CHAPTER XV

PIUS VIII.—A PAPACY OF TWENTY MONTHS

 

On 22nd February 1829 the last Dies irae was sung beside the catafalque of Leo XII, and on the following day thirty-two cardinals went in the usual solemn procession from San Silvestro to the Quirinal. Five others, amongst them Bernetti and Rivarola, preferred, probably from fear, to be quietly conveyed apart to the Monte Cavallo.

Pasquino ridiculed this Conclave in carnival time :

"Conclave in Carnevale! oh cosa bella;

Ci daranno per papa un pulcinella."

But a large crowd of people was afoot on 23rd February. It was rumored that the secret societies had formed plots against the cardinals to attack them when they went into the Conclave, and numerous arrests had taken place during the days immediately preceding. Five hundred civic guards were under arms, patrols of soldiers went up and down the streets, and constables were distributed amongst the crowds. The public peace, however, was not disturbed.

The envoys of the foreign powers did not look forward to the coming election with great expectations. Chateaubriand, who at the time of the last Conclave had been the Foreign Minister of France, had in 1828 succeeded the Duke of Montmorency-Laval as French ambassador at Rome. Before the death of Leo XII he had already told his government that it would be the only salvation for Rome, if there came a pope who had the courage to appoint a number of younger cardinals, ready to place a young and strong man in the chair of St Peter. But there seemed no prospect of that. The steering of St Peter's ship would apparently for an incalculable time to come fall to the lot of old men surrounded by men on the verge of the grave. Chateaubriand saw with envy that the ambassadors of Austria and Spain were the only agents and correspondents for the Austrian and Spanish prelates, and that they had the right to remove any cleric of their nation who put any hindrance in their way. Amongst the French cardinals, on the contrary, there was more than one who preferred to act on his own initiative, and to make intrigues behind the back of the ministry and of the ambassador. On 3rd March Chateaubriand sent the French Foreign Minister a dispatch in which he wrote: "I will render the French cardinals all the services I can. If they ask me things that will be good for them to know, I will tell them what I know. If you will send me the King's orders as to the Conclave, I will communicate these to them. But if the cardinals come here with a hostile feeling towards the views entertained by His Majesty's government, if it becomes evident that they are not in accordance with the King's ambassador, if they speak a different language from me, if they go so far as to vote in the Conclave for some extreme man; or if they disagree among themselves, it will be very detrimental. It would be of greater benefit to the King's service if I begged to be recalled for the moment, than that our discord should become a public spectacle."

In order to get the French cardinals under his influence, Chateaubriand wished that they should live in the French embassy, although it cost a great deal of money to entertain such guests and their retinue. He was much occupied with the difficulty he had to solve, and he counted the former diplomatic tasks that had been confided to him as nothing in comparison with this. He was to influence an invisible society which was locked up in a prison with strictly guarded gates; he had neither money nor benefices to give away, and he had to face the passions of fifty infirm old men, in a struggle with stupidity, ignorance, fanaticism, cunning, and duplicity. The coming Conclave would be especially difficult, because religious questions were now being mixed up with political ones. The choice of a Head of the Church could never in his opinion have fallen at a more inopportune moment.

DIPLOMACY AND THE CONCLAVE  

The Sardinian ambassador at Rome, the Marchese Crosa, who sympathised with the Zelanti, was also displeased at the prospect of a new conclave. Shortly after its conclusion, he wrote home to his government, "that more than one of those who fear God, and are true-hearted, have complained that it is not possible for a man of character, honesty, and true religion to take part in a conclave more than once in his life, without being compelled to do so by his duties."

The Conclave of 1829 was, in its composition, not very different from that of 1823. Leo XII had been very sparing in the giving away of the hat, and his choice had not fallen upon important men; only a single one of the cardinals whom he had appointed, his old opponent, Cristaldi, who had played a great part as leader of the Zelanti, was sufficiently respected to be able to aspire to the tiara.

Sixteen cardinals immediately put a St Andrew's cross on the doors of their cells, as a sign that they did not wish to discuss with anybody, because they had firmly made up their minds whom to give their votes to. A majority, mostly consisting of Italians, were bent upon choosing a Zelante. The moderate party, which had been pretty strong in the last conclave, was weak in this, because it was without a leader. Consalvi was very much missed, and there was no one of his political school who had sufficient influence to be effective.

