During the annual religious festivals, the Cathedral is illuminated in a most splendid manner. The whole structure is so lighted at night as to show the proportions of the building, with each pillar and projection, so that the whole appears to be one mass of fire, blazing out, hour after hour, with great architectural precision, a palace of flame, the admiration of thousands who have traveled far to gaze upon it. This grand exhibition is commenced at dusk, by the lighting of about six thousand lanterns, formed of white paper, so as to give the effect of a white light. This is called the Silver Illumination; and while it continues, the building seems to be one sheet of silver, glistening in some supernatural light, and shining on, hour after hour, with a subduing aspect. At nine, the Golden Illumination commences, when about one thousand more lights, made of tar and other inflammable materials, are made to flash out at once, changing the whole appearance of the scene. In the midst of this flood of light, the Cathedral stands, one mass of fire, yet unconsumed. The bright light reveals every column, crevice, window, and door, and the church stands like a mountain of fire, surmounted by a cross which now seems lost in the clouds, and anon stands out with great distinctness. All night it burns and blazes there, while none in Rome thinks of sleep. The scene is too exciting; and, till the last light goes out, in the dim gray of the morning, the Pincian Hill is covered with a dense mass of spectators. More than three hundred lower themselves upon that mighty dome, and hang there amid the fire, periling their lives for the generous compensation which they receive. This grand illumination we were not fortunate enough to see; but, from the description of it given by Romans, it was easy to imagine its grandeur.

From St. Peter's, we pass to a rapid description of a few of the other most important churches, among which is St. John Lateran, which is famous as being the first Christian church in Rome, the edifice having been built in the fourth century, by Constantine, who assisted in laying the corner stone with his own hands, day after day performing, as a religious duty, work which usually devolves upon the servant and the slave. Here the pope is always crowned immediately after his election. Here, too, have been held five general councils the first summoned by Calixtus II., who presided in person. Three hundred bishops sat in solemn debate; and one of the results was the celibacy of the clergy. This council convened in 1123. The second was in 1139, and was presided over by Innocent II., and resulted in the condemnation of various heresies. The third was in 1179, and Pope Alexander presided. This council opened the floodgates of persecution upon the pious Waldenses, and let loose upon that unoffending people the hounds of death. The next, in 1215, was called by Innocent III., and contemplated the crusade upon the Holy Land. The last was in 1512, called by Julius II., to settle schism and agitation, which broke out in the church, and threatened the quiet and security of the pontiff himself.

I here attended a service one Sunday afternoon - I believe the celebration of high mass. It was expected that the pope would be here in person; but illness prevented, and the service was performed, I was told, by the celebrated Cardinal Mezzofanti, who is said to be the best linguist in the world. The whole scene was a most ridiculous one. A procession was formed, composed of soldiers with glistening arms, monks with lighted tapers, and a dense crowd of people of all ranks

and conditions. The cardinals, most of them venerablelooking men, who should have despised such folly, were present, dressed in their blood-red habits; the bishops, less gay and gaudy, and the priests, in solemn black, made up a very imposing spectacle. The service at the church consisted in getting up and sitting down, chanting and praying, bowing and kneeling. The common people appeared to be quite interested in it; but it seemed to me that the better portion looked on with contempt. I noticed an aged cardinal, whose name I could not learn, who sat with his stern eye wandering first on the ecclesiastics, and then on the people. There was a contemptuous smile which seemed to speak volumes; and the longer I gazed upon him the more did I feel that he regarded the whole display as an imposition, permitted for a selfish purpose - perhaps, in his estimation, a necessary purpose; and how this well-educated class of men can feel any thing but contempt for a large part of their foolish rites none can tell. Were they ignorant, as are many of the nuns and friars, they might be duped and blinded; but they are men of science and cultivation, and must know the fraud which is being practiced upon the people.

Connected with St. John Lateran is a noble baptistery which was built in the time of Constantine. A basaltic vase shows that it must have been used for immersions; and it is asserted by the church that in it Constantine himself received the holy rite, which may possibly be true. This is the basin in which Rienzi, in a moment of sacrilegious fury, immersed himself, to show his contempt for sacred things. The priests tell us that his subsequent misfortunes were sent as a punishment for his unholy conduct.

Almost all the churches of Rome have about them

something interesting and superstitious. The Church of the Capuchins1 has deep vaults which are filled up as a burial ground. The earth in it was brought from Jerusalem, and is held sacred by the monks. The vaults consist of an aisle and six little chapels, or riches, about ten feet wide, eight feet high, and six feet deep. These niches are arched, and resemble niches in a wall. When a monk dies, he is buried here, and is allowed to rest beneath the ground a while, when he is unburied, clad in the very same habit which he wore in life, and laid out in state a while, when the bones are taken to pieces and scraped. They are then piled up in fantastic order. These vaults, on entering them, give a most singular effect. The arches are all lined with bones; skulls are laid up in piles; while the small bones are formed into crosses on the walls, and even the chandeliers in which hang the lamps which illuminate the aisle are of these parts of the human body, tastefully framed together. Skeletons sit astride piles of skulls, or hang suspended from the wall, while hands and feet, long and bony, seem to reach out in every direction. The monk who went down with us into this place of skulls- this Roman Catholic Golgotha-seemed to take great pleasure in the idea that he should, at one day, slumber in these vaults, and be used up in this singular manner.

Back of the church are the cloisters of the friars, into which we entered. The cells are about six feet square. The monk sleeps on a hard board; no bed, no mattress; a single woolen covering only keeping the rough wood from a contact with the body of the sleeper. A rough table, a bench, or chair compose the furniture of the room. On the table, in one case, we

1 S. Maria della Concezione.

saw a loaf of bread, some burnt coffee, and, on a little shelf, a few books. The friars of this order wear a woolen habit, no stockings, vest, nor underclothing of any description. They eat little meat, and live by charity, and their reputation for sanctity is very high. They are of all ages, from the young man just entering life, to the old man in his dotage. Our guide said that, but for his wife, he should enter this monastery, and avowed his determination to do so when his wife should die. He seemed to have a most profound respect for these men; and when we left, he humbly turned and kissed the hand of the dirty, ignorant fellow who had led us about.

Many of these monks take ecclesiastical vows from indolence. Being unwilling to work, they enter some monastery, and spend their lives in begging. Indolence is written on their faces, and ignorance stares out in an idiotic look. Others enter in times of deep affliction, when the ties which bind them to earth are severed. They feel that earth has few joys for them ; and, as their graves are not ready for them, they enter into these living tombs, and

makes up honest social life. crime or want, and by the of life.

abjure society, and all that Others are forced here by various sins and miseries

We found the churches of Rome full of images, statues, and paintings, some of them of very great value. Immense sums of money have been spent by successive popes upon religious edifices. We rode out, one day, to San Paolo. The ancient church was built many centuries ago, over the spot where St. Paul was supposed to have been buried, and had scarcely a superior in the world. In 1824, it was consumed, during some repairs which were being made upon it. The