The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-08-26

nested since time out of mind. Looking up
at any time of day, you seen them stand
ing silent and motionless on top of its pin
nacles. their white plumage glittering
against the dark blue sky. and imagining
them to be carved ornaments, you are as
startled to see one move as If the tower
itself were taking fight.
AN IMPRESSIVE INTERIOR.
The cathedral interior is very solemn and
impressive, with tall, dark Gothic arches
and very large windows. of which the up
per lights only are glazed The retablo of
the high altar (of the time Of Ferdinand
and Isabella) is the oldest thing I have
ever seen. 1t is divided into three panels,
three stages in height, painted by master
artists who returned to dust many CEN
turtles ago. The lowest stage represents
ST. Peter and St. Paul, surrounded by eight
evangelists. The second stage sets forth
the TRANSPORTATION, the annunciation. the
nativity, the alteration of the magi and
the presentation in the temple, while the
third stage is gruesome with the crucifix-
ion. the scourging. the agony, the descent
into he'll and the TRANSPORTATION. These
pictures are among the Oldest and most
~ III Spain, ait oil LII ~
richly carved woodwork. The choir is
equally quaint. with reliefs of saints and
scenes of martyrdoms, all beautifully
carved and adorned with delicate ara
besques. Two iron-gilt pulpits are wonder
full specimens of Spanish metal work in the
fifteenth century, and others are of alabas-
ter and marble, covered with carvings. The
whole vast building is crowded with
statues, big and little as to size-good, bad
and Indifferent as works of art. At the en-
trance you are confronted by two tipsy-
looking mace bearers in granite, and other
d~isreputable figures are perched insecurity
in the jamb of each doorway. Saints are
everywhere, ~life-size and colossal, standing
on the affairs and in hundreds of platter
esque inches. In the tympanum a magnii-
cent Ecce Homo appears in the midst of
sculptures and terra Gotta figures setting
forth the betrayal, the last supper the
cross bearing. the crucifxion, the corona
ton of the virgin. the flight into Egypt,
and scriptural scenes without number. You
might spend days in this old sanctuary,
constantly finding new objects Of interest
old paintings in dark corners, curious
church plate from the eleventh century
down.. and ancient tombs in shadowy chap
els. Among the most beautiful sepulchres
is that of the learned Alfonso Tostado de
Madrigal, who was bishop of Avila in 1850,
and considered the Solomon of his day. His
effigy, carved i'm alabaster. represents the
prelate in the act of writing. which was
the joy and business of his earthly exist
ence; and it is gravely related that he
urota fhroa cbaotc q dov for arar,, do, Of
his lifel
CELEBRATED MONUMENT.
Outside the walls. on the river side, a
tiny Romanesque church stands in a lit
tie weedy Enclosure, with three tall stone
crosses. Nowadays it is always closed
and locked, but though the Cerberus who
guards it charges outrageously for pro-
ducing the keys, you must submit to ex-
tortioD for the sake of seeing the beau
tiful monument of its patron, the bishop
of San Segundo. He is said to nave pushed
a Moor over the battleInents of the neigh
boring tower with his own hands, a deed
of prowess which will always render him
popular as a Spanish saint, although it
does not seem consistent with the angelic
expression of the kneeling figure rapt in
an ecstacy of prayer.
In Santo Tomas another glorious figure
is found, that of Prince Juan, the only
son of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose
death, in his twentieth year, broke his
mothers heart, though history records
that she replied TO the fatal tidings only
in the words of Scripture, THE Lord hath
given, the Lord hath taken away Beau
tiful in person, a brilliant scholar, an ac-
complished linguist and musician, with the
most amiable and winning of characters,
he was the delight Of his parents and the
idol of the people. Within a few days after
his marriage, in March Of 1897, at Burgos,
to Margaret. daughter of the Emperor
Macmillan, he was seized with a terrible
illness. His parents had gone to Valencia
to witness the marriage of their daughter
10 the King of Portugal, and when the
news came they FASTENED with all possible
speed TO the bedside of their son. But
they arrived to find their boy cold in death
and to learn that his last words were a
prayer that his parents might be able to
feel the same resignation that he himself
experienced. The exquisite sleeping figure
of Prince Juan, the most touching of eff.
fgies, with folded hands and smiling fea-
lures, lies upon a marble altar tomb. The
coro OF the church, placed above an clip
I teal arch at the western entrance, still re-
tains two splendidly carved stalls. which
Ferdinand and Isabella ever afterward oc.
cupied at mass, close to the gallery rail,
where they might look down meanwhile
upon the image of their boy. They were
dressed in sackcloth, which in this great
calamity was substituted for the white
serge hitherto worn as royal mourning
n a historian of the day wildly de-
scribes how, as they sat, the eyes of one
would seek the eyes of the other and cause
a fresh outburst OF grief. So kings and
queens nave their sorrows, like m
clay, when relentless death steps in and
snatches the best beloved.
1t is a pity to nave only a few days fol
Avila. One might proftably spend weeks
here, and then find himself sorry to de-
Part. FANNIE 3. WARD.
FRUIT A REMEDY FOR THE GOVT.