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 PIUS (POPES) 561 and continued his course under the direction of his maternal uncle. The French authorities in 1812 placed his name on the lists of the Italian guard which they were organizing in Milan, but his known infirmity caused him to be excused from military service. In the au- tumn of 1814 he attended as a layman the lec- tures of the Roman academy. After a short time he was encouraged to resume his clerical dress, and, the epileptic attacks recurring less frequently, he was allowed to receive minor orders. In 1818 he was chosen as compan- ion by Monsignore (afterward Cardinal) Carlo Odescalchi, in a missionary excursion in the neighborhood of Sinigaglia. The zeal and tal- ent he displayed in instructing the country people induced Odescalchi to recommend him to be ordained subdeacon. Being however still subject to occasional epilepsy, he applied in person to Pius VII., obtained permission to receive priest's orders in 1819, and was ap- pointed director of the institution for the edu- cation of poor boys called Tata Giovanni. In June, 1823, he was chosen secretary to Mon- signore Muzi, apostolic delegate to Chili, where he chiefly busied himself with ministering to the Indian populations of the interior. On his return to Rome in June, 1825, he was made domestic prelate to Leo XII., and in December became superintendent of the hospital of San Michele & Ripa. He was nominated archbish- op of Spoleto in 182T, and created at his own expense charitable and industrial establishments like those he had governed in Rome. In 1831 he induced a body of 4,000 insurgents to give up their arms to him, obtained their pardon from the authorities, and governed for a time the provinces of Spoleto and Perugia. In 1832 he did much to alleviate the distress which followed a severe earthquake, and was made archbishop of Imola. He was created cardi- nal Dec. 23, 1839, and proclaimed Dec. 14, 1840. On the death of Gregory XVI., June 1, 1846, he was immediately designated by the representative men of the moderate national party as the fittest person to succeed him. Strenuous efforts were made by the French ambassador, Count Rossi, to influence in his favor the opinion of the electors before they met in conclave; and on June 16, while the Austrian cardinals, known to be unfavorable to his nomination, were still on their way to Rome, he was elected pope. One of his first acts was to consult with Count Rossi on the reforms most likely to reconcile the papal sov- ereignty with the claims of Italian patriotism. Immediate steps were decided upon toward a constitutional form of government, in the ad- ministration of which laymen should have a large part. Instead of nominating, as usual, a new secretary of "state, he appointed a com- mission of six cardinals to carry on the gov- ernment. On July 1 the pope submitted to them the questions of dismissing the foreign troops in his service, of granting an amnesty to all political offenders, of adopting effectual means to restore the public credit, and of re- forming the entire civil and criminal codes, together with the administration and the ju- diciary. The majority of the council were op- posed to these changes, but Pius dismissed the Swiss troops, and on July 16 granted a general amnesty. Austria, besides being offended at the haste with which the new pope had been elected, was irritated by measures which she conceived as tending to overthrow her own rule in Italy, and imperilling the liberties and existence of the church. This feeling, shared by the court of Naples and some of the minor courts of central and northern Italy, as well as by many among the pope's advisers, was in- tensified by the zeal with which Pius pushed forward his innovations. He appointed com- missions composed of eminent Italian jurists to inquire into needed reforms ; he reduced his own household expenses, abolished all pensions not granted for great public services, imposed a three years' tax on all benefices and wealthy church corporatians, reduced the taxes, char- tered railroad and telegraph companies, de- clared Sinigaglia and Ancona free ports of en- try, stimulated home manufactures, and en- couraged the formation of agricultural socie- ties. He commanded that all the waste lands between Ostia and Porto d'Anzio should be prepared to grow rice, and that the crop should be put in and gathered at the expense of the treasury, one half of the harvest being destined for the poor; and the waters of Lake Nemi were diverted for the purpose of irrigating the rice fields. He also authorized the opening of reading rooms and mechanics' clubs, founded a central normal school for the education of tradesmen, patronized scientific congresses, and provided free lodging houses for the homeless. He showed like zeal for the reform of eccle- siastical institutions, visited in disguise or at unexpected moments the monasteries, schools, hospitals, and prisons of Rome, and went about the streets on foot and without the usu- al guards and attendants. His avowed aim at this period was to realize by successive steps the Giobertian ideal of a confederated Italy ; but as he declared from the beginning that he could yield no part of his prerogative as tem- poral sovereign if it would trammel his inde- pendent action in governing the church, he found himself involved in making promises or concessions the full extent of which he did not perceive. Possessed of fair abilities, and actu- ated by the best intentions, but untrained and inexperienced in public matters, he was sud- denly called upon to solve the most complica- ted political problems, in the face of revolution and amid conflicting councils. On Aug. 8 he superseded the commission of six cardinals by appointing as secretary of state Cardinal Giz- zi, favorably known for his liberal opinions. Meanwhile the scientific congress which met in Genoa proved to be a convention of revolu- tionists, who returned to their homes pledged to resist all reforms that did not tavor the