, 1879-02-09
THE HOLT FATHER WEDDING OUT ABUSES AND
sISECuREs-TAxfNG THE CAroHs.

t THE HOLY FATHER WEDDING OUT ABUSES AM
! sISECuREs-TAErNGT THE CANoNs.
/ PaN Htt Gazette.
The reign Of Lee XIII. has been slgpalizet
] from its commencement by q strict regard 10
| economy and desire to make the Church liz,
| on its resources, without those constant appeals
| to the world, which, during the last years o
the reign Of Plus 1X., gave rise to man,
| scandals New brooms sweep clean, and Lex
| XIII. plies his in all directions, regardless o
peoples feelings and the dust he stirs up. Ons
OF his latest acts has been to announce to thu
canons Of St. Pcter's, very wealthy body. thai
they will be expected to contribute in future
25, 5,000f. year to Peter's Pence. The canon:
| protested; the command ssvored OF 6poliation
from which they had suffered SO much from the
italian Government; how could they raise SC
large a sum! and so on. One Of their body, an
old friend to the Pope when Cardinal Pecci, was
deputed to lay their protest before his Holiness
but it was only time wasted, and the canon was
at length compelled to say, with smile. "Wcll,
your Holiness. no one will be able to say in fu-
ture, He has got cauonry,'" alluding to a
common expression for person having obtain
ed some comfortable berth. ''No," returned
his Holiness, using another similar saying,
"Nor OF us, *Godersi il Papato,'" which may
be translated freely, that the Papacy is not all
beer and skittles. The canons Of Santa Maria
Ataggoire have their grievance too. It
has been their custom from time imme-
mortal to celebrate Christmas Eve with
a heavy supper after midnight mass,
and the chief feature in this entertainment was
huge bowl OF soup, in the concoction Of which
tradition required sixty capons to be used. This
year, shortly before Christmas, the Pope noti-
fed to them that he considered this uncalied Tor
extravagance, and that coffee and cakes was
quite IS much as they could require. SO the
poor canons had to foreso their annual loliltlca-
tion, which seemed all the harder thai they pad
for it out ol their Own money.
MATRIMONIAL FEES.
Another reform has been made in the Dateria,
the department which prepares briefs, etc, for
the office Of the Cancelleria, and the dispense
tions tor mixed marriages Or other matrimonial
difficulties. As applications for such dispensa-
lions come in from all parts Of the world there
is, OF course, great deal of work to be done,
and to expedite this business there has sprung
UP class OF, so to speak, "ottside brokers'"
who. under the title OF "Spetizioueri Apostle
loci" ITO good deal Of !t'usfness by I'M
icrtaking to save people the delays and
trouble of making personal or writ
ten application drcct to the Office Of
the Dateria OF course they obtain fee
for their services; and: as 10 the case Of coun-
tries like South America for instance, for which
the mails only leave once or twice mouth, to
the impatient cou pies lcsirous OF marrying to
sare mail is Of Importance, the advantage Of
having an active agent OIL tile spot is worth All
extra fee; SO they generally nave thelr bands
tutl OF work. Heretofore each man has charged
what seemed right in his own eyes, besides run
ming up nice little account Of extra charges
For instance, the dispensatious were made out
in al old peculiar form Of Gothic writing; so
there was = charge for copying this int" running
itnS goals HNptief1 the