At the death of the king the revolutionists were struck with consternation. "Victor Emmanuel is no more!" said the Liberta, "and Italy is like a warrior without his sword." They all felt as if the edifice which they had raised were falling to pieces. They took no blame to themselves, however. They ascribed not to their folly or their wickedness the danger which threatened them. "God is unjust," said one of the party, as he announced to the Romans the king's death. Considering the term of human life, it was no doubt unjust, to remove from this world a man at the advanced age of eight-and-fifty years! Another, as the remains of the "father of his country" were borne to the Pantheon, blasphemously exclaimed: "That everlasting Pantheon! so long the altar of inanimate gods—now the temple of a hostile Deity!"

Although Pius IX., with his usual goodness and consistency, authorized the clergy to take part in the funeral of the deceased king, thus according what was due to the honor of a Christian who had been reconciled to God and the Church, the ceremony which, otherwise, would have been so solemn, was sadly marred by processions of secret societies, Grand Orients and Garibaldians, which followed the funeral car to the Church of St. Mary of the Martyrs.(16)

The Pantheon was not too grand for so great a king. It was only fitting that he who had lent himself to the baleful work of paganizing modern Rome should have his final resting-place in the temple that was so long sacred to Rome's heathen deities.

The Holy Father had so well recovered from his illness, and his health was so good during the months of December and January, 1877-78, that he was able to transact business daily with the cardinals, heads of congregations and other prelates. It was for him the revival—the lucid interval—which so often precedes the final scene. Notwithstanding the pompous obsequies which the late king had prepared for Pius IX., the venerable Pontiff still lived, and was able to protest against the pretensions of the successor of that king, and to defend against his usurpation the Church and her inalienable rights. The proclamation of King Humbert was met by a protest addressed to all the Powers from the Cardinal-Secretary of State, and Pius IX. himself raised his voice in order to vindicate publicly those writers who had spoken the truth concerning the deceased prince. The whole world was moved by the solicitude of the Holy Father in laboring so as that Victor Emmanuel should die as became a Christian, and in providing that his funeral should be conducted according to the consoling ceremonial of the Church. It now became his duty to take care lest the irreconcilable enemies of religion should succeed in availing themselves of these circumstances in order to deceive and induce mankind to believe that the Godless revolution was in sympathy with Pius IX. and the Church. The venerable Pontiff was still able to take to task the indiscreet writers who, from mistaken zeal, maintained that such an incongruous coalition had taken place or was possible.

A very great number of people of all ranks conceived the happy idea of celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of Pius the Ninth's first communion. This afforded another great occasion for uniting in prayer all over the wide extent of the Catholic Church. The fete occurred on the 2nd of February, "Candlemas day," or the purification of the Blessed Virgin. The Holy Father was able, all exhausted as he was, to leave his couch, celebrate Mass, and even repair to the throne-room of the Vatican, where he performed the ceremony of distributing blessed tapers to the cardinals, bishops and heads of religious orders. He spoke also with his accustomed eloquence to those whom it gave him so much pleasure to see gathered around him. He addressed himself particularly to the parish priests of Rome, recommending above all things to their pastoral solicitude, the children of the city who bore so important a part in the celebration of the anniversary. He expatiated on the value of Christian education, and exhorted the pastors to stir up the zeal of parents. His apostolate had begun with children in the happy days of Tata Giovanni. It was only fitting that his last exhortation should be all in their interest and for their happiness.

All, in expressing his gratitude for the prayers that were offered in his behalf, he asked was that they should be continued, hoping always "that He who had commenced a good work would not fail to bring it to a successful termination." But it is not given to man to complete or perfect anything in this life; and that pontificate of thirty-two years, which was still more astonishing by its acts and labors than by its long duration, was destined to leave its good work incomplete. It will be continued, nevertheless, and men will be made to understand that it is not alone Mastai's work, or any man's work, but the cause of Him who guides, with irresistible power, the destinies of mankind.

