Holiness. At length it appeared that the Inopportunists were
dragging out the proceedings in the hope of obtaining an
indefinite postponement. Then the authorities began to act; a
bishop was shouted down, and the closure was brought into
operation. At this point the French Government, after long
hesitation, finally decided to intervene, and Cardinal Antonelli
was informed that if the Definition was proceeded with, the
French
troops would be withdrawn from Rome. But the astute Cardinal
judged that he could safely ignore the threat. He saw that
Napoleon III was tottering to his fall and would never risk an
open rupture with the Vatican. Accordingly, it was determined to
bring the proceedings to a close by a final vote. Already the
Inopportunists, seeing that the game was up, had shaken the dust
of Rome from their feet. On July 18th, 1870, the Council met for
the last time. As the first of the Fathers stepped forward to
declare his vote, a storm of thunder and lightning suddenly burst
over St. Peter's. All through the morning the voting continued,
and every vote was accompanied by a flash and a roar from heaven.
Both sides, with equal justice, claimed the portent as a
manifestation of the Divine Opinion. When the votes were
examined, it was found that 533 were in favour of the proposed
definition and two against it. Next day, war was declared between
France and Germany, and a few weeks later the French troops were
withdrawn from Rome. Almost in the same moment, the successor of
St. Peter had lost his Temporal Power, and gained Infallibility.

What the Council had done was merely to assent to a definition of
the dogma of the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff which Pius IX
had issued, proprio motu, a few days before. The definition