into temptation." Our pilgrims, as other pilgrims of the present day, were constant in every morning praying – "lead us not into temptation; " but, having said this, they thought no more about it.

CHAPTER XXVI.

EVENTS AND SCENES IN THE CITY OF ST. PETER.

It is not possible to narrate all the incidents attending their residence in the city of St. Peter, nor the arts adopted to impress them favorably with the preeminent claims and piety of the One and True Church. They listened to the enthusiasm of beautiful women, the commendations of amiable and attractive men, some of them distinguished for their zeal and attention to the sick and the wretched; they beheld the grandest creations of architecture with the feelings of awe and sublimity; but their hearts did not betray them into confounding emotions natural to man with the devotions of a soul in its aspirations for a heaven of holiness, and its deep humiliation on account of the depravity and waywardness of sinful hearts.

They were curious observers of all that was passing, and remarked narrowly the swing of the pendulum of life and society, often abruptly changing its measure and beat. The same party of devotees who took them into a vast pile, where, before a lofty shrine, a few candles, feebly burning, made darkness visible, and voices sung in tones of melting sweetness, ten

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derness, and agony, the griefs of the mother at the foot of the cross, on leaving these scenes and sounds, would take them to places where all was festivity; where, with gay groups, they walked through galleries covered with creations of genius, full of seductive blandishments, of beauty wearing the thinnest of veils to conceal the amours of mythical gods and goddesses; or, it might be, next to some saint, with his skull and crucifix before him; but where all served, directly or by contrast, to minister to the passions or to, superstition.

Our pilgrims would not be seduced into the study of voluptuous pictures, whether the subjects were sacred or profane. And most travelled ladies, as they witnessed this resoluteness of our ladies in eschewing all such works of art, whether by an "old master ” or a young one, amused themselves at their expense; and they were styled "verdant," "un peu puriste." Indeed, we may here say, few return as pure to their father's home as when they left it for a foreign tour. Having no other intention than to see all that is to be seen, and "in Rome to do as the Romans do," so very anxious are our home-bred in these particulars, that few of those "native here, and to the manner born," are ever initiated into all the mysteries in which such travelled ladies return adepts to their native lands. It may be well for men to ask, who have wives to elect, “Has my lady-love been a tourist ;" and, if so, "At what capitals did she winter, and where were her summers spent, and with whom?"

To proceed our pilgrims had not come abroad ignorant of art. They had studied drawing under good masters, and knew something of what is meant by composition and color, and other terms forming the technology of artists; and, standing in the

presence of the grandest of all the labors of genius, they saw proofs of the long servitude of the pencil and the chisel, pensioned and patronized by priests to elevate and embellish superstition, or by princes to aid in the ministry of the passions. Whatever may have been the effect upon others of our ladies' "purisme," the cardinal and bishop by every act showed their highest admiration of their conduct, and never sought to detain them before a picture or a statue which they could not all scrutinize and study; and, in these examinations of works of art, these gentlemen delighted to be instructors of pupils so grateful, docile, intelligent, and quick to understand their taste and criticisms.

Gertrude whispered into the ear of Frank all that had fallen from Blanco. They now, for the first time, asked, “Who are our servants?" They represented themselves as cousins; were amiable, intelligent, and attentive; always in their places, silent and unobtrusive; so that they had come to regard them as model servants. They could hardly believe they were soldiers in that grand army whose name is legion, forming a grand whole, compared by one of its great masters * to "a sword whose handle is held by the general of the Jesuits in Rome, and whose blade's point sweeps the world."

It was to Annie a matter of restiveness to feel she was a subject for espionage of their own servants, and had been so for months; and it became a matter of first necessity to discover how far this was carried. Annie's dressing-room opened into her bedroom by a plate-glass door, which had a white curtain hanging on

* Aquiviva.

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the inside. Of this she held the key. One day, when they were all to go out with a party, Annie dressed herself, with the aid of Ursula, and then, having sent Ursula to a shop, and Diego on an errand, returned to her private room; and when those servants returned, they found the rooms all vacant, and, asking no questions, rested in the belief that they were alone. While Annie was reading, she heard them enter her chamber; and, through a hole she had made in the curtain, she saw Ursula take from her own pocket a string, upon which many keys were strung, and, having found the one she sought, open her little travelling writing-desk, and read all the notes lying loose. She selected some few of them; and then she opened her memoranda-book of her travels. These she copied with singular facility, aided by Diego. When done, they compared them carefully, and Ursula placed these under an envelope, and handed them to Diego, saying, "Say to Father Geriot he has all the means of judging of what our ladies are thinking and doing that we possess. Say to him, I beg he will tell me when he will hear my confession. It is now a full week since I have seen him. Let him appoint the time and place. Say to him I can tell him what I cannot write." Her manner to Diego was that of a superior, commanding, and having a right to control. With profound reverence Diego took the packet, and left the room. Ursula paced the chamber for a while, looking very much discomposed about something, when she left the room, and soon after returned with her bonnet and scarf on, and, going out, she locked the room and took out the key, to be delivered to the janitor for safe-keeping till her lady returned. •

Annie was curious to see what she had written in her memo

randa-book, and laughed merrily at the thought of how queer this must have sounded in the vaults of the College of Jesuits, and what Father Roothaan might have said in reading her “first impressions" of himself and others. Had we space we would give some of these notes of travel. Annie's ruse was successful. On mature consideration, our pilgrims determined to retain Diego and Ursula, and to do all they had done, even to Annie's journal, which from that day became more and more piquant and telling; and the record was made to blind those who regarded themselves in the light of noon. The reverend conclave and General Roothaan had no reason to distrust the pertinency of the proverb concerning eavesdroppers, They regarded it safest and best to be all unconscious of the espionage under which they lived; and the secrets of others, especially of Blanco and Angelique, were never spoken of but in whispers in each other's

ears.

Blanco never came but with Father Geriot, nor did he ever try to speak with them; but, looking sad and wretched, while Father Geriot was full of his sallies of wit, he sat in silence, without a smile. When he left them, a look, an appealing look, reminded them of his request, and prompted them to a compliance with his wishes.

One day he said to Frank, in a whisper, while looking over a book of prints, "Come to my monastery to see our conservatory. Come with the Prince Cardinal. Take your ladies along." And poor Blanco tried to smile, and give significancy to these last words; and never did a face look so wo-begone as his at that instant. "They must be left at the door; the cardinal will, no