5

done, which would be of infinite service, especially in its influence on learned, intelligent, and Catholic-minded members of the Italian Episcopate and Priesthood; I mean the translation of the English Prayer Book into Latin. The Collects ought to be presented as nearly as may be in their ancient Latin dress, wherever they have been adopted from the old Latin Service-books; and the Epistles and Gospels, and other portions of Scripture, ought to be given in the primitive Latin Vulgate, wherever that version is not at variance with the original. If this were done, the Italian Clergy would see at one glance how much we have in common with themselves, and they would rejoice to know that the Church of England has a Liturgy which contains so much material with which they are familiar by daily use. The "Breviary" is their Manual, - their daily companion, and the correspondence of the English Prayer Book with the Latin Breviary in the structure and arrangement of the services seems to be

I say primitive, because the original readings of the Vulgate have sometimes been tampered with in more recent editions.

a providential dispensation for the future union of Western Christendom.

If our Reformers had adopted the Eastern Calendar and Liturgy, or if they had framed an entirely new one, there would not have been these points of contact, which now exist between us and other Western Churches; and which seem to suggest an earnest endeavour to enter into free and friendly communication with such learned and charitable members of the Italian Priesthood as this excellent Pastor, with whom it was my privilege to have some delightful, friendly, and fraternal intercourse, in this beautiful country Parish among the Apennines.

6

As may be seen in Daniel's Codex Liturgicus, Tom. iv. pp. 212-278, ed. Lips. 1853. For example, the Greek Church has no season of Advent ("Annus Græcorum Ecclesiasticus non orditur ab tempore Adventús, quod prorsus ignorant-"); and its cycle of Saints' Days and other Festivals is different in many respects from that of the Western Church.

CHAPTER X.

GENOA TO LEGHORN, PISA, AND FLORENCE.

LEFT Genoa at a quarter to twelve o'clock at night for Livorno (Leghorn) by steamer, with 250 Italian soldiers on board, who were going on to Naples and Sicily. Beautiful starlight night. Arrived at Leghorn at nine in the morning. Thence to Pisa.

It is in vain to attempt to describe the beauty of the group of buildings; the Cathedral (founded A.D. 1067); and the Baptistery (founded A.D. 1153); and the Leaning Tower (founded A.D. 1174); and the frescoes and monuments, and all the interesting reminiscences of the Campo Santo (founded A.D. 1188). The comparative isolation of these glorious buildings adds greatly to their effect; they are removed from the busy haunts of men; and stand almost in a monastic solitude, -a religious retirement and sacred hermitage

VOL. I.

K

of their own. In this respect they resemble those beautiful groups of ancient Temples, such as may still be seen at Rhamnus in Attica, or at Girgenti in Sicily, which were designed, it would seem, to inspire religious meditation and devotion by their comparative seclusion and silence. The sacred groves, with which they were surrounded, encouraged this pensive feeling, and ministered a soothing influence to the weary spirit, jaded by the din of the city, and resorting to their peaceful shade for quiet thoughts and holy aspirations.

Sad it is, that the spiritual quietness of this sacred spot at Pisa should now be marred by civil and religious strife. In the Prado, or meadow, in which the Cathedral and Baptistery stand, preparations are being made for the erection of a temporary building in which Mass is to be celebrated on Sunday next, June 1, being the National Anniversary of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy. And why? Because the Cardinal Archbishop of Pisa will not allow the Cathedral to be used for that purpose. The Pope will not permit him to do so and the Archbishop has sent a circular to all his Clergy, threatening them

with suspension, if they take any part in the National festival. So Altar is to be erected against Altar, and Priest to be set up against Priest, almost beneath the shade of the glorious Minster, and of the sublime Baptistery in which all the infant children of Pisa are admitted by the Sacrament of Baptism into one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of Christ. And the celebration of the Union of the States of Italy under one King is to be made the occasion of a spiritual feud and of a national schism. And this is to be the case not only at Pisa, but also at Lucca and Florence, and other great cities of Italy. The medieval feuds of the Guelphs and Ghibellines are now raging at the doors of the Cathedrals of Italy; and this conflict will be renewed year after year on the 1st of June, till one party or the other is silenced: for, as to agreement between them, while the claims of the Papacy are what they are,-and she boasts herself to be unchangeable,—this seems to be impossible. The People are exasperated by this anti-social, anti-national, and antichristian antagonism of the Papal Hierarchy. The Christian Scriptures command Bishops to