Letters from Rome to Friends in England

Front matter

LETTERS FROM ROME. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A PLAIN COMMENTARY ON THE FOUR HOLY GOSPELS, 7 vols. crown 8vo. NINETY SHORT SERMONS FOR FAMILY READING, 2 vols. crown 8vo. A CENTURY OF VERSES IN MEMORY OF THE PRESIDENT OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE. THE PORTRAIT OF A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN. A MEMOIR OF PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, Author of the "HISTORY OF SCOTLAND." (2nd Ed.) 1859. Crown 8vo. 9s. INSPIRATION AND INTERPRETATION: SEVEN SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: WITH PRELIMINARY REMARKS: BEING AN ANSWER TO "ESSAYS AND REVIEWS," 8vo. 1861. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SARCOPHAGUS USED AS AN ALTAR IN THE BASILICA OP S MARIA MAGGIORE. SEE PAGE MS, LETTERS FROM ROME TO FRIENDS IN ENGLAND. BY THE REV. JOHN W. BURGO N, M.A. FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE. I did not without regret give it my last farewell. John Evelyn (1645.)

LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1862. LONDON : FEINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER, ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET. TO THE ENGLISH CONGKEGATION AT KOME, (FEBRUARY — MAY, 1860;) THE MOST ' BEAUTIFUL FLOCK ' I EYER SHEPHERDED ; IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE DAYS WHICH THEIR KINDNESS MADE PASSING SWEET TO ME: AND WITH A HUMBLE PRAYER THAT, TO SOME MEMBERS OF THAT FLOCK AT LEAST, THE IMPERFECT MINISTRATIONS OF THOSE DAYS MAY NOT HAYE BEEN UNBLESSED. Oriel, 1861. THE GOOU SHBPHBRD, FROM THE CATACOMBS : SEE FAGE 235,

Preface

. In strictness, these were not " Letters from Rome." A traveller who resides hut a short time in that wondrous city, has no leisure to prepare Letters for the press. Scarcely is he ahle to jot down, with punctuality, the impressions of the passing hour ; especially if, to every other claim on his time, are superadded the duties, — (let me rather say, the privileges,) — of a Chaplain. The title of the present volume, nevertheless, sufficiently describes its general character. Its miscellaneous contents must be ascertained from an inspection of the headings of its chapters. At Rome indeed, in the present instance, the intention of some day publishing anything about Rome, was but faintly entertained, if at all. Friends put such thoughts into one's head. The present writer, even on his return to England, by no means contemplated so serious a respon-

PREFACE.

. VIII sibility as a volume. It was at first only intended, briefly, to call attention to a few matters of interest, — the Codex Vaticanus, the modern Romish Services, certain Inscrip tions from the Catacombs. But a series of Letters, when once begun, has a strange tendency to grow. Twenty of those now published, (No. II. to No. XXI.,) under the title of " Letters to Home Friends," appeared in the " Guar dian," between August 15th, 1860, and January 2nd, 1861 ; thus enjoying the advantage of a wide and important cir culation. They attracted such favourable notice, and a republication of the entire series was so strenuously recom mended, that the intention was at last seriously entertained. Such has been the history of the present volume, — which would have been a less imperfect performance hut that a very slender amount of available leisure could be bestowed upon it.

Several Letters however have been added ; and the former twenty have been carefully revised throughout. It is hoped that the sac-similes of early Christian Epitaphs from the Catacombs, and other Monuments, with which these pages have been enriched, will secure for them a more than ephemeral interest. Some apology should perhaps be offered for the very unlearned character of the present volume: but in truth, with the exception of two of the letters, (Nos. II. and III.), it has been the writer's desire throughout to address intelligent, rather than learned readers. Hence the pecu liar character of the last three letters ; which are intended to embody a popular reply to the popular objections made by Romanists or Romanizers against our own Branch of the Catholic Church. Houghton Conquest, Sept. 9th, 1861. MONOGRAM CF CHRIBT, AND 8AORED ANAGRAM. TROM A CATACOMB. SEE FAGEB 228 AND 211, CONTENTS

