New-York daily tribune., 1851-07-31
CHANCES AT EUROPE No. XVII.
THE ROMANS OF TO-DAY.


informed friends, that they are mentally superior
to most other Italians It may be deemed strange
that any other result should be thought possible.
since the very earth around them with all st
bears, Is so vivIfed with the spirit OF Heroisn,
of Genius, and of whatever Is most memorable
in History Bu, the legitimate influences OF
Nature, Of Art and of Ancestry. are often over
borne by those of Institutions and Laws. as Is
now witnessed on al the eastern and southern
coasts Of the Mediterranean, and | was rather
disappointed in finding the poorest Romans
race Of fully average capacities, intellectual and
physical. face indicating mental inbecihty
or even low meliocrlty, Is very rarely met IN
those streets, where the greater portion OF the
Romans seem to work and live. The women
are brown. plain, bare-headed and rather care
less OF personal appearance, but ready at repair
tee, seli-possessed. energetic, with flashing eyes
and countenances often indicating depth Of
emotion and character. | do not think such
pictures as abound in Rome could have been
painted where the women were common place
and unldea
But all with whom | can converse. aud
who are qualified to speak, by residence in the
country. give uniavorable accounts of the moral
qualities OF the Romans especially and IN these
qualities include Patriotism and all the CIVIC
virtues That Italians, and those of Rome
peclally, are quite generally sensual, selfish, IN
! doent tickle, dishonest, vicious, is the general
repor, of the foreigners residing among them.
| Jealous Protestants will readily account for 1t
| by their Catholicism. Ny own prepossessions
/ naturally lead me to the conclusion that much of
! the religious machinery in operation here is un
/ favorable to the development of high moral char
/ acter Whatever the enlightened and good may
/ mean by these obseryances, 1t does seem to me
/ that the ignorant and vulgar understand that the
/ evil consequences of pleasant SINS may be
! cheaply avoided by liberal use of holy water,
/ by bowmgs before the altar and reyerent
/ conformity to rituals and ceremonies -
+ This is certainly the great danger lin my sight
| of the Catholic systeni-that 1t may lead Its vo-
! tareS to esteem conformity to outward and cere-
mOnlal requirements as essentially meritonous.
/ and IN some sense an Offset for violations OF the
moral law Not that this error Is by any means
/ confined to Catholics, for Chnstendom IS full of
/ PrOtestants who, though ready enough to pro-
poor atonement for violating the Command
ments, and Alteration Of the Virgin very bad
substitute for Chastity, do yet themselves prefer
/ bad Christians to good Infidels, and would hail
with Joy the conversion of India or China to their
! creed though 1t should involve no Improvement
| of character or life. | know every one believes
/ that such conversion would inevitably result IN
amendment of heart and morals. but how many
desire II mainly for that reason How large
proportion of Protestants esteem It the great end
| of Religion to make its votaries better husbands,
brothers, children, nelghbOrs kindred, citizens
| To my Protestant eyes, 1t seems that the general
error OH this point is prevalent and more vital
at Rome than elsewhere and | have been trying
to recollect among all the multitude ofPaintngs,
| Mosaic and Statuary have seen here, repre-
! sentng St Peter IN Prison, ST. Peter on the Sea
| of Galee. st Peter healing the Cripple, st. Pc
ter raising the Dead, St Peter receiving the Keys,
| St Peter suffering Martyrdom, &c sc (some OF
! them many times over,) have any where met
with a representation of that most remarkable
/ beneficent vision whereby the Apostle was IN
structed from Heaven that "Of a truth, God Is
no respecter Of persons, but in every nation he
i
accepted with HIM" presume such repre-
sentation must exist IN city where there are
so many hundreds If not thousands of pictures OF
/ st Peter dong. receiving or suffering but this
certainly is not favorite subject here or should
| have seen it many times depicted Who knows
a Protestant city in which the aforesaid lesson
given to Peter has been adequately dwet Oh and
| needed
That the prevalence of Catholicism Is not
Inconsistent with general uprightness and purity
OF morals is demonstrated In Ireland, in Swift
zerland, IN Belgium in the Tyro and elsewhere.
/ The testimony OF the great body OF travellers
and other observers with regard to the countries
Just named aflirms the general prevalence
therein of those virtues which are the basis OF
the family and the church. And yet the ac-
knowledged state of things here Is a grave fact
which challenges inquiry and demands explana-
ton In the very metropolis of Catholic Christ
endom. where nearly all believe, and great
majority are at least ceremonially deyout-where
many of the best nteects in the Catholic COM
munion have fourished and borne sway for more
than fifteen centuries, and with scarcely dyi-
deCsempire for the last thousind years-where
Churches and Priests have long been more abun
dant than on any other spot OF earth, and where
Divine worship and Christian ordinances are
scarcely ntermiited for an hour but are free
and welcome to all, and are very generally at
tended-what Is the reason that corruption and
degeneracy should be SO earfully prevalent
II only the enemies OF Rome's faith affirmed this
degeneracy, we might fairly suppose 1t invented
or exaggerated but even the immediate Priest
hood of this people, who may be presumed most
unwilling and unlikely to deny their virtues or
magnify their vices, declare them UNIT to be
.rastnd with nnlner nYar thelr own nnIllcal de-