frieze altar and throne and tomb, statue and medallion, gilt and stucco, mosaic picture and bas-relief, bronze and stained glass, granite and porphyry, marble and alabaster, and other materials and combinations of materials, in multiform colors and shades, are all employed to give dignity and splendor and to overwhelm the beholder with astonishment and awe. St. Peter's is considered the largest, most beautiful, and most imposing church ever erected by man. Its extreme length, as marked on the center pavement of the nave, is 862.8 palms (=6323 English feet), or 837' palms (= 613 English feet) within the walls; the extreme length of the transepts, or the greatest width of the church, is 446 feet; the width of the nave and side aisles, including the massive pilasters or piers that separate them, is 1974 feet; the height of the nave near the door is 152 feet, and its width here is 87 feet; the height of the dome from the pavement to the base of the lantern is 405 feet, and to the top of the cross outside 448 feet; the diameter of the cupola is 1954 feet, or 139 feet in the clear. The baldacchino, or grand canopy covering the high altar under the center of the dome, is of bronze, supported by four spiral composite columns, and covered with the richest ornaments and foliage of gilt, is 951 feet high to the top of the globe and cross, and cost about $100,000. Under the high altar, where only the pope, or a cardinal specially authorized, can celebrate mass, is the tomb of St. Peter, lighted perpetually by 112 lamps. At the western end of the nave, in what is called the tribune, and about 170 feet beyond the high altar, is another majestic altar of fine marbles, and also the famous "chair of St. Peter" in bronze, inclosing that chair in which,

1

1 The following description of St. Peter's chair is from the late Cardinal Wiseman, and represents the current Roman Catholic view, in opposition to the statements of Lady Morgan in her “Italy," that the French, while they occupied Rome, at the beginning of this century, removed the bronze casket and discovered this chair to have on it the inscription, "There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet;" and that the chair was probably among the spoils of the crusaders offered to the church. Cardinal Wiseman denies that the relic was inspected by the French, and says of it: "A superb shrine of gilt bronze, supported by four gigantic

according to tradition, he and many of his successors officiated, and supported by colossal statues of the four great doctors of the church, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Athanasius (some say St. Jerome instead), and St. John Chrysostom. On each side of the nave, in the side aisles which are partially separated by the piers and the arches between them, are chapels which have their own altars. Other altars are placed in the transept. There are also, besides the great dome or

figures of the same materials, representing the four doctors of the church, closes the view of the nave of St. Peter's church. . . The shrine is in the form of a throne, and contains a chair which the Prince of the Apostles is supposed to have occupied,

as bishop of Rome. It is a tradition, certainly of great antiquity, that St. Peter was received into the house of the senator Pudens, and there laid the foundation

of the Roman church [see Chapter III.]. According to the custom of the Jews, and of all the early churches, a chair or throne would be occupied by him when teaching, or assisting at the divine worship. It is in fact from this circumstance

cupola, 10 others, four round and six oval, placed over the side aisles. The well known bronze statue of St. Peter on a marble chair, is placed near the center of the north side of the nave, against one of the colossal piers which support the great dome. The façade, built entirely of a white limestone called travertine, is 379 feet long and 1481 feet high. We consider that a large church which holds 2,000 people standing; but St. Peter's has been known to have 100,000 people inside its walls at one time,- enough to fill 50 of our city churches. The

that the term sedes [Latin], cathedra [Latin, from Greek kathedra], thronos [Greek], seat, chair, or throne, became the ordinary appellation of episcopal jurisdiction. The chair of St. Peter is precisely such a one as we should have supposed to be given by a wealthy Roman senator to a ruler of the church, which he esteemed and protected. It is of wood, almost entirely covered with ivory, so as to be justly considered a curule chair. It may be divided into two principal parts; the square or cubic portion which forms the body, and the upright elevation behind, which forms the back. The former portion is four Roman palms [= about 33 inches] across the front, two and a half [= nearly 21 inches] at the side, and three and a half [= about 29 inches] in height. It is formed by four upright posts, united together by transverse bars above and below. The sides are filled up by a species of arcade consisting of two pilasters of carved wood, supporting, with the corner posts, three little arches. The front is extremely rich, being divided into 18 small compartments, disposed in three rows. Each contains a basso-rilievo in ivory, of the most exquisite finish, surrounded by ornaments of the purest gold. These bassi-rilievi represent, not the feats of Mohammed, or Ali, or Osman, or any other Paynim chieftain, as the readers of Lady Morgan might expect, unless they knew that the religion of the prophet does not tolerate any graven images at all, but the exploits of the monsterquelling Hercules. The custom of adorning curule chairs with sculptured ivory is mentioned by the ancients. . . . The back of the chair is formed by a series of pilasters supporting arches, as at the sides; the pillars here are three in number, and the arches four. Above the cornice, which these support, rises a triangular pediment, giving to the whole a tasteful and architectural appearance. Besides the bassi-rilievi above mentioned, the rest of the front, the moldings of the back, and the tympanum of the pediment, are all covered with beautifully wrought ivory. The chair, therefore, is manifestly of Roman workmanship, a curule chair, such as might be occupied by the head of the church, adorned with ivory and gold, as might befit the house of a wealthy Roman senator; while the exquisite finish of the sculpture forbids us to consider it more modern than the Augustan age, when the arts were in their greatest perfection. There is another circumstance, which deserves particular mention in the description of this chair, and exactly corresponds to the time of St. Peter's first journey to Rome. This event took place in the reign of Claudius; and it is precisely at this period that, as Justus Lipsius has well proved, sella gestatoria [= sedan-chairs] began to be used by men of rank in Rome. For it is after this period, that Suetonius, Seneca, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Martial, mention