New-York tribune., 1870-12-12
PTGHTS-SEcULAR And S1CERDOTAL.

Iknoyy II ia said by men more plausible than solid
that the Roman people have right to select and change
their rulers at will, like all others. To tins answer
first that the late change clearly made not by the
Roman upope themselves nor their demand. but by
n foreign power, aud by overwhelming force OF arms
The Romans " re simply forced by the bayOnet to ac-
ccp one ruler for another and the pbiSete or popular
vote which followed this violent revolution, was mani
festy farce and sam enacted under the influence OF
their new masters at the head of their victorious bat
IA ions Every observer recent events in Franco ana
Italy is well aware Of the in which these 'eOS-
cites have been managed. They deceive no one except
those who wish 70 be deceived
81 answer secondly that even II they really wiled 1t
which they id nOt-tho Roman people had more night
TO vote away territory which clearly belongs TO the
Catholic Church the consecraed residence of Its chief
to all the united States Of ClrisendOm-than have the
people tie District OF Columbia to vote away to one
or more of tie states territory belonging to the whole
United States OF America, the seat OF their general
government In both cases, the soil is necessarily ncu-
tral g10uud, aud the common property OF all; and i
cannot maui.cstly be alicnatcd without common CON
sent suppy,ilg the barbarous inhabitants the bor-
ders Of The Isthmu5 Of suez should attempt to
vote away that great international canal, assume
to themsG ives the right to administer its commerce
for their advgn;a-, would England w0nld France,
would any nation Ol ChrstcndOm, submit to the outrage
Private convenience and local claims must yield TO the
public good and vested rights know it is not an arti
be endowed with certain definite sovereign civil power.
and that Cod might 50 dispose OF to enable him
to exercise without il the prinacy dynCy inrusted TO
him. But this power at least relatively necessary and
| Gods providence has already, for eleven hundred
| years, ordained tbs power the means by which
| his earthly vicar might freely govern the whole
flock sheep and lambs committed to his charge and
under this umchouOrcd di'pensatiOn Of Ills all-wlse
providence. maintain the necessity Of the temporal
| power under existing circumstances Tile example OF
the first ages Of the Church when the Pope not tenn
poral soyorcg cannot be reasonably pleaded against
this conc'u,.on for already took occasion to re-
mark those abnormal ages Of persecution ana OF
fearful struggle, intended show forth the divine
character and energy the Church in its infancy The
Of things not 20 be continued when the
Church had once secured firm foothod in the whole
world; when the child had matured into the nan and
! the Church had become coextensve with the world.
Then other provisions made by divine Providence
the altered Circumstances and this state OF
things has continued uninterrupted for eleven centuries
and have doubt it will continue to the end Of the
world"
Comments by The Tribune.
; I. We quite agree with the Archbishop that
the recent vote OF the People of the Roman
: States, considering all the circumstances under
which it was taken, does not afford conclusive
evidence Of the popular viii. But we remem-
Der that similar vote established the Roman
/
in 1889 and that this republic remained the
only government of Rome until overthrOwn by
q French army which bOmbarded and reduced
the Eternal City, at a heavy cost of Roman
blOOd-all poured ont in defense Of none of it
i'll hostility to, the Republic. And we further
recOlect that Mazzini, chief of the Republic,
after it had been overthrown and he driven
into exile, publicly dared the Papal authorities
to take vote of the Roman people on the
main question. "You say" urges Mazzini,
"that tho vote accepting the Republic was in
conclusive, because we were in power Well:
"you are now in power and have all the ad-
"vantages we then had; let vote of the
"People decide between US if you darem And
they did not dare.
II. The Archbishop says the Roman people
chad no more right to vote away the territory
(Which belongs to the Catholic Church." &C.
Have they any right whatever as to the gov
ernment which taxes, fines, imprsons and
hangs them for violations of its edicts Had
they ever such right If they had, when
did they lose it How may they regain it
We wish the Archbishop had chosen to be more
definite on these points. 1t is a fearful thing
to deny all political rights to a people; and,
if it be done on such grounds as the Arch
bishop intmstes, proof is needed not merely
that some territory should be set apart for
the purpose, but that so much is necessary.
We do not see why the Pope might not claim
and take the entire Italian peninsula on the
basis laid down by the Archbishop-nor why
the Leonine City" $50 called might not
satisfy the requirements of his premise.
! H. If the Archbishop's logic be sound. we
do not see why every Archbishop and Bishop
should not be endowed with a certain definite
sovereign civil power" as well as the Pope
Abp. Spalding would prefer not to be dragged
before an average Police Justice, charged with
larceny or assault and battery: yet he is liable
| to be, the same as any of us. 1t is a disagree
able contingency to which we are all exposed
necessarily, il seems To us. We deem it best
neither for the priesthood nor for mankind
that the former should be exempted from this
general responsibility to the civil power.
"Render unto Cesar" &c
". We do not consider it quite fair in the
Archbishop to institute comparison between
the people Of the Roman States and the bar
barous inhabitants on the borders of the
"isthmus Of Sucz.' The former are such as
eleven hundred years of almost uninterrupted
sacerdOtal rule have made and left them.
And, though the Suez Canal is the rightful
and acknowledged property Of those who fur
nished the money which paid for its construc-
tion, or of those to whom the original owners
have sold and transferred their rights, still the
evil sovereignty of the region traversed by
the Canal remains as before that Canal was
dug.
V. The Archbishop observes that Divine
Providence has aforctme made novel pro-