Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-04-03
We went to ST. Peters and how can


l describe it? Not alone immensity
which stares one in the face, but grand
eur at every turn. The marvel of Chris
tendon, here it stands. We walk adj
miringly and tarry to ponder, then walk
again in mute astonishment. Grand
marble columns supporting arches,
domes and bas reliefs, the wonders of
architecture, the marvels of extensive
ness and the paragons of beauty. Amidst
it all, when gazing to the hidden recesses
of the transepts amidst the maze of col
umns, each one of which must have cost
well nigh lifetime competence to many
poverty-stricken family, my mind
left the wonders of the place while yet
my eyes rested upon them, and it wan
dered to a plain little Quaker meeting
house where, on distressingly hard
benches, as farmers boy in Clank
county, Ohio, used restlessly to pass,
each Sunday morning, a quiet hour,
painful to my boyish nature in its abso-
lutte quietude, to say naught of my
squirmings on that cushionless bench. /
could not restrain the impressive anti
podes, that little Quaker meeting house
and this mighty st. Peters. There
nestled in a grove of outrageous trees,
as if seeking a hiding place from a wick
ed and vain glorious world, stood the
little Quaker structure, and here in a
great wonder-crowned city, upon pre-
tenti0us eminence, stands st. Peters,
the EXTREMIST violence of contrast.
see the quaint dress of the Quaker men
and women sitting in the gallery waiting
in quiet, courting the spirit, and here
the priests lodging about i'll the forest
of marble columns, here the gold and
silver trappings, statuary, affairs, and
incense. OF the two, for worship, give
me the Quaker meeting house.
1t may not be uninteresting to know
that St. Peters covers an area of 1896
square feet, and its length is G13 feet,
The heigth of its nave near the
entrance is 1872 feet, its width
1917 feet. Breadth of transept 20S
feet Height of its dome from the
pavement to the surmOunting cross AS
feet. 1t contains 290 windows and 800
statues, 748 columns and 46 altars. On
the pavement of the nave at the prinCi-
pal entrance is a slab of porphyry, on
which the Emperors were crowned in
those DAYS when the monarchs of
Europe c0urted ''Thc drunken bliss of
the strumpct kiss of theJesubcl of Rome. >
The enlightenment of the 18th centu-
ry has done so much to blast papal rule
that a Pope's eXcOmmunication is now
the subject of ridicule, whereas in the
years long gone, twas of a pOrtent al
most akin to the thunders as Sinai.
Pope Pic Nino has consigned Victor
Emmanuel to the hottest torments of
Hell, and from the crown of his head to
the solcs of his feet, each particular
member has been given the most fearful
anathemas Of * Poor old infallible." He
gets no answer for his pains but the
close guarding bayOnets of NictOr's
legions. At the close of the nth cen
tury, the money expended on st. Peters,
amounted to nearly fifty millions of gold
dollars The present annual repairs of
the building are estimated at 100000. |
cannot Withhold quotation from Arnold,
"IngSt. Peters we see on every side the
monuments of decesaed popes. Under
the church, in the basilica, their numer-
Gus sarcophagi, placed as nearly as pos
sjble to the tomb OF St. Peter. Here
lie naughty popes and bigoted popes,
despotic popcs and Warlike popes, popes
who tortured and burnt, pOpes who sac
rificed everything for the wealth and
power of their families. popes who were
| uOltu lOI thCil -itSIubtpuAliSo0' ASh
place of sepulture Is indeed magnificent
| beyond belief. Never was a race of
sovereigns honored with greater pomp
| in death: never was race more I'M
worthy of it. History seeks in vain for
a line of monarchs who enjoyed better
opportunities for benefiting the human
race, or who used such as they had with
more pernicious results to the world 1t
is fearful to think how few out of the
three hundred pontiffs have been noted
for their christian virtues; and it is still
more fearful to contemplate how many
there were whom this high position
served only to bring their disreputable
views prominently before the world. f"
! We leave the monarch of churches for
the coliseum to which | will devote
| another letter. !. II. d.