dience, which might amount to from four hundred to six hundred, chiefly elderly persons. At three o'clock the preache entered the pulpit, and, having offered a short prayer in silence he replaced on his head his little round cap, and flung him self into his theme. That theme was one then and still very popular (I mean with the preachers,-for the people take no the slightest interest in these matters) at Rome,—the Imma culate Conception. I can give only the briefest outline of th discourse; and I daresay that is all my readers will care for In proof of the immunity of Mary from original sin, th preacher quoted all that St Jerome, and St Augustine, and dozen fathers besides, had said on the point, with the air of man who deemed these quotations quite conclusive. Had they related to the theory of eclipses, or been snatches from som old pagan poet in praise of Juno, the audience would have bee equally well pleased with them. I looked when the fathe would favour his audience with a few proofs from St Matthew and St Luke; but his time did not permit him to go so fa back. He next appealed to the miracles which the Virgi Mary had wrought. I expected much new information here as my memory did not furnish me with any well-accredite ones; but I was somewhat disappointed when the preacher dis missed this branch of his subject with the remark, that thes miracles were so well known, that he need not specify them Having established his proposition first from tradition, an next from miracles, the preacher wound up by declaring tha the Immaculate Conception was a doctrine which all good Ca tholics believed, and which no one doubted save the childre of the devil and the slaves of hell. The sermon seemed as it had been made to answer exactly the poet's description:

"And when they list, their lean and flashy songs

Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;

But, swollen with wind, and the rank mist they draw,

Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread;

Besides what the grim wolf, with privy paw,

Daily devours apace, and nothing sed;

But that two-handed engine at the door

Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more."

When this edifying sermon was ended, "Ave Maria" began. A train of white-robed priests entered, and gathered in a cloud round the high altar. The organ sent forth its thunder; the flashing censers shot upwards to the roof, and, as they rose and fell, emitted fragrant wreaths of incense. The crowd poured

in, and swelled the assembly to some thousands; and when the priests began to chant, the multitude which now covered the vast floor dropped on their knees, and joined in the hymn to the Virgin. This service, of all I witnessed in Rome, was the only one that partook in the slightest degree of the sublime.

I must except one other, celebrated in an upper chamber, and truly sublime. It was my privilege to pass my first Sabbath in Rome in the society of the Rev. John Bonar and that of his family, and at night we met in Mr Bonar's room in the hotel, and had family worship. I well remember that Mr Bonar read on this occasion the last chapter of that epistle which Paul "sent by Phebe, servant of the Church at Cenchrea," to the saints at Rome. The disciples to whom the Apostle in that letter sends greetings had lived in this very city; their dust still slept in its soil; and were they to come back, I felt that, if I were a real Christian, we would recognise each other as dear brethren, and would join together in the same prayer; and as their names were read out, I thrilled and melted, as if they had been the names of beloved and venerated friends but newly dead ::-" Greet Priscilla and

was

Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus; who have for my lif down their own necks; unto whom not only I give th but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise gree church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved netus, who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ. Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. Salute And cus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow-prisoners, who of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbane, helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. Salute Ape approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobu household. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them tha of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. Sa Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Sa Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Sa Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and brethren which are with them. Salute Philologus and Ju Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints wh are with them."

Uppermost in my mind, in all my wanderings in and ab Rome, was the glowing fact that here Paul had been, and h he had left his ineffaceable traces. I touched, as it we scriptural times and apostolic men. Had he not often climb this Capitol? Had not his feet pressed, times without nu ber, this lava-paved road through the Forum? These Volsci and Sabine mountains, so lovely in the Italian sunlight, h often had his eye rested upon them! I began to love t soil for his sake, and felt that the presence of this one holy m had done more to hallow it than all that the long race of er perors and popes had done to desecrate it.

CHAPTER XXIV.

INFLUENCE OF ROMANISM ON TRADE.

The Church the Destroyer of the Country-The Pontifical Government just the Papacy in Action-That Government makes Men Beggars, Slaves, Barbarians-Influence of Pontifical Government on TradeIron-Great Agent of Civilization-Almost no Iron in Papal StatesThe Church has forbidden it-Prohibitive Duties on Iron-Machinery likewise prohibited-Antonelli's Extraordinary Note-Paucity of IronWorkmen and Mechanics in the Papal States-Barbarous Aspect of the Country-Roman Ploughs-Roman Carts-How Grain is there Winnowed-Husbandry of Italy-Its Cabins-Its Ragged Population-Its Farms-Ruin of its Commerce-Isolation of Rome-Reasons whyProposed Railway from Civita Vecchia to Ancona-Frustrated by the Government-Wretched Conveyance of Merchandise-Pope's Steam Navy-Papal Custom-houses-Bribery-Instances.

It is time to concentrate my observations, and to make their light converge around that evil system that sits enthroned in this old city. Of all the great ruins in Italy, the greatest by far is the Italians themselves. The ruin of the Italians I unhesitatingly lay at the door of the Church ;-she is the nation's destroyer. When I first saw the Laocoon in the Vatican, I felt that I saw the symbol of the country;-there was Italy writhing in the folds of the great Cobra di Capella, the Papacy.

I cannot here go into the ceremonies practised at Rome, which present so faithful a copy, both in their forms and their spirit, of the pagan idolatry. Nor can I speak of innumerable idols of gold and silver, wood and stone, w which their churches are crowded, and before which you n see votaries praying, and priests burning incense, all day lo Nor can I speak of the endless round of fêtes and festiv which fill up the entire year, and by which the priests seek dazzle, and, by dazzling, to delude and enthral, the Roma Nor can I detain my readers with tales and wonders of M donnas which have winked, and of the blind and halt whi have been cured, which knaves invent and simpletons belie Nor can I detail the innumerable frauds for fleecing the R mans;—money for indulgences,-money for the souls in pu gatory,-money for eating flesh on Friday,-money for voti offerings to the saints. The church of the Jesuits is suppos to be worth a million sterling, in the shape of marbles, pair ings, and statuary; and in this way the capital of the count is locked up, while not a penny can be had for making roa or repairing bridges, or promoting trade and agriculture. cannot enter into these matters: I must confine my attentio to one subject,-THE PONTIFICAL GOVERNMENT.

When I speak of the Pontifical Government, I just mea the Papacy. The working of the Papal Government is sim ply the working of the Papacy; for what is that Governmen but just the principles of the Papacy put into judicial gea and employed to govern mankind? It is the Church that go verns the Papal States; and as she governs these States, s would she govern all the earth, would we let her. The Pon tifical Government is therefore the fairest illustration that ca be adduced of the practical tendency and influence of th system. I now arraign the system in the Government. I an