436 
ment of the Cardinals in the convent of 
the Penitent Magdalen; and rejoiced when 
the Government fent out of the city thou- 
fands of foreign priefls and monks, for 
they had long fel: the burthen of main- 
taining thoée indolent and ufelefS drones. . 
‘This lukewarmnefs of the Romans to the 
Papal Government, under circumftances, 
which, in other countries, fanned the 
fparks cf fanaticifm into a flame, is not 
‘dificult to be accounted for. The daz- 
zling ximbus of fan&ity, which, when 
beheld at a diftance, furrounds the fu- 
preme head and the chiefs of the Romilh 
cburch, vanifhes on a nearer approach.— 
‘The Roman has teo frequent occafion, and 
is too much accultomed, to fee in his 
Popes, when they do not appear clothed 
with the dignity of their pontifical office, 
nothing but mere men, and to canvas 
with freedom all their a¢tions. He is ac- 
quainted with the private lives of the car- 
dinals, prelates, priefts,and monks ; and 
thefe are not always fo exemplary and fo 
edifying, as to procure the individual the 
refpect due to his profeffion : on the con- 
trary, the latter is toe often weakened by 
the contempt which they excite. Pafquin, 
the celebrated cenfor of mcdern Rome, 
who has for fome years been completely 
filenced, formerly brandifhed the {courge 
over the holy father with the fame bold- 
nefsas over the moft fhamelefs Meffalina. 
Many fcandalous reports concerning the 
popesand cardinals are propagated among 
the people ; they well know what an un- 
holy {pirit has often pervaded the con- 
clave ; they are acquainted with all the 
cabals, intrigues, and anecdotes, to which 
the eleétion of the popes has given rile, 
and thefe afford them no fmall entertain- 
ment. Even the moft ftupid people (and 
that term certainly does not apply to the 
inhabitants of Rome) are at length fen- 
fable of the oppreffion of their rulers wher 
it exceeds the wonted meafure. This 
feeling had been powerfully excited dur- 
ing the laft years of the pontificate of 
Pius VI, in which the condition of the 
people had become fo much worfe, that a 
reform was the ardent and univerfal with. 
No wonder, therefore, ifthe Roman people 
were not only tranquil fpectators of the 
overthrow of their government, to which 
they were attached merely by habit, and 
not by affection, but likewife rejoiced in 
fecurity at the mortifications experienced 
by fome of the cardinals, and the Nipote, 
who, being the principal infirument of 
their oppreffion, was particularly ob- 
noxicus. No wonder, if, with fuch a 
cilpofition, the whole apparatus of mi- 
Prefent State of Society and Manners at Rime? [June 1, 
racles, proceffions, and fafi-fermons—if 
the exhibition of the moft facred relics, 
and the folemn con{fecration of the colours, 
were incapable of kindling a {park of fa- * 
naticifm among the people, whofe bofoms 
cherifhed the nafcent hope of an amelio-. 
ration in their condition from the expected 
change. On this account the people of 
Rome, without being favourable to the 
French, or aétually defirous of a revolu- 
tion, yet at firft made no oppofition to it. 
They wifhed for an improvement of their 
condition, and, in the firft ebullitions of 
their joy, would willingly have facrificed, 
not their religion, it is true, but a pope 
of whom they had long been weary, toge- 
ther with his cardinals, priefts, and 
monks, and would have beencontent with 
his curates. . 
Notwithftanding this, the Roman peo- 
pie are not lefs firmly attached to their 
religion, or rather to that which their 
priets give them as religion—its exterior 
forms. To the pragtice of thefe, a great 
portion of the day is devoted; and a 
week feldom paffes without the feftival of 
at Jeaft one faint. The public worfhip, 
particularly on great feflivals, is folem- 
nized with all the dazzling pomp and 
fplendour that can be expected only in 
the refidence of the Pontifex Maximus of 
the Catholic church; but, alas! both on 
the part of the priefis and the public, 
with that mechanical indifference which 
is the infallible refult of the inceffant re- 
petition of the fanx eeremonies. To 
thefé ceremonies, however, the people are 
attached ; they have grown into a habit, 
which they cannot relinquifh, becaufe 
they fo conveniently fill the vacuity of 
their indolent minds ; and the whole reli. 
gious education of their youth (if the 
performance of certain mechanical duties, 
and the repetition of certain forms of 
prayer, may be termed education) merely 
tends, through.cuftom, to render thefe 
exercifes an isdifpenfable neceflity even at 
avery early age. Befides this, all reli. 
gious feftivals are at the fame time holi- 
days for the people, and as fuch are dz- 
voted to idlenefs and pleafure. They 
have, therefore, this additional motive 
for loving their re.igion, becaufe it fo 
often relieves them from the oppreffive 
yoke of jabour, and favours their pro- 
penfity to indolence. The extreme at- 
tachment of the Roman people to their 
religious feftivals, merely from a love of 
indolence, isevinced, among other things, 
by their continuing the celebration of the 
feftivals of faints, abolifhed by the late 
Pope, and which, becaufe the fupprefiion 
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