The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-26 00:00:00

THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE KING
OF ITALY.

The Correspondent of The Standard, writing from Rome
on January 18, gives the following description of Victor Em-
manuel's funeral :

To-day the mortal remains of Victor Emmanuel,
King of Italy, were consigned to their last resting-
place beneath the dome of the Pantheon. The weather
was excellent throughout the day. Somewhat milder
in temperature than it has been latterly, the sky was
soberly overclouded throughout the central hours of
the day. And that this was an advantage to the
thousands, military and civilian, who lined the streets,
from early morning, any one will understand who has
experience of the force of the Italian sunshine, even in
winter. It was not yet daylight when the streets were
already astir. Most of the cafés, restaurants, and
taverns of the humbler class had remained open all
night, and had it not been for this provident con-
cession of the Questura (our chief police authorities)
hundreds of strangers would not have known where to
shelter their heads. The bugle call rang out clear and
shrill through the dark and drowsy streets. There was
tramping of feet and clattering of hoofs, and the
lounging shuffle of matutinal sight-seers mostly
country folks—looming in the dim light, wrapped in
great cloaks, graceful and ample in their folds as
antique togas. Under the cavernous arches of the
Coliseum a regiment of cavalry passed the night in
default of better quarters (the number of troops called to
the capital for to-day's ceremony having been very
large), and waked strange forgotten echoes there after
many centuries. As early as six o'clock a.m.
the great steps of the Trinita de' Monti, leading up
from the Piazza di Spagna, began to be invaded by a
patient throng, and long before nine the mass of
human beings there was so compact that it was im-
possible to force one's way through them. The
spectacle of this huge pyramid of humanity rising
from the piazza to the platform on a level with the
Pincian Hill was one of the most unique and striking
throughout the day. By eight the approaches to the
Quirinal Palace were strictly kept by a cordon of troops.
Even a special permission, countersigned by a military
officer of high rank in his Majesty's household, with
difficulty secured me access to the great entrance. Pass-
ing under this great archway, I found myself at once in
the main courtyard of the Palace. At this hour it
was empty and silent. But beneath the colonnades
all round it there was a stir of swift and silent ser-
vants, and a click of spurs and clash of swords, as, one
after another, military officers in grande tenue, and
with their breasts covered with glittering orders,
passed hurriedly to and fro. One side of the Palace
flanks the long street now called the Via Venti
Settembre, or Street of the Twentieth of Sep-
tember, from the memorable date on which the
Italian troops entered Rome by the breach of the
Porte Pia in 1870. This street was closed to
the general public and lined with troops, and along
it every now and then passed detachments of
dignitaries, military and civilian, who were to take
part in the procession, and had to assemble at the
Palace. Perhaps the most splendid (in the full sense
of the word) of these bodies were the Cuirassiers, or
Body Guard of the King—tall, magnificently formed
men, in their dazzling steel corsets and classic helmets,
moving with singular grace and ease in their brilliant
uniform. The whole of the troops, taken altogether,
la:lade a fine show, not from the merely spectacular,
but from the military point of view. I had the opinion
of several foreign officers of high rank that the appear-
ance of the Italian soldiers was remarkably efficient '
and creditable. The little Bersaglieri (riflemen), and
the Alpine Battalion in particular, "looked like busi-
ness," in technical phrase. And the sailors who formed
the cordon in the Piazza di Spagna were a remarkably
fine body of young men.
At ten o'clock precisely a cannon shot booming from
the Castle of Saint Angelo announced the comnaence-
ment of the mournful ceremony. The Cuirassiers
carried and placed on the funeral car the coffin con-
taining the late King's body, and immediately after-
wards the procession began slowly to move opt of the
great entrance of the Quirinal on Monte Cavallo. It
occupied between one and two hours in defiling.
Cavalry opened and closed the line of march, which was
interspersed with military bands playing at intervals
solemn funeral music. After an immense number of de-
tachments representing various branches of the army
and navy came the band of the Roman Municipality,
directed by Professor Mililotti, and immediately
following that one of the most imposing bodies in
the procession, namely, a corps of officers of all arms,
both naval and military, from sub-lieutenants to
colonels. There were some hundreds of officers in
an infinite variety of uniforms, some sombre, some
splendid, and the effect of this crowd of soldierly-
looking men, nearly every one decorated with medals
won on the field of battle, was very fine. But from
the purely picturesque point of view nothing equalled
the effect of the legal corps. The judges and Procura-
tori del Re of the tribunal of Rome wore the back toga
with silver tassels, flat black caps, and a broad sash
of deep blue silk with silver fringes. Then appeared
the dignitaries of the Court of Appeal in Rome, clad in
rich scarlet robes, and lastly, preceded by ushers in me-
val costume, bearing golden maces draped with black,
the members of the Courts of Cassation, the supreme
tribunals of the realm. At this point the procession
was like the embodied dream of some gorgeous painter
of the Renaissance. The solemn splendour of the
costumes of these dignitaries could not be surpassed.
All the counsellors of the Courts of Cassation wore
ample and flowing robes of the richest crimson velvet;
the robes of the vice-presidents were,moreover, lavishly
adorned with ermine. Not only was the garb of these
high members of the judicature in itself magnificent
and tasteful, but it was worn with a native ease and
dignity which was a delight to the eyes. The bearing,
the gait, the very physiognomies of the men who wore
them were in keeping with their costume. The clear-
cut, dark Italian faces, and the graceful self-possession
of the Italian forms, harmonized completely with all
their surroundings. It was a remark in every mouth
that the legal bodies looked as though they had
stepped bodily forth from a picture of Tintoret or
Titian in noble, sea-girt Venice.

