THE CHURCH OF THE THREE FOUNTAINS. 177 some of the Roman churches, to produce in evidence the Epistle he had sent them four years before, in which he had urged upon the Christians there to pay taxes, be subject to the higher powers, and “render honour to whom honour was due." Although there is no direct proof of it from Scripture, incidental remarks lead us to believe that Nero dismissed Paul on the first occasion. Six years after he was again tried, and condemned to death, but by that time he had been to Spain, and, perhaps, even to Britain. Another St. Paul's-St. Paolo alle Tre Fontane-or the church of the three fountains, is a little further on, and on our way to it we pass a small church in which is a stone with an impression of the Saviour's foot. We are interested in seeing the second St. Paul's. According to the excellent volume of Dr. Macduff, it is really probable that St. Paul was beheaded here. The three fountains inside are shewn us, and we drink cool water from one, drinking in, if we can, the story that when he was decapitated on yon short pillar, his head made three bounds, and the three wells sprang up. Among the few other churches into which I was able to enter was that of St. Peter in Vinculi, or St. Peter in Chains, not very far from the Forum, on the Equiline. It has a far back pedigree, but no feature of interest except the so-called fetters of St. Peter, which I did not see, and Angelo's "Moses," which I did see, and immensely disliked. It is a statue of Neptune with flowing beard, and horns, like those the false prophet used when deceiving the kings. As the "Neptune" in the Vatican, it would be grand. As "Moses" it is a misnomer. This "Moses" was the work, more or less, of forty years. It has grandeur, but not the grandeur N of the lawgiver. It is Neptune feeling that he has storms at his disposal. His hand is in his great beard; and his nostrils are wide open, as if ready for another dive. His shoulders, his countenance, his contracted brow, the muscles of his arms-all bespeak "Moses " as the first among the works of sculptors called modern. We felt all this. But while it would pass for Neptune, or even the shaggy sculptor himself, it is not the figure of Moses, the "meekest man on earth.” Had the group of which it was to form the centre figure been finished, it might have been less open to criticism. I scarce dare conclude without one word about the Basilica, or Church of the Lateran. It stands in a prominent place, dates its rise from Constantine, and its chapter takes precedence even of that of St. Peter It has many statues outside, and inside there are medallions everywhere. One of the chapels is superbly grand. Gems have been lavished on its decoration far beyond that of any other chapel. Under the high altar is a gorgeous tabernacle to hold the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul. In another part is the table on which the Last Supper was served. In this church the Pope officiates on high days, and the heads of the Apostles are exposed to the faithful. St. John Lateran has many facts connected with its history. Here have sat bishops from all parts of the world at five General Councils, and here the Waldenses were condemned. In the cloisters are many wonders which we cannot see, such as two columns of Pilate's house, and a column from the Temple at Jerusalem, when the vail was rent; the cradle of the Saviour, some pieces of the barley loaves, part of the purple robe put on Christ, the reed with which He was smitten, part of His seamless vest; drops of His blood in a phial; some of THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN LATERAN. 179 the water that flowed from His side; part of the sponge that was dipped with vinegar; a piece of the sepulchre in which the angel sat; the porphyry pillar on which the cock stood and crowed, after Peter's denial of his Master; a lock of the Virgin's hair, and a piece of her petticoat; the rods of Moses and Aaron, and parts of the Ark of the Covenant. But we do see the Scala Santa, or 28 marble steps, which belonged to Pilate's house. They are under a portico on the north side of the church, and many visitors are here. We see such, some pious, some frolicsome, mounting the stair, step by step, on their knees. On each step they say, or read, a short prayer, all the 28 of which we purchase, and with none of them can we find much fault. But why use the steps of such a world-renowned rascal as Pilate? We buy a photograph of them from a priest in charge, and retire. Of the Church of the Capuchins, with its piles of priests' bones, placed in ludicrous fashion, I will not stay to speak further than that there are arches of bones, pyramids of skulls, and friezes of vertebræ and toe nails. Every man to his taste. I saw enough to disgust me. Of various other churches I had but a peep. What I saw of the Vatican and Capitoline Museum I have yet to write; then of the Catacombs and the printing office of the Propaganda, and I shall have done. But they deserve a separate letter. LETTER XXXIII. THE VATICAN PICTURES; SISTINE CHAPEL; AND "THE LAST JUDGMENT." ROME, April 16th.-I have been seeing statuary and pictures every day, but preferred to speak of them in one epistle. Now I find that the name of those deserving notice is Legion; but they must be reduced to a score. I know that there are the " Transfiguration," the "Dying Gladiator," the "Laocoon," the "Venus of the Capitol," the "Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel," and the "Apollo Belvidere," of which you expect me to write. The fame of these is world-wide. In the Vatican are the best pictures out of Florence. It is the home of the Pope, a vast building erected on the site of Nero's gardens-the very place where he sat playing his lyre and singing the Destruction of Troy, while Rome was burning. These are the gardens which he opened to the homeless Roman crowds, turning the Christians into torches. Hear what Tacitus says:"Nero to divert a suspicion, which the power of despotism was unable to suppress, resolved to substitute in his own place some fictitious criminals. With this view he inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those men who, under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already branded with deserved infamy. THE SITE OF THE VATICAN. 181 They derived their name and origin from Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had suffered death, by the sentence of Pontius Pilate. For a while this dire superstition was checked; but it again burst forth; and not only spread itself over Judea, the first seat of this mischievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the common asylum which receives and protects whatever is impure, whatever is atrocious. The confessions of those who were seized discovered a great multitude of their accomplices, and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting fire to the city as for their hatred of mankind. They died in torments, and their torments were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses; others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the fury of dogs. Others again, smeared over with combustibles, were used as torches to illuminate the darkness of night. The gardens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied with a horserace, and honoured with the presence of the Emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress of a charioteer. The guilt of the Christians deserved the most exemplary punishment, but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration from the opinion that these unhappy wretches were sacrificed not so much to the public welfare, as to the cruelty of a jealous tyrant." So much for the site of the Vatican, which I ought to have said at first joins up to St. Peter's, so that the latter has but one front. It is a building really huge, with no architecture worth noticing, except a grand staircase. It dates back to 1280, and has been changed and re-changed, added to and diminished, and now contains, it is asserted, 6,000 halls, chapels, and other apartments, and measures 1,500 feet long by 767 wide. |