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 Si 
 
 
 VIRGILIUS THE SORCERER
 
 THE WONDERFUL HISTORY OF 
 
 ViRGILIUS THE SORCERER 
 
 OF Rome 
 
 ENGLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME 
 
 LONDON 
 DAVID NUTT IN THE STRAND 
 1893
 
 /9f 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Throughout the well-nigh two thousand years that 
 separate the time of Augustus Caesar from our own, 
 the name of Virgil and his fame have been transmitted 
 with undiminished lustre through varying import, 
 according to the creed and culture of those many 
 succeeding generations by whom the tale of his glory 
 was taken up and handed on to the present day. 
 
 Revered and beloved during the golden age of 
 Rome's literature and newly arisen empire, as the 
 sweet singer of her pastoral life and military glory, 
 Virgil, prophet alike and poet of Rome's high destiny 
 to rule as lawgiver over a conquered world, became 
 identified with her fame. 
 
 " Tityrus et fruges ^neisque arma legentur 
 Roma triumphati dum caput orbis erit," 
 
 During Rome's decay, Virgil was revered less as a 
 poet than as a model of rhetoric and oratory by 
 grammarians, who held up his verses as themes to be 
 studied and dissected, rather than emulated by their 
 
 651042
 
 6 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 scholars, while by Neoplatonic philosophers they were 
 esteemed a source of hidden wisdom, to be interpreted 
 only by means of allegory and symbol. This system 
 of allegorical and symbolic interpretation, which first 
 enabled cultured Greeks to extract an ethical meaning 
 from their naturalistic, ancestral myths, and then 
 authorised Alexandrian Jews to read a spirit of Greek 
 philosophy into the letter of Hebrew law, when adop- 
 ted by dawning Christianity, became the means of 
 claiming Rome's chief poet as prophet and precursor 
 of the new faith, which alike derided and denied the 
 gods that she adored. 
 
 Thus introduced into Christianity, symbolism, 
 stamped by the approval and practice of the early 
 Fathers, became the great feature and instrument of 
 mysticism, whether ortho- or heterodox, throughout the 
 Middle Ages, and by its power of evaporating fact, 
 tended to confirm that theoretic contempt of matter 
 and practical denial of its laws, which, sanctioned by 
 the Church, sought to rule the schools and dominate 
 life. Thus Ebrard de Bethune, a great expert of 
 mystic interpretation,* did but express the feeling of 
 
 * In process of time the number of readings that could be 
 applied to any one text had come to be fixed at four. Literal, 
 moral, spiritual, and mystic ; or historic, moral, allegorie and 
 mystie.
 
 Introduction. 
 
 his time and order in applying to the "literal" laity 
 the Old Testament text : 
 
 " Expectate hie cum asino (Abide here with the Ass)." * 
 
 Resistance was at length opposed to these assump- 
 tions when the spirit of scientific research, long dor- 
 mant, sprang into life by contact with the physical side 
 of Greek philosophy as presented by Arab commenta- 
 tors, and interpreted by the Jews, who acted as carriers 
 of merchandise, mental and material, between East 
 and West.t The conflict which thus ensued between 
 the " Domina " Theologia and her " Ancilla " Philo- 
 sophia resulted in the compromise, resisted by the 
 Church but adopted in the Schools, of two-fold Truth — 
 the one Truth, transcendent or theological, the other 
 Truth demonstrable or philosophical ; hence the axiom 
 that a proposition true in theology might be false in 
 philosophy, or vice versa. 
 
 With the decay of antique culture, and gathering 
 darkness of barbarism, Virgil, remembered as a poet 
 only by the lettered few, became an object of super- 
 
 • The laity were sometimes able to turn on their mystic 
 lords, witness King Richard, who having capttired the war- 
 like Bishop of Beauvais in battle, sent his cuirass to Pope 
 Celestin III. with these words : 
 
 " Vide an tunica filii tui sit an non." 
 
 t Of eastern imports also from the nearer point of Spain.
 
 8 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 stitious awe to the uncultured crowd, who merged 
 antique " sapiens " in mediaeval " magus." This 
 double view of Virgil's personality resulted in the 
 strange simultaneous growth of two distinct traditions 
 attached to his name : the one, poetic and classical, 
 based on knowledge (direct or by hearsay) of his 
 works, and on such details of his life as were handed 
 down, as is supposed, from the biography of Suetonius 
 by ^lius Claudius Donatus, celebrates Virgil as — 
 
 " Musarum lumen per sascula clarum 
 Stella poetarum non veneranda parum." 
 
 In the other popular and romantic tradition Virgil 
 appears as no poet, but as a wizard, " Gran Mate- 
 matico," working wonders. 
 
 " Par engin et par Nigromance 
 Dont il sot tote la science." * 
 
 The first, or poetic tradition, is represented in its 
 highest type by the Virgil of Dan e — 
 
 " Anima cortese Mantovana 
 Di cui la fama ancor nel mondo dura. 
 E dureri quanto '1 mondo Leontana." 
 
 * In his " Graecismus," a grammatical manual regarded as a 
 classic from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, Ebrard de 
 Bethune, before quoted, makes a curious distinction of accent 
 between " mathSsis," scientific, and " mathesis," necromantic, in 
 the following distich :
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The poet who, though as Vates, imbued with wisdom, 
 mystic and wonderful, yet yields the palm of om- 
 niscience to the " Maestro di color che sanno," and 
 stands out primarily and essentially as poet of Rome, 
 the " Gloria dei Latini," whose heir and descendant 
 Dante felt and boasted himself to be ; for Dante, 
 justly held as the very concentration and climax of 
 the Middle Ages, is something more besides. There 
 were other Italian singers and German dreamers ; 
 there were scholastics and mystics of many lands and 
 many tongues ; but to Dante alone was given the 
 plastic, poetic power to shape the vague dream and 
 start it into life, and to melt even the hard dogma of 
 Lombard sentence into glowing verse. It was the 
 Antique in Dante, innate and not acquired,* that, sur- 
 passing Art by a return to Nature, made him even 
 more akin to Homer than to Virgil, his beloved and 
 chosen guide. 
 
 Very different to Dante's conception of Virgil was 
 that of the men and women who, in the crowded streets 
 of Italian towns and villages, shrank awestruck from 
 the gaunt, dark traveller who brought tidings of the 
 Inferno he had seen. To them the name of his guide 
 
 " Scire facit mathesis, sed divinare mathesis 
 Datque mathematicos comburi theologia." 
 
 * Compare, for instance, Dante with Poliziano.
 
 10 'Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 through its lurid depths was indeed familiar as 
 " Virgilio gran matematico," who had bent Nature to 
 his will, if not actually by Nigromantia, then through 
 the occult sciences of Mathesis, Geometria, and 
 Astronomia. 
 
 " Devant Jhesucrist fu Virgiles 
 Qui les arz ne tint pas a guiles 
 Ains y usa toute sa vie 
 Tant qu'il fist par astrenomie 
 Maintes granz merveilles a plain." 
 
 Or, as other equally good authorities would have it, 
 Virgilius owed his power to the white magic of that 
 "Ars Notoria" which, taken down in writing by 
 Solomon from the dictation of angels, was by him left 
 at Jerusalem in books, which at the taking of the city 
 by Alexander the Great, being there found of Aristotle, 
 made of him, heretofore a rude unlettered man, the 
 great philosopher whom we all know and admire. 
 
 Passing over the classical tradition of Virgil and the 
 efforts, prompted rather by pious zeal than by literary 
 good faith, to claim the poet as Christian, conscious or 
 unconscious, we herewith offer the mediaeval legend 
 which, though opening with the French and closing 
 with the Anglo-German version, consists chiefly of 
 the popular local tradition of Naples ; for it was not
 
 Introduction. 1 1 
 
 Mantua, his birthplace, but Naples, possessing his 
 tomb and boasting herself the work of his magic skill 
 and object of his tender care, that cherished Virgil's 
 memory with fond affection, and in a web of mediaeval 
 fiction interwove his name with every natural feature 
 and historic monument of the city that he was said lo 
 have loved so well. This purely popular and local 
 legend, for long unknown to the world at large, was 
 from the twelfth century and onwards gravely taken 
 up, and in Latin dress spread throughout Europe by 
 the foreigners who from many lands came as con- 
 querors or visitors to Italy. Chief and first among 
 such may be counted Konrad of Querfurth, sent by 
 Emperor Henry VI. as his representative and Chan- 
 cellor to dismantle Naples. Faithfully as the Chan- 
 cellor executed his mission of destruction, he yet, in a 
 letter (1194) to the Bishop of Hildesheim, giving his 
 impressions of Italy and the history of Naples accord- 
 ing to accepted local version, expresses his wonder and 
 delight at beholding with his own eyes and under 
 Teutonic sway so many classic scenes. Strange 
 indeed were the geographical discoveries of the 
 Chancellor, who found Olympus and Parnassus in 
 Southern Italy and the Minotaur's labyrinth in the 
 antique theatre of Sicilian Taormina. 
 
 Another learned chronicler is Gervasius of Tilbury
 
 12 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 (1212), Professor at Bologna, Seneschal of the Kingdom 
 of Aries, and author of " Otia Imperialia," an encyclo- 
 pedia of absurdities compiled to beguile the leisure of 
 Emperor Otto IV.* 
 
 * " Otia Imperialia," composed in the thirteenth century by 
 Gervasius of Tilbury, was published entire by Leibnitz in his 
 edition of Brunswick papers and in part by Maderus (1678). The 
 work consists of three parts, treating respectively (and it might be 
 said, promiscuously) of history, geography, and marvels, each 
 part bearing the title of Decisio. Decisio No. I. which, not 
 including the dedicatory parallel between Royalty and Priest- 
 hood, contains twenty-four chapters, opens with the Creation in 
 the following terms: " Cum principio de principio, in principio 
 creavit coelum, et terram hoc est mundum." The subject thus 
 introduced is continued with many particulars not found in 
 Genesis, such— ^.^., as that though the world is round, the earth 
 is square and is overhung by the sea, which is suspended in the 
 air above the dry land. Satisfactory proof of this statement is 
 given by the story of a sailor, whose knife falling overboard, 
 dropped out and pierced the table at which his wife was sitting 
 at home. Proceeding by easy stages through the scheme of 
 creation, Gervasius by chapter xx. reaches Arts and their dis- 
 coverers, and gives a somewhat fitful list of inventors — to wit, 
 Numa Pompilius, inventor of the months January and 
 February, Noah of the vine, Sardanapulus of cushions, Prome- 
 theus, brother to Atlas, of iron rings ; after these come Phalaris 
 Abimelech, Daedalus, Abraham, &c. &c. 
 
 Decisio No. I. and its successor No. II., treating thus gravely
 
 Introduction. 1 3 
 
 Of other two distinguished chroniclers, Johannes of 
 SaHsbury doubtless wrote from personal experience as 
 a traveller, having, as he mentions in his "Poly- 
 craticus," crossed the Alps ten times and twice 
 traversed Southern Italy. 
 
 Whether a certain Alexander Neckam, foster- 
 brother to Richard Coeur de Lion, Professor at Paris 
 and Abbot of Cirencester, ever actually and in per- 
 son reached Italy, the reader is free to judge for 
 himself from the following lines, occurring in " De 
 
 of history and geography, stand in no need of excuse or pre- 
 amble, but for No. III., devoted to the marvels of all times and 
 countries, the vmter, feeling that some preparation is necessary, 
 hits upon it in the ingenious definition of the Wonderful as con- 
 sisting in the ignorance of the beholder, and thus supported, he 
 claimed, and doubtless with success, credence for all his travellers' 
 tales, being not only the busy promulgator of every wild tale told 
 of Virgil, the "Phoenix" of scholars, but, as some say, the 
 veritable literary father of Pope Joan; for in the days of 
 Gervasius, as in our own, few there were who followed the rule 
 laid down by his cotemporary the monk Robert Abolant, 
 who, refusing to accept usage as authority for old wives' fables, 
 maintained : 
 
 " Ubi ratio repugnat usui, necesse est usum cedere rationi." 
 
 "Where reason strives with usage, usage must yield to 
 reason."
 
 14 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 Laudibus Sapientiae," the poem of Neckham's old 
 
 age: 
 
 " Romae quid facerem : mentiri nescio, libros 
 Diligo, sed libras respuo, Roma vale." 
 
