the church at Rome for many years, converting numbers of people to the true faith, and amongst others Domitilla, the niece of the Emperor Domitian, and another noble Roman lady whose name was Theodora. Through the protection of Domitilla, his life was secure during the reign of Domitian. In the year 100, under Trajan, began the third general persecution, which was the more afflicting because this emperor was in other respects famous for his humanity and his justice.

The prefect who governed Rome, during the absence of Trajan on his expedition against the Dacians, commanded Clement to be brought before him, and on his refusal to sacrifice to the false gods he ordered him to be banished to an island whither many convicts were sent and obliged to work in the quarries of stone. There did many Christians already sigh in chains, and several voluntarily accompanied the good bishop, willing to partake of his banishment. Clement found the unhappy prisoners not only condemned to hard labour, but suffering cruelly from the want of water, which they had to bring from a distance of ten miles. The saint, moved with compassion, knelt down and prayed; and, raising his eyes, he suddenly saw a lamb standing upon the summit of a rising ground, which, remaining invisible to all beside himself, he knew could be none other than the Lamb of God; therefore St. Clement took up a pickaxe, and went before the people to the hill, and, digging there, a clear and abundant stream gushed forth, to the great consolation of the people. (Observe the beautiful and significant allegory!) This miracle only the more incensed his enemies, and they ordered him to be bound to an anchor and cast into the sea. But short was their triumph! for, at the prayer of the Christian disciples, the sea withdrew for the space of three miles, and they discovered a little ruined temple which had been formerly buried by the waters: and, wonderful to relate, within it was found the body of St. Clement with the anchor round his neck; and, as it is related by credible witnesses, this miracle did not happen only once, but every year at the anniversary of his martyrdom the sea retired during seven days, leaving a dry path for those who went to honour the relics of the saint in this new species of submarine tomb. And this lasted for many years; and many grave authors, who affirm this miracle, also relate, that a certain woman, accompanied by her son, being at prayer within the temple, her child fell asleep, and

the sea rising suddenly the mother fled, leaving him behind in her fear, and when she reached the shore she wrung her hands, weeping bitterly, and passed that year in great affliction. The next year, returning to pay her devotions at the shrine, to her joyful surprise she found her son there, sleeping, just as she had left him.

St. Clement, in the devotional pictures, appears habited as pope, sometimes with the tiara, but generally without it; an anchor at his side, or a small anchor suspended round his neck. In the ancient mosaic in his church at Rome (12th century) he is thus represented seated by St. Peter and holding the anchor in his hand. In the frescoes of the little chapel already alluded to, on the wall opposite to the life of St. Catherine, Masaccio or one of his scholars painted a series of the life of St. Clement, now in a most ruined state; we can distinguish the scene of the flood, and St. Clement discovering the fountain of living waters the waters of religious truth and consolation to his thirsty and fainting disciples. The other subjects are scarcely to be recognised.'

Far away from these churches, and in a desolate spot amid vineyards and ruins, between the Santa Croce and the Porte Maggiore, stands the small ancient church of SANTA BIBIANA, dedicated to her about the year 468. She was a young Roman lady, who, with her father Flavianus, her mother Dafrosa, and her sister Demetria, suffered martyrdom in the reign of Julian the Apostate. Persisting in her faith, she was scourged to death, or, according to another authority, first scourged and then pierced with a dagger (Dec. 2. A.D. 362). The column to which she was bound is shown within the church, placed there by Urban VIII. when he restored the ruined edifice in 1622.

The statue of St. Bibiana, in marble, by Bernini, stands upon the altar; a graceful figure, leaning against a pillar, and holding the palm

The church of St. Clement, in the Strand, is dedicated to this saint. The device of the parish is an anchor, which the beadles and other officials bear on their buttons, &c., and which also surmounts the weathercock on the steeple. To choose the anchor-the symbol of stability for a weathercock, appears strangely absurd till we know the reason. There are in England forty-seven churches dedicated to St. Clement.

in her hand. The nave of the church is painted with a series of large frescoes, which exhibit her story in detail. 1. Bibiana refuses to sacrifice to idols.1 2. The death of Demetria, who, according to the legend, fell dead to the earth before she was touched by the executioner. 3. Bibiana bound to a column, and scourged. 4. Her body, being cast forth unburied, is found by a dog. 5. Olympia, a noble Roman matron, founds the church, which is dedicated by Pope Simplicius.

Between these large historical subjects are single devotional figures, of a colossal size, representing Bibiana, Dafrosa, Flavianus, Demetria, and Olympia. Though in a mannered taste, they have much grandeur, and are reckoned by Lanzi among the finest works of the master Pietro da Cortona.

