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QUOD. S. MARTYR ET EPISCOPUS HIPPOLYTUS
ADORSUS EST. QUOD. CONCIL. NICÆNUM~
PATRIARCHÆ ALEXANDRINO DEMANAVIT.~
QUOD PATRES CONSTANTIENSES ET LATE-
RANENSES SOLLICITOS HABUIT. QUOD INTER
ROMANOS PONTIFICES GRÉGORIUS XII.~
ET CLEMENS XI. INCREDIBILI LABORE ET
ADHABITÃ PERITIORUM ASTRONOMORUM
INDUSTRIÃ CONATI SUNT. HOC ÆMULATUR
STYLUS ISTE CUM SUBDUCTÃ LIN. MERI-
DIANÃ ET PUNCTO ÆQUINOCTIALI CERTS
PERIDIORUM SOLARIUM INDICIBUS.
(
Because the holy martyr and bishop Hippolytus undertook the task, because the Council
of Nicea entrusted it to the Patriarch of Alexandria, because the Constantine and Laterine
fathers took care of it, because between the Roman pontiffs Gregory XII and Clement XI
they attempted it with incredible work by skilled astronomers. This is emulated by this
stylus with the meridian line drawn from certain evidence of the incidence of the Sun at the
equinoctial point
).
[There follows a decoration that has been erased - some symbol of royalty, perhaps, or the
zodiacal symbol for Pisces, according to Rougé (2006).]
Quid mihi est in Coelo? et a te quid
volui Super terram? deus cordis
mei et pars mea deus in Æternum
Que dois-je chercher dans le Ciel?
et qu'est ce que je puis desirer
sur la Terre? si non vous-même
Seigneur; vous estes le Dieu de
mon coeur, et l'Heritage que jespere
pour l'Eternité. Psal. LXXII.
(
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire before thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion
forever
).
The obelisk shows Latin and French versions of the same verse from Psalm 72 of the Roman
Catholic bible, that is Psalm 73 in the Anglican version, verses 25-6, as translated here in
the Authorised Version of the Bible, translated and published under King James in 1611.
On the east (left) half of the base:
OPUS D.O.M. SACRUM
[Several lines have here been deliberately but neatly obliterated. According to a drawing
by the astronomer La Caille the wording was
REGIIS AUSPICII LUDOVICI XV, IN
HANC BASILICAM MUNIFICI, FAVORE PRAESIDOIQUE D.D. FRED,
PHILIPPEAUX, COMITIS DE MAUREPOIS, REGNI ADMINISTRI, EJUSDEM
TEMPLI AEDITUI PRINCIPIS, NECNON D. PHILIP; ORRI, REGNI ADMINISTRI,
REGIORUM AERARII AEDIFICORUM PRAEFECTI PRIMARII.] ELABORAVIT
[the
word
REGIAE
has been obliterated]
SCIENTIARUM ACADEMIÆ NOMINE ET CONSI-
LIIS P.C.CL. LE MONNIER EJUSD. ACAD. ET LONDIN. SOCIUS. AB ÆQUINOCTIO
AUTUMNALI, ET IN HIMALI SOLSTITIO ABSOLVIT. AN. REP. SAL. MDCCXLIII
.
