ww

то

THE REVEREND

CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, JR.,

OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

AMONG the most cherished recollections of the past, is one of a morning in the early spring, when two youth stood on the banks of the Potomac, about to separate, as they feared, perhaps for ever. They talked of the pleasant past when their tastes and pursuits had been the same, and of the shadowy future which to them was radiant with all that the imagination could picture.

And so they parted. Years have since gone by. Of the companions of those happy months, some are now scattered over the land, wearily waging the warfare of life, and some are sleeping in their

quiet graves. Seldom have the two friends, who parted in the morning of life, met face to face; yet time has not severed those early bonds, and often have greetings passed between their distant homes, to brighten the chain of brotherhood which bound them together. And now, when the whole length and breadth of the land is about to be placed between them, and they may never meet again in this world, the one would dedicate this little volume to the companion of his early days, as a tribute to that friendship which has been steadfast through youth and manhood, and which, he trusts, may one day be renewed in that land where there shall be no more partings.

ALBANY, ADVENT, 1853.

PREFACE.

THE writer believes that the argument derived from the Catacombs of Rome, in defence of primitive truth, is but little known in this country, and that he might therefore be doing some service by placing it in an accessible form. To most readers it will be a new chapter in the past history of the Church. Hitherto, the descriptions have been locked up in ponderous folios, or foreign languages, with the exception of two or three small volumes published in England. He believes that no work on this subject has ever been printed in this country.

The first writer whose attention was turned to these remains of the past, was Father Bosio. He spent more than thirty years (1567 to 1600) in exploring the Catacombs, penetrating into some of the innermost crypts which had been closed for centuries, and in making drawings of ancient monuments, inscriptions, and paintings. It became the absorbing passion of his life, until, we are told,

"he lived so much in the dark catacombs, that the bright light of the sun was painful to his eyes." Yet he did not survive to see the result of his labors made known to the world, but died while writing the last chapter of his work. His accumulated manuscripts and drawings, with the partlyfinished engravings, passed into the hands of Father Severano, who added a chapter of his own, and published the work at Rome, in the year 1632, under the title of "Roma Sotterranea." This work was translated into Latin by Father Arringhi, and published in two very large folio volumes, at Rome, in 1651 and 1659. These publications first awakened the interest of the learned in Europe to the subject of the Catacombs.

In 1702, Fabretti published a collection of epitaphs, under the title, "Inscriptionum antiquarum, &c. explicatio." But the most important work was by Father Boldetti, canon of Santa-Maria in Trastevere, and custode of the Catacombs. It appeared in 1720, in a large folio volume, entitled, "Osservazioni sopra i Cimiterii dei Santi Martiri, &c. di Roma." He too passed more than thirty years in the examination of the tombs and crypts. Bottari then published, in 1737 and 1754, three large folio volumes on Christian art, under the title, "Sculture e pitture sagre, estratte dai Cimiteri di Roma." His companion, Father Marangoni, a laborious Jesuit, also brought out two works con

nected with the subject, between the years 1740 and 1744.

The next distinguished writer in this catalogue was M. D'Agincourt, an ardent student of Christian archæology, who toward the close of the last century settled himself in Rome, to investigate these relics of primitive days. He intended to stay six months, but, like Bosio, it became the study of his life; and he remained for fifty years solely occupied in collecting and arranging the materials of his work, which did not appear till after his death. It is entitled, "Histoire de l'Art par les Monumens.' Among the more modern writers on this subject, on the continent, are Münter, a Danish bishop, M. Raoul Rochette, the Abbé Gaume, and the Abbé Gerbet. M. Perret, a French artist, has recently devoted six years to the study of the Catacombs and their contents, and returned to Paris with the materials for a great work which will soon be published. It will probably, however, relate more to art than to Christian doctrine or antiquities.

In England, the only work of any research is, "The Church in the Catacombs," by Charles Maitland, M. D., published in 1846. There is also a small volume by Charles Macfarlane, Esq., intended, however, only to give a popular view of the outward appearance of the Catacombs, and purposely entering into no theological discussions.