The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-03-17
New York SUM-

Rome, Feb 16:-The organs of the
Triple Alliance have given of late ex-
traordfnary Importance to a speech by
Cardinal Capecelatro on the love OF
country and the reconciliation" be-
tween the Vatican and the Quirinal
With characteristic fathomless ignor-
ance other journals have gone even
beyond them. Liberal IDEAS, a vague
and abstract humanitaranism, the lack
of positive direction, the preponderance
of philosophic theories over the care OF
material interests, make o. foreign pol
icies something indefinabR. 1t is a
strange conjunction of geometry and
dOctrinairiSm. Hence the excitement OF
mind, the enthusiasm in the presence
Of episodes in which national" ego
tism can be the sole rule of conduct.
The Archbishop of Capua's speech, to
which higher Importance is so gener-
ously attributed, is regarded at the
Vatican as a mere literary exercise for
the opening of the school year at the
seminary.
a delicate and elegant writer, ignor-
ant Of matters Of general scope. a pro-
life biOgrapheT of saints, much more
like Cardinal BembO or SadOlet than
like Leo XIII, librarian Of the Vatican,
for he has preserved his taste for study,
Cardinal CapeCelatro has never receiv-
friend of the late Father Tosti and a
brother Of former Minister of the
QuiTinal, he wishes for peace between
the two powers. Who does not pray
for that great reconciliation We all
think of ii; it is the noble and sweet
ideal dream that we find at our bed
sides. at the foot of the crucifiX. at the
desk, in the long walks when on y inds
embrace in a freer, wider gaze the out
lines and the laws Of affairs. Leo XII
has made Of ii the central point OF MS
government.
Until 1887 he had concentrated his
efforts upon peace with the powers, for
the policy Of peace seemed to him the
guarantee for the recovery Of the CITY.
When. on the occasion of the CarollneS
affair he signed with Herr Won Bis
marck the end Of the hultuTkampf Leo
XIII. in celebrated speech, invited
the Quirinal to reconciliation. The
House Of Savoy spurned the appeal II
insisted that abdicatiOn should be the
price of tie modus vivendi. At that
critical moment. at that turning point
in the Papal policy, Leo XIII was able
to see into the very depths of the
question.
He came TO a full sense of the real
meaning of the government which has
it's seat in the presence of and in oppo-
sition to the greatness of the Papal
Tiara He learned beyond all doubt
that Roma Capitale' rests upon the
alliance with schiSmatic England and
with Lutheran Germany; that it owes
its life to the dualisms of Italy and the
Papal power; that the usefulness OF the
Holy See means the abaeement of the
House of Savoy: that the monarchy
viii not evacuate the PatrimOny of St.
Peter, save after a revolution or a dis
astrOua war: in word, Leo XIII be-
came convinced that the enjoyment Of
material conquest would be the price
of peace, whereas the fundamental IN
terests of the Papacy, the rights and
safety of universal Catholicism demand
inevitably that Rome shall be restored
to the Pope as his base of action, the
foundation of his visible independence
the guarantee of his dignity and his
prestige.
The dwelling together of the two
halves of Cod at Rome presupposeS
the effacement of the one. Neither the
Holy See. an International power, nor
the monarchy, the keystone of the pres
ent Government. could stoop to such
dependence Either the Pope must
abandon the sacred pomaerium, bear
ing with him in the folds of his white
robe the liberty Of souls and the respect
for all rights, or the dynasty must
Withdraw to Florence, making of the
independence Of the Vatican the pedes-
tai on which it may erect Its future, It's
security and its greatness.
After he saw this, Leo XIII gave UP
his dazzling dream. With his superior
practical sense, jealous OF the glory OF
the Holy See and yearning for the
good. for the ideal and for peace, ne
looked about him for the conditions OF
an adequate policy. He found them IN
Christian democracy, that ancient
treasure of Italy, where the politics OF
the people kept abreast with the Com
mune system: that Government of lib
ertv and of overlooking life. that matrlX
of cisalpine civilization, that breeder OF
riches. of art of literature and Of talth.
The Italy of the Hundred Cities; the
wonderful Middle Ages and the Renais-
sance. where individuality took un-
dreamed-of development; the towns,
each one Of which has a history Of its
own. and has created a civilization, all
these have formed the most attractive
and most variegated country in the
world Did not these glorious realities
spring from the local life as the flower
from its Stem2
The provincial tendencies which are.
marked in the North, in Sicily and ev-
erywhere, the contempt which the cities
profess for each other, the pitiful re-
suits of the automatically unitarian
system. literature silent, industry fail
ing. commerce disappearing, universal
p0Verty Wailing on every road, the
nameless, silent decadence spreading
like a paII-are not these the signs Of
an inevertable evolution?
Leo XIII, therefore, is building up
again the cellular process Of the old
democracy SO long as the organs live
and breathe in the full national life,
resurrections are possible. Two facts
may be taken as certain; first nothing
viii modify the Pope's line of conduct,
and, second, Rome will see reconcilia-
ton only on the day when circum-
stances have removed from the City
the monarchy and the Government.
Rome has the greatness Of a superna-
tural city, for it is the asylum of
cosmopolitan power
Cardinal CapecelatrO's speech, there
fore. has no intrinsic significance. l do
not care to go into the question of
whether il is merely an isolated mani
festatiOn or whether, al our adversaries
pretend. it cores within the category
of events that are to bring about the
triumph of the Triple Alliance against
France, either at the coming conclave
or by bringing into play the power of
the Papacy.
The anarchy that presses upon
France, the confusion under which she
is suffering, hare awakened the widest
hopes. The hour has come, it is thought.
when her fortunes must decline and
enrich with Der rich sDoils the States
which promise the Vatican TO practise
a policy Of lavish gifts 1t is not the
Holy See that is threatened: it is not
the Papal policy that is breaking up or
being transformed. What is aimed at
is France. 1t is her position in the
world, her rights her interests Senti- |
nels, be on your guard!
INNOMINATO.
-e-G-S