And bend his knees in prayer, but his voice For pardon for that sin, till that the sin bell Was heard; the air was calm, and its O'er the water came distinct and loud. lov'd. He hasten'd to the Chapel: on a stone Henry was sitting, there cold, stiff, and dead, ger said, "Don't let those scoundrels be admitted; they have crucified our Saviour." The duke, in order to mollify a little the harsh expressions of his master, said to the High Priest, or Rabbi, as the most apparent personage of the deputation, that they could not be admitted, as being against the ancient custom of the realm. The Rabbi, in the name of his brethren, expressed his sorrow at their not hav being the honor of an admittance be fore his majesty; so much the more so, as they had brought with them, as a peace-offering to his majesty, 40,000 louis d'ors: however, as the injunction was positive, they took up their several gold-fringed and tasseled damask bags, and prepared for their departure. The duke, sta ring at these sparkling little bags, which he had not seen before, told them to stop a little longer, that perhaps his majesty had not understood him very well at first. In the second announcing of the Jews, the peace-offerings were also announced, upon which his majesty was graciously pleased to say, "Let the poor devils come in; when they crucified our Saviour, they did not know what they were about." The bell rope in his hand, and at his feet The lamp that stream'd a long and steady light. Should this be thought worthy inserting, I may be able to send a few more similar pieces. Norwich. Louis XV. FELIX. IT was an ancient custom in France, at the accession of a new monarch, to send deputies from all the incorporated bodies, in order to pay homage, and congratulate his majesty on his coming to the throne. In 1715, when Louis XVth, was crowned, those deputies arrived from all parts of France, and amongst them (against former custom) were also the Jews from the city of Metz, in Lorrain, the only place where, at that time, they were tolerated. Being assembled at the appointed day in the anti-chamber, the Jews were announced in their turn, by the Duke of Choiseuil, at that time Master of the Ceremonies: the king in his bigoted an George I. ON the accession of George I. to the throne, the corporation of sil versmiths resolved to present his majesty with a silver service of plate; in consequence of which, a deputation was appointed to inquire his majesty's pleasure of what fashion he wished it to be; upon which the king, putting his hand to his head, was graciously pleased to answer, "Never mind the fashion; but let it be tick.” POPE PIUS VII. AFTER the conquest of Mantua, Feb. 3, 1797, the French were at liberty to pursue their conquests, and his holiness became the first ob. ject of their attack. Firm to his purpose, and regardless of the menacing power of the French, the Pope adopted that upright line of conduct which considered no misfortune equal to that of doing wrong. He raised levies in his dominions, to send succours to Alvinzy, who was ordered by the vice-legate to take possession of Ferrara when evacuated by the French. Buonaparte has been justly stigmatised with a breach of faith towards the Pope. Notwithstanding, M. D'Arazza was indefatigable in his endeavours to persuade his Holiness not to endanger his safety by a violation of the armistice, and though he actually assured the Papal court that a treaty had been signed be-tween Naples and France on the 10th of October, and such was their determination, yet the Marquis del Vasto sent to the Pope, and assured him that the report was false, and that it was only raised with a treacherous design to induce him to submit to a condition, which, for the honour of the Holy See, ought ,never to be complied with the condition was, that he should revoke every Bull which he had published against the French, which was considered as a surrender of his in.herent spiritual rights, and consequently tending to the subversion of his spiritual power. When this proposal had been offered in August, the Pope immediately summoned a meeting, which consisted of twelve cardinals, the most eminent for piety and intellectual knowledge: they were unanimously of opinion that the demand was inadmissible. His Holiness, by the conditions of the armistice, was compelled to pay half a million, to which he cheerfully submitted rather than compound for his integrity by the saving of that sum; he however prevailed on the Spanish Ambassador, M. D'Arazza, to set out for the French camp, accompanied by the Prelate Guisippi and the Father Legate, two able theologists, to reason with Salicetti upon the in justice of the compulsion; but the French Commissioner was inexorable upon this