Front matter
PONTIFICATE OP PIUS THE NINTH. LONDON : PRINTLD BY 8POTT1SWOODL AND CO., NEW-STRESS SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET POPE PIUS IS . : o ab. . PONTIFICATE OF PIUS THE NINTH (BEING THE THIRD EDITION OF ' ROME AND ITS RULER,' CONTINUED TO THE LATEST MOMEXT- AND GREATLY ENLARGED.) BY JOHN FEANCIS MAGUIEE, ME. Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, the name of Rome might have been erased from the earth, if that city had not been animated by a vital principle which again restored her to honour and distinction. Gibbon's Decline and Fail. LONDON : LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1870. The riy!U of translation is. renerced. TO HIS GRACE THE MOST REV. HENRY EDWARD MANNING, D.D ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER. My dear Lord, I had proposed to myself the honour of dedicating this volume — The Pontificate of Pius the Ninth — to your Grace, as a very inadequate expression of my admiration and respect ; but I feel I offer far greater satisfaction to your own feelings by soliciting the privilege of associating it, through your Grace, with those gallant Soldiers of the Pope — the Pontifical Zouaves — on whom the ungenerous and the thoughtless heap epithets of unmerited and stupid contumely, but on whom millions of the good and true in every clime and country call down benedictions, for their heroic attempt to preserve from outrage and spoliation the most august Sovereignty of Christendom. My dear Lord, Your faithful and devoted servant. JOHN FRANCIS MAGUIKE. London: November 1870.
Preface
. This work, as it now appears, is the result of three visits to Eome ; the first in 1856, the second in 1858, the third in 1869. The first edition was published in 1857, the second in 1859, and the third — the present edition — makes its appearance in 1870. The Second Edition contained, with a variety of new matter, three special chapters, — those on the Cardinals, the Eoman Inquisition, and the Temporal Power. The edition now presented to the public has been considerably increased in matter, with a moderate in crease to the bulk of the volume ; as, by the omission of subjects of inferior interest, and of others not applicable to the existing state of things, I have been enabled to record all the important events in a Pontificate full of the deepest interest in a temporal sense, and of the greatest glory in a higher sense.
Thus I have given a sufficiently detailed account of the three memorable attempts to deprive the Pope of his dominions and the Church of her patrimony, aDd brought the history of the Pontificate down to the latest moment, when Eome is in the actual, though, as I am convinced, the temporary possession of Victor Emanuel. The reader will see how perfectly the attempts of 1860 and 1867 harmonise with that of 1870.
PREFACE.
. I have given an outline of the most remarkable event in the ecclesiastical annals of modem times — the assem bling of the General Council of the Vatican; at the opening of which, on the 8th of December, 1869, I had the good fortune to be present. And, so far as consistent with a work of this nature, I have glanced at the pro ceedings of that august body, and endeavoured to place before the lay readers of these pages, in a simple, and I trust intelligible manner, the doctrine of the Infallibility of the Pope, as Supreme Pastor and Teacher of the Church. With reference to a prominent feature of the book — namely, the Institutions of Eome — I have made these the subject of repeated personal investigation ; and, where it was necessary, I have noticed the latest changes and im provements effected in them — these being invariably the result of the charity and generosity of Pius IX.
My object throughout this volume has been to render the Eoman Question better understood in these Kingdoms than it has hitherto been, or than it was likely to be so long as information was derived from sources hostile to the Papacy and to Catholicism. With this object in view, I have exposed, to the just indignation of the fair-minded and the honourable, some, at least, of the iniquitous agencies and influences leagued against the least aggressive and most illustrious of Sovereigns. London: November 1870. CONTENTS.