 At Rome, as a truth teller, what could I do ? 
 Who love letters, scorn lucre, so Roma, adieu.* 
 
 "Bartolomeo Caraczolo dicto Carafa," the sole 
 native Neapolitan chronicler, in his "Cronica de 
 
 * Alexander Neckam, orNechamus, called in jest " Nequam " 
 ( Worthless), and in error Nuques, was an Englishman, born 
 1150, or thereabouts, at Hertford. Having distinguished him- 
 self as a scholar at St. Albans, where he was educated, the 
 school of Dunstable was committed to his care ; passing thence 
 to Paris, as professor in its university, he attracted thither crowds 
 of students by his fame as theologian, philosopher, rhetorician, 
 and poet. Returning to England, Neckham, in 1186, demanded, 
 and in 1187 obtained, the charge again of his old school at 
 Dunstable, but his request in the following year to be trans- 
 ferred to St. Albans, or as some think there to receive the 
 monk's habit, was refused in the following terms by Abbot 
 Guarin : " Si bonus es, venias, si ' Nequam ' nequaquam." 
 
 In no way taking this refusal to heart Neckam easily consoled 
 himself by becoming a canon in the Augustine order, and in 
 1225 Abbot of " Excester." ' 
 
 Besides mingling verse in his many prose works, and pro- 
 
 ' Sic " Hist. Lit. de la France," torn, xviii., elsewhere given 
 as Cirencester.
 
 Introduction. 15 
 
 Parthenope," a compilation, as he himself admits, " di 
 diverse cronache," reaching to 1382, makes no rash 
 claim to authenticity. He tells the tale as it was 
 told to him : *' Ma la verita de tutte le cose, la 
 cognobbe et conosce solo Dio." 
 
 A Spanish version there is, which we here dispose 
 of. Virgilio, a hidalgo at the Spanish Court, being 
 found guilty of loving and betraying a certain Donna 
 Isabella, is sent by the King to prison, where for seven 
 long years he languishes, forgotten and forlorn. At 
 length, one Sunday, when about to sit down to table, 
 the King bethinks him of Virgilio, and cries, " My 
 cavaliers ! What of Virgilio ? Where is he ? " Then 
 replies a courtier friendly to Virgilius, "In prison your 
 Highness keeps him, in prison guards him." " Up," 
 
 ducing a Latin version of ^sop's and "Anien's" (Avianius?) 
 fables, Neckam composed the following original poems : " De 
 Laudibus Sapientiae," " De Officiis Monachorum," " Ad Viros 
 Religiosos," "DeConversioneMagdalenas," " Commendationes 
 Vini," " Carmina Diversa. " So highly does the pun 
 "Neqiiam" seem to have been esteemed by Neckam's co- 
 temporaries, that, on his death in 1227, it found a place in his 
 epitaph, which, after bewailing his irreparable loss, thus con- 
 cludes : 
 
 " Dictus erat Nequam, vitam tamen duxit aequam." 
 
 Nequam he was indeed by name, 
 Quamquam of great and godly fame.
 
 1 6 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 says the King ; " let us dine, and having eaten, we 
 will go seek Virgilius." " Without Virgilius I will not 
 eat," cries the Queen. So to prison where was 
 Virgilius they went, and thus spake : 
 
 King. What doest thou here, Virgilio ; what doest thou ? 
 
 ViR. Signore, I comb my hair and I comb my beard, which 
 have grown long and have grown white, for on this day I have 
 fulfilled seven years in prison. 
 
 King. Come forth ! Come forth Virgilio ! that three years 
 fail of ten. 
 
 ViR. Signore, if your Highness so command, here shall my 
 whole life be spent. 
 
 King. Virgilio, as reward of patience thou shalt dine 
 with me this day. 
 
 ViR. Torn are my garments ; I may not thus appear. 
 
 King. Garments I will give to thee, Virgilio. To thee will I 
 command garments to be given. 
 
 This pleased well the cavaliers, and pleased the ladies, most 
 of all her who was called Donna Isabella ; and they called an 
 archbishop, and by him the Donna Isabella was wedded to 
 Virgilio, who then took the Donna by the hand and led her out 
 to walk in an orchard. 
 
 At Naples, the legend of Virgilius is said to be dead 
 or dying, but that it still lingers on elsewhere in Italy 
 is proved by the following love song, taken of late 
 years from the lips of a contadina at Leece, for which, 
 as for the invaluable aid of countless references, quota-
 
 Introduction. 17 
 
 tions and researches contained in his admirable work, 
 *' Virgilio Nel Medio Evo," the translator of a German 
 text desires to offer most grateful thanks and acknow- 
 ledgment to Professor Comparetti, of Pisa University. 
 
 Love Song of Lecce, 
 
 "Diu ! ci tanissi I'arte da Virgiliu 
 
 'Nnanti le porte to ' 'nducia lu mare 
 Ca da li pisci me facii pupillu 
 
 'Mmienzu le riti to' enii 'ncappare ; 
 Ca di I'acelli ' me facik cardillu, 
 
 'Mmienzu lu piettu to' lu nitu a fare 
 E suttu I'umbra de li to capillis 
 'Eni^ de menzugiurnu a rrepusare." 
 
 Ah ! had I but Virgilio's art, 
 
 Before thy gates I'd bring the sea, 
 
 Mid fish, a little fish I'd be, 
 A captive in thy net to dart. 
 Of birds, as tiny linnet, I 
 
 Against thy breast 
 
 Would make my nest ; 
 In shadow of thy locks to lie 
 
 At midday I would come to rest.* 
 
 * The translator, while adhering to the letter of prose, 
 requests at times the liberty of paraphrase in verse, which for 
 that reason will always be given in the original. 
 
 B
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "gesta romanorum." 
 
 Gentle reader ! Herewith we present to you the 
 wonderful history of Virgilius, the great sorcerer of 
 Rome. 
 
 Now once upon a time, in days of yore, Rome was 
 a city of such power and might that her citizens were 
 held in awe and reverence by the whole world, yet for 
 all that, Romulus, Emperor of Rome, was moved by 
 envy to slay his brother Remus, though Remus, giving 
 up all part and lot in Rome, had, with his treasure, 
 betaken himself to Campania*in the Ardennes Forest, 
 and there, by the river Vesla, had built him a great 
 and beautiful city, girt around by mighty walls all 
 carved and sculptured within and without, and tun- 
 nelled beneath the foundations in such wise that all 
 impurities dropping down from the city were swept 
 away by the flowing river, and this city, the fairest in 
 its time of all the land, was called by the name of its 
 builder, Remus, but has now come to be called 
 Rheims.t 
 
 * Champagne, 
 
 t It was not alone by the Virgilian legend that Remus was
 
 20 1)irgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 When tidings came to Rome of Remus and his city 
 it displeased Romulus sorely to hear that the walls of 
 Rheims towered so high, that a man standing in the 
 moat could scarce shoot an arrow over them, whereas 
 Rome had but low walls and no moat at all. After 
 a time it happened that Remus was moved with a 
 desire to see his brother, so leaving his wife and infant 
 son in Campania, he set off with a great company for 
 Rome, and when he reached the city and found that 
 its walls were indeed but low and mean, Remus boast- 
 ing that he could vault them as he stood, did so ; but 
 Romulus hearing how his brother had leaped the wall, 
 was very wroth and swore that he would have his 
 brother's life ; and so it came to pass that when Remus 
 came to the palace, Romulus seized upon him and 
 with his own hand cut off his brother's head. 
 
 Having thus slain his brother, Romulus gathered 
 together a mighty host and marched to Rheims, which 
 he utterly destroyed, levelling its towers, walls and 
 palaces with the dust ; failing, however, to lay hands on 
 the wife of Remus, who had fled with her infant son 
 to her own people, Romulus, after destroying the city 
 and laying waste the land, returned to Rome. 
 
 made godfather to Rheims. Nicolas de Brae, a thirteenth-century 
 epic poet, not only asserts, " Hanc dixere Remis veteres k com- 
 positore," but even adds that Heaven granted the famous 
 "Ampulla" of holy oil at the prayer of the illustrious founder 
 of Rheims : 
 
 ' ' Cujus prece rorem 
 Misit in ampullam ccelestem Rector Olympi,"
 
 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " C'est bien raison que je vous compte des histoires 
 de Virgile de Romme." 
 
 When Romulus was gone, the wife of Remus, now 
 his sorrowing widow, came forth from her hiding-place, 
 and hiring masons and other artisans, rebuilt Rheims 
 with such splendour as she could command, though 
 not as it had been at first. This noble lady also 
 brought up her son with all care and love, and when 
 he had reached man's estate, she thus addressed him : 
 " My son, when will you avenge your father, whom 
 Romulus, your uncle, slew with his own hand .'' " 
 " Mother," said the young Remus, " if it be so, rest 
 assured that within three moons my father shall be 
 avenged." Assembling, therefore, all his friends and 
 kinsmen on the mother's side, Remus marched 
 with a great host to Rome ; entering the city un- 
 opposed, and forbidding his followers to do hurt or 
 harm to any Roman citizen, he drew up his army be- 
 fore the palace. Meanwhile, within its walls, Romulus 
 held counsel with his lords how best to escape the 
 coming danger, and when the matter was put before 
 them, one of these lords, who was also a senator, arose 
 and said, " Sire ! as you slew the father, so shall the 
 son slay you." At that moment young Remus entered, 
 and roused to fury by the sight of Romulus seated on
 
 22 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 the Imperial throne, he seized his uncle by the hair 
 and cut off his head, then, turning to the senators 
 and lords, asked if they were minded to make war on 
 him for the deed ; but the senators answering " by no 
 means," straightway offered the vacant throne to 
 young Remus as rightful heir to his uncle deceased, 
 so Remus was crowned, and that done he sent for his 
 mother. Then it was that Rome was first so strength- 
 ened with walls and moats that her fame spread far 
 and near, in so much that the lords of other lands 
 came, built palaces in Rome and dwelt in them. The 
 reign of Emperor Remus was indeed great and glorious, 
 but short with all, and when he died and left a young 
 son, named also Remus, to succeed him, a certain 
 knight, well favoured and warlike, who had followed 
 the father Remus from Campania, rose in rebellion 
 against the son and did him much hurt. 
 
 This knight of Campania, Figulo by name, was 
 married to a lady called Maja, after her father Majus 
 or Magus, who was a great senator. One night Maja 
 dreamed that she gave birth to a laurel branch, which 
 straightway striking root, grew up to be a stately tree, 
 bearing fruit and blossom. Misdoubting what the 
 vision might portend, Maja asked its interpretation of 
 a soothsayer, who thus replied : " Be of good courage, 
 Maja, for the dream foretells that you shall bear a son 
 excelling all mankind in wisdom and knowledge ; to 
 ensure its entire fulfilment take heed, however, to call 
 the child after the branch, ' Virga.' " Accordingly, 
 when soon after a son was bom to her, Maja called
 
 Virgiiius the Sorcerer. 23 
 
 his name Virgiiius, after the branch, though as other 
 equally wise men will have it, the child was so named 
 from " Vigilo," because being born in troublous times 
 he required to be so long and so carefully watched ; 
 however that may be, Rome quaked from one end to 
 the other when Virgil was born, and he grew up a 
 wise and understanding spirit, and went diligently to 
 school. 
 
 While yet a child, Virgiiius lost his father, and as 
 Maja, for the love she bore her husband, refused to 
 marry again, the kinsmen ruthlessly robbed her of 
 houses, lands, and money ; often did she make com- 
 plaint to the Emperor, but he, though near of kin to 
 her husband, was a bad man, beloved neither by high 
 nor low, so little heed was paid to her complaint. 
 
 Soon after these things the Emperor died and his 
 son Perseus ruled in his stead with so heavy a hand 
 that he was greatly feared by all in Rome. Virgiiius, 
 however, was then away at school in Toledo, where, 
 being a youth of good parts, he studied hard.
 
 24 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ' ' Ecce querunt clerici Parisiis artes libeiales, Axireli- 
 anis auctores, Bononiae codices, Salerni pyxides, Toleti 
 daemones, et nusquam mores." 
 
 Clerks go to study the liberal arts at Paris, classics at 
 Orleans, canon law at Bologna, medicine at Salerno, 
 diabolics at Toledo, and good manners nowhere. 
 
