On the two west corner towers, and on the west end a few feet below the top of battlements, may be seen in alto-relievo and bold relief the great dipper, or Ursa Major, with the pointers ranging nearly toward the north star. (Moral: the lost may find themselves by the priesthood.)
I will now glance at the main body of the house. I have before stated that the basement was divided into many rooms. The central one is arranged for a baptismal font, and is 59 feet long by 35 feet wide, separated from the main wall by four rooms, two on each side, 19 feet long by 12 feet wide. On the east and west sides of these rooms are four passages 12 feet wide; these lead to and from by outside doors, two on the north and two on the south. Farther east and west from these passages are four more rooms, two at each end, 28 feet wide by 381⁄2 long. These two thin walls occupy the basement. All the walls start off their footings, and rise 161⁄2 feet, and there stop with groin ceiling.
We are now up to the line of the base string course, 8 feet above the promenade or steps rising to the temple, which terminates at the cope of the pedestal, and to the first floor of said house. This room is joined to the outer courts, these courts being the width between towers 16 feet by 9 in the clear. We ascend to the floors of these courts (they being on a line with the first floor of the main house) by four flights of stone steps 91⁄2 feet wide, arranged in the basement work, the first step ranging to the outer line of towers. From these courts doors admit to any part of the building.
The size of the first large room is 120 feet long by 80 feet wide; the height reaches nearly to the second string course. The room is arched over in the centre with an elliptical arch, which drops at its flank 10 feet, and has 38 feet span. The side ceilings have one fourth elliptical arches, which start from the side walls of the main building 16 feet high, and terminate at the capitals of the columns, or foot of centre arch, at the height of 24 feet. The columns obtain their bearings direct from the footings of the said house; these columns extend up to support the floor above. The outside walls of this story are 7 feet thick. The space, from the termination of the foot of the centre arch to the outer wall, is divided into sixteen compartments, eight in each side, making rooms 14 feet by 14, clear of partitions, and 10 feet high, leaving a passage of 6 feet wide next to each flank of the centre arch, which is approached from the ends. These rooms are each lighted by an elliptical or oval window, whose major axis is vertical.
The second large room is one foot wider than the room below; this is in consequence of the wall being but 6 feet thick, falling off 6 inches on the inner and 6 on the outer side. The second string course provides for this on the outer side. The rooms of this story are similar to those below. The side walls have nine buttresses on a side, and have eight tiers of windows, five in each tier.
The foot of the basement windows are 8 inches above the promenade, rise 3 feet perpendicular, and terminate in a semicircular head. The first-story windows have 12 feet long of sash to the top of the semicircular head. The oval windows have 61⁄2 feet length of sash. The windows of the second story are the same as those below. All these frames have 41⁄2 feet width of sash. The pedestals under all the buttresses project at their base 2 feet; above their base, which is 15 inches by 41⁄2 feet wide, on each front is a figure of a globe 3 feet 11 inches across, whose axis corresponds with the axis of the earth.
The base string course forms a cope for those pedestals. Above this cope the buttresses are 31⁄2 feet, and continue to the height of 100 feet. Above the promenade, close under the second string course on each of the buttresses, is the moon, represented in its different phases. Close under the third string course or cornice is the face of the sun. Immediately above is Saturn with his rings. The buttresses terminate with a projected cope.
The only difference between the tower buttresses and the one just described is, instead of Saturn being on them, we have clouds and rays of light descending.
All of these symbols are to be chiseled in bas-relief on solid stone. The side walls continue above the string course or cornice 81⁄2 feet, making the walls 96 feet high, and are formed in battlements interspersed with stars.
This roof is quite flat, rising only 8 feet, and is to be covered with galvanized iron or some other metal. The building is to be otherwise ornamented in many places. The whole structure is designed to symbolize some of the great architectural work above. The basement windows recede in from the face of the outer wall to the sash frame 23 inches, and are relieved by a large cavetto, while on the inside they are approached by stone steps.