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diff --git a/36127-h/36127-h.htm b/36127-h/36127-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd7980b --- /dev/null +++ b/36127-h/36127-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8394 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Sabine Baring-Gould. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + h1 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal;} + h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; padding-top: 2em;} + h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + + a {text-decoration: none;} + + img {border: none;} + + em {font-style: italic;} + + ins.greek {text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted red;} + /* replace default underline with delicate red line */ + + .hidden {display: none;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-style: normal; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 8%;} + + .bb {border-bottom: 1px black solid;} + .bbox {border: 2px black solid; padding: 1em; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .dropcap {float: left; width: auto; padding-right: 3px; font-size: 350%; line-height: 83%;} + /* Plain dropcaps */ + + .caption {font-weight: bold; text-align: center; font-size: 90%; padding-bottom: 2em;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top: 2em;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: .2em; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .cpoem {width: 60%; margin: 0 auto;} /* centers poem and maintains span indentation */ + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + .tdl {text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} /* left align cell */ + .tdr {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} /* right align cell */ + .tdrt {text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} /* right align cell */ + .tdc {text-align: center; vertical-align: top;} /* center align cell */ + + .sig {margin-left: 65%; text-indent: -4em;} /* author signature at end of letter, move 2nd line right */ + + .xlrgfont {font-size: 175%;} + .lrgfont {font-size: 120%;} + .smlfont {font-size: 80%;} + .tinyfont {font-size: 50%;} + + .padtop {padding-top: 3em;} + .padbase {padding-bottom: 3em;} + .padleft {padding-left: 3em;} + .ipadbase {padding-bottom: 2em;} + + .space {padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + .space1 {padding-left: .8em; padding-right: .8em;} + .space2 {padding-left: 2.2em; padding-right: 2.2em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Sabine Baring-Gould + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Curious Myths of the Middle Ages + +Author: Sabine Baring-Gould + +Release Date: May 17, 2011 [EBook #36127] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOUS MYTHS OF THE MIDDLE AGES *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sam W. and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="bbox"> +<p><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p> + +<p>There is a small amount of Greek text in this book. To see a transliteration, +hover your mouse over words with a red dotted underline, e.g. +<ins class="greek" title="biblos">βιβλος</ins>.</p> +</div> + + + +<h1 class="padtop">CURIOUS MYTHS<br /> +<br /> +<span class="tinyfont">OF</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smlfont">THE MIDDLE AGES.</span></h1> + +<p class="center padtop smlfont">BY</p> + +<p class="center lrgfont">S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.</p> + + +<p class="center padtop padbase"><span class="lrgfont">BOSTON:</span><br /> +ROBERTS BROTHERS.<br /> +1867.</p> + + +<p class="center smlfont padtop">STEREOTYPED AT THE<br /> +BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,<br /> +No. 4 Spring Lane.</p> + + +<p class="center smlfont padtop padbase smcap">University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co.,<br /> +Cambridge.</p> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/cmma01.jpg" width="600" height="397" +alt="Pope Joan on the gallows, with two demons approaching" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">POPE JOAN.<br /> +From Joh. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. (Lavingæ, 1600.)</p> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Wandering Jew</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap01">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Prester John</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap02">30</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Divining Rod</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap03">54</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap04">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">William Tell</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap05">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Dog Gellert</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap06">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Tailed Men</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap07">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Antichrist and Pope Joan</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap08">160</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Man in the Moon</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap09">189</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Mountain of Venus</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap10">207</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">Fatality of Numbers</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap11">221</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Terrestrial Paradise</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap12">242</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>1]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center xlrgfont">MEDIÆVAL MYTHS.</p> + + + +<h2><a name="chap01" id="chap01"></a>The Wandering Jew.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>HO, that has looked on Gustave Doré’s marvellous +illustrations to this wild legend, can +forget the impression they made upon his imagination?</p> + +<p>I do not refer to the first illustration as striking, +where the Jewish shoemaker is refusing to suffer +the cross-laden Savior to rest a moment on his +door-step, and is receiving with scornful lip the +judgment to wander restless till the Second Coming +of that same Redeemer. But I refer rather to the +second, which represents the Jew, after the lapse +of ages, bowed beneath the burden of the curse, +worn with unrelieved toil, wearied with ceaseless +travelling, trudging onward at the last lights of +evening, when a rayless night of unabating rain is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>2]</a></span> +creeping on, along a sloppy path between dripping +bushes; and suddenly he comes over against a wayside +crucifix, on which the white glare of departing +daylight falls, to throw it into ghastly relief against +the pitch-black rain-clouds. For a moment we see +the working of the miserable shoemaker’s mind. +We feel that he is recalling the tragedy of the first +Good Friday, and his head hangs heavier on his +breast, as he recalls the part he had taken in that +awful catastrophe.</p> + +<p>Or, is that other illustration more remarkable, +where the wanderer is amongst the Alps, at the +brink of a hideous chasm; and seeing in the contorted +pine-branches the ever-haunting scene of +the Via Dolorosa, he is lured to cast himself into +that black gulf in quest of rest,—when an angel +flashes out of the gloom with the sword of flame +turning every way, keeping him back from what +would be to him a Paradise indeed, the repose of +Death?</p> + +<p>Or, that last scene, when the trumpet sounds +and earth is shivering to its foundations, the fire +is bubbling forth through the rents in its surface, +and the dead are coming together flesh to flesh, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>3]</a></span> +and bone to bone, and muscle to muscle—then +the weary man sits down and casts off his shoes! +Strange sights are around him, he sees them not; +strange sounds assail his ears, he hears but one—the +trumpet-note which gives the signal for him to +stay his wanderings and rest his weary feet.</p> + +<p>I can linger over those noble woodcuts, and learn +from them something new each time that I study +them; they are picture-poems full of latent depths +of thought. And now let us to the history of this +most thrilling of all mediæval myths, if a myth.</p> + +<p>If a myth, I say, for who can say for certain that +it is not true? “Verily I say unto you, There +be some standing here, which shall not taste of +death till they see the Son of Man coming in His +kingdom,”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> are our Lord’s words, which I can +hardly think apply to the destruction of Jerusalem, +as commentators explain it to escape the difficulty. +That some should live to see Jerusalem destroyed +was not very surprising, and hardly needed the +emphatic Verily which Christ only used when +speaking something of peculiarly solemn or mysterious +import.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>4]</a></span> +Besides, St. Luke’s account manifestly refers the +coming in the kingdom to the Judgment, for the +saying stands as follows: “Whosoever shall be +ashamed of Me, and of My words, of him shall +the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come +in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the +holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be +some standing here, which shall not taste of death +till they see the kingdom of God.”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>There can, I think, be no doubt in the mind of +an unprejudiced person that the words of our Lord +do imply that some one or more of those then +living should not die till He came again. I do not +mean to insist on the literal signification, but I +plead that there is no improbability in our Lord’s +words being fulfilled to the letter. That the circumstance +is unrecorded in the Gospels is no +evidence that it did not take place, for we are +expressly told, “Many other signs truly did Jesus +in the presence of His disciples, which are not +written in this book;”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and again, “There are +also many other things which Jesus did, the which, +if they should be written every one, I suppose that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>5]</a></span> +even the world itself could not contain the books +that should be written.”<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>We may remember also the mysterious witnesses +who are to appear in the last eventful days of the +world’s history and bear testimony to the Gospel +truth before the antichristian world. One of these +has been often conjectured to be St. John the +Evangelist, of whom Christ said to Peter, “If +I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to +thee?”</p> + +<p>The historical evidence on which the tale rests +is, however, too slender for us to admit for it more +than the barest claim to be more than myth. The +names and the circumstances connected with the +Jew and his doom vary in every account, and the +only point upon which all coincide is, that such an +individual exists in an undying condition, wandering +over the face of the earth, seeking rest and +finding none.</p> + +<p>The earliest extant mention of the Wandering +Jew is to be found in the book of the chronicles +of the Abbey of St. Albans, which was copied and +continued by Matthew Paris. He records that in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>6]</a></span> +the year 1228, “a certain Archbishop of Armenia +the Greater came on a pilgrimage to England to +see the relics of the saints, and visit the sacred +places in the kingdom, as he had done in others; +he also produced letters of recommendation from +his Holiness the Pope, to the religious and the +prelates of the churches, in which they were enjoined +to receive and entertain him with due reverence +and honor. On his arrival, he came to St. +Albans, where he was received with all respect +by the abbot and the monks; and at this place, +being fatigued with his journey, he remained some +days to rest himself and his followers, and a conversation +took place between him and the inhabitants +of the convent, by means of their interpreters, +during which he made many inquiries relating to +the religion and religious observances of this country, +and told many strange things concerning the +countries of the East. In the course of conversation +he was asked whether he had ever seen or +heard any thing of Joseph, a man of whom there +was much talk in the world, who, when our Lord +suffered, was present and spoke to Him, and who +is still alive, in evidence of the Christian faith; in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>7]</a></span> +reply to which, a knight in his retinue, who was +his interpreter, replied, speaking in French, ‘My +lord well knows that man, and a little before he +took his way to the western countries, the said +Joseph ate at the table of my lord the Archbishop +of Armenia, and he has often seen and conversed +with him.’</p> + +<p>“He was then asked about what had passed between +Christ and the said Joseph; to which he +replied, ‘At the time of the passion of Jesus Christ, +He was seized by the Jews, and led into the hall +of judgment before Pilate, the governor, that He +might be judged by him on the accusation of the +Jews; and Pilate, finding no fault for which he +might sentence Him to death, said unto them, +“Take Him and judge Him according to your +law;” the shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, +he, at their request, released unto them Barabbas, +and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. When, +therefore, the Jews were dragging Jesus forth, and +had reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the +hall in Pilate’s service, as Jesus was going out of +the door, impiously struck Him on the back with +his hand, and said in mockery, “Go quicker, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>8]</a></span> +Jesus, go quicker; why do you loiter?” and Jesus, +looking back on him with a severe countenance, +said to him, “I am going, and you shall wait till +I return.” And according as our Lord said, this +Cartaphilus is still awaiting His return. At the +time of our Lord’s suffering he was thirty years +old, and when he attains the age of a hundred +years, he always returns to the same age as he +was when our Lord suffered. After Christ’s death, +when the Catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus +was baptized by Ananias (who also baptized +the Apostle Paul), and was called Joseph. He +dwells in one or other divisions of Armenia, and in +divers Eastern countries, passing his time amongst +the bishops and other prelates of the Church; he +is a man of holy conversation, and religious; a +man of few words, and very circumspect in his +behavior; for he does not speak at all unless +when questioned by the bishops and religious; +and then he relates the events of olden times, and +speaks of things which occurred at the suffering +and resurrection of our Lord, and of the witnesses +of the resurrection, namely, of those who +rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>9]</a></span> +appeared unto men. He also tells of the creed of +the Apostles, and of their separation and preaching. +And all this he relates without smiling, or +levity of conversation, as one who is well practised +in sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward +with dread to the coming of Jesus Christ, lest +at the Last Judgment he should find him in anger +whom, when on his way to death, he had provoked +to just vengeance. Numbers came to him from different +parts of the world, enjoying his society and +conversation; and to them, if they are men of authority, +he explains all doubts on the matters on which he +is questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered +him, being content with slight food and clothing.’”</p> + +<p>Much about the same date, Philip Mouskes, afterwards +Bishop of Tournay, wrote his rhymed chronicle +(1242), which contains a similar account of the +Jew, derived from the same Armenian prelate:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Adonques vint un arceveskes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">De çà mer, plains de bonnes tèques<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Par samblant, et fut d’Armenie,”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>and this man, having visited the shrine of “St. +Tumas de Kantorbire,” and then having paid his +devotions at “Monsigour St. Jake,” he went on to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>10]</a></span> +Cologne to see the heads of the three kings. The +version told in the Netherlands much resembled that +related at St. Albans, only that the Jew, seeing the +people dragging Christ to his death, exclaims,—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Atendés moi! g’i vois,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">S’iert mis le faus profète en crois.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Then</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Le vrais Dieux se regarda,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et li a dit qu’e n’i tarda,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Icist ne t’atenderont pas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mais saces, tu m’atenderas.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>We hear no more of the wandering Jew till the +sixteenth century, when we hear first of him in a +casual manner, as assisting a weaver, Kokot, at the +royal palace in Bohemia (1505), to find a treasure +which had been secreted by the great-grandfather of +Kokot, sixty years before, at which time the Jew was +present. He then had the appearance of being a +man of seventy years.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Curiously enough, we next hear of him in the +East, where he is confounded with the prophet +Elijah. Early in the century he appeared to Fadhilah, +under peculiar circumstances.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>11]</a></span> +After the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, +Fadhilah, at the head of three hundred horsemen, +pitched his tents, late in the evening, between two +mountains. Fadhilah, having begun his evening +prayer with a loud voice, heard the words “Allah +akbar” (God is great) repeated distinctly, and each +word of his prayer was followed in a similar manner. +Fadhilah, not believing this to be the result +of an echo, was much astonished, and cried out, +“O thou! whether thou art of the angel ranks, or +whether thou art of some other order of spirits, it is +well; the power of God be with thee; but if thou +art a man, then let mine eyes light upon thee, that I +may rejoice in thy presence and society.” Scarcely +had he spoken these words, before an aged man, +with bald head, stood before him, holding a staff in +his hand, and much resembling a dervish in appearance. +After having courteously saluted him, Fadhilah +asked the old man who he was. Thereupon the +stranger answered, “Bassi Hadhret Issa, I am here +by command of the Lord Jesus, who has left me in +this world, that I may live therein until he comes a +second time to earth. I wait for this Lord, who is +the Fountain of Happiness, and in obedience to his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>12]</a></span> +command I dwell behind yon mountain.” When +Fadhilah heard these words, he asked when the Lord +Jesus would appear; and the old man replied that his +appearing would be at the end of the world, at the +Last Judgment. But this only increased Fadhilah’s +curiosity, so that he inquired the signs of the approach +of the end of all things, whereupon Zerib Bar Elia +gave him an account of general, social, and moral +dissolution, which would be the climax of this +world’s history.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>In 1547 he was seen in Europe, if we are to believe +the following narration:—</p> + +<p>“Paul von Eitzen, doctor of the Holy Scriptures, +and Bishop of Schleswig,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> related as true for some +years past, that when he was young, having studied +at Wittemberg, he returned home to his parents in +Hamburg in the winter of the year 1547, and that on +the following Sunday, in church, he observed a tall +man, with his hair hanging over his shoulders, standing +barefoot, during the sermon, over against the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>13]</a></span> +pulpit, listening with deepest attention to the discourse, +and, whenever the name of Jesus was mentioned, +bowing himself profoundly and humbly, with +sighs and beating of the breast. He had no other +clothing, in the bitter cold of the winter, except a pair +of hose which were in tatters about his feet, and a +coat with a girdle which reached to his feet; and his +general appearance was that of a man of fifty years. +And many people, some of high degree and title, +have seen this same man in England, France, Italy, +Hungary, Persia, Spain, Poland, Moscow, Lapland, +Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and other places.</p> + +<p>“Every one wondered over the man. Now, after +the sermon, the said Doctor inquired diligently where +the stranger was to be found; and when he had +sought him out, he inquired of him privately whence +he came, and how long that winter he had been in +the place. Thereupon he replied, modestly, that he +was a Jew by birth, a native of Jerusalem, by name +Ahasverus, by trade a shoemaker; he had been present +at the crucifixion of Christ, and had lived ever +since, travelling through various lands and cities, the +which he substantiated by accounts he gave; he +related also the circumstances of Christ’s transference +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>14]</a></span> +from Pilate to Herod, and the final crucifixion, +together with other details not recorded in the +Evangelists and historians; he gave accounts of the +changes of government in many countries, especially +of the East, through several centuries; and moreover +he detailed the labors and deaths of the holy Apostles +of Christ most circumstantially.</p> + +<p>“Now when Doctor Paul v. Eitzen heard this with +profound astonishment, on account of its incredible +novelty, he inquired further, in order that he might +obtain more accurate information. Then the man +answered, that he had lived in Jerusalem at the time +of the crucifixion of Christ, whom he had regarded as +a deceiver of the people, and a heretic; he had seen +Him with his own eyes, and had done his best, along +with others, to bring this deceiver, as he regarded +Him, to justice, and to have Him put out of the way. +When the sentence had been pronounced by Pilate, +Christ was about to be dragged past his house; then +he ran home, and called together his household to have +a look at Christ, and see what sort of a person He was.</p> + +<p>“This having been done, he had his little child on +his arm, and was standing in his doorway, to have a +sight of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>15]</a></span> +“As, then, Christ was led by, bowed under the +weight of the heavy cross, He tried to rest a little, and +stood still a moment; but the shoemaker, in zeal and +rage, and for the sake of obtaining credit among the +other Jews, drove the Lord Christ forward, and told +Him to hasten on His way. Jesus, obeying, looked at +him, and said, ‘I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt +go till the last day.’ At these words the man set down +the child; and, unable to remain where he was, he +followed Christ, and saw how cruelly He was crucified, +how He suffered, how He died. As soon as this +had taken place, it came upon him suddenly that he +could no more return to Jerusalem, nor see again his +wife and child, but must go forth into foreign lands, +one after another, like a mournful pilgrim. Now, +when, years after, he returned to Jerusalem, he found +it ruined and utterly razed, so that not one stone was +left standing on another; and he could not recognize +former localities.</p> + +<p>“He believes that it is God’s purpose, in thus +driving him about in miserable life, and preserving +him undying, to present him before the Jews at the +end, as a living token, so that the godless and unbelieving +may remember the death of Christ, and be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>16]</a></span> +turned to repentance. For his part he would well +rejoice were God in heaven to release him from this +vale of tears. After this conversation, Doctor Paul v. +Eitzen, along with the rector of the school of Hamburg, +who was well read in history, and a traveller, +questioned him about events which had taken place +in the East since the death of Christ, and he was able +to give them much information on many ancient +matters; so that it was impossible not to be convinced +of the truth of his story, and to see that what seems +impossible with men is, after all, possible with God.</p> + +<p>“Since the Jew has had his life extended, he has +become silent and reserved, and only answers direct +questions. When invited to become any one’s guest, +he eats little, and drinks in great moderation; then +hurries on, never remaining long in one place. +When at Hamburg, Dantzig, and elsewhere, money +has been offered him, he never took more than two +skillings (fourpence, one farthing), and at once distributed +it to the poor, as token that he needed no money, +for God would provide for him, as he rued the sins +he had committed in ignorance.</p> + +<p>“During the period of his stay in Hamburg and +Dantzig he was never seen to laugh. In whatever +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>17]</a></span> +land he travelled he spoke its language, and when +he spoke Saxon, it was like a native Saxon. Many +people came from different places to Hamburg and +Dantzig in order to see and hear this man, and were +convinced that the providence of God was exercised +in this individual in a very remarkable manner. He +gladly listened to God’s word, or heard it spoken of +always with great gravity and compunction, and he +ever reverenced with sighs the pronunciation of the +name of God, or of Jesus Christ, and could not endure +to hear curses; but whenever he heard any one swear +by God’s death or pains, he waxed indignant, and exclaimed, +with vehemence and with sighs, ‘Wretched +man and miserable creature, thus to misuse the name +of thy Lord and God, and His bitter sufferings and +passion. Hadst thou seen, as I have, how heavy and +bitter were the pangs and wounds of thy Lord, endured +for thee and for me, thou wouldst rather undergo +great pain thyself than thus take His sacred name +in vain!’</p> + +<p>“Such is the account given to me by Doctor Paul +von Eitzen, with many circumstantial proofs, and +corroborated by certain of my own old acquaintances +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>18]</a></span> +who saw this same individual with their own +eyes in Hamburg.</p> + +<p>“In the year 1575 the Secretary Christopher +Krause, and Master Jacob von Holstein, legates to +the Court of Spain, and afterwards sent into the +Netherlands to pay the soldiers serving his Majesty +in that country, related on their return home to +Schleswig, and confirmed with solemn oaths, that +they had come across the same mysterious individual +at Madrid in Spain, in appearance, manner of life, +habits, clothing, just the same as he had appeared in +Hamburg. They said that they had spoken with +him, and that many people of all classes had conversed +with him, and found him to speak good Spanish. +In the year 1599, in December, a reliable person +wrote from Brunswick to Strasburg that the same +mentioned strange person had been seen alive at +Vienna in Austria, and that he had started for Poland +and Dantzig; and that he purposed going on to Moscow. +This Ahasverus was at Lubeck in 1601, also +about the same date in Revel in Livonia, and in +Cracow in Poland. In Moscow he was seen of many +and spoken to by many.</p> + +<p>“What thoughtful, God-fearing persons are to think +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>19]</a></span> +of the said person, is at their option. God’s works +are wondrous and past finding out, and are manifested +day by day, only to be revealed in full at the last great +day of account.</p> + +<p class="sig">“Dated, Revel, August 1st, 1613.<br /> +“D. W.<br /> +“D.<br /> +“Chrysostomus Dudulœus,<br /> +<span class="padleft">“Westphalus.”</span></p> + +<p>The statement that the Wandering Jew appeared +in Lubeck in 1601, does not tally with the more precise +chronicle of Henricus Bangert, which gives: +“Die 14 Januarii Anno MDCIII., adnotatum reliquit +Lubecæ fuisse Judæum illum immortalem, qui se +Christi crucifixioni interfuisse affirmavit.”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>In 1604 he seems to have appeared in Paris. Rudolph +Botoreus says, under this date, “I fear lest I be +accused of giving ear to old wives’ fables, if I insert +in these pages what is reported all over Europe of +the Jew, coeval with the Savior Christ; however, +nothing is more common, and our popular histories +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>20]</a></span> +have not scrupled to assert it. Following the lead +of those who wrote our annals, I may say that he +who appeared not in one century only, in Spain, +Italy, and Germany, was also in this year seen and +recognized as the same individual who had appeared +in Hamburg, anno MDLXVI. The common people, +bold in spreading reports, relate many things of him; +and this I allude to, lest anything should be left +unsaid.”<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>J. C. Bulenger puts the date of the Hamburg visit +earlier. “It was reported at this time that a Jew of +the time of Christ was wandering without food and +drink, having for a thousand and odd years been a +vagabond and outcast, condemned by God to rove, +because he, of that generation of vipers, was the first +to cry out for the crucifixion of Christ and the release +of Barabbas; and also because soon after, when +Christ, panting under the burden of the rood, sought +to rest before his workshop (he was a cobbler), the +fellow ordered Him off with acerbity. Thereupon +Christ replied, ‘Because thou grudgest Me such a +moment of rest, I shall enter into My rest, but thou +shalt wander restless.’ At once, frantic and agitated, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>21]</a></span> +he fled through the whole earth, and on the same +account to this day he journeys through the world. +It was this person who was seen in Hamburg in +MDLXIV. Credat Judæus Apella! <em>I</em> did not see +him, or hear anything authentic concerning him, at +that time when I was in Paris.”<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>A curious little book,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> written against the quackery +of Paracelsus, by Leonard Doldius, a Nürnberg physician, +and translated into Latin and augmented, by +Andreas Libavius, doctor and physician of Rotenburg, +alludes to the same story, and gives the Jew a +new name nowhere else met with. After having +referred to a report that Paracelsus was not dead, but +was seated alive, asleep or napping, in his sepulchre +at Strasburg, preserved from death by some of his +specifics, Libavius declares that he would sooner believe +in the old man, the Jew, Ahasverus, wandering +over the world, called by some Buttadæus, and otherwise, +again, by others.</p> + +<p>He is said to have appeared in Naumburg, but +the date is not given; he was noticed in church, +listening to the sermon. After the service he was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>22]</a></span> +questioned, and he related his story. On this occasion +he received presents from the burgers.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> In 1633 +he was again in Hamburg.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> In the year 1640, two +citizens, living in the Gerberstrasse, in Brussels, were +walking in the Sonian wood, when they encountered +an aged man, whose clothes were in tatters and of +an antiquated appearance. They invited him to go +with them to a house of refreshment, and he went +with them, but would not seat himself, remaining on +foot to drink. When he came before the doors with +the two burgers, he told them a great deal; but they +were mostly stories of events which had happened +many hundred years before. Hence the burgers +gathered that their companion was Isaac Laquedem, +the Jew who had refused to permit our Blessed Lord +to rest for a moment at his door-step, and they left him +full of terror. In 1642 he is reported to have visited +Leipzig. On the 22d July, 1721, he appeared at the +gates of the city of Munich.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> About the end of the +seventeenth century or the beginning of the eighteenth, +an impostor, calling himself the Wandering Jew, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>23]</a></span> +attracted attention in England, and was listened to by +the ignorant, and despised by the educated. He, +however, managed to thrust himself into the notice +of the nobility, who, half in jest, half in curiosity, +questioned him, and paid him as they might a juggler. +He declared that he had been an officer of the Sanhedrim, +and that he had struck Christ as he left the +judgment hall of Pilate. He remembered all the +Apostles, and described their personal appearance, +their clothes, and their peculiarities. He spoke many +languages, claimed the power of healing the sick, +and asserted that he had travelled nearly all over the +world. Those who heard him were perplexed by his +familiarity with foreign tongues and places. Oxford +and Cambridge sent professors to question him, and +to discover the imposition, if any. An English nobleman +conversed with him in Arabic. The mysterious +stranger told his questioner in that language that +historical works were not to be relied upon. And +on being asked his opinion of Mahomet, he replied +that he had been acquainted with the father of the +prophet, and that he dwelt at Ormuz. As for +Mahomet, he believed him to have been a man of +intelligence; once when he heard the prophet deny +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>24]</a></span> +that Christ was crucified, he answered abruptly by +telling him he was a witness to the truth of that +event. He related also that he was in Rome when +Nero set it on fire; he had known Saladin, Tamerlane, +Bajazeth, Eterlane, and could give minute +details of the history of the Crusades.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Whether this wandering Jew was found out in +London or not, we cannot tell, but he shortly after +appeared in Denmark, thence travelled into Sweden, +and vanished.</p> + +<p>Such are the principal notices of the Wandering +Jew which have appeared. It will be seen at once +how wanting they are in all substantial evidence +which could make us regard the story in any other +light than myth.</p> + +<p>But no myth is wholly without foundation, and +there must be some substantial verity upon which +this vast superstructure of legend has been raised. +What that is I am unable to discover.</p> + +<p>It has been suggested by some that the Jew +Ahasverus is an impersonation of that race which +wanders, Cain-like, over the earth with the brand +of a brother’s blood upon it, and one which is not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>25]</a></span> +to pass away till all be fulfilled, not to be reconciled +to its angered God till the times of the Gentiles +are accomplished. And yet, probable as this supposition +may seem at first sight, it is not to be harmonized +with some of the leading features of the +story. The shoemaker becomes a penitent, and +earnest Christian, whilst the Jewish nation has still +the veil upon its heart; the wretched wanderer eschews +money, and the avarice of the Israelite is +proverbial.</p> + +<p>According to local legend, he is identified with +the Gypsies, or rather that strange people are supposed +to be living under a curse somewhat similar +to that inflicted on Ahasverus, because they refused +shelter to the Virgin and Child on their flight into +Egypt.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Another tradition connects the Jew with +the wild huntsman, and there is a forest at Bretten, +in Swabia, which he is said to haunt. Popular +superstition attributes to him there a purse containing +a groschen, which, as often as it is expended, +returns to the spender.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>In the Harz one form of the Wild Huntsman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>26]</a></span> +myth is to this effect: that he was a Jew who had +refused to suffer our Blessed Lord to drink out of +a river, or out of a horse-trough, but had contemptuously +pointed out to Him the hoof-print of a horse, +in which a little water had collected, and had bid +Him quench His thirst thence.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + +<p>As the Wild Huntsman is the personification of +the storm, it is curious to find in parts of France +that the sudden roar of a gale at night is attributed +by the vulgar to the passing of the Everlasting Jew.</p> + +<p>A Swiss story is, that he was seen one day standing +upon the Matterberg, which is below the +Matterhorn, contemplating the scene with mingled +sorrow and wonder. Once before he stood on that +spot, and then it was the site of a flourishing city; +now it is covered with gentian and wild pinks. +Once again will he revisit the hill, and that will be +on the eve of Judgment.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, of all the myths which originated in the +middle ages, none is more striking than that we +have been considering; indeed, there is something +so calculated to arrest the attention and to excite +the imagination in the outline of the story, that it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>27]</a></span> +is remarkable that we should find an interval of +three centuries elapse between its first introduction +into Europe by Matthew Paris and Philip Mouskes, +and its general acceptance in the sixteenth century. +As a myth, its roots lie in that great mystery of +human life which is an enigma never solved, and +ever originating speculation.</p> + +<p>What was life? Was it of necessity limited to +fourscore years, or could it be extended indefinitely? +were questions curious minds never wearied of asking. +And so the mythology of the past teemed +with legends of favored or accursed mortals, who +had reached beyond the term of days set to most +men. Some had discovered the water of life, the +fountain of perpetual youth, and were ever renewing +their strength. Others had dared the power of +God, and were therefore sentenced to feel the weight +of His displeasure, without tasting the repose of +death.</p> + +<p>John the Divine slept at Ephesus, untouched by +corruption, with the ground heaving over his breast +as he breathed, waiting the summons to come forth +and witness against Antichrist. The seven sleepers +reposed in a cave, and centuries glided by like a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>28]</a></span> +watch in the night. The monk of Hildesheim, +doubting how with God a thousand years could be +as yesterday, listened to the melody of a bird in +the green wood during three minutes, and found +that in three minutes three hundred years had flown. +Joseph of Arimathæa, in the blessed city of Sarras, +draws perpetual life from the Saint Graal; Merlin +sleeps and sighs in an old tree, spell-bound of Vivien. +Charlemagne and Barbarossa wait, crowned and +armed, in the heart of the mountain, till the time +comes for the release of Fatherland from despotism. +And, on the other hand, the curse of a deathless +life has passed on the Wild Huntsman, because he +desired to chase the red-deer for evermore; on the +Captain of the Phantom Ship, because he vowed he +would double the Cape whether God willed it or +not; on the Man in the Moon, because he gathered +sticks during the Sabbath rest; on the dancers of +Kolbeck, because they desired to spend eternity in +their mad gambols.</p> + +<p>I began this article intending to conclude it with +a bibliographical account of the tracts, letters, essays, +and books, written upon the Wandering Jew; but +I relinquish my intention at the sight of the multitude +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>29]</a></span> +of works which have issued from the press +upon the subject; and this I do with less compunction +as the bibliographer may at little trouble and +expense satisfy himself, by perusing the lists given +by Grässe in his essay on the myth, and those to be +found in “Notice historique et bibliographique sur +les Juifs-errants: par O. B.” (Gustave Brunet), Paris, +Téchener, 1845; also in the article by M. Mangin, +in “Causeries et Méditations historiques et littéraires,” +Paris, Duprat, 1843; and, lastly, in the essay +by Jacob le Bibliophile (M. Lacroix) in his “Curiosités +de l’Histoire des Croyances populaires,” Paris, +Delahays, 1859.</p> + +<p>Of the romances of Eugène Sue and Dr. Croly, +founded upon the legend, the less said the better. +The original legend is so noble in its severe simplicity, +that none but a master mind could develop +it with any chance of success. Nor have the poetical +attempts upon the story fared better. It was +reserved for the pencil of Gustave Doré to treat it +with the originality it merited, and in a series of +woodcuts to produce at once a poem, a romance, +and a chef-d’œuvre of art.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> +Matt. xvi. 28. Mark ix. 1.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> +Luke ix.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> +John xx. 30.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> +John xxi. 25.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> +Gubitz, Gesellsch. 1845, No. 18.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, iii. p. 607.