CHAPTER XII.

Scale Sante-Blessing of the Horses-Presentation to the Pope-Leo XII.-Burial of a German Officer-Protestant worship.

On the 7th of April is this notice from the apostolic chamber:-" Si apre di mattina l'immagine del Smo. Salvatore alle scale sante e resta aperta sino alla Dominica fra l'ottava del corpus Domini." Up these stairs, genuflexion progress, consequently, is made from morning to night, to purchase years of redemption from purgatory! and so many have been the dupes of this fraud, that the stone is actually worn by the knees!

On the 17th of January is this notice :-" S. Antonio, abate protettore contro gl' incendj, alla sua chiesa ai monti ove con privilegio si benedicono gli cavalli ? The horses are all driven up before the priest, who scatters upon them, from a holy-water brush, his priestly dews.

The cardinals make a conspicuous figure in their red flowing robes, in every ceremony. In the Vatican they form the pope's council; and in the public walk of Monte Pincio are the gentlemen “ par excellence!"

Six bishops, fifty priests, and fourteen deacons, form the sacred college of cardinals of seventy. The cardinal's red hat is said to denote their willingness to shed their blood in defence of their faith. They wear red shoes and red garments, and scarlet housings caparison their horses. If they meet a criminal going to execution they have power to

166

PRESENTATION TO THE POPE.

pardon. They are addressed as " Eminenza." In the hall of the Vatican there are cells, where the cardinals remain during the election of a pope. If it occurs in winter, the walls and windows are mured up, all but one pane. In summer the windows are not closed; but the great door of the hall is secured by locks and bolts. They receive a little refreshment through a hole; and there remain till one cardinal has two thirds of the votes for the popedom.

The Cavaliere B. said that the Romans were exceedingly attached to Pius the Seventh, and that the inhabitants had drawn his carriage into the city on his return from France. The picture, representing the exile and journey of Pius the Sixth, in the Vatican, is curious: a French general is standing by whilst the pope gets into his carriage. In general, all carriages stop, and the gentry get out, take off their hats, and fall on their knees, when the pope passes. The tiara he wears on grand occasions is a Greek mitre; the bottom circlet is a border enriched with diamonds, and it has two other enriched mysterious circlets, forming the triple crown. We were far from wishing the honour of being introduced to the pope some acquaintances had the folly to kiss his hand. The following is the way in which this ceremony usually takes place, as related by a Catholic. "When the pope is approached in private, he has in his antechamber a prelate, in full robes, in waiting; and, when the bell rings, the door of the pontifical apartment opens, and the pope is seen in a chair of state, with a little table before him. The person presented, kneels once at the threshold, again in the middle of the room, and, lastly, at the foot of the pontiff, who, according to circumstances, orders him to kiss the cross embroidered on his shoes, or presents his hand to raise him. The pontiff then converses a short time, and dismisses him

with a present of beads, or a medal, as a memorial. Genuflexion is again repeated, and the doors close."

We were told by the Cavaliere that the pope always dines alone, and from his window in the Vatican he can direct the movements at the castle of St. Angelo. At his election, the pope is placed on the altar of the Sistine chapel, and there receives the homage of the cardinals; and this adoration is again repeated on the high altar of St. Peter's! The election of Pope Pius VII. took place at Venice in 1800, when he proceeded by Ancona to Rome. He was of the family of Chiaramonte di Césène, and now his dust is in a very simple sarcophagus in St. Peter's. Leo XII. has succeeded; of the family of the Count of La Genga; a sallow, intelligent, cunning-looking man; long visaged; and he puts on, in public exhibitions, a mild protecting air. But he knows every thing in Rome, and inquires diligently into all the affairs and purposes of foreigners.*

Pope Leo XII. is since dead; and the following observations have been received from a friend at Bologna. "The Pope died, and all amusements, public and private, of the Carnival were suspended. He was certainly very unpopular, not only in this city but at Rome. Not a sigh was heard, not a tear was shed; on the contrary, the wits, malignant as they were, and sharpened by the denial of all pleasures, as usual exercised themselves in producing all kinds of lampoons.—I send you two among many as specimens Tre dispiacer ci desti, O Padre Santo-Acettar il Papato-viver tanto-Morir in Carnival-per esser pianto. Si e trovato in mano a Pasquino una lettera, la quale dice, chi troverà una lagrima per la morte del Papa, la porti subito al Collegio di Gesuiti, che gli saranno dati cento Luigi d'oro di Francia, in ricompensa.'-Meanwhile the cardinals are flocking to Rome from all quarters, as well they may, with 400 scudi for their viaticum, and a secret hope which each entertains that he may be the su cessful candidate. It is not known who is most likely to win the plate, but it is thought Castiglione may, as he is a younger brother of a very old Milanese family.

suc

168

DEATH OF A GERMAN OFFICER.

From the house of Torlonia we received the greatest attention; but did not accept the invitation of his wife the Duchesa di Bracciano. By refusing this invitation, our only real sacrifice was that of music. We were little disposed for merriment; for although curiosity is highly excited in Rome, there is always a sadness clings about the heart.

"Ashamed, that one's Maker's eyes

Should look so near upon her foul deformities."

Whilst we were sitting the other morning at breakfast, we discovered that the house was on fire; and from the awkwardness which we had observed on occasions of this sort, we were not a little alarmed. A valet de place, in a lower story, had made a prodigious fire; the beams we thought consuming; the smoke, the heat, the crackling, were formidable. It was in vain we urged wet blankets for the chimnies; all was confusion and obstinacy, and we found it necessary to provide for our own safety. In twenty minutes all our wardrobe, &c. was removed to apartments opposite; but the fatigue and alarm and expense were great, and in a foreign capital we did not know whether the police would deem the fire as a crime or a misfortune, and choose to involve us in the consequences. When regular firemen arrived, they tiled up the chimney, and closed it quite up with mortar: of course the fire soon subsided.

The previous morning we had been awaked early by the sound of the trumpet and drum, calling the soldiers to assemble. A bier was carried into the opposite house, and we soon understood that it was to carry to his long home a German officer, who had caught cold on the 12th of February, when the troops left Naples and marched in the

rain to Capua. He had been seven years in Naples. Hope, perhaps, had plumed her wing: his native country, his home, his wife, his children, were already imaginedbut the funeral requiem has begun! A youth, in priest's garments, preceded with the cross; fifty mourners followed, chiefly Sacconi, in brown garments, and the cowl, with its mysterious eye-holes, covering their heads, and torches in their hands; then the priests renewed the requiem. The bier advanced, borne by soldiers, and the body covered with embroidered cloth. His helm and sword and arms were placed at his head; and we heard the minute guns as they placed his body on the catafalque in the chapel of the dead.

We saw, a few days since, the superior of a convent carried through the Piazza di Spagna, with her face exposed, in a robe of black, with golden stars. The motion of the body on these biers has something very affectingindicating such utter helplessness. A young Marchese, from the via Candotti, was dressed magnificently, and followed by at least two hundred priests and sacconi. The pall was decorated with gold and precious stones; a crucifix preceded; fraternities of all orders and colours joined in recitative. It is common, I am told, to paint the cheeks of the corpse, which, as soon as the priests take possession of it, is left by every friend. We always saw a wooden shell carried behind the bier; some said it was to receive the clothes, others the stripped body. The poor, at least, are thrown into the receptacles for the dead, under the churches, without covering.

The torches and dominos, and cowls and eye-holes, and the dull low sounds of the requiem, give to the whole a very doleful effect, -the sacconi looking more like malignant beings than sympathizing brethren.