age this violent and hot-blooded people
gives and receives death. I know the esteem expressed by
Napoleon I. for the regiments he raised here. And we can say
between ourselves that there were many of the subjects of
the Pope in the revolutionary army which defended Rome
against the French. I am persuaded, then, that the Holy
Father has no need to go abroad to find men, and that a few
years would serve to make these men good soldiers. What is
much less evident to me is the real necessity for having a
Roman army. Does the Pope want to aggrandise himself by war?
No. Does he fear lest some enemy should invade his States?
Certainly not. He is better protected by the veneration of
Europe than by a line of fortresses. If, by a scarcely
possible eventuality, any difference were to arise between
the Holy See and an Italian Monarchy, the Pope has the means
of resistance at hand, without striking a blow; for he
counts more soldiers in Piedmont, in Tuscany, and in the Two
Sicilies, than the Neapolitans, the Tuscans, and the
Piedmontese would well know how to send against him. So much
for the exterior; and the situation is so clear, that your
Ministry of War assumes the modest and Christian title of
'the Ministry of Arms.' As for the interior, a good
gendarmerie is all you want.'

"Eh! my dear son," cried the Prelate, "we ask nothing
better. A people which is never destined to make war does
not want an army, but it ought to keep on foot the forces
necessary for the maintenance of the public peace. An army
of police and internal security is what we have been
endeavouring to create since 1849. Have we succeeded? Do we
suffice for ourselves? Are we in a position to ensure our
tranquillity by our own forces? No! no! certainly not."

"Pardon me, Monsignore, if I think you a little severe.
During the three months I have loitered as an observer in
Rome, I have had time to see the pontifical army. Your
soldiers are fine-looking men, their general appearance is
good, they have a martial air, and, as far as I can judge,
they go through their manoeuvres pretty well. It would be
difficult to recognize in them the old soldier of the Pope,
the fabulous personage whose duty it was to escort
processions, and to fire off the cannon on firework nights;