The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-07-20
On the Top Of st. Peters Cathedral I"
Rome.

np the Tor, Of st. Peters Cathedral NJ
Rome.
RI e,ter TO the San Francisco ChronicieI
It becomes necessary TO scale the dome OF
St, Peters; one has not seen Rome un'il be
leans from that airy pinnacle and hnds the
world spread out below him sWa1hed IN the
warm ruists of the deepening spring. lou
enter tie door on the left, passing at once
from the serene atmosphere Of the church
into a kind of winding alley that worms It's
way ND 10 tbe roof Of the building. LII IS
broad and floored with Italian bricks; ana
30 easy and regular is the grade that one
might ride a donkey on TO the broad ROOF
without difficulty. Here multitude OF
dcmes, small and great, cluster about
the great dome, that seems still rs far from
us and as inaccessible Us when we looked at
it from the great piazza below. The statues
along the fucade are SO clumsy and 80 mon
strous in size that they seem almost shape
less when we stand like pigmies under their
shadows. Throngs of people are wander
ing about the vast enclosures that seem not
unlike some new quarter OF the city. Tor the
walls that shut us in are just high enough to
hide the view, and we can scarcely realize
that we are not on terrdfrmd.
The next move ushers us into the dome
M.
rounds IL on the inner side, we look over
into the awful depths below U.s.. The thou
sand lamps that burn forever before the con-
fessionals sem like sparks of fire. Little
black figures creep to and fro across the mar
Bile plains, looking so small and insignificant
it seems impossible that they are of our kind.
The splendid mosaics are here seen to great
advantage, and, though monstr0us, they are
yet still beautiful.
Again, we ascend some hundreds Of stairs.
We enter narrow passage that slopes with
the curve of the dome, and il is us though we
were thrown on our beam ends. The pass
age grows so close and narrow that the
thought of being wedged in here by some
panic. stricken party is not pleasant. When
we have again come into little chamber
that lies under the great globe that crowns
the cupaIo, we all breathe more freely, and
try to appear excessively jolly. We looked
into the dome from the second gallery, but
looked only. 1t is not eXhiiarating to feel
ones self clingipg to a smooth ceiling like a
fly, and with only four feelers at our dispo.
sal. From the window directly over the
centre of the dome we looked upon the top
OF the" baldicchino," and had hideous SEN
sation in the region of the waistcoat.
From The balcony above this dreadful
hollow we looked out Upon the lovely land
scape. How near the hills seemed; how low
the hundred domes Of Rome. On one hand
the wonderful Vatican, with its immense
gardens spread like map. The Tiber flowed
down between the glaring walls of the old
city, looking positively splendid in the sum
shine, though, heaven knows, it is q hideouS
stream. -.....
There were many people with us in the
dome. Iron gates, In charge OF keepers, are
kept closed at several stations on the way to
the summit, and only few, perhaps twenty
people, are permitted to enter at once thus
all the passages are kept free, and the way
is pllin though tatiguing.
A d. zen good people, with hardly one
good lung full Of breath between them,
awaited their turn TO enter the globe, be-
yond which no mR desires to 60 in the
flesh. A plump gentleman preceded me;
three ladies Of assorted sizes followed. The
steps were now so narrow that it was con-
venient to mount them crab fashion. We
are at last entering the throat Of the globe {;
having wedged our way up the corkscrew
steps, we came to perpendicular ladder
that led to the gaol of our ambition.
The por,ly leader valiantly sprang on
to the first round of the ladder. He
managed to work his way into the
narrow tube that communicated with the
globe, and there he stuck fast and firm. !
helped him 10 return in 4 very stewy condi-
tion and full of indignation at the absurdlvs
small entrance to that most desirable cham
Der. Somehow we, he and ], managed to
pass one another, miiaculously, perhaps, and
] started to enter the bali alone. The Ia
dies, terrified by the ill.fortune OF our cor
pulent friend, reliuquished the chase. l
squeezed through the aperture ut the top OF
the ladder and found myself alone in the ball
on the top of st. Peters.
The copper globe Is capable of containing
sixteen people at one sitting; but deliver
me from meeting any friends in such I'M
comfortable quarters. The sun had been
shining upon the thin copper walls for five
hours. The place was as hot rs cauldron.
/ crouched ip one corner of it and wonder
ed how it would seem to be suddenly set a
rolling down the great mountain side Of the
dome, and how much Of me would be left
to tell the tale when / came to standstil
at last. 1t was singulariy silent up there;
1t was kind Of silence with hole in tiff
You can conceive Of such thug? 1t seem.
ed TO have the straDgest music that ever
charmed these ears; sounds that were born
OF the air-solid sunbeams, or naoonbeams,
perhaps, for they were not as sharp as a sun
beam; kind Of tinkling and droaing, as
il heard the hum of the planets and the
far-away clash OF stars when they cross each
others orbits. L don't know where that
sound came from; and don't waat to
know. 1t was as unlike anything earthly as
anything heavenly can be. Imereiy listened
and wondered, and was lost in kind OF
reverie that was not so light and airy US the
atmosphere that surrounded me; in lact, I
fell to dreaming over modern Rome.
A school-boy being requested to write a
composition upon the subject of "pins,"
produced the following: 'sPins are very
alsafUi Thec have saved fhe lives of n prear