B.JWUJ»_ *-?■ 1 REESE ] ... LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. i ■iiec-enr.; APR 19 1893 ,8, . j -Accessions No.Sl 1 ^^. Class No. V J - i u:,;'^ ^ V -^ M. 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/curiositiesofchrOOpaterich Curto0itie0 of CtnjJtian l^fetocp* CURIOSITIES OP CHRISTIAN HISTORY PRIOR TO THE REFORMATION CROAKE JAMES Author of " Curiosities of Law and Lawyers UNIVERSITY /IDetbuen a Go^ i8, BURY STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1892 \,All rights reserved 6'n '^s Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London ami Aylesbury. PKEFACE TTISTORY is often a dreary study except to a few experts ; ^^ and yet the Christians of to-day naturally wish to know more about their predecessors in the old time before them. There is always much difficulty in separating what to them must be interesting from masses of detail which do not touch their sympathies. From the time of Christ to the epoch of the Reformation there were no Dissenters — only traitors and heretics, who were deemed unworthy to live in the same world and to breathe the same air as Emperors, Popes, and Bishops. But the Christian temperament can be traced through all the centuries — whether the devout people of the period were martyrs or hermits, monks, nuns, or friars, pilgrims or crusaders, priests or warriors. The same aspirations, mis- givings, trials, and difficulties existed then as now, though the trials and difficulties may now be less. The best people of to-day may be trusted to recognise a touch of their own kindred amid all the varieties of time and place and circum- stance which make up the past. I have here collected from many histories, annals, chronicles, and biographies, far and wide, some particulars PREFACE. of the interesting persons, episodes, and events from the Christian's point of view during the first fourteen centuries. The literature of so many ages is vast, and the things now deemed of most interest are overlaid with heavy material. But I have left out all the miracles — most of the wordy war of doctrines— most of the atrocities of persecutors and inquisitors. I have only culled a few flowers ; I have only tried to snatch from oblivion a few brief memorials which may suggest wholesome thoughts and inquiries to modern Christians of every denomination. C. J. TABLE OF MATTEES CHAPTER I. THE VIRGIN MARY, HOLY FAMILY, CHRIST, AXD THE CRUCIFIXION. Heathen Knowledge about the Vir- gin, 1 ; Simeon's Great Age, 2 ; Por- traits of the Virgin, 2 ; Man-iage of Joseph and Virgin Mary, 3 ; Massacre of Innocents, 4 ; Flight to Egypt, 5 ; Holy Family Leaving Egj-pt, 6 ; As- sumption of Virgin Mary, 7; Christ Learning Alphabet, 9 ; Joseph and Jesus as Carpenters, 10 ; Christ's Bap- tism, 10; Portraits of Christ, 11 ; King Agbarus, 12; Christ's Preaching, 13; Sentence on Christ, 14 ; Christ Ap- pearing to James, 14 ; Forms of Crosses, 15 ; The Holy Cross, 15 ; Thieves at Crucifixion, 16 ; Soldier who Pierced the Saviour's Side, 17 ; Legend of the Cross, 17 ; Stations of Cross, 18 ; Crown of Thorns, 19; Apocryphal Gospels, 20; False Christs, 21; Sep- tuagint Bible, 21 ; English Versions of Bible, 22. CHAPTER IT. THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. Death of the Apostles, 23 ; Apostles who were Married, 23; St. Matthew and St. Mark, 24; St. Luke and St. Bartholomew, 25 ; St. Thomas and St. Simeon. 26 ; St. Timothy and St. Barnabas, 27; St. Titus, St. Philip, and St, Andrew, 28 ; James and John, 29 ; St. John the Apostle, 30 ; St. John and his Partridge, 31 ; St. John's Last Days, 32 ; St. John and Edward the Confessor, 33 ; St. James the Less, 33 ; St. James the Great, 34; St. Peter and St. Paul, 36 ; Deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul, 37 ; St. Peter when in Kome, 38 ; Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, 39 ; If St. Paul in Great Britain, 40; Judas Iscariot, 41. TABLE OF MATTERS. CHAPTER III. Christ's contemporaries — climate and scenery of Palestine. Sages of Greece aud Rome on Chris- tian Prodigies, 42 ; Zacharias and John the Baptist, 44 ; Pontius Pilate, 45 ; Herod the Great, 46 ; Mary Mag- dalene, 47 ; St. Martha, 48 ; St. Vero- nica, 48 ; Hillel, 49 ; Sanhedrim, 49 ; Working Man in Christ's Time, 50; Pharisaic Niceties, 50 ; Sieges of Jeru- salem, 50 ; Antioch, 51 ; Palestine Ex- plorations, 52; Jordan to the Dead Sea, 53 ; Sea of Galilee, 53 ; Sources of Jordan, 54 ; Waters of Merom, 55 ; Rivers of Damascus, 55 ; Populousness of Galilee, 56 ; Climate of Palestine, 57 ; Mount Hermon, 57 ; Lilies of the Field, 58 ; Wayside Fruits and Flowers, 58 ; The Birds, 59 ; Wild Beasts and Animals, 60 ; Jerusalem, 60 ; Nazareth,. 61 ; Capernaum, 62. CHAPTER IV. early church customs, fasts, and festivals. Church History Divided into Ages and Periods, 63; Apostolic Church, 64 ; The Millennium, 64 ; Community of Goods, 65 ; Emblems of Christians, 66 ; Christian Names, 66 ; Auricular Confession, 67 ; Religious Riots, 68 ; Preaching much Applauded, 68 ; Dress and Appearance of Clergy, 69 ; Priests and Deacons, 69 ; Early Bishops, 70 ; The Pastoral Staff, 71; Ancient Churches, 72 ; Deaconess, 72 ; Liturgy, 73; Ritualism, 74; The Mass, 74; Ancient Church Sei-vice, 75 ; Organs and Bells, 76 ; Separation of Sexes, 77 ; Praying for the Dead, 77 ; Sin- eaters at Funerals, 78 ; Praising the Lord Day and Night, 78 ; Christmas Day and Easter Day, 79 ; Festival of All Saints, 80 ; Holidays and Feasts, 80; Feast of the Ass, 81; The Boy Bishop, 81; Miracle Plays, 82; Pas> sion Plars, 82 ; Festival of the Rose^ 83 ; The Millennium, 84 ; Church Building Age, 84 ; Round Towers, 85 ; Worship of the Virgin, 85 ; Truce of God, 86 ; Number Seven in Scripture, 87 ; A Jubilee Year, 87 ; King's Prayer for Rain, 89; The Black Death, 90; Dancing Mania, 91 ; Monk Flagellants^ 91 ; Extravagant Dress, 92 ; Telling Fortunes, 93. CHAPTER V. DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS, JEWS, IMAGE WORSHIP, AND CIVIL POWERS. The Name of Christian, 94; Early Pagan Riot, 94 ; Early Christians and Slavery, 95 ; The First Persecution, 96 ; How Christians Appeared to Pagans, 97; Shows of Wild Beasts,. 97; Testing Fidelity of Chr^tians, 98 ; Constantine the Great, 99 ; Stan- dard of the Cross, 100; Dream of TABLE OF MATTERS. XI Coustantine, 100; Constantine Preach- ing-, 101 ; Last Illness of Constantine, 102; First Church Council, 102; Silencing the Pagans, 103 ; How to Ptefute a Heretic, 103 ; Julian the Apostate, 105 ; Theological Disputes, 105 ; Controversy about the Trinity, 10(5 ; Athanasius, 107 ; Sermon on the Trinity, 108 ; Against Demolishing Temples, 108; First Demolishing of Temples, 110: Image at the Palace, 111; St. Martin of Tours, 112; The King of the Goths, 112; Attila, King of the Huns, 113 ; Vandals Sacking Rome, 114 ; Justinian, 115 ; Mahomet's Knowledge, 115 ; Oak of Geismar, 11(5; Pope Defending Rome, 117; Forged Decretals, 118; Separation of Greek and Latin Churches, 119 ; Jew and Christian, 119 ; Julian Inciting the Jews, 120 ; Hating the Jews, 121 ; I Golden Age of Judaism, 121 ; The- Pope and the Jews, 122 ; The Jews of York, 122; Jew^s Crucifying English Boy, 124; The Black 'Death, 124;: Jews Stealing the Host, 125 ; Torque- mada's Zeal, 126 ; Jewish PhysicianS,^ 127 ; Converting a Jew, 128 ; Contro- versy about Image Worship, 129 ; The Iconoclasts, 130; John of Damascus, 131 ; Claudius of Turin, 133 ; Trying to Convert Image Worshippers, 134 ; Empress Irene, 135 ; Empress Theo- dora, 135 ; Image Worship in Spain. I 136; Pope Hildebrand, 137; St. ! Thomas Aquinas, 137 ; The Popes as Temporal Princes, 139 ; Rienzi, 139 : ' Last Hours of the Roman Empire,. 140 ; Election to Holy Roman Empire, 141. CHAPTER VI. MARTYRS, HERMITS, ANCHORITES, AND RELICS. ]VIartyr Valeiia, 142 ; St. Thecla and Polycarp, 143 ; St. Felicitas, 144 ; The Martyrs of Lvons, 144 ; St. Cecilia, 145;'Perpetua, 146; St. Ursula, 146 ; St. Barbara, 147 ; Potamiana, 147 ; St. Genes the Actor, 148 ; Genesius, 148; St. Alban, 149; Didymus and Theodora, 149 ; St. Cyprian and Jus- tina, 150 ; St. John Chrysostom, 150 ; St. James Intercisus, 151 ; Martyr for Image Worship, 151 ; Huss the Bo- hemian, 152 ; Joan of Arc a Modern Patriotic Martyr, 153 ; Joan's Mission, 153 ; Joan taken Captive and Burnt, 159; Outbreak of Hennit Zeal, 160; First Monastic Life, 160; St. Antony, 161 ; Hermit Visiting, 161 ; Hermit and Grapes. 162 ; Hermit's Courtesies, 162 ; Hermits' Quarrel, 163 ; Political Economy of Hermits, 163 ; The Wise SayiQos of St. I'ambo, 164 ; A Her- mit'ff 'Olive Tree, 164 ; Macarius, 165 ; St. Martin of Tours, 165 ; Dorotheus, the Architect, 166 ; St. Poemen, Prince ' of Hermits, 167 ; St. Moyses, Water- carrier, 167 ; Hermit's New Austerities, 168 : St. Carileff, 169 ; First Saxon I Hermit, 169; St. Guthlac, 170; St. I Simeon Stylites, 171 ; A Pillar Monk, ' 171; St. Herbert of Derwentwater, 171 ; St. Ethelwald at Fame, 172 ; English i Queen Consulting Hermit, 174; Con- ! scientious Hermit, 174 ; St. Bartholo- i mew of Fame, 175; French King j sends for Hermit, 176; ConsecraUon ' of Hermits and Recluses, 177; St. : Methodius the Martyr, 177; Miracles j of Saints, 178 ; Local and Patron I Saints, 179 ; St. Genevieve, 179 ; j Reverence for Relics, 180 ; Secrecy in ' Removing Relics, 181 ; Capturing Holy I ReUcs, 181 ; Stealing Relics, 182 ; De- 1 fending his Relics, 183 ; Forgery of ! Relics, 183 ; How to Flatter a Relic I Worshipper, 184 ; Empress Begging for Relics, 185 ; If Genuine Relics, 185; The Crown of Thorns Pawned and Sold, 186 ; King of France shows Xll TABLE OF MATTERS. Holy Cross, 187; Blood of Christ at Westminster, 188 ; St. Stephen's Relics, 188; St. Dunstan, 189; John Huss on Eelics, 190 : Crucifix During the Plague, 190 ; Purchasing the Head of St. Andrew, 191, Pilgrimage to Walsingham, 191 ; Pilgrimage in Switzerland, 192 ; Pilgrims to Canter- bury, 192. CHAPTER VII. THE FATHERS. Origen, 194 ; St. Ambrose, 194 ; St. Jerome, 197 ; St. Jerome's Reflections, 198; St. Jerome with Lion and Ass, 198; Deathbed of St. Jerome, 199; St. Jerome's Epistles, 199 ; St. Chry- sostom's Eloquence, 200 ; St. Chryso- jstom on Monkery, 201 ; St. Augustine Witnessing Mii-acles, 202 ; Vision of St. Augustine, 203 ; St. Augustine's Faith in Dreams, 203; St. Cyril of Alexandria, 204 ; Some Notions of the Fathers, 204. CHAPTER VIII. THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. Origin of Monachism, 206 ; Miracles of Monks, 207 ; Philosophy of Monkery, 207 ; Motives for Monks, 208 ; Weak Side of, 208 ; St. Benedict, 209 ; The Reformers of Monkery, 209; Early Diificulties, 210; Advice to Monks, 211 ; A Monk Denounces Ferocity, 211 ; Making the Monks Work, 212 ; Improvements, 212; Monk at Court, 213; Monks First Drinking Wine, 214 ; Charlemagne about Monks, 214 ; Leaving Court to be Monk, 215 ; Monk going to Court, 215; The Reason of so many Monasteries, 21 G ; Life in a Convent, 21f5 ; A Day's life in Monas- tery, 217 ; Routine of English Monks, 218 ; Arrangements of an Abbey, 218 ; Monks and Friai-s, 219 ; Friars and Priests, 220 ; Enmity between Monks, 220 ; Monks Disliked by Clergy, 220 ; Monk who Wanted to be an Angel, 221 ; Death of Abbess at Aries, 221 ; Caedmon, Monk Poet, 222; Monk Sleeping too long, 223; Abbot lec- turing his Monks, 223; The War of the two Abbots, 224 ; Monks and Gre- gorian Chant, 225 ; Those who Pillage Monks, 225 ; Monks to Live Frugally, 226; Monk's Burial, 227 ; Sick Monks, 227; Monks Honour Rich Men, 228; Good Lessons of the Monks, 229 ; Pope Inviting a Fellow Monk, 229; Order of Friars, 230 ; Cinderella of the Con- vent, 280 ; Nuns at Sempringham, 231 ; Compunctious Visitings of Monks, 232 ; Monkery Worked Out, 232 ; War of the Nuns of Basle, 233 ; Stealing another Monk's Food, 234; Monks Deciding on Creeds, 234; Monk Interceding for Prisoners, 235 ; How Carthusians Acquired a Site, 235 ; Luther at his Old Convent, 236 ; Monks and Polite Letters, 236 ; Litera- ture about Saints, 237 ; Scriptorium in St. Gall, 237; Beautiful Manu- scripts, 238 ; Penmanship of Monks, 239 ; Monasteries as Museums, 239 ; Embroidery of Nuns, 240; Monks at Missal Painting, 241 ; Music and Illu- minating, 241 . TABLE OF MATTERS. CHAPTER IX. PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. xm fun Converts the Iberians, 243 ; Fourth-century Missionary, 243 ; Ser- mon by St. Patrick, 244 ; Monk Ward- ing Off Locusts, 244; First Planting the Cross in England, 245 ; Pope Gre- gory and England, 240; Impression on Saxon King, 247 ; Methodius Preaching, 247 ; Apostle of Switzer- land. 248 ; St. Eligius, 248 ; Anschar the Apostle, 249 ; St. Neot, Cornish Saint, 250 ; Conversion of Kussia, 251 ; Bishop Otto, 251 ; Norbert and Clerical Vices, 252 ; Fulk, 252 ; St. Dominic's Zeal, 253; St. Francis of Assisium, 254 ; St. Francis tending the Lepers,, 254; The Stigmata of St. Francis, 255 ; Biography of St. Francis, 256 ; St. Antony of Padua, 256; English Friars Disdained Shoes, 257 ; Raimund Lull, 258 ; St. Ignatius of Loyola, 259 ; St. Vincent de Paul, 260; Mediaeval Missionaries, 261 ; Friar Startling Judges, 261 ; The Schoolmen, 262 ; Friars on Useless Ornaments, 262 ; Friar on Fashionable Vices, 263 ; De- nouncing Female Headdresses, 263 ;. Savonarola, 264. CHAPTER X. FAMOUS MONKS AND MONASTERIES. A Monk with a Genius for Monkery. 266; St. Ninian, the Scottish Saint, 267 ; St. Mungo, 267 ; Monk Absent- ing Himself from Prayers, 268 ; Death of St. Benedict, 269 ; St. Columba of lona, 269 ; Death of St. Columba, 270 ; The Monk Columban, 271 ; St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, 272 ; St. Chad, 273 ; St. Hilda, Abbess, 274 ; The Abbey and Monks of St. Gall, 274; The Venerable Bede, Monk and Historian, 275; St. Cuthbert Admitted Monk, 275 ; The Body of St. Cuthbert, 277 ; Deathbed of Venerable Bede, 278; A Warrior Duke becomes Monk, 280 ; The Swiss Abbey of Einsiedeln, 281 ; St. Meinrad, a Monk of the Alps, 282 ; Croyland Abbey Burnt, 283 ; Nuns of Coldingham, 283 ; Monks of Cluny, 281 ; St. Dunstan, Archbishop, 285 ; Monks of St. Bernard, 285 ; Chancellor becomes Monk, 286; Deathbed of Abbot Turketel, 286; Monk Nilus, 287 ; Monastery of Bee, 289 ; Fire at Crowland Abbey, 290 ; Monks of Val- lombrosa, 291 ;* A Monk Transcriber of Holy Books, 292 ; A Monk Musician,. 293 ; Training of Monk Bishop, 293 ; Monk Abelard and Nun Heloise, 294 ; Abelard and St. Bernard, 295; Abe- lard's Last Days, 295 ; Order of Car- thusians, 296 ; Order of Cistercians, 297 ;. St. Bernard as a Young Monk, 297; St. Bernard as Abbot, 298 ; St. Ber- nard's Miracles, 298 ; Bernard and hi& Sister, 299 ; Bernard and Peter the Venerable, 300 ; Schoolmen of Middle Ages, 301 ; Deathbed of Abbot, 302 : Visions of Sister Hildegard, 302 ; Travelling to Kome, 303 ; Portrait of Abbot Sampson of St. Edmundsbury^ 304; Monks Rebuilding their Altar,. 305 ; Abbot Harassed with Cares, 306 ; Annoyed at Visit of the Legate, 307; Deathbed of Princess, 308; Stealing St. Antony's Psalm Book, 308; Monk for a King, 309; Eliza- beth of Hungary, 310 ; Panic among Saracens, 310 ; Fancies of the Starved Monk, 311 ; Monasteries of Mount Athos, 312 ; Monks of La Trappe, 312 ; Certosa Monastery, 313 ; Cathe- XIV TABLE OF .MATTERS. line of Siena, 814 ; Monks of Lucca, 314; Thomas li Kempis, 315; Peter of Alcantara, 316 ; Visions of St, Theresa, 317; The Emperor Monk, 318; Emperor Monk's Dress, 319 ; His Apartments, 319 ; Detestation of i 324. Heretics, 320 ; Interest in Clock- making, 321 ; His Confessor, 321 ; His Choir, 322 ; At Dinner-time, 323 ; He Celebrates his own Funeral, 323 ; Funeral Sermon on Emperor Monk, CHAPTER XI. SOME BISHOPS, KINGS, POPES, AND INQUISITORS. Unity of the Clergy, 320 ; Supre- macy of Pope, 326 ; Election of Popes, 328 ; Dress of Cardinals, 328 ; The Degraded Bishop, 329 ; Emperor and the First Abdication, 330; Bishop Building Workhouse, 330; Bishops Striving for a Site, 331 ; How Bis- hops were Made, 331 ; Fifth-century Bishop, 332; Putting Down Sooth- sayers, 338 ; Bishop Releasing Pri- soners, 334 ; The King of the Gauls, 334 ; Pope Getting Rid of Pestilence, 335 ; Choosing Archbishop, 335 ; Pope Gregory and the Emperor, 336 ; John the Almsgiver, 337 ; Giving- a Bishop a Horse. 338 ; A Christian's Scruples, 339; A Model Churchman, 339 ; Why Pope's Foot Kissed, 340 ; Agobard of Lyons, 340 ; St. Swithin, 341 ; King Alfred, 341 ; King Alfred's Love of Reading, 342; Bishop at Head of Troops, 343 ; Two Scapegrace Popes, 344; The Ugliest Archbishop, 345; Bishop and Emperor's Jokes, 345 ; King Canute, 346 ; Peasant Rebuking Bishop, 347 ; St. Margaret of Scotland, 348 ; Death of William the Conqueror, 348 ; English King Marrying Nun, 350 ; Awaking Bishop for Mass, 351 ; Anselm, Archbishop, 351 ; Saracen I King by Divine Right, 352; Arch- bishop Turstin, 353 ; King John and the Bishop, 354 ; St. Thomas a Becket, 355 ; Monk Describes Papal Interdict, 356 ; Pope Punishing Kings. 357 ; Candid Friend to Pope, 358 ; Excom- munication of Emperor, 359 ; Emperor Retaliating on Pope, 360 ; Pope's Clerks Extorting Money, 360 ; Aerial Music I at Bishop's Death, 362; Fool Posing I Theologians, 362 ; Hermit for Pope, ' 363; Philip the Fair and the Pope, \ 364 ; Pope of Fourteenth Century, 365 ; Wicliff, the Reformer, 365 ; The Popes at Avignon, 366 ; The Rival Popes, 367 ; Three Popes at one Time, 368 ; I'ope John XXIIL, 370; Owl Attend- ing a Council, 370; Sale of Indul- gences, 371 ; Bishop Inviting his Old Master, 372; Sultan who Abdicated, 372; Pope Nicholas V., 373; Fop Elected Pope, 374 ; Pope Leo X., 375 ; Turning Pagan into Christian Monu- ments, 376 ; The Inquisition, 377 ; Spanish Inquisition at Work, 379 ; Torquemada, 379; An Auto-da-F6 in Spain, 380; Assassination of Inquisi- tor, 380 ; Cardinal Ximenes, 381 ; Irrepressible Heretics, 382; Wal- denses, 382 ; Lawyer for Pope, 383. CHAPTER XII. SACRED LEGENDS. Lives of Saints, 385; Christian Legends, 385; How Legends Grow, 386; Thundering Legion, 387; The Theban Legion, 387; The Divining Rod, 387 ; St. George and the Dragon, 388; St. Christina, 389; St. Chris- TABLE OF MATTERS. XV topLer, 889 ; Hallelujah Victory, 391 ; Prophecies of Merlin, 391 ; Devil Showing a Book, 392 ; Wandering Jew, 392 ; St. Sabas, 393 ; Theophilus and the Devil, 393 ; Holy Grail, 394 ; Seven Sleepers, 394; Little Blind Herve, 395 ; Supper of St. Gregory, 395 ; St. Gregory Releasing Trajan, 395; St. Bega, 397 ; St. Fructuosus and the Doe, 397 ; Pope Joan, 398 ; Bishop Hatto, 398; St. Conrad, .399; The I'iper of Hameln, 399 ; Lady Godiva, 399 ; Sacred Fire in Greek Church, 400: Superstitions of the Greek Church, 401 ; Prester John, 401 ; Loretto, 401 ; King Richard I.'s Story, 402 ; St. Francis and his Love of Birds, 403 ; Bonaventura, on St. Francis, 405 ; St. Antony Preaching to the Fishes, 406 ; St. Roch, 407. CHAPTER XIII. THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. Alonk Historian on the Crusades, 408 ; Crusades Beneficial, 408 ; I'rac- ticeof Pilgrimages, 409 ; Early Travels in Palestine, 410 ; Ways of Pilgrims, 410; Peter the Hermit, 411; Pope Urban II., 413 ; Hunger for Earth of Palestine, 413; Getting Rid of Spies, 414 ; Discovering the Holy Lance, 415 ; Testing a Doubtful Point, 417 ; First Sight of Jerusalem, 417 ; Assault- ing Jerusalem, 418 ; Capturing Jeru- salem, 419 ; First Visit to the Holy Places, 419 ; A Second Crusade, 420 ; French Queen as Crusader, 421 ; St. Bernard on his Crusade, 422; Bring- ing Relics, 422; Another Crusade, 423 ; Emperor's Crusadership, 423 ; Fulk of Neuilly, 424 ; Death of Richard I., 424; French l*illaging Constan- tinople, 425 ; Crusaders against Here- tics, 425; The Albigenses, 427; Chil- dren's Crusade, 428; Preaching of Crusade, 428 ; Escaping the Crusades, 429 ; Master of Hungary, 430 ; Death- bed of St. Louis, 430; Crusadei-s on their W^ay Home, 431 ; Bequeathing a Heart as Crusader, 432 ; Knights Templars, 433; Faith in Providence, 434 ; Columbus Crusader, 435 ; Num- bers of Crusaders, 436 ; Greek Church, 437. CHAPTER XIV. SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. Early Church Architecture, 438 ; Coptic Church, 439; Spires, Towers, and Dimensions of Cathedrals, 440; Gothic Cathedrals, 440 ; Altar, 441 ; Incense and Holy Water, 442; St. Peter's at Rome, 442 ; The Sistine Chapel, 443 ; Genoa and Turin, 444 ; Milan, 445; Florence and Pisa, 446; Naples, 447 ; Santiago Compostella, 448 ; Leon, 449 ; Seville and Toledo, 450 ; Cordova and Amalfi, 451 ; Valencia and Oviedo, 452 ; Paris, Mar- seilles, and Strasburg, 453 ; Amiens, ft 454; Rheims and Aix-la-Chapelle, 455 ; Treves and Antwerp, 456 Cologne and St. Petei-sburg, 457 Vienna and Constantinople, 458 Mosque of Omar and Jerusalem, 459 Bethlehem, 460 ; British Churches and St. Paul's, 461 ; Canterbury and York, 463 ; Durham, 465 ; Winchester and Oxford, 466 ; Peterborough, 467 ; Salisbury and Wells, 468 ; Other Eng- lish Cathedrals, 469; Welsh Cathe- drals. 471. XVI TABLE OF MATTERS. CHAPTER XV. THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. Pictures in Churches, 472 ; Monk Painter, 472 ; Pictures in Monasteries, 473 ; Sacro Monte, 473 ; Images in Spain, 474; Cimabue, 475; Bishop's Ape Takes to Painting, 475 ; Painter's Critics, 477 ; Nuns Criticising Artist, 477; Brother Artists Eivals, 478; Painter Affronting Angel, 479 ; Ange- lico, 479 ; Bronzes for the Gates of Paradise, 480 ; Old Painters' Perspec- tive, 481 ; Monks Overfeeding Artist, 481 ; A Clumsy Crucifix, 482 ; Killed by a Sight of Gold, 482 ; Artist De- ceiving Birds and Beasts, 483 ; Find- ing a Model, 483; A Divine Artist, 484 ; Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, 485 ; Raphael's Pictures, 487 ; A Last Masterpiece, 489 ; The Inquisition on Sacred Art, 490; Painting Face of Christ, 491 ; Assisting Artist with Prayers, 492 ; Micbael Angelo, 492 ; Vargas's Devotion to Sacred Art, 496 ; Titian's Head of Christ, 496 ; Diffident Artist, 496 ; Rubens's Great Pictures, 497 ; Monks Getting a Bargain of Picture, 498 ; Velasquez's Crucifixion, 498 ; How Monks Got Pictures, 499 ; The Divine Murillo, 499 ; Cano's Pic- ture of the Virgin, 500 ; A I'ainter Incautiously Watching Effects, 501 ; Origin of Church Bells, 501 ; Sanctity of Bells, 502 ; Chimes on Church Bells, 502 ; The Swiss Horns, 402 ; Early Church Music, 503 ; Singing in Church, 503 ; Origin of Singing in Church Ser- vice, 504 ; The Organ in Church Music, 504 ; Augustine Converting the Bri- tons with Music, 506; The Earliest Hymns, 506 ; Monk Musicians, 506 ; Nicholas Peregrinus, 507; Heresy Propagated by Music, 507 ; The Pope Reforming Church Music, 508 ; Sing- ing the Miserere, 508 ; Luther's Church Music, 509 ; Originator of Oratorios^ 509 ; The Heaven-born Composer of Anthems, 510 ; First Impressions of Handel, 511. UN f THE ' EBSITl C4LIFbRH\^ FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAIf HISTORY. CHAPTEK I. THE VIRGIN MARY, HOLY FAMILY, CHRIST, AND THE CRUCIFIXION HEATHEN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY. According to an ancient legend, the Emperor Augustus Csesar repaired to the sibyl Tiburtina to inquire whether he should consent to allow himself to be worshipped with Divine honours, which the Senate had decreed to him. The sibyl, after some days of meditation, took the Emperor apart, and showed him an altar; and above the altar, in the opening heavens, and in a glory of light, he beheld a beautiful Virgin, holding an Infant in her arms ; and at the same time a voice was heard saying, " This is the altar of the Son of the Living God." Whereupon Augustus caused an altar to be erected on the Capitoline Hill, with this inscription — " Ara primogeniti Dei " ; and on the same spot in later times was built the church called the Ara-Cceli, well Imown, with its flight of one hundred and twenty-four marble steps, to all who have visited Rome. This particular prophecy of the Tibertine sibyl to Augustus rests on some very antique traditions. Pagan as well as Christian. It is ^supposed to have suggested the " Pollio " of Virgil, which suggested the " Messiah " of Pope. It is mentioned by writers of the third and fourth centuries, and our own divines have not wholly rejected it; for Bishop Taylor mentions the sibyl's prophecy among " the great and glorious accidents " happening about the birth of Jesus. 1 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. LEGEND ABOUT SIMEON S GREAT AGE. It is related that when Ptolemy Philadelphus, about two hun- dred and sixty years before Christ, resolved to have the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek, for the purpose of placing them in his far-famed library, he despatched messengers to Eleazar, the high priest of the Jews, requiring him to send scribes and interpreters learned in the Jewish law to his court at Alexandria. Thereupon Eleazar selected six of the most learned rabbis from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, seventy-two persons in all, and sent them to Egypt, in obedience to the commands of King Ptolemy; and among these was Simeon, a priest and a man full of learning. And it fell to the lot of Simeon to translate the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. And when he came to that verse where it is written, " Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son," he began to misdoubt in his own mind how this could be possible ; and after long meditation, fearing to give scandal and offence to the Greeks, he rendered the Hebrew word Virgin by a Greek word which signifies merely a young woman. But when he had written it down, behold, an angel effaced it, and substituted the right word. Thereupon he wrote it again and again ; and the same thing happened three times ; and he remained astonished and confounded. And while he wondered what this could mean, a ray of Divine light penetrated his soul. It was revealed to him that the miracle which in his human wisdom he had pre- sumed to doubt was not only possible, but that he, Simeon, " should not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ." Therefore he tarried on earth by the Divine will for nearly three centuries, till that which he had disbelieved had come to pass. He was led by the Spirit to the Temple on the very day when Mary came there to present her Son and to make her offering ; and immediately taking the Child in his arms, he exclaimed, " Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word." PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGIN MARY. Nicephorus Callixtus says that the person of the Virgin Mary was described by Epiphanius, who lived in the fourth century, and who derived the particulars from his predecessors. He said : " She was of middle stature ; her face oval ; her eyes brilliant and of an olive tint ; her eyebrows arched and black ; her hair was of a pale brown ; her complexion fair as wheat. She spoke little, but she spoke freely and affably ; she was not troubled in Jhap. i.] THE VIRGIN MARY. 3 ler speech, but grave, courteous, tranquil. Her dress was without ornament, and in her deportment was nothing lax or feeble." Mrs. Jameson says that Raphael's " Madonna di San Sista," in the Dresden Gallery, comes nearest to her notion of the Virgin. AN EXACT PORTRAIT OF THE VIRGIN MARY. In the College of Jesuits at Valencia a picture of the Virgin by Juanes is looked upon with immense admiration. The tradition runs that Father Alberto was on the eve of the Assumption waited on by the Blessed Virgin herself, who required him to cause her portrait to be taken in the dress she then wore, which was a white frock or tunic, with a blue cloak ; and Christ was to be represented also in the design as placing a crown on her head, while the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove hovered over the group. Alberto therefore gave the commission to Juanes, who, appreciating the honour, devoutly set himself to work, and put forth all his skill on the composition. The first sketch did not please Alberto ; but the Father assisted the artist so effect- ually with his prayers, that at last the artist's pencil seemed to succeed at every stroke ; and in the end the Father, taking credit himself for much of the work, was highly pleased with the happy result. During the work Juanes was one day seated on his scaffold finishing the upper parts of the picture, when the structure gave way, and he was in the act of falling, when the Holy Virgin stepped suddenly out of the canvas, and, seizing his hand, preserved him from instant death. This being done, the Blessed Virgin returned to her canvas, and has continued there ever since, all the supplicants and worshippers who look on it devoutly believing in this being an exact counterpart of the original. This great artist died in 1579 ; and Valencia contains many of his masterpieces, for he ranks high in the school of Baphael. THE MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH AND THE VIRGIN MARY. The legend of the marriage of the Virgin Mary is thus given in the " Protevangelion " and the " History of Joseph the Car- penter " : " When Mary w^as fourteen years old, the priest Zacharias inquired of the Lord concerning her what was right to be done ; and an angel came to him and said, ' Go forth and call together all the widowers among the people, and let each bring his rod (or wand) in his hand ; and he to whom the Lord shall show a sign, let him be the husband of Mary.' And Zacharias did as the angel commanded, and made proclamation accordingly. 4 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. And Joseph the carpenter, a righteous man, throwing down his axe and taking his staff in his hand, ran out with the rest. When he appeared before the priest and presented his rod, lo ! a dove issued out of it — a dove dazzling white as the snow — and after settUng on his head, flew towards heaven. Then the high priest said to him, ' Thou art the person chosen to take the Virgin of the Lord and to keep her for Him.' And Joseph was at first afraid, and drew back ; but afterwards he took her home to his house, and said to her, ' Behold, I have taken thee from the temple of the Lord, and now I will leave thee in my house, for I must go and follow my trade of building. I will return to thee, and meanwhile the Lord be with thee and watch over thee.' So Joseph left her, and Mary remained in her house." THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. Milman says that the murder of the innocents by Herod's orders is a curious instance of the reaction of legendary extrava- gance on the plain truth of the evangelic history. The Greek Church canonised the fourteen thousand innocents ; and another notion, founded on a misinterpretation of Kev. xiv. 3, swelled the number to one hundred and forty-four thousand. The former, at least, was the common belief of the Church, though even in the English Liturgy the latter has in some degree been' sanctioned by retaining the chapter of Revelation in the " epistle for the day." Even Jeremy Taylor admits without scruple or thought the fourteen thousand. The error did not escape the notice of the acute adversaries of Christianity. Vossius was the first divine who pointed out the monstrous absurdity of supposing such a number of infant children under two years in so small a village. THE ANGEL GUIDING THE VIRGIN TO EGYPT. The journey of the Holy Family to Egypt, being about four hundred miles, must have occupied five or six weeks. It is related in the legend as follows : " We are told that, on descending from the mountains, they came upon a beautiful plain, enamelled with flowers, watered by murmuring streams, and shaded by fruit trees. In such a lovely landscape have painters delighted to place some of the scenes of the flight into Egypt. On another occasion, they entered a thick forest, a wilderness of trees, in which they must have lost their way had they not been guided by an angel. As the Holy Family entered this forest, all the trees bowed them- 3hap. i.] THE HOLY FAMILY. I ^Hielves down in reverence to the Infant God ; only the aspen, in ^^ler exceeding pride and aiTOgance, refused to acknowledge Him, and stood upright. Then the Infant Saviour pronounced a curse against her, as He afterwards cursed the barren fig tree ; and at the sound of His words the aspen began to tremble through 11 her leaves, and has not ceased to tremble even to this day." I HEROD HEARING OF THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT. I Another legend about the journey of the Holy Family to Egypt is this : " When it was discovered that the Holy Family had fled from Bethlehem, Herod sent his officers in pursuit of them. And it happened that when the Holy Family had travelled some dis- tance, they came to a field where a man was sowing wheat. And the Virgin said to the husbandman, ' If any shall ask you whether we have passed this way, ye shall answer, " Such persons passed this way when I was sowing this corn." ' For the Holy Virgin was too wise and too good to save her Son by instructing the man to tell a falsehood. But, behold, a miracle ! For, by the power of the Infant Saviour, in the space of a single night the seed sprang up into stalk, blade, and ear, fit for the sickle. And next morning the officers of Herod came up, and inquired of the husbandman, saying, 'Have you seen an old man with a woman and a Child travelling this way ? ' And the man who was reaping the wheat replied, 'Yes.' And they asked him again, ' How long is it since ? ' And he answered, ' When I was sowing this wheat.' Then the officers of Herod turned back and left off pui'suing the Holy Family." THE PALM TREE AND THE HOLY FAMILY. One of the most popular legends concerning the flight into Egypt is that of the palm or date tree which at the command of Jesus bowed down its branches to shade and refresh His mother ; hence, in the scene of the flight, a palm tree became a usual accessory. In a picture by Antonello Mellone, the Child stretches out His little hand and lays hold of the branch ; some- times the branch is bent down by angel hands. Sozomen, the historian, relates that, when the Holy Family reached the term of their journey and approached the city of Heliopolis, in Egypt, a tree which grew before the gates of the city, and was regarded with great veneration as the seat of a god, bowed down its branches at the approach of the Infant Christ. Likewise it is related (not in legends merely, but by gi-ave b FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ecclesiastical authorities) that all the idols of the Egyptians fell with their faces to the earth. THE HOLY FAMILY AND THE WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT. The "Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew" contains the following (chapter xix.) : " In like manner lions and leopards adored the Child Jesus, and kept company with the Holy Family in the desert. Whither- soever Joseph and Blessed Mary went, they went before them, showing the way and bowing their heads ; and showing subjection by wagging their tails, they adored Him with great reverence. Now, when Mary saw lions and leopards and various kinds of wild beasts coming round them, she was at first exceedingly afraid ; and Jesus, with a glad countenance, looking into her face, said, * Fear not, mother, because they come not to thy hurt, but they hasten to come to thy service and Mine.' By these sayings He removed fear from her heart. Now, the lions walked along with them, and with the oxen and asses and the beasts of burden which carried necessaries for them, and hurt no one, although they remained with them ; but they were tame among the sheep and rams, which they had brought with them from Judsea, and had with them. They walked among wolves, and feared nothing, and no one was hurt by another. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet, ' Wolves shall feed with lambs ; lion and ox shall eat chaff together ' (Isa. xi. 6-9 ; Ixv. 25). There were two oxen also with them, and a cart, wherein they carried neces- saries ; and the lions directed them in their way." THE HOLY FAMILY LEAVING EGYPT. Jeremy Taylor says, as to the pagan idols, as follows : " The Holy Family, on their departure for Egypt, made, it is said, their first abode in Hermopolis, in the country of Thebais ; whither, when they first arrived, the Child Jesus, being by design or providence carried into a temple, all the statues of the idol-gods fell down, like Dagon at the presence of the ark, and suffered their timely and just dissolution and dishonour, according to the prophecy of Isaiah : ' Behold, the Lord shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence.' And in the life of the prophet Jeremy, written by Epiphanius, it is reported that ' he told the Egyptian priests that then their idols should be broken in pieces when a Holy Virgin with her Child should enter into their country.' Which prophecy possibly might be the cause that the Egyptians did, besides their vanities, woi-ship also an infant in I 5hap. i.] THE HOLY FAMILY. 7 manger and a virgin. From Hermopolis to Maturia went these pilgrims in pursuance of their safety and provisions, where it is reported they dwelt in a garden of balsam till Joseph ascertained by an angel the death of Herod." THE BOY CHRIST ON LEAVING EGYPT. St. Bonaventure, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who died 1274, wrote a Life of Christ, which is or was much read by all good Catholics, and which contains the following : " The next morning, when the Holy Family are ready to set out on their journey from Egypt, imagine you see some of the most respectable matrons of the city and the wiser part of the men come to accom- pany them out of the gates. When they were out of the gates, the Holy Joseph dismissed the company, not suffering them to go on any farther, when one of the wealthiest of them called the Child Jesus, and in compassion to the poverty of His parents bestowed a few pence upon Him ; and the rest of the company, after the example of the first, did the same. Compassionate here the confusion of the Divine Child, who, blushing, holds His Httle hands out to receive what the love of poverty has reduced Him to want. Pity hkewise His holy parents, who share with Him His confusion ; and think on the great lesson here set you when you see Him who made the earth and all that is in it make choice of so rigorous a poverty and so penurious a life for His blessed parents and Himself. What lustre does not the virtue of poverty receive from their practice ! And how can we behold it in them without being charmed to the love and imitation of the hke perfection ! After returning thanks to their company and taking their leave, they proceeded on their journey." THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY. It was usually believed that the Virgin Mary lived to a great age, and her death is unknown. It was a tradition that she was assumed to glory without dying. The practice of praying to her has been traced as far back as the second century. In the fourth century a sect called the adversaries of Mary rose up and affirmed that she had, after the birth of Christ, several children by Joseph. On the other hand, a sect honoured her as a divinity and offered cates to her. THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN MARY. The legend of the death and assumption of the Virgin Mary 8 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. was to this effect. One day an angel appeared to the Virgin, bringing her a branch of palm gathered in Paradise, and saying that it was to be carried before her bier, for in three days her soul should leave her body. The Virgin then asked that the Apostles might be reunited before she died, so as to witness her death, and she asked that no evil angel should harass her soul. The angel agreed, and returned to heaven ; and Mary lighted the lamps, and prepared her bed, and waited for the hour. At that instant, John, who was preaching at Ephesus, Peter, at Antioch, and all the other Apostles dispersed throughout the world, were suddenly caught up as by a miraculous power and came into her chamber. The palm branch was put in John's hand, and he wept bitterly. At the third hour of the night a mighty sound filled the house, and a delicious perfume filled the chamber. And Jesus appeared Himself, accompanied by an innumerable company of angels, patriarchs, and prophets, all surrounding the bed of the Virgin and singing hymns of joy. Jesus presented a crown to His mother ; and as the angels sang and rejoiced, her soul left her body, and was received into the arms of her Son, and they ascended into heaven. The Apostles looked up, beseeching her to remember them when she came to glory. The body of the Virgin remained on earth ; and when three of the virgins washed and clothed it in a shroud, such a glory of light surrounded it that though they touched they could not see it, and no human eye beheld those sacred limbs unclothed. The Apostles took up the body reverently, and placed it on a bier. John carried the celestial palm before the procession, and Peter sang the 114th Psalm, in which the angels joined. Her soul then rejoined the body, and she ascended to heaven as the angels were blowing their silver trumpets, singing as they touched their golden lutes, and rejoic- ing as she rose. One disciple, Thomas, was absent ; and when he arrived soon after, he would not believe in the resurrection of the Virgin, as he would not formerly believe in that of Christ. He desired that the Virgin's tomb should be opened before him ; and when it was opened, it was found to be full of lilies and roses. Then Thomas, looking up to heaven, beheld the Virgin bodily in a glory of light, slowly mounting towards heaven. And she, for the assurance of his faith, flung down to him her girdle, the same which is to this day preserved in the cathedral at Prato. And there were present at the death of the Virgin Mary, besides the twelve Apostles, Dionysius the Areopagite, Timotheus, and Hierotheus ; and of the women, Mary Salome, Mary Cleophas, and a faithful handmaid whose name was Savia. When Thomas Chap, i.] CHRIST. 9 went as an apostle to the East, he entrusted the precious girdle to one of his disciples. After the lapse of a thousand years, one Michael, a crusader, fell in love with the daughter of a Greek priest, who had the custody of the girdle, and she got it as a dowry, and brought it with Michael, whom she married. It was thus that it came to be deposited in the cathedral at Prato, where it still remains. CHRIST LEARNING THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET. There is a legend in the *' Gospel of the Infancy " to this effect. When the Holy Family had returned from Egypt, our Lord being then about seven or eight years old, Mary was exhorted to send her Son to school. And although she knew perfectly that He required no human teaching, she complied. She brought Him to a certain schoolmaster whose name was Zaccheus, and the school- master wrote out the alphabet for Him, and began with the first Hebrew letter, saying, "Aleph." And Jesus pronounced after him " Aleph." Then the master went on to the second letter, saying, " Beth " ; but Jesus said, " Tell me first what means this letter ' Aleph,' and then afterwards I will say ' Beth.' " But the schoolmaster could not tell Him. And Jesus began to teach him and to explain the meaning and the use of all the letters — how they were distinguished, why some were crooked and some were straight — until Zaccheus the schoolmaster stood in astonish- ment, and exclaimed, " Was this Child born before Noah ? for, behold, He is wiser than the wisest man, and needs no teaching." HOW JESUS RAISED A BOY TO LIFE. The " Apocryphal Gospel of Thomas " has the following (chapter vii.) : " One day, when Jesus went up on a certain housetop with some children, He began to play with them. But one of the boys fell through the back door, and immediately died. And when the children saw it, they all fled ; but Jesus remained on the housetop. And when the parents of the boy that was dead had come, they said to Jesus, ' Truly thou didst make him fall.' And they laid wait for Him. But Jesus, going down from the housetop, stood over the dead child, and called with a loud voice the name of the child : ' Sinoo, Sinoo ! arise, and say if I made thee fall.' And suddenly he arose and said, ' No, Lord.' Now, when his parents saw so great a miracle which Jesus did, they glorified God and adored Jesus." ({ CNIVEESIII 10 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. JOSEPH AND JESUS AS CARPENTERS. The " Arabic Gospel of the Infancy " has the following (chapter xxxix.) : " On a certain day the King of Jerusalem sent for him and said, ' Joseph, I wish thee to make me a throne of the measure of the place where I have been used to sit.' Joseph obeyed, and immediately after he put his hand to the work ; he remained two years in the palace, until he had j&nished making the throne. But when he had it removed into its place, he perceived that on each side it was two spans shorter than the proper measure. On seeing this the king was angry with Joseph ; and Joseph being greatly afraid of the king, passed the night supperless, and tasted nothing whatever. Then he was asked by the Lord Jesus why he was afraid. ' Because,' said Joseph, ' I have lost all that I have done for two years.' The Lord Jesus said to him, * Fear not, nor lose heart ; but take thou one side of the throne, and I will take the other to set it right.' And when Joseph had done as the Lord Jesus had said, and each had pulled on his own side, the throne was made right, and brought to the exact measure of the place. When this prodigy was seen, they who were present were amazed, and praised God. Now, the wood of the throne was of that kind which was celebrated in the time of Solomon the Son of David — that is, variegated and diversified." Christ's prayer at his baptism. The following is said by Jeremy Taylor to be a current version of this prayer : " O Father, according to the good pleasure of Thy will, I am made a man ; and from the time in which I was born of a Virgin unto this day I have finished those things which are agreeable to the nature of man, and with due observance have performed all Thy commandments, the mysteries and types of the law ; and now truly I am baptised ; and so have I ordained baptism, that from thence, as from the place of spiritual birth, the regeneration of men may be accompUshed. And as John was the last of the legal priests, so am I the first of the evangelical. Thou therefore, O Father, by the meditation of My prayer, open the heavens, and from thence send Thy Holy Spirit upon this womb of baptism ; that as He did untie the womb of the Virgin and thence form Me, so also He would loose this baptismal womb, and so sanctify it unto men, that from thence new men may be begotten, who may become Thy sons, and My brethren, and heirs of Thy kingdom. And what the priests under the law, until Chap. .] CHRIST. 11 John, could not do, grant unto the priests of the New Testament (whose chief I am in the oblation of this prayer), that whensoever they shall celebrate baptism, or pour forth prayers unto Thee, as the Holy Spirit is seen with Me in open vision, so also it may be made manifest, that the same Spirit will adjoin Himself to their society in a more secret way, and I will by them perform the ministries of the New Testament, for which I am made a man ; and as the high priest I do offer these prayers in Thy sight." This prayer was transcribed out of the " Syriac Catena " upon the third chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, and is by the author of that Catena reported to have been made by our Blessed Saviour imme- diately before the opening of the heavens at His baptism, and that the Holy Spirit did descend upon Him while He was thus praying ; and for it he cites the authority of St. Philoxenus. PORTRAITS OF CHRIST. ' It is singular that there are no authentic portraits of Christ in existence. The evangelists do not think it necessary to make any statements as to Christ's personal appearance. Origen, born 186, seems the earliest writer who notices that subject, and he says the Saviour had no external beauty. But the Fathers and the artists have all insisted that His countenance must have corresponded to His character. A letter supposed to have been written by Lentulus, a friend of Pilate, to the Roman Senate, professes to describe the personal appearance, but some doubt its authenticity. It was preserved, and first came to light among the writings of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, who lived in the eleventh century. Another description is contained in the writings of St. John of Damascus, who flourished in the eighth century, and he professes to have known from earlier writers that Jesus had " eyebrows that joined together, beautiful eyes, curly hair, black beard, a yellow complexion, and long fingers like His mother." Others say that St. Luke was a painter, and Nicodemus was a sculptor, and thus that some portraits must have existed. It is also said that Pilate took secretly a portrait of Christ. There is also a legend that King Agbarus wrote a letter to Christ, asking for a visit to cure him of leprosy, and at all events for a portrait ; and that Christ answered that He could not visit him, having other work to do, but He would send a disciple who would cure him. And St. Thomas did so. Others add that Christ sent His portrait on a handkerchief to Agbarus. Again, there is a legend about Veronica and her handkerchief, which had a portrait miraculously impressed, and which she preserved. 12 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. EARLY DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST's PERSONAL APPEARANCE. The letter purporting to be written by Publius Lentulus, a friend of Pilate, to the Koman Senate, and preserved in St. Anselm's writings, if not genuine, is supposed to have been fabricated as early as the third century, and is as follows : "In this time appeared a man who lives till now — a man endowed with great powers. Men call Him a great prophet. His own disciples term Him the Son of God. His name is Jesus Christ." He restores the dead to life, and cures the sick of all manner of diseases. This man is of noble and well-proportioned stature, with a face full of kindness and yet firmness, so that the beholders both love Him and fear Him. His hair is the colour of wine, and golden at the root — straight and without lustre — but from the level of the ears curling and glossy, and divided down the centre, after the fashion of the Nazarites. His forehead is even and smooth ; His face without blemish, and enhanced by a comely red ; His countenance ingenuous and kind; nose and mouth in no way faulty. His beard is thick, of the same colour as his hair, and forked in form. His eyes are blue and extremely brilliant. In reproof and rebuke He is formidable; in exhortation and teaching, gentle and amiable of tongue. None have seen him to laugh ; but many, on the contrary, to weep. His person is tall ; His hands beautiful and straight. In speaking he is deliberate and grave, and little given to loquacity. In beauty surpassing most men." KING AGBARUS WRITING A LETTER TO CHRIST. Eusebius, who died about 338, mentions the legend about King Agbarus, who sent to Christ by the hand of Ananias, his footman, a letter inviting Him to Edessa, saying that he had heard of the cures performed by Chi'ist, and that he earnestly desired to be cured of a disease. Our Lord replied that He could not come, for His mission to the Jews must be fulfilled ; but after His Ascension He would send one of His disciples, who would cure him and all that were with him. Nothing further is known, except that St. John of Damascus, writing in the eighth century, alluding to the story, says that Agbarus also requested Christ's picture as a means of cure. Others say Agbarus sent a painter to take the likeness, but he found an insurmountable difficulty in the light which beamed from the Lord's countenance. Christ, knowing the thoughts of the messenger, took His robe, and, pressing it to His countenance, a perfect portrait was left upon it ; and this Jhap. i.] CHRIST. 13 ^as sent to King Agbarus, who was cured thereby. Others add that Ananias, in conveying the portrait, had occasion to stop at "[ierapolis, and, fearing to lose it, hid it among some bricks ; but a supernatural light surrounded the place, and the image was also copied on a brick lying near the cloth, and this brick was also preserved. The original cloth afterwards found its way to Constantinople, another to Rome, and another to Genoa. The replica of the cloth is shown in St. Sylvester's, in Rome. Christ's novel style of preaching. Dr. Jortin thus happily describes the novel, striking, and per- manent beauty of Christ's style of preaching: "In the spring our Saviour went into the fields and sat down on a mountain, and made that discourse which is recorded in St. Matthew, and which is full of observations arising from the things which offered themselves to His sight. For when He exhorted His disciples to trust in God, He bade them behold the fowls of the air, which were then flying about them, and were fed by Divine Providence, though they did not sow nor reap nor gather into barns. He bade them take notice of the lilies of the field, which were then blown, and were so beautifully clothed by the same power, and yet toiled not, like the husbandmen who were then at work. Being in a place where they had a wide prospect of cultivated land. He bade them observe how God caused the sun to shine and the rain to descend upon the fields and gardens, even of the wicked and ungrateful. And He continued to convey His doctrine to them under rural images, speaking of good trees and corrupt trees— of wolves in sheep's clothing — of grapes not growing upon thorns, nor figs on thistles — of the folly of casting precious things to dogs and swine — of good measure pressed down, and shaken together and running over. Speaking at the same time to the people, many of whom were fishermen and lived upon fish, He says, ' What man of you will give his son a serpent, if he ask a fish ? ' Therefore, when He said in the same discourse to His disciples, 'Ye are the light of the world: a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid/ it is probable that He pointed to a city within their view, situated upon the brow of a hill. And when He called them the salt of the earth, He alluded perhaps to the husbandmen who were manuring the ground j and when He compared every person who observed His precepts to a man who built a house upon a rock, which stood firm ; and every one who slighted His word to a man who built a house upon the 14 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. sand, which was thrown down by the winds and floods, — when He used this comparison, it is not improbable that He had before His eyes houses standing upon high ground, and houses standing in the valley in a ruinous condition, which had been destroyed by inundations.'' THE SENTENCE ON CHRIST. St. Basil affirms that the high priest caused the iloly Jesus to be led with a cord about His neck ; and in memory of that the priests for many ages wore a stole about theirs. But the Jews did it, according to the custom of the nation, to signify He was condemned to death. Jeremy Taylor says that it cannot be thought but the ministers of Jewish malice used all the circumstances of afflic- tion which in any case were accustomed towards malefactors and persons to be crucified ; and therefore it was in some old figures we see our Blessed Lord described with a table appendent to the fringe of His garment, set full of nails and pointed iron, for so sometimes they afflicted persons condemned to that kind of death. And St. Cyprian affirms that Christ did stick to the wood that He carried, being galled with the iron at His heels and nailed even before His execution. CHRIST APPEARING TO JAMES. Jeremy Taylor says that after the resurrection Christ appeared also unto James, but at what time is uncertain, save that there is something concerning it in the Gospel of St. Matthew which the Nazarenes of Berea used, and which it is likely themselves added out of report ; for there is nothing of it in our Greek copies. The words are these : " When the Lord had given the linen in which He was wrapped to the servant of the high priest. He went and appeared unto James. For James had vowed, after he received the Lord's Supper, that he would eat no bread till he saw the Lord risen from the grave. Then the Lord called for bread; He blessed it and brake it, and gave it to James the Just, and said, ' My brother, eat bread, for the Son of man is risen from the sleep of death.' " By this it would seem to be done upon the day of resui-rection ; but the relation of it by St. Paul puts it between the appear- ance which He made to the five hundred and that last to the Apostles, when He was to ascend into heaven. Chap. i. THE CRUCIFIXION. 15 THE VARIOUS FORMS OP CROSSES. The early Christian writers even in the second century treated prominently the cross as a symbol of the faith, and it came to be held in high honour. The precise figure of the cross, however, is somewhat doubtful, and various forms have been accepted less simple than that now so familiar. There are modifications according to particular countries and places. One cross resembles the Hebrew letter T, there being no upper limb above the horizontal line. The Greek Cross is a cross where the four limbs are of equal length. The Latin Cross is that commonly used by Christians, the lower perpendicular limb being at least twice the length of the upper limb. The Cross of the Resurrection has a small banner attached to the upper portion, and the lowest perpendicular limb is much longer than the other three. The Cross of the Baptist has also a smaller scroll attached in like manner. The Patriarchal Cross, or Cross of the Holy Sepulchre, was a Greek Cross brought from the East by the Crusaders, also called the Archbishop's Cross and the Cross of Lorraine, and it has two transverse bars, one shorter and above the other. The Papal Cross is like the last, but has three transverse bars. The Greek Cross, known in mediaeval times as St. Andrew's Cross, consists of slanting bars, instead of perpen- dicular and horizontal. There are other fanciful forms of cross, called the Cross of Jerusalem, having a small lip at the end of four equal limbs. The Irish Cross, or Cross of lona, has a circle placed over the upper part of the cross. There are pectoral crosses more or less fanciful, worn as relics and ornaments of dress. THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY CROSS. When Constantino triumphed over his enemies by the miraculous power of the cross, he resolved to build a magnificent church in Jerusalem. His mother, St. Helena, then resolved, though eighty years old, to go herself to discover the identical cross there. On her arrival none could tell where it was, as the heathens, it was thought, purposely concealed it from the Christians by burying it under heaps of rubbish, building over it a temple of Venus, and placing there a statue of Jupiter. But Helena persevered, and pulled down these pagan erections, and at a great depth discovered three crosses, and also the, nails used and the label or superscription. A difficulty then arose as to which of the three was the cross on which the Saviour was hung. To 16 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. solve this doubt, Bishop Macarius suggested that the three crosses should be carried and shown to a sick and dying lady. Two of the crosses having produced no effect, the third, on being touched by her, cured the patient at once. St. Helena on this was delighted, and built a church on the spot where the cross was found, and she carried part of the cross to Constantinople to her son Constantine : another part was sent to the church at Rome. St. Helena died the same year, in 326. The board on which Christ's title was printed in red letters was about twelve inches long, and was sent to Rome. The main part of the cross was inclosed in a silver shrine, and given to be kept in Jerusalem by St. Macarius in the church which Helena and Constantine built there. St. Paulinus said that though chips were almost daily cut off from the cross and given to devout persons, yet the sacred wood suffered no diminution. And pieces were taken to all the ends of the earth. The church at Jerusalem was called the Basilica of the Holy Cross. THE NAILS OF THE CROSS. The nails of the cross were traced with great devotion. Calvin said there were fifteen. There was one at Rome, one at Sienna, one at Venice, one in the Church of the Carmelites in Paris, and some in other places. A practice arose of fihng part of the nail and touching a true nail with other nails, and so giving a kind of sanctity to those. St. Gregory the Great and other popes sent raspings of the chains of St. Peter as rehcs in the same way. As to the true nails of the cross, it was said St. Helena threw one into the Adiiatic Sea to allay a violent storm from wliich the ship was sinking, whereon the storm at once ceased. St. Ambrose said that Constantine the Great fixed one of the nails in a rude diadem of pearls to be worn on great occasions, and he put another in the costly bridle of his horse as a protection in time of battle. THIEVES AT THE CRUCIFIXION. There is an ancient tradition that, when the Holy Family, travelling through hidden paths and solitary defiles, had passed Jerusalem and were descending into the plains of Syria, they encountered certain thieves, who fell upon them ; and one of these would have maltreated and plundered them, but his comrade interfered and said, " Suffer them, I beseech thee, to go in peace, and I will give thee forty groats, and likewise my girdle," which offer being accepted, the merciful robber led the Holy Travellers Chap, i.] THE CRUCIFIXION. 17 to his stronghold on the rock, and gave them lodging for the night. And Mary said to him, " The Lord God will receive thee to His right hand, and grant the pardon of thy sins." And it was so : for in after-times these two thieves were crucified with Christ, one on the right hand and one on the left ; and the merciful thief went with the Saviour into Paradise. The scene of this encounter with the robbers, near Ramla, is still pointed out to travellers, and still in evil repute as the haunt of banditti. The crusaders visited the spot as a place of pilgrimage ; and the Abbe Orsini considers the first part of this story as authenticated, but the legend concerning the good thief he admits to be doubtful. THE SOLDIER WHO PIERCED THE SAVIOUR's SIDE. There is a legend that the soldier who pierced the Saviour's side, whose name was Longinus, was struck with wonder and remorse, and exclaimed, " Truly this man was the Son of God ! " He was therefore the first of the Gentiles to be converted. As soon as he had lifted his blood-stained hands to his face, his eyesight, which for years had been weak, was healed. He repented, was baptised, and was for twenty-eight years an ardent missionary. He was then ordered to sacrifice to the false gods, and on refusal said he longed to become a martyr, and told the governor, who was blind, that he would recover his sight only after putting him to death. AccorcUngly, Longinus was beheaded, and the governor had his sight restored, and became himself also a Christian. St. Longinus, as the first-fruits of the Gentiles, is painted by the artists, and he became the patron saint of Mantua ; and the spear with which he pierced the Saviour's side is preserved among the treasures of St. Peter's at Eome. THE LEGEND OF THE CROSS. A Life of Christ published in 1517 at Troyes told the following story. When Adam, after being banished from Paradise, in his old age felt the approach of death, he sent Seth to Paradise to ask the archangel who kept the gate to give him a balsam that would save him from death. Seth with difficulty traced the way, and on reaching it was transported with wonder and rapture at the dazzling beauty of the scene, and the music, and the glittering sword of the cherub. He had not courage to remember his message ; but the angel read his thoughts, and told him that the time of pardon had not yet come, and that four thousand years 2 18 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. must roll on before the Redeemer would open the gate to Adam. Nevertheless, as a token of future pardon, he allowed Seth a glimpse of the interior of Paradise, and of the mighty tree on which redemption was to be won. The cherub gave Seth three seeds of this tree, which were to be placed in the mouth of Adam when buried. This was done a few days after Seth's return, when Adam died and was buried. Out of this grave rose a cedar, a cypress, and a pine. Moses had a rod of one of these trees. The cedar, after many ages, was that of which the Cross of Calvary was made. It was carried off on the plundering of Jerusalem to Persia, but was recovered by Heraclius on September 14th, 615, the day afterwards commemorated as the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS. The painters of sacred subjects for churches used to divide the stages of the Crucifixion into seven, and latterly into fourteen. The first importation of the stations into Europe was said to be by a citizen of Nuremberg, who returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy City in 1477, and soon after engaged Kraft, a friend of Albert Diirer, to execute seven sculptures for stone pillars to be erected in the city of Nuremberg. The fourteen stations afterwards came to be entitled as follows : (1) Jesus is condemned; (2) Jesus takes the cross ; (3) Jesus falls for the first time ; (4) Jesus meets His blessed mother ; (5) Simon the Cyi-enian appears; (6) Jesus meets St. Veronica; (7) Jesus falls for the second time ; (8) the daughters of Jerusalem ; (9) Jesus falls for the third time ; (10) Jesus is stripped of His garments ; (H) Jesus is nailed on the cross ; (12) Jesus dies on the cross ; (13) Jesus is laid in the arms of His blessed mother; (14) the entombment. THE CROWN OF THORNS, THE SPONGE, AND THE BLOOD. Not only the cross, but the crown of thorns, also had its history. The crown of thorns had been preserved for several centuries at Constantinople, and had been pledged to the Venetians for a large sum of money, as is stated afterwards in more detail. The crown of thorns was at last given by the Emperor Baldwin II. to St. Louis, King of France, in acknowledgment of the king's contributions to defend the holy places, and he redeemed it from the Venetians. It was carried in a sealed case by holy religious men from Venice into France ; and St. Louis and his family, and prelates and princes, met the holy treasure five leagues beyond Chap. i. J THE CRUCIFIXION. 19 Sens. The king and his brother were barefoot and in their shirts, and were bathed in tears, and a great procession followed them. It was ultimately lodged in La Sainte Chapelle, the exquisite Holy Chapel at Paris, built for the purpose of receiving it. A part of the cross was also afterwards received and added to the deposit there. The holy sponge used at the Crucifixion was shown at Rome in the church of St. John Lateran tinged with blood. The holy lance was kept at Jerusalem with the main part of the cross. It was afterwards buried at Antioch to pre- serve it from the Saracens. It was at a later date taken to Jerusalem, and then to Constantinople. It was said the Emperor Baldwin pawned the point of it to raise money, and it was redeemed by St. Louis of France and taken to the Holy Chapel in Paris. At a later date, in 1492, the Sultan sent the lance as a present to Pope Innocent VIII., stating that the point was in the possession of the King of France. The blood of Christ was also shown in some places, particularly at Mantua. THE PAWNING OF THE CROWN OF THORNS (a.D. 1213). This pawning was as follows. When Baldwin II., Emperor of Constantinople, was hard pressed in 1213, Gibbon relates that the crown of thorns had been preserved in thfe Imperial Chapel of Constantinople. In his absence the barons of Romania borrowed a sum of 13,134 pieces of gold (about £6,567) on the credit of the crown. They failed to repay the loan, and a rich Venetian, Nicholas Querini, undertook to satisfy the impatient creditors, on condition that the relic should be lodged at Venice, to become his absokite property if not redeemed within a short and definite period. The barons apprised their sovereign of the hard treaty and the impending loss ; and as the empire could not redeem the crown, Baldwin was anxious to snatch the prize from the Venetians, and to vest it with more honour and emolument in the hands of the most Christian king, Louis IX. of France. The king's ambassadors, two Dominicans, were despatched to Venice to redeem and receive the holy crown, which had escaped the dangers of the sea and the galleys of Vataces. On open- ing a wooden box, they recognised the seals of the Doge and barons, which were applied on a shrine of silver, and within this shrine the monument of the Passion was enclosed in a golden vase. The reluctant Venetians yielded to justice and power. The Emperor Frederick granted a free passage. The King of France and his court advanced as far as Troyes, in Champagne. 20 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to meet with devotion the inestimable relic. It was borne in triumph by the king himself, barefoot and in his shirt; and a free gift of 10,000 marks of silver reconciled Baldwin to his loss. The success of this transaction tempted Baldwin to offer, with the same generosity, the remaining furniture of his chapel. A large and authentic portion of the true cross, the baby linen of the Son of God, the lance, the sponge, and the chain of His Passion, the rod of Moses, and part of the skull of John the Baptist, were purchased by Louis IX. for 20,000 marks, and lodged in Sainte Chapelle in Paris. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. Certain books have been written and circulated in the early ages of Christianity which professed to recite events not men- tioned in the Four Gospels or New Testament. Though all are spurious and of uncertain authorship, there is, nevertheless, great interest in some of the incidents ; and as they were so extensively read by early Christians some account of these is acceptable to all readers of sacred subjects. Though in all ages treated with contempt by the authoritative teachers in the Church, it is easy to comprehend how they came to attract so much notice, for there is an air of simplicity and verisimihtude in some of the incidents, and of course no human being is in a position to affirm or deny the substance of the things thus recorded. Milman says these legends can still be traced in some of our Christmas carols. One of these apocryphal gospels is called the " Protevangelion, or Gospel of James," who was one of the sons of Joseph the carpenter, and it records incidents of the childhood of Jesus. The existence of this gospel is traced to the fourth century. Another is the " Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew, or of the Infancy of Mary and of Jesus," supposed to be written in the fifth century. Another is the " Gospel of the Nativity of Mary." This was fathered upon Jerome, and supposed to be written in the fifth century, and it was much read in the Middle Ages. Another is the " History of Joseph the Carpenter," supposed to belong to the fourth century. Another is the " Gospel of Thomas, or Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus," said to be written about the middle of the second century. Another is the "Arabic Gospel of the Infancy," ascribed to the fifth or sixth century. There is also a professed correspondence between Jesus and King Agbarus, part of which is said to belong to the sixth century and part to the third century. There is also the " Gospel of Nicodemus, or Acts of Chap, i.] FALSE CHRISTS— BIBLES. 21 Pilate," supposed to be written in the second century. There are also Letters and Reports of Pilate and Herod about Christ, professing to narrate facts and incidents of that time. All these gospels or legends abound in miracles and prodigies, some of them very puerile. A translation was published of the above- mentioned legends by B. Harris Cowper in 1867. FALSE CHRISTS IN DIFFERENT AGES. False Christs began to appear early, as is mentioned in St. Luke and by Josephus : Jortin mentions other successors. In the reign of Adrian one Barcohab pretended to be Messias. In 434 one Moses Cretensis promised, like Moses, to divide the sea at Crete and deliver the Jews there ; and some people, when commanded by him, actually cast themselves into the waves and perished. Again, about 420, the time of Socrates the historian, another impostor appeared. Again, in 520, one Dunaan ; one Julian in 529 ; one Mohammed in 571 ; another, a Syrian, in 721. In 1138 another in France; in 1157 another in Spain; in 1167 another in Fez. In Arabia, in 1167, another appeared, and was brought before the king, who asked the pretender what sign or miracle he could show in attestation of his power. The man replied, " Cut off my head, and I will retiu'n to hfe again." The king took him at his word, and the head was cut off, but it never was put on again nor life restored. Again, another appeared in Persia in 1174; another in Moravia in 1176; another, who was also an enchanter, in Persia in 1199 ; another in Spain in 1497; another in Austria in 1500 ; another in Cologne in 1509 ; another in Spain, burnt by the Emperor Charles Y., in 1534; another in the East Indies in 1615 ; another in Holland in 1624 ; another in Smyrna in 1666, named Sabbatar Sevi, who raised gi-eat expecta- tions ; another in 1682, named Rabbi Mordecai, a German Jew. THE SEPTUAGINT BIBLE AND NEW TESTAMENT. Vast difficulties surround the settlement of the orthodox list of books of the New Testament. The Old Testament was not used as a name in the time of Christ ; but the sacred books, or the Law and the Prophets, were the modes of reference, these being read regularly in the synagogues as part of the ceremonial of public worship. In the third century before the Christian era, the Old Testament was translated into Greek, or at least was begun to be so, in order to meet the wants of the Greek- speaking Jews. Ptolemy II. is said to have asked the high 22 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. priest at Jerusalem to select skilful elders to make the ti-ansla- tion, and a copy was to be deposited in the library at Alexandria. Some think the word " Septuagint " implied that there were seventy translators; others that it only meant that the work was approved by the Alexandrine Sanhedrim. The translation is said to be defective in several passages. The Septuagint came soon to be the standard version, as Hebrew had become almost an unknown language even to the Jews of Palestine. The dates and order of the Gospels have also given rise to interminable controversies. The Apostles all gave oral recollections of the facts of Christ's life and sayings. The expression " New Testa- ment " did not come into use until the latter part of the second century. A canon was at length settled, though the date is uncertain, expressing the authentic collection of Christian Scrip- tures. And yet the earliest known list of books of the New Testament was not discovered till the seventeenth century in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, and the original of it was said to be of the date of 150 a.d. ENGLISH VERSIONS OP THE BIBLE. Mr. Dore says that there is no English Bible known to be in existence earlier than the fourteenth century. But the Psalter and other portions of the Old and New Testament were translated from the Latin into English at various times between the seventh and fourteenth centuries. Three versions in English of the Psalter bear a date soon after 1300. The first entire Bible in English was the work of Nicholas de Hereford and John Wycliife, about 1380. Tyndale's New Testament was printed in English about 1525, and he died in 1537. Coverdale's Bible in the Enghsh language was published in 1535. The Genevan Version, published in English at Geneva in 1560, by its singular rendering of Gen. iii. 7, is commonly known as the Breeches Bible. A Roman Catholic translation into English of the New Testament was published at Bheims in 1582, and later at Douai, on the removal of the Roman Catholic College to the latter place. King James I.'s new translation of the Bible, called the Authorised Version, was first published in 1611. 23 CHAPTER IT. THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. DEATHS OF THE APOSTLES. St. Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia. St. Mark expired at Alexandi'ia, after having been cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. St. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in Greece. St. John was put into a caldi'on of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterwards banished to Patmos. St. Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward. St. James the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem. St. James the Less was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the Temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller's club. St. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. St. Bartholomew was flayed alive. St. Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors till he died. St. Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the East Indies. St. Jude was shot to death with arrows. St. Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. St. Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned by the Jews at Salonica. St. Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero. the apostles who were married. Eusebius says that Clement, who lived in the first century, gave a statement of those Apostles who continued in the married state. Peter and Philip had children. Philip also gave his daughters in marriage to husbands. Others say that PhiJip had four virgin daughters who prophesied. Paul does not demur in a certain epistle to mention his own wife, whom he did not take about with him, in order that he might expedite his ministry the better. It is said that Peter, seeing his own wife led away 24 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to execution, was not displeased, and he called out to her in a comforting voice, addressing her by name, " Be sure to remember the Lord!" PARTICULARS AS TO ST. MATTHEW THE APOSTLE. Levi was the name of Matthew, who was of Jewish extraction, and was born in Galilee. He was a publican or tax-collector, which was a profession odious among the Jews, as it reminded them of their slavery to the Romans. After the Ascension he preached in Judsea and the neighbouring countries till the dis- persion of the Apostles, and a little before the latter date he wrote his gospel, his object being to satisfy the converts of Palestine : while Mark wrote his for the Roman converts ; Luke, to oppose the false histories ; and John, to oppose the heresies of Cerinthus and Ebion. Matthew afterwards went as apostle to the East. He lived sparingly, ate no flesh, and was a vegetarian. He was in the south and east of Asia, ended in Parthia, and suffered martyrdom at Nadabar. He was said to be honourably interred at Hierapolis. His relics were brought to the West, and in 1080 Pope Gregory YII. said these were kept in a church which bore his name at Salerno. The Apostles each had some mystical animal as an emblem. John had the eagle ; St. Luke had the calf ; Mark had the lion ; and Matthew had a man, to denote Christ's human generation. The primitive Christians always stood up when the Gospel of Matthew was read, and in many places candles were lighted, though it was day. Thomas Aquinas always read the gospel on his knees. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. MARK. St. Mark was bom a Jew, and was said to be converted by the Apostles after the Pesui-rection. He became attached to St. Peter, and was called his disciple. He was sent by St. Peter to fovind the Church at Aquileia, and was afterwards appointed Bishop of Alexandria, then considered the second city of the world after Rome. He was afterwards a mai'tyr there, having incurred suspicion of being a magician from the miracles he worked. He was tied and dragged about the streets, and thrown over rocks and precipices, and died in 68, three years after St. Peter and St. Paul. His body was afterwards conveyed by stealth to Venice in 815, and was deposited in a secret place in the Doge's rich chapel of St. Mark, and he is deemed the patron saint of Venice, Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 25 THE HOUSE OF ST. MARK. Jeremy Taylor says that " the house of John, surnamed Mark (as Alexander reports in the life of St. Barnabas), was conse- crated by many actions of i-eligion : by our Blessed Saviour's eating the Passover ; His institution of the Holy Eucharist ; His farewell sermon; and the Apostles met there in the octaves of Easter, whither Christ came again, and hallowed it with His presence ; and there, to make up the relative sanctification com- plete, the Holy Ghost descended upon their heads in ' the Feast of Pentecost'; and this was erected into a fair fabric, and is mentioned as a famous church by St. Jerome and Venerable Bede ; in which, as Andrichomius adds, * St. Peter preached that sermon which was miraculously prosperous in the conversion of three thousand ; there St. James, brother of our Lord, was consecrated first Bishop of Jerusalem ; St. Stephen and the other were there ordained deacons ; there the Apostles kept their first council and compiled their Creed.' " PARTICULARS OF ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST. St. Luke was a native of Antioch, was well educated, and studied and became eminent as a physician. Some think he was converted by St. Paul, and he attached himself to that apostle. He wrote the gospel in 57, four years before his final arrival at Bome. He attended St. Paul to Bome in 61. After the martyrdom of St. Paul, he preached in Italy, Gaul, and Macedonia. It is thought he was crucified at Elsea, in the Peloponnesus, on an olive tree, at the age of eighty-four. His bones were, by order of the Emperor Constantino, in 357 removed from Patras, in Achaia, and deposited in the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, together with those of St. Andrew and St. Timothy. Some of his relics went to Brescia, some to Nola, some to Findi, and some to Mount Athos. The head of St. Luke was brought to Bome, and laid in the church of the monastery of St. Andrew. Old manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke represent him as surrounded with instru- ments of writing. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW. There have been difierences of opinion as to the identity of St. Bartholomew, some being of opinion that he was the same Nathanael whose simplicity and guilelessness were commended. He was chosen one of the Twelve, and was a witness of the Besurrection. He went after the Ascension as an apostle to the 26 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Indies and Persia. He was afterwards in Phrygia, and Lycaonia, and Great Armenia, in which last place he was crucified. Some say he was first flayed alive. In 508 the Emperor Anastasius removed his relics to the city of Duras, in Mesopotamia. Soon after they were translated to the Isle of Lipari, near Sicily, in 809 to Benevento, and in 983 to Home, and are deposited under the high altar in the Church of St. Bartholomew, in the Isle of Tiber. An arm of the apostle's body was sent to Edward the Confessor by the Bishop of Benevento, and it was put in Canterbury Cathedral. A fine statue of the apostle is in the cathedral at Milan, representing him flayed alive. The charac- teristic quality of St. Bartholomew was zeal. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. St. Thomas was a Galilean fisherman, and was made an apostle in 31. He was rather slow in understanding, but of great simplicity and ardour. He offered to go to Jerusalem and die with Christ, when the priests and Pharisees were contriving His death. After the Crucifixion Thomas refused to believe the report of the Resurrection until he actually saw the prints of the nails and felt the very wound in Christ's side ; and Christ, in His condescension to this weakness, allowed him to satisfy himself, whereupon Thomas was prostrated with compunction. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, Thomas went to preach in Parthia, and laboured in Media, Persia, and Bactria, as well as India. He is said to have suflfered martyrdom at Meliapor, or St. Thomas's, on this side the Ganges, on the coast of Coromandel, where his body was discovered pierced with lances. The body was carried to the city of Edessa, and deposited under the great church there with veneration. St. Chrysostom said, in 402, that the sepulchres of only four of the Apostles were then known — namely, Peter, Paul, John, and Thomas. John III., of Portugal, ordered the body of St. Thomas to be searched for at Meliapolis, and when digging there in 1523 a deep vault was discovered, containing the bones of the saint, and part of the lance with which he was slain, and a vial tinged with his blood. The apostle's body was put in a chest of porcelain adorned with silver. The Portuguese built a new town about this church, and called it St. Thomas's. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. SIMEON. St. Simeon, son of Cleophas or Alphseus and of Mary, sister of the Virgin, and cousin-german of Christ, was about nine years Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 27 older than Christ. He succeeded his brother St. James the Less as Bishop of Jerusalem in 62. The Christians having been warned to leave Jerusalem, St. Simeon and they departed before Vespasian, general of the Romans, entered and burnt the city. Heresies grew up in the Church before the death of St. Simeon. He was crucified at the age of 120, having governed the Chvirch at Jerusalem about forty-three years. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. TIMOTHY. St. Timothy was early adopted as disciple by St. Paul, having been in his youth a great reader of pious books. He was made Bishop of Ephesus before St. John arrived there. Under the Emperor Nerva, in 97, while St. John was still in Patmos, Timothy was slain with stones and clubs by the heathen, owing to his opposing the idolatrous practices then current. His relics were conveyed to Constantinople in 356, in the reign of Constantius, and with those of St. Andrew and St. Luke were deposited under the altar in the Church of the Apostles. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. BARNABAS. The Scriptures contain no mention of St. Barnabas after he separated from St. Paul and sailed for Cyprus. Some say he afterwards went to Milan, and became the first bishop there. In an apocryphal work of the fifth century, it is said he suffered martyrdom in Cyprus, being stoned by the Jews, who hated him on account of his unorthodox views. The apostle was buried in the island ; but four centuries later his relics were removed to Constantinople, and a church erected and dedicated to him. It is said that at the discovery of the relics of St. Barnabas there was found lying on his breast a copy of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, written in the Hebrew tongue, and as was supposed in St. Barnabas's own hand. The relics were translated in the seventh century to Milan. Still later, it was said that the body was taken to Toulouse, where also were the bodies of five other apostles : James, the son of Zebedee ; Philip ; James, son of Alphseus ; Simon ; and Jude. The head is now exhibited there apart from the body, which reposes in its own shrine. Another head of St. Barnabas is in Genoa, another at Naples, another in Bavaria ; and legs and bones and jaw are dispersed in other places. There was extant in the second century an Epistle of St. Barnabas, but its authenticity has long been discredited. 28 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. TITUS. St. Titus was born a Gentile, and seems to have been converted by St. Paul. He was afterwards ordained by St. Paul to be Bishop of Crete. He lived to the age of ninety-fonr, and died in that island. His body was kept with great veneration in the cathedral of Gortyna, the ancient metropolis of the island, and six miles from Mount Ida. This city was destroyed by the Saracens in 823, and the relics could not be discovered. But the head of the saint was conveyed safely to Venice, and is venerated in the ducal basilica of St. Mark. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE. St. Philip, who lived at Bethsaida in Galilee, was, when called to his o£&ce, a married man with three davighters, two of whom lived virgins to a great age. It was Philip to whom Jesus pro- posed the problem how to feed the multitude of five thousand in the wilderness. After the Ascension Philip preached in Phrygia, and was known to Polycarp, and attained a great age. He was buried at Hierapolis, and his relics, it was believed, often saved the city. An arm of St. Philip was sent to Florence in 1204 : the body was said to be in the Church of St. Philip and St. James in Home. PARTICULARS AS TO ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE. St. Andrew the Apostle was a native of Bethsaida, on the banks of Lake Gennesareth, and brother of Simon Peter. St. Andrew became a disciple of John the Baptist, and heard John hail Jesus as the Lamb of God. Believing there was some mysterious significance in this saying, he followed Christ wistfully, and asked where He dwelt, whereon Christ bade him come and see, and that night was spent in His company. The result was that Andrew was the first called of the Apostles ; hence called by the Greeks Protoclete. Andrew could not rest till he had told Peter, and he was also called as a disciple. Jesus once lodged at the house of the two brothers, and healed their mother of a fever. Andrew was specially consulted as to the loaves and fishes avail- able to feed the five thousand. After the Resurrection Andrew preached in Scythia, also in Greece, where he confounded all the philosophers. He went also to Muscovy. He was at last crucified at Patrse, in Achaia, and some say it was on an olive tree. His body was carried from Patrse to Constantinople in 357, along with those of Luke and Timothy, and deposited in the Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 29 Church of the Apostles. Some of his relics were taken to Milan, Nola, and Brescia; and the French, in 1210, brought some of them to Amalphi. It is a common opinion that the cross of St. Andrew was in the form of the letter X, styled a cross decussate ; and it is said his cross was brought from Achaia to the nunnery of Weaune, near Marseilles ; then to the abbey of St. Victor, Marseilles, in 1250, and where it is still shown. Part of it was taken to Brussels by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, who founded the Knights of the Golden Fleece, each of whom wears a St. Andi^ew's Cross, or the Cross of Burgundy. An abbot of St. Andrew's, Scotland, also, in 369, brought certain relics from Patrae, and deposited them in a monastery, now the site of St. Andrew's, and many foreign pilgrims long visited that church. The order of knighthood in honour of St. Andrew was ascribed by the Scots to King Achaius in the eighth century, and James VII. revived it. The collar is of thistles and rue. HOW ST. ANDREW BECAME PATRON SAINT OF SCOTLAND. When Angus MacFergus succeeded in 731 to the throne of the Picts, he had several enemies to subdue, and carried his forces across the Firth of Forth to fight the Saxons of Northumbria. A monk, Begulus, at that time brought the relics of the apostle to Scotland. Previous to a great battle in Lothian, St. Andrew appeared to King Angus either in a dream or during the battle with the figure of the St. Andrew's Cross in the air, and told the king that he (the saint) was defender of his kingdom, and that on the return of the king to his home he must devote one-tenth part of his kingdom in honour of St. Andrew. Angus gained a great victory over the Saxon general, named Athelstane, who fell at the place now called Athelstaneford. After this date St. Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland, up to which time, as Bede says, St. Peter had filled that oflEice. The church at Hexham and the church of St. Andrew's were both dedicated to St. Andi-ew, and both possessed relics of the apostle. JAMES AND JOHN THE APOSTLES. James and John, the sons of Salome, claimed the two first places in Christ's kingdom. James was put to death by Herod. As to John, he alone of the Apostles attended the Crucifixion, and was harassed by the spectacle. In his old age, when he survived all the other Apostles and governed all the Churches of Asia, he was arrested at the instance of Domitian, and then taken prisoner to Home in 95. 30 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE. St. John the Evangelist and Apostle was the son of Zebedee and Salome, a Galilean, and younger brother of St. James the Great. John was a disciple of John the Baptist, and is supposed to have been with Andrew, when the two left the Baptist to follow Christ. John was the youngest of all the Apostles, being about twenty-five when called, and he lived seventy years after the Crucifixion. He lived a bachelor. John went with Peter to the sepulchre on hearing the news from Mary Magdalene, and he outran Peter and had the first view. He and Peter returned to their fishing, and he first recognised Christ walking on the shore. After the meeting of the Apostles, John preached fii-st in Jerusalem, then went to Parthia. He afterwards took charge of all the Churches of Asia. In the persecution of 95, John was apprehended in Asia, and sent to Borne, where he was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil ; but he was not injured. He was afterwards banished by Domitian to the isle of Patmos, in the Archipelago, and there he wrote the Revelation. At the death of Domitian in 97, John returned to Ephesus, some months after the martyrdom of St. Timothy there. He was pressed to take charge of that Church. John wore a plate of gold on his fore- head, as an ensign of his Christian priesthood. It was to confute the blasphemies of Ebion and Cerinthus, who denied the divinity of Christ, that John composed his gospel in 98, at the age of ninety-two. He also wrote the three epistles. He died in peace at Ephesus at ninety-four, though some ancients said he never died. He was buried on a mountain outside of Ephesus, and his dust was said to be famous for the miracles it wrought. AS TO ST. John's grave. St. Augustine mentions and ridicules a tradition that St. John ordered his own grave to be made, lay down in it, and went to sleep, — still sleeping there, as is manifest by the heaving of the eai-th over him as he breathes. This was the tradition founded on John xxi. 22, 23, where Jesus said to Peter, " If I will that he [John] tarry till I come, what is that to thee 1 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die." Some afterwards explained this by saying that John died without pain or change, and immediately rose again in bodily form, and ascended into heaven to rejoin Christ and the Vii'gin, Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 31 ST. JOHN RECLAIMING A YOUNG ROBBER CHIEF. It was related by Clement of Alexandria that, when St. John was at Ephesus, and before he was exiled to Patmos, he had taken under his care a young man of promising character, and whom he left in charge to a bishop during his own absence. But the youth took to evil courses, and went to the forest and headed a band of robbers and assassins. When John, on returning, asked for the youth and heard this account, he rent his garments, and wept with a loud voice at the faithless gviardianship, and called for a horse and rode to the forest in search of the youth. When the latter as captain beheld his old master and instructor, he turned and would have fled from his presence. But St. John by the most fervent entreaties prevailed on him to stop and listen to his words. After some conference, the robber, utterly subdued, burst into tears of penitence, imploring forgiveness ; and while he spoke he hid beneath his robe his right hand, which had been sullied with so many crimes. But St. John, falling on his knees before him, seized that blood-polluted hand, and kissed it and bathed it with his tears, and he remained with his reconverted brother till he had by prayers and encouraging words and affec- tionate exhortations reconciled him with Heaven and with him- self. It was also related that two young men had sold all their possessions to follow St. John, and afterwards repented. He, perceiving their thoughts, sent them to gather pebbles and faggots, and on their return changed these into ingots of gold, and said, " Take back your riches and enjoy them on earth, since you regi'et having exchanged them for heaven ! " ST. JOHN AND HIS PARTRIDGE. There is a tradition relating to St. John, and which is some- times represented by the sacred artists — namely, that he had a tame partridge, of which he was fond, and he used to amuse himself with feeding and tending it. It is added that a certain huntsman, passing by with his bow and arrow, was astonished to see the great apostle, so venerable for age and sanctity, engaged in such an amusement. The apostle, however, answered him by asking whether he always kept his bow bent. The huntsman replied that that would be the way to render it useless. The apostle then rejoined, "If you unbend your bow to prevent its becoming useless, I do the same, and unbend my mind for the 32 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. John's last days. The Syiian legend as to the last days of St. John says that the apostle once fled in fear and indignation out of a bath that had been polluted by the presence of the heretic Cerinthus. It is also said that at last his whole sermon consisted in these words : " Little children, love one another." And when the audience remonstrated at the wearisome iteration, he declared that in these words the whole substance of Christianity was found. Many reject the authority of Tertullian, who says that St. John was taken for trial before Domitian at Rome, and plunged into a boiling caldron of oil, from which he came forth unhiu-t. TRADITIONS OF ST. JOHn's TALK. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, in 177 had been a pupil of Polycarp, who in his youth had many conversations with St. John, who died about 100. Irensaus writes to a friend thus: "I can tell the very place in which the blessed Polycarp used to sit when he discoursed, and his goings out and his comings in, and his manner of life, and his personal appearance, and the discourses which he held before the people, and how he would describe his intercourse with John and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord, and how he would relate their words. And whatsoever things he had heard from them about the Lord, and about His miracles, and about His teaching, Polycarp, as having received them from eyewitnesses of the life of the Word, would relate altogether in accordance with the Scriptures. To these things I used to listen at the time with attention, by God's mercy, which was bestowed upon me, noting them down, not on paper, but in my heart; and constantly, by the grace of God, I reflect upon them faith- fully." Irenaeus says Polycarp told him the story of St. John and Cerinthus. Polycarp, at the age of eighty-six, was oi-dered to be burnt ; but it is said that the fire would not consume his body, which shone like silver, and he was then despatched with a dagger. The Roman pro-consul had ordered him to forswear and revile Christ. But the answer was : " Eighty-and-six years have I served Him, and He hath done me no wrong. How, then, can 1 speak evil of my King, who saved me ? " A MIRACLE PERFORMED BY ST. JOHN AFTER DEATH. A miracle attributed to St. John, and represented by some sacred artists, related to the Empress Galla Placidia. She was Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 33 returning from Constantinople to Ravenna with her two children during a terrible storm. In her fear and anguish she vowed to St. John that if she landed safely she would dedicate to his honour a magnificent church. Both events happened ; but still, owing to there being no relic to deposit in her church, she remained some- what dissatisfied. John, however, took pity upon her ; for one night, as she prayed earnestly, he appeared to her in a vision, and when she threw herself at his feet to embrace and kiss them he disappeared, but left one of his sandals in her hand, and this has been long preserved. The ancient church at E/avenna of Galla Placidia contained some mosaics, now vanished, but two bas-reliefs refer to the sandal. ST. JOHN AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. The English monkish chroniclers have also a legend of St. John and King Edward the Confessor. One night a pilgrim accosted the Confessor as he was returning from mass at Westminster, and begged alms for the love of God and St. John. The king, who was merciful, immediately drew from his finger a ring, and delivered it privately to the beggar. Twenty-four years later, two EngUshmen, returning from the Holy Land, after being asked questions about their country by a pilgrim, were entrusted with a message to thank their king for the ring he had bestowed, when that pilgrim begged of him many years before, and which he had preserved and now returned ; and further to say this — that " the king shall quit the world and come and remain with me for ever." The travellers, astounded, asked who the pilgrim was, and the answer was, " I am John the Evangelist. Go and deliver the message and ring, and I will pray for your safe arrival." He then delivered the ring and vanished. The pilgrims praised and thanked God for this glorious vision, went on their journey, repaired to the king, delivered the ring and the mes- sage, and were received joyfully and feasted. Then the king prepared himself for his departure from the world. On the eve of the Nativity next following, being 1066, he died, and the ring was left to the Abbot of Westminster, to be for ever preserved among the relics. This legend is represented on the top of the screen of Edward the Confessor's Chapel in Westminster Abbey, and also was once on one of the windows in Romford Church. ST. JAMES THE LESS, APOSTLE. St. James the Less was so called to distinguish him from the other apostle James, either from his smaller stature or his youth. 3 34 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. He was ako known as James the Just, from his eminent sanctity. He was the son of Alphaeus and of Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary, and was some years older than the Saviour, his cousin. He had as brother St. Simeon and also Jude. Christ appeared separately to James and John and Peter after the Resurrection. The Apostles elected James the Less to be Bishop of Jerusalem, and it was said he wore a plate of gold on his head as an ensign of authority. He was unmarried, and never shaved nor cut his hair, and never drank any strong liquor, never ate flesh, nor wore sandals, and the skin of his knees and forehead was said to be hardened like a camel's hoof from his frequent prayers. He wrote his epistle in Greek, some time after Paul's epistles were written to the Galatians and to the Romans. He was afterwards, in 62, accused by the Jews of violating the laws, and was sen- tenced to be stoned to death ; but he was first carried to the battlements, in the hope he would recant in public, and on his refusing this he was thrown over and dashed to the ground. He had life enough to rise again on his knees to pray for pardon for his murderers, and was then despatched with stones by the mob. His body was buried near the Temple in Jerusalem, and it was said the city was destroyed for the treatment he received. His relics were brought to Constantinople about 572. ST. JAMES THE GREAT, APOSTLE. St. James, the brother of St. John, son of Zebedee and Salome, was called the Great, to distinguish him from the other apostle called James the Less, probably from his small stature. St. James the Great was about ten years older than Christ, and was many years older than his brother John. St. James was a Galilean and a fisherman. He and John and Peter were distin- guished by special favours, being admitted to the Transfiguration, and to the Agony in the Garden. Their mother, Salome, in her pride at their devotion, once asked if they were not to sit, one at Christ's right hand and another at His left. After the Ascension James is siid to have left Judaea and visited Spain. He was a bachelor, and very temperate, never eating fish or flesh, and wearing only a linen cloak. He was the first of the Apostles whos uffered martyrdom, being beheaded at Jerusalem in 43 by order of Agrippa. His accuser was so struck with James's courage and constancy that he repented and begged to be executed with James, who turned round and embraced him, saying, " Peace be with ypu," and they were beheaded together. Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 35 The apostle's body was interred at Jerusalem, but carried by his disciples to Spain at Compostella, where many miracles were wrought and pilgrims flocked. His intercession, it was thought, often protected the Christians against the armies of the Moors. ST. JAMES THE GREAT IN SPAIN. The apostle James the Great, after Christ's ascension, as already said, went to Spain. One day, as he stood on the banks of the Ebro with his disciples, it is said that the Blessed Virgin appeared to him seated on the top of a pillar of jasper, and surrounded by a choir of angels ; and the apostle having thrown himself on his face, she commanded him to build on that spot a chapel for her worship, assuring him that all this province of Saragossa, though now in the darkness of paganism, would at a future time be distinguished by devotion to her. He did as the Holy Virgin had commanded, and this was the origin of a a famous church, known as Our Lady of the Pillar. ST. JAMES AT COMPOSTELLA. Another legend relates that a German noble, with his wife and son, made a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella, and while lodging at an inn at Tolosa, where the host had a beautiful daughter, she fell in love with the youth, but he refused to listen to her. She then, out of revenge, hid her father's silver cup in the youth's wallet, and next morning, on discovering the loss, he was pursued, accused before a judge, and condemned to be hanged. The afflicted parents prayed at the altar of St. Jago or James, and thirty days after, on returning and seeing their son on the gibbet, he suddenly spoke to them, and said he had been very comfortable, for the blessed apostle James had been at his side. The parents at once hastened to the judge to inform him, and he was sitting at dinner. On hearing their report, however, he mocked them, and said their son was as much alive as the fowls in that dish on the table, pointing to the dish ; but he had scarcely vittered the words when the fowls rose up full feathered in the dish, and the cock began to crow, to the great admiration of the judge and his officers. Then the judge rose and went to the gibbet, and released the youth and gave him up to his parents, and the fowls were placed under the protection of the church, in the precincts of which they lived, and a long line of progeny after them, as a standing testimony of the miracle _ then wrought. 36 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. MIRACLES OF ST. JAMES THE GREAT. When the apostle James the Great had founded the faith in Spain, he returned to Judaea, and preached and worked miracles for many years. Once a sorcerer, named Hermogenes, set himself up against the apostle to compete with him, and sent his pupil Philetus to dispute with James. The pupil, on returning and confessing his defeat, was bound with spells by Hermogenes, who dared James to deliver him. James sent his cloak to Philetus's servant, and this set him free. Hermogenes, being then enraged, caused both James and Philetus to be bound in fetters by demons and brought to him. But a company of angels seized on the demons, and punished them until they went and brought Hermo- genes himself bound. On James declining to punish him, the sorcerer felt he was defeated, and cast his books into the sea, and became a disciple of James. At James's death his body was privately carried away for fear of the Jews, and put on board a ship which was miraculously directed to Spain. During the journey they touched at Galicia ; and Queen Lupa, coming to the shore, found that the body had become enclosed with wax. She brought some wild bulls, and harnessed them to the car to tear it asunder ; but the bulls were docile as lambs, and drew the body straight into her palace, whereon she was confounded and became a Christian, and built a church to receive the body. St. James is the patron saint of Spain as well as of Galicia ; and the church of Compostella, which is dedicated to him, is a shrine visited by pilgrims from all quarters. In some of the pictures St. James is represented sitting on a milk-white horse, encouraging the Spaniards to fight and defeat the Moors. ST. JAMES OF COMPOSTELLA AND THE SCALLOP-SHELL. The following is the origin of the emblem of the scallop-shell at Compostella. When the body of the saint was being miracu- lously conveyed in a ship without sails or oars from Joppa to Galicia, it passed the village of Bouzas, on the coast of Portugal, on the day that a marriage had been celebrated there. The bridegroom, along with his friends, was amusing himself on horseback on the sands, when suddenly his hoi-se grew restless and plunged into the sea. Thereupon the miraculous ship stopped in its voyage, and presently the bridegroom emerged, horse and man, close beside it. The saint's disciples on board informed the astonished rider who it was who saved him from a watery grave, and explained to him the Christian religion. He was converted Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 37 and baptised forthwith. The ship then resumed its voyage, and the knight went galloping back over the sea to rejoin his astonished friends. He told what had happened, and they also were converted, and he baptised his bride with his own hands. It was noticed that when the knight emerged from the sea, both his dress and the trappings of his horse were covered with scallop- shells, and the Galicians ever afterwards took the scallop-shell as the sign of St. James. Those shells were forbidden by the Pope, under the pain of excommunication, to be sold to pilgrims at any other place than the city of Santiago. PORTRAITS OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL. Lord Lindsay, in his " Christian Art," says that St. Peter was generally represented in ancient art as blessing and St. Paul as preaching, — the former with white hair and beard, the hair sometimes plaited in three distinct partitions ; the latter with a lofty and partially bald brow and long, high nose, as characteristic of the man of genius and the thorough gentleman, as the former is of the warm-hearted, frank, impetuous manly fisherman. The likenesses may be correct ; they were current at least in the days of Eusebius in the fourth century, who speaks of theii' portraits as then of some antiquity. A portrait of St. Paul was said to have come down by tradition from his own time, and to have existed in the days of St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom, a little later in the same century. The painter Giotto invariably adhered to these traditional types. After his time the heads of living models were often painted for the imaginary apostles. DEATHS OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL. There is some doubt as to the time and place of the death of St. Peter and St. Pavil. The earliest writer, St. Clement, Bishop of Kome, near the end of the first century, alludes to both as suffering martyrdom nearly at the same time, but does not state when or where. A later writer, Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, who lived in the middle of the second century, says they died in Italy at the same period, and tradition of a later date specifies Home as the place, and that Peter was crucified by Nero in Rome with his head downwards, and the year was 67 a.d. ST. PETER AND HIS DAUGHTER PETRONILLA. Though the precise spot at Rome where St. Peter was crucified or slain is not settled, the following legend obtained currency. 38 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. In several churches at Florence and Rome the legend referred to was to this effect. The apostle Peter had a daughter named Petronilla, who accompanied him to Kome from the East. She there fell sick of a grievous infirmity, which deprived her of the use of her limbs. And it happened that, as the disciples were at meat with him in his house, one said to him, " Master, how is it that thou, who healest the infirmities of others, dost not heal thy daughter Petronilla 1 " And Peter answered, "It is good for her to remain sick." But that they might see the power that was in the word of God, he commanded her to rise and serve them at table, which she at once did. Having done so, she lay down again, helpless as before. But many years afterwards, being perfected by long suffering, and praying fervently, she w^as healed. Petronilla was wonderfully fair ; and Valerius Flaccus, a young Boman noble who was a heathen, became enamoured of her, and sought her in marriage. As he was very powerful, she feared to refuse him, but begged him to return in three days, and promised that he should then marry her. She prayed earnestly to be delivered from this peril; and when Flaccus returned in three days, prepared to celebrate the marriage with great pomp, he found her dead. The company of nobles thereupon carried her to the grave, in which they laid her, crowned with roses, and Flaccus lamented greatly. ST. PETER WHEN IN ROME. When St. Peter went to Bome, it is said that he lodged in the house of a rich patrician named Perdeus, whose wife and two daughters, Prasceles and Prudentiana, were converted. And during the first persecution these daughters devoted themselves to visiting and comforting the martyrs, braving every danger and suffering, and they escaped by a miracle. St. Peter was also said to lodge at Bome in the house of Aquila and Priscilla ; and it was there that St. Prisca, a Boman virgin of great beauty, was baptised. She was afterwards thrown to the lions ; but they refused to touch her, and she was at last beheaded. St. Peter, when in prison at Bome, was said to have promised to heal Paulina, the sick daughter of the jailer, named Artemius, if he would believe in the true God. But the jailer mocked him, and put him in the deepest dungeon, and told him to see if his God would deliver him from that depth. In the middle of the night Peter and Marcellinus, in shining garments, entered the chamber of Ai-temius as he lay asleep, who, being struck with awe, fell down and worshipped Christ. Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 39 STORY OF THE DEATH OF ST. PETER. When the day appomted for the execution of St. Peter approached, it is recorded in the legend that the Christians of Rome urged him to escape. He resisted their importunities long, but at last got over the wall of the prison and fled. As, however, he approached the gate of the city, he met our Blessed Lord bearing His cross, just entering. The astonished apostle said, " Lord, whither goest Thou ? " The answer was, " I go to Rome to be crucified afresh." At this St. Peter was smitten to the heart, and with tears returned and delivered himself up to his keepers. The church of Domine quo Vadis is believed to stand on the very spot of this meeting. Peter was thereafter scourged and led to the top of the Vatican Mount to be executed. He entreated that he might not be crucified in the ordinary way, but might suffer with his head downwards and his feet towards heaven, affirming that he was unworthy to suffer in the same posture wherein his Lord had suffered before him. His body was em- balmed and buried in the Vatican. The small church being demolished by Heliogabalus, Peter's body was removed for a time two miles off", but was brought back before the time of Constan- tino, who enlarged and rebuilt the Vatican in honour of St. Peter. The Emperor is said to have dug the first spadefuls, and to have can-ied twelve baskets of rubbish with his own hands, as a begin- ning, in honour of the twelve Apostles. The relics of St. Peter are numerous. The chains are in the church Ad Vinculo; the wooden chair is in the Vatican. The sword with which the ear of Malchus was cut off was anciently preserved at Constantinople, and is shown at Toledo. His cap is at Namur ; part of his cloak is at Prague. The bodies of Peter and Paul are said to be both in St. Peter's Church at Rome. THE CHURCHES OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL AT ROME. The body of St. Peter was buried immediately after his martyr- dom on the Vatican Hill; afterwards it was removed to the cemetery of Calixtus, and brought back to the Vatican. The body of St. Paul was buried on the Ostian Way, where his church now stands. These tombs were visited from the first by crowds of pilgrims. Constantino the Great, after founding the Lateran Chvirch, built seven others at Rome ; . one of these was the Church of St. Peter on the Vatican Hill, where he suffered martyrdom. Another was the Church of St. Paul, at the site of his tomb on the Ostian Road. A revenue was charged to maintain these 40 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. churches out of the spices imported from Egypt and the East, and lands at Tyre and Alexandria and elsewhere were given as possessions for the same purpose. These churches were built in a magnificent style, so as to vie with the finest structures in the Empire. St. Peter's was rebuilt in part in 1506 and 1626. The richest treasure consists of relics of St. Peter and St. Paul, which He under a magnificent altar in a sumptuous vault, called the Confession of St. Peter on the Threshold of the Apostles. Raphael and Michael Angelo were in succession the architects. The area of St. Peter's Church is 700 feet long by 509 feet wide. WAS ST. PAUL EVER IN GREAT BRITAIN ? It was at one time believed that St. Paul had entered Great Britain as within his mission, and preached to the natives. But Thackeray, in his " Researches into the State of Ancient Britain " (1843), comes to a conclusion in the negative for the following reasons : (1) There is no mention nor even allusion to it in the New Testament ; (2) the statement of his friend Clemens, Bishop of Rome, to the effect that Paul preached to the utmost bounds of the West, is far too vague to be available, and seems only a hyperbolic mode of expressing the magnitude of his labours; (3) there is no probable allusion to Paul's journey to Britain to be found in the whole range of literature prior to Theodoret, early in the fifth century, and even he does not specify Britain ; (4) there is no mention of any such mission to be found in our own historians prior to the Norman Conquest. ST. PAUL ON AREOPAGUS, QUOTING A POET. The fact that St. Paul, when addressing the Athenians on the summit of the Areopagus or Hill of Mars, quoted a Greek poet for the saying, " Ye are also his offspring," has led scholars to search for the originals. And the saying is found in two poets who flourished before the Christian era — namely, Aratius and Cleanthes. There are two other quotations (Titus i. 12 ; 1 Cor. XV. 33), traced to Epimenides and Callimachus. Some have inferred from these quotations that St. Paul may have been familiar with the poets of Pagan antiquity. But the researches of scholars tend to show that the quotations were only common sayings of the period, and the inferences one way or another as to the Pagan learning of the apostle are mere speculations. The occasion also on which St. Paul spoke on Areopagus has been the subject of discussion, as to whether Paul was at the Chap, ii.] THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES OF OUR LORD. 41 moment charged with some indictable offence against the sanctity of the gods, or whether there was some inquisition held by authority in order to include Jesus as one of the recognised divinities, or whether it was merely an address at the request of the keen-witted Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of the time. No certain conclusion can be arrived at on these moot points. ST. PAUL AND PLAUTILLA. A legend of the death of St. Paul relates that a certain Koman matron named Plautilla, one of the converts of St. Peter, placed herself on the road by which St. Paul passed to his martyrdom, in order to behold him for the last time ; and when she saw him, she wept greatly and besought his blessing. The apostle then, seeing her faith, turned to her, and begged that she would give him her veil to bind his eyes when he should be beheaded, promising to return it to her after his death. The attendants mocked at such a promise ; but Plautilla, with a woman's faith and charity, taking off her veil, presented it to him. After his martyrdom, St. Paul appeared to her, and restored the veil stained with his blood. It is also related that, when he was decapitated, the severed head made three bounds upon the earth, and wher- ever it touched the ground a fountain sprang forth. This legend is sometimes represented in the pictures of the martyrdom of St. Paul. The church of San Paolo at Rome, where the body of St. Paul was interred, rich with mosaics, was consumed by fire in 1823. ST. PAUL AND THE VIPER. Not far from the old city of Valetta, in the island of Malta, there is a small church dedicated to St. Paul, and just by the church a miraculous statue of the saint with a viper on his hand, supposed to be placed on the very spot on which he was received after his shipwreck on this island, and where he shook the viper off his hand into the fire without being hurt by it. At that time the Maltese assure us the saint cursed all the venomous animals of the island and banished them for ever, just as St. Patrick banished those of Ireland. Whether this be the cause of it or not, it is said to be a fact that there are no venomous animals in Malta. THE HISTORY OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. The " Apocryphal Gospel," called the " Arabic Gospel of the Infancy," has the following (chapter xxxv.) : " In the same place 42 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. there dwelt another woman, whose son was vexed by Satan. He, Judas by name, whenever Satan seized him, bit all who approached him ; and if he found no one near him, he bit his own hands and other members. Therefore the mother of this unfortunate youth, hearing the fame of Lady Mary and her Son Jesus, arose and took with her her son Judas to my Lady Mary. Meanwhile, James and Joses had taken away the Child Lord Jesus to play with other children ; and after leaving home, they had sat down, and the Lord Jesus with them. Judas the demoniac came nigh, and sat down at the right of Jesus ; and then, being assaulted by Satan as he was wont to be, he sought to bite the Lord Jesus, but he could not ; yet he struck the right side of Jesus, who for this cause began to weep. Forthwith Satan went forth out of the boy in form like a mad dog. Now, this boy who struck Jesus, and from whom Satan went out in the form of a dog, was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him to the Jews, and tlTat side of Him on which Judas had smote Him the Jews pierced with a spear " (Matt. x. 4 ; John xix. 34). 