This advertisement availed nothing as to the discovery of the guilty persons. It was understood to have been the work of persons belonging to the party styled "Know-Nothings;" one of their professions being opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and any political preference of its members. It was not thought the persons were generally depraved characters, but, on the contrary, were supposed to be identified with the respectable part of the community. From the time of the reception of this stone from Rome by the Society until its destruction, there had been frequent expressions in a portion of the daily press in opposition to its being placed in the Monument, and the Society had received many protesting letters and, in some instances, long petitions from various parts of the country, numerously signed, urging that the stone be not used by the Society, as it was representative of the Roman Church, &c. Many petitions from New Jersey recited: "We, the undersigned, citizens of ----, in the State of New Jersey, believing the proffer of a block of marble recently made by the Pope of Rome to this country for the Washington Monument to be totally inconsistent with the known principles of that despotic system of government of which he is the head; that the inscription, 'Rome to America,' engraved upon it, bears a significance beyond its natural meaning; that the construction is an artful stratagem, calculated to divert the attention of the American people for the present from his animosity to republican institutions by an outward profession of regard; that the gift of a despot, if placed within those walls, can never be looked upon by true Americans but with feelings of mortification and disgust; and believing that the original design of the structure was to perpetuate the memory of Washington as the champion of American liberty, its national character should be preserved, do therefore most earnestly protest against the placing of said stone within the Monument, or any other stone from any other than a republican government." But the Society was not organized on sectarian or political lines, and to the opposition and protests no heed was given. The Society was composed of men of different political beliefs and church affiliations. The immediate effect of the destruction of the "Pope's stone" was to anger a large body of the citizens of the country, members of the Catholic Church, and then, and for a long time afterward, to estrange any interest they had had in the building of the Monument, and to this extent to impair the field for the collection of funds for the Monument. It has never been certainly known what the precise fate of the stone was, though occasional uncorroborated statements of individuals, alleging knowledge of or participation in its destruction, have been made as to it. But their variance has rendered them of no value.