The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-02 00:00:00

CHRISTMAS AT ROME.

A communication from Rome of Dec. 26 contains
tha following :—" The Christmas festivities yester-
day were favoured with great splendour in the
Church of St. Peter's, where the Holy Father
solemnly officiated at the morning mass. Formerly
the Popes presided personally at each of the three
masses which are celebrated on this day. At mid-
night they went to perform the service at Santa-
Maria-Maggiore, where the portion of the manger
of our Saviour is kept, and were present at matins.
From Santa-Maria-Maggiore they repaired at day-
break to Santa-Anastasia to celebrate the morning
mass; and thence they proceeded in great pomp to
the Church of St. Peter's for the grand mass of the
day. Before the tomb of the Holy Apostles, the
1,362 tapers of the famous silver candelabra were lit
up. The Pope is now present on his throne at mid-
night, and only celebrates in public day the mass.
The number of the faithful who filled the vast
Church of St. Peter's at the papal mass was immense.
Foreigners flocked there by thousands, and invaded
all points from which could be seen the altar of the
Confession, the throne of the Holy Father, and the
chairs on which are seated the cardinals, patriarchs,
archbishops, and prelates of the Roman Court, wear-
ing their splendid ornaments. The reserved seats
were filled with ladies of distinction, the superior
functionaries of the different administrations, and
the generals and officers of the army and navy. The
Diplomatic Body occupied its post of honour, and in
the prince's tribune were seen the King of Naples,
the Queen Dowager, and the princes and princesses,
her children. The Holy Father, after having put
on the pontifical ornaments in the Piety Chapel, took
his seat on the ' sedia gestatoria,' the tiara on his
head, and then commenced that magnificent proces-
sion of bishops, archbishops, and cardinals, which
gives to the festivals at Rome that ail• of dignity,
majesty, and grandeur of which those who have not
been spectators can form no idea. Before the Pope
stood two dignitaries of the Pontifical Court bearing
the stocco' and berrettone' which bad been blessed
during the night. The 'stem,' as is well known,
is a superb sword, and the barrettone' a kind of
cap or helmet, both of which are studded with pre-
cious stones ; these two obj€cts are presented by the
Pontiffs to the princes who have gained the greatest
victories or rendered the most important services to
the Catholic religion. For some time past the Holy
See has not met with an occasion for giving these
precious testimonies of its gratitude. The mass
terminated with the solemn benediction of the Holy
Father from the great altar and the granting of the
plenary indulgence. During the evening the car-
dinals proceeded to Santa-Maria-Maggiore to hold
a chapel of that body for the second vespers. The
Libernian basilica was splendidly illuminated, and
upon the great altar, in the midst of torches and
tapers, the sacred wood of the manger was exposed
to the pious veneration of the faithful, placed in a
magnificent urn of rock crystal ornamented with a
setting of the finest gold and studded with splendid
diamonds."

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

TRAFFIC RECEIPTS FOR THE WEEK.
Miles Opened. Receipte.-\
1863. 1862. 1863. 1862
2,302 2,036
752 600
1,1t,4 1,292
6,071 5,c,13
18,724 16,756
308 291
388 - 265
223 178
411 288
1,640 1,352
225 197
1,434 1,448
1,460 1,418
190 123
2,609 1,981
7,556 6,833
2,478 2,613
8,442 7,880
36,012 31,646
31,929 26,626
1,542 1,715
487 818
7A7 7,657
63,594 54,594
1,015 911
1,057 -
1,613 1,103
37,970 32,363
137 135
97 108
470 429
95,587 85,619
1,778 1,718
25,100 21,096
18,105 17,981
5,780 3 752
1,100 250
1,077 980
16,959 14,437
1,4G8 1,177
1,369 1.176
2,323 -
48,438 43,538
4,186 3,923
1,674 1,577
2,417 1,800

Railways.