Pius IX., however, had accomplished his appointed task. He had celebrated, and with a wonderful renewal of health, his last festival and his last anniversary. Four days later, in the evening of the 6th February, he was seized with a slight attack of fever, which caused no alarm. It was the prelude, however, to more serious attacks, which shortly succeeded one another in rapid succession till the moment of his death. At four o'clock in the morning a potion was administered, in order to soothe the feverish agitation of the patient. Its good effect was only of short duration. As his physician entered, "this time," said he, "my dear doctor, all is over." He did not share the hopes of those who attended the celebration of Candlemas day. He understood that his last hour on earth was near at hand, and he requested that the Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction should be administered.

As soon as the doleful tidings reached the city, the people were bid to prayer by a general ringing of the bells. Great numbers of the faithful sought the approaches to the Vatican. Many entered and crowded the halls and ante-chambers of the palace, offering up their prayers, with abundance of tears, as Bishop Marinelli, whom, only one month before, Pius IX. had sent to assist King Victor Emmanuel, conveyed the Viaticum to the chamber of death and administered the Sacraments. As the malady increased it attacked the lungs (not the brain, as the infidel newspapers falsely represented),(17) rendering difficult and painful the breathing of the patient. Nevertheless, Pius IX. calmly and distinctly repeated the prayers for the dying, which Cardinal Bilio had begun to recite. At the end of the Act of Contrition, he said, with great humility and confidence, "Col rostro adjuto"(18) and expressed his Christian hope, saying, "In Domumm Domini ibimus."(19) As the cardinal, bathed in tears, hesitated to pronounce the words of final adieu—"Proficiscere anima Christiana"(20)—the Holy Father inspired the courage so necessary at the hour of separation, be, himself uttering the words, "Si Proficiscere." He must bless, once more, the Sacred College, the members of which were all kneeling around him. Cardinal Bilio, in their name, asked him to impart his blessing. Extending his right hand, he blessed them for the last time. Scarcely had the hand that had been so often raised in blessing mankind fallen on the couch when the eyes became dim. A little before four o'clock the death agony commenced. A few moments before six Pius IX. ceased to live.

"Eternal rest give to him, O Lord," devoutly said the cardinal, "and may perpetual light shine upon him." These words conveyed the mournful fact that Pius IX. lived no more. They were, at the same time, the occasion of an outburst of love and devotedness, which showed that this wonderful Pope still commanded in death that affection which, in his lifetime, had been often so gloriously manifested.

Cardinals, prelates, nobles, people of Rome, guards and servants, struggled and crowded on each other, in order to press, once more, forehead and lips on those sacred hands which could never more be raised to bless them. It was a singularly affecting scene. The wail of sorrow and the unfeigned expression of esteem and love arose also as the tidings spread throughout the wide extent of the Catholic world.

The deceased Pontiff needs no eulogium. His memory will be as green throughout the centuries to come as on the day of his decease. It is impossible, however, to avoid calling to mind the words of Saint Cyprian, spoken in praise of Pope Cornelius, and most appropriately applied by the pious and learned Bishop of Poitiers to Pius IX: "After a promotion which he had neither desired nor sought, but which was due to him alone who makes Pontiffs, what activity from the first moment he was in office! what boldness of initiative! And, what we must chiefly consider and praise, what strength of faith and what courage in having perseveringly and intrepidly held the sacerdotal chair at Rome, at a time when, through opposition to the priesthood, were uttered such fearful threats, and when the Powers of the world were more inclined to undergo any kind of reverse rather than that the Priest of God should occupy at Rome a throne which was the rival of their earthly throne. If, in the midst of so much agitation, the power of the Lord evidently protected the priest whom he had chosen, that priest, nevertheless, in resisting, suffered all that it was possible to suffer, and overcame, by his priestly energy, those for whom were in store other and ulterior defeats."

ST. CYPRIAN, Epist. LII, ad Antonianum.

The death of Pius IX., long so ardently desired by the Italian ministry, came upon them unawares at last. They had no scheme or plot in readiness, to thwart the action of the cardinals in the election of a successor to the Pontificate.(21) The Conclave, accordingly, assembled in due course, and, on the third day of its meeting, elected to the Chair of Peter Cardinal-Archbishop Pecci, Bishop of Perugia, who will be known in history as LEO XIII.

—FINIS.—



FOOTNOTES

M1 Further violence.—Attack on the Holy Father.—Murder of Monsignore Palma.

