The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1867-02-15
st. Peters at Rome.

-. Peters is III grand :; c':Grch IN lie
word. Ii Is conm cled vi h the Vatican,
tiie central point of that eccie>iastical sys-
tenn which has had hand In near'v all
movements. political and Religions. for
more than fifteen hundred wears. Look
lng al the huildne from IEe square IL
iront. Ii does not seem 10 be very large,
but entering it. you look along na,c 6l5
i'et, and up 10 4 golden arch l52 fei.
Ion see TOW of immenee square pillars.
and outside of these. two aisles; these,
with the nave and pillars. make a with
OF l9s feet This is enough Of Statistics
ieholdmg II, you III once feel that Is Is an
immense ediiice. hut il Is not easy TO colll-
prehend IFS magnitude till vuu stand te-
meath the great dome and look across The
transept, back along the nave and up 70
the great dome-up 405 feet-almos! as
high again IS Bunker Hill monument.
The distance Is - great that the letters OF
the inscription at the base of the dome,
which seem TO be about a foot in length,
are in reality six feet long. Beneaih the
dome il The high altar. over which stands
an UGLY shaped CANOPY, made of bronze
torn from the ancient Pantheon If seems
10 be about thirty feet 20 lis top. but tie
actual distance Is ninety-five. Compre-
hending these distances, you can then un-
;lersiand that the building is large enough
and high enough 10 take In eight or ten of
the largest churches in Boston, steeples
and all | dare say that all the church
editices in Newburyport, or Concord, \.
H., OF Springfield, might be set down
within Its walls, and then there would
perhaps be room enough fer one or Two
cotton factories, This. L am aware. Is
not approximaiing very closely 10 lis size,
but ! intend only 10 give you a general
idea of lis MAGNITUDE, You behold a
marble pavement, euriously wrought, in
Mosaic, marble pilasters AM columns,
statues OF the apostles, effigies of saints,
angels. eupidS, tombs of old popes-some
of whom weIe great villain>-lnainiin@s,
mosaics. medallions, bronze and -nld-
gold enough if nel:ed and coined into mo-
hey, TO make every beg-ar in Rome a
wealthy citizen. One hundred thousand
dollars ON the canopy, or batdicaSaO, ;as If
is called, golden lamps. candle>iicks. cross
e, gold on the iomhs of The pupeS, gold
on the walls, on the vaulted root, up :he
great dome un the miires. crowns. Golden
cupil>, golden palm leaves so lari,h,y dis
played that it would seem thai there was
no lack OF The precious metals in the treas
ury OF the church
| You are impressed by the cost of this
ediiice Is well as 10y lis size. Two hun
lred and fifty years AGO, before The pill
grims set fout on Plymouth rock, lis esii-
mated cost WIS toily->even million dollars.
Since then there has been unlimited eN-
pclise il Is stated that the cost AT the
present time and in The present values
would amount 10 :S225. 000, 0o0 Enough
10 b hid two railroads 10 The Pacific by
tine census of 1850 Tie total valuation of
real and personal properly in Ike Stale of
/ New Hampshire w;ls l5j. 90 l.000 dollars
and in Vermont l55 5.000,a % doi!ars.
Here. thcn, we have one church which il
is sail has Cost as much "a ihe valuation
oi al Tie properly in New Hampshire
and hall ot that in Vermont Think of
all The lands, houses, factories. shops,
goods, cattle, sheep, hcrseS, money, bon;ls
and moitea"es-eIcTy;hing that can be
,a.l-.,,,al L .ll,r, 1
nearly hall 4 million People-tarIlel into
this one build:ng, and Won viii understand
what sort ol 4 place lie pope has Tor lie
Observance of CHRISTMAS ceaemoHies. The
annual coSt o: keeping The hnilaing In re-
pair, saying notiing of new works of art,
Is about $4,000 dollars, in the currency
issued by the lop2- L. requires 4 large
regiment, not of soldiers, but OF servants,
TO scrape up the melied WAX, dust the
apostles faces, and keep the spiders from
spinning webs over tie faces oi ,he eiiigies
oi iile old popes. SO much for the build
lng, not ior religious serNice-llai Is >iill
another item of expense. You are I'M
pressed, also, 10y ihe comparative useless
mess OF the euliice except a. 4 show build
ln55-a theatre for Ipaoeanis. The mas-es
or re.'eIouS services are performed in the
>i'le chapcls except ON Christmas and
once during holy week, and perhaps one
Or two other days during the wear. There
are between three and four hundred
churches IN Rome and rs the population
Is but little more Than two hundred
thousand. there Is :.buniant church .ic-
coinGodaiion .ur all The people, especially
as the Roman church h.s very lew ser
mems preached 10 the people, in the
, ''Caolr "a chapel 80 ealled-mass Is per-
formed every morning anl reSpcrs sung
every evening. | haze been there v:l sew
eral occasions during service, on Sunday
, and Oh week days, bat have never seen a
|, crowd There are no s.ais ipr ihe pee
, pie, not one hundred sitting accoRlmoJa-
lions, in all lis vasi esii!ice, eNc-,,: on
|, special occasions. The people are of little
, account in Rome. They can kneel upoa
the cold pavcment, or stand, bat 10 iii Is
ont of the gues;ion.-CIrltfon IN tx Boston
Journal
The South has some novel soci.il lca-