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diff --git a/41546-0.txt b/41546-0.txt index e75265b..4a11337 100644 --- a/41546-0.txt +++ b/41546-0.txt @@ -1,37 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Curiosities of Olden Times, by S. 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: Curiosities of Olden Times - - -Author: S. 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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: Curiosities of Olden Times - - -Author: S. Baring-Gould - - - -Release Date: December 3, 2012 [eBook #41546] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES*** - - -E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (http://archive.org/) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 41546-h.htm or 41546-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41546/41546-h/41546-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41546/41546-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/curiositiesofold00inbari - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - The original text includes Greek characters that have been - replaced with transliterations in this text version. - - The original text includes a dagger symbol that is - represented as [dagger] in this text version. - - The original text includes a cross symbol that is - represented as [cross] in this text version. - - The original text includes the prescription symbol that is - represented as [Rx.] in this text version. - - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES - -by - -S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. - -Author of 'Iceland, Its Scenes and Its Sagas,' 'Mehalah,' etc. - -Revised and Enlarged Edition - - - - - - - -Edinburgh -John Grant -31 George IV. Bridge -1896 - - - - -PREFACE - - -An antiquary lights on many a curiosity whilst overhauling the dusty tomes -of ancient writers. This little book is a small museum in which I have -preserved some of the quaintest relics which have attracted my notice -during my labours. The majority of the articles were published in 1869. I -have now added some others. - - LEW TRENCHARD, - _September 1895_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THE MEANING OF MOURNING 1 - - CURIOSITIES OF CYPHER 17 - - STRANGE WILLS 39 - - QUEER CULPRITS 57 - - GHOSTS IN COURT 74 - - STRANGE PAINS AND PENALTIES 89 - - WHAT ARE WOMEN MADE OF? 102 - - "FLAGELLUM SALUTIS" 119 - - "HERMIPPUS REDIVIVUS" 135 - - THE BARONESS DE BEAUSOLEIL 153 - - SOME CRAZY SAINTS 167 - - THE JACKASS OF VANVRES 207 - - A MYSTERIOUS VALE 217 - - KING ROBERT OF SICILY 237 - - SORTES SACRÆ 256 - - CHIAPA CHOCOLATE 268 - - THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE 280 - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES - - - - -THE MEANING OF MOURNING - - -A strip of black cloth an inch and a half in width stitched round the -sleeve--that is the final, or perhaps penultimate expression (for it may -dwindle further to a black thread) of the usage of wearing mourning on the -decease of a relative. - -The usage is one that commends itself to us as an outward and visible sign -of the inward sentiment of bereavement, and not one in ten thousand who -adopt mourning has any idea that it ever possessed a signification of -another sort. And yet the correlations of general custom--of mourning -fashions, lead us to the inexorable conclusion that in its inception the -practice had quite a different signification from that now attributed to -it, nay more, that it is solely because its primitive meaning has been -absolutely forgotten, and an entirely novel significance given to it, that -mourning is still employed after a death. - -Look back through the telescope of anthropology at our primitive ancestors -in their naked savagery, and we see them daub themselves with soot mingled -with tallow. When the savage assumed clothes and became a civilised man, -he replaced the fat and lampblack with black cloth, and this black cloth -has descended to us in the nineteenth century as the customary and -intelligible trappings of woe. - -The Chinaman when in a condition of bereavement assumes white garments, -and we may be pretty certain that his barbarous ancestor, like the Andaman -Islander of the present day, pipeclayed his naked body after the decease -and funeral of a relative. In Egypt yellow was the symbol of sorrow for a -death, and that points back to the ancestral nude Egyptian having smeared -himself with yellow ochre. - -Black was not the universal hue of mourning in Europe. In Castile white -obtained on the death of its princes. Herrera states that the last time -white was thus employed was in 1498, on the death of Prince John. This use -of white in Castile indicates chalk or pipeclay as the daub affected by -the ancestors of the house of Castile in primeval time as a badge of -bereavement. - -Various explanations have been offered to account for the variance of -colour. White has been supposed to denote purity; and to this day white -gloves and hat-bands and scarves are employed at the funeral of a young -girl, as in the old ballad of "The Bride's Burial":-- - - A garland fresh and fair - Of lilies there was made, - In signs of her virginity, - And on her coffin laid. - Six pretty maidens, _all in white_, - Did bear her to the ground, - The bells did ring in solemn swing - And made a doleful sound. - -Yellow has been supposed to symbolise that death is the end of human -hopes, because falling leaves are sere; black is taken as the privation of -light; and purple or violet also affected as a blending of joy with -sorrow. Christian moralists have declaimed against black as heathen, as -denoting an aspect of death devoid of hope, and gradually purple is taking -its place in the trappings of the hearse, if not of the mourners, and the -pall is now very generally violet. - -But these explanations are afterthoughts, and an attempt to give reason -for the divergence of usage which might satisfy, but these are really no -explanations at all. The usage goes back to a period when there were no -such refinements of thought. If violet or purple has been traditional, it -is so merely because the ancestral Briton stained himself with woad on the -death of a relative. - -The pipeclay, lampblack, yellow ochre, and woad of the primeval mourners -must be brought into range with a whole series of other mourning usages, -and then the result is something of an "eye-opener." It reveals a -condition of mind and an aspect of death that causes not a little -surprise and amusement. It is one of the most astonishing, and, perhaps, -shocking traits of barbarous life, that death revolutionises completely -the feelings of the survivors towards their deceased husbands, wives, -parents, and other relatives. - -A married couple may have been sincerely attached to each other so long as -the vital spark was twinkling, but the moment it is extinguished the dead -partner becomes, not a sadly sweet reminiscence, but an object of the -liveliest terror to the survivor. He or she does everything that ingenuity -can suggest to get him or herself out of all association in body and -spirit with the late lamented. Death is held to be thoroughly demoralising -to the deceased. However exemplary a person he or she may have been in -life, after death the ghost is little less than a plaguing, spiteful -spirit. - -There is in the savage no tender clinging to the remembrance of the loved -one, he is translated into a terrible bugbear, who must be evaded and -avoided by every contrivance conceivable. This is due, doubtless, mainly -to the inability of the uncultivated mind to discriminate between what is -seen waking from what presents itself in phantasy to the dreaming head. -After a funeral, it is natural enough for the mourners to dream of the -dead, and they at once conclude that they have been visited by his -_revenant_. After a funeral feast, a great gorging of pork or beef, it is -very natural that the sense of oppression and pain felt should be -associated with the dear departed, and should translate itself into the -idea that he has come from his grave to sit on the chests of those who -have bewailed him. - -Moreover, the savage associates the idea of desolation, death, discomfort, -with the condition of the soul after death, and believes that the ghosts -do all they can to return to their former haunts and associates for the -sake of the warmth and food, the shelter of the huts, and the -entertainment of the society of their fellows. But the living men and -women are not at all eager to receive the ghosts into the family circle, -and they accordingly adopt all kinds of "dodges," expedients to prevent -the departed from making these irksome and undesired visits. - -The Venerable Bede tells us that Laurence, Archbishop of Canterbury, -resolved on flying from England because he was hopeless of effecting any -good under the successor of Ethelbert, king of Kent. The night before he -fled he slept on the floor of the church, and dreamed that St. Peter -cudgelled him soundly for resolving to abandon his sacred charge. In the -morning he awoke stiff and full of aches and pains. Turned into modern -language, we should say that Archbishop Laurence was attacked with -rheumatism on account of his having slept on the cold stones of the -church. His mind had been troubled before he went to sleep with doubts -whether he were doing right in abandoning his duty, and very naturally -this trouble of conscience coloured his dream, and gave to his rheumatic -twinges the complexion it assumed. - -Now Archbishop Laurence regarded the Prince of the Apostles in precisely -the light in which a savage views his deceased relatives and ancestors. He -associates his maladies, his pains, with theirs, if he should happen to -dream of them. If, however, when in pain, he dreams of a living person, -then he holds that this living person has cast a magical spell over him. - -Among nature's men, before they have gone through the mill of -civilisation, plenty to eat and to drink, and some one to talk to, are the -essentials of happiness. They see that the dead have none of these -requisites, they consider that they are miserable without them. The writer -remembers how, when he was a boy, and attended a funeral of a relative in -November, he could not sleep all night--a bitter, frosty night--with the -thought how cold it must be to the dead in the vault, without blankets, -hot bottle, or fire. It was in vain for him to reason against the feeling; -the feeling was so strong on him that he was conscious of an uncomfortable -expectation of the dead coming to claim a share of the blanket, fire, or -hot bottle. Now the savage never reasons against such a feeling, and he -assumes that the dead will return, as a matter of course, for what he -cannot have in the grave. - -The ghost is very anxious to assert its former rights. A widow has to get -rid of the ghost of her first husband before she can marry again. In -Parma a widow about to be remarried is pelted with sticks and stones, not -in the least because the Parmans object to remarriage, but in order to -scare away the ghost of No. 1, who is hanging about his wife, and who will -resent his displacement in her affections by No. 2. - -To the present day, in some of the villages of the ancient Duchy of Teck, -in Würtemberg, it is customary when a corpse is being conveyed to the -cemetery, for relatives and friends to surround the dead, and in turn talk -to it--assure it what a blessed rest it is going to, how anxious the -kinsfolk are that it may be comfortable, how handsome will be the cross -set over the grave, how much all desire that it may sleep soundly and not -by any means leave the grave and come haunting old scenes and friends, how -unreasonable such conduct as the latter hinted at would be, how it would -alter the regard entertained for the deceased, how disrespectful to the -Almighty who gives rest to the good, and how it would be regarded as an -admission of an uneasy conscience. Lively comparisons are drawn between -the joys of Paradise and the vale of tears that has been quitted, so as to -take away from the deceased all desire to return. - -This is a survival of primitive usage and mode of thought, and has its -analogies in many places and among diverse races. - -The Dacotah Indians address the ghost of the dead in the same "soft -solder," to induce it to take the road to the world of spirits and not to -come sauntering back to its wigwam. In Siam and in China it is much the -same; persuasion, flattery, threats are employed. - -Unhappily all ghosts are not open to persuasion, and see through the -designs of the mourners, and with them severer measures have to be -resorted to. Among the Sclavs of the Danube and the Czechs, the bereaved, -after the funeral, on going home turn themselves about after every few -steps and throw sticks, stones, mud, even hot coals in the direction of -the churchyard, so as to frighten the spirit back to the grave so -considerately provided for it. A Finnish tribe has not even the decency to -wait till the corpse is covered with soil; they fire pistols and guns -after it as it goes to its grave, and lies in it. - -In _Hamlet_, at the funeral of Ophelia, the priest says-- - - For charitable prayers, - Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her. - -Unquestionably it must have been customary in England thus to pelt a ghost -that was suspected of the intention to wander. The stake driven through -the suicide's body was a summary and complete way of ensuring that the -ghost would not be troublesome. - -Those Finns who fired guns after a dead man had another expedient for -holding him fast, and that was to nail him down in his coffin. The Arabs -tie his legs together. The Wallacks drive a long nail through the skull; -and this usage explains the many skulls that have been exhumed in Germany -thus perforated. The Icelanders, when a ghost proved troublesome, opened -the grave, cut off the dead man's head, and made the body sit on it. That, -they concluded, would effectually puzzle it how to get about. The -Californian Indians were wont to break the spine of the corpse so as to -paralyse his lower limbs, and make "walking" impossible. Spirit and body -to the unreasoning mind are intimately associated. A hurt done to the body -wounds the soul. Mrs. Crowe, in her _Night Side of Nature_, tells a story -reversing this. A gentleman in Germany was dying--he expressed great -desire to see his son, who was a ne'er-do-well, and was squandering his -money in Paris. At that same time the young man was sitting on a bench in -the Bois de Boulogne, with a switch in his hand. Suddenly he saw his old -father before him. Convinced that he saw a phantom, he raised his switch, -and cut the apparition once, twice, and thrice across the face; and it -vanished. At that moment the dying father uttered a scream, and held his -hands to his face--"My boy! my boy! He is striking me again--again!" and -he died. The Algonquin Indians beat the walls of the death-chamber to -drive out the ghost; in Sumatra, a priest is employed with a broom to -sweep the ghost out. In Scotland, and in North Germany, the chairs on -which a coffin has rested are reversed, lest the dead man should take the -fancy to sit on them instead of going to his grave. In ancient Mexico, -certain professional ghost ejectors were employed, who, after a funeral, -were invited to visit and thoroughly explore the house whence the dead had -been removed, and if they found the ghost lurking about, in corners, in -cupboards, under beds--anywhere, to kick it out. In Siberia, after forty -days' "law" given to the ghost, if it be still found loafing about, the -Schaman is sent for, who drums it out. He extorts brandy, which he -professes to require, as he has to conduct the deceased personally to the -land of spirits, where he will make it and the other guests so fuddled -that they will forget the way back to earth. - -In North Germany a troublesome ghost is bagged, and the bag emptied in -some lone spot, or in the garden of a neighbour against whom a grudge is -entertained. - -Another mode of getting rid of the spirit of the dear departed is to -confuse it as to its way home. This is done in various ways. Sometimes the -road by which it has been carried to its resting-place is swept to efface -the footprints, and a false track is made into a wood or on to a moor, so -that the ghost may take the wrong road. Sometimes ashes are strewn on the -road to hide the footprints. Sometimes the dead is carried rapidly three -or four times round the house so as to make him giddy, and not know in -which direction he is carried. The universal practice of closing the eyes -of the dead may be thought to have originated in the desire that he might -be prevented from seeing his way. - -In many places it was, and is, customary for the dead body to be taken out -of the house, not through the door, but by a hole knocked in the wall for -the purpose, and backwards. In Iceland in the historic period this custom -was reserved for such as died in their seats and not in their beds. One or -two instances occur in the Sagas. In Corea, blinders made of black silk -are put on the dead man's eyes, to prevent him from finding his way home. - -Many savage nations entirely abandon a hut or a camp in which a death has -occurred for precisely the same reason--of throwing out the dead man's -spirit. - -It was a common practice in England till quite recently for the room in -which a death had occurred to be closed for some time, and this is merely -a survival of the custom of abandoning the place where a spirit has left -the body. The Esquimaux take out their dying relatives to huts constructed -of blocks of ice or snow, and leave them there to expire, for ghosts are -as stupid as they are troublesome, they have no more wits than a peacock, -they can only find their way to the place where they died. - -Other usages are to divert a stream and bring the corpse in the river-bed, -or lay it beyond running water, which according to ghost-lore it cannot -pass. Or again, fires are lighted across its path, and it shrinks from -passing through flames. As for water, ghosts loathe it. Among the Matamba -negroes a widow is flung into the water and dipped repeatedly so as to -wash off the ghost of the dead husband, which is supposed to be clinging -to her. In New Zealand, among the Maoris, all who have followed the corpse -dive into water so as to throw off the ghost which is sneaking home after -them. In Tahiti, all who have assisted at a burial run as hard as they can -to the sea and take headers into it for the same object. It is the same in -New Guinea. We see the same idea reduced to a mere form in ancient Rome, -where in place of the dive through water, a vessel of water was carried -twice round those who had followed the corpse, and they were sprinkled. -The custom of washing and purification after a funeral practised by the -Jews is a reminiscence of the usage, with a novel explanation given to it. - -In the South Pacific, in the Hervey Islands, after a death men turn out to -pummel and fight the returning spirit, and give it a good drubbing in the -air. - -Now, perhaps, the reader may have been brought to understand what the -sundry mourning costumes originally meant. They were disguises whereby to -deceive the ghosts, so that they might not recognise and pester with -their undesired attentions the relatives who live. Indians who are wont to -paint themselves habitually, go after a funeral totally unbedecked with -colour. On the other hand, other savages daub themselves fantastically -with various colours, making themselves as unlike what they were -previously as is possible. The Coreans when in mourning assume hats with -low rims that conceal their features. - -The Papuans conceal themselves under extinguishers made of banana leaves. -Elsewhere in New Guinea they envelop themselves in a wickerwork frame in -which they can hardly walk. Among the Mpongues of Western Africa, those -who on ordinary occasions wear garments walk in complete nudity when -suffering bereavement. Valerius Maximus tells us that among the Lycians it -was customary in mourning for the men to disguise themselves in women's -garments. - -The custom of cutting the hair short, and of scratching and disfiguring -the face, and of rending the garments, all originated from the same -thought--to make the survivors irrecognisable by the ghost of the -deceased. Plutarch asserts that the Sacæ, after a death, went down into -pits and hid themselves for days from the light of the sun. Australian -widows near the north-west bend of the Murray shave their heads and -plaster them with pipeclay, which, when dry, forms a close-fitting -skull-cap. The spirit of the late lamented on returning to his better -half either does not recognise his spouse, or is so disgusted with her -appearance that he leaves her for ever. - -There is almost no end to the expedients adopted for getting rid of the -dead. Piles of stones are heaped over them, they are buried deep in the -earth, they are walled up in natural caves, they are enclosed in -megalithic structures, they are burned, they are sunk in the sea. They are -threatened, they are cajoled, they are hoodwinked. Every sort of trickery -is had recourse to, to throw them off the scent of home and of their -living relations. - -The wives, horses, dogs slain and buried with them, the copious supplies -of food and drink laid on their graves, are bribes to induce them to be -content with their situation. Nay, further--in very many places no food -may be eaten in the house of mourning for many days after an interment. -The object of course is to disappoint the returning spirit, which comes -seeking a meal, finds none, comes again next day, finds none again, and -after a while desists from returning out of sheer disgust. - -A vast amount of misdirected ingenuity is expended in bamboozling and -bullying the unhappy ghosts; but the feature most striking in these -proceedings is the unanimous agreement in considering these ghosts as such -imbeciles. When they put off their outward husk, they divest themselves of -all that cunning which is the form that intelligence takes in the savage. -Not only so, but although they remember and crave after home comforts, -they absolutely forget the tricks they had themselves played on the souls -of the dead in their own lifetime; they walk and blunder into the traps -which they had themselves laid for other ghosts in the days of their -flesh. - -Perhaps the lowest abyss of dunder-headedness they have been supposed to -reach is when made to mistake their own identity. Recently near Mentone a -series of prehistoric interments in caves have been exposed. They reveal -the dead men as having had their heads daubed over with red oxide of iron. -Still extant races of savages paint, plaster, and disfigure their dead. -The prehistoric Greeks masked them. The Aztecs masked their deceased -kings, and the Siamese do so still. We cannot say with absolute certainty -what the object is--but we are probably not far out when we conjecture the -purpose to be to make the dead forget who they are when they look at their -reflection in the water. There was a favourite song sung some sixty years -ago relative to a little old woman who got "muzzy." Whilst in this -condition some naughty boys cut her skirts at her knees. When she woke up -and saw her condition, "Lawk!" said the little old woman, "this never is -me!" And certain ancient peoples treated their dead in something the same -way; they disguised and disfigured them so that each ghost waking up -might exclaim, "Lawk! this never is me!" And so having lost its identity, -did not consider it had a right to revisit its old home and molest its old -acquaintances. - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF CYPHER - - -In 1680, when M. de Louvois was French Minister of War, he summoned before -him one day a gentleman named Chamilly, and gave him the following -instructions: - -"Start this evening for Basle, in Switzerland; you will reach it in three -days; on the fourth, punctually at two o'clock, station yourself on the -bridge over the Rhine, with a portfolio, ink, and a pen. Watch all that -takes place, and make a memorandum of every particular. Continue doing so -for two hours; have a carriage and post-horses awaiting you;, and at four -precisely mount, and travel night and day till you reach Paris. On the -instant of your arrival, hasten to me with your notes." - -De Chamilly obeyed; he reached Basle, and on the day and at the hour -appointed, stationed himself, pen in hand, on the bridge. Presently a -market-cart drives by; then an old woman with a basket of fruit passes; -anon, a little urchin trundles his hoop by; next an old gentleman in blue -top-coat jogs past on his gray mare. Three o'clock chimes from the -cathedral tower. Just at the last stroke, a tall fellow in yellow -waistcoat and breeches saunters up, goes to the middle of the bridge, -lounges over, and looks at the water; then he takes a step back and -strikes three hearty blows on the footway with his staff. Down goes every -detail in De Chamilly's book. At last the hour of release sounds, and he -jumps into his carriage. Shortly before midnight, after two days of -ceaseless travelling, De Chamilly presented himself before the minister, -feeling rather ashamed at having such trifles to record. M. de Louvois -took the portfolio with eagerness, and glanced over the notes. As his eye -caught the mention of the yellow-breeched man, a gleam of joy flashed -across his countenance. He rushed to the king, roused him from sleep, -spoke in private with him for a few moments, and then four couriers who -had been held in readiness since five on the preceding evening were -despatched with haste. Eight days after, the town of Strasbourg was -entirely surrounded by French troops, and summoned to surrender: it -capitulated and threw open its gates on the 30th of September 1681. -Evidently the three strokes of the stick given by the fellow in yellow -costume, at an appointed hour, were the signal of the success of an -intrigue concerted between M. de Louvois and the magistrates of -Strasbourg, and the man who executed this mission was as ignorant of the -motive as was M. de Chamilly of the motive of his. - -Now this is a specimen of the safest of all secret communications, but it -can only be resorted to on certain rare occasions. When a lengthy despatch -is required to be forwarded, and when such means as those given above are -out of the question, some other method must be employed. Herodotus gives -us a story to the point: it is found also, with variations, in Aulus -Gellius. - -"Histiæus, when he was anxious to give Aristagoras orders to revolt, could -find but one safe way, as the roads were guarded, of making his wishes -known: which was by taking the trustiest of his slaves, shaving all the -hair from off his head, and then pricking letters upon the skin, and -waiting till the hair grew again. This accordingly he did; and as soon as -ever the hair was grown, he despatched the man to Miletus, giving him no -other message than this: 'When thou art come to Miletus, bid Aristagoras -shave thy head, and look thereon.' Now the marks on the head were a -command to revolt."--Bk. v. 35. - -In this case no cypher was employed; we shall come, now, to the use of -cyphers. - -When a despatch or communication runs great risk of falling into the hands -of an enemy, it is necessary that its contents should be so veiled, that -the possession of the document may afford him no information whatever. -Julius Cæsar and Augustus used cyphers, but they were of the utmost -simplicity, as they consisted merely in placing D in the place of A; E in -that of B, and so on; or else in writing B for A, C for B, etc. - -Secret characters were used at the Council of Nicæa; and Rabanus Maurus, -Abbot of Fulda and Archbishop of Mayence in the ninth century, has left us -an example of two cyphers, the key to which was discovered by the -Benedictines. It is only a wonder that any one could have failed to -unravel them at the first glance. This is a specimen of the first: - - .Nc.p.t v:rs:·:s B::n.f:c.. :rch. gl::r.::s.q:.:: m:rt.r.s - -The secret of this is that the vowels have been suppressed and their -places filled by dots,--one for i, two for a, three for e, four for o, and -five for u. In the second example, the same sentence would run--Knckpkt -vfrsxs Bpnkfbckk, etc., the vowel-places being filled by the -consonants--b, f, k, p, x. By changing every letter in the alphabet, we -make a vast improvement on this last; thus, for instance, supplying the -place of a with z, b with x, c with v, and so on. This is the system -employed by an advertiser in a provincial paper which I took up the other -day in the waiting-room of a station, where it had been left by a farmer. -As I had some minutes to spare, before the train was due, I spent them in -deciphering the following: - - Jp Sjddjzb rza rzdd ci sijmr, Bziw rzdd xr ndzt: - -and in ten minutes I read: "If William can call or write, Mary will be -glad." - -A correspondence was carried on in the _Times_ during May 1862 in cypher. -I give it along with the explanation. - - Wws.--Zy Efpdolj T dpye l wpeepc ez mjcyp qzc jzf--xlj T daply qfwwj - zy lww xleepcd le esp tyepcgtph? Te xlj oz rzzo. Ecfde ez xj wzgp--T - lx xtdpclmwp. Hspy xlj T rz ez Nlyepcmfcj tq zywj ez wzzv le jzf.--May - 8. - -This means--"On Tuesday I sent a letter to Byrne for you. May I speak -fully on all matters at the interview? It may do good. Trust to my love. I -am miserable. When may I go to Canterbury if only to look at you?" - -A couple of days later Byrne advertises, slightly varying the cypher: - - Wws.--Sxhrdktg hdbtewxcv "Tmwxqxixdc axzt" udg pcdewtg psktgexhtbtce - ... QNGCT. "Discover something _Exhibition-like_ for another - advertisement. Byrne." - -This gentleman is rather mysterious: I must leave my readers to conjecture -what he means by "Exhibition-like." On Wednesday came two advertisements, -one from the lady--one from the lover. WWS. herself seems rather -sensible-- - - Tydeplo zq rztyr ez nlyepcmfcj, T estyv jzf slo xfns mpeepc delj le - szxp lyo xtyo jzfc mfdtypdd.--WWS., May 10. - -"Instead of going to Canterbury, I think you had much better stay at home -and mind your business." - -Excellent advice; but how far likely to be taken by the eager wooer, who -advertises thus?-- - - Wws.