ntained no graves, save an arched tomb which had never been used; at one side was a shelf for lamps. The whole surface of the wall was covered with hard white st

igns, and the panels with Biblical and symbolical

amber in t

he blessed Saviour seeks the erring, and brings them into the safe and true fold. Thou seest to the left the figure between the two lions. That is Daniel in the lion's den; and to the right are the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace. These, my son, are symbols of the Church of Christ, a

ubterranean crypts, with the full assurance of faith, confronting all the power of the persecuting despot of the world, an

of lofty faith that flourished in his own. With this object he led him through the long corridors and chambers of the vast encampment of dea

tyrs for the truth," and pausing from time to time before some inscribed or painted slab,

sed and lonely, I come hither and derive strength and consolation by reading the words which she requested, with her

RIMIS DVLCIS CV

DEO CREDITE

rs, my sweet chil

is forbidden to we

G

of our little child," and Isidorus

-PARVM STETI

SIT NOS

mb-he stayed but

t before us

uch of our eldest daughter," and he re

INNOCVA SAPIE

VA SED D

uileless, wise, be

ut sle

rus, "from two epitaphs I read to-day upon the

S ET TEMPORE F

RAS ANXIA

by our vows, mi

r cares; anxious

SSIMO QVEM DE

DEDE

child, whom the a

al sl

he presence of death, but such faith as that of my friend

REDENS PREMIA

ist, he has the r

heav

the following ill-written, but sublime, ep

ES (sic) HIC DO

VIVS SPIRITVS

EST,-IN SE

VIESCIT

he sleep of pea

s, whose spirit is

rests free from

ess

philosophers and sages-a Socrates or Cicero-never rose above a vague 'perhaps,' and even the philosophic Pli

Primitius, and with a gleam of exultation in h

EMPTOR MEVS VI

SVSCITABIT ME

O DOM

se that my Redeem

raise me from the

hall see

CARO MEA NOVI

REDO RECVSCITA

lesh, but at the

it will be raise

e Greek. "Methinks I should shudder at going out into the dark inane, like a taper extinguished in these

ul passes from earth's living death, it enters into the undying life and unfading bliss of he

ELLVS ANIMAM C

MORTIS VIV

ENE CONSC

death, and consciously rejo

RIA DEI ET IN PACE

glory of God, and in the

, deeply moved. "Whence do you Christians derive such lofty teachings? For as Hilar

om a leathern case a purple vellum parchment scroll, inscribed with letters of silver. "Cherish it carefully; 'tis worth more than gold. When thou hast well pondered it, I will lend thee the letter of the blessed Paul to the infant Church

and kissed his hand, and followed in silence the fossor

ave observed a lion, a pig, an ass, a cobbler's last, carpenters', masons', and wool-combers' implements; a fish, a s

hops, Catacomb

ssion by the hand of the headsman, five of them in the space of eight ye

lowly craftsmen, are unable to read, so the tools or emblems of their calling are inscribed on

re not signs of a handicraft, unl

up the word Ichthus, or fish, so it is used as a secret symbol of our faith. The ship is the emblem, I have been told, even in your own country, of a well-spent life, and to

on, ass, and pig?

such his office virtually was, "these are a sort of play upon the names of Leo, Onager, and Porcella, the latter w

e passed ten, twenty, thirty, and one even fifty years of married life-SINE IVRGIO, SINE AEMVLATIONE, SINE DISSIDIO, SINE QVERELA-'Without contention,

est wife God ever gave to any man." After walking in silence some minutes, he entered a sort of family vault, and lit a bronze lamp, shaped like a sh

ANDE BONE INN

ILIS PVDICA (s

O NVTRIX FAM

RIX PAVPERVM

MENS. IX. DI

SEMPER CONCO

T PLVS MINVS

ILEM CONIVGEM

V TRISTI LAC

entia, deserving

pious, amiable, m

er husband, the nu

lover of the poor

) thirty-two years

x scruples (about a

scrupulous about

-two years, five m

sband bewails, wit

his incompa

"and if I say it myself, I don't think there is a better in the whole Catacomb; you see, I selected the best bits from

on pain, so he ignored its bad Latinity, and contented himse

broad Campagna from the westering sun. "Would," thought Isidorus within himself, "that I could thus em

TNO

inscriptions from the Catacombs, selected from many hundr