cularity so much admired in the round and oblong temples of the heathens. Nor is the form of the dome itself so pleasing to the eye as that which crowns the church of St. Paul.

Having said so much in favour of the outside of St. Paul's, it is but fair to allow, on the other side of the question, that the magnificent and

tures, which most probably arose from their having been built at the same time as the dome itself, and whose additional weight occasioned more pressure on the ground than these lighter parts by which it is surrounded. Now speaking of the ill effects of partial pressure in buildings, I will here take an opportunity of mentioning a circumstance by which they might in many cases be prevented, particularly in those houses which are raised several stories in height, with window over window or other large apertures, and where the ground is precarious. It frequently happens, that in buildings of this description the front appears disfigured by fractures, and especially the arches over the windows and apertures; but which is seldom the case in dead walls or flank ends of buildings, because in them the weight is better balanced, and by pressing more uniformly on the surface of the ground, if it be yielding, the walls settle regularly together. On that account were workmen, in carrying up their houses, to fill in all the windows and apertures with rough brickwork, leaving upright joints, then the weight of the superstructure would be thrown more equally on the foundation; and after the walls were properly settled and come to their bearings, the temporary brickwork might be easily removed. Although this method would be attended with some additional expense, yet I am confident that in the end it would be found to answer, because it often occurs that the arches of the windows, and even some part of the front, are obliged to be reinstated after they are supposed to be finished, owing to the partial pressure and sinking of lofty piers. Indeed, this must ever be more or less the case where a great weight comes in one part and scarcely any in another, unless great precaution be taken in the foundation, and at a considerable expense.

nobly proportioned interior of St. Peter's reduces the other to a very secondary object of admiration. The great dome bears on four piers and four arches; and that which in my mind abates the good effect in the part under the dome of St. Paul's cannot here be complained of; I mean the segments under the semicircular arches and in regard to the upper, if ever a painter invented any thing repugnant to common sense, and ill-suited for the place it was to be displayed in, I think that artist did who has represented a distorted arcade in a concave ceiling as a part of an historical picture, which apparently has nothing more to stand on than a few slight pilasters, which, from the delicacy of their character, could never have been intended for any other purpose than that of ornament. the other hand, the concave ceiling of St. Peter's dome is elegantly ribbed and pannelled, tending and diminishing to the centre in a proper and natural direction. In the pannels are represented the apostles among saints and angels with the figure of the Almighty, all most exquisitely executed in mosaic. The cylinder part of the cupola, in which are the windows, with elegant pilasters between, consists of marbles and mosaics, and is inexpressibly rich.

On

It is well known that St. Peter's church is much larger than our own, yet there is but little difference in the size of the two domes within. That of St. Paul's bears a much larger proportion with the building to which it belongs, and standing much higher from the roof, becomes of course more conspicuous from without. St. Peter's cupola

is only to be seen at a good distance; for when you approach near to the church it sinks and retires from the sight. The circumference of the inner dome of St. Peter's I measured in the whispering gallery, and found it 430 feet; I also measured the length of the front elevation, which I made 358 feet; and the height I was told is 150 feet, which appeared to me rather low. In short, the whole fabric is much less striking than can well be imagined, nor does the colour of the Tibertine stone, with which it is built, contribute in any degree to make it more so; for it has the appearance of our modern stucco stained with a yellowish hue. Again, the real magnitude of the church is no doubt considerably lessened in a visual sense, by a comparison with the immense mountain Vaticano that rises immediately behind it. And the façade itself seems to be swallowed up between the two immense circular colonnades so uselessly connected therewith. The upper inclosed parts of these colonnades, by coming forward for some distance at right angles, or nearly so, apparently imprison and confine the entrance elevation of the church. Thus that which to a villa or a dwelling-house may not be unornamental or improper, because it carries with it ideas of convenience and utility, becomes extremely preposterous and absurd when associated with a temple or any building of a similar description, whose true character and great share of beauty consist in standing completely insular, that it may be viewed uninterruptedly on all sides, in various points of sight; consequently all additions of a superfluous

nature must unavoidably assume the appearance of awkward and useless members totally unserviceable to the main body, and incoherent with the intention of the structure.

Much as these colonnades may have been admired by the multitude and the ignorant, perhaps the misapplication of them cannot be put in a stronger or a truer light, than by supposing two colonnades of a like nature to be erected before the principal façade of St. Paul's, in order that the lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council (instead of pope, cardinals, and priests), when they visit this magnificent cathedral on public occasions, and perchance in a rainy day, might have the opportunity and indulgence of reaching the sacred threshold of the doors, without getting as much wet as could possibly damp a feather, or moisten the down of a swan.

Entering St. Peter's, on the left hand is a winding staircase composed of brick and wood, and which leads to the top of the roof, which is flat, paved with bricks, and covered with lead; and so easy is it in the ascent, that you may literally ride up it on horseback with the greatest safety. But what the attention of travellers is more particularly directed to, in order to assist them in forming just conceptions of the immensity of the interior, are those works of sculpture which represent two children supporting the basin of holy water: when entering the door they certainly look no larger than infants, but by approaching nearer and nearer they begin to appear, what in reality they are, almost giants. Also against each side of the piers

of the nave is the figure of a dove, which at the distance of one arch from the other seems no higher than three feet from the pavement, yet on a closer view of them they are absolutely above your head. These and a few other curious experiments strangers are led to make from the observations and hints of others. Underneath a part of Saint Peter's, in the centre, is a subterraneous chapel, said to be the remains of the old church. It has frequently been remarked by foreigners, that the cupola or dome of St. Paul's appears to be considerably too large for the body of the building; but as I do not recollect any classic archetype, ancient model, or established rule, by which such an appendage ought to be regulated, this objection can amount to little or nothing more than a mere matter of opinion. Nor do I think this imaginary disproportion is so much to be attributed to the bulk of the cupola itself compared with that of the whole, as to the want of larger columns and pilasters against the outside of the church, which would have produced that preponderating magnitude and distinctive solidity in the lower parts of the edifice, as is the case in the lower limbs of the body, so suitable with their situation and intent. On the contrary, the columns and pilasters by which the exterior is adorned most certainly appear to be very little if any larger than the circular range of columns around the cylindrical part of the cupola; so that, to use the language of painters, there is a want of that keeping and relative subordination between the objects that bear, and those which seem to

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