mous devotion. His religion bore the impression of his character and his genius: it was strong and clevated, otherwise he would often have been stopped in his operations; but seeing all things as a great man, and rising superior to public rumours, prejudices, and even events, he knew how to be a prince and a pontiff.

The little artifices practised by narrow minds, to obtain their ends, he was a stranger to. Though peculiarly calculated for a court which is accused of being the very vortex of intrigue and chicane, he never deceived the politicians, but by remaining silent; for when he spoke, he uttered the truth. He was too upright a man to act by sinister means, and was, indeed, too great a genius to stand in need of them.

No one knew better when to seize the proper moment, when he neither was slow nor precipitate, The hour, is not come, he would say, when he was solicited to hasten some operation. He wrote to Car dinal Stoppani," I mistrust my vivacity, and therefore I shall not answer till the end of a week, concerning what your eminence requires of me. Our imagination is often our greatest enemy; I am striving to weary it before I act. Matters of business, like fruits, have their maturity, and it is only when they are hastings that we should think of accomplishing them."

His manner of reading resembled his other operations; he abstained from books, if he found himself disposed to reflect; and as sove, reigns are led by circumstances, from whence we may conclude that all men are born dependent, he of ten kept vigils great part of the

night, and slept in the day-time. Their rule, he used to say, is the compass of monks and friars; but the wants of their people is the clock of sovereigns: let it be what hour it may, if they want us, we must attend them: La bussola di frati é la loro regola, ma il bisogno del popolo é l'orologio dei sovrani.

This maxim, when he was pope, often took him from his books. He then read only to edify, or to relax from business. He was of opinion, that all the books in the world might be reduced to six thousand volumes in folio, and that those of the present age were no thing but pictures, which daubers had found the art of cleaning, in order to present them in the properest light to public view.

It is to be lamented that he produced nothing in the literary way, though some have ascribed to him part of the works of Benedict XIV. We should have found in his the phlegm of the Germans, blended with the vivacity of the Italians: but he was so thoroughly persuaded that there were too many writers, that he was always fearful of increasing the number. He said one day, smiling, "Who knows whe ther brother Francis may not one day take it into his head to write? I should not be in the least astonished to see some work in his manner; but surely it would not be a history of my ragouts, or the book must be very concise!"

When any one mentioned to him the fashionable productions that appeared against christianity, he would say, "the more there are, the more the world will be convinced of the necessity of it." He observed, "that all the writers who opposed Christianity, knew only

how

how to dig a ditch, and that was all they could supply its place with." He said, "that Mr. Voltaire, whose poetry he admired, attacked religion so often, only because it was troublesome to him; and that J. J. Rousseau was a painter, who always forgot the heads, and who excelled only in the drapery."

He explained himself one day upon a work, called The System of Nature, and added, "what hurts me is, that the more it is founded upon false principles, the more, in an age like ours, it will gain reputation and readers; and it will receive an additional value by its being seriously refuted." He afterwards observed, that "the author of this bad book is a madman, who imagines, that, by changing the master of the house, he can dispose of it just as he pleases, without reflecting that no creatures can breathe but by existing in God, in ipso vivimus, movemur, & sumus. But every age is distinguished by a new fangled mode of thinking. After the times of superstition, are come the days of incredulity, and the man who formerly adored a multitude of gods, now affects not to acknowledge any one. Virtue, vice, immortality, annihilation, all appear to him synonymous, provided some insignificant pamphlet serves him as a rampart against heaven; and it is in the very bosom of religion that these scandalous opinions originate and multiply. Whilst religion was persecuted by the Pagans, a pope had at least the glory and the good fortune to defend it at the price of his blood; but now that he cannot fly to martyrdom, he is unfortunately compelled to be the miserable witness of error and impiety."

These excellent reflections he made in the presence of a commander of Malta, from whom the author had them, and who assured him that the pope was ever ready to sacrifice himself for the benefit of religion, and the interest of the church, considering his life as no object when these were called in question. It was solely for the glcry of the church that he from time to time created several cardinals, without paying any attention to their private connections.