It very soon became evident that the contest would chiefly centre round four cardinals: Di Gregorio, Pacca, Cappellari, and Castiglioni. In the instruction, which the French Foreign Minister, Count Portalis, issued on behalf of Charles X to the French cardinals, a wish was expressed for an Italian, who was a moderate Zelante, of the type of Leo XII. Castiglioni or Di Gregorio would be preferred, but Brancadoro and Zurla would also be personae gratae. On the other hand, the French government could feel nothing but anxiety at seeing Giustiniani in St Peter's chair, on account of the extreme Zelantism he had displayed as nuncio at Madrid. Further, there ought not to be any idea of Della Somaglia being elected; he was a shadow that would disappear at the first breath of wind, and everything ought to be done to secure that Bernetti should continue as Secretary of State under the new Pope. Austria also desired a moderate man, of course preferably one who would, as Chateaubriand satirically expressed it, be weak in relation to the Court of Vienna. The aged Cardinal Albani was to be the confidential agent of the Austrian government in the Conclave, as he had been in 1823; and since he was a personal enemy of Di Gregorio it was certain that Di Gregorio's election would meet with resistance from Austria.

The aura of Di Gregorio was immediately evident, and on 6th March he received twenty-four votes, so that his enemies had to be prepared for the worst. The conclavist of the Cardinal, Bishop of Novara, the Piedmontese Pietro Dardano, who has left us a diary of his experiences during this and the following Conclave, relates that there was a great stir on that day amongst the cardinals. They put their heads together and forgot, with one solitary exception, to adore the Sacrament which was exposed, and to use their rosaries. As usual the secrets of the Conclave oozed out in the city of Rome, and on the morning of 7th March the Romans streamed up to the Monte Cavallo, because the rumor was current that Di Gregorio had been elected Pope. But the smoke of the burned voting papers which rose up from the chimney of the Conclave showed that the rumor was false, and on that very day Di Gregorio's enemy, Cardinal Albani, made his entry into the Conclave.

When he arrived, the tide turned against Di Gregorio. On the evening of 6th March Di Gregorio had only nineteen votes; on the morning of the 7th only thirteen, but on the 8th, the evening, he had again twenty. The change in the voting was no doubt due to Albani's agitation, and to influence from outside. Chateaubriand tells us that as soon as a cardinal has been locked up in the Conclave he and his servants, directly darkness sets in, begin secretly to make a hole in the wall of the Conclave, in order to be in communication with the outer world by the help of a string let down. As soon as it seemed probable that Di Gregorio would be elected, the conclavist of the Neapolitan Cardinal Ruffo Scilla put himself into communication with the Neapolitan ambassador in Rome, and told him what was imminent. Di Gregorio was supposed to be an illegitimate son of Carlos VI of Spain; his mother, Maria Giuseppa Verdupa y Quiado, was said to have had a liaison with that prince when he was King Carlo III of Naples. As the election of Di Gregorio would be very displeasing to Naples, the Neapolitan ambassador sent a letter in answer to Ruffo Scilla's conclavist in which he accused Di Gregorio of severity and of a weakness for the Liberals, of whose leaders several were his friends. Cardinal Albani used this document to excite feelings against Di Gregorio; but there were so many cardinals who supported him that Albani's efforts to begin with had but little success.

On 9th March the Austrian ambassador went in a brilliant procession through the streets of Rome to Monte Cavallo to pay his respects to the Conclave, and to present two letters from his Emperor to the assembled cardinals; the one expressed his regret for the death of Leo XII, the other contained Count Lutzow's credentials as ambassador at the Conclave. On this occasion the imperial ambassador delivered a long speech before the window of the Conclave—"in mediocre Latin and with an extraordinarily bad pronunciation", says the critical Dardano—and he impressed on the cardinals to elect "a wise and moderate pope", who would walk in the steps of Leo XII.

