332 THE RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE. 



nineteenth century, and declared a guerre a outrance 

 against independent science. This happened in three 

 important challenges to reason, for the explicitness 

 and resoluteness of which modern science and culture 

 cannot but be grateful to the " Vicar of Christ." 



(1) In December, 1854, the Pope promulgated the 

 dogma of the immaculate conception of Mary. 



(2) Ten years afterwards — in December, 1864 — the 

 Pope published, in his famous encyclica, an absolute 

 condemnation of the whole of modern civilization and 

 culture ; in the syllabus that accompanied it he 

 enumerated aud anathematized all the rational theses 

 and philosophical principles which are regarded by 

 modern science as lucid truths. (3) Finally six years 

 afterwards — on July 13th, 1870 — the militant head 

 of the Church crowned his folly by claiming infalli- 

 bility for himself and all his predecessors in the Papal 

 chair. This triumph of the Roman curia was com- 

 municated to the astonished world five days after- 

 wards, on the very day on which France declared war 

 with Prussia. Two months later the temporal power 

 of the Pope was taken from him in consequence of 

 the war. 



These three stupendous acts of the Papacy were 

 such obvious assaults on the reason of the nineteenth 

 century that they gave rise, from the very beginning, 

 to a most heated discussion even within orthodox 

 Catholic circles. When the Vatican Council pro- 

 ceeded to define the dogma of infallibility on July 

 13th, 1870, only three-fourths of the bishops declared 

 in its favour, 451 out of 601 assenting ; many other 

 bishops, who wished to keep clear of the perilous 

 definition, were absent from the Council. But the 

 shrewd Pontiff had calculated better than the timid 



