ROME DURING THE COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 109, 10 March 1870, Page 7

ROME DURING THE COUNCIL.

THE PRINCES OF THE CHURCH AND PEIESTS EKOM MANY LANDS.

(From the Special Correspondent of the " Daily Herald.") Eome, December 14, 1869. The second sitting of the Council took place on Friday, and the Bishops and Cardinals met in the chapel of the Council for actual business. The functions on Wednesday were almost wholly preparatory. On Friday, however, the large bronze doors, with their carved panels, were closed, and soldiers paraded in front of them. The greatest cai*e has been taken during the fitting up of the Council hall, night and day, that no one should enter without permission. It was supposed that an antiCatholic party had resolved to set fire to the wood-work of the hall, and disappoint the Pope and Bishops. If such a resolution existed at all, it was rendered completely nugatory by the vigilance of the Papal soldiers. On Friday, however, a considerable crowd gathered in St. Peter's, and stood as near the Council Chamber as possible. From within was heard the voice of a speaker, rising and falling with that accent which distinguishes sermons all over the world. No doubt more attention was given to the mode of delivery, seeing that the sermon or speech must have been committed to memory, as it was delivered in Latin the language in which all the speeches must be spoken and the debates maintained. The discourse pronounced at the opening is said to have been a masterpiece of Latin literature; and to have attracted attention no less by its literary excel lence than by the admirable manner in which it was delivered. Monsignor Puecher Passavali, Archbishop of Iconium, was the person chosen for this important work. But nothing is yet known of the tone of the debates ; even the very subjects on which advice will be taken are only guessed at. Gradually, however, the subjects discussed must find their way into the papers, and although a great number of surmises have already been made, they are at best but surmises, for nothing certain is known, save the one subject indicated by Bishops' Pastoral Letters for some time past. That theme of dis -ussion is the dogma of Papal infallibility. It would seem that a large party are in favour of its being promulgated as a dogma that the Pope is infallible when proclaiming doctrine ex cathedra — that is, in the name of the j whole Roman Church. Others, admitting the dogma, consider the time inopportune, and suggest that it be not promulgated at present. Among these latter, the most remarkable individual is Monseigneur Dapanloup, Bishop of Orleans, who has been noted for Ms defence of all things pertaining to the Pope until the present. He has fallen considerably in the appreciation of the party in power at Rome. Even the mildest among these consider his conduct imprudent and unfair. They say he should not have discussed the question beforehand. They imagine that he would have done better had he reserved his opinion until it was demanded in the Council. The more extreme party declare that his arguments are childish, his conclusions illogical, and his fears unbecoming a man and a bishop. Even the lay persons here, friends of the Papal power, have felt his conduct very keenly. The Palazzo Borghese was formerly at his disposal whenever he was visiting Rome, but now no invitation has issued from its noble walls, and the great Bishop of Orleans resides elsewhere. It was expected also that at the next distribution of Cardinals' hats one should find its way to Orleans, but this expectation is not likely to be realized, and many in Rome regret that it will not. So good Monseigneur Dupanloup has created rather a sensation in this city during a season of sensation. It seems that he has also attacked fche organ of the

Jesuits, the "Civilta Cattolica," but they do not enter on a defence, referring readers to a recent volume of this publication. Perhaps one of the most interesting occupations of a residence in the Eternal City at the present time is observing the various crowds of strangers who flock into Rome from all parts of the surrounding country. Indeed strangers are to be met with at every turn Above all, priests are to be seen everywhere. It is well known that Eome possesses a vast clerical population ; but admitting this, it could never justify the enormous numbers now present. They are easily known, and by and by one begins to distinguish even their nationality. They have come to Rome in large crowds to be present at the Council, many of them in the suites of bishops, and many, again, on their own account. They generally wear broad-brimmed hats, turned up at the sides, giving them the appearance, in a modified degree, of gentlemen of the early part of last century. The portion turned up is fastened to the body of the hat by cords, and a thick cord, ending in tassels, supplies the place of hat-band. The long clerical gown, knee breeches, black stockings, shoes with buckles, and a large umbrella complete the costume. The priest in the opera is an exact copy of the priest in the Roman streets. Many of them have a comfortable, jolly appearance, with good calves and! a neat foot, while others have thin faces, thin bodies, and still thiner legs. One is obliged to admit that little vanity must remain in the mind of some who don black tights with such spindle shanks. The priests from Protestant countries dress for the most part as you see them in G-lasgow. But the native monks, with brown gowns and hoods, present a strange appearance. In many cases you meet a stalwart individual with a head Raffael might have studied, toiling along the wet streets in sandals. This article of dress does not look to bo very comfortable, consisting as it does of a broad leather sole fastened to the foot by a strap parsing over the instep. And as the monk plods along the street the sandal rises and falls with a sloppy sound. Then there are monks in white, and students of various institutions dressed in white, blue, purple, red, or black, and like the English Bluecoat Boys their state and condition is known by the colour of their garments.