43 CHAPTER III. CHRIST S CONTEMPORARIES— CLIMATE AND SCENERY OF PALESTINE. THE SAGES OF GREECE AND ROME ON CHRISTIAN PRODIGIES. Gibbon observes that during the age of Christ, of His Apostles and their first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, demons were expelled, and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended for the benefit of the Church. But the sages of Greece and Rome turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing their ordinary occupations, were unconscious of anything extraordinary. Under the reign of Tiberius, the whole earth, or at least a celebrated province of the Roman Empire, was involved in a preternatural darkness of three hours. Yet this miraculous event passed without notice in an age of science and history. It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate efiects or received the earliest intelligence of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers in a laborious work has recorded all the great phenomena of Nature — earthquakes, meteors, comets, and eclipses — which his indefatigable curiosity could collect. Both the one and the other have omitted to mention the gi'eatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye has been witness since the creation of the globe. A distinct chaj^ter of Pliny is designed for eclipses of an extra- ordinary nature and unusual duration, but he contents himself with describing the singular defect of light which followed the murder of Caesar, when during the greatest part of the year the orb of the sun appeared pale and without splendour. This season of obscurity, which cannot surely be compared with the preternatm-al darkiiess of the Passion, had been already celebrated by most of the poets and historians of that memorable age. 44 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. DEATH OF ZACHARIAS. Jeremy Taylor says that Herod slew Zacliarias between the Temple and the altar " because he refused to betray his son to the fury of that rabid bear, — though some persons, very eminent amongst the stars of the primitive Church, report a tradition that, a place being separated in the Temple for virgins, Zacharias suffered the mother of our Lord to abide there after the birth of her Holy Son, affirming her still to be a virgin ; and that for this reason, not Herod, but the scribes and Pharisees, did kill Zacharias. Tertullian reports that the blood of Zachaiias had so besmeared the stones of the pavement, which was the altar on which the good old priest was sacrificed, that no art or industry could wash the tincture out, the dye and guilt being both in- delible ; as if, because God did intend to exact of that nation ' all the blood of righteous persons, from Abel to Zacharias,' who was the last of the martyrs of the synagogue, He would leave a character of their guilt in their eyes to upbi-aid their irreligion, cruelty, and infidelity. Some there are who affirm these words of our Saviour not to relate to any Zacharias who had been already slain, but to be a prophecy of the last of all the martyrs of the Jews who should be slain immediately before the destruc- tion of the last Temple and the dissolution of the nation. Certain it is that such a Zacharias, the son of Baruch (if we may believe Josephus), was slain in the middle of the Temple a little before it was destroyed ; and it is agreeable to the nature of the prophecy and reproof here made by our Saviour that 'from Abel to Zacharias' should take in 'all the righteous blood' from first to last till the iniquity was complete, and it is not imaginable that the blood of our Lord and of St. James their bishop (for whose death many of themselves thought God destroyed their city) should be left out of the account, which certainly would be if any other Zacharias should be meant. In refeience to this, Cyprian de Valera expounds that which we read in the past tense to signify the future : ' Ye slew ' — i.e., shall slay." CHILDHOOD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. Elizabeth fled with her son John the Baptist when he was about eighteen months old into the wilderness, where after forty days she died. His father Zacharias, at the time of his ministra- tion, which happened about this time, was killed in the court of the Temple. According to the tradition of the Greeks, God deputed an angel to be his guardian and nourisher, as he had formerly done to Ishmael and Ellas. Chap, iii.] CHRIST'S CONTEMPORARIES. 45 DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. The Jews ascribed to the murder of John the Baptist the fate that befell Herod and Salome. Herod, in journeying to Rome four years after Christ's death, was deprived of his tetrarchate and banished along with Herodias to Gaul, and they died in great misery at Lyons or in Spain. Salome in crossing the ice in winter fell into the water ; and the ice, after parting, joined again, and decapitated her. John the Baptist's disciples honourably buried his body. It was said the Pagans rifled the tomb and burned the body in the reign of Julian the Apostate ; but some of the bones were sent to St. Athanasius at Alexandria. In 396 Theodosius built a great church in that city in honour of the Baptist, and there the holy relics were deposited. The head of the Baptist was discovered in 453, and in 800 it was conveyed to Constantinople; in 1203 the lower jaw was taken to France, and is pieserved to this day. Part of the head is in St. Sylvester's Church at Rome. BURIAL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. Jeremy Taylor says that John was imprisoned in the castle of Macheruns, where Herod sent for him and caused him to be beheaded. His head Herodias buried in her own palace, thinking to secure it against a reunion, lest it should again disturb her unlawful lusts and disquiet Herod's conscience. But the body the disciples of John gathered up, and carried it with honour and sorrow, and buried it in Sebaste, in the confines of Samaria, making his grave between the bodies of EHzeus and Abdias the prophets. And about this time was the Passover of the Jews. CHURCHES DEDICATED TO THE BAPTIST. Temples were dedicated to John the Baptist in the first ages of Christianity, the earliest and most celebrated being that known at Rome as St. John Lateran. The next most celebrated church dedicated to St. John is the Baptistery at Florence, dedicated by the Princess Theodolunda about 589. In this baptistery every child born in Florence of the Roman Catholic faith must by law be baptised. This renowned church is decorated both inside and without with mii'acles of art. PONTIUS PILATE. Pilate, after ten years of service, was disgraced and called to Rome. One of that cloud of false witnesses who sprang up every year told the people of Samaria that he knew where the sacred 46 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. vessels lay hid, and fixed a day when they should meet him in thousands on Grerizim to dig them up. Hearing of this move- ment, Pilate sent troops into the highways and villages round Shechem; and these soldiers, setting upon the people, slew the innocent with the guilty, and put the whole body of Samaritans to flight. A great cry for vengeance arose in Samaria ; the Senate sent an embassy to Antioch ; and Vitellius, a man of craft and policy, wishing to stand well with the Jews, put the govern- ment of Samaria and Judaea into fresh hands, and commanded Pilate to report himself in Rome. Here we lose sight of him. Legends make him a suicide — some in a Roman prison, others in Gaul, and others again near the Lake of Lucerne, on the summit of the mountain which bears the name of Mount Pilatus. THE DOINGS OF HEROD THE GREAT. About sixty years B.C., Herod, misnamed the Great, had partly by bribery prevailed on Antony and Augustus to make him king of the Jews, and Josephus describes his visit to Rome on that appointment. Herod has always been a monster of cruelty. He married a beautiful woman named Mariamne, whom he put to death after being the mother of several of his children. Then he had a fit of remorse, and frantically called her by name, and ordered his servants to do so. Then he next slew the grandfather and brother of Mariamne, the latter being ordered to be suffocated while his servants were engaged in a bath- ing frolic. In his old age he was seized with a sudden suspicion against two sons, whom he accused of a plot against him, and after some wavering caused them to be strangled, and some three hundred who sympathised with them to be stoned to death. After these symptoms of madness, a year before his death, being alarmed by the reports of the visits of the Magi, and the pro- phecies of the birth of Christ, he ordered the massacre of the innocents. He died a year after, at the age of seventy-one, of a disgusting disease, accompanied with horrible tortures, having reigned thirty-five years. In order that he should not die without being lamented, he had ordered a large number of the chief inhabitants of Jerusalem, as soon as he was dead, to be slain by his soldiers. He died enormously rich, and even Horace refers to his vast palm groves. There was a lengthened litigation and appeal to Rome about the division of his estates and govern- ments. The son who succeeded him so misconducted himself that after nine years he was banished by Augustus and his wealth confiscated. Chap, iii.] CHRIST'S CONTEMPORARIES. 47 MARY MAGDALENE. There were three Marys — Mary of Bethania, Mary the sister of Lazarus, and Mary Magdalene ; and some think they were all one person. Most of the early writers say that she and Lazarus and Martha left Galilee and settled at Bethany, and there Christ often visited them. The penitent woman and she are by some treated as the same person ; but it is at best only a conjecture. It is a popular tradition that Mary and Lazarus, and Martha or Mary their sister, were expelled after the Ascension, and put to sea, and reached Marseilles, and founded a Church there, of which Lazarus was the first bishop. The relics of these saints were alleged to be discovered in Provence in the thirteenth century, and Mary Magdalene's were at St. Maximius, near Marseilles, where a convent now stands. Her festival is kept July 22 nd, and once was a holiday in England. MARY MAGDALENE PREACHING. A ProvenQal legend states that after the Ascension Lazarus, with his two sisters Martha and Mary, Maximius and seventy-two disciples, also Cedon the blind man whom our Saviour restored to sight, and Marcella the handmaiden were put by the heathen in a vessel and set adrift ; but, guided by Providence, it landed at Marseilles in France. The people were then Pagans, and refused to give the pilgrims food or shelter, so that they were fain to take refuge under the porch of a temple. And Mary Magdalene preached to the people, reproaching them for their senseless worship of dumb idols. And though at first they refused to listen, yet they were after a time convinced by her eloquence, and by the miracles she and her sister performed ; and they were all converted and baptised. These things being accomplished, Mary Magdalene retired to a desert near the city, where there were only rocks and caves, and she devoted herself to solitary penance for thirty years, weeping and bewailing for the past. She fasted rigorously, and must have perished, but the angels came down from heaven every day and carried her up in their arms into regions where her ears were ravished with the sounds of heavenly melody, and where she beheld the glory and the joy prepared for the penitent sinner. One day, a hermit, having wandered near the spot, beheld this wondi'ous vision of the angels carrying the Magdalene up to heaven in their arms, and singing songs of triumph ; and after recovering from his amazement, he returned to the city of Marseilles and reported what he had seen. Fra 48 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Angelico has a most interesting picture of the Magdalene preach- ing from the steps of a building to an audience composed mostly of nuns, who are in rapt attention. ACCOUNT OF ST. MARTHA. St. Martha, the sister of Lazarus and Mary, was a favourite member of that family whom Christ often visited, staying a night on His visits. On the first visit, Martha attended to the practical details of hospitality, while Mary was intensely absorbed in the spiritual charm of the conversation, and did nothing but listen, and yet was commended for this, as if each was entitled to follow her own way of displaying her affection. The message sent at a later date to Christ by the two sisters was simply this — " He whom Thou lovest is sick " : they knew it was enough to say that one word. On the last visit of Christ, Mary poured costly ointment on Christ's feet, which Judas Iscariot said was a shock- ing extravagance. St. Martha seems to have been present at the Crucifixion. After Christ's ascension, she, as stated under the head of Mary Magdalene, went to Marseilles, and her body is deposited in a vault under the church at Tarascon. King Louis XI. gave a rich bust of gold, in which the saint's head is kept. ST. VERONICA AND HER HANDKERCHIEF. St. Veronica was the woman who was healed by touching the hem of Christ's garment. She greatly longed for a portrait of Christ, and brought a cloth to Luke, who was a painter, to make one. But he tried three times to make a good portrait and failed. And Veronica being distressed, Christ told her He would help her if she would go home and prepare a meal, which He would take with her. She prepared the meal, and Christ went at the time appointed ; and on receiving from her a cloth to wipe His face after washing it. He pressed it to His face, and it received a miraculous portrait of His features. This He gave to her, and it performed afterwards many miracles. The Emperor hearing of these miracles, sent for Veronica to show him the portrait. She went to Rome with it, and was received with great honour, and showed it to the Emperor, who, on seeing it, was immediately cured. Others say that Veronica was a compassioiaate woman, who, seeing the drops of agony on the brow of Christ, as He was bearing the cross to Calvary, wiped His face with a napkin, or with her veil, and then she found His likeness miraculously stamped upon the cloth. She afterwards came to Europe in the Chap, iii.] CHRIST'S CONTEMPORARIES. 49 same vessel with Lazarus and Mary Magdalene, and suffered martyrdom in Provence or Aquitaine. HILLEL BELATED TO JESUS. Of the Great College which inspired and guided Jewish thought, the chief luminary had been Hillel, surnamed the Great. Hillel was a Babylonian Jew by bii-th, though in blood (on his mother's side at least) he belonged, like Joseph of Bethlehem, to the royal line. Hence he was of kin to Mary and Jesus. Like Joseph, too, he was a craftsman in one of the noble trades. When he left the Farther East for Syria, he was already forty years of age ; when he came to Jerusalem and entered himself a student in the school of Menachem the Essene and Shammai the Pharisee, he had to labour for his college fees and daily bread. He sat under Sammias and Pollion. Each of these eminent scholars had risen by his virtues and learning to the high rank of rector of the Great College. Under him the college made a new start for fame. He invented the seven rules. A thousand pupils entered his classes : eighty are said to have become famous as men of letters, doctors, and scribes. He lived to the age of a hundred and twenty, and died when Jesus was fourteen years of age (in the tenth year of our era). He may have been one of the doctors with whom Christ talked in the Temple. Simeon succeeded his father in the rectorship, and was still alive when Jesus began to preach, and died two years after the Crucifixion. THE SANHEDRIM AT JERUSALEM. The Sanhedrim's strength had been reduced first by Herod the Great, afterwards by the Boman governors of Judsea. Herod, on capturing Jerusalem, had seized the whole body of the Sanhedrim, thrown them into prison, and, with two illustrious exceptions, put them all to death. Around Hillel and Shammai, the men whom Herod had spared, a new council had been formed ; but the prestige of the Sanhedrim could never be restored. Pilate abridged their rights, taking from them more particularly the power of life and death; yet even after they had lost the right to torture prisoners and stone offenders, they still exercised a vast authority in Jerusalem, and in every other Jewish city. Pilate could not dispute their jurisdiction over Jews, however, in whatever land they dwelt, so long as they did not encroach on the civil powers. The Sanhedrim comprised three classes — priests, Levites, and ordinary Jews. The priestly element was strong. Caiaphas, being the ofiicial high priest, had a right to preside. In his absence 4 50 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the chair was filled by Simeon, rector of the Great College. Whoever filled the chair was considered as sitting in the place of THE WORKING MAN IN CHRIST S TIME. No handicraft covild be followed by a slave, and none but a freeman could learn a trade. Some trades were indeed less eminent than others — to wit, the art of a tanner was condemned as noisome ; the arts of a barber, a weaver, a fuller, a perfumer, were all considered mean; and no man following these crafts could be allowed on any pretence to serve in the sacred office. A tanner, like Jose of Sephoris, might become a rabbi ; he could never be made high priest. Not so with the craft of carpenter — a craft which had a part of its functions in the synagogue and Temple, which was often adopted as a profession by men of noble birth, and which enjoyed the same sort of repute among the Jews that is given in England to the Church, the Army, and the Bar. THE PHARISAIC NICETIES. The Pharisees were so rigid that, according to Buxtorf (" Syn. Judaica "), if an ox or other animal fell into a pit, it was deemed lawful to draw it out only when leaving it till Sabbath would involve risk to life. When delay was not dangerous, the rule was to give the beast food sufficient for the day ; and if there were water in the bottom of the pit, to place straw and bolsters below it that it might not be drowned. The same author states that it was a breach of the law to let a cock wear a piece of ribbon round its leg on Sabbath, for it was making it bear something. It was also forbidden to walk through a stream on stilts, because, though the stilts appear to bear you, you really carry the stilts. While scrupulously observing the law which prohibited the cooking of food on Sabbath, they did not by any means make the holy day a day of fasting. THE SIEGES OF JERUSALEM. From the time Pompey (63 B.C.) captured Jerusalem and subjected the country to the Roman yoke, the Jews were always on the verge of insurrection. In 65 A.D., when Florus the Roman procurator robbed the sacred treasury, and brought on an insur- rection, Bernice, the wife of Agrippa, rushed with bare feet through the streets to intercede with Florus ; but it was in vain. In 69 A.D. Titus approached and besieged the city, starved out the inhabitants, and destroyed the Temple. Many Jewish captives Chap, iii.] JERUSALEM. 51 were afterwards carried to Rome to swell the triumph of Titus, and were thrown to the wdld beasts or forced to kill one another. The triumphal arch of Titus, erected soon after his death, remains to this day in Rome. From that date the Jews ceased to be a nation, and were dispersed over the world. There are no clear accounts of what became of the Apostles after the fall of Jerusalem. Some say that they arranged to go into different regions, as Scythia, Asia, Parthia, India. Those writers who profess to give later accounts of the Apostles flourished only in the third or fourth century. DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN 70. Not long before the outbreak of the Jewish War, seven years before the siege of Jerusalem, a man, by name Jesus, came to the city at the Feast of Tabernacles, and in a fit of abstraction cried continually, " Woe to the city ! woe to the Temple ! " He alarmed the authorities, who ordered him to be scourged as a madman ; but he continued these exclamations, and during the siege he was last seen sitting on the wall, still repeating the same cries, till a missile put an end to him. The Jews rebelled against the Romans in 66. The Christians, remembering our Lord's admoni- tion (Matt. xxiv. 15), forsook the city, and fled beyond the Jordan. In April 70, when the city was filled with strangers, the siege began, and history records no other instance of such obstinate resistance, such desperate bravery and contempt of death. The Castle of Antonia was surprised and taken by night. The famine was so severe that many swallowed their jewels ; a mother even roasted her own child. Titus wished to spare the Temple. But in a fresh assault a soldier, unbidden, hurled a firebrand through the golden door. When the flame arose the Jews raised a hideous yeU. The Roman legions vied with each other in feeding the flames. It was bui'nt on August 10th, 70, the same day of the year on which the first Temple was, according to tradition, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The sight was terrible. The mountain seemed enveloped in one sheet of flame; all was covered with corpses ; over these heaps the soldiers pursued the fugitives. Josephus says the number of Jews slain was 1,100,000, and the number sold into slavery was 90,000. The Christian Church was by this event Hberated from local influences, and took up an independent position in the world. ANTIOCH THE FIRST GENTILE CHURCH. The interest of Antioch consists in certain memorable events 52 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. having occurred there in the first ages of Christianity. It was situated where the chain of the Lebanon, running north, and the chain of Taurus, running east, meet, and was partly on an island. It was here that the Christians, when dispersed from Jerusalem at the death of Stephen, preached the Gospel. Here was the first Gentile Church founded; here the disciples of Christ were first called Christians; here St. Paul first settled as a minister of the Church and started on his first mission ; here St. Paul rebuked St. Peter for conduct into which he had been betrayed through the influence of emissaries from Jerusalem. Jews were from the first settled in Antioch in large numbers. The city was founded in 300 B.C., and became prosperous. The citizens were noted for scurrilous wit, and for the nicknames they gave, and perhaps the name of Christian had its origin in this disposition of theirs. The modern place known ^s Antioch is a small and insignificant town of 6,000 inhabitants, though the ancient city was supposed to have had a population of 200,000. An earth- quake destroyed most of the city in 526, and again in 583. The Saracens captured it in 635 ; the Crusaders stormed it in 1089 ; and it fell under the Moslem rule in 1286, since which time it has dwindled into insignificance. PALESTINE EXPLORATIONS. In modern times the geography of Palestine was chiefly known through the works of Dr. Pobinson, Burckhart, and Yande Velde ; but in 1864 a society sprang up in England for the purpose of a more systematic exploration. Successive expeditions were sent there for that purpose. In 1868 the Moabite Stone was discovered by the Rev. P. Klein. It is a block of basalt about 3| feet by 2 feet, and has on its face thirty-four lines of writing in the character known as Phoenician. If it had remained entire, there would have been no great difficulty in reading the inscription ; but when the Arabs heard that the Europeans attached great value to its possession, they quarrelled about it and broke it up. About two-thirds of the fragments were afterwards collected and pieced together. And, fortunately, a "squeeze" of the whole had been taken before it was broken, and a translation has been arrived at. The restored monument was preserved in the Louvre at Paris, and a plaster cast is in the British Museum. The inscription is supposed to be a record by Media, King of Moab (nearly nine hundred years before Christ), of the victories and pubHc works he had achieved. Besides the Moabite Stone, the explorers discovered numerous dolmens, being circular terraces Chap, iii.] CLIMATE AND SCENERY OF PALESTINE. 53 3 -feet high, some of which were conjectured to be burial-places ; also, dolmens being flat, table-like surfaces, probably used as altars by the Canaanite tribes. THE COURSE OF THE JORDAN TO THE DEAD SEA. Mr. Macgregor, of the Roh Roy canoe, traversed the upper part of the Jordan, and arrived at certain measurements, which have been corrected slightly by the Palestine Survey Commission. From the source to the Dead Sea it is 200 miles long. The source of the tributary of the Hasbany is 1,700 feet above the level of the sea. The Dead Sea is 1,292 feet below the level of the sea. The Lake of Tiberias is 682 feet below the level of the sea. The river at first runs 20 miles, then falls into the basin of Hooleh, 4 miles long; then runs 10 miles, and falls into the basin of Tiberias, or the Lake of Galilee, 12| miles long and 8 miles wide; then runs 65 miles, and falls into the basin of the Dead Sea, 47 miles long and 10 miles wide. The Dead Sea is 1,278 feet deep at its greatest depth; the Sea of Galilee is 165 feet deep at the greatest; Hooleh about 15 feet deep. The Jordan ranks in size with the Dee of Aberdeenshire, but is rather less rapid. The Jordan has nearly the same rapidity as the Clyde and the Tweed. The Dead Sea, called in the Old Testament the Salt Sea, has no outlet to the south, but gets rid by evaporation from the surface of all the water poured into it. This is said to be the most remarkable depression of the kind on the face of the earth. There is no port, and there are no fish. The waters of lakes which have no outlet, such as the Caspian, the Sea of Aral, Lakes Balkash, Van, XJramiah, and the Dead Sea ultimately become more or less saline. The excessive saltness of the Dead Sea is represented as 24-57 lbs. of salt in 100 lbs. of water ; while that of the Atlantic is only 6 lbs. of salt in the same quantity. THE SEA OF GALILEE. The Sea of Galilee, or Tiberias, or Gennesaret, is pear-shaped, tapering towards the lower end. In its central part it varies from 60 feet to 165 feet deep. It is 12| miles long, and its greatest width is 8 miles. Bethsaida, now called Tabiga, is on the upper shore of Galilee, and consists of a few huts and mills. Some hot springs here flow into the lake, and great numbers of fish crowd round that spot, which cormorants and gulls watch and feed upon. Here was the miraculous draught of fishes. Here Christ stood in a ship a little from the shore and addressed the multitude. There was also a Bethsaida on the east of the Jordan 54 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. at St. Tell, where the five thousand were fed. The site of Caper- naum, as related (p. 62), is now doubtful ; but Mr. Macgregor thought it was at Khan Minyeh, about a mile west of Bethsaida and on the shore of GaHlee. Magdala is on the west shore of the lake near the middle, now called Midgel, and is a poor village without beauty or cleanliness. It gives the name to Mary, who is known over the whole world. Behind Magdala the hills rise abruptly to about 1,000 feet. Tiberias is three miles farther down the west coast than Magdala, and is now a filthy town, especially m the Jews' quarter. Christ seemed never to have entered this town, and the chief reason given is that it was full of foreigners. FISHING IN SEA OF GALILEE. The boats now used on the Sea of Galilee have dwindled to about six, of five oars each ; and for half a century travellers seldom have seen more than one or two on the lake. The fish in the lake were said by Macgregor to be the carp and the cat-fish, or coracinus. When Dr. Tristram visited the country in 1869, he found a mode of fishing in vogue which was to scatter poisoned bread crumbs, which caused the fish to die and float on the surface in large shoals. He was told that there were fourteen species of fish in the lake, but only three sorts were eatable. He also saw a man wade in naked to guide his seine net round, and then draw it ashore. The storms or squalls on the Sea of Tiberias are often violent, and this is said to be owing to its depth below the level of the sea, where the air is so rarefied and causes a gap in the con- tinuity of the atmosphere. The steep place where the herd of swine ran down into the Sea of Tiberias is judged to be at Kersa, directly opposite to Magdala. THE SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. Mr. Macgregor, with the Rob Roy canoe, about the year 1868 explored the sources of the Jordan, which are three. One is the Hasbany, due north, near which is the Pool of Fuarr, which the natives all believed to be 1,000 feet deep, being unapproachable by them; but when sounded it was only 11 feet deep. There is a weir made to form this pool, and to supply a mill near this point, and also a bridge with two arches crosses the stream a little lower down. Two miles to the east of the Hasbany is another source of the Jordan, called the Leddan ; and on the east bank is a mound, about 30 feet high and 600 feet wide, said to have been once the town of Dan, where Jeroboam set up the idol Chap, iii.] CLIMATE AND SCENERY OF PALESTINE. 55 (1 Elings xii. 28). Near this spot is an impenetrable thicket, covering a pool 100 feet wide, supplied by a subterranean stream. The natives believed the pool bottomless, but it was found by the Bob Roy to be only 5 feet deep. This pool also supplies a mill. About fourteen miles farther east is the third source of the Jordan, issviing out of a cavern at the village of Banias, which was once the town of Csesarea Philippi, where Christ asked His disciples who they thought He was. Near this spot was supposed to be the scene of the Transfiguration. Near this also are the vast ruins of the Castle of Subeibeh, built by the Herods, and held by the Crusaders. It is 1,500 feet above the plain. THE HOOLEH, OR WATERS OF MEROM. The three sources of the Jordan — the Hasbany, the Leddan, and the Banias — unite, after running about 12 miles, at a place called Tell Sheik Tusuf . The Banias is about 70 feet wide before it reaches this point, and the banks are 20 feet high and abrupt. The united river is called the Jordan from this point, being then about 100 feet wide, and 8 or 9 feet deep. After running about 6 miles, the river becomes dispersed into small channels, and these are soon lost in a vast morass, called the Hooleh, or Waters of Merom, choked with reeds and papyrus, and swarm- ing with leeches. These obstacles prevent even a canoe passing. The passage being thus blocked for half a mile, the water is again collected in a central pool or lake about 60 yards wide. A clear channel of a 100 feet wide and 10 feet deep flows from this pool, between thick walls of papyrus, which grows to a height of 15 feet above the water. And this is said now to be the largest papyrus ground in the world. Pelicans and water-fowl abound in Hooleh, and Mr. Macgregor killed a peHcan which measured 10 feet between the tips of the extended wings. The Hooleh lake, or that part of it which is clear of the papyrus, is about 4 miles wide and 6 miles long, tapering to a point at the lower end, where the Jordan again issues as a river. The lake is not deeper than 15 feet, and is more usually 9 and 10 feet only. The Jordan, on its issuing from Hooleh, is about 60 feet wide ; and after running 10 miles very rapidly, falls into the Sea of Tiberias or Galilee, or Lake of Gennesaret. THE RIVERS OP DAMASCUS. When Naaman the Syrian went to Elisha to be healed of leprosy, and was told to wash seven times in the Jordan, he 56 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. exclaimed, '* Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel T' In 1868 Mr. Macgregor, with the Rob Roy canoe, visited these places. Damascus was pictiu-esque in its situation, but the houses and people exceedingly- dirty. It is said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world. Yines and orange trees relieve the mud walls, but there is nothing really beautiful except the scenery surrounding this city. The population is said to be now 150,000. The river rises a little to the east of the source of the Jordan out of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and flows due east past Damascus. It is a deep and rapid river about sixty feet wide, with high banks, without trees, and with fruitful plains on each side. Tortoises and land crabs abound. The Rob Roy canoe sailed down to the Tell of Salahiyeh, which is a small green hill like Primrose Hill, near London. There are many canals used for irrigation in the course of the river. The river then divides into three branches, on one of which is the spot known as Abraham's Well, now called the village of Harran. These three branches become lost in a large morass called Ateibah. The Rob Roy explored this morass, and found it perfectly still water, choked with reeds and osiers about five feet high. The natives never go into it, believing some of the pools to be bottomless. The morass or lake is of a double form, and the whole is about fourteen miles long and four miles wide, seldom visited except for wild ducks and the myriads of other fowl which are the only active inhabitants of the spot, and make the only noise that can be heard. A few villages are dotted over the surrounding plains. The river Pharpar flows parallel to the Abana in a line about twelve miles more to the south. It also runs into a large morass, south of which is the land of Bashan. Here wild boars have their tracks through the reeds. The "bulls of Bashan " are shaggy buffaloes, which stand up to their middle in the marshes enjoying the coolness, till the Arab herdsman with a long stick drives them away, when they bellow and snort, raise their tails and scamper off, spreading terror all round. POPULOUSNESS OF GALILEE IN CHRIST's TIME. According to Josephus, who lived a few years after the Crucifixion, the populousncss of Galilee was far before most other regions of the world. He says that in a district of between fifty and sixty miles long, and sixty or seventy miles broad, there were no less than 204 cities and villages, the least of which con- tained 15,000 souls. If this were true, then, leaving out of view Chap, iii.] CLIMATE AND SCENERY OF PALESTINE. 57 the straggling villages, the population of the province would amount to the incredible number of 3,060,000. There were, according to Strabo, many Egyptians, Arabians, and Phoenicians in Galilee about that period. CLIMATE OF PALESTINE. Major Conder, engaged in the survey of Palestine about 1874, •said that Palestine is still a land of corn, wine, and oil, as of yore, and sheep are still fed in the same pastoral regions; the same vineyards are still famous; the corn of its plains still yields a hundred-fold. Plagues, famines, fever, and leprosy still are common. There are still the former and the latter rains ; and the rose of Sharon has not withered ; the purple iris is still royally robed. Except in the disappearance of the lion and the wild bull there is no change in the fauna. The deer, the antelope, the fox, the wolf, the hyaena, the jackal, the ostrich, and the crocodile still survive in the wilder part of the land, and the great boar, the leopard, the wild goat, and the wild ass. The corn ripens even in April in the Jordan Valley, and in May on the hills ; and the olive harvest and the vintage follow in the early autumn. In January comes the sno-ws, with ice and hail. In one year in Jerusalem there were seven falls of snow. MOUNT HERMON. Mount Hermon, the second mountain in Syria, is a range of hills lying east and west, all on the east side of the source of the Jordan, often called the Anti-Lebanon. The highest cone is entirely naked. The snow never disappears from the summit, though in the height of summer it melts here and there, except in the ravines radiating from the top. The parallel range nearest the Mediterranean is called the Lebanon ; and Mount Lebanon, the highest part, is snow-capped the greater part of the year. The range decreases in elevation southward. The average height of both ranges, exclusive of the peaks, is 1,500 to 1,800 feet. The range is rugged, consisting of deep fissures, precipices, towering rocks, and ravines. The forests of Lebanon consist of the cedars of Lebanon and a great variety of trees; but the cedars have dwindled to about 1,400. In the lower valleys and plains fig trees cling to the rocks, mulberries are cultivated in rows on step-hke terraces, vines also are trained along narrow ledges, and dense groves of olives occupy the lower parts of the glens. The date palm, once abundant, is now almost extinct. 58 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE LILIES OF THE FIELD. Considerable variety of opinion has existed as to the precise flower which Christ alluded to in the ever-memorable Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vi. 28). Some have thought it must have been the rose; but the Septuagint translated the same word into lily, and this is considered the standard meaning. Father Souciet laboured to prove it ought to be the crown imperial, a plant common in Persia. Whatever flower was indicated, it was no doubt conspicuous and beautiful, as well as common. There are red or purple and white lilies ; and probably the scarlet or purple colour was the one referred to, called the scarlet martagon, which grows in profusion in the Levant, and in the district of Galilee in April and May. The purple flowers of the khob or wild artichoke, which abounds in the plains north of Tabor, are thought by some to be the lilies of the field. A recent traveller also introduces to notice a plant with lilac flowers like the hyacinth, which he thought probably the flower meant. Dean Stanley says the only lilies he saw in Palestine were the large yellow water- Hlies near Lake Merom. Mr. Thompson, in " The Land and the Book," seems to prefer a large species of lily which grows among thorns, and is fed upon by the gazelles. He calls the colour gorgeous, but does not state what the colour is. The anemone corona7'ia is also noticed by Mr. John Smith, of Kew, with its brilliant colours, growing everywhere, and is abundant on the Mount of Olives. The lily of the valley, as known in England, is not a native of Palestine, and is not the flower of that name mentioned in the Bible. WAYSIDE CEREALS, FRUITS, AND FLOWERS OF PALESTINE. The most substantial as well as ordinary corn and fruits of Palestine are, and probably were in our Lord's time, wheat, maize, lentils, barley, vines, olives, figs, and pomegranates. The land was ploughed by oxen. The fields were not usually separated by hedges, walls, or fences. The plough was a rude and light implement, which did not penetrate deeply into the soil, but merely scratched the surface a little. The threshing floor was merely a smooth and hard place where the corn was piled in a heap in the centre, and the oxen led round the outside to trample out the grains. The usual vegetables in Palestine are beans, peas, beets, turnips, carrots, and radishes. Gourds also abound. The herbs are lettuce, parsley, mint, mustard, len- tils, cabbages, onions, and garlic. Melons and cucvimbers are Chap, iii.] FLOWERS AND BIRDS OF PALESTINE. 59 rather luxuries, the former being manured from the dove-cotes which abound, and which are often substantial round buildings. The vineyards, which are surrounded by a hedge and ditch, are carefully watched during the ripening season to protect them from thieves, and also from the invasion of foxes, jackals, badgers, bears, and wild boars. The vineyards also have cherry, apple, pear, fig, and nut trees. The olives are planted in rows in the orchards. It is a tradition that the olives still growing at the foot of Mount Olivet were growing in the time of our Lord ; but this is highly improbable, and is contradicted by some facts recorded by Josephus. The olives are first salted, then crushed in the olive press by a round stone as a press, run out into stone troughs, and the oil is stored in skin bottles or in stone jars, which are buried in the ground. The date palm abounds in the low and sheltered places. The palm tree consists of a single stem or trunk, rising to sixty or eighty feet without a branch, and with a tuft of leaves on i,he top. The fig tree, with its short stem and wide lateral branches, with sprigs of little figs growing all round the trunk, is the easiest to climb. The cedar tree was considered the most excellent for size, beauty of form, and for fragrance and durability of its wood. Hence Solomon used it chiefly for the Temple. It attained sometimes 120 feet in height. The wild cypress yielded gopher wood, of which the Ai-k was made. The oak and the terebinth are sometimes confounded together ; but a small kind of the latter produces pistacliio nuts. The poplar, ever- green, and sycomore are conspicuous in the jungles near the Jordan, as well as the tamarisk and cane. Of flowers the rose is a favourite. The flower called the rose of Sharon was rather the flower of a bulbous root. The lily of the field referred to in the Sermon on the Mount has been sometimes identified as a red tuHp, called by the French a meadow anemone or queen of the meadows. It is remarkable for its great variety of colours, the scarlet abounding especially. There are also buttercups, dandelions, daisies, poppies, white and yellow crocus, mandrake, hyacinth, and sweet-scented stock. Of wild shrubs the oleander grows to a height of twelve to fifteen feet, and with its bright red flowers adorns the banks of the Jordan. The maidenhair fern hangs luxuriant round the fountains. THE BIRDS OP PALESTINE. The birds found in modern times in Palestine include the follo-\ving : — The woodpecker, the robin, the lark, the thrush, the willow wi-en, and chiff-chaff; the true bulbul, which is the nightin- 60 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. gale of Palestine ; the grackle, or orange-winged blackbird, haunt- ing the gorges of the Dead Sea ; also rock doves issue from the caverns ; the wagtail ; rock swallows ; the black-headed jay ; great spotted cuckoos ; the black-shouldered kite ; the red-legged par- tridge ; ducks, rails, and coots ; the eagle owl, as large as those in Central Europe ; also little owls ; the bat ; the seagull, flamingo, crane, and cormorant ; the imperial eagle ; the vulture, griffon, and falcon ; the hooded crow, the rook, and jackdaw. Of all the birds of Jerusalem the raven is the most conspicuous, one species being the ashy-necked, and smaller than the common sort. These ravens haunt the trees of the Kedron and Mount Olivet. WILD BEASTS AND ANIMALS OF PALESTINE. The wild beasts in Palestine include the following : — The ichneumon, which frequents the rocks, being as large as a badger, and of the same colour ; the fox, the hedgehog, and the badger ; the mole rat, which frequents all ruins, being twice the size of the English mole, and of a pale slate colour ; the wild boar, the hyaena, and jackal ; hares and gazelles. The bees are of smaller size than the English ; butterflies the same as in England Lizards and snails are common. JERUSALEM. The situation of Jerusalem is such that the ancient Jews be- lieved it to be the centre of the world, and yet it was out of the great highways, and so had an immunity from disturbance. It stands on the edge of one of the highest tablelands in the country. Hence its great height used also to be constantly mentioned as a noted feature. Its highest point is about 2,600 feet above the level of the sea ; the Mount of Olives overtops the highest part, being 2,724 feet. The situation of Jerusalem was not unlike that of Home, except that Rome was in a well-watered plain, leading direct from the sea, while Jerusalem was on a bare table- land in the heart of the country. Each had its own cluster of steep hills. One great difficulty was as to supplying water for the gardens on the north side, as no trace of an ancient reservoir is now discovered in the upper parts. The arrangement of streets is now perhaps the same as in early times. A dull, leaden, ashy hue is everywhere on the buildings and ruins. The three great works in Solbmon's time were the Temple, the Palace, and the Wall of Jerusalem. After its destruction in 70, the city disappeared from history for fifty years, and its very name Chap, iii.] CITIES OF PALESTINE. 61 was almost forgotten, till Constantino built the Martyi-ion on the site of the Crucifixion. In 326 Constantine's mother, the Empress Helena, erected magnificent churches in Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives. In 369 the Emperor Julian the Apostate made an abortive attempt to rebuild the Temple. In the fourth and fifth century pilgrims began to visit it. In 529 the Emperor Justinian built a splendid church in honour of the Virgin. The Christians ceased to have power there when the Khalif Omar in 637 captured it. In 1099 the Crusaders first cap- tured it, and held it till 1187, when Saladin retook it. In 1243 it again came to the hands of the Christians. It again in 1244 was retaken by the Mohammedans, and has remained under the Sultans till modern times. There are various theories of geo- graphers as to the topography of Jerusalem. Some think that the sites of all the chief places were correctly ascertained in the early centuries ; while others say there is nothing but guesswork as to the site of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple. THE CITY OF NAZARETH. Nazareth, the city or village where Christ lived after the return from Egypt till manhood, is situated in a basin among the hills just before they sink down into the plain of Esdraelon. The surrounding heights rise about 400 or 500 feet higher, with rounded tops, and they are composed of the glittering limestone, diversified with fig trees and wild shrubs. The hollyhock is one of the gay flowers of the field. The valley, which is about a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, is rich and well cultivated, having corn-fields and gardens, hedges of cactus, and clusters of fruit-bearing trees. The fruits are pomegranates, oranges, figs, and olives. The village has now about 4,000 population, chiefly Christians, with a few Mohammedans, a mosque, a Franciscan convent, and two or three chapels of other confessions. In the rainy season the streams pour down rapid floods through the hills. The wise man there takes care to build and dig deep down to the rock, and not to ti'ust to the loose soil as a foundation. From the heights extensive views are obtained of the Lebanon, Hebron, Carmel, Gilead, and Gilboa. In this village Christ taught in the synagogue, and was once dragged to a precipice by His fellow- townsmen to be cast down. The origin of the disrepute in which Nazareth was held is not clearly known ; but all the inhabitants of Galilee were looked upon with contempt by the people of Judsea, because they spoke a rude dialect, and were more exposed 62 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to contact with the heathen. Near the village is shown the Fountain of the Virgin, where the angel's salutation is said to have taken place, as the Virgin, like the rest of the inhabitants, resorted there for supplies of water. Another place of note is the cliff or precipice, about two miles south-east of the town ; but geographers think that a cliff" of fifty feet high near the Maronite Church is the locality where the mob wished to precipitate Christ. It is related that no Christians lived in Nazareth till the time of the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, who built the first Church of the Annunciation. The town was all but destroyed by Sultan Bibars in 1263, and it was many ages before it recovered. No Jews reside in Nazareth in modern times. THE SITE OF CAPERNAUM. The place where our Lord was so conspicuously occupied, the city of Capernaum, has caused great controversy among the geographers. The doom pronounced against it and the other unbelieving cities has been notably fulfilled, for no one can in the present day pronounce between the two most probable spots. One of these is Khan Minyeh, a mound of ruins close to the shore of Gennesaret, at the north-west extremity of the plain. The other is Tell Hum, three miles north of the last place, where are ruins of walls and foundations, half a mile long by a quarter wide. It also projects into the lake, and is backed by rising ground. Dr. Wilson supports the second, as also do the geographers dating from 1675 ; while Dr. Robinson, relying on Josephus, sup- ports the first. It is one of the insoluble problems. 63 CHAPTER IV. EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. CHURCH HISTORY DIVIDED INTO AGES AND PERIODS. Dr. Schafp, in his "History of the Apostolic Church," has divided the whole history of the Church as follows : — First Age. — The Primitive or Universal Church, from its foundation on the day of Pentecost to Gregory the Great, thus embracing the first six centuries (a.d. 30 — 590). Fir'st Period. — The Apostolic Church, from the first Christian Pentecost to the death of the Apostles (a.d. 30 — 100). Second Period. — The Persecuted Church, to Constantine (a.d. 100—311). Third Period. — The Established Church of the Grseco-Roman Empire, and amidst the Barbarian storms, to Gregory the Great. (a.d. 311—590). Second Age. — The Church of the Middle Ages, or Komano- Germanic Catholicism, from Gregory the Great to the E«f ormation (a.d. 590—1517). Fourth Period. — The commencement of the Middle Ages, the planting of the Church among the Germanic nations, to the time of Hildebrand (a.d. 590—1049). Fifth Period. — The flouiishing period of the Middle Ages, the summit of the Papacy, monasticism, and scholastic and mystic theology, to Boniface YIII. (a.d. 1049—1303). Sixth Period. — The dissolution of the Middle Ages and prepara- tion for the Reformation (a.d. 1303 — 1517). Third Age. — The Modern or EvangeHcal Protestant Church in conflict with the Roman Catholic Church from the Reformation to the present time. Seventh Period. — The Reformation, or productive Protestantism and reacting Romanism (a.d. 1517 — 1600). Eighth Period. — Orthodox Confessional and Scholastic Protes- 64 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. tantiam in conflict with ultramontane Jesuitism, and this again with semi-Protestant Jansenism (seventeenth century and first part of eighteenth). Ninth F&riod. — Subjective and negative Protestantism, Rational- ism, and Sectarianism, and positive preparation for a new age in both Churches (middle of eighteenth century to present time). THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The Apostolic period, from a.d. 30 to 100, or rather 117, the death of John, may be subdivided into three : (1) the founding of the Christian Church among the Jews, chiefly the labours of St. Peter, a.d. 30 — 50 ; (2) the founding of the Christian Church among the Gentiles, or the labours of St. Paul (a.d. 50 — 64), who made Christianity more and more independent of Jerusalem, and the destruction of Jerusalem completed the severance; (3) the summing-up and organic union of Jewish and Gentile Christianity in one whole, chiefly the work of John. The three important local centres were Jerusalem, the mother Church of Jewish Chris- tianity; Antioch, the starting-point of the heathen missions; Ephesus, the later residence of John. At the same time, Rome, where Peter and Paul spent their last days, was the cen^e of Westell! Christianity. The Apostolic period differs essentially j^iii all subsequent periods. In the first place, Chiistianity comes forth from the bosom of Judaism, and for a long time clothes itself in the forms of that religion. The Apostles are all Jews. In their preaching they all, not excepting Paul, go first to their brethren, preach in the synagogues, visit the Temple at Jerusalem. The Church gradually separates from the home of its birth. The second pecuHarity is the unstained purity and primitive freshness of doctrine and life, and its extraordinary spiritual gifts, working harmoniously together, and providing, by their creative and controlling power, for all the wants and relations of the infant Church. Miiller called the first century the century of wonders. At the head of the Church were men who enjoyed immediate intercoui'se with the Saviour of the world, were trained by Him in person, and filled in an extraordinary degi'ee with the Holy Ghost. Such infallible vehicles of Divine revelation, such sanctified and influential persons, are found in no subsequent age. T he Ap ostolic penod contained the germs of all subsequent periods, Uliristiaii personahties, and tendencies. EARLY CHURCH AND THE MILLENNIUM. In the ancient Church of the first three centuries there was Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 65 always an expectation of the millennium, as they counted, accord- ing to the Septuagint Version then current, 6,000 years to end soon after the coming of Christ. The primitive Church of Antioch considered the creation of the world took place 6,000 years before Christ. In the fourth century this period was reduced to 5,500, next to 5,200. The authority of the Vulgate and of the Hebrew text, as accepted by the moderns, fixed 4,004 as the period. The joyful Sabbath of 1,000 years was then to begin, and Christ would reign in the New Jerusalem. The assurance of such millennium was inculcated by a succession of Fathers, from Justin Martyr and Irenseus (130), who conversed with the immediate disciples of the Apostles down to Lactantius, who was the preceptor to the son of Constantino (317). The joys of the millennium were to be balanced by a concurrent conflagration and destruction of Rome, as the mystic Babylon. It was affirmed that those who since the death of Christ had obstinately persisted in the worship of demons would be delivered over to eternal torture. And the Christians of that time were said to enjoy a spiritual pride in witnessing the destruction of their enemies. Tertullian, who died in 240, an energetic Father and champion of the truth, thus alluded to the matter: "You are fond of spectacles : expect the greatest of all spectacles, the last and eternal judgment of the universe. How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs and fancied gods groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates who persecuted the name of God liquefying in fiercer fires than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philo- sophers blushing in red-hot flames with their deluded scholars ; so many celebrated poets trembling before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ ; so many tragedians declaiming their own sufferings ; so many dancers," etc., etc. EARLY CHRISTIANS AND THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS. One of the difficulties of the early Christians was to know how to act as regards their worldly goods, seeing that they were all brethren. They acknowledged this brotherhood, and yet were not clear where to draw the line. They used to salute each other with a holy kiss (Rom. xvi. 16) ; and they held love-feasts (or agapce), by way of maintaining their fellowship ; and these were held especially in connection with the Lord's Supper. But these feasts were found not to work satisfactorily — chiefly, perhaps, because there was no suitable place of meeting. They were condemned and discontinued even in the time of the Apostles. In 5 66 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the first ardour of the Church at Jerusalem, they tried the experiment of community of goods. The Apostles were careful to point out that the surrender was entirely voluntary. Instances of hypocrisy and avarice soon disgusted many, as in the notable case of Ananias (Acts v. 1), and the dissatisfied Hebrew widows (Acts vi. 1). It is not known how long this experiment lasted at Jerusalem. It was an experiment which could not succeed according to the constitution of human nature ; for the love of an exclusive proprietorship is inherent, and it has been found in all succeeding ages that individuals, as well as nations, flourish most when each attends to his own business, and is satisfied to make the best of his own opportunities, and to cease to covet the acquisitions of others. It is found most salutary when each seeks only to gain riches by his own exertions, and without undue interference with others. Many dreamers have often looked forward to a community of goods as the most perfect state ; but a little practical knowledge soon teaches every one that it is a dream, and nothing more. All the virtues of life are compatible with the exclusive possession of property ; and few virtues are possible when there is no security for property as a basis. FAVOURITE EMBLEMS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. In the early centuries, before paintings and images were intro- duced in places of worship, and which at first were thought to resemble too closely the Pagan practices, there were some favourite emblems used by the Christians on their walls and drinking vessels and rings. One was the figure of the Good Shepherd, representing Christ carrying a lamb on His shoulders. On rings would be carved a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit ; or an anchor of hope, or a fisherman with a draught of fishes ; or a lyre, signifying joy and praise. These were suggested by the subjects that made most impression on their daily thoughts. CHRISTIAN NAMES OF PEOPLE. One of the early notions of Christians was to select the name of some apostle or saint as one of the names of their children ; and this was deemed, if not an infallible, at least a wise and prudent incentive to worthy actions. Hence it became universal to adopt a Christian name, and to mention it at the time of baptism ; and heathen names were, on the other hand, forbidden. It was long thought right that the bishop, if he found some pagan name suggested, should forbid it and alter it into some Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 67 proper Christian name. Indeed, it was long deemed an accepted custom, if not the law, that the Christian name once given either by a bishop or priest at baptism was indelible, and that some offence was or would be committed by seeking to change it. This, however, in modern times, is known to be a delusion ; and whatever may have been the name or names given to a child by parents or priests, it is the right of every one, without anybody's leave, at any time thereafter, to change his name, both Christian and surname if he thinks fit, into any other ; and if he choose to adhere to one name of his own choice, people will seldom trouble themselves to dispute it or to deny him this gi-atification. The only condition is that this change must not be made for purposes of fraud. AURICULAR CONFESSION AND PENANCE. Mr. Roberts, in his " Church Memorials," says that in 459, which was the last year but one of the eventful pontificate of Leo I., the usage which had long prevailed in the Churches of the West, that there should be a public recital of sins which had been privately confessed, and a committal of the same to writing, was suppressed by the authority of Leo as of dangerous conse- quence to morals and good government. It seemed to that Pope that the practice of bringing these secret things to light before the congregation was unnecessary and pernicious. He deemed it enough for the penitent to make his confession first to God, and then to the priest who was to make intercession for him and procure the needful remission. And this may be considered as the date of private or auricular confession under the full sanction of ecclesiastical authority. Nor was public confession in general vmderstood to be interdicted by this arbitrary Pope, but only the promulgation in public of such sins as were clandestine and could transpire only by the revelation of the secret by the sinner himself. The Koman Church has, however, always maintained the confession to a priest to be necessary, as a ground for the remission of sins committed after baptism, and essential as a constituent part of the penitential ordinance. It seems but of little importance to investigate the origin of the rite of penance, which lies buried behind the rubbish of superstition and priest- craft, or to travel through the various periodical changes in its forms and ceremonies. It is to the praise of the early Church that none of the Fathers of the apostolical and primitive ages laid stress on auricular confession as an essential part of Christian duty. The Council of Lateran in 1215 declared it necessary to 68 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. salvation. And in 1521 the Council of Trent issued a decree making both penance and auricular confession alike necessary. RELIGIOUS RIOTS ABOUT THE TRISAGION. The sixth century opened a sanguinary internecine feud between sects of the Church, and the first religious war was said to arise about the correct words of the Trisagion as used in the Church service in Constantinople. The blood of thousands was shed in the streets, squares, and churches ; and at last the Emperor had to abdicate to concihate an insolent mob, principally composed of infuriated monks. Gibbon thus describes it : "In the fever of the times the tense, or rather the sound, of a syllable was sufficient to disturb the peace of an empire. The Trisagion (thrice holy), ' Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts ! ' is supposed by the Greeks to be the identical hymn which the angels and cherubim eternally repeat before the throne of God, and which about the middle of the fifth century was miraculously revealed to the Church of Constantinople. The devotion of Antioch soon added, * who was crucified for us ' ; and this grateful address, either to Christ alone or to the whole Trinity, may be justified by the rules of theology, and has been gradually adopted by the Catholics of the East and the West. The Trisagion, with and without this obnoxious addition, was chanted in the Cathedral by the two adverse choirs ; and when their lungs were exhausted, they had recourse to the more solid arguments of sticks and stones. The aggressors were punished by the Emperor, and defended by the Patriarch, and the crown and the mitre w^re staked on the event of this momentous quarrel." THE ancients' PREACHING APPLAUDED ON THE SPOT. One remarkable feature of the ancient services of the Church was, that the people used to applaud and encourage the preacher with clapping of hands and loud acclamations. St. Jerome, writing to Vigilantius, says, " The time was when he himself had applauded him with his hands and feet, leaping by his side and crying out ' Orthodox ' for his sermon on the Resurrection." And George of Alexandria relates that "the people applauded the sermons of St. Chrysostom, some by tossing their thin garments, others moving their plumes, others laying their hands upon their swords, and others waving their handkerchiefs and crying out, ' Thou art worthy of the priesthood ! thou art the thirteenth apostle ! Christ hath sent thee to save souls ! ' " etc. And Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 69 Gregory in his dream describes how the people during the sermon moved their bodies like the waves of the sea raised by the wind. But the great ambition of the preacher was rather to melt the congregation into tears. St. Jerome says the preacher should labour to excite the groans of the people rather than their applauses. St. Austin says he once preached in Csesarea, in Mauritania, where a savage custom existed of the citizens engaging in a bloody fight once a year by throwing stones at each other. And he directed all his eloquence against this custom, and was glad to notice the tears shed by many, and he rejoiced at the time of writing that eight years had since passed and the fight had never been there renewed. St. Chrysostom, the most effec- tive of all the ancient preachers, said once, "I have thought of making it a law to forbid such acclamations, and to persuade you to hear in silence." It was a frequent practice for notaries to take down the sermons of favourite preachers in shorthand, and in that way many have been preserved to the present day. DRESS AND APPEARANCE OF EARLY CLERGY. At a very early period the leaders of the Church attributed great importance to the particular dress and appearance of the clergy, and laid down stringent rules on that subject. The Canons said a decent mean must be observed — neither too nice nor too slovenly. In particular the extremes of baldness and long hair were equally objectionable, so that all were obliged to shave the crown of the head and beard. This distinguished them from the priests of pagan deities. So they were to observe a medium in dress, and to wear neither white nor black. But the colours varied in different times and places. It was noticed that these directions as to garb arose after the danger of detection during times of persecution had ceased. One garment, called the caracalla, and since cassock, was adopted after the time of Constantine. It was a long garment, reaching down to the heels, such as the Boman people put on when they went to salute the Emperor. THE FOPPISH PRIESTS AND DEACONS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. So early as the fourth century there were very worldly and self-seeking officers in the Church. St. Jerome in his " Treatise on Virginity" says: "There are some of them who aspire to the office of priest or deacon that they may visit women with the greater liberty. Theii* chief care is tobe..^ell dressed, neatly 70 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. shod, and perfumed ; they curl their hair with irons, they have bright rings on their fingers, and they walk on tiptoe, looking more like bridegrooms than clerks. Some of them make it their only business to find out the names and residences of ladies of quality, and to discover their dispositions. I will describe one of them who is a master in the art. He rises with the sun, the order of his visits is arranged, he finds out the shortest ways, and the troublesome old man enters almost the very chambers in which they rest. If he sees a cushion, a napkin, or any other little article that he likes, he praises it and admires the neatness of it; he takes it in his hand, then complains that he has not something of that kind ; and, in short, he snatches it away before it is given to him." St. Jerome also mentions the avarice of these self-seeking priests, who, under pretence of giving blessings, reach out their hands to receive money. This plain speaking of St. Jerome made him many enemies, who attacked in turn his own reputation and the fascination he exercised over fashionable ladies, so that he had to leave Rome and retreat to Palestine. THE EARLY BISHOPS. Great learning has been shown by ecclesiastical historians as to the precise position of early bishops — one side contending that these high officials were appointed by Christ, or at least by His Apostles ; and the further inference is then drawn, that therefore this mode of governing the Church is the best possible and the only right and orderly kind of government for a true Church. Both points have been denied, and especially the second, because it is urged that even if there were bishops appointed by the Apostles, it would prove nothing, except that the Apostles thought them the best kind of officers for the time being, and yet that they might not be the best in other and different countries and circumstances. Most of the Christians of all times till the Refor- mation too hastily overlooked the fundamental principle, that each country and age is necessarily the best judge of the peculiar mode of governing the Church, and should not surrender its better judgment to the views of earlier and less experienced ages as to matters not expressly enjoined by Scripture. The defenders of bishops delight to dwell on some facts, or assumed facts, in favour of their theory. They say that St. John was one of the authors of the order of bishops, and that he went about ordaming for various stations, and especially Polycarp, while St. Peter ordained Clement at Rome and St. Paul ordained Timothy at Ephesus. The list of the first bishops is, however, very obscure. It is said Chap, iv] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 71 that James, the Lord's brother, was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and was ordained by the Apostles immediately after the Cruci- fixion. And hence it is argued that our Lord must have sanctioned this act in some way. One consequence of the theory of bishops was, that the bishop alone had an inherent right to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and also to preach and ordain others ; while a presbyter could only do so with his permission express or implied. And, above all, the bishop could call presbyters to account and excommunicate and censure them, thereby implying that the ore order of priests was inferior to the other in jurisdiction. SOME PRIVILEGES OF EARLY BISHOPS. In the early centuries it became a custom for people to refer disputes of all kinds to the bishops as arbitrators, and in that respect their so acting superseded the action of courts of law. St. Augustine said that nearly his whole time was taken up with this duty, so that it became a burden to him. It became also an early practice for bishops to intercede with the government for prisoners. There was an ancient custom for the people to bow their head whenever they met a bishop, as if asking for his blessing ; and even emperors rendered this mark of respect. It was also usual for people to kiss the bishop's hand, for Ambrose said people thereby thought themselves protected by the bishop's prayers. Sometimes a still higher honour was rendered to the bishop by singing hosannas to him ; but Jerome admits this was too great an honour to mere mortal man. Bishops also wore a mitre or crown, and they sat upon what was called a kind of throne. It is said that St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, first sat on this throne. When a bishop was consecrated, he was conducted by the other bishops to a throne ; and the form of prayer at their consecration besought the Almighty to give the bishop power to remit sins, and loose every bond according to the power which was given to the Apostles. One of the curious things connected with the early bishops and presbyters also was, that they were frequently seized by force and compelled to act if elected by a congregation. St. Austin himself was thus compelled, and so was Paulinus. THE PASTORAL STAFF. The bishops of all countries seem to have agreed in using the pastoral staff as one of the symbols of their authority. The form used is that of a shepherd's crook, or a straight cane or staff, with 72 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. a knob or volute made of cypress wood or ivory or some metal ornamented. Each bishop used some peculiarity of workmanship, and it went with the office to his successor. The head of some was formed like a serpent, or a Hon, or a bird. THE SACRED CHARACTER OF ANCIENT CHURCHES. The ceremony of consecrating churches was adopted in the three first centuries, and indeed some say from the time of the Apostles. Nothing very distinct, however, is found till the fourth century, when Constantine's protection gave an impetus to church-building. St. Ambrose composed a form of prayer for such occasions. In the sixth century a practice began to consecrate also the altar separately. A church was not allowed to be put to any profane use, though religious assemblies and meetings of clergy were not forbidden. But no one was to have meat or lodging there. The sacred vessels of the church were also kept religiously for the single use of the sacraments. And when Julian the Apostate once sent two officers to plunder the Church of Antioch and fetch away the vessels and convert them into money, all believed that Julian was immediately seized with an ulcer and died miserably. One ancient custom was for the congregation to wash their hands before entering. In some places also, particularly in Egypt, the members took off their shoes. It is doubtful whether the custom of bowing toward the altar on entrance was not general, because it was merely following the custom of the Jews. One gate of the church was called the Beautiful or Eoyal Gate, being that at which kings entered, in which case they had to lay aside their crowns, for it was deemed indecent that they should wear such badges in presence of the King of kings. Even though it was a universal custom to allow debtors and criminals to take refuge for a time in churches, they were not allowed to lodge there, but were maintained in a precinct outside. The women sat in a separate part of the church from the men, and each entered by a separate door. In the fourth century pictures of saints and martyi's began to be set up in churches, and this continued, subject to the icono- clast persecution, to become more and more in keeping with the thoughts and views of the time till the Reformation finally stopped it in all the Reformed Churches. THE ANCIENT OFFICE OF DEACONESS. It is said that the office of deaconess existed in the Apostolic age, for St. Paul called Phoebe a servant or deaconess of the Church Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 73 (Rom. xvi. 1). The deaconess was always a widow, who had had children, who had been only once married, and who was at least forty, fifty, or sixty years old. Immense importance was attached to her having been only once married. Learned men differ as to whether she was ordained by the imposition of hands, or, if so, whether this meant anything more than a benediction. But all seemed to admit that she could not administer the sacraments, though some heretics allowed women this power also. The main duties of the deaconess were to assist at the baptism of women ; to be private catechists to the women preparing for baptism ; to visit women who were sick and in distress ; to minister to the martyrs and confessors in prison ; to attend the women's gate and regulate the behaviour of women in the church, for the women went into church at a different gate from the men. The order of deaconess flourished till the twelfth century in the Greek Church, and the tenth or eleventh century in the Latin Church, and then the practice fell into abeyance, probably owing to the new views about the celibacy of the clergy. THE FORM OF LITURGY IN ANCIENT TIMES. The clergy have been said to be at first all bishops, until the growth of population and numbers made it expedient to subdivide a city or country into parishes of such size that one priest might conveniently attend to it. Each bishop at first appointed his own form of service. And the learned have disputed whether in the earliest ages the service included or consisted of what corresponds to a modern litvirgy or stereotyped form of prayer and praise. There are authorities for both views. The Lord's Prayer was generally one of the forms, and there were always hymns and psalms, and these would naturally be in set forms. Also, there were certain set prayers for special occasions. Peter Diaconus in 520 says that St. Basil, seeing that men's sloth and degeneracy made them weary of a long liturgy, prepared a shorter form for them. And Julian the Apostate was said to admire the Church forms of worship ; for when he intended the heathen priests to imitate the Christians, he specified particularly those prayers which were so composed that the people might make their responses. St. Ephraim of Syria and St. Ambrose were gi'eat composers of hymns. The gi-and hymn of Te Deum was composed by St. Ambrose and St. Austin jointly. St. Austin says there were five parts in the liturgy or service of the Church — namely, psalmody, reading of the Scriptures, preaching, prayers of the bishop, and the bidding prayers of the deacon. The last were 74 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. directions to the people what particulars they were to pray for, the deacon going before them and repeating every petition, to which the people made answer : " Lord, hear us," *' Lord, help us," or " Lord, have mercy," and the like. It seems to have been a practice for the people to turn their faces to the east in the solemn adorations, the east being the symbol of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, and also of the locality of Paradise. The Psalms were usually sung by the people standing. The sermons and homilies, which were an hour or even two hours long, were sometimes written and sometimes extempore. The preacher usually sat and the people stood; but there was no fixed rule, for the preacher seems also to have stood and the people to have sat. Many people in those times also thought the sermon too long, and went out before it ended. THE RISE OF RITUALISM. In the ninth century some attention began to be paid to the mean- ing of rites and ceremonies. One Amalarius, a deacon of Metz, in 820 composed a treatise on the Divine office, and on the order of the antiphonary, in which he attempted to make all the stages of the liturgy represent some doctrine. All the incidents of Divine service, every attitude and gesture, the dresses of the clergy, the ornaments of the church, the sacred seasons and festivals, were expounded as full of symbolical meaning. Agobard, Archbishop oi Lyons, on the other hand, being something of an iconoclast, and severe against the superstitions of relic hunters, advocated the exclusion of much irrelevant matter, as profane and heretical, from the service-book and hymn-book. He said that far too much attention had been given to music, and far too little to the study of Scripture. Agobard opposed the writings of Amalarius as full of idle comments and errors in doctrine. Not content with this exposure, Florus, master, of the cathedral school of Lyons, wrote strongly against Amalarius, and cited him before two councils, the latter of which examined the mystical theories of Amalarius, and condemned them as being founded on nothing but the writer's fancy, and dangerous. The theories of Amalarius, however, kept possession of many writers of the Middle Ages, and even in the nineteenth century had their admirers and advocates. THE MASS, OR HOLY COMMUNION. The great distinguishing ceremony of Christians is the cele- bration of the Mass or Communion, or Administration of the Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 75 sacrament in commemoration of our Lord's Supper. The word Mass was used as early as about the second century, and is derived from the Hebrew missach, signifying a freewill offering, or mincha, an oblation of meal. The name of Mass was used to include all the offices and festivals of which the Holy Communion was a leading feature. After the E/eformation the word Mass was discontinued in England, and superseded by the words Holy Communion. The days and times of celebrating the Communion have differed from age to age. High Mass was sung with music and solemn ceremony and the assistance of numerous ministers, but the Communion was seldom given at High Mass. Low Mass was said by a priest attended by a single clerk. The Eucharistic bread, or Host (from hostia, the sacrifice), was required by a council of Toledo in 925 to be made in form of a wafer, so as to be easily broken, and was expressly baked for the altar. Un- leavened bread came to be almost universally used. In England, after the Reformation, ordinary bread is ordered to be used, and not wafers or stamped bread. The Elevation of the Host, or lifting up of the paten (a small flat plate so called) and conse- crated bread above the head of the celebrant, was instituted by Pope Honorius III. in 1210, and he directed that it was to be adored when elevated. This practice has been prohibited in England since the Reformation. The pyx is the box in which the Host is kept or conveyed, often made of silver or ivory. The wine for the Communion used by the Greeks was mixed with water, and was red wine. The Roman Church now uses white wine. The English Church forbids water to be mixed with the wine. When the custom of carrying about and exposing the Host began, about the fourteenth century, the name of the vessel in which it was shown was called a monstrance, resembling a chalice. The Agnus Dei is a little round cake of perfumed wax, stamped with the figure of the Holy Lamb bearing the standard of the Cross. The cakes were burned as perfumes, symbolical of good thoughts, or in memory of the deliverance of men from the power of the grave at Easter by the Lamb of God. The French shepherds, during the time of the Crusades, were observed to use these perfumes. And people burned them in their houses as a safeguard against evil spirits. The Agnus Dei was also the name given to a hymn sung in the canon of the Mass. ANCIENT CHURCH SERVICE IN THE MOTHER TONGUE. The learned Bingham, in his " Antiquities of the Christian Church," says that there is abundant testimony that in the 76 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. earliest services of the Church it was a rule that the liturgies and forms of prayers should be in the mother tongue of the people, and not, as had been a modern i practice, invariably in the Latin tongue. St. Jerome says that at the funeral of Lady Paula the Psalms were sung in Syriac, Greek, and Latin, because there were men of each language present at the solemnity. He also says it was the practice for the young virgins to sing the Psalter morning and evening, and to learn the Psalms and some portion of the Scripture every day ; and St. Basil says that all the peopls sung the Psalms alternately, and the children joined. And the Church took care to have the Bible translated into all languages — Syrian, Egyptian, Indian, Persian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Roman, Sc} thian, and Gothic. Another custom pointing to the same conclusion was, that Bibles were laid in the churches for the people to read in private at their leisure. So that none of the ancient Fathers ever dreamt that a time would come when the Scriptures should be only in the hands of the bishops and clergy. St. Chrysostom, in one of his sermons upon Lazarus, says expressly, " The reading of the Scriptures is our great guard against sin. Our ignorance of them is a dangerous precipice and a deep gulf." A Church Council of Chalons in 813 expressly ordered that the bishops should set up schools to teach the knowledge of the Scriptures. There was an order of officers, called Readers, expressly to assist the people in this matter. And Eusebius relates that a blind man called John, one of the martyrs of Palestine, had so good a memory that he could repeat any part of the Bible as readily as the reader could do. Therefore it was an entire departure from ancient practice when the Church in mediaeval and later times discountenanced the reading of the Scriptures by the people at large. USE OF ORGANS AND BELLS IN CHURCHES. Though music in Divine service had always a place, yet the use of instrumental music seems not to have become general till the time of Thomas Aquinas, about 1250. And it is related that one Marinus Sanutus, who lived about 1290, was the first to introduce wind organs into churches, whence he was called Tor- cellus, which is the name for an organ in the Italian tongue. This instrument had long been known as a curiosity before that time, and one was sent by the Greek Emperor about 766 to King Pepin. The use of bells as a mode of summoning worshippers to Divine service was soon thought of as a substitute for employing deacons or deaconesses to give private notice to each attendant Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 77 In Egypt the early Christians imitated the Jews by blowing a trumpet. In the early monastery set up by Paula at Jerusalem, one of the virgins was set apart to go round singing hallelujah. In the time of Bede, in the seventh century, bells began to be used as a mode of summoning to worship. And in 968 Pope John XIII. consecrated the gieat bell of the Lateran Church in Rome, calling it John. SEPARATION OF SEXES IN CHURCHES. The custom of separating the sexes in church had a very remote origin. John Gregorie, in his works (published in 1646), says: " There is a tradition that in the ark, so soon as ever the day began to break, Noah stood up towards the body of Adam and before the Lord, he and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. And Noah prayed and his sons ; and the women answered from another part of the ark, ' Amen, Lord.' Whence you may note too (if the tradition be sound enough) the antiquity of that fit custom (obtaining still, especially in the Eastern parts) of the separation of the sexes, or the setting of women apart from the men in the houses of God. Which sure was matter of no slight concernment if it could not be neglected, no, not in the ark, in so great a straightness and distress of congregation." THE ANCIENT CHURCH PRAYING FOR THE DEAD. Bingham, in his *' Christian Antiquities," says that the Ancient Church used prayers for all the saints, martyrs, confessors, patriarchs, apostles, and even the Virgin Mary herself. But the practice was not founded in a belief in purgatory, but upon .a supposition that they were going to a place of rest and happiness, the soul being supposed to be in an imperfect state of happiness till the Resurrection. Moreover, many of the ancients held the opinion of the millennium, or the reign of Christ a thousand years upon earth before the final day of judgment. There was also a kindred practice by which the holy books or diptychs used to be rehearsed during the service. These recited the names of famous bishops, emperors, and magistrates connected with the district ; also the names of those who had lived righteously, and had attained to the perfections of a virtuous life. And this was done partly to excite and conduct the living to the same happy state by following their example, and partly to celebrate the memory of them as still living according to the principles of religion, and not properly dead, but only translated by death to a more Divine life. 78 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. OLD CUSTOM OP SIN-EATERS AT FUNERALS. In Kennet's " Parochial Antiquities " it is stated by an old person living about 1640 that " in the county of Hereford there was an old custom at funerals to hire poor people, who were to take upon them all the sins of the deceased party, and were called sin-eaters. One of them lived in a cottage near Ross, in Herefordshire. The manner was this : When the corpse was brought out of the house and laid on the bier, a loaf of bread was delivered to the sin-eater over the corpse, as also a mazar bowl (gossips' bowl) full of beer, which he was to drink up, and sixpence in money. In consideration whereof he took upon him at once all the sins of the defunct, and freed him or her from walking after they were dead. In North Wales the sin-eaters were frequently made use of ; but there, instead of a bowl of beer, they have a bowl of milk. This custom was by some people observed even in the strictest time of the Presbyterian government," PRAISING THE LORD DAY AND NIGHT. About 400 or soon after, a monk, Alexander, projected a new order of monks, who were to be detailed into companies for the performing of Divine offices day and night without intermission. This order acquired the name of watches, dividing the twenty- four hours into three watches, each relieving the other, and thus keeping a perpetual course of Divine service. This order attained great esteem and veneration, and many monasteries were built for their use at Constantinople. Among others one Studius, a nobleman of Rome of consular dignity, renounced the world and joined the order, erecting a famous monastery for their use, which was called after him Studium. In course of time, however, these monks were believed to be led away by the Nestorian heresy, and lost credit. We are also told that Sigis- mund, Burgundian king, after renouncing Arianism about 524, restored the ruined monastery of Agaune at the entrance of the principal passage of the Alps, the gorge of the Valais on the Rhone. It was built in honour of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion, whose relics were collected and there deposited. A hundred monks were obtained from Condat to give a beginning, and eight hundred more were brought together and bound under con- ditions, the chief of which was, that a service of praise was to be kept up without a break, day and night. For the purpose the nine hundred monks were divided into nine choii-s, who sang alternately and without intermission the praises of God and the Chap, iv] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 79 martyrs. The king, to expiate an offence in his own family, him- self become a monk for a time. This notion of keeping up the praise of God every clay and night during the whole year was also carried out in the seventeenth century by an English gentle- man, Nicholas Ferrar, who with his family made up a small colony, all having semi-monastic tendencies, and lived at the retired parish of Little Gidding, eighteen miles from Cambridge. He was the son of a wealthy London merchant, was born about 1586, and educated at Cambridge, and for some time was a Member of Parliament, and had also travelled. He, with his mother, sister, nephews, nieces, and servants, numbering thirty, at last took vows of celibacy, settled at this rustic abode, decorated their little chapel with gi*eat care, and devoted their time to works of charity ; but one peculiarity was always in view — namely, that all day and night they relieved each other in turns, and kept up constant services of prayer and praise. Isaac Walton says that in this continued serving of God the Psalter or whole Book of Psalms was in every twenty-four hours sung or read over from the fii*st to the last verse, and this was done as constantly as the sun runs his cii'cle every day about the world, and then begins again the same instant that it ended. The ritual was that of the Church of England. And there were candles of white and green wax, and suitable decorations. At every meeting every person present bowed reverently towards the Communion table. The community was called " The Protestant Nunnery " by the peasants living near. In that age the Puritans were developing their power, and there were also reactions, so that both parties had their zealous champions in turns. CHRISTMAS DAY AND EASTER DAY. One of the most universally cherished customs of Christians was to keep in remembrance the day of Christ's nativity, and celebrate and hold it in honour by some special service of praise and thanksgiving of a religious character. A kind of feast was celebrated on that day, and in the fourth century it was very generally observed. But the correct date was long matter of doubt in the early centuries. Some reckoned it on January 6th ; some in April and May. The Western Christians soon accepted December 25th as the proper anniversary, while the Oriental Churches preferred January 6th. But by the time of the sixth century all Christians concurred in observing December 25th. Almost every country has some peculiar custom of a religious or festive character connected with Christmas Day. Another com- 80 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. memoration day of universal observance was Easter Day, the anniversary of the Resurrection, the preceding Friday being called Good Friday. And in the early centuries there were also con- troversies as to the correct mode of fixing the date. It was a day on which good Christians observed the solemn Communion, as well as baptisms and acts of hospitality and almsgiving. Choral processions and singing of hymns and anthems were thought fit exercises for this memorable anniversary. The Sunday before Easter Sunday, called Palm Sunday, in commemoration of the strewing of palms on Christ's entry into Jerusalem, is also attended with particular observances. In Italy it is called Olive Sunday ; in Spain, Portugal, and France it is called Branch Sunday; in Russia, Sallow Sunday ; in Wales, Flower Sunday ; in Hertford- shire, Fig Sunday, in allusion to the cursing of the fig tree. FESTIVAL OF ALL SAINTS. The festival of All Saints was instituted in Rome in the eighth century. At the end of the tenth century a new celebration was annexed to it. It was related that a French pilgrim, on returning from Jerusalem, had been cast on a little island in the Mediter- ranean, where he met a hermit, who told him that the souls of sinners were tormented in the volcanic fires of the island, and that he could often hear the devils howling with rage because their prey was rescued from time to time by the prayers and alms of pious men, and especially of the monks of Cluny. The hermit solemnly adjured the pilgrim to report this when he returned home, and accordingly the pilgrim mentioned it to the Abbot Odilo of Cluny, who in 998 appointed the morrow of All Saints to be solemnly observed there for the repose of all faithful souls, with psalmody, masses, and copious alms to all the poor people present. The celebration was soon extended to the whole Cluniac order; and eventually some Pope, whose name is not known, ordered its observance throughout Christendom. HOLIDAYS AND FEASTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. There were several holidays or celebrations of events very popular with young people and the lower clergy during the Middle Ages, and which had some connection with religious matters. These were the Feasts of the Ass, of the Deacons, of the Kings, of the Buffoons, and of the Innocents, all involving some horse- play and rude merriment, such as the Carnival still exhibits. About the twelfth century the Feast of the Kalends was con- chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 81 ducted by actors having hideous beards over their faces. In the Feast of Buffoons of the same period the duties and rank of the clergy were caricatured and turned into fun and ribaldry. In the Feast of the Ass that animal was dressed like a priest, and all the people brayed as the incidents at the stable of Bethany and of Balaam's conversation were rehearsed. In the Feast of Buffoons there were mock cardinals and a mock Pope. In the procession of the Mere Folle there were a mock tribunal, mock judgments, and mock sentences. As a counterpart to these boisterous revels, there were famous legends or superstitions represented, such as the story of the " Wandering Jew," so called from a rebuke given to an insulting assault made on the Saviour at the Crucifixion, which was followed by a supposed sentence on the offender that he should await Christ's second coming ; the superstition about Prester John, a sort of pontiff king, half Jew, half Christian, who was said to have governed a vast Indian empire, but no particulars of which were ever ascertained, and yet he was said to have invited the Pope to go and live in his dominions. FEAST OF THE ASS. The Feast of the Ass, already alluded to, was a feast cele- brated in several churches in France in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt. And the gross absurdities then practised under the pretence of devotion would surpass belief were there not such incontrovertible evidence of the facts. A young female, richly dressed, with an infant in her arms, was placed upon an ass, when High Mass was performed with solemn pomp. The ass was taught to kneel ; and a hymn replete with folly and blasphemy was sung in his praise by the whole congre- gation. And as the climax to this monstrous scene of absurdity and profaneness, the priest used at the conclusion of the ceremony, and as a substitute for the words with which he on other occasions dismissed the people, to h^ay three times like an ass, which was answered by three similar brays by the people, instead of the usual response, " We bless the Lord," etc. FESTIVAL OF THE BOY BISHOP. The childish solemnities of the boy bishop on the Festival of St. Nicholas, though prohibited so early as 1274 by the Synod and Bishop of Salzburg, were always much appreciated by the public. On the eve of the Holy Innocents the child bishop and his youthful clergy, in little copes and with burning tapers in theii* 6 82 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. hands, went in procession chanting versicles, made some prayers before the altar, and sang complin. By the Statute of Sariim no one was to interrupt or press upon the children during their procession or service in the cathedral upon pain of anathema. This ceremony existed not only in collegiate churches, but in almost every parish. It is supposed that the anniversary montem at Eton, which used to be celebrated in winter, was only a cor- ruption of this ceremony, and was as such suppressed by an order of Henry VIII. MIRACLE PLAYS. The miracle play was a theatrical representation of scenes in the Scriptures, and it seemed to be popular in mediaeval times, and the monks took part in it as active promoters. But there were some of these in every century after the third. In times when reading was impossible, and the fancy of the public was kept alive chiefly by the pictures and images in churches, it was natural that this cognate representation by means of actors on a stage should occur to those who catered for something like a recreation. Chaucer and Piers Plowman allude to this as a frequent indulgence. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries religious plays were acted in England, France, and Spain. Bishops and canons and monks all supported them, and they were acted in churches and on Sundays, as was said to be the case in St. Paul's until the time of Charles I. At length it was found that they degenerated into buffoonery and indecency. Some have said that the practice arose out of the lively spirits of the troops of pilgrims returning from the shrines of Compostella or St. Michael or Canterbury, and chanting or reciting sacred songs and hymns. The plays went out in England soon after the Reformation, and they became thereafter mere secular amusements. THE PASSION PLAYS OF THE AMMERGHAU. Dean Milman says he was present at one of the performances of the last of the ancient mysteries which still linger in Europe, the Passion Spiel by the peasants of the Ammerghau. He never saw even in leading theatres finer scenic effects, more rich and harmonious decorations, and dresses more brilliant with blended colours. All was serious, solemn, and devout ; actors and audience were equally in earnest. The Saviour was represented with a quiet gentle dignity, admirably contrasting with the wild life and tumult, the stern haughty demeanour of the Pharisees and rulers in their secret plottings and solemn council, and the frantic Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 83 agitation of the Jewish people. There were one or two comic touches and rude jests, as in the greedy grasping of Judas after the pieces of silver, and the eager quarrelling of the Roman soldiers throwing dice for the seamless coat. The theatre was not roofed, but was erected at the bottom of a green valley flanked by pictur- esque mountains. The effect of all this on the peasants was said to be excellent. No one was permitted to appear even in the chorus unless of unimpeachable character. THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROSE AT SALENCY. St. Medard or Mard, who died in 545, was in his youth im- pulsively generous. One night a thief entered his garden and stole his grapes ; but, losing his way in the dark, was caught and brought before Medard. All that the saint said was, " Let him go ; I have given him the grapes." It was St. Mard who founded the Festival of the Rose at Salency. He charged his family estate with a fund sujfficient to yield a sum of money, to be given annually with a crown of roses to the best -behaved girl in the village. Not only must the girl have the highest character, but her parents also. As lord of the manor, he had the privilege of selecting one of three girls, who were presented to him as candi- dates. When he had named the successful one, he announced it next Sunday from the pulpit, and asked all who had any objections to bring them forward. Then at the day and hour appointed, the Rosi^re, dressed in white, and attended by twelve girls in white with blue sashes, and twelve boys, went to the castle in a procession, and thence to the church. Vespers were sung, and afterwards the priest took the crown or hat of roses from the altar, blessed it, and gave her the hat and a purse con- taining twenty-five francs. The procession retui-ned to the chm*ch, where a Te Deum was chanted with an anthem. This custom was said to be a standing encouragement for centuries of the good behaviour of all the girls in the parish. « THE ROSARY. The Rosary is a festival instituted to commemorate the victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571. It was a practice of the ancient anchorites to count the number of their prayers by little stones or grains. In the twelfth century one lady was said to recite every day sixty angelical salutations. Peter the Hermit taught the laity who would not read the Psalter to say a certain number of " Our Fathers " and Hail Martyrs." 84 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. St. Dominic was eminent for encouraging the custom of reciting fifteen decades of the angelical salutations, with one "Our Father " before each decade, in honour of the principal mysteries of the Incarnation. This repetition of a hundred and fifty angelical salutations was instituted by him in imitation of the hundi-ed and fifty Psalms, on which account the Rosary has been often called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin. THE MILLENNIUM EXPECTED IN 1000. As the year 1000 approached, among the many senseless notions then prevalent, and industriously cherished by the priests for the sake of lucre, was the persuasion that the last day was at hand. This doctrine had been broached in the preceding century, grounded upon the Revelation of St. John, and now was generally taught and received in Europe, and produced an excessive terror in the minds of the people. Por the apostle had clearly foretold, as was taken for granted, that, after the tenth decade from the birth of Christ, Satan would be let loose. Antichrist would come, and the destruction of the earth would ensue. Hence gi-eat numbers, leaving their possessions and giving them to churches or monasteries, repaired to Palestine, where they thought that Christ would descend from heaven to judge the world. Others solemnly devoted themselves and all their goods to churches, monasteries, and the clergy, and entered their service as bond-slaves, per- forming a daily task. Their hope was that, if found in such a condition of life, their fate would be more favourably judged. Hence, when an eclipse of the sun or moon happened, they fled to rocks and caverns to hide themselves. Crowds flocked to be near where the Saviour was expected to appear for judgment. Others consecrated their eflfects at once to God and the saints — that is, to priests and friars. Hence many also suffered their houses to go to ruin, thinking these would soon be of no use. This delusion was not got rid of till the end of the eleventh century. THE CHURCH-BUILDING AGE. As the millennium had been expected by all Christendom to occur in the year 1000, most pious people at that date suspended all undertakings of a lasting character. When the time arrived and the event did not take place, a passion arose to build churches. Old churches were taken down, and new churches built on a larger scale and with splendid embellishments. Charlemagne's cathedral at Aix, which had been copied from the Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 85 Byzantine type, was imitated in many churches built along the Rhine. St. Mark's at Venice was built about that time. The art of staining glass was supposed to be invented or greatly extended at this period, and the cathedral of Rheims was de- scribed as having windows adorned with divers histories. THE ROUND TOWERS OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. The learned men of many generations have been much exer- cised as to the origin, object, and use of the round towers, of which there are two in Scotland and seventy-six in Ireland, and, like the campaniles of Italy, are altogether detached from any neighbour- ing structure. In Scotland one is at Brechin, and the other at Abernethy. The height is eighty-six and seventy-two feet ; the building tapers gradually, and the interior is divided into seven sections. The entrance in one case is on the west side ; the other on the north side, in the form of a semicircular arch, surmounted by a figure of the Crucifixion, a small statue on each side, one carrying a pastoral staff, the other a cross-headed staff, and also a book. The walls are three and a half feet thick, and the diameter of one is about thirteen feet and the other eight feet in the interior. These structures are both in ancient church- yards. The learned have concluded that the Scotch towers were erected by Irish monks between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Those being warlike ages, it is conjectured that they were meant as a defence against the savage irruptions of the Danes — not only as a refuge for ecclesiastics, but also as a secure hiding-place for relics, shrines, books, bells, crosiers, and other treasures of the Church. PETER DAMIANI ADVOCATES WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN. Peter Damiani was born at Bavenna in 1002, and soon became a famous teacher. He developed a strong turn for asceticism, wore sackcloth, fasted and prayed, and used to tame his passions by rising from bed and standing for hours in a stream till his limbs were cold and stiff, and then he would hasten to visit churches and recite the Psalter. Once, on offering a silver cup to some monks as a present to their abbot, and which they refused because it was too heavy to carry, he was so pleased with their unworldly views that he soon became monk, and no one could equal him in his austerities. He was early enlisted by Hildebrand to propagate the doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope over all emperors and kings ; and though his style of preaching was only a rhapsody of 86 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. scriptural phrases and allegories, he always carried out the High Church doctrines of his employer. He distinguished himself by his deification of the Virgin and his devotion to flagellation. His glorification of the Virgin consisted in making her the centre of all power in heaven and in earth. His enthusiasm on this subject led to offices of prayer being framed for her, which afterwards became developed into a series of prayers known as the Rosary. But Damiani's masterpiece was the discovery and education of Dominic, a priest, and the greatest master of the art of self- flagellation. Dominic wore a light iron cuirass, which he never put off" except to chastise himself. His body and arms were confined by iron rings, his neck loaded with heavy chains, his clothes were scanty rags. His usual exercise was to recite the Psalter twice a day, while he flogged himself with both hands at the rate of a thousand lashes to ten psalms. These self- flagellations were said to serve as a satisfaction for the sins of other men. This system of Dominic was extolled by Damiani as something divine. Damiani was also a determined enemy to the marriage of the clergy, which he denounced as a very Gomorrah. By Hildebrand's influence he was made a cardinal, and died in 1072. THE TRUCE OF GOD. At the end of the tenth century Guido, Bishop of Buy, in Velai, was said to be the first to establish the Treuga De% which was the origin of the great expedient for securing peace, emanating a century later from the monks of Cluny. The Council of Clermont (1095) decreed that the Truce of God should be observed during the leading Church festivals, and every week from sunset on Wednesday till sunrise on Monday. At the Council of Soissons in 1155 King Louis VII. and many princes assembled, and swore to observe the Truce of God inviolably. And in 1209 the Pope's legate prescribed its observance to the barons of France. Others say that the Truce of God was brought into prominence by Rudolph the Bald in 1033, as in that year there had been, after three years' famine, a most abundant harvest, and the clergy suggested that men's minds would then be well disposed to any sacrifice, more especially as the recent events connected with the expected millennium in 1000 were still in vivid remembrance. The Council of Limoges resolved that those who refused to adopt a similar practice, called the Peace of God, should be excommunicated, and their country laid under an interdict. Yet there was a vigorous opponent, named Gerard of Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 87 Cambray, who protested that war was an affair of state in which the clergy had no business to interfere ; moreover, that the exercise of arms was sanctioned by Scripture. But the vast majority of the people welcomed the new practice, and the time chosen, between the evening of Wednesday and the dawn of Monday, was noted to include the interval between the Saviour's betrayal and the Resurrection. The time was soon, however, abridged. Odilo of Cluny had been a prominent advocate of this restriction on the military barbarism of his time ; and William the Conqueror, before the Conquest, had also joined in its observance. THE NUMBER SEVEN IN SCRIPTURE. Students of Scripture have noticed how frequently the number seven is chosen as the standard for a vast variety of computations. The seventh day after the Creation God rested. The children of Israel on the seventh day of the seventh month feasted seven days and remained seven days in tents. The seventh year was the Sabbath of rest for all things : for the land lying fallow ; for release of debts. Seven was fixed for Jacob's years of serving for Eachel ; for years of plenty and then for famine in Egypt ; for fat beasts and lean beasts ; for ears of full corn and blasted corn ; for bullocks and rams sacrificed ; for King Ahasuerus' feast days ; for Queen Esther's maids of honour ; for days of unleavened bread ; for days of feast of tabernacles ; for Joseph mourning ; for Churches of Asia ; for golden candlesticks ; for stars, lamps, seals, angels, devils, phials of wrath. It is noticed that our Saviour spoke seven times from the cross, remained seven hours, appeared seven times. Then there were seven heavens, planets, stars ; seven notes in music, primary colours, deadly sins, senses. A child was not named before se\^en days ; the teeth sprang in the seventh month, renewed in the seventh year ; faculties develop in thrice seven years, and life extends to ten times seven. THE POPE MAKING A JUBILEE YEAR. In 1300 Pope Boniface VIII., whose chief objects were ambition, avarice, and revenge, celebrated with religious ceremonies the year of Jubilee. A rumour had been raised in 1299 among the people of Kome that whosoever in the ensuing year should visit the temple of St. Peter might obtain remission of all his sins, and that this blessing and felicity was annexed to every secular year. Boniface ordered inquir}^ to be made into the truth of this common opinion, and found, from the testimony of many witnesses of 88 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. undoubted credit, that it was decreed from the most ancient times that they who repaired to St. Peter's Church with a devout disposition on the first day of the secular year should obtain indulgences of a hundred years. The Pope, therefore, by a cir- cular epistle addressed to all Christian people, declared that those who at this time would piously visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, confessing their offences, and declaring their sorrow for them, should receive an absolute and plenary remission. The successors of Boniface not only adorned this institution with many new rites, but, learning by experience how honoured and how lucrative it was to the Church of Rome, brought it within a narrower compass of time, so that soon every twenty-fifth year was a year of Jubilee. From every part of Latin Christendom crowds of the faithful began to pour towards Rome. John Villani, the chronicler, who was present, estimates that there were 200,000 strangers in the city. Another chronicler describes the multitudes as resembling an army constantly marching both ways along the street. And even the poet Dante, who was then a visitor, being away from the republic of Florence, watched the people in their multitudes passing to and from St. Peter's, along the bridge of St. Angelo, which, to prevent confusion, had a partition erected to facilitate the passengers. Some authors say that the magnificence of the scene gave the poet, and also a contemporary chronicler, the idea of composing their respective works. The coffers of the Pope were filled to overflowing, and one chronicler says he saw at St. Paul's two of the official clergy raking together infinite heaps of money. Boniface was so intoxi- cated with his success that next day he showed himself in the attire of an emperor, with a sword in his hand, explaining that he was Caesar and emperor, as well as successor of St. Peter. Boniface, in his soaring ambition to subject to his jurisdiction all temporal powers, met in Philip the Fair of France an antagonist as keen and unscrupulous as himself, and their quarrels have amused posterity. He died of insanity and rage in 1303. VILLANl's ACCOUNT OF THE JUBILEE IN 1300. John Villani, the chronicler of Florence, who died of the plague in 1348, thus relates his visit to Rome at the Jubilee of 1300 : " For the consolation of the Christian pilgrims every Friday and solemn festival, there was shown in St. Peter's the sudarium of Christ ; on which account a great portion of the Christians then living made this pilgrimage, women as well as men, from different and distant countries, from afar off as from near places. Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 89 And it was the most astonishing thing that ever was seen, how continually throughout the whole year they had in Home, beside the Roman people, 200,000 pilgrims, besides those who were on the road going and coming ; and all were furnished and satisfied with food in just measure, men and horses, with great patience and without noise or contentions, and I can bear witness to it, for I was present and saw it. And from the offerings made by the pilgrims the Church gained great treasure, and the Romans from supplying them all grew rich. And I, finding myself in that blessed pilgrimage in the holy city of Rome, seeing her great and ancient remains, and reading the histories and great deeds of the Romans, as written by Virgil, Sallust, Lucan, Li\y, Valerius, Paulus, Orosius, and other masters of history, who wrote the exploits and deeds, both great and small, of the Romans, and also of strangers in the whole world, to leave a record and example to those who are to come, so I took style and form from them, though as a disciple I was not worthy to do so gi-eat a work, and I began to compile a book in honour of God and of the Blessed John, and in praise of our city of Florence." A PIOUS ARAB king's PRAYER FOR RAIN (a.D. 1343). In 1343 Juzef Ben Ismail, King of Granada, made a truce of ten years with King Alphonso of Castile, and was noted for his pious laws and ordinances. Among other reforms he forbade people to go through the streets praying for rain, as he said those who made that offering should go forth to the fields with much devotion and humility, and utter the following prayer : " Lord Allah, Thou, the ever merciful, who hast created us out of nothing, and knowest our faults, by Thy clemency, Lord, Thou, who dost not desire to destroy us, regard not our shortcomings, but rather consider Thy mercy and longsuffering. Thou who hast no need of us or our services, Lord, have pity upon Thy innocent creatures, the unconscious animals and birds of the air, who find not wherewithal to sustain their lives. Look upon the earth which Thou hast created, and upon the plants thereof, which perish and are wasted for lack of the waters that should be their nourishment. O Lord Allah, open to us Thy heavens, turn upon us the blessing of Thy waters, let us again be refreshed with Thy life-giving airs, and send upon us that mercy that shall revive and refresh the dying earth, giving succour and support to Thy creatures, that the infidel may no longer say Thou hast ceased to hear the prayer of Thy true believers. O Lord, we implore Thee by Thy great mercy, for 90 FLO\^^RS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Thou lookest with pity on all Thy creatures. O Lord Allah, in Thee it is we believe, Thee we adore, from Thee we hope for pardon for our errors, and at Thy hands we seek for succour in our need." THE TERROR OF THE BLACK DEATH IN 1348. The black death, which was said to have carried off one-fourth of the population in four years, and in England carried off half the population, was a disease which puzzled the scientific men of the period. Carbuncles, tumours, spots on arms and thighs, became fatal in about three days, and the disease spread like fire among dry fuel. The effect on society was enormous. Merchants of unbounded wealth began to carry their treasures to monasteries and churches, and to lay them at the foot of the altar ; but the monks in their turn shuddered at the gift, as in their view it only brought death, and they threw it over the convent walls. People were driven by despair to take up pious works as a last defence. In Avignon the Pope found it necessary to consecrate the Rhone, so that bodies might be thrown into the river as the speediest mode of burial. The morals of the people suffered by the hopeless and ghastly spectacles around, for churches were deserted by priests, and the people without shepherds gave way to covetousness as well as licentiousness. When the alarm was over, there was a notable increase of lawyers, who, like locusts, devoured the property left without owners. The plague raged from 1347 to 1350; and owing to the Pope Clement VI. appoint- ing a jubilee in 1350, and a vast concourse of pilgrims to Rome, it was said that scarcely one in a hundred escaped alive. The Brotherhood of the Cross or of the Flagellants reappeared at this time, which betokened the end of the world to many, and, taking on themselves the sins of the people, went about scourging them- selves in churches and markets, as a mode of averting the wrath of Heaven. This imposing sacrificial ceremony had been invented about a century before by Dominic, and was kept up from time to time in various countries. The panic of the black death was in some places ascribed to the infidel practices of Jews, who were accordingly hunted to death and burnt in their syna- gogues, or put to the sword without compunction. The physicians of the period were all at their wits' end how to administer remedies to those requiring a remedy. Among those carried off by this scourge was John Villani, the historian, and Laura, the beloved of Petrarch. Though the black death was so fatal in England, it was noted that Ireland escaped. Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 91 THE DANCING MANIA AND SWEATING SICKNESS IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND. Scarcely had the panic of the black death subsided when a delusion arose in Germany, a demoniacal epidemic, called the dance of St. John or St. Vitus, which seized upon people, con- vulsing body and soul, and leading them to perform a wild dance, screaming and foaming with fury. Assemblages of these fanatics became prominent in 1374, and continued more or less to exhibit the same fascination for about two centuries. They first broke out at Aix-la-Chapelle among crowds who were said to come from Germany, who formed circles hand in hand, whirling about for hours together in wild delirium, shrieking, and insensible to the wonder, horror, and jeers of the bystanders. After the fit they fell down and groaned, as if in the agonies of death, when their companions swathed them in cloths tightly drawn round the wrists, and then thumped or trampled on the parts affected. Some after this frenzy pretended to see the heavens open, and the Saviour and the Virgin Mary enthroned and beckoning to them. The clergy were gradually led to believe that these people were possessed of devils which required to be exorcised. The people affected were mostly of the class of poor, and little removed from vagabondism. Another visitation of a kindred nature was the sweating sickness, which was a violent inflammatory fever, that after a short rigor prostrated the powers as with a blow, and amid painful oppression of the stomach, headache, and lethargic stupor suffused the body with a fetid perspiration. In England it prevailed in 1485, and some chroniclers estimated that scarcely one in a hundred escaped when once seized ; and it was said to be locally confined to England, and did not extend either to Scotland or Ireland or Calais. The disease was said to be traced to a season of heavy torrents of rain and inundations of rivers. THE MONK FLAGELLANTS. The austerities of monks for ages had created an admiration for the practice of flagellation, and this grew till a new sect arose, which believed in this as a supreme rule of life. Sovereign princes, as Raymond of Toulouse, kings, as Henry II. of England, had yielded their backs to the scourge. And St. Louis of France used it as if it were a daily luxury. Peter Damiani had taught it by precept and example. Dominic, called the Cuirassier, had invented or popularised by his fame the usage of singing psalms to the accompaniment of self-scourging. At last, about 1259, all 92 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ranks, both sexes, all ages, were possessed with this madness; nobles, wealthy merchants, modest and delicate women, even children of five years old, admired it. They stripped themselves naked to the waist, covered their faces that they might not be known, and went two and two in solemn slow procession with a cross and a banner before them, scourging themselves till the blood tracked their steps, and shrieking out their doleful psalms. They travelled from city to city. Whenever they entered a city, the contagion seized the onlookers. They marched by night as well as by day. The busy mart and the crowded streets were visited by processions; in the dead midnight the sound of the scourge and the screaming chant were accompanied with tapers and torches. Thirty-three days and a half, the number of the years of our Lord's sojourn on earth, was the usual period of this penance. In the burning heat of summer, and when the wintry roads were deep with snow, the crowds moved on. At length the madness wore itself out. Some princes and magistrates, finding it was not sanctioned by the Roman See or by the authority of any great saint, began to interpose, and after being for a time an object of respectful wonder the practice sank into general contempt. A contemporary tells us that in the height of the mania for flagellation the fields and mountains echoed with the voices of the sinners calling to God. Usurers and robbers restored their ill-gotten gains, criminals confessed their sins and renounced their vices, the prison doors were thrown open, and the captives walked forth ; homicides offered themselves on their knees with drawn swords to the kindred of their victims, and were embraced with tears ; old enemies were forgiven, and exiles were permitted to return to their homes. The movement spread to the Rhine lands, and throughout Germany and Bohemia. But the excite- ment disappeared as rapidly as it came, and was even denounced as a heresy. Ulberto Pallavicino was resolved to keep the new heretics out of Milan, and erected three hundred gibbets by the roadside, at the sight of which the enthusiasts abruptly retraced their steps, and their enthusiasm left them. EXTRAVAGANT DRESS OF CLERGY IN 1347. Dress was carried to a pitch of costliness and vanity in the time of Edward III. Men holchng dignities, parsonages, prebends, benefices with cure of souls, treated the tonsure with scorn, and allowed their hair to hang down over their shoulders. They imitated the dress of soldiers, having an upper jump remarkably short and wide, and long hanging sleeves not covering the elbows. Chap, iv.] EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS. 93 Their hair was curled and powdered. They wore caps with tippets of great length, rings on their fingers, long beards, costly girdles, to which were attached purses enamelled with figures, and sculptured knives hanging at their sides to look like swords. Theii" sleeves were chequered with red and green, exceedingly long, and pinked with various colours. They had also ornamented cruppers to their saddles, and baubles hke horns hanging down from their horses' necks, and their cloaks were furred at the edge, though this was contrary to canonical rules. TELLING FORTUNES BY THE BIBLE. In the sixth century an abuse crept into religious circles of using the Bible, like a book of fate, to discover future events. Csesarius, Bishop of Aries, warned his people agamst many of the current superstitions, such as a superstition against sneezing, considering Friday an unlucky day, etc. He told them not to return anybody's salutation on the way, but on starting merely to make the sign of the cross and trust the rest to the Lord. One abuse, however, withstood all his efforts, and that was the practice of seeking for oracles in the Bible. St. Augustine also, a century before, had observed on this pagan practice. He said the custom displeased him of wishing to use the Word of God, which speaks in reference to another life, for worldly concerns and the vain objects of the present life. Even among the clergy the abuse prevailed. In doubtful earthly concerns persons would lay down a Bible in a church upon the altar, or especially on the grave of a saint, would fast and pray and invoke the saint that he would indicate the future by a passage of Scripture, and sought for the answer on the first passage which met the eye on opening the Bible. Against the practice a decree of the Council of Agde, in 508, was made, to the effect that since many persons, both of the clergy and laity, practised divination under the semblance of religion, or promised a disclosui-e of the future by looking into the Scriptures, all who advised or taught this were to be excluded from Church communion. 