While at Rome he lived under the protection of an uncle, an officer of the ecclesiastical establishment of the Vatican. In the troubled period which marked the closing days of Napoleon's reign, uncle and nephew re- moved to their estates at Sinigaglia. On a visit which pope Pius VII paid this place, Mastai was presented to his holiness, and when the pontiff was again able to re- turn to Rome, after his long captivity in France, the young ecclesiastic of Sinigaglia was called to the holy city. In the meantime his health had improved, and he was able to prosecute his studies uninterruptedly. By invitation of cardinal Odescalchi, he took part in a mission to his native province, and when he returned was made deacon in 1818. He obtained a personal au- dience of the pontiff, and sought a dispensation which would allow him to be ordained without delay to the priesthood. The legend states that his holiness, laying his hands on the young aspirant, granted him the favor asked, together with the apostolic blessing, and thus forever cured him of his epilepsy. Secular writers less anxious to paint the miraculous manifestations in Pio Nono's youthful days declare that he was a libertine, and that, stretched upon a bed of sickness, he repented of his sins, and, by a life of abstinence and purity, grad- ually recovered.
In 1819 Mastai received priest's orders, and first ex- ercised the sacerdotal functions in the hospital of San Giovanni at Rome — an institution founded for the edu- cation of poor orphans. He was assiduously devoted to his ministerial duties, and became noted for his charita- ble works also. In 1823 a wider field opened to him. A canon of the cathedral of Santiago, in Chili, had come to Rome to request of the pope the appointment of an apostolic delegate to that country, and when monsi- gnore Muzi had been given this position, Mastai was selected to accompany him as auditor. Two years he spent in South America, and on his way home he also visited the North, and he is said to have been the only pope that ever saw America. Report will have it that he even visited a body of Freemasons in Philadel- phia (see Princeton Rev. [ March. 187s], p. 510). Nor need this surprise. " It is a fact," says Trollopc. " which may be relied on, that — of course in the days before he became a priest, or had thought of ever becoming one — Pius IX had been a member of a lodge — or a vendet- ta, as the term was — of Carbonari." This was a secret society, originally of charcoal-burners (as the name signifies), who were opposed to the tyranny of the times. In the summer of 1825 Mastai was taken into the household of pope Leo XII as domestic prel- ate. He became a favorite with the pontiff, ami in December was made superintendent of the hospital of St. Michael, founded two centuries ago by Innocent X, and comprising at this time not only a hospital lor the sick, but a retreat for the aged, a refuge for boys, a house for magdalens, a home for virtuous girls, and a school of arts and industries. When he assumed the presi- dency of this vast and complicated institution it was on the decline. He reorganized every department of the hospital, repaired its dilapidated revenues, extended the range of its charities, and in less than two years brought order out of the confusion — by the sacrifice, however, of his own patrimony. He also preached much and ob- tained great distinction as a pulpit orator.
In 1829 Spoleto needed an archbishop. The political agitation was great throughout Italy. The approach of the disturbances which crowded the year 1830 was manifest in a thousand ways. The ecclesiastics, in or- der to be all-powerful and sufficient for the struggle, needed more than ordinary experience. A policy of anxious, irritated, and, at the same time, irritating re- pression had proved a failure. Mastai Ferretti was young enough to avoid falling into this error of his sen- iors, and as he had gained much political sagacity in his semipolitico- religious mission across the sea, he was selected for the vacant archiepiscopal chair. He quickly perceived that he must abandon the old receipts of the
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prison and the executioner, and by a wise rule main- tained perfect order in the midst of general disturbance. While all [taly was in arms, the little archbishopric of
mained peao fuL When Buddenly 5000 in- surgents came there to Beek refuge from the pursuing Austrians, he dealt so kindly and judiciously with them
duced them to lay down their arms and sub- mil to authority; and when the civil authority of the citj submitted to him the lists of these insurgents, he
,n into the tin . instead of forwarding them to Gn gorj \ VI and Ins courl were displt ased and
indignant al such procedure, Mastai was sunn ted to
Rome i" give an account of his conduct; but he suc- ceeded without much difficulty In persuading Gregory that if their enemies could be put down without punish- ments, which left a fresh store of hatreds behind, it was all the better. Mastai's enemies said that bis conduct towards the persecuted liberal partywas not altogether Btraight forward and consistent, and that lie even in those early days showed a certain tendency to run with the hare al the same time that he was hunting with the hounds. The archbishop certainly succeeded finally in obtaining the approbation ofhis holiness, for on I >. ,-. 17, aras translated to the see of [mola a very im- portant promotion, because it is understood that this bish- opric is a stepping-stone to the cardinalate. Mastai had not only proved his political sagacity, but Ids religious fervor and purity of life gave a most dignified position to the churchmen of the diocese of Spoleto, as well as later to that oflmola. Particularly was he noted for his char- ity and readiness to aid all good works, both public and private. The disturbed times required such ecclesias- tics, tl gave authority to the sees and influence to the pontificate, How well the pope appreciated Mastai is made apparent in his Si lection, a short time after, as apos- tolic nuncio to Naples. He so ably discharged his mis- sion that he was rewarded with the cardinalate by se- cret conclave in 1839, though he did not receive the purple folic until the year after. He was yet compara- tively a young man. There were many far his seniors in the college of cardinals. Certainly no one dreamed that the bestowal of the red hat upon Mastai Ferretti was likely to bring him the tiara soon.