Their institution, which commenced in the ninth century, had no other object than the benefit and honour of religion. They constitute the council of the sovereign pontiffs, when they have occasion for advice; and there were at all times amongst them persons of eminence, whose zeal, added to their knowledge, proved of infinite use to the church and state. Some carried their courage and their faith to the extremities of the world; others, with the approbation of princes, governed with wisdom the most flourishing empires. The most remote ages will remember, with admiration, the Amboises, Ximenes, Richlieus, and Fleurys, and consider them as the bulwarks of those kingdoms where they acted as mi

be worthy of it. The good qualities necessary in friendship are not sufficient for a cardinal. It is a dignity that has too much influence upon the church, to let chance dispose of it.

To judge properly of the genius of Clement, we should view him with some friends, and particularly the cardinal de Bernis, (whose different ages seemed appropriated to the most flattering periods, and the most delicate works) conferring upon the subjects of the times, and the means of reconciling the interests of religion with those of princes. When the greatest lights had been thrown by these his counsellors upon the subject in debate, Ganganelli, as the primum mobile of their deliberations, decided with

manly resolution. The slightest

error would have been of the most dangerous consequence. The chief point in question was to weigh the rights of the sovereign pontiff, the motives upon which he acted, and to keep within the bounds that sup port the equilibrium between the holy father and the other poten

tates,

The more arduous and difficult the functions of a pope, the more he stands in need of repose to enable him to go through his labours. Castlegandolfe, a castle built by the Chevalier Bernini, four leagues from Rome, near the lake Albano, which commands the most agreeable prospects, is the usual summer tesidence of the sovereign pontiffs,

Clement failed not to repair thither in the months of May and Oc. tober, the most proper seasons in Italy to enjoy the pleasures of the country; and it was here, to be intimately acquainted with Clement, we should view him anatomizing an

His imagination was gratified at the sight of those beauties that present themselves in the neighbourhood of Rome; at the recollection of the antient Romans, who had so boldly trampled upon the soil, he recalled to his memory the most sublime and ingenious passages of the antient poets upon the occasion, There are few Italians, however little read, who are unacquainted with the works of Ariosto, Dante, Tasso, Petrarch, and Metastasio even the women amuse themselves with the perusal of these poets, and can quote them occasionally. His philosophy served his imagination as an excellent second; it recalled to his memory the different situa tions of his life; at one time in a state of obscure tranquillity, then forcibly agitated in the glare of dignity, like a pilot, who, after a calm serene morning, in the even, ing finds himself in a violent hurricane, accompanied with thunder, hail, and rain.

Sometimes, weary of meditation, he would retire with an old convent friend of his, Father Francis, into a bower sequestered from the eye of curiosity here the cloyster anec dotes amused them, and they seemed in a perfect state of equality. Ono day, Clement viewing him, repeat, ed twice these words: "He has kept his garb, and is happier than me who wear the tiara. It was decreed I should be a pope, and I

much

While he was at Castlegandolfe, on giving a splendid repast to some grandees of Spain, he laid aside his Sovereign authority, and joined them in a friendly manner when seated at table, without suffering them to rise to salute him.

The public imagined he had lost sight of the grand objects of the jesuits, whilst, according to the custom of the court of Rome, he only aimed at gaining time. He at times searched the archives of the Propaganda, to consult the Memoirs of Cardinal de Tournon, of M. Maigrot, of La Beaume, and of the Jesuit Missionaries. At other times he had read to him the accusations of the society, and their vindications. Every important work, pro or con, with respect to the jesuits, he attentively examined; whilst equal ly mistrusting the eulogiums, and the sarcasms passed upon them, he was biassed neither by their panegyrists nor their satyrists. No man was ever more impartial. Equally abstracting himself from his own inclination, as well as all prejudices, be judged in the same manner upon the occasion as posterity necessarily

must.