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> +Paul v. Eitzen was born January 25, 1522, at Hamburg; +in 1562 he was appointed chief preacher for Schleswig, and +died February 25, 1598. (Greve, Memor. P. ab. Eitzen. +Hamb. 1844.)</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> +Henr. Bangert, Comment. de Ortu, Vita, et Excessu +Coleri, I. Cti. Lubec.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> +R. Botoreus, Comm. Histor. lii. p. 305.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> +J. C. Bulenger, Historia sui Temporis, p. 357.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> +Praxis Alchymiæ. Francfurti, MDCIV. 8vo.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> +Mitternacht, Diss. in Johann. xxi. 19.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> +Mitternacht, ut supra.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> +Hormayr, Taschenbuch, 1834, p. 216.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> +Calmet, Dictionn. de la Bible, t. ii. p. 472.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> +Aventinus, Bayr. Chronik, viii.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> +Meier, Schwäbischen Sagen, i. 116.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> +Kuhn u. Schwarz Nordd. Sagen, p. 499.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>30]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap02" id="chap02"></a>Prester John.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 141px;"> +<img src="images/cmma02.jpg" width="141" height="150" +alt="Refer to caption" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">Arms of the See of Chichester.</p> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">A</span>BOUT the middle of the twelfth century, a +rumor circulated through Europe that there +reigned in Asia a powerful Christian Emperor, Presbyter +Johannes. In a bloody fight he had broken the +power of the Mussulmans, and was ready to come to +the assistance of the Crusaders. Great was the exultation +in Europe, for of late the news from the East +had been gloomy and depressing, the power of the +infidel had increased, overwhelming masses of men +had been brought into the field against the chivalry +of Christendom, and it was felt that the cross must +yield before the odious crescent.</p> + +<p>The news of the success of the Priest-King +opened a door of hope to the desponding Christian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>31]</a></span> +world. Pope Alexander III. determined at once +to effect a union with this mysterious personage, +and on the 27th of September, 1177, wrote him a +letter, which he intrusted to his physician, Philip, +to deliver in person.</p> + +<p>Philip started on his embassy, but never returned. +The conquests of Tschengis-Khan again attracted +the eyes of Christian Europe to the East. The +Mongol hordes were rushing in upon the west with +devastating ferocity; Russia, Poland, Hungary, and +the eastern provinces of Germany, had succumbed, +or suffered grievously; and the fears of other nations +were roused lest they too should taste the +misery of a Mongolian invasion. It was Gog and +Magog come to slaughter, and the times of Antichrist +were dawning. But the battle of Liegnitz +stayed them in their onward career, and Europe +was saved.</p> + +<p>Pope Innocent IV. determined to convert these +wild hordes of barbarians, and subject them to the +cross of Christ; he therefore sent among them a +number of Dominican and Franciscan missioners, +and embassies of peace passed between the Pope, +the King of France, and the Mogul Khan.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>32]</a></span> +The result of these communications with the East +was, that the travellers learned how false were the +prevalent notions of a mighty Christian empire existing +in Central Asia. Vulgar superstition or conviction is +not, however, to be upset by evidence, and the locality +of the monarchy was merely transferred by the +people to Africa, and they fixed upon Abyssinia, with +a show of truth, as the seat of the famous Priest-King. +However, still some doubted. John de Plano Carpini +and Marco Polo, though they acknowledged the existence +of a Christian monarch in Abyssinia, yet stoutly +maintained as well that the Prester John of popular +belief reigned in splendor somewhere in the dim +Orient.</p> + +<p>But before proceeding with the history of this +strange fable, it will be well to extract the different +accounts given of the Priest-King and his realm by +early writers; and we shall then be better able to +judge of the influence the myth obtained in Europe.</p> + +<p>Otto of Freisingen is the first author to mention +the monarchy of Prester John with whom we are +acquainted. Otto wrote a chronicle up to the date +1156, and he relates that in 1145 the Catholic Bishop +of Cabala visited Europe to lay certain complaints +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>33]</a></span> +before the Pope. He mentioned the fall of Edessa, +and also “he stated that a few years ago a certain +King and Priest called John, who lives on the farther +side of Persia and Armenia, in the remote East, and +who, with all his people, were Christians, though +belonging to the Nestorian Church, had overcome +the royal brothers Samiardi, kings of the Medes and +Persians, and had captured Ecbatana, their capital +and residence. The said kings had met with their +Persian, Median, and Assyrian troops, and had fought +for three consecutive days, each side having determined +to die rather than take to flight. Prester John, +for so they are wont to call him, at length routed the +Persians, and after a bloody battle, remained victorious. +After which victory the said John was hastening +to the assistance of the Church at Jerusalem, but +his host, on reaching the Tigris, was hindered from +passing, through a deficiency in boats, and he directed +his march North, since he had heard that the river +was there covered with ice. In that place he had +waited many years, expecting severe cold; but the +winters having proved unpropitious, and the severity +of the climate having carried off many soldiers, he +had been forced to retreat to his own land. This +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>34]</a></span> +king belongs to the family of the Magi, mentioned in +the Gospel, and he rules over the very people formerly +governed by the Magi; moreover, his fame and his +wealth are so great, that he uses an emerald sceptre +only.</p> + +<p>“Excited by the example of his ancestors, who +came to worship Christ in his cradle, he had proposed +to go to Jerusalem, but had been impeded by +the above-mentioned causes.”<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>At the same time the story crops up in other quarters; +so that we cannot look upon Otto as the inventor +of the myth. The celebrated Maimonides alludes to +it in a passage quoted by Joshua Lorki, a Jewish +physician to Benedict XIII. Maimonides lived from +1135 to 1204. The passage is as follows: “It is evident +both from the letters of Rambam (Maimonides), +whose memory be blessed, and from the narration of +merchants who have visited the ends of the earth, +that at this time the root of our faith is to be found +in the lands of Babel and Teman, where long ago +Jerusalem was an exile; not reckoning those who +live in the land of Paras<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> and Madai,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> of the exiles +of Schomrom, the number of which people is as the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>35]</a></span> +sand: of these some are still under the yoke of Paras, +who is called the Great-Chief Sultan by the Arabs; +others live in a place under the yoke of a strange +people ... governed by a Christian chief, Preste-Cuan +by name. With him they have made a compact, +and he with them; and this is a matter concerning +which there can be no manner of doubt.”</p> + +<p>Benjamin of Tudela, another Jew, travelled in the +East between the years 1159 and 1173, the last being +the date of his death. He wrote an account of his +travels, and gives in it some information with regard +to a mythical Jew king, who reigned in the utmost +splendor over a realm inhabited by Jews alone, situate +somewhere in the midst of a desert of vast extent. +About this period there appeared a document which +produced intense excitement throughout Europe—a +letter, yes! a letter from the mysterious personage +himself to Manuel Comnenus, Emperor of Constantinople +(1143-1180). The exact date of this extraordinary +epistle cannot be fixed with any certainty, but +it certainly appeared before 1241, the date of the +conclusion of the chronicle of Albericus Trium Fontium. +This Albericus relates that in the year 1165 +“Presbyter Joannes, the Indian king, sent his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>36]</a></span> +wonderful letter to various Christian princes, and especially +to Manuel of Constantinople, and Frederic +the Roman Emperor.” Similar letters were sent to +Alexander III., to Louis VII. of France, and to the +King of Portugal, which are alluded to in chronicles +and romances, and which were indeed turned +into rhyme, and sung all over Europe by minstrels +and trouvères. The letter is as follows:—</p> + +<p>“John, Priest by the Almighty power of God and +the Might of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings, +and Lord of Lords, to his friend Emanuel, Prince +of Constantinople, greeting, wishing him health, +prosperity, and the continuance of Divine favor.</p> + +<p>“Our Majesty has been informed that you hold +our Excellency in love, and that the report of our +greatness has reached you. Moreover, we have +heard through our treasurer that you have been +pleased to send to us some objects of art and +interest, that our Exaltedness might be gratified +thereby.</p> + +<p>“Being human, I receive it in good part, and we +have ordered our treasurer to send you some of our +articles in return.</p> + +<p>“Now we desire to be made certain that you +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>37]</a></span> +hold the right faith, and in all things cleave to +Jesus Christ, our Lord, for we have heard that your +court regard you as a god, though we know that +you are mortal, and subject to human infirmities.... +Should you desire to learn the greatness +and excellency of our Exaltedness and of the land +subject to our sceptre, then hear and believe:—I, +Presbyter Johannes, the Lord of Lords, surpass all +under heaven in virtue, in riches, and in power; +seventy-two kings pay us tribute.... In the three +Indies our Magnificence rules, and our land extends +beyond India, where rests the body of the holy +Apostle Thomas; it reaches towards the sunrise +over the wastes, and it trends towards deserted +Babylon near the tower of Babel. Seventy-two +provinces, of which only a few are Christian, serve +us. Each has its own king, but all are tributary +to us.</p> + +<p>“Our land is the home of elephants, dromedaries, +camels, crocodiles, meta-collinarum, cametennus, tensevetes, +wild asses, white and red lions, white bears, +white merules, crickets, griffins, tigers, lamias, hyenas, +wild horses, wild oxen and wild men, men +with horns, one-eyed, men with eyes before and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>38]</a></span> +behind, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, pygmies, forty-ell-high +giants, Cyclopses, and similar women; it is +the home, too, of the phœnix, and of nearly all +living animals. We have some people subject to +us who feed on the flesh of men and of prematurely +born animals, and who never fear death. When +any of these people die, their friends and relations +eat him ravenously, for they regard it as a main +duty to munch human flesh. Their names are Gog +and Magog, Anie, Agit, Azenach, Fommeperi, +Befari, Conei-Samante, Agrimandri, Vintefolei, Casbei, +Alanei. These and similar nations were shut +in behind lofty mountains by Alexander the Great, +towards the North. We lead them at our pleasure +against our foes, and neither man nor beast is left +undevoured, if our Majesty gives the requisite permission. +And when all our foes are eaten, then we +return with our hosts home again. These accursed +fifteen nations will burst forth from the four quarters +of the earth at the end of the world, in the times +of Antichrist, and overrun all the abodes of the +Saints as well as the great city Rome, which, by +the way, we are prepared to give to our son who +will be born, along with all Italy, Germany, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>39]</a></span> +two Gauls, Britain and Scotland. We shall also +give him Spain and all the land as far as the icy +sea. The nations to which I have alluded, according +to the words of the prophet, shall not stand in +the judgment, on account of their offensive practices, +but will be consumed to ashes by a fire which will +fall on them from heaven.</p> + +<p>“Our land streams with honey, and is overflowing +with milk. In one region grows no poisonous +herb, nor does a querulous frog ever quack in it; +no scorpion exists, nor does the serpent glide +amongst the grass, nor can any poisonous animals +exist in it, or injure any one.</p> + +<p>“Among the heathen, flows through a certain +province the River Indus; encircling Paradise, it +spreads its arms in manifold windings through the +entire province. Here are found the emeralds, +sapphires, carbuncles, topazes, chrysolites, onyxes, +beryls, sardius, and other costly stones. Here grows +the plant Assidos, which, when worn by any one, +protects him from the evil spirit, forcing it to state +its business and name; consequently the foul spirits +keep out of the way there. In a certain land subject +to us, all kinds of pepper is gathered, and is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>40]</a></span> +exchanged for corn and bread, leather and cloth.... +At the foot of Mount Olympus bubbles up a +spring which changes its flavor hour by hour, night +and day, and the spring is scarcely three days’ +journey from Paradise, out of which Adam was +driven. If any one has tasted thrice of the fountain, +from that day he will feel no fatigue, but will, +as long as he lives, be as a man of thirty years. +Here are found the small stones called Nudiosi, +which, if borne about the body, prevent the sight +from waxing feeble, and restore it where it is lost. +The more the stone is looked at, the keener becomes +the sight. In our territory is a certain waterless +sea, consisting of tumbling billows of sand +never at rest. None have crossed this sea; it lacks +water altogether, yet fish are cast up upon the +beach of various kinds, very tasty, and the like are +nowhere else to be seen. Three days’ journey from +this sea are mountains from which rolls down a +stony, waterless river, which opens into the sandy +sea. As soon as the stream reaches the sea, its +stones vanish in it, and are never seen again. As +long as the river is in motion, it cannot be crossed; +only four days a week is it possible to traverse it. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>41]</a></span> +Between the sandy sea and the said mountains, in +a certain plain is a fountain of singular virtue, +which purges Christians and would-be Christians +from all transgressions. The water stands four +inches high in a hollow stone shaped like a mussel-shell. +Two saintly old men watch by it, and ask +the comers whether they are Christians, or are +about to become Christians, then whether they desire +healing with all their hearts. If they have +answered well, they are bidden to lay aside their +clothes, and to step into the mussel. If what they +said be true, then the water begins to rise and gush +over their heads; thrice does the water thus lift +itself, and every one who has entered the mussel +leaves it cured of every complaint.</p> + +<p>“Near the wilderness trickles between barren +mountains a subterranean rill, which can only by +chance be reached, for only occasionally the earth +gapes, and he who would descend must do it with +precipitation, ere the earth closes again. All that +is gathered under the ground there is gem and +precious stone. The brook pours into another +river, and the inhabitants of the neighborhood obtain +thence abundance of precious stones. Yet they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>42]</a></span> +never venture to sell them without having first +offered them to us for our private use: should we +decline them, they are at liberty to dispose of them +to strangers. Boys there are trained to remain +three or four days under water, diving after the +stones.</p> + +<p>“Beyond the stone river are the ten tribes of the +Jews, which, though subject to their own kings, +are, for all that, our slaves and tributary to our +Majesty. In one of our lands, hight Zone, are +worms called in our tongue Salamanders. These +worms can only live in fire, and they build cocoons +like silk-worms, which are unwound by the ladies +of our palace, and spun into cloth and dresses, +which are worn by our Exaltedness. These dresses, +in order to be cleaned and washed, are cast into +flames.... When we go to war, we have fourteen +golden and bejewelled crosses borne before us instead +of banners; each of these crosses is followed +by 10,000 horsemen, and 100,000 foot soldiers fully +armed, without reckoning those in charge of the +luggage and provision.</p> + +<p>“When we ride abroad plainly, we have a +wooden, unadorned cross, without gold or gem +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>43]</a></span> +about it, borne before us, in order that we may +meditate on the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus +Christ; also a golden bowl filled with earth, to +remind us of that whence we sprung, and that to +which we must return; but besides these there is +borne a silver bowl full of gold, as a token to all +that we are the Lord of Lords.</p> + +<p>“All riches, such as are upon the world, our +Magnificence possesses in superabundance. With +us no one lies, for he who speaks a lie is thenceforth +regarded as dead; he is no more thought of, +or honored by us. No vice is tolerated by us. +Every year we undertake a pilgrimage, with retinue +of war, to the body of the holy prophet Daniel, +which is near the desolated site of Babylon. +In our realm fishes are caught, the blood of which +dyes purple. The Amazons and the Brahmins are +subject to us. The palace in which our Supereminency +resides, is built after the pattern of the +castle built by the Apostle Thomas for the Indian +king Gundoforus. Ceilings, joists, and architrave +are of Sethym wood, the roof of ebony, which +can never catch fire. Over the gable of the palace +are, at the extremities, two golden apples, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>44]</a></span> +in each of which are two carbuncles, so that the +gold may shine by day, and the carbuncles by +night. The greater gates of the palace are of sardius, +with the horn of the horned snake inwrought, +so that no one can bring poison within.</p> + +<p>“The other portals are of ebony. The windows +are of crystal; the tables are partly of gold, partly +of amethyst, and the columns supporting the tables +are partly of ivory, partly of amethyst. The court +in which we watch the jousting is floored with +onyx in order to increase the courage of the combatants. +In the palace, at night, nothing is burned +for light but wicks supplied with balsam.... Before +our palace stands a mirror, the ascent to +which consists of five and twenty steps of porphyry +and serpentine.” After a description of the +gems adorning this mirror, which is guarded night +and day by three thousand armed men, he explains +its use: “We look therein and behold all that is +taking place in every province and region subject +to our sceptre.</p> + +<p>“Seven kings wait upon us monthly, in turn, +with sixty-two dukes, two hundred and fifty-six +counts and marquises: and twelve archbishops sit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>45]</a></span> +at table with us on our right, and twenty bishops +on the left, besides the patriarch of St. Thomas, the +Sarmatian Protopope, and the Archpope of Susa.... +Our lord high steward is a primate and king, +our cup-bearer is an archbishop and king, our +chamberlain a bishop and king, our marshal a king +and abbot.”</p> + +<p>I may be spared further extracts from this extraordinary +letter, which proceeds to describe the +church in which Prester John worships, by enumerating +the precious stones of which it is constructed, +and their special virtues.</p> + +<p>Whether this letter was in circulation before +Pope Alexander wrote his, it is not easy to decide. +Alexander does not allude to it, but speaks of the +reports which have reached him of the piety and +the magnificence of the Priest-King. At the same +time, there runs a tone of bitterness through the +letter, as though the Pope had been galled at the +pretensions of this mysterious personage, and perhaps +winced under the prospect of the man-eaters +overrunning Italy, as suggested by John the Priest. +The papal epistle is an assertion of the claims of +the See of Rome to universal dominion, and it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>46]</a></span> +assures the Eastern Prince-Pope that his Christian +professions are worthless, unless he submits to the +successor of Peter. “Not every one that saith unto +me, Lord, Lord,” &c., quotes the Pope, and then +explains that the will of God is that every monarch +and prelate should eat humble pie to the Sovereign +Pontiff.</p> + +<p>Sir John Maundevil gives the origin of the +priestly title of the Eastern despot, in his curious +book of travels.</p> + +<p>“So it befelle, that this emperour cam, with a +Cristene knyght with him, into a chirche in Egypt: +and it was Saterday in Wyttson woke. And the +bishop made orders. And he beheld and listened +the servyse fulle tentyfly: and he asked the Cristene +knyght, what men of degree thei scholden +ben, that the prelate had before him. And the +knyght answerede and seyde, that thei scholde ben +prestes. And then the emperour seyde, that he +wolde no longer ben clept kyng ne emperour, but +preest: and that he wolde have the name of the +first preest, that wente out of the chirche; and his +name was John. And so evere more sittiens, he is +clept Prestre John.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>47]</a></span> +It is probable that the foundation of the whole +Prester-John myth lay in the report which reached +Europe of the wonderful successes of Nestorianism +in the East, and there seems reason to believe that +the famous letter given above was a Nestorian +fabrication. It certainly looks un-European; the +gorgeous imagery is thoroughly Eastern, and the +disparaging tone in which Rome is spoken of could +hardly have been the expression of Western feelings. +The letter has the object in view of exalting +the East in religion and arts to an undue eminence +at the expense of the West, and it manifests some +ignorance of European geography, when it speaks +of the land extending from Spain to the Polar Sea. +Moreover, the sites of the patriarchates, and the +dignity conferred on that of St. Thomas, are indications +of a Nestorian bias.</p> + +<p>A brief glance at the history of this heretical +Church may be of value here, as showing that +there really was a foundation for the wild legends +concerning a Christian empire in the East, so +prevalent in Europe. Nestorius, a priest of Antioch +and a disciple of St. Chrysostom, was elevated +by the emperor to the patriarchate of Constantinople, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>48]</a></span> +and in the year 428 began to propagate his +heresy, denying the hypostatic union. The Council +of Ephesus denounced him, and, in spite of the +emperor and court, Nestorius was anathematized +and driven into exile. His sect spread through the +East, and became a flourishing church. It reached +to China, where the emperor was all but converted; +its missionaries traversed the frozen tundras of Siberia, +preaching their maimed Gospel to the wild +hordes which haunted those dreary wastes; it faced +Buddhism, and wrestled with it for the religious +supremacy in Thibet; it established churches in +Persia and in Bokhara; it penetrated India; it +formed colonies in Ceylon, in Siam, and in Sumatra; +so that the Catholicos or Pope of Bagdad +exercised sway more extensive than that ever obtained +by the successor of St. Peter. The number +of Christians belonging to that communion probably +exceeded that of the members of the true Catholic +Church in East and West. But the Nestorian +Church was not founded on the Rock; it rested on +Nestorius; and when the rain descended, and the +winds blew, and the floods came, and beat upon +that house, it fell, leaving scarce a fragment behind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>49]</a></span> +Rubruquis the Franciscan, who in 1253 was sent +on a mission into Tartary, was the first to let in a +little light on the fable. He writes, “The Catai +dwelt beyond certain mountains across which I wandered, +and in a plain in the midst of the mountains +lived once an important Nestorian shepherd, who +ruled over the Nestorian people, called Nayman. +When Coir-Khan died, the Nestorian people raised +this man to be king, and called him King Johannes, +and related of him ten times as much as the truth. +The Nestorians thereabouts have this way with them, +that about nothing they make a great fuss, and thus +they have got it noised abroad that Sartach, Mangu-Khan, +and Ken-Khan were Christians, simply because +they treated Christians well, and showed them more +honor than other people. Yet, in fact, they were not +Christians at all. And in like manner the story got +about that there was a great King John. However, +I traversed his pastures, and no one knew anything +about him, except a few Nestorians. In his pastures +lives Ken-Khan, at whose court was Brother Andrew, +whom I met on my way back. This Johannes had +a brother, a famous shepherd, named Unc, who lived +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>50]</a></span> +three weeks’ journey beyond the mountains of Caracatais.”</p> + +<p>This Unk-Khan was a real individual; he lost his +life in the year 1203. Kuschhik, prince of the Nayman, +and follower of Kor-Khan, fell in 1218.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller (1254-1324), +identifies Unk-Khan with Prester John; he says, “I +will now tell you of the deeds of the Tartars, how +they gained the mastery, and spread over the whole +earth. The Tartars dwelt between Georgia and Bargu, +where there is a vast plain and level country, on +which are neither cities nor forts, but capital pasturage +and water. They had no chief of their own, but +paid to Prester Johannes tribute. Of the greatness +of this Prester Johannes, who was properly called +Un-Khan, the whole world spake; the Tartars gave +him one of every ten head of cattle. When Prester +John noticed that they were increasing, he feared +them, and planned how he could injure them. He +determined therefore to scatter them, and he sent +barons to do this. But the Tartars guessed what +Prester John purposed ... and they went away into +the wide wastes of the North, where they might be +beyond his reach.” He then goes on to relate how +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>51]</a></span> +Tschengis-(Jenghiz-)Khan became the head of the +Tartars, and how he fought against Prester John, +and, after a desperate fight, overcame and slew him.</p> + +<p>The Syriac Chronicle of the Jacobite Primate, +Gregory Bar-Hebræus (born 1226, died 1286), also +identifies Unk-Khan with Prester John. “In the +year of the Greeks 1514, of the Arabs 599 (A. D. +1202), when Unk-Khan, who is the Christian King +John, ruled over a stock of the barbarian Hunns, +called Kergt, Tschingys-Khan served him with great +zeal. When John observed the superiority and serviceableness +of the other, he envied him, and plotted +to seize and murder him. But two sons of Unk-Khan, +having heard this, told it to Tschingys; whereupon +he and his comrades fled by night, and secreted +themselves. Next morning Unk-Khan took possession +of the Tartar tents, but found them empty. +Then the party of Tschingys fell upon him, and they +met by the spring called Balschunah, and the side +of Tschingys won the day; and the followers of +Unk-Khan were compelled to yield. They met again +several times, till Unk-Khan was utterly discomfited, +and was slain himself, and his wives, sons, and +daughters carried into captivity. Yet we must +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>52]</a></span> +consider that King John the Kergtajer was not cast down +for nought; nay, rather, because he had turned his +heart from the fear of Christ his Lord, who had +exalted him, and had taken a wife of the Zinish +nation, called Quarakhata. Because he forsook the +religion of his ancestors and followed strange gods, +therefore God took the government from him, and +gave it to one better than he, and whose heart was +right before God.”</p> + +<p>Some of the early travellers, such as John de +Plano Carpini and Marco Polo, in disabusing the +popular mind of the belief in Prester John as a +mighty Asiatic Christian monarch, unintentionally +turned the popular faith in that individual into a +new direction. They spoke of the black people of +Abascia in Ethiopia, which, by the way, they called +Middle India, as a great people subject to a Christian +monarch.</p> + +<p>Marco Polo says that the true monarch of Abyssinia +is Christ; but that it is governed by six kings, three +of whom are Christians and three Saracens, and that +they are in league with the Soudan of Aden.</p> + +<p>Bishop Jordanus, in his description of the world, +accordingly sets down Abyssinia as the kingdom of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>53]</a></span> +Prester John; and such was the popular impression, +which was confirmed by the appearance at intervals +of ambassadors at European courts from the King +of Abyssinia. The discovery of the Cape of Good +Hope was due partly to a desire manifested in Portugal +to open communications with this monarch,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> and +King John II. sent two men learned in Oriental languages +through Egypt to the court of Abyssinia. The +might and dominion of this prince, who had replaced +the Tartar chief in the popular creed as Prester John, +was of course greatly exaggerated, and was supposed +to extend across Arabia and Asia to the wall of +China. The spread of geographical knowledge has +contracted the area of his dominions, and a critical +acquaintance with history has exploded the myth +which invested Unk-Khan, the nomad chief, with all +the attributes of a demigod, uniting in one the utmost +pretensions of a Pope and the proudest claims of a +monarch.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> +Otto, Ep. Frising., lib. vii. c. 33.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> +Persia.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> +Media.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> +Ludolfi Hist. Æthiopica, lib. ii. cap. 1, 2. Petrus, Petri +filius Lusitaniæ princeps, M. Pauli Veneti librum (qui de +Indorum rebus multa: speciatim vero de Presbytero Johanne +aliqua magnifice scripsit) Venetiis secum in patriam detulerat, +qui (Chronologicis Lusitanorum testantibus) præcipuam Johanni +Regi ansam dedit Indicæ navigationis, quam Henricus +Johannis I. filius, patruus ejus, tentaverat, prosequendæ, &c.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>54]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap03" id="chap03"></a>The Divining Rod.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">F</span>ROM the remotest period a rod has been regarded +as the symbol of power and authority, +and Holy Scripture employs it in the popular sense. +Thus David speaks of “Thy rod and Thy staff comforting +me;” and Moses works his miracles before +Pharaoh with the rod as emblem of Divine commission. +It was his rod which became a serpent, which +turned the water of Egypt into blood, which opened +the waves of the Red Sea and restored them to their +former level, which “smote the rock of stone so that +the water gushed out abundantly.” The rod of Aaron +acted an oracular part in the contest with the princes; +laid up before the ark, it budded and brought forth +almonds. In this instance we have it no longer as +a symbol of authority, but as a means of divining +the will of God. And as such it became liable +to abuse; thus Hosea rebukes the chosen people +for practising similar divinations. “My people ask +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>55]</a></span> +counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto +them.”<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>Long before this, Jacob had made a different use +of rods, employing them as a charm to make his +father-in-law’s sheep bear pied and spotted lambs.</p> + +<p>We find rhabdomancy a popular form of divination +among the Greeks, and also among the Romans. +Cicero in his “De Officiis” alludes to it. “If all +that is needful for our nourishment and support arrives +to us by means of some divine rod, as people +say, then each of us, free from all care and trouble, +may give himself up to the exclusive pursuit of +study and science.”</p> + +<p>Probably it is to this rod that the allusion of +Ennius, as the agent in discovering hidden treasures, +quoted in the first book of his “De Divinatione,” +refers.</p> + +<p>According to Vetranius Maurus, Varro left a satire +on the “Virgula divina,” which has not been preserved. +Tacitus tells us that the Germans practised +some sort of divination by means of rods. “For +the purpose their method is simple. They cut a +rod off some fruit-tree into bits, and after having +distinguished them by various marks, they cast them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>56]</a></span> +into a white cloth.... Then the priest thrice +draws each piece, and explains the oracle according +to the marks.” Ammianus Marcellinus says that +the Alains employed an osier rod.</p> + +<p>The fourteenth law of the Frisons ordered that +the discovery of murders should be made by means +of divining rods used in Church. These rods should +be laid before the altar, and on the sacred relics, +after which God was to be supplicated to indicate +the culprit. This was called the Lot of Rods, or +Tan-teen, the Rod of Rods.</p> + +<p>But the middle ages was the date of the full +development of the superstition, and the divining rod +was believed to have efficacy in discovering hidden +treasures, veins of precious metal, springs of water, +thefts, and murders. The first notice of its general +use among late writers is in the “Testamentum +Novum,” lib. i. cap. 25, of Basil Valentine, a Benedictine +monk of the fifteenth century. Basil speaks +of the general faith in and adoption of this valuable +instrument for the discovery of metals, which is +carried by workmen in mines, either in their belts +or in their caps. He says that there are seven +names by which this rod is known, and to its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>57]</a></span> +excellences under each title he devotes a chapter of +his book. The names are: Divine Rod, Shining +Rod, Leaping Rod, Transcendent Rod, Trembling +Rod, Dipping Rod, Superior Rod. In his admirable +treatise on metals, Agricola speaks of the rod +in terms of disparagement; he considers its use as +a relic of ancient magical forms, and he says that +it is only irreligious workmen who employ it in +their search after metals. Goclenius, however, in +his treatise on the virtue of plants, stoutly does battle +for the properties of the hazel rod. Whereupon +Roberti, a Flemish Jesuit, falls upon him tooth and +nail, disputes his facts, overwhelms him with abuse, +and gibbets him for popular ridicule. Andreas Libavius, +a writer I have already quoted in my article +on the Wandering Jew, undertook a series of experiments +upon the hazel divining rod, and concluded +that there was truth in the popular belief. +The Jesuit Kircher also “experimentalized several +times on wooden rods which were declared to be +sympathetic with regard to certain metals, by placing +them on delicate pivots in equilibrium; but they +never turned on the approach of metal.” (De Arte +Magnetica.) However, a similar course of experiments +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>58]</a></span> +over water led him to attribute to the rod the +power of indicating subterranean springs and water-courses; +“I would not affirm it,” he says, “unless I +had established the fact by my own experience.”</p> + +<p>Dechales, another Jesuit, author of a treatise on +natural springs, and of a huge tome entitled “Mundus +Mathematicus,” declared in the latter work, +that no means of discovering sources is equal to +the divining rod; and he quotes a friend of his +who, with a hazel rod in his hand, could discover +springs with the utmost precision and facility, and +could trace on the surface of the ground the course +of a subterranean conduit. Another writer, Saint-Romain, +in his “Science dégagée des Chimères de +l’École,” exclaims, “Is it not astonishing to see a rod, +which is held firmly in the hands, bow itself and +turn visibly in the direction of water or metal, with +more or less promptitude, according as the metal or +the water are near or remote from the surface!”</p> + +<p>In 1659 the Jesuit Gaspard Schott writes that the +rod is used in every town of Germany, and that he +had frequent opportunity of seeing it used in the +discovery of hidden treasures. “I searched with the +greatest care,” he adds, “into the question whether +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>59]</a></span> +the hazel rod had any sympathy with gold and silver, +and whether any natural property set it in motion. +In like manner I tried whether a ring of +metal, held suspended by a thread in the midst of +a tumbler, and which strikes the hours, is moved +by any similar force. I ascertained that these effects +could only have rise from the deception of those +holding the rod or the pendulum, or, may be, from +some diabolic impulsion, or, more likely still, because +imagination sets the hand in motion.”</p> + +<p>The Sieur le Royer, a lawyer of Rouen, in 1674, +published his “Traité du Bâton universel,” in which +he gives an account of a trial made with the rod +in the presence of Father Jean François, who had +ridiculed the operation in his treatise on the science +of waters, published at Rennes in 1655, and which +succeeded in convincing the blasphemer of the divine +Rod. Le Royer denies to it the power of picking +out criminals, which had been popularly attributed +to it, and as had been unhesitatingly claimed for it +by Debrio in his “Disquisitio Magica.”</p> + +<p>And now I am brought to the extraordinary story +of Jacques Aymar, which attracted the attention of +Europe to the marvellous properties of the divining +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>60]</a></span> +rod. I shall give the history of this man in full, as +such an account is rendered necessary by the mutilated +versions I have seen current in English magazine +articles, which follow the lead of Mrs. Crowe, +who narrates the earlier portion of this impostor’s +career, but says nothing of his <i>exposé</i> and downfall.</p> + +<p>On the 5th July, 1692, at about ten o’clock in the +evening, a wine-seller of Lyons and his wife were +assassinated in their cellar, and their money carried +off. On the morrow, the officers of justice arrived, +and examined the premises. Beside the corpses, lay +a large bottle wrapped in straw, and a bloody hedging +bill, which undoubtedly had been the instrument +used to accomplish the murder. Not a trace of +those who had committed the horrible deed was to +be found, and the magistrates were quite at fault +as to the direction in which they should turn for a +clew to the murderer or murderers.</p> + +<p>At this juncture a neighbor reminded the magistrates +of an incident which had taken place four +years previous. It was this. In 1688 a theft of +clothes had been made in Grenoble. In the parish +of Crôle lived a man named Jacques Aymar, supposed +to be endowed with the faculty of using the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>61]</a></span> +divining rod. This man was sent for. On reaching +the spot where the theft had been committed, his +rod moved in his hand. He followed the track indicated +by the rod, and it continued to rotate between +his fingers as long as he followed a certain direction, +but ceased to turn if he diverged from it in the smallest +degree. Guided by his rod, Aymar went from +street to street, till he was brought to a standstill +before the prison gates. These could not be opened +without leave of the magistrate, who hastened to witness +the experiment. The gates were unlocked, and +Aymar, under the same guidance, directed his steps +towards four prisoners lately incarcerated. He ordered +the four to be stood in a line, and then he +placed his foot on that of the first. The rod remained +immovable. He passed to the second, and +the rod turned at once. Before the third prisoner +there were no signs; the fourth trembled, and begged +to be heard. He owned himself the thief, along +with the second, who also acknowledged the theft, +and mentioned the name of the receiver of the stolen +goods. This was a farmer in the neighborhood of +Grenoble. The magistrate and officers visited him +and demanded the articles he had obtained. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>62]</a></span> +farmer denied all knowledge of the theft and all participation +in the booty. Aymar, however, by means +of his rod, discovered the secreted property, and restored +it to the persons from whom it had been stolen.</p> + +<p>On another occasion Aymar had been in quest of a +spring of water, when he felt his rod turn sharply in +his hand. On digging at the spot, expecting to discover +an abundant source, the body of a murdered +woman was found in a barrel, with a rope twisted +round her neck. The poor creature was recognized +as a woman of the neighborhood who had vanished +four months before. Aymar went to the house which +the victim had inhabited, and presented his rod to +each member of the household. It turned upon the +husband of the deceased, who at once took to flight.