from the Pontifical observatory, and half-a-dozen official notices of
legal judgments, in cases about which, till now, I have never been
allowed to hear a single allusion. I have, however, the final
satisfaction of observing that my paper was printed at the office of the
Holy Apostolic Chamber.

"Ex uno," my Roman friend might truly say, "disce omnes." The number I
have taken as a sample is one of more than average interest. I know,
indeed, no greater proof of the anxiety and alarm of the Papal government
than that so much intelligence should be allowed to ooze out through the
Roman press. I know also of no greater proof of its weakness. A strong
despotic government may ignore the press altogether; but a despotism
which tries to defend itself by the press, and such a press, must be weak
indeed. None but a government of priests, half terrified out of their
senses, would dream of feeding strong men with such babes' meat as this.
There are Signs of the Times even in the _Giornale di Roma_.




CHAPTER VII. THE POPE'S TRACT.


If it has ever been the fortune of my readers to mix in
tract-distributing circles, they will, doubtless, have become acquainted
with a peculiar style of literature which, for lack of a more appropriate
appellation, I should call the "candid inquirer" and "intelligent
operative" style. The mysteries of religion, the problems of social
existence, the intricate casuistries of contending duties, are all
explained, in a short and simple dialogue between a maid-servant and her