The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-11-20
Romc Rcvivins ~ the Centre Of Eurepeaa
Civilization.

sorely agitated period the name of Rome
retains its immemorial influence. Time, war
and the elements have beat on the ancient city
in vain. The folly Of princes and the turbu-
lence Of the people have alike subjected 1t to
loss of political power and of material pros
perty-have defaced it within and isolated it
from without, while impairing all lis resources
and diminishing its population and yet, in all
its loneliness, Rome has continued from are tn
age to WELD an undimnished empire over the
human mind. This she has maintained under
every form Of government and in the very
presence Of the mighty States which have
arisen in Europe and the West while her
ancient glories were crumbling to ruin. At
this moment she disputes with Paris tho into
rest Of mankind. The French capital, so
lately the chief seat of all the refinements Of
modern life, the centre of the most con-
spcuous, If not the most formidable,
imperial rule on earth, and the mould of
fashion for every elegance and grace of other
communities, is desolate within its walls under
the shadow OF impending destruction, and is
girdled and manacied with fire and steel by
the fierce besieglng armies that encircle il and
cut it off from the world. It's hour OF humili-
ating submission or Of material downfall hv
comet
While mankind waits with batsd breath to
behold this solemn spectacle new light is
beginning TO dawn over the churches and
monuments OF Rome. The gigantic shadows
Of her ancient sanctuaries are frightened by
the presence of the throngs of visitors who
desire to become residents, streaming in to
her from the most distant countries as well as
from every part Of the European Continent.
Her hotels and lodging houses are all crowded
and the most princely terms are offered for
even the hunblest tenements which are but
decently habitable. The hand of restoration
and Improvement is already vigorously at
work, and the keen glance Of intelligent specu-
lation is directed to means of comfort and
profit which the exigencies of the past few
hundred years have compelled even the most
enlightened Of her princes to neglect And
not to the poetic fancy alone, but to the
coolest practical mind OF our day, we'll may
dream of substantial glory-that glory which
consists of reconstruction for the good of fell
low man-take shape and grow until it be-
comes grand reality, in recalling what was
once achieved upon this site of power and in
foreseeing what may yet be done. What an
area of thought is unfolded to the gaze that
ranges over the Eternal City, the Campagna
around it and the horizon crowned by tho
Alban and the Sabine Hills, on the one side,
and gilded by the shining waters Of the Medi-
terranean, but twenty miles away, upon the
other, when the beholder looks out from the
ball perched far above the dome Of st. Peters!
From the banks of the narrow Tiber, which
winds almost Immediately below, extends the
City Of the Caesars, partly masked by the
buildings Of the modern city, which did not
even exist when worldwide fame belonged to
challenge admiration.
Those temples in their splendor eminent,
Mid arcs and obeisks and domcs aud towers
Rejecting back the radiance OF the West.
But II we endcavor to recall the aggre-
gate Of splendor and wealth of which this i'm
perial city was the centre in the later and
more prosperous period of the empire, we
shall find the retrospect imposing. In the
reign of the Emperor Ciaudius, one of the
successors of Augustus, Rome which was the
chief luminous centre of elegance and luxury
and of substantial manufactures, as we'll as Of
the fine and decorative arts-while at the same
time the star of science, the tongue of oratory,
the mistress of poesy and 6enes-Iettres and the
! instructing and commanding head of religion
held undivided sway over one hundred and
twenty million human beings, on every known
continent and island, in every clime and Of
the most amazing variety of race and culture.
Her established authority reigned equally
supreme on the banks of the Thames and the
Tiber, and the glory that rested on her arms
was only eclipsed by the respect that was will
ingly paid by all the tribes beneath her scep-
tire to the wisdom of her legislation and the
grandeur of her intellectual development.
Italy alone contained eleven hundred and
ninety-seven handsome cities, and it is q
question whether, judging by the remains Of
pagan splendor found there, some of them
did not exceed in antique times the
magnifcence Of their most notable
modern successors. The Roman provinces
of Gaul could boast twelve hundred cities,
those of Africa three hundred and those
of Asia five hundred, many of these, like
Antioch and Alexandria, dispating the palm
with Rome herself. The leading places were
connected by grand Roman road perfectly
constructed and accurately divided, which, as
the historians tell us, extended from the wall
of Antoninus to Jerusalem-a distance Of three
| thousand seven hundredand forty English miles.
Around Rome itself, the vast Campagna, now
mephitic waste dotted with pools of stag
nant water and aflording only coarse pasturage
to herds of shaggy italian buffalo, was one
continuous expanse Of the most beautiful gar
dens and meadows, crowded with flowers and