Popes nor in traditions." I began to weep when they spoke thus to me. I received at the same time the four ordines minores with the title Alumnus Congregationis Propagandæ Fidei. I continued notwithstanding to read the scriptures; and neglected entirely the study of scholastic divinity. Cardinal Litta at length commanded me to study the latter, and I did so for a short time. But though I only employed half an hour at a time in reading the divinity of Tournely and Bellarmin, which is of this class, I constantly arose wearied, and I often walked about my room reciting verses of the holy scriptures a hundred times in a melancholy frame, and especially the following verse, in Hebrew: "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it:" and when I had recited such a verse, I could not abstain from reading the whole chapter in which it was contained, and in this way disobeyed the injunctions of the Cardinal.

The Professor of Church History was one of the most prudent and sensible men of the clergy at Rome. During the French government he was a follower of Napoleon, and an adversary to the Pope. He was a zealous Roman Catholic notwithstanding, and converted six or seven German Protestants to the Roman Catholic religion, and amongst them the facetious German poet F. L. Zacharias Werner; he taught them the principles of Bossuet, Fenelon, and Pascal, and knew

how to accommodate himself to the character of the German people. He presented all who were converted by him, to the confessor of the Pope that they might receive confirmation. The confessor and bishops remained by express command of the Pope in Rome, to watch the treasury of the relics of the saints, when the Pope was taken as a prisoner to France. When the Pope returned from his exile, the followers of Napoleon were either put in prison, or exiled by the Pope's command from Rome; and Pius VII. intended to have banished with the rest the before mentioned professor of Church History, but the confessor of the Pope saved him, saying that he should be pardoned because he had converted many Germans of distinction to the Romish church, and the Pope pardoned him accordingly; and then he soon professed himself the enemy to Napoleon, and a zealous follower of the Pope.

The Lectures upon Church History occupy four years, and yet they only come down to the fourteenth century. Dissertations about celibacy, the holy wars, and the infallibility of the Popes, and reconciling the fallibility of Pope Honorius with the doctrine of infallibility, take up the greatest part of the history. The professor's prudence surprised me, when he lectured on the history of Henry IV. and Gregory VII. So long as he was able to defend the latter against the emperor, he did it; but when he came to facts mentioned of the Pope which he could not defend, he merely read the history, and left us to form our own

D

judgment. I only found one amongst the pupils of the Seminary, who had a spirit of tolerance, and knowledge of the Bible.

The ambassador of the king of Prussia being informed of my critical situation, became my protector and friend, and wrote about me to the government of Prussia, and advised me, as Count Stolberg also did, by letter, to be prudent and cautious in disputing; and indeed further, that I should entirely avoid every disputation: but I did not follow their advice, and indeed, could not well do so. I thought frequently of escaping from the Seminary by night, when I considered the great loss of time I sustained in idolatrous ceremonies; but the Prussian ambassador, and the pious German artists forbade me to attempt any thing so inconsiderate and dangerous. My German friends invited me sometimes to dine, and to hold spiritual conversation with them, to refresh my spirits, as my continual disputes destroyed all devotional feeling, and Christian meekness. Overbeck said to me, "We must bear the prejudices of other men with meekness and humility, because we are all more or less prejudiced." But I replied, "When I find things in the very seat of Catholicism which prove the reproaches of Protestants to be just, I cannot be quiet. The Protestants of Germany believe me to be an hypocrite in entering the Roman Catholic church; and I should be such, if I were to consent to these abuses." Overbeck replied: "You are not yet able to check such things as these; you must wait as Christ did till you are thirty years of

age: and you will surely fall, and will embrace the doctrines you now abhor, if you will not hear the voice of your friends." The pious Schadow also remonstrated with me; and submitting, to my German friends, I returned after dinner, to the college, and on the following day, I heard the following conversation between three of their theologians, which enabled me to understand the true spirit of the Romish court.

B. Abbot O. will be soon a Bishop.

F. Why?

B. He is not only approved by the Cardinal Litta, but likewise by Prince P. and he is very much attached to the Pope.

A The enemies of the Pope will altogether soon perish, because the Pope has now made a concordat with the king of Bavaria! The Jesuits, perhaps, will be established again in that kingdom.

O. Cardinal S. will now soon arrive from Vienna, and I shall have considerable influence with him, because he has heard that I converted those famous Protestants, and I hear Mr. Tamburini has no longer any influence in Pavia.

I myself. What sort of a man is Tamburini? Q. He is a wicked and wretched man. Imyself. In what consists his wickedness. O. He is an enemy of the Pope, and wrote against his authority.

F. The Germans are very obstinate, and Austria especially.

Q. But I hope they will soon be reconciled,

because the Archbishop of O. and Mr. S. S. are friends of the Curia Romana.

F. How is France?

O. Well disposed, because the Pope elected some Cardinals, not long ago, from the French Bishops, and they wrote to the Pope, in the most humble and submissive manner, saying, that they consider the primacy and the infallibility of the Pope, as the chief foundation of the Catholic religion.

I heard that Baron Wessenberg, Vicar-general of the Pope, of Constance, was not acknowledged by the Pope as Bishop of Constance, after the death of Duke Dalberg, as the grand Duke of Baden, and the Chapter of Constance wished, and that the Pope had published a Bull against him!-This proceeding much dissatisfied me, because I was well acquainted with Baron W., and was persuaded that he was a good Christian, and a most worthy Prelate of the German Catholic Church.

I wrote, therefore, three letters, the first to Cardinal Litta, the second to Prelate Testa, and the third to Cardinal F.; and I mentioned to them, that the Germans considered Baron Wessenberg as a pious and learned man, and that I was persuaded, the Bull published against him would be revolting to the feelings of every German; and that the Grand Duke of Baden would not respect the Bull. I added, that I could not but approve the conduct of the Duke; and that the power of the Court of Rome would surely sink if it did not act with more prudence and meekness: and I reminded