 Now on a certain holiday it so befell that as Virgilius^ 
 profiting by the freedom granted to the students of 
 Toledo to take air and exercise, was wandering alone 
 in the mountains, he came upon a cave, which entering, 
 he penetrated so far and so deep as to leave all light 
 behind and to find himself plunged in total darkness ; 
 pressing on still further, however, he at length per- 
 ceived a faint glimmer of light from above, and at the 
 same time heard a voice from below calling his own 
 name, " Virgilius ! Virgilius ! " Looking round he 
 saw no man, but again the voice rang out, " Virgilius ! 
 Virgihus!" " Who calls ?" said he. Then said the 
 voice, " Virgilius ! do you mark upon the ground a 
 slide or bolt marked with the figure Tau ? " "I do," 
 replied Virgilius. "Then," said the voice, "draw 
 back that bolt and let me free." " And who, pray, may 
 you be ? " inquired Virgilius. " I am an evil spirit," 
 said the voice, " driven out of a Jew, and shut up here 
 till Doomsday, unless delivered by the hand of man.
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 25 
 
 so haste you, let me out, and I will give you books of 
 Necromancy from which all power and knowledge 
 may be gained." Truly tempting were these promises, 
 but to make fulfilment sure and fast, Virgilius de- 
 manded prepayment of all service, nor was it till after 
 receiving the books and instruction in their use that 
 he consented to draw the bolt, which disclosed a small 
 dark hole, from which, with many a twist and many a 
 turn, the evil spirit struggled forth, standing, when 
 fully emerged, in the form of a black and gigantic 
 man before the amazed Virgilius, who scarce crediting 
 that so huge a figure could be confined in so small a 
 space, exclaimed, " Never again could you get in now 
 you are grown so large." " Get in," replied the spirit, 
 " of course I could." " I'll wager the best I have you 
 can't," maintained Virgilius. " Done," cried the foul 
 fiend, and with many another twist and many a turn, 
 he wriggled in again, then Virgilius drew the bolt 
 " Virgilius ! Virgilius ! " shrieked the fiend, " What 
 have you done ? " " Stay where you are until the 
 day appointed," said Virgilius. So the devil was 
 cheated, but Virgilius from that day forward became a 
 great master of the Black Art.
 
 26 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " Assis estoit en sa chaiere 
 Une riche chape forr^e 
 Sans manches avait afublde 
 Et s'ot en son chief un chapel 
 Qui fu d'une moult riche pel ; 
 Tret ot arrier son chaperon. 
 Li enfant de maint haut baron 
 Devant lui 4 terre s^oient. 
 Qui ses paroles entendoient 
 Et chacun son livre tenoit 
 Einssi comme il enseignoit." 
 
 " Premier li enseigne Gramaire 
 Qui mere est, et prevoste et maire 
 De toutes les arts liberax." 
 
 * -St ii*   
 
 " La vii. est astrenomie 
 Qui est fins de toute clergie." 
 
 On academic chair of state 
 Wrapped in furred sleeveless cope he sate, 
 With hood pushed back, which falling low, 
 Showed cap of sables on his brow. 
 Before him, seated on the ground. 
 Full many a high-born child was found, 
 With book in hand and earnest thought, 
 Intent on what the master taught. 
 
 First grammar he to them imparts, 
 
 Mayor, mother, chief of liberal arts, 
 « » » « 
 
 Whose seventh is astronomy 
 The crowning end of all clergie.
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 27 
 
 Soon after the adventure just related, the mother of 
 Virgilius, finding herself now too old and infirm to bear 
 the burden of her own and her son's affairs, sent a 
 messenger to Toledo, bidding Virgilius leave his school 
 and come take up his heritage, which by rights was 
 the richest in Rome. On reaching Toledo this mes- 
 senger found Virgilius busy teaching the highest in the 
 land, for he was a clever youth, and better versed in 
 the seven liberal arts than any doctor of his day. 
 
 At the news of his kinsman's depredations, Virgilius 
 was cut to the heart, not, indeed, for the loss of wealth, 
 for of that he had enough and to spare, but for the 
 sake of his aged mother, to whom accordingly as 
 cheering and suitable gift, he sent four pack-horses 
 laden with gold and jewellery for her adornment, and 
 a white palfrey on which to take the air, despatching 
 the same by the hand of the messenger, whom he dis- 
 missed with a rich reward. Thus laden, the servant re- 
 turned to Rome, leaving Virgilius behind in Toledo to 
 consider how he might best convey himself and his 
 belongings across the sea. When at length all things 
 were ready, Virgilius said adieu to Toledo, and, accom- 
 panied by a large train of scholars, made his journey 
 to Rome, whither, after a twelve years' absence, he 
 was joyfully welcomed by his mother and her poor 
 kinsmen, who received the home-comer with great 
 honour, while the rich ones, far from making any stir 
 at his coming, showed themselves hostile and un- 
 friendly, refusing even to eat and drink with him. 
 Virgilius accordingly bestowed rich gifts of horses
 
 28 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 oxen, gold, silver, and weapons on those of his kins- 
 men who had done him no wrong, nor were those 
 neighbours forgotten who, in his absence, had shown 
 kindness to his mother, with whom he and his scholars 
 now took up their abode. 
 
 Soon after these things came round the season of 
 tax-gathering, when all Roman subjects and fief- 
 holders were bound to present themselves before the 
 Emperor. Virgilius, accordingly, attended by a great 
 retinue of scholars and retainers, went, like all the 
 world, to Court, and there solemnly demanded justice 
 for the wrong done him by his kinsmen of the 
 Emperor, who, promising to take counsel on the 
 matter, promptly did so, with the very men who had 
 done the wrong. Then said these misdoers, " Sire, 
 let might be right, and leave the lands to those who 
 hold them. Why rob your friends for a schoolmaster ? 
 Bid him go back to his books, as there is nothing for 
 him in Rome." The Emperor accordingly desired 
 Virgilius to return again in four years or five, when, 
 with counsel held, judgment would be given in his 
 case. Furious at this answer, Virgilius departed, 
 vowing to have vengeance for the justice that was 
 denied. Hastening home, accordingly, he called to- 
 gether his friends, whom he installed with food 
 sufficient in his various houses until the following 
 July, when, his fields being now white for harvest, he 
 sent forth those friends to gather the ripe fruits into 
 his bams, while his enemies, powerless to break 
 through the magic spell cast over the stolen lands by
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 29 
 
 the rightful owner, beheld in helpless fury the loss of 
 their expected profits. 
 
 Then those enemies, resolved to behead VirgiHus 
 and bum his possessions, assembled in such might 
 that the very Emperor, for terror of them, fled from 
 Rome ; for among them were the twelve senators, 
 who, by his authority, ruled over the whole world. 
 Virgilius ought rightfully to have been among the 
 twelve, but his foes, after robbing him of his wealth, 
 now denied his rights, and sought to take his life ; 
 but he, no whit dismayed at the approach of this 
 mighty host, came forth from his castle to meet his 
 enemies face to face, and by his necromantic art kept 
 them transfixed and spell-bound to the spot, none 
 being able so much as to stir hand or foot, whilst he 
 thus addressed them: "You think," said he, "that 
 after robbing you can crush me, but your reckoning 
 is out, for never, while I live, shall you touch a penny 
 that is mine, and as for the Emperor, go tell him that 
 while he takes five years to think, I will take my own 
 where I may find it, caring no straw for his might or 
 yours." So saying, Virgilius returned to his castle, 
 leaving the discomfited host to betake itself back again 
 whence it came.
 
 30 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Par engin et par nigromance 
 Dont il sot tote la science." 
 
 When the mocking words of Virgilius were made 
 known to the Emperor, so incensed was he that, 
 vowing death to the rebel and destruction to his 
 goods, the furious monarch called on all knights, 
 vassals, and retainers of the Roman Empire to follow 
 him to the siege of Virgilius and his castle. But this 
 fresh proud army fared no better than the first ; for no 
 sooner were his walls encompassed than the wizard 
 cast a spell which hemmed in the hostile force on 
 every side with magic waters deep and impassable; 
 then hailing the helpless Emperor and reminding him 
 of their kinship, he offered peace and begged for 
 friendship. " Rascal," cried the furious Emperor, 
 " when in my power, dearly shall you pay this inso- 
 lence." Finding his friendly overtures rejected, 
 Virgilius then feasted his followers outside the castle 
 walls in sight of the starving enemy, who, unable to 
 stir hand or foot, partook but of the smoke and steam 
 that rose from the camp fires of their foe. 
 
 At length to this army, hungry and sore bestead, came 
 succour in the form of a master of the Black Art, who, 
 appearing in the Emperor's camp, offered for a great 
 and rich reward to throw the hostile garrison into a
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 31 
 
 deep sleep, and his terms and offer being accepted by 
 the goaded Emperor, he cast a spell so powerful that 
 Virgilius' army sank as though dead upon the ground, 
 and he himself, hardly able to withstand the charm, 
 and not knowing where to look for help, was sorely 
 troubled in spirit ; and it came to pass that, as he sate 
 in his window and beheld the foe already beginning to 
 scale his walls, Virgilius, partly to seek for aid and 
 partly to keep himself awake, took his great Black 
 Book, and lo ! as he turned over its pages he found a 
 counter-charm of greater virtue, and therewith he 
 awoke his people and held the foe transfixed and 
 motionless, as though turned to stone. Where each 
 man chanced to be, there was he fated to remain, 
 some half way up the ladders, some already on the 
 wall, some in the very act of crossing over, with one 
 foot up and the other down — all, from highest to 
 lowest, even the very Emperor and his sorcerer, were 
 left hanging in mid air at the pleasure of Virgilius ; 
 and when the monarch, impatient of delay, demanded 
 of his magician how long they must thus hang, 
 he, having no readier reply, could but shout defiance 
 to Virgilius, vowing that he would have the mastery — 
 some day. To the "some day" Virgihus bade him 
 welcome, but for that whole livelong day kept him and 
 his Emperor, with all the mighty host, hanging like 
 flies upon a wall ; but when night fell, then came 
 Virgilius in secret to the Emperor and said, " 111 does 
 it befit you, sire, as so great an Emperor, thus to stick 
 half-way upon a wall. Why grasp at what you cannot
 
 32 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 gain ? " " Free me but from this plight," replied the 
 Emperor, " and I will restore your lands and do your 
 pleasure." " Pledge me," said Virgilius, "favour and 
 protection, and you are free." Then the Emperor 
 swore to acknowledge Virgilius as his kinsman, and to 
 receive him as his favoured friend. This done, 
 Virgilius loosed the spell, and bringing the Emperor 
 and his army within the castle, set strange rare dishes 
 and costly wines before them; and when they had 
 well eaten and drunk, he sent them away, each with a 
 gift, according to his rank. Thus did these foes 
 part as friends, and when returned to Rome, the 
 Emperor not only restored his own to Virgilius, but 
 loaded him with gifts and appointed him Chief Coun- 
 cillor. Then Virgilius, to show his gratitude, built 
 for his Emperor a square tower, in each of whose 
 comers might be heard all that was said in the 
 corresponding quarter of the city, while in the centre 
 every word spoken, or even whispered, throughout 
 Rome could be distinctly heard.
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 33 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " Que fist a Sanson Dalida 
 Quant le livra aux Philistins, 
 N' a Hercules Dejinira 
 Quant le fict mourir par venins ; 
 Une femme par ses engins 
 Ne trompa-elle aussi Virgile 
 Quant a uns panier il fut prins 
 Et puis pendu enemy la Ville." 
 
 As Samson was by Dalida 
 
 Delivered to the Philistine, 
 
 And Hercules Dejiniri 
 
 Slew with a poisoned web malign ; 
 
 So, by a woman's subtlety 
 
 In pannier pent Virgilius, 
 
 Was hung on high, 'twixt town and sky 
 
 (Haud sicut terrae filius). 
 
 After these things, it happened that Virgilius loved 
 a lady, by name Febilla, the fairest efface and noblest 
 in birth of all at Rome ; but this Febilla, far from 
 returning Virgilius' proffered love, sought but to 
 mock and flout him by its means. 
 