"Let me (said he to the sove reigns who pressed him to determine) have leisure to examine the important affair upon which I am to pronounce. I am the common father of the faithful, particularly

those of the clergy; and I cannot destroy a celebrated order, without sufficient reason to justify me in the eyes of all ages, and above all, before God."

The people ever idolizing him, ceased not to bless his reign; and their perseverance in doing so constitutes his greatest eulogium. It is well known that the Romans easily change from enthusiasm to hatred; that they have often calumniated those pontiffs whom they had the most flattered; and that a pope to please them should not reign above three years. Unfortunately, on account of their laziness, they constantly hope, that a change of masters must be attended with an increase of happiness; just as sick men are apt to fancy that they will be much easier when they are placed in another posture.

The glory of Clement would not have been complete, if he had not contributed to the embellishment of Rome, a city so susceptible of ornaments, so fruitful in riches proper to decorate it; but unwilling to pursue the path of Sixtus V. Paul V. or Benedict XIV. he composed a museum, comprizing every thing that could gratify the curiosity of antiquarics and travellers ; that is to say, the scarcest curiosities that had been transmitted by the ancients.

It might be said, on this occasion, that Rome, jealous of honouring this pontificate, was eager to display the master-pieces which lay concealed within her bowels. Scarce a year passed without vases, urns, statues of exquisite workmanship, being dug up, to enrich the superb collection begun under Lambertini. Here, with the cast of an eye, we nay see the triumph of the Christain religion, by the fragments that

serted

served in the pagan sacrifices, and the ruins of all those prophane divinities, the statues of which are no longer held in estimation, but in proportion to the mastership with which they are executed.

When Clement could relax from the variety of business in which he was engaged, he visited these monuments with foreigners of distinction, and celebrated artists, rather as a sovereign who considers it as a -duty to embellish his capital, than as an amateur, who gratifies his taste. This he said to the Chevalier Chatelus, a worthy branch of the immortal d'Aguesseau, as well on account of his wit as his extensive knowledge. After conversing with him upon different subjects, he concluded, that "being born in a village, and brought up in a cloyster, where the love of arts was not inspired, he could not acquire the necessary judgment to determine as a connoisseur, upon the monuments he collected; but that, as a sovereign, he thought himself obliged to display the finest models to artists and the curious, in order that they might know and imitate

thein."

If he did not always reward the learned, as they might think they had a. right to expect from so enlightened a pope, circumstances should be adverted to. The multiplicity of business in which he was engaged, joined to the shortness of his reign, did not afford him leisure to engage in those pursuits which would have given him the greatest pleasure. Moreover, a pope cannot always act agreeably to his own inclinations. There are incidents that tie his hands. Nevertheless, he was always found attentive to bestow bishoprics only upon those he knew to be men of learning;

and to this reason may be ascribed his so frequently promoting priests of his own order.

A pope is generally very circumspect in the nomination of a bishop. He knows that the proper regulation of a diocese requires judgment and abilities; for which reason the Italian bishops are usually as meek as they are learned, and as charitable as they are zealous. They are constant résidents, and they live in friendship and cordiality with their curates, for they must not be confounded with those monsignori, known in Rome under the titles of prelates, and who frequently, not being in orders, fill such posts as laymen might occupy, and serve the pope in his various functions.

Clement was not less attentive in the nomination of his nuncios: he was desirous that his ambassadors should do him honour, as well by their manners as by their learning, and particularly by their love of peace; and, if he appointed M. Doria his nuncio to the court of France, notwithstanding his youth, it was because he was convinced that his extraordinary virtues had outstripped his years, and that his merit already corresponded with the celebrity of his name. It was not till after the consequence this prelate had gained in Spain (where he was the bearer of the consecrated child-bed linen) that Clement named him. nuncio in France. He sent him there as an angel of peace, fit to maintain the harmony between the father and the eldest son of the church.

Religion has often suffered by an indiscreet zeal; and in order to prevent it for the future, as far as possible, Clement, whose prudence ever dictated all his steps and re

solves,