the Archbishop does not go himself to Italy, to receive it from the
hands of the Sovereign Pontiff, but it is brought by special
messengers from Rome to England.

We may well imagine the interest these visitors from the Eternal City
would excite among the population of London. Their dark complexion and
bright, black eyes, and foreign appearance would, no doubt, attract
considerable attention. Of course they would be made welcome and be
shown the chief sights of the city. They would greatly admire, for
instance, the beauty of Westminster Abbey, and would probably ask its
history. Then they would be told how it originated with St. Edward the
Confessor. How he had made a vow to go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of
the Apostles at Rome, like a loyal Catholic, in order to pay homage to
the successor of St. Peter, whom Christ appointed as head of the
Church; how the pious King, finding his kingdom in danger of invasion,
and his authority threatened, and not daring to absent himself, begged
the Pope to release him from his vow; how the Pope at once commuted
it, and bade him build a church instead, in honour of St. Peter; and
so forth. Then they would very likely visit the inmates of the Abbey.
The Benedictine monks who served the Abbey would entertain them, and
ask after their brethren in Italy. Some of these English monks would
in all likelihood have been educated at Subiaco, where St. Benedict
first lived, or at Monte Cassino, where he died, and where his body
still lies. In any case, these English monks were undoubtedly true
children of St. Benedict, and followed his rule, and were animated by
his spirit, and rejoiced to acknowledge him as their founder and
spiritual father. There was nothing of the modern Anglican, and
nothing insular about them!

In the meantime the great day arrives. It is the 4th of November in