A SURVIVAL OF MEDIEVAL CREDULITY. 709 



EucliarisUc Novena, published under the name of Diana Vaughan, 

 and containing forms of supplication against unbelief, worldly in- 

 difference and lukewarmness, hardness of heart, blasphemy, and 

 unchastity. The covert sarcasm which pervades the entire manual 

 of devotion comes out most clearly in the section on the violation 

 of the seventh commandment. A copy of the work, which had 

 been approved by the Archbishop of Genoa, was sent to Cardinal 

 Parocchi, with a letter signed " Your Eminence's most devoted 

 servant in Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Diana Vaughan," and five hun- 

 dred francs, of which two hundred and fifty were to be used for 

 organizing an international antimasonic congress, and the rest to 

 be given as Peter's pence to the Pope. The cardinal replied with 

 great cordiality to his " dear daughter in our Lord," called her con- 

 version " one of the most glorious triurriphs of grace," and added, 

 " I am reading at this very moment your Memoirs with burning 

 interest." He gave her his blessing, and conve-yed " the thanks 

 and special benediction of his Holiness." jSTumerous letters of a 

 like character were received from the Vatican. On May 27, 1896, 

 the General Secretary of the Apostolic See, Verzichi, wrote that 

 " his Holiness had read her EucJiaristic Novena with extreme pleas- 

 ure"; two months later the Pope's private secretary, Vincenzo 

 Sardi, thanked her in the name of Leo XIII for her exposure of 

 Crispi, and bade her '' continue to write and to unmask the godless 

 sect," and the Civilta Cattolica, the official organ of the papacy, 

 praised her " inexhaustibleness in precious revelations, which are 

 unparalleled for their accuracy and usefulness. Freemasonry is con- 

 founded, and seeks to evade the blows of the valiant championess 

 by denying her existence, and treating her as a myth. It is a 

 pitiable shift, but Preemasonry can find no better refuge." " Your 

 pen and your piety," wrote Monsignore Villard, October 15, 1896, 

 " are predestined to demolish the foes of mankind. The good 

 works of the saints have always met with opposition, and it is no 

 wonder, therefore, that yours should be combated." 



IS^aturally, there was intense curiosity to see this new convert 

 and powerful defender of the faith. This inquisitiveness was easily 

 allayed at first by the plea that the cloister to which she had retired 

 must be kept secret, in order that she might be safe from assassina- 

 tion by the Freemasons. Meanwhile the medium of correspond- 

 ence was a bright American girl, employed as copyist in a Parisian 

 typewriting establishment, who wrote all the letters at Taxil's dic- 

 tation, and received a monthly salary of one hundred and fifty 

 francs for her services. After a time he deemed it politic to intro- 

 duce her privately to select circles of Catholics, who were thereby 

 enabled to testify to her existence, since they had seen and con- 



