Year: 1870

ROME.


[PRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENCE


The antiquarian remains of the Eternal City,
which are so prominent among its manifold objects
of interest leave profound impression of unreality
Rome is emphatcally the city of the Past the city
of ruins, the city of the dead. You are surrounded
with monuments Of departed glory. The atmos-
phere has an odor Of the sepuchro You walk in the
midst of temples, palaces theaters on which Times
effacing fingers" have written the immutable SEN
tence Of decay The streets built over the moiu
ering bones of the dead EVERYTHING has the naNoi
of mortality You become conversant WIN 'ue
characters of history and the interests OF the present
fade into "the stuff which dreams are mane
Off Yon seem to be in the company
of airy specters, and hOary shades. Inc traveller
who comes fresh from the crowded lie OF the new
world TO this society Of phantOms almost loses the
consciousness of his own identity. He has 20 gain
another sense before he stand firmly on his feet
and view the scenes in the midst of which he is
placed with composure and accurate measurement.
The influence of this perpetual communion with
world of ruins even on the people of Rome has been
noticed by observers familiar with the subject
than myself. Living in the sight of remains which
have stood on the same spot for more than thou
sand years. haunted daily by the images that the
spectacle of destruction suggests, they lose
the sense of order and harmony in their
own habits They become indifferent to house
hold neatness and beauty, and learn to regard
confusion and desolation as law OF nature
1t is certain that the dwellings of the common
people show a strange want of comfort, which IN
addition TO their prevailing poverty, is to be ascrbed
to personal negligence. In all their domestic ways
they have tho careessness of children. Their dark
and gloomy houses the scene of perennial waste
The paint pees off from doors and windows, without
exciting remark No attention is paid to the sinking
of the threshold which is often made out of hand
some fragment of marble and if pane Of glass gets
broken its place is supplied with piece of paper So
long as the roof of the house does not fall upon the
heads of the occupants, they make shift to get
along with it, and patch up the old shell while 1t Will
hold together. 1t is said that no such wretched
novels are to be found in the poorest quarter of Lon
don as are seen in Rome in the neighbOrhood of mag
nifcent palaces. The raggedness of the inhabitants
is also beyond description. Their clothes are worn
till they are past mending and hang in tatters about
their limbs.


Ilearn from the reports of travellers who have
lately revisited Rome after an interval OF 20 years
that they observe great change for the worse In
the condition and appearance of the people. The
means of living have increased in price, and
are dearer than in any part of Europe. The
heavy taxation, which is necessary consequence OF
the bankruptcy of the Papal Government is an in
Ou pOOlcl OinSoec- l]NNig WA
sion in life is made to contribute TO the treasury of
the Church. Not step can be taken from birth to
death without the services of the priest and these
must be paid for at exorbitant rate in cash. 1t
costs large sum Of money in Rome to meet the ex-
penses of saving the SOUL The waters of baptism
which wash away the stain of original sin pay
large tax to the funds of the Pope and the iany of
the saints which is chanted around the death-bed
of the faithful, has high value in Roman cur
rency. The proceeds of secular industry are, OF
course, subject to extTavagant levy. From the
Papai lands III the Campagna, not crop OF grain is
harvested without tax of about twenty-five per
cent ON the value. All the productions of the soil
nav an export duty of the Same amount and an i'm
port of sixteen per cent Cattle pay tax of twenty
to thirty per cent on their value, and nearly thirty
francs (S6 is levied every fat brought to mar
ket horse cannot be sold without tax OF five
per cent on the price, which is paid by the purchaser
no matter how often he changes hands and for
every horse that rs kept in the city, the owner Is sub
ieot to a tax of about half dollar month during
the prevalence Of the disease in grapes, which re-
duccd many of the vine-dresSers 10 beggaTy, still
higher tax on vineyards was exacted of the com
mme although individuals were unable to pay.


The increase of poverty as gather from unques-
tionable authority is manifested in the deterioration
Of the people In health and comfort The number
of the blind, and of persons with diseased eyes



whom YOU meet In the streets, is much greater than
formerly. The same is true of persons with marks
If the smallpox. No measures are taken for the
general vaccination of children, and when SMALL
breaks out in the city the most fatal consequences
are experienced. The wretehed character OF the
houses and the prevailing neglect of cleanliness, IN
fact render any sickness that occurs liable to be-
come an epidemic. In times not far remote 1t Is
said that you could not 60 the length Of q street


- rlyallQ Of
beauty. both in men and women of the poorer
classes The children of the common people In
Rome especially have been famous for their good
looks You everywhere found magnificent young
men, whose fine classical heads, reposing on neck
and shoulders of massive and elegant proportions,
almost led YOU TO mistake them for the originals OF
tbe ANTIQUE statues Maidens of stately and delicate
beauty sat before the door or at the window, radi
ant with health in spite of their olive complexion
and presenting Incompatible array OF youth
ful charms They were always neatly, if
not extensively dressed the manners of both sexes
had a gracious and friendly courtesy. showing a
touch of the old Roman gravity tempered by modern
refinement The young women at that time wore at
work very becoming dresses of stout WOODEN cloth.
Their hair was fastened with silver comb or with
silver pins. Few of these wives and daughters OF
the people were without large gold earrings and one
on two pearl necklaces On the high festivals OF the
Church. you would them walking In the streets,
especially in the quarter west of the Iber which Is
celebrated for the beauty of its inhabitants dressed
in jaunty satin bodices OF many colors with the
young men who wore famous velvet coats tght-
Citing pantaloons enlarged below the knee and
rravats flaming with all the hues of the rainbow.
This national costume has almost entirely disap-
peared. You now women, standing at the foun-
tans dressed in old cotton garments, often hanging
in RAGS about their shoulders. Their shoes