The New York herald., 1870-12-11
Tho German Empire and the Temporal
Power Of tho Pope.

E0Wcr OI tho rope
| We live In an age which is so full Of striking
condolences that . striking coincidence is no
longer noteworthy. II is, however, a curious
fact that the German empire, which for well
nigh ten centuries was an inssparable csm-
panion Of the Papacy, but which has been
defunct since 1906, should be reviving at the
very msment that the temporal power of the
| Pope is swiftly dying, il not dead. To-day,
as our columns testify, the members Of the
Catholic Church are mad with excitement-as
mad in the New World as in the Old-because
Of the events which are now taking place in
Rome. To-day the King Of Prussia il
requested by the magnates Of Fatherland tt
assume the imperial crown, and thus revive
the German empire. The German empire,
since the gift Of Charlsmagne, or rather since
the coronation Of Ohio, 962, otherwise named
the Holy Roman empire, is about to be
restored. The temporal power of the Pope is
at the same time hopelessly condemned The
contrast is striking and deserving of some
attention.
Questions of this kind have attraction for
us, because they are tests of progress. The
situation of Europe at the present mo-
| ment as revealed by the above mentioned
movements is full of interest and pregnant with
instruction. The Holy Roman empire, in
augurated rather by Oths the Great than by
Charlemagne, exhibited for many centuries
the grandest of all possible unions-the union
of Church and State, and gave form to the
most perfect idea of human government the
coordinate authority of the temporal and the
spiritual, the secular and the sacred authority
1t is undeniable, however, that the conflict of
the ages has been the struggle between those
two Powers We have more than once already
in these columns, within a recent period, gone
over this ground; but tho public sentiment Of
the moment, as well as the potent facts of the
hour, make fresh review necessary. From
962 up until 1906 the Holy Roman empire, in
spite of varying fortune, was more or less
fact. The interval Is full of historic life.
1t covers the great struggle for supremacy
between the Pope and the Emperor which
reached its climax in the days of Hildebraad,
when the Papacy showed itself mightier than
the empire; the grand times of Frederick of
the Red Beard, when the empire, thoroughly
religious, was mightier than the Papacy the
Renaissance period, when Italy was by a study
of the past giving Europe new and higher
form Of life; the Reformation period, when
science had come to the aid of liberty and
was shaking the slumbering peoples from
the sleep Of centuries; the French Revolution
period, when under new hope Europe went
mad; but during those many centuries the
Pope and the German Emperor claimed, with
more or less reason, to represent the secular
and spiritual interests of the modern world.
In 1906, the German empire having been de-
stroyed by the act Of the Confederation of the
Rhine, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden and six
teen other States having withdrawn from and
repudiated the empire, Francis the Second on
the 9th of August, playing the part of another
Odoacer, resigned crown which German
Emperors had worn since the days Of the Great
Otho, but which the conquests and ambitious
projects of the First Napoleon had rendered
worthless and by that act the German and
Holy Roman empire was made thing of the
past. Two years before that date Napoleon
had destroyed the temporal power ofthe Pope;
had revoked the donations which his prede-
cessors, the French emperors, had made;"
had proclaimed his son King of Rome, and had
compelled Pope Plus VII. to cross the Alps and
assist at his coronation. Thus one thousand
and six years after Pope Leo had crowned
Charlemagne, eight hundred and forty-four
years after the coronation Of the First Otho,
the Holy Roman empire perished. Another
wculd-be Charlemagne was the master Of
Europe; but the Papacy, often humbled be-
fore, was now laid PROSTATE. The empire
which had lasted SO long was no more,
and the Papacy and the empire were finally
divorced.
In 1914, when the fimsy fabric of the Napo-
leonic empire fell, the combined Powers Of
Europe restored the Pope to his ancient posi-
ton and made secure to him his rights as one
of the temporal princes of Europe. In 1916
an attempt was made to restore the old Ger
man empire, but the attempt failed, the EN-
perOr oI AuStrl8 naVluS uO ueelre 10 wear
barren honors and Prussia being now too
strong to allow any such arrangement to take
effect. 1t is well known that in 1914, in 1915
and in ls4S a powerful party in Germany
sought to restore the empire; but hitherto
all such schemes have been worthless.
Now, however, the opportunity has arrived,
Austria is no longer in the field and Prussia is
smnipotent. The events of 1866 and of 1870
have made King William master Of the situa-
ton. Germany throughout all her borders
recognizes the fact, and to the united voice Of
Germany the Prussian King responds, accept
ing the title of Emperor of Germany. The
year 1914 restored the Pope; the year 1870
has restored the Emperor; but, strange to say,