er side, if accepted without hesitation, would render
all criticisms futile. Devout Roman Catholics would answer that matters
of faith are beyond criticism altogether; but the writers in the
_Contemporary_, for instance, will, with equal assurance, declare
themselves right because they believe that they cannot be wrong. It
would be better to consult events themselves rather than the current
opinions of opposite parties concerning them, to set aside the
consideration of the aims rightly or wrongly attributed to Leo the
Thirteenth, and to look only on the results brought about by his policy
in our time. In cases where actions have a merely negative result, it is
just to consider the motive alone, if any criticism is necessary, and
here there seems to be no particular reason for doubting the Pope's
statement of his own case. For instance, in connection with Ireland, the
Pope said, in the document known as 'The Circular Letter of the
Propaganda': 'It is just that the Irish should seek to alleviate their
afflicted condition; it is just that they should fight for their rights,
nor is it denied them to collect money to alleviate the condition of the
Irish.' In regard to the same matter, the 'Decree of the Holy Office'
reads as follows: 'The Holy See has frequently given opportune advice
and counsel to the Irish people (upon whom it has always bestowed
especial affection), whenever its affairs seem to require it, by which
counsel and advice they might be enabled to defend and vindicate their
rights without prejudice to justice, and without disturbing the public
peace.' A fairer statement of the rights of men, and a more express
injunction against public disturbance of any kind, could hardly be
expressed in two short sentences.

Outside of Italy the position of Leo the Thirteenth in Rome is not
generally understood. Most people suppose that the expression 'the
prisoner in the Vatican,' which he applies to himself, and which is very
generally applied to him by the more ardent of Italian Catholics, is a
mere empty phrase, and that his confinement within his small dominion is
purely a matter of choice. This is not the case. So far as the political
theory of the question is concerned, it is probable that the Pope would
not in any case be inclined to appear openly on Italian territory unless
he showed himself as the official guest of King Humbert, who would
naturally be expected to return the visit. To make such an official
visit and