THE POPE'S TEMPORALITIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 480, 9 February 1861, Page 9

THE POPE'S TEMPORALITIES.

(From the Saturday Review.)

The imminent danger which threatens the Pope's temporalities naturally, calls forth the consolatory suggestions of advisers whom he would scarcely recognise as friends. Protestant laymen are incessantly reminding the head of the Roman Catholic priesthood that, according to his own theory, the tenure of his spiritual office must be wholly independent of revenue or of dominion. It is perfectly true that, the Pontificial circulars and allocutions expressed confident reliance on the metaphorical stability of St. Peter's chair, notwithstanding the commotions which may seem to upset it. Alarm for the safety of an imperishable edifice may not be altogether logical, but' it is scarcely fair to deduce practical consequence from conventional figures of speech. If the Pope loses his temporal sovereignty, his relations to h»s spiritual subjects will be materially changed ; and though it is passible that their devotion may in some cases be quickened by the misfortunes of their chief, the advantages which the Holy See has derived from the possession of its patrimony are more tangible than the con--tingent blessings which may accompany adversity or martyrdom. The experience of many centuries has shown that the Sovereign of the lioman States can command ecclesiastical obedience from a large portion of Christendom. The assumption that his supremacy will be equally effective when he .is 1 reduced to a private station is either a conjectural paradox or a prudent boast. In ceasing to be a prince, the Pope must nee essarily become a subject, and consequently he must participate in the isolation of the state to which he will belong. The Roman Court has generally, in fact, been a^ political instrument of one of the great Catholic powers, but there is a wide difference between practical subserviency and ostensible allegiance. Austria and France will grudge each other the possession «f a supreme oracle, and Spain and Italy may soon be in a position to claim a share in the control, of the Latin Church. Long before the Reformation, the traditional hostility of England to Papal authority Svas founded on national dislike to the interferenfce.of aliens. In modern times, Catholic populations seem almost to have forgotten that the Pope is a foreigner, except in Italy itself. * The local priesthood in all parts of the world ha* learned to support the external dominion, which countenances its own claims to partial exemption from secular control. On the whole, it may be admitted that the zealous supporters of the Holy See understand the interests, which they make it their business to advocate: If the predominance of the Catholic hierarchy is to be preferred to the spread of civilization and to the rights of the Italian people, the tope and his agents, are. justified, in invoking fire and sword against, the sacrilegious Piedmontese and the irreverent Liberator of Southern Italy. It is unnecessary for the' friends, of liberty and justice to profess a special solicitude for the, spiritual prerogatives which may incidentally.be compromised by the success of their policy. If Koine is lost, the Pope will be in the embarrassing position of a pretender, while he will be hampered by the restraints of a subject. In the very crisis of its. fate, the Holy See will assuredly not abandon its ancient traditions of protest and reservation. The claim of sovereignly will be kept alive in spite of treaties and of facts, while the contrast between reality and ecclesiastical fiction will become every day more glaring. When the exiled royalties of Europe are headed by a landless wearer of the triple crown, popular belief, if not deliberate conviction, will be rudely shaken. With characteristic confusion of thought and language, Pius IX. has repeatedly announced his willingness to take refuge among the shades of apoiryphal martyrs in the catacombs of Rome. A comfortable apartment in a foreign hotel, which is' the true alternative of his residence at the Vatican, will be far less dignified and impressive. The elasticity of the Homah Church has often been celebrated by friends nnd enemies, nor can it be denied that an institution- which has survived so many revolutions must have displayed considerable power of adaptation to circumstances; but the change which seems impending is far more serious than the captivity of .Boniface or of Clement, -nor is there any longer an Avignon to supply the place of Rome.

