On Friday evening a large Cross is erected before the grand altar; every part of this Cross is filled with lamps, and at seven in the evening the whole is illuminated. It has a most brilliant appearance and gives the happiest _chiaro-oscuro_ effect to the statues, columns and pilasters which abound in this vast temple. There is no other light on this occasion than that reflected from the Cross. On Easter Sunday, when the Pope celebrates high mass in the church of St Peter's, the Papal noble Guard, composed of young men from the principal families in Rome, form a hedge on each side of the nave of the church, from the entrance of the facade to the grand altar. The street or interval formed between this double line may be about thirty feet broad, and behind this guard or in any other part of the church, the spectators may stand; but as these guards wear very large feathers in their hats, they intercept very much the sight of those who stand behind them. The uniform of the Papal Noble Guard is very splendid, being a scarlet coat, covered with gold lace, white feathers, white breeches and long military boots. The approach of the Pope is announced by the thunder of cannon, and he is brought into the Church dressed in full pontificals, with the triple Crown on his head, on a chair borne by men, _palanquin_ fashion; he is conducted thro' the lane formed by the Papal Guard, and as he passes he makes the sign of the cross several times with his finger, repeating the words: _Urbi et Orbi_. He is then set down, with his face fronting the baldachin, when he immediately takes off the tiara, and begins the ceremony. That ended, he leaves the church in the same state, and then ascends the staircase, in order to prepare to give the benediction, which is usually given from a window above the facade of the church. The Pope is there seated on a chair with the triple Crown on his head. Troops of cavalry and infantry are drawn up in a semi-circle before the façade of the church, and the whole vast _arena_ of the _Piazza di San Pietro_ is covered with spectators. On a sudden his Holiness rises, extends his hands towards heaven, then spreads them open, and seems as if he scattered something he held in them on the crowd below; a silly young Frenchman who was standing next to me said: _Le voilà! Le voilà qui arrache la bénédiction au ciel, et qui la répand sur tout le monde!_ I could not refrain from laughing at this sally, tho' I was much impressed with the solemnity of the scene, which I think one of the grandest and most sublime I ever beheld. This ceremony concluded, salves of ordnance were fired. The Pope retires amidst clouds of smoke, and seems to vanish from the Earth. The troops then fire a _feu de joie_ and move off, playing a march in quick time, and the company disperse.