1 In 1855 the Bonaparte family were without a name in that Europe where they had possessed so many thrones. One man had compassion on them, and acted generously, Pius VIII. welcomed them to his States. A member of this family, Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, having always shown great faithfulness to the Holy See, Pius VIII. conferred upon him the title of a Roman Prince and the principality of Canino. Lucien's son has not been gifted to walk in the footsteps of his honorable father. Balleydier, in his history of the Roman revolution, thus portrays him: "Versed in dissimulation, Charles Bonaparte had, under the preceding Pontificate, acted two very opposite characters. In the morning attending in the ante-chambers of the Cardinals, in the evening at the Conciliabula of the secret Societies, he labored to secure, by a double game, the chances of the present and the probabilities of the future. He had often been seen going piously to the Vatican even, to lay at the feet of Gregory XVI. homage which his heart belied." No doubt, in 1847 and 1848, he thought himself an abler man than his father, as he marched, poignard in hand, at the head of the malcontents of Rome.

M2 The Pope abandoned by his people. The Pope protests against the Socialist ministry and its acts. M3 Unsettled state of the European nations. M4 Pius IX. retires to Gaeta. M5 Treacherous conduct of sworn servants of the Papacy. M6 Sentiments and declarations of the Revolutionists. M7 What the world thought of the proceedings at Rome. M8 The Catholic Powers resolve to reinstate the Pope. M9 Dutiful conduct of Ferdinand of Naples, towards the exiled Pope. M10 Action of the Powers delayed. Prince Louis Napoleon repudiates the conduct of the Prince of Canino.—Declares for the temporal sovereignty. M11 Several Powers undertake to restore the Pope. France sends an army to Rome. Treachery of the Roman populace. Determination to besiege Rome. The siege delayed by diplomatic manoeuvres. M12 Excesses of the Revolutionists. M13 The King of Naples and the Spaniards offer to assist the French. M14 Rome surrenders to the French. M15 Colonel Niel despatched to Gaeta with the keys of the city. M16 Letter of Pius IX. to General Oudinot. M17 General Oudinot repairs to Gaeta and invites the Pope to return to his Capital. M18 The French Republic tries to coerce the Pope.—Letter to Colonel Edgar Ney. M19 Address of Montalembert to the National Assembly of France. M20 The Municipality of Rome invites the Pope to return. M21 The Pope returns to Rome. M22 State of religion in countries affected by the Photian schism and the Mahometan imposture.

2 This danger is past.

M23 French colonies and foreign missions—Africa. M24 German associations of Pius IX.—State of religion in Germany. M25 Degeneracy of Spain and Portugal, and their colonies—Restoration under the auspices of Pius IX. M26 State of the Catholic Church in England prior to 1850. M27 Pius IX. restores the English Hierarchy. M28 Numbers and names of the new Sees. M29 Dr. Wiseman and thirteen other eminent persons raised by Pius IX. to the dignity of Cardinal. M30 Success of the English Hierarchy. M31 Increase of Catholics during the decade—1840-1850. M32 Wonderful growth of the Catholic Church in England during the Pontificate of Pius IX. M33 State of the Catholic Church in Holland anterior to the restoration of its Hierarchy in 1853. M34 Persecution in New Granada. Pius IX. remonstrates. M35 Persecution ceases at last in the Scandinavian countries. M36 Pius IX. sends a Catholic pastor to Stockholm. M37 Denmark—600 conversions. M38 Pius IX. establishes a Metropolitan See at Athens. M39 Germany—Wars against the Church. M40 An archbishop and other priests cruelly persecuted. Sustained by Pius IX. and finally by the people. M41 Pius IX. laments the state of religion in Sardinia.—Condemns the Act secularizing marriage. M42 Pius IX. puts an end to the celebrated Goa Schism in 1851. M43 Encyclical on the Immaculate Conception—1849. M44 Pius IX. solemnly promulgated the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. M45 Disputes concerning the study of the ancient classics happily terminated by Pius IX. M46 Accident at St. Agnes. Narrow escape of Pius IX. and many eminent persons. M47 Piedmont seeks a French alliance against the Pope. M48 Pius IX. encourages Science and the Fine Arts—"Vindex antiquitatis." M49 Lord Clarendon rebukes Count Cavour. M50 "Motu proprio." M51 Donoso Cortez, in the Spanish Parliament, supports the Papal Sovereignty. M52 Lord Lansdowne, together with all the statesmen and States of Christendom, recognize the principles laid down in Pius the Ninth's "motu proprio." M53 Canonizations at Rome.—Two American Saints. Pius IX. erects four Metropolitan Sees in the United States. M54 New See of Laval.—Rennes becomes Metropolitan.—Restoration of the Chapter of St. Denis. M55 Napoleon desires to be crowned by the Pope. Pius IX. sponsor for Napoleon's son.—Golden rose sent to the Empress. M56 Pius IX. godfather to Alphonso XII. of Spain. M57 Concordat with Austria. M58 Difficulties in Spain and Spanish countries. Errors of Gunther. M59 Pius IX. makes a progress through his States.—His popularity. M60 The Mortara case. M61 New Sees erected by Pius IX. in America. M62 Several names added to the number of the Saints. M63 Count Orsini attempts to murder the Emperor Napoleon III. M64 The war of 1859.—The legations severed from the states of the Church.