 To this intent, accordingly, she at length, after long 
 refusal, consented to receive a visit, bidding him 
 come, not in open daylight and by the door, but, on 
 pretence, forsooth, of avoiding notice, in the dusk and 
 to the foot of her dwelling, a lofty tower overlooking 
 
 c
 
 34 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 the market-place,* promising thence to let down a 
 basket, in which he should be drawn up to her window 
 in the top story of the tower. In high delight Vir- 
 gilius appeared at the appointed time and place, to 
 find the promised basket awaiting his coming. He 
 entered, and slowly the basket ascended with him, but 
 when midway up the lofty wall it stopped, and from 
 her upper window the lady, looking out, exclaimed, 
 " Rogue of a sorcerer, there shalt thou hang ! " There, 
 accordingly, Virgilius hung, flouted and jeered by all 
 who with morning light flocked to the market-place ; 
 and there, with broadening day, hung he till the 
 Emperor, feeling shame to see his favoured friend 
 thus made a laughing-stock for clowns, himself made 
 entreaty with the lady, till she at length released her 
 captive love who, vowing speedy vengeance, hasted 
 home. 
 
 Next day every fire in Rome went out, and as no 
 power availed to rekindle the extinguished flames, the 
 Emperor, well guessing whence the mischief came, 
 sought its remedy from Virgilius. Said Virgilius : 
 "If you would have fire, let a scafi"old be put up in the 
 market-place, and thereon bring the maiden who 
 betrayed me, clothed as penitent at church door in a 
 smock. Then make proclamation that all who would 
 have fire must come and take from the maiden, each 
 for himself, none giving or lending to his neigh- 
 
 * Tower of the Frangipani, destroyed in the thirteenth century 
 by Gregory IX.
 
 X)irgilius the Sorcerer. 35 
 
 bour." So the Emperor, seeing that needs must, put 
 up the scaffolding, and when the maiden, clothed as 
 penitent in a smock, was led forth, lo ! she appeared 
 wrapped and enveloped in flames of burning fire, and 
 of this fire the Romans took — some by tapers, some 
 by lamps, some by straw, and some by shavings, only 
 the rich brought torches ; but, rich or poor, each 
 could take but for himself, none might borrow, none 
 might lend, none could buy, and none could sell that 
 magic fire. Three days stood the maiden ere Rome 
 was again supplied, nor was it till the fourth that she 
 was suffered to depart, well guessing whom she had to 
 thank.* 
 
 Then the Emperor, roused to indignation, seized 
 Virgilius and cast him into prison, condemning him on 
 a certain day to be brought thence and put to death ; 
 and when on the appointed day the poor prisoner was 
 led forth to die on the Vinimale Hill, having 
 reached the fatal spot, he begged pitifully that some 
 water might be given him to drink. So they brought 
 water in a pail, but he, drinking not thereof, cried 
 aloud, " Emperor ! All hail ! Seek me at Catania." 
 So saying, he leaped head foremost into the pail and 
 vanished from their midst. 
 
 * The origin of this legend has caused much discussion. May 
 the translator suggest it to be a wild travesty of Vesta's Fire?
 
 36 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "SALVATIO ROM^." 
 
 The Emperor of Rome, being desirous to establish 
 her peace and prosperity at home and extend her con- 
 quests abroad, inquired one day of VirgiHus if he could 
 devise any means whereby Rome, being forewarned, 
 might hold herself forearmed against the plots and 
 machinations of her enemies. VirgiHus replied that 
 he could do so, and to this intent accordingly set about 
 his great work, which went by the name of" Salvatio 
 Romas " — i.e., Rome's preservation or deliverance. 
 This work consisted of a set of sculptured figures or 
 statues, set up on the roof of the Capitolium, as the 
 Town Hall of Rome was called. 
 
 The statues, which represented the gods of every 
 country subject to Roman rule and governance, stood 
 in a circle, surrounding and facing the statue of the 
 god of Rome, each subject statue having in its hand a 
 bell, and did one of those countries so much as medi- 
 tate rebellion or hostilities, its god, straightway turning 
 its back to the god of Rome, fell to pealing its bell 
 furiously and incessantly, thus summoning the lords 
 and senators of Rome, who, marking to what country 
 the bell-ringer belonged, forthwith commanded the 
 Romans to arms and march forth against the foe. 
 
 Now when the Carthaginians, a people who had
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 37 
 
 suffered long and sore oppression at the hands of 
 Rome, heard of this, her " Salvatio," they were moved 
 by envy to devise a plan for its destruction. They 
 accordingly chose out three trusty messengers and, 
 providing them well with gold, sent them to Rome 
 with instructions to pass themselves off as diviners or 
 interpreters of dreams. Shortly after their arrival 
 these men stole secretly out by night to the foot of a 
 certain hill in Rome and there buried deep down in 
 the earth a pot of gold ; then seeking the bridge that 
 spans the Tiber, from it they let down into the river 
 bed a little cask filled with gold pieces. 
 
 Next day these men demanded audience of the 
 senators, which granted, they thus spoke : " May it 
 please your lordships, we dreamed last night that at 
 the foot of a certain hill in Rome there lies buried a 
 pot of gold, which, if it please your lordships to bestow 
 on us, we at our own cost will unearth.'' To this pro- 
 posal the lords and senators having graciouslyassented, 
 these dreamers hired workmen, dug up the gold and 
 made merry with it. 
 
 Some days after the diviners again appeared before 
 the Senate with a petition. " We pray your worships' 
 permission," said they, " to seek out another treasure 
 which has, like the first, been revealed to us in a 
 dream, and if refused to us, who alone can seek it, 
 will be lost to all." " Relate your dream," said the 
 senators. " Noble lords," replied the diviners, " we 
 dreamed that sunk in a certain part of the river bed 
 lies a pot of money."
 
 38 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 Then these senators, suspecting no guile, gave the 
 desired permission, together with an exhortation to use 
 diligence in the search ; thus admonished, the diviners 
 hasted to hire boats and men, and by wisely searching 
 exactly where it was to be found, they raised the cask, 
 and with its contents made merrier than before, not, 
 however, forgetting to put aside a portion for their 
 lordly patrons. 
 
 Deeming the time now ripe for the accomplishment 
 of their mission, these men appeared once more as 
 suppliants before the Senate. " Worshipful sirs," said 
 they, " be it known to your lordships that last night in a 
 vision we beheld twelve casks of gold lying deep under 
 the foundation stone of the Capitolium, whereon rests 
 the ' Salvatio RomcC.' Now seeing how greatly the 
 former concessions of your worships have turned to 
 our advantage, we in gratitude are content to dig up this 
 third treasure to your profit and Rome's ; give us but 
 workers and we will do our best." Then these senators 
 and lords, taking two lucky hits as augury of a third, 
 granted workmen whom the diviners set to dig beneath 
 the Capitolium's foundation stone, and when the build- 
 ing was well-nigh undermined, the dreamers stole 
 away by night and next day the Capitolium fell and 
 with it the Salvatio, which was broken to atoms and 
 utterly destroyed, and the senators, seeing themselves 
 betrayed, were sad ; but it was too late to catch the 
 diviners or mend the mischief, and from that day 
 Rome prospered not as heretofore.
 
 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 39 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " MIRABILIA URBIS ROMAE.'' 
 
 Now it SO happened, while Virgilius assisted the 
 Emperor with his counsels in the government of 
 Rome, that great and grievous complaints arose on 
 account of the robberies, murders, and other deeds 
 of violence that were nightly committed in the streets 
 of the city. The Emperor, accordingly desiring to 
 secure the public peace and safety, took counsel with 
 Virgilius how best to punish those thieves and 
 vagabonds who roamed the streets, maltreating honest 
 people in the dark. 
 
 " Sire," said Virgilius, " cause a copper horse and 
 rider to be made and stationed at the Town Hall ; 
 this done, make proclamation that a bell will toll each 
 night at ten o'clock, after which no man is to go forth 
 into the streets." The Emperor set himself to obey 
 these instructions, but the thieves and ne'er-do-wells, 
 mocking alike copper horse and curfew bell, made 
 ready to roam about as before, but, behold ! no sooner 
 did the bell cease to toll than the copper horse 
 and rider set off at full gallop, traversed every 
 street in Rome, treading down all before them, so 
 that by next morning's dawn, over two hundred 
 corpses were found lying stiff and stark upon the 
 pavement. The surviving thieves and vagabonds.
 
 40 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 however, instead of giving themselves up to repent- 
 ance and mending the error of their ways, spent their 
 time in devising a means of escape from punishment 
 by rope ladders, furnished at one end with grappling 
 irons, that, at the warning sound of the steed's copper 
 hoofs, they stuck into the walls of houses, which 
 scaling like flies, they reached a height beyond reach 
 of the horse and his rider. 
 
 The Emperor, beset in consequence with fresh com- 
 plaints, again betook himself for counsel to Virgilius, 
 who thus replied : " Sire, cause to be made two copper 
 dogs that shall attend the horse and rider, then issue 
 fresh proclamation, warning all men for their lives to 
 abstain from going forth after the curfew bell has 
 tolled." Dogs and proclamation were accordingly 
 made, but the thieves and vagabonds, mocking both, 
 ran up the ladders as before, only this time they were 
 pursued and bitten to death by the dogs. Thus did 
 Virgilius keep the peace of the city. 
 
 Virgilius also made for the common weal an inex- 
 tinguishable glass lamp by which Rome was so 
 thoroughly illuminated that the narrowest street was 
 lighted up as though by two torches. The lamp was 
 mounted high upon a huge marble pillar, which by 
 a bridge was connected with the Imperial Palace that 
 stood hard by in the heart of the city. Outside the 
 palace walls, Virgilius placed a great metal archer, who 
 kept his metal bow and arrow ever aimed at the lamp 
 ready to extinguish it ; but the lamp burned on and 
 on unceasingly until one ill-starred day, about 300
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 41 
 
 years after Virgilius' death, it so befell that some 
 city maidens passed on their way to sport and play at 
 the palace, and as they went by, one of them, in 
 mockery of the archer who stood thus ever aiming 
 and never shooting, said jeering: "Why don't you 
 shoot ? What hinders you ? " And so saying touched 
 the bow with her finger — in a moment the arrow flew 
 off, hit the lamp, and shivered it to a thousand atoms, 
 and the archer, terrifying the maidens out of their 
 senses by the sight, took to his heels and fled never 
 again to return. 
 
 Among the many wonderful works of Virgilius in 
 his time was a large and fair orchard that he planted 
 behind his palace with every kind of fruitful tree and 
 flowering shrub that grows out of the ground. In 
 this paradise every beast that is of use or pleasure to 
 mankind roamed at will, and its glades resounded day 
 and night with the song of birds ; in the midst of the 
 garden was a spring, whose waters, clear and cool as 
 crystal, formed a pool wherein fish could be seen dart- 
 ing to and fro, and this garden, so rich in delights of 
 flower and fruit, of beast and bird and fish, yet needed 
 no protecting care from hedge or wall, for around it 
 Virgilius cast a magic spell, through which no man 
 from without could enter in, nor could any living 
 creature from within go forth beyond its boundaries. 
 
 Other and yet greater works Virgilius wrought, for 
 beneath the ground he built to himself a vaulted 
 treasure house, whose door was guarded by two metal 
 men, who struck by turns great , hammers on a mighty
 
 42 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 anvil with shock so awful that at the very sound the 
 air was rent and every passing bird fell dead upon 
 the ground. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " In queste tempi mostra che nascesse 
 Che Virgilio si se innamoarava 
 D'una giovine, che assai gli piacesse." 
 
 Upon a time, it so befell 
 Virgilius loved, as I've heard tell, 
 A maiden fair who pleased him well. 
 
 Once upon a time Virgilius heard so much of the 
 Soldan's daughter and her beauty, that from hearsay 
 he became enamoured of her, and desiring further and 
 nearer acquaintance, he built a bridge which spanned 
 the air from Rome to Babylon, and thereon he passed 
 to visit the Princess, who, though surprised by the 
 appearance of the stranger, yet gave him kindly wel- 
 come, and after he had made some stay with her, this 
 princess, desiring to learn of what state and condition 
 her guest was at home, demanded in turn to visit his 
 country. Then Virgilius, nothing loth to bear his 
 lady love away, promised that she should pass over 
 many lands and cross the sea without so much as 
 touching them with the sole of her foot. So, over his 
 airy bridge was the Soldan's daughter borne to Rome
 
 'Virgilius the Sorcerer. 43 
 
 by Virgilius, where he suffered none to behold or 
 speak with her but himself. 
 