--Fyetw jzfc qlespc lydhpcd T hzye ldv jzf ez aczgp jzf wzgp xp. - Efpdol ytrse le zyp znwznv slgp I dectyr qczx esp htyozh qzc wpeepcd. - Tq jzt lcp yze lmwp le zyp T htww hlte. Rzo nzxqzce jzf xj olcwtyr - htqp. - -"Until your father answers I won't ask you to prove you love me. Tuesday -night at one o'clock have a string from the window for letters. If you are -not able at one I will wait. God comfort you, my darling wife." - -Only a very simple Romeo and Juliet could expect to secure secrecy by so -slight a displacement of the alphabet. - -When the Chevalier de Rohan was in the Bastille, his friends wanted to -convey to him the intelligence that his accomplice was dead without having -confessed. They did so by passing the following words into his dungeon, -written on a shirt: "Mg dulhxcclgu ghj yxuj; lm ct ulgc alj." In vain did -he puzzle over the cypher, to which he had not the clue. It was too short: -for the shorter a cypher letter, the more difficult it is to make out. The -light faded, and he tossed on his hard bed, sleeplessly revolving the -mystic letters in his brain, but he could make nothing out of them. Day -dawned, and, with its first gleam, he was poring over them: still in vain. -He pleaded guilty, for he could not decipher "Le prisonnier est mort; il -_n'a rien dit_." - -Another method of veiling a communication is that of employing numbers or -arbitrary signs in the place of letters, and this admits of many -refinements. Here is an example to test the reader's sagacity: - - § [dagger]431 45 2+9 +§51 4= 8732+ 287 45 2+9 [dagger]¶=+ - -I just give the hint that it is a proverb. - -The following is much more ingenious, and difficult of detection. - - +-----------------------------------+ - | | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | - |---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---| - | A |_a_|_d_|_g_|_k_|_n_|_q_|_t_|_x_| - | | | | | | | | | | - | B |_b_|_e_|_h_|_l_|_o_|_r_|_u_|_y_| - | | | | | | | | | | - | C |_c_|_f_|_i_|_m_|_p_|_s_|_w_|_z_| - +-----------------------------------+ - -Now suppose that I want to write _England_; I look among the small letters -in the foregoing table for _e_, and find that it is in a horizontal line -with B, and vertical line with B, so I write down _B_B; _n_ is in line -with A and E, so I put AE; continue this, and England will be represented -by _Bbaeacbdaaaeab_. Two letters to represent one is not over-tedious: but -the scheme devised by Lord Bacon is clumsy enough. He represented every -letter by permutations of _a_ and _b_; for instance, - - A was written _aaaaa_, B was written _aaaab_ - C " " _aaaba_, D " " _aabaa_ - -and so through the alphabet. Paris would thus be transformed into _abbba, -aaaaa, baaaa, abaaa, baaab_. Conceive the labour of composing a whole -despatch like this, and the great likelihood of making blunders in writing -it! - -A much simpler method is the following. The sender and receiver of the -communication must be agreed upon a certain book of a specified edition. -The despatch begins with a number; this indicates the page to which the -reader is to turn. He must then count the letters from the top of the -page, and give them their value numerically according to the order in -which they come; omitting those which are repeated. By these numbers he -reads his despatch. As an example, let us take the beginning of this -article: then, _I_ = 1, _n_ = 2, _w_ = 3, _h_ = 4, _e_ = 5, _m_ = 6, _d_ = -7, _l_ = 8, _o_ = 9, _u_ = 10, _v_ = 11, omitting to count the letters -which are repeated. In the middle of the communication the page may be -varied, and consequently the numerical significance of each letter -altered. Even this could be read with a little trouble; and the word -"impossible" can hardly be said to apply to the deciphering of -cryptographs. - -A curious instance of this occurred at the close of the sixteenth century, -when the Spaniards were endeavouring to establish relations between the -scattered branches of their vast monarchy, which at that period embraced a -large portion of Italy, the Low Countries, the Philippines, and enormous -districts in the New World. They accordingly invented a cypher, which -they varied from time to time, in order to disconcert those who might -attempt to pry into the mysteries of their correspondence. The cypher, -composed of fifty signs, was of great value to them through all the -troubles of the "Ligue," and the wars then desolating Europe. Some of -their despatches having been intercepted, Henry IV. handed them over to a -clever mathematician, Viete, with the request that he would find the clue. -He did so, and was able also to follow it as it varied, and France -profited for two years by his discovery. The court of Spain, disconcerted -at this, accused Viete before the Roman court as a sorcerer and in league -with the devil. This proceeding only gave rise to laughter and ridicule. - -A still more remarkable instance is that of a German professor, Hermann, -who boasted, in 1752, that he had discovered a cryptograph absolutely -incapable of being deciphered, without the clue being given by him; and he -defied all the savants and learned societies of Europe to discover the -key. However, a French refugee, named Beguelin, managed after eight days' -study to read it. This cypher--though we have the rules upon which it is -formed before us--is to us perfectly unintelligible. It is grounded on -some changes of numbers and symbols; numbers vary, being at one time -multiplied, at another added, and become so complicated that the letter -_e_, which occurs nine times in the paragraph, is represented in eight -different ways; _n_ is used eight times, and has seven various signs. -Indeed the same letter is scarcely ever represented by the same figure; -but this is not all: the character which appears in the place of _i_ takes -that of _n_ shortly after; another symbol for _n_ stands also for _t_. How -any man could have solved the mystery of this cypher is astonishing. - -Now let me recommend a far simpler system, and one which is very difficult -of detection. It consists of a combination of numbers and letters. Both -parties must be agreed on an arrangement such as that in the second line -below, for on it all depends. - - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - 4 7 2 9 1 10 5 3 6 8 - -Now in turning a sentence such as "The army must retire" into cypher, you -count the letters which make the sentence, and find that T is the first, H -the second, E the third, A the fourth, R the fifth, and so on. Then look -at the table. T is the first letter; 4 answers to 1; therefore write the -fourth letter in the place of T; that is A instead of T. For _h_ the -second, put the seventh, which is _y_; for E, take the second, _h_. The -sentence will stand "Ayh utsr emma yhutsr." It is all but impossible to -discover this cypher. - -All these cryptographs consist in the exchange of numbers or characters -for the real letters; but there are other methods quite as intricate, -which dispense with them. - -The mysterious cards of the Count de Vergennes are an instance. De -Vergennes was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XVI., and he made -use of cards of a peculiar nature in his relations with the diplomatic -agents of France. These cards were used in letters of recommendation or -passports which were given to strangers about to enter France; they were -intended to furnish information without the knowledge of the bearers. This -was the system. The card given to a man contained only a few words, such -as: - - ALPHONSE D'ANGEHA. - - Recommandé à Monsieur - le Comte de Vergennes, par le Marquis de Puysegur, - Ambassadeur de France à la Cour de Lisbonne. - -The card told more tales than the words written on it. Its colour -indicated the nation of the stranger. Yellow showed him to be English; -red, Spanish; white, Portuguese; green, Dutch; red and white, Italian; red -and green, Swiss; green and white, Russian; etc. The person's age was -expressed by the shape of the card. If it were circular, he was under 25; -oval, between 25 and 30; octagonal, between 30 and 45; hexagonal, between -45 and 50; square, between 50 and 60; and oblong showed that he was over -60. Two lines placed below the name of the bearer indicated his build. If -he were tall and lean, the lines were waving and parallel; tall and stout, -they converged; and so on. The expression of his face was shown by a -flower in the border. A rose designated an open and amiable countenance, -whilst a tulip marked a pensive and aristocratic appearance. A fillet -round the border, according to its length, told whether the man was -bachelor, married, or widower. Dots gave information as to his position -and fortune. A full stop after his name showed that he was a Catholic; a -semicolon, that he was a Lutheran; a comma, that he was a Calvinist; a -dash, that he was a Jew; no stop indicated him as an Atheist. So also his -morals and character were pointed out by a pattern in the angles of the -card, such as one of these: - -[Illustration] - -Consequently, at one glance the minister could tell all about his man, -whether he were a gamester or a duellist; what was his purpose in visiting -France; whether in search of a wife or to claim a legacy; what was his -profession--that of physician, lawyer, or man of letters; whether he were -to be put under surveillance or allowed to go his way unmolested. - -We come now to a class of cypher which requires a certain amount of -literary dexterity to conceal the clue. - -During the Great Rebellion, Sir John Trevanion, a distinguished Cavalier, -was made prisoner, and locked up in Colchester Castle. Sir Charles Lucas -and Sir George Lisle had just been made examples of, as a warning to -"malignants": and Trevanion has every reason for expecting a similar -bloody end. As he awaits his doom, indulging in a hearty curse in round -Cavalier terms at the canting, crop-eared scoundrels who hold him in -durance vile, and muttering a wish that he had fallen, sword in hand, -facing the foe, he is startled by the entrance of the gaoler who hands him -a letter: - -"May't do thee good," growls the fellow; "it has been well looked to -before it was permitted to come to thee." - -Sir John takes the letter, and the gaoler leaves him his lamp by which to -read it: - - WORTHIE SIR JOHN--Hope, that is ye beste comfort of ye afflictyd, - cannot much, I fear me, help you now. That I wolde saye to you, is - this only: if ever I may be able to requite that I do owe you, stand - not upon asking of me. 'Tis not much I can do: but what I can do, bee - you verie sure I wille. I knowe that, if dethe comes, if ordinary men - fear it, it frights not you, accounting it for a high honour, to have - such a rewarde of your loyalty. Pray yet that you may be spared this - soe bitter, cup. I fear not that you will grudge any sufferings: only - if bie submission you can turn them away, 'tis the part of a wise man. - Tell me, an if you can, to do for you any thinge that you wolde have - done. The general goes back on Wednesday. Restinge your servant to - command. - - R. T. - -Now this letter was written according to a preconcerted cypher. Every -third letter after a stop was to tell. In this way Sir John made -out--"Panel at east end of chapel slides." On the following even, the -prisoner begged to be allowed to pass an hour of private devotion in the -chapel. By means of a bribe, this was accomplished. Before the hour had -expired, the chapel was empty--the bird had flown. - -An excellent plan of indicating the _telling_ letter or word is through -the heading of the letter. "Sir," would signify that every third letter -was to be taken; "Dear sir," that every seventh; "My dear sir," that every -ninth was to be selected. A system, very early adopted, was that of having -pierced cards, through the holes of which the communication was written. -The card was then removed, and the blank spaces filled up. As for example: - - MY DEAR X.--[The] lines I now send you are forwarded by the kindness - of the [Bearer], who is a friend. [Is not] the message delivered yet - [to] my Brother? [Be] quick about it, for I have all along [trusted] - that you would act with discretion and despatch.--Yours ever, - - Z. - -Put your card over the note, and through the piercings you will read: "The -Bearer is not to be trusted." - -The following letter will give two totally distinct meanings, according as -it is read, straight through, or only by alternate lines:-- - - MADEMOISELLE,-- - - Je m'empresse de vous écrire pour vous déclarer que vous vous trompez - beaucoup si vous croyez que vous êtes celle pour qui je soupire. Il - est bien vrai que pour vous éprouver, Je vous ai fait mille aveux. - Après quoi vous êtes devenue l'objet de ma raillerie. Ainsi ne doutez - plus de ce que vous dit ici celui qui n'a eu que de l'aversion pour - vous, et qui aimerait mieux mourir que de se voir obligé de vous - épouser, et de changer le dessein qu'il a formé de vous haïr toute sa - vie, bien loin de vous aimer, comme il vous l'a déclaré. Soyez done - désabusée, croyez-moi; et si vous êtes encore constante et persuadée - que vous êtes aimée vous serez encore plus exposée à la risée de tout - le monde, et particulièrement de celui qui n'a jamais été et ne sera - jamais - - Votre ser'teur M. N. - -We must not omit to mention Chronograms. These are verses which contain -within them the date of the composition. In 1885 I built a boathouse by a -lake in my grounds. A friend wrote the following chronogram for it, which -I had painted, and affixed to the house: - - Thy breaD upon the Waters Cast - In CertaIn trust to fInd. - sInCe Well thou know'st God's eye doth Mark, - Where fIshes' eyes are bLind. - -This gives the date. - - D = 500 + W= 510 + C = 610 + I = 611 - + C = 711 + I = 712 + I = 713 + I = 714 - + C = 814 + W = 824 + M = 1824 - + W = 1834 + I = 1835 + L = 1885. - -The W represents two V's, _i.e._ 10. - -A very curious one was written by Charles de Bovelle: we adapt and explain -it:-- - - The heads of a mouse and five cats M.CCCCC - Add also the tail of a bull L - Item, the four legs of a rat IIII - ------------- - And you have my date in full M.CCCCCL.IIII - (1554.) - -It is now high time that we show the reader how to find the clue to a -cypher. And as illustration is always better than precept, we shall -exemplify from our own experience. With permission, too, we shall drop the -plural for the singular. - -Well! My friend Matthew Fletcher came into a property some years ago, -bequeathed to him by a great-uncle. The old gentleman had been notorious -for his parsimonious habits, and he was known through the county by the -nickname of Miser Tom. Of course every one believed that he was vastly -rich, and that Mat Fletcher would come in for a mint of money. But, -somehow, my friend did not find the stores of coin on which he had -calculated, hidden in worsted stockings or cracked pots; and the savings -of the old man which he did light upon consisted of but trifling sums. -Fletcher became firmly persuaded that the money was hidden _somewhere_; -where he could not tell, and he often came to consult me on the best -expedient for discovering it. It is all through my intervention that he -did not pull down the whole house about his ears, tear up every floor, and -root up every flower or tree throughout the garden, in his search after -the precious hoard. One day he burst into my room with radiant face. - -"My dear fellow!" he gasped forth, "I have found it!" - -"Found what?--the treasure?" - -"No--but I want your help now," and he flung a discoloured slip of paper -on my table. - -I took it up, and saw that it was covered with writing in cypher. - -"I routed it out of a secret drawer in Uncle Tom's bureau!" he exclaimed. -"I have no doubt of its purport. It indicates the spot where all his -savings are secreted." - -"You have not deciphered it yet, have you?" - -"No. I want your help; I can make neither heads nor tails of the scrawl, -though I sat up all night studying it." - -"Come along," said I, "I wish you joy of your treasure. I'll read the -cypher if you give me time." So we sat down together at my desk, with the -slip of paper before us. Here is the inscription:-- - -[Illustration] - -"Now," said I, "the order of precedence among the letters, according to -the frequency of their recurrence, is this, e a o i t d h n r s u y c f g -l m w b k p q x z. This, however, is their order, according to the number -of words begun by each respectively, s c p a d i f b l b t, etc. The most -frequent compounds are th, ng, ee, ll, mm, tt, dd, nn. Pray, Matthew, do -you see any one sign repeated oftener than the others in this -cryptograph?" - -"Yes, 8; it is repeated twenty-three times," said Fletcher, after a pause. - -"Then you may be perfectly satisfied that it stands for e, which is used -far oftener than any other letter in English. Next, look along the lines -and see what letters most frequently accompany it." - -"2 § undoubtedly; it follows 8 in several places, and precedes it in -others. In the third line we have 2 § 8--82 §--§ 8--8 § 8 and then 2 § 8 -again." - -"Then we may fairly assume that 2 § 8 stands for _the_." - -"_The_, to be sure," burst forth Fletcher. "Now the next word will be -money. No! it can't be, the e will not suit; perhaps it is treasure, gold, -hoard, store." - -"Wait a little bit," I interposed. "Now look what letters are doubled." - -"88 and 22," said my friend Mat. - -"And please observe," I continued, "that where I draw a line and write A -you have e, then double t, then e again. Probably this is the middle of a -word, and as we have already supposed 2 to stand for t, we have--ette--, a -very likely combination. We may be sure of the t now. Near the end of the -third line, there is a remarkable passage, in which the three letters we -know recur continually. Let us write it out, leaving blanks for the -letters we do not know, and placing the ascertained letters instead of -their symbols. Then it stands--e[Greek: ch]the[Greek: ch]eth--he[Greek: -ch]ehe[Greek: ch] ethe--. Now here I have a [Greek: ch] repeated four -times, and from its position it must be a consonant. I will put in its -place one consonant after another. You see r is the only one which turns -the letters into words.--_erthereth--here_ . _here the--_surely some of -these should stand out distinctly separated--_er there th-- here_ . _here -the_. Look! I can see at once what letters are wanting; _th--_ between -_there_ and _here_ must be _than_, and then [cross] _here_ is, must be, -_where_. So now I have found these letters, - - 8 = e, r = t, § = h, [Greek: ch] = r, -- = a, + = n, [cross] = w, - -and I can confirm the [Greek: ch] as _r_ by taking the portion marked -A_--etter_. Here we get an end of an adjective in the comparative degree; -I think it must be _better_." - -"Let us next take a group of cyphers higher up; I will pencil over it D. I -take this group because it contains some of the letters which we have -settled _--eathn_. Eath must be the end of a word, for none begins with -athn, thn, or hn. Now what letter will suit eath? Possibly _h_, probably -_d_." - -"Yes," exclaimed Fletcher, "_Death_, to be sure. I can guess it all: -'Death is approaching, and I feel that a solemn duty devolves upon me, -namely, that of acquainting Matthew Fletcher, my heir, with the spot where -I have hidden my savings.' Go on, go on." - -"All in good time, friend," I laughed. "You observe we can confirm our -guess as to the sign ) being used for _d_, by comparing the -passage--29§--)*8228[Greek: ch], which we now read, _t. had better_. But -_t. had better_ is awkward; you cannot make 9 into _o_; 'to had,' would be -no sense." - -"Of course not," burst forth Fletcher. "Don't you see it all? _I had -better_ let my excellent nephew know where I have deposited----" - -"Wait a bit," interrupted I; "you are right, I believe. _I_ -is the signification of 9. Let us begin the whole cryptograph -now:--_N.tethi.i.t.re.ind.e._" - -"_Remind me!_" cried Fletcher. - -"You have it again," said I. "Now we obtain an additional letter besides -_m_, for _t. remind me_ is certainly _to remind me_. We must begin -again:--_Note thi.i. to remind me_." - -"_This is_," called out my excited friend, whose eyes were sparkling with -delight and expectation. "Go on; you are a trump!" - -"These, then, are our additional letters:--) = d, 7 = m, [Greek: b] = s, -9 = i, [Greek: l] = o. _To remind me i.i. ee. m. death ni.h_; for _m. -death_, I read _my death_, and _i.i. ee._, I guess to be, _if I feel_. So -it stands thus:--'Note.--This is to remind me, if I feel my death nigh, -that I had better----'" - -I worked on now in silence; Fletcher, leaning his chin on his hands, sat -opposite, staring into my face with breathless anxiety. Presently I -exclaimed: - -"Halves, Mat! I think you said halves!" - -"I--I--I--I--my very dear fellow, I----" - -"A very excellent man was your uncle; a most exemplary----" - -"All right, I know that," said Fletcher, cutting me short. "Do read the -paper; I have a spade and pick on my library table, all ready for work the -moment I know where to begin." - -"But, really, he was a man in a thousand, a man of such discretion, such -foresight, so much----" - -Down came Fletcher's hand on the desk. - -"Do go on!" he cried; and I could see that he was swearing internally; he -would have sworn _ore rotundo_, only that it would have been uncivil, and -decidedly improper. - -"Very well; you are prepared to hear all?" - -"All! by Jove! by Jingo! prepared for everything." - -"Then this is what I read," said I, taking up my own transcript:-- - -"_Note.--This is to remind me, if I feel my death nigh, that I had better -move to Birmingham, as burials are done cheaper there than here, where the -terms of the Necropolis Company are exorbitant._" - -Fletcher bounded from his seat. "The old skinflint! miser! screw!" - -"A very estimable and thrifty man, your great-uncle." - -"Confounded old stingy--," and he slammed the door upon himself and the -substantive which designated his uncle. - -And now, the very best advice I can give to my readers, is to set to work -at once on the simple cypher given near the commencement of this paper, -and to find it out. - - - - -STRANGE WILLS - - -Of course we ought to begin with Adam's will, the father of all wills; and -if we could produce that patriarchal document, we should undoubtedly find -in it the germs of all the merits, faults, and eccentricities of wills to -come. But, unfortunately, though a testament of Adam does exist, it is a -forgery; and nothing will convince us to the contrary,--not even the -Mussulman tradition, which asserts that on the occasion of our great -forefather beginning to make his bequests, seventy legions of angels -brought him sheets of paper and quill pens, nicely nibbed, all the way -from Paradise; and that the Archangel Gabriel set-to his seal as witness. -What! four hundred and twenty thousand sheets of paper!--surely a needless -consumption of material, when there was nothing to be bequeathed but a -view over the hedge of an impracticable garden. - -If we pass to Noah's testament, we are again among the apocrypha. In it, -Noah portions his landed property, the globe, into three shares, one for -each son: America is not included in the division for obvious reasons. It -was left for "manners" sake, and manners has never got it. - -The testament of the twelve Patriarchs must be glanced at, which is -received as semi-canonical by the Armenian Church, though it is -unquestionably apocryphal. Reuben speaks of sleep as having been in -Paradise, only a sweet ecstasy; whereas, after the Fall, it has become a -continually recurring image of death. Simeon bewails his former hostility -to Joseph; and relates, that his brother's bones were preserved in the -Royal treasury of Egypt. Levi is oracular; Judah rejoices in the sceptre -left to his race; Issachar unfolds the future of the Jews; Zebulun relates -that the brethren supplied themselves with shoes from the money which they -got by the sale of Joseph. There seems to be some allusion to this -tradition in the Prophet Amos (ii. 6; viii. 6). Dan recommends his -posterity to practise humility; Naphtali sees visions; Gad is contrite; -Asher prophesies the coming of the Messiah; Joseph, the incarnation; -Benjamin, the destruction of the Temple. - -There exists a very curious and ancient testament of Job, which was -discovered and published by Cardinal Maï, in 1839; it relates many details -which we may look for in vain in the Canonical Book. In it Job's faithful -wife, when reduced to the utmost poverty, sells the hair of her head to -procure bread for her husband. - -What a remarkable document a will is! It is the voice of a man now dead, -coming back in the hush of a darkened house--from the vault, low and -hoarse as an echo. It speaks, and people hearken; it commands, and people -obey; law supports and enforces its wishes; no power on earth can alter -it. We expect to hear the voice calm, earnest, and speaking true judgment; -terrible indeed if it breaks out with a snarl of hate--more terrible still -if it gibbers and laughs a hollow, ghost-like laugh. For, surely, the most -solemn moment of a life is that when the will is written: that will, which -is to speak for man when the voice is passed as a dream; when the heart -which devises it has ceased to throb; the head which frames it has done -with thinking--under the fresh mould; the hand which pens it has been -pressed, thin and white, against a cold shroud, to moulder with it; surely -he who, at such a moment, can write words of hate must have a black heart, -but he who ventures then to gibe and jest must have no heart at all. - -There is some truth in the old ghost-creed; man _can_ return after death; -he does so in his will. He comes to some, as Jupiter came to Danaë, in a -shower of gold; to others, as a blighting spectre, whose promised -treasures turn to dust. What excitement the reading of a will causes in a -family! and what interest does the world at large take in the bequests of -a person of position! The last words of great men seem always to have -possessed a peculiar value in the eyes of the people. - -"Live, Brutus, live!" shouts the Roman mob in _Julius Cæsar_; but on -hearing what Cæsar's will promises, how - - To every Roman citizen he gives,-- - To every several man,--seventy-five drachmas. - His private arbours, and new-planted orchards, - On this side Tiber: he hath left them you, - And to your heirs for ever;---- - -then the mob changes note, and with one voice shouts, "To Brutus, to -Cassius;--burn all!" - - Testamenta hominum speculum esse morum vulgo creditur.--Plin. jun., 8 - Ess. 18. - -So they are! They are the last touch of the brush in the great picture of -civilisation, manners, and customs, lightening it up. - -Would that space permitted me to enter into the history of wills: a few -curious particulars alone can we admit. - -To die without having made a will was formerly regarded with horror. A -very common custom in the Middle Ages was that of leaving considerable -benefactions to the Church. This was well enough, but the clergy were not -satisfied until it was made compulsory. - -Ducange says that neglect of leaving to the Church indicated a profanity -which deserved punishment by a refusal of the rites of the last sacraments -and burial. The clergy of Brittany, in the fourteenth century, claimed a -third of the household goods; the death-bed became ecclesiastical property -in the diocese of Auxerre; and Clement V. settled the claims of the -Church by deciding that the parish priest might take as his perquisite a -ninth of all the movables in the house of the dead man, after the debts of -the deceased had been paid off. - -A sufficiency of historical notes. I will proceed at once--perhaps -somewhat strangely--to give the reader a specimen of a will coming -decidedly under the heading of this article. It is that of a _Pig_. The -will is ancient enough. S. Jerome, in his "Prooemium on Isaiah," speaks of -it, saying, that in his time (fourth century) children were wont to sing -it at school, amidst shouts of laughter. Alexander Brassicanus, who died -in 1539, was the first to publish it; he found it in a MS. at Mayence. -Later, G. Fabricius gave a corrected edition of it from another MS. found -at Memel, and, since then, it has been in the hands of the learned. The -original is in Latin; I translate, modifying slightly one expression and -omitting one bequest: - - I, M. Grunnius Corocotta Porcellus, have made my testament, which, as - I can't write myself, I have dictated. - - Says Magirus, the cook: "Come along, thou who turnest the house - topsy-turvy, spoiler of the pavement, O fugitive Porcellus! I am - resolved to slaughter thee to-day." - - Says Corocotta Porcellus: "If ever I have done thee any wrong, if I - have sinned in any way, if I have smashed any wee pots with my feet; O - Master Cook, grant pardon to thy suppliant!" - - Says the cook Magirus: "Halloo, boy! go, bring me a carving-knife out - of the kitchen, that I may make a bloody Porcellus of him." - - Porcellus is caught by the servants, and brought out to execution on - the xvi. before the Lucernine Kalends, just when young colewortsprouts - are in plenty, Clybaratus and Piperatus being Consuls. - - Now when he saw that he was about to die, he begged hard of the cook - an hour's grace, just to write his will. He called together his - relations, that he might leave to them some of his victuals; and he - said: - - I will and bequeath to my papa, Verrinus Lardinus, 30 bush. of - acorns. - - I will and bequeath to my mamma, Veturina Scrofa, 40 bush. of - Laconian corn. - - I will and bequeath to my sister, Quirona, at whose nuptials I may - not be present, 30 bush. of barley. - - Of my mortal remains, I will and bequeath my bristles to the cobblers, - my teeth to squabblers, my ears to the deaf, my tongue to lawyers and - chatterboxes, my entrails to tripemen, my hams to gluttons, my stomach - to little boys, my tail to little girls, my muscles to effeminate - parties, my heels to runners and hunters, my claws to thieves; and, to - a certain cook, whom I won't mention by name, I bequeath the cord and - stick which I brought with me from my oak-grove to the sty, in hopes - that he may take the cord and hang himself with it. - - I will that a monument be erected to me, inscribed with this, in - golden letters: - - M. GRUNNIUS COROCOTTA PORCELLUS, who lived 999 years,--six months - more, and he would have been 1000 years old. - - Friends dear to me whilst I lived, I pray you to have a kindness - towards my body, and embalm it well with good condiments, such as - almonds, pepper, and honey, that my name may be named through ages to - come. - - O my masters and my comrades, who have assisted at the drawing up of - this testament, order it to be signed. - - (Signed) Lucanicus. Celsanus. - Pergillus. Lardio. - Mystialicus. Offellicus. - Cymatus. - -Whilst on this subject we might say a word about the epitaph on the mule -of P. Crassus; or about that written by Rapin on the ass, which, poor -fellow, was eaten whilst in the flower of his age, during the siege of -Paris, in 1590; or about Joachim du Bellay, who composed an epitaph on his -cat; or about Justus Lipsius, who erected mausoleums for his three -cats--Mopsus, Saphisus, and Mopsulus; but we are not writing on epitaphs -or gravestones. - -We proceed to give a few instances of animals which have received -legacies. - -If it is a keen trial for a husband to leave his wife, for a young man to -be taken from his pleasures, or a commercial man from his business, can we -wonder at old ladies feeling the wrench sharp which tears them from the -society of their dear cats--the companions of their spinsterhood or -widowhood; or at old bachelors being distressed at having to part with -their faithful dogs?--to part with them for ever, too, unless we believe -in the suggestion of Bishop Butler and Theodore Parker, that there is a -future for beasts, and enjoy the confidence of Mr. Sewell of Exeter -College, who dedicated one of his published poems "To my Pony in Heaven." - -The Count de la Mirandole, who died in 1825, left a legacy to his -favourite carp, which he had nourished for twenty years in an antique -fountain standing in his hall. In low life we find the same love for an -animal displayed by a peasant of Toulouse, in 1781, who doted on his old -chestnut horse, and left the following will: - - I declare that I institute my chestnut horse sole legatee, and I wish - him to belong to my nephew N. - -This testament was attacked, but, curiously enough, it received legal -confirmation. - -The following clause from a will was in the English papers for March 1828: - - I leave to my monkey, my dear, amusing Jackoo, the sum of 10_l._ - sterling, to be enjoyed by him during his life; it is to be expended - solely in his keep. I leave to my faithful dog, Shock, and to my - beloved cat, Tib, 5_l._ sterling a-piece, as yearly pension. In the - event of the death of one of the aforesaid legatees, the sum due to - him shall pass to the two survivors, and on the death of one of these - two, to the last, be he who he may. After the decease of all parties, - the sum left them shall belong to my daughter G----, to whom I show - this preference, above all my children, because she has a large family - and finds a difficulty in filling their mouths and educating them. - -But a more curious case still is that of Mr. Berkley of Knightsbridge, who -died 5th May 1805. He left a pension of £25 per annum to his four dogs. -This singular individual had spent the latter part of his life wrapped in -the society of his curs, on whom he lavished every mark of affection. -When any one ventured to remonstrate with him for expending so much money -on their maintenance, or suggested that the poor were more deserving of -sympathy than those mongrel pups, he would reply: "Men assailed my life: -dogs preserved it." This was a fact, for Mr. B. had been attacked by -brigands in Italy, and had been rescued by his dog, whose descendants the -four pets were. When he felt his end approaching, he had his four dogs -placed on couches by the sides of his bed. He received their last -caresses, extended to them his faltering hand, and breathed his last -between their paws. According to his desire, the busts of these favoured -brutes were sculptured at the corners of his tomb. - -In 1677, died Madame Dupuis, who, under her maiden name of Mademoiselle -Jeanne Felix, had been known as a great musician. Her will was so -extraordinary and malicious that it was nullified. To it was attached a -memorandum, which is still more extraordinary. We shall not quote the -passages wherein she vilifies her son-in-law, imputing to him every vice -she can think of, but translate the final clause: - - I pray Mademoiselle Bluteau, my sister, and Madame Calogne, my niece, - to take care of my cats. Whilst these two live, they shall have thirty - sous a month, that they may be well fed. They must have, twice a day, - meat soup of the quality usually served on table; but they must be - given it separately, each having his own saucer. The bread must not be - crumbled in the soup, but cut up into pieces about the size of - hazel-nuts, or they cannot eat it. When boiled beef is put into the - pot with the soaked bread, some thin slices of raw meat must be put - in as well, and the whole stewed till it is fit for eating. When only - one cat lives, half the money will suffice. Nicole Pigeon shall take - care of the cats, and cherish them. Madame Calogne may go and see - them. - -Certainly people show their love in different ways. Councillor Winslow of -Copenhagen (d. 24th June 1811) ordered by will that his carriage horses -should be shot, to prevent their falling into the hands of cruel masters. - -We need only mention the "cat and dog" money, which is yearly given to six -poor weavers' widows of the names of Fabry or Ovington, at Christ Church, -Spitalfields, and which, according to tradition, was left in the first -instance for the support of cats and dogs; and remind our readers of the -cow and bull benefactions in several English parishes, where money has -been left to the parish to provide cattle whose milk may go to the poor. -The poor have been often remembered by testators, as our numerous -almshouses, benefactions, and doles prove. - -It were difficult to choose a better sample of a charitable bequest, which -could properly come under our title, than the following simple and -touching will of a French priest, Jean Certain, curé of a little parish in -the Côte d'Or, who died in 1740, worth some £1200: - - I brought with me nothing into my parish but my cassock and - breviary,--these I leave to my heirs: the rest I bequeath to the poor - of my parish. - -Wives, poor bodies! do not come off well, for a crabbed husband will -sometimes control and torment his good woman after he is dead and buried, -or even play a bitter jest, as did one man, who left his wife 500 guineas, -but with the stipulation that she was not to enjoy it till after her -death, when the sum was to be expended on her funeral. Or, as the author -of the following: - - Since I have had the misfortune of having had to wife Elizabeth M----, - who, since our marriage, has tormented me in a thousand ways; and - since, not content with showing her contempt for my advice, she has - done everything that lay in her power to render my life a burden to - me; so that Heaven seems only to have sent her into the world for the - purpose of getting me out of it the sooner; and since the strength of - Samson, the genius of Homer, the prudence of Augustus, the skill of - Pyrrhus, the patience of Job, the subtlety of Hannibal, the vigilance - of Hermogenes, would not suffice to tame the perversity of her - character; and since nothing can change her, though we have lived - separated for eight years, without my having gained anything by it but - the loss of my son, whom she has spoiled, and whom she has persuaded - to abandon me altogether; weighing carefully and attentively all these - considerations, I have bequeathed, and do bequeath, to the aforesaid - Elizabeth M----, my wife, _one shilling_. - -The clause in Shakespeare's will must not