New-York tribune., 1876-07-01
ITALIAN AFFAIRS.
LETTER FROM t. ADoLPHUs TRoLLoPE

| WARM WEATHER IN RoME-A wORKINGMEN's MEET
| ING-INFLUX OF PILGRIMs-FRENCH AND ITALIAN
| DEvOTEEs- CIVIL MARRIAGE UPIEID-THE NEW
MINISTRY BEsET WITH TROUBLES
! IFEoM REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.l
ROME June 1.-After Spring remaining till the
last days of May at an unusually low temperature
for Rome, the heat has come upon us with rush.
The masons engaged in putting the last and topmost
story the tower of the new American church eX-
| acty opposite my windows begin their work earlier
| in the morning and leave 1t later at night taking a
longer rest for their dinner and their scsta in the
| middle of the day. And while they are, OF profess
to be, at work, they move with lelsurely and
| languid step which seems to declare an utter in
| difference to the fact that time is fceting The
mention of them reminds me to tell you of two inn
portant meetings of workmen which have taken
| place within the last few days at Rome They were
important chiefly because they the first of the
kind in Rome and, being so are sign of the times
| There communistIc or sOcialistc tendencies
| in Italy and this not so much from the compare
| tive backwarducss of the country education, and
! rapid and abundant means of communication, and
| the absence OF enormous concentrated masses of
working population Though all these causes count
| for somehn"l, as because the genius and tendency
of the national character is opposed to such senti
| ments and doctrines. There was at moment
|
luxury and idlcuess of the ric but the bulk of the
assembly fell that it not thai that they met
| to talk about and the speaker was put down. The
| usual amount Of ignorance displayed in the de
mapd for diminished hours of work, in order that
| the workman might have more time for sei-cul-
turer te Fundamental idea Of the fateiul necessity
| of a proportion between work done and wages paid
| for it, alterabc hy man and by no law, never
| having presented itself to the mind OF
| any man there. Their demand in fact
| comes 10 this that 100 cents should henceforth
be got ont Of every dolar.-or that the blanket
should be heightened Icy cutting bit oil the bottom
and sewing it on to the top In one rcmarkablepont
howeveI-tho most remarkable of all that passed at
! the meeting--thcsc Roman workmen diametncauy
contradicted the fundau ntaI and fo'gi position
taken up by the English Tide Unions n,a,tE] 1t
special demand that tho Er,kuen should be rali
according TO his capacity. And this ineradcahie
sense OF the inacnabe ca.u. of capabillty 10 It's
tuc recognition and reward Will alone suffice 10 pre-
vent communists doctrines from obtainine any hold
on the minds ot Italian wOrkmcn. Before quitting
the subject, take this pecimen OF the way these
matters are managed in Italy. One speaker was
called TO order by the chairman "a member. by the
by of our own guild Of journalists requested by the
workncn to preside on the oCca5ion) for wandering
into irrelevant subjects, and became cross under
the restraint. saysg that he accepted
no observations and other such nonsense initiated
from the French tribune. Whorcupon from the
body Of the assembly up Jumped big man, with
MAGNIFICENT black beard and voice of thunder:
Ny friends, come here from the policeofiicc. But
want 10 speak 20 You a citizen and friend, as
they do in England, and not as a police-oiticor.
| What want to say, however, IS this that il you
don't conduct this meeting IN an orderly fashion
shall shut il up and no mistake IL must be con-
Tossed that TIE address of the citizen and friend
did seem i'm some degree inspired by the spirit of tho
policc-ohiccr. However, the meeting took 1t IN
perfectly good part, and the rule OF the chairman
, was no further disputed
The month of May. as you probably know-or If
ou MT, your state Is the more gracious us
Tdrlicated Ia Maryw And nvyvrd;psIS. -.-."- "i''
that May il peasant month IN Roine, ana that the
American. and English have mostly cleared out and
lcf; the hotels vacant To receive guests at some
what lower rate this Is the grand time for pilgrim
ages and pilgrims as il - the fashion of Roman
Catholic y.itDi, 10 the Eternal City Ia call them
selves nowadays especially when they come III bulk,
like "A party of Cooks tourists. By the ". What
splendid trade q really spiritual Cook, with patent
from the Holy Father might drive IN bringing PHI
errnarcs To Rome. IL would be very easy to ar
range that indugcnces for any number OF
/ .cars. according to n slightly ascending scale OF
charges should be ncludcd III the one price tor the
pil.rimigcs. We'll, perhaps matters would DC worse
! If such "A spirited spccuator were To come to the
trcnt. Asiti H. our streets are overrln with "pll-
/ rims" during the month of Nay. Ii II extremely
,asy to recognize them The, are almost entirely
| French. and of course mainly CONSIST OF women and
nricst. the former dowdy and the latter tat and
/ uuctuous II is an observable and CURIOUS thing
tLut there is this marked and almost lnNarlabe III
! ference between French aud an Italian priest.
The former has almost always that professional tar
| y,g, mr. which we all know SO wcll;-a Kind OF
rlump. greasy, gody, butter-won't-melt-n-my
! month sclfconscious assumption of fact when
te Jtal an never OF very rar y has Addy on ago
/ | witnessed an amusing contrast between me
! cretiuism of a French slc ps.ms devotion
and Tia. genuine Italian clerical pr0"'dH" III
was in the Church of st. Cecilia 'i1G t'ue thl'her
o,,,,,lv 70 lock at the remarkable statue of the
| S,ut by Madero. made i'll the seventeenth c'liNry'
which represents her she was found IN her tomb
when if was at that timo opened. some iJnrt"cn
| hundred wears aC,cr her death There A. httle
cr,tory attached IL the church built on the SITE as
/ i, evidently the case, Of the path ol an "htitl'
Roman dwelling, which tradition say" was the mono
If Cecilia aud the spot OF h'r mart td"m. lhc
slab of marble forming the altar OF TINS iittIe ora
: tory is of huge size and thickness AMI eV"'htS
great antiquity. And the tradition "t the
/ Mace declares that the slaughtered aEd bleed
! m, body of the Saint was placed on TINS
marble slab Well, there WAS little Knot
| uf ,...l. ,,nnrn plgIus of course. II this little
orltory gccdIiy swallowing 'lth open eith uPiii'u
,y. and pitypared lips, the sacrstars tale OF the
wonders of the place; the o'drHt If whon-mothcr
apparently OF some of the oth' h'r-very ro''rentY
and humbly asked the younG pf.'st II 1t was per-
| n,itt,d 10 ki,, that marble slabi' The Ita'mn
| Iookcd at her as If he cOuld not quite make ont