NB. The faint Lines mark the additions of later times.

The patriarchal Basilica of St. Paul, called S. Paolo fuori delle Mura, at some distance from the Porta Ostiensis, is one of the grandest temples erected by the first Christian Emperor. It was finished by Theodosius and his son Honorius, and afterwards when shattered by earthquakes and time, it was repaired first by Leo III. and again after a long interval by Sixtus Quintus. Such was the respect which the public entertained for this church, and so great the crowds that flocked to it, that the Emperors above-mentioned thought it necessary (if we may believe Procopius) to build a portico from the gate to the Basilica, a distance of near a mile. The magnificence of this portico seems to have equalled the most celebrated works of the ancient Romans, as it was supported by marble pillars and covered with gilt copper. But whatsoever may have been its former glory, it has long since yielded to the depredations of age or barbarism, and sunk into dust without leaving even a trace to ascertain its former existence. The road is now unfrequented, and the church itself with the adjoining abbey belonging to the Benedictine monks, is almost abandoned during the summer months on account of the real or imaginary unwholesomeness of the air.

The exterior of this edifice, like that of the Pantheon, being of ancient brick looks dismal and ruinous. The portico is supported by twelve pillars, and forms a gallery or vestibulum lofty and spacious. The principal door is of bronze; the nave and double aisles are supported by four rows of Corinthian pillars, amounting in all to the number of eighty. Of these columns, fourand-twenty of that beautiful marble called pavonazzo (because white tinged with a delicate purple) and the most exquisite work manship and proportions, were taken from the tomb of Adrian (Castel S. Angelo.) The transept or rather the walls and arches of the sanctuary rest upon ten other columns, and thirty more are employed in the decoration of the tomb of the Apostle and of the altars. These pillars are in general of porphyry, and the four that support the central arches are of yast

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magnitude. Two flights of marble steps lead from the nave to the sanctuary: the pavement of this latter part is of fine marble; that of the former of shattered fragments of ancient tombs marked with inscriptions. The altar stands under a canopy terminated by an awkward Gothic pyramid; the circumference of the sanctuary is adorned with some very ancient mosaics. The walls

of the nave and centre rest on arches carried from pillar to pillar; those of the nave are high and covered with faded paintings. The length of the church is about three hundred feet, its breadth about one hundred and fifty, and from its magnitude, proportions and materials, it undoubtedly furnishes all the means requisite if properly managed, of rendering it one of the most noble, and perhaps one of the most beautiful churches in the world. As it is, it presents a very exact copy of its ancient state, for it seems to have suffered considerable damage almost as soon as finished, from the wars, alarms and devastations that commenced in the reign of Honorius, and continued during several successive centuries.

Although many popes, and particularly Sixtus Quintus and Benedict XIV. have repaired or ornamented this venerable fabric, yet it still retains an unfinished, forlorn and almost ruinous appearance. The pavement is, as has been observed above, made up of broken remnants; the ancient pictures that adorned the walls are nearly effaced by damp vapors; the beams and rafters of the roof form the only covering of the body of the church; and the whole Basilica, excepting the sanctuary, presents the aspect of a neglected and melancholy monument. The Benedictine monks are, in all countries where the Order exists but particularly in Italy, both rich and public spirited, that it is a subject of surprise, and just reproach, that while so many su perb edifices have been erected by them in different towns and countries, one of the most ancient and cele. brated temples in the Christian world should even in the capital itself, and under the eye of the pontiff, be allowed to moulder away and sink almost unnoticed in

to ruin. The expenses requisite for the reparation and embellishment of such an edifice would be great without doubt, but to an opulent and religious society, money when employed for such a purpose cannot be an object of consideration, especially as the work might be carried on gradually, and with all due regard to economy. The arches from pillar to pillar introduced by the bad taste of the age of Diocletian, might be covered as in Santa Maria Maggiore by a regular entablature; and as in all the other Basilicæ, the floor might be flagged and the walls lined with marble. The paintings might then be restored with perfect security, and the work of reparation finished by removing the present Gothic obelisk that encumbers the tomb of the Apostle, and by employing the beautiful columns that now seem to groan under its weight in supporting a light and well-proportioned canopy. I have already said that S. Paolo might be made one of the most beautiful churches in the world, and the changes here pointed out would I think accomplish that object, and give it all the splendor of which it is susceptible. It alrea. dy indeed exhibits the noblest collection of pillars now existing, and if these were set off to advantage by an appropriate cornice and corresponding decorations around, its colonnades would form a scene inferior in extent indeed, but equal if not superior in regular architectural beauty even to the magnificent arcades of the Vatican.

* This roof is much admired for its mechanism and revered for its antiquity; but however curious or venerable it may be in these respects, it forms, as all mere carpentry must form, a very dull and unappropriate ceiling to a marble temple. The beams were originally lined with gold, and indeed the whole edifice was most splendidly decorated as we are assured by Petronius who visited it in its first glory.

Regia pompa loci est, princeps bonus has sacravit arces
Lusitque magnis ambitum talentis.

Bracteolas trabibus sublevit, ut omnis aurulenta

Lux esset intus, ceu jubar sub ortu.

Suodidit et Parias fulvis laquearibus columnas,
Distinguit illic quas quaternus ordo:

Tum Camyros hyalo insigni varie cucurrit arcus,
Sic prata vernis floribus renident.

Passio Beat. Apost.

CHAP. XVI.

The Basilica Vaticana, or St. Peter's.

To the Vatican we shall now turn and close our account of Roman churches, by a faint and imperfect description of some of the glories of this unrivalled fabric, the boast of modern skill and trophy of the united arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture. The Basilica of St. Peter was the first and noblest religious edifice erected by Constantine. It stood on part of the circus of Nero, and was supposed to occupy a spot consecrated by the blood of numberless martyrs exposed or slaughtered in that place of public amusement by order of the tyrant. But its principal and exclusive advantage was the possession of the body of St. Peter; a circumstance which raised it in credit and consideration above the Basilica Lateranensis, dignified its threshold with the honorable appellation of the Limina Apostolorum, and secured to it the first place in the affection and reverence of the Christian world. Not only monks and bishops but princes and emperors visited its sanctuary with uevotion, and even kissed as they approached the marble

* This supposition is far from being groundless, as appears from the words of Tacitus speaking of the persecutions of Nero. Ergo abolendo rumori (jussum incendium Roma) Nero subdidit reos et qæsitissimis pænis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos, vulgus Christianos appellabat..... Et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirant aut crucibus affixi, aut flammandi, atque ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur. Hortos suos ei spectaculo Nero obtulerat et circense ludicrum edebat habitu aurigæ permixtus plebi, vel curriculo insistens. Tacitus Ann. xv. 44