New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-08-14
FRANCE AYn ROME.

FRANCE AND ROME.
The most significant feature Of the breach be
tween France and Rome is-if we may be per
mitted the paradox-its insigniicance We do
not mean that it Is or will be void Of material
Importance either to the French government
or to the Vatican or, indeed, to some third par
ties. On the contrary, as we shall see, it prom
lses results Of much Importance. It's lack Of
significance is in immediate international af-
fairs, and also in the domestic affairs Of France.
In them it produces scarcely a ripple Of dis
turbance. That we may pretty confidently say,
is something that would not have been pos
sible ten years ago, or at any time heretofore
within the last ten centuries. We do not know
that there is a more impressive exponent Of the
newness Of spirit that has come upon the Eu-
ropean world To appreciate It we have only
10 recall the familiar facts of the past From
the time Of St Louis, and indeed long before.
through the ages OF Valois and Bourbon, Rome
was supreme in France. The strenuous son OF
Jeanne d'Albret could crush the GHises and
Mayenne, but at last even he yielded to the
lndehnable rule OF the Triple Crown AMI ad-
mitted that Paris was worth a mass. Bona
parte could defy all Europe, but found ii essen
tial to make terms with the Pontif whom he
had eXiled and imprisoned. Empire, and Res
toration, AMI Citizen King and Republic, and
Empire again have come and gone, but Con
ceFdat has gone on as If forever. Under a third
Of century Of Third Republic It has endured,
despite the fulminatory rhetoric Of the great
Gambetta and the remorseless calculation of
the intrepid Ferry. Yet Today a quiet and I'M
pretentious school teacher, without prestige or
the passionate power Of crucial occasion, pro-
poses TO sweep the whole system away forever
for if swept away once it will be forever
and France and the world aequiesce with no
more agitation than as though he had suggest
ed a revision Of the carriage tax.
This significant insignihcance OF the episode
is to be regarded as marking perhaps more
than anything else has done, the passing Of the
Papal power as a factor In international poll
tics Time was when Rome was the worlds
centre Of great diplomacy. Treaties were made
alliances were formed and wars were declared
there. Nations were aligned with other ma
tons, OF were arrayed against them, accord
ing to their relationships with Rome. Nor was
it unreasonable, in theory, that Il should be So
The Church regarded itself, and was widely
regarded, the supreme Il not indeed the
soIe repository and source Of religion and NOR
ais, and therefore Of political and civic as well
as Of spiritual righteousness. In such concep-
ton Of its status and its functions it was well
that 1t should be the international arbiter. In
the rude days Of force and divine right in
its most despotic form it was we'll that there
should be a visible and tangible concretion Of
divine authority to temper and TO check the
wrath Of man. Such was the fire theory Of
Rome's dominance in the affairs Of nations
The haw lay in the practice For inevitably
the force that should have been purely moral
and spiritual became largely material and po-
litieaI, and in that fact was the germ Of its
decay. It was because they believed it to be
influenced by motives Of political aggrandize-
ment that governments, one by one. repudiated
Rome. Eye cannot serve God and Mammon"
To their mind, Rome could not be power max
ing for spiritual righteousness and at the same
time for the political advantage of itself or of
some favored protege When it made itself a
political power it must be treated as other such
powers, in peace a friend IN war an enemy.
Such. rightly or wrongly, has been the course
of other nations. Such is the course Of France
to-day Rightly or wrongly she has regarded
Rome as a meddler in her politics. and as a
hostile meddler. Time was when she suspect
ed at least part of the Church of intriguing
for 4 Bourbon or OFleanist restoration. More
recently she found it fostering the military
conspiracy against the civil supremacy. Other
grievances have accumulated. until now France
resolves to end what has long seemed an an
achronism by abolishing political relations with
Rome and leaving the Church dependent en-
tirely upon moral and spiritual influence
lu-s, as we nave 5dlus CdusSS no cdLGcIySm. No
allied nations rise TO vlndicate the challenged
authority OF Rome. The people that was, and
perhaps still is, the most Catholic in Europe
expresses no dissent and offers no revolt against
the meditated action Of its chosen rulers The
thing is proposed. and bids fair to be effected
without a shock or even q serious lar 70 the
internal constitution or 10 the external rela-
tionships Of France What It will mean 10 the
Church Of Rome is a subject for speculation,
and for time to tell There win be loss OF reva-
nue. II the state subventIon is abolished There
may be loss OF political prestige. and of some
political power. There should be 10 dirninu-
ton, but rather an increase. Of that moral and
spiritual authority which it is, after all, the
Chureh's prime function 20 exert. It's dlgnItaries
often dwell, with Justhable exultation upon the
unequalled progress and prosperity which the
Church has made and enjoys in America. In
view Of that they should logically not depre-