On the following day Chateaubriand came to the grated window and delivered a flowery speech, which was worthy of the author of Le Génie du Christianisme. He "would not let the cardinals hear the language of a narrow-minded policy"—but would give them a little advice. "At the moment in which I am speaking", he said, "the human race has reached one of the important epochs in its existence. Christianity still exists to grapple with it. Christianity holds in its bosom everything that appeals to educated spirits and noble hearts, everything that is necessary for the world, which it has saved from the corruptions of heathenism and from the ravages of barbarism". He impressed upon the Conclave to elect a man who had an insight into the needs of the present and of the future; in other words, a moderate pontiff like Leo XII.

Cardinal Castiglioni was on that day a member of the committee which received the ambassadors on behalf of the Conclave, and& it fell to him to answer. He told Chateaubriand, that the Catholic Church was elevated above all human societies and all secular revolutions; she might indeed experience sufferings, but she would never be suppressed. Then Castiglioni spoke of the problems of the Papacy in a language that called to mind the days of Humanism and Leo X: "From his elevated station the Pope must show foreign admirers the old and the new glory of Rome, besides the many monuments, especially the Vatican and the venerable Propaganda, in order to refute those who accuse Rome of being an enemy of enlightenment and of art. The Vatican will prove that all arts in brotherly union hav reached the highest perfection in Rome in the Propaganda the help that has been given to scientific discoveries will be recognised, as well as the progress in human knowledge and in the civilisation of savage, races". The eloquen cardinal finally flattered the vain ambassador to such an extent, that Chateaubriand wrote to Madame Recamier, that she had never, in the days when she spoiled him, paid him more compliments than those he had heard from the mouth of Cardinal Castiglioni, in the presence of the whole Conclave. The dialogue between Chateaubriand and the Conclave was much discussed, and the ultramontane papers in Paris attacked the French ambassador for his too "Liberal" expressions. But Stendhal (H. Beyle), who was in Rome during the Conclave, says that Chateaubriand's speech called forth general admiration there; the only fault was that there was a too liberal use of je and moi in it.

CHATEAUBRIAND AND LAMBRUSCHINI 

Since Austria and France were agreed that the new pope ought to be a moderate man, the cardinals had to submit to this demand. But it was difficult to find a candidate who was in equal degree a persona grata at Vienna and at Paris, and during this Conclave, as in others, the usual intrigues were carried on. In order to strengthen the Zelanti, the papal nuncio at Paris, Lambruschini, as the go-between of the cardinals and the extreme ultramontane clique in the French capital—which had moreover considerable support at Court—had striven to get read out in the Conclave certain secret instructions to the French cardinal, Latil, of a different import from the above-mentioned ministerial instructions to the French cardinals. The majority of the Conclave, however, expressed itself strongly against such intrigues, and told Lambruschini that he ought to break with people who brought disturbance into France, and who might easily make the Catholic religion hated by all Frenchmen. Chateaubriand, who was much annoyed by this insult to his dignity and to that of the ministry, promised the French Foreign Minister that after the end of the Conclave he would procure authentic information, which would show the King who were his friends and his enemies there, and supply the government with valuable facts that could be relied upon. It was the men of the July ordinances who tried their wings upon this intrigue, the object of which was to strengthen the power of the Jesuit clique at home and abroad.

But it was far easier for the cardinals to renounce an adventurous policy in the Conclave than to agree upon the choice of a new pope. After the middle of March, Pacca appeared as a candidate, but many were afraid of his notorious nepotism, and, according to the general opinion, he was beginning to enter upon his second childhood. Nevertheless, on the morning of 21st March he obtained nineteen votes, though he never received more. On the evening of the 22nd a "triduum" of prayers to the Madonna was begun. "It will work miracles", wrote Dardano in his diary. On the next day Cappellari's aura began to rise; but Castiglioni steadily obtained more and more votes, although it was rumored that out of humility he had refused the tiara. And Di Gregorio still had a good chance; on the 26th he obtained twenty-four votes. But Albani still worked energetically to avert his election so energetically, that Chateaubriand was afraid that the intriguing cardinal cherished a wish to ascend the vacant chair himself. This contingency disturbed him greatly. Albani was, to his mind, only a rough and violent Italian, who out of avarice and love of speculation meddled in all affairs, and, in order to hinder his election, he took a bold step, of which he was afterwards very proud. On his own responsibility, without having obtained permission from his government, he empowered the Cardinal-Archbishop Clermont-Tonnerre, who did not join the Conclave until 28th March, solemnly to veto the confidential agent of Austria.

