No. 416.
Mr. Wurts
to Mr. Blaine.
Rome, July 15, 1881. (Received August 1.)
Sir: The closing scene of the events connected with the life of the late Pope Pius IX took place in Rome at an early hour of the 13th instant, when his remains were transported from their temporary resting place in the Basilica of St. Peter to that of San Lorenzo, and there immured in their permanent tomb in accordance with his testamentary dispositions. At 6 in the evening of the 12th, the body was taken from the niche on a side aisle of St. Peter’s, where it had been walled up in 1878, and the formalities of attesting its identity, as well as certain rites of the church, were performed. These ceremonies occupied over five hours, and it was fully midnight before the formation of the procession, composed of the hearse, drawn by four horses, draped with red velvet, with four lanterns at the corners; some 3,000 persons bearing lighted torches and chanting prayers in Italian and Latin; several carriages in which were various dignitaries of the church, though none of the rank of cardinal; and a long line of carriages, representing their proprietors partisans of the Vatican. The distance across the city, from St. Peter’s to San Lorenzo, is about 5 kilometers.
Since the occupation of Borne by the Italians in 1870, no Pope, either living or dead, has left the precincts of the Vatican, though the present Pontiff has officiated several times of late in St. Peter’s, with closed doors. The announcement, therefore, of this unusual spectacle aroused general interest in the Roman population.
To be present at the passage of the mortal remains of Pope Pius IX was considered a duty by his sympathizers, by the majority of the people an occasion to witness a ceremony that would not probably occur a second time in their life, and by others a favorable opportunity for manifesting their feelings of opposition to what they considered represented by the body of the late Pope. It is not surprising, therefore, that notwithstanding the late hour of the night, a vast crowd, estimated at over 100,000 persons, gathered on the Piazza San Pietro and along the route of the procession, and many houses were illuminated in these streets. That the clerical party intended to make this a demonstration by turning out in full force, and that a counter-demonstration would be made by the Radicals, were facts well known beforehand by the authorities, but it was not considered expedient by the minister of the interior, [Page 657] Prime Minister Depretis, to take special precautions to preserve order. It is officially stated that the authorization for the passage through town of the procession was asked and obtained; and the Italian Government would have rendered royal honors to the deceased Pope and have lined the route with troops, in deference to the laws of the papal guarantees, but the acceptance of this proposition by the Vatican would have implied a recognition of those laws which it has always ignored. It is reported on trustworthy authority that Pope Leo XIII and the cardinal secretary of state opposed the ceremony, preferring to have the papal remains conveyed with the utmost privacy to San Lorenzo, and thus avoid the danger of a conflict with the populace, but they were overruled and reluctantly consented to the semi-state in which the ceremonial was executed.
The procession had scarcely moved out of the Piazza San. Pietro when symptoms of disorder became manifest. In response to the prayers for the dead chanted by the followers of the hearse, groups of youths replied with songs of a very unreligious character, with hisses and cries of “Down with the priests,” “Viva Italia,” “Viva il re,” &c. The police dispersed them, but they found it easy to return with additions to their party at various points along the route. In some of the narrow streets of the city there was great confusion the police, aided by troops, tried to bar the way, allowing the procession alone to pass, but being too few, the rioters broke through and continued their molestation of the persons in the cortége, hissing them, putting out their torches, and breaking into the procession; stones were thrown at the carriages containing the dignitaries, and at the illuminated windows of houses.
The excitement being on the increase, and the journey barely two-thirds over, a serious effort was at last made to prevent the rabble from proceeding further, and the legal summons by trumpet were made to them to disperse; additional troops were called out, and here succeeded in barring the road, and the procession, then reduced to a few hundred persons, was able to proceed to the Basilica; but at this point, also, a number of rioters had gathered and caused such disorder that the police and carabineers had to use their sabers, and many persons were wounded and arrested.
The papal remains were finally consigned at San Lorenzo to his executors, the cardinals Monaco, La Valetta, Simeoni, and Mertel, there in waiting. Access to the church was forbidden to all not taking part in the concluding ceremonies of placing the remains in their permanent receptacle, and the formalities terminated about five in the morning.
The press of this city, with the exception of the radical journals, is unanimous in deploring the events here related, in condemning the conduct of the persons who caused these disgraceful scenes, and in severely blaming the government for not having taken measures to insure order.
Exaggerated accounts will, of course, be sent abroad and not tend to augment the sympathy of Catholic countries for Italy.
There were provocations on both sides, though it must be said they came principally from the liberals. The clerical party has already made use of this experience as evidence of the Pope’s moral imprisonment; for, “if such gross insult and outrage were shown to the remains of a deceased pontiff, what would be the reception given to a living one, if he ventured to appear in the streets of Rome?”
I have, &c.,