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CONVERSION OF A HIGH PRIEST INTO A CHRISTIAN WORKER
Edited and Presented by
REV. M. GOLDEN
Second Edition
[Illustration: FARMHOUSE, WHERE REV. M. GOLDEN WROTE HIS CONVERSION]
[Illustration: GREEK-AMERIKAN-CHRISTIAN-ASSOCIATION]
New York
1912
Copyright Office of the United States of America
Library of Congress--Washington, D. C.
In conformity with section 55 of the Act to Amend and Consolidate the
Acts respecting Copyright, approved March 4, 1909, said book has been
duly registered to the name of Rev. M. Golden, of Rutland, Mass.
Entry: Class A, XXc., No. 251121, Oct. 29, 1909.
Copyright, 1910, by REV. MELETIOS GOLDEN.
Entry: Class A, XXc, No. 275323, Nov. 10, 1910.
The Trow Press
New York
TO
My own loving father, who did sow the seed of a brave Christianity in my
young heart, while only eight years of age, calling me by his death-bed,
on my knees, with his right hand resting upon my head, in his last words
to me, saying:
"My boy, I leave you; God will be your Father, and Jesus His Son your
Saviour; keep away from unholy associates, and heed not unlawful advice,
but work for righteousness and help those that are in need; and we shall
meet again." And his spirit went into eternity; to which destination I
direct all my efforts in life.
This Book is dedicated by a grateful son,
REV. MELETIOS GOLDEN.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. FAREWELL 17
II. ARRIVAL 36
III. FIRST DAY IN NEW YORK 49
IV. HIGH PRIEST 57
V. PHILOSOPHY VS. CHRISTIANITY 66
VI. GOD'S PROVIDENCE 76
VII. NEW YORK TO CALIFORNIA 92
VIII. HONORABLE SUBMISSION 104
IX. PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF PRACTICAL TRUTH 114
X. GREEK-AMERIKAN-CHRISTIAN-ASSOCIATION 133
XI. CONCLUSION 151
ILLUSTRATIONS
Farmhouse _Frontispiece_
Rev. M. Golden in Street Attire as High Priest 36
The World's Wonder, Acropolis of Athens, Greece 52
H. R. H. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn,
K. G., etc. 68
Rev. M. Golden, the High Priest in Church Ceremonial
Attire 84
Rev. M. Golden, Captain of the Salvation Army 100
Rev. M. Golden, the founder of the
Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Association 126
Greek Peasant Woman 132
Conversion of a High Priest into a
Practical Christian Worker
SECOND EDITION
_Edited and Presented by_
Rev. MELETIOS GOLDEN
_Founder of the Greek-Amerikan-Christian-Association._
_HIGH PRIEST OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH._
_Grand Representative of the St. Stephen's Monastery,
Mt. Athos, Turkey._
_Archimandrides of the Virgin Mary's Monastery, Salamis and
Athens, Greece._
_Lieutenant, Officer, in the Royal Gendarmery of Greece._
_Grand Chaplain and Orator of the Supreme Council of the A. A.
Scottish Rite, Greece._
_Captain of the Salvation Army, U. S. A._
_Member of the Massachusetts Consistory S. P. R. S., Thirty-second
Degree, Boston, Mass._
_Evangelist to the Greeks in the United States, etc., etc._
_New York._
1912.
PREFACE
In placing this second edition in the hands of my readers I most
gratefully acknowledge the splendid assistance of my subscribers, and
the kindness with which this book has been received by the General
Public, who made it possible for me to accomplish my intended purpose,
ever since I left home, that I should give, to the general public, an
account of my conversion into a practical Christian worker, knowing that
there are a great number of intelligent minds, among the priests, in the
Greek-Russian and Roman Catholic churches, who would make good soldiers
of Jesus Christ, and some of them might develop into heroes of Truth and
Righteousness, if they could only deny themselves of the luxuries and
lofty life attached to their priesthood. And this problem of selfishness
is an absolute barrier not only to their own Salvation, but to many a
soul, who might have been saved from sin, and be converted to God, and
usefulness, but for the Priest.
The solution of the problem was the clue which aided me to escape from
the labyrinth of doubt; and now, standing upon the rock of unshaken
faith, I offer the clue that guided me to others.