Chateaubriand undoubtedly misunderstood Albani; his ambition went in another direction. He did not want to be Pope but Secretary of State. This end he could not attain if either Di Gregorio or Cappellari were elected; he therefore made out that it was probable that the Viennese Court would object to these two cardinals. Castiglioni, on the other hand, would scarcely cause any trouble, and all difficulties could be surmounted, if this last-named cardinal were to become Pope with Albani as Secretary of State. Castiglioni was the candidate of France, Albani a true follower of the Viennese Court; and from a political point of view it might be doubtful, whether it was better to have a weak pope or an intriguing Secretary of State on one's side. The preferment of Castiglioni and Albani carried with it likewise the advantage, that a couple of much desired dignities and benefices would thereby become available for the satisfaction of the less high-pitched ambition of two other cardinals.

ELECTION OF CASTIGLIONI

On the morning of 31st March, Castiglioni obtained twenty-eight votes, and when this number was reached, six more cardinals joined the twenty-eight per accesso. As there were hen fifty cardinals in the Conclave, thirty-four votes were enough, and Castiglioni was thus elected. But he demanded a fresh vote, because it appeared from a closer scrutiny of the voting papers that two of them were invalid. At the new voting he obtained forty-seven votes; two cardinals voted still for Di Gregorio, and Castiglioni himself gave his vote to Franzoni.

The new Pope, out of gratitude to Pius VII, took the name of Pius VIII, and shortly after the election Albani, supported by four other cardinals, appeared on the Loggia of the Quirinal to communicate to the crowd the glad tidings that the widowhood of the Church was at an end. Great shouts of joy greeted his communication. Contrary to custom—probably on account of a continuous downpour of rain—the procession to St Peter's church for the purpose of doing homage was postponed until the following day. Pius VIII then drove with Della Somaglia and Galeffi, amid great enthusiasm on the part of the people, from the Quirinal to St Peter's, and as soon as the new Pope reached the church he was placed in a sedia gestatoria and carried to the Chapel of the Sacrament. The cheers of the people touched the soft-hearted Pius so much that he wept, and his emotion extended to some of those present. But others, like Massimo d'Azeglio, who saw him weep, thought: "You are not the man to set this country on a firm footing. We need something more than tears". And the new Pope's soft heart soon became a butt for the satires of the Romans. "What is the Pope doing?" they asked, and the answer was: "He is asleep; but hush! hush! else he will wake up and will cry."

From the Chapel of the Sacrament Pius VIII was carried to the high altar of the church, and sat upon it to receive the homage of all the cardinals, who fell on their knees and kissed his foot. Then the procession returned to the Quirinal, and the joy of the people was as great as on the outward journey. In the crowd stood the predecessor of the present Pope, then a youth of nineteen. He observed with pleasure that it was his old mathematical master, Don Bizarri di Baliano, who carried the cross before the new Pope, and he thought he remembered that Castiglioni once as Vicar-General of the Bishop of Anagni had visited his paternal home at Carpineto. If he were not mistaken, "this happy incident", as he wrote in a letter to his brother, ought to be commemorated by an inscription on the walls of the house.

Dardano relates that in spite of the joyful shouting, there was no great satisfaction in Rome, and the young Pecci does not conceal the fact that opinions were much divided respecting the new Pope. The politicians especially, according to him, were not pleased because they had altogether given, up the hope of good order in the Papal States. Shortly after the election, Metternich wrote to Tatistscheff: "Against the election of the Cardinal there is nothing to be said; it remains to be seen whether the Pope will be like the Cardinal. His answer to the ambassadors shows that he does not lack sound political principles, and he is in any case not a carbonaro Pope." Chateaubriand expressed himself still more unreservedly. On the same evening that Pius VIII was elected, he wrote to Madame Recamier: "Victoria! I have got one of the popes whom I had put on my list ... Castiglioni is moderate, and devoted to France; it is a complete victory". In his joy at the happy result of the election, he invited Cardinal Fesch, "who had behaved well during the Conclave" (which means that he had voted with the French cardinals) to the dinner which he gave to the members of the Conclave. But Fesch declined the invitation, having a presentiment that the pleasantness of the moment was no guarantee against unpleasantnesses in the future. It was not long since one of Chateaubriand's predecessors had told Napoleon's uncle that he would go headlong down the stairs if he dared to show himself in the French embassy.

