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THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER'S AT ROME.

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comprised a period of thirty-five years, during which time Charles II., James II., William III., Anne and George I., reigned in Great Britain. St. Peter's required one hundred and forty-five years for its erection, was under the management of twelve architects, and eighteen popes "died during the long interval between its beginning and completion. The following are the dimensions of St. Paul's. Length from east to west, within the walls, five hundred feet; from north to south, within the four doors of the porticoes, two hundred and eighty-six; the breadth of the west entrance one hundred; the circuit of the entire building two thousand two hundred and ninety-two; the circumference of the cupola four hundred and thirty; the diameter of the ball six; the height to the top of the west pediment, under the figure of St. Paul, one hundred and twenty; the height of the campaniles of the west front, two hundred and eighty-seven. The expense of the erection of St. Paul's, amounted to about one million and a half pounds sterling; that of St. Peter's to about seventy millions scudi, perhaps, seventeen and a half million sterling. This vast excess of expenditure in the Roman cathedral was principally caused by the rich profusion of marble and mosaic, which places it far above comparison with the bare nakedness which chills the spectator on entering our otherwise noble cathedral.

The interior of St. Peter's is supported by an immense number of magnificent columns, the greater number of them antique, and seven are said to have been taken from Solomon's temple; the pavement is likewise of handsome marble. Strangers on their first visit usually express themselves disappointed in the effect produced upon their imagination by this superb edifice. The cause of this has been beautifully explained by Lord Byron in the stanzas which we have prefixed to this brief summary. The proportions are, for the most part, so admirably observed, that the eye is insensibly relieved and carried forward from object to object, and it is not until after some time, and a more gradual examination, that we become aware of the vastness of the edifice. Thus at first sight the angels which support the two fonts of holy water, do not seem larger than children, upon approaching them we are surprised to find them of gigantic stature.

The Confessione di Sacra Pietro, or, Sacra Confessione, is surrounded by a circular balustrade, and contains the body of St. Peter, according to the Romish church, the Prince of the Apostles, in whose honour one hundred and twelve superb lamps are always burning. A double staircase leads down into the interior, which during the pontificate of Paul the Fifth, was decorated by Maderno with select marbles, angels, festoons, and the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul. A semi-colossal figure of Pius VI. on his knees is placed before the Sacra Confessione, or rather before the gates of bronze gilt, which lead to the part of the antient oratory, which was erected

VOL. III.

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over the grave of the apostle.

The canopy was

Canova is said to have wept when he was informed of the place which the bad taste of the ruling powers had selected for his statue. Above the Confessione of St. Peter, and beneath the great cupola, the sumptuous baldacchino or canopy rises above the high altar of the cathedral. designed by Bernini, during the reign of Urban VIII., in 1633. It is ninety feet high, (but little less than the altitude of the Farnese palace) made of bronze gilt, supported by four superb spiral columns of the same metal. The weight of the bronze amounts to nearly two hundred thousand pounds, and although this material was procured free of expense, by stripping the porch of the Pantheon, the costs of this baldacchino exceeded one hundred thousand scudi, nearly one-half, or ten thousand pounds sterling were expended on the gilding alone.

The immortal Michael Angelo determined to build the largest cupola in the world, and nobly has he executed his design, for we behold the Pantheon of Agrippa, which by its dimensions excited the admiration of the antient world, suspended aloft in the air at a height of one hundred and sixty-six feet, or if we measure to the extremity of the cross on the ball, nearly 300 feet. The internal diameter of this unrivalled architectural masterpiece is, in fact, between one and two feet less than that of the Pantheon, but if we consider that the cupola of St. Peter's is double, and that it is possible to ascend by staircases, between the inner and outer walls into the lantern, its superiority must be admitted. Four pillars support this stupendous structure, each of them measures two hundred and six feet in circumference. Each principal façade of these pillars of the cupola contains two large niches or recesses, one above the other; from the upper one, which resembles a loggia or small room, guarded in front by a balustrade, on the side where stands the statue of St. Veronica, are shewn during passion week, several relics; three of these are the most celebrated, a part of the holy cross; the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ, and il volto santo, or the impression of our Saviour's countenance on a handkerchief. We once witnessed this display, but it was dusk, and at the height from which they were exhibited, we could not clearly discern the objects thus exhibited in detail. Formerly, when the vast body of the church was illuminated, or rather cast into chiaroscuro, by a cross of many hundred lamps, the effect upon the minds of a credulous and superstitious people, must have been very grand, but the disorders that occurred during this nocturnal exhibition induced the popes to abolish the custom, and the relics now are but dimly seen by the fading light of day. In fact the whole scene was singularly wanting in that effect, which is so striking a feature in the ceremonies of the Romish church, and nowhere more so than in the ever-memorable residence of the successors of St. Peter. We have confined ourselves in our present description to the principal parts of the interior,

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THE ELECTOR AND CANDIDATE.

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visible in the plate before us; a mere enumeration of the more remarkable parts and sculptures of the building would far exceed our limits.

We shall conclude our remarks with a few words from the account of a German traveller, as enthusiastic in his praises as he is severe in his censures.

In order to have a just feeling of the immense grandeur and majesty of St. Peter's, we should not place ourselves before it, where the miserable front only excites dislike, but in the narrow street behind the Vatican; here all unites into one sublime whole, and we are struck with awe at the immense and mountain-like structure. If we enter the church when the dim twilight shrouds the petty ornaments, we seem to see above us the sublime vault of heaven itself.

THE ELECTOR AND CANDIDATE.

GREAT is the force of contrast, that universal, and therefore benevolent, law of nature, who abhors monotony, no less than she was once supposed to abhor a vacuum; witness her love of change in day and night, summer and winter. When therefore man but imitates his alma mater, he proves himself her legitimate offspring; let us beware then of attributing that to him as a fault, which is after all but an inherent principle in his destiny, and bow down with just respect before its dictates. Great is the force of contrast between the expiring carnival senza moccoli, and the ensuing austerities of Lent, greater still in the demeanour of our mercurial Gallic neighbours with their demoniac monster balls, sweet innocents, who with modest vanity imagine they have nothing to repent of, and so crowd into a few short weeks of revelling more than its stern follower in the wheel of time can soften or amend; but greater still is the force of contrast in the demeanour of an atom of English collective wisdom, before and after that important moment, in his septennial existence, big with the fate of M.P's, and of votes. The golden age seems then restored, the lion lies down with the lamb, the peaceful reverse of the great French revolution is proclaimed throughout the land, brotherhood and equality are exquisitely painted on the canvas. Every man is a patriot, selfishness is then unknown, the eyes of the proudest lordling becomes wonderfully expansive, his longitudinal speech with triple force magnifies every individual of the species, homo, man into a gentleman. The pithy words of our defunct laureate

"When Adam delv'd and Eve span,

Who was then a gentleman?"'

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