The French Revolution

There now began the period of the Restoration, in which the sovereigns of Europe bent their energies towards re-instituting the previous state of affairs. In Rome the reorganization of the Papal States was taken in hand; many of the French innovations were retained, the old municipal and provincial institutions were abolished, and an absolute bureaucracy was set up on the French model. This excessive centralization, which excluded laymen from all high offices, aroused bitter and unceasing complaints against the "rule of the priests." The pope also had much to do beyond the frontiers of the Papal States in reorganizing ecclesiastical affairs. He was much assisted by the Romantic movement of the day, which regarded the Revolution as a divine punishment for the falling away of the peoples from religion. In all countries there was a revival of Catholicism, which was looked upon as the remedy for the dis orders of society, and as the mainstay of the throne. Joseph de Maistre extolled the pope as a mediator standing above the nations and their sovereigns. The Society of Jesus was re instituted by a Bull of 1814; it set to work again, and made a great contribution to the intellectual and moral revival. Concordats with various countries were concluded or prepared; even Prussia, which had acquired large Catholic territories in the West, con cluded an agreement of this kind.

Pius VII. was not neglectful of art and scholarship. He did much to enlarge the Vatican library and art collections, and continued much of the building which had been begun under Napoleon's rule with the object of beautifying Rome. Now that international peace had been restored, Rome became the meeting place of kings and emperors, and a centre of attraction for artists such as Canova, Thorwaldsen, Cornelius, Overbeck and others. The most magnificent ancient basilica of Rome, S. Paolo, was burnt down during the Pope's last illness. Pius VII.'s tomb, by Thorwaldsen, is to be seen in St. Peter's.

Leo XII., 1823-29.

Count della Genga now became pope with the title of Leo XII. He was a pious man, strict in observing the rules of the Church. He promoted missions, improved the educational system in Rome, and did much for the Irish and German Colleges. He had excavations undertaken which greatly added to what was known of the topography of Rome, and had great buttresses constructed to support the Coliseum. He warned the bishops against the Protestant Bible societies, and also op posed the doctrines of indifferentism, as well as freemasonry. Vigorous efforts were made to root out the revolutionary Car bonari. The Sanfedisti, who were countenanced by the Govern ment, assisted in the persecution of the Carbonari, and there were sanguinary conflicts, especially in the Romagna, where the Legate Rivarola proceeded with excessive severity. The policing of morals was carried out on inquisitorial lines. Leo maintained good relations with the secular Powers, and continued the policy of Concordats, which he extended to the South American repub lics. The Jubilee Year of 1825 was celebrated as a year of reconciliation and pardon. Leo XII. is buried in St. Peter's.

Pius VIII., 1829-30.

Pius VIII., formerly Francisco Casti glione, gave an indication of the purity of his intentions immedi ately after his election by forbidding his relations to come to Rome. An important event of this period was the Catholic

Emancipation Act of 1829, which was adopted in England after a long struggle, largely owing to the efforts of Daniel O'Connell.

This act allowed Catholics to sit in parliament and to hold public office ; emancipation was not complete, but Catholics obtained a greater measure of freedom, and increased in numbers. The pope augured much ill from the July Revolution in France. There was much unrest in the Papal States and throughout Italy, and the secret societies became more and more daring.

A new period of revolution now began. It was directed against the absolutist and conservative system of the Restoration, which aimed at a return to the past at a time when men of intellect in all countries were awakening to the idea of the intrinsic value of the nation and were demanding intellectual, political and national liberty. The principles of enlightenment once more be gan to gain ground, and assumed the form of liberalism and con stitutionalism, the guiding principles of the 19th century.

Gregory XVI., 1831-46: Growth of Revolutionary Ideals. —The new Pope Gregory XVI., formerly the Camaldulian monk Mauro Cappelari, was not yet crowned when the Paris Revolution of July 183o set central Italy ablaze. The revolt raged throughout the Papal State, and could only be suppressed by Austrian bayo nets. The pope and his secretary of State Bernetti themselves realized that reforms were needed. The ambassadors of the Powers, including the British representative in Florence, who was not without sympathy for the revolt, presented a memorandum in 1831 demanding the admission of laymen to a share in the ad ministration and to judicial posts, municipal self-government, pro vincial councils and a State council to consist of laymen. The pope, who resented the interference of diplomats, agreed to an amnesty, and to a few useful concessions, which were however administrative rather than political in character. A loan was raised from Rothschild on onerous terms in order to meet the financial difficulties to which the prevailing unrest had given rise. Revolution broke out again in 1832 as a result of the influence of the diplomats and the machinations of the rebels ; order was restored by the Austrians. This aroused the jealousy of France, which occupied Ancona in order by this means to force the Papal States to adopt liberal reforms. It was not until six years later that the foreign troops were withdrawn, and a period of peace ensued. Much was done at this time to promote the public welfare. The demand for the separation of the ecclesiastical and the civil administration was however not fulfilled. The new secretary of State, Lambruschini, suppressed all aspirations to wards political liberty with extreme severity. He was as a mat ter of fact only doing what was being done in the majority of European countries, where the authorities also tried to suppress the movement towards liberty by force, though by so doing they only strengthened the opposition. The last three years of Gregory's reign were again occupied by rebellions in the Papal States.