</p> + +<p>The magistrates of Lyons, at their wits’ ends how +to discover the perpetrators of the double murder in +the wine shop, urged the Procureur du Roi to make +experiment of the powers of Jacques Aymar. The +fellow was sent for, and he boldly asserted his capacity +for detecting criminals, if he were first brought to +the spot of the murder, so as to be put <i>en rapport</i> +with the murderers.</p> + +<p>He was at once conducted to the scene of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>63]</a></span> +outrage, with the rod in his hand. This remained stationary +as he traversed the cellar, till he reached the +spot where the body of the wine seller had lain; then +the stick became violently agitated, and the man’s +pulse rose as though he were in an access of fever. +The same motions and symptoms manifested themselves +when he reached the place where the second +victim had lain.</p> + +<p>Having thus received his <em>impression</em>, Aymar left +the cellar, and, guided by his rod, or rather by an +internal instinct, he ascended into the shop, and then +stepping into the street, he followed from one to +another, like a hound upon the scent, the track of the +murderers. It conducted him into the court of the +archiepiscopal palace, across it, and down to the gate +of the Rhone. It was now evening, and the city +gates being all closed, the quest of blood was relinquished +for the night.</p> + +<p>Next morning Aymar returned to the scent. Accompanied +by three officers, he left the gate, and +descended the right bank of the Rhone. The rod +gave indications of there having been three involved +in the murder, and he pursued the traces till two of +them led to a gardener’s cottage. Into this he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>64]</a></span> +entered, and there he asserted with warmth, against the +asseverations of the proprietor to the contrary, that +the fugitives had entered his room, had seated themselves +at his table, and had drunk wine out of one of +the bottles which he indicated. Aymar tested each +of the household with his rod, to see if they had been +in contact with the murderers. The rod moved over +the two children only, aged respectively ten and nine +years. These little things, on being questioned, answered, +with reluctance, that during their father’s +absence on Sunday morning, against his express commands, +they had left the door open, and that two +men, whom they described, had come in suddenly +upon them, and had seated themselves and made +free with the wine in the bottle pointed out by the +man with the rod. This first verification of the talents +of Jacques Aymar convinced some of the sceptical, but +the Procurateur Général forbade the prosecution of the +experiment till the man had been further tested.</p> + +<p>As already stated, a hedging bill had been discovered, +on the scene of the murder, smeared with +blood, and unquestionably the weapon with which +the crime had been committed. Three bills from the +same maker, and of precisely the same description, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>65]</a></span> +were obtained, and the four were taken into a garden, +and secretly buried at intervals. Aymar was then +brought, staff in hand, into the garden, and conducted +over the spots where lay the bills. The rod began to +vibrate as his feet stood upon the place where was +concealed the bill which had been used by the assassins, +but was motionless elsewhere. Still unsatisfied, +the four bills were exhumed and concealed anew. +The comptroller of the province himself bandaged +the sorcerer’s eyes, and led him by the hand from +place to place. The divining rod showed no signs +of movement till it approached the blood-stained +weapon, when it began to oscillate.</p> + +<p>The magistrates were now so far satisfied as to +agree that Jacques Aymar should be authorized to +follow the trail of the murderers, and have a company +of archers to follow him.</p> + +<p>Guided by his rod, Aymar now recommenced his +pursuit. He continued tracing down the right bank +of the Rhone till he came to half a league from the +bridge of Lyons. Here the footprints of three men +were observed in the sand, as though engaged in +entering a boat. A rowing boat was obtained, and +Aymar, with his escort, descended the river; he found +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>66]</a></span> +some difficulty in following the trail upon water; +still he was able, with a little care, to detect it. It +brought him under an arch of the bridge of Vienne, +which boats rarely passed beneath. This proved that +the fugitives were without a guide. The way in +which this curious journey was made was singular. +At intervals Aymar was put ashore to test the banks +with his rod, and ascertain whether the murderers +had landed. He discovered the places where they +had slept, and indicated the chairs or benches on +which they had sat. In this manner, by slow degrees, +he arrived at the military camp of Sablon, between +Vienne and Saint-Valier. There Aymar felt violent +agitation, his cheeks flushed, and his pulse beat with +rapidity. He penetrated the crowds of soldiers, but +did not venture to use his rod, lest the men should +take it ill, and fall upon him. He could not do more +without special authority, and was constrained to return +to Lyons. The magistrates then provided him +with the requisite powers, and he went back to the +camp. Now he declared that the murderers were not +there. He recommenced his pursuit, and descended +the Rhone again as far as Beaucaire.</p> + +<p>On entering the town he ascertained by means of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>67]</a></span> +his rod that those whom he was pursuing had parted +company. He traversed several streets, then crowded +on account of the annual fair, and was brought to a +standstill before the prison doors. One of the murderers +was within, he declared; he would track the +others afterwards. Having obtained permission to +enter, he was brought into the presence of fourteen +or fifteen prisoners. Amongst these was a hunchback, +who had only an hour previously been incarcerated +on account of a theft he had committed at the +fair. Aymar applied his rod to each of the prisoners +in succession: it turned upon the hunchback. The +sorcerer ascertained that the other two had left the +town by a little path leading into the Nismes road. +Instead of following this track, he returned to Lyons +with the hunchback and the guard. At Lyons a +triumph awaited him. The hunchback had hitherto +protested his innocence, and declared that he had +never set foot in Lyons. But as he was brought to +that town by the way along which Aymar had ascertained +that he had left it, the fellow was recognized +at the different houses where he had lodged the night, +or stopped for food. At the little town of Bagnols, he +was confronted with the host and hostess of a tavern +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>68]</a></span> +where he and his comrades had slept, and they swore +to his identity, and accurately described his companions: +their description tallied with that given by the +children of the gardener. The wretched man was so +confounded by this recognition, that he avowed having +staid there, a few days before, along with two +Provençals. These men, he said, were the criminals; +he had been their servant, and had only kept guard +in the upper room whilst they committed the murders +in the cellar.</p> + +<p>On his arrival in Lyons he was committed to +prison, and his trial was decided on. At his first +interrogation he told his tale precisely as he had +related it before, with these additions: the murderers +spoke patois, and had purchased two bills. At ten +o’clock in the evening all three had entered the wine +shop. The Provençals had a large bottle wrapped in +straw, and they persuaded the publican and his wife +to descend with them into the cellar to fill it, whilst +he, the hunchback, acted as watch in the shop. The +two men murdered the wine-seller and his wife with +their bills, and then mounted to the shop, where they +opened the coffer, and stole from it one hundred and +thirty crowns, eight louis-d’ors, and a silver belt. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>69]</a></span> +The crime accomplished, they took refuge in the +court of a large house,—this was the archbishop’s +palace, indicated by Aymar,—and passed the night +in it. Next day, early, they left Lyons, and only +stopped for a moment at a gardener’s cottage. +Some way down the river, they found a boat +moored to the bank. This they loosed from its +mooring and entered. They came ashore at the +spot pointed out by the man with the stick. They +staid some days in the camp at Sablon, and then +went on to Beaucaire.</p> + +<p>Aymar was now sent in quest of the other murderers. +He resumed their trail at the gate of +Beaucaire, and that of one of them, after considerable +<i>détours</i>, led him to the prison doors of +Beaucaire, and he asked to be allowed to search +among the prisoners for his man. This time he +was mistaken. The second fugitive was not within; +but the jailer affirmed that a man whom he +described—and his description tallied with the +known appearance of one of the Provençals—had +called at the gate shortly after the removal of the +hunchback to inquire after him, and on learning +of his removal to Lyons, had hurried off +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>70]</a></span> +precipitately. Aymar now followed his track from +the prison, and this brought him to that of the +third criminal. He pursued the double scent for +some days. But it became evident that the two +culprits had been alarmed at what had transpired in +Beaucaire, and were flying from France. Aymar +traced them to the frontier, and then returned to +Lyons.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of August, 1692, the poor hunchback +was, according to sentence, broken on the +wheel, in the Place des Terreaux. On his way to +execution he had to pass the wine shop. There +the recorder publicly read his sentence, which had +been delivered by thirty judges. The criminal +knelt and asked pardon of the poor wretches in +whose murder he was involved, after which he +continued his course to the place fixed for his +execution.</p> + +<p>It may be well here to give an account of the +authorities for this extraordinary story. There are +three circumstantial accounts, and numerous letters +written by the magistrate who sat during the trial, +and by an eye-witness of the whole transaction, +men honorable and disinterested, upon whose veracity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>71]</a></span> +not a shadow of doubt was supposed to rest +by their contemporaries.</p> + +<p>M. Chauvin, Doctor of Medicine, published a +“<i>Lettre à Mme. la Marquise de Senozan, sur +les moyens dont on s’est servi pour découvrir les +complices d’un assassinat commis à Lyon, le 5 +Juillet, 1692</i>.” Lyons, 1692. The <i>procès-verbal</i> +of the Procureur du Roi, M. de Vanini, is also +extant, and published in the <i>Physique occulte</i> of +the Abbé de Vallemont.</p> + +<p>Pierre Gamier, Doctor of Medicine of the University +of Montpellier, wrote a <i>Dissertation physique +en forme de lettre, à M. de Sève, seigneur +de Fléchères</i>, on Jacques Aymar, printed the same +year at Lyons, and republished in the <i>Histoire +critique des pratiques superstitieuses du Père +Lebrun</i>.</p> + +<p>Doctor Chauvin was witness of nearly all the +circumstances related, as was also the Abbé +Lagarde, who has written a careful account of the +whole transaction as far as to the execution of +the hunchback.</p> + +<p>Another eye-witness writes to the Abbé Bignon +a letter printed by Lebrun in his <i>Histoire +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>72]</a></span> +critique</i> cited above. “The following circumstance +happened to me yesterday evening,” he says: “M. +le Procureur du Roi here, who, by the way, is one +of the wisest and cleverest men in the country, +sent for me at six o’clock, and had me conducted +to the scene of the murder. We found there M. +Grimaut, director of the customs, whom I knew +to be a very upright man, and a young attorney +named Besson, with whom I am not acquainted, +but who M. le Procureur du Roi told me had the +power of using the rod as well as M. Grimaut. +We descended into the cellar where the murder +had been committed, and where there were still +traces of blood. Each time that M. Grimaut and +the attorney passed the spot where the murder had +been perpetrated, the rods they held in their hands +began to turn, but ceased when they stepped beyond +the spot. We tried experiments for more +than an hour, as also with the bill, which M. +le Procureur had brought along with him, and +they were satisfactory. I observed several curious +facts in the attorney. The rod in his hands was +more violently moved than in those of M. Grimaut, +and when I placed one of my fingers in each of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>73]</a></span> +his hands, whilst the rod turned, I felt the most extraordinary +throbbings of the arteries in his palms. +His pulse was at fever heat. He sweated profusely, +and at intervals he was compelled to go into the +court to obtain fresh air.”</p> + +<p>The Sieur Pauthot, Dean of the College of +Medicine at Lyons, gave his observations to the +public as well. Some of them are as follows: +“We began at the cellar in which the murder had +been committed; into this the man with the rod +(Aymar) shrank from entering, because he felt +violent agitations which overcame him when he +used the stick over the place where the corpses +of those who had been assassinated had lain. On +entering the cellar, the rod was put in my hands, +and arranged by the master as most suitable for +operation; I passed and repassed over the spot +where the bodies had been found, but it remained +immovable, and I felt no agitation. A lady of rank +and merit, who was with us, took the rod after +me; she felt it begin to move, and was internally +agitated. Then the owner of the rod resumed it, +and, passing over the same places, the stick rotated +with such violence that it seemed easier to break +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>74]</a></span> +than to stop it. The peasant then quitted our +company to faint away, as was his wont after +similar experiments. I followed him. He turned +very pale and broke into a profuse perspiration, +whilst for a quarter of an hour his pulse was violently +troubled; indeed, the faintness was so considerable, +that they were obliged to dash water in +his face and give him water to drink in order to +bring him round.” He then describes experiments +made over the bloody bill and others similar, which +succeeded in the hands of Aymar and the lady, but +failed when he attempted them himself. Pierre +Garnier, physician of the medical college of Montpellier, +appointed to that of Lyons, has also written +an account of what he saw, as mentioned above. +He gives a curious proof of Aymar’s powers.</p> + +<p>“M. le Lieutenant-Général having been robbed +by one of his lackeys, seven or eight months ago, +and having lost by him twenty-five crowns which +had been taken out of one of the cabinets behind +his library, sent for Aymar, and asked him to +discover the circumstances. Aymar went several +times round the chamber, rod in hand, placing +one foot on the chairs, on the various articles of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>75]</a></span> +furniture, and on two bureaux which are in the +apartment, each of which contains several drawers. +He fixed on the very bureau and the identical +drawer out of which the money had been stolen. +M. le Lieutenant-Général bade him follow the +track of the robber. He did so. With his rod +he went out on a new terrace, upon which the +cabinet opens, thence back into the cabinet and +up to the fire, then into the library, and from +thence he went direct up stairs to the lackeys’ +sleeping apartment, when the rod guided him to +one of the beds, and turned over one side of the +bed, remaining motionless over the other. The +lackeys then present cried out that the thief had +slept on the side indicated by the rod, the bed +having been shared with another footman, who +occupied the further side.” Garnier gives a lengthy +account of various experiments he made along with +the Lieutenant-Général, the uncle of the same, the +Abbé de St. Remain, and M. de Puget, to detect +whether there was imposture in the man. But all +their attempts failed to discover a trace of deception. +He gives a report of a verbal examination +of Aymar which is interesting. The man always +replied with candor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>76]</a></span> +The report of the extraordinary discovery of +murder made by the divining rod at Lyons attracted +the attention of Paris, and Aymar was +ordered up to the capital. There, however, his +powers left him. The Prince de Condé submitted +him to various tests, and he broke down under +every one. Five holes were dug in the garden. +In one was secreted gold, in another silver, in +a third silver and gold, in the fourth copper, and +in the fifth stones. The rod made no signs in +presence of the metals, and at last actually began +to move over the buried pebbles. He was sent to +Chantilly to discover the perpetrators of a theft of +trout made in the ponds of the park. He went +round the water, rod in hand, and it turned at spots +where he said the fish had been drawn out. Then, +following the track of the thief, it led him to the +cottage of one of the keepers, but did not move +over any of the individuals then in the house. The +keeper himself was absent, but arrived late at +night, and, on hearing what was said, he roused +Aymar from his bed, insisting on having his innocence +vindicated. The divining rod, however, pronounced +him guilty, and the poor fellow took to his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>77]</a></span> +heels, much upon the principle recommended by +Montesquieu a while after. Said he, “If you are +accused of having stolen the towers of Notre-Dame, +bolt at once.”</p> + +<p>A peasant, taken at haphazard from the street, +was brought to the sorcerer as one suspected. The +rod turned slightly, and Aymar declared that the +man did not steal the fish, but ate of them. A +boy was then introduced, who was said to be the +keeper’s son. The rod rotated violently at once. +This was the finishing stroke, and Aymar was +sent away by the Prince in disgrace. It now +transpired that the theft of fish had taken place +seven years before, and the lad was no relation of +the keeper, but a country boy who had only been +in Chantilly eight or ten months. M. Goyonnot, +Recorder of the King’s Council, broke a window +in his house, and sent for the diviner, to whom he +related a story of his having been robbed of valuables +during the night. Aymar indicated the +broken window as the means whereby the thief had +entered the house, and pointed out the window by +which he had left it with the booty. As no such +robbery had been committed, Aymar was turned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>78]</a></span> +out of the house as an impostor. A few similar +cases brought him into such disrepute that he was +obliged to leave Paris, and return to Grenoble.</p> + +<p>Some years after, he was made use of by the +Maréchal Montrevel, in his cruel pursuit of the +Camisards.</p> + +<p>Was Aymar an impostor from first to last, or +did his powers fail him in Paris? and was it only +then that he had recourse to fraud?</p> + +<p>Much may be said in favor of either supposition. +His <i>exposé</i> at Paris tells heavily against him, but +need not be regarded as conclusive evidence of imposture +throughout his career. If he really did +possess the powers he claimed, it is not to be supposed +that these existed in full vigor under all conditions; +and Paris is a place most unsuitable for +testing them, built on artificial soil, and full of disturbing +influences of every description. It has been +remarked with others who used the rod, that their +powers languished under excitement, and that the +faculties had to be in repose, the attention to be +concentrated on the subject of inquiry, or the action—nervous, +magnetic, or electrical, or what you +will—was impeded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>79]</a></span> +Now, Paris, visited for the first time by a poor +peasant, its <i>salons</i> open to him, dazzling him with +their splendor, and the novelty of finding himself in +the midst of princes, dukes, marquises, and their +families, not only may have agitated the countryman +to such an extent as to deprive him of his +peculiar faculty, but may have led him into simulating +what he felt had departed from him, at the +moment when he was under the eyes of the grandees +of the Court. We have analogous cases in +Bleton and Angelique Cottin. The former was a +hydroscope, who fell into convulsions whenever he +passed over running water. This peculiarity was +noticed in him when a child of seven years old. +When brought to Paris, he failed signally to detect +the presence of water conveyed underground by +pipes and conduits, but he pretended to feel the +influence of water where there certainly was none. +Angelique Cottin was a poor girl, highly charged +with electricity. Any one touching her received +a violent shock; one medical gentleman, having +seated her on his knee, was knocked clean out of +his chair by the electric fluid, which thus exhibited +its sense of propriety. But the electric condition +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>80]</a></span> +of Angelique became feebler as she approached +Paris, and failed her altogether in the capital.</p> + +<p>I believe that the imagination is the principal +motive force in those who use the divining rod; +but whether it is so solely, I am unable to decide. +The powers of nature are so mysterious and inscrutable +that we must be cautious in limiting +them, under abnormal conditions, to the ordinary +laws of experience.</p> + +<div class="figcenter ipadbase" style="width: 273px;"> +<img src="images/cmma03.jpg" width="273" height="150" +alt="How to hold a divining rod" /> +</div> + +<p>The manner in which the rod was used by certain +persons renders self-deception possible. The +rod is generally of hazel, and is forked like a Y; +the forefingers are placed against the diverging +arms of the rod, and the elbows are brought back +against the side; thus the implement is held in +front of the operator, delicately balanced before the +pit of the stomach at a distance of about eight +inches. Now, if the pressure of the balls of the +digits be in the least relaxed, the stalk of the rod +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>81]</a></span> +will naturally fall. It has been assumed by some, +that a restoration of the pressure will bring the +stem up again, pointing towards the operator, and +a little further pressure will elevate it into a perpendicular +position. A relaxation of force will +again lower it, and thus the rotation observed in +the rod be maintained. I confess myself unable to +accomplish this. The lowering of the leg of the +rod is easy enough, but no efforts of mine to produce +a revolution on its axis have as yet succeeded. +The muscles which would contract the +fingers upon the arms of the stick, pass the shoulder; +and it is worthy of remark that one of the +medical men who witnessed the experiments made +on Bleton the hydroscope, expressly alludes to a +slight rising of the shoulders during the rotation of +the divining rod.</p> + +<p>But the manner of using the rod was by no +means identical in all cases. If, in all cases, it +had simply been balanced between the fingers, +some probability might be given to the suggestion +above made, that the rotation was always +effected by the involuntary action of the muscles.</p> + +<p>The usual manner of holding the rod, however, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>82]</a></span> +precluded such a possibility. The most ordinary use +consisted in taking a forked stick in such a manner +that the palms were turned upwards, and the fingers +closed upon the branching arms of the rod. Some +required the normal position of the rod to be horizontal, +others elevated the point, others again depressed +it.</p> + +<p>If the implement were straight, it was held in a +similar manner, but the hands were brought somewhat +together, so as to produce a slight arc in the +rod. Some who practised rhabdomancy sustained this +species of rod between their thumbs and forefingers; +or else the thumb and forefingers were closed, and the +rod rested on their points; or again it reposed on the +flat of the hand, or on the back, the hand being held +vertically and the rod held in equilibrium.</p> + +<p>A third species of divining rod consisted in a +straight staff cut in two: one extremity of the one +half was hollowed out, the other half was sharpened +at the end, and this end was inserted in the hollow, +and the pointed stick rotated in the cavity.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 338px;"> +<img src="images/cmma04.jpg" width="338" height="600" +alt="Various ways to hold divining rods" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">POSITIONS OF THE HANDS.<br /> +From “Lettres qui découvrent l’Illusion des Philosophes sur la Baguette.” +Paris, 1693.</p> + +<p>The way in which Bleton used his rod is thus +minutely described: “He does not grasp it, nor +warm it in his hands, and he does not regard with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"><!-- original location of illustration Positions of the hands --></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"><!-- blank page --></a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>85]</a></span> +preference a hazel branch lately cut and full of sap. +He places horizontally between his forefingers a rod +of any kind given to him, or picked up in the road, +of any sort of wood except elder, fresh or dry, not +always forked, but sometimes merely bent. If it is +straight, it rises slightly at the extremities by little +jerks, but does not turn. If bent, it revolves on its +axis with more or less rapidity, in more or less time, +according to the quantity and current of the water. +I counted from thirty to thirty-five revolutions in a +minute, and afterwards as many as eighty. A +curious phenomenon is, that Bleton is able to make +the rod turn between another person’s fingers, even +without seeing it or touching it, by approaching his +body towards it when his feet stand over a subterranean +watercourse. It is true, however, that the +motion is much less strong and less durable in other +fingers than his own. If Bleton stood on his head, +and placed the rod between his feet, though he felt +strongly the peculiar sensations produced in him by +flowing water, yet the rod remained stationary. If +he were insulated on glass, silk, or wax, the sensations +were less vivid, and the rotation of the stick +ceased.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>86]</a></span> +But this experiment failed in Paris, under circumstances +which either proved that Bleton’s imagination +produced the movement, or that his integrity +was questionable. It is quite possible that in many +instances the action of the muscles is purely involuntary, +and is attributable to the imagination, so that +the operator deceives himself as well as others.</p> + +<p>This is probably the explanation of the story of +Mdlle. Olivet, a young lady of tender conscience, who +was a skilful performer with the divining rod, but +shrank from putting her powers in operation, lest she +should be indulging in unlawful acts. She consulted +the Père Lebrun, author of a work already referred to +in this paper, and he advised her to ask God to withdraw +the power from her, if the exercise of it was +harmful to her spiritual condition. She entered into +retreat for two days, and prayed with fervor. Then +she made her communion, asking God what had been +recommended to her at the moment when she received +the Host. In the afternoon of the same +day she made experiment with her rod, and found +that it would no longer operate. The girl had +strong faith in it before—a faith coupled with fear; +and as long as that faith was strong in her, the rod +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>87]</a></span> +moved; now she believed that the faculty was taken +from her; and the power ceased with the loss of her +faith.</p> + +<p>If the divining rod is put in motion by any other +force except the involuntary action of the muscles, we +must confine its powers to the property of indicating +the presence of flowing water. There are numerous +instances of hydroscopes thus detecting the existence +of a spring, or of a subterranean watercourse; the +most remarkably endowed individuals of this description +are Jean-Jacques Parangue, born near Marseilles, +in 1760, who experienced a horror when near water +which no one else perceived. He was endowed with +the faculty of seeing water through the ground, says +l’Abbé Sauri, who gives his history. Jenny Leslie, a +Scotch girl, about the same date claimed similar +powers. In 1790, Pennet, a native of Dauphiné, +attracted attention in Italy, but when carefully tested +by scientific men in Padua, his attempts to discover +buried metals failed; at Florence he was detected +in an endeavor to find out by night what had been +secreted to test his powers on the morrow. Vincent +Amoretti was an Italian, who underwent peculiar +sensations when brought in proximity to water, coal, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>88]</a></span> +and salt; he was skilful in the use of the rod, but +made no public exhibition of his powers.</p> + +<p>The rod is still employed, I have heard it asserted, +by Cornish miners; but I have never been able to +ascertain that such is really the case. The mining +captains whom I have questioned invariably repudiated +all knowledge of its use.</p> + +<p>In Wiltshire, however, it is still employed for the +purpose of detecting water; and the following extract +from a letter I have just received will show that +it is still in vogue on the Continent:—</p> + +<p>“I believe the use of the divining rod for discovering +springs of water has by no means been +confined to mediæval times; for I was personally +acquainted with a lady, now deceased, who has successfully +practised with it in this way. She was a +very clever and accomplished woman; Scotch by birth +and education; by no means credulous; possibly a +a little imaginative, for she wrote not unsuccessfully; +and of a remarkably open and straightforward disposition. +Captain C——, her husband, had a large +estate in Holstein, near Lubeck, supporting a considerable +population; and whether for the wants of the +people or for the improvement of the land, it now +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>89]</a></span> +and then happened that an additional well was +needed.</p> + +<p>“On one of these occasions a man was sent for +who made a regular profession of finding water by +the divining rod; there happened to be a large party +staying at the house, and the whole company turned +out to see the fun. The rod gave indications in the +usual way, and water was ultimately found at the +spot. Mrs. C——, utterly sceptical, took the rod +into her own hands to make experiment, believing +that she would prove the man an impostor; and she +said afterwards she was never more frightened in her +life than when it began to move, on her walking over +the spring. Several other gentlemen and ladies tried +it, but it was quite inactive in their hands. ‘Well,’ +said the host to his wife, ‘we shall have no occasion +to send for the man again, as you are such an adept.’</p> + +<p>“Some months after this, water was wanted in +another part of the estate, and it occurred to Mrs. +C—— that she would use the rod again. After some +trials, it again gave decided indications, and a well +was begun and carried down a very considerable +depth. At last she began to shrink from incurring +more expense, but the laborers had implicit faith; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>90]</a></span> +begged to be allowed to persevere. Very soon the +water burst up with such force that the men escaped +with difficulty; and this proved afterwards the most +unfailing spring for miles round.</p> + +<p>“You will take the above for what it is worth; the +facts I have given are undoubtedly true, whatever +conclusions may be drawn from them. I do not propose +that you should print my narrative, but I think +in these cases personal testimony, even indirect, is +more useful in forming one’s opinion than a hundred +old volumes. I did not hear it from Mrs. C——’s +own lips, but I was sufficiently acquainted with her to +form a very tolerable estimate of her character; and +my wife, who has known her intimately from her +own childhood, was in her younger days often staying +with her for months together.”</p> + +<p>I remember having been much perplexed by reading +a series of experiments made with a pendulous +ring over metals, by a Mr. Mayo: he ascertained that +it oscillated in various directions under peculiar circumstances, +when suspended by a thread over the ball +of the thumb. I instituted a series of experiments, +and was surprised to find the ring vibrate in an unaccountable +manner in opposite directions over different +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>91]</a></span> +metals. On consideration, I closed my eyes whilst +the ring was oscillating over gold, and on opening +them I found that it had become stationary. I got a +friend to change the metals whilst I was blindfolded—the +ring no longer vibrated. I was thus enabled +to judge of the involuntary action of muscles, quite +sufficient to have deceived an eminent medical man +like Mr. Mayo, and to have perplexed me till I succeeded +in solving the mystery.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> +Hos. iv. 12.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> +A similar series of experiments was undertaken, as I +learned afterwards, by M. Chevreuil in Paris, with similar +results.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>92]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap04" id="chap04"></a>The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">O</span>NE of the most picturesque myths of ancient +days is that which forms the subject of this +article. It is thus told by Jacques de Voragine, in +his “Legenda Aurea:”—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“The seven sleepers were natives of Ephesus. +The Emperor Decius, who persecuted the Christians, +having come to Ephesus, ordered the erection of +temples in the city, that all might come and sacrifice +before him; and he commanded that the Christians +should be sought out and given their choice, either to +worship the idols, or to die. So great was the consternation +in the city, that the friend denounced his +friend, the father his son, and the son his father.</p> + +<p>“Now there were in Ephesus seven Christians, +Maximian, Malchus, Marcian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, +and Constantine by name. These refused to +sacrifice to the idols, and remained in their houses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>93]</a></span> +praying and fasting. They were accused before +Decius, and they confessed themselves to be Christians. +However, the emperor gave them a little +time to consider what line they would adopt. They +took advantage of this reprieve to dispense their +goods among the poor, and then they retired, all +seven, to Mount Celion, where they determined to +conceal themselves.</p> + +<p>“One of their number, Malchus, in the disguise +of a physician, went to the town to obtain victuals. +Decius, who had been absent from Ephesus for a +little while, returned, and gave orders for the seven +to be sought. Malchus, having escaped from the +town, fled, full of fear, to his comrades, and told +them of the emperor’s fury. They were much +alarmed; and Malchus handed them the loaves he +had bought, bidding them eat, that, fortified by the +food, they might have courage in the time of trial. +They ate, and then, as they sat weeping and speaking +to one another, by the will of God they fell +asleep.</p> + +<p>“The pagans sought everywhere, but could not +find them, and Decius was greatly irritated at their +escape. He had their parents brought before him, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>94]</a></span> +and threatened them with death if they did not +reveal the place of concealment; but they could +only answer that the seven young men had distributed +their goods to the poor, and that they were +quite ignorant as to their whereabouts.</p> + +<p>“Decius, thinking it possible that they might be +hiding in a cavern, blocked up the mouth with +stones, that they might perish of hunger.</p> + +<p>“Three hundred and sixty years passed, and in +the thirtieth year of the reign of Theodosius, there +broke forth a heresy denying the resurrection of +the dead....</p> + +<p>“Now, it happened that an Ephesian was building +a stable on the side of Mount Celion, and finding +a pile of stones handy, he took them for his edifice, +and thus opened the mouth of the cave. Then the +seven sleepers awoke, and it was to them as if they +had slept but a single night. They began to ask +Malchus what decision Decius had given concerning +them.</p> + +<p>“‘He is going to hunt us down, so as to force +us to sacrifice to the idols,’ was his reply. ‘God +knows,’ replied Maximian, ‘we shall never do that.’ +Then exhorting his companions, he urged Malchus +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>95]</a></span> +to go back to the town to buy some more bread, +and at the same time to obtain fresh information. +Malchus took five coins and left the cavern. On +seeing the stones he was filled with astonishment; +however, he went on towards the city; but what +was his bewilderment, on approaching the gate, to +see over it a cross! He went to another gate, and +there he beheld the same sacred sign; and so he +observed it over each gate of the city. He believed +that he was suffering from the effects of a dream. +Then he entered Ephesus, rubbing his eyes, and he +walked to a baker’s shop. He heard people using +our Lord’s name, and he was the more perplexed. +‘Yesterday, no one dared pronounce the name of +Jesus, and now it is on every one’s lips. Wonderful! +I can hardly believe myself to be in Ephesus.’ +He asked a passer-by the name of the city, and on +being told it was Ephesus, he was thunderstruck. +Now he entered a baker’s shop, and laid down his +money. The baker, examining the coin, inquired +whether he had found a treasure, and began to +whisper to some others in the shop. The youth, +thinking that he was discovered, and that they were +about to conduct him to the emperor, implored them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>96]</a></span> +to let him alone, offering to leave loaves and money +if he might only be suffered to escape. But the +shop-men, seizing him, said, ‘Whoever you are, +you have found a treasure; show us where it is, +that we may share it with you, and then we will +hide you.’ Malchus was too frightened to answer. +So they put a rope round his neck, and drew him +through the streets into the market-place. The news +soon spread that the young man had discovered a +great treasure, and there was presently a vast crowd +about him. He stoutly protested his innocence. No +one recognized him, and his eyes, ranging over the +faces which surrounded him, could not see one which +he had known, or which was in the slightest degree +familiar to him.</p> + +<p>“St. Martin, the bishop, and Antipater, the governor, +having heard of the excitement, ordered the +young man to be brought before them, along with +the bakers.</p> + +<p>“The bishop and the governor asked him where +he had found the treasure, and he replied that he +had found none, but that the few coins were from +his own purse. He was next asked whence he +came. He replied that he was a native of Ephesus, +‘if this be Ephesus.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>97]</a></span> +“‘Send for your relations—your parents, if they +live here,’ ordered the governor.</p> + +<p>“‘They live here, certainly,’ replied the youth; +and he mentioned their names. No such names +were known in the town. Then the governor exclaimed, +‘How dare you say that this money +belonged to your parents when it dates back three +hundred and seventy-seven years,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and is as old as +the beginning of the reign of Decius, and it is +utterly unlike our modern coinage? Do you think +to impose on the old men and sages of Ephesus? +Believe me, I shall make you suffer the severities +of the law till you show where you made the discovery.’</p> + +<p>“‘I implore you,’ cried Malchus, ‘in the name +of God, answer me a few questions, and then I +will answer yours. Where is the Emperor Decius +gone to?’</p> + +<p>“The bishop answered, ‘My son, there is no +emperor of that name; he who was thus called +died long ago.’</p> + +<p>“Malchus replied, ‘All I hear perplexes me more +and more. Follow me, and I will show you my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>98]</a></span> +comrades, who fled with me into a cave of Mount +Celion, only yesterday, to escape the cruelty of +Decius. I will lead you to them.’</p> + +<p>“The bishop turned to the governor. ‘The hand +of God is here,’ he said. Then they followed, and +a great crowd after them. And Malchus entered +first into the cavern to his companions, and the +bishop after him.... And there they saw the +martyrs seated in the cave, with their faces fresh +and blooming as roses; so all fell down and glorified +God. The bishop and the governor sent notice +to Theodosius, and he hurried to Ephesus. All +the inhabitants met him and conducted him to the +cavern. As soon as the saints beheld the emperor, +their faces shone like the sun, and the emperor +gave thanks unto God, and embraced them, and +said, ‘I see you, as though I saw the Savior restoring +Lazarus.’ Maximian replied, ‘Believe us! for +the faith’s sake, God has resuscitated us before the +great resurrection day, in order that you may believe +firmly in the resurrection of the dead. For +as the child is in its mother’s womb living and +not suffering, so have we lived without suffering, +fast asleep.’ And having thus spoken, they bowed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>99]</a></span> +their heads, and their souls returned to their Maker. +The emperor, rising, bent over them and embraced +them weeping. He gave them orders for golden +reliquaries to be made, but that night they appeared +to him in a dream, and said that hitherto +they had slept in the earth, and that in the earth +they desired to sleep on till God should raise them +again.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Such is the beautiful story. It seems to have +travelled to us from the East. Jacobus Sarugiensis, +a Mesopotamian bishop, in the fifth or sixth century, +is said to have been the first to commit it to +writing. Gregory of Tours (De Glor. Mart. i. 9) +was perhaps the first to introduce it to Europe. +Dionysius of Antioch (ninth century) told the story +in Syrian, and Photius of Constantinople reproduced +it, with the remark that Mahomet had +adopted it into the Koran. Metaphrastus alludes +to it as well; in the tenth century Eutychius inserted +it in his annals of Arabia; it is found in +the Coptic and the Maronite books, and several +early historians, as Paulus Diaconus, Nicephorus, +&c., have inserted it in their works.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>100]</a></span> +A poem on the Seven Sleepers was composed +by a trouvère named Chardri, and is mentioned by +M. Fr. Michel in his “Rapports Ministre de +l’Instruction Public;” a German poem on the same +subject, of the thirteenth century, in 935 verses, has +been published by M. Karajan; and the Spanish +poet, Augustin Morreto, composed a drama on it, +entitled “Los Siete Durmientes,” which is inserted +in the 19th volume of the rare work, “Comedias +Nuevas Escogidas de los Mejores Ingenios.”</p> + +<p>Mahomet has somewhat improved on the story. +He has made the Sleepers prophesy his coming, +and he has given them a dog named Kratim, or +Kratimir, which sleeps with them, and which is +endowed with the gift of prophecy.</p> + +<p>As a special favor this dog is to be one of the +ten animals to be admitted into his paradise, the +others being Jonah’s whale, Solomon’s ant, Ishmael’s +ram, Abraham’s calf, the Queen of Sheba’s +ass, the prophet Salech’s camel, Moses’ ox, Belkis’ +cuckoo, and Mahomet’s ass.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps too much for the Seven Sleepers +to ask, that their bodies should be left to rest in +earth. In ages when saintly relics were valued +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>101]</a></span> +above gold and precious stones, their request was +sure to be shelved; and so we find that their +remains were conveyed to Marseilles in a large +stone sarcophagus, which is still exhibited in St. +Victor’s Church. In the Musæum Victorium at +Rome is a curious and ancient representation of +them in a cement of sulphur and plaster. Their +names are engraved beside them, together with +certain attributes. Near Constantine and John are +two clubs, near Maximian a knotty club, near +Malchus and Martinian two axes, near Serapion +a burning torch, and near Danesius or Dionysius +a great nail, such as those spoken of by Horace +(Lib. 1, Od. 3) and St. Paulinus (Nat. 9, or Carm. +24) as having been used for torture.</p> + +<p>In this group of figures, the seven are represented +as young, without beards, and indeed in ancient +martyrologies they are frequently called boys.</p> + +<p>It has been inferred from this curious plaster +representation, that the seven may have suffered +under Decius, A. D. 250, and have been buried in +the afore-mentioned cave; whilst the discovery and +translation of their relics under Theodosius, in 479, +may have given rise to the fable. And this I think +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>102]</a></span> +probable enough. The story of long sleepers and +the number seven connected with it is ancient +enough, and dates from heathen mythology.</p> + +<p>Like many another ancient myth, it was laid +hold of by Christian hands and baptized.</p> + +<p>Pliny relates the story of Epimenides the epic +poet, who, when tending his sheep one hot day, +wearied and oppressed with slumber, retreated into +a cave, where he fell asleep. After fifty-seven years +he awoke, and found every thing changed. His +brother, whom he had left a stripling, was now a +hoary man.</p> + +<p>Epimenides was reckoned one of the seven sages +by those who exclude Periander. He flourished in +the time of Solon. After his death, at the age of +two hundred and eighty-nine, he was revered as a +god, and honored especially by the Athenians.</p> + +<p>This story is a version of the older legend of +the perpetual sleep of the shepherd Endymion, who +was thus preserved in unfading youth and beauty +by Jupiter.</p> + +<p>According to an Arabic legend, St. George thrice +rose from his grave, and was thrice slain.</p> + +<p>In Scandinavian mythology we have Siegfrid or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>103]</a></span> +Sigurd thus resting, and awaiting his call to come +forth and fight. Charlemagne sleeps in the Odenberg +in Hess, or in the Untersberg near Salzburg, +seated on his throne, with his crown on his head +and his sword at his side, waiting till the times +of Antichrist are fulfilled, when he will wake and +burst forth to avenge the blood of the saints. Ogier +the Dane, or Olger Dansk, will in like manner +shake off his slumber and come forth from the +dream-land of Avallon to avenge the right—O +that he had shown himself in the Schleswig-Holstein +war!</p> + +<p>Well do I remember, as a child, contemplating +with wondering awe the great Kyffhäuserberg in +Thuringia, for therein, I was told, slept Frederic +Barbarossa and his six knights. A shepherd once +penetrated into the heart of the mountain by a +cave, and discovered therein a hall where sat the +emperor at a stone table, and his red beard had +grown through the slab. At the tread of the +shepherd Frederic awoke from his slumber, and +asked, “Do the ravens still fly over the mountains?”</p> + +<p>“Sire, they do.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>104]</a></span> +“Then we must sleep another hundred years.”</p> + +<p>But when his beard has wound itself thrice +round the table, then will the emperor awake +with his knights, and rush forth to release Germany +from its bondage, and exalt it to the first +place among the kingdoms of Europe.</p> + +<p>In Switzerland slumber three Tells at Rutli, near +the Vierwaldstätter-see, waiting for the hour of +their country’s direst need. A shepherd crept into +the cave where they rest. The third Tell rose +and asked the time. “Noon,” replied the shepherd +lad. “The time is not yet come,” said Tell, and +lay down again.</p> + +<p>In Scotland, beneath the Eilden hills, sleeps +Thomas of Erceldoune; the murdered French who +fell in the Sicilian Vespers at Palermo are also +slumbering till the time is come when they may +wake to avenge themselves. When Constantinople +fell into the hands of the Turks, a priest was +celebrating the sacred mysteries at the great silver +altar of St. Sophia. The celebrant cried to God to +protect the sacred host from profanation. Then the +wall opened, and he entered, bearing the Blessed +Sacrament. It closed on him, and there he is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>105]</a></span> +sleeping with his head bowed before the Body of +Our Lord, waiting till the Turk is cast out of +Constantinople, and St. Sophia is released from +its profanation. God speed the time!</p> + +<p>In Bohemia sleep three miners deep in the heart +of the Kuttenberg. In North America Rip Van +Winkle passed twenty years slumbering in the +Katskill mountains. In Portugal it is believed +that Sebastian, the chivalrous young monarch who +did his best to ruin his country by his rash invasion +of Morocco, is sleeping somewhere; but he +will wake again to be his country’s deliverer in the +hour of need. Olaf Tryggvason is waiting a similar +occasion in Norway. Even Napoleon Bonaparte +is believed among some of the French peasantry +to be sleeping on in a like manner.</p> + +<p>St. Hippolytus relates that St. John the Divine +is slumbering at Ephesus, and Sir John Mandeville +relates the circumstances as follows: “From +Pathmos men gone unto Ephesim a fair citee and +nyghe to the see. And there dyede Seynte Johne, +and was buryed behynde the highe Awtiere, in +a toumbe. And there is a faire chirche. For +Christene mene weren wont to holden that place +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>106]</a></span> +alweyes. And in the tombe of Seynt John is +noughte but manna, that is clept Aungeles mete. +For his body was translated into Paradys. And +Turkes holden now alle that place and the citee +and the Chirche. And all Asie the lesse is yclept +Turkye. And ye shalle undrestond, that Seynt +Johne bid make his grave there in his Lyf, and +leyd himself there-inne all quyk. And therefore +somme men seyn, that he dyed noughte, but that +he resteth there till the Day of Doom. And forsoothe +there is a gret marveule: For men may see +there the erthe of the tombe apertly many tymes +steren and moven, as there weren quykke thinges +undre.” The connection of this legend of St. John +with Ephesus may have had something to do with +turning the seven martyrs of that city into seven +sleepers.</p> + +<p>The annals of Iceland relate that, in 1403, a Finn +of the name of Fethmingr, living in Halogaland, in +the North of Norway, happening to enter a cave, +fell asleep, and woke not for three whole years, +lying with his bow and arrows at his side, untouched +by bird or beast.</p> + +<p>There certainly are authentic accounts of persons +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>107]</a></span> +having slept for an extraordinary length of time, +but I shall not mention any, as I believe the legend +we are considering, not to have been an exaggeration +of facts, but a Christianized myth of paganism. +The fact of the number seven being so prominent +in many of the tales, seems to lead to this conclusion. +Barbarossa changes his position every +seven years. Charlemagne starts in his chair at +similar intervals. Olger Dansk stamps his iron +mace on the floor once every seven years. Olaf +Redbeard in Sweden uncloses his eyes at precisely +the same distances of time.</p> + +<p>I believe that the mythological core of this picturesque +legend is the repose of the earth through +the seven winter months. In the North, Frederic +and Charlemagne certainly replace Odin.</p> + +<p>The German and Scandinavian still heathen legends +represent the heroes as about to issue forth +for the defence of Fatherland in the hour of direst +need. The converted and Christianized tale brings +the martyr youths forth in the hour when a heresy +is afflicting the Church, that they may destroy the +heresy by their witness to the truth of the Resurrection.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>108]</a></span> +If there is something majestic in the heathen +myth, there are singular grace and beauty in the +Christian tale, teaching, as it does, such a glorious +doctrine; but it is surpassed in delicacy by the +modern form which the same myth has assumed—a +form which is a real transformation, leaving the +doctrine taught the same. It has been made into +a romance by Hoffman, and is versified by Trinius. +I may perhaps be allowed to translate with some +freedom the poem of the latter:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In an ancient shaft of Falun<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Year by year a body lay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">God-preserved, as though a treasure,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Kept unto the waking day.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Not the turmoil, nor the passions,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Of the busy world o’erhead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sounds of war, or peace rejoicings,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Could disturb the placid dead.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Once a youthful miner, whistling,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Hewed the chamber, now his tomb:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Crash! the rocky fragments tumbled,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Closed him in abysmal gloom.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sixty years passed by, ere miners<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Toiling, hundred fathoms deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Broke upon the shaft where rested<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That poor miner in his sleep.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>109]</a></span> +<span class="i0">As the gold-grains lie untarnished<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In the dingy soil and sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till they gleam and flicker, stainless,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In the digger’s sifting hand;—<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">As the gem in virgin brilliance<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Rests, till ushered into day;—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So uninjured, uncorrupted,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Fresh and fair the body lay.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And the miners bore it upward,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Laid it in the yellow sun;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Up, from out the neighboring houses,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Fast the curious peasants run.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Who is he?” with eyes they question;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">“Who is he?” they ask aloud;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hush! a wizened hag comes hobbling,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Panting, through the wondering crowd.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O! the cry,—half joy, half sorrow,—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">As she flings her at his side:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">“John! the sweetheart of my girlhood,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Here am I, am I, thy bride.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Time on thee has left no traces,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Death from wear has shielded thee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I am agéd, worn, and wasted,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">O! what life has done to me!”<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then his smooth, unfurrowed forehead<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Kissed that ancient withered crone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the Death which had divided<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Now united them in one.<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> +This calculation is sadly inaccurate.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>110]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap05" id="chap05"></a>William Tell.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> SUPPOSE that most people regard William +Tell, the hero of Switzerland, as an historical +character, and visit the scenes made memorable by +his exploits, with corresponding interest, when they +undertake the regular Swiss round.</p> + +<p>It is one of the painful duties of the antiquarian +to dispel many a popular belief, and to probe the +groundlessness of many an historical statement. The +antiquarian is sometimes disposed to ask with Pilate, +“What is truth?” when he finds historical +facts crumbling beneath his touch into mythological +fables; and he soon learns to doubt and question +the most emphatic declarations of, and claims to, +reliability.</p> + +<p>Sir Walter Raleigh, in his prison, was composing +the second volume of his History of the World. +Leaning on the sill of his window, he meditated +on the duties of the historian to mankind, when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>111]</a></span> +suddenly his attention was attracted by a disturbance +in the court-yard before his cell. He saw +one man strike another whom he supposed by his +dress to be an officer; the latter at once drew his +sword, and ran the former through the body. The +wounded man felled his adversary with a stick, +and then sank upon the pavement. At this juncture +the guard came up, and carried off the officer +insensible, and then the corpse of the man who +had been run through.</p> + +<p>Next day Raleigh was visited by an intimate +friend, to whom he related the circumstances of +the quarrel and its issue. To his astonishment, +his friend unhesitatingly declared that the prisoner +had mistaken the whole series of incidents which +had passed before his eyes.</p> + +<p>The supposed officer was not an officer at all, +but the servant of a foreign ambassador; it was he +who had dealt the first blow; he had not drawn +his sword, but the other had snatched it from his +side, and had run <em>him</em> through the body before +any one could interfere; whereupon a stranger +from among the crowd knocked the murderer +down with his stick, and some of the foreigners +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>112]</a></span> +belonging to the ambassador’s retinue carried off +the corpse. The friend of Raleigh added that +government had ordered the arrest and immediate +trial of the murderer, as the man assassinated was +one of the principal servants of the Spanish ambassador.</p> + +<p>“Excuse me,” said Raleigh, “but I cannot have +been deceived as you suppose, for I was eye-witness +to the events which took place under my +own window, and the man fell there on that spot +where you see a paving-stone standing up above +the rest.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Raleigh,” replied his friend, “I was +sitting on that stone when the fray took place, and +I received this slight scratch on my cheek in +snatching the sword from the murderer; and upon +my word of honor, you have been deceived upon +every particular.”</p> + +<p>Sir Walter, when alone, took up the second +volume of his History, which was in MS., and +contemplating it, thought—“If I cannot believe +my own eyes, how can I be assured of the truth +of a tithe of the events which happened ages +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>113]</a></span> +before I was born?” and he flung the manuscript +into the fire.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>Now, I think that I can show that the story of +William Tell is as fabulous as—what shall I say? +any other historical event.</p> + +<p>It is almost too well known to need repetition.</p> + +<p>In the year 1307, Gessler, Vogt of the Emperor +Albert of Hapsburg, set a hat on a pole, as symbol +of imperial power, and ordered every one who +passed by to do obeisance towards it. A mountaineer +of the name of Tell boldly traversed the +space before it without saluting the abhorred symbol. +By Gessler’s command he was at once seized +and brought before him. As Tell was known to +be an expert archer, he was ordered, by way of +punishment, to shoot an apple off the head of his +own son. Finding remonstrance vain, he submitted. +The apple was placed on the child’s head, +Tell bent his bow, the arrow sped, and apple and +arrow fell together to the ground. But the Vogt noticed +that Tell, before shooting, had stuck another +arrow into his belt, and he inquired the reason.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>114]</a></span> +“It was for you,” replied the sturdy archer. +“Had I shot my child, know that it would not +have missed your heart.”</p> + +<p>This event, observe, took place in the beginning +of the fourteenth century. But Saxo Grammaticus, +a Danish writer of the twelfth century, tells the +story of a hero of his own country, who lived in +the tenth century. He relates the incident in horrible +style as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Nor ought what follows to be enveloped in +silence. Toki, who had for some time been in the +king’s service, had, by his deeds, surpassing those +of his comrades, made enemies of his virtues. One +day, when he had drunk too much, he boasted to +those who sat at table with him, that his skill in +archery was such, that with the first shot of an +arrow he could hit the smallest apple set on the +top of a stick at a considerable distance. His detractors, +hearing this, lost no time in conveying +what he had said to the king (Harald Bluetooth). +But the wickedness of this monarch soon transformed +the confidence of the father to the jeopardy +of the son, for he ordered the dearest pledge of his +life to stand in place of the stick, from whom, if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>115]</a></span> +the utterer of the boast did not at his first shot +strike down the apple, he should with his head +pay the penalty of having made an idle boast. The +command of the king urged the soldier to do this, +which was so much more than he had undertaken, +the detracting artifices of the others having +taken advantage of words spoken when he was +hardly sober. As soon as the boy was led forth, +Toki carefully admonished him to receive the +whir of the arrow as calmly as possible, with attentive +ears, and without moving his head, lest +by a slight motion of the body he should frustrate +the experience of his well-tried skill. He also +made him stand with his back towards him, lest +he should be frightened at the sight of the arrow. +Then he drew three arrows from his quiver, and +the very first he shot struck the proposed mark. +Toki being asked by the king why he had taken +so many more arrows out of his quiver, when he +was to make but one trial with his bow, ‘That I +might avenge on thee,’ he replied, ‘the error of the +first, by the points of the others, lest my innocence +might happen to be afflicted, and thy injustice go +unpunished.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>116]</a></span> +The same incident is told of Egil, brother of the +mythical Velundr, in the Saga of Thidrik.</p> + +<p>In Norwegian history also it appears with variations +again and again. It is told of King Olaf the +Saint (d. 1030), that, desiring the conversion of a +brave heathen named Eindridi, he competed with +him in various athletic sports; he swam with +him, wrestled, and then shot with him. The king +dared Eindridi to strike a writing-tablet from off +his son’s head with an arrow. Eindridi prepared +to attempt the difficult shot. The king bade two +men bind the eyes of the child and hold the +napkin, so that he might not move when he heard +the whistle of the arrow. The king aimed first, +and the arrow grazed the lad’s head. Eindridi +then prepared to shoot; but the mother of the boy +interfered, and persuaded the king to abandon this +dangerous test of skill. In this version, also, Eindridi +is prepared to revenge himself on the king, +should the child be injured.</p> + +<p>But a closer approximation still to the Tell myth +is found in the life of Hemingr, another Norse +archer, who was challenged by King Harald, +Sigurd’s son (d. 1066). The story is thus told:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>117]</a></span> +“The island was densely overgrown with wood, +and the people went into the forest. The king +took a spear and set it with its point in the soil, +then he laid an arrow on the string and shot up +into the air. The arrow turned in the air and +came down upon the spear-shaft and stood up in +it. Hemingr took another arrow and shot up; his +was lost to sight for some while, but it came back +and pierced the nick of the king’s arrow.... +Then the king took a knife and stuck it into an +oak; he next drew his bow and planted an arrow +in the haft of the knife. Thereupon Hemingr took +his arrows. The king stood by him and said, +‘They are all inlaid with gold; you are a capital +workman.’ Hemingr answered, ‘They are not my +manufacture, but are presents.’ He shot, and his +arrow cleft the haft, and the point entered the +socket of the blade.</p> + +<p>“‘We must have a keener contest,’ said the +king, taking an arrow and flushing with anger; +then he laid the arrow on the string and drew his +bow to the farthest, so that the horns were nearly +brought to meet. Away flashed the arrow, and +pierced a tender twig. All said that this was a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>118]</a></span> +most astonishing feat of dexterity. But Hemingr +shot from a greater distance, and split a hazel nut. +All were astonished to see this. Then said the king, +‘Take a nut and set it on the head of your brother +Bjorn, and aim at it from precisely the same distance. +If you miss the mark, then your life goes.’</p> + +<p>“Hemingr answered, ‘Sire, my life is at your +disposal, but I will not adventure that shot.’ Then +out spake Bjorn—‘Shoot, brother, rather than die +yourself.’ Hemingr said, ‘Have you the pluck to +stand quite still without shrinking?’ ‘I will do my +best,’ said Bjorn. ‘Then let the king stand by,’ said +Hemingr, ‘and let him see whether I touch the nut.’</p> + +<p>“The king agreed, and bade Oddr Ufeigs’ son +stand by Bjorn, and see that the shot was fair. +Hemingr then went to the spot fixed for him by +the king, and signed himself with the cross, saying, +‘God be my witness that I had rather die myself +than injure my brother Bjorn; let all the blame rest +on King Harald.’</p> + +<p>“Then Hemingr flung his spear. The spear went +straight to the mark, and passed between the nut and +the crown of the lad, who was not in the least injured. +It flew farther, and stopped not till it fell.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>119]</a></span> +“Then the king came up and asked Oddr what he +thought about the shot.”</p> + +<p>Years after, this risk was revenged upon the hard-hearted +monarch. In the battle of Stamfordbridge +an arrow from a skilled archer penetrated the windpipe +of the king, and it is supposed to have sped, +observes the Saga writer, from the bow of Hemingr, +then in the service of the English monarch.</p> + +<p>The story is related somewhat differently in the +Faroe Isles, and is told of Geyti, Aslak’s son. The +same Harald asks his men if they know who is his +match in strength. “Yes,” they reply; “there is a +peasant’s son in the uplands, Geyti, son of Aslak, who +is the strongest of men.” Forth goes the king, and at +last rides up to the house of Aslak. “And where is +your youngest son?”</p> + +<p>“Alas! alas! he lies under the green sod of Kolrin +kirkgarth.” “Come, then, and show me his corpse, +old man, that I may judge whether he was as stout +of limb as men say.”</p> + +<p>The father puts the king off with the excuse that +among so many dead it would be hard to find his +boy. So the king rides away over the heath. He +meets a stately man returning from the chase, with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>120]</a></span> +a bow over his shoulder. “And who art thou, +friend?” “Geyti, Aslak’s son.” The dead man, +in short, alive and well. The king tells him he has +heard of his prowess, and is come to match his +strength with him. So Geyti and the king try a +swimming-match.</p> + +<p>The king swims well; but Geyti swims better, and +in the end gives the monarch such a ducking, that he +is borne to his house devoid of sense and motion. +Harald swallows his anger, as he had swallowed the +water, and bids Geyti shoot a hazel nut from off his +brother’s head. Aslak’s son consents, and invites the +king into the forest to witness his dexterity.</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“On the string the shaft he laid,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And God hath heard his prayer;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He shot the little nut away,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Nor hurt the lad a hair.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Next day the king sends for the skilful bowman:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“List thee, Geyti, Aslak’s son,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And truly tell to me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherefore hadst thou arrows twain<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In the wood yestreen with thee?”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The bowman replies,—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>121]</a></span> +<span class="i0">“Therefore had I arrows twain<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Yestreen in the wood with me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Had I but hurt my brother dear,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The other had piercéd thee.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>A very similar tale is told also in the celebrated +Malleus Maleficarum of a man named Puncher, with +this difference, that a coin is placed on the lad’s head +instead of an apple or a nut. The person who had +dared Puncher to the test of skill, inquires the use +of the second arrow in his belt, and receives the usual +answer, that if the first arrow had missed the coin, +the second would have transfixed a certain heart +which was destitute of natural feeling.</p> + +<p>We have, moreover, our English version of the +same story in the venerable ballad of William of +Cloudsley.</p> + +<p>The Finn ethnologist Castrén obtained the following +tale in the Finnish village of Uhtuwa:—</p> + +<p>A fight took place between some freebooters and +the inhabitants of the village of Alajäwi. The robbers +plundered every house, and carried off amongst +their captives an old man. As they proceeded with +their spoils along the strand of the lake, a lad of +twelve years old appeared from among the reeds on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>122]</a></span> +the opposite bank, armed with a bow, and amply +provided with arrows; he threatened to shoot down +the captors unless the old man, his father, were restored +to him. The robbers mockingly replied that +the aged man would be given to him if he could shoot +an apple off his head. The boy accepted the challenge, +and on successfully accomplishing it, the surrender +of the venerable captive was made.</p> + +<p>Farid-Uddin Âttar was a Persian dealer in perfumes, +born in the year 1119. He one day was so +impressed with the sight of a dervish, that he sold his +possessions, and followed righteousness. He composed +the poem Mantic Uttaïr, or the language of +birds. Observe, the Persian Âttar lived at the same +time as the Danish Saxo, and long before the birth +of Tell. Curiously enough, we find a trace of the +Tell myth in the pages of his poem. According to +him, however, the king shoots the apple from the +head of a beloved page, and the lad dies from sheer +fright, though the arrow does not even graze his +skin.</p> + +<p>The coincidence of finding so many versions of the +same story scattered through countries as remote as +Persia and Iceland, Switzerland and Denmark, proves, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>123]</a></span> +I think, that it can in no way be regarded as history, +but is rather one of the numerous household myths +common to the whole stock of Aryan nations. Probably, +some one more acquainted with Sanskrit literature +than myself, and with better access to its unpublished +stores of fable and legend, will some day light +on an early Indian tale corresponding to that so +prevalent among other branches of the same family. +The coincidence of the Tell myth being discovered +among the Finns is attributable to Russian or Swedish +influence. I do not regard it as a primeval Turanian, +but as an Aryan story, which, like an erratic block, +is found deposited on foreign soil far from the mountain +whence it was torn.</p> + +<p>German mythologists, I suppose, consider the myth +to represent the manifestation of some natural phenomena, +and the individuals of the story to be impersonifications +of natural forces. Most primeval stories +were thus constructed, and their origin is traceable +enough. In Thorn-rose, for instance, who can fail +to see the earth goddess represented by the sleeping +beauty in her long winter slumber, only returning to +life when kissed by the golden-haired sun-god Phœbus +or Baldur? But the Tell myth has not its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>124]</a></span> +signification thus painted on the surface; and those who +suppose Gessler or Harald to be the power of evil +and darkness,—the bold archer to be the storm-cloud +with his arrow of lightning and his iris bow, bent +against the sun, which is resting like a coin or a +golden apple on the edge of the horizon, are over-straining +their theories, and exacting too much from +our credulity.</p> + +<p>In these pages and elsewhere I have shown how +some of the ancient myths related by the whole +Aryan family of nations are reducible to allegorical +explanations of certain well-known natural phenomena; +but I must protest against the manner in +which our German friends fasten rapaciously upon +every atom of history, sacred and profane, and demonstrate +all heroes to represent the sun; all villains +to be the demons of night or winter; all sticks and +spears and arrows to be the lightning; all cows +and sheep and dragons and swans to be clouds.</p> + +<p>In a work on the superstition of Werewolves, I +have entered into this subject with some fulness, +and am quite prepared to admit the premises upon +which mythologists construct their theories; at the +same time I am not disposed to run to the extravagant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>125]</a></span> +lengths reached by some of the most enthusiastic +German scholars. A wholesome warning to these +gentlemen was given some years ago by an ingenious +French ecclesiastic, who wrote the following argument +to prove that Napoleon Bonaparte was a mythological +character. Archbishop Whately’s “Historic +Doubts” was grounded on a totally different line of +argument; I subjoin the other, as a curiosity and as +a caution.</p> + +<p>Napoleon is, says the writer, an impersonification +of the sun.</p> + +<p>1. Between the name Napoleon and Apollo, or +Apoleon, the god of the sun, there is but a trifling +difference; indeed, the seeming difference is lessened, +if we take the spelling of his name from the column +of the Place Vendôme, where it stands Néapoleó. +But this syllable <em>Ne</em> prefixed to the name of the sun-god +is of importance; like the rest of the name it is +of Greek origin, and is <ins class="greek" title="nê">νη</ins> or <ins class="greek" title="nai">ναι</ins>, a particle of affirmation, +as though indicating Napoleon as the very true +Apollo, or sun.</p> + +<p>His other name, Bonaparte, makes this apparent +connection between the French hero and the luminary +of the firmament conclusively certain. The day +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>126]</a></span> +has its two parts, the good and luminous portion, and +that which is bad and dark. To the sun belongs the +good part, to the moon and stars belongs the bad +portion. It is therefore natural that Apollo or Né-Apoleón +should receive the surname of <em>Bonaparte</em>.</p> + +<p>2. Apollo was born in Delos, a Mediterranean +island; Napoleon in Corsica, an island in the same +sea. According to Pausanias, Apollo was an Egyptian +deity; and in the mythological history of the +fabulous Napoleon we find the hero in Egypt, regarded +by the inhabitants with veneration, and +receiving their homage.</p> + +<p>3. The mother of Napoleon was said to be Letitia, +which signifies joy, and is an impersonification of +the dawn of light dispensing joy and gladness to all +creation. Letitia is no other than the break of day, +which in a manner brings the sun into the world, and +“with rosy fingers opes the gates of Day.” It is significant +that the Greek name for the mother of Apollo +was Leto. From this the Romans made the name +Latona, which they gave to his mother. But <i>Læto</i> is +the unused form of the verb <i>lætor</i>, and signified to +inspire joy; it is from this unused form that the substantive +<i>Letitia</i> is derived. The identity, then, of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>127]</a></span> +the mother of Napoleon with the Greek Leto and the +Latin Latona, is established conclusively.</p> + +<p>4. According to the popular story, this son of +Letitia had three sisters; and was it not the same +with the Greek deity, who had the three Graces?</p> + +<p>5. The modern Gallic Apollo had four brothers. +It is impossible not to discern here the anthropomorphosis +of the four seasons. But, it will be objected, +the seasons should be females. Here the French +language interposes; for in French the seasons are +masculine, with the exception of autumn, upon the +gender of which grammarians are undecided, whilst +Autumnus in Latin is not more feminine than the +other seasons. This difficulty is therefore trifling, +and what follows removes all shadow of doubt.</p> + +<p>Of the four brothers of Napoleon, three are said +to have been kings, and these of course are, Spring +reigning over the flowers, Summer reigning over the +harvest, Autumn holding sway over the fruits. And +as these three seasons owe all to the powerful influence +of the Sun, we are told in the popular myth +that the three brothers of Napoleon drew their +authority from him, and received from him their +kingdoms. But if it be added that, of the four +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>128]</a></span> +brothers of Napoleon, one was not a king, that was +because he is the impersonification of Winter, which +has no reign over anything. If, however, it be asserted, +in contradiction, that the winter has an empire, +he will be given the principality over snows +and frosts, which, in the dreary season of the year, +whiten the face of the earth. Well, the fourth +brother of Napoleon is thus invested by popular +tradition, commonly called history, with a vain principality +accorded to him <em>in the decline of the power +of Napoleon</em>. The principality was that of Canino, +a name derived from <i>cani</i>, or the whitened hairs of +a frozen old age,—true emblem of winter. To the +eyes of poets, the forests covering the hills are their +hair, and when winter frosts them, they represent +the snowy locks of a decrepit nature in the old age +of the year:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Cum gelidus crescit <i>canis</i> in montibus humor.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Consequently the Prince of Canino is an impersonification +of winter;—winter whose reign begins +when the kingdoms of the three fine seasons are +passed from them, and when the sun is driven from +his power by the children of the North, as the poets +call the boreal winds. This is the origin of the fabulous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>129]</a></span> +invasion of France by the allied armies of the +North. The story relates that these invaders—the +northern gales—banished the many-colored flag, and +replaced it by a white standard. This too is a graceful, +but, at the same time, purely fabulous account +of the Northern winds driving all the brilliant colors +from the face of the soil, to replace them by the +snowy sheet.</p> + +<p>6. Napoleon is said to have had two wives. It is +well known that the classic fable gave two also to +Apollo. These two were the moon and the earth. +Plutarch asserts that the Greeks gave the moon to +Apollo for wife, whilst the Egyptians attributed to +him the earth. By the moon he had no posterity, +but by the other he had one son only, the little +Horus. This is an Egyptian allegory, representing +the fruits of agriculture produced by the earth fertilized +by the Sun. The pretended son of the fabulous +Napoleon is said to have been born on the 20th +of March, the season of the spring equinox, when +agriculture is assuming its greatest period of activity.</p> + +<p>7. Napoleon is said to have released France from +the devastating scourge which terrorized over the +country, the hydra of the revolution, as it was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>130]</a></span> +popularly called. Who cannot see in this a Gallic version +of the Greek legend of Apollo releasing Hellas +from the terrible Python? The very name <em>revolution</em>, +derived from the Latin verb <i>revolvo</i>, is indicative +of the coils of a serpent like the Python.</p> + +<p>8. The famous hero of the 19th century had, it is +asserted, twelve Marshals at the head of his armies, +and four who were stationary and inactive. The +twelve first, as may be seen at once, are the signs +of the zodiac, marching under the orders of the sun +Napoleon, and each commanding a division of the +innumerable host of stars, which are parted into +twelve portions, corresponding to the twelve signs. +As for the four stationary officers, immovable in the +midst of general motion, they are the cardinal points.</p> + +<p>9. It is currently reported that the chief of these +brilliant armies, after having gloriously traversed the +Southern kingdoms, penetrated North, and was there +unable to maintain his sway. This too represents +the course of the Sun, which assumes its greatest +power in the South, but after the spring equinox +seeks to reach the North; and after a <em>three months’</em> +march towards the boreal regions, is driven back +upon his traces following the sign of Cancer, a sign +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>131]</a></span> +given to represent the retrogression of the sun in that +portion of the sphere. It is on this that the story of +the march of Napoleon towards Moscow, and his +humbling retreat, is founded.