be forgotten: - - I gyve unto my wief, my second-best bed, with the furniture, and - nothing else. - -We hope that this was not intended as a spiteful jest; but men are -irritable, and women are so trying! The best bed would not have been a bad -gift, as the grand four-poster was an expensive article in Elizabethan -days; but the second-best seems _rather_ a paltry legacy. However, as we -are perfectly sure to have the noble army of Shakespearean commentators -down upon us if we venture to impute other than the highest and purest of -motives to their idol, for the sake of peace we are perfectly willing to -believe the bed to have been the most valuable gift that could have been -made,--that sovereigns, roses, and angels were stitched into the coverlets -and stuffed into the pillows; just as the miser Tolam bequeathed: - - To my sister-in-law, four old stockings which are under my bed, on the - right. - - _Item_: To my nephew, Tarles, two more old stockings. - - _Item_: To Lieut. John Stone, a blue stocking, and my red cloak. - - _Item_: To my cousin, an old boot, and a red flannel pocket. - - _Item_: To Hammick, my jug without a handle. - -Imagine the disgust of the legatees, till Hammick kicking the jug, smashed -it, and out rolled a quantity of sovereigns. The stockings, boot, and -flannel pocket were soon seized now, and found to be as auriferous as the -old pot. Now why should not the second-best bed left to Mrs. Shakespeare -have been as valuable a bequest? - -Whilst talking about beds, let us not forget a very odd story. In the -earlier part of this century, there lived in the neighbourhood of Caen, in -Normandy, a Juge de Paix, M. Halloin, a great lover of tranquillity and -ease; so much so indeed, that, as bed is the article of furniture most -adapted to repose, he rarely quitted it, but made his bed-chamber a hall -of audience, in which he exercised his functions of Justice of Peace, -pronouncing sentence, with his head resting on a pillow, and his body -languidly extended on the softest of feather-beds. However, his services -were dispensed with, and he devoted himself for the remaining six years of -his life to still greater ease. Feeling his end approach, M. Halloin -determined on remaining constant to his principle, and showing to the -world to what an extent he carried his passion for bed. Consequently, his -last will contained a clause expressing his desire to be buried at night, -in his bed, comfortably tucked in, with pillows and coverlets as he had -died. As no opposition was raised against the execution of this clause, a -huge pit was sunk, and the defunct was lowered into his last -resting-place, without any alteration having been made in the position in -which death had overtaken him. - -Boards were laid over the bed, that the falling earth might not disturb -this imperturbable quietist. - -Many testators leave directions for the treatment of their bodies: some -are over-solicitous for their preservation, whilst others choose to show -their contempt for that body, which, after all, will rise again. Dr. -Ellerby, the Quaker, for instance, bequeathed his lungs to one friend and -his brains to another, with a threat that he would haunt them if they -refused to accept the legacy. Others, from motives of humility, act -somewhat similarly. The Emperor Maximilian I. willed that his hair should -be shorn, and his teeth brayed in a mortar and then burned publicly in his -chapel; also that his body should be buried in a sack with quicklime, -beneath the foot-pace of the altar of S. George at Neustadt, so that his -heart might be beneath the celebrant's feet. His intentions were carried -out at the time; but afterwards his remains were translated to Inspruck, -and they now lie under that goodly monument raised by Ferdinand I., his -deeds graven tenderly in white marble about him, and eight-and-twenty -mighty bronze paladins and princes standing guard about the choir wherein -he sleeps. - -If some folk leave injunctions about their bodies, others are as -particular about their names. Henry _Green_, for instance, by will dated -22nd December 1679, gave to his sister, Catharine Green, during her life, -all his lands in Melbourne, Derby, and after her decease to others in -trust, upon condition that the said Catharine Green should give four green -waistcoats to four poor women in a green old age, every year, such green -waistcoats to be lined with green galloon lace, and to be delivered to the -said poor women on or before 21st December, yearly, that they might be -worn on Christmas Day. - -That the good men do may live after them, at least on their tombstones, -has induced some to leave money as bribes to the writers of their -epitaphs. The Abbé de la Rivière, son of an appraiser of wood, who became -Bishop-duke of Langres, devised 100 écus for that purpose. But La Monnoye -wrote the following: - - Here lies a notable personage, - Of family proud, of ancient lineage; - His virtues unnumbered, his knowledge profound, - Remarkably humble, remarkably wise;-- - Come, come! for twenty-five pound, - I've told enough lies! - -Another clause in the Abbé's will deserves to be recorded, from its -pithiness: - - To my steward, I leave _nothing_; because he has been in my service - for eighteen years. - -This reminds one of an anecdote told of the Cardinal Dubois, whose -servants came to him every New Year's Day to present their -congratulations, and to receive a New Year's box. When the steward came in -his turn, the Cardinal said to him: - - Monsieur, I present you with all that you have stolen from me. - -The pleasure of receiving a legacy must be generally mingled with pain, -more or less intense, according to the nearness of relationship of the -deceased, or the affection we have had for him: but, when a plump legacy -drops into our laps from a totally unexpected quarter, and left by one for -whom we did not care, or possibly whom we did not know,--the amount of -pain must be very minute. Such a case was that of a lady who came in for -a large fortune from an eccentric individual to whom she had never spoken, -though she had seen him at the opera, or in the park. The wording of the -will was: - - I supplicate Miss B---- to accept my whole fortune, too feeble an - acknowledgment of the inexpressible sensations which the contemplation - of her adorable nose has produced on me. - -The following is as curious. A good citizen of Paris, who died about 1779, -inserted this clause in his will: - - _Item_: I leave to M. l'Abbé Thirty-thousand-men, 1200 livres a year: - I do not know him by any other name, but he is an excellent citizen, - who certified me in the Luxembourg, that the English, that ferocious - people which dethrones its monarchs, will soon be destroyed. - -On opening the testament, the executors were sorely puzzled to know who -this Abbé Thirty-thousand-men could possibly be. At last, several people -deposed that this citizen, a sworn enemy of the English and a great -politician, had been wont every day to march up and down the Allé des -Larmes in the Luxembourg; there he used to meet with an Abbé who had as -great an abhorrence of the English as himself, and who was perpetually -urging:--"Those English rascals aren't worth a straw. 30,000 men only are -wanted,--30,000 men raised,--30,000 embarked,--30,000 landed,--and London -would be in the hands of 30,000 men. A mere trifle!" - -This was verified, and the legacy was delivered over to the intrepid Abbé, -who had little dreamed of the spoil his 30,000 men were to bring him. - -There is a question which we have been asking ourselves repeatedly, and -which we now put before the reader. Is it possible to classify these -wills? We have tried to do so, and have failed in every attempt. First, we -have distributed them according to the bequests contained in -them;--legacies of money, goods, animals, persons. There is no reason -which can justify such an arbitrary system. Then again, when we arrange -them according to the motives of the testator, as, wills indited by a -perverted moral sense, or those composed under the influence of an -aberration of the intellect, then we are obliged to exclude that of -Corocotta Porcellus, of Jean Certain, beside many others, which can hardly -be forced into position under either of these heads. And it is because the -mind of man is too intricate, his motives too involved, his feelings too -transient, his principles too obscure, for us to divide and subdivide the -actions springing from them, as we can settle the classes of molluscs, or -determine the genera of butterflies,--that in this paper we have attempted -nothing of the kind. For wills are, as has been shown, as diverse as the -hearts of men, of which they are the transcripts. An anatomist may dissect -the heart, may name and register every muscle and fibre,--but he can tell -us nothing of the motives which impelled that heart to throb faster, or -chilled it to a sudden stillness. The bitterness of hate has left no -poison in its cavities, in it the fleeting passion has set no seal, -emotion left no trace, pity relaxed no nerve. The impulses which brought -forth so full a leafage of action are lost, as the sap from the bare tree. - -So surely as the berry indicates the soundness of the root, the flower of -the bulb, so does man's last will tell of the goodness or foulness of the -heart which conceived it. The cankered root sends up only a sickly germ, -which brings forth no fruit in due season; whilst the wine that maketh -glad the heart of man, the oil which maketh him a cheerful countenance, -and the bread that strengthens his heart, have burst from roots which -mildew has never marred, nor worm fretted. - - - - -QUEER CULPRITS - - -According to Jewish law, "If an ox gore a man or a woman that they die, -then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten: but -the owner of the ox shall be quit." After giving this command, Moses -proceeds to enforce the doctrine of the responsibility of the beast's -owner, and to ensure his punishment, should he wittingly let a dangerous -animal run loose; also to make provision for his security under some -extenuating circumstances. These commands were carried into the laws of -mediæval Europe; the jurists, at the same time, introducing refinements of -their own, and enforcing them in numerous cases, which afford matter for -curious inquiry, and are full of technicalities and peculiarities, at once -amusing and instructive, as throwing light on the customs and habits of -thought in those times. - -Now take the case of a child injured by a sow, or a man killed by a bull: -the trial was conducted in precisely the same manner as though sow and -bull were morally criminal. They were apprehended, placed before the -ordinary tribunal, and given over to execution. - -Again: an inroad of locusts or snails takes place. Common law is helpless, -it may pronounce judgment, but who is to execute its decrees? Temporal -power being palpably unavailing, the spiritual tribunal steps in; the -decision of the magistrates being useless, perhaps excommunication may -suffice. This, then, was an established maxim. If the criminal could be -reached, he was handed over to the ordinary courts of justice; if, -however, the matter was beyond their control, he fell within the -jurisdiction of Ecclesiastical Courts. Poor culprit, not a loophole left -by which to escape! - -Let us consider the manner of proceeding under the former circumstance. A -bull has caused the death of a man. The brute is seized and incarcerated; -a lawyer is appointed to plead for the delinquent; another is counsel for -the prosecution. Witnesses are bound over, the case is heard, and sentence -is given by the judge, declaring the bull guilty of deliberate and wilful -murder; and, accordingly, that it must suffer the penalty of hanging or -burning. - -The following cases are taken from among numerous others, and will afford -examples: - - A.D. 1266. A pig burned at Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, for having - devoured a child. - - 1386. A judge at Falaise condemned a sow to be mutilated in its leg - and head, and then to be hanged, for having lacerated and killed a - child. It was executed in the square, dressed in man's clothes. The - execution cost six sous, six deniers, and a new pair of gloves for the - executioner, that he might come out of the job with clean hands. - - 1389. A horse tried at Dijon, on information given by the magistrates - of Montbar, and condemned to death, for having killed a man. - - 1499. A bull was condemned to death at Cauroy, near Beauvais, for - having in a fury "occis" a little boy of fourteen or fifteen years - old. - -A farmer of Moisy let a mad bull escape. The brute met and gored a man so -severely that he only survived a few hours. Charles, Count de Valois, -having heard of the accident whilst at his château of Crépy, ordered the -bull to be seized and committed for trial. This was accordingly done. The -officers of the Count de Valois gathered all requisite information, -received the affidavits of witnesses, established the guilt of the bull, -condemned it to be hanged, and executed it on the gibbet of -Moisy-le-Temple. The death of the beast thus expiated that of the man. But -matters did not stop here. An appeal against the sentence of the Count's -officers was lodged before the Candlemas parliament of 1314--drawn up in -the name of the Procureur de l'Hôpital at Moisy, declaring the officers to -have been incompetent judges, having no jurisdiction within the confines -of Moisy, and as having attempted to establish a precedent. The parliament -received and investigated the appeal, and decided that the condemnation of -the bull was perfectly just, but found that the Count de Valois had no -judicial rights within the territory of Moisy, and that his officers had -acted illegally in taking part in the affair. - -Here is a list of the expenses incurred on the occasion of a sow's -execution for having eaten a child:-- - - To the expenditure made for her whilst in jail 6 sols - - _Item._ To the executioner, who came from Paris to - Meulan to put the criminal to death, by orders of - the bailiff and the Procureur du Roi 54 sols - - _Item._ To a conveyance for conducting her to - execution 6 sols - - _Item._ To cords to tie and bind her 2 sols 8 deniers - - _Item._ To gloves 2 deniers - -The charter of Eleanora, drawn up in 1395, and entitled "Carta de logu," -containing the complete civil and criminal code for Sardinia, enjoins that -oxen and cows, whether wild or domesticated, may be legally killed when -they are taken marauding. Asses convicted of similar delinquencies--common -enough, by the way--are treated more humanely. They are considered in the -same light as thieves of a higher order in society. The first time that an -ass is found in a cultivated field not belonging to its master, one of its -ears is cropped. If it commits the same offence again, it loses the second -ear; should the culprit be hardened in crime, and inveterate enough to -trespass a third time, it is not hanged, does not even lose its tail, but -is confiscated to the Crown and goes to swell the royal herd. - -During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the guilty animals suffered -death on the gallows, and our sires considered that such a punishment must -strike terror into the minds of all cattle-owners and jobbers, so as -effectually to prevent them from suffering their beasts to stray at large -over the country. Later on, however, these capital condemnations were done -away with, the proprietor of the animal was condemned to pay damages, and -the criminal was killed without trial. - -One more specimen, and we shall pass to cases coming under Ecclesiastical -Courts. - -Country folk believe still that cocks lay eggs. This is an old -superstition, people holding, formerly, that from these accursed eggs -sprang basilisks, or horrible winged serpents. - -Gross relates, in his _Petite Chronique de Bâle_, that in the month of -August 1474, an abandoned and profligate cock of that town was accused of -the crime of having laid one of these eggs, and was brought before the -magistrates, tried, convicted, and condemned to death. - -The court delivered over the culprit to the executioner, who burned it -publicly, along with its egg, in a place called Kohlenberger, amidst a -great concourse of citizens and peasants assembled to witness such a -ludicrous execution. - -The poor cock no doubt suffered on account of the belief prevalent at the -period that it was in league with the devil. A cock was the offering made -by witches at their sabbaths, and as these eggs were reputed to contain -snakes--reptiles particularly grateful to devils--it was taken as a proof -of the cock having been engaged in the practice of sorcery. - -The annals of Ireland relate that in 1383 a cock was convicted of a -similar offence in that island, and that it suffered at the stake; the -heat of the flames burst the egg, and there issued forth a serpent-like -creature, which, however, perished in the fire. - -We shall pass now to the second part of our subject--namely, proceedings -against snails, flies, mice, moles, ants, caterpillars, etc. - -It has frequently happened, in all parts of the world, that an unusual -number of vermin have made their appearance and destroyed the garden -produce, or that flies have been so abundant as to drive the cattle mad -from their bites. In such cases the sufferers had recourse to the Church, -which hearkened to their complaints and fulminated her anathema against -the culprits. The method of proceeding much resembled that already stated -as being in vogue in the ordinary tribunals. The plaintiff appointed -counsel, the court accorded a counsel to the defendants, and the -ecclesiastical judge summed up and gave sentence. - -All requisite forms of law were gone through with precision and -minuteness. As a specimen we shall extract some details from a -consultation on the subject, made by Bartholomew de Chasseneux, a noted -lawyer of the sixteenth century. - -After having spoken, in the opening, of the custom among the inhabitants -of Beaume of asking the authorities of Autun to excommunicate certain -insects larger than flies, vulgarly termed _hureburs_, a favour which was -invariably accorded them, Chasseneux enters on the question whether such a -proceeding be right. The subject is divided into five parts, in each of -which he exhibits vast erudition. - -The lawyer then consoles the inhabitants of Beaunois with the reflection -that the scourge which vexes them devastates other countries. In India the -_hureburs_ are three feet long, their legs are armed with teeth, which the -natives employ as saws. The remedy found most effectual is to make a -female in the most _dégagé_ costume conceivable perambulate the canton -with bare feet. This method, however, is open to grave objections on the -score of decency and public morality. - -The advocate then discusses the legality of citing insects before a court -of justice. He decides that such a summons is perfectly justifiable. He -proceeds to inquire whether they should be expected to attend in person, -and, in default of their so doing, whether the prosecution can lawfully be -carried on. Chasseneux satisfies himself and us that this is in strict -accordance with law. - -The sort of tribunal before which the criminals should be cited forms the -next subject of inquiry. He decides in favour of the Ecclesiastical -Courts. The advocate proceeds to convince his readers, by twelve -conclusive arguments, that excommunication of animals is justifiable; -having done so, he brings forward a series of examples and precedents. He -asserts that a priest once excommunicated an orchard, whither children -resorted to eat apples, when--naughty chicks!--they ought to have been at -church. The result was all that could have been desired, for the trees -produced no fruit till, at the request of the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, -the inhibition was removed. - -He mentions, as well, an excommunication fulminated by a bishop against -sparrows, which, flying in and out of the church of S. Vincent, left their -traces on the seats and desks, and in other ways disturbed the faithful. -Saint Bernard, be it remembered, whilst preaching in the parish church of -Foligny, was troubled by the incessant humming of the flies. The saint -broke off his sermon to exclaim, "O flies! I denounce you!" The pavement -was instantaneously littered with their dead bodies. - -Saint Patrick, as every one knows, drove the serpents out of Ireland by -his ban. - -This is the form of excommunication as given by Chasseneux:--"O snails, -caterpillars, and other obscene creatures, which destroy the food of our -neighbours, depart hence! Leave these cantons which you are devastating, -and take refuge in those localities where you can injure no one. I. N. -P.," etc. - -Chasseneux obtained such credit from this opinion that, in 1510, he was -appointed by the authorities of Autun to be advocate for the rats, and to -plead their cause in a trial which was to ensue on account of the -devastation they committed in eating the harvest over a large portion of -Burgundy. - -In his defence, Chasseneux showed that the rats had not received formal -notice; and, before proceeding with the case, he obtained a decision that -all the priests of the afflicted parishes should announce an adjournment, -and summon the defendants to appear on a fixed day. - -At the adjourned trial, he complained that the delay accorded his clients -had been too short to allow of their appearing, in consequence of the -roads being infested with cats. Chasseneux made an able defence, and -finally obtained a second adjournment. We believe that no verdict was -given. - -In a formulary of exorcisms, believed to have been drawn up by S. Gratus, -Bishop of Aosta, in the ninth century, we find unclean beasts -excommunicated as agents of Satan. - -From such a superstition as this sprang the numerous legends of the Evil -One having been exorcised into the form of a beast; as, for instance, by -S. Taurinus of Evreux, and by S. Walther of Scotland, who died in 1214, -and who charmed the devil into the shapes of a black dog, pig, wolf, rat, -etc. The devil Rush, in the popular mediæval tale of _Fryer Rush_, was -conjured into a horse, and made to carry enough lead on his back to roof a -church. - -Felix Malleolus relates that William, Bishop of Lausanne, pronounced -sentence against the leeches which infested the Lake of Geneva and killed -the fish, and that the said leeches retreated to a locality assigned them -by the prelate. The same author relates at large the proceedings -instituted against some mosquitoes in the thirteenth century in the -Electorate of Mayence, when the judge before whom they were cited granted -them, on account of the minuteness of their bodies and their extreme -youth, a curator and counsel, who pleaded their cause and obtained for -them a piece of land to which they were banished. - -On the 17th of August 1487, snails were sentenced at Mâcon. In 1585, -caterpillars suffered excommunication in Valence. In the sixteenth -century, a Spanish bishop, from the summit of a rock, bade all rats and -mice leave his diocese, and betake themselves to an island which he -surrendered to them. The vermin obeyed, swimming in vast numbers across -the strait to their domain. - -In 1694, during the witch persecutions at Salem, in New England, under the -Quakers Increase and Cotton Mather, a dog was strangely afflicted, and was -found guilty of having been ridden by a warlock. The dog was hanged. -Another dog was accused of afflicting others, who fell into fits the -moment it looked upon them; it was also put to death. A Canadian bishop in -the same century excommunicated the wood-pigeons; the same expedient was -had recourse to against caterpillars by a grand vicar of Pont-du-Château, -in Auvergne, as late as the eighteenth century. - -The absurdity of these trials called forth several treatises during the -middle ages. Philip de Beaumanoir in the thirteenth century, in his -_Customs of Beauvoisis_, complained of their folly; and in 1606, Cardinal -Duperron forbade any exorcism of animals, or the use, without license, of -prayers in church for their extermination. - -A book published in 1459, _De Fascino_, by a Spanish Benedictine monk, -Leonard Vair, holds up the practice to ridicule. Eveillon, in his _Traité -des Excommunications_, published in 1651, does the same. - -One curious story more, and we shall give a detailed account of one of -these trials. - -We have taken this from Benoit's _Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes_ (tom. v. -p. 754), and give a translation of the writer's own words. "The Protestant -chapel at La Rochelle was condemned to be demolished in 1685. The _bell_ -had a fate sufficiently droll: it was _whipped_, as a punishment for -having assisted heretics; it was then buried, and disinterred, in order to -represent its new birth in passing into the hands of Catholics.... It was -catechised, and had to reply; it was compelled to recant, and promise -never again to relapse into sin; it then made ample and honourable -recompense. Lastly, it was reconciled, baptized, and given to the parish -which bears the name of Saint Bartholomew. But the point of the story is, -that when the governor, who had sold it to the parish, asked for payment, -the answer made him was, that it had been Huguenot, that it had been -_newly converted_, and that consequently it had a right to demand a delay -of three years before paying its debts, according to the law passed by the -king for the benefit of those recently converted!" - -We propose now giving the particulars of a remarkable action brought -against some ants, towards the commencement of the eighteenth century, for -violation of the rights of property. It is related by P. Manoel Bernardes -in his _Nova Floresta_ (Lisbóa, 1728), and is quoted by M. Emile Agnel -among his _Curiosités Judiciaires et Historiques_; to whom and to the -paper of M. Menabréa, entitled "Procès fait aux Animaux," in the twelfth -volume of the _Transactions of the Chambéry Society_, we are indebted for -much of our information. - - Action brought by the Friars Minor of the province of Pridade no - Maranhao in Brazil, against the ants of the said territory. - -"It happened, according to the account of a monk of the said order in that -province, that the ants, which thereabouts are both numerous, large, and -destructive, had, in order to enlarge the limits of their subterranean -empire, undermined the cellars of the Brethren, burrowing beneath the -foundations, and thus weakening the walls which daily threatened ruin. -Over and above the said offence was another, they had burglariously -entered the stores, and carried off the flour which was kept for the -service of the community. Since the hostile multitudes were united and -indefatigable night and day-- - - Parvula, nam exemplo est, magni formica laboris - Ore trahit quodcumque potest, atque addit acervo - Quern struit ... (Horace, _Sat._ i.)-- - -the monks were brought into peril of famine, and were driven to seek a -remedy for this intolerable nuisance: and since all the means to which -they resorted were unavailing, the unanimity of the multitude being quite -insurmountable, as a last resource, one of the friars, moved by a superior -instinct (we can easily believe that), gave his advice that, returning to -the spirit of humility and simplicity which had qualified their seraphic -founder, who termed all creatures his brethren--brother Sun, brother Wolf, -sister Swallow, etc.--they should bring an action against their sisters -the Ants before the divine tribunal of Providence, and should name counsel -for defendants and plaintiffs; also that the bishop should, in the name of -supreme Justice, hear the case and give judgment. - -"The plan was approved of; and after all arrangements had been made, an -indictment was presented by the counsel for the plaintiffs, and as it was -contested by the counsel for the defendants he produced his reasons, -requiring protection for his clients. These latter lived on the alms which -they received from the faithful, collecting offerings with much labour -and personal inconvenience; whilst the ants, creatures whose morals and -manner of life were clearly contrary to the Gospel precepts, and were -regarded with horror on that account by S. Francis, the founder of the -confraternity, lived by fraud; and not content with acts of larceny, -proceeded to open violence and endeavours to ruin the house. Consequently -they were bound to show reason, or in default be concluded that they -should all be put to death by some pestilence, or drowned by an -inundation; at all events, should be exterminated from the district. - -"The counsel for the little black folk, replying to these accusations, -alleged with justice to his clients, in the first place: That, having -received from their Maker the benefit of life, they were bound by a law of -nature to preserve it by means of those instincts implanted in them. -_Item_, That in the observance of these means they served Providence, by -setting men an example of those virtues enjoined on them, viz. prudence--a -cardinal virtue--in that they (the ants) used forethought, preparing for -an evil day: 'Formicæ populus infirmus, qui præparat in messe cibum sibi' -(Prov. xxx. 25); diligence, also, in amassing in this life merits for a -life to come according to Jerome: 'Formica dicitur strenuus quisque et -providus operarius, qui presenti vita, velut in æstate, fructus justitiæ, -quos in æternum recipiet, sibi recondit' (S. Hieron., in Prov. vi.); -thirdly, charity, in aiding each other, when their burden was beyond their -strength, according to Abbat Absalon: 'Pacis et concordiæ vivum exemplum -formica reliquit, quæ suum comparem, forte plus justo oneratum, naturali -quadam charitate alleviat' (Absalon apud Picinellum, _in Mundo symbolico_, -8); lastly, of religion and piety, in giving sepulture to the dead of -their kind, as writes Pliny, 'sepeliuntur inter se viventium solæ, præter -hominem' (Plin., lib. xi. 36); an opinion borne also by the monk Malchus, -who observes, 'Hæ luctu celebri corpora defuncta deportabant' (S. Hieron., -_in Vita Malchi_). - -"_Item_, That the toil these ants underwent far surpassed that of the -plaintiffs, since their burdens were often larger than their bodies, and -their courage greater than their strength. - -"_Item_, That in the eyes of the Creator men are regarded as 'worms'; on -account of their superior intelligence, perhaps superior to the -defendants, but inferior to them morally, from having offended their -Maker, by violating the laws of reason, though they observed those of -nature. Wherefore they rendered themselves unworthy of being served or -assisted by any creatures, since they (men) had committed greater crimes -against heaven than had the clients of this learned counsel in stealing -their flour. - -"_Item_, That his clients were in possession of the spot in question -before the appellants had established themselves there; consequently that -the monks should be expelled from lands to which they had no other right -than a seizure of them by main force. - -"_Finally_, he concluded that the plaintiffs ought to defend their house -and meal by human means which they (the defendants) would not oppose; -whilst they (the defendants) continued their manner of life, obeying the -law imposed on their nature, and rejoicing in the freedom of the earth; -for the earth belongs not to the plaintiffs but to the Creator: 'Domini -est terra et plenitudo ejus.' - -"This answer was followed by replies and counter-replies, so that the -counsel for the prosecution saw himself constrained to admit that the -debate had very much altered his opinion of the criminality of the -defendants. He had, the learned counsel for the defendants argued, -admitted that the action was brought by brethren against sisters, brethren -Monks against sister Ants. The sister Ants, conform to the law of nature -imposed on them, continued the counsel for the insects; the brother Monks, -claiming to be ruled by an additional law, that of reason, violate it, so -that they place themselves only under the law of animal instinct, the same -which regulates the ants. The latter are not raised to the level of man, -but the friars have lowered themselves to that of brutes. Consequently, -the action is not between man and beast, but between beast and beast. All -arguments founded on the assumption of higher intelligence in man -consequently break down. - -"The judge revolved the matter carefully in his mind, and finally rendered -judgment, that the Brethren should appoint a field in their neighbourhood, -suitable for the habitation of the Ants, and that the latter should -change their abode immediately under pain of major excommunication. By -such an arrangement both parties would be content and be reconciled; for -the Ants must consider that the Monks had come into the land to sow there -the seed of the Gospel, and that they themselves could easily obtain a -livelihood elsewhere, and at less cost. This sentence having been given, -one of the friars was appointed to convey it to the insects, which he did, -reading it aloud at the openings of their burrows. - -"Wondrous event! 