DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0403
APPENDIX.
393
political body, and calculated to preside over it
with dignity and effect. Thus the Senatus Po-
pulusque Romanus, now an empty name, would
again become a mighty body ; the rich and beau-
tiful territory under its sway would again teem
with population ; its influence or its power might
once more unite Italy in one solid mass, and direct
its energies in union with Great Britain, its na-
tural ally, against the common enemy of Italy,
of Great-Britain, and of mankind.
But to turn from visions too prosperous to be re-
alized, we shall proceed to the College of Car-
dinals, the real senate of modern Rome, and the
council of the Pontiff. The title of cardinal was
originally given to the parochial clergy of Rome:
it seems to have been taken from the imperial
court, where, in the time of Theodosius, the prin-
cipal officers of the state had that appellation
added as a distinction to their respective dignities.
The number of titles, or churches which gave a
title to this dignity, is seventy-two, including the
six suburban bishoprics; their principal and most
honorable privilege is that of electing the Pope;
and it is easy to conceive that their dignity and
importance increased with that of the Roman See
itself, and that they shared alike its temporal and
its spiritual pre-eminence. As they are the coun-
sellors, so they are the officers of the Pontiff, and
393
political body, and calculated to preside over it
with dignity and effect. Thus the Senatus Po-
pulusque Romanus, now an empty name, would
again become a mighty body ; the rich and beau-
tiful territory under its sway would again teem
with population ; its influence or its power might
once more unite Italy in one solid mass, and direct
its energies in union with Great Britain, its na-
tural ally, against the common enemy of Italy,
of Great-Britain, and of mankind.
But to turn from visions too prosperous to be re-
alized, we shall proceed to the College of Car-
dinals, the real senate of modern Rome, and the
council of the Pontiff. The title of cardinal was
originally given to the parochial clergy of Rome:
it seems to have been taken from the imperial
court, where, in the time of Theodosius, the prin-
cipal officers of the state had that appellation
added as a distinction to their respective dignities.
The number of titles, or churches which gave a
title to this dignity, is seventy-two, including the
six suburban bishoprics; their principal and most
honorable privilege is that of electing the Pope;
and it is easy to conceive that their dignity and
importance increased with that of the Roman See
itself, and that they shared alike its temporal and
its spiritual pre-eminence. As they are the coun-
sellors, so they are the officers of the Pontiff, and