"The ministry appointed by the Dictator is a liberal but moderate one. Garibaldi is in earnest in his devotion to the King of Sardinia, and in his determination to unite Italy under his rule. It is to be hoped that he will, as soon as may be, commence the work of raising the Neapolitan people out of some of the absurd superstitions which have always kept them in ignorance, and made them the serfs of juggling priests. He has not yet countenanced, by his presence at the operation, the ridiculous juggle of the liquefaction of the blood of Saint Januarius, which is held in such high esteem by the Neapolitans, that all the conquerors of the city have heretofore been obliged to respect it. Saint Januarius, according to tradition, was exposed to be devoured by lions in the amphitheatre of Pozzuoli, when the animals, instead of devouring him, prostrated themselves before him, and immediately became tame. So many persons were converted to Christianity by this miracle, that the saint was ordered to be decapitated, which was done at Solfatara, in the year 305, and the body was buried at Pozzuoli, until the time of Constantine, when it was removed by St. Severus, the Bishop of Naples, and deposited in the church of St. Gennaro. When this removal was made, the woman who is said to have collected the blood at the time of the execution, took it in two small bottles to St. Severus, in whose hands it is said to have immediately melted. After undergoing several removals, the body of the saint was brought back to Naples in 1497, and deposited with great pomp in the cathedral, and the phials containing the blood secured in a tabernacle kept securely locked with two keys, one of which is kept by the archbishop and the other by the municipal authorities. Twice a year, and at other times, on extraordinary occasions, the phials are brought out, and the clots of dried blood, by some chemical process which has been secretly preserved among the priesthood and handed down for four centuries, made to liquefy and run in the phials. Can a people appreciate and derive much benefit from free institutions so long as they permit their senses to be cheated by such a palpable swindle as this?