Incessant motion and incessant noise seemed to be the sole compensations
sought by the multitude for the disappointment of exclusion from the
church. If a stranger, after reading the proclamation of the day, had
proceeded to the basilica, to feast his eyes on the contemplation of the
illustrious aggregate of humanity, entitled by the bishop 'his pious and
honourable brethren,' he must, on mixing at this moment with the
assemblage, have either doubted the truth of the episcopal appellation,
or have given the citizens credit for that refinement of intrinsic worth
which is of too elevated a nature to influence the character of the
outward man.
At the time when the sun set, nothing could be more picturesque than the
distant view of this joyous scene. The deep red rays of the departing
luminary cast their radiance, partly from behind the church, over the
vast multitude in the Place. Brightly and rapidly the rich light roved
over the waters that leaped towards it from the fountain in all the
loveliness of natural and evanescent form.
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