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. "Those are the sons of Satan," he exclaimed at last, "who say the Bishops are judges in the Church. No! we are but poor sinners." At the same time he proposed a supplement still more peremptory than the chapter. s.p.a.ccapietra 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, "Cedat verb.u.m tintinnabulo." So he left the rostrum.
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; "how it was formed, we know." As a tribunal the Council was bound to inst.i.tute 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. "Modo in hoc Concilio fit aliter et illud ineptissime," he concluded, and he proposed the formula, "Magisterium universalis Ecclesiae est infallibile."
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. "Thrice," he said, "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 a.s.sailants, 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 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 "Credo in Petrum et successores ejus," but "Credo in unam Ecclesiam Catholicam." 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, "I am with you to the end of the world." But now they want to reduce us to nullities, to tear the n.o.blest 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."
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 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.
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 a boy riding a rocking-horse-movement without advance.
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 n.o.body 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 VIII. 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 VI. 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 Jesuits, is the great Church history of the Dominican Natalis Alexander but an a.r.s.enal from which to this day the opponents of infallibility get their weapons?
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 "Long live the infallible Pope!" some Romans will join the cry.
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 n.o.bility with the ecclesiastical unions there as sureties, and thus to negotiate a loan of twenty million franks "al pari." The n.o.ble presidents of the unions are said to have already signified their willingness.
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 "a.s.sistants at the Pontifical Throne" in recognition of their services.
Others will be made "protonotarii apostolici," most of them only "protonotarii sopranumerarii non partic.i.p.anti." Several priests especially zealous for the good cause will be made t.i.tular Bishops, and others "prelati domestici" and "monsignori," or "camerieri segreti," etc. Then there are the distinctions by means of colours, and soon we shall be able to measure a man"s zeal for the new dogma at the first glance by seeing whether he wears the "abito paonazzo" 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.
The att.i.tude of Ketteler creates astonishment and is studied as a riddle to which no solution can be found. The Pope said to-day, "Io non capisco, cosa vuole quel Ketteler, che un giorno distribuisce delle brochure contro di me e contro della mia infallibilita, e che il giorno dopo scrive nei giornali che sia pieno di devozione per me, e che crede alla mia infallibilita, pare che sia proprio mezzo," and thereupon he made a gesture indicating that the Bishop of Mayence was not quite right in his head.
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 (_i.e._, 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 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 Gesu, 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 (Ga.s.s) 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!
SIXTY-SECOND LETTER.
_Rome, June 30, 1870._-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 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, "Et si la definition ne peut murir qu"au soleil, eh bien, on grillera." 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.
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 in refutation of Guidi"s theory, which has been composed for him in the Gesu. 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.
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 Pet.i.tion 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 Vatican fearing their adherence would only make it more so. The Pet.i.tion runs thus-
"Beatissime Pater! Episcopi infrascripti, tam proprio quam aliorum permultorum Patrum nomine a benignitate S. V. reverenter, fiducialiter et enixe expostulant, ut ea, quae sequuntur, paterne dignetur excipere:
"Ad Patres in Concilio Lateranensi v. sedentes hoc habebat, die XVII.
Junii, Leo X. Papa "Quia jam temporis dispositione ... concedimus"
simulque Concilium Pontifex ad tempus autumnale prorogabat.-Pejor certe inpraesentiarum conditio nostra est. Calor aestivus, 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 peric.l.i.tatur.-Timentur inprimis febres, quibus magis obnoxii sunt extranei hujusce temperiei regionis non a.s.suefacti.
"Quidquid vero tentaverit et feliciter perfecerit liberalitas S. V., ut non paucis episcopis hospitia bona praeberentur, plerique tamen relegati sunt in habitationes nimis augustas, sine aere, calidissimas omninoque insalubres. Unde jam plures episcopi ob infirmitatem corporis abire coacti sunt, multi etiam Romae infirmantur et Concilio adesse nequeunt, ut patet ex tot sedibus quae in aula conciliari vacuae apparent.
"Antequam igitur magis ac magis creverit aegrotorum numerus, quorum plures periculo hic occ.u.mbendi exponerentur, instantissime postulamus, B. Pater, ut S. V. aliquam Concilii suspensionem, quae post festum S. Petri convenienter inciperet, concedere dignetur.
