A Years Journey through France and Part of Spain | Page 6

and above to the sun: on the top is
fixed a globe of azure, sprinkled with _fleurs de lis d'or_, and crowned
with a radiant sun, that is to say, as the sun was made by GOD to
enlighten the world, so LEWIS LE GRAND was made to govern it.
I am sure now, you will excuse my mentioning what is said of this
great man _below_; but speaking of light, I must not omit to mention,
that there are men of veracity now living in this town, who affirm, that
they have seen, upon opening some of the ancient monuments here, the
eternal lamps burning. The number of testimonies we have of this kind
puts the matter past a doubt, that a flame has appeared at the lip of
these lamps when first the tombs have been opened; one was found,
you know, on the Appian way, in the tomb of _Cicero_'s daughter,
which had burnt more than seventeen centuries; another at Padua,
which had burnt eight hundred years, and which was found hanging
between two little phials, one of gold, the other of silver, which were
both quite full of liquor, extremely clear, as well as many others; but as
it is impossible to believe that flame can exist, and not consume that

which feeds it, is it not more natural to conclude that those lamps,
phials, &c. contained a species of phosphorus, which became luminous
upon the first opening of the tombs and the sudden rushing in of fresh
air; and that the reverse of what is generally supposed is the fact, that
they are not extinguished, but illuminated by the fresh air they receive?
I have seen several of these lamps here and elsewhere, most of which
are of baked earth. It has been said, that there is an oil to be extracted
from gold, which will not consume, and that a wick of asbestos has
burnt many years in this oil, without consumption to either. I have seen
a book written by a German Jesuit, to confirm this fact; so there is
authority for you, if not conviction.
As I know your keen appetite after antiquities, I will send you a few
other inscriptions, and leave you to make your own comments; and
voila.
D M L. HOSTIL. TER. SILVANI. ANN. XXIIII. M. II. D. XV
MATER FIL PIJSSIMI MISERA ET IN LVCIV. AETERNALI
BENIFICI. O NOVERCAE.
The following inscription is cut upon a marble column, which stands
near the Jesuits' church:
SALVIS D.D.N.N. THEODOSIO, ET VALENTINIANO. P.F.V. AC
TRIVM. SEMPER AUG. XV. CONS. VIR. INL. AUXILIARIS PRÆ.
PRÆT, GALLIA. DE ARELATE MA, MILLIARIA PONI. S. M.P.S.
In the ancient church of _St. Honore_, which stands in the center of all
these Heathen and Christian monuments, are to be seen nine
Bacchanalians of very ancient workmanship; where also is the tomb of
_St. Honore_, employed as the altar of the church; and beneath the
church are catacombs, where the first Christians retired to prayer during
the persecution by the Emperors, and where is still to be seen their altar
and seven ancient sepulchres, of beautiful marble, and exquisitely
worked; the first is the tomb of _St. Genet_; the second of _St. Roland_,
Archbishop of _Arles_; the third of _St. Concord_, with an epitaph, and
two doves with olive branches in their beaks, cut in bass relief, and
underneath are the two letters X and P; on this tomb is the miraculous

cross seen in the heavens by Constantine, who is represented before it
on his knees; and on the cover of this tomb are the heads of
Constantine, Faustina, and his son; and they say the Emperor saw this
miracle in the heaven from the very Cimetiere in which this monument
stands, i.e. in the year 315; the fifth is the tomb of _St. Dorothy_,
Virgin and Martyr of _Arles_; the sixth _St. Virgil_, and the seventh
_St. Hiliare_, (both Archbishops of Arles,) who has borrowed a Pagan
sepulchre, for it is adorned with the principal divinities of the ancients
in bass relief.--It seems odd to see on a Christian Bishop's tomb Venus,
and the three Destinies. The people here say, that this tomb represents
human life, as the ancients believed that each God contributed
something towards the being. Be that as it may, the tomb is a very
curious one, and much admired by the Connoisseurs, for its excellent
workmanship; but what is more extraordinary than all these, is, that this
catacomb, standing in the middle of the others, with its cover well and
closely fixed, has always water in it, and often is quite full, and nobody
can tell (_but one of the priests perhaps_) from what source it comes.
There is also in this church the tomb and a long Latin Epitaph of _St.