Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-11-21

ing colonnades, was alive with numer-
Gus masses of people moving to the
church or returning from it. AS you
approached it your attention was nat
urally drawn to the rows of people
standing on the steps leading up to
the doors and looking back on the peo-
pie moving through the square. AMI
these presented at times the appear
ance of moving masses of bright color
from the varied hues of the garments
they wore.
Like peoples amid the uniform tint
Of wheat field are the vermilion-
colored soutaneS of the students be-
longing to the Austro- Hungarian col
lege. One alone of these is sufficient
to light up a gloomy view, and the
eye at once singles them out; but in
their numbers today they actually
seem to blaze among the simpler
dressed that crossed the hot sunlight
ell piazza. Brown FranciscanS pass by
and white bearded Capuchins. Carme-
lite Fathers, with cream-colored man
ties over brown robes that hang in
artistic folds like the togas upon an
cient Romans, pass along with the
stately step imposed by such cos
tune. Groups of ganda students
come along, wearing black robes pick
ed out with red braid and with wide
red cinctures. They are of all nations
and nearly of all colorS, from the fair
faced Irish youth to the dark green
skinned CingaleSe or the uncompro-
missing black of the Nubian negro.
And all this is Il suggestion of the
universally of the church and of its
fitness for all mankind.
a very sea of parasols. green, Grim
son, pink and pale blue, may be noted
overlooking the piazza with color and
brightness. And then the dresses of
women are quite as varied and as
bewildering in hues. In fact. the great
square of st. Peters looks like a vast
fair to which representatives-in type
and speech-of all the world have gath
cred together. And the two fountains
that shoot up to the height of 100 feet,
a river Of liquid jewels that sparkle
in rainbow hues as they fall, lend a
rare charm to the scene And in the
center of all the rusty red granite ODE
lisk from Nero'S circuS-On the site
of which ST. Peters now Stands-that
witnessed the martyrdom Of the Chris
tians, as wrapped up in pitch they
were used as torches to illuminate the
imperial orgies on this very spot
the motive of the feast and all it
means. 1t was under Nero, and aC-
rordlng to the lest authorities at the
left extremity Of the great tranSept of
the church that st. Peter was Crucihed;
and probably enough this obelisk was
witness to the crucitiXion Of Peter.
If one might judge by the look and
facial expression of the crowd, coming
and going in their thousands, one
might well say that Rome was happy
indeed. The movement Of feet going
to and fro in the church was not per-
haps calculated to assist the devotons
of nervous people. But st. Peters is
like the net of the fishermen of Cali
lee that incloSes within its meshes
all kinds of fish. Hence here you
might observe figures kneeling APP
parently absorbed in prayer, while the
crowd circulated around them. 1t
would seem ais if nothing had power
to stay their steps in stiffness save the
grand sound of the glorious hymn in
honor of the apostles. And then they
stood still entranced. The rays of the
sinking sun came in through the upper
windows of the huge dome and shot
the building like solid shafts
of gold. And the hearts of the peo-
PIE throbbed with the sounds of 80
Roma FeliX"-P. l.. COMEDIANS Rome
Letter in Boston Pilot.