3 Mr. Perkins, in his letter to the Times, makes out that they forced open the houses of the inhabitants to make them give up their wine, and that they got drunk.

M65 The peace of Villafranca. M66 How the treaty was observed.

4 Protocol, March 18th.

5 "If we were to sift the pretensions of all our public men, to discover that one person who is necessarily best informed of the past and present state of Italy, and the causes and means that have produced the anarchy which now prevails over the greater part of that unfortunate peninsula, Lord Normanby would inevitably be the man for our purpose. His long residence in Italy, his intimate acquaintance with all that is there distinguished for literature, science, art and statesmanship, and his unquestionable liberality of sentiment, as a politician, give him a paramount claim to our respectful attention, and even to our confidence, when he comes forward to enlighten his countrymen, with respect to Italian affairs—a claim to which no other member of the legislature can have the slightest pretensions. He has, too, throughout a long public career, always maintained such an independence of character, and so nobly and generously subordinated his personal interests to his sense of public duty, as to entitle him as a right to our confidence, when he unbosoms himself either in print or in speech, of that knowledge which he has acquired by long study and experience in official and non-official life, and tells us important truths which it is necessary for us to know, in order to be able to form a correct judgment upon momentous passing events."—Weekly Register, February 11, 1860.

M67 The French Emperor connives at the violation of the Treaty. M68 A European Congress proposed for settling the affairs of Italy. M69 Diplomatic doctrine of non-intervention. M70 Tuscany, Parma, Modena and the Legations finally annexed to Piedmont. Price of the spoil. M71 Results of Revolutionary Government. M72 Garibaldi reappears. M73 Revolutionary reforms in Sicily, Naples, Lombardy, Modena, the Pontifical States, &c. M74 Revival of Peter's pence. M75 The Pope forms an army.—Lamoriciere commands. M76 Duplicity of the French Government.—The Emperor of Austria restrained by his Council.—Lamoriciere's force cut to pieces by the Piedmontese at Castelfidaro. M77 Further expression of opinion.—The Great Powers. M78 A Plebiscitum.—Umbria and the Marches of Ancona annexed to Sardinia. M79 The pamphlet La France, Rome et l'Italie.—Cardinal Antonelli's reply. M80 First Italian Parliament. Victor Emmanuel proclaimed King of Italy. M81 Death of Count de Cavour. M82 The Lebanon Massacres.—Generosity of Pius IX. M83 Conversion of the Bulgarians. M84 The annexation to Piedmont of Umbria and the Marches publicly sanctioned by Napoleon III. M85 Piedmont seeks to reign at Rome. M86 The Piedmontese Government fills its coffers by plundering the church. M87 The Emperor Napoleon induced to modify his Italian policy.

6 Whoever thinks to devour the Pope will die of indigestion. These words, though not very polite, proved to be prophetic.