A murmur like the wash of the surge upon a pebbly
shore announced the approach of the central point of
the funeral cortege. After dignitaries innumerable,
members of both branches of the Legislature, &c., ap-
peared twelve ecclesiastics bearing lighted tapers and
preceded by one carrying aloft a great crucifix. On
either side walked trumpeters and servants in the
Royal liveries also with lighted torches in their hands.
Then came the knights of the Supreme Order of the
Santissima Annunziata, and then the Princes of the
Blood Royal who acted as mourners. These were Prince
Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Anita, Prince Carlo of
Portugal, Duke of Braganza, Archduke R,gnier of
Austria the son, grandson, and brother-in-law of
the late King, a Prince of Baden, and his Imperial
Highness the Crown Prince of Germany. All eyes
were attentively and sympathetically fixed upon the
son and grandson of Victor Emmanuel. The
former, Amadeo, with difficulty restrained his
emotion; the latter, the young Crown Prince of
Portugal, walked soberly with a cloud of gravity
upon his fair, childish face. He is a graceful boy of
fourteen, with features and colouring strongly
resembling those of the little Prince of Naples,
now heir apparent to the throne of Italy. He wore
the uniform of a Portuguese regiment of Lancers,
and his blonde curls showed brightly beneath the
square soldier's cap. Following these Royal per-
sonages came the special representatives of foreign
Sovereigns and States, Marshal Canrobert, Lord
Roden, &c., and the whole of the Corps Diplomatique
in rich uniforms. The Oriental faces of the Turkish
and Japanese diplomates were conspicuous among
these. After them, and immediately preceding the
bier, rode General Medici, first aide de camp to
Victor Emmanuel, mounted on a magnificent
charger, and carrying the dead monarch's sword.
And then appeared the funeral car. It was drawn
by eight horses splendidly caparisoned, and with
nodding plumes of white and black feathers. The
sides of the car were open so as to show the coffin,
which is of crimson velvet, bearing the golden cipher
V.E., and which yesterday was literally covered with
tributary wreaths and flowers. The car itself is hand-
some with decorations of black and gold, but not ex.
traordinarily large and massive. It is the same which
served for the funeral transport of the late King's
father, Charles Albert, and was sent from Turin
for this occasion. Immediately after the body
came Commendotore Correnti, carrying uncovered
upon a velvet cushion the historic Iron Crown
of Italy. Hundreds of banners, civic and
military, made spires of colour amidst the sober
garb of the innumerable deputations which brought
up the rear of the cortege. All classes, all arts, all
professions were represented. Almost each one of the
cento citta of Italy sent delegates to represent her.
One word must be said of the little company :of
veterans who had served in the patriotic battles of
Italy, from the famous 1848 downwards. Nothing
more touching, and nothing of higher moral grandeur
was to be seen in the pageant of yesterday than this
company of volunteers, many of them poor, shabby,
gloveless, with threadbare and patched garments,
walking honoured amidst tiff... great ones of the earth
in the funeral procession of the patriot King. A
country where such a spectacle can be seen possesses
an enormous reserve fund of civic virtue.

The aspect of the streeirs through which the proces-
lion passed was imposing. Mourning draperies waved
from every window, and in the Corso especially, a
shower of wreaths and laurel leaves was flung upon
the bier as it passed. Everything proceeded with an
amount of order and decorum highly creditable. Up
to a late hour in the evening vast crowds were moving
through the streets leading to the Pantheon, and were
assembled on the space in front of the temple. But s.o far
as is known no accident occurred. The whole street in
front of the Pantheon was strewn with bay leaves
whose pungent odour was distinctly perceptible at a
long distance. The internal decorations of the temple
was fine, and creditable to all who had a share in them
—amongst them Professor Mariani, of the Academy
of St. Luke. The funeral music also was considered
very appropriate, and was. admirably executed by the
Vocal Academy of St. Cecilia.

It is not yet too late for a few notes anent the
obsequies of Victor Emmanuel. Among the mourners
who escorted his remains on their last journey were
seventy general officers, and two thousand of inferior
rank. There was a solitary military chaplain, with
the decoration of the crown of Italy on his breast
Conspicuous among the deputies was Menotti Gari-
baldi—tall, bronzed, chestnut bearded, and neither in
dress nor in bearing what we would call a gentleman.
The sword of the dead soldier-sovereign was carried by
General Medici, his first aide-de-camp. This was the
sword he bore and bared at San Martino and Palestro.
It has been presented by his son to the city of Turin.
Over the front of the Pantheon was placed a colossal
eagle, with this inscription : "Italia con orgoglio di
madre, con dolore di figlia, prega al gran re che fu
cittadino fidele e soldato vittorioso mamortalita di
giasti e degli eroi."—The World.