The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-09-20
DESTRUCTION OF PAPAL STATES
NNlVHIIHUVU IIVIII PussV ~
Sardinia War Center.

Sardinia War Center.
Only one power on the peninsula
was capable of resisting Austria, the
Kingdom of Sardinia where, after the
resignation of Charles Albert, his son,
Victor Emmanuel II ruled. Oppose
ton then to Austria, not only IN the
Lombardo-Venetian territory, but
wherever malcontents, conspirators,
political agitators and genuine grieV-
ances were to be found, crystalllzed
around the throne of the new king.
A cunning, INSCRIPTIONS policy was
to be inaugurated. Austria was to be
crushed with the aid of some other
European power; Piedmont was to be
raised to the rank of a leading state
! in Europe, Austria should be driven
out of the peninsula, the Bourbons
should quickly follow, the duchies
were one by one to be gathered into
the Piedmontese net. Savoy, as the
| proveTb ran, was to eat up the Italian
artichoke leaf by leaf. But the states
| Of the Pope stood in the way. What
mattercd it? Italy was to be unified;
| they must disappear. The plan, as
| hypocritical as it was criminal, and
only gUardedly put forth in the days
! of Gregory XVI, was finally unmasked
after the accession of Plus TX to the
! throne.
The reign of the new Pope opened
with hOSanna of triumph even from
! the enemies of the Papacy. 1t was
to close in the gloom of Calvary. 1t
Was in vain that, alive to the demo
cratic aspirations of his people, Plus
TX gave them constitutional govern
ment with lay ministers and with
kingly generosity pardoned political
offenders. In the general revolt of
184S against all settled order in Eu-
rope, he too, fell a victim to the Sc
cret Vaccinations of those agitators
who were undermining the thrones OF
Iprinccs and kings, and he had to take
refuge at Gaeta under the protection
Of the King of Naples. Italia Una"
was the cry, Italy unified, as Gioberti
at first proclaimed, under the Pope if
possible, but unified at all costs! Re-
stored in 1850 to his capital, Plus TX
was at last to become the victim of
lone of the saddest dramas the world
has seen.
The makers Of Italian unity were
found. There were sinister influences
in the background, Napoleon ILL., at
first the protector of the Pope, then
his betrayer; the masked forces of
Mazzinianism and the secret societies
the moral support of English minis
tiers Of State and ENJOYS like Lords
IPalmerstOn, Clarendon and John Rus
sell. These moved behind the scenes
But as Canon Barry says: "A states
imam, king, and a freebooter wrought
out this drama between them. The
statesman was Cavour, the king Vic.
tor Emmanuel, the freebooter Carl
Times p. 233).
The Crafty CaVour.
Count Camille Benso di Cavour was
one of the cleyerest and most unscru
pulous men of his times He was the
Macchiaveli of the anti-Papal conspi
racy. Without him Victor Emmanue
and Garibaldi would have been power
less Minister of Victor Emmanuel
he made a puppet of his king. Oh
Napoleon III he frequently made 6
tool, and as occasion required fiat
tered or fettered Garibaldi. He made
the italian Question" an interna
tional one With unfiinching direct
ness and sureness of purpose, he wen
straight to his goal, overriding all oh
stacles, using all his undoubted genius
but also fiinging away in the task hi:
honor and self-respect. The expulsion
, of the Austrians, the dethronement O
, the Italian princes in the Peninsula
the destruction of the temporal pOwe
of the Holy See, all leading to the uni
fication of Italy under the House o
, Savoy, such was his plan. He did no
live to see the last act of the dram;
! which he had so skilfully staged, blu
: after his death men of his school lik
Ricasoli and La Marmora were abb
, to continue his work.
| U Cdliy Oll pau SdNOul udO u
v bring out" Piedmont on the theate
t of world politics. Victor Emmanue
and his people had no interests a
stake in the Crimean War. But PieC
montese troops were dispatched to tn
trenches of Sebastopol to fight side b
: side with the English and the French
and though they played no very glor
Gus part, they reminded the worl
that new player was taking hi
v place at the absorbing game of inter
o national politics. At the Congress Q
e Paris in 1856, Cavour again move
e with extraordinary skill. No repre-
e sentatives of the Italian sovereigns @
|. the South or of the Popes were pres
ent at the Conference, yet in yiolatio
of all international courtesy, the II
ternal affairs of these princes wer
discussed. The ''incapacity' and "ol
preston" of the Papal administratio
L were especially emphasized and
0 demand was made that the admins
5 tration of the Romagna and the Por
e tifical Legations" should be take
:. away from the Pope. The process c
g spoliation begun, it steadily kept o