Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-04-17

other set of stairs at the Church San |
Martino, Naples, which we were assured
belonged Pilates house. Let US give
the Holy Church the benefit of any
favoring doubt. Jesus may have gone
up the Scala Sancta set and down the |
San Martino set, but hopeless hereto |
that we are, we find it diffidult to repress
our merriment over that which our
guide tells us with so generating an air. |
At another church we saw porphyry |
slab which the guide assures us was the |
veritable one on which the Roman SOL |
| diery cast lots for Jesus clothing at the
crucifixion. The slab tells no tales, but
the guide is evidently sincere as he
crosses himself before it in alteration.
We asked him how they cast lots. Was
it Tommy Dodd, heads and tails, or
| how But, much as the credulous guide
knew, he couldn't answer the question.
| Here is another slab with large Esized
| perforation in it, of which we are told
| that doubling priest once partaking of
| the holy communion lifted the wafer to
/ his lips, and stopping to consider the
! church creed, that that sanctified wafer
| was in verify the body of Christ, he
/ doubted, and the wafer, dropping from
| his grasp, penetrated the marble, leaving
! this miraculous perforation. Thepriest
no longer doubted, as [ should have no
! longer doubted, but still do doubt. And
| here's another slab of marble,on columns,
| which purports. by ancient measurement,
4 to have been the exact height of the
] Deus Homo. Whenthe guide told us this
last wonder turned squarely upon him
and asked, "Now answer me earnestly,
honestly. do you really believe all that
1 you have told us to-day of these holy
| relics. A little puzzled and somewhat
/ abashed, he confessed that he thought
1 the stories of some of the relics had been
a little stretched, 'sbut dare not openly
confess my doubts, he said Then he
Consoled himself with the assurance that
believing in all the church told of these
! relics. no harm could be done, and
doubling in one thing might sap the
, entire groundwork of his faith But
/ must desert my notes of Rome for !
! shall only tire you with detail. Church
and museum, arch and ruin, when should
I end. In one of the churches we saw
| half of the SaviOur's cross, found by St
Helen: another half is in st. Peters,
and the remaining five hundred halves
are scattered all over Europe.
We have been on the Eincian Hill, out
~ V.
but one of the most disappointing visits
has been to the worldfamed catacombs
Nothing about it gave tokens of the sub
terranean charnel house save hole in
the ground, and each with lighted can
die down we went We found it hard
to penetrate the blackness of darkness,
and were poorly paid for the endeavor.
With pilfering intent we began search
for spare bones Since opportunity did
not offer we may not be considered so
despieable as to have stolen the bones of
the Roman fOrefathers. For morbid
! craving for such sights there is ample
satisfaction in the tomb of Euseblus,
where are two sarcOphagi, in either OF
which are skeletons to be seen, on one
of which a bushy coat of long hair yet
tenderly clings to the ghastly and dis
colored skull. With vivid recollection
Of the sickening stencil of that Spanish
cemetery at Malaga, | can but reflect
with a shudder on what must have been
the catacombs when interment still con
: tinued there, and while yet decomposl-
ton had not been completed. After a
long saunter in the crooked by-ways OF
the under city of the dead the pure air
was refreshing Passing the tomb of
= Cecilia Metila our horses heads are
r turned Romeward again, but we diverge
at a forked road and drive mile to st.
Paul's Church. | will only say of ii
that it is the nearest approach to a mann
moth piece of jewelry of anything we
have vet seen. We 90 to the Protestant
: cemetery near the pyramid OF Calus
Cestus, and welcomed by perfumes from
e beds of fresh roses, aZaleas and datfodils,
t we approach the object of our visit and
: kneei with veneration beside the grave
: of one of the worlds geniuses. A let
tered marble slab reads 'Percy Byscbt
d Shelley-Cor Cordium Natus w, Aug
G ust MDCCXCII-Obiit VII Jul. Moth
!, inc of him that doth fade. But dotf
suffer sea change Into something
rich and strange" Well may it speal
n of the sea which Shelly loved so well
d He has long since gone to that res
g which he craved SO earnestly those
hours of almost insupportable detection
We crossed moat aud went to myrtle
o girt tomb upon which were lettered tn
ls words, dictated by a poet in his dyin'
e hour. Lifting the myrtle which over
RIM the slab we read ''This grave con
ta1ns all that was mortal of youn!
l. English poet. Who on his death bed il
2. these bitterness of his heart at the mali
a cious power of his enemies desired tn
!, words to be engraved on his tomb stone
:. Here lies one ach0se name a0Gs 9c7'5t d
II 7onter. Feb. 24th 1921" Poor Keats, AM
n dastardly critics. who would not say
II that has pondered over his Endymion o.
II St. Agnes Eve.
;. With letter of introduction to th
- American district in Rome, we hay
1t made the acquaintance of DIR. Henry [
G. Parmalee. and a real treat-we hay
in found the companionship of large
u hearted. intelligent man. DIR. +. wake
- with us on the Pincian Hill last evening
a and he tells us that the native well
!, Roman is naturally proud as peacoch
he The many carriages we saw on the IN
ty clan carry really poor people, ambition
ri to make a show. Some OF them live l
ae cramped garret rooms, and deny then
VI selves many comforts of life, and the
O. have to club with neighborlng famll
ps in like circumstances to turn out on I'll
he Pincian in gaudy array. Home life
almost unknown, and the Interchange
on of calls and the enjoyment of the soci'
he relation is chiefly carried on in tf
n opera box between acts. Arnold, speai
of inc of the Pincian Hill, says: 6 AS
,s. looked at p0tertdnaiIiGs and his spouE
"a driving by, upright as q monument, an
~ with solemn expression OF lntegrlt,
while row of their offspring adorne
he the front seat, to wit sundry sweet Ii
to tie Englanders redolent of cold crea
nm and Windsor soap, as fair as floss sill
- with their hair in corkscrew curl
>o' wearing blue capes, green parasols, al
ey red flowers in their hats. At times Il
Sovereign Pontiff himself appears on Il
in Pincio, and then it is an edifying al
suggestive spectacle. The coach, rit
~ with scarlet and gold, the gay unltor
les of the carbineers and dragons, Il
les costly trappings of the four blat
ide horses. the priestly attendants, tt
Err splendid robes of the master .t5shernaa
49, yery naturally causes one to ask himse
.ne m if the Pope would bow to St. Peter
ow he were to pass that way. | am inclin
vas to believe he would not" We ha
D. passed Sabbath evening with DR.. al