nor philosophy; for I was without principles, without a God. But I had a kind of undefined ambition; a presentiment of fortune, vague and shadowy, yet omnipotent in its glory, which linked me to that earth where I was so unhappy, so desolate. I visioned forth a future of reparation and of justice. I had splendid instincts, bold fore-warnings. My imagination peopled my solitude; the phantoms it called up in the void created for me an ideal court, of which I was king; and this ideal royalty endowed my soul with an energy, sombre but magnificent, that was my salvation.

"The sovereign of an invisible world; I was, however, not the less pitiable to look at. Thin, pale, with a long beard, ragged and half naked, I might rather have been taken for a wild beast than a human being. It is a miracle that I did not become a brigand; but God threw a monk in my path, and I am a cardinal!

"One day when I was dying with hunger, a Franciscan passed by, driving before him a mule laden with provisions. I rushed upon it, and began to devour the food. Terrified at my voracity and ferocious aspect, the Franciscan offered no interruption. When I was satisfied, I related to him my desertion from the regiment; he pitied me, and invited me to follow him to the monastery. I acquiesced, and this circumstance decided my life.

"The military service awoke in Sicily no sympathy, and in the convents still less than any where else. The brethren gave me a cordial reception, holding me as one rescued from the claws of Beelzebub. Their cloister was at Petralia; a small town lost amidst the rocks, and of which I took the name, having none of my own.

"For several months I was an object with the fraternity of the warmest hospitality, and during this time a revolution was effected within me. My incurable idleness adapted itself wonderfully to the life of a monk. No ties of affection or interest bound me to the world. twenty-one years of age,-no path was open to me; I was without a ducat; I became a Franciscan.

I was

"My life had hitherto been humble, restless, and precarious; I thought to give it dignity, repose, and continuity. saw the fathers honoured in the country, sure of the future, living without fatigue, and, above all, without labour: could I hesitate? Such at that time was my dread of toil, that the monastic idleness decided me more than all the rest.

"Chastity, poverty, and obedience, are the three fundamental vows of the order. I pronounced them in good faith, with the rashness and giddiness of youth. To obedience I thought myself moulded; and besides, at the convent it appeared to be neither servile nor oppressive. To poverty I submitted with the less repugnance, having never known aught else, and the poverty of the cloister was opulence to me. As to chastity, I sincerely made the sacrifice of my disorderly habits, and no reserved thought then weakened the merit of my abnegation.

"Thus, at the age when the passions begin to reign, I grappled with the future. I was sustained in this great act by the feverish excitation produced by every strong resolution, and the enthusiasm that prompts youth with every generous idea: for, I must avow it, I blushed at my past life, I desired a reformation, and the conversation of the Father Preceptor had touched me. I glowed with ardent piety.

"Not being a priest, my duties at the convent were nearly those of a domestic; this hurt my pride, and I resolved on a change. I spoke to the superior, he was attached to me; he thought he discovered in me some germs of talent, and undertook the difficult and radical task of my education.

"I now had an end, and my detestation of work bent to the yoke of a daily occupation; at length, after two years of study and assiduity, I was admitted to holy orders. I was now the equal of the brother priests, the superior of the lay converts. This idea of superiority flattered me: I soon officiated at the mass.

My studies were limited to very little some Latin, the breviary, the ecclesiastic usages and discipline, formed the base of them. The casuist of the convent added a course of moral theology; that is to say, he made me look over all the cases of conscience that can be submitted to a confessor at the tribunal. My progress kept pace with his instructions so well, that I was invested with the power of the confessional before the canonical age.

"From a valet, comedian, and vagabond, behold me then metamorphosed into a confessor. I who had sinned so much, receiving the confessions of sinners, and punishing scandals. I soon acquired, by my personal austerity, and tolerance for others, a marked consideration.

"This mode of existence was so new

to me, that for a long time the change was a delight; but I soon familiarized myself with my new duties, and they became matters of routine: I advanced towards the future with lofty hopes, inspiring all around me with security and

confidence.

