Smyrna times., 1867-07-10
81. Peters al Rome,

St. Peters is the grandest church in the
world. 1t is connected with the atlcan, the
central point of that ecclesiastical system
which has had hand in nearly all movements,
political and religious tor more than fifteen
hundred years Looking at the building from
the square i'll front, 1t does not seem to be very
large but entering, you look along nave Gl3
feet, and up to golden arch l52 feet. You
see a row of immense square pillars, and out
side of these two aisleS; these, with the nave
and pillars, make width of 1873 feet This is
enough of statistics. bcholding it, you at
once feel that it is an immense edlhce, but 1t
is not easy to comprehend its magnitude till
you stand beneath the great dome and look
across the transpect, back along the nave and
up to the great dOme-up 40j feet, almost as
high again as Bunker Hill monument. The
distance is so great that the letters of lDscrlp-
ton at the base of the dome, which seem to
be about foot in length, are in reality SIX feet
! long. Beneath the doom is the altar, over
which ands an ugly shaped canopy, made of
bronze torn from the ancient Pantheon; 1t
seems to be about thirty feet to its top, but
the actual distance Is nlnety-hve. Compre-
hending.these distances, you can then under
stand that the building is large enough and
high enough TO take Ill eight or ten of the lar
gest churches in Boston, steeples and all.
You behold marble pavement, curiOusly
|
umns, statutes of the Apostles, ethges of saints,
angels, cupids, tonbs of old popes-paintings
, mOsaics, medalliOns, bronze and gOld-gOld
enough if melted and coined into money to
make every beggar in Rome wealthy citizen.
One hundred thousand dollars on the canO-
: by, or badichnO as it is called, golden lamps,
candlestickS, crosses, gold on the tombS OF the
popes, gold ON the walls, on the yaultcd roof,
up the great dome, on the mitres, crowns, gol-
Il. l., l,l,v
( played that it would seem there was no lack
, Of the precious metals in the treasury Of the
? church.
: You are impressed by the.cost Of this edifcC
: as we'll as by its size. Two hundred and fifty
e years ago, its estimated cost was forty-sever
n million dollars Since then there has been un
Y limited expense it is stated that the cost al
= the present time and in the present values,
;. would amount to $225, 100000!
e The annual cost of keeping the building il
4 repair, saying nothing Of new works of art, i
il about $500 III the currency issued by the
e pope. 1t requires o large regiment-not o
is soldiers but Of servants-to scrape up the melt
If ed wax, dust the apostles faces, and keep thu
l., spiders from spinning webs over the faces o
l. the efhgies of the old pOpes So much for tn
l. building, not for religious service-that Is stl
k another item OF expense.
k You are impressed, also, by the cOmparatiy
uSeleSSneSS Oh the euluce eACcPI 40 ouo" OuL
l- ding-a theatre for pageants. The masses {
in religious services are performed in the sid
ID chapels except on Christmas and one durin
re holy week, and perhaps one or two other day
IN during the year There are between three an
to four hundred churches in Rome, and as IL
IN population is but a little more than two hui
ut dred thousand, there is abundant church a
of commodation for all the people, especially
ly the Roman Church, has very few sermon
of preached to the people. In the Choir -
an chapel so callcd-mass is performed eve
IN morning and vcspers sung every evening.
i'd have been there on several occasions durii
so service on Sunday and on week days, but ha
on never seen crowd. There are no seats
icy the people, not one hundred sitting accomm
a dati0ns in all this vast edfce, except on sp
he cial occasionss The people are of little accOu
on. in Rome. They can kneel upon the cold pay
ts ment stand, but to sit is out of the questiC
DIV Carlton.