A work of this kind is called for by the spirit of the age. Although the
signs of the times are said to be propitious, yet there are constant
developments of undisciplined and unsanctified minds both in Europe and
America, which furnish matter of regret to the philanthropist and the
Christian; and though there are great controversies--going on at
present; in relation to the man's spiritual interests, central point of
all this heated contest has been the "Cross of Christ:" yet the most
obnoxious obstacle in the way of progress as to the realization of
"God's Kingdom on earth" it is, and from all quarters the same
exclamation uttered, the priest.
Men and women entrusted with responsibilities of raising children in the
Christ-like way, for the future development of this great country, will
find valuable facts in this volume, which I have endeavored to write, in
order to meet the exigencies among, not only certain people, but among
many well-bred and well-cultured priests.
In criticising this work, the intelligent reader is respectfully
requested to take into account the peculiar circumstances under which
this book is written.
I was only six years old--in the English language--many miles away from
any literary assistance, and fifty miles from the Boston Public Library,
where I could derive many testimonies and opinions of undisputable
authorities to strengthen my religious opinions and actions, which are
tested in the most practical way by all conditions and under all
circumstances, from the ostentatious pomp of a high priest to a loving,
lowly worker in the slums of Chicago.
The place, where this book is written, is a farm situated in the
picturesque county of Worcester, and it might rightfully have attributed
to the effect of the inspiring natural surroundings in this farm that I
was enabled to master my views in framing them according to the
linguistic requirements of the American reader, using the every day
language for the historical part of my subject; and maintaining the more
classical expression for the men with the tendencies to argue, just to
make a show of their higher knowledge, thus trying to excuse themselves
for not submitting all their powers to the Will of God.
It has been said, all misery comes to the human race mainly from two
causes; firstly, through misconduct: and secondly, through misfortune:
therefore; since there is the self-evident truth, in the axiom, that,
when the cause is diagnosed, the remedy is near at hand, let us work
unitedly to remove the cause of all misery, be it in the Greek people,
or Jewish, or Gentiles, and by the light of the Gospel's truth, let us
put forth all our efforts, while here on earth, in establishing
happiness and good will to all men.
REV. MELETIOS GOLDEN.
NORTH RUTLAND, Mass., 1910.
CHAPTER I
_Farewell_
It was the year 1903, on a very beautiful day, one of those April days,
that are well known and appreciated by those who have been fortunate
enough to travel around the purple bathed Mediterranean coast, that his
royal highness, the prince of Greece, Andreas, went abroad to meet his
sweetheart, who afterwards became his wife and princess of Greece. It
was a confidential royal talk, the betrothal of Prince Andreas, but for
the newspaper man, who learns everything, and he can keep a confidential
talk as much as Mrs. Green did when she promised to her husband to keep
all to herself that confidential talk they had one night, and the first
thing in the morning speaking to Mrs. Jones over the fence she
confidentially delivered that confidential talk and in the same manner
all over fences and telephones, wherever they were procurable, to save
the time, the talk went round the town and came back to Mr. Green's
ears, and he only blamed himself for being the fool to trust his wife.
So, when Prince Andreas, came down to Piraeus, the seaport of Athens, to
board on the fashionable French S. S. Messengerie-Maritime, he was
surprised by the throngs of people that gathered at the pier to greet
him "good luck" in his royal love affairs, because the Greeks pay more
attention to the royal love affairs, than they do in paying their
royalties to fatten more highness and highnesses than any other Kingdom
on the face of the earth.
The Kingdom of Greece, little more than two millions of people, pay to
King George, for his annual allowances six times as much as the ninety
millions of people to the President of the United States. And every
creature of royal blood, in Greece, draws as high an allowance, as
nearer to the throne his or her rights happen to be. Besides, many
thousands of acres of the best land in Greece, is granted to the members
of the royal family; thus causing the immense emigration of all these
Greeks, whom you meet in every corner, in the United States, trying to
make an honest living, by shining your shoes, or working in the
construction of railroads in America and Mexico.
The Greek, though born and raised among the most beautiful vineyards
that made the historical and famous Nectar for the Gods, yet when he
leaves his home to go abroad, he takes his last glass of intoxicant,
till he settles himself, in a new adopted motherland, and makes a
comfortable home for the queen of his heart, because home life is the
ideal of every Greek and he is a model as head of the family, in his
moderate means trying to raise children to his generation and give them
the best he can afford. Hopeful, that some Socrates or Demosthenes might
develop out of his offspring. The Greek has never been identified with
any unlawful or criminal movement of the so-called Anarchistic or
Socialistic. The Greek at all times and under all circumstances is an
example as a law-abiding citizen.
