New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-02-22
UNITED ITALY.
LETTER FROM JULIA WARD HOWE.

| TEN YEARS CHANGES IN ROME-CHURCH AND hiNt-
THE FUNERAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Access
eIoN-sCENE IN THE PARLIAMENT CHAMBER
IRON AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT THE TRIBUNE
ROME. Jan. 21.-The telegraph has already given
you the skeleton of events which have recently
taken place here We who have been on the spot may
be able to add to these color and features OF in
terest. One word first about the aspect OF the city
ITSELF contrasting the memories Of thirtyfour years
ago. and of more recent times with the developments
of to-day. Cas- the telegraph and the railroad had
already made great changes in material surround
| ings. when i Rome ten years ago. But the
city then stood out from the rest of Italy, in an in
| closed but apparently inevitable isolation. The
Papal party felt itself secure, and the Rome OF the
future spoken of as place to be excepted from
| the inrOads Of the new order, sanctuary OF
deposit for historic remains and records,
| q sepulchre of the Past, in short. in
which the mighty impulse of the Present should be
restrained and lost. But free Italy could not live
| with this dead heart in her midst; and after the
exit of the French troops came Freedom into Rome,
and with her. as her guardians, Victor Emanuel and
the Italian Parllament-a constitutional King and a
| constitutional Government And now what new
! life appears in the old streets! How the blank,
| hopeless look is gone from the faces one meets |!
| What new buildings, with modern improvements,
| fill the waste places Of the city! What converts
| breeders of human dry-rot, have been abolished!
| Here and there the precincts of a villa have been
invaded-the garden and orange grove OF some lux
urious noble have been cut through but this was
done in order to open n new and needed thorough
| fare and the Via Nazionae, stately enough to de-
serve Its name is the result. And near one end OF
this fine street what 90 seei A beautiful church.
handsome and well-appointed, In which an Ameri-
can Protestant ministers to the religious wants of
| prot ant cong eQatiD American.
pleasant sprinking of our English aunts and
uncles.
! On this city great shadow fell some ten days
| ago. The King as imprudent as men of his temper
| ament are apt to be, suddenly attacked with
| pneumonia 10 which were soon added the symp-
toms of fever peculiar to Italy, designated as the
| migliara. Great anxiety was felt and expressed
but the splendid physique of the patient made the
public hopeful of his recovery. On January 5, the
| bulletins looked serious; on the 9th they were
worse and on the afternoon of that day the Re Cal
antuomo Gentleman King breathed his last. AL
though visited by partial nerdict on the part OF
the Pope, the last sacraments, so important in the
view of the Romish Church, were not denied him.
The morning after his death proclamation bearing
the signature Of a" Umbero L." was posted on the
walls of Rome. The tenor Of this document was an
appeal to the patriotism of the Roman people and
promise On the part of the King tn adhere to his
fathers liberal policy, and TO DC faithful to the con-
ditions Of the constitution.
The city, as well ms the court, at once
plunged into the deepest mourning. Every place OF
public amusement and traffic closed on the an
nouncement of the Kings death, and the theatres
were not reopcned until after his funeral. The
lying-in-,ae began aftcra few days and thousands
of people thronged the Qurinal in order to see the
remains disposed in what is called the chdpeiie
ardente. To take ones chance in the crowd was
dangerous as we'll as a difficult matter. We were
fortunately admitted by the kindness of friends to
view thia spectacle. which had for its place the
great hall Of the Quirinal Palace. At one end Of
this large inclosure considerable space was sep
arated from the rest by a gilded railing. Here,
under n canopy Of ermine. ut height and at an
angle which made il easy 10 him, displayed
the hfclcss form of Victor Emanuel, al
ready ombalmed. and draped with crimson
velvet beneath which were visible his uniform
and his orders. An immense number of wax lights
in high gilt candida bras, dIusod a soft and beaut-
fn light Some curasscrs, splendid men in a splen-
did uniform, stood here and there like statues,
within the railing while n number of priests mostly
Capuchns, sat with their books in their hands.
reading prayers for the soul of the departed. I'M
fortunately. the angle AT which the body was raised
produced an effect of forcshortening by which the
seen through opera glass; this effect disappeared
and one was able 10 distinguish the stronglymarkcd
features, and the heavy mustache. The pale hands
dropped powcress at each side, as if TO show that
death cannot keep the objects which life grasDs so
eagerly. After some DAYS of this mournful display
came pageant still more mourniul. The historic.
buralplacc of the House of Savoy IL near Turin But
il was felt from the first that this King of the
new order must be buried in the capital of his new
kingdom. Rome must contain his remains IN order
that new life gt there spring from this royal death
His sepulchTo must give the Romans a new assoc
citation a new object of reverence in the midst of
their old memories and traditions. Here, on the
very field of the final battle. he must be buried, III
full sight of his dearest foes well as OF his nearest
friends Aud so the edict went forth, and the 18th
was fixed for his funeral. The Pope would not
allow any one of the four Baslicas of the city to be
used for this funeral, and after some delIberaion,
the Pantheon was selected as the most appropriate
place for such "maimed rites" as Mother Church
would vouchsafe to the man who had dared to up
hold his duty and his country against her supreme
authority. The Pantheon, although consecrated
and used as Catholic Church. is yet i'll some way
freed from the domination of the Pope.
On Thursday. January II, the streets OF Rome
were thronged from early dawn. Those through
which the procession was to pass were dressed with
great garands of laurel, supported on high stand
ards, from which foated, also, the Italian banner.
The houses were hung, in some places with black
drapery and funeral devices, in others with beau
tifnl arras, bearing badges of Grape. Every door
and window was crowded with human faces. In
the Corso and the Piazzas stood temporary bal
comics, draped, and supplied with seats. AT an
early hour the whole way of the procession was
lined with bands of soldiers, whose orders did not
allow any one to pass in and cucumber the street.
We had some difficulty IN dealingwith these author