THE

CHRISTMAS HOLYDAYS IN ROME;

BY THE

REV. WM. INGRAHAM KIP, M. A.

"(

AUTHOR OF THE DOUBLE WITNESS OF THE CHURCH,"
FAST," ETC. ETC.

rerum pulcherrima, Roma.

99 66

THE LENTEN

Virg. GEORG. ii. 534.

MDCCCXLVI.

NEW-YORK:

D. APPLETON & CO., 200 BROADWAY.

PHILADELPHIA:

GEO. S. APPLETON, 148 CHESNUT-ST.

✓

HARVARD COLLEGE

Oct. 15,1934

LIBRARY

Harold S. Deming

HARVARD ENNZAS
LIBRARY

JAN 1 6 1992

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by
D. APPLETON & CO.,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of

New-York.

H

To

THE COMPANION OF THESE WANDERINGS,

HER HUSBAND

INSCRIBES THIS VOLUME.

"Why, wedded to the Lord, still yearns my heart
Upon these scenes of ancient heathen fame?
Yet legend hoar, and voice of bard that came
Fixing my restless youth with its sweet art,
And shades of power, and those who bore their part
In the mad deeds that set the world in flame,
To fret my memory here,-ah! is it blame
That from my eye the tear is fain to start?
Nay, from no fount impure these drops arise;
'Tis but the sympathy with Adam's race,
Which in each brother's history reads its own."

Lyra Apostolica.

PREFACE.

To have seen Rome is a great fact in an individual's life. So it appeared to the writer of these pages, when wandering among her mighty ruins, finding every where the bright pictures of youthful imagination surpassed. Cicero in his day declared-" We are surrounded by the vestiges of history." How then should we feel when, standing on the same spot, we realize, that eighteen centuries have since added their relics!

The title of this volume does not perhaps, give an adequate idea of its contents. The writer was led to adopt it, because his primary object in visiting Rome at that season, was to witness the Christmas services. His residence there was, however, prolonged through the greater part of the winter, all of which time was occupied in diligent study of the inexhaustible objects around him. To attempt a description of one-half, in a work of this size, would be in vain; he has therefore only selected from his notes written on the spot, some of those things which excited the greatest interest in his own mind.

It will be seen that while he has paid some attention to the antiquities of the city and the classical associations connected with them, he has dwelt particularly upon Ecclesiastical matters relating to the Church of Rome. And in this respect, he thinks the work will differ from most of those on the same subject. Travellers seem generally to have given only a one-sided view of the Papal Church. Some were ready to commend every thing, and others, on the contrary, saw nothing good in the whole system--no rite or service which did not shock some violent prejudice. Now in this, as in every thing else, there is a proper medium. The Church of Rome is indeed deformed by many fearful eriors, which often strike at