St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-16

of its streets is literally indescribable:
the Campo Santo is one of its sights;
and as though to bring out the idea of
death in still holder relief, foreigners,
with the fell hectic spot on
their cheeks. make Pisa a refuge in the
vain hope of fighting pitiless consump-
ton or Of securing some little respite
from that dreadful disease. | hate that
town because Of its very use, for it
recalls those island atmOspheres which.
whilst they put roses in the cheeks, also
plant the germs of quick consumption
in the frame.
Pisa is corpse and its chief monu-
ment cemetery. 1t was its very death
sense which made Emilio CASTELAR,,
whilst visiting there, work out an argu-
ment for immortality thus: 1--WE all
know that man, that epitOme OF crea-
ton; that mineral subject to the laws of
gravity and to the limits of extension;
that vegetable which cannot exist with
out air and light and water; that ami
NAL which is born ana nOuCiShed like
other mammalia: that micrOcosm whom
spherical head copies the circle of the
heavens, and whose sparkling
eyes reflect the luster of the
stars; that angel who eXaltS him
self through time and space, and
essays to contemplate and understand
in their purity the archotypes OF nature,
of which things are but shadows; the
great musician of the world. the high
priest and the poet among all beings.
he who can deduce universal laws from
particular actions and extract from the
rough matter the impalpable essence OF
the spirit; he VINO observes and admires
the music OF the spheres; he whose
aspiring thoughts seek to unfold the
secrets of nature-he cannot bury him
self entirely under few shovelfulS of
clay without buTying with him at the
same time all creation"
Its Sights.
Like most Italian cities, dead as is
Pisa, 1t has noble cathedral and an ad =
mirable art gallery. The glowing sun
set and the clOudless skies of Italy are
not its chief attractions. The Italians
owe more than mere RstheticiSm to
their art galleries. Material aid goes
from the pockets of tourists from every
cline into the Golfers of the Italian of
today, and this because the highest
forms OF artistic beauty are to be found
In its art galleries. The cathedral
of Pisa is not for mere show.
The sad look of the dreary
square in which it stands does not
prevent people from worshiping.
Other Catholics frequently accuse
Italians of neglectin church attendance,
L saw large congregation, mostly men,
attending service IN PiSa'S cathedral,
and that on week day at high noon.
Quite true, 1t was during Lent, and the
sermon was not a sleeping dose; but
there is many a sanctimOniouS city
where even fOrty-parson power could
mot InnnRR O lornn Tor Of
attend religious service on a day that is
not of obligation. In the same square
stands the much-talked of leaning
tower which impreSSes Pisa upon the
mind OF the rapid tourist, Just as the
cathedral Of Milan and tn lion of Lu-
cerne serve as memory marks for their
respective cities.
The lean or deviation of the tower is
fourteen feet. Whether the declension
is work of art or the result of accident
continues to be subject or discussion,
and furnishes tourists who know little
about architecture and the center of
gravity with a question upon which to
exercise their powers of debate. The
steep steps of this tower were often
trodden by the weary feet of Calico,
that he might make his astronomical
observations in the hope of making
billiards understand the motion of the
earth and the meaning Of the stars. l
90 not see why any set of churchmen
should dislike this man: rather should
they love him. For his life emphasizes
two useful truths. namely. that scien-
lists are not authorities on questions
OF religion, and that religionists are
not authorities on questions of science.
a Different Character.
English poets love to spend some
time in Italy to develop the Imaginative
faculty and those emotional tendencies
which are usually Stunted in rough
northern CLINE. Byron and Browning,
Keats and Shelley fingered long under
Italian skies. 1t was from Pisa that
Shelley MADE his last journey before the
heartless waters of the Mediterranean
drowned his young life. Through Pisa
he wand cred with bis friend Leigh
Hunt the very day before he set out on
his Inflated journey to LeghOrn. To-
gether these kindred souls visited the
old cathedral and read new beauties in
its sacred stateliness. At Pisa the pas
sionate-hearted poet wrote his elegiac
poem "Adonais," in memory of his
( young friend Keats.
The sunny affection of these souls for
each other gives one new hope III hui
manity, and serves as an antidOte TO the
vulgar intrigue and everlasting unhap-
piness generated by the coarse-grained
| of the human species. One may easily
picture the proudly passionate Shelley,
| quivering with keen emotion for his
dead friend, deVOured with a depth of
{ sorrow that knows no tears, gazing
J silently into the Arno and seeing the
wrinkied image of the city mirrored
! therein. and drawing inspiration for his
| elegant elegy upon his poet brother, the
! youthful Keats. Shelley could not have
| gone to any town more calculated to
! suggest thought connected with the
dead. Thoughtful tourists may well af-
ford to forgive if not to forget the
dreary look of Pisa if it gave the
strength of Inspiration to this poor
bruised reed which enabled him to
write the matchless lines upon the dead
boy poet. Where else was he as likely
to think of representing the thoughts Of
his lost friend as lowering round their