The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-11 00:00:00

The Horrib:

!er in a Cab,

The Pope and His Guests;

No day has yet been fixed for holding a coroner's in-
quest on the alleged murderer Hunt. Nothing further
than that which is at present known has transpired with
regard to the motive for the perpetration of the shocking
tragedy.

rim SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER YI 1863

The correspondent of tee Morning Post at Rome
records an unprecedented piece of hospitality carried
into effect at the Vatican on the last Thursday in
1 October, viz., a dinner given by the Pope to 54
2 needy persons from the various districts of Rome.
The curates of the 54 parishes of Rome and the
1 suburbs gave certificates of poverty to all really
2
needy persons who were ambitious of the honour of
sitting at his Holiness's table; and the name of
one fortunate individual per parish was extracted,
I by lot, from the mass of candidates. The trysting
2 place for the guests to meet in previous to being
3
conducted into the presence of their pontifical host
was the Piazzi Scossa Cavalli, near the Piazza di
San Pietro; but, unfortunately for these poor
people—who, of course, did not drive to the rendez-
vous in carriages—it deluged with rain the whole
morning, and they were forced to take shelter in the
church on the Piazzi until the prelate charged
with the duty of marshalling them to the palace
arrived. At noon precisely the 54 guests entered
the ducal saloon—the great hall in which the
Pontiff's hold their consistorlcs—their humble ap-
pearance and attire affording a striking contrast to
the rich robes of the Court Prelates and dignitaries,
the liveries of the Pope's servants, and the mediaeval
uniform of the Swiss soldiers on guard, with their
einque cento halberds and double-handed swords.
I'he guests were placed in the order of precedence
of the various parishes they represented. Mon-
signore Sagrista said grace; the Pope's servant
brought in the dishes, which were distributed by
the Pope's major dotno, his sagrista, his domestic
prelates, and other dignitaries of his Court. The
menu was in conformity with the traditional lawman
bill of fare for the middle classes on festive occa-
sions. Soup, boiled beef and vegetables, frittura,
reast meat or fowl and salad, and the national pas-
t/Cc° of macaroni, with fruit and sweetmeats, con•
stituted the solid repast offered by the Pontiff to
his straitened subjects, who did emp'e justice to the
viands, until his Holiness appeared in the midst of
the festive scene, surrounded by his noble guards,
prelates, and distinguished personages. Checking
with a motion of his hand a rising cry of " Viva
Pio Nano," the Pope advanced into the hollow of
the horse-shoe table, accompanied by Monsignore
Majordoma, who presented by name each of the
guests, one of whom, an old man, apparently a kind
of broken-down gentleman, took the opportunity
of reading his Holiness a sonnet composed for the
occasion—a real trait of Italian manners—which

the Pope listened to with complacency. His Holi-
ness then had a basin of money brought to him,
from which he distributed two scudi to each guest,
and a new handkerchief in which to carry away the
remnants of the feast, for the guests were all re-
puted to be paterfamiliases, and were invited to
carry home to their respective families abundant
specimens of the Pontifical good cheer. The Pope
wound up his hospqalities with a short address to

his guests, requesting them to bless God for what

they had received, and to recollect it as a proof that
God never abandons his poor ; he exhorted them to
show themselves grateful for this act of charity by
leading a Christian life and being faithful subjects ;
he urged them to inculcate the fear of God in their
families, because indigence sometimes springs from
vice and sin ; and finally invited them to receive
his apostolic benediction, which he accordingly im-
parted to them with visible emotion, and imme-
diately afterwards left the Sala Ducale. It may be
easily imagined what comments have been raised
in Rome on such a departure from the usual rou-
tine of the Vatican Palace as the event just
described.