The New York herald., 1870-09-18

I of the Popedom. Others more modest still are
quite content to date the Papacy from the
year sOO when Leo Ill, who had been pre-
viously made by Charlemagne, placed the
imperial crown on the great monarch's head
and hailed him Emperor Of the Romans. Since
the latter date with many reverses Of fortune,
the Papacy has been grand world fact-for
good or for evil for many centuries the
mightiest Power among the sons Of men.
The fall of the Western empire on the
occasion of the death of Charlemagne, con-
trary to the expectation of the great
monarch himself, left the Pope absolute
monarch of Europe. The empire was
dead; the Papacy remained. Europe became
civilly aud politically divided but every sue
| cessive division of the empire into smaller and
smaller fragments made the Papacy stronger
and stronger. The Avignon period came with
its seventy years captivity, with its ecclesias-
tical divisions, with its double and triple
| with its Council of Constance, its burning Of
John Huss, its trial of John XXIII and ts cleo
| tion OF Martin w., makes another grand act in
the Papal drama.
The new Pontif made his entry into Rome
| in 1920, and for the first time for more than a
century Pope began to hold permanently his
court at Rome. The unity Of the Papacy had
been restored, and under man fairly entitled
to respect vigorous attempt was made to
resurrect the almost defunct spiritual empire.
1t was hard work, however, for Martin and
his successors. The divided authority of the
Avignon period had allowed bad seed to be
sown. The Bohemian goose had become
power. In France in Switzerland, in Eng
land, in Scotland, in Spain, in Ger
many, brave men, men of brain and
| men of heart as well, had begun
| to think; and although there were not as yet
any telegraphs or railroads, or NEW YORK
HERALDs, the blood of the Bohemian became
the seed of the new Church, Church which
disowned the Papacy, but which had not as
yet given birth to the Reformation. Early,
however, in the sixteenth century-thanks to
Master Tetzel and his money box-Germany,
England, Scotland, Switzerland, France, Spain,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Nor
way revolted from the authority of the sue
cessor of st. Peter. Once again Christendom
was divided, but this time the revolted tribes
would have nothing to do with Popery. Be-
hold the close Of another act in the grand
Papal drama. Such men as Huss and Wicklffe
had been succeeded by men like Luther and
Melancthon and John Knox.
Follow the Diet Of Worms and the Coun-
Gil of Trent, and the thirty years war-a war
which lasted, in fact, for ninety years,
coloring the politics of Europe, mixing
itself with every combination, occupying the
attention and exhausting the energies of
every statesman and every warrior, the
parent of sieges, massacres, untold crimes,
and we come to the peace of Westphalia, 1648.
The events that followed for over q hundred
years, although all important in the grand
drama of history, were more political than
religious At the close of the thirty years
war Europe settled down religiously divided.
The question as between Professionalism and
Catholicism has never since formally led the
nations to war. The religious landmarks
remain to-day very much as they were when
the treaty of Westphalia was signed. Protes-
tantism has not encroached upon Catholicism.
Catholicism has not encroached upon Protes-
tantism. The political triumphs, the triumphs
of liberty have been numerous; but the Pa
pal drama up until the great French Revolu
ton of 1889 may be said to have been sus-
pended.
With the French Revolution of 1889 opened,
as many think, the last act Of the magnificent
drama which has been in progress more or
less regularly since the eighth century of our
era, if not earlier. That act, according to
these interpreters of history, is still in
progress. Since 1889 we have had certainly
many scenes, not few of them full of
interest. Our readers do not require to be
reminded of the sad experiences of the
Papacy under the first republic and under
| the first empire. What Leo Ill. was to
Charlemagne Plus the Seventh was, though
| in less magnificent style, to Napoleon the
First. As in 752 Pope Zachary crossed the
| Alps to crown Pepin LIE Bref; as on Christ
mas Day, 800, Leo iii. put the crown on the
| QedO VI tuC hluS VI VIC Vlduh5 ouu pIOCAd1ucQ
him Emperor Of the West, so, on December
2, 1904, did Plus the Seventh sanction the
coronation Of the new Charlemagne, Napo-
leon the First, Never in all history had the
Papacy experienced so great scourge as this
man proved to be. Napoleon made the Holy
Father prisoner in France, robbed him of
all his territories and, with the compensation
of some two million francs, reduced him to
the rank Of a French subject. 1t was the
opinion of many hard students Of history and
of not few jubilant interpreters Of Scripture
that the last scene of the Papal drama was
before the world. Fate, however, had other
wise arranged. With the fall of the French
empire, in 1914, the Pope found himself
again at Rome, a powerful temporal prince,
| ,u;th r,oru now arfnl temnoral nrincps at hia