and of the French Revolution; others, by dozens, arose in their place,
and, in these, different dynasties succeeded each other; here,
Catholic populations falling under the rule of a schismatic or
Protestant prince ; there, this or that Catholic country, for fifteen
years included in a mixed state, detached from it and constituted
apart. In Protestant America, the Catholics, increased to millions,
formed new communities in Catholic America, the colonies had become
independent; almost everywhere in America and in Europe the maxims of
government and of public opinion had changed. Now, after each of
these changes, some initiative, some direction, some authority was
necessary, in order to reconcile ecclesiastical with lay institutions;
the Pope was on hand, and on each occasion he establishes this
concord.[8] At one time, by a diplomatic act analogous to the French
Concordat of 1801, he negotiates with the sovereign of the country -
Bavaria, Wurtemburg, Prussia, Austria, Spain, Portugal, the two
Sicilies, the Netherlands, Belgium and Russia. Again, owing to the
tolerant liberalism, or to the Constitutional indifference of the lay
government, he alone prescribes, notably in Holland, in Ireland, in
England, in Canada, and in the United States, a division of the
country into ecclesiastical districts, the erection of new bishoprics,
and the lasting regulation of the hierarchy, the discipline, the means
of support and the recruiting of the clergy. Again, when sovereignty
is in dispute, as after the emancipation of the Spanish colonies, he
does without it, in spite of the opposition of the mother-country,
and, "without putting himself in relation with the new governments,[9]
he, acting for himself, "that he may put an end to the widowhood of
the Churches," appoints bishops, assigns them a provisional régime in
anticipation of the epoch when, in concert with better founded
governments, he will decree their definitive régime. In this way, all
the great existing churches of the Catholic universe are the work of