I read, been published in France; indeed,
the zeal in behalf of the Pontifical cause gains, day by day, so rapidly
in that country, that "every one," so some provincial paper says, "who
can hold a pen in hand uses it in favour of justice and religion, upon
the question of the Papacy." So much for France. All I learn about
Italy is that all writings in defence of the Pope are eagerly sought
after and perused. Spanish affairs meet with more attention. An English
vessel has been captured, it seems, freighted with 14,000 bayonets for
Tangiers; and the shipwrecked crew of a French brig were all but
massacred by the Moors, or rather, if they were not massacred, it was
from no want of malignity on the part of the infidels. I have next an
account of the opening of the Victoria Bridge, Canada, interesting
certainly, though I confess that some account, when the sewers in the
Piazza di Spagna are likely to be closed, would possess more practical
interest for myself. This paragraph is followed by two columns long of
the American President's letter to Congress; a subject on which, as a
Roman citizen, I do not feel keenly excited.

The next heading is the "Morning's News." This news is made up of small
short extracts from, or more correctly speaking, small paragraphs
about--extracts from--the foreign newspapers. If I have not heard any
rumours at my cafe, these paragraphs are commonly unintelligible; if I
have heard any such reports of agitation or excitement abroad in
reference to the Papacy I always find from the paragraphs, that these
reports were utterly erroneous. There is a good deal about the new
French free-trade tariff, and the pacific intentions of the emperor.
There are grave discussions, it appears, in the cabinets of London and
Turin; and the return of the conservative Count Walewski to office is
confidently expected in Paris. Lord Cowley's journey to London is now
known to have no political signification, and the idea that any accord
between France and England betokened a desertion of the Villa-Franca
stipulations, is asserted, on the best authority, to be an entire
delusion.

This concludes my budget of news. A whole page is covered with
quotations from Villemain's pamphlet, _La France, l'Empire et la
Papaute_; but as my own personal experience must of course be the best
evidence as to the blessings of a Papal government, this seems to me to
be carrying coals to Newcastle. I have then a list of the strange