DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0182
152 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV«
only prove that the proudest works of man are
stamped with his characteristic imperfection.
To conclude—In magnitude, elevation, opu-
lence, and beauty, the church of St. Peter has no
rival, and bears no comparison: in neatness,
cleanliness, and convenience, so necessary to the
advantageous display of magnificence, if any-
where equalled, it can no where be surpassed.
It is cool in summer, and in winter dry and warm:
its portals are ever open, and every visitant
whether attracted by devotion or by curiosity may
range over it at leisure, and without being mo-
lested or even noticed, either contemplate its
beauties or pour out his prayers before its altars.
Thus the Basilica Vaticana unites the perfection
of art with the beauty of holiness, and may justly
claim the affection and reverence of the traveller,
both as the temple of taste and the sanctuary of
religion.
OBSERVATIONS.
The only church wlffch has been compared with
St. Peter’s is St. Paul’s in London. If the latter
be, as in many respects it is, the second church in
the world, yet it is far inferior to the former, and
cannot without absurdity be put upon a parallel
with it, as the impartial traveller who has exa-
3
only prove that the proudest works of man are
stamped with his characteristic imperfection.
To conclude—In magnitude, elevation, opu-
lence, and beauty, the church of St. Peter has no
rival, and bears no comparison: in neatness,
cleanliness, and convenience, so necessary to the
advantageous display of magnificence, if any-
where equalled, it can no where be surpassed.
It is cool in summer, and in winter dry and warm:
its portals are ever open, and every visitant
whether attracted by devotion or by curiosity may
range over it at leisure, and without being mo-
lested or even noticed, either contemplate its
beauties or pour out his prayers before its altars.
Thus the Basilica Vaticana unites the perfection
of art with the beauty of holiness, and may justly
claim the affection and reverence of the traveller,
both as the temple of taste and the sanctuary of
religion.
OBSERVATIONS.
The only church wlffch has been compared with
St. Peter’s is St. Paul’s in London. If the latter
be, as in many respects it is, the second church in
the world, yet it is far inferior to the former, and
cannot without absurdity be put upon a parallel
with it, as the impartial traveller who has exa-
3