PIO NONO.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 106, 8 May 1875, Page 8

PIO NONO.

' A PORTRAIT FROM A FRENCH PEN. This man, tallowed by a moral" splendour, and who has known all kinds of temporal tribulations, when once seen never can be forgotten. How bright and happy were the first years of his reign, and how little promise they gave of an unceasing martyrdom ! I was at Rome when the famous speech of M. Theirs came, an electric discourse, which began with those words — " Courage, Holy Father I" He needed courage, indeed, but it was not necessary to tell him so. That courage was equal to all his trials. At the beginning of his reign not one of the " Facines " but would have willingly worn on his cap the words " Viva Pio Nono !" The Roman police had nothing more to do than to protect him in bis walks from the enthusiasm of the crowd. There are princes who /\ fear to let the itinerary of their movements be known in advance * to lessen the chances of being shot at or poignarded — that of Pius IX was concealed to spare him the supplies of triumphal arches and daily ovations. This prince had to be defended against the zeal of his subjects, and against the movements of his own heart. He used to go and preach in the first church that lay on his path, and towards which the inspiration of the moment carried him. The Christian world, unaccustomed for centuries t6 see a Pope preaching, felt itself renovated. And what a fine, intelligent and graceful countenance ! A .Roman cast of features, such as we may see in many of the ancient busts of the museum of the capital. Something like a Christian Trajan. In his gaze there is all the hallowed light of evangelical inspiration, grace and peace emanate from it — gratia et pax, these two things so much admired by the I prophet. And, above all his prestige, that of simplicity and ex- \ pansion. If the temperature of Home is unhealthy he will try to excuse the city for being so inhospitable to strangers. He will obligingly give you the best hygienic prescriptions to preserve you from the effects of the atmospheric changes, and in a flow of words, familiar, candid, soft, falling from his lips like flakes of snow, and with them he would mix up sermons and deep-felt thought that go direct to the heart — and all that in the tone of simple conversation, without thinking of playing a part, holding a rank, and still less producing effect. He knows well how to hold his rank as a sovereign, yet he prefers to be a father. His house, so small today, and so well watched, is truly the house of the Lord. If you are four or five who have obtained a letter for an audience you need not fear to make the snow-ball and take with you as many as you like (go to even thirty), and you will be all well received. From these audiences one does not only come away better, but quite different and possessed by the Pope. If it were possible for the Holy Father to be seen by everyone, how few free-thinkers would remain in the world. Who even is not affected by seeing him, and ■ hearing him, is only susceptible of being touched by a fall or a blow. Who would not prefer to be the captive and crucified Pontiff in the Vatican than to be William, the all-powerful Emperor of Germany, conqueror, with laurel-crowned-head of Austria, and of France alas ! — for we must say so, and remember it ? Who would not prefer to be the Pope, insulted and persecuted, than to be Victor Emmanuel with ten crowns to be King of united Italy, and on his throne in the Quirinal. Neither the Landwehr, nor the Landstrum, nor the Krupp cannon, nor the white Cuirassiers, nor the audacious Bersaglieri can keep aloof that brigand who despises kings, and whose name is Death. There will be heavy accounts to render in the sixth chamber above according to the threat of Gregory XVI. to the Emperor Nicholas, who grew pale under the quiet gaze of the Pope. The most incredulous, and those who excuse everything by raisons d'etat, the most hardened against the protestations and complaints for what is right and just, must sometimes think ef him, and it is not probable that they do so without being affected in soul or body. He, the loved and venerated old man, will sleep gently in peace and glory, blessed for his trials, his labour and good deeds, with consolation of having borne up against misfortune, of having courageously accomplished his duty to the end, and of having given to the last hour of his life the example of faith and constancy to the millions of Christians ef whom he was the father. — ' Figaro.'