The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1860-02-02

claim no control over the consciences of the
laity in temporal affairs. Here, then, is an OPP
portunity to evince independence of priestly
dictation, which, it is to be hoped, will be i'm
proved.
Before closing, we will give few more brief
extracts from the Napoleon pamphlet, which
will serve to illustrate the spirit in which it is
conceived. Louis Napoleon, as the monarch
of France, is styled the eldest SON of the
Church, but it is evident that he has no exalted
ideas of priestly rule. In showing the necessity
of reducing the dominion of the Pope to the
limits of Rome, he argues:
ain fact, great State implies certain re.
quirements which it is impossible for the Pope
to satisfy. A great State would like to follow
up the politics of the day, to perfect its in
stitutions, participate in the general move
ment of ideas, take advantage of the trans
formation of the age, of the conquests of
science, of the progress of the human mind.
He cannot do it. The lascs ,ciU be shackled By
dogmas. HIS authority OM be paralyzed By
traditions. HIS patriotism aoiN be condemned
by faith. He must either resign himself to i'm
mobility, or rise even to revolt. The world will
advance, and leave him behind. Then, of two
be extinguished in that people, and nothing
will remain in it of the generous activity of
public life, or else the noble aspirations of ma
tionality will burst through, and it will become
necessary, as we have witnessed already, for
material force to supply the deficiencies of
moral authority"
1t would be difficult to find stronger state
ment than this, of the fact that the age has out
grown the Church-that it has become a clog
and a hindrance to civilization-and that the
period has arrived when it behooves the great
Powers of Europe to break the letters of super
stition which have bound the free thought and
liberal activity of the people.
In proposing to restrict the temporal power
of the Pope to the limits of Rome, in order to
add to his dignity, the pamphleteer lets off the
following piece of solemn irony, which might
excite the envy of Gibbon. 1t follows close
upon the above quotation, in which the beauties
of priestly rule are so graphically depicted.
The writer says: The existence may be ad-
mitted in Europe of small corner of earth
free from the passions and interest which agi-
tate other peoples, and devoted solely to the
Sioiy VI Oou' hitcr having given
laws to the whole world she can only retain
her greatness by commanding souls. The
Roman Senate has no other compensation
worthy of it but the Vatican"
That this remarkable pamphlet is the pro-
duction of the Emperor of France, or that it
foreshadows his policy, we have not only the
evidence of common opinion in well-informed
circles in Europe, but the significant fact that
Walewski, his Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
cousin, was dismissed for denying that it ema-
to have Immediately followed his declaration
that it could not be attributed to the Emperor
while he remained in office.
The latest news from Europe which will be
found in our columns, goes to confirm the i'm
preston that France will vindicate the right of
the Italians to liberty; and that the Pope will
never have his lost possessions restored to him.
The fact cannot be denied that Louis Napoleon,
whose antecedents, and whose domestic Gov
eminent, at the present moment, we alike dis
approve, has acted on a large and liberal for
egn policy, and we must accord to him, at
least, wise and sagacous selfshness, which
appreciates and avals itself of the spirit of the
age, if no higher motives. If France and Rus
STA, the two greatest States Of the European
continent, must be ruled for the present by
despots, we must regard it as providential that
men like Louis Napoleon and Alexander, with
intelligence to perceive the necessity of amei-
Grating the condition of the people, are chosen
to direct their affairs and that while the one
is engaged in breaking the yoke of spiritual
despotism, the other is employed in overthrow
ing that twin relic of barbarism, serfdom, or
slavery.