The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-06 00:00:00

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A letter in the Times, dated Rome, June 29, says : I
I have just returned from witnessing the magnifi-
cent ceremony of the canonisation of twenty-five
martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church, and any-
thing so gorgeous, anything so unique and out of
harmony with that world in which we live, and
move, and think, it has never been my lot to wit-
ness. My reasoning powers for the present slum-
ber, while imagination is wide awake and active;
and thrilled as I have been for full five hours with ;
all that can gratify the senses and charm the fancy,
you must not expect me to take up the pen of the
critic, and analyse what should be received as repre-
senting one grand idea. I cannot do so, for though ,
it would be easy to write about gaudy display and
frippery ; to attack the pretensions of the Roman
Catholic Church ; or to denounce the Pore King ;
yet, glowing as my imagination now does with the
glories of the pageant which has just passed away,
I must for the hour, at least, ascend into that higher
atmosphere where, stripped of its accidents, the
universal religious sentiment attracts and unites us
' all together. It is said that one man summoned
from all parts of the world the mighty host of ecclesi-
astics who were ranged this morning round the Tomb
of St. Peter, and that one man created all the glories
of a scene which has bewitched and impressed every
one who has witnessed it ; yet what could Pius
IX. have done bad it not been for that religious
sentiment which dwells in every man who is above
the beasts ? That it is which has bro tought Rome
from the North and the Soutb, the East and the
West, tens of thousands of sincere worshippers ; I
bow before it, while for myself I discard the acci-
dents with which millions of my fellow-beings
have surrounded it. With these feelings, then, let
me describe all that I have gazed upon with
wonder.
The fetes began lest night, which was the vigil of
St. Peter, and as I entered Rome by the Porta San
Pancrazio, there rose on the horizon, still blushing
with the gorgeous colours which an Italian sum-
mer's sun had left, a thing of light, a magic cupola,
so exquisite in its beauty, and so rapid in its birth,
that one might have fancied that it had been created
by flies who said, " Let there be light." All the
world was out to view it, and though no novelty to
myself, still it was a pleasure to hear the admira-
tion which every one expressed at witnessing a spec-
tacle of which they had dreamt far across the At-
lantic on the one hand and across the Pacific on
the other, for there is a multitude here of every
race under the sun. How crowded the city is was
perceptible from the multitudes which filled the
streets so late in the evening. The people of
Frascati and other neighbouring places had come
over with each a small barrel of wine and provi-
sions, determined to make a night of it on the steps
of the Piazza or any other place and return the
following day. From Tivoli, Cora, and distant
places they came in crowds in the morning, bring-
ing many of them small heel coops with fowls for a
longer and more substantial supply. Of the num-
ber of foreigners I fear to speak. Of Bishops there
are 500. Ecclesiastics of all ranks are said to
amount to 25,000, of whom 15,0001
0a
to be French. Certain is it that
, Or Q 0
ac ap
0
Ipcluiedlatetod
e believed to be princi-
for various reasons, they
the Cardinal Vicar for permission to say
are s
and,
In short, never was Rome so full,
clerical element, and many a
pally French.
especially of the
a sleepless night or lay his
he great day of the feast
stranger has had paT
. sill
head on the board
was, however, yet to come, and wearied travellers
were appalled to bear that by six o'clock the
church of St Peter would be full. A brilliant
morning it was when I started at half-past 5 o'clock,
and found crowds in carriages or on foot, all tend-
ing towards one point. Many a window was hung
with crimson tapestry ; the Papal banner was
floating over the Ponte St. Angelo, and Papal
troops were dashing about in all directions.
The Cardinal:, were indulging in an hour's more
sleep, secure of their places, but, with this excep-
tion, persons* of all classes were en route. Thanks
to kind friends I entered the church by a private
gate, the I'orta Santa Martha, and from my place
under the Ambassador's loggia, and close to the
Papal throne, will now describe the scene which
thousands besides myself were gazing at, even at that
early hour. The taste displayed iu the decorations is
much more pure and simple than that which was
shown in 1862 at the last great Canonisation. The
effort has been to give the effect of colour, and this has
been done so as to bring out in bolder relief the archi-
tectural ornaments. It would be useless to note the
materials employed. One looks at the whole, at the
general effect, and this was rich and gorgeous in the
extreme. Richer still it became when about 7 o'clock
the Servitori began to light the great wax tapers which
hung suspended in festoons beneath the arches,uuder
the colossal statues. Still it was a fearful sight to
watch these men at times suspended in mid air on
' a narrow bit of wood and swinging backwards and