the French troops
were withdrawn from Rome. Perhaps both the statesman and the philosopher
will admit that an infallible pope would be a great harmonizing element,
if only common-sense could acknowledge him.

Hereupon, the King of Italy addressed an autograph letter to the pope,
setting forth in very respectful terms the necessity that his troops
should advance and occupy positions "indispensable to the security of
his Holiness, and the maintenance of order;" that, while satisfying
the national aspirations, the chief of Catholicity, surrounded by the
devotion of the Italian populations, "might preserve on the banks of the
Tiber a glorious seat, independent of all human sovereignty."

To this his Holiness replied in a brief and caustic letter: "I give
thanks to God, who has permitted your majesty to fill the last days of
my life with bitterness. For the rest, I cannot grant certain requests,
nor conform with certain principles contained in your letter. Again, I
call upon God, and into his hands commit my cause, which is his cause.
I pray God to grant your majesty many graces, to free you from dangers,
and to dispense to you his mercy which you so much need."

THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT. The Italian troops met with but little
resistance. They occupied Rome on September 20, 1870. A manifesto was
issued, setting forth the details of a plebiscitum, the vote to be by
ballot, the question, "the unification of Italy." Its result showed how
completely the popular mind in Italy is emancipated from theology. In
the Roman provinces the number of votes on the lists was 167,548; the
number who voted, 135,291; the number who voted for annexation, 133,681;
the number who voted against it, 1,507; votes annulled, 103. The
Parliament of Italy ratified the vote of the Roman people for annexation
by a vote of 239 to 20. A royal decree now announced the annexation of
the Papal States to the kingdom of Italy, and a manifesto was issued
indicating the details of the arrangement. It declared that "by these
concessions the Italian Government seeks to prove to Europe that Italy
respects the sovereignty of the pope in conformity with the principle of
a free Church in a free state."

AFFAIRS IN PRUSSIA. In the Prusso-Austrian War it had been the hope of
the papacy, to restore the German Empire under Austria, and make
Germany a Catholic nation. In the Franco-German War the French expected
ultramontane sympathies in Germany. No means were spared to ex