Chapter I
Introduction. — The Pauline Chapel.— The Pope . . . Page 1
Chapter II
The Pope : his Birth and Education. — He studies for the Ministry. — His Malady cured. — His First Mass. — Goes to Chili. — Instances of his Charity to an English Officer. — Returns to Rome. — Is created Archbishop of Spoleto.— Difficulties of his Position. — Appointed Cardinal Bishop of Imola. — His charitable and pious Works. — Is elected Pope . . 10
Chapter III
Pius IX. ascends the Throne. — Grants an Amnesty. — Terms of the Amnesty. — Enthusiasm of the People. — Machinations of the Revolutionists. — Their Policy and Objects. — Mazzini's Address to the Friends of Italian Liberty. — Difficulties of the Pope's Position. — The Pope as a Reformer. — Instances of his Affability and Goodness. — His Interest in the Education of Youth. — The Pope no Nepotist 21
Chapter IV
Alarm of Austria at the Acts of the Pope. — Popular Demonstrations artfully promoted. — Proclamation against them. — Occupation of Ferrara by the Austrians. — Military Enthusiasm of the People. — Inauguration of the Council of State. — Its Creation an Evidence 'of the Pope's Desire for Reform. — The Pope explains his Intentions. — Address from the Council. — Foreign Sympathy. — The Pope's Generosity to Ireland. — His Appeal in her Behalf. — State of Europe . . . . . .35 X CONTENTS.
Chapter V
The Year of Revolutions. — Great Excitement in Rome. — Further Reforms demanded. — Opening of the Roman Parliament. — The War of Independence. — Its disastrous Result. — Conduct of the Republicans. — Count Rossi Prime Minister.— His Assassination.— Despatch of the French Ambassador. — Inhuman Rejoicings. — Assault on the Pope's Palace. — The Pope's personal Liberty at an End. — No Excuse for this Violence. — He resolves to abandon Rome. — His flight from the Quirinal. — He reaches Gaeta. — His Reception by the King and Queen of Naples . Page 49
Chapter VI
The Flight of the Pope supposed to be the Downfall of the Papacy. — Former Popes driven from Rome. — Pius VI. and Pius VII. — General Cavaignac's Letter. — Testimony of the ' Times.' — Addresses pour in on the Pope. — Letters from All Parts of the World. — Offers of Hospitality. — Confusion in Rome at the Flight of the Pope. — His Protest from Gaeta. — The Constituent Assembly convoked. — Arrival of Mazzini. — State of Rome. — Pius appeals to the Catholic Powers. — His Appeal responded to .......... C7
Chapter VII
Profane Eites in St. Peter's. — Atrocities of the Republic. — Official Burglary. — Delusion of the Republicans. — Lord Palmerston's Advice. — Appeals to France and England. — Armed Intervention indispensable. — The French occupy Civita Vecchia, and march on Rome. — First Assault unsuccessful. — Bravery of the Besieged. — Rome surrenders. — The Pope's grateful Letter— Concluding Atrocity. — The Pope's Edict published in Rome. — Another Amnesty. — Rome rcassumes its old Appearance. General Reaction. — The Pope's Return announced. — His Journey. He re-enters his Capital. — Enthusiasm of the People. — Disastrous Effects of the Revolution. — The Pope's Efforts to remedy them ... 87
Chapter VIII
The Pope's Daily Life.— His Audiences.— Petitions.— The Pope's Charity. — His Munificence. — Instances of his Charity. — Curious Applications. Protestant Opinions of his Character.— He gives Audience to a Neuro Slave. — His Love for Children. — His Solicitude for their "Welfare. His Affability to Students.— The Holy Father on Foot.— Public Bakeries.— Houses for the Poor.— His Personal Courage.— His Visits to the Cholera Hospitals my CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER LX.
