A PONTIFICAL PAGEANT IN 1880.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2177, 16 February 1881, Page 3

A PONTIFICAL PAGEANT IN 1880.

■Under the above heading the **Times" ■ correspondent at Rome sends the following interesting letter dated December 16th 4 In the Publio Consistory this morning, and in fact in everything relating to the several 'Consistories held this week, Leo XIII. has resumed all the ancient pomp and usage. Even the reports of the proceedings pubdished by the Vatican organs are once again printed according to the old fashion, and the heading, "Provvista di Ohiese," adopted •since 1870, has given place to the official form " Atti del Conoistoro, tenuto dalla Santita di Noatro Signore Papa Lecno XIII. nel Palaczo Apostolico Vatioano ildi J6Deoembre, 1880." But all the pomp of the magnificent ceremonials now displayed within the Vatican is, with increasing jealousy, reserved to she faithful. At ten o'oiook this morning, attired in tho full dress Pontifical etiquette requires I alighted at the bronze gates of tho Vatican, and was entering frankly, as usual, whore I am veil known and, I may justly say, well receired, when the sergeant of the Swiss Guards drew up his cane horizontally, barred my passage, and demanded where I was going. " Into the Consistory," I replied. "Where is your biglietto ?" he asked. " Biglietto ?" £ rejoined. " Si, Signore, il biglietto.- without the bigllietto I cannot let you pass." "But," I said, unable to conceal my surprise, " Mcnoignor appointed yesterday to meet me in the ante-chamber, and he certainly know nothing about tickets to be shown at the gate, or he would have told me. Delay will make me late for my appointment. Send me, under charge/.if a soldier, to Monsignor Maggiordomo, and you will find it will be all right. You know quite well who I am." " Certainly I know you, «ir, but ray orders aro absolute to let no" one whomsoever pass without a ticket." What was I to do ? Would there yet be

