Cvi AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



providing for the spiritual wants of the soul. 

 Having mistaken the hour of rising, I was in 

 the street at half-past three in the morning ; 

 and seeing a man with a gun in his hand, and 

 a couple of dogs by his side, I pushed up, in 

 order to have a word or two with him. On my 

 remarking that it was somewhat early to go in 

 quest of game, he replied that his chase lay a 

 good way off ; and that he had just come from 

 the three o'clock mass, which is always said at 

 that hour for the accommodation of those who 

 indulge in the sports of the field. 



He who has leisure on hand to examine into 

 the nature of religious establishments, cannot 

 help being convinced of their utility. In Rome 

 it is at once apparent. There, no man ever 

 need complain of the want of a meal, for he is 

 sure to find it at the charitable convent door, 

 where, every day in the year, food is distri- 

 buted to all who come for it. An English 

 gentleman, who had resided fifteen years in 

 Rome, once told me that he had never known 

 a single instance of any person dying through 

 want. It would be wrong in me to withhold 

 this small tribute of praise due to the monas- 

 teries, as I am thoroughly convinced of their 



