willing subject of the King of Italy, and that the papacy were incorporated in the national government as a regular State department. And, then, suppose that a disagreement and a war broke out between Italy and France, between Italy and Austria, or between Russia in alliance with Italy and England. The Italian Government would naturally count upon the full and hearty co-operation of every department in the state. Having incorporated the papacy into its national system, it would at once attempt to avail itself of all the resources of the Papacy. It would look to the Papacy to stir up a feeling against France in the Mediterranean, in the Levant, and in China. Or, if Italy were making common cause with Russia against England, the Papacy, as a department of the Italian State, exercising powerful religious influences in Constantinople, Egypt, India, and the East generally, would be requested to invite her great army of missioners to co-operate with the policy pursued by Italy in conjunction with Russia against England. In fact, to subject the papacy to the kingdom of Italy would be to throw into the hands of Italy a world-wide spiritual power, which might render her influence and strength unique and supreme among the nations of Europe. Italy would thus be made not only a first-class Power, but a Power that had acquired, through means of the Pope, the art of appealing for support to the religious feeling of Christendom. Napoleon foresaw all this, and sagaciously determined that the Papacy should be subject to no temporal power but his own.

When, therefore, statesmen urge the importance of maintaining the temporal power of the Pope, they are impelled, not by theological but, by far-reaching political and European considerations. They also distinctly acknowledge that not only the political equilibrium of Europe, but another subject-more deeply rooted in the affections. and traditions of the people-is bound up with the independence of the Pope, namely, the Christian character of modern civilisation. They have not hesitated to couple together both these interests as reasons for supporting the temporal power of the Holy See.

II. It is impossible to believe that English statesmen are less liberal in their views now than in the days of Lord Palmerston. And as to the liberality of the people, the influence of education and of the Press has wrought a marvellous change. It has taught men to distinguish at once between the purely controversial side of a question, and that which is political, religious, and moral. At heart the English people are Christian, and desire that a Christian policy, a Christian spirit, shall animate the public and domestic life of Christendom; nor will they allow certain outstanding theological differences to paralyse or destroy the defence of the common Christianity of Europe. The English people perceive clearly enough that an extraordinary change is coming over the world. Democracy is

spreading and rising to power and government. Rocks, hidden and visible, are ahead; and hopes and fears balance each other in men's hearts. Mutual co-operation and good-will among Christians, and most skilful piloting are recognised as absolutely necessary if Christian society is to escape shipwreck.

But what, it may be asked, is the democracy? It is a composite order, made up of all shades of men, good and bad. The opposing forces locked up within its bosom are broadly these: Christianity and Atheism. The issue to be tried is, which of the two shall rule society and the world. Under these circumstances it is surely the obvious prudence and wisdom of Christians to combine to the utmost and to use every available resource for the preservation of all that they hold dearest.

The beneficial influence upon society of the acts of Leo the Thirteenth, ever since he came to the throne, is admitted by Christians of every denomination. It is impossible to enumerate those acts, but a brief summary may not be out of place. In his apostolic letters, widely circulated throughout the civilised world, he has again and again taught and insisted on the principles of eternal truth and justice on which Christian society has been founded and built up. He has propounded, on the one hand, the moral obligations of rulers and governments, warning them against those faults and tendencies. which lead on to the misery of the governed. He has, on the other hand, urged upon the people the necessity and obligation of the virtue of obedience, for God's sake, to law and authority, the reasonableness of allegiance and the sinfulness of rebellion.

Leo the Thirteenth treats, as they arise, the questions that shake society to its foundation. Nine years ago he raised his voice in defence of property.

The Socialists, he said, denounce the right of property as a human invention, repugnant to the natural equality of men; they claim a community of goods, and preach that poverty is not to be endured with patience, and that the possessions and rights of the rich can be lawfully disregarded. But the Church more wisely recognises an inequality among men, of different degrees in strength of body and of mind, also in the possession of goods, and ordains that the right of proprietorship and of dominion, which comes from nature itself, is to remain intact and inviolable in each one, for she knows that God, the author and asserter of all right, has forbidden theft and rapine in such a manner that it is not allowed even to covet another's goods; and that thieves and robbers as well as adulterers and idolaters are excluded from the kingdom of heaven. But the Church, like a good mother, does not neglect the care of the poor and the relief of their wants, &c.

On the contrary, the condition of the working classes and of the poor has occupied and continues to occupy his most careful attention.

The Holy Father's wise and noble instructions on the Christian constitution of States,' on the place and sanctity of marriage, on the 'See A Manual of Catholic Politics. Burns & Oates.

importance of the study of history, of science, of philosophy, on the relations between Christianity and civilisation, between the rich and the poor, between pastors and people, prove to demonstration what kind of ally the nations may count upon when they enter into official relations with Leo the Thirteenth.

We have desired (says the Holy Father in one of his published letters) to make our voice heard by those who rule the destinies of nations, earnestly calling on them not to refuse, in these times when so much is needed, the most solid aid that the Church holds out to them; and urged on by Apostolic charity, we have also turned to those who are not united to us by the bond of the Catholic religion, anxious that their subjects may enjoy the salutary influence of that divine institution. As you will readily see, our design is to carry the beneficial action of the Church and the papacy into the heart of the society of the present day.

It is but fair to add that the co-operation proffered by Leo the Thirteenth in noble and simple terms has been as nobly accepted by the countries of Europe. Thanks of gratitude for his having used the whole weight of his authority and influence against the errors and dangers which beset society have again and again been sent to him by Sovereigns and leading statesmen throughout Europe. His encyclical on secret societies is said to have been. read in the churches throughout Russia, by order of the Czar. His active intervention has often been sought in behalf of peace and of social order, but never more strikingly than when the Protestant Emperor of a great country asked to submit himself to papal arbitration in the matter of a dispute between himself and a Catholic Sovereign.