HIS PREVIOUS HISTORY

Francesco Xavier Castiglioni was born at Cingoli on 20th November 1761. He at first attended the schools of the Jesuits, and had Padre Zaccaria for his master. Afterwards he went to Bologna to study canon law, and from thence to Rome. There he came into close connection with one of the most learned canonists of the time, the advocate Devoti, and he assisted him in the edition of the Institutiones juris canonici, which was published in 1792. Devoti was by that time appointed Bishop of Anagni, and when he went there he took the young Castiglioni with him as vicar-general. After having been for some time with the Bishop of Fano, Severoli, in the same capacity, Castiglioni returned to his native town. In 1800, Pius VII appointed him to be Bishop of Montalto in the marches, and afterwards Bishop of Cesena. There he showed himself a friend of the Sanfedisti, and an enemy of the Carbonari. Farini, who had read several of his letters of that period, considers him to have been too fanatical. As he would not submit to Napoleon after the French conquest of Italy, he was thrown into prison; but after the fall of the Emperor he was released, and as a reward for the tribulations which he had suffered, he was created a cardinal. As such he lived for several years at Rome in retirement, but Pius VII, the year before he died, made him Bishop of Frascati and Grand Penitentiary; afterwards he became prefect of the Congregation of the Index.

Castiglioni was a learned man, who had given serious study to numismatics and to Biblical literature, besides the canon law, and he was amiable in his intercourse with others. His appearance was not so attractive as that of Pius VII; he had a chronic affection in the neck which compelled him to hold his head bent and on one side, so that the whole of his face could not be seen. "His gait is light, almost like a dance", wrote Gioacchino Pecci to his brother. Immediately after his election he forbade his family to leave their places, in order to avoid any form of nepotism. He even went so far as to feel scruples for a while about creating St Bernard doctor ecclesiae, because the great mystic belonged to the French family of Chatillon, a branch of the Castiglioni. Afterwards these scruples were overcome, and Bernard of Clairvaux obtained the honor which was his due.

An official document, issued by the secretary of the Conclave, contained the words: "Pius VIII has decided to appoint Cardinal Albani Secretary of State in order, at the same time, to satisfy the Cabinet of Vienna." After quoting these words, Chateaubriand writes: "The Pope divides the lots between the two crowns; he declares himself to be the Pope of France, and gives the Secretaryship of State to Austria."

This view of the situation was undoubtedly correct; Cardinal Albani had twice been the agent of Austria in the conclaves, and it was well known that in spite of his great riches he received an annual pension from Metternich, for which reason Chateaubriand scornfully called him an Austrian chargé d'affaires. Without this intimate connection with the Imperial Court, which then had great influence in Italy, he would never have had any chance of the post of secretary. He was generally believed to be quite indifferent as to religion; he had never been ordained priest, and for a time he had thought of marrying in order to send his proud family name down to posterity; it died out with him. It was well known that he was very tired of reading Lenten letters and pastorals, and a great lover of the pleasures of the table, of women, and of theatrical performances. A couple of years after the election of Pius VIII, when the female singer, Malibran, charmed the emotional Italians, Albani was present every evening in the theatre, and none was more enthusiastic over her "Norma" than the cardinal of eighty-three. A man like Gino Capponi held the same view of Albani as Chateaubriand; he accuses him of being avaricious, "incorrect in his morals and his speech", haughty and violent, and says that there was nothing whatever of the priest about him. Next to his greed his arrogance had made him specially disliked. When he entered the Conclave on 7th March 1829, and made deep bows to the assembled cardinals, they all smiled and whispered scoffingly to each other: "Servo umilissimo", and Dardano thought he was like a fox, and a courtier who was capable of anything.

