essary articles of faith, and in particular to abstain
from defining papal infallibility, which was beset with difficulties,
and would make the foundations of faith to tremble even in the devoutest
souls. He pointed out that the Index could not continue on its present
footing, and urged that the Church should seek her strength in the
cultivation of liberty and learning, not in privilege and coercion; that
she should rely on popular institutions, and obtain popular support. He
warmly advocated the system of autonomy that was springing up in
Hungary.[386] Unlike Schwarzenberg, Dupanloup, and Maret, the Archbishop
of Paris had taken no hostile step in reference to the Council, but he
was feared the most of all the men expected at Rome. The Pope had
refused to make him a cardinal, and had written to him a letter of
reproof such as has seldom been received by a bishop. It was felt that
he was hostile, not episodically, to a single measure, but to the
peculiar spirit of this pontificate. He had none of the conventional
prejudices and assumed antipathies which are congenial to the
hierarchical mind. He was without passion or pathos or affectation; and
he had good sense, a perfect temper, and an intolerable wit. It was
characteristic of him that he made the Syllabus an occasion to impress
moderation on the Pope: "Your blame has power, O Vicar of Jesus Christ;
but your blessing is more potent still. God has raised you to the
apostolic See between the two halves of this century, that you may
absolve the one and inaugurate the other. Be it yours to reconcile
reason with faith, liberty with authority, politics with the Church.
From the height of that triple majesty with which religion, age, and
misfortune adorn you, all that you do and all that you say reaches far,
to disconcert or to encourage the nations. Give them from your large
priestly heart one word to amnesty the past, to reassure the present,
and to open the horizons of the future."

The security into which many unsuspecting bishops had been lulled
quickly disappeared; and they understood that they were in presence of a
conspiracy which would succeed at once if they did not provide against
acclamation, and must succeed at last if they allowed themselves to be
caught in the toils of the Bull _Multiplices_. It was necessary to make
sure that no decree should be passed without reasonable discussion, and
to make a stand against the regulation. The first congregation, held on
t