The Harrison times. (Harrison, Boone Co., Ark) 1876-1938, 1904-03-12

the very spot where Nero had his
ampitheatre for the destroying oil
the Christians by the lions, And
now that we have a general idea OF
the plan of the city and the lay Of
the land, let's hasten to st. Peters.
1t is with feelings akin to awe that
we enter the piazza in front of st.
Peters with it's wide spreading col
onnades with 2s4 columns and 98
pillars forming three semi-circular
passages for sidewalks. The balus-
trade is decorated with 162 statues.
In the center of this space are two
hih springing fountains and the
high obelisk brought from Egypt in
3aA, D. by Caligula, On top of this
obelisk, (which is nearly 100 feet
high, is a cross in which is said to
be a piece of the one on which Christ
suffered martyrdom. Ascending the
many grand stone steps to the wade
portico we find on the right and on
the left the statues of SIS. Peter and
Paul, while at the the far ends
are the equestrian statues of
Charlemagne on the left, and
of Constantine, the great, on the
right. There are five large doors,
two of which are only opened on
grand occasions, while the two open
at all times are closed by hanging
pads of such weight that it needs the
strength of a six-foot man to pull
one out while you slip quickly in.
Your mind is so occupied with this
novel and seemingly dangerous way
of dhrting into the grand church, it
takes you moment to get on St.
Petsrexpression and prepare yourself
to appreciate the wonderful grand
eur. There are no seats in the main
auditorium, and the magnificent al
tar in front of you, only used at long
intervals when the Pope oficiates, is
lit up with 95 bronze lamps, which
have burned continually for hun
dreds of years.
We hear some angelic music in tie
air and soon locate it in side chap.
ell on the left and separated from the
main room by tall open work iron
gates and found one hundred and fifty
priA,ts, monks and cardinals celebra-
ting mass. So we boldly walked in
and sat on one of the few wooden
seats without backs, for an hour;
we enjoyed the good music and
chanting, the much-bowing and
blessing and burning of incense. We
imagined we recognized among that
dignifed, intelligent looking COM
pany of Romans some of our old
historical friends. There surely was
the face of Antonius Plus of whom
Lewis Morris wrote:
81 saw a calm and princely presence
| come,
Who stately as the imperial purple,
bore,
His robe, a saint in mien, mild, inno-
| cent,
Perfect in manhood, with clear eye
serene,
And lofty part; who from the sages
took
What lessons earth could give, but
trod no less
The toilsome path of Duty to the end;
And as he passed l knew the kingly
ghost
of Antonius, who knew Christ indeed,
Yet not the less was this. l marked
the calm
And thoughtful face of Him who ruled
| Himself,
And through Himself the world"
And there was Claudius with his
well formed head and "touch of mel
ancholy' Next Augustus, with his
wedge shaped head, his sharp-cut
lips and nose, while dear old Cincin-
Maths was good to look upon. We
did not try to find Caligula, the i'm
perial maniac, nor Nero, the vain
hearted wretch, but took a walk
around the large main room and
with guide book in hand saw each
of the thirty-one affairs, the hundreds
OF statues, the many baskets, the
numerous confessionals, the tomb of
st. Peter under the main altar, the
life-sized bronze statue of him sitting
on an elevated throne at the side of
main auditorium where his toe is
kissed half away and kept as bright
as gold and while we stood wonder
ing if any one ever kissed it any
more really, we made certain of
it by seeing many good, devout
Catholics come by and not only
kissed it, but leaned their foreheads
affectionately against the foot and
lifted their children up to do the
same; those afraid of microbes first
gave a wipe with coat sleeve or
handkerchief and now while we are