him
lies, to weaken the reproach that the defenders of the Church see
only the mote in the eyes of others, not the beam in their own, and
with narrow-hearted prejudice endeavour to soften, or to dissimulate,
or to deny every fact which is or which appears unfavourable to their
cause. He does it in order that it may be understood that where the
powerlessness of men to effect a cure becomes manifest, God
interposes in order to sift on His threshing-floor the chaff from
the wheat, and to consume it with the fire of the catastrophes which
are only His judgments and remedies. Secondly, I could not, as a
historian, present the effects without going back to their causes;
and it was therefore my duty, as it is that of every religious
inquirer and observer, to try to contribute something to the
_Theodicee_. He that undertakes to write on such lofty interests,
which nearly affect the weal and woe of the Church, cannot avoid
examining and displaying the wisdom and justice of God in the conduct
of terrestrial events regarding them. The fate which has overtaken
the Roman States must above all be considered in the light of a
Divine ordinance for the advantage of the Church. Seen by that light,
it assumes the character of a trial, which will continue until the
object is attained, and the welfare of the Church so far secured.

It seemed evident to me, that as a new order of things in Europe lies
in the design of Providence, the disease, through which for the last
half-century the States of the Church unquestionably have passed,
might be the transition to a new form. To describe this malady
without overlooking or concealing any of the symptoms was, therefore,
an undertaking which I could not avoid. The disease has its source in
the inward contradiction and discord of the institutions and
conditions of the government; for the modern French institutions
stand there, without any reconciling qualifications, besides those of
the mediaeval hierarchy. Neither of these elements is strong enough to
expel the other; and either of them would, if it prevailed alone, be
again a form of disease. Yet, in the history of the last few years I
recognise symptoms of convalescence, however feeble, obscure, and
equivocal its traces may appear. What we behold is not death or
hopeless decay, it is a purifying process, painful, consuming,
penetrating bone