lly
have occurred to the mind of the reader, as it has long perplexed the
author. After the many vicissitudes to which the place has been
subject, from the time of Elagabalus to the pillage of the constable
de Bourbon, can we be sure that the body of the founder of the Roman
Church is still lying in its grave under the great dome of
Michelangelo, under the canopy of Urban VIII., under the high altar of
Clement VIII.? After considering the case from its various aspects,
and weighing all the circumstances which have attended each of the
barbaric invasions, I cannot see any reason why we should disbelieve
the popular opinion. The tombs of S. Peter and S. Paul have been
exposed but once to imminent danger, and that happened in 846, when
the Saracens took possession of their respective churches and
plundered them at leisure. Suppose the crusaders had taken possession
of Mecca: their first impulse would have been to wipe the tomb of the
Prophet from the face of the earth, unless the keepers of the Kaabah,
warned of their approach, had time to conceal or protect the grave by
one means or another. Unfortunately, we know very little about the
Saracenic invasion of 846; still it seems certain that Pope Sergius
II. and the Romans were warned days or weeks beforehand of the landing
of the infidels, by a despatch from the island of Corsica. Inasmuch as
the churches of S. Peter and S. Paul were absolutely defenceless, in
their outlying positions, I am sure that steps were taken to conceal
or wall in the entrance to the crypts and the crypts themselves,
unless the tombs were removed bodily to shelter within the city walls.
An argument, very little known but of great value, seems to prove that
the relics were saved.

The "Liber Pontificalis" describes, among the gifts of Constantine, a
cross of pure gold, weighing one hundred and fifty pounds, which he
placed over the gold lid of the coffin. The golden cross bore the
following inscription in _niello_ work, "Constantine the emperor and
Helena the empress have richly decorated this royal crypt, and the
basilica which shelters it." If this precious object is there, the
remains must _a fortiori_ be there also. Here comes the decisive test.
In the spring of 1594, while Giacomo della Porta was levelling the
floor of the church above the Confession, removing at the same time
the foundations of the Ciborium of Julius II., the ground gave way,
and he saw through the opening what nobody had beh