CHATEAUBRIAND AND ALBANI

When Chateaubriand called on the new secretary for the first time, on the morning of 1st April, shortly before Pius VIII was to be adored in St Peter's, Albani received him with the exclamation:" I am a pig!", and Chateaubriand affirms, that he really was very dirty. Albani then said: "You shall see that I am no enemy (to France)". When Chateaubriand in reply remarked that he was far from counting the Cardinal amongst the enemies of France, Albani continued : "People like you must have water and not fire. Ought I not to know your country? Have I not lived in France? You shall be satisfied, and your sovereign also. How is the King? Good morning! Let us go to St Peter's".

It can easily be understood that a diplomatist like Chateaubriand was somewhat astonished at such a debut, and he seems to have undertaken the political education of the old cardinal. Gino Capponi, in Chateaubriand's salon in the Palazzo del Drago, saw the poet diplomatist, forgetful of his duties as host, throw himself into the attitude of a speaker, and lecture the new Secretary of State about all the reforms that were needed in the Papal States, as regards the police, the nuisance of the brigands, the state of the prisons, the Campagna, and much besides. The lecture became a little too long for the old man, and he interrupted the poet of "Atala" by saying in a cynical tone: "M. l'ambassadeur, such things have been, they exist, and they will continue to exist. Matters of that kind neither you nor I can alter, and, at this moment, we have other things to think of."

The reign of Pius VIII lasted so short a time that the aged Secretary of State found neither many nor great problems to solve. The hated Congregazione di Vigilanza was immediately abolished and Leo XII's system of espionage was entirely given up. The new Pope began his government with an encyclical, which condemned indifference in matters of belief, the Bible Societies, and the secret associations. The encyclical concluded with a prayer to the Blessed Virgin as the vanquisher of all heresies.

About ten days after the accession of Pius VIII (13th April) Catholic Emancipation was passed in the English Parliament, and in consequence, Parliament and nearly all offices were for the future open to every Catholic in Great Britain, upon taking a civil oath which could not present any difficulties. The rejoicing over this victory in Rome was great, but no doubt it was only a minority of the inhabitants of the city who had a clear perception of the meaning of the two words, Emancipazione Cattolica, which were seen everywhere in inscriptions and in transparencies when the news of the victory in England reached Rome. And Chateaubriand said to Bunsen: "On behalf of human nature I must rejoice over this event, but as a Catholic I regret it. For the Church in its joy and triumph may easily forget its usual prudence, and thus prepare dangers for itself in the future."

MIXED MARRIAGES IN PRUSSIA

Bunsen himself, on behalf of the Prussian government, was carrying on important dealings with the Roman Curia. They were concerned with mixed marriages. Benedict XIV in his time had called such marriages "abominable", and declared that they could never be approved of by the Roman See; but he had, on the other hand, permitted dispensations to be given for them, because it had to be admitted that they violated neither God's law nor the law of nature. Frederic II of Prussia had afterwards ordained, according to an arrangement with the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, that in mixed marriages the sons were to follow the father's religion, the daughters the mother's, and Catholic priests in Silesia had even sometimes married couples of different denominations without having obtained clear promises as regards the denominational education of the children. Consalvi had said to the Baron von Gagern on this subject: "We know that it takes place, but we are glad when we are not compelled to be aware of it, and we willingly shut our eyes when the bishops and other authorities act on their own account. But actually to approve of it—Never!"

In Prussia it was decided by law in 1803 that all legitimate children were to be educated in the religion of the father, unless the parents were otherwise agreed. When the bridegroom was a Catholic, Rome had, of course, no reason to complain of this law. But where he was a Protestant, the Roman Catholic priest, who, as belonging to the bride's denomination, according to the law of the land was to perform the ceremony, not infrequently made difficulties. Often a solemnisation of marriage was refused, until the bridegroom had agreed that all the children were to be educated in the faith of the mother. By means of such "a silent reformation", the Catholics of Silesia and the Rhine provinces endeavored to diminish the number of Protestants amongst them, and Catholic papers already began to calculate how long it would be before Protestantism would be quite stamped out in these districts. But an order of the Cabinet in the year 1825 enjoined that the law of 1803 should have full force in Silesia and on the Rhine, as well as elsewhere, and denied the right of the Roman priests to demand the education of all the children in the faith of the Roman Church. Against this order the rising Ultramontanism on the Rhine made remonstrances, and the Prussian bishops, especially Archbishop Spiegel of Cologne, advised the Prussian government to endeavor to come to an agreement with Rome.

