with groups
representing characters of ancient mythology, as is the case with nearly
all the fountains of Europe and America, even unto this day, and the half
a dozen or more obelisks of Rome are likewise monuments of the heathen
origin of modern civilization. These, it seems, were first erected and
dedicated to the sun, as we may infer from the fact that globes
representing the sun surmount them. Since the introduction of the
Christian religion, a figure of St. Peter with the cross is placed upon
some of them. Hence, the development of religious ideas stands
chronologically thus: First, Sun-worship and afterwards the elevation of
St. Peter, and of the Cross. Judging from what we see on ancient monuments
and in the churches, it is perhaps a fair question, whether St. Peter, the
Virgin and other saints were not at one time quite as much the' object of
worship, as Christ himself?

St. Peter's.

"St. Peter's stands on the site of the circus of Nero, where many
Christians were martyred and where St. Peter is said to have been buried
after his crucifixion." An oratory (chapel?) stood here as early as A.D.
90. In 309 a basilica, half the size of what St. Peter's now is, was begun
by Constantine. It was the grandest church of that time. "The crypt is
now the only remnant of this early basilica." The building of the present
edifice was commenced in 1506 by Julius II. Michael Angelo worked 17 years
at it (to 1564). It was completed and "consecrated by Pope Urban VIII., on
18th November, 1626, on the 1300th anniversary of the day on which St.
Silvester is said to have consecrated the original edifice."

This church contains 29 altars, besides the high altar. "Its area is
212,321 sq. ft., while that of the cathedral of Milan is 117,678, St.
Paul's at London 108,982, St. Sophia at Constantinople 96,497, and the
Cathedral of Cologne 73,903 sq. ft." The nave is 87 feet wide and 150 feet
high, and the dome is 138 feet in diameter (5 feet less than that of the
Pantheon) and some 450 feet high. One might fill a volume in describing
its rich marble pavement, its 148 massive columns, its gilded chapels and
ceiling, its fine sculpture, and the thousand and one objects in and about
it that render it the most imposing as well as the largest church in the
world. Imagine yourself in the middle of a church occupying over five
acres, whose High Altar stands under a brass canopy 95 feet high, and
weighing 93 tons, and whose _Confessio_ i