94 CHAPTER V. DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS, JEWS, IMAGE WOR- SHIPPERS, AND CIVIL POWERS. THE NAME OF CHRISTIAN. Though for the last sixteen centuries the name of Christian has been used throughout the whole world, this descriptive word was not much used in the first four centuries. The Christians used to call each other disciples, believers, elect, saints, and brethren. Third parties called them at first Jesseans, spiritual physicians, or gnostics. When heretics or followers of peculiar opinions of a novel kind arose, these were called by the name of their leaders, as Mar- cionites, Valentinians, Donatists ; while those holding the standard or orthodox opinions adhered to the name of Christians or Catholic Churchmen. The heathen often called the new body Jews, as the early Christians were of that race. There were also names of reproach given by the heathen, such as Nazarenes, Galileans, atheists, Greeks, impostors, magicians, superstitionists, Sibyllists, self-murderers (on account of their desire for martyrdom), des- peradoes, fagot-men (from being so often burned), skulkers (from meeting in secret). The division between clergy and laity was soon acknowledged, all those who held regular offices in the Church being called clerici, or clerics, or clerks ; and to this day the word " clerk " is the proper legal denomination of a priest of the Church of England. The origin of the word is disputed, but is generally traced to the Greek word " cleros," signifying that the clergy at first were chosen by lot. AN EARLY PAGAN RIOT AGAINST CHRISTIANS. The teaching of Chi-istian doctrines seems to have already begun to tell upon Pagan practices when St. Paul worked at Ephesus. After he had been preaching there two years, the Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 95 great feasts and shows connected with the worship of Diana came round. A silversmith, named Demetrius, found out during the fair that his little silver shrines were not sold so extensively as before, and that business was slack. He spoke to many in the trade, and they all agreed that their business had fallen off, and that it could be caused by nothing but by the missionary preaching of Paul. So they resolved to hold an indignation meeting, and, if necessary, get rid of this new-fangled sect. Demetrius harangued the mob, and they all shouted, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " and " Down with the Jews ! " They all rushed to seize that invidious sect. Paul was concealed from the popular vengeance by Priscilla and her husband. The crowd then rushed to the theatre, which was large enough to hold 30,000 people. Paul wanted to address the excited audience, but his friends warned him to avoid it. One Alexander was asked to satisfy them that all the Jews were not Christians. The yelling and confusion grew worse. At last the town clerk made a most businesslike speech, never to be forgotten for worldly wisdom, and which amounted to this — that if Paul or the Christians had done wrong, the law was open to the persons thereby aggrieved, but that this was no excuse for di*agging them about and maltreating them. This soon quelled the storm, and the mob became more peaceable. And soon after Paul left the city, and went elsewhere to carry out his missionary labours. THE EARLY CHRISTIANS AND SLAVERY. The Pagans treated slavery as an integral part of society, and their wisest men never dreamt of a time when slaves could be dispensed with. On the contrary, one radical doctrine of Chris- tianity being that all men are brethren, it is at first difiicult to understand how it took eighteen centuries to bear upon this old vice. Dr. Schaff, in his " History of the Apostolic Church," states the reasons in this way : The Apostles did not attempt even a sudden political and social abolition, and would have discoun- tenanced any stormy and tumultuous measures to that effect. For, in the first place, the immediate abolition of slavery could never have been effected without a revolution which would have involved everything in confusion, a radical reconstruction of the whole domestic and social life with which the system is interwoven. In the next place, a sudden emancipation would not have bettered the condition of the slaves themselves, but would have rather made it worse, for outward liberation, in order to work well, must be prepared by moral training for the rational use of freedom, 96 F'LOWERS OP* CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and by education until majority was attained. And this can only be done by a gradual process. Paul, moreover (1 Cor. vii. 17), lays down the general principle that Christianity primarily proposes no change in the outward relations in which God has placed a man by birth, education, or fortune ; but teaches him rather to strive for a higher point of view, and to attain glimpses of a new spirit, until in time a suitable change shall be worked out. He recommends Christians to emancipate their slaves (Eph. vi. 9), and he himself sent back Onesimus, a runaway slave, to his master, asking that master to receive the slave kindly. He does not exhort slaves to burst their bonds, but to give reverential and single-hearted obedience to their masters for the time being. NERO AND THE FIRST PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS. St. Paul was released from his first trial at Rome in a.d. 63, and the next year Rome was devastated by a great conflagration. Some say that the Emperor Nero set fire to one place, and this, owing to the inflammable materials, spread in all directions, and the inhabitants fled to the fields. Men were going about with torches, saying that they had orders to spread the fire, though perhaps this was only an excuse for plunder. Nero at the moment was at Antium, and did not return till his own palace had caught fire. He set apart the Campus Martius and his own gardens whereon to fix temporary structures to accommodate the houseless. A general report was circulated that Nero went on the stage of his private theatre while the city was burning, and sang " The Fall of Troy," as being similar in its catastrophe. At length on the sixth day numbers of buildings had been demolished, so as to intercept the flames. The capital was rebuilt with wider streets. Meanwhile the rumour spread more and more that Nero had himiself ordered the fire. To stop this rumour Nero accused and punished with exquisite tortures the people called Christians. Many were clothed in skins of wild animals and torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified, or set on fire, and were burned like lamps. Nero made a holiday spectacle of these atrocities, riding about like a charioteer in the circus. Tacitus, though referring to Christ as a Jewish malefactor put to death by Pilate, and treating Christianity as an Eastern superstition, yet said the people were slain, not for the public good, but because of the cruelty of one man. This is usually called the first persecution of the Christians. Four years later Paul was tried again at Rome for some offence, and it is usually believed that he perished there by the sword. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 97 HOW THE EARLY CHRISTIANS APPEARED TO PAGANS. Pliny the younger, one of the most eminent advocates of Rome, and full of sprightliness and good-nature, when appointed a governor of Pontus and Bithynia, near the Black Sea, wrote to the Emperor Trajan in 101 this account of the Christians, who used to be charged before him for refusing to worship the Pagan gods. He said : " Some who said they had once been Christians aflii-med the whole of their guilt or their error to be, that they met on a certain stated day before it was light, and addressed themselves in some form of prayer to Christ or to some god, binding themselves by a solemn oath — not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery — never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up, after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to eat in common a harmless meal. I tried to extort the real truth by putting two female slaves to the torture who were said to administer religious functions, but I could discover nothing more than an absurd and excessive superstition on their part. This contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread its infection among the country villages. Nevertheless, it still seems possible to remedy this evil and restrain its progress. It is possible that numbers might be reclaimed from their error if a pardon were granted to those who shall repent." The tone of this letter showed that Pliny had misgivings as to the proper way of treating the new sect. The Emperor in reply said that Pliny seemed to have acted rightly, though it was difficult to lay down a rule ; but that though these Christians were not to be run after, yet should they chance to be accused and convicted they ought to be punished. CHRISTIANITY OPPOSES SHOWS OF WILD BEASTS. The brutal spectacles in which Pagan Rome delighted — the fights of gladiators, and the combats of men with beasts — roused the indignation of the Christians. Not merely did women crowd the amphitheatre during these fierce and almost naked encounters, but it was the especial privilege of the Vestal virgins to give the signal for the mortal blow, and to watch the sword driven into the quivering entrails of the victim. St. Augustine describes the frenzy and fascination of the spectators for these brutal shows. A Christian student of the law was once compelled by the im- portunity of his friends to enter the amphitheatre. He sat with his eyes closed and his mind totally abstiacted from the scene. 7 98 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. He was suddenly startled from his trance by a tremendous shont from the whole audience. He opened his eyes. He could not choose but gaze on the spectacle. Directly he beheld the blood, his heart caught the common frenzy; he could not choose to turn away; his eyes were riveted on the arena. The interest, the excitement, the pleasure grew into complete intoxication. He looked on, he shouted, he was inflamed ; he carried away from the amphitheatre an irresistible propensity to return to its cruel enjoyments. Emperor after emperor gradually prohibited first one part then another part of these disgusting spectacles, being influenced by the persistent remonstrances of Christians. The progress was not, however, very rapid. At last an Eastern monk, named Telemachus, travelled all the way to Rome, in order to protest against the disgraceful barbarities. In his noble enthu- siasm he leaped into the arena to separate the combatants ; but whether with or without the sanction of the prefect or that of the infuriated assembly, he was torn to pieces — a martyr to Christian humanity. The impression of this awful scene of a Christian and a monk thus murdered in the arena was so pro- found, that Honorius (who died 423) issued an edict, putting an end to such bloody spectacles. This edict, however, only suppressed the mortal combats of men ; the conflict of wild beasts continued till the supply was cut off by the narrowing of the limits of the empire. The distant provinces no longer rendered their accustomed contributions of lions from Libya, leopards from the East, dogs of remarkable ferocity from Scotland, crocodiles and bears and other wild animals from remote regions. Towards the end the improving humanity of the people allowed artificial methods to be substituted, so as to excite the fury of the beasts without endangering the lives of the combatants. In the West these games sank with the Western Empire ; in the East they disap- peared at the close of the seventh century under the prohibition of the Council of TniUo. EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS TESTING THE FIDELITY OF CHRISTIANS. Sozomen says that the Emperor Constantius (who died at York in 306) wished to test the fidelity of certain Christians as excellent and good men who were attached to his palace. He called them all together, and told them that if they would sacrifice to idols as well as serve God they should remain in his service and retain their appointments ; but that if they refused compliance with his wishes, they should be sent from the palace, and should scarcely escape his vengeance. When difference of judgment had divided Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 99 them into two parties, separating those who consented to abandon their rehgion from those who preferred the honour of God to their present welfare, the Emperor determined upon retaining those who had adhered to their faith as his friends and counsellors ; but he turned away from the others, whom he regarded as un- manly impostors, and sent them from his presence, judging that those who had so readily betrayed their God could not be faithful to their king. Hence, as Christians were deservedly retained in the service of Constantius, he was not wilHng that Christianity should be accounted unlawful in the countries beyond the confines of Italy — that is to say, in Gaul, in Britain, or in the region of the Pyrenean mountains as far as the Western Ocean. CONSTANTINE THE GREAT FIRST FAVOURS THE CHRISTIANS. Constantine the Great, son of the Emperor Constantius, deserved the appellation of the first emperor who publicly professed and established the Christian religion, and in whose epoch, accordingly, all Christendom is interested. While the Pagans represented him as a disgraceful tyi-ant, the Christians treat him as a hero, or even as a saint, and equal to the Apostles. His stature was lofty, his countenance majestic, and his deportment graceful. He delighted in society, and had a turn for raillery; and, though rather illiterate, he was indefatigable in business, and a con- summate general in the field. He accepted the purple at York, where his father, Constantius, died in 306, and in his career gained signal victories over the foreign and domestic policy of the republic. In the last fourteen years of his life (323 — 337) he was said to have degenerated, being corrupted by fortune, and growing rapacious and prodigal. He affected an effeminate and luxurious dress. He is represented with false hair of various colours, laboriously arranged by the skilful artists of the times ; a diadem of expensive fashion ; a profusion of gems and pearls, of collars and bracelets ; and a variegated and flowing robe of silk, most curiously embroidered with flowers of gold. He was twice married, and had an only son, Crispus, by the first wife, and by the second wife, Fausta, three daughters and three sons. Crispus was amiable and popular, and had been a pupil of the eloquent Christian Lactantius, but he soon incurred the suspicion and jealousy of his father, and was, owing to the intrigues and jealousies of the second family, put to death. Constantine, it was said, then discovered the falsehood of the charges against his son, erected a golden statue to his memory, and the cruel stepmother, in turn, was said to have suffered death or imprison- 100 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ment. In his latter days Constantine had to chastise the pride of the Goths, then led by Alarie, and spreading terror and desola- tion. In 337 Constantine, the only emperor since Augustus who had reigned so long as thirty years, died at the age of sixty -four at Nicomedia. His body, adorned with purple and diadem, was transported to Constantinople, and deposited on a golden bed, at which the great officials, with bended knees, offered their respectful homage as seriously as if he had been alive, so that his flatterers remarked that by the peculiar indulgence of Heaven he reignc d after his death. constantine's standard of the gross. When Constantine, in 324, was invested with the sole dominion of the Roman world, he exhorted, by circular letters, all his subjects to imitate without delay his example and embrace the Divine truths of Christianity. The Christians, knowing that the Em- peror's father, Constantius, was on their side, had looked to the elevation of Constantine as intimately connected with the designs of Providence, and they confidently expected some Divine and miraculous aid to attest the great revolution in the world's affairs then at hand. History accordingly has preserved full particulars of the standard, the dream, and the celestial sign which sealed their hopes. The Emperor took measures to have the standard of the cross affixed to his own statue, and on the helmets, shields, and banners of his army. The principal standard was styled the labarum, which was a long pike intersected by a ti-ansverse beam, from which hung down a silken veil, which was curiously in- wrought with the images of the reigning monarch and his children. The summit of the pike supported a crown of gold, which enclosed the mysterious monogram at once expressive of the figure of the cross and the initial letters of the name of Christ. The safety of the labarum was entrusted to fifty guards of approved valour and fidelity. The opinion soon grew that so long as the guards of the labarum were in the execution of their office, they were secure and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy. The sight of the standard gave the troops an invincible enthusiasm, and scattered terror and dismay among the enemies. There is still extant a medal of the Emperor Constantine, where the standard of the labarvmfi is accompanied with these memorable words, " By this sign tkou shalt cmiquer ! " THE DREAM OF CONSTANTINE. In the age of Constantine the sign of the qross had come to be Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. lOl used by the primitive Christians in all their ecclesiastical rites, in all the daily occurrences of life, as an infallible preservative against every species of spiritual and temporal evil. A contemporary writer affirms with perfect confidence that in the night which preceded the last battle against Maxentius Constantine was admonished in a dream to inscribe the shields of his soldiers with the celestial sign of God, the sacred monogram of the name of Christ; that he executed the commands of Heaven; and that his valour and obedience were rewarded by the decisive victory of the Milvian Bridge. The senate and people, exulting in the success of Constantine, acknowledged that his victory surpassed the power of man. The triumphal arch which was erected about three years after the event recognised that by an instinct or impulse of the Divinity Constantine had saved and avenged the Roman Republic. Twenty-six years after the event the historian Eusebius narrates that in one of his marches Constantine saw a luminous cross in the sky inscribed with the words, " By tins conquer," and this sign astonished the whole army ; and that in a vision of the ensuing night Christ appeared to the Emperor, displaying the same celestial sign of the cross, and directing him to march with an assurance of victory. These incidents were universally adopted, as undoubted truths, by the Catholic Church both of the East and the West ; but it is noted by the sceptics that, though the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries often celebrated the triumphs of Constantine, they do not allude to these signs and wonders as accompanying the event. THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE PREACHING (A.D. 314). The Emperor Constantine revolutionised the Empire by giving a chief place to Christian doctrines and practices. He issued an edict of toleration in 313 ; decreed the observance of Sunday, the use of prayer in the army ; abolished the punishment of crucifixion, gladiatorial games, infanticide, private divinations ; and encouraged slave emancipation. He was a great admirer of good preaching. Eusebius says he himself once delivered a sermon in the palace before the marvellous man on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There was a crowded audience. The Emperor stood erect the whole time ; would not be induced to sit down on the throne close by; paid the utmost attention; would not hear of the sermon being too long ; insisted on its continuance ; and on being entreated to sit down, replied, with a frown, that he could not bear to hear the truths of religion in any easier posture. More often he was himself the preacher, and one sermon of his is preserved 102 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. by Eusebius. These sermons were always in Latin, but they were translated into Greek by interpreters appointed for the purpose. On these occasions a general invitation was issued, and thousands of people flocked to the palace to hear the Emperor do duty as the preacher. He stood erect, and then with a set countenance and grave voice poured forth his address, to which, at the striking passages, the audience responded with loud cheers of approbation. He usually discoursed on the follies of Paganism, the scheme of Providence and redemption, and the avarice and rapacity of courtiei-s. THE LAST ILLNESS OF CONSTANTINE (a.D. 337). The Emperor Constantine was anxious to see a reunion of the Arian and Athanasian controversialists ; but owing to the sudden death of Arius at a critical moment, and, as was often surmised, by a Divine judgment, the opportunity lapsed. Constantine had been seized with sudden illness while preparing for his Persian expedition, and he tried the mineral waters near Helenopolis in vain. He now bethought himself of the necessity of baptism, which he had omitted, though he had been for twenty-five years convinced of the Christian faith. In the church of Helenopolis he was admitted a catechumen by the imposition of hands. He then cast off his imperial purple robes and assumed those of dazzling whiteness, and was baptised by an Arian bishop, but nevertheless ordered the recall of the orthodox Athanasius. He was greatly comforted at the accomplishment of his baptism, and on his deathbed bade his friends rejoice at his speedy departure. He died at the age of sixty-four. His body was laid out in a cojQin of gold, and carried by a procession of the whole army to Constantinople. For thi'ee months the body lay in state in the palace, lights burning around and guards watching. The Bishop of Nicomedia, who had been entrusted with the Emperor's will, alarmed at its contents, placed it for security in the dead man's hand till his son Constantius arrived. It was believed to express the Emperor's conviction that he had been poisoned by his brothers and their children, and to call on Constantius to avenge his death. That bequest was obeyed by the massacre of six princes of the imperial family. Prayers were offered up to the dead Emperor, and miracles were beUeved to be wroiight by him. THE FIRST CHURCH COUNCIL OF NICE (a.D. 325). When the first great Church controversy arose as to the Trinity, the Emperor Constantine summoned the first great Council of Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 103 the Church at Nice in 325 to settle this and other doubtful points. Three hundred bishops attended, with many presbyters and deacons and laity. The assembly sat in solemn silence till the Emperor entered with great state and glittering with jewels. The whole assembly rose to do him honour. He advanced with modest dignity to a low golden seat, and did not take the seat till a sign of permission had been given by the bishops. A leading prelate began with a short address and hymn ; then the Emperor delivered an exhortation to unity. The debate next began, and mutual accusations, defences, and recriminations followed, the Emperor occasionally softening asperities and commending pacific views. The council sat two months, and at the end the Emperor invited the bishops to a sumptuous banquet. They all attended, and were delighted at the prosperous turn which affairs had at last taken. The Nicene Creed was the result. Three hundred and eighteen bishops signed it, and five dissented, though ultimately only two of these withstood to the last. AN EARLY BISHOP SILENCING THE PAGANS. When Alexander was Bishop of Byzantium, about 314, being then seventy-three years old, he presided at a conference which the Emperor Constantine appointed to be held between the Pagan philosophers and the bishop. The latter was called an apostolic bishop, owing to his reputation for sanctity. And the historians say that on the occasion of the conference he put the spokesman of the Pagans to silence by firmly exclaiming, " In the name of Jesus Christ, I command thee to be silent ! " On another occasion the same bishop was an ardent opponent of Arius, who then enjoyed the patronage of the Court party. The Emperor Constantine ordered that Arius should be admitted to the Com- munion. But Alexander was determined not to admit the heretic, and rather than comply with the royal command shut himself up in the church of Irene for purposes of prayer. Strange to say, Arius died suddenly on the following morning, as he was proceeding in triumph to the cathedral, and the people all believed that this was a judgment on the heretic in answer to the good bishop's prayers. HOW TO CHALLENGE AND REFUTE A HERETIC. Gregory of Nyssa relates of Ephraim the Syrian, who died about 373, and who was a most voluminous author, preacher, commentator, and hymn-writer: One Apollinaris had written a treatise in two volumes, containing much that was contrary to 104 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Scripture. These volumes he had entrusted to a lady at Edessa, from whom Ephraim obtained a loan of them by pretending that he was a disciple of Apollinaris, and was preparing to defend his views. But before returning them he glued the leaves together, and then challenged the heretic to a public disputation. Apolli- naris accepted the challenge, but only so far as to consent to read from these books what he had written, and declining to do more on account of his great age. The controversialists met ; but when Apollinaris endeavoured to open the books, he found the leaves so firmly fastened together that the attempt was in vain, and he withdrew, mortified almost to death by his opponent's unworthy triumph. JULIAN THE APOSTATE. As there are many examples of kings and emperors converted to the Christian religion, so there is a notable example of one relapsing to the condition of an apostate. Julian the Emperor was brought up as a Christian, and had the repute even of a zealous Christian till he attained the age of twenty, when he took a grudge against the Christians, and resolved to restore, if possible, the worship of the gods as it used to be before the Christian era. He was initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, and studied with the Pagan philosophers. He composed an elaborate work against the Christians. To spite the Christians he resolved to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem; but earthquakes, whii-lwinds, or fiery eruptions destroyed these attempts. He prohibited the Christians from teaching rhetoric and grammar, and excluded them from offices of trust, ordered the Christian temples to be demolished and the Pagan temples to be rebuilt, and showed an irrepressible dislike to the progress of Christianity. Julian admitted that neither fire nor the sword could change the faith of mankind. He therefore prohibited the putting to death of the Galileans, as he called the Christians. He looked on them as wild, savage, and intractable brutes, or at least poor, blind, misguided creatures, who needed only be left to punish themselves. The Pagans of Antioch received him with rapture ; but on entering the temple of Apollo, where he expected to find a magnificent procession, he found only a solitary priest, and a single goose for sacrifice, at the very sight of which parsimonious neglect he was greatly incensed. While he was busy urging on the restoration of Apollo's temple, it took fire, and this the Christians viewed as a judgment ; while Julian, on the other hand, attributed it to their malice. He retaliated on the cathedi-al at Antioch by despoiling Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 105 it of the sacred vessels. Julian died in battle after two years' enjoyment of the throne, and it was said his last words were, " Thou hast conquered, O Galilean ! " But the most trust- worthy accounts state that he died in 363 without remorse, as he had lived without guilt, and delivered an impressive address to his friends, submitting with dignity to the stroke of fate. HOW JULIAN THE APOSTATE DIED OF WORMS (A.D. 363). Sozomen relates that Julian, when governor of Egypt, put the presbyter, Theodoret of Antioch, the custodian of the sacred ornaments of the church, to cruel tortures, and then caused him to be slain. Julian then proceeded to the sacrilege of the sacred vases, which he flung upon the ground and sat upon, at the same time uttering incredible blasphemies against Christ ; but his im- pious course was suddenly arrested, for certain parts of his body were turned into corruption, and generated enormous quantities of worms. The physicians confessed that the disease was beyond the reach of their art ; but from fear and reverence towards the Emperor, they tried all the resources of medicine. They procured the most costly and the fattest birds, and applied them to the corrupted part, in hope that the worms might be thereby attracted to the surface. But this was of no effect ; for, in proportion as some of the worms were thus drawn out, others were generated in the flesh, by which he -was ceaselessly devoured, until they put an end to his life. Many believed that this disease was an infliction of Divine wi^ath visited upon him in consequence of his impiety, and this supposition appears the more probable from the fact that the treasurer of the Emperor, and others of the chief officers of the Court who had persecuted the Church, died in an extraordinary and dreadful manner, as if Divine wrath had been visited upon them. THEOLOGICAL DISPUTES THE TALK OF THE DAY. When the Arians and Athanasians, early in the fourth century, were in the height of their controversy about the mysteries of the Trinity, the public also took sides, and things beyond all human comprehension became the fashionable topic of conver- sation at Court. The dispute spread to the people of high rank, and then pervaded the classes below. Socrates said that a war of dialectics was carried on in every family. Gregory of Nyssa in one of his orations thus graphically described the state of public excitement : " Every corner and nook of the city is full of men who discuss incomprehensible subjects — the streets, the 106 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. markets, the people who sell old clothes, those who sit at the tables of the money-changers, those who deal in provisions. Ask a man how many pence it comes to, he gives you a specimen of dogmatising on generated and ungenerated beings. Inquire the price of bread, you are answered, ' The Father is greater than the Son, and the Son subordinate to the Father.' Ask if the bath is ready, and you are answered, ' The Son of God was created from nothing.' " THE GEEAT CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE TRINITY. The controversy between the Arians and the Athanasians exercised the leaders of tlie Church from the time of Constantine to the Second Ecumenic Council in 381. All the great and commanding minds of the age were with the Trinitarians, each condemning the Arian heresy in his own peculiar way. One leader was Ephraim, the Syrian monk, who wept night and day for the sins of mankind and for his own, and who poured forth verse and prose in defence of orthodoxy. It was said his very writings wept, even his panegyrics and festival homilies flowed with tears. His psalms and hymns, however, animated his monkish companions, and were the occupation and delight of all the earnest believers, and all his thoughts and emotions were rigidly Trini- tarian. St. Basil the monk, whose boast it was to be " without wife, without property, without flesh, almost without blood," was equally zealous for the Trinity, and as its champion he was made Archbishop of CsRsarea. St. Gregory of Nazianzen was equally zealous and eloquent in the same cause ; and even the Arian monks and virgins were excited to tumults and bloodshed by his exasperating popularity. Chrysostom in the same cause offended the Empress, who was inclined to the Arians. He was banished ; but the Empress, on seeing the commotion caused by an earth- quake, was afraid, and he was recalled amid the enthusiasm of the whole inhabitants, who went forth to welcome his return. His renewed insults led the Emperor to send his mihtary officers to seize Chrysostom at the altar during the celebration of the Sacrament, and he was carried off. The same niglit the church took fire, for which his followers were blamed, and he never retiu-ned from exile. The cause of the Trinitarians triumphed at last and became the settled faith. ATHANASIUS ATTACKED IN HIS OWN CHURCH. Athanasius, the great champion of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, who died in 373, escaped many imminent dangers in Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 107 his career. When Syi-ianus, Duke of Egypt, at the head of five thousand soldiers attacked Alexandiia in 356, the Archbishop Athanasius was with his clergy and people engaged in their nocturnal devotions. The troops with horrid imprecations battered in the door and interrupted the service ; but the archbishop, seated on his throne and expecting the approach of death, merely desired the trembling congregation to chant one of the Psalms of David which celebrates the triumph of the God of Israel over the haughty and impious tyrant of Egypt. When the door was burst in, a cloud of arrows was discharged, and the soldiers with drawn swords rushed forward, their armour gleaming under the lights round the altar. Athanasius refused the importunate prayers of the monks and presbyters who urged him to escape, and insisted on keeping his seat till he had dismissed in safety the last of the congregation. The darkness and tumult of the night favoured his own retreat, though he was thrown down in the crowd and was eagerly searched for by the soldiers, who had been instructed by their Arian guides that the head of Athanasius would be a most acceptable present to the Emperor Constantius, who was zealous for the Arian faction. It was on this occasion that Athanasius was lost sight of for six years, making hairbreadth escapes during all that period. ATHANASIUS CONCEALED BY A HOLY VIRGIN. Sozomen says that Athanasius, the champion of orthodoxy, on hearing of the death of Constantius in 362, appeared by night in the church at Alexandria, to the astonishment of his friends. He told them that while his enemies were seeking to arrest him he had concealed himself in the house of a holy virgin in Alex- andria. She was only twenty years old, and was of such extra- ordinary beauty, modesty, and wisdom that the gravest and best men felt indescribable fascination in her presence. It is said that Athanasius was led by the revelation of God to seek refuge in her house, and the result showed that all the events were directed by Providence. The friends and relatives of Athanasius would thus have been preserved from danger had search been made for him amongst them, and had they been compelled to swear that he was not concealed with them. There was nothing to excite suspicion of a bishop being concealed in the house of so lovely a virgin. She had, moreover, the courage to receive him and sufficient prudence to preserve his life. She alone ministered to him and supplied his wants. She washed his feet, brought him food, provided him with the books he wanted, and acted so 108 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. prudently that during the whole time of his residence with her none of the inhabitants of Alexandria suspected the place of his retreat. The people of Alexandria rejoiced at this unexpected reappearance of Athanasius, and at once restored his churches to him. AN IMPRESSIVE SERMON ON THE TRINITY. Alanus de Insulis was a schoolman of immense renown in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He had appointed a certain day to preach on the Blessed Trinity and to give a perfect explanation of that mystery to his auditors. On the preceding day, as he took a solitary walk on the margin of a river, he saw a little boy scooping out a small trench, and trying to fill it with water from a shell ; but the water escaped through the sandy bottom as fast as he filled it. " What are you doing, my pretty child ? " asked Alanus. The reply was, " I am going to put all the water of the river into my trench." " And when do you think, my child, that you will succeed in this great design ? " " Oh," said the child, " I shall succeed before you succeed in yours. For they say you are to explain the Trinity, in your sermon to-morrow, by the rules of science." Alanus was struck with this reply and seized with com- punction. He returned home meditating deeply on the child's remarks and his own presumption. On the mori'ow, when the hour of the sermon arrived, a great crowd assembled. Alanus mounted the pulpit and uttered these words, which were his whole discourse, " It is sufficient, my friends, that you have seen Alanus." He immediately descended and withdrew, leaving the people in astonishment. The same day he left Paris for Burgundy, and repaired to the abbey of Citeaux, where he became a monk, and ended his days in holy offices and far-reaching reflections. PAGANS PLEADING AGAINST DEMOLISHING TEMPLES. When the young Emperor Valentinian, who died a.d. 375, was about to carry out the edict of his predecessor and demolish the Pagan temples and remove the statue of Victory, the eloquent prefect of Rome, Symmachus, ventured to remonstrate, and in the Senate he lavished his eloquence in defence of the immortal gods and the religion of his ancestors. He was cautious, dextrous, and conciliatory. He told the Emperor how their old religion had subdued the world to the Roman dominion, that Heaven was above them all, and there were many ways by which we arrive at the gi'eat secret. But he presumed not to contend on this occasion; he was a humble suppliant. It would surely be a Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 109 disgrace to the imperial treasury to be enriched by the paltry saving in the maintenance of the Vestal Virgins and by confiscat- ing legacies bequeathed by the piety of individuals. Yea, the deified father of the Emperor would look down with sorrow from the starry citadel to see the intolerance of that day's proceedings. Ambrose, the Archbishop of Milan, was, however, at hand to confront and confute this Pagan harangue. He told the Emperor that ancestors were to be treated with reverence, but that the question now was the right way of treating with God alone. No part of the public revenue must be given to maintain idolatry. He who offered to images would have his offerings returned by the Church with disdain. All the gods of Rome had done nothing for her. It was the courage of the legions, and not the influence of all the false idols, that turned in their favour the issue of battles. Valentinian was murdered before the final step was taken, and his successor hesitated. Ambrose had to fly from Milan, for the soldiery boasted that they would stable their horses in the churches and press the clergy as soldiers. Alaric soon arrived on the scene, the Roman aristocracy became absorbed by the Christianising population, and Paganism at last gradually died out in 493, and the new reUgion took its place in the old temples. THE DEFENCE OF THE PAGAN IDOLS. The ruin of Paganism and its idols took place in the age of the Emperor Theodosius (378 — 395). The Roman priests, with their robes of purple, chariots of state, and sumptuous entertainments, were the admiration of the people ; and they found their gi-eat champion and advocate in Symmachus, who in turn was baffled by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, whose influence caused the Pagan orator to be exiled. On a vote of the Senate as to whether the worship of Jupiter or of Christ should be the religion of the Romans, a large majority condemned Jupiter, and this led to a special committee of officers, who were directed to shut up the temples and destroy the instruments of idolatry. The Sophists who stood by the Pagan religion describe the acts of the Christian image- breakers as a dreadful and amazing prodigy which covered the earth with darkness. They pathetically relate how the Pagan temples were converted into sepulchres, and how the filthy monks polluted holy places with relics of mart5^s which were nothing better than the heads — salted and pickled — of those infamous malefactors who, for the multitude of their crimes, had suffered an ignominious death. But the monks triumphed, and the bodie6 of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy were transported from 110 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. their obscure graves in solemn pomp and deposited in the Church of the Apostles, which the magnificence of Constantino had founded in Constantinople. The example of Kome and Constan- tinople confirmed the faith and discipline of the Catholic world ; and the influence of this part of the worship of the faithful lasted during the twelve hundred years which elapsed between the reign of Constantino and the reformation of Luther. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN DEMOLITION OF TEMPLES. When Theodosius, the Christian Emperor, in 379 made an edict ordering the demolition of idolatrous temples, it filled the Pagans with dismay. Theophilus, the Archbishop of Alexandria, hastened to execute the order. Marching at the head of the military, he entered the proud temple of the god Serapis, to which a hundred steps led up, and magnificent porticos and pillars surrounded the spot. There stood the celebrated colossal statue of the god, made of gold, silver, and other metals fused together, and inlaid with precious stones. When the Christians entered the vast deserted building, the centre of adoration for centuries, they stood silent and awestruck, and after a pause of wonder a soldier was ordered to strike the statue on the knee. He did so timidly, for the spectators expected some terrific outburst of thunder and lightning to destroy him instantaneously. There was an echo, but no sign came. The man, being emboldened, then climbed up to the head, and with one blow struck it ofi" and made it roll to the ground. Another pause. Still no sign of insulted godhead ; but a large colony of rats, disturbed from their peaceful abode, suddenly leapt out and scampered about in all directions. The multitude, with their high-strung nerves, were prepared for some act of personal vengeance, but at once dissolved with mirth ; peals of loud laughter and jests and mockery mingled with the rest of the work. The curious crowd were further gratified by discovering some of the machinery by which the tricks were produced which had so long imposed on their simple faith, such as letting the light through an aperture fall suddenly on the lips of the statue at the right moment, also a magnet in the roof, which kept a small statue suspended in the air. The fragments of the statue of Serapis were zealously dragged through the streets, and the foundations of the walls were rooted up. The Pagans waited in vain for some sequel of god-like retribution to come ; but the river Nile flowed on unmindful of its god without any unusual outbreak. And like scenes were repeated in other cities with the same impunity. In some of the earlier demolitions, however, in other Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. Ill parts of the empire the Pagans resisted, and in some cases suc- cessfully. The war against the temples began in Syria. One enthusiastic iconoclast, named Marcellus of Apamea, after suc- cessfully destroying temples in other neighbouring places, when attacking that in his own district was seized rudely by the inhabitants and burned alive. The synod of Christians, thinking it a glorious death, refused to revenge on the ignorant barbarians their precipitate outrage. DESTROYING PAGAN TEMPLES TOO ABRUPTLY. When the Emperor Theodosius in 386 directed the praetorian prefect Cynegius, an ardent supporter of Christianity, to shut up all the Pagan temples, this was not done without great excite- ment. One Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, a somewhat worldly man, who was rather bent on erecting splendid churches than on carrying out the spirit of Christianity, obtained from the Emperor a gift of a temple of Bacchus, and he proceeded to convert it into a Christian church. He acted most injudiciously, first collect- ing all the indecent decorations out of that impure place, and ordering these to be carried in a procession through the streets, so as to expose them to the ridicule and contempt of the people. But it had rather a contrary effect, for it roused the fanatical spirit, and caused the mob to create a riot and retaliate on the Christians, driving them off and themselves taking refuge in the magnificent temple of Serapis, the pride of Pagan idolaters. There a fanatical Pagan named Olympius, who was clad in the garb of a philosopher, harangued his followers, and instigated them to fight for the sanctuaries of their fathers. The spirit of the mob rose to fever heat, and the loss of life in these commo- tions was so great that the Emperor took occasion of it to issue a decree, in which he found it necessary to pardon the ringleaders of the Pagans, but at the same time he directed all the heathen temples at Alexandria to be destroyed, since it was through these that such serious disturbances had been created. And this led, amongst others, to the demolition of the celebrated temple of Serapis, and its conversion into churches and cloisters. After these events it was expected that Paganism would soon die out. DEMOLISHING AN IMAGE AT THE PALACE. There was a magnificent image of Christ erected over the bronze portal of the Imperial Palace at Constantinople. The legend was, that Theodore, a wealthy merchant, after losing all his property at sea, went to borrow some capital from a wealthy 112 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Jew, who demanded good security. Theodore had nothing of vakie bat an image of Christ, and this he boldly offered as his surety. The Jew was so amused and yet overwhelmed at this simplicity that he agreed to accept it. The result was that the merchant won back all his wealth, and repaid the Jew to the uttermost farthing, and the great image called the Surety was set up. When the imperial decree was published against this and other images, a soldier of the Emperor's guard erected a ladder in order to take it down to be burned. But a crowd of women collected, demanding that the image should be spared ; and when they watched the soldier striking his axe at it, they were so maddened with indignation, that they pulled the ladder from under his feet, and caused him to fall, and he was killed. The Emperor sent troops to the spot to drive away the people, and set up a plain cross instead of the image which had so won upon the reverence of the lieges. ST. MARTIN OF TOURS DEMOLISHING TEMPLES (A.D. 380). St. Martin of Tours (who died 396) distinguished himself by his zeal and efficiency as a destroyer of the Pagan temples when the word was given to destroy them. The Pagans occasionally used to resist. Once, after demoHshing a temple, he was also desirous of cutting down a pine that stood near it. But the Pagans opposed this, and after some argument agreed that they themselves would fell it upon condition that he, who boasted so much of his trust in God, would stand under it where they would place him. The saint consented, and suffered himself to be tied to that side of the tree on which it leaned. When it seemed just ready to fall upon him, he made the sign of the cross, and it fell on the contrary side. Whereupon the Pagans were so astonished that they all upon the spot demanded to be enrolled in his list of catechumens. Another time he was pulling down a temple, when a great number of Pagans fell upon him with fury, and one attacked him sword in hand. The saint, however, merely took off his mantle and presented his bare neck to him, whereupon the Pagan was so terrified that he fell backwards, and begged the saint to forgive him. THE KING OP THE GOTHS RESPECTS THE CHURCHES. When Alaric, King of the Goths, besieged Pome the third time, in 410, the Salarian Gate was silently opened by his confederates inside at midnight, and the inhabitants were roused by the piercing sound of the Gothic trumpet. The tribes of Germany Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 113 and Scythia then rushed in, eager to enrich themselves with the spoils of the great city. Alaric exhorted his troops to respect the churches of the Apostles, St. Peter, and St. Pavil. The Goths were impressed, and showed here and there some self-restraint. One barbarian chief burst open the humble dwelling of an aged virgin, demanding all her silver and gold, and was astounded at the readiness with which she conducted him to a splendid hoard of massy plate curiously inwrought, which made the eye of the captor sparkle with delight. But the woman with a confident air said to him, *' These are the consecrated vessels belonging to St. Peter ; if you presume to touch them, the sacrilegious deed will haunt your conscience. As for me, I dare not keep what I am unable to defend." The captain was awestruck ; and after repoi-ting the circumstance to the king, the latter ordered all the consecrated plate and ornaments to be transported without damage or delay to the Church of the Apostles, and a detachment of Goths thereupon marched in battle-array, bearing aloft these sacred treasures amid barbarian shouts and the psalms of rejoicing Christians who joined in the procession. The Goths, in pillaging the city, spared nothing beyond these select vessels of the Church ; and gold, jewels, silks, and works of art were piled in waggons for their own spoil. The victorious Goths evacuated the city on the sixth day and marched south, spreading terror and destruction. On reaching Sicily, Alaric's life was cut short, and his funeral was celebrated with barbaric pomp. A small river, Busentinus, that washes the walls of Consentia, was diverted from its course, and in its bed the hero's body with the spoils and trophies of Rome were buried. The prisoners who had been compelled to execute this work were then massacred, and the river was restored to its former channel, so as to conceal for ever the place of burial. ATTILA, KING OF THE HUNS, IMPRESSED BY THE POPE (a.D. 453). When Attila, the King of the Huns, was supposed to meditate the invasion of Italy, so great was the consternation that the Senate and people thought it prudent to send a solemn embassy to deprecate the wrath of that ferocious monarch. He listened to the appeal, and the deliverance of Italy was purchased by the immense ransom or dowry of the Princess Honoria. When Attila talked of carrying his victorious arms to the gates of Eome, both friends and foes warned him that Alaric did not long survive the conquest of the Eternal. City ; but in 453 he carried out his resolution. Meanwhile, Leo, the bishop, was induced to venture his life to endeavour to mollify the conqueror. Leo's 8 114 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. eloquence and majestic aspect and sacerdotal robes made an immense impression on the superstitious barbarian. It was said by the chroniclers that the two apostles St. Peter and St. Paul appeared in person on the occasion, and threatened Attila with instant death if he rejected the prayer of their successor. He was much embarrassed ; but before he evacuated Italy he still threatened to return more dreadful and implacable if the Princess Honoria were not delivered up to him according to the treaty. Fortunately for Italy, Attila was one night seized with sudden illness, during which a blood-vessel burst and suffocated him in his sleep. After solemnly exposing his body under a silken pavilion, squadrons of Huns wheeled round, chanting a funeral songlto his memory. They inclosed his remains in three coffins, of gold, of silver, and of iron, and privately buried him in the night, throwing into his gi'ave the spoils of nations and the bodies of captives massacred for the purpose. THE VANDALS SACKING ROME AND CAPTURING SACRED VESSELS (455). When Genseric, King of the Vandals, was secretly invited by the Empress Eudoxia to deliver her from the brutal treatment of the Emperor Maximus, the African galleys brought an army to the mouth of the Tiber. Maximus being, meanwhile, slain in a tumult of his subjects, the Yandals advanced at once to the gates of Rome ; but instead of meeting an army, saw only a procession of clergy, headed by the bishop, who by his venerable appearance sought to mitigate the ferocity of the conqueror. Some show of mercy was promised; but the conquerors, nevertheless, were allowed to pillage the city, which they did for fourteen days and nights. Vast spoils were collected, including the splendid relics of the temples, both Pagan and Christian. Magnificent furniture, sideboards of massy plate, and jewels stripped from the persons of the Empress and her daughters were collected and stowed in the ships. Amongst others, the holy instruments of the Jewish worship, the gold table and the gold candlestick with seven branches, originally framed by the direction of God Himself, and which were placed in the sanctuary of His Temple, had been displayed to the Roman people by Titus, and afterwards deposited in the Temple of Peace. These spoils of Jerusalem at the end of four hundred years were transferred from Rome to Carthage by the Vandals. It has been related that the vessel which transported the relics of the Capitol was the only one of the fleet which suffered shipwreck. Thousands of Romans of both sexes, and mostly those skilled in the arts, were included among the Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 115 captives ; and the Bishop of Carthage generously sold the gold and silver plate of his church to relieve them. JUSTINIAN DRIVING OUT THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS (526). Though Julian the Apostate, in his zeal to re-establish Paganism, made no great impression, the schools of the Greek philosophers, with their dreamy morality, were not allowed to expire like a worn-out veteran in peaceful dignity. The impatient zeal of the Emperor Justinian in 526 led him to forcibly expel the remnant of the old philosophers from the ancient groves and porches of Athens. Seven followers of Proclus were obHged to find a retreat in Persia ; but the Magi there were still more intolerant than the Christians. Philosophy found no resting-place ; it found itself supplanted by a new faith, which now domineered over the human mind. Justinian governed the Roman Empire for thirty- eight years (527 — 565), and great and curious events occurred in his time. The Empress Theodora was daughter of an official called the Master of the Bears, and took to the stage in her youth. Her forte was not to sing or dance or play on the flute, but to act in pantomime and buffoonery, her eyes being bright, and her agile and elegant form drawing down endless applause. She captivated the nephew of the Emperor Justin, young Justinian, whom she married, and she maintained an ascendency over him to the last. She developed into a rapacious and cruel tyrant, and yet patronised many charitable schemes ; and her influence and power with the Emperor were unbounded, and many a courtier fell a victim to her caprice. Her physicians at last warned her that her health required her to use the Pythian warm baths. She went there attended by a splendid train of four thousand officials. Highways and palaces were repaired and made ready during the progress. In passing through Bithynia she distributed liberal alms to the churches, the monasteries, and hospitals that they might implore Heaven for the restoration of her health. At last in 548, the twenty-second year of her reign, she was carried away by a cancer. Mahomet's knowledge of Christianity (632). Mahomet's knowledge of and connection with Christianity are inferred from the fact that his favourite slave Zeyd leaned to the Christian faith. And the monk Bahari, who conversed with Mahomet on his first journey with the camel-drivers, who professed to foresee and welcome the future greatness of the prophet, may have commuiiicjated many of the traditions of 116 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the faith. Though Mahomet was not well acquainted with the canonical gospels, yet the apocryphal gospels with the current traditions of the time were familiar to him. He adopted the legend of the Seven Sleepers at Ephesus, and of the Wandering Jew. Many incidents of ecclesiastical history have analogies in the Koran. There is a priesthood in the sense of men devoted to the interpretation of the Koran. The saints are also venerated, and pilgrims make annual visitations. The ceremonial rites are even more mechanical than are to be found in any portion of the Christian Church. THE OAK OF GEISMAR DEMOLISHED (724). When St. Boniface was sent as a missionary by the Pope in 724 to convert the Germans, they were found grovelling in Pagan superstition, putting their faith in sacred groves and fountains. The missionary, when made a bishop, determined to strike a blow at this creed. There was an old and venerable oak of immense size in the grove of Geismar, in Upper Hesse, hallowed for ages to Thor, the thunder-god. Attended by all the clergy, Boniface, who felt that one visible ark of sacred confidence must be replaced by another, went publicly forth to fell this tree. The Pagans assembled in multitudes to behold a trial of strength between the rival gods. They awaited the issue in profound silence, some expecting that the sacrilegious axe would recoil on the impious Christians. But only a few blows had been struck when a sudden wind was heard in the groaning branches, and down it came toppling, and split into four pieces. The shuddering Pagans at once bowed before the superior might of Christianity. Boniface at once built out of the wood a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. After this churches and monasteries sprang up, and zealous labourers from England flocked to help in civilising the Teutonic race. Eadberga, the abbess of Minster, in the isle of Thanet, sent presents of clothes and books. Boniface was then made a metropolitan, with his throne at Mentz, on the Bhine, and Christianity spread from that time throughout that district, and it was by his hand that Pepin the Little was anointed king. In his old age Boniface descended the Rhine in a boat towards the Zuyder Zee. He took with him a shroud, in which his body might be wrapped and sent back to Fulda in Hesse in case of accident. It proved that the Pagan priests attacked him, and then, laying his head upon a volume of the gospels, he received the fatal blow, being killed in 755, and his seventy-fifth year. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH PAGANS. 117 THE POPE DEFENDING ROME AGAINST FOREIGNERS (742). When Luitprand, the Lombard King, was conquering Italy in 742, and was approaching Rome, Pope Zacharias went and met him at Terni, surrounded with a courtly array of bishops. He chose the church of St. Valentine for the place of meeting ; and the Pope, availing himself of the solemnity of the building, and reminding the king of the last account and the damnation that must await him, made such an impression that the king was overawed and agreed to a treaty, making the concessions asked ; and the Pope, after a solemn service in church, ended by inviting the king to a banquet. But ten years later another Pope (Stephen) was less successful with the next Lombard king, Astolph. The Pope's ambassadors were received and listened to, but nothing more. The king did not stay his career, but approached Rome. Not all the Litanies, not all the solemn processions to the most revered altars of the city, in which the Pope himself with naked feet bore the cross and the whole people followed with ashes on their heads, and with a wild howl of agony implored the protection of God against the blaspheming Lombards, arrested for an instant his progress. The Pope appealed to Heaven by t3dng a copy of the treaty violated by Astolph to the holy cross. Astolph entered notwith- standing ; and, strange to say, while he remained he busied himself digging up the bodies of saints, not for insult, but as the most precious trophies, and carried them off as tutelar deities to Lombardy. At the same time the Pope was making a journey to King Pepin of France, and there met with a warm reception, which led to many future favours from that quarter. THE FORGED DECRETALS ABOUT CONSTANTINE (795). Pope Adrian L, who died 795, in his troubles with emperors and kings, finding Charlemagne a rising power, wrote a letter to him exhorting him to imitate the liberality and revive the name of the great Constantine. He used for that purpose a legend for which he vouched, and which was to this effect : The first of the Christian emperors was healed of the leprosy, and purified in the waters of baptism by St. Sylvester, the Roman bishop, and the physician was gloriously recompensed, for that emperor withdrew from the seat and patrimony of St. Peter, declared his resolution of founding a new capital in the East, and resigned to the Popes the free and perpetual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the pro- vinces of the West. By this plausible story it was made to appear that the Popes were made by the best of titles supreme; and 118 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. such were the ignorance and credulity of the times, that this absurd fable was received with equal reverence in Greece and France. It turned out that the story was a forgery concocted near the end of the eighth century by one Isidore, a scribe. It was, nevertheless, accepted and handed down as a inagna charta of papal rights, until some opposition to its authenticity proceeded from a Sabine monastery about 1100. In the revival of letters, an eloquent critic and Roman patriot, named Laurentius Valla, who died 1457, completed the exposure of the forgery, to the amazement of his contemporaries, and before the end of the next age the imposture was rejected with the contempt of all the historians. But it served its purpose. As Gibbon observes, " The Popes themselves have indulged a smile at the credulity of the vulgar, but a false obsolete title still sanctifies their reign ; and by the same fortune which has attended these forged decretals, and the Sibylline oracles, the edifice has subsisted after the foundations have been undermined." POPE NICOLAS AND THE FALSE DECRETALS (867). One of the clever stratagems by which Pope Nicolas I., who died in 867, tried to establish his supremacy over the whole world in all things spiritual was the promulgation of the false decretals. This Pope was said to have tamed kings and tyrants, and to have ruled the world like a sovereign. A rebel Transalpine prelate, Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, had disputed the jurisdiction of the Pope, but was compelled to submit. On a sudden, at the nick of time, there was promulgated a new code, including thirty- nine (false) decrees of Popes and councils. These not only asserted the supremacy of the Pope, his dignity and privileges, but included a whole system of Church discipline on Church property, sacra- ments, festivals, rites, and ceremonies. The whole is composed with an air of profound piety and reverence, and a specious purity of tone. But for the too manifest design, the aggrandisement of the whole clergy in subordination to the See of Pome ; but for the monstrous ignorance of history, which betrayed itself in glaring anachronisms, and in the utter confusion of the order of events and the lives of distinguished men — the former awakening keen and jealous suspicion, the latter making the detection of the spuriousness of the whole easy, clear, irrefragable— the false decretals might still have maintained their place in ecclesiastical history. They are now given up by all ; not a voice is raised in their favour. The utmost done is to palliate the guilt of the forger, who fortunately is unknown. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH JEWS. 119 SEPARATION OP THE GREEK AND LATIN CHURCHES (1054). The restoration of the Western Empire by Charlemagne was speedily followed by the permanent separation of the Greek and Latin Churches. About 850 Photius, an ambitious layman and captain of the guards, was promoted to the office of Patriarch of Constantinople, thereby superseding Ignatius, who had a large following. Both appealed to Pope Nicolas I., a proud and aspiring pontiff, who embraced the welcome opportunity of judg- ing and condemning his rival of the East. The patriarch had the aid of his own court, and deposed the Pope ; but in turn he and his patrons lost ground, and the original patriarch, Ignatius, was restored. Thereafter the feud continued more or less fiercely, till at last, in 1054, the then patriarch was excommunicated in Constantinople by the Pope's legates. Shaking the dust from their feet, they deposited on the altar of St. Sophia a direful anathema, which enumerated seven mortal heresies of the Greeks, and consigned the Eastern Church, its teachers and sectaries, to everlasting damnation. Though the forms of civility thereafter were sometimes maintained, the Greeks never recanted the errors and the Popes never repealed their sentence. This aversion of the Greeks and Latins was nourished and manifested in the three first expeditions to the Holy Land. The Eastern Christians never gave a cordial welcome to the Cruf^aders, and rather treated them as schismatics, and sometimes took part in thwarting them. In 1183 the Greeks carried out a massacre, in which the Latins were slaughtered in houses and streets, their clergy burnt in the churches, and the sick in their hospitals. The Greek monks and priests actually chanted a thanksgiving to the Lord when the head of a Roman cardinal, the Pope's legate, was severed from his body, fastened to the tail of a dog, and dragged in savage mockery through the city. EARLY CONTENTIONS OF JEW AND CHRISTIAN. In the fourth century, after miraculous powers ceased to attend the progress of Christianity, and a system of wonder-working was established, the 'Jews, who had long watched with jealousy the advance of their rivals, began to think that they could also become adepts in pious frauds. Next one party took to magical arts as weapons of superiority. A conference is said to have taken place in the presence of Constantine and the devout empress-mother Helena between the Jews and the Christians. Pope Sylvester had already triumphed in argument over his 120 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. infatuated opponents, when the Jews had recourse to magic. A noted enchanter commanded an ox to be brought forward ; he whispered into the ear of the animal, which instantly fell dead at the feet of Constantine. The Jews shouted in triumph, for it was the word Ham-semphorash, the ineffable name of God, at the sound of which the awestruck beast had expired. Sylvester, with some shrewdness, observed, " As he who whispered the name must be well acquainted with it, why does not he fall dead in like manner ? " The Jews answered contemptuously, " Let us have no more verbal disputations ; let us come to actions." " So be it," said Sylvester ; " and if this comes to life again at the name of Christ, will ye beheve ? " They all assented. Sylvester then raised his eyes to heaven, and said with a loud voice, " If He be the true God whom I preach, in the name of Christ arise, you ox, and stand on your feet." The ox sprang up and began to move and feed. The legend then adds that the whole assembly was baptised. JULIAN INCITING THE JEWS TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE. Sozomen says that, though JuHan the Apostate hated and oppressed the Christians, he was benevolent to the Jews merely in order to spite the Christians. He commanded the Jews to rebuild their Temple at Jerusalem, and gave them money to do so. They entered on the undertaking without reflecting that accord- ing to their holy prophets it could not be accomplished. They sought the most skilful artisans, collected materials, cleared the ground, and entered so earnestly on the task that even the women carried heaps of earth and sold theii* ornaments towards defraying the expense. Yet when they cleared the ground an earthquake occurred, and stones were thrown up from the earth, wounding those near, and houses were thrown down. After the earthquake the workmen returned to the task; and instead of regarding the unexpected wonder as a manifest indication that God was opposed to the re-creation of the Temple, they were consumed by a fire which bui'st from the foundations. This fact is related by all the contemporaries, who agree that the fire burst out either from the foundations or from the bowels of the earth. A still more extraordinary prodigy occurred, for the sign of the cross appeared on the garments of the workmen. These crosses were disposed like stars, and appeared the work of art. Many were hence led to confess that Christ was God, and repented and were baptised. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH JEWS. 121 CHRISTIANS HATING THE JEWS. Soutliey says, " That the primitive Christians should have regarded the Jews with hostile feelings as their first persecutors was but natural, and that that feeling should have been aggra- vated by a just and religious horror for the crime which has drawn upon this unhappy nation its abiding punishment. But it is indeed strange that during so many centuries this enmity should have continued to exist, and that no sense of compassion should have mitigated it. For the Jews to have inherited the curse of their fathers was in the apprehension of ordinary minds to inherit theii* guilt ; and the cruelties which man inflicted upon them were interpreted as proofs of the continued wrath of Heaven, so that the very injuries and sufferings which in any other case would have excited commiseration served in this to close the heart against it. Being looked on as God's outlaws, they were everywhere placed, as it were, under the ban of humanity. And while these heart -hardening prepossessions sub- sisted against them in full force, the very advantages of which they were in possession rendered them more especial objects of envy, suspicion, and popular hatred." THE GOLDEN AGE OF JUDAISM (a.D. 800). The Jews seemed never to be so prosperous as in the age of Pepin and Charlemagne (about 768 — 800). The laws were not enforced against them, and they were practically free from restrictions, except as to keeping Christian slaves and following the law of dower. Bishops, abbots, and abbesses were only pre- vented by heavy penalties from pledging or selling to the circum- cised the costly vestments, rich furniture, and precious vessels of the churches. Jews became physicians, ministers of finance to nobles and monarchs ; and when Charlemagne sent an embassy to Caliph Haroun al Baschid, a Jew was sent with two Christian counts as ambassadors, and as they died on the road he conducted the business and brought back costly presents, including an enor- mous elephan<;, which the monks of the period described as a wonder of the world. The monks also described the accomplish- ments of a Jew physician named Zedekiah, who was a confidential adviser of Louis the Debonnaire or the Pious. They relate that he could swallow a whole cart of hay and fly in the aii*. The toleration and equal treatment of Jews and Christians greatly shocked Agobard, Bishop of Lyons, who issued edicts to his people prohibiting their intercourse. But on appeal the king ordered an 122 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. inquiry, and the edicts were withdrawn. About the same time in Spain, from the conquest by the Moors till the end of the tenth century, the Jews enjoyed nearly equal laws ; and one Moses, their rabbi, became w^ealthy and influential; and when his grandson Nathan enjoyed a drive in the groves near Coi-dova, seven hundred chariots joined in the procession that followed him. THE POPE AND THE JEWS (1140). Various Christian countries for centuries maintained laws making it necessary that Jews should wear a particular dress or badge to distinguish them. They were always viewed by Chris- tian communities with suspicion. One of the common accusations against them was that of crucifying children, after scourging them and crowning them with thorns ; and this they were suspected of doing annually. This was said to be done out of hatred to the Christian religion, and it was even alleged that the Jews received the heart of the sacrificed child at their own Communion. The Jews were also accused of scourging crucifixes and profaning images and crosses. These and other imputations were adroitly used as pretexts for confiscating the wealth of the Jews. One remarkable badge of subjection and suspicion took its rise in the twelfth century — namely, the conduct of the Jews at the installation of a new Pope. They are obliged to wait for the Pontiff on the road to St. John de Lateran, and there on their knees they present him with a copy of their Law. On receiving this, the Pope thus addresses them : " I revere the law which God gave to Moses, but condemn the false sense you give it by vainly expecting the Messiah who has been long come, and whom the Church believes to be Jesus Christ our Lord." This custom took its rise when Pope Innocent II., on his retreat to France, made his entry into Paris, on which occasion the Jews went to meet him with great solemnity, and in a very respectful manner presented him with the holy books of their Law. THE JEWS OP YORK DEFENDING THEMSELVES (1189). A time of monstrous persecution and cruelty towards the Jews was the coronation of Richard I. in 1189. One Benedict, a York Jew, to save his life had submitted to baptism in London, but died of injuries received during a riot there. The people of York, equally excited, attacked Benedict's house there, and his wife and children took refuge in the Castle with their valuable effects. Other Jews being with them, all at last suspected that the governor was in treaty with their enemies to surrender them, and Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH JEWS. 123 while the governor was temporarily absent they shut the gates against him. This made the populace frantic, and eager to enter and despatch them. A canon urged the mob on ; and at last a rabbi, seeing the hopelessness of their situation, addressed his fellow Jews as follows : " Men of Israel, the God of our fathers calls upon us to die for our Law. Death is inevitable, but we may yet choose whether we will die speedily and nobly, or igno- miniously, after horrible torments. My advice is that we shall voluntarily render up our souls to our Creator, and fall by our own hands. The deed is both reasonable and according to the Law, and is sanctioned by the example of our most illustrious ancestors." The old man sat down in tears. The assembly was divided, but debated ; and finally, while a few left the place, the great majority made up their minds to die. They collected their precious effects into a pile and burnt them. They then cut the throats of their wives and children. The rabbi and Joachim were the last to suffer ; but one slew the other and then himself. Next moi^ning the mob broke in, only to find the fire burning in all quarters, and they took care to have all the bonds and obliga- tions and money securities of the dead men burned in an enormous bonfire. No proper punishment was ever inflicted on the ringleaders who thus caused the death of seven or eight hundred persons, though some of the ringleaders were arrested. JEWS ATTEMPTING TO CRUCIFY AN ENGLISH BOY. Matthew Paris says : " About 1240 the Jews circumcised a Christian boy at Norwich, and after he was circumcised they called him Jurnim ; they then kept him to crucify him, in contempt ^ of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The father of the boy, however, from whom the Jews had stolen him, after a diligent search at length discovered him confined in custody of the Jews, and with a loud cry he pointed out his son, whom he believed lost, shut up in a room of one of the Jews' houses. When this extraordinary crime came to the knowledge of William de Kele, the bishop, a wise and circumspect prelate, and of some other nobles, in order that such an insult to Christ should not be passed over unpunished through the neglect of the Christians, all the Jews of that city were made prisoners ; and when they wished to place themselves under the protection of the royal authority, the bishop said, ' These matters belong to the Church ; and when the question raised is concerning circumcision and insult to religion, it is not to be decided by the King's Court.' Four of the Jews therefore, having been found guilty of 124 FI^OWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the aforesaid crime, were first dragged at the tails of horses, and afterwards hung on a gibbet, where they breathed forth the wretched remains of life." JEWS CRUCIFYING AN ENGLISH BOY (1255). Matthew Paris also says that in 1255 some Jews of Lincoln stole a boy of eight years, shut him up in a room, fed him on milk, and then sent to all the cities in England where Jews lived to come and be present at a sacrifice to take place at Lincoln, when a boy was to be crucified. A great many Jews attended, and one was appointed to take the place of Pilate, who subjected the boy to divers tortures. They beat him till blood flowed and he was quite livid ; they crowned him with thorns, derided him, and spat upon him. Then he was pierced by each of them with a wood knife, was made to drink gall, was over- whelmed with reproaches and blasphemies, and was repeatedly called " Jesus, the false prophet," by his tormentors, who sur- rounded him, grinding and gnashing theii* teeth. At last they crucified him, and pierced him to the heart with a lance, took down his body from the cross, disembowelled him, and used his body to practise magical operations, and then threw it into a well. The boy's mother began tracing the boy to a Jew's house, and excited the compassion of the citizens by her suspicions. A wise man, John of Lexington, encouraged the hue and cry with his eloquence, and one or two Jews were arrested, and a pardon offered if confession were made. One Jew professed then to confess that the Jews crucified a boy every year as an insult to the name of Jesus. The boy's body was afterwards found in the well, and exposed to the gaze of the citizens. The canons of the cathedral inquired into it, and the king was informed. The Jew who confessed was tied to a horse's tail and dragged to the gallows; and at a later day eighteen wealthy Jews were also hanged, and others imprisoned to await a like fate, though it was said that some indiscreet minor brethren interceded for them. JEWS BLAMED FOR THE BLACK DEATH IN 1347. The disease known as the Black Death first appeared at Con- stantinople in 1347, and soon spread along the north of the Black Sea, then to Sicily, Marseilles, France, Italy, and Spain. The black patches on the skin and the pestilential bi-eath of the sick, who spat blood, carried contagion far and near. There were also atmospheric disturbances, deluges of rain, and earthquakes. In Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH JEWS. 125 England in 1349 the Parliament was prorogued on account of this plague. The Princess Joan, daughter of Edward III., then on her way to marry the eldest son of the King of Castile, caught the disease at Bordeaux and died. Wicliff, then a student at Oxford, wrote a book on " The Last Age of the Church," in which it w^as predicted that the end of the world would be in 1400 at latest. The effect on people was twofold. Some lived more temperately, while otheis gave themselves up to revelling and drinking. The Flagellants, as a new religious order, went about scourging and being scourged, as a means of propitiating Heaven, and singing psalms and ringing bells. Some started the theory that the Jews were the cause of this disease, and many were put to death (as was mentioned ante, p. 90). Laboui-ers, from the scarcity, demanded higher wages, and under Wat Tyler many joined in a local rebelHon. JEWS STEALING THE HOST TO INSULT IT (1350). In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the German Jews were subject to frequent spoliations and massacres. The sect of Flagellants, who, with mad enthusiasm, passed through the cities of Germany, preceded by a crucifix and scourging their naked and bleeding backs, used, as they said, to atone for their own transgressions by plundering and murdering as many Jews as they could in Frankfort and other places. The Jews were thus hunted through all Germany, Silesia, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Lithuania, and Poland. As a justification for this systematic cruelty, the following legend was circulated and believed in most countries : A certain Jew, named Jonathan of Enghien, desired to possess himself of the consecrated Host in order to treat it with sacrilegious insult. He bribed a desperado, named John of Louvain, to procure the sacred symbol. John mounted by night into the chapel of St. Catherine, stole the pyx, with the sacred contents, and conveyed it to Jonathan. The latter as- sembled his friends, who most impiously met and blasphemed and pierced it with knives. At that time Jonathan was advised for safety to migrate to Brussels ; and there, in the synagogue, the Jews treated the Host with every insult, piercing it with knives, and though blood flowed forth the obdurate unbelievers, unmoved, continued their insults. They next sent the treasure to Cologne for similar treatment ; but having entrusted it to a woman whose conscience smote her, she betrayed them to the clergy. The consequence was that the Jews were arrested, put to the torture, convicted, and sentenced to be torn with red-hot pincers and then 126 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. burnt alive. This memorable act of vengeance was said to be justified by many miracles that were worked in Brussels, the place of punishment. BANQUETING WITH THE JEWS (1478). Though the Jews were often treated with gross cruelty and injustice in the Middle Ages, they sometimes had it in their power to retahate. The Jews, often acquiring great wealth, defied the clergy and refused to pay tithe. It was often a question whether the clergy should admit servants of the Jews to baptism. Once large mimbers of bishops forbade Christians, under pain of excom- munication, to frequent the banquets of the Jews. In 1478 one Francis de Pizicardis, a great and cruel usurer, was buried in the Church of St. Francis in Placentia. It happened to rain torrents during many days, till a report spread through the city that it would never cease as long as the said body was in holy ground. The young men of the city in a body, as if convoked by the bishop, went to the church, burst open the gates, dug up the body, and dragged it by a cord through all the streets of the city. And as they passed the house of one old woman, she ran out and insulted it, saying, " Give me back my eggs ! " for she had given him two fresh eggs every day as interest for a ducat which she owed him. At length the body was dragged out of the city, suspended from a willow tree, and finally thrown into the Po. And, strange to say, according to the annalist, the rain then ceased. Some Polish rulers were so indebted to the Jews that, in order to keep their creditors quiet, they favoured the Jewish merchants more than the Christian. TORQUEMADA's zeal against SPANISH JEWS (1492). After the Spanish sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella had succeeded jn driving the Moors from Spain, and when at last they had agi-eed to send Columbus on his expedition to the New World, the clergy inflamed the minds of the sovereigns and the Inquisition against the Jews, who obstinately resisted all efibrts to convert them. While the Jews were negotiating with the sovereign to avert this odium, Torquemada, the Inquisitor-General, burst into the apartment of the palace, and, drawing a crucifix from under his mantle, held it up, and exclaimed, "Judas Iscariot sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver. Your Highnesses would sell Him anew for thirty thousand. Here He is ; take Him and barter Him away." So saying, this demon priest threw the crucifix on the table, and left the apartment. The royal pair were over- Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH JEWS. 127 awed, and their superstitious forebodings were so effectually worked upon that they signed, in 1492, the edict for the expulsion of the Jews which caused so much misery. The Jews, who were then estimated to be about six hundred and fifty thousand, resolved to abandon the country and sacrifice all rather than their religion. They had to sell their property for a trifle, owing to the market being glutted. A house would be sold for an ass and a vineyard for a piece of cloth. Some Jews swallowed their jewels ; others tried to conceal them in clothes and saddles. Some ships carrying the fugitives were visited by the plague. Those sufiered all the miseries of hunger who travelled by land, and many sold their children for bread. Some were cast naked and desolate on the African coast. Some tried to escape into Portugal ; and King Joan II. drove a hard bargain, fixing a high capitation tax, which his tax-gatherers lined the frontiers in order to collect. This was only for permission to pass through the country and embark for Africa. The new king, Emanuel, acted still more brutally, and ordered all Jewish children to be kidnapped and torn from their parents' arms, in order to be brought up in the Catholic faith. The Dominicans watched, during these years of massacre and pillage, the moment when a Jewish person was visible, rushed forth with crucifix in their hands to hunt and roast the offender, and for this brutal work of merit the reward was said to be that the sufferings in purgatory should be confined to a hundred days. This expulsion of Jews seriously marred the national prosperity. THE PREJUDICE AGAINST JEWISH PHYSICIANS. Southey says that nothing exposed the Jews to more odium, in ages when they were held most odious, than the reputation which they possessed as physicians. So late as the middle of the sixteeth century, Francis I., after a long illness, finding no benefit from his own physicians, despatched a courier to Spain, requesting Charles V. to send him the most skilful Jewish practitioner in his dominions. This afforded matter for merriment to the Spaniards. No Jewish physician being heard of, a Christian one was sent, but was dismissed without a trial ; and at last a Jew came from Constantinople, who, however, prescribed nothing more for the royal patient than asses' milk. This reputation of the Jewish physicians was said to be founded on the notion that they had stores of knowledge not accessible to other people, especially as to all the drugs known in the East. Yet at the same time there were tales as to the disreputable knowledge they had, such as kilHng Christian children to use their fat as cos- 128 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. metics. The conduct of the E,omish Church tended to strengthen this obloquy. Several councils of the Church denounced excom- munication against any persons who should place themselves under the care of a Jewish physician ; for it was said to be per- nicious and scandalous that Christians, who ought to despise and hold in horror the enemies of their holy religion, should have recourse to them for remedies in sickness. The decree of the Lateran Council, by which physicians were enjoined under heavy penalties to require that their patients should confess and com- municate before they administered any medicines to them, seems to have been designed as much against Jewish practitioners as heretical patients. The Jews on their part were not more charit- able, and used to forbid rabbis to attend upon either a Christian or Gentile unless he dared not refuse, and above all never to attend such patients gratuitously. A HOLY FATHER CONVERTING A JEW (1600). In the seventeenth centuiy one Engelberger, a Bohemian Jew, was sentenced to imprisonment for stealing the plate from a synagogue at Prague. In prison he became a great reader ; and a holy Father, who visited him and took an interest in him, promised him not only absolution but a considerable reward if he would renounce his faith. He did so, and was received into the Church, thereby drawing on him the contempt and vengeance of the other Jews, and the praise and congratulation of the Chris- tians. He published a book vindicating his conversion, became a favourite of high society, and was invited to Vienna, where he was well received by the Emperor Ferdinand III. But the convert by degi-ees was suspected of hypocrisy ; and on the first opportunity he robbed the royal treasury, and after trial was condemned to death. He again affected sincere piety and con- trition, expecting that his sentence would be remitted. But at the last moment, being told the contrary, and while receiving the last Sacrament on the scafibld, he spat the sacred wafer from his mouth; he shouted to the mob that he deserved his fate for abjuring the faith of Moses, and he called on them to bear witness that he died in the faith of the patriarchs. The mob, who had formerly almost deified the renegade, were now enraged at this insult to the CathoHc faith, and wanted to tear him to pieces ; but he was withdrawn for a few days. He was then again ex- posed, and drawn on a hurdle through the streets of Vienna. And a more diabolical sentence had meanwhile been passed. His right hand was first cut ofi"; his tongue torn from his mouth ; he Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES ABOUT IMAGES. 129 was suspended from the gallows with his head downward, and dogs were allowed to tearJiim to pieces; and then his dead body was thrown into the Danube. An inscription in the Guildhall at Vienna records the date of this appalling example of religious fanaticism. THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT IMAGE WORSHIP (a.D. 726). The mode in which the great controversy about worship of images in churches arose was said to be as follows : A hermit had sent to Gregory the Great, who was appointed Pope in 589, for an image of Christ and other religious symbols. The latter sent him a picture of Christ and the Virgin Mary, also of St. Peter and St. Paul, and added some observations as to the right use of images. The Pope observed that, though it was grounded in man's nature that he should seek to represent things invisible by means of the visible, yet the representations were not to be worshipped as God, but only used to enkindle the love of Him whose image was present to the eye. About that time country bishops reported that the worship of images was spreading, and that those opposed to that tendency demolished them and cast them out of churches. Parties began to be formed on both sides. In the Greek Church the church books had long been ornamented with pictures of Christ, of the Virgin, and the Saints ; and private houses and household furniture also had like embelHshments. There were legends connected with each. Some prostrated them- selves whenever they approached within sight of these symbols. The most noted and determined enemy of images was the Emperor Leo, the Isaurian, who was full of zeal, and paid small respect to what he thought to be wrong. He was very arbitrary. He forced the Jews to receive baptism, which only made them more and more tenacious of their antipathy. He also forced the Montanists to join the dominant Church, and this so enraged them that they burned themselves in their own churches. Leo's first ordinance of 726 forbade any kind of reverence to be paid to images or pictures, and any prostration or kneeling. One bishop in defence attributed miracles which were wrought to these images, and said he knew from his personal experience this was not a delusion ; moreover, an image of Mary at Sozopolis, in Posidia, distilled balsam, as was well attested. In short, party spirit ran high, and at last a great champion of images arose, named John of Damascus. Leo waged war against images for twelve years, until his death. His son Constantino was as zealous an iconoclast as his father ; but great disturbances were 9 130 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. caused by his proceedings. In 754 he convoked a council of three hundred and thirty- eight bishops, who agreed with the Emperor. They denounced the wretched painters who with profane hands attempted to depict the sacred feelings of the heart, and laid down the rule of faith to be, that there was only one true image or symbol, which was the bread and wine used in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Painting was described as a Pagan, godless art, which degraded the Divine Majesty ; and whoever in future should manufacture an image to worship it either in church or dwelhng-house should, if an ecclesiastic, be deposed ; if a monk or a layman, he should be expelled from the communion of the Church. An anathema was pronounced accordingly against all images. Though the council by a majority so decided, yet the monks as a body were equally zealous and determined to resist all attempts to do away with images. It was said the monk Stephen was thrown into prison for his zeal in favour of images ; he refused to touch the food which the gaoler's wife secretly brought to him, until she secretly assured him that she kept a casket in her own chamber containing several images of Divine persons, and which she showed to the monk to reassure him of her genuine devotion. Constantino, during the thirty years of his reign, flattered himself that he had struck a finah blow at image worship ; but after his death the next emperor married Irene, an Athenian lady, who was an unscrupulous supporter of images, and she cunningly brought about a reaction and restored thmgs to their former footing. THE ICONOCLASTS AND THEIR FIRST REVOLT. Thus a strong feeling grew up, maintained by the Emperor Leo, the Isaurian, that the Christians were going to an excess in their worship of images, and the contest raged for a hundred and twenty- five years, and led to bloodshed and civil war. The precise occasion of this revolt is not known with certainty ; and it was thought afterwards to be unfortunate, for Christians at that time were called upon rather to combine against Mohammedanism than think of dividinir their forces. When Leo had reigned ten years, he issued in 726 a prohibition against the worship of all statues and pictures of the Saviour, the Virgin, and the Saints ; and all statues and pictures were to be raised sufficiently high that they could not receive pious kisses. Soon after a second edict was issued, commanding the total destruction of all images and the whitewashing of the walls of churches. The clergy and monks were driven to absolute fury by this tyrannical measure. An imperial Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES ABOUT IMAGES. 131 officer had orders to destroy a statue of our Saviour in a church in Constantinople, an image renowned for its miracles. The crowd (as stated ante, p. 112), consisting chiefly of women, saw with horror the officer mount the ladder. Thrice he struck with his impious axe the holy countenance which had so benignly looked down upon them. Heaven interfered not ; but the women seized the ladder, threw down the officer, and beat him to death with clubs. The Emperor sent his troops to put down the riot, and a frightful massacre ensued ; but the image worshippers were viewed as martyrs, and cheerfully encountered mutilation and banishment, while the Emperor was denounced as worse than a Saracen. The Pope prohibited the Italians from paying tribute to the Emperor, and wrote letters defending the practice of the Church. He alludes to that practice as including pictures of the mii-acles, of the Virgin with choirs of angels, of the Last Supper, the Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and other like subjects. The Pope's letter, however, had no effect. JOHN OF DAMASCUS, CHAMPION OF IMAGES (a.D. 756). The great champion who rose to defend image worship against Leo, the iconoclast, was John of Damascus, the most learned man in the East, and a subject of the Sultan. The ancestors of John, when that city was taken by the Mohammedans, had remained faithful Christians; but, being wealthy and respectable, were employed by the Sultan in high judicial posts. One day, when John's father was a judge, a Christian monk, named Cosmas, was about to be executed, and was weeping and bewailing so much that he was asked why he, a monk, should so earnestly plead for his life. The monk answered that he did not weep so much for losing life as for the treasures of knowledge that would be buried with him, for he knew nearly everything under the sun — rhetoric, logic, philosophy, geometry, music, astronomy, theology. All he wanted was some heir who could inherit this vast patrimony of knowledge, so that he might not go down to the tomb an un- profitable servant. John's father saw at once that this was a remarkable monk, begged his life, and made him tutor to his son ; and in due course the son John became, under such tuition, the greatest master of knowledge extant, as the monk took care to assure the grateful father. With these accomplishments John of Damascus entered the lists in due course, and composed three immortal orations in favour of image worship, in which all the learning of the world was brought to bear upon that delicate subject. The Emperor being indignant at John's oration, pro- 132 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. cured a letter to be forged in a similar handwriting, containing a proposal to betray his native city of Damascus to the Christians, and purporting to be signed by John. This letter was sent by the Emperor to the Sultan with specious friendly comments. The result was that John's right hand was cut off for his wicked treason. John, however, entreated the Virgin to restore his hand ; and after kneeling before her image and praying fervently, he fell asleep, and when he woke his hand was restored and was as well as ever. This astonished and convinced the Sultan, who reinstated John at once in all his honours. These orations, while containing some puerile matter, are distinguished for zeal and ingenuity. John of Damascus maintained that pictures were great standing memorials of triumph over the devil ; that who- ever destroys these memorials is a friend of the devil ; that to reprove material images is Manicheism, as betraying the hatred of matter, which is the first tenet of that odious heresy ; and that it was a kind of Docetism too, asserting the unreality of the body of the Saviour. In support of his doctrine John concluded by citing a copious list of miracles wrought by certain images. This question of images was so serious a disturbance that a council met, called the Third Council of Constantinople, in 746 ; and three hundred and forty-eight bishops attended, and all these united in condemning images and excommunicating those who set them up. The Empress Irene, however, afterwards favoured the image worshippers ; and in 787 another council, called the Second Council of Nicaea, again considered the subject ; and three hundred and eighty-seven bishops and monks came to a decision the reverse of the decision of the former council. Succeeding emperors, however, again favoured the iconoclasts, till the Em- press Theodora, in 842, at last restored the images and made the clergy happy. They all then met and held a solemn festival, marching with processions of crosses, torches, and incense to the church of St. Sophia, in Constantinople. They made the circuit of the church, and bowed to every statue and picture ; and the heresy of the iconoclasts was extinguished for ever from that time. JOHN OF DAMASCUS AND HIS TAUNTS. John of Damascus, the champion of image worship, in his many eloquent discourses in support of it, sneered at Leo's arbitrary decrees against what was noticed to be a rising influ- ence among the nations of the West. " You have only to go," said John, " into the schools where the children are learning to read and write, and tell them you are the persecutor of images, Chap, v.l DIFFICULTIES ABOUT IMAGES. 133 and they would instantly throw their tablets at your head. Even the ignorant would teach you what you would not learn from the wise." " Men," he further said, " spent their estates to have these sacred stories represented in paintings. Husbands and wives took their children by the hand, others led youths and strangers from Pagan lands, to these paintings, where they could point out to them the sacred stories with the finger, and so edify them as to lift their hearts and minds to God ; but you hinder poor people from doing all this, and teach them to find their amusements in harp-playing and flute-playing, in carousals and buffoonery." CLAUDIUS OF TURIN AGAINST IMAGES AND PILGRIMAGES. Claudius of Turin, a bishop who flourished about 795 — 839, was great in censuring the gross superstition attaching to the use of the cross and pilgi-images. Though a chaplain of King Louis I. of France, who became emperor, he devoted himself to purifying the ritual of the Church by writing commentaries on the Scriptures and exposing the abuses of image worship. He said those who worship the images of the saints have not for- saken idols, but changed their names. Whether the walls of churches are painted with figures of St. Peter and St. Paul or of Jupiter and Saturn, the latter are not gods, and the former are not apostles. Better worship the living than the dead. If the works of God's hands, the stars of heaven, are not to be worshipped, much less ought the works of human hands to be worshipped. Whoever seeks from any creature in heaven or on earth the salvation which he should seek from God alone is an idolater. Those who pretend to honour the memory of Christ's passion forget His resurrection. If one must worship every piece of wood bearing the image of the cross because Christ hung on the cross, for the same reason one should worship many other things with which Christ came in contact while living in the flesh. God has commanded us to bear the cross, not to adore it. Those are not adoring it who are unwilling to bear it either spiritually or bodily. In like manner it is foolish in people, and an undervaluing of spiritual instruction, to be always striving to go to Rome in order to obtain everlasting life. It is vain to ascribe so much merit to pilgrimages, and forget the seal of true penitence in the soul. One gets no nearer to St. Peter by finding himself on the spot where his body was buried, for the soul is the real man. In this manner Claudius displayed his aversion to the monastic life as misleading. It was 134 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. thought that he must soon be proceeded against as a heretic; but after publishing works which made a great impression on his age, the bishop died. TRYING TO CONVERT THE IMAGE WORSHIPPERS. When Leo the Isaurian had secured his empire against foreign enemies, he set himself resolutely to convert heretics. He issued a decree that Jews and Montanists should be forcibly baptised. In 724 he issued his first decree against the superstitious use of images, which made the monks and John of Damascus so furious. When Leo died in 741, his son, Constantine Copronymus, so called from his having polluted the baptismal font, succeeded him, and reigned thirty-four years. He was also a resolute enemy of image worship. He procured a council of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops to sit in 754, and resolve unanimously that all pictures and sculptures of sacred subjects were Pagan and idolatrous, and that all images must be removed out of churches. They pronounced anathemas against John of Damascus and other champions of images. Constantine, on the strength of this council, ordered paintings on church walls to be effaced, and paintings of birds and fruits to be substituted. The monks were furious ; and he ordered, in retaliation, monasteries to be destroyed and turned into barracks. One of his governors, named Lachana- draco, put many rebellious monks to death. He anointed the beards of some of these with oil and wax, and set them on fire ; he burnt the monasteries, the books, and the relics. The relics of St. Euphemia at Chalcedon, which used to exude a fragrant balsam, were thrown into the sea, though the monks afterwards narrated that these were miraculously preserved. One monk, named Stephen, exasperated by these brutalities, boldly defied the Emperor, and to show his contempt produced a coin stamped with the Emperor's head, threw it on the ground, and trod on it. The Emperor ordered him to prison; but noticing that some sympathy seemed to be shown by his attendants, exclaimed, " Am I or is this monk emperor of the world 1 " The courtiers in turn, in their zeal to defend the Emperor, rushed to the prison where Stephen was kept, brought him out, and, tying a rope round his neck, dragged the body through the streets, and then" tore it to pieces. The patriarch being also charged with abetting the monks, was stripped of his robes, set upon an ass with his face towards the tail, led through the streets, jeered by the mob, and then beheaded. Constantine died in 775, a resolute enemy of images to the last. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES ABOUT IMAGES. 135 THE EMPRESS IRENE RESTORING IMAGES (A.D. 780). Though Leo the Isaurian and his son Constantine had for thirty years worked so energetically in stamping out image worship, yet at the death of the latter a reaction was brought about. The Emperor Leo, grandson of the Isaurian, married an Athenian wife, Irene, who was constitutionally devoted to image worship and sensuous art, and her devotion to these so worked on her irresolute husband as to baffle the labour of years. She took care to procure all the important vacancies in the Church to be filled by monks. Her household officers were encouraged to practise in secret the adoration of images, and there were con- cealed some figures under her pillow ; and though the Emperor, on discovering this petty treason, ordered the chief actors to be scourged, yet on his death in 780 Irene assumed the government and changed everything. She took care to get a patriarch appointed who was of her way of thinking, and for that purpose first induced the then holder of the office to resign and retire into a monastery. She then spread the report that this change was due to remorse of conscience ; and the new patriarch, acting in concert with her, professed his inability to assume the high office unless she would convoke a council to review the late heresy of the iconoclasts. After great manoeuvring on the part of the monks, and secret meetings to canvas the chief men of the assembly, and by the Empress deciding to attend in person and with great state, she so managed affairs that a council of three hundred and fifty bishops met, and they all in her presence returned to the old traditions, declaring the worship of images agreeable to Scripture and reason, and shouted their approval and ended with the enthusiastic exclamation, " Long live the orthodox Queen Regent ! " EMPRESS THEODORA CONQUERING FOR THE IMAGES (A.D. 842). The Empress Irene having in 780 so skilfully turned the tide in favour of images, the contest was still maintained during the five succeeding reigns, a period of thirty-eight years between the worshippers of images and the iconoclasts. The final victory of the images was achieved by a second female, the widow Theo- dora, after the death of the Emperor Theophilus in 842. Her measures were bold and decisive. She sentenced the iconoclast patriarch to a whipping of two hundred lashes instead of the loss of his eyes. At this stroke of power the bishops trembled, the 136 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. monks shouted, and the festival of orthodoxy preserves the annual memory of the triumph of the images. The only point left unsettled was, whether images were endowed with any proper and inherent sanctity, and this continued to be discussed in the eleventh century. The Churches of France, Germany, England, and Spain had steered a middle course between the adoration and the destruction of images, which they professed to admit into their temples, not as objects of worship, but as lively and useful memorials of faith and history. Charlemagne had used his authority in assembling a synod of three hundred bishops at Frankfort in 794, who professed to blame the superstition of the Greeks. But the worship of images advanced with silent progress, and reached to the idolatry of the ages which preceded the Refor- mation. Theodora skilfully gained over many bishops by repre- senting that her husband the Emperor on his deathbed repented of his errors, and that her young son at the same time had also registered a vow to restore images. IMAGE WORSHIP IN SPAIN. In Spain image worship reached a height hardly attained in any other part of Christendom. Besides the most holy effigies heaven- descended, like the Black Lady of the Pillar at Saragossa, and the Christ of the Vine Stock at Valladolid, there were many sacred images, which, even before the hands which fashioned them were cold, began to make the blind see, the lame walk, and friars flourish and grow powerful. St. Bernard was modelled and clothed like a brother of the order in his own white robes ; St. Dominic scourged himself in effigy till the red blood flowed from his painted shoulders ; and the Virgin, copied from the loveliest models, was presented to her adorers gloriously apparelled in clothing of wrought gold. Many of these figures not only pre- sided in their chapels throughout the year, but, decked with garlands and illuminated by tapers, were carried by brotherhoods or guilds instituted in their honour in the religious processions. The colouring was sometimes laid on canvas, with which the figure was covered as with a skin. The eflfects and gradation of tints were studied as carefully as in paintings on canvas. The imitation of rich stuffs for draperies was a nice and difficult branch of the art. For single figures real draperies were some- times used, especially for those of the Madonnas, which possessed large and magnificent wardrobes and caskets of jewels worthy of the queens of the Mogul. Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH CIVIL POWERS. 137 THE AMBITIOUS POPE HILDEBRAND (1046 — 1085). During the time that Hildebrand, son of a carpenter of Soan in Tuscany, became noted and acquired an ascendency with the Popes, he advocated certain reforms. The first was to make the Popes independent of the Emperor : this he achieved by procuring a decree that the Pope should be chosen by the cardinals, bishops, and priests assembled in college. He also put a stop to the immorality of the clergy by enforcing celibacy of priests. He also procured more stringent laws against simony. He succeeded to the popedom in 1073 as Gregory VII., and in carrying out his ambitious schemes he summoned the German king, Henry IV., and ultimately excommunicated him, in retaliation for Henry having procured a sentence of deposition by the Synod of Worms against himself as Pope. These two potentates exchanged some defiant and insulting letters. Henry at last was reduced to such difficulties that he had to go in the guise of a penitent, clad in a thin white dress, while the ground was deep in snow, and he waited humbly at the outer gate of the Castle of Canossa three days before he was received into the presence of his Holiness, who gave him absolution, but under most humiliating circum- stances. Gregory, however, at last was punished in his turn in 1080, and he had to become an exile, in which condition he died friendless and deserted in 1085, and muttering the words : " I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity ; therefore I die an exile." ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, THE ANGELIC DOCTOR (a.D. 1227). St. Thomas Aquinas was born in 1227, and became the greatest theologian and master of logic and powerful reasoner of his age. He was at first thought dull at school, and used to be called the great dumb Sicilian ox ; but his genius soon broke forth, and he came to be called the angelical doctor. His versatility, power of abstraction, and memory astonished everybody. Louis IX. of France (St. Louis) made him a privy councillor, and often con- sulted him. Once at dinner with the king, after a long silence, Thomas thumped the table energetically, muttering to himself, *' That is an overwhelming argument against the Manicheans ! " and the king, curious to know what sudden thought it was, begged him to explain it, which was done, and committed to writing by clerks. While praying one day in the church at Naples, his friend Komanus, who had died some time before, appeared to Thomas and spoke to him, and said that his works pleased God, 138 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and that he (Romanus) was now in eternal bliss. Thomas then asked whether the habits which are acquired in this life remain to lis in heaven. Romanus answered, " Brother Thomas, I see God, and do not ask for more." He then vanished. One day- Thomas was writing a treatise on the Sacrament, and was pray- ing, when the figure on the crucifix turned towards him and said, " Thomas, thou hast written well of Me : what reward desirest thou ? " " Nought, save Thyself, Lord," was the saint's immediate reply. Another time Thomas, while celebrating Mass, was seized with a sudden rapture, owing to a vision which appeared to him, and which he said was so glorious that all he had written appeared worthless compared with what he had just seen. In his last illness the monks of Fossa Nuova, near Maienza, waited on him with unceasing devotion, and begged of him to expound to them the Canticle of Canticles, as St. Bernard did. The saint replied, " Get me Bernard's spirit, and I will do your bidding." He yielded to their wish. The saint, growing feebler, died ; and while a corpse, a blind man begged to approach and pay his last tribute of respect, when the man's sight was restored that moment. ATTITUDE OF POPES TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. Guizot thus sums up the attitude between Popes and foreign governments : " From the tenth century and the accession of the Capetians (989) the poKcy of the Holy See had been enterprising, bold, full of initiative, often even aggressive, and more often than not successful in the prosecution of its designs. Under Innocent III. (1198 — 1216) it had attained the apogee of its strength and fortune. At that point its motion forward and upward came to a stop. Boniface VIII. (1294 — 1303) had not the wit to recognise the changes which had taken place in European communities, and the decided progress which had been made by laic influences and civil powers. He was a stubborn preacher of maxims he could no longer practise. He was beaten in his enterprise ; and the Papacy, even on recovering from his defeat, found itself no longer what it had been before him. Starting from the fourteenth century, we find no second Gre- gory YII. or Innocent III. Without expressly abandoning their principles, the policy of the Holy See became essentially defensive and conservative, more occupied in the maintenance than the aggrandisement of itself, and sometimes even more stationary and stagnant than was required by necessity or recommended by foresight. The posture assumed and the conduct adopted by the earliest successors of Boniface VIII. showed how far the Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH CIVIL POWERS. 139 situation of the Papacy was altered, and how deep had been the stab which, in the conflict between the two aspirants to absolute power, Philip the Fair (1283—1314) had inflicted on his rival." THE POPES AS TEMPORAL PRINCES (1118 — 1185). The feuds of Guelphs and Ghibellines kept up constant irrita- tion at Rome. In 1118, when Paschal II. was officiating at the altar on Holy Thursday, he was interrupted by a mob, who demanded that he should confirm the appointment of a favourite magistrate, and his silence only exasperated them. During the festival of Easter, while the bishop and clergy barefoot and in procession visited the tombs of the martyrs, they were twice assaulted with volleys of stones and darts. The houses of the Pope's friends were demolished, he escaped with difficulty, and his last days were embittered by the strife of civil war. His successor, Gelasius II., in 1118 was dragged by his hair along the ground, beaten and wounded, and bound with an iron chain in the house of a factious baron named Cencio Frangipani, who stripped and beat and trampled on the cardinals. An insurrec- tion of the people delivered the Pope for a while ; but a few days later he was again assaulted at the altar, and during a bloody en- counter between the factions he escaped in his sacerdotal garments. He then shook the dust from his feet, and withdrew from a city where, as he described it, one emperor would be more tolerable than twenty. About a quarter of a century later. Pope Lucius II., as he ascended in battle-array to assault the Capitol, was struck on the temple by a stone, and expired in a few days in 1145. Again in 1185 a body of priests were seized, and the eyes of all put out except those of one. They were crowned with mock mitres, mounted on asses with their faces to the tail, and paraded as a lesson to Pope Lucius III. RIENZI AS TRIBUNE OF ROME (1353). The Pope having lived long away from Rome, and the govern- ment of the city being impracticable, a youth named Rienzi, the son of a publican and a washerwoman, who was handsome and gifted with eloquence, aspired to raise the enthusiasm of the mob and revive the old glory of the first city of the world. He assumed the title of tribune, began to introduce ordei*, and for a time he carried all before him. He was, however, soon intoxicated with his success, claimed a Divine mission, procured himself to be crowned as a successor of the Csesars, imposed heavy taxes, and 140 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. displayed great extravagance in dress and in vulgar exhibitions of grandeur. At last the Pope's legate anathematised him as a heretic, and enemies combined to crush him. He fled in 1308 to Prague; there he entered into wild schemes, was captured and imprisoned, but was spared from punishment as a heretic. He reappeared, and again obtained such favour with the Pope as to be made a senator in 1353, and encouraged to resume his influence over the mob in Rome. He was placed in high com- mand, but again ruined his position with tyrannical and foolish schemes. His personal habits were gross and sensual ; he became addicted to wine, and his body became bloated with his indulgences till he was likened to a fatted ox. In a sudden riot brought on by his own folly he attempted to escape, but the mob captured him and cut him to pieces. LAST HOURS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1453). When Mahomet II. in 1453 besieged Constantinople, the Greek Emperor implored the assistance of earth and Heaven to check the invaders and ward off the destruction of the Roman Empire. The celestial image of the Virgin was exposed in solemn proces- sion, but no succour came. At last the houses and convents were deserted, and the inhabitants flocked together in the streets like a herd of timid animals, and poured into the church of St. Sophia, filling every corner. They placed no small confidence on some prophecy that had been circulated that an angel would descend from heaven and deliver the empire with some celestial weapon. While so wailing and confiding, the doors were broken in with axes, and the Turks seized the company, binding the males with cords, and the females with their veils and girdles. All ranks were mixed in groups — senators, slaves, plebeians and nobles, maids and children. The loudest in their wailiugs were the nuns, who were torn from the altar and consigned to the usual fate of slavery, and worse. The monasteries and churches were profaned. The dome of St. Sophia itself, a throne of heavenly splendour, was despoiled of the oblations of ages, and the gold and silver, the pearls and jewels, the vases and sacerdotal ornaments, were most wickedly perverted to the basest uses. After the divine images were stripped, the canvas and woodwork were torn or burnt or trodden under foot. The libraries, with a hundred and twenty thousand manuscripts, were sold as wastepaper. The Sultan passed in triumph through the wreck and plunder. He ordered the church to be converted into a mosque ; the instruments of superstition to be removed j the crosses, images, and mosaics to be dismantled Chap, v.] DIFFICULTIES WITH CIVIL POWERS. 