ou
that the labourers of the rural districts are as industrious as our
own peasants (and that, too, in a very different temperature), as
economical, provident, and orderly, though more hospitable and more
charitable. If the lower orders in the towns have become addicted to
extravagance, idleness, and mendicity, it is because they have
discovered the impossibility, even by the most heroic efforts and the
most rigid economy, of gaining either capital or independence or
position. Let us not confound discouragement with want of courage, nor
tax a poor fellow with idleness, merely because he has had the
misfortune to be knocked down and run over by a carriage.

The Pope reigns over 3,124,668 souls, as I have already observed more
than once. This population is unequally distributed over the surface
of the country. The population in the provinces of the Adriatic is
nearly double that in the Mediterranean provinces, and more
immediately under the Sovereign's eyes.

Those pious economists who insist upon it that all is for the best
under the most sacred of governments, will not scruple to tell you:--

"Our State is one of the most populous in Europe:
_therefore_ it must be one of the best governed. The average
population of France is 67 1/2 inhabitants to the square
kilometre; that of the States of the Church 75 7/10. It
follows from this that if the Emperor of the French were to
adopt our mode of administration, he would have 8 2/10
inhabitants more on each square kilometre!

"The province of Ancona, which is occupied by the Austrians,
and governed by priests, has 155 inhabitants to the square
kilometre. The Bas-Rhin, which is the fourth department of
France, has but 129, consequently it is evident that the
Bas-Rhin will continue to be relatively inferior, so long as
it is not governed by priests, and occupied by the
Austrians.

"The population of our happy country became increased by
one-third between the years 1816 and 1853, a space of
thirty-seven years. Such a grand result can only be
attributed to the excellent administration of the Holy
Father, and the preaching of 38,320 priests and monks, who
protect youth from the destructive influence of the
passions.[1]

"You will observe that the English have a passion for moving
about the country. Even in the interior they change their
residence and thei