Monsignori are dressed in pm'ple stockings and purple scarfs. Bishops, also in purple, go about in carriages ; and Cardinals, in gorgeous scarlet, wearing that wondrous scarlet bat which has made so much talk in the world, drive about in red carriages, with the most gorgeous footment and the heaviest and fattest of coachmen. Yet some of these Cardinals seem to be worse off than their attendants. Many are old, thin, and worn ; many seem feeble from the cares of State ; and indeed when one considers that it requires a large sum of money to make all cardinalate ends meet and get settled, one may not be surprised if bills do add an additional grey hair or a new wrinkle to the head under the gorgeous scai'let hat. It costs something to keep up a splendid carriage and flourishing footmen looking spick and span dew, and a fat driver, and a palace, and receptions, levees, and the thousand and one duties that Cardinals are heir to. You can tell the Venetio-Lombardo clergy from their blue collars ; and the Syrians, Armenians, and Copts by their long beards and their brown overalls; the Irish, English, Scotch, and American clergy are known by their black coats and trousers, wholly unlike the priest proper as seen here. The people stare at these last with a wondering look that tells they regard these strange signori as priests, but priests wholly unlike their own. A few American reverend fathers, who for a whole life long had been accustomed to smoking, continued the use of the " pernicious weed " after their arrival, in the streets too, greatly to the scandal of the Roman people, who were shocked beyond measure, although they smoke morn, noon, and night themselves. However, the American fathers have had their pipes put out, and if they light them it is in the privacy of their own rooms, as they smoke no longer in the streets. It would be a matter worth knowing could one ascertain how many priests are here at present. For myself, I have never gone three yards without meeting or seeing at least six of them. They are met with in groups talking and gesticulating, or singly plodding along the wet streets with their gown tucked up under one arm, with a fat umbrella in the other hand, picking their steps — almost Hobson's choice — and avoiding the car- ! riages that roll along every street and thoroughfare.

Then, again, pilgrims have come into the city in considerable numbers. These are said to come from Frosinone, and strange looking characters they are. They go in lots, whole families together, and, with a wisdom truly economical and par excellence, Italian, they bear their food and bedding with them. You know them in the streets by the crosses they carry. These are made of a thick rod about six feet long, crossed by a transverse rod at top of about six inches in length. They look to be in comfortable circumstances, and appear well fed, but it is a mystery where they shall find room to lay down their baggage and make up their quarters in this

densely-packed city. The price of rooms has gone up from thx*ee to four times their original cost, and except the pilgrims consort together and take a house for themselves they are likely to have a bad time of it in the hands of lodging-house keepers. Then there are Neapolitans : stalwart fellows, clad in blue — short jackets, knee breeches, and pointed hats, like those now becoming fashionable, and termed Alpine hats. These fellows resemble the stage brigands somewhat, but they are not half so smai'tly rigged out. Fra Diavol o would be as great a wonder to one of these as he is to us. Then there are the Pifferari from the mountains of the Abruzzi ; these are the bagpipers you see sometimes in the streets of Glasgow, with that chaiming apology for shoes which attracts people so much. They are just the same here, except they are intensified much more. Their music is stronger, and their shoes, or the apologies for shoes, in much better repair. It would seem that you only get the broken-down bagpipers — the pariahs of respectable Pifferari. These, I believe, are chronic in Rome, but 1 have been told that a more powerful reinforcement of them is expected at Christmas, with stronger lungs and more daintily dressed goatskins. We expect a treat on their arrival.

The weather has not been favourable to much display. Except Sunday there has not been one good day since the Council opened, and Sunday night it rained in torrents, as if to make up for its brief cessation. The papers here are inclined to be thankful for the rain, as they assert that St. Peter's would have been crowded to death ; as it was, there has never been such an immense assemblage within its walls as during two periods on Wednesday. As there are no seats in the church — resembling in this the nave of Glasgow Cathedral — it is natural to suppose that a dense multitude could be contained within its walls. Witness your Cathedral concerts, and you will have an idea how space can be utilised. It rains still enough to damp the spirits of any other people on earth but these gay Italians, in whose breasts the memory of the bright sun and the blue sky dwells as fresh as the colours on their own frescoes, and which no amount of rain and bad %eather can wash. out. So they rush into the streets when the rain is less violent with a hope that now the sun will come out, and the Pifferari blow their pipes again,- and the carriages begin to fly about with new energy. In a few minutes, however, down comes the rain, and the butterfly wings of pleasure become damp, and heavy, and chill, and the streets are given up to men of business and wanderers seeking their homes.