'It nigrum campis agmen,' one saw dense columns of the -little creatures, in all haste, leaving their ant-hills, and betaking -themselves direct to their appointed residence." - -Manoel Bernardes adds, that this sentence was pronounced on the 17th of -January 1713, and that he saw and examined the papers referring to this -transaction, in the monastery of Saint Anthony, where they were -deposited. - - - - -GHOSTS IN COURT - - -The following very curious story is from the _Eyrbyggja Saga_, one of the -oldest and noblest of the Icelandic histories. As it results in an action -unique in its way,--a lawsuit brought against a party of ghosts who -haunted a house,--it well merits attention from all lovers of curiosities. - -In the summer of 1000, the year in which Christianity was established in -Iceland, a vessel came off the coast near Snæfellness, full of Irish and -natives of the Hebrides, with a few Norsemen among them; the ship came -from Dublin, and lay alongside of Rif, waiting a breeze which might waft -her into the firth to Dögvertharness. Some people went off in boats from -the ness to trade with the vessel. They found on board a Hebridean woman -called Thorgunna, who, hinted the sailors, had treasures of female attire -in her possession the like of which had never been seen in Iceland. Now -when Thurida, the housewife at Frod river, heard this, she was all -excitement to get a glimpse of these treasures, for she was a dashing, -showy sort of a woman. She rowed out to the ship, and on meeting -Thorgunna, asked her if she had really some first-rate ladies' dresses? Of -course she had, was the answer; but she was not going to part with them to -any one. Then might she see them? humbly asked Thurida. Yes, she might see -them. So the boxes were opened, and the Iceland lady examined the foreign -apparel. It was good, but not so very remarkable as she had anticipated; -on the whole she was a bit disappointed, still she would like to purchase, -and she made a bid. Thorgunna at once refused to sell. Thurida then -invited the Hebridean lady home on a visit, and the stranger, only too -glad to leave the vessel, accepted the invitation with alacrity. - -On the arrival of the lady with her boxes at the farm, she asked to see -her bed, and was shown a convenient closet in the lower part of the hall. -There she unlocked her largest trunk, and drew forth a suit of bed-clothes -of the most exquisite workmanship, and she spread over the bed English -linen sheets and a silken coverlet. From the box she also extracted -tapestry hangings and curtains to surround the couch; and the like of all -these things had never been seen in the island before. - -Thurida opened her eyes very wide, and asked her guest to share -bed-clothes with her. - -"Not for all the world," replied the strange lady, with sharpness; "I'm -not going to pig it in the rushes, for _you_, ma'am!" - -An answer which, the Saga writer assures us, did not particularly gratify -the good woman of the house. - -Thorgunna was stout and tall, disposed to become fat, with black eyebrows, -a head of thick bushy brown hair, and soft eyes. She was not much of a -talker, not very merry, and it was her wont to go to church every day -before beginning her daily task. Many people took her to be about sixty -years old. She worked at the loom every day except in haymaking time, and -then she went forth into the fields and stacked the hay she had made. The -summer that year was wet, and the hay had not been carried on account of -the rain, so that at Frod river farm, by autumn, the crop was only half -cut, and the rest was still standing. - -One day appeared bright and cloudless, and the farmer, Thorodd, ordered -the house to turn out for a general haymaking. The strange lady worked -along with the rest, tossing hay till the hour of nones, when a black -cloud crossed the sky from the north, and by the time that prayers had -been said such a darkness had come on that it was almost impossible to -see. The haymakers, at Thorodd's command, raked their hay together into -cocks, but Thorgunna, for no assignable reason, left hers spread. It now -became so dark that there was no seeing a hand held up before the face, -and down came the rain in torrents. It did not last many minutes, and then -the sky cleared, and the evening was as bright as had been the morning. - -It was observed by the haymakers on their return to their work that it had -rained blood, for all the grass was stained. They spread it, and it soon -dried up; but Thorgunna tried in vain to dry hers, it had been so -thoroughly saturated that the sun went down leaving it dripping blood, and -all her clothes were discoloured. Thurida asked what could be the meaning -of the portent, and Thorgunna answered that it boded ill to the house and -its inmates. In the evening, late, the strange woman returned home, and -went to her closet and stripped the stained clothes off her. She then lay -down in her bed and began to sigh. It was soon ascertained that she was -ill, and when food was brought her she would not swallow it. - -Next morning the bonder came to her bedside to inquire how she felt, and -to learn what turn the sickness was likely to take. The poor lady told him -that she feared her end was approaching, and she earnestly besought him to -attend to her directions as to the disposal of her property, not changing -any particular, as such a change would entail misery on the family. -Thorodd declared his readiness to carry out her wishes to the minutest -detail. - -"This, then," said she, "is my last request. I desire my body to be taken -to Skalholt, if I die of this disease, for I have a presentiment that that -place will shortly become the most sacred in the island, and that clerks -will be there who will chant over me; and do you reimburse yourself from -my chattels for any outlay in carrying this into effect. Let your wife -Thurida have my scarlet gown, lest she be put out at the further -distribution of my effects, which I propose. My gold ring I bequeath to -the Church; but my bed, with its curtains, tapestry, coverlet, and sheets, -I desire to have burned, so that they go into nobody's possession. This I -desire, not because I grudge the use of these handsome articles to -anybody, but because I foresee that the possession of them would be the -cause of innumerable quarrels and heart-burnings." - -Thorodd promised solemnly to fulfil every particular to the letter. - -The complaint now rapidly gained ground, and before many days Thorgunna -was dead. The farmer put her corpse into a coffin; then took all the -bed-furniture into the open air, and, raising a pile of wood, flung the -clothes on top of it, and was about to fire the pile, when, with a face -pale with dismay, forth rushed Thurida to know what in the name of wonder -her husband was about to do with those treasures of needlework, the -coverlet, sheets, and curtains of the strange lady's bed. - -"Burn them! according to her dying request," replied Thorodd. - -"Burn them?" echoed Thurida, casting up her hands and eyes; "what -nonsense! Thorgunna only desired this to be done because she was full of -envy lest others should enjoy these incomparable treasures." - -"But she threatened all kinds of misfortunes unless I strictly obeyed her -injunctions; and I promised to do what she bid," expostulated the worthy -man. - -"Oh, that is all fancy!" exclaimed the wife; "what misfortune can these -articles possibly bring upon us?" - -Thorodd still stood out; but in his house, as in many another, the gray -mare was the better horse, and what with entreaties, embraces, and tears, -he was forced to effect a compromise, and relinquish to his wife the -hangings and the coverlet in order that he might secure immunity for -burning the pillow and the sheets. Yet neither party was satisfied, says -the historian. - -Next day preparations were made for flitting the corpse to Skalholt, and -trustworthy men were appointed to accompany it. The body was swathed in -linen, but not stitched up; it was then put into the coffin and placed on -horseback. So they started with it over the moor, and nothing particular -happened till they reached Valbjarnar plain, where there are many pools -and morasses, and the corpse had repeated falls into the mire. Well, after -a bit they crossed the North river at Eyar ford, but the water was very -deep, for there had been heavy rains. - -At nightfall they reached Stafholt, and asked the farmer to take them in. -He declined peremptorily, probably disliking the notion of housing a -corpse, and he shut the door in their faces. They could go no farther that -night, as the White river was before them, which was very deep and broad -and could only be traversed in safety by day; so they took the coffin -into an outhouse, and after some trouble persuaded the farmer to let them -sleep in his hall; but he would not give them any food, so they went -supperless to bed. Scarcely, however, was all quiet in the house before a -strange clatter was heard in the shed serving as larder. One of the farm -servants, thinking that thieves were breaking in, stole to the door, and -on looking in, beheld a tall naked woman, with thick brown hair, busily -engaged in preparing food. The poor fellow was so frightened that he fled -back to his bed, quaking like an aspen leaf. In another moment the nude -figure stalked into the hall, bearing victuals in both hands, and these -she placed on the table. By the dim light the bearers recognised -Thorgunna, and they understood now that she resented the churlishness of -the host, and had left her coffin to provide food for them. The farmer and -his wife were now speedily brought to terms, and leaving their beds they -displayed the utmost alacrity in supplying the necessities of their -guests. A fire was lighted; the wet clothes were taken off the travellers; -curd and beer, and a stew of Iceland-moss were set before them. - -Hist!--a little noise in the outhouse! It is only Thorgunna stepping back -into her coffin. - -Nothing transpired of any moment during the rest of the journey. The -bearers had but to narrate the story of the preceding night's events, and -they were sure of a ready welcome wherever they halted. - -At Skalholt all went well; the clerks accepted the gold ring, and chanted -over the body: they buried her deep, and put green turf over her. So, -their errand accomplished, the servants of Thorodd returned home. - -At Frod river there was a large hall, with a closed bedroom at one end of -it. On each side of the hall were closets; in one of these closets dried -fish were stacked up, and flour was kept in the other. Every evening, -about meal-time, a great fire was lighted in the hall, and men used to sit -before it ere they adjourned to supper. The same night that the funeral -party returned the men were sitting chatting round the fire, when suddenly -they perceived a phosphorescent half-moon grow into brilliancy on the wall -of the apartment, and travel slowly round the hall against the sun. The -appearance continued all the while the men sat by the fire, and was -visible every evening after. Thorodd asked Thorir Stumpleg, his bailiff, -what this portended; and the man replied that it boded death to some one, -but to whom he could not say. - -One day a shepherd came in, gloomy, and muttering to himself in a strange -manner. When addressed, he answered wildly, and they thought he must have -lost his wits. The man remained in this state for some little while. One -night he went to bed as usual, but in the morning when the men came to -wake him, they found him lying dead in his place. - -He was buried in the church. - -A few nights after, strange sounds were heard outside the house; and one -night when Thorir Stumpleg went outside the door, he saw the shepherd -stride past him. Thorir attempted to slip indoors again, but the shepherd -grasped him, and after a short tussle cast him in, so that he fell upon -the hall floor bruised and severely injured. He succeeded in crawling to -his bed, but he never rose from it again. His body was purple and swollen. -After a few days he died, and was buried in the churchyard. Immediately -after, his spectre was seen to walk in company with that of the shepherd. - -A servant of Thorir now sickened, and after three days' illness died. -Within a few days five more died. The fast preceding Christmas approached, -though in those days the fashion of fasting was not introduced. In the -closet containing dried fish, the stack was so big that the door could not -be closed, and when fish were wanted, a ladder was placed against the pile -and the top fish were taken away for use. In the evening, as men sat over -the fire, the stack of dried fish was suddenly upset, and when people went -to examine it, they could discover no cause. Just before Yule, also, -Thorodd, the bonder, went out in a long boat with seven men to Ness, after -some fish, and they were out all night. The same evening, the fires having -been kindled in the hall at Frod river, a seal's head was seen to rise out -of the floor of the apartment. A servant girl, who first saw it, rushed -to the door, and catching up a bludgeon which lay beside it, struck at the -seal's head. The blow made the head rise higher out of the floor, and it -turned its eyes towards the bed-curtains of Thorgunna. A house-churl now -took the stick and beat at the apparition, but he fared no better, for the -head rose higher at each stroke till its forefins appeared, and the fellow -was so frightened that he fainted away. Then up came Kiartan, the bonder's -son, a lad of twelve, and snatching up a large iron mallet for beating the -fish, he brought it down with a crash on the seal's head. He struck again -and again, till he drove it into the floor, much as one might drive a -pile; he then beat down the earth over it. - -It was noticed by all that on every occasion the lad Kiartan was the only -one who had any power over the apparitions. - -Next morning it was ascertained that Thorodd and his men had been lost, -for the boat was driven ashore near Enni; but the bodies were never -recovered. - -Thurida, and her son Kiartan, immediately invited all their kindred and -neighbours to a funeral feast. They had brewed for Yule, and now they kept -the banquet in commemoration of the dead. When all the company had -arrived, and had taken their places--the seats of the dead men being, as -customary, left vacant--the hall door was darkened, and the guests beheld -Thorodd and his servants enter, dripping with water. All were gratified, -for at that time it was considered a token of favourable acceptance with -the goddess Ran if the dead men came to the wake; "and," says the Saga -writer, "though we are Christian men, and baptized, we have faith in the -same token still." The spectres walked through the hall without greeting -any one, and sat down before the fire. The servants fled in all -directions, and the dead men sat silently round the flames till the fire -died out, then they left the house as they had entered it. This happened -every evening as long as the feast continued, and some deemed that at the -conclusion of the festivities the apparition would cease. The wake -terminated, and the visitors dispersed. The fire was lighted as usual -towards dusk, and in, as before, came Thorodd and his retinue, dripping -with water; they sat down before the hearth, and began to wring out their -clothes. Next came in the spectres of Thorir Stumpleg and the six who had -died in bed after him, and had been buried; they were covered with mould, -and they proceeded to shake the mould off their clothes upon Thorodd and -his men. - -The inmates of the house deserted the room, and remained without light and -heat in another apartment. Next day the fire was not lighted in the hall -but in the other room; the farm-people reckoning upon the ghosts keeping -to the hall. But no! in came the spectral train, and upon the living men -vacating their seats, the ghosts occupied them, and sat looking grimly -into the red fire till it died out, whilst the terrified servants spent -the evening in the hall. - -On the third day two fires were kindled--one in the hall for the ghosts, -and another in the small chamber for the living men; and so it had to be -done throughout the whole of Yule. - -Fresh disturbances now began in the fish closet, and it seemed as though a -bull were among the fish, tossing them about; and this went on night and -day. A man set the ladder against the stack and climbed to the top. He -observed emerging from the pile of stockfish a tail like that of a cow -which had been singed, but soft and covered with hair like that of a seal. -The fellow caught the tail and pulled at it, calling lustily for help. Up -ran men and women, and all dragged at the tail, but none of them could -pull it out; it seemed stiff and dead, yet suddenly it was whisked out of -their hands, and rasped the skin off their palms. The stack was now taken -down, but no traces of the tail could be found, only it was discovered -that the skin had been peeled off the fish, and at the bottom of the stack -not a bit of flesh was left upon them. - -Thorgrima, the widow of Thorir Stumpleg, fell ill shortly after this; on -the evening of her burial she was seen in company with Thorir and his -party. All those who had seen the tail were now attacked, and died--men -and women. In the autumn there had been thirty household servants at Frod -river, of these now eighteen were dead, the ghosts had frightened five -away, and at the beginning of the month of May there remained but seven. - -Things had come to such a pass as to render ruin imminent, unless some -decisive measure were pursued to rid the house of the spectres that -haunted it. Kiartan, accordingly, determined on consulting Snorri, the -Lawman, his mother's brother, and one of the shrewdest men Iceland ever -produced. Kiartan reached his uncle's house at Helgafell at the same time -that a priest arrived from Gizor White, the apostle of Iceland. Snorri -advised Kiartan to take the priest with him to Frod river, to burn all the -bed-furniture of Thorgunna, to hold a court at his door, and bring a -formal action at law against the spectres, and then to get the priest to -sprinkle the house with holy water, and to shrive the survivors on the -farm. Along with him Snorri sent his son Thord Kausi, with six men, that -he might summons Kiartan's father, considering that there might be a -little delicacy in the son bringing an action against the ghost of his own -father. - -So it was settled, and Kiartan rode home. On his way he called at -neighbours' houses and asked help: so that by the time he reached Frod -river his party was considerably swelled. It was Candlemas day, and they -drew up at the farm door just after the fires had been lighted and the -ghosts had assumed their customary places. Kiartan found his mother in -bed, with all the premonitory symptoms of the same complaint which had -carried off so many others in the house. The lad passed the spectres, and -going up to the bed of Thorgunna, removed the quilt and curtains and every -article which had belonged to her. Then he pushed boldly up to the fire -past the ghosts, and took a brand from it. - -In a few minutes he had made a pile of brushwood, and had thrown the -bed-furniture on the top. The flames roared up around the luckless -articles and consumed them. A court was next constituted at the door, -according to proper legal forms, and Kiartan summoned Thorir Stumpleg, -whilst Thord Kausi summoned Thorodd for entering a gentleman's house -without permission, and bringing mischief and death among his retainers. - -Every spectre there present was summoned by name in due and legal form. -The plaintiffs argued their case, and witnesses were called and examined. -The defendants were asked what exceptions they had to plead, and upon -their remaining silent, sentence was pronounced. Each case was taken -separately, and the court sat long. The first action disposed of was that -against Thorir. He was ordered to leave the house forthwith. Upon hearing -this decree of the court, Stumpleg rose from his chair and said-- - -"I sat whilst sit I might," and hobbled out of the hall by the door -opposite to that before which the court was held. - -The case of the shepherd was next disposed of. On hearing the sentence he -rose,-- - -"I go; better had I been dismissed before," he vanished through the door. - -When Thorgrima was ordered to depart, she followed the others, saying,-- - -"I remained whilst to remain was lawful." - -Each who left said a few words which evinced a disinclination to desert -the fireside for the grave and sea depths. - -The last to go was Thorodd, and he said,-- - -"There is now no peace for us here; we are flitting one by one." - -After this Kiartan went in, and the priest took holy water and sprinkled -the walls of the house; then he sang mass, and performed many ceremonies. - -So the spectres haunted Frod river no more; Thurida got better rapidly, -and the prospects of the farm mended. - - - - -STRANGE PAINS AND PENALTIES - - -Punishment is efficacious in deterring from crime only if it be certain -and speedy. Severity is quite a minor point, and it will be found that the -deterring effect of punishment is by no means proportionate to its -cruelty. - -The first requisite is certainty, for human nature is so constituted that -if there be a chance of escape, ninety-nine out of a hundred will be found -to run the risk. A slight punishment, if certain, is infinitely more -likely to produce the required results than the most terrible exhibition -of cruelty upon representative criminals. If certainty be a main -requisite, speediness is also necessary; lasting and cruel punishments -harden but do not reclaim. - -Of this our forefathers in the middle ages were profoundly ignorant. With -an inefficient police, it was not to be expected that one tithe of the -malefactors, then so numerous, should fall into the hands of justice, and -the authorities endeavoured to make up for this imperfection by -exaggerated severity, and by grotesqueness in the punishments they -inflicted. - -I have said our forefathers in the middle ages, for the Anglo-Saxons and -Danes were far too sensible to resort to cruel or absurd penalties, when -milder and reasonable ones would answer their purpose. - -Thus the laws of Canute direct that the correction of a criminal should be -so regulated that it may appear seemly in the eyes of Him who said, -"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us," -and they enjoin that the judge should not be unduly severe, but lean -rather to a gentle punishment; and also that if it appeared likely that -the criminal was fully penitent and inclined to amend, full mercy should -be shown to him. - -Indeed it was a feature characteristic of Saxon and Danish laws, that -compensation should be aimed at and the reclamation of the criminal, -rather than retribution. Capital punishments were sanctioned, but in all -cases an opportunity was offered for the substitution of a fine. Thus, by -the law of King Ina, if a thief were caught, he was sentenced to death, -but his life could be redeemed by pecuniary satisfaction being made to the -persons robbed. So the fine inflicted on a murderer was regulated -according to the sum at which the life of the murdered party was valued; -thus, if a man slew a freeman, he had to make compensation to the amount -of one hundred shillings, but for the murder of a thrall a much less sum -was demanded. If a freeman slew his thrall, he paid a nominal fine to the -king for a breach of the peace; but if a slave killed his master, the -doctrine of blood for blood was carried into effect, as the thrall had no -personal property to pay in compensation for his crime. - -Fines were imposed by the Anglo-Saxons for all kinds of personal injuries. - -Thus by the laws of King Ethelbert, for breaking a man's front tooth the -fine imposed was six shillings, but a molar was regarded as worth only one -shilling, and a canine tooth was valued at six. King Alfred however, -revised these laws, and taking into consideration the fact that the molar -is a double tooth, and that it is a very serviceable tooth besides, he -raised its market value to fifteen shillings. - -If a man struck out the eye of another and blinded him, he was obliged to -make satisfaction with fifty shillings, and one who was in a troublesome -mood and had plenty of loose cash to dispose of, might break a neighbour's -rib for three shillings, and dislocate his shoulder for twenty. According -to the decrees of the Witan, a fine of one shilling was enacted for -crushing the finger-nail of a neighbour, but if the thumb-nail had -suffered, three shillings was its value. - -A testy Saxon might venture to pull the nose of his enemy if he had three -shillings to spare, but then he had to be cautious, for if the pull were -sufficiently violent to make the nose bleed, he had to pay six shillings. -It was the almost universal custom throughout Europe that forgiveness -should be judged according to the laws of their native country, and not -according to the law of the land in which the offence was committed; and -"thus," says Dr. Henry, "the nose of a Spaniard was perfectly safe in -England, because it was valued at thirteen marks, but the nose of an -Englishman ran a great risk in Spain, because it was valued at twelve -shillings. An Englishman might have broken a Welshman's head for a mere -trifle, but few Welshmen could afford to return the compliment." - -Among the Anglo-Saxons the penalty inflicted on coiners was the loss of -one hand; hardly a cruel sentence in comparison with that which was -inflicted during the middle ages, up to the close of the sixteenth -century, namely, boiling alive in oil or water. - -An old German code of laws gives the following horrible directions: -"Should a coiner be caught in the act, then let him be stewed in a pan, or -in a caldron half an ell deep for the body, so that the man may be bound -to a pole which shall be passed through the rings of the caldron, and -which shall be tightly strapped and bound to upright posts on either side, -and thus he shall be made to stew in oil and wine." A scene such as this -was witnessed in Sweden in 1500, by Archbishop Olaus Magnus of Upsala, and -instances without number might be cited from German and French city -registers. Taking one town alone, Lübeck, we find that a poor fellow who -gave himself out to be the dead king Frederick II., and who was probably -an inoffensive madman, was thus put to death in 1287. - -A second instance occurred in the year 1329, when the man was boiled in -the market-place in the midst of a vast concourse of people. A similar -sentence was pronounced in 1459, and again in 1471, but in this instance, -at the last moment, in consideration of the earnest entreaty of the -bishop, the sentence was commuted to burning alive on a pile of faggots, -at the Mühlenthor. This poor wretch was less fortunate than the coiner -Jacob von Jülich, who, when crouching in the caldron, and shrieking with -agony, obtained the mercy of having his head struck off. - -In the sixteenth century, coiners were hanged instead of boiled: till -lately, however, the caldron which was used for this horrible purpose was -visible in the market-place of Osnabrück. - -A punishment much in vogue during the middle ages for those who were -guilty of stabbing with intent to wound, but without causing death, was -sufficiently terrible. The hand which had dealt the blow was placed upon a -table with the fingers spread out, and the weapon which had been used was -struck violently into the back of the hand, pinning it to the table, and -the criminal had to draw his hand away without removing the knife. This -was statute law pretty nearly throughout Europe, and it continued in force -till the middle of the seventeenth century, but the Frisian laws permitted -the penalty to be remitted if the culprit chose to pay compensation to -the amount of twenty-five gulden. - -In 1638, Count Anthony Gunter of Oldenburg ordered a post to be erected -before the church, or in the market, and the criminal to be fastened to it -by a knife driven through his hand; and thus he was to stand for three -hours. This law was not abrogated in Germany till 1661. - -Mutilation was common enough in the middle ages. We find in the laws of -William the Conqueror-- - -"We forbid that criminals of any sort should be killed or hanged, but let -their eyes be plucked out, or let their hands and feet be chopped off, so -that nothing may remain of the culprit but a living trunk, as a memorial -of his crime." How different this from the tone of Saxon laws. - -At Avignon, in 1245, false witnesses had their noses and upper lips cut -away, and the same penalty was inflicted in Switzerland on blasphemers. - -Eugène Sue suggested that capital punishment should be replaced by -privation of sight. But if his system were carried into effect, those -unhappy individuals who have either been born blind or have lost their -sight by accident, would be compelled to carry about with them a -certificate to the effect that they were honest men, as did the Arab -grammarian Zamakuschari, who died in 1144. This writer, having had a foot -frost-bitten in Kharism, carried ever about with him an attestation to the -fact, signed by a number of persons of credit, so that no one would -regard him as a criminal who had suffered mutilation. - -Our own King John, according to Matthew Paris, invented a punishment of -great cruelty. Geoffry, Archdeacon of Norwich, having offended him, he had -him encased in a sheet of lead, which was folded round him and fitted to -his shoulders like a cloak. The unhappy man died of the burden and of -horror. "This," says an Anglo-Norman writer, "is the judgment of 'pain -fort et dure'; to wit, the condemned shall be placed in a low chamber -locked. And he shall lie naked on the ground without litter, bedding, or -cloth, and without anything over him; and he shall lie on his back with -his head to the west, and his feet to the east, and one arm shall be drawn -to one quarter of the room by a rope, and the other arm in like manner to -the other quarter, and in the same way shall his legs be extended, and -upon his body shall be placed iron and stone, as much as he can bear; the -first day he shall have three lumps of barley bread, but nothing to drink, -and next day he shall drink thrice, as much as he wants, of water brought -from near at hand to the prison, excepting that it be running water, and -he shall have no bread, and this succession shall be followed till he -dies." - -Can it be believed that such a terrible death as this was inflicted in the -reign of Queen Elizabeth, on the 25th of March 1586, and that the person -who suffered was a woman, on the indictment "that she had harboured and -maintained Jesuit and seminary priests, traitors to the Queen's Majesty -and the laws; and that she had heard mass, and the like." The law of the -land required that those who would not plead "guilty" or "not guilty," -should be made to plead, "by being laid upon the back on the ground, and -as much weight laid upon the accused as he or she can bear, and that the -accused shall so continue for three days, and should he or she still -refuse to plead, then to be pressed to death, the hands and feet tied to a -post, and a sharp stone set under the back." The unfortunate woman,--her -name was Margaret Clitheroe,--labouring under the idea that she was being -martyred for her religion, whereas she was simply a victim to her own -obstinacy in refusing to plead, endured this fearful death. Had she -pleaded she would have escaped, for the evidence against her was of so -slender a nature that she must have been acquitted. The judge, Clinch, who -gave the sentence, did so with great reluctance, and only because, as the -law stood, it was impossible for him to evade it. - -In the reign of James I., we learn from Sir Walter Scott, a Highland chief -in Ross, of the name of M'Donald, hearing that a poor widow had determined -to go on foot to Edinburgh to see the king, and obtain from him justice -against the chief, sent for her, and telling her that the way was long, -and that she would require to be well shod for the journey, had a -blacksmith brought, and made him nail her shoes to her feet, in the same -way in which horses are shod. The widow, however, was a woman with a will -of her own, and as soon as she had recovered, she betook herself on foot -to Edinburgh, and casting herself at the feet of the king, besought of him -punishment on the tyrannical chief. King James, indignant at her -treatment, had M'Donald seized along with twelve of his accomplices, and -had iron soles nailed to their feet. They were exposed in this condition -to the public gaze, and were then decapitated. - -When Richard Coeur de Lion was on his way to the Holy Land he drew up a -code of criminal laws by which discipline was to be maintained among his -troops. One of these contains the following article:--"If any one is -convicted of theft, boiling pitch shall be poured over his head, and then -a pillowful of feathers shall be shaken over it, so that the fellow may be -certainly recognised. And he shall be abandoned on the first land where -the vessel touches." - -This reminds me of the trick played by certain wags on a poor nun in 1198. -They covered her with honey, rolled her in feathers, mounted her on -horseback, and paraded her about the town. Philip Augustus, hearing of -this, had the unfortunate jokers seized and plunged into a vat of boiling -water. - -A curious ordinance in force at Dortmund, in Westphalia, A.D. 1348, -required that, "if two women quarrel so as to come to blows, and at the -same time use abusive language, they shall be required to carry, the whole -length of the town along the High Street, two stones weighing together one -hundred pounds, attached to chains. The first woman shall carry them from -the east gate to the west gate, whilst the second goads her on with a -needle fastened to the end of a stick," and both are directed to wear the -lightest of all possible costumes. "The second is then to take the stones -upon her shoulders and to carry them back to the east gate, the first -applying the same stimulus." This punishment was common all over Germany. -In Lübeck the stones were shaped like bottles, in other places they were -rudely-carved heads of women with protruding tongues; and in some towns -they were in the shape of cats. At Hamburg a procession of women sounding -cows' horns was part of the programme, and at Worms a band of -bell-ringers. - -The old English cucking-stool for shrews is well known; it was common -abroad also, with some customs peculiarly foreign. For instance, the -unfortunate persons who had to do penance for their shrewish tongues were -sometimes put into a large hamper, or a cage, and so suspended to a -gallows, in the evening to be plunged, basket and all, into the nearest -pond. - -In the museum at Cahors the iron cage in which shrews were dipped is still -shown. - -Fools' caps have long served as punishment in village schools, but their -use in them was probably derived from the legal practice of condemning -certain delinquents to the use of peculiar caps. Thus in Germany some -minor crimes were punished by the culprit being sentenced