 Then he showed to her his palace with its paradise 
 and the vaulted treasure-house guarded by iron men, 
 who stood for ever hammering at the gates. Fain 
 would Virgilius have given of his treasure to his 
 Princess, but she would have none of his gifts, saying 
 that she had enough to do guarding her father's 
 treasure store at Babylon. So long as she was pleased 
 to stay, Virgilius kept his Princess in the paradise, and 
 when at length she desired to return again to Babylon, 
 he bore her in his arms over sea and land by his airy 
 bridge, then laying her softly down on the bed of her 
 own chamber, he committed her to the care of the 
 gods, and departed as he came. 
 
 Meantime the Soldan, who, in sore grief at his 
 daughter's loss, had vainly sought her throughout his 
 realm, was told at morning's dawn that Lo ! the 
 Princess lay slumbering peacefully on her bed. 
 Hastily arising, the monarch sped to his daughter's 
 chamber, to learn from her own lips whither she had 
 gone, and how returned. 
 
 " My Lord Father," replied the Princess, " a man, 
 glorious to behold, bore me through the air to his 
 country, and there showed to me his palace with its 
 garden and his treasure house, but to no living soul 
 save himself did he suffer me to speak, nor do 1 know 
 
 his country's name." 
 
 " Dear daughter,'' said the Soldan, " if the man 
 comes to bear you again away, ask him for fruits of
 
 44 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 his country, and bring them to me, that by them I may 
 know whence he comes." 
 
 This the Princess promising had no long waiting 
 for performance, for soon did Virgilius reappear and 
 bear away his lady love to Rome, whither she was 
 well pleased to go, and when, after sojourn there, 
 he brought her back at her desire to Babylon, she 
 took with her walnuts and other fruits and showed 
 them to the Soldan, her father, and he, beholding 
 them, said, " The man who stole you from me lives by 
 the way of France.'' 
 
 Soon after these things, the Soldan brought to his 
 daughter a cup containing a curiously compounded 
 draught, saying, " Take this cup, my daughter. 
 Beware of tasting it yourself, but if the stranger come 
 again, make him drink of it, and when he has drunk, 
 call me." 
 
 " Dear father, I will do so," said the Princess. So, 
 when Virgilius next appeared, she, according to her 
 father's bidding, made him drink of the cup prepared 
 for him ; and straightway, after drinking, he fell into 
 a deep sleep. Then she called the Soldan, who took 
 Virgilius captive. 
 
 Next day the Soldan called together his lords and 
 nobles in the great hall, and commanding the captive 
 Virgilius to be brought before them, declared him to 
 be the man who had so often carried away the Princess 
 to strange lands. 
 
 " And for this, your misdeed," cried the infuriated 
 monarch to his prisoner, "you shall pay with your 
 life according to my will and pleasure.''
 
 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 45 
 
 " Bethink you, Sir Soldan," replied Virgilius, " that 
 had such been my will and pleasure, you had never 
 again looked upon your daughter. Let me, therefore, 
 return in peace to my own land, and I will trouble 
 yours no more." 
 
 " Not so," cried the Soldan, " but a shameful death 
 shall you die.'' 
 
 " My lords," cried the weeping Princess, " if die 
 he must, let me die with him.'" 
 
 "We have children enough without you," replied 
 the angry father, " so go, bum with him, if you will." 
 
 " Sir Soldan, for all your power and might, your 
 reckoning is out," said Virgilius ; and forthwith, by 
 his enchantments he made it seem to the Soldan and 
 his lords as though the deep great river of Babylon 
 were flowing into their hall, and that for dear life they 
 must swim, but Virgilius, leaving these potentates to 
 plunge and leap about like frogs, bore his Princess to 
 his airy bridge, and fled away with her to Rome.
 
 46 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Ovo mira novo sic ovo non Tuber ovo 
 Dorica castra cluens Tutor Temerare timeto." 
 (Enigma of fourteenth century.) 
 
 " O sommo vate, quanfo mal facesti 
 A venir qui ; non t'era me' morire 
 A Pietola cola dove nacesti 
 Quando la mosca, per I'altre fuggire 
 In tal loco ponesti 
 Ov' ogni vespa doveria venire 
 A punger quel che su n^ boschi stanne." 
 
 Great prophet-poet, how wast thou mistaken 
 
 In coming hither ; better sure to die 
 In Pietola, where thou to life didst waken, 
 
 Than in such place to mount the fateful fly, 
 Which by its kindred truly is forsaken. 
 But whither every wasp may freely come 
 To drive its sting in woodland wand'rers home. 
 
 Now when Virgilius had thus carried away the 
 Soldan's daughter from Rome to Babylon, he cherished 
 her with tender care, for truly she was the loveliest 
 creature ever seen, and desiring in his fond affection 
 to dower her richly from his great possessions by sea 
 and land, he built for her a city whose foundations 
 stood upon eggs buried away down in the depths of 
 the sea. In this city Virgilius built a square castle
 
 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 47 
 
 tower, and upon its roof he set a rod of iron, and across 
 the rod he laid a bottle, and on the bottle he placed an 
 ^%g, and from the egg there hung by a chain fastened 
 to its stem an apple, which hangs there to this day, 
 and which no man may disturb ; and when the egg 
 shakes the city quakes, and when the t%% shall be 
 broken the city shall be destroyed. 
 
 Virgihus built likewise a market for his city, and in 
 one of its walls he inserted a piece of meat which 
 possessed the virtue of keeping all provisions brought 
 within the market fresh for the space of six weeks. At 
 the great gate of the city, moreover, he made a cause- 
 way, curiously paved, and beneath it he banished and 
 shut up all hurtful reptiles and insects, insomuch that 
 not even a worm or a midge was found either in the 
 subterranean caves over which the city upon pillars 
 stands, or in the gardens within its walls. On another 
 of the city gates Virgilius set up a great brazen fly, as 
 large as a frog, which frightened away the thick 
 swarms of flies that heretofore had tormented the city 
 and its inhabitants. Perceiving, soon after the flies 
 had been banished, that leeches suddenly increased 
 and multiplied so much as to destroy the pools and 
 wells, Virgilius cast a great golden leech into a cer- 
 tain well, whereupon the plague was instantly stayed 
 and all the waters were healed ; when, however, after 
 many years the golden leech was by accident cast out 
 in cleaning the well, the living leeches instantly re- 
 appeared and in every well remained until the golden 
 effigy was restored to its appointed place.
 
 48 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 Virgilius also built for his city a theatre with two 
 great doors, each surmounted with a bust sculptured 
 in Parian marble : that on the right was of smiling 
 countenance and serene, while the other was gloomy 
 and overcast as though by sorrow or anger. Those 
 who entered by the right hand door succeeded, while 
 others who chose the left failed in the business for 
 which they sought the city, in each case, however, 
 only if passing through the said doors without set 
 purpose or choice. Virgilius also made a belfry 
 which, though built of solid stone, shook in unison 
 with its bell. 
 
 Now when Virgilius had made an end of building 
 his city, he called its name Naples and handed it over 
 as a possession to his Princess and her children for 
 ever, and soon after he gave his Princess in marriage 
 to a Spanish knight of high renown. 
 
 Now when the Emperor of Rome marked how 
 Naples had become the fairest city in all the world, 
 and that its lines were laid in the pleasantest part of 
 Roman territory, he coveted the new-built city ; he 
 therefore sent secret messengers to his feudal lords, 
 bidding them assemble their forces and meet him at 
 Rome, and with the mighty host thus gathered 
 together, this Emperor marched forth, burning and 
 plundering as he went, to the siege of Naples. The 
 Spanish knight, however, now Lord of Naples and 
 husband to the Princess, while defending the city with 
 skill and courage, sent a messenger to bear the tidings 
 of distress to Virgilius, who, in great wrath and
 
 Z)irgtlius the Sorcerer. 49 
 
 indignation against the Emperor, bade the messenger 
 tell his lord to have no fear as help was at 
 hand. 
 
 Then, by his enchantments, Virgilius caused all 
 streams of fresh water from the whole country round 
 to flow into Naples, whose tanks were thus filled to 
 overflowing as though after thunder showers, while in 
 the Emperor's camp, without the gates, not a drop 
 was to be had for man or beast. 
 
 Virgilius himself, moreover, came out in all his 
 might against the Emperor, who met him midway 
 from Rome, having by thirst been forced to break up 
 his camp and with shame to return by the way he 
 had proudly come. So when these two great armies 
 had crossed each other on the way from Rome to 
 Naples, Virgilius, in mockery, thus greeted the 
 Emperor : " How comes it my Lord Emperor," cried 
 he, "that your Majesty has so quickly turned aside 
 from the siege of Naples and returned thus empty- 
 handed to Rome ? '' Then the Emperor, seeing him- 
 self mocked, was wrath, but Virgilius, caring nothing 
 for the imperial displeasure, went on his way to Naples. 
 There he made its lords pay homage to him as their 
 liege lord, and having taken an oath of them never to 
 admit the Romans to their city or to pay tribute to 
 Rome, he himself returned thither in order to consign 
 his Roman dwellings to his kinsmen and his treasure 
 to its subterranean vault ; that done he packed up his 
 books and movable possessions and carried them to 
 Naples, but on arrival, lo ! it was found that the 
 
 D
 
 5o Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 great Black Book had been left behind. Virgihus 
 accordingly dispatched a messenger to Rome bidding 
 Merlin, his faithful scholar, come in all haste and 
 secresy, and when this trusty scholar, in ready 
 obedience, appeared before the master, Virgilius said, 
 *' Merlin ! haste thee back to Rome, and bid Roberto 
 deliver unto thee my great Black Book and bring the 
 same to me, but beware, my son, of looking into it lest 
 evil befall thee.'' Merlin, promising obedience, 
 hastened back to Rome, and by journeying day and 
 night, soon reached Virgilius' palace, and receiving 
 from Roberto the great Black Book, set out on the 
 return journey. Hardly, however, had he gained the 
 highway to Naples when, impelled by burning 
 curiosity, he opened the great Blaek Book and be- 
 gan to read in one of its pages, but the page 
 was not half scanned through when he found 
 himself surrounded by a swarm of awful spirits, 
 who, glaring at him with fiery eyes, cried with 
 one accord, " What wouldst thou .'' What wouldst 
 thou?" 
 
 Powerless in the moment of terror to bethink himself 
 of aught else, Merlin commanded the spirits to strew 
 the road from Rome to Naples with salt and keep it 
 swept and clean. The spirits obeyed, but finding the 
 work not to their taste they returned no more to 
 Merlin. From Virgilius himself, however, they re- 
 ceived the still harder task of making in one night the 
 passage that pierces the mountain called " Posilippo," 
 so long is this passage that a man standing midway
 
 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 5 1 
 
 can scarce see to either end. Virgilius, moreover, by 
 his magic art, endowed this passage with the virtue of 
 protecting all who entered it from the treacherous 
 ambush of a foe. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "Fadet joglar," cries the troubadour Giraud de 
 Calenson, " trust not to me for a song that will never 
 fail to please, but rather learn to speak, to rhyme, to 
 play and to tell of Peleus.* 
 
 "EdeVirgili, 
 Com de la conca e saup cobrir, 
 E del vergier 
 E del pesquier 
 E del foe que saup escantir." 
 
 And of Virgil, 
 
 And how he blew the clarion shrill, 
 And of his garden on the hill 
 His cheering blaze, his cooling rill, 
 
 The creatures of his magic skill. 
 
 Now, when Virgilius was settled with his books at 
 Naples, he made there a great school, in which he 
 liimself taught the art of Nigromantia, of which indeed 
 
 * Here follows a long list of jongleur's accomplishments.
 
 52 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 he was a greater master than all who ever came before 
 or after him. He also brought doctors from far and 
 near to teach in his school, and moreover endowed 
 lands for the support of his scholars, for, being wifeless 
 and childless, he loved them as his own sons, devoting 
 his great wealth to their advancement and ruling them 
 nobly, as he well could do, being one of the greatest, 
 and had he so willed it, altogether the greatest of men 
 in his time and country. 
 
