l, saw in the words _venturo domino_ an allusion to the
coming, not of the Sovereign Judge, but of the future Pope; and they
thought the expression _ad sonitum_ referred not to the trumpet of the
last judgment, but to the rattling of the bones whenever a _dominus
venturus_ might appear on the scene.

This popular interpretation soon became official. John the Deacon has
accepted it blindly in his description of the Lateran. "In the same
aisle (the last on the left, near the Cappella Corsini) lies Gerbert,
archbishop of Reims, who took the name of Sylvester after his election
to the pontificate. His tomb, although in a dry place, sends forth
drops of water even in clear and dry weather," etc. The tomb was
opened and destroyed in 1648. Rasponi, an eye-witness, describes the
event in his book "De Basilica et Patriarchio Lateranensi" (Rome,
1656, p. 76): "In the year 1648, while new foundations were being laid
for the left wing of the church, the corpse of Sylvester II. was
found in a marble sarcophagus, twelve feet below the ground. The body
was well composed and dressed in state robes; the arms were crossed on
the breast; the head crowned with the tiara. It fell into dust at the
touch of our hands, while a pleasant odor filled the air, owing to the
rare substances in which it had been embalmed. Nothing was saved but a
silver cross and the signet ring."

The church of S. John Lateran has passed through the same vicissitudes
as that of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, but with less detriment. Clement
VIII., who reconstructed the transept; Sixtus V., who rebuilt the
north portico; Innocent X., Pius IX., and Leo XIII. have all been more
merciful than Benedict XIV. At all events, if the sight of the church
itself in its present state is distasteful to the true lover of
ancient and mediaeval Rome, nothing could delight him more than the
cloisters of Vassalectus which open at the south end of the transept.
I speak of the building as well as of its contents. The cloisters have
just been restored to their original appearance by Leo XIII. and by
his architect, conte Francesco Vespignani, and a museum of works of
art from the old basilica has been formed under its arcades.

[Illustration: Inscription of Vassalectus.]

[Illustration: THE CLOISTERS OF THE LATERAN, AS NOW RESTORED]

There are three or four details regarding it which deserve notice. The
design of this exquisite structure has been attributed, as usual, to
one of the Cosmatis