The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-07 00:00:00

,g THE DEVIL TURNED FRIAR."

There is a Spanish comedy, of the sort much
relished in Spain, called " The Devil Turned Friar,"
in which, for his sins especially against the Order
of St. Francis, the Evil One is condemned, in the
garb of a Franciscan friar, to go about the world
collecting alms for St. Francis. He is accompanied
on his compulsory mission by a lay brother, whose
keen nose, ever and anon, scents out the devil in
the friar; but seeing how effectually he is doing
his Divine Master's work, the lay brother, though
watching with profound mistrust, consents to fol-
low his singular companion.
Napoleon, for the sins which he has committed
against the Papacy, is compelled, like the devil
turned friar in the comedy, to undo his unholy
work in Italy. The Emperor of the French may
look as grim as the devil in the comedy, but there
is no help for it, he must do his Master's bidding.
Napoleon is an instrument in the hands of Divine
Providence. Ile hates the Pope as much as the
devil in the farce hated St. Francis, but as the devil
was compelled to wear the garb of St. Francis, so
Napoleon must put on the uniform of the Pope ;
and Catholic France, like the faithful lay brother,
will follow him as long as he does his appointed
task, although it does not for an instant forego its
profound mistrust of its devil in the friar's garb.
The character of men does not necessarily change
with their conduct, far less is the policy of Kings
a true index of their desires. Napoleon's policy
in now stopping the revolution in Italy is a matter,
not of choice, but of necessity. Times have changed
since the battle of Solferino, when Napoleon was
the master of Europe, and might let the Revolu-
tion loose against things that were not to his liking;
he cannot now say to General Cialdini, as he did
then, " Strike, but strike quickly ;" he dares not
to-day repeat the massacre of Castelfidardo. Sa-
dowa stands between Napoleon and the execution
of his designs. Though the Papacy isnot to his lik-
ing, as he has shown by every free act or word, like
the devil in the Spanish comedy, Napoleon must do
its work. To his failure in Mexico, to his failure in
Germany, he dares not add a failure in Italy. It
would cost him or his heirs the crown of France.
Whatever he might have done in the days of his
power, before the battle of Sadowa and the disas-
ters of Mexico, he dare not now hand over the Pope
to the Revolution.

In the name of France, on behalf of Catholic
Europe, he has charged himself with the safe cus-
tody of the Pope, and he must answer to France
and to Catholic Europe for his charge. The day
on which he breaks his faith, and allows the
Revolution to seize upon Rome ; the day which
sees Pius IX. a wanderer on the face of the earth,
a beggar moving from country to country, wit-
nesses the end of the Napoleonic dynasty. For
who could stand the sight ? It would appeal at
once by its noble sadness to the imagination and to
the heart of the Catholic subjects of every King
in Christendom. The outburst of popular feeling
would be terrific. What would Catholic France
say at seeing the successor of St. Peter a wan-
derer in cities this side the Alps, in Spain, in
Malta, in Geneva, anywhere but on French or
Italian soil? For either land is that of an enemy,
and knowing that this thing has happened by her
default, by the treachery of her Sovereign, by a
breach of faith unparalleled in the history of
Kings, could the faith of France, could the honour
of France witness such a spectacle unmoved? The
murder of Maximilian by the default of France,
the triumph of Prussia over her policy in Germany,
the loss of her prestige in Europe, would be as
nothing compared to the shudder of horror and
indignation which would thrill through the heart
and soul of France at the sight of Pius IX. chased
out of Rome, in spite of Napoleon's pledged faith,
by Garibaldi and the soldiers of Victor Emmanuel.
Like the devil turned friar, the Emperor of the
French is compelled to repair the evil he has done,
and for his sins against the Papacy he must put
down the Revolution in Italy.
And then—what next? May not Napoleon put
down the Revolution and yet betray the Pope ?
He may take away with his left hand what he has
given with his right. What he has done by day
he may undo in the night. Secret diplomacy may
give back to the Revolution, to Italy, what French
soldiers have taken from Garibaldi and the Italian
army.

