The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-05-07
THERE ARE MANY OF THEM IN THE
ETERNAL CITY.
The WORK IN WHICH THEY ARE ENGAGED
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS IN THE
ARTS AND SCIENCES.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE VATICAN GALLERY
LOVERS OF ANCIENT HISTORY AND
THEIR SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE.

That Rome was the city constituted
by the concourse of all nations was
said by Cicero. That was true in an
cient times. Many of Rome's most not
ed men were foreigners in the city and
even to Italy, though they were all SUBJ
jects of the Roman rule.
The same is equally true of modern
times. The scholars and students COM
ing here from other lands repeat with
Volumnia, in "Coriolanus"-"S we will
nome to Rome" No honest man is a
| stranger here, and intelligence receives
warmer welcome here than anywhere
| else.
The nation which Is the heir Of all
| the nations-the United States-is we'll
represented in the intellectual world of
Rome.
Having learned much from the teach
ing and the story of that center of an
c1ent and modern civilization, Ameri-
cans come here and distribute the in
formation they possess after it has re-
i ceived modern coloring and has been
regarded from new point of view.
AT the present moment several de-
partments of intellectual and moral
teaching in Rome are, so far as the
English speaking world is concerned, in
the hands of Americans
! In the pulpit and in the lecture room
the names of Americans are of the most
prominent. Even the books of Ameri-
can writer's are translated into the
hands of Italian thinkers.
The work Of Archbishop Keane as the
great preacher in the English language
has already been mentioned in these
letters, says correspondent in the
Baltimore Sun. The splendid manner
in which this prelate presents to his
i audience the profoundest truths of reli.
gion; the clearness of his language.
which is SO expressive of his clearness
OF thought; the tender and sympathetic
side OF his nature, which goes far to
render palatable and lovingly accepta-
Bile truths that are frequently regarded
as harsh, constitute him one Of the most
effective preachers in the English
tongue that Rome has listened to fer
years past.
The old, eternal, Interchangeable truths
of Christianity are put before the
minds of his hearers in new way, with
special and direct reference to the
modes Of thought and expression pre-
Va1l1ng today and to the wants and as
pirations and longings of mankind In this
10th century.
| When these sermons are published all
the world may follow his line of reason
ing and appreciate the modernness of
his methods. But the printed page can
give no suggestion Of the living, vi
brant, mobile voice and vivid express
sion Of tenderness and emphasis which
made the hearing of them so exquisite
a delight.
1t Is strange to see an American
teaching archaeology in Rome. Ruins
of ancient civilization are, perhaps
fortunately, not so common in the
United States as they are in Europe
That may account for the absorbing
interest taken in them by university stu
ents beyond the Atlantic.
Mr.. Clement Smith, head of the clas-
sical and antiquarian school which ha,
been recently established In Rome, is
noted for his scholarship and his spirit
of research. The students under the
direction take the greatest interest in
his lectures on inscriptions.
In the vatican gallery professor and
pupil find an almost inexhaustible field
Of study. In the long corridors leading
to the vatican library the walls arc
lined with inscriptions, Christian en-
the one side and pagan on the other.
You walk along an avenue, says the
lato Cardinal Wiseman, describing this
gallery, one side adorned by the stately
and mature, or even decaying mcmor-
ials Of heather dominion, the other Dy
the young and growing and vigorous
monuments of early Christian culture
AHS'S liiSS cIdlu ldCc W ldt;t DIS Jl Iii
hostile array, about to begin a. battle
long since fought and won. On tie
right may be read laudatory cpitaphs
Of men whose families were conspicu-
Gus in Republican Rome; long inscrip-
tions descriptive of the victories and
commemorative of the titles OF Nerva, or
Trajan; then dedications to deities, an
nouncements Of their fcasts, or fairs,
in their honor; and an endless variety
Of edicts, descriptions Of property, sacred
and domestic, and sepulchral monuments
The great business of a mighty empire
military, administrative, religious and So
cial-stands catalogued on that wall
On the other side, opposite to these
imperial monuments, are arranged a
multitude of irregular, broken fragments
Of marble, picked up, apparently, mere
and there, or which are scratched, or
lcrookedly carved, in rude latinity and
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