Letter I. Page The Ancient And The Modern Method Of Continental Travel

— CHAPEL OF ST. GERVAIS, AT ROUEN. — ANCIENT CHAPEL AT LYONS. SCENERY ABOUT VIENNE. AVIGNON. ARLES. ARRIVAL AT ROME. A DAY AT OSTIA 1

Letter II. The Codex Vaticanus

(b). DESCRIPTION OF THE CODEX. — MAl's QUARTO EDITION OF THE TEXT. HIS OCTAVO EDITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT PORTION OF THE SAME OODEX. THE TRUE METHOD OF EDITING SUCH A MANUSCRIPT .13 CONTENTS. X PAGE 25 LETTER in. THE TWO ROMAN EDITIONS OF THE CODEX VATICANUS (b). COL LATION OF SEVENTEEN PASSAGES. THE FIRST EDITION FURTHER CORRECTED IN THIRTY-THREE PLACES. FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON CODEX (b). — VERCELLONE. — THE VATICAN LIBRARY

Letter VIII. Page The Oratorio At The Chiesa Nuova

— THE VISIT TO THE SEPUL CHRES : TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES : AND TO THE CEMETERIES. ASCENDING THE SCALA SANTA. A BEATIFICATION. THE SERMONS AT ROME DESCRIBED. — THE ' MISSIONE URBANA ' . . . .73

LETTER LX. THE MISSIONE IN THE CHURCH OF

S. VITALE DESCRIBED. — SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DIALOGO. GENERAL REMARKS ON THE ACTUAL ROMISH METHOD 82

Letter X. Sources Of Our English Prayer-book

— THE ANCIENT OFFICES OF THE WEST SURVIVE WITH OURSELVES ALONE. ' MATINS,' ' MASS,' AND ' EVEN-SONG,' THE ENGLISH SERVICES BEFORE THE REFORMA TION. GENERAL LAXITY OF MODERN ROMISH CONVENTUAL PRAC TICE WITH REGARD TO THE BREVIARY HOURS. HOW ACCOUNTED FOR.— INSTANCES OF STRICTNESS. THE CAMALDOLI CONVENT NEAR NAPLES. VIEW OF MODERN MONASTIC LIFE 90

Letter XI. Modern Romanism

DISREGARD TO TRUTH. NEGLECT OF THE BIBLE ; AND OF ANTIQUITY. WORSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. ' CATHOLIC ' AND ' PROTESTANT.' IMPOSING CHARACTER OF THE ROMISH SYSTEM. UNBOUNDED LICENSE AND MODERNNESS OF THE ROMISH SERVICES. THE CHURCHES AT ROME. COMMON FALLACY OF ENGLISH TRAVELLERS. EXTERNALS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. IMAGE WORSHIP. IMPRESSIONS OF AN ENGLISHMAN AT ROME . 99

Letter XII

A VISIT TO THE ROMAN CATACOMBS DESCRIBED. — THEIR INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT. THE GRAVES. — SEPULCHRAL CHAMBERS. EVELYN'S VISIT TO THE CATACOMBS IN 1645 . . CONTENTS. XII

Letter XIII. Page Gratuitous Difficulties With Which The Study Of The Roman

CATACOMBS HAS BEEN ENCUMBERED. THIS MODE OF SEPULTURE ORIGINALLY JEWISH. INCORRECT POPULAR CONCEPTIONS. EARLY NOTICES OF THE CATACOMBS. JEROME. — SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE CATACOMBS. THEIR PRESENT STATE, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS. VISIT TO A NEW CATACOMB WITH THE CAV. G. B. DE BOSSI . 129

Letter XIV. Inscriptions From The Catacombs In The Galeria

LAPIDAR1A. — THOSE IN THE MUSEUM OF ST. JOHN LATERAN. OTHER COLLEC TIONS ENUMERATED. STATISTICS OF THE SUBJECT. DATED IN SCRIPTIONS. — de rossi's great work. — specimens of dated INSCRIPTIONS. DATES OF THE FIRST BISHOPS OF ROME . . 142

CHAPTER XV. EPITAPHS OF FIVE EARLY BISHOPS OF ROME.

