The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-02-21

{ always been slammed in the face of tn
woman he calls his wife. His forme
consort, the woman who went through
the Garibaldian campaign With him, il
still living. or was up to quite recen
date, at Florence. Crispi, however
does nothing for her. and she has suf
fered greatly from poverty and neglect
To trace Crispi's career since he be
came the PRIME minister of Italian af
fairs would require detailed recital o
Italian history for the same space OF
time. Under pretence of patriotic pur
poses. he has continually insulted the
Papacv in the grossest and most wan
ton manner: he has invented all sorts
Of hmsy excuses for despoiling the
Church, selzing the property and seqns
trating its revenues; be has m,srepre"
sented the Holy See by lies and forger-
les, few years ago he seriously thought
OF interfering with the celebration of
the papal jubilee, and his whole policy
| to sum it up in q few words, has been
one of persistent and malignant opposl~
ton to the Vatican and the Church
| Not a little Of the antagonisnl which
Bismarck, in the Kultnrkampf days of
folly, exhibited toward the Holy See
was doubtless prompted by this marplot
aud bigamist of the Qu1rinal, who did
all that Law in his power. also. TO alien
ate the Austrian Emperor from the
! Vatican, in order to win greater stabll-
lty for the triple alliance. Before his
own downfall Bismarck recognized the
evil of following Crispi's lead, and he
snubbed the italian, consequently, on
more than one occasion, The late Ger
man Emperor refused to listen to him
when he besought that ruler not to
visit the Vatican on the occasion OF his
last journev to the Eternal City; and
despite all his efforts to induce him to
come to the Quirinal, Francis Joseph
has steadfasty refused even when af-
fairs of the greatest weight were being
deliberated to sanction the Piedmon-
tese usurpation Of Rome by visiting
King Humbert in that city.
1t is one of Crispi's arrogant boasts
that he has redeemed Roma and made a
new city of it, But European visitors
to the Papal pr1nclpalitg know how ar
rOgdnt and false that assertion is. It
is only a few months ago that promin-
ent non Catholic European publication
declared that for a Christian, life in
Rome had become unbearable, SO wholly
had the city been delivered over by
Crispi to the atheists. the biasphemers
and the libertines. ArchB ologlsts have
mourned the destruction of the city's
ancient ruins, the desecrati0n Of the
most venerable temples and shrines
and the abolition of all that formerly
made Rome the Mecca OF artists and
sculptors. poets and scholars. from all
parts of the world. The Pope has for
score of years been obliged to remain a
prisoner in his own palace in order. to
avoid the insults and indign1ties whi ch
would be offered him were he to appear
IN public; cardinals and prelates have
been affronted, and some even assaulted.
in the Roman streets bv the Iuffiians
whom Crispi has introduced into the
city; more than one priest has been
struck by these cowardly thugs, and 1t
would be an almost impossible task to
tell how many converts haxe been
wantonlY invaded by Crispi's orders. or
how many nuns have peen driven from
their cloisters by his minions.
What effect Crispi's retirement from
office-if his resignation is persisted in
will have on Italian politics 1t is too
early to predict. The triple alliance
may, or NAV not, survive his exclusion
from power. The men who signed, or.
rather, VINO drew up that famous com.
pact are all out of Office now. The Aus
trian premier is in his grave; Bismarck
is medltating or the sudden less of his
own fall IN the seclusiOn of his private
residence. and now Crispi is in fair
way of initiating his example. The
Austrian Emperor, it is generally
thought, has long been deslrous of es
Gaping from the obligations of the alli
ance; the young German ruler, appar
emily, cares little for it's maintenance,
and, with Crispi out of Office, it is
doubtful if the Italian people will insist
much on a treaty which has cost them
the friendship of France, besides en-
failing upon their country ruinous rate
of taxation. But, with the triple alli-
ance abrogated, the Piedmontese tenure
of Rome would no longer be as we'll as
sured as it seemingly has been since the
day when Victor Emanuel entered that
city and, in defiance of all right, took
up his abode in the Quirinal, OF late
years. interested parties and organs to
the contrary notwithstanding, there
has been a growing sentiment in Europ
can political circles that Rome belongs
by all claim to the Holy See, and that
the interests of civilization and Christi
an1ty demand its restoration to the
(4 |El i&4}