</p> + +<p>10. Finally, the sun rises in the East and sets in +the Western sea. The poets picture him rising out +of the waters in the East, and setting in the ocean +after his twelve hours’ reign in the sky. Such is +the history of Napoleon, coming from his Mediterranean +isle, holding the reins of government for +twelve years, and finally disappearing in the mysterious +regions of the great Atlantic.</p> + +<p>To those who see in Samson, the image of the +sun, the correlative of the classic Hercules, this +clever skit of the accomplished French Abbé may +prove of value as a caution.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> +This anecdote is taken from the <i>Journal de Paris</i>, May, +1787; but whence did the <i>Journal</i> obtain it?</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>132]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap06" id="chap06"></a>The Dog Gellert.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">H</span>AVING demolished William Tell, I proceed +to the destruction of another article of popular +belief.</p> + +<p>Who that has visited Snowdon has not seen the +grave of Llewellyn’s faithful hound Gellert, and been +told by the guide the touching story of the death of +the noble animal? How can we doubt the facts, +seeing that the place, Beth-Gellert, is named after +the dog, and that the grave is still visible? But +unfortunately for the truth of the legend, its pedigree +can be traced with the utmost precision.</p> + +<p>The story is as follows:—</p> + +<p>The Welsh Prince Llewellyn had a noble deerhound, +Gellert, whom he trusted to watch the cradle +of his baby son whilst he himself was absent.</p> + +<p>One day, on his return, to his intense horror, he +beheld the cradle empty and upset, the clothes dabbled +with blood, and Gellert’s mouth dripping with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>133]</a></span> +gore. Concluding hastily that the hound had proved +unfaithful, had fallen on the child and devoured it,—in +a paroxysm of rage the prince drew his sword +and slew the dog. Next instant the cry of the babe +from behind the cradle showed him that the child +was uninjured; and, on looking farther, Llewellyn +discovered the body of a huge wolf, which had entered +the house to seize and devour the child, but +which had been kept off and killed by the brave +dog Gellert.</p> + +<p>In his self-reproach and grief, the prince erected +a stately monument to Gellert, and called the place +where he was buried after the poor hound’s name.</p> + +<p>Now, I find in Russia precisely the same story +told, with just the same appearance of truth, of a +Czar Piras. In Germany it appears with considerable +variations. A man determines on slaying his +old dog Sultan, and consults with his wife how this +is to be effected. Sultan overhears the conversation, +and complains bitterly to the wolf, who suggests an +ingenious plan by which the master may be induced +to spare his dog. Next day, when the man is going +to his work, the wolf undertakes to carry off the child +from its cradle. Sultan is to attack him and rescue +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>134]</a></span> +the infant. The plan succeeds admirably, and the +dog spends his remaining years in comfort. (Grimm, +K. M. 48.)</p> + +<p>But there is a story in closer conformity to that +of Gellert among the French collections of fabliaux +made by Le Grand d’Aussy and Edéléstand du Méril. +It became popular through the “Gesta Romanorum,” +a collection of tales made by the monks for harmless +reading, in the fourteenth century.</p> + +<p>In the “Gesta” the tale is told as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Folliculus, a knight, was fond of hunting and +tournaments. He had an only son, for whom three +nurses were provided. Next to this child, he loved +his falcon and his greyhound. It happened one +day that he was called to a tournament, whither +his wife and domestics went also, leaving the child +in the cradle, the greyhound lying by him, and the +falcon on his perch. A serpent that inhabited a +hole near the castle, taking advantage of the profound +silence that reigned, crept from his habitation, +and advanced towards the cradle to devour +the child. The falcon, perceiving the danger, fluttered +with his wings till he awoke the dog, who +instantly attacked the invader, and after a fierce +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>135]</a></span> +conflict, in which he was sorely wounded, killed +him. He then lay down on the ground to lick +and heal his wounds. When the nurses returned, +they found the cradle overturned, the child thrown +out, and the ground covered with blood, as was also +the dog, who they immediately concluded had killed +the child.</p> + +<p>“Terrified at the idea of meeting the anger of +the parents, they determined to escape; but in their +flight fell in with their mistress, to whom they were +compelled to relate the supposed murder of the +child by the greyhound. The knight soon arrived +to hear the sad story, and, maddened with fury, +rushed forward to the spot. The poor wounded +and faithful animal made an effort to rise and welcome +his master with his accustomed fondness; but +the enraged knight received him on the point of +his sword, and he fell lifeless to the ground. On +examination of the cradle, the infant was found +alive and unhurt, with the dead serpent lying by +him. The knight now perceived what had happened, +lamented bitterly over his faithful dog, and +blamed himself for having too hastily depended on +the words of his wife. Abandoning the profession +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>136]</a></span> +of arms, he broke his lance in pieces, and vowed +a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he spent +the rest of his days in peace.”</p> + +<p>The monkish hit at the wife is amusing, and +might have been supposed to have originated with +those determined misogynists, as the gallant Welshmen +lay all the blame on the man. But the good +compilers of the “Gesta” wrote little of their own, +except moral applications of the tales they relate, +and the story of Folliculus and his dog, like many +others in their collection, is drawn from a foreign +source.</p> + +<p>It occurs in the Seven Wise Masters, and in the +“Calumnia Novercalis” as well, so that it must +have been popular throughout mediæval Europe. +Now, the tales of the Seven Wise Masters are translations +from a Hebrew work, the Kalilah and Dimnah +of Rabbi Joel, composed about A. D. 1250, or +from Simeon Seth’s Greek Kylile and Dimne, written +in 1080. These Greek and Hebrew works were +derived from kindred sources. That of Rabbi Joel +was a translation from an Arabic version made by +Nasr-Allah in the twelfth century, whilst Simeon +Seth’s was a translation of the Persian Kalilah and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>137]</a></span> +Dimnah. But the Persian Kalilah and Dimnah +was not either an original work; it was in turn a +translation from the Sanskrit Pantschatantra, made +about A. D. 540.</p> + +<p>In this ancient Indian book the story runs as +follows:—</p> + +<p>A Brahmin named Devasaman had a wife, who +gave birth to a son, and also to an ichneumon. +She loved both her children dearly, giving them +alike the breast, and anointing them alike with +salves. But she feared the ichneumon might not +love his brother.</p> + +<p>One day, having laid her boy in bed, she took +up the water jar, and said to her husband, “Hear +me, master! I am going to the tank to fetch +water. Whilst I am absent, watch the boy, lest +he gets injured by the ichneumon.” After she had +left the house, the Brahmin went forth begging, +leaving the house empty. In crept a black snake, +and attempted to bite the child; but the ichneumon +rushed at it, and tore it in pieces. Then, proud of +its achievement, it sallied forth, all bloody, to meet +its mother. She, seeing the creature stained with +blood, concluded, with feminine precipitance, that it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>138]</a></span> +had fallen on the baby and killed it, and she flung +her water jar at it and slew it. Only on her +return home did she ascertain her mistake.</p> + +<p>The same story is also told in the Hitopadesa +(iv. 13), but the animal is an otter, not an ichneumon. +In the Arabic version a weasel takes the +place of the ichneumon.</p> + +<p>The Buddhist missionaries carried the story into +Mongolia, and in the Mongolian Uligerun, which +is a translation of the Tibetian Dsanghen, the +story reappears with the pole-cat as the brave and +suffering defender of the child.</p> + +<p>Stanislaus Julien, the great Chinese scholar, has +discovered the same tale in the Chinese work +entitled “The Forest of Pearls from the Garden +of the Law.” This work dates from 668; and in +it the creature is an ichneumon.</p> + +<p>In the Persian Sindibad-nâmeh is the same tale, +but the faithful animal is a cat. In Sandabar and +Syntipas it has become a dog. Through the influence +of Sandabar on the Hebrew translation of +the Kalilah and Dimnah, the ichneumon is also +replaced by a dog.</p> + +<p>Such is the history of the Gellert legend; it is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>139]</a></span> +an introduction into Europe from India, every step +of its transmission being clearly demonstrable. +From the Gesta Romanorum it passed into a +popular tale throughout Europe, and in different +countries it was, like the Tell myth, localized and +individualized. Many a Welsh story, such as those +contained in the Mabinogion, are as easily traced +to an Eastern origin.</p> + +<p>But every story has its root. The root of the +Gellert tale is this: A man forms an alliance of +friendship with a beast or bird. The dumb animal +renders him a signal service. He misunderstands +the act, and kills his preserver.</p> + +<p>We have tracked this myth under the Gellert +form from India to Wales; but under another form +it is the property of the whole Aryan family, and +forms a portion of the traditional lore of all nations +sprung from that stock.</p> + +<p>Thence arose the classic fable of the peasant, +who, as he slept, was bitten by a fly. He awoke, +and in a rage killed the insect. When too late, he +observed that the little creature had aroused him +that he might avoid a snake which lay coiled up +near his pillow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>140]</a></span> +In the Anvar-i-Suhaili is the following kindred +tale. A king had a falcon. One day, whilst hunting, +he filled a goblet with water dropping from a +rock. As he put the vessel to his lips, his falcon +dashed upon it, and upset it with its wings. The +king, in a fury, slew the bird, and then discovered +that the water dripped from the jaws of a serpent +of the most poisonous description.</p> + +<p>This story, with some variations, occurs in Æsop, +Ælian, and Apthonius. In the Greek fable, a +peasant liberates an eagle from the clutches of a +dragon. The dragon spirts poison into the water +which the peasant is about to drink, without observing +what the monster had done. The grateful +eagle upsets the goblet with his wings.</p> + +<p>The story appears in Egypt under a whimsical +form. A Wali once smashed a pot full of herbs +which a cook had prepared. The exasperated cook +thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali +within an inch of his life, and when he returned, +exhausted with his efforts at belaboring the man, +to examine the broken pot, he discovered amongst +the herbs a poisonous snake.</p> + +<p>How many brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>141]</a></span> +cousins of all degrees a little story has! And how +few of the tales we listen to can lay any claim to +originality! There is scarcely a story which I hear +which I cannot connect with some family of myths, +and whose pedigree I cannot ascertain with more +or less precision. Shakespeare drew the plots of +his plays from Boccaccio or Straparola; but these +Italians did not invent the tales they lent to the +English dramatist. King Lear does not originate +with Geofry of Monmouth, but comes from early +Indian stores of fable, whence also are derived the +Merchant of Venice and the pound of flesh, ay, +and the very incident of the three caskets.</p> + +<p>But who would credit it, were it not proved by +conclusive facts, that Johnny Sands is the inheritance +of the whole Aryan family of nations, and +that Peeping Tom of Coventry peeped in India +and on the Tartar steppes ages before Lady Godiva +was born?</p> + +<p>If you listen to Traviata at the opera, you have +set before you a tale which has lasted for centuries, +and which was perhaps born in India.</p> + +<p>If you read in classic fable of Orpheus charming +woods and meadows, beasts and birds, with his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>142]</a></span> +magic lyre, you remember to have seen the same +fable related in the Kalewala of the Finnish Wainomainen, +and in the Kaleopoeg of the Esthonian +Kalewa.</p> + +<p>If you take up English history, and read of +William the Conqueror slipping as he landed on +British soil, and kissing the earth, saying he had +come to greet and claim his own, you remember +that the same story is told of Napoleon in Egypt, +of King Olaf Harold’s son in Norway, and in +classic history of Junius Brutus on his return from +the oracle.</p> + +<p>A little while ago I cut out of a Sussex newspaper +a story purporting to be the relation of a +fact which had taken place at a fixed date in +Lewes. This was the story. A tyrannical husband +locked the door against his wife, who was out +having tea with a neighbor, gossiping and scandal-mongering; +when she applied for admittance, he +pretended not to know her. She threatened to +jump into the well unless he opened the door.</p> + +<p>The man, not supposing that she would carry +her threat into execution, declined, alleging that he +was in bed, and the night was chilly; besides +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>143]</a></span> +which he entirely disclaimed all acquaintance with +the lady who claimed admittance.</p> + +<p>The wife then flung a log into a well, and secreted +herself behind the door. The man, hearing +the splash, fancied that his good lady was really in +the deeps, and forth he darted in his nocturnal +costume, which was of the lightest, to ascertain +whether his deliverance was complete. At once +the lady darted into the house, locked the door, +and, on the husband pleading for admittance, she +declared most solemnly from the window that she +did not know <em>him</em>.</p> + +<p>Now, this story, I can positively assert, unless +the events of this world move in a circle, did not +happen in Lewes, or any other Sussex town.</p> + +<p>It was told in the Gesta Romanorum six hundred +years ago, and it was told, may be, as many hundred +years before in India, for it is still to be found +in Sanskrit collections of tales.</p> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>144]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap07" id="chap07"></a>Tailed Men.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">I</span> WELL remember having it impressed upon me +by a Devonshire nurse, as a little child, that all +Cornishmen were born with tails; and it was long +before I could overcome the prejudice thus early +implanted in my breast against my Cornubian neighbors. +I looked upon those who dwelt across the +Tamar as “uncanny,” as being scarcely to be classed +with Christian people, and certainly not to be freely +associated with by tailless Devonians. I think my +eyes were first opened to the fact that I had been +deceived by a worthy bookseller of L——, with +whom I had contracted a warm friendship, he having +at sundry times contributed pictures to my scrapbook. +I remember one day resolving to broach the +delicate subject with my tailed friend, whom I liked, +notwithstanding his caudal appendage.</p> + +<p>“Mr. X——, is it true that you are a Cornishman?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>145]</a></span> +“Yes, my little man; born and bred in the West +country.”</p> + +<p>“I like you very much; but—have you really +got a tail?”</p> + +<p>When the bookseller had recovered from the astonishment +which I had produced by my question, he +stoutly repudiated the charge.</p> + +<p>“But you are a Cornishman?”</p> + +<p>“To be sure I am.”</p> + +<p>“And all Cornishmen have tails.”</p> + +<p>I believe I satisfied my own mind that the good +man had sat his off, and my nurse assured me that +such was the case with those of sedentary habits.</p> + +<p>It is curious that Devonshire superstition should +attribute the tail to Cornishmen, for it was asserted +of certain men of Kent in olden times, and was referred +to Divine vengeance upon them for having +insulted St. Thomas à Becket, if we may believe +Polydore Vergil. “There were some,” he says, “to +whom it seemed that the king’s secret wish was, that +Thomas should be got rid of. He, indeed, as one +accounted to be an enemy of the king’s person, was +already regarded with so little respect, nay, was +treated with so much contempt, that when he came +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>146]</a></span> +to Strood, which village is situated on the Medway, +the river that washes Rochester, the inhabitants of the +place, being eager to show some mark of contumely +to the prelate in his disgrace, did not scruple to cut +off the tail of the horse on which he was riding; +but by this profane and inhospitable act they covered +themselves with eternal reproach; for it so happened +after this, by the will of God, that all the offspring +born from the men who had done this thing, were +born with tails, like brute animals. But this mark +of infamy, which formerly was everywhere notorious, +has disappeared with the extinction of the race whose +fathers perpetrated this deed.”</p> + +<p>John Bale, the zealous reformer, and Bishop of +Ossory in Edward VI.’s time, refers to this story, +and also mentions a variation of the scene and cause +of this ignoble punishment. He writes, quoting his +authorities, “John Capgrave and Alexander of Esseby +sayth, that for castynge of fyshe tayles at thys +Augustyne, Dorsettshyre men had tayles ever after. +But Polydorus applieth it unto Kentish men at Stroud, +by Rochester, for cuttinge off Thomas Becket’s horse’s +tail. Thus hath England in all other land a perpetual +infamy of tayles by theye wrytten legendes of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>147]</a></span> +lyes, yet can they not well tell where to bestowe +them truely.” Bale, a fierce and unsparing reformer, +and one who stinted not hard words, applying to +the inventors of these legends an epithet more strong +than elegant, says, “In the legends of their sanctified +sorcerers they have diffamed the English posterity +with tails, as has been showed afore. That an Englyshman +now cannot travayle in another land by way +of marchandyse or any other honest occupyinge, but +it is most contumeliously thrown in his tethe that all +Englyshmen have tails. That uncomely note and +report have the nation gotten, without recover, by +these laisy and idle lubbers, the monkes and the +priestes, which could find no matters to advance +their canonized gains by, or their saintes, as they +call them, but manifest lies and knaveries.”<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>Andrew Marvel also makes mention of this strange +judgment in his <i>Loyal Scot</i>:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“But who considers right will find, indeed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">’Tis Holy Island parts us, not the Tweed.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nothing but clergy could us two seclude,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No Scotch was ever like a bishop’s feud.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>148]</a></span> +<span class="i0">All Litanys in this have wanted faith,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There’s no—<em>Deliver us from a Bishop’s wrath.</em><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never shall Calvin pardoned be for sales,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never, for Burnet’s sake, the Lauderdales;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For Becket’s sake, Kent always shall have tails.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It may be remembered that Lord Monboddo, a +Scotch judge of last century, and a philosopher of +some repute, though of great eccentricity, stoutly +maintained the theory that man ought to have a +tail, that the tail is a <i>desideratum</i>, and that the +abrupt termination of the spine without caudal elongation +is a sad blemish in the origination of man. +The tail, the point in which man is inferior to the +brute, what a delicate index of the mind it is! how +it expresses the passions of love and hate! how nicely +it gives token of the feelings of joy or fear which +animate the soul! But Lord Monboddo did not +consider that what the tail is to the brute, that the +eye is to man; the lack of one member is supplied +by the other. I can tell a proud man by his eye +just as truly as if he stalked past one with erect tail; +and anger is as plainly depicted in the human eye +as in the bottle-brush tail of a cat. I know a sneak +by his cowering glance, though he has not a tail +between his legs; and pleasure is evident in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>149]</a></span> +laughing eye, without there being any necessity for +a wagging brush to express it.</p> + +<p>Dr. Johnson paid a visit to the judge, and knocked +on the head his theory that men ought to have tails, +and actually were born with them occasionally; for +said he, “Of a standing fact, sir, there ought to be +no controversy; if there are men with tails, catch a +<i>homo caudatus</i>.” And, “It is a pity to see Lord +Monboddo publish such notions as he has done—a +man of sense, and of so much elegant learning. +There would be little in a fool doing it; we should +only laugh; but, when a wise man does it, we are +sorry. Other people have strange notions, but they +conceal them. If they have tails they hide them; +but Monboddo is as jealous of his tail as a squirrel.” +And yet Johnson seems to have been tickled with the +idea, and to have been amused with the notion of +an appendage like a tail being regarded as the complement +of human perfection. It may be remembered +how Johnson made the acquaintance of the +young Laird of Col, during his Highland tour, and +how pleased he was with him. “Col,” says he, “is +a noble animal. He is as complete an islander as +the mind can figure. He is a farmer, a sailor, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>150]</a></span> +hunter, a fisher: he will run you down a dog; <em>if +any man has a tail</em>, it is Col.” And notwithstanding +all his aversion to puns, the great Doctor +was fain to yield to human weakness on one occasion, +under the influence of the mirth which Monboddo’s +name seems to have excited. Johnson +writes to Mrs. Thrale of a party he had met one +night, which he thus enumerates: “There were +Smelt, and the Bishop of St. Asaph, who comes +to every place; and Sir Joshua, and Lord Monboddo, +and ladies <em>out of tale</em>.”</p> + +<p>There is a Polish story of a witch who made a +girdle of human skin and laid it across the threshold +of a door where a marriage-feast was being +held. On the bridal pair stepping across the +girdle they were transformed into wolves. Three +years after the witch sought them out, and cast +over them dresses of fur with the hair turned outward, +whereupon they recovered their human +forms, but, unfortunately, the dress cast over the +bridegroom was too scanty, and did not extend +over his tail, so that, when he was restored to his +former condition, he retained his lupine caudal +appendage, and this became hereditary in his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>151]</a></span> +family; so that all Poles with tails are lineal +descendants of the ancestor to whom this little +misfortune happened. John Struys, a Dutch traveller, +who visited the Isle of Formosa in 1677, +gives a curious story, which is worth transcribing.</p> + +<p>“Before I visited this island,” he writes, “I had +often heard tell that there were men who had long +tails, like brute beasts; but I had never been able +to believe it, and I regarded it as a thing so alien +to our nature, that I should now have difficulty in +accepting it, if my own senses had not removed +from me every pretence for doubting the fact, by +the following strange adventure: The inhabitants +of Formosa, being used to see us, were in the +habit of receiving us on terms which left nothing +to apprehend on either side; so that, although +mere foreigners, we always believed ourselves in +safety, and had grown familiar enough to ramble +at large without an escort, when grave experience +taught us that, in so doing, we were hazarding +too much. As some of our party were one day +taking a stroll, one of them had occasion to withdraw +about a stone’s throw from the rest, who, +being at the moment engaged in an eager +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>152]</a></span> +conversation, proceeded without heeding the disappearance +of their companion. After a while, however, +his absence was observed, and the party paused, +thinking he would rejoin them. They waited +some time; but at last, tired of the delay, they +returned in the direction of the spot where they +remembered to have seen him last. Arriving there, +they were horrified to find his mangled body lying +on the ground, though the nature of the lacerations +showed that he had not had to suffer long ere +death released him. Whilst some remained to +watch the dead body, others went off in search of +the murderer; and these had not gone far, when +they came upon a man of peculiar appearance, +who, finding himself enclosed by the exploring +party, so as to make escape from them impossible, +began to foam with rage, and by cries and +wild gesticulations to intimate that he would make +any one repent the attempt who should venture to +meddle with him. The fierceness of his desperation +for a time kept our people at bay; but as his +fury gradually subsided, they gathered more closely +round him, and at length seized him. He then +soon made them understand that it was he who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>153]</a></span> +had killed their comrade, but they could not learn +from him any cause for this conduct. As the +crime was so atrocious, and, if allowed to pass +with impunity, might entail even more serious +consequences, it was determined to burn the man. +He was tied up to a stake, where he was kept +for some hours before the time of execution arrived. +It was then that I beheld what I had never +thought to see. He had a tail more than a foot +long, covered with red hair, and very like that of a +cow. When he saw the surprise that this discovery +created among the European spectators, he +informed us that his tail was the effect of climate, +for that all the inhabitants of the southern side of +the island, where they then were, were provided +with like appendages.”<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>After Struys, Hornemann reported that, between +the Gulf of Benin and Abyssinia, were tailed anthropophagi, +named by the natives <i>Niam-niams</i>; +and in 1849, M. Descouret, on his return from +Mecca, affirmed that such was a common report, +and added that they had long arms, low and narrow +foreheads, long and erect ears, and slim legs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>154]</a></span> +Mr. Harrison, in his “Highlands of Ethiopia,” +alludes to the common belief among the Abyssinians, +in a pygmy race of this nature.</p> + +<p>MM. Arnault and Vayssière, travellers in the +same country, in 1850, brought the subject before +the Academy of Sciences.</p> + +<p>In 1851, M. de Castelnau gave additional details +relative to an expedition against these tailed +men. “The Niam-niams,” he says, “were sleeping +in the sun: the Haoussas approached, and, +falling on them, massacred them to the last man. +They had all of them tails forty centimetres long, +and from two to three in diameter. This organ is +smooth. Among the corpses were those of several +women, who were deformed in the same +manner. In all other particulars, the men were +precisely like all other negroes. They are of a +deep black, their teeth are polished, their bodies +not tattooed. They are armed with clubs and javelins; +in war they utter piercing cries. They cultivate +rice, maize, and other grain. They are fine +looking men, and their hair is not frizzled.”</p> + +<p>M. d’Abbadie, another Abyssinian traveller, writing +in 1852, gives the following account from the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>155]</a></span> +lips of an Abyssinian priest: “At the distance of +fifteen days’ journey south of Herrar is a place +where all the men have tails, the length of a palm, +covered with hair, and situated at the extremity of +the spine. The females of that country are very +beautiful and are tailless. I have seen some fifteen +of these people at Besberah, and I am positive +that the tail is natural.”</p> + +<p>It will be observed that there is a discrepancy +between the accounts of M. de Castelnau and +M. d’Abbadie. The former accords tails to the +ladies, whilst the latter denies it. According to +the former, the tail is smooth; according to the +latter, it is covered with hair.</p> + +<p>Dr. Wolf has improved on this in his “Travels +and Adventures,” vol. ii. 1861. “There are men +and women in Abyssinia with tails like dogs and +horses.” Wolf heard also from a great many +Abyssinians and Armenians (and Wolf is convinced +of the truth of it), that “there are near +Narea, in Abyssinia, people—men and women—with +large tails, with which they are able to knock +down a horse; and there are also such people +near China.” And in a note, “In the College of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>156]</a></span> +Surgeons at Dublin may still be seen a human +skeleton, with a tail seven inches long! There are +many known instances of this elongation of the +caudal vertebra, as in the Poonangs in Borneo.”</p> + +<p>But the most interesting and circumstantial account +of the Niam-niams is that given by Dr. +Hubsch, physician to the hospitals of Constantinople. +“It was in 1852,” says he, “that I saw for +the first time a tailed negress. I was struck with +this phenomenon, and I questioned her master, a +slave dealer. I learned from him that there exists +a tribe called Niam-niam, occupying the interior of +Africa. All the members of this tribe bear the +caudal appendage, and, as Oriental imagination is +given to exaggeration, I was assured that the tails +sometimes attained the length of two feet. That +which I observed was smooth and hairless. It was +about two inches long, and terminated in a point. +This woman was as black as ebony, her hair was +frizzled, her teeth white, large, and planted in sockets +which inclined considerably outward; her four +canine teeth were filed, her eyes bloodshot. She +ate meat raw, her clothes fidgeted her, her intellect +was on a par with that of others of her condition.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>157]</a></span> +“Her master had been unable, during six months, +to sell her, notwithstanding the low figure at which +he would have disposed of her; the abhorrence +with which she was regarded was not attributed +to her tail, but to the partiality, which she was +unable to conceal, for human flesh. Her tribe fed +on the flesh of the prisoners taken from the neighboring +tribes, with whom they were constantly at +war.</p> + +<p>“As soon as one of the tribe dies, his relations, +instead of burying him, cut him up and regale +themselves upon his remains; consequently there +are no cemeteries in this land. They do not all of +them lead a wandering life, but many of them construct +hovels of the branches of trees. They make +for themselves weapons of war and of agriculture; +they cultivate maize and wheat, and keep cattle. +The Niam-niams have a language of their own, of +an entirely primitive character, though containing an +infusion of Arabic words.</p> + +<p>“They live in a state of complete nudity, and +seek only to satisfy their brute appetites. There is +among them an utter disregard for morality, incest +and adultery being common. The strongest among +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>158]</a></span> +them becomes the chief of the tribe; and it is he +who apportions the shares of the booty obtained in +war. It is hard to say whether they have any religion; +but in all probability they have none, as +they readily adopt any one which they are taught.</p> + +<p>“It is difficult to tame them altogether; their instinct +impelling them constantly to seek for human +flesh; and instances are related of slaves who have +massacred and eaten the children confided to their +charge.</p> + +<p>“I have seen a man of the same race, who had +a tail an inch and a half long, covered with a few +hairs. He appeared to be thirty-five years old; he +was robust, well built, of an ebon blackness, and +had the same peculiar formation of jaw noticed +above; that is to say, the tooth sockets were inclined +outwards. Their four canine teeth are filed +down, to diminish their power of mastication.</p> + +<p>“I know also, at Constantinople, the son of a +physician, aged two years, who was born with a +tail an inch long; he belonged to the white Caucasian +race. One of his grandfathers possessed the +same appendage. This phenomenon is regarded generally +in the East as a sign of great brute force.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>159]</a></span> +About ten years ago, a newspaper paragraph recorded +the birth of a boy at Newcastle-on-Tyne, +provided with a tail about an inch and a quarter +long. It was asserted that the child when sucking +wagged this stump as token of pleasure.</p> + +<p>Yet, notwithstanding all this testimony in favor +of tailed men and women, it is simply a matter of +impossibility for a human being to have a tail, for +the spinal vertebræ in man do not admit of elongation, +as in many animals; for the spine terminates +in the os sacrum, a large and expanded bone of +peculiar character, entirely precluding all possibility +of production to the spine as in caudate animals.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> +“Actes of English Votaries.”</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> +“Voyages de Jean Struys,” An. 1650.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>160]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap08" id="chap08"></a>Antichrist and Pope Joan.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">F</span>ROM the earliest ages of the Church, the advent +of the Man of Sin has been looked forward +to with terror, and the passages of Scripture +relating to him have been studied with solemn awe, +lest that day of wrath should come upon the Church +unawares. As events in the world’s history took +place which seemed to be indications of the approach +of Antichrist, a great horror fell upon men’s +minds, and their imaginations conjured up myths +which flew from mouth to mouth, and which were +implicitly believed.</p> + +<p>Before speaking of these strange tales which produced +such an effect on the minds of men in the +middle ages, it will be well briefly to examine the +opinions of divines of the early ages on the passages +of Scripture connected with the coming of +the last great persecutor of the Church. Antichrist +was believed by most ancient writers to be destined +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>161]</a></span> +to arise out of the tribe of Dan, a belief founded +on the prediction of Jacob, “Dan shall be a serpent +by the way, an adder in the path” (conf. Jeremiah +viii. 16), and on the exclamation of the dying patriarch, +when looking on his son Dan, “I have +waited for Thy Salvation, O Lord,” as though the +long-suffering of God had borne long with that +tribe, but in vain, and it was to be extinguished +without hope. This, indeed, is implied in the sealing +of the servants of God in their foreheads (Revelation +vii.), when twelve thousand out of every +tribe, except Dan, were seen by St. John to receive +the seal of adoption, whilst of the tribe of Dan <em>not +one</em> was sealed, as though it, to a man, had apostatized.</p> + +<p>Opinions as to the nature of Antichrist were divided. +Some held that he was to be a devil in +phantom body, and of this number was Hippolytus. +Others, again, believed that he would be an incarnate +demon, true man and true devil; in fearful and +diabolical parody of the Incarnation of our Lord. +A third view was, that he would be merely a desperately +wicked man, acting upon diabolical inspirations, +just as the saints act upon divine inspirations. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>162]</a></span> +St. John Damascene expressly asserts that he will +not be an incarnate demon, but a devilish man; +for he says, “Not as Christ assumed humanity, so +will the devil become human, but the Man will +receive all the inspiration of Satan, and will suffer +the devil to take up his abode within him.” In +this manner Antichrist could have many forerunners; +and so St. Jerome and St. Augustine saw an Antichrist +in Nero, not <em>the</em> Antichrist, but one of those +of whom the Apostle speaks—“Even now are there +many Antichrists.” Thus also every enemy of the +faith, such as Diocletian, Julian, and Mahomet, has +been regarded as a precursor of the Arch-persecutor, +who was expected to sum up in himself the cruelty +of a Nero or Diocletian, the show of virtue of a +Julian, and the spiritual pride of a Mahomet.</p> + +<p>From infancy the evil one is to take possession +of Antichrist, and to train him for his office, instilling +into him cunning, cruelty, and pride. His +doctrine will be—not downright infidelity, but a +“show of godliness,” whilst “denying the power +thereof;” i. e., the miraculous origin and divine authority +of Christianity. He will sow doubts of our +Lord’s manifestation “in the flesh,” he will allow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>163]</a></span> +Christ to be an excellent Man, capable of teaching +the most exalted truths, and inculcating the purest +morality, yet Himself fallible and carried away by +fanaticism.</p> + +<p>In the end, however, Antichrist will “exalt himself +to sit as God in the temple of God,” and become +“the abomination of desolation standing in +the holy place.” At the same time there is to be +an awful alliance struck between himself, the impersonification +of the world-power and the Church +of God; some high pontiff of which, or the episcopacy +in general, will enter into league with the +unbelieving state to oppress the very elect. It is +a strange instance of religionary virulence which +makes some detect the Pope of Rome in the Man +of Sin, the Harlot, the Beast, and the Priest going +before it. The Man of Sin and the Beast are unmistakably +identical, and refer to an Antichristian +world-power; whilst the Harlot and the Priest are +symbols of an apostasy in the Church. There is +nothing Roman in this, but something very much +the opposite.</p> + +<p>How the Abomination of Desolation can be considered +as set up in a Church where every +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>164]</a></span> +sanctuary is adorned with all that can draw the heart +to the Crucified, and raise the thoughts to the +imposing ritual of Heaven, is a puzzle to me. To +the man uninitiated in the law that Revelation is +to be interpreted by contraries, it would seem more +like the Abomination of Desolation in the Holy +Place if he entered a Scotch Presbyterian, or a +Dutch Calvinist, place of worship. Rome does +not fight against the Daily Sacrifice, and endeavor +to abolish it; that has been rather the labor of so-called +Church Reformers, who with the suppression +of the doctrine of Eucharistic Sacrifice and Sacramental +Adoration have well nigh obliterated all +notion of worship to be addressed to the God-Man. +Rome does not deny the power of the godliness +of which she makes show, but insists on that power +with no broken accents. It is rather in other communities, +where authority is flung aside, and any +man is permitted to believe or reject what he likes, +that we must look for the leaven of the Antichristian +spirit at work.</p> + +<p>It is evident that this spirit will infect the +Church, and especially those in place of authority +therein; so that the elect will have to wrestle +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>165]</a></span> +against both “principalities and powers” in the +state, and also “spiritual wickedness in the high +places” of the Church. Perhaps it will be this +feeling of antagonism between the inferior orders +and the highest which will throw the Bishops into +the arms of the state, and establish that unholy +alliance which will be cemented for the purpose +of oppressing all who hold the truth in sincerity, +who are definite in their dogmatic statements of +Christ’s having been manifested in the flesh, who +labor to establish the Daily Sacrifice, and offer in +every place the pure offering spoken of by Malachi. +Perhaps it was in anticipation of this, that ancient +mystical interpreters explained the scene at the +well in Midian as having reference to the last +times.</p> + +<p>The Church, like the daughters of Reuel, comes +to the Well of living waters to water her parched +flock; whereupon the shepherds—her chief pastors—arise +and strive with her. “Fear not, O flock, +fear not, O daughter!” exclaims the commentator; +“thy true Moses is seated on the well, and He +will arise out of His resting-place, and will with +His own hand smite the shepherds, and water the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>166]</a></span> +flock.” Let the sheep be in barren and dry pastures,—so +long the shepherds strive not; let the +sheep pant and die,—so long the shepherds show +no signs of irritation; but let the Church approach +the limpid well of life, and at once her prelates +will, in the latter days, combine “to strive” with +her, and keep back the flock from the reviving +streams.