miss the faces of his dear Italian brothers, and to know that in this mingling of voices the sweet Tuscan tongue must be of all most mute. But his sad heart was in a measure consoled by the loyal and sympathizing messages that absent Italy could send to the feast at which she might not be a guest. And Italy was not wholly unrepresented. Not to mention the supply of holy men which Rome and its neighborhood were able to bring, a few Neapolitan prelates were providentially present in Rome, whom the fortunes of war had driven from their former abodes. Sixtus Riario Sforza, sometime Archbishop of Naples, was able to occupy his seat in the Sacred College, and to vote for the canonization. Reggio, Sorrento, Sora, and Aquila were all represented by their rulers in the Lord. And these, though few in the comparison with the delegates from other Catholic states, could confirm the claim of the council to be Ecumenical, of "all nations."

A few statistics may not be wholly without interest. There were present at the solemnity of canonization in Rome, on the 8th of June, 1862, forty-three cardinals, five patriarchs, fifty-two archbishops, one hundred and eighty-six bishops, in all two hundred and eighty-seven princes and pastors of the Church. Only eighteen of the cardinals were absent, the present number of the Sacred College being sixty-one. Of these eighteen, ten were prohibited from attending by the order of Victor Emmanuel, one by the order of the king of Portugal, and the remainder were detained either by physical infirmities or by pressing official business. Of the eleven "patriarchs" of the Catholic Church, five were present; the patriarchs of Constantinople, of the West Indies, of Venice, of Antioch, and of Constantinople in the Greek Catholic communion. Of the archbishops present, nine were from France, seven from Germany (including Poland and Dalmatia), seven from the East, four from Spain, four from America, three from Italy, and one from Ireland; the others having their sees "in partibus infidelium." Of the bishops, forty-one were from France, twenty-seven from Austria, twenty-four from Italy, twenty from Germany and Prussia, twenty from England and Ireland, sixteen from Spain, five from the East, three from Belgium and Holland, two from Russia and Poland, thirteen

from the United States, and the remainder from various heretical lands. Guinea, Egypt, India, Sweden, Scotland, were represented by their "Apostolic Vicars."

It was with such a magnificent and august body of assistants, that Pius IX. was enabled to complete his sacred task. The heavens smiled approvingly; and the cannon of the Castle of the Holy Angel saluted a splendid dawn and a clear horizon on the long expected 8th of June. At the first break of day, crowds from every quarter of the seven-hilled city were seen pressing on to the great square in front of the cathedral of the world, the broad dimensions of which became soon an immense sea of eager, joyful, and wondering faces. Those nearest to the church were privileged to beguile their impatience by the study of the colossal pictures along the façade, presenting, in the grandiose style of Roman festival art, the celestial glories of the new saints in contrast with their terrestrial pains. On the large banner which floated in the wind these rapt souls were shown seated upon the clouds and "drunk with the abundance of God's house." Above the principal door were exhibited the forms of the Franciscans, nailed to their crosses, yet without sign of agony in limb or feature. Over the door to the right, the meek triad of suffering Jesuits smiled benignantly upon a kneeling bishop and a prostrate king, with his courtiers around him. Over the left door Jesus Christ was seen handing, with the most tender compassion, his divine heart into the bosom of his servant, Michael de Sanctis. Suitable inscriptions aided the faithful to understand these symbols.

At a few minutes past seven, the sublime procession, having passed the Sistine Chapel, down the "Scala Regia" into the colonnade on the right, and across the square, through the colonnade on the left, entered the grand doorway of the church. It were a weary and endless task to enumerate those details of the vast procession on which our author lavishes his pious rhetoric. To those who have been in the pontifical city such pomps are sufficiently familiar, at least in their general features. To others they are simply tedious. We forbear to describe the devices, the dresses, the colors, and the emblems of the several ranks in the interminable

line. Impartial witnesses have testified that they were worthy of the occasion.

As the foot of each attendant in the procession crossed the threshold of the Basilica, he was expected to chant the Regina Cali; and soon the vast vault of the cathedral resounded with the murmurs of these myriad voices. Passing up the nave, the procession halted in front of that great altar, used only on occasions of state, to allow his Holiness to descend and kneel beneath the baldachino above the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. This first service of prayer performed, the Pope is conducted to his throne in the raised tribune at the upper end of the basilica, where in turn the several dignitaries approach to pay their homage. The cardinals kiss his hand; the prelates kiss his knee; and the other dignitaries are sufficiently honored in saluting the foot of the Holy Father. Then, when all have found their appointed places, and the special assistants are grouped around the throne, the Cardinal Clarelli, with a lighted torch in his hand, approaches, kneels reverently, and in a clear accent, through the mouth of his attendant, enunciates the formal request of canonization: "Beatissime Pater, reverendissimus dominus Cardinalis Clarelli hic præsens, instanter petit per Sanctitatem vestram catalogo Sanctorum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi adscribi, et tamquam Sanctos ab omnibus Christi fidelibus pronunciari venerandos, beatos Petrum Baptistum, Paulum, eorumque Socios, Martyres, et Michaelem de Sanctis, Confessorem."

