Rome and Italy at the opening of the œcumenical council, ...

Front matter

UNITEtTctATES OF AMERICA.

ROME AND ITALY

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Contents

LETTER T.

Hints to the Eeader — Reflections on leaving Trance : her Political Condition ; her Interest in the Council — Father Hyacinthe — The Abhe Maret on the Infallibility of the Pope — A Sunday in the Alps — Lombardy : her Past and Present ; her Artistic Jewels — Umbria : her Type of Piety in the Middle Ages ; Scenery ; Political State and Art— Perugino and Eaphael — Assisi and St. Francis : his Spirit ; Order ; Errors ; Lessons to us; Legend; Tomb and its Treasures— Goethe's Fanaticism — Hesitation of the Ultramontanists — The Invito Sacro with Comments Page 3.1

Letter II

A Glimpse at Rome : Like City like Citizens — A Chapter of Contrasts : 1. The City and the Surrounding Desert ; 2. The Ancient Church of St. Clement and the Modern Churches ; 3. The Contrast of Quarters in Rome ; 4. The Contrast in Costumes ; 5. Pagan and Christian Art ; 6. The Capuchins and the Scipios ; 7. Spiritual and Formal Religion ; 8. Rome and the Coming Change 33

Letter III

Three Pilgrims to Rome : Luther, Lamennais, Hyacinthe — Luther's Arrival in Rome : his Mysticism ; Moral Conflicts ; his Ideal Rome ; the Real Rome ; his Emancipation and Work — Lamennais : his Birth ; Early Life; Taking Orders; his Early Opinions; Book on Religious Indifference ; Conversion to Democracy ; Advocates the Separation of Church and State; ISAvenir; Intrigues of the Jesuits; Lamennais Appeals to the Pope ; Les Affairs de Rome ; Evasive Conduct of Rome ; Impatience of Lamennais ; the Encyclical of Gregory XVI. ; it condemns him; the Shock; his Lapse into Skepticism; Influence on his Disciples ; Subsequent Career and Death — Father Hyacinthe : Birth and Education ; Eloquence ; Liberality ; First Warning ; Visit to Rome ; Growing Freedom ; Sermons on the Church ; Further Progress ; is sent to Rome; the Crisis; returns to Paris; Speech at the Peace Congress ; is Rebuked ; Letter to his Superior ; his Future — Interior Discipline of the Dominicans — Rome desires a Short Council — Assumption of the Virgin — Confidence of the Pope — Anniversary of the Battle of Mentana 56

8 Contents.

letter iv. THE ROMAN QUESTION

Peculiar Position of Rome : The Pope guarded "by Foreign Troops ; The Practical Phase of the Matter — The Origin of the Temporal Power- Its Security under the Old Regime — The Shock of the Revolution of 1T93 — An Election Trick — Napoleon I. and the Papacy — Count d'Haussonville and Eather Thenier — The Pact of 1815 — The Revolution of 1830— Its Consequences — Foreigners first Guard the Pope— 1847 and its Changes — Election of Pius IX. — His Position and Measures — The Pope in Exile — Intervention of the French — Craft of the Prince President — Return of the Pope — His Rule — The Italian Movement : Its Results — Withdrawal of the French — Garibaldi Advances on Rome — Return of the French — Arguments of the Catholics — The Near Close of the French Occupation Page 79

Letter V

Cause of the Uneasiness of the Romans — Modern Liberty and Theocracy—The Prince and the Pope — Pope Elected by Ecclesiastics — The Sacred College — The Conclave — The Congregations — The Courts of Law — The Signature — Gonsulta Sacra and the Robe — Trials not Public — Special Rights of the Clergy — The Police— Impunity of Crime — Conspirators — The Prelacy — Clerical Establishments of Rome — Foundations, Masses, and Begging — The Press and the Censorship — Enforced Hypocrisy of the Romans — No Reform possible — Ignorance of the Masses— Higher Education— The Jesuits as Educators — Their Triumphs over History — A Roman Apologue — Singular Consequences of Theocracy — Approval of Theaters and Lotteries — A Suggestive Incident. 104

