New Orleans Republican., 1871-09-28

world at large can not be wholly indifer-
ent. There has been something tantaliz-
ing in the manner in which successive
papal administrations have neglected this
branch Of their business-the excavations
and other rummaging of the city of ruins
Now that this temporal power Of the
church of Rome has been displaced by
one more energetic and vigorous. it will
render practicable what under other cir
cumstances could never have been &C.
complished. An association has been FORM
ed, headed by Signor Allessandro Casteli-
nj, which is backed by rich banking firm
in Paris. and it will proceed at once to ex-
plore the bed of the Tiber. Every
modern scientific application will be
brought to bear to facilitate and make the
search complete and exhaustive, and
results Of an important character are
confidently anticipated. What such
results will be, without any specific re-
port upon the subject, can at present only
be conjectural, although there is prob
ability enough to render the indulgence
of even spoiled hopes permissible. There
is, it must be confessed, good deal of
popular e1aggeration in the current Ian
guage about the great elevation of the
modern soil above the strata of ancient
Roman ruins, with their deposits of values
which may be supposed to be buried
below, particularly when applied to the
Tiber. Whatever may be the impressions
in regard to the extent to which the ex-
plorers Of this bed of the Tiber may be
called upon to excavate, it can not be
doubted that the tributes which have been
paid to this river, through the successive
revolutions of the past two thousand years,
are vast and incalculable. The statues of
unpopular rulers, the imperial diadems,
armors and insignia of prescribed dynas-
ties, the wrecks Of gallies, the spoil of
temples, the innumerable household gods,
committed to this stream in preference to
allowing them to fall into the hands of
plunderers, are among some of the relics
to be exhumed from the alluvial under its
turbid waters. Some assert that among
the other valuable treasures there con-
cealed is the ''seven branched candle
stick" of the Temple of Jerusalem, which
was carried away by Titus when that city
was sacked by him. Whether it be so.
this mooted question, among others of
equal importance, may be set at rest by
the proposed investigation.
After the works Of exploration which
aren now in progress among ancient cities
and ruins of Egypt, Palestine and Asia
Minor, it is a great satisfaction to know
that such labors are exciting the same
spirit in other nationalities which have
hither neglected such important subjects.
This proposed Tiber excavation is not
or financial scheme, but is
said to be entirely in the interest of
science and in aid of history No return
is looked for other than the vast gain
fairly to be prognosticated for art and
history; and surely there is no other river
in the world the exploration of whose
bed could be expected to be more fertile
of addition to our stock of archaeological |
The civilized world will be curious and |
anxious to note the progress of the work |
Of this association under the leadership
Of Signor Castellini, and contributors to
the funds of this association may be ex-
pected from many of the wealthy men of |
our country, in order that the labors in |
such field may be commensurate with
the expectations Of the lovers of science
and history.