The Cardinals. — Popular Notions of them. — The Sacred College. — Various Duties and Occupations of the Cardinals. — The Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda.— Instances of their Charity, their Self-denial, their Humanity, their Zeal, their Munificence, their Piety, and their Poverty Page 125
Chapter X
The Roman Inquisition. — The enlightened Visitor of the Vatican. — Constitution of the Holy Office. — Its Doctrinal and Criminal Jurisdiction. — The false Archbishop. — The apostate Nun.— The mock Saint. — Spanish Inquisition. — Persecuting Spirit of the Past. — Cunning Device of the Roman Republicans. — 'Dungeons' of the Roman Inquisition. — ■ Mildness of the Roman Institution . . . . . .149
Chapter XI
The Roman Hospitals. — Hospital of Santo Spirito. — Its Extent and Importance- — Its Foundling Hospital. — Foundlings not necessarily illegitimate. — Reasons why legitimate Children are sent in. — Reception, Treatment of, and Provision for, the Foundlings. — Hospital of S. Rocco. — Advantages of the Roman over the English System in preventing Infanticide. — Hospital for Lunatics. — Various Forms of Insanity. — The Pope visits Santo Spirito. — Great Improvements effected by the Pope in the Hospital for the Insane. — Hospital Accommodation in Rome . 169
Chapter XII
The Roman Prisons. — Beneficial Change in their Management. — Religious versus Lay Officials. — The Termini. — The Prison for Women. — The Solitary Cell. — Influence of the Nuns. — Second Visit. — Manifest Improvement. — Men's Prison. — Reformatory of the Vigna Pia . . 202
Chapter XIII
Prisons of San Michele. — The Cellular and Silent Systems long practised in Rome. — The Political Prison — very unlike an Italian Dungeon. — The New Prisons. — ' Graces.' — The Bandit Vendetta. — The House of Correction. — Asylum and Prison of the Good Shepherd.— Its three Classes of Inmates. — Singular Influence of the Nuns over the Prisoners. — Model Prison of Fossombrone. — The Pope a Prison Reformer. — His Advice to CONTENTS. Bishop Wilson. — Houses of Refuge. — Asylum of the Good Shepherd of Our Lady of Loretto. — Charitable Associations for the Defence of the Poor and the Imprisoned.. — Society of San Giovanni Decollate. — Society della Morte Page 218
Chapter XIV
Education in Rome. — The Old Calumny against the Catholic Church refuted by the Educational Institutions of Rome. — Its Schools more numerous than its Fountains. — Elementary Education. — Gratuitous Education originated by Ecclesiastics. — Religious Orders devoted to the Gratuitous Education of the Poor. — The Brothers of the Christian Schools. — Their admirable System of Education. — The Roman Night Schools. — Their practical Working. — Distribution of Premiums. — Education for the Workman advocated by a Roman Priest. — Influence of the Night Schools on Industry. — The Deaf and Dumb. — Department for Girls. — Department for Boys. — Deaf and Dumb Boys better able to make their way in the World than Deaf and Dumb Girls. — Asylum of Tata Giovanni. — San Michele, a School of Industry and Art. — Female Education. — Ample Provision for it. — Orphanage of St. Joseph of Cluni. — Ospizio di Santa Maria degli Angeli. — The Dowry System exemplified. — Case of Love at first Sight 242
Chapter XV
Colleges and Seminaries. — Seminario Pio. — A Public Disputation. — English College. — Day at Monte Porzio. — Irish College. — The Irish House at Tivoli. — The Propaganda.— Distribution of Prizes. — The Public Schools. — Educational Statistics favourable to Rome. — Universities in the Papal States. — Their Courses and Museums. — Valuable Libraries. — Admission gratuitous. — Elementary Instruction. — Communal Schools. — Number of Students in the Universities. — The Church not afraid of the Diffusion of Education. — Lord Macaulay quoted ...... 278
Chapter XVI
Relief of the Poor. — Poverty not treated as a Crime. — Vagrancy and Imposture sternly dealt with by the Popes. — Efforts to suppress idle Mendicancy. — Modes of Relief. — Commission of Subsidies. — Charitable Institutions. — Industrial Relief. — Dowries. — Monte di Pieta. — Tho Roman Savings' Bank ; its Origin, Operation, and Success . . , CONTENTS. XIII
