and educated until they reach their twenty-fourth year. Among the boys there educated was an Arabian youth, fifteen years of age, whose talents were not of a very superior order. One day a letter arrived by mail, directed to the Prefect of the Propaganda, sealed with the state seal of the Pasha of Egypt, in which His Highness in a very friendly manner complimented his holiness, Pope Leo the XII. requesting him to consecrate the Arabian boy Bishop of Alexandria. The Prefect of the Propaganda as soon as he read the letter, ordered his state carriage to the Quirinal palace, where the Pope was at that time residing. Leo received the message with delight, he thought the riches of Egypt were already hoarded in the treasury of the Vatican; he immediately convoked the Sacred College and desired their counsel on that important subject. Some of the cardinals argued in favor of the consecration, believing that the Arabian boy must be an illegitimate child of the Pasha, otherwise he would not thus distinguish a christian and a youth with such honors. Others argued the contrary on the same ground, as the councils and canonical laws strictly forbid that the dignity of a bishop should be enjoyed by a bastard. Another irregularity was in the way;

the boy was not even of age, and still more that he was ignorant. But Pontifex omnia potest;. the Pope can do all things, even metamorphose ignorant heads into wise ones, the boy was, in spite of all the illegalities and irregularities, de-* clared by Leo XII. not only Bishop but Patriarch of Egypt.

The priests promulgated it with great joy; the triumph of christianity, the advantages of the church of Rome, and the pecuniary profits to the holy seat, all was mentioned that could swell the song of gladness. They had the audacity to say publicly, in the presence of ladies, "that the Arabian boy was an illegitimate child of the Pasha." And many Roman mothers, [not heathen, but christian Roman mothers] envied the Arabian lady the honor of having such a distinguished lover. In short, I was an eye witness of the consecration as performed by Pope Leo XII.; I saw that Pope kneeling upon the first step of the altar in St. Peter's church, to receive the blessing of the boy celebrans, or as he was called "the Boy Patriarch," at the end of the ceremony of the consecration. In the history of Popes, we never find a similar occurrence, that the Pope himself should have consecrated a bishop.

The Pope gave the boy Patriarch a monk of the Paolotti as a secretary, who was also to be his tutor, under whom he had to finish his education. He wrote also through the Secretary of State, a .complimentary letter to the Pasha of Egypt, to inform His Highness that his wishes were all punc tually fulfilled, and that the new Patriarch of Egypt would soon leave the papal shore for his new destination. The Propaganda fitted out the Patriarch in the best style; sacred vases, episco pal ornaments and gifts for the Pasha were prepared; a vessel was chartered in Civita Vecchia upon which the boy Patriarch and whole suit were embarked.

We shall leave the young Patriarch on his voya age, and direct the attention of the reader towards Egypt. The Pasha received the dispatches of the Pope, and could scarcely understand their con tents. After a due examination of the documents, the Pasha became furious, he immediately ordered the father of the boy Patriarch to be imprisoned, who as it was supposed had forged the signature of the Pasha, and was without any further inquiry decapitated, and an order was issued that the Pat riarch with his whole suit should meet with the same fate, as soon as they landed on the shores of Egypt.

The ambassadors and consuls of the christian courts, wrote to all the ports to inform the mitred voyager of the danger which awaited him. The merchants did the same. Fortunately a contrary wind drove them [I do not exactly remember if it was on the island of Malta, or on one of the Ionian islands,] where they received information of the predicament into which they were placed. The monk of the Paolotti immediately resumed the authority of the master instead of secretary; he ordered the captain to return, and treated the poor youth not as a boy Patriarch but as a school boy. On one occasion the poor creature resented the tyrannical treatment of the monk, who gave him a slap in the face; the servants who saw it lost their respect for him, so that the poor young man in a short time was driven to despair. In that state of mind, he determined to escape upon an English vessel, and to place himself under the protection of the British flag. If he would have done that openly, he might have saved himself; but being inexperienced in the world, [in addition to this the fear of his monkish tyrant,] he resolved to escape at night and take with him the sacred vessels and the gifts, which he had for the Pasha of Egypt. But a servant whom he thought faith

ful betrayed him, and in the act of his escape he was taken, and wishing to hide his guilt, concealed the sacred vessels.

Now the monk, who envied the mitre of the boy became the master; he put the poor patriarch in confinement, chained him in the cabin, until they reached the port of Civita Vecchia, where the monk wrote to the cardinal Zurla, the Vicar of the Pope, intimating to him that he would not leave the vessel, until His Holiness recompensed him for the faithful services he had performed, and the dangers he had encountered for the welfare of the church. The Pope was obliged to give him the mitre, in order to stop the mouth of the monk.

Now in order to bring the victim to Rome without incurring the ridicule of the people, the Pope, and the sacred college to cover their blunder and ignorance, invented a story of which Satan himself would be ashamed. It was related as a positive fact, by the priests in the confessional, as well as in society, in the pulpit as well as in the streets: That in a certain village, a poor woman was to be buried, but that the parish priest, who was very avaricious, would not perform the burial, because her children could not pay the fee.