The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-04-07

AACNCk oulAN "a. AMMAN 49, Skb CO lev
Christendom will never build another
st. Peters. The views OF religious peo-
pie as 10 the religious uses o: money
have undergone a great change in the
three hundred years OF st. Peters ex-
~istcnce. They have moved away from
the idea and the ambition for colossal
structureo that cost untold wealth 10
build and maintain. As a sublime con-
ception and accomplishment in archi-
lecture, St. Peters it is tobe hoped will
live, like the Colosseum. as long as
Rome shall stand, so thattho world in
all its ages MIR como here and admire
in this splendid pile thesGeuius OF
Michael Angelo and his artistic con.
freres. And this they will do all the
more because OF the impracticability OF
its duplication, just as they do in the
case OF tho Colosseum. The travelling
world will never cease to cometo Rome
as long as these two great attractions
endure.
A DISAPPOINTMENT.
Having said This much about s..
Peters, you may thinkaeuite naturally
that l was carried away at the sigh. OF
it, but OF a truth / was not On the
contrary, 1 was quite sorely disappoint-
ed by my frs. view Of it. l had expect
ed something essentially different IN its
environment something distinctive
and disconnected like thc.great- Capitol
building at Westinghouse, IN other
words, something that would burst
upon you at once, and in an imperial
and o~verpowering way more than meet
the expectations OF your fancy. ButS..
Peters does nothing o. that kind. 1t is
not "a city set. on ahili," likelheAmer-
lean capitol, although on IL gently ris-
ing height above tho Tiber. It does
not stand out by itself and tower like
Saul among all the children OF Israel.
On the contrary. it is dwarfed and sub
ordinated by, first. the great facade that
hides the dome, aiidtsecond, bEits en-
vironmenty, and particularly by the
Vatican palace.
The Vatican is the most radically SUI
gsneriS building you ever saw in your
life. l never exactly knew before what
the expression piling Pelion upon 0ssa
really meant: ! think. i sknownow; it
must have meant the VATICAN at Rome.
If that is not a.case' OF piling ono build
ing upon another building, and in all
sortso OF odd geometrical shapes, nc two
alike, I am at a loss to. conjecture what
would be. With all due 5respectfor its
venerable years, and with still greater
respec: ior the wealth 81 literary and
artistic treasures. in its museums and
galleries, l should say that this juxta-
position OF tho great Basilica and the
Vatican was a most unfortunate mis-
take from ana artistic point OF view.
But OF course twas. the necessity OF the
case mid not art that dictated the juxta-
position. The nucleus Of the present
Vatican was in stu as e papal residence
long before ,,the present st. Peters.
There was also one or more pre.existcnt
st. Peters, likewise in Esitu, both built
on or. near ground hallowed by the
blood. OF the early martyrs, or, in other
words, as it is supposed tho site OF
Nero's circus, and in the case: Of St.
Peters, on the alleged identical spot
where st. Peter was buried. But for
this fact the greatest chnrchTin the
world would now be on the Cnlian hill,
on this side Of the Tiber,; on1the site
occupied blythe basilica of,%,St. John
Lateran, which ais tho 7pope's official
church, as the bishop ofaRome, or, in
other words, the metropolitan church.
1t seems a. great ftpitys that Nero,
as long as She had 70 Abe such
q devil, should not have had his circus,
on the CGlian. But in that case l fear
it would have gone i'll with what they
call the Trastevere, orctho district be-
You'd the Tiber, which,, despite St.
Peters andthefN MT. Janicu-
lum the hill OF St. Peters crlcihxion),
is still neither the populous nor The
popular side Of the Tibcr.
Therei much more that l could say
about st. Pete3s, externally, but l will
leavcthe balanceto the phosossentyou
and your Imagination AS toiits size l
need only remark that Susedto think
as l frequently passed and stopped to
admire ST. PauPs in London, that it was
an immense church. But anything is
small or large by comparison. Even
this globe OF ours is a ismall affair as a
member OF tho solar system. St.. Paups
is really not more than half as large as
st. Peters. 1Dean, OF course, in the area
covered. And as to the immensely OF
its walls, and their depth below ground,
| may motto that Notwithstanding their
height there is actually moro stone be-.
low than above ground, asian credi-
bly, informed. And in regard to its
general Dimensions, I will only further
note that the height from. the pavement
to tho top OF the cross is 435 ieet, which
is within. say,s1W feet Of the height OF
the Washington monuments The front
width oil. the building proper is $50 feet
and the height14S. To appreciate what
the dome is oneimustt.go up inside OF it,
and alter reading from the gallery the
following words inscribed around its
maximum circuit, in blue letters, be
told to your incredulous surprise that
each letter Isl tho height'o OF full aver
age man. These are tho words as l
copied them IN my motto book. "Tu es
Petrus, ct super hanc Petram ndifcabo
ecclesiam mean ct tibi dabo claycs
regin celorum,3 which interpreted,
means this: Thou art Peter, and upon
this rock l will build my church, anll
will give to thee the keys OF 1.-THE kingdom
OF heaven These arc the historic