It is difficult to judge how far the machinery and appendages of the , Roman Court are essential to the administration of the Church. -With the temporal deposition of the Pope the cardinals will shrink into titular dignitaries, and the monsignors will be left without maintenance and without assignable functions. The high rank which- is allowed in all Catholic countries to <the members of the Sacred College is justified by the theoretical participation of every cardinal in the temporal sovereignly of the Roman States. The nominal priests of the parishes in the . city of Rome will have as little title as the cardinal deacon? to any pre-eminence over the ordinary prelates of the church. The Pope may retain the power of conferring the title of Eminence on those whom he may favour, but the dignity which almost raised its incumbent above the rank of a subject will become unavoidably obsolete.

The obligation of bishops to pay a periodical ' visit to the tombs of the Apostles has largely tended to preserve the cosmopolitan and denationalizing character of the Church. Two or three times in his life a Belgian or Irish bishop has found* himself in' the position o? s conrtier and a subject at a distance from the authority of his . ow,n indigenous Government. The, sf» lining tfonapiracy of the priesthood* against the laity has heen kept, alive by the consciousness of a di&tinct allegiance, and the splendour

of the Roman ceremonies exercised a singular influence over provincial imaginations. In exile and retirement the Pope may be equally entitled to the veneration of his prelates, but " he cannot take St. Peter's or St. John Late.ran to the Escurial or to Munich. All things which co-exist in close mutual relation are in some degree connected as cause and effect. The temporal and spiritual sovereignty of the Pope have been so long united that it is impossible to abstract the indefeasible supremacy of St Peter from the external conveniences furnished by his patrimany. Of all Catholic nations, the Italians entertain the smallest respect for the Pope, For many years the government of the Holy See has been the worst in the Peninsula and in Europe ; and except at the commencement of the present reign, the Father of the Faithful' has long conspired with foreign oppressors against his own countrymen and subjects. If the temporal sovereignty is maintained by French or Austrian arms, the * subjects of the free Italian Kingdom will inevitably take refuge from an insufferable usurpation in a religious schism. It may be doubted whether a modern Reformation would result in the establishment of Protestantism ; but an excommunicated king and people necessarily require some form of spiritual independence. It is for the Holy See to consider the effect on European opinion which, would be produced by the general repudiation of Papal authority on its own soil. Orthodox pilgrimages to a sacred soil, inhabited by heretics, would suggest many dangerous ■ considerations. The best chance for the preservation of the Papacy must be found in the prudence and moderation of the next Pontiff who may be elected. Pius IX. seems to be incapable of dignity under misfortune, and be is too fanatical to make timely concessions His successor • may, perhaps, have the opportunity of retaining his residence and his titular rank on condition of becoming in practice the first subject of the national monarchy. The fall from temporal power would be most effectually broken by a peaceable process of mediatization. The cardinals, the Easter ceremonies, and the other accessaries of the supreme Pontificate would still appear unchanged to pious visitors from a distance. There would, undoubtedly, be abundant opportunity for faction and intrigue ; nor is it certain that the Italian Government would benefit by an arrangement in which it 1 might, for various reasons, be willing to acquiesce. It is on selfish and corporate grounds, that the directors of Papal policy ought to effect, before it is too late, the only compromise which still seems to be practicable.

