Roman Mosaics | Page 5

amount of
recreation for doing a small amount of penance in the interests of
religion. Still there is very little bustle or traffic in the streets, especially
in the morning; and one meets with no more disagreeable and
incongruous interruptions on the way to church in the Eternal City than
he does at home. At the head of the Capo le Case is a small church,
beside an old ruinous-looking wall of tufa, covered with shaggy
pellitory and other plants, which might well have been one of the

ramparts of ancient Rome. It is called San Guiseppe, and has a faded
fresco painting on the gable, representing the Flight of the Holy Family
into Egypt, supposed to be by Frederico Zuccari, whose own
house--similarly decorated on the outside with frescoes--was in the
immediate vicinity. From the windows of my rooms, I could see at the
foot of the street the fantastic cupola and bell-turret of the church of St.
Andrea delle Fratte, which belonged to the Scottish Catholics before
the Reformation, and is now frequented by our Catholic countrymen
during Lent, when sermons are preached to them in English. It is the
parish church of the Piazza di Spagna, and the so-called English quarter.
The present edifice was only built at the end of the sixteenth century,
and, strange to say, with the proceeds of the sale of Cardinal Gonsalvi's
valuable collection of snuff-boxes; but its name, derived from the
Italian word Fratta, "thorn-bush," would seem to imply that the church
is of much greater antiquity, going back to a far-off time when the
ground on which it stands was an uncultivated waste. A miracle is said
to have happened in one of the side chapels in 1842, which received the
sanction of the Pope. A young French Jew of the name of Alfonse
Ratisbonne was discovered in an ecstasy before the altar; which he
accounted for by saying, when he revived, that the Virgin Mary had
actually appeared to him, and saluted him in this place, while he was
wandering aimlessly, and with a smile of incredulity, through the
church. This supernatural vision led to his conversion, and he was
publicly baptized and presented to the Pope by his godfather, the
general of the Jesuits; receiving on the occasion, in commemoration of
the miracle, a crucifix, to which special indulgences were attached.
At the foot of the Capo le Case is the College of the Propaganda, whose
vast size and plain massive architecture, as well as its historical
associations, powerfully impress the imagination. It was begun by
Gregory XV., in 1622, and completed by his successor, Urban VIII.,
and his brother, Cardinal Antonio Barberini, from the plans partly of
Bernini and Borromini. On the most prominent parts of the edifice are
sculptured bees, which are the well-known armorial bearings of the
Barberini family. The Propaganda used to divide with the Vatican the
administration of the whole Roman Catholic world. It was compared by
the Abbé Raynal to a sword, of which the handle remains in Rome, and

the point reaches everywhere. The Vatican takes cognisance of what
may be called the domestic affairs of the Church throughout Europe;
the College of the Propaganda superintends the foreign policy of the
Church, and makes its influence felt in the remotest regions of the earth.
It is essentially, as its name implies, a missionary institution, founded
for the promotion and guidance of missions throughout the world.
Nearly two hundred youths from various countries are constantly
educated here, in order that they may go back as ordained priests to
their native land, and diffuse the Roman Catholic faith among their
countrymen. The average number ordained every year is about fifty. No
one is admitted who is over twenty years of age; and they all wear a
uniform dress, consisting of a long black cassock, edged with red, and
bound with a red girdle, with two bands, representing leading-strings,
hanging from the shoulders behind. The cost of their education and
support while in Rome, and the expenses of their journey from their
native land and back again, are defrayed by the institution. Every
visitor to Rome must be familiar with the appearance of the students, as
they walk through the streets in groups of three or four, eagerly
conversing with each other, with many expressive gesticulations. For
the most part they are a fine set of young men, of whom any Church
might well be proud, full of zeal and energy, and well fitted to
encounter, by their physical as well as their mental training, the
hard-ships of an isolated life, frequently among savage races.
An annual exhibition is held in a large hall attached to the college in
honour of the holy Magi, about the beginning of January, when
students deliver speeches in different languages,