He is always a condemned murderer, whose
life is spared on condition of his assuming the hated office, and, except
on duty, he is never allowed to leave the quarter of St Angelo, where he
dwells, as otherwise his life would be sacrificed to the indignation of
the crowd, who regard his presence as a contamination.
The poor fellow looked sheepish and frightened enough, as he patrolled
slowly with his escort up and down the crowded Porta Pia thoroughfare;
but even this insult failed to effect its object. The device was too
transparent for an Italian crowd not to detect it, and the ill-omened
_cortege_ of the "Pope's representative," as the Romans styled the
executioner, passed by without any comment.
MARCH 7.
The system of silent legal opposition which was carried on formerly at
Milan, and now at Venice, is being organised here against the Papal rule.
By one of those mystical compacts to which I have before alluded, it has
been resolved to suppress smoking and lottery-gambling. Our
anti-tobacconists, or our moral reformers, must not suppose that the
Romans have suddenly become alive to the iniquity of either of these
pursuits. I wish, indeed, with regard to the latter, I could
conscientiously assert that the Liberal faction had decreed its
extinction from any conviction of the degradation and corruption
inflicted by it upon their country.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159