Not as He Walked

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 22, 1912

The difference between the Founder of Christianity and the papal system which professes to represent him has been again strikingly illustrated. A despatch from Rome says:—

The Vatican has been compelled to change the cipher, or code, in which the Pope's secret instructions are telegraphed to nuncios and delegates abroad. It consisted of a series of numbers disposed according to a prearranged system, assuring perfect secrecy. Repeated efforts to solve it proved unsuccessful, and it was considered the best in the world. Even when the French government seized the archives of the papal nunciature in Paris, the secret was not divulged. Monsignor Montagnini succeeded in hiding the key. Marquis Crispolti, however, has published a book dealing with the Vatican's negotiations with Berlin in 1878, and reproducing the original cipher telegrams and their translation. The Pope, deeply grieved that the secret documents have been published, and realizing the futility of legal proceedings, has decided to change the system, for the first time in two hundred years.

The Vatican, like the nations of the world who play at the game of international politics, found secrecy necessary to the accomplishment of its purposes. Said the Founder of Christianity, “In secret have I said nothing.” He who was and is the Truth, the Light, the Way, had no use for darkness or secrecy. That is repugnant to the whole spirit of the Master and the gospel. It is the adoption of the unscriptural dogma of the union of church and state that has made Rome think it necessary to employ darkness or secrecy in carrying on her work. This union also has been condemned by the Master, in the words: “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” Matt. 22: 21. How much better to follow the Master’s example and heed his admonitions!