The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-17 00:00:00

ITALY.

A revolutionary demonstration took place at
Palermo on the Bth, when about 400 persons
assembled in the two principal streets of that city,
uttering cries of " Down with Ratazzi! Down
with the Parliamene ! Garibaldi for ever ! Crispi
for ever ! " No farther disturbance occurred.
A letter from Rome gives the following account
of the grand ceremonial of the canonisation of the
Japanese martyrs at St. Peter's :
" I went to the cathedral at half-past 6 in the
morning, and with some difficulty elbowed my way
through the crowd to the reserved seat assigned me.
Soon after every available place was occupied. The
officers of the French staff were in full uniform, and
in the gallery appropriated to the diplomatic body I
noticed the Marquis de Lavalette and Baron de
Bach. In the Prince's gallery, near the alter, were
the King and Queen of Naples, with his Majesty's
brothers and uncle. From the grand portal to the
altar was posted a triple line of soldiers, composed of
the Guard Noble in their splendid white, blue, and
gold uniform, the Zouaves, and French troops. It
was remarked that when the French arrived they
displaced the Pontifical Zouaves, who became indig-
nant, and threatened to withdraw altogether. M. de
Charette, their officer, at first refused to command his
men, but was at last pacified by the intervention of
Mgr. de Merode. At seven a great movement was
perceptible, the procession having left the grand
staircase of the Vatican, and a countless train
of monks, canons, and other ecclesiastics, suc-
cessively passed between the lines of the Guard
Noble and the French troops. The spectacle of
the Bishops filing off on each side of the altar was
exceedingly imposing. Among the French pre-
lates, I recognised Mgrs. Dupanloup and Parisis,
whose dignified attitude especially struck me. Next
came the Oriental Bishops in their rich and pictu-
resque costumes; then the cardinals, and after them
the Pope, carried in his chair of State, with the
triple crown on his head. His countenance ex-
pressed meekness and composure, but he looked
pale, probably owing to a kind of sea-sickuess pro-
duced by being carried on men's
Pope took his seat on the throne a
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extremity
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of the building, and the cereamobniyshoofpds
began, all the cardinals and
foot of the throne.
prostrating themselves
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I could clearly distinguish the
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In the Litany of the Saints, wh,i,c,rhowraosgathmeunssuaundgi
after which standing erect, his cope held by ten or
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twelve prelates, he read the decree of canonisation.
tlVheen his Holiness had concluded, the soprani of
the Papal Chapel sang the
" Te Deum," in which
the French priests, who were scattered over every
part of the church, also took part. The heat had
now become intolerable, and the smoke of the thou-
sands of tapers filled the atmosphere with a yellow
haze, and rendered breathing almost impossible.
At half-pa ,t ten the Pope celebrated mass, partly
from his throne and partly at the altar, After the

Gospel had been read, his Holiness delivered a short
homily, in which he dwelt upon the great merits
of the canonised saints, and on the salutary
effects which might be henceforth derived from
their intercession. At the offertory, four offerings
were successively brought by prelates :—First,
five huge tapers, decorated with paintings, ribbons,
and flowers; then two loaves of white bread;
thirdly, two gilt barrels, which I can have no doubt .
contained the richest wine; and lastly two cages, in
which were doves, turtles, and several pretty birds.
Meanwhile the crowd had increased, the atmosphere
had become still more suffocating, and the tapers
had ceased burning for want of air. At half-past
twelve I could endure it no longer, and accord-
ingly left the church half an hour before the
ceremony concluded. On the following day, in a
general consistory, the Pope, as doubtless you have
heard by telegraph, delivered a long Latin allocu-
tion, to which the bishops replied in an address read
by Cardinal Mattei. I understand that the Ro-
man prelates severely criticise document as
a literary composition. It was the joint produc-
tion of Mgr. Dapanloup, Cardinal Wiseman, and.
others, and is not considered a very good specimen
of Latinity by the Roman prelates, who are in
general excellent Latinists. After the consistory
the prelates dispersed over the Vatican till dinner,
which was served in the library at two. The num-
ber present was 308, all ecclesiastics, The Pope sat
at a raised table, in company with eight foreign,
cardinals, two of whom were French. The rep.Ast
was gay, and the Pope laughed a good deal. At
four, the whole of the guests walked in the gardens
of the Vatican, and afterwards took coffee at the
Villa Pia, one of the prettiest architectural creations
of modern times. The day after most of the bishops
dined with their respective ambassadors. The
French priests flocked in crowds to the Quirinal to
see the King of Naples and his family. They were
received en masse, and I am informed by a person
present that they cried, Vivent les Bourbons!"