Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

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letter to his cousin's.
" We have just arrived in Rome," they wrote with filial alacrity,
" and we don't like to let to-morrow morning's mail go
out without hastily addressing you these lines, which will fully
inform you of the principal details and incidents of our voyage.
A:ter quitting Paris on Tuesday evening, we reached Lyons on
Wednesday morning, and Marseilles that evening. As there
was no direct line, we had to go to Civita Vecchia by Leghorn,
where we disembarked on Friday evening. As our vessel had
to remain r. day at anchor in the port, we availed ourselves of
this delay to visit Leghorn. We had delightful weather going
to Civita Vtcchiu, where we arrived on Saturday. Oh ! what
was our happiness, what joyful transports Wfre ours, when at
length we were permitted to tread that sacred soil so long the
object of our dreams and our desires ! We spontaneously flung
ourselves on our knees to cover with kisses that sacred land :.s
to us as Palestine was to the valorous
dear and as precious
Crusaders of yore ! But we carnot describe to you the vivacity,
the intensity of our rapture when, from the window of the
train when traversing the banks of the Tiber, our eyes saw
outlined against the blue sky first the grand basilica of St.
Paul, then the noble old church of St. Mary-Major, and in fact
most of tbe fine churches of Rome. We alighted at the Porta
Portese, where we were received by a large number of outbrave
compatriots who bad preceded us some months." "At
that moment," continued Victor, " Tasso's fine verses describ-
ing the Crus dcrs' transports at the sight of the ramparts of
Jerusalem occurred to me. Rome, our Jerusalem, lay at our
feet, disclosed to our gaze, and I could find no other words to
express the transports that filled our hearts than the words of
the sublime poet :- -
' Ecno apparer Geruealcm si vede,
Ecco additer Gerusalem Bi ecorgq ;
K . YI il:i mille voci imitazucntc.
Gerusalemme ealutar ai scute.'
'But wo mustn't forget that good Martin," continued tno
brave young f Hows; "you can't think how happy he is. He
says continually that now, for two thousand francs, he wouldn't
wish to return to Belgium. The excellent lad is sometimes
at Liege or Antwerp. It is not such a great thing after all,
SA