A general reform having been instituted at Genoa in the signs of inns and taverns, no saints or foreign sovereigns were to be allowed. The man who kept the “Santa Marta” being ordered to take down that sign, put up “Albergo Imperiale” in its stead. He was then told that the Emperor did not rule in Genoa, and so he next stuck up the arms of the republic, with the motto “Libertas,” and he calls his inn “La Libertà.”
Prince Chigi, who was condemned to perpetual imprisonment for attempting to poison Cardinal Carandini, resided at Genoa, and went by his own name. He paid a visit to Signor Bernardo Pallavicini, brother of the Doge, and was lodged at the “Santa Marta” (La Libertà). His servants cooked for him in his own apartments. Mr. Devonport, who had rooms near his, complained of the noise of scraping pots and dishes, and was answered by the people of the house that they had made the same objections, but had been told that the Prince had hired the rooms and would cook as he pleased.
Signora Marina Spinola having arranged to marry her daughter to the son of Signor Dominico Serra, said she did not mention the circumstance to her till all was settled, because the young man is agreeable; but had he been ugly, she would have told her at once, to accustom her to the idea. One Sunday the bridegroom went with his father and mother and all their family, even to nephews and nieces, to visit the bride, Signora Spinola having also invited her relations to be present on the occasion. The visitors arrived about half-past five, when the young lady was to kiss the hand of her future mother-in-law, which the latter was to endeavour to prevent: however, she succeeded very dexterously in doing it. Signora Serra went away early, but left the sposo, telling Signora Spinola that he would stay till she sent him away. This puzzled Signora Spinola, but she arranged the matter with Signor Cheeco Viale, who, at half-past seven, told the young man it was time to walk home. All the time of the visit the latter sat on a sofa beside the young lady, talking to her on indifferent subjects. The next day Signora Spinola, her husband, and a friend, went to return the visit of Signora Serra, when the latter requested her to charge herself with the care of providing the marriage outfit—which is always furnished by the parents of the bridegroom—excusing herself on the plea of ill health and the absence of her daughter. She added, that she intended to spend as much as she had done for the daughter of Prince Doria, who was married to another of her sons. Signora Spinola at first demurred to spending another person’s money, but finally accepted the commission. In the contract it was to be inserted that the marriage should take place before September, and the Serra family wished it to be in June. The young man was to be dispensed from the ancient custom of watching to meet the young lady whenever she went out with her mother, and he was to be allowed now and then to visit at the house. They were to live with Signora Spinola for a year and a half, or two years, until a house could be fitted up for them.
The King and Queen of Naples were wonderfully pleased with Rome, though they had taken a prejudice against it. They were magnificently treated at the Pontine Marshes at the Pope’s expense. The carriage of the gold plate, provisions, &c., alone cost 150 crowns, and the dinner itself not less than 600 crowns. When General Acton met the King on the frontier, he asked if his Majesty would take any refreshment, but the King declined, saying that he had eaten enough for three days. At Rome they invented a conversation, supposed to have taken place between the Pope, the King and Queen of Naples, General Acton, and the Queen’s Confessor. The Pope says, “Io concedo tutto;” the King, “Io voglio tutto quel che vuole la Regina;” the Queen, “Io voglio tutto;” Acton, “Io rubo tutto;” the Confessor, “Io assolvo tutto;” and the Devil, in a corner of the picture, “Io porto via tutti.”
The marriage contract of Signora Costanza Falconieri and Count Onesti was signed on Thursday, the 31st of May. There were twenty-four Cardinals present, chiefly creations of this Pope, the four prelates in the principal charges that lead to the red hat—that is, the Governor, the Maggiordomo, the Auditore della Camera, and the Treasurer, but as the latter was already a Cardinal, he could not sign the contract, and therefore deputed Monsignor Doria to do so in his place. Twenty-two o’clock (six P.M.) was the hour, and Signora Mobilia had the candles lighted, that the ceremony might be more imposing. * * * Early on the morning of Monday, June 4, the sposa, accompanied by her mother and grandmother, &c. &c., went to the Vatican, where the Pope said mass in the Chapel Sestina. After hearing a second mass, he married his nephew and the young lady, making an exhortation twenty-two minutes in length. He began by giving good advice to the sposa, and then addressed the sposo, and afterwards himself, saying that it was in that place (the Sestine Chapel) he was first married to the Church, and lamenting the many errors he had committed since he was Pope, notwithstanding his most ardent desires for the good of the Church. There were no ladies present but those of the family, many of whom were of all conditions. After the ceremony they went down to the Maggiordomo’s apartments, where a collation had been prepared, and then proceeded to the church of San Marcello, in the Corso, to pay their devotions in the chapel of the Beata Giulia Falconieri, an ancestor of the family, and a considerable saint. They next made their devotions at the little church of the Bergamaschi, in the Piazza Colonna, and thence repaired to the house of the sposo, Palazzo Braschi, where they all remained an hour and a half, and afterwards dined at the Palazzo Falconieri. The Senatress told the sposa she gave her joy on her wedding, and also on the presents she had received. “I had not so many when I married the Pope’s nephew; but then,” added she, “I did not want them.” An Abbé, standing at Count Braschi Onesti’s door when they came home from the marriage, exclaimed: “What a fine breed of horses he has brought with him from Cesena!” They were so enraged at this speech that they had him arrested and sent to prison. The Prince Borghese presented Count Onesti with a pair of fine horses. Some said that the latter asked for them, and others that he offered to buy them, but that the Prince answered they were for his own use. However, he understood the Count’s meaning, and sent them off to the Maggiordomo.