TIE GARDENS OF IPALY. 
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 Ré!” 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. 
