"The events which the last two months have witnessed, following and
thronging one another in such rapid succession, are no work of man. Woe
to him that does not discern the Lord's voice in this blast that
agitates, uproots, and rends the cedar and the oak. Woe to the pride of
man if he shall refer, these marvellous changes to any human merit or
any human fault; if instead of adoring the hidden designs of Providence,
whether manifested in the paths of his justice or of his mercy, or of
that Providence in whose hands are all the ends of the earth. And we,
who are endowed with speech in order to interpret the dumb eloquence of
the works of God--we cannot be mute amid the longings, the fears, and
the hopes which agitate the minds of our children.

"And first, it is our duty to make known to you that if our hearts had
been moved at hearing how, in a part of Italy, the consolations of
religion have preceded the perils of battle, and nobleness of mind has
been displayed in works of charity, we nevertheless could not and cannot
but greatly grieve over the injuries which, in other places, have been
done to the ministers of that same religion--injuries, even if contrary
to our duty we were silent concerning them, our silence could not hinder
from impairing the efficacy of our benedictions.

"Neither can we refrain from telling you that to use victory well is a
greater and more difficult achievement than to be victorious. If the
present day recalls to you any other period of your history, let the
children profit by the errors of their forefathers. Remember that all
stability and all prosperity has its main earthly ground in concord;
that it is God alone who maketh of one mind them that dwell in a house;
that he grants this reward only to the humble and the meek, to those who
respect his laws, in the liberty of his church, in the order of society,
in charity toward all mankind."

* * * * *

Shortly afterward another measure, emanating entirely from the Pope, and
opposed by the prejudices of the mob, showed that his humane and liberal
disposition and enlightened understanding waited for no impulse from
without, and for no hope of increased popularity, before doing justice
to a long oppressed race. "The friends of social progress were highly
gratified by the decision of Pius IX to raze in Rome the walls and gates
which shut up the Jews in the Ghetto. He had already, at the
commencement of his pontifi