The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-04-29

Rome. Some OF the most interesting
and important aro outside tho walls,
and ARE thus located because OF events
which they thus commemorate. For
instance, there Is the splendid and cost.
" basilica church OF St. Paul-onc OF
tho very grandcst OF them all-that
commentaries tho spot where, st. Pau
was buried after his execution at u spot
still further away from the walls, whore
the churches and monastery OF the
Three Fountains are located. The pres.
cnt cdiiico Is tho successor OF M old
church that was bnilt SO far back in the
agea that "the memory OF man runne,h
not TO tho contrary" 1t stands there
Oh tho edge OF the sickly Campagna' for
no other seeming purpose than to com.
memorate the event referred 10, for II
has no proper constituency OF parishon.
ers and is never likely TO have. Even
OH the Anniversary Of st. Paul's death,
and when there:wgsh splendid music by
tho papal cli6ii,! StRen attendance, i
thought, was decidedly slim. It's sim.
ply Il splendid mausoleum to tho great
apostle to the Gentiles, whose dust they
claim TO have in u costly urn there.
ST, SEBASTIAN.
Not far from II is, tlic'oll Church OF st.
Sebastian, out ON, tho famous Appian
Way, built over the ca.acolnbs in (which
many OF the early Christian martyrs
were buried. Tho well.known Church
OF st. Agnesc is nlso' bcyondn the walls,
likewise built over cntacom5s, and spe.
chilly known to'visitors as lho church
where, on the -anniversary'of st Acnesc,
they bless the lambs from whose heeces
the ppllia are made that are sent TO
archbishops on the occasion OF their
conservation. There was a great crowd
there this year, drawn. by tho ceremony
and the music OF the papalchoir.
The two lambs were tied fas. with rib.
bons in II large flat basket On the altar
and wero incensed and sprinkled with
holy water. They are afterwards i'm
mediatcly shorn by the sisters and their
delicate white Wool worked into the
pallia.
1t is we'll, in, explaining tho location
OF these churches, to mention that in
Rome the custom from the most ancient
times was to bury the dead outside the
city. Sometimes tthey were cremated
and sometimes s%epulchre6. Tho great
Appian Way for miles is lined with the
tombs OF the rich and the great. Some
OF these arc rs large MS houses, as, for
instance. the still existing tomb OF the
Metella family, which in its ruins is still
u splendid and impressive pile. There
is still, plainly legiblc, this inscription
on 1t in Latin: ITO the daughter OF
Metellus Creticus, wife OF the younger
Crassus, son OF tho triumvir." The
OF Crassus, ms you know, is still
the synonym of Colossal wealth, and
he it was who paid off Crsar's debts,
and was joint triumvir with Caesar and
Pompey iust before the Christian era.
1t was the fashionable and correct
thing in those days to secure an eligible
site ior a grand tomb on, one OF the
great highways leading out OF Rome,
such as the Via Latina or the Via
Appia, especially the latter. which was,
and is yet, the regina viarum or queen
road OF Rome. Riding on this great
highway, amidst these tombs, the guide
pointed out to US the tumuli that mark
the resting places of the famous FIoratii
and Curatii. whose .historySyis familiar
10 every school boy, and who fell fight
ing on this highway to decide among
themselves-their six selves-the fate OF
Rome.
THE C]ATAcoMBs.
On this Appian Waytisalso. the great
catacombs ofSt, Cnllistus where many
OF the martyrs and several CT the early
popes were buried. You see inscribed
on the walls the ame OF pilgrims who
visitedthese cells, rs W were doing, with
guides and tapers, away back in the
fourth, fifth ind sixth Centuries. Z. These
catacombs are something immense in
the area they coyer-milps and miles OF
carernous passage ways, cells, chambers
and considerations OF n kind or an
other--reminding me Of the endless
trackage and honey-combing of an cx-
tensive and abandoned coal mine.
There are hundreds OF miles OF those va
rious catacombs in the aggregate, but
many Of them have fallen IN or been
closed, like so many coal mines, and St.
Callistus is the most important one
that visitors arc still permitted to ex-
plorc. "
Near st. Callistus I visited two or
three Columbaria. as they are called
that is, great deep and wide cellars
(forty feet some OF them where the
walls look like the little inches and
vaults OF a,great sale deposit company,
(pardon the illustration, but 1 can think
OF nothing that they so much resemble)
and over each OF these inches there is 4
name--the name OF the person whose
ashes are contained in q little urn with
in the recess or niche. One Of these
.Columbaria lin fact, all OF them Tor that
mattcr) have been lately excavated and
cxhumed, and among the remarkable
finds that attracted attention through
out the theological world were the
names OF the Triphena, Triphosa, One.
sinus, Andronicus and others mention
cd by Paul rs among his acquaintance
and friends in Romc-members, or
domestics rather, OF the imperial house
hold to which this particular. Column
barium belonged.
Although they had been converted to
Christianity they were cremated, ac-
cordinc to the prevailing custom, and
their cinerary urns wore found here
along with the whole Household OF
slaves and freedmen.
FAMILIAR NAME.
think I shall never forget the name
OF Oncsimus. 1t looked strangely fa-
miliar to me on meeting it here 'down
among the dead men," Tor in the early
days OF the lS~TELLlGESCER we used to
have somewhat to do with that name.
The sc%riptural a%pologists OF slavery were
ALWAYS uuOt;nSy pou1ts+ had .;nnG +,s fn,o,;