Greek history is the pride of all the civilized world, and in the
opinion of a most distinguished sociologist, the United States is the
Greece of this age, and he thinks that it is the irresistible law of
gravitation and sympathy that the tide of emigration draws the Greeks
from the ancient Greece into this new and glorious Greece. And the
writer was very little surprised when told that Boston is the Hub of
America, or in the language of the Archaeologist, the Athens of the
United States, and there and then he made his resolution to make his
home in Boston, should he ever find the way clear to come to America.
The joyful dream of his life has become reality, and for the last six
years from his personal observations traveling a little more, perhaps,
than the average American traveler, from Atlantic Ocean to Pacific
Coast, he is privileged to know that the spirit of the Ancient Greece is
not only confined in the Hub, but, hospitality and the love of art and
beauty prevails in the very heart of every true American man and woman,
even in the remotest village and hamlet, and he has yet to know the time
or the place where he did not feel perfectly at home. Therefore, there
is no regret on his part for bidding farewell to the land of the Gods
and the city which had been the birthplace of taste, of art and beauty
and eloquence. The chosen sanctuary of the Muses. The prototype of all
that is graceful and dignified and grand in sentiment and action.
History and philosophy, oratory and the elements of mathematical science
claim as their birthplace the city of Athens, where Paul, the greatest
apostle of Jesus Christ, uttered his immortal oration to the Athenians,
on the Areopagus (Mars Hill). And he, dignified, temperate, high-minded
and learned in all wisdom, of his age, Paul, confessed that he was
standing in the midst of the highest civilization, both of his own age
and of the ages that had elapsed.
Paul, with his face towards the north having immediately behind him the
long walls which ran down to the sea, affording protection against a
foreign enemy. Near the sea on the one side the harbor of Piraeus, on
the other that designated Phalerum, with crowded arsenals, their busy
workmen and their gallant ships. Not far off in the ocean the Island of
Salamis, ennobled forever in history as the spot near which Athenian
valour chastised Asiatic pride, and achieved the liberty of Greece. The
Apostle turning towards his right hand to catch a view of a small but
celebrated hill rising within the city near that on which he stood,
called the Pnyx, where standing on a block of bare stone, Demosthenes
and other distinguished orators had addressed the assembled people of
Athens, swaying that arrogant and fickle democracy, and thereby making
Philip of Macedon tremble, or working good or ill for the entire
civilized world. Immediately before him looking upon the crowded city,
studded in every part with memorials sacred to religion or patriotism,
and exhibiting the highest achievements of art. On his left, somewhat
beyond the walls, the Academy, with its groves of plane and olive-trees,
its retired walks and cooling fountains, its altar to the Muses, its
statues of the Graces, its Temple of Minerva, and its altars to
Prometheus, to Love, and Hercules, near which Plato had his country
seat, and in the midst of which he had taught as well his followers
after him. But the most impressive spectacle laying on his right hand,
that small and precipitous hill "The Acropolis" where clustered together
monuments of the highest art, and memorials of the national religion,
such as no other equal spot of ground has ever borne. The Apostle's
eyes, in turning to the right, would fall on the north-west side of the
eminence, which was here and all round, covered and protected by a wall,
parts of which were so ancient as to be of Cyclopean origin. The western
side, which alone gave access to what, from its original destination,
may be termed the fort, was, during the administration of Pericles,
adorned with a splendid flight of steps, and the beautiful Propylaea,
with its five entrances and two flanking temples, constructed by
Mnesicles of Pentelican marble at a cost of 2012 talents, which is the
equivalent of about four millions of American dollars. In the time of
the Roman emperors there stood before the Propylaea, equestrian statues
of Augustus and Agrippa. On the southern wing of the Propylaea was a
temple to the Wingless Victory; on the northern, a Pinacotheca, or
picture gallery. On the highest part of the platform of the Acropolis,
not more than 300 feet from the entrance-buildings just described, stood
and yet stands, though shattered and mutilated, The Parthenon, justly
celebrated throughout the world, erected of white Pentelican marble,
under the direction of Callicrates, Ictinus and Carpion and adorned with
the finest sculptures from the hand of Phidias.
