Page:History of Freedom.djvu/409

 DÖLLINGER ON 1'HE TEMPORAL POWER 3 6 5

for the sake of religion, desired reforms in the States of the Church, the Civilta Cattolica declared that the Inquisitor had done his duty. Such cases as this, and those of Achilli and Mortara, weighed more heavily in the scale in which the Roman State is weighed than a lost battle. Without discussing the cases themselves, it is clear \"hat their influence has been on public opinion, with \vhich it is more important at the present day to treat than \vith the governments which depend on it. 1'his branch of diplomacy has been unfortunately neglected, and hence the Roman Government cannot rely on lay support. After describing the evils and disorders of the State, which the Pope so deeply felt that he put his own exist- ence in peril, and inflamed half of Europe with the spirit of radical change in the attempt to remove them, Dr. Döllinger contrasts, \vith the gloomy picture of decay and failure, the character of the Pontiff who attempted the great \vork of reform. f

Nevertheless, the adn1inistration of Pius IX. is wise, benevolent, indulgent, thrifty, attentive to useful institutions and improvements. All that proceeds from Pius IX. personally is worthy of a head of the Church-elevated, liberal in the best sense of the term. No sovereign spends less on his court and his own private wants. If all thought and acted as he does, his would be a model State. Both the French and the English envoys affirm that the financial adminis. tration had improved, that the value of the land was increasing, agriculture flourishing, and that many symptoms of progress might be observed. Whatever can be expected of a monarch full of affec- tion for his people, and seeking his sole recreation in works of beneficence, Pius richly performs, Pertran.riit be1Zefaciendo,-,,\'ords used of one far greater,-are simply the truth applied to him. In him we can clearly perceive how the Papacy, even as a temporal state, might, so far as the character of the prince is concerned, through judicious elections, be the most adlnirable of human institutions. A man in the prime of life, after an irreproachable youth and a conscientious discharge of Episcopal duties, is elevated to the highest dignity and to sovereign power. He knows nothing of expensive amusements; he has no other passion but that of doing good, no other ambition but to be beloved by his subjects. His day is divided between prayer and the labours of government; his relaxation is a walk in the garden, a visit to a church, a prison, or a charitable institution. Free fron1 personal desires and frOlil