New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1855-07-16
NUMBER 70
DAILY CRESCENT
A Visit to the catacombs Of Paris.
BY ocrAvEs LAcrox.

II ne made one Of q hundred curious visitors
among whom were HI. Haugmaup. Prefect a
| the Seine, the Ottoman Ambassador. au Arrne
nian Bishop and His Vicar, Dr.. Paul Gaimard
the accomplished and witty traveller, several
professors, iiterati and artists, besides goodly
! company OF women Of fashion. The gate nv
which we entered, is situated with an interior
court Of the octroi Office, atths barrier D. Enfer
Each one was provided with lighted torch and
! q tinder box. We commenced the descent i'm.
nediately, by q long and very narrow spiraj
staircase, one on which two children even could
not have walked abreast; after de cending ous
hundred and fifty steps, being then more than a
hundred feet below the surface of the earth. VIZ
took, by direction Of the guides attached to the
Catacombs, one Of the many galleries tha opened
| before u.s. The road, like the staircase, is d
the narroweat kind, but smooth and yaultet
With great care, and nearly everywhere Of the
height Of FIVE or six feet. Here and there upop
tue walls, are inscribed the quarters-of Paris
with that of the parish under which you are
passingi and along the roof black line has
been drawn to indicate the rosds But let M
one trust too confidently to its guidance, for the
line is frequently broken; and any visitor who
should blindfy advance twenty or thirty, steps
into this labyrinth Of galleries and eorFidors
unattended, could only by miracle retrace his
way.
From place to place, you find both the floor
and roof little humid, and water trickiing
down the walls, but not sufficient to prevent
your passing further or continuing your way.
Having walked thus along the, road of the
.Cataeombs, for thirty or thirty Eve minutes
the name is frequently repeatedlon the walls
you find before you a gateway of cut stone,
covered with funeral Inscriptions, in French and
Latin as, stop-your feet are on the ashes OF
the dead Htci STUNT bedtans resurectionem
erpectandes, etc, ETC. Directly over the door
ON the hntel, These two words, .Memoria JHajo-
rum are carved in large raised letters. This
gate is kept locked; it was opened to US, and
then We indeed. penetrated the Cataeombs ;
then we were in the real Metropolis. Here the
galleries are broader, and the roof higher; the
air within is cooler too, but impregnated with a
cadaverous odor that surrounds you Instantly,
cllngs IN o moment to your face, your hands,
and your clothes.
These catacombs are in q special manner the
last abode, the eternal domain of the dead
From the different cemeteries of Paris, they
have been brought here, heaped up in large
wagons or well filed hearses, and these remains
as they are more or less unbroken, or-black, or
nrown,,or humid, or dry, all are placed in order.
like the books in library In their arrange
ments. The bones are. formed into crosses and
lozenges, placed one upon the other just as the
size permitted, ,eevery stage is two or three feet
in height, uniformly crowned by row Of skulls,
which serve, in their turn, for the foundation Of
another story. The artist has sometimes varied
his models; thus he has amused himself with
the construction Of a large cross with it's pedes-
tai, the latter formed Of skulls, chosen from
something striking or singular in their aspect
Each cabinet of the dead is, as it we're, tick
eted, and bears craven upon the separating
stone, the name Of the cemetery, from which its
contents were drawn, and the date of their
translation to thecatacombs, here and there are
entire converts Of monks and nuns. In sepa-
rate corner are entered the remains Of the
prisoners massacred in September, '92 These
bones are not yet duly moulded and stripped by
corruption. SO as to be admitted to their final
place IN this funeral museum In the spot ex-
posed upon q table (net far-from q thermometer
which stands at 10 deg. aresome extraordinary
bodies and curious bones, upon which the hand
Of time, has pressed in peculiar manner, hard
ening some, and softening Others OF covering
them with yellowish and sterile moss, species.
of humid lichen. At other points bones are,
heaped upon each other, pell-mell, awaiting the,
ingenious hand Of their arranger. There are
likewise at regular intervals, wells five or six
feet deep; in these the water shows so clear and
fresh, it would almost enkindle thirst, did you
not discover at the bottom some wrecks Of hu-
manity that have fallen from the surrounding.
heaps; there they rot. yet neither change, nor
cloud, the crystal cleanliness of the surface.
Eyeryw along the road, are Greek, Latin,
Italian and French Inscriptions, drawn, some
times from Holy Writ, sometimes from profane
authors, ancient and modsrn-Homer and
Dante, Solomon and Seneca, Horace and Eze-
kiel, Malflatre, Gilbert, the Able Delille,---au
these have furnished soneroas and ambitious
sentences, better fitted to awaken the imagina-
ton of the living, than to touch the heart. On,
on, stretches this long gallery of bones and
skulls; it spreads to the right to the left-it
is before-it is behind-onward for several
leagues, uninterrupted, uniform, monotonous
and terrible The dead, the dead and still
the dead; there are not less than, ten millions
Of human relics mingled and eonfounded to-
gether here, in this dark, silent, and subterra-
mean city. Ten millions Of .men-think on
that, on what an immense crowd, and all these
have noisily traversed the EARTH. They have
thought-they have written-th they erected cities
they sway,ed or agitated kingdoms they
knew the paths and plots of ambitlon-they had
their balls and their feasts-their marriages.
and their masquerades-t they laughed, they
wept-this one prayed, that one defed God -
but--aH have alike disappeared.
There they lie ; some were beanties- in their
day, some were plain; there are dandies, and
Goauettes, and prudes, miracle mongers and un-
believers, who can tell them now / Dead kings
and princes, and poor devils too; beggars, vaga-
all ara quiet. There they touch, they enfold,
they amaigamate together, they bear horrible
resemblance to each other, for all their heshless
heads wear the same grin; notthe most skilLful
could tell Messa1ina from Luoretia, or Fran.
els the First from Triboulet, Hamlet from
Yorick, the Christian from the Jew, the Court
Of the King Of France from that Of the miracles.
Richelleu from hackney coaehman, OF Madame
de Pompadour from fish fag. All are on the
same level now
A species Of fear and horror comes over the
soul as you traverse the numerous paths and
defles which appear like the streets and squares
Of some city of our progenitors; you walk
slowly, you speak little and in under tones, and
your face grows bloodless. One of our party
was young girl of twenty-five perhaps, dressed
not only with elegance but distinction; beside:
this, she was handsome, and Of good figure
her eyes were Of an intelligent and an express
| i've blue, her hair chestnut, aismall and delioat
foot appeared beneath the silken folds of he
dress and in q lilac tinted glove was hidden
lightly moulded patrioian hand. This woma
tby the way) had Immediately attracted ever
eye, and surely her youth and grace most justl
deserved our attention. She brought to ever
mind, amid the destruction and unwearyin
havoc Of death, the Immortality Of nature, eve
fertile, ever renewing she was q garland
spring and love, wandering memory of tn
upper earth and the living, where pairing bird