ber. There was such a
shouting, an upheaving, a frenzy, a delirium, that the very thought of
it even now makes my head whirl. I no longer saw anything around me but
upraised arms and banners, which concealed everything. An elbow-knock
that I received in my breast in a terrible commotion of the crowd almost
took my breath away. After a few moments I seemed to have a little more
space, and I escaped into one of the streets leading to the bridge,
determined to get out of the confusion. From all the streets of the
Borgo Pio the people dashed with loud cries toward the square. It was
said afterward that the crowd rushed to the doors of the Vatican to
force an entrance: the soldiers had to keep them back, first with their
breasts, then with their hands, finally with their weapons. I heard of
people suffocated in the press. It is not known what happened in the
interior of the Vatican: they said that the pope had given his blessing
from the window. I did not see him. Weary, exhausted, I arrived at the
bridge, and crossed it. People were still running from all sides,
attracted by the news of the great event, which had spread like
wildfire. Large troops of cavalry coursed by at full speed. Guides,
aides-de-camp, carbiniers, sent to carry orders hither and thither, ran
through the streets screaming. The people answered from the windows:
decrepit old men, invalids, women with children in their arms, stood on
the terraces, came down into the deserted streets, asked questions,
wondered and kissed each other. I reached the Corso. Suddenly a
terrific explosion was heard from the direction of the Pincio, then
another from the Porta Pia, then a third from the Porta San Pancrazio:
it was all the batteries of artillery belonging to the Italian army
greeting the Pontiff with a tumultuous salute. Presently the chiming of
the bell of the Campidoglio resounded: then gradually the bells of
hundreds of churches blending into one magnificent concert. The crowd
from the Borgo Pio rushed back impetuously to the left bank of the
Tiber, invading in a very short time the streets, the squares and the
houses; displayed the papal coat-of-arms, which had remained covered;
carried in triumph busts of Pius IX., portraits and banners; thousands
of people assembled in front of the palaces of the nobles most noted for
their devotion to the pope and burst into applause, and these nobles
appeared on their balconies and hung out the national colors. One
moment: le