nd habits of each
other. After marriage the lady is free. She may visit and receive
visitors; and has now an opportunity for like and dislike; and may be
tempted possibly to use it all the more that she had no such opportunity
before.

From marriages I pass to deaths and funerals. The usages customary on
the last illness of a Roman I cannot better describe than by referring
to a case which my friend Mr Stewart had occasion to witness. It was
that of a clerk in the Roman savings bank, an acquaintance of his, and a
young man of some means. In 1846 he caught fever, and, after lingering
for three weeks, died. Relatives he had none; and my friend never met
any one with the patient save the priest, whose duty it was to
administer the last sacrament, and to do so in time. The sick man's
chamber was curiously arranged. On the bed-cover were laid three
crucifixes: one was four feet in length; the other two were of smaller
size. This safeguard against the demons was further reinforced by the
addition of a palm-branch, and a few trifling pictures of the Virgin and
saints. On the wall, above the bed, hung a frame, containing a picture
of the Virgin Mary, executed in the ordinary style, with lighted candles
beside it. Two were placed on each side, and to these was added _una
mazza di fiori_. Notwithstanding all this he died. The body was then
carried to church for the last services, preparatory to consignment to
the burying-ground of Saint Lorenzo. A single word pointing to that
blood that cleanseth from all sin would have been of more avail than all
this idle array; but that word was not spoken.

Towards the close of life, especially if the person be wealthy, the
priests and monks grow very assiduous in their attentions, and the
relatives become in proportion uneasy. I was introduced at Rome to a
Signor Bondini, who had a wealthy relative in the _Regno di Napoli_, on
the verge of eighty, and very infirm. There was a monastery in his
immediate neighbourhood, and the monks of that establishment were in
daily attendance upon him. His friends in Rome felt much anxiety
regarding the disposal of his property. How the matter ended I know not;
but I trust, for the sake of my acquaintance, that all went well. Nor do
friends feel quite safe even after the "will" has been ratified by the
testator's death. There is a tribunal, as I have formerly stated, for
revising wills,--the S. Visita,--which assumes large powers. Of this a
curious instan