point. Buonaparte's letters to Cardinal Mattei accuses the court of Rome of having broken the truce, of wishing for war, and states, that, as the French Government permits him to receive proposals of peace, all may yet be settled; but there is the strongest reason to believe, that his Holiness, like the dove that returned to Noah's ark, could find no ground on which to rest the sole of his foot. Without a powerful stimulus, he would not have involved himself in the distressing consequences which followed; but that stimulus, as the head of the Church, outweighed every other consideration ; it was the voice of conscience, and the fear of offending that throne which no earthly power can assail. But the feelings which agitated his Holiness's mind cannot be better depicted than in the answer which Cardinal Mattei returned to Buonaparte. "I have laid before his Holiness the letter which you took the trouble to write to me, M. General, on the 22d of October.-The sovereign Pontiff, who is the depositary upon earth of the maxims of Jesus Christ, has always endeavoured to maintain peace and harmony in the Christian world; for this purpose he has submitted to many sacrifices. When France, thrown into confusion by the unfortunate events which have afflicted her for these seven years past, wrung his heart with grief, he remembered that he was the common father of all Christian nations; and when he saw his children of the church led astray by the most dangerous seductions, he thought that gentleness was the only remedy he could employ, hoping that it would please God to cure them of their blindness, and bring them back to just and reasonable maxims. The success of your army in Italy has so far misled your government, that by the most intolerable abuse of prosperity, not content with having shorn the lamb to the quick, they wished to eat it also, and even required of the Pope to make a sacrifice of his conscience and that of the people committed to his care, in exacting the overthrow and total destruction of those fundamental points which are the basis of the Christian religion, of morality, and church discipline. His Holiness, distressed by these intolerable demands, flew to the bosom of his God, to intreat of him that he would enlighten his mind on the conduct which he ought to pursue in so distressing a difficulty. The Divine Spirit has, without doubt, inspired him in bringing to his remembrance the example of the holy martyrs; and after having in vain solicited the Directory to listen to more reasonable conditions, the court of Rome must prepare for war. It be know that it is not invincible. We will oppose to it all our resources, our constancy, our confidence in a good cause, and, above all, the aid of the Almighty. We know that modern philosophers and unbeliev ers turn into ridicule the arms of the Spirit; but if it please God that we have occasion to 'display them, you will have a mournful ex. perience of their efficacy. But I return to the subject of your letter. You say you desire peace; we wish it more than you: grant it upon moderate conditions, and such as our allies can subscribe to, and you will find us ready to yield. On his part, his Holiness will make any sacrifice to obtain it which may not be inconsistent with his duty. We venture to believe, M. General, that for yourself you incline to the principles of justice and humanity, and I shall at all times be happy to cooperate with you in the great affair of pacification. (Signed) Rome, Dec. 2, 1796. MATTEI." In a few months after, the events of the war proving adverse, his Holiness was compelled to sign a treaty penned by the hand of severity. In Jan. 5, 1797; Buonaparte recalled the French Minister from Rome, and wrote a letter to Cardinal Mattei, in which this tyrannical invader, after accusing the court of Rome of perfidy, blindness, and obstinacy, says, "Whatever may happen, I intreat you to assure his Holiness, that he may remain at Rome without inquietude; as the first minister of religion he shall find protection for himself and longs to the rest of Europe to de-church. My great care shall be cide who has been the aggressor.. to introduce no change in the religion The death with which you threaten us, M. General, is the commencement of a happier life for the good. Your army is formidable, but you which is established." How closely Buonaparte has adhered to this maxim, since he became the Emperor of France, every orthodox ART. I. A Portraiture of the Roman Catholic Religion; or, an unprejudiced Sketch of the History, Doctrines, Opinions, Discipline, and present State of Catholicism: with an Appendix, containing a Summary of the Laws now in force against English and Irish Catholics. By the REV. J. NIGHTINGALE, author