as to the miraculous
qualities of the picture, hint that the _barometer_ was consulted on
these occasions; else, say they, why was not the picture uncovered
before the mischief had gone so far? What an idea is suggested by the
bare hint!

"I stood on the pavement of the church, with an old man who had himself
been educated as a priest. He had a talent for drawing, and became a
painter. As a practical painter, he was mediocre; but he was learned in
everything relating to art. He gradually sank from history to portrait,
from portrait to miniature, from miniature to restoration; and had the
grim satisfaction, in his old age, of mending what in his best days he
never could make--good pictures. When I knew him, he was one of the
conservators of the Royal Gallery. He led me before the shrine, and
whispered, with much veneration, the story I have related of its origin.
When I had gazed long at the picture, I turned to speak to him, but he
had left the church. As I walked through the vestibule, however, I saw
him standing near one of the pillars that adorn the facade. He was
evidently waiting for me. Me-thinks I see him now, with his face of
seventy and his dress of twenty-five, his bright black wig, his velvet
waistcoat, and glittering gold chain--his snuff-box in his hand, and a
latent twinkle in his black eyes. 'What is really remarkable in that
miraculous picture,' said he, taking me by the button, and forcing me to
bend till his mouth and my ear were exactly on a line--'What is really
remarkable about it is, that the angel who painted that Virgin, so
completely adopted the style of that epoch! Same angular, incorrect
outline! Same opaque shadows! eh? eh?' He took a pinch, and wishing me a
good appetite, turned up the Via S. Sebastiano."

THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER.

"La Festra di Cattreda, or commemoration of the placing of the chair of
St. Peter, on the 18th of January, is one of the most striking
ceremonies, at Rome, which follow Christmas and precede the holy week.
At the extremity of the great nave of St. Peter's, behind the high
altar, and mounted upon a tribune designed or ornamented by Michael
Angelo, stands a sort of throne, composed of precious materials, and
supported by four gigantic figures. A glory of seraphim, with groups of
angels, shed a brilliant light upon its splendors. This throne enshrines
the real, plain, worm-eaten wooden chair, on which St. Peter, the prince
of the apostles, is said to have p