~ 
404 
money, of a very elegant form, in which 
the tribute to the Roman emperors was 
paid by the Eeyptians. 
He was much indebted to Joseph Ab 
Amato, P. Molchior Carpam, D. Boi- 
ret, P. Marc A Tumba, and P. Paulin 
for procuring him manuscripts from Pe- 
gu, Siam, Maiabar, and‘other places in 
the East. His views were not confined 
to a barren adimiration of the fine arts; 
on the contrary, he exerted ail his influ- 
ence to encourage and improve them. 
He frequently visited the celebrated Ca- 
nova in his workshop. It was he who 
suggested to Mengs several ideas on the 
subject of painting. He took a pleasure 
in elucidating to Dominico Cardelli vari- 
ous passages in the Greek and Latin au- 
thors, relative to the arts ef statuary and 
painting. Turchill Baden was taught by 
him to examine, and accurately describe, 
some of the finest monuments of an- 
tiquity. 
His solicitude for the propagation of 
religion equalled his taste for the fine 
arts. Ife believed’ it possible to’ diffuse 
instruction, by means of Christianity, 
among barbarcus nations, It was by his 
efforts that, in 1772, a Catholie Cate- 
chism made its appearaiice from the press 
ef the Propaganda, written in the Malabar 
language by R. P. Clement, a barefooted 
Carmelite, who was the companion of 
Father Paulin in his mission to Ma- 
labar. In 1775 it appeared in the Por- 
tuguese, and in 1778 in the Mabratta 
tongue. Cajctano Montegatio, a Mila- 
nese, published it in 1785, in the Barma 
dialect; and im 1786 1¢ was printed in 
the Peguan, Madagascarian, and Ethi- 
opian languages. ‘To bun we are also 
mdebted for the Armeniaa, Barma, or 
Boma, fthiopian, or Abyssinian alpha- 
beis, as well as that composed of a mix- 
ture of the tiebrew with the Samaritan, 
and Rabbinical, those of Malabar, Thi- 
bet, &c. | 
le was under his auspices, and by his 
assistance, that there appeared a Gram- 
nar of the Hiadestanee language, which 
prevails throvghout the vast empire for- 
perly under the dominion of the Great 
Vogul; and of those spoken by 
Mahrattas and Curds; and finatly, he 
patronized the publication’ of the rudi- 
ments of the Thibetian language at Ma- 
cerata, by P. Cassian Beligatti, We 
nay add to this hst the Canon in Chal- 
- dean, of the Malabar ritual, and that of 
the Holy Apostles, according to the forins 
of the Malabar church, which appeared 
uuder his direction in 1774, as well as 
the. 
f 
Account of the Life of Cardinal Stephen Borgia. [Dec. t 
the Vyacarana, or Thesaurus of the San- 
serit language, -by Father Paulin, and 
other usetul works. : 
It was thus that even his piety contri- 
buted to extend harman knowledge, and 
accumulated the treasures of the Kast. . 
We now come to the most glorious pe- 
riod in the life of Stephen Bovgia, that in 
which he was decorated with the purple. 
The pope-had long intended to confer on 
him this dignity, as a reward for his emi- 
nent services; and an event occurred 
which determined him no longer to de- 
lay this public testimony of gratitude to 
one of the most zealous defenders of the 
court of Rome. “ad 
The admission of Borgia among the 
cardinals took place on the 30th of 
March, 1789. Far from wishing to en- 
joy his new dignity in indolence, he would 
have been grieved had it condemned 
him to inactivity. An occasion, however, 
soon presented itself for the exercise of 
his talents. The employment of inspec- 
tor-general of the foundling-hospital hav- 
ing become vacant, Pius VI. seized the 
opportunity of conierring it upon Cardi- 
‘nai Borgia. It may readily be conceived 
m2 what manner he would exercise his 
new office. His attention was. first di- 
rected towards that of Perugia. Great 
disorder prevailed in this hospital, so that 
he found it necessary to adopt prompt 
measures for the re-establishment of good 
order; and with this view immediately 
dismissed several of the nurses, who 
were of bad characters. At Viterbo, the 
hospital was filled with young girls, 
among whom there were many mar- 
riageable. Wishing to withdraw them 
from vice, and to render them useful to 
society, he disposed of some-of them in 
marriage, while he engaged othérs in 
rural occupations, and appropriated a.se- 
cond house to the education of the male 
orphans, . 
Finding the hospital at Fodi on too 
contracted a scale, he obtained leave 
irom the Pope to suppress the mo- 
nastery of St. Clair, and employ it for 
the reception of destitute female chil- 
dren. Ifere they were taught to card — 
and spin wool, and. make it into cloth, 
At Spoletto, a scareity of the raw mate- 
rial bad occasioned a stagnation m the 
suk manufacture. hat idieness might 
not gain ground, he ordered a great 
quantity to be distributed to the young — 
females, who. were -instructed in all 
the different branches of this manufac- 
ture. At Narni, he established a manu- 
facture, in which a certain number of 
females 
