who had been forced upon us was neither a
great man nor a man of energy, nor even a very good man; and he had
left a portion of his dignity in the enemy's baggage-waggons. But
certain it is that, in 1817, Louis XVIII. would rather have come down
from his throne than have allowed his subjects to be legally shot by
Russians and Prussians.

M. de Rayneval says, "The Holy Father has never failed to mitigate the
severity of judgments."

I want to know in what way he has been enabled to mitigate these
Austrian fusillades. Perhaps he has suggested a coating of soft cotton
for the bullets.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE IMPUNITY OF REAL CRIME.

The Roman State is the most radically Catholic in Europe, seeing that
it is governed by the Vicar of Jesus Christ himself. It is also the
most fertile in crimes of every description, and above all, of violent
crimes. So remarkable a contrast cannot escape observation. It is
pointed out daily. Conclusions unfavorable to Catholicism have even
been drawn from it; but this is a mistake. Let us not set down to
religion that which is the necessary consequence of a particular form
of government.

The Papacy has its root in Heaven, not in the country. It is not the
Italian people who ask for a Pope,--it is Heaven that chooses him, the
Sacred College that nominates him, diplomacy that maintains him, and
the French army that imposes him upon the nation. The Sovereign
Pontiff and his staff constitute a foreign body, introduced into Italy
like a thorn into a woodcutter's foot.

What is the mission of the Pontifical Government? To what end did
Europe bring Pius IX. from Gaeta to re-establish him at the Vatican?
Was it for the sake of giving three millions of men an active and
vigorous overseer? The merest brigadier of gendarmerie would have done
the work better. No; it was in order that the Head of the Church might
preside over the interests of religion from the elevation of a throne,
and that the Vicar of Jesus Christ might be surrounded with royal
splendour. The three millions of men who dwell in his States are
appointed by Europe to defray the expenses of his court. In point of
fact, we have given them to the Pope, not the Pope to them.

On this understanding, the Pope's first duty is to say Mass at St.
Peter's for 139,000,000 of Roman Catholics; his second is to make a
dignified appearance, to receive company, to wear a crown, and to take
care it does not fall off his head. But it is a mat