Evening star., 1902-03-08

Piazza del Populo below the fine equpages
have climbed the hill. and now they go
round and round and round in one eternal
circle. II you take your position on some
coign OF vantage and watch the passersby.
you Will see the same turnout pass you a
dozen times, perhaps In the course of an
hour: the same livery on the coachman,
the same green cockade: the same stout
bored-looking dowager within; the same
little white dog looking out OF the carriage
window.
Besides the carriages OF the rich ono
sees also the fiacre OF the poor man who
can raise but franc or two for turn
In the gardens, as We'll the still poorer
man who must patronize the stable or
Foot Walker & Co.. IL he goes at all
The priests In their many colored gar
ments are a very striking feature or the
Pincan Hill. Priests In white and priests
in black: priests in green and red and blue.
tall priests and short priests. fat priests
and lean priests. bearded priests and clean
shaven priests all pass and repass in SEEM
ingly unending procession. AS You stroll
about the graveled walks you meet perhaps
couple Of priests clothed in black with
green Sashes. engaged In earnest CONVEX
sation. As they pass. you discover to your
surprise that they are talking In good
English. Then you meet two or three blue
and red brothers who are speaking Ger
man. and the next perhaps talk French.
In the course OF very few moments you
may near nearly all the languages OF
Europe, for from every land they swarm
to study or to renew their allegiance to
the supreme pontiff.
st. Peters Dome
But when you turn from the Pincian
Hill to the view which It overlooks. from
the priests and the arstocracy to the peas
ants In the crowded Piazza del Populo be-
low, as you look off to st. Peters with its
massive and magnificent dome and the
countless similar domes which look like
children or giant mother: as you the
yellow Tiber rolling sullenly between It's
hlgh embankments. and the massive castle
or st. Angelo: as you think of all the his
tory that has been enacted within these
mcient city squares. and on the hills be-
yond. the view from the parapet reinforced
by the past becomes vastly more interest
ing than the modern Pincian Hill with all
Its gay equipages
Every church and every spot OF ground
mas Its grim tradition, IL not its bit Of
thrilling actual history. That great church
just under our feet, ST Mary OF the Peo-
pie, We are told by tradition stands where
Nero was buried. Afterward from Nero's
tomb grew a gigantic walnut tree, which
became the resort of innumerable crows
SO numerous as to become quite a pest In
1he neighborhood. In the eleventh century
rope Paschal dreamt that these crows
were demons. and that the Blessed Virgin
commanded him to cut down Ind burn tho
Tree and build sanctuary to her honor
IN Its place. TIE church was then and there
punt by means Of collection from tho
common people. which still shows its orl-
gin by Its name-"St Mary of the People"
Back Through the Ages.
In the middle OF this square is an Fgyn-
tlan obelfsk which carries one back be-
yond the bounds OF recorded history and
one can easily fall into Hawthorne's mood
when looking at this obeisk in it's foreign
setting. when he says: This red granite
ooelisk. oldest OF things even in Rome,
rises IN the center of the piazza with a
1ourfold fountain at its base All Roman
WORKS ana ruins assume a transient a
visionary. an impalpable character when
We think that this indestructihle monu-
ment supplied one OF the recollections
which Moses and the Isrealtes bore from
the desert. Perchance on beholding the
cloudy pillar and fiery column they whis-
pered. awestricken. one to another in its
shape 1t is like that old obelisk which we
and our fathers have so often seen on the
borders Of the Nile" And now that very
obelisk. with hardly a trace OF decay ,,pon
IT, Is the first thing that the modern tray
eier sees after entering the Flaminian
gate
So interesting have we found the Pipcfan
Hill, with its merry-go-round Of pleasure
seekers, Its priests. its memories it's ira
ditions and 1t outlook. that we have not
room to record what the people who fire.
quent this famous drive think of their
nefghbors across the Atlantic as we had
intended This and other matters con-
cerning Rome and Italy must be another
story" + q