Massachusetts spy and Worcester advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1823-1825, 1824-11-24


informed of the circumstance, forgave
him; but he took care to make him, the
next, day, carry to the banker another
crown. in'the place of that he had taken
away.
ST. PAUL'S-LoNpoN.
The: vastness of the Church, as seen
from the centre Of the floor, is most i'm.
posing it is impossible not to be struck
with its extent, its length, its width, and
the unbroken holiness of the dome a.
bove, into which the eye ascends and
penetrates until respiration is thickened
and the brain grows giddy, AID we seek
relief in the contemplation of objects
nearer the surface of the earth, and i'm
mediately around US, the monuments of
the illustrious dead. The eyes of most
people are so little accustomed to max
ing an accurate admeasurement of
heights, that the holiness of St. Paul's
can only be estimated justly from below.
If we ascend to the whispering gallery,
height far above the habitations of the
people of London, the view downwards
is overpowering, affecting various heads
in various ways-producing. vertigo in
some, sickness in others, and an awful
feeling Of overthrow-itiDeness in few,
sort Of propensity to drop through the
passive air upon the hard marble below,
thought full Of madness and horror
but when we ascend far above this point,
and even TO more than double its eleva-
ton, the fearful height does not seem
proportionably increased; the feeling it
inspired before, seemed scarcely to ad-
NIT Of aggravation. ! The whispering
gallery is indeed tosmany fearful place.
The surprising altitude Of dome and
tower above, the yawning. and immense
abyss below the stern marble spread
out to dash the mortal frame to instant
dust, the narrowness of the circular gal
lery, the overshadowing of the superin-
cumbent vault, the appalling loudness
of every common sound, and the loud
wind heard ever sweeping round the
dome itself, produce an incredibly alarm.
ing effect on some individuals. -
The young, the aspiring, the new to
London, can seldom be restrained ftom
ascending to the airy gallery above the
dome, and there, in describing most
limited circle, the eye takes 10 thou
sand histories. London, with all its vi
cissitudes, with all is generations,
with all it's present AID all the past
about it, is stretched beneath US,
and almost every house visible. Even
from that height the eye cannot, in all
directions, overlap the colossus city,
and what is seen Of green fields and bills
is seen with the indistinctness of anoth-
er world. The wind storms forever
round the cuPola, blowing the fair and
adventurous about Ga chartered liber-
tine !") to the greatest advantage /;
whilst the spectator feels almost dispos-
ed to lose his confidence in the secure
and eternal pedestal on which he stands,
and breath essly enjoys the sublimity Of
apparent danger without the reality.
1t is when we begin to descend from
this immense elevation that we feel the
fatigue which our over-excitement has
caused us TO incur and that man may
be considered the favorite of fortune
who begins to retrace the never-ending'
steps when the organ is pealing in the
afternoon service for, at such time,
fits of melody will burst upon him at uu-
expected turns, and the piercing voices
of the full-yoiced choir below will pen
citrate the intricate recess of the vast
structure, and vibrations Of harmony
will meet him suddenly in unexpected
angles and sinuosities Of the building:
Sweet sounds will be heard, now ne at now
distant, as if borne to him by the soft and
itful breeze, and every thing will con-
sPire to shorten his journey downwards.
From The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia 4