141 and washed and purified. The cathedral of St. Sophia was soon crowned with lofty minarets, and surrounded with groves and fountains for the devotion and refreshment of the Moslems. He took care, however, to leave the churches of Constantinople to be shared between the Mussulmans and the Christians. ELECTION TO THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. The empii'e which Charlemagne founded over so many kingdoms, being a revival of the old Roman Empire and in imitation of the empire claimed by the Bishop of Rome over all other Churches, was commonly believed till the end of the sixteenth century to be elective, and the privilege of electing was confined by a decree of Gregory V. about 996 to seven persons. These were the arch- bishops of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne ; the dukes of the Franks, Swabians, Saxons, and Bavarians. The Franks and Swabians were superseded respectively by the palatinate of the Rhine and the margravate of Brandenburg. A golden bull of Charles IV. in 1356 regulated the mode of election and fixed the place at Frankfort. A majority of votes carried the election. An eighth and'^ninth elector were added afterwards, the eighth being the elector of Brunswick, who succeeded to the English throne in 1714. An extravagant importance was attached to this titular potentate and his electors. Though he was only elected, yet he was thought to reign by a Divine right as a sort of Lord of the World. The sovereigns of Europe long continued to address the Emperor as a superior and as entitled to precedence, and it was even thought that he had the power of creating kings, though in actual resources he stood below the kings of France and England. The epithet " holy " was applied by Frederick I. (Barbarossa) in 1156. There was once a vague notion that the English kingdom was a vassal of the empire, but Edward I. and Edward III. notably disclaimed any such submissiveness. When Charles V. was elected, Francis I. of France and Henry VIII. of England were competitors. Charles V. not succeeding in dragooning the Protestants into conformity to the Catholic Church, the influence of the empire declined. After long flicker- ing, the Holy Roman Empire came to an end by the resignation of Francis II. in 1806, about a thousand years after the corona- tion of Charlemagne. 142 CHAPTEK VI. MARTYRS, HERMITS, ANCHORITES, AND RELICS. THE VIRGIN MARTYR VALERIA (a.D. 50). St. Martial, the apostle of the Gauls, when a lad of fifteen, was taken by his father to see Christ, and became thenceforth a constant follower, and at a later date was a companion of St. Peter. In his career as first bishop of Limoges, he was hospitably entertained by a noble widow named Susanna. Her daughter Valeria devoted her virginity to the Lord, and having taken a vow of chastity she rejected the marriage which had been an^anged for her with Duke Stephen. He was so enraged at her indifference to his offers that he ordered her to be beheaded. When she reached the place of execution, she spread out her hands in prayer and commended herself to the Lord, during which voices from heaven were heard encouraging her. She voluntarily offered to her executioner her head, which was cut off with a blow. Before her death she had predicted the death of the tyrant Stephen ; and when this was afterwards reported to him by a squire, the latter was seized with fear and trembling, and fell dead. The duke was then greatly alarmed, and besought Martial to come to him and restore his squire to life. Martial came and prayed with a loud voice, and in presence of the people restored the dead squire, whereupon the duke knelt before the holy bishop and implored forgiveness for his sins. The bishop enjoined penance for putting to death the virgin martyr, and baptised the duke and his officers, and they gave large sums of gold to build churches and endow a hospital to the memory of Valeria, and also erected a church over her tomb. The duke after these events lived an exemplary life ; and while he was a wise father of the Christians, he was a fierce persecutor of the Pagans. Chap, vi.] EARLY MARTYRS. 143 ST. THECLA CONVERTED BY ST. PAUL. St. Thecla was a native of Lycaonia, of great beauty, and was early engaged to be married to a rich noble named Thamyris, but she was converted by St. Paul, and she then and there vowed that she would renounce the world and devote herself to virginity. She broke her plighted troth. The friends of the youth pressed her to keep her promise ; but she forsook father and mother and riches and plenty, and would not listen to any of them. So the youth in revenge obtained a decree that she should be torn by wild beasts. She remained undaunted, and was exposed naked in the amphitheatre; and tigers, lions, and pards, starved and raging with fury, were let loose upon her. But the lions, instead of attacking, crouched at her feet and meekly kissed them ; and though excited by the keepers again and again, they shrank like lambs. This startling picture of innocence saved from harm was a standing text with the Fathers, who glowed with enthusiastic eloquence while dilating on the story. At another time the virgin martyr was exposed to fii-e, and was in like manner untouched. It was said she was first converted by listening to St. Paul, whom she attended in several of his apostolic journeys. At last she died in peace in a retirement in Isauria, aged ninety, and was buried at Silencia, being treated as the first female martyr. A sumptuous church bearing her name was erected over the body, and crowds of pilgrims have always visited the spot. The great cathedral at Milan is dedicated to God in her honour, and pait of her relics are deposited there. It is said that St. John deposed a priest for forging some scandalous tales about St. Paul and St. Thecla, and such tales were repeated in later ages also. MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP (a.D. 168). When Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, was burnt as a martyr about 168, a contemporary account by the leaders of the Church contained in Eusebius says this : "As soon as the martyr uttered * Amen ' after his prayer the fire was lighted, and a great flame burst out in the form of an arch, as the sail of a vessel filled with wind, surrounding as with a wall the body, which was in the midst, not as burning flesh, but as gold and silver refining in the furnace. We received in our nostrils such a fragrance as proceeds from frankincense or some other precious perfume. At length the wicked people, observing that the body could not be consumed with the fire, ordered the executioner to approach and to plunge his sword into his body. Upon this such a quantity of blood gushed 144 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. out that the fire was extinguished, and ail tlie multitude were astonished to see such a difference providentially made between the unbelievers and the elect. Afterwards the body was burned, and we gathered up the bones, more precious than gold and jewels, and deposited them in a proper place, where, if possible, we shall meet, and the Lord will grant us in gladness and joy to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom, both in commemoration of those who have wrestled before us, and for the instruction and confirmation of those who come after." Polycarp was burned at the age of eighty-six, and had been a pupil of St. John the Evangelist. ST. FELICITAS AND HER SEVEN SONS (A.D. 173). A rich widow named Felicitas lived at Rome about 173, and had seven sons, whom she brought up as Christians. She was cited before the tribunals for not sacrificing to the false gods. But she refused ; and being told she should comply out of regard to her sons, she replied that her sons would know how to choose between everlasting death and everlasting life. They also were cited ; but the mother encouraged them to defy the tyranny and refuse to obey. Then they were ordered to be tortured most cruelly, each in difierent form and before the mother's eyes ; but she heroically stood by and encouraged them to be firm. Instead of flinching, she gloried that she had seven sons worthy to be saints in Paradise, and she herself was subjected to a barbarous and lingering death, and at length beheaded or plunged into boiling oil. THE MARTYRS OF LYONS, BLANDINA AND ATTALUS (a.D. 199). Eusebius, referring to the end of the second century, says that one day, in place of the gladiatorial combats at Lyons, Blandina and Attains were thrown to the wild beasts. Blandina was bound to a stake ; and as her body appeai-ed to hang in the form of the cross, this greatly encouraged her fellow-martyr. As none of the beasts touched her, she was remanded to prison to be kept for another day. Attains was then demanded by the mob. He bore a label : " This is Attains the Christian." He was placed on the iron chair and his body roasted ; but he maintained his courage to the last. Blandina was again brought forward, along with a youth of fifteen, named Ponticus. Refusing to swear as they were ordered, they were led the whole round, and subjected to horrible brutaUties. When Ponticus drew his last breath, Blandina stood exulting, as if she were invited to a marriage feast rather Chap, vl.] EARLY MARTYRS. 145 than thrown to the wild beasts. After scourging and exposure to the beasts, and after being roasted, she was finally wrapped in a net and tossed in the air before a bull ; and when she had been tossed by that beast, and had now no longer any sense of what was done to her by reason of her hope, confidence, and faith in Christ, she too was despatched. The Gentiles confessed that no woman among them had ever endured sufierings as many and great as these ; yet they insisted on watching the dead bodies, and what remained after the mangling of beasts, day and night, lest the Christians should attempt to bury them. They finally burnt the remains to ashes, and cast them into the Rhone, that there might not be a vestige of them left on dry land. Some of the ashes, however, were preserved in the church at Lyons. ST. CECILIA THE MARTYR AND HER SINGING (a.D. 200). Peter de Natalibus says : Cecilia, virgin and martyr, born of a noble house among the Romans about 180, was brought up in the faith of Christ, and always carried the Gospel hid in her bosom, and never ceased from Divine colloquy and prayer. She composed hymns to the glory of God, which she sang so sweetly that the angels came down from heaven to hear them and sing along with her. Being espoused to a youth named Valerian, who heard her often speaking of an angel whom he desired to see, she told him where to go ; he was directed to the Catacombs, where the angel appeared to him in white raiment, holding a book, on which was written, " One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Valerian thereupon received baptism from Pope Urban. Valerian earnestly desired that his brother Tiburtius should be brought to the knowledge of the truth. So when on the morrow Tiburtius came to salute his sister-in-law Cecilia, he perceived an excellent odour of lilies and roses, and asked her wondering whence she had roses at that untimely season. He was told that God had sent them crowns of roses and lilies, but that he could not see them till his eyes were opened and his body purified, and yet that he also might see them if he would beHeve in Christ and renounce idols. And Tiburtius also believed and was baptised. The two brothers were afterwards seized and put to death. Cecilia also was ordered by the prefect Almachius to be burned ; but though put in the fire a day and night, it had no effect on her. Nor could the executioner, though striking thrice at her neck, kill her. On the third day of her sufferings she distributed her goods and departed this life. JO 146 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE MARTYR PERPETUA (a.D. 202). In the early persecution of 202 under the Emperor Sever us, a touching scene occurred between a young wife, aged twenty-two, named Perpetua, and her father. She was arrested, and implored by her father, who threw himself in tears at her feet, beseeching her to renounce her creed, and not bring ruin on her bi-others and parents and relatives. But she gloried in being called and in calling herself a Christian. The father brought her child in his arms, and called on her in vain to spare his grey hairs and to pity the child, and join in the Pagan sacrifice to the Emperor. The guards at last ordered him to be removed after his last appeal to her pity ; and after tearing the hair of his beard in his anguish, she only exclaimed, " I am pained at the sight of my father as if I had been struck with a blow. His grief is enough to move any creature." But no other faltering word escaped her. She and some young companions were thrown to the wild beasts to gratify the brutal tastes of the multitude when celebrating a prince's birthday. The cruel spectacle made such an impression on one of the jailers, named Pudens, that he felt an irresistible impulse to aclmowledge that there must be something divine in such a triumph over human weakness. He could not choose but indulge the friends of the wretched prisoners by giving them access to cheer the latter in their desolate state. ST. URSULA AND THE ELEVEN THOUSAND VIRGIN MARTYRS (a.D. 237). Ursula and eleven thousand British virgins were said to have suffered martyrdom at Cologne in 237. The story is somewhat vague, and some even suggest that, another virgin being named Undecimilla, some play on that word gave rise to the extra- ordinary number mentioned. The writers of the tenth century began to tell the story that Ursula was the daughter of a British prince, and had taken a vow of celibacy, but her father had wished her to marry the son of some ferocious tyrant. To get quit of the proposal, she said she would agree if her father and the king should choose each ten virgins of her own age and beauty, and that each of those ten should have a thousand damsels under them, and that they should all be allowed to cruise about as unsullied virgins for three years in eleven ti-iremes. The tyrant succeeded in collecting the virgins and in providing gaily equipped galleys, and they put to sea and were diiven by stress of weather up the Rhine to Cologne. From that place they went to visit the Apostles' tombs at Rome, and on theii- Chap, vi.] EARLY MARTYRS. 147 return the barbarous Huns murdered them all at Cologne. The church of St. Ursula at Cologne is still visited by pilgrims who invoke the saint. ST. BARBARA AND THE PRISON TOWER (a.D. 250). St. Barbara was the daughter of a rich noble in Heliopolis, and, being of singular beauty, her father destined her for some great alliance. But she heard of Origen and visited him, and took his instruction and was conveited to the Christian religion. Her father being a rabid Pagan, built a high tower in which to imprison her ; and one day, on visiting it, and seeing only two windows in the plan, she ordered the workmen to add a third. Her father on hearing of this became enraged, dragged her by her hair to a dungeon, and procured a decree that she shoiild be scourged and tortured ; and as she still refused to acknowledge his gods he cut off her head. But thunder and lightning at once descended and consumed him. She became the patron saint to protect from lightning and gunpowder. THE MARTYR POTAMIANA CONVERTS A SOLDIER (a.D. 299). Eusebius says that at the end of the third century a soldier named Basilides was ordered to lead the celebrated Potamiana to execution, who had resisted many attacks on her purity. She was in the bloom of beauty, and was known far and wide for her virtues. She was, after horrible tortures, the mere relation of which made one shudder, ordered by a brutal judge for execution. The soldier who had charge of her showed much compassion and kindness in warding off the insolent mob. Perceiving this, she exhorted the soldier to be of good cheer, for that after she was gone she would intercede with her Lord for him. Boiling pitch was then poured over different parts of her body, gradually by little and little, from her feet up to the crown of her head. Not long afterwards it was observed by his comrades that Basilides himself refused to swear and take the oaths, and for this offence he was committed to prison. When some of the Christian brethren visited him to ascertain the cause of this unexpected conduct, he declared to them that for three days after the martyrdom of Potamiana she stood before him at night, placed a crown upon his head, and said that she had entreated the Lord on his account, that she had obtained her prayer, and that ere long she would take him with her. Thereupon the brethren baptised him, and he, bearing his testimony to the Lord, was beheaded. 148 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. GENES THE ACTOR BECOMING A SAINT AND MARTYR (a.D. 303). St. Genes was an actor performing before the Emperor Diocletian in 303, and, being a clever mimic, played the character of a sick man, troubled in mind about the false gods and the future, before him. He professed to lie on his deathlDed groaning over his sins, which he said were heavy and burdensome, and he wished to be lightened of them. The other actors then approached him ; and one of them, being the clown, exclaimed to the rest, " Oh, if the poor fellow feels overweighted, we can only do one thing with him — take him to the carpenter's and get him planed, and so lighten him." At this sally there was a great roar of laughter. The sick man still groaned and sighed, and said he desired to be a Christian, and wished them to call in a priest and an exorcist. Thereupon two actors came in dressed to represent these two characters, and they suggested baptism, whereon a great vat of water was brought on the stage, and the sick man dragged out of his bed and plunged in, clothed in white. At this last sally there was another roar of laughter. At the next moment some actors dressed as Roman soldiers rushed on the stage, and arrested the new convert and had him tried and sentenced. This was part of the jest. But Genes sprang to his feet, threw off the guards, and knocking down a statue of Venus, addressed the Emperor, saying that though he had amused them with mimicking the Christians, yet after all he was himself one in his heart, and having in sickness felt the comfort, he now confessed Christ to be very God, and in Him alone he would trust. The mimic was so earnest and serious in this address that the whole assembly were petrified. The Emperor called the actor before him, and told him not to carry the joke too far. But the actor persisted, said he was in earnest, and defied aU the threats of power. He was first tortured and then beheaded. The artists often represent this saint with a clown's cap and bells. GENESIUS BAPTISED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD (a.D. 303). Genesius was a notary at Aries in 303. He had originally been a soldier, and then he became registrar of a local court. In this capacity he was called on to read an edict of persecution issued by Diocletian, and rather than read it he resigned his office and fled. He ardently longed to be baptised, and requested the Bishop of Aries to grant him this favour. The bishop, for some reason not known, deferred it, but assured Genesius that, if called . upon to die for Christ, he should in thus shedding his blood receive Chap, vi.] EARLY MARTYRS. 149 the perfection of the grace of baptism. Genesiiis was soon after- wards arrested, whereupon it is related that by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he flung himself into the Khone, wherein he received baptism, the river having become for him a second Jordan. The officers followed him to the other bank, and there beheaded him without any formal trial. Ado, speaking of this death of Genesius, says that *' he received the crown of martyrdom, being baptised with his own blood." ST. ALBAN, THE FIRST BRITISH MARTYR (a.D. 303). The first of the British martyrs was St. Alban, a wealthy native of Verulam and citizen of Rome, who in 303 entertained one Amphibalus, a Christian preacher from Caerleon in South Wales, then a Roman settlement. It was said that Alban exchanged clothes with his guest, and thus eflfected his escape. For this act of friendship Alban was beheaded in presence of a great concourse of people. And many other martyrdoms followed. About the same time Oonstantius, the father of Constantine the Great, who had been chosen emperor of the western provinces of France, Spain, and Britain, died at York, at which last city Constantine was born, who was the first Christian Emperor. Some, however, alleged that Constantine was born at London, and some at Colchester. Ten years after Alban's death a stately church was erected and dedicated to his memory ; and in 1880 a new and separate bishopric of St. Albans was created. DIDYMUS AND THEODORA (a.D. 304). The virgin Theodora, about 304, was a great beauty, and was condemned to hateful punishment for not sacrificing to the gods, and was kept in prison awaiting her terrible doom. Didymus was a young man moved to pity, and resolved to rescue the virgin of Christ out of her danger. He dressed himself as a soldier, and went into her room and told her to change clothes, and he would remain in her stead. She consented, and being instructed not to betray herself by any unusual walk or conduct, she escaped. When the truth was discovered, Didymus said he was inspired by God to rescue Theodoi a, and he was ready to undergo any tortures to which he might be exposed, for he would never consent to sacrifice to devils. He was ordered to be burnt. Then Theodora, hearing of this, ran to the spot, and wished to die in his place, and she was beheaded soon after his death. St. Ambrose dwells with rapture on the glorious contention between those two for the crown of martyrdom. 150 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. CYPRIAN AND JUSTINA (a.D. 304). St. Cyprian, surnamed the Magician, who died in 304, was a native of Antioch, and had travelled in all the countries where magic was cultivated, in order to acquire that diabolic art. In Antioch lived a young heathen virgin, named Justina, with whom a pagan noble, named Agladius, was deeply in love. And as she would not listen to him, Cyprian's magical powers were invoked in order to overcome her resolution. She made the sign of the cross and warded off all their evil arts. Cyprian himself was equally enamoured, and, enraged at being baffled, resolved to give up the diabolic art. He consulted a priest, named Eusebius, who took him to an assembly of Christians, when he was struck with the new signs of devotion. He became a convert, and burned his books of magic, gave all his goods to the poor, and enrolled himself as a catechumen. Agladius was also about the same time converted. Justina was delighted to see this change, cut off her hair, gave away her jewels, and dedicated herself to a holy life. The persecution of Diocletian breaking out, they were all scourged, and torn with hooks, kept in chains, and finally beheaded. Their relics were carried to Rome by Christians, and a pious lady, named Rufina, built a church to their memory, near the square which bears the name of Claudius. The relics were afterwards removed to the Lateran basihca. ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM AS HERMIT (a.D. 400). St. John Chrysostom, who died about 407, passed many years among the anchorites who lived on the mountains near Antioch. When he was ordained deacon, he became a powerful and fervid preacher. Once, on a seditious resistance made by the people to a new tax levied by Theodosius I., he assisted the bishop in obtaining a pardon for the ringleaders. When he became himself bishop, he preached with great force against the indelicacy of the female dress, and against gaming, theatres, and swearing. The other bishops conspired against him, and obtained his banish- ment for alleged seditious acts, but he was soon recalled at the instance of the people. He was again banished to a bleak desert, and died after being a bishop about ten years. His body was carried to Constantinople, and was laid in the Church of the Apostles. He was said to be the most eloquent and fervid of the Fathers. Thomas Aquinas said he would rather be author of his homilies on St. Matthew than own the whole city of Paris. Chap, vi.] EARLY MARTYRS. 151 ST. JAMES, INTERCISUS A.D. 421. St. James was a Persian noble. The king declared war against the Christians, and the noble had not firmness to refuse. His wife and mother, however, being Christians, and shocked to see this, upbraided him, and wrote a letter that they renounced him for ever. This sank into his soul, and he withdrew from the Court, bewailing the crime he had committed; and the king, hearing of his change of views, was enraged, and, after calling the Council of Ministers, they all agreed that James should be hung on the rack, and his limbs cut ofi", joint after joint. The executioners, after entreating him in vain to recant, with their scimitars cut off his right thumb. The judge and bystanders, in tears, called out to him that it was enough, and he ought to surrender. But he exulted, and finger after finger was cut off; then the little toe of the left foot, and all the other toes. After fingers and toes and arms and feet left him only a trunk welter- ing in his blood, he continued to pray and speak cheerfully, till at last a guard severed the head from the body. This happened in 421. The Christians offered a large sum to obtain the relics, but were refused. They, however, watched an opportunity, and collected them by stealth, finding the hmbs in twenty-eight different places. They were all buried in an urn, and in a place concealed from the heathen. The glory of this martyr was renowned in all the Persian, Syrian, Greek, and Latin Churches. STEPHEN A MARTYR FOR IMAGE WORSHIP (a.D. 720). During the controversy raised by the iconoclasts, when all the monks resisted the decrees against image worship, one monk, Stephen, a hermit who had lived thirty years in a cave at Sinope, greatly distinguished himself. The monks had flocked to the desert to watch in security over their tutelary images, and the most devout of the laity crowded round the cell of Stephen, who furiously denounced the iconoclasts. So many pilgrims resorted to him as their champion that the Emperor ordered him to be carried away from his cell, and shut up in a cloister at Chry- . sopolis. This act drove the other monks to frenzy. One named Andrew hastened from his dwelling in the desert and boldly confronted the Emperor in the church of St. Mammas, and sternly addressed him thus : "If thou art a Christian, why do you treat Christians with such indignity ? " The Emperor commanded his temper, but after again ordering this monk into his presence, the latter was so violent and scornful that the Emperor ordered him 152 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to be sconrged. Stephen, however, continued to thunder from his cell against the iconoclasts, and mounted a pillar to be better heard ; and other monks flocked and built their cells round this pillar. But this did not satisfy Stephen, who returned to the city and openly denounced and defied the Emperor, and collected a large following. The Emperor ordered him to prison. His followers on hearing of his majesty's annoyance at last rushed to the prison, dragged the old man into the streets and murdered him, and threw his body into the malefactors' grave (as is else- where mentioned, ante, p. 134). HUSS THE BOHEMIAN BURNT FOR HERESY IN 1415. John Huss, who was a Luther a century too soon, was born in 1369, became a preacher, and soon began to see the impostures connected with relic worshipping and indulgences, and became known as a great admirer of WicliiFs writings. He was soon marked out as a heretic, and worried with citations and excom- municated. When three young artisans publicly exclaimed against the sale of indulgences and were seized and condemned and executed, great excitement arose. Some friends dipped their handkerchiefs in the blood of the victims, a woman in the crowd offered white linen to enshroud them; the dead bodies were carried as saints with chanted hymns and anthems, and buried with great solemnity under the direction of Huss. Huss was summoned to answer for his many heresies, and he offered to defend himself before the Council of Constance, on condition of the Emperor securing him a safe conduct. The assurance was given, the Emperor Sigismund being at first thought favourable to the views of Huss. But the bishops craftily, on pretence of his attempt at escape, seized and imprisoned him. The Emperor acted weakly and with too much deference to the cardinals, who professed to give Huss a hearing, but took care that it should be only before themselves. His friends had early presentiment that Huss would be done to death by hook or crook. His faithful friend the Knight of Chlum stood always by his side, and protested vigorously against the breach of faith, in all the crafty steps taken, and by the imprisonments imposed before the hearing of the case. At one prison on the Rhine Huss was nearly killed by the noisome efl9uvia. He was next removed and imprisoned in a tower, and chained day and night. The usual result followed after a few hearings before the council, where he had no oppor- tunity of meeting most of the charges, and where he was mocked and offered a period to recant, and then sentenced to be burnt Chap, vi.] JOAN, THE PATRIOTIC MARTYR. 153 as an incorrigible heretic. Seven bishops were appointed to see him clothed in priestly vestments, then stripped and degraded. A cap painted with devils was placed on his head and inscribed with the word " Arch-heretic." He was placed on a pile of fagots, and chained to it by the neck. He sang hymns till the smoke and flames stopped him. When his body was burned the ashes were cast into the Khine, so that nothing of him might be left to pollute the earth, as his murderers vainly imagined. JOAN OF AEC, A MODERN PATRIOTIC MARTYR (A.D. 1430). One consequence of William the Conqueror's success was the long and bloody wars which lasted for three centuries. It was a misfortune that William Duke of Normandy, one of the great French vassals, should become King of England. From the eleventh to the fourteenth century — from Philip I. to Philip de Valois — this position gave rise between the two crowns and the two states to questions, to quarrels, to political struggles, and to wars which were a frequent source of trouble to France. The evil and the peril became far greater still when in the fourteenth century there arose between France and England — between Philip de Yalois and Edward III. — a question touching the succession to the throne of France, and the application of exemption from the Salic law. Then there commenced between the two crowns and the two peoples that war which was to last more than a hundred years, was to bring upon France the saddest days of her history, and was to be ended only by the inspired heroism of a young girl, who alone in the name of her God and His saints restored confidence and victory to her king and country. Joan of Arc at the cost of her life brought to the most glorious conclusion the longest and bloodiest struggle that had devastated France and sometimes compromised its glory. JOAN OF ARC BELIEVES SHE HAS A MISSION. In 1412 this little girl was born at Domremy, and soon learnt to sew and spin and to tend her parents' cattle and sheep. She did not take to dancing, like other girls, though willing to sing and eat cakes under the fairy beech tree of her village. At the age of nine she was noted for her constant attendance at church ; the sound of bells enchanted her, and she went often to confession and communion, and was even then taxed with being too religious. France was then torn with civil strife ; and the sight of lads of the village sent home torn and bleeding from the wars, and the stories 154 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. of her poor neighbours whose houses were fired and homesteads devastated by troopers, and the domineering and brutal English, then masters of France, whom she always called " Goddams," stirred her blood and made her wonder that the God in heaven could allow such mad work to go on. When she was thirteen, she declared then, and ever after, that, as she was sitting in her father's garden, she heard a voice from heaven calling her, and a great brightness all round the church ; and listening with awe, she heard the voice of angels which urged her to go to France and deliver the kingdom. She became then rapt in thought, and often the voices came to her again and again, urging her on. She at last broke the secret to her father ; but he, being only a stupid peasant, chided her for her nonsense, and even threatened to drown her if she repeated it. She soon found home uncom- fortable, and went and nursed her aunt, and also opened her heart to her uncle, begging him to take her to see the captain of the bailiwick, for she was sure he would help her to go to the Dauphin and assist to recover France for the French. She did get an audience, and told the captain she came from the Lord, who would be sure to help the Dauphin. On asking her who was her Lord, she said He was the King of Heaven, at which the captain set her down at once for a little madcap who should be sent home and well whipped. But the little persistent cow-girl, still further excited by news of the wars, told the captain that she was deter- mined to go and raise the siege of Orleans, and that if she had a hundred fathers and mothers, and if she were the King's daughter, she must and would go in spite of them all. At last the captain, puzzled and at his wits' end, wrote about the little crazy girl and her visions to the Duke of Lorraine, who was so impressed that he sent for her, and then everybody began to talk of her wild schemes and enterprise as the wonder of the times. JOAN OP ARC GOES TO INTERVIEW THE KING. When Joan of Arc, aged nineteen, got the length of being sent for by the Duke of Lorraine, John of Metz, the knight, was assigned to escort her, and he asked if she meant to go m her little red petticoat. " No," said she, " I should like to be in man's clothes." When this was known, the people round about sub- scribed to get her a military costume, and she was supplied with a horse, a coat of mail, a lance, a sword, a messenger, and a train ; and she took farewell of her rustic friends and got their blessing. In the journey of eleven days her spirit never flagged, and she only wished she could hear Mass daily which she eontiived Chap, vi.] JOAN, THE PATRIOTIC MARTYR. 155 once or twice to do. Everybody treated with respect the inspired cow-girl, and her constant appeals to Heaven and to the commis- sion which she said she bore direct from the God of Battles. She was rather tall, well shaped, dark, with a look of composed assurance which staggered even the old veterans of the war. Once on her journey a band of roughs had prepared to waylay and rob her ; but on a sight of her they were struck motionless and quailed. When she arrived near to headquarters, the King's council debated whether the King ought to receive her ; and as he was then at his wits' end, and had spent all the money in the treasury, it was decided that he might. The high steward con- ducted her forward ; it was candlelight : warriors and knights, richly dressed, stood in rows looking on ; and yet it was noticed that she by instinct fixed on the King among the crowd of grandees, and the young shepherdess at once made her bends and courtesies, as if she had been bred in courts. She at once took high ground, and said, "Good Dauphin, my name is Joan, the maid. The King of Heaven sends me to assure you that you shall be anointed and crowned in the city of Rheims, and shall be lieutenant of the King of Heaven, who is King of France. It is God's will that these English foes shall be driven out of our country." The King was astounded, and the chroniclei-s say he received her message with radiant face as a message from Heaven. Many interviews followed, and as he listened he began to believe in Heaven, and even in himself as destined to recover his kingdom as the true heir of France. JOAN OF ARC PUT AT THE HEAD OF AN ARMY. After Joan of Arc had had an interview with the King and assured him that God was on her side, the King took the advice kindly, but his stiff-necked courtiers shook their heads at the shep- herdess and her schemes. At last a large committee of bishops, kings, councillors, and learned doctors resolved to go and question this presumptuous young person. One doctor tried to puzzle her by asking why she wanted men-at-arms to go and rout out the English, when, if it were God's will, no men would be needed. She answered that warriors would fight, and God would give them the victory. Another pundit asked her in what language the voices spoke to her, and she retorted, " A better dialect than yours." A third pundit thought he would stop her by asking if she believed in God, to which she replied, " More than you do." Next the wiseacres told her they must have a sign before they could trust her with an army. She answered, " In the name of God, I 156 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. am not come to Poitiers to show signs ; take me to Orleans and I will give you signs of what I am sent for. I come on behalf of the King of Heaven to cause the siege of Orleans to be raised, and to take the King to Rheims that he may be crowned and anointed there." The doctors and councillors kept up their siege of questions at this obscure shepherdess for a fortnight, and her good temper and unflagging faith in her mission broke down their unbelief, so that they all decided that she must surely be inspired. Next a deputation of princesses and court ladies visited and questioned her, and they also were all so struck with the modesty, sweetness, and grace of her demeanour and speech that they were subdued to tears. The King no longer hesitated. Joan was accepted as a heaven-born marshal, and there was assigned to her a squire, a page, two heralds, a chaplain, many serving-men, and a complete suit of armour. She asked that her sword should be marked with five crosses ; her banner was white and studded with lilies, and there were the words " Jesu Maria," with angels adoring, and a picture of God in the clouds holding in His hand the globe and its destinies. These accoutrements being provided, she was urgent for the immediate departure of the expedition, as she said Orleans was crying aloud for succour. It took five weeks to get together an army of twelve thousand men ; but at last off they went, Joan's chaplain and some priests chanting sacred hymns, much to the amazement of the swearing troopers, who had never seen the like before. JOAN OF ARC RAISES THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS. When the army marched with Joan to succour Orleans, the generals suggested that the best plan would be for her to go into the city with a convoy of provisions, and she at once acted on the advice ; and with her banner and priests and two hundred men-at-arms she entered the city at night ; and on sight of her the besieged inhabitants rose in a mass, and with torches and shouts of joy hailed her as a goddess sent to deliver them. She said her first duty was to enter the church and give thanks to God, and then she would go to the governor's house. A splendid supper was prepared for her, but she would only dip some slices of bread in wine and water. Her modesty and simplicity charmed all the company, and she had quarters in the governor's house, and slept with one of his daughters. The besiegers heard of Joan and the frenzy she had excited, and they cursed her as a little sorceress. But her own soldiers were keen to go out at once and storm the bastiles of the English. She thought it fair Chap, vi.] JOAN, THE PATRIOTIC MARTYR. 157 to give the enemy warning, and mounted one of the bastions and shouted to the English to stop and be gone; but the English general only jeered at her ; and told her to go home and mind her cows. The battle went on a few days, and Joan, having called for her horse and armour, eagerly joined and encouraged the garrison. At one stage of the attack she took a scaling-ladder, set it against the rampart, and was the first to mount. But an arrow struck her between the neck and shoulder, and she fell. Yet, after retiring to have her wound dressed, she remounted her horse and shook her banner in the air ; her men rallied, and with one great rush carried the bastile and routed the English. The bells rang out all night at this victory, and the Te Deum was chanted. The English were soon seen to be in retreat, leaving much victual and ammunition behind, and many sick and prisoners. The siege of Orleans was raised. A few days later Joan was anxious to visit the King ; and when they met, he took off his cap and held out his hand, and the chroniclers say he would fain have kissed her for the joy that he felt. She on her side thought of nothing but to urge him to march at once while the enemy was flying, and get himself crowned at Rheims. The pious maid again reminded him that the voices were urging her and would not let her rest. JOAN GETS THE KING CROWNED AT RHEIMS. After the siege of Orleans was raised, and Joan of Arc was urging the next part of the programme, to have the King crowned at Rheims, she took part in sieges and assaults, and was gravely consulted by the generals. Difficulties were started about going at once to Rheims, and sometimes she issued mihtary orders herself which embarrassed the plans ; but she had great influence with the army and the people and those who flocked to join the standard attracted by her fame. She urged an instant assault on Troyes, and got a grumbling assent of the chiefs ; and when mounting the earthwork and shouting out " Assault," it so happened that Troyes capitulated to the King on terms. The royal forces then entered in triumph, with the maid at the King's side carrying her banner. At that stage some of her old village friends came to see her in her great position, and she received and welcomed them like a born princess, so that they were charmed. The King in a day or two thereafter entered Rheims, and at the coronation Joan rode in state between a general, an archbishop, and the Chancellor of France. When this great ceremony was over, Joan said she had completed the 158 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. charge given her by the Lord, and now if it pleased Him she would gladly go back to her father and mother and tend the cattle as before. On hearing this the great councillors more and more believed that Joan had been sent as a messenger from Heaven. But difficulties still surrounded the army, and Joan seemed bent on driving out the English. Yet people noticed that Joan's power somehow drooped after the King was crowned. She kept with the King and busied herself with affiiirs. Talbot, the English general, insulted her by sending flags painted with a sign of the distaff and the words, " Now, fair one, come on ! " The King moved on to Paris, and she took part in an unsuccessful assault there and elsewhere. When she was fighting at Com- piegne, and the enemy being determined to capture the little warrior in her red sash and rich surcoat, she was at last over- mastered, and was taken prisoner. She had for some time before surmised that she would be betrayed, and that her career was near its close. A YOUNG PRINCES FIRST SIGHT OF JOAN. When Joan had raised the siege of Orleans and was urging the King to go to Rheims to be crowned, and he was distracted by the diversity of his councillors, a young prince, Guy de Laval, wrote on June 8th, 1429, to his mother about Joan as follows : " The King had sent for Joan to come and meet him at Selles-en- Berry. Some say that it was for my sake, in order that I might see her. She gave right good welcome to my brother and myself, and after we had dismounted at Selles I went to see her in her quarters. She ordered wine, and told me that she should soon have me drinking some at Paris. It seems a thing divine to look on her and listen to her. I saw her mount on horseback, clad all in white armour save her head, and with a little axe in her hand, on a great black charger, which at the door of her quarters was very restive and would not let her mount. Then said she, ' Lead him to the cross,' which was in front of the neighbouring church on the road. There she mounted him without his moving, and as if he were tied up; and turning towards the door of the church, which was very nigh at hand, she said in a soft womanly voice, * You priests and churchmen, make procession and prayer to God.' Then she resumed her road, saying, ' Push forward ! push forward ! ' She told me that three days before my arrival she had sent my dear grandmother a little golden ring, but that it was a very small matter, and Chap, vi.] JOAN, THE PATRIOTIC MARTYR. 159 she would have liked to send you something better, having regard to your dignity." JOAN TAKEN CAPTIVE AND BURNT AS A HERETIC (1431). When Joan was taken prisoner at the siege of Compiegne, she was kept six months in various castles by John of Luxemburg ; but her youth, virtue, and courage made friends of her gaolers. The governor, however, was a sordid creature, and sold her to her enemies for English gold. Then another brutal creature called a bishop of Beauvais, also an inquisitor, rose up and insisted on his right to judge her, as she was captured within his diocese. She was taken to Rouen to be tried as a rebel heretic. Joan had a presentiment of her fate, and said, " I know well that these English will put me to death ; but were they a hundred thousand more Goddams than have already been in France, they shall never have the kingdom." On hearing this, the English Earl of Stafford half drew his dagger to strike her, but was held back. As she was led to Rouen, great crowds came to see her ; ladies of distinction went five leagues to speak comfort to her and encourage her, and wept on parting. The brutal bishop, like a v\ilture of the desert, seized on her as his prey ; and though some lookers-on cried shame, and protested that the trial was illegal, this demon inquisitor had her locked in an iron cage, with irons on her feet, and kept in a dark room, guarded night and day in a castle tower, while a sham trial was kept up for forty days, and idle questions cast at her. The demon judge, after trying in vain to shake her fortitude, at last had her brought into the torture chamber. But Joan told him, " If you tear me limb from limb, you shall get nothing more from me; nay, if I were at the stake and saw the torch lighting the fagots, I shall say naught else." Joan was declared a heretic and a rebel ; she was harassed to sign an abjuration, and a mock signature being forced from her, she was at first condemned to perpetual imprisonment. Part of her alleged crime was the wearing of man's clothes, and after a struggle she refused to give this up. She was tried and retried, and at last forty judges agreed that she must be burned at the stake. A woman's dress was put on her, and she was dragged to the place of execution. Her last wish was to have the cross, whereon God hung, kept continually in her sight as long as she lived. She was then done to death, and even the demon bishop was said for once to drop a tear as the inspired maid was in her last agony. 160 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. OUTBREAK OP THE HERMIT ZEAL (A.D. 340). Egypt afforded the first example of the monastic life ; and at the head of the new zealots for macerating the body in order to perfect the soul was Antony, an illiterate youth, born in 305. After rehearsing the solitary life in Thebais and searching for a suitable site in the desert, he settled on Mount Colzim, near the Red Sea. He was a friend of Athanasius, the champion of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. Others followed his example, and the region of the Nile soon swarmed with disciples. It was said that five thousand anchorites peopled the Desert of Nitria, south of Alexandria. Some thought that half of the population had taken to this sequestered mode of life, so that the old saying was repeated that in Egypt it was less difficult to find a god than a man. Athanasius introduced the knowledge and admiration of the monastic life to the Roman senators who began to take an interest in this new philosophy. A Syrian youth, named Hilarion, was incited by his enthusiasm to follow Antony's example, and fix his cell on a sandy beach seven miles from Gaza, where he lived forty-eight years. Even Basil once spent some time in a savage solitude in Pontus. And Martin of Tours, who was soldier, hermit, bishop, and saint, established the monasteries of Gaul. The fame of these hermits filled the whole earth wherever a knowledge of Christianity had spread. This pilgrim, visiting Jerusalem, carried there the habits of the new models of Christian life, and members of wealthy families yielded to the fashion of piety. Jerome himself persuaded Paula and her daughter Eusto- chium to retire to Bethlehem and found monasteries, and pursue a system of rigid self -mortification. FIRST BEGINNINGS OF MONASTIC LIFE (a.D. 340). The monastic life, as a system, was not much known till the end of the fourth century. It has been conjectured that the circumstances of the Decian persecution, about the middle of the third century, caused many persons in Egypt to retreat for safety to the desert, and then, finding complete security, this became a second nature, the climate being mild and cells and cottages being easily constructed. There were at first only individuals here and there, and no regular society till the peace- able reign of Constantino, when Pachomius is said to have founded some monasteries in Thebais. Antony, the first hermit of note, gave a contemporary of Piichomius this account : "When I fii-st became a monk, there was as yet no monastery in any part of the world where Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 161 one man was obliged to take care of another, but every one of the ancient monks, when the persecution was ended, exercised the monastic life by himself in private. Afterwards Father Pachomius, by the help of God, brought the monks to live in communities." Before 250 those who lived a lonely life were called ascetics. Hilarion, who was scholar to Antony, was the first monk who ever lived in Palestine or Syria. Not long after this new mode of life spread to Armenia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus ; then it reached Thrace and parts of Europe. It was not till Athanasius came to Italy and Rome in 340 that he introduced this mode of society. Marcella was the first noble woman who took to this life at Rome, being instructed by Athanasius during the Arian persecution. Pelagius, about 400, introduced monastic life into Britain. Monks at first were laymen and not clergy, their office being not to teach but to mourn. It was not till after 1311 that Pope Clement obliged all monks to take holy orders, so that they might say private Mass for the honour of God. THE TEMPTATIONS OF ST. ANTONY (a.D. 340). St. Antony, the founder of the monastic life in Egypt, who died in 356, at the age of one hundred and four, soon after he began to live in the tombs as a hermit was found in a trance, and carried to a church as one dead. He afterwards related that in the night the devil had sent his legions to terrify him. They upraised so great a clamour that the whole place seemed to quake, and, as if bursting through the four walls of the cell, devils rushed in upon him from all sides, transformed in the guise of wild beasts and creeping things, and the place was straightway filled with spectres of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, asps, scorpions, and wolves, all of them in motion after their proper fashion, — the lion roaring as about to spring on him, the bull threatening to gore him, the serpent hissing, the wolf in the act of flying at him, but all in seeming only as under restraint, though dire were the noises and fierce the menaces of those phantoms crowding around him. And Antony mocked them and said, " Ye seek to terrify me with numbers, but this aping of wild beasts only proves your weakness. If you have any power, delay not, but come on ; for faith in the Lord is my seal and my wall of salvation." And they all gnashed their teeth at him, looking as if preparing to assail him. But the Lord meanwhile did not forget Antony, and came to his assistance. The saint, looking up, saw as it were the roof opened and a ray of light descending upon him. And the devils on a sudden disappeared ; and the pain of his body was straightway 11 162 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. assuaged, and the cell was clear as before. And Antony rose up and prayed, and received more strength than he ever had before. ONE HERMIT VISITING ANOTHER (a.D. 340). Ruffinus says that Macarius once went to visit Antony in the mountain, and, knocking at the door, Antony opened to him and asked, " Who art thou 1 " He answered, " I am Macarius." And Antony, to prove him, shut the door and left him without, as if holding him in contempt, till, considering his patience, he opened and admitted him joyfully, saying, " Long have I heard of thy fame and desired to see thee." And then he made ready, and they ate together in charity. And in the evening Antony wetted certain palm leaves to weave baskets with, and Macarius asked for some likewise to work along with him ; and thus sitting and dis- coursing of things useful to the soul they made a mat of those leaves ; and Antony, seeing that what Macarius had woven was well done, kissed his hands, and said, " Much virtue issues forth of these hands, my brother." A STARVED HERMIT AND THE BUNCH OF GRAPES. Macarius the hermit, in order to subdue the rebellious flesh, remained six months in a marsh, and exposed his naked body to the attacks of African gnats. Once he was presented by a traveller with a bunch of grapes, at which he looked longingly ; but on reflection he thought another brother was more worthy, to whom he gave them. That brother again remembered another still more worthy, and passed them on. The tempting cluster passed from hand to hand, from worthy to more worthy, until it came back once more to the hands of Macarius, who, not to be tempted overmuch by the devil, flung the morsel far out of his reach. TWO HERMITS EXCHANGING COURTESIES OVER A LOAF (a.D. 340). St. Jerome, in his Life of Paul, the first hermit, who for fifteen years never slept except standing against a wall, relates that Antony, hearing that there was a better hermit than himself, went across the desert to find him, and after many dangers at last saw a wolf enter a cave, and divined that this must be the cell of Paul. So he went in, and at the noise Paul shut his door ; but Antony fell on his knees and prayed, and then besought admittance, which was granted. Paul then said, " Behold him whom thou hast sought with such labour, with limbs decayed by Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 163 age, and covered with unkempt white hair. Behold, thou seest but a mortal soon to become dust. But because charity bears all things, tell me, I pray thee, how fares the human race — whether new houses are rising in the ancient cities, by what emp3ror is the world governed — whether there are any left who are led captive by the deceits of the devil." As they spoke thus, they saw a raven settle on a bough, which, flying gently down, deposited, to their wonder, a whole loaf for their use. When he was gone, "Ah ! " said Paul, " the Lord, truly loving, truly merciful, has sent us a meal. For sixty years past I have received daily half a loaf, but at thy coming Christ has doubled his soldier's allowance." Then having thanked God, they sat down on the bank of a glassy spring. But here a contention arising as to which of them should break the loaf, occupied the day till well- nigh evening. Paul insisted as the host ; Antony declined as the younger man. At last it was agreed that they should take hold of the loaf at opposite ends, and each pull towards himself, and keep what was left in his hand. Next they stooped down and drank a little water from the spring ; then raising to God the sacrifice of praise, they passed the night watching. TWO HERMITS TRYING TO QUARREL {a.D. 350). Ruffinus, in his Lives of the Fathers, relates that there were two ancient hermits who dwelt together and never quarrelled. At last one said to the other, with much simplicity, " Let us have a quarrel, as other men have." And the other answering that he did not know how to quarrel, the first replied, " Look here, I will place this stone in the middle between you and me. I will say it is mine, and do you say that it is not true, for that it is yours ; in this manner we will make a quarrel." And placing the stone in the midst, he said, " This stone is mine." And the other said " No, it is mine." And the first said, " If it be yours, then take it." Not being able either to stamp and swear and blaspheme and slang and defame each other's parents, and shake their fists or strike a blow at a venture at each other, they could not carry the conversation further, and the whole quarrel collapsed. THE political ECONOMY OF HERMITS. St. Jerome and others relate that a certain anchorite in Nitria having left one hundred crowns at his death, which he had acquired by weaving cloth, the monks of that desert met to deliberate what should be done with all that money. Some were for giving it to 164 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the poor, others to the Church; but Macarius, Pambo, Isidore, and others, who were called the Fathers, ordered that the one hundred crowns should be thrown into the grave and buried with the corpse of the deceased, and that, at the same time, the follow- ing words should be pronounced : " May thy money go with thee to perdition ! " This example struck such a terror into all the monks that no one dared lay up any money. THE WISE SAYINGS OF ST. PAMBO THE HERMIT (a.D. 350). In the fourth century lived St. Pambo, who became a famous hermit, and practised rush-weaving. One day the blessed Melania took a fine present to him of a silver vessel, which he did not raise his head from his work even to acknowledge, and which caused her to ask if he knew its value. He replied, " He to whom it was offered need not that you should tell him." Two Spanish brothers spent their fortune, one by building hospitals, and the other by giving it away and becoming an anchorite, and Pambo was asked which was the more perfect. His reply was, " Both are perfect before God : there are many roads to perfection, besides that which leads through the desert cell." Some one gave Pambo gold to distribute in alms, and told him to count it. He answered, " God does not ask how much, but how I " He was on a visit at Alexandria, and there saw an actress perform. Pambo looked sad and observed, " Alas ! how much less do I labour to please God than does this poor girl to delight the eyes of men ! " He used to say that " a monk should only wear such a dress as no one would pick up, if thrown away." When Pambo was on his deathbed, he said, " I thank God that not a day of my life has been spent in idleness ; never have I eaten bread that I have not earned with the sweat of my brow. I thank God that I do not recall any bitter speech I have made, for which I ought to repent now." It is said that Pambo, on beginning his own career, consulted Antony how to act, and the latter gave this advice : " Never trust in your own merits ; never trouble yourself about transitory affairs ; keep a check on your stomach, and learn to hold your tongue." And Pambo acted strictly on these lines. a HERMIT CULTIVATING AN OLIVE TREE (a.D. 350). Mr. Baring-Gould says that Meffreth, a German priest of Meissen, in 1443, told, in one of his sermons, this story of a hermit : There was once an aged hermit in the Egyptian Desert, who thought it would be well with him if he had an olive tree Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 165 near his cave. So he planted a little tree ; and thinking it might want water, he prayed to God for rain ; and so rain came and watered his olive. Then he thought that some warm sunshine would do good and swell its buds ; so he prayed, and the sun shone out. Now the nursling looked feeble, and the old man deemed it would do good if some frost would come and harden it. He prayed for frost, and hoarfrost settled that night on its branches. Next he thought a hot southerly wind would benefit his tree, and, after praying, the south wind blew upon the olive tree. And then it died. Some little while after, the hermit visited a brother hermit, and lo ! by his cell door there grew a flourishing olive tree. " How came that goodly plant here, brother ] " asked the unsuccessful hermit. "I planted it, and God blessed it as it grew." " Ah ! brother, I, too, planted an olive, and when I thought it wanted water I asked God to give it rain, and the rain came ; and when I thought it needed sun, I asked, and the sun shone ; and when I thought it needed strengthening, I prayed, and the frost came. God gave me all I demanded for my tree, as I saw fit, and yet it is dead." "And I, brother," replied the other hermit, " left my tree in God's hands, for He knew what it wanted better than I." MACARIUS STUNG BY A GNAT (a.D. 380). E-uffinus, in his Life of the hermit IVtacarius, says that that holy man, sitting one day in his cell and feeling himself bitten in the foot by a gnat, put his hand to the place, and, finding the gnat, killed it. On seeing the blood he blamed himself, as it seemed to him he had revenged himself for the injury received. For this thing and in order to learn meekness he went into the utmost solitude of the wilderness called Scilis, where those gnats are largest and most venomous. He lived there for six months naked, that he might be stung by them ; and at the end of that time he returned so disfigured and wounded that he was unrecog- nisable save by his voice, being covered all over with boils and blisters, so that he lost all shape and appeared leprous. ST. MARTIN, BISHOP OF TOURS, HERMIT MONK (a.D. 380). St. Martin of Tours, who died 397, was from infancy devout, but was obliged to enter the army, owing to a decree of the Emperor. While in the army, one very cold and frosty day a poor naked and shivering beggar stood near the gate of Amiens ; and as none relieved him, St. Martin, having already given away all he had, took ofi" his own cloak, and with his sword cut it in 166 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. two, giving one half to the beggar and keeping the other. The bystanders laughed at the figure of the saint ; but the following night in his sleep he was astonished to see Jesus Christ appear to him dressed in the beggar's half of the cloak, and asked if he knew it. Jesus then said to a troop of angels attending him, " Martin, yet a catechumen, has clothed Me with this garment." This vision encouraged the saint to persevere in his course. He soon left the army, went into a monastery, and afterwards became a bishop. He had many visions and had great insight into impostors. One day when he was praying in his cell, the devil came to him environed with light and clothed in royal robes, with a crown of gold and precious stones upon his head, and with a gracious and pleasant countenance told Martin how that he was Christ. Martin looked hard at him and said, " The Lord Jesus said not that He was to come clothed with purple and crowned and adorned with a diadem. Nor will I ever believe Him to be Christ who shall not come in the habit and figure in which Christ suffered, and who shall not bear the marks of the cross in his body." At these words the fiend vanished and left in his cell an intolerable stench. The bishop died of a fever at the age of eighty, and insisted in his last days on lying among ashes and in a hair shirt, refusing any comforts ; for he said, " It becomes not a Christian to d^e otherwise than on ashes." Thousands of monks and virgins and the whole population, with hymns, carried his body to its resting-place. DOROTHEUS, THE HERMITS' ARCHITECT (a.D. 440). Sozomen, who wi-ote his history about 440, says that about two thousand monks dwelt near Alexandria in a district called the Hermitage. Dorotheus, a native of Thebes, was among the most celebrated of these. He spent the day in collecting stones upon the seashore, which he used in erecting cells for those who were unable to build them. During the night he employed him- self in weaving baskets of palm leaves, and these he sold to obtain the means of subsistence. He ate six ounces of bread with a few vegetables daily, and drank nothing but water. Having accustomed himself to this extreme abstinence from his youth, he continued to observe it in old age. He was never seen to recline on a mat or a bed, nor even to place his limbs in an easy atti- tude for sleep. Sometimes from natural lassitude his eyes would involuntarily close when he was at his daily labour or his meals, and the food would drop on the way to his mouth. One day Piammon, a presbyter, was conducting the service, and said that he Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 167 noticed an angel standing near the altar, and writing down the names of the monks who were present and erasing the names of those who were absent. ST. P(EMEN, THE PRINCE OF HERMITS (a.D. 450). The prince of the desert, the chief of the sohtaries and the fellow-citizen of angels, as he was long called, was St. Poemen, an Egyptian who flourished in 450. He had six brothers, and they all had a turn for fasting and self -mortifications, and retired to the desert and lived there, scorning the indulgences of ordinary life. All the people round soon confessed that Poemen was the gieatest hermit of his time, and his sayings were quoted over all Christendom. A monk who suffered from violent temptations consulted Poemen how to overcome his evil temper, and was told to retire into the desert and wrestle there with his temper and conquer it. The monk said, *'But, father, how if I were to die without Sacraments in the wild waste?" To this Poemen answered, " Do you think God would not receive you, coming from the battle-field 1 " Another monk, perplexed where to live and how to act, asked Poemen whether he should live in community or in solitude. Poemen replied, " Wherever you find yourself humble- minded, there you may settle down and dwell with security." Another monk went a long journey to see and consult Poemen, and began to talk about subtle theological niceties. Poemen looked grave and silent, till the visitor departed, expressing his disgust at coming so far for nothing. Poemen observed on this afterwards, " This anchorite flies far above my reach. He sails up to heaven, while I creep along the earth. If he would talk about our passions and infirmities and how to overcome them, then we should have some subject in common to talk about." Another time Poemen, asked by a troublesome monk to tell him what was a living faith, replied, " A living faith consists in thinking little of oneself and showing tenderness to others." He also once said, " A warm heart, boiling with charity, is not troubled with temptations, any more than with the flies hovering round it. When the caldron cools, then the flies collect and swarm round it." Poemen lived to one hundred and ten, and had no equal in his time. ST. MOYSES, WATER-CARRIER TO THE SICK HERMITS (A.D. 470). St. Moyses of the tenth century was a brawny negro slave who had escaped from his master and lived for a time by rapine and murder. In one of his hairbreadth escapes he took refuge among 168 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the hermits, and began to see great merit in them, and tried to live like them and conquer his own furious passions. He con- sulted the Abbot Isidore, who told him this enterprise would take some time. Moyses said he would wait and try, and he became a priest. In order to give himself exercise and tame his evil spirit, he made a practice of regularly going round the cells of the hermits, and wherever he found one sick he would go and fetch water and fill his pitcher. And this he would do at any hour of the night and go any distance. One night, in stooping over a pool and filling a hermit's pitcher, he was doubled up with an attack of lumbago, and thought the devil had given him a sudden stroke with a club. Moyses lay groaning with pain till next morning, when he was carried to a church, and there people took care of him. He was many months disabled, but on recovery at once resumed his work. One day, the governor hearing of Moyses and being cui^ious to see him, met Moyses, and asked where that famous hermit Moyses lived. Moyses replied, " He's not worth visiting, for he is only a fool." The governor related this to the monks at the nearest monastery, and said that the man who thus answered him was a huge old black fellow, covered with rags. The monks thereupon all exclaimed, " That was Moyses himself ; it could be no other." A HERMIT DEVISING NEW AUSTERITIES (A.D. 479). In 479 Barnadatus, a Syrian monk, devised some new ways of self-mortification. First he shut himself up in a small chamber ; and then, ascending a mountain, he made for himself a wooden box, in which he could not stand upright, and was always confined to a stooping posture. This box having no close covering, he was exposed to the wind, to the rain, and to the sun, and for a long time dwelt in this incommodious house. Afterwards he always stood upright, stretching up his hands to heaven, covered with a garment of skin, with only a small aperture to draw his breath. James, another contemporary monk, lived at first in a small hut, and afterwards in the open air, with only heaven for his covering, enduring the extremes of heat and cold. He had iron chains round his neck and waist, and four other chains hung down from his neck, two before and two behind. He had also chains about his arms. His only food was lentils. For three days and nights he was often so covered with snow, whilst he was prostrate and praying, that he could hardly be seen. This man, according to Theodoret, was celebrated for the many miracles which he wrought. Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 169 HERMIT ST. CARILEFF REFUSING A QUEEN's VISIT (a.D. 540). St. Carileff was a monk at Menat, near Clermont, and died about 540. He early became dissatisfied with his monastery, and resolved to penetrate farther into the forest, and live a more retired and perfect life. He and a companion went to recon- noitre, and in a remote corner came upon an old neglected vine- yard, where they thought of settling down. One hot day the saint was working and had hung his hood on an oak tree, and on returning to resume it he found a wren had laid an egg in it. So the good hermit rejoiced and left his hood, so as not to disturb the tiny creature's nest. When he reported to his abbot this circumstance, the latter said, " This is no accident ; return thither, and there a monastery shall arise some day." CarilefF returned and settled in the old vineyard, and he gained the confidence of other animals besides the wren ; for a large buffalo used to come to his cell and let him rub his shaggy neck, and then it galloped back into the forest. One day the king heard of this splendid buffalo roaming about, and made up a hunting party to secure it. But it took refuge in the hermit's cell ; and the huntsmen, hot with pursuit, were so amazed at seeing the great monarch of the forest standing thus peaceably beside its protector, that they acknowledged the man of God's superior power, and ended by giving him a grant of lands to build a monastery there. When the king told this story, the queen was eager to visit the holy recluse, and sent a message ; but he most peremptorily refused to see her, saying, " As long as I live I shall never see the face of a woman, and no woman shall ever enter my cell. Why should this queen be so anxious to see a man disfigured by fasting and toil, and as brown as a chameleon ? I will pray for her. A monk has no need of great possessions, nor has she of a monk's blessing. But his blessing she shall have, if she will only leave him alone." THE FIRST SAXON HERMIT (a.D. 708). Fuller, in his " Church History," says : " St. Guthlake, a Benedic- tine monk in 708, was the first Saxon that professed a hermitical life in England, to which purpose he chose a fenny place in Lincoln- shire called Crowland — that is, the ' raw or crude land ' ; so raw, indeed, that before him no man could digest to live therein. Yea, the devils are said to claim this place as their peculiar, and to call it their own land. Could those infernal fiends, tortured with immaterial fire, take any pleasure or make any ease to themselves 170 FLOWERS OF CHEISTIAN HISTORY. by paddling here in puddles and dabbling in the moist dirty marshes 1 However, Guthlake took the boldness to ' enter com- mon' with them, and erect his cell in Crowland. But if his prodigious life may be believed, ducks and mallards do not now flock thither faster in September than herds of devils came about him, all whom he is said victoriously to have vanquished. After the example of Moses and Elias, he fasted forty days and nights, till, finding this project destructive to nature, he was forced in his own defence to take some necessary but very sparing refection. He died in his own cell ; and Pega, his sister, an anchoritess, led a solitary life not far from him." ST. GUTHLAC, HERMIT OF CROYLAND (A.D. 708). This St. Guthlac, according to his biographer, after he had been two years living in a monastery, began to long for the wilderness and a hermitage. Being directed to a fen of immense size in the east of England, he met a man named Tatwaine, who told him of an island which many had attempted to inhabit, but no man could do it on account of manifold horrors and fears and the loneliness of the wide wilderness, so that no man could endure it and fled from it. The holy man at once selected and went through the wild fens till he came to a spot called Croyland. It was a place of accursed spirits ; but he was strengthened with heavenly support, and vowed that he would serve God on that island all the days of his life. He used neither woollen nor linen garments, but was clothed in skins ; and he tasted nothing but barley bread and water. He was sorely tempted by the devil ; but at last the ravens, the beasts, and the fishes came to obey him. Once a venerable brother named Wilfred visited him, and they held many discourses on the spiritual life, when suddenly two swallows came flying in, and, behold, they raised up their song rejoicing. And often they sat fearlessly on the shoulders of the holy man Guthlac, and then lifted up their song, and afterwards they sat on his bosom and on his arms and his knees. When Wilfred had long beheld with wonder the birds so submissively sitting with him, he asked the reason, and Guthlac answered him thus : " Hast thou never learned, brother Wilfred, in Holy Writ, that he who hath led his life after God's will, the wild beasts and birds have made friends with him? And the man who would separate himself from worldly thoughts, to him the very angels come near." When Guthlac died in due time, angelic songs were heard in the sky, and all the air had a wondrous odour of exceeding sweetness. Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 171 ST. SIMEON STYLITES (a.D. 459). St. Simeon Stylites, who immortalised himself by living on a high pillar, flourished about 459, was the son of a shepherd, and in his youth displayed a genius for mortifications of the flesh. He begged admittance to a monastery, and at once outdid all the monks there ; for while they ate only once a day, he ate only once a week, and that on Sunday. He at a later stage passed the forty days of each Lent without eating or drinking. Not content with a heimitage, he built himself a small unroofed enclosure of rude stones, on a high mountain foi-ty miles east of Antioch, ex- posed to the weather. Crowds began to flock to see him and get his bendiction. He next built a pillar six cubits high, and lived on it four years. He gradually raised higher pillars; and the fourth time he made a pillar of forty cubits (sixty feet) high, on which he spent his last twenty years of life. It was only three feet in diameter at the top, so that he might not have even the luxury of lying down or sitting. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in the figure of a cross ; but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet. He bowed his body in continual prayer, and a visitor once counted twelve hundred and forty-four reverences of adoration made by him in one day. He made exhortations to the people twice a day. He died at sixty- nine in the act of prayer on his pillar, and the bishops and all the people round attended his burial, and many miracles were said to have been worked that day in testimony of his sanctity. A PILLAR MONK IN WESTERN CLIMATES (A.D. 591). In 591 Vulfilaic, a monk of Lombardy, had a pillar erected for him at Treves, and stood upon it barefoot, enduring great hard- ship in the winter. The bishops therefore compelled him to come down and to live like other monks, telling him that the seventy of the climate would not permit him to imitate the great Simeon of Antioch. He obeyed his superiors, but with tears and reluct- ance. And this, says Fleury, is the only instance that we know of a stylites or pillar monk in the Western world. ST. HERBERT, THE HERMIT OF DERWENTWATER (a.D. 650). Herbert was a monk of Lindisfarne or of Melrose at the same time as St. Cuthbert, by whose advice he retired to the island in Derwent water, which is five miles long and one and a half miles 172 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. broad, and lived th^re. He used to meet St. Cuthbert once every year; and at their meeting about 687 that saint, being then Bishop of Lindisfarne, said to him on parting, " Remember at this time, brother Herbert, to ask and say to me all that you wish, for after our parting now we shall not see each other with the eyes of the flesh in this world ; for I know that the time of my departure is at hand, and that I must shortly put off this tabernacle." On this Herbert, falling at his feet with groans and tears, said, " For our Lord's sake, I beseech you not to leave me, but remember your most faithful companion, and entreat the mercy of Heaven that we who have together served Him on earth may pass together to behold His grace and glory in the heavens. You know I have always studied to live according to your direc- tion ; and if from ignorance or infirmity I have in any point failed, I have taken pains to chastise and amend my fault according to the decision of your will." The bishop bent in prayer, and being immediately informed by the Spirit that his request was granted, said, "Kise up, my brother, and do not mourn, but rather rejoice greatly, for the mercy of Heaven has granted what we asked." They separated, and never again met ; for on March 20th, 687, their spirits, departing from the body, were immediately united in the blessed vision of each other, and by the ministry of angels translated to the kingdom of heaven. In 1374 the then Bishop of Carlisle directed that the anniversary of these saints' death should be commemorated by the vicar of Crosthwaite, with a choir chanting the Mass of St. Cuthbert on this St. Herbert's isle. ST. ETHELWALD, HERMIT AT FARNE (A.D. 700). St. Cuthbert, the first hermit of Fame, near Holy Island, was succeeded by Edelwald about 700, and next by Felgund, who told the following anecdote to the Venerable Bede : The walls of St. Cuthbert's oratory in Fame, being composed of planks somewhat carelessly put together, had become loose and tottering by age, and the planks left an opening to the weather. The venerable man, whose aim was rather the splendour of the heavenly than of an earthly mansion, had taken hay or clay or whatever he could get, and filled up the crevices, that he might not be disturbed from the earnestness of his prayers by the daily violence of the winds and storms. When Ethelwald entered and saw these contrivances, he begged the brethren who came thither to give him a calf's skin, and fastened it with nails in the corner where himself and his predecessor used to kneel or stand when they prayed, as a Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 173 protection against the storm. Twelve years after, he also ascended to the joys of the heavenly kingdom, and Felgiind became the third inhabitant of the place. It then seemed good to the Bishop of Lindisfarne to restore from its foundation the time-worn oratory. This being done, many devout persons begged of Christ's holy servant Felgund to give them a small portion of the relics of God's servants Cuthbert and Ethelwald. He accordingly determined to cufc up the above-named calf's skin into pieces, and give a portion to each. But he first experienced the influence on his own person, for his face was much deformed by a swelling and a red patch. The malady increased, and fearing lest he should be obliged to abandon the solitary life and return to the monastery, presuming in his faith, he trusted to heal himself by the aid of those holy men whose house he dwelt in, and whose holy life he sought to imitate ; for he steeped a piece of the skin above mentioned in water and washed his face therewith, whereupon the swelling was immediately healed, and the cicatrice disappeared. " This I was told," says Bede, " in the first instance by a priest of the monastery of Jarrow, who said he knew Felgund, and saw his face before and after the cure, and Felgund also told me the same. This he ascribed to the agency of the Almighty grace." The Venerable Bede says he was told also of another miracle by one of the brothers on whom it was wrought, namely Guthrid, who narrated as follows : "I came to the island of Fame to speak with the reverend father Ethelwald. Having been refreshed with his discourse, and taken his blessing, as we were returning home, on a sudden when we were in the midst of the sea, there ensued so dismal a tempest that neither the sails nor the oars were of any use to us, nor had we anything to expect but death. After long struggling with the wind and waves to no effect, we looked behind us to see if we could return, and then we observed on the island of Fame Father Ethelwald, beloved of God, come out of his cavern to watch our course. When he beheld us in distress and despair, he bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in prayer for our life and safety, upon which the swelling sea was calmed, so that the storm ceased on all sides, and a fair wind attended us to the very shore. When we had landed, the storm which had ceased for a short time for our sakes immediately returned, and raged continually during the whole day ; so that it plainly appeared that the brief cessation of the storm had been granted from Heaven, at the request of the man of God, in order that we might escape." Ethelwald lived twelve years on the island of Fame, and at his death his remains were taken 174 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to Lindisfarne and buried beside his master, St. Cuthbert. Here they remained two centuries till the Danes frightened the holy household, when they were taken away, and at last in the tenth century were buried under the shadow of the new cathedral at Durham. AN ENGLISH QUEEN CONSULTING A HERMIT ON FAMILY TROUBLES (a.d. 1082). Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror, being greatly distressed by the constant quarrels between the King and her favourite son Robert, sent to a German hermit of great sanctity, entreating his prayers and advice. The hermit gave his answer thus : " Tell your mistress I have prayed in her behalf, and the Most High has made known to me in a dream the things she desires to learn. I saw in my vision a beautiful pasture covered with grass and flowers, and a noble charger feeding therein. A numerous herd gathered round about, eager to enter and share the feast, but the fiery charger would not permit them to approach near enough to crop the flowei's and herbage. But alas ! the majestic steed in the midst of his pride and courage died, the terror of his presence ceased, and a poor silly steer appeared in his place as the guardian of the pasture. Then the throng of meaner animals, who had hitherto feared his approach, rushed in and trampled the flowers and grass beneath their feet, and that which they could not devour they defiled and destroyed." The hermit then explained that the steed was William the Conqueror, the silly steer was Robert, and added, " Illustrious lady, if, after hearing the words of the vision in which the Lord has vouchsafed to reply to my prayers, you do not labour to restore the peace of Normandy, you will henceforth behold nothing but misery, the death of your royal spouse, the ruin of all your race, and the desolation of your beloved country." It is said that this answer of the hermit gave no comfort to the Queen, who redoubled her prayers and penitential exercises, but drooped and soon died of A, broken heart at the age of fifty-one. She was buried at Oaen in a convent. A THOROUGHLY CONSCIENTIOUS HERMIT (a.D. 1138). The blessed Schetzelo was a hermit about 1138, living in the woods near Luxemburg, feeding on roots and acorns. His clothing was so scanty as to be scarcely decent; and St. Bernard, who greatly respected him, sent his monks with a present of a shirt Chap, vi.] HERMITS AND ANCHORITES. 175 and a pair of drawers. Schetzelo at once put them on, but on reflection he pulled them off again, saying that he found he could do without them, and that it was his earnest desire to live without superfluities. The monks asked him if he had suffered many- temptations in his time. " Yes," he answered ; " the life of man is one long series of temptations." And he then told them how he had once given way, and how heavily he felt the bitterness of self-reproach ever since. One winter, he said, he was lying out in the snow, and the drift covered all his body except the face, where his breath had melted a hole. A poor, half -frozen rabbit, seeking shelter, jumped into the hole and crouched on the hermit's breast. He was moved first to laughter, and then to compassion and pleasure, for the little creature, benumbed with cold, suffered him to stroke its fur ; and so, said Schetzelo, " when I ought to have been praying and meditating, I was playing with the rabbit under the snow." ST. BARTHOLOMEW, THE HERMIT OF FARNE (A.D. 1151). St. Bartholomew, in 1151, was living quietly as a monk in the cathedral monastery at Durham, when St. Cuthbert appeared to him in a dream and bade him go to the island of Fame, near Holy Island, and there live as a hermit. He went off with the prayers of all the convent, and took up his abode and lived sequestered from the world. He found, however, another monk there before him, called Ebwin, who was very jealous of the new- comer; but Bartholomew endured all the scoffs and reproaches patiently, and at last Ebwin left the place entirely to him. Bartholomew had a cow and a little patch of ground on which he grew barley. He also caught fish occasionally, and filled up the pauses with chanting psalms and hymns, repeating the whole Psalter once, twice, and thrice every day. He was charmed to watch the seagulls and cormorants, his only companions. He would allow no passing sailor to throw stones at these birds. He even tamed one, which came regularly to feed out of his hand every day. One day when he was out fishing, a hawk pursued this poor bird into the chapel and killed it, leaving only the feathers and bones lying on the portal of the holy place. The assassin, however, could not find its way out of the chapel, and kept wheeling round and round, beating against the windows and walls. Brother Bartholomew entered at last and found the cruel bird with its bloody talons, looking shameless and helpless. He mourned bitterly over the fate of his poor favourite and caught the hawk. He kept it two days without food to punish it for its 176 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. crime, and then, seized with compassion, let go the guilty prisoner. Another time the saint was sitting on the seashore, when he was surprised to feel a cormorant close by his side, pulling with its bill the corner of his garment. He rose and followed the bird along the beach till he came to a hole in the rock, down which one of the young ones had fallen. He soon extricated the trembling creature and restored it to its mother. After living forty-two years in this way, one night one of the brethren at Lin- disfarne dreamed that Bartholomew was dead. He immediately aroused the convent, and a party of monks at once sailed across to Fame, and sure enough the holy hermit was lying in his stone coffin, having just died at the time indicated by the dreamer. A FRENCH KING ON HIS DEATHBED SENDS FOR A HERMIT (1483). When Louis XT. of France was in his last illness, in 1483, and his sufferings awoke in him remorse for many crimes, he gathered round him all the most famous relics which could be procured — among others, the holy phial, which had never been removed from Rheims since the time of Clovis (656). He entreated Pope Sixtus TV. to send him any relics to relieve his agonies, and liberal supplies were given. The King also sent for hermits and other holy men, in the hope that their intercessions for his life might prevail. The most renowned of the holy men of the period was Francis of Paola, in Calabria, who was born with one eye; but his mother had vowed that, if the other eye might be granted to him, he should become a Franciscan. And her desire was fulfilled. Though utterly illiterate, he became a Minorite friar, and soon withdrew to live in a cave, where the austerity of his life and his supposed miraculous powers made him famous. When Louis first sent a message to Francis, the latter refused ; but the Pope inter- posed and commanded him. The hermit passed through Rome, and caused great excitement, and led the Pope to give leave to Francis to found a society of " Hermits of St. Francis." On reaching the French Court, Francis was received with as much honour as if he had been the Pope himself. Louis could not live without his company, knelt before him, hung on his words, and entreated the holy man to spare his life, even if for a little longer. Rich rewards were heaped on the hermit, and even convents founded in his honour, the members of which were called Minims, owing to their habit of self-abasement. After a few weeks Louis died, notwithstanding the hermit's merit. Chap, vi.] MARTYRS, HERMITS, AND ANCHORITES. 177 CONSECRATION OF HERMITS AND RECLUSES. The great idea of the hermit life was to live entirely alone, though some hermits lived in small communities in one district in close neighbourhood. Pope Innocent IV., in the middle of the thirteenth century, enrolled these into a separate order with the rule of St. Augustine, and hence called Austin Friars. There were also two grades of hermits. Hermits occasionally visited their fellow-men, but those called recluses abstained from any such visits. The female solitaries were usually recluses. The English hermit of the Middle Ages lived more luxuriously than the foreign hermit, and sometimes had one or two servants to wait upon him in the hermitage, which was often a comfortable house. The usual garb of a hermit was a brown frock with girdle, and over it an ample gown or cloak with hood. A man latterly could not become a recognised hermit without consecration by a bishop, which was a religious service, and he was assigned a district. The service for blessing a hermit consisted of prayers and psalms and a gift of the eremitical habit. Some hermitages had cells to accommodate more than one, as the hermitage at Wetheral, near Carlisle, cut out of the face of a rock one hundred feet high, nearly midway. These hermits and recluses lived in places where alms were likely to be found, and an almsbox was hung up for receiving gifts. The bishop, before giving his licence, usually satisfied himself that alms would be forthcoming sufficient for maintenance. Some female recluses had a room or anchor- house assigned to them near a church or in a churchyard, as was the case at St. Julian, Norwich, and other places, so that the benefit of hearing or seeing Mass was available. In the latter days anchoresses were blamed as having too great a tendency to gossip. Their founder and patroness was Judith, and the first who made any formal rule for their mode of life was one Grimlac, who lived about a.d. 900. ST. METHODIUS, THE MARTYR FOR IMAGES (A.D. 842). When the iconoclastic Emperor Leo was persecuting all who defended images in churches, those calling themselves the orthodox party were equally resolute, and furnished also their martyrs reafly to die for what they thought to be the truth. St. Methodius was sent by the Pope to make requisitions for the orthodox, but was thrown by the Emperor into prison, and shut up with two thieves in a narrow cell. One of the thieves died, and the corpse was left to putrefy ; yet the patience and sweetness of Methodius 12 178 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. SO gained upon the other thief, that when offered his liberty the thief preferred to remain where he was. After nine years' con- finement, Methodius, when drawn out of the cave, was shrivelled to the bone, his skin was bleached, and his rags clotted with filth. Soon again Methodius was brought before the Emperor Theophilus, charged with opposing the destruction of images, and he thus addressed his oppressor : " Sire, be consistent. If we are to have the images of Christ overthrown, then down with the images of the Emperors also." At this Theophilus, being enraged, ordered the monk to be stripped and lashed with thongs of leather, till he fainted with loss of blood. Methodius was then thrown into a dungeon, and his jaw was broken in the struggle. In 842, however, on the death of Theophilus, Methodius was released and made Patriarch of Constantinople. The saint mounted the throne humble as a monk, and wearing a bandage round his face to support his broken jaw, a living monument of the violence of his persecutors and of his confessorship of the orthodox faith. He instituted an annual festival, called the Festival of Orthodoxy, and died in 846. THE MIRACLES OF SAINTS. The view. taken of the alleged miracles performed by saints, especially in the earlier centuries, divided broadly the Roman Catholic from the Protestant Christians, the former still main- taining, defending, and believing in the existence of the power of working miracles, the latter ostentatiously and dogmatically denying such power. Guizot says that the Bollandist collection of Lives of Saints includes twenty-five thousand, and nearly all the saints there recorded occasionally worked miracles. It is true that many educated Koman Catholics admit that it is not necessary for them to beheve all these records. Since the revival of learning and the Reformation incredulity has set in, and sapped and mined nearly all the miraculous feats recorded in the Lives of the Saints. Middleton in 1748 pubUshed his "Free Inquiry," and shook the faith of the moderns in any of these miracles subsequent to those recorded in the New Testament. As Lecky observes in his " History of Rationalism," the miracles of the New Testament were always characterised by dignity and solemnity ; they always conveyed some spiritual lesson, and conferred some actual benefit, besides attesting the character of the worker. The mediaeval miracles, on the contrary, were frequently trivial, purposeless, and unimpressive, constantly verging on the grotesque, and not unfrequently passing the border. Chap, vi.] MAKTYRS AND PATRON SAINTS. 179 LOCAL AND PATRON SAINTS. There were some universal saints of Christendom, such as the Apostles and early martyrs, the four great Fathers of the Latin Church — some few like St. Thomas a Becket, held vip as a martyi* of his order ; St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order ; and some founders of monastic institutes, as Dominic and Francis. Other saints had a more limited fame, and each kingdom of Christendom had its tutelar saint. France had three — St. Martin of Tours, St. Reine, St. Denys; Spain had the Apostle James, St. Jago of Compostella ; Germany had Boniface ; Scotland had St. Andrew ; Ireland had St. Patrick ; and England had St. George. Every city, town, or village also usually had its own saint. Female prophets were called Brides of Christ, and were thought to have constant personal intercourse with the saints, the Virgin, and oiu* Lord Himself, like St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Bridget of Sweden. In later days Christian charity had its saints, as Vincent de Paul, St. Teresa, and St. Francis de Sales. Every one of the saints had his life of wonder, the legend of his virtues, his miracles, perhaps his martyrdom, his shrines, his reliques. The legend was the dominant universal poetry of the times. And the legend was perpetually confirmed, illustrated, and kept alive by reUques, shown either in the church or under the altar or upon the altar. It was a pious enterprise even to steal reliques. Clotaire II. cut off and stole an arm of St. Denys. The head of St. Andrew was once carried away by a king in his flight; kings vied for the purchase, and vast sums were offered for it. ST. GENEVIEVE, PATRON SAINT OF PARIS AND FRANCE (A.D. 430). About 430, as St. Germanus and St. Lupus were on their way to England to refute the Pelagian heresy, they stayed one night at Nanterre, a village near Paris. The villagers went in a crowd to look at these renowned saints, and a little girl in the crowd attracted the notice of Germanus, who called her to him, asked her name and all about her, and ended by bidding her parents to rejoice in the sanctity of their daughter. He then addressed little Genevieve on the exalted condition of perpetual virginity, and appointed a service in the church that he might consecrate her at once to that holy life. The service was performed, and the saint gave her at parting a brass coin, shaped like a cross, which he told her to wear as her only ornament, and leave silver and precious stones for the children of this world. From that day miraculous 180 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. gifts descended on the child, who excelled all others. She once had a trance, in which she was led by an angel to survey the dwellings of the just, and the rewards of the spiritual Ufe. She also received the gift of divining people's thoughts. She soon became marked out, and, like other holy people, excited envy for the powers she possessed. When the Huns invaded Paris, the terrified citizens were told by her to take courage, and she assembled the matrons that they might seek deliverance by prayer and fasting ; and the deliverance came, for the Huns were diverted through the efficacy of her prayers from Paris. She had great powers of abstinence, and from her fifteenth to her fiftieth year she ate only twice a week, and that was bread of barley or beans ; and after fifty a little fish and milk were added to her diet. Every Saturday night she kept a vigil in the church of St. Denys, and then retired to her cell, where she was as much visited by crowds as a saint on his pillar. After she was dead her relics were eagerly sought after by rival Churches, and these stayed the horrors of plague and famine and flood wherever they were taken. All Paris believed in her as the patron saint. EXCESSIVE REVERENCE FOR RELICS (A.D. 406). The extravagant veneration paid to the martyrs roused great opposition in the fifth century, and the presbyter Vigilantius of Barcelona wrote a tract censuring these ashes-worshippers and idolaters. He represented it as supremely ridiculous to manifest this adoration of a miserable heap of ashes and wretched bones, and covering these with costly drapery and kissing them. He also complained that the practice of placing lighted lamps before the martyrs was only an imitation of the Pagan practice before the images of their gods. Why should they think it a merit to place miserable wax candles before the effigies of those on whom the Lamb in the midst of God's throne reflected all the brightness of His majesty ? He also thought the practice of nocturnal assemblies, held by both sexes in the churches of the martyrs, was a temptation to misconduct. And he even questioned the reliance placed in the intercessions of the martyrs. Jerome, on the other hand, defended most of these practices. His answer was, that if the Apostles and martyrs in their earthly life, before they were out of the conflict, were able to pray efiectually for others, how much more could they do so after they had obtained the victory ! The worship of the Vii-gin Mary was thought to be mainly due to the ascetic spirit brooding over the cradle of Christianity. Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 181 GREAT SECRECY IN REMOVING RELICS. The acquisition and preservation of relics by the monks may be said to absorb all their zeal. It was decreed once that the body of St. John of the Cross should be secretly removed from Ubede to Segovia, and an officer of the Court arrived by night at the monastery, and having desired an audience of the father prior on a matter of the greatest consequence, he intimated to him the order of which he was the bearer. The order enjoined the prior, on pain of excommunication, to take up the body secretly, without apprising any one of what was to be done. This was an unexpected blow to the prior ; but he took precautions, and when every one in the monastery was asleep, he went down into the grave accom- panied by the officer and two monks bound to secrecy. They opened the grave ; but lo ! the saint being dead a year, the body was still perfect and the flesh undecayed. As the bones only were demanded, the object could not be efiected, but quicklime was laid in the grave, and the officer departed and returned in nine months. The same precautions being adopted and the grave opened, the body was still perfect ; but being dried by the lime, it was put in a leather case and committed to the messenger. The men left at about midnight, and strange visions were seen the same hour. One monk awoke greatly perturbed and went down to the church ; but finding the prior standing at the door, who refused to allow any one to enter, the uneasy and curious monk was ordered to return to his bed without receiving any explanation. The officer meanwhile bearing the body, declared that after leaving Ubede and passing some desert mountains, he heard awful voices in the air which were not human, and which greatly disturbed him. RIVAL MONKS CAPTURING HOLY RELICS (a.D. 1030). Bishop Etheric of Dorchester, who died in 1038, having ascer- tained that the remains of St. Felix, formerly Bishop of East Angles, were lying neglected, obtained leave from King Canute to have these taken charge of, and privately informed the monks of Ramsey of the inexhaustible treasure which they might secure to themselves by getting the possession. On receiving this mes- sage Alfwin, the prior, and a number of his monks proceeded by water to the place pointed out, and being armed with the authority of the king and bishop, they overmastered all opposition, and placed on board their boat the holy ashes and the bones of St. Felix, and with psalms of joy steered their way back to Ramsey, 182 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. No sooner, however, did the monks of Ely hear of what was on foot, than they became desirous of possessing so great a treasure themselves, and therefore they hurried on board their ships with a strong body of armed persons, resolved by their superior numbers to capture the relics. An event, however, occurred which was evidently not the work of human hands, but was the dispensation of the Divine will, for at the very moment when the vessels came in sight of each other a dense mist arose, which blinded the Ely crew, and yet allowed the Ramsey boat to steer right on to its destination. Whether this can be viewed as a miracle or not, still the fact is handed down by tradition that the relics of St. Felix were successfully removed to the church of Ramsey, where they were with due honour enshrined, and where that holy saint for ages bestowed benefits on those who sought his prayers. A MONK JUDICIOUSLY STEALING RELICS (A.D. 1090). About the year 1090, says Orderic, one Stephen, the chanter of the monastery of Yenosa in the city of Angers, went to Apulia, with the express sanction of the Lord Natalis, his abbot, divested himself of the monastic habit, and lived as a clerk at Bari, where he became familiar with the sacristans of the church. At length, watching his opportunity, he secretly purloined an arm of St. Nicholas, which, set in silver, was kept outside the shrine for the purpose of giving the benediction to the people. He then attempted to withdraw into France, that he might enrich his own monastery with the precious treasure. The people of Bari, however, soon discovered their loss, and guarded all the avenues to prevent the thief's escape. Nevertheless, Stephen reached Venosa safely, where he passed the winter in great alarm, trying to conceal himself. He then fell into great poverty, and was compelled to detach the silver from the holy relic and apply it for his support. Meanwhile, the noise of the robbery of the arm of St. Nicholas spread through the whole of Italy and Sicily, and at last some one recognised the silver covering. The monks heard of this, and Erembert, an active monk, suddenly presented him- self and demanded from the sick man with great vehemence the arm of St. Nicholas. The sick man, perceiving he was detected, and not knowing where to turn, pale and trembling, produced the precious relic. The resolute monk joyfully seized it, and carried it to the abbey of the Holy Trinity, the other monks and citizens returning thanks to God to this day. St. Nicholas there miraculously succoured all who implored his aid. Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 183 A CATHOLIC DEPENDING HIS RELICS. Sii* Thomas More, contemporary of Luther, says : " Luther wisheth in a sermon of his that he had in his hand all the pieces of the holy cross, and saith that, if he so had, he would throw them there as never sun should shine on them. And for what worshipful reason would the wi-etch do such villainy to the cross of Christ ? Because, as he saith, that there is so much gold now bestowed about the garnishing of the pieces of the cross that there is none left for poor folk. Is not this an high reason ? As though all the gold that is now bestowed about the pieces of the holy cross would not have failed to have been given to poor men, if they had not been bestowed about the garnishing of the cross. And as though there were nothing but that is bestowed about Christ's cross ! How small a portion, ween we, were the gold about all the pieces of Christ's cross, if it were compared with the gold that is quite cast away about the gilting of knives, swords, spurs, arras, and painted cloths ; and (as though these things could not consume gold fast enough) the gilding of posts and whole roofs, not only in the payees of princes and great prelates, but also many righteous men's houses. And yet among all these things could Luther spy no gold that grievously glittered in his bleared eyes, but only about the cross of Christ ! " FORGERY OF SAINTS' RELICS. Fuller, in his " Church History," observe.^ as follows : " The pre- tended causes of miracles are generally reducible to these two heads : (1) Saints' relics; (2) saints' images. How much forgery there is in the first of these is generally known, so many pieces being pre- tended of Christ's cross as would load a great ship. But amongst all of them commend me to the cross at the priory of Benedictines at Bromehead in Norfolk, the legend whereof deserveth to be inserted. Queen Helen, they say, finding the cross of Christ at Jerusalem, divided it into nine parts, according to the nine orders of angels. Of one of these (most besprinkled with Christ's blood) she made a little cross, and, putting it into a box adorned with precious stones, bestowed it on Constantino her son. This relic was kept by his successors until Baldwin, Emperor of Greece, fortunate so long as he carried it about him, but slain in fight when forgetting the same : after whose death Hugh, his chaplain, born in Norfolk, and who constantly said prayers before the cross, stole it away box and all, brought it into England, and bestowed it on Brome Holme in Norfolk. It seems there is no 184 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. felony in such wares, but ' catch who catch may ' ; yea, such sacrilege is supererogation. By this cross thirty-nine dead men are said to be raised to life, and nineteen blind men restored to their sight. It seems such merchants trade much in odd numbers, which best f asteneth the fancies of folk ; whilst the smoothness of even numbers makes them slip the sooner out of men's memories. Chemnitius affirmeth from the mouth of a grave author that the teeth of St. Apollonia being conceived effectual to cure the toothache in the reign of Edward YI. (when many ignorant people in England relied on that receipt to carry one of her teeth about them), the King gave command in extirpation of superstition that all her teeth should be brought in to a public officer deputed for that purpose ; and they filled a tun therewith. Were her stomach proportionable to her teeth, a county could scarcely afford her a meal's meat. The English nuns at Lisbon do pretend that they have both the arms of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; and yet Pope Paul III., in a public Bull set down by Sanders, doth pitifully complain of the cruelty of King Henry VIII. for causing the bones of Becket to be bvirned and the ashes scattered to the wind, the solemnity whereof is recorded in our chronicles. And how his arms could escape that bonfire is to me incredible ! " HOW TO FLATTER A RELIC WORSHIPPER. The belief in the efficacy of saints' relics to work miracles was so general in the ninth century that at last monks and bishops aspired also in their own lifetime to imitate this wonder-working power. A monk who was credited in his lifetime as a miracle worker begged that his brethren would not bury his body in the cloister, for that after his death the crowds of people coming to be cured of their diseases there would be too troublesome to them all. Another monk of St. Gall, being anxious to ingratiate himself with his bishop and the lord of the manor, bethought himself of the following expedient : He one day entrapped a fox without injuring it, and then carried it as a present to Bishop Becko. The bishop, after admiring the creature, expressed his wonder how the monk could have caught it without doing it any injury, where- upon the monk replied, " Oh, I can explain that. When I saw the fox in full chase, I cried out to it, ' In the name of Lord Becko, stop and be still ! ' The fox at once on hearing the name stood stockstill till I seized him, and I thought it due to your lordship to bring it as an offering." The bishop was so pleased at this efficacious appliance of his own reputation for sanctity Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 185 that he became a warm patron thenceforth of the artful ways of relic hunters. AN EMPRESS BEGGING FOR RELICS. The Empress Constantina asked of St. Gregory the head of St. Paul or some part of his body to put in the church which they were building at Constantinople in honour of that apostle. Gregory sent this answer : " You ask of me what I dare not and cannot do. For the bodies of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul are so formidable by their miracles that none can approach them, even to pray, without being seized with great terror. My predecessor, having attempted to change a silver ornament which was over the body of St. Peter, though at the distance of fifteen feet, had a frightful vision. I myself wanted to repair something near the body of St. Paul, and we were obliged to dig near the sepulchre. The superior of the place found some bones which yet did not touch the sepulchre, and moved them to another place. After having seen a terrible apparition he died suddenly. So when some monks assisted in repairs near the body of St. Lawrence, though they did not touch the body, they died within ten days. Know then, madam, that when the Romans give any relics of saints they never touch the bodies ; they only put in a box a piece of linen, which they place near the holy body. Then it is with- drawn and shut up in the church which is to be dedicated, and then as many miracles are wrought by it as if the body itself were there. In the time of St. Leo some Greeks doubting of the value of such relics, he called for a pair of scissors and cut the linen, and blood issued out, as our ancestors assure us. But not to frustrate your pious desire, I will send you some portion of the chains which St. Paul wore, and which work many miracles, if, however, I be able to file off any. These filings are often begged. And the bishop applies the file ; and sometimes he immediately gets the filings ; at other times he labours in vain." HOW TO DECIDE ON GENUINE RELICS (a.D. 844). In 844 two pretended monks brougKt to the church of St. Cenignus at Dijon a parcel of bones, which they said were the relics of some saint brought from Italy. The bishop did not wish to acknowledge nor yet to despise them, but desired the monks to get testimonials. One monk went away in quest of a certificate, but never returned ; the other monk died. Meanwhile, it was reported that the bones worked miracles ; for a woman fell down suddenly in church, as if tormented, and yet with no visible cause 186 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. for her ailment. A rumour then arose, and crowds flocked to the church of all ages and refused to leave. The bishop then consulted the archbishop as to what should be done. The archbishop said that, as there was no certainty, the bones should be removed secretly in presence of witnesses and buried. He said that the bones might have been brought by beggarly knaves only to gratify their avarice, and cause pretended miracles to give them an appearance of sanctity. It was not uncommon for knaves to encourage these abuses, that they might share in the profit and fill their bellies and their purses. He himself had seen in his own diocese persons brought to him who said that they were possessed, but by the exorcism of a few bastinadoes properly applied con- fessed the imposture, and declared that poverty had led them into it. He advised the bishop to exhort the people to stay quietly each in his own parish ; and that when the alms and oblations should be cut off, the rabble would quietly disperse, the illusion would cease, and all would be quiet. THE CROWN OF THORNS PAWNED AND SOLD (a.D. 1240). When Baldwin II. was Emperor of Constantinople, the crown of thorns was pawned, as narrated ante, p. 19. Another chronicler gives I the following account of that interesting event : In the absence of the Emperor the barons of Romania borrowed money upon the security of this precious relic; and as they could not redeeem it, a rich Venetian, Nicholas Querini, undertook to satisfy the creditors on the condition that the relic should be lodged at Venice. The barons informed the Emperor of this bargain ; but Baldwin was anxious to snatch the prize from the Venetians, and to vest it with more honour and emolument in the hands of St. Louis, King of France. The King sent two ambassadors to Venice to negotiate for the redemption of the holy crown. The crown was enclosed in a golden vase, and was duly forwarded to Troyes in Champagne, where the Court of France were ready to welcome the inestimable relic. The King made a free gift of ten thousand marks of silver to Baldwin, who was so pleased that he was encouraged to offer the remaining furniture of his chapel, and for twenty thousand marks more the King acquired a large portion of the true cross ; the baby linen of the Son of God ; the lance, the sponge, and the chain of the Passion ; and part of the skull of St. John the Baptist. THE CROWN OF THORNS BROUGHT TO FRANCE (a.D. 1240). Matthew Paris's account is this: In 1240 France exulted in Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 187 repeated favours of our Lord Jesus Christ, for besides being rewarded with the body of the Confessor Edmund, who had removed himself from England, it was rejoiced by obtaining our Lord's crown of thorns from Constantinople. Baldwin, Emperor of Constantinople, had sent word that if the French King would give him effectual pecuniary assistance, he, the Em- peror, would, in consideration of his old ties of friendship, give him the veritable crown of our Lord, which the Jews had woven and placed on His head when about to suffer on the cross for the redemption of the human race. The French King, by the advice of his council, willingly agreed to this, and, with his mother's concurrence, liberally sent a large sum of money to the Emperor, whose treasury had been exhausted by continual wars, and this supply inspired the said Baldwin with confident hopes of obtain- ing a victory over the Greeks. In return for this great benefit obtained from the King, the Emperor, according to promise, faith- fully sent to him the crown of Christ, precious beyond gold or topaz. It was therefore solemnly and devoutly received, to the credit of the French kingdom, and indeed of all the Latins, in grand procession, amidst the ringing of bells and the devout prayers of the faithful followers of Christ, and was placed with due respect in the King's Chapel at Paris. THE KING OF FRANCE SHOWS THE HOLY CROSS (A.D. 1241). Matthew Paris says that in 1241 the French King and his mother, Blanche, gave a large sum of money to the Saracens, in order to obtain possession of the holy cross of our Lord. The cross had at first been bought by the Venetians, then pawned by Baldwin, and at last was sold to the French King. This cross, on reaching Paris, was placed in a carriage, in which sat the King, his mother, his wife, and brothers, in presence of the archbishops and nobles, and a countless host of people who were awaiting the glorious sight with great joy of heart. After all had worshipped it with due reverence and devotion, the King himself, barefooted, ungirt, and with head bare, and after a fast of three days, carried it in wool to the cathedral church of the Blessed Virgin at Paris. The two queens also followed on foot. They also carried the crown of thorns, which the Divine mercy had given to France the year before, and raising it on high on a similar carriage, presented it to the gaze of the people. When they arrived at the cathedral church, all the bells in the city were set ringing ; and after special prayers had been solemnly read, the King returned to his palace, carrying his cross, his brothers carrying the crown. 188 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and the priests following in a regular procession — a sight more solemn or more joyful than which the kingdom of France had never seen. The King ordered a chapel of handsome structure, suitable for the reception of the said treasure, to be built near his palace, and in it he afterwards placed the said relics with due honour. Besides these, there were in the same beautiful chapel the garment belonging to Christ, the lance — that is to say, the iron head of the lance — the sponge, and other relics besides. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AT WESTMINSTER (a.D. 1247). Matthew of Westminster says that about the year 1247 the blood of Christ, which was preserved in the Holy Land as a most precious treasure, was sent and presented to the lord the King of England (Henry III.) by a certain brother of the Hospital, who also sent the treasure written by the lord the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the masters of the body of knights of the Temple and Hospital, who all with unanimous goodwill and prompt devo- tion sent and gave and presented this treasure to the lord the King ; and he consigned it to his own special house in the church of St. Peter, at Westminster, on the day of the translation of St. Edward, giving it to that church out of his own spontaneous magnificence and liberality. He also on the same day obtained from the bishops who were then present an indulgence of six years and one hundred and sixteen days for all those who came to worship the holy relics and the presence of the Lord. And about the year 1249 the preaching brothers brought a stone of white marble, which ever since the time of Christ had borne the print of the Saviour in the Holy Land ; and the inhabitants of the Holy Land asserted that that impression was the print of the footstep of Christ when He was ascending into heaven. And the aforesaid lord the King gave it as a noble present to the church of Westminster, as he had, a little while before, given it the blood of Christ. THE DISCOVERY OF ST. STEPHEN'S RELICS (a.D. 415). Though Stephen was the first martyr, nobody knew for near four hundred years where his body was buried, except that it was at Cap- hargamala or borough of Gamaliel, twenty miles from Jerusalem. Lucian, the priest of that place, in 415 was one night asleep or half awake, when suddenly a comely old man, of venerable garb and long white beard, with a golden wand, entered the baptistery and told Lucian to go to Jerusalem and ask Bishop John to come and open the tomb where lay Stephen, who was stoned by the Jews, and whose body was exposed to wild beasts ; but they would Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 189 not touch it. Whereupon the body was taken away by Gamaliel and buried in a particular spot near the body of Nicodemus. Lucian asked who this venerable messenger was, and the answer was, " I am Gamaliel, who instructed Paul." The vision appeared several times to Lucian, as well as others, giving further parti- culars. The search was afterwards made, and three coffins found, one of which was Stephen's, at the opening of which the earth shook and an agreeable odour issued. Many miracles were wrought by these relics, and they were carried amid singing of psalms and hymns to the church of Sion at Jerusalem. Portions of the relics were carried to Spain by Orosius, and there caused many sudden conversions. Some also were given to St. Austin for his church of Hippo. In 444 the Empress Eudocia built a stately church about a furlong from Jerusalem, where Stephen's relics were translated, the site being supposed to be that where he was stoned to death. THE RELICS OF ST. DUNSTAN AT GLASTONBURY (a.D. 1184). As Dunstan, who died 988, was a most domineering and impe- rious monk in his day, and stood up for his order, his bones were sacred. When Glastonbury Abbey, after a great fire in 1184, was rebuilt, there was a great stirring up of relics which were placed in shrines. Amongst others the St. Dunstan relics gave rise to a quarrel between the monks of Glastonbury and those of Canter- bury, which lasted some four centuries. There was an old monk at Glastonbury, named John Canan, who was believed to be the sole depositary of the secret of Dunstan's burying-place, and a boy named John Waterleighe was employed to get at the secret. The old monk, in circuitous phrase, told the boy at last that the place was near the door where the holy water was sprinkled, and this was divulged, and the other monks lifted a stone and found a wooden chest plated with iron. The prior and all the convent assembled to see it opened, and they found some of the bones of Dunstan and a ring, in one half of which was a picture curiously worked. There was a crown and the word sanctus under it, so that they all were confident these were the right relics. The relics were accordingly solemnly placed in a shrine covered with gold and silver. When the monks of Canterbury heard of this they were profoundly agitated, for they drew pilgrims chiefly under the belief that their own abbey had the better part of the saint. The rival monks wrote furious letters against each other ; and intrigues continued at Canterbury with varying success till the time of the Beformation. 