The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-11-27
THE NOBLEsT TEMPLE
Ever Reared by Human Hands is st.
Peter's in Rome.

No better en-picture of Rome, St.
Peters and the places hallowed by the
blood of the martyrs, has been written
than that of the writer, Geale, who
thus expresses his feelings at the first
sight of the Eternal City: Rome, i'm
perial Rome-for she still looks i'm
perial-the dome of st. Peters, the
mole of Adrian and the yellow Tiber.
burst upon my view: rejecting, with
their own, the glory of an Italian sun
set. What a tide of reflections occu-
Ply the mind-what emotions stir the
heart on first beholding Rome There
Is not only grandeur in the sight, but
In the thought that we behold her: we
feel as if ennobled by the destiny
which has brought us hither to pom
der amidst scenes SO renowned and
sacred.
Rome, still seated on her seven hills.
stretched away before me; the city
,, the vicissitudes of whose fortunes in
volve the history of our race: this
fruitful mother of heroes; the imperial
mistress of the world; exalted by the
loftiest achievements Of valor and pa
triotism; and adorned by the most va
ried and consummate genius; till, de-
generate and self-enthralled, she be-
came the victim of the sanRuinarv
crimes and lust Of power which she
herself had engendered. No other city
on earth has been the theater of such
events, or suggests the same associa-
ton. Who can behold it for the first
time unmoved? The statesman, the
philosopher and man of letters. al
alike regard it with the deepest inter-
est, although with the. feelings whica
belong to their different Characters:
but 1t is the devout and believing in
infallible Rome, who behold her with
! one common feeling of enthusiast tc
veneration, and enter. her gates with
Civilizations as the Holy City,, hal
lowed by the blood Of martyrs, and the
residence of the fisherman and his sue
| cessors.
But let us turn and behold the COL
osseum-the enormous building erect
ed by Vespasian to commemorate tn,
| destruction of Jerusalem. +s+l But
| what were the entertainments for
which this vast amphitheater was des-
| tined? The heart shudders at the rec
election, and the Christian derives
another awful confirmation of the des-
perate wickedness and depravity of
the unconverted man. = The Coll
osseum was therefore erected, and
| Christian persecution and constancv
soon furnished them with abundant
victims to glut their ferocity. Here
came, twice a day, we are told, the
most distinguished, not only of the
men, but of the matrons. and dauRh-
tiers of Rome. and so terrible was the
butchery on some Of the great Rome n
holidays that it required acqueducts
to supply the water necessary to
cleanse the arenas after these bloody
exhibitions.
when wearied with the mortal
strife between man and man, the ruler
of these terrific shows gave the sig
nal, and man was seen contending
with the wild beasts Of the forest. We
would fain turn away incredulously
from such recitals; but the Testimony
OF the Roman historians, and the very
ruins themselves. leave US no room ia
doubt of these bloody scenes. Never
was the faith and constancy Of the
first Christian martyrs displayed and
tried in an ordeal 20 terrific. Thei,