In our account of the grand ceremonial of opening the council, we stated that the second decree appointed a second solemn session to be held on the festival of the Epiphany, January 6th. The bishops were also informed that the first general congregation would be held on Friday, December 10th, at nine A.M.
On that morning, by half-past eight, thousands were waiting in the grand nave of St. Peter's, to see the bishops as they arrived and passed up its length, to reach the council hall, in the transept, to the right of the main altar. Hundreds remained to see them come out at the conclusion of the meeting. On each of the ten times since then that the bishops have met in general congregation, there was the crowd of Romans and of strangers. In truth, under some respects, this occasion seems almost as interesting as a public session. The bishops come, not in procession, but singly, or in groups of two, three, or four, as they may chance to arrive at the door of St. Peter's. They are robed not in cope and mitre, but simply in rochet and mantelletta, and as they gravely walk up the nave, you have a full opportunity to scan their features and study their bearing, their size, and to read the thousand and one indications of character by which, whether correctly or incorrectly, men will ever form some judgment of those they look on. Most of them bear in their hands portfolios for writing, and large quarto pamphlets which have been distributed to them. They look as if they had been studying, and were still preoccupied with matters of importance.
They enter the door of the council hall, and each one passes to his numbered seat. Some open their pamphlets, some are writing, some are conversing in whispers. At nine A.M. the main door is closed. Whoever comes late must enter by a side door. Mass of the Holy Ghost is celebrated by some one of the prelates, without music. At its conclusion, the presiding cardinals take their places. All kneel while the chief cardinal reads the prayers prescribed for the occasion. When he concludes, all rise, are seated, and the congregation is opened.
On December 10th, only four of the presiding cardinals were in their places. The chief one, Cardinal De Reisach, was absent in Switzerland, whither he had gone for his health. He has since died there. Born in Bavaria, in 1806, of a noble family, his rank, his talents, and his personal accomplishments, and the prospect of a brilliant career before him, gathered around him a circle of admirers and hopeful friends, as, at the age of twenty, he took his place in the court of King Louis. Pure and delicate as a girl, loving piety, and dreading the seductions of the world, he soon gave up all the world offered, and withdrew to devote himself to the sanctuary. He came to Rome, to pursue his theological studies in the German College, graduated with honors, was ordained priest, and soon after, when not thirty years of age, was appointed rector of the celebrated College of the Propaganda. His memory is dear to all those students, now scattered through the world, who had the happiness of being under his paternal care. In 1836, he was consecrated Bishop of Eichstadt, in his native land, and afterward was made Archbishop of Munich. In both these offices he displayed that zeal, and wisdom, and firmness, united with kindest charity, of which his earlier years had given such promise. He was finally made cardinal, and resigning the archbishopric of Munich, came several years ago to reside again in Rome. For some time past his health was impaired. He was president of one of the preparatory committees of theologians and canonists for the council, and it is thought that his excessive labors as such contributed not a little to break his health down. In September he left Rome, never to return. In his death, the Vatican Council has lost one who would have been a most able presiding cardinal.
On December 10th, Cardinal De Luca, the next in rank, took his place, and made a brief and eloquent address to the fathers. It was of course in Latin, the language of the council. The bishops voted by ballot, first, for the five members of the committee on excuses, and then, a second time, for the five members of the committee on complaints. As the fathers voting were over seven hundred, as each one voted for ten persons, and as the voting was very scattering, it was obvious that the ballots could not be counted then and there. They were therefore placed in boxes, which were publicly sealed; and a committee, consisting of the senior patriarch, the senior primate, the senior archbishop, the senior bishop, and the senior mitred abbot, was appointed to superintend the counting of these votes the next day, and to superintend the counting hereafter the votes to be cast in the coming elections. The ushers then delivered to each of the bishops a copy of the first draught, or schema, on doctrinal matters. The concluding prayer was said, and the meeting adjourned.
The prelates elected on the committee of excuses were, Melchers, Archbishop of Cologne; Monzon y Martins, Archbishop of Granada; Limberti, Archbishop of Florence; Landriot, Archbishop of Rheims; and Pedicini, Archbishop of Bari.
Those elected on the committee of complaints were, Angelini, Archbishop of Corinth; Mermillod, Bishop of Geneva; Sannibale, Bishop of Gubbio; Rosati, Bishop of Todi; and Canzi, Bishop of Cyrene.
On the 14th of December, a second general congregation was held. After the celebration of mass and the opening prayers, two documents were distributed to the bishops. The first had special reference to the council. It was a "constitution" on the election of the Roman pontiff, should the apostolic see become vacant during the œcumenical council. Referring to the long-established laws of the church as to such a case, the decrees of several sovereign pontiffs in times past, and the clear precedents in the history of several general councils, the Holy Father now anew decrees and ordains "that if it please God to put an end to our mortal course during the General Council of the Vatican, whatever may be the position of the council and the state of the business on which it is engaged, the election of the new sovereign pontiff must be made by the cardinals alone, the council having no share therein." And he further decrees and ordains that "if our death occur during the said Vatican Council, this council, in whatever state it may be, and whatever be the position of the works on which it is engaged, is forthwith and immediately to be deemed suspended and adjourned. The council must therefore at once abstain from holding any meeting, congregation, or session; it must not make any decree or canon, nor take any proceeding, until such time as the new pontiff, having been canonically elected by the sacred college of cardinals, judges right, in virtue of his supreme authority, to ordain that the council be resumed and continued."
A cloud of sadness, we are told, seemed to fall on the assembly of prelates as they read this rehearsal and reënactment of the law of the church for the case contemplated—a case by no means impossible; for Pius IX. has reached the ripe old age of fourscore, and in his pontificate is fast approaching "the years of Peter." They thought, doubtless, of their distant homes and their flocks, so dear to their hearts; they thought of the council they were just entering on, and remembered how often other councils had lasted years. Yet from many a heart a prayer went up that not by his death should this council cease; many a lip spoke the words, Vivat, diu vivat Pius Nonus. Were it not for the sanctity of the place, and the graveness of the assembly, the low spoken words would have been loud acclamations ringing through St. Peter's.
The second paper did not directly refer to the council, and we would not speak of it here had it not been made the subject of so many remarks and so much misrepresentation in many secular papers. It was a bull revoking and annulling many of the censures and penalties enacted in times past by the canon law against various offences.