"Petralia was to me the universe; when I passed through the town I composed my countenance, and measured my steps. I tendered my hand to be kissed with a proud humility, and my pretensions were unbounded. The best houses were open to me, and my fame reverted to the dignity of the convent.

"Before I was twenty-five, I spake with authority, imposing upon all ages. I was summoned to Palermo to preach there during Lent. This sumptuous city, Asiatic by its luxury, Spanish by its customs, appeared to me under a new aspect; risen from the degradation of the ante-chamber to the pulpit of truth, I preached penitence and humiliation to those whom I had formerly served, and thundered against the nobles more from revenge than piety. Never had language so severe resounded in the ears of the powerful of the earth. My preaching, however, was so popular, that nothing greater had been known. Lent over, I bid adieu to all these pomps, and quitted Palermo.

"I returned moody and discontented. I had hitherto fancied myself of importance; Palermo had taught me that I was only an obscure Franciscan. I had breathed the sweets of the world, had seen its splendours, and I regretted that world, which was closed against me for

ever.

"The remembrance of the archbishop above all, haunted me with its parade and magnificence. It was when on my knees before him, that I experienced the first sensation of my nothingness. This thought thrilled to my heart; and when he said to me, My Father, rise,' and I had replied, with a deep sigh, the haughty title of My Lord!' burnt my lips in passing.

6

"I was in this state of sullen discontent and vague ambition, when the life of Sixtus the Fifth fell into my hands. My ignorance at that time was so great that I was unacquainted even with his name. It was to me a perfect revelation. I wore the garb of a priest, henceforth I clothed myself with the spirit. I had seen an obscure shepherd deck his brows with the tiara because of an energetic will, and I also, I exclaimed, I will learn to will it.' But in what language

can I relate what passed within me? What form can I give to those hidden emotions whose essence is silence and mystery,-supreme ascendant of intelli. gence! sacred empire of thought! when for the first time I vowed allegiance to you? One must have felt that stormy delirium, have throbbed with some great design, to understand the state of my soul. I was ambitious, and I gave myself up to the dreams of dominion with the impetuosity of the African temperament. I was ashamed of my life, of my littleness, of my misery; I despised the temptations of the world, henceforth sure of myself and my shield.

“I dare not say that from the recesses of the cloister of Petralia, I ventured at once to raise my eyes to the crown of Saint Peter. But my dream was of power -I was a priest-one only path was open to me; and the example of Sixtus the Fifth was the master-spring of my actions. My boldness increasing, my rash desires soon knew no bounds. The veil of Sais was rent, and I looked into the face of the idol without trembling!

"Now commenced my life of selfcollection and concentration. I resolved to forget the world, that I might return to it not a slave, but a master. My ig norance seemed an obstacle in the way of my advancement. I imprisoned myself in my cell; I devoted myself to unremitting study. A fallow soil is rebel to the plough. Long neglected, and untrained, my southern mind accustomed to perceive effects without ascending to causes; to contemplate nature without understanding, or inquiring into it; was at first bewildered in the labyrinths of science.

"Tracing the history of man from his cradle, I saw him naked, weak, surrounded with enemies; I saw him increase in size, conquer and reign. I saw him in bodily combat with nature, surprising her secrets, seizing her treasures, but, nevertheless, always subject to her laws.

"At length, enlightened by study and meditation, I read history and events clearly. I comprehended true greatness and true strength. From the tent of the Patriarch, from the hunter Nimrod, who began to be powerful upon earth, to the Vatican, and that Sixtus the Fifth, who had awoke me to new life, I saw man, king by his thought; imagining, establishing, preserving, and destroying by it. Nature, the invisible Sphinx, propounds to earth her deep riddles; intelligence is the ingenious Edipus who penetrates and explains them; her's is the throne and

the empire: in vain, violence, blind and brutal instrument, usurps her place; she falls, she perishes, and with her the fragile work it is the rebel son of Izhar, plunging in the abyss before Moses the triumphant !

"Having explored the different paths of science, I fell upon the middle ages as the eagle on its prey. The world kneeling before a weak priest, kings bending to his laws, humbling themselves before his censures; the imposing triumph of mind over matter seemed to me then, and still seems to me, the last degree, the definitive point of human progress.

"Strong in this conviction. I fed upon the history of that Christianity which is the eternal haven of humanity."

Anselm here made a gesture of impatience and incredulity.

"I repeat," said the Cardinal, "this is not a discussion, but a narrative. I am entitled to your silence; be kind enough not to offer any interruption.

"Familiarized with the history of the Papacy, I turned to that of the Popes. I passed them in review before me, and those pontifs who in this secular gallery of glory and holiness awoke my liveliest sympathies, were all those who, as well as myself, had sprang from the lowest ranks of the people. It was Hildebrand, son of a carpenter, like the Master; the Englishman, Adrian the Fourth, son of a valet, and a beggar before he was Pope; Bennet the Eleventh, the Lombard, whose father was a shepherd; Bennet the Twelfth, the Frenchman, whose father was a miller; John the TwentySecond, Urban the Fourth, Adrian the Sixth, all three children of common mechanics; Sixtus the Fourth, son of the fisherman of Savonia ; Nicholas the Fourth, herdsman in a remote mountain hamlet; finally, Sixtus the Fifth! These were the men whose illustrious fortunes captivated and dazzled me: I inquired of them their secret; I vowed to follow in their steps.

"The joys of ambition are immense, and surpass all other delights. In communion with my own thoughts, I spent whole days of ecstasy in my cell. My monastic robe was dear to me. Did it not open to me a road to glory and dominion? If I sought the forest shade, the mountain solitude, it was no longer to indulge in useless regrets, but to strengthen my soul by the contemplation of great things, to raise it above enervating pleasures, to temper it for the battle.

"Years thus rolled away in these silent and secret preparations. I fulfilled the

duties of my ministry with the punctuality of long habit. My fame for knowledge and holiness increased; and though my ambition outgrew my reputation, I accepted it as an augury of a brilliant

name.

"I had long announced a pilgrimage to Rome for the accomplishment of a vow; and what more terrible vow ever linked man to the future? It was at Rome that I determined to begin the conflict. I solicited and obtained permission to depart. My courage and piety were applauded, and, deceiving everybody, I quitted the convent of Petralia never to return to it. I was then thirty years of age, I am now sixty-five-reckon.

"From a last inspiration of youth, I determined to bid adieu to Sicily from the top of Etna. I ascended it before sunrise, and the dawn overtook me at the summit of the cave. Stretched out beneath me lay the whole of Sicily like a map, with the clear outline of its coast marked as by a pencil. Long absorbed in contemplation as I gazed upon that Sicily, which I loved without knowing why, and which I was going to quit for ever, my eyes filled with tears. What, then, is the mysterious power of the natal soil, that we love for its own sake and without cause? What hidden link chains us to it? What magic is it that charms us in it?

"But what,' I exclaimed with bitterness, have I to regret in the past?' and I compared myself to Etna: solitary alike in Sicily, I lost neither father nor mother. I left behind me neither love nor regret. And it was from the depth of this oblivion, of this abasement, that the bastard of a valet dared to cast a covetous glance on the supreme dignity-that, blighted by ignominious servitude, he aspired to empire! But is not empire a compensation for happiness? Does not the soul, shut out from all the voices of nature, draw its strength from its isolation? My solitude, I thus reasoned, was providential, and from that I still drew presages.

"Stifling the last regrets of an unattached heart, I steeled it, I barbed it with iron, and, regretless, irrevocably broke with a world I had found so harsh.

"Greeting with one last look my gloomy birth-place, I descended through the lava and forests, and the next day embarked at Messina.

