Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-05-29
Letters of Rev. DR.. Lord.
WRITTEN TO HIS FAMILY.
ROME, April Is, 1868.

al City. | have called as one does
on his departure on his friends, upon
the chief places which have interested
me. St. Peters, the Roman Forum,
the column of Trajan and arch Of Ii
tus, the Coliseum, the Obelisk in the
Piazza del Popolo, have received my
adieus. 1t is almost with sad emo
tion l prepare to quit place that has
so deeply impressed my mind. And
perhaps not for years will the full
lessons of this brief visit be fully
learned and the true conclusions be
formed. In the excitement of new
scenes one has little time to arrange
his thoughts. All his faculties are alb
sorbed in seeing 98r Igga Ths "a Eapid ID 96ser
in the memory as material out OF
which a ripe and correct judgment is
to be formed. But some things are
already matured in my thoughts, and
years cannot change them. Let me
tell you some OF them:
Ihave aimed to look on Rome with
such eyes as billiards and see with
the vision of an artist or a religious
enthusiast. | have tried to put my
self into rapport with all the ceremo-
ny and display | have witnessed, to
permit my senses to be regaled with
pomp and glitter, with painting and
architecture, with incense and music.
| have sought to learn the secret of
this power, and fathom the mystery
of Rome. But | cannot be false to my
training and to my conscience. The
delicious strains of silver trumpets,
the magnificent anthems and mlSerereS
of the papal choir, the sensous splend-
or of Roman ceremonies, have only
confirmed the opinions ! have inheri-
ted, and established my confidence in
the simplicity of christian faith.
And l have made up my mind to
the conclusion that Pagan Rome has
never fallen. 1t is true that her ruins
are everywhere to be seen. The Cam
pagna is covered with them. The
. plough in every field turns up the rec.
ords Of the old Roman Empire. Col
umns, capitols, marbles, and fragments
of every sort, are built into the chur
ches, the houses and the walls of mod
ern Rome. The old travertine mason
ry haunts every vale and hill of the
wilderness about the Eternal City
beautiful even in its decay. But fol
all that, | am certain that the victory
= of Constantine was the triumph of Pa
- ganism. "The captive Greece tool
her victor captive" Rome is still q
Pagan city. The king and priest of
KGUlu0 10 nov, es9 O1 vId, CI.o Iru--4;I,--
70 Maximus. The very name Of the an
cient official of PaganiSm is unchau
ged. The robes that are worn in sa
cred rites, bear no distant resemblance
to those in which he was wont to in
woke the gods. Still, as of old, the
swinging censor smokes before him
and the veStal fire ceases not to burr
in modern temples. The mytholOg.
of former days repeats itself In TIN
s. alteration that is offered to saints an'
E. martyrs, to hosts of men and womel
that are exalted into quasi divinities
Hercules reappears in Hilderbrand
v The Roman Emperors come one
more on the stage in the guise OF
Popes. And if Caligula deiied hi
horse, Rome has deifed wax doll
A The Son of God has ceased to be a
10 object of alteration. The Eterna
}, Father looks upon you in the perso
u of an old man, whose face and tOrI
I, are copied from the antique statues o
Jupiter. The Divine Savior appear
oltenest as little child, and nearl
the whole worship Of Rome is 8ubSe
e Went to the glorifcation not Of I'll
IL Father or of the Son, but Of a grei
H. goddess, and after her, of multituC
nj OF men and women who have bee
R2yg clothed in the attributes Of the Go,
as head itself And that | may not see
IT. to speak strangely, let me tell you c
the matters OF tact which have con
I under my observation and knowledg
Il In one Of the halls Of Raphael
St. the Vatican, recently and elaborate
p freScoed to indicate the present po;
ng tiOn of the Roman church, is a graz
M nd painting of the Father and the So
y; while between them and above theI
yer standing on the worlds and encirclil
.5 ig- with the glory of angels and the syl
OK bOls of infinite authority, is pictu
of the Virgin Mary. Another freS
in tho same hall represents the pre-
ent Pope as reaching forth to her,
an her heavenly height, the crown of {
yes. Ie8tiaI power. The decretal of t
immaculate conception has enthron
the Virgin above her child. One ia
illustrates this and shows the effe
asii asT of this Mariolatry on the popul
: of mind. One of the artists here hea
his servant disappearing fearfully t
name of Christ. Shocked at the bli
phemy, he asked him, "Are you I
trs, afraid of Christ p "No," said he,
am not afraid of Him." "But of VIII,
ms are you afraid ?" he asked. Il
e. afraid Of the Holy Mary" And
one who has been in Rome a we
= who has witnessed the religious ce
at at monies and who has mingled in
ntly crowd Of apparent worshippers, a
oea oetn studied the images and paintings
par religious art, but knows well that
e e Of d worship ofthe Virgin Mary is the W
,ter- @ ship Of Rome. Another fact disclo
Al the idolatry of the system. In
Catholic Manuel, which | bought @