it only goes to the gates of Rome. On Thursday too, previous to the benediction, one of the cardinals curses all Jews, Turks, and heretics, ‘by bell, book, and candle.’ The little bell is rung, the curse is sung from the book, and the lighted taper thrown down amongst the people. The pope’s benediction immediately follows upon all true believers. At Ave Maria we took our station on the right of the farther extremity of the piazza of St. Peter’s, so as to lose the deformity of the dark dingy Vatican Palace. The gathering shades of night, rendered the illumination every moment more brilliant. “The whole of this immense church,—its columns, capitals, cornices, and pediments,—the beautiful swell of the lofty dome, towering into heaven, the ribs converging into one point at top, surmounted by the lantern of the church, and crowned by the cross,—all were designed in lines of fire; and the vast sweep of the circling colonnades, in every rib, line, mould, cornice, and column, were resplendent in the same beautiful light. “While we were gazing upon it, suddenly a bell chimed. On the cross, at the top, waved a brilliant light, as if wielded by some celestial hand, and instantly ten thousand globes, and stars of vivid fire, seemed to roll spontaneously along the building, as if by magic; and self-kindled, it blazed in a moment into one dazzling flood of glory. Fancy herself, in her most sportive mood, could scarcely have conceived so wonderful a spectacle, as the instantaneous illumination of this magnificent fabric. The agents by whom it was effected were unseen, and it seemed to be the work of enchantment. In the first instance, the illuminations had appeared to be complete, and one could not dream, that thousands, and tens of thousands of lamps were still to be illuminated. Their vivid blazes harmonized beautifully with the softer, milder light of the lanternoni. “The brilliant glow of the whole illumination shed a rosy light upon the fountains, whose silver fall, and ever-playing showers, accorded well with the magic of the scene. Viewed from the Trinita de’ Monti, its effect was unspeakably beautiful. It seemed to be an enchanted palace, hung in air, and called up by the wand of some invisible spirit.