Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-11-30
A Few GIimpes at Rome.


lowing beautlfu pen-picture Of Italy's capt.
tai:
1.-THE historic monuments which II has tax.
en- centuries 10 accumulate, the modern
traveller alks through and passes In review
In a few hours The city OF Rome is. with
Jerusalem and Athens, the most interesting
city Of The world. It's monumental remains.
and the forces Of which 1t Was the mighty
centre, arrest and hold the attention OF every
thoughtful man. Paul said: Il must see
Rome also" How strong that desire was
may be discovered In the first chapter of his
Epistle to the Romans, In which he refers to
the hindrance put in his way to visiting the
city. He knew well the value OF taking the
strategic centres for the gospel. Rome was
the centre OF centres into which all roads led,
and from which roads emerged to all parts OF
the earth
1--WE think OF Rome principally In three
perlods-the period OF its power as a seat OF
the empire, the period OF the struggle aud
victory OF Christian institutions In the city,
and the period Of papal power and assumpt-
ion. To these is added new phrase Of Ro-
man history when the city booms forth the
capital OF the Kingdom OF Italy la the long
generation OF her history she has attracted
attention and study as the chief centre OF
civil power, OF law, OF art and culture and
If religious authority When Luther came
In sight OF the city he Frustrated himself ex'
claiming, "Ohl holy Rome!' Not The most
who visit her now religious pilgrims. But
all who enter her walls for the first time must
have a solemn feeling as they remember tbey
are at one OF The chief fountains OF the
worlds thought aud lie.
"lt is very evident TO the pedestrian that
the city was built on seven hills or more. IL
the bent aud crooked streets would warrant
the introduction OF our cable line system. 1t
would be great relief to the horsehesh that
tugs away to drag street cars aud omnbuses
up the tedious hills. The ancient remains are
more extensive and in a better state OF preser
walton than the assaults OF many centuries
and the changes OF history might lead US 10
expect. The Colosseum was for years the
quarry for palaces aud churches but the mas
sive walls are to considerable extent pre-
served. No ruin is more majestic The walls
still rise four stories high for one third OF the
distance around, and from the elevation
| where the highest Tier OF seats was, one may
still look down upon the arena into which the
| eyes OF eighty thousand spectators used 10 he
| localized at one time. The stone supports for
the benches are still there aud the dens from
| which the wild beasts came forth TO their
! bloody conflicts. Tue thoughts OF gladiator
| al combsts and the struggles between the
| wild beasts, aud OF MARTYRS blood mIngling
| with sand, all start forth Ia that vast enclos-
ure. Near the Colosseum is the Forum whose
| floor, like that OF the Colosseum, is twenty
! feet below the surface OF the present streets.
| A column here and there remains OF the old
| temple, and the arch Of Septilnius Seyerus
| 'Sacred Way" The outlines of this centre
OF popular aud religious life are plainly made
out. The Palaiine II II, just overhanglng the
| Forum, Is mass OF rubbish and debris from
| out OF which The shovel aud pck-aX OF the eX-
cavatOr have brought to light walls aud COL
umns, and statuary OF the palaces Of the
! Cesars. 1t Is melancholy spectacle Indeed,
! this, the sight OF palace after palace, once the
seat OF all that wealth and art could make
beautiful. lying buried under the accumula-
| ton OF dust
Zone OF the most interesting relics of
! ancient Rome is the Mamertine Prison 1t is
almost exactly in the condition In which II
was described by the Roman historian Gal
! lust IL consists OF two chambers, one be =
meath the other. Access 10 the lover room
was had b. a narrow opening in the ceiling
| through which criminals were let down hy
| ropes The vaulted ceiling OF the lower
room is barely high enough for one TO stand
| up. There Ju2urtha and many others Ian
! guished away their lives. The old Romans
knew no mercy In their prison treatment and
chill creeIs through the blood as one stands
between the damp stone walls aud thinks OF
| what stories OF sorrow and Indebtedness
they c6uld1eL Paul and Peter are both said
TO have been confined here, aud the place is
shown where the latter Apostle drew water
| from the rock TO baptiz1 the pentent gaoler.
| Like many other things YOU hear in this
/ world, these statements must not be accept
| ed too readily
Turning away from the relics OF Pagan
/ Rome, ones attention Is riylted upon the
relics OF early Christianity in the city. There
were strangers from Rome In Jerusalem on
the Day OF Pentecost who heard Peter. Ii IS
strange that the earliest and best preserved
monuments OF the early Christians
are Their neg graves ,r. Outside w OF
| over which Paul was taken as prlson.
or TO the city, the monks In charge Will show
| you the way with lighted tapers down into
Catacombs or sleeping places" The Cata-
| combs OF st. Callstus are IN three stories the
| lowest floor sixty feet below the surface
AS each side OF the passage Ways, inches
! Qike shelve are dug iato The earth. There
| five and even seven were dug one above the
| other for the believers in their last sleep.
They were closed with plaster or marble
slabs when the body was laid away Short
inches too are there for children and infants
/ Almost all OF them are now vacant But the
| taper OF the monk revealed here few ashes
| and there few remaining bones. The
| frescos contain representations of the resur-
] rection aud OF Chr.sts goodness and saving
power New IL Is Jonah being cast out of
the whales belly, now the checked sscriice
OF Isaac, now it is Christ the good shepherd
with sheep on His shoulder, or the vine
and a cluster OF cranes or an anchor Again
and again the words occur sleep In peacen
God be thanked for the words that must Of
ten have been spoken In these damn and
! gloomy chambers aud were hope and peace
TO the mourning friends, 81 am the Resur-
rectlon and the I.ife.n
"Ihe ecclesiastical centre OF Rome Is, OF
course, the splendid cathedral Of St Peters
or, II you choose, the Pope who lives 10 the
Vatican adjoining it. The vote OF the people
IN 1870, BY which the city was transferred
from the authority OF the Pope aud became a
part OF the X ngdom of Italy, would he re-
peated again To day The Romans, like the
Italian people at large, are warmly attached 10
the King aud his lovely aud cultured queen
and would not tolerate again the papal rule
"Why should they think Of doing soln said
nm educated yeung Italian to me the other
day as lie came from an audience OF two
hours with the prime minister Crispl. The
city under the Pope was dead, with no com
merclnl life no modern improvements Now
IL Ia the capital OF a united Klng1ern, its pop.
ulaiisn increasing al the rate Of 100 people
q month, property much risen n value, and
still rising. miles OF new streets built, new
system of water works" etc. Rome Is GER
tainly better of with Humbert for king than
with the Pope for King. And vet the Pope
remains the most powerful ecclesiastical dig
nitary on earth. He confines himself to the
gardens of the Vatican, and to the palace
with is 900 rooms aud halls, but his word
has authority TO the ends Of the earth. As