Chapter XVII
Religious Character of the Roman People. — Attendance in the Churches. — Roman Churches not merely local. — Attendance at the Forty Hours' Adoration. — Religious Retreat for the Poor. — St. Peter's. — The Pope at the Tomb of the Apostles. — Ascent of the Dome. — A Glance into the Church. — View from the Top Page 314
Chapter XVIII
The Fine Arts. — Why they are specially fostered in Rome. — The Church their uniform Friend. — -Pius IX. a liberal Patron. — Discoveries of Ancient Painting. — Valuable Restorations of Works of Modern Art. — Churches Restored.] — Church of St. Agnes, and Church of St. Paul.. — Pius IX. a Preserver of the Pagan Antiquities of Rome. — The Coliseum and the Popes. — Great Repairs effected by Pius VII. and Pius IX.— Devotions of Friday and Sunday. — Visit to the Coliseum by Moonlight. — The Catacombs. — Institution of the Commission of Sacred Archæology by the Pope. — The Catacombs proved to be the Burying-places of the early Christians. — Cardinal Wiseman's Fabiola 326
Chapter XIX
The Papal Government not opposed to Material Progress. — Railways. — ■ Reasons why they had not previously existed. — Gas. — The Roman Works. — Gas first started in Rome. — Electric Telegraph, its Use and Success. — Great Public Works inexpensively constructed. — The Pope a Commercial Reformer. — Activity in House-building in Rome. — Finance. — Revolution the true Cause of Embarrassment. — Admirable Condition of the Papal Finances in 1858. — Priestly Government. — Proportion of Priests to Laymen. — The former preferred to the latter. — The Smallness of the Salaries of Public Officials. — The Roman Campagna. — Used as a standing Argument against the Papal Government. — Early Date of its Abandonment by the Husbandman. — Difficulties in the way of its Cultivation. — Its Sterility more apparent than real. — Statistics of its Produce 342
Chapter XX
Opening of the Year 1859.— War declared against Austria by France.— The Emperor's Motives. — Count Cavour's Policy. — First Revolutionary Movement in Italy. — Austrian Evacuation of the Legations. — Revolution in Bologna and elsewhere. — The Pope's Words. — Treaty of Villa Franca. Cardinal Antoneili not Cavour's Dupe. — ' Reforms ' asked for of the CONTENTS. XIV Pope. — The Emperor proposes a Confederation. — The Imperial Pamphlet. — The Emperor's Letter. — The Pope's Reply. — Touching Address from the Holy Father. — Various Negotiations. — The Plebiscitum. — The First Triumph of Evil Page 364
Chapter XXI
General de La Moriciere. — His Career in Algeria. — In the midst of the Reds. — In front of the Barricades. — In Exile. — Obeys the Pope's Summons. — Battalion of St. Patrick. — Loyal Piedmont ! — Monsignor de Merode. — Cavour's Treachery. — The Mask thrown off. — Defence of Spoleto. — Battle of Castelfidardo. — La Moriciere reaches Ancona . 383
Chapter XXII
Bombardment of Ancona. — Its Position. — La Moriciere appeals to Austria. — Can this be True ? — An Unequal Match. — Gallantry of the Besieged. — One Good Blow. — The Irish. — Final Attack. — An Infamous Deed. — Fortitude of the Holy Father. — Cavour Unmasked by Persano. — Instructive Disclosures 404
Chapter XXIII
Duplicity of Victor Emanuel. — Coquetting with Garibaldi. — Aspromonte. — The Pope's Fidelity to his Friends. — The Pope addresses the Lent Preachers. — Victor Emanuel's Solicitude for the Independence of the Papacy. — Convention of September 1864. — The Pope speaks his Mind. — Departure of the French. — New Troubles. — The Pope's ' Mercenaries.' — Last Moments of a Christian Hero ...... 424
Chapter XXIV
Hostilities commence. — Progress of the Campaign. — Hostility of the Roman Populations to their Deliverers. — Desperate Attempts in Rome. Valour of the Papal Troops.— Fierce Fighting. — Arrival of the French. — Explanation of the French Ministry. — The Allies march from Rome.— Mentana. — The Pope's Mercenaries as Victors.— The Pope's Clemency. The Pope's Courage. — Revelations in the Italian Chamber. — Feeling of the Pope's Subjects . . . . . . , , _ .441 CONTENTS. XV
Chapter XXV