</p> + +<p>In the time of Antichrist the Church will be +divided: one portion will hold to the world-power, +the other will seek out the old paths, and cling to +the only true Guide. The high places will be +filled with unbelievers in the Incarnation, and the +Church will be in a condition of the utmost spiritual +degradation, but enjoying the highest State patronage. +The religion in favor will be one of morality, +but not of dogma; and the Man of Sin will be +able to promulgate his doctrine, according to St. +Anselm, through his great eloquence and wisdom, +his vast learning and mightiness in the Holy Scriptures, +which he will wrest to the overthrowing of +dogma. He will be liberal in bribes, for he will +be of unbounded wealth; he will be capable of +performing great “signs and wonders,” so as “to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>167]</a></span> +deceive—the very elect;” and at the last, he will +tear the moral veil from his countenance, and a +monster of impiety and cruelty, he will inaugurate +that awful persecution, which is to last for three +years and a half, and to excel in horror all the +persecutions that have gone before.</p> + +<p>In that terrible season of confusion faith will be +all but extinguished. “When the Son of Man +cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” asks +our Blessed Lord, as though expecting the answer, +No; and then, says Marchantius, the vessel of the +Church will disappear in the foam of that boiling +deep of infidelity, and be hidden in the blackness +of that storm of destruction which sweeps +over the earth. The sun shall “be darkened, and +the moon shall not give her light, and the stars +shall fall from heaven;” the sun of faith shall have +gone out; the moon, the Church, shall not give +her light, being turned into blood, through stress +of persecution; and the stars, the great ecclesiastical +dignitaries, shall fall into apostasy. But still the +Church will remain unwrecked, she will weather +the storm; still will she come forth “beautiful as +the moon, terrible as an army with banners;” for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>168]</a></span> +after the lapse of those three and a half years, +Christ will descend to avenge the blood of the +saints, by destroying Antichrist and the world-power.</p> + +<p>Such is a brief sketch of the scriptural doctrine +of Antichrist as held by the early and mediæval +Church. Let us now see to what myths it gave +rise among the vulgar and the imaginative. Rabanus +Maurus, in his work on the life of Antichrist, +gives a full account of the miracles he will perform; +he tells us that the Man-fiend will heal the sick, +raise the dead, restore sight to the blind, hearing +to the deaf, speech to the dumb; he will raise +storms and calm them, will remove mountains, +make trees flourish or wither at a word. He will +rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, and making the +Holy City the great capital of the world. Popular +opinion added that his vast wealth would be obtained +from hidden treasures, which are now being +concealed by the demons for his use. Various +possessed persons, when interrogated, announced +that such was the case, and that the amount of +buried gold was vast.</p> + +<p>“In the year 1599,” says Canon Moreau, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>169]</a></span> +contemporary historian, “a rumor circulated with prodigious +rapidity through Europe, that Antichrist +had been born at Babylon, and that already the +Jews of that part were hurrying to receive and +recognize him as their Messiah. The news came +from Italy and Germany, and extended to Spain, +England, and other Western kingdoms, troubling +many people, even the most discreet; however, the +learned gave it no credence, saying that the signs +predicted in Scripture to precede that event were +not yet accomplished, and among other that the +Roman empire was not yet abolished.... Others +said that, as for the signs, the majority had already +appeared to the best of their knowledge, and with +regard to the rest, they might have taken place in +distant regions without their having been made +known to them; that the Roman empire existed +but in name, and that the interpretation of the +passage on which its destruction was predicted, +might be incorrect; that for many centuries, the +most learned and pious had believed in the near +approach of Antichrist, some believing that he had +already come, on account of the persecutions which +had fallen on the Christians; others, on account of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>170]</a></span> +fires, or eclipses, or earthquakes.... Every one was +in excitement; some declared that the news must be +correct, others believed nothing about it, and the +agitation became so excessive, that Henry IV., who +was then on the throne, was compelled by edict to +forbid any mention of the subject.”</p> + +<p>The report spoken of by Moreau gained additional +confirmation from the announcement made by an exorcised +demoniac, that in 1600, the Man of Sin had +been born in the neighborhood of Paris, of a Jewess, +named Blanchefleure, who had conceived by Satan. +The child had been baptized at the Sabbath of Sorcerers; +and a witch, under torture, acknowledged +that she had rocked the infant Antichrist on her +knees, and she averred that he had claws on his +feet, wore no shoes, and spoke all languages.</p> + +<p>In 1623 appeared the following startling announcement, +which obtained an immense circulation among +the lower orders: “We, brothers of the Order of St. +John of Jerusalem, in the Isle of Malta, have received +letters from our spies, who are engaged in our service +in the country of Babylon, now possessed by the +Grand Turk; by the which letters we are advertised, +that, on the 1st of May, in the year of our Lord +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>171]</a></span> +1623, a child was born in the town of Bourydot, +otherwise called Calka, near Babylon, of the which +child the mother is a very aged woman, of race +unknown, called Fort-Juda: of the father nothing is +known. The child is dusky, has pleasant mouth and +eyes, teeth pointed like those of a cat, ears large, +stature by no means exceeding that of other children; +the said child, incontinent on his birth, walked +and talked perfectly well. His speech is comprehended +by every one, admonishing the people that +he is the true Messiah, and the son of God, and that +in him all must believe. Our spies also swear and +protest that they have seen the said child with their +own eyes; and they add, that, on the occasion of his +nativity, there appeared marvellous signs in heaven, +for at full noon the sun lost its brightness, and was +for some time obscured.” This is followed by a list +of other signs appearing, the most remarkable being +a swarm of flying serpents, and a shower of precious +stones.</p> + +<p>According to Sebastian Michaeliz, in his history of +the possessed of Flanders, on the authority of the exorcised +demons, we learn that Antichrist is to be a +son of Beelzebub, who will accompany his offspring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>172]</a></span> +under the form of a bird, with four feet and a bull’s +head; that he will torture Christians with the same +tortures with which the lost souls are racked; that +he will be able to fly, speak all languages, and will +have any number of names.</p> + +<p>We find that Antichrist is known to the Mussulmans +as well as to Christians. Lane, in his edition +of the “Arabian Nights,” gives some curious details +on Moslem ideas regarding him. According to +these, Antichrist will overrun the earth, mounted on +an ass, and followed by 40,000 Jews; his empire +will last forty days, whereof the first day will +be a year long, the duration of the second will +be a month, that of the third a week, the others +being of their usual length. He will devastate the +whole world, leaving Mecca and Medina alone in +security, as these holy cities will be guarded by +angelic legions. Christ at last will descend to earth, +and in a great battle will destroy the Man-devil.</p> + +<p>Several writers, of different denominations, no less +superstitious than the common people, connected the +apparition of Antichrist with the fable of Pope Joan, +which obtained such general credence at one time, +but which modern criticism has at length succeeded +in excluding from history.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>173]</a></span> +Perhaps the earliest writer to mention Pope Joan +is Marianus Scotus, who in his chronicle inserts the +following passage: “A. D. 854, Lotharii 14, Joanna, +a woman, succeeded Leo, and reigned two years, +five months, and four days.” Marianus Scotus died +A. D. 1086. Sigebert de Gemblours (d. 5th Oct., +1112) inserts the same story in his valuable chronicle, +copying from an interpolated passage in the work +of Anastasius the librarian. His words are, “It is +reported that this John was a female, and that she +conceived by one of her servants. The Pope, becoming +pregnant, gave birth to a child; wherefore +some do not number her among the Pontiffs.” Hence +the story spread among the mediæval chroniclers, +who were great plagiarists. Otto of Frisingen and +Gotfrid of Viterbo mention the Lady-Pope in their +histories, and Martin Polonus gives details as follows: +“After Leo IV., John Anglus, a native of +Metz, reigned two years, five months, and four days. +And the pontificate was vacant for a month. He died +in Rome. He is related to have been a female, and, +when a girl, to have accompanied her sweetheart in +male costume to Athens; there she advanced in various +sciences, and none could be found to equal her. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>174]</a></span> +So, after having studied for three years in Rome, +she had great masters for her pupils and hearers. +And when there arose a high opinion in the city of +her virtue and knowledge, she was unanimously +elected Pope. But during her papacy she became +in the family way by a familiar. Not knowing the +time of birth, as she was on her way from St. Peter’s +to the Lateran she had a painful delivery, between +the Coliseum and St. Clement’s Church, in the street. +Having died after, it is said that she was buried on +the spot; and therefore the Lord Pope always turns +aside from that way, and it is supposed by some out +of detestation for what happened there. Nor on that +account is she placed in the catalogue of the Holy +Pontiffs, not only on account of her sex, but also +because of the horribleness of the circumstance.”</p> + +<p>Certainly a story at all scandalous <i>crescit eundo</i>.</p> + +<p>William Ocham alludes to the story, and John +Huss, only too happy to believe it, provides the lady +with a name, and asserts that she was baptized +Agnes, or, as he will have it with a strong aspirate, +Hagnes. Others, however, insist upon her name +having been Gilberta; and some stout Germans, not +relishing the notion of her being a daughter of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>175]</a></span> +Fatherland, palm her off on England. As soon as we +arrive at Reformation times, the German and French +Protestants fasten on the story with the utmost +avidity, and add sweet little touches of their own, +and draw conclusions galling enough to the Roman +See, illustrating their accounts with wood engravings +vigorous and graphic, but hardly decent. One of +these represents the event in a peculiarly startling +manner. The procession of bishops, with the Host +and tapers, is sweeping along, when suddenly the +cross-bearer before the triple-crowned and vested +Pope starts aside to witness the unexpected arrival. +This engraving, which it is quite impossible for me +to reproduce, is in a curious little book, entitled +“Puerperium Johannis Papæ 8, 1530.”</p> + +<p>The following jingling record of the event is from +the Rhythmical Vitæ Pontificum of Gulielmus Jacobus +of Egmonden, a work never printed. This +fragment is preserved in “Wolfii Lectionum Memorabilium +centenarii, XVI.:”—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Priusquàm reconditur Sergius, vocatur<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ad summam, qui dicitur Johannes, huic addatur<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anglicus, Moguntia iste procreatur.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Qui, ut dat sententia, fœminis aptatur<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sexu: quod sequentia monstrant, breviatur,<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>176]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Hæc vox: nam prolixius chronica procedunt.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ista, de qua brevius dicta minus lædunt.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Huic erat amasius, ut scriptores credunt.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Patria relinquitur Moguntia, Græcorum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Studiosè petitur schola. Pòst doctorum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hæc doctrix efficitur Romæ legens: horum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hæc auditu fungitur loquens. Hinc prostrato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Summo hæc eligitur: sexu exaltato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quandoque negligitur. Fatur quòd hæc nato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Per servum conficitur. Tempore gignendi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ad processum equus scanditur, vice flendi,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Papa cadit, panditur improbis ridendi<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Norma, puer nascitur in vico Clementis,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Colossœum jungitur. Corpus parentis<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In eodem traditur sepulturæ gentis,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Faturque scriptoribus, quòd Papa præfato,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vico senioribus transiens amato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Congruo ductoribus sequitur negato<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loco, quo Ecclesia partu denigratur,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quamvis inter spacia Pontificum ponatur,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Propter sexum.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Stephen Blanch, in his “Urbis Romæ Mirabilia,” +says that an angel of heaven appeared to Joan +before the event, and asked her to choose whether +she would prefer burning eternally in hell, or having +her confinement in public; with sense which +does her credit, she chose the latter. The Protestant +writers were not satisfied that the father of +the unhappy baby should have been a servant: some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>177]</a></span> +made him a Cardinal, and others the devil himself. +According to an eminent Dutch minister, it is immaterial +whether the child be fathered on Satan +or a monk; at all events, the former took a lively +interest in the youthful Antichrist, and, on the occasion +of his birth, was seen and heard fluttering +overhead, crowing and chanting in an unmusical +voice the Sibylline verses announcing the birth of +the Arch-persecutor:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Papa pater patrum, Papissæ pandito partum<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et tibi tunc eadem de corpore quando recedam!”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>which lines, as being perhaps the only ones known +to be of diabolic composition, are deserving of preservation.</p> + +<p>The Reformers, in order to reconcile dates, were +put to the somewhat perplexing necessity of moving +Pope Joan to their own times, or else of giving to +the youthful Antichrist an age of seven hundred +years.</p> + +<p>It must be allowed that the <i>accouchement</i> of a +Pope in full pontificals, during a solemn procession, +was a prodigy not likely to occur more than once +in the world’s history, and was certain to be of +momentous import.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>178]</a></span> +It will be seen by the curious woodcut reproduced +as frontispiece from Baptista Mantuanus, that +he consigned Pope Joan to the jaws of hell, notwithstanding +her choice. The verses accompanying +this picture are:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Hic pendebat adhuc sexum mentita virile<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fœmina, cui triplici Phrygiam diademate mitram<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Extollebat apex: et pontificalis adulter.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It need hardly be stated that the whole story of +Pope Joan is fabulous, and rests on not the slightest +historical foundation. It was probably a Greek invention +to throw discredit on the papal hierarchy, +first circulated more than two hundred years after +the date of the supposed Pope. Even Martin Polonus +(A. D. 1282), who is the first to give the details, +does so merely on popular report.</p> + +<p>The great champions of the myth were the Protestants +of the sixteenth century, who were thoroughly +unscrupulous in distorting history and suppressing +facts, so long as they could make a point. A paper +war was waged upon the subject, and finally the +whole story was proved conclusively to be utterly +destitute of historical truth. A melancholy example +of the blindness of party feeling and prejudice is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>179]</a></span> +seen in Mosheim, who assumes the truth of the +ridiculous story, and gravely inserts it in his “Ecclesiastical +History.” “Between Leo IV., who died +855, and Benedict III., a woman, who concealed +her sex and assumed the name of John, it is said, +opened her way to the Pontifical throne by her +learning and genius, and governed the Church for +a time. She is commonly called the Papess Joan. +During the five subsequent centuries the witnesses +to this extraordinary event are without number; nor +did any one, prior to the Reformation by Luther, +regard the thing as either incredible or disgraceful +to the Church.” Such are Mosheim’s words, and +I give them as a specimen of the credit which is +due to his opinion. The “Ecclesiastical History” +he wrote is full of perversions of the plainest facts, +and that under our notice is but one out of many. +“During the five centuries after her reign,” he says, +“the witnesses to the story are innumerable.” Now, +for two centuries there is not an allusion to be +found to the events. The only passage which can +be found is a universally acknowledged interpolation +of the “Lives of the Popes,” by Anastasius +Bibliothecarius; and this interpolation is stated in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>180]</a></span> +the first printed edition by Busæus, Mogunt. 1602, +to be only found in two MS. copies.</p> + +<p>From Marianus Scotus or Sigebert de Gemblours +the story passed into other chronicles <i>totidem verbis</i>, +and generally with hesitation and an expression of +doubt in its accuracy. Martin Polonus is the first +to give the particulars, some four hundred and +twenty years after the reign of the fabulous Pope.</p> + +<p>Mosheim is false again in asserting that no one +prior to the Reformation regarded the thing as +either incredible or disgraceful. This is but of a +piece with his malignity and disregard for truth, +whenever he can hit the Catholic Church hard. +Bart. Platina, in his “Lives of the Popes,” written +before Luther was born, after relating the story, says, +“These things which I relate are popular reports, +but derived from uncertain and obscure authors, +which I have therefore inserted briefly and baldly, +lest I should seem to omit obstinately and pertinaciously +what most people assert.” Thus the facts +were justly doubted by Platina on the legitimate +grounds that they rested on popular gossip, and not +on reliable history. Marianus Scotus, the first to +relate the story, died in 1086. He was a monk +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>181]</a></span> +of St. Martin of Cologne, then of Fulda, and lastly +of St. Alban’s, at Metz. How could he have obtained +reliable information, or seen documents upon +which to ground the assertion? Again, his chronicle +has suffered severely from interpolations in numerous +places, and there is reason to believe that +the Pope-Joan passage is itself a late interpolation.</p> + +<p>If so, we are reduced to Sigebert de Gemblours +(d. 1112), placing two centuries and a half between +him and the event he records, and his chronicle +may have been tampered with.</p> + +<p>The historical discrepancies are sufficiently glaring +to make the story more than questionable.</p> + +<p>Leo IV. died on the 17th July, 855; and Benedict +III. was consecrated on the 1st September in the +same year; so that it is impossible to insert between +their pontificates a reign of two years, five months, +and four days. It is, however, true that there was +an antipope elected upon the death of Leo, at the +instance of the Emperor Louis; but his name was +Anastasius. This man possessed himself of the +palace of the Popes, and obtained the incarceration +of Benedict. However, his supporters almost immediately +deserted him, and Benedict assumed the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>182]</a></span> +pontificate. The reign of Benedict was only for +two years and a half, so that Anastasius cannot +be the supposed Joan; nor do we hear of any +charge brought against him to the effect of his +being a woman. But the stout partisans of the +Pope-Joan tale assert, on the authority of the “Annales +Augustani,”<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> and some other, but late authorities, +that the female Pope was John VIII., +who consecrated Louis II. of France, and Ethelwolf +of England. Here again is confusion. Ethelwolf +sent Alfred to Rome in 853, and the youth +received regal unction from the hands of Leo IV. +In 855 Ethelwolf visited Rome, it is true, but +was not consecrated by the existing Pope, whilst +Charles the Bald was anointed by John VIII. in +875. John VIII. was a Roman, son of Gundus, +and an archdeacon of the Eternal City. He assumed +the triple crown in 872, and reigned till +December 18, 882. John took an active part in the +troubles of the Church under the incursions of the +Sarasins, and 325 letters of his are extant, addressed +to the princes and prelates of his day.</p> + +<p>Any one desirous of pursuing this examination +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>183]</a></span> +into the untenable nature of the story may find an +excellent summary of the arguments used on both +sides in Gieseler, “Lehrbuch,” &c., Cunningham’s +trans., vol. ii. pp. 20, 21, or in Bayle, “Dictionnaire,” +tom. iii. art. Papesse.</p> + +<p>The arguments in favor of the myth may be +seen in Spanheim, “Exercit. de Papa Fœmina,” +Opp. tom. ii. p. 577, or in Lenfant, “Histoire de +la Papesse Jeanne,” La Haye, 1736, 2 vols. 12mo.</p> + +<p>The arguments on the other side may be had in +“Allatii Confutatio Fabulæ de Johanna Papissa,” +Colon. 1645; in Le Quien, “Oriens Christianus,” +tom. iii. p. 777; and in the pages of the Lutheran +Huemann, “Sylloge Diss. Sacras.,” tom. i. par. ii. +p. 352.</p> + +<p>The final development of this extraordinary story, +under the delicate fingers of the German and +French Protestant controversialists, may not prove +uninteresting.</p> + +<p>Joan was the daughter of an English missionary, +who left England to preach the Gospel to the recently +converted Saxons. She was born at Engelheim, +and according to different authors she +was christened Agnes, Gerberta, Joanna, Margaret, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>184]</a></span> +Isabel, Dorothy, or Jutt—the last must have been +a nickname surely! She early distinguished herself +for genius and love of letters. A young monk +of Fulda having conceived for her a violent passion, +which she returned with ardor, she deserted +her parents, dressed herself in male attire, and in +the sacred precincts of Fulda divided her affections +between the youthful monk and the musty +books of the monastic library. Not satisfied with +the restraints of conventual life, nor finding the +library sufficiently well provided with books of +abstruse science, she eloped with her young man, +and after visiting England, France, and Italy, she +brought him to Athens, where she addicted herself +with unflagging devotion to her literary pursuits. +Wearied out by his journey, the monk expired in +the arms of the blue-stocking who had influenced +his life for evil, and the young lady of so many +aliases was for a while inconsolable. She left +Athens and repaired to Rome. There she opened +a school and acquired such a reputation for learning +and feigned sanctity, that, on the death of Leo +IV., she was unanimously elected Pope. For two +years and five months, under the name of John +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>185]</a></span> +VIII., she filled the papal chair with reputation, +no one suspecting her sex. But having taken a +fancy to one of the cardinals, by him she became +pregnant. At length arrived the time of Rogation +processions. Whilst passing the street between the +amphitheatre and St. Clement’s, she was seized +with violent pains, fell to the ground amidst the +crowd, and, whilst her attendants ministered to her, +was delivered of a son. Some say the child and +mother died on the spot, some that she survived +but was incarcerated, some that the child was +spirited away to be the Antichrist of the last days. +A marble monument representing the papess with +her baby was erected on the spot, which was declared +to be accursed to all ages.</p> + +<p>I have little doubt myself that Pope Joan is an +impersonification of the great whore of Revelation, +seated on the seven hills, and is the popular expression +of the idea prevalent from the twelfth to +the sixteenth centuries, that the mystery of iniquity +was somehow working in the papal court. The +scandal of the Antipopes, the utter worldliness and +pride of others, the spiritual fornication with the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>186]</a></span> +kings of the earth, along with the words of Revelation +prophesying the advent of an adulterous +woman who should rule over the imperial city, +and her connection with Antichrist, crystallized +into this curious myth, much as the floating uncertainty +as to the signification of our Lord’s words, +“There be some standing here which shall not +taste of death till they see the kingdom of God,” +condensed into the myth of the Wandering Jew.</p> + +<p>The literature connected with Antichrist is voluminous. +I need only specify some of the most +curious works which have appeared on the subject. +St. Hippolytus and Rabanus Maurus have +been already alluded to. Commodianus wrote +“Carmen Apologeticum adversus Gentes,” which +has been published by Dom Pitra in his “Spicilegium +Solesmense,” with an introduction containing +Jewish and Christian traditions relating to +Antichrist. “De Turpissima Conceptione, Nativitate, +et aliis Præsagiis Diaboliciis illius Turpissimi +Hominis Antichristi,” is the title of a strange little +volume published by Lenoir in A. D. 1500, containing +rude yet characteristic woodcuts, representing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>187]</a></span> +the birth, life, and death of the Man of Sin, +each picture accompanied by French verses in explanation. +An equally remarkable illustrated work +on Antichrist is the famous “Liber de Antichristo,” +a blockbook of an early date. It is in twenty-seven +folios, and is excessively rare. Dibdin has reproduced +three of the plates in his “Bibliotheca Spenseriana,” +and Falckenstein has given full details of +the work in his “Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst.”</p> + +<p>There is an Easter miracle-play of the twelfth +century, still extant, the subject of which is the +“Life and Death of Antichrist.” More curious +still is the “Farce de l’Antéchrist et de Trois +Femmes”—a composition of the sixteenth century, +when that mysterious personage occupied all +brains. The farce consists in a scene at a fish-stall, +with three good ladies quarrelling over some +fish. Antichrist steps in,—for no particular reason +that one can see,—upsets fish and fish-women, sets +them fighting, and skips off the stage. The best +book on Antichrist, and that most full of learning +and judgment, is Malvenda’s great work in two +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>188]</a></span> +folio volumes, “De Antichristo, libri xii.” Lyons, +1647.</p> + +<p>For the fable of the Pope Joan, see J. Lenfant, +“Histoire de la Papesse Jeanne.” La Haye, 1736, +2 vols. 12mo. “Allatii Confutatio Fabulæ de Johanna +Papissa.” Colon. 1645.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> +These Annals were written in 1135.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>189]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap09" id="chap09"></a>The Man in the Moon.</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 198px;"> +<img src="images/cmma05.jpg" width="198" height="200" +alt="A man carrying a bundle of sticks" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">From L. Richter.</p> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">E</span>VERY one knows that the moon is inhabited +by a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, +who has been exiled thither for many centuries, +and who is so far off that he is beyond the reach +of death.</p> + +<p>He has once visited this earth, if the nursery +rhyme is to be credited, when it asserts that—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“The Man in the Moon<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Came down too soon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And asked his way to Norwich;”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>but whether he ever reached that city, the same +authority does not state.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>190]</a></span> +The story as told by nurses is, that this man was +found by Moses gathering sticks on a Sabbath, +and that, for this crime, he was doomed to reside +in the moon till the end of all things; and they +refer to Numbers xv. 32-36:—</p> + +<p>“And while the children of Israel were in the +wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks +upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him +gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and +Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they +put him in ward, because it was not declared what +should be done to him. And the Lord said unto +Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all +the congregation shall stone him with stones without +the camp. And all the congregation brought +him without the camp, and stoned him with stones +till he died.”</p> + +<p>Of course, in the sacred writings there is no +allusion to the moon.</p> + +<p>The German tale is as follows:—</p> + +<p>Ages ago there went one Sunday morning an +old man into the wood to hew sticks. He cut a +fagot and slung it on a stout staff, cast it over +his shoulder, and began to trudge home with his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>191]</a></span> +burden. On his way he met a handsome man +in Sunday suit, walking towards the Church; this +man stopped and asked the fagot-bearer, “Do you +know that this is Sunday on earth, when all must +rest from their labors?”</p> + +<p>“Sunday on earth, or Monday in heaven, it is +all one to me!” laughed the wood-cutter.</p> + +<p>“Then bear your bundle forever,” answered the +stranger; “and as you value not Sunday on earth, +yours shall be a perpetual Moon-day in heaven; +and you shall stand for eternity in the moon, a +warning to all Sabbath-breakers.” Thereupon the +stranger vanished, and the man was caught up with +his stock and his fagot into the moon, where he +stands yet.</p> + +<p>The superstition seems to be old in Germany, for +the full moon is spoken of as <i>wadel</i>, or <i>wedel</i>, a +fagot. Tobler relates the story thus: “An arma +mā ket alawel am Sonnti holz ufglesa. Do hedem +der liebe Gott dwahl gloh, öb er lieber wott ider +sonn verbrenna oder im mo verfrura, do willer +lieber inn mo ihi. Dromm siedma no jetz an ma +im mo inna, wenns wedel ist. Er hed a püscheli +uffem rogga.”<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> That is to say, he was given the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>192]</a></span> +choice of burning in the sun, or of freezing in the +moon; he chose the latter; and now at full moon +he is to be seen seated with his bundle of fagots +on his back.</p> + +<p>In Schaumburg-Lippe,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> the story goes, that a +man and a woman stand in the moon, the man +because he strewed brambles and thorns on the +church path, so as to hinder people from attending +Mass on Sunday morning; the woman because +she made butter on that day. The man carries +his bundle of thorns, the woman her butter-tub. +A similar tale is told in Swabia and in Marken. +Fischart<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> says, that there “is to be seen in the +moon a manikin who stole wood;” and Prætorius, +in his description of the world,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> that “superstitious +people assert that the black flecks in the moon are +a man who gathered wood on a Sabbath, and is +therefore turned into stone.”</p> + +<p>The Dutch household myth is, that the unhappy +man was caught stealing vegetables. Dante calls +him Cain:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>193]</a></span> +<span class="i0">“... Now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On either hemisphere, touching the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The moon was round.”<br /></span> +<span class="i8"><i>Hell</i>, cant. xx.<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And again,—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“... Tell, I pray thee, whence the gloomy spots<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon this body, which below on earth<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give rise to talk of Cain in fabling quaint?”<br /></span> +<span class="i8"><i>Paradise</i>, cant. ii.<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Chaucer, in the “Testament of Cresside,” adverts +to the man in the moon, and attributes to him the +same idea of theft. Of Lady Cynthia, or the moon, +he says,—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Her gite was gray and full of spottis blake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on her brest a chorle painted ful even,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bering a bush of thornis on his backe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whiche for his theft might clime so ner the heaven.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Ritson, among his “Ancient Songs,” gives one +extracted from a manuscript of the time of Edward +II., on the Man in the Moon, but in very obscure +language. The first verse, altered into more modern +orthography, runs as follows:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Man in the Moon stand and stit,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">On his bot-fork his burden he beareth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It is much wonder that he do na doun slit,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">For doubt lest he fall he shudd’reth and shivereth.<br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"><span class="space">*</span> <span class="space">*</span> <span class="space">*</span> <span class="space">*</span> <span class="space">*</span><br /></span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>194]</a></span> +<span class="i0">“When the frost freezes must chill he bide,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The thorns be keen his attire so teareth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nis no wight in the world there wot when he syt,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Ne bote it by the hedge what weeds he weareth.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Alexander Necham, or Nequam, a writer of the +twelfth century, in commenting on the dispersed +shadows in the moon, thus alludes to the vulgar +belief: “Nonne novisti quid vulgus vocet rusticum +in luna portantem spinas? Unde quidam +vulgariter loquens ait:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Rusticus in Luna,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quem sarcina deprimit una<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Monstrat per opinas<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nulli prodesse rapinas,”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>which may be translated thus: “Do you know +what they call the rustic in the moon, who carries +the fagot of sticks?” So that one vulgarly speaking +says,—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“See the rustic in the Moon,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How his bundle weighs him down;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thus his sticks the truth reveal,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It never profits man to steal.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Shakspeare refers to the same individual in his +“Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Quince the carpenter, +giving directions for the performance of the +play of “Pyramus and Thisbe,” orders: “One must +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>195]</a></span> +come in with a bush of thorns and a lantern, and say +he comes in to disfigure, or to present, the person +of Moonshine.” And the enacter of this part says, +“All I have to say is, to tell you that the lantern +is the moon; I the man in the moon; this thorn-bush +my thorn-bush; and this dog my dog.”</p> + +<p>Also “Tempest,” Act 2, Scene 2:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“<i>Cal.</i> Hast thou not dropt from heaven?</p> + +<p>“<i>Steph.</i> Out o’ th’ moon, I do assure thee. I was the man +in th’ moon when time was.</p> + +<p>“<i>Cal.</i> I have seen thee in her; and I do adore thee. My +mistress showed me thee, and thy dog, and thy bush.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The dog I have myself had pointed out to me by +an old Devonshire crone. If popular superstition +places a dog in the moon, it puts a lamb in the +sun; for in the same county it is said that those +who see the sun rise on Easter-day, may behold in +the orb the lamb and flag.</p> + +<p>I believe this idea of locating animals in the two +great luminaries of heaven to be very ancient, and +to be a relic of a primeval superstition of the Aryan +race.</p> + +<p>There is an ancient pictorial representation of +our friend the Sabbath-breaker in Gyffyn Church, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>196]</a></span> +near Conway. The roof of the chancel is divided +into compartments, in four of which are the Evangelistic +symbols, rudely, yet effectively painted. Besides +these symbols is delineated in each compartment +an orb of heaven. The sun, the moon, and +two stars, are placed at the feet of the Angel, +the Bull, the Lion, and the Eagle. The representation +of the moon is as below; in the disk is the +conventional man with his bundle of sticks, but +without the dog. There is also a curious seal appended +to a deed preserved in the Record Office, +dated the 9th year of Edward the Third (1335), +bearing the man in the moon as its device. The +deed is one of conveyance of a messuage, barn, and +four acres of ground, in the parish of Kingston-on-Thames, +from Walter de Grendesse, clerk, to Margaret +his mother. On the seal we see the man +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>197]</a></span> +carrying his sticks, and the moon surrounds him. +There are also a couple of stars added, perhaps to +show that he is in the sky. The legend on the +seal reads:—</p> + +<p class="center">“Te Waltere docebo<br /> +cur spinas phebo<br /> +gero,”</p> + +<p>which may be translated, “I will teach thee, Walter, +why I carry thorns in the moon.”</p> + +<div class="figcenter ipadbase" style="width: 176px;"> +<img src="images/cmma06.jpg" width="176" height="175" +alt="Representation of the moon in Gyffyn Church" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter ipadbase" style="width: 174px;"> +<img src="images/cmma07.jpg" width="174" height="200" +alt="The seal with the legend visible" /> +</div> + +<p>The general superstition with regard to the spots +in the moon may briefly be summed up thus: A +man is located in the moon; he is a thief or Sabbath-breaker;<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +he has a pole over his shoulder, from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>198]</a></span> +which is suspended a bundle of sticks or thorns. In +some places a woman is believed to accompany him, +and she has a butter-tub with her; in other localities +she is replaced by a dog.</p> + +<p>The belief in the Moon-man seems to exist among +the natives of British Columbia; for I read in one +of Mr. Duncan’s letters to the Church Missionary +Society, “One very dark night I was told that there +was a moon to see on the beach. On going to see, +there was an illuminated disk, with the figure of a +man upon it. The water was then very low, and +one of the conjuring parties had lit up this disk at +the water’s edge. They had made it of wax, with +great exactness, and presently it was at full. It was +an imposing sight. Nothing could be seen around +it; but the Indians suppose that the medicine party +are then holding converse with the man in the +moon.... After a short time the moon waned away, +and the conjuring party returned whooping to their +house.”</p> + +<p>Now let us turn to Scandinavian mythology, and +see what we learn from that source.