HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XV.
The Entrance of Italy into the War has Increased the Delicacy of
the Pontiff's Position
(Photo from International News.)
Monsignor Gerlach, Mr. Dillon says, is "one of the most compromising associates and dangerous mentors that any sovereign ever admitted to his privacy," and continues:
Years ago, the story runs, Gerlach made the acquaintance of a worldly minded papal Nuntius in the fashionable salons of gay Vienna, and, being men of similar tastes and proclivities, the two enjoyed life together, eking out the wherewithal for their costly amusements in speculations on the Exchange. When the Nuntius returned to Rome, donned the Cardinal's hat, and was appointed to the See of Albano as Cardinal Agliardi, he bestowed a canonry on the boon companion who had followed him to the eternal city. The friendship continued unabated, and was further cemented by the identity of their political opinions, which favored the Triple Alliance. Gerlach became Agliardi's tout and electioneering agent when that Cardinal set up as candidate for the papacy on the death of Leo XIII. But as his chances of election were slender, the pair worked together to defeat Rampolla, who was hated and feared by Germany and Austria. Their bitter opponent was Cardinal Richard, a witty French prelate who labored might and main for Rampolla, and told me some amusing stories about Agliardi. Some years ago Gerlach's name emerged above the surface of private life in Rome in connection with what the French term un drame passionel, which led to violent scenes in public and to a number of duels later on. That this man of violent Pan-German sentiments should be the Pope's mentor and guide through the labyrinth of international politics seems a curious anachronism.
Although Cardinal della Chiesa, shortly before he became Benedict XV., was spoken of as the inheritor of Rampolla's Francophile leanings, it is "now conjectured that at the Conclave this legend secured from his not only the votes of the Teutonic Cardinals, who knew what his sentiments really were, but also those of the French and Belgians, who erroneously fancied that they knew," Dr. Dillon says. He does not hesitate to believe that the Pope is "at heart a staunch friend of Austria and a warm admirer of Germany, whom he looks upon as the embodiment of the principle of authority and conservatism." For the Vatican his words are more unsparing:
The Vatican, as distinguished from the Pope, was and is systematically hostile to the Allies. Its press organs, inspired by an astute and influential Italian ecclesiastic named Tedeschini, by Koeppenberg, a rabid German convert, and by the Calabrian Daffina, organized a formidable campaign against the King's Government and their supposed interventionist leanings. Its agents, including the priest Boncampagni and the German Catholics Erzberger, Koeppenberg, and others, were wont to meet in the Hôtel de Russie to arrange their daily plan of campaign, and when at last the people rose up against Giolitti and his enormities, the Vatican had its mob in readiness to make counter-demonstrations, and was prevented from letting it loose only by the superhuman efforts of decent Catholics and orderly citizens. It is a fair thing to add that the attitude of the Roman Catholic clergy throughout Italy has with some few exceptions been consistently patriotic. Even the bishops and archbishops of the provinces have deserved well of their King and country, while their flocks have left nothing to be desired on the score of loyalty and patriotism.
Buelow's mission to Italy and his relations with Giolitti, the defeated abettor of Austria in the business preceding Italy's declaration of war, when they encountered the statecraft of Sonnino and Salandra, are given in this version of Buelow's playing of his "trump card":
Although the die was cast and Italy's decision taken, he had the Austrian concessions greatly amplified, and he offered them, not to the King's Government, but to Giolitti, his secret ally, who was not in office, but was known to be the Dictator of Italy. And Giolitti accepted them on the condition, to be fulfilled after the Cabinet's fall, that the territory would be further enlarged and consigned to Italy before the end of the war. The increase of prestige which this concession would bestow on the tribune was to be his reward for co-operation with the German Ambassador. Giolitti having thus approved the offer, undertook to have it ratified by Parliament, in spite of the engagements which the Cabinet had already entered into with the Allied Powers. In this sense he spoke to the King, wrote a letter designed for the nation, and obtained the public adhesion of a majority of the Chamber which was not then sitting. Thereupon the Cabinet resigned and left the destinies of Italy in the hands of the King and the nation. On the part of the Cabinet this was a brilliant tactical move and a further proof of the praiseworthy moral courage which it had displayed throughout the crisis. Indeed, the firmness, perseverance, and dignified disregard of mild invective and more deliberate criticism manifested by Sonnino and Salandra, entitle these Ministers to the lasting gratitude of their country. For it should be borne in mind that they had against them not only the Senate, the Chamber, a section of the Press, the "cream" of the aristocracy, the puny sons and daughters of the leaders of the Risorgimento, but also, strange to say, the majority of Italian diplomatists in the capitals of the Great Powers, one of whom actually fell ill at the thought that Italy was about to fight shoulder to shoulder with the State to which he was accredited. It would be interesting to psychologists to learn how this diplomatist and one or two of his colleagues felt when a few days later they were serenaded by enthusiastic crowds whom they were constrained to address.
Are the Allies Winning?
In a Doubting Thomas article headed "Are We Winning?" the anonymous "Outis" in The Fortnightly Review concludes that "the Allies are winning, but very slowly. If their conquest is to be assured, Great Britain's task is to mobilize every soldier and every workman, in order to prove that whoever may fail, she at least does not intend to desist until the final triumph is won." Moreover, the conquest must be in the West "if anywhere," and he looks somewhat askance at the Dardanelles adventure: