"I think we are wrong in continuing any outward show of respect for the religion our priests lay down to us, which is, in fact, no religion at all; though they seem to think that, like Midas in the fable, who had the power of turning everything he touched into gold, so whatever they lay their hands upon must, of necessity, become holy, sacred, and divine. Until just now we had the _Apostolic_ custom-house, and the _Apostolic_ coat-of-arms! Did the Apostles then collect customs in their kingdom? or had they their coats-of-arms, their sumptuous carriages, and their richly-caparisoned horses?" "St. Peter," observed another, "made it his boast that 'silver or gold had he none.'" "But what," said I, "has the Pope to do with St. Peter? I maintain that he never was in Rome at all. Even if he had been, there is no reason why the Pope should call himself his successor." "What!" inquired another, "have you good argument to show that St. Peter never was in Rome?" Hereupon I brought forward the strong reasons that exist against the supposition, and the still greater absurdity of the assertion that he occupied the Pontifical throne for twenty-five years. "At any rate," I added, "even granting that he had been here, that circumstance could not possibly have invested the Romish bishops with any right or privilege, since they themselves have never ventured any attempt to prove that he bequeathed to them the right of succession at his death." Another evening we had a long conversation on the subject of the Saviour and His Gospel; when one of our party, who had been listening with much attention, demanding a hearing, said: "Let it not surprise you, brother citizens, that I, who am as deeply interested in public matters as yourselves, now make a proposition which may seem to be altogether a private matter, an affair between God and man. Is not this hall sacred to the rights of the citizens? and have we not these rights from God? Every time that we meet here in the service of our country, this hall becomes a Temple in which the Deity presides. In destroying the government of the priests, and in depriving the Pope of his authority, we have most certainly no intention to offer any offence, either to religion or to God; we assert unequivocally that the religion we are desirous to profess is not one of human councils, or of vain traditions, and we are not disposed to admit that the Pope is God. Nay, so far are we from imagining that we have outraged the Deity in deposing the Pope, that, to undeceive all those who may have entertained such a notion, I propose that our _Circolo Popolare_, instead of remaining under the auspices of Pio Nono, should be placed under the immediate protection of God Himself. To which end, I move that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for our salvation, should be declared the only Head and Lord of the _Circolo Popolare_, and that his statue should be placed here accordingly."