Letter VI

Religious Worship in Rome : its Magnificence Contrasted with the Primitive Type — Culmination of Roman Art at the Reformation— Its Previous Condition — Gothic Architecture and the Roman Churches — The Cathedral at Cologne and Saint Peter's — Transformation of Pagan Temples into Christian Churches — The same Contrast in Painting — Fra Bartolomeo — The Last Judgment of Michael Angelo and that of Fra Angelico — Raphael, Julius Romanus, and the Decline— Similar Phases in Church Music — Ancient and Modern Church Song — Church Music and the Reformation— Testimony of M. de Laprode — Defects of Protestant Worship — That of the Post- Apostolic Period — Ceremonies of Holy Week and Easter — Taking the Vail — Grotesque Appeals to the Populace— Mercenary Spirit of Catholic Worship — Its False Supernaturalism — Its Absolute Idolatry — A Touching Ceremony 130

Contents. 9

Letter VII

Preparations for the Council — Arrangements of the Counei] Hall- Sessions Secret— Name of the Council — Its Memorial Column — The Entertainment of the Members — Ceremonial of the Assembly — Precedence of the Members— Labors of the Preparatory Committees — Publication of the Proceedings — The Proceedings to be in Latin — Confusion in its Pronunciation — Other Differences — French Bishops mainly Ultramontanists — Chorus of Priests — The French Liberals : Bishop Dupanloup, Prince de Broglie, xlbbe Noirlieu, and Professor Tassy — The American Prelates — Devotion of the Irish Bishops to Rome — Subserviency of the EDglish Bishops — The Belgians — The Austrian Martyrs — The German Liberals — The Demonstration at Eulda — The Letters of Janus— Reforms demanded — Dollinger on Papal Infallibility — Probable Conclusion on this Question Page 156

Letter VIII

Leading Actors in the Council— The Absentees — The Pope — Antonelli — Bishop Tosti — Archbishop Manning — Bishop Hoefele — Bishop Hanneberger— Cardinals Donnet and Bonnechose — Bishop Plantier — The Bishop of La Rochelle — Bishop D up anloup — Archbishop Darboy — Louis Veuillot, the Lay Delegate — Anticipations in Liberal Circles 185

Letter IX

At Naples — A Festival — The Bourbon Rule in Naples— Francis II. — Stains on the Cause of Liberty— Garibaldi's Capture of Naples — Measures of Cavour — Justice of History — Present Irritation — Popular Liberty —Education — Philosophy — Religion — The Buffoon on the Stage and in the Pulpit — Brigandage — The Camorra — Perplexities of the new Government — Italians in Politics — Evangelical Labors at Naples — Political and Religious Outlook of Latin Races— Pagan Naples— The Decline of Paganism— Revelations at Pompeii — Impure Gods, Gladiators, Slaves — Discoveries in Art— Manuscripts — The Victory of Christianity 212

Letter X. Recent Excavations At Rome — The Palace Of The Oesars And

THE CATACOMBS.

Napoleon III. and Archaeology— Signor di Rossi— The Late and the Present Aspect of the Palace of the Caesars — Temple of Jupiter Stator — Cicero's House — Two Frescos — Christian Relics in the Palace — Importance of Christian Archaeology — Nature of its Disclosures — Rossi's Roma Sotteranea— Bossio's Explorations— Arringhi and Marchi— Rossi's Method — The Catacombs used for Burial, not Worship — Three

10 Contents.

Periods in their History — Dates of Monuments — Christian and Pagan Burial — Symbols of the Christian Tombs — The Catacomb of Saint Callistus — Callistus Himself— Visit to the Catacomb — The Consecration of Labor — Testimony of the Catacombs on Catholicism and Protestantism, the Primacy of Peter, the Adoration of Mary, the Sacraments, the State of the Dead, the Invocation of Saints, the Canonical Books, and Image Worship Page 238

LETTER XL

The Council Chamber — Preliminary Session — An Unpleasant Incident and a Conversation — Bishop Dupanloup and M. Veuillot — The Opposition — The Pope's Allocution in the Preliminary Session — Its Spirit— The Manifesto of the Civilta Cattolica — On the Eve of the Council — The Letters of Janus put in the Index — Wrath of the Liberals — Opening Ceremonies of the Council, with Comments — The Committees on Faith, Discipline, and the Eeligious Orders — Their Duties — Parleying Protestants — The True Issue — Unmeaning Distinctions — The False Supernatural 266

Letter XII

Another Contrast — The Oratorio of the Pontiff of the Immaculate Conception — Review of the Papal Army — Its Composition and Condition — The Committee on Conciliation — Regulations of the Council — Social Life at Rome— The Expenses of the Council — Fruits of Mariolatry —Vexation of the Liberals— Their Policy— A Morning Ramble— The Bull of Excommunication — Comments— The Committees on Faith and Discipline — The Anti-Council — Its Follies and End — The True Anti- Council— Probable Success of the Ultramontanists — The Italian Government and its Difficulties— Protestant Missions— Savonarola— Needs and Hopes 298

ROME, ITALY;

AND THE

(ECUMENICAL COUNCIL.

