The _Giornale_ however reports, that "where his
Holiness, with agitated voice, bestowed his apostolic benediction, awe
and admiration could be read on every countenance; all hearts beat aloud;
and no eyelid was left dry. The whole assembly pressing forward, bent in
turn before the august personage, touching, some his hands and some his
dress, while others again cast themselves at his feet, in order to
impress thereon a reverent and affectionate kiss."
After having examined the building, the Pope went on foot to the
neighbouring convent of the Augustine nuns, called "The Convent of the
Virgins," the whole of the religious community were "permitted to kiss
the sacred foot," and then "having comforted the virgins with paternal
and loving words," he returned to the Vatican, past the files of French
troops, through the beggar-crowded streets, amidst cold, sullen glances
and averted obeisances, back to his dreary palace, there to wait wearily
for orders from Paris.
CHAPTER XI. THE CARNIVAL SENZA MOCCOLO.
There are things in the world which allow of no description, and of such
things a true Roman carnival is one. You might as well seek to analyze
champagne, or expound the mystery of melody, or tell why a woman pleases
you. The strange web of colour, beauty, mirth, wit, and folly, is
tangled so together that common hands cannot unravel it.
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