The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-25 00:00:00

ROMAN GOSSIP.

A letter dated Rome, Feb. 20, says :—ln the
midst of his troubles, spiritual and temporal, Pio
Nono retains a sufficient close of attic salt in his tem-
perament to allow of an occasional sally, even at the
expense of his own situation. A learned Roman
advocate, charged with the compilation of a volu-
minous legal work on behalf of the Government, a
sort of digest of decrees and decisions, has been for
some time in the habit of presenting to his Holiness
each new volume of this work as soon as it issues
from the Stamperia Camerale or Papal printing
office. The circulation of this work was important
before the Church was bereft of its fairest provinces,
as every commune in the States was obliged to sub-
scribe for at least one copy ; but now the restricted
boundaries of the ecclesiastical dominions afford but
a limited number of contributors to the publication.
A few days ago the advocate went to the Vatican
with the last volume in his hands, and had the
honour of presenting it to the Pope. His Holiness
opened the .
De book precisely, at the ominously headed
chapter, Molestiis,"
and immediately ex-
claimed, " Signor Avvocato, I shall read this chap-
ter with great attention and interest, in order to
find out the legal remedy for the many and grave
m
Beatissimo Padre!" replied the
advocate with condoling ascent, " I fear that your
troubles cannot be alleviated by such tribunals
,as the Rota or the Segnatura:', "Perhaps not,".
returned the Pope, smiling,
subjected" oles t at.
i on s (molestie) to which I have been lately
"for our situation
is certainly critical, but, after all, people fare a
great deal worse elsewhere than in Rome, and we
are spared many of the horrors which are everyday
occurrences in Milan, Bologna, Florence, and espe-
cially in Naples !" His Holiness has evidently been
led to believe that out of the Eternal City all is
anarchy, license, and bloodshed ; but different ac-
counts are brought by travellers arriving from
Palermo and Naples, as well as from the northern
provinces of the Italian Kingdom. Meanwhile, to
prevent anything like anarchy or bloodshed in the
ensuing Carnival, the Governor of Rome has de-
cided that the eight days' festivities are to be solem-
nised without the exhilarating accompaniment of
masks. People are not usually inclined to make
fools of thetiaselves without some disguise or other,
and, consequently, from this circumstance, and from
the political agitation prevalent in the city, the
Carnival of this year is expected to prove a fiasco.
But, whether good or bad, it will be witnessed by
thousands of foreign spectators, for forestieri are
crowding into Rome in immense numbers, and
British subjects form the majority of the travellers.
The Anglican extra muros chapel affords too limited
accommodation for the whole of the congregation,
and if it were the custom for Protestants to kneel
like Catholics outside churches and chapels when
full within,the ample crinolines of our fair country-
women would reach half-way up the opposite Villa
l3orghese.
A portion of these erratic beings will disperse
after the Carnival, and it is expected that the long-
wished-for opening of the railway to Naples will
afford them a rapid mode of conveyance southwards
so that they may
achieve Pompeii, Vesuvius, Pm-
tum, and Sicily during Lent, and return to Rome
by Easter.