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    not of regret ; but . the conduct of the Papacy deprives it of ' the sympathy that is due to its misfortunes . Thereis ii kind of s , lines —I fcnow of no better word to use-about the ^ hok Roman policy , a the present day which is really irritating . It is fl y to ^^ the stake and the niartyr ' s erown , when nobody has the slightest intention of hurting a hair of your head ; sillr to ^ talk of your paternal love when your provinces are ? n arms against your cruel mercies ; " silly to ' boast of your independence when _ you are guarded in your own capital against your own subjects by foreign Tr " ops ; silly , in fact , to Wk when you canpot bite , to he when you cannot deceive . No power on earth could ^ ake the positionjf the Pope adighified one at this moment ; and . f anything could make it - less dignified than before , it is the system of pompous pretensions and querulous complaints and fulsome adulation which prevailsi now at the Vatican . 1 know not how better ta give an idea of the extent to which this system is carried than by describing our last Papal demonstration . . , . To enter fully into the painful absurdity of the whole scene , one should bear in mind what the prospects of Papal politics were at the beginning of the week . The provinces of tie Romagna were about to ° take the first final step towards their separation , by electing members for the Sardinian Parliament . The question whether the French troops were to retire from Rome , or , in other words > -whether the Pope could remain in Rome , was still undecideaV The streets of the city were crowded with Pontifical Sbirri and French ¦ pa trols to suppress the excitement caused by a score of lads , who shouted " Viva Italia ! " a week before . The misery and poverty of the Roman populace was so great , that the qoming Carnival time was viewed with the gravest apprehension , and anxious doubts were entertained whether it was least dangerous to permit or forbid the celebration of the festival . Bear all this in mind , Fancy that some " Mene , iriene , tekel upharsim , " is written oh all around , telling of disaffection and despair * revolt and ruin , and then listen to what was * aid and done to and by the Pope on that Sunday of Septuagesima , Some months ago a college was founded at Rome for the education of American youths destined for the priesthood . There were already an English , an Irish , and a Scotch college , not to speak of the Propaganda . However , in addition to all these , a college reserved for the United States was projected and established by the present Pontiff . Indeed , this new American college , the boulevard raised in the Forum , and the column erected in the Piazza di Spa ^ na to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception , appear to be the only material products of the Pontificate of Pius the Ninth ; Sunday last was tlie feast of St . Fbancois de Sales , and , for some reason or other , which I am not learned enough in theological lore to determine , the feast of this saint was celebrated as a sort of inauguration festival by the pupils of the mew college . The Pope honoured the ceremony with his presence , and , for a wonder , si , very full account of the proceedings was published in the Giornale di Itoma . From this * , and from private sources ^ I have compiled my . narrative of the ceremony . Tlie paragraphs in italics are literal translations from the official report , . ¦¦ . . « The day , " —I quote , of course , here from , the Giornale- — ' was , . invery truth , a blessed and a fortunate one , not only for the pupils themselves— -who yearned for an occasion of bearing solemn witness to their gratitude and devotion towards their best and highest Father and , most munificent benefactor' — 'but also for all those who have it upon tlieir hearts to share \ i \ those great- works which form the most striking proof of the perpetual growth and spread of our most sacred religion . '' # Apparently , the number of the latter class is not extensive , -as the visit of the Pope attracted but little crowd , and the lines of French soldiers , who were drawn up on his way _ to salute him as he passed , were certainly not collected in the first instance by a spirit of religious zeal . The Giornale , however , sees everything with the eyes of faith . Mass was performed at tlie " Holy Church of the Humility , " and " irom early dawn , as sopn as the news of the Holy Father ' s visit was circulated , an immense crowd assembled there , which filled not only the church , but the adjoining rooms and corridors . The crowd was composed of the flower of Roman rank -and beauty , and the 6 lito of the strangers residing at Rome , both French , English , and American , who desired tlie blessing of assisting ut the bloodless eaorifice celebrated by the Vicar of Christ , and longed to receive Irom his hands the Angela' food . ! ' I am sorry that truth compels me to state that the wliole of this * ' immense crowd" consisted of some one to two hundred persons in all , and that the only illustrious personages of special note amongst the crowd , not b eing priests , were General Ouyqn , the American Minister and Consul , and the Senator of Rome . The Pope arrived lit eight o'clock , and ! then proceeded to celebrate the Communion , assisted by Monsignors Bacon , Bishop of Portland , U . S ., and Goss , rjiijpiop < of Liverpool . " The rapt contemplation , the contrition of heaH , \ be spirit of ardent fuith , which penetrated the whole assenibiy , more esi ) e <} inlly while the * Holy leather * distributed tlw BaovcdWread , were all things so sublime , tliut they are easier to con . ceivejWmn to describe . " , i TKe > Pope , after mass was over , entered the college . Over the door this following inscription was written in Lntin , composed , we can Wely say , by an HiWno-Ynnkeo pen :- ^ " Approach ,, O Mighty Piqe , 0 Thou , fcho parent of the Old World arid th © New , approach those eanotqarioe . which Thou hnafc foundedfox Thine American children dovotcd to the service of the Ohuroh . To Tlxoo the whole company «» f pupils , to Theo all America wild with exultation , offer up praise . For Thee they implore all things peaceful and blosaod . " In the Hall prepared for fit ' s Holiness ' s reception there was hung up , " beneath n gorgeous canopy , a marvellous full length likeness of