"Etenim, B. Pater, c.u.m centum et viginti episcopi nomen suum dederint, ut in tanti momenti quaestione audiantur, evidens est, discussionem non posse intra paucos dies praecipitari, nisi magno rerum ac pacis religiosae dispendio. Multo magis congruum esset atque necessarium brevem aliquam, ob ingruentes gravissimos aestatis calores, Concilio suspensionem dari.
"Nova vero Synodi periodus ad primam diem mensis Octobris forsitan indicari posset.
"S. V., si hoc, ut fidenter speramus, concesserit, gratissimos sensus n.o.bis populisque nostris excitabit, utpote quae gravissimae omnium necessitati consuluerit.
"Pedes S. V. devote osculantes nosmet dicimus S. V. humillimos et obsequentissimos famulos in Christo filios."
Attempts have already been made by word of mouth to secure some compa.s.sion from the Pope for the severe 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 c.u.menical 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, "I piu cattivi sono i Tedeschi, sono i piu cattivi di tutti, lo spirito Tedesco a guastato tutto." 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. 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 a.s.similating his office to the G.o.dhead, recklessly displays the little weaknesses and pa.s.sions which people are generally ashamed to expose to view.
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 a.s.sembly for some time was regaled with a duet between a bell and an-of course inaudible-human voice.
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 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 "Oho, oho!" rose from the majority. Discouraged and intimidated the Archbishop concluded with the declaration that, if the Pope pleased to confirm the _Schema_, he submitted by antic.i.p.ation, at which the faces which had grown black brightened up again and the apology for the French Church which he ended with was condoned.
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 "mobile ingegno usato ad amar e a disamar in un punto" is wont to take it very ill if his bold transitions do not leave the same impression on others which floats before his own memory. But I will fulfil my duty as historian of the Council in spite of this. Ketteler urged that n.o.body 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-"placita cujusdam scholae" 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 "Pontificem in pectoris sui scrinio omnem traditionem repositam et infusam habere." At these words murmurs arose in the a.s.sembly; all had shortly before heard and repeated to one another the Pope"s a.s.sertion, "La tradizione son" io." Then Ketteler attacked the theory of Cardinal Cajetan, the well-known first opponent of Luther, that Peter alone among the Apostles had a "potestas ordinaria" to be transmitted to his successors, while the "potestas specialis" 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 Pope.
This mischievous system had been adopted by a certain school, and the _Schema_ 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 _depositum fidei_ was committed to the Pope alone.
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.
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, "Errores, amores, terrores," 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.
SIXTY-THIRD LETTER.
_Rome, July 2, 1870._-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 pa.s.sing 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.
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 panegyric on his master, the Pope, who, like the Emperor t.i.tus, was the "deliciae orbis terrarum." 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 _e.g._, Celestine I. 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 VI., strong as was the pressure put upon him by France, delayed a long time the issue of the decree against the civil Const.i.tution 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 _Schema_, 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 VI. then said that, if the Roman See, the centre of the Church, lost its authority through exaggerating its claims, all was lost. Pius IX. 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.
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 _Schema_, which might then be accepted, words requiring the co-operation for decisions on faith of the "episcopi, sive dispersi sive in Concilio congregati." But he insisted on the superiority of the Pope to a Council according to the decree of Leo.
X.,-or, as he said, the fifth Lateran Council, and defended the order of business imposed on this Council by Pius IX. 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, "Haec excusatio est accusatio," 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.
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.
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 to declare the whole code of the Inquisition, as promulgated by the Popes from Innocent III. to Paul V., 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 Dollinger, and reproached him with having in his earlier works-which were not named-taught papal infallibility, whereas he now a.s.sailed it. The Bishop, who is a member of the Deputation, then proposed a formula he had devised, "Traditioni inhaerentes docemus Pontificem, c.u.m universalem Ecclesiam docet, vi divinae a.s.sistentiae errare non posse." But that was not enough, without smiting down the opponents of the doctrine by a solemn anathema, as follows, "Si quis dixerit non nisi accedente consensu Episcoporum Romanum Pontificem errare non posse, anathema sit." He moreover agreed with Spalding and Dechamps that parish priests and others having cure of souls 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.
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 pa.s.sed 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.
SIXTY-FOURTH LETTER.
_Rome, July 5, 1870._-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.(151) A very similar feeling has come over many Bishops here; they know that if they say _Non placet_ at last, they will be cast into the fire, after they have helped by their 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.
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 "Check to the king," 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 n.o.body 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, "It would be barbarity on my part to want to keep the Bishops here in July." 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 here, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, 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.