ing to enforce a belief in his own divinity." Other almost endless ruins, equally interesting, are described in the guide-books; but our stay was too short to allow of extended descriptions of our own, and what we have presented may afford a general idea of the whole.

From the site of these ruins we saw the Tarpeian Rock, not far off, by the Tiber. It is now only some eighty feet in height; but in the time of the Cæsars its height is said to have been one hundred and eighty feet. Immediately at the foot of Palatine Hill stands the Temple of Vesta, which appears to be in quite a good state of preservation. We did not enter it. On the opposite side of the street from the Palace of the Cæsars are the wonderful ruins of the Basilica, or House of Constantine. Some of the walls, still standing, of this edifice are seventy-eight feet high, with an arched span of eighty feet. From these ruins we passed to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum near by. One thing which struck us as remarkable is the enormous size of the Coliseum, covering six acres, and the vast extent of the Roman Forum and other ruins. One can get no correct conception of their dimensions from photographs. Under the walls of the Coliseum there are canals, by which the water from the Tiber is brought into the area. Some of our party went to see the Coliseum by moonlight-a good way to get the Roman fever but they only followed in the footsteps of Lord Byron:

"I do remember me, that in my youth,

When I was wandering- upon such a night
I stood within the Coliseum's wall,
'Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome;

The trees which grew along the broken arches,

Waved dark in the blue midnight, and the stars
Shone through the rents of ruin; from afar
The watch - dog bay'd beyond the Tiber; and
More near from out the Cæsar's Palace came
The owl's long cry, and, interruptedly,

Of distant sentinels the fitful song

Begun and died upon the gentle wind."

The work of excavation in the Roman Forum is still going on. "The level of the ancient soil is twenty-four feet below that of to-day." The ruins already exposed fill a very large space. The remains of walls and broken pillars show, to some extent, the shape and size of different halls and apartments on the ground floor. A few of the pillars and architraves, as seen in the photographs and engravings, rise high above the surrounding ruins, but look as if almost ready to fall. The street pavements, worn smooth by footsteps and carriage wheels before the time of Caligula, are of irregular cobble stones, some of them a foot or more in extent. We spent hours wandering over and through these wonderful and intensely interesting ruins. The Trajan Forum, with its famous historical column, where similar excavations have been made, is likewise a place of great interest.

CHAPTER XLIX.

ROME, DECEMBER 27.-Christmas forenoon we

drove to St. Peter's, expecting to see and hear something more than usually interesting, but were disappointed. There were services in which we understood one of the Cardinals represented the Pope, who, before he became a "prisoner," used to officiate in person on Christmas day. These services included high mass, in which there was good singing, but no better than we heard here on Sunday. From St. Peter's we went to the American Union Chapel, where we heard another excellent sermon from Rev. Mr. Langmuir, who took for his text the injunction, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," etc. In the afternoon we were present at the dedication of a Protestant Church for Italians, the first of the kind in Rome for the Italians since the days of the Apostles. It is to be under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Vernon, a Methodist clergyman from Richmond, Virginia, who is to be assisted by an Italian preacher. Dr. Vernon made some remarks touching the cost of the building and the advantage of having a regular house of worship, erected for the purpose, as he said the Roman Catholic priests represent to their ignorant followers that holding religious services in any other house is no worship at all. Rev. Mr. Taylor, another American missionary here, made the principal address, and was followed by some observations from Rev. J. W. Parker, of Washington, and Rev. C. E. Sumner, of Chicago. The Roman Catholic priests, we are told, call the northern Italian invaders "Lombards," and confident of seeing them one day expelled, they tell

their friends that when the "Lombards" are driven out, they will turn all the Protestant meeting houses into stables. Sunday afternoon we again witnessed the display of the aristocracy on Pincian Hill, but did not have the good luck to see the King, who was out for an airing with the rest. It was a beautiful afternoon, and the terraced streets, walks, and plateau swarmed with horses, carriages, and people, all to the music of the band.

On the morning of the 27th, in company with Dr. Parker and party, we engaged a carriage by the hour and were conveyed through St. Paul's Gate, about two miles beyond the city walls to the celebrated Church of St. Paul, erected to commemorate St. Paul's martyrdom, which took place on or near the spot where the church stands, and where it is said he was buried. It was founded in the year 380. Previously the small Church of Constantine occupied the same site. St. Paul's was improved from time to time until 1823, when it was almost entirely destroyed by fire. In point of magnificence and richness it is represented to have been one of the most beautiful churches extant. The work of restoration was immediately commenced, and though not yet completed, the interior in some respects equals St. Peter's in grandeur of appearance. The nave is three hundred and six feet in length and two hundred and twenty-two feet in width, with four ranges of polished granite columns, brought from the Simplon, near Lake Maggiore. These pillars, both in respect to size and length, we think are equal to those of the south and west fronts of our Treasury. There are other splendid columns of alabaster, said to have been presented by the Viceroy of Egypt, and large pedestals of malachite, presented by the