ITALY. 



381 



cross Is carried before his Holiness ,i a sacred banner, 

 the church bells ring as he passes, anil all men kneel in 

 his sight. His whole life is spent in ceremony and re* 

 straint ; and no dignity is more cumbersome and con- 

 i than tliat under which he is placed ; always en- 

 cumbered with the same robes, surrounded by the same 

 attendants, confined within the same circle of cere- 

 mony, and never possessing one hour of relaxation. 

 Alter a morning spent in business, a walk in the gar- 

 dens of the Qtiirinal or the Vatican, a visit to a church 

 or a hospital, are his only exercises. Even his re- 

 puts are solitary, short, and frugal ; and the expence 

 of his table, in the present value of money, never ex- 

 ceed* fire shillings a day. His person and conduct are 

 under perpetual restraint and inspection, and the least 

 deviation from strict propriety, or even from customary 

 forms, would be immediately noticed, and censured in 

 pasquinades. Leo X. gave great scandal by shooting ; 

 Ganganelli, by riding ; and when Benedict X I V. went 

 to see the interior arrangement of a new theatre before 

 it was opened to the public, there appeared next morn- 

 ing the following inscription on the door by which he 

 had entered, " norla tone/a, plenary indulgence to all 

 who enter." This strict decorum in the Papal court, 

 so different from the splendour and gaiety which it ex- 

 hibited in former centuries, lias been ascribed by the 

 Catholic writers to the influence of die celebrated Coun- 

 cil of Trent. 



The College of Cardinals form the council of the 

 Pontiff, and the senate of modern Rome ; and are also 

 the officers of state entrusted with the management of 

 the church at Urge, and of the Roman territories in par- 

 ticular. They are seventy- two in number, including 

 uburba 



the six s 



n bishops 



bat some of the hats being 



generally kept in reserve, in case of any emergency, 

 the number is seldom full. All the Catholic powers 

 are allowed to recommend a certain number ; but the 

 nomination rests solely with the Pope. Their grand 

 assembly it called the consistory, where they appear in 

 all their splendour, and the Pope presides in person ; 

 but !e*a for the purpose of discussing than witnessing 

 the ratification of measures already adopted in the ca- 

 binet of the Pontiff. Their principal prerogative is ex- 

 ercised in the conclave, where they are confined within 

 the Vatican palace till they agree in the election of a 

 pope. The Urge halls are then divided into temporary 

 apartments, of which each cardinal has four, with two 

 attendants ; while in order to exclude all undue in- 

 floence from the assembly, the different entrances are 

 guarded by the senators of Rome, conservator*, pa- 

 triarclis, archbishops, and bishops, in the city at the 

 time. The tickets, containing the votes of the cardi- 

 nal*, are put upon the comnannion plates and then in- 

 to the chalice; and the pope, as soon as elected, is 

 placed on a chair upon the altar itself, where he receives 

 the adoration or homage of thoee who are present. 

 These two ceremonies the more enlightened Catholics 

 themselves consider as bordering on profanation ; but 

 perhaps, their intoxicating influence is meant to be 

 counteracted by another, which, to ensnre its effect, is 

 repeated three times in succession. As the new pon- 

 tiff advances towards the high altar of St. Peter's to be 

 placed upon it, the master of the ceremonies, knerling 

 before him, sets fire to a small quantity of tow placed 

 on the top of a gilt staff, and, as it biases and vanishes 

 into smoke, addresses bis Holiness in these words : 

 " Sancte Pater .' sic transit gloria mundi." 



Ail the great . cities, and some even of a secondary 

 rate, hare archbishops ; while almost every town, es- 



pecially if it be of ancient name, is the see of a bishop ; 

 a circumstance which confirms the fact, that primitive 

 bishops were more like the first ministers of a parish, 

 than a diocesan. Besides the cathedrals, there are se- 

 veral collegiate churches, which have their deans and 

 chapters. Every bishop has his diocesan .college for 

 the purpose only of ecclesiastical education ; in this 

 seminary, under his own inspection, with the assistance 

 of a few of his more eminent clergy, the candidates for 

 orders in the diocese must attend three years in a course 

 of preparation for their clerical functions, which course 

 consists in hearing lectures on tlie Scriptures, and the 

 scholastic systems of ethics and theology. 



The parochial clergy are numerous ; pluralities are The pare. 

 never allowed ; and residence is strictly enforced. These cllial 

 regular clergy are described as generally exemplary and 

 active in the discharge of their duties ; but though their 

 number has been considerably diminished by the aliena- 

 tion of church property during the French domination, 

 they are acknowledged to be still too numerous, espe- 

 cially the lower orders of them. It is pleaded, at the 

 same time, that the population of the country is great, 

 and M of the established religion ; that the priests are 

 usually also the* schoolmasters of every place, occupied 

 in the instruction of children, and other departments of 

 education ; that, by the forms of their church, they have 

 a great multiplicity of services to perform, especially 

 ting the sick, and administering the communion, 

 which by many is received often, and by all at least 

 once in the year. There is said also to be a class of 

 persons in Italy who assume the clerical habit as a re- 

 spectable dress, which gives them easier access to good 

 company, but who are no way engaged in the service 

 of the church, and whose manners often bring an un- 

 deserved reproach upon the whole body. 



The irregular clergy, so called from taking upon Tlic i 

 themelves certain rules and statutes not connected with llr cl * I 8J f - 

 the clerical profession, are still more numerous, and ex- 

 hibit a great variety of costumes. They may be di- 

 vided into two great classes, namely, monks and friars, 

 who are bound in common by the three vows of pover- 

 ty, chastity, and obedience, but who live under very 

 different regulations. The monks, under various ap- Monks. 

 pellations, follow almost universally the rule of St. Be- 

 nedict, which is rather a treatise of morals than a set 

 of statutes, enjoining various virtue?, but prescribing 

 only a few regulations respecting the employment of 

 time, the order of the psalms, the practice of hospitali- 

 ty, the duties of the officers of tlie abbey, the pursuit of 

 manual labour, r.nd the use of the library. These are 

 said to have adhered more rigidly to the ancient prac- 

 tice, (except in dropping manual labour, and apply- 

 ing, or professing to apply, themselves rather to sci- 

 ence and tuition,) and to have taken little share in po- 

 litical or theological contests. To tlie monks may be 

 added the canons regular, who take upon themselves 

 the life and engagements of a convent, while they l>ear 

 the dress and discharge the duties of ordinary preben- 

 daries. Several other congregations of clergy live to- 

 gether in communities, without taking vows, and de- 

 vote themselves to the instruction of youth and the 

 education of the poor ; such as the Theatines, Hiero- 

 in mites, &c. a useful and unobjectionable class, who 

 have produced many individuals eminent in literature. 

 All these are supported by a regular settled income, 

 derived from landed property or public grants, which 

 contributes much to their general respectability, and 

 distinguishes them from the second class of irregular 

 clergy, who subsist upon alms and donations, and are 

 3 



