New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1867-05-19
ROME AND THE ROMANS.
The Great Western Invasion-Home
Yankee City.

capital to say Il word or two respecting
Rome, which lately left in the flush and
bloom of glOrlons spring, to come to this
region, where the chill OF winter yet fingers
in the air, and the trees are leaiiess.
have scarce ever returned to any cousid-
cradle city of Europe without prrceiving
some important change. The old world, as
well rs the new, changes with the years
that pass over it, as clouds are continually
taking new shapes when blown along by the
wind. perceive some essential differences
between as it is to-day and as it was nine
years since, but they are not the kind
which | then remarked and thought so
striking, relating principally TO the accom-
mediation and Establishment of the mod
ern city. 1t is true that nature in this
genial climate, has rapidly performed the
work which was expected of her in the
public gardens. TIE groves of the BOr
CHEESE villa and the Pinclan Garden, mostly
composed of trees that keep in leafthrough.
out the year, have thriven as they would
nave done in scarcely any other region
The busts ofdistinguishcd men, which stand
in rows in the PinCian Garden, are already
overshadowcG and halfveiled in the tufts Of
laurel planted at the base of their prdrs-
tails, A few years ago a stranger might
have visited Rome without being aware
that its climate was particularly favorable
to the growth of the date palm. Two or
three specimens Of this noble tree stood
did not always see them. Now it has he.
come a favorte, and is secn in its various
stages of growth In AL the public and many
Of the private gardens. They are srringng
up in the Villa Borghcsc, aud several, OF an
already stately size, rustic heavily i'll the
winds that sweep the Pincian declivitv
1t is not Of these things, however, that ]
was about to speak. 1t is Of the new Gothic
swarm which has overlooked Rome, the
great western invasion, which began last
year, and this year has almost made Rome
Yankee city. When | was first there, in
1880, there was no', 50 far rs ! know, Il
single artist from the United States residing
there. The European nations, Eng aud
among the rest, had many young men study
ing the arts of design In its rich museums
and galleries. aud there were II few of wide
renown, the Thorwadsen, who made il their
residence. At present ] am sure that the
number OF American artists who have set
tied themselves at Rome exceeds that from
any other country. In the rooms of the
bankers, Maquay, Packenham IL Hooker,
hang lists of American and British artists
residing at Rome. | did not count either OF
them but saw that the American list was
twice AS long as the other.
The American visitors ut Rome this winter
are counted by thousands: and, if were to
Judge by what | saw and heard passing
around me, should almost say that they
had expelled the English. They have been
certainly AS two to one compared with those
who come from the British Isles You hear
English spoken in the streets and shops, but
your ear tells you it is with an American in
tOuatiOn. Americans swarm at the hotels,
and outbd their insular cousins for the
plcasautest and sunHiest suites OF rooms.
The consequence is, Of course, that Rome
has grown dearer than ever. The English
casnp laiu, and not without some reason, that
It Is the Americans who have made it so, al
though the burdens of the government now
resting upon u small population, and paper
money system almost us bad as our own
bN, perhaps more eXcusable-are certainly
in part the cause.
The hotels are very dear; the price of
lodgings has very greatly risen, and in the
more cheerful looking parts of the city
which, consequently, are given up to
stranEcrs-thG necessarics OF life cost nearly
twice as much as they do in those remoter
and obsCurer streets to which the Romans
themselves resort for their purchases.
system OF high prices, framed aud gradual
cd for foreigners only, prevails in those
parts Of Rome which they most frequent
II fact Of which the oldest residents are
fully aware, and consequently leave the
shops which deal on this principle to Gus
toners who are less experienced, and who
are generally content with the residence of
"a single winter. 1t sometimes happens
that those who let their apartments be.
have with gross bad faith toward
their dodgers, swelling their accounts
with pretended damages to the turni-
ture, and repetitions Of charges already
paid and the like, and becoming Camor-
Gus and iusolent il their demands are re.
sisted. These cases, think are exceptions,
yet not wholly untrequent oues; and as the
Roman householders are generally poor, the
temptation to cheat in many instances gets
the better Of their conscience.
n This suI1gQ iufiuN pf a nnot,la fryy,, -
prosperous country far beyond the deep,
among whom the union of the temporal
with the spiritual power is locked upon not
merely AS an error in government but as a |
crime against the natural rights of maa, q
mind might see an omen of
the fate that hangs over the temporal power
Of the papacY. l do not suppose that the
ecclesiastics who bear the rule within what
is now the little pontiical territory so regard
it; they have doubtless other and more
certain indications to occupy their atten-
ton. 1t may have been fancy, but
it seemed to me that | saw in the faces of
the more thoughtfnl-looking ecclesiastics
different from the confident and
assured tone which had beheld there In
other years-a look Of disbursement, as
If some sad anticipation darkened the
future. l saw the pope aud several Of his |
clergy of the highest rank at the close of a |
ceremonial in which they ofliciated at st.
Peters. In passing out of n side chapel,
across the nave of that great building, they
came near us. The pope did not certainly
look in bad health; he had an erect atti. |
tude-you may know, perhaps, that he is a
short and rather stout man---and he walked
with firm step between the multitude of
gazers, with his attendant priests ON his |
right and left. He may last several years
get, but his warmest partisans cannot fail |
TO see that the revolution which has de. |
prived the primate of the Latin Church of |
the far larger part of his temporal posses.
sions Is yet TO be completed by taking away
thesrest and that with the Death Of Plus
TX, the pontficial authority in civil matters I
must come to an end.