 For the common good and his own undying fame, 
 Virgilius also provided Naples with the first public 
 baths ever known. These baths went by the name of 
 the Baths of Puteoli, and as their waters possessed 
 divers healing virtues, an inscription was set up over 
 each bath or grotto, whereby the sick, halt or maimed 
 might know the disease for which its waters were 
 efficacious. 
 
 In process of time, however, these inscriptions, 
 which by proclaiming the virtues of the Puteoli Baths 
 and enticing thither all men to be cured, threatened 
 to deprive other schools of practice and profit, excited 
 the envy of that great school of medicine which of 
 late time had arisen at Salerno. Incited, therefore, by 
 envy and greed, three of the greatest doctors of 
 Salerno, named respectively Sir Antonius Sulimela, 
 Sir Philippus Capograssus and Sir Hector de Procita, 
 taking a small bark, crossed over from Salerno to 
 Puteoli and there, with iron instruments brought to 
 that intent, destroyed and defaced the inscriptions on 
 the baths ; but vengeance overtook those wicked men,
 
 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 53 
 
 for, on the return crossing to Salerno, a great storm 
 by miracle arose and wrecking their bark, drowned 
 them all three, and as proof that such things did indeed 
 come to pass, does not a parchment indicted in the 
 year of grace, 1409, declare how that after the death 
 of these three men, a pillar with inscription to com- 
 memorate their fate was erected in Puteoli, near the 
 spot known as " Tre Colonne ? " 
 
 Virgilius, moreover, made a great iron horse which 
 cured each and every horse disease, either merely by 
 its presence or else by touching on it the part affected 
 on the real horse ; but as were the baths of Puteoli to 
 the leeches of Salerno, so was this horse the object of 
 hatred and envy to the horse doctors of Naples, in so 
 much that they bored it through and through and thus 
 deprived it of all healing power. 
 
 Other benefits besides did Virgilius bestow upon 
 his beloved city. For the good of the deserving poor 
 he made a great fire at which they might be warmed, 
 and on each side of the fire, a spring of water, one 
 cold for drinking, the other hot, wherein they might 
 bathe, while between the fire and the springs stood a 
 statue bearing, written on its brow, these words : 
 " Who strikes me harms the city." Untouched and 
 undisturbed, thus stood the statue for many and many 
 a year, until there came one day a priest, who reading 
 the words written on its brow, cried, " Hurt the city ! 
 Forsooth, rather I believe that by overturning you I 
 shall fall upon some treasure that you hide and which 
 the master set you here to guard." So saying, the
 
 54 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 priest uplifted his right hand and with it dealt the 
 statue such a tremendous blow that it fell in atoms at 
 his feet, and as it fell the fire went out and the springs 
 dried up and the priest found no treasure, and the 
 deserving poor, in sorrow and in anger at his deed, 
 raised a hue and cry of murder against the greedy 
 priest who had robbed them of their consolation and 
 their joy. 
 
 It is also recorded of Virgilius that he made an iron 
 head which could not only speak but also foretell the 
 future, and, as some say, it was by misinterpreting the 
 oracle that Virgilius met his death in this wise. Being 
 about to undertake a journey, he consulted the oracle 
 if it would come to a prosperous conclusion. The reply 
 was : " Yes, if he took care of his head." Taking this 
 to mean the oracle itself, Virgilius took every measure 
 to secure its safety, and with a light heart started ; 
 heedless of his own, for journeying, exposed to the sun's 
 fiery dart, he was seized with a burning fever in the 
 head, of which he died.* 
 
 On the precipitous slopes of " Monte Vergine," t 
 which stands near and almost opposite to Naples, 
 
 * This tradition would seem based upon the accounts given 
 by Donatus of Virgil's death from fever. 
 
 t Mons Virginis, Virginum or Virgllianus, is said by the 
 biographer of Guglielmo da Vercelli, founder of the church 
 built upon it, to have in old times been known as " Monte 
 Virgiliano." In a Bull of Celestin III., 1197, relating to the 
 monastery, it is styled " Monasterium Sacro Sanctas Virginis 
 Mariae de Monte Virgilii."
 
 Z)irgilius the Sorcerer. 55 
 
 Virgilius laid out a garden of simples, among which 
 grew the plant called " Lucius Herb," wh'ch, when 
 cropped by blind sheep, restores their sight. On the 
 mountain's summit, Virgilius, moreover, set up a 
 brazen trumpeter, whose trumpet was, on mathematical 
 principles, so constructed as to receive, and when 
 struck, send back the hot fiery blasts of south wind 
 when blown over from a terrible mountain called 
 " Vesuv," which in the month of May belches forth 
 such volumes of smoke and ashes, nay, even of burning 
 tinder, over the fruitful Terra de Lavoro that it has 
 acquired the name of " Mouthpiece of Inferno." 
 
 Now when Virgilius had made an end of building 
 his city, he conjured a model of it into a glass bottle 
 with a very thin neck, and in so doing foretold that so 
 long as the bottle remained whole the city would 
 be safe. For all that, Naples was stormed and taken 
 in 1 191, but then, as Chancellor Konrad, an eye- 
 witness, testifies, there was a crack found in the bottle. 
 The same Konrad also records that at the storming of 
 Naples the victors spared a certain great gate, pro- 
 bably that one known as the Nola Gate, from terror of 
 letting loose all the snakes and reptiles that Virgilius 
 had shut up beneath it.
 
 56 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " Ain man ze Rome saz alsus 
 Der was genant Virgilius." 
 
 A certain man at Rome there was 
 And he was called Virgilius. 
 
 Having thus described the great and good works 
 wrought by Virgilius for his beloved city Naples, we 
 now proceed to tell of his wonders at Rome. It is 
 recorded that once, while in early days at emnity with 
 the Emperor, Virgilius was put in prison, and that 
 one day, as he and his fellow prisoners were taking 
 air and exercise in the prison yard, Virgilius, spying a 
 piece of charcoal lying on a heap of ashes in a comer, 
 picked it up, and with it drew on the prison wall the 
 picture of a great ship. When the sketch was com- 
 plete, the artist gravely bade his companions take 
 ship in the vessel before them, and come away with 
 him, and when, to keep up the jest, a number did so, 
 he gave to each man a stick for an oar, and placing 
 himself at the helm, bade them row with a will at the 
 word of command. They did so, and lo ! the ship 
 rose into the air and flew away to Apulia, where, 
 casting anchor on the top of a hill, Virgilius dismissed 
 his motley crew, and set out for Naples, and as 
 recorded in the " Mirabilia Vrbis Romae," the road 
 leading south from the Viminal Hill, on which the
 
 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 57 
 
 prison stood, from that day and adventure has borne 
 the name " Vado ad Napulum." * 
 
 Meanwhile the sun set, and darkness covered the 
 face of the earth. So Virgilius, finding himself 
 benighted, begged at a wayside hut for shelter, to 
 which the peasant owner bade him welcome, adding, 
 however, that he had not so much as a crust of bread 
 to set before his guest, but Virgilius, producing some 
 grapes that he had plucked on the way, bade his host 
 put them into a cask and pour water over them. No 
 sooner was this done, than the most delicious wine 
 poured from the cask. As for food, Virgilius 
 despatched one of his ministering spirits to Rome, 
 bidding him bring viands sufficient, both roast and 
 boiled, from the table of the Emperor, who, already 
 informed of the airy flight from prison, exclaimed, 
 at the disappearance of the dishes from under his 
 very eyes, " This is the work of none other than 
 Virgilius ! " 
 
 Next morning, on saying farewell, Virgilius pre- 
 sented the ever-flowing wine cask to his poor host, 
 with the assurance that so long as no one looked 
 within, the stream would flow in the same abundance, 
 and, sure enough, the owner found to his joy that no 
 matter how much wine were drawn, more always re- 
 mained, until one luckless day, when with wits clouded 
 by good wine, the peasant, heedless of the warning, 
 and tempted by curiosity, peeped into the cask, an 
 found — nothing, for from that moment it ran dry. 
 
 * Now Magnanapolis.
 
 58 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 "les faictz merveilleux de virgile." 
 
 Virgilius, on coming to settle at Rome, made 
 acquaintance with the Emperor's master of the horse, 
 and by his skill in medicine treated successfully 
 various diseases and distempers in the Imperial 
 stables. One day it so happened that the Emperor, 
 havino- received from the ambassadors of a far country 
 the gift of a splendid and apparently very valuable 
 horse, called upon Virgilius, as a judge, to give his 
 opinion. "Sire," replied Virgilius, after careful in- 
 spection of all its points, " the steed is indeed well 
 made, but unfortunately it has been reared on asses' 
 milk, and will therefore never be either swift or 
 spirited." The Emperor, misdoubting the verdict, 
 caused inquiry to be made of the ambassadors, who 
 confessed that the foal, having lost its dam, had 
 indeed been reared by an ass. Struck by the con- 
 firmation of Virgilius' opinion, the Emperor com- 
 manded that daily allowance should be made to him 
 at the expense of the State of half a loaf. 
 
 Soon after the Emperor, having his crown jewels 
 laid out before him, sent for Virgilius and said, 
 "Master, you know many things, and few are hid 
 from your ken ! Tell me now, if you be indeed a
 
 IJirgiliiis the Sorcere?'. 59 
 
 judge of gems, which think you is the best of these 
 spread out before you ? " " Which, sire," asked 
 Virgihus, "do you yourself esteem the best?" The 
 Emperor having pointed out one gem of pecuUar 
 briUiance, Virgilius laid it, first in the palm of his 
 hand, then to his ear, and said, " Sire, in this stone 
 there is a worm." Forthwith the Emperor caused the 
 stone to be sawn asunder, and lo ! in the centre was 
 found a worm concealed ! Amazed at the sagacity of 
 Virgilius, the Emperor, at the charge of the country, 
 raised his allowance to a whole loaf per diem ! 
 
 Again, soon after, the Emperor, thinking that he 
 had cause to misdoubt his own parentage, sent once 
 more for Virgilius, and, carefully closing the door, thus 
 addressed him : " Master, your answers to my former 
 questions have proved your wisdom. Tell me there- 
 fore, now, whose son am I ? " " Sire," exclaimed 
 Virgilius, " why such a question, knowing that you are 
 son to the late Emperor ? " " Virgilius," replied the 
 monarch, "give me not flattery, but truth. Tell me 
 whose son am I.'' " If your Majesty will have it so," 
 replied Virgilius, " know, then, that you are son to a 
 baker." "That," said the Emperor, "I must learn 
 from my mother.'' So his Majesty sent for his 
 mother, and when she was come in he threatened and 
 stormed at her until she perforce agreed with the 
 assertion of Virgilius. Then, at length satisfied, the 
 Emperor dismissed her, and again carefully closing 
 and barring the door, he said, " Master, I pray you 
 tell me by what wisdom came you to the knowledge of
 
 6o "Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 these things ? " " Sire," replied Virgilius, " that the 
 horse had been reared on asses' milk I judged by the 
 natural sign of its having long hanging ears, which 
 are unusual in horses. That the stone contained a 
 worm I guessed from its warmth, for stones being 
 by nature cold, I judged that this one, which was 
 warm, must contain some living creature." " But,' 
 interrupted the Emperor, " how knew you that I was 
 son to a baker?" "Gracious Lord, when I made 
 the amazing discovery concerning the horse, you 
 appointed as my reward half a loaf, and when I 
 discerned the worm hidden in the gem, you increased 
 the half to a whole loaf Your gifts gave the clue to 
 your origin. Had you been son to king or emperor, 
 you had deemed some great city but a paltry recom- 
 pense for such service, but coming of such a stock, you 
 thought it enough to pay me off with your father's 
 wares." " Henceforth," cried the Emperor, shamed 
 by the rebuke, "you shall be rewarded by no baker, 
 but by a free-handed, open-hearted prince."
 
 Virgin ur the Sorcerer. 6i 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 In a Latin poem (sixteenth century), "De corrupto 
 ecclesite statu," Justice thus speaks : 
 
 " En sic meum opus ago 
 Ut Romas fecit imago 
 Quam sculpsit Virgilius, 
 Quae manifestare suevit 
 Fures, sed caesa quievit 
 Et OS clausit digito ; 
 Numquam ultra dixit verbura 
 De perditione rerum 
 Palam nee in abdito." 
 
