The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1876-02-02
DR.. Field on the popes Temporal Power.

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DR., Field on the Popes Temporal Power.
1t is a sad reflection that the Christian
Church, once established in Rome, should
afterwards itself turn prosecutor. But un-
fortunately it too became intoxicated with
power, and could brook no resistance to its
will. The Inquisition was for centuries
recognized institution of the Papacy--an ap-
pointed means for guarding the purity Of the
faith. The building devoted to the service
of that tribunal stands to this day, close By
the Church of st. Peter, and believe there
is still Papsl official who bears the dread
title of /" Grand Inquisitor." But fortunate
ly his office no longer inspires terror, for it
is at last reduced to the punishment of &C.
clesiastical offences by ecclesiastical disci-
pline, instead of the arm of flesh, on which
it once leaned. But the old building is at
once ga prison and palace" the cells
are still there, though happily unoccupied.
But in the castle of St. Angelo there is a
Chamber of Torture, which has not always
been merely for exhibition, where Pope
Clement (what mockery in the name) had
| Beatrice Cenci put to the torture, and forced
to confess crime of which she was not
guilty. But We are not so unjust as to i'm
pute all these crueties of former and
darker time to the Catholic Church of the
present day. Those were ages Of intoler-
ance and of persecution. But none can deny
that the Church has always been fercely
intolerant Their is no doubt that the mas
sacre of ST. Bartholomew was the occasion
of great rejoicings at Rome. The bloody
persecution of the Waldenses found no rebuke
| from him who called himself the vicegerent
of Christi persecution which called forth
from Milton that sublime prayer:
Avenge, o Lord, thy slaughtered saints,
Whose bones lie scattered upon the Alpine noun
tains cold
Amid such bitter recollections it is good to
remember also the message of Cromwell to
the Pope, that, " if favor were not shown to
the English people of God, the thunder of
English cannon should be heard in the castle
of st. Angelo"
1t seems as if it were q just retribution
for those crimes of former age, that the
Pope in these last days has had to walk so
long in the Valley of Humiliation. Not for
centuries has Pontiff had to endure such
repeated blows. The reign of Plus TX. has
been longer than that of any of his prede-
cessors; some may think it glorious, but it
has witnessed at once the most daring as
sumption of power-the claim of infallibility
which belongs to God alone-followed by
such humiliation as seems as if a just God
meant to cast these idols down to the ground.
1t is certainly remarkable coincidence, that
just as the dogma Of Infallibility was pro-
claimed, Louis Napoleon rushes into war, as
the result of which France, the chief sup
porter Of the Papacy (which for twenty years
had kept an army in Rome to keep the Pope
on his throne,) was stricken down, and the
first place in Europe taken by q Protestant
power. Germany had already humbled the
other great Catholic power of Europe, to the
confusion and dismay of the Pope and his
councillors. A gentleman who has resided
for many years in Rome told me that on the
very day that the battle of Saiowa was
fought, Cardinal Antonelli told friend of
his to "come around to his house that night
to get the news; that he expected to hear
of one of the greatest victories ever won for
the Church" So confidently did be and his
master the Pope anticipate the triumph Of
Austria. The gentleman went. Hour after
hour passed, and no tidings came. 1t was
midnight, and still no news of victory. Be-
fore morning the issue was known, that the
Austrian army was destroyed Cardinal
Antonelli did not come forth to proclaim the
tidings. He shut himself up, said my in
formant, and was not seen for three weeks.
And so it has come to pass-whether by
accident or design, whether by the violence
of man or by the will of God-that the Pope
has been gradually stripped Of that power
and prestige which once SO acted upon the
imaginations of men, that like Caesar, " his
bend did awe the world" and has come to be
merely the bishop, or archbishop, of that
portion of Christendom which submits to the
Catholic Church.
find the Rome of to-day divided into two
camps. The Vatican is set over against the
Quirinal. The Pope rules in one, and Vic
tor Emmanuel in the other; and neither of
these two sovereigns has any thing to do with
the other.
1t would take long to discuss the present
political state of Rome or of Italy. Apart
from the right or wrong of this question, it
is evident that the sympathes of the italian
people are on the side of Victor Emmanuel.
The Roman people have long experience
of government of the priests, and they do
not like it. 1t seems as if the world was
entering on new era, and the Papacy, in
fallible and immutabe as it is, must change
too-it must "moye on" or be overwhelmed.
IL