In England after the Emancipation of 1829 the Church was left. in peace and slowly made headway. The restoration of the hier archy in 185o and the brilliant and painstaking leadership of this hierarchy have since enabled the Church not only to increase her numbers but also to wield an influence greater than those numbers warranted. This is true also of the United States. Of course one reason for this in both countries is that, though a comparatively small body, the Catholic Church in each country is united and disciplined.
In France Gallicanism continued a steadily failing existence. It was from Gallican France that came the book which did so much at the beginning of the 19th century to help the revival of papal prestige—Do Pape, by Joseph de Maistre. The Revolution more over had increased the infidelity of the previous century and against this Christianity was engaged in a war to the death, a war not yet ended. Gallicanism thus could not stand. The somewhat sciolistic but brilliant controversy of Louis Veuillot, the revival of the Jesuits who soon became extremely influential again, the des perate pass to which the Church was brought at the time of the Commune, all helped to make the decree of papal infallibility the effective death-blow to Gallicanism. The subsequent repudiation of the Concordat with the French Government made the Church in France more vigorous than ever. At the same time the French Catholics have shown themselves generally too anti-republican on political grounds to be as politically effective as they might have been. However there are signs that this inactivity is ending. The recent affair of the Action Francaise is too fresh for any historical judgment to be passed upon it.
Turning to the papacy itself we find that at the opening of the century the papacy re-adopted even more fully the policy of Con cordats. Throughout the century it has shown itself willing to make any possible concessions to national desires, in order to secure circumstances favourable to the spiritual activity of the Church. Especially was this notable in Russia, where the heretical Government was allowed an extraordinary control over clerical appointments and discipline. The development of the supposed hostility between science and religion which was a feature of the 19th century led those blind to the signs of the times to regard Catholicism and the papacy as out-of-date, obscurantist, and doomed. The spirit which animated so many led them to conceive of themselves as the ultimate judges of everything; dazzled by the advances in mechanical and scientific knowledge, they lost their heads and decided that everything old was wrong and the new only was right. This was merely a passing phase. Throughout
the century the papacy was steadily gaining. The decree of papal infallibility came at the right moment. However much some of the finer minds might wonder about its opportunism, the cour ageous and clear declaration of the doctrine inherent from the beginning in the Catholic conception of the Church and of the papacy was needed. The papacy had disentangled itself from the sordid politics of Europe. It stood outside the scheming warring States of the Continent and made its moral appeal to the world as a whole. This was always its true position, sometimes unfor tunately obscured. The decree made clear that it was and is in virtue of its spiritual authority—because only by union with it could a man secure membership of the Church, only by submis sion to it could a man avoid error on matters concerning the Christian Revelation—that the papacy has commanded the obedi ence of men and has attained to its great position. All this was clearly brought out by the decree, just at the moment when its world-wide authority so evidently not based on mere political position or scheming made such a manifestation desirable.
Almost as a commentary upon this fact, the very year of the decree saw Italian nationalism under the House of Savoy forcibly deprive the papacy of its temporal authority.' Yet this depriva tion in no way lessened its authority. Rather it has from then onwards increased its prestige so much that during the War even those who did not recognize its claims seemed to expect it by some kind of inspiration to decide a practical problem insoluble in default of evidence. Many States who reject its claims have followed this up by securing representation to it, since they must admit its actual authority.
The Christian Church had begun by defeating the open attack of the State on revealed religion. It had then combated success fully the attempt of the State to control that Revelation. Then its organisation had fallen under the practical control of the State, and had been therefore hampered in its work for salvation. Freed from this dependence, it had worked in uneasy alliance with the State which still preserved some sense of complete political unity. As that disappeared, the Church found herself under the necessity of coping with many States that she might be free to carry out her duties arising from Revelation. This problem is still with us.