OUR ROMAN LETTER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 379, 23 July 1880, Page 16

OUR ROMAN LETTER.

(From our own Correspondent.)

The Italian Government, nominally Catholic, has determined to %^T «??%?*!s spoliation of Church property, which is indeed K°; anti-Chiristian barbarity. The congregation of Propaganda s™l % xnstitoto which has commanded the admiration and respect of men of all creeds. It spreads civilisation as well as Christianity among savage and heathen nations, and furthers the interests of science and literature as well as of the faith. It is sufficient to S' on *J e names 1 ot * ho f celebrated linguists who adorned the P A° r?' n n me }?' H deceased Cardinals Mai and Mezzofanti! and the hying Cardinal Howard, to show how the study of languages and especially the Oriental, was fostered by the Propaganda Napoleon I. was compelled to envy the glory of an establishment which sent forth its missionary heroes not I kfll ou^to convert and ShT er ThT yt ° CUe iU b6half Of the reli S ioQ whi <* they 'were ffi \, r,f weapons were persuasion, charity, and civilisation. They fought no private or personal benefits, and surrendered all the SffiloS a e Zn yme ?n ° f C i^ iZ3d Ufe to dwell in distanfc coders TTrW g nS; J ld '™ d I S noran < ; and barbarous tribes. The Urban College which is an integral part of the Propaganda has no Smes m In 6 ttd^lf * ?**" ?»* ™P aral^ d in atlcicnt or modern times. In it dwell natives of remote, almost unknown, countries men of all complex.ons from the tawney yellow of the Tartar or Mongolese, to the swarthy hue of the Ethiopian. These yom -m °n when trained i.i the Urban College, return to theJ iespeSl?e SSSSS^rtfS 1 Ith61 th 6 ?? ° Spel t 0 thci^ com Patriots, and theySta equipped with the learning and cultivation of Rome and capable of introducing with effect the civilisation of Europe. Protestant writeS have expressed their deep sense of the advantages conferred l sthe5 the Propaganda upon the world, and even Italian r^olut" nary his! iSr Th^rSon *? tO f % P £P a S anda as one of the chTef g?oses of Sd,a™dTe^ o Hta fXJd 7™7 ™ ofVfT^ 8 ° f Xi , Dg Hl ' mbei *. In the Official Gazette of the kingdom of Italy appeared on the 19th May an advertisement SUnS!? hT' ° n - th % i UDe ' 1880 ' the houses andTud fa and a,w;S^ he \T sms t .°. tbe Pwpaganda, were to be set up to public auction under the provisions of the Act for the suppression of the religious orders. The houses and lands will be pufup for sale at EmX? *S Ith61 th 6 tOtal tO 1341 ' 348 ' 000 about iS.oS Jnglwh. Lands and houses are now a drug in the market, owin- to the quantity of estates sold under the Suppression Act. These lands Z ?sa? ce UU s Se wmb^nv SOl t d r C nT der their W and the produce o ProSSndJ be J J d m Itahan P a Per rendita for the benefit of the Sete spoSS T^ T"^ is ° uly a ste P towards The com' piece spoliation of the Propaganda. It will be easy when the Republicans and Communists get the upper hand, to c2el the obU gations or the State towards the Church, and by Tstofke of the ministerial pen to reduce the Propaganda to beggary respectVe^o SffM' T* On I™* altered in no paity ot Mingnetti and Bella gained considerable strfnath TVm nranoi v,.M? n B °/ ne> Garibaldi and four Liberals were returned and Gari rank must be conceded to the House of Savoy. The Savoy princes rt^£^?r^? ct °i**^ hl^> had used the House that Indwft™ ans to ., the "^y <>f Italy, aud the Republicans for that end had temporarily and » provisionally suppressed in silence

their convictions." Garibaldi had endeavoured to recommend measures to ameliorate the condition of his country, but found the ministers a " pack of intriguers," and that he might as well "preach to the desert." He now recommends a general reduction of pensions, abolition of the standing army, which debauches the youth of the nation and interferes with apiculture, the establishment of a national militia, the withdrawal of the 60 millions now paid to the priests who are, he says, the bitterest enemies of the kingdom, and the extension of the suffrage. In consequence of this insolent letter, which was written by Garibaldi himself, and with his own hand the Government caused the telegraphic and postal service betereen Laprera and the mainland to be discontinued. Among the unsuccesful candidates for the Roman wards was Don Augusto Euspoli, brother to the late Prince and uncle to the present Prince Ruspoli, the Master of the Hospice at the Vatican and a loyal servant of the Pope. Don Augusto was formerly an officer in the Pontifical corps of mounted riflemen, and in 1843, when riding beside the carriage of Gregory XVI., hurt his leg against the wheel, and was a little lame for a few weeks. Determined not to expose his person to further dangers of equitation, the brave Don Aumisto petitioned the good natured Pope to allow him to retire, and he received a pension of 22 scudi a month, a pension which he draws to this day, although he has deserted the Pontifical party and will not even look upon a priest. The defeat of this recreant Ruspoli gave great satisfaction to all parties. The Catholics, as a rule, abstained in Rome and Italy from taking any part in the elections. A few priests in Rome voted for Alatri, a Jew, to shew their respect to a man who was more just and kind towards the Catholic Church than Liberal Christiane. Bishop Power, of St. John's, Newfoundland, had audience of the rope on the 2nd of June, in company with Monsignore Kirby of the Irish College. Dr. Donnelly, Bishop of Clogher, arrived in Rome this week to pay his visit ad limina. The Corpus Domini processions were made this year in the chief cities withm the precints of the churches, the prefects refusing permission to celebrate them in the streets. Protests against the conduct of the prefects were sent in from various cities, and notably trom Modena.