of  this  pile  by  the  sanctifying  effect  of  a  few
crosses  planted  round  it,  is  almost  a  miraculous
event.  And  what  a  contrast  the  present  appli-
cation of  this  building,  connected  with  holy
feelings  and  exalted  hopes,  is  to  that  of  the
ancient  one,  when  it  was  used  for  exhibiting  to
the  Roman  people  the  destruction  of  men  by
wild  beasts,  or  of  men,  more  savage  than  wild
beasts,  by  each  other,  to  gratify  a  horrible
appetite  for  cruelty,  founded  upon  a  still  more
detestable  lust,  that  of  universal  domination !
And  who  would  have  supposed,  in  the  time  of
Titus,  that  a  faith,  despised  in  its  insignificant
origin,  and  persecuted  from  the  supposed  ob-
scurity of  its  founder  and  its  principles,  should
have  reared  a  dome  to  the  memory  of  one  of
its  humblest  teachers,  more  glorious  than  was
ever  framed  for  Jupiter  or  Apollo  in  the  ancient
world,  and  have  preserved  even  the  ruins  of
the  temples  of  the  pagan  deities,  and  have  burst
forth  in  splendor  and  majesty,  consecrating
truth  amidst  the  shrines  of  error,  employing
the  idols  of  the  Roman  superstition  for  the
most  holy  purposes  and  rising  a  bright  and


THE  VISION.  7

constant  light  amidst  the  dark  and  starless
night  which  followed  the  destruction  of  the
Roman  empire !"

Onuphrio  now  resumed  the  discourse:  he
said,  "  I  have  not  the  same  exalted  views  on
the  subject  which  our  friend  Ambrosio  has  so
eloquently  expressed.  Some  little  of  the  per-
fect state  in  which  these  ruins  exist  may  have
been  owing  to  causes  which  he  has  described ;
but  these  causes  have  only  lately  begun  to
operate,  and  the  mischief  was  done  before
Christianity  was  established  at  Rome.  Feel-
ing differently  on  these  subjects,  I  admire  this
venerable  ruin  rather  as  the  record  of  the  de-
struction of  the  power  of  the  greatest  people
that  ever  existed,  than  as  a  proof  of  the  triumph
of  Christianity ;  and  I  am  carried  forward  in
melancholy  anticipation,  to  the  period  when
even  the  magnificent  dome  of  St.  Peter's  will
be  in  a  similar  state  to  that  in  which  the  Co-
losaeum  now  is  and  when  its  ruins  may  be  pre-
served by  the  sanctifying  influence  of  some
new  and  unknown  faith ;  when,  perhaps,  the
statue  of  Jupiter,  which  at  present  receives  the
kiss  of  the  devotee,  as  the  image  of  St.  Peter,


8  DIALOGUE  I.
