The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-08 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 8, 1867.

ROME.

(FROM OCE SPECIAL CORRIESPONDEIT.)

ROME, JAzi. 1.

On the eve of the new year it is the custom of
the Popes to proceed in state to the church of the I
Jesuits, in order to assist at a Z. Deln, or solemn I
thanksgiving for mercies received during the plat I
year. In thus publicly preferring its claims to
those of St. Peter'a or the Vatican, and in selecting
this particular church fors° important a ceremony,
it must be admitted that the Pope pays a graceful
and well-deserved compliment to the genius of
Loyola and his followers—the real workers in the
Roman hive. For had not Ignatius Loyola ap-
peai'ul so opportunely upon the scene in that
crucial sixteenth century, to infuse new life and
vigour into the decayed system of the Roman
church, and gain for it fresh lustre by extending
its influence over the newly discovered Americas,
it may surely be reasonably doubted whether the
Roman catholic religion would ever have survived
the blow dealt to it by Luther.
To the ceremony of yesterday afternoon additional
interest was lent by the fact of its having been the
first occasion of an out-doer appearance of the
Pope in state on which the duty of keeping the
ground and maintaining public order devolved ex-
clusively upon troops iu the Roman service.
When at length, after threading my way through
the labyrinth of slimy-narrow streets which lie at the
back of the Pantheon, I succeeded in gaining the
open space in front of the Church of the Gesu, the
head of a column of the Antibes Legion, with
colours flying and baud playing, was in the act of
debouching into the Piazza. But for the black
stripe down the red trowsers, and the conspicuous
white and yellow ensign, which looked strangely
out of place waving over undisguised Frenchmen,
there was nothing iu the appearance of the regi-
ment to let you know that it took its orders from
the Pope and not from the Emperor. Hardly had
these warriors, after shifting their position more
than once, finally settled down into their places,
when the Palatine Guard, approaching from the
direction of the Vatican, appeared upon the scene,
and, marching through the ranks of the Antibes
Legionaries, disappeared into the church.
Of the crowd which, as knowing people assure
one, is packed into the Piazza for the
occasion, the most conspicuous elements COD-
aist of Zouavea off duty, German axle-
siastical students in red habits, Italian
Orfaui iu white ; English, Scotch, Irish, and Ame-
rican collegians, in black—it sounds odd to catch
the familiar Yankee twang proceeding from under a
broad-brimmed ecclesiastical hat, surmounting a
black-stoled figure ; monks and priests of every de-
nom inationoind a liberal sprinkling of gendarmerie.
It will, indeed, be hard upon the poor Pope if he
does not get something like a hearty demonstration
out of such promising material as this.
Although dignified by the imposing name of
"Piazza," the open space in front of the Gesu is
but a miserable apology for a" Place;" such a one
as the Emperor of the French—who if he applied
his Paris principles here would have to clear away
at least nine-tenths of Rome—would not tolerate
for a moment. Of the Piazza, such as it is, the
eastern side is entirely taken up by the Church and
Convent of the Gem ; on the south stands
the Palazzo Cenci-Bolognetti ; on the west, the
Ufficio della Societa Pio-Ostiensis ; on the
north the Palazzo Alfieri. All these buildings alike
are dressed out for the occasion with red banners,
protruding like very red tongues from each opened
window, at which rare faces appear. One would
have thought that the papal " whippers-in" might
at any rate have made certain of getting the win-
dows filled ; but Ido not think that one in three
was tenanted. On the balconies of the Palazzo
Cenci-Bolognetti, amongst the English there may
be descried more than one member of the late
government, and many eyes are fixed on the some-
what worn, anxious-looking face of the most emi-
nent of English statesmen, who, with deep sym-
pathy for the Italian cause at his heart, looks as if
he did not half relish the idea of being displayed to
the gaze of the hasty-judging Romans by the aide
of sleek monsignores in the ranks of the reactionary
party.
At a few minutes before 4 p.m., the hour ap-
pointed for its arrival, the vanguard of the Papal
cortege, consisting of a couple of dragoons and a
carriage conveying the Pope's sacristan, who on
such occasions is sent on ahead with the pontifical
vestments, made its appearance upon the scene.
Next came the mounted " batti-stmda," whose
duty it is to clear the way for the Pope, and make
his paths straight. Immediately after him, fol-
lowed the Holy Father himself, with uplifted two
fingers, dispensing his blessing to the faithful
from the windows of his red profusely gilded state-
coach, which is drawn by six coal black studs, four
in hand and two postilion-ridden. On the appear-
ance of the Holy Father, a considerable waving of
white pocket-handkerchiefs ensued, and a mild
kind of enthusiasm was displayed by the faithful;
but the Roman nose is not, as a rule, indulged
with a white pocket-handkerchief, so the inference
is, that what little demonstration there was must
have been more foreign than native, and conse-
quently not worth much as an indication of the
will of the Roman people. After the Pope's coach
followed the usual escort of Guardia Nobile ; then,
the carriage conveying the monsignores in attend-
ance, the escort of Papal dragoons, and several
carriages and broughams, conveying sinister look-
ing individuals in and out of uniform, amongst
whom were probably the Minister of War, the
Director of Police, and his attendant satellites.
While the spectacle in the Church and Piazza di
Gesu, where the main action of the drama of New
Year's-eve was being played, was absorbing general
attention, turning my back on the Papal ceremony,
I made for the church of Ara Deli, the modern
municipal cathedral, or, if one may so term it,
parish church, which occupies the site of the
Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, situate on the
higher of the two horns of the Capitoline-hill—that
wall or " scheidwand " separating ancient from
modern Rome. A lofty Hight of I know not how
many steps, but certainly more than a hundred,
brings you in a state of breathlessness to the plat-
form in front of the church, which towers aloft over
the city. At your feet is the Piazza di Ara Cteli,
and apparently hardly more than a stone's throw
beyond, the Piazza and Church of the Gesu. Here
the Senator (it would be inaccurate to write the
Senate), there the Pope, are respectively engaged at
thanksgiving services. We have seen the Pope go
in ; let us now have a little patience and wait till
the Senator comes out.