 In duty lo, I'm as punctilious 
 
 As was the image that Virgilius 
 
 Carved for the Roman city, 
 
 Which nightly crime, told every morning, 
 
 Till being wounded, taking warning 
 
 With ruin not to strive, it 
 
 Just laid its finger on its lip. 
 
 And ne'er another word let slip 
 
 In public or in private. 
 
 Once upon a time it so happened that the Emperor 
 issued a decree forbidding any man, on pain of death, 
 to do work of any kind or sort on his royal birthday. 
 Apprehending, however, some considerable difficulty 
 in enforcing obedience to his law, the Sovereign con-
 
 62 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 suited Virgilius on the best means of discovering 
 offenders. 
 
 Virgilius accordingly, to meet the royal wish, set up 
 a high pillar in the midst of the city, and on the top 
 of the pillar an image, which kept watch upon and 
 informed the Emperor against all who disobeyed his 
 law, and on the accusation of this image many 
 offenders were put to death. 
 
 Now, there lived in those days at Rome a certain 
 smith named Phocas, who, having worked as usual 
 throughout a royal birthday, bethought himself in bed 
 how many a man had lost his life for no other cause. 
 So Phocas, arising, went out and up to the image, 
 threatening it with these words : " O Image ! Image ! 
 Your chatter has cost many a poor sinner his life, but 
 herewith I forbid you to betray me, and if you do so. 
 know then that I will strike off your head and grind it 
 to powder with my hammer." 
 
 Next morning, when the Emperor's messengers 
 came early as usual to take the list of offenders, the 
 image said, " Read what is written on my brow," and 
 lo ! on its brow were written these words : 
 
 " The times are out of joint and men grow worse 
 and worse. He who tells the truth gets his head 
 smashed with an iron hammer, so let all who love 
 peace, look, listen and keep silence. Go, tell your 
 lord what you have seen and read." 
 
 Now, when the Emperor heard the messengers' 
 report, he appointed twelve armed knights to mount 
 guard over the image and to bring bound hand and foot
 
 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 63 
 
 to him all and sundry who should devise evil against it. 
 So these twelve knights being fully armed, went up 
 to the image, and with courteous greeting besought 
 it in the Emperor's name to declare who had been 
 gxiilty of threatening its safety, and breaking the law. 
 " The twofold culprit," replied the image, " is Phocas 
 the smith." Then these twelve brave knights, fully 
 armed, fell upon Phocas the smith, and dragged 
 him, bound hand and foot, before the Emperor. 
 " Phocas," said the Sovereign with awful majesty, 
 " How didst thou dare to break my law .? " " Sire," 
 replied Phocas, " I cannot obey your law, being forced 
 daily to earn eight pennies," and when the Emperor 
 would know what purpose these eight pennies were 
 to serve, the accused thus made explanation ; " Sire," 
 said he, " May it please your Majesty, every day all 
 the year round I must perforce have 
 
 "Two to repay, 
 And two to lend, 
 Two to throw away. 
 And two to spend." 
 
 *' How so ? " asked the Emperor. " Sire," said Phocas, 
 " Twopence daily I repay, in his old age, to my father 
 who nourished me in my youth. Two I lend out to 
 my son, who now, a child at school, will repay me 
 when a man at work. Two I throw away on my 
 wife, who, were I to die to-morrow, would take another 
 husband and forget me. Two 1 require for my own 
 living."
 
 64 "Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 On hearing this explanation, the Emperor was 
 troubled in spirit, thinking within himself, " If I force 
 this smith to change his wonted way of life, he may 
 lose his reason from confusion of ideas ; I will there- 
 fore rather lay a heavy charge upon him, which, if he 
 transgress, he shall pay the penalty of past dis- 
 obedience ; " so, turning to Phocas, the Emperor 
 said, " Go in peace, and work as heretofore, but at 
 your peril say no word that has here been spoken till 
 you shall have looked a hundred times upon our 
 royal countenance." So when a notary had written 
 this order in a book, the smith made humble obeisance 
 and departed. 
 
 When Phocas was gone, the Emperor summoned 
 his councillors to prove them if they could interpret 
 the case of 
 
 " Two to repay, 
 
 And two to lend, 
 
 Two to throw away, 
 
 And two to spend ; " 
 
 but these wise men having no answer ready to hand, 
 begged a week's grace for meditation and reflection, 
 which being granted, they fixed meetings and held con- 
 sultations, but all to no effect, until one day, towards 
 the end of the allotted week, one philosopher bethought 
 him that peradventure the words might possibly refer 
 to Phocas the smith who had held converse with his 
 Majesty, so in a body went these wise men to Phocas, 
 and of him they asked him the meaning of the strange 
 words ; but Phocas, who had no button, but a head
 
 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. 65 
 
 upon his shoulders, said never a word, until money 
 being offered he thus came to terms. " If," said he, 
 " you would have the answer to the riddle, go, fetch a 
 hundred pieces of gold, for only on that condition may 
 I tell it." So these wise men, seeing no other way of 
 keeping tryst and time with the Emperor, fetched the 
 hundred pieces, which the smith, still keeping silence, 
 carefully scanned one by one, nor was it till after 
 narrowly regarding the device stamped on each side of 
 every piece that he made known the case of the eight 
 pennies to the wise men, who went their way rejoicing, 
 and when, the week of grace being now expired, they 
 appeared before the Emperor and gave their inter- 
 pretation of the riddle. Lo ! it taUied word for word 
 with that of the smith ; but the Emperor, well knowing 
 that it was none of their own forging, thought within 
 himself, "Now will I avenge me upon Phocas for 
 breaking faith with me, and taking bribes from these 
 men for in so doing he has wrought his own ruin." 
 The Emperor sent therefore for Phocas, and when he 
 was brought into his royal presence, said, "Master 
 Smith, grievously have you transgressed in breaking 
 the commandment of secresy that I laid upon you ; 
 now, therefore, must you pay the penalty of dis- 
 obedience. 
 
 " Gracious Lord," replied Phocas, " the whole world 
 is yours to dispose of at your will, much more my 
 little life, which I submit to your gracious pleasure as 
 to a beloved Lord and Father ; know, however, that I 
 am guiltless in the matter of your commandment, fo 
 
 E
 
 66 'Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 not till I had looked a hundred times on your Imperiai 
 countenance as imprinted on the hundred gold pieces, 
 exacted from these lords, did I give heed to their 
 petition." Then the Emperor laughed and said, 
 " Phocas, go in peace, for you have more wisdom 
 than all my councillors." So Phocas departed and 
 from that day dwelt undisturbed, no man daring to 
 make him afraid. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 "lo specchio maraviglioso." 
 
 " Maint autres grant clerc ont est6 
 Au monde de grant poestd. 
 Qui aprisrent tote lor vie 
 Des sept ars et d'astronomie ; 
 Dont aucuns i ot qui a leur tens 
 Firent merveille par lor sens ; 
 Mais cil qui plus s'en entremit 
 Fu Virgile.' ' 
 
 Full many a clerk the world has seen 
 
 Of great renown in poesie, 
 
 Whose life-long task the arts have been 
 
 All seven with astronomy ; 
 
 And some among them wonders wrought, 
 
 But none who learned and none who taught 
 
 Were equal to Virgilius. 
 
 Once upon a time there dwelt in Rome a good and 
 godly knight, and this knight had a wife who, though
 
 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 6j 
 
 fair to see, was bad at heart, caring little for the laws 
 of God and man, and still less for her lord's happiness. 
 So this good knight, pondering one day on the 
 wickedness of his wife and how it might be mended, 
 said to himself, " I will go on pilgrimage for her sins.' 
 So he made ready to go ; when all was prepared for 
 his departure, this good knight said to his wife: " Dear 
 wife, I am about to brave the sea and cross over to 
 the Holy Land. I leave you, therefore, under your 
 own charge, so take heed to bear yourself as beseems 
 a good and discreet woman when I am far away." So 
 saying the knight departed, but no sooner was her 
 lord lost to sight than this wicked wife sent for a 
 friend of hers who was a very learned man, and to 
 him she said, " If from here you can kill my lord, 
 who is far away, I will wed you in his stead." " If I 
 do this thing will you indeed wed me in his stead?" 
 asked the learned friend. " Yes, surely," replied the 
 lady. So the learned friend made a waxen image 
 of the good knight who was crossing the sea as 
 pilgrim to holy places for the sins of his wicked wife, 
 and this image he set up against the wall and tortured 
 it with many an ache and many a pain which the 
 knight himself was hereafter to bear. 
 
 Now it happened on a day, as the knight was 
 crossing a street in the Holy Land, that he met a 
 master of the Black Art named Virgilius, who, stead- 
 fastly regarding him, said, "Friend ! I have somewhat 
 to tell thee in secret." " Master," rephed the knight, 
 " say on." Then said the master, " This day, but for
 
 68 'Dirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 my help, you were a dead man, for your wife is wicked 
 and plots your destruction." Then the knight, seeing 
 how well this master, without seeing her, had judged 
 his wicked wife, put trust in him and cried, "Dear 
 master, save my life and I will pay you well." "Gladly 
 will I save your life," replied the master, " but power 
 so to do, I have only if, laying aside your garments, 
 you enter a great bath of deep water." Willingly the 
 knight consented to these conditions, and when now 
 in the water, Virgilius handed to him a mirror bidding 
 him say what he saw therein. Said the knight, " I see 
 a man in my house who has set up on the wall a waxen 
 image of myself." "And what," asked the master, 
 " does the man now ? " " Now," replied the knight, 
 " he has taken up a bow and is aiming an arrow at 
 the image." " Then, if you love your life," cried 
 Virgilius, " dive deep down in the waters when he lets 
 that arrow fly, nor rise until I bid you." So when the 
 knight saw the bow bent and the cord stretched, he 
 dived deep down in the waters and there remained 
 till, at the master's bidding, he rose to look again at 
 what the magic mirror would reveal. 
 
 " The man," said he, " has missed the image, the 
 arrow flew too high, so he is sad." " Take heed to him 
 again, say what he does," said the master. " Again," 
 replied the knight, "he is aiming at the image." 
 " Then again, for dear life, dive when he is prepared 
 to shoot," cried the master. So the knight, seeing the 
 arrow prepared to fly, dived as at the first, and when 
 he arose, the master, as before, bid him look to see
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 6g 
 
 what the man was doing. " Sore grieved is the man," 
 replied the knight, "for again he has missed the image, 
 and he tells my wife that should he miss his mark a 
 third time it will be his death, but so close is he now to 
 the waxen effigy that to my thinking he cannot fail to 
 hit." " With all speed get you under water till I bid 
 you rise," was the master's command once more, which 
 the knight obeyed, and when he had risen and looked 
 again in the magic mirror's face, lo ! he beheld how 
 the miscreant had missed his aim and how the arrow, 
 turning on him, had pierced him to the heart, through 
 and through, so that he died, and was buried away 
 from human sight and ken by the knight's wife in a 
 deep hole under the bed, no man knowing what had 
 befallen. Then the master bade the knight come out 
 of the water and resume his garments, demanding his 
 prayers as sole payment for his rescued life, but, added 
 Virgilius, " henceforth beware of your wicked wife." 
 So the knight thanked Magister Virgilius with a grate- 
 ful heart, and crossing the sea once more returned to 
 his own home, where his wife received him with a face 
 sweet and innocent as though she knew no guile ; as 
 for the knight he said never a word, but sent for the 
 kinsmen on either side to come and dine with him, 
 and when they were all assembled he thus spoke : 
 " Dear friends, be it known to you that the cause of 
 this assemblage being made is the necessity of my 
 declaring unto you each and all that my wife is a 
 wicked woman, and has sought to compass my death." 
 Then the wife denied the charge, swearing that she
 
 70 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 was innocent, but the knight unfolded the tale of all as 
 it had come to pass, and how by the master's magic 
 art he had been saved from death, and when the tale 
 was ended he further said to the assembled kinsmen, 
 "If you credit not my words, come and I will show 
 you the man, where he is buried." So the kinsmen 
 went with the knight into an inner room and there, 
 under the wife's bed, they found the body of the man, 
 pierced to the heart, through and through, by an 
 arrow shot. Then the kinsmen on either side ran and 
 fetched the judge, and he commanded, forthwith, that 
 the woman should be burned, and when that was done 
 and the ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven, 
 the knight got a new, good wife, and with her lived 
 happily to his life's end. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ' ' Di scienza e morte lo piii valente 
 Non credo che nel mondo il simil sia 
 Le sue virtudi non m'usciran di mente 
 Ben mi dolgo, Non poasso io altro fare." 
 
