hreatened, was far from allowing his mind to be shaken. He trusted
in that Providence which watches over the church. "We are as yet," said he
on 16th February, 1860, to the lenten preachers of the time, "at the
beginning of the evils which must soon overtake us. At the same time, we
are consoled by the cheering prospect that, as calamity succeeds calamity,
the spirit of faith and of sacrifice will be proportionately developed."

There was nothing now to be hoped for from the powers which nominally
ruled the world, but which were, in reality, under the control of the
revolution. Deprived of so great a portion of his states, and the revenue
which accrued to him therefrom, the Holy Father resolved to sustain his
failing finances by relying on the spontaneous offerings of the faithful
throughout the world. His appeal was not made in vain. The piety and zeal
of the early ages appeared to have revived. The word of the common Father
was received with reverence in the remotest lands. Offerings of "_Peter's
pence_," as in days of apostolic fervor, were poured into the Papal
treasury. In Europe, especially, the movement was so general as to show
that the people everywhere were resolved to act independently of their
governments, which had so shamefully become subservient to the will of the
revolution. It was scarcely necessary that the bishops should speak a word
of encouragement. In France, indeed, under a jealous and revolutionary
government, there could be no associations for the collection of Peter's
pence. But the government could not, so far, place itself in opposition to
the religion of the country as to forbid collections in the churches; nor
could it reach such subscriptions as were offered in private dwellings. In
Belgium, although the party of unbelief, of Freemasonry and revolution,
held the reins of power, the constitution protected all citizens alike,
and so the new work which the circumstances of the church required was
accomplished by association, pretty much in the same way as the work of
the propagation of the faith. By the end of three months, there were in
Flanders no fewer than four hundred thousand associates for the collection
of Peter's pence. In Italy, a Catholic journal, _Armonia_, collected
considerable sums of money, and caskets filled with jewels and other
precious objects. Poland, in her sorrow, was magnificently generous. And
Ireland, renewing her strength after centuries of misgovernment,
persecution