In the meantime let us throw a glance at the

senatorial carriages, which are drawn up below in
the Piazza di Campidoglio, which occupies the
hollow between the two summits of the Capitol, the
summit or horn towards the river being the world-
renowned Tarpeian rock. On the panels 4,f the
carriage you will find here, instead of the eternal
cardinal's hat or Papal tiara an allegorical figure
of Rome, and below the she-wolf and the sucking
twins, worked in gold on the cloth hangings of the
coachman's box, he who runs may read, so big and
conspicuous are they, the four mystic letters
S. P. Q. R., which are so dear to every true
Roman. On nearer inspection, engraved all over i
the harness, and wrought into the trappings, may
be descried representations of the standard of an-
cient Rome—the eagle surmounting the spear and
bundle of hay.
At the fountain in the Piazza, by the side of
which I am waiting, stands, drawing water, a
little Roman maiden, in appearance not in the
least romantic, yet about her singing—and about
that only—there is that which distinguishes her
remarkably from the slatternly street girl of Lon-
don life. As she trolled out merrily the words :

Si Nona l'appello
Si tooca la retirata,

I turned my head round suddenly, and looked her
full in the face. Frightened, as if she had never
seen a stranger, or been caught singing before,
the timid thing tilled her bucket as quickly as
she could, and made off at once.

But now trumpets bray out, and the procession
of the Senator is advancing. As compared with that
of the Pope it is a poor thing, and as such allowed
to pass almost entirely unnoticed, even by the Roman
people, which still persists in speaking of the
municipal body as scunto sea. First comes the
band of the " or tire brigade, as is signified
by the tongue of flame and the axes on their
brazen helmets. However, mere firemen as they
are, the Vigil are the modern representatives, and
a very passable imitation, of the ancient lictors,
whose axes and fasces, I thought, at first
sight, I had recognised on the helmets of the
Vigili. That they are not in the least behind the
ancient lictors in the art of summarily removing
intruders out of the way I anon found out to my
cost when I accidentally got in the way of the
procession.

Behind the Vigili, and in the midst of his council
of eight Coneereatori del Popolo &maw, as they are
styled, walked, habited in black velvet, and wearing
a gold chain round his neck, the solitary Roman
senator, who is at the present day no more than a
mere Lord Mayor among aldermen. To this little
measure has shrunken that august body, the Roman
Senate ! Yet, as one compared the two pictures—
the state of the Pope and the statelessness of the
senator—one could not help feeling that it might be
in the fates that, as the Pope decreased the senator
should increase, and that perhaps on New Year's-
eve, 1867, the church and piazza of the Gesu might
be deserted for the Campidoglio and the church of
Ara GAL