The Pope and the New Era; Being Letters from the Vatican in 1889 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XI. THE PERSICO MISSION AND THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. For the Pope's blunder about Mr. Parnell there was at least one excuse. In 1883 the real nature of the service which the Irish leader had done in weaning the Irish from secret societies to rely upon Constitutional agitation was but imperfectly understood. The whole English nation was hostile to him. He had but recently come out of gaol, to which he had been committed by a Liberal Ministry; and, more important than anything else in the eyes of the Vatican, Cardinal M'Cabe, the Archbishop of Dublin, was strongly opposed to the Parnellite policy. There was, therefore, some excuse for the Pope. But it would puzzle the most charitable to discover any excuse for the extraordinary repetition of the same blunder into which he fell five years later, when he issued the Rescript condemning boycotting and the Plan of Campaign. Why he did it no one at Rome could say. All the interpretations believed in abroad were categorically denied by Cardinal Rampolla. But what the real explanation is no one even pretends to know. L I was naturally anxious to find out the truth about the matter, because I had been present at the Woodford meeting when the Plan was first proclaimed, and I had subsequently obtained from Archbishop Walsh, in an interview at Dublin, his public sanction of the scheme. But, notwithstanding all my efforts, I was unable to ascertain who it was that put the Pope in motion, and secured the decree of the Holy Office of which such use was made. At one time I was assured that the case on which the Holy Office had reported had been submitted by the Bishop of Limerick, but just before I left Rome that was authoritatively contradicted. The Pope, according to the last version, submitted the case himself: but...