TOPICS OF THE DAY.
'111..E GERMAN EMPEROR IN THE VATICAN.
IT is not altogether without pleasure that thoughtful Protestants read of the visit to be paid by the German Emperor to the Vatican. The strict etiquette to be observed, the stately ceremonial, the solemn courtesy as of potentate to potentate, is all, it is true, alien to the religious idea, alien specially, as we think, to the creed whose founder pleaded innocence, but never denied the jurisdiction of Caesar's representative. It is, however, not displeasing to see these great military monarchs, these earthly demigods, with so many trumpeters before and such vast material force behind them, compelled to treat with a Power absolutely non-material, obliged to acknowledge that a sovereignty may be real, though it is powerless except for its sway over the minds and imaginations of a section of mankind. The Papacy is fighting unconsciously the battle of all thought. We may wish, and do wish very often, that the spiritual strength of the Holy See were otherwise directed ; but force is not quite supreme in the world while the German Emperor, with his millions of trained men, finds it needful to do public honour to the old priest who will not return his call. We are all worshipping power so zealously, that such a reminder of the strength of ideas, strange as the method of its manifestation may seem, is not inopportune, more especially as the method may also remind us not only that thought is strong, but also of the other truth, that spiritual, like material strength, may be grievously abused. The Papacy survives all things, even its own crimes ; but, nevertheless, the successor of the Hohenstauffen is standing in the Vatican face to face with the Pope, and is the topmost man in the world, save, perhaps, for that one priest. The Ghibelline has lived, but the Guelf has lived too ; and if the Papal authority still lifts its head above the storm of the ages, it is .only to find itself face to face with the Imperial Power which, as it fondly hoped, had ended centuries before. William II. is not in name Ctesar of the West, but he is in foreign policy lord of Germany, Austria, and Italy, and jailor of France and Russia. Like its opponents, the Holy See once trusted to the sword, and after centuries, the representative of the sword still deals with the Papacy within the Vatican itself on a footing of equality.
There has hardly ever been an incident in modern history more suggestive than the meeting of William II.
with Leo XIII. in the Vatican ; but whether it will pro- duce any of the political results which so many observers appear to hope or fear, is exceedingly doubtful. The Pope, it seems clear from his recent utterances, has slowly gravitated towards the opinion of his predecessors, or slowly decided to bring the opinion to the front, that some territorial dominion is essential to the freedom of his Chair. Sovereignty is artificial without a territorial basis, and the government of the huge machine of which the Pope is the head may one day prove difficult, if he is not master of the soil on which the machine, despite its spiritual use, must necessarily be placed. An Ambassador, it is true, has no territory and is safe; but then his master has legions. That being the Pope's conviction, it is bard to doubt that he will express it, or to believe that he will forego such an opportunity of demanding aid from the strongest of secular Powers. The diplomatists talk of high courtesies; but can a Pope talk to the man who uses Charlemagne's throne, and never remind him of Charlemagne's best-known act ? Negotiation, too, will be the more tempting because the Pope has much to offer his Imperial guest. Long before he is an aged man, the greatest of the Kaiser's difficulties will be the opposition of his Parliament, which can never, be it remembered, have a wider suffrage than now; and the Pope can for all time to come materially influence, can in moments of emergency and excitement almost command, the votes of one-third of all the representatives. His authority may seem of the most shadowy kind, but it has sufficed to drive the Iron Chancellor, never before vanquished, into apology and retreat. On every occasion of the renewal of the Military Septennial Act, the party of the Centre will hold the balance of power, and may make almost its own terms. The benevolent regard of the Vatican is worth almost anything to the German Emperor, and we do not question that if it depended on himself alone, William II. would pay a high price, perhaps an amazing price, to secure it. But Rome gives nothing for nothing, and there is no adequate equivalent in his hand to give. Italy will not surrender her capital except to force, and he can 'nit no force on an ally who, as Prince Bismarck put it, brings to his aid 500,000 trained men. To alienate Italy would be to tear down one-third of his rampart against France. The Emperor will certainly not suggest the cession of Rome in any case, or of part of Rome without the previous consent of Italy; and the idea of substituting any other territory has gradually vanished into air. The Emperor could, we imagine, secure to the Holy Father the sovereignty of an island, Elba or Ischia, or even a minute State like Monaco, in all of which he would still be in Italy ; but the Papacy,. mindful of the history of Avignon, rejects all such over- tures, and asks for its traditional dominion. The idea of the transfer of the Papacy to Jerusalem, which found such favour with the dreamy mind of Napoleon III., is, in the present condition of opinion, almost an absurdity ; and as to an asylum in case of future complications,. no intervention of the Emperor could increase the readiness of the Catholic world. A fitting dominion cannot, in fact, be found till Italy is willing to concede one ; and the next best substitute, a European guarantee- of the Pope's independence, it might be as difficult to formu- late as to secure. The guarantee, if granted and acted on,. might be of some value to the Papacy, now too dependent upon the friendliness or the fears of a single Power - but how is it to be granted so as to be more than mere assurance of good-will and respect offered by the statesmen of a single generation ? What, in fact, would such a guarantee mean ? Clearly, in order to be real, it must mean that if Italy violates or menaces the inde- pendence of the Pope, Italy shall be invaded; and which of the greater Powers will give a prophetic engagement of that kind ? France might, if only to obtain a hold of such a lever for the annoyance of Italy ; but clearly Germany would not, Austria must follow Germany, and England would profess her inability to. sign the promise without a Parliamentary vote, whicEr could never be obtained. Europe, in short, would refuse the guarantee ; and a guarantee from France alone is quite. worthless, for France, if she had the power, would to- morrow replace the Pope on his throne, and protect him too, probably with a garrison half atheist and half Arab. A European guarantee for a revenue could, of course, be. obtained, but although the Pope, like any other Sovereign with large establishments to pay, necessarily thinks of money, to ask for it would not be dignified, nor would any allowance in any degree compensate the Holy See for the loss of dominion. We fail entirely to see what the Emperor could promise, unless it were a certain large freedom for the Church, which England already gives, as Pio Nono acknowledged, which France certainly would not give, and which the remaining Governments of Europe would only concede with a bitter grudge against the friend who had made so inconvenient a request. The Emperor has nothing in his hand to negotiate with, unless it be some internal concessions within his own dominions which are of no importance to Europe, and which would not suffice to con- vert the Centre Party into loyalists of the Lind the German Government would desire. The conversation, therefore, between Pope and Emperor, however interesting it may be, or even politically instructive, can hardly alter the position of the Papacy, or release the Pope from that necessity for patience which must since 1870 have so increased the rank of that Christian virtue in his mind. The meeti g will be a picturesque historical incident, perhaps the most picturesque even in a century like this, so studded with events, successes, and catastrophes ; but it can be little more.
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