a

source of satisfaction and emotion, but what he especially felt was that each of them was a pledge of affection and of prayer. He then declared the Exhibition open. The choir then sang a "Hymn to Then came the presentation of the Roman Committee, and the Pope walked into the galleries of the Exhibition.

Leo XIII."

We have not space to recount all the events of the week, though a few lines must be given to a performance that must seem strange to us from its very novelty. On the afternoon of the Epiphany in the Church of the Ara Cali, children might have been heard preaching the little sermons which with much trouble they had been taught. A table covered by a red carpet took the place of a pulpit in the west end of the church, and here some children tried, with varied success, to deliver their few

sentences.

Many pilgrims had gone from England to do honour to His Holiness, and on the 10th of January, there were admitted to an audience about five hundred of our countrymen. The audience lasted from nine in the morning till half past twelve, involving no slight labour for a man as old as His Holiness.

His Holiness was accompanied by the English prelate Mgr. Stonor, and by Mgr. Della Volpe. The Pope welcomed the Deputation with warmth, and spoke of England with much affection, and referred to his having met the Queen when he was Nuncio at Brussels. He received the Duke of Norfolk first, and afterwards the Bishops, asking each about his diocese, regarding the number of Catholics in each, and the dispositions of the Protestants towards them. He also inquired about the Religious Orders, and was glad to hear how many Religious of both sexes were devoting their lives to the good of Religion. When he heard that Dr. Lee, the Protestant rector of All Saints', Lambeth, had had a solemn Te Deum for His Holiness in his church, he fairly laughed.

The first to be presented after the Bishops and nobility, was the aged authoress, Mrs. Mary Howitt, eighty-nine years of age. The meeting was a very touching one. The Pope said gently to her "We shall meet again soon in Paradise." Lady O'Hagan's youngest boy, a pretty child of five years, was then led forward. The Pope took him on his knees and caressed him repeatedly, and finally asked him whether he would like to stay. The child looked at the Holy Father a moment, and then made what was probably a safe reply: "If mother wants me to." At half-past twelve the Pope rose from his throne and passed into his private apartments.

The Vatican Exhibition was opened to the public on the sixth of January. Here were displayed the gifts of the faithful to the Pope, gifts from all sections of Society, from kings and from poor. Some of these presents come from some Protestant sovereigns, others are the work of poor but loving Catholics, who have spent much time upon this their labour of love.

It would be impossible to give anything like a satisfactory account of the many presents sent to His Holiness. They are displayed in the Vatican Exhibition halls, and form a splendid testimony of the veneration and love of Catholics, and of the high esteem felt for His Holiness even by those not of the Faith.

Our Queen sent by the hands of her Premier Peer, the Duke of Norfolk, a beautiful ewer and basin: they were used by the Pope at his Jubilee Mass. The jug and basin are both made of solid raised gold, and are a reproduction of a pair at Windsor Castle. The ewer bears a seraph in front and has a dolphin on the top of the handle. It is entirely covered by arabesques, having three oval medallions, each with a dolphin in. On the foot are other dolphins sporting in waves of lesser relief-these also again appear on the basin. In the middle of the basin in a circle, which is to receive the foot of the ewer, is the inscription, "To His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. From Victoria R.I. 1888"

The precious mitre is often used in the solemn Pontifical ceremonies; it is the one ornamented with rich embroidery of precious stones. The Roman Pontiffs possess magnificent and very rich ones, but the most precious is that which Mgr. de Schloezer had the honour of presenting to His Holiness in the name of the Emperor of Germany. It is of the pointed shape, closing in a little towards the temples; this is the true Roman shape adopted since 1500. The mitre pendants are of beautiful silver tissue. There are sixty-two precious stones of great value. The Pontifical arms are visible on the pendants on raised gold, surrounded by a thick garland of diamonds, together with rubies, emeralds and sapphires of great purity and brilliance.

The Emperor of Austria has a profound esteem and respect for the Head of the Catholic Church and is especially devoted to our present Holy Father. He sent to the Pope as a mark of his filial affection a crucifix of rare beauty, enriched with precious stones. The figure of the Christ is a masterpiece of workmanship; an aureola of diamonds surrounds the head, while beautiful sapphires and pearls are placed at different intervals. It is intended for the table of His Holiness' study, and will be a fitting reminder of the love of one of his children.

The Sultan of Turkey sent by the hands of Mgr. Azarian, Patriarch of Cilicia, one of those gifts which are offered by sovereign to sovereign. It is a ring of extraordinary beauty and richness. A magnificent

diamond of the first water is set in a gold mounting, shaped like a crown. The crown was designed by the Sultan himself. The Sultan has sent it, as he himself says, as a personal mark of his good will and pleasure.

Of quite a different description is the diamond ring sent by the Queen Regent of Spain. Twelve large diamonds set in gold surround the large central stone, a beautiful sapphire. Two more large diamonds are placed at each side, bordered by smaller ones which

gradually converge towards the back of the ring. The gold of the ring itself is beautifully worked.

The Empress of Austria sent a very delicate specimen of Vienna lace worked in roses and lilies, and bearing the keys of St. Peter in the centre.

His Majesty King Albert of Saxony presented to the Pope a copy of the "Biblia Pauperum" or "Bible of the Poor." It is written on parchment by the pen of Lewis Niepver, the director of the Royal Academy of Letters of Leipzig. It is a reproduction of the manuscript "Biblia Pauperum" preserved in the Library of the Lycée at Constance, but of larger proportions than the original.

The Emperor of Brazil offered a pectoral cross in diamond or sapphires. The cross is composed of three rows of diamonds, those in the central row being larger than the surrounding ones: eight still larger diamonds enclose the magnificent central sapphire. Four other sapphires placed at the extremities of the cross are surrounded again by diamonds.

Among the other sovereigns' gifts in the Vatican. Exhibition may be seen the Holy Water stoup sent by the Empress of Brazil. It is oval in shape made of precious stones and bears the arms of the Empress. The Princess sent a unique pectoral cross of Latin shape, made up of sixteen large diamonds surrounded by smaller ones. The Prince Regent of Bavaria sent tapestry representing our Lord on the cross uttering the words: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and angels adoring; Don Carlos de Borbon, Duke of Madrid, a cross of diamonds, one of the most admired of the Pope's presents; from Princes of Joinville and Duke de Penthièvre, a ring with chrysolithe and diamonds; Duke of Cumberland, reliquary of St. Blase; the Prince of Arenburg, Gothic niche and statue of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the style of the thirteenth century; Princess Louise Corsini, crystal basket with gold edge, containing a magnificent rochet ornamented with lace and a red chasuble; the President of the French Re

public, a colossal Sèvres vase, standing more than four feet high, and a beautiful inkstand; and the President of the United States, a copy of the Constitution of the United States of America.

It would be impossible to enumerate the presents that came from all quarters of the world. The Catholic authors of England sent a copy of their works, as a pledge of the active zeal with which they were fired for the spread of religion, and of devotion to the Holy See.