M88 Garibaldi defeated at Aspromonte. M89 Canonization of the Martyrs of Japan. M90 The Pope's consistorial allocution to the assembled bishops. He denounces the errors of the time. M91 The Church in Poland persecuted. Pius IX. raises his voice in its behalf. M92 The revolutionists admire the courage of Pius IX. M93 The Russian Envoy insults the Pope. M94 Pius IX. insists on protecting the ex-King of Naples, and takes Napoleon severely to task. M95 An Emperor and Empress visit the Pope. M96 A Papal Nuncio sent to remind Maximilian of his promises made at Rome. M97 A further step towards the abolition of the Papal sovereignty. M98 The Syllabus. M99 Successful efforts of Napoleon III. to humble Austria. M100 Pius IX. devoted to the duties of his spiritual office. M101 Canonization, 1859. John Baptist de Rossi. M102 John Sarcander. M103 Benedict Joseph Labre. M104 Mixed schools—Ireland. M105 Troubles of the Church in Mexico. M106 Revolutionary aggression.—Treachery of the Italian Government. M107 Garibaldi invades the Papal states. M108 Murder of the Zouave music band. M109 French army ordered to Rome. M110 Character of Garibaldians—No sympathy with them. M111 The Maistre—Muller. M112 Garibaldian fanaticism. M113 Two murderers executed. M114 Pius IX. visits the wounded rebels.

7 If Russia were a little more within the pale of civilization, it would be noted as an exception. Its bishops were not allowed to proceed to Rome.

8 The number of prelates at Rome attending the council was never, for any length of time, the same. And writers give the numbers according to the time at which they noted them.

9 The left arm looking from the door of the Basilica, the right looking from the high altar. As was fitting, it was the Gospel side.

10 According to the best statistics that can be found.

11 There appeared at Munich, in 1874, an ingenious caricature. It represented the Prussian chancellor, endeavoring, with a Krupp gun, which he used as a lever, to overthrow a church emblem of Catholicism. Satan comes on the scene, and says: "What are you doing, my friend?" Bismarck, "This church embarrasses me; I want to upset it." Satan, "It embarrasses me, too. I have been laboring 1800 years to demolish it. If your Excellency succeeds, I pledge myself to resign my office in your favor."

12 A later estimate than at page 120.

13 The late celebrated preacher, Dr. Cumming, also admitted the expansive power which is characteristic of the Catholic Church. And in doing so, he bore witness to its actual growth in his time. In a lecture delivered at Brentford, England, in 1860, he said: "He would do the priests of the Church of Rome the justice to say that a more earnest, energetic, a more industrious body he did not know in any portion of our church; they were laboring incessantly for what they believed to be the truth, and he would that he could say without success, but he was sorry to say with great success. He saw going over to the Church of Rome a section of the nobility and many ministers of our church. These were well instructed, and ought to have known better. In England, account for it as they could, it had made progress to such an extent, during the last twenty years, that it had doubled its churches and doubled its priests."—Lecture at Brentford. England, 1860.

14 Discourse delivered in the Church of St. Peter ad vincula, 1st June, 1877, by the Bishop of Poitiers.

15 La Captivite de Pie IX. par Alexander de St. Albin. Paris, 1878. Pages 513 and 514.

16 That was the Pantheon, or temple of all the Gods. It is now the Church called St. Mary of the Martyrs (Sae Mariae ad Martyres).

17 Their purpose is sufficiently manifest. But the calumny did not avail them. Pius the Ninth's last illness was of such a character as to render impossible congestion of the brain. He possessed to the end his mental faculties. And when the power of speech failed, he was still able to express his thoughts, which were clear and distinct, by looks and gestures.

18 "With the aid of Thy grace."

19 "We shall enter into the House of the Lord."

20 "Depart, Christian soul."

21 The crisis in the Eastern question, the attitude of the Holy Father on the occasion of Victor Emmanuel's sudden demise, the consequent devolution of the crown to a new sovereign, the scandal of the Prime Minister's (Orispi's) notorious criminality before the law necessitating his unwilling resignation and the fall of the ministry, the suddenness of the Holy Father's decease; all these events and conditions, in their several degrees and kinds, made the moment at which it had to meet astonishingly propitious for the holding of the Conclave in the Vatican itself.

THE END