hich was intrusted to laymen was the Tribunal of the Capitol
and the Tribunal of Commerce: the latter an institution of Pius VII.,
and directly connected with the Chamber of Commerce, from whose fifteen
members two of its three judges are chosen, while the third is furnished
by the bar; the former, the feeble representative of all that is left of
the municipal government of Rome.

Rome has sixty noble families who enjoy the title of Conscript. From
these are chosen, every three months, three _Conservatori_ and a Prior
of the Wards, who form a committee for the superintendence of the walls
and public monuments, and for the administration of the income of the
Capitoline Chamber. If we look at them in connection with the ancient
government of Rome, we shall find them employed in functions not unlike
those of the _AEdiles_. From the same point of view, the Senator may be
said to resemble the City Prefect; although, when you see him on public
days, standing like a statue on the steps of the Pontifical throne,
above the prelates, but a little lower than the cardinals, you can think
neither of prefect nor of senate, nor of anything that recalls the days
when Romans acknowledged no superior but the fellow-citizens whom they
themselves had chosen as representatives of their sovereign will.

It requires no very profound examination of this system to see that it
is purely and rigidly ecclesiastical. The ecclesiastical leaven
penetrates it in every part. Wherever you go, either for business or for
amusement, you find some representative of the Church. Whichever way you
turn, you see keen eyes peering upon you from under a three-cornered hat
or a cowl. And even when the path seems for a while to be leading you
back to the world, through rows of shops, under the windows of bankers,
within sight of sails and steam, or within sound of humming wheels,
there are still shrines and oratories numberless by the way, and a
church or a convent at the end.

Elective sovereign by origin, the moment the Pope ascends the throne, he
becomes absolute. Authority and honors proceed from him as from their
legitimate source. Money bears his image and superscription. Monuments
are inscribed with his name. Laws and decrees are promulgated as
voluntary emanations of his sovereign will. As head of the Church, all
spiritual interests are under his protection. As chief of the State, all
temporal interests are subject to his control. He reigns, not merely
li