Litchfield enquirer., 1860-04-12
Letters from Europe.---No. l.
THE CARNIVAL AT ROME. ~ RoNE, March End 1860


 Carnival, howbeit it was finished some two weeks ego and the fasting of Lent has fol all good Catholics taken the place of it's joy ous festivities The Carnival! The Carni wall Every body has heard of the Carniva at Rome thousand times over, and of it. horse racing and blowing out of candles, bu with an idea so vague that it may not be ou of place for me to give kind of general out line before enter into any minute descrip ton of the particular Carnival of this year As to character.--It might be described very briefly and perhaps as satisfactorily as in any other way by simply saying it is an eight days holy day, during which every body tries to have good time and to have every body else enjoy the same. As to age-It is 6 good deal older than the oldest inhabitant for it seems to be but continuation of one of the old Roman games that was celebrated under the name of Saturnalia as long ago as history tells us anything certain about Ro- man customs--and probably good while longer, for Roman history, you remember, loses itself not very far back, and runs of into myth and finds sucking Romulus and a she wolf, and various other similar prodi gies, all as good for practical purposes as the truth could have been
 As to origin.---The Romans of earliest date seem to have believed that once, long before their time, there had been 8 happy age in which there had been no want, no sor- row, no rich nor any poor, tut all was joy and glorious equality-cvery body had a plenty of every thing that was needful and was just as good as his neighbors, if not a little better.
 That age had long since passed away, but it had left sweet remembrances which had been gathered into forms and handed down by legends and traditions so that its grand outlines were pretty generally understood not only it seems by the Roman but also, if we may believe historians, by the Greeks, the Persians, and the Egyptians, all of whom had similar games to celebrate its glories and revive it's spirit.
 Whether this was kind of remembrance of the garden of Eden which had crept down from father to son and had lived in some form under every shade of intellectual cul- ture or difference of opinion upon every other point, or whether it was an intuition of every soul that this state of trouble and unrest in which it finds itself was not it's original state but was the result of q fall, l am not dis posed nor able to decide. The belief, at all events whatever it's cause seems to have been universal, that there was once in the history of the race golden ago and scarcely any nation but has made some extraordinary efforts to revive its spirit.
 In those good days all men were equal So in these bad ones there should be joyous festi- val once every year, in which men should at least pretend to be equal, in which the rich and the poor should walk together in processions should delight each other with gifts and in short should act towards each other as though in fact they all had an equal claim upon the goodness of old father Saturn. Friends invited each other to dinner parties and all that smiles and flowers and music could do to secure the happiness of every human being was done without stint in these old Roman Saturnalia.
 In it's main features the festival has not chang ed to this day. There is the same general desire to make every body happy, and every one con- tributes to this end whatsoever of smiles or pleas ant words, or delicate attentions, or gay attire, or gifts they may have at their disposal
 It is grand, good time in which every one goes back if not to the golden days of Saturn then to the golden days of boyhood or girlhood and takes their fill of romp and fun.
 Such being the character age and origin of this festival I was of course glad to be able to be present at it.
 The principal scene of gayety is always upon the Corso, street that runs straight down throuoh the city for more than mile, from the pata mn the north, called Porta del Popolo, to the foot of the Capatolne Hill. It is narrow, as all old streets in all old cities are just wide enough fo, carriages to pass each other; but this narrow ness is not altogether an objection since it bring the carriages closer together and at the sam, time nearer to the windows and balconies upol each side the street, and so makes all thing thicker and merrier.
 At the head of the street near the gate in tn, Piazza del Popolo, what we should call square" in our country number of covere, seats are arranged, the finest of them for the no bility, and the rest for any one who chooses t, pay for them. It is from this point that thu horses start in the race which every evenin. close the days amusements. At the upper on, blankets are stretched across the street to sto, the anlmals-a matter more easy since they hay, run more than mile at the top of their speed
 All along the street, upon each side, the win dows are decorated with red tapestry and crowd ed with women. The balconies which oro hnl over the sidewalks are likewise elaborote,, a,.o rated with flags and curtains. These are usn.,,, occupied by the foreigners. While the window below and the raised seats along the narro, pavements are crowded by the women of tn lower orders ana by the contadne" who hay come in from the country to take part in the fe. {;v;f;as Of o1I <ho x,or,o, r Y,