EPITAPH OF HIPPO LYTUS. DISCUSSION OF THE PRECEDING. SPECIMENS OF EARLY JEWISH SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS. THE WORD ' EULOGIA.' RE MARKS ON THE STYLE OF EPITAPHS FROM THE CATACOMBS . 156

Letter XVI. Fac-similes Necessary Of Early Christian Inscriptions

SPECI MENS OF DIFFERENT STYLES OF EPITAPHS FROM THE CATACOMBS. BRIEFEST FORM OF EPITAPHS. THE FORMULA ' IN PACE.' CHIL- DREN'S EPITAPHS. WIVES' EPITAPHS. MISCELLANEOUS SPECIMENS. THE TERM ' DEPOSITIO ' 175

Letter XVII. Further Specimens Of Early Christian Epitaphs From The Catacombs

LOVE EVER THE LANGUAGE OF GRIEF. GRAMMATICAL INACCURACIES. — CONFUSION OF GREEK AND LATIN. — INDICATIONS THAT MANY OF THE EPITAPHS BELONG TO PERSONS OF HUMBLE RANK. — ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD ' CHAPEL ' CONTENTS. XIII

Letter XVIII. Page Points Of Contrast Observable Between The Epitaphs Of The

EARLY CHRISTIANS AND OUR OWN. SCRIPTURE NEVER QUOTED ON ANCIENT EPITAPHS. ' PEACE ' AND ' HOPE.' — EXPRESSIONS OF GRIEF. BREVITY. POINTS OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ANCIENT AND MODERN CHRISTIAN EPITAPHS. IMPROPRIETIES. DOCTRINAL IN FERENCES FROM THE INSCRIPTIONS IN THE CATACOMBS . . 208

Letter XIX. The Doctrinal Evidence Of The Catacombs

MAWKISH TONE OF THE POPULAR ROMISH WRITERS ON THIS SUBJECT. FABIOLA. — CONTRAST BETWEEN THE TEACHING ABOVE GROUND AND BELOW GROUND, AT ROME. THE MOST POPULAR SYMBOLS IN THE CATA COMBS. JEWISH ORIGIN OF MANY OF THESE. APOSTROPHE TO THE DEAD. THE SAINTS' PRAYERS. MODERN ROMANISM CONDEMNED BY THE VOICE OF THE CATACOMBS 223

Letter XX. Nothing Romish In The Sepulchral Inscriptions Of The First Few

CENTURIES. ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SCULPTURED SARCOPHAGI. — MUSEUM OF ST. JOHN LATERAN. — A SARCOPHAGUS DESCRIBED. TABULATED RESULT OF AN EXAMINATION OF ABOUT FIFTY-FIVE SCULPTURED SARCOPHAGI. FAVOURITE SUBJECTS WITH THE EARLY CHURCH. CHRISTIAN FRESCO-PAINTING. — VETRI. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE SUBJECT. UNEQUIVOCAL SYMPATHY OF THE PRIMITIVE AGE WITH THE ENGLISH, RATHER THAN WITH THE ROMISH BRANCH OF THE CHURCH CATHOLIC 243

Letter XXI. Sights Of Rome

THE CARNIVAL. THE VATICAN STATUE-GAL LERY. A VISIT DESCRIBED TO THE MONASTERY OF S. GREGORIO. A VISIT TO THE CHURCH AND CONVENT OF S. ONOFRIO. — A WALK IN THE GHETTO, OR JEWS' QUARTER CONTENTS. XIV LETTER XXŒ. PAGE DEPARTURE FROM ROME. JOURNEY TO NAPLES. THE COPHINUS. A VISIT TO POMPETT. — THE MUSEUM AT NAPLES .... 273

