se for miles. The
Pere started, and leaned eagerly upon the window, his eyes fixed on
the Viterbo road. Another minute, ay, a second more, had been enough to
assure him if he had seen aright; but already it was dark again, and
the dense thunder-clouds seemed to descend to the very earth. As the low
growling sounds died away at last, the air seemed somewhat thinner, and
now the Pere could make out a faintly twinkling light that flickered
through the gloom, appearing and disappearing at intervals, as the
ground rose or fell: he quickly recognised it for a carriage-lamp, and
with a fervently uttered entreaty to Heaven, that it might prove the
herald of those he watched for, he closed the window and returned to his
study.

If the law that condemns the priest to a life of isolation and
estrangement from all human affections be severe and pitiless, there
is what many would deem a proud compensation in the immensity of that
ambition offered to men thus separated from their fellows. Soaring above
the cares and anxieties, whose very egotism renders them little, these
men fix their contemplation upon the great events of the world, and,
in a spirit that embraces ages yet unborn, uninfluenced by the emotions
that sway others, untouched by the yearnings that control them, they
alone of all mankind can address themselves to the objects of their
ambition without selfish interests. The aggrandisement of the Church,
the spread and pre-eminence of the Catholic faith, formed a cause which
for centuries engaged the greatest intellects and the most devoted
hearts of her followers. Among these were many of more eminence, in
point of station, than Massoni; many more learned, many more eloquent,
many whose influence extended further and wider, but not one who threw
more steadfast devotion into the cause, nor who was readier to peril
all--even to life itself--in its support. He had been for years employed
by the Papal Government as a secret agent at the different courts
of Europe. He had been in Spain, in Austria, in France, and the Low
Countries; he had travelled through England, and passed nearly a year
in Ireland. Well versed in modern languages, and equally acquainted with
the various forms of European government, he was one whose opinion had a
great weight upon every question of political bearing. Far too crafty to
employ this knowledge in self-advancement, where, at the very utmost,
it might have led to some inferior dignity at home, or s