The Sun.
London, England, 1826-01-21 00:00:00

THE JUBILEE AT ROME.

[FURTHER PARTICULARS.]
FLORENCE, DEC. 10.—The Allied Sovereigns,
aware of the power and influence of the Court of
Rome, and how much formerly a word from her
spiritual and political Chief was able to accom-
plish, still relying on its influence, and in the
hope of still finding people weak and ignorant
enough to bow implicitly to its dictates, the
Allied Sovereigns applied to the present Pope,
Leo XII., requesting him to proclaim a jubilee,
launching the thunderbolts of excommunication
upon all who in secret conspired against the com-
bined Powers of Europe, and calling upon all the
faithful to repair to Rome, confess their sins,
and receive, not only absolution, but plenary in-
dulgence. Leo XII. complied with the request
the more readily, as it offered him the means
of adding to his own power, since he hoped,
through the medium of the confessions made by
those who came to the jubilee at Rome, to
become acquainted with many important
secrets which would either enable him to
establish his own sway more firmly, or give
him additional importance in the eyes of the
other Sovereigns of Europe. in an interview which
Leo had in the course of last spring with the
King of Naples, the latter entreated of him to
give him information of any conspiracy or treason-
able design which might be carried on or intend-
ed against him, which might. be discovered at the
confessional. Leo basely, acceded to this pro-
posal, contrary, not only to custom and equity,
but to the very laws of that religion which he
professed to teach, and of that church of which
he was considered as the infallible head. The
Emperor of Austria, F*rdinand 11., unable to re-
pair to !tome for the same purpose, and not hav-
ing an Ambassador at that Court, employed an
emissary, who, going to Rome, and unable to
procure an interview with his Holiness, became
acquainted with a great number of the priests, on
st hom, by lavishing on them the good things of
this world, he easily -prevailed to second his
muster's views, and who therefore promised to
impart to him any secret which, being intrusted
to them, might he likely to be of consequence to
his wester. The holy year began with great
festivities. Confession was , endued, and pe-
nances imposed ; hut as a palliative, good cheer
was offered to all who came and applied
for indulgences. This, however, was far from
producing the effects expected by his MU-
fIeSS and the other potentates. boring the
holy year, no political discovery of any import-
ance was made. The priests, of course, ttlfll-
- many important secrets ; but these were
either supported, or on inquiry, found to be mere
fabrications of their own. This might easily
have been foreseen. The time for the sale of
indulgences is now past. Few people now be-
lieve in purgatory, and still less have any faith
in the power of the Pope to relieve any soul in
that place, or remove them from it ; the former
is, at the best, a very doubtful matter—the latter
is certainly an absurdity. None, therefore, re-
paired to Rome, except those who went thither
for the sake of the good cheer they might ob-
tain, or the plunder they could commit. All
that was ascertained, therefore, from the confes-
sions made at Rome during the jubilee, was the
knowledge of the infidelity of a few wives, of
the commission of a few robberies, and the per-
petration of a few murders—things of such corn-
moil occurrence in Italy, that the discovery
of them was considered us of importance and
therefore the jubilee of 1825 was looked upon
as a complete failure. One discovery, however,
was made, which, although of no consequence
to the Government,
was of importance to hurtle-
nity, since it saved the life of an oppressed
and innocent being. Count Paolucci, of
Assise, a town seven hundred miles distant
from Rome, had been left a widower, with an
only daughter, whom he instructed, as he was
about to set off on a long journey, to the care of
a female who then lived with him, and with whom
he had been connected even before the death of
his late wife. On his return, this iniquitous
woman advised him to confine his daughter in
some place where she might safely be detained
the rest of her life ; and she represented to him
that by doing this he would not only save the
maintenance and education of his daughter, but
also might employ for his own use a very large
fortune which, at her death, his late wife had
bequeated to their daughter, and which, in the
event of her marrying, he would be obliged
to pay at once on her wedding.day. Moreover,
she mentioned this as the Only condition which
could induce her to consent to the Count's pro.
posal of 'making her his- wife ; and as his affairs
were already embarrassed by his own neglect. and
the extravagance of the woman who now pro-
posed crime as the best remedy fOr their past
follies, lie had the wickedness to consent to the
proposal, and a few weeks after, every necessary
preparation being made, the unhappy girl was
plunged, at the age of sixteen, in a solitary build-
ing at the extremity. of -her fathar's grounds shut
up in a lonely room where the fresh air and the
light of the day could scarcely find admittance,
and where strait was her only bed, bread and
water her only nourishment. In this miserable
and loathsome place, the unhappy creature re.