Letter I

Hints to the Reader — Reflections on leaving France : her Political Condition ; her Interest in the Council — Father Hyacinthe — The Abbe Maret on the Infallibility of the Pope — A Sunday in the Alps — Lombardy : her Past and Present ; her Artistic Jewels — Urnbria: her Type of Piety in the Middle Ages; Scenery; Political State and Art — Perugino and Raphael — Assisi and St. Francis : his Spirit ; Order ; Errors ; Lessons to us ; Legend ; Tomb and its Treasures — Goethe's Fanaticism — Hesitation of the Ultramontanists — The Invito Sacro with Comments.

Dear Sir : — Permit me to remind you that I am to send you letters / that is, the lively, spontaneous expression of my impressions concerning this land of Italy, whose bare name suffices to arouse the imagination, and which has not lost the incomparable charm with which she has intoxicated all her visitors, and, on the eve of the Council which awakens so much disquietude, curiosity, and also hope. It is a solemn moment in the history of the Catholic Church, which may well sound the hour of her mortal agony, or at least put her in grave peril ; for so great an effort issuing in a check, so formidable a sword-stroke ending in the rippling of water, would be a discomfiture unexampled in her history. But one thing could be more dangerous to lier — the insolent triumph of the frantic party which would truly make the Pope a God to march before mankind, according to the wish of the idolatrous Israelites. In every respect, then, a visit at Eome in these exceptional circumstances has its peculiar interest. I shall give you my conclusions with the most entire sincerity, in all the vivacity of their primal gush. Do not expect in these pages the carefully carved chapters of a controversial treatise, or of a Traveler's Guide for Italy. No, yon will here find in all their medley the emotions experienced in the presence of marvels of art, in the presence of the melancholy splendors of a natural scenery which adorns with enchanting grace the mourning array of a ruined world, and the not less vivacious ones inspired by that modern Pharisaism which here has only the wit to whiten a magnificent sepulcher in which it wonld shut up the religion of the Risen, and with it an enslaved world, under the same sealed and well-guarded stone.

I left France, herself, too, in a dark hour of her history, agitated, feverish, starting up from the long despotism which she has undergone and almost deserved, as one starts with convulsive bounds from a nightmare — divided between distrust of her governors, whose concessions are blended with imprudent regrets and insane recoilings, and the dread of socialist demagogues, who hasten to transform the little freedom we have regained into license, and speak every evening of the approaching division of all possessions, or what they call the great social liquidation.

Let us hope that the true liberal party will be able to find its w T ay between these two extreme sections, and save us from a bloody catastrophe which would lead to new Csesars. Forgive my uneasy and saddened patriotism these painful reflections, which occupy my mind at the moment of leaving my country for a few weeks.

From a religious stand-point, the Council is naturally the great affair in France, as every- where ; while people expect it to produce universal harmony, it is producing the most noisy divisions in the bosom of the Church of Unity. I shall be told that these are the discordant notes of musical instruments preparing to perform their part in a symphony. I doubt whether they can be brought into unison, skillful as the leader of the orchestra may be, at least without breaking a few. The reason is very simple; the principal cause of division among the symphonists of the Catholic Church is precisely the authority of the leader of the orchestra. Some think his baton should be obeyed like the rod of Moses, or the scepter of Judah. Others would have it tempered and restrained. What, then, are the means of agreement ? Evidently, the Papacy can triumph only by imposing silence on the recalcitrant ; but to suppress discordant voices is not to melt them into harmony. Read the circular letters of our Bishops, the articles of our Catholic journals of various shades ! On the one hand, anathema is hurled at all who do not bow before the personal infallibility of the Holy Fatherthat is the dogma of dogmas, for it is authority in its supreme, palpable manifestation. On the other hand, appeal is made to the history of the Church, to the ancient Councils, and to the Gallican Church. There is a discord of tumultuous and irritated voices. Such is the preface to the Council in France. When I left Paris two religious manifestations chiefly occupied public attention. The first was the striking rupture of Father Hyacinthe with Rome. It is vain to talk ; this is a terrible blow for Catholicism. Sarcasms and condemnations will not enfeeble the effect of this act, which reveals to all men the conscious inability of sincere and liberal minds to remain in the bonds of Romanism. This utterance of conscience, which is no seditious outcry, but an appeal to the tribunal of Jesus Christ, has had a deep reverberation among our people. It will have a more salutary effect than his most eloquent discourses in that pulpit of Notre Dame, where that mighty voice will resound no more — the most eloquent voice our generation has heard, and which was privileged beyond any other to attract and thrill thousands of listeners. The momentary silence of Father Hyacinthe is the most energetic of protestations against religious servitude ; and of this silent preaching we may say that it is heard in the very depths of the consciences of men. I shall come back to Father Hyacinthe when I shall have to attest the effect produced at Rome by this courageous deed.

