obscure cafe, is a yet feebler compound of the two; in fact, the
_Giornale di Roma_ is the only one of the lot that has the least pretence
to the name of a newspaper; it is, indeed, the official paper, the London
Gazette of Rome. It consists of four pages, a little larger in size than
those of the _Examiner_, and with about as much matter as is contained in
two pages of the English journal. The type is delightfully large, and
the spaces between the lines are really pleasant to look at; next to a
Roman editor, the position of a Roman compositor must be one of the
easiest berths in the newspaper-world. Things are taken very easily
here, and the _Giornale_ never appears till six o'clock at night, so that
writers and printers can take their pleasure and be in bed betimes. There
is no issue on Sundays and Feast-days, which occur with delightful
frequency. This ideal journal, too, has no fixed price. The case of any
one being impatient enough about news to buy a single number seems hardly
to be contemplated. The yearly subscription is seven scudi, which comes
to between a penny and five farthings a number; but for a single copy you
are asked half a paul, or twopence halfpenny. This however must be
regarded as a fancy price, as single copies are not an article on demand;
they can only be obtained, by the way, at the office of the Gazette in
the Via della Stamperia, and this office is closed from noon, I think, to
sunset.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, there was an English newspaper at
Rome. Let us consider what would be its summary of contents, this day on
which I write. Putting aside foreign topics altogether, what might one
naturally suppose would be the Roman news? There is the revolution in
the Romagna; if private reports are not altogether false, there have been
disturbances in the Marches; there is the question of the Congress, the
rumoured departure of the French troops, the state of the adjoining
kingdoms, the movements of the Pontifical army, and the promised Papal