On the brow of the Calian Hill, and in a most striking situation, looking across to the ruins on the Palatine, stands the church of the two brothers ST. JOHN and ST. PAUL, who were martyred in the same year with Bibiana, and whose church has existed since the year 499. They were officers in the service of Constantia, whom the old legends persist in representing as a most virtuous Christian (though, I believe, she was far otherwise), and were put to death by Julian the Apostate. Their house stood upon this spot, one of the most beautiful sites in ancient Rome.

In devotional pictures these saints are always represented standing together in the Roman military costume, and bearing the sword and the palm.

Their famous church at Venice, the SS. Giovanni e Paolo, can never be forgotten by those who have lingered around its wondrous and precious monuments; but among them we may seek in vain for the Roman tutelary saints at least I did: and I believe, notwithstanding the magnificence of their church, the Venetians know nothing about them. The Dominicans, who raised this edifice in the thirteenth century, were emigrants from the convent of St. John and St. Paul, at Rome, and carried their patrons with them.

1 Eng. by Mercati, 1626. Bartsch, xx. p. 140.

On the southern side of the Cælian Hill stand the San Stefano and the Santa Maria della Navicella; then, as we descend into the valley, in that desolate hollow between the Cælian and the Aventine, and close to the baths of Caracalla, stands the old church of SS. NEREO and ACHILLEO.

These two saints, Nereus and Achilleus, are peculiar to Rome. They were the chamberlains of Flavia Domitilla, grand-niece of the Emperor Domitian, and daughter of Flavius Clemens and the elder Domitilla, both of whom had suffered for their adhesion to Christianity. Flavia Domitilla was betrothed to Aurelian, son of the consul; but her two chamberlains, zealous Christians, prevailed upon her to refuse this union with an idolater; for which cause they were beheaded, and Domitilla was at the same time put to death at Terracina (May 12.).

St. Nereus and St. Achilleus are represented standing in secular habits, bearing palms in their hands, on each side of Domitilla, who is richly dressed as princess, and bears her palm; as in a picture by Rubens, painted when he was in Rome in 1604, and now over the high altar of S. Maria della Vallicella.

The Martyrdom of SS. Nereo and Achilleo in the church of S. Maddalena de' Pazzi at Florence, is a chef-d'œuvre of Pocetti.

Not far from this church is another of great antiquity, dedicated to ST. CESAREO, who perished at Terracina, because he opposed himself to the worship of Apollo. Though very little is known of him, he was celebrated in the sixth century, both in the East and in the West. At present his name and fame seem to be confined entirely to Rome.

On the other side of the baths of Caracalla, and at the foot of the Aventine, we come upon the little church of SANTA BALBINA. Of its foundation all that we know is that it was an ancient church in the time of Gregory the Great (A.D. 590).

St. Balbina is another saint peculiar to Rome. According to the legend she was the daughter of the prefect Quirinus, and discovered the chains of St. Peter, which had long been lost. (March 31. A.d. 130.) She is represented veiled, and holding a chain in her hand, or with fetters near her.

On the summit of the Aventine are several of the most interesting of

these old churches. That of ST. SABINA was dedicated to a noble Roman matron, who suffered martyrdom in the time of the Emperor Hadrian (Aug. 29. second century). This church, built upon the site of her house, existed in 423. Though spoilt, as usual, by whitewashing and restoration, it is singularly elegant. The altar-piece, by Frederic Zucchero, represents St. Sabina as dragged up the marble steps of a temple by an executioner with a drawn sword. With her was martyred her Greek slave Seraphia, who was also a zealous Christian, and, as the legend relates, had converted her mistress. St. Sabina, though a Roman saint, is among those not confined to Rome. I saw at Venice, in the San Zaccaria, a most lovely picture by the Vivarini of Murano, in which she is represented with her palm and crown, richly dressed, and surrounded by worshipping angels; on the right, St. Jerome; and on the left, another saint in a short tunic, fastened with a gold belt, bearing a palm. The exquisite softness of this picture, the lovely colour, and the divine expression in the faces, render it one of the most beautiful productions of the early Venetian school.

Not far from the church of St. Sabina is that of ST. PRISCA.

On this spot, according to the old tradition, stood the house of Aquila and Priscilla, where St. Peter lodged when at Rome, and who are the same mentioned by St. Paul as tent-makers; and here is shown the font from which, according to the same tradition, St. Peter baptized the first Roman converts to Christianity. The altar-piece represents the baptism of St. Prisca, whose remains being afterwards placed in this church, it has since borne her name. According to the legend, she was a Roman virgin of illustrious birth, who at the age of thirteen was exposed in the amphitheatre. A fierce lion was let loose upon her, but her youth and innocence disarmed the fury of the savage beast, which, instead of tearing her to pieces, humbly licked her feet; great consolation of the Christians, and the confusion of the idolaters. Being led back to prison, she was there beheaded. St. Prisca is not peculiar to Rome; she appears in old prints and pictures, and in French sculpture and stained glass, bearing her palm, and with a lion at her side: sometimes

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