Letter XXIII. The Bay Of

BAIÆ. POLLIo's VILLA. ASCENT OF VESUVIUS. A VISIT TO PÆSTUM 291 LETTER XXTV. ORDINARY HISTORY OF ONE WHO FALLS AWAY FROM THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO THE CHURCH OF ROME. REVIEW OF THE SEVE RAL OBJECTIONS AND DIFFICULTIES COMMONLY URGED BY SUCH PERSONS AGAINST THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. — VALIDITY OF HER ORDERS. — HER ANTIQUITY. — THE DOCTRINES SHE HAS REPUDIATED. TRANSUBSTANTIATION. — INVOCATION OF SAINTS. PURGATORY. — PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. ADORATION OF RELICS. DEVELOPMENT. — THE FAITH OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH NOT INDEFINITE. UN FAITHFULNESS, UNDUTIFULNESS, AND DOUBT. MISAPPLICATION OF THE TERM ' CONVERSION.' THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND NOT ' SMALL.' — THE CASE OF THOSE WHO HAVE FORSAKEN HER, CONSIDERED. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THE MOTHER OF SAINTS. BOOKS OF DEVOTION. CLOSED AND OPEN CHURCHES. NO LACK OF DEVOUT NESS IN OUR PEOPLE.

ST. GEOBGE's-TN-THE-EAST. CONDITIONS OF A CHURCH'S EXISTENCE. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND NOT IN- DIFFERENT TO TRUTH. — HER LITURGY. — MEN OF ' MODERATE ' views 305

Letter XXV. Shortcomings Discoverable In The Romish, As Well As In The

ENGLISH CHURCH. — IDOLATRY. — DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY AND INDULGENCES. — MARIOLATRY. SUPERSTITION. — ENTIRE SYSTEM OF PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE ROMISH CHURCH. — NEGLECT OF ANTIQUITY. — REBAPTIZATION .365 CONTENTS. XV PAGE

Letter XXVI. The Only Real Question Remains Yet To Be Discussed

: NAMELY, THE VALIDITY OF THE PAPAL CLAIM TO UNIVERSAL SUPREMACY. FIVE THEORIES BRIEFLY CONSIDERED. THE PATRIARCHIAL CLAIM. THE CLAIM OF CONVERSION. — THE CLAIM OF IMMEMORIAL POS SESSION. THE CLAIM FROM INFALLIBILITY. THE CLAIM, BASED ON SCRIPTURE AND FATHERS, OF BEING THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. NO PRIMACY OF AUTHORITY GIVEN TO ST. PETER. ST. PETER NOT THE FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH OF ROME : NOR THE FIRST BISHOP OF ROME : NOR RECOGNISED AS HAVING ANY SUPRE MACY BY EARLY COUNCILS AND FATHERS. — CYPRIAN'S EVIDENCE. — CONCLUSION .... ILLUSTKATIONS. ANCIENT SCULPTURED CHRISTIAN SARCOPHAGUS, REPRESENTING EVENTS in the life of our lord .... Toface the Title. FAC-SIMILE OF THE LAST VERSE OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN, FROM THE CODEX VATICANUS (b), WRITTEN ABOUT A.D. 300 ', EXECUTED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH ....

To faCC p. 19. FORTY-ONE ENGRAVED SLABS FROM THE CATACOMBS. Principal Representations : — The seven-branched candlestick, (pp. 166, 169.)— The cup, (pp. 171, 234.)— The dove, (pp. 193, 207, 231, 233.)— Male figure, in prayer, (p. 191.)— Female figure, in prayer, (p. 195.) — The good shepherd, (pp. vii., 220, 235.) — Monogram of Christ, (pp. ix., 222.) — Fish and anchor, (p. 229.)— Ship, (p. 230.)— Noah in the Ark, (p. 232.)— Loaves and Fishes, (p. 232.) — Shepherd playing on a pipe, (p. 217.)— The Sower, (p. 236.)— Unknown subject, (p.258.) The basket called k6($>ivos in the Gospel, (p. 278.) LETTERS FROM ROME TO FRIENDS IN ENGLAND.

