Then a cry was raised to exclude all
ecclesiastics from office, or at least to admit so large a portion of
the laity into the Administration that Rome would be secularized and
lose its distinctive character as an appanage for the head of the
Church. The people would not consider, or were reckless of the fact,
that Pius was a devout Catholic as well as a liberal sovereign, and
could not be expected to lend his aid to a project for stripping the
papacy of all temporal power, if not for razing it to its foundations.
The cries of expulsion and death to the Jesuits were also raised; and as
that body, however obnoxious elsewhere, had given no offence at Rome,
the Pope's sense of justice inclined him to protect them and to resist
the clamor of the mob.
The news from Sicily and Naples caused a great popular demonstration at
Rome, the aspect of which was so threatening that Pius issued a
proclamation, on February 10th, announcing that he had taken measures
for reorganizing and enlarging the army, and for augmenting the lay
portion of the Council of Ministers; but appealing to his people in
affecting terms, by the proofs already given of his solicitude in their
behalf, that they should cease from agitation and not make demands which
could not be granted consistently with his duty and their own
well-being.
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