But, as a matter of policy, if he has got so very little to say for himself, it would be perhaps wiser if he held his tongue.  Be that as it may, the Vatican has thought fit to bring out a small brown paper tract, in answer to the celebrated, too-celebrated, pamphlet, Le Pape et le Congres.  The tract is of the smallest bulk, the clearest type, the best paper, and the cheapest price.  Mindful of the Horatian dictum, it plunges at once “in medias res,” and starts, out of breath, with the following interjections:  “The end of the world has come.  Some want a Pope and not a King; others half a Pope and half a King; and others again, no Pope and no King.  And who are these persons—­Catholics or Protestants, Jews or Phalansterians, believers or unbelievers?  Men who have once believed, and believe no longer, or men who have never believed at all?  Which are the most sincere of these classes?  The last, who say, ‘God and the people,’ and who mean to say, ’No more Popes, and no more Kings.’  Which are the most hypocritical?  The second, the men of half measures, who wish for half a Pope and half a King, trusting the while, that either Pope or King may die of inanition, or at any rate that the King will.  Which are the greatest dupes?  The first, who, Pharisee-like, offering up their prayers, and going to church once a year, deceive themselves with the idea, that the Pope will be more powerful and more free in the vestry of St Peter’s than in the palace of the Vatican.”

The above view of the devotional habits prevalent amongst the Pharisees may appear somewhat novel, but let that pass.  Meanwhile, any one experienced in tract lore will feel certain that this outburst will be followed by the appearance of the “candid inquirer,” who comes upon the boards at once, in obedience to the call, and addresses the eloquent controversialist with the stereotyped phrases.

“These three classes of persons, who raise an outcry against the temporal power of the Pope, are of different stamps; for I understand well whom you allude to; you mean the sincere, the moderate and the devout opponents of the Papacy.  I have, however, one or two questions, I should like to ask you; would you be kind enough to answer me?”

X of course replies, that nothing in the world would give him so much pleasure; and during the first dialogue the candid inquirer appears in the character of D, the devout opponent.  The pamphlet is much too long and too tedious to give in full.  Happily the arguments are few in number; and such as they are, I shall be able to pick them out without much difficulty, quoting the exact words of the dialogue, wherever it rises to peculiar grandeur.  X opens the discussion by carrying an assault at once into the enemy’s weak places:  “You devout believers say that a Court is not fitting for a priest.  Everybody, however, knows that, at the Papal Court, the time and money of the public are not frittered away in parties and fetes and dances.  Everybody