already occurred, in reference to the Council, that +the best thing would be not to have been born and the +next best to die early. It is not the Swiss only who +have a home-sickness. And then there is the treatment; +I heard a French Count here say to-day, <q>On +les traite d'une manière brutale.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I have just received the last number of the Paris +<hi rend='italic'>Correspondant</hi>, with its article by the Viscount of Meaux, +Montalembert's son-in-law, who is here. His account +of how the Council is treated is so much to the point, +and so thoroughly confirms my own statements, that I +will quote it for you. +</p> + +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> + +<p> +<q>The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>,</q> he says, at p. 347, <q>are prepared +beforehand, the order of business is imposed by authority +(<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>imposée</foreign>), the Commissions are elected before any +consultation, from official lists, by a disciplined majority +which votes as one man. On these Commissions the +minority is not represented, and there are no other +deliberations except in Congregation. Before these +Congregations the subjects are brought in all their +novelty and laid before the 700 members, without any +previous explanations. It is difficult to understand the +speeches, and there are no reports which the Fathers +can inspect, so that no Bishops have the opportunity of +submitting their thoughts to the deliberate examination +of their colleagues. Moreover, they are forbidden to +have anything printed here for the Council. All these +characteristics indicate an assembly summoned to +approve, not to discuss, intended to exalt, not to moderate, +the power which has summoned it. And with +what haste does it push on in this direction! How impatiently +does the majority press for a declaration of +Papal Infallibility!</q> So far the Viscount. Matters +must indeed have come to a pass when so cautious and +strictly Catholic a journal as the <hi rend='italic'>Correspondant</hi> presents +its readers with this picture of the Council. +</p> + +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> + +<p> +There are two serious dangers to which we are always +exposed. The first I have already spoken of, which is introducing +the plan of passing the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> by majorities, +so that the desired dogma would be carried as it were by +assault. The second danger—and it seems to me far more +threatening—is that one of those involved and disguised +formulas which the Infallibilists vie with one another in +devising, in order to deceive and catch the votes of the +less sharp-sighted Prelates and thus incorporate it into +the third <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, may really succeed with the greater +number of the hitherto opposing and protesting Bishops. +This notion is in fact implied in the phrase one has +heard so often, that a middle party must be formed +among the Bishops; for the programme or shibboleth +of this middle party is to be an elastic formula, or one +only expressing the thing metaphorically, or, again, one +not sharply dogmatic but rather pious and edifying in +sound. By the help of this middle party the formula +might be made acceptable to the rest of the Prelates, +and the desired end be happily attained. Thus Mermillod +and two others have to-day invented a phrase, +which seems to them suited to square the circle and to +satisfy and unite all. They say they wish to declare +that the Pope, whenever he speaks on doctrine, +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> +speaks <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>tanquam os et organum Ecclesiæ</foreign>. And by this +they understand that the Church has no other mouth +than him and without him is dumb, from which it +obviously follows that he is infallible. I doubt if +many Bishops will be detained in the meshes of a +net so coarsely spun. No better is the formula invented +by Spalding, which might be called a pretty +downright one,—that everybody must inwardly assent +to every doctrinal decision of the Pope on pain of +everlasting damnation.<note place='foot'><q>Damnamus perversas eorum cavillationes qui dicere audent externum +quidem obsequium, non autem internum mentis cordisque assensum, R. +Pontificis judiciis esse præstandum.</q></note> That goes far beyond even +the Manning-Deschamps Address, which limits his infallibility +to decrees addressed to the whole Church, +while this formula of Spalding's declares every conceivable +Papal utterance (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>judicium</foreign>) infallible; for a +Christian can only give the assent of inward belief, +when there is no possibility of error and when there +is a really divine authority and revelation. Every +theologian must declare this invention of the Archbishop +of Baltimore's to be the most monstrous demand +ever made on the conscience and understanding of the +Catholic world. It is as if a courtier at Teheran were to +say, <q>I will not indeed affirm that our Shah is almighty, +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> +but I do assert confidently that he can create out of +nothing whatever he will and that his will is always +accomplished.</q> The reverend Fathers who torment +themselves with inventing such devices would perhaps +do best if they were to make a collection among themselves, +and offer a prize of 100 ducats for that form of +circumlocution or involution most securely adapted for +entrapping the innocent souls of Bishops. Then the +most ingenious heads from all Europe would compete +in sending in their suggestions, and the right bait +might be discovered among them. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Seventeenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 5.</hi>—To supplement and partly to verify +the news in my last letter, I will now tell you some +facts that came to light yesterday and the day before. +</p> + +<p> +The Opposition Addresses were presented to the Pope +on January 26, subscribed by forty-six Germans and +Hungarians, thirty French, and twenty Italian Bishops, +together with some of the North American Bishops, the +Portuguese, and certain others. Cardinal Barnabo had +employed all available means of intimidation to prevent +the Orientals from signing, and hence the number of +signatures was somewhat below what had been expected. +Of the Germans, Martin, Senestrey, Stahl and Leonrod +had signed the Infallibilist Address, which, as was only +afterwards discovered, has not been presented, because—it +was countermanded. It is not, as I first informed +you, composed by the Episcopal Committee, but by the +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +Jesuits, and emanates from the bureau of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>; +the abiding marvel is that 400 Bishops could be induced +to sign such a document without even verifying a single +one of the pretended facts cited in it. That an Infallibilist +should subscribe in blind confidence, and without +examination, a document coming from the Pope +himself, is natural; but that 400 pastors of the Church, +assembled for deciding and therefore for examining +ecclesiastical questions, should endorse on faith the +composition of a nameless Jesuit, is an occurrence the +Order may pride itself on. +</p> + +<p> +A Petition has been set on foot by the Jesuits, +and hawked about with the Pope's approval, proposing +that the bodily Assumption of the Mother of +the Lord should be made an article of faith, and all +who henceforth doubt of it, or point to the notorious +origin of the notion from apocryphal writings, be anathematized. +This anathema would inevitably fall on +every one who is acquainted with Church history +and patristic literature. This passionate delight in +anathemas, curses and refusals of absolution has been +powerfully aroused, as you may see from the canons +which reproduce the Syllabus and are added to the +third <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +The augurs of the Gesù do not indeed smile, but simper, +when they meet each other, for they know that the rich +harvest from these seeds will drop into the bosom of +their Order. Here again it is shown plainly that the +interests of the Bishops and of the Jesuits are sharply +opposed. +</p> + +<p> +That Bull, with its many curses and cases reserved +to the Pope, which fills the Jesuits with hope and joy +(though not they but the Dominicans of the Inquisition +are its authors), is for the Bishops a source of discouragement +and despair, so that the Bishop of Trent is said +to have lately observed that he would rather resign his +See than publish it. It is now asserted that the Pope +has again suspended it, partly on account of remonstrances +of the French Government, partly to put the +Bishops in better humour for the Infallibilist definition. +</p> + +<p> +The Petition for the new Marian dogma had 300 signatures +on January 31. In managing such affairs the +Jesuits are unrivalled, for the Order is like a great +actor, such as Garrick, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, whose every limb from top +to toe moves, speaks, and conspires to express the +same idea. Then they have an Infallibilist Petition +from the East, the only one known to have been got +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +up; that is to say, they made the Maronite boys and +youths of their educational establishment sign the +Petition they had drawn up. +</p> + +<p> +As I now hear, the majority, on January 25, resolved +to let their Address and Petition drop, if the minority +will accept Spalding's proposed addition to the third +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. They are indeed very magnanimous, for +that addition, as was observed just now, goes much +further and stands to the Address somewhat as Dido's +ox-hide cut up into thongs to the hide before it was +cut: it will embrace whole countries and cities. Spalding +desires too to have the Index placed completely +under the shield of Papal Infallibility, and therefore +the opinion that the Pope can have made any mistake +about the sense of a book is to be condemned. +Next day, the Petition of the minority, who knew +nothing of the decision of the other party, was presented +to the Pope and rejected by him. The +Infallibilists appear to have spread the report that +their Address had been actually given in simply +for the purpose of catching their opponents in a +trap. +</p> + +<p> +On Sunday, January 23, the Commission named by +the Pope for examining motions proposed held its first +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +sitting, under the presidency of Cardinal Patrizzi and +not of the Pope himself, as was thought—seven weeks +after the Council met and when a number of motions +had long been awaiting its scrutiny. This delay had +evidently been designed. It has now been resolved to +arrange and examine proposals, not according to subjects +but nations, so that the proposals of the French, +Germans, etc., will be separately discussed and decided +upon. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Rauscher has written, or got written, a +treatise on the Infallibility question in German, which +is now being translated into Latin, and which does not +merely oppose the dogma as inopportune, but attacks +the whole principle and, as I am assured, on fundamental +grounds. But it cannot be printed here, where +the Roman censorship is constantly growing stricter. +It will be printed in Vienna, and copies will then have +to be sent here under cover to the Austrian Embassy. +To the representations of the German and French +Bishops against the oppressiveness and injustice to the +minority of the order of business, the Pope has not +seen fit to make any reply. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Væ victis!</foreign> Woe to them +who do not belong to the faithful and devoted majority! +This is what resounds here, morning, noon and night. +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +Meanwhile the Papal Committee of the Council has +devised a new means for paralysing the minority, and +cutting short discussions which might easily become +inconvenient. It is directed that all objections or proposals +for modifications of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> are first to be +handed over in writing to the Presidents and referred +by them to the Commission <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi>, which rejects or +admits them at its pleasure. If the authors of the +proposals appeal against the decision of the Commission, +the whole Council decides, of course by simple +majority of votes. If this arrangement were really to +be introduced, the minority—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the German and +French Bishops—would be deprived of all possibility +of exerting any influence on the composition of the +decrees or warding off any decree they considered +injurious; they would always be outvoted, and the +Council would more and more take the form of a mere +machine for outvoting them. The Bishops would soon +learn to spare themselves the useless trouble of proposing +changes, and a much closer approach would be effected +to the great object of making new articles of faith and +decrees by a mere majority of votes. The only question +is what the French and Germans intend to put up +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +with from the Italians and Spaniards, for it is clear +that here again the question of nationalities turns up +in the background, and the Brennus sword of the +Southern and Latin majority is always ready to be +thrown into the scale. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Eighteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 6.</hi>—The report of the dissolution or +prorogation of the Council gains in strength. Manning +has found it important enough to have it contradicted in +his journal, the <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi>. He writes, or makes somebody +write, <q>The Holy Father is full of strength and confidence, +and has no intention of proroguing the Council, +as his enemies say.</q> As far as the Pope is concerned, +I hold the statement to be true. Pius is still absolutely +confident of success and firmly convinced of two +things—<emph>first</emph>, of his divine, legitimate and irresistible +fulness of power, which requires that a conspicuous +example, memorable for all future ages, shall be made +of the Bishops who oppose him; <emph>secondly</emph>, of the +special protecting grace and guidance accorded to the +Council by the Holy Virgin, on whose benevolence +he notoriously maintains that he has very special +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +claims. He has issued an Indulgence for the whole +Church, which gives us some insight into his connection +of ideas and religious views. In the Bull of +December 1869, he says that the Dominican General, +Jandel, has represented to him that the new method of +prayer, consisting of 150 repetitions of the <q>Hail, +Mary,</q> was first introduced at the time the grand +crusade against the Albigenses was organized. But +our own age is infected with so many monstrous errors +that this new method of prayer should be employed +now also, in order that under the mighty protection +of the Mother of God the Council may destroy these +monsters. Whoever, therefore, after confession and +communion, recites the Rosary daily for a week, for +the Pope's intention and for the happy termination of +the Council, may gain a plenary indulgence of all his +sins, applicable also to the dead. The Pope adds +that even when a child, and far more as Pope, he has +always placed his whole confidence in the Mother of God, +and that he firmly believes it to be given to her alone +by God to destroy all heresies throughout the world. +How this special power of the Holy Virgin consists +with the fact that many heresies have now lasted +quietly for fourteen centuries, it would be interesting +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +to know. The rest the reader may find himself in the +German Pastorals. +</p> + +<p> +Pius has even had his naïve but robust belief in his +own heavenly illumination and vocation to proclaim +new doctrines sensibly embodied in a picture. In a +chamber beyond the Raphael Gallery there is a picture +painted by his order; he stands in glorified attitude +on a throne proclaiming his favourite dogma of the +Immaculate Conception, while the Divine Trinity and +the Holy Virgin look down from heaven well pleased +upon him, and from the Cross, borne in the arms of an +angel, flashes a bright ray on his countenance. Thus +Pius stands in a special mystical relation to Mary; she +guides and inspires the Council through him, and he +in turn will proclaim, with its assent, the decrees she +has inspired and which will destroy the monstrous +errors of the present day, or will at least give them +a fatal blow. Unfortunately, not one single decree +has yet been brought out after exactly two months, and +all the heresies continue just as strong as before the +Council met. And yet the pregnant and successful +Councils of the ancient Church did not require a longer +time for their decisions; the Council of Nice was +finished in two months, the Council of Chalcedon in +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> +six weeks. Certainly it was not then supposed that +Mary had first to give the Pope, and then he to give +the Council, the weapons for destroying heresies: they +were content to rely on the Paraclete promised by Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the present assembly has nothing in +common with those ancient Synods, except in being +composed of persons called Bishops. But our Bishops +are unlike those of the ancient Church, for they have +to yield up to the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> three-fourths of the rights possessed +by their predecessors, and it would be simply +ridiculous to liken the state of tutelage and restraint +they are now placed under by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> to the free +and independent attitude of the fifth-century Councils. +The more free-spoken among them have just addressed, +on 2d February, another Petition to the Pope, requesting +that the so-called Council Hall in St. Peter's may +be exchanged for a more suitable chamber; for now +that serious discussions on the dogmas and decrees are +to begin—and the third <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> will be met with +strong and persevering opposition in many of its +articles—the present arrangement becomes still more +intolerable than before. Any regular discussion is +simply impossible in the present Council Hall; there +is no doubt of that. <q>That is just right,</q> say the Papal +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +officials; <q>we neither desire nor need discussion, but +simply that the propositions should be voted.</q> <q>But +this is an unheard-of thing, against all conciliar usage +and all natural right,</q> reply the Bishops. Archbishop +Darboy said, <q>We are called on to anathematize doctrines +and persons; to pass sentences of spiritual death. But +would any jury in the world pronounce capital sentence +without first having heard the defence?</q> And +thus the Council has entered on a very critical period, +and a spirit of irritation is becoming visible, increased +by the constantly deepening conviction that the Bishops +are to be used for purposes alien to their minds and +suicidal. One word describes the entire plot—outvoting +by majorities. The united German, French +and North American Bishops are opposed to a well +disciplined army of about 500, who will vote as one +man at the beck of the Pope. This army consists +of 300 Papal boarders, the 62 Bishops of the Roman +States who are doubly subject to him, 68 Neapolitans, +80 of the Spanish race, some 110 titular Bishops without +dioceses, the Italian Cardinals, 30 Generals of +Orders, etc.<note place='foot'>It will of course be understood that the 300 boarders (cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> p. <ref target='Pg128'>128</ref>) +are divided among the Prelates mentioned above.</note> In a word, the Latin South is arrayed +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +against the French and German North. And therefore +the design of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, to carry decrees or dogmas on +every question of Church and State, etc., by a mere +calculation of <emph>plus</emph> and <emph>minus</emph>, is doubly monstrous and +utterly unchurchlike. For, <emph>first</emph>, it must inevitably +produce a deep national irritation, if it is said hereafter +in Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, France and the United +States, <q>The Italians and Spaniards have triumphed over +our views and interests at Rome, simply because +their dioceses are much smaller than ours and they +have 50 Bishops for 100,000 souls, while we have only +one.</q> <emph>Secondly</emph>, it involves a complete break with the +past of the Church and the practice of Councils. +Some Bishops have examined the official records of the +Council of Trent by the Roman historian Pallavicini, +and have found there that Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> directed his Legates—and +that too with special reference to a decree on the +fulness of Papal jurisdiction—to make no decrees the +Bishops were not <emph>unanimously agreed upon</emph>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Istoria del Concilio de Trente</hi>, xix. 15. 3: <q>Facendosi quelle sole +difinizioni nelle quali i padri conspirassero ad un parere.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +But now just the contrary is to take place. The +decisive contest on that point—if it comes to an open +contest—will not be fought on the third <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>On +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +the Church and the Pope</hi>, but at once on the first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, +the handiwork of the Jesuits, when it is returned to +the Council, professedly modified but in substance +unchanged, from the Commission of two Jesuits and +three Infallibilists. As we hear, no attention has been +paid to the counter representations of the Bishops, +some of whom have objected to it altogether as superfluous +and mischievous, some as erroneous and exaggerated. +It will now without further discussion, which +is simply impossible in the Council Hall, be accepted +by the mere majority of votes of the compact troop of +Infallibilists, who are at the Pope's command as <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>valets +à tout faire</foreign>, and proclaimed as a dogma by Pius, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>approbante Concilio</foreign>, as the form runs. Thereby, according +to approved Roman doctrine, has the Holy Ghost +spoken by the mouth of His divine representative, +<q>causa finita est;</q> and it only remains for the 150 or +200 opposing Bishops to make all haste to perform a +great mental evolution, to change their laws of thought, +to reverence as revealed truth what they have hitherto +rejected as error, and to force the clergy and laity under +them by excommunication and suspension to perform +the same gymnastic feat of leaping at one jump from +unbelief into firm and immoveable faith. +</p> + +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> + +<p> +The modern and purely mechanical scholasticism has +brought matters to such a pass that many seriously +look upon the Council as a machine, which only needs +turning to get new dogmas carried and authorized by +the Holy Ghost. Formerly, theologians used to say +that the voice of a General Council is nothing but the +voice of the whole Church concentrated in one place; +that every Bishop bears witness to the traditional belief +of his Church and of his predecessors; and that the +harmony of these testimonies proves what is the universal +belief, and thus attests the truth and purity of +the profession of faith sanctioned by the Council. But +now all this is entirely changed. The Bishops have +come, without any previous knowledge as to what they +were to vote about; long-winded and ready-made documents +are laid before them on questions most of them +have never examined in their lives, of which their +flocks at home know nothing and have never heard; +they are expected to pass decrees the necessity and +opportuneness of which appear to them highly problematical, +and to pronounce a string of anathemas, +because the Pope and Jesuits will it. They are cooped +up in a treadmill called a Council, and must willingly +or unwillingly grind what is thrown into it. It cannot +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> +indeed be exactly said that this procedure is new and +unprecedented, for the same thing occurred, on a much +smaller scale, at the Fifth Lateran Council under Julius +<hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> and Leo. <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>; but then only the Italian Bishops were +made use of, who had long been broken in to the <foreign rend='italic'>rôle</foreign> +of flunkeys. Now, on the contrary, the Bishops of all +nations have been brought into prison at Rome, and +are to say Yea and Amen to the decrees the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and +the Jesuits have drawn up and mean to make obligatory. +</p> + +<p> +But the minority have taken courage, and stand on +the defensive; and so the machine is at a standstill. +The opponents of Infallibilism have not decreased; on +the contrary, it is now thought that about 200 will vote +against it. Many, who at first were only <q>inopportunists,</q> +have now through more careful investigation +of the question become decided opponents of the doctrine +itself. +</p> + +<p> +Antonelli does not spare assurances, that the Governments +may be quite at ease as to the decrees to be +issued by the Council; he says they only affect theology, +that nothing will be changed in practical life by them, +and that the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has no intention of employing them +for the purpose of interfering with political affairs. +But these reassuring declarations are only made orally; +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +great care is taken to avoid putting them into a written, +and therefore binding, form. Meanwhile the French +Government perfectly comprehends the situation and the +objects aimed at, and has already announced that it +will fully support its Bishops and protect them against +the threatened domination by majorities. Archbishop +Lavigerie has gained nothing in Paris, and the decision +of France has been communicated to the Cardinal +Secretary of State, to the effect that the Government +will not allow the 33 French Bishops and their allies +of the German and English tongue to be crushed and +forced into adopting dogmas they have rejected. The +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> has just been singing the praises of Count Daru, +who is a living proof that there are still real statesmen; +it will very soon adopt just the opposite tone. +</p> + +<p> +Among the points which make the Bishops the more +astonished, the longer they stay here and the more +narrowly they inspect the condition of things, is the +decline of study in Rome, and the want, not merely of +learned men but even, and most especially, of well-grounded +theologians. Rome was never a favourable +soil for serious study and true learning; a resource +was found in attracting foreigners here, which could +easily be done by means of the great Religious Orders +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +whose Generals reside here. But now these Orders, +with the exception of the Jesuits, are in the same +state of decay. Where are men of distinguished learning +to be found among the Dominicans, Carmelites, +Cistercians and Franciscans of our own day? To the +Pope himself and those immediately about him this is +a matter of indifference; Pius feels instinctively that, +if there were real theologians at Rome, they would all +offer at least a passive resistance to his <emph>penchant</emph> for +creating new dogmas. Only the Jesuits and their +pupils favour that sort of thing; and as long as there +were real theologians in Rome, history knows of no +Pope who was possessed with this abnormal passion for +fabricating dogmas. +</p> + +<p> +Now, indeed, among the 41 Italian Cardinals, only +two are named as theologians, the Thomist Guidi and +the Barnabite Lulio. Of the achievements of the +latter nothing is known, and he has left the Jesuits to +their own devices in the elaboration of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>; +but in the Council he is the chief representative of +Roman theology. More distinguished than Lulio is the +Piedmontese Prelate and Professor, Audisio, author of +a History of the Popes, which of course cannot be +measured by a German standard. Vincenzi, a good +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +Orientalist and author of a learned—but in the main +erroneous—apology for Origen, being a quiet, modest +man who goes his own way, is thought nothing of +here, and has neither title, dignities, nor benefices, +although in knowledge he outweighs twenty Monsignori. +De Rossi, the most acute and learned among +the genuine Romans, who has educated himself by the +study of German works, is a layman and therefore +cannot be anything. The Dominican Modena, Secretary +of the Congregation of the Index and as such +director of the whole institution, who died a few weeks +ago, passed here for a learned theologian, but no +monuments of his knowledge and research are extant +outside the Index. When a foreigner observed to him +shortly before his death that, in order to condemn +German or English books, one should understand something +of the language, he showed great surprise at so +unheard-of a demand, and replied that for Italians, +who notoriously far excel all nations in genius and +acuteness, if a foreigner translated a couple of passages +from a book into Latin or Italian, that supplied quite +enough materials for pronouncing a censure on the +book. The Dominican Gatti has now succeeded +Modena as Secretary of the Index, and therefore as +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +supreme judge <hi rend='italic'>ex officio</hi> of the literature of the world. +On his scientific capacity and literary achievements +history is silent. And so the few learned works produced +here have to be provided by foreigners domiciled +at Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Theiner publishes documents from the Archives, so +far, that is, as they serve <q>the good cause;</q> much he +is notoriously forbidden to publish. The French +Benedictine, Pitra, now a Cardinal, edits the original +documents of Greek canon law; the French Chaillot +writes the single important Church journal or record, +<hi rend='italic'>Analecta Juris Pontificii</hi>, where, notwithstanding its +rigid Ultramontane line, useful collections or ancient +treatises not previously printed may here and there +be found. Dogmatics and theological philosophy—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +philosophy adapted to dogmatic needs and ends—are +provided here by the three German Jesuits, Schrader, +Franzelin and Kleutgen. For here Germans are only +thought available when they have first been transformed +into Jesuits and thereby, as far as possible, un-Germanized. +That Order, on which the features of the +Spanish national character of the sixteenth century are +still indelibly impressed, cannot tolerate a genuine German +in his natural shape; it would be compelled to eject +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +him as Etna vomited out the brazen slipper of Empedocles. +It is well known that the most industrious +and learned of the Roman Prelates, Liverani, was +obliged to leave Rome; he lives, I believe, at Florence.<note place='foot'>[Liverani published a striking pamphlet on the abuses of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +some years ago.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +If we examine the names of the Professors at the +Roman University of the Sapienza, we find among the +teachers of theology, with the solitary exception of +the Canon-Regular, Tizzani, who is now blind, only +monks—Dominicans, Carmelites and Augustinians—and +these mere names wholly unknown beyond the +walls of Rome. No less lamentable is the view presented +by the philosophical, mathematical and philological +departments. The best that can be said of this +University, the intellectual metropolis of 180,000,000, +is about this, <q>que c'est une fille honnête qui ne fait +pas parler d'elle.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On the whole, the air here is much too raw, the +soil inhospitable, the Index too near, and the censorship +too merciless, for scientific works and serious investigations. +The Italians say of a mindless work, +<q>É scritto in tempo di Scirocco.</q> And here there is an +intellectual scirocco established in permanence. And +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +thus the brave German Benedictines, who assembled +here some years ago under an Italian Abbot, Pescetelli, +in St. Paul's without the Walls, have become +victims of the unhealthy atmosphere—that is, besides +the mental scirocco indigenous here, the sharp north +wind blowing from the Gesù. They had energetic +men among them, such as Nickes and others, were +anxious to work in German fashion, and made a good +beginning in a volume of <hi rend='italic'>Voices from Rome</hi>, published +in 1860; a German Cardinal was their protector. But +no sooner had they been denounced to the Pope by the +Jesuits—German and of ill-repute for orthodoxy are +synonymous terms here than they had to decamp. +The Abbot, weary of these chicaneries, resigned his +office and returned to Montecassino. But the Benedictines +generally are looked on most unfavourably by +the authorities here. As it was said in a capital +sentence at Paris, in 1794, that the condemned man +was <q>suspected of being suspected of deficient sense +of citizenship,</q> so must it be said of the Benedictines +here that they <q>are suspected of being suspected of +a deficient sense of Papalism.</q> They are not devoted +enough towards the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>; these little religious communities +cannot be so entirely kept in hand, the +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +Jesuits from of old are hostile to them, and it is found +in Rome that they have not hitherto rendered sufficient +service to the great cause of strengthening Roman +domination. They are therefore to be revolutionized, +and, like the Jesuits and the Mendicant Orders, to +receive a monarchical constitution. Their autocratic +General will then reside in Rome, and the Pope will +do with them what he did with the Dominicans, when +he made Jandel, the Jesuit pupil, their General. Then +the Benedictines will be for the Jesuits what the +Gibeonites were for the Israelites, their <q>hewers of +wood and drawers of water.</q><note place='foot'>Joshua ix. 21.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Such a project for revolutionizing the Benedictines, +who would then of course cease to be sons of St. Benedict, +is reputed to be among the measures prepared for +the Council. If the present condition of Rome be compared +with earlier ages, as late as Benedict <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi>'s reign, +or even twenty or thirty years later, there is truly an +enormous difference, and this deep decay and intellectual +collapse cannot be explained by external causes +merely; inward and more hidden motives must be +taken into account, which I think I well understand, +but will not here speak of. That does not trouble our +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +Roman clergy of to-day; they institute no comparisons, +and don't even know the names of the men who dwelt +in the same spot a century ago. And the thought of +their own poverty of intellect and culture, if it ever +occurs to the Roman clerisy, does not at all hinder +their always admiring themselves, like Dante's Rachel, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'><q rend='pre'>Mai non si smaga</q></l> +<l>Dal suo miraglio, e siedo tutto giorno</l> +<l><q rend='post'>Ell' é de' suoi begli occhi veder vaga.</q><note place='foot'>Purgat. xxvii. 104.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +</div> + +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Nineteenth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 8, 1870.</hi>—It is a most exciting drama that +is being exhibited here, and notwithstanding much that +is both little and painful in its details, one of great and +moving import; and those who have the opportunity of +inspecting its machinery more narrowly, can hardly at +times avoid feeling very strongly on the subject. The +figure of Laocoon, with the snakes coiled round him, is +constantly recurring to my mind; for I seem to be +witnessing the strategical arts and skilful evolutions of +a general, who is trying to surround a little band of +opponents with his immensely superior forces, so as to +compel them to lay down their arms and surrender at +discretion without striking a blow. The disproportion +is indeed enormous; first there is the Pope, whose mere +name still is a host in itself, and that Pope is Pius, +who for twenty-four years has had such homage and +flatteries heaped upon him as no Pope ever had before, +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +and who is accustomed to shake the Roman Olympus +by his nod. Then there are the Cardinals and Prelates, +the whole spiritual staff of Congregations—the Papal +family—all fully united and resolved, and the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>contribuens +plebs</foreign> of foreign Bishops, who are fairly caught in +the net, and will not be suffered to escape without the +bonds and chains of the most stringent decrees securing +their obedience. On the other side stand from 150 to +200 Bishops, of divers tongues and nations and now for +the first time united by a common need and a common +danger, like a snowball liable to melt at the first breath +of milder air, and fighting like those Spaniards of the +Cortes, who, with one foot chained to a stone, compelled +the Mexicans to spare their lives. One asks every +morning in doubt and terror, how far the solvents employed +have attained their end? Many would gladly +capitulate if only they were met half-way by tolerable +conditions, and such would secure them a rather less cold +reception on their return to their dioceses. Meanwhile +the eyes and the hopes of all educated Catholics, not +only in Germany but in Italy, France and North +America, are fixed on the chosen band of 300 Bishops. +</p> + +<p> +But how are matters likely to proceed? The Opposition +is tough and tenacious. Every new <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> bears +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +so unmistakeably the impress of the interests of either +the Jesuits or the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, that the Bishops cannot help +growing constantly more cautious, suspicious and reserved. +And to make their designs still clearer, the +Jesuits supply the practical commentary in their official +journal, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, to the effect that no measures of the +Governments against the encroachments of the Church +on the civil jurisdiction, or her summons to transgress +the laws of the country, would bind the consciences of +their subjects. The subjoined anathema against every +one who refuses to acknowledge that laws are annulled +by the ordinances of the Church (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Pope), +is a sorry consolation for the Bishops; for experience +has shown too often that courts of justice and +statesmen don't trouble themselves about the excommunications +incurred in the discharge of their official +duties. The Bishops accordingly foresee nothing but endless +rubs and collisions with the civil power, as well as +with whole classes of the population at home; and +when the Jesuits are commended to them as pledged +and triumphant allies in the contest to be waged against +Governments, constitutions and laws, they generally +shake their heads suspiciously and with no particular +feeling of triumphant joy. +</p> + +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> + +<p> +The Pope's 300 episcopal foster-sons cost him 25,000 +francs daily, and that makes the pleasant little sum of +1,500,000 francs for two sterile months, during which +these doughty warriors have sat a good deal, but accomplished +nothing by their sitting; for the old Roman +proverb, <q>Romanus vincit sedendo,</q> has not been +verified here. The Pope is gradually getting frightened +at this daily expenditure, and, after the fashion of great +lords, who readily lay the blame of the failure of their +own plans on the bad advice of their subjects, he said +to-day, in an outbreak of disgust, <q>per furia di farmi +infallibile, mi faranno fallire.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The proceedings of the Council must therefore be +expedited and curtailed. At the same time nothing +must be remitted of the matters it is to deal with and +vote into canons and decrees. Therefore the order of +business must be changed. Cardinal Antonelli says +now that <q>the speeches have been too long and too +many, and must be entirely put an end to; the +Bishops must be content with handing over their observations +in writing to the Commission of twenty-four +or the Commission for Petitions.</q> He tries to sweeten +the bitter draught to their lips by remarking that this +decision is for their own advantage, for, after being so +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +wearied out with the long sittings and listening to +speeches, they must be glad to be relieved of the burden. +The Bishops, however, experience no such joyful feeling, +but say that the last vestige of conciliar freedom is +now abolished. They have the more reason for saying +so, since it is notorious that the Infallibilist +and purely Romanist party is exclusively represented +on the Commissions, so that it may be clearly foreseen +that the remarks and suggestions of the liberal-minded +and reforming Bishops will simply be +thrown into the waste-paper basket, or, under the +most favourable circumstances, be buried in the archives +of St. Angelo. At the moment I am writing the new +<foreign rend='italic'>Regolamento</foreign> has not yet been published, owing to the +urgent requests and representations of certain Bishops. +But to judge from Antonelli's statement, the authorities +seem determined to drop the last veil, and show quite +openly to the world that the Council has been arranged +as a mere machine of Roman administration, and must +therefore of course be forced back into the path from +which it had wandered. Many a Bishop now looks +back with painful regret to the Council of Trent, where, +notwithstanding the haughty insolence of the Italians, +the ambassadors of Spain and France acted as protectors +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +to the foreign Prelates, and were a great check on the +arbitrary violence of the Legates. Now, Antonelli +assures every diplomatist who says a word on the unprecedented +method of procedure, and the hostile character +of the proposed decrees towards the State, that +these things have only a theoretical and doctrinal +significance, and that in practice the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> will study +a wise moderation, and place itself on a friendly footing +with the Governments. He means, that when one +fills one's arsenal with new and effective weapons, that +is no proof that they will at once be discharged. I +don't know whether this satisfies the diplomatists. +Perhaps Count Trautmansdorff is satisfied, for his +Government has repeatedly announced its resolve to +wait quietly till the Council is over and the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> is +put in possession of all the decrees and dogmas it +wants. Then, when the new doctrines are already +inserted in all the catechisms and taught in all seminaries +and enforced in every confessional, it will be time +enough to consider what line the civil power should +take in the matter. M. de Banneville and the Paris +Government do not seem to be of this opinion. I don't +imagine they are minded at Paris so entirely to sacrifice +the Bishops to the arbitrary will of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and its +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +paid majority, and for the last few days the French +ambassador has been engaged in a lively telegraphic +correspondence with his own Government. We may +very soon expect important disclosures. +</p> + +<p> +As far as I can make out, the conviction still prevails +among the Roman clergy and their episcopal +allies that the dogma of Infallibility in the third +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> will be accepted by the Council, at least in a +somewhat modified form, but one easily capable of +being extended and quite sufficient for present exigencies. +They say, <q>We will first take the vote on the +question of opportuneness, and a mere majority may very +well decide that. It has decided already by the 400 +or 410 signatures to the (Infallibilist) Address, and the +Bishops who have themselves answered No, will be +obliged to yield to this decision, and so to come to +the vote on the dogma itself, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, to declare whether +they personally hold the Pope to be dogmatically +fallible or infallible.</q> The Romans expect that, when +matters have come to this point, not a few Bishops—especially +Ketteler of Mayence, and, it may be hoped, +many more with him—will come over to their side and +profess their faith in Papal Infallibility. In whatever +form they clothe their belief, it comes to the same thing +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> +in the end. At last there will only remain a little band of +obstinate Prelates who will protest. They may talk if +they please, and then it will be proclaimed to the world, +by an overwhelming majority of perhaps 700 votes, +that it has become Infallibilist. Then might a new St. +Jerome say, with greater force than the former one said +of Arianism, <q>Miratus est orbis se esse factum infallibilistam.</q> +A Roman clergyman, who expressed this +expectation to me with peculiar confidence, added that +there had been a like occurrence at the Council of +Trent and it would now be repeated. I perfectly +understood him, and the matter deserves to be mentioned +here as a striking parallel to certain recurring +possibilities. The Council, which was meant to reform +and thereby to save the Church, was brought to an early +consideration of the universal neglect of Bishops to +reside in their dioceses and the need for recognising +this duty as one of Divine obligation. But it appeared +at once, in the first period of the Council, that the +Court of Rome and its faithful Italians in the assembly +had the strongest interest in preventing the assertion +of this simple and logically necessary truth. For, as +regards the past, it would have implied severe censure +of the practice followed by the Popes since the beginning +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> +of the thirteenth century, which would be shown +to be a constant violation of the Divine law; while, +in regard to the present and future, it would have +seriously limited the plenary power of the Popes, for +it was always held a principle in the Church that no +one could dispense from the law of God. But the +non-Italian Bishops, and nearly all the Italians themselves, +were at first in favour of declaring it to be <q>the +Divine law,</q> so strong was the evidence. And it was +seen clearly enough that from the divinely imposed obligation +must again be inferred the equally divine rights +and institution of the episcopate. Meanwhile the Jesuit +General made his two famous speeches to show that +all episcopal authority was a mere emanation from the +Pope. For ten months, from September 18, 1562 to +July 14, 1563, all sessions of the Council had to be +suspended to prevent any decree being made on the +subject; and at last, on July 14, 1563, the twenty-eight +Spanish Bishops and <q>the Divine right of residence</q> +succumbed to the majority of 192 votes, about +three-fourths being Italians. <foreign rend='italic'>Absit omen!</foreign> +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> of February 5, 1870, in its article, <q>I +Politicastri ed il Concilio,</q> has supplied a noteworthy +commentary on the canons or decrees of the third +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which affirm the Church to be an institution +armed with coercive powers of inflicting bodily punishments; +for that is obviously the meaning. The <q>Politicastri</q> +are those statesmen who imagine that the State +has a sphere of its own, independent of the legislation +of the Church and the interposition of the Pope. That, +according to the Roman Jesuits, is a most abominable +error. A law which contradicts a law of the Church +has not the slightest validity for men's consciences. +For the authority of a Council—and <foreign rend='italic'>a fortiori</foreign> of a +Pope, from whom, on the Jesuit theory, Councils derive +all their force and validity—is above the authority of +the State.<note place='foot'><q>Ove accadesse collisione tra le definizioni del Concilio ecumenico e le +leggi dello Stato, queste cesserebbero per ciò solo di avere <emph>qualsiasi</emph> vigore +obbligatorio,</q> p. 262.</note> Should the State therefore require obedience +to a law opposed to an ordinance of the Council, +it would do so without any real right (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>senza vero titulo +giuridico</foreign>), and, should it enforce compliance, would be +introducing a suicidal tyranny. It is further explained +that this by no means applies to those religious laws +only which rest on Divine ordinance, but also to those +which are purely ecclesiastical, and therefore on Catholic +principles are variable. +</p> + +<p> +Let us take the twelfth of the <hi rend='italic'>Canones de Ecclesiâ</hi>, +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +which anathematizes all who doubt the Church's power +to inflict corporal punishment; and consider further +that the Popes have most solemnly declared that by +baptism all heretics are become their subjects, are +amenable to the laws of the Church, and must, if +needful, be compelled to obey them.<note place='foot'>So Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi>, in his Brief of 1791, directed against the new laws of the +French Assembly for securing religions freedom. Therein the distinction is +still drawn between heathen and Jews on one side and Protestants or heretics +on the other, that the former cannot be compelled to receive baptism, +but the others, <q>qui se Ecclesiæ per susceptum Baptismi Sacramentum +subjecerunt, cogendi sunt</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Collect. Brev. Pii VI.</hi>, Aug. Vindel. 1791, i. 34). +Benedict <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> declared the same before in 1749 (<hi rend='italic'>Bullar. Mag.</hi>, Romæ, ed. +Coquel, T. xvii. p. 272). And Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> afterwards, in his Brief of 1803 +(Kopp, <hi rend='italic'>Die kath. Kirche des 19 Jahrh.</hi>, Mainz, 1830, p. 429). <q>According +to Scripture, Councils and Tradition, heretics remain subject to the +laws of the Catholic Church.</q></note> Consider further +that the Syllabus condemns the toleration or equality +of different religions, and no doubt can remain as +to what system it is intended to introduce. +</p> + +<p> +The second Letter of the famous Oratorian and member +of the French Academy, Father Gratry, has just come +here, and has produced a great impression. It treats +of the gross forgeries by which the way for the introduction +of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility has been +gradually prepared, first in the ninth and then in the +thirteenth century; and dwells especially on the fact that +the theologians—above all Thomas Aquinas, who rules +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +in the schools, and his many disciples and followers—were +deceived by these fabrications, and that even the +Popes themselves were misled by them. Gratry's exposition +is clear and convincing; but he goes beyond the +middle ages. He shows how dishonestly the Breviary +was tampered with at Rome at the end of the sixteenth +century, and how, up to the present time the Jesuits, +Perrone and Wenninger,—the latter in a truly amazing +fashion—have followed the practice of citing fabulous +or corrupted testimonies. +</p> + +<p> +One grand result of the Council its authors have not +foreseen or reckoned upon, which, however, has already +attained alarming dimensions; I mean the scandal it +has given. They seem to have really believed with a +childish <foreign rend='italic'>naïveté</foreign> that the Council could be hermetically +sealed up, like birds under a glass bell, and its members +shut up apart,—that 3000 persons could be reduced +to silence by a Papal edict about matters they feel there +is the strongest necessity for speaking of. Such a +notion could only grow up in the heads of Roman +clerics, who are wont to look at the world beyond their +own narrow sphere only through crevices of the open +door, or through the key-hole. Only too much has become +known. The Jesuits, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>, the +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +<hi rend='italic'>Monde, et id genus omne</hi>, have done their best to reveal +the sharp contrast of opposite parties, and the world of +to-day, sceptically disposed as it is and little inclined to +cover the shame and nakedness by turning away its face, +is present at a double spectacle: it witnesses the system +of force and intrigue by which a Council is managed, +and it watches with keen observation the process of +manipulating a new dogma. Men say now, what Cardinal +Bessarion said before, according to an anecdote +current here, that the way Saints were canonized in his +own time made him very suspicious about the older Saints +and Canonizations. In the same way the Protestant +and Catholic laity, who are here in such numbers at +present, say, <q>We know and see now how matters are +managed in the Church when a new dogma is to be +made; what artifices, and deceptions, and methods of +intimidation are employed to gain votes. Must it not +have been the same at former Councils?</q> I have heard +even Bishops here say that such thoughts pressed upon +them, and were severe temptations against faith. And +if these things are done in the green tree, what shall be +done in the dry? Is it different with you in Germany? +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twentieth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 9, 1870.</hi>—In commencing the discussion +on the Catechism the Council passed into the last stage +of the peaceful proceedings, which are to precede the +battle on the claims of the Roman authority. The +speech of Cardinal Rauscher, who is ill, was delivered +by the Bishop of Gurk, and made a great impression. +He was followed by Cardinal Mathieu, one of the best +Latinists in the French episcopate, the Primate of +Hungary and the Archbishop of Tours. After them +Dupanloup spoke, who was again, as on the former +occasion, not well heard. He lashed those who think +that the cultivated nations of the Catholic world are to +have a Catechism dictated to them by Rome. The +Session was not favourable to the propositions, but men +can no longer fix their minds on themes of lesser importance. +All are thinking of the decisive contest +which is imminent. Many indeed on both sides wish +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +that it could be avoided. The threatening attitude of the +policy of France has roused serious misgivings. It was +known in Rome at the end of January, but the decisive +instructions only arrived on Saturday, February 5, and +produced a deep and unpleasant sensation. Hitherto +the Court of Rome was able to hinder the withdrawal of +the French troops, by threatening to take refuge under +English protection at Malta; but with the good understanding +that now prevails between the French and +English Governments this is no longer possible. It is +perfectly well known in the Vatican that neither of the +two powers will stretch out a hand to uphold Papal absolutism. +It is a proof of the strong impression produced +by the French note that the Papal Court has kept it +secret. No appeal is tried to Catholic public opinion +or the loyal episcopate, for it is well ascertained that +the Infallibilist doctrine has very different enemies +from the temporal power. To Cardinal Antonelli it +seems like a denial of the whole work of his life to +stake the temporal power of the Pope for the sake +of a new dogma. But if this is to be saved, the dogma +must be sacrificed. So the Opposition now has the +assurance that the neutrality and non-intervention of +the Catholic powers is come to an end, and it is encouraged +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +at the same time by the part the learned world +has begun to take on its side, since the publication in +Germany of the addresses which attest the antagonism +of eminent Catholic scholars and professors of theology +to the new dogma. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the minority is composed of heterogeneous +elements, and it may be safely calculated that +they will not all hold out to the last. Some opponents +of the definition are friends of the doctrine, and oppose +it on grounds not of a purely abstract or theological +nature. No one has calculated the numerical proportion +of these in inopportunists to the real opponents of +Infallibility. Any serious discussion of the question +has long been avoided, and many think it ought to be +avoided, because therein lies the dangerous weakness of +the party. The ground of inopportuneness, which had +already been adopted in the Letter to the Pope from +Fulda, was taken up from the first, in the hope of +paralysing the majority by an imposing number of dissentients. +They hoped to be strong by their numbers, +and to look strong by a certain kind of unity. The +theory of inopportuneness seemed to provide a common +ground for the decided opponents of the dogma and for +the timid and vacillating or moderate adherents of the +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +doctrine itself. That a really united Opposition has +been formed on this basis is mainly due to the Bishop +of Orleans. He attacked the opportuneness with such +a powerful array of testimonies in his famous Pastoral, +that every one saw clearly the doctrine itself was involved, +though he never entered in so many words on +the theological question. The position he provided has +served its purpose for two months, without the party +being brought to a declaration for or against the dogma. +It has served to bring in adherents to the Opposition, +who in the strictest sense of the word belong to the +Roman Court party, and to provide waverers with a +comparatively innocent method of resistance. It has +prevented the victory of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> in the days of their +greatest ascendancy, but it is untenable for a permanence. +The position of the inopportunists has the fatal +disadvantage that it can be out-flanked. That would +have happened, had the Bishops been separately requested +to give their opinions <q>sub secreto,</q> with a +promise that no public declaration in the Council +should be desired. +</p> + +<p> +Then, again, it is a position that can easily be +mastered by means of the majority. A minority may +be invincible on the ground of dogma, but not of +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> +expediency. Everything can be ventured to combat a +false doctrine, but not to hinder an imprudence or +a premature definition. In questions of faith one dare +not give in; not so in questions of discretion only. +And then the Council must have been sooner or later +driven from the ground of inopportuneness, if it was not +shipwrecked on the order of business; for it was a point +of view the decision could not finally hinge upon, in +presence of a preponderating majority. +</p> + +<p> +The defection of part of the Opposition was thus only +a question of time, though it became more difficult for +individuals after each act done in union, and many an +inopportunist has advanced to theological contradiction +of the dogma. But the attempt to make the rejection +of the doctrine the principle of the party forced the +contrast more and more on the minds of individuals. +Among the Germans primarily, and in the groups of +leading Bishops from different countries who took +counsel together, a more determined spirit gradually +developed itself, and it was seen that their adversaries +made capital out of every sign of unclearness of view +among the Opposition. They were constantly spreading +reports that on the main point all were united, and +that at most there were not above twenty opponents +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> +of the dogma, including only two Germans, who were +adherents of Hermes and Günther; perhaps only five +opponents in all, or none at all. In presence of these assertions +a public declaration seemed necessary, less for +the faithful at home than for non-Catholics, who ask +about the doctrine. The Bishops of the Opposition told +themselves that honour and episcopal duty demanded +that a Bishop should not withhold his belief on a +fundamental question, at a moment when all have to +speak, the moment of danger. The very success of the +inopportunist policy is no true success. It is no +victory of the truth, when it is not openly proclaimed +in the contest. Those who do not fight under the +banner of their own convictions are not on equal terms +with their adversaries. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the view has been more and more making way, +that not only must every definition be avoided as dangerous, +but that the doctrine of the Roman theologians +and their adherents in the Episcopate must be rejected +as false. And this brought men more and more to the +scientific ground. It was no longer a mere affair of +personal conviction, but of direct evidence, and the +moment was come for literary argument to assert its +place in the proceedings of the Council. The position +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +of the mere inopportunists became more difficult, and +the band which held the party together was loosened. +Their adversaries at once zealously availed themselves of +this favourable crisis; nearly every Bishop of the minority +was plied with various intermediate formulas and +conciliar proposals. Attempts were made to sow disunion +among the leaders; political jealousies at home, +and whatever else could be made use of, were seized +upon to undermine mutual confidence. Some were to +be deceived by the phantom of a middle party, and were +told that they might take a position as peacemakers at +the head of a mediating section—of course in the anticipation +that every one who makes concessions and admits +the principle of the definition will pass over to the +majority. Against all these attempts the Bishops of +the minority have, on the whole, though not without +some wavering, kept firm and true. But still the +transition to the strictly theological standpoint, where +individual conviction on the question of Infallibility +must be decisively recognised and represented, cannot +be accomplished without an internal conflict and +shaking of the party. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 11, 1870.</hi>—When once literature began +to be brought to bear actively on the proceedings of the +Council, the crisis could not long be delayed, for science, +which has to do with truth only, knows nothing of +diplomatic considerations, and makes no concessions to +the requirements of the moment. It brings back the +discussion inevitably from theory to fact, from the +sphere of dogma to the sphere of history. In remorselessly +exposing the inventions and forgeries +which form the basis of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, +it necessarily attacks the whole ultramontane +system of which that doctrine is the logical consequence. +The fundamental refutation of the dogma is +fatal to much in the specifically Roman theology and +the modern claims of the Popes, which would not +otherwise have been assailed in Council by any Bishop. +Those who shrink from collision with the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +would desire to spare it a public exposure of error +before the whole world, and who have therefore hitherto +remained on the defensive, will now be driven +further and placed in a position they would never have +chosen. They see their adversaries in a light—whether +as deceived or deceivers—which seriously disturbs their +daily intercourse with them. For it is no longer possible +to conceal by any periphrasis the fact that the spirit +the Opposition has to combat is no other than the spirit +of lying. And so, when the voice of honest science +cannot be excluded, no peaceful issue is possible. The +contest takes the form of an internecine strife against +that absolute Papal system for which the Court had at +first confidently expected to gain the almost enthusiastic +sanction of the Council. The aid of science can be +purchased at no cheaper price. No wonder then if the +Bishops recoil in trembling before the weighty task of +winning the victory for that view which specially prevails +among learned Germans of this day, first in the +Council, and then among the mass of the clergy and +the faithful. There are few among them who are not +inwardly conscious that they will themselves come in +for some of the heavy blows. +</p> + +<p> +Father Gratry's first Letter on its arrival at Rome +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +roused serious reflection in many. His skilful handling +of a subject familiar to all, and his repeated application +of the solemn passage, <q>Numquid indiget Deus +mendacio vestro?</q><note place='foot'>Job xiii. 7.</note> together with his unmistakeable +allusion in his division of mankind into <q>viri veraces</q> +and <q>viri mendaces,</q> contributed to make clear the full +significance of the contrast—to many for the first time. +Döllinger's printed criticism of the Address was not calculated +to quiet the excitement it caused. The Roman +party, in the hope of effecting an internal split in the +party, seized the handle which Döllinger's statement +that he was in harmony on the main question with the +majority of the German Bishops seemed to supply, and +tried to extract a counter declaration from the Bishops. +The first attempt, to induce the Archbishop of Munich +to exert his authority, failed. Then the Bishop of Mayence +brought the matter before the Assembly of German +Opposition Bishops. He angrily disclaimed for +himself any solidarity with Döllinger's view, and averred +his belief in Papal Infallibility, saying it was only the +difficulty and danger of a dogmatic declaration quite +unnecessary in itself that made him an opponent of the +definition. Had his motion been accepted, and the +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> +German Opposition renounced their hostility to the +dogma and retired to the ground of mere expediency, +the complete victory of the Infallibilists would have +been a matter of a few weeks only. But when the +German Bishops rejected Ketteler's urgent demand, and +decisively refused to give up their assault on the dogma, +the half-and-half character and weakness of their position +vanished, and they ceased to subordinate or +sacrifice the theological standpoint to the question of +expediency. And thus the difficult word has been +spoken; they have already pronounced against the +doctrine itself in the Addresses they have signed. The +reproach incurred thereby does not, of course, apply in +full force to the Bishop of Mayence, who has always +told his colleagues that he is on their side on the question +of opportuneness only. The Bishop of Rottenburg +(Hefele) has already declared in his speech at Fulda +that it is necessary to advance further and assail the +doctrine itself. And he repeated this in reply to Ketteler's +proposal. The great majority of the Bishops were +unfavourable to that proposal. While in this way +they testified their agreement with Döllinger, some of +them—especially Strossmayer—declared emphatically +for the œcumenicity of the Council of Florence. They +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +have weighty reasons for this. The more strongly the +minority hold to Döllinger's interpretation of the +famous Florentine decree, the less can they afford to +depreciate the authority of the Synod. For in their +opinion it is just that decree which serves to expose +the dishonesty of the other party, and to overthrow the +extreme doctrine. It will do them good service too in +the discussion on the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> and the new +<hi rend='italic'>Schema de Romano Pontifice</hi>, which is now announced. +</p> + +<p> +But while the German Bishops rejected Ketteler's +proposal, and left to the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà Cattolica</hi> and the Mayence +<hi rend='italic'>Katholik</hi> the war against the Munich School, they +did not venture to come to an open breach with the +less homogeneous elements of their party, wishing to +retain Ketteler on their side—who is as zealous +against the Roman principles in Church and State as +against German science—as an active ally in the contest +against the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. For this end there have been +consultations, especially between the Archbishop of Cologne +on one side and the Archbishop of Munich on +the other. The commotion produced by Döllinger's +essay in the learned world of Germany gives them +an opportunity for helping the minority over this discomfiture, +and averting for the immediate moment of +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +danger the threatened disruption. It cannot be denied +that to a certain extent the latest declarations of German +Catholics are very acceptable to the Bishops, for +the very reason that they partly emanate from men who +belong to the more moderate opponents of Infallibility. +It is a piece of good luck for the Bishops staying at +Rome that men who are independent, and at a distance +from the flatteries and threats of the Vatican, undertake +to call things by their right names, that reason +makes itself heard by the side of passion, and science by +the side of authority. It is moreover very convenient +that the materials can be used while the writer is disowned. +But although the Bishops know well how to +value the importance of the support given to their +cause from Germany, yet this new movement is not +altogether to their taste; their dignity demands that +they should not succumb to pressure from without, or +owe too much to the public press. A Bishop is indeed +presumed to be a theologian. And as it is impossible +that the considerations which for the moment are +decisive in the Council should always be taken into +account by writers, there cannot fail to be manifold +embarrassments. From the intra-conciliar point of +view it is easy to go too far. And then it may be +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +regarded as almost inevitable that many Bishops should +receive these manifestations of opinion from Germany +with outward coldness, or reply by advising that it +should be left in their hands alone to secure the victory +of truth. In their eyes silence is in itself a kind of +vote of confidence. A too zealous participation might +almost look like a sign of doubt as to the Bishops +having strength and perseverance and coherence enough +to conquer. To be sure, none feel such doubts more +strongly than the Bishops themselves, but nothing can +better serve to give them the confidence in themselves +which is so much to be desired as showing them that +others feel it. +</p> + +<p> +And thus among the German Bishops in Rome +Hefele's view has triumphed over Ketteler's, the +logical and decided over the half-and-half policy, and +the difficult turning-point has been passed without +loss or breach in the party. And not a day too soon! +Next week a new <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> and a new order of business +will bring the disunion and irritation in the Council to +a point. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 15, 1870.</hi>—If I wrote a fortnight ago +that the situation was essentially improved since the +first weeks, this must be taken with important reservations. +The most keen-sighted of the North American +Bishops then said, <q>We have done nothing at +all, and that is a great deal.</q> He thought it an +important gain that of the proposals laid before the +Council, the two <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>, nothing had passed, and +none of the objects for which it had been convoked +had, up to that point, been attained. But this has +only been the damming up of a stream which eventually +bursts through the more violently, and carries away +the dam with it. For the majority of 500, who are +resolved to indorse everything and vote every measure +proposed, holds firmly together, before and behind; +while the minority, on the other hand, is in danger of +being shivered to pieces on the rock of opportuneness. +</p> + +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> + +<p> +The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> now under discussion, of a common +Catechism for the whole Catholic world, is clearly +connected with the general programme cut out for +the Council; for if the new dogmas are fabricated, +they will at once be inserted into this universal +Catechism, and thereby inculcated in the simplest and +most convenient manner on the youth and the whole +body of the faithful. The Jesuits have found the +experiment very successful in Germany with their own +Catechism, and have thereby naturalized the doctrine +of Infallibility gradually, with a precision rendered +more explicit in each successive edition in the boys' +and girls' schools, especially those conducted by nuns. +The Catechism has also proved a great financial success, +and thus whole countries have become tributary to +the Order. In the same way the new Catechism of the +Council will be a source of manifold profit to both the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the Jesuits. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> treats the Council +with scientific skill, like a patient who has first to be +gently physicked, and then has stronger doses given +him by degrees. First came the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> of philosophical +and theological doctrine, then of discipline, and +now the question of a common Catechism. Behind +this looms the deeply-cutting <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Church; +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> +and when that is triumphantly passed, the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on +the Pope appears as the crown of the grand legislative +work. While the former tractate propounds the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>supremum magisterium</foreign> of the Church, as holding sovereign +power over lands and seas, souls and bodies, in the +last <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> this supreme <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>magisterium</foreign> crops out in the +person of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, who now enters into the possession +of the supreme dominion and powers marked out for +him in the dogmatic chart, if we can speak of any +marking out when, in principle, everything is laid +claim to, and the master himself alone and conclusively +draws the line of demarcation where he chooses. He +presents himself to the world as infallible teacher and +legislator in the realm of science, as supreme judge of +the literature of the world, as supreme lord and master +in all that pertains to religion, or is related to it, and +as infallible judge of right and wrong in all points. +Many will say with Polonius, <q>Though this is madness +there is method in it.</q> Let us examine these principles +more closely. +</p> + +<p> +<emph>First</emph>, The Pope possesses the supreme and immediate +dominion and jurisdiction, not merely over the Church +in general, but over every individual Christian. Every +baptized person is directly and immediately subject to +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +the Pope, his ordinances, special commands and penalties. +His power is <q>suprema tum in Ecclesiam universalem, +tum in omnes et <emph>singulos</emph> Ecclesiarum pastores et <emph>fideles</emph> +jurisdictio;</q> or, as the twenty-one Canons say, <q>ordinaria +et immediata potestas.</q> Whoever disbelieves +this incurs anathema.<note place='foot'>The idea is thrice repeated; <q>fideles tam seorsim singuli quam simul +omnes officio ... veræ obedientiæ obstringuntur,</q> is said once again in the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<emph>Secondly</emph>, The Church stands as high above the State +as heavenly beatitude above the profits and goods of +this earthly life.—(<hi rend='italic'>Can.</hi> 13.) +</p> + +<p> +<emph>Thirdly</emph>, Every one must therefore prefer the advantage +of the Church to the welfare of the State, <q>Si quando +videantur utilia regno temporali, quæ bonis sublimioribus +Ecclesiæ et æternæ salutis repugnent, ea nunquam +habebunt pro veris bonis, etc.</q>—(<hi rend='italic'>Can.</hi> 13 ad fin.) +</p> + +<p> +<emph>Fourthly</emph>, The supreme <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>magisterium</foreign> of the Church, +<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the Pope, whether alone or in union with a +Council, has to decide what Princes and Governments +should do or leave undone in questions of civil society +and public affairs. <q>De ipsâ agendi normâ judicium, +quatenus de morum honestate, <emph>de licito vel illicito</emph> +statuendum est pro civili societate publicisque negotiis, +ad supremum Ecclesiæ magisterium pertinet.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> + +<p> +<emph>Fifthly</emph>, As the Pope possesses not only the supreme +office of teacher, but also the supreme right of coercion +and punishment, he not only distinguishes as teacher +what is and what is not permissible for States and +nations, but he can enforce his decision on political +matters by penalties upon every one—be he monarch +or minister or private citizen. He has the right +<q>devios contumacesque exteriori judicio et salubribus +pœnis coërcendi atque cogendi.</q>—(<hi rend='italic'>Can.</hi> 12.) +</p> + +<p> +<emph>Sixthly</emph>, Whenever a law of the Church conflicts with +a law of the State, the latter must give way; and +whoever maintains that anything forbidden by the +law of the Church is allowed by the law of the State +incurs anathema.—(<hi rend='italic'>Can.</hi> 20.) +</p> + +<p> +These ecclesiastical maxims, which deprive the laws +of the land of all force and of all obligation for the +conscience, are partly those already in existence, partly +those any Pope may issue hereafter whenever it pleases +him. +</p> + +<p> +Thus marriage, primary instruction and education, +the toleration or suppression of dissenting communions, +the jurisdiction and privileges of the clergy, the acquisition +and control of ecclesiastical property, oaths, wills, +and the whole of the unlimited domain taken into her +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +hands and legislated for by the mediæval Church, and +in short whatever comes under the head of permissible or +forbidden—this, <foreign rend='italic'>en masse</foreign>, forms the sphere of the Pope's +jurisdiction, wherein he rules with absolute and sovereign +power, and puts down all opposition by coercion +and punishments. Truly this reminds one of the +Prophet's words, <q>The bricks are fallen down, but +we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are +fallen, and we will plant cedars in their place.</q> Since +Paul <hi rend='italic'>iv.</hi>'s time, 260 years ago, no Pope has so openly +and undisguisedly spoken out the thoughts and wishes +of his heart. The kernel of the doctrine, then, is this: +there is on earth one sole lord and master over kings +and subjects alike, over nations as over families and +individuals, against whom no right or privilege avails, +and whose slaves all are. The only difference is that +some, viz., the Bishops, can on their side rule and lord +it in their dioceses as upper servants in the name of the +Church or the Pope, so far as their master does not +interfere to stop them, while all others are mere slaves +and nothing more. This obviously goes far beyond +the Syllabus. This is the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi> +modernized and, so to speak, translated out of military +language (about the two swords) into political and juristic +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +terms. Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, and Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, +said that, <q>ratione peccati,</q> they could interfere anywhere, +and bring any affair or process before their +Court, for it belongs to the Pope to decide what is sin +and to punish it. What is said here comes to the +same thing, that the Pope determines what is or is not +allowable, and acts accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +It is a stately edifice of universal Papal dominion +whereon the keystone of Infallibility, which bears and +upholds the whole, is to be placed, so that every command +and ordinance of the Pope, even in political +matters, is infallible, as the Jesuit Schrader has so +clearly and forcibly pointed out. And to this must be +added further (according to Canon 9) a vast and infinite +domain for infallible decisions, viz., <q>all that is requisite +for preserving the revealed deposit in its integrity.</q> +Who can specify what is included here, or fix any limits +to it? +</p> + +<p> +Two other links in this world-embracing chain are +not visible, which are yet necessary for its coherence. +The Interdict, which robbed whole populations of divine +service and sacraments, must be restored in its ancient +splendour, and the Pope's right to dispense from oaths +must be distinctly asserted. +</p> + +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> + +<p> +The Fathers of the Council have daily opportunities +of feeling how useful the temporal power is for the +plenary jurisdiction of the Papacy. Were they assembled +anywhere else than in Rome, there would be +the possibility of holding a real Synod in the sense and +manner of the Ancient Church, while the so-called +Synod in Rome is in fact the mere painted corpse of a +Council laid out on a bed of state. +</p> + +<p> +Soul and freedom are wanting. On any other soil +than that of the States of the Church, the Bishops could +assemble in a room where they could debate and understand +one another, while they are now forcibly detained +in the Council Hall. They could come to a mutual understanding +by means of the press, by printed proposals or +statements of opinion, weekly reports and the like. +Anywhere else such treatment as the Patriarch of +Babylon experienced would have been impossible; he +has now taken refuge under the protection of the +French Embassy. But here the King of Rome lends to +the Pontiff the means of enforcing unreserved submission, +and it is like the lion's den, <q>vestigia nulla retrorsum.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Many a French Bishop has shared the experiences +of the famous Lamennais thirty-eight years ago, who +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> +came to the Eternal City full of ardent devotion to the +Chair of Peter and firm faith in its infallibility, and on +his departure, after a long stay there, wrote to a friend, +<q>Restait Rome; j'y suis allé et j'ai vu là la plus infame +cloaque qui ait jamais souillé les regards humains.</q> I +will not transcribe what follows, though it was lately +read to me by a Bishop. It may be seen in his Letters.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Correspondance</hi>, Paris, i. 247.</note> +But this I can testify: there are men in the French +Episcopate who used to be zealous champions of the +temporal power, but who would now bear its loss with +great equanimity, if only the calamity of the decrees +chartered for the Council could be thereby warded +off. +</p> + +<p> +Yesterday, February 14, the ice was broken at last. +The Bishop of Belley for the first time mentioned the +Infallibility doctrine in the General Congregation, observing +that the Council should at once proclaim it +and go home, as that was the only object they had +been summoned to Rome for. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile an instructive calculation has been made +of the proportion in which the different nations and +Catholic populations are represented in the Council. +It appears from them that the Catholics of North Germany +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +have <emph>one</emph> vote in Council for every 810,000 souls, +and those of the States of the Church for every 1200, so +that one Roman outweighs 60 Germans. It has been +further ascertained that the 512 Infallibilists in the +Council represent a population of 73,011,000 souls, +while only 94 opponents of the dogma represent +46,278,000. With the Infallibilists one vote represents +142,570, with the Opposition, 492,320 souls. +</p> + +<p> +Austria has now announced by her ambassador, Count +Trautmansdorff, that the Government will not allow +decrees in contradiction with the Constitution to be +promulgated in the country. This threat will produce +little effect, for all the doctrinal decrees have full force +throughout the whole Church from the mere fact of +being promulgated at the Council; only the disciplinary +regulations require to be promulgated in the various +countries and dioceses. Thus the Council of Trent has +never been promulgated in France, notwithstanding all +the endeavours of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, but the dogmatic decrees +have always been in full force there as elsewhere. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 16, 1870.</hi>—The order of business is now +to be altered, which means that an end is to be put to +the speeches. The Bishops are to hand in their views, +scruples and suggestions in writing to the Commission for +revising motions, which will use its own discretion as to +noticing or leaving unnoticed the proposals made with +a view to their being submitted to the Council. There +will then, in place of a discussion, be a mere voting, +which individuals may give their reasons for, if they +have previously stated the particular point they wish +to speak on and obtained leave for it. And in the new +order of business, the Pope's right to make and promulgate +decrees on faith with a mere majority is said to be +emphatically laid down. When this and the anticipated +and dreaded <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> <q>On the Pope</q> are promulgated, +we shall see what attitude the Bishops will +assume towards them. Both are now suspended like +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +two swords over the heads of the Fathers. All at last +depends on whether the Opposition remains compact, +or crumbles to pieces under the efforts of the curialists. +</p> + +<p> +If the general war required by the principles of the +new <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> against modern systems and governments, +which conflict in numberless cases with the laws of the +Church, is to be undertaken, the question arises, Where +is the army to carry it on, and what weapons are to be employed? +No doubt the trumpeters of the army are ready +at hand, viz., the Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> and the monastery +of Laach, but it seems a doubtful look-out about +soldiers. The Jesuits, indeed, command at present a +considerable number of distinguished and wealthy +females, but that will not go far in the great contest +against laws, parliaments and governments. The Pope +himself must principally supply the arms, which can +only be the old ones of excommunication, interdict and +processes of the Inquisition. Excommunication was +formerly very effective, when the excommunicated +could be proceeded against as heretics after a twelve-month, +but that is no longer feasible. Interdict, too, is +become a blunted instrument, which no Pope has ventured +to make use of since Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> succumbed in his +battle with Venice. The Inquisition only survives now +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +for the 700,000 souls of the present States of the Church. +That drastic means of giving up refractory populations +<foreign rend='italic'>en masse</foreign> to slavery and spoliation, as applied by Clement +<hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, Nicolas <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi>, and Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, cannot +easily be adopted now. So they will be content for the +time with establishing the principle, and must await +more favourable circumstances for realizing it. But +the Bishops are between two fires: they are discredited +with Rome, because they must continue to acknowledge +the civil laws, which are in fact condemned; they are +exposed with their Governments and people to the constant +suspicion of being on the watch for some political +complication to secure the triumph, at least in particular +cases, of the ecclesiastical principles recognised as valid +at Rome—in other words, the Decretals—over the laws +of the State. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to me important to ascertain more precisely +the attitude of the Dominicans—who are still a +powerful corporation, through their possessing such influential +offices as the Inquisition, Index, Mastership of +the Sacred Palace, etc.—towards Infallibilism. They +have always been the standing rivals and opponents of +the Jesuits, and before 1773 were often able to resist +them successfully. Now, of course, everywhere out of +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +Rome, they are out-flanked and repressed by the Jesuits, +while in Rome they have no influence with the Pope. +Yet they too are all decided Infallibilists, and that +because of their great theologian, Thomas Aquinas. +That he himself became implicated in this notion only +through means of the forgeries in Gratian, and of another +great fabrication, with spurious passages of the +Fathers, specially devised for his own benefit, they +neither know, nor are willing to believe when told of it. +They say they have once sworn to the doctrine of St. +Thomas, and must therefore adhere to the Infallibilist +doctrine introduced by him into the schools, to avoid +perjury.<note place='foot'>[A writer in the Cologne <hi rend='italic'>Rheinischer Merkur</hi> of May 14, a newly +started organ of Liberal Catholic principles, conducted entirely by priests, +learnedly discusses the question <q>whether St. Thomas Aquinas taught +Papal Infallibility,</q> and comes to the conclusion that, in spite of the +influence of these forged authorities on his mind, he did not.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +A certain feeling of discouragement betrays itself +among many Infallibilists, and there is much in the +occurrences of the last few weeks to account for it. +Thus the Archbishop of Milan, whose diocese nearly +equals in extent the whole States of the Church, has +received an address from his clergy and people expressing +agreement with his work against the dogma, which +has greatly rejoiced him. And the news of the state of +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +feeling in Germany is disheartening. Golden results +had been reckoned on from the efforts of the Jesuits +and their pupils there for the last twenty years. It +was supposed here that a very considerable number of +people beyond the Alps must be inspired with zeal for +Papal Infallibility. When the impulse given by Döllinger +evoked so many and such weighty expressions +of opinion on the other side, it was confidently expected +in Rome that a strong popular demonstration in favour +of the dogma would burst out, like a mighty hurricane, +from every district in Germany, as the 800 Jesuits at +work there would easily be able to bring that to pass. +But now it is evident that no single man of influence +in the whole country will make himself responsible by +name for this opinion, and that all who are eminent +for authority and knowledge—especially historians and +theologians—protest against the proposed new dogma. +Even the Jesuit Catechism has not been able to effect +everything in this respect. Can a new dogma be fabricated +for Spaniards, Italians and South Americans +exclusively? And even in North Italy an opposition +is being manifested. It is a questionable policy to +show to the German people so openly the gulf between +their religious thoughts and desires and those of the +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> +Latin nations, and even to widen that gulf. And in +what position would the episcopal signataries of the +Fulda Pastoral find themselves, after giving such an +explicit assurance to Catholic Germany, <q>that the +Council would establish no new or different dogmas +from those already written by faith on the hearts and +consciences of all German Catholics</q>? The faith and +conscience of the German Catholics, both theologians +and laity, have now spoken loudly and unequivocally +enough. And it is utterly impossible for a German +Bishop to return home from the Council with the new +dogma ready-made in his hand, and say to his flock, like +St. Paul, <q>Ye foolish Germans, who hath bewitched you?</q> +<q>You don't know yourselves what you have hitherto +held in your faith and conscience. See, here is the +true bread for your souls, just brought fresh from the +bake-house of the Council. This is what you ought long +ago to have believed; be converted, and confess that to +be white which you have thought was black, and that +to be a divine truth which you have taken for an invention +of man.</q> It cannot be presumed that a Bishop +would willingly contemplate exposing himself to the +ridicule of all Germany. +</p> + +<p> +The rumour of a speedy prorogation of the Council +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +is constantly growing more definite. As this depends +on one capricious will, it is quite possible in itself. +But some striking result would have first to be attained, +some conspicuous act accomplished by the Council; +or else the fraud would be too glaring, the nakedness +of the land too strikingly exhibited to the whole world. +To the question, why ten precious weeks had been idly +wasted without a single decree being achieved, the +only answer would be, that the desire to deprive the +Council of all independent action had led to the machine +being cramped and fettered till it was brought to a standstill +altogether. In accordance with the advice of the +Jesuits the whole Council had in fact been pre-arranged, +and nothing was to be left to the Fathers on their +arrival at Rome but to affirm the thoughts and formulate +the decrees suggested by others. The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> prepared +shall be read one after the other, and the Fathers +shall say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>, and to prevent their having any temptation +to criticise and mangle and curiously dissect and +combat the motions laid before them, the Sessions shall +be held in a Hall where the speeches cannot be heard, +and all discussion is impossible. That was the programme; +the result has proved that the Court had +judged rightly of about 500 out of the 700 members, +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +but had deceived itself as to the remaining 200. +Veuillot, who communicates the correct views about +the Council daily to the French, has declared that it +was right to deprive the Bishops of the freedom of evil +(<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>qu'il ne fallait pas laisser aux Évêques la liberté du +mal</foreign>). This beneficent care for the health of the Bishops' +souls has however been extended a little too far. Many +of them are so ungrateful as to think they are treated too +much like automatons, and that with the <q>liberté du mal</q> +they have also been deprived of the <q>liberté du bien.</q> +The Roman lists of names from which the Commissions +had to be chosen are not forgotten. The right of +proposing motions has been made illusory by the composition +of the Commission appointed for examining +them, and the arrangement for making the permission +to bring them forward dependent on the pleasure of +the Pope. And thus great uneasiness, not to say +exasperation, prevails among the 200 Bishops. And +on the other hand, the Pope has been for several weeks +past in a chronic state of mingled indignation and +astonishment at finding so many Bishops—even at +Rome, in his own immediate neighbourhood—daring to +think and say the contrary to what he, Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, thinks +and says. +</p> + +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> + +<p> +This rebellion of thought has not indeed yet been +directly and openly manifested in the Council Hall. +But when the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>, and with it Infallibility, +really come to be discussed, then even within the +sacred precincts of St. Peter's, and close to the Tomb of +the Apostles—which the Pope had assured himself +would inspire very different thoughts into the Bishops' +heads—bold utterances of contradiction will be heard, +and will resound throughout Europe, for <q>publicity +discloses the Acheron of the Council.</q> The expected +and decisive sealing up of 3000 mouths is at an end +once for all, and even that most correct and devoted of +Romanists, Veuillot, has declared in his <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> that +such a silence of the grave is impossible, especially for +the French, and has accordingly blurted out such of +the secrets of the Hall as seemed to him desirable +without scruple. Nor have the authorities taken it at +all ill of him. But to hear Bishops publicly in Council, +and in the hearing of the Papal Legates, proclaiming +views diametrically opposed to those of the Pope—and +that, too, in a question so fundamental and so +completely dominating the whole future life of the +Church—would be a scandal which must be averted +even at the heaviest cost. Some time before the Indiction +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +of the Council, in 1866, Pius himself formally +asserted, in the most significant terms, and in presence +of a numerous assemblage of foreigners who had come +to offer him their homage, his true attitude towards the +world and the Bishops, whether assembled or dispersed. +He spoke in French, and in words carefully +prepared beforehand, and I give the speech precisely as +it was reported, with the reporters' names subscribed, in +the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Union</hi>, and the <hi rend='italic'>Observateur Catholique</hi> +of April 1, 1866, p. 357:—<q><emph>Seul</emph>, malgré mon indignité, +<emph>je suis le successeur des apôtres</emph>, le vicaire de Jésus +Christ; <emph>seul</emph>, j'ai <emph>la mission de conduire et de diriger la +barque de Pierre, je suis la voie, la vérité, et la vie.</emph> Il +faut bien qu'on le sache, afin de ne pas se laisser tromper +et aventurer par la parole de gens qui se disent Catholiques, +mais qui veulent et enseignent tout autre chose +que ce que veut et enseigne l'Église.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Whether he really intended thereby to deny the +office of the Bishops as successors of the Apostles, +which has always hitherto been recognised in theology, +I cannot say. But this much is clear, that every +Bishop who in any important question of faith differs +from the views of Pius, departs from <q>the way,</q> swerves +from <q>the truth,</q> excludes himself from <q>the life.</q> +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/> +Nothing of the sort has ever been suffered at Rome; no +dissent has ventured into the light of day. The censorship +and the Inquisition have taken care of that. +It would be a supremely dangerous precedent if that +were now to happen for the first time, and with many +Bishops of different nations for the dissidents. The contradiction +between the Liberal Bishops and the Pope would +be the more glaring, as Pius has only in the last few +days addressed a very categorical letter to the Liguorian +Jules Jacques on his own infallibility. He praises this +man for having collected from the writings of Liguori +his statements about Papal Infallibility, and thus exhibited +the <q>sound doctrine.</q> The <q>unsound</q> doctrine +cannot be freely proclaimed in St. Peter's, and besides +it has such a peculiar power of infection, that for centuries +Rome has surrounded herself with a threefold +<foreign rend='italic'>cordon</foreign> and all sorts of disinfecting remedies against +this epidemic. And accordingly, from the Roman +standpoint, the adjournment of the Council must obviously +appear to be in any case the lesser evil in comparison +with so unheard-of a scandal. Just think of a +philippic in the Council Hall against the infallibility of +the Pope, an exposure of the errors of Popes—there in +St. Peter's, close to the Vatican, and before 700 Prelates! +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> +That would indeed be, in the words of Daniel, +the abomination of desolation in the holy place. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, an adjournment and subsequent reassembling +would have this advantage, that the order of +business and the locality could be changed. So +long as these remain unchanged, it is impossible to +speak seriously of a Council, and if the Roman censorship +prevents any complaints on the subject being +heard, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> cannot conceal from itself that after +the close of the Council the real state of the case will +be universally recognised as a notorious fact, and the +entire want of freedom or examination or discussion +be insisted upon as a ground and justification for rejecting +the decrees. But a Council universally questioned +or rejected would be an endless source of +embarrassment and distress for the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> themselves. +They would have at last to exclaim, <q>All I have gained +is a loss.</q> +</p> + +<p> +These and the like thoughts are now occurring to +many. The advice of the French Government, which +would on all accounts gladly welcome an adjournment, +the admonitions of Austria, which has at last, at the +twelfth hour, receded from its attitude of coldness and +indifference, and the knowledge that the two Protestant +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> +powers, Prussia and England, maintain the same views +on the threatened decrees and intended ecclesiastical +conquests, though without making any direct representations +on the subject—all this more or less contributes +to the gravity of the crisis. There are some drops of +wormwood mingled with the joyous goblets quaffed +daily to the Pope by the majority of 500 obsequious +and courtly Latins. As the obedience of these +Bishops and the Vicars-Apostolic, who can at any +moment be deposed by Propaganda, is unlimited, they +will vote the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> exactly as the Pope desires; +but most of them do it at least with an inward repugnance, +and say, like the Aragonese Cortes of old, <q>We +obey, but we don't execute.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 20, 1870.</hi>—The following classification of +the French Bishops here according to their parties may +be interesting. +</p> + +<p> +The French themselves distinguish three factions, +Liberal, Ultramontane, and the Third Party—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, those +who have signed no address, and have openly refused +to do so. To the Liberal section belong Alby, Gaz, +Marseilles, Nizza, Cahors, Mende, Perpignan, Bayonne, +Montpellier, Valence, Viviers, La Rochelle, Luçon, +Besançon, Metz, Nancy, Verdun, Annecy, Autun, Dijon, +Grenoble, Paris, Orleans, Rheims, Chalons, S. Brieux, +Vannes, Bayeux, Coutances, Evreux—thirty votes altogether. +</p> + +<p> +The Ultramontanes are—Rodez, Aire, Nîmes, Angoulême, +Poictiers (in the superlative), Belley, St. Diez, +Strasburg, Le Puy, Tulle, St. Jean de Maurienne, Langres, +St. Claude, Blois, Chartres, Meaux, Versailles, +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> +Amiens, Beauvais, Rennes (a malcontent Ultramontane), +Seez, Moulins, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Montauban, +Laval and Le Mans—twenty-seven votes. +</p> + +<p> +In the Third Party, headed by the Cardinal-Archbishop +of Rouen, are included Périgueus, Bourges, Tarantaise, +Cambray, Arras, Nevers, Troyes, Pamiers, Tours—ten +votes. +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops of Digne, Fréjus, Toulon and Soissons +are described as doubtful. +</p> + +<p> +The English Bishops are similarly divided. Manning +has only been able to get one single Bishop over to his +side. Two, Errington and Clifford, have signed the +Address against Infallibility. Six, including Bishop +Ullathorne of Birmingham, form a third party, who +decline to sign anything on either side. It is the same +with the Irish Bishops. The Romanized Cullen, whom +the Pope forced as Primate on the Irish Bishops, with +the same view as he imposed Manning on the English +Bishops, against their will, is of course an Infallibilist, +and would rejoice to enforce this dogma, which they +detest, on the educated classes of Ireland by the help +of the lower orders. Bishops Moriarty and Leahy (of +Dromore) have signed the Petition against Infallibility. +Archbishop MacHale of Tuam, and some others with +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +him, belong to the third party, while the majority of +the Irish Bishops see in Papal Infallibility a means for +increasing their influence over the people. What view +the South Italian Bishops take is illustrated by the following +anecdote. An Italian statesman spoke to two +of them about the immoderate claims contained in the +<hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>, and asked them whether they really +meant to assent to such decrees? <q>We cannot go +against the Holy Father,</q> was their reply. When he +reminded them of the independent attitude of the +German Bishops, they replied, <q>They can take that +line, for they are rich.</q> Another of the South +Italians amused the Council by urging that the constant +wearing of the long cassock should be enforced, +because Christ rose and ascended into heaven in that +dress. +</p> + +<p> +Since the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> has been in the hands +of the Bishops, it is clear to all that the Council has +been convoked simply for the purpose of extending the +power of the Pope and strengthening the influence of +the Jesuits, and that everything is designed to subserve +this one end. The Bishops are to forge chains for binding, +first the secular powers, and then themselves and +the whole clergy with them. The feeling they are +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> +possessed with is a bitter and painful one. They feel +outwitted and caught in a trap. They were summoned +to Rome, without being told a word of the objects aimed +at or the matters to be dealt with; on their arrival +they were strung and fixed, like the keys of a harpsichord, +into the great conciliar instrument, and they +find that they are to be used by the hand of the mighty +musician to produce tones which sound to themselves +most utterly nauseous. They know well enough that +the most eloquent speeches and most forcible arguments +don't change a single vote of the majority, +who would remain firm and unmoved as the rock +of Peter if a Chrysostom or Augustine was among +them. In an outburst of disgust at the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de +Ecclesiâ</hi>, a German Prelate, formerly Roman in his +sympathies, exclaimed, <q>This <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> deserves to be +thrust down into hell.</q> One hears these men congratulating +their colleagues who stayed at home under +a presentiment of what was coming. The news of +the adjournment of the Council, begun under such +evil auspices, would be welcomed by them with +delight. +</p> + +<p> +But these reports of an adjournment are rather +wishes than hopes. The prorogation would imply an +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> +admission that the Council had been a failure through +the fault of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, in the perversity of the regulations +it imposed on the Bishops, and the extravagance of the +measures it brought forward. <q>Perissent les colonies +plutôt qu'un principe</q>—this saying, uttered in the Paris +Convention of 1793, may often be heard here in various +applications. The world will be enlightened in a few +days by the publication of the new or altered order of +business. It is not prorogation that is the immediate +business, but the subjection of the minority more than +ever to the rule of the majority and its wire-pullers +who stand behind it, the outvoting them by majorities. +</p> + +<p> +In French circles a paper called the <hi rend='italic'>Moniteur Universel</hi> +is making no small sensation. It contains a detailed +account of the proceedings of the Council, drawn +up by a learned Frenchman residing here and under +the inspiration of French Bishops. It is thoroughly +authentic and carefully weighed—far the best and most +accurate account of the Council in that language. You +may perhaps find room for the following, which substantially +confirms and partly supplements and rectifies +my own statements:— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>The Council of Trent arranged the order of business +for itself. In this case just the contrary has been +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +done: everything was pre-arranged and imposed on the +Council by the Pope, and even the secretaries and scrutators +were named beforehand. No initiative is allowed to +the Bishops; the Commission for examining motions +is formed of the hottest Infallibilists and members of +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, but the final decision is reserved to the Pope. +The proposers of a motion are not even allowed to explain +and defend it, so that the freedom nominally conceded +to the Bishops of proposing measures is rendered purely +illusory. By the composition of the four Commissions, +elected from Roman lists of names, all work of critical +importance is kept in the hands of the few Infallibilists +chosen for the purpose by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, to the exclusion +of 700 Bishops, among whom are all the German Bishops +who signed the Fulda Letter to the Pope, and the most +influential French Prelates. In short, all Bishops not +known to be thorough-going Infallibilists have been +systematically excluded from the Commissions. Very +different was it at Trent, where all the Fathers, divided +into four Congregations, took a real part in the work. +We must add the monstrous disproportion of national +representation—the enormous and overwhelming preponderance +of the Italians, still further strengthened +by the host of Vicars-Apostolic, who can at any +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +moment be deposed by the Propaganda without any +legal formality. Thus the Italian Bishops alone outnumber +all the French, German, Hungarian and North +American together, though these last represent a +population nearly three times as large. The weakness +of the two French Cardinals, Bonnechose and Mathieu, +who ought to have taken the lead, has frustrated the +attempt to unite the French Bishops in a national +group. Bonnechose consulted Antonelli, who said +the French must not assemble in larger bodies than +fifteen or at most twenty together. The evil consequences +were at once shown in the elections.