DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53561#0135
Vol. II. to IT A L Y.
Caves, they wou’d have for ever depriv’d the
Chrisiians of ’em.
($.) If I ffiou’d enquire how the Chrisiians
were able to dig and empty these Caves without
alarming their Neighbours, and how they dispo-
sed of all the Rubbish, my Adversaries wou’d
doubtless tell me, That this Work was not done
in secret; and, that the Puzzolane or Sand,of the
Catacombs was sold by the poor Chrisiians, who,
for this reason, were nick-nam’d Arenarii; that
in the mean time they perform’d the Duties of
Religious Worihip in these Holes, under pretext
of burying their Dead. But this Answer is by
no means applicable to the Catacombs of Naples,
that are hewn out of a Rock.
And as for the Nick-name of Arenarii, it may
be observ’d, that this Derision of the Misery and
Poverty of the Chrisiians does not prove that they
were the only Perlons in .Rowe who were reduc’d
to trade in Sand, which is the tirfng that ought to
have been demonstrated, to remove the Difficulty
which may arise from our supposing that other
Persons besides the Chrifiians were employ’d in
digging these Holes. Tho’ the Jews of Franksort,
for example, are oblig’d to run to any part of
the City where a Fire happens to break forth, and
to carry Water to quench it; it does not follow,
that the Chrisiian Inhabitants of that City remain
idle Spectators of their Labours.
(6.) The Cyphers of the Name
os _Chrifi, Palm-Branches, Doves
os Peace, Crojfes, Crowns, and O-
ther Marks of Chrisiianity, that
are found on the Stones which
cover these Sepulchres, in-
stead of proving what our Ad-
versaries pretend, That these Bu-
rying-places were peculiar to the Chrisiians, seem
rather
11 I
Caves, they wou’d have for ever depriv’d the
Chrisiians of ’em.
($.) If I ffiou’d enquire how the Chrisiians
were able to dig and empty these Caves without
alarming their Neighbours, and how they dispo-
sed of all the Rubbish, my Adversaries wou’d
doubtless tell me, That this Work was not done
in secret; and, that the Puzzolane or Sand,of the
Catacombs was sold by the poor Chrisiians, who,
for this reason, were nick-nam’d Arenarii; that
in the mean time they perform’d the Duties of
Religious Worihip in these Holes, under pretext
of burying their Dead. But this Answer is by
no means applicable to the Catacombs of Naples,
that are hewn out of a Rock.
And as for the Nick-name of Arenarii, it may
be observ’d, that this Derision of the Misery and
Poverty of the Chrisiians does not prove that they
were the only Perlons in .Rowe who were reduc’d
to trade in Sand, which is the tirfng that ought to
have been demonstrated, to remove the Difficulty
which may arise from our supposing that other
Persons besides the Chrifiians were employ’d in
digging these Holes. Tho’ the Jews of Franksort,
for example, are oblig’d to run to any part of
the City where a Fire happens to break forth, and
to carry Water to quench it; it does not follow,
that the Chrisiian Inhabitants of that City remain
idle Spectators of their Labours.
(6.) The Cyphers of the Name
os _Chrifi, Palm-Branches, Doves
os Peace, Crojfes, Crowns, and O-
ther Marks of Chrisiianity, that
are found on the Stones which
cover these Sepulchres, in-
stead of proving what our Ad-
versaries pretend, That these Bu-
rying-places were peculiar to the Chrisiians, seem
rather
11 I