This is the first call. His Holiness promptly answers through the mouth of his scribe, Monsignore Pacifici, that he is well disposed to grant the request; but that it is first proper to implore the aid of the heavenly host, the blessed Apostles and the Immaculate Virgin; which is done by the choir singing the Litanies, and the answering chorus of innumerable voices. Then the Cardinal kneels again, and the demand is made more pressing. It is now, not "instanter," but "instantius." Still the Holy Father is reluctant. The Holy Ghost must be summoned; and the voice of the Pontiff is heard intoning the Veni Creator Spiritus, to which the assistants and all the people shout the "Amen." A third time the demand is

pressed, and it is now "instantissime." There need be no longer delay. The saints are present, the Apostles have heard, the Mother of God bends over them, and the Spirit moves above them. Seated in his chair of state, as Doctor and Chief of the Church Universal, Pius IX., in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, solemnly decrees and pronounces that the names of the twenty-six martyrs of Japan, and Michael de Sanctis the Confessor, are henceforth and forever inscribed on the catalogue of the saints," ad honorem Sanctæ et Individuæ Trinitatis, ad exaltationem Fidei Catholicæ et Christianæ religionis augmentum, auctoritate Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, Beatorum Apostolum Petri et Pauli, ac Nostrâ; maturâ deliberatione præhabitâ, et Divinâ ope sæpius imploratâ, ac de Venerabilium Fratrum Nostrorum Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalium, Patriarcharum, Archiepiscoporum et Episcoporum in Urbe existente consilio."

The kneeling Cardinal gives back the thanks of the Church for the gracious decree. A swift scribe is directed to engross it upon enduring parchment. Led by his Holiness, forty thousand voices join in the grand Te Deum. The bells of the basilica and the cannon of the castle give signal to the hundreds of bells on the churches of the city, and summon the faithful to raise thanksgivings and to gain "indulgences." The intercession of the new saints is invoked, and the new form of prayer suited to these saints is repeated. A grand pontifical mass is celebrated, and a learned and touching homily pronounced by the lips of the Pope. With the Papal cross in hand, an apostolic sub-deacon promises to each of the assembled multitude a plenary indulgence. The offerings of candles, of bread, of wine, of water, of doves, pigeons, and little birds, are presented by the assistants from three tables at the left of the altar. The Holy Father washes his hands in water poured upon them by the Roman Senator, and wipes them with a napkin which the assisting Cardinal hands to him; and the ceremony is concluded. "Ite, missa est."

In this rapid summary we have said nothing of the internal decorations of the cathedral; of the showy tapestries on the columns, the gigantic candelabra, the quaint inscriptions; the twenty-two pictures distributed upon the walls, illustrating

259 the numerous miracles and the cruel sufferings of the new saints; the blaze of light from the thirty-six thousand pounds of wax consumed in the service of six hours; the brilliant hues of the dresses and ornaments, the stars and the crosses, under this overwhelming light; - all these in that miracle of art and grandeur, the Cathedral of St. Peter. Well might the believer exclaim, that this was indeed the promised glory of heaven! Well might the enraptured pilgrim feel ready to die after his eyes had looked upon this amazing marvel.

If the reports of the several prelates, on their return to their homes, are to be taken as proof of the general sentiment of the Council, this great synod at Rome in the year 1862 was in every respect a triumph and a success. No discordant

voice was raised to mar the harmony of the consenting throng. It was a marvellous illustration of the unity of God's Church upon the earth. All that was wanting to the full triumph of the scene was the presence of those "illustrious strangers," the Japanese ambassadors, whom Providence seemed expressly for this end to direct to the European shore. If they had obeyed these leadings, and had taken Rome on their returning way from London and Paris, M. Chantrel is confident that the spectacle of faith and prayer, and the honors paid to their countrymen, would have convinced them of the superior greatness of Christian society, and perhaps have won their hearts to Christ, and so secured the new conversion of their nation. In the joyful words of the historian of this great ceremony, "The canonization of the martyrs of Japan opens a new era in the history of the Church, the era of the conversion of the East, of the end of the Greek schism, the return of the Protestants, and the defeat of the Revolution. Let us not be alarmed at the crises which it must pass through; these are the last pains of a sickness that is healed, the last efforts of impiety to retard the inevitable hour of its disaster."

It is impossible for one not bred a Romanist to read the tiresome detail of ceremonial, of which we have given but a very small part in the foregoing sketch, or to listen to the tone of official enthusiasm in the recital, without a painful sense of something in them at once childish and effete. We do not dispute for we have ourselves experienced the