Volunteer Corps — The following is 'an extract from a speech by the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, of Edinburgh, at a flte atLochnaw Castle* given by Sir Andrew Agnew to the volunteer* of Wigtownshire : — He said : — " I am, a3 I ought to be, a lover of pence, but to ensure peace we most be prepared for war — we have, on divine authority, the prayer, "Lead us not into temptation,'* and I hold that the men who have the charge of the destinies of this country, would merit the severest reprobation were they, by allows ing us to remain defenceless, to tempt our neighbours into war. He then referred to the Emperor Napoleon, who, he said was a man. of too much sense to think of attacking us, as he knew the first cannon shot he fired would! be the signal for his own doom, but that of course was contingent upon our keeping up & strong defensive position. He believed that. any visit that potentate would make would her a pacific one, and he thought that we ought to have invited him to come to see our Queen review 21,000 brave and armed men itf Holyrood, and then give him his dinner, and that would put all thought* of invasion out of hi* head fast euough. (Laughter and cheers ) I hold that every man who has health and strength ought to be a volunteer— and there is no woman deserving of the name who should} not say to her lover — -join the Volunteers, or' I'll have nothing to say to yon. (Great laughter and cheers.) I have six sons — two are ai-' ready volunteers, and I hope that all will be--come so except one, who is a minister like, myself— and should, which God forbid 1 , iheenemy land upon our coast, I should go with my sons to the battle field, not to fight, bat to cheer them on and share in their peril,.'in defence of all we hold dear. I again repeat lam a man of peace, but I inherit the blood of those who died upon the scaffold or the battle-field in defence of religious freedom and national independence, and therefore I hold myself entitled to congratulate you upon the display you have made this day. I congratulate Sir Andrew. Agnew upon bringing such an assemblage to share his hospitality — I congratulate my Lord Dalrymple for the noble , corps he has raised and commands so well — and I conY fess I felt prouefer of my name when I heard -the speech of yonr gallant Captain — Provost Giithrie. (Enthusiastic cheers.) It is ths duty of all men to defend their liberty with the last drop of theirblood, but they iniist- be qualified to use their weapons wich skill and efficiency — they roust mind tbeir drill. Qur ancestors at Pentland and Both well Bridga were the bravest of the brave, but they wanted drill, and so they lost the day. — Abridged from ! Wigtownshire Free Press.

Was Adam Black or White. — Dr. Guthriev at a meeting held in Edinburgh the other night, said that he was not sure but what Adam was black. (Much and long-continued laughter, and cheers ) He would tell them the reason why. (Renewed laughter.) Major Denham, a distinguished African traveller, went to that country, and spent three or four years in .the home and cradle of the slave race, and he had got so accustomed to the dark beauties of Africa, and had got so much to admire what men called God's image in ebony, that when he reached the shores of our own land, and saw the white ladies, oh, they looked very sickly like to him. (Laughter) That was a fact in a man's experience. (Renewed laughter.) And he was now going to tell them a fact in philosophy, and he never heard it answered. The celebrated Dr. Fleming, professior of natural science in the Free Chumi College, and one of the greatest naturalfetp of his day, maintained that black was the nghfc and proper colour, and that we are all bleached vp — (roars of laughter) — that we were just like one of the shawls that were seen sometimes in the Cowgate — (Laughter) — the colour clean gone. (Renewed laughter.) ]''B(e would give them a physical fact in connection with this. The akin that covered our bodies vras composed of certain layers.— one of the*© anatomists called the rete nmcosum. That was a learned term— (laughter)— but it was a sort of membrane which consisted of a coageries of cells. Now in the white* man these were very like the boxes kept in sueji shops as those of Mr. Kuox— they were a^for shaw-i-there was- nothing in them — (laughter)— but in regard to the dark race the rete ymicosum was filled with what is willed a black pigment, and if the rete nracosu/n'was not made for the black pigment, what was it made for at all? (Laugh, ter.) That was rather a philosophical argument. (Renewed laughter.) v T,he opinioh was held by some that the dark race was the original race of man : black ftcir'and a yrtifre heart. There was many a^man whOpJiati a white face and a black heart. v \ % ' ". \\ Tub Test of Good WHiSKy.—Reoent^jr the/ leading poacher of a village, employed to' carry an angler's creel, had got » gW*',of whi^Np^fti"^ friendly farmhouse at bre^^faat ti^^jpi^ly after lie makes a violent lurch, an^cpnwi A)WB among the Btopes. " Hallo^ Jojik^^PJp^hß^ ployer, rebukingly, and in the fekpec^atlSn of finding- Joek 1 looking" ashamed -aud^mo^t^L But his honest/.unlovely.rwt^tei^fi^^lw^pa; the' placid'satisfaction wWch.was alw <fextiJT(W|M in words—" Weel, that's' realy o"Mr. — —^sj I declare it*« dune ;Mesmafk* gude than the hail kill I got at the-ina i^ffiSSaora*