New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-09-11

I IN 10 and lT0 from 81. leteI :. i law 49,
midst the pomp and confusion of Holy Week,
/ 10 oreat annual feast of the Church. ihir'y-siH
Aousand strangers are in Rome-so says the po-
! ~ 10 his Holiness-and the crowds that flock
4 nvtness the ceremonies at st. Peters Literally
4 pocs the streets. Will not weary you with long
4 lscnptons of their unmcanlng ceremonies.
1 1onu trains OF Cardinals carriages, with Their
ahmed horses and gilded trappings, and richly
reriied footmen, streaming up to the Church, and
laundering through those colonnadcs-Pcpe,
Bishops and Cardinals, in their rich vestments,
,,ssng up and down glorious ST. Peter'sin solemn
pocession, amid the waving Of palms, the kneel-
no Of whole ranks Of armed men and the bray
;,pof trumpets-kissing the Pcpe's toe-washing
Ofieet, waving of incense and chanting of priests
IN the midst of a gaping multitude, make up the
scenes of Holy Week. The ceremony of carry
mo the Pope on the shoulders Of men, like an old
woman, up and down the Church, is ridiculous
in the extreme.
There were but two impressive things amid all
these poppous ceremonies. One was the chant
ng Of the Misererc in the Sistne Chapel Thir-
teen candles, in the form of triangle, are light
ed up when the chanting Of the lamentations
commences One after another IS eXtingulshed
as it proceeds, until the last one at the top Of the
Triangle, which represents Christ, is put out. The
others, representing the prophets and good men
that preceded our Saviour, one by one 60 ont in
he night Of the grave, and the lamentaton grows
wilder and deeper. But as the Prophet Of Propl-
cts, the Light, the Hope of the World, disap-
pared, the lament suddenly ceased. Not sound
was heard amid the deepening gloom. TIE ca
,astrophe was too awful and the shock too great
10 admit of speech. He who had been pouring
bis sorrowful notes over the departure Of the good
and the great seemed struck dumb at this last,
this greatest wo. Stunned and Supplied, he
could only contemplate the mighty disaster
never felt heavier pressure on my heart than at
this moment. The chapel was packed in every
inch of it--even ont of the DOORS far back into
The open hall, and yet not sound was heard.
could hear the breathing of the mighty multi
tude, and amid it the frequent half-drawn sigh. |
Like the chanter, each man seemed to say
" Christ is gone! We are orphans-all orphans. +"
The silence at length became too painful. ]
thought should shrek cut in agony when sud-
denly low wall, so desolatc and vet SO sweet so
dcspairing and yet so tender, like the last strain
Of q broken heart, slowly stole out from the dis
tant enclosure and swecd over the thronr, that |
the tears rushed unbldden to my eyes and could |
have wept Like child in sympathy. 1t then died
away as if the grief were too great for the strain
Fainter and fainter, like The tone Of lutte, it
sunk away, as if It's last strain was over, when
suddenly there burst through tie arches cry so
piercing and shrill that it seemed not the voice Of
sng, but the language of 4 wounded and dying
heart, in its last agonizing throe. The multitude
swayed to it ike the forest to the blast. Again
ceased, and the broken sobs Of exhausted grief
alone were heard. In moment the whole choir
!oned their lament and seemed to weep with the
weeper. After few notes, they paused again,
and that sweet, melancholy voice nourncd alone.
It's tone is still in my car. | wanted to sec the
singer. 1t seemed as if such sounds could come
from nothing but broken heart. Oh, how un-
like the joyful, the triumphant anthem that swept
through that same chapel on the morning that
s7mboled his Resurrection
The other imposing ceremony was the benedic- T
ton pronounced over the people. Probably not I
lar from 80 ,000 persons were assembled in front
Of St. Peters on Easter-Sunday. Thesmili:ary
ware drawn up in the form OF square III front
While the immense multitude stood around them
and on the steps Of the Church. As stood on
the topof the coonnadc and looked down on tins
sea Of heads upturncd to the balcony where the
fope stood with outstretchcd hands and bcheld
the glttcring ranks Of soldiers or their knees be-
meath the blue SKY, ! thought never beheld
more imposing spectacle. In moment 1t was
oTer-thc ranks arose ike one man-thc drums
beat their rcveill6-thc cannon from the summit
OF Adrian's tomb Numbered uttheir joy-horses
gallopea over the seuare--ranlls wheeled into or
ces and the sea OF; men slowly rolled away from
81. Peters. Holy Week closes with the grand
elimination Of st. Peters and the Grandoa or
fireworks on the Castle Of st. Angelo Il is
impossible TO describe this illumination There
are two--the first commencing at and contnu
ing till o'clock is called the sitter one. Il is
caused by 400 lanterns hung outside of the
Church from the top of the dome 70 the base OF
The building, and so arranged as to reveal its en-
Ire architecture. Every column, cornicc, friezc
and window-all the details of the building and
The entire structure are revealed in SOFT clear
night, producing an effect indescrbably pleasing
yet utterly bcwilder:ng. 1t seemed an alahaster
building lit from within. The long lines OF light
made by the columns with the shadows between
-,he beautiful cornice glit,cging over the dark
Asss under 1.-THE magnificent seiaicrcuiar col
onnades all inherent with light and the immense
Tome rising like a mountain of molten silver IN