I have at length seen all the fine sights that Rome affords during the Holy Week, and have witnessed most of the religious ceremonies, viz., the illuminated cross hi St Peter's on Good Friday; the high mass celebrated by the Pope in person on Easter Sunday; the Papal benediction from a window of the church above the façade on the same day; the illumination of the façade of St Peter's on Easter Monday, and the _Girandola_ or grand firework at the Castle of St Angelo on the same evening. The ceremony of the Pope washing the feet of twelve poor men I did not see, for I could not get into the Sistine Chapel, where the ceremony was performed: and at the mass performed by the Pope in the Sistine Chapel I did contrive to enter, but was so oppressed by the crowd and heat, that I almost fainted away, and was very glad to get out of the Chapel again, before the ceremony commenced. Why in the name of commonsense do they perform these ceremonies in the Sistine Chapel which is small, instead of doing them in the church of St Peter's, which would contain so many people and produce a much grander effect? A great many people are deprived of seeing the ceremonies in the Sistine Chapel from the difficulty of getting in. The Pope's Swiss Guard attend on that day in their ancient _costume_, with helmets, cuirasses and halberds; these guard the entrance of the staircase leading to the Chapel, and they have no small trouble and difficulty in maintaining order, as there is always a great scuffle to get in, and they are particularly importuned by German visitors, who thinking to be favored by them, in speaking to them in their own language, vociferate; _Ich bin Ihr Landsmann!_ and hope by this to obtain a preference.