Carriage of Pope Pius IX
Pio Nono reigned over the Papal States. We used to see him driving about in his great glass coach with outriders and caparisoned horses. We all knelt on the sidewalk to receive his blessing as he went by. He often came to the Pincio, the public garden where our mornings and most of our afternoons were spent. He would get out and take a little walk attended by a group of ecclesiastics, chamberlains, and Guardie Nobili; and there was a flutter of excitement in the shady avenues which were our playgrounds when His Holiness’s coach drew up on the piazzale and the kindly white figure alighted.
Margaret Terry (future Mrs. Winthrop Astor Chanler), painted by Luther Terry.
We left our play and ran to surround him and receive his blessing. He would give us his ring to kiss; speak to this or that one. One day my brother and I were the favored ones; he took Arthur up in his arms and asked the nurses who we were. When told regretfully that we were Americans and Protestants, he patted our heads and promised to pray for us. This made a great impression on me.
Pio Nono was much beloved. He had a ready wit and a lovable personality….
Many considered him to be a saint; there were even rumors of minor miracles.
Mrs. Winthrop Chanler, Roman Spring: Memoirs (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1934), 22-3.
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 305
