intending to open them upon some dream or other artifice to give them the more reputation." Mr. Northcote does not waste much time over this sapient conception; neither will we. It is enough to say that it is scarcely possible to conceive "such a gigantic imposture involving the forgery of several thousand inscriptions, and this perpetrated in entire secrecy." (P. 8.) And that "puteoli or pits of this description, have nothing in common with a regular series of subterranean galleries, where every corpse had its own place carefully hewn out of the rock, and as carefully closed in again with bricks and mortar." (P. 9.)

The belief that the catacombs1 belonged to Pagans and Christians in common, in fact that they were the general cemetery of the whole Roman people, is more worthy of reputation, because it is grounded upon a matter of fact which at first sight seems considerable, viz., “that in the catacombs many heathen inscriptions have been found." (P. 11.) But besides the antecedent improbability that an exclusive people like the Pagan Romans would share their tombs with those whom they hated and despised as they did the Christians; or that Christians "equally jealous of the sacredness of their places of rest," would suffer the remains of those whom they loved to be associated with bodies of the unbaptized or with the idolatrous rites that attended Pagan funerals,

"It should be remembered," says Mr. Northcote, "that with very few exceptions, the custom of the Romans was not to bury but to burn the bodies of the dead, and then inclose them in an urn, and so commit them to their place of sepulture. Consequently the Pagan burying places in Rome with which we are acquainted are of the kind called Columbaria or dove-cotes, from the little niches, like pigeon holes, into which these urns were placed. The graves in the catacombs on the other hand are long and narrow, evidently intended to receive the human body in its full proportions; indeed in some the skeleton may still be seen; nor has there ever been found in them a single instance of a sepulchral urn, nor of a place in which one was ever deposited."-Pp. 10, 11.

And as for the heathen inscriptions, Mr. Northcote boldly demands that they should be read and examined, and that then they will be found strangely out of harmony with the place where they have been discovered.

1 Mr. Northcote's idea is that these receptacles of the dead were copied from the Jewish customs. "And in fact, outside Porta Portese, the gate nearest the Jewish quarter, the indefatigable Bosio discovered a catacomb, which evidently belonged to that nation. It was exactly like a Christian catacomb in shape, but devoid of all emblems exclusively Christian, while the tombs, which were of a poorer character, are marked with such representations as the Ark of the Covenant, the seven-branched candlestick of the temple, and other Jewish tokens. The lamps too, and terra cotta vases were impressed with the same figures; and in a fragment of a Greek inscription, he read the word 'Synagogue.'"-Pp. 21, 22.

"Some, for instance, though closing the mouth of tombs, are not sepulchral inscriptions at all; others again, which are sepulchral, bequeath in express terms a place of burial to children and servants for many generations, although the graves to which they are attached are only capable of containing each a single body; of some again the letters have been either wholly or partially erased, or filled up with fine cement. Still more frequently the Pagan inscription has been found in the inner side of the slab, with sometimes a Christian inscription on the outer side or it has been placed sideways or upside down; but in every instance where a Pagan inscription has been found in the catacombs, it has been so placed, as in some way or other to denote that it was not intended for the purpose to which it was there put, and that in its present position it has no meaning. Instances of this may be seen in the lately discovered catacomb of S. Alessandro in the Via Nomentana, where the graves are as yet unopened, precisely in the state in which they are found. There several of the marble slabs which close the graves bear Pagan inscriptions, but all the inscriptions are either on one side or upside down, so making it manifest that the slabs were not originally prepared for the places in which they now are, but were taken by the Christians, wherever they happened to find them, and used for their own purpose, just as we know to have been done in many other instances."-Pp. 11, 12.

