A Visit to the Catacombs if St. Calixtus [pp. 326-329]

THE LADIES' REPOSITORY.
not doubt that he would have added greatly to turies speak to us volumes of departed grandhis fame. As it is, hle stands at the head of eur and glory, magnificence and power, justice
his class, in the front r-ankls of the gr-eatest and intiigue, peace and war-we come to an
masters of oratory, a name never to be forgotten avenue of locust-t-rees, leading, to the triumphal
in the annals of Methodism. archl of Titus, behind which the Coliseum rises
in majestic grandcleur-thlat amphitheater of
Vespasian, of which it is said: "Quamdiu slat
A VISIT TO THE CATACOMIBS OF ST. Coiysceus, stat et Roma; quardo cadet Col,seus,
CALIXTUS. cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et
iuneduzs "-as long as the Coliseum stands,
URING the first half of the month of Rome also stands; when the Coliseum falls,
April, i868, while the passion and resur- Rome also falls; and when Rome falls, the
rection of our Savior were being celebra- world also falls. Passing beneath the Al-rchl of
ted with great pomp and ceremony in the Constantine and fnrther on past the tower-ing
"Eternal City," wNe my wife and four American ruins of the Bathls of Carl-acalla and thle Tomb
fellow-travelers-visited, among other places of of the Scipios, we arrive at the gate of St. Seinterest, the Catacombs of St. Calixtus, situ- bastian. On issuing forthl we are on the celeated on the celebrated "Via Aqbia," outside bratedcl "Via Aphia"-"thle Queen of Higlof Rome. There is scarcely anothler place in ways," as the Romanll poet Statius called itEurope that contains such a fullness of sacred upon vhlichl the apostle Paul came to Rome
memories for thiinking Christians as the cata- from Puteoli, and Belisarius led his ai-my against
combs of Rome. Indeed, hle who takles a lively Rome. Walking along tlhe "Via Appia," both
interest in the history of the early Christian sides of which are literally strewn with masses
Church, will find more information concer-ning of imperial ruins, we come to a small church
her life and faitlh in the subterranean passages called "Domilze, quo vadizs?"-Lordcl, wlhither
and chambers of the catfacoml)s than in the goest thlou? It is built upon the spot xhereie
basilicas of Rome, with all their dazzling splen- Christ with the cross is said to have met tlhe
dor and wealth of legends. True, the city apostle Peter fleeing firom Rome. "Lord,
itself contains places associated with the history whlithler goest thlou?" exclaimed Peter, sinikiing
of the early Church, suchl as the Malamertinian on his knees. "I am coming to Rome in order
Prison, where the apostle Peter is said to have to be again crucified," was the answer of Christ.
been imprisoned; and the grottoes beneath the WVe step) into this little church. Within an inchurch of St. Peter, where the coffins of Peter closure is a marble slab with foot-prints on it,
and some of the other apostles are said to be said to be copies of the foot-pi-ints of Jesus.
deposited. But stern historical criticism con- The clhurch of St. Sebastian furthler on is said
fronts the exaggerations of the mass of Roiman to contain his veritable foot-prints. Leaving
legends in regard to most of these places, ren- the church somexwhat incredulous, we ascend a
dering many of them doubtful; but in wander- little vine-clad hill. Tui-ning around we bellold
ing through and examining the visible remains on one side Rome with its innulnerable spires
of the "subterranean Rome," we gain a tolera- and ruins, and the mnagnificent dome of St. Pebly correct idea of the life, manners, customs, ter's towering dreamily toward heaven, and on
etc., of the heroic Christians of the first four the other the beautiful Tivoli, behind which rise
centuries. The falsity of the assertion made the Sabine and Alban Mountains, while iammeby such writers as Misson, Zorn, etc., that the diately around us lies stretched out the vast
catacombs were simply heathen burial-places, Campagna, thlrough which, resting on high and
and the inscriptions found therein pious impo- massive a-rchles, the Claudian aqueduct draws
sitions of monks, has been sufficiently estab- itself in a most picturesque manner, and above
lishled to need here no further notice.* us is the deeply blue Italian sky. This is tlhe
Descending from the Capitolium of ancient place beneath which the "City of the Dead"Rome toward the "Forum Romanum"-places "the mysterious city of the heroic ages of
of grand historical associations, from beneath Christianity" -ramifies itself in different direcwhose magnificent ruins the voices of past cen- tions for hundreds of miles.*
Having neglected to procure tickets of ad... ~~mission from thle p~roper authlorities, we were
* See "La Roma Sotterenea Christiana. Descritta ed lllus- t
trata dal Cay G. B. de Rossi. Tom. I and II. Roma." given to understand by the oicer in charge
Also, "Aus den Catakomben des Callist an der Via Appia zu
Rom. Von E. Alex. Dresden." Besides our own observations, * It is said that the combined length of all subterranean paswe are indebted to these uorks for some of the facts and infor- sages a'otond Rome is about twelye hundred miles, and that they
mation contained in the present article. contain the graves of about five millions of Christians.
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