The second event of which I would speak is the book of the Abbe Maret, Bishop of Sura, against the infallibility of the Pope. This grave and solid work asserts the periodicity of the Councils, w T hich alone, in union with the Papacy, have the privileges of infallibility. Doubtless we can no more accept this conclusion than that of the Ultramontanes — we who admit no other infallibility than that which comes from the Holy Spirit. But for the Romish party the book of the Abbe Maret, which is the standard of Gallican, and more or less liberal Catholicism, is the abomination of desolation. His colleagues in the episcopacy, too, feel no scruple in anathematizing it to their hearts' content. I mention this book because it sums up, in some sort, the pith of the most embarrassing question for the Council, and because, with the resolutions, so distinct under their respectful form, of the Bishops at Fulda, it presents the programme of what may be called the left wing of the great (Ecumenical Council. I shall strive to learn here what its chances are, and whether it will succeed at least in preventing the follies to which the Coryphsei of the party of Home would gladly push things. At any rate, there prevails, for these various reasons, a great anxiety concerning the Council and its issue. Do not these words, which express an incontestably true feeling, suffice for the condemnation of the entire Catholic system. "What ! you affirm that the Holy Spirit will speak through the Council ! You indeed say the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of God — and you are inquiet about what he shall say — you are not very sure that he will conclude on what is good and desirable for the Church ! You are anxious — as if you had to do with fallible and ignorant beings — as though you had to do with yourselves ! This is because you are dealing with yourselves, and yourselves alone. You feel this at bottom, and that is why you are perfectly right in being alarmed : the sequel will show how well-founded are these fears.

Such, sir, were my thoughts as I departed from my own country and approached this city, to which so many eyes now turn as toward the Zion of the Lord. My last pause on Protestant soil, before approaching the proper domain of Catholicism, was well-suited to make the contrast salient to me between the religion of the Spirit and that of the Letter. I spent Sunday,

October 30, in an Evangelical Church belonging to the Free Church of the Canton de Yaud, which is situated on the heights of the Alps among the Ormonts. Yery modest is the humble chapel where these pious mountaineers, zealous and decided members of a Church which has known the baptism of persecution, were assembled. And yet, in presence of the lofty and snowy summits which surround it, and that were illuminated by the most radiant sunshine, it rears before the eyes a still loftier summit, even of that worship in spirit and in truth which is solemnized neither on the mountain of Jerusalem nor on that of Grerizim, but wherever Jesus Christ has true adorers. It was a fine and touching thing to see these sturdy shepherds of the Alps journeying along prematurely snowy roads toward their chapel, to rest from their rude toil as they sang the praises of the Lord in their natal tongue. Their manly and weary features were kindled up with the pure light of inward piety. These were truly priests of the New Covenant, declaring "in their own tongue the wonderful works of (rod." The Sistine Chapel, with its cardinals in scarlet robes and its strangely delicate harmonies, will offer me no spectacle comparable with that which I witnessed with deep joy in a remote corner of the mighty Alps.