Belfast and N. Counties 136
Belfast and County Down 49
Blyth and Tyne 2B
Bristol and Exeter l2l
Caledonian
Cockermouth & Workington 64
Cork and Bandon 2O
Cork, Blackrock, & Passage :1
Cork and Youghal .. 32
Cornwall 6
Deeside , l7
Dublin & Bell ast Junction 63
Dublin and Drogheda 75
Dublin and Meath

121 k
234 i

Dub. & Wicklow and Weald 9l}
Edinburgh and Qr lasgow l69}
Furness, &o 5O
Glasgow & South-Western
Gt. Eastern,Nrik.,&E.Union 663
Great Northern 353
Great North of Scotland 5B
Cit. Northn. & Westn. (Irel.) 7ll
9t.Southn. Sr Westn.(lrlhd.) 373¢
Great Western 10513i
_ ._ _

48
169 i
5)
198
614
851

71t
329
10324
861

Inverness & Aberdeen Juno 86*
Inverness & Perth Junction 119 i
Irish North-Western 145
Lancashire & Yorkshire 402
Limerick and Ennis... 241
Limerick and Foynes 266
Llanelly 461
London & North-Western
London and Blackwell of
London & South-Western
Lond. Brighton, &S. Coast 261
London, Chatham, & Dover 72
Do. Metropolitan Extension 10
Lond., Tilbury, & Southend
Man.,Sheflleld,& Lincolnsh 239
Manch. S.Jun.&Altrincham 9l
Maryport and Carlisle 2B
Metropolitan
Midland (incl. N.-Western).. 641
Midland Gt.Westn. of hind... 259}
Monkland
Monmouthsh. Rail. & Canal 44
North British, Edin., Perth
and Dundee
N-Eastern and Stock. & Darl lOO5
North London 9
North Staffordshire 254
Oswestry and Newton 5O
Rhymney l9
St. Helen's Canal & Railway 62
Scottish Central
Scottish North-Eastern l3B
Somerset and Dorset 66

6143
192
71i
44

410 i 12,118 11.199
10771 55,827 50,6i3

3,200 3,067
8,918 7,982
1,057 820
899 711
1,837 1,815
6,012 4,663
5,015 4,730
603 338
3.981 8,416
23,202 21,481
6,192 4,434
2,239 1,710
133 119
2,134 1.742
261 217
1,094 970
780 648
3,421 2,794

South Devon ...... 74
South-Eastern 306
Taff Vale
Ulster
Vale or Clwyd .
Vale of Neath 32}
Waterford and Kilkenny 3l
Waterford and Limerick 77
West Cornwall 27}
W.lla.rtlepool IlarbrAltaiL 52
Nrhaven,Cleatorot Egrmut 7
Whitehaven Junction l3
Whitehaven & Furness Jun 35
FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.

61&

Antwerp and Rotterdam 52
Austrian B2B
Belgian Eastern Junction 26
Bombay, Baroda, & Cen. Indite 185
Buffalo and Lake Huron l6l
Detroit and Milwaukie lB9
Dutch Rhenish lO4
Eastern Bengal
Eastorn oi France 1167
East Indian
9331

52 1,195 920
828 35,139 34,832
201 283 275
164 2,320 2,137
1614 2,%92 1,620
189 5,574 0,308
1084 3,1147 3,704

1081
;39

Grand Trunk of Canada 10:10
Great Indian Peninsula 5:1,.,4

Great Luxembourg 134

lOtiO

Great Southern orindia .... 79
Great Western of Canada.... 345
Madrid, Saragossa &Alicant.. 659
Northern of Canada ...... .• •• 94

Northern of France . 697
Norwegian Trunk

~
Ottoman ..
...... 48i
Paris, Lyons, & Mediterrn.... 1805
Paris and Orleans 1614
Pernambuco 77g
Royal Danish 69
Sambre and Meuse 6B

54,418 99,873

9,161 7,247
3,710 3,714
489 902
12,396 12,730
16,095 18,332
I,OFB 1,531
57,00 E 53,980
888 89
381 255

South Austrian
30
Southern of France .... 770
Victorian lilo
IVelland

41
West Flanders 75
W. and N.W. of France

65,011 57,032

69 901 485
" 1,333 1,425
1315 li 0,992 49,777
680 27,279 23,512
151 - -

25 933 596
75 930 t. 45
813 33,331 39,614

Lady Wodehouse arrived in town on Thursday
from Kimberley Park, Norfolk.

The Right Hon. Sir George Grey has arrived in
town from his Hat, Follodon, Northumberland.
The Right Hon. Thomas Milner Gibson, M.P.,
has arrived in town from Cowes, Isle of Wight.