St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-06-18
IN HISTORIC PATHS.
Rev. DR.. Conway Reviews in
Scholarly Vein the Old
Days Of Rome,
Treating Of Legends, Incl
dents and Scenes Long
Famous in History.
Rome'S Churches, Public and
Ppivate--A DeSecpated
Shrine.
Italy's Financial Troubles,
and the Poverty Of the
Eternal City.


surprised into description of the
marvelously deep hue of it's wintry
skyS or into delineation of the singu-
larly beautiful sky tints of its waters.
when in reality readers look rather for
light upon its resources. A like temp
tation, only ten times stronger, awaits
the tourist in Rome. Even the severely
trained journalist who knows that his
readers care very little for the dead past,
and great deal for the living present,
Is tempted to let the Imagination linger
lovingly over the old Forum, whose site
was the battlefield between the Sabine
fathers-in-law and their Roman sons-in-
law.
He thinks he could describe better
than Byron or Shelley-whose descrip-
tive powers were developed by long So
iourn in sunny Italy-the most gigan-
tic rape the world has ever witnessed,
the rape Of the Sabine women. And
would not his whole soul expand with
the chivalry characteristic OF the pro-
fession were an opportunity given to
him to dilate upon the female bravery
which prompted these women to rush
between their warning relatives and
stop the fierce fight which resulted from
the rape Of the Sabine maidens.
Gen. Wallace's fascinating story, "Ben
Hur." comes back 10 him i'll all its pct-
uresque vividness. There is an almost
irresistible longing to crib something
from the generals unparalleled &C
count Of q Roman chariot race, or, at
all events, to tell OF the $1,000 Specta-
tors who witnessed the gladiatoral con-
tests in the Coliseum eighteen centuries
before the
Civilization of Dakota
or of Rhode Island had reached its zen
it'll. The religiously inclined penman
climbs the scala Sancta, and then burns
with holy zeal to tell the world what
it has heard hundreds Of thousands of
times, namely, that these are the very
steps which the Savior trod.
Verify this land of Dante and Of Pc
trarch has heritage which the natives
may we'll envy. The modern mind turns
to the CorSo or the Via Nazionale; the
mind historically bent, looks rather to
the Appan Way. Here, if given to
legendary lore, one sees st. Peter flying
from the cruel persecution Of Nero; and
he recalls the traditional rebuke admin
ly by the Savior when Peter
asked Christ whittier He was
going, and the God man answered that
He was going to Rome to be crucified
second time. The piOuS legends which
cling to the principles OF Christianity,
like ivy tendrils to the gray walls of
venerable building, need not trouble us,
whether true or false. But it seems to
me that in view Of the uninterrupted
tradition in Rome, the specific spots
pointed out, the Mamertine prison, the
tradition Of the crucifXion with head
downwards, the monuments, the
churches. ETC., it requires mind full of
historical hardihood to deny that Simou
Peter ever blessed with the tread Of his
sacred feet the payements Of the eternal
city. Historically, l should as soon
think of saying that the English people
were wrong in believing that Shake
speare ever lived in London. or that the
will In which he bequeathed
His second Best Bed
to his wife is a forgery, or that Anne
Hathaway's cottage at Stratford Is a
myth, as to hold that Peter was never in
Rome. But Christian polemictS iii my
readers will excuse phrase flavOrlng
of a contradiction in terms) have no
claim upon my present sketches. The
student of classics may drive along the
Appian way until he catches glimpse
of the amythistic tents of the distant
hills casting their shadows over the fer
tile valley where Horace titled his
fields, wrote his poetry, reveled in the
sunlight and dreamed the happy hours
away, basking in the shine Of those
bright and appeciative faces which
sometimes sought him out III his rural
retreat, And then again this marvellous
Appian way, dating back three cen
turtles before the birth of Christianity,
recalls the proud march Of the legions
of imperial Rome. the best trained SOL
dierS i'll the world.
Great was the road that led to the
world. The Thoughtful traveller sees in
the faces of these soldiers returning
from the worlds battlefields. sweet
ness and a geDtleness begotten of the
Christening influence of misfortune: and
mayhap his mind conjures up faces
made still more genial by the trials OF
life,-facial expressions which say I'M
mistakably that they have no fears for
the
Vengeful Years of Futurity,
but that they are lifted up in grand de-
tiance OF all. And if drive along the
Appian way brings within the visual
ray the ancient acqueducts. still a
wonder of the world and an object les
son III sanitation to modern municipal
councils, another point in 1t furnishes
material fOr rich romance.
To me it has long been source Of
surprise that noveliStS have not availed
themselves of the battle Of the Horatii
and the Curlatti when one of the
victorious brothers stabbed his sister to
the heart because she wept for her slain
lover. They might have woven round
it tale more thrilling than that of the
Scottish Chiefs" The expression with
which the soldier murderer suited the
words to his action, $50 perish the
Roman maiden who shall weep for her
country'S enemy" appeals to the dra-
matte instruct in such way as to set
all its powers in motion. The story of
Abelard and Heloise. stale in some
things and Improbable in all, having
little to recommend it save that fair
face of the woman and the brilliant
mind of the man, has inspired the pens
of poets and noyeliSts ever since. whilst
the catastrophe of the Appian way has
been utterly neglected.
Rome's Church.
The fear of the managing editors
blue pencil compels me to leave these
ancient scenes. sights singularly beauti-
full whether seen in all sullen splendor
of Roman sun, or stepped in the soft
light of an Italian moon. Rome is really
a city of churches. Ever since Con-
stantine the Great issued the edict of
Milan, the first liberty of conscience act
granted to Christians, churches seem to
have fourlshed in Rome.
Constantine, though not Christian.
for he was not baptized till on his death
bed, was a great church builder. 1t
must have been the influence of his
prayerful mother, Helena, which in
duced him to build the churches of ST.
Peter, st. John of Lateran, st. Paul. st.
Brace, st. Agnes and st. Laurence.
Ever since the number has gone ON in
creasing in the sacred city. In Rome
there is church for every day in the
year. Some think there are far too
many. But it depends upon the point
OF view. 1t must be remembered that
all the churches in Rome are not built
for places of public worship. The great
churches like ST Peters and ST. John