in caverns, or remote and inaccessible situations. First, a grotto was built over them, and a cell, or a chapel, was formed above it, and dedicated to the saint: afterwards, more spacious buildings were raised in honour of some particular martyr, and his tomb employed as the high altar, whence comes the phrase of altar-tombs. Still the multitude were not buried within the precincts, or atrium, or sanctuary of the church, but in some consecrated spot. This latter custom has been always observed by the Moravian brotherhood, whose burial-places are richly-cultivated gardens, and the friedhof, or fieldof-peace, is common all through Germany. In the Catholic cemetery at Munich every grave is a bed of flowers, watered almost daily from a neighbouring fountain; and the Society of Friends, carrying the ancient custom further, abstain from the use of monuments of any kind.

Crypts, therefore, were not burial-places, but records commemorative of the simplicity which characterized the primitive church, and admonitions against pride arising from the riches and power which the church had acquired in the middle ages. It was not until the year 337 that a sepulchre was constructed within a church, and the emperor Constantine was the first who ordained such an introduction. As he had founded the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, he probably considered that this privilege might reasonably be awarded to him, and thus his interment became a precedent for the practice in after-times. Christian bishops soon imitated the example, directing their remains to be interred near to the high altar; and sepulchres in churches would have multiplied more rapidly, had not Theodosius and Justinian forbad their erection. Leo the Philosopher again permitted the practice; but the density of population in modern ages, and the consequent increase of interments in places of worship, has excited apprehension for the health of the living, and led to the formation of public cemeteries in suburban districts.

Whether we regard its colossal proportions, its ancient and venerable aspect, or the illustrious dead whose bones are laid at rest here, no sacred structure in France is more entitled to attention than the subterranean aisles of St. Denis's abbey. The pillars, of massive dimensions, have sculptured capitals, and are varied in the forms of their shafts and in their decorations; the covering arches are circular, and the height and the breadth of each avenue in this city of the dead, give it all the character of those works completed by Imperial Rome.

In the previous pages* of this volume an imperfect list is given of the celebrated personages who sleep here for ever; a change having occurred in the succession to the throne, St. Denis is no longer the royal mausoleum, but, so long as it is permitted to retain the historic records which infuse an absorbing interest into a visit to the crypt, its desertion by monarchs of later times will be scarce remembered.

* Vide p. 6, et seq.

THE foundation of Orange is ascribed to the Massilians, or rather the Phocæans, an enterprising and commercial people, who continued to retain an independent republic during a wide-spread rage for dominion by all other powers of Europe. When the Romans became masters of Gaul, they found this place encircled by walls five miles in extent, and of considerable strength, but no evidences now survive of this ancient consequence. Here the mother of Cicero was born; and here also Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, fixed his residence, after he had been appointed governor of Transalpine Gaul, by his father. A column, erected to his memory, was standing here so late as the close of the seventeenth century.

Orange, the city of the Cavares, was originally called Auraison, from aura, a breeze, the vicinity being much subject to sudden and violent gusts of the bise, or north wind, which rushes impetuously down the valley of the Rhone. By the Romans it was usually written Aurasio, subsequently corrupted into Auranche, which, by the French intonation, easily passed into Orange. For many years this locality was under the dominion of the princes of Nassau, now kings of Holland; and although its tiny sceptre has passed away from their race, they do not disdain to take the title of prince from the territory. Here very many remains of Roman civilization are to be found, and many others, that were known to have existed here, have perished. Of the surviving monuments, the most perfect, beautiful, and conspicuous, is the Triumphal Arch, incorrectly supposed to have been erected in commemoration of Marius's victory over the Cimbri and the Teutones. Amongst other reasons for doubting that this was its original destination, is the fact of the great distance, fifty miles, of Aurasio from the plain of Porrieres, near Aix, where that celebrated and decisive battle was fought. Some antiquaries have supposed it to be one of many military testimonials raised by Domitius Enobarbus, in remembrance of the triumph he obtained over the Allobroges, between Orange and Avignon; whilst others believe it to have been consecrated to the memory of a victory obtained by Fabius Maximus, over the combined forces of the Allobroges and Avernians. Both these conjectures, however, are exposed to the objection already mentioned, that of being too remote from the respective scenes of action, to admit the supposition that it is commemorative of either. There are not wanting advocates of a different origin and object, who deserve more attention than the rest; they would class

this exquisite specimen of Roman art amongst the numerous triumphal arches erected in honour of the emperor Augustus, when he made a public tour through the conquered provinces of Gaul. To this let one other opinion be added, namely, that it perpetuates the successes of Marcus Aurelius on the banks of the Danube. Whatever may have been its real destination, and whoever may have been its author, it should not be forgotten, that triumphal arches were unknown before the time of the Roman emperors. When the princes of Orange dwelt here, the arch was included within the palace precincts, and a tower was erected on its summit, whence its modern appellation of the Arch of the Tower. This desecration was remedied, in 1721, by the prince of Conti, who ordered the tower to be removed, as well as the walls of modern erection by which it was surrounded.

Standing on an open plain, about a quarter of a mile from the city, and in the royal road from Lyons to Marscilles, the Arch of Triumph is visible for some miles, in approaching from Montdragon. It is sixty feet in height, sixty in breadth, and pierced by three circular-headed arches, the central for the passage of carriages. Four beautiful fluted Corinthian columns decorate the principal front, the two central supporting a pediment, above which is an attic, finished with a rich moulding. The bas-reliefs are now much decayed, and the inscriptions illegible, although the stone of which the whole is formed (a tertiary limestone) appears to have resisted the ravages of time with no common share of obstinacy. A bas-relief on the attic represents a combat between cavalry and infantry. On one side are implements and emblems of sacrifice; on the other, marine trophies-rostra, anchors, oars, masts, tridents, and cables. Military accoutrements occupy many panels on every side; and groups of figures, whose occupations are not discernible, are placed over the side archways. No part of the workmanship has excited more admiration than the caissons, or sunken panels, in the vault of the great, or central archway; they are filled with garlands of roses, while the borders of the arcades consist of vine-branches loaded with fruit. A few letters, a single word, and an abbreviated sentence, appear in various parts of the design, insufficient, however, to afford anything like definite information. On one broken tablet is inscribed isvijus ; on another, beve; dodvacus is plain in a third place; and the letters sre are observable in several. These words are also legible on some of the shields-Sacrovir, Mario, Dacvno, Vdilliers, Av. Ot. Beneath the marine and military trophies, are captives, bound with chains; and the tympanum of the pediment, on the south front, is filled with a radiant sun.

The pleasure derived from an examination of the Arch of Triumph, is imbittered by the recollection, that its immediate locality was the theatre of the most sanguinary scenes, that render the Revolution but too memorable. It was beneath the beautifullyenriched arch, that a guillotine was erected in 1790, to which the inhabitants of Orange and Avignon were dragged, to be massacred without pity, and without means of defending themselves against their murderers.

It is a fact deserving of recollection, as admonitory to posterity, that the chief actors in these sanguinary scenes were less influenced by public sentiments than by