Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1878-02-27

We were in Rome. The politi-
cal embarrassnients of the Pope
aud King were recent. Rome had
been declared the capital of united
Italy, and Victor Emmanuel had
secured the palace of the Quirinal
as the royal residence. The Pope
considered himself the victim of a
conspiracy that mad deprived him
of the States of the Church, shorn
him of civil power, and made him,
in fact, a prisoner in the palace of
Fthe Vatican. The solemn ceremo-
MES of the Holy Week were con-
fined to the churches. The partial
illumination OF the magnificent
dome of st. Peters was only sug
gestive of the splendid f6tes that,
given the Roman people. A Pre-
sentation had not been held for a
long time. 1t was our good fortune
to receive cards for the first
after q long interval. The Ger.
emory of the Papal Court is
exceedingly simple. Ladies must
dress in black, gentlemen in the
costume of gentlemen children
may appear in white. We were
arranged standing upon either side
of a long hall. The Pope in his cap
and white robe, preceded by one or
more Cardinals, who inquire the
names and residences of perso:sa
presented, and Introduce thcs-s~tfoo
his Holiness by name and resi-
dence, advances, with smile, a
pleasant nod, and some kind word,
along the line. At his approach
we all knelt and kissed the papal
ring, splendid jewel, sparkling
diamond solitaire. After he had
made the rounds, ladies kissing
his hands, feet and garments, chill
dren crawling all over him, en-
Outraged by his genial manner, he
returned to the end of the hall, and
quite surprised us by little speech
in French, the Interpretation of
which was that, If we all be-
haved ourselves pretty well, we
should meet in the better
world. We were surprised by the
liberality of a blessing that EN-.
braced US all, and to all were held
out the hope and promise of hea-
venly reward. This blessing cover
ed not only us, but, by some fiction
of female interpretation, baskets
and arm-loads Of rosaries, books,
crosses and pins, ornaments that
were brought away as gifts to those
Catholic friends who valued them
because blessed by the Pope.
The Pope was then, at 80 years OF
age, a handsome man, seemingly of
active habits, beardless, of pink
and white complexion, like q rud.
dy, clsar-faced girl at the age when
Innocence can blush. We were
delighted with him, and If we had
any prejudices against the Roman
church we forgot them in the
presence of this charming, genial,
gentle old man, who called down
upon us, foreigners aid heretics,
Gods choicest blessings. And
then this incident occurred:
A stiff and stately Englishman
and his stiff and stately wife, whose
spit curls were pasted down her
cheeks in graceful curves around
her ears, refused to kneel. The
Pope turned his back upon them,
and did not see the paw that John
Bull ungracefully extended for q
compromising shake. At table
dhote that evening, at the Hotel
Costanzi, we heard the stiff and
stately "awing, you know, and all
that sort of thing" in explanation
of the fact that he "could not kneel
to the Pope, you know, for it could
not be expected you see, that an
Englishman should get down on
his marrow bones, and all that
blasted humbug." 1t was crowd
ed dining-roOm. We rose upon our
American ear, and being then in
the habit of stump-speaking,
we said to the Englishman,
in emphatic manner and di-
dactic voice: eyes, L observed
your very rude and unmannerly vi.
olation of the customs of court
which you were expected to know
and comply with, as the condition
of your presentation. / kissed the
Pope's hand, AS thousands of great
err and wiser men have done for
many hundred years. To kneel be-
fore u sovereign and the ecclesiasti IT,
cal leader of an hundred and fifty
millions of people, felt to be no
humiliation, and your same scant
courtesy to your own queen, In the
event you had her generous per-
mission to enter her palace, would
have entitled you to II rude expul-
sion." Our speech was applauded,
and the Englishman, We think,
aoquiesced in its truth, ss he only
raised his eye-glass and remarked
"Aw!" We don't like English
men acknowledgement.