Let us rapidly cross the Simplon, despite the magnificence of the Bernese Alps, which appear from the rugged and narrow gorges, in all their glory, under the splendor of a beautiful autumnal sun. Behold Italy ! behold the rich and monotonous region of Lombardy — then the low and fertile valleys watered by the Po ! Every thing has indeed changed since my first visit to this region fifteen years ago. The traveler notes this agreeably in the greater facility of public conveyances. He no longer has to suffer from the infinite division of Italy into petty principalities, each of which extended to him a hand eager for the price of his passage. But especially, his eye is no longer offended by the white coat of the Austrian soldier, who appeared on this soil that detested him like a consuming worm on a rose. It is all over with those petty tyrants of Parma and Modena, who had not even wit enough to keep their thrones, and needed a German saber to preserve them. I know all the faults with which the new Italian kingdom may be reproached; the medley of intrigue and violence which it has employed in swallowing the peninsular artichoke. I shall beware of calling evil good ; but it still remains true that the new kingdom has responded to the deepest and most legitimate national aspirations, and that finally it has delivered the country from an abominable clerical oppression which, had it lasted, would have dried up the springs of all higher life. The partisans of absolutism cast stones at the New Italy, and laugh at her difficulties ; they are pitiless toward her eccentricities, toward the trouble she finds in giving a solid and reasonable basis to her public life. They forget that she contracted her defects under their tuition, and that the freedman long retains the marks of his chains. These considerations came back to my memory the other day as I roamed through the city of Parma, which particularly suffered under the most abject tyranny. She has not yet fully awakened ; the shadow of her past enfolds her. Her population still seems given up to the listlessness of enslaved nations ; the flagstones of her streets are

worn by the lazy tramp of her numberless abbes and her idle youth. Patience ! All this is changing from day to day — modern life with its severe exactions is invading the ancient ducal residence. At any rate, the town has incomparable artistic jewels in the paintings of her Correggio. There must we learn to know this genius who conceived a purely modern type of beauty, full of intelligence and passion, whose finest shades he was skilled to reproduce through the infinite gradations of his chiaro-oscuro. The Virgin, in his picture of St. Jerome, strikes you as a fresh and more penetrating intuition of eternal beauty than any other. I pass Florence, w^here I may pause with you on my return, and I transport you into marvelous Umbria, so long bowed under the yoke of Rome, but which has ardently desired and. paid for its enfranchisement. It was here that the Catholicism of the Middle Ages had its finest development, and that it created a truly Christian art, which gave expression to a high ideal that we should be able to admire, even though for us it has been in many respects transformed. It is impossible not to be struck with the singular relation existing between the aspect of these beautiful scenes and the works of the great masters who were born or developed here. Nature is not at all oppressive in its grandeur, as among lofty mountains, nor seductive, as on the coasts of the Mediterranean. It is full of sweetness, calmness, and harmony, though along its horizon appear the gentle peaks of the Apennines.

The outlines of the landscape stand forth in exquisite purity and grace ; they seem to undulate in light curves, following the sinuosities of the innumerable little mountains which cut up the plain, and are covered with the elegant vegetation of the South. Fling over this lovely scenery a golden light which imparts to every object the most perfect transparency, and you will understand that Umbria is admirably fitted to inspire an ingenuous and profound style of art. She does not stifle its flights beneath a startling magnificence ; she gently stimulates it, and furnishes its palette with that pleasant coloring which suits purely ideal painting, whose contours should be firm and fixed as those of the horizon. There truly ought that fair blossom of artistic mysticism to spring up and unfold which preceded the splendid works of the Renaissance. Let us add that the appearance of the great Umbrian school coincides with one of the finest religious movements of humanity, of which, in some sort, it bears the burning impress. Before speaking of this movement, which is very interesting through the contrast it offers with the character of contemporary Catholic piety, let as pause a moment at Perugia, which was the center and focus of the Umbrian school. It overlooks the w r hole country that I have just described, and is stamped with that inimitable seal of Old Italy which the railways themselves will hardly destroy. Besides, it largely escapes the impetuous movement of civilization ; for the trains that pass at its foot set down few travelers tempted to pause. Those who ascend its hill are true art-pilgrims, and not merely curious people. Yet patriotic feeling has awakened great agitations here. Before the hour of her deliverance. Perugia simply bore with indignation the dominion of the Holy See, which paralyzed all her national life, and would make her a mere museum, while beside her echoed mightily the cry of emancipation. On occasion of the war of 1859, she revolted.

