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to time, and the liquefaction being somewhat delayed, the great 

 mass of people burst out into expostulations and petitions to the 

 saint, more and more impassioned. Just in front of the altar 

 were the lazzaroni who claimed to be descendants of the saint's 

 family, and these were especially importunate : at such times they 

 beg, they scold, they even threaten ; they have been known to 

 abuse the saint roundly, and to tell him that, if he did not care 

 to show his favor to the city by liquefying his blood, St. Cosmo 

 and St. Damian were just as good saints as he, and would no 

 doubt be very glad to have the city devote itself to them. At 

 last, on the occasion of my visit, the priest, turning the vials sud- 

 denly, announced that the saint had performed the miracle, and 

 instantly priests, people, choir, and organ burst forth into a great 

 Te Deum, bells rang, and cannon roared ; a procession was 

 formed, and the shrine containing the saint's relics was carried 

 through the streets, the people prostrating themselves on both 

 sides of the way and throwing showers of rose leaves upon the 

 shrine and upon the path before it. The contents of these pre- 

 cious vials are an interesting relic indeed, for they represent to us 

 vividly that period when men who were willing to go to the stake 

 for their religious opinions thought it not wrong to save the 

 souls of their fellow-men by pious mendacity and sanctified 

 fraud. To the scientific eye this miracle is very simple : the vials 

 contain, no doubt, one of those mixtures fusing at low tempera- 

 ture which, while kept in its place within the cold stone walls of 

 the church, remains solid, but upon being brought out into the 

 hot, crowded chapel, and fondled by the warm hands of the 

 priests, gradually softens and becomes liquid. It was curious to 

 note, at the time above mentioned, that even the high functiona- 

 ries representing the king looked at the miracle with awe ; they 

 evidently found " joy in believing," and one of them assured the 

 writer that the only thing which could cause it was the direct ex- 

 ercise of miraculous power. 



It may be reassuring to persons contemplating a visit to that 

 beautiful capital in these days, that, while this miracle still goes 

 on, it is no longer the only thing relied upon to preserve the pub- 

 lic health. An unbelieving generation, especially taught by the 

 recent horrors of the cholera, has thought it wise to supplement 

 this power by the " Risanamento," begun mainly in 1885 and still 

 going on. The drainage of the city has thus been greatly improved, 

 the old wells closed, and pure water introduced from the mount- 

 ains. Moreover, at the last outburst of cholera a few years since, 

 a noble deed was done which, by its moral effect, exercised a wide- 

 spread healing power. Upon hearing of this terrific outbreak of 

 pestilence, King Humbert, though under the ban of the Church, 

 broke from all the entreaties of his friends and family, went 



