elves, I felt it would be a
good thing for our esprit-de-corps, that we should march to the hotel
in a body. So, not knowing how to give military orders myself, and
remembering what real colonels always did in similar predicaments, I
turned to the senior sergeant and said, "Sergeant, make the men fall
in, and when they are ready I will take over the parade." When the
sergeant came up to me and saluting said the parade was ready, (p. 218)
I found to my dismay that the men were facing the wrong way and if I
said "Quick march", they would walk into the brick wall opposite. I
went up close to the sergeant and whispered to him, "Turn the men
round." This he did, and placing myself at their head I shouted,
"Quick March." I think that moment, as I started off to march through
Rome at the head of that fine body of men who followed two abreast,
was the proudest of my life. I had always been interested in history,
and have read Gibbon from cover to cover, so the thought suddenly
flashed upon me, "Julius Caesar once led his forces through Rome.
Later on, Augustus Caesar led his forces through Rome. In the middle
ages, Rienzi led his forces through Rome, and now, (here my head began
to swell till it grew too big for my cap) Canon Scott is leading his
forces through Rome." We marched through the streets at "attention"
and looked not to the right nor to the left, in spite of the fact that
we passed many groups of admiring onlookers. When we arrived at the
hotel, I called out, "Halt", in proper military tones and the men
halted, but I did not know the usual formula for telling them to
disperse, and I did not want such a proper beginning to have a
miserable end. I thought of saying, "Now I will dismiss the
congregation," but that sounded too religious. I knew that if I said,
"Now we will take up the collection," my army would fly off quickly
enough. However, while I was debating with myself, the men took the
law into their own hands and, breaking off, went into the hotel.

We happened to arrive in Rome just at the time of the great Italian
disaster in the North, and we found the populace plunged into great
anxiety. English and French newspapers were banned by the censor, so
it was difficult to find out what was happening, but I was told
privately that matters were very critical, and there might be a
revolution in Rome at any moment. I was also advised to see that our
men behaved with great circumspection, for German agents were sec