to sit all day -on a post in the middle of a canal, with a tall scarlet steeple cap on his -head. In Rome, bankrupts were condemned to wear in public black bonnets of -a sugar-loaf form. At Lucca they wore them of an orange colour; and in -Spain they bore in addition an iron collar. - -The ancient Roman manner of punishing parricide, by casting the murderer -into the water in a sack which contained as well a cock, an ape, and a -serpent, was not unused in the middle ages, and we find it threatened in -an ordinance of the Provost of Paris, published on 25th June 1493, in -which all persons sick with smallpox are bidden leave Paris at a day's -notice, or suffer the penalty above mentioned. - -I might extract accounts of the most fearful of punishments which the -cruelty of man could devise, from Oriental sources, but the barbarities -practised by the Mussulmans are sickening through their excessive cruelty. -Suffering enough has been undergone in our own quarter of the globe, and -that too at no great distance of time from the age in which we live. - -I will instance, in conclusion, the painful account of the execution of -Balthazar Gerard, who assassinated William of Orange, on the 10th of July -1584, as given by Brantôme. "First he was racked with extraordinary -cruelty, without his uttering a word, except that he persisted in his -former assertion. - -"Then, before he died, for eighteen days he was tortured with excessive -cruelty. On the first day he was taken into the public square, where -there was a caldron of boiling oil, into which was thrust the arm which -had dealt the blow. On the morrow this arm was chopped off, and it fell at -his feet. He calmly moved it with his foot, and pushed it before him down -from the scaffold. On the third day his breast and the front of his arm -were plucked with red-hot pincers; on the following day his back and the -back of his arm, and legs, were treated in the same manner. This was -continued for eighteen days, and after each torture he was conducted back -to prison, he all the while enduring his sufferings with great constancy. -The greatest torture of all that he endured, except death, was when he was -bound naked in the middle of the square, and around him at a little -distance waggon-loads of charcoal were set on fire, and thus he was -wrapped in flame. The poor sufferer bore the roasting for a long while, -and then at last he lost patience and cried out; whereupon he was removed. -For the final torture he was broken on the wheel, but he did not die at -once, for they had only broken his legs and arms, so as to make him -linger. Thus he lived for six hours, imploring some one to bring him a -drop of water, but no one had the courage to give it him. At length the -officer was entreated to put an end to this scene, and to strangle him, -lest he should die in despair, and so his soul perish. The executioner -approached, and when close to him asked how he felt. The tortured man -replied, 'As you left me.' But when the cord was produced to be put round -his neck, he raised himself, as though fearing death, as he had not feared -it before, and said to the executioner:--'Ah! pray leave me alone. Do not -torture me any more! Pray let me die as I am!' So having been strangled, -his life closed. Awful were the torments he endured!" - - - - -WHAT ARE WOMEN MADE OF? - - -In the palmy days of childhood we were taught in nursery jingle, and we -implicitly believed, that little girls were made of - - Sugar and spice - And all that's nice. - -But, growing older, we learned to our disappointment that they were -produced from Adam's rib; and when we asked why woman was made of that -particular bone, we were told because it was the most crooked in Adam's -body. - -"Observe the result," preached Jean Raulin, in the beginning of the -sixteenth century: "man, composed of clay, is silent and ponderous; but -woman gives evidence of her osseous origin by the rattle she keeps up. -Move a sack of earth and it makes no noise; touch a bag of bones and you -are deafened with the clitter-clatter." - -This observation did not fall to the ground; it was repeated by Gratian de -Drusac in his _Controversies des Sexes Masculin et Féminin_, 1538. The -learned in medieval times did not spare women. Jean Nevisan, professor of -law at Turin, who died in 1540, is harder still on them in his _Sylva -Nuptialis_. Therein he audaciously asserts that woman was formed by the -Author of Good till the head had to be made, and _that_ was a production -of the great enemy of mankind. "Permisit Deus illud facere dæmonio." - -But the Rabbis are equally unsparing. They assert that when Eve had to be -drawn from the side of Adam she was not extracted by the head, lest she -should be vain; nor by the eyes, lest they should be wanton; nor by the -mouth, lest she should be given to tittle-tattle; nor by the ears, lest -she should be inquisitive; nor by the hands, lest she should be -meddlesome; nor by the feet, lest she should be a gadabout; nor by the -heart, lest she should be jealous; but she was drawn forth by the side; -yet, notwithstanding these precautions, she has every fault specially -guarded against, because, being extracted sideways, she was perverse. - -Another Rabbinical gloss on the text of Moses asserts that Adam was -created double; that he and Eve were made back to back, united at the -shoulders, and that they were severed with a hatchet. Eugubinus says that -their bodies were united at the side. - -Antoinette Bourignon, that extraordinary mystic of the seventeenth -century, had some strange visions of the primeval man and the birth of -Eve. The body of Adam, she says, was more pure, translucent, and -transparent than crystal, light and buoyant as air. In it were vessels and -streams of light, which entered and exuded through the pores. The vessels -were charged with liquors of various colours of intense brilliancy and -transparency; some of these fluids were water, milk, wine, fire, etc. -Every motion of Adam's body produced ineffable harmonies. Every creature -obeyed him; nothing could resist or injure him. He was taller than men of -this time; his hair was short, curled, and approaching to black. He had a -little down on his lower lip. In his stomach was a clear fluid, like water -in a crystal bowl, in which tiny eggs developed themselves, like bubbles -in wine, as he glowed with the ardour of Divine charity; and when he -strongly desired that others should unite with him in the work of praise, -he deposited one of these eggs, which hatched, and from it emerged his -consort, Eve. - -The inhabitants of Madagascar have a strange myth touching the origin of -woman. They say that the first man was created of the dust of the earth, -and was placed in a garden, where he was subject to none of the ills which -now afflict mortality; he was also free from all bodily appetites, and -though surrounded by delicious fruit and limpid streams, yet felt no -desire to taste of the fruit or quaff the water. The Creator had, -moreover, strictly forbidden him either to eat or to drink. The great -enemy, however, came to him, and painted to him in glowing colours the -sweetness of the apple, the lusciousness of the date, and the succulence -of the orange. In vain: the first man remembered the command laid upon -him by his Maker. Then the fiend assumed the appearance of an effulgent -spirit, and pretended to be a messenger from heaven commanding him to eat -and drink. The man at once obeyed. Shortly after a pimple appeared on his -leg; the spot enlarged into a tumour, which increased in size and caused -him considerable annoyance. At the end of six months it burst, and there -emerged from the limb a beautiful girl. - -The father of all living turned her this way and that way, sorely -perplexed, and uncertain whether to pitch her into the water or give her -to the pigs, when a messenger from heaven appeared, and told him to let -her run about the garden till she was of a marriageable age, and then to -take her to himself as a wife. He obeyed. He called her Bahouna, and she -became the mother of all races of men. - -There seems to be some uncertainty as to the size of our great mother. The -French orientalist, Henrion, member of the Academy, however, fixed it with -a precision satisfactory, at least, to himself. He gives the following -table of the relative heights of several eminent historical personages:-- - - Adam was precisely 123 feet 9 inches high - Eve 118 " 9.75 in. " - Noah 103 " " - Abraham 27 " " - Moses 13 " " - Hercules 10 " " - Alexander 6 " " - Julius Cæsar 5 " " - -It is interesting to have the height of Eve to the decimal of an inch. It -must, however, be stated that the measures of the traditional tomb of Eve -at Jedda give her a much greater stature. "On entering the great gate of -the cemetery, one observes on the left a little wall three feet high, -forming a square of ten to twelve feet. There lies the head of our first -mother. In the middle of the cemetery is a sort of cupola, where reposes -the middle of her body, and at the other extremity, near the door of -egress, is another little wall, also three feet high, forming a -lozenge-shaped enclosure: there are her feet. In this place is a large -piece of cloth, whereon the faithful deposit their offerings, which serve -for the maintenance of a constant burning of perfumes over the midst of -her body. The distance between her head and feet is 400 feet. How we have -shrunk since the creation!"--_Lettre de H. A. D., Consul de France en -Abyssinie, 1841._ - -But to return to the substance of which woman was made. This is a point on -which the various cosmogonies of nations widely differ. Probably the -discoverers of these cosmogonies were men, for they seldom give to woman a -very distinguished origin. But then the poets make it up to her. Nature, -the singer of the Land of Cakes tells us, - - Her 'prentice hand she tried on man, - And then she made the lasses, O. - -Guillaume de Salluste du Bastas (b. 1544; d. 1590) composed a lengthy poem -on the Creation, in which he does ample justice to the ladies. His poem -was translated into Latin by Dumonin, and into German, Spanish, Italian, -and English. - -A specimen will suffice:-- - - The mother of mortals in herself doth combine - The charms of an Adam, and graces all Divine. - Her tint his surpasses, her brow is more fair, - Her eye twinkles brighter, more lustrous her hair; - Far sweeter her utterance, her chin is quite smooth, - Dream of Beauty incarnate, a lover and a love! - -Our own Milton has done poor Eve justice in lines which need no quotation. - -Pygmalion, says the classic story, which is really a Phoenician myth of -creation, made a woman of marble or ivory, and Aphrodite, in answer to his -prayers, endowed the statue with life. We do not believe it. No woman was -ever marble. She may seem hard and cold, but she only requires a sturdy -male voice to bid her - - Descend, be stone no more! - -to show that the marble appearance was put on, and that she is, and ever -was, genuine palpitating flesh and blood. - -"Often does Pygmalion apply his hands to the work. One while he addresses -it in soft terms, at another he brings it presents that are agreeable to -maidens, as shells, and smooth pebbles, and little birds, and flowers of a -thousand hues, and lilies, and painted balls, and tears of the Heliades, -that have distilled from the trees. He decks her limbs, too, with -clothing, and puts a long necklace on her neck. Smooth pendants hang from -her ears, and bows from her breast. All things are becoming to -her."--Ovid, _Metam._ x. 254-266. - -There is something tender and kindly in this myth; it represents woman as -man would have her, pure as the ivory, modestly arrayed, simple, and -delighted with small trifles, birds, and pebbles, and flowers--a thing of -beauty and a joy for ever. But Hesiod gives a widely different account of -the creation of woman. According to him, she was sent in mockery by Zeus -to be a scourge to man:-- - - The Sire who rules the earth and sways the pole - Had spoken; laughter fill'd his secret soul: - He bade the crippled god his hest obey, - And mould with tempering water plastic clay; - With human nerve and human voice invest - The limbs elastic, and the breathing breast; - Fair as the blooming goddesses above, - A virgin's likeness with the looks of love. - He bade Minerva teach the skill that sheds - A thousand colours in the gliding threads; - He call'd the magic of love's golden queen - To breathe around a witchery of mien, - And eager passion's never-sated flame, - And cares of dress that prey upon the frame; - Bade Hermes last endue, with craft refined - Of treacherous manners, and a shameless mind. - Hesiod, _Erga_, 61-79. - -If such was the Greek theory of the creation of woman, it speaks ill for -the Greek men; for woman is ever what man makes her. If he chooses her to -be giddy and light and crafty, giddy, light, and crafty will she become; -but if he demands of her to be what God made her, modest, and thrifty, and -tender, such she will ever prove. This our grand old Northern forefathers -knew, and they made her creation a sacred matter, and fashioned her from a -nobler stock than man. He was of the ash, she of the elm; they called the -first woman Embla, or Emla, which means a laborious female--from the root -_amr_, _aml_, _ambl_, signifying "work." "One day as the sons of Bör were -walking along the sea-beach, they found two stems of wood, out of which -they shaped a man and a woman. The first, Odin, infused into them life and -spirit; the second, Vili, endowed them with reason and the power of -motion; the third, Ve, gave them speech and features, hearing and vision." -This reminds one of the ancient Iranian myth of Ahoura Mazda creating the -first pair, Meschia and Meschiane, from the Beivas tree. But the -Scandinavians also spoke of three primeval mothers: Edda -(great-grandmother), Amma (grandmother), and Mother, from whom sprang the -three classes of thrall, churl, and earl. It is noticeable that these -primeval women are represented as good housewives in the venerable -Rîgsmàl, which describes the wanderings of the god Heimdal, under the name -of Rîg. The deity comes to the hut of Edda, and at once-- - - From the ashes she took a loaf, - Heavy and thick, with bran mixed; - More beside she laid upon the board; - There is set a bowl of broth on the table; - There is a calf boiled, and cates the best. - -Then he goes to the house of Amma, the wife of Afi. - - Afi's wife sat plying her rock - With outspread arms, busked to weave. - A hood on her head, a sark over her breast, - A kerchief round her neck, and studs on her shoulders. - -He next enters the hall of Mother. - - The housewife looked on her arms, - Smoothed her veil, and fastened her sleeves, - Her headgear adjusted. A clasp was on her bosom, - Her robe was ample, her sark blue; - Brighter her brow, fairer her breast, - Whiter her neck than purest snowdrift. - She took, did Mother, a figured cloth - Of white linen, and the table decked. - She then took cakes of snow-white wheat, - On the table them she laid. - She set forth salvers, silver adorned, - Full of game, and pork, and roasted birds. - In a can was wine, the cups were costly. - -Not a word of disparagement of woman is found in those old cosmic lays. -The sturdy Northerner knew her value, and he respected her, whilst the -frivolous Greek despised her as a toy. - -The Provençal troubadours caught the classic misappreciation of woman. -Massillia was a Greek colony, and Greek manners, tastes, and habits of -thought prevailed for long in the south-east of France. The troubadours -idolised her, as an idol-puppet, but they knew not how to commend, and by -commending develop in her those qualities which lie ready to germinate -when called for by man--devotion, self-sacrifice, patience, gentleness, -and all those homely yet inestimable treasures, the domestic virtues. -Pierre de Saint Cloud, in the opening of his poem on Renard, has his fling -at poor Eve. He says that Adam was possessed of a magic rod, with which he -could create animals at pleasure, by striking the earth with it. One day -he smote the ground, and there sprang forth the lamb. Eve caught the rod -from his hand, and did as he had done; forthwith there bounded forth the -wolf, which rent the creation of Adam. He struck, and the domestic fowls -came forth. Eve did likewise, and gave being to the fox. He made the -cattle, she the tiger; he the dog, she the jackal. - -Turning to America, we encounter a host of myths relative to the first -mother. The sacred book of the Quiches tells of the gods Gucumatz, Tepu, -and Cuz-cah making man of earth, but when the rain came on he dissolved -into mud. Then they made man and woman of wood, but the beings so made -were too thick-headed to praise and sacrifice, wherefore they destroyed -them with a flood; those who escaped up tall trees remain to this day, and -are commonly called monkeys. The three gods having thus failed, consulted -the Great White Boar and the Great White Porcupine, and with their -assistance made man and woman of white and red maize. And men show by -their headstrong character that the mighty boar had a finger in their -creation, and women by their fretfulness indicate the great porcupine as -having had the making of them. - -The Minnatarees have a story that the first woman was made of such rich -and fatty soil that she became a miracle of prolificness; she came out of -the earth on the first day of the moon of buffaloes, and ere it waned, she -had a child at her breast. Every month she bestowed upon her husband a son -or a daughter, and these children were fertile equally with their mother. -This was rather sharp work, and the Great Spirit, seeing that the world -would be peopled in no time, at this rate, killed the first parents, and -diminished the productiveness of their children. - -The Nanticokes relate that their great ancestor was without a wife, and he -wandered over the face of the earth in search of one: at last the king of -the musk rats offered him his daughter, assuring him that she would make -the best wife in the world, as she could keep a house tidy, was very -shrewd, and neat in her person. The Nanticoke hesitated to accept the -obliging offer, alleging that the wife was so very small, and had four -legs. The Micabou of the musk rats now appeared, and undertook to remedy -this defect. "Man of the Nanticokes," said the spirit, "rise, take thy -bride and lead her to the edge of the lake; bid her dip her feet in -water, whilst thou, standing over her, shalt pronounce these words: - - "For the last time as musk rat, - For the first time as woman. - Go in beast, come out human!" - -The spirit's directions were obeyed to the letter. The Nanticoke took his -glossy little maiden musk rat by the paw, led her to the border of the -lake, and whilst she dipped her feet in the water, he used the appointed -formulary; thereupon a change took place in the little animal. Her body -was observed to assume the posture of a human being, gradually erecting -itself, as a sapling, which, having been bent to earth, resumes its -upright position. When the little creature became erect, the skin began to -fall from the head and neck, and gradually unveiling the body, exhibited -the maiden, beautiful as a flowery meadow, or the blue summer sky, or the -north lit up with the flush of the dancing lights, or the rainbow which -follows the fertilising shower. Her hand was scarce larger than a -hazel-leaf, and her foot not longer than that of the ringdove. Her arm was -so slight that it seemed as though the breeze must break it. The Nanticoke -gazed with delight on his beauteous bride, and his gratification was -enhanced when he saw her stature increase to the proportions of a human -being. - -Other American Indian tribes assert that the Great Spirit, moved with -compassion for man, who wasted in solitude on earth, sent a heavenly -spirit to be his companion, and the mother of his children. And I believe -they are about right. But the Kickapoos tell a very different tale. - -There was a time throughout the great world, say they, when neither on -land nor in the water was there a woman to be found. Of vain things there -were plenty--there were the turkey, and the blue jay, the wood duck, and -the wakon bird; and noisy, chattering creatures there were plenty--there -were the jackdaw, the magpie, and the rook; and gadabouts there were -plenty--there were the squirrel, the starling, and the mouse; but of -women, vain, noisy, chattering, gadabout women, there were none. It was -quite a still world to what it is now, and it was a peaceable world, too. -Men were in plenty, made of clay, and sun-dried, and they were then so -happy, oh, so happy! Wars were none then, quarrels were none. The -Kickapoos ate their deer's flesh with the Potowatomies, hunted the otter -with the Osages, and the beaver with the Hurons. Then the great fathers of -Kickapoos scratched the backs of the savage Iroquois, and the truculent -Iroquois returned the compliment. Tribes which now seek one another's -scalps then sat smiling benevolently in each other's faces, smoking the -never-laid-aside calumet of peace. - -These first men were not quite like the men now, for they had tails. Very -handsome tails they were, covered with long silky hair; very convenient -were these appendages in a country where flies were numerous and -troublesome, tails being more sudden in their movements than hands, and -more conveniently situated for whisking off the flies which alight on the -back. It was a pleasant sight to see the ancestral men leisurely smoking, -and waving their flexible tails at the doors of their wigwams in the -golden autumn evenings, and within were no squalling children, no -wrangling wives. The men doted on their tails, and they painted and -adorned them; they platted the hair into beautiful tresses, and wove -bright beads and shells and wampum with the hair. They attached bows and -streamers of coloured ribbons to the extremities of their tails, and when -men ran and pursued the elk or the moose, there was a flutter of colour -behind them, and a tinkle of precious ornaments. - -But the red men got proud; they were so happy, all went so well with them, -that they forgot the Great Spirit. They no more offered the fattest and -choicest of their game upon the memahoppa, or altar-stone, nor danced in -his praise who dispersed the rains to cleanse the earth, and his -lightnings to cool and purify the air. Wherefore he sent his chief Manitou -to humble men by robbing them of what they most valued, and bestowing upon -them a scourge and affliction adequate to their offence. The spirit obeyed -his Master, and, coming on earth, reached the ground in the land of the -Kickapoos. He looked about him, and soon ascertained that the red men -valued their tails above every other possession. Summoning together all -the Indians, he acquainted them with the will of the Wahconda, and -demanded the instant sacrifice of the cherished member. It is impossible -to describe the sorrow and compunction which filled their bosoms when they -found that the forfeit for their oblivion of the Great Spirit was to be -that beautiful and beloved appendage. Tail after tail was laid upon the -block and amputated. - -The mission of the spirit was, in part, performed. He now took the severed -tails and converted them into vain, chattering, and frisky women. Upon -these objects the Kickapoos at once lavished their admiration; they loaded -them as before with beads, and wampum, and paint, and decorated them with -tinkling ornaments and coloured ribbons. Yet the women had lost one -essential quality which as tails they had possessed. The caudal appendage -had brushed off man the worrying insects which sought to sting or suck his -blood, whereas the new article was itself provided with a sharp sting, -called by us a tongue; and far from brushing annoyances off man, it became -an instrument for accumulating them upon his back and shoulders. Pleasant -and soothing to the primeval Kickapoo was the wagging to and fro of the -member stroking and fanning his back, but the new one became a scourge to -lacerate. - -However, woman retains indications of her origin. She is still beloved as -of yore; she is still beautiful, with flowing hair; still adapted to -trinketry. Still she is frisky, vivacious, and slappy; and still, as of -old, does she ever follow man, dangling after him, hanging at his heels, -and never, of her own accord, separating from him. - -The Kickapoos, divested of their tails, the legend goes on to relate, were -tormented by the mosquitoes, till the Great Spirit, in compassion for -their woes, mercifully withdrew the greater part of their insect -tormentors. Overjoyed at their deliverance, the red men supplicated the -Wahconda also to remove the other nuisances, the women; but he replied -that the women were a necessary evil and must remain.[1] - -This is worse treatment than that which the ladies received from Hesiod. -We have all heard of a young and romantic lady who was so enraptured with -the ideal of American Indian life as delineated by Fenimore Cooper, that -she fled her home, and went to the savages in Canada. We hope she did not -fall to the lot of a Kickapoo. - -Poor woman! it is pleasanter to believe that she is made from our ribs, -which we know come very close to our hearts, and thus to explain the -mutual sympathy of man and woman, and thereby to account for that -compassion and tenderness man feels for her, and also for the manner in -which she flies to man's side as her true resting-place in peril and -doubt. But we have a cosmogony of our own, elucidated from internal -convictions, assisted by all the modern appliances of table-rapping and -clairvoyancy. According to our cosmogony, woman is compounded of three -articles, sugar, tincture of arnica, and soft soap. Sugar, because of the -sweetness which is apparent in most women--alas! that in some it should -have acidulated into strong domestic vinegar; arnica, because in woman is -to be found that quality of healing and soothing after the bruises and -wounds which afflict us men in the great battle of life; and soft soap, -for reasons too obvious to need specification. - - - - -"FLAGELLUM SALUTIS" - - -There is a strange old book with the above title to be found in the -libraries of the curious, so quaint in character as to deserve to be -better known. It was composed by Christian Franz Paullini, a German -physician, and was published at Frankfort-on-Maine in 1608. It is a -treatise on the advantage of the whip for curative purposes in various -disorders. - -Dr. Paullini, in the first section of his work, directs attention to the -consecration of corporal punishment by Scripture and the Church. Did not -St. Paul assert, "Castigo corpus meum et in servitutem redigo"? Does not -the bishop in confirmation box the ear of the candidate, in token that he -is to be ready to endure suffering and shame as a good Christian soldier? -And look at the saints of the calendar, were they not mighty in -flagellation, fervent in rib-whacking? - - Shall precious saints and secret ones, - Break one another's outward bones? - When savage bears agree with bears, - Shall secret ones lug saints by the ears? - -asks the Puritan in his metrical version of Psalm lxxxiii, and Dr. -Paullini promptly answers: "Certainly, it is good for health of soul and -body that they should so act towards one another." - - Scorpius atque fabæ nostra fuere salus. - -Had our learned author been acquainted with the Rabbinical gloss on the -account of the Fall of Man, he would, maybe, have hesitated to attribute -universal benefit to the application of the rod. For, say the Rabbis, when -Adam pleaded that the woman gave him of the tree, and he did eat, he means -emphatically that she _gave_ it him palpably. Adam was recalcitrant, Eve -_dedit de ligno_; the branch was stout, the arm of the "mother of all -living" was muscular, and the first man succumbed, and "did eat" under -compulsion. - -There is nothing like the rod, says the doctor; it is a universal -specific, it stirs up the stagnating juices, it dissolves the -precipitating salts, it purifies the coagulating humours of the body, it -clears the brain, purges the belly, circulates the blood, braces the -nerves; in short, there is nothing which the rod will not do, when -judiciously applied. - - Antidotum mortis si verbera dixero, credas! - Attonitum morbum nam cohibere valent. - -Having laid down his principle, the doctor proceeds to apply it to various -complaints, giving instances, the result of experience. - -And first as to melancholy. - -One predisposing cause of melancholy, observes Paullini, is love, and that -eventuates in idiotcy or insanity. - -To parents and guardians our author gives the advice, when the first -symptoms of this complaint appear in young people under their charge, let -them grasp the rod firmly, and lay it on with vigour and promptitude. The -remedy is infallible. Valescus de Taranta says, in the case of a young -man--and his words are words of gold--"Whip him well, and should he not -mend immediately, keep him locked up in the cellar on bread and water till -he promises amendment." - -I saw, continues our author, an instance of the good effect of this -treatment at Amsterdam. A stripling of twenty, comely enough in his -appearance, the son of an artisan in the town, fell in love with the -mayor's daughter. He could neither eat, drink, sleep, nor do anything in -the remotest degree rational. The father, unaware of the cause, put him -into the hands of a medical practitioner, who did his utmost to cure him, -but signally failed. At last the father's eyes were opened by means of an -intercepted letter. Like a sensible man he packed his son off to the -public whipping-place, there to learn better _moralia_. And this had the -desired effect; for the youth returned perfectly cured and in his right -senses. - -But for this treatment he might have sunk into his grave, like him -mentioned by P. Boaysten, who died of a broken heart through unrequited -love; and, at the post-mortem examination, his bowels were discovered to -be uncoiled, his heart shrivelled, his liver shrunk to nothing, his lungs -corroded, and his skull entirely emptied of every trace of brains. - -For short sight there is nothing like a good thrashing, or at least a -violent blow, says our doctor. - -An old German, aged eighty, who had all his lifetime suffered from short -sight, was one day jogging to market on his respectable mare, Dobbin. -Dobbin tripped on a stone and flung her rider. The old man fell upon a -stone, which pierced his skull. The dense vapours which had obscured his -vision for so long were enabled to escape through the aperture, and on his -recovery the venerable gentleman had the sight of an eagle. - -A cavalier was troubled with the same infirmity. He saw a large salmon -hanging up outside a fishmonger's shop, and, mistaking it for a young lady -of his acquaintance, removed his cap and addressed it with courtesy. -Another youth having made great fun of the mistake, the short-sighted -cavalier felt himself constrained in honour to call him out. In the duel -he received a sword wound over his left eye, and this completely cured his -vision. - -For deafness Dr. Paullini recommends a box on the ear. Especially -successful is this treatment in the case of children who do not attend to -the commands and advice of their parents on the plea of "not having -heard." In such cases the employment of corporal punishment cannot be too -highly estimated. The doctor tells the story of a boy destined for the -ministry who ran away from school and apprenticed himself to a tailor, and -who was cured of deafness and tailoring propensities by the application of -a large pair of drumsticks to a sensitive part of his person, and who -eventually became a Lutheran pastor, and was, to the end of his days, able -to mend his own clothes. - -This story furnishes the author of _Flagellum Salutis_ with matter for a -digression on clerical education. He quotes with approval the sentiments -of his old patron, Dr. Schupp, expressed thus: "Nowadays that every -bumpkin makes his son study for the ministry, we have them scrambling -about the country begging for promotion, and grumbling because it does not -come as fast as they expect. The learned son is a poor curate, with no -benefice. Such a to-do about this--complaints, murmurs, and what not! Why -did he not learn a trade in addition to his theology? Luke the Evangelist -was a theologus and medicus as well, and a painter to boot. Paul in his -youth studied divinity at the feet of Gamaliel, but he was a carpet -manufacturer besides. Was the Kaiser Rudolph a worse Emperor for being as -well a clever craftsman? 