Lord of the World
Page 22
III
At a few minutes before eleven Percy came out of his little white-washedroom in his new ferraiuola, soutane and buckle shoes, and tapped at thedoor of the Cardinal's room.
He felt a great deal more self-possessed now. He had talked to theCardinal freely and strongly, had described the effect that Felsenburghhad had upon London, and even the paralysis that had seized uponhimself. He had stated his belief that they were on the edge of amovement unparalleled in history: he related little scenes that he hadwitnessed--a group kneeling before a picture of Felsenburgh, a dying mancalling him by name, the aspect of the crowd that had waited inWestminster to hear the result of the offer made to the stranger. Heshowed him half-a-dozen cuttings from newspapers, pointing out theirhysterical enthusiasm; he even went so far as to venture upon prophecy,and to declare his belief that persecution was within reasonabledistance.
"The world seems very oddly alive," he said; "it is as if the wholething was flushed and nervous."
The Cardinal nodded.
"We, too," he said, "even we feel it."
For the rest the Cardinal had sat watching him out of his narrow eyes,nodding from time to time, putting an occasional question, but listeningthroughout with great attention.
"And your recommendations, father---" he had said, and then interruptedhimself. "No, that is too much to ask. The Holy Father will speak ofthat."
He had congratulated him upon his Latin then--for they had spoken inthat language throughout this second interview; and Percy had explainedhow loyal Catholic England had been in obeying the order, given tenyears before, that Latin should become to the Church what Esperanto wasbecoming to the world.
"That is very well," said the old man. "His Holiness will be pleased atthat."
At his second tap the door opened and the Cardinal came out, taking himby the arm without a word; and together they turned to the liftentrance.
Percy ventured to make a remark as they slid noiselessly up towards thepapal apartment.
"I am surprised at the lift, your Eminence, and the typewriter in theaudience-room."
"Why, father?"
"Why, all the rest of Rome is back in the old days."
The Cardinal looked at him, puzzled.
"Is it? I suppose it is. I never thought of that."
A Swiss guard flung back the door of the lift, saluted and went beforethem along the plain flagged passage to where his comrade stood. Then hesaluted again and went back. A Pontifical chamberlain, in all the sombreglory of purple, black, and a Spanish ruff, peeped from the door, andmade haste to open it. It really seemed almost incredible that suchthings still existed.
"In a moment, your Eminence," he said in Latin. "Will your Eminence waithere?"
It was a little square room, with half-a-dozen doors, plainly contrivedout of one of the huge old halls, for it was immensely high, and thetarnished gilt cornice vanished directly in two places into the whitewalls. The partitions, too, seemed thin; for as the two men sat downthere was a murmur of voices faintly audible, the shuffling offootsteps, and the old eternal click of the typewriter from which Percyhoped he had escaped. They were alone in the room, which was furnishedwith the same simplicity as the Cardinal's--giving the impression of acurious mingling of ascetic poverty and dignity by its red-tiled floor,its white walls, its altar and two vast bronze candlesticks ofincalculable value that stood on the dais. The shutters here, too, weredrawn; and there was nothing to distract Percy from the excitement thatsurged up now tenfold in heart and brain.
It was _Papa Angelicus_ whom he was about to see; that amazing old manwho had been appointed Secretary of State just fifty years ago, at theage of thirty, and Pope nine years previously. It was he who had carriedout the extraordinary policy of yielding the churches throughout thewhole of Italy to the Government, in exchange for the temporal lordshipof Rome, and who had since set himself to make it a city of saints. Hehad cared, it appeared, nothing whatever for the world's opinion; hispolicy, so far as it could be called one, consisted in a very simplething: he had declared in Epistle after Epistle that the object of theChurch was to do glory to God by producing supernatural virtues in man,and that nothing at all was of any significance or importance except sofar as it effected this object. He had further maintained that sincePeter was the Rock, the City of Peter was the Capital of the world, andshould set an example to its dependency: this could not be done unlessPeter ruled his City, and therefore he had sacrificed every church andecclesiastical building in the country for that one end. Then he had setabout ruling his city: he had said that on the whole the latter-daydiscoveries of man tended to distract immortal souls from acontemplation of eternal verities--not that these discoveries could beanything but good in themselves, since after all they gave insight intothe wonderful laws of God--but that at present they were too exciting tothe imagination. So he had removed the trams, the volors, thelaboratories, the manufactories--saying that there was plenty of roomfor them outside Rome--and had allowed them to be planted in thesuburbs: in their place he had raised shrines, religious houses andCalvaries. Then he had attended further to the souls of his subjects.Since Rome was of limited area, and, still more because the worldcorrupted without its proper salt, he allowed no man under the age offifty to live within its walls for more than one month in each year,except those who received his permit. They might live, of course,immediately outside the city (and they did, by tens of thousands), butthey were to understand that by doing so they sinned against the spirit,though not the letter, of their Father's wishes. Then he had divided thecity into national quarters, saying that as each nation had its peculiarvirtues, each was to let its light shine steadily in its proper place.Rents had instantly begun to rise, so he had legislated against that byreserving in each quarter a number of streets at fixed prices, and hadissued an ipso facto excommunication against all who erred in thisrespect. The rest were abandoned to the millionaires. He had retainedthe Leonine City entirely at his own disposal. Then he had restoredCapital Punishment, with as much serene gravity as that with which hehad made himself the derision of the civilised world in other matters,saying that though human life was holy, human virtue was more holystill; and he had added to the crime of murder, the crimes of adultery,idolatry and apostasy, for which this punishment was theoreticallysanctioned. There had not been, however, more than two such executionsin the eight years of his reign, since criminals, of course, with theexception of devoted believers, instantly made their way to the suburbs,where they were no longer under his jurisdiction.
But he had not stayed here. He had sent once more ambassadors to everycountry in the world, informing the Government of each of their arrival.No attention was paid to this, beyond that of laughter; but he hadcontinued, undisturbed, to claim his rights, and, meanwhile, used hislegates for the important work of disseminating his views. Epistlesappeared from time to time in every town, laying down the principles ofthe papal claims with as much tranquillity as if they were everywhereacknowledged. Freemasonry was steadily denounced, as well as democraticideas of every kind; men were urged to remember their immortal souls andthe Majesty of God, and to reflect upon the fact that in a few years allwould be called to give their account to Him Who was Creator and Rulerof the world, Whose Vicar was John XXIV, P.P., whose name and seal wereappended.
That was a line of action that took the world completely by surprise.People had expected hysteria, argument, and passionate exhortation;disguised emissaries, plots, and protests. There were none of these. Itwas as if progress had not yet begun, and volors were uninvented, as ifthe entire universe had not come to disbelieve in God, and to discoverthat itself was God. Here was this silly old man, talking in his sleep,babbling of the Cross, and the inner life and the forgiveness of sins,exactly as his predecessors had talked two thousand years before. Well,it was only one sign more that Rome had lost not only its power, but itscommon sense as well. It was really time that something should be done.
* * * * *
And this was the man, tho
ught Percy, _Papa Angelicus_, whom he was tosee in a minute or two.
The Cardinal put his hand on the priest's knee as the door opened, and apurple prelate appeared, bowing.
"Only this," he said. "Be absolutely frank."
Percy stood up, trembling. Then he followed his patron towards the innerdoor.