The Catholics of France and of Europe must
forbid any approach to a compromise ; must not
allow Napoleon to modify the Convention, or
promise by a slower and more secret course to give
up to the Revolution what, at the bidding of
France, he now withholds from Garibaldi. An
end must be put at once to such secret intriguing ;
Napoleon must be compelled —for he only acts
under compulsion—to do his work thoroughly and
honestly. It is no secret that the more astute and
far-seeing friends of the Italian Revolution disap-
prove of the clumsy and obstinate violence of Gari-
baldi, and put their sole trust in the secret ways of
diplomacy. Prince Napoleon is of this number, if
not the Emperor himself. After showing, by the
presence of his soldiers and of his ironclads, to
Italy, Royal or Republican, that he will not, for the
honour of France, allow the Convention to be
broken by violence, Napoleon must be taught by
the Catholic opinion of France and of Europe, that
fraud and treachery against the Papacy, concealed
under no matter what diplomatic forms, will be no
more tolerated for an instant than open violence.
The Convention ought rather to be made more
stringent than be relaxed. Now is the time that
Catholic opinion should make itself heard and felt
throughout Europe. The Pope has been attacked
by revolutionary violence ; he must be protected
against diplomatic fraud. Catholic Europe ought
now to rouse itself, and to insist upon a European
guarantee for the inviolability of the States of the
Church. The peace of Europe ought no more to
be disturbed ; blood ought no more to be shed in
such criminal attempts as we have just witnessed
in the Papal States. The pretext which the Revo-
lution invented, and which European Liberalism
affected to believe, that the Papal subjects were dis-
loyal and disaffected to their Sovereign, has been
utterly exposed. No sane man in Europe can now
pretend even to believe in such a figment.
The Catholics of France, now that French sol-
diers, by reason of breach of faith on the part of
Italy, are again on Italian soil, are too keenly alive
to the danger of treachery not to insist upon an
honest and complete settlement of the Roman ques-
tion. Their voice is sure to make itself heard ; for
when was the voice of the Catholics of France
unheard ? The Catholics of Germany, of Prussia ,
of Austria, of Belgium, of Spain, of England, and
Ireland, ought to combine in one determined ex-
pression of opinion that the peace of Europe, as
well as right and justice, demand that the Pope
should no more be exposed to such a criminal in-
vasion of his territories as that which is now
leading to such bloodshed. Within the next few
weeks there ought to be monster meetings held in
every country where men are at liberty to meet
and speak. In London and Dublin meetings might
soon be called, in which Catholic enthusiasm and
determination to support the Temporal Power of
the Pope would not be less than that expressed by
Catholics of other countries. A united protest from
the Catholics of Europe against diplomatic fraud,
as well as revolutionary violence towards the Father
of Christendom, would, in the present state tof
Europe, do not a little to turn the balance in favour
of law and order. It might, at least, do much to
compel Napoleon to do, like the devil turned friar
in the Spanish farce, God's appointed work.—
Westminster Gazette.

A thrilling incident in the mission life of Mrs. Ingalls in
Burmah i s well told In the June number of the Baptist
Messenger, relating how she was sent for to visit one of
the Buddhist hi.,4la priests, who had been nearly killed;
and how, while in the most holy place in their temple,
where none but priests had ever before been admitted, she
was permitted unrebuked to use for him the sacred vessels,
which none but the high priest dare touch, and to even
overturn and sit on one of their gods to rest; all through
the magic influence of the Pain Killer, called by them the
" God medicine," so successfully had she used it in curing
their many diseases, some of them considered heretofore
fatal in that climate, among which were cholera, liver
complaint, dyspepsia, the bites of venomous reptiles, &c.
This speaks volumes for the Pain Killer. Be sure you
get the genuine, which always has Perry Davis and Son's
trade mark, PAIN KILLER on the Government stamp.
Wholesale depot, 17; Southampton-row, Holborn (W.C.)
Sold by all chemists.