time to intercept some friendly prelate *r diplomat, driving round St. Peter's to the courtyard of St. Damatu?, and get htfti to pick ma up ? It was my only chance. I determined to try it, and fortune favoured me. 'l I had gone as far as Santa Mart*, when a voung clorio of the household, who, I am ashamed to say, I did not recognise, accosted mo, inquiring what I was seekb.g in that locality, and could he do anything for me. My difficulty was soon explained, &nd, at once turning back, my unknown friend, with great courtesy, accompanied me round St. Peter s, through the watchful guards at the other gate, and direct into the Vatican. But we had no sooner entered the courtyard than I perceived lomo material change had been made in the customary arrangements. Instead of entering the door and proceeding up the grand staircase, which leads to the Pope's apartments and to tho hall of the Consistory, my companion turned to the door on the opposite side of the courtyard, whore Pontifical gendarmes wero also standing on guard and carriages Betting down, and led mo up to the first loggia—that beneath the one painted by Raphael—and thence, not to the hall of the Consistory, but through the long Sala Ducalo into tbo grand Sala Regia, oonverted, by the aid of some of tho wealth of rare tapestries and rich hangings with whioh the presses of tho Vatican groan, into a consistorial hall of such splendour as to make tho great chamber devoted to that purpose mean, bare, and diminutive by comparison. On the wall at the further end, where a door—to-day concealed —leads into tho Pauline Chapel, a magnificent ancient tapestry picture of groat size had been extended. It was too far off for me to recognise the subject, but the figures, apparently the Madonna glorified in heaven, with saints and angels, were so arranged as to form an arch-like group above the high-backed Papal throne, oovered with cloth of gold, standing on a dais in front of it. From above the picture, and, of course, immediately over the throne, extended an unusually large rectangular canopy, with a fall, I should say, a good yard in depth, of tapestry wrought in Raphielesque scrolls, and bordered by a deep gold fringe, the same work extending upon the wall on the right and the left of the canopy to the corners of the picture, and then, frame-like, down its sides to tho ground. The further or throne-end half of the great hall was separated from the rest by the benohes for the College of Cardinals carried across, with a wide opening in the middle for their Eminences to enter, and then along the side walls to the end—an arrangement like that in the Sixtine Chapel—and the baoks and seats of these benohes were also covered with tapestry. Tho nearer end of the hall was for the public, and on each side splendid tribunes, hung with dark orimson velvet and silk, with gold fringes, and supported on light columns covered with the game material and gold lace twined spirally up them, had been erected —that on the left for tbo Diplomatic Body accredited to the Holy See; that on the right for tho great ladies in tho customary black dresses and veils. They wero raised, at least, 10ft. from the ground, and beneath were other reserved places for ladies of lesser rank. When I entered these tribunes were already occupied by many of the personages for whose accommodation they were destined—on tho one side stars, ribands and gold lace in abunance ; on the other a brilliant display of diamonds flashing from among the folds of the black lace veils. At the foot of the velvotcovered stairs leading up to each tribune was a group of Camerieri segreti diSpada e Cappa, in their Court costumes, to usher in those entitled to sit there, and on the floor stood a crowd of ecclesiastics, students and laymen, preauod back on each side by Swiss Guards in full gala costume, with their halberds, keeping an open passage for the procession. Down the long length of the Sala Duoale the Palatine Guard were drawn up in doublo line, face to face; and I may mention here that the loggia beyond was thronged, as I entered it, with all that bustling, busy, flitting crowd, from Swiss Guards and the gorgeously-attired servants of the Porporati at one end of the social scale, to the violet-robed monsignore and scarlet clad cardinals at the other, which formed tho mise-en-tcene of the Vatican interior in the palmy days of the Papacy. I had soarcely got well wedged into my place, between a Swiss guard in front, and an Irish prior, an Armenian monk, and some English students behind, when the Bound of a measured tramp drew all attention towards the Sala Ducale. It was the procession, led by some of the Noble Guard, with drawn swords, and followed by macehearers. It would be tedious to describe it in detail, but after a long train of ecclesiastics in various colors from black to red, Minor Canons, Canons, Monsignori, and the Chapter of the Lateran Basilioa and Cathedral, and others had passed, camo the Cardinals in their full robes—thirty-two in number—walking two and two, each couple attended and followed by their chaplains, gentlemen, and train-bearers, and then his Holiness Leo XIII., robed in a splendid bullion-embroi-dered red silk dalmatica, shot with gold, his cloth-of-gold mitre on his head, and borne aloft on the tedia gettatoria by its stalwart bearers in crimson silk damask. On eaoh side of the ohair were carried the great fan-like flabelli of ostrich feathers. Before the Pope went mace • bearers and Noble Guards, with drawn swords, and following him came all the personages of the Pontifical, or what, acoording to etiquette, is called the Pope's Noble Court, from the Boman Prince assisting at the threshold to the Consistorial advocates and the cubicolarii; other Noble Guards marched on each side and brought up the rear. It was a grand Bight. The whole cortSge was more perfeotly and sumptuously appointed than anything I remember to have seen in Pius IX. 's days, before the " imprisonment ;" and as the Pope came, carried in a blaze of splendour, imparting the benediction with his raised hand on the one side and the other, all present knelt. The Pope having taken his seat on the throne, and the members of the Sacred College their places on the benohes, one of the Consistorial advocates commenced to read, as is usual on these puhlic occasions, a case for beatification, whioh, in the present instance, was that of the venerable servant of God, Gaspare del Bufalo, while, in: the meantime, four of the Cardinal-Deacons rose from their places, and, preceded by Swiss Guards making way for them, went into the Sixtine Chapel—whioh, I need scarcely remind you, opens from the Sala Regia on the opposite side to the Sala Duoale—to bring in the two Cardinals, Jacobini and Hassoun, who woro waiting there, where a short time before they had taken the oath in the presence of the Deans of the three orders of the Sacred College, bishops, priests, and deacons, the Vice-Chancellor and Camerlengo of the Boman Church, and the Camerlengo of the Saored College. All eyes were turned to see them enter, and particularly Hassoun, the first Oriental Cardinal created since Besaarion, 450 years ago, and who, it was said, would appear in somewhat different vestments from tho Cardinals of tho Latin rite. In fact, instead of the ermine tippet folded back on the shoulders, he wore a long mantle, with an upright collar, and fastened in front by a large circular brooch or fibula. Advancing each between his two conductors to the foot of the throne, they kissed the Pope's hand and foot, received his embrace, took their places among their brethren, and then, returning singly acoording to their precedence, knelt before the throne, while tho Pope placed the red hats on their heads, repeating to eaoh the oustomary formula, reminding them that the colour of tho hat is significant of the blood they must aver be ready intrepidly to shed for the faithful and for the peace of the Christian people. This short ceremony completed, the Pope descended from the throne, seated himself again in the tedia gettatoria, waß raised aloft, and giving tho Benediction with hia hand as he paseod, returned to his , apartments with the same pomp and state I have already described, the two new Cardinals taking their places in the procession with the rest. Having attended his Holiness to tho Saladei Paramenti, the cardinals then returned proeeseionaHy to the Sixtine Chapel, in which we hod ia the meantime taken our places. They were preceded by the Sixtine choir, with Mustafa at their head, ohanting the " Te Deum." . The choir took up their position on tho right of the altar; Cardinals Jaoobini and Hassoun knelt in front of it, and on the o inclusion of tko hymn tho Demi of the Sacred College recited the prayer "Super creatos Cardinales/' Then the two new cardiria'fl came back to the door, and, standing there while all the others passed out, received and returned the embrace of each. I may add that in the SixtineOhapel all the ceremonial fittings were complete acoording to ancient usage; but, as is tho custom now, they were removed in the course of the afternoon, and the place left bare and empty for strangers to visit, as when Pius IX. first had it stripped at the commencement of the " imi priuoninent."