The Giovedi Grasso is a feast-day in Rome, and all the shops are shut, and their owners at liberty.

All Rome, in consequence, seemed to be wending towards the Porta Pia.

From the gate to the convent of St Agnese, a distance of about a mile, there was a long string of carriages, chiefly hired vehicles, but filled with well-dressed persons.

As far as I could judge, the number of private and aristocratic conveyances was small.

The prince of Piombino, who is married to one of the half-English Borghese princesses, was the only Roman nobleman I heard of, as being amongst the crowd.