the grand procession of the possesso took place a few days ago. this is a ceremony performed by every pope, as soon as conveniency will permit, after the conclave has declared in his favour. it is equivalent to the coronation in england, or the consecration at rheims. on this occasion, the pope goes to the basilica of st. john lateran, and, as the phrase is, takes possession of it. this church, they tell you, is the most ancient of all the churches in rome, and the mother of all the churches in christendom. when he has got possession of this, therefore, he must be the real head of the christian church, and christ’s vicegerent upon earth. from st. john lateran’s, he proceeds to the capitol, and receives the keys of that fortress; after which, it is equally clear, that as an earthly[405] prince, he ought, like the ancient possessors of the capitol, to have a supremacy over all kings.
the prince guistiniani procured a place for us, at the senator’s house in the capitol, from whence we might see the procession to the greatest advantage. on arriving, we were surprised to find the main body of the palace, as well as the palazzo dé conservatori, and the museum, which form the two wings, all hung with crimson silk, laced with gold. the bases and capitals of the pillars and pilasters, where the silk could not be accurately applied, were gilt. only imagine, what a figure the farnesian hercules would make, dressed in a silk suit, like a french petit-maitre. to cover the noble simplicity of michael angelo’s architecture with such frippery by way of ornament, is, in my mind, a piece of refinement equally laudable.
throwing an eye on the pantheon, and comparing it with the campidoglio in its[406] present dress, the beauty and justness of the following lines seemed more striking than ever.
mark, how the dread pantheon stands,
amid the domes of modern hands,
amid the toys of idle state,
how simply, how severely great!
we were led to a balcony, where a number of ladies of the first distinction in rome were assembled. there were no men excepting a very few strangers; most part of the roman noblemen have some function in the procession. the instant of his holiness’s departure from the vatican, was announced by a discharge of cannon from the castle of st. angelo; on the top of which, the standard of the church had been flying ever since morning. we had a full view of the cavalcade, on its return from the church, as it ascended to the capitol. the officers of the pope’s horse guards were dressed in a style equally rich and becoming. it was something[407] between the hungarian and spanish dress. i do not know whether the king of prussia would approve of the great profusion of plumage they wore in their hats; but it is picturesque, and showy qualities are the most essential to the guards of his holiness. the swiss guards were, on this occasion, dressed with less propriety; their uniforms were real coats of mail, with iron helmets on their heads, as if they had been to take the capitol by storm, and expected a vigorous resistance. their appearance was strongly contrasted with that of the roman barons, who were on horseback, without boots, and in full dress; each of them was preceded by four pages, their hair hanging in regular ringlets to the middle of their backs: they were followed by a number of servants in rich liveries. bishops and other ecclesiastics succeeded the barons; and then came the cardinals on horseback, in their purple robes, which covered every part of the horses, except[408] the head. you may be sure that the horses employed at such ceremonies are the gentlest that can be found; for if they were at all unruly, they might not only injure the surrounding crowd, but throw their eminencies, who are not celebrated for their skill in horsemanship. last of all comes the pope himself, mounted on a milk white mule, distributing blessings with an unsparing hand among the multitude, who follow him with acclamations of viva il santo padre, and, prostrating themselves on the ground before his mule, benedizione santo padre. the holy father took particular care to wave his hand in the form of the cross, that the blessings he pronounced at the same instant might have the greater efficacy. as his holiness is employed in this manner during the whole procession, he cannot be supposed to give the least attention to his mule, the bridle of which is held by two persons who walk by his side, with some[409] others, to catch the infallible father of the church, and prevent his being thrown to the ground, in case the mule should stumble.
at the entrance of the capitol he was met by the senator of rome, who, falling on his knees, delivered the keys into the hands of his holiness, who pronounced a blessing over him, and restored him the keys. proceeding from the capitol, the pope was met by a deputation of jews, soon after he had passed through the arch of titus. they were headed by the chief rabbi, who presented him with a long scroll of parchment, on which is written the whole law of moses in hebrew. his holiness received the parchment in a very gracious manner, telling the rabbi at the same time, that he accepted his present out of respect to the law itself, but entirely rejected his interpretation; for the ancient law, having been fulfilled by the coming of[410] the messiah, was no longer in force. as this was not a convenient time or place for the rabbi to enter into a controversy upon the subject, he bowed his head in silence, and retired with his countrymen, in the full conviction, that the falsehood of the pope’s assertion would be made manifest to the whole universe in due time. his holiness, mean while, proceeded in triumph, through the principal streets, to the vatican.
this procession, i am told, is one of the most showy and magnificent which takes place, on any occasion, in this city; where there are certainly more solemn exhibitions of the same kind than in any other country; yet, on the whole, i own it did not afford me much satisfaction; nor could all their pomp and finery prevent an uneasy recollection, not unmixed with sentiments of indignation, from obtruding on my mind. to feel unmixed admiration in beholding[411] the pope and his cardinals marching in triumph to the capitol, one must forget those who walked in triumph formerly to the same place; forget entirely that such men as camillus, scipio, paulus ?milius, and pompey, ever existed; they must forget cato, whose campaign in africa was so much admired by lucan, that he declares, he would rather have had the glory of that single campaign than pompey’s three triumphs, and all the honour he obtained by finishing the jugurthan war.
hunc ego per syrtes, liby?que extrema triumphum
ducere maluerim, quam ter capitolia curru
scandere pompeii, quam frangere colla jugurth?.
we must forget caius cassius, marcus brutus, and all the great and virtuous men of ancient rome, whom we have admired from our childhood, and of whose great qualities our admiration increases with our experience and knowledge of the present[412] race of mankind. to be in the capitol, and not think and speak of the worthies of the ancient republic, is almost impossible.
quis te magne cato tacitum; aut te cosse relinquat?
quis gracchi genus? aut geminos, duo fulmina belli,
scipiadas, &c. &c.
