VILLA MACAO. COUNTRY HOUSE OF THE ROMAN COLLEGE; FREQUENTED BY ST. ALOYSIUS AND ST. JOHN BERCHMANS.

Such are some of the evil consequences of the sacrilegious usurpation of Rome.

XIII.—THE PLEBISCITE FARCE, OCTOBER 2, 1870.

The present masters of Rome seek to justify their seizure and retention of the Holy City, as also their religious plunder, by the free verdict of the people, who, when appealed to for an expression of their will as to their future rulers, voted "to a man" that they wished to be included in United Italy under the rule of Victor Emmanuel and his successors. A tablet on the capitol, already referred to, states that 40,785 voted for Victor Emmanuel, and only a paltry handful, 46, for the continuance of the Pope's rule. This so-called plebiscite took place on October 2, 1870, and will be found described in the Civiltà Cattolica of 1871, p. 220. All the soldiers and public officials, who had just entered Rome, all those who were in any way in the employment of the State, all the riff-raff that had swarmed into the city on the heels of the invading army, all the children of the public schools, etc., all these were counted for the nonce as Roman citizens and marched to the booths to register their votes in favor of Victor Emmanuel. The true Romans, who would have voted for the Pope, were either excluded en masse as being illiterate, or disqualified for various reasons, or were intimidated and kept away from the booths by troops of hired ruffians, who stood ready to receive them with hisses. On the other hand, the partisans of the new order of things were invited to register their vote not once, but over and over again, as often as they liked, and at any of the booths in the city. The counting, too, of the votes, was done by the government officials, so that nothing is wanting to show the farcical nature of the whole proceeding.

Even had the true Romans agreed to transfer the Holy City from the dominion of the Pope to that of Victor Emmanuel, such transfer would have been null and void, for the possessions of the Church are sacred and inalienable. Besides Rome is the capital and inheritance of the Catholic world at large, and not merely of the Roman people; so that not only the people actually living in the city, but the whole Catholic world would have had to be consulted as to any proposed change.

On the day following the plebiscite, the Pope's palace on the Quirinal was broken into and seized.

XIV. VILLA MACAO, OUTSIDE PORTA PIA.—THE

COUNTRY HOUSE

OF THE ROMAN COLLEGE FROM THE TIME OF ST.
ALOYSIUS TILL 1872.

Till the month of April, 1902, there stood at the entrance of the avenue Castro Pretorio, just outside the Porta Pia, a plain square building with an arcaded front, and with one of its sides resting against the ancient wall of Aurelian. This was the Villa Macao, (1) which, with its extensive vineyard, belonged to the Roman College of the Society of Jesus, and is referred to as "the vineyard" in Father Cepari's lives of St. Aloysius and St. John Berchmans. Here the two young saints came on Thursdays with the other Jesuit Scholastics for the weekly recreation, and interesting traditions are still preserved of the games in which they joined. The vineyard included the present Viale Castro Pretorio, and the large barracks and drill grounds. Till 1872 three laurel avenues of considerable length led to the front of the house, and afforded delicious shade in summer, the branches interlacing perfectly overhead. The trees were very aged, and it was commonly believed that they were already planted in St. Aloysius' time. The villa had a large refectory, and over it a chapel dedicated to St. John Francis Regis. This interesting building has recently been swept away, and its vineyard converted into a public avenue, and an extensive barracks enclosure. In the revolution of 1849, the mob searched through the house and grounds for any Jesuit that might be hiding there, and caught one lay-brother, named Emidio Casaccia, dressed as a gardener, whom they dragged off to prison.

XV.-VILLA PATRIZI.-CATACOMB OF ST. NICOMEDES.

Immediately outside the Porta Pia is the beautiful Villa Patrizi, part of the grounds of which have been sold to building associations. Here, Father Patrizi, S.J., so well known for his commentaries on Holy Scripture, came to live with his relatives in the revolution of 1848, occupying one of the poorest rooms in the most secluded part of the building. "The lovely screen of pink Judas trees and ilex at the entrance of this villa, which were such a feature of this approach to Rome, was destroyed in the spring of 1892, to make the dusty, shadeless piazza we now see." (A. Hare).

(1) The name seems to be derived from a gift of land made to the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century for the Mission of Macao in China.

Under the grounds of the villa is the small Catacomb of St. Nicomedes, said to date from the first century, and to have been originally the place of sepulchre of the noble Gens Katia. The titular saint was a priest, who was arrested in the persecution of Domitian, for hist assiduity in assisting the martyrs in their conflicts and interring their bodies. Refusing constantly to sacrifice to idols, he was beaten to death with clubs about the year ninety. His remains were cast into the Tiber from the Pons Sublicius, whence they were rescued by the Christians, and buried in this catacomb. Pope Paschal I translated them to the church of S. Prassede in the ninth century. The catacomb is said to be associated with St. Peter, who is thought to have baptized here it is certain that this part of Rome, in the neighborhood of the Pretorian camp, was the scene of St. Peter's apostolic work, where he was protected from the molestations of the Jews.

We now follow the Via Nomentana in the direction of S. Agnese, an ancient road hallowed by the footsteps of many martyrs and countless holy pilgrims. In papal times this was the favorite walk of the cardinals, but it has been spoilt since 1870 by blocks of ugly tenement houses of the most miserable kind, hastily run up and already falling to pieces.

The walk to S. Agnese on the Saint's feast, is thus described by Cardinal Wiseman: "It was a lovely morning. Many will remember it to have been a beautiful day on its anniversary, as they have walked out of the Nomentan Gate, now the Porta Pia, towards the church which bears our virgin-martyr's name, to see blessed upon her altar the two lambs, from whose wool are made the palliums sent by the Pope to the archbishops of his communion. Already the almond-trees are hoary, not with frost, but with blossoms; the earth is being loosened round the vines, and spring seems latent in the swelling buds, which are watching for the signal from the southern breeze to burst and expand. The atmosphere, rising into a cloudless sky, has just that temperature that one loves, of a sun, already vigorous, not heating, but softening, the slightly frosty air. Such we have frequently experienced St. Agnes' day, together with the joyful thousands, hastening to her shrine." ("Fabiola," p. 317.)

XVI. CHURCH OF ST. AGNES ON THE VIA NOMENTANA.

About a mile and a half from the Porta Pia stands the beautiful church of St. Agnes, one of the gems of mediæval Rome. It is dedicated to the wonderful child martyr, whose history we know from St.