The Paris correapandent of the Times affirms positively that Leo
XIII. has sounded the Governments of Europe upon the -subject of quitting Rome, and has ordered arrangements to be made in the Vatican by which he could depart within twelve :hours. It is probable that the first object of these pourparlers is to alarm the Governments, but there is seriousness in them, too. Ever since the attack upon the procession conveying the :body of Pio None, the Pope has believed that the Papacy was not safe within Rome, that the Italian guarantee was not per- lastly honest, and that on some unhappy day the dignity of the Holy Seat might suffer violence at the bands of a mob. It would then be needful for his Holiness to guard the dignity of his office, as well as its freedom. The contingencyis not very likely to occur, but the incidents referred to certainly revealed a new spirit in Rome, and the Vatican has considered many possible retreats. The favourite one used to be Malta, but old Cardinals dislike sea-sickness ; and now Monaco, a place in the Tessin, and another in Austria are discussed with approval If such a pro- ject ever quits the domain of conjecture, we venture to predict that the purchase of Monaco, the independent sovereignty of the Grimaldis, whose line ends, we fancy, with the present man, will receive earnest attention. Monaco is within the climate and language of Italy, and the House, as a rent law-suit showed, has unexplained influence in Rome.
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