Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-05-15
Position and Character Of Pho Mono from
'i,' ~ m ~ nm American kstand-Point.

.it.., If4,.,, m Afnerican Stand-Pofnf' i... q.
The Independent publishes letter from
Rome, written by Mrs. H. B. Stowe, in which
she gives an account OF a visitto the church
Of st, Peters, and her, idea Of the position
now occupied by the head Of the Roman
Catholic Church: or d5 .y.
To-day we entered the church while yet
the services were going on. A crowd in this
vast edifcc is like q knot in the open street,
so far does II seem from filling it. We
walked round the skirts, and at last disposed
ourselves where we could take q view Of the
Pope as he came out, gr.b ~ .'a. se ilt
The dress of the Pope's guard--said,
know not With what authority, to have been
designed by Michael aelAngelo-lwhen looked at
simply In ITSELF strikes one as the excess of
harleqtinism- IA combination of stripes Of the
mostintense yellow, red and violet eolors;
the head being surmounted by q helmet, from
which droops an immense tuft of white horse
hair, But, taken in connection with the
splendid and snowy architecture OF st. Peters,
this costume has a peculiar and picturesque
effect. The soldiers strike one, as one sees
them passing and repassing down the arcades
of lofty arches, much rs brilliant. hamingoes
and parroquets in the long aisles of a tropical
forest. These men are oil tall, large and
hely-deVeloped, and give striking effect to
the ceremony t.I ..I .. .....
The train accompanying the Pope as he
passed out ives brilliant enough. First his
lacqueys all in crimson damask, then cham
berlains in the rich old Spanish costume, with
velvet doublet and wide ruff then cardinals
in their violet-colored suits, itfor the mourn
ing of Lent, and lastly the mild old man with
his round calm face--his clear, lustrous, hazel
eyes, looking so fatherly as he blessed from
right to left, that ones heart longed to think
well Of him, and some stiff young Protestants
0f our quaintances confessed to an inclina-
| tion TO kneel before hin. In fact, the Papacy
| In its,preseit embarrassment could not have
| more favorable embodiment for moving on
the, synpaties Of the world, t Vol |
His general air of amiabiity and benignity;
the freedom of his life from any stain of seril
Gus moral accusation; his apparent sincerity
and conscientiousness in holding the position
| he does, Interest for him personally those
who have. no sympathy fer the cause he rep
| resents. When a good person stands CON
scientiously in position which is an obstacle
TO human progress, and, one sees the wheels
likely 10 over him, one can not but shrink
for him, and instinctiyely put out hand to
/ tits difficult for us to conceive the position
| ofa sensible, intelligent individual, believing
| with the whole heart, all and undivided, the
| traditions and teachings of the Romish
| Church; and our sympathy is often impaired
| fromwant Of ability TO shape this out to our
selves Our education is from turret to
foundation-stone so different, that we are
apt to think that he must in his heart see the
absurdities that we do, and that he is prac-
| ticing wilfully on the weaknesses of the
credulous. But the spirit that made Leo X
cxclaim: How much profit this fable OF
Christ is to us" is not that of Pho Mono.
- His state Of mind is more that of sincere
| fanatic cthanrofsaa and as suchshoul
| command more respect. Had he been a
double-minded man, he would have yielded
the point 70 the Ffehch Emperor before
now--but he intrenches himself upon his
conscience, and says as Luther did, '".Here |
standLI can no other; God help mel' and SO
God will, we hope, at last help him to more
| Light whiIehs helps the poor Romans also to
| more liberty. or
When You speak to; Italians of the Pope,
and say he seems ODE good man, they say
| "He tods, but he has changed" The thing
Which0 has the most discovered them from
him-the unforgivable thing--the breaking
point betwEsh him and gthem-has been the
encouragement and promotion he gave to
| the officer under whom were executed the
| slaughters of Perugia. That made the break
| ing-point in many honest hearts that had
| clung to him before. They said, ''He indeed
is our enemy II is undoubtedly the case
that on his own part the Pope is embittered
toward the people.
On two or three public occasions he has
| broken out into teInpests of excitement, and
ragged in a manner foreign to the general
mildness Of his demeanor; and, in fact, il
he has given orders of noh-resistance to his
soldiers, II is only because he knows that
when the French troops withdraw resistance
will be idle, The fact2is, the Pope is just in
the position Of a general who has received
orders to defend an indefensib!e post-his
Church says thus and so-she cannot change,
and so what is left for him but to stay
quietly at his post till he is forced from it