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AN ILLUMINATION.

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sight-seeing, at the Capitol, at the Coliseum, at the Vatican. The government spared no expense in entertaining and lionizing them. The steps of the Capitol were repaired to receive them; the galleries were all put in order. St. Peter's and the Coliseum were illuminated in their honor! and these young princes were made to feel, every moment, that it was no small advantage to be the son of an Emperor-particularly if his standing army should equal that of Russia. At the Coliseum, we expected a rare treat; we hoped to realize the ancient Coliseum, lighted up in the days of Domitian or of Titus, and crowded with the men and women of the Empire, to witness an evening exhibition. We were greatly disappointed. After sitting for two hours in an open carriage and in the night air, we saw the third story somewhat brighter than the moon made it, for about five minutes! A half pound of sulphur, and a quart of salt produced the brilliant illumination of the glorious Coliseum in the nineteenth century, for the entertainment of the travelling whelps of the great Bear of Russia! Perfectly contented, the large crowd of carriages and pedestrians waited for the wonderful exhibition, and perfectly contented they walked and rode home.

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CHAPTER IX.

Santa Maria Maggiore-Its Miraculous Origin; Ancient Relics-St. John of Lateran-The Scala Sancta-Cardinal Roberti-Aqueducts and Baths-Fountains of Trevi and Nayona-Rome and its Virgins-Fleas, a Roman Production-The Ghetto-Roman Living at the Present Day.

Sunday, May 9th.

TO-DAY being Sunday, and being at the very fountain of Christendom, we started out with the intention of seeing the interior of some of the most remarkable churches of this great capital. We bent our steps towards the Esquiline Hill, and having climbed its top, found ourselves in front of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. All the churches of Italy, are places of show. They originate in some miraculous occurrence, are erected to display the magnificence or devotion of their founders, and want that solemnity and simplicity, that should attend the worship of the Deity. As magnificent specimens of architecture, as noble galleries of immortal paintings, as splendid temples, erected to perpetuate miracles, or to preserve sacred relics, they are unrivalled; but as churches dedicated to the worship of God, they never im

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pressed us in the same degree, as did the simple Gothic structures of the old Reformers, that are to be found everywhere in Switzerland, and in Germany. The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, owes its origin to a dream. The Pope, and a celebrated patrician, dreamed, at the same hour, on the same night, of a fall of snow, exactly corresponding in extent to the ground now covered by Santa Maria Maggiore, and this magnificent structure rose to perpetuate the miraculous dream! With such a building before one, who can doubt the truth of the tradition that has lived with it, from the day of the laying of the corner stone to this hour. We like those traditions; they invest everything with interest, and require but little faith, where they are attested by such contemporaneous works. Indeed, he who cannot believe in miraculous stories, and who has but little taste for well-attested relics, must lose half the pleasure derived from a visit to this city of tradition and of Church history. Let him cultivate his imagination, if he would enter into, and enjoy, as we trust we did, the thousand objects of faith, that we looked at credulously! Who has not heard of the Portæ Sanctæ,-the holy doors,-the four sacred entrances, that are walled up from Jubilee to Jubilee? This beautiful Basilica not only possesses a Porta Sancta, but it is here, that the Sovereign Pontiff himself, opens the Jubilee and the Holy Door at the same time, with his golden hammer, in the presence of his court, his people, and his clergy!

At the sound of the "Aperite Portas!" the masonry gives way, and the procession follows the Holy Father into the Temple. How the people crowd around the sacred opening, lean against the jambs and pray, kiss the holy panels, and carry away with them the dust of the walls! This dust, taken in their soup or their chocolate, is a sure preventive of fever, king's evil, and sudden death! But Santa Maria Maggiore contains, concealed in one of its richest chapels, a relic, that challenges the devotion of the faithful! The very cradle of Christ has been preserved in a silver urn, and is exhibited to the public gaze on Christmas Eve. True it is, that some have ventured to dispute its identity, and to insist that it is but a representation of the original cradle, but, when it is remembered with what care so sacred a relic would be preserved, and how little advantage there could be gained by imposition, we do not see how doubt can arise in the mind of any one, who does not examine too curiously. We received the tradition with our accustomed credulity, and after admiring the richness of the Borghese Chapel, we walked on to the great Church of St. John of Lateran. This Basilica claims to be the oldest in Rome, and is the one of which the new Pope always takes possession first. It is situated on the Celian Mount, and is much admired for its beauty, and for the imposing effect of the large statues of the saints contained in its nave. Nor is this old church, founded by Constantine, in the fifth cen

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tury, less remarkable than Santa Maria Maggiore, for its relics. With all the faith of true believers, and with as much reverence as we could command, we looked at the very table on which the last supper was eaten by Christ, and his Apostles. The sacred relic, framed and covered with glass, is concealed from the gaze of vulgar eyes, within an apartment, specially appropriated to its preservation. By the light of a torch, attended by a deacon, and with our heads uncovered, we gazed at the wormeaten leaf, and then looked at those around, full of faith. But sacred as is this relic, it falls short of the interest created by the Holy Steps, the Scala Sancta, contained in the building adjoining the church; the very steps that Christ descended as he left the judgment seat of Pilate. Penitents on bended knees, are alone permitted to mount these holy vestiges, and as we saw the poor, illiterate, faithful followers, working their way up the miraculous stairway, we could not help hoping that faith so strong, might meet with its reward. It was Sunday, and the flight was crowded. We went up, by the adjoining flight, to look in at the room, said to contain the likeness of the Saviour, at twelve years of age, by St. Luke. It is called the Sanctum Sanctorum, and is only entered by the Pope and the Cardinals. Above the altar, is written "Non est in toto sanctior orbe locus." Credulity has been the fountain of religion, from the earliest days to the present hour! The altar sacrifices and holy of holies

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