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>The Bishops are compelled by the Pope to hold +their sittings in a place where at least a third cannot +understand a word that is said, so that, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Cardinal +di Pietro long since declared he had not really understood +a single speech, and another Cardinal said that not +twenty words of all the speeches had reached his ear. +A really searching discussion and living interchange of +observations and replies is out of the question. No +speaker can hope to produce any impression on this +audience. And thus the first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which consists +of 140 pages, was the subject of general discussion for +weeks without any detailed discussion of the separate +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +articles being arrived at, or any point certainly ascertained, +notwithstanding the number of speakers. The only +result was a great waste of time, bodily fatigue and a +deep discouragement. Had the object been to satiate +the assembly with speeches <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>usque ad nauseam</foreign> it could +not have been better managed. It would be something +if the Fathers could read the speeches they can't +hear, but neither are they allowed to be read; the +Bishops may not even print their addresses at their +own cost. Thus many of them are wholly deprived of +the opportunity of expressing their views, knowing that +they will not be heard.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Vigorous preparations were made for two years +before the opening of the Council. There is matter +enough for ten Councils, but it is only communicated +to the Bishops piecemeal, so that they can get no insight +into the connection and plan of the separate propositions. +Thus a ready-made Council has been put +before 700 Bishops, which they are obliged again to +unstitch like a web. As the Bishops had no means of +gaining previous information, the Council is mostly +deaf and dumb, and has at last got driven into a +narrow pass from which there is no exit without a +thorough alteration of the order of business. No one +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> +can say how it will be with the examination of the +separate articles of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>, and yet the Council +ought to have most carefully weighed every word of +decrees which are to be imposed on the world under +anathema.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 24, 1870.</hi>—Since my last letter, the +Council, whose movements for a long time were like +those of a tortoise, has made gigantic strides. The +Goddess of Insolence (ὕβρις) rules here just as the +Greek tragedians—especially Sophocles—describe her. +All rumours of an adjournment of the Council were +partly well-meant wishes of several Bishops, partly +produced by the fact of the Governments—the French +in particular—earnestly desiring it. Here in Rome +no one of the Vatican party has thought of it for a +moment. All who know the real state of things and +persons here must be convinced that the Council will +certainly be gone through with to the end, either completely—in +full accordance with the well-calculated +plan sketched out during the last two years for partly +Jesuitizing and partly Romanizing everything in the +Church, in theology and in the religious life, and carrying +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> +out centralization to the utmost extent—or that, at +least, there will be no adjournment till the most +precious jewel hitherto wanting to the Papal tiara, +dogmatic Infallibility, has been inserted there. Then, +and not till then, will the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> have obtained the +irresistible talisman which opens every gate, fulfils +every desire and brings every treasure. That dogma +is Aladdin's magic lamp for Rome. +</p> + +<p> +There are three powers who wish to gain by the +Council, and who decide on its proceedings and destiny—the +Pope, the Jesuits, and the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. Among the +members of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> there are indeed very few who +have not long since made their calculations, with that +appreciation of the realities of life which is peculiar +to the Italian nation, and who do not know as well +what a dogma is worth for Rome as people know what +a man is <q>worth</q> in England. Every assailant of the +dogma is their personal enemy; he is simply emptying +their gold-mine. Nor is the doctrine less valuable and +indispensable to the Jesuits, at this day more than +before, since they no longer have to fear the rivalry +of any other Order in making capital out of the prerogative +of Infallibility. +</p> + +<p> +As regards the Pope, he has constantly changed in +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +his official life and vacillated from one side to the +other, and those about him say that in many, nay in +most, things he follows capricious and momentary +impulses. But Pius is inflexible and immutable +where he fancies he is a divine instrument and has received +a divine mission, and that is the case here. He +is persuaded that he is ordained by the special favour +of God to be the most glorious of all Popes. Among +his predecessors there are three to whom he seems to +me to have a great likeness. I should say that he had +chosen them as models, if I could assume that he knew +their history. But Pius has never occupied himself +with the past; he is purely the child of his age, and +lives only in the present. The three are Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>, +Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>xi.</hi>, and above all Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> He has in common +with the first his strong experimental belief in his own +personal inspiration without any theological culture. +He resembles the second in giving himself up to the +theological guidance of the Jesuits, and in his highhanded +treatment of such Bishops as dare to have an +opinion of their own. And just as Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> used to +boast that hereafter men would be obliged to tell of +the lofty plans conceived by an aged Italian who, as +being near his death, might have rested and bewailed +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +his sins,<note place='foot'>Navagero, <hi rend='italic'>Relazione</hi>, p. 389 in the Venetian Collection, ed. Alberi, i. 7.</note> so does Pius too desire in his old age to +make great though peaceful conquests, and to establish +the Papal sovereignty as a <q>rocher du bronze,</q> to +borrow the phrase of another autocrat. With the help +of the Council he hopes to render the universal dominion +of the Papacy an impregnable fortress, by means of new +walls, bastions and batteries, and to hand it down to +his successors as an omnipresent and omnipotent power. +He believes that the thoughts and desires of his soul +are in reality the counsels of God made known to him +by inspiration, and that if by following these counsels +he accomplishes the deliverance of the Church and of +mankind, it is the Hand of God which uses him as an +instrument. And why should not Pius see a sign of +his election to high and extraordinary destinies in the +circumstance of his having already sat longer than any +of his 256 predecessors, even Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi>, on the apostolic +throne? A history of his Pontificate has already been +written in this sense by one of the Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà,</hi> +and Pius has the chapters read to him one after the +other. I am told that a chapter on the Council is +already written. The French Court historiographer, +Vertot, who had to describe a Belgian campaign including +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> +the siege of a fortress, wrote the history of the siege +before it was finished, and said quietly, <q>Mon siège est +fait.</q> And thus the Jesuit historian of the Pope can +already say, <q>Mon Concile est fait.</q> And in one sense +the Council is indeed finished since the 23d inst.—finished +by the new order of business. +</p> + +<p> +If the merit of this clever invention is primarily due +to the Cardinals on the Commission for revising motions, +and the Jesuits who were probably taken into partnership +with them, its introduction must be counted +among the most eventful acts of Pius, past or future. +If it is carried out and adhered to without opposition, +it is unquestionably the most conspicuous of all the +victories of the Pope. Margotti, the editor of the +<hi rend='italic'>Unita Cattolica</hi>, will hardly be able to find words to +do justice to the great day, February 23, 1870, with its +boundless wealth of happy results, in the next edition +of his work, <hi rend='italic'>Le Vittorie della Santa Chiesa sotto Pio +IX</hi>. A <hi rend='italic'>Te Deum</hi> will have to be sung in every Jesuit +College of the old and new world. +</p> + +<p> +Great anxiety was felt beforehand about the new +order of business. It was said that the Sessions were +to be something more than mere votings, that there +would still be speeches made, that the written memorials +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> +would not be so directly thrown into the waste-paper +basket, but would be considered and—if they approved +of them—made use of by the Commission. But everything +will be settled by the Commission and by a +simple majority of votes; the minority may talk, but +only so long as the Commission and the majority choose +to listen to them. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Væ victis!</foreign> The Council belongs to +the Italians and the Spaniards, who are in close alliance +with them: from henceforth to wish to reject any <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> +or decree brought before it, is like wanting to stop +water from flowing downwards. All the proposals of +the minority for a change in the order of business have +been left unnoticed. It had already been resolved that +a debate could only be cut short by the votes of a +majority of two-thirds, but this has been reversed. +What will the French and Germans do now? This is +naturally the question which trembles on every lip and +is written on every countenance. Will they simply +acquiesce in the <foreign rend='italic'>fait accompli</foreign> with a good grace, and +obediently assume the rôle of the Greek Chorus in the +drama of the Council—simply to reflect and moralize, but +take no active part in the proceedings? The next few +days will show. So much every one perceives; the order +of business is the noose which, once fixed on the minority, +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> +cannot be got out of, and will only be drawn tighter +and tighter till it strangles them at last. It is clear +that the majority has the hide of a rhinoceros, from +which every arrow shot by the Opposition, however +skilfully aimed, glances off harmless. Where are +now the wise and foolish virgins? <q>Give us of your +oil, for our lamps are gone out,</q> must the Germans, +French, and Spanish say henceforth to the Italians, +and the answer will be more friendly than in the +Gospel: <q>You need not buy any more oil; come over +to our side and be content to use our store.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is hardly necessary to observe to your readers that +everything which takes place here turns on the question +of Infallibility. The new order of business is +merely the outer covering for this kernel. <q>With +Infallibility we have all we desire or need,</q> say the +Italians, if that is gained we may <q>let the nigger +go,</q> and can dispense with his services for the future. +But for German theologians, whose hair stands on +end at the new order of business and all it involves, +I can find no other consolation than what they may +derive from the following Persian tale. An English +ambassador sent to Persia—I think it was Morier—paid +the usual visits at Teheran, and was introduced +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +to the younger son of the Shah. He found +him groping about blindfold in the room, and feeling +for the furniture in it. The Prince explained this +strange business by telling him that it was the rule for +the younger sons to be blinded at the death of the +Shah, in order to make them incapable of succeeding, +and that he wished to prepare and practise himself +beforehand for the fate impending over him. <q>Go ye, +and do likewise.</q> +</p> + +<p> +If the German theologians should still have courage +to present an address to their Bishops, the subscription +might be, <q>Morituri vos salutant.</q> Why have these +theologians come to such utter discomfiture? +</p> + +<p> +Here one already hears shouts of triumph; the day +of retribution will soon come for those proud Transalpines, +when they must bend their necks under the +Caudine yoke of the new dogma, or await suspension, +degradation, etc. +</p> + +<p> +If German theology had long been decried and hated +by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the Italian Jesuits, and if the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> +gladly took occasion to pour out its wrath on the +scholars of <q>foggy</q> Germany, you may conceive the +extent this fury has reached in Italian clerical papers +and curialist circles, since it has become known that +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/> +the most influential theologians have pronounced against +Infallibility, and that not one—with the exception of a +couple of pupils of the Jesuits—has said a word to defend +it. It is well that one of the most distinguished +Italians, a man whose devotion to the Church is unimpeached +even in Rome, and whom the Pope has +commissioned to write a history of the Council—I mean +Cantù—has some years ago confessed and censured +this characteristic of his countrymen. <q>To call laziness +superiority, and evade the trouble of examining questions +by depreciating them, this is only too much the +habit of Italians, and then they mock at the ponderous, +long-winded, hair-splitting Germans. But we must +endure the reproach of negligence and thoughtlessness +from the Germans, while we blindly accept falsified +documents.</q><note place='foot'><q>Ammantar la pigrizia di superiorità, sottrarsi alla noja d'esaminar +le quistioni col disprezarle, sono vezzi troppo communi in Italia, e il +beffarsi di questi pesanti Tedeschi, che vanno a cercare la fin dei fini. Ma +in tal caso rassegniamoci a vederci trattati, da questi di negligenza e di +spensierataggine quando accettiamo a occhi bendati carte, falsificate da +tristi speculatori o da sbadati raccoglitori,</q> etc.—<hi rend='italic'>Archivo Storico Italiano</hi>, +1860, xii. 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Cantù has hit on the sore place there; for it is +precisely their having pointed out the long line of +numerous and systematic forgeries, on which the +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/> +Roman claims of Infallibility are based, and which are +used to further other aims of the Italians, that is the +main ground of the hatred of the Germans. And now +Frenchmen too, like Gratry, come forward and publish +these facts over land and sea in their cosmopolitan +tongue and clear incisive style. +</p> + +<p> +To return to what preceded the publication of the +new order of business; in the last sittings of the +Council coming events threw their shadows before. +The Bishops of Carcassonne and Belley declared roundly +that Infallibility must be proclaimed, and in order, said +the latter, to restore the menaced or broken unity of +the Church. The impatience and vexation of the +authorities are constantly on the increase. Manning +said there was only one way of stopping the definition, +and that was to cut the throats of half the 500 Bishops +of the majority. Of course the Prelates who heard +him cried out, like the Emperor Charles V. at the Diet +of Augsburg, when Count George of Brandenburg +wanted to cut off heads for another doctrine, <q>No heads +off! no heads off!</q> At the last sitting on the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de +Catechismo</hi>, on the 22d, a scene occurred which presages +what is to become the regular practice. The Bishop of +Namur had said, in reference to some previous attacks +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/> +on the Breviary, that no one who spoke against it could +be a good Christian. For the information of your readers +I must premise a few words here. The Breviary is a +collection of prayers and lections for the clergy, introduced +by Rome, consisting chiefly of psalms and +passages from the Bible and the Lives of the Saints.<note place='foot'>[It was originally intended for public use also, and is still recited +publicly by Cathedral Chapters and religions communities. Some portions +of it, as Vespers and Compline, are often used in parish churches also, +especially in France.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has used this, like so many other things, as +an <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>instrumentum dominationis</foreign>, and a number of fables +and forgeries devised in the interest of the Papal system +have been interpolated into it. The French Church +had long since adopted the precaution of employing a +Breviary of her own, much better and purer than the +Roman. It was against observations made about this +in the Council that the harsh comment of the Bishop of +Namur was directed. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Sixth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, Feb. 28, 1870.</hi>—Our last letter closed with an +account of a scene in the Session of February 22, occasioned +by some attacks on the Roman Breviary. The +Bishop of Namur had maintained that no one who +attacked it could be a good Christian. +</p> + +<p> +Haynald was one of those who had censured the +present condition of the Breviary, and he now replied +to Bishop Gravez that in criticising it he had the +Fathers of Trent and the Popes themselves for accomplices +(<foreign rend='italic'>complices</foreign>). A tempest broke out at these +words. But Haynald went further and said, with +reference to Bishop Langalerie of Belley, that the +majority, with their proposals for new dogmas, were +the cause of the disunion which had broken out in the +Church, and that it would be much better for the heads +of the Church to confine themselves to preserving the +ancient doctrines in their purity, instead of adding new +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/> +ones. The Church had succeeded very well with the old +doctrines. At this first open attack in Council on the +Infallibilist project the storm grew fiercer, and Capalti +seized the bell of the President, De Angelis, rung it +violently and forbade the speaker to proceed. <q>Taceas +et ab ambone descendas,</q> he exclaimed. When Haynald +went on all the same, a wild cry broke from the majority. +The Archbishop of Calocsa at last came down, +and so great was the excitement that the sitting was +closed and the next postponed to March 2. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile more attention and care than before has +been devoted in Paris to what is going on at Rome. +The Emperor and his present ministers understand the +gravity of the situation; they know what would be +meant by such journals as the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi> and the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> +daily appealing to infallible Papal decisions, and under +their authority calling in question every institution +and law of France, and proving beforehand to their +readers that there is no obligation in conscience to +submit to them, because the Pope has directly or indirectly +signified his disapproval. Archbishop Lavigerie +of Algiers brought back word to Cardinal Antonelli, on +returning to Rome from his mission, that France was in +no condition to tolerate the definition of Infallibility, +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/> +which might lead to a schism, since not only the whole +body of State-officers, but the writers, and even the +Faubourg St. Germain, were opposed to the new dogma. +Antonelli is not apt to be much influenced by such +representations, which he views as mere idle threats; +he is spoilt by the courtly flatteries of the ever obsequious +M. de Banneville, whom he has managed completely +to disarm. He has three devices of domestic diplomacy +by which he knows how to make excellent use of +both Banneville and Trautmansdorff. At one time he +says, <q>It is not we—Pius, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and I—who +want the dogma, but the foreign Bishops, and we +should be encroaching on the freedom of the Council +by impeding them. And we ought not to subject ourselves +to that reproach.</q> Then, for a variety, he adopts +another line. <q>The Pope,</q> he says, <q>has all he wants +already, and the dogma of Infallibility would not give +him anything more. As it is, and with a Council +assembled, all the decrees emanate from him and receive +from him their validity, and he can summon or +dissolve the Council at his pleasure, so that it only +exists by his will and would crumble into dust without +him. It is therefore the interest of the Bishops, not ours, +that is in question here, and they will know well why +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> +the dogma is so valuable to them.</q> His third formula +is, <q>Every good Christian believes the doctrine already, +and therefore little or nothing will be changed in the +Church by defining it, and we have not the least desire +to use the new decree for calling in question the existing +compacts and Concordats. We shall gladly leave +alone the concessions we have already granted.</q> These +resources of the Cardinal have hitherto sufficed. But +new powers and demands seem to be coming to the front, +which his diplomatic counters will no longer satisfy. I +have copies of two letters of Count Daru, of January 18 +and February 5. These official expressions of opinion +from Paris have made the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> Jesuits bitterly +angry, and their famous article on the <hi rend='italic'>Policastri</hi>, in its +original form, contained a violent attack on the French +statesmen, who were classed with the other ministers +and diplomats in such ill repute at Rome. But this +roused the alarm of the supreme authority, and so the +Jesuits had to eat their own words, and to substitute +for their attack a high commendation of Count Daru +and the loyalty of France to the Concordat. There +is some good in having the articles of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> +regularly revised in the Vatican. I understand that it +is intended at Paris to send a special ambassador to +Rome to the Council. +</p> + +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Bishops of the minority are consulting +how they shall deal with the new order of business. +It was announced to the Fathers at the Session of February +22 that, in accordance with these new regulations, +they must hand in all their observations on the first +ten chapters of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> in writing +within ten days. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Spalding of Baltimore has not receded +from his ludicrous notion that his Infallibilist formula +is milder and more tolerable than that of the 400. He +has laid it before the thirty-five French Bishops (of the +minority), who have unanimously rejected it. Its essence +consists, as was mentioned before, in asserting that everybody +must receive with unconditional inward assent +every Papal decision on every question of faith or morals +or Church life. On all theological principles such faith +can only be accorded in cases where all possibility of +error is excluded, or, in other words, where a revealed +truth is concerned; and therefore to accept this formula +would be to set aside the limitation of Papal +Infallibility, hitherto recognised even in Rome, to decisions +pronounced <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign>. And thus, in the crush +and confusion of the innumerable and often contradictory +decisions of Popes, theology would degenerate +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/> +into a lamentable caricature of a system—<q>science</q> it +could no longer be termed—involved in hopeless contradictions. +If the good Spalding had the slightest +acquaintance with Church history, he would know that +he was bound, in virtue of his inward assent paid to +all Papal decrees, first of all to reject his own orders as +invalid.<note place='foot'>[Cf. <q>Janus,</q> pp. 60-62, 275-8.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +And now I must notice more particularly what +Bishop Ketteler has published against me in some +German newspapers. He says that in the telegram of +February 13, published in the <hi rend='italic'>Allg. Zeitung</hi> of February +15, he has found the opportunity he had long desired for +convicting the writer of the <hi rend='italic'>Letters from Rome</hi> of building +up <q>a whole system of lying and deceit.</q><note place='foot'>The proposal of two Rhenish Prelates for a common declaration against +Döllinger's paper on Infallibility was rejected in the meeting of German +Bishops. The chief opponents were Hefele, Eberhard, Raynald, Strossmayer +and Förster, who maintained that, certain arguments apart, Döllinger +represented in the main the views of most German Bishops on the subject. +It was further insisted, in express repudiation of the stand-point of mere +<q>inopportuneness,</q> that the addresses already signed by the Infallibilists +were directed in principle against the doctrine of the Church. The two Prelates +declared nevertheless that they would not separate themselves from +their colleagues who had signed those documents.</note> It is +<q>an indescribable dishonesty,</q> a <q>detestable untruth,</q> +etc. His short letter bristles with such accusations. +The untruths he complains of are the following:— +</p> + +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> + +<p> +(1.) The telegram called the statement made by +Bishop Ketteler and his ally, Bishop Melchers, a <q>proposal.</q> +He replies that it was only a <q>communication.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(2.) It treats the occurrence as a <q>negotiation,</q> +whereas it was only a <q>short conference.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(3.) There was no debate with <q>a serious opposition.</q> +The Bishops indeed had expressed different views, and +some had disapproved Döllinger's pronouncement, while +the others thought only certain individual Bishops +might have occasion to come forward against it. (They +accordingly understood Ketteler's <q>communication</q> +just as my informant did, and therefore spoke out +against accepting it.) +</p> + +<p> +(4.) Ketteler did not hear any Bishop say, as stated +in the telegram, that Döllinger really had the majority +of (German) Bishops with him. +</p> + +<p> +And now let us compare Ketteler's account, deducting +the abusive comments subjoined to every sentence, +with the—of course extremely compressed—account in +the telegram, and we shall find the two in substantial +agreement. The Bishop is obliged to interpolate something +into the telegram, in order to find fuel for the fire of +holy indignation his delirious fancy has betrayed him +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/> +into. He quarrels with me fiercely for saying there was +a debate and a negotiation, whereas there was only a +conference; but I never made use of those words. He +says he made no motion, but he himself recounts statements +of the Bishops which show clearly that they +understood his <q>communication</q> as an invitation to +do as he did. Only one somewhat important point of +difference remains, viz., whether the Bishops named in +the telegram said what they are there reported to have +said or not. Bishop Ketteler can only say that he did +not hear them say it. But considering that in an informal +meeting of forty or forty-five persons, broken up +into groups, a great deal is said which every one in the +room does not hear, and that I received my information +the same day from one who was present, I still adhere +to my assertion that they did say it. For the rest, +I am much indebted to Bishop Ketteler; he assures us +that he has long desired an opportunity for saying all +the evil he can of me and my Letters. He has now +made a grand onset. If he had found anything in the +eighteen long Letters before him better suited to his purpose, +he would certainly not have taken refuge in such +petty trivialities and, like a boy with snowballs, have +flung what has turned into water in his hand. He has +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/> +thus unwillingly given testimony to the truthfulness of +my Letters. And for this I pardon him his exaggerated +rhetoric, but will not suppress the remark made by an +Englishman who knows mankind well: <q>There are +certain women, says Fielding, always ready to raise a +cry of <q>Murder, fire, rape</q> and the like, but that means +no more in their mouths than any one else means in +going over the scale, Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol,</q> etc. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 8, 1870.</hi>—<q>Habemus Papam falli nescium!</q> +The Bishops of the Manning and Deschamps +party are in raptures; all Rome, say the Infallibilist +devotees, is in the highest spirits. The great doctrine, +on which, as all the Jesuits and their disciples assure us, +hinges the salvation of humanity and the regeneration +of science and literature, was published on March 6 in +the form of a supplement to the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>. +The Pope bears witness of himself that he is infallible +as teacher of the Church, and the great majority of the +Council will readily assent. Already they are exulting +in that moment of triumph when the Pope from his +throne in the Hall, <q>sacro Concilio approbante,</q> and +amid the pealing of all the bells in Rome, will proclaim +to the world that it is now fortunate enough to possess an +infallible teacher and judge in all questions of faith and +morals, guaranteed by God Himself. Day and hour for +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> +the proclamation will be chosen with the greatest deliberation +and foresight, and here another ground for +clinging so pertinaciously to the present Council Hall +comes out. It was thought quite incomprehensible +why <q>the master</q> insulted 750 aged men by compelling +them, in spite of all wishes and representations and the +evidence of his own senses, to hold their sittings in a +Chamber so utterly unfit for the purpose. In a city so +abounding in churches and halls as Rome this seemed +an act rather of ill-tempered caprice than of hospitable +care. It was known of course that the previous expectations +of the Vatican had been disappointed, that it +had been hoped the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> would be received by acclamation +or by storm, as it were, without discussion, +and that the Hall had been chosen on the very ground +of its acoustic defects being adapted to that end. Now +however a new recommendation of the Hall betrays +itself. At a certain hour on a clear and cloudless day +the rays of the sun fall exactly on the place where the +Pope's throne stands, so that Pius may hope, by help of +careful arrangements about the time, to stand in a glory of +sunlight at the moment when he announces to the world +the divine revelation of his own infallibility. It is on this +wise, as we said before, that he has had himself represented +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +in the memorial picture of the proclamation of +the Immaculate Conception. At the Coronation of +Charles <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> of France doves were let fly into the church. +And so in Rome also a dove might be trained, so as +to make it hover above the Pope at the moment of his +apotheosis being proclaimed by his own mouth, which +would make the effect quite irresistible. +</p> + +<p> +In this state of things the eyes of all men are turned +on the Bishops united, or rather not united but only +assembled, in Council. The great majority are much +in the disposition of the Athenians, when Alexander +sent word to them that he had become a god, and +wished to be worshipped as such. The popular assembly +cried out that, if Alexander really wished to be +a god, he was one. So say 300 Bishops: <q>We eat the +Pope's bread and drink his wine and rest under his +roof, so—let him be infallible.</q> And 100 Bishops say: +<q>We are nothing but titular Bishops, with no dioceses +or flocks; from whom but the Pope do we get our +titles? So—let him be infallible.</q> Others again say: +<q>We call ourselves Bishops or Vicars-Apostolic by +favour of the Pope, and during his good pleasure. Let +him then be infallible.</q> Lastly others say: <q>The +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has us in its power, and we need it at every step; +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +the Pope must be infallible, since he desires it.</q> Thus +we have 550 born infallibilists. And to them must be +added those whom the Italians—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Mamiani—call +more curtly than courteously <q>gli Energumeni +stranieri,</q> prelates of the Manning type <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>et id genus +omne</foreign>, who really take part as volunteers in this campaign +for the triumph of papal infallibility and the +domination of souls. Many, like Sieyès formerly, will +vote <q>la mort et sans phrase,</q> but we shall read of +unctuous motives alleged by the volunteers for their +votes. They want infallibility for themselves as well +as others; for themselves, because then there will be +no further need <q>to dig,</q> for which they have <q>neither +hand nor foot,</q> but all doctrines will be received ready +made, measured and cut out by the Jesuits and stamped +and guaranteed as genuine in the Roman printing-office; +for others, because thereby every doubt or suspicion +or inconvenient demand in matters of doctrine +will be summarily got rid of and suppressed. +</p> + +<p> +It is three months to-day since the Council was +opened. Viewed from without, the circumstances could +hardly have been more favourable; in national diversities +and universality of representation the assembly surpassed +all former Councils, nor was it so obvious at the +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> +beginning that under this bright outside was concealed +a crying and iniquitous inequality of representation, and +that here again the mastery was placed in the hands of +the Italians. But how have all hopes been deceived +now, and who had thought of this lamentable upshot! +</p> + +<p> +Lamartine desired of his age that Italy should produce +<q>des hommes et non de la poussière humaine.</q> +For three months have these 750 prelates been assembled—in +theory the very flower of the Catholic +world, the pastors of 180 million souls, men with a rich +experience at their back. They were at once separated +into two parties, one of 600 and the other of about 150. +On which side are the men and on which the human +dust? What have these 600 done in the three months +they have been together, what have they brought to an +issue, and what thoughts or sparks of intelligence have +been struck out of this daily contact with so many high +dignitaries from the four quarters of the world? Their +utter sterility, aimlessness and poverty of thought—their +passively resigning themselves to a mere assent to the +thoughts and words of others—all this, when watched +close at hand, makes a painful impression. It is true +that European history since 1789 has accustomed us +to the infirmities and follies and the unproductiveness +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> +of great deliberative assemblies; it has become an +every-day phenomenon, and in our days one's expectations +from an ecclesiastical assembly can only be of the most +moderate kind. There is no fear there of rash and hasty +decisions or revolutionary measures. But La Bruyere's +saying, <q>A great assembly always becomes a rabble,</q> is +verified even at Rome, and the Italians of 1870 have +already begun to emulate the example of their ancestors +in 1562. Just as the majority at Trent knew how +to reduce a disagreeable speaker to silence by wild cries +and coughing and scraping with their feet, so is it now +at the Vatican Council. It is the humiliating feeling +of intellectual impotence and of deficiency alike in +knowledge, eloquence and mind, as compared with the +minority, from whom almost everything emanates that +can be called life or thought in the Council. They feel +their abject littleness, in their thankless rôle of being a +mere echo of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> and Canons proposed, and +having to present in so unadorned and undisguised a +form that <q>sacrificio dell' intelletto</q> which the Jesuits +so eagerly commend. The honour of being afterwards +lauded, as one of the 600 organs of the Holy Ghost at +this Council, has to be purchased rather dear. But we +cannot in fact come to close quarters and converse with +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +these Bishops of the majority, without being reminded +of the reply of a Dane to a Frenchman, who said to +him (before the Revolution) that the highest Order in +France was that of the Holy Ghost. <q>Notre Saint +Esprit est un éléphant,</q> answered the Dane. But the +situation is almost too serious for such thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +A synopsis of the outstanding measures has been +presented to the Council. There are altogether 51 +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>: 3 on <q>Faith,</q> 28 on <q>Discipline,</q> 18 on +<q>Religious Orders,</q> 2 on <q>Oriental Church affairs:</q> of +these 39 have not yet been distributed, and 46 not +discussed; 12 are in the hands of the Bishops, of +which 5 have been already discussed and are to be again +presented and examined, after being modified by the +Commission. This is obviously matter enough for two +years' work; yet the Council Hall and the hitherto +irresistible and invulnerable majority will conspire to +push the 51 <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> expeditiously through the Council, +unabbreviated and hardly altered. If only the +master at last praises and rewards his servants! +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile 34 French Bishops have signed a Statement +of Protest against the new order of business. I +hear that the perversity of deciding doctrines by counting +heads is emphatically dwelt on. The same document +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> +has been subscribed by 33 German Bishops, with +certain additions. Cardinals Mathieu and Rauscher, +while professing their agreement, did not think it well +to sign. Some 10 or 12 Germans have accepted a +shorter but more precise and pointed address, maintaining +the same principles. Some Orientals too have +signed, while the deliberations of the Americans, on +the other hand, came to no result. +</p> + +<p> +Such declarations are necessary for the outer world +and for the satisfaction of their own consciences, but they +can hardly be expected to produce any effect, nor do the +signataries themselves anticipate any important change +being made in the new <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign>. Would that their +representations were formal protests, declaring that they +would take no further part in an assembly lacking the +necessary conditions of a true Council! But neither +the French nor Germans could resolve on that. It +would be hard even for a man like Dupanloup, who +may be reckoned a leader of the Opposition, openly to +contradict his own earlier writings about the Pope. +The question suggests itself, If Pius, before his infallibility +is made a dogma, has said, <q>I am the way, the +truth, and the life,</q> what will he say when his apotheosis +is accomplished? What words of human language +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> +will suffice adequately to denote the sublimity of his +position? A former saying of a member of the Italian +aristocracy, well known for his witty remarks, occurs +to me, <q>Gli altri Papi credevano esser Vicarii di Christo, +ma questo Papa crede che nostro Signore sia il suo +Vicario in cielo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We live here in the place whereof Tacitus wrote +eighteen centuries ago, <q>Cupido dominandi cunctis +affectibus flagrantior est.</q><note place='foot'>Tac. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> <hi rend='smallcaps'>xv.</hi> 53.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If infallibility is defined, every member of the Roman +Congregations has the pleasing certainty that he possesses +<q>divinæ particulam auræ.</q> Pius is as firm and +resolved as ever; the Jesuits have told him that, if +the new dogma produces any confusion and scandal in +the Church, it matters nothing—other dogmatic decisions +have led to great confusion, but have remained +triumphant; in a hundred years all will be quiet. +Father Piccirillo, the editor of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> and special +favourite of Pius, has consoled other prelates in the +same way. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> has been compared with the +lecture notes of a Jesuit Professor at the Collegio +Romano, and the two are shown to agree precisely. +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/> +Even the most abject <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>-men of the majority feel +rather ashamed of this; they had not quite expected to +be summoned to Rome, simply in order to formulate the +lecture notes of a Jesuit into dogmatic decrees for the +whole Church. +</p> + +<p> +An individual so insignificant intellectually, that I +never expected to have any occasion for mentioning his +name, and who is regarded in German circles as the +standing joke of the Council, a certain Wolanski, has +just been placed on the Congregation of the Index, as +censor for German books. He would be utterly incompetent +even to transcribe the work of a German +theologian for the press. But in Rome they like, from +time to time, to give a kick of this sort to foreigners. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Postscript.</hi>—I have just been put in a position to tell +you something of the contents of the episcopal protest +against the new order of business. In respect to the +thirteenth article it is objected, that in former Councils +a method of voting simply designed to secure expedition +(<q>eo expedito modo</q>) has never been adopted—a +form <q>quo nullus certe alius gravitati et maturitati +deliberationis, imo et ipsi libertati minus favet.</q> It +is added, that even in political assemblies the right is +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> +granted of demanding that votes should be taken by +calling names. It is not rapidity of decision, but prudence +and the utmost possible security, that is the +important point. <q>Quod in Concilio maxime refert, +non est ut cito res expediatur, sed ut caute et tutissime +peragatur. Longe satius est paucas quæstiones expendere +et prudenter solvere, quam multo numerosiores +proponere et decurtatis discussionibus suffragiisque +præcipitanter collectis res tam graves irrevocabiliter +definire.</q> The document goes on to protest against +the regulation for first counting the votes of those who +assent to the proposed decrees, and not till after this +has been done of those who reject them. This is quite +wrong; <q>Cum in quæstionibus fidei tutius sit sistere et +definitionem differre, quam temere progredi, ideo conditio +dissentientium favorabilior esse debet, et ipsis +prioritas in dandis suffragiis excedenda esset.</q> The +memorialists further desire that, in the definition of a +dogma or the establishment of a canon armed with +anathema, the votes should be orally given by <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> +and <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, not by rising and sitting down. And +then great stress is laid on the point of dogmas not being +decided by a mere majority but only by moral unanimity, +so that any decree opposed by a considerable number of +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> +Bishops may be held to be rejected. The Bishops say, +<q>Cum dogmata constent Ecclesiarum consensu, ut ait +Bellarminus,</q> moral unanimity is necessary. There is +a further demand or request of the Bishops, <q>ut suffragia +patrum non super <emph>toto Schemate</emph> et quasi <emph>in globo</emph>, +sed seorsim super unâquâque definitione, super unoquoque +Canone, per <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> aut <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> sigillatim rogentur +et edantur.</q> The Fathers should also be free, +according to the Pope's previous arrangement, to give +in their remarks in writing. But the following is the +most important passage:—<q>Id autem quod spectat ad +numerum suffragiorum requisitum ut quæstiones dogmaticæ +solvantur, in quo quidem rei summa est et +totius Concilii cardo vertitur, ita grave est, ut nonnisi +admitteretur, quod reverenter et enixe postulamus, +conscientia nostra intolerabili pondere premeretur. +Timeremus, ne Concilii Œcumenici character in dubium +vocari posset, ne ansa hostibus præberetur, S. Sedem +et Concilium impetendi, sicque demum apud populum +Christianum hujus Concilii auctoritas labefactaretur, +<q>quasi veritate et libertate caruerit,</q> quod his turbatissimis +temporibus tanta esset calamitas ut pejor excogitari +non possit.</q> On this we might however observe +with all respect, that a greater calamity is quite conceivable, +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/> +and that is the sanctioning of a doctrine +exegetically, dogmatically and historically untenable +by an assembly calling itself a Council. The Protest +ends with these words:—<q>Spe freti futurum ut hæ +nostræ gravissimæ animadversiones ab Eminentiis vestris +benevolenti animo accipiantur, earumque, quae par +est, ratio habeatur, nosmet profitemur: Eminentiarum +Vestrarum addictissimos et obsequentissimos famulos.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 9.</hi>—The decree on infallibility appeared +on Sunday, March 6, just a year after the project was +announced in the <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi>. The Bishops +knew three weeks before, through an indiscretion of +Perrone's, that it was drawn up. But its extreme and +unqualified form will have taken many by surprise. +Men could hardly believe that the Roman See would +publicly confess so huge an excess of ambition, and +itself court a reproach of which the Catholic Church +may indeed be cleared, but the Papacy never. The +circumstances preceding the appearance of this composition, +which will be a phenomenon in the world's +history, are hardly less remarkable and significant than +the text itself. +</p> + +<p> +It was decided on February 21, at a meeting of the +French Cabinet presided over by the Emperor, to +send a special ambassador to the Council. A despatch +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/> +to this effect was forwarded to Rome the same evening. +The notion so greatly displeased the Marquis de Banneville, +that he delayed carrying out his instructions and +sent word of his anxieties to Paris. Here he said +quite openly that he could remain no longer, and must +go to Paris to get the decision reversed. He contented +himself however with sending an <foreign rend='italic'>attaché</foreign> to France. +At last, on March 1, the design of the French Government +was communicated to Cardinal Antonelli, and +three days afterwards, on March 4, the Marquis de +Banneville came to receive his reply. The Cardinal +was unfortunately prevented by an attack of gout +from seeing him. And thus the answer has been +given in the unexpected form of a dogmatic decree. +</p> + +<p> +Not less remarkable is the coincidence of the decree +with the publication of Count Daru's Letter. Its +publication, which proclaims to the world the policy +of the French Cabinet towards the Court of Rome, has +excited the greater sensation in Rome, as it could not +have emanated from any ordinary correspondent. The +letter was only known to the English Government, and +there was no copy in England except in the hands of +the Ministry. It cannot be supposed that it would +be offered for publication without the connivance of +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/> +Count Daru himself, and this conjecture is confirmed +by the tone of the <hi rend='italic'>Français</hi>, Count Daru's organ, on +the subject. It was open to it to disavow the letters, +which are addressed to a private individual, and not, +as the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi> incorrectly stated, to a French prelate. +But instead of seizing on this loophole, the <hi rend='italic'>Français</hi> +says that the private letters of the minister contain +nothing different from his public despatches. What +gives these things the greater weight is that they imply +the probability of interpellations, in Paris as well as +in Florence, and the ministry must be presumed to be +determined to persist to the end in the path it has +entered upon. +</p> + +<p> +But the clearest light is thrown on the act of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, when we look at its relation to the simultaneous +movement among the minority. +</p> + +<p> +The new order of business seemed to many calculated +to bring the internal split in the Opposition to the surface. +To accept it was equivalent to accepting the +dogma itself. To reject it was to intimate the resolution +not to surrender the rights of Bishops, of whom +St. Thomas says, <q>Obtinent in Ecclesiâ summum potestatem,</q> +and therefore not to recognise the Pope's infallibility. +But it has just been explained in the most +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/> +emphatic terms in Father Gratry's Letters, which are in +the hands of all the Bishops, how difficult it is to coquet +with the Jesuit dogmas without falling into the old +Jesuit system of morality. However, this much desired +division only occurred on a very limited scale. +</p> + +<p> +The Opposition resolved to protest against the order +of business. The Protest is said to have been drawn up +by skilful French hands, and was subscribed on March +4 by thirty-four French Bishops, and another, signed by +almost the same number of German Bishops, was presented +to the Legates two days later. A very high +estimate is formed of its importance here. According +to the Roman view the majority of the Council has no +better right than the minority to proclaim a new dogma, +for the right belongs to the Pope alone, who can just as +well elevate the teaching of the minority as of the majority +into a dogma. And therefore, in maintaining that +no dogma can be defined without the universal consent—the +moral unanimity—of the Episcopate, and that a +Council which receives a dogma without that consent is +liable to be rejected as not free and Œcumenical, the +Bishops are not only protesting against the threatened +encroachments of the majority, but just as much against +the claim of the Pope to define dogmas by his own +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/> +authority. I have lately cited the words of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> on +that point. In putting forward and defending their +right and qualification to be witnesses of the faith and +representatives of their Churches, the Bishops are not +only vindicating a position very difficult to assail, but +at the same time shaking the principal foundation of the +present Council. In the first place the minority represent +relatively far greater numbers of Catholics than +their adversaries, and in the next place the bulk of the +majority is artificially swelled by a crowd of prelates +who really represent no Churches and only bear witness +for themselves. That many of them have been +simply created to give their services at this Council, is +notorious. According to the official Roman register, +fifty-one Bishops <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign> were named between June +1866 and August 1869. By every one of these creations +the Pope has neutralized by his own plenary +power the vote of an Archbishop of Paris or Vienna; +in other words, he has put some favourite Roman monsignore +on an equality, as regards the decisions of +the Council, with a venerable Church containing +more than a million of souls. The presence of such +elements in the assembly gives grounds for doubting +whether it can be regarded as a real representation +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/> +of the whole Church, and so this declaration of the +Bishops is like knocking a nail in the coffin of the +Œcumenical Council. +</p> + +<p> +I have mentioned that the Protest of the French +Bishops was handed in on March 4. That day was the +beginning of the decisive crisis for the Opposition. The +adhesion of the Germans was next awaited; it followed +on the 6th March, and their example is pretty +sure to be followed by other nations. The prospect of +this danger, combined with the news from France, +brought the long preconcerted resolve of the other side +to sudden and immediate maturity. A few days +before they had not intended to come forward with the +decree yet. But now the great object was to cut short +any further development on the part of the Opposition, +and, if possible, to hinder the German Protest. The +existing situation seems even to have influenced +the form of the decree. For a moment the French +middle party—Bonnechose, Lavigerie, etc.—had fancied +a professedly moderate formula would be carried, but +now the counsels of the most determined infallibilists +prevailed, and the Pope, in great visible excitement, +gave his assent to the decree in the form in which it +has been published. This took place on March 5. The +<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/> +decree is dated March 6. With the view of stopping +the German Protest, they did not wait for the next sitting +to distribute the printed copies to the Fathers in +Council as usual, but sent them direct to their houses. +This was the answer to the protesting movement. +</p> + +<p> +Considering that none of the former addresses of the +minority—some twelve have been presented—have +been taken the slightest notice of, there were of course +the best reasons for anticipating no better fate for this +last. But it has served another purpose. It was an +intimation on the part of the signataries that their +patience has reached its limits. The Protest did not +indeed pledge them to any definite course of action. +But it certainly imposes on them the duty of not tolerating +anything further of the same kind, and not lending +a hand to any decision affecting the whole future of +the Church, under conditions they have themselves +declared to imperil the authority and solidity of the +Council. Either the Protest means nothing, and the +signataries are as persuaded of its worthlessness and +insincerity as their adversaries, or it means that they +will not allow the great dogma to come on for discussion +unless they obtain an assurance that no dogma +shall be proclaimed by Pope or Council without a moral +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/> +unanimity. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> have known how to give so +emphatic an expression to their contempt for the Opposition, +that even the sharpest and bitterest words would +show less scorn and insolence than their act. By +choosing the precise moment, when the minority declare +that their conscience is troubled and in doubt about the +legitimacy and result of the Council altogether, for +bringing forward the very decree which has all along +been the main cause of that doubt and trouble of conscience, +they proclaim plainly and emphatically that +they know the Opposition regards its own words as +nothing but words, and that there is no earnest manly +decision or religious conviction behind them. The conscientiousness +of the Opposition, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> of the most distinguished +French and German Bishops, could not be put +to a prompter, a more crucial, or a more decisive +test. +</p> + +<p> +How will this test be borne? How will the doctrine +of the Church and the honour of two nations be saved? +The events of the next few days will decide. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Twenty-Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 15.</hi>—Livy relates that, in the battle at +the Thrasimene Lake, the combatants on either side, +Romans and Carthaginians, felt nothing of the earthquake +under their feet. Here in Rome it is not so +much the heat of the contest that makes the great body +of Bishops unconscious of the moral earthquake which +has begun to shake the Church, for there is no strife in +the ranks of the majority, and their intercourse with the +other party is very small. But every one thinks first of +his own home and diocese, and the Italians, Spaniards +and South Americans—nearly 500 prelates in all—have +abundant cause for reckoning on absolute indifference and +ease, on a passive and generally willing assent. In those +countries it is only money questions, the contest about +Church property, that stirs men's minds. How much +is to be left to the clergy or taken from them, that is +the question here. And the Bishops hope that papal +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/> +infallibility will give some added force to the papal +decisions on the inviolability of Church property. +</p> + +<p> +Among the Opposition Bishops many are still in good +spirits and full of confidence. <q>We are too many, and +we represent too considerable portions of the Christian +world, for our resistance to be ignored and our votes +thrust aside,</q> is what many of them still assert. But +the dominant party don't admit this. Antonelli says: +<q>As soon as the Pope promulgates a decree with the +assent of a great number of Bishops, he is infallible, +and therefore a minority of opposing votes need not be +attended to.</q> Naturally—for he, like other Italians, +moves in the circle of papal infallibility which he, as +advocate and financier, considers to belong to the +<q>grandes idées de l'Église.</q> He would certainly, if +asked, agree with the view of Cardinal Jacobazzi, about +1530, that the Pope could hold an Œcumenical Council +with one Bishop only and issue an infallible decree. +The state of the case is this: if the decree is published +by the Pope with the assent of the majority of the +Council, it is ruled that the gift of infallibility has all +along resided in the Popes alone, and that the supreme +authority in dogmas has only been derived to General +Councils from them, whether by their taking part in +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/> +the proceedings or confirming them. On this theory, +even a very considerable number of opposing Bishops +have no rights; the Pope could issue a dogmatic decree +with the minority against the votes of the majority, for +he and he alone would always be the organ of the Holy +Ghost. Either no reply will be given to the complaints +of the Bishops about the new order of business, any +more than to their previous memorials, or they will be +told that it is reserved to the Pope to settle whether a +decree or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> voted by a majority only shall be +promulgated, since he, being alone infallible, can do +what he pleases. In this sense the silence of Section +14 may well be interpreted. +</p> + +<p> +All the talk about <q>inopportuneness</q> is now quite +at an end. I had predicted that from the first. Any +Bishop who wanted to discuss now, whether it was the +right time for making the new dogma, would be +laughed at rather than listened to. It has been decided +by 500 Bishops with the Pope that the decree is opportune, +and in saying that the question is about the +truth of articles of faith, not their convenience, they +have reason and history on their side. +</p> + +<p> +There are said to be 100 Opinions or Objections of the +Bishops about or against the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Church, +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/> +already in the hands of the Commission of Faith. +Among them is the memorial of an eminent German +Bishop, whose bosom two souls seem to inhabit, and +who therefore occupies the singular position at once of +a friend of papal infallibility and an opponent of the +definition and member of the Opposition. He read his +paper in the meeting of German Bishops, and it was +received with general approval, in spite of the pungent +comments it contained on the new order of business in +connection with the publication of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on infallibility +a few days later, as being a disgrace to the +Council and the Church. +</p> + +<p> +Count Trautmansdorff and M. Beust have received +from Antonelli one of those quieting and entirely +conciliatory answers that clerical statesman is so fond +of pouring forth in all directions.<note place='foot'>I take this opportunity of observing that the <hi rend='italic'>Mémorial Diplomatique</hi>, +which has the credit of supplying the world regularly with methodical +fictions from Rome, has also given a spurious reply of Antonelli's to +Beust's note. Perhaps one of your Paris correspondents can explain the +rare persistency of that journal in habitually making game of the French +with lies and inventions which are immediately exposed. Here in Rome +many are disposed to seek the authors of them in the office of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> +or in the <hi rend='italic'>Gesu</hi>.</note> Its substance is as +follows: in theory, and as regards what the scholastics +called universals, where high and far-reaching principles +have to be established, the Church is inexorable; +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/> +there she cannot abandon an iota of her claims, and +must draw and force home the sword of anathema. +She must therefore necessarily pronounce modern +civilisation, with its freedoms, a medley of soul-destroying +errors, must raise the banner of coercion and +forcible suppression, and accordingly condemn freedom +of religious profession and of the press. But in practice—in +Concordats and special Indults and concessions of +graces—the Pope is not so strict and inexorable; there +he is open to negotiations, and the separate Governments +can obtain from him as a favour the actual +toleration of what in theory he most solemnly condemns, +of course only <foreign rend='italic'>durante beneplacito</foreign>, so long as it +pleases him and the Governments behave well and +don't deserve to be punished by the withdrawal of +their indults and privileges. And that is so long as +circumstances remain unaltered, for it is self-evident +that, as soon as the temper of public opinion and the +political situation become such as to offer any prospect +of an ecclesiastical pretension being successfully urged, +the indult will be abrogated and the practice conformed +to the theory. Antonelli always has both pockets full +of such distinctions between the strict and hard theory +and the mild and indulgent pliability in practice, and +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/> +no diplomatist leaves him without such consolation. +De Banneville has always been satisfied with the fare +thus set before him by the Secretary of State. Trautmansdorff +has so far the advantage, that the doctrines +of Church and State imposed by the Court of Rome on +the Council give the Austrian Government a very convenient +handle for declaring the legal abolition of the +Concordat, which is practically torn to pieces already; +for with a Pope who has become infallible and feels +himself called to be the supreme judge of right and +wrong, though there may indeed be an armistice, no real +and genuine peace and no treaty is possible. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover nothing can be more convenient and elastic +than the theory Antonelli expounds with all the unction +of priestly diplomacy to the representatives of the +European Governments. It makes everything—persons +and institutions, governments and peoples—ultimately +dependent on the indulgence and favour of the +Pope. By the higher and divine law, so runs this +doctrine, everything in the world should properly be +differently arranged; the censorship of the Holy Office, +religious coercion and clerical immunities, in a word +the whole system of canon law, should flourish everywhere +in full vigour as in the States of the Church. +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/> +But the Vicar of God is merciful; he condescends to +the evil condition of States and of mankind, and does +what is so easily done in Rome, he dispenses—for at +Rome obsolete laws are maintained simply to supply +matter for dispensations,—he declares his readiness to +tolerate what in itself is to be condemned, out of regard +for the unfavourable circumstances of the age, and thus +all at last falls under the sceptre of the Pope, who rules +at one time by favour and dispensations, at another by +strict law. Constitutions and laws will be allowed to +exist for awhile, and until further notice. This however +is no recognition of them, but only an <q>indult,</q> +for which sovereigns and statesmen and nations must +be thankful while it lasts, but which may at any +moment be revoked. +</p> + +<p> +The plan of acclamation, announced by the Jesuits as +far back as February 1869, still counts many friends. +There are 600 episcopal throats ready to shout, and +these prelates had the rather get the affair settled in +that summary fashion, because they would then be +spared the hearing of things which bring a blush to +many a face. For the Opposition Bishops could bring +forward reasons and facts which, if once spoken in this +place, would make a powerful echo and come unrefuted +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/> +before the present and future generations. Of all +possible questions that of infallibility is certainly the +one which can least be discussed here and before 275 +Italian prelates. What has happened in the last sittings, +the exaltation of some and the bitterness of others, +gives no hope of a quiet examination, but on the contrary +leads us to expect that the majority will make the +fullest use either of their physical preponderance or of +the new rights given them by the Pope for reducing +their adversaries to silence. Many who are resolved to +gratify the Pope's desire by their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>, are apprehensive +that the objections of their opponents might leave the +unpleasant taste of an unanswered argument in their +mouths, and that the sting of a vote given without +adequate knowledge and examination might remain +fixed in the conscience of the Bishops. In this connection +the answer of a North American Bishop of the +infallibilist party is significant. He said that he remembered +having heard, when in the theological class +in his seminary, that the condemnation of Pope Honorius +by the Sixth Council meant nothing, and now in his +old age nobody could require him to study and examine +the question for himself. +</p> + +<p> +Since the appearance of Gratry's Letters, what is most +<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/> +especially dreaded is the mention and discussion of the +forgeries and fictions that have been perpetrated for +centuries past in the interest of the Papacy. Should +they really come to be spoken of in the Council Hall, +one may be quite prepared for Legate Capalti, even if +he is not presiding, striking his bell till it bursts. The +Italian and Spanish majority would sooner let a speaker +teach Arianism and Pelagianism than touch on this +sore. Cyprian, pseudo-Isidore, Anselm, Deusdedit, +Gratian, Thomas Aquinas and Cyril—these are now +terrible names, and hundreds here would fain stop their +ears when they are uttered. <q>Is there then no balm in +Gilead, no physician?</q> Just now a theologian or historian +would be worth his weight in gold, who could +produce evidence that all these forgeries and inventions +are genuine monuments of Christian antiquity, and that +the whole edifice of papal absolutism has been built up +with the purest and most conscientious loyalty to truth. +For this <q>horse</q> they would now, like Richard <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> of England, +offer a kingdom. For the first time the world, with +a free press in full possession, is to accept a new dogma +with all its extensive belongings—to accept it in faith, +at a time when historical criticism has attained a power +against which Rome is impotent, and when its conclusions +<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/> +pass into the literature and the common consciousness +of all thinking men with a rapidity hitherto +unprecedented. The works will soon be counted not +by hundreds but by thousands, which relate and make +capital out of the fact that from the year 500 to 1600 +deliberate fraud was at work in Rome and elsewhere +for disseminating, supporting, and finding a basis for, the +notion of infallibility. If they imagine in Rome that +they can escape this power by means of the Index and +similar fulminations, such as some French Bishops have +hurled at Father Gratry, that is like sending a couple +of old women with syringes to put out a palace on fire. +</p> + +<p> +The leader and oracle of the infallibilists, Archbishop +Manning, knows something of the contradictions of history +to his pet dogma. He has heard something of the +long chain of forgeries, but he demonstrates to his +associates by a bold method of logic, that it is an article +of faith that is at issue here, and that history and +historical criticism can have nothing to say to it. <q>It +is not, therefore, by criticism on past history, but by +acts of faith in the living voice of the Church at this +hour, that we can know the faith.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Pastoral on Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff</hi> (Longmans), p. 126.</note> The faith which +removes mountains will be equally ready—such is +<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/> +clearly his meaning—to make away with the facts of +history. Whether any German Bishop will be found +to offer his countrymen these stones to digest, time will +show. +</p> + +<p> +Of what French infallibilists are capable has been +evidenced in the case of Bishop Pie of Poictiers, who +is, next to Plantier of Nîmes, the leader of this +faction. He introduces into his Lenten Pastoral the +history of Uzza, who wanted, with a good object, to +support the tottering Ark, and was punished by being +burned to death. The Ark, he says, is the Church and +its doctrine, and whoever touches it with the best intentions, +be he layman or priest, commits a grievous +crime and audacious sacrilege, which must bring down +on his head the most terrible wrath of God. The +animals, which draw the waggon containing the Ark, +are the Bishops. If then, proceeds Pie, any of these +oxen swerve from the road and kick (<foreign rend='italic'>regimbent</foreign>), there +are plenty more at hand to bring back the cart into the +right track, for—and here the oxen suddenly become +horses (<foreign rend='italic'>coursiers</foreign>)—all the steeds of the sacred cart do +not stumble at the same time. Thus does this prelate +expound to his flock the position of the majority and +minority at the Council, and for their full consolation +<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/> +he adds: <q>Moreover there is one supreme and divinely +enlightened driver of the cart, who is liable to no error, +and he will know how to deal with the shying and +stumbling of the horses.</q> According to Bishop Pie +therefore, the waggon of the Church is sometimes +drawn by horses—the Opposition who make <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>sou-bresaut</foreign> +and <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>écarts</foreign>; sometimes by steady-going oxen—the +great majority,—and among these last the Bishop of +Poictiers with amiable modesty reckons himself. If +the readers of the <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi> doubt whether a +highly respected leader of the majority and member of +the Commission on Faith has really written such nonsense, +I can only refer them to the document itself, +which will no doubt be reprinted in the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> or +<hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi>.<note place='foot'>It is also quoted in the <hi rend='italic'>Journal des Débats</hi> of March 12. [This same +Bishop opened the debate on the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Romano Pontifice</hi> by arguing +that the Pope must be infallible, because St. Peter was crucified head +downwards. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. infr.</hi> Letter <ref target='Letter_XLVI'>xlvi</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +There are many indications that the wishes of the +clique of zealots, who wanted to get the infallible Pope +made out of hand on St. Joseph's day, will not be realized, +but that a longer interval will have to be allowed. +The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> <q>on Faith</q> prepared by the Commission, +viz., by the above-named Bishop Pie, and containing +<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/> +the philosophical and theological matter for the Council, +was to have been distributed last week, and even +Bishops of the minority had received professedly confidential +notice of it; but no such distribution took +place. So the Session of this week too will fall through, +and it is not easy to see how this first fruit of the +Council can well be imparted to the expectant world +before Easter. And here I constantly come across the +view that the postponement of the discussion on the +grand <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>, with the article on infallibility, +is done with a purpose. The Opposition is still +too strong and compact; it is hoped that some members +will be detached from it every week, and that several +will leave Rome; some Austrians are gone already. +Everything depends on making the Opposition so small +and weak, that they may be walked over, and may seem +only to exist as a captive band of German Barbarians +to grace the triumphal procession of the Latins, and +then to be surrendered to those <q>exécuteurs des hautes +œuvres de la justice de Rome,</q> MM. Veuillot and Maguelonne, +the editors of the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> and the <hi rend='italic'>Correspondance +de Rome</hi>.<note place='foot'>The <hi rend='italic'>Unita Cattolica</hi> of March 12 makes its Roman correspondent say +that to-day the Bishops are signing in crowds a Petition to the Presidents +of the Council, demanding that the discussion of the article on infallibility +may take precedence of all other business, because they long to put an end +at one blow to the scandal of the Liberal Catholics and Gallicans. But +Margotti's journal at the same time urges patience on its readers, because +decorum must be preserved, as far as may be.</note> This delay is of course a severe trial of +<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/> +patience for the majority who are hungering after the +new bread of faith. +</p> + +<p> +I will not conceal that even among the highest +Roman dignitaries the infallibilist dogma provokes +expressions of discontent. Are they honestly and +sincerely meant? The voting will show. The <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>mot +d'ordre</foreign> has gone forth to correspondents of foreign +journals, to say that the whole Opposition is thoroughly +broken up, and that some are deserting and the rest +running away. But as yet these are wishes rather than +facts. As far as I can see, the French and German +Bishops, who wish to maintain the ancient doctrine of +the Church and reject the new dogma, hold firmly +together. Some Bishops said, directly after the publication +of the supplementary <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on infallibility, that +their only choice lay between a schism or a false +doctrine; nothing else was left them except to resign +their Sees. And your readers would be astonished if +I could venture to mention their names—names of the +highest repute. +</p> + +<p> +The war of extermination against the Theological +<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/> +Faculties of the German Universities is to be energetically +carried on. The Bishop of Ratisbon's measure is +only a premonitory feeler. Some particular exceptions +however might be made, as long as the chairs were filled +by pupils of the Jesuits. The German College is now +to be the nursery for professors of theology and +philosophy at German Seminaries and High Schools. +This reminds one of the Alexandrian Psaphon, who +kept a whole aviary of parrots, and taught them to +scream, <q>Great is the God, Psaphon,</q> and then let +them fly, so that they carried over land and sea the +fame of his godhead. In Rome there is fortunately an +abundance of such aviaries. There are colleges here +for England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and +Hungary, Belgium, Poland, and North and South +America, and thousands of their inmates have already +been indoctrinated in Psaphon's fashion. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirtieth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 20, 1870.</hi>—At last the greatest theologian +of Catholic England, in fact the only man of +learning there who would be called in Germany a real +theologian, has spoken out in the great controversy. +Dr. Newman is superior of the Birmingham Oratory. +It has long been notorious that he deplored the condition +of the English (Catholic) Church, which has for +many years been brought under the convert yoke, and +sympathized with the old Catholics, both clergy and +laity, who are now crushed under it; so much so, that +the convert party there tried to brand him with the +reputation of heterodoxy, and strangers intending to +visit the illustrious Oratorian were warned not to incur +suspicion by doing so. Newman had accordingly +maintained a persistent silence in the controversies +going on in England, desirous as everybody was and is +to know his judgment upon the question which is now +<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/> +<q>gladius animam Ecclesiæ pertransiens.</q> But in the +midst of this silence he had opened his heart, in a letter +to a Bishop who is a friend of his own, on the uncomfortable +and dangerous position into which an <q>aggressive +and insolent faction</q> has brought the Church, +and disturbed so many of the truest souls. He says:<note place='foot'>[It seemed better to give the Letter itself, as published <q>by permission</q> +in the <hi rend='italic'>Standard</hi> of April 7, rather than to translate the secondhand, +though remarkably accurate, paraphrase given in the German text. It +addressed to Bishop Ullathorne.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>... Such letters, if they could be circulated, +would do much to reassure the many minds +which are at present distressed when they look towards +Rome.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Rome ought to be a name to lighten the heart at +all times, and a Council's proper office is, when some +great heresy or other evil impends, to inspire hope and +confidence in the faithful; but now we have the +greatest meeting which ever has been, and that at +Rome, infusing into us by the accredited organs of +Rome and of its partisans (such as the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> [the +<hi rend='italic'>Armonia</hi>], the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>, and the <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi>) little else than +fear and dismay. When we are all at rest, and have +no doubts, and—at least practically, not to say doctrinally—hold +the Holy Father to be infallible, suddenly +<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/> +there is thunder in the clearest sky, and we are told to +prepare for something, we know not what, to try our +faith, we know not how. No impending danger is to +be averted, but a great difficulty is to be created. Is +this the proper work of an Œcumenical Council?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>As to myself personally, please God, I do not +expect any trial at all; but I cannot help suffering +with the many souls who are suffering, and I look with +anxiety at the prospect of having to defend decisions +which may not be difficult to my own private judgment, +but may be most difficult to maintain logically +in the face of historical facts.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>What have we done to be treated as the faithful +never were treated before? When has a definition <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de +fide</foreign> been a luxury of devotion and not a stern, painful +necessity? Why should an aggressive, insolent faction +be allowed to <q>make the heart of the just sad, whom +the Lord hath not made sorrowful</q>? Why cannot we +be let alone when we have pursued peace and thought +no evil?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>I assure you, my lord, some of the truest minds are +driven one way and another, and do not know where to +rest their feet—one day determining <q>to give up all +theology as a bad job,</q> and recklessly to believe henceforth +<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/> +almost that the Pope is impeccable, at another +tempted to <q>believe all the worst which a book like +Janus says,</q>—others doubting about <q>the capacity possessed +by bishops drawn from all corners of the earth +to judge what is fitting for European society,</q> and then, +again, angry with the Holy See for listening to <q>the +flattery of a clique of Jesuits, Redemptorists, and converts.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then, again, think of the store of Pontifical scandals +in the history of eighteen centuries, which have +partly been poured forth and partly are still to come. +What Murphy inflicted upon us in one way M. Veuillot +is indirectly bringing on us in another. And then +again the blight which is falling upon the multitude of +Anglican ritualists, etc., who themselves, perhaps—at +least their leaders—may never become Catholics, but +who are leavening the various English denominations +and parties (far beyond their own range) with principles +and sentiments tending towards their ultimate absorption +into the Catholic Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>With these thoughts ever before me, I am continually +asking myself whether I ought not to make my +feelings public; but all I do is to pray those early +doctors of the Church, whose intercession would decide +<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/> +the matter (Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, Athanasius, +Chrysostom, and Basil) to avert this great +calamity.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>If it is God's will that the Pope's infallibility be +defined, then is it God's will to throw back <q>the times +and moments</q> of that triumph which He has destined +for His kingdom, and I shall feel I have but to bow +my head to His adorable, inscrutable Providence.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>You have not touched upon the subject yourself, +but I think you will allow me to express to you feelings +which, for the most part, I keep to myself....</q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus writes Newman in most glaring contrast to +Manning. The latter was long nothing but his admiring +disciple, and does not possess a tenth part of the +learning of his master. He owes simply to his infallibilist +zeal acquired in Rome his elevation to the +Archbishopric of Westminster, to which the Pope +appointed him, in anticipation of his present services, +against the will of the English Catholics and the election +of the Bishops. The Roman correspondent of the +<hi rend='italic'>Standard</hi> having published extracts from Newman's +letter, he took occasion to come forward and say that +he had no wish to conceal that he <q>deeply deplored +the policy, the spirit, the measures of various persons +<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/> +lay and ecclesiastical, who are urging the definition of +that theological opinion</q> (of papal infallibility), while +on the other hand he has <q>a firm belief that a greater +power than that of any man or set of men will overrule +the deliberations of the Council to the determination +of Catholic and Apostolic truth, and what its +Fathers eventually proclaim <emph>with one voice</emph> will be the +Word of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +No one knows better than Newman that, next to the +Jesuits, two of his old Oxford friends and disciples, Manning +and Ward, are the chief authors of the whole infallibilist +agitation. Well for him that he does not live +in Manning's diocese! In the English clerical journals, +<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Weekly Register</hi>, the fact has lately several times +come to light, that English priests who utter a word +against infallibility are promptly reduced to silence by +threats of suspension and deprivation. Every infallibilist, +who has the power, is also a terrorist, for he feels +instinctively that free and open discussion would be +the death of his darling dogma. Under these circumstances +it is very significant that some of the English +Bishops are bold and honest enough to speak their +minds plainly, to the effect that the English Catholics +had gained all their political rights on the repeated assurance, +<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/> +and with the express condition, that the doctrine +of papal infallibility would not be taught and +received in the English Church, and that on that +ground they have felt bound to repudiate this opinion. +The chief among these Bishops are Clifford, Bishop of +Clifton, and Archbishop Errington.<note place='foot'>[Archbishop Errington was Cardinal Wiseman's coadjutor with right of +succession, but was arbitrarily deprived of the post by the Pope, on his +declining to resign it. His name was the first of the three sent to Rome +by the Chapter of Westminster for the vacant Archbishopric on Cardinal +Wiseman's death, the other two being Clifford and Grant. All three were +passed over in favour of Dr. Manning.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +I can give you the precise facts of the affair about +Montalembert's Requiem from the most authentic +sources, and it is worth while to do so, for it speaks +volumes on the present state of things. The news of +his death had reached Rome some hours, when a considerable +number of foreigners, chiefly French, were +admitted to an audience with the Pope. Immediately +after the first words of blessing and encouragement, +which they had come to request of him, Pius went on +to speak of the man whose death had just been announced +to him, saying that he had done great services +to the Church, <q>mais il était malheureusement de ces +Catholiques libéraux qui ne sont que demi-catholiques. +Il y a quelques jours il écrivait des paroles</q>—here the +<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/> +Pope made a pause, and then proceeded—<q>Enfin, +j'espère qu'il est bien mort</q>—or probably <q>qu'il a fait +une bonne mort</q>—<q>L'orgueil était son principal défaut, +c'est lui qui l'a égaré.</q> +</p> + +<p> +While this was going on in the Vatican, Bougaud, +one of the Vicar-Generals of the Bishop of Orleans, was +inviting his countrymen from the pulpit of the French +church of St. Louis to a Requiem for the illustrious +dead, to be held next day in the church of Ara Celi. +Archbishop Merode, Grand Almoner of the Pope and +brother-in-law of Montalembert, had so arranged it, because +it is an ancient privilege of the Roman patricians +to have funeral services solemnized for them in this +church, and Montalembert had been named a patrician +by Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> in recognition of his services in restoring +the States of the Church and bringing back the Pope +to Rome. He had contributed more than any of his +contemporaries to that restoration, and it was he whose +speech in the National Assembly at Paris in 1848 had +decided the question of the Roman expedition. Bougaud +had also mentioned that. Many had heard on the +day before the service that it had been suddenly forbidden; +nevertheless at the appointed hour in the +morning about twenty French Bishops appeared with +<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/> +many priests and a large assemblage of laymen, the +<foreign rend='italic'>élite</foreign> of the French visitors now in Rome. There before +the entrance of the church they found M. Veuillot, the +old and implacable opponent and accuser of Montalembert, +standing among a group of sacristy officials, who +announced to all comers that the Pope had forbidden +any service being held or any prayers offered there +for the departed Count. They thought this incredible +and forced their way into the church, and here the +sacristans informed them that, by special order of the +Pope, not only was the intended Requiem stopped but +the usual masses must be suspended, as long as the +French remained in the church. By degrees the congregation +broke up, and about an hour afterwards, when +the church was empty, a French priest contrived to say +a low mass in a side chapel. +</p> + +<p> +It was probably Banneville who intimated to the +Pope, at his audience for taking leave on the 17th, +what a feeling this had created in French circles in +Rome, and what impression it must produce in France. +So on the morning of Friday the 18th, to the amazement +of the court officials, the Pope went to Sta. Maria +Transpontana, an out-of-the-way church, without his +usual cortége. Several Bishops passed the church on +<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/> +their way to the Council, and were surprised to see the +Pope's carriage waiting at the door, as they knew +nothing of what had taken him there. In the church +the Pope sent orders to a Bishop to say mass <q>for a certain +Charles,</q> at which he assisted, and the following +notice then appeared in the <hi rend='italic'>Giornale di Roma</hi>: <q>His +Holiness, in consideration of the former services of +Count Montalembert, ordered a mass to be celebrated +for him in Sta. Maria Transpontana, and himself assisted +at it from the tribune.</q> Meanwhile the journalists +were instructed to say in their correspondence columns, +that the prohibition had been issued, because the +Requiem was meant to be made into a demonstration.<note place='foot'>[This explanation, that the Requiem <q>was intended rather as a political +demonstration than a religious act,</q> was elaborately insisted on in +the <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi> of March 28, which added the guarded but equally gratuitous +statement that <q>the Bishop of Orleans, <emph>it appears</emph>, intended to speak at +the funeral service;</q> winding up with the somewhat remarkable comment +that <q>the prudence and the charity (!) of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> have been equally conspicuous +in the affair.</q> The world hardly seems to see it.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +That insinuation implicates Archbishop Merode also, +who resides in the Vatican, for he had given the order. +The charge of pride, which the Pope brought against +Montalembert, will excite astonishment and something +more in France, where it was precisely his gentleness +and modesty that had made him so universally beloved. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 21, 1870.</hi>—A feeling of weariness, +lethargy and disgust has been forced on many Bishops +by the treatment they have received and the whole +course of affairs in the Council up to this time. The +news of its dissolution would be welcome tidings to +their ears. And not only strangers, but many residents +here, would joyfully hail their deliverance from the +existing situation; even one of the Legates said lately +that, if the Council were to be suddenly dissolved by a +death, the Church would be freed from a great distress. +The Assembly Hall alone would suffice to disgust a +prelate with the idea of taking part in a Council +for the rest of his life. Yet they are obliged to +sit hours in this comfortless chamber, without understanding +what is said. A sense of time unprofitably +wasted is the only result of many a sitting +for men, to whom at home every hour is precious for +the care of a large diocese. They say that, for the first +<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/> +time since Councils came into being, the Bishops +have been robbed of their essential and inalienable right +of free speech on questions of faith; that they are compelled +to vote, but not allowed to give reasons for their +vote and bear witness to the doctrine of their Churches. +They complain that, though they can hand in written +observations, no one but the Commission of twenty-four +knows anything about them, and that for the Council +itself and their fellow Bishops they can do nothing. +The Commission will perhaps present a summary report +of a hundred of these memorials and counter +representations, according to the new order of business. +This means that the work carefully matured by a Bishop +through weeks or months of severe study will be summed +up in two or three words, and in the shape it is thrown +into by a hostile Committee. If the Bishops regard it as +an intolerable oppression at home to have to submit their +Pastorals for previous inspection to their Governments, +here they can have nothing printed, even after it has +undergone the censorship. +</p> + +<p> +It is no mere phrase, when the Bishops say in their +Protest against the new order of business that their +consciences are intolerably burdened, and that the Œcumenical +character of the Council is likely to be assailed +<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/> +and its authority fundamentally shaken (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>labefacteretur</foreign>). +They consider the arrangement for deciding doctrines by +simply counting heads intolerable, and they recognise as +of immeasurable importance, and the very turning-point +of the whole Council (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>totius Concilii cardo vertitur</foreign>), the +question as to the necessary conditions of a definition of +faith binding the consciences of all the faithful. The +Pope wants to have a new article of faith made by the +Council, on the acceptance or rejection of which every +man's salvation or condemnation is henceforth to depend. +And now this same Pope has overthrown the +principle always hitherto acknowledged in the Church, +that such decrees could only be passed unanimously, +and has made the opposite principle into a law. +</p> + +<p> +The Opposition Bishops are well aware that any +regular examination and discussion of the infallibility +question is rendered impossible by the nature of the +Council Hall and the plan of voting by majorities. +They have therefore proposed to the Legates that a +deputation of several Bishops chosen from among themselves +should be associated with the Commission on +Faith, or with certain Bishops of the majority, to discuss +the form of the decree, and that, when they have +come to a common understanding, the formula as finally +<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/> +agreed upon should be submitted to the vote of the +Council in full assembly. The authorities will not +readily yield to this demand on many accounts, and +chiefly because what Tacitus said of the Roman people +1800 years ago is well understood at Rome now, <q>Juvit +credulitatem nox et promptior inter tenebras affirmatio.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It was a prudent foresight which led the Pope so +strictly to prohibit the Bishops from printing anything +here during the sitting of the Council; the Jesuits of +the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> must retain their exclusive monopoly of free +speech. But such conferences as the minority wished +for were no less dangerous than printing, and would +naturally lead to the grounds of their decision being +made public. They have been summoned to affirm, not to +deny, and <q>promptior inter tenebras affirmatio.</q> Meanwhile +the Germans say that a thorough sifting of the +question is the first thing necessary to be insisted upon, +and that for two reasons: first to satisfy their own consciences, +and secondly for the sake of their flocks. For +they would not think it enough to enforce the new +dogmas on the faithful of their dioceses by mere official +acts and by referring them to the authority of the Council, +which is ultimately reduced to the authority of the +Pope, but would feel bound to give them sufficient +<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/> +reasons for its acceptance; and they have not been able +to discover the cogency of these reasons themselves. +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> considers this superfluous. He feels his infallibility, +as he says, and therefore thinks it very scandalous +that the Bishops do not choose to be content with +this testimony of his feeling. However, the negotiations +with the Legates about these conferences are +still going on. +</p> + +<p> +It must be allowed that there is not the slightest +exaggeration in the words of the seventy-six protesting +Bishops. It is strictly true that the new order of business, +if it is carried out, must raise the greatest doubts +as to the Œcumenical character of the Council among +all thinking Catholics, especially such as are familiar +with the history of Councils. And it is undeniable that +this would excite a terrible disturbance in the Church, +a contest the end of which cannot be foreseen. The +Jesuits are now stirring the fire with the same assiduity +and malicious pleasure as their predecessors in the +Order of 1713 and the following years, when the whole +of France and the Netherlands was plunged into a state +of ecclesiastical strife and confusion by the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unigenitus</hi>, +which they procured. They enjoy such contests, +and have always carried them through with the merciless +<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/> +harshness which is peculiar to them, relying on the +strength of their organization. It may sound hard that +the Order should so often be reproached with making its +members at once accusers and bailiffs, but they would +themselves consider this rather a note of praise than of +blame. +</p> + +<p> +The retribution for their conduct in 1713 and afterwards +came in 1763 and 1773. But the Order, or at +least its Roman members, who are all-powerful through +the favour of the Pope, have no fear of such consequences +now. A Jesuit can make a home for his theology, +now here now there. If the Order is driven from +one country, it is received into another; its property is +moveable and can be transferred easily and without loss, +and moreover it possesses, so to speak, an itinerant +mint in its carefully elaborated skill in the direction of +female souls, whether lodged in male or female bodies. +They are thorough adepts too in the speculations of the +money market, and manage their transactions in banknotes +as successfully as the most practised merchant, so +that they are quietly but surely recovering their prosperity +in many cities of the Italian Kingdom, even in +Florence, while all other Orders have been suppressed +there. So they are well equipped and in excellent +<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/> +spirits for meeting the future. If their system of doctrine +is now raised to full dominion by Pope and Council, +and if they succeed in the next Conclave in procuring +the election of a Pope thoroughly devoted to them and +resolved to carry on the present system, the ship of the +Order will ride majestically on the waves of future +events, and fear no storms. A thoroughly well-informed +man has assured us that the Pope said the other day to +a Roman prelate, that <q>the Jesuits had involved him +in this business of the Council and infallibility, and he +was determined now to go through with it, cost what it +might. They must take the responsibility of the results.</q> +A very similar statement was made by the +Emperor Francis <hi rend='smallcaps'>i.</hi> He said that <q>he could not tell +how his finance minister would answer hereafter for +having precipitated so many men into poverty and +misery by establishing a national bankruptcy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For the fourth or fifth time since the opening of the +Council, the ultramontane correspondents have been +instructed to say, that the acoustic defects of the Hall +have been remedied through new arrangements. This +is not true; the speeches are never understood in many +parts of the Chamber, not even where the secretaries sit. +Meanwhile the Pope has conceived a desire to appear +<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/> +again in the midst of the Bishops and hold a Solemn +Session. Hitherto he has been invisible and generally +unapproachable to his <q>venerable brethren,</q> as he officially +styles them. The last time the assembly saw +him was at the unsuccessful Solemn Session of January +6, when the Bishops had to go through the useless +ceremony of swearing oaths, in order to fill up the +vacant time. For Pius does not feel that there is the +slightest need for ascertaining the views of the Bishops +about the measures in hand, or their wishes and proposals, +and hearing their report of the state of Church +matters in their own countries. He stands too high +for that. A French prelate remarked lately that the +Council does not thrive, because the Pope stands at +once too near it and too far from it—so near that he +robs it of all freedom, so far that there is no community +of feeling and views and understanding. +</p> + +<p> +There has never indeed been a period in Church +history where it has been made so palpably plain to +the Episcopate how much the name of <q>brother,</q> +which the Pontifex gives to every Bishop, is worth, and +how immeasurable is the gulf between the <q>brother</q> +on the Roman throne, the Pope-King, and the brother +in Paris or Vienna or Prague. +</p> + +<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/> + +<p> +On the 16th a part of the first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was distributed +in a revised form, and a General Congregation was held +upon it on the 18th, at the very time when the Pope +was hearing a mass for Montalembert in reparation for +his treatment of the illustrious dead on the 15th and +16th. He wanted to hold a Solemn Session on the 25th, +and thought there would be some decrees ready to be +published. In defiance of the order of business the +Bishops had only a day and a half, instead of ten days, +allowed them to get acquainted with the revised text. +However, so large a number of speakers sent in their +names, and so many new difficulties came to light, that +Pius had once more to abandon his design of proclaiming +new articles of faith on that day to the expectant +world. It looks as if the fourth month of the Council +would pass by with as little result as the three first. +Easter Monday is already named as the period fixed for +publishing the first doctrinal decree. Meanwhile a new +power has been introduced in the person of the Jesuit, +Kleutgen. He had been condemned some time ago by +the Holy Office on account of a scandal in a convent. +But he has now been rehabilitated, as the Jesuits have +no superfluity of theologians, and is to take part in +drawing up the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>. The time fixed for sending +<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/> +in representations on the infallibility decree has been +extended for ten days more, to the 25th. There is no +lack of criticisms and counter-statements; the Bishops, +although foreseeing that their intellectual progeny will +be strangled directly after birth, seem anxious to gain +the satisfaction of saying, <q>dixi et salvavi animam +meam.</q> The German Bishops remember the assurances +they gave at Fulda. The Archbishop of Cologne reminded +the faithful of his diocese, as late as Feb. 9, +of this Pastoral, to set their minds at rest. To-day, +March 21, in view of the infallibilist <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> and the +new order of business, he would no doubt hardly think +it prudent to say any longer to the Germans, <q>Be confident +that the Council will establish no new dogma, +and proclaim nothing which is not written by faith and +conscience on your hearts.</q> The Germans will now be +curious to see the circumlocutions and explanations +appended, in the fresh Pastorals compiled after the +fabrication of the new dogma, to the Pastoral issued +from the tomb of St. Boniface. +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops should take care that they are not, like +the eagle in the Libyan fable, struck with arrows +feathered from their own wings. Banneville, who +succeeded two men very unacceptable in Rome, Lavalette +<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/> +and Sartiges, was amicably received, and found it +agreeable to keep on the best footing with Antonelli, +and to treat the whole affair of the Council easily +and superficially. Whatever he said was always very +mildly expressed. It was so convenient to enjoy the +favour both of the Pope and the Secretary of State, and +to be commended by the majority of the Council as +a pious and enlightened statesman. The differences +between him and Count Daru were accordingly inevitable. +For Daru appreciates the extent of the danger, +not only as a statesman but as a zealous Catholic, while +Banneville's one thought has ever been to please the +Roman authorities, so that a French prelate said to him +shortly before his departure, <q>Pensiez-vous que vous +étiez ambassadeur auprès de Jésuites?</q> And thus at +last the necessity of instructing him has been recognised +at Paris. But at the same time Bishop Forcade of +Nevers has been sent there, intrusted with the mission +of representing Banneville's conduct to the Government +as exactly right, and advocating the views and +desires of Antonelli and the majority of the Council. +He has told them at Paris that the majority do not want +to hear anything of the admission of a French ambassador +to the Council—which is credible enough—but +<pb n='375'/><anchor id='Pg375'/> +that the Government has nothing to fear from the +decrees, for the Court of Rome would in any case +respect the Concordat. Antonelli, as may be seen, +abides by his panacea. The only question is whether +they are disposed at Paris to be paid with such diplomatic +counters. Meanwhile it has been rumoured that +Count Daru would send a memorial to the Council. +To the Council? Say rather to the Pope and his +Secretary of State. This putting forward of the Council, +whose freedom and self-determination the Roman +Court is neither able nor willing to anticipate, is a +device which no one can take seriously. The Bishop of +Orleans in his last publication has pierced a hole in the +mask, which renders it nearly useless. He remarks +(p. 54), <q>Whatever is to come before the Council can +only come through the Commission appointed by the +Pope, that is ultimately through himself. He is the +master, the sole and absolute master, with whom it +rests to admit a proposal or set it aside.