</p> + +<p>Mâni, the moon, stole two children from their +parents, and carried them up to heaven. Their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>199]</a></span> +names were Hjuki and Bil. They had been drawing +water from the well Byrgir, in the bucket Sœgr, +suspended from the pole Simul, which they bore +upon their shoulders. These children, pole, and +bucket were placed in heaven, “where they could +be seen from earth.” This refers undoubtedly to +the spots in the moon; and so the Swedish peasantry +explain these spots to this day, as representing +a boy and a girl bearing a pail of water between +them. Are we not reminded at once of our nursery +rhyme—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Jack and Jill went up a hill<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To fetch a pail of water;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jack fell down, and broke his crown,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And Jill came tumbling after”?<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>This verse, which to us seems at first sight nonsense, +I have no hesitation in saying has a high +antiquity, and refers to the Eddaic Hjuki and Bil. +The names indicate as much. Hjuki, in Norse, +would be pronounced Juki, which would readily +become Jack; and Bil, for the sake of euphony, and +in order to give a female name to one of the children, +would become Jill.</p> + +<p>The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>200]</a></span> +simply represent the vanishing of one moon-spot +after another, as the moon wanes.</p> + +<p>But the old Norse myth had a deeper signification +than merely an explanation of the moon-spots.</p> + +<p>Hjuki is derived from the verb jakka, to heap or +pile together, to assemble and increase; and Bil +from bila, to break up or dissolve. Hjuki and Bil, +therefore, signify nothing more than the waxing and +waning of the moon, and the water they are represented +as bearing signifies the fact that the rainfall +depends on the phases of the moon. Waxing and +waning were individualized, and the meteorological +fact of the connection of the rain with the moon was +represented by the children as water-bearers.</p> + +<p>But though Jack and Jill became by degrees dissevered +in the popular mind from the moon, the +original myth went through a fresh phase, and exists +still under a new form. The Norse superstition +attributed <em>theft</em> to the moon, and the vulgar soon +began to believe that the figure they saw in the moon +was the thief. The lunar specks certainly may be +made to resemble one figure, and only a lively imagination +can discern two. The girl soon dropped +out of popular mythology, the boy oldened into a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>201]</a></span> +venerable man, he retained his pole, and the bucket +was transformed into the thing he had stolen—sticks +or vegetables. The theft was in some places +exchanged for Sabbath-breaking, especially among +those in Protestant countries who were acquainted +with the Bible story of the stick-gatherer.</p> + +<p>The Indian superstition is worth examining, because +of the connection existing between Indian and +European mythology, on account of our belonging +to the same Aryan stock.</p> + +<p>According to a Buddhist legend, Sâkyamunni himself, +in one of his earlier stages of existence, was a +hare, and lived in friendship with a fox and an ape. +In order to test the virtue of the Bodhisattwa, Indra +came to the friends, in the form of an old man, asking +for food. Hare, ape, and fox went forth in quest +of victuals for their guest. The two latter returned +from their foraging expedition successful, but the +hare had found nothing. Then, rather than that he +should treat the old man with inhospitality, the hare +had a fire kindled, and cast himself into the flames, +that he might himself become food for his guest. +In reward for this act of self-sacrifice, Indra +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>202]</a></span> +carried the hare to heaven, and placed him in the +moon.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>Here we have an old man and a hare in connection +with the lunar planet, just as in Shakspeare we +have a fagot-bearer and a dog.</p> + +<p>The fable rests upon the name of the moon in +Sanskrit, çaçin, or “that marked with the hare;” +but whether the belief in the spots taking the shape +of a hare gave the name çaçin to the moon, or the +lunar name çaçin originated the belief, it is impossible +for us to say.</p> + +<p>Grounded upon this myth is the curious story of +“The Hare and the Elephant,” in the “Pantschatantra,” +an ancient collection of Sanskrit fables. It +will be found as the first tale in the third book. I +have room only for an outline of the story.</p> + + +<h3>THE CRAFTY HARE.</h3> + +<p>In a certain forest lived a mighty elephant, king +of a herd, Toothy by name. On a certain occasion +there was a long drought, so that pools, tanks, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>203]</a></span> +swamps, and lakes were dried up. Then the elephants +sent out exploring parties in search of water. +A young one discovered an extensive lake surrounded +with trees, and teeming with water-fowl. It went +by the name of the Moon-lake. The elephants, delighted +at the prospect of having an inexhaustible +supply of water, marched off to the spot, and found +their most sanguine hopes realized. Round about +the lake, in the sandy soil, were innumerable hare +warrens; and as the herd of elephants trampled on +the ground, the hares were severely injured, their +homes broken down, their heads, legs, and backs +crushed beneath the ponderous feet of the monsters +of the forest. As soon as the herd had withdrawn, +the hares assembled, some halting, some dripping +with blood, some bearing the corpses of their cherished +infants, some with piteous tales of ruination +in their houses, all with tears streaming from their +eyes, and wailing forth, “Alas, we are lost! The +elephant-herd will return, for there is no water elsewhere, +and that will be the death of all of us.”</p> + +<p>But the wise and prudent Longear volunteered +to drive the herd away; and he succeeded in this +manner: Longear went to the elephants, and having +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>204]</a></span> +singled out their king, he addressed him as +follows:—</p> + +<p>“Ha, ha! bad elephant! what brings you with +such thoughtless frivolity to this strange lake? Back +with you at once!”</p> + +<p>When the king of the elephants heard this, he +asked in astonishment, “Pray, who are you?”</p> + +<p>“I,” replied Longear,—“I am Vidschajadatta by +name; the hare who resides in the Moon. Now +am I sent by his Excellency the Moon as an ambassador +to you. I speak to you in the name of the +Moon.”</p> + +<p>“Ahem! Hare,” said the elephant, somewhat staggered; +“and what message have you brought me +from his Excellency the Moon?”</p> + +<p>“You have this day injured several hares. Are +you not aware that they are the subjects of me? +If you value your life, venture not near the lake +again. Break my command, and I shall withdraw +my beams from you at night, and your bodies will +be consumed with perpetual sun.”</p> + +<p>The elephant, after a short meditation, said, +“Friend! it is true that I have acted against the +rights of the excellent Majesty of the Moon. I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>205]</a></span> +should wish to make an apology; how can I do +so?”</p> + +<p>The hare replied, “Come along with me, and I +will show you.”</p> + +<p>The elephant asked, “Where is his Excellency at +present?”</p> + +<p>The other replied, “He is now in the lake, hearing +the complaints of the maimed hares.”</p> + +<p>“If that be the case,” said the elephant, humbly, +“bring me to my lord, that I may tender him my +submission.”</p> + +<p>So the hare conducted the king of the elephants +to the edge of the lake, and showed him the reflection +of the moon in the water, saying, “There +stands our lord in the midst of the water, plunged +in meditation; reverence him with devotion, and +then depart with speed.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon the elephant poked his proboscis into +the water, and muttered a fervent prayer. By so +doing he set the water in agitation, so that the reflection +of the moon was all of a quiver.</p> + +<p>“Look!” exclaimed the hare; “his Majesty is +trembling with rage at you!”</p> + +<p>“Why is his supreme Excellency enraged with +me?” asked the elephant.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>206]</a></span> +“Because you have set the water in motion. +Worship him, and then be off!”</p> + +<p>The elephant let his ears droop, bowed his great +head to the earth, and after having expressed in +suitable terms his regret for having annoyed the +Moon, and the hare dwelling in it, he vowed never +to trouble the Moon-lake again. Then he departed, +and the hares have ever since lived there unmolested.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> +Tobler, Appenz. Sprachsbuch, 20.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> +Wolf, Zeitschrift für Deut. Myth. i. 168.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> +Fischart, Garg. 130.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> +Prætorius, i. 447.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> +Hebel, in his charming poem on the Man in the Moon, +in “Allemanische Gedichte,” makes him both thief and +Sabbath-breaker.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> +“Mémoires ... par Hjouen Thsang, traduits du Chinois +par Stanislas Julien,” i. 375. Upham, “Sacred Books of +Ceylon,” iii. 309.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>207]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap10" id="chap10"></a>The Mountain of Venus.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">R</span>AGGED, bald, and desolate, as though a curse +rested upon it, rises the Hörselberg out of the +rich and populous land between Eisenach and Gotha, +looking, from a distance, like a huge stone sarcophagus—a +sarcophagus in which rests in magical +slumber, till the end of all things, a mysterious world +of wonders.</p> + +<p>High up on the north-west flank of the mountain, +in a precipitous wall of rock, opens a cavern, called +the Hörselloch, from the depths of which issues a +muffled roar of water, as though a subterraneous +stream were rushing over rapidly-whirling millwheels. +“When I have stood alone on the ridge +of the mountain,” says Bechstein, “after having +sought the chasm in vain, I have heard a mighty +rush, like that of falling water, beneath my feet, and +after scrambling down the scarp, have found myself—how, +I never knew—in front of the cave.” (“Sagenschatz +des Thüringes-landes,” 1835.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>208]</a></span> +In ancient days, according to the Thüringian +Chronicles, bitter cries and long-drawn moans were +heard issuing from this cavern; and at night, wild +shrieks and the burst of diabolical laughter would +ring from it over the vale, and fill the inhabitants +with terror. It was supposed that this hole gave +admittance to Purgatory; and the popular but faulty +derivation of Hörsel was <i>Höre, die Seele</i>—Hark, the +Souls!</p> + +<p>But another popular belief respecting this mountain +was, that in it Venus, the pagan Goddess of +Love, held her court, in all the pomp and revelry +of heathendom; and there were not a few who declared +that they had seen fair forms of female beauty +beckoning them from the mouth of the chasm, and +that they had heard dulcet strains of music well +up from the abyss above the thunder of the falling, +unseen torrent. Charmed by the music, and allured +by the spectral forms, various individuals had entered +the cave, and none had returned, except the +Tanhäuser, of whom more anon. Still does the +Hörselberg go by the name of the Venusberg, a +name frequently used in the middle ages, but without +its locality being defined.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>209]</a></span> +“In 1398, at midday, there appeared suddenly +three great fires in the air, which presently ran +together into one globe of flame, parted again, and +finally sank into the Hörselberg,” says the Thüringian +Chronicle.</p> + +<p>And now for the story of Tanhäuser.</p> + +<p>A French knight was riding over the beauteous +meadows in the Hörsel vale on his way to Wartburg, +where the Landgrave Hermann was holding +a gathering of minstrels, who were to contend in +song for a prize.</p> + +<p>Tanhäuser was a famous minnesinger, and all +his lays were of love and of women, for his heart +was full of passion, and that not of the purest and +noblest description.</p> + +<p>It was towards dusk that he passed the cliff in +which is the Hörselloch, and as he rode by, he saw +a white glimmering figure of matchless beauty standing +before him, and beckoning him to her. He knew +her at once, by her attributes and by her superhuman +perfection, to be none other than Venus. As she +spake to him, the sweetest strains of music floated +in the air, a soft roseate light glowed around her, +and nymphs of exquisite loveliness scattered roses +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>210]</a></span> +at her feet. A thrill of passion ran through the +veins of the minnesinger; and, leaving his horse, +he followed the apparition. It led him up the +mountain to the cave, and as it went flowers +bloomed upon the soil, and a radiant track was +left for Tanhäuser to follow. He entered the cavern, +and descended to the palace of Venus in the heart +of the mountain.</p> + +<p>Seven years of revelry and debauch were passed, +and the minstrel’s heart began to feel a strange +void. The beauty, the magnificence, the variety of +the scenes in the pagan goddess’s home, and all +its heathenish pleasures, palled upon him, and he +yearned for the pure fresh breezes of earth, one +look up at the dark night sky spangled with stars, +one glimpse of simple mountain-flowers, one tinkle +of sheep-bells. At the same time his conscience +began to reproach him, and he longed to make his +peace with God. In vain did he entreat Venus to +permit him to depart, and it was only when, in the +bitterness of his grief, he called upon the Virgin-Mother, +that a rift in the mountain-side appeared +to him, and he stood again above ground.</p> + +<p>How sweet was the morning air, balmy with the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>211]</a></span> +scent of hay, as it rolled up the mountain to him, +and fanned his haggard cheek! How delightful to +him was the cushion of moss and scanty grass after +the downy couches of the palace of revelry below! +He plucked the little heather-bells, and held them +before him; the tears rolled from his eyes, and +moistened his thin and wasted hands. He looked +up at the soft blue sky and the newly-risen sun, +and his heart overflowed. What were the golden, +jewel-incrusted, lamp-lit vaults beneath to that pure +dome of God’s building!</p> + +<p>The chime of a village church struck sweetly on +his ear, satiated with Bacchanalian songs; and he +hurried down the mountain to the church which +called him. There he made his confession; but the +priest, horror-struck at his recital, dared not give +him absolution, but passed him on to another. And +so he went from one to another, till at last he was +referred to the Pope himself. To the Pope he went. +Urban IV. then occupied the chair of St. Peter. +To him Tanhäuser related the sickening story of +his guilt, and prayed for absolution. Urban was a +hard and stern man, and shocked at the immensity +of the sin, he thrust the penitent indignantly from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>212]</a></span> +him, exclaiming, “Guilt such as thine can never, +never be remitted. Sooner shall this staff in my +hand grow green and blossom, than that God should +pardon thee!”</p> + +<p>Then Tanhäuser, full of despair, and with his +soul darkened, went away, and returned to the only +asylum open to him, the Venusberg. But lo! three +days after he had gone, Urban discovered that his +pastoral staff had put forth buds, and had burst +into flower. Then he sent messengers after Tanhäuser, +and they reached the Hörsel vale to hear +that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed +head, had just entered the Hörselloch. Since then +Tanhäuser has not been seen.</p> + +<p>Such is the sad yet beautiful story of Tanhäuser. +It is a very ancient myth Christianized, a wide-spread +tradition localized. Originally heathen, it has been +transformed, and has acquired new beauty by an +infusion of Christianity. Scattered over Europe, it +exists in various forms, but in none so graceful as +that attached to the Hörselberg. There are, however, +other Venusbergs in Germany; as, for instance, +in Swabia, near Waldsee; another near Ufhausen, +at no great distance from Freiburg (the same story +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>213]</a></span> +is told of this Venusberg as of the Hörselberg); in +Saxony there is a Venusberg not far from Wolkenstein. +Paracelsus speaks of a Venusberg in Italy, +referring to that in which Æneas Sylvius (Ep. 16) +says Venus or a Sibyl resides, occupying a cavern, +and assuming once a week the form of a serpent. +Geiler v. Keysersperg, a quaint old preacher of the +fifteenth century, speaks of the witches assembling +on the Venusberg.</p> + +<p>The story, either in prose or verse, has often been +printed. Some of the earliest editions are the following:—</p> + +<p>“Das Lied von dem Danhewser.” Nürnberg, +without date; the same, Nürnberg, 1515.—“Das +Lyedt v. d. Thanheuser.” Leyptzk, 1520.—“Das +Lied v. d. Danheüser,” reprinted by Bechstein, 1835.—“Das +Lied vom edlen Tanheuser, Mons Veneris.” +Frankfort, 1614; Leipzig, 1668.—“Twe lede volgen +Dat erste vain Danhüsser.” Without date.—“Van +heer Danielken.” Tantwerpen, 1544.—A Danish +version in “Nyerup, Danske Viser,” No. VIII.</p> + +<p>Let us now see some of the forms which this +remarkable myth assumed in other countries. Every +popular tale has its root, a root which may be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>214]</a></span> +traced among different countries, and though the +accidents of the story may vary, yet the substance +remains unaltered. It has been said that the common +people never invent new story-radicals any more +than we invent new word-roots; and this is perfectly +true. The same story-root remains, but it is varied +according to the temperament of the narrator or the +exigencies of localization. The story-root of the +Venusberg is this:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The underground folk seek union with human +beings.</p> + +<div class="padleft"> +<p><ins class="greek" title="letter alpha">α</ins>. A man is enticed into their abode, where he +unites with a woman of the underground +race.</p> + +<p><ins class="greek" title="letter beta">β</ins>. He desires to revisit the earth, and escapes.</p> + +<p><ins class="greek" title="letter gamma">γ</ins>. He returns again to the region below.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Now, there is scarcely a collection of folk-lore +which does not contain a story founded on this +root. It appears in every branch of the Aryan +family, and examples might be quoted from Modern +Greek, Albanian, Neapolitan, French, German, +Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, Icelandic, Scotch, +Welsh, and other collections of popular tales. I +have only space to mention some.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>215]</a></span> +There is a Norse Tháttr of a certain Helgi Thorir’s +son, which is, in its present form, a production of +the fourteenth century. Helgi and his brother Thorstein +went on a cruise to Finnmark, or Lapland. They +reached a ness, and found the land covered with +forest. Helgi explored this forest, and lighted suddenly +on a party of red-dressed women riding upon +red horses. These ladies were beautiful and of troll +race. One surpassed the others in beauty, and she +was their mistress. They erected a tent and prepared +a feast. Helgi observed that all their vessels +were of silver and gold. The lady, who named herself +Ingibjorg, advanced towards the Norseman, and +invited him to live with her. He feasted and lived +with the trolls for three days, and then returned to +his ship, bringing with him two chests of silver +and gold, which Ingibjorg had given him. He had +been forbidden to mention where he had been and +with whom; so he told no one whence he had obtained +the chests. The ships sailed, and he returned +home.</p> + +<p>One winter’s night Helgi was fetched away from +home, in the midst of a furious storm, by two mysterious +horsemen, and no one was able to ascertain +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>216]</a></span> +for many years what had become of him, till the +prayers of the king, Olaf, obtained his release, and +then he was restored to his father and brother, but +he was thenceforth blind. All the time of his absence +he had been with the red-vested lady in her +mysterious abode of Glœsisvellir.</p> + +<p>The Scotch story of Thomas of Ercildoune is the +same story. Thomas met with a strange lady, of +elfin race, beneath Eildon Tree, who led him into +the underground land, where he remained with her +for seven years. He then returned to earth, still, +however, remaining bound to come to his royal mistress +whenever she should summon him. Accordingly, +while Thomas was making merry with his +friends in the Tower of Ercildoune, a person came +running in, and told, with marks of fear and astonishment, +that a hart and a hind had left the neighboring +forest, and were parading the street of the +village. Thomas instantly arose, left his house, and +followed the animals into the forest, from which he +never returned. According to popular belief, he +still “drees his weird” in Fairy Land, and is one +day expected to revisit earth. (Scott, “Minstrelsy +of the Scottish Border.”) Compare with this the +ancient ballad of Tamlane.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>217]</a></span> +Debes relates that “it happened a good while +since, when the burghers of Bergen had the commerce +of the Faroe Isles, that there was a man in +Serraade, called Jonas Soideman, who was kept by +the spirits in a mountain during the space of seven +years, and at length came out, but lived afterwards +in great distress and fear, lest they should again take +him away; wherefore people were obliged to watch +him in the night.” The same author mentions +another young man who had been carried away, +and after his return was removed a second time, +upon the eve of his marriage.</p> + +<p>Gervase of Tilbury says that “in Catalonia there +is a lofty mountain, named Cavagum, at the foot +of which runs a river with golden sands, in the +vicinity of which there are likewise silver mines. +This mountain is steep, and almost inaccessible. +On its top, which is always covered with ice and +snow, is a black and bottomless lake, into which if +a stone be cast, a tempest suddenly arises; and near +this lake is the portal of the palace of demons.” He +then tells how a young damsel was spirited in +there, and spent seven years with the mountain +spirits. On her return to earth she was thin and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>218]</a></span> +withered, with wandering eyes, and almost bereft +of understanding.</p> + +<p>A Swedish story is to this effect. A young man +was on his way to his bride, when he was allured +into a mountain by a beautiful elfin woman. With +her he lived forty years, which passed as an hour; +on his return to earth all his old friends and relations +were dead, or had forgotten him, and finding +no rest there, he returned to his mountain elf-land.</p> + +<p>In Pomerania, a laborer’s son, Jacob Dietrich of +Rambin, was enticed away in the same manner.</p> + +<p>There is a curious story told by Fordun in his +“Scotichronicon,” which has some interest in connection +with the legend of the Tanhäuser. He relates +that in the year 1050, a youth of noble birth +had been married in Rome, and during the nuptial +feast, being engaged in a game of ball, he took off +his wedding-ring, and placed it on the finger of a +statue of Venus. When he wished to resume it, he +found that the stony hand had become clinched, so +that it was impossible to remove the ring. Thenceforth +he was haunted by the Goddess Venus, who +constantly whispered in his ear, “Embrace me; I +am Venus, whom you have wedded; I will never +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>219]</a></span> +restore your ring.” However, by the assistance of +a priest, she was at length forced to give it up to +its rightful owner.</p> + +<p>The classic legend of Ulysses, held captive for +eight years by the nymph Calypso in the Island of +Ogygia, and again for one year by the enchantress +Circe, contains the root of the same story of the +Tanhäuser.</p> + +<p>What may have been the significance of the primeval +story-radical it is impossible for us now to +ascertain; but the legend, as it shaped itself in the +middle ages, is certainly indicative of the struggle +between the new and the old faith.</p> + +<p>We see thinly veiled in Tanhäuser the story of +a man, Christian in name, but heathen at heart, +allured by the attractions of paganism, which seems +to satisfy his poetic instincts, and which gives full +rein to his passions. But these excesses pall on him +after a while, and the religion of sensuality leaves +a great void in his breast.</p> + +<p>He turns to Christianity, and at first it seems to +promise all that he requires. But alas! he is repelled +by its ministers. On all sides he is met by practice +widely at variance with profession. Pride, worldliness, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>220]</a></span> +want of sympathy exist among those who should +be the foremost to guide, sustain, and receive him. +All the warm springs which gushed up in his broken +heart are choked, his softened spirit is hardened +again, and he returns in despair to bury his sorrows +and drown his anxieties in the debauchery of his +former creed.</p> + +<p>A sad picture, but doubtless one very true.</p> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>221]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap11" id="chap11"></a>Fatality of Numbers.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE laws governing numbers are so perplexing +to the uncultivated mind, and the results arrived +at by calculation are so astonishing, that it +cannot be matter of surprise if superstition has attached +itself to numbers.</p> + +<p>But even to those who are instructed in numeration, +there is much that is mysterious and unaccountable, +much that only an advanced mathematician +can explain to his own satisfaction. The +neophyte sees the numbers obedient to certain laws; +but <em>why</em> they obey these laws he cannot understand; +and the fact of his not being able so to do, tends to +give to numbers an atmosphere of mystery which +impresses him with awe.</p> + +<p>For instance, the property of the number 9, discovered, +I believe, by W. Green, who died in 1794, +is inexplicable to any one but a mathematician. The +property to which I allude is this, that when 9 is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>222]</a></span> +multiplied by 2, by 3, by 4, by 5, by 6, &c., it will be +found that the digits composing the product, when +added together, give 9. Thus:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table showing property of the number 9"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">2 × 9 = 18,</td> + <td class="tdc">and</td> + <td class="tdrt">1 + 8 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">3 × 9 = 27,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">2 + 7 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">4 × 9 = 36,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 + 6 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">5 × 9 = 45,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">4 + 5 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">6 × 9 = 54,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">5 + 4 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">7 × 9 = 63,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">6 + 3 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">8 × 9 = 72,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">7 + 2 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">9 × 9 = 81,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">8 + 1 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">10 × 9 = 90,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">9 + 0 = 9</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>It will be noticed that 9 × 11 makes 99, the sum +of the digits of which is 18 and not 9, but the sum +of the digits 1 × 8 equals 9.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table further showing property of the number 9"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">9 × 12 = 108,</td> + <td class="tdc">and</td> + <td class="tdrt">1 + 0 + 8 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">9 × 13 = 117,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">1 + 1 + 7 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">9 × 14 = 126,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">1 + 2 + 6 = 9</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>And so on to any extent.</p> + +<p>M. de Maivan discovered another singular property +of the same number. If the order of the digits expressing +a number be changed, and this number be +subtracted from the former, the remainder will be 9 +or a multiple of 9, and, being a multiple, the sum of +its digits will be 9.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>223]</a></span> +For instance, take the number 21, reverse the +digits, and you have 12; subtract 12 from 21, and +the remainder is 9. Take 63, reverse the digits, and +subtract 36 from 63; you have 27, a multiple of 9, +and 2 + 7 = 9. Once more, the number 13 is the +reverse of 31; the difference between these numbers +is 18, or twice 9.</p> + +<p>Again, the same property found in two numbers +thus changed, is discovered in the same numbers +raised to any power.</p> + +<p>Take 21 and 12 again. The square of 21 is 441, +and the square of 12 is 144; subtract 144 from 441, +and the remainder is 297, a multiple of 9; besides, +the digits expressing these powers added together +give 9. The cube of 21 is 9261, and that of 12 is +1728; their difference is 7533, also a multiple of 9.</p> + +<p>The number 37 has also somewhat remarkable +properties; when multiplied by 3 or a multiple of +3 up to 27, it gives in the product three digits exactly +similar. From the knowledge of this the multiplication +of 37 is greatly facilitated, the method to +be adopted being to multiply merely the first cipher +of the multiplicand by the first multiplier; it is then +unnecessary to proceed with the multiplication, it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>224]</a></span> +being sufficient to write twice to the right hand the +cipher obtained, so that the same digit will stand +in the unit, tens, and hundreds places.</p> + +<p>For instance, take the results of the following +table:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table showing the properties of the number 37"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 multiplied by 3 gives 111,</td> + <td class="tdc">and</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 times 1 = 3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 6 <span class="space1">“</span> 222,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 2 = 6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 9 <span class="space1">“</span> 333,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 3 = 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 12 <span class="space1">“</span> 444,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 4 = 12</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 15 <span class="space1">“</span> 555,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 5 = 15</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 18 <span class="space1">“</span> 666,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 6 = 18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 21 <span class="space1">“</span> 777,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 7 = 21</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 24 <span class="space1">“</span> 888,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 8 = 24</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt">37 <span class="space2">“</span> 27 <span class="space1">“</span> 999,</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdrt">3 <span class="space1">“</span> 9 = 27</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>The singular property of numbers the most different, +when added, to produce the same sum, originated +the use of magical squares for talismans. +Although the reason may be accounted for mathematically, +yet numerous authors have written concerning +them, as though there were something +“uncanny” about them. But the most remarkable +and exhaustive treatise on the subject is that by a +mathematician of Dijon, which is entitled “Traité +complet des Carrés magiques, pairs et impairs, simple +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>225]</a></span> +et composés, à Bordures, Compartiments, Croix, +Chassis, Équerres, Bandes détachées, &c.; suivi d’un +Traité des Cubes magiques et d’un Essai sur les Cercles +magiques; par M. Violle, Géomètre, Chevalier +de St. Louis, avec Atlas de 54 grandes Feuilles, +comprenant 400 figures.” Paris, 1837. 2 vols. 8vo., +the first of 593 pages, the second of 616. Price 36 fr.</p> + +<p>I give three examples of magical squares:—</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="A 3 by 3 magic square"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">2</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">7</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">6</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">9</td> + <td class="tdc">5</td> + <td class="tdc">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">4</td> + <td class="tdc">3</td> + <td class="tdc">8</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>These nine ciphers are disposed in three horizontal +lines; add the three ciphers of each line, and the +sum is 15; add the three ciphers in each column, the +sum is 15; add the three ciphers forming diagonals, +and the sum is 15.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="A 4 by 4 magic square"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">1</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">2</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">3</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">4</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">2</td> + <td class="tdc">3</td> + <td class="tdc">2</td> + <td class="tdc">3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">4</td> + <td class="tdc">1</td> + <td class="tdc">4</td> + <td class="tdc">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">3</td> + <td class="tdc">4</td> + <td class="tdc">1</td> + <td class="tdc">2</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="4">The sum is 10.<br /><br /></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="A 5 by 5 magic square"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space"> 1</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space"> 7</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">13</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">19</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">25</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">18</td> + <td class="tdc">24</td> + <td class="tdc"> 5</td> + <td class="tdc"> 6</td> + <td class="tdc">12</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">10</td> + <td class="tdc">11</td> + <td class="tdc">17</td> + <td class="tdc">23</td> + <td class="tdc"> 4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">22</td> + <td class="tdc"> 3</td> + <td class="tdc"> 9</td> + <td class="tdc">15</td> + <td class="tdc">16</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">14</td> + <td class="tdc">20</td> + <td class="tdc">21</td> + <td class="tdc"> 2</td> + <td class="tdc"> 8</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="5">The sum is 65.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>But the connection of certain numbers with the +dogmas of religion was sufficient, besides their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>226]</a></span> +marvellous properties, to make superstition attach itself +to them. Because there were thirteen at the table +when the Last Supper was celebrated, and one of +the number betrayed his Master, and then hung +himself, it is looked upon through Christendom as +unlucky to sit down thirteen at table, the consequence +being that one of the number will die before the year +is out. “When I see,” said Vouvenargues, “men +of genius not daring to sit down thirteen at table, +there is no error, ancient or modern, which astonishes +me.”</p> + +<p>Nine, having been consecrated by Buddhism, is +regarded with great veneration by the Moguls and +Chinese: the latter bow nine times on entering the +presence of their Emperor.</p> + +<p>Three is sacred among Brahminical and Christian +people, because of the Trinity of the Godhead.</p> + +<p>Pythagoras taught that each number had its own +peculiar character, virtue, and properties.</p> + +<p>“The unit, or the monad,” he says, “is the principle +and the end of all; it is this sublime knot +which binds together the chain of causes; it is the +symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, of conservation, +and of general harmony. Having no parts, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>227]</a></span> +the monad represents Divinity; it announces also +order, peace, and tranquillity, which are founded +on unity of sentiments; consequently <span class="smcap">One</span> is a +good principle.</p> + +<p>“The number <span class="smcap">Two</span>, or the dyad, the origin of +contrasts, is the symbol of diversity, or inequality, +of division and of separation. <span class="smcap">Two</span> is accordingly +an evil principle, a number of bad augury, characterizing +disorder, confusion, and change.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Three</span>, or the triad, is the first of unequals; it +is the number containing the most sublime mysteries, +for everything is composed of three substances; +it represents God, the soul of the world, +the spirit of man.” This number, which plays so +great a part in the traditions of Asia, and in the +Platonic philosophy, is the image of the attributes +of God.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Four</span>, or the tetrad, as the first mathematical +power, is also one of the chief elements; it represents +the generating virtue, whence come all combinations; +it is the most perfect of numbers; it is +the root of all things. It is holy by nature, since +it constitutes the Divine essence, by recalling His +unity, His power, His goodness, and His wisdom, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>228]</a></span> +the four perfections which especially characterize +God. Consequently, Pythagoricians swear by the +quaternary number, which gives the human soul +its eternal nature.</p> + +<p>“The number <span class="smcap">Five</span>, or the pentad, has a peculiar +force in sacred expiations; it is everything; +it stops the power of poisons, and is redoubted by +evil spirits.</p> + +<p>“The number <span class="smcap">Six</span>, or the hexad, is a fortunate +number, and it derives its merit from the first +sculptors having divided the face into six portions; +but, according to the Chaldeans, the reason is, because +God created the world in six days.</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Seven</span>, or the heptad, is a number very powerful +for good or for evil. It belongs especially to +sacred things.</p> + +<p>“The number <span class="smcap">Eight</span>, or the octad, is the first +cube, that is to say, squared in all senses, as a die, +proceeding from its base two, an even number; so +is man four-square, or perfect.</p> + +<p>“The number <span class="smcap">Nine</span>, or the ennead, being the +multiple of three, should be regarded as sacred.</p> + +<p>“Finally, <span class="smcap">Ten</span>, or the decad, is the measure of +all, since it contains all the numeric relations and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>229]</a></span> +harmonies. As the reunion of the four first numbers, +it plays an eminent part, since all the branches +of science, all nomenclatures, emanate from, and +retire into it.”</p> + +<p>It is hardly necessary for me here to do more +than mention the peculiar character given to different +numbers by Christianity. One is the numeral +indicating the Unity of the Godhead; Two points +to the hypostatic union; Three to the Blessed Trinity; +Four to the Evangelists; Five to the Sacred +Wounds; Six is the number of sin; Seven that of +the gifts of the Spirit; Eight, that of the Beatitudes; +Ten is the number of the commandments; +Eleven speaks of the Apostles after the +loss of Judas; Twelve, of the complete apostolic +college.</p> + +<p>I shall now point out certain numbers which +have been regarded with superstition, and certain +events connected with numbers which are of curious +interest.</p> + +<p>The number 14 has often been observed as +having singularly influenced the life of Henry IV. +and other French princes. Let us take the history +of Henry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>230]</a></span> +On the 14th May, 1029, the first king of France +named Henry was consecrated, and on the 14th +May, 1610, the last Henry was assassinated.</p> + +<p>Fourteen letters enter into the composition of the +name of Henri de Bourbon, who was the 14th +king bearing the titles of France and Navarre.</p> + +<p>The 14th December, 1553, that is, 14 centuries, +14 decades, and 14 years after the birth of Christ, +Henry IV. was born; the ciphers of the date 1553, +when added together, giving the number 14.</p> + +<p>The 14th May, 1554, Henry II. ordered the +enlargement of the Rue de la Ferronnerie. The +circumstance of this order not having been carried +out, occasioned the murder of Henry IV. in that +street, four times 14 years after.