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Article DESCRIPTION OF POMPEY's PILLAR ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of Pompey's Pillar
might be many other place , they were but foils to . the pillar which now appeared before us . We had been buried amid the ruins and hills of sand , which the winds have thrown up , when , leaving the city by the gate of Roseto , we came unexpectedly upoi > tne pillar . It is impossible to tell which is most worthv of admiration , the height , the workmanship , or the condition of " this pillarB the best accounts
. y we can obtain , it is an hundred and ten teet high . The shaft , which is of a single stone of granite , is ninety feet , and the pedestal which is twenty feet more . It is of the Corinthian order , which gives a beautiful dignity to it ' s simplicity , rarely to be met with in modern architecture . It has suffered little or no injury from time . The polish upon the shaft has wonderfull withstood the
y buffeting of the tempest ; and it promises to hand down a patriot name to the late posterity of the ignorant native , who has no other trace of the fame of Pornpey ! ihe pedestal has been somewhat damaged by the instruments of travellers , who are curious tc possess a relic of this antiquity ; and one of the volutes of the column was 'immaturel ht down
y broug , about four years ago , by a prank of some English Captains , whkh is too ludicrous to pass over . "Thesejolly sons of Neptune had been pushingabout the canri , on board one of the shi ps in the harbour , until a strange freak entered into one of their brains . The eccentricity of the thought occasioned it
immediately to be adopted ; and it ' s apparentimpossibility was but a spur for nutting it into execution . The boat was ordered , and with proper implements for the attempt , these enterprizmg heroes pushed ashore , to drink a bowl of punch on the top of Pompey ' s Pillar ! At the spot they arrived ; and many contrivances were proposed to accomplish the desired point . But their labour vainand
was ; they began to despair of success , when the genius who struck out the frolic , happily suggested the means of performing it . A man was dispatched to the city for a paper kite . The inhabitants were by this time apprized of what was going forward , and flocked in crouds to be witnesses of the address and boldness of the English . The Governor of Alexandria told
was that these seamen were about to pull down Pompey ' s Pillar . But whether "he gave them credit for their respect to the Roman warrior , or to the Turkish government , he left them to themselves , and politely answered , that the English were too great patriots to injure the remains of Pornpey . He knew little , however , of the disposition of the people who were d in this undertaking
engage . Had the Turkish empire rose in opposition , it would not , perhaps , at that moment have deterred them . The kite was brought , and flown so directly over the pillar , that when it fell on the other side , the string lodged upon the capital . The chief obstacle was now
overcome . A two-mcli rope was tied to one end of the string , and drawn over the pillar by the end to which the kite was affixed . By this rope one of the seamen ascending to the top , and in less than an hour a kind of shroud was constructed , by which the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of Pompey's Pillar
might be many other place , they were but foils to . the pillar which now appeared before us . We had been buried amid the ruins and hills of sand , which the winds have thrown up , when , leaving the city by the gate of Roseto , we came unexpectedly upoi > tne pillar . It is impossible to tell which is most worthv of admiration , the height , the workmanship , or the condition of " this pillarB the best accounts
. y we can obtain , it is an hundred and ten teet high . The shaft , which is of a single stone of granite , is ninety feet , and the pedestal which is twenty feet more . It is of the Corinthian order , which gives a beautiful dignity to it ' s simplicity , rarely to be met with in modern architecture . It has suffered little or no injury from time . The polish upon the shaft has wonderfull withstood the
y buffeting of the tempest ; and it promises to hand down a patriot name to the late posterity of the ignorant native , who has no other trace of the fame of Pornpey ! ihe pedestal has been somewhat damaged by the instruments of travellers , who are curious tc possess a relic of this antiquity ; and one of the volutes of the column was 'immaturel ht down
y broug , about four years ago , by a prank of some English Captains , whkh is too ludicrous to pass over . "Thesejolly sons of Neptune had been pushingabout the canri , on board one of the shi ps in the harbour , until a strange freak entered into one of their brains . The eccentricity of the thought occasioned it
immediately to be adopted ; and it ' s apparentimpossibility was but a spur for nutting it into execution . The boat was ordered , and with proper implements for the attempt , these enterprizmg heroes pushed ashore , to drink a bowl of punch on the top of Pompey ' s Pillar ! At the spot they arrived ; and many contrivances were proposed to accomplish the desired point . But their labour vainand
was ; they began to despair of success , when the genius who struck out the frolic , happily suggested the means of performing it . A man was dispatched to the city for a paper kite . The inhabitants were by this time apprized of what was going forward , and flocked in crouds to be witnesses of the address and boldness of the English . The Governor of Alexandria told
was that these seamen were about to pull down Pompey ' s Pillar . But whether "he gave them credit for their respect to the Roman warrior , or to the Turkish government , he left them to themselves , and politely answered , that the English were too great patriots to injure the remains of Pornpey . He knew little , however , of the disposition of the people who were d in this undertaking
engage . Had the Turkish empire rose in opposition , it would not , perhaps , at that moment have deterred them . The kite was brought , and flown so directly over the pillar , that when it fell on the other side , the string lodged upon the capital . The chief obstacle was now
overcome . A two-mcli rope was tied to one end of the string , and drawn over the pillar by the end to which the kite was affixed . By this rope one of the seamen ascending to the top , and in less than an hour a kind of shroud was constructed , by which the