But the situation， in being prolonged， multiplied， for the Church， the number of urgent cases， and， for the sovereign pontiff the number of cases of intervention. Since 1789， the entire civil order of things， constitutional， political， social and territorial， had become singularly unstable， not only in France but in Europe， not only on the old continent but likewise on the new one. Sovereign states by hundreds sunk under the strokes and counter-strokes， indefinitely propagated and enforced by the philosophy of the eighteenth century 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 the Pope， his latest work， his own creation attested by a positive act of contiguous date， and of which the souvenir is vivid： he has not recognized them - he has made them； he has given them their external form and their internal structure； no one of them can look within itself without finding in its laws the fresh imprint of the sovereign hand which has fashioned it； none of them can assert or even believe itself legitimate without declaring the superior authority to be legitimate which has just endowed it with life and being. The last step， the greatest of all， above the terrestrial and practical order of things， in speculative theology， in the revelation of the supernatural， in the definition of things that are divine： the Pope， the better to prove his autocracy， in 1854， decrees， solely， of his own accord， a new dogma， the immaculate conception of the Virgin， and he is careful to note that he does it without the concurrence of the bishops； they were on hand， but they neither deliberated nor decided.[10]
Thus arise durable powers， spiritual or temporal， little by little， through the uninterrupted and uncontested series of their acts； from 1791 to 1870 all ecclesiastical precedents， one added to another， became consolidated， one through the other and through their mass；story after story， steadily ascending and converging to raise the Pope higher still， until at last， on the summit of the edifice， the Holy See becomes the keystone of the arch， the omnipotence of fact being completed by omnipotence of right.