190 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. JOHN HUSS ON RELICS (A.D. 1401). John Huss, born 1369, became a stirring preacher, and was appointed in 1401 to officiate at the chapel of Bethlehem, where poor people chiefly attended. The archbishop of that time was anxious to check some of the current superstitions, and used Huss as a means to that end. One matter caused great wonder. A knight had destroyed a church some years before, but left a stone altar standing. In one of the cavities were found three wafers coloured red, as if with blood. Though such a colour is naturally produced in bread and similar substances long exposed to moisture, there being a fungus gradually formed, which under the micro- scope is easily seen, but to the naked eye having a close resem- blance to blood, the ignorant multitude at once accepted this as a miracle, symbolical of the blood of Christ ; and extraordinary excitement grew up, and pilgrimages were made from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia, in order to view it. The monks and clergy encouraged the wonder. The archbishop, shocked by such a scandal, appointed a committee of three, one of whom was Huss, to examine and report. Huss drew up a report reflecting on this and many similar relics as entire delusions, and hinting that they were put forward merely by greedy ecclesiastics for base purposes. He reviewed the history of these impostures, and also exposed another fraud, about a silver hand hung up by a citizen of Prague in a church, and which was long believed to be in testimony of a lame hand of the donor being miraculously cured, though there had been really no cure, as hundreds could attest. POWER OF THE CRUCIFIX DURING THE PLAGUE (a.D. 1649). The extent to which images and their makers have produced effects on excitable crowds was shown during the plague of Malaga in 1649. A certain statue of Christ at the column carved for the cathedral by Giuseppe Micael, an Italian, performed prodigies of healing, and bade fair to rival that holy crucifix sculptured at Jerusalem by Nicodemus, and possessed by the Capuchins of Burgos, which sweated on Fridays and wrought miracles all the week. While the pestilence was yet raging, the sculptor stood one evening musing near the door of the sanctuary where his work was enshrined, but with so sorrowful a countenance that a friend, hailing him from afar, according to the usages of plague- stricken society, inquired the cause of his sadness. ** Think you," said the artist, " that I have anything more to look for on earth Chap, vi.] REVERENCE FOR RELICS. 191 after seeing and hearing the prodigies and marvels of this sovereign image which my unworthy hands have made ? It is an old tradition among the masters of our craft that he shall soon die to whom it is given to make a miraculous image." And Giuseppe erred not in his presentiment ; his chisel's task was done. Within eight days the dead-cart carried him to the gorged cemetery of Malaga. His fame was long ' preserved by his statue, which obtained the name of the " Lord of Health." THE POPE PURCHASES THE HEAD OF ST. ANDREW (A.D. 1461). In 1461 great excitement was caused in Rome by the arrival of Thomas Palseologus, brother of the last Byzantine emperor, who had been driven from Greece, and brought with him from Patras, the supposed place of St. Andrew's martyrdom, a head of that saint. The Pope (Pius II.), on hearing of this venerable relic, eagerly entered into a treaty and secured it, notwithstanding that many princes were his competitors. The head was brought, with much ceremony, from Ancona, and was met at Narni by Bessarion and other cardinals, and on its arrival in Rome it was received with extraordinary reverence. Invitations were at once sent out by the Pope on the same terms as for a jubilee, and great crowds flocked from all parts. The head was carried to St. Peter's by a procession attended by thirty thousand torches, while the palaces and houses along the route were hung with tapestry and filled with altars. The weather was exceptionally fine, and the procession filed from the Flaminian gate. The Vatican basilica was splendidly illuminated, and the Pope addressed the holy relic in an eloquent and impressive speech, the delivery of which was interrupted by frequent tears, sobs, and beating of breasts. When the ceremony was concluded, the head of St. Andrew was deposited beside that of St. Peter. PILGRIMAGE TO WALSINGHAM (a.D. 1061). In 1061 an obscure widow, inhabiting a small village on the wild and tempestuous coast of Norfolk, by erecting a little chapel resembling that at Nazareth, where the Virgin was saluted by the angel Gabriel, was able to impart a renown to that village which extended to all England. Erasmus thus described it in his time : " Not far from the sea, about four miles, there standeth a town living almost on nothing else but upon the resort of pilgrims. There is a college of canons there, supported by their ofierings. In the church is a small chapel, but all of wood. 192 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. whereunto, on either side, at a narrow and little door, are such admitted as come with their devotions and offerings. Small light there is in it, and none other than by wax tapers, yielding a most dainty and pleasant smell ; nay, if you look into it, you would say it is the habitation of heavenly saints, so bright and shining all over with precious stones, with gold and silver." Camden also mentions that princes have repaired to this chapel, walking thither barefoot. A WINTER PILGRIMAGE IN SWITZERLAND (a.D. 1110). Abbot Bodolph, about 1110, describes his pilgrimage across the Alps : " We were detained at the foot of Mount Jove (Great St. Bernard), in a village called Restopolis, from which we could neither advance nor retreat, in consequence of the heavy snow. At length the guides conducted us as far as St. R-emi, which is on the same mountain, where we found a vast multitude of travellers, and where we were in danger of death from the repeated falls of snow from the rocks. We were detained there till at length the guides aid they would lead us, but demanded a heavy price. Their heads and hands were guarded with skins and fur, and their shoes armed with iron nails, to prevent them from slipping on the ice, and they carried long spears in their hands, to feel their way over the snow. It was very early in the morning, and with great fear and trembling the travellers celebrated and received the holy mysteries, as if preparing themselves for death. They contended with each other who should first make his con- fession ; and since one priest did not suffice, they went about the church confessing their sins to each other. While these things were passing within the church with great devotion, there was a lamentable shout heard in the street ; for the guides, who had left the town to clear the way, were suddenly buried under a great fall of snow, as if under a mountain. The people ran to save them, and pulled them out — some dead, some but half alive, others with broken limbs. Upon this we all returned to Kestopolis, where we passed the Epiphany. Upon the weather clearing, we again set out, and succeeded, happily, in passing the profane Mount of Jove." St. Aderal of Troyes made twelve pilgrimages to Rome on foot. He passed the Apennines in a season of intense cold barefooted, that he might suffer something for Jesus Christ, and he used to beat the rocks with bare feet. PILGRIMS TO CANTERBURY (A.D. 1179). In 1179 Louis VII., King of France, in the disguise of a Chap, vi.] MARTYRS AND RELTCI^. 193 common^ pilgrim visited Canterbury as a humble supplicant at the tomb of A Becket, for the restoration of sanity to the Dauphin, a prayer that was instantly complied with. Louis proved his sincerity by offering a rich cup of gold and the famous stone called Regal of France, which Henry YIII. appropriated to his own use for a thumb ring. The great St. Thomas not only attended to the prayers of mankind and restored eyes, limbs, and even life to hundreds ; but, to evince his power and exhibit his tenderness to all animated nature, frequently, at the intercession of the monks, restored to life dead birds and beasts. The Pope naturally encouraged these enthusiastic feelings, though it is rather surprising that his holiness Pope Alexander should cause a liturgy to be composed and read, in which our Saviour is suppli- cated to redeem mankind, not by His holy blood, but by that of the saint. Indeed, to such an extent was the adoration of Becket carried that it nearly absorbed all other devotion. In one year the offerings at the altar of the Deity at Canterbury amounted to c£3 2s. Qd. ; at the Virgin's, <£63 55. 6d. ; and at Becket's, .£832 12s. 3d. And in another year £954 6s. 3d. was received at Becket's altar, only £4: Is. 8d. at the Virgin's, while at that of the Deity the oblation did not amount to one farthing ! 13 194 CHAPTER VII. THE FATHERS. ORIGEN, CHAMPION OF ORTHODOXY (a.D. 253). When a persecution was raging against the Christians about 206, Leonidas and his son Origen were among the suspected. Leonidas was beheaded. Origen, then aged seventeen, was also eager to meet the same fate, and he would have been beheaded also, but his mother privily in the night season conveyed away his clothes and his shirt. Whereupon, more for shame to be seen than for fear to die, he was constrained to remain at home. He was zealous, however, and wrote to his father, telling him not to change for his and his mother's sake. Then Origen, to assist his mother and six brothers, kept a school, and afterwards was made a bishop. He was a great worker, lived sparingly, and went barefoot. He wrote as much as seven notaries and so many maids could pen every day. The number of his books was six thousand volumes. He encouraged and comforted all the martyrs, and was a redoubted champion of doctrines. ST. AMBROSE, CHAMPION OF HIS ORDER (A.D. 397). St. Ambrose, who died 397, was not only the great advocate and defender of the order of virginity, but he displayed a high sense of dignity in guarding the purity of his church. He refused to allow the Emperor Marcellus to enter the church because he was stained with the blood of Gratian. He also opposed the Empress Justina in her Arian tendencies. He was also the champion who opposed the orator Symmachus, who pleaded for retaining the old heathen idols in their old places of worship. When the Emperor Theodosius, in the fourth century, had ordered what most people considered a brutal massacre at Thessa- lonica of seven thousand persons as they were sitting in a circus Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. 195 to witness a race, and this by way of punishment for a previous riot in the city, all eyes were turned to the Bishop of Milan to avenge this outrage. When the Emperor reached the city some days later, the bishop avoided meeting him, but wrote a letter, in which he said : " So bloody a scene as that at Thessalonica is unheard of in the world's history. I had warned and entreated you against it. You yourself recognised its atrocity. You endeavoured to recall your decree. And now I call on you to repent." Soon after, when Ambrose came back to Milan, the Emperor, as usual, presented himself at the hour of service. Ambrose met him in the porch, and thus spoke : " It seems your majesty has not repented of the heinousness of your murder. Your imperial power has darkened your understanding, and stood between you and the recognition of your sin. Consider the dust from which you spring. How can you uplift in prayer the hands which still drip with innocent blood, or receive into such hands the body of the Lord ! Depart ; add not sin to sin. Find in repentance the means of mercy which can restore you to health of soul." The Emperor humbled himself. For eight months as a penitent he abstained from presenting himself at Divine service. During the penance Theodosius bitterly complained that the Church of God was opened, to slaves and beggars, but to him was closed, and with it the gates of heaven. He tried once to gain admittance, but Ambrose sternly refused until the Emperor promised to show openly his repentance by taking his place in the church among the penitents. The spirit displayed by Ambrose in this episode raised his reputation, and has left an example to all future bishops when contending against absolute power. WHY ST. AMBROSE FELL ASLEEP AT MASS. St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, died in 397, on the day which he himself had predicted. On that day Severinus, Bishop of Cologne, asked his archdeacon if he heard any sounds in the air. The latter stood erect and listened, and then answered, " I hear voices as of those singing in heaven, but what they may be I know not." And Severinus was then informed that these were the songs of angels as they carried Martin up to heaven. At that same hour also the blessed Ambrose was celebrating Mass at Milan, and the custom was, that the reader should not begin to read till the bishop nodded to him. And when he would have begun standing before the altar, the blessed Ambrose fell asleep on the altar. Though many saw -this, no man presumed to wake him, till after two or three hours had elapsed, when they spoke to him, saying, 196 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. " The hour has passed by ; let my lord the bishop command the lector to read, for the people are waiting and already are very weary." And Ambrose bade them not be disturbed, for that his brother Martin had departed from the flesh, and he had just been attending his funeral. And greatly astonished, and noting the day and hour, they afterwards discovered that at that very time the blessed Martin had been buried at Tours, where the whole city and neighbourhood had followed him with hymns and tears to the grave. SOME SAYINGS OF ST. AMBROSE. It was related that an obstinate heretic who went to hear St. Ambrose preach, only to confute and mock him, beheld an angel visible at his side and prompting the words the saint uttered. On seeing this, the scoffer was self -convicted and became a convert. One day St. Ambrose, calling at the house of a Tuscan nobleman, was hospitably received, and began to inquire into the condition of his host, who replied, " I have never known adversity — every day has seen me increasing in fortune, in honours and possessions ; I have a numerous family of sons and daughters, who have never caused me a moment of sorrow ; I have a multitude of slaves, to whom my word is law ; and T have never suffered either sickness or pain." On hearing this, Ambrose rose suddenly from the table and said, " Let us make haste to quit this roof ere it fall upon us, for the Lord is not here ! " And he had scarcely left the house when an earthquake shook the ground and swallowed up the palace and all its inhabitants. The church, the basilica of St. Ambrogio Maggiore at Milan, is one of the oldest and most interesting in Christendom, and was founded in 387. Though rebuilt and restored at least twice, it still retains the form of the primitive churches, with doors of cypress wood. On the front of the high altar, which is all of plates of gold enamelled with precious stones, are represented in relief scenes from the life of our Saviour. ST. AMBROSE AND THE RELICS OF ST. GERVASIUS. One of the points which stagger modern Christians about St. Ambrose and St. Augustine is their enthusiastic and apparently genuine belief in saints' relics. When St. Ambrose was asked to consecrate a new church, and he consented on condition that he should have some new relics to place therein, the relics were soon forthcoming. He professed that he was told in a dream where the relics of Gervasius and another saint were buried. The Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. . 197 bodies were afterwards found in the spot indicated and placed in the new church. Ambrose delivered impassioned and fanciful harangues during the proceedings, claiming for these relics that they had expelled demons and restored sight to a bhnd butcher named Sever us, who merely touched them. Mosheim, Gibbon, and Isaac Taylor treat all this as a mere trick or imposture. But others are not prepared to come to any decision, as next to nothing is known as to the circumstances under which all these events or apparent events happened. The expelling of demons may be explained by some hysterical excitement ; and the blindness may have been something more or less temporary. Ambrose, however, apparently had the most unfeigned belief in the miracles, and he related the whole story to his sister Marcellina in a letter which does not savour of knavery. St. Augustine, at a later date, also related similar miracles worked by the same relics, which he vouches to be true. ST. Jerome's life of paul, the first hermit (a.d. 400). St. Jerome, in his Life of Paul, the first hermit, says that Paul, when a boy, suspecting his life to be in danger, fled to the wilderness, and found a convenient great cave in which to live. " In this beloved dwelling," says Jerome, " offered him as it were by God, Paul spent all his life in prayer and solitude, while the palm tree gave him food and clothes ; as to which, lest it should seem impossible to some, I call Jesus and His holy angels to witness that I have seen monks, one of whom, shut up for thirty years, lived on barley bread and muddy water ; another, in an old cistern, which in the country speech they call the Syrian's bed, was kept alive on five figs each day. These things therefore will seem incredible to those who do not believe, for to those who do believe all things are possible." St, Paul the hermit, in his one hundred and thirteenth year, was visited by Antony, who was ninety, Paul being in a dying state in a sequestered cell. Antony was sent on a message, and on his return Paul was found on his knees with hands uplifted as if in prayer, but was quite dead. Antony, according to previous instructions, wished to bury the saint, but had no spade, and sat down to consider how he was to proceed. Forthwith, as Jerome relates, two lions came running from the desert tossing their manes, fearless and innocent as doves. They went straight to the corpse, crouched, wagged their tails and roared, and then began to claw the ground and dig a deep place, large enough to hold a man. When they had finished they came to Antony, dropped their necks, and licked his hands and feet, as 198 FLOWEKS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. if praying for a blessing. Antony praised God, who taught the dumb animals, and without whose word not a leaf drops nor one sparrow falls to the ground ; and then signing with his hand to the lions, they went away peaceably to the desert from which they ST. JEROME S REFLECTIONS ON PAUL THE HERMIT. St. Jerome, after narrating the life and death of Paul, the first hermit, thus concludes : "I am inclined at the end of my treatise to ask those who know not the extent of their patrimonies, who cover their houses with marbles, who sew the price of whole farms into their garments with a single thread, What was ever wanting to this naked old man 1 Ye drink from a gem ; he satisfied nature from the hollow of his hands. Ye weave gold into your tunics, he had not even the vilest garment of your bondslave. But, on the other hand, to that poor man Paradise is open ; you, gilded as you are, Gehenna will receive. He, though naked, kept the garment of Christ ; you, clothed in silk, have lost Christ's robe. Paul lies covered with the meanest dust to rise in glory ; you are crushed by wrought sepulchres of stone, to burn with all your works. Spare, I beseech you, yourselves; spare at least the riches which you love. Why do you wrap even your dead in golden vestments ? Why does not ambition stop amid grief and tears? Cannot the corpses of the rich decay save in silk? I beseech thee, whosoever thou art that readest this, to remember Jerome the sinner, who, if the Lord gave him choice, would much sooner choose Paul's tunic with his merits than the purple of kings with their punishments." ST. JEROME WITH THE LION AND THE ASS. A legend of St. Jerome, who died 420, relates that one evening as he sat within the gates of his monastery at Bethlehem, a lion entered, limping as in pain, and all the brethren when they saw the beast fled in terror. But Jerome arose, and went forward to meet the lion as though it had been a guest. And the lion lifted up his paw, and Jerome, on examining it, found that it was wounded by a thorn, which he extracted ; and he tended the lion till it was healed. The grateful beast remained with his bene- factor, and Jerome confided to him the task of guarding the ass, which was employed in bringing firewood from the forest. On one occasion, the lion having gone to sleep while the ass was at pasture, some merchants passing by carried away the ass, and the lion, after searching for him in vain, returned to the monastery Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. 199 with drooping head as one ashamed. St. Jerome, believing that it had devoured its companion, commanded that the daily task of the ass should be laid upon the lion, and that the faggots should be bound on its back, to which it magnanimously submitted, until the ass should be recovered, which was in this wise. One day, the lion having finished its task, ran hither and thither, still seeking its companion, and it saw a caravan of merchants approaching, and a string of camels, which, according to the Arabian custom, was led by an ass. And when the lion recognised its friend it drove the camels into the convent, and so terrified the merchants that they confessed the theft and received pardon from St. Jerome. Hence the lion is often introduced into the pictures of St. Jerome. THE DEATHBED OF ST. JEROME. The ancient biographer Peter de Natalibus thus describes the last hours of Jerome : As Jerome's death drew near, he com- manded that he should be laid on the bare ground and covered with sackcloth, and calling the brethren around him, he spoke sweetly to them, and exhorted them in many holy words, and with tears received the blessed Eucharist. And sinking back- wards again on the earth, his hands crossed on his heart, he sang the Nunc Diraittis, which being finished, suddenly a great light as of the noonday sun shone round about him, within which light angels innumerable were seen by the bystanders in shifting motion. And the voice of the Saviour was heard inviting him to heaven, and the holy doctor answered that he was ready. And after an hour that light departed, and Jerome's spirit with it. And at that very hour Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was sitting in his cell meditating a treatise on the beatific vision, and had begun an 'epistle to Jerome, consulting him on that mystery, when an inefiable light with a fragrant odour filled his cell, and a voice came to him therefrom, reproving him of presumption for deeming that, while yet in the flesh, he could comprehend the eternal beatitude. And Augustine demanding who spoke to him, the voice answered, " Jerome's soul, to whom thou writest, for I am this very hour loosed from the flesh, and on my way to heaven." And after Augustine had asked him many questions concerning the joys of heaven, the angehc nature, and the Blessed Trinity, and Jerome had answered thereto, the light and the voice departed. ST. Jerome's epistles. Mr. Eoberts, in his " Church Memorials," speaks of St. Jerome 200 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. as follows : The various letters of Jerome to Helvidiiis, Jovinian Vigilantiiis, and even to Augustine, leave the fact unquestionable that he was a man of great infirmity of temper, disposed alike to depreciate the merits of others and unduly exalt his own. To the exercise of his vituperative talents it must be owned that we are indebted for some of his most vigorous productions. Few of his corresponding friends were without some experience of the rough discipline of his pen. Kuffinus says he spared none, neither monk nor maiden. Ambrose and IJidymus and Chrysostom himself shared his reproaches. Those who submitted to the obliga- tion of celibacy on the 'ostensible gi*ound of religious abstinence were among the rare objects of his eulogy. He breaks out in his writings into gross and unwarrantable sallies against the matri- monial estate, and exalting above all comparison with it the felicity of virgins. His opinions on this subject appear to have arisen out of the self-sufficiency of his own brain, which led him to consult his own fervid impressions and prejudices rather than the teaching of Divine wisdom. But after making all necessary deductions from the dignity and deserts of Jerome on the score of prejudice and passion, our obligations to him remain very great, not only for his admirable contributions to the stores of sacred learning in all its departments, but for his strenuous and efficacious advocacy of the truth as it is set forth in the oracles of God. Lessons of practical piety and discriminating Christian prudence not seldom flowed from his able pen. ST. chrysostom's eloquence as a preacher (a.d. 407). St. Chrysostom became noted for the eloquence of his sermons soon after he was ordained a presbyter in 386. One of his sermons at a time when the people were given to riots ended thus : "When you return home, converse on these subjects with all your house, as some, when returning from the meadows, take home to their families garlands of roses or violets or some such flowers ; others branches laden with fruit from the gardens ; or the superfluous dainties from costly feasts in like manner. When you depart home, carry admonitions to your wives, your children, your dependants. For these counsels are more profitable to you than flowers, fruit, or feasts. These roses never wither ; these fruits never decay ; these meats never corrupt. The former im- part a transitory pleasure ; the latter insure a lasting advantage, an enjoyment both present and to come. Let us thus occupy our- selves instead of the accustomed anxiety with which we trouble to ask each other, ' Has the Emperor heard of the things that Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. 201 have happened? Is he incensed? What sentence has he pro- nounced ? Has any one appeased him ? Can he persuade himself to utterly destroy so gi-eat and populous a city ? ' Casting these and the like cares upon God, we shall do well to heed only the observance of His commandments. Thus will all our present sorrows pass away." ST. CHRYSOSTOM ON THE WEAK POINT OF MONKERY. Though St. Chrysostom was himself a hermit for six years, he thus, in the height of the mania for monkery, exposed the weakness of that practice in one of his sermons : " Those who forsake the city, the favour and society of men, and cease to instruct others, are apt to excuse themselves by saying that they must not become dead to godliness. How much better were it to become more dead to godliness, and to profit othei-s rather than remain on the heights looking down on their perishing brethren ! For how shall we overcome our enemies if the greater part of us have no heed to godliness, and those who have a heed to it withdraw from the order of battle? No deed can be truly great unless it impart benefit to others. This is manifest from the example of him who returned the talent, which he had received, whole, because he had added naught to its value. Wherefore, my brethren, though ye fast, though ye sleep upon the bare ground, though ye strew yourselves with ashes, though ye mourn without ceasing, yet if ye do no good to any one, ye shall have done no great thing, for this was the chief care of those great and holy men who were in the beginning. Examine closely their lives, and ye will see clearly that none of them ever looked to his own interest, but to that of his neighbour. If ye seek not the advantage of youi* neighbour, ye cannot attain unto salvation." ST. CHRYSOSTOM ON PEOPLE SPEAKING IN CHURCH. St. Chrysostom, who died 407, in his homily on the text, *' Brethren, be not children in understanding," thus rebuked the habits of his people in church : " The church itself is a house, or rather woise than any house. For in a house one may see much good order. But here great is the tumult, great the confusion, and our assemblies differ in nothing from a vintner's shop, so loud is the laughter, so great the disturbance : as in baths, as in markets, the cry and tumult is universal. And these things occur here only: since elsewhere it is not permitted even to address one's neighbour in the church, not even if one have recognised a Ipng-absent friend ; but these things are done without, and very 202 FLOWERS 01^ CHRISTIAN HISTORY. properly. For the church is no barber's or perfumer's shop, nor any other merchant's warehouse in the market-place, but a place of angels, a place of archangels, a palace of God, heaven itself. As therefore if one had rent the heaven and had brought thee in thither, though thou shouldst see thy father or thy brother, thou wouldst not venture to speak, so neither here ought one to utter any other sound but those which are spiritual. For in truth the things in this place are also a heaven. Here the buffoon who is moving laughter or the giddy woman who collects vast crowds is listened to ; but when God is speaking from heaven on subjects so awful, we behave ourselves more shamelessly than dogs." ST. AUGUSTINE WITNESSING TWO MIRACLES. St. Augustine in 426 relates two miracles which he himself witnessed. Two persons, Paul and Palladia, brother and sister, natives of Csesarea, wei-e afflicted with excessive trembling in their limbs. They had visited many places in search of a cure, and at last were directed by a venerable person, who appeared in a vision to Paul, to go to the church at Hippo, where St. Stephen's relics had been deposited a year before. One Easter Sunday Paul was praying before the relics, when he suddenly fell and lay motionless, as if asleep, but without trembling. The spectators were astonished, and uncertain whether to raise him up or leave him alone. He rose up soon quite healed, whereon the congrega- tion began to praise God and shouted with joy. They ran to another part of the church to tell St. Augustine, who was already beginning the service. He next day made Paul and his sister sit in a raised part of the church, the one healed, the other trembling, and after a general discourse thus concluded: "Now, listen to what we have heard of this miracle. During the stoning of St. Stephen a stone which had struck him on the elbow rebounded on a believer who was present. He took it up and kept it. This man was a sailor, whom chance at last brought to Ancona, and he knew by revelation that he was to leave this stone there. A chapel was erected there to St. Stephen, and a report was spread that one of his elbows was there. It was aftei-wards understood that the sailor had been inspired to leave this stone in that place because Ancona signifies ' the elbow ' in Greek. But no miracles were wrought there till after the body of Stephen had been discovered." St. Augustine was going on with his discourse, recounting other miracles from these rehcs, when a great shout arose, and the congregation interrupted him, and some brought Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. 203 before him Palladia, who had just been suddenly healed in the same way as her brother Paul when she went again to pray before the relics. The people were overjoyed, and continued their shouts till Augustine had to pause ; and when they were a little silent, he concluded with a thanksgiving. THE VISION OF ST. AUGUSTINE. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, near Carthage, who died 430, and whose magnificent tomb in the cathedral of Pavia is rich as a work of art, had in the course of his studies, while writing discourses on the Trinity, a dream or vision, which he thus related : " I was wandering along the seashore lost in meditation. Suddenly I beheld a child, who, having dug a hole in the sand, appeared to be bringing water from the sea to fill it. I inquired of the child what was [the object of this task, and it replied, * I intend to empty into this hole all the waters of the great deep.' ' Im- possible ! ' I exclaimed. * Not more impossible,' replied the child, *than for you, Augustine, to explain the mystery on which you are now meditating.' " This incident is also related of another great preacher (see ante, p. 108). St. Augustine is often in mediaeval pictures represented as standing arrayed in his episcopal robes on the seashore, gazing with astonishment on an infant Christ, who holds a bowl, a cup, and a ladle. Murillo has a great picture on this subject. St. Augustine admitted with shame that when a boy he had robbed an orchard, and that the multiplication table was detestable to him. ST. AUGUSTINES FAITH IN DREAMS. St. Augustine's faith in dreams was illustrated by him in a letter to a friend, who was speculating about future life. He said there was a beloved physician at Carthage named Gennadius, who, though an earnest benefactor of the poor, had doubts about the future life. One night Gennadius dreamt that a noble-looking youth came to him and said, ** Follow me." He followed, and was led to a city in which he heard dehcious music of hymns and psalms, and the youth explained that this was the singing of the blessed and the holy. When he awoke and found it was a dream, he attached no importance to it. But on another night the same youth came again, and asked, " Do you remember me ? " " Yes," said Gennadius, " I saw you in my dream, and you took me to hear the songs of the blessed." "Are you dreaming now?" " Yes." " Where is your body at this moment ? " " In my bed." 204 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. " Your eyes, then, are closed and bound in sleep ? " " Yes." " How is it, then, that you see me 1 " Gennadius could give no answer, and the angel said, " Just as you see me without the eyes of the flesh, so it will be when all your senses ai-e removed by death. There shall still be life in you and a faculty to perceive. Take care that henceforth you have no doubts about the life to come." St. Austin adds : " You may say that this was a dream, and any one may think what he likes about it. Nevertheless, theie are some dreams which have a Divine significance." ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA (a.D. 444). A famous champion of orthodoxy was St. Cyril of Alexandria, who flourished in 444. He spent five years of his youth in the monasteries of Nitria, and became an ardent student of theology, and his uncle, the Archbishop Theophilus, recalled him to take office in the church. He soon became a popular preacher, having a comely person and a sonorous voice, and his friends stationed themselves in convenient places in the church to applaud him and bring out all his merits. He soon succeeded to the patri- archate, which gave him civil as well as ecclesiastical powers. He had no patience with heretics, and not only interdicted the Moravians from performing public worship, but confiscated their holy vessels. His virulent rage against the Jews had no bounds, and without warning or authority he led a fanatic mob early one morning and attacked their synagogues and demolished them, rewarded his followers with the plunder, and expelled the ancient people from the city. He insisted on paying the highest honours to a monk who, like an assassin, had wounded the prefect. He also took umbrage at Hypatia, a young and beautiful woman, who taught philosophy, and who was said to take the part of the prefect against Cyril. One day it was said Cyi-il's fanatical followers seized this lady, stripped and butchered her, and burnt her body in the church, thereby leaving an indehble stain on his character. He also was indefatigable in persecuting Nestorius, an alleged heretic, SOME NOTIONS OF THE FATHERS. Some of the notions to which the Fathers clung were these : That Christ would return and reign with the saints in Jerusalem in the flesh for a thousand years; that the angels had bodies and appetites ; that Christ's body was not sensitive to the stripes and torments inflicted ; that after death all should pass a fiery Chap, vii.] THE FATHERS. 205 trial before the final judgment day ; that God's Providence was confined only to men as rational creatures, but had nothing to do with the beasts of the field, with bugs and flies and worms ; that marriage was in any circumstances a degrading institution, but a second marriage was accursed ; that infants which die before baptism cannot be saved; that the baptism of heretics was invalid and null ; that an oath was utterly unlawful for Chris- tians to take ; that our Saviour lived fifty years, and was not crucified at the age of thirty-three. 206 CHAPTEK VIII. THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF MONACHISM. As early as the second centuiy men and women began to feel the charm of a peaceful, contemplative life, wholly severed from the selfish, sensual, and brutish ways of large communities. Hence they were attracted to deserts and secluded places, and to seek happiness by living entirely alone. It is thought this turn of rehgious life was first developed in Egypt. About 378 St. Basil, afterwards Bishop of Caesarea, introduced monachLsm into Asia Minor, and thence into the East, and he enjoined poverty, obedience, chastity, and self -mortification as the great objects to be kept in view. A peculiar habit was found to answer best to this kind of life. Both monks and nuns chose plain coarse clothes and girdles. The monks went barelegged, and their hair was more or less shaven. In 529 St. Benedict, an Italian of noble birth, instituted a code of conduct for his monastery on Monte Cassino, a hill between Home and Naples, and added manual labour for seven hours a day. St. Augustine, the apostle to the Anglo-Saxons, aljout 596, belonged to the Benedictine order, and so did St. Dunstan, about 930. The habit of the Bene- dictines consisted of a white woollen cassock, and over that an ample black gown and a black hood. The female houses had also a white under-garment, a black gown and black veil, with a white wimple round the face and neck. The monks of Clugny, in Burgundy, founded in 927, abandoned manual labour and devoted themselves more to contemplative studies. The Clug- niacs, the Carthusians, the Cistercians, and the orders of Camaldoli and Grandmont, all sprang from the Benedictine order, each having their own variations. St. Bernard joined the Cistercians in 1113. The Augustinians were a milder order than the Benedictines, and were divided into canons secular Chap. viii.J THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 207 and canons regular. A branch of the Augustinians were the military orders, or Knights of the Temple, who arose about 1118, after the experience of the Crusaders, and devoted them- selves to escorting pilgrims to Jerusalem and the holy places. THE MIRACLES AND WORSHIP OF THE MONKS. Gibbon sums up his account of the monks as follows: "The monastic saints, who excite only the contempt and pity of a- philosopher, were respected and almost adored by the prince and people. The Christian world fell prostrate before their shrines, and the miracles ascribed to their reUcs exceeded at least in number and duration the spiiitual exploits of their lives. But the golden legend of their lives was greatly embellished by the artful credulity of their interested brethren ; and a believing age was easily persuaded that the slightest caprice of an Egyptian or a Syrian monk had been sufficient to interrupt the eternal laws of the universe. The favourites' of Heaven were accustomed to cure inveterate diseases with a touch, a word, or a distant message, and to expel the most' obstinate demons from the souls or bodies which they possessed. They familiarly or imperiously commanded the lions and serpent'^ of the desert, infused vegetation into a sapless trunk, suspended, iron on the surface of the water, passed the Nile on the back of a crocodile, and refreshed themselves in a fiery furnace. These extravagant tales, which display the fiction without the genius of poetry, have seriously affected the reason, the faith, and the morals of the Christians. Their credulity debased and vitiated' the faculties of the mind ; they corrupted the evidence of history, and superstition gradually extinguished the hostile light of philosophy and science. Every mode of religious worship which had been practised by the saints, every mysterious doctrine which they believed was fortified by the sanction of Divine revelation, and all the manly virtues, were oppressed by the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks." PHILOSOPHY OP MONKERY. Dr. Johnson said : " I do not wonder that, where the monastic life is permitted, every order finds votaries and every monastery inhabitants. Men will submit to any rule by which they will be exempted from the tyi-anny of caprice and of chance. They are glad to supply by external authority their own want of constancy and resolution, and court the government of others, 208 FLOWERS OF CHEISTIAN HISTORY. when long experience has convinced them of their own inability to govern themselves." MOTIVES FOR BECOMING MONKS. It would be vain to analyse the many modes by which men were induced to become monks. It has been remarked that young men who became monks out of penitence for their sins were most distinguished for zeal. Men of the first rank, struck by the force of momentary impressions or by sudden reverses of fortune, reminded of the uncertainty of worldly goods, the near ness of death, the vanity of earthly glory, would go into soHtude as anchorites or enter a monastery. About 1090 Count Ebrard, of Breteuil, a youth of family and fortune, suddenly forsook all his pleasures, and went about earning his bread as an itinerant charcoal burner, and then for the first time found true peace of mind. Another noble youth, named Simon, about the same time was so struck by the transitoriness of wealth on seeing his father's dead body, that he also became a monk. Many were driven by sickness, poverty, shame, and remorse to do likewise. Those driven into monasteries by the fear of death were said soon to lose their firmness of purpose. Once St. Bernard, when visiting Count Theobald of Champagne, and seeing a crowd following a robber who was about to be executed, begged of the count to give up to him the criminal to be reformed, and Bernard converted him into an exemplary monk, who lived such for thirty years there- after. Another monk, Bernard, who lived on a desert island near Jersey, made such an impression on a band of pirates, that when afterwards they were on the point of shipwreck and in fear of sudden death, they remembered the good advice of the hermit, and repented, returned, and joined him in holy exercises for the rest of their days. Anselm of Canterbury, when discoursing on the virtues of monks and the temptations of worldly life, said, " It was true that it was not monks only who are saved. Still, it may be asked, Which of the two attains salvation in the most certain and noble way — he who seeks to love God alone, or he who seeks to love Grod and the world too at the same time ? Was it rational, when danger is on every side, to choose to remain where the danger is greatest ? " THE WEAK SIDE OF MONACHISM. Though there were many good points in monachism, the Fathei's were not slow to point out its defects. Chrysostom lamented that Christian virtue which ought to dwell in cities had Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 209 fled into deserts. Vigilantius observed, " If all Christian men shut themselves up in cloisters and withdrew into deserts, who shall preach the Gospel anc" call sinners to repentance ? " There was one Roman monk named Jovinian, sometimes called a prototype of Luther, and obviously before his time, who was un- compromising in his denunciations of the whole system. " There is," he said, " one and the same Divine life springing from fellow- ship with the Redeemer, in which all genuine Christians share, and a higher stage cannot exist." But in spite of all cavils the system held its ground down to the time of Luther. As Neander remarks : " The more the monks occupied themselves with theii* temptations, instead of looking from themselves to the Lord, so much the more those temptations increased, many of which they could easily have overcome if they had been willing to forget themselves in an activity of a calling that would have laid under requisition all the powers of their nature ; on which account they felt the need of occupying by manual labour, such as basket- making and other handicrafts, the senses and lower powers of their nature." ST. BENEDICT AT MONTE GASSING (a.D. 528). St. Benedict was born in 480, and gave a fresh impetus to monkish communities and devised better laws. After some experience in other places, he selected one of the heights of the Apennines for the great capital of the monastery orders — namely, Monte Cassino. He combined agriculture and woodcutting with exercises of piety, and introduced a more severe system of disci- pline. Many young nobles flocked to take up their abode. They acted as missionaries and almsmen to the poor. After fourteen years' presiding over the monastery, he had a last interview with his sister Scholastica, whom he survived forty days. A violent fever seized him, and he ordered his sister's tomb to be opened for him, and himself to be carried to the chapel of John the Baptist. Then, supported by his disciples, he insisted on standing and receiving the holy viaticum, and extending his arms and uttering his prayers, he died standing like a sentinel at his post. His influence lasted a thousand years ; his relics were carefully guarded and taken to France. In the eleventh century one of his bones was sent from France to Monte Cassino, and there received with great enthusiasm. THE REFORMERS OF MONKERY (a.D. 528 — 1226). Though Benedict was a great reformer of the monks by intro- U 210 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ducing systematic labour into the spiiitual life, and though his new order of things began with so fair a piomise and had done wonders, yet the monks had by degrees yielded to the treacherous influences of fame, ease, and wealth. The Benedictine monasteries were filled with scholai-s, whose devotion Avas directed more to the preservation of classic texts than the performance of the Divine office; with luxurious monks, strangers to fasting and unused to vigils, levelling in the good things of life, and in their rich revenues; then abbots were lords and rulers living in princely state, and riding out on richly caparisoned palfreys. The old humility of the monastic life was lost ; they took part in state intrigues, dictated laws to kings, shook the thrones of monarchs who had offended them, and began to aspire after worldly power and dominion. At last St. Fi*ancis arose in 1180, the founder of the Friars Minors, who discovered that there was nothing in the world really great and thoroughly satisfactoiy except poverty and self-humiliation, accompanied with efficient street preaching. St. Dominic also about the same time introduced mendicancy, or the absence of wealth, as pai-t of the system of Hfe. Yet in course of time both these last systems broke down, long before the period of the Reformation. EARLY DIFFICULTIES OF MONASTERIES (a.D. 600). When the Irish abbot Columban (who died 615) left the monastery of Bangor, where he had been reared, he became at the age of thirty consumed with a zeal to found a monastery of his own; and having obtained his abbot's permission, he went off with twelve youths to France, and they betook themselves to an immense wilderness in Vosges, and chose the ruins of an old castle as a settlement. As the monks were obliged to till the adjoining land, they at first suffered greatly from hunger. At one time the monks had nothing to eat but the bark of trees and wild herbs ; and what made matters worse, one of their number was sick, and the others could do nothing to relieve him. Three days they spent in prayer, seeking relief for their sick brother, when suddenly they saw a man standing at the door of the convent, whose horses wei-e laden with sacks of provisions. The man told them that he had felt an indescribable impulse to go and assist with his means those who from love to Christ endured such privations in the wilderness. Another time they had for nine days suffered similar want, when the heart of another abbot moved him to send provisions. When a foreign priest once visited them and expressed surprise at their cheerfulness amid THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 211 such trials, Columban only said, " If people faithfully serve their Creator, they will suffer no want ; for in the Psalms it is said,- ' I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.' He who could satisfy five thousand men with five loaves can easily fill our barns with meal." ADVICE TO MONKS SETTLING IN A FOREST (a.D. 650). "When the Abbot Ebrolf settled with his monks in the seventh century in a thick forest inhabited by wild beasts and robbers, one of the robbers, struck with awe at the simplicity of the new- comers, said to them, " You have not chosen a suitable place for yourselves. The inhabitants of this forest live by robbery, and can endure nobody near them who seeks to support himself by the labour of his hands. This is no place for you." The monk answered, *' Know, my brother, that the Lord is with us ; and since we ai-e under His protection, we fear not the threatenings of men who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Know that He will supply His servants abundantly with food even in a desert. And thou also, my friend, mayst be a partaker of these riches, if thou wilt renounce thy evil vocation and vow to serve the true and living God. Despair not of God's goodness on account of the greatness of thy sins, but be assured the eyes of the - Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry, and the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." Upon this the robber departed, meditating upon these words, which to him were so extraordinary. The next morning he hastened back to the monks, carrying to the abbot a present, such as his poverty could furnish, of three coarse loaves and a honeycomb, and professing his willing- ness to join them and become a monk. After his example other robbers were from time to time persuaded either to become monks ' or to labour honestly for a livelihood with their own hands. -^ A MONK DENOUNCES THE FEROCITY OF LOMBARD KINGS (A.D. 749). The monk Paul Diaconus was at Court in the time of King Rutchis (a.D. 744 — 749), and relates having himself seen that king after a banquet show the famous goblet which Albuin had made of the skull of Cummund, King of the Gepidi. As is known, Albuin had killed King Cummund in battle, and afterwards married his daughter Rosamund, and used on solemn occasions to drink out of his skull, which had been made into a cup. One day Albuin commanded that the goblet should be handed to the Queen, 212 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. calling upon her to drink gaily with her father. This horrible "outrage was at a later time cruelly avenged by Rosamund. Paul Diaconus, on seeing the goblet and remembering this brutal act of a former king, made this entry in his memoirs : " Lest this should seem incredible to any, take note that I speak the truth in Christ, for indeed I saw on a certain feast day King Rutchis holding this cup in his hand and showing it to his guests." ANOTHER BENEDICT TRIES TO MAKE THE MONKS WORK (a.D. 780). Amid the growing demoralisation of monasteries, Benedict of Aniane, whose original name was Witiza, when a boy, was cup- bearer in the Court of Pepin, and continued with Charlemagne. In returning from Rome in 774, in the retinue of that king, he narrowly escaped drowning in attempting to save his brother. This tiirned his thoughts towards joining a monastery, which he soon entered, and at once excelled in all the austerities. He macerated his body by excessive fasting, clothed himself mth rags, which soon swarmed with vermin, slept little and on the bare ground, never bathed, courted derision and insult like a madman, and expressed his fear of hell in loud outcries. On the death of his abbot Benedict became his successor, and built a little hermitage on the bank of the river Aniane. Some monks tried to live with him, but found the regimen too severe ; others suc- ceeded better. He and his monks resolved to build a monastery between them. They had no oxen to drag the materials, and they did the woi-k themselves. The walls were of wood, the roof thatched with straw, the vestments were coarse, the vessels of wood, but all of their own making. They lived chiefly on bread and water, sometimes a little milk, and on Sundays a scanty allowance of wine. Yet it was noticed that they soon tended to greater luxury and splendour, for in 782 the wooden monastery was replaced by one more solid — marble and decorations and costly vessels. Charlemagne himself contributed, and exempted the building from all taxes; and he appointed Benedict and two others to collect and recast the rules of monasteries and nunneries. Benedict to the last helped to plough and dig and reap, and died in 821, aged seventy. IMPROVEMENTS IN MONASTICISM (a.D. 780). When Benedict, Abbot of Aniane, in Languedoc, born in 750, left the Court in early life, disgusted with its ways and bent on monastic labours, thought of founding a new monastery, he found Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 213 the system then in vogue far too lax. He taught his monks to accustom themselves to earn a living by their own industry, and then do the utmost good with their earnings. When starving crowds came to his new settlement, he taught them to join in storing all the grain that could be spared till next harvest, and each made his portion support himself and supply a surplus, as a boon to the needy ones outside. The monastery was also turned into an industrial centre for library work. Louis the Pious thought so well of these improvements in discipline, that he drew up a code in 817 on the same principles, and circulated it through- out the Frankish Empire. Benedict used to say, " If it seem to you impossible to observe many of the commandments, then try only this one little commandment: ' Depart from evil and learn to do good.' " '^ A MONK AT COURT WRITES HOME TO HIS OLD CONVENT (a.D. 750). Paul Diaconus was for some time a monk at Monte Cassino, on the banks of the Moselle, and was sent to the Court of Charle- magne to use influence to obtain a pardon for his brother, then in banishment. The King treated him well, and Paul thus wrote to Theodomar, the abbot : " Although my body is separated by a vast distance, yet my affection for you can never suffer any dimi- nution, nor can I hope to express in a letter, and within the brief limit of these lines, how constantly and profoundly I am moved by the thought of your affection and that of my elders and brethren. For when I consider the leisure, filled with sacred occupations, the delectable refuge of my dwelling, your pious and holy dis- positions — when I think of the holy band of so many soldiers of Christ, zealous in all Divine offices, and the shining examples of special excellence in particular brethren, and the sweet converse we had on the perfections of our celestial home — I tremble, I gaze, I languish, I cannot restrain my tears, and my breast is rent with many sighs. I am living amongst Catholics and followers of Christian worship. I am well received. All show me abundant kindness for the love of our Father Benedict and for the sake of your own merits. But compared to your convent, this palace is a prison in contrast to the great serenity of your life; my life here seems only a continual storm. I am only detained in this country by the weakness of my body, but my whole soul goes out to you. Now I seem to be in the midst of your Divine songs, now to be sitting with you in the refectory, where the reading is even more satisf5dng than the bodily food. Now, methinks, I am watching each at his own special work, now 214 FLOWEES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. inquiring into the health of the aged and sick, now wearing with my feet the tombs of the saints, who are dear to me as heaven itself." THE MONKS FIRST DRINKING WINE IN ENGLAND (a.D. 760). Fuller, in his " Church History," says that about 760 the bill of fare of monks was bettered generally in England, and more liberally indulged in their diet. It was first occasioned when Ceolwolphus, formerly King of Northumberland, but then a monk in the convent of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, gave leave to that convent to drink ale and wine, anciently confined by Aidan, their first founder, to milk and water. Let others dispute whether Ceolwolphus thus dispensed with them by his new abbatical or old regal power, which he so resigned that in some cases he might resume it, especially to be king in his own convent. And indeed the cold, raw, and bleak situation of that place, with many bitter blasts from the sea and no shelter on the land, speaks itself to each inhabitant there. This local privilege, first justly indulged to the monks of Lindisfarne, was about this time extended to all the monasteries in England, whose primitive over-austerity in abstinence was turned now into a self-sufficiency that soon im- proved into plenty, that quickly depraved into riot, and that at last occasioned their ruin. CHARLEMAGNE HAS HIS DOUBTS ABOUT MONKERY (a.D. 800). The monasteries were growing rich in the time of Charlemagne, and he saw many weak points in the system. He thought many made false professions of withdrawing from the world and entering as monks merely to escape military service. He therefore made an order in 805 that those who forsake the world shall be obliged to live strictly as canons or monks according to rule. In 811 the King censured the abbots as caring only to swell the number of their monks, and to obtain good chanters and readers without caring about their morals. He asked sarcastically how the monks and clergy understood the text against entangling themselves with worldly affairs : whether those could be said to have forsaken the world who were incessantly striving to increase their possessions by all sorts of means — who used the hopes of heaven and the terrors of hell, the names of God and the saints, to extort gifts not only from the rich, but from the poor and ignorant, and by diverting property from the lawful heiry drive these to theft and robbery. " How," asked the King, " can they be said to have for- saken the world who suborn perjury in order to acquire what they Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 215 covet, who keep what secular property they can get and surround themselves with bands of armed men? In that age abbots as well as bishops were addicted to war, as well as hunting and hawking, to games of chance, and to the society of minstrels and jesters. Gross immorality was winked at among the recluses of both sexes. That state of things led to the appearance of St. Benedict, a renowned reformer of monkish hfe (ante, p. 212). LEAVING Charlemagne's court to be monk (a.d. 801). Duke William had well served Charlemagne and often routed the infidels, but at last in 801 he resolved to retire from the world and be a monk in a desert in the Cevennes. But he must first obtain the consent of his King, and in seeking an interview he began : " My lord, you know how I have loved you more than my life and the light of day. I have followed you in the field and been always ready to lay down my life for you. Now I ask leave to become a soldier of the Eternal King. I have long vowed to retire to a monastery and renounce the world." At these words Charlemagne's eyes overflowed with tears, and he said, " My Lord William, these are hard and bitter words, which have wounded my heart ; nevertheless, since it is devout and reasonable, I will not oppose. If you had preferred the service of any other mortal king, I might have felt it an injustice ; but as you wish to be a soldier of the King of angels, I consent. Only you must take with you some gift as a token and memorial of our friend- ship." With these words the King fell on his neck and wept bitter tears. William thereafter returned to Aquitaine ; and visiting the monastery of St. Julian, at Brives, he deposited his arms as an offering to God. His buckler was long shown there as a priceless possession, and its gigantic form and strength long attracted all eyes. William then took the humble habit, and entered the monastery of Gelon, comporting himself as the lowliest of the brethren. He might be seen at harvest among the reapers, mounted on an ass, carrying a vessel of wine, from which he re- freshed each reaper. Thus he who had so often given battle to the Saracens, and won renown among the warriors of his age, gave himself up entirely to humble occupations and works of charity. A MONK GOING TO LIVE AT COURT (a.D. 801). When Alcuin, a monk, who died in 804, was called to the Court of Charlemagne, he gave vent to his feelings thus : " O my cell, sweet and well-beloved home, adieu for ever ! I shall see no more 216 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the woods that surround thee with their interlacing branches and flowery verdure, nor thy fields full of wholesome and aromatic herbs, nor thy streams of fish, nor thy (Orchards, nor thy gardens where the lily mingles with the rose. I shall hear no more those birds, who, like ourselves, sing matins and celebrate their Creator in their own fashion ; nor those instructions of sweet and holy wisdom, which sound in the same breath as the praises of the Most High, from lips and hearts always serene. Dear cell ! I shall weep and mourn for thee always. But thus it is : every- thing changes and passes away ; night succeeds to day, winter to summer, storm to sunshine, weary age to ardent youth. And we — unhappy that we are ! — we cling to this fugitive world. It is Thou, Christ, that puttest all away, that we may love Thee only, and Thou canst satisfy every heart." THE REASONS FOR SO MANY MONASTERIES (a.D. 1150). Bishop Otho of Bamberg, the apostle of Pomerania, being asked in 1150 why he founded and built so many monasteries, replied, citing the parable of the Good Samaritan, thus: "The world is only a place of exile, and as long as we live in it we are at a distance from our Lord. Therefore we need inns and stables. Now, monasteries and cells are inns and stables. These are then of great utility to us poor wanderers ; and if we fall among robbers and are stripped and wounded and left half dead, certainly we shall find by experience how much better it is to be near an inn than at a distance from one. For when sudden destruction comes upon us, how can we be carried to a stable if it be far off ? So it is much better that there should be many such places than few, seeing how great is the danger, and how large is the number of persons exposed to it. And now, especially that men are so multiplied upon earth, it is not absurd that monasteries should be multiplied, since the abundant population admits of numbers embracing a chaste life. Finally, it is well to have these built, that in all things God might be honoured and man assisted ; and how great is the honour to God and the utility to man which daily result from monasteries ! The spiritual is even greater than the temporal utiHty ; for there the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them." LIFE IN A CONVENT. A convent or monastery as a place of residence for a religious community was made up of various orders and degrees. There Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 217 were cloister monks, lay and clerical ; the professed brethren, also lay and clerical ; the clerks ; the novices ; and the servants and artificers. There were recruits from every rank of society — knights and ladies, scions of noble houses, minstrels, and merchants. All were governed by the abbot, who was elected by the community, who lived like a prince, and who had a separate establishment within the precincts set apart for him. He administered the property and enforced discipline, being also confessor to the monks. He had his falconer and his forester, and his minstrels entertained company and travellers. He had officers under him, such as the prior, precentor, cellarer, sacrist, hospitaller, infirmarer, almoner, master of the novices, porter, kitchener, seneschal, etc., according to the size of the building ; and these were usually elected by the convent and approved by the abbot. Under the monastery were abbeys, or smaller establish- ments, each governed by a prior, who had all the abbot's powers, except deposing and consecrating, and he also had a separate chamber. The nucleus of a monastery was the cloister court, a quadrangular space of greensward surrounded by the cloister buildings, and a covered ambulatory went round the four sides as a promenade for the monks. The church was the principal building, and built in the form of a cross, with a nave and aisles. The scriptorium was a large apartment, where much work was done in transcribing books and illuminating them. The abbot kept open house in the hospitium, and entertained travellers of every degree. A day's life in a monasteey. The following is Mr. Travers Hill's account, given in his " English Monasticism," of the order of the day in the monastery at Glastonbury, and which went on much the same for ten centuries: At 2 a.m. the bell tolled for matins, when every monk arose, and, after performing his private devotions, hastened to the church and took his seat. When all were assembled, fifteen psalms were sung ; then came the nocturn and more psalms. A short interval ensued, during which the chanter, choir, and those who needed it had permission to retire for a short time if they wished ; then followed lauds, which were generally finished by 6 a.m., when the bell rang for prime. When this was finished, the monks continued reading till 7 a.m., when the bell was rung and they retired to put on their day-clothes. Afterwards the whole convent, having performed their ablutions and broken their fast, proceeded again to the church, and the bell was rung 218 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. for tierce at 9 a.m. After tierce came the morning Mass, and as soon as that was over they marched in procession to the chapter-house for business and correction of faults. This ceremony over, the monks worked or read till sext (12 a.m.), which service being concluded, they dined. Then followed one hour's sleep in their clothes in the dormitory, unless any of them preferred reading. Nones commenced at 3 p.m., first vespers at 4 p.m., then work or reading till second vespers at 7 p.m. ; afterwards reading till collation ; then came the service of complin, confession of sins, evening prayers, and retirement to rest about 9 p.m. THE ROUTINE OF ENGLISH MONKS IN 1080. The formalism of monkery was well displayed in the code drawn up by Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury by William the Conqueror. By this code the monks wei-e to be called from their beds before daybreak, and go in their night- clothes to the church to sing. Thence to the cloister and hear the boys read till the bell tolls for them to put on their shoes. They were to pass to the dormitory for their day-dress and to the lavatory to wash. They were then to comb themselves, and when the great bell sounded they were to enter the church to receive the holy water. On the signal of another bell, they were to pray, and of another bell to sing, and afterwards to proceed to the altar to say or hear Mass. They were again to dress them- selves and to return to the choir, to sit there till the bell sum- moned them to the chapter-house. On another signal, they were to resort to the refectory. After a certain hour no one was to speak till the children left the monastery ; then when the bell sounded again, their shoes were to be taken off, their hands to be washed, and they were to enter the church to repeat the Litany and to hear High Mass. At another signal they were to go in procession. When the bell rang again, they were to pray, and afterwards to revisit the refectory. Some were then to sit in the choir, and those who liked might read. At a fresh signal the nones were to be sung; similar tasks were to succeed again in allotted order, till they were dismissed to their beds. THE OFFICIALS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF AN ABBEY. The officers in abbeys are, first, the abbot, who is supreme, and to whom all the others owe obedience. Next is the prior or president, then the subprior and lower officers. The gatehouse was the place where guests aj^e admitted. The refectory was the hall Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIK WAYS. 219 where the monks dine. The locutorium or parlour where leave was given to them to converse, there being silence enforced in other parts. The oriel was a side-room where the indisposed monks were allowed to dine. In the abbey church the cloisters were the consecrated ground. The 7iavis ecclesim was the nave or body of the church. The presbyterium was the raised choir on which the monks chanted. The vestiarium or vestry where the copes and clothes were deposited. The century or sanctuary was the place where debtors took refuge. The farm or grange was so called a grana gerendo — the overseer whereof was called the prior of the grange. The abbot was a baron in the English Parliament, and was summoned during and after the reign of Henry III. ; and so were priors of quality. In 49 Henry III. no less than sixty-four abbots and thirty-six priors with the master of the Temple were all summoned. In Edward III. they were reduced to twenty-six. Gloucestershire was said to be fullest of monasteries, and Westmoreland the freest from them. Shaftesbury had the richest nunnery. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MONKS AND FRIARS. Fuller, in his ** Church History," says : " It is necessary to premise what was the distinction between monks and friars. For though some will say the matter is not much, if monks and friars were confounded together, yet the distinguishing of them conduceth much to the clearing of history. Some make monks the genus and friars but the species, so that all friars were monks, but e contra all monks were not friars ; others, that monks were con- fined to their cloisters, whilst more liberty was allowed to friars to go about and preach in neighbouring parishes. I see it is very hard just to hit the joint, so as to cleave them asunder at an hair's breadth, authors being so divided in their opinions. But the most essential difference whereon we must confide is this — monks had nothing in propriety (exclusive property), but all in common ; friars had nothing in propriety nor in common, but, being mendi- cants, begged all their substance from the charity of others. True it is they had cells or houses to dwell or rather hide them- selves in, so the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests ; but all this went for nothing, seeing they had no means belonging thereunto. Yea, it hath borne a tough debate betwixt them whether a friar may be said to be owner of the clothes he weareth; and it hath been for the most part overruled in the negative. Foresters laugh at the ignorance of that gentleman who made the difference between a stag and a hart that the one 220 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. was a red, the other a fallow deer, being both of a kind, only- different in age and some other circumstances. Monks and friars hate each other heartily." BRAWLS BETWEEN FRIARS AND SECULAR PRIESTS. In the time of Edward IV. a contest raged between the Begging Friars and secular priests. Fuller, in his " Church History," says that " it was beheld to be a most pestiferous doctrine that the friars so heightened the perfection of begging that, according to their principles, all the priesthood and prelacy in the land, yea by consequence the Pope himself, did fall short of the sanctity of their order. Yet hard it was for them to persuade his Holiness to quit Peter's patrimony and betake himself to poverty, although a friar (Thomas Holden by name) did not blush to preach at Paul's Cross that Christ Himself, as first founder of their society, was a beggar — a manifest untruth, and easily confuted out of Scripture. For vast the difference betwixt begging and taking what the bounty of others doth freely confer, as our Saviour did from such who ministered unto Him of their substance (Luke viii. 3). After zealous preachings and disputings, Pope Paul II. interposed, concluding that it was a damnable heresy to say that Christ publicly begged, whereon the mendicants let the controversy sink into silence never more to be revived." ENMITY BETWEEN ORDERS OP MONKS. The enmity between the Franciscans and Dominicans was notorious. A friar of each order came at the same time to the side of a brook, which it was necessary to ford, and the Dominican requested the Franciscan to carry him across, as he was barefooted, and must otherwise undress. The Franciscan took him on his shoulders and carried him to the middle ; then suddenly stopped and asked if he had any money with him. " Only two reals," replied the Dominican. " Excuse me then, father," said the Franciscan ; " you know my vow — I cannot carry money." And in he dropped him. It is stated in Surtees' " History of Durham " (vol. i., p. 42) : '* The monks well knew how impossible it was to preserve peace betwixt two bodies of ecclesiastics having property contiguous to each other, and therefore wisely provided in most of their grants that neither their feoffees nor tenants should lease or alienate to Jews, nor to any religious house save their own." MONKS DISLIKED BY CLERGY. The chronicler Matthew Paris says that in 1207 the preachers Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 221 who were called Minors arose under the favour of Pope Innocent and filled the earth, dwelling in towns and cities in bodies of ten or seven, possessing nothing whatever, living on the Gospel, displaying a true and voluntary poverty in theii- clothes and food, walking barefoot, girded with knotted ropes, and showing a noble example of humility to all men. But they caused great alarm to many of the prelates because they began to weaken their authority — first of all by their preaching and secret con- fessions of penitents, afterwards by their open receptions. A MONK WHO WANTED TO BE AN ANGEL. It is related among the wise sayings of Antony the hermit and others, that a monk of Mount Sinai, finding his brethren working, said, " Why labour for the meat which perisheth ? Mary chose the good part." On hearing this the abbot ordered the monk to be put in his cell, and when the dinner-bell rang the monk was not called, which made the monk ask the reason why. The abbot replied, " Thou art a spiritual man, and needest not food. We are carnal, and must eat because we work ; but thou hast chosen the better part." The monk was then rather ashamed of his brave resolution. Another monk, John the dwarf, also wanted to be " without care, like the angels, doing nothing but praising God." So he threw away his cloak, left his brother the abbot, and went into the desert. But after seven days he came back and knocked at the door. " Who is there ? " asked his brother. " John." " Nay, John is turned into an angel and is no more among men." So he left John outside all night ; and in the morning gave John to undei*stand that, if he was a man, he must work ; but that if he was an angel, he had no need to live in a cell. DEATH OF AN ABBESS AT ARLES (A.D. 632). In 632 St. Rusticule, abbess of the convent of St. Cesarius at Aries, died, and her last illness is thus related : " It happened on a certain Friday that after singing vespei*s as usual with her nuns, finding herself fatigued, she exceeded her strength in making the visual reading. She knew that she was shortly to pass to the Lord. On the Saturday morning she felt cold and lost the use of her limbs. Lying down on a little bed, she was seized with fever ; but she never ceased praising God with her eyes raised to heaven. She commended to Him her daughters, whom she was about to leave orphans, and with a firm mind she comforted those who wept around her. She found herself still worse on Sunday; 222 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and as it was her custom that her bed should only be made once a year, the servants of God begged permission to give her a softer bed, but she would not consent. On Monday, which was the day of St. Laurence, she lost all strength, and her breathing became difficult. At this sight the sad virgins of Christ poured forth tears and sighs. It being the third hour of the day, as the con- gregation in its affliction repeated the Psalms in silence, the holy mother in displeasure asked, ' Why do I not hear the chanting of psalmody ? ' The nuns replied that they could not sing through grief. ' Do sing still loudei-,' she replied, ' in order that I may receive the benefit of it, for it is very sweet for me to hear it.' The next day her body had lost the power of motion, but her eyes preserved their lustre and shone like stars. Looking on all sides, and not being able to speak, she made signs with her hand that they should cease weeping and be comforted. When one of the sisters felt her feet, she said it was not yet time ; but shortly after, at the sixth hour of the day, with a serene countenance and eyes that seemed to smile, this glorious and blessed soul passed to heaven and joined the innumerable choir of saints." HOW C^DMON, A COWHERD, BECAME THE MONK POET (a.D. 680). When St. Hilda was abbess of Whitby, about 660, the rustics used to have their beer-parties, at which they sang or recited warlike songs, turn about, to the accompaniment of the harp. One of the rustics, when the harp was passed round to him in his turn, confessed he could not sing, and left the company covered with shame and confusion. That night he lay in his cattle-shed and had a dream. Some one approached him and said, *' Caedmon, sing me something." He said he could not, and that was the reason of his leaving the party ; but the visitor said he knew better, and insisted that Csedmon should sing, and sing then and there of the Creation. Whereupon in his sleep he sang some verses. On waking he remembered the verses, and told the bailiff what had happened. All who heard the verses believed he was inspired, and suggested to him fresh subjects, and he immediately turned them into sacred songs equally impressive. The abbess hearing of this, told Csedmon to become a monk and learn sacred history, which he did. He soon became famous for his extem- poraneous versifications of all kinds of sacred subjects, such as the Resurrection, the future judgment, the Passion, and the heavenly kingdom. He is now known as the father of English poetry, and the metrical paraphrase now extant and known as " Osedmon " is a singularly graphic description of sacred scenes. He was the Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 223 wonder of his time for this gift of song, and Hved long among the monks of Whitby. He was cheery in his talk ; and when he drew near his end, he asked them to bring the Housel, which he took into his hands, and solemnly said he had friendly disposition towards all God's servants. The monks wondered what he meant. He asked them how long it would be before the brethren would be awakened for nocturnal lauds. On being answered he said, " Good ; let us wait for that hour." They waited ; he then signed himself with the cross, lay back on his pillow, and died amid the music of the sacred hymns he loved so well. A MONK SLEEPING TOO LONG (a.D. 744). Alcuin (who died 804), when a boy of eleven and devoted to the church, was one night sent by the schoolmaster of the monastery at the request of a lay brother who was left alone in chai-ge of the building to go up and sleep there that night as some company to the brother. They retired to rest ; and when it was about cock- crowing, they were awoke by the signal for service. The rustic monk only turned in his bed, and went to sleep again. Not so Alcuin, who soon perceived that the room was full of demons. They surrounded the bed of the sleeping monk, and cried, " You sleep well, brother ! ' He at once awoke, and they called out, " Why do you alone lie snoring here, while all your brethren are watching in the church ? " And they belaboured him heavily as a warning. Meanwhile Alcuin lay trembling under the impres- sion that his turn would come next, and ejaculated to himself that if he were only delivered he would never again love Virgil more than the melody of Psalms. The demons, after punishing the monk, then looked about, and found the boy completely covered up in his bedclothes, panting and almost senseless. On seeing himself discovered, he burst into tears and screamed, whereupon his avengers consulted together, and after a little resolved that they would not beat him, but would turn up the clothes at the foot of the bed and cut his corns, by way of making him re- member his promise. The clothes were no sooner touched than Alcuin jumped up, crossed himself, and sang the 12th Psalm with all his might; the demons thereupon vanished, and he and his companion set off to church for safety. AN ABBOT LECTURING HIS MONKS AGAINST IDLENESS (a.D. 1040). Theodoric, abbot of St. Evroult, in Normandy, about 1040 used to lecture his monks and warn them against idleness, and told 224: FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HIS TORY. them this story: "There was a monk in a certain monastery who was guilty of many transgressions against its rules ; but he was a transcriber ; and being devoted to that work, he of his own accord wrote out an enormous volume of the Divine law. After his death his soul was brought before the tribunal of the just Judge for judgment. And when the evil spii'its sharply accused him, an(^ brought forward his innumerable crimes, the holy angels on the other hand showed the book which that monk had written in the house of God, and counted up the letters of that enormous volume as a set-off against the like number of sins. At length the letters had a majority of only one, against which, how- ever, the demons in vain attempted to object any sin. The clemency of the Judge therefore spared the monk, commanded his soul to return to his body, and mercifully granted him space for reformation of his life. Frequently think of this, dear brethren ; cleanse your hearts from vain and noxious desires ; constantly offer the sacrifice of the works of youi* hands to the Lord God. Shun idleness with all your power. Frequently con- sider that only one devil tempts a monk who is employed in any good occupation, while a thousand devils attack him who is idle. Pray, read, chant, write, and employ yourselves, and wisely arm yourselves against the temptations of evil spirits." THE WAR OF THE TWO ABBOTS (A.D. 1077). At the critical epoch when the Emperor and Pope were at war, two abbots living twenty miles apart took opposite sides. The monastery of St. Gall, on Lake Constance, founded about 650, was ruled about 1077 by Ulric of Eppinstein as abbot, who took the side of the Emperor ; while Eckard, abbot of Reichnau, took the side of the Pope. Ulric was a man of polished manners, vei-sed in the ways of the world, as fit to lead an army as to wield the crosier, of great wealth, and with a host of retainers. He was a little king, at the head of the richest abbey in Europe. The monastery was, however, exposed, being merely the centre of a large village ; while Reichnau was on an island, with strong fortifications and safe from attack. For fifteen years the two monasteries were at feud, each seeking occasion to take advantage and overcome its opponent, and engaged in constant skirmishes. Each of the abbots was proud, ambitious, and eager to crush his enemy. The abbot of Reichnau one day tried to draw Ulric, and advanced almost to the gates, but failed to biing on an engagement. After long fencing, a traitor was found in the abbey of Reichnau. As the abbot of Keichnau was making Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 225 a journey to obtain a personal interview with the Pope, the Emperor's troops captured him, and kept him in prison for two years, and a report was circulated of his death. The Emperor then conferred the vacant abbey on Uh-ic, as a recompense for his eminent services. A friendly duke then seized the opportunity of getting charge of St. Gall and appropriating its revenues. The abbot of Reiohnau, on obtaining his freedom from prison, resumed the warfare ; but after many intricate turns of affairs a peace was at last concluded in 1094, and put an end to the long series of skirmishes, battles, conflagrations, sieges, and plunderings between these two belligerents. MONKS AITACHED TO THE GREGORIAN CHANT (a.D. 1083). In 1083 Roger de Hoveden says that a disgraceful quarrel arose between the monks and the Abbot Turstin of Glastonbuiy, who had been most unworthily appointed to his office. In his folly he treated the Gregorian chant with contempt, and wanted to force the monks to learn instead the chant of one William of Feschamp. The monks were averse to the change ; but one day Turstin rushed unexpectedly into the chapter-house with a body of soldiers. The monks fled into the church and to the altar, and the soldiers pursued them, piercing the crosses, images, and shrines of the saints with darts and arrows, and even speared a monk while embracing the altar. The monks stoutly defended themselves with the benches and candlesticks ; and though gi^ievously wounded, at last drove the soldiers beyond the choir. The result was that two monks were killed and fourteen wounded, and some of the soldiers also were wounded. On investigation the King removed the abbot, and some of the monks also were trans- ferred to other abbeys. The abbot afterwards wandered about,*> and died in misery, as became a homicide. J THE RETRIBUTION OF THOSE WHO PILLAGE MONKS (A.D. 1136). In 1136 we are told by Orderic, a contemporary, that a famous archer, Robert Boet, with his banditti, rushed like wolves on their prey and ravaged the lands of his fellow-monks of St. Evroult. The people of the neighbouring bourg were so incensed that they caught and hanged six of the gang. But the other robbers came soon after, in gi;eat fury, to take revenge, and set fire to the village, burning eighty-four houses to ashes. The monks, in a paroxysm of terror, tolled the bells and chanted psalms and litanies in the church, fearing that instant ruin threatened the 15 226 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. monastery. Some of the monks went forth with teai'S to entreat the assailants to desist, and lawful satisfaction would be given ; but the bandits, maddened with fury and blind with rage, insulted the envoys and dragged them from their palfreys, and fired the houses near the church. It was only through God's mercy that the wind changed at the right moment and drove the flames iyi another direction. The monks' lodgings, with the books and ecclesiastical ornaments, were saved. It was noticed that after sacking the village of St. Evroult no enterprise of those robbers against their enemies prospered. On the contrary, by God's judgment, they suffered frequent losses, some of their gang being slain and others taken prisoners. It was but just that those who had attacked unarmed and inoffensive people, whom no fear of God induced them to spare, should meet with the derision of stronger and well-trained troops, by whose superiority they were soon brought low. URGING THE MONKS TO LIVE FRUGALLY. In the time of Philip, King of France, the venei-able abbot Kobert of Moleme assembled some devoted disciples, and agreed that they did not live, as they ought, in holy poverty, and procure food and raiment by the labour of then* hands. But the convent of monks did not agree with this view, and said that they must wear garments suited to the climate of their own convent. The men in cold cHmates must wear trousers, and could not go about like women, with loose robes reaching to the ankles. Manual labour was very well, but it was wholly incompatible with constant meditation and profitable silence, or with chanting day and night the Psalms of David. They objected to all innovations. There- fore the abbot and twelve monks withdrew ; and having received a gift from the Duke of Burgundy, built a monastery at Oiteaux in the diocese of Chalons, and lived there in strict rule. But the Pope being referred to, ordered the Abbot Robert to i-eturn to Moleme, which he did, and a substitute was appointed to be abbot of Oiteaux. The impulse given by Abbot Robert at Oiteaux drew there a great concourse of monks, and sixty-five monasteries were soon after founded, all subject to the superior abbot of Oiteaux. The monks of the Oistercian order wear neither trousers nor robes of fur, abstain from fat and flesh meat, maintain perpetual silence, and labour with their own hands for their food and raiment. From September 13th to Easter they fast every day except Sunday ; their doors are always shut close ; Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 227 they bury themselves in profound secrecy, admitting no monks belonging to any other religious house into their cells, nor allow- ing them to be present in the chapel at Mass or other Divine offices. Multitudes of noble champions and learned men join their society from the novelty of its institution, and rejoice to chant triumphant anthems to Christ in the right way. FORM OF A monk's BURIAL. In the records of the church of Durham it is written that when any monk died there he was dressed in his cowl and habit, and boots were put on his legs, and immediately he was carried to a chamber called the dead man's chamber, where he remained till night. At night he was removed thence into St. Andrew's Chapel, adjoining to the same chamber, and there the body remained till eight o'clock in the morning. The night before the funeral two monks, either in kindred or kindness nearest to him, were appointed by the prior to be especial mourners, sitting all night on their knees at the dead man's feet. Then were the children of the ambiy, sitting on their knees in stalls on either side of the corpse, appointed to read David's Psalter all night through incessantly till eight in the morning, when the body was conveyed to the chapter- house, where the prior and the whole convent met it, and there did say their dirge and devotion ; and then the dead corpse was carried by the monks into the centry- garth, where it was buried, and there was but one peal rung for him. The body of St. Francis is placed in a vault under the marble vault in the great church at Assisi, and it is in an upright position, and the vault has a small opening, through which one may look and see a lamp burning. In the convent of the Poor Clares at Assisi, in a vault under the high altar, lies the body of St. Clare, with a lamp burning in front of the opening over it. HOW SICK MONKS WERE TENDED. When a monk was sick and in prospect of death, a servant brother was appointed, who should have nothing else to do but to tend him day and night. The cross was placed before his face, and every night a wax taper was kept burning by his side until broad day. Other monks were allowed to be in attendance on him, in order to sing the regular hours and to read the Passion in his extremity. The experienced servants were to watch the proper moment, and to spread the ashes and gently to place the sick man upon them, and then to give a signal by striking 228 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the door of the cloister, when all the brethren were to run to the chamber, for this was one of the two occasions when it was permitted to them to depart from their usual measured pace, the other being in the event of fire. If Mass should be celebrating or any regular office, all who were without the choir were to hasten, and those within were to remain. If the monks were in the refectory, the reading was to be instantly suspended, and the monks were to hasten. The Litany was then to be chanted and the prayers, according to the progress of his agony. The custom of showing penitence by spreading ashes was well observed. Thus at the death of St. Martin, who desired it, sackcloth was spread on the ground, and ashes were strewed upon it in form of a cross, and the assistants gently laid his dying body upon it. The monk of St. Denis says that Louis IX. gave up the ghost on sackcloth and ashes, and with his arms composed in the form of a cross. When the Maid of Orleans asked at her death for a crucifix and none was at hand, an Englishman broke a stick in two parts and made a cross, whereupon the maid kissed it, pressed it to her bosom, and mounted the martyr's pile. WHY MONKS HONOUR RICH MEN MORE THAN POOR. St. Bona Ventura explains it thus : " It may be asked why do monks and friars honour rich men more than poor, serving them more promptly in confessions and other things ? God has care of all men alike ; therefore we ought to love all men alike. If the poor man be better than the rich, we should love him more, and yet we must honour the rich more for four reasons. First, because God in this world has given pre-eminence to the rich and powerful ; and therefore we conform to His ordination in honour- ing them so far as relates to this order. Secondly, because of the infirmity of the rich, who, if they are not honoured, grow indignant, and so become more infirm and worse, and a burden to us and to other poor ; whereas we ought not to be a scandal to the weak and a cause of their becoming weaker still, but should rather provoke them to good. Thirdly, because a greater utility results from the correction of one rich man than of many poor ; for a rich man's conversion is of advantage to many in several respects. Fourthly, since we receive more corporeal support from the rich, it is but just that we should repay them spiritually. Besides, the affairs of the poor are more easily expedited, because they are not bound by so many ties nor involved in so many perplexities which requii'e counsel oftener." Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 229 GOOD LESSONS INCULCATED BY THE MONKS (a.D. 1199). One of the narratives told by monks about the year 1199, according to Caesar of Heisterback, was this : Two citizens of Cologne confessed in Lent that they were guilty of lying and perjury, but then that they could not sell anything without both. The priest thereupon reproved them, and strongly recommended them just to try for one year to do without lying. They did agree ; but Satan having found out their plan, contrived that nobody should enter their shops ; and the tradesmen returned and reported that their obedience had cost them dear, and that really they could not carry on their business that way at all. The priest, however, reassured them once more, telling them that they should really resolve never to offend God this way, whatever might be the consequence. They made this solemn promise ; and, strange to relate, from that hour people flocked to their shops, and they soon prospered exceedingly. Another narrative was about one Eocherus, a high dignitary in the church at Magdeburg, who was playing at chess, when a servant boy entered and whispered to the butler that a poor sick woman was at the gate, and sent him to beg just a little wine. Eocherus overhearing this, ordered that some wine should be given to her ; but the butler said there was none unless he opened a new cask. Eocherus ordered him at once to open one for the purpose ; but the butler, going out, pre- tended only to comply, and sent away the messenger empty. Scarcely had two hours elapsed when the church bells tolled for a death ; and on Eocherus making strict inquiry, and finding that it was the poor woman who asked for wine, and who had not been supplied with any, he summoned the butler to appear, and, boiling with indignation, commanded him instantly to empty the entire hogshead of wine on the ground, declaring that he would never make use of that of which a part had been refused to one of Christ's poor. He also dismissed the man, and forbade him ever again to enter his presence. A POPE INVITING A PELLOW-MONK TO COURT. Pope Paul IV., on his election to the papal chair in 1555, being mindful of his ancient friendship for Jerome Suessanus, the hermit of Monte Corona, sent orders to him to come to Eome. The obedient hermit arrived, and was joyfully welcomed; but the Pope, raising him up, said, " What garment is this, Jerome? It is too mean. You must lay it aside." " Nay, holy father," said^ Jerome ; " when clad in this habit I can walk more easily 230' FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. amid the oaks and brushwood ; nor would any other be suitable to a penitent." " Oh, but," said the Pope, " you shall be no longer in the woods and desert ; you shall remain here with us, and from a hermit become a cardinal." The hermit at once fell prostrate on the earth, and with tears implored the Pontiff not to think of executing such a resolution, declaring that he knew of no happiness beyond the solitude of the desert. The Pope admitted, on reflection, that it would be giievous to press him further ; so the holy man returned in triumph to his cell in the woods. THE ORDER OF FRIARS. The thirteenth century saw the rise of a new class of religious orders, actuated by different views from monachism. The basis of monkery was entire seclusion from the world and its busy ways, in order to fix the mind on holy contemplations, and hence monasteries were built in wilds and deserts. The friars thought they could improve their usefulness by mixing with mankind and helping them by active duties. Hence they established their houses in or near great towns, and acted Hke home mis- sionaries, teaching and preaching ; and they cultivated science as well as rehgion. There soon gi'ew up four leading orders of friars — Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustines. The Dominicans laid themselves out for converting heretics ; the Franciscans for preaching the Gospel and promoting charity; the Carmelites originated at Mount Carmel, in Palestine ; the Augustines were called Austin F^riars. The friars renounced property, and resolved to work for a livelihood or live on alms ; and they were called the Pope's Militia. THE CINDERELLA OF THE CONVENT. St. Basil relates that in a female convent at Tabennes, in Egypt, one of the sisters was treated by all the rest as the fool of the convent, and made to wash up the dishes and do the humblest menial work. And to crown the contempt shown towards her, she was made to wear a turban of patchwork and a dress of rags. She was never seen to sit at table and join in meals. Yet she never complained nor uttered a reproach. A holy man named Pyoterus lived not far from the convent, and one night an angel appeared and bade him go and visit a sister in the convent who wore a turban as a headdress. " That sister," said the angel, " is holier than thou art. Though always in tribulation both night and day, she is always mindful of God, Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 231 and never troubled in mind, as you are." Pyoterus went to the convent and asked to see the sisters. All were brought and presented to him. But he said, " One is still missing." " N'ay, holy father," said the abbess, " all are here, except the poor scullion, who is a fool." " Let me see her," said the hermit. Then Isidora was brought ; whereupon Pyoterus fell at her feet and exclaimed, " Bless me, my sister, beloved of the Lord." The four hundred sisters were astounded at this spectacle ; but Pyoterus said to them, " Pray that you may find as much favour in the day of judgment as this despised one. I tell you the Lord hath said you think yourselves wise, but it would be well if you were as wise as this fool." So saying, he left the convent. The treatment afterwards bestowed on Isidora caused her to leave the convent altogether. THE NUNS AND LAY BROTHERS AT SEMPRINGHAM (A.D. 1139). About 1139, says Kobert Manning, of Brine, St. Gilbert established a priory at Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, for poor maidens. At first these were served only by poor maids; but soon lay brothers did that duty, and priests ministered to them. The two sexes lived within the same enclosure, but were separated by a high wall, with a small hole of a window to pass food and necessaries. On high feast days both sexes met in the church of the nuns, but they were separated by a cloth. All the food was prepared by the nuns and the sisters, and passed through the small window. When the priests entered the nuns' house, they were to be accompanied by a number of persons, and the nuns were to have their faces covered in their presence. No gossiping or talebearing was allowed. The lay brothers were never to enter the nuns' enclosure save in case of fire, thieves, etc. The nuns and sisters washed the linen of the canons, but not of the lay brothers, who had to do their own. The women were permitted to sew for the men, but not to cut out, make, or mend their breeches for them. The head prioress and nuns, on their annual journey round the nuns' houses, were to have an escort of a canon and a lay brother to protect them and supply neces- saries. There was to be no more conversation between them than was absolutely necessary, and the men were enjoined to retire to a respectful distance whenever the women had to descend from their travelling waggon. On journeys the women were never to lodge in the same houses as the men, if it could possibly be helped. Disorderly monks were expelled, and dis- orderly nuns were shut up in a little hut separate from the 232 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. rest, there to repent till death released them. In the priory no flesh was allowed : beer was the only liquor allowed ; and if it ran short, wine might be used if well watered. In the manage- ment of the farms, where milkmaids and reapers were hired, no lay brother was allowed to speak except in presence of witnesses. And young and pretty women were to be especially shunned. The lay brothers were not allowed any books, and learned only the Paternoster, the Credo, the Miserere, and other necessary prayers. COMPUNCTIOUS VISITINGS OF MONKS. St. Waltheof was a son of the Earl of Northumberland, and died about 1160. He became a monk and entered a monastery in Lincolnshire. He was most vigorous and scrupulous in his habits. One day, riding with the abbot, he was pestered by a horsefly, and often flapped it away with his sleeve, till at last in a fit of anger he gave a violent snap and killed it. At this fatal turn of affairs he immediately (hsmounted and flung himself prostrate before the dead fly, and in presence of the abbot con- fessed his sin in thus killing a creature of God, which he was unable to restore to life again. The abbot smiled benignly, and imposed a very light penance for the offence. St. Benno, born at Hildesheim and Bishop of Meissen, was an enthusiastic reviver of church music. When the Pope excommunicated his king, Benno ordered two of his canons to throw the keys of his minster into the river Elbe. He was intensely conscientious and mindful of the feelings of others. One evening, as he was walking in the fields near Meissen, meditating and praying, he was disturbed by the croaking of the frogs. He angrily bade them be silent, and they obeyed. But he had not gone far when his conscience smote him. He repeated to himself the verse, "0 ye whales and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord." Then over- whelmed with shame, as the thought occurred to him that perhaps the praises of the poor frogs might be 'as acceptable as his own to the great Creator, he returned to the marsh and said aloud, " ye frogs, sing on to the Lord your song of thanks- giving." This good bishop died in 1106. MONKERY BECOMING WORKED OUT. By the twelfth century the status of monk was beginning to deteriorate. The fine theories on which it started lost hold, and demoralisation was setting in. The loose way of admitting all and sundry led to a difficulty in keeping strict control. It used Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 233 to be said they began to steal each other's clothes and cups and little articles of property. It is said that in the abbey of St. Tron, about 1200, each monk had a locked cupboard behind his seat in the refectory, wherein he carefully secured his napkin, spoon, cup, and dish. Even the bedclothes were not safe. Then so many went about traversing every corner of Christendom, bearded and tonsured and wearing the religious habit, living by begging and imposture, and peddling false relics, that the very name of monk became a term of contempt. Yet William of Newburgh says that under Stephen's short reign (1135 — 1154) more monasteries were founded in England than during the hundred years preceding. THE WAR OF THE NUNS OF BASLE (A.D. 1430). About 1297 a convent was established at Little Basle called the Sisters of Klurgenthal, who diu-ing the next century acquired great reputation, not so much from the austerity of theii' rules as for their wealthy connections among all the nobles of the district. The prior of a Dominican monastery in Basle was the advocate of the sisterhood ; but they had long felt this a grievous burden, and they resolved to get rid of the interference of the monks. About 1430, one day, the friar called, when they barred him out, and let him know he need not show his face again within the house. The indignant monks then spread abroad rumours of the luxurious dresses, habits, and loose li\ang of the sisters, and even slandered their characters and invoked the interference of the Pope to put down the scandal thereby created. The Pope sent commissioners, who felt it their duty to hold a solemn inquiry into the allegations against their dissipated and ungodly lives. The ladies demurely listened to the papal commissioner, and then retired without saying a word ; but a few minutes later they each and all returned, armed with every kitchen implement they could find, and belaboured right and left the commissioners, who in their terror fled, leaving the papal bull behind them, and with their clothes torn off their bacl^. This appalling treason shocked the papal authorities, who ordered the sisters to be expelled and stripped of their possessions. One or two of the sisters who professed to be shocked at their companions begged to be allowed to remain till they could get their things put together ; and during this interval, which was extended on one pretext or another to months, they appealed to theii' noble cousins, brothers, and relatives to come to their rescue, and they even procured the support of the J]mperor to their claims. The nobles did so, and 234 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. with a large body of retainers so contrived that the Pope had to consent to an arbitration to settle all matters in difference with the jealous and rapacious monks who longed to succeed to the nuns' possessions. So skilfully was the rest of the war directed on the part of the nuns that they practically reversed the adverse judgment, and were restored to all that they had lost, returning with pomp like deposed queens, and they became more powerful and kept up a more brilliant establishment than ever. ONE MONK STEALING ANOTHER MONK's FOOD. It is related by Kuffinus that a monk was in the habit of coming to the cell of a holy anchorite and secretly stealing his food ; and although the latter knew of it, still, in order to subdue himself, he made as if he perceived him not, and exerted himself to work more diligently in order to repair his loss. He thus reasoned with himself : " God hath sent me aforetime that which I needed, and this brother too will be a blessing to me." And having sustained this tribulation a long time, his strength failed, and he was dying. And many brethren stood around looking upon him ; and seeing among them the brother who had for so long a time stolen his bread, he called him to his side and kissed his hands, and said before them all, "I render thanks to these hands, my brethren, for by means of them I trust to enter Paradise." On hearing and understanding this, that brother took shame to himself, and was touched with remorse, changed his life, did heavy penance for his sins, and became a perfect monk through the example of the holy father who had died. A MONKISH MODE OF DECIDING ON CREEDS (a.D. 680). When the Monothelite heresy arose and disturbed the Church — namely, the doctrine that Christ had only one will, though He had the human and Godlike natures separate — the sixth general council of the Church was held at Constantinople in 680 to settle it. A monk named Polychronius, and a resolute Monothelite, rose and challenged the council to put the doctrine to the test of a miracle. He proposed to lay his creed on a dead body : if the dead rose not, he surrendered himself to the will of the Empeior. A body accordingly was brought into a neighbouring bath. The Emperor, the ministers, the whole council, and a wondering multitude adjouinied to this place. Polychronius presented a sealed paper, which was opened and read ; it declared his creed, and that he had been commanded in a vision to hasten to Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR ^VAYS. 235 Constantinople to prevent the Emperor from establishing heresy. The paper was laid on the corpse ; Polychronius sat whisper- ing into its ear ; and the patient assembly awaited the issue for some hours. But the obstinate dead would not come to life. A unanimous anathema was then pronounced, condemning Poly- chronius as a heretic and deceiver ; and he was degraded from his functions. The council then anathematised all round who there- after disbelieved the doctrine that there were two wills and two operations in Christ's nature. A MONK INTERCEDING FOR PRISONERS (a.D. 460). The monk Severinus, in the fifth century, was asked to inter- cede for some Eoman subjects who were condemned to hard labour by Gisa, Queen of the Rugii. She made an angry answer, and bade the monk to be gone to his cell to his prayers, and not presume to interfere with her doing as she pleased with her own prisoners. Not long afterwards she issued harsh orders to some goldsmiths who were imprisoned, and compelled to work beyond their strength, in order to complete some royal ornaments which she required. By accident her little son one day strayed into the prison, whereupon the prisoners seized him and threatened that, as they were tired of life and reckless of consequences, they would first kill the child and then themselves, unless some royal messenger was sent to assure them of their immediate release. The Queen, filled with alarm, was conscience-struck, and acknow- ledged the Divine retribution thus prepared for her. She acceded to the prisoners' demands, and not only released the men, but she sent to Severinus to entreat his forgiveness for the way in which she had neglected his admonitions. HOW THE CARTHUSIANS ACQUIRED AN ELIGIBLE SITE. The order of Carthusian monks had the credit of having, the most strictly of all the orders, adhered to its rules for some six hundred years. One of the rules, that each monk was to be bled five times a year — which modern science, however, shuns — must have been founded on some misapprehension. The astute manner in which this order acquired a gift of land in Paris has been recorded as follows : St. Louis had given the order a house at Paris, from the windows of which they saw another more extensive and convenient mansion and site in the neighbourhood. Soon afterwards this house opposite was found to be haunted by spirits and goblins, which made a great noise in the night, 236 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. rattling their chains, and sending forth the most horrid yells and groans. Among^ other hideous things a green monster appeared every night, with a large white beard, half man and half serpent, terrifying all the passengers and neighbourhood. What was to be done with this intolerable nuisance ? The pious monarch gave the house to the Carthusians, after which no more noises were heard and no more spectres appeared ; but the street in which the house was situated was long known as Hell-fire Street, which name it bore in St. Foix's time. LUTHER SOFTENED AT REVISITING HIS OLD CONVENT. It is related by Audin, in his Life of Luther, that on the eve of Palm Sunday Luther arrived at Erf urth and descended at the convent of the Augustines, where a few years before he had taken the habit. It was nightfall ; a little wooden cross over the tomb of a brother whom he had known, and who had lately departed sweetly to the Lord, struck his attention and troubled his soul. He was himself no longer the poor friar travelling on foot and begging his bread. His power equalled that of Charles Y., and all men had their eyes on him. That morning, on his march, he had sung the famous war hymn, which Heyne compares to the Marseillaise, and the Emperor was about to resist him, as he said in his imperial rescript, ** though at the peril of his own blood, of his dignity, and of the fortune of the empire." The triumphant innovator was recalled to himself for an instant by seeing the tomb of a faithful brother. He pointed it out to Doctor Jonas. " See, there he rests ; and I " He could not finish. After a little while he returned to it and sat down on the stone, where he remained more than an hour, and till Amsdorf was obliged to remind him that the convent bell had tolled the hour for sleep. Well might the heart in which such tempests were still gathering have wept at the image of that quiet grave. THE MONKS AND POLITE LETTERS (a.D. 527). Cassiodorus, a most accomplished and high-born youth, became prime minister to Odoacer and then to Theodoric; but on the downfall of the Ostrogoths he become tired of diplomacy, and at seventy years of age retired and founded the monastery of Viviers about 527, at the foot of Mount Moscius. He was not satisfied with the usual occupations of monastic life ; and having always been devoted to the pursuit of learning and science, he sought to distinguish his monastery from the others by making it the asylum of literature and the arts. He endowed the institution with his Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 237 Roman library, containing the accumulations of half a century. Not only were the monks incited by his example to the study of classical and sacred literature, but he trained them likewise to the art of carefully transcribing manuscripts of rare and precious works. He introduced also the arts of bookbinding, gardening, and medicine. He employed much of his own spare time also in the composition of scientific treatises, and in making clocks, sundials, and lamps. His mode of arranging the occupations of monks became known as a system, and was adopted beyond the boundaries of Italy ; and thus the multiplication of manuscripts became a recognised employment, like prayer and fasting. He is said to have lived to be a hundred years old, and left several interesting works of his own on sacred hterature. THE MONKISH LITERATURE ABOUT THE SAINTS. The early Christians had great difiiculty in obtaining knowledge of the Scriptures, though it was the duty of the bishops and priests and deacons to read these as part of the service. And the want of printing was a great drawback to the circulation of every kind of book knowledge at the fireside. But the Lives of the Saints were the favourites, and the most keenly sought after from the sixth to the sixteenth century. Many of the biographies were written by some friend or pupil of the deceased person, and still remain most graphic pictures of the habits of the age. The in- genuity of the authors, when they lived long after their hero, was taxed in order to crowd into the narrative every incident which could sustain the craving for the marvellous and romantic, and these were the inventions of the composer. The Lives were written in the language of the people, and the supply seemed to be equal to the demand. They moulded the creed of all the common people, and the artists embodied them in endless forms in stained windows, mosaics, and pictures. So wonderful were the works usually recorded that they not ,only arrested the ear at once, but they became so blended and intermixed with history, that it is almost impossible to separate the fact from the fiction. Many of the details seem purposeless in their absurdity; while a few are well narrated and so probable that they were implicitly believed by all who enrolled themselves among the faithful. THE SCRIPTORIUM IN THE MONASTERY OF ST. GALL. The monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, which rose to be one of the chief religious houses in the Frankish Empire in 816 — 883, had a fine library and scriptorium, where the monks 238 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. excelled in copying manuscripts and illuminating them. The monks sat daily in perfect silence at writing-tables, copying the works of the Fathers and the Bible. They often wrote marginal notes, giving vent to their wants and desires of the moment. Each house had its peculiar style of penmanship. In the time of the Abbot Hartmut, about 870, there were three famous monks at St. Gall, called Notker the Stammerer, Ratpert, and Tutilo, and close friends. Notker was said to be the most learned man of his- time ; and one day a presumptuous emperor's chaplain went up to him, saying, " Most learned sir, you know everything ; pray tell us what God is doing now." Notker at once replied, " He is doing now what He is always doing, and what He will soon do to thee. He is exalting the humble and abasing the proud." A chronicler says that this chaplain, in departing in the Emperor's train, was thrown from his horse and disfigured for life. Notker was a great musician, and set the best hymns to music for use in aljl the Western Churches. Ratpert also composed sacred songs and a chronicle of the abbey. Tutilo was skilful as an orator, as well as carver and painter, and played on the flute. His delight was to travel from monasteiy to monastery, where he was always welcome ; for he carved and painted and made gifts of his own fine workmanship. These three friends greatly enjoyed their time of meeting each night in the scriptorium, where they dis- coursed on Bible subjects. One night they overheard the new abbot, who was greatly disliked, listening at the door, and they seized him and chastised him vigorously, to the great delight of the brethren. In revenge the abbot wilfully cut and spoiled the leaves of some valuable Greek works then in course of being copied by Notker. BEAUTIFUL MANUSCRIPTS OF MONKS. The art of transcribing manuscripts flourished in the monasteiies till about a century before the discovery of printing. Gerbert, in his " History of the Black Forest," says that if there was nothing else, the beautiful writing of the tenth century, by means of which so many valuable monuments have been transmitted to us, ought to convince us that it was not a barbarous age. Books were then so beautifully painted and embelHshed with emblems and miniatures that the whole seemed to be the produce not of human but of angelic hands. The fei'vour of the abbots in that tenth centuiy in employing writers to preserve valuable books by multiplying copies can never be sufliciently praised. Tangmar, in his Life of St. Berward of Hildesheim, says that he established Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIK WAYS. 239 scriptoriums, not only in the monasteries, but in divers places, by- means of which he collected a copious library of books, both of divines and philosophers. In fact, the art of writing never attained to such perfection as in the ninth and tenth centuries ; and all antiquarians will admit that the form — more or less elegant — of characters in the manuscripts of different ages places before our eyes the state of the sciences at that time, according as it was more or less flourishing. The same parchment was some- times twice or thrice written upon. The monks only followed the practice of the Romans in thus rewriting on the same parchment. THE PENMANSHIP OF THE MONKS. One of the departments of every monastery was the scriptorium or writing-ofiice, where, during the dark ages, many precious books were copied and circulated, and no member was admitted except the heads of the house or on business. There were two classes of monks in this department, called the antiquarii, who made copies of valuable old books, and the librarii, who copied new books and inferior ones. The books chiefly copied were the Scriptures, also missals or chui'ch services, works on theology, and the classics. St. David, the patron saint of Walps, is said to have begun shortly before his death to transcribe the Gospel of St. John in letters of gold with his own hand. In this constant practice sprang up the art of illumination, so vainly imitated by the artists of the present day, not from want of genius, but from want of something almost indescribable in the conception and execution — a tone and preservation of colour, and especially of gilding, which was essentially peculiar to the old monks, who must have possessed some secret both of combination and fixing of colours which has been lost with them. This elaborate illumination was devoted to religious books, psalms, missals, and prayer-books ; in other works the first letters of chapters were beautifully illuminated, and other leading letters in a lesser degree. Such were the pecu- liar labours of the scriptorium ; and to encourage those who dedicated their time to it, a special benediction was attached to the ofiice. We got our Bible and our classics from them. THE MONASTERIES AS MUSEUMS OF ART. Kings and emperors often bequeathed their rarest treasures of gold and jewels to monasteries. The kings of France often left their crowns to the abbey of St. Denis. Monte Cassino had great store of presents from kings of chalices and patens, crowns and crosses, phials and vases, and precious ornaments of purest gold, 240 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and silks with gold and gems. When the Danes arrived at the abbey of Peterborough in 1070, they took away the golden crown in the church embellished with gems from the head of the crucifix, and the golden stool set with gems, and rare articles of gold and precious stones. In the monastery of Ripon were four gospels written on a purple ground in letters of gold, inclosed in a golden casket. The furniture for St. Ina's famous chapel in Glastonbury was of silver and gold of great value, the covers of the gospels were of gold, and the priests' vestments interwoven with gold and cunningly ornamented with precious stones. In the treasiu-y of the abbey of the Isle Barbe, the horn of Koland was preserved ; in the abbey of St. Denis the chessboard and men used by Charlemagne. In the abbey of Rheinau was a wooden cross nine inches high, cut out of a single piece, and showing in more than a hundred figures the chief passages of our Saviour's life. In the abbey of St. Stephen, at Troyes, the Psalter of Count Henry, the founder, written in letters of gold, was still fresh after eight hundred years. In the treasury of Citeaux was the chair in which St. Bernard sat as a novice ; and there were ancient breviaries of the monks, written in small letters, as pocket companions in their travels. At Treves the gospels, written in letters of gold covered with jewels, were the present of Princess Ada, sister of Charlemagne. LEARNING AND EMBROIDERY OF THE NUNS. The nuns who followed the Benedictine order often displayed learning as well as manual skill. Willibald says those of Britain and Germany excelled in the studies usual to men. They followed the example of the monks in transcribing books, and even in com- posing others. Those of the monastery of Eikers, in Belgium, were celebrated for their labours in reading and meditating, in writing and in painting. The abbesses Harlind and Renild, besides works of embroidery and weaving, were said to have written with their own hands the four gospels, the whole Psalter, and many other books of Scripture, which they ornamented with liquid gold, gems, and pearls. Csesaria, abbess of Aries, and her nuns wrote out many Divine books during the time that was spent between psalmody and fasting, vigils and readings. Heloise and her nuns proposed difficult questions on the sacred Scriptures to Abelard, and showed an acuteness and discernment little inferior to his own. Peter the Venerable, in his letter to Heloise, said it was sweet to prolong discourse with her, for her erudition was not less celebrated than her sanctity. So that thei-e was always a succes- Chap, viii.] THE MONKS AND THEIR WAYS. 241 sion of noted women from age to age, like Marcella, whose acuteness and learning were constantly extolled by St. Jerome in his letters. THE MONKS AT MISSAL PAINTING. The art of illumination was one of the great triumphs of the monks in the Middle Ages, though the same, or at least a kindred, art was practised in Egypt long before the Christian era. So early as the fourth century St. Jerome complained of the orna- mentation of enormous capital letters in books as an abuse. A copy of the New Testament was executed in the fourth century in letters of silver, with the initials in gold, and is still preserved in the royal library at Upsal under the title of the " Codex Argenteus." In the seventh century enormous initial letters began to supersede the current practice of introducing miniatures in the ornamenta- tion. The new style then consisted of interlaced fretwork or entwined branches of white and gold on a background of variegated colours. Irish monasteries excelled the British about that age in this kind of work, and the Anglo-Saxon youths went to Ireland to obtain a mastery of the favourite styles. St. Dunstan was himself an expert illuminator. A fine specimen, called St. Cuth- bert's Gospels, was executed by a bishop of Lindisfarne about 721, and is now in the Cottonian Library. The finest specimen of English illumination of the tenth century is the Duke of Devon- shire's *' Benedictional," executed by the Bishop of Winchester in 984, where pictures of glorified confessors are on the first page. The initial letters became longer and longer, until their tails reached nearly the whole length of the page, and next they were carried round the three sides. The foliage, flowers, birds, animals, and miniatures in the background were carefully drawn. The printing-press was the death-knell of this elaborate style of decorating books ; yet the earliest printed books had also spaces for illumination. While it flourished, the great artists were vastly appreciated. It was a saintly work and a labour of love, and success in it was the highest ambition of the best men of the age. A MONK GREAT IN MUSIC AND ILLUMINATING. Roger De Warrene, nephew of the Earl of Surrey, became a monk in the abbey of St. Evroult, and lived there forty-six years, abounding in zeal and every good work. Though his person was handsome, he chose to disfigure it by a mean dress. A respectful modesty marked his whole demeanour; his voice was musical, and he had an agreeable mode of speech. His strength of body 242 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. enabled him to undergo much toil, while he was at all times ready to sing psalms and hymns. He was gifted with pleasing manners, and was courteous towards his brother monks. He was abstemious himself, but generous to others ; always alive for vigils, and in- credibly modest. He did not plume himself with worldly ostentation on his noble bii-th, but obeyed the rules with unhesitating humility, and was always pleased to do the lowest offices required of the monks. For many years he was in the habit of cleaning the brethren's shoes, washing their stockings, and cheerfully doing other services which would be irksome to stupid and conceited persons. He ornamented a book of the gospels with gold, silver, and precious stones, and procured several vestments and copes for the chanters, with carpets and curtains and other ornaments for the church. He got all he could from his brothers and relations as occasion offered, and what he wrested from their bodily grati- fications he applied with joy to Divine offices for the good of their souls. 