The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-16

One OF the most interesting chapters Of
this work sets forth the international in
Huence Of the Reformation. The author
holds tina in their effect o Europe
the sack Of Rome in 1927 by the forces COM
manded by the Constable of Bourbon
and the capture OF Pope Clement VII.
were the most impressive events OF the
sixteenth century,, because they touched
most deeply the interests and sentiments
Of the time. While the humanists lamented
the wholesale destruction OF precious books
and manuscripts, which the soldiery wan
tonly used for fuel and to litter the beds
of their horses, h disciples OF Luther
rejoiced in the humiliation OF Clement VII,
for whom many of them wished a fate
more terrible than imprisonment. The
prevailing irreliRion OF the time was shock
ingly exemplihed in the irreverent treat
ment of the clergy and Of the s~anctuaries
by Germans, Italians and ~Spaniards. In
front of the castle OF st. Angelo, where
the Pope and Cardinals could behold the
sacrilege, drunken soldiers clothed an ass
with sacerdotal robes and compelled
a priest to administer the sacrament TO
the animal upon it's knees. Babylon is
~fallenl" was the cry with which the enemies
of the Papacy greeted the story of these
insults to the Pope. Even faithful Catholics
regarded the misfortunes of Rome as a
Judgment of God for the sins of the Church.
In England and France Clement VII. re-
ceived but little personal sympathy, and
ever the Emperor Charles v, when he
learned in Spain what had occurred at
Rome, declined to suspend the festivities
for the birth Of his son Philip. They were
not terminated until the Archbishop of
Toledo demonstrated, but then the court
went into mourning, and Charles ", in a
circular letter u his fellow sovereigns,
disavowed all completely in the sack OF
Rome and the imprisonment OF the Holy
Father.
II liz in the last chapter OF this volume
that the development of the idea OF a
sovereign State il traced. As late as the
middle OF the sixteenth century there ex-
listed In Europe neither a clear conception
Of the State nor any defined principles
Of public law applicable to- group Of nations
independent of each other. The customs
and traditions OF each realm formed its
only Constitution. while the ancient sea
codes and a few i'll defined usages Of war
and were all tina could be desig-
mated as international law The mediaval
lawyers had continued to divide law as it
mad been divided in the Roman Empire,
into jus nuturdls, the dictates Of right
reason; jus Grille. the law Of a particular
people, and jus centrum, or law universally
observed. or a law mutually binding
between different nations-jus inter gentes-
they made no mention, nj In this reticence
they were followed by John Oldendorp
i = III -, ursan-lo,A -gL -
published at Cologne in 1880. DR.. Hill
outlines in a few sentences the reasons
for these facts. For centuries Christendom
had been conceived az n great State,
in which the nature Inc relations Of the
feudal monarchIes were obscured by their
acknowledged dependence upon a common
superior, the Holy Roman See. Within
the circle Of Christendom authority, both
civil and spiritual. was thought Of a. de-
=cending from a Irvine source through tho
rulers whom God had established. OF a
territorial State possessing sovereignty
in itself there could therefore be no con-
ception. Nor wa any code needed for the
regulation OF the intercourse between
monarchs, for the law Of Christ was con-
sidered a sufficient guide for temporal
rulers and the Pope. supreme in all moral
and spiritual matters, was recognized as
their rightful judge.
When, however, the Great Schism created
a division Of allegiance by presenting con-
ficting claims to papal authority the in
fuence OF the Papacy was much impaired.
Their began hat accentuation Of dynastio
ambition, that struggle for supremacy
in Italy and finally that conflict between
France, Spain and Germany in which the
Pope, as An ITALIA Prince, became merely
the ally Of n or more Of the contestants.
and thus a political partisan, rather than
an international judge. With the Protes-
tant Reformation the moral solidarity OF
Christendom was still further weakened.
Left without a common bond, the rulers Of
Europe. while ostensibly claiming 10 be
Christian princes, pursued in reality what
they believed to be their dynastic inter-
ests, without reference to any fixed princi-