gence plèniere during the jubilee now ordained by the Pope. They were these,—general confession; a visit once a week to the three churches, San Giovanni di Lateran, St. Peter, and, if I am not mistaken, Santa Sabina, as well as the praying on each of these occasions, five Pater Nosters and three Ave Marias. The third condition was, fasting and almsgiving; on which the Carmelite monk remarked in a delicate, French style to the soldiers, “You fast, I fancy, every day the year round! (General applause, and smiles from the military in the church.) And it would be too hard to impose upon you any more outward fast; but, consider, could you not, after all, deny yourselves one little superfluity?—for instance—the little half cup of coffee after dinner? I am certain that you can, and that you will do this, and give, instead, a sou (a bajocco) each day to the poor!”
He said this with all the grace and delicacy of a man of the world, at the same time, with both earnestness and playfulness. The glances of the soldiers hung upon his lips. Deep silence prevailed through the church as long as he was speaking. Afterwards there was singing by the military, and such singing as I have never hitherto heard in the Italian churches.
When we returned home, bonfires were blazing in the streets, surrounded by noisy boys and a great many houses were illuminated, but in a feeble manner, that is to say, with a couple of small lamps in each window. This was in honor of the four Cardinals, who gave a grand reception this evening to—all the world. Very well satisfied to have escaped such a throng, I sat at our comfortable tea-table with my