But besides being the resting places of the dead in CHRIST, it is very evident that the "catacombs were used as places of religious assembly, and of this, too, distinct indications may be found in their internal form and arrangements." (P. 31.) These chapels, if we may so call them—

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are very numerous, and of different forms and sizes, generally square, or at least rectangular; though in the catacombs of S. Cyriac and S. Callisto a few may be found which are circular, octagonal, or of some other unusual shape: and generally two will be found to have been excavated immediately opposite to one another on the two sides of the gallery, the one probably intended for men, the other for women. In these chapels we find an arched tomb or arcosolium, such as has been already described, wherein repose the bodies of one or two martyrs, and the slab which covered this grave served as an altar..... Besides the altar, is to be found in several of these chapels, that which in modern ecclesiastical language is called the credence table, on which the elements were placed before being given to the priest for consecration. In the chapels of the catacombs of S. Agnes, this prothesis, as it was then called, generally consisted of a small square shelf, or ledge of rock, projecting into the chamber, and forming part therefore of the original design of the excavator. In other chapels it was provided for by a niche, or in some other ways.”—P. 33.

Mr. Northcote's view is, that persecution being always threatened it was necessary for the Christians to have some more secret and secure places of meeting, to which they could have recourse

when need required; and such they found in the catacombs. (P. 32.)

He does not, however, for a moment suppose that they were ever intended or used for dwelling places, but there is, he says, direct evidence to show that they were used "as temporary places of concealment for the bishops and clergy of Rome, and some few others, perhaps, who might happen to be the special objects of search." (P. 35.)

There are now two distinct subjects which remain to be noticed, to each of which Mr. Northcote devotes a whole chapter. One which treats of the paintings, and the other of the inscriptions in the catacombs. With regard to the first, "the subterranean chapels just mentioned are in many instances richly decorated with paintings, and some of these competent judges of art have not hesitated to assign to the first ages of the Church." (P. 46.) And it is worthy of note, that this art was apparently in a more flourishing state "for the first two or three centuries after the Christian era, than for a very long period afterwards, during which the old classical beauty gradually faded and died out, while that which was to succeed it, the new special creation, so to speak, of Christianity, the glory of later ages, had not yet sprung into being.' (P. 47.)

Of the subjects of these paintings, that of most frequent occurrence is that of "the Good Shepherd," in some instances (as in the catacomb of S. Callisto) represented as standing between a goat and a sheep, but the sheep occupying only the second place, being on the left hand, while the goat fills the place of honour, on His right. (P. 51.)1 Next to the Good Shepherd no subjects are so common as those which typify more or less directly the great doctrine of the Resurrection, the history of Jonas, of Daniel in the den of lions, and of the Three Children.2 The raising of Lazarus is another favourite subject, and in these representations Lazarus is always wrapped in swaddling clothes, according to the Gospel narrative." (P. 55.)

The raising of the paralytic man, Moses striking the rock, representations of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, are also of frequent occurrence; as also is the adoration of the Wise Men,

"who are commonly represented as offering their gifts to our LORD, as He sits in His Mother's lap, she herself being also seated. Once or twice they are standing before Herod, with the star over their heads,

1 This representation is considered a condemnation of the Montanists, as illustrating the great Christian doctrine of mercy to the penitent, and affording a parallel to the parable of the Prodigal Son.

2 "Daniel," says Mr. Northcote, "is always, as far as I have seen, painted naked; but the Three Children in the furnace, on the contrary, in accordance with the Scripture account, are always fully clothed, and in the peculiar costume of the East, with Phrygian caps and full trowsers."-P. 55.

Herod however so directing his eyes as not to see the star. The number of the Magi is not always uniform, we see sometimes three, or sometimes two, and sometimes even four; but in these last instances they are represented as standing one or two on either side of our Lady, so that the numbers may not improbably have been chosen only for the sake of order and regularity in the painting."-P. 63.

The inscriptions in the catacombs or taken from them and stored up in the different Roman museums, present several peculiarities compared with those on heathen monuments. Instead of the dedication to the "Dîs manibus," is the formula "in pace.' A heathen "defunctus est," "reddidit naturæ debitum," "abreptus est;" a Christian "dormit," "quiescit." Again, there is an absence. of all immoderate expressions of grief on the part of the survivors The single word "dolens" is as strong an expression as any that occurs.1 Another distinction is, that the Christian graves invariably omit all title of rank and dignity, "excepting such as denote the various degrees of the Christian hierarchy." (P. 134.)

