hrown backwards and a whip leaning against
it,--an unmistakable allusion to a departure for that place where "the
weary are at rest." Amongst plants, the olive, the vine, and the palm
were favourite symbols, the latter being generally reserved for the
grave-stones of martyrs. Birds, too, are frequently met with on the
walls of houses: the phoenix and the peacock being emblems of
immortality. The fable of the phoenix is minutely told by Clemens
Romanus; but the common superstition which ascribes imputrescibility to
the flesh of the latter, easily rendered this bird a symbol of the
resurrection of the body. Saint Augustine is said to have subjected this
peculiar quality of the peacock's flesh to a practical test. He ordered
one to be roasted, and at the close of a twelvemonth requested it to be
served up. Tradition does not inform us whether he ate it, and with what
appetite.

The dove occurs more frequently than any other bird. Two doves bearing
olive branches, are seen on Christian grave-stones in the Cologne
museum, and on the _porta nigra_ at Treves. The meaning of the sign of a
fish will not readily occur: but the frequency of its appearance
establishes its character as a secret mark of recognition. It was used
to signify both Christ and his church. Of quadrupeds we find the
stag,[20] the ox,[21] the lion,[22] and the lamb,[23] constantly in
connexion with the cross. The lion and the lamb are typical of Christ.
The transition to his representation in human form is rendered by two
figures, which, whilst human, are still symbolical. In the catacombs of
Saint Calintus, in the Via Appia at Rome, Christ is discovered in the
character of Orpheus, whilst at other places he is represented as a
shepherd.

Two paintings were found in Herculaneum, and may at present be seen in
the Museo Borbonico at Naples, which are of undoubted Christian origin,
and present a curious specimen of Christian art in the first century.
Each of these two paintings is divided into an upper field, and into a
lower smaller one. The smaller field of one of them is destined to
expose the folly and corruption of paganism, and Egyptian mythology is
selected for the purpose. We behold temples. In front of one of them
stands a statue of Isis; another is devoted to Anubis the dog-god: two
figures of crocodiles lie stretched across the entrance. On the left, we
see a live crocodile waiting for its prey amongst the bulrushes: an ass
is in the act of walking