aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

384 AROUND THE WORLD.
two civilizations. Studying the wisdom of the ancients
compels us to recognize the spiritual unity of the race, that
grand central truth around which the moral world revolves.
ITALIAN CHURCHES.
The real pride of Italy is her relics and churches. They
These
are certainly rich in the artistic work of the masters.
paintings excite the most lively feelings of taste and fancy,
as well as intensify reflections of a deeper nature, connected
with the illustrious of past centuries. Still for devotional
purposes they do not compete with the
Gothic structures of
Northern Europe. Churches exhibit national character.
Floods of sunbeams through stained glass, mosaic pavements,
variegated pillars, costly ornaments, priestly robes, smoking
incense, airs thatbreathe of gayety, and
" Light quirks of music, broken and uneven,
That waft the soul upon a jig to heaven," —
are among the indispensables of joyous, impressional Italians.
Italy's church-edifices to-day are absolutely magnificent ;
with the decline of Roman-Catholicism, and the
but
increase of
knowledge, they will gradually assume the Protestant type,
ultimating into elegant places of resort for educational purposes
and scientific lectures.
ROME.
And this is Rome, — proud, seven-hilled Rome !
The principal
street is Corso. To the left of the Pincian Hill is the
Tiber, rolling along its muddy tide as in old historic periods.
Not far from its banks is the column of Trajan, and also that
of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus one hundred and twenty-two
feet high, and crowned with a statue of St. Paul; while
there rises the dome of the Pantheon, and the cupolas and
towers of costly churches. On the other bank of the Tiber,
just over the bridge, is the massive tower of Hadrian's Mausoleum,
or Castle of St. Angelo ; and, beyond, the grand old