LETTERS ON N. P. WILLIS'S "FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF

EUROPE"

[It may seem invidious to reproduce, after so long an interval, a series of letters in which one of our most agreeable and popular American authors is somewhat severely, though courteously criticised. The offence of Mr. Willis, though perhaps personally a venial one, is nevertheless so common even among the most amiable and respectable writers of similar works, and involves in itself such great injustice, as well as such serious consequences of harm, towards those whose minds are in this way fatally prejudiced against the Roman Church, that no good opportunity can with propriety be let pass, in which something may be done to counteract the evil. It is often the case that persons, even those whose minds are partly imbued with Catholic doctrine, inquire with an appearance of the deepest earnestness and concern, what can be said against the grave charges made by so many writers of name against the Roman dignitaries and clergy. It is felt, on the one hand, that the mere fact that the Roman Hierarchy are such a body as it becomes the chief priests and ecclesiastical princes of the Catholic Church of Christ to be, would, if proved, constitute a powerful moral argument in favour of the high claims of the Roman See; and, on the other, that the absence of sanctity and virtue among them throws a fearful weight into the opposite scale. To those who have been themselves educated for the priesthood in Rome, or who have the advantage of deriving personal information from them, it appears almost an idle task to set seriously about the refutation of the ordinary charges against the Roman clergy. But to such as have not this advantage, the letter of one like Bishop England, whose competence and veracity as a witness are alike above suspicion, must be of great service, and will, it is hoped, be found amply sufficient; while they exhibit to all, and especially to such as feel called upon to write against our holy religion, an example of that dignity, courtesy, and Christian charity, which, in every Catholic prelate living in these times, is put to such severe and trying tests. The letters were first published in the Baltimore Gazette, and are extracted from the United States Catholic Miscellany, into which they were copied― Nos. 18-21 of Vol. XIII., for 1833.]

LETTER I

BALTIMORE, MD., Oct. 23, 1833.

To the Editor of the Baltimore Gazette.

Sir:-Having upon my return from Europe, been told by some friends that a writer who has furnished the New York Mirror with articles under the head of First Impressions of Europe, had mentioned

Nathanael Parker Willis was born in Portland, Me., in the year 1806, and died at Newburg, N. Y., in 1867. He was a polished, voluminous writer and widely read. In 1828 he published the American Monthly Magazine, which, two years after,_was merged into the New York Mirror, the paper above mentioned by Bishop Eng. land.-ED.

a lecture delivered by me in Rome, in terms that appeared somewhat strange to them, I requested to be shown the passage; and the following paragraph in that paper, under date of September 7, was pointed out to me:

"Bishop England, of Charleston, South Carolina, delivered a lecture at the house of the English Cardinal Weld, a day or two ago, explanatory of the ceremonies of the Holy Week. It was principally an apology for them. He confessed that to the educated, they appeared empty, and even absurd rites, but they were intended not for the refined, but for the vulgar, whom it was necessary to instruct and impress through their outward senses. As nearly all those rites, however, take place in the Sistine Chapel, which no person is permitted to enter who is not furnished with a ticket, and in full dress-his argument rather fell to the ground."

I shall premise to my other observations, that it affords me some relief to find the writer does not assert that he heard me; and therefore, though I should consider the passage to be a gross misrepresentation, I am not compelled to charge him with having deliberately published an untruth. He probably heard some one who was present, or some one who had heard from one that was present, notions of what I said, and then gave his own first impressions, hasty and imperfect as they were, instead of my explanation.

It would be folly for me to affect that I did not know the nature of what I delivered after mature reflection, upon which I consider an exceedingly important subject, at the request of an estimable and highly dignified cardinal, in the capital of the Christian world, to a select and specially invited company of several of the best informed members of the British and Irish nobility and gentry, and a number of my own. respectable fellow-citizens; especially, when besides the ordinary motives which should influence any prelate so circumstanced, I had some very peculiar, to urge me to perform the duty in the best manner that I could. One of them, I will confess, was to secure as far as I could, that the land that adopted me should not suffer discredit by my negligence. Had some English tourist endeavoured to strike anything belonging to the United States, through my sides, I should feel less than I do. I avow that I did not imagine that any American then in Rome, would have been so thoughtless.

