MISCELLANY 



779 



pyramids, the castle of k St. Angela, the tomb 

 of Cecilia Metella, and many temples scattered 

 over Hindustan. Thus, the respect paid by the 

 living to the dead has preserver! for the world 

 many magnificent fruits of architectural genius 

 and labor. A notion that the dead may require 

 the things they have been fond of in' life has 

 also preserved to the existing world many relic > 

 of the customs of past ages. The tombs of 

 Kgypt have supplied an immense quantity of 

 them, which have taught the present age more 

 of the manners of ancient nations than all the 

 learned books that have been written. It is an 

 awful remembrance, at the same time, that 

 inanimate things were not all that the dead were 

 expected to take with them. Herodotus tells 

 us of favorite horses and slaves sacrificed at the 



list of the dead chief. The same, thing 

 has been done in our own day in Ashantee. 

 In many countries the wives had the doom, or 

 privilege, as it was thought, of departing with 

 their husbands; and down to the present gener- 

 ation the practice has lived in full vigor in the 

 Hindu suttee. Among the Jews, the Greeks, 

 the Roman-, and many ancient nations the dead 

 were buried beyond the towns. In Christian 

 countries, if the remains of the saint to whom a 

 church was dedicated could be obtained or 

 anything passing for the remains they were 

 buried near the altar in the choir. It became a 

 prevalent de-ire to be buried near these saints, 

 and the bodies of men eminent for their piety, or 

 high in rank, came thus to be buried in churches. 

 Catacombs. Subterraneous chambers and 

 passages formed generally in a rock, which is 

 soft and easily excavated, such as tufa. Cata- 

 combs are to be found in almost every country 

 where such rocks exist, and, in most ra-es. 

 probably originated in mere quarries, which 

 afterward came to be u.-ed cither as places of 

 sepulture for the dead or as hiding-places for 

 the living. The most celebrated catacombs in 



ee. and those which are generally under- 



stood when catacombs are spoken of, are tho c 



!ii the Via . \ppia. at a short distance from 



To thi-M- dreary crypts it is believed 



. early Christians were in the habit of 

 retiring, in order to celebrate their new wor.-hip 

 in tim-- ution. and in them were buried 



f the saints and martyrs of the primitive 

 Church. They consist of LMIL:. narrow galleries, 

 u-ually about eiirht fey-t high and five feet wide, 

 which twist and turn in all directions, very much 

 n-embling mini i 



bv hollowing OUt a |H>rtion of the rock, at the 

 of the gallery, large enough to contain the 



body. The entrance was then built up with 

 stones, on which usually the letten 1 . M. Dao 

 Ma\im<. or \|. the Yir-t two letters of (In- 

 Greek name of Christ, were inxTiU-d. Other 

 .'I i a's the cross, are 



also found. Though latterly dev<". I to pur- 

 poses of Christian interment exclusively, it is 

 believed that t he catacombs were at on 

 used as burying-pUces by pagans also. At 



U thes. galleries. expand into 

 wide and lofty vaulted chamlers. in which the 

 service of the Church was no doubt 

 and which still have the ap|earan<e of churche . 



The original extent oi bfl is un . 



tain, the guides maintaining that they have a 

 length of twenty miles, whereas about six only 

 can now be ascertained to exist, and of these 

 many portions have either fallen in or become 

 dangerous. When Rome was besieged by the 

 Lombards in the Eighth Century, many of the 

 catacombs were destroyed, and the popes after- 

 ward caused the remains of many of the saints 

 and martyrs to be removed and buried in the 

 churches. Art found its way into the catacombs 

 at an early period, and many remains of fres- 

 coes are still found in them. Belzoni, in 1815 

 and 1818, explored many Egyptian catacombs 

 built 3,000 years ago, and brought to England 

 the Sarcophagus of Psammetichus, formed of 

 Oriental alabaster exquisitely sculptured. In 

 the Parisian catacombs, formerly stone quarries, 

 human remains from the Cemetery of the Inno- 

 cents were deposited in 1785, and many of the 

 victims of the Revolution of 1792-94 are in- 

 terred in them. 



Chivalry, a term which indicates strictly 

 the organization of knighthood as it existed in 

 the Middle Ages, and in a general sen 

 spirit and aims which distinguished the knights 

 of those times. The chief characteristics of the 

 chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty de- 

 votion to the female sex, a love of adventure. 

 and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Cru- 

 sades gave for a time a religious turn to th- 

 spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of 

 knighthood arose, such as the Knights of St. 

 John, the Templars, the Teutonic Kniglr 

 The education of a knight in the days of chivalry 

 was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent 

 to the court of some baron or noble knight, 

 where he spent his time chiefly in attending on 

 the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use'of arms. 

 in riding, etc. When advancing age and experi- 

 ence in the use of arms had qualified the page for 

 war, he became an c.vjnirc, or wyi/i'rr. Tin 

 is from Latin scutum, a shield, it being among 

 other offices the squire's business to carry the 

 shield of the knight whom he served. The third 

 and highest rank of chivalry was that of knight- 

 hood, which was not conferred before the twenty- 

 first year, except in the case of distinguished 

 birth or great achievements. The individual 

 prepared himself by mnlV ing. fa-tin-. 

 religious rites were performed; and then, after 

 promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and 

 orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live 

 in harmony with his <M|I, 

 the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with 

 the flat of the sword from the person who 

 dubbed him a knight. This was often done 



On the eve Of battle, to stimulate II. 

 knight to deeds of valor: or after the corn- 

 bit, to re\- Though chiv- 

 alry had its d iief amongst which. 

 perhaps, we may note a tendency to 



.tiotis of sentiment 



and profi-s t. be regarded as 



tempering in a \ cry beneficial manner tin- 

 natural rudeness of feudal society. As a 

 of education for the nobles, it taught 

 t'hem the best ideals s )H -ial and moral, which the 

 ! could understand, and filled a plan- iti 

 rivili/.-itioii which as yet the arts and letters 

 hardly occupy. 



