CH. IX. < 1823-29. renewing their youth, became almost dependent upon them. Their old opponents, the Dominicans, were reconciled, walking thenceforth in the ways of the Jesuits; and new allies were found in the Congregations of the Sacred Heart and the Tertiaries of the Franciscans. The Benedictines, indeed, were too great and powerful a body to fall openly under Jesuit sway, but even they were quietly influenced. There were some houses of the Order of St Basil in Galicia, and the Ruthenian monks were greatly respected by the members of the Orthodox Greek Church in that district. Here skilful management brought it about that in 1882 the Basilian monasteries were handed over to the Jesuits. The result of their energetic work has been that the history of modern Romanism is the history of the Jesuits. The "Black Pope," the General of the Order, stands at the right hand of the actual occupant of the Papal throne, and his ten thousand subordinates are everywhere active. 3. Pius VII. died in 1823, after a reign of twentythree years, the troubles of which he had borne with LEO XII exemplary patience. His successor, Annibale Della Genga, the candidate of the Zelanti, who had been as cardinal a declared enemy of the Jesuits, became, as Pope, their supporter. To them he entrusted the charge of the Collegium Romanum, and therewith an immense influence on the education of the clergy. The work of Consalvi, who was a liberal in the Roman sense, was so far as possible/ undone under Leo XII., who even wished to restore the abolished feudalism. He called upon Catholics to celebrate in 1825 a solemn jubilee, and to make pilgrimages to Rome, not only to pray for the extermination of heresies, but to give thanks to God for the victory which He had given them over the conspiracies of recent times against truth and right—a thanksgiving which was, perhaps, premature. In the same year he beatified the Spanish Minorite Julian, on whose behalf miracles were brought forward by his advocate which even good Catholics thought childish. Church in More important matters were that he brought the Church in the South American Republics, which had shaken off the yoke of Spain, into connexion with the See of St Peter, Jubilee, 1825. South America. 1 Artaud de Montor, Hist. de Léon XII. (Paris, 1843). } and that he concluded, by the Bull of 1827, the negotiations for Concordats with the smaller German States, which had been long under discussion. He remonstrated with the French Government because Protestant temples and worshippers received privileges which, he thought, ought to be reserved for Catholics; and from the King of Naples he demanded the renewal of the tribute of a palfrey, by which in former days he had acknowledged the Pope his feudal suzerain. The condemnation of Bible Societies, and of philosophers who taught tolerance in matters of faith, marked the spirit of his reign. He seems to have been a well-meaning man without much tact or ability, out of harmony with the age in which he lived. His enforcing of religious duties by the aid of the police was disliked by all classes, and he became a very unpopular ruler. 4. On the death of Leo XII., the choice of the Conclave fell on Francesco Castiglione, the candidate favoured by Austria and France. He, like other Pontiffs, condemned secret societies, which were commonly supposed to be republican and atheistic. He also declared Bible Societies impious and heretical. The proceeding which reflects most credit on his short reign is his wish to check nepotism, which led him to forbid his own kindred to come to Rome. He had nearly attained the age of threescore-and-ten when he ascended the Papal throne, and the labours and anxieties of his high office, to which he devoted himself with conscientious assiduity, soon exhausted his failing strength. The Conclave which followed the death of Leo took place in the midst of the agitation which followed on the French Revolution of July, when Charles X. was driven from his throne. The choice of the cardinals fell on Mauro Cappellari, who in time of trouble and darkness had prophesied the triumph of the Holy See, and now as Gregory XVI. saw it, outwardly at least, triumphant. He had been Prefect of the Propaganda, and as Pope he did not forget his old experience, but promoted its 1 Artaud de Montor, Hist. du Pape Pie VIII. (Paris, 1844). 2 N. Wiseman, Recollections of the Last Four Popes [Leo XII., Pius VIII., Gregory XVI., Pius IX.]; CH. IX. PIUS VIII.1, 31 March, 1829, to 1 Dec. 1830. GREGORY XVI. ELECTED, Feb. 2, 1831. CH. IX. Insurrections, 1831-32, 1843-45. Carbonari. Young Italy. work by every means in his power.) In his reign of fifteen But In the very year of his accession insurrections broke out in the Legations and the March of Ancona, which were not put down without the help of Austrian troops, while in the following year the French, uninvited and against the Pope's protest, seized Ancona, which they did not relinquish until 1838, Austria vacating Bologna at the same time. the fiery desire for liberty still glowed under the ashes; a guerilla warfare went on from 1843 to 1845, when it was quenched in blood by the Swiss troops in the Pope's service, aided by a band of truculent volunteers. Meantime, secret societies, especially the Carbonari, honeycombed all Italy, filling the minds of the young Italians with hatred for the foreign yoke which held in subjection so large a portion of their country, and for the temporal Sovereignty of the Pope. A memorandum of the European