New-York tribune., 1868-09-10
A POPE OF MILITIA.

a particulary bilious illustration and there Is
a story somewhere in his writings OF a Pope
WIN boino somewhat weak in the knees, and
required to kneel in holy procession, had
uair of artificial legs constructed, so that Ills
Holiness only seemed to kneel, beng mean
while comfortly seated in his chariOt-at when
the sardonic Thomas chuckles hugely and de-
duces ironical morals by the HANDFUL we
SUPPOSE that no man who was not desperate
hpot ever rose. whatever his religious conyc-
tions. from the perusal of Ranke, or from that
,f anv honest work upon Italian history, with
ont a feeling of amazement at the yawniDg
difference between the Papal profession and
the Papal practice. Such varieties OF wlcked-
ness such exhaustive examples of iniquty,
such instances of cruelty, OF lasciviOusncss,
of brutality, of low cunning, of unbridled
rage, of trcachery, of all the worst vices OF the
Italian nature in its worst age, are very little
relieved by the patronage of painters and
sculptors and architects. by courtly magnifi-
cence by military courage, by diplomatic Sa-
gacity by the assumption of a more than I'M
perial dignity or by the exhibition OF those
thunders which implied the hopeless and whole
sale damnaton of kings by the score and or
their subjects 10y the million. The number is
not small of those to whom the nakedness OF
the Protestant ritual is distastcful, but who
shrink under the influence of historical truth
from an alliance with any ecclesiastical associa-
ton which has claimed for Bishops dobased by
every vice the nfallible sanctlty and the uner-
ring prescience of the Pontfcate. Nor will
this feeling be diminished by remembrance Of
the chronic quarrels between Rome and all the
- - l,f,b -p
large a space Of modern history-quarrels be-
tween the Vatican on one side and Madrid,
Paris, Vienna, on the other, TO say nothing OF the
innunerable fcuds between the Pope and all the
minor Italian States which adorn the pages OF
the Italian annalists-a record which is almost
enough to make sensitive man forswear his
torical reading forever. These are differences
between Catholics and the putative Head of
the Church, and the logical moral which is to
be dcducod from them is too palpable to require
"a demonstration.
The present successor of st. Peter received
the KEYS amid the most brilliant hopes of the
whole Christian world, aud with promisa of n
temporal administration of his estate which
should be at once milder and wiser than that
of most of his predecessors. He was to
ameliorate the condition of his immediate
subjects and to govern them by securing their
flial affection he was to be the patron of
popular progress and enlightenment; and even
in Protestant lands his praises were sounded in
p''',e - - with a sincerity which was
fully Justified by his earliest uCto. But the
curse of his titular ancestry WAC upon h;", ond
through his own fate or foibles or the ineyita-
ble influences of his position, he has succumbed
to the reactionary politics of Europe, and
shaken his spiritual supremacy in Catholic
Italy itself. BY the mass of his Church
throughout the world he may still be regarded
with pity and affection, but the old, unques
toning reverence is gone, and possibly is gone
forever The traditional force of his posi-
ton, however strongly it may appeal
TO the imaginatons of mankind,
is not strong enough for the democratized and
still democratizins condition of universal hu-
man society. Distance rather diminishes than
increases the dignity which he finds it difficult
TO preserve in the very seat of his power, and
he can i'll afford TO be n spendthrlt of denun-
Citations when they can only be multiplied into
contempt At present he is fast sinking into
the situation of thrd-rate Italian prince
keeping up little court, reviewing little
armies, and dabbng in little politics, after the
old German fashion. The strength of the
Papacy was in its spiritual hold upon the
minds and cOnsciences of men. The present
Pope seems to be mainly ambitious to
figure as "a sort of minor Maj0r-G Generll.
Rabelais himself, the most audacious satirist
that ever lived, and who feared POpes
as little as he feared anything, could
hardly have desired finer subject for his fail
than the Pope at the camp of ROcca di Papa
last August The earthly vicegerent of the
Lord travels to his army accompanied and
sustained by the illustrous Gen. Kanzer. AS
he approaches, no miraculous thunders attest
his divine mission. no battalions of angels
greet him from the skies, but the soldiers
bring out what guns they have, fire as hand
some n salute as possible, while zOuaves, chas-
seurs, and dragons compensate for the angelic
absence Instead of the MiSerere of the POpe's
own chapel, there is n dcafcning performance
Of military bands. Soon a tremendous dis
charge of notes from the trumpets and of blank
cartridges from the cannon proclaim the FL
"evation of the Iostr Really, we think any
Middle-age Pope riding in armor at the head
of a handful of iron-cad robbers and assassins
cut far more respectable figure than this!
But Popes must breakfast, and TO breakfast
went the Pope, while around his pavilion the
chasscurs sang little song, ending with
"Evviva il Papa-Re" 1t is affirmed by the
chronicle (Which we publish in another
column) that with this vocal performance ii
"Papa-Re" was delighted" and "cred out
Bravi'D quite q number of times. What
could he do save admit the officers to kiss his
foot \ The martial men went in accordingly,
and went through tho osculatory process.