Pope Refuses Italian Government's Financial Appropriation
By Methodist
The pope has refused to accept the liberal sum ($600,000) appropriated to him by the Italian Government. We predicted this result. How could the embarrassed pontiff do otherwise? To accept the appropriation would be practically to accept the “situation.” He holds Victor Emmanuel to be a usurper of his throne and territories; can he, then, receive from the king’s hands a salary, however munificent, without conceding the usurpation? The Italian Government has the odds of him, however, in the matter. It saves both its money and its credit. Had it left the pope without honorable financial provision, the Catholic powers would have occasion to complain; now they cannot criticise the government, and the latter can use its money for better purpose—for the education of its people. Every new event in the papal policy only sinks it deeper and deeper in the quagmire of its perplexities. —Methodist.