Northward from the Parthenon was the Erechtheum, a compound building
which contained the temple of Minerva Polias; the proper Erechtheum,
called also the Cecropium, and the Pandroseum. This sanctuary contained
the holy olive tree sacred to Minerva, the holy salt-spring, the ancient
wooden image of Pallas, etc., and was the scene of the oldest and most
venerated ceremonies and recollections of the Athenians. Perhaps, for
this reason, King George of Greece, in celebrating his 25th anniversary
on the Throne, he gave upon this rock of Acropolis, that remarkable
banquet to all crowned visitors, 175 in number from every royal family
of Europe. At this memorable event, the writer held the office of "man
at arms" on the Acropolis, although he was the youngest officer in the
Royal Gendarmery of Greece, at the time.
Between the Propylaea and the Erechtheum was placed the colossal bronze
statue of Pallas-Promachos, the work of Phidias, which towered so high
above the other buildings, that the plume of her helmet and the point of
her spear were visible on the sea between Sunium and Athens. Moreover,
the Acropolis was occupied by so great a crowd of statues and monuments,
that the account, as found in Pausanias, excites the reader's wonder,
and makes it difficult for him to understand how so much could have
been crowded into a space which extended from the southeast only 1150
feet, whilst its greatest breadth did not exceed 500 feet.
On the hill itself where Paul stood, was the temple of Furies, and in
the court house of Areopagus, there was the altar to Athene Areia.
In all historical probability, Paul, stood exactly on this place when,
"=to the unknown God=" as his text, he delivered the understanding of "The
True and Living God," who made the world and all things therein, and he
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth.
The writer, consequently, in bidding farewell to his beloved Athens, he
knew that he was going as a brother among members of the same family of
humanity in a land where man is free to worship God, not in hypocrisy
and deceit, but in Spirit and in truth.
On the same beautiful April day that Prince Andreas was going abroad,
the writer went aboard on the same S. S. Messengerie-Maritime, unaware
of H. R. H.'s presence there, notified only at the last moment by the
agent of the company, Mr. Christopher of Piraeus, who was on board
himself going to Italy on a business trip. Mr. Christopher, by being a
member of the same fellowcraft in which the writer was the Grand
Chaplain, he took pains to secure a very comfortable stateroom for his
brother Chaplain.
Now I was following Mr. Christopher and an officer of the S. S. to
locate myself in the suite provided for me, and as we were obliged to
pass through the reception hall there I found myself face to face with
the King George, and the following dialogue occurs.
King--Where are you going, Father?
I--On a recreation trip, Your Majesty. (I should have said, on a
reformation trip.)
King--I hope you will have a bon voyage.
I--Your Majesty's wish, God grant it to be so, and I pray that His
Favour shall crown with joy, all the desires of H. R. H.'s, the Prince,
in his journey.
King--With your prayers, Father, I believe H. R. H. will be well
successful.
And with one of his well known diplomatic smiles that contain manifold
meanings, King George bid us farewell, and in a few moments the big
whistle blew and a gentle vibration of the boat gave the notice that we
were on the move. I went into my cabin and looking through the hole that
was doing duty of a round window, I beheld the monument of Themistocles
passing slowly, and when I could see that no more, I felt something
melting in my heart and over-flowingly coming up into my eyes in the
shape of two drops of burning water. I took them on the tips of my
fingers and after kissing them with all the tenderness of a loving
heart, I sprinkled them into the apeiron, farewell to my loved ones left
behind me, while the big S. S. in full steam was now carrying me faster
and faster into the unknown and uncertain.
I did not leave my cabin and there took my meals for two reasons; first,
H. R. H. expressed the wish to take his meals at the regular
first-class dining table, with all the mortals therein, and I had little
desire to meet him anyway; and second because I wanted to be alone to
indulge undisturbed in my thoughts and study them and keep notes of them
for my future use.
The history tells us that it took thirty years for the greatest
philosopher that was ever born to give his definite opinion as to the
immortality of the soul. And if a philosopher like Socrates, after
thirty years of constant study, he knew one thing, that he knew nothing,
it is absurd to dare say that we shall ever know more than Socrates did,
and in regard to the most perplexed problem of the human soul we can
only rejoice in the fact that we are placed in a more advanced position
above Socrates, that we can look upon these problems with more light,
and that is the light that comes from Galilee.