'If I could recall my past years and begin life -again,' said Dr. Schupp, 'I would not become a student only, but learn a -trade besides. Then, if the thankless world kicked me, I would measure -its foot for a boot; if it made faces at me, I would paint its portrait -for it; if my divinity did not agree with its stomach, I would dose it -with purgatives like Luke. I would make the world respect me for my -diligence in trade, if it turned up its nose at my theology. Anyhow, I -would not go about snivelling and crying poverty and want of promotion.'" - -To this speech of Dr. Schupp, Paullini adds a few pertinent remarks. "The -lad I was telling you about," he says, "had a hankering after tailoring. -Well, tailoring is an honourable and useful profession. Was not Moses -bidden, 'Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory -and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom -I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron -garments.' Tailors filled with the spirit of wisdom! Why despise the craft -which God has honoured?" - -It must be allowed that there is sense in this little digression. -Doubtless it would be well if not only those destined for the ministry, -but all the sons of the higher classes of society, were taught some manual -employment in addition to the cultivation of their intellectual faculties. -That our grammar schools should take the hint is not to be anticipated; -masters and governors have the same implicit confidence in classic studies -as the universal panacea that Dr. Paullini professes for the rod and Dr. -Sangrado for cold water and blood-letting. I do not dispute the fact that -the most useful knowledge for a lad to acquire who is destined for -colonial farming, or for a mercantile life at home, is Greek prosody; but -I suggest that an acquaintance with carpentering, land-surveying, or -book-keeping might be found advantageous in a secondary degree. - -Lockjaw is to be treated in the same manner, asserts our author, and he -tells an amusing anecdote on the subject from Volquard Iversen. - -Nicolas Vorburg was an Oriental traveller. In the course of his wanderings -he reached Agra, the capital of the Great Cham. The European was -introduced to His Majesty at the dinner-hour, and found the monarch just -returned from the expedition, and as hungry as a hunter. A bowl of rice -was brought in. The Great Cham dipped his hands into it, and ladled so -much rice as they would hold into his capacious mouth, distended to the -utmost conceivable extent. But the Great Cham had overestimated the -capabilities of the distension of his jaws, and they became dislocated. At -the sight, the servants were distracted with fear. The nobles stroked -their chins in uncertainty how to act, the priests had recourse to their -devotions, but no one assisted the monarch out of his dilemma. He sat upon -his imperial throne purple in the face, his eyes distended with horror, -his mouth gaping, and full of rice. Suffocation was imminent. Nicolas -Vorburg, without even prostrating himself before the emperor, ran up the -steps of his throne, and hit him a violent crack with the palm of his -hand upon the cheek. The rice fell out of his mouth upon the imperial lap, -some, it is surmised, descended the imperial red-lane. Another slap -accomplished the relief of the monarch, and set the jaw once more in -working order. At the same moment the servants screamed at the outrage -committed upon the sacred majesty of the emperor, the nobles drew their -swords to avenge it, and the priests converted their prayers for the -recovery of their king into curses on the head of him who had -sacrilegiously raised his hand to violate his divinity. Poor Vorburg would -have been made into mincemeat, had not the emperor providentially -recovered his breath in time to administer a reproof to his over-zealous -subjects. He acknowledged the relief afforded him by the stranger by a -present of a thousand rupees. - -A tailor had a son who was half-witted. The father was out one day, and -the child, who was left in the house, after the manner of children, looked -about him in quest of some mischief which he might perpetrate. A pair of -elegant breeches, just completed by his father, and designed for the legs -of a nobleman, hung suspended from the wall. The child made a figured -pattern upon the amber silk with his finger, dipped at intervals in the -ink-pot. The mother was the first to discover the transformation of the -breeches, and, not regarding the alteration in the same light as did her -child, caught up the yard-measure and administered a castigation to the -culprit, sufficient to "stir up the stagnating juices, dissolve the -precipitating salts, and purify the coagulating humours," in at least one -portion of the lad's body. The youth, under the impression that high art -is never appreciated at first sight, made himself scarce for some hours. -The father, on his return, used every effort to obliterate the flowering -of ink which his son had drawn over the amber breeches, but with only a -limited degree of success--so limited, in fact, that the nobleman for whom -they were destined utterly refused to invest his person in them, and they -were returned on the tailor's hands. The boy, towards evening, impelled by -hunger, had returned home, and was soothing his injured feelings with -bread and butter, when the father re-entered the house. In a moment the -parental left hand had grasped the scruff of his neck, whilst the right -hand dexterously completed the stirring up the stagnant juices, dissolving -of precipitating salts, and purifying of coagulating humours with such -success, that Dr. Paullini assures us the child grew up a miracle of -discretion, and never after decorated articles of clothing other than his -own pinafore. - -Under the heading of "Swollen Breasts," the learned doctor gives us his -ideas on the subject of schoolmasters and their titles. These remarks are -sensible enough in their way, but hardly come under the heading he has -selected for the chapter. Connected still more vaguely with swollen -breasts is the commentary on some verses in the twenty-first chapter of -St. John's Gospel, which closes the section. - -To those who suffer from toothaches he recommends the practice of a -learned professor under whom he studied. This man suffered excruciating -torture from his teeth at night. The professor, the moment that his -sufferings began, was wont to leave his bed and spend his night in jumping -on to his table, and then jumping down again, till the pain ceased. -Paullini does not state the feelings of those who slept in the room -immediately underneath that occupied by Dr. Erasmus Vinding; neither does -it seem clear at first sight how the jumping diversion is connected with -the subject of the rod, concerning the merits of which the book treats; -but on further consideration the connection becomes apparent. Dr. Paullini -being silent on this point, we have but the light of nature to guide us to -the conclusion that the saltatory performances of Dr. Erasmus would arouse -and exasperate the other lodgers into an application of the universal -panacea to his scantily protected person. - -For constitutional indolence the rod is inestimable; the monotony of its -use as a specific may, however, be pleasingly varied by an application of -corporal punishment in the following disguised form, which, if severe, is -nevertheless infallible as a cure. Hermann Habermann, a native of Mikla, -deserves the credit of being the first to communicate it to the medical -profession. Habermann had spent many years in Iceland, and it was there -that he saw the treatment in use. An artisan suffering from indolence was -recommended by a native doctor to let himself be sewn up in a sack stuffed -with wool, and then be dragged about, rolled down hill, thumped, kicked, -and jumped upon by his friends and acquaintances. When he emerged from the -sack he was to take a draught to open his pores, and to go to bed. The -remedy was tried, and succeeded. - -A somewhat similar cure came under Paullini's personal observation. A -nobleman had a jester who was dotingly fond of fowls. He stole all his -master's poultry, so that his master was obliged to do without eggs for -his breakfast. The fool, moreover, was deficient in fun, and was by no -means worth his keep. At last his master determined on correcting him -severely. He had him sewn up in a hop-bag and well thrashed, and then -rolled down hill and thrashed again. The fool never stole eggs from that -day forward, and from being but a poor fool he became one famous for his -brilliant parts and sparkling humour. - -For tertian fever, the rod is an admirable specific. A lawyer once -suffered from this complaint, which left him at times able to continue his -avocation. He had brought upon himself the ill-feeling of a certain -gentleman whom he had, in one of his pleadings, turned into ridicule. This -person determined to punish the advocate as soon as a convenient -opportunity presented itself. The opportunity came. The lawyer was riding -home one day, past the house of the nobleman, when the latter descried -him, and immediately sent him a message requesting a moment's private -conversation. The unfortunate advocate fell into the trap. Expecting to -get employment in a fresh suit, he hurried eagerly to the castle, only to -find the gates closed upon him and all egress prevented. In another moment -the insulted gentleman stood before him. - -"Vile bloodhound of the law!" he exclaimed, "you have long escaped the -punishment due to you for your insolence and temerity. You disgraced me -publicly, and I shall revenge myself upon you by degrading you in a manner -certain to humble your pride. Yet I am merciful. I give you your choice of -two modes of suffering. You shall either sit on an ant-hill, in the -clothing provided you by nature, till you have learned by heart the seven -penitential psalms; or you shall run the gauntlet in the same _dégagé_ -costume round my courtyard, where will be ranged all my servants armed -with rods wherewith to belabour you." - -The hapless lawyer cast himself on his knees before the nobleman, and -implored mercy. He pleaded that he had his wife and children to provide -for; but the other replied that this was not to the point, as he had no -intention of injuring the lady or the infants. Then the lawyer alleged his -illness, saying that the access of fever would be on him next day, and -that the punishment wherewith he was threatened--either of them in -fact--might terminate fatally. - -"That," replied the injured gentleman, "can only be ascertained by -experiment. My own impression is that the ants or the whips will produce a -counter irritation, which may prove beneficial. Still," he continued, -stroking his chin, "we mortals are all liable to err, and my impression -may be unfounded. I will frankly acknowledge my mistake if convinced by -the result taking the direction you anticipate." - -Reluctantly the poor advocate made his election of the treatment he was to -undergo. From the ants and the penitential psalms he recoiled with horror, -and he chose shudderingly to run the gauntlet. So he ran it. - -Black and blue, bruised and bleeding, the wretched man was dismissed at -last, to return to the bosom of his family. The nobleman was right, the -lawyer was forever cured of his tertian fever. - -In another work of the same author (_Zeitkürzende, erbauliche Lust_, 8vo, -Frankfort, 1693) the doctor argues the case, whether an honourable man may -thrash his wife; and concludes that such a course of action entirely -depends on the behaviour and temperament of the wife. - -Woman was created to be good, quiet, and orderly; when she is otherwise -she is going contrary to her vocation, and art must be employed to -correct nature. Eve was given to Adam, reasons Paullini, to be a helpmeet -to him, and not to be the plague and worry of his life. Woman's vocation -is to be a modest and gentle angel, and not to be a brazen, furious demon. -Every woman is either one or the other. If she is as heaven made her, she -takes to the bit and rein readily, is easily managed without the whip, and -is perfectly docile. If, however, she is what the evil one would have her, -she takes the bit in her teeth, sets back her ears, plunges, and kicks; -and woe to the man who comes within reach of her tongue, her claws, or her -toes. Then there is need for the rod. To a good wife, "there is a golden -ornament upon her, and her bands are purple lace: thou shalt put her on as -a robe of honour, and shalt put her about thee as a crown of joy." But as -for the bad wife, deal with her after the advice of the poet Joachim -Rachel:-- - - Thou wilt be constrained her head to punch, - And let not thine eye then spare her: - Grasp the first weapon that comes to hand-- - Horsewhip, or cudgel, or walking-stick, - Or batter her well with the warming-pan; - Dread not to fling her down on the earth, - Nerve well thine arm, let thy heart be stout - As iron, as brass, or stone, or steel. - -For no wrath is equal to a woman's wrath; and better is it to live in the -cage of an African lion, or of a dragon torn from its whelps, than to live -in the house with such a woman. Of all wickedness the worst is woman's -wickedness. Why, asks the doctor, what sort of a life did Jupiter lead in -heaven with his precious Juno? Poor god! he let her get the upper hand of -him. Had he but taken his stick to her instead of scolding, he might have -had Olympus quiet, and have saved himself from being badgered through -eternity. - -They managed things better in Rome. A man had a wife full of bad tempers. -He went to the oracle and asked what should be done with a garment which -had moths in it. "Dust it," was the oracular response. "And," added the -man, "I have a wife who is full of her nasty little tempers; should not -she be treated in a similar manner?" "To be sure," answered the oracle, -"dust her daily." And never was a truer or better bit of advice given by -an oracle. - -The work of Dr. Paullini called forth others in response, and doubtless -enthusiastic devotees of the rod abounded. His views were, however, -combated by others. From a tract against the use of the rod I cull one -curious and droll story, wherewith to conclude this article:-- - -A husband accompanied his wife to confession. The lady having opened her -griefs, the father who was shriving her insisted on administering a severe -penitential scourging. The husband, hearing the first stroke inflicted on -his better half, interfered, and urged that his wife was delicate, and -that as he and she were one flesh, it would be better for him, as the -stronger vessel, to receive the scourging intended for his helpmate. The -confessor having consented to this substitution, the man knelt in his -wife's place, while she retired from the confessional. Whack! whack! went -the cat, followed by a moan from the good man's lips. - -"Harder!--harder!" ejaculated the wife; "I am a grievous sinner!" - -Whack! whack! whack! - -"Lay it on!" cried she; "I am the worst of sinners." - -Whack! whack! and a howl from the sufferer. - -"Never mind his cries, father!" exclaimed she; "remember only my sins. -Make him smart here, that I may escape in purgatory." - - - - -"HERMIPPUS REDIVIVUS" - - -"Man," said the learned Prioli, "is composed of soul, body, and goods. In -his pilgrimage through life these component parts are constantly exposed -to three mortal enemies: the devils, who are ever seeking the destruction -of his soul; the doctors, who are intent on ruining his constitution; and -the lawyers, who seek to rob him of his goods." - -We will put the devils aside for a moment, the lawyers, too, with the -tongs, and devote our attention to the doctors. We have already examined -the medical treatise entitled _Flagellum Salutis_, wherein was exposed the -excellence of the whip for the cure of every disorder to which mortality -is heir. We propose considering another equally startling tractate in this -paper, one more modern by a few years than that of Dr. Paullini, but its -superior in absurdity. The title of the work is "Hermippus Redivivus, or a -curious physico-medical examination of the extraordinary manner in which -he extended his life to 115 years by inhaling the breath of little girls; -taken from a Roman memorial, but now supported on medical grounds, as -also illustrated and elucidated by a wondrous discovery of philosophical -chemistry, by Johan Heinrich Cohausen, M.D." 8vo, 1743.[2] This -extraordinary book is adorned with an illustration, representing a -pedagogue with a big nose, of Brobdingnagian proportions, keeping a mixed -school of solemn little girls in jackets and aprons, and little prigs of -boys in stocks, knee-breeches, coats, and wigs. One little boy, whose body -is the size of the master's hand, sits reading a book on his right knee. -On the ground at his left is a little maiden, just reaching to the top of -the master's gaiters. A tiny dog is sitting up begging in the midst of a -class in the middle distance; and in the background, behind a row of -urchins who are not looking at their books, is a cat as big as any one of -them, attacking a cage containing a singing bird. The whole of this -strange work is built on a Roman inscription, said to have been found in -the seventeenth century, and figured by Thomas Reinsius in his _Syntagma -Inscriptionum Antiquarum_, and afterwards by Johann Keyser in his -_Parnassus Clivensis_. This inscription, which is almost certainly not -genuine, runs as follows:-- - - AESCULAPIO . ET . SANITATI . - L . CLODIUS . HERMIPPUS. - QUI . VIXIT . ANNOS . CXV . DIES . V . - PUELLARUM . ANHELITU . - QUOD . ETIAM . POST MORTEM - EIUS. - NON . PARUM . MIRANTUR . PHYSICI . - IAM . POSTERI . SIC . VITAM . DUCITE . - -That is to say: "To Æsculapius and to health, L. Clodius Hermippus -dedicates this, who lived 115 years, 5 days, on the breath of little -girls, which, even after his death, not a little astonishes physicians. Ye -who follow, protract your life in like manner." - -Other old writers, as Cujacius and Dalechampius, quote similar -inscriptions, as "L. Clodius Hirpanus vixit Annos CXV. Dies V. alitus -Puerorum anhelitu," and "L. Clodius Hirpanus vixit Annos CLV. Dies, V. -Puerorum halitu refocillatus et educatus." - -These inscriptions are sufficiently like and unlike to make it more than -probable that they are all forgeries. It is hardly to be conceived that -there should have been two individuals with names so very similar, living -similar lengths of time,[3] the one on little girls' breath, the other on -that of little boys. If, however, we are to suppose them genuine, we -have:--"Lucius Clodius Hermippus dying aged 115 years, 5 days"; "Lucius -Clodius Hirpanus dying aged 155 years, 5 days." - -However, the authenticity of these monuments is of little importance. Let -us to our book. - -Dr. Cohausen enters on a minute verbal commentary on the words of the -inscription, after having relieved his enthusiasm in a lengthy preface, -and a still longer epistle dedicatory to a doctor of his acquaintance. - -The commentary is as careful as though life hung upon each letter of the -text. Having completed this portion of his work, the author gives rein to -his fancy, and elaborates from his internal consciousness a life of L. -Clodius Hermippus. This is too curious to be passed over. Dr. Cohausen -asks how the subject of the inscription managed to live upon the breath of -little girls. He inquires whether Hermippus was a very wealthy man, and -enters into reasons which appear to him conclusive to the contrary. He -makes elaborate calculations as to the number of children who would have -been necessary to supply breath to Hermippus, supposing them to have been -changed every five years, and he to have adopted his system of prolonging -life at the age of sixty. After having discussed the question whether -Lucius Clodius were a schoolmaster, or the director of an hospital for -children, he concludes that he was the head of an orphanage supported by -Government; and when he has quite satisfied his mind upon this point, Dr. -Cohausen proceeds to sketch the daily routine of the life of Hermippus, as -follows:-- - -"The orphanage, which was like a palace, had many handsome dwelling and -dining-rooms, adapted for the daily uses of himself and the children, so -that the breath and exhalations from such a number of little girls might -fill the enclosed air, and might mingle to compose a salubrious vapour; -which, absorbed into the lungs of Hermippus, might the better exercise the -desired properties. In these rooms he spent with them the greater part of -the day, occupying the time in friendly and agreeable conversation, -unfolding to them good rules of life, relating innocent stories, and -wisely pronouncing exhortations on the practice of virtue. Early in the -morning, when the noise of the awaking children aroused him, at his -command they kindled in the room a fire, in order that the air, which had -become thickened during the night, might be rarified. In damp weather they -perfumed it with the best perfumes several times in the day, because they -had been instructed by their master how necessary this was to the -preservation of health. When the aged man left his room the little damsels -waited on him in the breakfast-chamber, and wished him a happy morning. -Often he explained to them the dreams which they related to him, making -them conduce to their moral edification. Some of those sufficiently old to -have an inkling of the art of flattery, combed out his snow-white hair; -others smoothed out his long white beard; others, again, rubbed his back -with a coarse towel, which is considered good for the health of old -people. And if, at that period, tea or coffee had been drunk, -unquestionably they would have supplied him with it. At all events, we -may conclude, as these beverages were not then in vogue, that it is quite -possible to reach a great age without imbibing them. When school-time was -over they passed the rest of the day in childish sports, with the -permission of Hermippus. They jumped about, they played with their dolls, -sometimes they also sang, for old people consider nothing so good for -health, and so invigorating, as vocal music. And in this manner everything -conduced to assist the expirations of the little girls in supporting our -old man. If ever he was compelled to leave the room, one might see the -children dragging at his coat-tails to detain him, and fervently desiring -his return. Adjoining the orphanage was a pleasant garden, in which were -plants and flowers calculated by their odour to quicken the vital spirit, -and assist in the prolongation of life. With these the maidens daily -adorned the rooms. Into this garden Hermippus betook himself with all the -little girls, each provided with a doll; and he walked about with them in -it, chaffed them, romped, danced and sang, acting as though his limbs were -those of youth. A thousand little rogueries, a thousand little jokes on -the part of the tiny lasses assisted in enlivening him, for they possessed -the art of making themselves cheerful. They wreathed flowers, and placed a -crown of spring-blossoms on the white head of Hermippus, and thus he -spited the fates and reached an advanced age." - -Will it be believed that all this detail is pure invention on the part of -Dr. Cohausen? - -The learned author next proceeds to reason upon the cause producing these -results; he solves the question why the breath of little girls should tend -to prolong life. - -"The breath," says Dr. Cohausen, "consists of an inhalation and an -exhalation: and if I speak scientifically, I say that when man breathes he -lets forth the thick and thin airs through his mouth and nostrils, which -he had before received into his lungs, where they had become impregnated -with the evaporations from his body, the subtilised watery particles and -vitalising blood, the balsamic and sulphuric atoms. Wherefore the human -breath when outside the spiracles has a material character, namely, an -exhalation from the vapours and gases which are intermixed with the blood -and sap of the human body; and it is so especially in the breath of little -girls. So observes Ficinus. This air is warm or tepid, and it moves and is -endowed unmistakably with life, and like an animal is composed of joints -and limbs, so that it can turn itself about, and not only so, but it has a -soul also; so that we may certainly predicate that it is an animal -composed of vapour, and endowed with reason. Consequently, any one who -draws into his lungs this breath or conglomerated vapour, must necessarily -absorb into his system the properties of that body from which it emanated, -and from which it derived its being. For we know by experience that the -air which enters the lungs dry, goes forth carrying with it moisture, as -may be seen by breathing on a glass, or in cold weather. Also, when we -inhale the breath of any one who is ill, we are conscious of receiving -infection. On the other hand, it is manifest that the breath of a young -and vigorous person, charged with powerful volatile salts, will have a -balsamic and vitalising capacity, or at the least a mechanical elasticity, -which must communicate vigour." The doctor quotes with approval the -opinion of Van Helmont, that the air absorbed into the lungs penetrates -the whole system, and circulates through every part, to the very hair, -catching up volatile salts on its passage. Thence he concludes that the -exhalations of little girls, who are brimming over with vitality, and -heaven knows what life-giving salts, must be charged with some of their -redundant vitality; and if this breath be inhaled by an old man, he -assumes into himself, and absorbs into his constitution, that life which -had been cast off as superfluous by the children. - - Quæ spiramina dat puella? Nectar. - Dat rores animæ suave olentes, - Dat nardumque thymumque cinnamumque, - Et mel, quale jugis tegunt Hymetti - Aut in Cecropiis apes rosetis, - Quæ si multa mihi voranda dentur, - Immortalis in iis repente fiam. - -The third line, with its repetition of "_umque_," is peculiar rather than -elegant. The doctor rates the schoolmasters of his day for smoking during -class hours: he tells them that they are losing an opportunity of -inhaling the most invigorating salts at no expense. - - Quando doces pueros, tibi fistula semper in ore est, - Atque scholæ fumos angulus omnis habet. - -"Oh, my Orbilius!" he exclaims, "wherefore dost thou do so? Dost thou -complain of the stuffiness of the schoolroom. Thou art mistaken, Orbilius, -these vapours are full of volatile salts, by which, if thou wert wise, -thou wouldst attain a long life. Away with thy nasty pipe, and suck in -rather these redolent exhalations whereby thou mayest become healthy and -aged." - -It must not be supposed that the scientific--or physico-medical, as the -doctor calls it--portion of the subject is dismissed in such few words. -The author dilates on the theory, turns it over, tosses it about, takes a -bite, squeezes it, holds it up for admiration, and then reluctantly puts -it aside. In the course of his physico-medical argument, he introduces a -few illustrative anecdotes. One of these, taken from P. Borellus, is to -this effect: A servant much devoted to his master, on his return from a -journey, found his lord dead and prepared for burial. Full of grief, he -cast himself on the deceased, and kissing his pallid lips poured forth a -whirlwind of sighs. The breath thus emitted penetrated to the lungs of the -corpse, inflated them, and the dead opened his eyes, winked, and sat up. -The sighs of the faithful domestic had fanned into flame the expiring, -and as all had deemed expired, vital spark. From Orubelius our author -quotes another story in confirmation of his hypothesis:-- - -A woman had died in her first confinement, or, at all events, had fallen -into a state which was believed by the attendants and by Orubelius, who -was the physician present, to be death. She lay thus for a quarter of an -hour devoid of sense and feeling, with pale face, stationary pulse, and -with lungs which had ceased to play. A maid-servant who thus beheld her, -opened her mouth, and breathed into it; whereupon the patient revived. The -physician then asked the girl where she had learned the use of this simple -yet efficient restorative, and the servant replied that she had seen it -practised upon new-born children with the happiest results. The author -also assures us of the beneficial effect produced by wringing the necks of -poultry before a person _in articulo mortis_, and making the cocks and -hens breathe out their souls into the mouth of the dying, whereby he is -not unfrequently restored, and becomes quite well and chirrupy. - -But, continues Dr. Cohausen, it is not only the exhalations from the lungs -which are life-generative, but also those from the pores. The pores are -little mouths situated all over the body, constantly engaged in the -aëration of the blood; they inhale the surrounding atmosphere and then -exhale it again, charged with balsamic and sulphurous particles taken up -from the system. Men's bodies are pneumatic-hydraulic machines, composed -of fluid and solid materials, and health depends on the fluids being -prevented from coagulating, by being stirred up by the constant operations -of the currents of air which penetrate the frame through the pores and -mouth. The solid portion of the body is disposed to harden and dry up and -become stiff, and this produces age and decay; but if the circulation of -the fluids be kept up by the healthful infusion of fresh vital force and -living energies, then decrepitude and death may be almost indefinitely -postponed. - -Now the lips of the little mouths or pores all over the person can be kept -flexible by oil, and therefore enabled to perform their functions with -facility. Thus Pollio, an ancient soldier of the Emperor Augustus, when -asked how he had succeeded in prolonging his energies over a hundred -years, replied that he had daily moistened his outer man with oil, and his -inner man with honey. Dr. Cohausen proceeds to lay down that it is better -to absorb the exhalations of little girls than those of little boys, -because females are more oily than males--a view we in no way feel -inclined to dispute, without having recourse to the receipt of Mocrodius -for wholesale incremations, which the doctor quotes to establish the -fact:--"Lay one female body to six male bodies, in a great pyre, for -thereby the male corpses are the more speedily consumed." No doubt about -it: there is enough combustible material in one woman to set any number of -men in a blaze. - -Johannes Fabricius, in his _Palladium Chymicum_, relates that he knew of a -lady whose hair when combed emitted sparks. - -Bartholinus mentions in his _Tractatus de Luce Hominum_ the case of a -female who flashed fire whenever her limbs or back were rubbed with a -towel. These examples lead our author to conclude that in women there is -not merely a considerable amount of oil, but that there is also no small -item of latent fire; we are inclined to add, explosive material as well. - -The advantage of old men marrying young wives is next discussed by Dr. -Cohausen; and he strongly urges all who have entered on the sere and -yellow leaf, to take to themselves wives of very early age; that, if -Providence has not made them superintendents of orphanages, or -schoolmasters, they may be enabled at small expense to inhale youthful -breath. Men already possessed of wives are to spend their days in the -nursery. As an instance of the advantage of patriarchs taking girl-wives, -he relates the story of a certain ancient man with snow-white hair and -beard, who married at the advanced age of eighty. After a while the old -man fell ill; all his hair and skin came off. On his recovery, he had a -fresh transparent complexion, and a magnificent bushy head and chin of -vivid red hair. - -"Whatever you do!" earnestly entreats the doctor, "never marry an old -woman; she will absorb all the vital principle from your lungs. Alas for -him who, in hopes of gaining money, marries a rich old spinster! She -becomes youthful, and he prematurely aged. For old women," he continues, -"are like cats, whose breath is poisonous to life. From the eyes and mouth -a cat discharges so much that is hurtful, that it has been the cause of -innumerable complaints. Indeed, Matthiolus relates that a whole monastery -of Religious died because they kept a number of cats." - -"My dear reader," says Cohausen, "if you are young and wish to marry, -follow the advice of Baron von Hevel, late member of the Imperial Council, -which he gives in his 'Psalmodia Sacra':-- - - "Si cupis uxorem quæ præstet ubique decorem, - Formidetque marem, dilige sorte parem, - Prolificam, bellam, prudentem quære puellam, - Non genium vanum, nec viduam nec anum. - -That is:--If you want a wife who may be a credit to you, and respect her -husband, choose a girl your equal, prolific, comely, prudent; not a giddy -head, nor an old widow." If this is a specimen of the Baron's Sacred -Psalmody, we must allow the book to be very light reading for a Sunday. - -In reading this extraordinary work, one is astonished at the manner in -which the author seems to regard the fair sex as merely pharmaceutic -agents, putting them much on a level with pills and powders, created for -the purpose of keeping men in good health, and prolonging their lives. The -idea scarce suggests itself to him, that they may object to be so -regarded and administered. Dr. Cohausen would, as soon as look at you, -write a prescription containing, among other items, so many respirations -of the breath of little girls to be taken in scented smoke. - - lb. oz. drm. - [Rx.] Gum Olibani 1 8 - " Styrac 2 - " Myrrhi 2 - " Benz. 4 - Corb. casc. pulv. 4 - Anhel. puellarum. quant. suff. - -When the question does arise, how the damsels will like this treatment, -the doctor brushes it aside with imperturbable coolness. It will be a -great honour to them, to be thus rendered conducive to the prolongation of -male life. Indeed, it will cause them not to be held as cheap as they are -now. At present they are good-for-noughts; but employed to infuse the -breath of life into men's lungs, they will be respected and valued. - -And now, with a flourish of horns, he introduces the "Wondrous discovery -of philosophical chymistry," of which he boasted on his title-page. "Now -then, O ye cooks of Gebri, or, that I may give you your better title, ye -sons of Hermes, who has taught you to extract the marvellous stone of the -philosophers from the fire, that thereby ye may be skilled to sustain a -protracted life! Now will I disclose to you a new philosophy! The once -famous hermetic philosopher in France, Johann Petsus Faber of Montpelier, -boasted of a certain _arcanum animale_ which would cause any one who used -it to be free from injury caused by the inclemency of the weather, from -the gray hairs of age, from exhaustion through bodily fatigue, or through -mental tension, whom no sickness would enfeeble, but who would reach the -term fixed by Providence for his days, free from injury from every foe. I -shall prove that Hermippus protracted his life by the use of such an -_arcanum_. For although, hitherto, it has been an unknown _arcanum_ to use -the crude breath of little maidens for the prolongation of the mortal -existence, still it will be regarded a far higher _arcanum_ if this can be -concentrated and cooked into an essence by chymical process, so that it -should have in itself the invisible spirit of nature, and the subtilised -fundamental principle of life. Let no one consider what I am now about to -relate as a fable, but let him hold it as genuine fact. In my youth I had -the good fortune to have the _entrée_ of the house of an