The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-04-02
LETTER FROM EUROPE.
Rome and her Ghurches-Misbeha
ing Travelers-The Colosseum by
Moonlight rOmiscuOus Sight
seeing-Paintings and Sculptures.
&c.
ROME, March l, 1867.

ROME, March /, 1861.
For several days past, at about ter
In the morning, / have seen Cardi-
nails descend from their carriages
drawn up in front of plain looking
house adjoining the Church of Maria
Sopra Minerva. 1t was evident thai
theywere on some official business
and my curiosity was naturally arous-
ed to know what the heads of the
Catholic world were doing in so hum
BILE looking place. On inquiry, / as
certained they were holding the ses-
sions of the inquisition or congrega-
ton of the Santo Ufizio, and that
this unostentatious front upon which
I hadf been staring i'm igno-
rance, was no less than the en-
trance to those halls in which the
astronomer Calico under Pope Urban
VIII, in 1888, had to retract-upon
his knees before the Court of ten
Cardinals. at the head of which sat
a BorgiaIhis.then new theory upon
our planetary system and the earth's
revolving around the sun. From here
went forth the authorization of cruelty
to heretics, and the persecution of
those who dissented from the doc
trines of the Church. The inqui-
sition, thanks to progress, has
to-day lost its terror; and though
the. ten Cardinals may yet con-
tinue their sittings, they o are
no more feared. When Iasee
these venerable looking old divines
undoubtedly all men of the highest
culture, dressed in their Ivestments
of'.glaring red-descend from their
state coaches, drawn by coal black
stations, going to their task. and then
take ntoyconsideration the state Of
affairs abroad and public opinion, not
only IN Rome but in all Italy, | can
not but associate their fate with that
Of several Churches of that religion,
the head of which, they are. These
Churches are some of the great and
tilae-honored landmarks of Christen-
dom, such. as, Santa Maria Maggiore.
San Giovanni in 'Eaterano, and
San Paolo Fuori lie Mura. Although
tie grandest of temples. at which the
christian world has worshipped, they
stand alone and In desoiate places in
al their grandeur. Life has gradually
ebbed away from their holy precincts,
and has left them, as it were, TO
mourn over their departed glory.
The churches of Rome, and their
number is nearly three hundred, ~tosa
population of two hundred Thousand
souls, necessarily !. form one Of its
great Distinguishing features. At the
head of them all is the world re-
nowned Saint Peters, with its mag
nifcent dome, the diameter of which
latter is inferior only to that of
the Pantheon and the Duomo,
of Florence. 81 The .baldachino over
the high altar, at which only. the
Pope ohciates, and which covers the
relics of st. Peter, rises within the
body of the church to not much less
than one hundred feet. J. In fact, the
proportions in this monster church
are almost beyond conception, I'm
agine thatthe circumference of each
of the great pillars carrying the dome
is 253 feet, and that even the smallest
cherub or angel used as accessory to
the many sculptured groups in the
body of the church is one-third larger
than the largest of ordinary-sized
men, and you will form some idea of
its Dimensions. As to the details
of what every one in Christen-
dom knows, it is unnecessary
to make repetition. and most people,
perhaps, are aware that it cost over
fifty million dollars; that it took three
and half centuries, extending over
the reigns of forty three Popes, to
complete it, and that no less than
three hundred thousand dollars an
nually is required to keep up its re-
pairs. Notwithstanding all this, add
edto whatever is said by the highest
authorities upon architecture as to
the matchless proportions and the
architectural harmony of this great
structure, cannot help but express
my preference for the palmer shape
and design of the more simple
and plain basilica, representative of
whichEis st. Paul 8, outside the walls.
Prior to the year 1923, this, one of
the most ancient of all Rome's
churches 1.-THE erection of which was
begun in the fourth century, be
serve its basilica form intact. Since
its destruction by fire, innovations of
style have taken place, but yet it is,
10 some of its parts, the basilica al
most pure; and although it is fully
two hundred feet shorter than st.
Peters, that matchless nave, with its
side-aisles supported by eighty gran
ite columns from the Simplon, gives
an impression of space and gran
deur hardly experienced, in any
other class of building. Take
your position under the portal
near the main entrance, lean against