243 CHAPTER IX. PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. A CAPTIVE NUN CONVERTING THE IBERIANS. In the reign of the Christian Emperor Constantino, early in the fourth century, a Christian nun, called Nunia, was carried oflf captive by the Iberians, and was given as a slave to one of the natives. Her ascetic and devotional life soon attracted tlie notice of the Pagans, who became convinced that she had some magical power of life and death. A child was thought to be at the point of death, and was carried from place to place in search of a physician. Some one suggested the nun, who when challenged said she knew of no remedy but Christ, when all other help was wanting. She prayed for the child, and it recovered. This made an extraordinary impression, and the miracle reached the ears of the Queen. The Queen fell sick, and was prayed for, and also recovered. The King hearing of this, wanted to send a rich present, but was told the Christian woman despised such earthly goods, and looked for her only reward in bringing people to join in worshipping the true God. Some time afterwards the King lost his way while hunting, and remembered this Christian woman's action, and made a vow that, if he were saved, he would join in this new worship. Presently the sky cleared, and the King was able to find his way back. He then set about inquiring, and soon engaged teachers and preachers of the new doctrine. And this was the beginning of Christianity among the Iberians, who soon united with the Armenian Church. A FOURTH-CENTURY MISSIONARY. Near the end of the fourth centuiy, a monk, Abraham, in Phoenicia, having recovered from a dangerous illness, felt impelled to prove his giatitude to the Lord by exposing himself to great 244 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. danger in publishing the Gospel. In the disguise of a merchant he betook himself with some companions to a village in Lebanon, where all were Pagans, under the pretext that they wished to purchase w^alnuts, for which the place was noted. They took sacks for the purpose. But when the people heard him singing spiritual songs with his friends in a hired house, they met in a rage, barricaded the house, and were on the point of murdering the inmates, though at last these were allowed to escape. Just at that moment the tax-gatherers came and made heavier demands than the people could meet, whereupon Abraham interceded, and raised among his friends a sum sufficient to buy out the excisemen, and became surety for them also. This conduct made at once a great impression on the villagers, who changed from violent hostility into great gratitude and reverence. They requested their deliverer to undertake the office of their overseer or governor — an office then vacant. He agreed, on condition of their building a church, which they soon assented to. He then urged them to appoint a priest, and they begged him to act as such himself. He did so, and in three years he established a mission which was afterwards known as the tribe of Maronites, who became noted for their pure and simple way of life. A LONG SERMON BY ST. PATRICK. It is said that St. Patrick, who died 466, once went through the four gospels in one exposition to the Irish at a place called Finnablair, and he was three days and nights about it, without intermission, to the great delight of the hearers, who thought that only one day had passed. St. Bridget was present, but it was observed that she took a sleep and had a comfortable vision during its continuance, HOW A MONK WARDED OFF THE LOCUSTS. Severinus, a monk missionary, who laboured among the German racas near the Danube, and who died in 482, was deemed the holiest man of his generation, and Providence was said to be visibly supporting his ministry. Once a great swarm of locusts settled on the country. Severinus was asked for his prayers, as a means of deliverance from the plague. After quoting Scripture and urging them to works of repentance, he said, " Let no one of you now go to his fields, thinking that by human care you can ward off the locusts." All were affected by this advice, and assembled in church, acknowledging with tears their sinful courses. Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 245 Only one poor man, from anxiety about his land, while the rest were at church was absent all day, trying to drive away the locusts, and only in the evening found time to join the rest at church. But next morning he found his field devoured by the locusts, while the other fields had escaped. This occurrence made a great impression, which Severinus turned to account by teaching them how their duties towards God should take precedence of everything else. But he also added, "It is but reasonable that by your bounty this poor man should be maintained during the present year, seeing that by the punishment he has suffered he has given you a lesson of humility." Accordingly, they all con- tributed jointly to support the poor man for a year. FIRST PLANTING OF THE CROSS IN ENGLAND. There are two theories of historians as to the first foundation of the Anglican Church. Some say it began with the mission of St. Augustine ; others say it was coeval with the Apostles. The latter party maintain that there were Christian Britons at Rome when St. Peter was there, and that the British kings and nobles used to send their sons to be educated at that period in Rome. It is said that at the time of Peter's preaching there were about a hundred converts, Britons and others, who were in the habit of assembling at a certain house for prayer and worship. This house belonged to a British lady, Claudia, and her husband, Pudens. One Eubulus was the father of Claudia. In this house, and entertained by Claudia and Pudens, lived St. Peter, by whom they had been converted to Christianity, and many of their friends and acquaintances. Few thing^are said to be clearer than that St. Peter, when in Rome, was the guest of this British lady Claudia. Claudia and Pudens had two daughters, Pudentiana and Praxedes, and their son Novatus. Nearly all these persons are mentioned by St. Paul, who must have known them well. The poet Martial corroborates this account in his fifty-third epigram. Therefore, as there were British Christians at Rome known to St. Peter and to St. Paul, it is highly probable that those converts increased in number, and that some of them found their way to their native place. Justin Martyr, in the early part of the second century, says that professors of Christianity had gone to every country ; and Tertullian expressly mentions Britain as one of these countries. So does Eusebius in the fourth century. Moreover, Gregory and St. Augustine, in sending their mission to England at the end of the sixth century, recognise the fact of an already existing Church in Britain. 246 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. HOW POPE GREGORY CAME TO SEND MISSIONARIES TO ENGLAND. Bede narrates the origin of the mission to Christianise England thus : One day, certain merchants having lately arrived at Rome, a quantity of goods was brought into the market for sale, and many people had resorted thither to buy; and among the rest Gregory the Great himself came, and saw, together with other merchandise, some boys exposed for sale — their bodies white, their faces handsome, and their hair very beautiful. And having looked at them, he asked, as they say, from what country or land they had been brought, and was told from the island of Britain, whose inhabitants were of such appearance. Again he asked whether the same islanders were Christians, or were still involved in Pagan errors ; and was told that they were Pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, " Alas ! the pity," said he, " that the author of darkness should possess men of so bright a countenance, and that persons conspicuous for so much grace of aspect should have minds void of inward grace." He therefore again asked what was the name of that nation. He was answered that they were Angles. " That is well," said he, " for they have angelic faces, and such men ought to be coheirs with the angels in heaven." He asked other things ; and then repairing to the Bishop of the Roman and Apostolic See (for he himself had not yet been made Pontiff), he asked him to send into Britain some ministers of the Word, by whom they might be con- verted to Christ, declaring himself ready to undertake the work with the Lord's assistance, if only the Pope were pleased that he should do so ; which thing he was not for a while able to perform, because, although the Pope was willing, yet the citizens of Rome would not allow him to withdraw so far from the city. Afterwards, when he was himself made Pope, he achieved the work so long desired, sending other preachers indeed, but himself aiding by his exhortations and prayers that their preaching should bear fruit. now ST. AUGUSTINE MADE IMPRESSION ON THE SAXON KING (A.D. 596). When Gregory the Great, in 596, sent St. Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons, the saint, on landing in the Isle of Thanet, sent messengers to Ethelbert, the Saxon King, to say he was the bearer of joyful tidings. The King, however, stipulated that their first interview should be in the open air, as he had a fear of charms and spells. So the King crossed the river Stour, and waited under an oak in the middle of the Isle of Thanet. To make a deeper impression, Augustine came up from the shore in solemn Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 247 procession, preceded by a verger carrying a large silver cross, and followed by one bearing aloft, on a board, a well-gilt picture of the Saviour. Then came the rest of the brethren and the choir chanting a solemn litany for the eternal welfare of the Saxon people. On their meeting, the saint could not speak Anglo-Saxon, and the King could not speak Latin, but the priests interpreted the conversation. The saint told of the Son of God having left His heavenly throne to come to the world, where He died for the sins of the guilty. The King listened fairly, and confessed that the tidings were new and full of significance. He would not at once engage to change the customs of his people, but he promised hospitality and kindness to the strangers, and agreed that none of his people should be prohibited from adopting the new rehgion. The saint was pleased at this success, and with his companions again formed a procession and crossed the river to Canterbury (which was then a rude place surrounded with thickets, and the capital of the kingdom), chanting all the way their solemn litanies. The missionaries took up their abode, waiting till the King made up his mind, and they devoted themselves to prayers and fasting. Their conduct made a great impression; and Ethelbert, a year after the first interview, avowed his acceptance of Christianity and was baptised. Augustine, soon after, returned to France, and was consecrated at Aries the first Archbishop of Canterbuiy. METHODIUS PREACHES IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE (a.D. 862). In Moravia, King Swatopluk and his Queen having been converted to the new faith, apphed, about 862, to the Emperor Michael to send them some Christian teachers, and two mis- sionaries named Cyril and Methodius were sent. They took with them a relic, supposed to be the body of St. Clement of Rome, a martyr. They obtained great success, for the ordinary practice of the time was to use the Greek and Latin tongues; whereas these men saw that nothing could be done without first mastering the language of the country. They set about learning the Slavonic tongue, compiled an alphabet, and rapidly spread a knowledge of the truth, which led to the building of churches and great interest in the new doctrines, so that they were summoned to Rome, charged with some kind of heretical error. But they proved their orthodoxy, and the Pope consecrated Methodius as Archbishop of the Moravians. At a later date he was. again cited before the Pope for using the Slavonic tongue in the Liturgy. But he again overcame all opposition, and showed that the praises of the Lord were not confined to the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin 248 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. languages, for St. Paul said, " Let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord," and it was a scriptural command, " Pi-aise the Lord, all ye nations." It was said that Methodius afterwards met some heathen dukes at the King's table ; and after talking to them, one of the dukes asked what he might expect to gain by becoming a Christian. The answer given was that the change would exalt him above all kings and princes; whereupon the savage chiefs were all there and then baptised. It seemed that after the death of Methodius, about 885, the orthodox people still professed antipathy to the Slavonic liturgy as an innovation ; but it lasted at least to the fall of the Moravian kingdom in 908. GALLUS, THE APOSTLE OF SWITZERLAND (A.D. 630). One of the Abbot Columban's favourite scholars who went with him from Ireland to France was Gallus, who died 646. The party, on settling in the old castle in Bregenz, found three gilded images of Pagan idols ; and at the first discourse preached to a large company by Gallus, he in his zeal dashed the idols in pieces, which made a great impression on the congregation. Gallus, besides being a zealous preacher, was expert at gardening and weaving nets, and was so successful in fishing that he not only supplied the monks' table, but made gifts to guests and strangers. Gallus was too sick to accompany Columban from France to Italy ; and when left behind he took a few friends and ranged the forests, which abounded in wild beasts, and looked out for a settlement. They came to a stream full of fish. These Gallus caught with ease, and they broiled them on the banks, and with some bread out of their knapsack made a meal. Gallus then went into the bush to pray, and was so pleased with the situation that he suddenly became satisfied that there he should settle. He made a cross with a small twig, thrust it in the ground, and hung up some relics, and the party knelt in prayer. On this spot was founded the great monastery called by his name, St. Gall. There he trained many monks and spread the light of the Gospel among the surrounding people. He preached in Latin, and one of his scholars translated the discourse into German. ST. ELIGIUS DENOUNCING PAGAN SUPERSTITIONS (a.D. 650). St. Eligius is said to have rebuked the superstitions of his time, such as fortune-telling. He said, " Attend not to omens, to sneezing, the flight of birds, or strange creatures met in journeys ; but whatever you do sign yourself in the name of Christ, and say Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS x\ND PREACHERS. 249 the Creed and Paternoster with faith and devotion, and then no enemy can hurt you. Let no Christian attend to the day or to the moon for beginning any work. Practise no Pagan buffooneries, believe in no charms, for these are diabolical works ; for the sun and moon are the creatures of God, and serve the necessities of men by His order. Let the sick have no recourse to magicians, but let them trust in the sole mercy of God. Adore not the heavens, or the stars, or the earth, or any other creature, because God has made and disposed them all. High indeed are the heavens, vast the earth, immense the sea, beautiful the stars, but more immense and beautiful is He who created them. And if those things that we see are so incomprehensible — that is, the various sights of the earth, the beauty of flowers, the diversity of fruits, the races of animals, the prudence of the bees, the winds and the dew, and the lightning and the succession of the seasons, all which things no human mind can fully comprehend, — if these things are such which we behold, what must be those heavenly things which have not yet been seen ? or what their Maker, whose hand created them, or by whose will they are all governed? Brethren, Him you must fear, adore, and love ; hold to His mercy, and never despair of His goodness." ANSCHAR, THE APOSTLE OF THE NORTH (a.D. 825). Anschar was born in 801, near Amiens, his mother being noted for her piety, but dying while he was in his fifth year. One night, in his schooldays, he had a vision and an ecstasy. He dreamt that he stood on a slippery precipice, and could see no way of extricating himself ; but on a pleasant meadow not far off a shining group of white-robed females attracted his eye ; and in scanning them he beheld his own mother in the crowd, which was led on by the Virgin Mary as Queen. The Virgin kindly saluted him, and asked if he would not come to his mother. He answered that he would gladly do so if he could ; whereon the Queen replied, " If you wish to join us, you must eschew vanity and diligently take heed to your ways." Prom that time a change came over him. He joined the convent of Corbie, and there he had another vision and ecstasy. He dreamt that he was transported to the assembly of the blessed, and saw and heard what filled him with in- expressible delight — a company of angels surrounded with glorious colours; and Peter and John came to be his guides, when sud- denly a voice issued from the centre of Hght, full of sweetness and majesty. It said, " Go hence, and return to Me with a crown of martyrdom." Two years afterwards he had a third vision, in 250 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. which he beheld the glorified figure of Christ, who invited him to confess his sins, that he might receive forgiveness, at which he knelt down and made confession. From that time Anschar felt that he was consecrated to be a missionary. As a monk he became known to the Jutland King, Harold, who had just been baptised at the monastery near the Rhine, and who wished to take home with him a Gospel preacher. Anschar was selected, and for forty years he laboured incessantly in Denmark and Sweden, and became a great civiliser of men. When at last a mortal sickness attacked him, his only regret was that he had not been thought worthy to die a martyr, instead of being tended by loving hands all the days he lay on his bed (in 865). ST. NEOT, THE CORNISH SAINT (a.D. 890). St. Neot was a monk at Glastonbury, and an angel was sent to him, telling him to prepare to go a long journey. After many wanderings, he reached a place in Coinwall among the hills. Each morning, both in summer and winter, he went and stood up to the neck in a well, repeating the Psalter through. One day, in the depth of winter, he was disturbed by a hunting party, and sprang hastily out of the well, and was retiring, but dropped one of his shoes. He had not time to wait ; but soon afterwards, when he had finished his psalms and prayers, he remembered the shoe, and sent his servant to fetch it. Meantime a fox had passed and wanted to steal the shoe ; but an angel who hovered over that place smote the fox, and the thongs of the shoe were found in the creature's mouth at the time of its death. Another time St. Neot was standing in his valley by the water's side, when a young and beautiful fawn bounded from the adjoining thicket, and, panting from weariness and terror, sought a refuge at his feet. Hitherto the poor creature had known man only as its foe ; but the serene countenance of the holy man had no terror for the innocent and oppressed ; and crouching closely to him, with upturned imploring eyes, it appeared to beseech his protection. Not so the fierce and hungry bloodhounds that followed hot behind. Nature has nothing more terrible to savageness and cruelty than the gentle majesty of virtue, and the frightened animals shrank back cowed and overawed into the wood. Up came the wild huntsman, and hallooed them towards the prey ; but his hot spirit too was quenched in the pure influences which flowed from the countenance of the saint. He felt the reproach ; the mild rebuke cut him to the heart ; and in the first enthusiasm of repentance he hung up his horn as an offering at the shrine of St. Petrox, and himself Chap. ix.J PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 251 assumed the habit of a monk. St. Neot soon founded the monas- tery of Neotstowe, where he not long afterwards died, about 890. THE CONVERSION OF RUSSIA IN 864. Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, took credit for having assisted in the conversion of the Russians about 864, with the aid of the missionaries. But the new doctrine took no visible root till 955, when the then ruling Queen, Olga, resolved to visit Con- stantinople. Constantino Porphyrogenitus is said to have received her with great pomp, and her vanity was gratified with titles, banquets, and presents. She openly professed to be baptised along with her retinue of domestics, ministers, and leading mer- chants. On her return to Kion and Novgorod, she persisted in her new religion, but her family and nation remained obstinate and indifferent. Her example, however, was long appealed to by a few, and the Greek missionaries worked with zeal and led the people to imitate the dome of St. Sophia, with its pictures of saints and martyrs, the pomp of priestly vestments and ceremonies. A little later, in 968, the marriage of King Wolodomor with a Koman bride gave a fresh impulse to Christian zeal ; and the god of thunder, the chief Pagan deity, was dragged through the streets, battered with clubs, and thrown into the sea. Other relics of Paganism soon followed, and a broad foundation was laid for the culture of Christian rites. BISHOP OTTO IN POMERANIA (a.D. 1124). Bishop Otto, of Bamberg, was induced in 1124 to set out as a missionary to Pomerania. Amid the difficulties caused by the Pagan superstitions, a mob in Stettin was incited by the native priests to destroy the Christian church and all who were assem- bled in it. Otto was not alarmed, but by his calm confidence and courage reassured his band of followers. After commending himself and his friends in prayer to God, he went forth in his episcopal robes in the midst of the clergy, who bore before him the crucifix and relics, singing psalms and hymns. The calm- ness of the bishop confounded the raging multitude for a while. A stout priest, of portly stature and sonorous voice, tried to inflame the fury of the Pagans and incite them to vengeance. But Otto's venerable appearance, at the head of a company of believers, enabled them to proceed without further difficulty in consecrating a church and founding a permanent society of Christian worshippers. 252 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. NORBERT DENOUNCING CLERICAL VICES (a.D. 1134). About 1114 Norbert, the founder of the Premonstrants, had been in early life a courtly ecclesiastic, and a favourite of Henry Y. While riding for pleasure he was caught in a storm, and prostrated by a flash of lightning. On recovering his senses, he was so impressed by this escape from sudden death that he at once began a new life. He laid aside his sumptuous apparel, entered the order of priests, became an itinerant preacher, went barefoot and wearing a sheepskin, and having his body gu^t with a cord. He exposed the worldly-minded and degenerate clergy of his time, and became popular, having obtained from the Pope a roving licence to preach. Whenever he entered a village or approached a castle, the herdsmen who caught sight of him circulated the news ; the bells were rung, and young and old hastened to church, where, after performing Mass, he exhorted the people. After the sermon he conversed with individuals on the concerns of theu^ souls. Towards evening he was conducted to his lodgings, and all were eager to have him as their guest. He did not, like others, take up his abode in monasteries or priests' houses, but preferred the populous places, where he could reach the multitude with ease. The Pope wished to see him, as a means of reforming the lives of the clergy ; but so violent was their opposition that Norbert retired to a desert region in the valley of Premonstre, in the forest of Couchy, and founded a new spiritual society, resembhng in its rule that of Augustine ; and his power was so great that he made the wolves do the duty of sheepdogs. Finally, Norbert became Archbishop of Magdeburg, being chosen because he suddenly appeared at an election there. He died in 1134. The Premonstrantensians were, by their rules, specially forbidden to keep rare and curious tame animals, as deer, bears, monkeys, peacocks, swans, or hawks. Even when Norbert became archbishop he went barefooted and meanly dressed, and once his own porter was about to shut him out as a beggar. The order thus founded long kept up its austere discipline ; but after a time, like other societies, it grew rich and FULK, a rousing MONK PREACHER (a.D. 1190). About 1190 a bustling priest near Paris, named Fulco of Neuilly, said to be ignorant and worldly-minded, achieved a great reputation. He had attended the lectures of Peter Cantor, and obtained an insight into his impressive style. In a coarse cowl, Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 253 and girt about with a leather thong, he fearlessly denounced the vices of the time. His sermons wrought such deep conviction that people scourged themselves, fell down before him on the gi^ound, and confessed themselves in public. Usurers made resti- tution of their gains; engrossers and corndealers threw open their granaries; abandoned women forsook their haunts; the clergy separated from their concubines. A curse from his lips spread alarm like a thunderbolt. His hearers would fall down in convulsive fits, foaming at the mouth. The sick were brought to him to be healed by his touch. His garments were sometimes seized and torn into shreds, to be preserved as precious relics. He was so mobbed in the street that he had to swing his staff violently about to clear his way ; and those wounded, so far from murmuring, kissed the blood that flowed from their wounds, as if they had been instantaneously healed. His stirring example gave a great impetus to preachers, and students of theology were turned into itinerant missionaries. Afterwards Fulco stood forth as a preacher of the Crusades, and great sums of money were sent to him, which he divided among the Crusaders. It was noticed that, however impressive were his discourses when dehvered by himself, those who redelivered the same after they had been taken down by shorthand writers and copied fell far short in their effect. It was also said that he impaired his influence by riding on horseback, shaving his hair, and indulging in dress and food. It was he who reproved Richard of England for cherishing his three daughters — pride, covetousness, and luxury ; to which the King replied that he had bestowed his pride on the Templars, his greed on the Cistercians, and his luxury on the prelates. ST. Dominic's zeal in preaching (a.d. 1221). St. Dominic, who died 1221, said it is not by the display of power and pomp, by cavalcades of retainers, and richly houselled palfreys, or by gorgeous apparel that the heretics win proselytes ; it is by zealous preaching, by apostolic humility, by austerity, by seeming, it is true, but yet seeming, holiness. Zeal must be met by zeal, humility by humility, false sanctity by real sanctity, preaching falsehood by preaching truth. He noticed how eagerly the women, especially the noble ladies of Languedoc, listened to the heretical preachers ; hence he first founded a convent of females, so as to dispose of the most impressible of that sex. St. Dominic's great maxim was — the man who governs his passions is master of the world ; we must command them or be enslaved by them. 254 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISIUM (a.D. 1226). St. Francis, who died in 1226, was born at Assisium, a town situated on the brow of a hill called Assisi, in XJmbria, Italy. He was in youth abandoned to all sorts of amusements, but became serious by being made a prisoner and also by a long illness. One day, on riding out and seeing a beggar, he changed clothes with him, and then became conscious of the innate beauty of poverty and humility. He visited Rome to see the tombs of the Apostles. He gloried in tending the sick lepers and in all the hardships of poverty. He wandered over the XJmbrian Mountains, praising God for all things — for the sun which shone above, for the day and for the night, for his mother the earth, and for his sister the moon, for the winds which blew in his face, for the pure precious water and for the jocund fire, for the flames under his feet and for the stars above his head, saluting and blessing all creatures, whether animate or inanimate, as his brethren and sisters in the Lord. He existed entirely on the alms begged from door to door. He espoused poverty. He was endowed with an extraordinary gift of tears; he wept continually for his own sins and those of others. He founded the order of Franciscans. He held his first chapter of the order when five thousand friars assembled in tents at the foot of the hill of Assisi, called the Chapter of Mats, because mats were spread over their booths for shelter. He created an enthusiasm for austerities and mortifications. The body of St. Francis stands upright in a subterranean vault under the altar of the rich chapel of St. Francis at Assisium. On his deathbed he particularly requested to be buried at the common place of execution among the bodies of malefactors. All the piinces of Christendom sent offerings, and all the neighbouring towns sent their artists to decorate his church. HOW FRANCIS OF ASSIST TENDED THE LEPERS. In the Speculum Yitse this is related as to the attempts of the friars to help the lepers : " There was in a certain place a leper so impatient, frowaid, and impious that every one thought he was possessed by an evil spirit. He abused all that served him with terrible oaths and imprecations, often proceeding to blows. What was still more feaiful, he uttered the direst blas- phemy against Christ and His holy mother and the holy angels. The friars ondurtd this ill-usage patiently, but they could not tolerate his blasphemies ; they felt they ought not, and therefore they resolved to abandon the leper to his fate, having first taken Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 255 counsel with St. Francis. Brother Francis visited the leper, and upon entering the room said to him in the usual salutation, ' The Lord give thee peace, brother.' ' What peace,' exclaimed the leper, ' can I have who am utterly diseased ? ' ' Pains that torment the body,' replied St. Francis, * turn to the salvation of the soul, if they are borne patiently.' * And how can I endure patiently,' i-e joined the leper, ' since my pains are without intermission night and day ? Besides, my suflerings are made worse by the vexation I endure from these friars you have appointed to wait upon me. There is not one of them who serves me as he ought.' St. Francis perceived that the man was troubled by a malignant spirit, and went away and prayed to God for him. Then returning, he said, ' Since others do not satisfy you, let me try.' * You may if you like ; but what can you do more than the rest ? ' * T am ready to do whatever you please,' replied St. Francis. ' Then wash me,' replied the leper, ' because I cannot endure myself ; the stench of my wounds is intolerable.' Then St. Francis ordered water to be warmed with sweet herbs ; and stripping the leper, began to wash him with his own hands, whilst a friar standing by poured water upon him." ST. Francis's dexterity. After giviijg away all his property, St. Francis of Assisi, who died 1226, set himself the task of repairing the church of St. Damian at Assisi. And he had an ingenious mode of collecting funds. He said to the mob, " Whoever will give me one stone shall have one prayer; whoever gives me two shall have two prayers; and three stones three prayers." The mob laughed and jeered; but he carried the stones with his own hands, and gradually he accumulated materials enough. He was equally adroit with the Pope, Innocent III. One day his Holiness was walking on the terrace of the Lateran, when a mendicant of the meanest appearance presented himself, proposing to convert the world by poverty and humility. The haughty pontiff dismissed him with contempt. But on second thoughts he had a vision, and then saw that this was a very feasible way of meeting the heretics on their own ground. He sent for St. Francis, and on the whole approved of the new order. THE STIGMATA OF ST. FRANCIS. The remarkable characteristic of St. Francis was that his hands and feet had marks resembling those of Christ after the Crucifixion, called the stigmata of St. Francis. He had in the solitude of 256 FLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Monte Alverno been holding a solemn fast in honour of the archangel Michael. He had thrice opened the Scriptures, and thrice they opened on the Passion of our Lord. One morning, it is said, he was praying with great devotion, when he saw a vision, which, on approaching, was a seraph with six wings, and having the likeness of the crucified Saviour. This left on his mind an indescribable impression of delight and awe. Instantaneously there appeared on his hands and feet marks of the Crucifixion, like those he had seen in the vision. Two black excrescences, like nails having heads and points, grew in these spots. There was also a wound on his side, which frequently flowed with blood and stained his garment. Francis, in his humility, sought to conceal this wondrous sight from his disciples, but fifty of them at one time had seen these marks. Afterwards Pope Alexander IV. also saw them, and publicly declared that they were there. Francis died two years afterwards, and then again the wondering disciples saw this sight on his body. These marks at once identified Francis with the Saviour, and this singularity became part of the creed of Christendom. A CONTEMPOEARY BIOGRAPHY OF ST. FRANCIS. Thomas of Celano was a friend and biographer of St. Francis, and gives this portrait of the saint : " Oh, how beautiful, how splendid, how glorious, did he appear in the innocence of his life, in the simplicity of his words, in the purity of his heart, in his love of God, in brotherly charity, in fragrant obedience, in angelic aspect ! Gentle in manners, placid in nature, afiable in conver- sation, faithful in undertakings, of admirable foresight in counsel, able in business, gracious to all, serene in mind, gentle in temper, sober in spirit, steadfast in contemplation, persevering in grace, and in all things the same ; swift to forgive, slow to anger, free in intellect, bright in memory, subtle in dissertation, circumspect in judgment, simple in all things. Rigid towards himself, pious towards others, discreet to everybody — a most eloquent man, of cheerful aspect and benevolent countenance, free from idleness, void of insolence. He was of the middle stature, rather inclined to shortness, his head was of the medium size and round, with an oblong and long face, a small smooth forehead, black and simple eyes, dark-brown hair and straight eyebrows ; his nose was thin, well proportioned, and straight ; his tongue was placable, though fiery and sharp; his voice was vehement, though sweet, clear, and sonorous; his teeth well set, his lips of moderate size, his beard black, his neck thin ; small arms, thin hands, long fingers Chap, ix.] PROSELYTISING MONKS AND PREACHERS. 257 and nails ; thin legs, small feet, a delicate skin, and very little flesh. He wore a rough vest, took very little sleep, and though he was most humble he showed every courtesy to all men, conforming himself to the manners of every one. As he was holy among the holy, so among sinners he was as one of them." ST. ANTONY OF PADUA AS A STREET PREACHER (a.D. 1220). St. Antony of Padua, who died in 1231, was in early life fired with zeal for martyrdom, and was anxious to enter the Franciscan convent at Assisi ; but there was no opportunity, and he entered a hermitage at Bologna. There he was made to serve in the kitchen, and his talents and learning were not suspected till one day, owing to there being no one ready to preach, the managers asked Antony to take the duty. Antony answered that his proper work was to wash up dishes and scrub the floors ; but these objections being overruled, he entered the pulpit. From the first his manner and style attracted attention. He had a rich voice of great compass and flexibility; his action was graceful, his language was choice, and his face shone with the enthusiasm of a seraph. The great St. Francis soon heard of the success, and gave his blessing to the young recruit. With this encouragement, Antony preached in many leading cities, and attracted great crowds. The churches were found too small, and he stood in churchyards and market-places. Shops were shut when he was announced, and ladies rose early to secure places. Sometimes people remained all night in the church in order to be sure of a seat next day. Crowds pressed on him as he went to the place appointed, and begged to kiss his hand and touch his garment. He swayed the congregations as he pleased — sobs of the hardened sinners sometimes drowned all sounds ; his clear, bell-like voice was heard in all the neighbouring streets, and the excitement of the population was intense. His memory was so good that he knew the Scriptures by heart. He once addressed a ferocious tyrant who used to shed innocent blood, calling on the sword of the Lord to smite him. The congregation was worked to the highest pitch of excitement, when the tyrant fell on his knees and promised amendment. Antony's exertions under this high pressure brought on paralysis, and he died at the age of thirty-six. HOW THE ENGLISH FRIARS DISDAINED SHOES (a.D. 1224). Thomas of Eccleston relates that the Franciscan friars, on . 1420). Master Alan, the celebrated doctor, bi^t still poor, was invited to dinner by a former disciple already a bishop, who, seeing his poverty, said, " Master, I marvel not a little that your scholars are already become great men : one is an abbot, another is a bishop, another an archbishop, land you are left in ridiculous poverty." Alan, indeed, thinking otherwise — for he had a true and right judgment as to the gradations of merit — is said to have answered thus : " You do not know," quoth he, " what is the height of the most perfect dignity, and the true greatness of man ? It is not to be a great bishop, but a good clerk. Everybody knows that by the voice of three rascally canons, to whom is given the power of election, a bishop is made ; but if all the saints in Paradise and all the sensible men in the world said together in one voice before God, 'Martin is a good clergyman,' Martin would not on that account be a good clergyman if he remained an ignoramus." A SULTAN WHO ABDICATED TWICE (A.D. 1451). Sultan Amurath II., who died in 1451, was the only sultan who has twice abdicated, being a great warrior as well as learned, merci- ful, religious, charitable, and a patron of merit. He was a zealous Mussulman ; and though the scimitar was their usual instrument of converting unbelievers, his moderation was attested by the Christians. His most striking characteristic was that, in the plenitude of his power at the age of forty, he discerned the vanity of human greatness, resigned the crown, and retired to join a society of saints and hermits in Magnesia. He there submitted to fast and pray and rotate with the dervishes. In two years, owing to a sudden invasion of Hungarians, his son and successor, as well as his former subjects, implored him to return and take command of his janizaries ; and, after fighting and conquering, he a second time resigned the crown and resumed his monkish life. A second time he was recalled by another danger of the State, and again resumed the crown. He had not another opportunity of becoming a dancing dervish, as he died as Sultan at the age of forty-nine. POPE NICHOLAS V. A GREAT COLLECTOR OF MANUSCRIPTS (a.D. 1447). When Pope Nicholas V. was elected in 1447, he had had a reputation for universal knowledge, and within the short period Chap, xi.] POPE NICHOLAS A GREAT COLLECTOR. 373 of eighteen months became bishop, cardinal, and Pope. A little spare man, with a keen eye and overweening self-confidence, he soon made up h's mind to proclaim a crusade against the anti- pope, and authorised the French King to seize his territories, though this became unnecessary, owing to the antipope's resigna- tion. This Pope lived in an age of great intellectual progress, and he took pleasure in inviting men of letters and scholars. He soon gratified a long-standing desire to collect manuscripts, and caused many monastic libraries to be ransacked for treasures. He added in eight years five thousand manuscripts to the Vatican library, and kept a staff of copyists and translators, and even carried out in part a new translation of the Bible. It was under his patronage that Laurence Valla, the eminent scholar, produced a treatise on the donation of Constantino, exposing the impudent forgery which had so long been palmed off by preceding Popes for the foundation of their jurisdiction over the world in general. The author, however, was astute enough to withdraw from Rome before the effect of his researches became known, for he was soon arrested by the Inquisition, and would have been burned but for the intercession of King Alfonso, The literary men whom Nicholas encouraged were given to quarrels and jealousies, and even tended towards too great an admiration of Paganism. Nicholas was also bent on rebuilding the Vatican quarter of Rome, and proceeded to act on a design of a new structure in the form of a Greek cross with a cupola ; but the execution of the work had only risen a few feet above ground when the Pope died, and a yet more magnificent structure was carried out in the following century. Though these great palatial schemes were not executed, he gave his contemporaries a taste for magnificence of every kind in the services of the Church, and for mitres, vestments, altar-coverings, and gold inwoven curtains. He patronised the saintly painter Angelico, and sculptors and architects. He also had a most successful jubilee in 1450, which recouped his great expenditure, though the occurrence of a plague acted adversely. It happened that Constantinople fell a prey in Nicholas's time to the Mohammedans, who despoiled and profaned the churches and dispersed the treasures of Greek literature. This disaster, which happened in 1453, caused much sympathy; for the Emperor Frederick was said to weep at the news and express a vague wish for a crusade, though he took no active step. At a great festival at Lille, a lady representing the Church appeared before the Duke of Burgundy seated on an elephant led by a giant, and in a versified speech invoked assistance, which 374 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. led the Duke to register a vow to succour the Church ; but the enthusiasm soon died away. The Pope, however, consoled the chiefs of Christendom by issuing a bull, in which he declared the founder of Islam to be the great red dragon of the Apocalypse, and invited the princes to buy indulgences in order to raise a fund to exterminate the infidels. It was maliciously insinuated, how- ever, that the money thus raised only went to pay for needless fortifications at Rome, and nowise to influence affairs in the East. The Pope died in 1455 before any of these great enterprises were begun. It was said that Pope Nicholas's example stirred up the Florentine merchant Cosmo de Medicis to carry on similar re- searches for old manuscripts, and his grandson Lorenzo de Medicis procured from the East a further treasure of two hundred writings. The Greek language came to be publicly taught in the University of Oxford towards the end of the fifteenth century. A FOP ELECTED POPE PAUL II. (a.D. 1464). In 1464 the choice of the cardinals for a new Pope fell on Peter Barbo, a Venetian of high descent. He had been made a cardinal at twenty-two by his uncle, and had always been noted for his elegant and foppish manners. The previous Pope, Pius II., used to call him Maria pientissima, on account of his soft and affected manner, coupled with a faculty of shedding tears at will when urging any request. He was so vain of his handsome appearance that he proposed to assume the name of Formosus, till some cardinals laughed him out of it. His love of display and theatrical show led him to spend large sums on jewels, precious stones, and millinery ; and to provide means for this great end of his being, he took care to keep in his hands the income of vacant offices, and postpone the appointments. He not only clothed himself in gorgeous attire, but to heighten the dramatic effect he painted his face. One peculiarity of his was to transact all his business by night, probably owing to the artificial manner in which he presented himself, and to prevent cracks in his enamel being detected. He is said to have given an impulse to the festivities of the Roman carnival, and used to watch with con- genial interest and enthusiasm the frolics of old and young during the races on the Corso, where Jews, horses, asses, and buffaloes were the performers. The cardinals, on appointing this Pope, bound him over to many urgent duties and stipulations, but he threw off these incumbrances as he would put off his cloak. He spent most of his energies in seeking and buying alliances in Germany and in selling offices. He also entertained Chap, xi.] POPE LEO X. 375 the Emperor on a visit of seventeen days, and showed him all the jewels. One day Paul II. was found dead in his bed in 1471, the popular belief being that he had been killed by a devil, which he was said to carry locked up in a signet ring ; and this solution was entirely satisfactory. HOW POPE LEO X. WAS ELECTED (a.D. 1513). John de Medicis was elected Pope in 1513, and took the title of Leo X. He had been made cardinal at fourteen. He had been dissipated in his youth, and had undergone a serious sui'gical operation at the time of his predecessor's death, and was carried in a horse litter to join the conclave of cardinals who were busy in measures for the election. The Cardinal de Medicis made himself so busy in canvassing that his ulcer broke, causing a noisome smell in all the cells he visited. While the cardinals obstinately supported the opposing candidates, and there appeared no hope of agreement, they were yet all satisfied that poor de Medicis had not a month to live. So it occurred to several of them that it would be as well to select him for the present, so as to stave off' the discords raging, and give them a few weeks longer to complete their own arrangements and arrive at unanimity. This view led to John de Medicis being at once elected Pope, though only thirty-six years old. He soon recovered his health, and lived eight years longer, so that the old cardinals had occasion to repent of their credulity. The young Pope celebrated his coronation by lavish expenses. He insisted on being crowned on the same day that he lost the battle of Ravenna and was taken prisoner, and rode the same Turkish horse that bore him on that day. This horse was greatly valued, and carefully kept and pampered to an extreme old age. Leo X.'s head was full of the magnificence of ancient Pome, which he sought to perpetuate. His life was volup- tuous; he gloried in the pleasures of the chase. He protected men of wit and learning, and kept a poet laureate to make verses and act as buffoon at the revels constantly going on. While he thundered anathemas against Luther, he did not cease in pi-ivate to ridicule the whole Christian doctrine as a mere fable. It is said he died in a fit of extravagant merrymaking when he heard the news that the Emperor had defeated the French at Milan. Leo X. kept a table of extraordinary luxury. He tried experi- ments on the cookery of monkeys and crows and peacock sausages. He kept poets and comedians to enliven the diversions. Card- playing for heavy stakes followed the banquet. He used to scatter gold among the spectators of a game. 376 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE POPE TURNING PAGAN INTO CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS (a.D. 1585). Pope Sixtus v., elected in 1585, had a genius for architectural projects, and seemed anxious to make the Rome of his time rival the ancient city. He had a rage for destroying as well as for rebuilding. He was bent on turning Pagan into Christian monu- ments. He allowed a statue of Minerva to stand, but took away the spear of the goddess, and put a huge cross in her hand. He dedicated the column of Trajan to St. Peter, and the column of Antoninus to St. Paul. He set his heart also on erecting the obelisk before St. Peter's, the more because he wished to see the monuments of infidelity subjected to the cross on the very spot where the Christians once suffered crucifixion. The architect, Fontana, thought it impossible ; but the Pope would not listen to objections. It was an extremely difficult task to upheave the obelisk from its basis by the sacristy of the old church of St. Peter, to let it down again, transport it to another site, and there finally set it up again. It was an attempt to earn renown throughout all ages. The workmen, nine hundred in number, began by hearing Mass, confessing, and receiving the Communion. The obelisk was sheathed in straw mats and planks riveted with iron rings. There were thirty-five windlasses, each worked by two horses and ten men. The signal was given by sound of trumpet. The obelisk was raised from the site on which it had stood fifteen hundred years. A salvo was fired from the castle of St. Angelo ; all the bells of the city pealed ; and the workmen carried their architect in triumph round the barrier with never- ending hurrahs. Seven days afterwards the obelisk was let down with no less dexterity, and then it was conveyed on rollers to its new site, and some months elapsed before its re-erection. A force of one hundred and forty horses was used to elevate it. At three great efforts the obelisk was moved, and it sank on the backs of the four bronze lions that served to support it. The people exulted. The Pope was immensely satisfied, and set it down in his diary that he had achieved the most difficult work which the human mind could conceive. He erected a cross upon the obelisk, in which was enclosed a piece of the supposed real cross. Sixtus Y. also wanted to complete the cupola of St. Peter's, which, it was estimated, would take ten years to do ; and his eyes were never wearied in watching its progress. He set six hundred men to work at once night and day, and in twenty-two months the cupola was completed. He did not, it was true, live to see the leaden casing placed on the roof. This Pope kept a memorandum book Chap, xi.] THE INQUISITION. 377 in which every detail of his daily life was recorded ; and on suc- ceeding to the Papal throne it was noticed that his skill in finance was displayed in a profusion of complexities. He amassed great sums, and also spent great sums. One of the great sources of his profit was the sale of ofiices. He created ofiices, and then sold the nominations at a great price. He also imposed new taxes on the most laborious callings, such as those on the men who towed vessels on the river ; and he taxed heavily the neces- saries of life, such as wine and firewood. THE INQUISITION AS AN INSTITUTION (a.D. 1232). Pope Gregory IX., on the plea that the bishops were overtasked, transferred in 1232 the duty of inquiring into heretics to officers specially appointed by himself. In the rules by which these inquisitors should be guided every principle of natural equity was outraged. The accused were not to be confronted with the the accusers — were not even to know their names. Persons of infamous character might be received as witnesses against them. Elaborate schemes for the treacherous entrapping of victims were part of the instructions with which an inquisitor was furnished. A large share of the goods of the condemned went to the judges who condemned them ; the remainder, if sometimes to the Papal Excheqiier, very often went to the temporal princes who should carry out the Church's sentence, whose cupidity it was thus sought to stimulate, and whose co-operation was thus rewarded. The guiltless children of the condemned were beg- gared. They could hold no office ; the brand of lifelong dishonour clung to them. Even the very bones of the dead were burnt to dust and dispersed to the winds or the waves. In the latter half of the fifteenth century the Inquisition found its main occupation in the burning of Jews. Torquemada, in Spain, alone sent to the stake some eight or nine thousand. SENTENCE OF EXECUTION BY THE INQUISITION. Owing to the mode of execution under a sentence of the Inqui- sition, the populace were gratified with a view of the last agonies of the martyrs for heresy. The culprit was not, as in the later Spanish Inquisition, strangled before the lighting of the fagots, nor had the invention of gunpowder suggested the expedient of hanging a bag of that explosive around his neck to shorten his torture. An eyewitness thus describes the execution of John Huss at Constance in 1415: "He was made to stand upon a 378 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. couple of fagots, and tightly bound to a thick post with ropes around the ankles, below the knee, above the knee, at the groin, the waist, and under the arms. A chain was also secured around the neck. Then it was observed that he faced the east, which was not fitting for a heretic, and he was shifted to the west. Fagots mixed with straw were piled around him to the chin. Then the Count Palatine Louis, who superintended the execution, approached with the Marshal of Constance, and asked him for the last time to recant. On his refusal they withdrew and clapped their hands, which was the signal for the executioners to light the pile. After it had burned away there followed the revolting process of utterly destroying the half-burned body, separating it in pieces, breaking up the bones, and throwing the fragments and the viscera on a fresh fire of logs." When, as in the case of Arnold of Brescia, some of the spiritual Franciscans, Huss, Savonarola, and others, it was feared that relics of the martyr would be preserved, especial care was taken after the fire to gather the ashes and cast them into a running stream. THE PLEASURE OF BURNING HERETICS (a.D. 1239). When the Inquisition was becoming popular, it was commonly taught that compassion for the sufferings of a heretic was not only a weakness but a sin. As well might one sympathise with Satan and his demons writhing in the endless torment of hell. The stern moralists of the age held it to be a Christian duty to find pleasure in contemplating the anguish of the sinner. Gregory the Great, five centuries before, had argued that the bliss of the elect in heaven would not be perfect unless they were able to look across the abyss and enjoy the agonies of their brethren in eternal fire. Peter Lombard, the Master of Sentences, quotes St. Gregory with approbation, and enlarges upon the satisfaction which the just will feel in the ineffable misery of the damned. Even the mystic tenderness of Bonaventura does not prevent him from echoing the same terrible exultation. The schoolmen easily proved to their own satisfaction that persecution was a work of charity for the benefit of the persecuted. By a series of edicts from 1220 to 1239 a complete code of persecution was enacted. Heretics and favourers of heretics- were outlawed ; their property was confiscated, their heirs disinherited. Their houses were to be destroyed, never to be rebuilt. All rulers and magistrates were required to swear that they would exterminate all whom the Church might designate as heretics, under pain of forfeiture of office. All this fiendish legislation was hailed by the Church Chap, xi.] TORQUEMADA THE INQUISITOR. 379 with acclamation. The Inquisition has sometimes been said to have been founded in 1233. THE SPANISH INQUISITION AT WORK (a.D. 1481). In 1481 two Dominican monks were appointed to proceed to Seville and carry on the work of the Inquisition, and the Jews were hunted up with vigour and burnt in the autos-da-fe of that city. In 1483 the brutal Inquisitor-General Thomas de Torque- mada added further horrors. The details of these brutahties are now of no interest ; but Prescott, the historian, thus sums up the situation. The proceedings of the tribunal were plainly charac- terised throughout by the most flagrant injustice and inhumanity to the accused. Instead of presuming his innocence until his guilt had been estabhshed, it acted on exactly the opposite principle. Instead of affording him the protection accorded by every other judicature, and especially demanded in his forlorn situation, it used the most insidious arts to circumvent and crush him. He had no remedy against malice or misapprehension on the part of his accusers or the witnesses against him, who might be his bitterest enemies, since they were never revealed to nor confronted with the prisoner, nor subjected to a cross-examination which can best expose error or wilful collusion in the evidence. Even the poor forms of justice recognised in this court might be readily dispensed with, as its proceedings were impenetrably shrouded from the public eye by the appalling oath of secrecy imposed on all, whether functionaries, witnesses, or prisoners, who entered within its precincts. The last and not the least odious feature of the whole was the connection established between the condemnation of the accused and the interests of his judges, since the confiscations which were the uniform penalties of heresy were not permitted to flow into the royal exchequer until they had first discharged the expenses, whether in the shape of salaries or otherwise, incident to the Holy Office. torquemada's work as inquisitor (a.D. 1483). Torquemada, while at the head of the Inquisition in Spain, is said to have convicted about six thousand persons annually. The Roman See during his ministration made a painful traffic by the sale of dispensations, which those rich enough were willing to obtain. This monster, the author of incalculable miseries, was permitted to reach a very old age and to die quietly in his bed. Yet he lived in such constant apprehension of assassination th,at 380 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. he is said to have kept a reputed unicorn's horn always on his table, which was imagined to have the power of detecting and neutralising poisons, while for the more complete protection of his person he was allowed an escort of fifty horse and two hundi-ed foot in his progresses through the kingdom. Prescott says that this man's zeal was of such an extravagant character that it may almost shelter itself under the name of insanity. He waged war on 'freedom of thought in every form. In 1490 he caused several Hebrew Bibles to be publicly burnt, and some time after more than six thousand volumes of Oriental learning, on the imputation of Judaism, sorcery, or heresy, at the autos-da-fe of Salamanca, the very nursery of science. AN " AUTO-DA-Fi; " IN SPAIN (a.D. 1483). The last scene in the dismal tragedy of a so-called trial before the Inquisition, says Prescott, was the Act of Faith {auto-da-fe) — the most imposing spectacle, probably, which has been witnessed since the ancient Roman triumph, and which was intended, some- what profanely, to represent the terrors of the Day of Judgment. The proudest grandees of the land, on this occasion, putting on the sable livery of familiars of the Holy Office and bearing aloft its banners, condescended to act as the escort of the ministers, while the ceremony was not unfrequently countenanced by the royal presence. It should be stated, however, that neither of these acts of condescension, or more properly humiliation, was witnessed until a period posterior to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. The effect was further heightened by the concourse of ecclesiastics in their sacerdotal robes, and the pompous ceremonial which the Church of Rome knows so well how to display on fitting occasions, and which was intended to consecrate, as it were, this bloody sacrifice. The most important actors in the scene were the unfor- tunate convicts, disgorged for the first time from the dungeons of the tribunal. ASSASSINATION OF A SPANISH INQUISITOR (a.D. 1486). When Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1486, introduced the Inquisi- tion into Arragon, the higher orders and the Cortes were greatly opposed to it, and sent a deputation to the Court of Rome and to Ferdinand to suspend an institution so hateful and oppressive. Both Pope and King paid no regard to the remonstrance. The Arragonese thereupon, in self-defence, formed a conspiracy for the assassination of Arbues, and subscribed a large sum to defray the Chap, xi.] ASSASSINATING AN INQUISITOR. 381 expenses. Arbiies, being conscious of his unpopularity, wore under his monastic robes a suit of mail and a helmet under his hood, and his sleeping apartment was well guarded. But the con- spirators managed to surprise him while at his devotions. Near midnight Arbues was on his knees before the great altar of the cathedral at Saragossa. They suddenly surrounded him ; one of them wounded him in the arm with a dagger, while another dealt a fatal blow in the back of his neck. The priests, who were preparing to celebrate matins in the choir, hastened to the spot, but too late. They carried the bleeding body of the inquisitor to his apartment, but he survived only two days, and it is said he blessed the Lord that he had been permitted to seal so good a cause with his blood. This murder was soon avenged, and the blood- hounds of the tribunal tracked the murderers, after hundreds of victims were sacrificed, cut off their right hands, and hanged them ; and Arbues was even honoured as a martyr, and after two centuries was, in 1664, canonised as a saint. CARDINAL XIMENES AND QUEEN ISABELLA (A.D. 1495). Cardinal Ximenes, who had acquired great reputation for the austere life he had led, was appointed confessor to Queen Isabella in 1492, and in 1495 was appointed by her Archbishop of Toledo. He maintained all his austerities in the new situation. Under his robes of silk or fur he wore the coarse frock of St. Francis, which he used to mend with his own hands. He used no linen about his person or his bed, and slept on a miserable pallet, which was concealed under a luxurious couch. He was a rigorous reformer of the monkish fraternities, and this excited violent complaints. The general of the Fi-anciscans, full of rage, demanded an audience of the Queen ; and when challenged by her for his rudeness and for forgetting to whom he was speaking, he petulantly replied, " Yes ; I know well whom I am speaking to — the Queen of Castile, a mere handful of dust, like myself ! " The Queen was not moved by this insolence, but supported Ximenes in his trenchant reforms. Ximenes vehemently urged the King and Queen in 1499 to extirpate the Mohammedan religion, and he did not scruple to bribe the Moors to accept baptism, and it was said he baptised three thousand in one day. In 1502 he procured a decree enforcing baptism or exile on all Moors above fourteen. Ximenes founded the University of Alcala, which was opened in 1508. He also carried out a scheme for publishing a Bible, being the first successful attempt at a polyglot version of the Scriptures. This took fifteen years to prepare, and it was completed in 1517. 382 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Charles V. wrote a cold-blooded letter, dispensing with Ximenes's services, and it so excited the cardinal that he was seized with fever and died at the age of eighty-one. SOME SO-CALLED IRREPRESSIBLE HERETICS (a.D. 1080). Among all the sects of the Middle Ages, by far the most important in numbers and radical antagonism to the Church were the Cathari or the Pure, as with characteristic sectarian satis- faction they styled themselves. Albigenses they were called in Languedoc, Patarenes in North Italy, Good Men by themselves. Stretching through Central Europe to Thrace and Bulgaria, they joined hands with the Paulicians of the East, and shared in their views, which have been variously represented, and were somewhat mystical. It is difficult to understand the mighty attraction which these doctrines — partly Gnostic, partly Manichean — exercised for so long a time on the minds and hearts of many. Baxter's estimate of the Albigenses was — Manichees with some better persons mixed. First attracting notice in the latter half of the eleventh century, the Cathari multiplied with extraordinary rapidity, so that in many districts they were during the next century more numerous than the Catholics. St. Bernard, who undertook a mission among them in 1147, describes the churches of the Catholics as without people, and the people without priests. The Cathari disappeared at the close of the thirteenth century and then the Beghards and Beguins become prominent, wh' were pietists associated for works of Christian beneficence. Then some extreme Franciscans were mixed up with them, and called themselves Zealots, or Little Brethren, or Spirituals. These remonstrants drifted by degrees into open antagonists of the Church, and talked of the Pope as the mystical antichrist. Other less commendable mediaeval sects were the Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit. About this time all countries were hotbeds of various sects. Pope Innocent III. tried to let loose a crusading army, under Simon de Montfoi't, against the Cathari, and great brutalities were perpetrated, and at length the still more brutal Inquisition carried on the purposeless warfare. WALDENSES SEEKING THE SCRIPTURES (a.D. 1179). The Waldenses may be described as representing the general craving of the better class of Christians of their time for a fuller acquaintance with the Scriptures. Peter Waldo, a rich citizen of Lyons, obtained from two friends in the priesthood a copy of Chap, xi.] THE WALDENSES. 383 the Gospels and a collection of the sayings of the Fathers. He sold all his goods and associated himself with others in search of a higher standard of living than was then met with. They were called the Poor Men of Lyons on one side of the Alps, the Poor Men of Lombardy on the other side. They began on the stock of their acquired knowledge of the Scriptures to preach in the streets, thus diffusing this precious knowledge. They had no intention of opposing the Church ; but the bishops of the day foresaw that dangerous knowledge was likely to spread and cause trouble. In 1178 the Archbishop of Lyons forbade their preaching. They tried to get the Pope's sanction to circulate a translation of the Scriptures. The Pope, after due inquiry, dismissed the deputation and condemned them to absolute silence. This sentence did not convince. There were German and Swiss reformers then rising up, seeking similar ends. The authorities, however, rather hunted them, sometimes as wild beasts, and always subjected them to persecution and outrage, both in France and Savoy. They retired into mountain fastnesses from their persecutors. Milton's sonnet well immortalises and avenges "these slaughtered saints, whose bones He scattered on the Alpine mountains cold." A LAWYER FOR A POPE (a.D. 1605). Pope Paul V. was elected in 1605. He had been a lawyer, and excelled in that profession, and then rose successively through all the grades of ecclesiastical dignity. It was noticed how skHfully he avoided making enemies, and this characteristic marked him out for the supreme dignity. He was chosen Pope unexpectedly, but this only caused him to attribute his good fortune to a direct interposition of the Holy Ghost. He became at once exalted in his own estimation above himself and all his contemporaries as a heaven-born Vicar of Christ. He soon resolved to introduce into ecclesiastical polity the rigour, exactitude, and severity of the civil code. Other Popes signalised their elevation by some act of clemency or grace. He began by striking terror into the bystanders by a severe sentence. A poor author had written a Life of a prior Pope, and compared him to the Emperor Tiberius ; but the work was unpublished, and lay only as a manuscript in the author's desk. The matter came to the ears of this Pope, who, notwithstanding the intercession of ambassadors and princes, ordered the writer to be beheaded one morning on the bridge of St. Angelo, the crime being treated as treason. The same Pope treated as a mortal sin the practice of non-residence in a bishop. He treated decretals as laws of God, and all who disobeyed 384 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. them as blasphemers. Excommunication was freely launched against petty misdemeanants. He claimed rights of sovereignty over Venice, which for centuries had been in abeyance. He asserted indeed a universal sovereignty, and treated all mankind as sheep who had no business to criticise or question their shep- herd. It has been said his overweening arrogance only made the Protestant reaction, then beginning, more prompt and decisive. 385 CHAPTER XII. SACRED LEGENDS, LIVES AND LEGENDS OF SAINTS AND MARTYRS. In the ninth century the monks busied themselves with collecting, compiling, and reviving biographies and histories of saints and martyrs. Many of the records of monasteries bad been pillaged and destroyed by the ravages of the Northmen, and it was neces- sary and expedient to keep alive the memories of notable saints. Some prominent monks of St. Germains, of Paris, of Notker and St. Gall, devoted themselves to this task, and many narratives, genea- logies, and legends were rewritten, embellished, and invented, so as to add to the glory of the Church. In the following century, at a Roman Council in 993, much discussion arose as to the holiness of TJlric, who had died twenty years previously, and of whom many miracles were related, and it was agreed that such as he deserved the veneration of the world, and were true mediators between Christ and mankind. This was said to be the first instance of canonisation, a mode of certifying that a saint was to be held in reverence throughout all Christendom. This mode of canonising was at first used by metropolitans, but in 1153 Pope Alexander III. declared that henceforth the Pope alone was to exercise this impe- rial power. THE CHRISTIAN LEGENDS. Milman says : " That some of the Christian legends were delibe- rate forgeries can scarcely be questioned. The principle of pious fraud appeared to justify this mode of working on the popular mind ; it was admitted and avowed. To deceive into Christianity was so valuable a service as to hallow deceit itself. But the largest portion was probably the natural birth of that imaginative excitement, which quickens its day-dreams and nightly visions into reality. The Christian lived in a supernatural world : the 25 S86 ooioosiTiis or oBusftAK wrnxxt^ noUoik of tbft lAyixA powwi th« p«rp«tual mtM^Brenoo of tlio d«i^, the ftg«M|]r of ibo ooodlUms in^iaiUo bomgs whioh hoirorod ofor mioikmd ivm so strongly improased upon tho boUof , that wwf oztiMfdiiiiury Mid aUnost OTwy ordmiuiy rnddont booM&e iL intti^ oifory iAWMd omotum % SDgswtioik oithor of a good or Mi OTil spint ▲ inythio poriod wm tkas grttdiMUj farmed, in iMt^ roiai^ moltod into ntblo Mid mirontion unoonsdoosly tro5> pMSftd on tho provinoo of liktoiy* This in^ontion h«d y^j omIj m ttsslf looso in tho sporloiM go^pok or Mooonts of Uio tivos tf iho Saviour Mid His AposUes, ^oh wore diiofly oompoBod Mtiong or r«itlior «Minst tho Moto wkli^ woio less sorumiKMe in tMr vonoMktion for tho aiotod books. Tbo livw of St Antonr bj AtbMi%siuS| Mkd of BilMion by J«roino> mo tho prototypss of tM (XHiuU^ss biographies of saints, Mid with a strong outlino of ttiith beoamo impoisonations of tho fssling, tho opinions^ tho boM of thotimA.** BOW UfiOmiMI iLHB WIULOLn QAOW, Tbrq^oMBiada r^Iatos that a o«rtain woman boing dosiroai «t risliig a low hours bsfbro dawn» and not finding any firo undtr th<$ ash«B, ssnt hor ssrrant out with a oandlo to ^ a Hght. Tho ssrvant going fHnn houss to houss, nowhsro found any firo. At kngthsMpvrosiTedalauipbttraingina^uxoh. ShooaUodtotho SMristan who w;».<( $%le,n()() hh-h I-.i mi.,| n.gM.inHr him, n.iid \\>- \>\.i\<'\ i" In n.-iih.n.il .N iiic hni ■■.,\ i,.. llHHiHl.lMUM?. Hn li;i'l, Im.'.m .1, ..in.' <'liii lim im In :miii., •,\1m. foil on l.hrir Th. :nMl |.i.,v.-.| lo ;i <;m,| uni ii.,'m, Io 1,,,,,^ v.i,. 1, Huddonly lli<«iv J- -■, mlrd hom (1.- l.v -n Imn Ml,. I 1,1 I |, :, inOHt oool .11, d I'll"' liiii^ niin, ImH on iIm' < noiny lin.il nn .i-d uiiJi li^ld/llinf^, ill, iiiiiiK I, (linl Im ni i,\^,■,■ \,it r< \ . iu\ l.lmt. ii him ( |.c,((ii( (jod hiul ild,ri I". ( (I II re I liM\ III III I.I' ..,,, 'i'l,.' . I,, >uy vn.m- put to ni;dil. W I,. 1. loM |„. .M.u.l.d lull (oi.r.ihMii in ll„ .■ pOOplo CMlir,] ('liii li:,i, h I | ,. i :p K . • ii I I iim \,y I linr | .1 :. \ , i (l,.y nllOldd jil'"' IMC Mill. III.. 11,1 • I {M . il iMii :,";,ii,l I, nil A l, TIIK TIIKIIAN LKOION. In Min liiiK^ r.r I)i...l<(i:in, wIm. di.-d .'U .'l, |.nrt of tllO liOIDaii artiiy coi, i i 'I ..I ., 'Milin«- .,i,'l pi.i-, An i n, ., .hii,;' i..v,,,i.l r'.Hil on gervice agaitiHb I-Im* ( 'liri,Ml,m.iiM, l-li<'y riM-juiij)i'd i)n I Im- I,;iI.. nf ( Ii th v.i ; and wh(^n onlcsi-cd to join in tli(< HJuuificrH (,o Mi< -.,.1 , ii,, xJm,|m legion, vvilli Mm ii- «• .iiiin.i ndd M;iiii Ic , r. fu: , d (.. <.l., y .,i (,, li-lil, agn,inHt IIhii- |.||.,\\ ( 'In i I i.n, . Tlic |';i,i|.,,.m, I„ ni," -m ;.;'.m|, ordcf.'d (,||C1U l,(. I»0 drcii.i.il.Ml, in.d liny llinii;.||l (In, ||,c Iii/'Im ( liononr, and vied willi ' ;h'Ii oIIki in I., ni" cl.clid ;i (I,, (ii ( vi(;tiinH. Sl-ill rcl'ii ni" I||. \ u,m' nrdcr, .1 ,i .c.n.l lim. I., I,. d('(!iinat,«'d, anJ ll '1,1 ., I IlirtI/ Olll l>l'«'Uir«-li." ■nil; DivrNrNO-iioi). Tlicro WUH long cun< iiL u tradition tlxat oh Mobch and Aaron 388 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. had a rod, so there still existed persons who could divine the inscrutable by means of a rod of a particular tree and shape, some said the hazel. It was efficacious to discover hidden trea- sures, veins of precious metal, springs of water, thefts, and murders. In the fifteenth century, Basil Valentine, a monk, described the general use of the divining-rod. In 1659 a Jesuit writer said that this rod was used in every town of Germany to discover mines and springs. In 1692 one Jacques Aylmar asto- nished Europe by his marvellous discoveries in tracking thieves and murderers, and his services were sought by corporations and high officers of state. The circumstances were related by three eye-witnesses who vouched for the truth. At last a plot was laid for Aylmar, and it was believed he was proved to be an impostor. Some individuals have professed to use like powers, and have made singular discoveries, particularly one Parangue at Marseilles in 1760, and one Jenny Leslie, a Scotch girl, about the same date. ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. Saint Greorge of Cappadocia was an early Christian of high position. In the reign of Diocletian, when the edict of that Emperor against the Christians was published, stimulated by a Divine zeal he tore the paper to pieces, treating it as infamous. For this act he was put to a death of horrible torture on April 23rd, 303. There is much mystery about the identity and the mode of death of the saint. The account in later ages which was given was, that he was first thrust with spears, but that they snapped like straw when they touched him. He was next bound to a wheel set with knives and swords, but an angel kept him harmless. He was then buried in a pit of quicklime, but that could not kill him. And his limbs were next broken, he was made to run in red-hot iron shoes, then scourged and made to drink poison — all of which cruelties were harmless ; and at the end of seven days he restored an ox to life in testimony of his miraculous help. But he was at last murdered. His story was made into a legend, in which he was represented as slaying a dragon which infested a lake and had devoured sheep and alarmed the natives, who were told that unless the king's daughter was thrown to the beast it could not be got rid of. This step was about to be taken by the despairing king, when George, passing that way, heard of the difficulty and offered at once to save the young princess and kill the monster, which he did by making the sign of the cross and dexterously using his lance. Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 389 Temples and churches and monasteries were dedicated to the victorious knight in many countries. The Crusaders, including our Eichard I., all invoked his protection. In 1348 Edward III. founded St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and used the saint's name when besieging Calais and routing the French. The effect of St. George's name was so marked that he was adopted as the patron saint of England in lieu of Edward the Confessor. In 1349 the Order of St. George was instituted. In 1545 the saint's day was made a red-letter day, with a proper collect, epistle, and gospel, in the services of the Church. Many of the great painters have shown their skill in representing the legend. ST. CHRISTINA AND THE MILLSTONE. St. Christina, who died 295, was the daughter of a noble who lived near Lake Bolseno, and was early a convert to the Chiistian faith. One day, looking on a crowd of poor people whose wants she could not supply, she broke her father's silver and gold idols and divided them among the beggars. He was enraged and beat her and threw her into a dungeon, but angels came and healed her wounds. He next was determined to drown her, and fastened her to a millstone and threw both into the lake ; but angels held up tho stone and clothed her with white garments and led her safely to land. He then thought there must be witchcraft, and threw her into a fiery furnace ; but she remained there five days unharmed, singing praises to God. Her head was then shaved, and she was dragged to do obeisance at the temple of Apollo ; but she had no sooner looked at the idol than it fell down before her. At seeing these things her father became so terrified that he died. Next the governor ordered her tongue to be cut out, but she only sang more loudly and sweetly. Serpents and reptiles became harmless as doves before her ; but at last she was shot dead with arrows, and angels waited and carried her pure spirit to heaven. This saint with the millstone is often painted to decorate the churches in Italy. ST. CHRISTOPHER THE MARTYR SEEKING A KING OF KINGS. Christopher the martyr was a gigantic negro, who in early life had a fancy that he would never be happy till he took service under the most powerful prince in the whole world. He took means first to seek out King Maximus, who, on seeing the stature and strength of his petitioner, at once employed him. One day the King's minstrel recited a lay in which the devil was often 390 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. mentioned, and each time the King, who was a Christian, made the sign of the cross on his forehead. This astonished Christopher, who after many questions elicited the reason, which was this — that it was done for fear of the devil. Christopher from this at once concluded that there must be a still more powerful prince than Maximus, and he could not rest till he sought out that prince, the devil. He passed through deserts in search; and one day seeing a great crowd of warriors, with one teriibly fierce at their head, he made bold to say, when questioned where he was going, that he was seekiijg the devil. The warrior told him that the devil was before him ; so Christopher at once was engaged to serve him. One day as they were journeying they came to a cross at the wayside, and the devil made a circuit so as not to pass the spot, and afterwards rejoined his troop farther on. This made Christopher ask the reason, and it was told him that there had been a man named Christ hung upon that cross whom the devil feared greatly. Christopher again came to the conclusion that Christ must after all be the greatest prince, and he set off to seek for Christ. He met a hermit, who told him to fast and pray ; but Christopher said that these things did not suit him, and he wanted some easier service. So the hermit told him that as he was tall and strong he should dwell near a great river not far off and carry over the passengers. He did so ; and one night a little boy called on him for help, and Christopher took him on his shoulders, when the river was in flood, but the child proved heavy as lead, and on reaching the shore Christopher said he felt as if the whole world had been on his back — it was a wonder he had got over safe. The boy answered that Christopher had no cause to marvel, for he had just been carrying, not the world, but Him who created the world, for that He was Christ the Lord. In token of this Christ told Christopher to plant his staff in the earth, and it would immediately bud and bear fruit ; and then Christ vanished. The staff was planted, and in the morning it bore dates like a palm tree ; and thus Christopher knew it was Christ whom he had carried. After these things Christopher went to the city of Ammon, where he saw Christians tortured, and he sought to comfort them, saying he would avenge their injury were he not a Christian. His habit of praying was reported, and he was taken before King Dagnus, who on seeing such a giant as Christopher fell to the ground for fear. But steps were taken to throw Christopher into prison, and the officers beat and scourged him, put him on a bed of red-hot iron, burnt pitch under him, and at last with three hundred archers shot him to death. All this time Christopher Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 391 prayed, and a light shone from his countenance, and his relics began to work miracles. THE HALLELUJAH VICTORY IN WALES. In 430 St. German and Lupus were in Britain preaching to the Britons, and the Sjtxons joined the Picts in attacking the former in Flintshire near Mold. A deputation went from the Britons to German and Lupus, then preaching, to ask them for help. The samts comphed, and were made generals of the British forces. Every day they preached to the soldiers, and on Easter- day many were in course of being baptised, when the approach of the enemy was announced. German saw that the enemy would come through a valley surrounded with high hills. He posted his army on these hills. As soon as the enemy entered the valley, a loud shout of Hallelujah resounded in the mountains, and passed from hill to hill, gathering sound as it re-echoed. Consternation filled the enemy ; and as if the rocks were ready to fall and crush them, seized with a general panic, they took to flight, leaving their arms, baggage, and even clothes behind them. A large number perished in the river Alen. The Britons, who had remained motionless, now came forth to collect the spoils of a victory which all acknowledged to be the gift of Heaven. Thus did Faith obtain a triumph without slaughter with two bishops as leaders. The place of this battle is known to this day as the Field of German, and is about a mile from Mold. Gregory the Great, three hundred years later, referred to it as a wonderful example of the lust of war being tamed by the simple word of God's priests. THE PROPHECIES OF MERLIN. Merlin lived about 447, a contemporary of St. Germ anus, Bishop of Auxerre. He crossed over to England twice, and fought against the Anglo-Saxons, then Pagans, and defeated them in the Hallelujah victory. Merlin showed Vortigern, King of Britain, in mystic language the future history of his country, describing events as arising out of a contest between red worms and white worms, lions and dragons fighting against each other, and other allegories no longer worth repeating. But Orderic, who lived six hundred years later, narrates that Merhn's prophecies had come true. Indeed, all the intervening generations for some reason or other devoutly believed that Merlin was inspired, and commentaries were written expressly to demonstrate the truth revealed by that prophet. 392 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE DEVIL SHOWING ST. AUGUSTINE A BOOK. In a painting at the back of the stalls of Carlisle Cathedral, which was the only cathedral in England, the episcopal chapel of which belonged to Augustinians, there is a representation of scenes from the life of St. Augustine of Canterbury, and one of the devil with a book. The legend is, that the devil one day appeared to St. Augustine carrying a book. The saint asked what the book contained, and was answered, " The sins of men." He then adjured the devil to show him any passage in which his own sins were recorded, and found that the only entry against him was, that on one occasion he had neglected to repeat the office of complin. Thereupon, commanding the devil to await his return, Augustine entered a neighbouring church and repeated that office. The entry in the book at once disappeared, and the devil greeted St. Augustine as he came out of the church thus : " You have shamefully deceived me. I regret I ever showed you my book, for with your prayers you have wiped out that sin of yours." And so the devil disappeared in high dudgeon. THE WANDERING JEW. The legend of the Wandering Jew is said to be based on Matt. xvi. 28 and Mark ix. 1. The earliest account seems not older than Matthew Paris, in 1228, who says it was related to the monks at St. Albans by a visitor. It was this : that when Jesus was dragged to the Crucifixion and reached the door of Cartaphilus, a porter in Pilate's service, he impiously struck Jesus, telling Him in mockery to go quicker, whereon Jesus gravely replied, " I am going, and you will wait till I return." This meant that the man would not die till the Second Coming. He was afterwards baptised and called Joseph. He is a grave and circumspect and taciturn man, who, when asked, but not unless asked, will give details as to the Crucifixion not found in the Scriptures. He never smiles. He says he sinned through ignorance. He once assisted a weaver in Bohemia to find some hidden treasure. He has been met with in all countries. He eats and drinks little. When ofiered money, he only accepts a small sum of fourpence. He once. appeared at Stamford in 1658; his coat was purple, and buttoned down to the waist. About 1700 an impostor attracted attention in England as being the Wandering Jew. Other im- postors appeared in England in 1818, 1824, and 1830. Some say the Wild Huntsman of the Harz Mountains is the same person, and cursed with perpetual life and with the desire to hunt the red-deer for evermore. Chap, xii ] SACRED LEGENDS. 393 ST. SABAS AND THE LION. St. Sabas, a renowned patriarch of the monks of Palestine, who died 532, when a child went into a monastery and showed a genius for his work. One day, while at work in the garden, he saw a tree loaded with fair and beautiful apples, and gathered one with an intention to eat it. But reflecting that this was a temptation of the devil, he threw the apple on the ground and trod upon it. Moreover, to punish himself more perfectly, he made a vow never to eat any apples as long as he lived. At eighteen he went to visit the holy places at Jerusalem, and became member of a monastery about twelve miles from Jerusalem, and as a luxury often asked leave to go and remain in a cave, where he prayed and lived by basket-making. In one of these caves he met a holy hermit, who had lived thirty-eight years without seeing any one, feeding on wild herbs. Once Sabas went into a great cave to pray, and a huge lion happened to make it his den. At midnight the beast came in, and, finding the guest, dared not to touch him, but gently plucked his garments, as if to draw him out. The saint was not terrified, but leisurely went on to read aloud the midnight psalms. The lion went out ; and when the holy man had finished matins, came in again and pulled his clothes gently as before. The saint spoke to the beast and said the place was big enough to hold them both. The lion at those words departed and returned thither no more. Certain thieves found Sabas in this cave, but he converted them to a penitential life. Others joined him and turned it into a monastery ; but he pre- ferred to retire elsewhere and enjoy the sweetness of perfect solitude. He was afterwards sent to Constantinople to help with his advice in restoring peace to the Church. He died at ninety- one, an example of admirable sanctity. THEOPHILUS AND HIS COMPACT WITH THE DEVIL. About 538 a priest named Theophilus lived in Cilicia, and on the decease of the bishop he was chosen by acclamation to fill the vacancy. But his deep humility urged him to refuse the office. Slanders circulated against him, and the bishop investigated them, found him guilty, and deprived him. Being unable to clear his reputation, he consulted a necromancer, who took him at mid- night to a place where four cross-roads met, and conjured up Satan, who promised to reinstate Theophilus and clear his character. But it was first necessary that Theophilus should sign away his soul with a pen dipped in his own blood, and to abjure Christ and 394 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the Holy Mother. Next day the bishop sent for Theophilus and admitted the sentence was wrong, and asked pardon for being so misled, and restored Theophilus. The populace also welcomed his return. But Theophilus found no rest for his conscience. He prayed long and often without a ray of comfort. At last he fasted forty days. The Virgin at the end of that time appeared and assured him of forgiveness ; and one morning, on awaking, he found the accursed deed which sold his soul lying on his breast. He rose and went to church full of joy and exultation, made a public confession, and showed to the people the compact signed with blood. He craved absolution from the bishop and had the deed burned. He then took the Sacrament, and soon after died of a fever. He has ever since been treated as a saint. THE HOLY GRAIL. The story of the Sangreal was one of the traditions of King Arthur's knights. When Christ was transj&xed with the spear and the blood flowed out, Joseph of Arimathaea collected it in the vessel from which the Saviour had eaten the Last Supper. Joseph was thrown into prison and left to die of hunger, but he lived forty years, being nourished and invigorated by the sacred vessel. Titus released Joseph, who started with the vessel for Britain, and before his death he confided it to a nephew. Others say the Grail was preserved in heaven till a race of heroes grew up fit to protect it. A temple was founded by some king to hold the Grail, the model being the Temple at Jerusalem ; and the vessel gave oracles, and the sight of it inspired perpetual youth and made its guai*- dians incapable of wounds or hurt. The knights who watched the Grail were pure, and whenever a bell was rung one was bound to go forth and fight for the right. Endless variations of the legend appear in different countries. THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS. The legend of the seven sleepers was told in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Emperor Decius, having gone to Ephesus, com- manded all the Christians to worship idols or die. Seven young men refused, and being accused and reprieved, they sold all their goods and determined to conceal themselves in a cave, and fell asleep. Lest they should be hiding in the cave, the mouth of it was blocked up with stones. After the lapse of three hundred and fifty years, these stones being removed for a new building, the sleepers awoke ; but on returning to Ephesus and searching Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 395 for their parents, and finding no trace of them, and yet seeing crosses erected everywhere, they were confounded. One of them having offered a coin for bread, was taken up as a sorcerer who had discovered hidden treasure and concealed it. But when the governor and the bishop examined into the story, the bishop turned to the governor and said, "The hand of God is here." They visited the cave, and saw the other six sleepers, all fresh and radiant. They said they were kept alive to prove the truth of the Resurrection, and then died. William of Malmesbury says these sleepers had lain all the time on their right side. LITTLE BLIND HERVE, THE CHILD MINSTREL. When the British emigrants in the sixth century went to con- vert the inhabitants of Armorica, in Brittany, they took also a bard named Hyvernion, who married a female bard ; and these two had a little blind child named Herve, who, when an orphan at the age of seven, went about the country singing hymns with the voice of an angel. He became a universal favourite, and people wished him to be made a priest. But he would not leave a little monastery of his own which he had founded in a forest, and where he had a school and a church and taught children's songs. This church was managed by a child cousin of his own, a little girl named Christina, who used to be compared to a little white dove among the crows. Three days before his death Herve fell into a trance, in which he saw visions of choirs of angels, and of his father and mother among the saints of heaven. The third day of his illness he told Christina to make his bed with a stone for a pillow and ashes for a couch, as he was anxious that the black angel should find him in that state. The little girl, on com- prehending that his end was near, begged him to ask God to let her accompany him, and the prayer was granted, for when he died she threw herself at his feet and died too immediately. Ever since then the little bhnd monk is often heard singing his little hymns, -and he is the patron of all the mendicant singers of Brittany. The same legend says that his mother used to be so proud of her minstrel boy as to think that, if there were a thousand singing together, she could still distinguish little Herve's voice among them. THE SUPPER OF ST. GREGORY. St. Gregory was in his early days a monk in St. Andrew's at Bome, though afterwards he became Pope and sent St. Augustine 396 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to preach to the Saxons at Canterbury. When at St. Andrew's a beggar once came to the gate and was reheved, and he came again and again till all the monk's means were exhausted. At last Gregory ordered the silver porringer which his mother Sylvia had given to him to be handed to the mendicant. When Gregory became Pope, he used to entertain every evening to supper twelve poor men, and one night he was surprised to notice that there were thirteen seated at the table. He called to the steward and said he had given orders that there should be twelve only. The steward looked and counted them over and said, " Holy father, there are surely twelve only ! " Gregory said nothing more, but at the end of the meal he called to the thirteenth and unbidden guest, " Who art thou 1 " The answer was, " I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve, and my name is the Wonderful, and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt ask of God." Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel, or, as some say, our Lord Himself. This legend is often represented in pictures, Christ sitting as a pilgrim with the other guests. Another legend represents St. Gregory officiating at the Mass where some one was near who doubted the real presence ; and the Saviour in person descended upon the altar surrounded by the instruments of His passion in answer to a prayer addressed by the saint. ST. GREGORY RELEASING THE SOUL OF TRAJAN. The doctrine of purgatory was said to arise from the feelings expressed by St. Gregory at the following incident in the life of Trajan. That Emperor was once hastening at the head of his legions, when a poor widow flung herself in his way, crying aloud for justice and vengeance over the innocent blood of her son, killed by the son of the Emperor. Trajan promised to do her justice when he returned from his expedition. The widow then exclaimed, "But, sire, if you are killed in battle, who then is to do me justice ? " Trajan answered, " My successor." She then retorted, " But what will it signify to you. Emperor, if it is left to some other person to do me justice? Is it not better that you should do this honourable action and receive the reward yourself ? " Trajan, moved by her piety and her reasoning, then alighted, and having examined into the matter, he gave up to her his own son in place of her son, and also bestowed on her likewise a liberal pension. Now it came to pass that one day, as Gregory was meditating in his daily walk, this action of the Emperor Trajan came into his recollection, and he wept bitterly to think that a man so just Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 397 should be condemned as a heathen to eternal punishment. And entering a church, he prayed most fervently that the soul of the good Emperor might be released from torment. And a voice said to him : " I have granted thy prayer, and I have spared the soul of Trajan for thy sake ; but because thou hast supplicated for one vi^hom the justice of God had already condemned thoushalt choose one of two things : either thou shalt endure for two days the fires of purgatory, or thou shalt be sick and infirm for the remainder of thy life." Gregory chose the latter, and this accounted for the many bodily infirmities of the saint during the rest of his Hfe. LEGEND OF ST. BEGA. In Cumberland, on a promontory of the Irish Sea, stood the monastery of St. Bees, named after St. Bega, who was one of the nuns under the great abbess St. Hilda of Whitby. St. Bega was the daughter of an Irish king, the most beautiful woman of her time, and was sought in marriage by a prince of Norway. But she had vowed to live a nun, and had received from an angel a bracelet marked with the sign of the cross, as the seal of her high calling. On the night before her wedding day, while her father's retainers were carousing, she escaped alone with nothing but the bracelet, and in a skiff landed on the western shore of Northumbria, and took refuge in a cell in a wood, and then joined St. Hilda till she could build a monastery of her own. During the building she prepared with her own hands the food of the masons and waited on them. Her bracelet was long preserved as a relic. She was celebrated for her austerity, her fervour, and her kindness to the poor, and remained the patron saint for six hundred years after her death of the north-west coast of England. ST. FRUCTUOSUS AND THE DOE. Fructuosus, who died about 665, displayed when a mere child a genius for monkery. When a boy he had already fixed on a site for a monastery ; and when he had carried out his enterprise and gathered a large body of followers, and was praying in a secluded spot in a forest, a labourer took him for a fugitive slave, and put a rope round his neck and brought him to a place where he was recognised. Another time he was wandering covered with a goat skin, and a huntsman thinking him a wild beast shot an arrow at him, and only then discovered that it was a man perched on the top of a rock with his hands extended in prayer. On another day a hind pursued by the hunters threw itself into the folds of 398 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the monk's tunic, and he was so pleased at this mark of confidence that he took the wild creature home and treated it kindly. They soon became mutually attached. The simple doe followed him everywhere, slept at the foot of his bed and bleated incessantly if he was out of her sight. He tried to send her back to the woods, but she soon returned to his cell and haunted it as before. At last a brutal fellow, who was supposed to have no goodwill to the monks, one day killed her while Fructuosus was on a journey. On his return his eyes searched in vain for a welcome from his faithful friend, and when informed of her death he fell prostrate on the floor of the chui-ch, quivering with agony. The bystanders thought he was asking of God some punishment for this brutality. Soon after the murderer fell sick, and begged urgently this monk to go to his aid. The monk avenged himself nobly ; he went and healed his greatest enemy, and at the same time made him repent of his sins. POPE JOAN (a.d. 854). The story that there was once a female Pope, who succeeded Leo in 854, and reigned two years and five months, was first told three hundred years later by a chronicler named Stephen, a French Dominican, who died in 1261. She concealed her sex, but on her way to the Lateran she was delivered of a child in the street, and died shortly afterwards. Others say the child was born as she was celebrating High Mass. The story was embel- lished as time advanced. But it has been in modern times treated as a fable devised and kept up by the Protestant reformers in order to discredit the Papacy. Some added that Joan was the daughter of an English missionary, and fell in love with a monk ; that she dressed herself in male attire in order to pursue her studies, became celebrated for her learning, and at last arrived at the high dignity of Pope. Others say she was an Athenian woman celebrated for her learning, who had come to Rome as an adven- turess. Others say she was a native of Mayence, who fell in love and went in man's attire to Rome, and after many adventures succeeded to the highest dignity. BISHOP HATTO devoured BY RATS. Bishop Hatto had a castle on a Httle rock in the Rhine. In 970 a famine existed in Germany, and the famishing people asked the bishop for help, and he invited them to go into a large barn. He set fire to the barn, and they were all consumed. Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 399 Soon afterwards an army of rats collected and moved towards the palace, and on seeing them the bishop fled to his tower in the Rhine, thinking they could not follow him. But they swarmed through the river and chmbed up into the holes and windows and ate up the bishop. This story was told for the first time at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and a similar legend is found in the records of Poland and Bavaria. ST. CONRAD SWALLOWING A SPIDER. It is related of St. Conrad, a devout bishop who died in 976, that he was celebrating the Mass on Easter Day, when a great spider dropped into the chalice. The insect might have been taken out and then decently burnt, but out of devotion and respect for the holy mysteries the bishop swallowed the spider, which he vomited up some hours after without receiving any harm. THE PIPER OF HAMELN AND THE RATS. The town of Hameln was infested with rats, which swarmed everywhere and drove the people mad. One day a stranger came saying he was a ratcatcher, and offered to rid the place of the vermin for a sum of money. This was agreed to, and the piper began to pipe, and the rats with a mighty rumbling noise came out of their holes and followed him. The townspeople, on seeing the rats leaving them, repented of the bargain, and refused to pay the money, on the ground of the piper being a sorcerer. The piper then waxed wroth and threatened revenge, and soon after he came again into the town and blew his pipe, whereon all the children rushed out and followed him towards a side of the mountain, when they all vanished through an opening, and none of them were ever seen again. There were one hundred and thirty children. The street through which the poor children were decoyed is called the Bungen Strasse, and to this day no music is ever tolerated in it. LADY GODIVA RELIEVING COVENTRY. It is related by Matthew of Westminster that Count Leofric, who died in 1057, and his noble and pious wife Godiva, had founded a monastery in Coventry, had established monks in it, and endowed it so abundantly with estates and treasures of various kinds that there was not found such a quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones in any monastery in all England as there was at that time in that monastery. The countess had on an occasion 400 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. wished in a most pious spirit to deliver the city of Coventry from a burdensome and shameful slavery, and often entreated the count her husband with earnest prayers to deliver the town from that slavery. And when the count reproached her for persevering in asking to no purpose for a thing which he disliked, he at last charged her never for the future to mention this subject to him. She, however, prompted by female persistence, continued her entreaties, till her husband was provoked, and then taunted her thus : " Mount then your horse naked and ride through the market of the town from end to end, and when you return you shall succeed in your request." The countess replied, " I am willing even to do that if you will give me your permission." And he gave it. Then the countess, beloved of God, on a set day mounted her horse naked, letting her tresses of hair fall, which covered her whole body except her beautiful legs; and when she had finished her journey without being seen by any one, she returned to her husband with joy. He looked on this as a miracle, released the city from slavery, and confirmed the charter with his own seal. THE SACRED FIRE IN THE GREEK CHURCH, A ceremony was long prevalent among the Greek Christians at Jerusalem which resembled the carnival in Rome. On Easter Eve it was pretended that fire descended from heaven into the sacred sepulchre. In order to keep up this illusion, all the lamps were extinguished. The crowd then collected round the sepulchre, some crying " Eleison " and jumping on each other's backs, and throwing dirt about like people at a fair. Some held up their wax tapers, as if imploring the Almighty to send the fire. Then people marched round the sepulchre, some personating the arch- bishops and bishops. At last one entered the sepulchre and pretended his taper had caught fire. The crowd then pressed round to light their tapers at that which first took fire. Great rioting and tomfoolery then succeeded. Some ascribe the origin of this superstition to a real miracle of the same kind which once happened, and it is added that God Almighty being provoked at the irregularities of the Christian Crusaders refused to work the miracle, but at last vouchsafed to do so after fervent supplications. It was said the fire had never descended since the beginning of the twelfth century. Part of the above ceremony consisted in the crowd bringing pieces of linen cloth, said to be marked with a cross by the tapers kindled at the sacred fire ; and these cloths were preserved as winding-sheets and sacred relics. Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 401 SOME SUPERSTITIONS OF THE GREEK CHURCH. The Greeks of the Holy Land all believed as an unquestionable fact that the birds which fly about Jerusalem never sing during Passion Week, but stand motionless and confounded, as if in sorrow. Pilgrims to Jerusalem got certain marks imprinted on their arms with indelible characters, and which they afterwards produced as certificates of their pilgrimage. The Grecian populace asciibed to the waters of the Jordan the supernatural virtue of healing several distempers. The plant known as the rose of Jericho was in their opinion a sure defence against thunder and lightning. They also believed that on Easter Day the lands all round Cairo and the Nile throw up their dead and continue to do so till Ascension Day. PRESTER JOHN. The belief that a great Christian Emperor reigned in Asia arose in the twelfth century. He was called Presbyter Johannes, and had defeated the Mussulmans and was ready to assist the Crusaders. Pope Alexander III. once sent a physician with a letter to this Emperor, but the messenger was never again heard of. The fi -st chronicler who mentioned the existence of this doubtful sovereign was Otto, who wrote at the date 1156, and stated that the Priest John's kingdom was on the farther side of Persia and Armenia, and that he had routed the Persians after a bloody battle. He was supposed to belong to the family of the Magi who visited Christ in His cradle. He wrote a letter in 1165 to various Christian princes, giving details of the splendour of his country and his possessions. He said seventy- two kings paid him tribute, and the body of the holy Apostle Thomas was buried in his country beyond India. His country was the home of the elephant, the griffin, the centaui', the phoenix, giants, pigmies, and nearly all living animals. LORETTO AND THE HOLY COTTAGE OF THE MADONNA. The small city of Loretto, about twenty miles from Ancona, has been for five centuries a popular place of pilgrimage, so called from a grove of laurels in which the Santa Casa is said to have rested. This is the holy cottage which, according to the tradition, was the birthplace of the Virgin, as well as the dwelling of the Holy Family after the flight out of Egypt. The house was held in extraordinary veneration throughout Palestine after the Empress Helena discovered the true cross, and it was conveyed 26 402 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. by angels from Nazareth in 1291 to the coast of Dalmatia, and in 1294 it was suddenly again transported to a gi'ovenear Loretto, and the Virgin appeared in a vision to St. Nicholas of Tolentino to announce its arrival to the faithful. It three times changed its position before settling down, and pilgi-ims soon flocked to visit it. The city is very small, and stands on a hill thi-ee miles from the sea, and it consists chiefly of shops which carry on a great trade in crowns, medals, and pictures of the Madonna di Loretto. The place now swarms with beggars who appeal for charity, while the shrine ghstens with gold and diamonds. The church contains the Santa Casa, which is a small brick house twenty-nine feet long, thirteen feet high, and twelve feet broad, and a humble dwelling of rude workmanship is enclosed in a marble casing adorned with beautiful sculptures. In a niche above the fireplace is the celebrated statue of the Virgin said to have been sculp- tured by St. Luke. The height of this statue is thirty-three inches, and the child fourteen inches. The figures are rude, but are hung with glistening jewels ; and silver lamps are constantly burning before the shrine. There are also three earthen pots here which are said to have belonged to the Holy Family. KING RICHARD I.'s STORY OF AN INGRATE. About 1196 Matthew Paris says that Vitalis, a Venetian noble, who was rich and miserly, went into a forest to hunt for venison for his daughter's marriage feast, and fell into a large pit ciuiningly set for lions, bears, and wolves, out of which escape was impossible. Here he found a Hon and serpent; but as he signed with the cross, neither animal, though fierce and hungry, ventured to attack him. All night he called aloud with lamenta- tions for help, and a poor woodcutter being attracted, went to the pit's mouth and heard the story. Vitalis offered him half of all his propei'ty — namely, five hundi-ed talents — if he would rescue him ; and the woodcutter said he would do so if Vitalis would be as good as his word. A ladder and ropes were brought and let down by the poor peasant, but the lion and serpent eagerly strove to be the first to rush out, and then came Vitalis, who was con- ducted to a place of safety, and being asked where and when the promise would be discharged, told his deliverer to call in four days at his palace in Venice for the money. The peasant went home to dinner, and while sitting at table was surprised to see the lion enter and lay down a dead goat, and then lick his feet. Then came the serpent, and brought a jewel as a present. When the peasant went to claim his money, Vitahs pretended he had never Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 403 seen or heard of the poor man, and ordered the latter to be put out by his servants and cast into prison. But by a sudden spring the peasant managed to escape, and then apphed to the judges of the city. The judges at fii-st hesitated ; but when the peasant took witnesses, and visited the Hon and serpent, both of which fawned on him, the justices were satisfied, and compelled Vitalis to fulfil his promise and pay compensation. This story used to be told by King Richard I. to expose the conduct of ungrateful men. ST. FRANCIS AND HIS LOVE OF BIRDS. One day St. Francis met in his road a young man on his way to Siena to sell some doves which he had caught in a snare. And Francis said to him, " My good young man ! these are the birds to whom the Scripture compares those who are pure and faithful before God ; do not kill them, I beseech thee, but give them rather to me." And when they were given to him, he put them in his bosom and carried them to his convent at Ravacciano, where he made for them nests, and fed them every day, until they became so tame as to eat from his hand. And the young man had also his recompense, for he became a friar and lived a holy life from that day forth. St. Francis also loved the larks, and pointed them out to his disciples as always singing pi-aises to the Creator. A lark once brought her brood of nestlings to his cell to be fed from his hand. He saw that the strongest of these nestlings tyrannised over the others, pecking at them, and taking more than his due share of the food. Whereupon the good saint rebuked the creature, saying, " Thou unjust and insatiable ! thou shalt die miserably, and the greediest animals shall refuse to eat thy flesh." And so it happened, for the creature drowned itself through its impetuosity in drinking ; and when it was thrown to the cats they would not touch it. On St. Francis returning from Syria, in passing through the Venetian Lagune, vast numbers of birds were singing, and he said to his companion, " Our sisters the birds are praising their Creator ; let us sing with them." And he began the sacred service. But the warbling of the birds interrupted them ; therefore St. Francis said to them, " Be silent until we have also praised God," and they ceased their song and did not resume it till he had given them permission. On another occasion, preaching at Alviano, St. Francis could not make himself heard for the chirping of the swallows, which were at that time building their nests. Pausing, therefore, in his sermon, he said, *' My sisters, you have talked enough ; it is time that I should have my turn. Be silent and listen to the Word of God." And 404 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. they were silent immediately. On another occasion, as St. Francis was sitting with his disciple Leo, he felt himself pene- trated with joy and consolation by the song of the nightingale, and he desired his friend Leo to raise his voice and sing the praises of God in company with the bird. But Leo excused him- self by reason of his bad voice ; upon which Francis himself began to sing, and when he stopped the nightingale took up the strain ; and thus they sang alternately until the night was far advanced and Francis was obliged to stop, for his voice failed. Then he con- fessed that the little bird had vanquished him ; he called it to him, thanked it for its song, and gave it the remainder of his bread ; and having bestowed his blessing upon it, the creature flew away. A grasshopper was wont to sit and sing on a fig tree near the cell of the man of God, and oftentimes by her singing she excited him also to sing the praises of the Creator. And one day he called her to him, and she flew upon his hand ; and Francis said to her, " Sing, my sister, and praise the Lord thy Creator." So she began her song immediately, nor ceased till at her father's com- mand she flew back to her own place ; and she remained eight days there, coming and singing at his behest. At length the man of God said to his disciples, " Let us dismiss our sister ; enough that she has cheered us with her song and excited us to the praise of God these eight days." So being permitted, she immediately flew away, and was seen no more. When Francis found worms or insects in his road, he was careful not to tread on them. He would even remove them from the path, lest they should be crushed by others. One day, in passing through a meadow, he perceived a little lamb feeding all alone in the midst of a flock of goats. He was moved with pity, and said, "Thus did our mild Saviour stand alone in the midst of the Jews and the Pharisees." He would have bought the lamb, but had nothing in the world but his tunic. A charitable man, however, passing by and seeing his grief, bought the lamb and gave it to him. When he was at Rome in 1222, he had with him a pet lamb which accompanied him everywhere; and in pictures of St. Francis a lamb is fre- quently introduced. ST. FRANCIS AND THE WOLF. Another story of St. Francis is, that finding the neighbourhood of Gubbio was held in terror by the ravages of a wolf, he went out fearlessly to meet the beast, and when found he addressed the latter as " Brother Wolf," and brought him to a sense of his wickedness in slaying not only brute animals but human creatures. Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 405 And Francis promised that if his friend Wolf would desist from such practices the citizens of Gubbio would maintain him. Brother Wolf, as a token of this sensible overture, put his paw into the saint's right hand and accompanied him to the town, where the people gladly ratified the preliminaries of the treaty. The wolf spent the rest of his days in innocence and competence, and when he died in his old age he was lamented by all Gubbio. " ST. FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS," BY A CONTEMPORARY. Koger of Wendover, a contemporary of St. Fi'ancis, in noticing his death in 1227, thus describes him: "This servant of God, Francis, built an oratory in ExDme, and, like a noble warrior, engaged in battle against evil spirits and carnal vices. When the Roman people despised him, he said, ' I have preached the Gospel of the Redeemer to you. I therefore call on Him to bear witness to your desolation, and go forth to preach the Gospel of Christ to the brute beasts, and to the birds of the air, that they may hear the life-giving words of God and be obedient to them.' He then went out of the city, and in the suburbs found crows sitting among the dead bodies, kites, magpies, and other birds flying about in the air, and said to them, ' I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified, and whose preaching the wretched Romans have despised, to come to me and hear the Word of God in the name of Him who created you and preserved Noah in the ark from the waters of the deluge.' All that flock of birds then drew near and surrounded him ; and having ordered silence, all kinds of chirping were hushed, and those birds listened to the words of the man of God for the space of half a day without moving from the spot, and the whole time looked in the face of the preacher. This wonderful circumstance was dis- covered by the Romans passing and repassing to and from the city ; and when the same had been repeated by the man of God to the assembled birds, the clergy and crowds of people went out and brought back the man of God with great reverence. And he then softened their obdurate hearts. His fame spread abroad, and many of noble birth, following his example, left the world and its vices. The order of the brethren soon increased and scattered the seed of the Word of God and the dew of the heavenly doctrine." BONA VENTURA ON " ST. FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS." Bonaventura, in his Life of St. Francis, thus explains the circumstance which Giotto the painter made the basis of his 406 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. painting : " Drawing nigh to Bevagno, Francis came to a certain place where a vast multitude of birds of different kinds were gathered together, whom seeing, the man of God ran hastily to the spot, and saluting them, as if they had been his fellows in reason (while they all turned round and bent their heads in attentive expectation), he admonished them, saying, ' Brother birds, greatly are ye iDound to praise your Creator who clotheth you with feathers, and giveth you wings to fly with and a pure air to breathe in, and who careth for you who have so little care for yourselves.' While he thus spake the little birds, marvellously commoved, began to spread their wings, stretch forth their necks, and open their beaks, attentively gazing upon him. And he, glowing in the spirit, passed through the midst of them, and even touched them with his robe, yet not one stirred from his place until the man of God gave them leave, when with his blessing and at the sign of the cross they all flew away. These things saw his companions who waited for him on the road ; to whom returning, the simple and pure-minded man began greatly to blame himself for having never hitherto preached to the birds." One of the pictures by Giotto in the church of Assisium represents this legend, also a small picture in the Louvre at Paris. ST. ANTONY PREACHING TO THE FISHES (A.D. 1231). St. Antony of Padua being come to the city of Rimini, where were many heretics and unbelievers, he was heard to say, that he might as well preach to the fishes, for they would more readily listen to him. The heretics stopped their ears and refused to listen to him ; whereupon he repaired to the seashore, and stretching forth his hand, he said, " Hear me, ye fishes, for these unbelievers refuse to listen." And truly it was a marvellous thing to see how an infinite number of fishes, great and little, lifted their heads above water and listened attentively to the sermon of the saint. The saint addressed them, and part of his sermon was as follows : "It is God that has furnished for you the world of waters with lodgings, chambers, caverns, grottoes, and such magnificent retire- ments as are not to be met with in the seats of kings or in the palaces of princes. You have the water for your dwelling, a clear, transparent element, brighter than crystal. You can see from its deepest bottom everything that passes on its surface. You have the eyes of a lynx or of an argus. The colds of winter and the heats of summer are equally incapable of molesting you. A serene or a clouded sky is indifferent to you. Let the earth abound in fruits, or be cursed with scarcity, it has no influence Chap, xii.] SACRED LEGENDS. 407 on your welfare. You live secure in rains and thunders, light- nings and earthquakes. You have no concern in the blossoms of spring or in the glowings of summer, in the fruits of autumn or in the frosts of winter. You are not solicitous about hours or days or months or years, the variableness of the weather or the change of seasons. You alone were preserved among all the species of creatures that perished in the universal deluge. For these things you ought to be grateful ; and since you cannot employ your tongues in the praises of your Benefactor, make at least some reverence — bow yourselves at His name." He had no sooner done speaking than the fish bowed their heads and moved their bodies, as if approving what had been spoken by St. Antony. Heretics who had listened were converted, and the saint gave his benediction to the fishes and dismissed them. ST. KOCH AND THE SUFFERERS FROM PLAGUE. St. Ex)ch was born of noble and wealthy parents at Montpellier in 1280. He was seized early with a consuming passion to render help to the sick and the poor, and abandoned all his wealth to become a pilgi'im. He was eager to minister to the most helpless and to the plague-stricken. He was attacked during this mission with fever and ulcers, and crawled into the street; but being driven away for fear of contagion, he retired to the woods to die. There help came to him. He had a faithful little dog, and it went every day to the city and brought back to him a loaf of bread. An angel also came and dressed his wounds. He gloried in his sufferings ; and at last, haggard and wasted, he returned to his own country and estate ; but his relatives did not know him, and he was cast into prison and died. A bright supernatural light glowed around his dead body, and then it was discovered who he was. He died aged thirty-three. A hundred years later his great deeds were remembered, and his efiigy was used to save Constance from the plague. The Venetians, when plague-stricken in 1485, also coveted his relics, and a plot to steal them was contrived. One night a conspirator carried off the saint's body from Montpellier; and the doge, senate, and clergy of Venice, with inexpressible joy, went forth to meet the pious thief, and they built a magnificent church of St. Roch to contain the priceless relics. He and his dog were often painted by the great painters, and Rubens got a large sum for one of his great pictures on that subject for the confraternity of St. Roch at Venice. He is the patron saint of hospitals. 408 CHAPTER XIII. THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. A MONK HISTORIAN ON THE CRUSADES. The old chroniclers are elated with a fine enthusiasm when narrating the exploits of the first Crusaders. Orderic the monk, who died about 1141, thus describes the situation: " Lo, the crusade to Jerusalem is entered on by the inspiration of God ; the people of the West miraculously flock together from many nations, and are led in one united army to fight against the execrable Saracens, who so long had defiled with their abomina- tions all that is sacred. Never, I think, was a more glorious subject presented to those who are well informed in military affairs than that which is divinely offered to the poets and writers of our age in the triumph of a handful of Christians, drawn from their homes by the love of enterprise, over the Pagans in the East. The God of Abraham renewed His ancient miracles when, actuated only by their zeal to \isit the Messiah's tomb, and without the exercise of the authority of kings or any worldly excitement, but by the simple admonition of Pope Urban, He assembled the Christians of the West from the ends of the earth and the isles of the sea, as He brought the Hebrews out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, and led them through strange nations until He conducted them to Palestine, gave them victory over kings and princes and the assembled forces of many nations, and enabled them gloriously to conquer strongly fortified cities and to reduce towns under subjection to their arms. I, too, though the least of all the followers of the Lord in a religious rule of life, for the love I bear to the brave champions of Christ, am ambitious to celebrate their valiant achievements." CRUSADES BENEFICIAL TO THE CHURCH. The crusades brought the civilisation of the West in contact with that of the Arabs, who were more advanced in some respects. Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 409 Literature, science, navigation, and trade benefited. Large feudal estates were sold, and citizens of towns were enriched and set up by kings as a counterpoise to overpowerf ul vassals. The sees and monasteries became purchasers of large estates on easy terms. But the Popes were the chief gainers by the crusades. They acquired control over Western Christendom, and over the emperors, kings, and princes who engaged in this service, and plighted their faith to carry through great enterprises. The Popes claimed sovereignty over lands wrested from the infidels. But, above all, it gave the Popes a continual pretext for sending legates to interfere in every country and levy contributions, which, at first voluntary, soon took the form of rights to perpetual tribute. THE PRACTICE OF PILGRIMAGES TO PALESTINE. The desire of Christians to visit the tombs of martyrs and famous saints may be considered almost natural, but it received great encouragement from the Empress Helena's discovery of the cross. The early Fathers were not emphatic in favour of the practice, for Jerome declared that heaven was as accessible from Britain as from Palestine. But in the sixth century the passion grew. Pilgrimages were projected and accomplished on a great scale. Hospitals were endowed for entertaining the pilgrims along the great highway. Pilgrims were exempted from toll. Charlemagne ordered that lodging, fire, and water be always supplied to them. In Jerusalem there were caravansaries for their reception. The pilgrim set forth amid the blessings and prayers of his kindred or community with his simple outfit — the staff, the wallet, and the scallop-shell ; he returned a privileged, in some sense a sanctified, being. Pilgrimage expiated all sin. The bathing in the Jordan was, as it were, a second baptism, and washed away all the evil of the former life. The shirt which he had worn when he entered the holy city was carefully laid by as a winding-sheet, and possessed, it was supposed, the power of transporting him to heaven. The stable of Bethlehem, the garden of Gethsemane, the height where the Ascension took place, had a fascination for every eye. To gratify the pilgrims, the descent of fire from heaven to kindle the lights round the holy sepulchre had been played off' from an early period before the wondering worshippers. Jerusalem also became the emporium of relics. Each pilgrim would bring back a splinter of the true cross or some special memorial of the Virgin or a famous saint. The demand for these was great, and the supply was inexhaustible. At a later period the silks, jewels, and spices of the East mingled in the 410 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. mart of holy things. Down to the conquest of Jerusalem by Chosroes the Persian, in 614, the tide of pilgrimage flowed unin- terruptedly to the Holy Land ; and even the Saracens in 637, when the conquerors, did not prohibit them, though the dangers increased. EARLY TRAVELS IN PALESTINE. The earliest traveller from Western Europe to the Holy Land who has left an account was Pierre Pithou from Bordeaux in 333. But pilgrims were often going on the same journey. In 385 St. Eusebius of Cremona, and his friend St. Jerome, and a large company also visited the chief places. Soon after St. Paula and her daughter went the round, and on Mount Zion they were shown the column to which Christ was bound when scourged. In the seventh century St. Antoninus went there also. When the Saracens obtained possession of Jerusalem in 637, they soon saw that it would be to their advantage to preserve the holy places and profit by the charges so many strangers were willing to pay. The French bishop, Arculf, visited Palestine about 690, and afterwards visited Northumberland and lona. Pilgrims there-" after up to 980 brought worse and worse accounts of their treat- ment and the profanations of the holy places. The celebrated Gerbert, afterwards Pope, returned from a visit in 986, and suggested that the Christian world ought in some way to interfere. Soon after pilgrims went in armed bodies, and serious quarrels occurred. The news that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had been thrown down excited great consternation in Europe about 1048. Changes in the rulers occurred at that time. At last Peter the Hermit, in 1095, raised to a frenzy all the adventurous enthusiasts till they arranged the First Crusade. THE WAYS OF PILGRIMS. The fashion of going on pilgrimage became noticeable in the fourth century, the Holy Land being the chief attraction. Hospitals were founded at convenient places to accommodate pilgrims. The order of Knights Templars was founded to escort the caravans and protect them in wild and dangerous places. Home and the shrine of St. James at Compostella or Santiago were added in the Middle Ages as centres. Bich and poor joined in this desire of travel. The pilgrims repaid their entertainers with the news they carried from distant countries. Before a man went on pilgrimage he first went to his church and received the Church's blessing and prayers. He lay prostrate at the altar Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 411 while the priest and choir sang over him appropriate psalms, such as the twenty-fourth, fiftieth, and ninetieth. Then his scrip and palmer-staff were blessed and sprinkled with holy water, and the Mass was celebrated. The proper costume or pilgrim's weeds were a grey woollen robe and felt hat, staff, scrip, and water-bottle. Some went barefoot as a penance, or made a vow not to cut hair or beard till the pilgrimage was accomplished. If the Holy Land was the destination, the robe was signed with the cross, as a special sign and token, and each, after accomplishing his round of holy places, was entitled to wear the palm, and hence was called palmer. The sign of the Compostella pilgrimage was the scallop-shell. The sign of the Canterbury pilgrims was an ampullar flask, so-called from the vessel in which the blood of the martyi' Thomas k Becket had been collected. These flasks were at first of wood, but latterly of lead and pewter. A bell was often added to the ampulla. Besides the badge, these pilgrims had their gathering-cry, and the Canterbury pilgrims lightened their journey with song and music and sometimes the bagpipe. When the pilgrim returned home, he presented himself at church to give thanks. Often a procession would go to meet the return- ing pilgrim, especially as he usually brought presents of silk cloths to the churches for copes or coverings of the altars. The emblems of these pilgrimages were often depicted on the pilgrim's tomb. PETER THE HERMIT (a.D. 1095). When the Turks supplanted the Mohammedans as masters of Jerusalem, being a more fanatical and barbarous race they treated the Christians of Palestine as slaves, and pilgrims found it more and more dangerous to gi^atify their lifelong passion to visit that country. The growing indignation at this treatment found a noble champion in Peter the Hermit, who died 1115, He went the round of Christendom, and found all ready to enter into some great confederation, if they only knew how, to rescue the holy places from these accursed infidels. Peter was a Frank from Picardy, of ignoble stature, but with a quick and flashing eye ; his spare, sharp person was full of fire from the restless soul within. He had himself visited the Holy Land, and his heart burned within him at the sight of the oppressions of Christian men. He told everybody he had had a vision when he was in the Temple ; and the voice of the Lord Himself was heard in these very words : " Rise, Peter ; go forth to make known the tribula- tions of My people; the hour is come for the delivery of My servants, for the recovery of the holy places ! " Peter at once 412 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. went forth, and had interviews with the Pope and with princes and great men, and all saw and confessed he was a true prophet. He rode round Europe on a mule with a crucifix in his hand, his head and feet bare ; his dress was a long robe girt with a cord, and a hermit's cloak of the coarsest stuff. His eloquence was heart-stirring, mingled here and there with tears and groans ; he preached in pulpits, in highways and market-places. He beat his breast. He appealed to every passion — to valour and shame, to indignation and pity, to the pride of the warrior, the com- passion of the man, to the religion of the Christian, to the hatred of the unbeliever, to reverence for the Redeemer, to the aveng- ing of the saints, to the hopes of eternal life. He invoked the holy angels, the saints in heaven, the Mother of God, the Lord Himself. He called on the holy places, on Zion, on Calvary, on the holy sepulchre, to give forth their voices against these infidels. He held up the crucifix, as if Christ Himself was imploring them to be ready and act at once. Peter's eloqvience struck the true chord of sympathy, and electrified the crowds who listened and echoed his enthusiasm. Gifts showered upon him. All ages and both sexes crowded to touch even his garment. The very hairs that dropped from his mule were caught and treasured as relics. All Western Christendom gradually rose as one man in obedience to the spell. The Pope, Urban II., caught the contagion, and summoned and harangued the Council of Clermont in the same style. He called on all men through their bishops to rise and deliver these holy places, which were made dens of thieves and stalls for cattle, and were polluted and defiled by atrocities not to be named. While Christian blood was shed, it was time for them to gird on their swords. He assured them the Saviour Himself, the God of armies, would be their guide in battle. The wealth of their enemies would of course be theirs. He offered absolution for all sins ; there was no crime which might not be redeemed by this act of obedience : absolution without penance would be granted to all who took arms in the sacred cause. Eternal life would be the portion of all who fell in battle or in the march to the Holy Land. For himself he must remain aloof ; but while they were slaughtering the enemy, he would be perpetually engaged in fervent and pre- vailing prayer for their success. At the close of this harangue all admitted and felt the force of the enthusiasm, and exclaimed, " It is the will of God ! it is the will of God ! " The contagion spread. France, Germany, Italy, England, furnished wild multi- tudes, eager and ready to enlist in this glorious warfare. All Chap, xiih] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 413 began to sharpen their spears and collect their outfit for a grand enterprise, certain to be a success. POPE URBAN PREACHING FOR A CRUSADE (a.D. 1095). When Pope Urban in 1095 preached at the conclusion of the Council of Clermont, he thus urged on the faithful to join the crusade : " We see that the breadth of the whole world is now full of faithless and blaspheming Pagans, who worship stocks and stones. They have occupied as a perpetual possession the third part of the world, and that part wherein all the Apostles, except two suffered martyrdom for the Lord. They have also, with shame be it said, possession of Africa, that land which gave to mankind the Holy Scriptures and extinguished the errors of infidelity. They claim possession of our Lord's tomb, and sell to our pilgrims for money admission to the holy city. Gird your- selves then for the battle, my brave warriors, for a memorable expedition against the enemies of the cross. Let the sign of the cross decorate your shoulders; let your outward ardour declare your inward faith. Turn against the enemies of Christ those weapons which you have hitherto stained with blood in battles and tournaments among yourselves. Let your zeal in this expedi- tion atone for the rapine, theft, homicide, fornication, and deeds of incendiarism by which you have provoked the Lord to anger. In virtue of the power which God has given us, however unworthy of it, to bind and to loose, all who engage in this expedition in their own persons and at their own expense shall receive a full pardon for all the offences which they shall repent of in their hearts and with their lips confess, and we promise to the same and to all who contribute their substance an increased portion of eternal salvation. Go then, brave soldiers, secure to yourselves fame throughout the world ; disown all fear of death. Those who die will sit down in the heavenly guest chamber, and those who survive will set their eyes on our Lord's sepulchre." THE crusaders' HUNGER FOR EARTH OF PALESTINE. At the time when the First Crusade was organised. Pope Urban harangued a vast crowd of the clergy and laity, urging them to join it, and adding : " What can be greater happiness than for any one in his lifetime to see those places where the Lord of heaven went about as a man ? " All then believed the soil of Palestine to be sacred. Even its dust was adored. It was carefully conveyed 414 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. to Europe in bagfuls and pocketfuls, and the fortunate possessor, whether by original acquisition or by purchase, was considered to be secured against the malevolence of demons. St. Augustine relates a story of the cure of a young man who had some of the dust of the holy city suspended in a bag over his bed. It became a fashion for each of the pilgrims to bring some home in his bag. At Pisa the cemetery of the Campo Santo was said to contain five fathoms of holy earth brought in 1218 from Palestine by the Pisans. Friends and neighbours walked with an intending pilgrim to the next town, and loaded him with their benedictions, and turned back with many tears. The village pastor delivered a staff to the pilgrim, and put round him a scarf or girdle, with a leathern scrip or wallet attached. They all believed that a prayer in Jerusalem was worth ten thousand common prayers in other places. There were hospitals and houses of rest provided for weary pilgrims on the road. In their first battles, they fancied they saw figures riding on white horses, and in white armour and cloth of gold, all in the air, helping them with celestial weapons. When they first caught sight of Jerusalem, all eyes were transfixed and bathed with tears and shining with rapture as they gazed on that hallowed spot. HOW A PENITENTIAL CRUSADER WENT ALONG. William, Count of Poitiers, before setting out on his crusade to the Holy Land, took his leave thus: "I wish to compose a chant, and the subject shall be that which causes my sorrow. I go into exile beyond sea, and leave my beloved Poitiers and Limousin. I go beyond sea to the place where pilgrims im- plore their pardon. Adieu, brilHant tournaments ! adieu, gi-andeur and magnificence, and all that is dear to my heart ! Nothing can stop me. I go to the plains where God promised remission of sins. Pardon me, all you my companions, if I have ever offended you. I implore your pardon. I offer my repentance to Jesus the Master of heaven; to Him I address my prayer. Too long have I been abandoned to worldly distractions ; but the voice of the Lord has been heard. We must appear before His tribunal. I sink under the weight of my iniquities." HOW THE CRUSADERS GOT RID OF SPIES (A.D. 1097). In 1097, while the Crusaders were besieging Antioch, they were alarmed by the knowledge that there were spies in the camp out of every unbelieving nation in the East, who found it easy to Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 415 remain undiscovered by calling themselves merchants from Greece, Syi'ia, or Armenia, who brought provisions for sale to the army. These spies witnessed the famine and pestilence which prevailed in the camp, and the pilgrims justly feared that this intelligence would spread to their destruction. The princes were at a loss what to do; but Beaumont, who was a shrewd man, about twilight, when his comrades were all engaged throughout the camp in preparing their supper, commanded several Turkish prisoners to be put to death and their flesh to be roasted over a large fire to be prepared for table. He further instructed the servants, if asked what they were about, to reply that general orders had been given that in future all Turks who should be brought in prisoners by the scouts should be served up for food both to the princes and the people. All the army soon heard of this remarkable news, and the Turkish spies in the camp believed that it was done in earnest. Fearing, therefore, lest the same thing should happen to themselves, they left the camp and returned to their own country, where they told their employers that the men in the Crusaders' army exceeded the ferocity of beasts ; and not content with plundering castles and cities, they must needs fill theii' bellies with the flesh and blood of their victims. This report spread throughout the most distant countries, and by this means the grievance of spies was put a stop to. CRUSADERS DISCOVERING THE HOLY LANCE (a.D. 1098). When the Crusadei-s were besieged by the Turks in Antioch in 1098, and suffering from famine and despair, and many men failing in courage and escaping by night from the walls, thence called rope-dancers, a sudden gleam of confidence came to their relief. A priest of Marseilles, named Peter Bartholomey, though known to be of cunning and loose manners, suddenly knocked at the door of the council chamber to disclose an apparition of St. Andrew, who thrice appeared to him in his sleep, and called on him under heavy threats to reveal the commands of Heaven. The saint had thus addressed Peter : " At Antioch, in the church of my brother St. Peter near the high altar, is concealed the steel head of the lance that pierced the side of our Redeemer. In three days that instrument of eternal and now of temporal salvation will be manifested to His disciples. Search and ye shall find ; bear it aloft in battle, and that mystic weapon shall penetrate the souls of the miscreants." The Pope's legate, the Bishop of Puy, listened with coldness, but Count Raymond eagerly welcomed this revelation. The attempt was made, and after prayer and 416 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. fasting the priest of Marseilles introduced twelve trusty spectators, and barred the doors to keep out the excited multitude. The ground was broken and dug to a depth of twelve feet and nothing found ; but in the evening, when the guards were drowsy, Peter, in his shirt and without shoes, boldly descended into the pit in the dark with the head of a Saracen lance, and this he pretended with devout rapture to discover by its gleam as the genuine relic. The chiefs affected to recognise the discovery and to inspire enthusiasm. The gates were thrown open, while a procession of monks and priests chanted the psalm " Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered." The holy lance was entrusted to a faithful leader ; three knights in white garments also suddenly appeared to help the Crusaders, whose spirits were roused to the highest pitch. THE HOLY LANCE PUTS THE INFIDELS TO ROUT (A.D. 1098). When the holy lance was discovered and the Crusaders were in the highest enthusiasm and marched out of Antioch, the Sultan Corbogha was so struck by their impassioned, stern, and indo- mitable aspect, that he had misgivings, and even made proposals which were haughtily rejected. The battle was long, stubborn, and at points indecisive, but at last the pious and warlike enthu- siasm of the Crusaders prevailed over the savage bravery of the Turks. The Sultan soon fled away towards the Euphrates with a weak escort. Tancred pursued till nightfall the retiring hosts. The Christian chroniclers say that 100,000 infidels were slain, while only 4,000 Crusaders were left on the field of battle. The camp of the Turks was given over to pillage, and 15,000 camels and many horses were secured. The camp of the Sultan Corbogha was a rich prize and an object of admiration. It was laid out in streets, flanked by towers, as if it were a fortified town ; gold and precious stones glittered in every part of it. It was capable of accommodating 2,000 persons. Beaumont sent it to Italy, where it was long preserved. After that battle, says Albert of Aix, every Crusader found himself richer than he had been when start- ing from Europe. Nevertheless the effect on the Crusaders was disastrous. Some abandoned themselves to the licence of victory, others to the sweets of repose. Some longed to go home ; others to push for further conquests. After long debates and rivalries the majority decided to wait till the heat of summer was over before attempting to capture Jerusalem. It was eight months before the bulk of the Crusaders began to move on. Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 417 THE CRUSADERS TESTING A DOUBTFUL POINT. In 1099 the Crusaders were at Marra, whea a dissension existed between Beaumont and the Count of Toulouse, and murmurs arose among the armies as to the delays thereby caused. The Count, in order to satisfy the people, passed on to a city called Archis, and pitched their camp near the sea coast. The Christians besieged the city a long time, but without success. Here the question was again mooted concerning the lance with which our Lord's side had been pierced. Some said that it had really been appointed by Divine inspiration for the consolation of the army ; whilst others maliciously contended that it was a stratagem of the Count of Toulouse, and was no discovery at all, but invented solely for gain. A large fire was therefore kindled of a size sufiicient to terrify the bystanders ; and when all the people were assembled together one day, the priest Peter, to whom the dis- covery of the lance had been made, underwent a perilous ordeal, for when he had offered up a prayer he took the lance with him and passed unhurt through the midst of the fire. But as he died a few days afterwards, the ordeal did not give entire satisfaction to the opposite party. THE crusaders' FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM (A.D. 1099). When the Crusaders, in the spring of 1099, marched from Antioch towards Jerusalem, and reached some spot sacred to history, the natural greed and jealousy among the chiefs were too apparent. A warrior-chief would rush to plant his flag first on a town or house and claim to be its possessor. Others, more earnest, marched barefooted beneath the banner of the cross, and deplored among themselves the covetous and quarrelsome temper of their leaders. On reaching Emmaus, a deputation of Christians came from Bethlehem to bespeak help, and Tancred, in the middle of the night, with a small band of a hundred horst men, went and planted his own flag on the top of the church at Bethlehem, at the very hour at which the birth of Christ had been announced to the shepherds of Judaea. Next day, on June 10th, 1099, at dawn, the army of Crusaders from the heights of Emmaus had their first gaze at the Holy City. Tasso, in " Jerusalem Delivered," thus gives voice to the scene : " Lo ! Jerusalem appears in sight ! Lo ! every hand points to Jerusalem. A thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem. After the great sweet joy which filled all hearts at this first glimpse came a deep feeling of contrition, mingled with awful and reverential affection 27 418 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Each scarcely dared to raise the eye towards the city which had been the chosen abode of Christ, where He died, was buried, and rose again. In accents of humility, with low -spoken words, with stifled sobs, with sighs and tears, the pent-up yearnings of a people in joy, and yet in sorrow, sent shivering through the aii- a murmur like that which is heard in leafy forests what time the wind blows through the leaves, or like the dull sound made by the sea which breaks upon the rocks, or hisses as it foams over the beach." It was thought at the time there were 20,000 armed inhabitants and 40,000 men in garrison of fanatical Mussulmans. About 40,000 Crusaders were outside of both sexes, of whom 12,000 were foot soldiers and 1,200 knights. CRUSADERS PREPARING TO ASSAULT JERUSALEM (a.D. 1099). While the crusading army were preparing their scaling towers and engines for hurling stones, one day Tancred had gone alone to pray on the Mount of Olives and to gaze upon the Holy City, when five Mussulmans sallied forth to attack him. He killed three and the other two took to flight. There was at one point of the city ramparts a ravine, which had to be filled up to make an approach, and the Count of Toulouse issued a proclamation that he would give a denier to every one who would go and throw three stones into it. In three days the ravine was filled up. After four weeks' labour a day was fixed for delivering the assault ; but as several of the chiefs had serious quarrels, it was resolved that before the grand attack they should all be reconciled at a general supplication with solemn ceremonies for Divine aid. After a strict fast, all the Crusaders went forth armed from their quarters, and, preceded by their priests barefooted and chanting psalms, they moved in slow procession round Jei'usalem, halting at all places hallowed by some fact in sacred history, listening to the discourses of their priests, and raising eyes full of wrath at hearing the scoffs addressed to them by the Saracens, and at seeing the insults heaped upon certain crosses they had set up, and upon all the symbols of the Christian faith. " Ye see," cried Peter the Hermit, " ye hear the threats and blasphemies of these enemies of God. Now this I swear to you by your faith, by the arms ye carry, to-day these infidels are full of pride and insolence, but to- morrow they shall be frozen with fear. Those mosques which tower over Christian ruins shall serve for temples to the true God, and Jerusalem shall hear no longer aught but the praises of God." The Christians raised a great shout in answer to their apostle, and Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 419 repeated the words of Isaiah : " They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun." THE CRUSADERS CAPTURING JERUSALEM (a.D. 1099). On July 14th, 1099, a third assault had been made against the city of Jerusalem ; the machines of the Crusaders threw millstones against the walls, while the citizens threw pots of lighted tow, which would easily break, so as to destroy the machines. The enemy during the assault brought up two witches to enchant the machines and render them useless, but while they were enchanting a large stone struck both of them dead, and then a great shout arose among the besiegers. Duke Godfrey's men threw fire on the bags of straw and cushions of the wall, then threw a bridge to one end of the tower, by which he and his men entered, and then opened the gate of St. Paul, at three o'clock on Friday, the hour when Christ had yielded up the ghost. The Turks were then put to death in such numbers that no one could walk the streets without treading on dead bodies. When Tancred learned that many Turks had fled for refuge within the courts of the Temple, his men rushed inside and slew great numbers, and it was said carried off much gold and silver. Meanwhile, horse and foot were pouring into the city, and every inhabitant met with was slain, so that the streets flowed with blood. Ten thousand Turks were said to have been slain within the precincts of the Temple alone. The Crusaders, dispersing through the streets, and searching every secret place they could find, drew out master and mistress with their children and all their family from the secret chambers, and either put them to the sword or threw them headlong and broke their necks. He who first got possession of a house or palace claimed it as his own permanent property ; for it had been agreed amongst the princes that, when the city was taken, each should keep what he could get. And thus, whoever first took possession of a house fixed a banner, shield, or some kind of weapon at the door as a sign to others that the house was already occupied. THE crusaders' FIRST VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES (a.D. 1099). When Jerusalem was captured in 1099, and the spoils had been collected by the pilgrims, they began, with sighs and tears, with naked feet, and with every sign of humility and devotion, to visit each of the holy places which the Lord had hallowed by His presence, and in particular the Church of the Resurrection 420 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and of our Lord's Passion. It was most pleasant to behold with what devotion the faithful of both sexes, whilst their minds were exhilarated with spiritual enjoyment, approached, shedding tears, to the holy places, and gave thanks to God for having brought their pious labours and long service to the desii^ed consummation. All thence derived hopes that it would be the earnest of a future resurrection, and these present benefits gave them a firm expecta- tion of those which were to come, that the earthly Jerusalem which they now trod would be to them the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. The bishops too and priests, having purified the churches of the city, and especially the precincts of the Temple, consecrated to God the holy places, and celebrating Mass before the people, gave thanks for the blessings which they had received. Many men of the greatest credit afiirmed that they saw their dead companions going round with the princes to visit the holy places. The venerable Peter the Hermit, by whose zeal the undertaking was commenced, was now recognised and affection- ately saluted by all. When all the places had been visited, the princes returned to their houses and hostels, to enjoy the gold, silver, jewels, costly garments, corn, wine, and oil, besides plenty of water, from the want of which they had suffered so much during the siege. There was an abundance of everything that could be desired, and the market was maintained at low prices. ST. BERNARD ROUSING A SECOND CRUSADE (a.D. 1174). As Louis VII., in his quarrel with the Pope, had once invaded Count Theobald's dominions, and burnt alive thirteen hundred Christians, his conscience led him to restore the balance by slaughtering as many infidels, and hence he pressed the Pope to direct a second crusade. The Pope took the matter up, but was glad to devolve the burden of agitating among the nations on Bernard. This pleased Louis equally well, and at their joint solicitation meetings were arranged to be harangued by the inspired monk of Clairvaux. Pale and attenuated to a degi-ee almost supernatural, even the glance of Bernard's eyes filled his contemporaries with wonder and awe. That he was kept alive at all appeared to them to be a standing miracle. But when the light from that thin calm face fell upon them, when those firm lips gave out words of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice, they were carried away with their feelings. A stage had been erected on the top of a hill, where a vast crowd, headed by the King and his Knights, was collected. The mere sight and sound of Bernard's voice stirred up a sea of faces, and brought out a unanimous Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 421 shout demanding " Crosses ! crosses ! " Bernard began to scatter broadcast among the people a supply of crosses, as the pledge of their wild enthusiasm. He also kept up the enthusiasm by visiting the towns of North-western Germany, and he enrolled his thousands of enthusiasts. He said at last he had scarcely left one man to seven women. All the chroniclers of the day describe a succession of miracles as attending Bernard wherever he went. Soon all the chivalry of Europe were ready to advance to the Holy Land, conquering and to conquer. A FRENCH QUEEN AS A CRUSADER (a.D. 1147). When Eleanor of Aquitaine was Queen of Louis VII. of France, being beautiful, a fine musician and songstress, and expert in the songs and recitations of the troubadours, she was so carried away by the eloquence of the monk Bernard when preaching for the crusade that she vowed to join her husband and go to the Holy Land. Her youth, beauty, and gaiety made the King do anything. She made her court ladies array themselves like Amazons, and act as her bodyguard. They joined in the exercises eagerly as in any frolic, and sent their distaffs as presents to the knights and nobles who had not courage to go from home. The freaks of these ladies led to many mishaps and disasters in the field ; and instead of obeying orders, the Queen and her Amazons insisted on encamping in a lovely, romantic valley, which deranged all the wisest plans, and ltd to the loss of seven thousand of the flower of French chivalry. She then began to flirt with her uncle, a handsome old beau, whom she met for the first time at Antioch, and her vagaries caused disgust to Louis, who left her in a huff. When she entered Jerusalem, the burning object of every Crusader's dreams, she was in such a fit of temper that she saw nothing interesting, and then began a lasting quarrel between her and the King. While Louis was besieging Damascus she had to be kept in personal restraint at Jerusalem, and even started another flirtation with a handsome young Saracen. After great disasters and vexations, the King and Queen left Constantinople, and reached France in 1148. She never ceased to mock the King for his dowdy habits duruig the next four years while they lived together. In 1150 the young Prince Henry of England, aged seventeen, first saw the Queen, and she was fascinated by him, and took measures to marry him after securing a divorce from Louis. The celerity of her marriage to Henry in 1152, after obtaining her divorce, astonished all Europe, she being thirty -two and Henry twenty. 422 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ST. BERNARD AFTER THE EVENT OF HIS CRUSADE. The influence of St. Bernard in rousing the Second Crusade was due to the reputation he had acquired above all his rivals and contemporaries, who knew that he had refused all ecclesiastical dignities, and yet was the oracle of Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty convents. He was warned, however, by the example of Peter the Hermit, and declined any military command. After the calamitous event of his great undertaking, the Abbot of Clairvaux was loudly accused as a false prophet, the author of the public and private mourning ; his enemies exulted, his friends blushed, and his apology was slow and unsatisfactory. He justified his obedience to the Pope, expatiated on the mysterious ways of Providence, imputed the misfortunes of the pilgrims to their own sins, and modestly insinuated that his own part of the mission had been approved by signs and wonders. A PILGRIM PRINCE BRINGING RELICS FROM THE HOLY LAND (A.D. 1172). Henry, Duke of Saxony, married Matilda, then a girl of twelve, eldest daughter of Henry II. of England, in 1168, and four years after the Duke resolved to visit the Holy Land, not as a fighting Crusader, but only as a pilgrim, so that his feet might stand and his knees bend where once the feet of the Saviour had stood. He took costly presents, and while approaching Jerusalem the clergy came forth to welcome him, chanting hymns and songs of joy. He made magnificent offerings at the Holy Sepulchre, and left money to keep three lamps perpetually burning before the holy shrine. Henry visited all the sacred places, was feted by King Baldwin, and then by the Turkish Sultan. The Sultan, after presenting Henry with a gorgeous cloak, ordei-ed eighteen hundred war-steeds to be brought out that the guest might choose the best, and it was then decorated with silver bits and jewelled saddles. He was also offered a lion and two leopards, as well as six camels loaded with gifts. The Emperor at Constan- tinople was equally liberal, and gave manuscripts of the Holy Gospels and many relics of saints and martyrs. When Henry reached his home in Brunswick and displayed his treasures before his duchess and their subjects, he found in his collection the follow- ing gems: a tooth of St. John the Baptist; a great toe of St. Mark ; the arms of St. Innocent and St. Theodore ; a scrap of the dresses of the Virgin Mary, of St. Stephen the proto- mai'tyr, St. Laurence, and Mary Magdalene ; some of the wood Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 423 of the cross ; a few splinters from the crown of thorns ; a piece of the column to which our Lord was bound when scourged ; a part of the table used at the Last Supper ; and many other rarities. The wood of the cross was enshrined in a large silver crucifix decorated with fifty-one pearls, thirty-nine corals, and ninety- six other jewels. These spoils were distributed among the dif- ferent churches in Brunswick and the monastery of Hildesheim, and received with immense satisfaction and pride. THE POPE WRITING UP ANOTHER CRUSADE (A.D. 1187). In 1187 Pope Gregory VIII. sent a letter to the faithful, reciting that "whereas we doubt not that the disasters of the land of Jerusalem which have lately happened through the irruption of the Saracens have been caused by the sins of the whole people of Christendom, therefore we have enacted that all persons shall for the next five years on every sixth day of the week fast on Lenten fare, and wherever Mass is performed it shall be chanted at the ninth hour, also on the fourth day of the week; and on Saturday all persons without distinction who are in good health shall abstain from eating flesh. We and our brethren do also forbid to ourselves and to our households the use of flesh on the second day of the week as well, unless it shall so happen that illness, or some great calamity, or other evident cause shall seem to prevent the same, trusting that by so doing God will pardon us and leave His blessing behind Him." The princes of the earth, on receiving these mandates and exhortations of the Supreme Pontiff", exerted themselves with all their might for the liberation of the land of Jerusalem, and accordingly the Emperor, the archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, and barons of the empire assumed the sign of the cross. THE emperor's HYPOCRITICAL CRUSADERSHIP (a.D. 1189). Frederick I. (Barbarossa), Emperor of Germany, was said to have joined Henry 11. of England and Phihp of France in a crusade from mere woi-ldly ambition rather than any sincere devotion. An Arabian chronicler, Ibn Gouzi, thus describes his visit to Jerusalem before leaving the East : *' The Emperor was ruddy and bald. His sight was weak. If he had been a slave, he would not have been worth two hundred drachmas. His discourse showed that he did not believe his Christian religion. When he spoke of it, it was to sneer at it. Having cast his eyes on the insciiption in letters of gold which Saladin has placed 424 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. above the venerated chapel, which said, ' Saladin purged the Holy City from those who worshipped many gods,' he had it explained to him ; and then asking why the windows had gratings, he was told it was to keep out the birds. He answered, ' Yes, you have driven away the sparrows, but instead of them you have let in hogs,' meaning the Christians. When the Emir, enforcing the Sultan's order to avoid what might displease Frederick, rebuked the Mussulmans for uttering on the minarets the passages in the Koran against the Christians, Frederick, hearing of it, told him, ' You have done wrong. Why for my sake omit your duty, your law, or your rehgion 1 By heaven, if you come with me to my states ' " At this point the chronicler's account was mutilated, and the rest is unknown. FULK OF NEUILLY, THE PREACHER OF THE THIRD CRUSADE (A.D. 1195). As Peter the Hermit was the soul of the First Crusade and St. Bernard of the Second, so Fulk of Neuilly, who died 1202, was the missionary of the Third Crusade in 1195. He had been wild in youth, but settled down and attended the lectures of Peter the Chaunter in Paris, and took copious notes of the brilliant passages. He then poured forth Peter's eloquence in his own next Sunday's sermon, and began to be considered eloquent and stirring. One day his hearers were so overwhelmed with enthusiasm that they tore their clothes, threw away their shoes, and cast themselves at his feet, demanding rods and scourges to inflict instant penance on themselves. Usurers came and threw their gains at his feet. The Pope, Innocent III., heard of Fulk's enthusiasm and highly approved it, and suggested to him a mission to stir up the people. He did so, and went the round of France, distributing crosses, blessing wells, and working miracles. He shaved and wore a sackcloth shirt and rode on a palfrey. He received vast subsidies. But notwithstanding his zeal and success, a profound mistrust settled on mankind that these holy alms were devoted by the Pope and him to other uses. He died of fever in 1202, supposed to have been brought on by grief at these malappropriations. Other preachers, especially the Abbot Martin, had also kept up the missionary enthusiasm, and at last a crusade of Cery began in 1200, the fruit of this stirring of the people. DBATH OF RICHARD I., A CRUSADER (a.D. 1199). While Richard I., who had returned from Palestine in 1 194, was in 1199 besieging the castle of Chains in Limousin and was recon- Chap. xiii.J THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 4'2o noi bring il on all sides, one Bertram de Gurdun aimed an arrow from the castle, striking the King in the arm and inflicting an incurable wound. A physician attempted to extract the iron head from the wound, but took out only the wood at first, and in butcher fashion had to probe again for the rest. The King, feeling that he could not survive, disposed of his wealth, and then ordered the arbalister to be called to his presence. The King asked what harm he had done that the bowman should kill him. The latter at once made answer that the King had slain his father and two brothers with his own hand, and also had intended to kill the speaker, but that he, the latter, was quite ready and willing to endure the grejitest torments, being well content that one who had inflicted so many evils on the world should do so no more. The King pardoned the soldier and ordered him to be discharged ; but the King's servants, notwithstanding, privily flayed him alive and then hanged him. FRENCH AND VENETIANS PILLAGING CONSTANTINOPLE. When the French and Venetians in 1204 besieged and pillaged Constantinople, the Emperor's wife and child had to take refuge in the house of a merchant. The patriarch escaped, riding on an ass without attendants. The conquerors entered the Cathedral of St. Sophia, tore down the veil, the altar, and all its ornaments. They made a prostitute mount on the patriarch's throne and sing and dance in the holy place, to ridicule the hymns and processions of the worshippers. The tombs were stripped of everything saleable. There were many Pagan statues which peculiarly pro- voked the contempt and zeal of the invaders. The statues of the victorious charioteers, the sphinx, river-horse, and crocodile, of the she-wolf suckling Komulus and Remus, of the eagle and serpent, and other designs of Pagan heroes and goddesses, were cast down and disfigured and then burnt. The most enlightened of the invaders searched for and seized the relics of the saints j and it is said that the Abbot Martin transferred a rich cargo to his monastery of Paris. The supply of heads and bones, crosses and images, served the wants of the churches of Europe, and proved most lucrative plunder. The libraries also shared the general fate. THE POPE TURNS ON CRUSADERS AGAINST THE HERETICS (a.D. 1208). The southern part of France had long been noted for the variety of heresies caused amongst its mixed population. In 1145 426 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. St. Bernard went forth to preach against the heretics of Toulouse, where there were churches without flocks, flocks without priests, and Christians without Christ, where men were dying in their sins without being reconciled by penance or admitted to the Holy Communion, and their souls sent pell-mell before the awful tribunal of God. But even St. Bernard could make little im- pression on the ungodly population, who drowned his voice and caused him to shake the dust from his feet and to curse the town of Vertfeuil. He died in 1153, and for fifty years later the heretics of Southern France, generally called the Albigenses, vexed the orthodox souls of Popes and Church Councils. At last, about 1208, a fiery and zealous Crusader, on returning from Palestine, was enlisted by Pope Innocent III., and aided by two Spanish monks to extirpate, since they could not hope to convert, these troublesome heretics whom the Pope described as worse than the Saracens. A rally was made of all the fanatical offscourings iii the world to help in this heretic hunt, and for fifteen years all the towns and strong castles of the South were taken, lost, pillaged, sacked, and massacred with unbridled ferocity. The brutal Simon de Montfort, after the massacre of chiefs, con- fiscated the lands and appropriated these to himself. It was a relief to Christians when that unscrupulous bandit, after besieging Toulouse for nine months, was killed by a shower of stones dis- charged from the walls in 1218. CRUSADERS FEROCIOUS AGAINST HERETICS (a.D. 1209). The Crusaders, in 1209, though zealous for their religion, scarcely showed a glimmering of its influence in the conduct of their warlike operations against the Albigenses. They spread desola- tion wherever they went, destroying vineyards and crops, burning villages and farmhouses, slaughtering unarmed peasants, women, and children. When La Minerve, near Nar bonne, after an obstinate defence, yielded and the besieged were offered their freedom if they recanted their heresy, one of the Crusaders shouted out, *' We came to extirpate heretics, not to show them favour." This voice from the crowd sharpened their fury, and one hundred and forty of both sexes were burnt to death. At a castle called Brau, De Montfort cut off the noses and tore out the eyes of one hundred of the defenders, leaving to one of them one eye only, that he might lead out the rest. At Lavaur, Almeric and eighty nobles were ordered to be hanged ; but because one of the gibbets fell down in using it, they were all butchered with the sword. The sister of Almeric, being deemed an obstinate heretic, was thrown Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 427 into a well and a pile of stones upon her. A chaplain of the Crusaders at one place reported that four hundred captives were burned with immense joy. One lady at Toulouse, lying on her death- bed, being charged as a heretic, was carried out in her bed and burnt amid the merriment of the orthodox. Yet Simon de Montfort, who had been chosen general of these brutal legions, after de- spatching so many dissenters of the period, on returning to Northern France was hailed as champion of the faith, and the clergy and people met him in procession, shouting, " Blessed is he that Cometh in the name of the Lord." At the siege of Beziers, it is mentioned, where Catholics and heretics both joined in defending their town, Arnold of Citeaux incited the Crusaders to slaughter not only men but women and children indis- criminately, brutally adding, " Kill them all ; the Lord knoweth them that are His." The series of campaigns against the Albigenses was said to give the Pope the idea of establishing the Inquisition as a more effectual way of putting down all heretics. HOW THE ORTHODOX VIEWED THE ALBIGENSES (a.D. 1214). In 1214 the depravity of the heretics called Albigenses, who dwelt in Gascony, Arumnia, and Alby, gained such power in the parts about Toulouse and in Aragon that they not only practised their impieties in secret, but preached their erroneous doctrine openly. The Albigenses were so called, says Koger of Wendover, from the city of Alba, where that doctrine was said to have taken its rise. At length their perversity set the anger of G-od so completely at defiance that they published the books of their doctrines amongst the lower order before the very eyes of the bishops and priests, and disgraced the chalices and sacred vessels in disrespect of the body and blood of Christ. Pope Innocent was greatly grieved, and enjoined the chiefs and other Christian people that whoever undertook the business of overthrowing the heretics should, like those who visited the Lord's sepulchre, be protected from all hostile attacks both in property and person. The Crusaders met in large assembly, and then marched to lay siege to the city of Beziers. The heretics there, on seeing their assailants, scornfully threw out the book of the Gospel, blas- pheming the name of the Lord. The soldiers of the faith, incensed by such blasphemy, in less than three hours' time scaled the walls, and sacked and burnt the city, and a great slaughter of the infidels took place as the punishment of God, but very few of the Catholics were slain. After a few days, when the report of this miracle was spread abroad, the followers of this heretical 428 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. depravity fled to the mountains, and abandoned their castles, which were stocked with all kinds of food and stores. THE children's CRUSADE (a.D. 1212). While the fever for crusading against heretics was kept alive in 1212, a singular development occurred among the little children, who copied what they saw. A shepherd boy named Stephen, at the village of Cloies, near Vendome, arose, who professed to have been commanded by the Saviour in a vision to go and preach the cross. This tale at once was accepted, and he gathered children about him, who went through the towns and villages chanting, " Lord, help us to recover Thy true and holy cross." The numbers increased as they went along, so that when they reached Paris they were computed at fifteen hundred, and at Marseilles at thirty thousand, marching under banners, crosses, and censers. Parents in vain tried to keep their children from joining in the enthusiasm, and it is related that those who resorted to locks and bars were confounded on seeing these give way and allow the little captives to go free. Stephen, like his betters, was credited with miraculous power, and the threads of his dress were treasured as precious relics. He was carried along on a triumphal car, and had a miniature bodyguard. At last some buccaneering shippers, on* pretence of giving them a free passage to Egypt and Africa, kidnapped and sold them as slaves. While this juvenile army was parading through France, a like movement was set on foot by a boy, Nicolas, in Germany, but his following was less successful, and soon became scattered. The sagacious Pope Innocent, in alluding to these childish outbreaks, was pleased to observe that the children put to shame the apathy of their elders. MORE PREACHING OP THE CRUSADE (a.D. 1236). In 1236, says Matthew Paris, on a warrant from the Pope, a solemn preaching was made both in England and France by the brethren of the orders of Preachers and Minorites and other famous clerks, theologians, and religious men, granting to those who would assume the cross a full remission of the sins of which they truly repented and made confession. These preachers wandered about amongst cities, castles, and villages, promising to those who assumed the cross much relief in temporal matters — namely, that interest on debts should not accumulate against them with the Jews, and the protection of his Holiness the Pope should be granted for all their incomes and property given in Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 429 pledge to procure necessaries for their journey; and thus they incited an immense number of people to make a vow of pilgrimage. The Pope afterwards sent also Master Thomas, a Templar, his familiar, into England with his warrant to absolve those Crusa- ders whom he chose and thought expedient from their vow of pilgrimage, on receiving money from them which he considered that he could expend advantageously for the interests of the Holy Land. When the Crusaders saw this, they wondered at the insatiable greediness of the Roman Court, and conceived great indignation in their minds, because the Romans endeavoured thus impudently to di-ain their purses by so many devices. For the preachers also promised the same indulgence to all, whether they assumed the cross or not, if they contributed their property and means for the assistance of the Holy Land. The Pope thus accumulated an endless sum of money to defend the Church. But peace was soon after made and the project abandoned ; never- theless, the money was never restored, and thus the devotion of many became daily weakened. ESCAPING THE CRUSADE BY PAYING MONEY (a.D. 1241). Matthew Paris says: "In 1241, in order that the wretched country of England might be robbed and despoiled of its wealth by a thousand devices, the Preacher and Minorite brethren, sup- ported by a warrant from the Pope in their preaching, granted full remission of sins to all who should assume the cross for the liberation of the Holy Land. And immediately, or at least two or three days after they had prevailed on many to assume the cross, they absolved them from their vow, on condition that they would contribute a large amount of money for the assistance of the Holy Land, each as far as his means would permit. And in order to render the English more ready and willmg to accede to their demands, they declared that the money was to be sent to Earl Richard ; and, moreover, they showed a letter of his for better security. They also granted the same indulgence to old men and invalids, women, imbeciles, and children who took the cross or purposed taking it, receiving money, however, from them before- hand for this indulgence, and showed letters testimonial from Earl Richard concerning this matter which had been obtained from the Roman Court. By this method of draining the purses of the English an immense sum of money was obtained, owing to the favour in which Earl Richard was held ; but we would here ask who was to be a faithful guardian and dispenser of this money ; for we do not know." 430 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. ELOQUENT ENTHUSIASM OF THE MASTER OP HUNGARY (A.D. 1251). In 1251 a religious frenzy arose in Flanders and France under the name of the Pastoureux or Shepherds. It began among the lowest classes, who attributed the imprisonment of their king, St. Louis, by the Mussulmans to the neglect and avarice of the clergy. A champion arose, called the Master of Hungary, an aged man with a long beard and a pale emaciated face, who spoke three or four languages, boasted that he had no authority from the Pope, but he clasped in his hand a roll which he said contained instructions from the Blessed Virgin herself. He said she had appeared to him encircled by hosts of angels, and had given him this com- mission to summon the poor shepherds to the deliverance of their godly King. This awful personage excited the most intense interest. He was an apostate monk, who in his youth had imbibed atheism and magic from unholy sources. He it was who in his youth led a crusade of children who had plunged, following his steps, by thousands into the sea. His eloquence and mystic look attracted wondering crowds. The shepherds and peasants left their flocks, their ploughs, and their fields, and, regardless of hunger and want, roamed after their leader, till they swelled to thirty thousand, and then to one hundred thousand men. They moved in battle-array, brandishing clubs, pikes, axes, and weapons picked up at random. Provosts and mayors were panic-stricken at the swarm of banners of the cross and standards of the Virgin and angels. The Master scornfully spoke of the clergy and usurped the ofiices of the Church, distributing crosses and dis- pensing absolution. He taunted the monks and friars with hypocrisy, gluttony, and pride. It was rumoured that the mob was miraculously fed. He entered a church and declaimed eloquently on the vices of the enemy. At last riots arose, and his head was cloven by a battle-axe, and the leaders were killed like mad dogs till the multitude disappeared. DEATHBED OF ST. LOUIS OF FRANCE, CRUSADER (a.D. 1270). For seven years after his return from the East in 1254, St. Louis, King of France, could not rest in his mind till he had again entered on a new crusade to reconquer Jerusalem and deliver the Holy Sepulchre. But he kept his own counsel and awaited the progress of events. In 1261 he told his parhament that there should be fasts and prayers for the Christians of the East. In 1267, on convoking his parliament in Paris, having first had the Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 431 precious relics deposited in the Holy Chapel set before the eyes of the assembly, he opened the session by ardently exhorting those present to avenge the insult which had so long been offered to the Saviour in the Holy Land, and to recover the Christian heritage possessed for our sins by the infidels. And next year, in 1268, he took an oath to start in May 1270, and to take his three sons, aged twenty-two, eighteen, and seventeen. He urged Joinville, his biographer, to take the cross and join him ; but Joinville flatly refused, thinking the King would do far more good by remaining at home. The King was in. weak health, and the plan of the expedition was long unsettled, and at the last moment he decided first to go to Tunis, as he had a notion that he might convert the King, Mohammed Mostanser, who had long been talking of becoming a Christian. But on reaching Tunis on July 17th, 1270, it was found that the French must first fight the Mussulman prince, and the army was ill provisioned and unready. On August 3rd the King was attacked with epidemic fever and kept his bed in tent. He called his son and daughter and gave them the best advice ; and after giving an interview to a messenger from the Emperor sent to bespeak his good offices, the saintly King ceased to think of the affairs of this world. He kept repeating prayers for mercy on his own people, and that they might return safely to their own land. He now and then raised himself on his bed, muttering the words, *' Jerusalem, Jerusalem. We will go up to Jerusalem." He retained possession of his faculties to the last, insisted on receiving out of bed extreme unction, and on lying down upon a coarse sackcloth covered with cinders with the cross before him. On Monday, August 25th, 1270, at 3 p.m., he died, uttering these last words : " Father, after the example of the Divine Master, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." CRUSADERS ENTERTAINED ON THEIR WAY HOME. When Earl Richard, brother of King Henry III., returned in 1241 from the Holy Land on his way to visit the Emperor, Frederick II., and the Empress, the sister of Richard, he was received with the greatest joy and honour in the various cities, the citizens and their ladies coming to meet him with music and singing, bearing branches of trees and flowers, dressed in holiday garments and ornaments. On reaching the Emperor, Richard was treated with blood-letting, baths, and divers medicinal fomenta- tions to restore his strength after the dangers of the sea. At the end of some days, byithe Emperor's orders, various kinds of games and musical instruments, which were procured for the Empress's 432 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. amusement, were exhibited before him, and afforded great pleasure. Amongst other astonishing novelties there was one which particu- larly excited his admii-ation and praise. Two Saracen girls of handsome form mounted upon four round balls placed on the floor — namely, one of the two on two balls, and the other on the other two. They walked backwards and forwards, clapping their hands, moving at pleasure on these revolving globes, gesticulating with their arms, singing various tunes and twisting their bodies according to the tune, beating cymbals or castanets together with their hands, and putting themselves into various amusing postures, affording, with the other jugglers, an admii-able spectacle to the lookers-on. After staying with the Emperor about two months, Earl Richard took his departure, loaded with costly presents. A DYING KING BEQUEATHS HIS HEART AS A CRUSADER. When Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, was on his deathbed in 1329, Froissart tells how he made this dying request to his friend Sir James Douglas : " ' Sir James, my dear friend, none knows better than you how great labour and suffering I have undergone in my day for the maintenance of the rights of my kingdom,- and when I was hardest beset made a vow which it now grieves me deeply that I have not accomplished. I vowed to God, that, if I should live to see an end of my wars, and be enabled to govern this realm in peace, I would carry on war against the enemies of my Lord and Saviour to the best of my power. Never has my heart ceased to bend to that point ; but our Lord has not consented thereto, for I have had my hands f uU in my days, and now at the last I am seized with this grievous sickness, so that, as you all see, I have nothing to do but to die. And since my body cannot go thither and accomplish that which I have so much at heart, I have resolved to send my heart there in place of my body, to fulfil my vow. I entreat thee, therefore, my dear and tried friend, that for the love you bear to me you will undertake this voyage and acquit my soul of its debt to my Saviour.' On the knight promising faithfully to obey his command, ' Praise be to God,' said the King. ' I shall die in peace, since I am assured that the best and most valiant knight of my kingdom has promised to achieve for me that which I myself could never accomplish.'" When King Robert Bruce died, his heart was taken out from his body and embalmed, and the Douglas caused a case of silver to be made, into which he put the heart and wore it round his neck by a string of silk and gold. He set out to the Holy Land, attended by a gallant train of Scottish chiefs; but Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 433 on touching at Spain he found the Saracen King or Sultan of Grenada, called Osmyn, then invading the realms of Alphonso, the orthodox Spanish King of Castile. The latter King received the Douglas with gi*eat honour, and persuaded him to assist in driving back these Saracens. Douglas consented ; and during a battle, seeing a comrade surrounded by the Moors, he took from his neck the heart, flung it into the thick of the enemy, and rushing to the spot where it fell, was himself slain. The body of the good Lord James was found lying above the silver case, as if to defend it had been his last effort. His companions then resolved not to proceed to the Holy Land, but to return with the sacred heart to Scotland, and it was buried below the high altar in Melrose Abbey. THE HOSPITALLERS AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARS (a.D. 1118 — 1313). A monastery for the benefit of Latin pilgrims had been founded at Jerusalem about 1050 by some wealthy merchants, and a hospital of St. John the Baptist was attached to help sick pilgrims and protect them against robbers. The Hospitallers soon separated from the monastery when the Crusaders arrived, and their dress was fixed as black with a white cross. Klings and nobles came to the assistance of this charity with gifts and endowments, and Raymond du Puy, on becoming master of the hospital in 1118, drew up rules which enjoined a regular system of begging alms for the poor, and each member when travelling was to carry a light with him, which was to be kept burning all night. The order of Knights Templars began about 1118 from similar motives, the object being to protect against the robbers the high- ways used by pilgrims. At first the Knights Templars were very poor, and the seal of their order showed two knights riding on one horse, a symbol which some explain as indicating poverty, and othei-s as indicating brotherly kindness. Hugh de Payens and other French knights were the fii-st members, and soon attracted attention, especially as St. Bernard, a nephew of one of the knights, warmly commended the institution and drew up rules for them. Each knight was restricted to keep three horses only, not to hawk nor hunt, not to receive presents nor use gaudy trappings in their equipments. They were charged always " to strike the lion," which was understood to mean the infidels. They were forbidden to lock their trunks, to walk alone, or to kiss their mothers or sisters. Their habit was said to be white with a red cross on the breast. The order began modestly, but soon included three hundred knights of noble families, and these 28 434 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. attracted wealth, and this in time gave occasion for pride, in- solence, and defiance of ecclesiastical discipline. The Knights Templars by degrees became a half-monastic and half-military order, attracting all the spirited youths of Europe. St. Bernard called them a perpetual sacred militia, the bodyguard of the Kings of Jerusalem, and a standing army on the outposts of civilisation. Lands, castles, riches, were given to them. The Popes patronised them. For two hundred years they kept up their credit, and fought with consummate valour, discipline, activity, and zeal for the cause of Christianity. They then excited the enmity of Philip the Fail*, who coveted their wealth, and as an excuse for attacking them said he had heard of the secret vices and depravity of the order, and accused and arrested all that were in France in 1307. They were subjected by him to fearful torture to make them confess, and many confessed anything and everything, being thereby able to escape further tortures. De Molay, the Grand Master, confessed, retracted, then confessed, and again retracted. Edward II. caused those Templai'S settled in England to be arrested also. In 1310 fifty-foiu* of the French Templars who denied the charges were burnt in Paris. De Molay, after being six years in prison, was burnt in 1313, protesting his innocence and that of the order. Philip the Fair was present part of the time. Philip's avarice and desii-e to con- fiscate their property were thought to be the moving cause of this atrocious tyi'anny, as he had borrowed money from them to pay the dowry of his sister, the Queen of England. The ashes of the victims were carefully collected and tieasured as relics. It was afterwards cuixently believed that Molay at the stake summoned the Pope and the King (Philip), as the authors of his death, to appear befoi-e the judgment seat of Christ within forty days and a year respectively, and that each of them died within the time assigned. Philip, at the age of forty-six in 1314, met with an accident while hunting in the forest of Fontainebleau, from which he never recovered, leaving a name detested for every kind of despotism and oppression ; and his chief minister, Marigny, was hanged soon after. Pope Clement V. had acted with a mean and cowardly acquiescence in the King's acts, and died in the same year. crusaders' faith in providence. De Joinville, in his Memoii- of St. Louis IX. of Finance, says that when they were returning in 1254 from the Sixth Crusade, this accident happened on board the ship of the Lord d'Argonnes, Chap, xiii.] THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 435 one of the most powerful lords of Provence : " Lord d'Argonnes was annoyed one morning in bed by the rays of the sun darting on his eyes through a hole in the vessel, and calling one of his esquires, ordered him to stop the hole. The esquire, finding he could not stop it inside, attempted to do it on the outside, but his foot slipping he fell into the sea. The ship kept on her way, and there was not the smallest boat alongside to succour him. We who were in the King's ship saw him ; but as we were half a league off, we thought it was some piece of furniture that had fallen into the sea, for the esquire did not attempt to save himself nor to move. When we came nearer, one of the King's boats took him up and brought him on board our vessel, when he related his accident. We asked him why he did not attempt to save himself by swimming, nor call out to the other ships for help. He said he had no occasion to do so, for as he fell into the sea he exclaimed, * Our Lady of Valbert ! ' and that she sup- ported him by his shoulders until the King's galley came to him. In honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to perpetuate this miracle, I had it painted in my chapel of Joinville, and also in the windows of the church of Blecourt." COLUMBUS VOWING ANOTHER CRUSADE (a.D. 1493). Columbus was in spirit a crusader rather than a maritime discoverer. The moment that the terms were fairly settled, he opened his project to Queen Isabella (herself a proselytising Cathohc), and suggested that the vast wealth of Kubla Khan which he expected would accrue from his discovery should be devoted to the pious purpose ' of rescuing the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem from the power of the infidels.' When he came home in triumph, he made a vow to furnish within seven years an army, consisting of five thousand horse and fifty thousand foot, for the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, and a similar force within the five following years. How tenaciously he held to his purpose we may gather from the fact that, when he was brought home in chains to Spain and was in the deepest sorrow and distress, he prepared an elaborate appeal to the sovereigns to undertake the fulfil- ment of the vow which his poverty and weakness forbade him to redeem ; he wrote at the same time to the Pope, affirming that his enterprise had been undertaken with the intent of dedicating the gains to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre ; and that the evidence might be complete, he reaffirmed it solemnly in death by his last testament, and committed it as the dearest object of his heart, the most sacred purpose of his life, for fulfilment to his 436 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. heirs. When Columbus after his first voyage told his story to Ferdinand and Isabella, they fell on their knees, giving thanks to God with many tears, and then the choristers of the Royal Chapel closed the grand ceremonial by singing the Te Deum. He was created a Don, with reversion to his sons and brothers, rode by the King's side, and " All hail ! " was said to him on State occasions. He brought with him nine Indians, as specimens of the wide field for future proselytes, and these natives were bap- tised. One of them, after being baptised, died, and the authori- ties of the time, as Herrera relates, were pleased then to declare that he was the first coloured person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Twelve missionaries, under charge of a Benedictine monk, were sent out to take charge of the souls of the other Indians, and bring them to a knowledge of the Holy CathoHc faith. And Admiral Columbus was specially charged besides to make them presents, and to deal lovingly with them. Columbus was all his life aware of some prophecy that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt by the hand of a Christian, and he looked forward to be that Christian ; and he used to say that he would try and discover the exact kingdom of Prester John, who was known to be in want of missionaries to help him. NUMBERS OF CRUSADERS. The First Crusade, which was led by Peter the Hermit, by Walter the Penniless, by a German priest, and by some non- descript leaders, consisted of a mob of a quarter of a million of people, and other contingents swelled the number to 880,000. When they succeeded in capturing Jerusalem, they massacred ten thousand inhabitants, including women and children. Then Godfrey, throwing aside his armour, clothed with a linen mantle, and with bare head and naked feet, went to the Church of the Sepulchre. The First Crusade captured Nice, then Antioch after a severe siege, and then Jerusalem ; and then a king was elected and remained. The Second Crusade, stirred up by St. Bernard in 1144, consisted of some 1,200,000 men, including Louis VII. of France, and was a total failure. The Third Crusade, in 1189, in- cluding Richard I. of England, was also numerous, and consumed twenty-three months in besieging Acre, but it ended in small progress. The Fourth Crusade, in 1203, stopped short at and attacked Constantinople. The Fifth Crusade, in 1228, resulted in a treaty by which Palestine was left to the Crusaders. The Sixth Crusade, in 1244, including Louis IX. of France (St. Louis), was utterly defeated, and Jerusalem pillaged by the Turks. The Chap, xiii.j THE CRUSADERS AND PILGRIMS. 437 Seventh Crusade, again including St. Louis and Edward (after- wards Edward I. of England), in 1270, ended in abortive efforts to keep possession of the Holy Land, which was at last abandoned to the Saracens. THE MODERN GREEK CHURCH AND ITS PILGRIMAGES. Ricaut, in his account of the modern Greek Church two centuries ago, says : " The Greeks were extremely fond of ^dsiting their churches and chapels, especially such as were on precipices and places very difficult of access ; and indeed the greatest part of their devotion consisted in such voluntary fatigues. On their first ari'ival at the church or chapel, they crossed themselves over and over, and made a thousand genuflexions and profound bows. They kissed the image which was erected there, and treated it with three or four grains of the choicest frankincense, and recommended themselves to the Blessed Virgin or the saint whom the image represented. But in case the saint did not incline his ear and hearken to their vows, they soon made him sensible of their resentment. Here, as in other places, these pilgrimages and peculiar foundations of chapels were looked upon as meritorious, and became the 3ffects of mere superstition." 438 CHAPTEK XIV. SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS, EARLY BASILICA CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. The basilicas of Pagan R-ome were long rectangular buildings, divided along their whole length sometimes by two, not seldom by- four, hues of columns, and serving as halls or courts of justice. The Christians of the fourth and fifth centuries often obtained from favouring emperors leave to turn these basilicas into churches. It was thought that this gave a pattern to early- churches. The roof was gradually raised proportionately and the arms thrown out wider to accommodate an increased con- gregation, thereby assuming a cruciform outline. St. Peter's at Rome, before Michael Angelo's design, was a basilica, also St. Paul's without the walls, and the church of Maria Maggiore : these and the church of St. Apollinaris at Ravenna were the grandest of this class of churches. Justinian, the Emperor, reared many basilicas, and his masterpiece was St. Sophia's church at Constantinople, which was imitated in the church of St. Vitalis at Ravenna. The period is uncertain when the central dome or cupola came to be added. In the eleventh century a new era of church-building began, called the Roman- esque, and lasted about two centuries in Italy and Norman England. Then came the Gothic, though the Goths had nothing to do with the invention : the pointed arch is the characteristic, and it was first noticed in Sicily, and then spread rapidly in Germany, Northern France, and England. In Italy the Renais- sance was equally making its way, with its rich marbles, mosaics, and gold and silver decorations. early christian ARCHITECTURE. Lord Lindsay, in his " Christian Art," says that the buildings required for the religious ceremonies of the Church in the fourth Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 439 century were of three descriptions : (1) baptisteries for the per- formance of the initiatory rite of Christianity ; (2) churches for the united worship of the initiated and the celebration of the mystery of the Lord's Supper ; (3) sepulchral chapels for the commemorative prayers offered up for the welfare of the departed who sleep in Christ. For the first of these, the public baths ; for the second, the basilicas or courts of justice ; for the third, the subterranean cells of the Catacombs, presented ready models. The basilicas were models of everything that could be desired. Their plan was an oblong area, divided by pillars into a nave and two aisles, the nave being sometimes open to the sky, sometimes roofed in, the aisles always so protected, the whole bounded by a transverse aisle or transept, raised by several steps and terminating at the extremity opposite the door of the build- ing in a semicircular niche or tribune where the judge sat. Nothing could be easier than to accommodate an edifice like this to the demands of Christian worship. Two basilicas, the Laterana and Yaticana at Rome, were actually converted by Constantine into churches. The basilica retained its form unchanged for ages. THE COPTIC CHURCH. The name of Coptic Church is given to the Church among the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, so called from Coptos, a city in Upper Egypt. This Church traces its origin to St. Mark, and had Origen, St. Antony, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, and others as its early champions. The Coptic Church was almost identified with other Churches up to the council of Chalcedon in 451, from which date it was viewed as an unorthodox Church. One Timothy the Cat was the leader of the heretics, and he got this name from visiting the cells of the monks by night, and proclaiming himself an angel from heaven, and charging them to forsake the people whom he viewed as heretics, but whom we would call orthodox. The Timotheans murdered the arch -priest of the opposite party. Two rival sets of patriarchs headed these factions. The Copt who enters his church takes off his shoes, walks up to the curtain, kisses the hem, and prostrates himself before the sanctuary. Standing during the service is usual ; hence all are supplied with crutches of a height to enable the worshippers to lean upon them. There are no organs, but musical accompani- ments are made by cymbals, triangles, and small brass bells struck with a little rod. There are no images permitted, but paintings adorn the walls on every side, the principal of which is one of Christ blessing His Church. 440 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. SPIRES AND TOWERS OF CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES. The spire has for centuries been a frequent ornament of churches in all countries, though in England there were few- spires in the earliest churches. The highest spires have been as follows: Old St. Paul's, 527 feet; Cologne, 510 feet; Strasburg, 500 feet ; Vienna, 441 feet ; St. Peter's dome, 434 feet ; Amiens, 422 feet ; Antwerp, 406 feet ; Salisbury, 404 feet ; Florence, 387 feet ; Freiburg, 385 feet ; Milan, 355 feet ; Chartres, 353 feet ; Segovia, 330 feet ; St. Michael's, Coventry, 320 feet ; Norwich, 309 feet; Louth, 294 feet; Chichester, 271 feet; Glasgow, 225 feet ; St. Patrick's, Dublin, 223 feet. The towers of churches were also rare until the eleventh century. Owing to a faulty foundation or subsidence, some towers lean considerably out of the perpendicular, as St. Marian at Este, Pisa, and Bologna, Vienna, Delft, Saragossa, Weston (Lincolnshire), The Temple (Bristol), Wynunbury (Cheshire), and Surfleet. Galileo took advantage of the leaning tower at Pisa to make experiments on falhng bodies. The following is the height of the highest towers : Bruges, 442 feet ; Mechlin, 348 feet ; Utrecht, 321 feet ; Tournay, 320 feet ; Ludlow, 294 feet ; Grantham, 274 feet; Bos- ton, 268 feet ; Lincoln, 262 feet ; Canterbury, 229 feet ; Gloucester and Westminster, 225 feet ; Durham, 216 feet; York, 198 feet. INTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF CATHEDRALS. The length, width at transept, and height in feet of the largest cathedrals are said to be: St. Peter's, Borne, 613, 450, 152; Old St. Paul's, 590, 300, 102; Modern St. Paul's, 460, 240, 88; Canterbury, 514, 130, 80; Winchester, 545, 209, 78; St. Albans, 543, 175, 66; Westminster, 505, 190, 103; Ely, 517, 185, 72 ; York, 486, 222, 101 ; Durham, 473, 170, 70 ; Lincoln, 468, 220, 82; Salisbury, 450, 206, 84; Florence, 458, 334, 153 ; Saltzburg, 466 ; Cologne, 445, 250, 161 ; Milan, 443, 287, 153; Granada, 425, 249; Amiens, 442, 194, 140; Paris, 432, 186; Chartres, 418, 200, 114; Eouen, 415, 176, 89; Valladolid, 414, 204; Seville, 398, 291, 132 ; Batisbon, 384, 128, 118; Constantinople, 360; Palermo, 346, 138, 74; Drontheim, 334, 166; TJpsala, 330, 140, 105; Vienna, 337, 115, 92; St. Patrick's, Dublin, 300, 157,58; Glasgow, 282; Venice, 205, 164. THE GOTHIC CATHEDRALS. The birthplace of true Gothic architecture was north of the Alps — it would seem on the Bhine. The northern climate may Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 441 have had something to do with its rise and development. Its high roof would cast off more easily the heavy snows; the numerous windows would welcome the flooding light; and to restore the solemnity and subdue the glare painted glass was resorted to. The Gothic cathedral, says Milman, was the con- summation, the completion, of mediaeval, of hierarchical, Chris- tianity. The church might seem to expand and lay itself out in long and narrow avenues with the most gracefully converging perspective, in order that the worshipper might contemplate with deeper awe the more remote central ceremonial. The enormous height more than compensated for the contracted breadth. Nothing could be more finely arranged for the impressive services ; and the processional services became more frequent, more imposing. The music, instead of being beaten down by low, broad arches, or lost within the heavier aisles, soared freely to the lofty roof, pervaded the whole building, was infinitely multiplied as it died and rose again to the fretted roof. Even the incense, curling more freely up to the immeasurable height, might give the notion of clouds of adoration finding their way to heaven. The Gothic cathedral remains an imperishable monument of hierarchical wealth, power, devotion. It has been described as a vast book in stone — a book which taught by symbolic language, partly plain and obvious to the simplest man, partly shrouded in not less attractive mystery. Even its height, its vastness, might appear to suggest the inconceivable, the incomprehensible, the infinite, the incalculable grandeur and majesty of the Divine works. The mind felt humble under its shadow, as before an awful presence. THE ALTAR IN CHURCHES. Christian churches had an altar, which, to distinguish it from the old altars of the Jewish and Pagan temples, on which sacrifices of blood were offered, was only a table, shaped in memory of the Last Supper. Altars of stone began to be used in the fourth century, and were directed by several councils to be used, as these were symbolical of Christ, the Rock. About the thirteenth cen- tury, the altar began to be shaped like a tomb. At first there was only one altar allowed in one church, to signify the unity of the Church ; but at later dates more than one were introduced for convenience. The altar at first stood in the centre of the church, but in later times stood at the east end of the building. In the tenth century the cross began to be put on the altar, but neither cross nor candles were put permanently there till the 442 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. fourteenth century. The great distinction in England after the Reformation was the substitution of a plain movable wooden table for the celebration of the Communion instead of the fixed altar. INCENSE AND HOLY WATER IN CHUKCHES. Incense was a mode of symboUsing the prayers offered to God. Some trace its origin to the fifth, and others no higher than the eighth or ninth, century. In the Catacombs it may have been useful to dispel damp and noisome smells. It was a very frequent accompaniment of Divine service in all Christian churches before the Reformation. Holy water was suggested as a mode of exor- cising devils, and Pope Alexander I. directed it to be used in churches, and it was mixed with salt. A stone basin, called a holy- water stock, was kept at the entrance of churches, with a brush for scattering it. ST. Peter's at rome. The great attraction of Christendom for centuries was the church of St. Peter's at Rome, built on the site of the original church in which it was said the Apostle Peter officiated. In 306 Constantino founded a basilica on the same spot. In 1450, the structure being ruinous, Pope Nicholas V. commenced the pre- sent extensive building, but it was long before it advanced. When Michael Angelo completed the design for a Papal tomb, it gave a stimulus to this undertaking, and Julius II. engaged Bramante to complejLe a design, and that was proceeded with. After two or three successors had been engaged, one of them being Raphael, Michael Angelo was appointed to complete the works, and he acted as chief designer till 1563, when he died at the age of eighty-nine. The main design was not completed till 1590. The number of architects has thus marred the unity of the building, and each having added or altered something, altera- tions still went on till 1780, so that nearly three and a half cen- turies passed in maturing it. It covers about six acres, and is about 100 feet longer than St. Paul's, London. The interior is of magnificent and harmonious proportions. The height of the nave is 152 feet, and 88 feet wide ; the side aisles are 34 feet wide. The diameter of the interior of the cupola is 139 feet. The exterior height to the top of the cross is 448 feet. The nave is richly decorated with gilding and stucco ornaments, and colossal statues fill the lower niches. The dome is supported by four massive piers, each with two recasses. Above the lower Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 443 recesses are four balconies, in which are preserved the relics of saints. One is the sudarium or handkerchief of Veronica, containing a likeness of the Saviour. There is also a portion of the true cross discovered by St. Helena. The head of St. Andrew is also here. The cupola above the dome is divided into sixteen compartments, ornamented with gilded stuccoes and mosaics. The design, altitude, and decorations of the cupola are described as glorious, and the mind dilates with wonder and rapture as the details are examined. The Baldacchino or grand canopy over the high altar is under the centre of the dome, and is 95 feet high, supported by four spiral columns. The high altar is immediately over the relics of St. Peter. This altar is only used on grand occasions, and the Pope alone can cele- brate Mass there, or a cardinal specially authorised by a Papal brief. On the right side of the nave is a bronze statue of St. Peter on a marble chair, and with the foot extended. On enter- ing the basilica devotees kiss the toe of this foot, and press their foreheads against it. The figure is rude and of uncer- tain origin. The tribune, which is behind and east of the high altar, is decorated with the designs of Michael Angelo, and con- tains the chair of St. Peter^ in which he is said to have once ofiiciated, and which is kept in a closet high in the wall safely locked with three keys, and exhibited only on rare occasions. In one chapel the Pieta of Michael Angelo, a marble group, and a masterpiece of his, is placed. In another chapel there is a column in white marble, said to have been brought from the Temple at Jerusalem, and the one against which the Saviour leaned when He disputed with the doctors. The illumination of St. Peter's on Easter Sunday, when all the details are lit up with lamps, is Hke a blaze of fireworks. When lit up, there are 6,800 lamps burning. THE SIXTINE CHAPEL AT ROME. The Sixtine Chapel at Home was built in 1473, under Pope Sixtus TV. The upper walls and roof are adorned with frescoes illustrating scenes in the Old and New Testaments. The architec- tural and pictured details are all in unison. Michael Angelo's genius is here transcendent. And Raphael was an admirer of the designs. The grand fresco of the Last Judgment by Michael Angelo is at one end of the building. To encourage the artLst in this great work, the Pope, attended by ten cardinals, often went to visit him, and this was deemed at the time an unparalleled honour to Art. The Pope, it is said, was anxious to have this fresco painted in oils, but the artist declined peremptorily, saying 444 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. that oil-painting was fit only for women and idlers who had plenty of time to throw away. The nudity of the figures in this work was much discussed at the time, and the Pope at last employed one Daniele da Volterra to cover some of them with drapery, and he was nicknamed the " Breeches-maker " ; at a later date further draperies were added, which spoiled the picture considerably. The colours are now dim with age and the smoke of candles and incense. THE CATHEDRAL OF GENOA. About 1310 the cathedral of San Lorenzo was erected at Genoa, and the bas-relief over the principal entrance and a large fresco on the ceiling represent St. Laurence's martyrdom. The roof and pillars are of alternate white and black marble. The richest portion of the church is the chapel of St. John the Baptist, which no female is permitted to enter, except on one day of the year — an exclusion imposed by Pope Innocent VIII., in recollection of the daughter of Ilerodias. The relics of the saint are said to be contained in an iron-bound chest which is seen through the apertures of the marble covering. On the day of his nativity they are carried in procession. In the treasury of the cathedral is preserved the sacro catino, long supposed to be com- posed of a single piece of emerald, and also variously asserted by some to be a gift from the Queen of Sheba to Solomon ; by others to be the dish which held the paschal lamb at the Last Supper ; by others the vessel in which Joseph of Arimathsea received the blood flowing from the side of the Saviour. It was part of the spoils taken at Ceesarea in 1101. The Crusaders and their allies divided the booty, and the Genoese selected this precious vessel as their portion. It is exposed to the veneration of the faithful three times a year. No stranger is allowed to touch it under a heavy penalty. Yet some daringly curious have attempted to discover the metal or mineral. Some travellers affect to have discovered that it is glass, and this is the latest belief. The dish is hexagonal, the colour is beautiful, and the transparency perfect. THE CATHEDRAL OF TURIN. A church at Turin dedicated to St. John the Baptist was first erected in 602, but the present cathedral was begun in 1498, and the decorations are comparatively modern. The sacristy contains magnificent crosses, vases, and reliquaries, the chief object, however, being a large statue of the Virgin, crowned and Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 445 standing under a silver-gilt canopy. Behind the cathedral is the Chapel del Sudario, which contains many unique architectural effects ; the centre of a star -decorated pavement is the altar, on which is placed the shrine, brilliant with gold, silver, and precious stones. The santo svdario, according to the legend, is one of the folds of the shroud in which our Lord was wrapped by Joseph of Arimathsea, and on which an impression was left of His body, other folds being preserved at Rome, Besangon, and Cadouin. The one at Turin was brought from Cyprus in 1452 by a descendant of a Crusader. This shrine has been invoked by kings, and is worshipped with great reverence. In another church at Turin, called Corpus Domini, which is highly decorated, there is an inscription to commemorate the miraculous recovery of a piece of sacramental plate, containing the consecrated wafer. During a pillage a soldier stole it, and hid it in one of the panniers which an ass was carrying, but the ass refused to pass the church door. The sacred pyx fell to the ground, and the wafer, rising into the air, remained suspended there, encircled with rays of light, until the bishop and his clergy came out to receive it. This miracle happened in 1453, and three paintings on the vault of the nave represent it. THE CATHEDRAL OP MILAN. At Milan the cathedral has been rebuilt thrice, the present being begun in 1387. The central tower and spire are of great beauty. A statue of the Madonna crowns the spire, and it is 355 feet high. The interior is magnificent, and said to be the grandest in the world, and bears a long examination. The height of the pillars of the nave is 80 feet. The roof is painted to represent an elaborate fretwork. The painted glass is abundant and of extraordinary brilHancy. Suspended from the vaulting of the octagon over the altar is a reliquary, said to contain one of the nails of the cross, which once a year is exhibited on the altar. The circuit wall of the choir towards the aisles is covered with bas-reliefs representing the history of the Virgin. There is an altar with the celebrated crucifix which was carried about the city before St. Carlo during the plague at Milan. On the high altar is a magnificent tabernacle of gilt bronze with figures of the Saviour and the Twelve Apostles. The subterranean chapel of San Carlo is dedicated to that saint, who was a great sanitary reformer and excited the enmity of the monks, one of whom fired at him as he was kneeling at the altar during the anthem. The bullet struck him on the back, but fell harmless to 446 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the ground, and this was deemed an interposition of Providence. The saint continued in prayer undisturbed. He died in 1584, and his body is deposited in a gorgeous shiine of silver, and is seen through panes of rock crystal arrayed in full pontificals. The flesh has crumbled away, notwithstanding the efforts of the embalmers. St. Ambrose, who was born in 340, was chosen archbishop of Milan in 375. THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE. The Florentines, in 1294, were determined to surpass their contemporaries in the grandeur of their cathedral, which is said to have given the idea of St. Peter's at Rome. The cupola is the largest dome in the world, though the summit of St. Peter's is higher. The interior is rather dark, owing to the smallness of the windows and the richness of the stained glass. The whole design is characterised by grandeur and simplicity, and the pave- ment in variegated marbles enhances the general effect. The choii* and the high altar are placed beneath the dome. Behind the altar is a Pieta or group of the Virgin at the entombment, designed by Michael Angelo. The campanile or bell-tower is 275 feet high, and decorated with rich tablets from the designs of Giotto. The cost of the tower was said to be enormous. Six fine bells are hung at the top. The baptistery has as its chief glory the bronze doors executed by Ghiberti and Andrea Pisano, and which Michael Angelo said were worthy to be the gates of Paradise. They illus- trate the chief events in the life of our Lord, as well as scenes in the Old Testament history. The perspective of these sculptures is in modern times viewed as defective, and too much detail is intro- duced ; but the borderings are exquisite. The cupola is covered with mosaics, and the floor is a mosaic of black and white marble. In Florence there is also a chapel of the Annunziata, with altar and silver-work decorations and frescoes. The miraculous fresco of the Annunciation is believed to have been painted by angels, and is exhibited only on great occasions. A celebrated Madonna was here painted by Andrea del Sarto, which he gave for a sack of wheat, and hence called " Madonna del Sacco." THE CATHEDRAL OF PISA. The first period of Christian architecture was the Roman basilica, the second the Byzantine, and the third the Lombard and Norman style, which was followed by the Gothic. The most splendid specimen of the Lombard style is the cathedral of Pisa. Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 447 It was the oblation of the richest and most powerful city in Italy at the height of her prosperity, her industry, her commerce, her fame ; it was made in the pride of her wealth, in a passion of gratitude for a victory, and for rich plunder taken from the Mohammedans in the harbour of Palermo. The cathedi-al makes one of the four buildings — the dome, the baptistery, the leaning tower, the Campo Santo — which in theu* sad grandeur in the deserted city surpass all other groups of buildings in Europe. The cathedral, standing alone, would command the highest admiration. The west front displays a profusion of tiers of arches above arches, arranged with finer proportion, richness, and upward decreasing order than elsewhere. But its sublimity is within. Its plan, the Latin cross, in the most perfect proportion, gives an impressive unity to its central nave, with its double aisles, its aisled transepts, and its receding apse. Its loftiness is more commanding than any building of its class in Italy. The Corinthian pillars along the nave are of admirable height and proportion. The first stone of the cathedral was laid in 1067, and the whole was completed in 1118. The extraordinary campanile or bell-tower, now called the leaning tower, was begun in 1174, and the foundation giving way accounts for its falling from the perpendicular. The tower is cylindrical, is 53 feet in diameter, and is 179 feet high. On the summit of the tower are seven bells, which are sonorous and harmonious. The baptistery adjoining has a dome 99 feet in diameter. On the exterior of the eastern doorway are sculptures representing the martyrdom of John the Baptist. In the centre of the building is the font, about 14 feet in diameter. The gi-eat ornament of this building is the 'pergaTno or pulpit, by Nicolo Pisano, of hexagonal form, with bas-reliefs of the events in Christ's life. The Campo Santo is a cemetery containing a great collec- tion of sepulchral monuments and a museum of the dead. Upwards of three hundred statues and sculptures are here, and six hundred tombs of families. The frescoes on the walls include pictures of a great variety of sacred subjects from the Old and New Testa- ments, and some of these are by superior artists. CHAPEL OF SAN GENNARO AT NAPLES. Near the basilica of Santa Restituta, which is the cathedral at Naples, is a chapel of San Gennaro, riclily decorated. It is chiefly remarkable for the blood of St. Januarius, which is exhibited in two phials resting in a tabernacle behind the high altar. The blood of the saint liquefies three times a year. The saint was exposed to lions in the amphitheatre about 305, 448 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. when the beasts prostrated themselves before him and grew tame. He was afterwards decapitated and his body deposited at Pozzuoli, and then removed to this chiirch. The blood was said to have been first collected by a woman present at the martyrdom. In 1696 Lord Perth, the chancellor of Scotland, being on his travels, described the whole exhibition of the relics in his time. He said the blood looked like a piece of pitch clotted and hard in the glass, and when brought near to the head it liquefied ; and " it was an admirable thing to see blood shed upwards of thirteen hundred years ago liquefy at this approach to the head. The Roman lady who had gathered it from off the ground with a sponge had, in squeezing of it into the glass, let a bit of straw fall in too, which one sees in the blood to this very day." THE CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO COMPOSTELLA. The cathedral of Santiago (which is the Spanish name for St. James the Elder) is also called Compostella, because a star is said to have pointed out where that saint's body was concealed, being in a wood near the present city. This shrine has been the favourite resort of pilgrims from all parts of Spain, France, and England. The cathedral was founded in 1078, and is on the same plan and design as that of Toulouse. The statue of St. James has figures of kings kneeling before it. Here there is a hospital for pilgrims built in four quadrangles, and so contrived that the patients can all see the sacrifice of the Mass. The interior of the cathedral is purposely kept somewhat dark to increase the effect of the illuminations of the high altar, thus rendering the image of the apostle the one prominent feature. The dark side aisles, which look almost like coriidors, are filled with confessional boxes dedicated to different saints, while on those destined for foreign pilgrims are insciibed the languages which the priest understands. The image of St. James in the Capilla Mayor, is Gothic, of stone painted and gilt, and so covered with ornamentation that the head alone is visible. The image is seated, holding a book in the left hand and blessing with the right. It is placed in a fine silver shrine. Mass can only be said before this image by bishops or canons of a certain dignity, of whom seven attend on grand occasions. The aureola of the saint's head is composed of rubies and emeralds. The western portico of this church is considered the most glorious achievement of Christian art, and the Last Judgment is represented with the Saviour as the chief figure, being twice the size of life. The figures and architecture are alike exquisite. The ceremonial by Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 449 pilgrims to this shrine begins with the ascent of some steps behind the image, and then the stranger places his hands on the shoulders and kisses the hood. This kiss is the chief object and end of the pilgrimage, without which all is ineffectual. He next proceeds to one of the confessors, by whom he is absolved. He then communicates and receives his certificate or compostella. This last is a printed document signed by the canon, and certifies that he has complied with all the devotional ceremonies necessary to constitute a real pilgrim. This compostella is kept along with the family title deeds as a voucher of the journey, and it is often made the condition of succession to landed estates. The cere- monies of the offertory on the great festival day, July 25th, are various and full of interest. THE SPANISH CATHEDRAL OF LEON. The cathedral of Santa Maria at Leon is one of the oldest in Spain, the present one being built about 1073. Its lightness of construction is proverbial. The grand western entrance is said to be the best of its kind in Spain. There are about fifty large statues and many small sculptures of admirable finish. On each side of the altar are buried two saints, Froylar and Alvito. The lofty windows are painted with apostles, saints, virgins, kings, and bishops ; the reds and greens are among the finest specimens of the art, being executed by Flemish artists. In one of the chapels, called the Chapel of the Dice, is the miraculous image of the Virgin and Child, the chapel being so called because a gambler once, after being unlucky, threw his dice at it, and hit the infant's nose, which immediately bled. The chapel of St. Andrew, in the same cathedral, has doorways and doors richly and delicately carved in the finest style. The frescoes illus- trate scenes in the life of the Saviour, and the drawing and colouring are the best specimens of early Spanish painting. In Leon there is also a church of St. Isidore, which contains the body of that saint, who worked miracles after his death. Though he was known only as a learned man in his lifetime, he is said to have become the tutelar saint of Leon after his death, and in this capacity to have fought at the battle of Baeza armed with a sword and cross. He was on that occasion mounted on horse- back and arrayed in his pontificals. The high altar shares with Lugo the rare privilege of having the Host, the incarnate Deity, always visible ; and the effect at night, when all is lighted up, with figures of angels kneeling at the side, is described as striking. 450 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE. The cathedral of Seville is one of the largest and finest in Spain ; its characteristic is solemnity, as elegance is the feature of Leon, strength of Santiago, and wealth of Toledo. The cathedral of Seville was begun in 1401, and its ample revenues and grand decorations long fostered and employed the artistic genius of Andalusia, and the interior, with its five mighty kisles and ample choir, remain still unrivalled. The see being vacant in 1401, the chapter determined to rebuild the fabric. " Let us build," said these magnificent ecclesiastics, " a church that shall cause us to be taken for madmen by them who shall come after us, so that at all events it shall have no equal." The name of the architect, though leaving his mark in this impressive way, perished with his original plans in a fire in 1734. The work went on for more than a century and a half, displaying in its many incongruous parts the successive changes of architectural style. To provide funds for so vast an undertaking, the prebendaries and canons gave up the greater part of their incomes — an instance of devotion not uncommon in those earnest times. The edifice inside and outside is a museum of fine arts. There are ninety-three windows, and the painted ones are among the finest in Spain. During Easter week the exquisite bronze candlestick, twenty-five feet high, when the Misereft^e is sung, is lighted with thirteen candles : twelve are put out one after another, indicating that the Apostles deserted Christ ; one alone of white wax remains burning, being a symbol of the Virgin true to the last. A great picture of the descent from the cross in the principal vestry was considered, before the colours somewhat faded, so lifelike, that Pacheco was afraid to remain after dusk alone, and here Murillo used to stand watching, as he said, till those holy men should have finished taking down the Saviour, and before this picture he desired to be buried. Underneath this picture the relics of the chiu-ch are kept. In the Capilla Real, over the high altar, is an image of the Virgin of life size, like a movable lay figure, having hair of spun gold and shoes ornamented with the lilies of France, and seated on a silver thione. The cathedral is always thronged, not only by the devout, but by idlers and beggars. THE CATHEDEAL OP TOLEDO. The cathedral of Toledo is said to have been erected by the Virgin herself while she was alive, and she is said to have often ^ come down from heaven to it, accompanied by St. Peter, St. Paul, Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 451 and St. James. The present cathedral was built in 1226. It excels in fine, rich furniture, picturesque effect, and artistic objects of every kind. The one tower which is finished is 325 feet high. The painted windows are superb, and at dusk light up and shine hke rubies and emeralds. The choir is a museum of sculpture. The 116 reliquaries are of gold, silver, ivory, and rock crystal. The church plate rivals that of Loretto in quantity. The Queen of the Cathedral is the image of the Virgin carved of black wood. It was saved in 711 from the infidels by an Englishman, who hid it in a vavilt. It is seated on a silver throne under a silver-gilt canopy, supported by pillars. The superb crown and bracelets of precious stones, made in the sixteenth century, were stolen in 1865. In a wardrobe near the Castodia, the famous manto of the Virgin is kept, which was embroidered with pearls in 1615. There are 257 pearls used, 300 ozs. of gold thread, 160 ozs. of small pieces of enamelled gold, and 8 ozs. of emeralds and precious stones. Her rings, necklaces, and trinkets are countless. THE CATHEDRAL OF CORDOVA. The cathedral of Cordova occupies the site of a basilica which had been erected on a Roman temple. About 780 Abderrah- man I. determined to build a temple which would compete with the finest in the East, and in 786 the building was begun. At first there were eleven naves, and eight more were added about 988, so that there are no less than nineteen in all. This struc- ture is the finest type in Europe of a true temple of Islam. The forest of columns supporting the low roof are not uniform, nor are they of the same diameter. Some are of jasper, porphyry, verde-antique, and other choice marbles. In sanctity this ranked as the third of mosques, second only to Mecca and equal to Al Aska of Jerusalem. Some of the upper arches of the pillars are beautifully interlaced like ribands. Some of the decorations were introduced after it had been converted into a Christian temple in 1238. The choir was added in 1523. The cinquecento orna- ments and roof are picked out in white and gold. The pulpits are splendid, and the fine brass balustrades very effective. THE CATHEDRAL OP AMALFI. The cathedral of Amalfi is dedicated to St. Andrew. The bronze doors were made about 1000, and the nave has its roof richly carved and gilded. Below is the crypt, containing the body of St. Andrew, which was brought from Constantinople with 452 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. other relics about 1200. This cii^cumstance has made Amalfi a place of pilgrimage. The head of the apostle was enclosed in a silver bust and removed to Rome, where it is still preserved among the relics in St. Peter's. There is a handsome bell -tower of four storeys at this cathedral. THE MISERERE AT VALENCIA. In the chapel of the Colegia de Corpus, which is a museum of Ribaltas, a religious service of great interest is made one of the wonders. The chapel is purposely kept dark by the small windows, which allow only a dim, religious light. On a Friday morning the Miserere is a service which interests every stranger. Ladies must go in black, with a manto or some thick mantilla. At ten a.m. the blinds of all the windows are drawn and the doors shut, and a gloom is thrown over the building, the whole space above the high altar being covered with a purple pall, as if in mourning. The silent choristers alone stand near it. A priest is seen to approach and prostrate himself ; then all kneel, and the solemn chant begins. At the first verse the picture above the altar descends noiselessly and almost imperceptibly, and the vacancy is filled with a lilac veil with yellow stripes. As the chant proceeds this is withdrawn, and discloses one of a faint grey, which is next removed, then another of deep black, and then after a pause another veil. The imagination of the audience is worked upon, and all are hushed with breathless curiosity while the penitential psalm is sung. At last the veil of the Temple appears to be rent asunder, and the Saviour on the cross appears resplendent, while silvery voices are heard in the distance, and the pall again closes over this great central figure. After the service and later in the day the public are allowed for a small fee to ascend a ladder and see behind the machinery of ropes and contrivances for moving the various scenes which make up the impressive representation. THE CATHEDRAL OF OVIEDO. The cathedral of Oviedo was built on the ruins of a previous church in 1388. The western fa9ade has a noble balustraded portico, rich in ornamentation. The most interesting piece of antiquity here is the Camera Santa or chapel of San Miguel, the second oldest Christian building after the Moorish invasion, being built in 802, as a receptacle for sacred relics. This holy of holies is lit by magnificent silver lamps, and the devout kneel Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 453 before a railing while the relics are exhibited every morning. These relics are enclosed in superb silver workmanship of various designs. In a small case is kept the santo sudario or shroud of our Saviour, which thrice a year and each Good Friday, if a bishop preaches, is displayed from a balcony. There is also a venerable cross, a thousand years old, inclosed in magnificent fili- gree work. At Oviedo there is an ancient church of San Miguel. On July 25th each year a great procession is seen of the peasants with their offerings of cows and heifers going to this church, the horns being gaily decorated with ribbons. They go to Mass on that day, and it is looked forward to as their chief religious event. NOTRE DAME AND LA SAINTE CHAPELLE, PARIS. The cathedral of Notre Dame, begun in 528, to commemorate the gratitude of Childebert on his recovery from sickness, replaced another at its side, and was in turn replaced in 1163 by the present structure. It is remarkable for now containing the crown of thorns given by St. Louis and the nail of the true cross. The crown of thorns was brought there from La Sainte Chapelle, which was built by St. Louis as a shrine worthy to contain it. This exquisite chapel, without visible aisles or tran- sept, was begun in 1242 and finished in 1247. One of the little tourelles at the side of the shrine still contains the actual wooden stair which was ascended by St. Louis when he went to take from its tabernacle the crown of thorns, which he and he alone was permitted to exhibit to the people below through a large pane of glass purposely inserted and always movable in the end window of the apse. It is recorded that when St. Louis was in Paris he would rise to pray three times in the night, always approaching the altar on his knees. This chapel was called by the old chronicler St. Louis's arsenal and tower of defence against all the ills of life. The head of the saintly King was afterwards brought hither from St. Denis at the instance of Philip the Fair. CHURCHES AT MARSEILLES AND STRASBURG. On the rocky hill of Notre Dame de la Garde, above the harbour of Marseilles, is a Romanesque church, in which is a shrine with a famous image of the Virgin, carved in olive wood, and of gi^eat antiquity. All the sailors and fishermen in the Mediterranean venerate this object, and hang their offerings on the walls and roof. All kinds of objects connected with ship- wi-ecks, plagues, storms, cholera, panics, are here represented. 