DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19775#0085
THE GARDENS OF ITALY.
It is strange to think how quiet these gardens
were lying on the day when Pius IX. made his
famous proclamation from the great balcony of the
Quirinal. It was in 1846, and men are still living
who recall the frenzy of joy and hope and enthu-
siasm which his announcement of a political
amnesty aroused. The piazza in front of the
palace was thronged with a vast crowd, whose
shouts of " Viva il Papa Re !" must have penetrated
to these shady walks. As still and peaceful it lay in
the midst of the excited city, with the birds singing
in its ilex groves, on that great day in 1870, when
a detachment of soldiers, with a smith and his
assistants, marched to the doors of the palace, and,
with only a few scattered spectators looking on,
forced the doors and took possession for the King
of Italy. What angels of Hope and Justice
and Liberty entered with them ! May they
guard the little black-eyed great-grandson, who
will soon be toddling underneath the ancient
shades and feeding the goldfish in the time-worn
fountains.
( 75 l
It is strange to think how quiet these gardens
were lying on the day when Pius IX. made his
famous proclamation from the great balcony of the
Quirinal. It was in 1846, and men are still living
who recall the frenzy of joy and hope and enthu-
siasm which his announcement of a political
amnesty aroused. The piazza in front of the
palace was thronged with a vast crowd, whose
shouts of " Viva il Papa Re !" must have penetrated
to these shady walks. As still and peaceful it lay in
the midst of the excited city, with the birds singing
in its ilex groves, on that great day in 1870, when
a detachment of soldiers, with a smith and his
assistants, marched to the doors of the palace, and,
with only a few scattered spectators looking on,
forced the doors and took possession for the King
of Italy. What angels of Hope and Justice
and Liberty entered with them ! May they
guard the little black-eyed great-grandson, who
will soon be toddling underneath the ancient
shades and feeding the goldfish in the time-worn
fountains.
( 75 l