Alone as I was in my cabin I thought of Socrates, I thought of
Confucius, of Buddha, and in fact I thought of the many ancient and
modern leaders of great movements, and of new thoughts, my admiration is
insistent to everything that is noble and pure in sentiment and praxis,
but there is only one leader, whom my spirit admires the best and I
worship him with love and devotion, the man who gave his life for me. I
knew I was free through his death and I was happy. The Hierarchical
church was opposing me unreasonably; my own dearest and nearest
relatives did not understand me, their strongest argument being, how
could I sacrifice such a high office and deny a promising greater
future and still be in my right mind?
Not being satisfied in my own heart, much less convinced in my mind, I
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in order to find out whether Jesus was
the only Saviour of mankind without the necessity of a priest. It was
then and there, while kneeling on my knees upon that rock of Golgotha
that came to me with startling force and clearness that I must be a
follower of Jesus Christ and not a representative. All men may live on
the Christ-like way and be happy, but the man who dares personify
himself with the authorities belonging only to Jesus, that man must be a
faker; "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends" and I knew Jesus was my friend, the only friend left to
me, while every other friend had forsaken me. In that little cabin I
felt his companionship, and looking at the clock on the dresser I beheld
in the mirror a pleasant face smiling at me. The hour was nearly
midnight and I retired, singing "He promised never to leave me alone."
The voyage from Piraeus to Naples is said to be the best and grandest in
Mediterranean, and in company of a royal fellow traveller might have
been interesting even to the most eccentric Yankee, but to me it was a
monotonous event, and the second evening while I was walking for some
exercise on the deck, H. R. H. came up to me graciously expressing his
regrets for not seeing me at the table, and inquiring if I was not
feeling well, but he soon noticed my laconical way in excusing my
absence, and he withdrew, leaving me alone in my admiration of a grand
view on a moonlighted nature in the Mediterranean. And the only thought
occupying my mind was; how soon could I get to America? For this reason
perhaps, I decided to take steamship for New York at Naples, Italy,
instead of going to Marseilles, chief seaport of France on the
Mediterranean, thus forfeiting my rights on S. S. Messengerie-Maritime,
that had been paid from Piraeus to Marseilles.
Happily, Mr. Christopher was also representing the S. S. Co., of Fabre
Line, and the S. S. Germania of the same company was scheduled to depart
from the harbor of Naples in a few days. It certainly was a pleasure and
an opportunity of which we took advantage to visit the most interesting
places in and around Naples, the city of far famous and at the same time
notorious, for there the stranger notices, in every step, the beauty of
Italian art and the Neapolitan filth combined in the most peculiar
texture.
Making good use of the little time which we had at our disposal, we took
the train and went up to see the City in which the Pope entombed himself
a living mummy rather than to co-operate with the civilized world in
building God's Kingdom on earth.
In looking over my memorandums I have just discovered a description that
I kept about the Eternal City. The historical facts therein are
supported by undisputable authority. And I think it apropos beneficial
to my readers, if it will be placed at their hands before the closing of
this chapter.
On the river Tiber, about fifteen miles from its mouth in the plain of
what is now called the Campagna, stands the famous capital of the
Western World, and the present residence of the Pope, the City of Rome.
