167 
matist, the confused hint of Tacitus , — ‘ Haustae aut obrutae urbes fecundissima 
Campanile ora,’ — and the tradition reported by Dion Cassius. Had Hercu- 
laneum and Pompeii never been discovered, the accounts transmitted to us 
of their tragical end, would therefore have been discredited by the majority 
of critical inquirers, so vague and general are the narratives, or so long sub- 
sequent to the event. Mr. Lyeil thereupon wisely observes, ‘ This case may 
often serve as a caution to the geologist, who has frequent cccasion to weigh 
in like manner negative evidence derived from, the silence of eminent 
writers, against the obscure but positive testimony of popular tradition.’ 
“ Perhaps even more remarkable than the record of the first outbreak, 
within the Historical period, of volcanic activity in the Italian peninsula, are 
the circumstances attending the memorials of the last known occurrence of 
such phenomena in Central France. During three years (458—460), Auvergne 
and Dauphine were convulsed by violent and continued volcanic eruptions ; 
streams of lava bursting forth from the summits of the mountains, broke 
down the cones which ejected continuous ignited showers, attended by earth- 
quakes, shaking, as it were, the foundations of the earth. Thunders rolled 
through the subterranean caverns ; so awful were the concussions, the sounds, 
the fires, that the beasts of the forest, driven from their haunts, sought refuge 
m the abodes of mankind. Strange as it may seem, these phenomena are 
commemorated by the usages of the Church, and inscribed in the pao-es of 
our Liturgy. ® 
An impending invasion of the Goths added to the terror of the threaten- 
ing 55 of nature. Instructed and profiting by the example of the Ninevites, 
Mamertus, bishop of Vienne, assembled his people in prayer and humi- 
liation. To avert the evil, he instituted the solemn Litanies, or Eolations 
on the three days immediately preceding the feast of the Ascension, and 
which three days acquired distinctively the appellation of Rogation Days. 
because they were the only days of the year then annually set apart for the 
purpose, of such solemn supplications. These forms of prayer, rendered more 
impressive by the awful character of the calamities and portents which had 
suggested them, corresponding so nearly with the signs and judgments of 
bcnpture, were speedily adopted throughout Gaul and England. Here they 
were continued by usage and tradition, until finally established as a portion 
ot the national ritual, in the council held at Cleofeshoe (a.d. 749)? which 
appointed that those three days should be kept holy, after the manner of 
former times ; and it is hardly needful to observe that the Eogation Days 
retain their station in the rubric of the Church of England at the present 
A remarkable epistle of Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of Clermont (conse- 
crated a.d. 471), who resided on the borders of the Lake Aidat, which owed 
its existence to the damming up of a river by a lava-current, addressed to 
-.amertus himself, within fourteen or at most sixteen years after the events 
(Mamertus died a.d. 474), preserves a full notice of the earthquakes and the 
volcanic eruptions, the crumbling of the cones and the heaping of the showers 
of ashes and scoriae cast forth amidst their fires. Alcimus Avitus, the suc- 
cessor of Mamertus, carries on the chain of testimony. This prelate, who 
was Promoted to the see of Vienne about thirty years after the eruptions 
(A. d. 490), composed an ample.series of Eogation Homilies ; and, in address- 
ing Ins people, he recalls to their memory the events which a great portion of 
them must have witnessed, and exhorts them to gratitude for the deliverance 
they had received. These homilies appear to have been numerous ; but, with 
the exception of some fragments, all have been lost except two ; and amono-st 
the strange examples. of the oblivion attending written evidence, not merely 
vhen lurking m archives or concealed in manuscripts, but when amply dif- 
fused by means of the printing-press, we may remark that this is perhaps the 