I had previous to delivering the three lectures (not a lecture), written after some considerable study, an explanation of the Ceremonies of the Mass, and those of the Holy Week, consisting of about three hundred pages in duodecimo, and this little book was then actually in the course of publication. I was therefore fully prepared upon the subject. I conversed after each lecture with several exceedingly intelligent Protestants and Catholics; for the double purpose of as

certaining what were their impressions respecting the elucidations that had been given, and the topics of which it was desirable still to treat. With them I spoke freely, and had their sentiments with a becoming candour. I feel competent then to state at least, the nature of my lectures, and assure you that nothing can be more unlike what they really were than is the description given by the correspondent of the Mirror. Yet he has caught some of my ideas-perhaps even some of my expressions-but has altogether distorted my explanation.

If vindicatory elucidation, following a brief apologetic introduction, be "principally an apology," then is that writer correct—for in such a way have I betrayed my piace, belied my conscience, and deceived my friends. I did say that sometimes even to the educated the ceremonial might appear empty, and to the refined abstract philosopher it might seem absurd, because the form would be considered useless: but that the observances were calculated, when duly understood at all events to impress usefully the great bulk of mankind, who did not enjoy such opportunities of mental cultivation as did the audience I then had the honour of addressing-and that even for the educated and refined, they would, I was convinced, be of the greatest advantage however extensive might be their knowledge, and cultivated their taste; because by those means the understanding was informed-they wrought upon the will and engaged the affections. I did show that the principle they involved was that upon which were based the rites instituted by the Almighty, when he gave his revelations to Moses in the desertupon which Solomon acted subsequently in the application of science. and arts, under the guidance of inspiration. And by a variety of similar topics I showed that by judicious impressions upon the senses, (I am not aware that I found it necessary to introduce the word outward,) the sage and the simpleton, the philosopher and the child might be equally induced to practice virtue, and to cultivate religion.

I was quite aware, it is true, that a large portion of the rites took place in the Sistine Chapel, of which I have the honour of being a member; and of course I know that being a papal chapel, and the private place of worship of his holiness and his attendants, not a public or parochial church, the etiquette required for admittance was that of a court. But if that writer were sufficiently informed upon the subject of which he treated, he would have been fully aware, that the religious ceremonial which I explained, though observed in the papal chapel, was not confined thereto, but might be seen with more or less solemnity in every Catholic church of the Latin rite, from China to California, from Siberia to Cape Horn. Had he known this, he would have per

ceived that what he instituted as my argument would not have "rather fallen to the ground." Had he known this, when he wrote as he did, what shall be said of his veracity? Had he been present at my lectures, he could not have been without the knowledge. I must, sir, request of you as an act of kindness not to me, but to the religion which has bestowed upon so undeserving an individual so many favours, to give to your readers my protest against a paragraph which contains at least as many incorrect averments as it does lines. I trust also that the editor of the Mirror will, as an act of justice to that religion, be induced to insert this and a few other communications, which I shall endeavour to make upon the subject of the First Impressions, should my leisure permit. I am sir, your obedient,

JOHN, Bishop of Charleston.

LETTER II

BALTIMORE, MD., Oct. 26, 1833.

To the Editor of the Baltimore Gazette.

