tiles were covered with a fine plaster, on which are sometimes painted in red, and at other times are scratched, either Greek, Latin, or Hebrew inscriptions; and some of those in the pavement have also an inscription painted or scratched on the plaster in the place corresponding to the skull of the skeleton. All these inscriptions have been translated. It was observed, too, that the graves which bear an epigraph are intact; and with a view to keep them so, none others were opened. After examining the principal corridor, the Commission proceeded to the first ramifications on the left, many portions of which have fallen in, and others are supported by walls of very strong and ancient construction. Into these a lad was sent on his knees, bearing a light; and "we perceived that there was another corridor (closed up as well with fallen earth), with graves and legends, which we were unable to examine in consequence of the difficulty of the entrance." These, however, are reserved for further investigation, and till then, all access is prohibited. Nothing has been found to show that martyrs were buried here, or indeed any illustrious Christians,-except emblems, such as candelabra, palms, and a dove with an olive-branch in its mouth: showing that if these tombs had ever been used by the Gentiles, they were also used by the Christians. A few days after this official examination of the catacombs, a short pamphlet appeared, by Salvatori Pisano-Verdino, "On the Settlement and Worship of the Jews in the principal Cities of the Kingdom of Naples." He shows that the Jews who were scattered about Puglia and the Calabrias, settled also in Venusina; and he supposes that the Hebrew inscriptions found in the catacombs record a period of Jewish history from the fourth to the ninth century;-a supposition to which Alve objects, on the ground of the interval allowed being too long.

Before I give some other details furnished by one who has recently returned from a visit to these excavations, let me say one word of Venusina. Its situation is delightful, on the inclination of a hill, which is surrounded by two streams, the Ruscello and the Reale. These, uniting their

waters with those of the Campello, form a considerable river, called by the Venosini the Fiumara. The city is full of classic interest. After the battle of Cannæ, it afforded refuge to Varro and his few followers; it was the birthplace of Horace; it was noted for its ancient monuments, Christian as well as Pagan, and for the varied fortunes it has experienced. In the present day His Sicilian Majesty has given much attention to it; and, besides restoring to light the amphitheatre, and an old Byzantine temple, sacred to the Trinity, is now engaged in opening the devious and dangerous paths of the catacombs. The discovery of them, I have already said, was accidental. About three quarters of a mile from the city there are some grottoes, which were used by the country people for folding their herds of black cattle. The vaults of these grottoes crumbling away, the ground fell in, and thus was discovered the entrance, though not perhaps the principal one, to the catacombs. To what has been already cited from the official report, little remains to be added. In the direction which has so recently and so accidentally been brought to light, the excavations have not been pursued to any great depth, as a church is built overhead. On the right side of the principal corridor there are nine cells, and on the left ten, the ordinary height and width of which are about eight palms. The dimensions of the other corridors, branching off from the principal ones, are even less. The cells of all differ from one another in depth, height, and spaciousness; and so closely are the graves, or loculi, dug one to the other, that, were they all opened, the interior of the catacombs would have the appearance of being adorned with a species of embroidery. Unlike many other catacombs, it is the opinion of learned men that these were formed expressly for the use assigned to them. excavations could not have been made originally with a view to obtain sand, or pozzolano, or tufa, since the soil which has been perforated consists of a composition of tufa, of clay, and of sand,- -a composition not used in building. Besides this, the sand-pits of Venosa are really situated on the eastern side of the valley, which is watered

The

by the Fiumara, and are very remarkable for their extent and their as yet unknown depth. A gentleman, who entered them some years since, examined them for two hours by torch-light without arriving at the termination of these most intricate corridors, which are very low, very convenient for transit, and have large openings. The popular tradition, handed down from father to son, is, that the ancients excavated these unapproachable subterranean pits in order to extract gold-dust; and that afterwards, in the times of Christianity, they became the place of refuge for malignant spirits, and received the name of the Grottos of S. Rufina, as they are actually called. For these and other reasons, it is presumed that the catacombs of Venosa were not excavated for sand-pits, but were made expressly for the burial of the dead.

POETRY.

"PRESS ON; MAKE HASTE!”

(See YOUTH'S INSTRUCTER for 1853, page 525.)

