The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-04
AN ANCIENT CATHEDRAL
EARLY MORNING SERVICE IN THE
GREAT CHURCH or SEVILLE.
BuiIt on n spot where the Faithful Of
Many Religions Have Worshiped
The GiIda Tower.

Correspondence OF the Indianapolis Journal.
SEVILLE, Spain, Jan. 2l.-Such a cla;nor
of bells as broke in upon my slumbers In
the twilight OF the morning would have
awakened old Morpheus himself The
shadowy courtyard beneath my window
was still in darkness-though doubtless the
sun was at that moment rising behind the
green hills of the Guadalouivir. Was the
city on fre-had a foreign foe arrived at
the gates-did an earthquake threaten?
had promised myself long Sundays rest,
to make up for yesterdays wearisome
tramps through the winding streets OF Sc
vile; but amid such tumult sleep was
out of the question. So hurriedly dressed
and Jared forth to see what was the mat
ter No: it was not Chicago conHagra-
ton. as one might suppose. nor an Andean
earthquake. nor a Hawaiian volcanic erup-
tion-but just the regular. gentle way
in which Sevillians usher in their holy day.
The worst of the racket. apparently burst
ing from the skies directly overhead. came
from the iron threats of the twenty-five
bells in the lofty Giralda, assisted by tho
bells of q hundred churches and OF in
Vulnerable converts and chapels-all swung
and hammered and ratified and pounded to-
gether, in one ear-torturing tintinnabula-
ton.
In the days Of the Moors. when this
Giralda tower was topped with great
round globe, plated with FURNISHED gold.
the morning call to prayer was less noisy.
but probably more effective. AS the first
rays of the rising sun illumined the golden
ball. from the gallery Immediately below
it sounded the muezzin cry. so familiar
fo
Allah. There is no God but Allah, and Mo-
manned is his prophet. Come to prayer.
Prayer is better than sleep. Come TO
prayer The cry was caught up and re-
echoed from the towers OF countless
mosques throughout the city. The awakened
people looked UP and saw the beautiful
Giraldi in the pure light of dawn, the figure
OF the turbaned muezzin standing aloft
clear and sharp against the sky, and high
above all the gilded dome, shining like
new sun in the heavens; and men, women
and children FASTENED to their devotions-
But it appears that Jehovah is not so ex-
acting as Mohammed. In spite of the mod
ern clamor, the faithful OF to-day, IL
aroused at all, go TO sleep again and the
matin-service is comparatively unattended
1 found a few black-robed women hurry
ing along the streets, each followed by her
servant carrying the indispensable prayer
rug, and beggars sleepily bestirring them
selves to ply their vocation around the
sanctuary doors; but not a man OF the bet
ter class was TO be seen, except here and
there a priestly form under cowl or shovel
hat. Evidently the gentlemen OF Seville,
like the sterner and more sinful sex else
where. expect to gain heavens clemency
through the prayers of their female reia-
tives.
A FAMOUS CATHEDRAL.
Inside the great cathedral the effect of
dimly-lighted affairs, magnificent dis
tances" and endless perspective of clus-
| tered columns, is like the awe and, gloom
Of a mighty forest in a mconless night.
Even at sunniest midday it is pervaded by
mysterious twilight. Notwithstanding its
ninety-three enormous windows of stained
glass, wrought by the most famous Flem-
ish artists of the sixteenth century We
know that this Seville cathedral is one OF
| the largest in Christendom, second only to
| ST. Peters, in Rome; that its inner paral-
telegram is 431 feet long, 3l5 feet wide and
| III feet high from the central dome to the
| checkered pavement OF black and white
| marble; that IT has seven aisles each large
| enough for a church, innumerable pillars
| supporting the sixty-fve arches OF the
vaulted roof, thirty chapels. each mu-
scum of art, and eighty-two affairs, at
| tended by an army OF priests; but mere fig
| ures fail to convey any idea Of its vastness
and massive grandeur. The colossal coll
umns alone. so huge and high. make one
marvel, as do the pyramids OF Egypt. how
human strength could place such mon
strous stones in an upright position and in
1 90 "A fuO &c 81
gantic scale. from the paschal candle.<
which contains more than a ton of wax,
| set on a bronze candelabrum twenty-five
feet HIGH to the great organ OF 500 pipes.
| No wonder the edifice was hundred years
| in building, and. after five centuries, Is not
| yet pronounced complete. The chapter
which began IL, I'm 14e1. predicted that
| future ages would call them mad" for I'M
| dertaking so vast a structure. IL was the
| special work Of four generations. and ten
| or twelve generations have already wor-
| SHIPPED I'm IL and passed to their reward.
| Compared with such lapses of time. how
| little appears the life of one man. or even
] OF one generation While the service was
going on, knelt in a dim corner and tried
to realize the surroundings and my own
relative insignificance. To-day. a wanderer
from the far-off western world sits here.
1 Iuli OF nedlIn anu nOpes IO-InorrOW she mas
| gone her way, and in little time has dis
| appeared from the face OF the earth. She
has vanished into the ocean OF eternity and
I left not the smallest ripple upon the sur
/ face. Suddenly the great organ began to
make the air tremble. There are two OF
| them in this cathedral. both Of size pro-
| portioned to the place. and OF tremendous
volume. At first II emitted only faint whis-
| perings OF fits mighty voice. gradually
| swelling in compass until IL filled the lofty
roof with melody and the church militant
| seemed TO join with the church triumph
anton lamb OF God. who taketh away
the sins OF the world, grant US Thy
| peace"
| THE STRUCTURE IN DETAIL.
Later in the day I returned TO the
cathedral with others Of our party 20 make
more careful study of il. You might
| visit IL a hundred times and ramble for
| days through its aisles and chapels. con-
tinually finding new objects Of wonder and
admiration. Through five hundred years
this sanctuary has been steadily accumu-
lating treasures from donations and the
sale OF indulgences. To many OF the pill
lars great iron Golfers are attached. each
| large as ordinary trunk. Time was,
when the treasures OF the world were pour