Powers had in 1831 requested the Pope to reform his administration, and some of the suggested reforms had been carried out; but the Secretary of State, Lambruschini, positively refused to entertain the notion of liberal institutions, and the Pope himself declared that constitutional government was incompatible with the existence of the Papacy. The situation grew more and more critical, and the most distinguished Catholic laymen saw the need of reform. In 1846, the year of Gregory's death, there were in the Papal prisons two thousand political prisoners, the public debt had been doubled, and there was an annual deficit in the revenue. But however poor the State might be, the Pope's kindred and favourites had grown rich. When the Pope died, no signs of popular mourning accompanied his funeral CH. IX. PIUS IX. ELECTED, 16 June, 1846. 5. After a Conclave which lasted only two days, Mastai Ferretti, Bishop of Imola, was chosen Pope in the room of Gregory, and took the title of Pius IX.1 Rarely has the choice of a Pope been greeted with so hearty a popular approval. He was known as a man of genial disposition and courteous manners, with adequate firmness of character, and it was hoped that he was sufficiently in sympathy with the wants of the time to join the party of progress. His handsome and still vigorous person, for he was but fifty-four years of age, helped to make him a popular favourite. And in the early years of his reign he deserved the favour with which he was received. His kindly and familiar bearing and his aversion from needless pomp and formality won for him general acceptance, all the more as he let it be seen that he was by no means averse to all reform. Every one looked forward with confidence to a general amnesty for the political offenders whom his predecessor had left in captivity or banishment, and when on the 16th July the decree of amnesty was published, there broke out a general cry of joy. It produced an excellent state of feeling among the people, but it made a very different impression on persons in high place, and in Rome itself the ecclesiastical conservative party thought such a beginning of the reign highly dangerous. But the Pope went on in the way of reform, beginning with a considerable reduction in the Reforms of expenses of his own household. He gave the press greater freedom, strengthened the already existing commission on law and law-courts by the addition of experienced and trustworthy members, favoured the introduction of railways, made the higher offices of State tenable by laymen, resolved to raise a contribution to the State from the monasteries within his territory, made a beginning in municipal reform by giving to the city of Rome a liberal constitution, and even put arms in the hands of the Romans by the formation of a civic guard; he sum 1 Legge, A. O., Pius IX., his Life to 1850 (Lond. 1875); J. F. Maguire, Rome, its Ruler, etc. (Lond. 1857; new ed. 1878); C. de Montalembert, Pius IX. and France (Eng. trans. 1859); F. Clavé, Vie et Portrait de Pie IX. (1848); Godde de Liancourt, Pius Amnesty, 16 July, 1846. Pius IX. CH. IX. Discontent in Rome. Demo cratic Move ments. Constitution of 14 March, 1848. moned from the provinces men in whom the people had confidence to be members of the Council of State, contemplated disbanding the Swiss troops, and began to take measures for the formation of a confederacy of the Italian States. He wished to abolish the restriction of the Jews to the hateful Ghetto, but here the opposition of the Christian population was so vehement that his intentions could not be carried out. A number of the clergy frankly were on the side of the Holy Father, and the eloquent preacher, Joachim Ventura, proclaimed the reconciliation of Catholic piety with political liberty. Even the Jesuits declared themselves friends of progress. The ideal of the banished Gioberti, the Pope as the head of a federation of the Italian princes, with national independence and civil freedom, seemed on the point of being realized. But it was impossible that the Pope's schemes of reform should satisfy all parties. The old officials, especially those whose offices were abolished, were of course angry, and formed, either openly or covertly, a powerful opposition. On the other hand, those eager patriots who had been liberated from prison or brought back from exile, found the Pope's concessions altogether inadequate. The leader of this party was Mazzini, an honest enthusiast who his whole life long laboured for the creation of a free, independent, and united nation of Italians. The French Revolution of February, 1848, gave a great impetus to revolutionary movements in Italy. Risings took place in almost all the Italian States from Lombardy to Sicily, and the Roman Liberals judged that the time was come for them also to take action. They roused the people by their fiery oratory, and turbulent mobs pressed the Pope to make further concessions. In particular, they urged him to summon all Italy to a crusade against the Austrian domination. It was to no purpose that the Pope granted a constitution, including a nominated and an elected Chamber, which should have authority over legislation and taxation, and appointed a ministry favourable to reform; new disturbances arose, and his refusal to engage in war with Austria was made the pretext for forcing upon him the revolutionary ministry of Mamiani. This, however, did not endure long. The Pope dismissed Mamiani, and entrusted the conduct of the government |