Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

Ch. V.

THROUGH ITALY.

207

merated; but above all, in the removal of the
Vatican obelisk, and the conception and erection
of that stupendous edifice, the Basilica Vaticana.
Nay, even in our days, and almost under our
eyes, works have been planned and executed in
or near Rome, which would have reflected honor
on the greatest of the Roman Emperors. Among'
these we may rank the restoration of three of
the ancient obelisks, the formation of the Museum
Piuni Clementinum, and above all, the draining·
of the Pomptine marshes. The late Pontiff
shares the honor of the two first of these under-
takings, and may claim the exclusive credit of
the last, the most difficult, the most useful, and
consequently the most glorious. He had formed
two other projects, which, if executed, would
have contributed in a singular manner to the
splendor of the city. The first was the erection
of a forum at the Porta del Popolo, on the plan
of V itruvius, which would have made the gran-
deur of the principal entrance into Rome ade-
quate to the expectation of the traveller, and to
the fame of the city. The other was on a scale
still greater than the preceding, and intended to
form a becoming approach to St. Peter’s, by a
double colonnade from the Ponte St. Angelo, to
the entrance of the portico. The distance is a
mile, and the extent of such an edifice, com-
bined with the unequalled magnitude and ele-
o