ist. Several bishops who had signed the pastoral
refused their signatures to the private letter. It caused so much dismay
at Rome that its nature was carefully concealed; and a diplomatist was
able to report, on the authority of Cardinal Antonelli, that it did not
exist.

In the middle of November, the Bishop of Orleans took leave of his
diocese in a letter which touched lightly on the learned questions
connected with papal infallibility, but described the objections to the
definition as of such a kind that they could not be removed. Coming from
a prelate who was so conspicuous as a champion of the papacy, who had
saved the temporal power and justified the Syllabus, this declaration
unexpectedly altered the situation at Rome. It was clear that the
definition would be opposed, and that the opposition would have the
support of illustrious names.

The bishops who began to arrive early in November were received with the
assurance that the alarm which had been raised was founded on phantoms.
It appeared that nobody had dreamed of defining infallibility, or that,
if the idea had been entertained at all, it had been abandoned.
Cardinals Antonelli, Berardi, and De Luca, and the Secretary Fessler
disavowed the _Civilta_. The ardent indiscretion that was displayed
beyond the Alps contrasted strangely with the moderation, the friendly
candour, the majestic and impartial wisdom, which were found to reign in
the higher sphere of the hierarchy. A bishop, afterwards noted among the
opponents of the dogma, wrote home that the idea that infallibility was
to be defined was entirely unfounded. It was represented as a mere
fancy, got up in Bavarian newspapers, with evil intent; and the Bishop
of Sura had been its dupe. The insidious report would have deserved
contempt if it had caused a revival of obsolete opinions. It was a
challenge to the Council to herald it with such demonstrations, and it
unfortunately became difficult to leave it unnoticed. The decision must
be left to the bishops. The Holy See could not restrain their legitimate
ardour, if they chose to express it; but it would take no initiative.
Whatever was done would require to be done with so much moderation as to
satisfy everybody, and to avoid the offence of a party triumph. Some
suggested that there should be no anathema for those who questioned the
doctrine; and one prelate imagined that a formula could be contrived
which even Janus could not dispute, and which yet would