"Seated on the deck during the passage, I saw the brow of Etna slowly sink beneath the waves; like a gigantic panorama, I saw flit by, the mountainous

shores of Calabria, the lovely gulfs of Policastro, Salerno, Naples, and Gaëta; but nothing could divert me from the one fixed thought. It was like a band of iron round my temples, and each undulation of the vessel, impelling me towards my end, but tightened the inflexible circle.

"We at length hailed Ostia; I was put ashore at the mouth of the Tiber. The vessel pursued its course towards Civita-Vecchia, whilst I alone, and on foot, took the route to Rome through the Campagna.

"All was silence around; the noise of my monastic robe brushing the worn pavement of the antique way, the only sound in these Saturnian solitudes.

"I walked on, sometimes across naked meadows, sometimes beneath the shade of myrtles and green oaks, with glimpses of the yellow and voiceless Tiber shewing here and there. Suddenly the horizon opened. Encircled by the graceful bend of the Sabine hills, the floating plain rolled out before me like a waving sea.

"At length the cupola of the Vatican was discernible. My breath failed me, my knees trembled, and I sat down on an antique pedestal left standing by the way side.

"The Vatican!-behold the electric spark that had first roused me into being! It was there before my eyes! That Rome, the Queen of ancient times as of the middle ages-Rome, that disposed of sceptres and bound the diadems on the brows of the kings of the earth, was there before me! A ray of the setting sun lighted the cross of Saint Peter, the Pharos of the world, which still glittered after the extent of the desert slept in shadow. I resumed my route, and reached the gate of Saint Paul before it was closed for the night.

"How would the Cardinals in their purple, and the supreme Pontif under his tiara, have smiled with pity, could they have read the heart of the obscure monk who then crossed the threshold of the Holy City!

"But they might also have smiled at the thoughts of the shepherd of Montalto; and the shepherd of Montalto became Sixtus the Fifth!

"I entered Rome as a future conqueror; the fever of ambition maddened my brain and fired my soul.

"The convent in which I was to be lodged occupied the most deserted part of the Ganiculus. You see it hence behind Saint Onaphrus. I had letters for the Superior, and was received by him

self and his fraternity as one of them. It is but a Franciscan the more at Rome, thought they; but I said to myself, It is a Pope!""

Overcome by the violence of these abruptly-awakened remembrances, the Cardinal was silent. Anselm surveyed him with astonishment; so unmeasured an ambition surpassed his expectation, and surprise at what he had just heard held him mute.

At length the Cardinal resumed, in a trembling and uncertain voice," The first thing I perceived in Rome was that my order was the least esteemed of any; thanks to the poverty and obscurity of its members, the greater number of whom were, like myself, from the dregs of society. But I made my very obscurity available to my advancement. A learned Benedictine would have astonished no one; he would have been lost in the crowd; a learned Franciscan, on the contrary, was a prominent individual; the ignorance of his fraternity was a pedestal that heightened him personally, and drew him into notice.

"My reputation for learning rapidly advanced, and soon was as undisputed at Rome as it had formerly been at Petralia.

"I can see hence the church in which I commenced my warfare, and which is still dear to me, Saint Charles of Borromea. I preached there in Lent, as I had preached at Palermo five years before. Palermo had revealed my nothingness to me; Saint Charles drew me forth from it. This was the first step towards my fortune.

My preaching was successful, and I became popular. My order stirred heaven and earth in my behalf, and I was presented to the Pope as one of the firmest champions of the church.

"I was received by his Holiness with marked distinction, for the church at that time, enfeebled and threatened, required support and defence. The Pope prolonged the audience more than he would have done for a Prince. The humility with which I received his notice surprised all. I knelt down a simple Franciscan; I rose up a Bishop. At this stroke of fortune, I thought I should have fainted. I returned thanks to God in a torrent of tears; this was again taken for humility-it was the suffocating fever of ambition; I had made one step towards the tiara!

