Quasi spelunca di ladron son fatti,
Tal ch’à buon solamente uscio si chiude;
E tra le altari, e tra statue ignude,
Ogni impressa crudel par che si tratti.
Canzone xi.
[250] This ancient use of the Catacombs has not been forgotten in modern times. That intrepid pontiff, Pius VII., rather than yield to the demands of the first Napoleon, threatened to retire to those gloomy recesses which had sheltered so many of the primitive bishops.
[251] MacFarlane, p. 36.
[252] Ibid., 49, 50.
[253] “Fuit hic ad visitandum sanctum locum istum.”
[254] “Quidem Scoti hic fuerunt.”
[255] “Cum magnâ cometivâ.”
[256] “Unanimes antiquitatis amatores.”