to support the injustice and dishonesty of
a petty government that would not be tolerated for
twenty-four hours with us. If we were, we must change the
eagle on our flags for a crow. The Emperor cannot desire the
misery of a people, and the shame of his soldiers. He has
his own notions. But if, in the meantime, these poor devils
of Romans were to rise in insurrection, in the hope of
obtaining the Secularization, the Amnesty, the Code, and the
Liberal Government, which we have taught them to expect, we
should inevitably be obliged to shoot them down."

CHAPTER XVIII.

WHY THE POPE WILL NEVER HAVE SOLDIERS.

I paid a visit to a Roman Prelate well known for his devotion to the
interests of the Church, the temporal power of the Popes, and the
August person of the Holy Father.

When I was introduced to his oratory I found him reading over the
proof-sheets of a thick volume, entitled _Administration of the
Military Forces_.

He threw down his pen with an air of discouragement, and showed me the
two following quotations which he had inscribed on the title-page of
the book:

"Every independent State should suffice to itself, and assure its
internal security by its own forces."--_Count de Rayneval; note of
14th May_, 1855.

"The troops of the Pope will always be the troops of the Pope. What
are warriors who have never made war?"--_De Brosses_.

After I had reflected a little upon these not very consoling passages,
the Prelate said,

"You have not been very long at Rome, and your impressions
ought to be just, because they are fresh. What do you think
of our Romans? Do the descendants of Marius appear to you a
race without courage, incapable of confronting danger? If it
be indeed true that the nation has retained nothing of its
patrimony, not even its physical courage, all our efforts to
create a national force in Rome are foredoomed to failure.
The Popes must for ever remain disarmed in the presence of
their enemies. Nothing is left for them but to entrench
themselves behind the mercenary courage of a Swiss garrison
or the respectful protection of a great Catholic power. What
becomes of independence? What becomes of sovereignty?"

"Monsignore," I replied,

"I already know the Romans too well to judge them by the
calumnies of their enemies. I daily see with what
intemperate cour