Unhappily for her, the treaty of Yillafranca came to cut short for a time all hopes of the enfranchisement of Southern Italy. Before this time she had been recaptured by the pontifical troops, who had given themselves up to the most frightful excesses, as worthy servants of the Vicar of the Prince of Peace. This event produced a very lively impression of indignation even in the bosom of French Catholicism, at least in its enlightened section. I remember meeting at that period, in Paris, some of the most eminent of her clergy. I dared not whisper a word before them about the sacking of Perugia. But it was quite needless prudence, for they loudly condemned the odious act. Not only, said they, do we believe all the abominations imputed to the Swiss troops of the Holy Father, but we believe even worse things. In his service he has the vilest rascals in Europe, and the best thing that could happen to him would be to have his army soundly whipped, so that he might escape the deplorable consequences to which his temporal power leads. When priests hold such language we can imagine how disinterested laymen felt. It is worth while, truly, to reconquer a wretched strip of land by the ruin of thousands of souls ! Paris is well worth a mass, said Henry IV., to explain his abjuration. It is an unworthy saying, even in the mouth of such a prince as he. The Papacy of our day seems to say, " My temporal dominion is worth more to me than my spiritual dominion ; Rome is well worth all the masses in the world." It is, indeed, certain that the more tyrannical the sacerdotal yoke becomes in civil things, the less do men believe in the mass, that is, in the spiritual pontificate. We shall have more than one occasion to resume these considerations. Let us return to the Perugia of

Kome, Italy, akd the Council. 21

ancient times. From the stand-point of history and art it is immensely interesting ; for it is there that we grasp the transition from the priestly and immobile Byzantine style of painting to the living and animated style of modern times. In place of a conventional type constantly reproduced on a golden ground, we have w T orks of individuality. Life begins to break forth from the eyes; the glance grows suddenly animated, because that is the most direct organ of the soul, and because the focus of man's life is in his heart. In Cimabue we find precisely that radiance, that flame which was lacking in the Byzantine artists, who were rather vestry artisans. In Fra Angelico the human form is still somewhat swaddled, or buried in a conventional immobility. But its movements are more varied — picturesqueness crops out in the accessories. In Perugino, who is the king of ancient Perugia, we see veritable life still somewhat enchained, but it grows more and more free, especially in his admirable frescos, where simply human subjects take their place beside the consecrated subjects of the evangelical story.

The school of Perugia uttered its last word m Perugino, and this last word is still one of tender and lofty mysticism, all the more remarkable since the master himself seems to have been a stranger to it in his sentiments ; but the atmosphere he breathed was so saturated with it that he could not escape it. After all, art is a great ^Eolian harp, shivering with the breezes that pass over it. The breeze in the time of Perugino came from the hights of the soul, and it was mighty enough to impose itself on the great master.

It is also at Perugia that we see the early works of Raphael, when he followed with docility the inspiration of Perugino. But here we perceive a broader style and a serener grace. Moreover, Perugia possesses a Virgin from his hand which is a ravishing masterpiece, and which may be placed toward the close of his first manner. We might call it the swan-song of the Umbrian school ; but this song is only the prelude of a sublimer harmony, for Raphael already stands in his completeness on this canvas. He leaves, as a farewell to the school of his tender youth, an immortal masterpiece wherein it again lives forever in a type which reproduces its most admirable qualities in an idealized form, and having thus paid his debt, he goes speeding to the conquest of new worlds.

Assisi, whither the railway brings us in an hour from Perugia, is altogether a great artistic and religious sanctuary. Thence proceeded one of those mighty impulses which mark a new phase in the history of humanity. To comprehend it, we who have been reared in reformed Churches, we mnst be able to rise above all that is external, for we have some difficulty in finding true Christianity under the robe of a monk. And yet it is certain that Saint Francis, the founder of the order of Capuchins, was a great Christian. What strikes us in the religious movement, of which he was the leader, is precisely what distinguishes it from the forms of Catholic piety preferred in our day. He was no knight of the Holy Church like Dominic, his sole aim to crush heresy. He was quite unconcerned about the Pontifical authority to which, in the candor of his soul, he easilv submitted. The idolatry of the Virgin, too, was quite foreign to him. No, it is love for Jesus Christ that completely swayed hi in ; that was the inmost basis of his moral life, not a love that had merely its fervid impulses, and plunged itself into idle contemplation. He recognized Jesus Christ in the poor ; it was truly He who wandered naked and hungry in the cities and rural districts of his country. He received in its full seriousness the divine word, whatever you shall do for him is done unto me. It is to me that you break bread when you shall appease his hunger ; it is to me that you give a cup of water when you shall quench Irs thirst.