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

Ch. VII.

THROUGH ITALY.

285
observation of the most inattentive. In the next
place, the superiority which Rome has always
enjoyed in the liberal arts, such as architecture,
painting·, and sculpture, and consequently her
superior beauty and magnificence, which, while
they attract strangers from the most remote
countries, must unavoidably awaken in the bosom,
of a citizen some emotions of self-importance
and complacency. Thirdly, Rome has always
been considered as the capital of the empire and
the metropolis of Christendom. In the first
quality she gives title and precedency to the
first sovereign in Europe ; and in,the second, she
confers upon her bishops, rank and pre-eminence
above all others even though primates and pa-
triarchs ; privileges in both cases so brilliant as
to reflect upon Rome a lustre still unequalled,
and to inspire her inhabitants with lofty senti-
ments of her grandeur and their own dignity.
Rome is still the holy, the eternal city, the citadel
of imperial power, the centre of Christian unity-
“ Deorum domicilium, arx orbis terrarum, portus
omnium genitum.” Crowds of strangers flow
through her gates, attracted by the magnificence
of her monuments, the sanctity of her temples,
or the glories of her name. iEt antiquitas
arnabilis, sed et religio venerabUis scope eo vacant,
says Lipsius. The S. P. Q. R. that still blaze
on the edicts of her magistrates, and ennoble her