Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1867-01-11
From the Plattsburgh Sentinel.
Notes Of Foreign Travel Rome
The Catacombs.
BY REV. SELAH W. BROWN.

The Catacombs of Rome consist of
many separate excavations, varying
greatly in size and bearing the name
of some martyr buried in them. Thus
you have the catacombs of st. Sebas-
tian, st. Calixtus, st. Agnes, St. Pris-
ella, St. Mercus, and many others,
scattered about in the vicinity of the
city.
Having obtained a special permit,
| visited the Sebastian catacombs.-
Leaving Rome by the gate "San Sc
bastiano" and passing over the an
cient "Appian Way" two miles from
the city, we found the church of St.
Sebastian, near which is the entrance
to the catacombs Of the same name.
Here we obtained guide who sup
piled each of our party with lighted
candle, and bade US follow him. We
descended a long flight Of stairs to
the entrance of the "city of the dead"
Our Custodian lead US through long,
dark passage ways, and around short
turns, from street to street, and from
alley to alley, in those subterranean
regions. Now pausing to point out
the tomb Of a Martyr. and then stop
ping in a vaulted chamber once used
as place of worship. Then we
would hurry on through the black
darkness, walking single file in the
narrow, mysterious turnings; now
passing by steps leading to galleries
below, now bending low, to avoid the
rock above, and then again stopping
by an opening, down which we could
discover by the light of our candles
the water glistenipg in a we'll beneath.
For an hour we wound around in
these intricate galleries, and roamed
through b subtegranean lanes,
streets and avenues, and then by a
flight of steps our guide led US up in
to the light of day.
The catacOmbs spread in almost
every direction around Rome, and
even under some parts Of the city, for
| was told there was an entrance to
them from the Mammertine prison.
No less than sixty Of these cemeteries,
like a vast net work, undermine the
Campagna, and the space thus oc-
cUpied can only be measured by hun
dreds of miles, or thousands Of acres.
Father March,. one Of the widest eX-
plorers in these regions, calculates
the combined length of the passages
at upward Of nine hundred miles, and
he asserts that the sides of these
narrow streets are filled with at least
six millions of graves.
The passage ways are low and
narrow. | found tn Y varied in
height, from five to twelve feet, and
in width, from two to six feet. These
streets are formed by digging in the
"Tuta," a soft rock which hardens on
exposure to the air. The passages
of the catacombs are crowded togeth-
er like the lanes and alleys of a city,
intersecting and crossing each other
at right angles, in endless ramifica-
tions Below this level you find a
second story, and a third below the
second, and so on. Some of the cata-
combs are five stories deep in some
parts.
1t is not deemed safe to venture far
from the openings in these catacombs
unless accompanied by an experienced
guide. 1t is easy to conceive how
one might lose himself in these endless
labyrinths, and wander hopeleSsly on
aud on, with waning torches in the
awful darkness, fruitleSsly seeking q
way of escape, hurrying hither anC
thither with beating heart, looking
for ray Of daylight, until at las
compelled to sit down and perish il
the dreadful gloom. A story is tolC
of a school Of young collegians, who
with their teacher, went in them, tt
take holiday excursion, and never
reappeared. Search was made fo
, them, but all in vain. Somewher,
in these dark labyrinths, they ar
mouldering with the dead of near tw,
thousand years ago,
Some writer's tell us these excava
. ti0n5 were originally sand pits, du
out for the sake Of sand used 70
> mortar or cement. Others conside
> them to be the result of quarrying
carried on for the sake of stone wit
:. which Rome VA bui.i Lastly, ther
: are thos, VINO attribute their construC
ton to christians. All these theorie
may be true; for, some of the eXcavs
tions are in the sand. These san
+ pits differ from the christian cat
: combs, being larger and more irreg
|, lar. In other places the passage
. are through rock which makes exec
u lent building material. But in man
I places the excavation is through
e stone which is good neither for san
Il nor for building, and this is thoug
le to be the work of christians.
=. In these catacombs the early chri;
% ians found a refuge from the cru
. prosecutions of the Roman Emperor
% Here they kept the light of a pu
faith burning during centuries I
storm. Nero, with an Internal frens
W. determined to annihilate the chri
cd ians. Under his persecution, no pla
a. known to him was safe. The per-
nd cuted ones fled to the catacoml
* where Nero might seek in vain
nd his prey. There in the darkne
ed fed by the faithful ones above grouI
by they found shelter.
DO Many of the entrances leading
the catacombs were known only to
christians, and often when pursued
in their enemies, they would suddel
.oo d;oonnaor opd THAR p,IrcuarS uo,