Note *301 — Chapter XXXVIII

So far as Julius is concerned, his one object was the absolute temporal dominion of the Church in Italy. He made the coming of an ultramontane power into Italy a certainty. His successors struggled in vain to save themselves and incidentally Italy from the consequence of his crime. But the policy of the Papacy was wise, if selfish. The only road to Italian unity lay through predominance of one power—Venice or Milan, for instance, or the Church herself. The popes successfully prevented this unity for more than a thousand years, really in self-defence—the defence of their temporal power at any rate; their international claims were destroyed by an eager and passionate nationalism. We have seen in our day how Piedmont united Italy, first destroying the Papacy, which remains merely as a spiritual power that seems in Italy to be slowly passing away.