The record-union., 1896-07-16
TONES IN ST. PETERS.
Some of Them Have Been Violated
and the Bones Scattered.

One of the best tombs in the basilica
is that of Sixtus w, the first Pope of
the Revere family, in the Chapel of the
Sacrament. The bronze figure, lying
low on a sarcophaguS placed out upon
the floor, has a quiet, manly dignity
about it which one cannot forget But
in the same tomb lies a greater man Of
the same race, Julius H., for whom Mi
chelangelo made his great Moses" in
| the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli,
man who did more than any other per-
haps, to make the great basilica what
it is, and who, by a chain Of mistakes,
got no tomb of his own. He who sol
EMMY laid the foundat tons of the pres
ent church, and lived to see the four
main piers completed with their arches,
has only little slab in the pavement to
recall his memory. The protector and
friend Of Bramante, of Michelangelo and
of Raphael-of the great architect, the
great sculptor and the great painter
| has not so much as the least work of
any Of the three to mark his place of
rest Perhaps he needed nothing but
| his name, which must always stand
among the greatest
After all, his bones have been allowed
| 10 rest III peace, WHICH Is LilOEG GlidLl
can be said of all that have been buried
within the area Of the church. Urban
VI. had no such good fortune. He SO
much surprised the Cardinals, as soon
as they elected him. by his vigorous
moral reforms, that they hastily re-
| tired to Anagni, and elected an anti
Pope Of milder manners and less sensi-
| tive conscience. He lived to triumph
over his enemies. In PiacenZa he was
| besieged by King Charles Of Naples. He
communicated him, tortured seven
| Cardinals whom he caught In a con-
| spiracy, and put five of them to death,
overcame and slew Charles, refused
| him burial, and had his body exposed
| to the derision Of the crowd. The
chronicler says that ITALY. Germany,
England. Hungary, Bohemia, Poland,
Sicily and Portugal were obedient to
the Lord Pope Urban VI" He died
peacefully, and was buried in ST. Pc
ter's in a. marble sarcophagus.
| But when Sixtus ", who also sur
prised the Cardinals greatly, was In a
fit of haste to finish the dome, the ma
sons. wanting a receptacle for water,
laid hands on Urban's stone coffin,
pitched his bones in to a. corner and
used the sarcophagus as they pleased,
leaving It to serve as a water tank for
many years afterward.
In extending the foundations of the
church, Paul III came upon the bodies
of Maria and Hermantia, the two wives
of Honorius, the Emperor who discs
tablished" paganism In favor Of Chris
tfanity. They were sisters, daughters
of Stilicho, and had been buried in their
| imperial robes, with many rich objects
and feminine trinkets, and they were
found intact, as they had been buried
in the month of February 1913. Forty
pounds of fine gold were taken from
their robes alone, says Baracconi, with
out counting all the jewels and trinkets,
among which was a very beautiful
lamp, beside a great number Of precious
stones The Pope melted down the
| gold for the expenses of the building.
and set the gems in a tiara, where if
they could be identified, they certainly
exist to-day-the very stones worn by
Expresses of ancient Rome-"St. Pc
ter's," by Marion Crawford, in the Cen
| fury.