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a change was this from the frivolous gaiety of the morning! How little can be known of what a day or an hour may bring forth!

"Though the morn may be serene,
Not a threat'ning cloud be seen,
Who can undertake to say
"Twill be pleasant all the day?
66 Tempest suddenly may rise,
Darkness overspread the skies,
Lightnings flash and thunders roar
Ere a short-lived day be o'er."

For three days the storm continued, and many managed to escape; but, what with earthquakes, falling walls, suffocation by sulphuric vapours, those buried in the showers of ashes, rocks, and stones, streams of boiling water, sand, and mud, no less than 2,000 people were killed and buried in that vast tomb, and that which had long been known as the city of the living now became emphatically "the city of the dead."

CHAPTER III.'

POMPEII UNBURIED.

AFTER the terrible scenes narrated in the previous chapter, when the thick darkness was lifted from the earth, and the glorious sunshine once more beamed upon the land, it revealed to the terrorstricken remnant of the inhabitants of Pompeii, that they were homeless, for their city was buried out of sight, and covered with many feet of ashes, whilst the city of Herculaneum was covered with the lava which had poured upon it. Many years' labour would have been required to have uncovered i them, so the people either built again somewhere in the vicinity, or took up their abode in some less dangerous locality, giving up the idea of ever occupying their old cities.

Some years after, the Emperor Severus plundered Pompeii of many of its finest monuments and columns to embellish his public places at Rome; but the troubles of his empire, which afterwards ensued, soon occupied all his thoughts, so that the fate of Pompeii and Herculaneum was forgotten, their sites lost sight of, and their names passed into oblivion. True, here and there, the summit of some building cropped up above the ashes, but archæology was not then a science; and, although a great Roman architect carried a subterraneous canal under the very site of Pompeii, and consequently met with the remains of its buildings, inscriptions, and memorials, yet no spirit of scientific curiosity induced him to undertake any researches. Thus year after year rolled away, and where was the glory of those once-famous cities? Vanished like a morning dream!

66

Earthly things

Are but the transient pageants of an hour,
And earthly pride is like the passing flower
That springs to fall, and blossoms but to die."

The city of Herculaneum was discovered before that of Pompeii. In 1684, a baker was sinking a well on his premises, which at the depth of ninety feet terminated near the stage of the Herculaneum theatre, which led to a farther excavation, and many valuable statues were brought to light; but these searches were soon discontinued until 1736, when they were recommenced by a Spanish officer under the command of Charles V. While he was thus engaged, intelligence was brought to him that ancient remains had been discovered about six miles distant; he accordingly commenced operations at the spot indicated, and was rewarded by finding a skeleton, several coins, and a large

fresco painting. Stimulated by this discovery, he pushed on his works with greater alacrity, and before the close of 1754 he had cleared out the whole of the amphitheatre at Pompeii-that memorable spot where the last tragic scene of the city was being enacted when destruction came. Two or three human skeletons, and also one of a lion, were found in it. From that time, almost without interruption, the works of excavation have been continued; streets, theatres, temples, private houses, and places of public resort have now been unburied, through which visitors can walk as in days of yore.

"Gaze round the lonely place and see

Its silence and obscurity.

Then commune with thine heart and say,
They are the footprints of decay,

And I, e'en thus, shall pass away.”

Yet so perfect are some of the ruins, that Miss Kavanagh has said, "The past is present and rises before us in its minutest details, and therefore in its greatest power. We cannot walk ten steps without feeling, Is it true? Are the people of this city really dead? Are the owners of the shops really gone for ever? Will the worshippers never come back to the temples? Will the citizens never again throng the forum? Is the garden really forsaken for ever? Will children, girls, and slaves never again gather beneath the colonnade of the villa, or look from the terrace at the purple mountains, and the mist of the distant waterfalls? Which is the truest-that past which surrounds us, and seems so near, or that present which fades away from thought, and seems so far when we enter the charmed city?"

At the entrance of one of the gates of Pompeii there was a niche, where the soldier mounted guard, and the skeleton of a Roman warrior was

discovered in it, still grasping his heavy lance, the rusty armour clanking on his fleshless bones. Who has not read that pathetic poem, "Casabianca,' by Mrs. Hemans, and been almost melted into tears at the brave self-sacrifice of that noble little fellow, who would not leave the burning deck without his father's word? It was a brave act, and worthy to be recorded; but in this noble sacrifice of the Roman soldier,. is there not something quite as worthy of a poet's pen? Even that hour of doom, which to many must have seemed like the end of time on earth, had failed to break the bonds of discipline, or shake his blind fidelity to his post. The lightnings flashed, and the earth was convulsed.

66

Upon his brow he felt their breath,

And in his waving hair;

And looked from that lone post of death
In still yet brave despair.'

'Twas enough for him; he had not yet received permission to escape, therefore he perished at his post.

When the city dungeons were opened, several skeletons were found there, with rusty shackles still encircling their bones. When the fire and the ashes fell upon Pompeii, the jailors escaped, giving never a thought of the terrrible fate to which they abandoned the inmates of those gloomy cells.

The British Museum, the museum at Naples, and one they are forming at Pompeii, possess many valuable relics of the past, and are a source of great interest to the majority of visitors.

There have been about fifty eruptions of Vesuvius, one of the most fearful of which has occurred this very year. The descriptions, as given by spectators, have been most awful to peruse; and although miles of country, many houses, and rivers have been destroyed, yet the ruins of Pompeii have not this

time suffered at all. In our island home we have been enabled to dwell in safety without being subject to such dire calamities as this; but Earl Shaftesbury has warned us, in a recent speech, that we are not to rest too securely, for he states that eminent geologists have repeatedly told him that they believe our land is built over a subterraneous well of fire that is liable at any moment to turn part of our lovely island into another Vesuvius, and some of its towns into a second Pompeii or Herculaneum. One thing seems certain, that there is a vast volume of fire in the centre of our earth, and these burning mountains act as safety-valves to prevent our world becoming one vast conflagration. How plainly does this speak of an overruling Providence that holds these powers in check! Yet, when the time of the end shall come, at the command of Him who created this world by His word shall the whole be destroyed: well will it be for those in that day who have fled unto Jesus for refuge, and have been sprinkled with His cleansing blood, which alone can preserve them from the sword of the destroying angel.

When, shrivelling like a parched scroll
The flaming heavens together roll,
What power shall be the sinner's stay?
How shall he meet that fearful day?

"Oh! on that day, that dreadful day,
When man to judgment wakes from clay,
Be Thou, O Lord, the sinner's stay,
Though heaven and earth shall pass away."

EBENEZER.

LIFE is gcing; death is coming.

Time is

passing judgment is approaching. Young reader, are you born again!

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