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    ceremony ; but as that traveller ' s oracle , Mrs . Starke , * says that it is difficult to witness both thislh < rthe dinner at Which nis Holiness waits upon the pilgrims , I determined to sacrifice the former , and accordingly repaired with all haste to the Sola Clementina , where covers were laid , in very splendid style , for thirteen persons . I was fortunate in obtaining an excellent place , and had a good view of all that passed . The Pope appears to be a man of

    about sixty years of age , though in fact not so much , with plain features , a pate , sickly complexion , and by no means a striking person . The pilgrims , dressed in white , were seated on one side of a very long table , and the Pope went along the other , receiving the plates from the waiters and handing them to each of his guests . After he had served them with soup and two courses of fish , and had helped them twice to wine , he took his departure , leaving them to finish their repast at their leisure—which they would do , no doubt , with great satisfaction , for it was truly a sumptuous dinner which was provided

    for them , though there was no meat , Lent not being yet over . One curious circumstance which I ought not to omit to mention , was , that at the beginning of dinner , a priest stood at the head of the table reading the Bible ; but I think that he might just as well have saved himself the trouble , for the poor pilgrims , who had never feasted so well in all their lives before , seemed to care much more about the food of the body than that of the soul . They ate away with such a zest , and the courses followed each other with such rapidity , that an Italian in the crowd just behind me exclaimed , Che appetite ! ( What an appetite !)

    It was customary formerly on the evening of Thursday and Friday in the holy week to suspend an immense cross , thickly studded with brilliant lamps , within the cupola of St Peter ' s , so that the whole of the interior was illuminated from the centre , and from thence only , as there were no other lights in the church . This produced a most splendid effect ; but it has not been exhibited since the accession of the present Pope , who gives as a reason for its discontinuance , that " he will not have St . Peter's turned

    into an English coifee-house . " But it is rather too bad to throw the whole blame upon us ; for , although I fear that my countrymen are not to be defended from the charge of levity and irreverence , I am not sure that they are worse than those of any other nation , and the very hour and nature of this ceremony render it peculiarly liable to be abused by the ill-disposed , of whatever country they be . I was not at the cathedral- in the afternoon of this day , but I was told that there was a grand procession , that the high

    attar was washed , and that a part 01 the true cross , of the lance , and ot the bottle which held the vinegar at the crucifixion * were exhibited to the people . The ceremony of washing the feet was also performed by the cardinals in some of the other churches of the city ; and in all ' , I believe , the tomb of our Saviour was represented . I went into one at nine o ' clock at night , and saw a priest and a number of persons kneeling down , and

    apparently engaged in prayer before the image of a dead Ghnst , which was laid in a tomb , with a centurion sleeping on the ground before it . But wh y sleeping ? The gospel says nothing of this ; and to suppose it weakens the evidence of the resurrection . Why too do the Catholics antedate the events of this week , and begin to commemorate the crucifixion on the Thursday ?

    ( To be continued . ) * " Information and Directions for Travellers on the Continent , by Marianne Starke , "—a book which I strongly recommend to all who visit Italy .

    Untitled Article

    686 Journal of a Tour on the Continent .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 686, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/30/