The Life and Times of Cavour (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ...but from that moment on they included it in their belief; at least, they conformed outwardly, and Conformity, lip-service in default of heart-service, is what Authority accepts. The Jesuits maintained their hold over Pius by a system of flattery compared with which the adulation of Ciceruacchio and the patriots of 1847 was as myrrh to honey. They hid from him the abuses at which his subjects and the civilized world cried out: and, as he seldom read anything except the official gazette, the Civilta Cattolica and his breviary, it was easy to keep the truth from him. With an unusual equipment of superstition which shaded off into mysticism, he readily believed himself a man of destiny, ordained by God to restore the prestige of Mother Church in order to save mankind from destruction. He waited on signs and omens; he put his trust in prophecies. The Jesuits encouraged him to expect that Catholics would give to him an obedience as absolute as they themselves gave to their General. Small wonder that Pius sometimes used the words of Christ as if he were Christ. His confessor was a Jesuit: so was Father Mignardi, who confessed Cardinal Antonelli. Between the Cardinal and Jesuits there was rarely a conflict, because both recognized that they were pursuing the same end. They united to keep Pius ignorant and unworried. Antonelli organized pilgrimages of the faithful to the Holy City; he promoted the offering of Peter's Pence; he arranged frequent audiences, at which the bland and handsome Pope, whose voice was very moving and whose bright, beautiful eyes could be very benign, was worshiped with an exuberance differing very little from idolatry. The Jesuits carefully cultivated his ambition to shine as a religious wonder. They championed the dogma of...