TEMPERS DISPLAYED BY CONTROVERSIALISTS. 



179 



lions, they neither deserve nor enjoy the respect 

 of the community. However no one dares 

 openly to speak against them. In Havana, ihe 

 church is nearly omnipotent, and every man feels 

 himself under its immediate jurisdiction. Most 

 people, therefore, attend mass regularly, make 

 confession, uncover, when passing a religious 

 establishment of any kind, and stand still in the 

 streets, or stop their volantos, the moment the 

 vesper-bell begins ringing. But they go no 

 further; and the priests do not seem at all 

 anxious that the prartir,_ . auch individuals 

 should correspond to their profession. The 

 priests show, by their external appearance, that 

 they do not practice those austerities which are 

 generally believed to be necessary concomitants 

 of a monastic life. The sensual and unmeaning 

 countenances that encircle the altars of the 

 churches, and the levity and indifference with* 

 which the most sacred partsof the service are hur 

 ried through, would shock and surprise a Protest 

 ant, were he to attend mass with the expectation 

 of finding the monks, those solemn and awe-inspir 

 ing persons, which people, who have never visit 

 ed Catholic countries, often imagine them to be. 



The following extract, from a late writer, ex 

 hibits a specimen of the religion and of the 

 moral feelings of the NEAPOLITANS. &quot; When 

 Vesuvius thunders aloud, or when an earthquake 

 threatens them with destruction when fiery 

 streams vomited from the roaring mouth of the 

 volcano roll on, carrying desolation over the 

 plains below when the air is darkened by clouds 

 of smoke, and showers of ashes, the Neapolitans 

 will fall on their knees, fast, do penance, and 

 follow the processions barefooted ; but as soon 

 as the roar has ceased, the flame has disappear 

 ed, and the atmosphere has recovered its wonted 

 serenity, they return to their usual mode of life, 

 they sink again to their former level, and the 

 tinkling sounds of the tumburella call them again 

 to the lascivious dance of the tarentella.&quot;* As 

 an evidence of the litigious dispositions of the 

 Neapolitans, the same author informs us, &quot; That 

 there is scarcely a landholder but has two or 

 three causes pending before the courts that a 

 lawyer, and a suit, are indispensable appendages 

 of property ; and that some of the principal 

 families have suits which have been carried on 

 for a century, and for which a certain sum is 

 yearly appropriated, although the business 

 never advances-, and, at last the expenses swal 

 low up the whole capital.&quot;&quot; The infinite num 

 ber of churches,&quot; says a late writer, &quot; is one of 

 the most efficient causes of the decline of the 

 religion of Rome, whose maxims and practice 

 are diametrically opposite to those of the Gospel. 

 The Gospel is the friend of the people, the con 

 soler of the poor. The religion of Rome, on the 

 contrary, considers all nations as great flocks, 

 made to be shorn or eaten according to the good 



Vieusseux s &quot; Italy in the 19th century,&quot; 1824. 



pleasure of the shepherds : for her the golden 

 lever is the lever of Archimedes. The favours 

 of the church are only showered on those who 

 pay ; with money we may purchase the right to 

 commit perjury and murder, and be the greatest 

 villains at so much per crime ; according to the 

 famous Tariff&quot; printed at Rome, entitled, (l&amp;gt; Taxes 

 of the Apostolic Chancery.&quot;* 



M. Jouy, in his late publication, &quot; The Her 

 mit in Italy.&quot; presents the following picture of 

 the religion and the practical morality of the 

 Tuscans. The greediness after profit is such, 

 among the lower classes of shop-keepers, that 

 they adulterate their merchandise so much as to 

 render it almost intolerable. Milk, cheese, and 

 butter, are always in peril under the hands of a 

 Florentine shop-keeper. It is impossible to meet 

 with good butter, except at the dairies. Tho 

 grocers are not exempt from the imputation of these 

 illicit mixtures, and adulterations of their goods. I 

 bought, from one of them, some brown sugar, 

 which would not dissolve in the mouth ; and, on 

 examination, I found, that nearly one third part 

 consisted of powdered marble, which had been 

 mixed up with it. Yet they are excessively 

 punctual in the outward ceremonies of religion; 

 and whenever they remove from one place to 

 another, a large cross, or a madonna, is always 

 stuck up at full length in the cart.&quot; 



In a conversation which Bonaparte had with 

 his friends at St. Helena, on the subject of reli 

 gion, as related by Las Casas, in his Journal, 

 he said, among many other things, &quot; How is it 

 possible that conviction can find its way to our 

 hearts, when we hear the absurd language, and 

 witness the acts of iniquity of the greatest num 

 ber of those whose business it is to preach to 

 us ? I am surrounded with priests, who preach 

 incessantly that their reign is not of this world, 

 and yet they lay hands upon every thing they 

 can get. The Pope is the head of that religion 

 from heaven, and he thinks only of this world, 

 &c. The Emperor ended the conversation, by 

 desiring my son to bring him the New Testa 

 ment, and taking it from the beginning, he read 

 as far as the conclusion of the speech of Jesus 

 on the mountain. He expressed himself struck 

 with the highest admiration at the purity, the 

 sublimity, the beauty of the morality it contain 

 ed, and we al! experienced the same feeling. 



Such facts may suffice as specimens of the 

 benevolence and morality which exist in Roman 

 Catholic countries. 



MORAL STATE OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH, 

 AND OF THE DISPOSITIONS GENERALLY 

 MANIFESTED AMONG CHRISTIANS IN OUB. 

 OWN COUNTRY. 



This is a topic which would admit of a very 

 extended illustration ; but my present limits .will 



* Picture of Modern Rome,&quot; by M. Santo Do- 

 mlngo. 1824. 