454 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. At Strasburg the cathedral, begun in 1015, is a noble Gothic edifice, the tower of which is 468 feet above the pavement. There is a circular window 48 feet in diameter, and rising to the height of 230 feet. The interior has much richly painted glass. There is also a famous clock in the south transept, dating from 1354, which shows the hour, day of the week, month, and year, and many other epochs, besides clockwork figures, with mechanism for moving puppets and images. CHARTRES CATHEDRAL. The cathedral of Notre Dame at Chartres, magnificent and strongly built, attracts the visitor by its two tall but unequal bell-towers and spires. It is vast and elegant, and excels in painted glass and its three rose windows. The tower and spire are the finest of their period in France, the steeple being 33 9 1 feet high without the cross. Above the Porte Koyale or central door is the image of Christ in an oval, with the symbols of the four evangelists, and below these are the fourteen prophets, and in the arches above are the twenty-four elders playing on musical instruments. The church is a storehouse of painted glass, above one hundred and thirty windows being rich with splendid orna- mentation, the rose windows being thirty or forty feet in diameter. The choir has double aisles and many bas-reliefs of Scriptural subjects. Outside of the screen which separates the choir from the aisles is a series of Gothic sculptures of events in the life of Christ and the Virgin in forty-five compartments, surrounded with elaborate tracery and tabernacle work begun about 1514. The execution has been compared to point lace in stone, some of the sculptured threads being not thicker than the blade of a penknife. This was the earliest and chief church in France dedicated to the Vii-gin, and was resorted to by countless pilgrims. The sacred image dating from the time of the Di-uids stood in the crypt. The famous relic of the Sancta Camisia given by Charles le Chauve is here. And the celebrated black image of the twelfth century, after having been crowned with a bonnet rouge during the Revolution, is still a subject of adoration. THE CATHEDRAL OF AMIENS. The cathedial of Amiens, one of the noblest Gothic edifices in Europe, was begun in 1220, about the same time as Salisbiuy, but the spire is 422 feet, being 20 feet higher than Salisbury. Yet owing to the loftiness of the roof of the nave, this great Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 455 height does not stiike the beholder. The interior is one of the most magnificent of spectacles, owing to this great height of the roof, which is about double the usual height of English cathedrals. The area of the cathedral is also larger than that of any other cathedral in France, and is only surpassed by that of St. Peter's at Rome, and by Cologne. At the crossing of the transept, three magnificent rose windows of elaborate tracery and rich stained glass, and about 100 feet in circumference, make this cathedral unique. The head of St. John the Baptist, brought from Con- stantinople at the time of the Crusades, has always been prized as an invaluable relic, and is deposited in the side chapel dedi- cated to St. John. Several other heads of St. John existed before the Revolution in other churches of France, but this was deemed the genuine one. Since the Revolution, however, the skull has been reduced to the frontal bone and upper jaw. The choir and its elegantly groined roof, resting on compressed lancet-pointed arches, are of great beauty, and there are one hundred and ten stalls of elaborately carved woodwork, showing the finest inven- tion and execution. This carved work was done or finished in 1528. THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS. The cathedral of Rheims is a Gothic edifice of great power and grace, commenced in 1212. The western front is thought to be unrivalled for the multiplicity of detail in sculpture and tracery. The interior is perfect in design, and the gorgeous stained glass in the rose windows, the largest being forty feet in diameter, adds to the grandeur of the general effect. The choir was conse- crated in 1241. The clock over the sacristy, one of the oldest clocks known, strikes the hour, when a door opens and the effigy of a man looks out, while other figures sally forth and make the round. Here the coronation of the French kings took place. The holy oil, according to the legend, was at first brought by a dove from heaven. THE CATHEDRAL OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE AND RELICS. The cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle is the most ancient poly- gonal church north of the Alps, the nave of which being octagonal, was erected by Charlemagne about 796, partly as a tomb for himself, in imitation of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The Emperor's tomb was opened by Otho III., and Charlemagne was found, not lying, but sitting on a throne as one alive, bearing a sceptre in his hand, and having a copy of the Gospels on his /f^^i'ip^ 456 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. knees. These relics were removed to Vienna. The choir was rebuilt in 1413. It is 120 feet long, and 114 feet high, having the appearance of a gigantic lantern. The treasury of the cathedral has a rich collection of relics in shrines of great beauty. There is a locket of the Virgin's hair ; a piece of the true cross ; the leathern girdle of Christ (bearing Constantine's seal) ; a nail of the cross ; the cord which bound the rod that smote Him ; the sponge which was filled with vinegar ; that arm of Simeon on which he bore the infant Jesus ; some blood and bones of St. Stephen; some manna from the wilderness; and some bits of Aaron's rod. These relics were presented to Charlemagne by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Caliph Haroun Al Raschid. Another silver-gilt shrine contains the great relics which are shown only once in seven years. These are the cotton robe worn by the Virgin at the Nativity ; the swaddling clothes of Jesus ; the cloth on which John the Baptist's head was laid ; the scarf worn by the Saviour at the Crucifixion, having stains of His blood. THE CATHEDEAL OF TREVES. The cathedral of St. Peter and St. Helen at Treves has five stately towers, and was completed in the twelfth century, being supposed to be begun about 550. The vast size of the building is imposing. One of the remarkable relics here preserved is the holy coat, without seam, and said to be made of camels' hair, five feet long. When not exhibited, it is carefully walled up inside the high altar. In 1844, when it was exhibited, about a million of pilgrims went to view it. THE CATHEDRAL AND CHURCHES OF ANTWERP. The cathedral of Notre Dame at Antwerp is one of the largest of the Gothic cathedrals. The great attractions in the interior are the masterpieces of Eubens. The steeple is one of the loftiest in the world, being 403 feet high, and of such delicate workmanship that Charles V. said it deserved to be kept in a case. Napoleon said it was as minute and elaborate as a piece of Mechlin lace. It was begun in 1422 and completed in 1518. The framework is chiefly of iron, with stones interlaced and bolted together with copper. In the tower there are sixty bells, which are made to chime in perfection. Another church o Antwerp, more highly decorated even than the cathedral, is that of St. Jacques, where marbles, glass, carved wood, and monu- ments give a rich appearance to the interior. The Holy Family, Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 457 by Rubens, adorns the altarpiece, which for colour stands as high as any of Rubens' works. In another church in Antwerp, that of the Augustines, there is also an altarpiece by Rubens — the marriage of St. Catherine — where there are about twenty figures of saints, all of which are rendered with great skill, and the brilliancy of colour is impressive and fascinating. In the nave of the same church a picture by Vandyke, the Ecstasy of St. Augustine, is also famous. THE CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE. The cathedral church of St. Peter at Cologne was commenced in 1248, to replace an earlier one which had been destroyed by fire. The work proceeded very slowly, came to a stop in 1509, and stopped for three hundred years. In 1830 the original plan was resumed. The two principal towers were to be raised to the height of 500 feet. A handsome terrace has been raised round the church. The entire length of the body of the church is 511 feet, equal to the height of the towers. It had always been intended to be the most regular and most stupen- dous Gothic monument existing. The choir consists of five aisles, and from the great height and arrangement of the pillars and stained windows the interior has a glorious effect. The exterior also is striking from its double range of vast flying buttresses and intervening piers bristling with a forest of purfled pinnacles. Round the choir stand fourteen colossal statues of the twelve Apostles, the Vii-gin, and the Saviour, coloured and gilt. The chapel immediately behind the high altar is that of the three kings of Cologne, or the Magi, who came from the East with gifts to the Infant at Bethlehem. The bones of these kings had been carried off from Milan by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1162. The shrine containing the bones is of silver gilt, and curiously wrought. Even the skulls of the kings are exhibited crowned with diadems. ST. Isaac's cathedral, st. Petersburg. The cathedral of St. Isaac's at St. Petersburg is of compara- tively modern origin, being completed in 1801, the former one built in 1710 being destroyed by fire. The proportions are grand and the porticoes noble. The cupola, which is 296 feet high, sup- ported by thirty polished granite pillars, is covered with copper overlaid with gold, and glitters brightly. The screen is supported by malachite columns 30 feet high, and on either side of the door 458 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. of the screen there are pillars of lapis-lazuli. Into the inmost shrine or sanctuary women are not admitted. The most effective portion of the service in the Greek Church is the singing, boys always taking the soprano parts. Certain half -recitative solos are delivered by deacons with very strong and deep bass voices. One of the most impressive parts of the service occurs when the doors of the ikonostas or screen are shut; the chanting then ceases, the incense-bearers withdraw, and every one seems breath- less with attention. The royal doors are then opened in the centre, and the chief officiating priest, attended by deacons, comes forward, carrying the Holy Eucharist, and commences a long recitative, which is a prayer for the Emperor and Imperial Family. While this prayer is intoned the audience bend low in attitudes of adoration. The outward forms of the service are joined in by the men as well as the women with great fervour. The first proceeding on entering a Russian church is to purchase a wax candle. With this the worshipper slowly approaches one of the shrines. He sinks on one knee, bowing his head to the pavement, and crossing his breast repeatedly with the thumb and two forefingers of his right hand. Having reached the shrine, he then lights his votive candle at the holy lamp, and sets it up in one of the various holes in a large silver stand provided for the purpose, falling at the same time on his bended knees on the pavement before the altar. He then says his prayers and retires slowly with his face to the altar, kneeling and crossing himself at intervals. The kindling of lamps and tapers is a custom in all Russian churches. THE CATHEDRAL OP ST. STEPHEN'S OF VIENNA. The cathedral at Vienna was begun in 1359, and has much rich tracery and curious carvings. The giant portal is a triumph of Gothic ornament. The lofty nave has rich sculpture and rich tinted glass, two of the windows being rose. The tower is a masterpiece, and is 444 feet high, and it is now made useful by the fire brigade as a watch-tower, there being a station half-way up, and watchmen posted there night and day. THE MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE. The cathedral of old Constantinople, dedicated by Constantine to the Eternal Wisdom, now turned into a mosque, was first built in 325. It was burnt down and rebuilt in 415, and again in 532 and 548. Justinian at the last date restored it and placed Chap. xiv.J SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 459 it on a magnificent footing. He was proud of the structure, and boasted that he had vanquished Solomon. The marble columns were the admiration of the world, every variety of marble, granite, and porphyry being used : white marble with rose-coloured stripes, green and blue, and white marble with black veins. There were eight porphyry columns used which Aurelius had taken away from the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec. This church, when restored by Justinian, was the theatre of great and solemn State affairs. It was said to have had a hundred architects, and the plan had been laid down by an angel who appeared to the Emperor in a dream. A second angel appeared to a boy when guarding the workmen's tools, and insisted on the works being rapidly completed. The building was afterwards completed, except as to the cupola, and an angel for the third time appeared, and as the works were stopped for want of money, led the mules of the Treasury to a subterranean vault, where 80 cwt, of gold was concealed, whereupon the building advanced with great speed. The Emperor and the architect having differed as to the position of certain windows admitting light, the angel again appeared and instructed the Emperor that the light should fall upon the altar through three windows, in honour of the Trinity. The altar was to be more costly than gold, and was one mass of precious stones. Above the altar rose a tabernacle crowned with a golden cross weighing 75 lbs., and adorned with precious stones. The doors were of ivory, amber, and cedar. The church was opened in 548. The building is nearly a square. Fergusson (on Architecture) doubts whether any Christian church of any age exists whose interior is so exquisitely beavitiful. It contains among the relics the cradle of the Saviour and a basin in which the Infant was washed by Mary. THE MOSQUE OF OMAR. The Saracenic cupola of the Mosque of Omar may be said to defy comparison even with the proud domes of St. Sophia, St. Peter, and St. Paul. The marble octagon from which that cupola springs into the air with the Arabesque frieze and circle of pointed windows has nothing in Europe excelling it in either grace or strength. THE CHURCHES OF JERUSALEM. Though the site of the Holy Sepulchre has not been clearly established, there was a church erected over the supposed spot 460 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. by Constantine in 326, and rebuilt in 614, and again in 1048. The church remained in the same state as the Crusaders left it till 1808, when it was partly destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The church is nearly of an oval shape. In the centre of the rotunda is the Holy Sepulchre, covered by a building 26 feet long by 18 feet wide, cased in white stone, with semicolumns and pilasters. The sepulchre proper is a vault 6 feet by 7 feet. Over it lamps of gold and silver burn with a brilliant light. The vault was said to be hewn out of the rock, but no rock is seen, all being marble. A round marble stone let into the pavement marks the spot where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, and even the exact spot is shown where Mary stood. The Chapel of the Apparition marks the spot where Christ appeared to His mother after the Resurrection. Near that spot St. Helena laid the crosses after she had discovered them. The column of flagella- tion is represented by a fragment of porphyry covered over, and the pilgrim can insert his staff in a hole and touch it, which he usually does, and then kisses the staff. Adjoining are various chapels : the Chapel of St. Helena, the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross and of the Elevation of the Cross, and the Chapel of the Crucifixion. The latter stands on the spot where Christ was nailed to the cross. In the south wall is a barred window, mark- ing the place where the Virgin Mary stood during the Crucifixion. THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF BETHLEHEM. The extraordinary interest attached by all Christians to the little village of Bethlehem led to early pilgrimages. St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, went to the spot and built what was then considered a splendid church or basilica in 327, and which is the oldest existing monument of Christian architecture in the world. St. Jerome afterwards took up his abode there in a cell. The Crusaders also took especial interest, and at the request of the inhabitants assumed possession. In 1110 Baldwin I. made an episcopal see of this place, though it had an ephemeral existence. The Church of the Nativity, built partly into the cave or stable of Bethlehem, is 120 feet long by 110 feet wide, and has four aisles with marble columns. The Chapel of the Nativity is a vault hewn out of the rock, 38 feet long by 11 feet wide. On a marble slab in the pavement a silver star marks the supposed site of the birth of Christ. The site of the manger is also pointed out, for the real manger was carried to Rome and is deposited in Santa Maria Maggiore. The various grottoes here are possessed by rival sects, which keep up constant warfare about their rights. Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 461 The convents, together with the church, make up a large pile of buildings. There are about three thousand inhabitants in Beth- lehem, nearly all Christians, who are peasants, and some of them make a livelihood by carving heads and crosses for pilgiims. ANCIENT BRITISH CHURCHES AND THEIR CHIEF FEATURES. The old British churches in the time of Edward I. had some features which are now unknown. Under every altar there was a small stone, which closed up the aperture in which relics were kept, it being a maxim that no altar could be consecrated without relics. There was a canopy over the altar with curtains, and here was hung the pyic or box containing the Host, or consecrated bread. This was considered so sacred a thing, that once, when it was stolen, Henry V. delayed his whole army for a day in order to discover the thief. There was a confessional with oblong holes in the wall, or there was a crypt for the like purpose. The Galilee was the place marked by circular stones, to show where the processions ended. There were holy -water stones filled with fresh water every morning. The old fonts were baths, and in progress of time they grew less and less, and at last a basin of water only was used. In baptising children, not only water was used, but oil, or chrism, especially to make the sign of the cross on the child's breast and between the shoulders. The oil was omitted after the Reformation. The churches were often mere lounging-places, and the porch was the place for people meeting and settling their disputes. This state of things con- tinued slightly changed for some time even after the Reformation. ST. Paul's cathedral, London. The site of St. Paul's Cathedral in London is traced to the time of Nero ; by others it is alleged that a temple of Diana had stood there, while another temple to Apollo stood on the site of West- minster Abbey. Ethelbert, King of Kent, was said to have dedicated a magnificent cathedral there, which was enlarged and adorned for centuries, till it was consumed by fire in 1087. Another fire in 1135 consumed the next building. It was again rebuilt. In 1315 the structure had a tower steeple 285 feet high, and a spire and then a cross at the summit. The total height was 527 feet. And this spire in 1341 and 1444 was struck by lightning. Again in 1561 the lightning caught and destroyed it and the building also. This was thought a national calamity, and the Crown, the nobles, and the Church recognised the duty to rebuild it; subscriptions poured in, in 1566 it was nearly 462 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. restored except the steeple, and Queen Elizabeth was greatly displeased that the city authorities had not exerted themselves to complete this part also. James I., admitting the poverty of the Crown, stirred the bishop and appointed a commission to repair the fabric. In 1620 the King on horseback visited the city to attend a service there and keep up the public interest. He entered the church at the west door, and knelt and prayed near the brazen pillar; the choir chanted an anthem, and the bishop preached from the text : " Thy servants think upon her stones, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust " (Psalm cii. 14). Another royal commission was issued, and Inigo Jones, the King's surveyor, was one of that body; but little was done. Under Charles I., Laud, Bishop of London, laboured to collect funds, and the High Commission Court, which fined people for all sorts of delinquencies, gave the proceeds to that work, so that it was made a common jest that St. Paul's was restored out of the sins of the people. Inigo Jones, who was an Italian by birth, designed a portico at the west front; and a Turkey merchant, named Sir Paul Pindar, gave .£100,000 to restore the interior and decorate it. The steeple still remained unfinished. During the RebelHon the cathedral suffered, and at the Restoration the authorities consulted Sir Christopher Wren, the great architect, as to the best mode of repair, and great changes were contemplated. Just at that time the Great Fire of London, in 1666, destroyed it. The rebuilding of St. Paul's then again became a great national work, and commissioners were appointed to erect a new church. All sources were examined for contributions, and the coal duty granted by Parliament supplied a chief part. Sir C. Wren was designated the architect, and he planned the present cathedral, slightly vary- ing the site. St. Peter's at Rome had been the work of twenty Popes, but St. Paul's had the advantage of having one architect and a more harmonious design. It has ever been considered the grandest and most beautiful church in Europe. The first stone was laid in 1675 by Sir C. Wren, without any parade or cere- monial. The foundations gave great trouble. At the east end he had to bore down forty feet and build a solid pier of masonry ten feet square. In 1697 the cathedral was first opened with gi^eat pomp on a thanksgiving day for the Peace of Ryswick. In 1715 Sir C. Wren saw his son lay the highest stone of the lantern of the cupola. All London poured forth to watch this spectacle. Yet Wren had been worried for years, and thwarted in his matchless plans by the little busybodies and bishops of the time. The height on the south side is 365 feet. Wren had Chap, xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 463 plans for the painting of the cupola, but, against his wishes, that work was given to Sir James Thornhill, then a high authority, but whose ponderous figures and groups were wholly unsuited to the building, which ought to have been decorated by the free, delicate, and brilliant colouring of a Correggio. The total sum expended on the cathedral was said to be £736,752. CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. The site of Canterbury Cathedral is said to be the same as the primitive Roman or British church attributed to King Lucius, and is the earliest monument of the English union of Church and State. Canterbury was the first English Christian city. It differs from all other cathedrals, English and foreign, in the great height of the choir above the crypt below, and the numerous steps which are consequently necessary in order to reach it from the nave. Part of the skull of St. Dunstan is among the relics enclosed in a silver reliquary. There are also pieces of Aaron's rod, some of the clay from which Adam was made, and the right arm of " our dear lord the knight St. George." The screen is the work of Prior Henry de Estria, in 1304, being 14 feet high, and of great beauty. The choir is the longest in England, being 180 feet. When Becket was murdered in 1170, he was dragged from his chamber along the cloister by the monks, and he was entering the choir by a door now called the martyr's transept when he was stopped by the knights and fought and fell. The great window of the north transept, the gift of Edward IV., had originally seven glorious appearances of the Virgin with Becket in the centre; but in 1642 it was demolished by Bichard Culmer, an iconoclast. When the pilgrims used to flock to Becket's shrine, they knelt in the sacristy, where Becket's staff and his bloody handkerchief were shown. The tomb of Edward the Black Prince and his coat of mail were always shown here. Cromwell was said to have carried off the sword. The arch- bishop's palace, close to the precincts, has left no trace except an old arched doorway. Yet in that palace Henry VIII. and Queen Catherine and Charles V. were entertained, and had a solemn dancing party. Queen Elizabeth was also feasted there. The Puritans pillaged and ruined the building, which was never afterwards restored. YORK MINSTER. York Minster (monasterium) was rebuilt soon after 1352, and has perhaps the greatest reputation of all the English cathedrals, 464 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. replacing the more ancient Eboracum, a Roman city. Dignity and massive splendour distinguish the exterior. It exceeds the other English cathedrals in the height of its roof, being 102 feet high in the choir. Its western front is architecturally magnificent. The large west window is nearly the same size as that of Carlisle, which last is considei'ed by Mr. Fergusson " without a single exception the most beautiful design for window tracery in the world." The great eastern window, the chief glory, is a great wall of glass 78 feet high, and the largest in England that retains its original glazing. The exquisite and unique effect of the tall windows, rising from the floor to the roof, and occupying the whole width of the transept, is a most felicitous effort of architectural skill. The stained glass in the nave is the most extensive collection in the kingdom of the art of the fourteenth century ; and it was little injured at the Re- formation. The relics of Archbishop William of York, who had been interred in 1154, were removed in presence of Edward I. to another part of the building. His head was kept by itself in a reliquary of silver gilt and covered with jewels. The vestry contains the horn of XJlphus, made of an elephant's tusk, the work of the eleventh century, and presented on the altar by a great lord of Yorkshire, in token of his bestowing certain lands on the church of St. Peter. The minster bell in the north-west tower is the largest in England, weighing 10 tons 15 cwt. Between Canterbury and York there had been incessant disputes for pre- cedence; but a great synod held in 1072 made the northern province of England formally inferior to the southern. This decision was reversed by the Pope in 1125. The contest continu- ing, the Pope in 1354 settled it by treating the two provinces as independent of each other, but that the title of York should be Primate of England, while Canterbury was to be Primate of all England. One of the archbishops, St. John of Beverley, in 705, was the most famous of the northern saints next to St. Cuthbert. Henry IV. and his Queen visited the shrine of this St. John after the victory of Agincourt, and attributed that victory gi^eatly to the intercession of the saint. Another of the archbishops was St. Wilham, who was first elected in 1143, deposed by the Pope in 1147, but re-elected in 1154, at which date he had become very popular, being welcomed by a vast crowd, some of whom fell through the wooden biidge into the Ouse, but were saved by a miracle performed by the saint. ip. xiv.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 465 DURHAM CATHEDRAL. A cathedi'al was built in 875 at Chester-le- Street, but this see was transferred in 995 to Durham, which was then a thick wood, one object being to find a safe deposit for the body of St. Cuthbert. Durham alone among English cities has its highest point crowned with the minster and the vast castle of its prince bishop, the building being erected about 1090. Like Lausanng or Chur or Sitten, the bishop was also a powerful chief. Its situation is most picturesque, and in that respect resembles Lincoln and Ely cathedrals. Dr. Johnson said this building gave the impression of " rocky solidity and indeterminate duration." On the north door is a grotesque knocker with a ring, which is a relic of the ancient practice of criminals flying for sanctuary to a church. When the murderer reached this knocker and seized the ring, two monks who sat constantly on the watch within opened the door, and then rang a bell in the Galilee tower to announce that an arrival had taken place. The criminal then put on a black gown, and was maintained safe from pursuit for thirty-seven days, after which he was bound to banish himself by setting off to the nearest vessel bound seaward ; and he went off with a white cross in his hand. The altar of the Venerable Bede, one of our great early historians, who died in 735, is a feature of this cathedral and the work of the twelfth century. At that time it was deemed the highest virtue to steal relics, and Elfrid the priest in 1022 was warned in a vision to seek the relics of various holy persons buried in different parts of Northumbria, and display them to the veneration of the faithful. So he went and brought the remains of Boisel, the prior of Melrose, who had received St. Cuthbert when a youth. Elfrid also stole the relics of the Venerable Bede from the monks of Jarrow, and placed them in the shrine of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral. The nine altars dedicated to the Archangel Michael, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Cuthbei't, and other saints stand against the eastern wall, and the architecture is greatly admired. Here also is the shrine of St. Cuthbert, a treasure more precious than gold or topaz. Pilgi-ims innumerable have here worn holes in the pavement. The shrine is a superb work of gold and enamel, hung round with jewels and ornaments offered by great lords and princes. So precious was this spot that some monk sat night and day in a watching chamber. The body of Cuthbert had at first been buried in Lindisfarne Church, and when his coffin was opened eleven years after, he was found to be uncorrupt and perfect, more like a 30 466 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. sleeping than a dead man. And even so late as 1540, when another view was taken, the body was still found qviite whole and uncoiTupt, the face bare and the beard as of a fortnight's growth, all the vestments as usual, and crosier of gold lying beside him. In 1827 the tomb was again opened, and a skeleton found with some vestments once rich, a girdle, two bracelets, and a golden cross set with garnets; these are now preserved in the library. The piers of this cathedral have the peculiarity of having ornamentations of zigzags and lattice- work very prominent. This is thought to be striking and powerful, and admirably in keep- ing with the massive grandeur of the architecture. St. Cuthbert was said to have great suspicion and dislike to women, the origin of which is variously accounted for, and the cross of blue stones in the pavement which extends across the bay immediately below the great north door is said to have been the ancient limit beyond which women were not allowed to advance into the church of this austere saint. It is related that in 1153 one Helisend, a damsel in attendance on the Queen of David of Scotland, entered the church in the disguise of a monk, but was detected by St. Cuthbert and ignominiously expelled. And in 1333, when Queen Philippa, who had accompanied Edward III. to Durham, had been received at the prior's house, and this came to the knowledge of the community, they were so enraged that in the middle of the night she had to rise and go half dressed into the castle. WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL. The Winchester cathedi-al was begun in 1079, to supersede other less convenient sites. The length is 520 feet, exceeding that of any other cathedral on this side of the Alps with the exception of Ely, which is 560 feet, and of Canterbury, about 570 feet. These three and St. Peter's at Rome, which is 607 feet long, ai-e said to be the longest in existence. The forest of piers in the interior of Winchester soon rivets the eye. William of Wykeham, one of the bishops, in 1367, and soon after Lord Chancellor, was a great architect and engineer, and he superin- tended for seven years the great works of Edward III. at Windsor. He was an opponent of John of Gaunt, the patron of Wicliff. William founded Winchester College, and was a munificent patron of learning in his day. OXFORD CATHEDRAL. The origin of the cathedral of Christ Church, Oxford, is identi- fied with the legend of St. Frideswide, a Saxon lady, who was w ap. XIV.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS, 467 brought up to venerate the Church, and in order to escape her suitor, the son of a king, fled with twelve companions, reached a nunneiy at Oxford, and died there after several vicissitudes in 740. She worked many miracles. The church of her convent as rebuilt in 1111, and it continued to flourish till 1523, 'when Wolsey suppressed it. The college of Christ Church was soon afterwards commenced, and the present see of Oxford was founded in 1542 out of the ancient diocese of Lincoln. Roger of Wendover says that St. Frideswide's suitor, when entering Oxford with his followers to take her by force, was suddenly blinded by a heavenly stroke. Perceiving that he was punished for his perti- nacity, he sent to Frideswide and entreated her intercession with the Lord. The virgin piayed to God, and at her prayer the young man recovered his sight as quickly as he had before been struck with blindness. From this cause the kings of England have always been afraid to enter that city, for it is said to be fatal to them, and they are unwilhng to test the truth of it at their own peril. The virgin constructed a monastery there, and herself presided over the company of pious vu-gins there assembled. PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. This cathedral arose out of the ruins of an abbey founded in the seventh century by Penda, the first Christian king of Mercia. The abbey was of great distinction, and took up high gi-ound, and it was a rule that all visitors of whatever rank should put off their shoes before entei-ing the precincts of Peterborough the proud. A visit to it was deemed almost as great an event as a visit to Rome. The cathedral was begun about 1118. The west front, as a portico, is claimed to be the grandest in Europe, though wanting in the accompaniments which would enable it to rival some of the great fa9ades of Continental cathedrals. It consists of three enormous arches of great height, the central one being rather narrower than the other two. The lofty flat roof, 81 feet high, is painted in lozenges, with a figure of some saint in each centre, the only other flat painted roof being that of the cathedi-al of St. Albans. The retro-choir, built in 1438, is admii-ed for the beautiful fan tracery of the roof. This cathedral is very deficient in stained glass. It was well furnished in this respect till Crom- well's troops broke open the doors, shattered the windows, destroyed the organ, and broke in pieces the superb reredos of carved stone, painted gilt, and inlaid with plates of silver. The soldiers fired at the evangelists in the roof, rioted in wanton spoil, and they 468 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. performed their military exercises daily in the nave of the cathedral. The body of Mary, Queen of Scots, six months after her execution, was buried in this cathedral, and there remained for twenty-five years, when her son James I. removed it to Westminster Abbey. SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. The cathedral of Salisbury was begun in 1220, the former one having been built by St. Oswald in the fortified town or castle of Old Sarum, on a higher ground near the present place. The present site was said to be chosen by an arrow shot from the ramparts of Old Sarum, or, as some prefer it, by a vision of the Virgin who appeared to Bishop Poore. One of the bishops was William Ayscough, the most learned man of his day, who in Jack Cade's insurrection in 1450 was seized while celebrating Mass and brutally murdered by the mob, and his vestments divided by lot as memorials. This cathedral, built about 1225, while Westmin- ster Abbey was begun in 1245, ranks next to the latter as the choicest great building in England. On the Continent the great rival of Salisbury is Amiens Cathedral ; but though it covers nearly twice as much ground as SaHsbury, its high roof dwarfs the steeple. Much of the painted glass here was removed during the Reformation times, but the cathedral was not much injured during the Civil War. In 1782 an ignorant architect was said to have done much mischief by so-called improvements. The central spire of Salisbury, the loftiest in England, is said to be about 400 feet high ; but Amiens is 20 feet higher than Salisbury, the highest in the world being Cologne and Strasburg, which last is 468 feet. WELLS CATHEDRAL. Wells Cathedral is earlier than any other in Great Britain, for a legend ascribes its origin to Joseph of Arimathsea, who, with eleven companions, arrived soon after the Crucifixion and built a chapel at Glastonbury, and this was even said to be the first church erected in all Christendom. A bishopric was said to be founded at Wells about 904, an abbot of Glastonbury being the first bishop. The cathedral, though one of the smallest, is the most beautiful in England, its group of well-proportioned towers and pinnacles having an enhanced beauty from the picturesqueness of the situation. It suffered considerably in the troublous times of Monmouth's rebellion, when the rebels tore the lead off the roof XIV.] SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 469 to make bullets, and wantonly defaced many ornaments. The great west front contains some choice sculptures, such as can only be equa^l d by Rheims and Chartres. The breadth of the front is greater than that of Notre Dame or of Amiens, being 147 feet, and thus gives great scope for the variety of the sculp- ture. There are in the whole of the west front about three hundred figures, half of which are life-size, being those of kings, queens, princes, knights, and mitred ecclesiastics, saints, martyrs, and angels, the whole being a glorious company and goodly fellow- ship of pi'ophets and worthies. Altogether this is one of the most impressive church fronts either in England or on the Continent. SOME OTHER ENGLISH CATHEDRALS. The cathedral of Norioich arose out of a more ancient cathedral built at Dummoc, now Dunwich, on the coast of Suffolk, in 630 ; afterwards another was substituted at Elmham in Norfolk, and in 1075 again transferred to Thetford, and in 1091 the place was finally fixed at Norwich. In 1094 the cathedral of Norwich was commenced. The nave is the longest in England except St. Albans, which is 300 feet long, while Norwich is only 250 feet. The cathedral of Carlisle was begun in 1121, though it was soon destroyed by fire, and was rebuilt in 1353. The famous window at the east end has in its lower part more lights or divisions (being nine) than any other decorated window in existence. Its upper portion exhibits the most beautiful design for window tracery in the world, all its parts being in exquisite harmony. The Exeter cathedral was begun in 1107, as an example of the marvellous and sumptuous architecture of the Normans, and was considered as a powerful contrast to the simple Saxon building it displaced. The west front has in its lower part three rows of figures of apostles, saints, kings, and a few Old Testament characters; and the whole is architecturally of great beauty. The roof of the nave, with its slender vaulting shafts and delicate carving, is graceful and light, and the clustered pillars of Purbeck marble contrast well with the lighter stone of the walls and roof. The minstrels' gallery is unique, with its row of winged angels in front, each playing on a musical instrument, one of these instru- ments being a bagpipe. The organ, built in 1665, is said to be the most ancient in actual use. A monastery for both men and women had been founded at Ely in 673 by St. Etheldreda, which the Danes destroyed. It was rebuilt afterwards, and in 1109 this monastery was made the seat of a new bishopric taken out of the great diocese of Lincoln, 470 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and the cathedral built to the north of the old monastery. This church, which is 565 feet long, is often said to be the longest Gothic church in Europe, although others, like the cathedral of Milan, cover more ground. The roof of the nave is decorated with painted figures, and so is the vaulted roof of the octagon. The diocese of Lincoln was once the greatest in England, till it was subdivided in the reign of Henry VIII. About 1072 the present cathedral was begun, being a substitute for three older sites of smaller sees. It was destroyed by an earthquake, and rebuilt by St. Hugh of Lincoln, then bishop. In grandeui^ of situation this cathedral has no equal in England. The stone of which it is built becomes black, but is very durable, and retains its sharpness of outlines. In the great central tower is the bell called Great Tom of Lincoln, founded in 1610, the third in size, being exceeded by Oxford and Exeter. An old nunnery was founded at Gloucester in 681, and this fell into the hands of the Benedictine monks, who in 1088 began to build a new church. A filre having destroyed it twice, the cathedral was begun about 1239. The great central tower is only ten feet lower than that of Canterbury, built about the same time. The monks themselves were said to have laboured at the roof of it. The great east window is the largest in England, and owing to an ingenious construction is wider than the side walls which contain it ; it is also filled with the finest stained glass of the period in this country. At the back of this window is a passage, 75 feet long, which is called the Whispering Gallery, owing to the great faciHty with which the slightest sound or movement at one end can be heard at the other end. Like Salisbury, the Chichester cathedral has a spire, which is 271 feet high ; and being in that respect 130 feet lower than the former, it is a saying in the locality that the master mason built Salisbury spire and his man Chichester spire. The spire has an ingenious plan inside the top, devised by Sir Christopher Wren, for keeping it from being blown down and counteracting the force of the wind. The spire is exactly central. On entering the nave the eye is at once caught by the five aisles, a peculiarity which distinguishes this cathedral and that of Manchester from all the others, and grand eifects of light and shade are produced by those five aisles. Chichester Cathedral was first completed in 1108. One of its bishops was Reginald Pecock, who flourished in 1450, and was considered a great champion of the clergy against the rising Lollards, whom he sneered at as " The Bible-men." A church of an Augustinian monastery was adopted as the SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS. 471 cathedral of Bristol when the latter see was created in 1542. It is a cathedral without a nave, the latter portion having once existed ; but being removed for a purpose, it was never restored. The east window, filling the whole of the end above the reredos, is of singular beauty in tracery and design. The see of Herefat'd existed before the arrival of St. Augustine, and the cathedral was rebuilt in 1012 from the foundations. St. Thomas Cantilupe was one of the bishops, and his reHcs were brought from Italy, where he died in 1282 on his way to Rome, and wrought many miracles long afterwards. He was canonised in 1320. In the library are many ancient volumes, all chained in the manner not uncommon in the first century after printing was discovered. The church of the monastery of St. Mary was adopted for the see of Worcester about 680. St. Dunstan was a bishop from 957 to 961. A new minster was then built by Oswald; but being too small, a larger building was begun by Wulfstan about 1084. The great Norman tower fell in 1175, which was said to be a common incident in that style of building. The present tower was built in 1374. The cathedral of Lichfield was supposed to be built about 1154. Its west front is scarcely exceeded by any other cathedral in grace of outline and in the harmony of its general design. The nave is also admii-able for beauty and gracefulness. SOME WELSH CATHEDRALS. The see of Llandaff v^&s founded in the siKth century, and the cathedral was begun in 1120 to replace a small church on the same site. But the building became wholly dilapidated, and was only restored in very modern times. Yet it is said this is the most ancient of all the sees in Great Britain. St. Asaph was a see founded in the sixth century, like the other Welsh sees. The cathedral is small and plain, but stands in a picturesque situation, and was in recent times restored. Bangor see is of equal antiquity with the others, and the cathedral, which is small and plain, has also been restored. • The see of St. David's was supposed to be founded in the sixth century, and St. David, a Welsh saint, removed it from Caerleon in Monmouthshire, which was too near the heathen English and in too populous a district. St. David went to Jerusalem, and was consecrated by the patriarch. He was a great worker of miracles in his time, according to the popular legends. 472 CHAPTER XV. THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. IMAGES AND PICTURES IN CHURCHES. The Romish Church has from the beginning looked favourably on the practice of adorning churches with images and pictures of sacred persons. At Nola, in 460, the cathedral of St. Felix had wall paintings of stories taken from the Old Testament. In 752 a council of the Church required images to be erected in churches, and worship of these was inculcated as a remembrance of the holy lives and conversation of the dead. The Iconoclast move- ment (see ante^ p. 129) shook faith in the practice for about a century ; but the Council of Nicsea, in 787, closed the controvei-sy by approving the practice, and the opposition died out in 842. There seems no limit to the number or subjects of the wall paintings, and the Popes greatly encouraged them. In England at the Reformation images were directed to be taken down and destroyed. Very few wall paintings are found in any English churches, and they are of small value or importance. the runagate monk PAINTERS. " I learned," says Hugo of St. Victor, " from a certam prudent and religious man that there are some kinds of people who can scarcely ever be retained with order in the religious life. These are painters, physicians, and buffoons, who are accustomed to travel in different countries. Men of this description can hardly ever be stable. The art of painting is very delightful ; for when a painter has painted a church, a chapter-room, a refectory, or any cabinets, if leave be granted to him, on being invited he goes soon to another monastery for the sake of painting. He paints the works of Christ upon a wall, but it never occurs to him to imitate the works in his own life and manners. So with the medical art ; it needs an abundance of aromatic plants and medicines. When any one near the church falls sick, he is asked THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 473 to go to see the patient, and the abbot can hardly refuse permis- sion. Then he is always making experiments on things uncertain and making fallacious statements. Whereas a true monk should never speak out on anything. So it is with buffoons and jesters, who are always bent on rambling. The Fathers of the Council in the eighth century well decreed that monasteiies should be the habitations of men labouring to serve God in silence and peace, and not mere receptacles of arts which minister to pleasure — not places for poets, minstrels, and musicians, but for men praying, reading, and praising God." THE PICTURES IN MONASTERIES. The monasteries were the nurseries of the arts of painting, sculpture, and music. Many of them contained exquisite frescoes of sacred subjects. Ghiberti, the most ancient historian of art in Italy, spoke with enthusiasm of a great composition with which Ambrose de Lorenzo had covered the walls of a cloister, in which he represented the life of a Christian missionary. First a young man taking the habit of a monk ; then entreating to be sent to convert the Saracens ; then the departure and arrival before the Sultan, who orders him to be scourged ; then condemning him to die ; the decapitation ; then a horrible tempest, during which vast trees are torn up by the roots and the people fly in terror. In the refectory of the convent of San Salvi, near Florence, Andrea del Sarto painted four figures of saints and the Last Supper ; and during the siege in 1529, when the Florentines were compelled to demolish all buildings and reached this great fresco, they were struck dumb and motionless with admiration. One holy brother, lately in the Escurial monastery, guiding from cell to cell and room to room a British painter (Wilkie), pointed out that glorious work of Titian the Lord's Last Supper, beautiful as when it first graced the refectory. As both stood with eyes transfixed at that masterpiece, the holy father said to the stranger : " Here daily do we sit, thanks given to God for daily bread ; and here pondering the mischiefs of these restless times, and thinking of my brethren dead and gone, I not seldom gaze upon this solemn company unmoved by shock of circumstance or lapse of years, until I cannot but believe that they, these pictures, are in truth the substance and we the shadows." THE SACRO MONTE DE VARALLO. On the road from Anna to Varallo, in North Italy, the Sacro Monte, an eminence of great beauty, is seen and is resorted to by 474 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. pilgrims from all quarters. At the foot is the church of St. Francis, where the wall dividing the nave from the choir is painted in fresco in nineteen compartments, representing the chief events in the life of the Saviour. The hill of the Sacro Monte is covered with a series of fifty chapels or oratories, containing gi^oups of figures of characters executed in terra-cotta, painted and clothed. They are grouped so as to represent passages in Christ's history. The structures are never entered, being merely frames or cases to contain the respective subjects, which are viewed from two or three peepholes in front. Some of the figures are very indifferent works of art ; others are of great merit. The oratories are richly decorated with fa9ades, porticoes, and domes, and the figures are the size of life. The walls are all painted, and painters, sculptors, and architects have vied in producing their highest arts of embellishment. Much effect is produced by the situation of some of the gi-oups. The access to the place where Christ is laid in the sepulchre is by a vault where little light is admitted ; and as it is difficult on entering from the open day to distinguish at first any object, the result is very impressive. Many of the figures are clothed in real drapery, and some have real hair. The executioners conducting the Saviour to Calvary are made as hideous and repulsive as possible, and are represented with goitres appended to their throats. This Sacro Monte originated in the piety of the blessed St. Bernardino Caimo, or Coloto, a Milanese noble. MIRACULOUS IMAGES IN SPAIN. In Spain all classes were devout believers in miraculous images and effigies of all kinds. Holy kerchiefs were preserved at Alicante, stamped with the Saviour's face; and winding-sheets revealing the same print were adored at Oviedo. In his " History of Painting " Palomino relates how a Christian and Jew labouring in a vineyard disputed about the Messiah, until the Jew, losing patience, exclaimed he would believe in Christ if He would emerge from that vine stock, and which thereupon forthwith became a crucifix. He also tells how at Valencia, on the death of a devout lady, the wax dropping from a taper that burned before her coffin shaped itself into a crucifix, and was treasured as a relic. Once an artist was employed by St. Theresa to paint our Lord at the column as she had beheld Him in a vision ; and after failing to express the lady abbess's ideas, he at last found his unsatisfactory picture had been finished to perfection by an angel artist. And at a later time, when this same picture was restored, the nuns .Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 475 ' were told by the two artists employed that they saw the very finger of the angel as it traced the outlines. And when a pilgrim was engaged at Calatayud to paint St. Ignatius Loyola, he did it so well that he was supposed to be an angel in disguise. And by the same Divine influences the portrait of St. Jerome and the lion was found traced in the mottlings of a jasper. cimabue's picture of the madonna (1302). Cimabue, an Italian painter, who died in 1302, painted for a church in Florence a picture of the Madonna, which excited great enthusiasm in the public. Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, passing through Florence while the artist was at work, was taken to see it at the artist's studio in a garden. It had been till then only known to confidants ; but when the rumour spread, all Florence crowded to have a ghmpse. Nothing before that period had been seen in Tuscany like this picture. When finished, it was carried in solemn procession to the church, followed by the whole popula- tion, and with such triumph and rejoicing that the quarter where the painter lived took its name from this event. The figure of the Virgin, as now judged by critics, is neither beautiful nor graceful, but there is a dignity and a majesty in her mien and an expression of inward ponderings and sad anticipations rising from her heart to her eyes which rivet the memory. The Child, too, blessing with Hls right hand is full of deity ; and the attendant angels, though like each other as twins, have much grace and sweetness. The picture still hangs in the church of the Dominicans in Santa Maria Novella. Cimabue was one of those conscientious painters who, on noticing the least blemish in his work, would destroy it without compunction, however much trouble it had caused him. THE bishop's ape TAKES TO PAINTING (1302). In 1302 Buonamico Bufialmacco, the painter, was passing through Arezzo, when Bishop Guido, hearing of his being a cheerful companion as well as great artist, requested him to stay with him and paint the chapel where the baptistery now is, the subject being " the Crucifixion." The painter set to work and completed a large part of it. It happened that the bishop had a large ape of extraordinary cunning and full of mischief, and which sometimes stood on the scaffold watching the work with great interest, particularly the mode of mixing the colours and pouring out from the various flasks, and beating up the eggs. 476 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. One Sunday morning the ape contrived, in the absence of the painter, to get on the scaffold and see if he could not do that work too. It then fell upon the brushes and pots and pencils ; and having mimicked the artist's ways, poured all the colours into one basin, and with a large brush proceeded shortly to cover the whole canvas with artistic flourishes. On Monday morning the artist, on returning, was horrified at the result, and at once attributed it to some envious person, whom he named to the bishop as the suspected culprit. The bishop was greatly annoyed, but, nevertheless, prevailed- on the artist to return to his work, and he said he would provide six soldiers with drawn swords to remain concealed and on the watch, to cut down the intruder without mercy, in case a repetition of the nefarious deed should occur. The figures were again painted by the artist, and after several days the soldiers took the alarm on hearing some strange sound of stealthy steps and movements, and then a figure clamber- ing up to the scaflEbld and seizing the brushes. They noticed soon that this figure, after mixing the colours, painted with unseemly haste all the fine heads of saints which had been so carefully elaborated by the artist. They then summoned the artist him- self to witness it, whereupon they all were unable to contain themselves for laughter at the grotesque handiwork of the amateur ape, which was the real culprit. The artist betook him- self at once to the bishop, and said, " My lord, you desire to have your chapel painted in one fashion, but your ape chooses to have it done in another fashion." Then he told the story of what he had seen, and added : " There's no need for your lordship to send to foreign parts for a painter since you have a master of colour already in your house. Perhaps he did not at first fully under- stand how to mix the colours, but he is now evidently well acquainted with the whole secret, and can proceed without further help. I am no longer required here since we have discovered his talents, and I will ask no other reward for my labovirs except permission to return home." The bishop made suitable apologies and begged the artist once more to resume his work, and he would for its crimes shut up the ape in a strong wooden cage, and have it fastened on the scaffold, where it might spend its jealousy and rage in witnessing without having the power of further marring the work. The artist afterwards went to Pisa and covered the roofs and walls of the abbey of St. Paul with pictures from Old Testament subjects, which greatly pleased the people frequenting that place. And many other admirable sacred works were finished in Florence and other places by the same pencil. w unap. XV. 1 apTxv.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 477 I^K THE painter's CRITICS AND BAD DEBTS (1342). ^^^ The same Buffalmacco was engaged by the town of Perugia to paint their patron saint Herculanus for their market-place, and the price was agreed on. The painter erected scaffolds and also enclosed himself with boards, so as to keep the people from over- looking him in his labours. After ten days had passed, the people passing used to stop and wonder how long he was going to take to finish his picture, as they seemed to think such work could be turned out by the yard from a mould, so that the artist became worried and pestered with their importunities. The people became day by day more impatient, until the artist determined he would serve them out. So after some days' preparation he admitted them to look at the work when near its completion, and they were greatly pleased, and all they next wanted was that he would remove the scaffolding entii-ely. He said this could not be done for two days longer, as he wished to retouch part of the picture when thoroughly dried. This was allowed. The artist had ori- ginally intended the saint's head to have a great diadem in relievo of richly gilt plaster, as was then the custom. He now, remounting his scaffold, substituted for the original another coronet or garland surrounded with gudgeons. Next morning he went off to Florence, and when the people had to take down the scaffold and saw the affront put on them, they proposed to send horsemen in pursuit ; but in the end they had to get another artist to set the diadem right and erase the silly gudgeons. The same artist was employed to paint a fresco for a country church at Calcindia, a picture of the Virgin holding the Infant Christ in her arms. He found the employer dilatory in payment, so he went and changed the Infant Christ into a bear, using water-colours only. The employer thereupon was in despair, and implored him to restore the Holy Child, and if so he would pay at once all demands. The money being forthcoming, the painter with a wet sponge easily removed the bear and restored the work. THE NUNS CRITICISING THEIR ARTIST's WORKS (1342). The same great Florentine painter, Buffalmacco, about 1340 was employed by the nuns of Faenza to paint a sacred his- torical picture for them, and they were greatly pleased with every part of the details, except only that they thought the faces rather too pale and wan. Buonamico, hearing this, and knowing that the abbess had the very best Vernaccia wine that could be found in Florence, and which was indeed reserved by them for 478 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. the use of the Mass, declared to the nuns that this defect could be remedied only by^mixing the colours with good Vernaccia, and that when the cheeks were touched with colours thus tempered, they would become rosy and lifelike enough. The good sisters, who believed all he said, on hearing of this kept him amply sup- plied with the very best Yernaccia during all the time that his labours lasted, and while cheerfully swallowing this nectar he found on his palette colour enough to give as much rosiness as the ladies desired. It was related, however, that the painter was once surprised by the nuns while drinking the wine ; but when he heard one of them saying to another, " See now, he is drinking it himself," he instantly took care adroitly to throw part of the contents out of his mouth on the picture, whei-eby the nuns were fully assured as to their mistake. BROTHER ARTISTS RIVALLING EACH OTHER (1400). Filippo Brunelleschi and Donato were both sculptors at Florence about the year 1400. Donato had completed a crucifix for the church of Santa Croce in Florence, to be placed beneath the picture of Taddeo Gaddi, which represented the girl restored to life by St. Francis. Filippo, on being shown the crucifix, and being asked by his friend what he thought of it, replied that Donato had placed a clown on the cross, and not a Christ, whose form was of perfect beauty. Donato testily replied, " Take wood then and make one yourself." FiUppo, who did not allow himself to be ii'ritated, felt that there was some truth in the retort, and resolved to set about the making of a crucifix himself, such as he thought ought to have been produced. He did this secretly, and it was (as may now be seen in the chapel of Count Bardi) an admirable work. Some time afterwards Donato was engaged to come and dine with him, and they had bought a lot of eggs and delicacies, which Donato was carrying homeward in an apron, when he was told to go forward to the house with these, and his friend would follow. On entering, Donato's eye caught sight of Filippo's crucifix, of which he had never heard anything, and was so amazed and ravished with it that all the eggs and dainties fell at once to the ground, as his eyes became riveted on beauties such as he himself could never attain to in the disposition of the legs, body, and arms. He at once confessed it was a miracle of art. And the two rivals were good friends for ever after. Filippo was also a skilful and ingenious architect and engineer, and was recommended to the Pope by Cosmo de Medici as a man of such immense capacity that he would have confidence enough to turn ip. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 479 .he world back on its axis, a compliment which made the Pope stare at Filippo, who was small and insignificant in appearance. Count Sforza said that if every state had a man like Filippo, they might all live in peace without the use of arms. A PAINTER AFFRONTING A FALLEN ANGEL (1408). The painter Spinello Aretino was in 1408 engaged by the monks of St. Agnolo, in Arezzo, to paint the wall of their church near the high altar, and the subject was to be the " Fall of the Angels." In the air appeared St. Michael in combat with the old serpent of seven heads and ten horns, while beneath and in the centre of the picture was Lucifer, already changed into a most hideous and devilish form. So anxious was the artist to make Lucifer frightful and horrible, that one night in his sleep Lucifer appeared to him and demanded to know where the painter had ever seen him look so ugly as that, and why he permitted his pencil to put so mortifying an affront as this upon him. The artist awoke in such extremity of horror that he was unable to speak, and he shook and trembled so violently that his wife thought he was dying. The shock proved to be so great that he never recovered the effects of it, remaining in a most desponding mood, and he gradually sank till he died in a very short time thereafter. It is also related of Lodovico Caracci, that when he had taken down the scaffold on which he had painted the arch above the altar of Bologna Cathedral, he noticed the foot of an angel bending before the Virgin crooked. He wanted to set up the scaffold again, and died of grief at this mischance. ANGELICO'S DEVOTION TO SACRED ART (1455). Fi-a Giovanni AngeHco da Fiesole, usually called Angelico, who died in 1455, was both a painter and a devoted Churchman. Though born to plenty, and having a strong turn for art, he entered the order of preaching friars at the age of twenty, and began painting the Vii-gin and Christ and saints. Cosmo de Medici saw his merits, and engaged him to paint the Crucifixion for the church of San Marco at Florence, and he filled the lower ground with all the saints who were founders of religious bodies. Vasari said his picture of Gabriel making the Annunciation to the Virgin was considered so beautiful that the spectator could scarcely believe it to be the work of man, but that it must have been executed in Paradise. But his masterpiece was thought to be the coronation of the Virgin, surrounded by angels, saints, and 480 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. holy personages. Vasari said the heads and figures were so varied in expression and attitude that people had infinite plea- sure in looking on them, and all admitted that even the saints themselves in heaven could not look otherwise than in this picture, and that no other than the angels themselves could pro- duce such figures of elevated beauty, dignity, and devotion. The Pope invited him to execute various works at Rome, and was so charmed with the simplicity and modesty of the artist that he ojffered him a high appointment in the Church, as he was a friar and qualified ; but the artist declined it and recommended a poor friend, to whom this ofiSce was kindly given. Angelico, in the estimation of his contemporaries, lived a life of pure holiness. He laboured continually at his paintings, but would do nothing that was not connected with things holy. He despised riches and had no anger in his composition. He used to say that the only true riches was contentment with little. He said he sought no dignity, and all he cared for was to escape hell and draw near to Paradise. He said that he who practised the art of painting should live without cares or anxious thoughts, and he who would do the work of Christ should perpetually remain with Christ. His pictures of saints excelled those of all other artists. He said he never took up his pencil without first offering a prayer. He never painted a crucifix without tears streaming from his eyes. Some friendly hand painted his own portrait on the outside of his tomb in the church of the Minerva at Eome. BRONZES FOR THE GATES OF PARADISE (gHIBERTI, 1455). Lorenzo Ghiberti, a famous Florentine sculptor, who excelled in casting his sculpture in metals, had acquired so great a reputa- tion that the city authorities gave him a commission about 1439 to decorate the chief door of San Giovanni with bronzes repre- senting scenes or histoiies from the Old Testament. The door when finished met with unbounded praise from all quarters. When Michael Angelo was asked what he thought of it he said, "They are so beautiful that they might fittingly stand at the gates of Paradise ! " This artist put his own portrait as well as that of his father on one part of the decorations of the border of the door. Lorenzo had shown his genius at the age of twenty, when he won the prize for which the first artists competed — namely, a bronze representing the sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. Other bi-oiizes representing separate subjects followed. For this great work he was liberally paid, and its admirable execution led to many lucrative commissions of a like kind. Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 481 THE OLDEST PAINTERS AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE (uCCELLO, 1472). The older class of mecli?eval painters of sacred subjects often showed great ignorance of perspective. One memorable instance was that of Paolo Uccello, who died in 1472, and who had acquired great reputation for his pictures. His last great commission was one to paint St. Thomas searching for the wound in the side of Christ ; and the painting was to be above the door of the church in the Mercato Veichio in Florence, dedicated to that saint. Paolo was proud of this commission, and told his friends that he would lay out all his strength on this picture, and display the fruit of his experience and insight in its design. His first step was to erect a close inclosure of planks all round the wall, so as to keep off the prying and curious. He had been working some time in secret when another artist, Donato, met him in the street and asked what sort of work this was that he was so closely engaged upon. Paolo said, with some self-satisfaction, that Donato would see it in due time. Some time later the same Donato accidentally passed and saw Paolo Uccello uncovering this masterpiece, and after a courteous salutation Paolo was eager to know what his brother artist would say to it. Donato looked very minutely at it, and ihen said, " Why. Paolo, you are un- covering your picture just at the time you should be shutting it up from the public view." These words stabbed the painter to the heart ; for on certain things being pointed out by the critic^ he saw he had made a grievous mistake, and that the public would cover him with derision instead of applause. This fate he could not face, and from that time he shut himself up in his hovise so as to study once more the laws of perspective. And Vasari says this picture killed him, for the faults in it weighed on his spirits, which he never recovered. The painting has dis- appeared in modern times. the monks over-feeding their artist with cheese (uccello, 1472). The painter Paolo Uccello was engaged by the monks of San Miniato, near Florence, to paint the lives of the Holy Fathers in one of their cloisters. The work was to be partly coloured and principally in terra verde, and it is said he rather misplaced his colours, making his fields blue, his cities red, and the buildings all colours. While he was engaged in this work the abbot gave him scarcely anything to eat but cheese, of which the painter grew so speedily sick, that, being of a timid nature, he went off 31 482 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAX HISTORY. olandestiiiely and did not return, and he gave no explanation. The abbot and the monks sent to him, to ask why he did not return ; but he gave no answer, and if he met them in the street he made off as fast as he could in another direction. At last one of the monks determined to solve the mystery, waylaid him, got speech of him, and put the same unanswered question. Paolo replied, " You have so murdered me, that I not only run away from you, but dare not stop near the shop of a carpenter or even pass by one. And all this comes of youi- abbot's mismanagement ; for, what with his cheese pies and his cheese soup, he has made me swallow such a mountain of cheese that I am all turned into cheese myself, and I tremble lest the carpenters rush out, seize, and put me into their glue-pot. I am quite sure that if I had stayed with you longer I should have been no more Paolo, but mere cheese." When the monk told the other monks this story, they roared with laughter and begged their abbot to persuade the painter to return, and then to feed him well on other delicacies. A CLUMSY CRUCIFIX BEFORE THE DYING ARTIST (gROSSO, 1488). Nanni Grosso was a sculptor at Florence about 1488. One of his invariable rules was, that he would never execute any work in a convent unless the monks left the door of the wine cellar open, so that he could go in and take a drink when he pleased without asking their leave. When Nanni was on his deathbed in the hospital of Santa Marina Nuova, the nurses placed a wooden crucifix before him which was clumsy and ill executed. He implored them to take it out of his sight and bring him one by Donato, declaring that if they did not take that one from before him he should die in despaii*, so greatly did the sight of ill-executed works of art excite him. * A POOR ARTIST KILLED BY A SIGHT OF GOLD (1513). Pinturicchio, a painter of Perugia, who had painted and decorated many churches, but without ever securing great profit to himself, was in his old days engaged to paint a picture of the Virgin at the convent of San Francesco, in Siena, and a room was appropriated to his use by the monks and given up to him entirely. They took away all the furniture so as to give him space, leaving nothing but a very massive old chest which was too heavy to be removed. The painter being arbitrary and domineering, soon made such a clamour about this chest being in his way, and he so worried the poor monks, that in their despera- Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 483 tion tliey resolved to remove it rather than be any longer abused. So they dragged it out a little with immense difficulty, but in straining it one of its sides gave way and a sum of five hundred golden ducats tumbled out, which seemed so vast a collection of valuable material to our artist, and he was so transfixed with horror and remorse as he tliought of his inconceivable folly in having thrown all this fortune, as it were, away, that he took to his bed and never rallied, dying shortly afterwards of a broken heart. AN ARTIST DECEIVING THE BIRDS AND BEASTS (mONSIGNORI, 1519). Francesco Monsignori of Verona had attained the highest repu- tation as a painter. In one picture he had to paint a beautiful dog as part of a group ; and one day a friend calling with a living dog, the latter rushed furiously to the painting to attack the painted dog. In another work of the same artist, a picture of the Virgin and the Infant Christ, the Divine Child was repre- sented as visible from the shoulder upwards only, and having one arm extended in the act of caressing the Virgin mother. One day Count Ludovico, having heard of this painting and being anxious to see it, brought his wife and son with him, and the boy had a green bird, called in \''erona a terrazzani, perched on his wrist like a falcon. The moment they entered the room the bird, seeing the extended arm of the Infant Christ in the picture, tiew towards it, intending to perch upon it. The bird fell to the ground, but immediately rose again, and tried to perch exactly as if it were a child on whose wrist such a bird is 'accustomed thus to sit. The nobles, amazed at this, were inclined to offer any price for such a picture, but the artist could not be prevailed upon to part with it. A pupil of the same painter, named Girolamo, painted a Madonna sitting underneath a tree, which was put in a church near Verona, and the wild birds that some- times found their way inside used often to fly against the picture, intending to alight on the branches of this tree. And this circumstance made the picture famous to all the neighbourhood. FINDING A MODEL FOR A MARTYRED SAINT (mONSIGNORI, 1519). Francesco Monsignori of Verona had painted many sacred subjects with the highest success before he was engaged to paint St. Sebastian for the Church of the Madonna, outside Mantua. The saint was shot to death with arrows. While the painter was at work on the picture the Marquis of Mantua called and asked him whether lie had got a good model for this difficult picture The 484 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. painter said he had selected a very beautiful person who was a porter, and who would no doubt allow himself to be tied to the stake and assume the proper attitudes. " That won't do," said the Marquis ; " you will not be able to represent the proper fear and horror and resistance of the person who is to be murdered. Just inform me when your model is to sit again, and I will show you the right thing to do." The following day, when the painter had fastened the porter to the stake, and had given secret notice of it to the Marquis, the latter suddenly burst into the room with a cross-bow and arrows in a state of great excitement, and with a loud voice he rushed to the porter, exclaiming, "Traitor ! you are a dead man ! I have caught you at last, and I will make an end of you," with other horrible exclamations of rage and revenge. The poor unlucky porter, believing that his doom was near, made the most desperate efforts to release himself, and the excitement and agitation of his countenance and limbs, as he was struggling against his fate, supplied the painter with the very attitudes and expression he most desired. "Now," said the Marquis, "he is just in the right position, I will leave you to do the rest." This timely assistance enabled the painter to make an admirable picture of the martyrdom of the saint. A DIVINE ARTIST DISCOVERING ONE STILL MORE DIVINE (francia, 1520). Fi^ancesco Francia, born in 1450, began as a goldsmith and designer at Bologna, but felt he could be a painter, and his pictures when he attempted them soon brought him wealth and fame, for his Madonnas and Christs and angels and saints were exquisite. When he was at the height of fame, he had been constantly told of the glories of Kaphael, who was then working at Kome, so that he longed to see some of these much -applauded masterpieces. It happened that Raphael had been commissioned to execute a picture of St. Cecilia, which was to be forwarded to Bologna on its way to the chapel of San Giovanni in Monte. Raphael, on forwarding it, sent a polite and friendly letter, asking Francia to look after it, and remove any scratches it might have received^ and make any alterations which his skill might suggest. This pleased Francia, who had the picture at once taken out of its case and put in a clear light, that he might critically examine it. He was instantaneously confounded and overwhelmed with the beauty and masterly execution of the work. He at once felt conscious of his own foolish presumption in thinking he could improve it. He was struck dumb with terror, and went about Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 485 distracted and overweighted with grief at his own shortcomings. He sent the picture on to its destination, hut its extreme and unparalleled beauty smote him to the heart. He took to his bed, never recovered his former spirits, and soon died of grief and vexation to think how far short he had been of such excellence. Such is the account given by Vasari, but it is thought by some authorities to have been exaggerated. LEONARDO DA VINCl's PICTURE OF THE LAST SUPPER (1520). When Leonardo da Vinci painted the Last Supper about 1497, one of the greatest pictures of the world, the subject had been little attempted before, and he gave the greatest care to the details. He used to remain at his easel on the scafibld absorbed in thought for whole days, often forgetful of his meals. One great difficulty was to satisfy himself about the proper head for his Christ. He used to say that, when he attempted it, his hand trembled under the excitement of discovering the most appropriate face and expression. A friend, whom he consulted about the difficulty, comforted him by saying that, after his heads of James the Great and James the Less, it was beyond the power of man to give greater divinity and beauty to any human figures, and therefore he should leave the head of Christ imperfect. He never could satisfy himself about leaving out or finishing this cardinal point. At last he accepted a good deal of the form which the Byzantine painters had previously adopted, though he also improved upon it. Leonardo is said to have spent an inordi- nate time over this picture, and the prior of the monastery at Florence for whom it was painted in fresco could never understand why the painter seemed for so many days and weeks to be brooding and contemplating, and criticising, undoing, and altering, without finishing his work. The prior thought that, like the day-labourers, the great painter ought to have the brush constantly in his hand, spreading his colours and making visible progress in covering the wall. And he grievously complained again and again, not only to the painter himself, but to the duke, of all this delay ; and the worry and importunity of this prior vexed and annoyed the painter, who, when alluding to it, explained to the duke how artists are sometimes producing most when they seem to be labouring least, their minds being elaborating the conceptions which it is so difficult to realise. He also informed the duke that there were still wanting to him two heads, one of which, that of the Saviour, he could not hope to find on earth, and had not yet attained the power of presenting to himself even in imagination, 486 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. with all that perfection of beauty and celestial grace which appeared to him to be demanded. The second head still wanting was that of Judas Iscariot, which also caused him some anxiety, since he did not think it possible to imagine fitting features for a man who, after so many benefits received from his Master, had possessed a heart so depraved as to be capable of betraying that Master, the Lord and Creator of the w^orld. With regard to the second, however, he said he would still pursue his search, and after all, if the worst came to the worst, and if he could find no better, then he w^ould never be at any great loss so long as he had that troublesome and impertinent prior's face before him. The duke laughed Jieartily, and the poor prior when informed was so utterly confounded at the appalling destiny awaiting him that he kept his peace for ever after. This magnificent master- piece of the Last Supper unfortunately rapidly deteriorated in its colouring, owing to its being painted in oils instead of fresco ; and it has often since been retouched and repaii'ed, till it is doubtful how much of the original now remains, except the composition, design, and grouping, which make the picture imperishable. The refectory of the convent in which the picture was painted in fresco was more than once inundated with water, and ill usage did the rest. In 1796, when Napoleon's troops entered Italy, they turned the refectory into a stable, and the men even amused themselves with throwing bricks at the painted heads of the Apostles. Fortunately the original work in its beauty was well copied in 1510, and this copy, after changing hands, came into the possession of the Royal Academy in London, who now possess it. Other copies were painted by the same artist al30ut the same time. This picture is the best known and most famous in Christian art. We find it alike in rich men's palaces and poor men's cottages, in splendid mosaic and in coarse woodcut, on altarpieces and in all kinds of collections. On Christ's right hand are in theii- order John, Judas, Peter, Andrew, James the Less, and Bartholomew. On Christ's left hand in their order are James the Great (who sits next to Christ), Thomas, Pliilip, Matthew, Thaddeus, and Simon. Leonardo's other sacred pieces, his Yirgins and Holy Families, are all of exquisite beauty. A noble statue was erected to the memory of this great painter at Milan in 1872. The painter had a peculiarity of writing his chief documents backwards from right to left, so that they requii-ed to be read by the aid of a looking-glass. He is supposed to have done this to prevent the curious too easily acquiring knowledge of his studies for pictures. Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 487 Raphael's picture of the pkocessiox to calvary (1520). Raphael painted his famous picture of the Procession to Calvary, called " Lo Spasimo di Sicilia," for a Sicilian church at Palermo. In 1217, on its being finished, it was packed and taken on board a ship at Ostia bound for Palermo. A storm arose, the vessel foundered at sea, and all was lost except the package containing this picture, which was floated by the currents into the Bay of Genoa, and on being landed the wondi^ous masterpiece of art was taken out unhurt. The Genoese at first refused to give it up, insisting that it had been preserved and floated to their shores by the miraculous interposition of the Blessed Virgin herself, and it required a positive mandate from the Pope to represent it as a work done by contract. THE DIVINE Raphael's madonna di san sisto. The Benedictines of St. Sixtus at Placentia asked Eaphael to paint the Madonna with the Child, St. Sixtus and St. Barbara. It was the last Madonna he painted ; and, as if he had foreseen his approaching end, he made the picture one of surpassing beauty. In the midst of an immense and profound glory filled with cherubim heads, says Passavant, the Virgin is standing holding in her arms the Infant Jesus. Her feet scarcely touch the cloud which bears her ; she stands out from the mysteryj i the heavens, and appears in her sweet and majestic grandeur. Beneath her St. Sixtus on the left and St. Barbara on the right are kneeling in adoration. Two little angels of celestial beauty lean on a cornice at the bottom, with a charming look of intelli- gence. The features of the Virgin, whose triumphant majesty is unequalled, wear an expression of nobleness, innocence, sweet- ness, and modesty ; her Son, whose attitude is simple and child- like, bears in His whole countenance a Di^dne character, and His penetrating glance goes straight to the heart. It is no longer the graceful, smiling Child of the other Madonnas, but the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, who at the last day will become the Sovereign Judge. Wonderful power of art ! In that little head, so calm, so sweet, and j^et so severe, reside both the flame of the purest poetry and all the depth of Christian faith. The Madonna di San Sisto is indeed rendered Divine by the genius of the most ideal artist that God has ever created; and it is the work that contributed most to procure Raphael the surname of " the Divine." Even in its technical part it does not resemble 488 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. any of the other works of Kaphael ; although its execution is of extreme simplicity, it has none of that art which is only formed for delighting the eye. All in it is seen by the light of enthu- siasm, and but for the little angels at the bottom painted as an after-thought on the clouds, we should scarcely see a trace of human hands in the picture. The picture is now in Dresden, and has excited admiration and the greatest veneration for three centuries. Raphael's cartoons. Raphael was commissioned by the Pope to paint cartoons for certain pieces of tapestry to be made in Flanders. The artist was fired with a desire to rival Michael Angelo's, and he looked forward to these compositions being copied in fabrics of wool or silk and gold, which might be hung up before the wainscoting on high festivals, according to the customs of the Byzantines and Romans. The ten pieces of tapestry were afterwards made with great magnificence and perfection, and arrived from Flanders at Rome in 1519, only a few months before Raphael's death, and hung up in St. Peter's. He had the satisfaction of seeing this work crowned with complete success. Vasari says that these tapestries seem rather to have been pei-formed by miracle than by the aid of man. The choice of subjects was prescribed to Raphael. The cartoons were sent to Arras and copied in tapestry. After being hung up in the Sistine chapel, the tapestries were pillaged by the troops of Charles V. in 1527, and carried off as spoils of war, and were sold at Lyons. In 1555 they were restored to the Pope. They were again stolen in the Revolution of 1789, and passed into the hands of the Jews, who at one time thought of burning them for the sake of the gold worked up in the fabric. In 1808, however, the Pope again possessed them, and they are now in the Vatican. As to the cartoons from which the tapestries were copied, these lay neg- lected in the manufactory • at Arras till 1630. Rubens, having seen them there, described them to Charles I., who bought them for Whitehall Palace. At his death they were sold by auction, and Cromwell bought them for .£300 for the nation. Charles II. was once on the point of selling them, but was persuaded not to do so. The cartoons were all riddled with needle prickings, and intersected by narrow bands, but William III. had them cleaned and put up at Hampton Court Palace. They are now kept at South Kensington Museum. They are drawn with chalk and coloured in distemper. €hap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 489 A DIVINE master's LAST MASTERPIECE. Vasari, a contemporary and biographer of Raphael, says that the painter worked indefatigably at his picture of the Trans- figuration of the Saviour which was destined for France. The Saviour is depicted on Mount Tabor, with eleven disciples await- ing Him at the foot. Meanwhile, a youth possessed of a spirit is brought to be healed, and he is shown writhing with contortions caused by the malignant spirit. An old man, with a face of Apprehension and open eyes, watches the Apostles, as if anxious to know if there was hope. One woman, a principal figure, kneeling and pointing to these two, shows their misery. The Apostles look on full of compassion. In this work the master has produced figures and heads of unrivalled beauty, which has •stamped him as the most excellent and Divine of all ai-tists. Whoever shall desire to see in what manner Christ, transformed into the Godhead, should be represented, let him go and behold it in this picture. The Saviour is shown floating over the mount in clear air ; the figure, foreshortened, is between those of Moses and Elias, who, illumined by His radiance, awaken into life beneath the splendour of the light. Prostrate on the earth are Peter, James, and John, in attitudes of great and varied beauty : •one has his head bent entirely to the ground ; another defends himself with his hands from the brightness of that immense light which proceeds from the splendour of Christ, who is clothed in vestments of snowy whiteness. His arms thrown open and the head raised towards heaven, while the essence and Godhead of all the three persons united in Himself are made apparent in their utmost perfection by the Divine art of Raphael. But as if that sublime genius had gathered all the force of his powers into one efibrt, whereby the glory and the majesty of art should be made manifest in the countenance of Christ, having completed that as one who had finished the great w^ork which he had to accomplish, he touched the pencils no more, being shortly after- wards overtaken with death from a fever in 1520, at the age of thirty-seven. Raphael's picture of st. cecilia. A noble lady in 1513 built a chapel near Bologna to St. Cecilia, and Raphael was asked to paint an altarpiece. Passavant thus describes the work : " It was in one of his inspired moments that the master composed this exquisite painting. Everything in it .speaks of faith and zeal. All the noble countenances bear the 490 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. Divine stamp, and yet whatever may be the exultation of their souls, their attitudes are full of the calmest majesty. St. Paul leaning on a naked sword represents knowledge and wisdom, whilst on the other side St. John shows the full blessing of Di^ine love. Mary Magdalene, holding a vase of perfumes, is opposite to St. Paul, as if to indicate that, if the repentance of the apostle and his unwearied activity in the Church obtained forgiveness for him for his former sins, she also had been forgiven much because she had loved much. And as St. Paul, converted through a vision, is by the side of the living St. John, sio St. Augustine, also converted to the faith of Christ, is by the side of the Magdalene. Sur- rounded by these great and touching figures St. Cecilia is standing, radiant with ecstasy, listening to the Divine harmonies sung by the angels in heaven. The earthly organ falls from her hands, she trembles with holy enthusiasm, and her soul seems longing to fly away to the heavenly country. The beauty of the style and the depth of expression are not the only things that render this a masterpiece, but the combination of these with harmony, lichness, and powerful colouring. The colouring responds to the poetry of the subject ; it carries us into an ethereal and mysterious atmosphere. No colourist has ever equalled this splendour, which we call almost Divine. Titian's ' Assumption ' excites feelings of joyfulness, Correggio's ' St. Jerome ' a gentle emotion, but Raphael's ' St. Cecilia ' brings us nearer to heaven." It was this picture that killed Francia with mortification and self-humilia- tion. All Bologna was enthusiastic at the sight of so Divine a work. The picture still i-emains at Bologna. THE INQUISITION ON SACRED ART (1522). In 1522 Torrigiano, a Florentme sculptor, the same who, when a student and rival, had an altercation with Michael Angelo and broke his nose, received an order from a Spanish grandee, the Duke of Arcos, to carve a Madonna and Child of the natural size, for which he was told he would be well paid. The artist thereupon put forth all his skill, which was admitted to be great, and completed a matchless sculpture, which the purchaser was delighted with, and sent two servants carrying large bags of money wherewith to pay the sculptor and fetch away the gem. The latter, well pleased at the liberal payment, was equally delighted in turn ; but on opening the bags, to his intense disgust he found that they were full of copper farthings, which amounted only to a beggarly total of thirty ducats (^13). Enraged at this meanness, he snatched a mallet, and regardless of the sacred character of the image, he ap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 491 followed to the spot where the sculpture .stood, and with one blow he shivered it to atoms, and then told the lacqueys to take back their load of farthings to their master. This sacrilegious act the enraged grandee represented at once to the Holy Inquisition, before which tribunal the irascible artist was cited for heresy. He urged that he was entitled, as an author, to do what he liked with his own creation. But not so thought the demon judges, who with little hesitation decreed death with torture. The culprit died in prison before the day of sentence arrived, whether from excitement or refusing his food was never ascertained. PAINTING THE LUMINOUS FACE OF CHRIST (CORREGGIO, 1534). Vasari says that there was in his time (1540), in the city of Reggio (and now it is a gem in the gallery at Dresden), a picture by Correggio of the " Birth of Christ." In this work the light proceeding from the presence of the Divine Child throws its splendour on the shepherds, and around all the figures who are contemplating the Infant. Many other beautiful effects are made manifest by the artist in this picture. Among others is one expressed by the figure of a woman, who, desiring to look fixedly at the Saviour, is not able with her mortal sight to endure the glory of His Divinity, which appears to cast its rays full on the figure. She is therefore shading her eyes with her hand. All this is admirably and wonderfully expressed. Over the cabin where the Divine Child is laid there hovers a choir of angels singing, and so exquisitely painted that they seem to have come direct from heaven, rather than from the hand of the painter. In the same city (now in the Palace at Madrid) there was a small picture, also by Correggio, not more than a foot liigh, and one of the most extraordinary and beautiful of all his works. The figures are small, the subject " Christ in the Garden," the time night ; and the angel appearing to the Saviour illumines His person with the splendour of his coming, an effect unapproachable for beauty. (Other critics say the disposition of the light in this picture is poetical and Divine.) On a plain at the foot of the mountain are seen the three apostles lying asleep. The shadow of the eminence on which the Saviour is in prayer falls over those figures, imparting to them a degree of force not to be described in words. In the farther distance is a tract of country over which the day is just breaking, and from one side approaches Judas with soldiers. Yasari says that for beauty, depth of thought, and exe- cution no work can equal this. It is said that Correggio gave this gem to pay an apothecary's bill of thirty shillings then due. 492 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE MONKS ASSISTING ARTISTS WITH THEIR PRAYERS (1560). Queen Isabella of the Peace, about 1560. in order to please the Franciscans, to which order her confessor belonged, ordered a statue of the Virgin to be executed for a gift to them, and the best sculptor in Spain was to receive the commission. Becerra was chosen ; but after a year's work the Queen was not pleased, and the image was rejected. The next attempt was better, and it pleased the friars, who said it was worthy of Michael Angelo ; but the Queen again rejected it. The Franciscans thereupon betook themselves to redoubled Masses and fasting, and the poor artist racked his memory and imagination for ideas of angelic grace and Divine beauty. Sitting one night in his studio, after much anxious thought, he fell into a slumber, and was aroused by an unknown voice saying to him, " Awake and arise, and out of that log of wood blazing on the hearth shape the thought within thee, and thou shalt obtain the desired image." He immediately arose, plucked the log from the fire and fell to work upon it, and it proved to be an excellent piece of timber, and in time it grew under his hands into a mu-acle of art, and became the portentous image of Our Lady of Solitude, which is to this day had in rever- ence, and in which are expressed beauty, grief, love, tenderness, constancy, and resignation. The Queen at last acknowledged the carving was to her mind. The Virgin was dressed in sable garb and placed in the convent of the Minim Fathers at Madrid, and became renowned for her miraculous powers. Another artist, named Joannes, was engaged by the friars to paint the Virgin, and his first sketches were unsuccessful ; but he and his employers betook themselves to religious exercises, and many holy men joined them in their prayers. Every day the artist confessed and com- municated before commencing his labours. At last his piety and perseverance overcame all difficulties. It was acknowledged to be of great excellence, and amongst the f rial's it was soon famous for its miraculous powers. MICHAEL ANGELO, PAINTER AND SCULPTOR (1564). Michael Angelo, who was equally celebrated as a painter and sculptor of the first class, as well as architect, was born in 1475. His Madonnas and Holy Families and Christs are all admirable. In 1507 he began frescoes, and afterwards paintings for the Sistine Chapel and Pauline Chapel at Home. In 1547 he was appointed architect to St. Peter's at Rome, and at his death in 1564 w^as succeeded in the latter office by Raphael. Michael Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 493 Angelo was a man of spare figure and extraordinary activity. When he was at work he was satisfied with a scrap of bread and a drop of wine, which he took without breaking oft" the business- in hand. He lived in this frugal way up to the time when he began his last pictures in the Sistine Chapel at Kome. He was then old, and allowed himself only a simple meal at the end of the day. He used sometimes to remain for whole months absorbed in meditation, without touching a brush or chisel ; then, when he had elaborated his composition, he set to work as if inspired by a fury. Vasari says his imagination was so lofty that his hands could not express his sublime thoughts. Generally he used to put an idea hurriedly on paper, then take up each detail, and finish it as he proceeded. He would sometimes draw the same head ten or twelve times over before he was satisfied with it. He took very little sleep, and used often to get up in the night ta work out a sudden fancy. He used to wear a sort of cardboard helmet, which he contrived so as to hold a light, and thus the part on which he worked was illummed without his hands being encumbered. He had a round head, high temples, a broad, square forehead, with seven lines straight across it, and a nose disfigured by a blow from the fist of Torrigiano, who, being jealous of him as a student, picked a quarrel with him, and thereby left this mark, THE GREAT SCULPTOR's MASTERPIECES (mICHAEL ANGELO, 1564). Vasari, a contemporary of Michael Angelo, says of his Pieta,. a marble figure of the Virgin (now in the chapel of Santa Maria della Febbre at Rome), that no sculptor, however distinguished an artist, could add a single grace or improve it by whatever pain& he might take, whether in elegance and delicacy, or force, or careful execution, nor could any surpass the art which the sculptor has here exhibited. In like manner the marble figure of his dead Christ exhibits the very perfection of faithful execution in every muscle, vein, and nerve. There was besides a most exquisite expression in the countenance, and the limbs and vein& and pulses are admirably arranged. The love and care which the sculptor had given to this group were such that he there left his name — a thing he never did again for any work — oii the cincture which girdles the robe of Our Lady. The reason of this was, that one day he entered the chapel and heard a group of sti-angers praising it highly, and when one asked the other who was the artist, it was attributed at once to a person called the Hunchback of Milan. The real artist remained silent, but one night soon after he repaired to the chapel with a light and chisel. 494 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. and engraved his name on the figure of the Madonna, whose ^' beauty and goodness, piety and grief, dead in the living marble," are so well spoken of by the poet. This work brought Michael Angelo great fame. Certain stupid people did indeed affirm at the time that he has made Our Lady too young, but that is because they fail to perceive the fact that unspotted maidens long preserve the youthfulness of their aspect, while persons afflicted, as Christ was, do the contrary. The youth of the Madonna therefore did but add to the credit of the master. SATISFYING A CRITIC OF THE FAULTLESS (mICHAEL ANGELO, 1564). Vasari, the biographer and pupil, says that when Michael Angelo had set up his colossal marble statue of David, it chanced that Soderini, whom it greatly pleased, came to look at it while the artist was giving a few last touches, and told him that he thought the nose too short. Michael Angelo perceived that Soderini was in such a position beneath the figure that he could not see it conveniently, yet to satisfy him he mounted the scaffold with his chisel and a little powder which he had picked up from the floor. He then struck the nose a few times very gently, but without altering anything, and took care to let some of the powder fall down at the same time, and told the critic to look at it now. " I like it better now," replied Soderini ; " you have given it life." The sculptor then came down, not without compassion for that class of people who desire to appear good judges of what they do not understand. Vasari says he may truly affirm that this sur- passes all others, whether ancient or modern, Greek or Latin ; neither the Marforio at Kome, the Tiber and the Nile in the Belvedere, nor the giants of Monte Cavallo can be compared to such a model of beauty and excellence. The outline of the lower limbs is most exquisite. The connection of each limb with the body is faultless, and the spirit of the whole form is divine. Never since has there been produced so fine an attitude, so perfect a grace, such beauty of head, feet, and hands ; every part is replete with excellence ; nor is so much harmony and admirable art to be found in any other work. He that has seen this, there- fore, need not care to see any production else, whether of that j^ge or of any preceding it. MICHAEL ANGELO'S LAST JUDGMENT (1564). Michael Angelo when commissioned by the Pope to finish the paintings of the Sistine Chapel executed two vast frescoes for the «nds of the chapel, one on " The Last Judgment," and the other THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 495 ^'The Fall of the Angels." ''The Last Judgment" was begun in 1533, but was not finished till 1541. Though containing some groups powerfully painted, there were many adverse critics as to the general style and some of the details of this performance. The Pope's master of the ceremonies, Biagio, was very severe in his comments, and when asked by the Pope what he thought of this painting, the former replied that he thought it was a shame- less exhibition of naked figures, more fit for a bathing-house or a beershop than a church. Michael Angelo heard of this criticism, and one day when alone he put in a likeness of the unfortunate master of ceremonies among the damned under a representation of Minos. The resemblance was so striking that all Rome went to see it. Biagio being furious went and complained to the Pope, who asked where Michael Angelo had put him in the picture. " In hell," he replied. " Alas ! " rejoined Pope Paul, with a smile, " if he had only put you in purgatory, I could have got you out ; but as you are in hell, I can do nothing for you. My power does not reach so far as that." Vargas's devotion to sacred art (1568). Vargas of Seville painted for the cathedral in 1555 a picture of the Nativity, which still forms the altarpiece of the little chapel dedicated to that event. The Virgin Mother might have been sketched by the pure pencil of Raphael. The peasant who kneels at her feet with his offering of a basket of doves is a study from Nature, painted with much of the force and freedom of the later masters of Seville ; and many of the accessories, such as the head of the goat dragged in by the shephei-d and the sheaf of corn and pack-saddle, are finished with Flemish accui-acy. He also painted " Christ going to Calvary," and many saints and martyrs and female heads of much purity and grace. Vargas died in 1568, having been distinguished for his modesty, kindness, and devotion to religion. After his death there were found in his chamber the scourges with which he practised self-flagellation, and a coffin wherein he was wont to lie down in the hours of solitude and repose and consider his latter end. He had much wit and humour ; and once, when asked by a brother painter his opinion of a very badly painted Saviour on the cross, Vargas said, " Methinks He is saying, ' Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.' " Titian's head of christ (1576). Titian painted his great picture^ of " The Tribute Money," now 496 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. in the Dresden Gallery, in answer to a taunt that Venetian art had no finish. This pictm-e has commanded the admiration of four centuries for the Godlike beauty and calm majesty of Christ's countenance. His lips seem to be parting with the question, " Whose is this image and superscription ? " while the fingers point gracefully to the coin in the rough hand of his cunning tempter, whose face shows the low" self-satisfaction with which he thinks he has outwitted the Master. Vasari says this head of Christ is " stupendoiLS and miraculous"; its conscious sublimity of expressive attitude and movement are well set off by the sharp and cunning profile of the rough and weather-beaten questioner, who is so keen to foil a higher nature. This is thought to be the most perfect picture from the hand of Titian. He painted another great picture in his old age of " Christ at Emmaus," gorgeous in colour and masterly in its attitudes and expression. Titian's painting of the tribute money (1576). Scanelli tells the condition under wliich this renowned picture by Titian was produced. Titian was visited on a certain occasion by a company of German travellers, who were allowed to look at the pictures in his studio. On being asked what impression these works conveyed, these gentlemen declared that they knew of one master only who was capable of finishing as they thought paintings ought to be finished, and that was Durer. Their impression was, that Venetian compositions invariably fell below the promise which they had given at the first. To these observa- tions Titian smilingly replied that, if he had thought extreme finish to be the end and aim of art, he too would have fallen into the excesses of Durer. But though long experience had taught him to prefer a broad and even track to a narrow and intricate path, yet he would still take occasion to show that the subtlest detail might be compassed without sacrifice of breadth, and so produced the Christ of the tribute money. All the artists of his time thought this the most perfect work of Titian. The con- trast is sublime between the majestic calm and elevation, the Godlike beauty, of Christ and the low cunning and crafty, coarse air of the Pharisee who qviestions Him. The marble smoothness and fair complexion of Christ's skin is contrasted with the rough, tanned, and weather-beaten skin of the other. A DIFFIDENT ARTIST OF SACRED PICTURES REASSURED (aDRIANO, 1630), At Cordova, in Spam, Adriano, a lay brother of the barefooted Carmelites, and who died in 1630, excelled in sacred art, and Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 497 executed a great picture of the Crucifixion in which the Virgin and Mary Magdalene were leading figures ; and this work is preserved in the convent there. This artist was so diffident of himself that he used to deface or destroy his pictures as soon as he had executed them. And so uniform was this practice with him that his friends took occasion to intercede with him for the preservation of his many valuable productions in the name of the souls in purgatory, knowing his attachment to the holy offices in their behalf. By this mode of exorcism the destroying spirit, which his self -dissatisfaction and fastidiousness conjured up, was happily kept in check ; and the above and other valuable pictures were, thanks to the souls in purgatory, saved and pre- served for the consolation of the living. RUBENS'S GREAT PICTURES (1577-1 640). The cathedi*al of Notre Dame at Antwerp contains the master- piece of Rubens, " The Descent from the Cross," hung in the south transept. The picture is now somewhat misty and has been retouched in some places. The greatest peculiarity is the white sheet on which the body of Jesus lies, and which enhances the colouring. The Christ is said co be one of the finest figures ever invented, and the hanging of the head is exquisitely rendered. Two of the three Marys have more beauty than Rubens usually gives to female figures. The principal light comes from the white sheet. It was said that this picture was given in exchange for a piece of ground on which Rubens built his house ; the original agreement was for one picture of St. Christopher, but Rubens gave them five, including that subject. Another picture of Rubens'sin the north transept is " The Elevation of the Cross," which is full of life and interesting attitudes, and the horses are spirited. A third picture is the " Assumption of the Vir- gin," which was painted in sixteen days. A fourth picture is the " Resurrection of the Saviour," where Christ is represented coming out of the tomb in great splendour, the soldiers terrified and falling over each other in their confusion. In the museum at Antwerp is "The Crucifixion of Christ between the two Thieves," by Rubens, where the figures are drawn and groviped with con- summate art. The Magdalene is a leading character, and the good centurion is also represented. This is one of the first pictin-es of the world for composition, colouring, and correctness of drawing. Other sacred pictures of Rubens are to be seen in this collection. 32 498 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. THE MONKS GETTING A BARGAIN OF A PICTURE (tRISTAN, 1469). The monks of La Sislo, near Toledo in Spain, were anxious to have a picture of the Last Supper painted for their refectory, like that painted by Titian for the monastery of Lorenzo, and applied to Dominico to execute the work. Dominico, on the ground of indisposition, declined it, but recommended his pupil Luis Tristan, who was accepted. The picture was finished, and the monks were highly pleased with it, but they thought the artist's demand of two hundred ducats (.£90) exorbitant. In their per- plexity they referred to Dominico, who, though ill of the gout, drove to see the picture and assess its value. He looked at it, and then, turning with a threatening and angry countenance to his pupil, told him he had utterly disgraced himself and his profession by asking such a sum as two hundred ducats for such a picture as that. The monks were delighted and triumphant at this deliverance. Dominico, still looking fiercely, told his pupil at once to roll up his picture and take it away to Toledo, for he was certain to get five hundred ducats for it, and he then began to state reasons, and spoke in raptures of it as a masterly per- formance. At this turn of affairs the monks looked at each other with astonishment and vexation ; and aftei- a slight pause said, that upon the whole they thought they would keep to their bargain, and they then and there found the money and paid the sum agi-eed. Since then the Fathers had good reason to be well pleased ; for all the critics of Europe, on seeing it, offered them far more than the price if they would part with it. Tristan died at Toledo in 1469. Velasquez's "crucifixion" (1660) In 1639 Velasquez produced one of his noblest pictures, "The Crucifixion," painted for the nunnery of San Placido at Madrid. Unrelieved by the usual dim landscape or lowering clouds, the cross in this picture has no footing upon earth, but is placed on a plain, dark ground, like an ivory carving on a velvet pall. Never was that great agony more powerfully depicted. The head of our Lord droops on His right shoulder, over which falls a mass of dark hair, while drops of blood trickle from His thorn - pierced brows. The anatomy of the body and limbs is executed with as much precision as in Cellini's marble, and the linen cloth wrapped about the body, and even the firwood of the cross, dis- play his accurate attention to details. Our Lord's feet are beld Chap. XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 499 each by a separate nail ; at the foot of the cross are the usual skull and bones, and a serpent twines itself round the accursed tree. The sisterhood of San Placido placed this picture in their sacristy in a badly lighted cell, where it remained until the French came to Madrid and sold it in Paris, whence it was redeemed at a large price, and presented to the Royal Gallery of Spain. HOW THE MONKS GOT THEIR FINE PICTURES (1671). At the beatification of St. Benozzi in 1671, the monks of the order of Servi were anxious to have their church of the Aniumziata at Florence suitably decorated. The sacristan of the convent wished to get the work done well and cheaply, and stimulated the vanity of rival artists by representing how their works would have the advantage of being exhibited in a church where such numbers of the devout constantly attended » He would not hold out the hope of large pay, but he promised abundance of prayers ; and, above all, he dwelt on the favour which their performances would no doubt obtain from the Blessed Virgin herself, to whose especial honour they were to be conse- crated. Andrea del Sarto yielded to these representations, and put forth all his strength. He painted on one side of the cortile two scenes from the life of the Madonna — "The Birth of the Virgin " and " The Adoration of the Magi " ; and on the other side scenes from the life of San Filippo Benozzi. Every figure in those sublime groups is now familiar to the lovers of art. Other master- pieces were added by Andrea to that glorious church. THE DIVINE MURILLO (1682). Murillo, the Spanish painter, according to Sir D. Wilkie^ adapted the higher STibjects of art to the commonest understand- ing, and seems of all the painters the universal favourite. His paintings of " St. Elizabeth " and " The Healing of the Paralytic " are rich in colour and of singular beauty. He himself thought *' The Charity of St. Thomas " was his best picture. His picture of " The Virgin of the Napkin," though executed hastily, as a present to a cook who begged some memorial of him, shows a face in which thought is happily blended with maidenly innocence, and the Divine Child, with His deep, earnest eyes, leans forward in her arms, struggling, as it were, almost out of the frame, as if to welcome the saintly carpenter home from his daily toil. The picture is executed with a brilliancy of touch nevei' excelled ; it 500 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. glows with a golden light, as if the sun were also shining on the canvas. Another picture, "The Guardian Angel," shows the chief figure in a rich yellow robe and purple mantle, pointing as he goes with the right hand to heaven, and with the other lead- ing a lovely child — the emblem of the soul passing through the pilgrimage of this world. Never was an allegory more sweetly told than in this picture, which is painted with great lightness of touch, and the transparent texture of the child's garment is finely rendered. In his pictures of the Vu'gin Murillo's celestial attendants are among the loveliest cherubs that ever bloomed on canvas. Hovering in the sunny air, reposing on clouds, or sport- ing amongst their silvery folds, these ministering shapes give life and movement to the picture, and relieve the Virgin's statue-like repose. Some of them bear the large white lilies, others roses, sprays of olive and palm boughs, like those which are still annually blessed in churches, and hung as charms on balconies and portals. As a painter of children Murillo has caught with matchless insight all the nameless ways and gi\aces of the bright- eyed Andalusian boys and girls he loved to depict. gang's picture of the virgin (1690). The most beautiful of Cano's pictures is that of " Our Lady of Belem," or Bethlehem, painted at Malaga for the cathedral of Seville. In serene celestial beauty this Madonna is excelled by no image of the Blessed Mary to be found in Spain. Her glorious countenance lends credit to the legends of the older art, and is such as might have been revealed in answer to the prayers of the saintly Vargas or of Joanes. The drapery is a crimson robe, with a dark blue mantle drawn over the head. The head of the Divine Child is perhaps not childlike ; but there is much infantine simplicity and grace in the attitude, as He sits with His tiny hand resting on that of His mother. These hands are as usual admu-ably painted; and the whole picture is finished with ex- ceeding care, as if the painter had determined to crown his labours and honoiu" Seville with a masterpiece. Cano was the artist who was once engaged to model a statue of St. Antony for an accountant, and after it was finished and the price spoken of was deemed large, the accountant asked how many days' labour it had cost. The answer being that it took twenty-five days, the patron at once i-ather indignantly observed, that at the rate charged it would be four doubloons a day — a most extiavagant sum. To this Cano rejoined, " Yes, and I have been fifty years learning to make such a statue as that in twenty-five days." ). XV.] THE SACRED PAINTERS AND COMPOSERS. 501 A PAINTER INCAUTIOUSLY WATCHING EFFECTS (1734). When Sir James Thornhill was painting the cupola of St. Paul's and adorning it, as he supposed, with masterpieces of sacred art, he was, like all great paintei's, absorbed in thought, and was frequently changing and improving his details. One day, when mounted on his lofty scaffold, he moved backwards step by step to \iew the effect of some of his touches, and had reached the very edge apparently without knowing his danger, for a fall there would have been instant destruction. The artist's servant, having observed the danger, with great presence of mind instantly threw the contents of a pot of paint over his master. This happy thought had the effect of recalling the absent-minded artist to real life, for he immediately rushed forward to resent the out- rage. On the attendant's object, however, being explained, his wrath was with equal suddenness changed into lively gi-atitude. ORIGIN OF CHURCH BELLS. The Eomans used bells in their baths. The Hebrew high priests also wore small bells. When Porsena, King of Etruria, was buried, and a magnificent monument with pyramids at each end was erected, small bells were suspended so delicately that the least breath of wind would sound them. Pope Sabinianus, about 604, in imitation of the bells of Porsena's tomb, introduced the same in the charnel-houses, for the sound of bells was then supposed to frighten away evil spirits. Plence the bells came to be sounded at funerals, and passing bells have since been common. The goddess of Syria was anciently worshipped with the sound of bells, from which custom it is supposed the Christian Churches took the hmt of hanging them in their steeples. The use of bells, however, was not coeval with the Church, for it was a considerable time before the Christians dare openly avow their profession or could venture on the publicity of such a mode of summoning their worshippers. Turkey and Greece are the only countries where the use of large bells has almost been abolished. Greece in this particular has degenerated, and Turkey has at length opposed their reception. The Dutch long excelled in the con- struction and management of their bells. The large bells of the Netherlands are so well tuned and hung, that any slow melody may be performed upon them with the greatest facility and as perfectly as on a church organ. The church bells were formerly regularly baptised, anointed, exorcised, and blessed by the bishop. 502 CURIOSITIES OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. The priest sprinkled the bell with holy water, while all the gossips laid hold of the rope, bestowing a name on it. SANCTITY OF BELLS. In Spain all the church bells are marked with a crucifix ; the devil, it is believed, cannot come within hearing of the consecrated peal. On the hearing of the Ave Maria bell, the Spaniards who happen to be in the theatre, and even the actors on the stage, fall ./' '0034 *^)^.