Letter I. The Ancient And The Modern Method Of Continental Travel

— CHAPEL OF ST. GERVAIS, AT ROUEN. ANCIENT CHAPEL AT LYONS. SCENERY ABOUT VIENNE. AVIGNON. ARLES. — ARRIVAL AT ROME. — A DAY AT OSTIA. To Miss Anna C, and Miss Gertrude M. Rose. My dearest little girls, When Peter Heylyn, in 1654, published " A full relation of two journeys, the one into the main-land of France, the other into some of the adjacent islands; performed and di gested into six books," — (as if he had been composing an Epic poem !) — he began with some remarks on " The nature of the sea." He had so much to say about the winds, and the waves, and even the fishes, between Dover and Dieppe, — (indeed he had leisure to become acquainted with all three, inasmuch as he was thirty-nine hours in crossing the channel,) — that it is quite a relief, on reaching page 9, to find that he ever got to France at all.

Your uncle is not going to imitate Peter Heylyn. Conti nental travelling has long since lost its strangeness to Eng lish people ; and so long as a man keeps to the beaten road, a journey to Rome no longer affords scope for romantic ad venture. Between St. Paul's and St. Peter's, you could not B CONTINENTAL TRAVELLING. [Leteven lose your portmanteau, if you were to try. It is quite distressing to find the avenues for a picturesque incident everywhere so effectually blocked up. "Clean cab?" — is shouted to you at Rome, as you descend the Piazza di Spagna steps, hy one whose knowledge of English literature is restricted to that pair of monosyllables. " Beautiful cas cade ! " — remarks the guide at Tivoli, who yet cannot advance one step further in the way of conversation. What wonder if an Englishman in the streets of Paris, when he appeals, (in his very best French,) for the redress of some petty grievance, to a ' Commissaire,' is met with a reproachful re monstrance ?

" Och, — yeu air Anglish mans ! Then what for yeu nat talk to me Anglasc ? " A mighty convenience, no doubt, Continental Railway tra velling must be allowed to be ; but it has its own abundant drawbacks. To spin along from place to place at the rate of twenty miles an hour, is not the way to understand even the general features of a country. You enter a capital at its wrong end, — stop where you ought not, and do not stop where you ought, — can no more become acquainted with a lovely scene than with the slide of a magic lantern if the show man is impatient, — are practically often compelled to travel by night, — and are treated to a geological inspection of the strata, the moment you get among hills and are most de sirous to contemplate the surface of the earth. — When at last you do come to a halt, it is sure to be at a place where all is painfully well known ; and where everything is ready done to your hand in " Murray."

And yet, to a watchful eye and ear, it is impossible to get over many yards of foreign ground without noticing some thing of sufficient interest even for a written memorandum ; and such memoranda are generally found to interest those who never saw one's face, and care nothing for one perso nally. At Rouen, after conducting me down a long flight TER I.] CHAPEL OP ST. GERVAIS. 3 of steps into the subterranean church of St. Gervais, the sous-sacristan left me to ring the 12 o'clock bell. Another hell, (for early mass,) which generally woke me at 6 in the morning, supplied a further illustration of an English usage of forgotten origin. A thoughtful spirit cannot even con template Dieppe, (to proceed no further,) as it first meets the eye, — so picturesque and peculiar in its architectural out lines, — without being impressed for life by the utter seve rance which may be effected by a few miles of intermediate sea.

In fact, setting foot on French soil, to an attentive observer, is really like getting into a new world ; so dis similar is everything, — costume, language, manners, aspect, architecture, religion. However, even if nothing of the kind were the case ; if there were a turnpike road all the way to Rome ; it would be natural to write somewhat of a preliminary kind in a preliminary letter: and so I have determined to throw together a few of the impressions which survive most vividly in my memory, at the end of a year and a half; and to address the miscellaneous result to your dear little selves. That subterranean chapel of St. Gervais, which I spoke of just now, is a very extraordinary relic. It reminded me of the crypt of St. Peter's in-the-East at Oxford; but it is far more ancient. The proportions of it are 12 paces by 6, with a semicircular apse beyond, which is l£ feet higher than the floor of the body of the chapel.