</p> + +<p>The 14th May, 1552, was the date of the birth +of Marguérite de Valois, first wife of Henry IV.</p> + +<p>On the 14th May, 1588, the Parisians revolted +against Henry III., at the instigation of the Duke +of Guise.</p> + +<p>On the 14th March, 1590, Henry IV. gained the +battle of Ivry.</p> + +<p>On the 14th May, 1590, Henry was repulsed +from the Fauxbourgs of Paris.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>231]</a></span> +On the 14th November, 1590, the Sixteen took +oath to die rather than serve Henry.</p> + +<p>On the 14th November, 1592, the Parliament +registered the Papal Bull giving power to the +legate to nominate a king to the exclusion of +Henry.</p> + +<p>On the 14th December, 1599, the Duke of Savoy +was reconciled to Henry IV.</p> + +<p>On the 14th September, 1606, the Dauphin, afterwards +Louis XIII., was baptized.</p> + +<p>On the 14th May, 1610, the king was stopped +in the Rue de la Ferronnerie, by his carriage becoming +locked with a cart, on account of the narrowness +of the street. Ravaillac took advantage +of the occasion for stabbing him.</p> + +<p>Henry IV. lived four times 14 years, 14 weeks, +and four times 14 days; that is to say, 56 years +and 5 months.</p> + +<p>On the 14th May, 1643, died Louis XIII., son +of Henry IV.; not only on the same day of the +same month as his father, but the date, 1643, when +its ciphers are added together, gives the number +14, just as the ciphers of the date of the birth of +his father gave 14.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>232]</a></span> +Louis XIV. mounted the throne in 1643: 1 + 6 + 4 + 3 = 14.</p> + +<p>He died in the year 1715: 1 + 7 + 1 + 5 = 14.</p> + +<p>He lived 77 years, and 7 + 7 = 14.</p> + +<p>Louis XV. mounted the throne in the same +year; he died in 1774, which also bears the stamp +of 14, the extremes being 14, and the sum of the +means 7 + 7 making 14.</p> + +<p>Louis XVI. had reigned 14 years when he convoked +the States General, which was to bring +about the Revolution.</p> + +<p>The number of years between the assassination +of Henry IV. and the dethronement of Louis XVI. +is divisible by 14.</p> + +<p>Louis XVII. died in 1794; the extreme digits +of the date are 14, and the first two give his +number.</p> + +<p>The restoration of the Bourbons took place in +1814, also marked by the extremes being 14; also +by the sum of the ciphers making 14.</p> + +<p>The following are other curious calculations made +respecting certain French kings.</p> + +<p>Add the ciphers composing the year of the birth +or of the death of some of the kings of the third +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>233]</a></span> +race, and the result of each sum is the titular number +of each prince. Thus:—</p> + +<p>Louis IX. was born in 1215; add the four +ciphers of this date, and you have IX.</p> + +<p>Charles VII. was born in 1402; the sum of +1 + 4 + 2 gives VII.</p> + +<p>Louis XII. was born in 1461; and 1 + 4 + 6 + 1 += XII.</p> + +<p>Henry IV. died in 1610; and 1 + 6 + 1 = twice +IV.</p> + +<p>Louis XIV. was crowned in 1643; and these +four ciphers give XIV. The same king died in +1715; and this date gives also XIV. He was aged +77 years, and again 7 + 7 = 14.</p> + +<p>Louis XVIII. was born in 1755; add the digits, +and you have XVIII.</p> + +<p>What is remarkable is, that this number 18 is +double the number of the king to whom the law +first applies, and is triple the number of the kings +to whom it has applied.</p> + +<p>Here is another curious calculation:—</p> + +<p>Robespierre fell in 1794;</p> + +<p>Napoleon in 1815, and Charles X. in 1830.</p> + +<p>Now, the remarkable fact in connection with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>234]</a></span> +these dates is, that the sum of the digits composing +them, added to the dates, gives the date of +the fall of the successor. Robespierre fell in 1794; +1 + 7 + 9 + 4 = 21, 1794 + 21 = 1815, the date of +the fall of Napoleon; 1 + 8 + 1 + 5 = 15, and +1815 + 15 = 1830, the date of the fall of Charles X.</p> + +<p>There is a singular rule which has been supposed +to determine the length of the reigning +Pope’s life, in the earlier half of a century. Add +his number to that of his predecessor, to that add +ten, and the result gives the year of his death.</p> + +<p>Pius VII. succeeded Pius VI.; 6 + 7 = 13; add +10, and the sum is 23. Pius VII. died in 1823.</p> + +<p>Leo XII. succeeded Pius VII.; 12 + 7 + 10 = 29; +and Leo XII. died in 1829.</p> + +<p>Pius VIII. succeeded Leo XII.; 8 + 12 + 10 = 30; +and Pius VIII. died in 1830.</p> + +<p>However, this calculation does not always apply.</p> + +<p>Gregory XVI. ought to have died in 1834, but +he did not actually vacate his see till 1846.</p> + +<p>It is also well known that an ancient tradition +forbids the hope of any of St. Peter’s successors, +<i>pervenire ad annos Petri</i>; i. e., to reign 25 +years.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>235]</a></span> +Those who sat longest are</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Longest Pope's reigns in years, months and days"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc">Years.</td> + <td class="tdc">Months.</td> + <td class="tdc">Days.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pius VI.,</td> + <td class="tdc">who reigned</td> + <td class="tdc">24</td> + <td class="tdc"> 6</td> + <td class="tdc">14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Hadrian I.</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdc">23</td> + <td class="tdc">10</td> + <td class="tdc">17</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pius VII.</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdc">23</td> + <td class="tdc"> 5</td> + <td class="tdc"> 6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Alexander III.</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdc">21</td> + <td class="tdc">11</td> + <td class="tdc">23</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">St. Silvester I.</td> + <td class="tdc">“</td> + <td class="tdc">21</td> + <td class="tdc"> 0</td> + <td class="tdc"> 4</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>There is one numerical curiosity of a very remarkable +character, which I must not omit.</p> + +<p>The ancient Chamber of Deputies, such as it +existed in 1830, was composed of 402 members, +and was divided into two parties. The one, numbering +221 members, declared itself strongly for the +revolution of July; the other party, numbering 181, +did not favor a change. The result was the constitutional +monarchy, which re-established order +after the three memorable days of July. The +parties were known by the following nicknames. +The larger was commonly called <i>La queue de +Robespierre</i>, and the smaller, <i>Les honnêtes gens</i>. +Now, the remarkable fact is, that if we give to the +letters of the alphabet their numerical values as +they stand in their order, as 1 for A, 2 for B, 3 +for C, and so on to Z, which is valued at 25, and +then write vertically on the left hand the words, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>236]</a></span> +<i>La queue de Robespierre</i>, with the number equivalent +to each letter opposite to it, and on the right +hand, in like manner, <i>Les honnêtes gens</i>, if each +column of numbers be summed up, the result is +the number of members who formed each party.</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Values for letters of the alphabet"> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">1</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">2</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">3</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">4</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">5</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">6</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">7</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">8</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">9</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">10</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">11</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">12</span></td> + <td class="tdc"><span class="space">13</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">A</td> + <td class="tdc">B</td> + <td class="tdc">C</td> + <td class="tdc">D</td> + <td class="tdc">E</td> + <td class="tdc">F</td> + <td class="tdc">G</td> + <td class="tdc">H</td> + <td class="tdc">I</td> + <td class="tdc">J</td> + <td class="tdc">K</td> + <td class="tdc">L</td> + <td class="tdc">M</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">14</td> + <td class="tdc">15</td> + <td class="tdc">16</td> + <td class="tdc">17</td> + <td class="tdc">18</td> + <td class="tdc">19</td> + <td class="tdc">20</td> + <td class="tdc">21</td> + <td class="tdc">22</td> + <td class="tdc">23</td> + <td class="tdc">24</td> + <td class="tdc">25</td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">N</td> + <td class="tdc">O</td> + <td class="tdc">P</td> + <td class="tdc">Q</td> + <td class="tdc">R</td> + <td class="tdc">S</td> + <td class="tdc">T</td> + <td class="tdc">U</td> + <td class="tdc">V</td> + <td class="tdc">X</td> + <td class="tdc">Y</td> + <td class="tdc">Z</td> + <td class="tdc"> <br /><br /></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Calculation of La queue de Robespierre and Les honnetes gens"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">L—12</td> + <td class="tdrt space">L—12</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">A— 1</td> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + <td class="tdrt space">S—19</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">Q—17</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">U—21</td> + <td class="tdrt space">H— 8</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space">O—15</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">U— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space">N—14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space">N—14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">D— 4</td> + <td class="tdrt space">T—20</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + <td class="tdrt space">S—19</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">R—18</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">O—15</td> + <td class="tdrt space">G— 7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">B— 2</td> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space">N—14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">S—19</td> + <td class="tdrt space"><span class="bb">S—19</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">P—16</td> + <td class="tdrt space">181</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">I— 9</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">E— 5</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">R—18</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">R—18</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space"><span class="bb">E— 5</span></td> + <td class="tdrt space"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrt space">221</td> + <td class="tdrt space"> <br /><br /></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Total of the two phrases"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl space">Majority</td> + <td class="tdrt">221</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl space">Minority</td> + <td class="tdrt"><span class="bb">181</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl space">Total</td> + <td class="tdrt">402</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>237]</a></span> +Some coincidences of dates are very remarkable.</p> + +<p>On the 25th August, 1569, the Calvinists massacred +the Catholic nobles and priests at Béarn +and Navarre.</p> + +<p>On the same day of the same month, in 1572, +the Calvinists were massacred in Paris and elsewhere.</p> + +<p>On the 25th October, 1615, Louis XIII. married +Anne of Austria, infanta of Spain, whereupon we +may remark the following coincidences:—</p> + +<p>The name Loys<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> de Bourbon contains 13 letters; +so does the name Anne d’Austriche.</p> + +<p>Louis was 13 years old when this marriage was +decided on; Anne was the same age.</p> + +<p>He was the thirteenth king of France bearing +the name of Louis, and she was the thirteenth +infanta of the name of Anne of Austria.</p> + +<p>On the 23d April, 1616, died Shakspeare: on +the same day of the same month, in the same +year, died the great poet Cervantes.</p> + +<p>On the 29th May, 1630, King Charles II. was +born.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>238]</a></span> +On the 29th May, 1660, he was restored.</p> + +<p>On the 29th May, 1672, the fleet was beaten by +the Dutch.</p> + +<p>On the 29th May, 1679, the rebellion of the +Covenanters broke out in Scotland.</p> + +<p>The Emperor Charles V. was born on February +24, 1500; on that day he won the battle of Pavia, +in 1525, and on the same day was crowned in +1530.</p> + +<p>On the 29th January, 1697, M. de Broquemar, +president of the Parliament of Paris, died suddenly +in that city; next day his brother, an officer, died +suddenly at Bergue, where he was governor. The +lives of these brothers present remarkable coincidences. +One day the officer, being engaged in battle, +was wounded in his leg by a sword-blow. On +the same day, at the same moment, the president +was afflicted with acute pain, which attacked him +suddenly in the same leg as that of his brother +which had been injured.</p> + +<p>John Aubrey mentions the case of a friend of +his who was born on the 15th November; his +eldest son was born on the 15th November; and +his second son’s first son on the same day of the +same month.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>239]</a></span> +At the hour of prime, April 6, 1327, Petrarch +first saw his mistress Laura, in the Church of +St. Clara in Avignon. In the same city, same +month, same hour, 1348, she died.</p> + +<p>The deputation charged with offering the crown +of Greece to Prince Otho, arrived in Munich on +the 13th October, 1832; and it was on the 13th +October, 1862, that King Otho left Athens, to return +to it no more.</p> + +<p>On the 21st April, 1770, Louis XVI. was married +at Vienna, by the sending of the ring.</p> + +<p>On the 21st June, in the same year, took place +the fatal festivities of his marriage.</p> + +<p>On the 21st January, 1781, was the <i>fête</i> at the +Hôtel de Ville, for the birth of the Dauphin.</p> + +<p>On the 21st June, 1791, took place the flight to +Varennes.</p> + +<p>On the 21st January, 1793, he died on the +scaffold.</p> + +<p>There is said to be a tradition of Norman-monkish +origin, that the number 3 is stamped on +the Royal line of England, so that there shall not +be more than three princes in succession without a +revolution.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>240]</a></span> +William I., William II., Henry I.; then followed +the revolution of Stephen.</p> + +<p>Henry II., Richard I., John; invasion of Louis, +Dauphin of France, who claimed the throne.</p> + +<p>Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., who was +dethroned and put to death.</p> + +<p>Edward III., Richard II., who was dethroned.</p> + +<p>Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI.; the crown +passed to the house of York.</p> + +<p>Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III.; the +crown claimed and won by Henry Tudor.</p> + +<p>Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI.; usurpation +of Lady Jane Grey.</p> + +<p>Mary I., Elizabeth; the crown passed to the +house of Stuart.</p> + +<p>James I., Charles I.; Revolution.</p> + +<p>Charles II., James II.; invasion of William of +Orange.</p> + +<p>William of Orange and Mary II., Anne; arrival +of the house of Brunswick.</p> + +<p>George I., George II., George III., George IV., +William IV., Victoria. The law has proved faulty +in the last case; but certainly there was a crisis +in the reign of George IV.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>241]</a></span> +As I am on the subject of the English princes, I +will add another singular coincidence, though it +has nothing to do with the fatality of numbers.</p> + +<p>It is that Saturday has been a day of ill omen +to the later kings.</p> + +<p>William of Orange died Saturday, 18th March, +1702.</p> + +<p>Anne died Saturday, 1st August, 1704.</p> + +<p>George I. died Saturday, 10th June, 1727.</p> + +<p>George II. died Saturday, 25th October, 1760.</p> + +<p>George III. died Saturday, 30th January, 1820.</p> + +<p>George IV. died Saturday, 26th June, 1830.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> +Up to Louis XIII. all the kings of this name spelled +Louis as Loys.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + + +<p class="padtop"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>242]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="chap12" id="chap12"></a>The Terrestrial Paradise.</h2> + + +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE exact position of Eden, and its present +condition, do not seem to have occupied the +minds of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, nor to have +given rise among them to wild speculations.</p> + +<p>The map of the tenth century in the British Museum, +accompanying the Periegesis of Priscian, is +far more correct than the generality of maps which +we find in MSS. at a later period; and Paradise +does not occupy the place of Cochin China, or the +isles of Japan, as it did later, after that the fabulous +voyage of St. Brandan had become popular in the +eleventh century.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> The site, however, had been +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>243]</a></span> +already indicated by Cosmas, who wrote in the +seventh century, and had been specified by him as +occupying a continent east of China, beyond the +ocean, and still watered by the four great rivers +Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates, which sprang +from subterranean canals. In a map of the ninth +century, preserved in the Strasbourg library, the +terrestrial Paradise is, however, on the Continent, +placed at the extreme east of Asia; in fact, is situated +in the Celestial Empire. It occupies the +same position in a Turin MS., and also in a map +accompanying a commentary on the Apocalypse in +the British Museum.</p> + +<p>According to the fictitious letter of Prester John +to the Emperor Emanuel Comnenus, Paradise was +situated close to—within three days’ journey of—his +own territories, but where those territories were, +is not distinctly specified.</p> + +<p>“The River Indus, which issues out of Paradise,” +writes the mythical king, “flows among the plains, +through a certain province, and it expands, embracing +the whole province with its various windings: +there are found emeralds, sapphires, carbuncles, +topazes, chrysolites, onyx, beryl, sardius, and many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>244]</a></span> +other precious stones. There too grows the plant +called Asbetos.” A wonderful fountain, moreover, +breaks out at the roots of Olympus, a mountain +in Prester John’s domain, and “from hour to hour, +and day by day, the taste of this fountain varies; +and its source is hardly three days’ journey from +Paradise, from which Adam was expelled. If any +man drinks thrice of this spring, he will from that +day feel no infirmity, and he will, as long as he +lives, appear of the age of thirty.” This Olympus +is a corruption of Alumbo, which is no other than +Columbo in Ceylon, as is abundantly evident from +Sir John Mandeville’s Travels; though this important +fountain has escaped the observation of Sir +Emmerson Tennant.</p> + +<p>“Toward the heed of that forest (he writes) is +the cytee of Polombe, and above the cytee is a great +mountayne, also clept Polombe. And of that mount, +the Cytee hathe his name. And at the foot of that +Mount is a fayr welle and a gret, that hathe odour +and savour of all spices; and at every hour of the +day, he chaungethe his odour and his savour dyversely. +And whoso drynkethe 3 times fasting of that +watre of that welle, he is hool of alle maner +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>245]</a></span> +sykenesse, that he hathe. And thei that duellen +there and drynken often of that welle, thei nevere +han sykenesse, and thei semen alle weys yonge. +I have dronken there of 3 of 4 sithes; and zit, +methinkethe, I fare the better. Some men clepen +it the Welle of Youthe: for thei that often drynken +thereat, semen alle weys yongly, and lyven withouten +sykenesse. And men seyn, that that welle +comethe out of Paradys: and therefore it is so vertuous.”</p> + +<p>Gautier de Metz, in his poem on the “Image du +Monde,” written in the thirteenth century, places +the terrestrial Paradise in an unapproachable region +of Asia, surrounded by flames, and having an armed +angel to guard the only gate.</p> + +<p>Lambertus Floridus, in a MS. of the twelfth century, +preserved in the Imperial Library in Paris, +describes it as “Paradisus insula in oceano in +oriente:” and in the map accompanying it, Paradise +is represented as an island, a little south-east +of Asia, surrounded by rays, and at some distance +from the main land; and in another MS. of the +same library,—a mediæval encyclopædia,—under +the word Paradisus is a passage which states that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>246]</a></span> +in the centre of Paradise is a fountain which waters +the garden—that in fact described by Prester John, +and that of which story-telling Sir John Mandeville +declared he had “dronken 3 or 4 sithes.” Close +to this fountain is the Tree of Life. The temperature +of the country is equable; neither frosts +nor burning heats destroy the vegetation. The four +rivers already mentioned rise in it. Paradise is, however, +inaccessible to the traveller on account of the +wall of fire which surrounds it.</p> + +<p>Paludanus relates in his “Thesaurus Novus,” of +course on incontrovertible authority, that Alexander +the Great was full of desire to see the terrestrial +Paradise, and that he undertook his wars in the +East for the express purpose of reaching it, and +obtaining admission into it. He states that on his +nearing Eden an old man was captured in a ravine +by some of Alexander’s soldiers, and they were +about to conduct him to their monarch, when the +venerable man said, “Go and announce to Alexander +that it is in vain he seeks Paradise; his efforts +will be perfectly fruitless; for the way of Paradise +is the way of humility, a way of which he knows +nothing. Take this stone and give it to Alexander, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>247]</a></span> +and say to him, ‘From this stone learn what you +must think of yourself.’” Now, this stone was of +great value and excessively heavy, outweighing and +excelling in value all other gems; but when reduced +to powder, it was as light as a tuft of hay, and as +worthless. By which token the mysterious old man +meant, that Alexander alive was the greatest of +monarchs, but Alexander dead would be a thing +of nought.</p> + +<p>That strangest of mediæval preachers, Meffreth, +who got into trouble by denying the Immaculate +Conception of the Blessed Virgin, in his second +sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, discusses +the locality of the terrestrial Paradise, and claims +St. Basil and St. Ambrose as his authorities for +stating that it is situated on the top of a very lofty +mountain in Eastern Asia; so lofty indeed is the +mountain, that the waters of the four rivers fall in +cascade down to a lake at its foot, with such a +roar that the natives who live on the shores of the +lake are stone-deaf. Meffreth also explains the escape +of Paradise from submergence at the Deluge, on the +same grounds as does the Master of Sentences (lib. +2, dist. 17, c. 5), by the mountain being so very +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>248]</a></span> +high that the waters which rose over Ararat were +only able to wash the base of the mountain of +Paradise.</p> + +<p>The Hereford map of the thirteenth century represents +the terrestrial Paradise as a circular island +near India, cut off from the continent not only by +the sea, but also by a battlemented wall, with a +gateway to the west.</p> + +<p>Rupert of Duytz regards it as having been +situated in Armenia. Radulphus Highden, in the +thirteenth century, relying on the authority of St. +Basil and St. Isidore of Seville, places Eden in an +inaccessible region of Oriental Asia; and this was +also the opinion of Philostorgus. Hugo de St. +Victor, in his book “De Situ Terrarum,” expresses +himself thus: “Paradise is a spot in the +Orient productive of all kind of woods and pomiferous +trees. It contains the Tree of Life: there +is neither cold nor heat there, but perpetual equable +temperature. It contains a fountain which flows +forth in four rivers.”</p> + +<p>Rabanus Maurus, with more discretion, says, +“Many folk want to make out that the site of +Paradise is in the east of the earth, though cut off +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>249]</a></span> +by the longest intervening space of ocean or earth +from all regions which man now inhabits. Consequently, +the waters of the Deluge, which covered +the highest points of the surface of our orb, +were unable to reach it. However, whether it be +there, or whether it be anywhere else, God knows; +but that there <em>was</em> such a spot once, and that it +was on earth, that is certain.”</p> + +<p>Jacques de Vitry (“Historia Orientalis”), Gervais +of Tilbury, in his “Otia Imperalia,” and +many others, hold the same views, as to the site +of Paradise, that were entertained by Hugo de St. +Victor.</p> + +<p>Jourdain de Sèverac, monk and traveller in the +beginning of the fourteenth century, places the +terrestrial Paradise in the “Third India;” that is +to say, in trans-Gangic India.</p> + +<p>Leonardo Dati, a Florentine poet of the fifteenth +century, composed a geographical treatise in verse, +entitled “Della Sfera;” and it is in Asia that he +locates the garden:—</p> + +<div class="cpoem"> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Asia e le prima parte dove l’huomo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sendo innocente stava in Paradiso.”<br /></span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>But perhaps the most remarkable account of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>250]</a></span> +terrestrial Paradise ever furnished, is that of the +“Eireks Saga Vídförla,” an Icelandic narrative of +the fourteenth century, giving the adventures of a +certain Norwegian, named Eirek, who had vowed, +whilst a heathen, that he would explore the fabulous +Deathless Land of pagan Scandinavian mythology. +The romance is possibly a Christian recension of an +ancient heathen myth; and Paradise has taken the +place in it of Glœsisvellir.</p> + +<p>According to the majority of the MSS. the story +purports to be nothing more than a religious novel; +but one audacious copyist has ventured to assert that +it is all fact, and that the details are taken down +from the lips of those who heard them from Eirek +himself. The account is briefly this:—</p> + +<p>Eirek was a son of Thrand, king of Drontheim, +and having taken upon him a vow to explore the +Deathless Land, he went to Denmark, where he +picked up a friend of the same name as himself. +They then went to Constantinople, and called upon +the Emperor, who held a long conversation with +them, which is duly reported, relative to the truths +of Christianity and the site of the Deathless Land, +which, he assures them, is nothing more nor less +than Paradise.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>251]</a></span> +“The world,” said the monarch, who had not forgotten +his geography since he left school, “is precisely +180,000 stages round (about 1,000,000 English +miles), and it is not propped up on posts—not a +bit!—it is supported by the power of God; and +the distance between earth and heaven is 100,045 +miles (another MS. reads 9382 miles—the difference +is immaterial); and round about the earth +is a big sea called Ocean.” “And what’s to the +south of the earth?” asked Eirek. “O! there is +the end of the world, and that is India.” “And +pray where am I to find the Deathless Land?” +“That lies—Paradise, I suppose, you mean—well, +it lies slightly east of India.”</p> + +<p>Having obtained this information, the two Eireks +started, furnished with letters from the Greek Emperor.</p> + +<p>They traversed Syria, and took ship—probably +at Balsora; then, reaching India, they proceeded on +their journey on horseback, till they came to a dense +forest, the gloom of which was so great, through +the interlacing of the boughs, that even by day the +stars could be observed twinkling, as though they +were seen from the bottom of a well.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>252]</a></span> +On emerging from the forest, the two Eireks came +upon a strait, separating them from a beautiful land, +which was unmistakably Paradise; and the Danish +Eirek, intent on displaying his scriptural knowledge, +pronounced the strait to be the River Pison. This +was crossed by a stone bridge, guarded by a dragon.</p> + +<p>The Danish Eirek, deterred by the prospect of +an encounter with this monster, refused to advance, +and even endeavored to persuade his friend to give +up the attempt to enter Paradise as hopeless, after +that they had come within sight of the favored land. +But the Norseman deliberately walked, sword in +hand, into the maw of the dragon, and next moment, +to his infinite surprise and delight, found himself +liberated from the gloom of the monster’s interior, +and safely placed in Paradise.</p> + +<p>“The land was most beautiful, and the grass as +gorgeous as purple; it was studded with flowers, +and was traversed by honey rills. The land was +extensive and level, so that there was not to be +seen mountain or hill, and the sun shone cloudless, +without night and darkness; the calm of the air +was great, and there was but a feeble murmur of +wind, and that which there was, breathed redolent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>253]</a></span> +with the odor of blossoms.” After a short walk, +Eirek observed what certainly must have been a +remarkable object, namely, a tower or steeple self-suspended +in the air, without any support whatever, +though access might be had to it by means of a +slender ladder. By this Eirek ascended into a loft +of the tower, and found there an excellent cold collation +prepared for him. After having partaken of +this he went to sleep, and in vision beheld and +conversed with his guardian angel, who promised +to conduct him back to his fatherland, but to come +for him again and fetch him away from it forever +at the expiration of the tenth year after his return +to Dronheim.</p> + +<p>Eirek then retraced his steps to India, unmolested +by the dragon, which did not affect any surprise at +having to disgorge him, and, indeed, which seems +to have been, notwithstanding his looks, but a harmless +and passive dragon.</p> + +<p>After a tedious journey of seven years, Eirek +reached his native land, where he related his adventures, +to the confusion of the heathen, and to +the delight and edification of the faithful. “And +in the tenth year, and at break of day, as Eirek +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>254]</a></span> +went to prayer, God’s Spirit caught him away, and +he was never seen again in this world: so here +ends all we have to say of him.”<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>The saga, of which I have given the merest outline, +is certainly striking, and contains some beautiful +passages. It follows the commonly-received +opinion which identified Paradise with Ceylon; +and, indeed, an earlier Icelandic work, the “Rymbegla,” +indicates the locality of the terrestrial Paradise +as being near India, for it speaks of the Ganges +as taking its rise in the mountains of Eden. It is +not unlikely that the curious history of Eirek, if not +a Christianized version of a heathen myth, may +contain the tradition of a real expedition to India, +by one of the hardy adventurers who overran Europe, +explored the north of Russia, harrowed the +shores of Africa, and discovered America.</p> + +<p>Later than the fifteenth century, we find no theories +propounded concerning the terrestrial Paradise, +though there are many treatises on the presumed +situation of the ancient Eden. At Madrid was +published a poem on the subject, entitled “Patriana +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[<span class="hidden">Pg </span>255]</a></span> +decas,” in 1629. In 1662 G. C. Kirchmayer, a Wittemberg +professor, composed a thoughtful dissertation, +“De Paradiso,” which he inserted in his “Deliciæ +Æstivæ.” Fr. Arnoulx wrote a work on +Paradise in 1665, full of the grossest absurdities. +In 1666 appeared Carver’s “Discourse on the Terrestrian +Paradise.” Bochart composed a tract on +the subject; Huet wrote on it also, and his work +passed through seven editions, the last dated from +Amsterdam, 1701. The Père Hardouin composed +a “Nouveau Traité de la Situation du Paradis Terrestre,” +La Haye, 1730. An Armenian work on the +rivers of Paradise was translated by M. Saint Marten +in 1819; and in 1842 Sir W. Ouseley read a paper +on the situation of Eden, before the Literary Society +in London.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> +St. Brandan was an Irish monk, living at the close of +the sixth century; he founded the Monastery of Clonfert, +and is commemorated on May 16. His voyage seems to be +founded on that of Sinbad, and is full of absurdities. It has +been republished by M. Jubinal from MSS. in the Bibliothèque +du Roi, Paris, 8vo. 1836; the earliest printed English +edition is that of Wynkyn de Worde, London, 1516.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> +Compare with this the death of Sir Galahad in the +“Morte d’Arthur” of Sir Thomas Malory.</p> +</div> +</div> + + +<p class="center padtop padbase">THE END.</p> + + + + +<p class="center padtop lrgfont"><i>The Genius of Solitude.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>HE SOLITUDES OF NATURE AND OF MAN; <span class="smcap">or, +The Loneliness of Human Life</span>. By <span class="smcap">Wm. Rounseville +Alger</span>.</p> + + +<p class="center padtop">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p class="center">The Solitudes of Nature.<br /> +<br /> +The Solitudes of Man.<br /> +<br /> +The Morals of Solitude.<br /> +<br /> +Sketches of Lonely Characters: or, Personal Illustrations +of the Good and Evil of Solitude.<br /> +<br /> +Summary of the Subject.</p> + +<p class="center">In one handsome volume. 16mo. Cloth. Price $2.00.</p> + +<p>“This volume is the result of much investigation, much meditation, and much +experience; and is very comprehensive in its scope.... The author has +shown the influence of solitude on every grade of mind and character, has discriminated +its beneficent form and its morbid action, and has shown how it nurtures +lofty thoughts as well as how it pampers self-will, and, in the throng of his personal +illustrations, has indicated its effect on representative men of genius in +almost every department of human effort.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>“We know of no work like it, and question whether any of its size has appeared +in this generation with an equal amount of intellectual enrichment and stimulus, +moral nutriment, and invaluable ethical instruction.”—<i>The Liberal Christian.</i></p> + +<p>“This book is a worthy mate to Burton’s famous Anatomy of Melancholy. The +fortunate reader may learn from it how to win the benefits and shun the evils of +being alone.”—<i>N. Y. Express.</i></p> + +<p>“We envy the heart of no one who, unmoved, and with tearless eye, can read +them (The Solitude of the <span class="smcap">Ruin</span> and the Solitude of <span class="smcap">Death</span>).”—<i>West. Missionary.</i></p> + +<p class="center">——</p> + +<p>Mailed, post paid, to any address, on receipt of the price, +by the Publishers,</p> + +<p class="center"><b>ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.</b></p> +</div> + + +<p class="center padtop lrgfont"><i>Memoirs and Correspondence of Madame +Récamier.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>RANSLATED and Edited by <span class="smcap">Miss Luyster</span>. 1 vol., +16mo., with a finely engraved Portrait. Price $2.00.</p> + +<p class="padtop">“The diversified contents of this volume can hardly fail to gain for it a wide +perusal. It has the interest, in a greater or less degree, of history and romance; +of truth stranger than fiction; of personal sketches; of the curious phases of an +exceptional social life; of singular admixtures of piety and folly, of greatness and +profligacy, fidelity and intrigue, all mingling or revealed in connection with the +prolonged career of one who was, in certain respects, the most remarkable woman +of her time.”—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>“With nothing like the talents which immortalized the author of <i>Corinne</i>, +Madame Récamier won herself a place of not less social influence among the men +and women of her day. We must clearly look elsewhere than either to intellect, +wealth, beauty, or all three combined, for the secret of that witchery which was so +distinctive of her. There was something, we are led to infer, in her constitutional +temperament, which, even beyond her delicate and indefinable tact, may afford the +real clew to much of her mysterious ascendency. Love seems to have existed in +her as a yearning of the soul almost entirely free from those elements of passion +which are grounded in the difference of the sexes. There was in it not so much of +the desire which centres in a single object, as of the emotion which seeks to diffuse +itself over the very widest sphere of objects. It could thus be warm and deep, +while pure and inaccessible to evil. Sainte-Beuve’s remark, that she had carried +the art of friendship to perfection, helps us here to give the true key to her character. +A warm and constant friend, she never admitted, never showed herself, a +lover. Satisfied with the arrangement which gave her from an early age nothing +more than the name and status of a wife, she could let her natural affection range +with freedom and security wherever it met with a response that left intact her +dignity and self-respect. Such coquetry as she showed arose rather from an +instinctive desire to please and attract, than from anything approaching to a +vicious instinct, or a silly desire to swell the list of her conquests. What seemed +to begin in flirtation never went to the point of danger, and men who at first sight +loved her passionately usually ended by becoming her true friends.”—<i>The London +Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p class="center">——</p> + +<p>Mailed, post paid, to any address, by the Publishers,</p> + +<p class="center"><b>ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston</b>.</p> +</div> + + + +<div class="bbox"> +<p><b>Transcriber's Note</b></p> + +<p>Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Variable spelling is also preserved as +printed, where both forms are recognised; for example, Gervase/Gervais of Tilbury, +Sir John Mandeville/Maundevil.</p> + +<p>Unk-Khan is given as another name for Prester John. There is one instance of Un-Khan; +however, this is in quoted material, and so is preserved as printed.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_46">46</a> includes the phrase, "it was Saterday in Wyttson woke"; the +word 'woke' may be a typographic error for 'weke', but as it cannot +be ascertained for certain, it is preserved as printed.</p> + +<p>At page <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, Hemingr is described as throwing a spear rather than +shooting an arrow as challenged. This is presumably an error in the story, but +is preserved as printed.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_168">168</a> includes "He will rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, and making +the Holy City the great capital of the world." The 'and making' may be +an error for 'and make' or simply 'making'; as it is impossible to be +sure, it is preserved as printed.</p> + +<p>Minor punctuation errors have been repaired. Hyphenation and accent usage have +been made consistent.</p> + +<p>The following amendments have been made:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Page <a href="#Page_21">21</a>—Labavius amended to Libavius—"... Libavius declares that he would sooner +believe ..."</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_88">88</a>—repeated 'a' deleted—"... possibly a little imaginative, +for she wrote not unsuccessfully; ..."</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_118">118</a>—it at amended to at it—"... and aim at it from +precisely the same distance."</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_175">175</a>—Wolffii amended to Wolfii—"This fragment is preserved in “Wolfii Lectionum +Memorabilium centenarii, XVI.:” ..."</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_215">215</a>—omitted word 'on' added—"Helgi and his brother Thorstein went on a cruise +..."</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_222">222</a>—multiplication sign changed to plus—"... but the +sum of the digits 1 + 8 = 9."</p> +</div> + +<p>The frontispiece illustration has been moved to follow the front matter. Other illustrations +have been moved where necessary so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph.</p> + +<p>Advertising material has been moved from the beginning of the book to the end.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by +Sabine Baring-Gould + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOUS MYTHS OF THE MIDDLE AGES *** + +***** This file should be named 36127-h.htm or 36127-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/2/36127/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sam W. and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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