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Antonelli says that no ambassadors can be admitted, +for if it were conceded to the French, it could not be +refused to other powers, Austria, Bavaria, or even +Prussia. He is quite right there. It has been a main +object from the first with this Council to give a striking +<pb n='376'/><anchor id='Pg376'/> +example of the entire exclusion of the lay element +in ecclesiastical deliberations. It is just because the +Governments and States are so deeply concerned in +the projected decrees, because their rights and laws +and their whole future are affected, that they are not +to be heard or admitted. In presence of the representative +of his Government, many a Bishop would think +twice before assenting to a decree flatly contradicting +the laws and political principles of his country. And +then the admission of ambassadors would break through +the mystery, and make the strict silence imposed on +the Bishops almost useless. A large number of them, +and above all the entire Opposition, would be very +glad of this, but for that very reason the ruling powers +detest it the more. As a foretaste and practical illustration +of what the maxims of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> will +lead to, when made into dogmas, it is worth while to +notice the decision issued by the Pope and his Penitentiary +in September 1869, when this Schema had +just been drawn up, on the question whether a priest +could swear to observe the Austrian Constitution. To +take the oath absolutely was forbidden; he can only +take it with an express reservation of the laws of the +Church, and—which is very significant—he must state +<pb n='377'/><anchor id='Pg377'/> +publicly that he only takes the oath, even with this +reservation, by virtue of papal permission. That is a +new and very important step on the road to be trodden +with the aid of the Council. Every clergyman is to be +reminded, and to remind others, in merely discharging +a simple civil obligation, that he is dependent on the +Pope in the matter, and may not properly speaking +swear civil fealty and obedience to the laws without +papal permission, not even in the conditional form which +makes the oath itself illusory. This is quite after the +mind of the Jesuits, who have always shown a special +predilection for the doctrine that every cleric is not a +subject and citizen with corresponding rights, but simply +a subaltern and servant of the Pope. This is a prologue +to the twenty-one Canons of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +I have just learnt from the <hi rend='italic'>Kölner Volkszeitung</hi> that +the chaplain of a prelate here charges me with a gross +falsehood in reference to the words of the Pope. He +appeals to the Paris <hi rend='italic'>Union</hi>, which has the words used +by the Pope, <q>Je suis la voie, la vérité, et la vie,</q> with the +passage inserted by the editor. I had cited the words +from the <hi rend='italic'>Observateur Catholique</hi> of 1866 (p. 357), where +they are authenticated by the signature of an ear-witness, +MacSheeby, and correspond entirely with the statement +<pb n='378'/><anchor id='Pg378'/> +of the <hi rend='italic'>Union</hi>. But in the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi>, which was not in my +reach, a totally different version is given, which has +no similarity to that authenticated by Roman correspondents +in the <hi rend='italic'>Union</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Observateur</hi>, and does not +connect the words, <q>I am the way,</q> etc., with the Pope +at all. It must remain uncertain after this whether +the version of the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi> or of the two other journals +is the genuine one. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='379'/><anchor id='Pg379'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_XXXII'/> +<head>Thirty-Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 28, 1870.</hi>—The Bishops who have +attacked the new order of business, because it brought +into view the possibility of a dogmatic definition being +carried without the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>consensus moraliter unanimis</foreign>, received +the desired answer in no doubtful form at the +sitting of Tuesday, the 22d. The measures of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> for a month past have been unmistakably contributing +more and more to produce a worthy and loyal-hearted +attitude among the minority. After long dallying, +Rome has brought the secrets of her policy a little +too boldly and conspicuously into view. Hardly was +the domination of the majority in matters of faith fixed +by the stricter <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign>, when the Pope had the proclamation +of his own infallibility proposed in the most +arrogant form. On this followed the attempt to press +it to an immediate decision, and then the determination +to admit no ambassadors of the Governments. If these +<pb n='380'/><anchor id='Pg380'/> +proceedings were not enough to lay bare the perilous +nature of the whole situation, the Pope and the zealots +of his party supplied the remaining proof,—the former, +by his conduct about Falloux, about Montalembert on +the day the news of his death arrived, about the Munich +theologians in secret consistory, and about the so-called +Liberal or <q>half-Catholics</q> on every occasion; the +latter by their growing impatience about the infallibility +definition, and their assurances that there is no +real opposition to this dogma, and that, if there was, +it could not hold its ground after the promulgation had +taken place. And so the opponents of the decree must +know at last that they have to deal with a blind and +unscrupulous zeal, not with a theological system carefully +thought out and placed on an intellectual basis; +that the contest has to be carried on against the whole +power and influence of the Pope, and not, as had been +maintained with transparent hypocrisy, only against +the wishes of the noisy and independent party of the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> and its allied journalists. They begin to use +more earnest and manlier language, the language of +clear apprehension and conscientious conviction. If the +comments handed in last week on the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>, +and the protests against any hurrying of the discussion +<pb n='381'/><anchor id='Pg381'/> +on it, were known to the world, the Catholic Episcopate +and the strong reflux current here would appear in a +very different light from what might be gathered from +the previous course of things. Not a few of these +opinions drawn up by the Bishops breathe a truly +apostolic spirit, and deal with the Roman proposals in +the tone of genuine theology. An influential theologian +of a Religious Order has pronounced of one of them, +that it exceeds in force and weight the treatise which +appeared in Germany last year, <hi rend='italic'>Reform of the Church +in Her Head and Her Members</hi>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Reform der Kirche an Haupt und Gliedern.</hi></note> It has been urged by +English prelates that it concerns their honour to resist +the promulgation of a dogma, the explicit repudiation +of which by the Irish Bishops was an efficacious condition +of Catholic Emancipation. The American Protest +contains a more threatening warning than the +German, and the German is stronger than the French. +</p> + +<p> +After these declarations the attitude of the minority +was clearly defined, and invincible by any foe from +without. Their contention is, that no right exists in +the Church to sanction a dogma against the will and +belief of an important portion of the Episcopate, and +that only by abandoning any claim to such a right can +<pb n='382'/><anchor id='Pg382'/> +the Council be regarded as really Œcumenical. To +be quite consistent, the minority ought to take +no further part in the Council till this point, on the +decision of which they rightly hold its authority +to depend, is settled; for their protest implied the +doubt whether they were taking part in a true or only +a seeming Council, whether they were acting in union +with the Holy Ghost or co-operating to carry out a +gigantic and sacrilegious deception. Yet the words +expressly stating this doubt, and making the distinct +withdrawal of the theory of voting dogmas by majorities +a condition of any further participation in the proceedings, +were not adopted into any of the Protests. +This implied that the signataries would appear in the +next General Congregation, that they refrained from a +suspicious attitude, and were unwilling to interpret the +ambiguous order of business <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in malam partem</foreign>, until +facts compelled them to do so. A conflict which might +have such incalculable results was to be avoided, till +necessity made it a positive duty; and that was not +the case as long as a favourable interpretation of the +<foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign> continued possible. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the minority committed the strategical blunder +of postponing a conflict which they saw to be inevitable, +<pb n='383'/><anchor id='Pg383'/> +and when they could not know whether any more +favourable opportunity for entering on it for the benefit +of the Church would occur in the future. There is +hardly anything doubtful or open to double interpretation +in the order of business, when more closely +examined. Every Bishop sees quite clearly that it is +specially arranged for overcoming the opposition of the +minority, and will be used without scruple for that end.<note place='foot'>[The correctness of this prediction was conspicuously illustrated in the +<foreign rend='italic'>coup</foreign> of June 3. <hi rend='italic'>Cf. infr.</hi> Letter <ref target='Letter_LII'>lii</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +And who knows how many members of the present +Opposition, if once the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> applies its last lever, will +have strength to resist to extremities? how many are +ready, by humble submission or by resigning their Sees, +to quiet their consciences and sacrifice their flocks to +error? There are men among them better fitted for the +contest against the principle formally enounced in the +revised order of business, than for the contest against +infallibility. The Bishop of Mayence, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, passes for +one of the strongest and most decided opponents of the +<foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign>, which I mention as a point of great importance +at this moment. The resolve of the protesting +Bishops, to avoid the threatened conflict at present, can +only be justified if another and better opportunity for +<pb n='384'/><anchor id='Pg384'/> +defending the cause of the Church occurs in the future +course of the Council and before any decision is arrived +at. Had they been willing, after handing in their protests, +to go on quietly joining in the proceedings, without +doing anything to give emphasis to the step they +had taken, they would in fact have bent under the yoke +of the majority. They only needed to keep silent: +that implied everything. For it would necessarily be +assumed that they had withdrawn or forgotten their +protests, and to continue to act upon and submit to the +new order of business themselves would imply that they +had renounced their resistance to any of its particular +details. It was therefore all the more essential for +them to let it be clearly known how far their concessions +would extend, and what was their final limit. +Unless they did this, they would either seem not quite +sincere, or would have really accepted the <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign> +with its obvious consequences. The Council, the Presidents, +the Pope, the expectant Catholic world without, +had a right to know their real intentions, and +whether they meant to adhere to their declarations. The +first voting on the propositions of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> +could not fail to decide this point. Thus it became +a necessity to put this question of principle in the +<pb n='385'/><anchor id='Pg385'/> +front at the reopening of the deliberations of the +Council. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the concessions of the Presidents and the +majority on some points had elicited a more friendly +feeling in the Opposition. The discussion on infallibility +was postponed, and the first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was returned +from the Commission with important modifications. +Even the shameful treatment of Montalembert could +not altogether destroy this conciliatory state of feeling. +Ginoulhiac, the learned Bishop of Grenoble, who was to +be preconised as Archbishop of Lyons on Monday the +21st, undertook on the 22d to meet the discreet concessions +of the infallibilists in a kindred spirit. He +was indeed obliged to make his speech on the Tuesday, +though he had not been preconised on the day before. +The French, who have no Cardinal—for Mathieu's custom +is to go away at any critical moment, and he was not +then returned—had gladly left to one of the Austrian +Cardinals the less pleasing duty of declaring their attitude +towards the <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign>. Schwarzenberg did but +slightly glance at it in his speech and yet was called +to order. Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis, one of the +most imposing figures in the Council, touched on the +theme more closely, and dwelt on the office of Bishops +<pb n='386'/><anchor id='Pg386'/> +as witnesses and judges of faith, in the sense which +forms the basis of the opposition of the minority. +Lastly, Strossmayer ascended the tribune, and then +followed a scene which, for dramatic force and theological +significance, almost exceeded anything in the +past history of Councils. He began by referring to +that passage at the opening of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, where +Protestantism is made responsible for modern unbelief—<q>systematum +monstra, mythismi, rationalismi, indifferentismi +nomine designata.</q> He blamed the +perversity and injustice of these words, referring to +the religious indifference among Catholics which preceded +the Reformation, and the horrors of the Revolution, +which were caused by godlessness among +Catholics, not among Protestants. He added that the +able champions of Christian doctrine among the Protestants +ought not to be forgotten, to many of whom +St. Augustine's words applied, <q>errant, sed bonâ fide +errant;</q> Catholics had produced no better refutations +of the errors enumerated in the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> than had been +written by Protestants, and all Christians were indebted +to such men as Leibnitz and Guizot. +</p> + +<p> +Each one of these statements, and the two names, were +received with loud murmurs, which at last broke out into +<pb n='387'/><anchor id='Pg387'/> +a storm of indignation. The President, De Angelis, cried +out, <q>Hicce non est locus laudandi Protestantes.</q> And +he was right, for the Palace of the Inquisition is hardly +a hundred paces from the place where he was speaking. +Strossmayer exclaimed, in the midst of a great uproar, +<q>That alone can be imposed on the faithful as a dogma, +which has a moral unanimity of the Bishops of the +Church in its favour.</q> At these words a frightful +tumult arose. Several Bishops sprang from their seats, +rushed to the tribune, and shook their fists in the +speaker's face. Place, Bishop of Marseilles, one of the +boldest of the minority and the first to give in his +public adhesion to Dupanloup's Pastoral, cried out, +<q>Ego illum non damno.</q> Thereupon a shout resounded +from all sides, <q>Omnes, omnes illum damnamus.</q> The +President called Strossmayer to order, but he did not +leave the tribune till he had solemnly protested against +the violence to which he had been subjected. There +was hardly less excitement in the church outside than +in the Council Hall. Some thought the Garibaldians +had broken in: others, with more presence of mind, +thought infallibility had been proclaimed, and these +last began shouting <q>Long live the infallible Pope!</q> +A Bishop of the United States said afterwards, not +<pb n='388'/><anchor id='Pg388'/> +without a sense of patriotic pride, that he knew now +of one assembly still rougher than the Congress of his +own country. +</p> + +<p> +This memorable day has already become the subject +of myths, and so it is no longer possible to define with +certainty how many prelates were hurried into these +passionate outbreaks. Some speak of 400, some of +200; others again say that the majority disapproved of +the interruption. The excitement was followed next +day by a profound stillness, which was not broken even +when Haynald and the North American Bishop Whelan +said very strong things. It seemed as if a sense of +what they owed to the dignity of the Council and a +feeling of shame had got the better of those turbulent +spirits. But enough has occurred to show the world +what spirit prevails here, and what sort of men they +are who support infallibilism. That up to this time +this Council does not deserve the respect of the Catholic +world, is the least point; it is of more importance, +that an internal split in the Church is more and more +revealing itself. Henceforth it will no longer be possible +to throw in the teeth of genuine Catholics their +compromising or dishonourable solidarity with error +and lies, for this has given place to an open and avowed +<pb n='389'/><anchor id='Pg389'/> +opposition. On one side stands the small but morally +powerful band of those who accept Strossmayer's noble +words with head and heart, on the other a crowd of +<q>abject</q><note place='foot'>This word (<foreign lang='de' rend='italic'>niederträchtigen</foreign>) was lately used by a German Bishop.</note> fanatics and sycophants. This division is of +supreme significance for the future course of the Council, +because it strengthens and consolidates the minority +in their harmony and determination, and obliges them +to take a further step, as soon as the majority have made +it unmistakably clear that they will not acknowledge and +respect their claim to prevent a dogmatic definition. +</p> + +<p> +The Presidents, by denouncing Strossmayer's speech +but not the interruption of it, as it was their duty to do, +gave evidence of an undisguised partiality, and justly incurred +the suspicion of sympathizing with the shouters +and not with the speaker, and thinking the proclamation +of infallibility allowable without the moral unanimity +of the Council. Accordingly a categorical +demand was sent in to them to declare themselves on +this point, and, in case of their giving no answer, +another last step is reserved, which will have the +nature of an ultimatum and will bring the Œcumenicity +of the Vatican Council to a decisive test. And so +it may be said that the Bishops of the minority have +<pb n='390'/><anchor id='Pg390'/> +delayed but not wavered. The moment for a decisive +move, which may test the existence of the Council, +must come when a dogmatic decree has to be voted on. +This crisis seemed to have arrived on Saturday, March +26, when the preamble of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> was to +have been voted on. Various amendments had been +proposed, one very important one by Bishop Meignan of +Chalons, in which the Fathers were designated as definers +of the decrees, and another equally important, +implicitly containing infallibility, by Dreux-Brézé, +Bishop of Moulins. Moreover this preamble contained +the obnoxious passages immortalized by the glowing +eloquence of Strossmayer. The antagonistic principles +seemed to have reached their ultimate point. Votes +were to be taken on dogmatic decrees before any agreement +had been come to on the necessary conditions of +such voting. At the last moment the Presidents resolved +to evade the crisis. The very day before the +sitting, Friday, March 25, Cardinal Bilio went to the +authors of the amendments and persuaded them to withdraw +them, and so on Saturday the text of the preamble +was brought forward without any amendment. Nor +was there any voting on that either, but they passed at +once to the discussion on the first chapter of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, +<pb n='391'/><anchor id='Pg391'/> +in which the Primate of Hungary (Simor) made an +adroit and conciliatory speech as advocate of the Commission +on Faith. The debate then proceeded. By +the eleventh article of the new order of business, every +separate part of a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> must be voted on before the +next can come on for discussion. +</p> + +<p> +It was a breach of this rule to pass on straight to the +first chapter of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, without having voted on the +preamble. The Bishops asked themselves what this +meant. Was it intended, by the withdrawal of the +amendments and the abandonment of the discussion, to +declare the preamble tacitly accepted? Was it intended +to correct that objectionable passage? But the +wording of the <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign> was too strict to allow of +that being done except in the General Congregation. +It seemed at any rate as if more prudent counsels had +prevailed and it was intended to avert the dreaded contest +on the main principle by concessions, so as to pass +such decrees as were possible, that they may be unanimously +promulgated in the Easter session. Thus time +would be gained for loosening the compact phalanx of +the Opposition, and at the same time getting it more +deeply implicated in a compromising actual acceptance +of the new order of business, in its form as well as its +<pb n='392'/><anchor id='Pg392'/> +spirit. This double danger is always imminent, but in +fact the Opposition as yet has suffered no loss. +</p> + +<p> +We are at the end of the fourth month of the Council, +and yet they have not dared to put one decree to +the vote. The amendments, which were so obnoxious, +have disappeared. The passage about unbelief being +the offspring of Protestantism, which Strossmayer +assailed, will perhaps be corrected, though in an irregular +manner. The simple and sanguine spirits among the +Opposition Bishops exult over a victory obtained. One +of the most famous of them exclaimed, <q>It is clear the +Holy Ghost is guiding the Council.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='393'/><anchor id='Pg393'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, March 30, 1870.</hi>—Yesterday (the 29th) the +first voting in Council took place, on the preamble of +the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi>. As I told you in my last letter, +this preamble had been objected to by Strossmayer on +account of the passage representing rationalism, indifferentism, +the mythical theory of the Bible and unbelief +as consequences of Protestantism. Several amendments +had been proposed; two of them I have mentioned +already, one introduced by Bishop Meignan of Chalons, +substituting for a mere approbation of the decree a +statement expressly guarding the right of the Episcopate +to define,—the other, proposed by Dreux-Brézé, +designed to smuggle in the infallibilist doctrine in a +form requiring a sharpsighted eye to detect it.<note place='foot'>The original text ran: <q>Quâ sane benignitate ipsius ac providentiâ +factum est, ut ex Œcumenicis omnibus Concíliis, et ex Tridentino nominatim +amplissima in universam Catholicam Familiam utilitas dimanaverit;</q> +the amendment of Dreux-Brézé runs: <q>Quâ sane benignitate ipsius ac providentiâ factum est, ut <emph>licet omnibus Ecclesiae necessitatibus per ordinarium +Summi Pontificis regimen et magisterium satis fuerit provisum</emph>, tamen ex +Œcumenicis omnibus Conciliis,</q> etc.</note> Many +<pb n='394'/><anchor id='Pg394'/> +infallibilists had reckoned on the victory of their +dogma last week by means of this amendment. The +Presidents had got some of the amendments withdrawn +on Friday, the 25th, but these two they suffered to remain. +They were equally sure that the first would be rejected +and the second accepted by the majority; nay they +counted on a far larger majority for the passage implying +infallibility than for the rejection of Meignan's proposal, +and hoped that this occasion would tend to +bring to light unmistakably the power and extent of +the infallibilist party. +</p> + +<p> +At the beginning of the sitting of Saturday, the 26th, +the exact regulations for the method of voting were first +read out, and this was repeated a second time to preclude +any risk of misapprehension. Yet it was announced +immediately afterwards that there would be +no voting, and this unexpected change was made during +the Session and in presence of the Fathers. There had +in fact been a kind of fermentation going on since +Tuesday, the 22nd, when Strossmayer's affair occurred. +The justice of his criticism on the passage about Protestantism +<pb n='395'/><anchor id='Pg395'/> +and unbelief had become evident to many; +at least fifteen Bishops made representations to the President +about it as late as the Friday. According to a very +widely-spread report, one of them was the Bishop of +Orleans and the other the Bishop of Augsburg. But in +spite of this, and of the prospect of a catastrophe, which +the union of the Germans made imminent, they seem to +have gone into Saturday's sitting firmly resolved not to +yield. Yet a last attempt succeeded. After the mass, +when all were assembled, a Bishop handed in a paper +with a few lines to the Presidents, on which two of +them at once left the Hall. Meanwhile the order of +the day and the method of voting was read out. On +their return the decision was announced; the preamble +was withdrawn to be amended. It was an English +Bishop whose paper produced such important results.<note place='foot'>[It is understood to have been Bishop Clifford of Clifton.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +On Monday, the 28th, the preamble was distributed +in its revised form; Dreux-Brézé's objectionable amendment +had disappeared, the passage about Protestantism +was altered, and even the style was improved. Primate +Simor, speaking in the name of the Commission, had +already stated officially that the Bishops were at liberty +to subscribe the decrees by <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>definiens subscripsi</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, to use +<pb n='396'/><anchor id='Pg396'/> +the ancient conciliar formula by which the Bishops used +to describe themselves as defining the decrees. And +thus the principle for which Meignan, Strossmayer, and +Whelan had contended, was conceded. In this form +and after these concessions the preamble could no longer +be opposed. +</p> + +<p> +The strength of the minority has been proved, though +in an irregular manner. But obviously this gives an +opening to the majority for similarly setting aside the +order of business when it is inconvenient for themselves. +Beyond a doubt the spirit of conciliation has triumphed +over all opposition at the critical moment. And it may +be distinctly said that this result was attained, partly +through the firm attitude of the minority, partly through +the prudent and abundantly justified yielding of the Presidents. +By this discreet procedure they have declined all +responsibility for the conduct of those who, on Tuesday +the 22d, would hear of no objections to that portion of +the preamble. And their doing this so decidedly makes +their silence on the other matter, which caused such an +outbreak, the more surprising, and some explanation of +it is all the more necessary. +</p> + +<p> +The amended preamble was then accepted unanimously. +But the chapter <hi rend='italic'>De Deo Creatore</hi> did not pass +<pb n='397'/><anchor id='Pg397'/> +so easily, though it might have been expected that, at +the end of four months, the Bishops would have arrived +at some agreement on that point. The main difficulty +arose from the tendency again to smuggle in statements +favourable to infallibility, and paving the way for its +definition by a sidewind. The first paragraph, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, +opens thus, <q>Sancta Romana Catholica Ecclesia credit et +confitetur unum esse Deum verum et vivum, Creatorem +cœli et terræ.</q> Two amendments were proposed on +this: (1.) <q>Proponitur, ut initio capitis primi simpliciter +dicatur, <q>Sancta Catholica Ecclesia credit et confitetur,</q></q> +etc. (2.) <q>Proponitur, ut in capite primo verba <q>Romana +Catholica Ecclesia</q> transferantur, ita ut legatur +<q>Catholica atque Romana Ecclesia.</q> Sin autem non +placuerit Patribus, ut saltem comma interponatur inter +verba <emph>Romana</emph> et <emph>Catholica</emph>.</q> There was a great deal of +discussion about this word <q>Romana.</q> The German +Opposition Bishops exhibit a better organization than +the French. In spite of the great majority, it was announced +that the voting would be only provisional, a +<q>suffragatio provisoria,</q> and it is probable that the +first chapter will be revised in this point, as in several +others, before being presented for definitive acceptance. +</p> + +<pb n='398'/><anchor id='Pg398'/> + +<p> +It is very noteworthy that the Italian Government +has made no attempt to utilize the new complications, +and the introduction of a new system of policy in +France very hostile in principle to Roman absolutism. +The Roman question has gone to sleep at the moment +when a solution seemed to be in view. Indifference +has taken the place of zeal at the very time when zeal +had a prospect of success. Nowhere is the reason of +this seeming apathy better understood than at Rome. +The Italians are patient, because they see the settlement +approaching in the natural course of things and +without violence: they know that with the death of +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> a far-reaching change must ensue. His successor +will enter on the difficult inheritance under +very different conditions. +</p> + +<p> +The change of sovereigns will, in another point of +view, be a very critical transition for the system dominant +here. There is no point the non-Italian Episcopate +with the foreign Cardinals and the Great Powers, +are so united upon as throwing open the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and +the Sacred College to foreigners. A Papal election +under present circumstances might be very dangerous +for the centralization policy. The hardly-won domination +of that party which Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> has made into his +<pb n='399'/><anchor id='Pg399'/> +instrument would be menaced, for after a long pontificate +an election is always a reaction and not a continuation. +The numerous elements of opposition, which +have so long been suppressed, combine then for mutual +aid. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> has created the College of Cardinals +himself, but his successor will be the creation of the +College. The ruling party runs the risk of getting a +Pope who will no longer serve it and carry on its +policy, and it is certain that the next Pope will be +much weaker than the present one in his relations +with the Governments, the Cardinals and the Episcopate. +Much, very much, of the present resources of +the Papacy depends on the person of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, and will +be buried with him. It is the interest of all who are +concerned in the continuance of the existing system, +that his personal influence should survive his reign. +</p> + +<p> +He alone can hand on to his successor his own +special connection with France, and he alone can secure +the choice of a successor in the Jesuit interest. But, +to accomplish that, he must survive his own pontificate, +must himself fix on the desired successor, must himself +inaugurate him and support him with the whole weight +of his personal influence. And thus the bold and ingenious +device has been started of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> abdicating, +<pb n='400'/><anchor id='Pg400'/> +and a new election being held during his life. It is said +not to be quite a new project; in the honeymoon of the +Council, just after the New Year, it first began to be +somewhat inconsiderately spoken of. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> is nearly +eighty, two years older than is generally said. He was +elected June 16, 1846, and will therefore, on June 16, +1870, complete the twenty-fourth year of his pontificate. +But there is an old saying, universally believed in +Rome, that no Pope will reign twenty-five years, as it +was the exclusive privilege of St. Peter to be Pope for +a quarter of a century. <q>Non numerabis annos Petri.</q> +It is a fact that none of the 255 predecessors of the +present Pope has held office for twenty-five years; even +those elected at thirty-seven, like Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> and +Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>, died earlier. So according to this belief, which +is not confined to the vulgar, Pius has only one year +more to live. But in spite of his age he is healthy and +wonderfully strong, and, as he belongs to a long-lived +family, he has the prospect of still living some time, +only not as reigning Pope. It is no pleasing prospect +for a man, in whose character there is a large element +of <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>amour propre</foreign>, to be treated as the setting sun, +while all are speculating on his speedy death. It +would be another thing, at the very moment of his +<pb n='401'/><anchor id='Pg401'/> +glorious triumph over the Council and after gaining +infallibility, to resign it, to decline to enjoy his success, +to renounce this mighty power in the first moment of +fruition, and to transfer the splendid inheritance to +the hands of a younger man. Thus next June might +witness the most brilliant jubilee, and an example be +given of such imposing grandeur that the world has +seen nothing like it, of such wisdom and eventful +significance that the present system would be immortalized +and become the heirloom of the Papacy for all +ages. The Pope would retire into a glorious privacy, +like the founder of the North American Republic after +his second Presidentship, and taste the honours of an ex-Pope, +unequalled by any former ceremonial splendour, +and close his days in a position of unprecedented elevation. +This seductive dream has found little aliment +in the course of the Council hitherto. The plan +would be at bottom a conspiracy against existing law, +against Cardinals, Governments, and the Episcopate, +and notwithstanding its dazzling lustre, would make +the very worst impression on the Council. A victorious +Pope might conceivably attempt to carry it out, +but in the present situation it would be a dangerous +challenge. +</p> + +<pb n='402'/><anchor id='Pg402'/> + +<p> +The abdication of a Pope is not without precedent +in history. In 1294 a Pope took this step, which has +never since been repeated; Celestine <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> resigned the +papal office, to which he felt himself unequal. After a +long and quarrelsome Conclave, the Cardinals, at their +wits' end, had elected the pious recluse of Einsiedlen, and +dragged him from his mountain home; a few months +later they got tired of him and urged him to abdicate, +and he complied. Many doubted whether a Pope +could resign; they thought that, according to the law +established by the Popes themselves in the decretals, +no Pope could dissolve of his own power the bond +which unites him to the Church and the Church to +him. It would require a superior in the hierarchy to +do this, and none such exists. It had first therefore to +be decided that a Pope could resign, and Celestine +settled this by a special Bull. After that he solemnly +and publicly laid down his office. Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> succeeded, +who shut up the unfortunate man in a mountain +fastness, where he died soon afterwards in a damp +unhealthy dungeon. +</p> + +<p> +In the strictly initiated circles, where the above project +is most definitely spoken of, the man selected by +Pius for his successor is also known; it is Cardinal +<pb n='403'/><anchor id='Pg403'/> +Bilio, aged forty-four, who possesses the confidence +equally of the Pope and the Jesuits. He edited the +Syllabus, and assisted the Jesuits in drawing up the +first <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>; in short, Pius would have the satisfaction +of reckoning securely on his carrying on the present +system for many years. Of course, even if the seventeen +or eighteen vacant Cardinals' Hats were given to +men pledged to this scheme, it would still remain a +question whether Pius could succeed in still controlling +the Conclave after his abdication. Many think that +the Cardinals would then, as has so often happened, +elect a very aged man, and Cardinal de Angelis is +named as the likeliest to be chosen. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='404'/><anchor id='Pg404'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 10, 1870.</hi>—When it became known that +the Solemn Session for accepting and proclaiming the +first dogmatic decrees was to be held, not on the 11th +April as first intended, but on the 24th, the question of +how this interval should be used came to the front. +For the moment general attention is directed towards +Paris. The answer of Cardinal Antonelli, drawn up by +Franchi, Archbishop of Thessalonica <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign> and one +of the most active curialists in the affairs of the Council, +arrived there March 24. According to the account of +a French statesman, it produced the impression of being +intended for a mediæval king, who could neither read +nor write. The two main points in it are—(1.) that the +<foreign rend='italic'>Canones de Ecclesiâ</foreign> contain no new claims and do not +affect States which have a Concordat at all, and (2.) +that no ambassador can be admitted to the Council. +</p> + +<p> +The French Government oscillated a long time between +<pb n='405'/><anchor id='Pg405'/> +the counsels of different advisers. The Bishop +of Nevers represented the middle party, at whose head +stands Cardinal Bonnechose; the Bishop of Constantine +and afterwards the Bishop of Coutances might, as members +of the Opposition, have come to a similar opinion. +At first the plan found favour of not sending any +special ambassador to the Council, but accrediting the +ambassador to the Pope for the Council also. France +would thereby have gained the start of Prussia, for it +was hardly to be supposed that a Protestant diplomatist +would claim the right of entering the Council. +So much more important became the question, whether +the Marquis de Banneville, who had meanwhile gone +to Paris to justify his policy of inaction, would be +superseded, or sent back to Rome in this double capacity, +and therefore with increased powers. The latter +course would be a significant concession to the inflexible +Pope, a decided gain for the majority, and therefore a +sensible blow for the Opposition. It would be a practical +proof that Rome had only to resist, in order to +intimidate France, and that the Imperial Government +renounced all further interference with the Council. +That was so obvious that a host of candidates for this +weighty and honourable office were proposed to the +<pb n='406'/><anchor id='Pg406'/> +minister. Baroche is said to have wished for it; +Cornudet, a friend of Montalembert's, was much talked +of, as well as Corcelles and Latour d'Auvergne, two +men who seemed particularly well fitted to make the +change of persons more acceptable at Rome. For some +time the Duke of Broglie had the best prospect of it, +who stands high among the Catholic laity as a political +historian and student of Church history and the Fathers, +but as a Liberal Catholic he belongs to the party the +Pope hates above all others just now. To appoint him +would have been at once to identify the French Government +with the minority, and might, instead of conciliating, +have led to results most abhorrent to the +amiable and pious character of the Duke. +</p> + +<p> +It was also a prevalent opinion that qualifications +should be first attended to, and the best head among +French statesmen be intrusted with this important +mission—that men should be chosen like Rouher or +Thiers, who had done service to the temporal power, +but who stood quite aloof from the internal feuds of +parties. To accredit them would make the withdrawal +of the Romanizing Banneville less surprising and less +irritating to the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. The Bishops of the middle +party wanted the place for one of themselves. But +<pb n='407'/><anchor id='Pg407'/> +they are not a body in much favour at Paris, and it was +intimated to them that the best qualified prelates are +not to be found in their ranks. Their representative, +the Bishop of Nevers, came back in a state of irritation +from Paris, where he is said to have found only three +adherents of papal infallibility, two of whom were +women. It is conjectured that the third was the +Nuncio Chigi, who has affirmed that all Paris will +illuminate the day the dogma is proclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +The proposal for a Conference emerged again in the +French Cabinet, but was rejected as inappropriate, for +it would necessarily betray the weakness of a disunited +ministry. At last the plan was adopted of sending a +preliminary answer to Antonelli's letter, and waiting +for the result of this before fixing on an ambassador. +And so it was resolved at the beginning of April to +draw up a note, which might at the same time be laid +before the other powers, and serve as the basis for +common action. It was communicated to the various +Governments during last week, and is said to have +been brought to Rome to-day by the Marquis de +Banneville. But the Empress had meanwhile sent to +Rome to get a more definite and authentic report of +the views of the Bishops. But the answer did not +<pb n='408'/><anchor id='Pg408'/> +reach Paris till after the note had been drawn up and +despatched. +</p> + +<p> +The only answer the minority needed to give was to +communicate to the Government the various memorials +they had presented to the Council, for these documents +indicate the only policy which can be pursued with +success, and which must be pursued. They deal not +only with purely theological questions, but with the +management of the Council, with questions of freedom +and right which concern the lay world as much as the +clergy. It is in the nature of things that the Governments +should follow the lead of the Opposition, for to +fall short of this would be to sacrifice their Bishops, while +to go beyond it would be unjustifiable and dangerous. +</p> + +<p> +It has now been again declared on the part of the +minority, that their freedom is encroached upon by the +order of business and the way the Presidents conduct +affairs. The changes they asked for were not made, +and their protests remained unanswered. In the +opinion of many Bishops the legitimate freedom of +the Council no longer exists, and over a hundred have +said plainly that it would not be regarded as Œcumenical, +if the question of making dogmatic definitions +on faith and morals against the will of the minority is left +<pb n='409'/><anchor id='Pg409'/> +doubtful. And this doubt, so far from being removed, +has been changed into certainty at Rome. The Presidents +passed over the demand of the Opposition in silence, +although it threatened and called in question the very +existence of the Council; they did not protect Strossmayer +against the rude interruption which followed on +his asserting the necessity for unanimity, but rather +sided with it. The official press has openly attacked +this view of the minority. Antonelli maintains the +right of the Pope to make into a dogma the precise +contrary of what the Council has unanimously accepted. +According, therefore, to the well-known declarations +already made by the minority, the Council has lost the +character of Œcumenicity, and the See of Rome has +abandoned the ground of Catholicism. +</p> + +<p> +The various States must direct their attention to +these points within these limits. They may pronounce +in favour of the prorogation or reformation of +the Council, but they cannot recognise it under its +present conditions on any strictly Catholic principles. +But to desire reforms now, after the experience of four +months, during which the dominant spirit has manifested +itself with such unscrupulous audacity, and after the +determination to force through the infallibilist system in +<pb n='410'/><anchor id='Pg410'/> +doctrine and practice in its crudest form by deceit and +violence has become unmistakably clear, would betray +a rare simplicity. The whole thing is settled by the +question about majorities; and on that point, after what +has passed, Rome can hardly yield now without giving +up her claims altogether. An infallibility, which is +subject to the veto of the minority of Bishops, ceases to +be infallibility; the condition of moral unanimity in +the Episcopate excludes it. And so the Council could +not be saved without involving the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> in a contradiction. +A Council dominated by a Pope who holds +himself infallible is <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>a priori</foreign> a nonentity. The Governments +can only help it by securing it a speedy +euthanasia. If they wished to act worthily and sincerely +and in accordance with the gravity of the situation, +they would have to declare, in union with the +most influential Bishops, that the arbitrary and crooked +way of managing the Council makes the establishment +of any important decrees impossible; that the Vatican +Council has lost all moral authority in the eyes of the +world, and that the best thing would be to put an end +to it with the least sacrifice of its dignity. +</p> + +<p> +The Governments might use such language, but only +after an open breach between the minority and the +<pb n='411'/><anchor id='Pg411'/> +Presidents. The minority must have spoken their last +word, and they have not done so yet. The interest of +the Catholic Church requires that the Bishops should +have the necessary time for forming and carrying out +their resolutions, and that the crisis should not be precipitated +by a catastrophe. The Council can do no good by +the decrees fathered on it, but it has already done much +good by the declarations of different sections of its +members, by the speeches of individual Bishops, and +the spirit manifested by a portion of them, and it will +do much more very shortly. More than once have +words been spoken there which have fired millions of +hearts, have strengthened the bond of love and unity +among Christians, and have openly indicated the real +defects and the real remedies required for them. This +seed of a better future in the Catholic Church will not +be lost, but will bring forth abundant fruit. In each +successive utterance genuine Catholic principles have +come out more and more clearly, as the progress of the +combat has forced them on the minority. The false +problems, only hypocritically pre-arranged to be laid +before the Council, disappear more and more. It +becomes more and more clearly ascertained and acknowledged, +that the contest is one of first principles, for the +<pb n='412'/><anchor id='Pg412'/> +maintenance of divine truths and institutions against +arbitrary violence and impudent deceit. +</p> + +<p> +New declarations on the rights of the State and the +conditions of a really Œcumenical Council, directly condemning +the new Roman system of the Syllabus and Infallibilism, +may perhaps appear in a few days. While +in the highest degree critical and threatening for the +Council, they might form the basis of sounder developments +for the future. If particular States are to bring +the matter to a decisive issue, it seems desirable that +the Bishops should come forward with their resolutions +designed to promote this end. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='413'/><anchor id='Pg413'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 12, 1870.</hi>—Veuillot says, in the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> +of April 2, that there are three great <q>devotions</q> in +Rome, the Holy Sacrament, the holy Virgin, and the +Pope. For the moment, and in regard to the Council +and all that concerns the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, the devotion to the +Pope is of course the chief affair. How that devotion +may best be erected into the supreme law of religious +thought and feeling—how to effect that henceforth, in all +questions of the spiritual life, every one shall turn only +to Rome and take his orders and look for certainty from +thence alone—this is the task the Council has to achieve; +all else is subordinate, or is merely the means to an end. +</p> + +<p> +Next to the Jesuits Veuillot is unquestionably the +man to whom infallibilism is chiefly indebted; and +when it is made a dogma, a grateful posterity must +give honourable place to his name among the promulgators +of the new article of faith. He is much too +<pb n='414'/><anchor id='Pg414'/> +modest, when he says his rôle in the Church is only +that of the door-keeper who drives out the dogs during +divine service. Veuillot is much more to his readers +than any Father of the Church. Continual dropping +hollows out the stone, and for years past Veuillot has +been familiarizing his readers, in numberless articles +where the copious verbiage concealed the poverty of +thought, with the notion that papal infallibility is the +first and greatest of all truths. His journal is read +even in Rome in the highest circles, and read by those +who read nothing else, except perhaps Margotti's <hi rend='italic'>Unità +Cattolica</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> is very successful in the business of +stirring up the inferior clergy against their bishops in +the dioceses of Opposition prelates, and getting them +to present addresses in favour of infallibilism. In the +number of April 2, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, they are directed to get their +petitions for the new dogma sent here through the Paris +nunciature, and to take particular care that they are +printed—<q>de plus, il importe de les publier.</q> The +<hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi> has invented a peculiar means of advancing the +good cause. It announces that the Freemasons are the +people who disseminate writings against papal infallibility, +and then intimates to the Italian Bishops the +<pb n='415'/><anchor id='Pg415'/> +important fact that the minority of the Council are +affiliated to Masonic Lodges. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Unità Cattolica</hi>, the organ of Margotti, the +Italian Veuillot, has 15,000 subscribers and 100,000 +readers, and has more influence than all the 256 Italian +Bishops put together. Their pastorals are powerless as +compared with this daily paper, and they themselves +are divided between their fear of the powerful Margotti +and their regard for the judgment of the educated +classes. But as most of these last are indifferentists, +and give no moral support to a Bishop, the journalists +carry the day, who treat every opponent of the pet +Roman dogma as Veuillot does. +</p> + +<p> +An Anglican clergyman named Edward Husband, +who not long since became a Catholic, has again left +the Church, because the dispute about papal infallibility +and the extravagant <foreign rend='italic'>cultus</foreign> of Mary were too great +scandals for him. It is only to the exasperation caused +by proceedings at Rome, as an English statesman has +written word, that we owe the passing in the House of +Commons by a majority of two of a Bill for the civil +inspection of Convents, which had always previously +been rejected. The minority had done their best to avert +it, but were overruled, and Newdegate—a person who +<pb n='416'/><anchor id='Pg416'/> +was hitherto almost regarded as a joke—triumphed. +All reports from England confirm the belief that this is +only one symptom of the hostile state of feeling rapidly +spreading there. Among English statesmen there is +not one, within the memory of man, who has shown +such sympathy for Catholics and their Church as Gladstone, +as neither have any had so extensive a knowledge +of theological and ecclesiastical questions. Yet he too +took occasion, during the debate of April 1 on the Irish +Education question in the Commons, to speak his mind +on the tendencies of the Roman Jesuit party. After +quoting an unfavourable comment of his former colleague, +Sir George Grey, on the demands of the Irish +Bishops, he proceeded to say, with raised voice and in +most emphatic tones, amid the <q>loud cheers</q> of the +House, that <q>events have occurred and are occurring, +in a great religious centre of Europe, of such a character +that it is impossible for a statesman to feel himself in +nearer proximity with the opinions of the Roman +Catholic Hierarchy than he stood four years ago.</q><note place='foot'>See <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi> for April 2, 1870.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I have already pointed out that, as soon as the new +articles of faith are defined, their effects will be manifested +in the education question throughout pretty well +<pb n='417'/><anchor id='Pg417'/> +the whole of Europe. This enrichment of the creed will +at once be repaid with losses and humiliations of the +Church in the popular schools, and in the whole +system of education. In England this is making itself +felt already. The agitation for secularizing the schools, +the immense majority of which have hitherto been denominational, +gains continually in force and range under +the influence of the news from Rome. The <hi rend='italic'>Daily +News</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, said that the fact of ultramontanes desiring +denominational schools was quite enough to convince +Protestants of the superiority of secular and national +schools. Yet Manning goes on asserting in the Vatican, +that the infallibilist dogma will be the powerful +magnet to draw Protestants by thousands into the +Church. They are only too glad to believe him. +</p> + +<p> +You know already that the Roman Jesuits have +declared it, in the last number of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, to be a +wicked error to require moral unanimity of the Council +for a dogmatic decree. They call it a Gallican heresy +to make the consent of the whole Church, or the whole +Council, a condition of dogmatic decisions. A simple +majority is quite enough, for it is ultimately the will +and mind of a single individual, viz., the Pope, wherein +resides the whole force and authority of the decision. +<pb n='418'/><anchor id='Pg418'/> +If he assents to the judgment of a minority of the +Bishops, it thereby becomes a law of faith for the whole +Christian world; but if the majority is with him, all +shadow of doubt vanishes. Whenever a controversy +arises, whether in the scattered or assembled Church, +it is the Pope's office to settle the difference by his +decisive sentence, and to say, <q>This is truth: whoever +believes it belongs to the Church, and whoever believes +not, let him be accursed.</q> Once again it is clear that +the Jesuits are of a different mind from the rest of the +world. The world supposes that the Pope is to be +declared infallible by the Council, and that only then +will this infallibility become an universal article of +faith. The Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, on the contrary, think +that the Pope—and he alone—is already and ever has +been infallible, and that all authority in matters of +faith is merely a light streaming forth from him and +merging in his authority; the sole ultimate ground on +which the Council, whether unanimously or by a +majority, can declare the Pope infallible is because it +knows that former Popes have held themselves to be +infallible, and that the present Pope believes in and +<q>feels</q> his own infallibility. And thus on the Jesuit +theory we have the symbol of eternity, the snake biting +<pb n='419'/><anchor id='Pg419'/> +its own tail. Why must we regard the Pope as infallible? +Because he says so, and every one must +believe his word on pain of damnation. Why must +we believe his word? Because he is infallible. And +why are the Bishops of the whole world summoned +to Rome? To bear witness to this logic of the +Jesuits and the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, much like the compurgators +in German law. The Pope affirms, <q>I am infallible,</q> +and the 700 Bishops affirm that he is a trustworthy +witness, and because he says so it is certain. +The infallibilist Bishops admit the new theory of the +legal force of dogmatic decrees of a majority. They +too say, <q>When the Pope adheres to the majority, the +article of faith is already defined, and to reject it is +heresy.</q> They too revolve in the logical circle of the +Jesuits. <q>Infallibility is always on the side taken by +the Pope.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The pretence of impartiality maintained for some +time by the Vatican, and under which Antonelli +sheltered himself against diplomatic inquiries and +warnings, has now been abandoned. The Pope has +taken his side in the most emphatic way; he feels and +denounces as a personal injury every hesitation about +the projected dogma, and his expressions of displeasure +<pb n='420'/><anchor id='Pg420'/> +grow constantly bitterer, and are sedulously disseminated, +so that many Bishops are already terrified or +driven into the infallibilist camp by the dread of his +biting reproaches, for his words are immediately spread +about in their dioceses and pass like a coin from hand +to hand. Every work that appears anywhere in favour +of his pet dogma is rewarded and sanctioned by a commendatory +papal Brief, as being excellent, profoundly +learned and conclusive, while the opponents of the +dogma are branded in these documents as fools, blind +or wicked assailants of what they inwardly know to be +the truth. The <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> lately contained three such +papal missives on the same day.<note place='foot'>[The English <hi rend='italic'>Tablet</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Dublin Review</hi> have received similar papal +commendations.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Meanwhile the opportunity +of an allocution is seized for whetting the consciences +of the Bishops of the minority, and telling +the world how impure are the motives of their opposition, +and how virtuous and noble-hearted are the +prelates of the majority, the Italians and Spaniards. +On March 28, the <hi rend='italic'>Osservatore Romano</hi> published a +speech addressed by Pius to the Oriental prelates and +papal vicars of the Latin rite, in which he said, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>totidem +verbis</foreign>, that in the representative of Christ was renewed +<pb n='421'/><anchor id='Pg421'/> +what happened to Christ Himself before the tribunal +of Pilate. Pilate suffered himself to be terrified by the +assurance that, if he delivered Christ, he was no friend +of Cæsar, and gave him up through fear of men. And +so now, when the principles of eternal life and the +rights of the Church and the Papal See are at stake, +they are attacked by men who call themselves friends +of Cæsar, but are really friends of the Revolution. +<q>Be united,</q> added the Pope, <q>with me, and not with +the Revolution, and be not misled by the desire for +popularity and applause; to me and not to public +opinion must your minds be directed (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>poiche dovete tener +rivolte le menti a me e non alla opinione publica</foreign>). Put no +trust in your own lights.</q> And he concluded, <q>On the +basis of humility we will fight for the kingdom of God, +without despairing and without fear of error.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus does Pius lay bare the egotism and cowardice +of the Bishops who demur to infallibility. They +are afraid of conflicts with the modern State, which +is the product of the Revolution, and are loath to +alienate the educated classes of the Church, which is +mere popularity-hunting. Pius is in earnest in what +he says about humility, and applies it to himself as +well as others; he frequently says that he too is a +<pb n='422'/><anchor id='Pg422'/> +poor sinner, who has his place in the great hospital of +diseased and sinful humanity, but with this difference,—in +all other mortals sin begets error as its necessary +consequence, but not with him. He is indeed a +sinner, but in his case sin, through a special miracle, +has no influence on the intellect, and when he feels his +own infallibility, it would be presumptuous to dream of +any self-exaltation or flattering illusion. +</p> + +<p> +It is of course understood that other and very various +methods are also being made use of to diminish the +numbers of the Opposition. Leave of absence is most +readily accorded to them. It has become visible now to +the blindest eye that the infallibilist dogma is the real +object of the Council, for which alone it was convoked. +The great aim hitherto in all sessions and votings has +been gradually and imperceptibly to bring the Bishops +to the point of practically accepting the decisions of the +majority on questions of faith, and to get them to let +the critical moment for protest and refusal of participation +slip by unused. By this means precedents are +created, and when the crucial question of infallibility +comes on, they will be told that they have already +virtually conceded the principle, and it is now too late +to deny it. +</p> + +<pb n='423'/><anchor id='Pg423'/> + +<p> +The Governments have made it quite clear that it is +only encroachments on the secular and civil domain, +such as the relations of Church and State, and especially +the twenty-one canons, which give them any anxiety, +and have led them to make representations and +protests. They disclaim all intention of meddling +with questions of pure dogma, and therefore leave +untouched the infallibilist theory, which Count Beust +regards as a mere internal question of Church doctrine. +This admission breaks off the point of all diplomatic +arrows shot from Vienna, Paris, or anywhere else, for +with infallibility the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> possesses all it wants for +the attainment of its ends and the extension of its power +over the social and political domain. Prévost-Paradol +justly remarked the other day in the <hi rend='italic'>Journal des +Débats</hi>, <q>The ministers who are so ready to let the +infallibilist dogma slip through their fingers seem not to +consider that it comprehends everything (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>qu'il emporte +tout</foreign>). If the Pope is declared infallible to-day, he +was infallible yesterday, and, if so, the Syllabus has +precisely the same force and validity as if the Council +had confirmed it.</q> So it is in truth, and moreover the +Bulls and decisions of former Popes, which claim absolute +dominion over the State, become inviolable articles +<pb n='424'/><anchor id='Pg424'/> +of faith. And then again it seems to pacify the Governments +that Antonelli assures them he and his master +are merely concerned with the theory, and have no intention +of at once putting the new articles of faith into practice, +summoning kings before their tribunal, overturning +constitutions, and abrogating laws. On the contrary +the Pope, if his mercy is appealed to, will look favourably +on much belonging to the present civilisation and +order of the State; only of course all this must be regarded +as a mere indulgence which might at any +moment be withdrawn. Meanwhile at Rome the disclaimers +of the Governments of any desire to meddle with +doctrine are sedulously made capital out of for working +on the Bishops. They are referred to in proof that the +whole lay world has nothing to say to this purely +dogmatic question, and that the Governments themselves +treat the matter as politically innocuous, and the +Bishops are admonished to lay aside their foolish resistance +to a doctrine which with the power of the +Pope will also so mightily increase their own. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='425'/><anchor id='Pg425'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_XXXVI'/> +<head>Thirty-Sixth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 13, 1870.</hi>—The <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> has +occupied the Fathers in almost daily sessions, and the +Solemn Session for the public voting and promulgation +of the decrees finally completed, which was first +fixed for Easter Monday, has been postponed to Low +Sunday. The number of amendments proposed gives +the Bishops a great deal of labour, if the handling of +these matters in the Council Hall is to be called a +labour. What takes place is this: the Bishop who +wishes to propose an alteration in the text of the +Jesuit draft ascends the tribune and delivers an +address, which as a rule the majority of his auditors +cannot follow. Then he hands the President his +motion, which however is not read, so that the Council +gain their first knowledge of it through the Deputation, +who have the amendments sent in to them—which of +course are often very contradictory—printed and distributed +<pb n='426'/><anchor id='Pg426'/> +in the order of precedence. Thus, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>,—there +were no less than 122 amendments proposed on the +third chapter of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, occupying 44 folio pages. +They began to be distributed on April 3, and most of +the Bishops only got their copies on the 4th, when +there was a sitting of the Council, and on the 5th the +voting was to take place, so that most of them had no +time even for a cursory reading: still less was it possible +to give explanations or attempt to come to any oral +understanding or comparison of the various views. +Meanwhile the discipline of the majority continues to be +admirable; they always know exactly how they are to +vote, and obey the signal given as one man. Nor has +there been any repetition of the wild paroxysm of passion +on March 22, which turned the Hall into a bear-garden +of demoniacs while Strossmayer was speaking. Many +who were most conspicuous that day in their screams +and gesticulations, seem to have felt ashamed since, +and have no doubt also received a hint that such +excesses of zeal may injure the good cause. But however +well organized and docile the majority show themselves, +the defects of the order of business, combined +with the bad qualities of the Hall, become very perceptible, +and the result of the many votings is a +<pb n='427'/><anchor id='Pg427'/> +confusion into which the Deputation tries afterwards +to impart some sort of order. +</p> + +<p> +Strossmayer has made a representation to the Legates; +at the sitting of March 22 he was called <q>a damnable +heretic,</q> without having given any intelligible occasion +for it, and he expects and demands a public reparation +for this injury in whatever way they deem most suitable. +What is still more important, his conscience has +constrained him to put the question from the tribune, +whether articles of faith are really to be decided by +mere majorities according to the 13th article of the new +order of business. When he expressed his conviction +that moral unanimity was essential in such cases, he +was interrupted by a frightful tumult and could not +say any more. +</p> + +<p> +The Legates have given no answer either to the three +representations of the Bishops about the second order +of business with its principle of majorities, or to Strossmayer's +complaint. But on April 1 an admonition of +President de Angelis was again read, directing the +Fathers to be as brief as possible in their speeches, +that they might not produce disgust (<emph>nausea</emph>) in the +assembly by their prolixity or digressions, in which +case they had only themselves to thank for the marks +<pb n='428'/><anchor id='Pg428'/> +of displeasure elicited. This was commonly understood +as an indirect answer to Strossmayer; he had produced +<q>nausea</q> in the prelates, and had therefore no cause +for complaint. That was rather too much for the +minority, and their international Committee of about +30 Bishops resolved on presenting a common protest +to the Presidents against the frequent interruptions and +the wording of the admonition. Meanwhile Haynald +was not interrupted, when he declared his agreement +with Strossmayer. And it is worth notice that the +Presidents have not as yet availed themselves of the +right assigned them by the Pope to cut short the discussion, +and get the speeches of the Opposition put an +end to by the vote of the majority. There was nothing +certainly in the subjects last under discussion to tempt +them to do so. The Bishop of Rottenburg had proposed +that the decree should contain no anathemas on persons +but only on doctrines; the Germans and about six +French Bishops agreed with him, but the rest would +hear nothing of it. But it was significant that the +most extreme section of infallibilists urged that in +mentioning the Church in the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi>, the +predicate <q>Romana</q> should alone be affixed to Church, +with a perfectly correct instinct that the complete +<pb n='429'/><anchor id='Pg429'/> +Romanizing of the Church which they desiderate must +lead to the annihilation of its Catholicity, and that the +particular predicate necessarily excludes the universal. +But they did not carry their point. +</p> + +<p> +It is the universally prevalent feeling that all these +detailed discussions and motions are mere preliminary +skirmishes in which both parties practise themselves +for the great contest and the decisive blow +to be struck when the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> comes on. +The chief aim is to ascertain how far the minority can +be induced to go, how much they will put up with, and +what can be wrung from them by surprise or by quiet +working on them individually. Public scenes, solemn +protests before the whole world, are what the Legates +want at any price to avoid. When the infallibilist +dogma was to have been carried by sudden acclamation +on St. Joseph's Day, four American Bishops handed in a +paper declaring that, if this were done, they would immediately +leave the Council and announce the reasons +of their departure as soon as they got back to their +dioceses. That took effect. +</p> + +<p> +It is perhaps one of the most noteworthy and eventful +changes in the policy of the Papal Court, that it +now strains every nerve deliberately to exclude the +<pb n='430'/><anchor id='Pg430'/> +laity from all share in Church affairs, and endeavours +to hold them aloof in every case where formerly the +Church not only allowed but desired and demanded +their regular participation. Thirty years ago it was +quite different, but since the darling scheme of the +Jesuits for complete ecclesiastical absolutism and centralization +in Rome, both intensive and extensive, has been +adopted, the maxims first avowed by Pius in his instructions +to Pluym, his delegate at Constantinople, +have been acted upon. The Pope there affirms that the +participation of the laity in Church matters has been +the greatest injury to the Church. In Germany and +north of the Alps generally, all who thought they +knew anything of the spirit and history of the Church +had believed just the contrary, and considered those to +have been the most prosperous ages of the Church +when there was a cordial understanding and unsuspicious +co-operation between clergy and laity; and they +pointed to the example of earlier Popes, who attributed +a priesthood to Christian princes, and exhorted them to +take the most active part in ecclesiastical affairs. But +historical reminiscences are of no account here; we must +be content to float on the stream of the present, without +looking backwards or forwards, with the great multitude. +<pb n='431'/><anchor id='Pg431'/> +<q>Fear nothing; I have the Madonna on my +side,</q> said the master the other day to a prelate who +had warned him of the danger incurred by the present +system. That word explains the enigma of our present +situation. +</p> + +<p> +The quarrels with the Orientals, which I shall perhaps +relate more fully by and bye, have again thrown a +clear light on the existing condition of things and the +maxims adhered to. In a dispute about the privileges +of a Convent here, an Armenian Archbishop with his +secretary and interpreter were condemned by the Inquisition +to imprisonment in one of the Jesuit houses—nominally +<q>to make the exercises.</q> The unfortunates +for whom this fatherly correction was decreed, +were to <q>exercise themselves</q> till they were reduced +to submission. They first betook themselves to the +protection of the French embassy, but in accordance +with instructions from Paris they were repulsed. Then +they were taken under the charge of Rustem Bey, +the Turkish ambassador at Florence, who has lately +been residing here and transacting business with +Antonelli. But the Cardinal soon intimated to him +that Catholic priests, of whatever nation, were in Rome +simply subjects of the Pope and under the jurisdiction +<pb n='432'/><anchor id='Pg432'/> +of the Inquisition. So the helpless Armenians had to +succumb, and were favoured with domestic imprisonment, +while a monk of another Order was made Abbot +of the convent. The affair has naturally excited double +astonishment. German, French, and English priests, +who are here in great numbers, have had the unpleasant +surprise of discovering that, according to the theory +accepted here, they belong not only spiritually but bodily +to the Pope, who is the absolute lord of their persons, +and that the Inquisition can seize and incarcerate any +of them at its pleasure. And the occurrence has recalled +some very unlovely reminiscences. Men acquainted +with Roman history have shown that Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> +got Aonio Paleario and Carnesecchi to surrender themselves +and had them burnt by the Inquisition; that +Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> enticed to Rome by a safe-conduct the priest +Fulgentio, who took the side of the State in the Pope's +quarrel with Venice, and had him burnt there as <q>a +lapsed heretic;</q><note place='foot'><q>Relapsum flammi ex lege addixit,</q> says the Dominican Bzovius in his +Panegyric <hi rend='italic'>Paulus V. Borghesius</hi>, Rome 1626, p. 57.</note> that the English Benedictine Barnes, +who was seized on Belgian soil and dragged to Rome, +was first imprisoned in the Inquisition till he became +insane, and then had to die in a lunatic asylum. It is +<pb n='433'/><anchor id='Pg433'/> +true that the Inquisition no longer inflicts torture and +death, but nobody who has once come into its power +would escape without having an abjuration extorted +from him. The best security for a Western priest consists +in the dread of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> of involving itself in +trouble with his Government; were it not so, a foreign +clergyman would be compelled to confine his conversation +with clerics here to the weather, for there is always +the most stringent obligation of denouncing any one +the least suspected of heresy to the Inquisition, and a +German clergyman, who got into any theological talk +could hardly avoid that suspicion, so many would be +the points of difference and opposition. +</p> + +<p> +There have been movements among the Hungarian +Bishops, the connection of which is not quite clear. But +the following facts are authentic. Simor, Archbishop +of Gran and Primate, who for two months adhered with +the rest of his countrymen to the minority, has gone +over in the most demonstrative way to the majority, +who pride themselves not a little on their conquest. +It had been previously agreed between the Emperor +and the Pope that he should be made a Cardinal, and +he had been informed of this; but for a Cardinal-designate +before his actual creation to vote against the +<pb n='434'/><anchor id='Pg434'/> +formally and energetically expressed will of the Pope +would be monstrous. Such a thing is quite inconceivable +in Rome. Moreover, before he became Primate, Simor +spoke in favour of infallibilism.<note place='foot'>[It will be seen that Simor, with the other Hungarian Bishops, eventually +voted among the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non-placets</foreign> and signed their protest. Cf. Letters +<ref target='Letter_LXIV'>lxiv</ref>, <ref target='Letter_LXV'>lxv</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Another Hungarian +Bishop is gone over with him. Other Hungarian +Bishops whom the minority, whether rightly or not, reckoned +deserters, have gone home, and have there, it is +said, represented the state of things in the very darkest +colours, saying that there is no real freedom in the Council +and the minority is breaking up. The Government +at Pesth have consequently sent a confidential agent +here to invite the Hungarian Bishops to escape the +storm and return home. But they replied that the +Government had better provide for the return of those +already gone home, so as to add more strength to the +minority on whom all the hopes of Catholics are +now centred. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='435'/><anchor id='Pg435'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 15, 1870.</hi>—The <hi rend='italic'>Constitutio Dogmatica de +Ecclesiâ Christi</hi> will receive its definitive form in the +Congregation of Easter Tuesday, but the substance is +already fixed. It received many significant alterations +in the course of discussion, and the ready reception +accorded to it as a whole is due to the many detailed +amendments which have been conceded. These changes +are so important that the spokesman of the Commission, +Pie of Poitiers, said in his closing speech it was +really the work of the whole Council, so that the +Fathers might truly say, <q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Visum est Spiritui Sancto et +nobis</foreign>.</q> After the insertion of the word <q>Romana</q> +before <q>Catholica Ecclesia,</q> the three first chapters +were accepted in their amended form. The fourth, on +faith and knowledge, was debated only cursorily and +by a few speakers on April 8. But this chapter contains +a passage of the greatest practical importance. At +<pb n='436'/><anchor id='Pg436'/> +the end occur these words: <q>Since it is not enough to +avoid heretical pravity, unless those errors which more +or less nearly approach it are shunned, we admonish all +of the duty of observing the constitution and decrees +where such evil opinions not expressly named here have +been proscribed and prohibited by this Holy See.</q><note place='foot'><q>Quoniam vero satis non est, hæreticam pravitatem devitare, nisi ii +quoque errores diligenter fugiantur, qui ad illam plus minusve accedunt: +omnes officii monemus servandi etiam Constitutiones et Decreta quibus +pravæ ejusmodi opiniones, quæ isthic diserte non enumerantur, ab hâc +Sanctâ Sede proscriptæ et prohibitæ sunt.</q></note> +The Bishops with good reason saw in this passage a +confirmation of the judgments and increase of the +authority of the Roman Congregations, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, of the tribunals +through which the Pope exercises his power. +It seemed to them desirable to give due expression to +their objections, and accordingly a request was made to +the President to appoint a further day for this subject. +But as nobody had inscribed his name to speak, the +request was refused and the whole debate was closed on +that day, Friday, April 8. But to avoid the danger of +opposition at the last moment and secure the decrees +being unanimous, a certain concession was made by +announcing that the closing paragraph should not be +voted on till the whole <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi>, four chapters of +<pb n='437'/><anchor id='Pg437'/> +which only were as yet ready, should be completed. +Thus a great point was gained,—a decree on matters of +faith was carried by moral unanimity and not by +surprise, but after a serious though compressed debate, +which helped to win for the views of the minority a +very perceptible influence on the form of the decree. +</p> + +<p> +But on the following day, April 9, a notice was +communicated that, as the closing paragraph of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>—beginning with the words <q>Itaque supremi +pastoralis,</q> etc.<note place='foot'><q>Schematis de fide catholica conclusio, quæ incipit ab his verbis: +<emph>Itaque supremi Pastoralis</emph>, etc., cum de eâ in ultimâ Congregatione generali +non satis explicite actum fuerit, adhuc debet subjici Patrum suffragiis, +antequam ad ferenda suffragia de toto Capite <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> procedatur. Ideo monentur +Reverendissimi Patres, ut nunc in finem <emph>Emendationes de capite +quarto</emph> hujus Schematis propositas etiam ad proximam Congregationem +generalem secum deferre velint.</q></note>—had not been treated with sufficient +particularity at the last general sitting, it must be again +brought forward for deliberation before the whole +fourth chapter came to be voted upon. The Fathers +were thereby admonished that they might produce their +amendments on the fourth chapter at the next sitting. +This Congregation was held on April 12, when the final +paragraph was put to the vote, and this roused them +from the dream of unanimity. It was observed in the +debate that if the voting on the paragraph were put off +<pb n='438'/><anchor id='Pg438'/> +till the whole <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> was completed, this would +be putting it off to the Greek Calends. But if the +fixing of this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was undertaken directly after +Easter, the more important subject of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de +Ecclesiâ</hi> must give place to it, and so it might easily +happen that infallibility would not come on at all this +spring. To withdraw the closing paragraph would be +not only not to maintain but to lose that favourite +form of authoritative papal utterance through the +medium of the Roman Congregations, which especially +required to be upheld. Pie of Poitiers insisted on the +fact that the paragraph had been published in the +<hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi>, and could not therefore without +peril be withdrawn even for the moment only. +</p> + +<p> +The Opposition were partly disposed themselves to +treat the passage as unimportant. There were some +who thought that in principle it was right for the +Roman decisions to be respected and a certain authority +attached to them, for this was necessary for the +government of the Church; and the very wording of +the passage distinguished these decisions from matters +defined under anathema. So the minority resolved not +to make any collective resistance to it, and many well-known +members of the Opposition accepted it without +<pb n='439'/><anchor id='Pg439'/> +contradiction. Notwithstanding this, when the whole +fourth chapter came to be voted on on Tuesday, April +12, the desired unanimity was not attained; 83 Bishops +gave a conditional <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> only. They handed in the +grounds of their vote in writing, which seem to have +been of various kinds, for even the Bishops of Moulins +and Saluzzo, who are notorious infallibilists, were +among them. Some, especially English Bishops, may +well have demurred to the designation <q><emph>Romana</emph> +Catholica</q> before <q>Ecclesiâ;</q> others may have thought +it necessary to guard their rights as against majorities; +but far the greater number wanted to repudiate the +concluding passage. The vote was understood here in +this latter sense, and no stone was left unturned to induce +the Opposition to yield on that point. The step +they have taken makes the deeper impression, because it +is known that they have not put forth their full strength. +</p> + +<p> +It must be allowed that the final paragraph contained +no actual doctrine which made the resistance of the +Episcopate an absolute duty and required unanimous +consent, but still it is obvious that the Council thereby +sanctioned and strengthened what it ought to have +reformed and limited, and therefore the carelessness +manifested by a portion of the Opposition admits of no +<pb n='440'/><anchor id='Pg440'/> +favourable explanation. For the chief cause of the +weakness and corruption of the Church is to be found +in those Roman Congregations,—in the principles of +some and the defects of others. The Bishops who +accept the paragraph give their approval, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, to the +Inquisition and the Index, and thereby prejudice not a +little their moral influence and dignity. The vote of +last Tuesday does not accordingly appear to me any +proof of the firm organization or imposing power of the +minority; it only shows what they might accomplish if +they chose, but that they do not choose to do as much +as they can. But the event will show whether the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> holds to its policy of securing unanimity by +prudent and well-timed concessions. The minority +will be urged and entreated first to withdraw their +objections. If that fails, the Court must either give up +the hope of unanimity or accept a very sensible humiliation. +For if the text remains unaltered, those who +have now given a conditional <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> can give no simple +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> next time.<note place='foot'>[Conditional votes, as will be seen, are not allowed in Solemn Sessions, +but only a simple <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Rome will certainly exhaust all her +arts to avert the scandal of an open opposition in a +Solemn Session. +</p> + +<pb n='441'/><anchor id='Pg441'/> + +<p> +I said in a former letter that the Opposition had +taken up a position which no enemy from without +could dislodge them from, but this did not imply at all +that all internal dangers are overcome. These by no +means consist in the decomposing influences of hope +and fear which the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> makes such use of, or the +prospect of a Cardinal's Hat, or again in party divisions +at home, which might have disturbed and divided the +French, Austrian and North American Bishops. The +latter danger might have made itself felt at the commencement +of the Council, but constant intercourse +and community of experiences during this winter have +put an end to it. The real disease which has weakened +the minority in the past and threatens it in the future +lies deeper—the great internal differences of Catholicism, +which are now being brought to a decisive issue, do not +coincide with the antagonism of the rival parties in the +Council, but divide the minority itself. The main +question, exclusive of the immediate controversy and +partly independent of it, which divides Catholics into +two sections so sharply that no sympathy or confidence +can bridge over the gulf, remains unsolved within the +minority and constantly endangers their coherence. The +common designation of Liberal Catholics tends rather +<pb n='442'/><anchor id='Pg442'/> +to obscure than to express the principle of this division. +By Liberal Catholics may be understood those who +desiderate freedom not only <emph>for</emph> but <emph>in</emph> the Church, and +would subject all arbitrary power of Church as well as +State in matters of religion to law and tradition; but +that is the end they aim at, not their fundamental +principle. Such requirements concern the constitution +rather than the doctrine of the Church, law rather than +theology. They are important, but they do not contain +the crucial point of the present contest in the Church. +The root of the matter lies not simply in the relation to +be maintained towards the chief authority in the Church, +but in the right relation to science; it is not merely +freedom but truth that is at stake. It is mainly as an +institution for the salvation of men and dispenser of the +means of grace that the Church has to deal with the +labouring, suffering and ignorant millions of mankind. +And in order to guard them from the assaults of popular +Protestantism, a popular Catholicism and fabulous representation +of the Church has been gradually built +up, which surrounds her past history with an ideal halo, +and conceals by sophistries and virtual lies whatever is +difficult or inconvenient or evil, whatever, in short, is +<q>offensive to pious ears.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='443'/><anchor id='Pg443'/> + +<p> +But such a transfigured Catholicism is a mere shadow +Catholicism, not the Church but a phantom of the +Church. Its upholders are compelled at every step to +employ various weapons, to ward off any triumph of +their enemies and avoid disturbing the faithful in a +religious sentiment artificially compounded of error and +truth combined. The more the notion of the supreme +glory, and even infallibility, of the Pope was developed, +the greater solidarity with the past became requisite, +that the history of the Popes might not be suffered to +bear witness too strongly against such views. To quote +a significant phrase in constant use here during this +winter, <q>the dogma must conquer history.</q><note place='foot'>[Cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> p. <ref target='Pg348'>348</ref>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> A contest +has arisen, not of dogma but of a theological opinion +against history, that is against truth; the end sanctifies +the means. It was held allowable in order to save the +Church and for the interest of souls to commit what +would in any other case have been acknowledged to be +sin. Not only was history falsified, but the rules of +Christian morality were no longer held applicable where +the credit of the hierarchy was at stake. The very sense +of truth and error, right and wrong,—in a word the +conscience—was thrown into confusion. Thus, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, +<pb n='444'/><anchor id='Pg444'/> +when Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> demanded that the Huguenot prisoners +should be put to death, he did right, for he was Pope and +a Saint to boot. Since Charles Borromeo approved the +murdering of Protestants by private persons, it is better +to approve it than to call his canonization in question. +Or one moral aberration is got rid of by another. +Many of the leading Catholic writers of this century +deny that Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiii.</hi> approved the massacre of St. +Bartholomew,<note place='foot'>[See an exhaustive article on the subject from a Catholic pen in the +<hi rend='italic'>North British Review</hi> for October 1869.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> or that heretics have ever been put to +death at Rome. +</p> + +<p> +This spirit, which falsifies history and corrupts +morals, is the crying sin of modern Catholicism, and it +reaches high enough. Of the three men who are +commonly held in France to stand at the head of the +Catholic movement, one wrote a panegyric on Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, +another under the name of <hi rend='italic'>Religion et Liberté</hi> attacked +absolutism in France while defending the double absolutism +in Rome, and a third vindicated the Syllabus—all +three thus manifesting the influence of this deplorable +spirit. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand the genuine Catholic, who wishes +also to be a good Christian, cannot separate love for his +<pb n='445'/><anchor id='Pg445'/> +Church from the love of goodness and truth. He +shrinks from lies in history as much as from present +adulation, and is divided by a deep moral gulf from +those who deliberately seek to defend the Church by +sin and religious truth by historical falsehood. This +contrast is most conspicuously exhibited in the question +of infallibility, as one example may suffice to prove. +The principles of the Inquisition have been most +solemnly proclaimed and sanctioned by the Popes. +Whoever maintains papal infallibility must deny certain +radical principles of Christian morality, and not +merely excuse but accept as true the opposite views of +the Popes. Thus the Roman element excludes the +Catholic and Christian. Such differences obviously cut +deep into men's ethical character, and divide them far +more decisively than any striving for common practical +ends or community of interest and feeling can unite them +on the ground of prudence. In presence of so profound +an internal division the question of the opportuneness +of the definition of infallibility assumes a very subordinate +place, and the mere inopportunist is immeasurably +removed from the decided opponent of the dogma. +Between Bishops who consider Popes fallible and those +whose conscience is easy enough to swallow certain +<pb n='446'/><anchor id='Pg446'/> +doctrines of former Popes on faith and morals, and who +do not see any deadly peril for souls in giving a higher +sanction to these dogmas—between anti-infallibilists +and mere inopportunists—the difference is far deeper +than the union. The inopportunists stand nearer to the +infallibilists than to those who oppose the dogma on +principle. They are divided from the one party on a +mere question of prudence, from the other on a question +of faith and morality; with the one they are united by +an internal bond, with the other by an external bond, +only which circumstances may dissolve. +</p> + +<p> +This is the true explanation of the halting policy so +often observed in the Opposition. The honest opponents +of infallibility wished to secure the support of +those who do not properly speaking share their sentiments. +But they should never for a moment have +forgotten that they have to attack what Gratry has +rightly described as an <q>école de mensonge.</q> And the +greatest honesty and outspokenness is necessary for +defending the honour and truth of Catholicism against +that school. Instead of that they exhibit themselves +in a false light and obscure the situation. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> by his letters to Guéranger and +Cabrière has completely and publicly identified himself +<pb n='447'/><anchor id='Pg447'/> +with that school, at the very moment when Gratry was +so unmistakeably exposing its spirit, and he has made +this still clearer by the distinctions bestowed on Margotti +and Veuillot at the very moment when Newman +characterized them as the leaders of <q>an aggressive and +insolent faction.</q> He said plainly to the French Bishop +Ramadie of Perpignan that <q>only Protestants and +infidels denied his infallibility.</q> His official organ +describes the Opposition as allies of the Freemasons, +and he himself calls all who oppose his infallibility bad +Catholics. It is true that the Opposition has gradually +been brought to make very decided declarations of +opinion, and has itself expressed doubts about the +future recognition of the Council. But that has complicated +its attitude still further. The other party may +ask, <q>Why these doubts about Œcumenicity? The +Bishops of various countries are assembled in great +numbers; the Governments offer no hindrances, and the +Council has united itself with the Pope in the greatest +freedom in the capital city of the Church. Why then +doubt the good results and œcumenical character of the +Council and the validity and future recognition of its +decrees?</q> And the Opposition can only answer, <q>For +the sole and single reason that the Pope destroys all +<pb n='448'/><anchor id='Pg448'/> +freedom of action by his regulations, that he has already +overthrown the ancient constitution of the Church and +exercises a power over the Council incompatible with +the rights of the Bishops and the freedom of the +Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The French note is to be presented to-day to Antonelli +and next week to the Pope, instead of to the +Council. It is doubted whether Pius will communicate +it to them.<note place='foot'>[He refused to do so.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='449'/><anchor id='Pg449'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 17, 1870.</hi>—It is a good sign that the +minority have at length recognised the imperative +necessity of grappling directly with the problem of +papal infallibility, and examining in their own writings +this question on which the future of the Church depends. +It has been perceived now that it was an unfortunate +notion to put forward only grounds of expediency, +discretion, and regard for public opinion; for no answer +was left when Spanish, South American, Irish, Neapolitan +and Sicilian Bishops said that no such public +opinion existed with them, that some were apathetic +and others had long held the doctrine, which would +create not the slightest difficulty or inconvenience with +them, and that they were the majority. +</p> + +<p> +It was high time therefore to take firmer ground, and +now this has been done by Cardinals Schwarzenberg +and Rauscher and Bishop Hefele, three of the most influential +<pb n='450'/><anchor id='Pg450'/> +prelates of the Church, or rather by four, for +Bishop Ketteler too has either composed or got some one +to compose a work on papal infallibility.<note place='foot'>This proved to be a mistake.</note> But the whole +edition had the ill luck to be seized in the Roman Post-office, +so that not a single Bishop got a copy. The +authorities seem to know that the work opposes the +dogma, on which all the thoughts and plans of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +now hinge, although Ketteler not long ago showed himself +an adherent of the doctrine, and only assailed the +opportuneness of defining it. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>, as the official organ of the Court, now +announces the principle on which the Papal Government +acts. One must distinguish, it says, between the +Custom-house and Post-office. The Custom-house gives +the Bishops the missives and packets addressed to them +unopened, for it assumes that they will only have +proper books sent them. It is different with the Post-office, +which is bound not to favour the dissemination +of error.<note place='foot'><q>Elle estime justement qu'elle a le devoir de ne pas favoriser la diffusion +de l'erreur ou des attaques contre l'autorité des Vicaires de Jésus-Christ.</q></note> So the conscientiousness of the officials of +the Roman Post-office is a model for the rest of the +world, and it is understood that the habitual opening +of letters, so far from being immoral, is an expression of +<pb n='451'/><anchor id='Pg451'/> +the purest and most delicate morality; for might not a +letter contain some error or attack on the rights of the +Vicar of Christ? And how could the officials answer to +God and His earthly representative for even unconsciously +co-operating in the spread of such error? +</p> + +<p> +As I have not seen Ketteler's publication, I can only +quote the judgment of a friend who has read it and +thinks it will do good service. The other three works +are before me. They must all have been printed at +Naples, for the Roman police has to look after the consciences +not only of the Post-office secretaries and letter-carriers, +but of the compositors, printers, bookbinders +and booksellers. It cannot allow that any breath of +error should sully the pure mirror of their souls, even +though concealed under the veil of the Latin tongue; +and the corroding poison becomes worse when prepared, +as in this case, by Bishops and Cardinals.<note place='foot'>The infallibilists are of course luckier. Their writings are readily +printed and circulated. At the same time with the writings mentioned +above, Archbishop Spalding has published a letter to Dupanloup, emphatically +denying that he had spoken against the opportuneness of the dogma +in the paper he drew up with several other American Bishops, and declaring +himself a zealous advocate for it.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I will speak first of Cardinal Rauscher's work, which +is the most comprehensive of the three, and touches on +many questions passed over in the other two. Written +<pb n='452'/><anchor id='Pg452'/> +in a calm and dignified tone, it carefully avoids every +word or phrase which could offend the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and goes +to the utmost length in making concessions possible for +any one to accept without becoming an infallibilist; +but it will nevertheless pour much oil on the flame of +anger which has been blazing for weeks past, and singes +now one Bishop and now another. Papal infallibility, +says the Archbishop of Vienna, must extend to everything +ever decided by any Pope, and the whole Christian +world must hold with Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> and his Bull +<hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi> that the Popes have received power +from Christ over the whole domain of the State. That +will be welcome news to those who want to exclude +the Church altogether from civil society. That the +Popes themselves in the ancient Church did not hold +themselves infallible, that the whole history and conduct +of the ancient Church in doctrinal controversies +would be an inexplicable riddle on the infallibilist +hypothesis, and moreover that the Popes have often +fallen into open errors rejected by the Church—all this +is well established, though the author cites only some +particular facts from the abundant sources he has to +draw upon. He then shows the sharp antithesis between +the ancient doctrine of the Church and the Popes +<pb n='453'/><anchor id='Pg453'/> +on the relations of Church and State and the enunciations +of Popes since Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> and Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> +With papal infallibility the whole mediæval theory of +the unlimited power of Popes to depose kings, absolve +from oaths of allegiance, abrogate laws, and interfere +in all civil affairs at their will, must be declared to be +an immutable doctrine with which the Church stands +or falls. The Christian Emperors would have treated +such a doctrine as high treason, and even in the days of +Charles the Great it would have excited universal +astonishment. If this doctrine really had to be preached +now to the Christian people, it would be a triumph for +the enemies of religion, for the best men would soon be +convinced of the utter impossibility of paying any +regard to the precepts of the Christian religion in civil +matters. The Cardinal proceeds to dwell on the forgeries +by which the great master of scholastic theology, +the favourite and oracle of all Jesuits and ultramontanes, +Thomas Aquinas, was led to adopt the doctrine +of infallibility, and how again his influence shaped the +whole scholastic system and drew the great Religious +Orders, who were bound by oath to maintain his teaching, +to adopt it. He concludes in these weighty +words:—<q>If the Pope is declared to be, alone and +<pb n='454'/><anchor id='Pg454'/> +without the Episcopate, infallible in faith and morals, +the Œcumenical Councils are robbed of the authority +recognised by Gregory the Great, when he said he +honoured them equally with the four Gospels; for they +would be and would always have been, even at the +time of the Nicene Council, superfluous for deciding on +faith and morals. This doctrine would be a declaration +of war against the innermost convictions of the Church, +and she would be robbed for the future of those aids +supplied by the Council of Trent at her extremest need; +even the See of Rome would lose the support the +Bishops then assembled gave to it, for after the close +of that Council, the power of the Popes became greater +than it was before.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The remark of Cardinal Rauscher that, when the +dogma of papal infallibility is defined the Church will +be deprived of one of her most effective institutions, +viz., General Councils, has made a great impression here, +as far as I can see. It is readily understood that an +assemblage of men, educated to believe in the infallibility +of one master, and to repeat mechanically without +examination whatever he tells them, would have no +influence among men and would be universally regarded +as superfluous, a mere idle pageant rather than any +<pb n='455'/><anchor id='Pg455'/> +real support to the Church. The Church would be impoverished +by the loss of one member of its organism, +and that very member would be paralysed which in +moments of distress and danger had most effectually +protected her. +</p> + +<p> +Bishop Hefele's work is worthy of the man who is +beyond question the most profound historical scholar +among the members of the Council. One can only +regret that a writer so pre-eminently qualified to pronounce +a clear and weighty opinion on the whole controversy +in all its bearings should have confined himself +to the single question of the condemnation of Pope +Honorius. Those who wish to know the history of Honorius +and the Sixth Council in 681, and to see a flagrant +example of the utterly crude and unscientific poverty of +that modern scholasticism which is treated as theology +in the Jesuit lecture-rooms, may be recommended a brief +study of this question, which has already produced so +many writings and hypotheses, simple and easily understood +as it is in itself. A General Council, acknowledged +by the whole Church in East and West, condemned +a Pope for heresy after his death, and anathematized +him on account of a dogmatic letter he issued. The +sentence was without contradiction accepted throughout +<pb n='456'/><anchor id='Pg456'/> +the whole Church, the Roman Church included, +and even introduced into the profession of faith to +which every new Pope had to swear at his election. +It was repeatedly confirmed by subsequent Councils, +and in short remained in full force for centuries, till +the Popes were seized with a desire to become infallible. +It is only since the fifteenth and sixteenth century, +and especially since the Jesuits—beginning with +Bellarmine—undertook to revise history according to +the requirements of their new dogmatic system, that +this extremely contradictory fact had to be submitted +to a process of manipulation, and the rock on which all +schemes of papal infallibility seemed to be wrecked had +to be got out of the way. <q>Si plus minusve secuerit +sine fraude esto,</q> was said in the old Roman law which +allowed a creditor to cut a pound of flesh from the body +of his debtor, and so do the knives of the Jesuits and +curialists cut right into the flesh of history. The Acts +of the Sixth Council were said to have been corrupted +through the perfidy of the Greeks, and the whole history +and even the letters of Honorius to be forgeries. The +Popes themselves, Rome, and the whole West had let +themselves be fooled by the cunning Greeks into condemning +<pb n='457'/><anchor id='Pg457'/> +an innocent and orthodox Pope as a heretic, +and the letters of Pope Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> must also be forgeries. +In short these reasoners were caught in the meshes of +their own net, and when in 1660 Lucas Holstein got the +Roman <hi rend='italic'>Liber Diurnus</hi> printed—an excellent edition of +which Rozière lately brought out in Paris—the whole +impression was suppressed, for it contained the old form +of oath which expressly attested the condemnation of +Honorius. But twenty years later the book appeared +to the great chagrin of Rome, and the infallibilist +school had to change their front. They now turned to +the letters of Honorius and tried to show that they +were perfectly orthodox. But that did not touch the +fact that a General Council had solemnly condemned +a Pope for heresy, and that the whole Church—the +Popes and the Roman Church included—had accepted +the sentence without demur. Hefele has shortly and +pointedly exposed the shifts and dishonesties of this +long controversy carried on in more than a hundred +polemical works; and he has taken care, at the same +time, to establish conclusively the wide-reaching facts +and general results of the inquiry. He shows (page +11), how up to the eleventh century every Pope swore +<pb n='458'/><anchor id='Pg458'/> +to the truth that an Œcumenical Council had condemned +a Pope for heresy.<note place='foot'>[English readers may be referred to Renouf's <hi rend='italic'>Case of Honorius Reconsidered</hi>. +Longmans, 1869.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Schwarzenberg's work is chiefly directed +against Archbishop Manning.<note place='foot'>It is now understood to have been written by Dr. S. Mayer under his +direction.</note> Hitherto the infallibilists, +to avoid pushing their theory into sheer absurdity, +had appended the condition of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign>, which +everybody could interpret more or less stringently +according to his own view, and theologians had actually +given twenty-five different explanations of what was +required for an <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign> decision. In order to +get out of this labyrinth, Manning has propounded +a simpler theory. Everything according to him depends +on the Pope's intention; whenever he <q>intends +to require the assent of the whole Church,</q> he is +infallible.<note place='foot'>[See <hi rend='italic'>Pastoral on Infallibility of Roman Pontiff</hi>. Longmans, 1869.]</note> Schwarzenberg points out with pungent +irony to what monstrous consequences this would lead. +He recalls the saying of Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> that the Pope +holds all rights locked up in his breast. And thus it +must be assumed on Manning's theory that the Pope +holds in his own mind all doctrines present and future, +<pb n='459'/><anchor id='Pg459'/> +and draws from this internal treasure-house under +divine inspiration what he wishes to reveal to the +world, so that infallibility becomes inspiration. Has +it occurred to the Cardinal that this is precisely the +personal opinion of the very man who has now, for +the sake of his own infallibility, resolved to plunge +the Church into an internal conflict, of which no one +can see the end? +</p> + +<p> +It is then further pointed out that, if the new dogma +with its consequences prevails, all Governments will +put themselves in an attitude of self-defence against +the Church. Bishops as well as Councils cease to be +any necessary part of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>magisterium</foreign> of the Church, +and there is no longer any need for the distinct +assent of the Episcopate; the only office left them +is to praise and accept with thanks every decision of +the Pope's. Perhaps they may still be allowed to give +their advice before he decides, but they have nothing +to say to the decision itself or after it, but only to obey +and promulgate the papal revelations. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='460'/><anchor id='Pg460'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Thirty-Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 23, 1870.