illustrious -personage, whose lady was immeasurably learned in the hermetic science, -and laboured at it along with her husband; with her I had the opportunity -of discussing the primordial matter of universal substance, which the -philosophers have veiled under enigma and fable. She boasted that she had -learned the secret of this from an Italian _Adeptus_ at Rome, and thereby -she aroused my curiosity to hear what it was: although, at the time, I was -by no means slightly acquainted with hermetic philosophy. - -"Once, as I urgently besought her to do me the favour of disclosing to me -this mystery, she began, after the manner of philosophers, to speak in -similitude: she said the _ens spirituale_ was that without which no man -could exist. It was common to all, to rich and poor alike. Adam brought it -with him out of Paradise, and in it lay a nourishing principle of life -attenuated in water and exhaled in air. I will not refer to other enigmas, -which she knew how to propound from the writings of philosophers. - -"In order to make the matter more conclusive, she ordered to be brought -from her cabinet a vessel containing cold water, which she held under my -nose, telling me that it was the true _subjectum_ of science, distilled, -as one might conclude, from female exhalations, which Flamellus terms -corporeal vapour. With this she roused to the highest pitch my anxiety to -thoroughly sound the mystery, as I had already seen hints of these -properties in the writings of Sandivogius and other philosophers. I did -not fail to use my utmost persuasion on every available opportunity to -penetrate the secret of this _Lixivium microcosmi_. At last the favour was -accorded me, and I ascertained that this holy _arcanum_ consisted in human -breath, which was collected from this lady's servant girls, and liquefied -in glass instruments curved like trumpets. The water thus gathered was -concentrated in retorts and other chymical apparatus, and was the very -essence fixed of impalpable matter. - -"By means of this discovery, life may be easily prolonged over a hundred -years, for this vapour of breath collected from maidens in trumpets, when -distilled, becomes an elixir of life, and by the copious use of this -concentrated vitality steamed down to an essence, man becomes -interpenetrated with living energy capable of resisting disease and -repelling the inroads of age." - -If we consider that the substances we absorb into our bodies become part -of ourselves, and that our systems are undergoing a perpetual assimilation -of the particles taken into us and renovation thereby, so that every seven -years we have totally changed our substance, it is evident that, in the -words of a learned friend of Doctor Cohausen, "This entire Hermippus, -since he lived over one hundred years, must have been completely composed -of the transmutated breath and porous exhalations of little girls; so that -his career must have closed by evaporation." - -It is certain that men can live a long time on what they inspire, without -eating; for the famous laughing philosopher Democritus, who lived to a -hundred and nine, when near his death observed that his sister was -depressed, and on inquiring the cause, ascertained that she had -anticipated great pleasure by attending an approaching festival of Ceres, -but that she feared his death would render it an infringement of etiquette -for her to be present at the public festivities. Democritus consoled her -by promising to live over the day. And, in order to extend his life the -required time, he ordered her to keep warm bread poultices under his nose, -that by constantly inhaling the nourishing vapours he might be preserved. -When the festival was over he ordered the bread pap to be removed, -whereupon he gently expired. - -Now, argues our doctor,--and this is a signal illustration of his method -of drawing conclusions from insufficient premises,--if the vapour of bread -could sustain the fleeting spirit of Democritus,--then the still more -invigorating outbreathings of little maidens will prolong life -indefinitely;--for only consider how much better are little girls than -soft pap! - -At the startling results of this discovery:-- - - Non parum mirantur physici; - -therefore ye-- - - Posteri, sic vitam ducite! - - - - -THE BARONESS DE BEAUSOLEIL - - -"Madame de Beausoleil, astronomer and alchemist in the seventeenth -century, who came from Germany to France in the exercise of her -profession, was incarcerated at Vincennes in 1641, by order of Cardinal -Richelieu; the date of her death is unknown." Such is all that the great -French biographical dictionaries have to say concerning a woman of -surprising talent, indomitable perseverance, and a martyr of science. She -was the first to draw attention to the mineral resources of France, and to -indicate the profit which might accrue to the treasury by the working of -the mines. And how did France repay her services? By despoiling her of her -private wealth, by casting her into prison, and leaving her to perish -forgotten in its dungeons. And even now her very name and services are -passed over and ignored. A sad chapter is that in the history of science -which relates the names of its martyrs, and records their services and the -ingratitude and ignominy with which they have been repaid. Among these -martyrs the good Baroness of Beausoleil deserves commemoration, and -merits now the attention that the age in which she lived refused to yield -to her. - -The date and place of her birth cannot be fixed with accuracy; but, as a -memoir published in 1640 says that for thirty years she had been engaged -in mineralogical studies, it seems probable that she was born about 1590. -She belonged to the noble family of Bertereau, in the Touraine; her -Christian name was Martine. In 1610 she married Jean du Châtelet, Baron de -Beausoleil and d'Auffenbach, a Brabantine nobleman of great learning and -abilities. The Baron had borne arms in his youth, but his natural tastes -lay in the direction of natural philosophy, and his attention was chiefly -directed to mineralogy, then a science in its earliest infancy. Following -the bent of his inclinations, and impelled by the desire of obtaining a -practical acquaintance with the working of mines, and the character and -conditions of the different metal ores _in situ_, he visited in order the -mines of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Tyrol, Silesia, Moravia, Poland, -Sweden, Italy, Spain, Scotland, and England. By this means he obtained a -practical knowledge of his subject possessed by no other in his day, and -an intimate acquaintance with ores and their indications, which made him -the first of mineralogists. The German Emperors, Rudolph and Matthias, -recognised his abilities, and constituted him Commissary-General of the -Hungarian mines. The Archduke Leopold created him Director-in-Chief of -the Trentin and Tyrolean mines, and the Dukes of Bavaria, Nieubourg, and -Cleves conferred upon him similar offices in their territories; lastly, a -brevet of like nature was given him by the Pope for the States of the -Church. In 1600, at the recommendation of Pierre de Beringhen, -Controller-General of the French mines, the Baron came to France. - -Ten years after he married Martine de Bertereau, who thenceforth became -his companion in all his travels, his fellow-labourer in the same field of -science, and who even surpassed him in ability and skill in detecting the -indications of ore. The couple examined together the German, Italian, and -Swedish mines. She then crossed the Atlantic to investigate those of the -New World. She next applied herself to the study of chemistry, geometry, -hydraulics, and mechanics, and became accomplished in each of these -sciences. She was able to speak fluently Italian, German, English, -Spanish, French, and was a Latin and Hebrew scholar. In 1626, Cinq-Mars, -then superintendent of the mines, gave the Baron a commission to traverse -several of the provinces, and open mines wherever he found indications of -ore. Whilst thus engaged, the Baron published a volume on _The True -Philosophy concerning the First Matter of Minerals_, a work of no great -value, as it is overloaded with the absurd theories of the metamorphosis -of metals then in vogue. - -The course of his investigations led him and his wife to Morlaix, in -Brittany, and there, in 1627, an event took place which gave them -considerable annoyance, as well as proving a severe pecuniary loss. The -Baron was engaged in examining a mine in the forest of Buisson-Rochemarée, -and his wife was at Rennes seeing to the registration of their commission. -Taking advantage of the absence of both at the same time, a provincial -provost, Touche-Grippé by name, of the race of _Dogberry_, made an entry -into their house, under the plea of search after magical apparatus, for, -as the provost said, "How can mortal man discover what is underground -without diabolical aid?" On this pretext, then, the house was ransacked, -and _Dogberry_ laid violent hands on every article which aroused his -curiosity or attracted his cupidity. The boxes were broken open, the -cupboards burst into, the drawers searched, and gold, silver, jewels, -mineralogical specimens, scientific instruments, legal documents, notes of -observations made in the course of travel, every fragment of manuscript, -private letters, and maps, were carried off by Touche-Grippé and -appropriated to his own use. - -On the return of the Baron and Baroness to Morlaix they found that, in -addition to this robbery in the name of justice, a charge was laid against -them of magic. They were constrained to appear before Touche-Grippé and a -fellow-magistrate of like nature, and free themselves of the charge. They -were allowed to depart exculpated, but without their property, which the -magistrate refused to surrender. The Baron appealed to the Parliament of -Brittany, but without obtaining any redress; he then applied to that of -Paris, but Touche-Grippé had friends at court, and the appeal of the Baron -was rejected. Twelve years after, in 1640, we find the Baroness still -asking for redress, and still in vain. - -The failure of the couple in obtaining any attention so irritated them -that they left France and returned to Germany, which had always recognised -their services, and treated them with the respect due to their abilities -and attainments. Ferdinand II. at once placed the Baron de Beausoleil in -charge of the Hungarian mines. - -But, unfortunately, the nobleman and his wife were not content to remain -in Germany, and after a few years resolved on trying their fortune once -more in France. This time they determined on carrying on their operations -upon a more extensive scale, and in 1632 they entered the kingdom of Louis -XIII., accompanied by fifty German and ten Hungarian miners, together with -private servants. The king at once renewed the commission given by -Cinq-Mars in 1626, and the Baron commenced a series of explorations in -Brittany and in the south of France. The Parliaments of Dijon and Pau -having objected to the commission, the king issued an order to them to -recognise the Baron and his wife, and to aid them in their search after -minerals by affording them every facility which lay in their power. -Notwithstanding this apparent royal support, the two mineralogists -obtained no pecuniary assistance from Government, but were expected to -carry on all their operations at their private expense. The maintenance of -sixty miners, the prosecution of extensive works, and the travelling from -province to province, could not fail to reduce the means of the couple -very considerably. A little glory might accrue to them, but they were sure -of becoming the objects of jealousy; they obtained praise from the king, -but no money; and after having expended 30,000 livres--in fact, their -whole fortune--they were as far from obtaining any pecuniary -acknowledgment of their services as they were when first entering France. -In 1632 the Baroness addressed a memoir to the king on the mineral -treasures of the country; it was entitled, "Veritable Declarations made to -the King and his Council of the rich and inestimable Treasures lately -discovered in the Kingdom"; but as this met with no response, she -reprinted it under the title "Veritable Declarations of the Discovery of -Mines and Minerals in France, by means of which his Majesty and his -subjects will be enabled to do without Foreign Mineral Trade; also -concerning the Properties of Certain Sources and Mineral Waters lately -discovered at Château-Thierry by Madame Martine de Bertereau, Baroness de -Beausoleil." In this interesting memoir one hundred and fifty mines are -indicated as having been discovered by the Baron and his wife. The -Government, satisfied of the value of the services of the two foreigners, -but unwilling, for all that, to pay them, now, as acknowledgment, -conferred on them a new brevet, giving them extended powers, and elevating -the Baron to the grade of Inspector-General of all the mines in France. If -glory alone could suffice as a reward to merit, the Baron du Châtelet and -Madame de Bertereau must have felt content with the dignity now conferred -upon them. But a glory which cost them their whole fortune, and which in -no way repaid their labours, must have seemed to them a bitter deception. - -Little by little the worthy couple had to reduce their retinue and to -curtail their expenses, and after ten years of unrequited exertion in -behalf of the crown, their train was scanty enough. However, their hopes -were not yet exhausted, promises had been made to them of the most -brilliant description, and they relied upon the honour of the French crown -to redeem them. - -In 1640 the Baroness appealed to Cardinal Richelieu in a pamphlet entitled -"La Restitution de Pluton à l'Eminentissime Cardinal Duc de Richelieu," a -second title-page adds, "with a refutation of those who believe that mines -and subterranean matters are only discovered by magic and by the aid of -the devil." - -Whether the Cardinal read the memoir or not, we cannot say, but -undoubtedly he perused the dedicatory epistle, or, at all events, the -sonnet it contains, which sums up its flatteries and hyperbolic -compliments. - - Esprit prodigieux, chef-d'oeuvre de nature, - Elixir épuré de tous les grands esprits, - Puisque vous conduisez notre bonne aventure - Arrêtez un peu l'oeil sur ces divins écrits. - - Ces écrits sont dressés pour une architecture, - Dont la sainte beauté vous rendra tout épris; - Le soleil et les cieux conduisent la structure, - Et vous, vous conduisez cet ouvrage entrepris. - - La France et les Français vous demandent les mines; - L'or, l'argent, et l'azur, l'aimant, les calamines, - Sont des trésors cachés par l'esprit de Dieu. - - Si vous autorisez ce que l'on vous propose, - Vous verrez, Monseigneur, que, sans métamorphose, - La France deviendra bientôt un _Riche-Lieu_. - -_The Restitution of Pluto_ is a book most interesting, not only on account -of the erudition and rare acquaintance with natural philosophy which it -displays, but also from the stately and vigorous writing of the authoress. -It contains passages glowing with energy, and is composed in a style of -dignified and manly eloquence. Maybe the publication of this work opened -the eyes of the Cardinal to the fact that the State certainly was indebted -to this illustrious couple for services gratuitously rendered during -upwards of ten years. The most convenient method of paying them was that -of silencing the voices which cried for acknowledgment, and thus stifling -the claims on the royal exchequer. Slanderous reports were circulated -relative to the Beausoleils, and they were accused of various crimes. The -suspicion of magic, which had attached to them from the time of the -inquisition of the provost of Morlaix, was revived, and the prejudices of -the age tended to give it force to overthrow the noble pair. Old -superstitions concerning gnomes of the mines and subterranean demons were -not yet extinct. The Baroness herself believed in them, and in one of her -works speaks of her having encountered some of them. In the mines of -Neusol and Chemnitz in Hungary, she says, "I saw little dwarfs about three -or four palms high, old, and dressed like miners, that is, clothed in an -old suit, and with a leather apron, a white tunic and cap, a lamp and -staff in hand--terrible spectres to those who are unaccustomed to mines." -Several times already, as appears from her writings, she and her husband -had been exposed to the violence of the rude and ignorant rustics, who -thought their scientific instruments means for conjuring up the devil, and -the authorities were, as we have seen at Morlaix, quite prepared to second -the popular superstition when profit could be obtained thereby. The -divining rod, then much in vogue in Germany, was used by the Baron and his -wife, who had strong belief in its magnetic properties, and the employment -of it may have given some colour to the charges now raised against them on -all sides of being necromancers in league with evil spirits. - -In 1642, by order of Cardinal Richelieu, the Baron de Beausoleil was cast -into the Bastille, and the Baroness was shut up in the state prison of -Vincennes, without trial and sentence. Thus, after forty years of labour -together in the same pursuits, in the same manner of life, in the decline -of their days this worthy couple were separated, to spend the rest of -their life in prison. Such was the reward accorded to them for their -devotion to the cause of science, and the recompense for the benefits they -had afforded to France. - -The Baroness died in the prison of Vincennes. The date of her death is -unknown, but probably it was not long deferred. Her ardent soul would not -long endure the torture of imprisonment, and the sorrows of finding all -her labours repaid with ingratitude. Her husband died in the Bastille -after lingering for three years behind bars. - -One last glimpse of the noble woman we obtain from the _Mémoires de -Lancelot touchant la vie de M. de Saint-Cyran_. The Abbé de Saint-Cyran -was shut up in Vincennes in 1638 as a Jansenist. On the 14th of May in -that year he was arrested by Richelieu, who then made use of the -remarkable words, "Had Luther and Calvin been imprisoned the moment they -began to dogmatise, Government would have been spared much trouble." -Saint-Cyran remained in Vincennes till 1642. He died the next year. During -his imprisonment he observed in church the Baroness de Beausoleil and her -daughter, prisoners like himself. Touched with the scantiness of their -clothing, he endeavoured to procure for them the dresses which they -needed, and those necessaries which the sickness of the noble lady -demanded. The following are the words of the memoir:--"Whilst M. de -Saint-Cyran was in Vincennes he met a lady named the Baroness de -Beausoleil, who was there with her daughter, whilst her husband was -prisoner in the Bastille. Seeing her in church, poorly clad, he made -inquiries about her, and sent to Madame le Maître, telling her whom he had -seen, and begging her to purchase some chemises for this person, expressly -desiring that they might be long, for nothing escaped his charity, and -also that the material should be good. When they had been sent, it was -ascertained that what had been made for the mother would only fit the -daughter, and he gave them to the latter, and ordered fresh ones for the -mother. Afterwards he requested to have fustian under-garments, shoes and -stockings, sent to them according to measures which he procured, and also -after the fashion of the day. - -"At the approach of winter he wrote to say that he found that the lady was -menaced with dropsy, and that she was extremely sensitive to cold. He -therefore begged the person I have mentioned to make for her a dress of -thick ratteen, of the best description, and trimmed with black lace, -because he heard that such was the fashion, and he added that his maxim -was, that people should be served according to their rank. He also had a -gown made for the daughter.... He also sent to the Bastille to have the -husband well dressed; and I know that the person who brought the tailor to -him asked him to choose his material and the trimmings, for he had orders -to have him dressed as suited his taste." - -In Saint-Cyran's own letters we find additional details, very sad they -are, but full of interest to those who have followed this worthy couple -through their labours into disgrace. - -"This letter," writes the Abbé to his friend M. de Rebours, "is to entreat -you, at your convenience, to execute with the utmost secrecy, without -allowing it to transpire who sends you and who you are who make the -inquiries, a work of great charity upon which I am engaged. There is a -person imprisoned here who is the authoress of the book I send you; will -you kindly go to M. Maréchal, glassmaker, and consequently a gentleman, -and inquire what has become of the children of the Baroness de Beausoleil, -a German lady; and lest he should mistrust you, say you do it in charity; -and should he still have suspicions, promise him any token of sincerity -which he may require. He lives near the House of Charity in the Faubourg -St. Germain. Perhaps you had better inquire at the House of Charity for M. -Maréchal, and of the girl named Madlle. Barbe, with whom the Baron de -Beausoleil, now in the Bastille, and his wife, now here in prison, had -left one of their daughters, named Anne du Châtelet, aged twelve, whom her -mother had instructed in Latin, so as to make her useful in the search -after mines, a science hereditary in the family. By this means you may be -able to learn what has become of the other children. - -"If you know yourself, or by any of your friends, M. Maturel, advocate, or -his brother, who favoured these good people, and who know all their -affairs, and are aware of all the circumstances of the robbery committed -upon them in Brittany, and estimated at a hundred thousand crowns, you -will obtain their entire confidence, and be able to learn what has become -of the children. This must be done with the utmost circumspection. You -must say that your friends, who lived formerly in Paris, want to know -particulars of the family. The eldest son, having gone to the Bastille -without proper precautions, to make inquiries concerning his father, was -arrested. But we desire to learn something about the other children, some -five or six, and who has got charge of them.... What a strange thing it -is, that there is no surer means of falling into trouble than to love the -faith and Catholic verity." - -Such is the last glimpse we obtain of this unfortunate family. Two noble -and devoted servants of science cast into dungeons, and their children -scattered or imprisoned--because they served the State too well. - -On the 4th of December 1642 Richelieu was called to his account before the -throne of a just Judge, to answer for that as well as his other crimes; -and in another century the accursed Bastille was torn down stone from -stone by an exasperated people and laid low in the dust, never to rise -again. - - - - -SOME CRAZY SAINTS - - -Among the ignorant there is always admiration for the not-understood, and -in former times nothing was less understood than hysteria. The original -source of a thousand superstitions, and of most idolatries, lies in the -sense of surprise, wonder, into which the mind is thrown by seeing that -which it cannot explain. A remarkable rock, a queer shell, peculiar eyes -in a man or woman, a curious fruit, like the _coco-de-mer_, awaken -admiration, perplex the untaught mind, and superinduce religious -reverence. What strikes the imagination thenceforth provokes the -instinctive awe felt for the supernatural. Now nothing is more calculated -to astonish those who know naught of nervous disorder than the phenomena -attending hysteria and its allied maladies. Consequently, not only have -hysteric patients been for a long period regarded as specially allied with -the spiritual powers, but so also have the insane, because insanity is -particularly amazing to the man with his wits about him. To the present -day in the East epilepsy is regarded as something sacred, and idiocy and -madness as divine possession. It is not marvellous that some men and women -in rude times, who were subject to fits, were scrofulous, hysterical, and -lived out of the ordinary mode of life, should have been given a character -for sanctity that scarcely perhaps was their due. Hysterical persons have -a strange craving after sympathy, a hunger after notoriety, and will -endure much self-imposed torture to obtain that which to their vanity is -dearer than bodily ease. - -Motives in this world are much mixed, and nowhere more mixed than in -hysterical saints, where the glory of God and the glorification of self -are inextricably involved. - -It is not in the least surprising that some of the crazy saints we shall -now consider should have been canonised by the popular voice; what is -extraordinary is that they should have been accepted and inserted in the -lists of those who are recognised by the Church as models of holiness, and -that in a later and more critical age they have not been kicked out of the -association to which they were ill qualified to belong. We will begin with -the story of St. Symeon the Fool. - - -I - -ST. SYMEON SALOS - -The life of this saintly personage comes to us on excellent authority. The -patron of Symeon in Edessa, and the witness of his acts, was a certain -simple-minded John the Deacon. Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, -whose _Apology for Sacred Images_ was accepted and approved by the Second -Council of Nicæa, was acquainted with this John the Deacon, and from his -account of the doings of Symeon wrote the life, in Greek, which has come -down to us entire. It is one of the most curious and instructive of early -Christian biographies. - -Evagrius, the historian, also a contemporary of Symeon, makes mention of -him in his _Church History_ (lib. iv. c. 34). - -The story of Symeon is as follows:-- - -In the reign of the Emperor Justinian, two young Syrians came to Jerusalem -to assist at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The name of -one was John, and the name of the other was Symeon. John, a young man of -two-and-twenty, was accompanied by his bride, a beautiful and wealthy -girl, to whom he had been very lately married, and by his old father. With -Symeon was his widowed mother, aged eighty. - -The festival having terminated, the pilgrims started on their return to -Edessa, and had reached Jericho, when John, reining in his horse, bade the -caravan proceed, whilst he and his comrade Symeon tarried behind. The two -young men flung themselves from their horses on the coarse grass. In the -distance, near Jordan, glimmered the white walls of a monastery, and a -track led towards it from the main road followed by the caravan. - -"What place is that?" asked Symeon. - -"It is the home of angels." - -"Are the angels visible?" Symeon inquired. - -"Only to those who elect to follow their manner of life," answered John, -and descanted to his companion on the charms of a monastic life. "Let us -cast lots," he said, "whether we shall follow the road to the convent, or -that which the caravan has pursued." They cast lots, and the decision was -for the life of angels. - -So they turned into the road that led to Jordan and the monastery, and as -they went they encouraged each other. For, we are told, John feared lest -the love Symeon bore to his old widowed mother would draw him back, and -Symeon dreaded the effects of the remembrance of the fair young bride on -John. - -On reaching the monastery, which was that of St. Gerasimus, the abbot, -named Nicon, received them cordially, and gave them a long address on the -duties and excellences of the monastic life. Then both fell at his feet -and besought him at once to shear off their hair. The abbot hesitated, and -spoke to each in private, urging a delay of a year, but Symeon boldly -said, "My companion may wait, but I cannot. If you will not shear my head -at once, I will go to some other monastery where they are less -scrupulous." Then he added, "Father, I pray thee, ask the Lord to be -gracious to and strengthen my comrade John, that the remembrance of his -young wife, to whom he has been only lately married, draw him not back." - -And when the abbot spoke to John, "My father," said he, "pray for my -comrade Symeon, who has a widowed mother of eighty years, and they have -been inseparable night and day; he dearly loves her, and has been wont -never to leave the old woman alone for two hours in the day. I fear me -lest his love for his mother make him take his hand from the plough and -look back." - -So the abbot cut off their hair, and promised on the morrow to clothe them -with the religious habit. Then some of the members crowding round them -congratulated the neophytes that on the morrow "they would be regenerated -and cleansed from all sin." The young men, unaccustomed to monastic -language, were alarmed, thinking that they were about to be rebaptized, -and went to the abbot to remonstrate. He allayed their apprehensions by -explaining to them that the monks alluded to their putting on the "angelic -habit." - -John and Symeon did not long remain in the abbey before a wish came upon -them to leave it. Accordingly, in the night, they made their escape, and -rambled in the desert to the east of the Dead Sea, till they lighted on a -cave which had once been tenanted by a hermit, but was now without -inhabitant. The date-palms and vegetables in the garden grew untouched, -and the friends settled in the cave to follow the lives of the desert -solitaries. - -Their peace of mind was troubled for long by thoughts of the parent and -wife left behind. "O Lord, comfort my old mother," was the incessant -prayer of Symeon; "O Lord, dry the tears of my young wife," was the -supplication of John. At length Symeon had a dream in which he saw the -death of his mother, and shortly after John was comforted by a vision -which assured him that his wife was no more. - -After a while Symeon informed his comrade that he could not rest in the -cave, but that he was resolved to serve God in the city. He felt there -were souls to be saved in the world, and that he had a call to labour for -their conversion. - -This announcement filled John with dismay. He wept, and entreated Symeon -not to desert him. "What shall I do, alone, in this wild ocean of sand? O -my brother, I thought that death alone would have separated us, and now -thou tearest thyself away of thine own will. Thou knowest I have forsaken -all my kindred, and I have thee only, my brother, and will my brother -desert me?" - -"Do thou, John, remember me in thy prayers here in the desert, whilst I -struggle in the world; and I will also pray for thee. But go I must." - -"Then," said John solemnly, "be on thy guard, brother Symeon, lest what -thou hast acquired in the desert be lost in the world; lest what silence -has wrought, bustle destroy. Above all, beware lest that modesty, which -seclusion from women has fostered, fail thee in their society; and lest -the body, wasted with fasting here, surfeit there. Beware, also, lest -laughter take the place of gravity, and worldly solicitude break up the -serenity of the soul." - -He had good cause to give this advice, as the sequel proves; but Symeon -gave no heed to the exhortation, answering, "Fear not for me, brother; I -am not acting on my own impulse, but on a divine call." - -Then they wept on one another's shoulders, and Symeon promised to revisit -his friend before he died. - -John accompanied Symeon a little way, and then again they wept and -embraced, and after that John sorrowfully returned to his cell, and Symeon -set his face towards the world, and came to Jerusalem. - -He spent three days in the Holy City, visiting the sacred sites, and then -went to Emesa. - -Hitherto his life had been, if not altogether commendable, yet at least -respectable. But from this point his character changes. He simulated -madness, his biographer says, with the motive of drawing down on himself -the ridicule of the world. - -This ill-conditioned fellow is venerated by Greeks and Russians as a -saint, and Cardinal Baronius with culpable negligence introduced his name -into the modern Roman Martyrology. - -Alban Butler, the Père Giry, and the Abbé Guérin, and indeed all Roman -Catholic hagiographers, give the former part of this history with some -detail, and draw a curtain of pious platitudes over the second act of the -drama. They state that the saint made himself a fool for Christ, but are -very careful not to give the particulars of his folly. - -It is hardly necessary to point out how untrue to history, how morally -dishonest, such a course is. - -The Jesuit Fathers, who continued the work of Bollandus, give the original -Greek _Life_ in their volume for July, but with searchings of heart. "If," -say they, "our lucubrations could be confined to such small space as would -suffice to give only the lives of those men whose memory is edifying and -deserves imitation, never for a moment would it have entered into our -heads to give and illustrate the life of St. Symeon Salos. For towards the -close of that life many things occur, silly, stupid, absurd, scandalous to -the ignorant, and to the learned and better educated worthy of laughter -rather than of faith." - -But the unfortunate Bollandists were not at liberty to avoid the -unpleasant task, as Symeon figured among the Saints of the Roman Calendar -in these words: "At Emesa (on 1st July) St. Symeon, Confessor, surnamed -Salos, who became a fool for Christ. But God manifested his lofty wisdom -by great miracles." 