Mexico weekly ledger., 1900-08-23
Of All Or. Hinde's Letters to the
Ledger This is the Most Interest.
ing "A Visit to the ancient
Catacombs The Volca-
no, vesuviuA and
Ponpeh

Petro in Viuculo, 81. John Lateran,
St. Marie Msggiore, Trevi Fount and
Trajan's Column OF course we uhall
zee most of these again. The Pincian
Hills and PiazEo Popolo We took In
before breakfast, being near our
Anglo American Hotel There you
have the finest view Of Rome, and II
felt familiar with this from my read
ing Of Hawthorn's aNotesn anG his
"Marble Faun." st. Peters was dis
appointing to me outside, except the
colonade approach, but inside 1t far
surpassed any former conception or
dream. can only stand and gaze In
wonder and admiration. All other
C~athedrals, st. Paul's (London,D
Cologne and Milan, are now forgotten
since ! have seen the one Cathedral.
OF the world. We spent two hours
carefully inspecting the great ALTA, the
dome (inside) and some Of the finer
groups of statuary around the various
aisles and some of the best frescoes.
/ cannot now specify, but win try
and do 90 at some future time.
One hundred and thirty.two Popes
are buried here and the finest atatuRry
mark their resting places. 1t would
be difficult for me to decide which l
regard the finest of the groups, but
upon a first visit the one that most
impressed me was that Of Clement
XIII, by Conora, containing q statue
Of the Pope in the attitude of prayer,
one side a figure representing the
"Genius Of Deatn." But there are
scores Of others that would be re-
garded especially ine by better quail
fed than / to judge the merits Of the
work OF those masters.
Under the high altar, Immediately
under the center Of the dome, st,
Peter lie supposed to be buried. The
guiding Of the canopy of bronze over
the altar cost 100000. There are
eighty nine golden lamps surrounding
this which r never allowed TO &c
out. From this l gaze up into the
dome, $40 feet high, and read In let.
tiers six feet long: "Thou art Peter
and on This Rock I Build My Church
Mind cannot conceive OF . grAndei
view than this. Iexpect TO 20 mp .,
the very top Of the dome before
leave.
st, Johns Latersn Church, though
not on 90 grand q scale a. 81. Peters
was q wonder to me, and had som'
work even finer than any / saw in 81
Peters. This church was built original
ly by Constantine, and contains q nni
statute and many other mementoes o
this Emperor. I wish ! had thl
power Of conveying to my reader
some idea of the beauty of some o
the fresco work In this church. III
head Of St. Paul lie said to be buriet
here.
In the Mamertine prison we werI
shown the cells In which Peter AM
Paul are said 10 have been imprison
ed, and I drank water Every little
ont Of the miraculous spring, from
which they baptized the jailor con
verts. There are hundreds Of thes
old churches in Rome, almost all Q
them built upon the foundation Q
some heather ruins.
The Coliseum, 50 far, impresses m
as the greatest Of the ruins In Rome
The Ango-saxon pilgrims OF tn
seventh century said: "While th
Coliseum stands Rome shall stand
when falls the Coliseum, Rome sha
fall; and when Rome falls the worl
, shall faIl.D
In picture and Imagination / hav
often had some conception Of TIL
great heather structure, but not Il
to-day, as I walked around this i'm
mense pile Of ruins and gazed up .
some Of lite still towering walls have
had anything like q true conceptio
J OF the magnitude OF the structurl
And as I sat and mused, as my eye
ran around this vast amphitheatr'
/, what awful scenes came before m
, mind, Of gladlterial combats, {
Christian martyrs devoured by vii
beasts and tortured upon burnin
n poles and Of drunken revelry an
! haunting shouts OF cruel heathe
, persecutorsi could see old Nero Q
be sat drinking and laughing Will
the helilsh work was going on.
. could hear the roar and howl Of VII
beasts as they came from their der
below and crossed the arena in scare
of their human victims. OF my Co
3 what horrible scenes have been er
acted within the space upon whic
I my eyes have gazsd, Is / nat and !
Q reveiey and dream this day. Than
. God those days have passed never
return.
"Romel EIobs Of Nstionsi Thei
4 she stands
ChIldless and crownless in her voic'
less woe;
An empty urn within her hands,
Whose holy dust wa scattered Ion
ago"
. The "OasteIlo 8. Angelo" was ii
tomb originally erected by Hardin II
himself and successors, and compleI
, ed BY Antonins Plus In Is0, and nee
for the Pope's residences. 'FromHadrI
In 10 Caracalla ell the emperors ws1
buried here. Wien the Goths b
seiged Rome in 5sT the tomb was cor
. verted into q fortress and the statue
on the summit were hurled down o
the beseigers. This old castle IL MOI
one OF the marked features OF Rom
: and we vert very much interested
!, visiting the various rooms and CELL
and was made to shudder Ne We en-
tered some Of the dark dungeons an
bsheld the spot where victims wer
beheaded and their bodies droppe
down into 3 hole that led to the TibcI
Later in the days Of the Popes Their
was q covered pssswsy from the Gas
lie TO the Vatican. The Castle is In
mediately on The TIbsr and the vis'
ia almost 81 me as that from th