finement which left it without strength or vigor, and
society in general seemed more concerned with form and ceremony than
with the deeper things of the spirit.

Countless examples are on record to show the petty jealousies which were
agitating the public mind at this time, and the number of quarrels and
arguments which had their origin in most trivial causes passes belief.
Rank and position were of the utmost consequence, and questions of
precedence in public functions were far more eagerly discussed than were
questions of national policy. Naples, under the control of Spanish
princes, was particularly noted for such exhibitions of undignified
behavior. On one occasion, during a solemn church ceremony, the military
governor of the city left the cathedral in a great rage because he had
noticed that a small footstool had been placed for the archbishop, while
nothing of the kind had been provided for his own comfort. At the death
of a certain princess, the royal commissioners delayed the funeral
because it was claimed that she had used arms and insignia of nobility
above her true rank, and was not entitled, therefore, to the brilliant
obsequies which were being planned by the members of her family. The
body was finally put in a vault and left unburied until the matter had
been passed upon by the heraldry experts in Madrid! During the funeral
services which were being held in honor of the Queen of Spain, the
archbishop desired footstools placed for all the bishops present, but
the vicegerent opposed this innovation, and the ceremony was finally
suspended because they could come to no agreement. The cities of Cremona
and Pavia were in litigation for eighty-two years over the question as
to which should have precedence over the other in public functions where
representatives of the two places happened to be together; finally, the
Milanese Senate, to which the question was submitted, "after careful
examination and mature deliberation, decided that it had nothing to
decide." Another example of this small-mindedness is shown in the case
of the General Giovanni Serbelloni, who, while fighting in the
Valteline in 1625, was unwilling to open a despatch which had been sent
to him, because he had not been addressed by all his titles. It is a
pleasure to add that as a result of this action he was left in ignorance
as to the approach of the enemy and the next day suffered a severe
defeat.

Rome was the seat of much splendor and displa