Roman Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 17, 23 January 1891, Page 3

Roman Notes.

THE Feast of the Purity of the Blessed Virgin was made, this year, an occasion of special rejoicing at the country house of the Irish College. At night the house was brilliantly illuminated, and a grand display of fireworks took place. The spectacle formed a feature in the Undscape for miles around. Among the visitors entertained on the occasion by Mgr. Kirby were the Bishops of Tivoli, Terracina, Emesa, and Achonry. It is announced, meantime, that the Pope has ordered the erection, at a cost of one million francs, of a new Irish College in Rome.

Signor Crispi has threatened with the terrors of the penal code those members oi the clergy and laity of Naples who took part in the protest aga'nst the late outi age offered to two convents. The condition of freedom can be understood under which provision is made for the punishment of those who complain of a bad law, or of the manner in which it is administered. It may be questioned whether even under the reign of the much-abußed King " Bomba " any worse instance could be cited. We all know what the effects of giving a dog a bad name are. On the other hand, to give a dog a good name may be found equally fit to serve a purpose. At least this appears to be a lesson taught by much that takes place in connection with the njDch-vaunted liberty of the period,

Among the ingenious devices of the day is to be reckoned a pamphlet, wri'ten in French, but published at Souhwark, in England, and which has b en forwarded by an anonymous author to many of the higher ecclesia tics and to the Ca*holic newspapers of Rome. The pamphlet professes to give a full and true account of the encounter between the Bishop of Limerick aod Mr. John Dill >n. I', however, out-FT^rods Herod, as the sa\ ing is, and mikes a violent attack on the National movement in all its branches. Ecclesiastics of even as exalted iank as that of the inn Archbis i<>p of Dubli 1 con- un l^r its 1 "h, and the National Press also receives a castigaion. Trie Dublin Fr< eman is particularly singled out, and very sharply dealt wito. It is especially blamed for mingling rpligion with the crime of patriotism. Its publication for example, of a eulogium of Cardinal Newman, and, at the same time, one of John Boyle O'Reilly, who is denounced as a Fenian traitor, is severely censured. Virulent hatred of Ireland, in short, is rank in every line of it ; and, although anonymously published, its origin is not difficult to guess. To do the Bishop of Limerick justice, no one believes he had anything whatever to do with it. The publication, moreDver, has fallea flat at Rjme,and the authors have earned but a scanty reward for their malevolence.

Mr. Gladstone's attitude towards the Holy B^e is his weik point. His late utterances on the subject have been sharply criticised ny the Catholic press of Italy. The pipers ridicule him, and justly so, for blaming Lord Salisbury fordoing what he himsjlf had done without scruple. If anything, Lord Salisbury's overtures to the Vatican were more honourable than those that Mr. Glai stone quite certainly made. What, however, Catholic journalists remark as particularly fatuous, is Mr. Gladstone's confident manner of speaking of the Temporal Power as having finally passed <tway. How so acute ani expeiienrel a statesman can make so egregious and so palpable an error, baffles their under itaading. They find it hardly possible to accredit him with sincerity. But has not every man bis weak spot, some people might call it his monomani* ? Mr. Gladstone's views regarding the Papacy are his.

A project is now mooted to crown the works of impiety at Borne by erecting a statue to the Saviour bearing the inscription " To the Man Christ," and to serve as a monument of the overthrow of Christianity. This will be to descend even below the level of the heathen who of old were the masters of the city. It is asserted that one of their emperors erected a statue of Christ, and gave it a place equal to those of his godß. But in the Rome of to-day the statue will hold a rank not higher than that of the apostate Friar of Nola, beside which it is to stand. A society also has been established, under the title of the Redeemer, to inculcate the doctrine of the red revolution. Can the eyes of Christian people who take side against the Pope with his oppressors and spoilers really remain blind to the nature of what is going on ? Ihe origin, at least, of the fog that obscures their sight, can hardly be doubtful to those who believe in the existence of the devil and do not partake of their prejudices.

The Holy Father has expressed a strong desire that the third centenary of St. Louis of Gonzaga, now approaching, should be celebrated with special devotion by toe young. His Holiness has addressed a letter to the Society of Catholic Youth commending the steps taken by them in the matter. "It is well," he writes, "to pay extraordinary homage to the sanctity of Louis ; it is still better that such hrm-ige should be rendered by the young generations, for, amidst the perils and temptations of youth, where can virtue find a better support than in the example and protection of this young man, this marvel of innocence ? It is with tnis view that Benedict XIII., Our predecessor proposed to studious youth that they should ia a special manner have recourse to his aid, and should keep him before them as a model for imitation."

An absurd rumour was spread abroad to the effect that a visit recently paid to Rome by the Princess He eie d'Orl ans, a daughter of the Comte de Pans, had for its object to obtain from tne Pope a dispensation to marry the elder sor of the Prince of Wales, with the understanding that, while pretending continuity to the Protestant creed, she should remain in secret a Catholic An offering of Peter's Pence, brought by the Princess from her Father, was said to be a bribe offered to obtain the desired permission. It is idle to contradict, for Catholic readers, a report which no Catholic could possibly believe to be true. Not even the members of the Hcuse of Orleans, complaisant though they mayjbe, could think.of such an accommodation as that.

The Pope has consented to receive, in September or October, a pilgrimage of French workingmen, for which preparations have already been commenced, under the direction of Cardinal Langenitux, Archbishop'of Rheims. Sue 1 ! demonstrations as this form a relief in the disturbed conditions of the labour world, and especially give room for hope that the way to a true solution of the burning question is perceived at least by large and influential bodies of those most nearly concerned in it. A settlement based on religion— the only tiue settlement — in France could not fail to exercise a wholesome mlluencu throughout the world.

The Pope has appuiutud a commission, lorrm-d of capable mm, chosen for the purpose from se- eral countr'ta, to inquire into the social conditions of the day. The results must prove ot great importance, and will doubtless throw light on much tout is now mixun Icrstood, or perhaps even totally unsuspected.

The Parliamentary elections recently held have resulted in a victory for the Government — that is to say, for Signor Crispi. Th^ significance of the matter, however, is modified by the fact that, not only did the Catholics of the country, in obedience to the Pope's reiterated command, abstain from voting, but the Maz^iniau Republicans, professing their disgust at the manner in which Parliamentary

work is carried on in Italy, did the Fame. The worth of Signor Crispi's triumph, therefore, may be calculated without difficulty. Mealtime, the Count Campello, a Roman nobleman, has ventured to dissent from the direction* given by the Holy Father. He has given seme scandal by writing a letter to a Liberal paper, in which he assigns the absteution of Catholic electors as the cause cf the anti-Catholic legislation that has taken place. Catholic feeling, however, is with the Pope, and Cam pel lo ia generally condemned. Indeed, he h<;B placed himself in an unenviable position. His Catholicism shuts him out from the sympathy of the anti-Catholic party, and his presumption in offering advice to the Pope has offended Catholics, who, so far, had regarded him with respect. Such weaknesses, however, must now and then occur while human nature remains unchanged.