The chapel, being divided by an arch, (which, like the roof, is semicircular,) is made to consist as it were of nave ancl chancel. A stone seat surrounds the little edifice, — the part of the seat in the apse being a few inches higher than the part in the chancel ; and this last being higher than the seat in the nave. A semicircular recess in the wall, (one on the north, another on the south,) exactly resembling the arcosolium of the Catacombs, is on either side of the west B [Let- 4 MARGUERITE LA BARGE. end of this chapel: while another recess, 3 feet square, (a large square hole in fact,) is on either side of the chancel. The whole carries one back to a very remote period, I am persuaded. It was more like one of the ex cavated chapels in the Catacombs than anything I have ever seen elsewhere The cimetiere adjoining the church of St. Gervais occupies the site of the ancient Monastery, where William tbe Conqueror went to die.

As for the little circular crypt which was the scene of the con finement and death of Pothinus, at Lyons, it will hardly hear description : while the ancient subterranean chapel of Sts. Alexander, Irenæus, and Epipodius, also at Lyons, dwells on my memory chiefly on account of the following affecting inscription which may be traced on a stone in the floor of a chapel adjoining: — "D.O.M. Ci gist Damoselle Marguerite La Barge de Lyon, decedee le 30 Dec. 1692, agee de 45 ans, a qui Ton na (sic) permi d'elire sasepulthure dans ce lieu sainct ou (?) a cause de la vie penitente quelle y amenee lespace de neuf ans pour estre eternellement unie aux martyrs de cette eglise quelle a si fidellement prie pendant sa vie. — Requi escat in pace. Amen." Poor creature ! to have been incarcerated in that dark hole for nine long years, from the age of 36 to 45.

What a burning desire must she have experienced, to be, when she departed, ' with Cheist ' ! The solemn certainty that I beheld the scene of that recent act of intense devotion moved me far more than the tradition, (necessarily a falter ing one,) concerning the chapel of Irenæus and the rest. We shall get to Rome by-and-by. I cannot forbear telling you how exquisitely agreeable, even in winter, is the scenery all about Vienne. Indeed, the colours of winter, if the sun is but shining on them, — the rich browns, the soft greys and pale yellows, — even in England, always seem TER I.] VIENNE.— AVIGNON. 5 to me more beautiful than those of summer. In the sunny south, you get besides projecting roofs of dull yellowish red surmounting white walls, above which they cast broad shadows : and, on the occasion I am thinking of, the Ehone kept beautifully in sight, with its ruffled, and sometimes even rough waters of the palest turquoise green, flowing over a bed of yellowish shingle ; which by the way is the prevailing soil over which the railway runs all the way to Avignon.

(If ever you go over that ground, be sure you fight for the west, or Rhone side of the carriage.) Too lovely a spot, (I said to myself,) for Pontius Pilate to have been banished to ! These then were the hills among which that troubled conscience retired ! . . . . The whole place seemed to me full of nothing but him. Truly, the thought that I was looking on the sights with which he was once familiar, filled my heart so full, that there was hardly room even for the image of those early Martyrs, whose precious memorial-letter is one of tbe few authentic remains of the first age of the Christian Church. You cannot imagine what an interesting town Avignon is ; so full of picturesque and narrow curvilinear streets. Lyons, with all its interest, is still but an imitation of Paris; and Paris is only a beautiful London.

