by pillars--those at a distance of
a light, and those near of a massive structure. The ground, which is
upon a gentle ascent up to the portico of the church, still adds to the
effect which it produces. An obelisk, 80 feet high, stands in the middle
of the square, but its height appears as nothing in presence of the
cupola of St Peter's. The form of an obelisk alone has something in it
that pleases the imagination; its summit is lost in the air, and seems
to lift the mind of man to heaven. This monument, which was constructed
in Egypt to adorn the baths of Caligula, and which Sixtus Quintus caused
to be transported to the foot of the temple of St Peter, this
cotemporary of so many centuries, which have spent their fury upon it in
vain, inspires us with a sentiment of respect; man, sensible of his own
fleeting existence, cannot contemplate without emotion that which
appears to be immutable. At some distance on each side of the obelisk
are two fountains, whose waters form a perpetual and abundant cascade.
This murmuring of waters, which we are accustomed to hear in the open
country, produces, in this enclosure, an entirely new sensation; but
this sensation is quite in harmony with that to which the aspect of a
majestic temple gives birth.

Painting and sculpture, imitating generally the human figure or some
object existing in nature, awaken in our soul perfectly clear and
positive ideas; but a beautiful architectural monument has not any
determinate meaning, if it may be so expressed, so that we are seized,
in contemplating it, with that kind of aimless reverie, which leads us
into a boundless ocean of thought. The sound of fountains harmonises
with all these vague and deep impressions; it is uniform as the edifice
is regular.

"Eternal motion, and eternal rest,"

are thus blended with each other. It is particularly in a spot like this
that Time seems stript of his power, for he appears no more able to dry
up the fountains than to shake these immovable stones. The waters, which
spout in sheaves from these fountains, are so light and cloudlike that
on a fine day the rays of the sun produce on them little rainbows,
formed of the most beautiful colours.

"Stop here a moment," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, when they had
already reached the portico of the church; "stop a little before you
lift up the curtain which covers the door of the temple. Does not your
heart beat as you approach this sanctuary? And do not you f