</hi>—The four chapters of the +<hi rend='italic'>Constitutio Dogmatica de Fide</hi> bear in their ultimate +shape such evident marks of the influence of the +minority, and so many concessions were made in them, +that there is a danger of overlooking the greatness of +their defeat and their change of mind, should they +finally accept the supplemental paragraph mentioned +in my last letter but one. Although it was determined +that the minority should make no general opposition +to this paragraph, there were not a few Bishops +who saw clearly enough its importance and danger. +They consoled themselves at first with the promise that +the suspicious passage, which clothed the Roman Congregations +and the mischief they work in the Church +with conciliar sanction, would not be voted upon till +the still incomplete portion of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> +came on for final settlement. And when, in spite of +<pb n='461'/><anchor id='Pg461'/> +this promise, it was announced to be the general wish +of the Commission that the voting should take place at +once, the opponents were quieted by a written assurance +that no new power was thereby to be given to the +Roman Congregations, and nothing to be altered about +them, but all to remain as of old. Gasser, Bishop of +Brixen, had the courage to say, in the name of the +Deputation, that the passage did not refer to heresy, +though it expressly binds the Bishops to the observance +of the constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, +not only in regard to heresy (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>hæretica pravitas</foreign>), but also +theological errors and controversies. It is incredible +that any one could be deceived by such a ruse as this, +and yet it is a fact that not even forty Bishops made +the omission of this paragraph a condition of their +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>. As the Opposition seemed thereby to be shrunk +to less than five per cent. of the Council, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +was persuaded that it could get rid of them altogether +by acting with spirit. +</p> + +<p> +On April 18 appeared an admonition with the following +passage: <q>It must be remembered that according +to the Apostolic Brief, <hi rend='italic'>Multiplices inter</hi> (of Nov. 27, +1869), prescribing the method of procedure in public Sessions, +no other vote can be given in them than a simple +<pb n='462'/><anchor id='Pg462'/> +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> or <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>.</q><note place='foot'><q>Animadvertendum quippe est, quod in publicâ Sessione juxta Litteras +Apostolicas <hi rend='italic'>Multiplices inter</hi> d. d. Novembris 1869 Num. <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, quo modus +procedendi in Sessionibus publicis præscribitur, non liceat aliter suffragium +dare, nisi pure et simpliciter per verba: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> aut <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, excluso +alio quovis modo.</q></note> The Fathers who had given +conditional votes in Congregation had to choose now +whether they would accept the chapter unconditionally +or reject it <q>sans phrase.</q> It was foreseen that this +alternative would disclose the weakness of the Opposition, +and that those of its number who shrank from a +decisive rejection would be won for the majority, for +the real test of an Opposition is not in words but acts. +Protests which are not answered, and speeches which +are not heard, may be patiently borne with, as long as +all goes well in the public voting. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +reckons that the minority will not now dare to show +itself, and thus the unanimity will not be disturbed: +and its consequent resolve might decide the whole +course and upshot of the Council. If the minority +gives in here, it will have suffered a first defeat, and +must reconstitute itself on a new basis, by taking part +in decrees carried under anathema, which are against +its own convictions, it breaks with its past, accepts the +responsibility and solidarity of the Council and complicity +<pb n='463'/><anchor id='Pg463'/> +with the majority. This is to admit that all +the petitions and protests it was thought necessary to +present in the interests of the freedom of the Council were +superfluous and aimless, and all the warnings offered of +the threatened danger of its œcumenicity being questioned, +etc., unmeaning. For the Council to publish +anathemas implies the conviction that it is free, legitimate, +and œcumenical, and that the order of business +is acceptable. The minority thereby would themselves +testify to everything they have hitherto assailed, and the +only thing left for them would be to insist on their +rights as guarded by the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>consensus unanimis</foreign>. All other +grounds for calling the Council in question would be +abandoned, and it might fairly be doubted whether the +Opposition would adhere to that after giving up so +much; at the same time it is morally certain that +the Court and the majority do not acknowledge that +right. +</p> + +<p> +During the General Congregation of the 19th, four +Bishops, Latour d'Auvergne, Dreux-Brézé, La Bouillerie, +and Mermillod, went to the Pope and requested +him to have the decree on infallibility brought forward +directly after the Solemn Session of the 24th. They +thought rightly enough the favourable moment had +<pb n='464'/><anchor id='Pg464'/> +come and all was now ready. Pius received the +Bishops, who came as deputies of the 400, with great +distinction, and replied that he would discuss the matter +with the Presidents. +</p> + +<p> +As it is impossible to see how the Bishops or the +Governments could get rid of the <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign> when +once it is fairly established, the Opposition Bishops +know that they will have to approach the great question +in the position they take for themselves to-morrow in +the first solemn voting, and with such power, unanimity, +and influence as they thereby establish their claim to. +It is still open to them up to to-night to use the present +moment for a complete victory. They only need declare +that their protests and warnings were not idle words but +seriously meant, that the incongruities which endanger +the freedom of the Council and suggest doubts of its +legitimacy must be got rid of before any decrees are +published under threat of everlasting damnation, and +that until they are listened to on this point they refuse +to take part in any solemn voting. +</p> + +<p> +But, as far as I know of the Opposition, the majority +of them have no ear or heart for such counsel; their +grand object is to avoid any decisive conflict, and so +to-morrow they will simply yield,—to consider quietly +<pb n='465'/><anchor id='Pg465'/> +afterwards their future plan of campaign! Some have +thought they might save their honour and conscience +by a written explanation of their vote. In the public +international meeting of the Opposition these plans +were rejected, but two rough drafts of the kind were +proposed the day before yesterday, one by the Germans, +one by the French. Both are too strong and dignified +to find many supporters, and too weak to justify the +Opposition in the eyes of the Christian world. +</p> + +<p> +It is the sacred duty of the Bishops in Council to +bear witness to the ancient doctrine of the Church, +and to reform it when it has been obscured by abuses +in practice and in the rule of the hierarchy. The +more abuses there are, so much the more difficult, and +so much the more indispensable also is this reform. +What the Catholic world expects of the Council is not a +fresh sanction, still less an increase, of these abuses, but +the deliverance and purification of the Church from +them. But to accept the paragraph which recommends +obedience to the constitutions and decrees of Roman +Congregations is to make the fulfilment of this serious +duty, on which the fate of the Church hinges, impossible. +For that paragraph will confirm and clothe +with new authority decrees which are a disgrace to the +<pb n='466'/><anchor id='Pg466'/> +Church and an injury to civilisation, wherein the +confused morality of dark centuries is taught and +Christian morality denied; and that too without any +examination or discussion, any limitation or exception. +The Bishops will thereby degrade themselves to servants +of the Roman <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>prelatura</foreign>, and sink into accomplices +of the Inquisition. We are told indeed that the paragraph +will not touch dogma, but for ethics and practice +it is almost more important than infallibility itself. It +gives full play beforehand for arbitrary caprice and +paves the way for the infallibilist dogma. +</p> + +<p> +If we look into the future, the questions come before +us of unanimity in matters of faith, and of the confirmation +and acceptance of the Council throughout the +Church. As to the latter, the Bishops will make it far +harder for the Governments to stand by them if to-morrow +they virtually repudiate their own protests. The +question of unanimity remains as weighty as before, and +the gross errors of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> in its attack on Strossmayer's +vindication of the principle of moral unanimity +in decisions on faith has greatly lightened the task of +two learned Bishops, who undertook to put in a clear +light the true doctrine of the Church on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +If the voting of to-morrow goes altogether in the sense +<pb n='467'/><anchor id='Pg467'/> +of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, the inference will be that all the positions +of the minority can be turned, and that as they are resolved +to avoid any collision, they may be brought by +skilful manipulation not to trouble the moral unanimity +any further. Many of them console themselves with +the thought that they are only sacrificing everything to +peace and harmony, and are not responsible for the +undertaking they have been deluded into. +</p> + +<p> +The propositions of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> give +abundant room for manœuvring. There are many +opportunities for apparent concessions and for dividing +and perplexing the Opposition, and finally driving them +into a corner, so that in mutual distrust of one +another they may abandon all hope of making any +successful resistance, and satisfy themselves that as +nearly everything has been given up already it is not +worth while to risk a catastrophe by taking any further +step. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='468'/><anchor id='Pg468'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fortieth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 24, 1870.</hi>—The final votes of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> or +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> on the four chapters of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> +are to be taken in to-day's public Session. And thus +after four months and a half a theological decree, or +rather a batch of decrees and doctrinal decisions, will be +brought to a successful issue, and the first ripe fruit +plucked from the hitherto barren tree of the Council, +so that there will be something in black and white to +carry home. As these four chapters have been subjected +to the pruning and toning down of the Opposition, +they bear little resemblance to the original draft +of the Jesuits, and the minority may lay claim to a +victory which four months ago could scarcely have been +hoped for. What has been gained for the future by +these theological commonplaces and self-evident propositions +is of course another question. The general +view of the Bishops appears to be that there is no real +<pb n='469'/><anchor id='Pg469'/> +gain for the Church in these propositions, which can +only excite the wonder of believing Christians that it +should be thought necessary to prohibit at this time +of day such fundamental errors. The value of their +labours they take to lie, not in what they have said, +but in what they have with so much trouble expunged +from the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +Several Bishops attach great weight to the consent +of the Deputation to substitute for <q>Romana Ecclesia</q> +the words <q>Ecclesia Catholica et Apostolica Romana.</q> +Others think it a matter of indifference. Hefele's +pamphlet on Honorius has created such a sensation +that the Pope has commissioned the Jesuit Liberatore +and Delegati, Professor at the Sapienza, to white-wash +Honorius, and make away with everything in his +history incompatible with the new dogma. Pius is +persuaded, and his infallible <q>feeling</q> tells him, that +everything must have happened quite differently from +what is represented; how, he knows not, but he thinks +that the Jesuit and the Roman professor have only to +make the proper investigations and they will soon discover +the requisite materials for refuting the German +Bishop. +</p> + +<p> +On Wednesday, April 20, Rome was illuminated to +<pb n='470'/><anchor id='Pg470'/> +celebrate the Pope's return from Gaëta. The Roman +officials greatly dislike these illuminations on financial +grounds, for they have to contribute to the cost out of +their own pockets. A triumphal arch was erected for +the Pope at the end of the narrow street leading to St. +Peter's piazza, and the following inscription in letters +of fire was conspicuous far and wide:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Popoli chinatevi innanzi al Vaticano,</l> +<l>Ecco il Pontefice ch'io vi conservai nei giorni di pericolo,</l> +<l>Esso è la pietra angolare della mia chiesa,</l> +<l>Il refugio degli oppressi,</l> +<l>Il sostegno del povero,</l> +<l>Lo scudo della civiltà e della fede.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +That is the witness Pius bears to himself. To theologians +it may be a new idea that he personally is the +corner-stone of the Church, but that is only one of the +many predicates and prerogatives which may be deduced +from infallibility. Two isolated voices cried <q>Evviva +il Papa infallibile.</q> It was clear the multitude was to +be stimulated to swell the cry, but, as before, all remained +quiet. The attempt has been sometimes made +before, whether by amateurs or under official inspiration +I know not, and then Veuillot asserts in the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> +that he has heard this shout of vast multitudes breaking +forth spontaneously from the exuberance of their +<pb n='471'/><anchor id='Pg471'/> +hearts. It is like the music of the spheres which only +Pythagoras heard. +</p> + +<p> +Ketteler's pamphlet was finally published on April +18, and the Bishop has begun to distribute it. It is +really directed against the dogma itself, which for a +long time people could not believe, and not merely +against the opportuneness of defining it. How much +better would it have been for the interests of the +Church, if the necessity had been recognised long ago +for looking this Medusa's head straight in the face, and +defying its petrifying gaze, and if our Bishops had +plainly and decisively announced their resolution last +December to have no dealings with it. Now at least +Cardinal Rauscher does not spare warnings; he perceives +the gravity of the danger and has had a new +fly-leaf distributed, showing that the promulgation of +papal infallibility will elevate the two Bulls <hi rend='italic'>Unam +Sanctam</hi> (of Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>) and <hi rend='italic'>Cum ex Apostolatûs +officio</hi> (of Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>) into rules of faith for the whole +Catholic world, and thus it will be taught universally +in Europe and America, henceforth, that the Pope is +absolute master in temporal affairs also, that he can +order war or peace, and that every monarch or bishop +who does not submit to him or helps any one separated +<pb n='472'/><anchor id='Pg472'/> +from him ought to be deprived of his throne if not of his +life, besides the other wonderful doctrines in the second +of these Bulls, which must reduce every theologian to +despair.<note place='foot'>[Cf. <hi rend='italic'>Janus</hi>, pp. 382-4.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> All that is nothing to the majority, for +whom the law of logical contradiction has no existence. +It is their watchword that the dogma conquers logic +as well as history. One of their German members gladly +re-echoes the idea that the proper aim and office of the +Council is to stop the mouth of arrogant professors; +if that is accomplished everything is gained, according +to this pastor of a flock feeding on red earth. On the +other hand I heard very different words fall to-day +from the mouth of another German Bishop, who said +he was constantly asking himself how long the German +Bishops would look on and put up with everything. +</p> + +<p> +The great and all-absorbing question now is what will +next be brought before the Council after April 24. In +the natural order the second part of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> +would come on, which is comparatively innocuous +though abundantly capable of improvement. But is +it not time to fabricate the talisman of absolute power, +the infallibilist dogma? Then would the Council be +in the fullest sense and for ever provided for and +<pb n='473'/><anchor id='Pg473'/> +finished, and the master would praise his servants. +Many will answer the question in the affirmative. +The two modern Fathers, Veuillot and Margotti, strain +every nerve daily for that end, and many of the most +zealous French Bishops—as those of Moulins, Bourges, +and Carcassonne, and the indefatigable Mermillod—have +represented to the willing Pius, as I mentioned +yesterday, that now is the nick of time, and that he +may gratify the longing of his faithful adherents by +placing infallibility in the order of the day. These +Frenchmen consider that their Government, now occupied +with the plébiscite, will not trouble itself with the +acts and decisions of the Council, and moreover needs +the help of the clergy. Amid the bustle of the plébiscite, +they think the new dogma, and even the reproduction +of the Syllabus in the twenty-one canons, will +excite little stir or indignation, for the French can +only embrace one idea at a time, and the Parisians only +discuss one subject in their <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>salons</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +Banneville has at last actually presented the memorandum +of his Government to the Pope, as President of +the Council, and with the intimation that it should be +communicated to the Fathers. That of course will not +be done, for both Pius and Antonelli are irritated +<pb n='474'/><anchor id='Pg474'/> +at the paper. Pius is annoyed at the innermost kernel +of the dogma being so openly exposed to view, when +Count Daru says, <q>You want to hand over all rights +and powers to the Church, and then by the infallibilist +dogma to concentrate this plenitude of temporal and +spiritual power in the one person of the Pope.</q> That +is of course what the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> does want, but it should be +uttered in pious and somewhat obscure phraseology, +as the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> usually speaks, and not be called by its +right name in this bold and naked fashion. Antonelli +again is much displeased, because his favourite distinction +between the principles in which the Church +must be inexorable, and the practice in which Rome +will graciously concede the very opposite, is met here +by the inquiry whether the faithful are actually to be +taught henceforth that they must believe what they +need not carry out in practice, and accept as divinely +revealed rules which they may without hesitation +transgress? He had reckoned on a better understanding, +on the part of the French Government, of the +favourite Roman theory of infinite and inexhaustible +papal indults and dispensations, and is glad that he need +make no reply to the note which throws so glaring a +light on the morality of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and its notions of +<pb n='475'/><anchor id='Pg475'/> +duty and truth. He contents himself with telling the +diplomatists that there would be some difficulty in the +Pope's communicating the note to the Council. Clearly, +for they must at the same time be directed to attempt +a refutation, and that would lead to very awkward consequences. +The French Government might indeed +have sent their memorandum to each Bishop separately, +but then they would have had the prospect of the non-French +Bishops of the majority returning it unopened. +</p> + +<p> +Count Trautmansdorff has also presented the memorandum +of the Austrian Government to the Cardinal +Secretary of State. It runs as follows:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>Nous voulons seulement élever aussi notre voix +pour dégager notre responsabilité et signaler les conséquences +presqu'inévitables d'actes qui devraient être +regardés comme une atteinte portée aux lois qui nous +régissent. Comme le Gouvernement français, c'est +à un devoir de conscience que nous pensons obéier, +en avertissant la cour de Rome des périls de la voie +dans laquelle des influences prepondérates semblent +vouloir pousser le Concile. Ce qui nous émeut, ce +n'est pas le danger dont nos institutions sont menacées, +mais bien celui que courent la paix des esprits et le +maintien de la bonne harmonie dans les relations de +<pb n='476'/><anchor id='Pg476'/> +l'état avec l'Église. Le sentiment qui nous fait agir +doit paraître d'autant moins suspect au St. Siége qu'il +correspond à l'attitude d'une fraction importante des +Pères du Concile, dont le dévouement aux intérêts du +Catholicisme ne saurait être l'objet d'un doute. Placés +sur un tout autre terrain que cette fraction, puisque +nous n'obéissons qu'à des considérations politiques, +nous nous rencontrons toutefois aujourd'hui dans le +désir commun d'écarter certaines éventualités. Cette +coïncidence de nos efforts nous permet de croire qu'en +prenant la parole au nom des seuls intérêts de l'État +nous ne méconnaissons pas ceux de l'Église. Si la +démarche du Gouvernement français, que nous désirons +seconder de tout notre pouvoir, vient en ce +moment donner un appui à la minorité du Concile +et l'aider à faire prévaloir des idées de modération ou +de prudence, nous ne pourrons que nous féliciter d'un +tel résultat, bien que, je le répète, notre action soit +parfaitement indépendante et doive rester en tout cas +indépendante de celle des membres du Concile.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Finally the observations of the French Government +are urgently commended to the attention of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='477'/><anchor id='Pg477'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 27, 1870.</hi>—We find ourselves in a +remarkably critical position here. The great event +so long expected of the first promulgation of dogmas +is over, and the desired unanimity has been successfully +attained for these four chapters of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema +de Fide</hi>, notwithstanding the supplemental paragraph. +Two Bishops who could not overcome their dislike to +that paragraph preferred to stay away or leave Rome +for the day. All the curialists are in high feather, +and are congratulating each other on their victory, +boasting that they have gained three most important +points without any public opposition. First, the Pope, +for the first time for 350 years,<note place='foot'>[Since, that is, the Lateran synod of 1517 under Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> and in contradiction +to the practice of the first 1000 years of Church history, +has defined and published the decrees in his own +name as supreme legislator, just like those masters of +<pb n='478'/><anchor id='Pg478'/> +the world, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> and Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>, merely +with the addition that the Council also sanctions them. +Secondly, the new order of business has now been +virtually accepted by all, and the protest abandoned. +Thirdly, the conclusion, which is meant to invest with +conciliar authority the former dogmatic decrees of the +Popes, has been accepted. +</p> + +<p> +The excitement visible on the countenances of the +majority, when Schwarzenberg, Darboy, Rauscher and +Hefele were called up to vote, showed what had been +expected. The mass of the majority say the same +thing will happen when the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Church has +to be voted on; the minority answer that it will not, +and that they only want to avoid wasting their powder +before the time; <q>la minorité se recueille,</q> like Russia +after the last war, and on the division day will be +found fully equipped for the fight. We shall soon see, +for that day is not far distant. But now what next? +The infallibilist party are afraid of this dogma being +lost after all, like a ship wrecked in port. They reckon +that the time is approaching when the Council must +inevitably be prorogued, and therefore urge the Pope +to break through the regular order of the <hi rend='italic'>Schemata</hi>, and +bring forward at once either the whole <hi rend='italic'>Schema de +<pb n='479'/><anchor id='Pg479'/> +Ecclesiâ</hi> or the article on papal infallibility which has +been interpolated into it. The four French Bishops +assured him that they spoke in the name of the 400. +Pius would not of course feel any very constraining +influence in their wishes <foreign rend='italic'>per se</foreign>, for he knows well +enough that the 400 are composed mainly of his foster-sons +and of the Bishops of the States of the Church +and the Neapolitans, who all speak or hold their peace +and sit or stand as they are bidden. But it would be an +unspeakably bitter sacrifice for him to refuse to his +trusty adherents what he so earnestly desires himself, +and to let these 400 or at least many of them say, <q>Your +own organ, the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, the Jesuits, Veuillot, Margotti—have +forced this question upon us; we have agitated +for it and staked our name and theological credit on it, +and now it is all to be labour lost!</q> +</p> + +<p> +But now the writings of the German Bishops have +appeared and the notes of the Governments have been +delivered. To the French note is added a more urgent +one from Austria, as well as a Prussian, a Portuguese and +now also a Bavarian note, and all breathe the same spirit. +All give warning that they shall regard the threatened +decrees on the power and infallibility of the Pope as a +declaration of war against the order and authority of +<pb n='480'/><anchor id='Pg480'/> +the State. Even the English Government leaves no +room for doubt about its mind, and if the Pope—as I +know—fears above all things any manifestation of +feeling there, he might learn from Manning that the +strongest antipathy is felt among all classes, high and +low, to the proposed dogmas, and that English statesmen +see in them nothing less than a suicidal infatuation. +Manning has thoroughly authentic proofs of +that in his hands, but of course he won't produce +them. +</p> + +<p> +Pius is in a chronic state of extreme irritation. He +sees with pleasure his two favourite journals—the +<hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Unita</hi>—abuse the Opposition Bishops in +the most contemptuous language, and he indulges +himself in outbreaks of bitterness against those who +question his infallibility, which pass from mouth to +mouth here but which one dares not write down. +Even Cardinal Bilio is alarmed at such ebullitions, and +affirms that he is constantly urging moderation and +forbearance on the Pope, and has already warded off a +great deal of mischief. +</p> + +<p> +What strikes us foreigners is the evident indifference +to the Council and its acts manifested by the +inhabitants of the eternal city of every class. It is +<pb n='481'/><anchor id='Pg481'/> +seldom spoken of in society, and what absorbs the +attention of the world north of the Alps seems hardly +to have the least interest for the Romans, what is there +heard of with astonishment they hardly think worth a +passing mention. And if ever the Council is spoken of, +it is in hurried, mysterious, abrupt sentences, for every +one says the espionage system has never been in such +force here as since the opening of the Council, and a +large staff lives by the trade. I know persons here +whose doors are constantly watched by spies, who do +not even conceal themselves, and if the Roman theologians +had such rich materials for their investigations +as is possessed by the Roman police, they would not +have their equals in the world. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans as a rule are fully aware of the financial +value of the infallibilist doctrine, and know right well +that a large increase of revenue as well as power from +all countries is looked for as its product. That in +their eyes is already an accomplished fact. They +know for certain that the dogma will be at once proclaimed, +and there is hardly a Roman here who has +not an uncle or brother or nephew in orders and may +not hope to share the anticipated profits in his own +person or in the person of his relatives. The curialists +<pb n='482'/><anchor id='Pg482'/> +here say, <q>We have lost so much by the diminution of +the States of the Church, and so many payments, benefices +and lucrative posts have passed out of our hands, +that we absolutely require to be indemnified in some +other way, and this the new dogma is intended to do +and must do for us.</q> If ever the Pope is acknowledged +throughout Christendom as an infallible authority, it is +inevitable that ecclesiastical centralization should take +much larger dimensions than before. Not only doctrine, +but everything concerning Church life will be +drawn to Rome and there finally settled. Theologians +may undertake to distinguish between matters to which +the Pope's infallible authority extends or does not +extend, but in practice everything signed with his +name will be held to be an utterance of divine truth, +and nothing which is not attested with that signature +will be held valid. There is a proverb here— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Quei consigli son prezzati</l> +<l>Che son chiesti e ben pagati.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +And who would not gladly pay a handsome sum to be +armed with an infallible decision, which will at once +crush all opposition and put down all adversaries? +The golden age of papal chanceries and clerks lies +not in the past, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries +<pb n='483'/><anchor id='Pg483'/> +when, as a court prelate of the day tells us, +the papal officials were daily employed in counting up +gold pieces; it will first dawn on the day this truly +golden doctrine of infallibility is promulgated. Were +Cicero to re-appear in Rome now, he might repeat +what he said in the Oration <hi rend='italic'>Pro Sextio</hi>, <q>Jucunda res +plebi Romanæ, victus enim suppeditabatur large sine +labore;</q> only he could no longer add, <q>Repugnabant +boni, quod ab industriâ plebem ad desidiam avocari +putabant.</q> For such <q>boni</q> no longer exist at +Rome; rather is the account of Tacitus completely +verified, <q>Securi omnes aliena subsidia expectant, +sibi ignavi, aliis graves.</q><note place='foot'>Tac. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi></note> Another thing is the large +and incurable deficit in the Roman finances, which +must increase every year. There is an annual expenditure +of thirty million francs to cover, and the +Peter's pence, which came to fourteen millions in 1861, +have sunk to about eleven millions, notwithstanding the +collections ordered to be made everywhere twice a +year. No further help can be obtained from loans. +M. de Corcelles, who has exposed this uncomfortable +state of things with the best intentions, has no other +remedy to propose but a great increase of Peter's pence. +<pb n='484'/><anchor id='Pg484'/> +It is hoped in Rome that the different nations will contribute +larger sums than before to the Pope, now he is +become infallible and thus more closely united to Deity. +But they reckon much more on the enormous centralization +and all-embracing monopoly of all possible dispensations, +indulgences, consultations, canonizations, and +decisions on moral, liturgical, political, dogmatic and +disciplinary questions. They remember the treasures +amassed in the temple of Delphi in ancient days, and +expect the new oracle to be erected on the Tiber to +attract, like a vast magnet, not iron but gold and +silver. +</p> + +<p> +Neither Pius nor the Monsignori and other curialists +think it conceivable that the minority will hold out +to the last in their opposition. They reckon securely +on this fraction of the Council being broken up by +fear and discouragement, and that few if any of them +will let matters come to a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placet</foreign> in the next public +Session, and thus openly confess themselves unwillingly +subdued. To those Roman clerics, who are +accustomed to look at religious questions only as +the ladder by which to mount to an agreeable life and +good income, courage and steadfastness in the confession +of ascertained truth is something strange and +<pb n='485'/><anchor id='Pg485'/> +inconceivable. Fear and hope, calculations of loss +and gain, will finally decide the Bishops' votes—that +is the firm persuasion of every Italian member of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. So much is certain: if on the very eve of the +Solemn Session, when the new dogma is to be promulgated, +it was certainly known that eighty Bishops +would say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> next day, the Session would be +countermanded and the Church saved. The first question +for us Germans is of course whether we can trust +our Bishops? Will they abide steadfast? Or will they +at last sacrifice themselves and the truth, their clergy +and their flocks? As to what immediately concerns +the clergy, this is not strictly a question of doctrine +belonging to the sphere of religious faith and mystery, +where one might make a willing submission of mind to +a decree held to be the voice of divine revelation; it is +a pure question of historical facts to be determined by +historical evidence, of points on which every educated +man capable of judging evidence, whether a Catholic or +not, can form an independent judgment. Every one +with eyes to see can answer with absolute certainty +these three questions, on which the whole matter +hinges— +</p> + +<p> +1. Is it true that the admonition to Peter to confirm +<pb n='486'/><anchor id='Pg486'/> +his brethren has always and in the whole Church been +understood of an infallibility promised to all Bishops +of Rome? +</p> + +<p> +2. Is it true that this infallibility of all Popes has +been taught and witnessed to in the whole Church +through all ages down to our own day? +</p> + +<p> +3. Is it true that no Pope has ever taught a doctrine +rejected by the Church, and that no Pope has ever +been condemned by the Church for his doctrine? +</p> + +<p> +It is absolutely impossible for any one, who feels +compelled by his own investigation of history to answer +these three questions in the negative, to submit +inwardly to the opposite decision of the Council, whatever +external homage he may pay to it. Ten Councils +will not be able to shake him for a moment in his conviction; +he will only say, <q>pur si muove.</q> His doubts +will be turned, not against what is historically certain but +against the Council; he will call in question the real freedom, +the intrinsic claims and authority of this Council, +and—to go no further—the two successive regulations +for conducting business supply in this case abundant +materials for the question. And it is just as impossible +for a man who has a notion of historical certainty to +believe in any one else's mind being changed by the +<pb n='487'/><anchor id='Pg487'/> +decree of an assembly of Bishops. If a well-educated +man told me he had just come to the conclusion that +Julius Cæsar never lived, I should not believe in his conviction +but in some disorder of his mental faculties, and +should advise him to undergo medical treatment. And +so, if the new dogma is proclaimed and the clergy +submit either tacitly or expressly, no cultivated man +in all Germany will believe that the thousands of +scientifically trained men who have had a German +education have suddenly changed their convictions, +because some hundreds of Italians and Spaniards have +chosen to decree away the testimony of history. +<q>Facts are stubborn things.</q> Public opinion will recognise +only two alternatives in the case of those who +submit, ignorance or dissimulation and falsehood. And +the effect will be an immeasurable moral degradation +of the Catholic clergy and a corresponding decay of +their influence. +</p> + +<p> +This consideration will not of course make the +slightest impression on the majority of the Council, or +even on those Germans who belong to it. We have +psychological riddles to deal with here. How, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, are +we to explain the fact that a man, who has taught the +very opposite doctrine in a manual of instruction for +<pb n='488'/><anchor id='Pg488'/> +the higher class of colleges published seventeen years +ago, and has let it pass through eleven or twelve +editions without a word being altered, is now in Rome +one of the most zealous promoters of the definition, +and is constantly affirming that all the clergy except a +few professors will readily submit? +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='489'/><anchor id='Pg489'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 29, 1870.</hi>—What I mentioned in my +last letter as a pamphlet of Cardinal Rauscher's, is a +printed memorial addressed to the Presidents of the +Council, bearing the title of <hi rend='italic'>Petitio a pluribus Galliæ, +Austriæ et Hungariæ, Italiæ, Angliæ et Hiberniæ et +Americæ Septentrionalis Præsidibus exhibita</hi>, and dated +April 20th. It states that papal infallibility is beset by +many objections and difficulties, which require an examination +such as is impossible in a General Congregation. +Among them is one of supreme importance, +bearing directly on the instruction to be given to the +faithful on the divine commandments and the relation +of the Catholic religion to civil society. +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>The Popes have deposed Emperors and Kings, and +Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> in the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi> has established +the corresponding theory, which the Popes +openly taught down to the seventeenth century under +<pb n='490'/><anchor id='Pg490'/> +anathema, that God has committed to them power over +temporal things. But we, and almost all Bishops of +the Catholic world, teach another doctrine. We +teach that the ecclesiastical power is indeed higher +than the civil, but that each is independent of the +other, and that while sovereigns are subject to the +spiritual penalties of the Church, she has no power to +depose them or absolve their subjects from their oaths +of allegiance. And this is the ancient doctrine, taught +by all the Fathers and by the Popes before Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> +But if the Pope, according to the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>, +possessed both swords—if, according to Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>'s Bull +<hi rend='italic'>Cum ex Apostolatûs officio</hi>, he had absolute dominion +by divine right over nations and kingdoms,—the Church +could not conceal this from her people, nor is the subterfuge +admissible,<note place='foot'>Antonelli's, notoriously.</note> that this power exists only in the +abstract and has no bearing on public affairs, and that +Pius has no intention of deposing rulers and princes; +for the objectors would at once scornfully reply, <q>We +have no fear of papal decrees, but after many and +various dissimulations it has at last become evident +that every Catholic, who acts according to his professed +belief, is a born enemy of the State, for he holds himself +<pb n='491'/><anchor id='Pg491'/> +bound in conscience to do all in his power to +reduce all kingdoms and nations into subjection to the +Pope.</q> We need not define more precisely the manifold +accusations the enemies of the Church might +deduce from this.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>This difficulty then must be most carefully sifted +before papal infallibility is dealt with. The Conference +we demanded on March 11 may do much towards +clearing it up. But the question, whether Christ really +committed to Peter and his successors supreme power +over kings and kingdoms is, especially in this day, +one of such grave importance that it must be directly +brought before the Council, and examined on all sides. +It would be inexcusable for the Fathers to be seduced +into deciding, without thorough knowledge and sifting, +on a question which has such wide consequences and +affects so deeply the relations of the Church to human +society. This question therefore must necessarily be +brought before them, before the eleventh chapter of the +<hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> can be taken in hand. It might, if +you please, be separately treated. But, as it cannot be +adequately judged of without a thorough examination +of the relations of the ecclesiastical to the civil power, +it appears to us very desirable that the thirteenth and +<pb n='492'/><anchor id='Pg492'/> +fourteenth chapters of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> should be discussed +before the eleventh.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What first strikes one about this remarkable document +is, that the German Bishops belonging to the +minority—Martin, Stahl, Senestrey and the Tyrolese +are of course out of the reckoning—are not represented +here. Does this indicate a real divergence of view or +only a difference of tactics? The former notion seems +to me inconceivable. It is impossible that men like +Hefele, Ketteler, Eberhard and the rest should have any +doctrinal predilection for the system of papal absolutism +extended over sovereigns and the whole political +and civil domain. Certainly they too are so strongly +opposed to the infallibilist dogma because it involves +the mediatizing of all kings and governments. I can +therefore at present discover no explanation of this +phenomenon, and cannot allow any room for the suspicion +that the persistently active curialistic influences +have succeeded in dividing the German Bishops from +the rest of the minority. +</p> + +<p> +What will the Presidents do with a document so +serious, so moderate and so incisive? What have they +done already? So far as I know, nothing. It is a +principle, and has now become an habitual practice with +<pb n='493'/><anchor id='Pg493'/> +them, to leave all representations and petitions of the +minority unnoticed and unanswered. The directing +Deputation, which is intrusted with the entire control +of the Council, feels quite justified in adopting this +line by the papal ordinances. +</p> + +<p> +The policy hitherto pursued by the Jesuits and the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> was, first to extend to the utmost the comprehensive +office of the Church, as legislator for the nations +and guardian of faith and morals; and then, by making +the Pope absolute master and dictator of the Church, +to assign to him all that had been claimed for the +Church, so that he—acting of course in the interests of +religion and morality, but simply according to his own +good pleasure—should have every office, person and +institution subject to him, and that the final appeal in +every cause should lie to his tribunal. Since all this +can only be secured and guaranteed by the infallibilist +dogma, the inferences on the relations of Church and +State drawn by the opposing Bishops form precisely the +chief recommendation of that dogma in the eyes of the +Legates, the Italian Cardinals, the Spanish and Italian +Bishops and those of the French who are ultramontanes. +They all say among themselves, if not aloud before the +world, <q>That is just what we want; our very object is +<pb n='494'/><anchor id='Pg494'/> +to get the doctrine on the relations of Church and State +changed, the independence of civil society and the civil +power abolished, and the complete temporal supremacy +of the Church—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Pope—at least gradually established.</q> +It is not indeed advisable to say this as yet in +such explicit and unreserved terms, but the reason why +the infallibilist dogma is so opportune and indispensable +is exactly because it implies jurisdiction over the temporal +sphere, which the Pope can according to circumstances +either leave unused and say nothing about it, or suddenly +draw forth for use like a weapon concealed under +a mantle. He has dealt thus with the Austrian Constitution; +while he let alone other countries, whose constitutional +systems must have been partly at least a scandal +on Roman principles, he pronounced the Austrian Constitution +abominable (<foreign rend='italic'>nefanda</foreign>). And any one, who +wishes to examine the practical significance of this +infallible judgment, need only go to the Tyrol and +observe how it has been already explained there to the +inhabitants by their enthusiastic clergy. +</p> + +<p> +At the audience, when he presented the French note +to the Pope, Banneville expressed the wish of his +Government that the discussion of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> +(with the chapter on infallibility) might at least not be +<pb n='495'/><anchor id='Pg495'/> +taken before its time—which was equivalent to saying, +<q>At least give us time, for the matter is not yet ripe +for discussion.</q> Hitherto delay has been for the interest +of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, for it was expected that the minority +would wither away and finally be extinguished; they +trusted to the power so often proved of the Roman +solvents. The article of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> which told the +prelates, <q>We care nothing for your talk about moral +unanimity in matters of dogma, and shall make the +new dogma in spite of your opposition,</q> was written <foreign rend='italic'>in +terrorem</foreign>, and was meant to hold up before the refractory +the terrible perspective of a contest emerging in the +abortion of an impotent schism. The article has not +in the main produced the desired effect, for the Bishops +still hold together and bind themselves by writings and +public declarations, and the number of those who can +no longer with any decency desert to the majority +threatens to increase. Now therefore it is the interest +of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> to allow no further delay, but to bring +forward the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> at once. +</p> + +<p> +The Bavarian ambassador has presented the note of +his Government, which appeals emphatically to the +attitude of the German Bishops who represent in the +Council sound principles on the relations of Church and +<pb n='496'/><anchor id='Pg496'/> +State.<note place='foot'><q>Animés d'un profond respect pour l'autorité <emph>légitime</emph> du S. Siége, +nous sommes obligés d'autre part de préserver de toute atteinte présente ou +future les rapports entre l'église et l'état (as lately settled by the Concordat +and the Constitution). Nous joignons nos instances aux remonstrances +du Gouvernement français et nous nous croyons appelés à le faire +d'autant plus, que dans le sein du concile lui-même une grande partie des +représentants de l'Église d'Allemagne, dont le dévouement religieux est +bien connu, atteste par son attitude que nos craintes sont loin d'être +vaines.</q></note> It cannot indeed appeal to its own Bishops, +for three of them are active and fiery supporters of +infallibilism and the supremacy of the Pope over Kings +and States. It was previously thought impossible for a +German Bishop to desire to see the day when the Popes +could again grasp the reins of temporal dominion which +had dropped from their hands, depose monarchs, give +away countries, abolish constitutions, annul laws and +dispense oaths of allegiance. But this spectacle we +now enjoy! For the pastors of souls must be assumed +to intend to make dogmas, not for a mere pastime or +for the enrichment of theological commentaries and +text-books, but in order to reduce the theory to practice. +</p> + +<p> +Pius did not say, when receiving the French memorandum, +whether he would communicate it to the Council. +But Antonelli has now stated that the Pope, though +President of the Council, will not find it at all advisable +to do so. That is only consistent, for every curialist +<pb n='497'/><anchor id='Pg497'/> +regards the Council as under strict tutelage, and in fact +only existing by the will of the Pope and living by the +breath of his mouth. It is simply from care for their +health that he withholds so unsound a document from +his Bishops. Antonelli says he will not reply to it, as +it contains nothing new, and merely repeats the note of +Feb. 20, which is not strictly true. He adheres to his +favourite distinction, <q>In theory we are inexorable, +grasping, high-flying, as Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> or Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, +but in practice full of forbearance and compassion. +We take account of human weakness and blindness, +and, if the Northern nations do not acknowledge the +prerogatives of our priestly absolutism, and desire to +retain their political and religious liberties in spite of +our theoretical condemnation of them, we shall not force +matters to an open breach and shall make no use of +the old methods of compulsion.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now are the Governments agreed or not in reference +to the Council? They are no doubt all agreed in their +aversion to the new dogma and the renewal of the +Syllabus, but there is a great difference in their practical +attitude. The rulers in some States mean to utilize +the occasion for bringing about the entire separation of +Church and State, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, for gradually extruding the Church +<pb n='498'/><anchor id='Pg498'/> +and the clergy from all the positions of public trust +they still hold, and reducing the Church to the level of +a sect tolerated and as far as possible ignored by the +State, and secularizing education, marriage and family +life. This is the attitude of Belgium, Italy and Spain +towards the Council. Out of Belgium there is no +country so remarkably indifferent about the Council +and its decrees, whatever they may be, as Italy, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the +Italian Government and many millions of Italians. +The statesmen there say, <q>We have no Concordats to +defend, for they have fallen with the old Governments; +the State has no longer any concern with religion and +the Church, which are mere private affairs of the individual. +And thus the separation of Church and State +is already in principle accomplished.</q> I can vouch for +the following saying of a high public official there: +<q>There are hundreds of us who do not know whether +we are among those excommunicated on political grounds +or not. In a dangerous illness we may send for a confessor, +and then we shall find out.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The number of those who desire and aim at this +complete divorce of Church and State is legion. Their +view predominates in the French cabinet since Daru's +retirement, and most of them view what is going on in +<pb n='499'/><anchor id='Pg499'/> +Rome with satisfaction and hope. The more frantic +and insolent is the conduct of the Papalists, so much the +better in their opinion, for so much easier and more painless +will the separation be for civil society. To make +papal infallibility and the Syllabus into dogmas is in +their eyes a step which, far from hindering, one should +wish to see thoroughly effected. When the Church is +caught in this net, she must assume the full responsibility +of all doctrines and principles established by any +of the Popes, and she has herself pronounced judgment +on their utter incompatibility with the whole existing +order of society. The State can then no longer go +hand in hand with her anywhere, and will dismiss +her. It is impossible to be ignorant that this view +is widely prevalent, and is rapidly and powerfully increasing. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='500'/><anchor id='Pg500'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, April 30, 1870.</hi>—Now that the matter has +gone so far, those about the Pope no longer make any +secret of the fact that for many years—indeed from +the beginning of his pontificate—he has formed the +design of making papal infallibility an article of faith. +A work has lately been distributed here, <hi rend='italic'>Riflessioni +d'un Teologo sopra la Riposta di Mgr. Dupanloup a +Mgr. Arcivescovo di Malines</hi>, Torino 1870. The writer +says, <q>Could the Bishop of Orleans be ignorant that +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> has always intended to define this dogma and +condemn Gallicanism? All the acts of his pontificate +have been directed to this end. Nay, we affirm distinctly +that he believed himself to have received a +special mission to define the two dogmas of papal +infallibility and the Immaculate Conception.<note place='foot'><q>Si, diciamolo altamente, Pio <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> credette aver ricevuto speciale missione +di definire la Immacolata Concezione e la infallibilita pontificia.</q></note> And as +<pb n='501'/><anchor id='Pg501'/> +he is under the special guidance of the Holy Ghost, his +will sufficiently establishes the opportuneness of this +definition.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This was obviously written for the eyes of the Pontiff, +whose whole life is surrounded as with a rose-garland +of miraculous deliverances, illuminations and +divine inspirations. And thus the veil is now dropped, +and the time come for speaking openly. Up to the +end of last summer, and even till December, the +answer given from Rome to all inquiries and anxieties +of Bishops or Governments was, that there was no intention +of bringing infallibility before the Council and +that the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> was mistaken; the Court of Rome was +not responsible for what an individual Jesuit might +write. Antonelli gave the most quieting assurances on +all sides. But meanwhile the Committee of Theologians +employed in preparing the materials for the +Council had already voted this new dogma, under +direction of the highest authority, and Archbishop +Cardoni had sent in his report upon it, which was +received by all against the single vote of Alzog. The +subjects to be brought before the Council were carefully +concealed from the Bishops, and an oath of silence +imposed on the theologians who were summoned, in +<pb n='502'/><anchor id='Pg502'/> +order that they might come to Rome unprepared and +without the necessary books, and might simply indorse +the elaborations of the Jesuits as voting-machines in +the prison-house of the Council. +</p> + +<p> +It is merely repeating what is notorious in Rome to +say that Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> is beneath comparison with any one +of his predecessors for the last 350 years in theological +knowledge and intellectual cultivation generally. One +must go back to Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> and Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> to find +Popes of similar theological and scientific attainments. +It is known here that, small as are the intellectual +requisites for ordination in the Roman States, it was only +out of special regard to his family that Giovanni Maria +Mastai could get ordained priest. His subsequent +career offered no opportunity or means for supplying +this neglect, and thus he became Pope with the feeling +of his entire deficiency in the necessary acquirements. +This unpleasant consciousness naturally produced the +idea that the defect would be remedied without effort +on his part by enlightenment from above, and divine +inspiration would supply the absence of human knowledge. +This illusion has been and will be so common, +that we need not have troubled ourselves about it, did +it not threaten now to become a destructive firebrand. +<pb n='503'/><anchor id='Pg503'/> +The public letters which have passed of late between +the assembled Fathers on the absorbing question of +the day deserve attention. They show the deep gulf +which divides the members of the Episcopate. There +is Spalding, Archbishop of Baltimore, who first wanted +to help the Pope to get his infallibility acknowledged +indirectly by his now famous <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>postulatum</foreign>, where the real +point was kept in the background, when he proposed a +decree that every papal decision was to be received +with unconditional inward assent. But now, in his +letter to Dupanloup, he has changed his mind, and +wants infallibility to be openly and explicitly defined. +So again in the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>postulatum</foreign> he had declared moral +unanimity to be necessary for a dogma, but now on the +contrary he considers a mere majority of votes to be +sufficient. Two other American Archbishops have +come forward in opposition to him, Kenrick of St. +Louis and Purcell of Cincinnati. They say that Spalding's +letter has fallen among them like a bomb-shell; it +has hitherto been their custom for such matters to be +discussed in an assembly of the American Bishops, but +that has not been done in the present case, and he has +written his letter alone and without any communication +with his colleagues. Indeed he had previously +<pb n='504'/><anchor id='Pg504'/> +advised them to oppose the definition of infallibility, as +sure to produce nothing but difficulties, but now he +has taken up just the opposite view, on what grounds +they know not. The two prelates add that American +Catholics have very special reasons for disliking the +definition, for the notion of the Pope having the right +to depose monarchs, dispense oaths of allegiance, and +give away countries and nations at his will, is equally +strange to Protestants and Catholics in their country. +They think that Archbishop Spalding will find himself +greatly embarrassed in America with his infallibilist +doctrine, as has already been the case for some years +with regard to the condemnation of religious freedom +by the Syllabus. The two Archbishops, as one sees, +tread lightly and cautiously. They are in Rome,—<q>incedunt +per ignes suppositos cineri doloso.</q> Still they +assert with American freedom of speech, <q>We, and +several more of us, believe that the dogma contradicts +the history and tradition of the Church.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The citizens of the United States, whether Protestant +or Catholic, will certainly be astonished when the new +dogma comes into full force among them and its consequences +are brought to light, suddenly recalling a +long series of papal decisions into active life;—when, +<pb n='505'/><anchor id='Pg505'/> +for instance, the recent Bull (<hi rend='italic'>Apostolicæ Sedis</hi>), with its +many and various excommunications reserved to the +Pope alone becomes known, and again the decision of +the infallible Urban <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> that it is no murder to kill an +excommunicated man out of zeal for the Church, a +decision which to this day stands on record in 200 +copies of the canon law. And as a commentary on +this the work of the present Jesuit theologian of the +Court of Rome, Schrader (<hi rend='italic'>De Unitate Romanâ</hi>), will +be put into their hands, from which they will learn +that the contents of all papal decrees are infallible, for +they always contain some <q>doctrina veritatis</q>—whether +moral, juridical, or rational—and the Pope is always infallible +<q>in ordine veritatis et doctrinæ.</q> Yet that is +but one flower from the dogmatic garden, into which +Archbishop Spalding will introduce the citizens of the +United States after infallibility is happily proclaimed. +They will then also hear, among other interesting +truths, that according to the irrefragable decision of Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> +every priest is absolutely free by divine and human law +from all secular authority, and no layman has any right +over him.<note place='foot'><q>Jure tam divino quam humano laicis nulla potestas in ecclesiasticas +personas attributa est.</q></note> And they must be reminded, in order to +<pb n='506'/><anchor id='Pg506'/> +make them more submissive, that in 1493 Pope Alexander +<hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> gave over their country with all its inhabitants, +<q>in virtue of the plenitude of his apostolic power,</q> to +the kings of Spain in the infallible Bull <hi rend='italic'>Inter cætera</hi>,<note place='foot'>See Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> xix. ann. 1493, 22.</note> and +then drew the famous line from the North to the South +Pole, which included whole provinces of the present +United States in his great and generous gift. By virtue +of papal infallibility they are subjects of the Spanish +Government, and who knows if right and fact may not +some day again coincide? <q>Res clamat ad dominum.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='507'/><anchor id='Pg507'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 13, 1870.</hi>—The time for the most eventful +decisions is come: to-morrow the debate on infallibility +commences. The opponents of the dogma have +taken every means to put off this decision, and now +that they are foiled, enter upon the question with the +greatest repugnance and a sense of being defeated +by anticipation in the perilous contest. The diplomatists +too, who had presented notes from their Governments +to the Vatican or had been instructed to +support the notes presented, made urgent representations +that the existing order of business should not be +departed from, so as to get the discussion of infallibility +deferred. And then some Bishops made an attempt +to move the Pope's conscience. They told him that +by this undertaking he was sowing divisions among +the faithful, shaking faith, preparing for the closing +days of his life a terrible disillusionizing and bitter +<pb n='508'/><anchor id='Pg508'/> +reproaches, and kindling a fire which after blazing up +in various parts of the Catholic world would turn into +a frightful conflagration. He was urgently entreated +to listen to some of the Bishops, who were in a position +to inform him of the real state of things in different +countries. +</p> + +<p> +There has unquestionably for some time past been a +certain vacillation among the Pope's counsellors, but +never for a moment did they think of giving up the +whole enterprise, and confessing themselves defeated. +And as it was clear that, if the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign> preceding the +infallibility question were discussed in their regular +order, the hot season would set in with its miasmas, and +the inevitable prorogation of the Council would most +seriously imperil the dogma, the resolve to proceed at +once with the matter, regardless of consequences, prevailed +in the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. The Opposition tried to hinder +this intention by a solemn act. A deputation, consisting +of several Bishops of different nations—a German, +a Hungarian, and a Bohemian Bishop for Germany—was +to be sent to the Pope, with Archbishop Purcell of +Cincinnati for its spokesman, to make the most earnest +and direct representations to him. From fear of this +demonstration, and in order at once to cut off all hopes +<pb n='509'/><anchor id='Pg509'/> +placed upon it, the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> had the <hi rend='italic'>Synopsis Animadversionum</hi> +distributed in great haste, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> a selection from +the Opinions of the Bishops, partly in favour of the +dogma, partly against it. The opinions are about +equally divided, but some represent more than one +author. Thus <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi> 4 Hungarians and 16 Dominicans, in +one case 24 Bishops, gave in the same Opinion. They +are all printed without the names, but some of the +writers are easily recognised, as <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi> Rauscher, Schwarzenberg, +Fürstenberg, Krementz, Dupanloup, Clifford, +Kenrick, etc. It is to be observed that some of these +opinions are printed word for word, while others—of the +Opposition Bishops—are cunningly tampered with, to +the great disgust of their authors. But in most cases +the reader cannot tell whether he has the opinion of a +man of high position or of a nobody before him. +</p> + +<p> +In consequence of this rapid manœuvre of distributing +the Synopsis, the Opposition did not think it well to +send their deputation, which accordingly fell through. +The dogmatic constitution on infallibility was known +here on the 1st of May, but was not published for eight +days afterwards. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> was evidently not yet +quite clear about its tactics; perhaps the season might +not appear sufficiently advanced, and they might feel +<pb n='510'/><anchor id='Pg510'/> +more secure of carrying their point when the heat had +driven the foreign Bishops away and the Council was +left to the Italian and Spanish rump. +</p> + +<p> +The minority however did not cease to labour for the +postponement of the infallibilist discussion. The certainty +that the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> would be in earnest about it +gave them somewhat more energy than they had shown +in the debate on the Little Catechism. The voting on +it on May 4 had been quite unexpected. For it had +been resolved that the amendments modifying the text +should first be voted on, and the whole text be decided +afterwards, when printed and brought forward in the +definitive form it had received through the voting on +the amendments. But instead of that, amendments and +text were voted upon on the same day, so that many +Bishops—including Darboy and Kenrick—were absent, +and the whole number of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non-placets</foreign> and conditional +votes together did not reach 100. This voting on May 4 +was however provisional; the definitive voting takes +place to-day, Friday, May 13. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> of course +does not wish to have so considerable an Opposition +left, and has therefore somewhat altered the text, but +not in their sense. All the German Bishops of the +minority, amounting to about 40, will vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, +<pb n='511'/><anchor id='Pg511'/> +as I hear, and the French also, with a single exception, +making some 30 more. Several others will join them, +so that the previous 56 <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non-placets</foreign> will be augmented +by most of the 44 prelates who voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta +modum</foreign>. The opposition to the Little Catechism may +thus reach 100 votes, and will certainly exceed 80. +</p> + +<p> +One might be tempted to ask why the Opposition, +when it is so numerous, has no confidence of victory +and is always shrinking from decisive measures. It is +idle to suppose that the cancerous ulcer of infallibilism +can ever be once for all cut out of the body of the +Church, except by a scientific demonstration of its +falsehood, or its adherents subdued without a decisive +contest. This uneasy attitude of the minority arises +from the want of sympathy and confidence among its +various elements. The inopportunists are afraid of +their allies not only hindering the definition but undermining +belief in the doctrine and upsetting the whole +Jesuitical system and school of lies, and thus exposing +the contrast between the primacy as Christ founded it +and as it has since been perverted. And the others +judge from what they themselves say that their resistance +will not be firm and persevering, and that they +already think of yielding sooner or later. And even for +<pb n='512'/><anchor id='Pg512'/> +those who hold the doctrine to be thoroughly false and +unecclesiastical, it is much more convenient not to proclaim +their conviction so roundly and maintain the +opposition at all hazards, after the Pope has solemnly and +formally committed himself and done all in his power to +get the dogma defined and all condemned who reject it. +For all who openly declared the doctrine to be an error +would be declaring the Pope to be an innovator; and he +must appear to every decided opponent of infallibilism +no common innovator either, like any <q>doctor privatus,</q> +but the most fearful and dangerous enemy of revealed +truth and the pure doctrine of the Church, since he +abuses his supreme authority to impose a false doctrine +on consciences by terrorism, anathema and excommunication. +But it is too much to demand of the Bishops +to express such judgments, or give occasion for such +conclusions and alternatives. While they wish to hold +aloof from so tremendous a conflict, it is their interest +to avoid a collision which must involve such considerations. +The more many of them are ensnared in the +delusion of the present papal system, the more vivid +is their desire not to be forced into so public and +decisive an announcement. +</p> + +<p> +It is exactly those Bishops who are not the strongest +<pb n='513'/><anchor id='Pg513'/> +dogmatically who display the most zeal in hindering +the discussion on infallibility, and they have done a +good deal to rehabilitate a force capable of resistance +even after the abject surrender of April 24. This +fact shows how little the astute and practised Roman +Court has succeeded in gaining over the Fathers +separately. The Hungarian primate notoriously signed +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>postulatum</foreign> against infallibility with reluctance, and +he has since openly adhered to the majority as spokesman +of the Deputation <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi>, after he had previously +retired from the assembly of German Opposition +Bishops. He has a good right to reckon confidently on +a Cardinal's Hat; and yet it is known that he, like +almost all the Hungarians, will come forward to oppose +the definition, and will probably speak against it to-morrow. +Ginoulhiac, Bishop of Grenoble, who is perhaps +the most learned Bishop in France, after Maret, +though his learning is of a somewhat narrow and old-fashioned +kind, is by nature and education one of those +who are anxious to find some middle way, by which +they may at once bow to authority and escape the consequences +of an inexorable logic. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has long +believed his theologian's heart could be won by well-selected +citations, but other means have been also +<pb n='514'/><anchor id='Pg514'/> +employed. After he had been named to the Archbishopric +of Lyons, the Pope refused him the desired +audience and also the preconisation, so that the diocese +will have to remain many months without a chief pastor. +But he continued firm, and took part in the compilation +of a document, which might well become the most +important in its results of all the declarations of the +Opposition. The Bishop of Mayence was predisposed +by all his sympathies and antipathies to support the +cause of Rome in this Council, and he has often, as well +at Fulda as here, repudiated the notion that the Pope's +claim to infallibility is an encroachment on the divine +prerogatives. For a time he was a drag on his colleagues, +but the policy of the Court and its treatment +of the Opposition has more and more alienated him +from the curialists; so that from seeming at first in +Roman eyes to be divided by an immeasurable gulf +from men like Dupanloup, he has become a powerful +influence in the minority. The pamphlet on infallibility, +written at his suggestion, and addressed from +Solothurn to the Bishops, showed his changed attitude. +This publication is well known to have been for a time +kept back, and it was only after a contest of some +weeks with the authorities that he succeeded in getting +<pb n='515'/><anchor id='Pg515'/> +it issued. As the contemporaneous writings of Rauscher, +Schwarzenberg and Hefele met with no particular +opposition, this hostile treatment of Ketteler was +ascribed to the belief that the greater sharpness of the +German protest against the order of business, as compared +with the French, was due to him. Where the +French text speaks of the Bishops as representing the +Churches, the Germans added the remark that this was +the more important to insist upon in the case of the +Vatican Council, where so many Bishops were admitted +to vote, whose claim to vote by divine right was doubtful.<note place='foot'><q>Hæc conditio pro Concilio Vaticano eo magis urgenda esse videtur, +cum ad ferenda suffragia tot Patres admissi sunt, de quibus non constat +evidenter, utrum jure tantum ecclesiastico an etiam jure divino ipsis +votum decisivum competat.</q></note> +This historical consideration has since been urged +with great effect by Kenrick, whose decisive weight in +fixing the value of the Vatican Council will only be +known later. It was universally believed that Ketteler +had co-operated in getting this passage inserted in the +German Protest, and so one is not surprised that he +should have taken a leading part in the last move of +the Opposition. To-day a declaration, signed by 77 +Fathers, has been presented to the Presidents, protesting +energetically against the inversion of the established +<pb n='516'/><anchor id='Pg516'/> +order in the interests of infallibility. It contains the +severe remark that they well know no answer can be +expected, but they are unwilling to let any doubts be +cast on the freedom of the Council, and to have the +Bishops made a public laughing-stock. +</p> + +<p> +They cannot take much by this move. The arguments +against inverting the purely arbitrary order of +business, previously introduced, are weak in comparison +with the objections to the definition on principle, and +to insist on them is simply beating the air. The majority +only see proofs of their weakness and grounds for +increased confidence in the obstinate holding aloof of the +Opposition from the main question, and in the fact that +men who are not real assailants of the dogma play a prominent +part in its proceedings. Wherever there has been +any talk of hesitation, it has been only in the Vatican +and the Commission <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi>, never among the mass of +the party. Pius may for a moment have shared the +scruples suggested to him by two of the Legates, and +the Deputation may have believed that the dogma +could be established without any violent precipitation, +and regretted the indecent zeal of the French, but the +ardent infallibilists—French, English, Belgian, Swiss, +etc.—have never slackened in their confidence or their +<pb n='517'/><anchor id='Pg517'/> +assiduity. They still affirm, as they ever have done, +that infallibility has no real opponents or hardly any, +and that the leading members of the Opposition privately +hold the view or at least have never openly +rejected it; there are but few even among the <foreign rend='italic'>Animadversiones</foreign> +which deny the admissibility of the definition. +So they think that there is a bait for every +one of these troublers of peace, and that they can all +either be won over by concessions or frightened into +submission. The example of the Prince Bishop of +Breslau, who is known to have suspended a priest for +attacking the doctrines of the Syllabus, is very interesting +in this point of view. If the Pope were to issue a +Bull condemning the opponents of his infallibility, and +to deal in the same way or—as he easily might—more +solemnly and harshly with other doctrines than the +Encyclical of 1864, Prince Bishop Förster would at least +punish all malcontents as severely as he punished the +contemner of the Syllabus.<note place='foot'>It appears from a passage in Letter <ref target='Letter_LII'>lii.</ref> that this severe judgment on +the Prince Bishop was based on an erroneous report of his conduct in the +papers.</note> Yet in spite of all this, he +is a member of the Opposition, and the majority believe +it would probably soon melt away, if the Pope could +resolve on adopting this policy. Moreover their leaders +<pb n='518'/><anchor id='Pg518'/> +speak as though the Opposition had already incurred +censures. They expect to make short work with the +German Bishops who signed the Fulda Pastoral. In +that document it is said, <q>The Holy Father is accused +of acting under the influence of a party, and desiring +to use the Council simply as a means of unduly exalting +the power of the Apostolic See, changing the +ancient and genuine constitution of the Church, and +setting up a spiritual domination incompatible with +Christian liberty. Men do not scruple to apply party +names to the head of the Church and to the Episcopate, +which hitherto we have been accustomed to hear only +from the lips of professed enemies of the Church. +And they plainly avow their suspicion that the Bishops +will not be allowed full freedom of deliberation, and +will themselves be deficient in the knowledge and +straightforwardness requisite for the discharge of their +duties in Council. And they accordingly call in +question the validity of the Council and its decrees.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Here in Rome the Bishops have to listen to these +and similar observations <foreign rend='italic'>usque ad nauseam</foreign>, which +their adversaries use only to remind them of this +Pastoral. While denying before the world that the +definition of infallibility was the object of the Council, +<pb n='519'/><anchor id='Pg519'/> +or was intended at all by the holy Father, they at the +same time wrote to Rome to deprecate it, being perfectly +well acquainted with the designs of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, +and corresponded with friendly prelates on the means +of averting it. And thus the other party may now say +to them, <q>You acknowledge yourselves that the unity +and strength of the Church is to be preferred to strict +veracity, and that in so sacred a cause some measure of +deception is allowable. Don't choose then to be better +than your neighbours. You have already abandoned +the ground of objective truth, and you may as well +come over to us altogether.</q> But the chief means of +breaking the Opposition consists in the Pope's making +the Bishops feel the full weight of his authority and +compromising himself yet more deeply. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has succeeded in setting aside the attempted +intervention of the Governments, and the +battle will have to be fought out, as is fitting, by the +Bishops themselves. In the mind of the majority it is +already over; the Deputation has issued a reply to the +objections of the minority, which deserves the most +careful attention of the theological world. It contains +a flat denial of the force of historical evidence, and +closes with a repudiation of the necessity of moral +<pb n='520'/><anchor id='Pg520'/> +unanimity.<note place='foot'><q>Jamvero infallibilitatem S. Ap. Sedis et Romani Pontificis ad doctrinam +fidei pertinere ex allatis fidei documentis constat, et contrariæ illi +sententiæ a magisterio Ecclesiæ non semel fuerunt improbatæ. Cujuscunque +ergo scientiæ etiam historiæ ecclesiasticæ conclusiones Rom. Pontificum +infallibilitati adversantes, quo manifestius hæc ex revelationis +fontibus infertur, eo certius veluti totidem errores habendas esse consequitur.</q></note> This points out the road which the loyal +Bishops of the Opposition must follow. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Postscript.</hi>—I have just heard that the definitive +voting on the Little Catechism, which was announced +for to-day's sitting, has not taken place. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +had discovered that the German and French Opposition +Bishops would vote <foreign rend='italic'>en masse</foreign> against it. No regard had +been paid to the representations and objections of those +who voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign> on May 4, and accordingly this +stronger resistance was foreseen, and the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> shrank +from appealing to a new vote. Matters remain as the +voting of May 4 left them, and it is hoped that before +the next Solemn Session the minority will be split up +by a more important controversy. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='521'/><anchor id='Pg521'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 14, 1870.</hi>—The sitting of May 4 requires +a more particular mention which shall be added here. +The reporter on the scheme of the Catechism was +Zwerger, Bishop of Seckau, who is a special favourite +of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>,—forming as he does with the Tyrolese +Rudigier and Fessler the little party of Austrian infallibilists,—a +youthful and elegant prelate, whose +Latin is seasoned with such terms as <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>portraitus</foreign>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>præcautionibus</foreign>, +etc. He gave the consoling assurance that +the new Catechism should be compiled by a Commission +of Bishops named by the Pope, so that it might be +<q>omnibus numeris absolutus.</q> He added that unfortunately +he could not introduce this masterpiece into his +own diocese, but he would in principle vote for it. +</p> + +<p> +The question of the Catechism is of course closely +connected with that of infallibilism. For first the +<pb n='522'/><anchor id='Pg522'/> +Catechism will quickly and strongly inoculate the +rising generation with the dogma, and secondly, as +being a papal text-book, it will familiarize all the +young from an early age with the notion, that in religion +everything emanates from the Pope, depends on +him and refers to him. Thus every one will be taught +that not only all rights, as Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> said, but all +religious and moral truths, are drawn forth by the Pope +from the recesses of his own breast. +</p> + +<p> +The notion is excellent, and does infinite honour to +the Jesuits who invented it. It is like the egg of +Columbus. One cannot think at first how it did not +occur centuries ago to the astute members of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. +But to begin with, it would have been impossible earlier +to fit this catechetical strait-waistcoat on such a Church +as was the French; and then again a sufficient motive +was wanting, for it is four centuries since any Pope +thought of introducing new dogmas into the Church. +The whole history of the Church offers but three examples +of it. The first was the attempt of Gregory +<hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> and Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> to alter the doctrine hitherto +prevalent on the relations of Church and State, and to +substitute the new doctrine of the Pope's divine right +to exercise temporal sovereignty over princes and +<pb n='523'/><anchor id='Pg523'/> +peoples. This did not succeed. The second instance +was the attempt made from the thirteenth century +downwards by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and especially by the Jesuits,—for +which a long series of forgeries and fictions paved +the way,—to replace the primacy of the ancient Church +by something totally different, viz., an absolute monarchy, +so as to destroy the power and authority of the +Episcopate, reduce the Bishops to mere delegates or +commissioners of the Pope, and erect him into the irresponsible +master of the whole Church and all its +members, the sole source of all ecclesiastical jurisdiction. +This scheme too was wrecked on the opposition, +first of the great Councils, and afterwards of the French +Church. The third attempt, to make all Popes infallible +and thus establish the sole and universal monarchy +of the Pope, is now going on. And as the teaching of +the Church has to be altered and enriched with new +dogmas, the Jesuits who inspire the Pope have quite +rightly perceived that a Catechism clothed with +supreme authority, such as never previously existed, +must be introduced throughout the whole Catholic +world. This undertaking promises special advantages +to the Jesuit Order, and so it has been brought before +the Council, and forced rapidly and unexpectedly to +<pb n='524'/><anchor id='Pg524'/> +the vote. So little had it been anticipated, that over +100 of the Bishops in Rome were absent. Another +attempt was made in this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> to get papal infallibility +accepted by a side-wind, by inserting a statement +that the whole teaching office of the Church resided in +the primacy, to the exclusion of the Bishops. It was +felt at once that this would give the Pope a position +and authority incompatible with any other, even that of +the Church herself, and that the Bishops would entirely +lose their judicial office in matters of doctrine. Partly +on account of this passage, and partly on general +grounds, 57 Bishops voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, among whom +were Cardinals Schwarzenberg and Rauscher, Archbishops +Scherr and Deinlein, and Bishops Dinkel and +Hefele. It created a great sensation that Cardinal +Mathieu, Archbishop of Besançon, also voted against it. +He has only lately returned from his Easter visit to +France, and is said now to belong decidedly to the +minority. Among the 24 Bishops who voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta +modum</foreign>, were the Archbishops of Cologne and Salzburg, +and the Bishop of Mayence. An interval of two days +was given them to put into shape the condition on +which they wanted to make their vote dependent. +But we have already seen that, when the time was +<pb n='525'/><anchor id='Pg525'/> +come, the Legates preferred not calling for any definitive +vote. +</p> + +<p> +Are we to infer from the collapse of so weighty and +pregnant a question as this of the Catechism that +henceforth everything will be settled much quicker? +I cannot say. But as early as January 22 the Pope +declared, in a Brief addressed to M. de Ségur, that the +delay in the proceedings of the Council was due to the +powers of Hell, for as it was to inflict on them their +inevitable death-blow, they wished to protract it as +long as they could. Pius is persuaded that, as soon as +the Council produces its fruits, all faults and vices will +at once disappear from human society, and all who are +in error be led into the truth. That is expressly stated +in the Brief; and these are no mere phrases, such as +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> frequently indulges in, but are uttered in +sober earnest. Pius really holds his infallibility to be +the divinely ordained panacea for effecting a thorough +cure of mankind, who are now sick unto death. He is +convinced that the fount of unerring inspiration, which +will henceforth flow incessantly from the holy Father at +Rome, will fructify all Christian lands like a supernatural +Nile stream, and overflow all human science for +its purification or its destruction. The Jesuits make +<pb n='526'/><anchor id='Pg526'/> +the decrees, who are not indeed themselves infallible, +but whose compositions, directly the Pope has signed +his name to them, become inspired and free from every +breath of error. +</p> + +<p> +The psychological enigma presented by Pius can only +be solved by looking steadily at the two root-ideas, +which interpenetrate and supplement one another in his +mind. There is first his belief in the objective infallibility +of his 256 predecessors, and next his belief that +he, Mastai, has through continual invocation and worship +of the Madonna attained to an inspiration and +divine illumination of which she is the medium. This +last privilege is in his eyes, as all about him know and +occasionally say, a purely personal one, which his predecessors +did not all experience. But it strengthens +his faith in infallibilism, and—which is the main point—he +is certain by virtue of this infused illumination +that he is God's chosen instrument for introducing the +dogma. And this higher certainty naturally leads him +to regard the opposing Bishops as unhappy men snared +in the meshes of a fatal error, who rebel in their sinful +blindness against the counsel of God, and will be +dragged at the chariot-wheels of the triumphal car of +the infallible Papacy in its resistless progress, like boys +<pb n='527'/><anchor id='Pg527'/> +hanging on behind, in spite of their efforts to pull it +back. And therefore sharp rebukes—<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>verbera verborum</foreign>—must +not be spared these episcopal opponents. Pius +knows that the German and American members of the +party are infected by the atmosphere of Protestantism, +and the French by that of infidelity, so that they are +suffering at least under a violent heterodox influenza, +and require drastic remedies. But no one had imagined +that all regard for decency would be so completely laid +aside, and that the Pope would so far forget his high +position as to actually descend into the arena, deal +blows with his own hand, and assail all disputants with +bitter and insulting words, as he has in fact done. He +might have waited quietly till his unconditional majority +of 500 had voted the dogma, and then have fulminated +to his heart's content the plenitude of anathemas and +curses at the still unbelieving <q>filii perditionis</q> and +<q>iniquitatis alumni,</q> in the forms that are stored up +ready for use in the Roman Chancery. But he is too +impatient to wait for the decision, and exhausts all the +weapons in his quiver by anticipation. When the +Bishops of the minority presented their first remonstrance +against the new dogma, he had it announced in +his journals that it was only from the lofty impartiality +<pb n='528'/><anchor id='Pg528'/> +which became him that he had not received their +memorial, as neither had he received those of the other +party. But now this mask is dropped, and no means +are omitted for overreaching or intimidating the minority. +It is confidently expected that fear and discouragement +will soon do their work in splitting up the +Opposition. Many of its members recoil in alarm +from the position they will be placed in by persevering +to the last. It needs more than ordinary episcopal +courage, it needs a deep conscientiousness and faith +firm as a rock in the ultimate victory of the true +doctrine of the ancient Church, to confront in open +fight the triple host of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, the Jesuits and the +ultramontanes. +</p> + +<p> +And now for the first time the excellence of the +Council Hall is proved, and the wise foresight of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> in choosing it and adhering to it with the firmness +of old Romans in spite of all entreaties and representations +to the contrary. It is precisely adapted to the +present tactics of the majority. The Bishops will +occupy a number of sittings with speeches, generally +read, seldom spoken, which four-fifths of their auditors, +as before, neither understand nor wish to understand. +For the majority know everything already, they are +<pb n='529'/><anchor id='Pg529'/> +armed with a triple breastplate, and have their short +and powerful watchword, which renders them invincible. +Those who frequent infallibilist circles here may hear +St. Augustine's saying quoted ten times a day, <q>Roma +locuta est, causa finita est,</q> or St. Ambrose's <q>Ubi +Petrus, ibi Ecclesia,</q> or that St. Irenæus said every +one must necessarily agree with the Roman Church. +These are mere fables; Augustine and Irenæus said +nothing of the kind, but something quite different; and +while Ambrose did indeed use the words, it was without +the remotest reference to the Pope and his infallibility. +But the words are quoted in a hundred books +and pamphlets, and are used like theological revolvers +which never miss fire. And then Mermillod will repeat +in the Council what he lately said in a sermon here +about the threefold manifestation of God in the crib of +Bethlehem, in the Sacrament of the Altar, and—in the +Vatican. Pie of Poitiers will utter some of those bold +Oriental metaphors, which all France laughs at but +which are gravely received in the Council Hall. Manning +will commend infallibility as the one plank of safety +for mankind who are sinking in the shipwreck of scepticism, +while he sings a pæan over the triumph of the +dogma over history. There will be room even for some +<pb n='530'/><anchor id='Pg530'/> +flashes of genius from the German infallibilists, the +Tyrolese and the three Bavarians, if they can resolve on +opening their lips hitherto so firmly closed. And then +the African heat and sultry atmosphere, drying up the +brain, which have already begun to press on Rome like +a leaden pall, will come in to expedite the close. The +majority will avail themselves of the right the Pope +has conferred on them to break off abruptly the discussion, +in which nothing has been discussed, and the +Pope will appear in a Solemn Session, in the full pomp +of the earthly representative of Christ, to proclaim with +infallible certainty his own infallibility and that of all +his predecessors and successors, <q>approbante Concilio.</q> +And thus will he enter on his new empire of the world; +for he will then for the first time be the acknowledged +master and sole teacher of mankind; before, he was +only a pretender. The Bishops will bow their heads +reverently under a profound sense of their own fallibility +before the one divinely enlightened man, and the world +will go to sleep to wake next morning enriched and +blessed with the new and fundamental article of faith. +The day of the promulgation will be a great day of +creation. <q>God said, Let there be light, and there +was light, and the evening and the morning were the +<pb n='531'/><anchor id='Pg531'/> +first day</q> of the new Church, after the old Church for +1869 years had been unable to ascertain and formulize +its chief article of faith. For the Popes were always +infallible; <q>the light appeared in the darkness, and +the darkness comprehended it not.</q> From the Pentecost +of the blessed year 1870, as Manning has prophesied, +dates the age of the Holy Ghost, and the +Church is for the first time really complete. As the +Pentecost of the year 33 was the birthday of the ancient +Church, so will the Pentecost of 1870 be the birthday +of the new and infinitely more enlightened Church. +Nearly all commentators now assume that the seven +days of creation in Genesis are not seven ordinary days, +but signify a great period of the world's history. It +cannot then be taken ill if the Church, instead of distinctly +putting forward her principal dogma on the first +Pentecost, which would certainly have been the most +natural course, should have waited nineteen centuries +in the vain attempt to ascertain and formulate it, and +have only now hatched the egg in the year 1870. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='532'/><anchor id='Pg532'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_XLVI'/> +<head>Forty-Sixth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 15, 1870.</hi>—Yesterday the discussion of +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Primacy began, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, speeches were +delivered for and against infallibility, for any regular +discussion is of course impossible in the Council Hall. +The Hall is really more patient than the proverbially +patient paper, as long as the majority do not get excited. +Things can be said there which would not be allowed +to be written, still less printed. The names of 69 +Bishops are inscribed to speak. Bishop Pie of Poitiers +had already the day before, as reporter of the Deputation, +exceeded the expectations generally formed of +him. He had discovered a wholly new argument, to +which he gave utterance with evident self-complacency. +The Pope, he said, must be infallible, because Peter +was crucified head downwards. As the head bears the +whole weight of the body, so the Pope, as head, bears +the whole Church; but he is infallible who bears, not +<pb n='533'/><anchor id='Pg533'/> +he who is borne.—<hi rend='italic'>Q.E.D.</hi> The Italians and Spaniards +applauded enthusiastically. On the 14th Cardinal +Patrizzi spoke. The Pope, he observed, certainly +claims personal infallibility, but he does not therefore +wish nor is he obliged to separate himself from the +Episcopate. Certainly not, thought the minority, since +we must all assent to that claim of the infallible, so +that he cannot separate himself from us Bishops or shake +us off if he wished it. Bishop Rivet of Dijon carried off +the honours of the day among the Opposition. Bishop +Ranolder of Vesprim referred briefly but forcibly to the +dangers into which the new dogma would plunge the +Hungarian Church. Dreux Brézé, who followed worthily +in the footsteps of Pie, was this time eclipsed by a +Sicilian prelate, who said that the Sicilians had a reason +peculiar to themselves for believing the infallibility of +all the Popes. It is well known that Peter preached +in that island, where he found a number of Christians; +but when he told them that he was infallible, they +thought this article of faith, which they had never +been taught, a strange one. In order to get at the +truth about it, they sent an embassy to the Virgin +Mary, to ask if she had heard of Peter's infallibility, to +which she replied that she certainly remembered being +<pb n='534'/><anchor id='Pg534'/> +present, when her Son conferred this special prerogative +on him. This testimony fully satisfied the Sicilians, +who have ever since preserved in their hearts +faith in infallibility. This speech was really delivered +in the Council Hall on May 14. The Opposition +Bishops see a proof of the insolent contempt of the +majority in their putting up such men as Pie and this +Sicilian to speak against them. +</p> + +<p> +Sicily is truly the land where faith removes mountains, +and Pius would find himself among his most +genuine spiritual children if he went to Messina. +There the letter is still preserved, which the Virgin +Mary addressed to the inhabitants and let fall from +heaven, and the feast of the <hi rend='italic'>Sacra Lettera</hi> is annually +observed with the full approval of the Roman Congregation +of Rites, when the excited populace shout in the +streets <q>Viva la Sacra Lettera.</q> The Jesuit Inchover +has written a book to prove its authenticity to demonstration. +</p> + +<p> +A great many copies of the remarkable pamphlet +<hi rend='italic'>Ce qui se passe au Concile</hi> have been secretly disseminated—the +Government naturally wants to suppress it—and +it is eagerly read. I have learnt from a Frenchman +that Pius himself has read some pages, on which +<pb n='535'/><anchor id='Pg535'/> +he observed, <q>C'est mal, c'est très-mal, excessivement +mal.</q> It is clear that the author has himself collected +his notices in Rome. If its revelations show how every +usage of former Councils has been reversed and all true +freedom carefully destroyed, a further evidence of this +is supplied by the statement of the official <hi rend='italic'>Giornale di +Roma</hi> about the departure of the Americans, where the +Bishops are plainly reminded that they are liable to +arrest, and that any of them who quit Rome without +leave incur heavy censures. A German Archbishop, +who had an audience of the Pope to-day, took the +opportunity of speaking to him about the universal +aversion and resistance of the Germans to the infallibilist +dogma. It made not the slightest impression. +Pius answered: <q>I know these Germans of old, who +choose to know best about everything; every one +wants to be Bishop and Pope.</q> Yet it is notorious +that he does not understand a word of German, and +has never been in Germany or read a German book, +even in a translation. But he reads Veuillot and Margotti, +and hears the Jesuits at least three times a week. +Meanwhile the Protest drawn up by Ketteler against +the arbitrary change of the order of business was presented +on the 12th of March with 72 signatures. It +<pb n='536'/><anchor id='Pg536'/> +contains, as I said before, the words: <q>We know well +that we shall receive no answer to this any more than +to our former memorials.</q> +</p> + +<p> +All German Catholics count here for half Protestants. +A German must here give special evidence of his +orthodoxy, I do not say before he is trusted, but +before he is reckoned a Catholic at all by the side of +Spaniards and Italians. Above all is German theology +in ill repute, and the mere word <q>history</q> in the +mouth of a German acts like a red handkerchief on +certain animals. The good times are gone by when +Germany was considered the classical land of obedience +in comparison with France, so copious was the influx +of Peter's pence, the Jesuits, on whom the chief hopes +are centred, have effected very little here except in +Westphalia and the Tyrol. +</p> + +<p> +It is hard for the Bishops, even after a five months' +experience, to comprehend the rôle assigned them, and +to understand that they have only been summoned to +receive commands, to obey, and to do service. It is a +saying current among the Monsignori that the Bishops +are nothing but servants of the Pope. <q>Just consider +the monstrosity,</q> said one of the youngest but most +actively employed of the Cardinals to a French priest, +<pb n='537'/><anchor id='Pg537'/> +when the famous letter of censure addressed by the +Pope to the Archbishop of Paris appeared in the newspapers, +<q>this Archbishop dares to speak of rights +which belong to him! What would you say if one of +your lackeys were to talk of his rights, when you gave +him your orders?</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='538'/><anchor id='Pg538'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 16, 1870.</hi>—The Bishops of the minority +want to bind themselves by subscribing an agreement +to vote for no formula which contains the personal infallibility +of the Pope. A calculation emanating from +them has been shown me, according to which the +strength of the Opposition is undiminished, or rather +increased. It enumerates 43 Germans and Hungarians, +40 North Americans, 29 French, 4 Portuguese, and 10 +Italians. The number of Bishops from the United States +who are considered to be trustworthy is especially +worthy of notice. They have been greatly influenced +by the recent publications of the Bishops, and particularly +by the excellent work of Archbishop Kenrick of +St. Louis. When they first came to Rome they were +nearly all inclined to the new dogma, but here their +eyes have been gradually opened. The insolent and +<pb n='539'/><anchor id='Pg539'/> +despotic treatment of the Bishops, the spectacle of adulation +exhibited by persons who call themselves successors +of the Apostles, and the lamentable sophistry employed +in torturing historical facts—as <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi> the case of +Honorius—all this has gradually filled these Republicans +with disgust and aversion, and driven them to the +opposite side. But clearly what has chiefly influenced +them has been the conviction produced by the controversy +that, if they take home with them the new dogma +of the Pope's political supremacy over all States, they +will be exposed to the contempt and hatred of all +educated America. And as many of them are Irishmen +by birth, they have been reminded that, as Alexander +<hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> gave the American peoples to Spain, so Adrian <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> +gave Ireland to the King of England and thereby +brought misery on the emerald isle. +</p> + +<p> +The Bishops of the Opposition know how to appreciate +the strength and numerical preponderance of their +rivals; they know too that, besides a cool calculation +and passive subjection to the commands of their +<q>lord,</q> a certain enthusiasm and confidence also prevail +among their ranks. There are first the numerous +missionary Bishops and Vicars-Apostolic, who must +certainly vote as they are told, for they are entirely in +<pb n='540'/><anchor id='Pg540'/> +the power of the Propaganda, and Cardinal Barnabo is +an inexorably strict master: the Orientals have experienced +that. And moreover the Bishops engaged in +converting the heathen say, <q>How conveniently the new +dogma will simplify and facilitate our work with +Negroes, Kaffirs, New-Zealanders, etc.! We have +hitherto had to refer them to the Church, of whose +nature and authority we could only impress a dim conception +on their minds with much time and trouble. +Henceforth we shall tell them that God inspires one +man in Rome with all truth, from whom all others +receive it. That is short, simple, and what a child can +understand.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But the main strength of the papal army consists in +the 120 Bishops from the kingdom of Italy with the +the exception of 10, the 143 from the States of the +Church, and the 120 titular Bishops without subjects or +dioceses, most of them created by the present Pope, +who represent nobody but themselves, or rather him +who has raised them from the dust and set mitres on +their heads. That makes altogether 373 Italians. This +chosen band will remain here patiently through the heat +so unendurable to the Northern Bishops, and the question +has been already mooted in the Vatican, as I hear +<pb n='541'/><anchor id='Pg541'/> +from the mouth of one who is in its confidence, whether +it would not be best to protract the affair and defer the +final voting till these recalcitrant Northerners have +obtained the permission which will be readily accorded +them to flee from the heat and fevers, after which the +Italian and Spanish prelates would vote the darling dogma +with conspicuous unanimity. The idea deserves to be +preferred to another, which is also under consideration. +The Pope might issue a Bull defining that the moral +unanimity, which has been so much talked of, is not +necessary for Councils in voting articles of faith, and +that a simple majority is sufficient. For it is thought +that most of the minority Bishops, especially the inopportunists, +would not dare to resist the new papal +definition, and would thus be compelled at last to +succumb to the infallibilist decree. We shall soon see. +You may gather what the leaders of the minority think +of the situation from a remark of Cardinal Mathieu's, +<q>On veut jeter l'Église dans l'abîme, nous y jeterons +plutôt nos cadavres.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The two Bavarian Bishops, Stahl and Leonrod, have +thought fit after two months to make a public demonstration +of their assent to Bishop Räss's condemnation +of Gratry. The explanation accepted here is that, after +<pb n='542'/><anchor id='Pg542'/> +the Bavarian note had been presented, the authorities +wished the Bavarian Bishops to make an adverse move +on the conciliar chess-board; and as these two prelates +would not openly contradict their King, the expedient +of a very late adhesion to the effusions of the Bishop of +Strasburg was chosen. +</p> + +<p> +It is commonly assumed that all the Cardinals are +infallibilists as a matter of course, and the more so as +this is at bottom the only doctrine which may be said +to have been exclusively invented and built up by men +who either were already or were soon about to become +Cardinals. Still this is not quite the case. Apart +from the non-resident Cardinals, Rauscher, Schwarzenberg +and Mathieu, there are some among the residents +who would gladly be dispensed from voting for the new +foundation article of faith on which the whole edifice +is henceforth to rest. But one of them said to-day, +<q>We shall ruin our position, lose all influence, and +become the mark of endless attacks. And as every +one here has some weak and vulnerable point in his +past life, he dare not expose himself to these fatal assaults +on his character and honour from which there would be +no escape.</q> At the same time the Cardinal admitted that +the whole College has so lost its influence and become +<pb n='543'/><anchor id='Pg543'/> +so insignificant, that for six months the Pope has not +once assembled them. Antonelli and a few favourites, +with the Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, are the people who +now construct the history of the world and the +Church. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='544'/><anchor id='Pg544'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 20, 1870.