Miraculous paint.

Saved from drowning.

Its powers.

from heaven. On a certain day he fell asleep, and lo! when he awoke, the little doll was perfectly painted, the wood looking just like flesh! The fame of this prodigy spread all over the country, and was the means of the conversion of many infidels. It was made for Rome, and the maker embarked with it for Italy. But the ship was wrecked; and when all gave up the holy image as lost, lo! the case in which it was, suddenly and miraculously appeared at Leghorn! This wonderfully increased its fame and the veneration of the people. Thence it was soon transported to Rome; and when first exposed to the devout gaze of believers on the Capitoline Hill, their shouts of joy and their clamorous hallelujahs ascended to the stars! On a certain occasion, it is said that a devout lady took away with her the pretty doll to her own house; but, in a few days, he miraculously returned to his own little chapel, ringing all the bells of the convents as he passed! The bells assembled all the monks, and as they pressed into the church, behold, to their infinite joy, Bambino was seated on the altar! Did you ever hear of such a wonderful doll?

But this is not all. It is the universal belief among the lower classes of the Romans, that the laying of this doll at the foot of the bed of a woman in child-birth insures a safe deliverance! It is also the universal belief that this doll, by a change of its countenance, by becoming pale or flushed, infallibly indicates whether a sick person will live or die! And when doctors fail, the aid of Bambino is invoked for the recovery of the sick. It visits the sick in a splendid coach, and is attended by priests in full canonicals. As it passes along

E

Its worship.

A shameless fraud.

through the streets, every head is uncovered, and, however muddy may be the streets, the poor are on their knees for its worship. For these visitations, the monks, who have the doll in keeping, charge the most enormous prices. During my sojourn in Rome, it was sent for to the Vatican for the healing of somebody sick in the palace of the Pope! And this miraculous image is exposed to public veneration and adoration in a scenic representation of the stable at Bethlehem, from the 25th of December to the 26th of January of each year, during which time tens of thousands of people crowd the Ara Cœli and the Capitoline Hill for the purposes of its worship!

Now, Sir, here is a shameless imposture, palmed off upon an ignorant people by impious priests and monks. Nor is this thing done in a corner. This outrageous fraud is not perpetrated in Connaught, nor in Mexico, nor in Austria, nor down in deeply-degraded Sicily, but in Rome on the Capitoline Hill-and under the eye, and by the sanction of Pio Nono and his cardinals! What epithets or adjectives does our language supply sufficiently strong to express our abhorrence of the enormous wickedness of Pope, cardinals, and priests, who would thus delude and degrade an ignorant and confiding people! And yet, Sir, the priests of Romanism, steeped in these vile, lying superstitions and wonders, come over here to tell us in America that there is no salvation for us so long as we refuse to submit our necks to the yoke of this Pope and his cardinals!

And will you, Sir-will any American citizen, in any form, give their countenance to the shaven-pated missionaries of such miraculous nonsense?

With great respect, yours.

Other sham miracles.

Holy House of Loretto.

LETTER XII.

Sham Miracles.-Holy House of Loretto-its History-Flight-Dimensions.-Miracles.-Litany of our Lady of Loretto.-Perpetrators of such Frauds, Impostors.

MY DEAR SIR, I am not yet through with the sham miracles of Romanism, gotten up, and shamelessly advocated, even in our day, for the purpose of maintaining the terrible, the grinding influence of a wicked priesthood over an ignorant, deluded, and confiding people. Bad as is the bungle about St. Januarius, and base as is the conduct of the dirty Franciscans with the bandaged Bambino, there are other things of the same kind, if possible, worse than these.

Have you, Sir, ever heard of the once "Very Rev. P. R. Kenrick, V. G.," and now the Right Rev. Bishop Kenrick? He figures not a little among the Romish priests of this happy country. I have before me hist wonderful work entitled "The Holy House of Loretto." It is published by Cummiskey, of Philadelphia. The title-page is without date-so is the preface; but the copy-right of it was secured by the publisher in the year 1841. And if you have any desire to see the miserable legends which these imported priests publish for the edification of the faithful, just glance at this wonderful book-I will not ask you to read its drivel. The authorship of such pages would subject any man, save a priest, to the charge or the suspicion of lunacy. But the world has become so accustomed to the lying won

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Its history.

Flight to Dalmatia.

The Virgin.

ders of priests, and knows so well the objects for which they are put forward, that now they excite little more than a smile of contempt.

This veracious book of the "Very Rev." and veracious "P. R. Kenrick, V. G.," proves to the satisfaction of all the credulous that the house in which the Savior was born became early an object of deep veneration; that Helena found it at Nazareth about three hundred years after the incarnation; that it was carried by angels through the air in May, 1291, and laid down by them upon a little eminence in Dalmatia, where it attracted wonderful attention, and performed wonderful miracles of healing; that when doubts arose as to its character, "the blessed Virgin, surrounded by angelic spirits," appeared to Alexander, then priest of a church near by, and sick of a violent fever, and informed him that in that house she was born, lived, received the message of Gabriel, and conceived the Son of God. This vision appeared to Alexander "between sleeping and waking," and when he had a violent fever. These, you know, are circumstances under which many besides "this respectable ecclesiastic" have strange visions. She moreover told him that the apostles had converted this house into a church; that Peter had consecrated its altar; that, because insulted in Nazareth by infidels, and neglected by Christians, it was carried over by angels to Dalmatia; and that, as a miraculous proof of all this, his health should be immediately restored. "On awaking, Alexander found himself immediately restored to health ;" and his story was told and believed, and was proved true by the miracle of his restoration!

Flight to Lauretum.

Walks off to a hill.

The Dalmatians were

But the story is not ended. not long to enjoy this heavenly gift of an old house. For some cause, not discovered by the profound researches of the "Very Rev. P. R. Kenrick, V. G.," the house resolved to take another journey! So, on the night of the 10th of December, 1294, some shepherds, who were watching their flocks, beheld a house, surrounded by uncommon splendor, flying across the Adriatic, which separates Dalmatia from Italy. The shepherds waked up their companions to see the "mysterious object," and they all testified that "it was of a supernatural character." It pleased "the holy house" to rest in a district called Lauretum, either from its laurels, or from the name of the rich lady, Laureta, to whom it belonged; and hence the name, "the House of Loretto," which it retains even to this day! Soon it became very famous in its new location, and tens of thousands flocked to it for devotion and healing!

But the restless little house was not yet satisfied. The faithful, who sought to present, under its holy roof, their offerings to the Virgin, were often robbed by bandits. This greatly diminished the number of pilgrims, and, of course, the revenue of the priests. To remedy this evil, it walked off to a small hill near the road, where the faithful might approach it without fear of robbery. This new miracle greatly increased the public reverence for it, and the revenue. This hill was the joint property of two brothers, who quarreled about the rent they were to receive, when, in the language of "the Very Rev. P. R. Kenrick, V. G.," "most extraordinary to relate, this miraculous house was once more transferred, and placed in its present site, a very short distance