It is quite impossible to follow Mr. Northcote through the vast array of inscriptions which he brings forward for the purpose of strengthening the argument in favour of his Church. It is sufficient to state the different heads under which he classes his inscriptions. First, those which express the different orders of the ministry, bishop, priest, deacon, subdeacon, acolyte, exorcist, lector. Secondly, those which allude to the consecrated members of the other sex, such as virgins and widows. Thirdly, expressions which denote prayers for the dead, generally the words "in pace," but occasionally "dormi in pace," "quiesce in pace," "vivas in pace," now and then a prayer that "GOD would remember" those whoare gone, and that He would "refresh their spirit," or "give them a place of refreshment," or that He would "vouchsafe to admit the departed into the company of the saints." Fourthly, those writings which favour "the invocation of saints," such as "Mayest thou live in peace and pray for us," "Mayest thou live in the LORD and pray for us." Of course these subjects are of very different degrees of importance. The question of the different orders of ministers is one simply of ecclesiastical arrangement. That relating to the virgins and widows is one about which there need be little argument; we were not aware that there was any doubt that such a practice existed in the early Church, and even in the Apostolic age. Prayers for the dead are certainly recognized in some of the inscriptions, but no one can read the whole series without perceiving that the terms that are used scarcely rise above a wish for the departed, and sometimes not even to this. There is

1 We add a translation of one, "in which resignation to the will of God is distinctly, though briefly, and very touchingly expressed. To Adeodata, a worthy and well deserving virgin; and she rests here in peace, her CHRIST commanding her.'"-P. 133.

no one instance even of "Pray for the soul," or "on whose soul may GOD have mercy," so common in after ages, neither is there the slightest recognition of purgatory, or allusion to it. The Invocation of Saints too is in some inscriptions implied, but here it must be kept in mind that many parts of the catacombs are avowedly "the work of the sixth or seventh centuries," (p. 93,) that "these passages were on several occasions repaired and restored," (pp. 41, 42,) that the paintings (and why not the inscriptions?) "were renewed again and again until the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries," (p. 48.) More than this, that during those later centuries the catacombs were a common place of resort among the Romans, and that until churches were erected over the reliques of the principal martyrs and saints, the services of religion continued to be celebrated in the different subterranean chapels. So that unless it can be shown, that the inscriptions recognising the invocation of saints, were among the very earliest, and that they were not afterwards altered, we do not think that the argument is worth much. It is more reasonable to suppose that differing as they do from the great mass of the mural writings, they belong to a later date, and were introduced as that error began to gain ground in the Church.

Mr. Northcote must excuse us for calling attention to two historical facts connected with the catacombs, which certainly mark a strong change of feeling after the fourth century. "The nimbus or circular aureole of glory, which we see in all mediæval pictures round the heads of saints, was never used before that date." (P. 46.) Pictures of an earlier period have no "nimbus." (P. 64.) Again, in the very few representations of the Virgin Mary, which almost invariably are accompanied with those of her Blessed Son, there is not this aureole of glory, which soon after came into use. Moreover the pictures represent her occasionally in the attitude of prayer, in accordance with the legend, "Maria Ministra in Templo Jerusalem." The title here given, taken from one of the pseudo Gospels current among the early Christians, instead of one of those expressing far higher dignity, such as " Mother of GOD, which were given her by the Church of later times, attests the great antiquity of the monument." (P. 78.)

We would but add, that though the paintings and inscriptions on the catacombs and these subterranean passages themselves will not supply the theologian with convincing arguments on either side of the question, they ever will be an object of interest to the antiquarian, and of awe and reverence to the religiously minded. And should the work of discovery progress, and fresh stores of these hidden treasures be brought to light, we hope that they may be given to the world by authors who can write as well as Mr. Northcote, and can make their subject as interesting and entertaining as he has made his.