The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-09-01
ON The DOME OF 81 pertR.s.
Almost a r.nor.mA of the werld htr~tsA-
ed Before the Behoidsr.

81 Before the B~hoider.
The straneest, most extravaEant,
most incomprehensihle, moss dis
turbing sight Of all Is 20 10 seen
from the upper gallery in the cupo-
In looking down 10 the church be-
low. Hanging in midair. with moth
ing under ones feet, ono sees the
church projected in perspective
within q huge circle. It Is as though
one saw il upside down and inside
out Few mon could bear 90 stand
there without that bit Of iron rail
ing between thoin and the hidcous
fall, and the inevitable slight dizzi-
ness which the strongest head feels
may make one doubt for a moment
whether what is really the noor be-
low may not be in reality a ceiling
above, and whether ones sense of
EravitatiOn be not inverted IN an
extraordinary dream. AZ that dis
tance human beings look no bigger
than flies. and the canopy of tho
high altar might be an ordinary Ia
BILE
And thence, climbing mp between
the double domes, one may emerge
from the almost terrible perspective
TO the open air and suddenly see all
Rome at ones feet, and all the Ro-
man mountains stretched out to
south and east, in perfect grace of
restful outline, shoulder TO shoul-
der, like shadowy women lying side
by side and holding hands.
And the broken symmetry Of
streets and squares ranges below.
cut by tho winding ribbon of the
yellow Tber; TO the right the low
Aventine, with the dark Expresses
of the Protestant cemetery beyond,
and the Palatine, crested with trees
and ruins; the Pinclan on the left,
with its high gardens, and the mass
of foliage of the Villa Mcdici behind
it,; the lofty tower of the capitol In
the midst of the city, and tho sun
clasping all TO its heart OF gold. the
just and the unjust. the new and the
old alike, past and present. youth.
age and decay-generuus as only the
sun can be in this sordid and miser-
ly world, where bread - but anoth-
CT name for blood and rood OF
growing corn means a pound of hu-
man flesh. The sun is tho only good
thing in nature that always gives
itself to man for nothing but the
mere trouble of sitting in the sun
shine, and Rome without sunlight Is
a very grim and gloomy town today.
1t Is worth the effort of climbing
so high. -Four hundred feet IN the
air you look down on what ruled
half the world 10y force for ages and
ON what rules the other half today
by faith-the greatest center of con-
I quest and OF discord and of religion
which the world has ever seen. 4
I thousand volumes have been written
about it by a thousand wise men. \
word tolls what II has beon-hea.t
of the world Hither was drawn the
worlds blood by all tine roads thbt
lead TO Rome, and hence il was
forced out again along the mighty
arteries of the CAESARS roads TO lie
7 spilled an tho CAESARS battles-to
redden the world with the Roman
name. Blood, blood, and more blood
that was the history Of old Rome
tho blood of brothers. the blood Of
foes, the blood OF martyrs without
end. 1t flowed and ebbcd in varying
tide at the viii Of the just and the
unjust, but there was always more
TO shed, and there were always more
hands to she'd il. And 50 IL may IL
again hereafter. for the name Of
Rome has a heart stirring ring. ard
there has always been as much blood
spilled for tie names of things na
for the things themselves Marion
Crawford in Century.