All this tends to show that the Christian element in the governments of the world, no matter what their form, recognises the importance of a close alliance with the spiritual head of Christendom. While, on the other hand, the fury and hatred of the revolutionary and anti-Christian sects and their determination to destroy the Papacy are a standing witness to, and a strong argument for, the value of the Pope's influence in preserving and strengthening the Christian order of society.

But to return to the rising figure of the democracy.

Leo the Thirteenth is not opposed to the democracy. On the contrary, he is a friend to the people. The spirit of his policy is drawn from those pregnant words of his Divine Master, 'I have compassion on the multitude.' Neither is the Pope afraid of the people. Let the Pontiff's place be free and independent, and he will speak plain truths, wherever needed, whether to kings and governors, or to the masses of the people. He has been accustomed in every age to argue, to beseech, and to rebuke, in omni patientia et doctrina.

Nor have democratic institutions cause to fear or suspect the Pope, so long as they are truly Christian. They will recognise in the Papacy and the Church a popular stamp characteristic of all elective societies—a welcome to all men and a path wide open to the highest positions of trust and authority. They will see more and more that

they have no truer or more sincere friend than he who addresses their reason and conscience with Apostolic freedom, and leaves the result to God.

None can be more conscious than the educated and the thoughtful of the dangers to which democracy is exposed. Its power may become overwhelming, and on occasion more tyrannical than that of kings, because there is no reserve of force to resist it. It may pride itself on its high moral sense, but the correlative sense of responsibility and the dread of punishment cannot be brought home to the multitude as it can to the few. The greater the power of democracy, the greater its need of a sense of responsibility, the greater its need of religion. It will be safe and prosperous in proportion as it is Christian.

From this the conclusion naturally follows that it is the manifest interest of the democracy to preserve in honour and independence the religious head of the 225,000,000 who form the larger part of the modern democracy. Every Christian will admit that an enormous accession of strength is won to the side of social order, peace, and prosperity by the presence in the world of a spiritual Power recognised by half of the population of Europe-a Power existing simply for the maintenance of the Christian law, whose voice is heard throughout every land, and who alone is admitted, even by nonCatholics, to have a primacy, at least of honour, over Christendom.

The public and political recognition of such a Power becomes all the easier when the whole Catholic portion of the democracy already accepts and obeys it, while the non-Catholic portion understands that its influence is purely moral and spiritual-that it enforces its teaching by no military displays or threats of war; but is content to appeal to faith, reason, and the moral sense, relying entirely on God and on the freewill of the people for the acceptance of its teaching and its counsels.

As a matter of fact, the civil Powers of the world are for the most part in direct relations with the Holy See. All the great States of the Continent accredit ambassadors or ministers to the Vatican. Fifteen different Governments treat diplomatically with the Pope, and even distant China and Japan desire to establish relations with him. Not only Catholic, therefore, but Protestant, nonChristian and pagan countries believe it to be their interest to recognise and treat with a spiritual Power which is one of the de facto phenomena of the world. It is their interest in many ways. Take a single instance. According to canon law, Catholic bishops, whatever their rank or influence, are obliged to refer all causæ majores to the Holy See. These comprise ecclesiastical matters of more than ordinary importance or difficulty. Some are important intrinsically, such as matters touching on faith, moral conduct, and discipline; others extrinsically, such as difficulties and questions arising between

the Church or bishops and the civil power. In all these matters bishops are bound to conform their teaching and conduct to the decisions of the Holy See. It stands therefore to reason, especially in questions concerning the civil power, which must be always more or less in contact with the Church, that it is the interest of the State to be in direct diplomatic relations with the Vatican, in order that the Pope, before deciding, may be fully informed of the merits of both sides.

Only men possessed by a spirit of absolutism or of extreme partisanship could desire the Holy See to decide upon their own exparte evidence. The practice and tradition of the head of the Church, from the time of Constantine until now, has been to enter into relation with the civil power. And thus the Holy See, removed from scenes of passionate contention, dwelling in its own. peace and independence, has ever studied to adjust differences as they arise, and to pronounce wise judgments for the guidance of all parts of the Church. The civil power and the Christian order of the world have thus been constantly reconciled and strengthened.

This broad and statesmanlike view of the importance of relations between the Pope and the civil power-prescinding altogether from any acquiescence in certain theological tenets-is finding a wider acceptance among the people of England. Nor is this surprising. A wonderful change has been creeping over the public mind during the last thirty years. Religious bodies, having no direct connection with the State, are now frankly recognised; their heads and representatives deal directly, when need occurs, with every Government; they are placed on royal commissions and on public committees. The goodwill and moral support of all denominations is conciliated by fair and friendly relations with their respective leaders. Indeed, it would seem as though the tendency of democracy were to meet any great moral power upon free and friendly terms, and openly to count upon it as among the means of testing and forming public opinion, and of maintaining order and strengthening civil allegiance.

The public is beginning to realise vividly that the security and permanence of our gigantic empire depend more on moral influences than on the force of arms. This belief is of itself a weighty argument in favour of friendly relations with a spiritual head and teacher whose willing disciples are scattered by millions over the face of the British Empire. Everywhere the conscience of the bishops is informed and directed by his supreme interpretation of the Christian law; and through the bishops, the clergy and the people are everywhere influenced, instructed and guided. The frontiers of no empire are so long drawn out or so exposed to attack as our own. But the Pope's jurisdiction everywhere overlaps them. The presence of his religious authority is, therefore, both within and without. It is then surely wise and expedient to accept his offer of friendly relations.