But at Avignon you feel that you have got far away from common associations, and are in another world. Rouen is picturesque and interesting enough for anybody; but at Avignon you know that you have got into the south. The only nuisance there is the wind. It was blowing a hurricane when we entered the city, and the tocsin was ringing to give notice of a conflagration. Chimneys were being hurled down, and windows broken. Some persons call the wind ' Borasque: ' but the common name for it is ' Mistrael." At Lyons, it is called ' Bise.' It upset the omnibus at Marseille, and really was such a visita tion as I had never witnessed before in my life. I still hear PALACE OF THE POPES, AT [Letthe old custode of the Museum: — "Vous ne pouvez pas aller la haut, aujourd'hui," — in reply to an announcement that I was impatient to see the Cathedral.

" Je concois. Mais ou est la Cathedrale?" "0 la haut,— tout pres du Palais des Papes." " Mais je dois au moins aller voir la Cathedrale!" " 0 diable !" — and he collapsed as he said the word, staggering from leg to leg, and making a dreadful face, just as if some one had struck him a deadly blow in the stomach. And really it was no joke. I thought I should have been blown away. The only plan was to embrace the wall, and creep along like a cat. The Cathedral is a curious though disappointing structure: but the votive offerings within are numerous and singular, — especially the fashion of hanging up worsted cords. When ill, persons procure cords which have been blessed; bind them about their persons; and when recovered, offer them up to the Virgin, — who is the presiding deity at Avignon, as elsewhere in countries of the Roman obedience. — The Palace of the Popes is very interesting indeed, though re duced to a mere barrack, and therefore nasty enough.

But it requires little imagination to fill up the outlines supplied by the sombre feudal ruin, — half dungeon, half fortress, and no palace at all: abounding too in horrible stories, which the guide, (a soldier from Sebastopol,) delighted in making hideous. It was a relief to get into the two chapels, and to scan the mutilated frescoes on their walls. More refreshing however was the view from the windows of square tower, called La Glaciere. In the far distance splendidly uprose M. Ventoux; and all in front was seen the city, — an exquisite panorama. As it lay stretched out peacefully in the evening sunshine, it was impossible to behold it, and to suppress an exclamation of delight and admiration. There was the Rhone too, of so exquisite a tint ! and everything so ravishingly beautiful as to colour and outline; TER I.] AVIGNON.— ARLES. 7 ....

But the air of desolation and desertion was what struck me most. I thought that perhaps this might he a consequence, in part, of the storm of wind which was raging, and which rendered walking disagreeable and even difficult: but the guide said it was always so. Avignon, he said, reminded him of Sebastopol after the siege. And really, the place has a kind of bombarded, slightly ruinous air; or at least it wears a look of decadence; which, su peradded to so much of indescribable beauty and softness, inspires a tender and soothing sentiment, by no means uncon genial to one who comes from a scene of lusty hfe. I gazed and gazed, and could not help returning to gaze again. The dialect of Avignon is altogether peculiar, and differs so considerably on the two sides of the city, that a speaker is detected in a moment.

It is singular to find in a town two distinct languages going on at the same time. A book seller talks to you in French, (with a highly provincial accent,) and in the same breath addresses his shopman in Patois which no amount of attention enables you to under stand. The Provencal language abounds in proverbs, I find; as well as in Christmas Carols, — Noels, which they pronounce "Nouv6s." The next place was Aries, which I wanted to see chiefly because three British Bishops attended the Council which was held there, a.d. 314. But I forgot all about the Right Reverend bench the instant I entered the mighty oval of the ancient Amphitheatre, and began to admire the colossal masonry, the excellent contrivance for entrance and exit, the effectual protection of the spectators against the beasts, the provision that all the spectators should be able to see.

How those ancient architects, — Egyptians, Baby lonians, Greeks, Romans, — seem to have built for eternity ! And how does all recorded Time seem to shrivel to a span while we contemplate their handy-work ! . . . This amphi- [Let- 8 NISMES.— THE CEMETERY AT theatre was built over, till thirty years ago, and still wants excavation. What a capital fortress it must have made for the Saracens! and what a splendid scene the storm hy Charles Martel, a thousand years ago, must have been ! . . . On my way back from Rome, I visited Nismes; and scruple not to say that the amphitheatre of that very interesting city is well worth inspection even to one who comes fresh from the Coliseum. It is wonderfully perfect; and what is remarkable, it is still applied to its ancient purpose. Ani mals are baited in the area, or there is a species of exhibition going on within it, on Sundays, all through the summer, to the present day.

