company followed his example.

CHAPTER XIX.

ST. PETER'S!--THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FAT MAN IN THE BALL.--HOW
ANOTHER TRAGEDY NEARLY HAPPENED.--THE WOES OF MEINHERR SCHATT.

Two stately fountains, a colonnade which in spite of faults possesses
unequalled majesty, a vast piazza, enclosing many acres, in whose
immense area puny man dwindles to a dwarf, and in the distance the
unapproachable glories of the greatest of earthly temples--such is the
first view of St. Peter's.

Our party of friends entered the lordly vestibule, and lifting the
heavy mat that hung over the door-way they passed through. There came
a soft air laden with the odor of incense; and strains of music from
one of the side chapels came echoing dreamily down one of the side
aisles. A glare of sunlight flashed in on polished marbles of a
thousand colors that covered pillars, walls, and pavement. The vaulted
ceiling blazed with gold. People strolled to and fro without any
apparent object. They seemed to be promenading. In different places
some peasant women were kneeling.

They walked up the nave. The size of the immense edifice increased
with every step. Arriving under the dome they stood looking up with
boundless astonishment.

They walked round and round. They saw statues which were masterpieces
of genius; sculptures that glowed with immortal beauty; pictures which
had consumed a life-time as they grew up beneath the patient toil of
the mosaic worker. There were altars containing gems equal to a
king's ransom; curious pillars that came down from immemorial ages;
lamps that burn forever.

"This," said the Senator, "is about the first place that has really
come up to my idee of foreign parts. In fact it goes clean beyond it.
I acknowledge its superiority to any thing that America can produce.
But what's the good of it all? If this Government really cared for
the good of the people it would sell out the hull concern, and devote
the proceeds to railways and factories. Then Italy would go ahead as
Providence intended."

"My dear Sir, the people of this country would rise and annihilate
any Government that dared to touch it."

"Shows how debased they have grown. There's no utility in all this.
There couldn't be any really good Gospel preaching here.

"Different people require different modes of worship," said Buttons,
sententiously.

"But it's immense," said the Senator, as they stood at the furthest
end and looked toward the entrance.