The New York herald., 1871-03-26
Tho Temporal Power Of she Pope in Its
Saliens Points.


Our liberality and good. will toward his
Holiness are well known; it is equally no
torious that our friendship for him has no
tinge of superstition This is the feeling with
which we now take up the subject Of his tenn
| poral power. Discarding all mere sentiment
as well as sectarianism, we shall consider the
Popes as sovereigns. for, if Plus TX. is with
out any territory just now, many kings and
emperors have been in similar predicament,
not to mention the late Emperor Of the French,
who is now fugitive.
II we regard the Popes as a dynasty we
shall find that, Independently of all disputed
points, theirs is, above all comparison, the
most ancient in Europe. Did the antiquity
and duration of their rule give them any right
to its continuance, no reigning family in the
world would have stronger claim on the
throne of their ancestors This we shall show
presently; but it should be remembered in the
meantime that precisely in proportion as it is
right to compare the Popes with other
soveregns is it right that the former, as we'll
as the latter, should be held amenabe as rulers
to the public opinion of the world. AS the
king or the emperor is bound to keep pace
with the enlightened progress OF the age, so is
the sovereign Pontiff. If there be any differ
ence it ought to be in favor of the latter, since
in addition to teaching his subjects how to live
he also undertakes to teach them how to die.
Great doctors of divinity, as well as great
jurists and statesmen, tell us that those who are
well trained for this world are much more
easily and more effectually trained for the next
than those who receive no training further
than whatever they may give themselves. AS
for securing for people the glory and joy Of
heaven, while leaving them to shift for them
selves on earth, we could quote the most pious
as well as the most learned of the fathers,
including St. Augustine and st. Thomas Aqui-
mas, to show. that that mode of government
was exploded many centuries ago. Ii it has
been practised, however, at much later periods,
we need neither saints nor angels other than
Gibbon, Guzot, Niebuhr and Lingard to tell
US that it has invariably failed, at least in its
mundane bearing.
1t is as well for all to admit that sovereign
Pontiffs are no more exempt from the opera
ton of cause and effect than any other sove-
reigns. They may be infallible as spiritual
rulers. At all events, we are quite willing
that they should be; nor do we raise any OBJ
lection to their having received mythical keys
from ST. Peter, or to their binding and loosing
| Cin spiritual sense) to the full extent of their
claims in that regard. But that they are not
infalble as temporal sovereigns, or exempt
from the consequences of their fallibility when
carried too far, is SO obvious fact that even
the Jesuits cannot dispute it. Were there no
history to refer to, the ultramontane habit Of
attributing all the temporal troubles Of the Pope
to Protestant influence might do very well as
an argument; but it is not necessary to consult
any Protestant historian in order to ascertain
that before there were any Protestants the
Popes were quite as often and as deeply in
trouble as they have been since Luther's
time. Any one who has the least turn for in
vestigaton can easily satisfy himself that long
before the Reformation Popes were not only
deprived of their temporal power, but that
some of them were reduced to state of
poverty bordering on desttution-a state Of
things which could not occur at the present
tress of Plus TX, in such a contingency, but
the Protestants of the United States alone, his
Holiness would be in no danger of suffering
for the necessaries of life. The truth is that it
is only bigoted Protestants-tho whose views
on any subject are not of much value-who
have evinced any real enmity either against
the Pope or his temporal power. AS for the
Protestant Powers, it may easily be ascertained
that they have much oftener saved the Pope
and his power than they have sought to injure
either; but let that pass for a moment
So far as the source and tenure of power are
concerned it is very much with the Pope, even
among his own people, as it is with the school
master. In every enlightened community the
latter is respected and exercises certain
amount Of influence; but this respect and in
fluence are proportional to his knowledge and
his ability to communicate that knowledge-in
word, to his general talents and intellectual
activity. If one of this character is even a
little eccentric many of his eccentricities will
be overlooked if he knows how to secure
the attention and the obedience Of his
pupils and to give them sold useful instruc-
ton at the same time. By doing this he
can continue lord and ma ster as long as he
wishes But, supposing that, when he is
Dead somebody is put in his place who has
neither learning nor talent, and who is as
ignorant of human nature as he is of science,
art and literature, is it to be expected that the
latter could command as much respect or
exercise as much influence as the former
Assuming that both his pupils and their
parents get tired Of him. and even wish to get
rid Of him. would it not be little unreasonable
for his friends to raise the outcry that learning
is insulted, tina. civilization is driven back, and