There are also to he seen at Aries the wrecks of what must have been once a most beautiful Theatre. Very ex quisite must all its appointments once have been, to judge from the lovely fragments of sculpture which have survived the storm of twenty hundred years. The Church of S. Trophimus charmed me more, — especially its beautiful cloisters. What haunts my memory most, however, is the ancient Cemetery of Aries, popularly called ' Aliscamps,' (a corruption of Elysii Campi,) — now shamefully desecrated; but which was in use from Roman times until the seven teenth century. Then came the Revolution; then came — the Railway; and the locahty, sung hy Dante and Ariosto, became a wilderness of ruined graves. The sarcophagi of the ancient inhabitants in pagan times, as well as those of the early Christians, were exhumed, and the dead were heartlessly rifled.

I was particularly affected by the nar rative of the concierge, who, in the ruined church of St. Honor6 pointed to an open leaden coffin in which was a confused heap of bones and a skull. It was the coffin of a girl of 18, which he remembered seeing opened. The teeth were all instantly wrenched' out for relics, and the poor body was despoiled. Traces of the girl's dress were dis- TER I.] ARLES.— SANCTITY OF THE GRAVE. 9 coverable, and her hair lay on either side of her face. . . . One is led to inquire, — What right have men to act thus by the dead ? Surely I cannot be peculiar in feeling that humanity cries out against these barbarous outrages, (of which we have had but too many instances in England!) performed on persons who are no longer able to defend themselves, and whose natural defenders are away !

How does it come to pass that St. Cuthbert at Durham, and Edward I. at Westminster, and Bishop Fox at Winchester, and Charles I. at Windsor, may be pulled about, in turn ? What possible warrant can the lapse . of a few centuries be supposed to convey for the commission of such outrages on the repose of the departed ? . . . But to come back to Aries. You approach the ancient place of tombs through two long lines of empty sarcophagi. A more deplorable sight I never witnessed in my hfe. Let any one who dreams of being remembered after death, or hopes that the place of his rest will be respected, — let such an one go take the walk I took on the wintry morning of the 13th February, 1860; and he will never be able to forget it while he fives.3 Well, we must consider that we have passed the sterile wilderness which spreads between Aries and Marseille ; and made all sorts of observations, as well as indulged in every possible form of remark.

We have crossed the blue waters of the Mediterranean, dotted over with pretty little sails, like the wings of sea-gulls. We have survived the impertinences a Since this was written, I have found on the last leaf of the pocket-book I carried with me, something scribbled which shows that exactly what is here offered in prose, sought expression on the spot in verse : — Let him who dreams of quiet after death, — Ancl him who, (plumed with high conceit of birth, And ancient wealth, and all that makes men strong,) Claims for himself, a quite inviolate grave, — Go visit Aries ! ROME. -THE ROAD TO OSTIA. [Letof Civita Vecchia, and made a sweeping induction, (less in correct than most inductions based on such slender grounds,) that we have alighted among a race of beggars : for to call them thieves, would be uncivil.

We have entered Rome, — and felt disappointed. But Rome does not care about that. We shall learn to like Rome well enough, hy-and-by .... As for the Carnival, (which was at its zenith when I first beheld the Corso,) I will not tell you how stupid I thought it. Something shall be said on the subject on another occasion. But I will conclude this letter by describing briefly the events of the morrow, — my first day in Rome. Mr. Thomas, (whom you know,) announced overnight that he had a rare treat in store for me. Miss Howard had lent him her carriage, and he proposed a day at Ostia, (the ancient port of Rome,) where there there had been some recent excavations. So next morning, at an early hour, we started, — Thomas, Major Oldfield (and his beard), Mr. Combe, and I. Winding our way across Rome was all pleasant enough.