AH ENGLISH GIRL'S VISIT TO THE POPE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 321, 21 January 1908, Page 4

AH ENGLISH GIRL'S VISIT TO THE POPE.

There wen- ,-i\ or us «t I In- Italian I'l ii-h.u in the Vl.l del Tritone, all -■" i- of certain. other* of uncertain age, : who wvr." .iimini- i» 'have an lUleni< \\ with the 1110-t ' >'k;]i|Utr.i liusliclol' ill tin' world—the It was -u.ii a long process to get 011 c through tin.- ordinary up ijium. tlic Con - •ul, that »e were delighted when a "owl lather. who otten ■ ailed at our pensiuii t*» j'rarli-i hi"* Knglish. olfered to get i;- iii\itatiou-. Due Sunday morning lie i.Hue with the card-, which had instructions how to dress for the occa siou; each one inii-t near black, no I jeweW, and a Mack lace mantilla on Hi■ I head.

Ihere \vj- an Italian gentleman who had lieen waiting three week* for liiinvitatiou who was to accompany nMen must appear in evening drc-H at lii INqie's reception-: In- had liorrowcd :i dress-isiat. but. die oilier gal'tin nt I*-in- a mi-lit. lie wore his ordinary tnm-ers ot •triiied black and white. The effect wa- so startling that one lady liiililly hinted that it was scarcely ilic icgulation thing: he -aid it couhlu't b' helped, so we were oblig-d to let him go. Then came the u-ual battle with the .1 Inn.in. but. a- we «ere quite expcn ] eneed by this time in that line, alter a heated argument lie agreed to take u' i and bring u« back for three lire. We walked pa-t the Swiss litiards a' tile entrance to the \atican. and were, told to lake a certain turning to the right, where »e encountered the fir-t official. who looked at our card siispici ou-lv. then waved us to another entrance, where we again produced our card and were admitted into u _ largo room, where a line-looking man. in th • most gorgeous livery of red velvet and ..old law, Ushered Us into the throne loom, which we have *iiiee been tol.l was uuite an honour, it was very large, with magnificent pictures and draperi '- aud a red and gold chair on a raised platform surrounded by a canopy and a row of chairs on three sides which would accommodate at least a hundred people. We found teals and looked arouuil u-. We had each provided ourselves with a roiary to be blessed and to keep as a rouvenir of the day, and we found that evervone was carrying something-- i good" many, bow; one woman had liei arms onered with rosaries, proliablv to -ell: each package must have its coip tents exposed, as nothing was allowed in the ioom covered. Alter waiting for an hour the name man came in and knelt; iminediat-ly evervone in the room did the same. A •■ent'leiuan who sat near us. when h j•• was told that he would he obliged i > kneel, strongly objected, but I noticed' lie went down with the rest. Then tlier.-.-line in two priests, with tile I'ope i'.'tween them, lie was rolled simply in white r-erge. with a beautiful cross hang ing iu front: lie looked dilfereul from any of the pictures I have seen ot liiiu stouter, with a very ttorid eotnplexioii liut yttii felt instinctively that he was a good man. lie -lowly pa-ed by. holding out hihand with the famous "ring, which we all ievoiitly kir-seil. Occasionally someo'ie ivho knew Italian would speak, and the !•,.[«. «„nld place his hand on the object, whatever it was. A woman sat op p.(-Ue ti' us with a baby, which had been Fretting lip till now, but when the Pope came ill it stopped anil, as he drew mar and put his liand on its head, looked up into hi- face. After making the round, the l'nn.turned and -aid in Italian. " I ItleM yoa. all >Oll wear, your friends and yoar businc--" —ami it was over. In passing we noticed that there were two other room,-, al-o tilled with people. Sunday afternoon i- the time when the Pope gives most of hi- public reeept ions—the whole time he wa- in our room did mil exceed ten minutes. Some people pay from is to a sovereign for ail invitation; a little money, we found, ilid wonders in Italy in opening dooiv which we supposed to lie kept closed. Ihe Pope only speaks his native tongue. Italian, fluently, French a little, but never if he can avoid it. Tile Vatican contains 1.000 rooms and rovers thirteen acres of ground. 'I he

l>ope*s apartment* are on the third floor; none lnit friends or people on special are admitted. The ofti r e i* anything but a sinecure. Tie coinineiice- work with bis secretary at nine in th«* morning, and it lasts until six in the evening:. The rest of the day lie rail* hi- own. He receives on an average 1000 letters a day. Hi* two sifters moved from Wnn-e. their oM home, and h*T<? apartments nverlooking tW Vatican when* they can *ee their brother as lie walk- in the garden.