s, with here and there an open tomb, or rather great
shelves cut in the soft brownish rocks (_tufa_). In many places the
sides of these tunnel passages were almost honeycombed with open graves.
There were still in some of these little heaps of decaying bones:
occasionally a name was roughly cut below, executed probably by one of
the little flock of the faithful, and an inscription in Greek, for the
early church was more Greek than Latin. These long corridors extend in
every direction, and, in fact, surround the city on this side. It was a
frequent custom amongst the Christians in Rome to pay visits on Sunday
to the sepulchres of the martyrs, and especially to the Catacombs. When
the sacred roll of martyrs had scarcely been closed, Jerome went the
round with his schoolfellows, and speaks awesomely of the darkness and
dread gloom of these crypts, deep in the earth, dimly lighted by broken
gleams through shafts and holes. They were reached by a narrow entrance,
down a long flight of steps, and through innumerable winding passages,
all carefully concealed from the persecutors. How great a contrast to
the glowing sunshine, and the light breezes, which whispered through the
vine leaves on the hills outside! God's love and man's hatred! Our
thoughts wandered away irresistibly to those times when the Christians
lived here like moles underground, until they died, and were laid by the
loving and devoted hands of their comrades in these dark shelves of the
rock. It is said that there are some seven million bodies buried in
these Catacombs. True enough that all around the Eternal City is one
vast tomb, especially in the direction of the Via Appia, recalling the
prophecy, "He shall fill the places with dead bodies."

I have sometimes thought it a pity that Rome rather than Milan was
selected as the seat of the Italian Government. I say Milan, because I
think neither Florence nor Turin are suitable from a military point of
view, as, if once the heights around were seized by a hostile army, the
city would be lost. Now, Milan, as far as the eye can reach, stands in
the midst of fine open plains, and an enemy could find but little
shelter or commanding position. Rome seems almost polluted by these vast
tombs surrounding her, and will require an immense amount of labour to
render it healthy as a continual residence. Yet no doubt Nature, the
never-resting, ever-working, irresistible evolutionary power, will
assist in the coming changes. Fo