The Irish standard., 1911-06-10
DIFFICULTIES BESET
ROMAN CELEBRATION
Sculptors Strike at Critical Moment
and Soldiers Must Finish
Monument.
Bungling Will Necessitate Temper
ary Use of Plaster for Bronze
and Marble.
Memory of Terrible Death of Usurper
of Patrimony of the Popes
Recalled.

AS reports go it appears that the
promoters of the Roman celebration arc
daily meeting with difficulties greater
than they anticipated and more per-
picking than they are prepared to
handle. The Rome correspondent of
the Catholic Standard and Times gives
an interesting account of the situation
as follows:
With fcvcrish energy three hundred
soldiers of the Italian army are labor
ing at the huge monument that is being
erected in Rome to the usurpcr Of the
! patrimony of Peter, Victor Emmanuel
II. For, in company with all the stone
masons of Rome, the workmcn hitherto
engaged at the edifice-for fourteen or
fifteen years!-have this week gone OH
strike for a nine hour day, and now
| their place is taken by the soldiers,
| who work from six in the morning un-
til seven in the evening. trying to have
the monument completed for June 4,
the day fixed for it's inauguration. 1t
would never suit the ends of the Quir-
inal and Government to change the
| date row, So the n1s,n up,ent, it may be
taken for granted, will be inaugurated
on the day named, Notwithstanding the
fact that, owing to bungling, good
deal of paste and plaster must tempor-
arily stand for bronze and marble.
And what not? Is not UNITED Italy"
itself fair specimen of counterfeit
building?
1t is amusing to find ultra -loyalists
accusing the clerical party of bringing
to occasion the postponement of the
opening of the huge structure. This is
one of the ways in which the unre-
! lgious bodies of Italy have tried and.
to certain extent, have succeeded In
imparting an anti Catholic hue to the
1911 celebrations. Many excellent
Catholics are fervent believers in the
unification and would wish that tho
celebration of that event should be
strictly confined to IL patriotic stand
point. However, that could never suit
the programme of lTrcemasons and
other enemies of the church! The re-
currcnce of the anniversary afforded
Il splendid opportunity of stirring up i'll
feeling against the Holy See, and what
calumny could do to foment such SEN
timents should not be left untried.
But how terribly and suddenly did
heaven strike down that prince under
the very eyes of his court, In the flow
er of manhood and in the enjoyment
Of his ill-gotten spoils Eight years
after he had despoiled the sanity Pho
Nono Victor Emmanuel invited his
mobiles, the diplomatic corps the gem
erals of the Italian army and those
members of the Roman aristocracy who
had joined his standard to q banquet
in the stolen Quirinal Palace. Dinner
over, music and laughter filled the air,
and enjoyment was on every face, for
this was one of the greatest social
events of the year.
In company with few chosen
friends, King Victor Emmanuel II
stood smoking a cigar at one Of the
windows from which Popes must have
often looked. Swiftly the judgment OF
God aighted on the impure and dis
honest monarch. His huge body
dropped to the ground like a log. and.
amid shrieking and CONSERVATION, the
+ King was borne to his bed chamber
never to rise again.
One month later, amid the tears and
prayers of the world, the Pontiff who
had slipped all the sorrows that un-
, grateful men could cause him, after
Y OUTLYING the years of Peter" and thus
! breaking the record Of all his predc-
j cessors back to the days Of the Galilear
e Fisherman followed his prosecutor tc
4 the foot Of the great White Throne.
n Death of Famous Jurist.
all = H..