"It was a part of my plan to remain at Rome. The Holy Father anticipated my views by giving me a diocese in par

tibus, and attaching me to his person, as preacher in his chapel. My episcopal title and office henceforth assured me an important part in the Pontifical family. "Often in my wanderings in the precincts of Rome have I interrogated myself as to my enterprise. Was it not all illusion and madness? But the same instincts and presentiments that had formerly saved me amongst the abysses of the Madonia, served as my ægide, and saved me then likewise from despair.

"But I will not fatigue you with the long recital of the forty years of combat, doubt, and hope. The revolution of France, then of Italy, at length broke in upon the monotony of my long expectations. Shaken in the sixteenth century by the Reformation, fought in the breach in the eighteenth by Philosophy, that church to which I had linked my destiny was threatened with total ruin, and with it my fortune and existence.

I

I followed the Pope into exile. lived ten years in bondage; but, like Israel beneath the willows of Babylon, I despaired not of Jerusalem, and never ceased lifting to Heaven, from the depths of adversity, a hymn of confidence and resignation. I learned, like the poet, how bitter is the salt of the stranger, and how steep the staircase of another. For ten years I was witness to the splendour of the superb conqueror; but I abstained from all festivities, and preserved untouched my treasure of grief and hope. Kneeling day by day at the foot of the forsaken altars, I demanded of God the accomplishment of his word- the triumph of truth over error, of the church over incredulity. But I will not detain you with my reflections; my soul was in heaviness, but faith sustained me, and I waited.

"I did not wait in vain. You know the history of the memorable triumph, for it is of your age.

saw

"With what throbbing of the heart I once more the eternal cupola of Saint Peter! How august appeared thy pomps! how imposing thy solemnities! The marbles, the pictures, the statues of the saints and martyrs, all spoke to my heart with an energy they had never done before. It was thus that my path, long hedged up, again opened before me. My step was slow, for my aim was distant; and I saw, without hastening my course, the vulgar rolling in honours. Remark those two birds," continued the Cardinal, pointing with his finger to an eagle and a dove, that both sprang from the side of the mountain, “how different is their

flight! How swift is this, how slow the other! And look, the dove even outstrips the eagle; it reaches first the peak of the cypress! But it rests there exhausted; it will ascend no higher. Seek the eagle now ... He is lost in the clouds!

"One by one I attained to all the spiritual dignities of the church, constantly rejecting the temporal. The magistracy of consciences conciliates men and imposes upon them; the magistracy of worldly interests alienates and repulses them; therefore, confining myself to the narrow circle of ecclesiastical functions, I constantly held aloof from the world, refusing nunciatures, legations, and all political charges that were offered to me, and which, besides, would have removed me from that Rome that it behoved me not to quit again. The hat, at length, rewarded my diligence and patience; the last Pope made me a Cardinal. I am the forty-sixth of my order; my order has given five Popes to the church; I shall be the sixth.

"Once a member of the Sacred College, it was my aim to keep to the lowest rank, that I might with the more certainty aspire to the first. Although a prince of the church, have never quitted the obscure Trastenerin monastery, where, since my return from exile, I had fixed my residence.

"I live, you know, the life of a simple monk. I ascend the pulpit as a missionary, and if my mouth open to preach charity, my hand is not slack to practise it. There is not in Rome a hospital or a dungeon of which I do not know the names of the sick and the captive; not a poor man whose bread I have not multiplied by my alms; and if the political world are in profound ignorance of my name, there is not in the Holy City a name more popular or more revered. This is my object: a political name would, in the present juncture, alarm European. susceptibilities: it is an invincible obstacle to the tiara; the tiara binds only neutral brows.

"My pride has often blushed at the impostor's part which I have condemned myself to play. It humiliates me; but what can I do? I am of my age, of my country too, above all; and on this theatre of hypocrisy and servitude, I have been compelled, like the rest, to wear a mask, and belie myself for a time.

"Honours and dignities have pursued me unsparingly to the obscurity of my Trastenerin retreat; but I have rejected them all, for the reasons I have given you.