Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1857-07-31

large row-boat--from Alexandria. All the great
structures Of antiquity, the Tower of Babel, the
massive sculptures Of Ninevch, the pyramids, the
tombs, and the temples Of Egypt and Arabia,
seem t. show that the ancients had engineer
ing exredients and contriyanccs which, if not
like our own, were Of great compass and eff
cheney
The half dozen monumcn tai and trumphal
arches, which have been toleraby preserved dur
ing all the troubles Of Rome, well counted
some Of tho most interesting memorials Of the
proudest days of Roman grandeur. Tho arch Of
Constantine, the arch of Septimius Scycrus and
tho arch Of Titus, ore unsurpassed in interest by
any ruins in Rome They are covered with ,culp
tures aud inscriptions oil the deepest interest
Those on the ar ch of Titus represent tho taking
Of Jerusalem by that emperor and the procession
Of the triumph bearing the spells Of the sacred
temple, including tho golden table, the silver
trumpcts and that massive golden candlcstck,
with its seven Standardization five and six
| feet high-which was so consricu IL a reality in
the temple itself and prophetic emblem in
the Gsurutiye and sublime oxsta cy Of the
| Apocalypse. The arch Of Constantine. strangcs
it may seem, is still Of doubtful origin. Some
suppose it to have been built by Constantine +;
others, with more positivencss and probability
perhaps, in i.t that i was built by Trdjan and
decorated with sculptures of ancient Jewish style
and taste. and that Constantine only Appropriated
it to himself gave it its name and added the up-
classical sculptures and scenes which belong to
his own history and are easily distinguished by
their ineriority from the orig nal sculptures.
l cannot pass without word on the Manner
tine prison-a massive subterranean Etruscan
dungeon,
" Midst the chief relics Of almighty Rome"
To it we descended, that We might procure,
from actual observation, correct view Of this
celebrated state prison of antquity-for it is
now, | believe, conceded that it was a state pris.
on and not a place for vulgar criminals. Amid It'll
terrible Filth and darkness Jugartha was starved
to death-the accomp'ices of CatiIine were stran
ged and Scjanus and Pleminius wcrt
slaughtered Here too, it is said
st. Peter was confined. The Church Of cours
has given it distinguished place among the sa
, cred foot prints Of her patron Saint. They SHOW
, US the pillar where he was bound, and we dranl
from the beautiful limpil little spring that re
fleets the dark shadows Of that dungeon an,
which the Church says sprang up mraculousl
and mercifully while the apostle there, to en-
able him to baptiae his jailors-not the jailor an
his household Of the new testament, which was a
another time and place-but Proccssus and Mar
! tinian who were hi; custodians IN this dungeon
Our Baptist brethren, am sure, will never be
lcve the tradition, for the little fountaia is hard
ly large emo Igh to plunge baby in
1t is considered as perfectly vol authenticate
the genuine state prison of ancient Rome
l is one chamber below another-the upper bein
i now reached by descending modern hsht Of
# steps. Anciently it was entered the lower on
0 now is by small aperture, through which on
INA descend doubtless more easily and comtor
i ably than the bic wretchcs who entered it
i living grave, being let down, by a cord, throug
. its two-stoty depths. The lower Dungeons but
feet long by wide am high.-You enter by
l. small hole in the top. The steps or stairs b
= which you reached the wore o,,ei tho scala
gemoniae-the stair way of groans-from Il
groans of those who as they passed to the pris,
. saw the stone bridge at the head Of the stair
/ from which when death should end their SUITE
= ngs, their emaciated and sickly bodies should
a thrown into the Tiber, in sight Of the Forum,
It a terrier to the people.
/ have sometimes said that the ruins CT Ron
>, are interesting only because they suggest VII
l. they have been, and that therefore pictures al
= prints and drawings Of them may be as int
&c ting because as suggestive os tho real ruins
= but the spot soon learn otherwise. | ia!
i pleasure in my room in looking at the fine prin
/. OF the ruins, but when stand beside, bencat
e above, among, the real works Of that wondcrf
= people, Wondering on before my eyes now a. tn,
d have been all along for 800 years, every whc
s disclosing that powerful and cultivated Rom,
intellect which subducI, and oyerran the who
world aud suggesting their great productions
l. word and deed, in ar and in action as well as
e letters avn l3-t in the reyeries that seem to e
es trance the senses, and even with my imperie
a knowledge, raise the dead, restore the arcl
III lecture and the public works and works Of a
and see as it were IN the dusky sky Of the past,
At mirage Of ancient Rome, in her power, in h
ID glory and in her extent.
'e Yours &c. f.. c.