The Emperor Maximilian is a Hapsburg. Consequently, though over inclined
to reverence priests, he is not inclined to take orders from them, has a notion that the divine right of Emperors is equal to the divine right of Popes—a theory dangerous perhaps to his soul, but decidedly advantageous to his throne. On the arrival of the Nuncio in Mexico he requested him to draw up a concordat recognizing religious toleration and the secularization of Church lands. The Nuncio pleaded no orders, whereupon twenty-four hours were allowed him to find orders, and at the end of that time the Emperor ordered his Minister to dispense with the concordat, and pass a law at once guaranteeing religious freedom and reducing the clergy to the position of State stipendiaries. Theisrder has been received with enthusiasm, and the Nuncio is going home defeated,—one more example of that subtle statesmanship of which. Exeter Hall is so much afraid.