</hi>—The first week of the great +debate is drawing to a close. The Archbishops of +Vienna, Prague, Gran, Paris, Antioch and Tuam have +spoken against the infallibilist definition. So much is +gained; the Catholic world knows that it is represented +in Council, while the Court party is robbed of some +illusions about the strength of the resistance to be +looked for. The only fruit of its better knowledge as +yet observable is seen in an increased obstinacy and +a greater insolence of tone. The Commission has +already declared by anticipation, in its reply to the +remarks of the Bishops against the dogma, that the +denial of infallibility is condemned under pain of censure, +and scientific arguments are no longer available. +The giving out of this watchword does excellent service +to the majority, who are very shy of theological arguments +and treat their opponents as heretics. That +<pb n='545'/><anchor id='Pg545'/> +far-famed courtesy, which has hitherto been an ornament +if not exactly a real excellence of Rome, has +greatly diminished, and the hypocrisy so long spun out +has disappeared; it has become necessary to recognise +the broad gulf which divides parties. And this has +produced a tendency on the side of the Court and the +majority to push their claims to the extremest point, to +play for high stakes, and hold out no prospect of concessions +beforehand. The minority is in their eyes not +a power to be negotiated with but a gang of insolent +mutineers to be put down. The mass of the majority +have carried their leaders with them, and only passion +now prevails in that camp. But the harshness and +roughness the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> has thought it necessary to display +has done more to strengthen the Opposition than the +changes and concessions already pre-arranged will do +to dissolve it. They have been suffered in this way to +gain a position which they might never have won if the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> had exercised more foresight. Whether all the +elements of the Opposition will be found reliable, pure +in their aims and loyal in their hearts, the future will +show. At present I only record the audacious policy of +the majority based on cunning calculations, as it has +been evinced in the early days of the discussion. But +<pb n='546'/><anchor id='Pg546'/> +the majority naturally includes men of different minds; +there are some who would like to be well rid of the +affair, and others who would gladly discover a formula +not looking like a positive innovation which might +satisfy opponents, while the great mass of them want +the blow to be struck so that, after crushing the Opposition +within the Council, they may annihilate it without +the Council also. These last have the upper hand +in the majority, and will probably retain it till the +general debate is over and the doctrine itself and its +definition come to be discussed. They are led by cool, +calculating heads, but consist for the most part of the +uneducated and unlearned mass of the episcopate who +have no independence, the people who during Strossmayer's +speech presented the spectacle of a rabble of +conspirators rather than an ordered assembly. To keep +them in the requisite state of exaltation the speeches +must be adapted to their intellectual level. And as +they are more easily excited than controlled they do +not of course exhibit the majority in a favourable +light, and one may be prepared at any moment for +the Council being disgraced by an outbreak of their +frenzy. Nothing more of the kind however has happened +yet. +</p> + +<pb n='547'/><anchor id='Pg547'/> + +<p> +At the head of the extreme party stands the close +ally of the Jesuits, the Archbishop of Westminster. +He was the first to say out with the utmost distinctness +that infallibility belongs to the Pope alone and +independently of the Episcopate. The ultramontane +speakers, Pie, Patrizzi and Deschamps, have vied +with one another in their endeavours to get this extreme +view of Manning's accepted, which they themselves +did not all share before. The emancipation of +the Pope from the entire Episcopate is the very turning-point +of the whole controversy, the object for which the +Council was put on the stage; infallibility tied to the +consent of the united or dispersed Episcopate nearly all +the Bishops would accept, for very few indeed clearly +understand that even Councils depend on another consent +than that of the Episcopate. But such a definition +of infallibility would cost Rome the very thing +she has laboured so much and sinned so much to +gain. It is a great advantage for the Opposition that +in this matter there are no formulas of compromise +possible but such as are manifestly perfidious and +insincere. +</p> + +<p> +On the 17th Deschamps, Archbishop of Mechlin, +made perhaps the most important, certainly the most +<pb n='548'/><anchor id='Pg548'/> +remarkable, speech delivered in favour of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Constitutio</foreign>. +He is considered the ablest speaker of his party, which +notoriously has no superabundance of good speakers, +and is said to be a superficial man who takes things +easily. He not only committed himself to the extremest +section of the party, but denounced his opponents as +bad Christians not walking in the fear of God. The +change of tone was much remarked in him, as in the +Bishop of Poitiers. Manning exhibits the same change, +who now maintains that all who do not submit to the +majority might well be excommunicated directly after +the promulgation of the decree. Two German Bishops, +Greith and Hefele, spoke on the same day; and indeed +in this debate many weighty voices will be raised from +every land where the contest about the Church is being +fought, to point to the practical dangers involved in +the circumstances of the case—a kind of argument Pius +is wont to put aside with a <q>Noli timere.</q> Greith of +St. Gallen spoke for Switzerland; as a learned theologian +he declared himself against the definition on scientific +grounds, and as a Swiss Bishop on account of the present +circumstances of his country; for he is persuaded +that his Swiss brother bishops, with their zeal for the +infallibilist decree, are simply forging weapons against +<pb n='549'/><anchor id='Pg549'/> +the Church for the Radicals. Bishop Hefele of Rottenburg +touched in the course of his speech on the affair +of Honorius, which must later on come into the discussion. +Next day Hefele read Cardinal Rauscher's speech. +But Cardinal Schwarzenberg's address exceeded all +expectations and left a profound impression. Cardinal +Donnet and the Archbishop of Saragossa, who spoke in +the name of the Deputation, did not bring the defence +any further or develop any new points of history, and—which +is more important—gave no further information +about the plans and hopes of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> and the +majority. +</p> + +<p> +On Thursday the 19th Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop +of Dublin, spoke, who for twenty years has been the +protagonist of Romanism in the British isles. With +sound tact he chose the most learned Bishop of the +minority, Hefele, for attack, and assailed not his speech +but his publications. Yet he did not attempt to refute +him, but only to prove that he had contradicted himself, +since the account of Honorius given in his History +of Councils is different from that in his latest work. +It is true that in the History, where no doctrinal inferences +were to be drawn, the theological significance +of the condemnation of Honorius does not receive the +<pb n='550'/><anchor id='Pg550'/> +same exhaustive appreciation and exposition as in the +little tractate on the question whether he was justly +condemned for heresy. But there is no difference of +principle between the two works; in both Hefele says +plainly that Honorius was justly pronounced a heretic, +even if he was no heretic at heart. But when the two +passages are separated from each other, it can be made +to look as though he had maintained in the former that +Honorius was really orthodox whereas he now declares +that he was a heretic. But the process could with +equal reason be reversed, and the heresy of Honorius +shown to be affirmed in the History and his orthodoxy +in the pamphlet. But what use would even an orthodox +Pope be for upholding the purity of the Church's +doctrinal deposit, if he used heretical formulas to +express his own really true opinion? +</p> + +<p> +None the less however was Cullen's attack received +with great satisfaction, for the ruling powers know well +enough on what the Bishop of Rottenburg's opposition +is based, and think to subdue German science—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the +devil himself—in his person. On the same day the +Patriarch Jussuf uttered words that deserve to be laid +to heart on the consequences such a dogmatic blunder +would entail in the East—a significant indication that +<pb n='551'/><anchor id='Pg551'/> +the Orientals are not prepared to bend obediently under +the yoke of a decree aimed at their ritual and their +rights as well as their tradition. The Archbishop of +Corfu answered him next day. There is very little +that can be properly called debating, for the order of proceedings +is better suited for academical addresses than for +real discussion; the practice of making prelates speak in +their order of precedence makes any honest interchange +of blows impossible. But the Greek coming forward +to speak looked like a preconcerted answer to the +Armenian. The Archbishop of Corfu insisted that, so +far from the dogma rendering the reunion of the Greek +Church more difficult, such a result was inconceivable +without it, nor could the dogma excite any suspicion, +because the Greeks found it in their tradition as well +as their Fathers and Councils, and envied the Latin +Church her infallible Pope. In evidence of this he +cited the passages where the Pope's primacy is recognised. +The great body of the Fathers listened to this +with grave faces: it was only following the style of their +own theologians. +</p> + +<p> +But three more important speakers had been heard +before the Corfiote. The first was Simor, primate of +Hungary, who was chosen, as is well known, into the +<pb n='552'/><anchor id='Pg552'/> +Deputation on Faith and has shown himself a more +zealous advocate of its proposals and adherent of the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> than ever. The majority believed that it possessed +in him a master of Latin who could rival the +eloquent leader of the Opposition, and Simor justified +his reputation as an accomplished Latinist. But he +spoke—assuredly to the no small disgust and amazement +of the majority—as an unequivocal opponent of +the proposed decree. And this implied that the whole +Hungarian Episcopate would vote against it. He was +followed by a feeble old man whose speech fell flat after +that of the eloquent primate, and who could only be +known to a few of his hearers, though he holds an +important place in the history of the last generation. This +was John MacHale, for the last thirty-five years Archbishop +of Tuam and formerly the most powerful prelate +in Ireland, a famous name in the days of O'Connell; +but his political rôle has long been played out, and he +belongs to a bygone age and an obsolete school. For the +twenty years during which Cullen has been introducing +Roman absolutism into Ireland his influence has been +on the decline, and while he was expounding his +antagonism to the definition to-day in a long and complicated +address, men said to themselves, <q>magni +<pb n='553'/><anchor id='Pg553'/> +nominis umbra.</q> It was the accumulated debt of twenty +years he paid off to Cardinal Cullen. But he can +hardly be expected to have gained over any of his +countrymen to the Opposition besides the three or four +of them who already belong to it. +</p> + +<p> +MacHale was succeeded by the Archbishop of Paris, +the most accomplished and skilful, and therefore the +most feared, of all the Opposition prelates. Darboy was +lately the most influential advocate of that system of +dallying and postponement which has so grievously +injured the minority, and was involved through his +intimate alliance with the Tuileries in the unhappy +policy of his Government, so that he had become somewhat +less trusted and influential. So much greater was +the impression produced by his speech to-day, wherein +he declared distinctly and repeatedly that a dogmatic +decree not accepted by the whole Episcopate could not +have any binding force. A suppressed murmur which +ran through the ranks of the majority as he spoke +seems to herald coming storms. +</p> + +<p> +So far the Opposition has made its voice clearly +heard. That it has on its side reason, Scripture and +history signifies nothing for the moment; what is important +is that it makes its strength felt, that it has +<pb n='554'/><anchor id='Pg554'/> +won over waverers or doubters to its ranks, and that it +has at last spoken plainly. The position of parties and +the question itself will take many new shapes, when +the separate chapters of the Constitution come on for +discussion. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='555'/><anchor id='Pg555'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Forty-Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 26, 1870.</hi>—The intellectual superiority of +the Opposition has made itself so sensibly felt in the +course of the debate on infallibility that they have +visibly won in spirit and confidence, while a decrease +of the assurance of victory hitherto manifested by the +majority is observable. There is no sign yet of the +breaking up of the Opposition or the desertion of its +members to the infallibilist camp. The Court party had +confidently reckoned on a considerable number of mere +inopportunists giving in and separating from the opponents +of the actual doctrine of infallibility, as soon as +the dogma came to be discussed. The latter was said +to be a mere tiny fraction, who would eventually take +fright at their own impotence and come over. But as +yet this hope has not been realized, and there are many +indications that it is not likely to be realized, for the +course of events and their experiences in Rome, as well +<pb n='556'/><anchor id='Pg556'/> +as the discussions, both oral and written, have converted +inopportunists into decided fallibilists. Cardinal +Schwarzenberg has spoken with great power and +dignity, and even the most zealous adherents of the +Roman dogma must have been somewhat impressed +by his declaration that its effect in Bohemia would be +to make the nation first schismatic and then gradually +Protestant. It at the same time illustrated the conduct +of the Jesuits in a way that will not be forgotten. +When the Archbishop of Paris affirmed that the much +desired infallibilist decree was not one of the causes of the +Council, but its sole cause, every one felt what a bitter +truth had been uttered, and that the veil would thereby +be torn away from that web of untruths and dishonest +reticences about the object of the synod, by which the +Bishops had been deceived and enticed as it were into +a trap to Rome. Veuillot indeed had openly said +in his official organ at the end of April, that to decree +the new dogma was the principal and at bottom the +sole office of the Council. That was at the very time +when about eighty Bishops put out their strong protestation +that they had come to Rome under the erroneous +impression, deliberately suggested by the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, that the +question of infallibility would not be brought before +<pb n='557'/><anchor id='Pg557'/> +the Council; while yet Cardoni had many months before, +in the Commission on Faith, presented by command +of the Pope the report which has lately been printed, +and the whole Commission had agreed with him that +papal infallibility should be defined. That same Commission, +with the Jesuit Perrone and Dr. Schwetz of +Vienna at its head, has now presented an address to +the Pope urging the definition of the new article of +faith, without which those worthies think they cannot +exist any longer. +</p> + +<p> +The infallibilist speaker who created most sensation +was Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin. He +gained the warm applause of his party by the aggressive +tone of his speech, in which he attacked especially +Hefele and Kenrick. He appealed to the testimony of +MacHale to show that the mind of Ireland has always +been infallibilist—a glaring falsehood, as is proved by +the famous Declaration of the Irish Catholics in 1757 +formally repudiating the doctrine. And it made no +slight impression, when the grey-haired MacHale rose +to repudiate the pretended belief in infallibility not +merely for himself but for Ireland. But it is certainly +true that in former times for more than a century the +Irish people, like the Spanish, was victimized to papal +<pb n='558'/><anchor id='Pg558'/> +infallibility. Every Irishman or Spaniard, who knew +the history of his country, would recoil with horror from +a theory which has borne such poisonous fruit for both +nations in the past and may be equally injurious in +the future. To acquaint the Catholic tenants in Ireland +with the infallible decisions of Popes about heresy +and heretics would be enough at once to increase ten-fold +the agrarian crimes prevalent there, and would be +the surest means for reproducing such a massacre as +occurred there in 1641. +</p> + +<p> +When Cullen replied to the Archbishop of St. Louis, +<q>non est verum,</q> the aged prelate requested leave of +the Legates to defend himself briefly. It was refused. +Hefele was as little free to answer Cullen's attack, and +has therefore had a pamphlet in his justification printed +at Naples. A new work by one of the most illustrious +of the French Bishops is also expected from Naples, +designed to prove against the Jesuits of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> the +necessity of moral unanimity for dogmatic decrees. +Another Irishman, Leahy, Archbishop of Cashel, said +such absurd things in favour of the Court dogma that +his speech was considered a clear gain for the minority. +</p> + +<p> +There are 89 speakers inscribed for the general +debate, and not a third of them have yet spoken. This +<pb n='559'/><anchor id='Pg559'/> +opens out a prospect of the debate being spun out to +a great length, oppressive as the tropical heat is now +become. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> still relies on the Northerners +being tamed down. If only a good many of them +would emulate the example of the Bishop of Hildesheim, +and go away! The plan has often succeeded +with English and Irish juries, of locking them up, when +they could not agree, till they found a true verdict. But +that won't answer here. On the contrary the longer +the debate lasts, the more numerous the Opposition +party becomes. At first many Bishops thought they +might fairly gratify the good and amiable Pius, who won +all hearts, even by making a new dogma, and give him +the present he so greatly longed for. But Pius +has completely cured his former worshippers of this +disposition to make an article of faith <q>pour les beaux +yeux du Pape.</q> It has no doubt happened before that +Italian Bishops have been treated by the Pope like +servants, hired for the day's work and dismissed again +if they did not obey the orders of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. One need +only refer to that parody on a synod, the fifth Lateran +assembly, when Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> propounded downright forgeries +and untruths to his Italian Bishops, who had +to call themselves an Œcumenical Council, and dictated +<pb n='560'/><anchor id='Pg560'/> +their votes. But even there no one ventured to treat +Transalpine Bishops—Germans, French and Hungarians—with +the insolent contempt now shown, to refuse +even a reply to their urgent petitions and representations, +and to make them drain the cup of humiliations +and grievances to the very dregs. But the great task +to be achieved in the first months of the Council was +the kneading and manipulating the Bishops in all possible +ways, so as to make them feel the immeasurable +gulf between the master and the servants, that they might +be more ready at last to sacrifice their episcopal dignity +and ancient rights on the altar of Roman supremacy. +When once they have assented to the infallibilist +dogma, they neither can nor ought to be or desire to +be anything else but passive and unintelligent promulgators +and executors of papal commands and decrees +on faith. That what is really required of them is to +abdicate their office as a teaching body and themselves +abolish their authority, Ketteler has lately declared +without reserve in the Congregation; and he is a man +who has profited much by his Roman schooling, +though in a quite different sense from what his master +intended. The Roman system of drill does not +succeed with Germans, Hungarians and Americans. +</p> + +<pb n='561'/><anchor id='Pg561'/> + +<p> +A note received a fortnight ago from Paris by M. de +Banneville, to be communicated or read to Cardinal Antonelli, +has created great excitement here, owing to his +studiously concealing it from his diplomatic colleagues. +Its substance is as follows: France renounces any +further interference with what is going on here, and +contents herself henceforth with taking note of the +decisions of the Pope and the Council. The Government +has done its duty, as a friendly Catholic power, +in seeking to withdraw the Court of Rome from the +perilous path on which it has entered. The attempt +has proved fruitless. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> seems resolved to +ruin itself. France will maintain the attitude of a +passive spectator, but accepts the altered condition of +things introduced by this declaration of war on the +part of the Roman Court. On the day of the definition +the Concordat ceases to be in force and the previous +relation of Church and State expires. The State separates +itself from the Church and the French troops +leave Rome. Separation of Church and State means in +France and elsewhere that the budget of worship will +be dropped, and the clergy must be supported by the +faithful. And here I may mention a fact which has +come to my knowledge on the best authority. When +<pb n='562'/><anchor id='Pg562'/> +Count Daru was going to despatch his famous memorial +to the Holy See, he wished for an interpolation in +the Chamber on the attitude of the Government towards +the occurrences in Rome, and a friend of his applied +on the subject to one of the most celebrated orators of +the Left, who declined, saying, <q>Rome fait trop bien +nos affaires pour qu'il soit de notre intérêt de lui créer +des embarras.</q> The contents of the note mentioned +above are confirmed by the words of a leading statesman +at Paris, quoted by a Bishop who has lately returned +from thence, that for his own part he considered +the separation of Church and State in France inevitable. +He had however assented to the well-meant attempt +of Count Daru to warn the Pope, and if possible deter +him from his short-sighted enterprise; but as that +attempt had proved futile, it remained to take advantage +of the blunders of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. So enormous a +spiritual power as the Court of Rome was aiming +at was incompatible with the possession of secular +power, and accordingly the French troops must be +withdrawn from Rome, and matters left to take their +course. +</p> + +<p> +Even now there is a wish discernible among Cardinals +like di Pietro, Corsi and Bilio, to discover some +<pb n='563'/><anchor id='Pg563'/> +intermediate formula, while the party men, like Manning, +Pie, Cullen, and all who have been concerned in the +agitation and have staked their credit on its result, hold +to the most uncompromising form, as laid down in the +existing programme. The latter reckon on their overpowering +preponderance of numbers, on the power of +the Pope, and the dread of ecclesiastical methods of +coercion, such as excommunication and the like, whereby +all resistance will be certainly put down. On the +other hand, the Cardinals and members of the Papal +Cabinet just referred to prefer to set their hopes on the +hazy views and yielding temper of many Bishops of +the minority, and think that an ambiguous formula +might serve at once to delude and divide them. Their +watchword is <q>conciliazione, un partito di conciliazione.</q> +But all their ingenuity is expended in the elaboration +of a phrase which may contain in a somewhat allegorical +and obscure form the infallibility and universal +monarchy of the Pope. To this conciliatory section +also belongs a man who understands the greatness of the +danger clearly enough, and who so lately uttered words +which have become notorious here: <q>This Pope began +by destroying the State, and now will close his career +by destroying the Church too.</q> Yet the speaker of +<pb n='564'/><anchor id='Pg564'/> +these words does not scruple to use his high position +and influence for actively furthering the undertakings +which must lead to the catastrophe. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible for outsiders to form anything like an +adequate conception of the complication of views and +plans and the multifarious activity of the Roman <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>prelatura</foreign>. +Things happen which must appear incredible to +every one who has heard of the proverbial skill and gift of +accurate calculation possessed by the ruling clergy here. +Thus a member of a powerful Order is sentenced to six +years' imprisonment by the Holy Office on account of an +occurrence in a nunnery here, the convent being at the +same time broken up and the nuns distributed over +other convents. Yet after scarcely two years' imprisonment +this man, who is unhappily a German, is brought +back here, and intrusted with the preparation of the +draft decrees for the Council, and now the Court trusts +to its favourite <q>segreto del S. Ufficio</q> for the cause +of his sentence and of the dissolution of the convent +not coming to the ears of the Bishops, but in vain. The +matter has created too great a sensation, and the culprit +is too well known. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the minority are being plied with reasons, +which are only mentioned cursorily, or not at all, in +<pb n='565'/><anchor id='Pg565'/> +the printed documents of the Court and the majority. +They are told that all their own interests depend on +the papal authority being preserved intact, and that +the evils they fear from the proclamation of the dogma +cannot come into comparison with this common interest. +They are bidden to remember how far the +Pope has already committed himself in this matter; +since John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxii.</hi>—more than 600 years ago—no Pope +has thrown the Brennus sword of his authority into the +scale to decide a question of doctrine, but Pius has cut +himself off from all possibility of retreat by his <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, +his conversations with many Bishops, and his letters of +encouragement and commendation to infallibilist writers. +He has declared, not once or twice but a hundred times, +that he knows and <emph>feels</emph> his infallibility, and wills the +Catholic world to believe it. He might simply by a +Bull condemn all who oppose it as heretics, and how +many of the Bishops would summon courage to resist +the Bull? +</p> + +<p> +As yet these reasons, practical as they appear, have +not produced much effect. The Opposition grows +visibly, and the speeches of its members have produced +an impression quite unexpected by themselves. The +words of the Melchite Patriarch, Jussuf, have kindled +<pb n='566'/><anchor id='Pg566'/> +a flame among the Orientals too, and there are Bishops +who tell me they had not thought it possible for a discourse +in the Council Hall to produce so great a revolution +of feeling. But I will not conceal from you that you +may find in Margotti's <hi rend='italic'>Unita</hi>, which draws its information +from the highest authority, news in comparison to +which my statements must appear pure fables. He +writes from here on the 18th of May, <q>The action of +the Holy Ghost is beginning to be felt; the Opposition +diminishes daily. Cardoni has just issued his masterly +work on papal infallibility, and now every one comprehends +that it is the sole remedy and defence against +the dominant pest of journalism and a free press. We +must have a Pope who, being himself infallible, can +<emph>daily</emph> teach, condemn and define, and whose utterances +no Catholic ever dares to doubt.</q><note place='foot'><q>Al male dominante della licenza dei tipi, per cui il giornalismo nega +e bestemmia ogni giorno, bisogna contraporre il salutare rimedio del Papa +infallibile, che ogni giorno può insegnare, condannare, definire, senza che +mai sia licito ai cattolici dubitare de' suoi oraculi.</q></note> So runs the statement +in the <hi rend='italic'>Unita</hi> of May 24. Inconceivable blindness +of past generations, who allowed whole centuries +to pass without needing or asking for a single papal +definition! Henceforth the definition wheel, which the +Pope is to turn, is never to remain still for a day—because +of journalism. +</p> + +<pb n='567'/><anchor id='Pg567'/> + +<p> +Thus does civilisation increase the wants of men. +Our forefathers had to lead a joyless life without sugar, +coffee, tea, alcohol and cigars, and stood on so low a +level of cultivation that they fancied they got on very +well without any infallible papal definition. But we, +who are so gloriously advanced, require besides bodily +enjoyments many—if possible very many—daily infallible +definitions, and the Pope, out of sheer inexhaustible +goodness, is on the point of acceding to the +earnest prayers of 180 millions and opening the definition +machine. Veuillot lately declared it was high +time that the fact of the Pope's permanent divine +inspiration should be universally acknowledged; Margotti +says that we want not only this, but daily +definitions.<note place='foot'>[The English Jesuit, Father Gallwey, says they will be like <q>the daily +provision of manna</q> to the Israelites.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> In this noble rivalry of the two Court +journalists the Italian has evidently stolen a march +on the Frenchman. +</p> + +<p> +In my former statistics the number of Americans +was put too high and of French too low. Only 23 +Americans were lately calculated to belong to the +Opposition, to whom must be added 10 Orientals, 4 +Portuguese, 10 Italians and 5 Spaniards, making the +whole minority over 120. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='568'/><anchor id='Pg568'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fiftieth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, May 27, 1870.</hi>—New speakers are continually +inscribing their names for the debate on +infallibility. And as only four can usually speak in +one sitting, it is impossible to foresee the end of +the general debate, after which the detailed discussion +of the separate chapters is to follow. The +minority seem resolved at this second discussion to +enter thoroughly for the first time on the numerous +separate points, exegetical, dogmatic and historical, +which offer themselves for consideration. If the +majority and the Legates allow this, the end will not +be near reached by June 29; and after that date +residence in Rome is held to be intolerable and the continuation +of the Council impracticable. This last assumption +I conceive to be mistaken. The Pope can very +easily go to Castel Gandolfo for his summer holidays, +while he leaves the Council to go on here. That it +<pb n='569'/><anchor id='Pg569'/> +should consist of hundreds of Bishops is quite unnecessary; +former Popes have known how to manage in such +cases. Eugenius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> had his Florentine Council nominally +continued, after the Bishops were all gone except +a handful of Italians; Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> was content with about +sixty Italians at his so-called fifth Lateran Council. +What is to hinder Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> from keeping on the Council, +after the Northern and distant Bishops are departed, +with the Bishops of his own States and the titular +episcopate resident in Rome, together with a host of +Neapolitans and Sicilians? Some too would be sure +to remain of the leaders and zealots of the majority. +But the Court party can cut short the discussion and +push matters to a vote whenever they like. The order +of business enables them to do so, but of course this +imperial policy will only be applied when the Pope +gives the signal. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly the whole sitting of May 25 was taken up by +a speech of Manning's, who justified the expectations +formed of him by assuring the Opposition that they +were all heretics <foreign rend='italic'>en masse</foreign>. But he left the question +undecided, whether they had already incurred the +penalties of heresy prescribed in the canon law. Ketteler's +speech made a precisely opposite impression. +<pb n='570'/><anchor id='Pg570'/> +Men were in a state of eager suspense as to what he +would say, for he was known to have passed through a +mental conflict. Ten months ago, in his publication on the +Council which was then convoked, he had come forward +of his own accord as the advocate of papal infallibility; +he had come to Rome full of burning zeal and devotion +for the Pope, though at Fulda he had declared the new +dogma to be inopportune. I omit the intermediate +steps of the process of disillusionizing and sobering he +has gone through. His speech has shown that, like +many others, he has become from an inopportunist a +decided opponent of the dogma itself. +</p> + +<p> +Such a change of mind based on a conscientious +weighing of testimonies and facts is inconceivable and +incredible to a regular Roman. When some of the +Vicars Apostolic who are supported at the Pope's cost +signed the representation against the definition, the +indignation was universal among the Monsignori and +in the clerical world here. <q>Questi Vicari, che mangiano +il pane del Santo Padre!</q> they exclaimed in +virtuous disgust. That a poor Bishop, and one too who +is maintained by the Pope, should yet have a conscience +and dare to follow it, is thought out of the question +here; and this view comes out with a certain <foreign rend='italic'>naïveté</foreign>. +<pb n='571'/><anchor id='Pg571'/> +The anxiety of the German Bishops about the new +dogma perplexing so many Christians and shaking or +destroying the faith and adherence to the Church of +many thousands can hardly be mentioned here, so +impatient are the Monsignori and Cardinals at hearing +of it. People here say, <q>That does not trouble us the +least; the Germans at best are but half Catholics, all +deeply infected with Protestantism; they have no Holy +Office and have little respect for the Index. Pure and +firm faith is to be looked for among the Sicilians, +Neapolitans and Spaniards; and they are infallibilists +to a man. And even in Germany your women and +rustics are sound. Why do you have so many schools, +and think every one must learn to read? Take example +from us where only one in ten can read, and all believe +the more readily in the infallible living book, the Pope. +If thousands do really become unbelievers, that is not +worth speaking of in comparison with the brilliant +triumph of the Papacy now rendered infallible, and the +inestimable gain of putting an end to all controversy +and uncertainty in the Church for the future.</q> When +I look at the careless security of the majority, I could +often fancy myself living in the year 1517. The view +about foreign countries and Churches prevalent here is +<pb n='572'/><anchor id='Pg572'/> +just what Molière's Sganarelli expresses about physicians +and patients: <q>Les veuves ne sont jamais pour nous, +et c'est toujours la faute de celui qui meurt.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The finance minister has had the bad condition of +the papal treasury communicated to the Bishops; a +standing annual deficit of 30 million francs, and the +Peter's pence decreasing! Some new means of supply +must be discovered, and the extremest extension of +ecclesiastical centralization and papal absolutism has +always been recognised at Rome as the most productive +source of revenue. Every one here believes that the +new dogma will prove very lucrative and draw money +to Rome by a magnetic attraction. It will make the +Pope <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de jure</foreign> supreme lord and master of all Christian +lands and their resources. The ultramontane jurists +and theologians have long maintained that he can +compel States as well as individuals to pay in to him +such sums as are required for Church purposes. And +there is no more urgent need for the Church now, than +that an end should be put to the deficit of the Roman +Government. And if it should be impossible or unadvisable +to put in force these supreme monetary rights of the +Papacy at once, still, when the temporal supremacy of +the Pope is made an article of faith, Rome possesses +<pb n='573'/><anchor id='Pg573'/> +the key which may be used at the right moment for +opening the coffers and money-bags. And therefore +the opponents of the dogma are regarded as enemies of +the Roman State economy and the wealth of the Roman +clergy; and the variance between the two parties is +embittered. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Pope is never weary of carrying on +his personal solicitations for the votes of the Bishops; +he has the right of being a persevering beggar. But +one hears less of conversions to the majority than of +men going over to the Opposition; and the effluences +from the Tomb of the Apostles close to the Council +Hall, of which such great expectations were formed, +seem to act in the opposite direction. +</p> + +<p> +A new system of tactics has been for some time +adopted, in France principally, and is now to be introduced +into Germany. The clergy in the dioceses of +Opposition Bishops are to be seduced into signing +addresses expressing strongly their belief in papal infallibility +and desire for its speedy promulgation. This +device has been pursued with great success through +means of the Paris nunciature and the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>. The +French parish priests who, since the Concordat, have +been removeable at the will of the Bishops and have +<pb n='574'/><anchor id='Pg574'/> +suffered sufficiently from their arbitrary caprice in +transferring or depriving them, see their only resource in +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, and the notion has lately been disseminated +among them that the infallibilist dogma will procure +their complete emancipation from episcopal authority. +Accordingly almost every number of the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> contains +enthusiastic addresses, which might be tripled by +making all the nuns subscribe, as they would do with +the greatest pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +The plan which has proved so successful in France +is to be adopted now in Germany also. The nuncio at +Munich reports that there is a swarm of red-hot infallibilists +there, and that the clergy are eagerly awaiting +the news of the definition; the diocesan organs of +Munich and Augsburg, together with the clerico-political +daily papers, are quoted as indubitable testimonies, +and the Bishops of Cologne, Augsburg, Munich, +Mayence, etc., are told on high authority that they have +nobody behind them, and that their claim to represent +the faith of their dioceses is in contradiction with facts. +There are indeed no numerously signed addresses to +show in Rome, but the daily papers give weighty +evidence. Silence, it is thought here, implies consent, +the women and the rustics are certainly for the Pope. +<pb n='575'/><anchor id='Pg575'/> +The Pope says in his supreme self-satisfaction, <q>Scio +omnia.</q> He knows the true state of things beyond the +Alps far better than the Bishops; the Jesuits and their +pupils and the nuncios take care of that. Hugo Grotius +says, with reference to Richelieu, <q>Butillerius Pater +et Josephus Capucinus negotia cruda accipiunt, cocta +ad Cardinalem deferunt.</q> So it is here, the Jesuits +do what the Fathers Boutillier and Joseph did in Paris. +Pius receives only what is <q>cooked,</q> and twice cooked, +first in the Cologne and Munich kitchen and then in +the Roman. The German Bishops remember with +some discomfort that they themselves sharply rejected +and censured every declaration of adhesion, and violently +suppressed the movement only just beginning. +</p> + +<p> +The Cardinal General-Vicar has ordered public +prayers for a fortnight by the Pope's command: the +faithful are to invoke the Holy Ghost for the Council, +since the whole world presents so wretched an appearance +(<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>miserabile aspetto dell' orbe</foreign>), and the longer the +conflict (of the Council) with the world increases, the +more glorious will be the victory, and then, it is said, +will all nations behold miracles—which appears from +the context to mean that, considering the opposition of +the world (and of so many Bishops), the erection of the +<pb n='576'/><anchor id='Pg576'/> +new article of faith must be regarded as a miracle of +divine omnipotence, but a miracle which will certainly +be wrought. Many interpret this to mean that people +must be prepared for a conciliar <foreign rend='italic'>coup d'état</foreign>. But as +matters stand, it can hardly be supposed that the Court +party will let matters come to a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placet</foreign> of at least +120 Bishops, nor would anything be gained by cutting +short the debate. In the last analysis the main ground +of the dogma with the majority always resolves itself +into this—that the present Pope and his predecessors +for many years past have held themselves infallible. +That is the only ground on which the Dominicans, +Jesuits and Cardinals have interpolated it into the +theology of the schools. Pius might certainly define +it in a Bull to the entire satisfaction of the majority, +and thereby put an end to the contention of the Bishops. +An end? it may be asked. Well, yes—the end of the +beginning. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='577'/><anchor id='Pg577'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 2, 1870.</hi>—The debate drags on its weary +length without any turning. Of real discussion there +is none, for very few of the prelates can speak in +Latin without preparation. As I have said before, +academical discourses are delivered, almost always without +any reference to what has immediately preceded. +Only the majority have the right of reply allowed them. +If a Bishop is attacked or calumniated, he cannot answer +till his turn comes, which is often not for some weeks, +as was Kenrick's case; and if he has spoken already, +he cannot speak again in the same debate, and cannot +therefore defend himself at all, as occurred with Hefele. +But the members of the Deputation can speak whenever +they choose; they interrupt the order and interpose +as often as seems necessary to them for defending their +proposals or weakening the force of an important speech +on the other side. Very often they break in on the +<pb n='578'/><anchor id='Pg578'/> +course of proceedings quite arbitrarily and without any +connection with previous speakers. They have the +stenographic reports before their eyes, and thus know +the exact words of the speaker and can answer them +while their opponents have no similar advantage. That +all this implies an iniquitous injustice and want of freedom +never occurs to the dominant party, who are on +the contrary astonished at the kindness and patience of +the Pope in allowing an opponent of his omnipotence +and advocate of doctrines long since condemned to +use St. Peter's as the theatre, and his Council as the +occasion, of a persevering attack on his dearest wishes, +ideas and acts. They ask themselves how long he will +tolerate so strange a reversal of his plans and views. +It is certain that his excitement has reached fever heat, +but it has not yet been resolved to break off the debate, +which is so far remarkable, inasmuch as according to the +opinion of the Court it can neither have any practical results +nor any character of sober reality. As they did not +regard it from the first as a means for establishing the +truth, it must now appear to them simply a hindrance in +the way of the truth already ascertained. For those who +attack infallibility, and thus utter error and blasphemy +over the tomb of the Apostles, freedom of speech can +<pb n='579'/><anchor id='Pg579'/> +be no right in the opinion of the majority, but simply a +favour dependent on the pleasure of the deeply injured +and offended chief. It is characteristic of the present +stage of the affair, that during this debate there has +been no disposition shown to interrupt the speakers of +the minority. Signs of discontent have been frequent +enough, but no further attempt to stop a speech by +force. +</p> + +<p> +There is still an immense and unprofitable number of +speakers enrolled. Above a hundred have sent in their +names since the beginning, who might easily have been +debarred from doing so, and the tediousness of the discussion +is aggravated by the members of the Deputation, +who lengthen it out still further by their frequent and +usually prolix interpositions. +</p> + +<p> +The chief events of the last fortnight have been the +speeches of Manning and Valerga for the dogma, and +of Ketteler, Conolly and Strossmayer against it. The +Bishop of Mayence spoke on Monday, May 23, when +he expressed his opinion more forcibly and gave more +offence than any previous speaker. He defended the constitution +of the Church against the Roman conspiracy, +citing the arguments contained in the pamphlet he +had before distributed, and denounced against ecclesiastical +<pb n='580'/><anchor id='Pg580'/> +centralization the same penalty of revolution, +incident to a centralized State, which, he said, is already +knocking at the doors. He gave his decisive adhesion +to those who demand unanimous consent, and declared +that he had always held the personal infallibility to be +<q>opinio probabilissima,</q> but could find no necessary +certainty in it, neither <q>certitudo dogmatica</q> nor <q>veritas +dogmatizanda.</q> +</p> + +<p> +One might think that a man who is so unclear about +the logic of history and the principles of morals belongs +to the majority. However the impression produced +by Ketteler's speech was favourable to the minority, +and all who have watched his attitude before the +last four months, especially at Fulda, must have recognised +the decided advance in the line taken by the +Opposition. Many think the conversion is complete, +and the great wound of the Opposition—its containing +members ready sooner or later to turn renegades—finally +closed. The Bishop of Mayence was at first +believed to be the author of the pamphlet he has distributed, +but it was not composed under his eye or +under his influence, nor even at his suggestion, and +bears no trace of his mind. The general line is Maret's, +but his leading idea, that in case of a conflict a Council +<pb n='581'/><anchor id='Pg581'/> +is superior to a Pope, does not occur in it. Ketteler +must have acquired a great deal of Roman experience +and non-Roman development before he would denounce +a papal decree to his country and his diocese +as uncatholic. But the advance which he, like others, +and more than many others, has already made, is unquestionably +a gain, and gives a peculiar force to his +words. But it has damaged and discredited the minority +that so many Bishops are more careful about the position +and influence of the Church than about the purity +of doctrine. +</p> + +<p> +I must return once more to Manning's speech of +May 25, as it was very interesting and important. He +asserted roundly that infallibility was already really a +doctrine of the Church, which could not be denied +without sin (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>sine publico peccato mortali</foreign>) or proximate +heresy (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>proximâ hæresi</foreign>), and therefore they did not +want to make a new dogma but simply to proclaim an +existing one. In these bold but highly significant +words Manning pointed to what many better men +choose to be blind to. He no longer acknowledges the +opponents of the doctrine as brothers in faith, as members +of one and the same Church, since they do not +satisfy his conditions of orthodoxy; his faith and theirs +<pb n='582'/><anchor id='Pg582'/> +are not the same. He has been the first to proclaim +this great truth in Council, and it is time for the minority +to ask themselves, whether unity still really +survives in the sense hitherto maintained against Protestants, +whether the foe is really still outside and +has not penetrated into the inmost sanctuary of the +Church, for the temple must be cleansed before the +nations are converted. The minority can no longer +live in peace with Manning and his like, or imagine +that the contest does not threaten the very existence of +the Church. Manning has indeed said that he does not +think the decree strong enough. The Spaniards agree +with him, and an open difference on this point has +arisen in the Deputation. The great majority would be +glad to find a formula less offensive to the Opposition, +but Manning has the Pope on his side, and gets him +worked upon by certain sacristan-like natures, like the +Bishops of Carcassonne and Belley, who have won the +special confidence of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> through having a certain +mental affinity with him. Manning's whole speech was +an attempt to hinder concessions, and keep the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +to the point of forcibly suppressing the minority. And +it counts also for a sign that the Pope is resolved to go +all lengths. The fanatics would prefer the Church +<pb n='583'/><anchor id='Pg583'/> +being exposed to the danger of schism to modifying +their theory in the least particular, for the latter would +be a humiliation for themselves, while the other kindles +a contest the end of which they feel no doubt about. +It is reckoned certain that of the Bishops who will +vote against the dogma, not all have the courage for a +protest, and that of those who do protest some will +rather resign their sees than undertake the contest +with the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> under excommunication. +</p> + +<p> +Manning's argument for infallibility from the condition +of England was remarkable. It is unquestionably +his chief motive, and what gives the stamp of +sincerity to his position, to make Catholicism more +compact and closely united in Protestant England. He +hopes by means of the dogma to suppress those differences +of opinion which are a source of disturbance and +weakness, so that all will re-echo his words, uphold +his theology in the face of a disintegrating Protestantism, +and his policy in the face of political parties with +the combined strength of five million men. He conceives +that the Christian element is more and more disappearing +from the Established Church and the sects of England, +and sees a general dissolution of belief which +offers a future to Catholicism as the one definite +<pb n='584'/><anchor id='Pg584'/> +authority. But he maintained in the Council that the +English Catholics were in favour of infallibility, and that +even Protestants testified that it would strengthen his +hands. That the leading English theologian, Newman, +has spoken so strongly against the definition he of +course did not say. It was only consistent with the +bitter enmity between the two to ignore it. Nor did +he say that the English Bishops present at the Council +are equally divided—himself, Ullathorne, Chadwick +and Cornthwaite being infallibilists, against Errington, +Clifford, Amherst, and Vaughan, who are fallibilists. +He read extracts from Protestant papers, stating that +papal infallibility is the logical outcome of Catholicism; +to such miserable weapons was he driven for defending +his cause. Clifford, who followed him, had an easy +task in exposing these misrepresentations and falsehoods. +One point in his speech his hearers missed: he +said that the mischief the definition threatened the +Church and the mischief it had already done to the +interests of religion in England, might be gathered +from the letter of an illustrious English statesman, for +the authority of which he could appeal to an Archbishop +there present. This Archbishop was Manning +himself, and the allusion was to a letter addressed to +<pb n='585'/><anchor id='Pg585'/> +him by an English minister, saying in substance that in +England it was the most vehement Protestants, and +those most notorious for their hostility to the Catholic +Church, who eagerly desired to see infallibility and the +Syllabus made into dogmas, and that the present policy +of Rome had so greatly increased the anti-Catholic feeling +of the country that every step taken by the Government +to extend the rights of Catholics and improve the +social condition of Catholic Ireland met with the most +persistent opposition. +</p> + +<p> +The Italian Valerga, titular Patriarch of Jerusalem, +delivered on Tuesday, May 31, a more spirited, piquant +and insolent speech, which I will give a report of in my +next letter. +</p> + +<p> +The great debate may last till the middle of June, +when it is hoped that the chapter on the primacy may +be carried without difficulty, and the special debate on +infallibility be brought to a successful end before the +middle of July. But there is sure to be a lively and +protracted discussion on the primacy, which may easily +exhaust the patience of the majority, for the continuance +of the present situation is a deep humiliation for +the Pope and <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. The Opposition, whose existence +at first was so boldly denied, and of which there was +<pb n='586'/><anchor id='Pg586'/> +originally only a germ in the Episcopate, subsequently +developed in Council through the clumsy tactics of +Rome, places the Roman See in an unwonted and what +is thought an intolerable light. What Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> and the +Jesuits reckoned on accomplishing, first in three weeks, +then in four months, at Easter, at Pentecost, on the +feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, by acclamation, by +unanimous consent, is not done yet and seems to recede +further and further. The Roman people are losing their +reverence for the Pope, though they await the doctrine +with equanimity. They say, <q>Si cambia la Religione,</q> +and laugh good-humouredly. But I heard the words +from the mouth of a Roman priest, <q>L'idola restera al +Vaticano, ma l'altare serà deserto.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is certain attempts will soon be made either to cut +short the debate or adjourn it and overcome the opposition +by some compromise. Such an attempt was made +before by a Cardinal, but the Bishop of the minority to +whom he applied would not even look at the formula. +Then the Dominicans conceived a similar idea, but were +answered that there were strong reasons not only against +the wording of particular forms, but against any +reference to the question. Such proposals are sure to +be repeated in spite of Manning and the fanatics. But +<pb n='587'/><anchor id='Pg587'/> +the Opposition Bishops cannot entertain them separately +without breach of word to their colleagues, though it is +always possible that some formula or other may find +friends and advocates among them. +</p> + +<p> +The rupture with France is a decisive one. In the +first place a Bishop from the North of France has +repeated here a conversation he had with a leading +statesman in Paris, who said that the attitude of Rome +was equivalent to a declaration of war against France, +and that the Government had done everything to withhold +the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> from its perilous course, but in vain. +He himself opposed Count Daru's policy, as he did not +wish to prevent what might lead to the separation of +Church and State, but now he thought they were free +to carry out the separation, as Rome had made it inevitable. +The reciprocal obligations of the two Courts +would cease, and therefore the occupation of the Roman +States by French troops, for the spiritual power the +Pope was aiming at was incompatible with secular +power. At the same time the French ambassador +uttered similar warnings here, and informed the Cardinal +Secretary of State that he was ordered to do nothing +more to restrain the course of events. Antonelli +is said to have replied that he took the same view, but +<pb n='588'/><anchor id='Pg588'/> +had not influence enough to do anything. It is of +course believed here that the present administration in +Paris is not strong or firm enough to carry out a policy +which would be more after the mind of Prince Napoleon +than of the Emperor. But the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> underrates the +offence given to France by the quiet contempt with +which both Daru's notes were treated. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the incense is being constantly swung +before Pius, so that the clouds of homage conceal the +abyss to which he is drawing on the Church. There is +great agitation going on among the French as well as +the Italian clergy, with a view to securing their votes +for infallibility and also presents of money. Their expressions +not seldom exceed in devotion to Pius everything +of the kind ever heard of before; and it seems +as if the old canon law sycophants had come back to +life, who made no scruple of designating the Pope God +and Vice-God. Let us give two examples. One of +these true sons of the Church in Italy submits by +anticipation to whatever Pius chooses to define, whether +with the approval of the Council or by his own sole +authority. Seven priests from Cuneo bring these verses— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Parla, O Gran Pio,</l> +<l>Cio che sona il tuo labbro,</l> +<l>Non è voce mortal, voce è di Dio.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='589'/><anchor id='Pg589'/> + +<p> +The international Committee of the minority thought +it necessary that a treatise should be expressly composed +to discuss the weighty question of moral unanimity +being required for dogmatic decrees, and Dupanloup +has undertaken the task. He had a pamphlet on the +subject printed at Naples and laid before the Fathers. +He first proves from history that this condition was never +wanting in any Councils which count as œcumenical, +and was distinctly recognised and maintained at Trent +by the Pope himself. He then examines the opinions +of the chief theologians of all ages, including St. Vincent +of Lerins and St. Augustine, and Popes Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>i.</hi>, +Vigilius and Gregory the Great, who all agree in making +moral unanimity an indispensable condition for a +decree on faith. He proceeds to observe that in matters +of discipline and canon law a numerical majority is +enough, as decisions of that kind may be altered afterwards, +but for a dogma there must be moral unanimity +of the Council and the Churches to whose faith it bears +witness, or else Catholicism would be annihilated. +But great theologians and theological schools of former +ages opposed papal infallibility, and it is opposed now +by a large number of Bishops at the Vatican Council +representing great Churches and Catholic nations. A +<pb n='590'/><anchor id='Pg590'/> +Council is only then infallible when the assembled +Bishops of the whole Church bear witness to the faith +inherited from the beginning. The majority must +therefore either convert the minority to their views by +free discussion or give up their design; were they to +suppress the minority by mere brute force of numbers, +that would be unconciliar and unprecedented in Church +history. It is not mere probability but unquestionable +certainty that is required for defining a dogma, and a +considerable number of distinguished members of the +Council have no such firm belief in papal infallibility. +To define it in spite of this would be to act as judges +and masters of faith, not as its depositaries and witnesses. +A minority denying a dogma which had been +the perpetual belief of the Church would be in the +wrong, but not a minority repudiating the definition of +a doctrine which had never been held an article of +faith. Even the Pope cannot by his authority raise +the decision of a mere majority to the dignity of a +dogma, for he only promulgates decrees on faith <q>sacro +approbante Concilio,</q> and without moral unanimity the +Council has not approved. The words of the Bishop of +Orleans are directed principally against the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, +which has notoriously laboured to establish the opposite +<pb n='591'/><anchor id='Pg591'/> +hypothesis, and he asks, <q>Are we at a Council or not? +If we are, the rules of Councils must be observed, or else +a great assembly of Bishops is reduced simply to playing +the part of a theatrical exhibition.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Dupanloup goes on to remark on the storms and incalculable +evils which the definition of papal infallibility +would bring on the Church and the Papacy. He +concludes with these words: <q>If ever moral unanimity +was requisite for a dogmatic decision, it is so at a Council +like the Vatican, where there are 276 Italian Bishops, +of whom 143 belong to the States of the Church; +43 Cardinals, of whom 23 are not Bishops or have no +Sees; 120 Archbishops or Bishops <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, and 51 +Abbots or Generals of Orders—while the Bishops present +from all Catholic countries of Europe, exclusive of +Italy, only number 265, so that the Patriarchs, Primates, +Archbishops, and diocesan Bishops of the whole world +are outnumbered by the diocesan Bishops of Italy +alone.<note place='foot'>He should have said <q>the Italian prelates.</q></note> At a Council so composed a mere majority can +never decide; and the less so when the personal intervention +of the Pope makes itself felt, when the freedom +of the Bishops is so seriously hampered, and in so many +ways, when the question of infallibility has been so +<pb n='592'/><anchor id='Pg592'/> +unscrupulously and violently brought forward for discussion +by a mere sovereign act—a sort of <foreign rend='italic'>coup d'état</foreign>—when +consciences are tormented and a number of writings +are issued which have created a great sensation +and give evidence of the anxiety of the faithful, and +when lastly the Bishops themselves let a cry escape +from their tortured hearts which the whole press re-echoes. +Under such circumstances it is impossible to +settle the matter by a mere <foreign rend='italic'>coup</foreign> of the majority; and +if it is done all kinds of mischief must be feared. Nor +is it I alone who say so; there are 100 Bishops who +say, <q>An intolerable burden would be laid on our consciences. +We should fear that the œcumenical character +of the Council would be called in question, and +abundant materials supplied to the enemies of religion +for assailing the Holy See and the Council, and that it +would be without authority in the eyes of the Christian +world, as having been no true and no free Council. +And in these troubled times no greater evil can well +be conceived.</q></q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='593'/><anchor id='Pg593'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_LII'/> +<head>Fifty-Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 3, 1870.</hi>—Valerga attacked the <q>Gallicans,</q> +drawing a parallel between the Pope and Christ, +and between the Fallibilists and Monothelites. As in +Christ the human will co-existed with the divine, so in +the Pope may personal infallibility co-exist with moral +sinfulness, and to conclude from the former against the +latter—to draw an argument from scandals in papal +history against the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>privilegium inerrantiæ</foreign>—is analogous +to the error of the Monothelites, who denied the +possibility of a human will subject to sin co-existing +with the divine will in the same person. Never has +the well-known spirit of the Roman <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> shown itself +so openly and with such technical adroitness as in this +carefully elaborated and minute accusation against the +Opposition. As Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati +expressed it, it was <q>exemplum sophismatum artis ad +instar congestorum,</q> and great expectations might be +<pb n='594'/><anchor id='Pg594'/> +formed of its salutary effect on the French. Purcell +answered shortly and pointedly that the charge applied +equally to the Council of Trent and the sixth, seventh, +and eighth Œcumenical Councils, and that he and his +colleagues were content to endure the patriarch's anathema +in such good company. Even Bellarmine quotes +a whole cloud of witnesses against infallibilism, and +neither he nor later writers had refuted them. It is a +matter of thankfulness to God that he has never +suffered this opinion to gain dogmatic authority. Purcell +then cited clenching proofs of the public erroneous +teaching of Popes, and among them the history of the +ordinations and reordinations of Formosus and Sergius. +The standpoint which he took as a republican was interesting. +He said that the Church was the freest society +in the world, and was loved as such by its American sons, +for the Americans abhorred every doctrine opposed to +civil and spiritual freedom. As kings existed for the good +of the peoples, so Popes for the good of the Church, and +not <foreign rend='italic'>vice versâ</foreign>. Perhaps he was thinking of the words +of the absolutist Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi>, <q>La nation ne fait pas +corps en France, elle réside tout entière dans la personne +du roi.</q> For <q>nation</q> put <q>Église,</q> and the +words describe precisely the papal system, as it is now +<pb n='595'/><anchor id='Pg595'/> +intended to be made exclusively dominant by means +of the Council. +</p> + +<p> +The most important speech in this sitting, and one +of the most remarkable theologically since the opening +of the Council, was that of Conolly, Archbishop of +Halifax. Formerly an unhesitating adherent of personal +infallibility he had come here without having +specially studied the question, and under the full belief +that the <hi rend='italic'>Allgemeine Zeitung</hi> had calumniated the +Roman See in representing this dogma as the real +object of the Council. But when he found what was +expected of him here, he instituted a searching examination, +and thoroughly sifted, as he said, what the +classical Roman theologians cite for their favourite +doctrine. He now frankly submitted to the Council +the result of his studies,—that the whole of Christian +antiquity explains the stock passages of Scripture +alleged for papal infallibility in a different sense from +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and bears witness against the theory that +the Pope alone, without the Bishops or even in opposition +to them (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>etiam omnibus invitis et contradicentibus</foreign>), +is infallible. But what our Lord has not spoken, even +though it was certain metaphysically or physically, can +never become the basis of an article of faith, for faith +<pb n='596'/><anchor id='Pg596'/> +comes by hearing, and hearing is not by science, but +by the words of Christ. It is the speciality of Catholicism +not to interpret passages of Scripture singly and +by mere critical exegesis, but in the light of tradition +and in harmony with the Fathers. To found a dogma +on the rejection of the traditional interpretation would +be pure Protestantism. It is not therefore the words of +Scripture simply but the true sense, as revealed by God +and attested by the perpetual and unanimous consent +of the Fathers, which all are pledged by oath to follow, +that must be called the real revelation of God. To cite +modern theologians, as Bellarmine does, is nothing to the +purpose. I will have nothing, he said, but the indubitable +word of God made into a dogma. The opinions +of 10,000 theologians do not suffice me. And no theologian +should be quoted who lived after the Isidorian +forgeries. But no single passage of Fathers or Councils +can be quoted from that earlier time of genuine tradition, +which affirms the Pope's dogmatic independence +of the rest of the Episcopate. If there be any such, let +it be shown; but there is none, and innumerable and +conclusive testimonies can be cited on the other side. +Even at the Apostolic Council at Jerusalem St. James +proved the teaching of Peter by the Prophets, and +<pb n='597'/><anchor id='Pg597'/> +appealed to it because it agreed with theirs and not on +account of his authority. Conolly was ready for his part +to believe that no Pope could wilfully and knowingly +become heretical,—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, persistently hold out against all +the rest of the Church; but that did not prove papal +infallibility, and to define it would be to bring the +Vatican Council into contradiction with the three +Councils which condemned Honorius, to narrow the +gates of heaven, repel the East, and proclaim not peace +but war. To those who said, <q>Pereant populi sed promulgetur +dogma,</q> Conolly replied that the loss of one +soul was serious enough to outweigh all the advantages +looked for from the new dogma. He declared, against +Manning, that no one was justified in calling an opinion +<q>proximate heresy</q> which the Church had not condemned +as such; for it was a duty to follow and not to anticipate +her sentence. A Pope had said that no one should +censure a doctrine before the Holy See had spoken, and +the Penitentiary had declared in 1831 that the Gallican +Articles were not under any censure. He had worked +thirty-three years among Protestants, and could testify +that what Manning affirmed was the reverse of the +truth. +</p> + +<p> +Conolly is a man who is on the whole in tolerable +<pb n='598'/><anchor id='Pg598'/> +harmony with Roman views, but who is therefore all the +more resolved to vote against infallibility. While he forbids +the Gallican doctrine being taught in his diocese, he +protests here against the Roman. There is evidently a +process going on in his mind, which in so cultivated +a theologian can have but one result. He ended by +declaring that he would accept the definition if the +Council proclaimed it, for he was convinced that God +was among them. But that merely meant that he was +convinced the dogma would never be proclaimed. On +the strength of that conviction he was almost the first +speaker who briefly but decisively maintained the +doctrine to be untenable. +</p> + +<p> +Yesterday, Thursday, Vancsa, Bishop of Fogarasch, of +the Greek Rite, quoted the testimonies of Greek Fathers +against infallibility, and his speech was thought a remarkable +one. Dreux-Brézé of Moulins followed him, +and again had the misfortune immediately to precede +Strossmayer. He contended that, as the Pope is +supreme teacher, and the French call him <q>Souverain +Pontife,</q> and he is the highest judge, he must be infallible. +As Vicar of Christ, he is also king, for Christ +said to Pilate, <q>Thou rightly callest me king,</q> and the +royal title was affixed to the cross. But if Christ was +<pb n='599'/><anchor id='Pg599'/> +infallible as king, so is the Pope. He supported all this +by texts of Scripture, and spoke against the Fathers +who accused the Pope of despotism or maintained that +the new dogma would be the formal introduction of the +grossest despotism. Without the Pope, who is <q>Episcopus +universalis,</q> and can seldom exercise his office on +account of the number of the faithful and of his labours, +the Bishops have no jurisdiction, and cannot even +absolve without powers derived from him. <q>Let us +therefore go on,</q> he concluded, <q>to unity and agreement, +and give Cæsar what belongs to Cæsar, and the Pope +what belongs to the Pope.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Strossmayer followed him, and declared that papal +infallibility was against the constitution of the Church, +the rights of the Bishops and Councils, and the immutable +rule of faith. He explained the constitution of +the Church according to the holy Fathers and especially +St. Cyprian (<hi rend='italic'>De Unitate Ecclesiæ</hi>), who did not hold +their jurisdiction to be limited to their dioceses, since +by virtue of their character they often had to exercise +authority in the concerns of the universal Church, and +were obliged to do so, as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in Councils. This sharing +of authority and rights between the Pope and the Episcopate +was evident from the controversy between Pope +<pb n='600'/><anchor id='Pg600'/> +Stephen and Cyprian in the third century about the +rebaptism of heretics, in which the latter did not the +least admit any personal and absolute infallibility +bestowed on the Pope by our Lord. And St. Augustine +defended him on the ground that the question had +not yet been decided by a General Council, which shows +that the sole authority in matters of faith and morals +was in his opinion a General Council, united with its +head. +</p> + +<p> +Strossmayer took this opportunity of vindicating the +French Church admirably from the calumnies and +attacks of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. He complained +indignantly of a Church which had come forth pure and +victorious from the bitterest persecution, and which +boasted such great martyrs and confessors, being slandered +by the comparison of so-called Gallicanism to +Monothelitism, and of those great men being libelled +who during life had rendered such conspicuous services +to the Church of God, as well as their successors who +had made wonderful and exceptional sacrifices for +the Church and the Holy See. Strossmayer blamed +the Patriarch's vague and general statements about the +constitution of the Church, and advised him to bring +arguments from positive tradition, which were alone of +<pb n='601'/><anchor id='Pg601'/> +any decisive force. He proceeded to insist on the +power and necessity of General Councils, especially in +our days, and he proved the necessity of their being +frequently held from the conduct of the Apostles, from +the holy Fathers, and from the Councils of Constance +and Trent. But if once the personal infallibility of the +Pope were defined, Councils would become superfluous +and useless, and the Bishops would be robbed of their +authority as witnesses and judges of faith. In the one +way the greatest injury would be done to the prosperity +of the Church, and in the other the rights of +Bishops would be reduced to a mere assent, so that +they would hardly any longer be consultors and theologians; +but this would be clearly against the unchangeable +constitution of the Church and the usage +of Councils, as for instance that of Chalcedon, where +the Bishops most unmistakeably exercised the office +of judges as regarded the Letter of Pope Leo. The +Bishops could make no such concession without betraying +their authority, and casting a slur on their predecessors +at the Council of Trent, who are well known to +have so emphatically vindicated their freedom and +rights, when the two words <q>proponentibus Legatis</q> +were inserted by the Legates against their will. And +<pb n='602'/><anchor id='Pg602'/> +the speaker praised the wisdom of the Council of Trent +in resolving to abstain from deciding any questions +which might give occasion for discord or for prejudicing +the rights and freedom of the Bishops. +</p> + +<p> +In the last part of his speech Strossmayer discussed +the Catholic rule of faith, which had been completely +changed and violated by the comments of the members +of the Deputation of Faith on the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. The principle +of at least moral unanimity was, he said, a sacred +one, corresponding to precedent and pleasing to the faithful. +There were whole volumes of the holy Fathers extant +on this principle, as of Irenæus, Tertullian, Augustine +and Vincent of Lerins, who in common with all others +maintained that there are three essential conditions for +proving a divine tradition and propounding an article of +faith, antiquity, universality and agreement. They all +thought the tradition of the Roman Church a principal +river, whereby the whole earth was watered, but they +regarded the traditions of the other Churches also as +tributaries by which the river must be constantly fed, +or it would in course of time be dried up. They all +ascribed the first authority to the witness of St. Peter's +successor, but that authority was only manifested +clearly to the Catholic world after being reinforced by +<pb n='603'/><anchor id='Pg603'/> +the consent of all the other Churches. This divine +rule would be completely overset by the personal infallibility +of the Pope, to the great injury of faith. If it +is said that the definition is earnestly desired by many, +it must be replied that it is also desired by the worst +enemies of the Church, who openly say in writing and +by word of mouth that it is the best means for destroying +the infallibility of the Church. That fact alone would +explain the alarm and anxiety of so many of the most +learned Fathers of the Council. Strossmayer dwelt in +conclusion on the danger that would result from the +definition for the Southern Sclaves and Catholic Croats, +who lived side by side with eight million persons out of +the unity of the Church. Not only would the return +of these separated brethren be barred, but it might be +feared that the Catholic Croats would be driven out of the +Church. He therefore always hoped, and entreated the +holy Father, that he would emulate the example of the +humility of St. Peter in his martyrdom, and of Christ +who was exalted by his Father because He had humbled +Himself to the death of the Cross, and magnanimously +have the subject withdrawn. +</p> + +<p> +The speech was listened to with great attention, and +became the topic of conversation in all circles at Rome, +<pb n='604'/><anchor id='Pg604'/> +and even Bishops of the other party paid a high tribute +to it. As yet 24 Bishops have spoken against the +dogma and 35 for it,—most of the latter having no real +dioceses. +</p> + +<p> +Two interesting episodes have intervened. Last week +the police refused the Prince Bishop of Breslau his <foreign rend='italic'>visa</foreign> +for Naples, because he could show no permission from +the Presidents of the Council to go there. This implied +that the Fathers are civil as well as spiritual subjects of +the Pope. The Bishop, who was wearied out with the +objectless proceedings in the Council Hall, sent to +Fessler, the Secretary of the Council, for the requisite +permission; Fessler replied that he could not give it, +and referred him to the President de Angelis, who tried +to represent the whole affair as a mistake. It had not +been so ill meant, and at most only the departure of the +Orientals was intended to be prevented, he said, and +he authorized Fessler to instruct the police to give +the permission. But that was the most complete indorsing +of what they had done, and proved that the +Pope meant to use his temporal power for managing +the Council and controlling the actions of the Fathers. +On that account the departure of the Prince Bishop +had been hindered, and the whole affair involves the +<pb n='605'/><anchor id='Pg605'/> +question of ecclesiastical freedom and international +right. Does a member of the Council thereby lose or +prejudice his rights as the subject of a foreign state, or +is the freedom of individual Bishops suspended while +taking part in it? So anxious is the Pope to give up +nothing which may serve for dominating the Council, +that he restricts the Bishops in the most harmless +exercise of personal freedom, which at other times he +would never have thought of. I will not dwell on the +insult in this procedure to the King of Prussia, whose +safe-conduct was no more respected than the Emperor +Sigismund's at Constance, for a graver question is at +stake,—that of international right and freedom of the +Council. Meanwhile they reckon on Prussia taking no +further notice of the affair, and the Prince Bishop has +given up his journey after these difficulties. France, +too, has quietly endured a series of insults, and so they +hope not to have to abolish the regulation or disavow +the police. +</p> + +<p> +Rome cannot admit the principle of international +right in this case, without giving up one of her own +principles, the Inquisition, according to whose laws +foreigners can be arrested, imprisoned, and put to the +question. No secular tribunal limits its power, and +<pb n='606'/><anchor id='Pg606'/> +every Bishop therefore could in theory be brought +before it. By papal law the Pope might at any moment +have Cardinal Schwarzenberg arrested, and if the right +has become inapplicable, that is due to the influence of +foreign states and the modern spirit, whose restraints +on the full exercise of Church authority it is the office +of the Council to remove, as the Syllabus, Bull of +Censures, <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi>, etc., prove. According +to Roman canon law, freedom at the Council is inconceivable. +</p> + +<p> +In a former letter I gave an inaccurate account of the +Prince Bishop's conduct towards the priest Jentsch, at +Liegnitz, being misled by statements in the Roman +newspapers.<note place='foot'>Cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> p. <ref target='Pg517'>517</ref>.</note> The text of the explanation accepted by +the Bishop shows that no principle was conceded or +denied, and he said himself that he agreed in substance +with Jentsch. +</p> + +<p> +The arrival of Father Hötzl in Rome seemed for a +time likely to produce still more serious conflicts, for +his affair looked as if it would oblige the minority to +give expression to their view of Döllinger's teaching on +the necessity of general consent for the œcumenicity +of a Council. Those who had undertaken the instruction +<pb n='607'/><anchor id='Pg607'/> +of Hötzl cared less for converting him +than for using the opportunity to provoke dissension +among the minority. He was told that an explanation, +not a retractation, was all that was demanded +of him, and when the explanation he offered was found +unsatisfactory another was proposed to him on May 31. +The crucial passage in it was read and examined by +leading bishops of the minority, whose names were calculated +to inspire complete confidence. Hötzl had +some cause to think he had saved honour and conscience, +and responsibility to man and God, when he +sought the judgment of liberal German Bishops and +resolved to abide by it. But though they disliked the +passage, they thought it difficult to know how to save a +man who had come to Rome in such childish confidence, +and did not feel justified under the circumstances in +urging him to go to extremities and sacrifice himself to +their interests. It was not their place to drive him to +a breach with his Order or a loss of personal liberty, at +a time when they had not themselves publicly, solemnly +and decisively repudiated the doctrine imposed on him. +Still less did they want to compromise themselves or +break up their harmony before the time. And their +hesitation may have led Father Hötzl into his mistake; +<pb n='608'/><anchor id='Pg608'/> +he was acting in concert with the minority when he +signed. +</p> + +<p> +I give only a brief preliminary notice of the most +important points in to-day's sitting. After Dinkel, who +spoke very well, and Domenec, Bishop of Pittsburg, +who was much interrupted, Maret made a longer +speech, which he delivered in a very loud voice, as deaf +persons are apt to do. In the course of it he declared +that it would be called a vicious circle for the less to +give power to the greater, as would be done if the +Council, which was said to possess a lower authority, +were to confer on the Pope—a higher authority—the +prerogative of infallibility. Thereupon Bilio struck in +very excitedly, crying out <q>Concilium nihil dat Papæ +nec dare potest, sed solummodo recognoscit, suffragia +dat, et Sanctus Pater quod in Spiritu Sancto ipsi placet +decidit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In yesterday's sitting a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>postulatum</foreign> for the close of +the general debate was prepared, which is said to have +received 150 signatures. After Maret's speech it was +at once produced and the close voted. Little more +than 60 prelates have spoken, and above 40 were waiting +their turn, amongst whom were Haynald and other +considerable persons. The continuation of the debate +<pb n='609'/><anchor id='Pg609'/> +had been reckoned upon and much was hoped from it; +but now that the example has once been set of using +the well-known clause in the order of business in the +interests of one party, the step may be repeated in +every succeeding debate. The Opposition will be +driven into greater firmness by this occurrence, which +they had foreshadowed in the half-threatening formula +at the end of their great Protest. The question is now +forced upon them, whether they were in earnest in +what they then said. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='610'/><anchor id='Pg610'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 4, 1870.</hi>—The first impression made on +the minority by the violent closing of the general +debate led many of them, in discussing it directly after +the sitting, to say they would take no further part in +the debates. A great meeting was arranged for to-day +at Cardinal Rauscher's to decide the question. It was +the largest international gathering of the Opposition +yet held, including nearly 80 Bishops, but was for that +very reason difficult to manage. Two possible courses +were discussed—to remain in Rome but take no further +part in the debates, as not being free, and vote at the +end <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placet</foreign> against the infallibilist <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, or simply +to issue a protest against the injustice they had suffered, +and continue to take part in the proceedings. The +former view was supported principally by the Hungarians, +North Americans, the leading French Bishops, +and men like Strossmayer, Simor, Haynald, Darboy, +<pb n='611'/><anchor id='Pg611'/> +Dupanloup, Clifford, Conolly (represented by proxy), +and others. They insisted that words were of no further +avail, and they should show their sense of the want of +freedom by acts, so that, as far as in them lay, no +decree should be carried which had not been thoroughly +discussed. In this way the œcumenicity of the Council +would be denied without coming as yet to a breach +in Council or a disturbance in the Church; for they +could no longer recognise the Council as legitimate, +nor yet retire, for to retire would precipitate the most +extravagant decisions and lead to an open conflict. +There were many reasons why it could no longer be +held legitimate, such as its composition, the order of +business, the pressure exercised on the Bishops by the +Pope personally or through his officials, the notorious +design of getting dogmas promulgated by a majority, +etc. It would be simply a degradation to give in any +longer to such a farce. In Parliaments speeches were +not altogether useless, for if they could not influence +votes they enlightened public opinion, but at this +so-called Council most of their hearers were quite +incapable from their standard of cultivation of appreciating +theological arguments, not to add that the moral +standard of many among them was such that, even if +<pb n='612'/><anchor id='Pg612'/> +they were convinced, they would not act on their convictions. +And speeches, which were not made public, +could produce no effect out of doors. To debate under +these circumstances would only be to incur a large +responsibility for the entire conduct of the Council. +But if the Opposition refrained from discussion and +left the field free to the majority, the differences among +them would soon be made manifest. The <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> could +hardly hold out against so serious a demonstration, but +if it remained obstinate, no further doubt would be +possible in the Church as to the opinion of the minority +about the Council. +</p> + +<p> +On the other side it was urged that all which could +be gained by such a demonstration would be gained +equally by a declaration showing how the forcible closing +of the general debate had undermined the foundations +and future authority of the Council. They owed +it to the world to do more than merely give reasons +against the legitimacy of the Council; they must +debate and bring forward the objections to the infallibilist +doctrine itself, and thus give public testimony of +their convictions. Most of the Germans took this view, +which many French Bishops readily acceded to, when +they observed that the Hungarian phalanx had been +<pb n='613'/><anchor id='Pg613'/> +broken up. Perhaps other and more subordinate motives +helped to establish this opinion, but many of its +advocates are men of no decided resolution, and men +who in reality want only a semblance of resistance and +are already secretly prepared to yield at the last +moment. It was thought strange that at this assembly, +which had been summoned to consult on the means of +meeting the violent <foreign rend='italic'>coup</foreign> of the majority, a German +Archbishop was present who had joined the enemies +of his party in subscribing the proposal for closing the +debate the day before. +</p> + +<p> +The draft of the Protest finally adopted against this +act of violence had been brought to the meeting by +Cardinal Rauscher, and bears marks of the antagonistic +elements it combines. Yet it contains one passage, +which may perhaps be appealed to hereafter, +<q>Protestamur contra violationem nostri juris.</q><note place='foot'>It will be seen from the protest afterwards published that this passage +was greatly toned down.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='614'/><anchor id='Pg614'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 6, 1870.</hi>—There have been indications +for some time past that the <foreign rend='italic'>dénouement</foreign> was likely to be +precipitated. The Pope himself declared that it was +impossible to keep the Bishops here in July. The +great debate, with 106 speakers inscribed, wearied every +one, and the tropical heat increases the exhaustion and +disgust. But the minority maintained their resolve to +carry on the general debate to the end, while the +majority counted on its absorbing the discussion of the +separate chapters of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and accordingly Fessler +announced that the speakers were at liberty to treat of +points which belonged properly to the special debate. +His party considered that, if the general and special +debate were mixed up in this way, they might insist at +the end that the separate chapters required no further +discussion, since everything had been said already, and +so they might come sooner to the decision they so +earnestly desired. Very few speakers have attempted +<pb n='615'/><anchor id='Pg615'/> +any theological argument—perhaps only Conolly, Dinkel +and Maret; and this made it easier to mix up the +general and special discussion, which again has helped +to give a vague and rambling character to the debate. +It was clear that after 106 or more speeches on the +preliminary question, there were still five weary debates +to come on the preamble and each of the four chapters, +so that, unless the discussion was to be forcibly closed, +it must either last on through the whole summer, or a +prorogation be allowed while the main question was +still unsettled. The first expedient seemed hardly practicable, +and could only be held out <foreign rend='italic'>in terrorem</foreign>, so that +the Court really had to choose between an act of arbitrary +power or a prorogation of the Council, which last +would be equivalent to a great victory of the minority. +There was no want of attempts to get up an agitation +for an adjournment. It seemed a happy escape from +grave embarrassments to those secular and untheological +counsellors of the Pope, who have given up the notion +of infallibility, and on the contrary are convinced that +the definition involves the separation of Church and +State, the fall of the temporal power and the loss of +the accustomed resources of the Papacy. These men +do not expect an isle of Delos to rise out of the sea for +<pb n='616'/><anchor id='Pg616'/> +the Pope when the States of the Church are swallowed +up, but they are excluded from any influence on the +Council. The more full the Pope is of the one grand +subject of his infallibility, the less will he listen to +Antonelli, to whom the mysteries in which he is not +initiated are a nuisance, and who hates the line taken +by Manning and the French zealots and apostolic Janissaries, +and would like nothing better than an ambiguous +formula leaving things just where they are. +</p> + +<p> +But as soon as the majority became aware that some +of the more colourless Bishops of the middle party +were working for the prorogation of the Council, they +resolved to be beforehand with them. Their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>postulatum</foreign> +for closing the debate with its 150 signatures was +got ready on Thursday the 2d, but was not meant to be +presented till the Saturday. But the great excitement +at the close of Maret's speech gave them the opportunity +for striking the blow on Friday, when the close of the +general debate was carried by a large majority. The +order of business undoubtedly gave the Presidents the +right of putting it to the vote, and moreover they have +more than the letter of the law on their side. They +might have urged that, as the general and special +debates were not kept separate, most of what was now +<pb n='617'/><anchor id='Pg617'/> +omitted might be supplied afterwards, and the Fathers +who had missed their turn would have five other +opportunities of speaking. They might have also +alleged, in excuse of hurrying the proceedings, the +constantly growing impatience and disgust generally +manifested in the assembly, and the uselessness of all +minute discussion of details. It is enough to mention +as indicative of the prevalent feeling of the majority, +that they received the Bishop of Pittsburg with derisive +laughter when he ascended the tribune, and that they +muttered at every affectionate or respectful allusion to +the Pope by an Opposition speaker, <q>Et osculatus est +Illum.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxvi. 49.</note> Under these circumstances Conolly omitted +nearly half his manuscript. The majority might have +urged the further excuse that far more of their own +speakers than of their opponents were excluded by the +close of the debate. Some 27 of the latter had as yet +spoken against 36 infallibilists, which however, considering +that the minority are only a fourth of the +Council, tells in their favour. +</p> + +<p> +But if we examine the matter more closely, the Opposition +has lost all it had left by the close of the general +debate, viz., freedom of speech. It has been sacrificed +<pb n='618'/><anchor id='Pg618'/> +to the caprice of the majority, for the subsequent +debates may be closed in the same way: that on the +primacy because it is no new subject, and that on infallibility +because the general debate turned wholly +upon it. So the Opposition had nothing left them but +to protest, unless they would summon courage for a +decisive act. But their protest is as feeble as the last; +it is simply directed against the abuse of an order of +business they had already protested against, and then +themselves accepted by continuing to take part in the +Council. A party intoxicated with success cannot be +restrained or conquered by these paper demonstrations, +nor even the sympathy of the Catholic world be +gained; a definite and firm principle is requisite for +that. After all their experiences it may be called a +harmless amusement for the minority to present protest +after protest, with the certainty that they will be laid +by unnoticed and unanswered. +</p> + +<p> +The French Bishops of the minority held a meeting +on the 3rd, from which they came away troubled and +undecided. The Germans take the matter less seriously. +Their past presses heavily upon them. They had an +opportunity, when the second <foreign rend='italic'>regolamento</foreign> was issued at +the end of February, and again at the Solemn Session +<pb n='619'/><anchor id='Pg619'/> +at the end of April, of either getting their views accepted +or bringing the Council to an end. But they +were not then strong enough for that. Now at the +eleventh hour a last though less favourable opportunity +is offered them. But at the international meeting at +Cardinal Rauscher's last Saturday, their views were +again set aside, for the assemblage of the whole body of +Opposition Bishops brought to light the unpleasant +fact of a gulf between the intellectual leaders and the +mass of the minority, which makes any real leadership +impossible. And this is the more lamentable, because +the men who since the opening of the Council have +risen to so important a position were almost unanimous; +for Hefele and Rivet, Bishop of Dijon, were almost the +only ones among them, except Ketteler, who rejected +the energetic measure of holding aloof from the debates +for the future and protesting by silence. It seems that +Hefele wanted to recognise the Council as still having +some claim. The other leaders succumbed, unwillingly +and predicting evils, to the will of the majority, who +were satisfied with the protest drawn up by Rauscher. +</p> + +<p> +But all is not yet lost, and the tactics actually adopted +may perhaps in skilful hands be made as effective as +the rejected policy. Between Pentecost and the feast +<pb n='620'/><anchor id='Pg620'/> +of the Apostles from 80 to 90 speakers might make +their voices heard. If we consider that more than 100 +speakers had enrolled their names for the first and +tolerably irregular debate, and that 49 speeches were +suppressed, it is clear that the great question of the +primacy and infallibility of the Pope would require a +much longer time for uninterrupted and complete discussion, +and thus the adjournment would remain as +probable and as inevitable as before. The Court and +the majority would perhaps shrink from depriving the +proceedings of all dignity, weight and completeness by +a fresh <foreign rend='italic'>coup d'église</foreign>, as such an attempt might appear +even to them too bold and dangerous in the special +debate on the principles of the Church. And if such +an attempt was made, it would perhaps exhaust at last +even the patience of the patient Germans, and lead +them to muster all their forces for the last contest. +One must admit that if orthodox Catholicism is only +to be saved by an adjournment of the Council this is +not much to the credit of the Church. But the reason +why so many prefer a prorogation to a decisive conflict +is because they fear that many present opponents of the +doctrine might at last vote for its definition and betray +their consciences through fear of men, and that many +<pb n='621'/><anchor id='Pg621'/> +who vote against it and insist on the necessity of +unanimity would ultimately accept and teach a dogma +false in itself and carried by illegitimate means. +</p> + +<p> +I will merely mention, in illustration of this, that +it was lately thought very necessary to distribute a +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Disquisitio Moralis de Officio Episcoporum</foreign>, discussing +whether a Bishop does not greatly violate his conscience +by voting for a decree to define the personal and independent +infallibility of the Pope, without having any +previous conviction of its being a revealed doctrine +always held and handed down in the Church as such. +The treatise is well written, but no such bitter irony +against the Episcopate is contained in the pasquinades, +and it is obvious that the author has not underrated +their weakness from the fact that many Bishops +would vote differently if the voting was secret. There +are some among them too who doubt if papal absolutism +and a power which kills out all intellectual movement +is not better than truth and purity of doctrine, and if +the responsibility of individual Bishops is not superseded +by a decree of the Pope, at least when issued +<q>sacro approbante Concilio.</q> +</p> + +<p> +To judge from to-day's debate on the preamble, one +would imagine the Opposition neither knew how to +<pb n='622'/><anchor id='Pg622'/> +speak nor how to keep silence. None but the French, +who have put down their names to speak, appear to +have much desire to take any further part in the +discussion. Perhaps they think it ludicrous to take +any serious part in a debate which may be suddenly +broken off, and speak, as it were, with a halter round +their necks. And those who had thought the right +plan was to keep silence henceforth were the best +speakers of the Opposition; they do not therefore fall +readily into a policy they disapproved. Their view is +that, as the majority has done its worst and the minority +has not the spirit to follow the counsel of its leaders, +it is no longer worth while to fight against a result +which cannot be permanent. +</p> + +<p> +This weak and vacillating attitude may possibly only +be a momentary consequence of the sudden commencement +of a discussion which seemed distant and for +which they were unprepared. On the other hand the +confidence of the majority increases, and they announce +the close of the debate on Corpus Christi. If the +minority remain as undecided as they were at the Conference +at Cardinal Rauscher's, an unfavourable issue +must be feared, and this will be their own fault, for sacrificing +their cause at the very moment they have for six +<pb n='623'/><anchor id='Pg623'/> +months been preparing for, through some of them not +choosing to be silent and the others not choosing to +speak. +</p> + +<p> +The main argument urged against taking further +part in the discussion is that the historical and traditional +evidences against infallibility had been prepared +by men who lost their turn through the closing +of the general debate, and cannot be brought forward +in the special debate which is only about changes in +the text of the decree. The majority have thereby +testified their refusal to listen, not to certain speakers, +but to a certain portion of the theological argument, and +thus they prevent the investigation of tradition which +is so unwelcome to them. Only secondary matters can +be discussed now, while the main point is left untouched. +To many, and especially the Hungarians, this seemed +a betraying of the cause. The Hungarians absolutely +refuse to take any further part in the debates, for in +their eyes the Council has already condemned itself, +and they cannot too soon publish their opinion to the +world by recording their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placet</foreign>. They are therefore +dissatisfied with the Germans, who prevented +stronger measures being adopted, and some of them—like +Simor, who would not go on attending the sittings—have +<pb n='624'/><anchor id='Pg624'/> +even refused to sign the Protest to the Pope, +because it involves too much deference to the Council. +There are accordingly only 81 signatures, for the +Archbishop of Cologne has also refused to sign, but on +grounds precisely opposite to those of the Archbishop +of Gran. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Vicar-General here is organizing all +sorts of demonstrations for the happy result of the Council +in the sense of the Court party. There were to be +three processions this week, and no pains were spared +to induce persons of rank, including ladies, to take part +in them. In many cases the attempt failed, for it is +idle to deny that a large portion of the Roman citizens +of all ranks turn away with indifference and contempt +from St. Peter's, and of course from all religion too. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='italic'>Unita Cattolica</hi> predicts with triumphant confidence +that God will yield to their pious importunities +(<foreign rend='italic'>Iddio obbedira</foreign>), the Holy Ghost will fill the Council +Hall, descend upon each of the Fathers and work the +miracle of making them all boldly confess the infallibilist +doctrine. As in the year 33 the people, who +surrounded the house where the Pentecostal miracle +was wrought, asked, in amazement at the new +tongues of the Apostles, <q>Are these who speak Galileans?</q> +<pb n='625'/><anchor id='Pg625'/> +so in 1870 they will hear the Bishops and +Cardinals proclaim papal infallibility and will ask +themselves, <q>Are not these the men who wrote as +zealous Gallicans?</q> The Spirit of God will work this +<q>noisy miracle</q> (<foreign rend='italic'>strepitoso miracolo</foreign>). +</p> + +<p> +A remarkable Petition has for some time been hawked +about, begging the Pope to promote St. Joseph to be +General Protector of the Catholic Church. Many have +objected that it is unfair to disturb the <q>riposo di San +Giuseppe,</q> but the notion finds much favour in the +Vatican. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible to foresee at this moment how the +great decision will turn out. The majority are evidently +consolidating their plans, and the argument may be +heard among them that, if papal infallibility were an +error, the devil would not have stirred up the war which +is being carried on against it. But one may still always +assume that 120 Bishops will say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, unless +some miserable formula of compromise is hit upon. +But the real decision will be when the Pope determines +to ignore these 120 opponents and proceed to +the order of the day. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='626'/><anchor id='Pg626'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 10, 1870.</hi>—If we look at the many minor +subdivisions of the two great parties and consider the +individual differences even within that narrower circle, +it is impossible to form any approximately sure conjecture +about the immediate issue of the contest. All are +agreed that the definition must be attempted or the +Council prorogued within the next few weeks, and +many Bishops are already preparing for departure. +The majority, with Manning at its head, insists on the +dogma being defined, however numerous and strong +the minority may prove, as being the very way to +exhibit most clearly the power and right of the Pope +to make a new article of faith with only a fraction of +the Council; and there can be no doubt that the Pope +inclines decidedly to this view himself. He is so completely +in the hands of the Jesuits that he will not +<pb n='627'/><anchor id='Pg627'/> +listen to counsellors like, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Antonelli, who makes no +secret in his confidential intercourse of the fact that he +has lost all influence in the matter and has no opinion +to give. The Pope's feeling towards the Opposition, +and especially towards its leaders, grows more bitter +every day. Strossmayer he regards as the mere head +of a sect (<foreign rend='italic'>caposetta</foreign>), and he termed another German +Cardinal and Archbishop the other day <q>quell' asino.</q> +The Jesuits make capital out of this disposition of +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> for effecting the ruin of all the men of the old +school who yet remain to him from his earlier and +more liberal days, while he leaves no stone unturned to +win over wavering Bishops to the infallibilist side. He +tried to work on the Portuguese lately by a visit, on +which a French prelate observed, <q>On n'a plus de +scrupules, ce qu'on fait pour gagner les voix, c'est +un horreur. Il n'y a jamais rieu eu de pareil dans +l'Église.</q> The most urgent next to Manning is Deschamps. +He has proposed canons anathematizing all +those Bishops who claim a share for the Episcopate +in the sovereign rights of the Church—a measure +expressly aimed at the Opposition and the views +professed by Maret both in his book and in the +Council. +</p> + +<pb n='628'/><anchor id='Pg628'/> + +<p> +Meanwhile some differences have arisen among the +majority, branching off at last into what may be called +a middle party. Even Pie of Poitiers is no longer +altogether in accord with Manning and Deschamps, +and Fessler said lately that a definition could not be +carried against 80 dissentient votes. This party disapproves +Bilio's treatment of Maret, which is disowned +by Cardinal de Luca, who in other respects often speaks +openly against Manning. Others, including Cardinals, +say plainly in reference to the minority Bishops that the +Papacy is threatened with destruction. The definition +must, if possible, be prevented by proroguing the Council, +and, failing that, the difficulties must be evaded by +an ambiguous formula. The prelates who speak thus +are too sober-minded not to perceive the political dangers +the new dogma would bring with it. They not only +think the price too high, but they dread being themselves +reduced by the definition under the intolerable +dominion of the Jesuit party. They frequently confer +with members of the Opposition with the view of +devising a compromise. +</p> + +<p> +The French Opposition Bishops have lately had +another meeting and resolved to continue to take part +in the debates. The little misunderstanding between +<pb n='629'/><anchor id='Pg629'/> +them and the Hungarians has quite disappeared, and +several of the latter—<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Simor—are said to be again +disposed to speak. And it is thought that many +speeches, suppressed by the violent closing of the +general discussion, will be delivered at the supreme +moment in the debate on the fourth chapter of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which deals with infallibility. +</p> + +<p> +The debate on the separate chapters has reached as +far as the third section <q>on the meaning and nature +of the Roman primacy.</q> As twenty-six speakers are +inscribed the discussion may last to the middle of next +month, and then will immediately follow the debate on +the fourth and most important chapter, which a great +number are likely to take part in, and there will be no +want of amendments. Conolly will propose the formula +that the Pope is infallible <q>as head of the Church +teaching with him</q> (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>tanquam caput Ecclesiæ secum +docentis</foreign>), while others, as Dupanloup and Rauscher, +will reproduce the formula of St. Antoninus of Florence, +declaring the Pope infallible when he follows the judgment +of the Universal Church, <q>utens consilio,</q> or +<q>accipiens consilium Universalis Ecclesiæ.</q> This +amendment is said to have been seriously discussed +in the sitting of the Deputation on Faith on June 8, +<pb n='630'/><anchor id='Pg630'/> +though it amounts to pure Gallicanism, for Antoninus +says plainly (about 1450), <q>In concernentibus fidem +Concilium est supra Papam.</q> It is certain that the +Deputation will labour to make some changes in the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> in view of the Opposition. Lastly, men like +Strossmayer press for an unambiguous denial of the +personal infallibility of the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +The more recklessly the Court party are resolved to +advance, and the less they care for the destruction of +the Church which must result from a decree irregularly +enacted, the more are the Opposition disturbed at this +prospect, and often made irresolute, but these are only +passing moments of temptation. <q>Conscience before +everything,</q> said a German Bishop to me the other +day, who was weighed down by his gloomy views of +the future of the Church. Even men who are infallibilists +at heart speak of the terrible crisis in the Church, +and think only God can save her. The most decided +I meet are the Hungarians. +</p> + +<p> +In the present debates from four to five speeches are +delivered at each sitting. The most remarkable were +those of Landriot and Dupanloup. The Presidents are +very ready to interrupt, as Bilio did when Verot, Bishop +of Savannah, was speaking on the preamble. Verot, +<pb n='631'/><anchor id='Pg631'/> +who is a man of high character but very singular, +submitted and left the tribune, saying, <q>Humiliter me +subjicio.