The War of 1870. — The Convention Again. — Scandalous Hypocrisy. — The Kiss of Judas. — The Insult Rebuked. — Falsehood preluding Violence. — The Deed of Infamy. — The Holy Father's Letter to Kanzler. — The Pope's Farewell to his Soldiers. — ' Fanatics ' and ' Mercenaries.' — ' The Pope's Foreign Hirelings.' — The Papal Army. — The Farce before the Curtain Falls.—' Done by Mistake ' Page 464
Chapter XXVI
Temporal Power of the Popes. — Hostility to it on different Grounds. — Origin and Growth of the Temporal Power. — Foundation of the Eastern Empire. — Abandonment of Rome and Italy by the Emperors. — Incursions of the Barbarians. — Courage, Policy, and Public Services of the Popes. — Conduct of Leo the Isaurian the proximate Cause of the Revolt of the Italian Provinces, and their final Separation from the Empire of the East. — The Popes appeal to France, and are assisted by Pepin and Charlemagne.— Formal Foundation of the Temporal Kingdom of the Holy See.— Authority of the Popes useful in the Middle Ages. — Opinions on the Necessity of preserving the Independence of the Supreme Head of the Church. — Necessity and Importance of its Preservation. — End not yet come ........... 492
Chapter XXVII
Former Councils. — Council of Trent. — The Council of the Vatican. — How the Summons was Obeyed. — Admirable Arrangements. — Interesting Offerings. — The Hall of Council. — The Opening Ceremonial.— A Majestic Spectacle. — The Pope's Allocution. — Anti-Council at Naples. — Programme of the Free-Thinkers . . . . . . .513
Chapter XXVIII
The Council. — Preparation and Mode of Procedure. — Systematic Misrepresentations. — The Enemy early at Work. — Fiction. — Strange Assertion. — Liberty and Fraternity. — No External Influence tolerated. — The Latin Language.— Shameful Partisanship.— Infallibility. — What it means. — It does not mean Impeccability.— A Doctrine both Ancient and Rational. — Necessity of a Central Authority. — Opportuneness. — Why the Defininition was Necessary.— What it is limited to.— A Concluding Word.— Suspension of the Council 539 Appendix 5?9 Erratum. In line 2 of contents of Chapter XVI., for dwelt read dealt. PONTIFICATE OP PIUS THE NINTH.
Chapter I
Introduction. — The Pauline Chapel. — The Pope. To no other city on earth does the thoughtful stranger direct his steps with feelings of a more varied character than to Eome. No doubt, a more solemn awe fills his mind as, from some wild path amidst the mountains of Judea, he catches the first glimpse of the towers of Jerusalem — at the sight of whose walls the Crusader hurst into tears, and smote his mailed breast in a paroxysm of humility and sorrow. Jerusalem is a place of one great and all-absorbing interest, being the theatre of that sublime sacrifice by which man's redemption was accomplished ; and every crumbling tower and mouldering pillar of that once proud city is sacred in the eyes of the Christian of even ordinary sensibility. But Eome, while abounding in sources of that deep and sacred interest which Jerusalem inspires, is also replete with attractions of a totally different kind, and offers countless objects of admiration, and subjects for enquiry and reflection, to the scholar and man of taste, the antiquarian and the philosopher.
And dull indeed must be the mind and cold the heart of him who does not experience some stir, or feel some throb, as he approaches for the first time the venerable walls, and passes beneath one of the ancient B PONTIFICATE OP PIUS THE NINTH. 2 gateways, of the Eternal City. For was not this the seat and centre of that universal empire which embraced within its circle the remotest boundaries of the then known earth ? — was not this the proud capital of that haughty race whose banners glistened and whose arms triumphed in every clime ? —was not this the instructress as well as the conqueror of mankind ? It is the Rome, too, of a wider dominion and a more glorious rule than that of the greatest of the Cæsars. If Rome were not the birthplace of Christianity, it was its nursing mother. It was the seat of the Apostles ; the theatre of their trials, their sufferings, and their glory.