The surrounding country is not a plain, but a sort of undulating
table-land, crossed by hills, while it sinks towards the southwest to
the marshes of Maremma, which coast the Mediterranean. In ancient
geography the country, in the midst of which Rome lay, was termed
Latium, which, in the earliest times, comprised within a space of about
four geographical square miles the country lying between the Tiber and
the Numisius, extending from the Alban Hills to the sea, having for its
chief city Laurentum. Here, on the Palatine Hill, was the city of Rome
founded by Romulus and Remus, grandsons of Numitor, and sons of Rhea
Sylvia, to whom, as the originators of the city, mythology ascribed a
divine parentage. The origin of the term Rome is in dispute. Some derive
it from the Greek Romee, "strength," considering that this name was
given to the place as been a fortress. Cicero says the name was taken
from that of its founder Romulus. At first the city had three gates,
according to a secret usage. Founded on the Palatine Hill, it extended,
by degrees, so as to take in six other hills at the foot of which ran
deep valleys that in early times were in part overflowed with water,
while the hill-sides were covered with trees. In the course of the many
years during which Rome was acquiring to herself the empire of the
world, the city underwent great, numerous, and important changes. Under
its first kings it must have presented a very different aspect from what
it did after it had been beautified by Tarquin. The destruction of the
city by the Gauls caused a thorough alteration in it: nor could the
troubled times which ensued have been favourable to its being well
restored. It was not till riches and artistic skill came into the city
on the conquest of Philip of Macedon, and Antiochus of Syria, that there
arose in Rome large handsome stone houses. The capture of Corinth
conduced much to the adorning of the city: many fine specimens of art
being transferred from thence to the abode of the conquerors. And so, as
the power of Rome extended over the world, and her chief citizens went
into the colonies to enrich themselves, did the masterpieces of Grecian
art flow towards the capital, together with some of the taste and skill
to which they owed their birth. Augustus, however, it was, who did most
for embellishing the capital of the world, though there may be some
sacrifice of truth in the pointed saying, that he found Rome built of
brick, and left it marble. Subsequent emperors followed his example,
till the place became the greatest repository of architectural,
pictorial, and sculptural skill, that the world has ever seen: a result
to which even Nero's incendiarism indirectly conduced, as affording an
occasion for the city's being rebuilt under the higher scientific
influences of the times. The site occupied by modern Rome is not
precisely the same as that which was at any period covered by the
ancient city: the change of locality being towards the north-west, the
city has partially retired from the celebrated hills. About two-thirds
of the area within the walls, traced by Aurelian, are now desolate,
consisting of ruins, gardens, and fields, with some churches, convents,
and other scattered habitations. Originally the city was a square mile
in area. In the time of Pliny the walls were nearly twenty miles in
circuit: now they are from fourteen to fifteen miles round. Its original
gates, three in number, had increased in the time of the elder Pliny to
thirty-seven. Modern Rome has sixteen gates, some of which are, however,
built up. Thirty-one great roads centered in Rome, which, issuing from
the Forum, traversed Italy, ran through the provinces, and were
terminated only by the boundary of the empire. As a starting point a
gilt pillar (Milliarium Aureum) was set up by Augustus in the middle of
the Forum. This curious monument, from which distances were reckoned,
was discovered in 1823. Eight principal bridges led over the Tiber: of
these three are still relics. The four districts into which Rome was
divided in early times, Augustus increased to fourteen. Large open
spaces were set apart in the city, called Campi, for assemblies of the
people and martial exercises, as well as for games. Of nineteen which
are mentioned, the Campus Martius was the principal. It was near the
Tiber, whence it was called Tiberinus. The epithet Martius was derived
from the plain being consecrated to Mars, the god of war. In the later
ages it was surrounded by several magnificent structures, and porticoes
were erected, under which, in bad weather, the citizens could go
through their usual exercises. It was also adorned with statues and
arches. The name of Fora was given to places where the people assembled
for the transaction of business. The Fora were of two kinds--fora
venalia, "markets," and fora civilia, "law courts, etc."
Until the time of Julius Cæsar there was but one of the latter kind,
termed by way of distinction Forum Romanum, or simply Forum. It lay
between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills: it was eight hundred feet
wide, and adorned on all sides with porticoes, shops, and other
edifices, on the erection of which large sums had been expended, and the
appearance of which was very imposing, especially as it was much
enhanced by numerous statues. In the centre of the Forum was the plain
called the Curtian Lake, where Curtius is said to have cast himself into
a chasm or gulf, which closed on him, and so he saved his country. On
one side were the elevated seats or suggestus, a sort of pulpits from
which magistrates and orators addressed the people, usually called
Rostra, because adorned with the beaks of ships which had been taken in
a sea-fight from the inhabitants of Antium.
Near by was the part of the Forum called the Comitium, where were held
the assemblies of the people called Comitia Curiata. The celebrated
temple, bearing the name of Capitol, of which there remain only a few
vestiges, stood on the Capitoline Hill, the highest of the seven: it was
square in form, each side extending about two hundred feet, and the
ascent to it was by a flight of one hundred steps. It was one of the
oldest, largest, and grandest edifices in the city. Founded by
Tarquinius Priscus, it was at several times enlarged and embellished.
