It is not
enough to have given him a temporal kingdom, or to have restored that
kingdom to him when he had the misfortune to lose it; one must lend
him a permanent support, unless the expense of a fresh restoration is
to be incurred every year.
This is the principle of the foreign occupation. We are one hundred
and thirty-nine millions of Catholics, who have violently delegated to
three millions of Italians the honour of boarding and lodging our
spiritual chief. If we were not to leave a respectable army in Italy
to watch over the execution of our commands, we should be doing our
work by halves.
In strict logic, the security of the Pope should be guaranteed at the
common expense of the Catholic Powers. It seems quite natural that
each nation interested in the oppression of the Romans should furnish
its contingent of soldiers. Such a system, however, would have the
effect of turning the castle of St. Angelo into another Tower of
Babel. Besides, the affairs of this world are not all regulated
according to the principles of logic.
The only three Powers which contributed to the re-establishment of
Pius IX. were France, Austria, and Spain. The French besieged Rome;
the Austrians seized the places of the Adriatic; the Spaniards did
very little, not from the want either of goodwill or courage, but
because their allies left them nothing to do.
If a private individual may be permitted to probe the motives upon
which princes act, I would venture to suggest that the Queen of Spain
had nothing in view but the interests of the Church.
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