The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-11-30
Remarkable Career OF the Great Pre-
late-SOme Curious Facts.
New York Sun.l

The skillful statesman and prelate who,
rightly or wrongly, has been considered
to be more of Pope than the Pope him.
self, has departed, and left the Supreme
Pontiff without shrewd, practical ad-
wiser in the conduct of the trying
worldly and clerical struggle the Catho-
lie Church is now engaged in. There
were many people who supposed-erro-
neously, we believe-that Cardinal An
tonelli would have been the POpe's sue
cessor, for he was fourteen years younger
than Plus TX, and seemed apparently to
be in much better health than the
Pontiff himself. Hard work, however,
intense excitement, and the bitterness OF
temperament which had been developed
in Cardinal Antonelli, consequent on the
vindictiveuess with which he had been
assailed by his enemies, broke down his
strong constitution.
Giacomo Antonelli was born at Son.
nino in 1906, of an old family OF the
Romagna. The Cardinal was educated
at the Seminary of Rome, that great in
stitution at which the offspring of the
commonest people are brought together
with the sons of the highest families.
The remarkable capacities of this young
student soon made him known to Pope
Gregory XVI, and when the young
man became ordained, he was at once
nominated to confidential position at
the HOLY See, then promoted to the dig.
nity of a Prelate, and was soon after ap'
pointed Assessor of the Criminal Court
He had not yet attained his thlrty-hftn
year when he found himself in the posi-
ton of Under Secretary OF State Tor the
Interior, then sub-Treasurer, and in
wear or two Treasurer of the two Apos
tolic Chambers, or Minister of Finance
Thus in the summer of 1916, when Rome
learned the death of the Pontiff who hac
occupied the Holy See for fifteen years
Antonelli, then man in the prime o
life, was already high dignitary in botf
Church and State.
Count Mastai Ferretti, to whose elec
ton to the Papal See Antonelli contrib
uted not little was liberal, and nat
urally anxious to avail himself OF th'
services of him who at that time bOr'
the reputation of being the mos
progressive member of the Papal Gov
ment.
1t is a curious fact, and one that ex
plains the intense dislike which the Lib
erals entertained for Antonelli, tha
when the Pope was Liberal, he wa
more Liberal than the Pope, and, whel
the Pope became retr0gressive he turne'
out to be more retrogressive than tn
Pope himself. At the outset of the Lii
eral struggle in 1848, he was one OF tn
most Radical members of the Constitu
tional Commission, and soon after bt
came President of the Liberal Cabinet
three. quarters of which consisted
laymen. At that time, whatever Libers
movement was on foot, Antonelli was
the head of it. 1t was he who wOrke
out the project of granting to the mi
nicipality of Rome civil governmer
instead Of clerical it was he, too. wh
managed to organize in the small Pont
fcal domain an army of about sever
teen thousand men to be sent out again
Austria. His Liberalism went 50 far
to embitter the whole conclave again
,. his authority, and compelled him to su
render it to Cardinal Mamiani. The II
fluence he had now gained over the POI
was, however, so strong that althoue
Antonelli lost his position as Ministe
he maintained that of intimate frier
and personal counsel of Plus TX. III
appointment of the unfortunate Ca
dinal Rossi was made upon Antonelll
) advice. And it was Antonelli aga
who advised the Pope to flee to Gaet
when Rossi, victim of all the incons
tencies of the previous Cabinet, fell
. the hand of an assassin.
= Since that time Antonelli has shov
! himself the most extreme, intOlera
: and retrogressive man that the Ponti
cal Court has produced. So strong,
e deed, was the tenacity of Cardinal A
y, tonelli in the maintenance of absolu
u principles, that an almost open W
broke out between him and Monsigno
e Merode, and that Foreign Powers h
more than once to demonstrate with
" Pope with reference to the system ma
l. tanned by his Prime Minister. AT
Is 1866 when an unsuccessful attempt '
5, made to assassinate him, Cardinal A
oi tonelli became still more embittere
vet his influence constantly jncreas
G. and he died as Secretary of State
IN Foreign Affairs, Prefect Of the Ap
ID tolic Palaces and confidential and
IS. powerful adviser of the Pontiff.
.. He was by no means one Of the old
u u of the Cardinals, either so far as age
Ia "a as clerical hierarchy is concerned.
CD was only seventy, and Dean of the Or
of Cardinal -Deacons since 1868, al
the death of Cardinal Ugolino. .
II Conclaye Consistory of Cardinal BishC