Its gates were of brass, and it was adorned with costly gildings: whence
it is termed "golden" and "glittering," aurea, fulgens. It enclosed
three structures, the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in the centre, the
temple of Minerva on the right, and the temple of Juno on the left. The
Capitol also included some minor temples or chapels, and the Casa
Romuly, or Romulus, covered with straw. Near the ascent to the Capitol
was the asylum (Cities of refuge). We also mention the Basilicæ, since
some of them were afterwards turned to the purposes of Christian
worship. They were originally buildings of great splendour, being
appropriated to meetings of the senate, and to judicial purposes. Here
counsellors received their clients, and bankers transacted their
business. The earliest churches, bearing the name of Basilicæ, were
erected under Constantine the Great. He gave his own palace on the
Caelian Hill as a site for a Christian temple. Next in antiquity was the
church of St. Peter, on the Vatican Hill, built A.D. 324, on the site
and with the ruins of temples consecrated to Apollo and Mars. It stood
about twelve centuries, at the end of which it was superseded by the
modern church bearing the same name.
The Cirei were buildings oblong in shape, used for public games, races,
and beast-fights. The Theatra were edifices designed for dramatic
exhibitions: the Amphitheatra (double theatres, buildings in an oval
form) served for gladiatorial shows and the fighting of wild animals.
That which was erected by the Emperor Titus, and of which there still
exists a splendid ruin, was called the Coliseum, from a colossal statue
of Nero that stood near it. With an excess of luxury, perfumed liquids
were conveyed in secret tubes round these immense structures, and
diffused over the spectators, sometimes from the statues which adorned
the interior. In the arena which formed the centre of the amphitheatres,
the early Christians often endured martyrdom by being exposed to
ravenous beasts.
In modern Rome there are various things to excite the curiosity of the
stranger, but in my observations I could only see four elements
predominating above everything, monks, nuns, priests and beggars. They
form a continued procession all day long of the most spectacular
carnival that could be seen in any of the Babylons of the world.
And now while in Rome, we might ask the question: Who founded the church
at Rome? The question is equally interesting, if not important to the
Protestant and to Catholic. The Romish church assigns the honour to
Peter, and on this grounds an argument in favour of the claims of the
Papacy. But strict search in and about all the obtainable sources of
knowledge, it does give no sufficient reason for believing that Peter
was ever even so much as within the walls of Rome. Thus, by all inspired
documents there is one title clear left to Pope and his scheme,
"unaccountable falsifier." As an ordained High Priest in the Greek
Orthodox Church, I have been for many years studied in this particular
subject. The Libraries in Mount Athos gave me all the opportunities that
the high and exalted position, which I held, could afford, to find the
truth concerning the claims of the Pope. The Fathers of the Church,
Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostomus, and all the
host of Ecclesiastical authorities agree unanimously that the Lord Jesus
never intended to concede any right of supremacy, to Peter, over the
other apostles. Otherwise He (Jesus) would never have said those
wonderful words (Matt. 20, 25, etc.), and Peter himself disclaiming the
assertions of the Papacy (Pet. 1, 5, 3, etc.). And it is certain that
there is no instance on record of the apostle's (Peter) having ever
claimed or exercised this supposed power, but on the contrary, he is
oftener than once represented as submitting to an exercise of power upon
the part of others, as when, for instance, he went forth as a messenger
from the apostles assembled in Jerusalem to the Christians in Samaria,
and when he received a rebuke from Paul. Now as a matter of fact, if
Peter was ever Great, that was, when he repented for denying his Master.
Repentance, therefore, is the only hope left for the Pope, if he ever
expects to hear the blessed voice "Feed my sheep."
In these days of enlightenment and progress, while humane feelings are
taking the place of spite and hatred among the civilized nations, and
religious prejudice is giving way to good will and tolerance, Rome is,
from the Vatican point of view, the stumbling-block of every honest
effort in the purification of the individual heart and the uplifting of
the millions of souls that are downtrodden under the sandals of hyenical
monks. When the Pope, a few months ago, rejected Mr. Roosevelt and Mr.
Fairbanks, two models of manhood and virtue, he made it clear to the
world that he is suffering incurably, from barbaritis, and that his case
is hopeless. But, it is to be hoped that as Rome is already regenerated
politically and socially, so, we pray that in not far distant day, Rome,
shall also be regenerated spiritually.
In the meantime we shall continue our journey, and now we hurry back to
take the S. S. Germania from Naples to New York. And when I was well
located on board, I kissed good-bye to my friend and brother
Christopher, thanking him for his assistance and bidding to the old
world FAREWELL! FAREWELL!