Roman Mosaics | Page 6

and take part in
musical performances, the score of which is usually composed by the
professor of music in the college. The places of honour nearest the
stage are occupied by several cardinals, whose scarlet dresses and silver
locks contrast strikingly with the black garments of the majority of the
assemblage. The strange costumes and countenances of the speakers,
coloured with every hue known to the human family, the novel sounds
of the different languages, and the personal peculiarities of each
speaker in manner and intonation, make the exhibition in the highest
degree interesting. Its great popularity is evinced by the crowds that
usually attend, filling the hall to overflowing; and though a religious

affair, it is pervaded by a lively spirit of fun, in which even the great
dignitaries of the Church join heartily.
The jurisdiction of the Propaganda is independent. The "congregation"
of the college is composed of twenty-five cardinals, sixteen of whom
are resident in Rome. One of their number is appointed prefect, and has
a prelate for his secretary. They meet statedly, once a month, for the
transaction of business, in a magnificent hall in the college. Previous to
1851, the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church in England were
administered by the Propaganda; our country being included among
heretical or heathen lands to which missionaries were sent. But after
that memorable year they were transferred to the ordinary jurisdiction
of the See of Rome. This movement was the first distinct act of papal
aggression, and provoked fierce hostility among all classes of the
Protestant community. However some of us may regret that such
powerful and well-organised machinery is employed to propagate to the
ends of the earth a faith to which we cannot subscribe, yet no one can
read the proud inscription upon the front of the edifice, "Collegio di
Propagandâ Fide," and reflect upon the grand way in which the purpose
therein defined has been carried out, without a sentiment of admiration.
At a time when Protestant Churches were selfishly devoted to their own
narrow interests, and utterly unmindful of the Saviour's commission to
preach the gospel to every creature, this college was sending forth to
different countries, only partially explored, bands of young priests who
carried their lives in their hands, and endured untold sufferings so that
they might impart to the heathen the blessings of Christian civilisation.
There is not a region from China and Japan to Mexico and the South
Sea Islands, and from Africa to Siberia, which has not been taken
possession of by members of this college, and cultivated for the Church.
Names that are as worthy of being canonised as those of any saint in
the Roman calendar, on account of their heroic achievements, their
holy lives, or their martyr deaths, belong to the rôle of the Propaganda.
And while sedulously spreading their faith, they were at the same time
adding to the sum of human knowledge; many of the most valuable and
important contributions to ethnology, geography, philology, and natural
science having been made by the students of this college. Pope Pius IX.
in his early days, after he had renounced his military career and become

a priest, was sent out by the Propaganda, as secretary to a
politico-religious mission which Pius VII. organised and despatched to
Chili; and in that country his missionary career of two years exhibited
all the devotion of a saint.
I had the pleasure of going through the various rooms of this famous
institution in the appropriate company of one of the most distinguished
Free Church missionaries in India; and was shown by the rector of the
college, with the utmost courtesy and kindness, all that was most
remarkable about the place. The library is extensive, and contains some
rare works on theology and canon law; and in the Borgian Museum
annexed to it there is a rich collection of Oriental MSS., heathen idols,
and natural curiosities sent by missionaries from various parts of the
world. We were especially struck with the magnificent "Codex
Mexicanus," a loosely-bound, bulky MS. on white leather, found
among the treasures of the royal palace at the conquest of Mexico by
Cortes. It is full of coloured hieroglyphics and pictures, and is known in
this country through the splendid reproduction of Lord Kingsborough.
But the most interesting of all the sights to the visitor is the printing
establishment, which at one time was the first in the world, and had the
means of publishing books in upwards of thirty different languages. At
the present day it is furnished with all the recent appliances; and from
this press has issued works distinguished as much for their
typographical beauty as for the area they cover in the mission field. Its
font of Oriental types is specially rich. We were shown specimens