One beholds, passing before him, as it were visibly to the sight, the long centuries of that momentous war waged between truth and error, between the powers of light and darkness. And, in spite of the vulgar dwellings, inelegant and mean, that sur round him as he stands within the wralls of modern Rome, he witnesses, in imagination, the solemn rites and splendid worship of that polished and attractive system of Polytheism which, though despised by the enlightened, and scoffed at by the philosopher, still appealed, and not in vain, to the passions of a degenerate people, and whose temples and shrines rose on every side in all the magnificence of their costly material, and the inestimable beauty of their design and execution. He beholds, also, the infant Church of the True Faith hiding its timid head beneath the very highway over which the scornful Polytheist strode, — crouching in cell, and crypt, and dark and tortuous labyrinth — and when venturing above the earth, its asylum and its refuge, appearing wicked and infamous to the Roman gaze, spite of the courage and fortitude of its apostles and its martyrs.
He beholds this patient, fearless spouse of Christ weeping tears of blood, as, Butchered to make a Eoman holiday, her children are torn by wild beasts, consumed by fire, or slain by the more merciful sword. He sees the red soil of the amphi theatre gradually losing its hue of carnage, and bloominowith mysterious beauty, as there steals into the hearts of the
Introduction
. 3 thoughtful and the good a conviction of the purity of the Nazarene's faith — which, to the wonder of the scorner and the scoffer, imparts strength to tottering age, fortitude to tender youth, and the courage of the hero to the feeble virgin. He beholds how the statues and images of the gods, so long the worshipped of the masters of the world, identified with the triumphs and the glory of a mighty race, were, at first, care lessly regarded, next despised, then detested, — how the crushed and trampled Church of the Catacombs emerged from the darkness to the light of day, no longer execrated as the foe of humanity and the teacher of all wickedness ; but hailed with enthusiasm by a softened people, and protected by the authority, still more by the devotion, of princes and rulers, — and how, at length, and after long ages of persecution and of obloquy, the Cross rose above the temple and the shrine, to be hailed thenceforward, and through regions unknown to the arms or philosophy of Rome, as the symbol of man's salvation.
And here grew into maturity a power and a sovereignty greater than that of the Cæsars — the power of the Papacy, and the sovereignty of the Church. Baptised in blood, and cradled in adversity, the Papacy grew into strength, the citadel and the stronghold of the Faith. From the modest throne of the first rulers of the Church to the tribunal of the tyrant, there was, for centuries, but a step ; and thence to the stake and the scaffold the road was too well defined by the bloody footprints of their heroic predecessors. Wave after wave broke in fury against the rock on which God placed His Church. Now heresy assailed her ; now schism sought to rend her asunder : it was now the rude and warlike savage from the forest of Germany that menaced her ; and again it was the fierce and fanatical Arab that, bursting with flaming scimitar upon countries which, once provinces of Rome, had yielded a willing allegiance to the spiritual supremacy of the Popes, ravaged the shrines and altars of the Apostles.
But, such was the design of Providence, we behold the enemies of the Church become her friends, her assailants her protectors, her revilers her humble and submissive children ; till we see her striking her foundations deeper and deeper into the hearts of nations, b and extending her beneficent dominion wider and wider over the face of the earth. Then the chief events in the history of the Papacy, from the days of Charlemagne to those of Napoleon, pass before the mind in all their brilliant or gloomy colouring, as peace presided over the haUs of the Vatican, or evil men sought the ruin of the successors of Peter. And there stand out from the shadowy background the striking figures of such illustrious Popes as Gregory the Great, Julius the Second, Leo the Tenth, Sixtus the Fifth, and those later Popes, Pius the Sixth and Pius the Seventh, whose sorrows and sufferings but increased the splendour of their virtues.
