in case of an accident. At the dawn of day, two masses of the Holy Ghost
were celebrated; all the artificers made their communion, and received
the papal benediction, and before the rising of the sun all entered the
barrier. The concourse of spectators was such, that the tops of the
houses were covered, and the streets crowded. The nobility and prelates
were at the barriers, between the Swiss guards and the cavalry: all were
fixed and attentive to the proceedings; and, terrified at the sight of
the inexorable gibbet, every one was silent.

"The architect gave an order that, at the sound of the trumpet, each
should begin working, and at that of the bell, placed in the castle of
wood, each should desist; there were more than 900 workmen, and 75
horses. The trumpet sounded, and in an instant, men, horses, windlasses,
cranes, and levers were all in motion. The ground trembled, the castle
cracked, all the planks bent from the enormous weight, and the pyramid,
which inclined a foot towards the choir of St. Peter, was raised
perpendicularly. The commencement having prospered so well, the bell
sounded a rest. In twelve more movements the pyramid was raised almost
two feet from the ground, in such a situation that it could be placed on
the rollers, and it remained firmly fixed by means of wedges of iron and
wood. At this happy event the castle of St. Angelo discharged all its
artillery, and a universal joy pervaded the whole city.

"Fontana was now convinced that the ropes were better than iron bands,
these being most broken or distorted, or expanded by the weight. On the
7th of May the pyramid was placed on the sledge--a more difficult and
tedious operation than that of raising it, it being necessary to convey
it over the piazza to the situation intended for it, which was 115 rods
from where it then stood. The level of the piazza being about 30 feet
lower, it was necessary to throw up an earthen embankment from one place