</q> This conduct might suggest to the Presidents +that the definition would be hastened by a second +grand interruption. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='632'/><anchor id='Pg632'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Sixty Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 11, 1870.</hi>—If the new article of faith is +accepted and proclaimed throughout the Catholic world, +what will be its retrospective force? On what decisions +and doctrines of previous Popes will it set the +seal of infallibility? What amplifications and corrections +of Catholic theology will it involve? These +questions are naturally raised here, not indeed by the +Bishops of the majority but by many of the Opposition; +only no one is in a position to give even an approximately +accurate answer from want of the necessary +books, and the Court party reckoned on this <q>penuria +librorum,</q> which Cardinal Rauscher has already complained +of. A German theologian who had previously +examined and studied the subject, undertook to answer +the anxious question of the Bishops, and I send you his +collection, which makes no claim to completeness, as a +<pb n='633'/><anchor id='Pg633'/> +not unimportant contribution to the history of the +Council. +</p> + +<p> +The Jesuit Schrader, who is the most considerable +theologian of his Order since Passaglia's retirement, and +who has been employed both before and during the +Council for drawing up the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schemata</foreign>, on account of +the special confidence reposed in him by the Pope, has +shown, in his great work on <hi rend='italic'>Roman Unity</hi>,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Von der Römischen Einheit</hi>, Wien. 1866, vol. ii. pp. 444 <hi rend='italic'>seq.</hi></note> that, as +soon as papal infallibility resting on divine guidance +and inspiration is made into an article of faith, it must +by logical necessity include all public ordinances, +decrees and decisions of the Popes. For every one of +these is indissolubly connected with their teaching +office, and contains, whatever be its particular subject, +a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>doctrina veritatis</foreign> either moral or religious. Papal +infallibility is not a robe of office which can be put on +for certain occasions and then laid aside again. The +Pope is infallible, because he is, in the fullest sense of +the word, the representative of Christ on earth, and like +Christ he teaches and proclaims the truth by his acts as +well as his words; in short no public act or direction +of his can be conceived of as not having a doctrinal +significance. And thus Catholic theology and morality +<pb n='634'/><anchor id='Pg634'/> +will be enriched by the new dogma with not a few +fresh articles of faith, which will then possess the same +authority and dignity as those already universally +received as such. +</p> + +<p> +There are indeed former papal decisions which, in +becoming themselves infallible through the proclamation +of infallibility, will in turn cover and guarantee the +infallible character of the collective Constitutions of all +Popes. The first of these decisions is the statement of +Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> in his Bull of 1520 against Luther, <q>It is clear +as the noonday sun that the Popes, my predecessors, +have never erred in their canons or constitutions.</q> The +second is the declaration of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> in his Syllabus, +<q>The Popes have never exceeded the limits of their +power.</q> This assertion too will become an infallible +dogma, and history must succumb and adapt itself to +the dogma. Let us however specify some of the new +articles of faith thus declared to be infallible. +</p> + +<p> +1. According to the teaching of the Church, the +validity of the sacraments, and especially of ordination, +depends on the use of the right form and matter. The +whole Church for a thousand years regarded the imposition +of the Bishop's hands as the divinely ordained +matter of priestly ordination. But Eugenius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, in his +<pb n='635'/><anchor id='Pg635'/> +dogmatic decree, decided that the delivery of the +Eucharistic vessels is the matter of the sacrament of +Orders, and the words used in their delivery the form.<note place='foot'>See the decree of Eugenius in Porter's <hi rend='italic'>Systema Decretorum</hi>, p. 535, and +in Raynaldus.</note> +If the doctrine of this decree, solemnly issued by the +Pope <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign> and in the name of the Council of +Florence—which however was no longer in existence—was +to be accepted as true and infallible, it would +follow that the Western Church for a thousand years, +and the Greek Church up to this day, had no validly +ordained priests. Nay more, there would at this +moment be no validly ordained priest or Bishop in the +Church at all, for there would be no succession. +And Eugenius gave an equally false definition of the +form of the sacraments of Penance and Confirmation. +</p> + +<p> +2. According to the teaching of Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, in the +decretal <hi rend='italic'>Novit</hi>, and other Popes after him, the Pope is +able and is bound, whenever he believes a question of +sin to be involved, to interfere, first with admonition +and then with punishments. He can on this ground +reverse any judicial sentence, bring any cause before +his own tribunal, summon any sovereign before him, +simply to answer for a grave sin or what he considers +<pb n='636'/><anchor id='Pg636'/> +such, annul his ordinances, and eventually excommunicate +and depose him.<note place='foot'><q>Ad officium nostrum spectat de <emph>quocumque</emph> mortali peccato corripere +quemlibet Christianum; et, si correptionem contempserit, per districtionem +ecclesiasticam coercere.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Decretal. Novit</hi>, c. 13, De Judic. [Cf. +<hi rend='italic'>Janus</hi>, p. 158.]</note> +</p> + +<p> +3. God has given to the Pope supreme jurisdiction +over all kings and princes, not only of Christendom +but of the whole earth. The Pope has plenary jurisdiction +over the nations and kingdoms, he judges all +and can be judged by none in the world, according to +Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> in the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Cum ex Apostolatus Officio</hi>, and +Sixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> in the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Inscrutabilis</hi>. It is also a doctrine +of faith, to be received on pain of eternal damnation, +that the whole world is subject to the Pope even in +temporal and political matters, according to the Bull of +Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>. Boniface adds that the +Pope holds all rights <q>in scrinio pectoris sui.</q> +</p> + +<p> +4. According to papal teaching, it is the will of God +that the Popes should rule and <q>govern,</q> not only the +Church, but all secular matters and literally the whole +world. Thus Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> says; <q>Dominus Petro non +solum universam Ecclesiam sed etiam sæculum reliquit +gubernandum.</q> +</p> + +<p> +5. According to papal teaching, as proclaimed by +<pb n='637'/><anchor id='Pg637'/> +Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> at the Roman Council of 1080, the Popes +with the Fathers assembled in Council under their +presidency are not only able, by virtue of their power +of binding and loosing, to take away and bestow +empires, kingdoms and princedoms, but can take any +man's property from him or adjudge it to any one.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Concil.</hi> ed. Labbé, x. 384.</note> +</p> + +<p> +6. According to papal teaching the Pope alone can +remit all sins of all men. Thus Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> says in +his letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople.<note place='foot'>Innoc. <hi rend='italic'>Epist.</hi> ii. 209, p. 473, ed. Paris.</note> +</p> + +<p> +7. According to papal teaching the Pope is ruler by +divine right of Germany and Italy during the vacancy +of the Imperial throne, because he has received from +God both powers, the spiritual and the temporal, in +their fulness (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>jura terreni simul et cœlestis imperii</foreign>). So +John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxii.</hi> has declared in his Bull of 1317.<note place='foot'>Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> xv. 156.</note> On +account of this doctrine millions of German and +Italian Christians, from 1318 to 1348, were placed +under ban and interdict and deprived of the sacraments +by the Popes. +</p> + +<p> +8. The Pope by divine right can give whole nations +into slavery on account of some measure of their sovereign. +Thus Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> and Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> dealt with the +<pb n='638'/><anchor id='Pg638'/> +Venetians on account of territorial quarrels, Gregory +<hi rend='smallcaps'>xi.</hi> with the Florentines,<note place='foot'>Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> an. 1376, 1.</note> and Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> with the English +on account of Henry <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>'s revolting from him. +</p> + +<p> +9. The Pope can also give full authority to make +slaves of a foreign nation merely because they are not +Catholics. Thus Nicolas <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> in 1454 authorized King +Alfonso of Portugal to appropriate the property of all +Mahometans and heathens of Western Africa, and to +reduce them to perpetual slavery.<note place='foot'>See Bull <hi rend='italic'>Romanus Pontifex</hi> confirmed by Callixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> in 1456 and +Sixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> in 1481.—Morelli, <hi rend='italic'>Fasti Novi Orbis</hi>, p. 58.</note> Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> in +1493 gave similar rights to the Kings of Spain over all +inhabitants of America, when bestowing on them that +quarter of the world with all its peoples.<note place='foot'>See Bull <hi rend='italic'>Inter Cæteræ</hi> in Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +10. According to papal teaching it is just and in consonance +with the Gospel to rob innocent populations, +cities, regions, or countries <foreign rend='italic'>en masse</foreign>, with the sole exception +of the infants and the dying, of divine service +and sacraments, by an interdict, merely because the +Sovereign or Government of the country has violated +a papal command or some right of the Church. Innocent +<hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, Martin <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxiv.</hi>, +Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi>, and others have done so. +</p> + +<pb n='639'/><anchor id='Pg639'/> + +<p> +11. The Popes as God's vicars on earth can make a +present of whole countries inhabited by non-Christian +peoples, and hand over all rights of sovereignty and +property in them to any Christian prince they please. +Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> did this in his Bull addressed to Ferdinand +the Catholic and Isabella, as he declares, <q>auctoritate +omnipotentis Dei nobis in B. Petro concessâ ac +Vicariatûs Jesu Christi, quâ fungimur in terris.</q><note place='foot'>Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> an. 1493, 19.</note> +Historically it may be said with perfect truth, that the +peoples of the southern and middle regions of America +have been made the victims of the theory of papal infallibility. +The Spanish Church and nation, as well as +the sovereigns, have willingly received and maintained +this doctrine, because their claim both to Navarre and +America rested solely upon it, primarily on the Bulls of +Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> and Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> With the Gallican doctrine +both claims would fall through. Alexander had +empowered the Spaniards to make the Indians slaves. +All Spanish theologians appeal with Las Casas to <q>el +divino poder del Papa,</q> as he calls it, as the basis of +the Spanish dominion in America, and no one dared +to call in question the divine right of the infallible +vicar of God, by virtue whereof he had given over +<pb n='640'/><anchor id='Pg640'/> +millions of Indians to slavery, and thereby to extermination; +within eighty years whole countries were +depopulated. +</p> + +<p> +12. It is just and consonant with the Gospel to burn +to death as heretics those who appeal from the sentence +of the Pope to a General Council. So Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> declares +in his Bull of 1517, <hi rend='italic'>Pastor Æternus</hi> (issued in the fifth +Lateran Synod). +</p> + +<p> +13. Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> declared in another Bull, <hi rend='italic'>Supernæ Dispositionis</hi>, +also published in the Lateran Synod, that all +clerics are wholly exempt by divine right from all civil +jurisdiction, and therefore not bound in conscience by +the civil law.<note place='foot'>Harduin. <hi rend='italic'>Concil</hi> ix. 1756.</note> +</p> + +<p> +14. According to the teaching of the Church, every +Christian is bound before God to do penance for his +sins by ascetic exercises of abstinence, self-denial and +almsgiving. On Church principles no one can dispense +from this obligation, because it rests on divine ordinance. +But the Popes teach that it may be relaxed or +superseded by means of plenary or particular indulgences +granted by themselves. They teach that to take part +in a war against enemies of the Holy See and in the +extermination of heretics is an effectual means for +<pb n='641'/><anchor id='Pg641'/> +gaining pardon of sins, and a complete substitute for +all works of penance. Thus did Paschal <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> instruct +Count Robert of Flanders in 1102, that for him and his +warriors the surest means of obtaining forgiveness of +sins and heaven was to make war upon the clergy of +Liége and all adherents of the German Emperor, Henry +<hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi><note place='foot'>Baron. <hi rend='italic'>Annal. Eccl.</hi> an. 1102, sect. 18.</note> Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> charged King Philip Augustus of +France with the conquest of England, after he had +deposed King John, as a means for obtaining remission +of sin.<note place='foot'>Rog. Wendover, <hi rend='italic'>Hist.</hi> iii. 251.</note> Martin <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> again impelled the French in 1283 to +make war on the Aragonese by the promise of plenary +remission of their sins.<note place='foot'>Raynald. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> an. 1283-4.</note> And whenever there was a +war to be undertaken in the territorial interests of the +Holy See, or for the extermination of heretics, the Popes +urged men to take part in it as the surest and most +effectual means for cleansing them from all their sins +and attaining eternal happiness. +</p> + +<p> +15. The Inquisition, both Spanish and Italian, is so +pure a product of papal teaching on faith and morals, +that there never was an Inquisitor who did not exercise +his office by virtue of Papal authority and in the Pope's +name, or whose power the Pope could not at any moment +<pb n='642'/><anchor id='Pg642'/> +he chose have wholly or partially withdrawn. All +essential laws and regulations of the Inquisition—the +accused being deprived of any advocate to defend him, +the admission of infamous and perjured witnesses, the +frequent application of the torture, the obliging the +civil magistrates to carry out capital sentences of the +Inquisitors, the prohibition to spare the life of any +lapsed heretic even on his conversion—all this emanates +from the direct and personal legislation of the Popes, +and has always been confirmed by their successors. +</p> + +<p> +16. Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi>, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, and Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> teach +that it is in accordance with the principles of morality +and the Gospel to condemn a heretic seized by the +Inquisition, who has recanted, to lifelong imprisonment.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Litera Apost. Summorum Pontif. pro offic. S. Inquis.</hi>, Venet. 1607, +p. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +17. Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> teaches that it is lawful for the +Pope to have the goods of those condemned for heresy +sold by his inquisitors, and to take the proceeds for +himself.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ib.</hi> p. 39.</note> +</p> + +<p> +18. Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi>, and Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> +teach that it is just and consonant with the Gospel to +deprive the sons and daughters of heretics, though +<pb n='643'/><anchor id='Pg643'/> +themselves Catholics, of their hereditary property. +But if the sons themselves accuse their parents and +get them burnt, then their inherited property, according +to papal doctrine, is exempt from confiscation. +</p> + +<p> +19. According to papal teaching torture is an institution +thoroughly in harmony with morality and the +spirit of the Gospel, and should be employed particularly +against those accused of heresy. Thus Innocent +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Iv.</hi> and many later Popes have directed, and Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> +ordered the rack to be very extensively used. +</p> + +<p> +20. It is especially just and Christian, according to +the teaching and regulation of Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> in 1569, to torture +persons who have confessed or been convicted of +heresy, in order to make them give up their accomplices.<note place='foot'>Del Bene, <hi rend='italic'>Decreta et Constitt. Pontif.</hi> in his <hi rend='italic'>De Offic. Inquis.</hi> ii. 647.</note> +</p> + +<p> +21. This same canonized Pope has ordered in a Bull +that even the sons of a man who has once offended an +inquisitor should be punished with infamy and confiscation +of their goods. +</p> + +<p> +22. There is a whole string of papal decrees declaring +it a duty of conscience for every Christian to denounce +even his nearest relations to the Inquisition, and give +them up to prison, torture and death, if he perceives +<pb n='644'/><anchor id='Pg644'/> +any trace of heretical opinions or of anything forbidden +by the Church in them.<note place='foot'>[That this is no mere abstract theory, even in quite recent days, may +be seen from Blanco White's account of his mother's agony of mind when +she began to suspect his opinions and feared it might become her duty to +denounce him to the Inquisition.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +23. The same Popes have declared it to be just and +evangelical, and have ordered, that a relapsed heretic, +even if he recants, should be put to death.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Decr.</hi> v. 7, 9, and Lucius <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> and Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> in Lib. vi. 5. 2. 4.</note> They have +further declared it to be moral and Christian-like that +in trials for heresy witnesses should be admitted to +accuse or give evidence against the accused, whose +testimony would not be admitted in any other court +on account of their former crimes or their infamy.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ib.</hi> 5, 2, 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +24. According to papal teaching it is just and Christian +forcibly to deprive heretics of their children, in order +to bring them up Catholics. Thus Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>xii.</hi>, by a +sentence of the Holy Office at Rome, pronounced null +and void the edict of Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy +in 1694 ordering their children, who had been forcibly +taken from them, to be restored to the unfortunate and +cruelly persecuted Waldenses under his government.<note place='foot'>Carsetti, <hi rend='italic'>Storia del Regno di Vittorio Amadeo di Savoia</hi>, Torino, +1856, p. 178. The Pope said it was <q>cosa da non potersi dir senza +lagrime.</q></note> +</p> + +<pb n='645'/><anchor id='Pg645'/> + +<p> +25. The Popes teach that a sentence once pronounced +for heresy can never be mitigated, nor pardon ever +granted to any one sentenced to death or perpetual +imprisonment for heresy. Thus Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> rules in +his Bull <hi rend='italic'>Ad Exstirpanda</hi>.<note place='foot'>Guerra, <hi rend='italic'>Pontif. Constit.</hi> i. 177.</note> +</p> + +<p> +26. Up to 1555 it was the teaching of the Popes that +only those should be burnt who persisted obstinately in +maintaining a doctrine condemned by the Church, and +those who had relapsed after recanting into the same +or some other heresy. But in that year Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> +established the new principle that certain doctrines, +if only just put forward and at once retracted, should +be punished with death. Thus whoever rejected any +ecclesiastical definition on the Trinity, or denied the +perpetual virginity of Mary and maintained that the +scriptural language about <q>brothers of Jesus</q> was to +be taken literally of children of Mary, was to be +classed with the <q>relapsed</q> and to be executed, even +though he recanted. +</p> + +<p> +27. Up to 1751, theologians, especially Italians, who +defended trials for witchcraft and the reality of an +express compact with Satan, together with the various +preternatural crimes wrought thereby and the carnal +<pb n='646'/><anchor id='Pg646'/> +intercourse of men and demons (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>incubi et succubi</foreign>), +used to appeal to the infallible authority of the Popes, +the Bulls of Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, Sixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>xv.</hi> and +several more besides, in which these things are affirmed +and assumed and the due penalties prescribed for them.<note place='foot'>See, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Tartarotti, <hi rend='italic'>Apologia del Congresso</hi>, etc., p. 176.</note> +</p> + +<p> +28. If an oath that has been taken is prejudicial to +the interests of the Church (<hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in money matters), it +must be broken. So teaches Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Decr.</hi> ii. 24, 27.</note> +</p> + +<p> +29. The Popes can dispense at their pleasure oaths +of allegiance taken by a people to their King, as +Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi>, Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi>, and many +others have done. +</p> + +<p> +30. They can also absolve a sovereign from the +treaties he has sworn to observe or from his oath to the +Constitution of his country, or give full power to his +confessor to absolve him from any oath he finds it inconvenient +to keep. Such a plenary power Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> +gave to King John of France and his successors.<note place='foot'>D'Achery, <hi rend='italic'>Spicileg.</hi> iii. 714. [<q>Vobis et successoribus vestris Regibus +et Reginis Franciæ in perpetuum indulgemus, ut confessor religiosus vel +sæcularis quem vestrûm vel eorum quilibet duxerit eligendnm, vota per vos +forsitan jam emissa, <emph>ac per vos et successores vestros in posterum emittenda</emph> +... necnon juramenta per vos præstita, <emph>et per vos et eos præstanda in +posterum</emph>, quæ vos et illi <emph>servare commode non possitis</emph>, vobis et eis commutare +valeat in alia opera pietatis.</q> Two cases are reserved, viz., vows +of chastity and <emph>vows taken to the Pope</emph>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> Thus +<pb n='647'/><anchor id='Pg647'/> +Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> absolved the Emperor Charles <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> from his +oath restricting his absolutism over popular rights in +Belgium, and again from his oath not to banish the +Moriscos from their home. And Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>iv.</hi> announced +to the Emperors Charles and Ferdinand that he dispensed +their oath to observe the Augsburg religious +peace.<note place='foot'>Bzov. <hi rend='italic'>Annal. Eccl.</hi> an. 1555, p. 306, ed. Colon.</note> +</p> + +<p> +31. In 1648 a prospect of toleration was held out to +the sorely oppressed Catholics of England and Ireland, +if they would sign a renunciation of the following +principles, (α) The Pope can dispense any one from +obedience to the existing Government; (β) The Pope +can absolve from an oath taken to a heretic; (γ) Those +who have been condemned as heretics by the Pope +may at his command, or with his dispensation, be put +to death or otherwise injured. This renunciation +was signed by fifty-nine English noblemen and several +ecclesiastics, but Pope Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> declared that all +who had signed it had incurred the penalties denounced +against those who deny papal authority, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, excommunication, +etc. And so the penal laws against Catholics +remained in force for another century. Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> had +previously condemned the oath of allegiance prescribed +<pb n='648'/><anchor id='Pg648'/> +by James <hi rend='smallcaps'>i.</hi> for the English Catholics, and the execution +of a considerable number of them was the +result.<note place='foot'>Dodd, <hi rend='italic'>Church History of England</hi>, iii. 288; <hi rend='italic'>Tractat. Dogmat. et Scholast. +de Ecclesiâ</hi>, Romæ, 1782, ii. 245.</note> +</p> + +<p> +32. The Popes teach that they can absolve men from +any vow made to God or empower others to do so, and +can even give them powers prospectively for dispensing +vows to be made hereafter. And thus they have +empowered royal confessors to absolve kings from any +future vow they may find reason to repent of.<note place='foot'>D'Acheray, <hi rend='italic'>Spicileg.</hi> iii. 721.</note> +</p> + +<p> +33. The Popes have declared, by granting indulgences, +that their jurisdiction extends over Purgatory also, and +that it depends on them to deliver the dead who are +there and transfer them into heaven. Thus Julius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ii.</hi> +bestowed on the Order of Knights of St. George, restored +by the Emperor Maximilian, the privilege that, +on assuming the habit of the Order, the Knights <q>confessi +et contriti, a pœnâ et a culpâ et a carcere Purgatorii +et pœnis ejusdem mox et penitus absoluti et quittandi +esse debeant, planè et liberè Paradisum et regnum intraturi.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Acta Sanct. Bolland.</hi> Ap. 23, p. 157.</note> +Then or shortly before (1500) the doctrine +was first propounded in Rome, that the Popes could +<pb n='649'/><anchor id='Pg649'/> +attach to certain altars by special privileges the power +of delivering one or more souls from Purgatory. +</p> + +<p> +34. The Pope can dissolve a marriage by placing one +of the parties under the greater excommunication, and +thus declaring him a heathen and infidel. Urban <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> +did this in 1363, when he excommunicated Bernabó +Visconti, Duke of Milan, depriving him and all his children +of all their rights and property and absolving his +subjects from their allegiance to him, and at the same +time pronouncing his wife free to marry again: <q>Uxorem +ejus uti Christianam a vinculo matrimonii cum hæretico +et infideli liberavit.</q><note place='foot'>Spondani, <hi rend='italic'>Annal. Eccl. Contin.</hi> ii. 595.</note> +</p> + +<p> +35. Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> had paved the way for this by +establishing the doctrine that the bond between a Bishop +and his diocese is stronger than the marriage bond +between man and wife, and therefore as indissoluble by +man as the latter, and that God alone could dissolve it, +and the Pope as God's vicegerent.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Decr. de Transl.</hi> c. ii. 3, 4. [Cf. <hi rend='italic'>Janus</hi>, pp. 55, 56.]</note> It followed that +the Pope, and he alone, could also dissolve a validly +contracted marriage. +</p> + +<p> +36. According to papal teaching it is praiseworthy +and Christian for a man, who has promised a woman +<pb n='650'/><anchor id='Pg650'/> +with an oath to marry her, to deceive her by a sham +marriage, and then break the bond and retire into a +monastery. This recommendation (to commit an act of +treachery at once and of sacrilege) was given by Alexander +<hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> in 1172, and it has been incorporated in +the code of canon law drawn up by command of the +Popes.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Decr.</hi> iv. 1, 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +37. The Popes teach that anyone attending a service +celebrated by a married priest commits sacrilege, because +the blessing he gives turns to a curse. So +Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi> teaches, in direct contradiction to the +doctrine of the ancient Church, and even to modern +theology.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Dist.</hi> 81, c. 15.</note> The notion has long since been exploded.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Concil. Gangrens.</hi> can. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +38. The Popes teach that they have the power of +rewarding services done to themselves with a higher +degree of eternal beatitude. Thus Nicolas <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> promised +all who should take up arms against Amadeus of +Savoy (the antipope Felix) and his adherents, not only +remission of all their sins, but an increase of heavenly +happiness, and gave his lands and property at the same +time to the King of France.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Concil.</hi> ed. Labbé, t. xiii. pp. 1322, 3.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='651'/><anchor id='Pg651'/> + +<p> +39. The Popes teach that it is false and damnable to +maintain that a Christian ought not to abstain from +doing his duty from fear of an unjust excommunication. +Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>xi.</hi> declares the contrary to be true in his +Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unigenitus</hi>, prop. 91. +</p> + +<p> +40. Those who die wearing the Carmelite scapular +have papal assurance, resting on a revelation granted to +John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxii.</hi>, that they will be delivered on the next +Saturday after their death by the Virgin Mary from +Purgatory and conveyed straight to heaven. So says +the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Sabbathina</hi>, confirmed by Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, +Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>vii.</hi>, Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, Gregory <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiii.</hi>, and Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, by +the last after long and careful examination, and with +indulgences attached to it.<note place='foot'>See Amort, <hi rend='italic'>De Indulg.</hi> i. 146.</note> +</p> + +<p> +41. According to papal decisions it is an excess of +extravagance and folly, and a detestable innovation, to +translate the Roman missal into the vernacular. It is +to violate and trample under foot the majesty of the +ritual composed in Latin words, to expose the dignity +of the holy mysteries to the gaze of the rabble, to +produce disobedience, audacity, insolence, sedition and +many other evils. The authors of such translations are +<pb n='652'/><anchor id='Pg652'/> +<q>sons of perdition.</q> Alexander <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> says this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>totidem +verbis</foreign> in his Brief of Jan. 12, 1661.<note place='foot'>D'Argentré, <hi rend='italic'>Collectio Judiciorum</hi>, Paris, 1728, iii. 297.</note> Nevertheless the +translated missal is in general circulation in France, +England and Germany, and is daily used by all the +most pious persons. +</p> + +<p> +42. To receive interest on invested money is a grievous +sin according to papal teaching, and any one who has +done so is bound to make restitution. Papal legislation +makes it, under the name of usury, an ecclesiastical +offence to be judged by the spiritual tribunals. The +principle established by the Popes was, that it is unlawful +and sinful to ask for any compensation for the +use of capital lent out. And under the head of usury, +which was strictly forbidden, was included anything +whatever received by the lender in compensation for +his capital, every kind of interest, commercial business +and the like. Thus Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi> pronounced it heresy +to defend taking interest, and liable to the penalties of +the papal law against heresy.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Clementin.</hi> i. 5, De Usuris, tit. 5.</note> His successors, Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, +Sixtus <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, and especially Benedict <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi>, adhered to this +condemnation of all taking of interest. The results +<pb n='653'/><anchor id='Pg653'/> +were that real usury was greatly advanced thereby, +that all sorts of evasions and illusory contracts came +into actual use, that the wealth of whole countries was +damaged, and commercial greatness, banished from +Catholic countries, became the monopoly of Protestant +countries.<note place='foot'>[On this subject, as also on persecution, the reader may profitably consult +<hi rend='italic'>Papal Infallibility and Persecution; Papal Infallibility</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Usury</hi>. +By an English Catholic. Macmillan, 1870.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='654'/><anchor id='Pg654'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 18, 1870.</hi>—The great merits of Cardoni +are at length to receive their fitting reward. He has +hitherto been only Archbishop of Nisibis, a city that +has long ceased to exist; he has now become keeper +of the archives of the Roman Church. He was the +principal person intrusted last year with the grand +mystery of the fabrication of the new dogma, which +required for its success the strictest secrecy; the +Bishops, with the exception of course of the initiated, +were to be drawn to Rome unprepared and innocent of +the design and then to be taken by surprise. Had the +real object of the Council become known in the spring +of 1869, it might easily have proved a complete failure. +It was therefore intrusted to Cardoni's experienced +hands, who managed matters so well in the Commission +that the Bishops were kept in the dark, and his +lucubrations on infallibility were first printed in April,—it +<pb n='655'/><anchor id='Pg655'/> +is said after being considerably altered by the +Jesuits. The reward of Cardoni is a punishment for +Theiner, who has to suffer for his Life of Clement <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> +and for communicating to some of the Bishops a paper +on the order of business at Trent. The archives are +now closed to him, and he has had to surrender the +keys to Cardoni, though he nominally retains his office. +Every German scholar knows that Theiner, after coming +to Rome, became extremely reserved in his communications +and very cautious in his own publications, +always suppressing whatever might excite displeasure +there, and throw a slur on the Roman authorities. It +was much easier under his predecessor Marini—as +German and French scholars, such as Pertz, Raumer +and Cherrier, and the British Museum can testify—to +get a sight of documents or even transcripts, of course +for a good remuneration. Theiner, who was inaccessible +to bribery, knew that he had an abundance of enemies +and jealous rivals watching him, and carefully guarded +against giving them any handle against him. But the +original sin of his German origin clung to him; he was +not a Reisach and could not Italianize himself. There +is great joy in the Gesù, the German College, and the +offices of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>! +</p> + +<pb n='656'/><anchor id='Pg656'/> + +<p> +Theiner's great offence is his letting certain Bishops, +viz., Hefele and Strossmayer, see the account of the +order of business at the Council of Trent, showing the +striking difference between that and the present regulations +and the greater freedom of the Tridentine +synod. But Hefele had seen the Tridentine Acts in +the spring of 1869, and knew about it without Theiner's +help. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile there is no abatement of the bitter exasperation +in the highest circles. The three chief organs +of the Court—the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Unità</hi> and the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>—have +evidently received orders to vie with each other +in their descriptions of the <q>Liberal Catholics</q> as the +most abandoned and dangerous of men. For the +moment nobody is more abominated than a Catholic +who is opposed to infallibility and unwilling to see the +teaching of the Church brought into contradiction with +the laws of his country, which is what they mean by a +Liberal Catholic; such persons are worse than Freemasons. +The <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi> says they are more dangerous to +<q>the cause of God</q> than atheists, and have already +proved so. We know how his confessors, La Chaise +and Le Tellier, explained to Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> that a Jansenist +is worse and more dangerous than an atheist. +</p> + +<pb n='657'/><anchor id='Pg657'/> + +<p> +In convents and girls' schools the new article of +faith is already strong enough to work miracles. The +<hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> relates <q>a miraculous cure wrought through an +act of faith in the infallibility of the Vicar of Christ,</q> +at Vienna on May 24. But that is little in comparison +with the greater and more difficult miracles which +the dogma will have to accomplish. If the English +proverb is true, there is nothing more stubborn than +facts; to remove them from history or change their +nature will be harder than to move mountains. Here +in Rome we are daily assured that the dogma has conquered +history, but these anticipated conquests will +have to be fought out, at least everywhere north of the +Alps, and cannot be won without great miracles. But +the Jesuits have never of course been without their +thaumaturgists, and they have been able to accomplish +the impossible even in the historical domain. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope seems peculiarly annoyed at some of the +English Bishops opposing infallibility, probably because +Manning had told him that the English above all +others reverenced him as the organ of the Holy Ghost. +He lately broke out into most bitter reproaches against +Bishop Clifford of Clifton, before an assemblage of +Frenchmen, most of whom did not even know him by +<pb n='658'/><anchor id='Pg658'/> +name, and accused him of low ambition, saying that he +knew <q>ex certâ scientiâ</q> the only reason why Clifford +would not believe in his infallibility was because he +had not made him Archbishop of Westminster. Yet +there is perhaps no member of the Council whom every +one credits with so entire an absence of any ambitious +thought. The spectacle of such conduct on the part of +the man, who for twenty-four years has held the highest +earthly dignity, produces a painful feeling in some, +and contempt in others. +</p> + +<p> +It is indeed disgusting to see the Court party compelling +men, most of them aged, to remain here to the +great injury of their health at a season when all who +are able to do so leave Rome, although many of them are +accustomed to a different climate and feel sick and exhausted. +They are treated like prisoners, and not even +allowed a holiday without special leave. No such egotistic +and unscrupulous absolutism, as what now prevails +here, has been seen in the Christian world since the days +of the first Napoleon. If there were any persons here +besides courtiers who could advise the Pope, as friends, +they would have to tell him that his credit before the +world demanded that an end should be put to this state +of torture, and the Bishops be allowed to depart, many +<pb n='659'/><anchor id='Pg659'/> +of whom are already dead. But, as was observed before, +even Antonelli does not conceal his impotence as regards +the Council, and as to others, it may suffice to +acquaint Transalpine readers with one detail of Roman +Court etiquette. If the Pope sneezes, the attendant +prelate must immediately fall on his knees, and cry +<q>Evviva!</q> in that position. Every man is at last what +his <foreign rend='italic'>entourage</foreign> has made him, and Pius has for twenty-four +years had every one kneeling before him, and has +been daily overwhelmed with adorations and acts of +homage, the effect of which may be read in Suetonius' +biographies of the Emperors. +</p> + +<p> +The affair of the Prince Bishop of Breslau, who was +not allowed to leave Rome, has been arranged, by +Cardinal Antonelli ordering an apology to be made. +The regulations about refusing visas were only meant +for the Orientals, who are certainly detained in Rome +against their will, but in extending the same treatment +to German prelates the police had exceeded their +instructions and must be severely punished. Förster +answered that he did not wish this, and that Cardinal +de Angelis in his note had fully approved their conduct. +Meanwhile the same thing has been repeated: the visa +was refused to the suffragan Bishop of Erlau in Hungary, +<pb n='660'/><anchor id='Pg660'/> +who wanted to go to Naples, because he had received +no permission from the Secretary, Bishop Fessler. +</p> + +<p> +The Franciscan, Hötzl, has made an explanation +satisfactory to the authorities, and is now again received +into favour, but he is to stay here for the festival +of June 29, on which day, as Pius was at least convinced +a week ago, the proclamation of the new dogma +with all imaginable pomp will take place. We live in +very humane times, and so the good Father from +Munich has suffered no worse martyrdom than the +heat. He has been instructed, the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>genius loci</foreign> has done +its work, his Spanish General has simply reminded +him of certain rules of the Order—and so his conversion +has been very quickly, easily and happily accomplished. +He was not even threatened, I believe, with +the Inquisition, and even there he would not have +fared as ill as Galileo in 1633. +</p> + +<p> +You must allow me, before relating the events of the +last few days in the Council Hall, to recur to the +occurrences of June 3, which I am now better acquainted +with, and which have proved to be sufficiently important +and eventful to deserve more detailed mention. +</p> + +<p> +On the motion of Cardinal Bonnechose, who belongs +to the middle party, Cardinal de Angelis had asked the +<pb n='661'/><anchor id='Pg661'/> +Pope, directly after the session of June 2, whether he +would not permit the prorogation of the Council, in +view of the intolerable heat and the too long absence +already of so many Bishops from their dioceses. The +reply was a decided negative; there should be no +adjournment till the infallibilist <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was disposed +of. That was a hint to the majority, which they used +next day, as the wish to cut short the debates had been +loudly expressed for some days previously. +</p> + +<p> +On the same day the Bishop of Pittsburg in North +America spoke against infallibility and defended the +Catholics of his country, who had hitherto known +nothing of this doctrine, but were yet genuine Catholics +in life and practice and not in name only, like the +Italians. Capalti immediately attacked him and imposed +silence. Bishop Dinkel of Augsburg followed. +Senestrey, Bishop of Ratisbon, in the previous sitting +had assured the prelates, who listened eagerly, that all +Germany, so far as it was Catholic, thought as he did, +and that every one was deeply penetrated with reverence +for the infallible Pope, while it was a mere invention +of certain evil-minded persons that there were those +in Germany who doubted this divine prerogative of +the Vicar of God. The astonishment was great; they +<pb n='662'/><anchor id='Pg662'/> +had heard so often that the aversion to the new dogma +was most deeply rooted and most widely spread in +Germany. Dinkel pointedly contradicted his colleague, +and warned them against being misled by such tricks. +He won great commendation, and his Biblical comments +were also found to be well grounded and to the +purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Bishop Maret of Sura next ascended the tribune. He +like others has made advances since being in the +Roman school. If he had to write his work on the +Pope and Council now, he would take a far more +decided and bolder line. It was not without reason +that he pointedly distinguished the two things, papal +infallibility based and dependent on episcopal consent, +and the personal infallibility of the Pope deciding +alone, as the real subject of the controversy; for during +the last few days there have been Bishops who excused +their adhesion to the majority on the pretext that they +only found the former kind of infallibility in the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. Maret then showed in what a labyrinth the +majority was on the point of involving the Council. +Either the Council was to give the Pope an infallibility +he did not yet possess, in which case the donor was +higher than the receiver by divine and therefore inalienable +<pb n='663'/><anchor id='Pg663'/> +rights; or the Pope was to give himself an +infallibility he had not hitherto possessed, in which +case he could change the divine constitution of the +Church by his own plenary power; and if so why +summon a Council and ask its vote? There Bilio +angrily interrupted him, exclaiming to one of the most +learned and respected men of the French clergy, the +president of the Paris Theological Faculty, <q>Tu non +nôsti prima rudimenta fidei.</q> And then he gave the +explanation I mentioned before, that it did not belong +to the Council to bear witness, to judge and to decide, +but only to acknowledge the truth and give its vote, +and then to leave the Pope to define what he chose +by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. There could be +no talk here of majority or minority, but only of the +Council. The majority applauded. Maret remained +quiet, and asked without changing countenance, after +this effusion of Bilio's was at an end, <q>Licitumne est +ac liberum continuare sermonem.</q> Then all was +silence, and he was able to finish his speech without +further interruption. +</p> + +<p> +Hereupon followed the violent closing of the discussion +by a decree of the majority. The euphemistic language +in which the <hi rend='italic'>Giornale di Roma</hi> announced it next +<pb n='664'/><anchor id='Pg664'/> +day was remarkable:—<q>Fù <emph>terminata</emph> la discussione +generale intorno alla materia di fede, che cominciata +con la Congregazione del 14 Maggio, era stata proseguita +per tutte le adunanze tenute nel suddetto spazio +di tempo, nelle quali ebbero parlato in proposito 65 +padri,</q> etc.—such an obituary announcement as those +which used to be put into the Russian newspapers on +the death of a Czar, and which led Talleyrand to say, +<q>Il serait enfin temps que les Empereurs de Russie +changeassent de maladie.</q> +</p> + +<p> +At the international meeting at Cardinal Rauscher's +on the 4th, when about 100 Bishops were present, some +of the bolder and more vigorous of them thought they +ought to show by observing complete silence that there +was no freedom at the Council. This view, as was +said before, did not prevail; and the alternative of a +protest was again adopted. On June 6, when the +special debate began, Bishop Verot of Savannah in +Georgia was the speaker who incurred the peculiar +displeasure of the Court party, and was maltreated by +Bilio. He objected to the words of the preamble +<q>juxta communem et universalem doctrinam,</q> as not +being true, because the doctrine referred to was not universal +or everywhere received, but was only the doctrine +<pb n='665'/><anchor id='Pg665'/> +of the so-called ultramontane school. At this murmurs +arose, and Verot remarked that a previous speaker—Valerga—had +been quietly listened to while he talked +for an hour and a half about the Gallican school, and +compared them with the Monothelite heretics; it was +only fair therefore to let him call the other school by +its name. Hereupon Bilio, who has assumed the rôle +of <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex officio</foreign> blusterer and terrorist, interposed in his +manner of a brawling monk, saying this topic had +nothing to do with the preamble, and could be +introduced afterwards in the discussion on the four +chapters. +</p> + +<p> +Bishop Pie of Poitiers had proposed to his colleagues +on the Commission <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi> to put the article on infallibility, +which was too crudely worded, into a shape +which all could accept, to which Manning and Dechamps +replied that it could not be improved upon, and +they would allow not the slightest change. And as +they had a majority in the Commission, Pie's wish was +strangled before its birth. +</p> + +<p> +There is no want of restless activity and agitation in +favour of infallibility. The processions to obtain the +gift of infallibility from the Holy Virgin and the +numerous Saints, whose bones and relics fill the Roman +<pb n='666'/><anchor id='Pg666'/> +Churches, march with sonorous devotion through the +streets; the lazy and lukewarm are urged not to remain +idle at so important a time, and there is no lack +of intimations of the real profits which the dogma +must yield to the city. The Bishops of the minority +must have had marble hearts if they had continued +proof against so many fervent prayers for their conversion, +and wished still to defend their Gallican citadel +in spite of the general assault upon it. The Roman +parish priests have already presented an address in +favour of the dogma, but not—as I hear—till after the +opposition among them had been put down by the +highest authority. And now an urgent admonition has +been addressed to the University Professors either to +signify their desire for the definition or resign their +offices. All who receive salaries here have long been +accustomed to the soft pressure put upon them from +above, and are hastening, with a correct appreciation +of the importance of the wish of the authorities, to +follow lead. In the last few days we have had an +address from 40 Chamberlains of the Fathers of the +Council who <q>prostrate at the Pope's most sacred feet +earnestly desire to have the opportunity of sharing the +wholesome fruits (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>saluberrimi frutti</foreign>) of infallibility and +<pb n='667'/><anchor id='Pg667'/> +the exultation felt by all true believers at the decree.</q> +The text of the address is given in the <hi rend='italic'>Unita Cattolica</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the chief Pontiff himself speaks in +most emphatic terms. The <foreign rend='italic'>Tedeschi</foreign>, notwithstanding +Senestrey's assurances, are in bad odour here. A letter +of the Papal Secretary in the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> of June 2 +describes the Opposition Bishops as <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>amateurs de nouveautés +dangereuses</foreign>, and I understand that in a letter to +Chigi, the nuncio at Paris, the Pope speaks of his infallibility +as <q>that pious doctrine, which for so many centuries +nobody questioned.</q> This expression is peculiarly +suggestive. That the Pope uses it in good faith is certain, +and that he has not gained his conviction by any +study of his own is equally certain. He has been +deluded by this monstrous lie, which no single even +half-educated infallibilist will make himself responsible +for, and thus has been driven into his perilous course. +No one, who has but glanced at the official Roman +historians, such as Baronius or Orsi or Saccarelli, can +possibly maintain seriously that there has been no +doubt for centuries about papal infallibility. This saying +lifts the veil and affords us a glance into the workshop, +where the Pandora's basket was fabricated which has +now been opened before our eyes. Future theologians +<pb n='668'/><anchor id='Pg668'/> +will know how to appreciate that weighty saying, +<q>no one for many centuries,</q> and I for my part would +say, like Gratiano to Shylock, <q>I thank thee for teaching +me that word.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Schwarzenberg, who spoke on the 7th +against the second chapter, was not, I think, interrupted, +as was however the Bishop of Biella, Losanna, on the +pretext that he did not keep to the subject. The old +man is a doubly unpleasant phenomenon to the Court +party, both from his boldness and clearness of view, +and as being a living proof that even an Italian may be +a decided opponent of infallibilism. At the international +meeting at Cardinal Rauscher's on the 8th it was +determined that the third chapter was to be especially +attacked in the speeches. +</p> + +<p> +This third chapter deals with matters of very pregnant +import. It binds the Bishops to the acknowledgment +that all men are immediately and directly under the +Pope, which means that the so-called papal system is +to be made exclusively dominant in the Church, in +place of the old episcopal system, or in other words is to +displace the latter, as it existed in the ancient Church, +altogether. Bishops remain only as Papal Commissaries, +possessed of so much power as the Pope finds good to +<pb n='669'/><anchor id='Pg669'/> +leave them, and exercising such authority only as he +does not directly exercise himself; there is no longer +any episcopate, and thus one grade of the hierarchy is +abolished. The persons bearing the name of Bishops +are wholly different from the old and real Bishops; +they have nothing more to do with the higher teaching +office (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>magisterium</foreign>), and have no authority or sphere of +their own, but only delegated functions and powers, +which the Pope or any one appointed by him can +encroach upon at pleasure. Even this is not enough +for Archbishop Dechamps of Mechlin, who has now +proposed four canons anathematizing all defenders of +the episcopal system; this has roused the suspicions +even of several Bishops of the majority. These four +canons are so significant an illustration of the aims of +the party that they deserve to be put on record here:— +</p> + +<p> +(1.) <q rend='pre'>Si quis dixerit Romanum Pontificem habere quidem +in Ecclesia primatum jurisdictionis, non vero etiam +supremam potestatem docendi, regendi et gubernandi +Ecclesiam, perinde ac si primatus jurisdictionis ab illâ +supremâ, potestate distingui posset—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(2.) <q rend='pre'>Si quis dixerit talem potestatem Romani Pontificis +non esse plenam, sed divisam inter S. Pontificem +et episcopos, quasi episcopi a Spiritu S. positi ad +<pb n='670'/><anchor id='Pg670'/> +Ecclesiam Dei docendam et regendam sub unico summo +pastore etiam divinitus vocati fuerint, ut in supremâ +potestate totius Ecclesiæ capitis participent—anathema +sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(3.) <q rend='pre'>Si quis dixerit supremam in Ecclesia potestatem +non residere in universæ Ecclesiæ capite, sed in episcoporum +pluralitate—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(4.) <q>Si quis dixerit Romano Pontifici datam quidem +esse plenam potestatem regendi et gubernandi, non +autem etiam plenam potestatem docendi universalem +Ecclesiam, fideles et pastores—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='671'/><anchor id='Pg671'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 21, 1870.</hi>—What I have to communicate +in this letter is so important, that I find it desirable +to take it out of the historical order of events and let it +precede the detailed account of what occurred between +June 8 and 17. +</p> + +<p> +A circumstance occurred on Saturday, which has +kept all who are interested about the Council in breathless +suspense ever since. Nothing in fact could be +more unexpected than that, at the moment when the +Opposition, though still maintaining the contest from a +sense of conscientious duty, almost despairs of success, +a fresh ally should join its ranks in the person of a +Roman Cardinal, whose accession is the more valuable +because he does not only speak in his own name, +but has concerted his speech with the fifteen Bishops +of his Order. In fact I hear his speech spoken of +in many quarters as the most important and unexpected +<pb n='672'/><anchor id='Pg672'/> +event in the Council. It must not of course be +supposed that Guidi's spirited speech represents adequately +the tendencies of the Opposition, but still it +must be affirmed that it involves a complete, and as +we believe irreconcilable, breach with the majority. In +order to enable people to appreciate the full weight +of the speech it is of some importance to premise +a brief account of the speaker. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Guidi has belonged, almost ever since his +entering the Dominican Order, to the convent of the +Minerva. For a long time he belonged to the theological +professoriate connected with the convent, and +enjoyed, as such, the well-earned reputation of great +learning and strict orthodoxy. When eleven years ago +Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> wished to send thoroughly trustworthy and +learned Roman theologians to the University of Vienna, +to inculcate genuine Roman science and views on the +young clergy, his eye fell on Father Guidi. After +working there for some years he returned to Rome, +having been meanwhile appointed Cardinal, and was +soon afterwards made Archbishop of Bologna; and as +the Italian Government promised to place no impediment +in the way of his residing there, he actually +betook himself to his See. But he soon found that it +<pb n='673'/><anchor id='Pg673'/> +was not the place for him. The Dominican Order had +seriously compromised itself in the notorious Mortara +affair, and accordingly the Bolognese rabble broke out +repeatedly into the most deplorable demonstrations +against the new Archbishop as a member of the hated +Order. He therefore returned to Rome, and administered +his diocese from hence. And here he was one of +the Pope's favourites, only during the last year he has +lost favour through his freedom of speech. Since then +he has been prosecuting his theological studies in retirement, +and it was pretty well known what he thought +about the personal infallibility of the Pope. Several +months ago he had assembled the Dominican Bishops +at the Minerva about this affair. His view prevailed, +and when Father Jandel, the General imposed on the +Order by the Pope and reluctantly accepted, tried to +put a pressure on them, they replied that they were +Bishops, and were bound, as such, to consult their consciences +when called to act as judges of faith. Then +began a notable agitation in the Order, which was +already divided into two camps. One arbitrary act +followed another. A so-called academy of St. Thomas +was opened, and hardly had the President taken his +seat, when he made a long speech, expounding the +<pb n='674'/><anchor id='Pg674'/> +doctrine of St. Thomas and the Order on papal infallibility +in the most tactless and violent manner to his +episcopal audience. A Dominican Bishop delighted +the Pope by getting up an infallibilist address among +his episcopal colleagues. Then followed a series of +writings defending St. Thomas against <hi rend='italic'>Janus</hi>. A +member of the Order was forbidden by the General, +Jandel, <q>to speak either publicly or privately about +infallibility,</q> and the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà Cattolica</hi> of June 18 +praised the General for prefixing to the infallibilist +writing of a Dominican the approbation that in the +Dominican Order papal infallibility has always been +held as a Catholic truth. +</p> + +<p> +Under these circumstances people were the less prepared +to find Cardinal Guidi, in contrast with his +numerous sympathizers in the College of Cardinals, +venturing boldly on a step which must embitter his +whole existence at Rome. The very first sentence of +his momentous speech must have concentrated the +anger of the majority on a Cardinal, as they thought, +so confused and oblivious of his duty. Guidi began +by affirming that the separate and personal infallibility +of the Pope, as stated in the amended chapter of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, was wholly unknown in the Church up to the +<pb n='675'/><anchor id='Pg675'/> +fourteenth century inclusive. Proofs for it are vainly +sought in Scripture and Tradition. The whole question, +he added, reduces itself to the point whether the +Pope has defined even one dogma alone and without +the co-operation of the Church. No man could claim +divine inspiration (<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>doctrina infusa</foreign>). An act might be +infallible, a person never. But every infallible act had +always proceeded from the Church herself only, either +<q>per consilium Ecclesiæ sparsæ,</q> or <q>per Concilium.</q> +To know <q>quid ubique credatur, si omnes Ecclesiæ +cum Romanâ Ecclesiâ concordent,</q> information is indispensably +required. After this examination the Pope +sanctions doctrine <q>finaliter,</q> as St. Thomas says, and +only so can it be rightly said <q>Omnes per Papam docent.</q> +He then showed from the works of the Jesuits Bellarmine +and Perrone, <q>in definendis dogmatibus Papas +nunquam ex se solis egisse, nunquam hæresim per se +solos condemnâsse.</q> As Guidi uttered these words the +majority began to make a tumult under the lead of the +Italian Spaccapietra, Bishop of Smyrna. The Cardinal +saw he could not continue his speech. One bishop +cried <q>birbante</q> (scoundrel) and another <q>brigantino.</q> +But Guidi did not let himself be put out of countenance; +he answered with astonishing firmness and calmness +<pb n='676'/><anchor id='Pg676'/> +that he had a right to be heard, and that no one had +given to the Bishops the right of the Presidents. +<q>However, the time will come yet for saying your +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> or your <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, and then every one will be +free to vote according to his conscience.</q> Here for the +first time his speech was interrupted by loud applause, +and the words <q>Optime, optime</q> resounded from every +side among the Opposition Bishops. Manning was +asked by one of them, who stood near him, <q>Etes-vous +d'accord, Monsigneur?</q> He replied, <q>Le Cardinal est +une tête confuse.</q> On this a high-spirited Bishop could +not refrain from observing to the powerful Archbishop +of Westminster, <q>C'est bien votre tête, Monseigneur, +qui est confuse et plus qu'à moitié Protestante.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After this pretty long interruption Guidi went on to +require a change in the chapter on infallibility <q>ut +clare appareat Papam agere consentientibus episcopis et +illis occasione errorum qui sparguntur petentibus, factâ +inquisitione in aliis Ecclesiis, præmisso maturo examine +et judicio et consiliis fratrum aut collecto Concilio.</q> This +was the true doctrine of St. Thomas; <q>finaliter</q> implied +something to precede, and the words <q>supremus +magister et judex</q> pre-suppose other <q>magistri</q> and <q>tribunalia.</q> +He concluded by proposing these canons:— +</p> + +<p> +(1.) <q rend='pre'>Si quis dixerit decreta seu constitutiones a Petri +<pb n='677'/><anchor id='Pg677'/> +successore editas, continentes quandam fidei vel morum +veritatem Ecclesiæ universæ ab ipso pro supremâ suâ +et apostolicâ auctoritate propositas non esse extemplo +omnimodo venerandas et toto corde credendas vel posse +reformari—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +(2.) <q>Si quis dixerit Pontificem, cum talia edit decreta, +posse agere arbitrio et ex se solo non autem ex consilio +episcoporum traditionem Ecclesiarum exhibentium—anathema +sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On sitting down he gave his manuscript to the +Secretary, and was soon surrounded by the leaders of +the Opposition, some of whom complimented him on +his speech, while others expressed their admiration of +his courage in resisting the attempts to interrupt him. +When a learned Italian Bishop asked Valerga, Patriarch +of Jerusalem, what he thought of this speech, he replied +audibly with the pun, <q>Si e squidato,</q> and on his interrogator +rejoining that anyhow the speech contained +nothing but the truth, Valerga let slip an expression +very characteristic of himself and his party, <q>Si, ma +non convien sempre dir la verità.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After this speech a large number of Bishops left the +Council Hall, and excited groups of prelates might +be seen standing about in all directions. Cardinals +Bonnechose and Cullen addressed their very pointless +<pb n='678'/><anchor id='Pg678'/> +speeches to empty benches. Both pleaded for the proclamation +of the fourth chapter, as it stood. Bonnechose, +from whom Ginoulhiac and others had expected +a very moderate speech, proved that he had completely +gone over into Manning's camp, which cannot surprise +any one in the case of a man who himself made no +secret of his having no clear views on the question. +Cullen destroyed by his last speech the impression +made by the first, which had been admired, not for its +contents but for its strictly parliamentary form. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Guidi's courageous speech was destined +soon to bear its fruits. The Pope—the dearest object +of whose heart is the perfect freedom of the Council, +as the official journal stated the other day—sent for +him at once, and next day boasted to several Cardinals +of having energetically rebuked their undutiful colleague +for his heresy and ingratitude, and threatened him with +being called on to renew his profession of faith. But +the Cardinal may consider himself indemnified for +these hard words of the Pope by the homage he received +the day after his speech from almost the whole +body of the Opposition Bishops who came to visit +him. And he knows that the best of them were even +worse treated by his Holiness than himself, where it +was possible. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='679'/><anchor id='Pg679'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Fifty-Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 22, 1870.</hi>—On the 13th the votes were +taken on the changes proposed in the preamble, and +taken by rising and sitting down.<note place='foot'>[This had been protested against by the minority. Cf. <hi rend='italic'>supr.</hi> pp. <ref target='Pg327'>327-8</ref>.]</note> Instead of <q>Vis et +salus Ecclesiæ ab eo (Papâ) dependet</q> was proposed +<q>Vis et soliditas in eo (Papâ) consistit.</q> The majority +seem to have thought that stronger. The debate began +with the speech of the Irish Archbishop of Cashel, a +member of the Commission. It is precisely in our days, +he said, that it is so necessary for the Pope to have +absolute and irresponsible authority, for therein lies +the one safeguard, first, against the encroachments of +Liberalism; secondly, against the Radical and anti-Church +policy of the Governments; thirdly, against the +poisonous and unbridled influence of journalism; and +fourthly, the absolute Pope can alone meet the ecclesiastical +and national enterprises of Russia or subdue +<pb n='680'/><anchor id='Pg680'/> +the political sects and ward off the Revolution which +is impending everywhere. In short, human society +requires a deliverer, and this deliverer must be omnipotent +and infallible. So it is said in the Commission, +and the Irish prelate, who was specially alarmed by +Fenianism, spoke in its name. As soon as the Pope +with the assent of the Council—or indeed without it—has +ruled his own omnipotence and infallibility, the +deliverance of mankind is accomplished. +</p> + +<p> +The French Benedictine, Cardinal Pitra, undertook to +lift the assembly out of this cloudy region back to the +firm ground of facts, viz., the facts disclosed by himself. +He expatiated on the collection of canons in the Greek +Church, saying that those relating to the Roman See +had been falsified, and the Russian Church was above +all implicated in this system of forgery, which had +brought things to such a pass that there was no +authentic collection of canons in the Oriental Church. +This was probably intended to serve as a diversion, for +the enormous fabrications in favour of papal omnipotence, +which were carried on for centuries and are +incorporated in the codes of canon law, had been frequently +before referred to in a very suspicious manner +in the Council. Even the Bishop of Saluzzo, who is +<pb n='681'/><anchor id='Pg681'/> +almost a thorough-going Roman absolutist, had called +the collection of canons (Gratian's, etc.) an Augean +stable. Pitra went on to indulge in an uncommonly +fervid philippic against the Machiavellian and persecuting +Russia. But he forgot to say one thing, viz., that +in no country would the impending decrees be received +with such satisfaction as in Russia, nowhere would they +give greater pleasure than in that great Northern State +which considers itself the happy heir of Rome in the +East. So much must be known even in Rome, that +on the day the dogma is promulgated all the bells in Mohilew, +Wilna, Minsk, etc., will resound to ring the knell +of Rome. Pitra was followed by Ramirez y Vasquez, +Bishop of Badajoz. He maintained in the style and +tone of Don Gerundio de Canpazes, the doctrine that +the Pope is Christ in the Church, the continuation of +the Incarnation of the Son of God, whence to him +belongs the same extent of power as to Christ Himself +when visibly on earth. Maret had announced his +intention of speaking, with the view of combating the +four anathemas of Dechamps, which were so manifestly +directed against his book. But Dechamps, on learning +this, told the Bishop of Sura that, if he would keep +silence, he would withdraw his anathemas, and excused +<pb n='682'/><anchor id='Pg682'/> +himself by alleging his zeal for the new dogma, assuring +Maret that he had a good heart and meant no harm. +So Maret renounced his design of speaking. +</p> + +<p> +On the 14th, Haynald, in spite of his bodily suffering, +delivered a long polemical speech against the majority, +and maintained his reputation of being the best Latin +speaker after Strossmayer. Jussuf, the Melchite +Patriarch of Antioch, came next with an apology for +the Oriental Churches and their liberties. He pointed +out in earnest words the danger of their defection, if +the present design of taking away their ancient rights +was carried out. He produced letters from his home +telling him that he had better not return at all than +bring back from Rome decrees curtailing their ecclesiastical +liberties. And if the Pope chose to send back +another Patriarch instead of him, they might be very +sure he would not be received. Bishop Krementz of +Ermeland observed that Holy Scripture made, not +Peter, or as is here understood the Pope, the foundation +of the Church, but Christ, and then as secondary +foundation the Apostles and Prophets. Only after +these and in dependence on them could this designation +be applied to the See of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +It had indeed been already observed among the +<pb n='683'/><anchor id='Pg683'/> +minority how monstrous it was to make the Pope <q>the +principle of unity in the Church,</q> as the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> puts +it, and that the ancient Fathers speak indeed of an +<q>exordium unitatis</q> established in the person of Peter, +but had never called him, and still less the Bishop of +Rome, the principle of ecclesiastical unity, which would +be logically inconceivable. In the voting, which was +again taken by rising and sitting down, the little band of +dissentients disappeared before the consentient mass, +and the expression <q>principium unitatis,</q> opposed as +it is both to logic and tradition, was accepted. Before +the voting Bishop Gallo of Avellino had uttered in the +name of the Commission some Neapolitan mysticism +about Adam and Eve and the mysteries already revealed +in Adam and Eve of the Church resting on the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Mathieu was the first speaker on the fourth +chapter on infallibility. His long and powerful speech +was mainly directed against Valerga, who had outraged +the French by his attack on the <q>Gallican errors.</q> It +was a well-delivered panegyric on the French nation, +which had shed the blood of her sons to restore Rome +to the Pope, and without whose troops at Civita Vecchia +the Council could not remain in Rome. The only +doubt is whether this Valerga is worth as much notice +<pb n='684'/><anchor id='Pg684'/> +as the French have accorded to him. After Mathieu +Cardinal Rauscher spoke. His speech was very inaudible +owing to the nature of the Council Hall, but +was clear and well grounded, and showed how the +acceptance of a personal infallibility, by virtue of which +every utterance of a Pope must be believed by all +Christians under pain of eternal damnation, is equally at +issue with facts and with the former tradition of the +Church, and must have a fatal effect in the future. He +referred to Vigilius, Honorius, the reordinations of Sergius +and Stephen, and the contradiction between +Nicolas <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> and John <hi rend='smallcaps'>xxii.</hi>, and commended the formula +of Antoninus requiring the consent of the Church as a +condition. He could never assent to the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> without +mortal sin. <q>We knew all that from your pamphlet,</q> +said Dechamps while he was speaking. <q>But you have +never refuted it,</q> replied Rauscher. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Pitra was to have followed, but he was +unwell, and the sitting was broken off. The Presidents +had issued an instruction that no one should speak out +of his turn, and if prevented on the regular day should +lose his right altogether. The rule in this case affected +the zealous infallibilist Pitra, and accordingly the +Bishops were dismissed before the usual hour. +</p> + +<pb n='685'/><anchor id='Pg685'/> + +<p> +The two next days, the 17th and 18th, were festivals, +and there was no sitting held. As there are already +75 speakers enrolled for the fourth chapter, the promulgation +obviously cannot take place on June 29, and +the Council will last on into July. There is indeed a +simple means of gratifying the desire of the Pope and +curtailing the pains of the Bishops, who are now absolutely +tortured by the heat: the majority can any day +cut short the special debate, as they have already cut +short the general discussion. It may of course be objected +that this procedure, of depriving the Bishops of +their right of speaking and violently imposing silence +upon them, overthrows the nature of a Church Council, +where every Bishop is meant to bear witness not only to +his own belief, but to the tradition of his country and the +faith of his diocese. If the Bishops are deprived of this +right—and that too where so momentous a question is +at issue and there is such diversity of opinion—the +freedom essential to a Council is wanting. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope becomes more lavish of his admonitions and +instructions every day. In the last Papal <hi rend='italic'>Capella</hi> Patrizzi +assured him the faithful were impatiently awaiting +the proclamation of infallibility, whereon Pius, in +presence of several Bishops of the minority, replied that +<pb n='686'/><anchor id='Pg686'/> +there were three classes of opponents of the dogma, +<emph>first</emph>, the gross ignoramuses, who did not know what it +meant; <emph>secondly</emph>, the slaves of princes, he said <q>of +Cæsar,</q> referring both to Vienna and Paris; <emph>thirdly</emph>, the +cowards, who feared the judgment of this evil world. +But he prayed for their enlightenment and conversion.<note place='foot'>The text of the speech, as it is now printed in the journals, has been +subsequently corrected and toned down.</note> +This was of course applied here universally to the +Bishops of the Opposition. Moreover the Pope had +just before had a letter written to certain canons of +Besançon, saying that all the objections raised now had +been triumphantly refuted a hundred times over, and +that as to appealing to the results of historical criticism +and the examination of texts, viz., to the huge mass +of deliberate falsifications and forgeries, these were +<q>des anciens sophismes ou mensonges contraires aux +prérogatives du St. Siége.</q> The remark touches +Rauscher, Schwarzenberg, Dupanloup, Hefele, Maret, +Kenrick, Ketteler (in the pamphlet he circulated), and +some thirty more. There is much dispute here as +to the paternity of those views which Pius emits both +orally and in writing. Has he got them from the +<hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, or are the Jesuit writers of that journal only the +<pb n='687'/><anchor id='Pg687'/> +pupils of the Pope, who has received this information +<q>by infused science</q> from the Virgin Mary? On that +point opinions differ. The majority, who are quite +aware that every one would think it a joke to call +Giovanni Maria Mastai a learned theologian, hold to +the latter view, and to the well-known picture painted +by the Pope's own order, where the <q>actus infusionis</q> +is represented to the eye. Their favourite watchword +is that every one who does not accept the decree is, or +in a few days will be, a heretic and enemy of the +Church; his <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placet</foreign> consummates his separation +from her, and hence Manning has already proposed that +each of these Bishops should have his excommunication +handed him with his railway-ticket when he leaves +Rome. Livy says, <q>Hæc natura multitudinis est, +aut servit humiliter aut superbe dominatur;</q> the +<q>multitude</q> in the Hall combines both characteristics. +</p> + +<p> +On June 18 the Pope observed a German priest +among those admitted to an audience, and asked who +he was, when he replied that he was secretary to a +Bishop, who is well known for his learning and his +fallibilist views. Pius turned away with an exclamation +of disgust. Of another very eminent dignitary of +<pb n='688'/><anchor id='Pg688'/> +similar views he is wont to say in the bitterest terms, +that his opinions are prompted solely by personal enmity +to himself. +</p> + +<p> +The majority are said to be very impatient, so that +many anticipate the violent closing of the debate on +Saturday, the 25th. And the greater number of the +intending speakers on the fourth chapter, now increased +to a hundred, belong to the Court party, who might say +that they are only willingly renouncing the pleasure of +hearing their own ideas put forward. But then the +speeches of Darboy, Place (of Marseilles), Maret, Clifford, +Schwarzenberg, Simor, Dupanloup, and Haynald +would also be suppressed. Hefele was the first to put +down his name, as he was not allowed at the time to +answer the fierce attack of Cullen. On his inquiring +after some days when his turn would come, he was told +that he was the fifty-first in order, as all who came +before him in age and rank must speak before he could +be permitted to open his mouth. A little later he was +told he came seventy-first, so that his hope of being +able to vindicate himself in the Council is almost at an +end. Meanwhile he has had a brief reply to the attack +of a Frenchman, de la Margerie, printed at Naples. +</p> + +<p> +The minority have resolved to send a deputation to +<pb n='689'/><anchor id='Pg689'/> +the Pope to petition for the adjournment of the Council, +since it is horrible to detain so many aged men, many +of whom are sick, by violence in this unhealthy city. +They will of course meet with a positive refusal, for the +Jesuits and the holy Virgin, who is always appealed +to, are for carrying out the compulsory system to the +last. But you may judge how the heat and the moral +and physical miasmas are working on the Bishops from +the fact that there are now only five or six on a bench +where thirty Bishops used to sit, though most of the +others are in Rome or the neighbourhood. Indeed they +are kept prisoners here, and Antonelli said recently to +a diplomatist, <q>Si quelque Evêque veut faire une +partie de campagne (like Förster) la police n'a rien à y +voir, mais s'il voulait quitter le Concile, alors ce serait +différent,</q> so that every foreign Bishop lives here under +the inspection of the police, who are to take care that +he does not escape. This statement seemed to the diplomat +to whom it was made so seriously to affect the +sovereign rights of his Government, that he at once +reported it. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman logic, as may be seen from the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, is +simply this: the Council is what it is through the Pope +alone; without him it can do nothing and is an empty +<pb n='690'/><anchor id='Pg690'/> +shadow. Freedom of the Council therefore means +freedom of the Pope: if he is free, it is free. You may +infer what reception will be accorded in the Vatican to +the petition just resolved upon for a secret voting on +the Papal <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. There could be no more eloquent +testimony to the real state of things and the estimate +formed of the freedom of the Council, for it is dictated +by the knowledge that a secret ballot would give a very +considerable number of negative votes, at least 200, if +the private expressions of opinion of the Bishops may +be relied upon, while no one here ventures to hope for +more than 110 or 115 <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>non placets</foreign> in a public voting. +There are certainly some hundred, even of the Papal +boarders, who would say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, if their votes were +sheltered by secrecy. Neither the Catholic nor the +non-Catholic public has any idea of the extent to which +a Bishop in the present day is dependent on Rome, and +how difficult or impossible the administration of his +office would be made for him by the disfavour of +Rome. The worst off of all are the Bishops under Propaganda, +who have simply no rights. For them to +speak of freedom, after the Pope has announced his +wish, would be ludicrous, and to this category belong +not only all the Oriental and Missionary Bishops, but +<pb n='691'/><anchor id='Pg691'/> +the American and English also. And even for the +Bishops of the older Sees, who are under the <hi rend='italic'>Congregatio +Episcoporum et Regularium</hi>, and are protected by the +common law or by Concordats, the practice of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> +is a field full of man-traps, a belt studded with nails, +which only needs to be drawn in by curialistic hands to +make the nails pierce the body of the obnoxious Bishop. +As things now are here, and after Pius has gone +further than any Pope for centuries in glaring partisanship +and open threats of enmity against all dissentients, +secret voting must appear the only possible means of +securing even a shadow of freedom for the decrees of +the Council. If the voting is public, the word freedom, +as used of the Council, could only be regarded as +a mockery. And it is very well known here that the +Pope's <foreign rend='italic'>entourage</foreign> do everything in their power to maintain +him in his belief that the Opposition will melt +away at last like snow before the sun, and hardly four +negative votes will remain. +</p> + +<p> +Last year the theologians summoned for the preliminary +work were sent home at the beginning of June, +and scarcely one or two even of the directing Commission +of Cardinals stayed longer in Rome. Now the 15th or +20th of July is spoken of as the day for the promulgation, +<pb n='692'/><anchor id='Pg692'/> +and if it should be a little earlier there will still +be many of the prelates who will return from Rome ill +and with their constitutions permanently shattered. +The ancients found the word <q>amor</q> reversed in the +name of the eternal city (<foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>Roma</foreign>), and the Bishops are daily +reminded of it. Meanwhile the brilliant recompense +of Cardoni's services has rekindled the hopes of the +majority; there are fifteen or sixteen vacant Hats, which +will be given to those who have deserved best of the +new dogma. The merits of the Italians are not conspicuous; +they have most of them done moles' work, +chiefly as spies, for that business is conducted here to +an extent almost unheard of in Europe. Valerga is of +course an exception, who has excelled all the Italians +as a speaker. After him, Mgr. Nardi has so greatly +distinguished himself by his active zeal that a red Hat +would seem a fitting ornament of his head, but then +there are very suspicious circumstances, only too +notorious in Rome. The men who have done and will +do the most important services, who are indeed the +modern Atlases to carry the main weight of the new +dogma on their lusty shoulders, are of course the +Jesuits. Pius is penetrated with the feeling that their +services are above all praise and recompense. A +<pb n='693'/><anchor id='Pg693'/> +Jesuit cannot be rewarded with titles and colours and +dresses, but he can receive a Cardinal's Hat. The names +of Toletus, Bellarmine, Pallavicini, de Lugo, recall grand +memories. Not long before its dissolution in 1736, three of +the Order were in the Sacred College together—Tolomei, +Eienfuegos and Salerno. That might happen again, +and the College would gain in capacity and working +power. As Kleutgen cannot be thought of, on account +of his trial before the Inquisition, and Perrone is too +old, the next candidates would be Curci, Schrader and +Franzelin. Father Piccirillo, from his intimate relations +to the highest personage, would possess the first +reversionary claim, and his services have been rewarded +in a manner greatly desired and long aimed at +by his Order, for he has received the permission, unprecedented +in the history of Rome, to go alone into the +secret archives and there work. Such an event would +at other times have been regarded at Rome as a downfall +of the heavens or a sign of the last judgment, and +even now it has produced perplexity and amazement +in genuine Roman circles. For every one who +passes the threshold of the chamber of archives incurs +<foreign rend='italic'>ipso facto</foreign> excommunication. So the Order is firmly +seated in this unapproachable sanctuary. There is no +<pb n='694'/><anchor id='Pg694'/> +fear of indiscreet publications. Piccirillo, far from +publishing anything, will excel in mere negative activity. +</p> + +<p> +Among foreign candidates for the Cardinalate Manning +stands out as a star of the first rank in the Roman +firmament. He may claim some paternity of the great +idea of at last treating the apotheosis of the Papacy +seriously, and he long ago suggested to Darboy how +nice it would be for the two chief capitals of Europe, +London and Paris, each to have its Cardinal, which +could be best brought about by furthering the infallibilist +definition. But Darboy would hear nothing of it. +Next to Manning comes Dechamps of Mechlin; but +as the Pope has named him primate, which is indeed a +mere title, he is thought here to have had his reward. +Spalding, who has deserved so well of Rome, would of +course create a great sensation in the United States +by the red hat, which has never yet been seen there. +Among the French, Dreux-Brézé of Moulins and Pie +of Poitiers come first in order. There is great difficulty +about Simor, the ill-advised and ungrateful son who +had the Cardinalate, so to speak, in his pocket, and is +now causing such distress to the lofty giver. How fortunate, +say the Court party, that d'Andrea is no longer +<pb n='695'/><anchor id='Pg695'/> +alive. Rauscher, Schwarzenburg, Guidi, d'Andrea, +Simor—that would be too much. But now for the +Germans! There it is difficult to select; all the faithful +ones must be rewarded, who have literally sweated +and are sweating daily in the interest of the good cause—Fessler, +Martin, Senestrey, and then Stahl, Leonrod, +Rudigier and the Tyrolese Gasser and Riccabona. The +Tyrol has had no Cardinal since Nicolas of Cusa (Bishop +of Brixen) and Madrucci (Bishop of Trent), and there +most especially would the return of a countryman with +a red hat be kept as a national festival. +</p> + +<p> +Margotti has had a denial inserted in the <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi> +of the fact that a Sicilian Bishop related the story of +St. Peter and the Virgin Mary in the Council Hall. +On this I have merely to remark that it was told me +the same evening by three Bishops, none of whom heard +it from one of the others, and the speaker was Natoli, +Archbishop of Messina. We know what Margotti's +assertions and denials are worth. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='696'/><anchor id='Pg696'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixtieth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 23, 1870.</hi>—On reading the last document +emanating from the Council, composed by the +most distinguished of the American Bishops, an inexpressible +feeling of astonishment comes over me, as +often before, at the new and unprecedented spectacle +so boldly offered to the startled world, and I again +recognise the necessity of accounting to myself for the +condition of the Catholic Church which has made this +possible, and remembering that the position of the +Papacy in the modern Church for some time past has +been hardly less novel and strange than this present +infallibilist Council. +</p> + +<p> +The two great events of modern history, the Reformation +and the Revolution, have made the Papacy what +it is,—the Reformation by forcibly driving the Catholic +half of Christendom into centralization, the Revolution +by removing the last remaining independent powers +<pb n='697'/><anchor id='Pg697'/> +within the Church, viz., the Gallican Church with the +Sorbonne and Parliament. So it came to pass that +with the Restoration the Church was surrendered to +the discretion of the Papacy, just as at the same time +the Roman States, by the withdrawal of all provincial +and corporate independence, became a uniform and +absolute monarchy. The very spirit of the nineteenth +century, without much help from Rome, contributed to +the consolidation and strengthening of this new system. +The re-awakening and growth of distinct Church feeling +in powerful classes of the educated nations, the legitimist +ideas of the ruling classes of Europe, and later +on the combined Catholic and Liberal interest of the +struggle against hostile bureaucracies and the antipathy +of parliamentary majorities—principles of reaction and +principles of freedom all alike in turn subserved the +cause of the Church, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Papacy. For although +Papacy and Church were still not wholly identified in +fact, to say nothing of right, the times did not suggest +the need for distinguishing between them. +</p> + +<p> +There was opportunity given, one might suppose, +for a great display of activity. A fresh creative spirit +passed here and there through the new world of the +nineteenth century, and not least through the Catholic +<pb n='698'/><anchor id='Pg698'/> +portion of it, which produced in individuals many fair +flowers of art and science, and also of practical piety. +It was enough to catch the inspiration, in the sense of +the age and of the eternal needs of mankind, and as +the wilderness blossoms under the hand of a gardener, +there grew out of the ruins of the Revolution a new +era of rich Christian life. But the destiny of Catholicism +was to be the reverse. There was indeed then, and is +now, urgent need of an immense deal to be done in the +Church; to carry on the daily ecclesiastical administration +by no means satisfied the requirements of the age, +but the Church herself needed and needs reform—reform +everywhere from the outer rind to the marrow. +But reform, whether in Church or State, generally +results from the struggle of rival forces. And the only +power surviving in the Church possessed neither the +capacity nor the inclination for acts of world-wide +import; it seemed to have no sense but for the maintenance +and extension of its own dominion. Such +Catholic works as the nineteenth century has produced +did not emanate from Rome, and were little if at all +helped on by her. On the contrary, Rome put a restraint +on everything which did not serve directly as an instrument +of her power. Every germ of relative independence +<pb n='699'/><anchor id='Pg699'/> +seemed to be viewed with distrust. Here and +there the intellectual labour of a lifetime of Catholic +study was simply extinguished. The youth of talent +turned from a path which led only to unfruitful conflicts. +The once promising seed-plot of original Catholic +production became dry, and even the noblest creation +of the century, the female orders for nursing the sick, +are said by those best informed to show symptoms of +decay. There was stillness. From Rome one only +heard a monologue. The Bishops' Pastorals were its +echo, or were so long-winded and verbose that the +simple and noble language of the pronunciamento +issued by the newly elected Bishop of Rottenburg was +quite a phenomenon. Men boasted of the Catholic +unity, which had never been so palpable and so undisturbed +as in these latter days, but it was a unity of sleep +over the grave of intellectual and all higher ecclesiastical +life. +</p> + +<p> +Who will bring us deliverance? asked every one who +looked at things independently of the mere force of +habit with a clear eye. The answer was that there +was no longer any independent power anywhere but +in the centre, and therefore deliverance could only +come from thence; the lever could only be applied in +<pb n='700'/><anchor id='Pg700'/> +Rome, and nobody but a future Pope was in a position +to do this. +</p> + +<p> +How peculiarly are things disposed! In Rome they +had all they could desire. There has never been a +time when Catholic Christendom lay so submissively +at the Pope's feet. In fact he possessed practically the +prerogative of infallibility, for no one contradicted +whatever he might say. The Bishops were disused to +learning; there was hardly among them a theologian of +note, and therefore they had no spirit for theological +convictions of their own. It seemed to be the office of +their lives to re-echo the Roman oracles. The daring +project of defining the Immaculate Conception met +with hardly any serious opposition, though many Bishops +could not conceal from themselves that the faith of +antiquity and the belief of their own dioceses knew +nothing of the new dogma. And then in the Encyclical +and Syllabus came a perfect flood of irrational and +unchristian propositions. What did the Bishops of +Christendom, the judges of faith, do? Some put a +more rational interpretation on it, the others took it all +for granted as it stood; everywhere the new articles of +faith and morality were received as though all were in +the most regular order. That was in fact a situation +<pb n='701'/><anchor id='Pg701'/> +without any precedent, and there was nothing left to +wish for but its continuance for ever. The talisman +to secure this continuance was discovered in the tenet of +papal infallibility, and to make this into a dogma and +foundation-principle of the Church has been the grand +object to which the thoughts and measures of the last +ten years have been directed. +</p> + +<p> +Even this last point might perhaps have been +attained by adhering to the practice which has prevailed +hitherto of quietly collecting the votes of the +<foreign rend='italic'>Ecclesia dispersa</foreign>, and passing over the isolated opponents +still left to the order of the day. Why was the +perilous plan of a General Council adopted instead of +this? Perhaps with the view of extruding and getting +rid of for the future all the doubt still attaching to +the assent of the Church dispersed; certainly in the +full confidence, after all that had occurred previously, +that there was absolutely no demand the Bishops would +dare to refuse. The authorities felt in the position, +ecclesiastically speaking, of being able to challenge the +Holy Ghost Himself to say if He would refuse to set +His seal to the deformation of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +All the world knows how the Vatican Council has +been managed. It was as if they wished to keep the +<pb n='702'/><anchor id='Pg702'/> +Holy Ghost a prisoner, with eyes and ears bandaged. +But things did not go as they wished. On the contrary +this extreme step of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> roused a reaction, +which seems likely to lead to a revolution that will take +its place in history and introduce a complete change +in the future. Certainly the deliverance is coming +from the centre, but not as was thought and desired, +not in peace but in storm, not as a gift of the highest +human wisdom but as a nemesis. For it is an old law, +equally prevalent throughout the Christian and Heathen +world, that pride will always bring its punishment. +</p> + +<p> +We are already in the third stage of this movement. +First came, quite unexpectedly, protests against infallibility +from the lay world, instead of the accustomed +clouds of incense, and then still more unexpectedly the +military obedience of the clergy was broken through +by the most decided intimations of conscientious sincerity +and scientific conviction; and now even the +princes of the Church are putting themselves at the +head of the Opposition. There is still some difference +between the Church dispersed and a great assembly, +many as are the restrictions imposed here by fraud and +violence on the free expression of opinion. The man +of knowledge and character, who would there remain +<pb n='703'/><anchor id='Pg703'/> +alone and isolated, gains tenfold power and energy here. +Consciences are aroused. Many a Bishop who left +home with his head wholly or half involved in the haze +of Jesuit doctrine, receives the impulse here to unprejudiced +study and is irresistibly driven to the side of +right and truth. Besides, it is no small thing to have +seen the state of things at Rome for six months with +one's own eyes. +</p> + +<p> +We shall do well not to raise our expectations too +high. The spirit of slavery, which has become ingrained +in one generation after another, cannot be scared away +in weeks and months from men's minds and the conduct +of affairs. So much the more noteworthy is every +increase of outward or inward strength in the struggling +minority at the Council. And so I return to the +work already mentioned, to remark that its contents +justify us in reckoning the author, the venerable Archbishop +Kenrick of St. Louis, with Strossmayer, Hefele, +Dupanloup, Darboy, Schwarzenberg, and Rauscher +among the heads of the Opposition. +</p> + +<p> +It is only matter of course that much which has +often been said before should be repeated here, which +we may pass over, without however omitting to +notice the impression which the plain and practical +<pb n='704'/><anchor id='Pg704'/> +nature of the treatise is calculated to produce. What +concerns us more nearly is the distinctness and firmness +with which the present claims of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> are repudiated, +as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, in pointing out the injury to episcopal +rights involved in the desired definition. <q>The Bishops,</q> +says the author, <q>have always been held judges of faith. +But assuming that the Pope alone is infallible, the Bishops +may indeed assent to his judgments, but cannot exercise +any real judicial office, and thus lose a right inherent in +the episcopal office. But this right they are in no position +to resign, however much they might wish it, for its +connection with the episcopal office rests on the institution +of the Saviour.</q> In another passage he says, +<q>Appeal is made to the number of theologians, who in +the course of ages have defended infallibility. But that +does not make it an article of faith. Divine Providence +does not permit such opinions, when they have no true +ground or do not agree with the records of revelation, to +become articles of faith. It has been a view held for centuries +that Christ gave Peter and his successors supreme +authority in secular affairs also. But there is no one in +our own day who does not reject and deplore it and seek +for an excuse for it in the circumstances of the age, +except the Roman clergy, in whose <foreign rend='italic'>Proprium Officium S. +<pb n='705'/><anchor id='Pg705'/> +Zachariæ</foreign> we read the other day, that the Pope by his +apostolic authority transferred the sovereignty over the +Franks from Childeric to Pepin. And yet the Popes +have ventured to make this usurped authority, so far as +in them lay, into an article of faith.</q> Then follows a +reference to the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>, and the similar +statements of Bellarmine and Suarez. <q>On the other +hand,</q> Kenrick proceeds, <q>we find at this Council +some Bishops, of whom the present writer is one, who +have published and solemnly sworn to a declaration that +the Pope, at least in England, possesses no such power. +This example might teach those who are pressing for +the definition of papal infallibility, that even the most +solemn papal decree, and though issued like that of +Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> at a Synod, is null and void if it be not +grounded on God's word in Scripture and Tradition. +<q>Commenta delet dies, judicia naturæ confirmat.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +We may recognise in the tone of these remarks, with +all their moderation, an advance on the part of the +Opposition to greater freedom and distinctness of speech. +And this impression is still more confirmed by Kenrick's +judgment on the well-known proceedings in and out of +Council. <q>There is yet another argument used,</q> he +says, <q>which I can only refer to with reluctance. It +<pb n='706'/><anchor id='Pg706'/> +is urged that papal infallibility is so vehemently +attacked by its opponents that, if it is not now declared +to be an article of faith, it is virtually admitted +to have no foundation, and surrendered to the daily +increasing violence of its assailants without protection. +Those who so argue forget that they are themselves +responsible for having occasioned this deplorable controversy, +by announcing to the astonished world that at +the Vatican Council two new dogmas would be proposed +to the faithful, papal infallibility and the Assumption +of the Blessed Virgin, and in a similar spirit +publishing works in England and the United States on +the Pope's authority, with a view of preparing men's +minds for the acceptance of these dogmas. In view of +this temerity, which has not only not been rebuked but +has even been defended in Bishops' Pastorals, and with a +clear perception of the unhappy consequences that must +follow from it, men, who deserve eternal remembrance +and will obtain praise of God, have lifted up their +voice to remind the faithful that in matters of faith no +innovation is allowed, that papal infallibility as distinct +from the infallibility of the Church has no evidence of +Scripture and Tradition, and that the office of Councils +is to investigate and not to carry decrees by acclamation. +<pb n='707'/><anchor id='Pg707'/> +And just because they speak the truth openly, these men +are reproached with stirring up the people by the very +persons who would eventually have interpreted their +silence as assent and have used it as ground for carrying +out their own designs. Then again it is urged upon +good people that something must be done under the +circumstances for maintaining the honour of the Papacy, +forgetting that Bishops should have not circumstances +but the truth before their eyes, and that it is as little +competent to the successors of the Apostles as to the +Apostles themselves to do anything against the truth, +but only for the truth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In another passage, after dwelling on the preponderance +of the Italian prelates he proceeds, <q>If they wish +to give the decrees of the Council the character of the +testimony of the whole of Christendom, without altering +the inequality of numbers of the representatives of +different nations, there is the precedent of the plan +adopted at the Council of Constance with the happiest +results, viz., taking the votes by nations or languages +and not by heads. And this method would secure the +speedier and better settlement of the matters under +discussion, for the Bishops of the same tongue or nation +know the needs of their Churches better and would +<pb n='708'/><anchor id='Pg708'/> +understand how to meet them; moreover they could +express their views more readily in their mother tongue +than is possible in the General Congregation where +Latin is obliged to be spoken, which they have perhaps +lost their familiarity with through the long course of an +active life, so that they have either to keep silent or to +speak under difficulties. And by this means a discussion +and searching examination would become practicable, +which must necessarily take place at a Council, +but which is wanting at the Vatican Council. There is +indeed abundant opportunity for making speeches, but +the great number of Fathers and the order of business +imposed on the Council cuts off all opportunity for +submitting any point to a close examination by regular +debate with one speaker answering another. Five +months have already passed since the opening of the +Council, with what result need not be said here. +Meanwhile the question of the new definition has +roused a great excitement throughout the Christian +world, which is still on the increase; some desire the +definition, others emphatically repudiate it. Bishops +have entered the lists against Bishops, priests have +written against their own and against other chief +pastors, and won commendation from the supreme +<pb n='709'/><anchor id='Pg709'/> +authority for doing so. The journals of both parties, +with their not always true reports or at least crooked +reasonings, keep the whole world in a state of agitated +suspense as to what is coming. May one say to what +all this will lead and what will be the end of this +violent tempest which has so suddenly risen in a clear +sky and seems likely to produce much mischief? They +are certainly deceived who fancy that the promulgation +of the new dogma will at once lay the waves; the contrary +is far likelier. Those who would obey the decrees +of the Council will find themselves in a most difficult +position. The civil Governments will treat them, not +without some plausible grounds, as less trustworthy +subjects. The enemies of the Church will throw in +their teeth the errors said to have been taught by the +Popes or sanctioned by their conduct, and will laugh to +scorn the only possible answer—that they did not promulgate +these errors as Popes but as individual Bishops +of Rome. And then the scandalous Church history +records of certain Popes will be urged as so many +proofs of the internal discrepancy of Catholic belief, +for men do not distinguish between infallibility and +impeccability, which appear to them inseparably connected.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='710'/><anchor id='Pg710'/> + +<p> +What Kenrick thinks the Opposition ought to do is +not expressly stated, but may be gathered from his +language. He says indeed that <q>whoever does not +submit to the decisions of an Œcumenical Council does +not deserve the name of Catholic,</q> but he adds, <q>if the +indispensable conditions have been observed in holding +the Council.</q> And he makes moral unanimity one of +these conditions. He does not allow the crude conception +which seems to prevail among the majority, that a +Council has simply to vote and then the world must +reverence the result as the dictate of the Holy Ghost. +The infallibility of Councils is to him no miraculous +work of inspiration, but a simple result of the constitution +the Church received from her Founder, whose +assistance will never fail her, if she remains true to +Scripture and Tradition and the agreement of the various +particular Churches. +</p> + +<p> +Kenrick and all the Bishops who hold firmly with +him may meet the impending decision in quietness and +confidence, for the defeat of their opponents is certain, +whether they persist and define and promulgate the +new dogma, or retreat at the last moment. In the +former case deliverance will come through a catastrophe +whose consequences defy all calculation. And yet even +<pb n='711'/><anchor id='Pg711'/> +in Rome there do not lack pious minds which, undisturbed +by these terrible dangers, desire to see the +insolent enterprise carried through, in the belief that +the prevalent corruption can only be overcome by a life +and death struggle. <q>Quod medicina non sanat, ferrum +sanat.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='712'/><anchor id='Pg712'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-First Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 24, 1870.