such an act of liberality has proceeded from the councils of the Vatican. The author thinks, that every example of religious toleration, come from what quarter it may, is an accession to the cause of truth; and, if there be any merit in those who have overcome prejudice, or who have even made their policy conformable to means which may enable others so to do, it is due to them to acknowledge and commend such liberality in the face of civilised society; for religious toleration, not otherwise than mercy, "is twice blessed" it blesses those that give, and those that take. If it be necessary to declare a motive for the publication of the following Lectures, which were not originally intended for the press, the author had rather such motive were discovered in the sentiments he has just expressed, than in any opinion he might be supposed to have of the merits of his composition; for the only thing remarkable he has to offer in his Lectures is, that they were delivered in a Protestant assembly at Rome. It might have been thought too gratuitous in the author to have put forth any statement of the following

nature without some additional inducement; but, as an introduction to these Lectures, it will hardly appear superfluous-perhaps it is necessary.

The English chapel may now be considered as having the sanction of the Papal government, although no official grant has yet been made which would ever acknowledge its existence.

As early as the winter of 1816-17, English families began to reside in Rome in sufficient numbers to require "an house" for public worship considerable difficulty was then experienced in procuring an apartment to be dedicated to such a purpose: the object was new, alarming, and contrary to the existing laws; but at length, through the influence of Signor Luigi Chiaveri, to whom the English have often been indebted for his kind offices in this respect, a private room was obtained, near the Column of Trajan and thus began the service of the reformed Church of England in the "Holy City!" The duties were discharged by any clergyman who, happening to be present, had the zeal to offer his gratuitous services: the necessary ex

penses were defrayed by the voluntary contributions of the congregation, and the slender funds administered by the kindness of Lieutenant-General Ramsay.

As no permission had been obtained from the authorities (for such a demand must necessarily have been met by a refusal), the new "conventicle" owed its existence entirely to the forbearance of the government. But it was not clear whether such mildness might not soon have to yield to the more austere interpreters of the law, and it is said, that the attention of a high dignitary, attracted by the concourse of vehicles during divine service, had nearly proved fatal. There can indeed be no doubt that some representation was formally made of the illegality and danger of permitting such an unheard of assembly, and a word from the Vatican at that moment might have dissolved the elements of it without doing much violence to the opinion of any one. The enlightened and liberal Gonsalvi, however, perceiving that the English were at Rome in the nineteenth century, and Catholic Ireland still laboured under civil disabilities,

would know nothing of an illegal assembly in the Forum of Trajan, and that assembly duly appreciated his liberality.

It is not to be supposed there was any intention, on the part of the civil authorities, to introduce the principle of religious toleration into the city of Rome: such a supposition would be little less than an impeachment of the minister: nor did the appearance of a new kind of worship work wonders in the sentiments of the listless multitude; but it had the effect of making some of them suspect that heresy, according to the definition they had heard of it, might not be altogether synonymous with infidelity, and the very circumstance of choosing a "festival" (Sunday) for the day of worship, showed at least some traces of church authority. It was soon discovered by the most intelligent of the lower orders, to which, of course, these remarks apply, that the English had a sort of mass of their own, and the solemnity observable in their manner of attending to it was archly compared with the careless genuflections of the Roman signori. In this manner the forbearance of the government was

transfused into the minds of such of the populace as thought at all on the subject: it was not provided that it should be so, it was a natural consequence. During the first two or three seasons, such may be considered to have been the secret moral influence of the English congregation; and the most zealous guardians of pontifical authority had nothing to fear, and, it is to be hoped never will have, from any overt acts of proselytism on the part of the officiating ministers. The protection afforded to the new congregation, although but a negative one, had been hitherto sufficient for all practical purposes; but it was still equivocal, and when the old apartment could no longer be procured, it was not possible to induce a private individual to incur the responsibility of becoming the new landlord: the displeasure of the authorities might be incurred.There was something which still required explanation, a public assembly of this nature, in the house of a Roman citizen, might cause him to be placed at the bar of the Inquisition*; at the same time a

This word must not be allowed to convey to the reader any false noticns. The inquisition at Rome (although contrary in