tion, were he the subject of any one among the European powers? Would Victor Emmanuel allow him free intercourse with Austria; would any Catholic government receive his communications, even on purely spiritual subjects, if made by him as the subject of a power with which it was at war? Would it, in this case, have been possible for him, for example, to issue the present Encyclical, or in fact, any other document of an official character, warning the faithful against the errors and immoralities of the age? Would he be permitted to tell unpalatable truths to his own Sovereign, or to any other? In ceasing to be an independent sovereign, he would become the veriest slave. He would be hampered and thwarted at every step, and the exercise of his Spiritual Primacy would become exceedingly difficult, if not wholly impossible. As it is, he has—or rather had—just territory enough to support him and his necessary officials modestly, according to his station; not enough to give him any preponderating influence in political affairs. He is, at the same time, the weakest and the most powerful Sovereign in Christendom; the weakest in physical force, the strongest in moral power.
VIII.—The Acceptable Time.
It behooves us. Venerable and Beloved Brethren, on this solemn occasion, to enter, with earnest and loving faith, into the sentiments of our beloved Chief Pastor, and to unite together in fervent supplications to God, that He may avert the storm which threatens His Church, stretching forth His all-mighty hand over the swelling waves which toss the bark of Peter, and bidding them be still!—"And we working together with Him, do exhort you, that yo receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, in an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee. Behold! now is the acceptable time; behold! now is the day of salvation!" (II. Corinth., vi., 1 seq.) To borrow the language of the eloquent St. John Chrysostom, "prayer is the source, is the root, is the mother of countless blessings; the power of
