The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-05

THERMOMETER YESTERDAY: 9 A. NJ, s;
8 a. NJ, 10; noon, 80; 8 p. NJ, q T.
NJ. 25; midnight, 13.
from the London Times, December 7thl
Cardinal Antoneili's WaN.
The will OF Cardinal Antonelli, OF which
the text is sent to us by our correspondent
at Rome, should serve to soften preiudices
and to remind us how very much human
nature there is even in the people we are
least wont to associate with ordinary hui
man life. Cardinal Antonelli was to the
world at large mysterious and almost
mythical parsonage. He shared the sort OF
superbuman character with which the Pa
pacy is invested, and nothing could DC
deemed too remote from ordinary life as
the explanation OF bis conduct. A cardi-
nal is popularly supposed capable OF any
amount OF mystery and conspiracy. Un-
limited sources Of wealth lie open to him,
and he has an unknown number of de-
pendents, to whom he diyerts vast reve-
nues. All this superstition was magnitied
in the case Of Cardinal Antonelli in conse-
quence OF the prominent position he held
in the political world Of Rome. He
was much more than Churchman. He
was statesman with long and varied
experience, who had succeeded, during a
period OF very great difficulty, in always
unfolding with some success the claims OF
his Church and OF his spiritual Sovereign,
and in rendering the Pope, in spite OF his
deficiency in "blood and iron," force in
political affairs. Italian craftsmanship has
always been admirable, no matter in what
cause it was eXcrted, and it is in ability in
the choice of ends rather than OF means
that great Italians have differed. Antonelli
was only unfortunate in the ends to which
his life was devoted. He was pledged to
them from his birth; and it is to his honor
that he made the best OF them. Whatever
could be done by Papal foreign secretary
was done by him. The world saw in it
some superhuman and incredible craft.
W ith the Jesuits and other religious orders
at his back he might be planning all kinds
OF conspiracies against the existing order OF
Europe. He was mask behind which some
incomprehensible power was playing out
concealed and inexplicable games Of policy.
We turn to his will-the simplicity and
directness of which might be a lesson to
our own lawyers-and we behold very
different picture. This typical Cardinal,
supposed to be amasSing great wealth, and
full Of mysterious schemes, appears before
us in the ordinary dress OF human nature;
possessing the fortune bequeathed him by
his parents, and simply anxious to do JUS
tice to the brothers, the sisters, and the
secondary relations whom he leaves be-
hind. AS we read this will we feel our
selves in the confidence of q kind!y-na-
tured man, simply anxious, like any other
to do Justice to his friends and to those who
have served him, and leading 4 life quite
ln
turmoil in which he had been engaged.
Remembering the many years he had
served the Papal See, there is something
touching in the humble petition to the
Holy Father to accept the respectful offer
ing OF the crucitix standing Oh the Cardi-
nals writing-table as a homage "lrom
the most devoted and faitful OF his sub
iects, who dies tranquil in the conscience
Of never having failed in duty towards his
sacred person, and the conviction OF having
always, with all earnestness and honesty,
served him in the true interests OF the
Church and OF the State" This is all An
tonelli had to say of the great business OF
his life. All its anxious and troubled cpl
sodes are summed up, as they might be By
the Minister OF any other Power, into a
simple devotion to the cause Of his SOW
ereign; and the personal attachment which
this illustrates is no slight element in the
strength Of the Roman Catholic Church.
1t is an army in which the generals are
more enthusiastically, if not more i'm
plicitly, obeyed than in any other human
organization. The Cardinal proceeds from
this summary of his public life to his pri-
vate affairs, but before disposing OF his for
tune he disclaims the acquisitions which
had been attributed to.him. II declare" be
says, "that do not possess any other capital
beyond that which came from the heritage
of my excellent father, or which have
been able to acquire through the means
left me by him." He protests accordingly,
in passing from the world, against all the
calumnies which on that or any other ac-
count had been circulated against him, and
forgives those who had injured him by pro-
pagating them. All this, however, is but
the smallest part of the will. The rest is oc-
cupied with simple family bequests, with
"reminiscences Of his brothers, Of their
wives, and their children, of kindly recog-
nitions of friendly acts, and OF touching re-
membranes OF old associations. We notice
personal characteristics in every line OF this
will, from the first reference to. the Holy
Father to the beAuest to his nephew's
mother-in-law, 'Eas remembrance to one
WHO Is SIatc4ui w Aei Ioi All 1uO hiuohooo
she used toward him while he was ia this
world, and who prays her to make use q
the said objects for her dejeiner.'
Such was the will Of the man who played
SO prominent part in the momentous his
tory OF the Papacy during the last thirty
years. His father had left him sufficient
competence, and he improved it by ordi-
nary prudence. It is another Illustration
OF the manner in which a man can be almost
q machine in his business and a simple
human being in his private life. There
is not much difference, after all, between
men OF distinction in any creed or any
country. Very likely even Turkish min
lister would not present such extraordinary
differences from the rest OF mankind as is
sometimes supposed. A man is son, q
brother, and friend before be is q states
man, Cardinal, or Pasha; and the most
natural relations are the most enduring. III
a man happens by force Of bis intellect and
will to be power in the world, he has to
give up his energies to- the work, and the
world thinks of him as nothing else But
the old attachments and the old influences
linger in the best natures as the most pow
erful of allsf and it is by touches OF this
universal nature that ne retains his kinship
with us. A cardinal devoted to an obsolete
and traditional policy might seem the least
likely person to exhibit his sympathy with
the rest OF US bnt it is apparent to every
one who can share such feelings in Cardinal
AntoneIIps will, and the revelation onght
to have its effect in softening the aHimosi-.
ties which public antagonism engenders.
HHuIyn