"PRESS on, make haste," youth of aspiring soul!
While Hope's alluring rays illume thy way;
While skies unclouded o'er thy spirit roll,

And Fancy's dreams paint life a golden day.
Toil hard, aim high; work for thyself a name
Immortal in the annals of the sky :
In life's short moment win a deathless fame,
And grasp in time a blest eternity.

"Press on, make haste," man of a thousand cares!
Thine is the prime of manhood, thine its strife:
The dreams of youth are fled; the world appears
Robed in the stern realities of life.

Haste! for the pinions of each passing breath
Bear thee away to endless weal or woe.
So strive, that thine may be a nobler wreath
Than ever flourish'd on the victor's brow!

"Press on, make haste," thou of the hoary head!

Thy flickering lamp emits its feeblest ray :
Thou hoverest 'twixt the living and the dead,
Heir of the grave, and victim of decay.
O, haste, thou aged man! for seraphs wait
To guide thee on to immortality;

While heaven throws open wide each pearly gate,
And bids thee share its full felicity.

"Press on, make haste," thou pilgrim of the skies!
Earth's tearful vale was never made thy home:
The hills and vales of thine own paradise

Gleam in eternal sunshine past the tomb.
Strains of celestial sweetness charm thee on;
Visions of dreamless beauty point the road:
Press on; for thine shall be the richest crown
That sparkles 'mid the jewelry of God!

Northmavin, Shetland.

SORROW'S BREATHINGS.

W. P.

"WINE I now loathe, money I detest, praise is irksome to me, and the world only one dull round of apathy and misanthropy."-BYRON.

ALONE, alone in this wide world,

Without a single friend,

I live to prove that sorrow's woes
Will make the strong ones bend.

I live to tell, as monuments,
To those in coming years,
The fairest joys are withering,
The bravest heart has fears.

My heart is sad, my spirits fail,
And blasted are my hopes,

As young trees' broken flourishings
By many thunder-strokes.

W. U.

NEW BOOKS.

(Literary, Scientific, Educational.)

THE REV. CHARLES FORSTER, whose "Mahometanism Unveiled" was long familiar to the literary world, has achieved for himself a far more brilliant reputation by his writings on the One Primeval Language. Independently of the philological argument, his researches

are of incalculable importance in relation to the history of revealed religion. With heroic perseverance he labours, year after year, on inscriptions copied from the graven rocks of Sinai, and monuments of ancient Egypt. In these he reads forcible corroborations of the records of holy Scripture, and, instead of mythic mysteries, finds representations of the fall of man, the predicted bruising of the serpent's head, the exode from Egypt, the pilgrimage of Israel, and a multitude of coincidences with historical passages in the Old Testament. He traces a primeval, or, at least, an extremely ancient alphabet; and then, borrowing light from Arabic roots, reads words where his predecessors had only seen pictorial symbols, and sentences where they had only guessed at proper names. We have dwelt with delight on the two first volumes on the Rocks of Sinai and on the Monuments of Egypt. The Third Part, on The Monuments of Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia, (Bentley,) is announced as ready, and we long for its appearance. A "Harmony of Primeval Alphabets," on a sheet, in case, exhibits all that is yet known of hitherto intractable characters.

In two handsome volumes, the REV. N. DAVIS, many years resident in Northern Africa, relates a journey into the interior. Without any of the flippancy too prevalent in books of travel, he describes Mohammedan customs, and sustains throughout the character of an observant scholar and a Christian. The ground has not been much trodden, and this narrative should be in every readingroom or subscription-library. The title is, Evenings in my Tent; or, Wanderings in Balad Ejjareed. Illustrating the moral, religious, social, and political conditions of various Arab tribes of the African Sahara. (Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co.)

The VISCOUNTESS FALMOUTH has written an easy compendium, under the form and title of Conversations on Geography. (Longmans.) Very good as a first book for children.

A Manual of Optics, by the Rev. J. A. Galbraith, and the REV. S. HAUGHTON, of Trinity-College, Dublin, (Hodges and Smith, Dublin,) for the use of Students who are already initiated in the elements of Geometry and Algebra. It consists of no more than sixty-four pages, but returns a good set of first lessons for little money.

My Schools and Schoolmasters; or, the Story of my Education, by HUGH MILLER, (Johnstone and Hunter,) is a minutely delineated picturing of the life and adventures of the Author of The Old Red Sandstone, and Footprints of the Creator. Like the writer, this autobiography is vividly original, and abounds in good lessons to