 The wisest and the best has passed away, 
 His like we vainly seek the wide world o'er ; 
 
 His greatness ever in my mind shall stay, 
 Well may I grieve, for I can do no more. 
 
 Many and great as were the wonders wrought by 
 Virgilius, he had promised yet stranger and greater
 
 'Virgilius the Sorcerer. 71 
 
 things to his Emperor. He had pledged himself to 
 make trees and shrubs bear fruit thrice i.i a single 
 year, and to cause the trees to bear bud, blossom, and 
 fruit together and at once. Ships were to sail as easily 
 against as with the tide, and money to be gained as 
 quickly and as surely as it was spent. These, and 
 many other great deeds did Virgilius promise to per- 
 form, always, however, with the one proviso, that per- 
 mission be granted from above. 
 
 Virgilius, moreover, on attaining to honour, wealth, 
 and power, had built him beyond the walls of Rome 
 a splendid castle, surrounded on all sides by deep 
 waters, and having but one single doorway, whose 
 approach was guarded by twelve metal men, six to a 
 side, who ceaselessly and silently beat on the ground 
 before them with flails, and were stopped or set in 
 motion by a hidden mechanism, of which the secret 
 was known only to Virgilius. 
 
 Having thus performed so many wonders and 
 promised more, Virgilius proposed to himself a strange 
 and marvellous feat, which was none other than to 
 renew his youth, and thus starting afresh in life, to 
 have time for the accomplishment of all his plans. 
 To this intent, accordingly, Virgilius besought the 
 Emperor to grant him leave for three weeks, that he 
 might do business in a far country. This leave, how- 
 ever, being refused by the Emperor, who was loth to 
 spare for so long his trusted counsellor, Virgilius 
 went his way to his own house, and there, calling for 
 the servant whom he most loved and trusted, bade the
 
 72 Virgin us the Sorcerer. 
 
 man bear him company to his castle ; and when they 
 reached the castle standing out from amidst deep 
 waters, and were how close to its one approach, 
 Virgilius said to his servant, " Go on before me into 
 the castle." 
 
 " Sir," said the servant, " that I cannot do, because 
 of the brazen men, who would slay me with their flails 
 that ceaselessly and silently they beat on the ground 
 before them." 
 
 Then Virgilius showed to his servant the secret of 
 the engine which stopped or set in motion the brazen 
 men, and having, by its means made the flails to 
 cease, master and man went together into the castle. 
 Then Virgilius, closing and bolting the door, thus 
 spoke : " My dear servant.jn that I have loved and 
 trusted you before all other, so do I now of you 
 require a harder service than of all the world besides." 
 So saying he led the way to a vaulted chamber dug 
 out below the ground, where, with soft, clear light, 
 hanging from the roof, a lamp burned day and night. 
 " Do you see, in the midst of this vaulted chamber, a 
 cask standing beneath this lamp ? " asked Virgilius. 
 
 " Sir," said the man, " I see the cask, and that it 
 stands beneath the lamp." 
 
 " There," continued Virgilius, " within the cask you 
 must with salt preserve and pickle this, my body, 
 first cutting it in pieces, and having divided my head 
 into four parts, lay it in the bottom of the cask, with 
 the other parts placed above it in order, my heart 
 being in the centre, and when all this is done, mark
 
 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 73 
 
 well to cause the cask to stand beneath the dripping 
 of the lamp, and for the space of nine days take good 
 heed to feed the lamp daily with oil. By this means 
 shall I become young again, and have long life before 
 me, if, indeed, it be granted from above." 
 
 " Dear master ! " cried the servant, in horror and 
 dismay, " far be it from me to commit so foul a deed, I 
 will not kill you." 
 
 "But," said Virgilius, "this thing I demand and 
 require of you, as no peril attends its execution." 
 
 And so urgently, with threats and entreaties, did 
 Virgilius beset his servant, that at length, though 
 with unwilling heart and mind, the man consented to 
 do his master's pleasure. So that servant cut up and 
 salted the body of Virgilius, and the pieces he laid, in 
 the order prescribed, within the cask, and the cask he 
 took good heed to place beneath the drip of the lamp. 
 This done, he let himself out of the castle, and turning 
 on once more the hidden engine, he set the brazen 
 men to their flails again, so that none might by any 
 means enter within the castle walls, only that he, 
 himself, returned daily to feed the lamp with oil. 
 
 Now when some days had come and gone and 
 Virgilius appeared not, the Emperor missed him 
 greatly, longing for his company, and when the seventh 
 day came and still brought not Virgilius, who was 
 lying dead and salted in the cask beneath the lamp 
 within the vaulted chamber, the Emperor sent for the 
 servant whom he knew to be the favourite of Virgilius 
 and bade him say whither his master had betaken
 
 74 IJirgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 himself. " Sire," said the man, " I know not where 
 my master is, seven days have past since he departed, 
 I know not whither.'' " Rogue," cried the Emperor, 
 "you lie ! Show me the place whither your master 
 has departed or you die." Then said the servant, 
 trembling exceedingly with fear, " Gracious Lord ! 
 seven days ago I bore my master company to his 
 castle that stands beyond the walls of Rome amid deep 
 waters and there did I leave him, nor since that day 
 have I beheld him." " Follow me to the castle," said 
 the Emperor, and when with a great company the 
 Emperor reached the castle's entrance, he bade the 
 servant of Virgilius to cause the brazen men to cease 
 beating before them with their flails. " Sire," said the 
 servant, seeking to be excused, " I know not how to 
 cause the flails to cease." But when the Emperor 
 threatened him with instant death, the man quickly, 
 by means of the secret engine, stopped the flails and 
 threw open the door ; then went the Emperor and all 
 his followers into the castle. High and low they 
 sought for Virgilius, and when above ground they 
 found him not the Emperor descended to the vaulted 
 chamber dug out beneath the earth, and there, beneath 
 the dripping lamp, beheld the cask where in pieces, 
 preserved with salt, the body of Virgilius lay, and at 
 that sight the Emperor turned to the servant of 
 Virgilius and asked him how he had dared to slay his 
 master, and when the man answered not, the Emperor 
 in fury drew his sword and slew him, and as that 
 servant fell, the Emperor and all his people saw a
 
 Z)irgiUus the Sorcerer. 75 
 
 strange and marvellous thing, for suddenly before their 
 eyes a little naked child appeared ; three times it ran 
 round the cask, crying aloud, " Cursed be the day that 
 brought you here," and then vanished from their sight, 
 but as for Virgilius he lay dead within the cask. 
 
 Then the Emperor and all his lords mourned for 
 Virgilius, as did his kinsmen too, with all scholars and 
 doctors in Rome. Naples and other seats of learning 
 likewise made great lamentation for him, when they 
 heard that Virgilius was dead indeed, but the greatest 
 and sorest grief was at Naples, the city that he loved 
 so well. 
 
 Seeing that Virgilius was dead and gone, the 
 Emperor thought to take his treasure, but no man 
 could be found who had heart to face the brazen men 
 and their flails, so the treasure remained untouched. 
 
 Virgilius, morever, did many great and marvellous 
 deeds that are not recorded in this book. May God 
 in His mercy grant that we be written in the Book of 
 Life ! Amen.
 
 76 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 " Qant morust, si se fist porter 
 Fors de Romme, peur enterrer, 
 A ung chastel devers Cezile 
 Pres de la mer, a une vile ; 
 Encor i sont les os de lui 
 Q'en garde." 
 
 And when his time was come to die, 
 He bade them carry him from Rome 
 To castle-town of Sicily, 
 Which was to be his long, last home ; 
 And in that town, upon the shore. 
 His bones shall rest for evermore 
 In peace to all eternity. 
 
 It is recorded that once when Roger was King of 
 Sicily there came to him a certain learned man, 
 English by nation, well skilled in the trivium, the 
 quadrivium, in physics, and in astronomy, and this 
 man, who was, moreover, a great master of the Black 
 Art, said to King Roger that he had somewhat to 
 request of his royal bounty. The King, noble in race 
 and heart, thinking that the master desired a gift» 
 bade him declare his wish and it should be fulfilled. 
 " Gold or goods," said the master, " I seek not, but 
 rather that which in the world's esteem would be of 
 small account — to wit, the bones of Virgilius ! " Then 
 King Roger had letters patent drawn out, which gave
 
 Uirgilius the Sorcerer. jy 
 
 authority to the master to take the bones of Virgilius, 
 wheresoever they might be found. Thus provided, the 
 master betook himself to Naples, where so many of 
 Virgilius' works were wrought, and presenting his letters 
 patent, with but small persuasion obtained permission 
 and aid for the search from the people of that city, 
 who lightly promised what they deemed impossible of 
 obtaining, seeing that no man knew the spot where 
 Virgilius lay. The master, however, guided by his 
 art, sought a hilly district, and after much labour, 
 digging deep into the heart of a certain mountain 
 which showed no trace or mark of having been 
 opened, behold ! at length, after long search, and 
 deep beneath the ground, the bones were found 
 of Virgilius, and beneath his head the great Black 
 Book containing the "Ars Notoria."* The master 
 claimed possession of all that was discovered, as on 
 him conferred by letters patent, but the populace, 
 bethinking them how many and great had been the 
 benefactions of Virgilius to their city, gathered 
 together in bands to forbid the removal of his bones, 
 on which, as they believed, their common weal and 
 wealth depended ; collecting, therefore, the remains of 
 their patron, they placed them in an urn, and with great 
 solemnity, in procession, bore them to the Castle by 
 the Sea (Castellamare), where from that day forward 
 
 * "Ars Notoria," discussed by Cornelius Agrippa, and de- 
 rided by Erasmus, was supposed to have nothing diabolic in 
 its nature, but to bestow the knowledge of certain sciences by 
 the observance of certain practices.
 
 78 Virgilius the Sorcerer. 
 
 they have been exposed to view within the protection 
 of an iron grating ; and, as from personal experience 
 as eyewitness the Chancellor Konrad is able to affirm, 
 were these bones to be touched or stirred from this 
 island castle which Virgilius built, immediately the 
 sky would be overcast and storm and tempest would 
 sweep over land and sea. 
 
 Thus it was that, for all King Roger's letters patent, 
 the English master gained not the bones of Virgilius, 
 but only his book of the "Ars Notoria," and 
 great though its value proved to be, we are yet 
 assured by Gervasius of Tilbury, the grave and 
 reverend recorder of this adventure, that ten times 
 rather would the master have had the bones, which by 
 incantation he could have forced within forty days to 
 teach him the magic art entire of Virgilius the 
 Sorcerer. 
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co., 
 London £r Edinburgh.
 
 The First Number of the ;jH«t)if«ebaI 
 JLtztrite was : ®fie Uife anb Mtatb of 
 3Sr. 3|o|)annts Jjpaustus, Master of the 
 
 Black Art, as .played by the Kasperle 
 Company, now first done out of German 
 into English, i/-. 
 
 PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 The Bookman : 
 
 "^ fhost interesting translation of a genuine 
 medicEval puppet play, acted so lately as 1844. 
 .... Crude as it is in the highest degree, the 
 play is yet full of force and vigour, and, as the 
 source from which Goethe drew his plot, it is • 
 of supreme interest. This series of Medieval 
 Legends will be looked for with eagerness.'^ 
 
 Glasgow Herald: 
 
 " Viewed as the iource of Goethe's famous 
 tragedy, the puppet play has much interest to the 
 student .... The suries of Medimval Legends, 
 of which this is the initial number, ought to be 
 an attractive one to those who delight in tracing 
 back the stream of religious tJwiighi and literary 
 art to its beginnings in the cloudy regions of 
 faith and superstition." 
 
 Daily Chronicle : 
 
 " The old puppet play is very amusing read- 
 ing, 'especially to anybody who has Marlowe and 
 Goethe well in mind." 
 
 Scotsman : 
 
 " Well translated, and will be welcome to 
 students of ntedicevcU history, the life and spirit 
 of which it illustrates in a striking may.''
 
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