Pius VIII, who was well versed in canon law, took a personal and active part in these deliberations, and Archbishop Spiegel, who was far from being an ultramontane fanatic, followed them with the greatest attention. At last Pius VIII issued a brief on 25th March 1830 to the bishops of West Prussia, which was very ambiguously worded. The meaning of it was, that Rome only reluctantly sanctioned mixed marriages, and that she would rather prevent them if she had the power. The Church should therefore earnestly warn the Roman Catholic bride, who intended to marry a Protestant; but if the warning had not the desired effect, the Church might for the sake of peace forbear to inflict the ecclesiastical punishment which was deserved. In order to avoid injuring the Catholic cause, the priest might also be allowed to give an assistentia passiva at such marriages, but he was to refrain from anything that might seem to be an approbation of a mixed marriage, and not to accompany it with any holy prayers. Pius VIII had declared to Bunsen that he had to "leap over many graves" in order to advance so far, and that he had reached a goal which formerly he had not thought it possible to reach. But Bunsen's diplomatic victory was in reality of very doubtful value, and it was not long before the controversy as to mixed marriages broke out again in the Rhineland.

The news of the Revolution of July 1830 caused both jow and dismay in the Papal States. The Sanfedisti had formerly greeted the Polignac ministry with the greatest enthusiasm; the Liberal inhabitants of the Papal States now rejoiced over its fall; but the Pope wept. "People say", wrote Gioacchino Pecci at the beginning of August 1830 to his brother, "that our good Pius VIII immediately began to weep, and that he sheds tears constantly over the misfortunes of France." The papal nuncio, Lambruschini, had again been busy. From the nuncio's office in Paris had proceeded an instigation to publish the five ordinances of July, and Prince Polignac had more and more drifted into the power of the Ultramontanes. A long imprisonment had left lasting marks on the spirit of this reactionary statesman. He had become a visionary, who believed that the heavenly powers every day inspired him as to what he should do, and during the crisis that preceded the July ordinances, he had told Charles X that the Blessed Virgin had appeared to him, advised him to proceed, and promised him her help. The Madonna was thus made an accomplice in the publication of the ordinances of July.

Lambruschini and some of the higher French clergy took up a distinctly hostile position towards the monarchy of July. Even before the ordinances were published there were bishops who in pastoral letters rejoiced over the impending coup d'état and invoked the assistance of God in masses and processions. But there were other French bishops, who exhorted their clergy to keep entirely aloof from political discussions, in order that they might the better fulfil their spiritual mission, and reminded them that the Church ought not to contend against civil liberty, but only against the ungodliness that accompanied liberty. There was even a small circle of French abbes and laymen, highly endowed with intellectual gifts, who, according to Frederick Ozanam, looked upon the ancient royalism as "a retired veteran crowned with glory", and dreamt of a Liberal Catholicism, which was to bring about a reconciliation between the Roman Church and free France.

ROME AND LOUIS PHILIPPE

As soon as the new government perceived that the French episcopate was agitating against the monarchy of July, the Foreign Minister, Count Mole, demanded an explanation of Lambruschini. In a friendly conversation with the papal nuncio, Mole showed that the Restoration by its unfortunate ecclesiastical policy had created such a hostile feeling against the clergy that the ministry would gain popularity by attacking the priests. But this was not its intention. On the contrary, the new King was animated by a filial love towards the see of St Peter, but he must request that the Pope should publicly disapprove of the hostile attitude of a section of the superior clergy, and should remind the French priests of the duty of obedience towards the civil government.