of "A PORTRAITURE OF METHODISM," &c. 8vo. pp. 568. Longman und Co. and J. Book er. Ir is cheering and consoling, amidst the gloom of intolerance which a Protestant ascendancy has long cast over the hemisphere of English religious freedom, to find, as in the present instance, a ray of light and truth bursting through the lowering atmosphere. The work before us is evidently the production of a singularly honest and inquiring, though mistaken, mind; and we cannot but lament that so much integrity should have been enlisted into the service of schism, and the ignoble cause of heresy. Under the pastoral direction of a fostering church, such a mind would have rendered signal service to true religion, piety, and virtue. There are, however, the seeds of goodness sown, and let us hope, that the merciful director of the Holy Spirit will in time "bring into the unity of faith such as have erred and are deceived." For some there is hard. ly any ground of hope; in this in stance, we are not without some pleasing anticipation. Mr. N. has set his hand to the plough of devout inquiry :-he seeks, in the first instance, for truth in those publications which are best calculated to afford him correct information; and does not, to make use of his own words, when reprobating the conduct of some of his Protestant brethren, "look for the religion of Catholics in stories of plots, massacres, burnings, and persecution." He thus severely, but justly, condemns those, who in their pretended religious enquiries, think" Foxe's Book of Martyrs a better guide than Challoner's Garden of the Soul, and Limborch's History of the Inquisition, than Thomas à Kempis's Imitation of Christ"When," continues Mr. N. (p. 478.) "we might imagine they would be reading manuals, litanies, catechisms, prayers, and sermons, we find them devouring with avidity records of the Inquisition, papal Decretats, old Newgate Calenders, acts of parliament, and histories of England. "When they would know the faith of Catholics, they sit down immediately to such books as Smith's Errors of the Church of Rome DETECTED, Remon's CONFUTATION of Popery, Tupp's Popery truly stat. ed, and briefly CONFUTED; and, above all, to Don Antonio Gavin's MASTER-KEY TO POPERY." This mode of inquiry, Mr. N. has himself carefully avoided; and the effects of a different and more correct proceeding is evident throughout his whole pub. -lication. He has read, and very -properly inserted in his work, nearly the whole of the most excellent little pamphlet of the late Mr. Gother's, entitled, "A Papist Misrepresented and Represented," and he has felt the force of Gother's remark, that, "no sober men ever go to Newgate or Tyburn, to know what is the religion professed in England according to law; nor would look into all the sinks, jakes, and common sewers about town, from such a prospect, to give a true description of the city." This equitable plan, which Mr, N. has adopted, has not only given value to his book, but affords good grounds for the hope we have already expressed of his conversion to the truth. This work is divided into two parts. "The first treats of the History of Catholicism to the * time of the Reformation. The second delineates the leading Doctrines, and the principal branches of Discipline." The views of Catholics, respecting civil authority are, traced at some length in various authentic documents; and the articles of faith, as we have already observed, are collected from the works of acknowledged authority. In the preface, the author thus expresses his obligations to his Catholic correspondents, and the quantum of assistance he has received during its execution, "There are no words in which I can fufficiently express my sense of the great openness and undeserved readiness with which the clergy and the laity of the Roman Catholic church have made their communications to me, whenever I have applied to them for information. If I stood in need of any inducement to think favourably of the good sense and candour of these insulted people, I should find it in that frankness and generosity, which every where, except in one solitary instance, have been exercised towards me. When I first suggested to them the plan and design of this work, I was a perfect stranger, otherwise than as I might be known through the medium of my former publications; but they all earnestly urged me to undertake it; and to form my account of their church and tenets from their own formularies, and writings of acknowledged authority among them, and not from the publications of their adversaries; they, moreover, advised to distinguish between the articles of their faith, and the opinions of individuals. With these instructions, and this advice, seconded by the greatest |