</hi>—Rome is just now like an +episcopal lazar-house, so great is the number of the +prelates who are sick and suffering and confined to +their bed or their chamber. And still greater is the +number of those who feel worn out and impatiently +long to be gone. But there are persons here who calculate +thus—that the Italians, Spaniards and South +Americans are accustomed to the heat, and bear it very +well, and as to the Germans, French and North Americans—<q>vile +damnum si interierint.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Guidi's speech still occupies men's minds, and forms +the topic of conversation in conciliar circles. Men are +astonished at the courage of a Cardinal in daring so +directly to contradict the Pope. While Pius has word +written to Paris that <q>for many centuries no one +doubted the Pope's infallibility,</q> Guidi declares it to be +an invention of the fifteenth century. +</p> + +<pb n='713'/><anchor id='Pg713'/> + +<p> +The following account of the dialogue between the +Pope and the Cardinal is current at Rome, and it seems +to rest on the authority of Pius himself, who is notoriously +fond of telling every one he meets how he has +lectured this or that dignitary:— +</p> + +<p> +Guidi, on being summoned by the Pope directly after +his speech, was greeted with the words, <q>You are my +enemy, you are the coryphæus of my opponents, ungrateful +towards my person; you have propounded +heretical doctrine.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Guidi.</hi>—<q>My speech is in the +hands of the 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 (<foreign rend='italic'>sottosecretario</foreign>) +that people might not be able to say anything had been +interpolated into it.</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Pope.</hi>—<q>You have given +great offence to the majority of the Council; all five +Presidents are against you and are displeased.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Guidi.</hi>—<q>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.</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Pope.</hi>—<q><foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>La +tradizione son' io—vi farò far nuovamente la professione +di fede.</foreign></q> <hi rend='italic'>Guidi.</hi>—<q>I am and remain subject +to the authority of the Holy See, but I ventured to +discuss a question not yet made an article of faith; if +<pb n='714'/><anchor id='Pg714'/> +your Holiness decides it to be such in a Constitution, +I shall certainly not dare to oppose it.</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Pope.</hi>—<q>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.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Guidi.</hi>—<q>I don't know him, and have +never before spoken to him.</q> <hi rend='italic'>The Pope.</hi>—<q>It is clear +you have spoken so as to please the world, the Liberals, +the Revolution, and the Government of Florence.</q> +<hi rend='italic'>Guidi.</hi>—<q>Holy Father, have the goodness to have my +speech given you.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The same afternoon a Spanish Bishop belonging to +the extremest Infallibilists said, <q>Absque dubio facies +Concilii est immutata. Oportet huic sermoni serio +studere.</q> When Guidi asked how the Cardinals had +taken his speech, Mathieu replied, <q>Cum seriâ silentiosâ +approbatione,</q> on which Guidi observed, <q>Sunt +quidam qui idem mecum sentiunt, sed deest illis animi +fortitudo.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>La tradizione son' io</q>—it would be impossible to +give a briefer, more pregnant or more epigrammatic description +of the whole system which is now to be made +dominant than is contained in those few words. All +<pb n='715'/><anchor id='Pg715'/> +the members of the <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, the thick volumes of Schrader, +Weninger and the Jesuits of Laach are outdone by +this clear and simple utterance. Pius will take rank in +history with the men who have known how by a happy +inspiration to throw a great thought into the most +adequate form of words, which impresses it for ever indelibly +on the memory. The formula is worthy to be +classed with the equally pregnant saying of Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi>, +<q>The Pope holds all rights locked up in his breast.</q> +It is bruited about here from mouth to mouth, and the +analogy of Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi>, which inevitably occurs to everybody, +reaches even further. Every day since I have +witnessed the drama being enacted here, has the saying +suggested itself to me, <q>L'Église, c'est moi.</q> Any +one who would form a judgment of the state of things +here should be recommended above all to read a work +like, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Lemontey's <hi rend='italic'>Essai sur l'établissement monarchique +de Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi></hi>, or the instructions of the King for +the Dauphin. One sees there how absolute sovereignty, +the intoxicating sense of irresponsible power—and +spiritual absolutism is far more overpowering than +political—leads almost of necessity to the notion of +infallibility and divine enlightenment. Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xiv.</hi> says +seriously and drily to his son, <q>As God's representative +<pb n='716'/><anchor id='Pg716'/> +we have part in the divine knowledge as well as the +divine authority.</q><note place='foot'><q>Il est sans doute de certaines fonctions où, tenant, pour ainsi dire, la +place de Dieu, nous semblons être participants de sa connaissance, aussi +bien que de son autorité,</q> etc.—Lemontey, p. 151 (éd. de Bruxelles).</note> And he warns him that all his own +errors had arisen from his too great modesty in giving +ear to extraneous advisers. For eight hundred years the +question has been disputed, why the Popes are so short-lived, +and the phenomenon has been ascribed to a special +divine dispensation which removes them betimes, that +they may not be morally poisoned by too long enjoyment +of their dignity—<q>ne malitia mutaret intellectum.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The minority perceive, on a calmer consideration, +that the two canons proposed by Guidi would not +provide sufficient security for the episcopate taking part +in the teaching office of the Church according to the +integrity of her constitution. The second indeed, like +a well-aimed arrow, hits the mark. It calls the thing +by its right name, and anathematizes the purely personal +infallibility of the Pope, independent of the consent of +the Church and resting on direct divine inspiration, as +a heresy, which it unquestionably is in the eyes of +every theologian who knows anything of the Church +and her tradition; but then, after the Pope has so +<pb n='717'/><anchor id='Pg717'/> +openly and expressly committed himself to precisely +this view of the Church, it is thought impossible here +in Rome, and close to the Vatican, to throw an anathema +in his face. And besides the expression in the first +canon, that the consentient <q>consilium Ecclesiæ</q> is +requisite for an infallible papal utterance, is open to +the same charge of vagueness as the notorious and +much-abused <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign>, and could as easily be explained +away into the mere arbitrary caprice of the +Pope. It would always rest with him in the last +resort to maintain <q>ex certâ scientiâ</q> that the <q>consilium +Ecclesiæ</q> agreed with his own judgment. +</p> + +<p> +A remodelling of the fourth canon has been undertaken, +but the new formula is not known. It is however +much talked of among the Bishops, and the +general view is that it remains substantially unchanged, +and still contains the personal infallibility of the Pope +independently of the Church. Manning had said that +the utmost regard that was possible should be paid to +the views of the Opposition in the alteration of the +chapter. And so those Bishops still hope for the +accomplishment of their desires who, like Ketteler and +Melchers, entreat that only one, however sterile, verbal +concession may be made, so as to give them a bridge +<pb n='718'/><anchor id='Pg718'/> +on which to pass over the gulf safely into the camp of +the majority. +</p> + +<p> +I lately heard a Roman layman say that what most +surprised him among the many wonderful things he +had seen here was the contempt for the Catholic +Church which prevails here. For that contempt could +not be more emphatically expressed than by the Pope +appropriating to himself what according to the ancient +doctrine belongs to her, and declaring himself the sole +and exclusive organ of the Holy Ghost. It is the same +here universally; when one talks with a Roman, the +<hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, the Pope, is everything, and the Church nothing +but the <q>contribuens plebs.</q> My informant thought it +was easy enough to understand the view of born Romans, +but difficult to give any rational account of the attitude +of the episcopal majority, for it must be clear to every +one of them that the promulgation of the new dogma +would destroy irrevocably all episcopal independence +of Rome, and strip the nimbus from the brow of the +Bishop who is a successor of the Apostles. I observed +to him that in Romance countries this primitive idea +of the episcopate had long since vanished, as he might +easily convince himself by asking the next Italian +peasant or shopkeeper he met what was his notion +<pb n='719'/><anchor id='Pg719'/> +of a Bishop. And five-sixths of the majority belong +to these countries, +</p> + +<p> +In the Congregation of June 20 the Deputation put +up one of its members, Bishop d'Avanzo of Calvi and +Teano, to speak. For there was urgent need of promptly +meeting the great scandal given by Guidi, and deterring +any Cardinal who might be so disposed from following +his example. The speaker allowed that in dogmatic +decrees the tradition of the Church must be consulted +and the Holy Ghost invoked, but how this was to be +done was left to the judgment of the Pope, By his +second canon Guidi passed over <q>ad aliena non Catholica +castra,</q> exceeded all Gallicans and wanted—he, an +Italian, a Dominican and a Cardinal—to canonize Gallicanism. +A shudder ran through the ranks of all the +Italians who live between Ferrara and Malta, but they +remembered for their comfort that the unworthy son of +the peninsula had been for some years professor at +Vienna, and it was obvious that the German malaria he +had caught there was the cause of this matricidal heresy. +</p> + +<p> +Guidi had said that the admonition to Peter to confirm +his brethren pre-supposed something to be confirmed, +<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, that the Pope only confirmed the doctrine +already maintained by the Bishops. To this d'Avanzo +<pb n='720'/><anchor id='Pg720'/> +answered that it was utterly uncatholic, and one must +rather begin from above and not from below, and +ascribe the authorship and initiation of doctrine to the +Pope, who was immediately inspired by the Holy Ghost; +<q>causa princeps infallibilitatis est assistentia Spiritûs +Sancti.</q> And here followed a statement that must be +given word for word: <q>Supervacaneum est omne +additamentum, nulla emendatio in decreto et canone +schematis acceptatur; nulla conditio, nulla limitatio +admittetur per deputationem; inutilis est igitur omnis +labor? <q>Animalis homo non percipit quod de cœlo +est.</q></q><note place='foot'>1 Cor. ii. 14.</note> To say the definition was inopportune was +merely pandering to the corrupt portion of society, and +especially to the tribe of Government officials. The +speaker added emphatically: <q>Satis fit servis Satanæ, +qui sunt gubernantes, negantes ordinem supernaturalem—ergo +Decretum est opportunum. In Pontifice +Spiritus Domini vivit et agit, Pontifex ergo hôc Spiritu +agente errare non potest.</q> It became known at once +in the Council that this declaration, which annihilated +so many hopes, had been made in the name and by +special command of the Pope, and that <q>the animal +man</q> meant the Opposition. +</p> + +<pb n='721'/><anchor id='Pg721'/> + +<p> +The two next speakers were the titular Patriarchs +Ballerini and Valerga. The first said with notable +frankness, <q>Were we to let personal infallibility drop, +we should destroy the obedience due to the Pope and +exalt ourselves against God Himself.</q> In other words, +the Vice-God orders us to declare him infallible, and of +course we obey implicitly. +</p> + +<p> +Valerga's appearance was the beginning of a comedy, +which was repeated in subsequent sittings. He wanted +to prove papal infallibility by inferences from the +Florentine decree, which was received by all; but he +was twice interrupted by the Presidents for not keeping +to the question. He thereupon left the tribune, not +without remarks being made by Opposition Bishops +that they saw this treatment was not reserved for them +only. The same thing happened on June 22 to Bishop +Apuzzo of Sorrento and Archbishop Spaccapietra. On +the 20th, towards the end of the debate, Archbishop +MacHale of Tuam in Ireland spoke with great severity +against the decree, the fatal consequences of which he +seems to appreciate better than most of his Irish colleagues. +Bishop Apuzzo reminded the Hungarians that +they once had a primate (Szelepcsenyi, a pupil of the +Jesuits) who had summoned a synod to condemn the +<pb n='722'/><anchor id='Pg722'/> +Gallican Articles of 1682, and that quite recently a +Provincial Synod at Colocza had used language of very +infallibilist sound. Haynald took part in that Synod, +and he, as well as Rauscher, to whom the same reproach +was addressed, had already observed that it would not +do to put a strictly logical interpretation on mere +complimentary phrases. In the course of his speech +Apuzzo became still more abusive. <q>Those are the +sons of Satan,</q> he exclaimed at last, <q>who say the +Bishops are judges in the Church. No! we are but +poor sinners.</q> At the same time he proposed a supplement +still more peremptory than the chapter. Spaccapietra +came to grief in Church history, which is more +grossly mishandled at Rome and in the Council Hall, +when it is appealed to at all, than anywhere else. This +time St. Polycarp's yielding to the Pope about the +observance of Easter—he notoriously did just the reverse—was +to serve as an example to the Opposition. +When the speaker went on to utter fierce invectives +against Cardinal Guidi, he was interrupted. He declared +he had only something to say against the schismatics, +but the President closed his mouth in theatrical fashion +saying, <q>Cedat verbum tintinnabulo.</q> So he left the +rostrum. +</p> + +<pb n='723'/><anchor id='Pg723'/> + +<p> +Men breathed more freely when, after these hollow +declamations, two British Bishops brought the clear +practical sense of their race and country to bear on the +question and the previous discussion of it. The first of +them, Archbishop Errington, who was formerly Cardinal +Wiseman's coadjutor but soon got out of favour +at Rome, pointedly characterized the vicious nature of +the whole transaction; there were speeches on both +sides, one affirming, another denying, and no one could +feel that he had refuted anything or advanced his +cause the least by his words. The Deputation alone +had the privilege of referring to the speeches and examining +them, and it belonged to the majority, not to +the Council; <q>how it was formed, we know.</q> As a +tribunal the Council was bound to institute a calm and +searching investigation of facts, tradition and testimonies, +and for this only one means was available, +which was employed at the former great Councils including +the Tridentine, to form deputations from both +parties for earnest conference, where scientific examination +might take the place of rhetorical harangues—from +both parties, for it was idle with Bilio to bid them +ignore the existence of two parties. <q>Modo in hôc +Concilio fit aliter et illud ineptissime,</q> he concluded, +<pb n='724'/><anchor id='Pg724'/> +and he proposed the formula, <q>Magisterium universalis +Ecclesiæ est infallibile.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The next speech, of Vitelleschi, who is Archbishop +of Osimo but has never been in his diocese, though it +is so near, left no impression; it was an exhortation to +vote infallibility unanimously. And then followed +Archbishop Conolly of Halifax with a speech such as +has seldom been heard here. <q>Thrice,</q> he said, <q>have +I asked for proof from Scripture according to its +authentic interpretation, from Tradition and from +Councils, that the Bishops of the Catholic Church ought +to be excluded from the definition of dogmas; but my +request has not been complied with, and now I adjure +you, like the blind man on the way to Jericho, to give +us sight that we may believe. Hitherto we have recognised +the strongest motive for the credibility of +Catholic doctrine in the general consent of the Church +notified through the collective episcopate; this has been +our shield against all external assailants, and by this +powerful magnet we have drawn hundreds of thousands +into the Church. Is this our invincible weapon of +attack and defence now to be broken and trampled +under foot, and the thousand-headed episcopate with the +millions of faithful at its back to shrink into the +<pb n='725'/><anchor id='Pg725'/> +voice and witness of a single man? Let the Deputation +prove to us that it has really been always the +belief of the Church that the Pope is everything and +the Bishops nothing. The Council of Jerusalem did +not adopt the formula of Peter but of John, who spoke +before him, and in the Apostles' Creed we do not say +<q>Credo in Petrum et successores ejus,</q> but <q>Credo in +unam Ecclesiam Catholicam.</q> We Bishops have no +right to renounce for ourselves and our successors the +hereditary and original rights of the episcopate, to renounce +the promise of Christ, <q>I am with you to the +end of the world.</q> But now they want to reduce us to +nullities, to tear the noblest jewel from our pontifical +breastplate, to deprive us of the highest prerogative of +our office, and to transform the whole Church and the +Bishops with it into a rabble of blind men, among +whom is one alone who sees, so that they must shut +their eyes and believe whatever he tells them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Was it confidence of victory that moved the Legates +to allow the bold and free-minded American, who +spoke with the full weight of a deep and laboriously +attained conviction, to bring these earnest words to a +close without interruption, after they had recently reduced +three of their own speakers in succession to +<pb n='726'/><anchor id='Pg726'/> +silence? I know not. It was the unenviable lot of +the Archbishop of Granada, Monzon y Martins Benvenuto, +to follow Conolly. No one expects at this +Council ideas or facts from a Spaniard, but merely bombast +and abject protestations of homage. Since they no +longer have Queen Isabella and the throne has been +vacant, these prelates have transferred their undivided +devotion to the Pope, and among the reptiles here they +are the most cringing after the Neapolitans. Monzon +said he thirsted for new dogmas, and the infallibility +of the Pope did not satisfy him; he earnestly desired a +second dogma, viz., the divine and inviolable nature of +the States of the Church. +</p> + +<p> +It was reported two days ago that Cardinal Morichini, +who formerly as nuncio breathed some German air, +intends to speak in Guidi's sense, but since the scene +between the Pope and Guidi has become known, it is +generally thought that no Cardinal will be so foolhardy +as to express any other opinion in Council than that of +the inspired Pope. Meanwhile there are new speakers +enrolled, among whom are Haynald, Strossmayer, the +Bishops of Dijon, Constantine, Tarentaise, etc. The +number considerably exceeds a hundred, but Errington +has only too much reason for saying the debates are like +<pb n='727'/><anchor id='Pg727'/> +a boy riding a rocking-horse—movement without +advance. +</p> + +<p> +You may imagine what capital the Jesuits make out +of the speech of the Dominican Guidi. They are the +supreme and thoroughly devoted body-guard of the +Roman See, and can alone be implicitly trusted. And +in fact nobody thinks it possible that a Jesuit should +speak in Council like Guidi, as neither does any one +here credit a Jesuit with sincere conviction of what he +says; it is always known beforehand what he will say +on any question, viz., what the Order considers for its +interest and imposes as a corporate doctrine on its individual +members. The sons of Ignatius remember now +that the Dominicans have never been trustworthy. As +early as 1303 the French appeal from Pope Boniface <hi rend='smallcaps'>viii.</hi> +to a General Council was supported by 130 Dominicans +at Paris, and at the Councils of Constance and +Basle they took the most active part in the measures +against papal omnipotence and in framing the mischievous +canons of the fourth and fifth sessions of Constance; +they joined Savonarola in opposing Alexander +<hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> and preferred being burned to submitting. And +again they gave powerful aid in France to the establishment +of the Gallican doctrine. And what, say the +<pb n='728'/><anchor id='Pg728'/> +Jesuits, is the great Church history of the Dominican +Natalis Alexander but an arsenal from which to this +day the opponents of infallibility get their weapons? +</p> + +<p> +Preparations are already being made for the festivities +which are to accompany the promulgation of the new +dogma. The Romans—the native population—cannot +understand why a part of the Bishops resist it so +stoutly, and no less mysterious to them is the fiery zeal +of foreigners, especially Frenchmen, in its favour. Their +view is that infallibility, as being likely to bring large +sums of money into Rome, is certainly a profitable and +praiseworthy affair, and they are accordingly ready for +noisy demonstrations of joy. Plenty of sky-rockets +will go up, there will be illuminations, the pillars of +the churches will be clothed in red damask according +to the local usage, and numberless wax-candles will be +burnt. Some enthusiasts think the fountain of Trevi +will that day flow with wine instead of water, and it is +hoped that at nightfall a transparency of the famous +picture painted by the Pope's command to represent +his infallibility will be shown to the faithful people. +And next time the French Veuillotists choose to cry +in the streets <q>Long live the infallible Pope!</q> some +Romans will join the cry. +</p> + +<pb n='729'/><anchor id='Pg729'/> + +<p> +The festivities will absorb large sums of money, and +the financiers are not without anxiety; for however +lucrative the new dogma may prove by and bye, for the +moment it is an unproductive capital, and the annual +deficit of thirty million franks cannot be covered by +promises of future prosperity. It has now been determined, +since the huge bankruptcy of Langrand-Dumonceaux, +who had been named a Roman Count, has +created some alarm, to take in the Rhenish and Westphalian +nobility with the ecclesiastical unions there as +sureties, and thus to negotiate a loan of twenty million +franks <q>al pari.</q> The noble presidents of the unions +are said to have already signified their willingness. +</p> + +<p> +The rewards of those for whom there are no Cardinal's +hats are already under consideration. It is said that +about a hundred Bishops will be named <q>assistants at +the Pontifical Throne</q> in recognition of their services. +Others will be made <q>protonotarii apostolici,</q> most +of them only <q>protonotarii sopranumerarii non participanti.</q> +Several priests especially zealous for the good +cause will be made titular Bishops, and others <q>prelati +domestici</q> and <q>monsignori,</q> or <q>camerieri segreti,</q> etc. +Then there are the distinctions by means of colours, +and soon we shall be able to measure a man's zeal for +<pb n='730'/><anchor id='Pg730'/> +the new dogma at the first glance by seeing whether he +wears the <q>abito paonazzo</q> or violet or scarlet. +And there are exceptional decorations for use in church +kept in reserve, like what the Archbishop of Algiers +had given him. +</p> + +<p> +The attitude of Ketteler creates astonishment and is +studied as a riddle to which no solution can be found. +The Pope said to-day, <q>Io non capisco, cosa vuole quel +Ketteler, che un giorno distribuisce delle brochure contro +di me e contro della mia infallibilità, e che il giorno +dopo scrive nei giornali che sia pieno di devozione per +me, e che crede alla mia infallibilità, pare che sia proprio +mezzo,</q> and thereupon he made a gesture indicating +that the Bishop of Mayence was not quite right in +his head. +</p> + +<p> +In fact Ketteler is the only man here who perplexes +a reporter or historian. He has a work printed and distributed, +in which infallibility is declared to be an unscriptural +and unecclesiastical doctrine, and he says in +his attack on me that according to his view Scripture +and Tradition (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the two only sources for the +Church's faith) do not justify its dogmatic definition. +Yet he affirms that he was always an infallibilist +believer and will soon be more so than ever. It is +<pb n='731'/><anchor id='Pg731'/> +difficult to report on the performances of a theological +gymnast who seems rather to balance himself in mid +air than to have firm ground under his feet. Here it is +thought that he follows the counsel of his powerful +patrons in the German College and the Gesù, who have +made him understand that the new dogma will certainly +be proclaimed, and that he would do well to +change as speedily as he can from an inopportunist to +a zealous advocate and executor of the decree. He has +lately been reproached by an influential theologian +(Gass) with making his own Church worse than it is by +his doctrine that the Catholic Church knows of no duty +of obedience against conscience. It will certainly never +occur to me, now or at any future time, to have recourse +to the conscience of Bishop Ketteler; that would indeed +be the last refuge one would fly to! +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='732'/><anchor id='Pg732'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Second Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, June 30, 1870.</hi>—In the middle ages ecclesiastical +controversies were decided by the ordeal of the +cross. The representatives of both parties placed themselves +before a large cross, with their arms stretched +out in the form of a cross, and he whose arms first +sank, or who fell exhausted to the ground, was conquered. +The heat and the Roman fever have replaced +this ordeal at the Council. The process which is to +test the result has been going on for six weeks, and the +majority will evidently come out of it with flying colours. +It is composed chiefly of Italians and Spaniards +of both hemispheres, who can bear such things much +better than northerners, and as it is four times as numerous +as the minority, gaps made in its ranks by sickness +and death are soon filled up, and the phalanx remains +firmly closed, while the Opposition receives the news of the +sickness or departure of one of its members as heralding +<pb n='733'/><anchor id='Pg733'/> +its growing discouragement and final defeat. How well +the authorities understand the inestimable value of +this new ally, the heat and mephitic exhalations, is +shown by the laconic but significant words of the +papal journalist, Veuillot, in his 125th Letter on the +Council, <q>Et si la définition ne peut mûrir qu'au soleil, +eh bien, on grillera.</q> As before, so now again Roman +orthodoxy seems to have called fire to its aid, and for +Bishops, who do not wish to be roasted according to +Veuillot's wish, flight is the only alternative. +</p> + +<p> +Cardinal Guidi has received the most peremptory +orders from the Pope to make a formal retractation of his +speech in Council. The form and occasion of making +it he may arrange with the Legates. He has already +had an interview with Bilio. The Pope has forbidden +him to receive visits, that he may be free to consider +without distraction the greatness of his error. Solitary +confinement is adopted in the penal legislation of other +countries too as an efficient instrument of reformation. +Guidi has told the Presidents that he is ready to +give an explanation of his speech in a public sitting, if +they will announce beforehand that he does so by the +Pope's desire; but he can make no retractation. Jandel, +the Dominican General, intends now to deliver a speech +<pb n='734'/><anchor id='Pg734'/> +in refutation of Guidi's theory, which has been composed +for him in the Gesù. Many think that Guidi will be +deterred from letting things come to extremities by the +terrible example of Cardinal Andrea, who was worried +to death. A Cardinal, who lives out of the Roman +States, may maintain a certain independence or even +opposition, as the precedent of Cardinal Noailles shows, +but in Rome this is impossible. As Archbishop of +Bologna Guidi would be under the protection of the +Italian Government, but thither he will never be allowed +to return. +</p> + +<p> +Heat, fever and intrigues—this is a brief description +of the state of Rome, as regards the Council. The heat +and pestilential miasmas are unendurable for foreigners +from the north; already six French and four American +Bishops have been obliged to save their lives by departure, +and of those who stay in Rome a third are unable +from their bodily ailments to attend the sittings. A +Petition to the Pope is now in course of signature +praying for a prorogation, on account of the danger +to the lives of many foreign and aged prelates at this +season of the year. I give you the text, but will +observe that I hear most refuse to sign, some thinking +the case a hopeless one, others of very ill repute in the +<pb n='735'/><anchor id='Pg735'/> +Vatican fearing their adherence would only make it +more so. The Petition runs thus— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Beatissime Pater! Episcopi infrascripti, tam proprio +quam aliorum permultorum Patrum nomine a +benignitate S. V. reverenter, fiducialiter et enixe expostulant, +ut ea, quæ sequuntur, paterne dignetur +excipere:</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Ad Patres in Concilio Lateranensi v. sedentes hoc +habebat, die <hi rend='smallcaps'>xvii.</hi> Junii, Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi> Papa <q>Quia jam temporis +dispositione ... concedimus</q> simulque Concilium +Pontifex ad tempus autumnale prorogabat.—Pejor certe +inpræsentiarum conditio nostra est. Calor æstivus, jam +desinente mense Junio, nimius est, et de die in diem +intolerabilior crescit; unde RR. Patrum, inter quos tot +seniores sunt, annorum pondere pressi, et laboribus confecti, +valetudo graviter periclitatur.—Timentur inprimis +febres, quibus magis obnoxii sunt extranei hujusce +temperiei regionis non assuefacti.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Quidquid vero tentaverit et feliciter perfecerit +liberalitas S. V., ut non paucis episcopis hospitia bona +præberentur, plerique tamen relegati sunt in habitationes +nimis augustas, sine aëre, calidissimas omninoque insalubres. +Unde jam plures episcopi ob infirmitatem +corporis abire coacti sunt, multi etiam Romæ infirmantur +<pb n='736'/><anchor id='Pg736'/> +et Concilio adesse nequeunt, ut patet ex tot sedibus +quæ in aulâ conciliari vacuæ apparent.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Antequam igitur magis ac magis creverit ægrotorum +numerus, quorum plures periculo hic occumbendi exponerentur, +instantissime postulamus, B. Pater, ut S. V. +aliquam Concilii suspensionem, quæ post festum S. +Petri convenienter inciperet, concedere dignetur.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Etenim, B. Pater, cum centum et viginti episcopi +nomen suum dederint, ut in tanti momenti quæstione +audiantur, evidens est, discussionem non posse intra +paucos dies præcipitari, nisi magno rerum ac pacis +religiosæ dispendio. Multo magis congruum esset +atque necessarium brevem aliquam, ob ingruentes gravissimos +æstatis calores, Concilio suspensionem dari.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Nova vero Synodi periodus ad primam diem mensis +Octobris forsitan indicari posset.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>S. V., si hoc, ut fidenter speramus, concesserit, +gratissimos sensus nobis populisque nostris excitabit, +utpote quæ gravissimæ omnium necessitati consuluerit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Pedes S. V. devote osculantes nosmet dicimus S. V. +humillimos et obsequentissimos famulos in Christo +filios.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Attempts have already been made by word of mouth +to secure some compassion from the Pope for the severe +<pb n='737'/><anchor id='Pg737'/> +sufferings of the Bishops, but wholly in vain. His +comments on the members of the minority, if rightly +reported here, are so irritable and bitter that I scruple +to mention them. But I must relate what occurred +to-day at a farewell audience given to some Maltese +Knights, who had come to exercise their privilege of +keeping guard at an Œcumenical Council. The Pope +first turned to an English member of the Order and +wished him success in the scheme for introducing it +into England, and then expressed his sympathy for +that nation in his confident expectation of the speedy +and innumerable conversions promised by Manning, +adding the remark that the Italians were somewhat +volatile. And the mildness of the expression, compared +with former ebullitions of anger, proved that the +infallibilist line of the Italian Bishops had covered in +his eyes the political sins of the nation. But then he +turned to the Germans, who were present in the greatest +number, with the words, <q>I piu cattivi sono i Tedeschi, +sono i piu cattivi di tutti, lo spirito Tedesco a guastato +tutto.</q> Even that was not enough, but a Bohemian +knight who was present had to listen to a stream of invectives +against the conduct of Cardinal Schwarzenberg, +which made a very unpleasant impression on him. +<pb n='738'/><anchor id='Pg738'/> +As a French Bishop said to me to-day, it is a humiliating +spectacle to see a man who, at the very moment +when he is assimilating his office to the Godhead, +recklessly displays the little weaknesses and passions +which people are generally ashamed to expose to view. +</p> + +<p> +It was clearly shown in the Congregations of 23d +and 25th June that the majority only continue to +tolerate the speeches of the Opposition as an almost +unendurable nuisance. Loud murmurs alternated with +the ringing of the Presidents' bell. When Bishop +Losanna of Biella, the senior of the Council, was speaking +against burdening the Christian world with the new +dogma, the Legate tried to ring him down. He entreated +that at least out of regard for his advanced age +they would let him finish the little he still had to say. +In vain. The Legate went on ringing and the Bishop +speaking, so that the assembly for some time was +regaled with a duet between a bell and an—of course +inaudible—human voice. +</p> + +<p> +In the Congregation of the 23d Bishop Landriot of +Rheims made a long speech in the interests of mediation +and mutual concessions, which showed careful +study, but was received with every sign of displeasure +by the majority: he also proposed what Errington had +<pb n='739'/><anchor id='Pg739'/> +wanted, that a Commission formed from both parties +should examine the whole tradition on the subject and +report the result to the Council. At this cries of <q>Oho, +oho!</q> rose from the majority. Discouraged and intimidated +the Archbishop concluded with the declaration +that, if the Pope pleased to confirm the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, he +submitted by anticipation, at which the faces which had +grown black brightened up again and the apology for +the French Church which he ended with was condoned. +</p> + +<p> +The most remarkable speeches in the sitting of 25th +June were those of the Bishop Legate of Trieste and +Ketteler of Mayence. The first had the courage to say +plainly that the manipulation of Scripture texts, which +were pressed into the service of the new dogma in +glaring contradiction to the authentic interpretation of +the Church, was a sin. Ketteler's speech created the +greatest sensation from its decided tone, and its not +betraying the contradiction in which he seems to find +himself involved after his public declarations in Germany. +I must indeed reckon on my report again +displeasing and angering him, for this <q>mobile ingegno +usato ad amar e a disamar in un punto</q> is wont to +take it very ill if his bold transitions do not leave the +same impression on others which floats before his own +<pb n='740'/><anchor id='Pg740'/> +memory. But I will fulfil my duty as historian of the +Council in spite of this. Ketteler urged that nobody +had alleged any clear evidence for a personal and +separate infallibility of the Pope being really contained +in Scripture, Tradition and the consciousness of all +Churches; it was only the opinion of a certain school—<q>placita +cujusdam scholæ</q> he repeated several times +emphatically. The Pope certainly had the right of +proscribing doctrines which contradicted the dogmas +already decided by the Church, but by no means the +totally different right of formulating a new dogma without +the consent of the episcopate. It was the greatest +absurdity to believe or say <q>Pontificem in pectoris sui +scrinio omnem traditionem repositam et infusam habere.</q> +At these words murmurs arose in the assembly; +all had shortly before heard and repeated to one another +the Pope's assertion, <q>La tradizione son' io.</q> Then +Ketteler attacked the theory of Cardinal Cajetan, the +well-known first opponent of Luther, that Peter alone +among the Apostles had a <q>potestas ordinaria</q> to +be transmitted to his successors, while the <q>potestas +specialis</q> conferred by Christ on the rest expired at +their death, so that the Bishops are not successors of +the Apostles but derive all their authority from the +<pb n='741'/><anchor id='Pg741'/> +Pope. This mischievous system had been adopted by a +certain school, and the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> before them was drawn up +in accordance with it and in contradiction to all Catholic +tradition. It placed the Bishops in the same relation +to the Pope as priests occupied towards Bishops, which +was unheard of. He protested against the whole system, +and desired that in every dogmatic decree Holy +Scripture and Tradition should be taken full account +of: the Pope needed the co-operation of the Bishops as +representatives of tradition. It was utterly wrong to +believe that the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>depositum fidei</foreign> was committed to the +Pope alone. +</p> + +<p> +If the force and clearness of Ketteler's speech evoked +deep and serious reflection, an amusing episode occurred +at the close of the sitting. The Irish Bishop Keane of +Cloyne ascended the tribune. There is a story told of +a German city whose sapient councillors carried the sunlight +out of the street in sacks to light their town-hall, +which had no windows; and so Keane informed his +hearers that St. Peter brought the whole body of tradition +with him to Rome well stored up; here and here +alone it was still kept, and every Pope took what was +required from the stock which he possessed as a whole +genuine and entire. +</p> + +<pb n='742'/><anchor id='Pg742'/> + +<p> +Those who wish to prosecute psychological and +ethical studies should come to Rome. Here they may +observe how the three great powers of the world, as St. +Augustine calls them, <q>Errores, amores, terrores,</q> work +together in full harmony and activity; the last especially +will aid the victory of the first—for how long +He only knows who rules the destiny of man. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='743'/><anchor id='Pg743'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Third Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 2, 1870.</hi>—The Pope's reported answer +to those who spoke to him of the sufferings of the +Bishops and their danger of death, and the consequent +need for proroguing the Council, is passing from mouth +to mouth. I should consider it a sin to publish it. +Were it true, one would have to treat the man who +could so speak as the Orsini treated Boniface viii. in +his last days. If it is not true, it is very remarkable +that the Romans have no hesitation in circulating it +and really credit their Pope with it. This and the +disdain bordering on simple contempt with which the +Romans look down on the Bishops are among the +indelible impressions they will take back with them +over the Alps. +</p> + +<p> +In the sitting of 28th June Bishop Vitali of Ferentino +in the Roman States first inveighed against the long +speeches of the Bishops, and then broke into a dithyrambic +<pb n='744'/><anchor id='Pg744'/> +panegyric on his master, the Pope, who, like +the Emperor Titus, was the <q>deliciæ orbis terrarum.</q> +He was somewhat abruptly interrupted by the Legates +in the middle of his rhapsody. Ginoulhiac, Archbishop +of Lyons, who is the most learned member of the French +episcopate after Maret, next delivered an ably and +carefully composed speech, which was not interrupted. +He appealed to the words and example of former +Popes who had acknowledged—like <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Celestine <hi rend='smallcaps'>i.</hi> in +430—that they were not masters of the faith but only +guardians of the traditional doctrine, and that not singly +but in unison with all Churches and their Bishops, as +was clearly expressed in the decree. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi>, strong +as was the pressure put upon him by France, delayed a +long time the issue of the decree against the civil Constitution +of the clergy of 1790, because, as he wrote to +the King, the Pope must first conscientiously ascertain +how the faithful will receive his decision. But a large +section of Catholics were not at all disposed to receive +this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and the decree would evidently evoke the +bitterest hostility to the Church where it did not already +exist, and immensely increase it where it did. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>vi.</hi> +then said that, if the Roman See, the centre of the +Church, lost its authority through exaggerating its claims, +<pb n='745'/><anchor id='Pg745'/> +all was lost. Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> should take care that this doctrine +did not become a snare to innumerable Catholics. He +concluded by commending the formula of St. Antoninus, +which requires the consent of the episcopate. +</p> + +<p> +In the sitting of 30th June a member of the almost +extinct third party among the French, Sergent, Bishop +of Quimper or Cornouailles, came forward. He proposed +adding to the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which might then be +accepted, words requiring the co-operation for decisions +on faith of the <q>episcopi, sive dispersi sive in Concilio +congregati.</q> But he insisted on the superiority of the +Pope to a Council according to the decree of Leo. <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>,—or, +as he said, the fifth Lateran Council, and defended the +order of business imposed on this Council by Pius <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix.</hi> +But here he touched on a very sore place; the Bishops +sit here under the continual conviction of having their +hands tied in an illegitimate and tyrannical fashion, and +knowing that the order of business is in direct contradiction +to the independence of the ancient Councils. +The Legates must have felt that the Opposition would +say, <q>Hæc excusatio est accusatio,</q> and that it would +give the requisite handle for again renewing their written +protests by word of mouth now at the decisive moment. +Sergent was therefore called to order. +</p> + +<pb n='746'/><anchor id='Pg746'/> + +<p> +After the Bishop of Aversa, who spoke as an ordinary +infallibilist, Bishop Martin of Paderborn came forward +and created a sensation. A German infallibilist, like +Martin, who was not kneaded and dressed in the Jesuit +school, is an interesting and curious phenomenon of itself, +and produces somewhat the same impression as an +European who voluntarily lives among savages and +adopts their language and customs. But Bishop Martin's +appearance was remarkable on other grounds also. +It was long since any one had been heard in the +Council who spoke in so angry a tone and with such +noise and visible endeavour to supplement his stammering +utterance by the action of hands and feet. It was +a difficult labour that Martin achieved, like a singer +drowning his own voice, and doubly meritorious in these +melting days. And here I may make a remark that +should have been made before: the Hall has really +gained lately in acoustic qualities, from having an awning +stretched over it which acts as a sounding-board. +</p> + +<p> +Martin shouted into the Hall that the personal infallibility +of every Pope was inseparable from the primacy, +for the Pope was the supreme legislator, and therefore +he must of necessity be divinely preserved from all error. +The Bishops of the minority were amazed at this statement, +for none of them had expected a German Bishop +<pb n='747'/><anchor id='Pg747'/> +to declare the whole code of the Inquisition, as promulgated +by the Popes from Innocent <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> to Paul <hi rend='smallcaps'>v.</hi>, infallible +and inspired. But there was still better behind. +Two German witnesses for infallibility were cited, Dr. +Luther, on account of his letter to the Pope in 1518, +and Dr. Pichler of 1870. Up to 1763 all Germans +were stanch infallibilists, but then Febronianism came +in and for a time obscured this light of pure doctrine, +which had previously shone so bright in Catholic +Germany. But an orthodox reaction had followed, +thanks to the excellent catechism of the Jesuit Deharbe, +the Provincial Synod of Cologne and several Pastorals. +Martin then referred to Döllinger, and reproached him +with having in his earlier works—which were not named—taught +papal infallibility, whereas he now assailed it. +The Bishop, who is a member of the Deputation, then +proposed a formula he had devised, <q>Traditioni inhærentes +docemus Pontificem, cum universalem Ecclesiam +docet, vi divinæ assistentiæ errare non posse.</q> But +that was not enough, without smiting down the opponents +of the doctrine by a solemn anathema, as follows, +<q>Si quis dixerit non nisi accedente consensu Episcoporum +Romanum Pontificem errare non posse, anathema +sit.</q> He moreover agreed with Spalding and Dechamps +that parish priests and others having cure of souls +<pb n='748'/><anchor id='Pg748'/> +should be required by a special admonition addressed +to them to impress this doctrine of infallibility on their +people often and emphatically from the pulpit. +</p> + +<p> +The speech was delivered in the tone and manner of +a confessor dealing with a hardened sinner in his last +moments, and the Germans, from whose ranks the speaker +had issued,—men like Rauscher, Haynald, Strossmayer, +Hefele—sat shamefaced with their eyes on the ground, +while the delight of the Italians and Spaniards could +be read on their countenances at this humiliation of +the nation which prides itself on the superior culture +of its clergy. But they were surprised at Martin's +concluding declaration that no doubt in Germany great +dangers for the Church would follow from the promulgation +of the doctrine. It was mentioned in the Council +Hall that, in a widely circulated school-book which +had passed through eleven or twelve editions, Martin +had taught the exact reverse of the doctrine he now so +noisily and peremptorily maintained; but then it was +observed in excuse for him that the heterodoxies of this +book, though it bore his name, were no fault of his, as +he had simply transcribed it from the papers of the late +Professor Diekhoff, which were left in his charge. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='749'/><anchor id='Pg749'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_LXIV'/> +<head>Sixty-Fourth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 5, 1870.</hi>—Rome is an excellent school +for Bishops; a course of seven months at the Council +produces wonderful results. One illusion after another +is laid aside and an insight gained into the working of +the huge machine and the forces that put it in motion, +and the Bishops learn at last, though it be laboriously +and not without tears, why they were summoned and +what services alone are demanded of them. The historian +Pachymeres relates that, when the people of Constantinople +demanded a Council in 1282 in order to +judge the unionist Patriarch, Bekkus, Bishop Theoktistus +of Adrianople said that they treated Bishops like +wooden spits on which Bekkus might be roasted, and +which might then be thrown into the fire.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Pachym.</hi> II. 20, ed. Bonn.</note> A very +similar feeling has come over many Bishops here; +they know that if they say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> at last, they will +be cast into the fire, after they have helped by their +<pb n='750'/><anchor id='Pg750'/> +reluctant practical recognition of both the first and +second order of business—destructive as both are to all +real freedom—to forge the new spiritual yoke. And +then they find their schoolroom a very narrow and +uncomfortable one, and have at last discovered that +it looks very like a prison cell. +</p> + +<p> +It is but a game of moves and counter-moves as on a +chessboard, only that no one dares to incur the penalty +of high treason by saying <q>Check to the king,</q> or lifting +a finger for such an audacious move. The minority +were so confounded and irritated by the abrupt closing +of the general debate, because they hoped to prolong it +till prorogation became inevitable. For nobody doubted +in April and May that this would follow at the end of +June, and the notion was sedulously fostered by the +official staff of the Council—the Legates and Secretary +Fessler—and by the Pope himself. It is not long since +Pius said to a French Bishop, <q>It would be barbarity +on my part to want to keep the Bishops here in July.</q> +And thus the Opposition, whenever they were shaken +and disturbed by some violent act, let matters be +hushed up and never gave any practical effect to their +protests and complaints. But now the Court party say +that it would indeed be tyrannical cruelty to keep us +<pb n='751'/><anchor id='Pg751'/> +here, under ordinary circumstances, imprisoned in this +furnace full of fevers, but it is justified by the abnormal +situation. The grand and saving act of the infallibilist +definition, which is to quicken the whole Church with +new powers of life and introduce the golden age of +absolute ecclesiastical dominion, cannot any longer be +held in suspense. <q>You surely will not wish,</q> said +Cardinal de Angelis to a Bishop who was urging the +necessity of a prorogation, <q>that the Pope, after spending +so many thousand scudi on the Bishops, should +now be left alone in the Vatican without any recompense.</q> +And Antonelli thinks the Bishops have only +themselves to blame for their present suffering condition; +why have they wasted so much time in speeches? +</p> + +<p> +Since that shocking saying of the Pope's, which I +referred to in my last letter, has became known here, +the Bishops have abandoned as hopeless the design of +making a direct appeal to him for the prorogation of +the Council on the score of the health and lives of +its members. And this conviction has been further +strengthened by the insolence of the Court theologian, +Louis Veuillot. <q>Let yourselves be roasted, since it is +only through this fiery ordeal that the precious wine +of infallibility can be matured,</q> he exclaims to them, +<pb n='752'/><anchor id='Pg752'/> +and they know now that they are inside a door over +which the inscription is written +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q>Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' intrate.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +And now there is a new cause of alarm. It is said—perhaps +the report is spread on purpose—that at last +no Bishop will be allowed to depart till he has signed a +bond laid before him declaring his entire and unconditional +submission. We actually hear that, by a recent +decision, leave of absence is only to be given to the +Bishops in case of serious illness, that is, when they are +no longer equal to the journey. Several prelates therefore +have already inquired of the ambassadors of their +Governments, what means of protection they could +afford them in case of such violence being exercised. +The ambassadors will be obliged to write home for +further instructions, as it seems no such case had been +foreseen as possible to occur. But so many astonishing +and seemingly impossible things have happened +during the last seven months that such an act would +no longer excite even any particular surprise. +</p> + +<p> +Guidi still appears in Council and shows himself in +his votes an independent thinker and by no means a +humiliated or broken man, but in his convent he is +guarded like a prisoner and constantly urged by threats +<pb n='753'/><anchor id='Pg753'/> +and persuasions to recant. When a remark was made +to the Pope about his harsh treatment of this man, who +still as Cardinal shares the numerous privileges of his +order, he is reported to have said, <q>I summoned him, +not as Cardinal, but as brother Guidi, whom I lifted +out of the dust.</q> Guidi had drawn great displeasure +on himself before by joining Cardinals Corsi and Riario +Sforza in making representations to the Pope against the +alteration introduced by his order in the sequence of the +subjects for discussion, by which means the infallibilist +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was interpolated before its time. He lived in +the Minerva with certain Bishops of his Order, Milella, +Pastero, Alcazar and Manucillo, and their mutual conferences +led to the matured conviction that the personal +infallibility of the Pope is a novel doctrine, of late +invention and unknown even to the great Thomas +and the Thomist school, chiefly introduced in substance +by the Jesuits. Guidi appeals to the fact that years +ago he has taught this at Vienna, as was or easily +might have been known. If he keeps firm, and Cardinal +Silvestri, who often votes with the Opposition, +joins their side in good earnest—five dissentient Cardinals, +including Mathieu, Rauscher and Schwarzenberg—more +Italian Bishops than the Court would like, may +<pb n='754'/><anchor id='Pg754'/> +say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>. It is already remarked that they +earnestly inquire among themselves whether the German +and French minority are likely to remain firm at +the decisive moment and not melt away, in which case +they would be ready to vote with them. You may +imagine how intensely Guidi is hated here. For the +moment he might make O'Connell's boast his own when +he said he was <q>the best abused man in the British +Empire.</q> What Persius said is equally true of the +clerical <q>turba Remi</q> now,—<q>sequitur fortunam ut +semper, et odit damnatos.</q> I may mention in illustration +of the view prevalent among the majority, that +Manning the other day told one of the most illustrious +Bishops of the minority he had no further business in +the Catholic Church and had better leave it. Even in +the Council Hall Bishop Gastaldi of Saluzzo exclaimed +to the minority that they were already blotted out of +the book of life. +</p> + +<p> +The internal history of the minority since the end of +June consists mainly of their endeavours to avert the +departure of the timid and home-sick and those attacked +by fever. Hitherto leave has been given them readily +enough when asked, but it is said this will not be so +for the future. The Prince Bishop of Breslau, Förster, +<pb n='755'/><anchor id='Pg755'/> +was urgently entreated to remain, and he seemed to be +persuaded, but now he is gone,<note place='foot'>According to a letter of his which reached Breslau the 12th July, permission +to depart has been refused him.</note> and so are Purcell of +Cincinnati, Vancsa, Archbishop of Fogaras, Greith of +St. Gall, and others—a serious loss under present circumstances. +The feeling of self-preservation at last +overpowers every other; and what answer can be given +to a man who says, when required to stay and help to +save the truth, <q>If I am ill in bed with fever on the +critical day, my vote is lost</q>? Moreover the burning +atmosphere peculiar to Rome, impregnated with exhalations +from the Pontine marshes, oppresses and enervates +mind as well as body and cripples the energy of the +will. +</p> + +<p> +So on the 1st July an understanding was arrived at +among the Opposition Bishops. It was felt more and +more clearly that to go on with the speeches was a +sterile and dreary business. For one solid and thoughtful +speech from, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, Darboy, Strossmayer, Haynald, +Guidi, Dupanloup, Ginoulhiac, Ketteler or Maret, one +had to listen for long hours to the effusions of Spanish, +Sicilian and Calabrian infallibilists, and the speeches +of this party sound as if their authors had first studied +<pb n='756'/><anchor id='Pg756'/> +the dedicatory epistles to the Popes which the Jesuits +prefix to their works, and strung together the sonorous +phrases contained in them. Moreover the conduct of +the Legates had become palpable partisanship. For +several days they offered demonstrative thanks to every +speaker who gave up his turn; the bitterest attacks +of the majority on their opponents passed unrebuked, +and the murmurs and signs of impatience whenever +infallibility was called in question grew more and more +pronounced. It became evident that there was nothing +really to be gained by prolonging the speeches, when +all hope of getting the Council prorogued had to be +abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +At the sitting of July 2 the affair was to have been +brought to a settlement. The minority had sketched +out a notice in the Council Hall, stating that all +speakers on their side withdrew, and handed it to +Cardinal Mathieu to communicate to the French, but +they declined to accept it, saying every one should be +free to decide for himself. And so, on that day, out of +twenty-two Fathers only four spoke, including Meignan +of Chalons and Ramadie of Perpignan. +</p> + +<p> +But it soon became irresistibly evident to both +parties that it was advisable for them to put an end to +<pb n='757'/><anchor id='Pg757'/> +the oratorical exercises. The Legates had frequently +used the formula of the Index when a speaker gave up +his turn, saying, <q>laudabiliter orationi renunciavit,</q> or +<q>magnas ipsi agimus gratias.</q> The majority had two +reasons for wanting the speeches to go on—first the +wish of particular individuals to signalize themselves +and lay up a stock of merits deserving reward; and +secondly, that the Northern Bishops might succumb to +the rays of the July sun, as Homer's Achæans sunk +under the arrows of Apollo. But they were made to +understand that the Pope would account their simple +<q><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>, sans phrase</q> a sufficient service, and reward +it according to their wish. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover they felt secure about the eventual attitude +of the minority, or at least a considerable portion of them, +for it was known that two German Bishops had said, +<q>We shall resist to the last moment, but then we shall +submit, for we don't wish to cause a schism.</q> This +gave great joy to the Court party. I heard a monsignore +say, <q>These are our best friends, more so than those +who already vote for and with us, for their coming over +at the critical moment can only be ascribed to the +triumphant and irresistible power of the Holy Ghost +poured out through the Pope upon the Council; each +<pb n='758'/><anchor id='Pg758'/> +of them is a Saul converted into a Paul, who has found +his Damascus here at Rome, and becomes a living trophy +of the vice-godship of the Pope and the legitimacy and +œcumenicity of this Council. We can desire nothing +better for our cause than these late and sudden conversions.</q> +And thus at last an understanding satisfactory +to all parties was come to; on July 4 all the speakers +enrolled withdrew, only reserving their right of presenting +their observations in writing to the Deputation. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='759'/><anchor id='Pg759'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<anchor id='Letter_LXV'/> +<head>Sixty-Fifth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 7, 1870.</hi>—I must go back a few days and +tell you something more of the speeches made since St. +Peter's Day. It is for the interest of the contemporary +world and of posterity that the Roman system of hushing +up and deathlike silence should not be fully carried +out, and that it should be known what truths have +been uttered and what grounds alleged against the fatal +decision of the majority and rejected by them. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after Bishop Martin a man spoke who had +gained the highest respect from all quarters, Verot, +Bishop of Savannah, a really apostolical character, compared +in America with St. Francis of Sales. On a +former occasion, on June 15, he had pointedly criticised +the conduct of the Court party and the attempt to surrender +all that yet remains of the ancient constitution +of the Church to a centralized papal absolutism. <q>If,</q> +he said, <q>the Pope wants to possess and exercise a +direct and immediate jurisdiction in my diocese, only +<pb n='760'/><anchor id='Pg760'/> +let him come over to America himself, and bring with +him plenty of the priests who are so abundant here to +my country where there are so few; gladly will I +attend him servant and observe how he, riding +about in my huge diocese, judges and arranges everything +on the spot.</q> And, as some Bishops of the majority +had given out the favourite Roman watchword, that +historical facts must yield to the clearness and <foreign rend='italic'>a priori</foreign> +certainty of doctrine, Verot replied briefly, <q>To me an +ounce of historical facts outweighs a thousand pounds of +your theories.</q> This time he was not interrupted, as he +had always been before,—by most no doubt not understood. +Maret too, in the sitting of July 1, attacked the +projected absolutism which the Church was now to be +saddled with. In the political world, he said, it is done +away with and disappears more and more under a +common feeling of repugnance, and now it is for the +first time to be confirmed in the Church, and Christians, +<q>the children of heavenly freedom,</q> are to be reduced, +after the protection afforded by the consent of the episcopate +is abolished, to spiritual slavery, and forced into +blind subjection to the dictates of a single man. He +said this in more courteous language than this brief +epitome gives scope for. +</p> + +<pb n='761'/><anchor id='Pg761'/> + +<p> +Among the most important speeches was that which +followed, of Bishop David of Saint Brieuc in Bretagne. +It was one of the speeches of a kind I said in an +early letter would not be tolerated, the result has refuted +me. The Bishop said that the proposed article of +faith was first invented in the fifteenth century, when a +new form, different from that ordained by Christ, was +given to the Church, at the expense of the inalienable +rights both of the Bishops and the faithful. If the +hypothesis of papal infallibility really belonged to the +deposit of faith, it must have been defined and universally +acknowledged in the earliest ages, as it would +evidently be a fundamental doctrine indispensable for +the whole Church. The parallel drawn between this and +the lately defined and previously undetermined and open +doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is quite irrelevant. +It is clearly evident, he added, that this new attempt to +exalt the Papacy will produce the same disturbance as +the earlier one in the sixteenth century. A sign of it +is the sudden and rapidly growing alienation of the +French clergy from their Bishops, which is instigated +from a distance. Passing on to a vindication of the +much abused Gallican doctrine, he showed that the +former Popes themselves declared it to be allowable and +<pb n='762'/><anchor id='Pg762'/> +only reprobated the attempt to make it into a special +and separate rule of faith for the French Church alone. +</p> + +<p> +The Spanish Bishop of Cuenca, Payà-y-Rico, followed, +and began by affirming in the bragging and bombastic +style of his country, that in Spain the infallibilist doctrine +had always prevailed. This was a glaring falsehood; +it would have been enough to cite against him +the names of Tostado, Escobar, Victoria, and others, the +Spanish Bishops and theologians at Trent, and the fact +that the Inquisition first made the doctrine dominant in +Spain. But immediate replies are not permitted in the +Council Hall, and the majority were so charmed with his +disclosures that they loudly applauded him. Encouraged +by this he turned round upon the Opposition, observing +that a short interval was still allowed them to come +over to the majority, and that, unless they made a good +use of it, their only choice lay between a subsequent +meritorious submission or condemnation for heresy. +</p> + +<p> +The minority, who meet daily either in national or +international conferences, were engaged in drawing up +a formula requiring the consent of the episcopate as +indispensable, but soon gave this up and resolved to +abstain from any demonstration, as they could gain +nothing by it. Several thought this would compel the +<pb n='763'/><anchor id='Pg763'/> +majority, if they really wanted to gain the concurrence +of the Opposition, to make proposals on their side for +some tolerable formula. But at present that is highly +improbable. +</p> + +<p> +In the sitting of July 5, where the only business was +to vote on the third chapter, in consequence of the +general withdrawal of the speakers, an unexpected +occurrence intervened. Some days before Bishop Martin +of Paderborn had proposed in his own name and that +of some of his colleagues that in a Supplement, designated +as a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>monitum</foreign>, the doctrinal authority of the +Bishops should be mentioned, but only incidentally and +in a sense compatible with the Pope's prerogative of personal +infallibility. When the Pope heard of this, he was +much displeased, and peremptorily ordered that a canon +should be laid before the Council for acceptance enouncing +emphatically and under anathema the papal omnipotence +over the whole Church. The Deputation had +already had the third canon printed and distributed in +the following amended form:—<q>Si quis dixerit, Romani +Pontificis Primatum esse tantum officium inspectionis +et directionis et supremam ipsius potestatem +jurisdictionis in universam Ecclesiam non esse plenam, +sed tantum extraordinariam et mediatam—anathema +<pb n='764'/><anchor id='Pg764'/> +sit.</q> But in order to carry out the Pope's command, +the Bishop of Rovigo, as a member of the Deputation, +read the canon in a more stringent form, which in fact +left the extremest absolutist nothing to desire, but +which was not in the printed text and was either not +heard or not understood by the greater part of the +Bishops, while yet it was to be voted on on the spot—in +contradiction to the distinct directions of the order +of business. This more stringent version of the canon +runs thus:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>Si quis dixerit, Romanum Pontificem habere tantummodo +officium inspectionis vel directionis, non +autem plenam et supremam potestatem jurisdictionis +in universam Ecclesiam, tum in rebus, quæ ad fidem et +mores, tum quæ ad disciplinam et regimen Ecclesiæ per +totum orbem diffusæ pertinent; aut eum habere tantum +potiores partes, non vero totam plenitudinem hujus +supremæ potestatis; aut hanc ejus potestatem non esse +ordinariam et immediatam sive in omnes ac singulas +Ecclesias, sive in omnes et singulos pastores et fideles—anathema +sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A more shameless outwitting of a Council has never +been attempted. Archbishop Darboy at once rose and +protested against this juggling manœuvre, and the +<pb n='765'/><anchor id='Pg765'/> +Legates were obliged, humiliating as it was for them, to +let the matter drop for the present; but the addition +will be brought forward again in a few days. +</p> + +<p> +A proof has lately forced itself on my attention of +the confusion of mind habitual to many of the Bishops +of the majority. I asked one of them, who had expressed +his surprise that so much fuss was made about +this one dogma, whether he had formed any clear conception +of its retrospective force and examined all the +papal decisions, from Siricius in 385 to the Syllabus of +1864, which would be made by the infallibilist dogma +into articles of faith. And it came out that this pastor +of above a hundred thousand souls imagined that every +Pope would be declared infallible, not for the past but +for the future only!<note place='foot'>[The same strange confusion of thought seems still to prevail among +some fervid infallibilists of the English and Irish Episcopate, to judge from +their pastorals issued since the decree of July 18.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> But he was somewhat perplexed +when I mentioned to him on the spur of the moment +merely a couple of papal maxims on moral theology, +which were now to be stamped with the seal of divinely +inspired truths. +</p> + +<p> +On Saturday the 9th the special voting is to take +place on the emendation just mentioned of the third +chapter of the third canon in the interests of papal +<pb n='766'/><anchor id='Pg766'/> +absolutism, and on the same day or Monday the whole +of the third chapter and the amendments on the fourth +are to be voted on; on Wednesday, the 13th, the votes +are to be taken on the whole <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> <q>en bloc.</q> As +yet the Opposition can still be reckoned at 97, exclusive +of Guidi and the Dominican Bishops, who may not +improbably come to its aid at the critical moment. +</p> + +<p> +One of the witticisms circulating here, for which the +Council affords matter to genuine Romans, is the following, +that in the sitting of July 4 there was a great +uproar among the Bishops, they were all set by the ears +and the Pope himself ran away, and why all this? +<q>E perchè tutta questa cagniara? perchè il Papa vuole +esser <emph>impeccabile</emph>, e i vescovi non lo vogliono.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='767'/><anchor id='Pg767'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Sixth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 14, 1870.</hi>—I must again interrupt my +narrative of the occurrences and speeches between June +5 and 10 to communicate the details of the great event +of the session of July 13—an event which has falsified +all expectations on both sides, and created a sensation +and astonishment in Rome which it will take people +some time to recover from. Even beyond the Alps, in +spite of the all-absorbing question of the war, it will +rouse interest and joyful surprise. In the last few +days before the critical morning of the 13th there was +much discussion among the Bishops of the various +nations as to whether they should vote a simple <q>No</q> +or a conditional <q>Yes,</q>—a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> or a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet juxta +modum</foreign>. It was not merely the fourth chapter that was +in question, which deals with infallibility, but the +whole <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Papacy, which contains also the +<pb n='768'/><anchor id='Pg768'/> +much-decried third canon of the third chapter, establishing +for the first time the theory of the universal +episcopate of the Pope, the very theory Pope Gregory the +Great characterized as an abomination and a blasphemy. +It was known that the Bishops who are mere dilettantis +in theology—and their number is legion, as is natural +under the present system of episcopal appointments—would +greatly prefer voting <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, with a conditioned +<q>Yes.</q> That would always leave them free to +reserve their further decision till the public voting <q>coram +Sanctissimo</q> (as the Pope is here called), when only a +direct <q>Yes</q> or <q>No</q> can be voted. Each of them +could present in writing the conditions or wishes on +which he desired to make his <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> dependent, and +then say <q>Yes</q> or <q>No</q> according to his pleasure in +the Solemn Session, if his suggestions were disregarded—<q>Yes,</q> +if he wished to direct the lightning flashes of +the angry Jupiter to other heads than his own; <q>No,</q> +if he could summon manliness and courage enough at +the last moment. The Court party and the majority +had neglected no means of impressing on the recalcitrants +the uselessness of their negative votes and the +personal disadvantages to themselves. Every one was +told, <q>It is determined irrevocably to take no account +<pb n='769'/><anchor id='Pg769'/> +of your <q>No,</q> and to go on to the promulgation of the +dogma. Supported by at least 500 favourable votes, +and throwing the surplus weight of his own vote into +the scale, the Pope, on the 17th or 24th July, will +walk over your heads amid the presumed acclamations +of the whole Catholic world; and how lamentable and +hopeless a situation will yours be then! You are then +heretics, who have incurred the terrible penalties of the +canon law; you have surrendered at discretion, bound +hand and foot, to the mercy of the deeply injured Pope. +Consider, <q>Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, quem patronum +rogaturus?</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus they were worked on individually. And more +drastic methods were employed as well. It was asserted +that two documents had already been drawn up in the +Vatican, which every Bishop would be compelled to sign +before being allowed to leave Rome; the one a profession +of faith comprising the new article of infallibility, and +the other an attestation of the perfect freedom of the +Council throughout its whole course. Whoever refused +to sign either would thereby at once incur papal censures. +<q>We shall thus have,</q> they were told, <q>your <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> +and your <q>free</q> acknowledgment under your hand of +the article of faith you denied a few days before, and +<pb n='770'/><anchor id='Pg770'/> +shall show it to the world. Do you wish then morally +to annihilate yourselves in public opinion?</q> +</p> + +<p> +As the Bishops who are resolved to give a negative +vote knew well the more timorous temper of many of +their colleagues, who were half-ready to be persuaded +and half-ready to succumb, and remembered the Scriptural +saying that <q>a high priest must have compassion +on our infirmities,</q> some of them drew up a formula +stating the basis on which the timid might vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet +juxta modum</foreign>. In the preamble of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> the word +<q>principium</q> was to be exchanged for <q>exordium,</q> +and instead of <q>vis et virtus in eo (Papâ) consistit,</q> was +to be put <q>præcipue in eo consistit;</q> the third canon +of the third chapter was to be wholly omitted, and the +word <q>episcopalis</q> left out of the chapter, and lastly, +the formula of St. Antoninus was to be substituted for +the fourth chapter. The proposed document ends with +<q>Secus in Solemni Sessione dicturus sum, <emph>Non placet</emph>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On July 12 the Bishops of the minority held the +most largely attended international conference which +has yet taken place; about 70 were present. Three prelates, +two German and one French—Ketteler, Melchers +and Archbishop Landriot of Rheims—proposed that all +should vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet juxta modum</foreign>, but at the same time +<pb n='771'/><anchor id='Pg771'/> +hand in a precise and decided formulas the condition +of their assent, with a declaration that, if their demands +were rejected or inadequately complied with, they +should be obliged to vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> in the Solemn +Session. This would have substantially secured the +complete victory of the majority and the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>. Every +one would have naturally said, <q>Your <q>Yes,</q> however +conditioned, can only bear the sense that in the main +point you agree with the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and that main point +lies in the two new and great articles of faith, which +hang together and must shape the future of the Church, +the universal episcopate of the Pope and his infallibility. +By saying <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> you affirm these two new +dogmas, and after that it will matter little what particular +collateral wishes or conditions you may choose to +add. Whether they are acceded to or not, you must in +consistency say <q>Yes</q> on the great day of the public +profession, when only a simple affirmative or negative +vote can be given.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The three Cardinals, the two primates Simor and +Ginoulhiac, Strossmayer and others, spoke out repeatedly +and emphatically against this mischievous proposal +which would at the last moment have frustrated all +their hopes, and annihilated the results of seven months' +<pb n='772'/><anchor id='Pg772'/> +sufferings and labours. A decisive impression was +produced by the remark of the Archbishop of Milan, +that there were many infallibilists who on various +grounds would vote conditionally, and this peculiar +kind of vote, which was better adapted to courtiers +than Bishops, had better be left to them. <q>The only +befitting course for us,</q> he said, <q>who are convinced of +the falsehood of the doctrine, is to say <q>No.</q></q> This +was unanimously accepted. Tarnoczy, who for some +time back has withdrawn from his German and Hungarian +colleagues, and votes regularly with the majority, +was not present. Cardinal Schwarzenberg said he +should be glad if one of the Cardinals voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign> +before him, but if this did not happen he should be the +first, and should count it a distinction to stand at the +head of this noble band. +</p> + +<p> +It was remarkable how generally the view prevailed +that scarcely ten opposing votes would really be given +when the time came. No means were spared, by +rumours and inventions, to spread terror and despair +among the ranks of the Opposition. Thus the report +was circulated in foreign journals—where you will have +read it—as well as here, that a <q>sauve qui peut,</q> and +<q>débandade</q> had become the watchword of the Opposition, +<pb n='773'/><anchor id='Pg773'/> +and not thirty would be left on the day for +voting. We see now that this was all pure invention. +Even Förster's departure, which I reported myself, had +not taken place; only Greith had gone. When Darboy +had an audience of the Pope the day before the voting, +and said that there was a considerable number of +Bishops who would join him in saying <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, the +Pope replied, <q>Perhaps many will vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign>, +but certainly not above ten <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>.</q> For some +time past Pius has notoriously known everything with +absolute certainty, even the temper of distant countries. +The formulas put into the Pope's mouth by the Roman +Chancery, <q>proprio motu</q> and <q>ex certâ scientiâ,</q> have +been transmuted by the habit of twenty-four years into +actual flesh and blood with him. +</p> + +<p> +At the beginning of the sitting the news had spread +among the majority that the negative votes would be +much more numerous than had been supposed on the +evening before. On this Dechamps of Mechlin went +to the heads of the Opposition and entreated them with +humble gestures and whining voice to vote <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign>, +saying there was really some disposition with the +authorities to insert the <q>consensus</q> and <q>testimonium +Ecclesiarum</q> into the fourth chapter. The trick was +<pb n='774'/><anchor id='Pg774'/> +too barefaced to succeed, and sharp words were spoken +on the other side. One of the Bishops said to the new +primate, <q>C'est une impudence sans exemple,</q> and +Darboy called the attention of the three Cardinals to this +treacherous attempt at the last moment to divide and +perplex the Opposition. Now began the voting <q>sub +secreto,</q> as it was again called, and the sub-secretary +Jacobini read the names of the Fathers from the pulpit. +And then a wholly unexpected phenomenon came to +light: out of 600 Fathers present in Rome—there +were 764 in January—only 520 had appeared, and it +was at once known that very many of the absentees +had stayed away from dislike to the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and to +avoid the disagreeable consequences of a negative +vote. +</p> + +<p> +The line taken by the Orientals in the voting excites +surprise here. The Propaganda has spared no means of +exercising a strict supervision and control over them, and +yet the upshot is that the most influential of them have +voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>, some <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign>, and others have absented +themselves. In fact all the real Eastern Bishops—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +those who represent dioceses—have voted against +the dogma. Every one acquainted with the state of things +in Asia foresees that the promulgation of the dogma, +<pb n='775'/><anchor id='Pg775'/> +which will follow in spite of this, will lead to the +definitive separation of the Uniate Churches in the East. +But that makes not the slightest impression on the +Pope and the Jesuits. +</p> + +<p> +When the names of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign> voters were +read out, the President said <q>quorum, quantum possible +erit, habebitur ratio.</q> That sounded like open +mockery: it meant, <q>We (the Deputation) have already +settled among ourselves what is impossible, viz., making +the co-operation of the episcopate a condition, but still +there are some possible things. If, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, any Bishops +wish to have <q>inerrantia</q> substituted for <q>infallibilitas,</q> +perhaps they may be gratified.</q> But even concessions +of that sort are doubtful, for one cannot give the lie +to Bishop Gasser of Brixen, who has distinctly declared +that <q>nec verbum addetur nec verbum demetur +amplius.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Among the conditional voters are Dreux-Brézé, certainly +only because the decree is not strong enough for +him. The whole Hungarian Episcopate remained firm +in its opposition. The Austrians know now why +Rudigier and Fessler were given them as Bishops. I +send you with this the authentic list of the Fathers who +did not vote with a simple <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>. It shows that it +<pb n='776'/><anchor id='Pg776'/> +was just the Bishops of capital cities, as well as North +American, Irish, English, and beyond expectation many +North Italian prelates, who voted against the dogma. +Only one, strictly speaking, was wholly false to his professions, +the Bishop of Porto Rico. +</p> + +<p> +The Pope is still sure that at the last critical moment +a divine miracle will enlighten the benighted minds of +the opponents and suddenly reverse their sentiments. +The Holy Ghost will and must do this. Pius seems to +have clear assurances on that point. He had lately a +remarkable conversation about it with a French Bishop, +whom he had never seen before. As he regards every +opponent of the dogma as his personal enemy, he +received him as such and reproached him with being +Cæsar's friend instead of the Pope's; the Bishop replied +that his white hairs testified to his having nothing to +fear or hope for, but simply to follow his conscience, +which constrained him with many of his colleagues to +vote against the new dogma. <q>No,</q> exclaimed Pius, +<q>you will not vote against it; the Holy Ghost at the +decisive hour will irresistibly enlighten you, and you +will all say <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When the French Government in 1733 had the +cemetery of La Chaise surrounded with soldiers, to +<pb n='777'/><anchor id='Pg777'/> +stop the miraculous cures at the grave of the Abbé +Paris, the inscription was found one morning over the +entrance— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>De par le roi défense à Dieu,</l> +<l>De faire miracle en ce lieu.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +On the 17th or 24th July 1870 there might be +written over the entrance of the Council Hall— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>De par le Pape ordre au bon Dieu</l> +<l>De faire miracle en ce lieu.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The echo of the Vatican, Veuillot's <hi rend='italic'>Univers</hi>, has just +been accusing the Bishops of the minority of ruining +the papal treasury by prolonging the debates on infallibility +through their opposition, and thus obliging the +Pope to go on supporting his 300 episcopal foster sons, +and buy his infallibility late and at a high price, when +it ought to have been cast into his lap by spontaneous +acclamation at the first. A physician has now been +discovered for the treasury which has sickened under +the infallibility affair. Rothschild is said to have +been here and concluded a loan of forty million franks. +As the deficit only amounts to thirty million, there +remain ten million for fireworks, illuminations and +church-decorations, the journey-money of trusty Bishops, +and the like. But now the war is impending, and with +<pb n='778'/><anchor id='Pg778'/> +it the withdrawal of Peter's pence and perhaps still +worse.<note place='foot'>Meanwhile the <hi rend='italic'>Unita</hi> of July 15 has already begun to indicate the +wholesome political fruits which may be looked for from the dogma of +infallibility. Gallicanism, which demanded fixed guarantees against papal +decisions, has paved the way, according to Margotti, for constitutionalism +and parliamentarism; for after a Pope whose decrees <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign> are not +irreformable, comes a king limited by the Constitution, and then the era +of parliamentary revolutions and political storms is introduced. But now +the bright example set by the Bishops in their submission to the infallible +Pope will restore not France only, but the whole of Europe. From them +the nations will learn to submit as children to their sovereigns, the kingdom +of unrighteousness will pass away, and the kingdom of God succeed. +That is plain speaking; absolutism in the Church will lead to absolutism +in the State. Margotti then surrenders himself to the most brilliant hopes, +predicts unprecedented miracles, and records those which have been already +wrought for infallibility during the Council, or will immediately be +wrought. We cannot venture to withhold them from our readers. First, +it seemed impossible to attain an agreement of the Bishops on the proclamation +of infallibility; all wanted to speak, and the discussion seemed likely +to be endless. But the Holy Ghost unexpectedly interposed; above sixty +Bishops waved their right to speak, and the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> was voted and approved. +Secondly, a great opposition of all the governments was feared, who +only kept quiet while they watched the quarrels of the Bishops themselves +in the Council. But scarcely had the Bishops shown themselves unanimous, +when the Hohenzollern question turned up, which absorbs everybody's +attention, and leaves the Church in peace. The third miracle is +still in the future—the dogma will suddenly dissipate the menaces of war, +because the word of God, like the Son of God, only comes into the world +in the midst of universal peace.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The following voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non-placet</foreign>:—1. <hi rend='italic'>Prague</hi>, Cardinal +Prince-Archbishop Schwarzenberg; 2. <hi rend='italic'>Besançon</hi>, +Cardinal Archbishop Mathieu; 3. <hi rend='italic'>Vienna</hi>, Cardinal +Prince-Archbishop Rauscher; 4. <hi rend='italic'>Antioch</hi>, Patriarch +Jussuf, of the Melchite Rite; 5. <hi rend='italic'>Babylon</hi>, Patriarch +Audu, of the Chaldean Rite; 6. <hi rend='italic'>Gran</hi>, Archbishop +<pb n='779'/><anchor id='Pg779'/> +and Primate of Hungary, Simor; 7. <hi rend='italic'>Lyons</hi>, Archbishop +Ginoulhiac; 8. <hi rend='italic'>Tuam</hi>, Archbishop MacHale; 9. <hi rend='italic'>Olmütz</hi>, +Prince-Archbishop Fürstenberg; 10. <hi rend='italic'>Trabezund</hi>, Bishop +Ghiureghian, of the Armenian Rite; 11. <hi rend='italic'>Munich</hi>, Archbishop +Scherr; 12. <hi rend='italic'>Bamberg</hi>, Archbishop Deinlein; 13. +<hi rend='italic'>Seert</hi>, Bishop Bar-Tatar, of the Chaldean Rite; 14. +<hi rend='italic'>Halifax</hi>, Archbishop Conolly, of the Capuchin Order; +15. <hi rend='italic'>Lemberg</hi>, Archbishop Wierzcheyski, of the Latin +Rite; 16. <hi rend='italic'>Paris</hi>, Archbishop Darboy; 17. <hi rend='italic'>Kalocsa</hi>, +Archbishop Haynald; 18. <hi rend='italic'>Milan</hi>, Archbishop Nazari di +Calabiana; 19. <hi rend='italic'>Tyre</hi>, Archbishop Kauam, of the Melchite +Rite; 20. <hi rend='italic'>Biella</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Italy</hi>), Bishop Losanna; 21. +<hi rend='italic'>Autun</hi>, Bishop Marguerye; 22. <hi rend='italic'>Ivrea</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Piedmont</hi>), +Bishop Moreno; 23. <hi rend='italic'>Dijon</hi>, Bishop Rivet; 24. <hi rend='italic'>Metz</hi>, +Bishop Dupont des Loges; 25. <hi rend='italic'>Iglesias</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Sardinia</hi>), +Bishop Montixi; 26. <hi rend='italic'>Acquapendente</hi> (formerly in the +Roman States), Bishop Pellei; 27. <hi rend='italic'>Trieste</hi>, Bishop +Legat; 28. <hi rend='italic'>Orleans</hi>, Bishop Dupanloup; 29. <hi rend='italic'>Vezprim</hi>, +Bishop Ranolder; 30. <hi rend='italic'>Mayence</hi>, Bishop Ketteler; 31. +<hi rend='italic'>Bosnia</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Syrmia</hi>, Bishop Strossmayer; 32. <hi rend='italic'>Budweis</hi>, +Bishop Jirsik; 33. <hi rend='italic'>Breslau</hi>, Prince-Bishop Förster; 34. +<hi rend='italic'>Kerry</hi>, Bishop Moriarty; 35. <hi rend='italic'>Leontopolis, in partibus</hi>, +Bishop Forwerk, Apostolic Vicar of Saxony; 36. <hi rend='italic'>Plymouth</hi>, +Bishop Vaughan; 37. <hi rend='italic'>Clifton</hi>, Bishop Clifford; +<pb n='780'/><anchor id='Pg780'/> +38. <hi rend='italic'>Nice</hi>, Bishop Sola; 39. <hi rend='italic'>Parenzo</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Pola</hi>, Bishop +Dobrilla; 40. <hi rend='italic'>Kreutz</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>in Croatia</hi>), Bishop Smiciklas, of +the Ruthenian Rite; 41. <hi rend='italic'>Augsburgh</hi>, Bishop Dinkel; 42. +<hi rend='italic'>Gurk</hi>, Bishop Wiery; 43. <hi rend='italic'>Caltanisetta</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Sicily</hi>), Bishop +Guttadauro di Reburdone; 44. <hi rend='italic'>Vacz</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>in Hungary</hi>), +Bishop Peitler; 45. <hi rend='italic'>Marianne</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Syria</hi>), —— of the Melchite +Rite; 46. <hi rend='italic'>Chatham</hi>, Bishop Rogers; 47. <hi rend='italic'>Csanad</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Temesvar</hi>, Bishop Bonnaz; 48. <hi rend='italic'>Pittsburg</hi>, Bishop +Domenec; 49. <hi rend='italic'>Luzonia</hi>, Bishop Colet; 50. <hi rend='italic'>Sura, in +partibus</hi>, Bishop Maret; 51. <hi rend='italic'>St. Brieuc</hi>, Bishop David; +52. <hi rend='italic'>Trèves</hi>, Bishop Eberhard; 53. <hi rend='italic'>Coutance</hi>, Bishop +Bravard; 54. <hi rend='italic'>Lavant</hi>, Bishop Stepischnigg; 55. <hi rend='italic'>Soissons</hi>, +Bishop Dours; 56. <hi rend='italic'>Akra</hi>, Bishop Mellus, of the Chaldean +Rite; 57. <hi rend='italic'>Siebenbürgen</hi>, Bishop Fogarasz; 58. <hi rend='italic'>Châlons</hi>, +Bishop Meignan; 59. <hi rend='italic'>Valence</hi>, Bishop Gueullette; 60. +<hi rend='italic'>Perpignan</hi>, Bishop Ramadié; 61. <hi rend='italic'>Paleopolis, in partibus</hi>, +Bishop Mariassy (<hi rend='italic'>Hungary</hi>); 62. <hi rend='italic'>Petricola</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>Little +Rock</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>United States</hi>), Bishop Fitzgerald; 63. <hi rend='italic'>Marseilles</hi>, +Bishop Place; 64. <hi rend='italic'>Cahors</hi>, Bishop Grimardias; 65. +<hi rend='italic'>Osnaburgh</hi>, Bishop Beckmann; 66. <hi rend='italic'>Szathmar</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Hungary</hi>), +Bishop Virò de Keydi Polany; 67. <hi rend='italic'>Munkacs</hi>, Bishop +Pankovics, of the Ruthenian Rite; 68. <hi rend='italic'>Bayeux</hi>, Bishop +Hugonin; 69. <hi rend='italic'>Raab</hi>, Bishop ——; 70. <hi rend='italic'>La Rochelle</hi>, +Bishop Benedetto; 71. <hi rend='italic'>Nancy</hi>, Bishop Foullon; 72. +<pb n='781'/><anchor id='Pg781'/> +<hi rend='italic'>Constantine</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Algiers</hi>), Bishop de las Cases; 73. <hi rend='italic'>Oran</hi> +(<hi rend='italic'>Algiers</hi>), Bishop Callot; 74. <hi rend='italic'>Gap</hi>, Bishop Guilbert; 75. +<hi rend='italic'>Ermeland</hi>, Bishop Crementz; 76. <hi rend='italic'>Rochester</hi>, Bishop +MacQuaid; 77. <hi rend='italic'>Louisville</hi>, Bishop Kenrick; 78. <hi rend='italic'>Cassovia</hi>, +Bishop Perger (Hungary); 79. <hi rend='italic'>Agathopolis</hi>, Bishop +Namszanowski, Provost of the Prussian Army in Berlin; +80. <hi rend='italic'>Montreal</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Canada</hi>), Bishop Bourget; 81. <hi rend='italic'>Grosswardein</hi>, +Bishop Lipovniczky; 82. <hi rend='italic'>Fünfkirchen</hi>, Bishop +Kovacs; 83. <hi rend='italic'>Steinamanger</hi>, Bishop Szenczy; 84. <hi rend='italic'>Rottenburg</hi>, +Bishop Hefele; 85. <hi rend='italic'>Ajaccio</hi>, Bishop Sante +Casanelli d'Istria, and three more whose names were +omitted in the official catalogue. +</p> + +<p> +There voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet juxta modum</foreign>:—1. De Silvestri, +Cardinal-Priest; 2. Trevisanato, Cardinal Patriarch of +Venice; 3. Guidi, Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna; +4. <hi rend='italic'>Salsburg</hi>, Archbishop and Primate Tarnoczy; 5. +<hi rend='italic'>Oregon City</hi>, Archbishop Blanchet; 6. <hi rend='italic'>Nisibis, in partibus</hi>, +Archbishop Tizzani; 7. <hi rend='italic'>Tyre and Sidon</hi>, Archbishop +Bostani, Maronite; 8. <hi rend='italic'>Manila</hi>, Archbishop Melithon-Martinez; +9. <hi rend='italic'>Granada</hi>, Archbishop Monzon y Martins; +10. <hi rend='italic'>Avignon</hi>, Archbishop Dubrevil; 11. <hi rend='italic'>New York</hi>, +Archbishop MacCloskey; 12. <hi rend='italic'>Cologne</hi>, Archbishop +Melchers; 13. <hi rend='italic'>Melitene, in partibus</hi>, Archbishop Mérode; +14. <hi rend='italic'>Rheims</hi>, Archbishop Landriot; 15. <hi rend='italic'>Sens</hi>, Archbishop +<pb n='782'/><anchor id='Pg782'/> +Bernardou; 16. <hi rend='italic'>Burgos</hi>, Archbishop Yusto; 17. +<hi rend='italic'>Ventimiglia</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Italy</hi>), Bishop Biale; 18. <hi rend='italic'>Columbica</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in +partibus</foreign>, Bishop Verolles, Apostolic Vicar in Leao-Tung +(China); 19. <hi rend='italic'>Canopo</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Besi; 20. <hi rend='italic'>Sira</hi>, +Bishop Alberti, Apostolic Delegate in Greece; 21. +<hi rend='italic'>Zenopolis</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Moccagatta, Apostolic +Vicar in Xan-Tung; 22. <hi rend='italic'>Lipari</hi>, Bishop Ideo; 23. <hi rend='italic'>Birmingham</hi>, +Bishop Ullathorne; 24. <hi rend='italic'>Vancouver</hi>, Bishop +Demers; 25. <hi rend='italic'>Mileto</hi>, Bishop Mincione; 26. <hi rend='italic'>Moulins</hi>, +Bishop Dreux-Brézé; 27. <hi rend='italic'>Gezira</hi>, Bishop Hindi, of the +Chaldean Rite; 28. <hi rend='italic'>Hadrianopolis, in partibus</hi>, Bishop +De la Place, Apostolic Vicar in Tsche-Kiang; 29. <hi rend='italic'>Tarnovia</hi>, +Bishop Pukalski (Galicia); 30. <hi rend='italic'>Chartres</hi>, Bishop +Regnault; 31. <hi rend='italic'>Urgel</hi>, Bishop Caixal y Estrade; 32. +<hi rend='italic'>Monterey</hi>, Bishop Amat; 33. <hi rend='italic'>Tanes</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop +Salzano, Dominican; 34. <hi rend='italic'>Newcastle</hi>, Bishop Chadwick; +35. <hi rend='italic'>Lacedonia</hi>, Bishop Majorsini; 36. <hi rend='italic'>Todi</hi>, Bishop +Rosati; 37. <hi rend='italic'>Avellino</hi>, Bishop Gallo; 38. <hi rend='italic'>Amelia</hi>, Bishop +Pace; 39. <hi rend='italic'>Nola</hi>, Bishop Formisano; 40. <hi rend='italic'>Imola</hi>, Bishop +Moretti; 41. <hi rend='italic'>Zamora</hi>, Bishop Condé y Corral; 42. +<hi rend='italic'>Avila</hi>, Bishop Blanco, Dominican; 43. <hi rend='italic'>Savannah</hi>, Bishop +Verot; 44. <hi rend='italic'>Cuenca</hi>, Bishop Payà y Rico; 45. <hi rend='italic'>Cajazzo</hi>, +Bishop Riccio; 46. <hi rend='italic'>Teramo</hi>, Bishop Milella, Dominican; +47. <hi rend='italic'>Nocera</hi>, Bishop Pettinari; 48. <hi rend='italic'>St. Christophori</hi>, Bishop +<pb n='783'/><anchor id='Pg783'/> +De Urguinaona; 49. <hi rend='italic'>Clariopolis</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bsciai, Apostolic +Vicar in Egypt, of the Coptic Rite; 50. <hi rend='italic'>Erzeroum</hi>, +Bishop Melchisedechian, of the Armenian Rite; 51. <hi rend='italic'>Monte +Fiascone</hi>, Bishop Bovieri; 52. <hi rend='italic'>Savona</hi>, Bishop Cerruti; 53. +<hi rend='italic'>Agathonica</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Pagnucci; 54. <hi rend='italic'>Ascalon</hi>, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Meurin, Society of Jesus; 55. <hi rend='italic'>Dionysia</hi>, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Gentili; 56. <hi rend='italic'>Cattaro</hi>, Bishop +Marchich; 57. <hi rend='italic'>Serena</hi>, Bishop Orrego; 58. Mardin, +Bishop of the Chaldean Rite; 59. <hi rend='italic'>Tiberias</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, +Bishop Valeschi; 60. Guardi, General of the Ministers of +the Sick; 61. The Abbot of the Camaldolese in Etruria. +</p> + +<p> +The following abstained from voting, though in Rome +at the time:—<hi rend='italic'>Cardinals</hi>: 1. Mattei, 2. Orfei, 3. Quaglia, +4. Hohenlohe, 5. Berardi, 6. Antonelli, 7. Grassellini; +8. The Patriarch Harcus of Antioch, of the Syrian Rite; +9. The Archbishop and Primate Salomone of Salerno; +10. The Maronite Archbishop Aun of Beirout; 11, 12. +Two other Archbishops; 13. <hi rend='italic'>Aleppo</hi>, Archbishop Matar, of +the Maronite Rite; 14. <hi rend='italic'>Venezuela</hi>, Archbishop Guevara; +15. <hi rend='italic'>Utrecht</hi>, Archbishop Zwysen; 16. <hi rend='italic'>Tours</hi>, Archbishop +Guibert; 17. <hi rend='italic'>Rodi</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Archbishop +Pace-Forno, Bishop of Malta; 18. <hi rend='italic'>Mardin</hi>, Archbishop +Nasarian, of the Armenian Rite; 19. <hi rend='italic'>Alby</hi>, Archbishop +Lyonnet; 20. Iconium, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Archbishop Puecher +<pb n='784'/><anchor id='Pg784'/> +Passavalli; 21. <hi rend='italic'>Guadalaxara</hi>, Archbishop Loya; +22. <hi rend='italic'>Amida</hi>, Archbishop Bahtiarian, of the Armenian +Rite; 23. <hi rend='italic'>Tournay</hi>, Bishop Labis; 24. <hi rend='italic'>Terni</hi>, Bishop +Severa; 25. <hi rend='italic'>Veglia</hi>, Bishop Vitezich; 26. <hi rend='italic'>Almira</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in +partibus</foreign>, Bishop Carli, Capuchin; 27. <hi rend='italic'>Montauban</hi>, +Bishop Doney; 28. <hi rend='italic'>Cava</hi>, Bishop Fertilla; 29. <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Grioglio; 30. <hi rend='italic'>Segni</hi> (Papal State), +Bishop Ricci; 31. <hi rend='italic'>Paphos</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Alcazar, +Dominican Vicar Apostolic; 32. <hi rend='italic'>Vicenza</hi>, Bishop Varina; +33. <hi rend='italic'>Salford</hi>, Bishop Turner; 34. <hi rend='italic'>Catanzaro</hi>, Bishop de +Franco; 35. <hi rend='italic'>Bergamo</hi>, Bishop Speranza; 36. <hi rend='italic'>Savannah</hi>, +—; 37. <hi rend='italic'>St. Angelo in Lombardy</hi>, Bishop Fanelli; 38. +<hi rend='italic'>Dromore</hi>, Bishop Leahy, Dominican; 39. <hi rend='italic'>Glarus</hi>, —; +40. <hi rend='italic'>Birta</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Pinsoneault; 41. <hi rend='italic'>Fernes</hi>, +Bishop Furlong; 42. <hi rend='italic'>Anagni</hi>, Bishop Pagliari; 43. +<hi rend='italic'>Siguenza</hi>, Bishop Benavides; 44. <hi rend='italic'>Ceramo</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, +Bishop Jeancard, Suffragan of Marseilles; 45. <hi rend='italic'>Polemonia</hi>, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Pinchon; 46. <hi rend='italic'>Lipari</hi>, +Bishop Athanasio; 47. <hi rend='italic'>Apamea</hi>, Archbishop Ata, of the +Melchite Rite; 48. <hi rend='italic'>Mindus</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Papardo +del Parco; 49. <hi rend='italic'>Bursa</hi>, Bishop Tilkian, of the Armenian +Rite; 50. <hi rend='italic'>Astorga</hi>, Bishop Arguelles y Miranda; 51. <hi rend='italic'>Comacchio</hi>, +Bishop Spoglia; 52. <hi rend='italic'>Charlottetown</hi>, Bishop MacIntyre; +53. <hi rend='italic'>Vallis Pratensis</hi>, — (?); 54. <hi rend='italic'>Lamego</hi>, +<pb n='785'/><anchor id='Pg785'/> +Bishop de Vasconcellos Periera de Mello; 55. <hi rend='italic'>Montpellier</hi>, +Bishop Curtier; 56. <hi rend='italic'>Barcelona</hi>, Bishop Monserrat +y Navarro; 57. <hi rend='italic'>Amatunto</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop +Galezki, Apostolic Vicar in Cracow; 58. <hi rend='italic'>Kilmore</hi>, +Bishop Conaty; 59. <hi rend='italic'>Priene</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Cosi; +60. <hi rend='italic'>Tuy</hi>, Bishop Garcia y Anton; 61. <hi rend='italic'>Puno</hi>, Bishop +Huerta; 62. <hi rend='italic'>Adelaide</hi>, Bishop Shiel; 63. <hi rend='italic'>Albany</hi> +(<hi rend='italic'>America</hi>), Bishop Conroy; 64. <hi rend='italic'>Concordia</hi>, Bishop +Frangipani; 65. <hi rend='italic'>St. Hyacinth</hi>, Bishop Laroque; 66. +<hi rend='italic'>Dubuque</hi>, Bishop Hennessy; 67. <hi rend='italic'>Vannes</hi>, Bishop Becel; +68. <hi rend='italic'>Goulburn</hi>, Bishop Lannigan; 69. <hi rend='italic'>St. Germani bei +Monte Cassino</hi>, — (?); 70. <hi rend='italic'>Verdun</hi>, Bishop Hacquard; +71. <hi rend='italic'>Egéa</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Reynaud; 72. <hi rend='italic'>St. Giov. +di Cuyo</hi>, Bishop Achaval; 73. <hi rend='italic'>Cirene</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, +Bishop Canzi; 74. <hi rend='italic'>Rodiopolis</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, Bishop Tosi; +75. <hi rend='italic'>Buffalo</hi>, Bishop Ryan; 76. <hi rend='italic'>Adramyttium</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, +Bishop Gibbons; 77. <hi rend='italic'>Coria</hi>, Bishop Nuñez; 78. +<hi rend='italic'>Heliopolis</hi>, Bishop Nasser, of the Melchite Rite; 79. <hi rend='italic'>Titopolis</hi>, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>in partibus</foreign>, — (?); 80, 81. Abbates nullius; 82, 83. +Burchall, President of the Benedictine Congregation in +England; 84. The Abbot of Janow, Apostolic Administrator +in Russia; 85. Montis Coronæ; 86-91. These +names could not be announced on account of the great +confusion. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='786'/><anchor id='Pg786'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Seventh Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 16, 1870.</hi>—As I had to report in my last +letter, the attempt of the Legates and the Deputation +to outwit and catch the minority by a violation of their +own order of business had all but succeeded. Darboy +and Strossmayer frustrated this plot, on which it is +literally true that the fate of the Church was staked. +For the third canon of the third chapter had been +brought forward in so enlarged and altered a form, that +it involved in substance the abolition of the entire +episcopate, as an integral constituent of the Christian +Church, and substituted for it the papal <q>totality,</q> as +the theologians of the seventeenth century called it; +<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the theory that in the whole Church there is one +sole individual who is in exclusive possession of all +plenary powers and all ecclesiastical rights. The weight +and importance of the doctrine thereby designed to be +<pb n='787'/><anchor id='Pg787'/> +for the first time imposed on the Church cannot even +be made intelligible in a few words. Most readers are +naturally unaware of the sense attached in canon law +and the language of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi> to the words, <q>potestas +immediata et ordinaria.</q> Well! they mean that all +Christians, whether laymen or clerics, are personally +subjects, body and soul, of their lord and master, the +Pope, who can impose on them without restriction +whatever commands seem good to him. There are, +besides the Pope, who exercises immediate authority +by virtue of his universal episcopate, papal commissaries +in the separate dioceses, who call themselves +Bishops, and are so named by the Roman Chancery. +They exercise the powers delegated to them by the one +true and universal Bishop, and carry out the particular +orders they receive from Rome. According to this +view the whole Church has, properly speaking, no other +right or law or order but the pleasure of the reigning +Pope. This is the most perfect form of absolutism +ever yet excogitated in any man's brains. +</p> + +<p> +The order of business prohibits any alteration in the +text of the decrees being voted upon without previous +discussion in Council. That however was now attempted, +and the violation of the order of business by +<pb n='788'/><anchor id='Pg788'/> +the Legates themselves was so flagrant, the design of +fraud so palpable, that the incident continued to be the +subject of general conversation up to the 12th July. +When the plot had miscarried, it was alleged in excuse +that the previous discussion had been forgotten!—forgotten +precisely in the case of the most important +article yet brought forward, and of a change of such +immeasurable weight that one may truly say no discussion +of equal weight and influence has been passed +in any Council during 1800 years. The affair of course +made a great sensation. The words <q>deceit</q> and +<q>lying</q> were used more than once in the national +meetings of the Opposition Bishops, and it was urged +that the whole Deputation <hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi> were accomplices of +the Legates in this unworthy trick, and that the +Bishops were being compelled in a truly revolting +manner to vote on alterations of the most comprehensive +kind, which had only been communicated to them +the day before. A short memorandum was issued by +the French Bishops, which recommended that this +opportunity should be seized for leaving Rome. It +runs as follows:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>(1). L'heure de la Providence a sonné: le moment +décisif de sauver l'Église est arrivé. (2.) Par les additiones +<pb n='789'/><anchor id='Pg789'/> +faites au <hi rend='smallcaps'>iii.</hi> canon du 3me chap. la Commission +<hi rend='italic'>de Fide</hi> a violé le règlement qui ne permet l'introduction +d'aucun amendement sans discussion conciliaire. (3.) +L'addition subreptice est d'une importance incalculable; +c'est le changement de la constitution de l'Église, la +monarchie pure, absolue, indivisible du Pape, l'abolition +de la judicature et de la co-souveraineté des évêques, +l'affirmation et la définition anticipée de l'infaillibilité +separée et personnelle. (4.) Le devoir et l'honneur ne +permettent pas de voter sans discussion ce canon, qui +contient une immense révolution. La discussion pourrait +et devrait durer six mois, parce qu'il s'agit de la +question capitale, la constitution même de la souveraineté +dans l'Église. (5.) Cette discussion est impossible +à cause des fatigues extrêmes de la saison et des +dispositions de la majorité. (6.) Une seule chose, +digne et honorable, reste à faire: Demander immédiatement +la prorogation du Concile au mois d'Octobre, et +présenter une declaration, ou seraient énumérées toutes +les protestations déjà faites, et où la dernière violation +du règlement, le mépris de la dignité et de la liberté +des évêques seraient mis en lumière. Annoncer en +même temps un départ, qui ne peut plus être différé. +(7.) Par le départ ainsi motivé d'un nombre considérable +<pb n='790'/><anchor id='Pg790'/> +d'évêques de toutes les nations, l'œcuménicité du +Concile cesserait et tous les actes, qu'il pourrait faire +ensuite, seraient d'une autorité nulle. (8.) Le courage +et le dévouement de la minorité auraient, dans le +monde, un retentissement immense. Le Concile se +réunirait au mois d'Octobre dans des conditions infiniment +meilleures. Toutes les questions, à peine ébauchées, +pourraient être reprises, traitées avec dignité et +liberté. L'Église et l'ordre moral du monde seraient +sauvés.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But the majority of the Opposition did not assent to +this; they resolved to present another Protest, which +the Court party might apply, like its predecessors, <q>ad +piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis.</q> It was +drawn up by Bishop Dinkel of Augsburgh, and signed, +so far as I know, by all of them. +</p> + +<p> +On the evening of the 9th July a proposal of a new +formula of infallibility was distributed to the Bishops; +it was apparently designed to split up the Opposition, +and was broad, declamatory, full of quotations, and +lavish of assurances that the Roman See has always +administered its supreme teaching office in the most excellent +manner and proclaimed nothing but truth. Now, +it was added, since there has been a great deal of contradition, +<pb n='791'/><anchor id='Pg791'/> +it is necessary to define that its <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex cathedrâ</foreign> +decisions are infallible, and its decrees on faith and +morals irreformable by virtue of the divine promise +given to it. This new production was discussed in the +French and German conferences and rejected, although +one of the most influential German Bishops, Ketteler, +had taken it under his protection. He assured them +that the Deputation had unanimously resolved that no +change or concession by a hair's-breadth should be +allowed in this form of words, for to deny papal infallibility +involved a denial of the primacy altogether. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Jesuit Franzelin had received orders +from the highest authority to revise afresh the formula +adopted by the Deputation, with which Schrader is said +to be very ill satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +In the sitting of July 11, first the Bishop of Trevisa, +as a member of the Deputation, defended the notorious +decree in the third canon of the third chapter, which is to +revolutionize the whole constitution of the Church in the +sense of papal absolutism. Then the votes were taken, +by rising and sitting down, on the weightiest and most +pregnant article that has been laid before any Council +for 600 years, and the uncertainty in this method of +voting, wholly unprecedented in Church history, was +<pb n='792'/><anchor id='Pg792'/> +so great that according to the majority only 50 or 60 +voted against it, while the minority reckon between 90 +and 100 adverse votes. +</p> + +<p> +Then Bishop Gasser of Brixen made a speech three +hours long in the name of the Deputation on the infallibility +decree, which in its new form—and this he +declared to be the <foreign rend='italic'>ultimatum</foreign>—had been enriched with +an anathema against those who <q>contradicere præsumpserint.</q> +Gasser was unwilling to be left behind by +Manning, Dechamps, Dreux-Brézé and the Spaniards. +He vindicated the doctrines of Cardinal Cajetan against +Ketteler. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Cardinal Guidi had been so powerfully +belaboured, that it had frightened him, and he now +voted for the third chapter with the majority. The +process which had been found so effective in France, of +raising their diocesan clergy against fallibilist Bishops, +had been applied to him too by means of agents sent to +Bologna. The apostasy of Archbishop Tarnoczy of +Salzburg, who also voted with the majority, excited +grief but no surprise. While the occupant of one of the +oldest Sees of Germany, the successor of Arno, Pilgrim +and Colloredo, flung away his own rights and those of +his successors like so many hollow nutshells, even +<pb n='793'/><anchor id='Pg793'/> +Cardinal Silvestri voted against the third chapter and +the anathema attached to the fourth. +</p> + +<p> +The result of the 13th July has acted like an earthquake, +shaking and confusing for the moment men's +heads and plans of operation. Even if half the voters +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign> are abstracted, as belonging to the majority, +there remain 31 votes among them in favour of +essential changes in the fourth chapter, changes which +the Deputation has declared to be absolutely inadmissible, +and which, if admitted, would offend one section of +the majority. This last consequence would not of course +matter at all; a single word from the Pope would set +it aside at once, for it is self-evident that no Bishop +who is convinced of his unconditional inerrancy could +hesitate for a moment to vote for a decree sanctioned +by him. Still the perplexity is great. If the decree, +as voted by the majority, is brought forward at the +public session, some 120 negative votes may be expected. +But the Pope is resolved to become infallible <q>senza +conditione,</q> as he says. +</p> + +<p> +It is now often said that on the day of the Solemn +Session the Holy Ghost will yet most assuredly work a +wonderful miracle and convert the Opposition so suddenly +that, although they had entered the Council Hall +<pb n='794'/><anchor id='Pg794'/> +resolved to say <q>No,</q> they will say <q>Yes.</q> Some, including +Antonelli, vote for conciliatory measures and concessions, +which however the Deputation on Faith declares +to be impossible. The other very numerous party says +on the contrary that the unexpected force and extent +of the opposition to so fundamental a dogma makes +an anathema all the more necessary. A new plan of +operations has now been hit upon, which is greatly +favoured by the recent deaths. The grand Session for +proclaiming the dogma had been fixed for the 17th, +and many among the minority were with great difficulty +persuaded to remain till that critical day. But +now the 25th is talked of.<note place='foot'>The impending war led to its being held earlier.</note> At the same time the +report is circulated and confirmed by Antonelli, that +there will be no prorogation even at the end of July or +beginning of August, but the Council will continue, +though many Bishops, on requesting leave, will be +permitted to depart. It is urgently necessary, according +to Antonelli, to settle the questions about the +Oriental Rite. Yet for centuries the Court of Rome +has not troubled any Council with these affairs, but +settled and regulated them by itself, as is testified by +a whole series of papal decrees. And after infallibility +<pb n='795'/><anchor id='Pg795'/> +is proclaimed, it is utterly superfluous to keep +hundreds of foreign Bishops here on that account. +But it is known that the new dogma will lead to the +separation of the Orientals, and so their Bishops are +to be kept here longer as hostages, and the name of +the Council is to supply the pretext. And it is hoped +that the French and German Bishops will the more +certainly ask leave and go home, so that the Opposition +may be reduced to a small handful. The Pope +himself appears greatly to desire this, as was at once +inferred from his remark that the Archbishop of Paris +is staying on a long time. +</p> + +<p> +Five Bishops, including Förster of Breslau, actually +took their departure on the 14th. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='796'/><anchor id='Pg796'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Eighth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 17, 1870.</hi>—All the Bishops of the +minority have left Rome, after presenting a statement +of their attitude towards the decrees on the Papacy. +They made a last attempt, immediately before going, +to move the Pope at least not to hurry on the affair but +to grant some respite by proroguing the Council. At +twelve o'clock to-day he received a deputation headed +by Darboy and Simor. Darboy, who spoke first, represented +to him the great and manifold dangers the +definition would unquestionably give rise to for the +whole Church. Hitherto Pius had met all suggestions +of scruple by appealing to his <q>I am Tradition</q>—his +already assured infallibility. This time he did not do +so. He fell back on the ground of its being <q>too late.</q> +Matters had gone too far, and the whole Christian +world was now too much occupied and too powerfully +excited about the question. Besides, the Council had +<pb n='797'/><anchor id='Pg797'/> +already passed a decree by a considerable majority, +and he was therefore in no position to put a check on +the Council, which was now in full swing and urgently +pressing for a final decision on this question. The +promulgation of the decree of the majority will accordingly +follow to-morrow. +</p> + +<p> +The Orientals have subscribed the declaration of the +minority. Two German Bishops only, Melchers and +Ketteler, have withheld their signature and presented a +separate declaration of their own to the Pope. The +manifesto of the minority runs thus:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>Beatissime Pater!</hi></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>In Congregatione generali die 13 h. m. habitâ, dedimus +suffragia nostra super schemate primæ Constitutionis +dogmaticæ de Ecclesiâ Christi.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Notum est Sanctitati Vestræ 88 Patres fuisse, qui, +conscientiâ urgente et amore Sanctæ Ecclesiæ permoti, +suffragium suum per verba <emph>non placet</emph> emiserunt; 62 +alios, qui suffragati sunt per verba <emph>placet juxta modum</emph>, +denique 70 circiter qui a congregatione abfuerunt +atque a suffragio emittendo abstinuerunt. His accedunt +et alii, qui, infirmitatibus aut aliis gravioribus +rationibus ducti, ad suas diœceses reversi sunt.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Hâc ratione Sanctitati Vestræ et toto mundo suffragia +<pb n='798'/><anchor id='Pg798'/> +nostra nota atque manifesta fuere, patuitque quam +multis episcopis sententia nostra probatur, atque hoc +modo munus officiumque quod nobis incumbit persolvimus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Ab eo inde tempore nihil prorsus evenit quod +sententiam nostram mutaret, quin imo multa eaque +gravissima acciderunt, quæ nos in proposito nostro +confirmaverunt. Atque ideo nostra jam edita suffragia +nos renovare ac confirmare declaramus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Confirmantes itaque per hanc scripturam suffragia +nostra a Sessione publicâ die 18 h. m. habendâ abesse +constituimus. Pietas enim filialis ac reverentia quæ +missos nostros nuperrime ad pedes Sanctitatis Vestræ +adduxere, non sinunt nos in causâ Sanctitatis Vestræ +personam adeo proxime concernente palam et in facie +patris dicere <emph>non placet</emph>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Et aliunde suffragia in Solenni Sessione edenda +repeterent dumtaxat suffragia in generali Congregatione +deprompta.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Redimus itaque sine morâ ad greges nostros, quibus +post tam longam absentiam ob belli timores et præsertim +summas eorum spirituales indigentias summopere +necessarii sumus; dolentes, quod, ob tristia in +quibus versamur rerum adjuncta etiam conscientiarum +<pb n='799'/><anchor id='Pg799'/> +pacem et tranquillitatem turbatam inter fideles nostros +reperturi simus.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Interea Ecclesiam Dei et Sanctitatem Vestram, cui +intemeratam fidem et obedientiam profitemur, D. N. J. C. +gratiæ et præsidio toto corde commendantes sumus +Sanctitatis Vestræ</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>devotissimi et obedientissimi filii.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='smallcaps'>Romæ</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>17 Jul. 1870</hi>.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='800'/><anchor id='Pg800'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Sixty-Ninth Letter.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Rome, July 19, 1870.</hi>—On the evening of the 15th +a deputation of the Bishops of the minority waited +on the Pope, consisting of Simor, Primate of Hungary, +Archbishops Ginoulhiac, Darboy and Scherr (of +Munich), Ketteler and Rivet, Bishop of Dijon. After +waiting an hour they were admitted at 9 o'clock in the +evening. What they tried to obtain was in fact much +less than the Opposition had hitherto aimed at: they +only asked for the withdrawal of the addition to the +third chapter, which assigns to the Pope the exclusive +possession of all ecclesiastical powers, and the insertion +in the fourth chapter of a clause limiting his infallibility +to those decisions which he pronounces <q>innixus +testimonio Ecclesiarum.</q> Pius gave an answer which +will sound in Germany like a maliciously invented +fable,—<q>Je ferai mon possible, mes chers fils, mais je +n'ai pas encore lu le Schéma; je ne sais pas ce qu'il +<pb n='801'/><anchor id='Pg801'/> +contient.</q> And he then requested Darboy, who had +acted as spokesman, to give him the petition of the +minority in writing. He promised to do so, and added, +not without irony, that he would take the liberty of +sending with it to his Holiness the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, which the +Deputation on Faith and the Legates had with such +culpable levity omitted to lay before him, when it +wanted only two days to the promulgation of the +dogma, thereby exposing him to the peril of having to +proclaim a decree he was ignorant of. This Darboy +did, and in a second letter to the Deputation severely +censured their negligence in not even having communicated +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> to the chief personage, the Pope. +</p> + +<p> +Pius added further, whether ironically or in earnest +I know not, that if only the minority would increase +their 88 votes to 100, he would see what could be +done. He concluded by assuring them it was notorious +that the whole Church had always taught the +unconditional infallibility of the Pope. Bishop Ketteler +then came forward, flung himself on his knees +before the Pope, and entreated for several minutes +that the Father of the Catholic world would make +some concession to restore peace and her lost unity to +the Church and the episcopate. It was a peculiar +<pb n='802'/><anchor id='Pg802'/> +spectacle to witness these two men, of kindred and yet +widely diverse nature, in such an attitude, the one +prostrate on the ground before the other. Pius is +<q>totus teres atque rotundus,</q> firm and immoveable, +smooth and hard as marble, infinitely self-satisfied intellectually, +mindless and ignorant, without any understanding +of the mental conditions and needs of mankind, +without any notion of the character of foreign +nations, but as credulous as a nun, and above all penetrated +through and through with reverence for his own +person as the organ of the Holy Ghost, and therefore +an absolutist from head to heel, and filled with the +thought, <q>I and none beside me.</q> He knows and +believes that the holy Virgin, with whom he is on the +most intimate terms, will indemnify him for the loss of +land and subjects by means of the infallibility doctrine +and the restoration of the papal dominion over states +and peoples as well as over Churches. He also believes +firmly in the miraculous emanations from the sepulchre +of St. Peter. At the feet of this man the German +Bishop flung himself, <q>ipso Papâ papalior,</q> a zealot +for the ideal greatness and unapproachable dignity of +the Papacy, and at the same time inspired by the +aristocratic feeling of a Westphalian nobleman and +<pb n='803'/><anchor id='Pg803'/> +the hierarchical self-consciousness of a Bishop and +successor of the ancient chancellor of the Empire, while +yet he is surrounded by the intellectual atmosphere of +Germany, and with all his firmness of belief is sickly +with the pallor of thought, and inwardly struggling with +the terrible misgiving that after all historical facts are +right, and that the ship of the <hi rend='italic'>Curia</hi>, though for the +moment it proudly rides the waves with its sails swelled +by a favourable wind, will be wrecked on that rock at +last. +</p> + +<p> +The prostration of the Bishop of Mayence seemed to +make some impression on Pius. He dismissed the +deputation in a hopeful temper. It was of short duration. +For directly the report got about that the Pope +was yielding, Manning and Senestrey (<foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>de grands effets +par de petites causes</foreign>) went to the Pope and assured him +that all was now ripe, and the great majority enthusiastically +set on the most absolute and uncompromising +form of the infallibilist theory, and at the same time +frightened him by the warning that, if he made any +concession, he would be disgraced in history as a second +Honorius. That was enough to stifle any thought of +moderation that might have been awakened in his +soul. +</p> + +<pb n='804'/><anchor id='Pg804'/> + +<p> +The sitting of July 16 was held to consider the proposals +of those who had voted <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>juxta modum</foreign>. The +Legates had promised to pay as much consideration as +was possible to their wishes, and they redeemed their +pledge by striking out one passage and inserting another. +The majority decided, on the motion of certain +Spaniards, which was adopted by the Deputation on Faith, +to strike out the words at the opening of the fourth +chapter, saying the Pope will define nothing <q>nisi quod +antiquitus tenet cum cæteris Ecclesiis Apostolica Sedes.</q> +This was felt to impose too narrow limits on the Pope's +infallibility and arbitrary power of defining. And as +the minority had the day before expressed to the Pope +their special desire that the consent of the Church +should be laid down as a requisite condition of doctrinal +definitions, it was now resolved, in direct contradiction +to their wishes, again on the motion of Spanish Bishops, +not only to leave the words <q>definitiones Pontificis ex +sese seu per sese esse irreformabiles,</q> but to add to +them <q>non autem ex consensu Ecclesiæ.</q> And thus +the infallibilist decree, as it is now to be received under +anathema by the Catholic world, is an eminently Spanish +production, as is fitting for a doctrine which was +born and reared under the shadow of the Inquisition. +</p> + +<pb n='805'/><anchor id='Pg805'/> + +<p> +In the last sitting of the Congregation three Bishops +of the Deputation on Faith spoke, the Neapolitan +D'Avanzo, Bishop of Calvi and Teano, Zinelli, Bishop +of Rovigo, the author of the notorious addition to the +third chapter of the third canon, and Gasser, Bishop of +Brixen. D'Avanzo was jocose: <q>As,</q> said he, <q>the +angel bade the Apostle John swallow a book, telling +him it would make his belly bitter but taste sweet as +honey in his mouth, so must we Bishops swallow this +infallibilist <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and I have done so already. It will +no doubt give many of us a stomach-ache, but we must +act as if we had honey in our mouths.</q> Gasser, who as +a speaker is <q>se ipse amans sine rivali,</q> to quote Cicero's +saying about Pompey, made a speech of endless length, +exhausting the patience of his hearers; but there was +some gold mixed with all this dross. Such was his +declaration that Councils had hitherto been useful only +for people of unsound faith, who did not chose to +believe the Pope's <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ipse dixit</foreign>, which every good Christian +had always believed. But now <q>quid credendum sit +unice ab arbitrio Pontificis in posterum dependebit.</q> +On this a well-known Hungarian Bishop could not +refrain from observing to his neighbour, <q>Si etiam infallibilitas +Pontificis contenta esset in Sacrâ Scripturâ +<pb n='806'/><anchor id='Pg806'/> +magis compromitti non posset quam hoc levissimo ac +ineptissimo sermone, quo auditores ex integro jam +lassos ad vomitum movit et martyres reddidit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +An amusing scene occurred at the close of this sitting, +the last attended by the Bishops of the minority. A +printed address was read out and distributed to the +Fathers, in which the Legates complained in the strongest +language of certain works describing the course of the +Council. Two were named and characterized as <q>calumnious,</q> +both published at Paris. The one, by Gaillard, +was <hi rend='italic'>Ce qui se passe au Concile</hi>; the other was by a man +distinguished alike for intellect, eloquence and learning, +a member of the Council, who has had almost unique +opportunities of seeing through the whole business. It +is the work I have before mentioned, <hi rend='italic'>La Dernière Heure +du Concile</hi>, in which the personal intervention of the +Pope and the pressure brought to bear by him are +forcibly depicted in strict accordance with truth. This +pamphlet had already created a great sensation, and +when the Legates called on the Bishops to join them in +condemning it, the Italians and Spaniards, who—being +for the most part ignorant of French—had not read it, +immediately shouted out <q>Nos condemnamus.</q> <q>We do +not,</q> cried the Bishops of the minority. Two copies of +<pb n='807'/><anchor id='Pg807'/> +the address were then handed to each of them, one of +which they were ordered to return with their names +subscribed. The result was not successful; Haynald +told the Legates, in the name of the Hungarian Bishops, +that they had better first translate <foreign rend='italic'>La Dernière Heure</foreign> +into Latin, and then he and his colleagues would see +whether it was really as bad as the Cardinals maintained. +</p> + +<p> +All the Bishops from South and Central Italy who +could be whipped up, or who had previously obtained +leave of absence on account of illness or age, were peremptorily +recalled for the Solemn Session of July 18. +Of the Cardinals, Hohenlohe was absent. The rest appeared, +including Antonelli, but only three, Patrizzi, +Bonaparte and Pambianco, threw a certain spontaneity +and energy of voice and manner into their <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> by +standing up to deliver it. Guidi was the one most +observed; he sat there with an oppressed and abstracted +air, and his scarcely audible <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> escaped with difficulty +from his lips. The two negative voters were +Bishops Riccio of Cajazzo and Fitzgerald of Little Rock. +When the Monsignore who was repeating the names +and votes had credited one of them with a <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Placet</foreign> out +of his own head, the Bishop shouted in a stentorian +voice, <q>No; <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Non placet</foreign>!</q> +</p> + +<pb n='808'/><anchor id='Pg808'/> + +<p> +As all the Bishops of the Opposition but two stayed +away, and an <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>abest</foreign> was the answer to every name of +the slightest note that was called, the Holy Ghost had +no opportunity for working a miracle of conversion, +and all went prosaically and smoothly as the wheels of a +watch, without any sensation. Each of the stipendiaries +has discharged his obligation, and the Pope and Monsignori +find that the Council has cost large sums, but +think the money is well spent and will bring in abundant +interest. The most remarkable case of desertion +was that of Bishop Landriot of Rheims. Not one of the +Bishops had been so open-mouthed, or had announced +his fallibilist opinions with such copious flow of words +to everybody he came across. He now says, like +Talleyrand, that he has only deserted before the rest. +Clerical Rome, so far as I can yet make out, is not in +any very exalted state of enthusiasm; that is prevented +by the political conjunctures, which give Antonelli and +Berardi a good deal to think about. De Banneville +has indeed given the most consoling assurances to Antonelli; +the 5000 French troops at Civita Vecchia, who +had received orders to hold themselves ready for recall +to France, are to be at once replaced by 5000 more—recruits +it is believed. Paris wishes just now to be on +<pb n='809'/><anchor id='Pg809'/> +the best terms with Rome, who may well prove a useful +ally in what the <hi rend='italic'>Monde</hi> has already designated a +religious war against Protestantism. Meanwhile they +are pleased at the Vatican to have erected their <foreign rend='italic'>rocher +de bronze</foreign> beforehand. The Bishops have—ostensibly +of their own free will—abdicated in favour of the monarch, +to receive back from him so many rights and +commissions as he may think good to delegate to them. +The revolution in the Church is accomplished <q>to enrich +<emph>one</emph> among all.</q> Pius himself is more than content; +his supreme desire, the crown of his life and +work, is attained. +</p> + +<p> +During the voting and promulgation a storm burst +over Rome, and made the Council Hall so dark that +the Pope could not read the decree of his infallibility +without having a candle brought. It was read to an +accompaniment of thunder and lightning. Some of +the Bishops said that heaven thereby signified its +condemnation of Gallicanism, while others thought +Pius was receiving a divine attestation, as the new +Moses who proclaimed the Law of God, like the old +one, amid thunder and lightning. It is remarkable +that the days of the opening and closing of this Council +were the two darkest and most depressing Rome has +<pb n='810'/><anchor id='Pg810'/> +witnessed during the eight months of its session. It +rained without intermission, so that the promised illumination +was partly given up and partly proved a +lamentable failure. There were few but monks, nuns +and Zouaves, during the session in the very empty-looking +church. When the Pope at last proclaimed +himself the infallible and absolute ruler of all the +baptized <q>with the approbation of the holy Council,</q> +some bravos shouted, several persons clapped, and the +nuns cried in tones of tender rapture, <q>Papa mio!</q> +That was the only semblance of a demonstration. If +any spark of enthusiasm really glimmered in the souls +of the Romans, it was quenched by the downpour of +rain. The keen-witted Roman, who is accustomed to +speak of this Pope with a certain good-humoured irony, +as a sort of comic personality, thinks there is no harm +in gratifying the wish of the old man who has set his +heart on this infallibility; that will hurt nobody. +All the most important members of the diplomatic +bodies stayed away, in obedience to the instructions of +their governments. Neither the ambassadors of Austria, +France, Prussia or Bavaria were present. The Belgian +and Dutch consuls and an agent of some South American +Republic attended. The decrees of July 18, establishing +<pb n='811'/><anchor id='Pg811'/> +under anathema the two new dogmas, are the +following:— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>(<hi rend='italic'>a.</hi>) Si quis itaque dixerit, Romanum Pontificem +habere tantummodo officium inspectionis vel directionis, +non autem plenam et supremam potestatem jurisdictionis +in universam Ecclesiam, non solum in rebus, +quæ ad fidem et mores, sed etiam quæ ad disciplinam +et regimen Ecclesiæ per totum orbem diffusæ pertinent; +aut eum habere tantum potiores partes, non +vero totam plenitudinem hujus supremæ potestatis, +aut hanc ejus potestatem non esse ordinariam et immediatam +sive in omnes ac singulas Ecclesias sive in +omnes et singulos Pastores et fideles—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>(<hi rend='italic'>b.</hi>) Sacro approbante Concilio docemus et divinitus +revelatum dogma esse definimus: Romanum Pontificem, +cum ex cathedrâ loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christianorum +Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro +supremâ suâ apostolicâ auctoritate doctrinam de fide +vel moribus ab universâ Ecclesiâ tenendam definit, +per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, +eâ infallibilitate pollere, quâ divinus Redemptor +Ecclesiam suam in definiendâ doctrinâ de fide vel +moribus instructam esse voluit; ideoque ejusmodo +<emph>Romani Pontificis definitiones esse ex sese, non autem +<pb n='812'/><anchor id='Pg812'/> +ex consensu Ecclesiæ irreformabiles</emph>. Si quis autem huic +Nostræ definitioni contradicere, quod Deus avertat, +præsumpserit—anathema sit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In the work against infallibility circulated here by +the Bishop of Mayence occurs the following passage: +<q>Will it not seem to all nations that the authority of +all Bishops is suppressed and sentenced to death, only +in order to erect on such vast and manifold ruins the +unlimited authority of the one Roman Pope?</q> When +these lines were written, the Bishop and his theologian +had no notion, or at least no knowledge, of the third +anathema of the third chapter, which was afterwards +made still more rigorous. They were only thinking of +infallibility, but what would they have said, had they +known that the Bishops would be required to subscribe +to the abolition of the episcopate and the transference +of all conceivable ecclesiastical powers and rights over +the 180 million of Catholics in principle and in detail to +the Pope alone, as a new article of faith imposed under +anathema? And yet this is what happened on the +13th and 18th July 1870. That the ordinary and immediate +jurisdiction of the Bishops still survives, is +indeed affirmed in the decree, but the affirmation is +contrary to fact. It would be in inevitable collision +<pb n='813'/><anchor id='Pg813'/> +with the constantly encroaching jurisdiction of the +Pope; the earthen vessel dashed against the iron. +</p> + +<p> +The Jewish general and historian, Josephus, relates +how he was shut up with forty companions in the +valley of Jehoshaphat, and summoned to surrender by +the Romans. They resolved to die first. The Bishops +are not offered this alternative, but threatened with +both at once. They are bidden to submit and then +kill themselves, to subscribe the decree of the majority, +and thereby sign the sentence which degrades +and annihilates them, under pain of incurring anathema. +That is the demand. The situation is an +unprecedented one. And what of the 532 real or +titular Bishops who have made the 13th and 18th July +<q>dies nefasti</q> for the Church, and renounced so many +rights and duties for themselves and their successors, +like a cast-off garment? Perhaps it lightens their +hearts and is a pleasant feeling to them to be able to +say, <q>Thank God, I need not trouble myself any more +about doctrine, tradition, or dogma; henceforth the one +infallible oracle in the Vatican will attend to all that, and +he again will devolve the burden on the lusty shoulders +of the Jesuits, as he has done before. And how sweet +and convenient it is to be a mere executor of papal +<pb n='814'/><anchor id='Pg814'/> +decrees, while one's episcopal income remains untouched, +and to be able to cover one's-self with the Medusa +shield of a papal order in every difficulty, and every +conflict with clergy, people or governments!</q> I heard +a Bishop of this party say the other day, <q>Now first +begin the golden days of the episcopate.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is reported that on the very day after the promulgation +several Bishops experienced a certain reaction +of sobriety, a feeling like what German students +are wont to attribute to cats, and inquired of the high +dogma-fabricating parties, the Legates and some members +of the Deputation, whether they were really bound +to believe, confess and teach all that is contained +in the Syllabus, the Bull <hi rend='italic'>Unam Sanctam</hi>, etc., as <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, +the subjection of the secular powers to the Pope, the +Church's power of inflicting bodily punishment with +Pius who reigns gloriously, the burning of heretics +with Leo <hi rend='smallcaps'>x.</hi>, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>et id genus omne</foreign>. They are said to have +been answered with a well-known Roman proverb, +<q>Toto devorato bove, turpe est in caudâ deficere</q>—<q>You +have swallowed the whole ox of papal infallibility, +and the last Spanish addition with it, and you +need not strain at the tail, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the consequences; that +indeed is the best part of this ox.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='815'/><anchor id='Pg815'/> + +<p> +The Bishops of the minority agreed before leaving +Rome that they would none of them act alone and +independently, in such further steps as would have to +be taken concerning the decrees of the majority, but +would all continue to correspond and act in concert. +Meanwhile the Council has not been prorogued, but +leave of absence is given to Bishops who can allege +urgent reasons up to November 15. Perhaps in the +interval the builders of the new Jesuit-Papal Zion, +who stay behind, will prepare many a surprise for the +Catholic world. +</p> + +<p> +Future historians will begin a new period of Church +history with July 18, 1870, as with October 31, 1517. +</p> + +<p> +Are we really at the end of the drama? It appears +so. On the same spot where, 1856 years ago, the first +monarch of the world, Augustus, bade the attendants on +his death-bed clap their hands in token of the rôle +being well played out to the end, the Roman courtiers +on July 18 have saluted by clapping of hands the first +man proclaimed infallible monarch of the world by 532 +spiritual satraps. The eight months' campaign has +terminated in the preliminary closing act of July 18; +the absolute Papacy celebrates its financially dear-bought, +but otherwise easily obtained, triumph over +<pb n='816'/><anchor id='Pg816'/> +the Church, which now lies defenceless at the feet +of the Italians. It only remains to follow up the +anathematized enemy, the Bishops of the minority, into +their lurking-places, and compel each man of them to +bend under the Caudine yoke amid the scornful laughter +of his colleagues of the majority. Anathemas, the +<q>ultima ratio</q> of Rome, have already been discharged +at the fugitives, and every such shot of the Infallible +is itself infallible. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='819'/><anchor id='Pg819'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix I.</head> + +<quote rend='display'> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Speech of Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, delivered +May 20, on the</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Constitutio Dogmatica de Ecclesiâ</hi>. +</p> +</quote> + +<p> +There seem to me to be three points to be considered +in reference to this <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>: its origin, its contents +and scope, and its practical results. +</p> + +<p> +And first as regards its origin and presentation to the +Council at this time, it is enough to mention two facts, +from which it may be judged whether the affair has +been conducted regularly and in accordance with the +dignity and rights of this venerable assembly. +</p> + +<p> +It is certain that the fourth chapter, dealing with +the infallibility of the Pope, is the turning-point of the +whole <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. For whatever is brought forward in +the former chapters about the power and origin of the +primacy in Peter and its continuance in the Popes, +about which there is no difference among us,—and +certainly in the first and second chapters this seems to +exceed the right measure—is unmistakeably connected +with the infallibility in the fourth chapter. So entirely +is this infallibility the grand object of the Vatican +Council, that some have indiscreetly asserted it is +in a sense the sole object. And with reason, for the +<pb n='820'/><anchor id='Pg820'/> +fabrication of such a dogma must always remain the +weightiest act of an Œcumenical Council; and moreover +the other questions to be dealt with are either of +far less importance, or have long since been settled and +only require revision, as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, questions about the being +and attributes of God, the reality and need of revelation, +the duty of faith, and the relation of faith to +reason. Yet this serious question of infallibility was +neither indicated in the Bull convoking the Council nor +in the other public announcements referring to it, and +with good reason, because on the one hand the +Catholic world had no desire for a settlement of this +question, nor was there any other ground producible for +meddling with what had always hitherto been a subject +of free inquiry among theologians, and on the other +hand there are many and grave evils, partly endangering +the salvation of souls, which the Pope out of his care +and affection has thought it more needful to deal with. +</p> + +<p> +It is certain that the first stirring of this question +came from without, from religious and secular journalists, +and that too in an impertinent manner, against all +ecclesiastical and traditional precedent and all rules of +hierarchical order and usage, by seeking to put a pressure +on the conscience of the Bishops through demagogic +agitation, and to intimidate them with the +prospect of intrigues in their dioceses which would +make the government of them impossible. Nay, matters +have come to such a pass that the Fathers of the +Council, however piously and courageously they may +be simply following their conscience, are accused of +<pb n='821'/><anchor id='Pg821'/> +having paid an improper deference to party opinion, by +promoting the introduction of the infallibility question +in consequence of these violent agitations, and all of us +appear to have lost something of dignity and freedom +through the tumult raised before the doors of the Council-chamber. +And such a judgment, which is in the +highest degree mischievous and injurious to our honour, +can hardly be endured without damage and disgrace to +this venerable assembly, an assembly which must act +independently and not under pressure from without, +which must not only be, but appear to be, free. +</p> + +<p> +It is further certain that the question brought before +us to-day has been introduced against the natural and +logical order of the subjects in hand, and thereby the +cause itself is prejudiced. The rest of the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de +Fide</hi> ought first to have been submitted to our consideration, +on which we have already debated and have the +arguments of both sides so fresh in our memory that the +final discussion would have been all the easier. Then +again the <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Ecclesiâ</hi> begins quite incorrectly +with the primacy. Neither its first compilers nor any +theologians before now were of opinion that the treatise +on the Church should begin with that. And furthermore, +our studies have been directed to the questions +intended to come on for consideration according to the +order originally announced. +</p> + +<p> +And lastly, it is certain that the precipitate introduction +of the question of infallibility by reversing the +original order has contributed to the injury rather than +the honour of the Holy See. For as, according to the +<pb n='822'/><anchor id='Pg822'/> +Bull <hi rend='italic'>Multiplices inter</hi>, motions are to be sent in to a +special Congregation, which then reports to the Pope, +who either accepts or rejects its decisions, it follows +that the authors of this motion have compelled the +Holy Father to make a decision in his own case and in +reference to a personal prerogative, and have thereby—no +doubt unintentionally—failed to show a fitting regard +for his high position, if they have not rather +directly injured it. +</p> + +<p> +If I am right on all these points—and such appears +to be the case—it is impossible to discuss and decide +upon the question of infallibility, thus originating and +thus introduced, without paving the way for the insults +of unbelievers and the reproaches which threaten the +moral authority of this Council. And this should the +more carefully be avoided, because writings and reports +directed against the power and legitimacy of the Council +are already current and widely circulated, so that it +seems more likely to sow the seeds of contradiction and +disunion among Christians than to quiet men's minds +and lead to peace. If I may venture to add a practical +remark to this portion of my speech, I should say that +some have with good reason declared this question to be +inopportune, and that there would be equally good reason +for abstaining from any decision, even if the discussion +of it were opportune. +</p> + +<p> +On the contents and tendency of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> I shall +make only a few observations. +</p> + +<p> +The <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> does not deal with the infallibility of the +Church, which we all believe, and which has been +<pb n='823'/><anchor id='Pg823'/> +proved for twenty centuries, but lays down as an article +of faith that the Pope is, alone and of himself, infallible, +and that he possesses this privilege of inerrancy in all +matters to which the infallibility of the Church herself +extends. It must be well understood that the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> +does not refer to that universally admitted infallibility, +which is the invincible and inviolable strength of dogmatic +decrees and decisions binding alike on all the +faithful and all their pastors, and which reposes wholly +and solely on the agreement of the Bishops in union with +the Pope, but that it refers—though this is not expressly +stated—to the personal, absolute and exclusive infallibility +of the Pope. On the former kind of infallibility—that +of the Church—complete harmony prevails +among us, and there is therefore no ground for any +discussion, whence it follows that it is the second kind +of infallibility which is in question here. To deny this +would be to disguise and distort the doctrine and spirit +of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. And moreover, the Pope's personal infallibility +is not maintained there as a mere opinion or +commendable doctrine, but as a dogma of faith. Hitherto +the opportuneness and admissibility of entertaining this +question has been disputed at the Council; that dispute +is now closed by the Pope's decision that the matter can +no longer be passed over in silence, and we have now to +consider whether it is or is not opportune to declare the +personal infallibility of the Pope a dogma. +</p> + +<p> +To deal rightly with this subject and come to a decision, +it is requisite that the formula or definition of +the doctrine should be laid before us, that it should be +<pb n='824'/><anchor id='Pg824'/> +proved by sure and unquestionable evidence, and finally, +that it should be accepted with moral unanimity. +</p> + +<p> +There is the greatest difficulty in fixing the form or +definition of the doctrine, as is shown by the example of +those who first composed and then revised the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, +and who seem to have expended much—perhaps fruitless—labour +upon it; for they indulge in ambiguous +expressions which open the door to endless controversies. +What is meant by <q>exercising the office of the +supreme teacher of Christendom</q>? What are the external +conditions of its exercise? When is it certain +that the Pope has exercised it? The compilers of the +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> think of course that this is as clear as, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, the +œcumenicity of a Council. But they thereby contradict +themselves, for a Council is only then held œcumenical +by the body of the faithful scattered over the world +when the Bishops are morally unanimous, and therefore +infallibility would still depend on the consent of the +episcopate if the same principle is to be applied to papal +decrees. The authors of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> either eliminate +this consent or they do not. In the former case they +are introducing an innovation, and an innovation which +is unprecedented and intolerable; in the latter case +they are only expressing an old and universally received +view and fighting a man of straw. But in no case can they +pass over in silence the necessity or needlessness of the +consent of the episcopate, for that would be to infuse +doubts into the faithful and throw fresh difficulties in +their way in a question of such vast importance and +all that at present hinges on it. +</p> + +<pb n='825'/><anchor id='Pg825'/> + +<p> +The compilers only define the subject-matter of papal +infallibility by saying that it is identical with the infallibility +of the Church. But that explanation is +inadequate until the Council has defined the infallibility +of the Church. Hence it is clearly a logical +fallacy to prefix the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on the Primacy to that on +the Church. Of the infallibility of the Church we +know that it always acts within the proper limits of +its subject-matter, both because the common consent +of the Bishops is necessary and because the Church +is holy and cannot sin, while the compilers of this +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> on papal infallibility on the one hand, according +to their own statement, exclude the consent +of the Bishops, and on the other hand have not undertaken +to prove that every Pope is holy and cannot +sin.<note place='foot'>[On the essential connection between the infallibility and the impeccability +of the Popes, see <hi rend='italic'>Janus</hi>, pp. 113 <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>, and Maret, <hi rend='italic'>Du Concile Général</hi>, +vol. ii. ch. 13.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> +</p> + +<p> +But if a form of definition was really discovered, it +would have to be confirmed by solid and certain proofs. +It would have to be shown that this doctrine of personal +infallibility is contained in holy Scripture, as it has +been always interpreted, and in the tradition of all +centuries, that it has the moral assent not merely of +some but of all Fathers, Doctors, Bishops and Theologians, +and that it is in perfect harmony with all +decisions and acts of the General Councils, and therefore +with the decrees of the fourth and fifth sessions of +the Council of Constance—for even supposing they +<pb n='826'/><anchor id='Pg826'/> +were not œcumenical, which I do not admit, they would +show the mind and common opinion of the theologians +and Bishops.<note place='foot'>[The decree of Constance defines that <q>every lawfully convoked +Œcumenical Council representing the Church derives its authority immediately +from Christ, and every one, the Pope included, is subject to it in +matters of faith, in the healing of schism, and the reformation of the +Church.</q> It was carried in full Council without a dissentient voice.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> It would further have to be proved that +this doctrine is neither contradicted by historical facts nor +by any acts of the Popes themselves, and lastly that it +belongs to that class of truths which the Council and +Pope in union can decide upon, as having been acknowledged +for revealed truth always, everywhere and by all. +</p> + +<p> +All this our <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> omits. But when the question is +of defining a dogma, the Fathers must have sufficient evidence +laid before them and time allowed them for weighing +it. As it is, neither the original nor the revised draft of +the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> supply such arguments as might illustrate the +matter and clear up all doubts, and as little is sufficient +time allowed—as is generally notorious—for unravelling +this complicated question, solving its difficulties and +acquiring the necessary information about it. In such +a matter, where a burden is to be laid on the conscience +of the faithful, a hasty decision pronounced without +absolute certainty is dangerous, while there is no danger +in a fuller discussion and in not deciding till it can be +done with complete certainty of conscience. +</p> + +<p> +It would finally be necessary that the doctrine of +the personal and independent infallibility of the Pope, +after being clearly expressed and certainly proved, +should be accepted by the Fathers with moral unanimity; +<pb n='827'/><anchor id='Pg827'/> +for otherwise we must fear that the definition +would be regarded as a papal constitution and not a +decree of a Council.<note place='foot'>[That in fact is exactly what Antonelli calls it in his circular.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tr.</hi>]</note> It is a duty to impose a truth of +faith on all Christians, but this difficult and sacred +right can only be exercised by the Bishops with the +greatest caution. And therefore the Fathers of Trent, +as you all know, whatever sophistical objections may +be raised, did not pass their decrees on dogmatic questions +by numerical majorities, but with moral unanimity. +I content myself now with referring to the perplexity +of conscience among the faithful, which must arise from +passing this dogma over the heads of the minority, and +thus giving a handle for questioning the validity and +authority of this Council. +</p> + +<p> +Two leading remarks may suffice on the practical +consequences of the dogma, for the only object of bringing +forward the personal infallibility as an article of +faith is to make the unity of the Church more compact +and the central authority stronger, and thus to supply +an efficient remedy for all abuses. +</p> + +<p> +As regards unity and central authority, I must first +make the general observation that they exist and must +be preserved, not however in that shape which we may +fancy or which approves itself to our reason, but as +Jesus Christ our Lord ordained and as our fathers have +maintained it. For it is no business of ours to arrange +the Church according to our good pleasure and to alter +the foundation of the work of God. The necessary +unity in faith and that of the common central authority +<pb n='828'/><anchor id='Pg828'/> +under fatherly guidance exists and has always existed +among Catholics, or else one would have to say that +there had been some essential defect in the Church of +the past, which all will certainly deny. +</p> + +<p> +The unity of doctrine and Church communion and +the central authority of the Pope remain then unshaken, +as they always flourished and flourish still without any +dogmatic definition of infallibility. +</p> + +<p> +Let it not be said that this unity will hereafter be +closer when the central authority is stronger, for this +inference is fallacious. Mere unity is not enough, but +we must have that unity and that measure of it which +the nature and scope of the thing, as well as the law +and the necessity of life, demand. Else the thing itself +might lamentably perish by being forced into too rigid +an unity, from its inward vitality being cramped, disturbed +and broken through the external pressure. Thus +even in civil matters the unity of freemen, who act for +themselves under the law, is indeed looser but more +honourable than the unity of slaves tormented under +an arbitrary tyranny. Permit us to retain that unity +which belongs to us by the ordinance of Christ, and +that means of unity—viz., the central authority of +the Pope—which our forefathers acknowledged and +honoured, who neither separated the Bishops from the +Pope nor the Pope from the Bishops. Let us loyally +hold fast to the ancient rule of faith and the statutes of +the Fathers, and the more so since the proposed definition +is open to many grave objections. +</p> + +<p> +And again we can hardly doubt that this expedient +<pb n='829'/><anchor id='Pg829'/> +would be powerless for healing the evils of our time, and +it must be feared would rather tend to the injury of many. +The matter must not be regarded only from a theological +standpoint, but also in its bearings on civil +society. For we in this place are not mere head-sacristans +or superiors of a monastery, but men called to share +with the Pope his care for the whole Church; allow us +therefore to take the state of the world into our prudent +consideration. +</p> + +<p> +Will personal and independent infallibility serve to +rouse from their grave those perished Churches on the +African coast, or to wake the slumbers of the East, +which once bloomed with such flowers of intellect and +virtue? Will it be easier for our brethren, the Vicars-Apostolic, +to bring the heathen, Mahometans, and +schismatics to the Catholic faith, if they preach the +doctrine of the Pope's sole infallibility? Or will the +proposed definition perhaps infuse spirit and strength +into Protestants and other heretics to return to the +Roman Church and lay aside all prejudices and hatred +against it? And now, first, for Europe! I say it with +pain,—the Church is everywhere under ban. She is +excluded from those congresses where nations discuss +war and peace, and where once the authority of the Holy +See was so powerful, whereas now it is bidden not even +to proclaim its views. The Church is shut out in +several European countries from the Chambers, and if +some prelates or clergymen here and there belong to +them, this appears a rare occurrence. The Church is +shut out from the school, where grievous errors advance +<pb n='830'/><anchor id='Pg830'/> +unchecked; from legislation, which manifests a secular +and therefore irreligious tendency; and lastly, from the +family, where civil marriage corrupts morals. All those +who preside over the public affairs of Europe avoid us +or hold us in check. +</p> + +<p> +And what sort of remedy do you offer the world, +which is diseased with so many uncertainties about the +Church? On all those who are seeking to shake off +from their indocile shoulders even the burdens imposed +on them from of old and reverently accepted by their +fathers, you would now lay a new, and therefore difficult +and odious, burden. All those who are of weak +faith are to be crushed by a new and inopportune +dogma, a doctrine never hitherto defined, and which, +without any amends being made for the injurious +manner of its introduction, is to be defined by a Council +of which many say that its freedom is insufficiently +attested. And yet you hope to remedy everything by +this definition of personal and exclusive infallibility, to +strengthen the faith and improve the morals of all. +Your hopes are vain. The world either remains sick +or perishes, not from ignorance of the truth and its +teachers, but because it avoids it and will not accept +its guidance. But if it now rejects the truth, when +proclaimed by the whole teaching body of the Church, +the 800 Bishops dispersed over the world and infallible +in union with the Pope, how much more will it do so, +when the truth is proclaimed by one single infallible +teacher, who has only just been declared infallible? +For an authority to be strong and effective, it is not +<pb n='831'/><anchor id='Pg831'/> +enough for it to be claimed; it must also be accepted. +And thus it is not enough to declare that the Pope is +infallible, personally and apart from the Bishops, but +he must be acknowledged as such by all, if his office is +to be a reality. What is the use, <hi rend='italic'>e.g.</hi>, of an anathema, +if the authority which pronounces it is not respected? +The Syllabus circulated through Europe, but what evils +could it cure even where it was received as an infallible +oracle? There were only two large countries where +religion ruled, not in fact but <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>de jure</foreign>—Austria and +Spain. In both of them this Catholic order fell to the +ground though commanded by the infallible authority; +perhaps indeed in Austria on that very account. +</p> + +<p> +Let us take things as they are. Not only will the +independent infallibility of the Pope not destroy these +prejudices and objections which draw away so many +from the faith, but it will increase and intensify +them. There are many who in heart are not alienated +from the Catholic Church, but who yet think of what +they term a separation of Church and State. It is certain +that several of the leaders of public opinion are on +this side, and will take occasion from the proposed +definition to effect their object. The example of France +will soon be copied more or less all over Europe, and to +the greatest injury of the clergy and the Church herself. +The compilers of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, whether they desire +it or not, are introducing a new era of mischief, if the +subject-matter of papal infallibility is not accurately +defined, or if it can be supposed that under the head of +morals the Pope will give decisions on the civil and +<pb n='832'/><anchor id='Pg832'/> +political acts of sovereigns and nations, laws and rights, +to which a public authority will be attributed.<note place='foot'>This is emphatically asserted in a sermon preached last year at Kensington +by Archbishop Manning, where he says, speaking in the Pope's +name, <q>I claim to be the Supreme Judge and director of the consciences +of men; of the peasant that tills the field and the prince that sits on the +throne; of the household that lives in the shade of privacy <emph>and the Legislature +that makes laws for kingdoms</emph>—I am the sole last Supreme Judge +of what is right and wrong.</q></note> Every +one of any political cultivation knows what seeds of +discord are contained in our <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, and to what perils +it exposes even the temporal power of the Holy See. +</p> + +<p> +To explain this more minutely in detail would take +too long and might be indiscreet, for were I to say all, +I might easily bring forward things it is more prudent +to suppress. However, I have delivered my conscience, +so far as is allowed me, and so let my words be taken +in good part. I know well that everything in the world +has its difficulties, and one must not always shrink from +action because greater evil may follow. But I put the +matter before the reverend fathers, not that they may +instantly conform to my opinion, but in order that +they may give a full and ripe consideration to the +arguments of all parties. I know too that we must +not childishly quail before public opinion, but neither +should we obstinately resist it; it is wiser and more +prudent often to reconcile one's-self with it, and in +every case to take it into account. I know, lastly, that +the Church needs no arm of flesh, yet she does not reject +the approval and aid of civil society, and did not, I +think, look back with regret from the time of Constantine +<pb n='833'/><anchor id='Pg833'/> +to the time of Nero. So much for the practical +consequences of the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, my desire is (1.) that the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> should be +deferred for a later discussion, because it has not been +introduced into the Council in a sufficiently worthy +manner; (2.) that it should meanwhile be revised, and +the limits of infallibility more accurately marked out, so +as to leave no handle for future sophistries and attacks; +(3.) but, best of all, that the question of infallibility +should be let drop altogether on account of its manifold +inconveniences. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='834'/><anchor id='Pg834'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix II.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Letters on the Council from French Bishops</hi>.<note place='foot'>These letters are taken from the <hi rend='italic'>Journal des Débats</hi> of May 6 and 11. +The Bishops of Marseilles and Montpellier are said to be the writers.</note> +</p> + +<div> +<head>I.</head> + +<p> +Votre judicieuse dissertation est pleine de sens et de +la meilleure critique; mais c'est bien de cela qu'il s'agit +aujourd'hui! On veut se tromper et tromper; le reste +importe peu. Ce qui importe le plus, ce qui nous +sauvera, je l'espère, mieux que toutes discussions avec +des gens de mauvaise foi ou de parti pris, c'est d'établir +des bases incontestables et de faire que la saine opinion +publique soutienne les vrais intérêts de l'Église. +</p> + +<p> +1. Le Gallicanisme n'est pas une doctrine, pas même +une opinion, c'est une simple négation de prétentions +nées au onzième siècle, et une résistance à ces prétentions, +au nom de la tradition ancienne et constante des +Églises. L'ultramontanisme, au contraire, est une +doctrine, une opinion qui est venue s'entre sur le vieux +tronc et qui a poussé des jets de croyances positives. +Muselée au Concile de Florence, écartée au Concile de +<pb n='835'/><anchor id='Pg835'/> +Trente, cette opinion reparaît furieuse au Concile du +Vatican. +</p> + +<p> +2. Le Gallicanisme est improprement nommé. Son <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>veto</foreign> +appartient à toutes les nations Catholiques. L'Espagne +en soutenait la force antique, Saint François de Sales en +vengeait les droits au nom des privileges de la maison +de Savoie, et aujourd'hui, nous autres Français, nous +l'avons trouvé faible chez nous, en comparaison de sa +vitalité en Allemagne, en Autriche, en Hongrie, en +Portugal, en Amérique, et jusqu'au fond de l'Orient. +</p> + +<p> +3. Notre faiblesse, en ce moment, ne vient ni des +Écritures, ni de la tradition des Pères, ni des monumens +des Conciles Généraux et de l'histoire. Elle vient +de notre défaut de liberté, qui est radical. Une minorité +imposante qui représente la foi de plus de 100 +millions de Catholiques, c'est-à-dire de presque la moitié +de l'Eglise universelle, est écrasée par le joug imposé de +règlemens restrictifs et contraires aux traditions conciliaires. +Par des députations que nous n'avons pas +réellement choisies et qui osent introduire dans le texte +discuté des paragraphes non discutés, par une commission +pour les interpellations imposée par l'autorité; +par le défaut absolu de discussion, réplique, objection, +interpellation; par des journaux que l'on encourage +pour la traquer, pour soulever contre elle le clergé des +diocèses; par les nonciatures qui viennent à la rescousse, +quand les journaux ne suffisent pas pour tout bouleverser, +c'est-à-dire pour ériger en témoins de la foi les +prêtres contre les évêques, et ne plus laisser à ces juges +divins que le rôle de députés du clergé secondaire avec +<pb n='836'/><anchor id='Pg836'/> +mandat impératif, et blâme si on ne répond pas au +mandat. La minorité est écrasée surtout par tout le +poids de la suprême autorité qui fait peser sur elle les +éloges et encouragemens qu'elle adresse, <emph>par brefs</emph>, aux +prêtres, et par toutes les manifestations à Dom Guéranger +contre M. de Montalembert et autres. +</p> + +<p> +4. La majorité n'est pas libre; car elle se produit par +un appoint considérable de prélats qui ne sauraient +être témoins de la foi d'Églises naissantes ou mourantes. +Or, cet appoint, qui se compose du chiffre énorme de +tous les vicaires apostoliques, du chiffre relativement +trop fort des évêques Italiens et des États Pontificaux, +cet appoint n'est pas libre. C'est une armée toute faite, +toute acquise, endoctrinée, enrégimentée, disciplinée, +que l'on menace, si elle bronche, de la famine ou de la +<emph>disponibilité</emph>, et l'on a été jusqu'à donner de l'argent pour +ramener quelques transfuges. Donc, il est évident qu'il +n'y a pas de liberté suffisante.—La conclusion ultérieure +est qu'il n'y a pas <emph>œcuménicité nette et plausible</emph>. Et +ceci n'infirme en rien les vrais principes: l'Église est et +reste infaillible dans les Conciles Généraux; seulement +il faut que les conciles présentent tous les caractères +d'œcuménicité; convocation légitime, liberté pleine +pour les jugemens, confirmation par le Pape. Si une +seule de ces conditions manque, tout peut être révoqué +en doute. On a eu le Brigandage d'Ephèse, ce qui n'a +pas empêché d'avoir eu ensuite un vrai Concile de ce +nom. On pourrait avoir <hi rend='italic'>Ludibrium Vaticanum</hi>; ce qui +n'empêcherait pas de tout réparer dans de nouvelles et +sérieuses assises.... +</p> + +<pb n='837'/><anchor id='Pg837'/> + +<p> +Vous pourrez répandre ces réflexions, je crois que le +grand remède aujourd'hui nous doit venir du dehors ... +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II.</head> + +<p> +Je n'ai point parle une seule fois, je ne parlerai pas +davantage dans la suite. Je n'aime ni les gens qui +posent, ni les choses complétement inutiles. <emph>J'agis</emph> +depuis quatre mois, et je crois avoir rendu quelques +services par ce moyen qui en dépit de toutes les +entraves, nous a donné trois représentations, une commission +internationale, des commissions de nations et +137 signataires<note place='foot'>Lire: spartiates.</note> qui succomberont avec honneur et +horions, si l'on continue à nous traiter aussi mal. +</p> + +<p> +Je crois inutiles tous efforts pour résister à l'aveuglement +de l'orgueil moyen-âge, toutes Notes diplomatiques, +toutes menaces qui ne sauraient aboutir, et dont je +déplorerais le premier l'exécution, si elle était possible. +Le remède n'est pas là; on se jouera de tout, et on ira +triomphalement aux abîmes. +</p> + +<p> +Quand on a affaire à des gens qui ne craignent +qu'une chose, il faut se servir de cette chose,—c'est-à-dire +de l'opinion publique. +</p> + +<p> +Il faut par ce moyen établir ce qui est vrai—point +d'autorité parceque point de liberté. Le défaut de +liberté. Le défaut de liberté, gros comme des montagnes, +crève les yeux; il repose sur des faits notoires, +appréciables pour tous, et sa constatation publique est +la seule planche de salut dans la tourmente inouïe que +subit l'Église. +</p> + +<pb n='838'/><anchor id='Pg838'/> + +<p> +A notre arrivée, tout était fait sans nous. Toutes les +mailles du réseau étaient serrées, et les jésuites qui out +monté le traquenard ne doutaient pas un instant que +nous y serions pris. Ils voulaient nous faire poser par +enchantement la pierre angulaire de leur fronton, et se +seraient charges ensuite, sans nous, de bâtir le portail de +leur édifice en un clin d'œil. +</p> + +<p> +Nous avons donc trouvé un règlement tout fait,—c'est-à-dire +des menottes. Pour faire droit à nos +plaintes, on a serré de plus belle, et nous jouissons de +l'ancien brodequin que Louis <hi rend='smallcaps'>xvi.</hi> a supprimé. Pour +être vrai, il faut dire que les tourmenteurs out fait la +chose avec toute la grâce imaginable. Nous avons +trouvé une majorité toute faite, très compacte, plus que +suffisante en nombre, parfaitement disciplinée et qui a +reçu au besoin instructions, injonctions, menaces, prison, +argent. Le système des candidatures officielles est distancé +de 100 kilomètres. +</p> + +<p> +Une commission, la plus utile, celle où l'on peut +adresser ses réclamations, a été créée et imposée d'office. +</p> + +<p> +Mais il faut dire à sa louange qu'elle ne fonctionne +pas, parce qu'elle ne répond jamais ou qu'elle ne repond +qu'aux membres de la majorité. Nous avons été libres +de nommer les autres commissions, c'est-à-dire que la +majorité fictive a pu les créer à l'aide de listes dressées +et lithographiées. +</p> + +<p> +Restait la parole; mais à quelles conditions? Défense +de répliquer un mot, de discuter, d'éclairer. Si on voulait +parler, il fallait se faire inscrire, et le lendemain, ou +deux jours après, quand tout était refroidi, on pouvait +<pb n='839'/><anchor id='Pg839'/> +venir ennuyer l'assemblée par un discours. Défense +alors de sortir du thème donné aux écoliers (excepté +pour MM. de la majorité) et quand on a tenté de parler +de liberté, de règlement, de commission, d'acoustique, de +décentralisation, de désitalianisation, on a vu se produire +les scènes tumultueuses qui ont démoli les Cardinaux +Rauscher et Schwarzenberg, les Évêques de Colocza, de +Bosnie, d'Halifax, tandis qu'on trouvait bon que +Moulins, Belley et d'autres introduisissent de force la +grande question à propos de la vie des clercs. +</p> + +<p> +La pauvre petite minorité est en butte aux injures, +aux calomnies, et traquée par la <hi rend='italic'>Civiltà</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>l'Univers</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>le +Monde</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>l'Union</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>l'Osservatore</hi> et <hi rend='italic'>la Correspondance de +Rome</hi>. Ces journaux sont autorisés et encouragés. Ils +soulèvent contre nous le clergé de nos diocèses, et ce +clergé applaudi. Un de nous a osé écrire contre son +collègue, est il n'a pas reçu un blâme officiel. +</p> + +<p> +Mais voici ce qui achève d'opprimer notre liberté: +elle est écrasée de tout le poids du respect que nous +portons à notre chef. +</p> + +<p> +La question est pendante; elle n'est pas même à +l'ordre du jour, les juges de droit divin sont réunis et +attendent pour la traiter. Or, en pleines assises, le chef +se sert de sa haute et divine autorité pour blâmer +devant les prêtres qui lui sont présentés <emph>leurs</emph> évêques +<emph>mineurs</emph>. Il fait l'éloge funèbre de M. de Montalembert +devant 400 personnes; il écrit à Dom Guéranger, à +l'Abbé de Cabrières de Nîmes, qui s'est dressé devant +l'Évêque d'Orléans, aux diocèses dont les prêtres font +des Adresses pour forcer la main à <emph>leurs mandataires</emph>; +<pb n='840'/><anchor id='Pg840'/> +et il fait tout cela en termes tels que <hi rend='italic'>la Gazette du Midi</hi> +et <foreign lang='it' rend='italic'>tutti quanti</foreign> déclarent qu'il n'est plus permis ni aux +évêques ni à personne de soutenir le contraire; et on +appelle cela de la liberté! +</p> + +<p> +On nous menace de passer par-dessus une minorité +imposante, contrairement à toute la tradition, de fouler +aux pieds la règle suprême de saint Vincent de Lerins: +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus</foreign>. On prêche +que l'unanimité morale n'est pas nécessaire, que le chef +est maître de tout, et que nous devons rendre des services +et non point des sentences, faire de l'affection +quand il s'agit de la foi. Voilà notre liberté! Un +Cardinal me disait pour conclusion: <q>Mon cher, nous +allons aux abîmes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Tout cela est capable d'ébranler les faibles, de désagréger +ce qui tient à si peu. +</p> + +<p> +Je crois vous avoir peint la position ce qu'elle est. +Priez pour nous, faites valoir la chose, parce qu'elle est +<emph>vraie</emph>, parce que je crois servir l'Eglise en vous la +révélant. +</p> + +<p> +Après mes souffrances de cet hiver, je ne pense pas +pouvoir affronter les chaleurs.... D'ailleurs, Dieu seul +peut nous sauver. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='841'/><anchor id='Pg841'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix III.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Difficultés de la Situation a Rome.</hi><note place='foot'>From the <hi rend='italic'>Gazette de France</hi> of June 28. The Vicar-General of an +eminent French Bishop, who had been at Rome, is the reputed author.</note> +</p> + +<div> +<head>I.</head> + +<p> +La question de l'infaillibilité pontificale, devenue, +contre l'attente universelle, l'objet capital du Concile du +Vatican depuis son ouverture, ne semble pas toucher +encore à une solution immédiate. Cette grave question +qui devait, au dire de certains hommes, être définie par +acclamation dès les premières séances du Concile, puis +le jour de l'Epiphanie, puis, après de courts débats, pour +la fête de Saint Joseph ou le 25 Mars jour de l'Annonciation; +différée de jour en jour à raison des énormes +difficultés qu'elle rencontre, à la grande surprise des +partisans de l'infaillibilité, doit enfin, nous dit-on, être, +sans nouveau délai, résolue solennellement le 29 Juin, +jour de la fête du Prince des Apôtres. Si telle est +véritablement la pensée des Présidents du Concile, il +semble difficile qu'elle puisse se réaliser. Quelques +jours seulement nous séparent de cette solennité, et +près de cent orateurs sont inscrits pour traiter cette +question devant le Concile. Dans cette situation, il +faut qu'on choisisse entre trois partis: ou supprimer +<pb n='842'/><anchor id='Pg842'/> +toute discussion, ou proroger le Concile, ou exiger qu'il +poursuive ses travaux jusqu'à ce qu'enfin toutes les +difficultés soient pleinement éclaircies, et que tous les +Pères puissent donner leur suffrage en parfaite connaissance +de cause. +</p> + +<p> +Supprimer, ou du moins restreindre la discussion de +telle sorte que la conscience d'un nombre considérable +de Pères qui sentent vivement toute la gravité de la +question et les difficultés de tout genre dont elle est +hérissée, ne soit pas pleinement satisfaite, ce serait +violer toutes les règles des délibérations conciliares que +nous voyons de siècle en siècle pratiquées avec la +liberté et la maturité la plus complète. Rien ne saurait +dispenser d'un examen approfondi, lorsqu'il s'agit d'imposer +un dogme nouveau à la croyance des fidèles; et, +au dire des théologiens, toute définition rendue sans +une discussion préalable qui porte jusqu'à l'évidence le +caractère de doctrine révélée dans le point mis en délibération, +demeure par cela même frappée de nullité. +Il suffit de parcourir rapidement les actes des Conciles +Œcuméniques pour se convaincre des patientes recherches, +de la sage lenteur qu'ils out apportées à leurs +délibérations; et il est incontestable que les questions +à résoudre dans ces grandes assemblées étaient loin de +présenter les difficultés qui se rencontrent dans celle +qui s'agite en ce moment. Le monde Chrétien n'ignore +pas cela, et il ne verrait pas d'un œil indifférent un +jugement solennel, en une matière qui touche à la +constitution même de l'Eglise, prononcé à la hâte et +par un coup de majorité. +</p> + +<pb n='843'/><anchor id='Pg843'/> + +<p> +Sans doute ceux qui tiennent dans leurs mains la +direction du Concile, se persuadent que la question est +depuis longtemps assez discutée pour qu'on sache à +quoi s'en tenir sans de plus amples recherches; et, +parce qu'à leurs yeux l'infaillibilité du Pape est une +vérité, ils regardent toute nouvelle discussion comme +une pure formalité que rien ne commande impérieusement. +Mais par cela même que la question est discutée +depuis plusieurs siècles, et que l'on discute encore avec +science, érudition et bonne foi, il faut conclure évidemment +que la lumière n'est pas encore faite à ce point +qu'on puisse dire que telle est incontestablement la +tradition antique et universelle. +</p> + +<p> +Si à leurs yeux l'infaillibilité du Pape est une vérité +certainement révélée, et qu'ils tiennent à précipiter la +définition par égard pour certaines impatiences, ils ont +un moyen bien simple de les satisfaire, sans commettre +une violation des lois conciliaires. Dans le système ultramontain, +le Pape étant infaillible, et, du consentement +de tous les catholiques, l'Église universelle ne pouvant +jamais accepter l'erreur et y adhérer, toute définition <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ex +cathedrâ</foreign> sera immanquablement suivie de l'assentiment +de tout le corps de l'Église. Pie <hi rend='smallcaps'>ix</hi>., assure-t-on, est profondément +convaincu de son infaillibilité comme Pontife +suprême. Eh bien! de deux choses l'une: ou il faut +que le concile agisse en concile, et par conséquent avec +circonspection, pesant avec une attention scrupuleuse +les raisons graves, les faits, les textes allégués de part +et d'autre; ou le Pape, en vertu de son autorité apostolique, +par un acte des plus solennels, doit trancher +<pb n='844'/><anchor id='Pg844'/> +toutes les difficultés et définir lui-même le dogme de +cette infaillibilité qu'il croit être un apanage essentiel +de la dignité suprême dont il est revêtu. Pourquoi ne +pas tenter cette expérience? Si l'Église adhère à sa +décision, son infaillibilité est très canoniquement établie: +si elle n'adhère pas, il est évident qu'il ne peut prétendre +à ce privilège. La question est alors définitivement +établie, et toute dispute cesse. Jusqu'ici, aucune +décision nette, précise et solennelle sur ce point n'a été +donnée; hésiter sur l'emploi de ce moyen, ne serait-ce +pas douter de cette infaillibilité? Et si, en l'écartant +on veut que le Concile prenne lui-même la responsabilité +d'une définition dogmatique, il est alors de toute convenance, +de toute justice, de toute nécessité qu'il ne +prononce qu'après l'examen le plus approfondi. +</p> + +<p> +L'état des esprits dans le Concile et hors du Concile, +les discours prononcés, les écrits nombreux publiés de +part et d'autre, prouvent évidemment, aux yeux de +quiconque juge sans parti pris et avec une parfaite impartialité, +que la question, depuis 1682, pour ne pas +remonter plus haut, n'a pas encore fait un seul pas; +elle en est toujours au même point. L'étude la plus +attentive de la Tradition n'a pas donné de nouvelles +lumières à ceux qui sont capables de ces études, et sans +doute l'état de la question dans cette sphère mérite une +attention tout exceptionnelle, et bien différente de celle +que prétend attirer sur soi un enthousiasme factice ou +irréfléchi. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='845'/><anchor id='Pg845'/> + +<div> +<head>II.</head> + +<p> +La prorogation du Concile serait done la mesure la +plus rationelle et la plus prudente. Mais les impatiences +provoquées, enflammées de plus en plus par toute +sorte de manœuvres, comment les contenir? Ces +feuilles, ces écrits, cette propagande pieuse, qui les +excitaient par la promesse d'une satisfaction prochaine, +tout cela ne va-t-il pas devenir l'objet d'un mépris +universel, pour avoir leurré si longtemps les âmes +honnêtes et religieuses d'une espérance si lente à se +réaliser? Mais que faire! Telle est la difficulté de la +situation qu'on a si imprudemment créée. S'il faut que +le Concile décide, il ne reste plus qu'à le proroger, pour +qu'il puisse un peu plus tard reprendre ses travaux avec +toute la patience et la liberté d'esprit qu'ils réclament: +ou bien il faut qu'il les poursuive actuellement sans +désemparer, jusqu'à ce qu'enfin tout soit mûr pour le +jugement à prononcer. +</p> + +<p> +Mais ici deux tristes réflexions se présentent à +l'esprit. D'abord, quelle rigueur,—le mot n'est pas +excessif, et on l'a entendu sortir de la bouche de bonnes +femmes Romaines, au moment où les vénérables Pères +faisaient cortège au Sauveur du monde porté en triomphe +à la procession solennelle de la Fête-Dieu;—quelle +rigueur ne serait-ce pas de retenir plus longtemps, dans +cette saison de chaleurs accablantes, sous un climat que +les Romains eux-mêmes se hâtent de fuir à cette époque +de l'année, des vieillards épuisés par l'âge, par les infirmités, +par les fatigues de tout genre, fatigues du corps, +<pb n='846'/><anchor id='Pg846'/> +fatigues de l'esprit, angoisses de l'âme en présence des +plus terribles dangers pour leurs troupeaux particuliers, +pour l'Église universelle, pour la société tout entière; +des vieillards qui sentent le poids énorme de cette +responsabilité, qui entendent tous les jours la voix de +l'opinion publique, et la voix plus puissante et plus +pénétrante de la religion alarmée; des vieillards, parmi +lesquels plusieurs ont déjà succombé, plusieurs autres +sont atteints de maladie, tous sont privés de l'air vivifiant +du pays natal, des soins particuliers que ne sauraient +donner des mains étrangères, des consolations qu'un +pasteur fidèle trouve toujours au milieu d'un peuple +qui l'aime. +</p> + +<p> +Les séances en Congrégation Générale, continuées +presque tous les jours sans interruption, durent, depuis +huit heures et demie du matin jusqu'à une heure +de l'après-midi. Le devoir de la prière, la récitation +de l'office canonial, la méditation des matières à discuter, +la préparation des discours à prononcer, rien de +tout cela ne peut être suspendu. Des jeunes gens +robustes ne résisteraient pas longtemps à ce travail si +multiplié, si continu, à l'effort d'une attention soutenue +pendant les longues heures des séances conciliaires +sur des questions qui ne pèsent pas uniquement sur la +pensée, mais aussi et plus encore sur la conscience, et +enfin à l'action accablante des fortes chaleurs, dont +l'intensité, par l'agglomeration de six cents prélats, redouble +sans mesure dans une salle d'ailleurs extrêmement +incommode sous tous les rapports. On entend +les plus vigoureux de corps et d'esprit déclarer qu'ils +<pb n='847'/><anchor id='Pg847'/> +sont à bout de forces. Et l'on persisterait encore à +les retenir! +</p> + +<p> +Mais il y aurait encore là quelque chose de plus +grave. Retenir les évêques jusqu'à ce qu'une définition +de l'infaillibilité pontificale ait pu être rendue +après une discussion parfaitement libre, et aussi longue +qu'on doit l'augurer du nombre des orateurs inscrits +et des questions graves et nombreuses qui se rattachent +à cette définition, c'est leur dire: évêques, il faut vous +résoudre à mourir ou à bâcler en toute hâte un jugement +duquel dépendent les destinées de l'Église et du +monde. Oui, mourez, accablées par l'ennui, la fatigue, +le climat dévorant, l'âge et les infirmités; ou, si vous +tenez à vivre encore, foulez aux pieds les règles les +plus sacrées des conciles, sacrifiez votre conscience, et +avec la vôtre celle de plusieurs millions d'âmes! +</p> + +<p> +Sous le rapport de la liberté de discussion, bien +des choses dans le Concile du Vatican ne ressemblent +pas aux anciens Conciles Généraux, toujours vénérés +dans l'Église. Au dedans, au dehors, un parti a exercé +sur les Pères une pression toujours croissante. Au dedans, +des règlements mal faits, des interruptions sans +cause, dont le résultat inévitable était de décourager +les hommes les plus fermes, et d'empêcher ou d'affaiblir +la manifestation de la vérité; une certaine fraction +de l'assemblée, turbulente, impétueuse, arrêtant par des +murmures les prélats les plus vénérables dont la doctrine +ne se pliait pas à ses idées; les présidents fermant les +yeux sur ces faits et n'ayant de sévérités que pour les +adversaires de l'infaillibilité; la discussion brusquement +<pb n='848'/><anchor id='Pg848'/> +arrêtée au gré de ceux qu'elle déconcertait. Au +dehors, des journalistes qui ne cessaient de prodiguer +l'insulte aux évêques contraires à leurs opinions. +</p> + +<p> +Rome est tout émue d'un fait récent concernant +l'un des membres les plus éminents du Concile, le Cardinal +Guidi, Archevêque de Bologne, précédemment +religieux Dominicain, et très célèbre professeur de théologie +dans la capitale du monde Chrétien. Il avait +parlé dans le Concile sur la question de l'infaillibilité, +exigeant pour celle des définitions pontificales le concours +de l'épiscopat. Le jour même, il est mandé et +admonesté du ton le plus sévère. <q>Saint-Père, a répondu +le cardinal, j'ai dit aujourd'hui ce que j'ai enseigné +au grand jour pendant plusieurs années à votre +collège de la Minerve, sans que jamais personne ait +trouvé cet enseignement repréhensible. L'orthodoxie +de mon enseignement avait dû être attestée à votre +Sainteté lorsqu'elle daigna me choisir pour aller à +Vienne combattre certains docteurs allemands dont les +principes ébranlaient les fondements de la foi catholique. +Que mon discours d'aujourd'hui soit soumis à +l'examen d'une commission de théologiens; je ne redoute +pas ce jugement.</q> Des paroles menaçantes pour +le cardinal ont terminé cet entretien. Le matin, après +la séance, un prélat domestique disait dans la salle +même du Concile: après un pareil discours, le cardinal +devrait etre enfermé pendant dix jours dans un couvent +pour y vaquer aux exercices spirituels. +</p> + +<p> +La puissance absolue du Pape, son opinion visible, +le pouvoir arbitraire qu'exercent les présidents, la pétulance +<pb n='849'/><anchor id='Pg849'/> +de certains prélats, trop notoirement passionnés +et violents; tout cela pèse sensiblement sur les +membres les plus sages de l'assemblée qui ne peuvent +s'empêcher de s'en plaindre avec tristesse dans des +entretiens intimes. Faut-il s'étonner que plusieurs, le +fait est très certain, expriment le désir d'un vote secret, +s'il était possible? +</p> + +<p> +C'est avec une douleur profonde que nous racontons +toutes ces choses. Mais la situation de l'Église en ce +moment est telle qu'on ne peut se dispenser de parler. +Au Concile du Vatican se traite une question de l'ordre +le plus élevé Chacun a le droit de savoir comment +est conduit ce grand procès, qui est le procès de tous. +Il s'agit de la paix du monde, il s'agit aussi de choses +qui sont au-dessus de tous les intérêts périssables, de la +foi, de la conscience et du salut éternel des âmes. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='850'/><anchor id='Pg850'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix IV.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Letter of a French Bishop to Count Daru.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +On sait à Rome que vous aviez l'intention de rédiger +une note ou un memorandum qui devrait être appuyé +par les puissances. +</p> + +<p> +Si vous agissez, vous serez appuyés. Ici les diplomates +se plaignent de votre inaction. +</p> + +<p> +Mais il faut agir immédiatement, on veut introduire +l'infaillibilité après Pâques. +</p> + +<p> +Vous ne pouvez rien faire par le M. de Banneville. +Ses collègues ne le comptent pour rien, sinon pour un +obstacle. +</p> + +<p> +Il ne faut pas vous mettre exclusivement sur le +terrain des canons des Ecclesia. On vous répondrait, +soit en supprimant les Canons auxquels vous vous +opposez; soit en disant que cela ne vous touche pas, +à cause du concordat; soit, enfin, en les expliquant +dans un sens qui vous paraîtra satisfaisant, quitte à +décréter après tous les Canons, tous les Syllabus qu'ils +voudront, et les plus formidables. Mais il y a un +terrain où vous êtes invincibles, et sur lequel les +puissances vous suivent. C'est celui de la liberté du +<pb n='851'/><anchor id='Pg851'/> +Concile et du droit publique de l'Église, sous la protection +duquel vos évêques sont venus à Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Cette liberté n'existe plus. Ce droit est violé sur +un point que plus de 100 évêques ont déclaré de la +dernière importance. +</p> + +<p> +Leur protestation vous donne un point de départ et +des arguments invincibles. +</p> + +<p> +Ces évêques déclarent que le Règlement est contraire +à la loi de l'Église sur le point décisif de la +Majorité. Car ce droit, depuis Nicée jusqu'à Trente, +déclare que la règle indisputable et certaine pour les +définitions dogmatiques c'est l'unanimité morale, et +non la majorité. +</p> + +<p> +Un nombre immense de faits confirme leur protestation: +</p> + +<p> +Les scènes de violence faites à Haynald et à Strossmayer.—Les +Présidents n'ont pas cherché à protéger +leur droit et liberté de parole, tout au contraire. +</p> + +<p> +La précipitation de la discussion par les Présidents. +</p> + +<p> +Le Schema de Fide, 4 chapitres, 20 pages, canons +avec anathèmes, a été distribué 24 heures seulement +avant l'ouverture de la discussion, on a voté sur 47 +amendements en 5 quarts d'heure. +</p> + +<p> +Le lendemain de là scène avec Strossmayer, on a +lu un <hi rend='italic'>Monitum</hi>, non pas pour admonéter les interrupteurs, +mais pour recommander aux orateurs de se +presser, de peur qu'ils n'ennuyent l'assemblée, et n'en +provoquent des manifestations. +</p> + +<p> +Ce <hi rend='italic'>Monitum</hi> est une provocation aux interruptions. +Quelquefois un évêque est reçu avec des murmures +avant de commencer. +</p> + +<pb n='852'/><anchor id='Pg852'/> + +<p> +Les demandes de la Minorité: +</p> + +<p> +D'une salle où on puisse les entendre. +</p> + +<p> +De bureaux, pour les discussions préliminaires, qui +enverraient des Commissaires à la Députation. +</p> + +<p> +De la liberté d'imprimer leurs discours et mémoires +pour les distribuer parmi les pères. +</p> + +<p> +Que les auteurs d'amendements puissent les expliquer +et les défendre dans la Commission, et puissent +avoir le droit de répondre dans les discussions. +</p> + +<p> +D'un procès-verbal des séances. +</p> + +<p> +Sur la majorité et l'unanimité. +</p> + +<p> +Toutes ces demandes sont restées sans réponse et +sans effet. +</p> + +<p> +La pression exercée sur les Orientaux. +</p> + +<p> +La scène faite au Patriarche Chaldéen. +</p> + +<p> +L'emprisonnement intimé à l'Archévêque d'Antioche +et au chef de sa communauté. +</p> + +<p> +L'arrestation et les coups donnés au prêtre, secrétaire +de l'Arch. de Diarbelair. +</p> + +<p> +Les menaces aux Melchites, Maronites, et Chaldéens. +</p> + +<p> +Le langage tenu par le pape lui même. Les cas de +Montalembert et de Falloux. +</p> + +<p> +Les lettres du pape à Guéranger, Cabrières, etc., +traitant les Évêques de l'Opposition en ennemis. +</p> + +<p> +Les allocutions publiques roulant presque toutes sur +l'Infaillibilité. +</p> + +<p> +Les cadeaux faits aux Vicaires Apostoliques en les +priant de ne pas l'abandonner. +</p> + +<p> +Attitude de la presse approuvée par le Vatican, +exploitant ces lettres, et appelant les évêques à se retracter, +en les dénonçant à leur clergé. +</p> + +<pb n='853'/><anchor id='Pg853'/> + +<p> +Même le journal officiel de Rome traitant la minorité +d'alliés des Franc-maçons. Après tout cela, il n'y a pas +de liberté au Concile. +</p> + +<p> +L'ambassadeur que vous enverrez en recevra des +preuves péremptoires. Les autres puissances sont déjà +plus avancées que la France: la Prusse, la Hongrie, +même la Turquie. +</p> + +<p> +A nom de l'ordre publique menacé par l'inévitable +refus de reconnaître ce Concile. Au nom de votre droit, +ayant rendu possible la réunion du Concile, de protéger +la liberté de vos évêques. +</p> + +<p> +Dire— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Ce Concile ne peut pas continuer dans les conditions +actuelles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Nous protestons dès à présent contre la Non-liberté +manifeste du Concile.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Achevez ce que vous avez déjà commencé.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Il y a des points sur lesquels vous pouvez espérer +l'unanimité morale, sans violation de liberté.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Tenez une session publique sur les <hi rend='italic'>Schema de Fide</hi> +et de Discipline assez pour sauver votre honneur.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Et prorogez une assemblée qui, aux yeux des +évêques et du monde, ne possède plus ces conditions +d'ordre et de liberté sans lesquelles ce n'est pas un Concile.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Nous désirons que nos évêques retournent dans leurs +diocèses jusqu'à ce que les conditions soient plus favorables +pour la célébration d'un Concile.</q> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='854'/><anchor id='Pg854'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Appendix V.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Protestation contre le projet de précipiter la +Discussion.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +(<hi rend='italic'>Presented early in May.</hi>) +</p> + +<p> +Permettez, Monseigneur, que je proteste ici contre +un tel projet, s'il existe, et que je consigne entre vos +mains ma protestation. Saisir ainsi, irrégulièrement et +violemment, le Concile de cette question, c'est absolument +impossible. +</p> + +<p> +Cette discussion immédiate de l'Infaillibilité Pontificale, +avant toutes les autres questions qui la doivent +nécessairement précéder, ce renversement de l'ordre et +de la marche régulière du Concile, cette précipitation +passionnée dans l'affaire la plus délicate, et qui par sa +nature et ses difficultés, exige le plus de maturité et de +calme, tout cela serait non seulement illogique et +absurde, inconcevable, mais encore trahirait trop ouvertement +aux yeux du monde entier, chez ceux qui +imaginent de tels procédés, le dessein de peser sur le +Concile, et pour dire le vrai mot, serait absolument +contraire à la liberté des évêques. +</p> + +<p> +Comment une telle question, sous-introduite tout à +<pb n='855'/><anchor id='Pg855'/> +coup dans un chapitre annexé à un grand <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign>, le +dessein de ceux qui nous ont été soumis, passerait avant +tous les schemata déjà étudiés, avant toutes les autres +questions déjà discutées, et non encore résolues par le +Concile. +</p> + +<p> +Des questions fondamentales, essentiellement préliminaires +à toutes les autres; Dieu, sa personnalité, sa +providence, Jésus-Christ, sa divinité, sa redemption, sa +grâce, l'Église, on laisserait tout celà de coté pour se précipiter +sur cette question, dont nous n'avions entendu +parler avant le Concile presque qu'à des Journalistes, +dont la bulle de convocation ne parlait pas, dont le +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Schema</foreign> sur l'Église lui-même ne disait pas un seul mot. +</p> + +<p> +Et l'examen de cette nouvelle question, si compliquée, +cette discussion, si nécessaire, cette définition si grave, +tout cela se ferait à la hâte, violemment, au pied levé. +On ne nous laisserait ni le temps ni la liberté d'étudier +un point si important de doctrine avec gravité et à fond, +comme il doit l'être. Car aucun évêque ne peut, sans +blesser gravement sa conscience, déclarer de foi, sous +peine de damnation éternelle, un point de doctrine de +la révélation duquel il n'est pas absolument certain. Ce +serait, Monseigneur, dans le monde entier, une stupeur +et un scandale. Ce serait de plus autoriser trop manifestement +les calomnies de ceux qui disent que dans la +convocation du Concile, il y a eu une arrière pensée, et +que cette question qui n'était pas l'objet du Concile, +au fond devait être tout le Concile. Ceux qui poussent +à de tels excès oublient clairement toute prudence: il y +a un bon sens et une bonne foi publique qu'on ne blesse +pas impunément. +</p> + +<pb n='856'/><anchor id='Pg856'/> + +<p> +Sans doute on peut passer par dessus toutes les recriminations +des ennemis de l'Église; mais il y a des +difficultés avec lesquelles il faut nécessairement compter. +Eh bien! Éminence, si les choses venaient à se +passer de la sorte, je le dis avec toute la conviction de +mon âme, il y aurait lieu de craindre que des doutes +graves ne s'élèvent touchant la vérité même et la liberté +de ce Concile du Vatican. +</p> + +<p> +Que les choses se passent ainsi, on le peut, si on le +veut: on peut tout, contre la raison et le droit, avec la +force du nombre. +</p> + +<p> +Mais c'est lendemain, Éminence, que commenceraient +pour vous et pour l'Église les difficultés. +</p> + +<p> +Par un procédé aussi contraire à l'ordre régulier des +choses, à la marche essentielle des assemblées d'évêques +qui ont été de vrais Conciles, vous susciteriez incontestablement +une lutte dans l'Église et les consciences sur +la question de l'issue œcuménique de notre assemblée: +c'est à dire, tout ce qu'on peut imaginer aujourd'hui de +plus désastreux. +</p> + +<p> +Ceux qui essayent d'engager le Pape dans cette voie, +en l'abusant et le trompant, sont bien coupables. Mais +je ne doute pas que la sagesse du Saint-Père ne déjoue +toutes ces menées. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='857'/><anchor id='Pg857'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Advertisement.</head> + +<p> +Third Edition, Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Pope and the Council.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +By Janus. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Authorized Translation From The German.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Opinions of the Press. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Had the book been, as its title might at first seem to imply, merely a +Zeitschrift evoked by the exigencies of the present controversy, we should not +have noticed it here. It is because it has an independent and permanent interest +for the historical and theological student, quite apart from its bearing +on the controversies of the day, and contains a great deal of what, to the +immense majority of English, if not also of German readers, will be entirely +new matter, grouped round a common centre-point which gives unity and +coherence to the whole, that it falls strictly within the province of this +journal.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Academy</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 9</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>In this volume the main idea of the writers, the long fatal growth of the +principles which are now about to develop into the dogma of the Pope's +personal and exclusive infallibility, is traced in full detail, with a learning +which would be conspicuous in any of the divided branches of the Church, +with a plain-speaking which few Roman Catholics have been able to afford, +and with a sobriety and absence of exaggeration not common among Protestants.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Guardian</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>October 13</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>A profound and learned treatise, evidently the work of one of the first +theologians of the day, discussing with the scientific fulness and precision +proper to German investigation, the great doctrinal questions expected to +come before the Council, and especially the proposed dogma of Papal Infallibility. +There is probably no work in existence that contains at all, still less +within so narrow a compass, so complete a record of the origin and growth of +the infallibilist theory, and of all the facts of Church history bearing upon it, +and that too in a form so clear and concise as to put the argument within the +reach of any reader of ordinary intelligence, while the scrupulous accuracy of +the writer, and his constant reference to the original authorities for every +statement liable to be disputed, makes the monograph as a whole a perfect +storehouse of valuable information for the historical or theological student.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Saturday +Review</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 16</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It affords an opportunity for persons in this country to learn, on the +most direct authority, how the grave questions which just now agitate the +Church are regarded by members of a school within her pale, who profess to +yield to none in their loyal devotion to Catholic truth, but are unable to +identify its interests with the advance of Ultramontanism. Its aim is to show +that the object in chief of the coming Council is to elect Papal Infallibility +into an article—and therefore inevitably a cardinal article—of the Catholic +Faith. It purports to investigate by the light of history this and other questions +which are to be decided at the Council, as well as to serve as a contribution +to ecclesiastical history.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Morning Post</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 20</hi>. +</p> + +<pb n='858'/><anchor id='Pg858'/> + +<p> +<q>The concluding words of the volume, coming as they evidently do from +a great leader of thought among German Catholics, are so startling and suggestive +that we give the passage as it stands, while exhorting our readers to +lose no time in procuring and carefully perusing the whole volume for themselves.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Church +Herald</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 20</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is our intention to deal with this book hereafter as it deserves, for we +have reason to believe, we will not say to know, lest we should imitate the +vicious example of Janus, that the work is a fabrication of English and +German hands. Its name has been well chosen; Janus had two faces, which +nationally may mean English and German, but in morals signifies a character +not highly estimable for truth.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tablet</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 16</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>This extraordinary work should be read by the millions of Protestant +England, as the ablest and most authentic exposure of the ecclesiastical and +political despotism of Popery which exists in any language or any country.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rock</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>October 20</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>We feel, as we have already said, that it is hardly possible in a review to +give an adequate idea of the volume before us, considered merely as a storehouse +of facts on the Roman controversy, a value enhanced by the circumstance +that it is written by earnest but sorrowing members of that Church, +who desire, by its publication, to avert the progress of corruption and to save +the Church from the blundering threatened by the action of the Council. We +had marked many passages for extract in the course of our own examination. +Space, however, forbids our indulging ourselves. We regret this the less because +we feel assured that the book which we have so imperfectly noticed will +soon be in the hands of most persons interested in the question which is +debated.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>John Bull</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 23</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is of great importance at such a crisis that the public mind should be +thoroughly informed as to the points on which the judgment of the Council is +to be asked, or, to speak more correctly, as to the monstrous claims of the +Papacy to which it is expected to give its formal submission. Especially is it +desirable to understand clearly the exact position occupied by the <q>Liberal +Catholics,</q> men who are not prepared to forsake their Church nor to declare +war against all progress, and who, despite many discouragements, still cling +to the belief that it is possible to find some mode of reconciliation between +<q>Catholic</q> principles and modern ideas, and who resent such fanatical outbursts +as that of Archbishop Manning even more bitterly than Protestants +themselves. We attach, therefore, great value to a little volume just issued +on the <q>Pope and the Council,</q> by Janus, which contains a more complete +statement of the whole case than we have anywhere met with.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Nonconformist</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>October 27</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Beginning with a sketch of the errors and contradictions of the Popes, and +of the position which, as a matter of history, they held in the early Church, +the book proceeds to describe the three great forgeries by which the Papal +claims were upheld—the Isidorian decretals, the donation of Constantine, and +the decretum of Gratian. The last subject ought to be carefully studied by +all who wish to understand the frightful tyranny of a complicated system of +laws, devised not for the protection of a people, but as instruments for grinding +them to subjection. Then, after an historical outline of the general growth of +the Papal power in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the writers enter +upon the peculiarly episcopal and clerical question, pointing out how marvellously +every little change worked in one direction, invariably tending to throw +<pb n='859'/><anchor id='Pg859'/> +the rule of the Church into the power of Rome; and how the growth of new +institutions, like the monastic orders and the Inquisition, gradually withdrew +the conduct of affairs from the Bishops of the Church in general, and consolidated +the Papal influence. For all this, however, unless we could satisfy ourselves +with a mere magnified table of contents, the reader must be referred to +the book itself, in which he will find the interest sustained without flagging +to the end.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pall Mall Gazette</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 29</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is very able, learned, compact, and conclusive. The subject of Papal +Infallibility is admirably treated, with a thorough mastery of Church history. +We commend it to the perusal of all who take an interest in the progress of +ecclesiastical questions, and wish to become more nearly acquainted with +the Romish Church, its doings, pretensions, decrees—especially with the +conduct of its successive heads. It is a perfect storehouse of facts brought +together with telling effect. Let the voice of these German Catholics be +listened to by enlightened Englishmen of all creeds, and they will be in no +danger of ensnarement from the plausible rhetoric of Ultramontanism, whose +principles are opposed to our free institutions—to the glory and strength of +England.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Athenæum</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>October 30</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>In France, in Holland, and in Germany, there has already appeared a +multitude of disquisitions on this subject. Among these several are the +acknowledged compositions of men of high standing in the Roman Catholic +world,—men admittedly entitled to speak with the authority that must attach +to established reputation: but not one of them has hitherto produced a work +more likely to create a deep impression than the anonymous German publications +at the head of this notice. It is not a piece of merely polemical writing, +it is a treatise dealing with a large subject in an impressive though partisan +manner—a treatise grave in tone, solid in matter, and bristling with forcible +and novel illustrations.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Spectator</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>November 6</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is, as all our readers know, a history of how the Papal claims have +grown from their modest germs in the <emph>fifth</emph>, down to their full development in +the <emph>sixteenth</emph> century. This history, too, is accompanied by a corresponding +exhibition of the inconsistency of these claims with actual facts. But the +work is done with such elaborate care, and with such a well-marshalled and +complete view of the historical facts of the case, that it may well be bought +and read irrespective of the circumstances which have called it forth. It is a +full, able, and learned bill of indictment against Popery proper.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Literary +Churchman</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>November 13</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>This book, characterized by great ability, singular grasp, and scholarship, +demonstrates, with proof infallible, that the Ultramontane doctrine of the +Pope's infallibility is the centre of an arch based upon error, raised by cunning +craft, settled and cemented by shameless treachery. And this most damaging +exposure of Popery proceeds from divines calling themselves <q>faithful +Catholics.</q> No Ultramontane is able to sneer at the scholarship of the book; +nor can they take off the edge of its blows by ascribing it to the malice of +Protestants.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Record</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>November 17</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Yet on this and other documents of the same kind, the whole fabric of +Papal power and assumption has been built up. The forged donations of +Constantine, Pepin, and Charlemagne are the title-deeds by which its possessions +are held, and the <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Liber Pontificalis</foreign>, and Isidorian decretals, are the +authorities on which it rests for the assertion of a power inconsistent alike +with the rights of God and the liberties of man. We know of no book in which +<pb n='860'/><anchor id='Pg860'/> +the whole process is exposed with the same completeness and in the same +brief compass, and we commend it to our readers as one from which they will +derive an amount of valuable information for which otherwise they might +search in vain.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>English Independent</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>November 18</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The book before us is making England and Germany ring with valiant +and wise words of warning, which ought to make the representative of St. +Peter weep tears of honest grief over past and present, the crooked policy +of the one and the headstrong ambition of the other. As a rule, we may say +that anti-Papal literature is of the lowest grade of literary merit, filled with +illogical and inconclusive reasoning, and characterized by ignorance, bigotry, +and cant. The present work is a splendid exception, severe in tone, but not +unduly so, clear in statement, and unsparing in its dissection of the contradictions +involved in modern Ultramontane theories. Its German authorship +secures for it patient and exhaustive treatment of the subject; its Catholic +origin places its statements far above the ordinary suspicions of unfairness, +while it raises our admiration for the love of truth, which could lead men to +oppose so bravely the current of popular Roman thought.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Church Times</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>November 26</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Now, what this book of Janus proves is, that all these <foreign rend='italic'>à priori</foreign> reasons +for Papal Infallibility are absolutely worthless. They are beaten off the stage +entirely and altogether. There is not the smallest atom of ground for them +to stand upon.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Church Review</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>November 27</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>This work, written by continental Roman Catholics of the liberal school, +will be read in Protestant England with the deepest interest, and on more +accounts than one. Accustomed as we are so much to view this great +Church system of Rome with feelings of antagonism, it is well we should +know and learn to sympathize with able and earnest men within its body, who +are keenly alive to its weaknesses, and are anxiously seeking for light as to how +Christianity, as they have received it, may help to solve the perplexities of the +age. We should hope that no Protestant who reads this able treatise will feel +differently. At the same time, it has no little value for us Protestants, in +days when our Protestantism is so scornfully arraigned among ourselves; for +if anything can justify our position and deepen our gratitude to a merciful +Providence that has ruled our history, it is a candid work like this, proceeding +from what we must call the opposite camp.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Contemporary Review</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>December</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Rumour will, no doubt, be busy with its conjectures as to the name which +lurks beneath the <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>nom de plume</foreign> of <q>Janus.</q> We do not intend to offer any +contribution towards the elucidation of the mystery, unless it be a contribution +to say that the book bears internal evidence of being the work of a Catholic, +and that there are not many Catholics in Europe who could have written it. +Taking it all in all, it is no exaggerated praise to characterize it as the most +damaging assault on Ultramontanism that has appeared in modern times. Its +learning is copious and complete, yet so admirably arranged that it invariably +illustrates without overlaying the argument. The style is clear and simple, +and there is no attempt at rhetoric. It is a piece of cool and masterly dissection, +all the more terrible for the passionless manner in which the author +conducts the operation.</q>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Times</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>December 3</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> |