THE CATACOMBS.

New Zealand Tablet, 2 March 1877, Page 15

THE CATACOMBS.

Beneath the ruined palaces and temples, the crumbling tombs and dismantled villas of the august mistress of the world, we find the most interesting relics of Christianity on the face of the earth. In traversing these tangled labyrinths we are brought face to face with the primitive ages j we are present at the worship of the infant Church j we observe its rites : we study its institutions ; we witness the deep emotions of the first believers as they commit their dead, often their martyred dead, to their last long resting-place ; we decipher the touching record of their sorrow, of the holy hopes by which they were sustained, of " their faith triumphant o'er their fears," and of their assurance of the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We read in the testimony of the Catacombs the confession of faith of the early Christians, sometimes accompanied by the records of their prosecution, the symbols of their martyrdom, and even the very instruments of their torture. For in these halls of silence and gloom slumbers the dust of many of the martyrs and confessors, who sealed their testimony with their blood during the sanguinary ages of persecution; of many of the early Bishops and pastors of the Church, who shepherded the flock of Christ amid the dangers of those troublous times; of many who heard the words of life from teachers who lived in or near the apostolic age, perhaps from the lips of the Apostles themselves. In« deed, if we would accept ancient tradition, we would even believe that the bodies of St. Peter and St* Paul were laid to rest in those hallowed crypts — a true terra sancta inferior in sacred interest only to that rock-hewn sepulchre consecrated evermore by the body of our Lord. These reflections will lend to the study of the Catacombs an interest of the highest and intensest character.— * Withrow's Catacombs of Rome.'

The wonderful discoveries of Dr. Schliemann in Greece afford an additional proof of the foundation in truth of old legends, and descriptions preserved in poetry. It is now evident that Homer described works of the goldsmith's art such as existed in his day, and which did not owe their being only to his genius. In like manner tales preserved amongst the Irish annals of battles, which took place in pre-historic times, have in modern days been partially confirmed by remnants discovered of the fight. There is more fidelity in the memory of mankind than has oftentimes been supposed, and the " fiction-crusher " is not always a supporter of fact. The ' San Franciico Commercial Herald' thinks that its pre« diction of the termination of Trade Unionism will soon be verified. "At least two-thirds of the members have already severed their connection with those organisations/ and little moreSremaiae of them, tbaa ttie outwajd cemtJance." * .