CATHOLIC INFLUENCE IN ROME.
REV. M. M. FISHER, D. D., now in Rome, has a letter in the Interior of July 25, in which he gives some interesting though alarming facts relative to the power of Catholicism in the city of the Cæsars. He expresses the opinion that upon the whole "the Papacy is losing ground in Italy," but the facts which he states certainly do not warrant the conclusion. Dr. Fisher says:— "Catholics are far from acknowledging that their glory and influence in Rome are things of the past. Every attempt is made to show that the hearts of the masses are still in sympathy with the church, and that the supremacy of King Humbert is only in appearance and will soon vanish. In support of their claims and policy, three things have been effected, with an energy and success worthy of a better cause. "(1) The increase of seminaries for training priests. Up to the year 1870 there were only five of these seminaries in the city of Rome; now there are forty-one; fifteen Italian, two French, three American, one Armenian, one Bohemian, one German, one Greek, two English, one Irish, two Scotch, one Polish, one Asiatic, one Oriental, one Belgian, one Illyrian, two Teutonic, and five Jesuit. From this large number of seminaries, and from the large number of priests that go forth from their walls, the stranger might be led to infer that the Eternal City is yet the capital of the Catholic world. A personal acquaintance with many of the young men in these schools justifies the statement that among them are some of the most gifted intellects of the age. Unquestionably, some of the most brilliant talent is found in the ranks of the Catholic priesthood. "(2) The great increase in monastic orders. In 1877 there were, for both sexes, in Rome, only twenty-two monastic houses; now there are 128; eleven of the regulars, twenty-four of the congregationalists, twenty-eight ecclesiastical corporations, and sixty-five of the mendicants. Here is an increase of 102 monastic houses within the brief space of twelve years in one city. "(3) Increase of schools. Nineteen years ago there were in Rome only nine clerical schools. Now there are 117 entirely under the control of priests, friars, and nuns. In this connection, too, it should be remembered that the national schools are free and splendidly managed. Last December the population of Rome was 405,336. Of this number 45,555 were children in school—26,428 in the communal schools; 18,743 in Catholic schools, and 384 in evangelical and Jewish schools. No comment is necessary here. These figures tell eloquently489that the Catholic Church is basing its future on the training of the rising generation." Mr. Fisher thinks there is ground for hope in the education of the masses even in these papal schools, but the fact remains that those who are educated in papal schools are Papists and not Protestants; and so it would seem that instead of losing ground in Rome the papal church is really gaining, and that rapidly. And this is just what the word of God teaches us to expect, for just before the end "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the Papacy], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8.