A VAST CATHEDRAL

Bruce Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3016, 29 November 1898, Page 4

A VAST CATHEDRAL

The teiittal catbedral of Christendom is so t-iiormous th&t many who gaze on it For the fli»t iime did not even notic-e that' bug&ly lettered papal Dime. The building is no far befond any ftiniliar piopoi tions that at first eight all de;&ils are lest upon its broad front. The mind and judgment are dazed and staggered. The earth shouk] not be able to bc*r. . Mich- weight upou it* crust without cr«ck;ng sad bending like an overloaded tabl<\ On each side the r-,olonnsd<?s rua curving- oafc like giant arms, always open to receive the nations that go up there to vrortthip. Toe dome broods over all, like a giant's head motionless iv mediation. It Deeds Qfby thousand persons to make & eiowd iv St. Peters. It is believed that a( least tbßt number have been protect in tiu; church several times wilhin modern memory ;•' but it is thought that the buildiog would hold •-ight-y thousand, as meny as could be seated on the tiors in the Colosseim. ■ ISuch a eanoourse was there at the <>|>eniDg of the CEounif nicfel Council m December, 1869, and at the two jubiltts celebrated by Lxo Kill. ; aad ou all thre< occasions there was ploaty ol room La lha aislts besides the broad spaces which we«s required for the fuuclioiiß themselves. Everything in fcho piece is vaet ; all the statute are colossal, all the pictures enormous, Ihb ecunllesl detail of the ornamentation would dw&rf auy otber bujliting ia Ufae world, &n-i ccywht'ie the even the ohnpels would be churohea. The «yo slrtiina at everytuing, sud al (I rat (ho mind in shocked oat; oX its power ol compaiieoD. But the strangßßt, most extcuvaguat.niost, 11;---ctimpieheiisible, amui disturbing bi+^ht of all i^ to be scon trom the upper gallery iv the cupola looking down, to the cLorch below. Hauging ia mid-air, with uothiug uuder one's fuel, ol e sees the ohuroh projected in perspective within & huge circle. It is as though one caw it upoiJ, down and iuaide out. Few rue^i could bear to stauJ there without that bit of iron railing between them and the hideous fall, aad the inevitable alight dizziness which the strength t head ftols may maku out) doubt for a momei.t whether what is rettlly the 9uor bulow may not \jh iv reality a ceiling above, aud whether oue'e secße of gravitation be notinvsrted in au extraor:inaij drtum. At ttat distance bumes beings "look uv bi fc ger thBU fiie«, iwid the canopy of tl.e l.igh altar might be mi ordinal y table. And thence, climbing up between tfas doubltdomes, om- may icnurge from tue a'most ternfk liersp.c'ive to the open air, and su'lucnly set r.\\ H.ouM- at ouh'p foot, and bII the Roman isouutsius stretched out to south and east, ii: psi-fect uracfl of restful outline, shoulder to sliouldi-r, ■ lvii sbadowv women lying si la by si.?e, bimj i Lioldiug h&Ddij. — F. Marion Crawfortl, iv the ' " C< uturv Magazine." ■■■■?, '■ *