Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-04-29

soon the service ended, and the cardinals
drove off in their splendid carriages
| left the church and came back to my
room to think The impression was confused
and bewildering. [ had been for three hours
in the greatest church in the world looking
upon the brightest triumphs of Michael An
gelo's genius, breathing the inspiration of
his frescoes and architecture, gazing upon
the pomp of church which has ns historical
parallel, standing face to face for while
with one who assumes to be the vicegerent of
Jesus Christ and to hold the keys Of the
kingdom Of heaven, jOstled to and fro by
soldiers of the vicar of the Prince of Peace,
and impressed by music in which was neither
the voice Of organ, man or woman.
But to-day, were riding over the
beautiful grounds of the Pamfili Doria, the
sound of bells rung from chapel and church
gave intimation of some new event. Soon
an armed dragOon, with drawn sword. rode
rapidly up, and ordered us out Of our carriage.
g The Pope is coming was the cry, and
hardly had we time to alight. when the
splendid cortege swept by, first armed outrid-
@
the Pope-in which sat the old man, who
blessed us as he passed-and then other car
riages. As soon as his Holiness was fairly
by, we put on our hats and got into the car
riage and drove away. So | have seen the
Pope twice and had the best possible oppor-
tunity to become familiar with his features
He certainly is an amiable and pleasing look
ing gentleman of seventy-five years. He was
dignifed and graceful in his bearing. | need
not say that | see here, however, very strik-
ing contrasts between actual Christianity
and what | have supposed to be true Chris
tianity.
have had a slight look to-day over the
ancient Rome | first drove to the old Pala-
tine Hill, where are the ruins of the palace
of the Caesars then to the Roman Forum,
to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, to the
columns of Trajan, Domitian and the Basil.
lea of Constantine. to the temple of Venus,
the Circus Maximus, the Baths of Antoninus.
and the Flavian Ampithcatre, the old Colise-
um. OF this can give you no conception.
1t is a ruin grander hundred times than
St. Peters 1t is far better preserved than
had any idea. One can still walk beneath
its corridors and ascend by grand stairways
to almost its lOftiest seats 1t would hold
one hundred thousand people. And here,
what rivers of Christian blood have flowed.
1t is the scene of all the sport and all the
ferocity Of imperial Rome Here Ignatius,
the brother of Polycarp, gave up his life, and
/ La 81 Of -1,s
who had not where to lay his head. sealed
their faith in their tortures. Here old men
and delicate virgins have been torn and de-
voured by wild beasts, and strong men have
been inundated by gladiators to satisfy the
insatiatc hunger of the Roman populace
As | looked. the arena seemed once again
alive with the roar of tigers and the agony
of men, and the seats to be peopled with up
turned faces, rending the air with their
shouts Of ferocious delight
From that wild and dreary ruin, FASTENED
to the place where the early disciples hid
themselves from the fury of their prosecutors.
Driving for a mile along the Appian Way.
we come to the Catacombs Of Calixtus. We
descend into the bowels Of the earth and
wander for an hour, Ct Is long enough, } along
+ the dark streets, which were once the haunts
of the living and the tomis of the dead.
/ The streets wind in every direction. They
are but two feet wide and six feet high. with
an occasional apartment opening into them,
and here and there a larger hall. On either
side Of these streets are horizontal excava-
tions, lust large enough for the body Of man,
woman or child. These were sealed up with
marble slab, after the burial. in which the
name, age and some symbol were inscribed.
[ had time to decpher but few Of them. \
few frcscocs of the Good Shepherd, of the
Dove, Of baptisms, etc , are still left. But
the most valuable have all been removed to
the Museums 1t was melancholy journey
performed by the light Of dim taper which
served merely to reveal the gloom Of the
place. And vet once these narrow streets,
deep in the earth, were as thickly crowded
with the living as they are now with the
dead. The Christians were dragged from
these retreats, only TO face the glare of the
wild crowd in the Coliseum
So here | am in the seycn-hllled city.
Everywhere | 90, the old pagan and the mod
ern Christian systems and structures are
blended in inextricablc confusion. One car
hardly tell which is which As | stand OF
Mt. Pincius and overlook the whole, th'
new seems to grow out Of the old and to be ;
part of it in all respects. \ ! come in from
the tremendous solitude of the amphitheatrc
where | have imagined its arena again allv'
with such whirl of strife and dust anC
blood as used to be, the very faces Of th
people in the streets seem to change, ant
their beauty becomes fierce and devilish, al
if they were all ready for a renovated Coliseum
tomorrow. Ghostly pillars, triumpha
arches. mounds Of temples grass-grown ant
covered with ivy, the Via Sacra and the Viz
: Appia, now smooth with the footballs of an
cicnt Rome. .. swinging wild hands of wee,
and bramble,' and murmuring in every ga
and broken arch. and giving crevice and hol
: and nest to lizard, snake and raven, seem t
c harmonic with the modern city, built b.
> pillaging popes and despoiIing princes. Th
> old and the new die and live together, and $
e the city Is eternal.
5 | forgot to say that went to the Churc
Of San Sebastian, where a stone is kept o
z which Is the deep imprint Of Christ's feet
made where he stood to rehuke Peter. Th
mark of the feet is plain CROUCH. L aske
the attending priest, in Latin. ii he believe
L 1T. With a furtive smile he said lie did
L..