    I the august person of the Holy Pontiff , destined to recall his revered i features . " Around the picture a number of appropriate Latni mottoes were arranged , of which I give one or two as specimens o the tone of adulation adopted : — "Come , O YoUth , raise up thjr glad voice ; belxolcl the Supreme Shepherd is present , blessing his children bythe light of his countenance . " Hail , O day , shining with a glorious light on which his glad children receive within their arms the best of Parents . " , " As the earth beams forth covered with the sparkling sunlight , so the youths rejoice with fresh gladness , while , O . Father , Thou kindly gladdens them with Thy most pleasant presence . " Kefreshments were then presented to the guests , which I trust , and indeed am told , were much better than the mottoes . The pupils of the Propaganda , who were all present , sang a hymn j addresses were made to the Pope , by the Pro-vector of the college in the name of the pupils , Jbv Bishop Bacon on behalf of Catholic America , and by Cardinal Babnabo , the Superior of the Propaganda , all of them in terms of the most fervent adoration . Each of the AmericaE pupils then advanced with a short poem , which he had composed—01 was supposed to have composed—in expression of the emotions of hie heart on this joyful occasion , and requested permission to recite it , At such a time , the best feature in the Pope ' s character , a sort oi kindliness of nature , was sure to display itself . I cannot but think , indeed , that the sight of the young boyish faces , whose words oi reverence might possibly be those of truth and honesty , must have given an unwontedpleasure to the worn out , harassed , disappointed old man . The " Holy Father , receiving so many tokens of homage with agitated feelings , was delighted beyond measure / ' When the English poems were redd to hini , he called out , " I can't understand a word , but it seems good , very good . " He spoke to each of the lads in turn , and when he was shown the statue of Washington , told them to give a cheer for their country , to cry " Viva la Patria" ( the very offence , by the way , for which , in the very week before , he had put his own Roman fellow-countrymenin prison ) , and then , when the boys cheered , he raised his hands up to his ears and told them , laughingly , they would deafen him . Now all this is very nice and pleasant , and I wish truly I had nothing else to tell . T trust , indeed , that the long abstinence . fromfood ( as a priest who is about to celebrate the communion is not allowed to touch food until mass ' is overhand in these matters the Pope is reputed to be strictly coni scientious ) , or else the excitement of the scene had been too much ' for the not very powerful mind of the Pontiff ; otherwise I know not i how you can excuse an old man , on the brink of the grave— -to say I nothing ^ of the vicar of Chbist—using such language as lie em-| ^ After such affectionate demonstrations , the Holy Father could i no longer restrain his lips from speaking , and turned his penetrating ! glance around . ^ Very possibly you may have received an . account > of the speech ere this . In case you have not , I extract the striking ' passages . After alluding to the foundation of the college , the Pope i " poiiited out" what a great " blessing the Catholic faith was , a true gift of Heaven , which formed , indeed , our sole comfort and relief in time of trouble . . . and expressed his extreme distress that this very faith should be made an especial object of attack in these days ; add ' ing that this fact alone caused him most lively and poignant grief . There was no need , he said , to refer to the imprisonments and martyrdoms of past persecutions , when every one was an eyewitness of the onslaught which is now made in like manner upon the Catholic faith , and upon all who would sustain its purity ajid dignity . . . . Although in the midst of persecution , it was his duty to arm himself only with firmer courage . Yet the grief ot Ins heart was rendered still more bitter by beholding how , in this very peninsula , so highly privileged by Gop , not only with tho gjft . pf the faith , but with the blessing of being the centre of that faith , and of possessing the most august throne on earth-r-hpw even here the minds of men were hopelessly ' per verted . " His Holiness then went ou . __« No , i t is not the arms or armies , or the forces of any power on earth , which can cause me fear j not tlje loss of temporal dominion which can create in taiy . heart such bitter grief . The guilty awthors of this loss must bear , alas ! the reprobation of the Cliurch , and _ be given over to the wrath of God , unless they repent and trust in His mercy . No , what afflicts and terrifies me far more tbiuv all this , is the perversion of ideas , the frightful tendency to make all ideas false . Vice , in truth , is counted for virtue $ virtue taken for vice . Indeed , in some cities of this unhappy Italy , men have sunk at last into deifying the robber And the assassin . Praise and . glory are poured lavishly <>» the most villanous of men and actions , while yet people have th « audacity to stigmatise as hypocrisy , fanaticism , and abuse of religion , all constancy in the faith , and even episcopal resolution in preserving the sacred doctrines of that fiuth and its greatest blessings . " j A 1 ,. . .. I have reason to believe that oven amongst the audience , wlio all belonged to the papal party , the intemperate nnd injudicious character of this speech , and the allusions which could not but bo intended for the JEmporor Navoi-eon , Cavoub , and Viotoe EMJjLANuisr . created grave oonstornntion . The Oiomalo , however , tells us that when His Holiness , with agitated voice , bestowed his apostolic benediction , awe and admiration could bo read on every countenance—all hearts beat aloud ; no eyehd w « s l « ft dry . Xlio whole assembly moving- forward , bent in turn bolore the august Personage , touching * , some his dress , some his handa , while others agnin cnit thotnsolvcs at his feet , in order to impress a reVerent and ^ AftrtviS * examined the building , the Pope " v ^ nt on foot . to of s ^ si ^ stnofe 0 nrss ^^^

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    Fes . , I 860 ] The Leader and Sattirday Anak / sL lm

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 18, 1860, page 167, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2334/page/19/