All kinds of associations, Pagan and Christian, crowded in confusion upon my excited memory, as I entered Rome, for the first time, on the morning of the 31st of October, 1856, the vigil of the great festival of All Saints. My great desire, paramount to all others — whether the gratification of curiosity or of taste — was that of seeing with my own eyes things of which I had, and I say it not without shame, imperfect, if not altogether erroneous notions. This is not to be wondered at, when it is considered that the sources of information respecting all matters appertaining to Rome are tainted at the very source ; and that the great body of Catholics of these countries generally depend, certainly have hitherto almost exclusively depended, upon Protestant writers for what little they know of the Pope and of his venerable capital.
For instance, judge the Pope by the prevailing belief of Protestant England, derived from the representations of it's press, its platform, or its pulpit ; and one beholds in him a combination of the temporal despot and the spiritual impostor, at once the scourge of an afflicted people, and the arch-priest of Satan. Protestant credulity regards him as one whose mission and policy it is to enslave alike the bodies and the souls of men, by fettering their civil liberty with tyrannous restric tions, and darkening and stunting their intellect by the denial of a liberal education. In their ignorance of the truth, many even fair-minded and in all other respects enlightened people
INTRODUCTION.
. 5 look upon the Holy Father — the gentle and merciful Pius — not merely as the stern oppressor of his own subjects, but the cause of every evil afflicting the various nations into which Italy was divided up to a recent period. In their eyes, it was the Vatican which cast its baneful shadow over the fair face of the Italian Peninsula, and shut out from that beauteous land and its gifted races the light and warmth of national freedom. Nay, why should not this be so, when, according to the ravings of the enemies of the Church, the great object of the Pope is to trample upon the liberties of all free countries, and make of kings and princes his footstools ? The ambition of Rome, say they, never sleeps ; it is as dangerous now as in the days when its thunders hurled monarchs from their thrones, and brought the fiercest warriors as suppliants to its feet.
Nor was it a Julius or a Sixtus that was alone to be dreaded ; for did not a Barbarossa hold the stirrup of the mule on which an Alexander, then a weak and infirm old man, rode through the streets of Venice ? Those who read the history of the dark and middle ages with calm and unimpassioned judgment, and are not swayed by bigotry, or bewildered by mere names, must recognise the advantages, to the peace of nations and the progress of civili sation, which had been conferred by this very influence. But that power, so frequently potent for good in those dark and troublous times, when might was right, and laws were too often written in blood, is now a thing of the past ; being in latter years — when every country has its own system of government, and when a well-defined compact exists between nations, by which, at least as a general rule, the weak are protected from the aggression of the strong — as unnecessary as its existence is imaginary.
It will be my grateful task to exhibit to the reader a por traiture, feeble it may be in its execution, but faithful in intention, of a modern Pope — whose whole life approaches nearer to the Divine model than that of any living man. This I shall endeavour to do in the course of the subsequent pages. To behold Pius the Ninth— to see the Pope— was my first desire ; and I had not been many hours in Rome before I formed one of a considerable number of persons, mostly strangers from various countries of Europe, mixed np with ecclesiastics of different nations and orders, and students of the principal Roman colleges, assembled in the great hall opening into the Pauline Chapel, the Pope's private chapel in the palace of the Quirinal. No sooner were the folding doors flung open by the officers on duty, than with an eagerness which nearly degenerated into a rush, the well-dressed crowd possessed themselves of every vacant place.
It was curious to note the manner and bearing of the lay portion of the strange congregation thus gathered together from almost every principal nation of the world. Generally speaking, it was respectful, and even pious ; but in a few in stances curiosity was combined with a supercilious contempt ' for the whole thing.' The French, Spaniards, Austrians, and Italians, were grave and coUected, and so were several of the English ; but some of the latter evidently went to the Pope's Chapel as they had gone the previous night to the Opera, to hear the music, or to ' do ' it, as they would the Coliseum or the Baths of Caracalla. I have a bvely remem brance of the remarks of one young and well-dressed English man, who combined, in an extraordinary degree, ignorance, irreverence, and comicality ; and of the singular patience of the intelligent and courteous ecclesiastic from whom he sought information, or to whom he freely imparted his own views and opinions of what he beheld.
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