This appeal bore immediate fruit. In spite of Lambruschini's personal sympathy with the fallen government, Rome placed herself on the side of the new régime; according to the general opinion it was Albani who, contrary to his Conservative principles, had advised Pius VIII to take this step. The Archbishop of Besançon and the other French prelates who had sought places of safety in other lands, were ordered to return to France, and even the Jesuits, who had paid a heavy penalty for the mistaken church policy of the Bourbons, now became very eager to win the sympathy of the ruling party in Rome for the monarchy of July. Their efforts were successful. A brief of 29th September 1830 commanded the French priests to obey the new King, who cherished the friendliest feeling towards bishops and priests, and Pius VIII advised Mgr. Quelen, the Archbishop of Paris, to surrender his dignity as peer of the realm, because the clergy ought not, in the Pope's opinion, to interfere in politics. The Marquis de Latour-Maubourg was thereupon sent to Rome to assure the Pope that Louis Philippe, who as well as Charles X was a descendant of Saint Louis, would strive against the philosophical party and suppress the revolutionary propaganda. But at the same time, the French envoy recommended the Holy See to introduce a better government in the unsettled Legations.

When the revolution reached Belgium, there was opened to the Papacy a prospect of greater influence, on account of the part which Ultramontanism came to play in that country as the ally of Liberalism. The revolt in Poland also seemed to promise for the Roman propaganda a more unfettered work amongst the unhappy Poles. It must be reserved for a later sketch of the inner life of the Roman Church to point out how the bright prospects of Rome, as regards Belgium and Poland, were either not fulfilled at all or only fulfilled for a short while. Even in Rome itself there could be noticed a faint echo of the revolution in Paris. A Carbonaro lodge was discovered consisting of twenty-six members, but the peace was not disturbed.

JESUIT COUNCIL AT ROME

In this time of storms "the experienced helmsmen" came more and more to the front. When the Jesuits appeared before the new Pope to receive his blessing, Pius assured them of his affection for the Society of Jesus. "The Church", he said, "cannot separate herself from the Pope, the Pope cannot separate himself from this society". In July 1829 Jesuits from all parts of the globe assembled in Rome to choose a new general after the death of Aloysius Fortis on 27th January of that year. The choice lay between the Frenchman, Rozaven, and the Dutchman, John Philip Roothaan. Rodthaan was elected, and in him the order obtained a chief of the usual type. Roothaan, who was born at Amsterdam in 1785, had gone to Russia in 1804, where, at Dunaburg, he had been enrolled as a novice in Loyola's order, and he embraced the order and the peculiar piety which is fostered by it, with the greatest enthusiasm. He possessed adroitness, knowledge of men, learning, and political insight; and under his calm and cold exterior burned the sacred fire of religious fanaticism.

The assembled Jesuits did not separate immediately after the election, but remained together for a time to take counsel as to the best mode of action in the different countries where the Roman Church was in danger. The only thing that transpired to the outer world was that Roothaan had chosen four assistants for the four provinces of the order—Gaul, Spain, Germany, and Italy. And there were signs which portended new victories for the revived order. On 2nd December 1829 the feast of St Francis Xavier, Pius VIII visited the church of the Jesuits in Rome, accompanied by the Cardinals Della Somaglia and Odescalchi, and after praying at the altar of Xavier the Pope read a decree which removed the last obstacle in the way of the canonisation of Alfonso de Liguori, by confirming the miracles which this friend of the Jesuits was said to have performed. Cardinal Odescalchi, who accompanied the Pope, had already conceived the secret wish to surrender the purple in order to become a Jesuit. It was nine years before he obtained permission to follow his heart's desire, and exchanged at Modena the red dress of a cardinal for the black clothes of a Jesuit novice.

DEATH

Pius VIII had always had poor health; he had therefore taken only a small part in the festal services of the Church. On Easter Day 1830, however, he was well enough to bless the people. The young German historian, Karl Hase, saw the fragile Pope, with his gentle suffering face, summon up his last forces to spread out his arms in blessing over the urbs et orbis. During the succeeding months Pius grew weaker and weaker, and on 30th November it was announced in Naples that he was near his end, a prey to delirious fancies about a cross that had appeared in France some years before, while a priest was preaching. It grieved him in his last moments that he had not been able to issue the Bull for the canonisation of Liguori. Pius VIII had not been received with any grea] expectations, and when he died, the Roman popular wit gave him this short epigram for an inscription on his tomb:

"Nacque—Pianse—Morì."