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from very remote times. This is a remarkable illustration of
a conquered race having found a refuge in mountain fast-
nesses, while the conquerors occupied the fertile lands of the level
country, and of their having survived there with some of their
customs and peculiarities for centuries.
Before I reached Rome Allston had been to a reception given by
a Mrs Sherman the wife of one of the partners of the then celebrated
banking firm in New York of Duncan, Sherman & Co. Mrs S was
fond of company and had become acquainted with quite a
number of the beau-monde of the city; but she was somewhat want-
ing in the lady like composure which befits a well bred lady,
and some of the young Italians who were at her house behaved in
such a way as to show either that they were not aware of being
in respectable company, or that they were quite ill-bred them-
selves. One of these, Count Frenfanelli, grabbed at the cakes in
a very undignified way which Allston particularly noticed, and,
strange to say, a few years afterwards, the same individual was
in Charleston during our race week of the month of February.
His being in America was on account of his having married
a Miss Wilkes of New York, who had some fortune, and who
when in Rome was captured by the good looks and the title
of the Italian count. Allston recognised him immdiately when
he was here as the offender of the Rome reception and refused to
notice him, but I was introduced to him and saw a good deal
of him. He was to me quite pleasant and companionable and
I afterwards saw more of him in New York the following au-
tumn of 1860.
The only occasion upon which we had a good look at the Pope
was at a mass or Te Deum in the Sistine Chapel in celebration of the prelim-
inaries of peace between Russia and the Allies having been agreed
to. Pius the ninth had then been reigning for ten years, and
ended by having been on the papal throne longer than any
other Pope - over 25 years. His career had been an eventful
one, and when the revolutionary fever of 1848 & 49 reached
Rome he took refuge with king Bomba of Naples and staid
there one or two years. He did not return until the French
government made it safe for him to do so by garrisoning the
city, and this continued until 1870 when the French troops
were withdrawn in consequence of the disastrous war with
Germany. The Italian army then occupied the city, and from
that time the popes have been deprived of their temporal power,
being allowed a residence only in the Vatican. I easily re-
cognised the Pope, although at some distance from him. His
features were good and regular, and he could be identified by the ring on one of his
fingers being kissed by many of the priests. Many cardinals at-
tended the servicee and passed near us on their way in. They were all old men
and seemed near their earthly limits. The music of the high
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