The death of the venerable Archbishop of Paris has set free some interesting details of the secret history of the rupture between Church and State in France. Cardinal Richard was an enthusiast for the policy of studied conciliation towards the French Repablic which was consistently followed by Leo XIII and the ex-Secretary of State Cardinal Rampolla during the last years of the late Pontiff's reign. This enthusiasm, however, may be thought to have been a factor in the ultimate breach between France and the Vatican, if the following story related by Jean Bonnefon, who is well known for|™ his intimacy with the inner affairs of the Vatican, may be believed. Shortly before the' rupture was complete, Cardinal Richard, in spite of his eighty-seven years, journeyed to Rome to warn Pope Pius X that the conduct of the Nuncio Lorenzelli in Paris was leading to the divorce of the Charch from France. Cardinal Richard was listened to with the deference due to his great age. But _anfortunately, it is said, Cardinal Richard some years ago gave Leo XIII a personal promise that in the next Conclave he would vote for Cardinal Rampolla as the successor to the Chair of Peter. This promise he faithfully kept even after Cardinal Rampoll: nomination had been vetoed by Austria, and the inference is that Pius X, who like many saintly men is be petty, rejected the good advice that the Archbishop offered him as coming from an interested quarter. The only drawback to this story of M. Bonnefon's is that whatever advice the Archbishop might have offered, the policy of the French Government had already taken 'a definite shape before which it was logically impossible for such a man as the present Pope, who is guided parely by religious considerations and not in the least by diplomatic, to give way. But the story is characteristic of Cardinal Richard who certainly strove with all his might to avoid a breach. The late Cardinal was a man of great but secret charities. He came into the priesthood a rich man; he died 1 poor one. But he owed his influence and the respect in which he was held by his countrymen chiefly to the fact that he was before all else a Frenchman and tre patriot. One little story in illustration of this may be told in conclusion. When the Tsar and Tsarites visited Paris, the Cardinal prepared to welcome them in Notre Dame. "The head of the Church in France cannot, The H.-C. herald and S. wy. & C. Gajette. receive a Schismatic Prince!" cried some of his ultramontane friends, scandslized, Cardinal smiling.
ut the Archbishop of Paris can well receive an Ally of France."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.