Sir:-I find in the New York Mirror of September 21st, another passage, on which I shall take leave to remark. It is the description which the writer of the First Impressions of Europe gives of his presentation at the Papal Court:

:

"I have been presented to the Pope this morning, in company with several Americans Mrs. and Mrs. Gray, of Boston, Mr. Atherton and daughters, and Mr. Walsh, of Philadelphia, and Mr. Meyer, of Baltimore. With the latter gentleman, I arrived rather late, and found that the rest of the party had been already received, and that His Holiness was giving audience, at the moment, to some Russian ladies of rank. Bishop England, of Charleston, however, was good enough to send in once more, and, in the course of a few minutes, the chamberlain in waiting announced to us the Il Padre Santo would receive us. The ante-room was a picturesque and rather peculiar scene. Clusters of priests, of different ranks, were scattered about in the corners, dressed in a variety of splendid costumes, white, crimson, and ermine; one or two monks, with their picturesque beards and flowing dresses of gray or brown, were standing near one of the doors, in their habitually humble attitudes; two gentlemen, mace-bearers, guarded the doors of the entrance to the Pope's presence, their silver batons under their arms, and their open-breasted cassocks covered with fine lace; the deep bend of the window was occupied by the American party of ladies, in the required black veils, and around the outer door stood the helmeted guard, a dozen stout men-at-arms, forming a forcible contrast to the mild faces and priestly company within.

"The mace-bearers lifted the curtain, and the Pope stood before us, in a small plain room. The Irish priest who accompanied us prostrated himself on the floor, and kissed the embroidered slipper, and Bishop England hastily knelt and kissed his hand, turning to present us as he rose. His Holiness smiled, and stepped forward, with a gesture of his hand, as if to prevent our kneeling, and, as the bishop

mentioned our names, he looked up at us. Whether he presumed we did not speak the language, or whether he thought us too young to answer ourselves, he confined his inquiries about us entirely to the good bishop, leaving me, as I had wished, at leisure to study his features and manner. It was easy to conceive that the father of the Catholic Church stood before me, but I could scarcely realize that it was a sovereign of Europe, and the temporal monarch of millions. He was dressed in a long vesture of snow-white flannel, buttoned together in front, with a large crimson cape over his shoulders, and band and tassels of silver cloth hanging from beneath. A small skull cap covered the crown of his head, and his hair, slightly grizzled, fell straight towards a low forehead, expressive of good nature merely. A large emerald on his finger, and slippers wrought in gold, with a cross on the instep, completed his dress. His face is heavily moulded, but unmarked, and expressive mainly of sloth and kindness; his nose is uncommonly large-rather pendant than prominent, and an incipient double chin, slightly hanging cheeks, and eyes, over which the lids drop, as if in sleep, at the end of every sentence, confirm the general impression of his presence that of an indolent and good old man. His inquiries were principally of the Catholic church in Baltimore, (mentioned by the bishop as the city of Mr. Meyer's residence,) of its processions, its degree of state, and whether it was recognized by the government. At the first pause in the conversation, His Holiness smiled and bowed, the Irish priest prostrated himself again and kissed his foot; and, with a blessing from the father of the Church, we retired.''

Each individual must be the exclusive witness of his own impressions. The correspondent of the Mirror has published those which he says he had regarding Pope Gregory XVI., and gives his character in the phrase "indolent and good old man." The particulars of the holy father's appearance are described in such a way as to sustain the general correctness of the drawing which is exhibited. The writer had ample opportunity and full leisure, as he states himself, "to study his features and manner"-and the result of that study is, the conclusion that the face was "expressive mainly of sloth and kindness"-and in viewing him "it was easy to conceive that the father of the Catholic Church stood before" the spectator.

These are given as the first impressions of the writer, but it is rather unfortunate, that not only are they very different from those which I entertained, but also from those which, if my recollection serves me, were, immediately after the presentation, communicated to me by the writer himself.

I am neither disposed to quarrel with the correspondent of the Mirror for his painting, nor to say that his impressions were what I think he formerly expressed, and not what he now describes; but I shall take the liberty of stating some facts within my own knowledge, for the purpose of enabling your readers to decide how far the pontiff deserves the character of being indolent and slothful.

His ordinary hour of rising is about four o'clock in the morning,