1st July is a mistake for 21st July, the day on which -St. Symeon is venerated in the East. Baronius was misled by a faulty -manuscript of the _Life_, which gave [Greek: a] for [Greek: ka], as the -day on which the saint died. It is a pity that, when he was transferring -the day, he did not place St. Symeon Salos on the more appropriate 1st of -April. - -The only way in which I can account for this insertion in the Calendar is -that Baronius read the first part of the _Life_, and was pleased with it, -and did not trouble himself to conclude the somewhat lengthy manuscript. -He therefore placed Symeon in his new Roman Martyrology, which received -the approbation and imprimatur of Pope Sixtus V. and afterwards of -Benedict XIV. - -But to return to St. Symeon. - -On reaching the outskirts of Emesa, Symeon found on a dung-heap a dead, -half-putrefied dog. He unwound his girdle and attached the dog with it to -his foot, and so entered the gate of the city and passed before a boys' -school. The attention of the children was at once diverted from their -books, and, in spite of the expostulation of their preceptor, they rushed -out of school after Salos, like a swarm of wasps, shouting, "Heigh! here -comes a crack-brained abbot!" and kicked the dog and slapped the monk. - -Next day was Sunday. Symeon entered the church with a bag of nuts before -him, and during the celebration of the divine mysteries threw nuts at the -candles and extinguished several of them. Then, running up into the -ambone, or pulpit, he threw nuts at the women in the congregation, and hit -them in their faces. Laughter and outcries interrupted the sacred service, -and Symeon was expelled the church, not, however, without offering a -sturdy resistance. - -Outside, the market-place must have resembled one on a Sunday abroad at -the present day, for it was full of stalls for the sale of cakes. In -rushing from the church officials, he knocked over the stalls,[4] and the -sellers beat him so unmercifully for his pains that he groaned in himself: -"Humble Symeon, verily, verily, they will maul the life out of you in an -hour!" - -A seller of sour wine[5] saw him racing round the market-place, and, being -in want of a servant, hailed him, and said, "Here, fellow; if you want a -job, sell pulse for me." - -"I am ready," answered Symeon. So he gave him pulse and beans and peas to -sell, but the hermit, who had eaten nothing for a week, devoured the whole -amount. - -"This will never do," said the mistress of the house; "the abbot eats more -than he sells. Here, fellow, what money have you taken?" - -Symeon had neither money nor vegetables to show, so the woman turned him -out of the house. The monk placidly seated himself on the doorstep, and -proceeded to offer up his evening devotions. But these were not complete -without the ritual adjunct of smoking incense. Symeon looked about for a -broken pot in which to put some cinders; but finding none, he took some -lighted charcoal in the palm of his hand, and strewed a few grains of -incense upon it. The mistress of the house, smelling the fumes, looked out -of the window, and exclaimed, "Gracious heaven! Abbot Symeon, are you -making a thurible of your hand?"[6] At that moment the charcoal began to -burn his palm, and he threw the ashes into the lap of his coarse -goat's-hair mantle. - -The taverner and his wife were so moved by the piety of Symeon that they -received him into the house, and employed him in selling vegetables, which -duty he executed satisfactorily when his appetite was not exacting. They -speedily found that Silly Symeon drew customers to their house, for Symeon -laid himself out to divert them, and it became the rage for a time in -Emesa for folk to visit the tavern, saying, "We must have our dinner and -wine where that comical fool lives." - -One day Symeon Salos saw a serpent put its head into one of the wine -pitchers in the tavern, and drink. He took a stick and broke the pitcher, -thinking that the serpent had spit poison into the wine. The publican was -angry with Symeon for breaking the amphora, and, catching the stick out of -his hand, cudgelled the poor monk with it, without listening to his -explanation. On the morrow the serpent again entered the tavern, and went -to the wine jars. The host saw it this time, and rushed after it with a -stick, upsetting and breaking several amphoræ. "Ha, ha!" exclaimed -Symeon, peeping out from behind the door, where he had concealed himself, -"who is the biggest fool to-day?"[7] - -The taverner did not show much kindness to Symeon; but this is hardly to -be wondered at, when we hear that, summoned to his wife's bedroom by her -cries one night, he found it invaded by the saint, who was deliberately -undressing in it for bed. This he did, says Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis, -in order to lower the high opinion entertained of him by his master.[8] -After this, as may well be believed, the taverner told the tale over his -cups with much laughter to his guests, and with confusion to his man. In -Lent the saint devoured flesh, but would not touch bread. "He is -possessed," said the inn-keeper; "he insulted my wife, and he eats meat in -Lent like an infidel." - -In Emesa he picked up a certain John the Deacon, who admired his -proceedings. To this John, the saint related the events of his former -life; and from John Leontius heard the story. - -One day John the Deacon was on his way to the public baths, when he met -Symeon. "You will be all the better for a wash, my friend," said the -Deacon; "come with me to the baths." - -"With all my heart," answered the monk, and he forthwith peeled off his -clothes, wrapped them in a bundle, and set them on his head. - -"My brother!" exclaimed the Deacon, "put on your clothes again. I cannot -walk with you in the public street in this condition." - -"Very well, friend, then I will walk first, and you can follow." And stark -naked, bearing his bundle "like a faggot" on his head, he stalked down the -crowded thoroughfare. - -The baths were divided into two parts, one for women, the other for men. -Symeon ran towards the women's entrance. - -"Not that way!" shouted the Deacon in alarm; "the other side is for men." - -"Hot water here, hot water there," answered Symeon; "one is as good as the -other"; and throwing down his bundle, he bounded into the ladies' -compartment, and splashed in amongst the female bathers. - -The women screamed, flew on him, beat, scratched, pushed him, and drove -him ignominiously forth. - -The biographer gravely informs us that on another occasion an unbelieving -Jew saw Symeon privately bathing with two "angels," and would have told -what he had seen had not Salos silenced him. It was only after the death -of the saint that the Jew related the circumstance. The Christians -concluded that the two lovely forms with whom Symeon was enjoying a dip -were angels. "To such a pass of purity and impassibility had the saint -attained," continues the Bishop of Neapolis, "that he often led the dance -in public with an actress on each arm; he romped with actresses, and by no -means infrequently allowed them to tickle his ribs and slap him."[9] - -Indeed, his biographer tells some stories of his association with very -fallen angels, which are anything but edifying. - -His antics in the streets and market-place became daily more outrageous. -"Sometimes he pretended to hobble as if he were lame, sometimes he -capered, sometimes he dragged himself along to the seats, then he tripped -up the passers-by, and sent them sprawling; sometimes at the rising of the -moon he would roll on the ground kicking. Sometimes he pretended to speak -incoherently, for he said that this above all things suited those who were -made fools for Christ. By this means he often refuted vice, or spat forth -his bile against certain persons, with a view to their correction." - -A Count, living near Emesa, heard of him, and said, "I will find out -whether the fellow is a hypocrite or not." - -As it happened, when the Count entered the city, he found that Symeon's -housekeeper[10] had hoisted her master upon her back, whilst another young -woman administered to him a severe castigation with a leather strap. The -Count, we are told, went away much scandalised. Salos wriggled off his -housekeeper's back, ran after the Count, struck him on the cheek, then -stripped off his own clothes, and danced in complete nudity before him up -the street and down again. - -Passing some girls dancing one day, and noticing that some of them had a -cast in their eyes, he said, "My dears, let me kiss your pretty eyes and -cure you of your squint." - -One or two of the young women permitted him to kiss them, and, we are -assured, were cured; after which, all the girls who thought they had -something the matter with their eyes ran after Symeon to have theirs -kissed. The Deacon John invited him to dinner one day. Symeon went, and -devoured raw bacon which was hanging up in the chimney, instead of what -was provided for the guests. Symeon was fond of frequenting the houses of -the wealthy, where, says his biographer, he sported with and kissed the -maids.[11] - -Two Fathers were troubled that Origen should be regarded as a heretic, and -they asked the hermit John the reason. John bade them inquire of Symeon in -Emesa. On reaching Emesa they found the monk in the tavern, with a bowl of -boiled pulse before him, eating as voraciously "as a bear." "What is the -use of consulting this Gnostic?" said one of the Fathers; "he knows -nothing but how to crunch pulse." - -"What is the matter with the pulse?" asked Symeon, starting up and boxing -the hermit on the ears, so that his face bore the mark for three days. -"The pulse has been soaking for forty days, and is soft enough, I warrant -ye! As for your Origen, he can't eat pulse, for he is at the bottom of the -sea. And now take this for your pains!" and he flung the scalding pulse in -their faces. His reason, Leontius tells us, was to prevent them from -telling all men how he had read their purpose before they had spoken about -Origen. - -One Lord's Day, Symeon was given a chain of sausages.[12] He hung it over -his shoulders like a stole, and filled his left hand with mustard. He ate -all day at the sausages, flavouring them with the mustard, and smearing -his face with it. This highly amused a rustic, who mocked him. Symeon -rushed at him, and threw the mustard in his eyes. The man cried with pain, -and Symeon bade him wash the mustard out of his eyes with vinegar. Now it -happened that this man was suffering from ophthalmia, and the mustard and -vinegar applied to his eyes loosened the white film that was forming over -them, and it peeled off, and thus the man was cured. - -Symeon had long ago left the service of the publican, and had taken a -small cottage, which was only furnished with a bundle of faggots and a -housekeeper. John the Deacon supplied him with food, but somehow Symeon -managed to secure a store of excellent provisions, and the beggars and -tramps of the town were accustomed to assemble in his hut occasionally for -a grand feast. John the Deacon unexpectedly dropped in on one of these -revels, and wondered where the "white wheaten bread, cheesecakes, buns, -fish, and wine of all sorts, dry and sweet, and, in short, whatsoever is -to be found most dainty,"[13] had come from, which Symeon and his -housekeeper were serving out to the beggars and their wives. But when -Symeon assured him that these good things had come down straight from -heaven in answer to prayer, the Deacon went away wondering and edified. In -the same way Symeon always had his pockets full of money. We find him -bribing a woman of bad character with a hundred gold pieces to be his -companion.[14] Many of these ladies sought his society with eagerness, -"for," says his pious biographer, "he was always showing them large sums -of money, for he had as much as he wanted, God always invisibly supplying -him with funds for his purpose." Whence came this money? For what purpose -was it used? Why was the saint so continually found in the society of -these women, or among the female servants of the wealthy citizens? - -Early in the morning Symeon was wont to leave his hut, twine a garland of -herbs, break a bough from a tree, and thus crowned and sceptred enter the -city. John the Deacon asked the monk how it was that he never saw him -having his hair cut, nor with his hair long. Symeon assured him that this -was in answer to prayer. He had supplicated Heaven that he might be saved -the trouble of having recourse to a barber, and Heaven had heard him; all -which John the Deacon fully believed. - -When death approached, Symeon revisited his friend John in the wilderness, -who probably did not find his old comrade much improved in morals and -manners by his residence in town. - -He then returned to Emesa, and was found dead one morning under his bundle -of faggots. - -The remarks of Alban Butler are not a little amusing. "Although we are not -obliged in every instance to imitate St. Symeon, and though it would be -rash even to attempt it without a special call; yet his example ought to -make us blush"--we should think so, indeed--"when we consider"--ah!--"with -what an ill-will we suffer the least things that hurt our pride." Symeon -slipped into the Roman Martyrology by an inadvertency. Let us trust that -at the next revision, he may be turned out. - - -II - -ST. NICOLAS OF TRANI - -The life of this extraordinary man is given to us with much detail by two -eye-witnesses of his doings. Bartholomew, a monk, who associated himself -with Nicolas, travelled with him, admired, and after his death worshipped -him, wrote one of these lives. He had heard from the lips of Nicolas the -account of his childhood and youth, and he faithfully recorded what he -heard. Therefore Nicolas himself is our authority for all the earlier part -of his history, whilst he was in Greece. For the latter part we have the -testimony of Bartholomew, his companion night and day. - -Secondly, we have an account of the close of his strange career by a -certain Adalfert of Trani, also an eye-witness of what he describes; thus -there is every reason for believing that we have an authentic history of -this man.[15] - -Nicolas was the child of Greek parents, near the monastery of Sterium, -founded by St. Luke the Stylite. His parents were poor labouring people, -and the child was sent, at the age of eight, to guard sheep. About this -time he took it into his head to cry incessantly, night and day, "Kyrie -eleison!" The mother scolded and beat him, thinking that she might have -too much even of a good thing. But as he did not mend or vary his -monotonous supplication when he had reached the age of twelve, she angrily -bade him pack out of the house, and not come near her again till he had -learned to keep his noisy cries to himself. - -The boy then ran away to the mountains, where he turned a she-bear out of -her cave, and settled himself into it, living on roots and berries; and -climbing to dizzy heights, spent his days in yelling from the crags where -scarce a goat could find a footing, "Kyrie eleison!" - -His clothes were torn to tatters, so that scarce a shred covered his -nakedness, his feet were bare, and his hair grew long and ragged. - -The poor mother, becoming alarmed at his disappearance, offered a small -sum of money to any one who would find the boy and bring him home. The -peasants of the village scattered themselves among the mountains, caught -the runaway, and at the mother's request took him to the monks of St. -Luke's monastery to have the devil exorcised out of him, for she believed -he must be mad. But Nicolas in his cave had one night seen come to him an -old man of venerable aspect, with long beard and white hair, stark -naked,[16] who bade him be of good cheer, and pursue his admirable course -of conduct. The monks of Sterium brought him into the church and -endeavoured to exorcise the demon, first with prayers, and afterwards with -kicks and blows. Nicolas rushed from the gates of the church shrieking, -"Kyrie eleison!" He was brought back and shut up in a tower, with a slab -of stone against the door, to keep him in. During the night the sleep of -the monks was broken by the muffled cries of "Kyrie eleison!" issuing from -the old tower. A thunderstorm burst over the monastery at midnight, and -Nicolas dashed the door open, threw down the stone, and leaped forth, -shouting between the thunder crashes, "Kyrie eleison!" The monks caught -him, put shackles on his wrists, and thrust him into a cell. As they sat -next day at their meal in the refectory, the door flew open, and in -stalked Nicolas with the chains broken in his hands; he clashed them down -on the table before their eyes, and shouted "Kyrie eleison!" till the -rafters and walls shook again. The monks rose from table, and thrust him -forth, whilst they proceeded with their meal. - -Nicolas ran to the church, scrambled up the walls--how no one knew; his -biographer Bartholomew thinks he must have swarmed up a sunbeam--reached -the dome, and mounting to the apex, began to shout his supplication, -"Kyrie eleison!" - -In the meantime the monks had retired for their nap after dinner, when the -reiterated cries from the top of the church cupola roused them and made -sleep impossible. They came forth in great excitement. One, by order of -the hegumen, or abbot, took a stout stick, and ascending to the roof by a -spiral staircase, crawled after the boy, reached him, dislodged him, and -with furious blows drove him off the roof.[17] - -The monks now thought the best thing they could do would be to get -summarily rid of the maniac by drowning. Papebroeck, the Bollandist, at -this point appends the curious note: "If amongst ourselves, better -instructed, it is customary to suffocate those who have been bitten by a -mad dog--an atrocious custom--lest they should bite and hurt others, and -this is regarded as a rough sort of mercy, is it any wonder that these -rude monks should have supposed it proper to make away with a madman upon -whom exorcism had failed to produce any effect?" - -The monks accordingly tied the hands and feet of Nicolas, drew him down to -the shore, threw him into a boat, rowed some way out to sea, and flung him -overboard. - -But Nicolas broke his bonds,[18] as he had shivered the shackles, and -swimming ashore, reached land before the monks, and mounting a rock, -roared to them as his greeting, "Kyrie eleison!" - -The monks despaired of doing anything to him, and abandoned him to follow -his own devices. He ran wild among the mountains, and constructed a -little hut of logs and wattled branches for his residence. One day he -descended to his mother's house and carried off a hatchet, a knife, and a -saw, and amused himself fashioning crosses out of the wood of the cedars -he cut down, and erecting them on the summit of rocks inaccessible to -every one else. - -On another occasion he carried off his brother; but the boy was so -frightened at the wild gestures and cries of Nicolas, that he refused to -remain more than a night in his cell and ran away home, to the -inexpressible relief of his mother. - -Nicolas rambled over the country, dirty, dishevelled, and naked, asking -and enforcing alms. He was well known to the monks of the monasteries -throughout the neighbourhood as an importunate beggar at their doors. The -lonely traveller hastily flung him an offering, glad to escape so easily. -On one occasion Nicolas waylaid the steward of the monastery of Sterium, -and arresting the horse he rode, reproached him with stinginess. The monk, -who was armed with a cudgel, bounded from his saddle, fell on Nicolas, and -beat him unmercifully, then mounted and joyfully pursued his road. - -Nicolas picked himself up, and followed him at a distance with aching -bones to the village where the steward slept that night. Then, stealing to -his bedside in the dark, he roared into his ear, "Kyrie eleison!" and woke -him with a start of terror. - -The monk jumped out of bed, called up the house; the watch-dogs were let -loose, and Nicolas fled from their fangs up a tree, where he crouched -till daylight. - -On the Feast of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Nicolas went to the monastery of -Sterisca to receive the Holy Communion, but was repulsed as being in an -unsound state of mind, and driven out of the church, where his religious -emotions found noisy vent, to the confusion of the singers and the -distraction of the congregation. Nicolas was much distressed at the -treatment he had received; he cried bitterly, and then resolved, as he was -despised in the Greek Church, to secede to the Roman obedience; and -according to his own account this excommunication was the reason of his -flying from his native land to visit Italy. - -But he makes an admission which gives this pilgrimage West quite another -complexion. He started on his journey with a very pretty girl as his -companion, whom he seduced from her home, whose hair he cut short with his -own hands, and whom he disguised in male costume. But the parents of the -damsel, anxious at her loss, made search for her, and found her, to their -dismay and disgust, in company with Nicolas, dressed as a boy, sharing his -bed and board, yelling "Kyrie eleison!" with him through the Greek -villages, and making the best of their way to the sea to escape to Italy. - -It is not difficult to see through this incident as it comes to us with -Nicolas's own explanation. The motive which Nicolas gave afterwards to -Bartholomew to account for his running away from his native land was an -afterthought. He had formed this discreditable connection, and the couple -were escaping when caught by the parents and brought before the -magistrates. Nicolas was tried for the seduction of the young girl. -According to the young man's own account, the girl took all the blame on -herself, and Nicolas was allowed to depart unpunished. How far this is -true we cannot say. - -Greece was now too hot for Nicolas, and he hurried to Lepanto, to take -ship for Italy. There he met Brother Bartholomew, who was so edified by -his frantic piety and the odour of sanctity which pervaded the vagrant, -that he attached himself to the young pilgrim as an ardent disciple. - -Nicolas and Bartholomew took ship and crossed over to Otranto. Before -entering the port, however, Nicolas cried, "Kyrie eleison!" and jumped -overboard. Every one on board ship supposed he would be drowned, and -Brother Bartholomew tore his beard with dismay. - -But Nicolas was not born to be drowned. He came ashore safely, and -declared that he had seen a beautiful lady draw him out of the water by -the hair of his head. - -One day at Otranto a procession was going through the town, bearing an -image of the Virgin, when Nicolas, who had walked for some time gravely in -the train, suddenly started out of it to make humble obeisance to an old -man who attracted his respect. - -"See! he is worshipping a Jew!" exclaimed the people; "this strange fellow -is no good Christian. Bring hither the image." - -Then the Madonna was brought before Nicolas, and he was told to bow before -it. He refused. Then the people fell on him with their fists and sticks, -and beat and kicked him into a ditch. - -Papebroeck suggests that his reason for refusing to worship the image was -humility, hoping to draw on himself the indignation of the multitude, and -thereby acquire the merit of enduring insult and suffering wrongfully. -Perhaps, as a Greek, Nicolas was unaccustomed to images other than -pictures; perhaps he did not understand the language of his assailants; -but probably he was actuated by no reason but a mad freak. In the Italian -versions of the _Life of St. Nicolas_ sold at Trani, this incident is -omitted for obvious reasons. - -Leaving Otranto, Nicolas came to Lecce, which he entered bearing a cross -on his shoulders, and uttering his usual cry. He spent the alms given to -him in the purchase of apples, which he carried in a pouch at his waist, -and these he threw among the boys who followed him in crowds and shouted -after him, "Kyrie eleison!" - -The noise he made in the streets, the uproar caused by the children, were -so intolerable that two brothers named John and Rumtipert seized Nicolas, -and binding him hand and foot, locked him into a room of their house. But -he suddenly disengaged himself from his bonds, and was again in the -street, calling, "Kyrie eleison!" - -Early in the morning he went under the windows of the bishop, and broke -his slumbers by his shouts. The bishop ordered him to be severely beaten -and driven out of the city. Nicolas went forth triumphantly bearing his -cross, shouting, "Kyrie eleison!" followed by a train of capering boys -roaring, "Kyrie eleison!" and then bursting into peals of laughter. -Nicolas gravely turned, cast a handful of apples among them, and passed -out of the gates. - -He took up his abode outside the town, and continued to astonish and edify -the peasants who came into Lecce to market. - -One day an officer of the prince was issuing from the gate, followed by a -troop of servants. Nicolas rushed before his horse brandishing his cross -and howling, "Kyrie eleison!" The horse plunged and threw his rider, and -Nicolas was well beaten for his pains. - -At St. Dimitri he was locked up in the church, heavily ironed; but at -midnight he broke off his chains, and entering the tower pealed the bells. - -Thence he went to Tarentum, where he stationed himself outside the -bishop's palace, under his bedroom window, and through the night yelled, -"Kyrie eleison!" It was the duty of the bishop to watch and pray, and not -to sleep, thought Nicolas. But the prelate differed from him in opinion, -and sent his servants to dislodge Nicolas. He returned to his post, and -continued his monotonous howls. The bishop could endure it no longer, and -revenged his sleepless night on the back and ribs of Nicolas, already blue -with the bruises received at Lecce and St. Dimitri; and he was -ignominiously expelled the city. - -He proceeded thence to Trani, which he entered on 26th May 1094, carrying -his cross and distributing apples among the boys who crowded about him and -made a chorus to his cry. - -The archbishop, hearing the disturbance, had him apprehended and brought -before him. He asked Nicolas what he meant by his eccentric conduct. The -crazy fellow replied, "Our Lord Jesus Christ bade us take up our cross and -follow after Him, and become as little children. That is precisely what I -am doing." - -The archbishop began a long discourse, but Nicolas impatiently shook -himself free from his guards, and without waiting for the end of it, -bounded out of the hall to the head of the steps leading into the street, -crying, "Kyrie eleison!" which was responded to by a shout from the boys -eagerly awaiting him without. - -At the head of a swarm of children he rushed madly through and round the -city, making the streets resound with his monotonous appeal, and bringing -the wondering citizens to their doors and windows. - -But the blows he had received at Tarentum had done him some serious -internal injury, and he now fell sick at Trani. There was hardly an -inhabitant of the city who did not visit his sickbed, that he might hear -the poor madman howl, "Kyrie eleison!" with his fevered lips, and depart -marvelling at his sanctity. - -The boys who had run after him and partaken of his apples came to see him, -and the dying man gave them his cross, and bade them march about the -dormitory of the hospital where he lay, bearing the cross, and -vociferating, "Kyrie eleison!" Night and day the dormitory was crowded, -and the excitement of the fevered man kept constantly stimulated. He died -on 2nd June 1094, and till his burial his body attracted ever-increasing -crowds. - -He was buried at Trani with considerable ceremony, for already the notion -had spread that the crazy Greek was a great saint, and the infatuated -Brother Bartholomew did his utmost to fan the growing popular enthusiasm -into a flame. Almost immediately after the burial highly imaginative -individuals began to believe they had been miraculously healed of diseases -at his tomb. He appeared in visions, cured cripples, uttered forebodings. -The Archbishop of Trani made formal investigation into the miracles, after -the manner of ecclesiastical investigations, and pronounced them genuine. -Trani was without a patron; no blood of martyrs had reddened its soil, no -saint had occupied its episcopal throne. It was discreditable to be -without a patron, and the good people of Trani were not nice as to whom -they had as patron so long as they had one whom they could claim as -peculiarly their own. - -A statement of the virtues, acts, and miracles of Nicolas was forwarded -with gravity by the Archbishop of Trani to the Pope and Council at Rome in -1099. Urban II. with equal gravity, by special bull, canonised this -pitiable fool, and hoaxed Christendom into worshipping a man in whose -career no single spark of godliness appears; a man driven, to all -appearance, from his own country for having led astray an innocent girl, -whom he persuaded to elope with him from her home, and join him in his -vagabond life. - - -III - -ST. CHRISTINA THE WONDERFUL - -The life of this extraordinary saint, so extraordinary that even those who -canonised her--the vulgar and ignorant--called her "The Wonderful," comes -to us on the best possible authority. Her life was written by Thomas de -Chantpré, or Catimpré, born at Leuve in the Low Countries in 1201; he was -canon in the abbey of Catimpré, and then entered the Dominican Order in a -convent at Louvain, in 1232, and there taught theology. He was a -contemporary and fellow-countryman of Christina; he had all the -particulars necessary from those who had seen and conversed with -Christina, whom he survived by many years. Indeed, she died when he was -aged twenty-three. Christina the Wonderful was born at the village of -Brustheim, near St. Trond in Hesbain, in the year 1150. When aged fifteen -she was left an orphan, the youngest of three sisters, and spent her -childhood in the fields tending sheep and cows. As now, so then, there -were no hedges, and cattle sent into pasture had to be subjected to -supervision lest they transgressed into the land of neighbours. Christina -was employed as thousands of little girls have been employed since in -Germany and Belgium. It was a solitary occupation for a child, and she was -thrown much in on herself, on her own thoughts, her own imaginations. - -Nothing remarkable about her was observed till she began to pass from -childhood into womanhood, a critical period, and then it was that her -malady first manifested itself. She fell down one day in a cataleptic fit, -and was taken up as dead. Her sisters, with whom she lived, had her -washed, laid out, placed on a bier, and conveyed to church, where the -funeral mass was ordered to be said. - -Christina had been in a cataleptic fit, or had been shamming death. All at -once she scattered the funeral party and the worshippers by a leap off her -bier, in winding-sheet, with a shrill cry, and then by a scramble up one -of the pillars of the sacred edifice, which she managed to surmount. She -then got upon one of the tie-beams of the roof, and there seated herself, -as her biographer tells us, "like a bird." The congregation, frightened -out of their wits, ran helter-skelter in all directions. One of her -sisters alone had courage to remain, or possibly knew enough of -Christina's eccentricities not to be alarmed. The priest at the altar -faltered, stopped, turned and looked about him, and went forward headlong -with the service to the end. When he had retired to the sacristy, -probably, Christina's sister came to him and explained matters. Anyhow we -learn that he reappeared in the church showing no signs of fear, and very -peremptorily ordered the young woman down from her perch, and demanded the -reason of this extraordinary freak. Christina meekly descended, and on -being again asked the reason of her proceedings, condescended to inform -the priest that she had scrambled aloft to escape the strong odour emitted -by the peasants, which to her refined perceptions was especially -repugnant. It must be admitted that it continues the same to the present -day, and that to the noses of those who are not saints. - -Christina was now conducted home by her sisters, and was given something -to eat. When she had fed, she told them a long and marvellous story of her -having visited the regions of the dead; she said that she had been in -Hell, where she recognised the familiar features of a good many -acquaintances, no doubt of all such as had slighted and offended her in -the past and were dead. Then she had visited Purgatory, where also she -found herself among acquaintances. After that she ascended to Heaven, -where she was offered her choice, whether she would remain there -eternally, or return to earth and there perform the meritorious work of -liberating, by her prayers and self-tortures, the souls of those still -undergoing purification in Purgatory. With the utmost heroism and -self-denial she chose the latter alternative, probably not to the -satisfaction of her sisters, who seem to have regarded her as a -self-willed, troublesome piece of goods, and would have preferred to have -her at a distance, as an intercessor in heaven, than on earth an object of -much solicitude and annoyance. - -She speedily gave them cause enough to regret the choice she had made, for -she took it into her head to race about the country, leaping hedges, -climbing walls, as she pretended, to get away from the scent of men, which -specially distressed her. She did not specify whether this odour was -spiritual or carnal, but left it to be inferred that moral turpitude was -the most odoriferous. She was repeatedly found on the tops of trees, or on -the summit of church towers, balancing herself beside the weathercocks, -gasping for wholesome air. - -Naturally enough her relatives held her to be deranged; and they proceeded -to have her bound, as mad folk were chained and held in bondage till -comparatively recently. But one night she broke away from her prison, tore -off her fetters, declaring that the "odour of men" was suffocating her, -and ran away into the nearest forest, where she swarmed to the tops of -the highest trees and there gasped for untainted air. There for a while -her relatives left her, she must starve or return to them. As Thomas of -Chantpré says, she lived for a while like a bird among the boughs of the -trees, and though sorely in want of food, would not return to association -with odoriferous human beings. - -Her biographer gives us an outrageous story which accounts for the way in -which she lived; but in all likelihood she fed on eggs. - -After five weeks thus spent, she was recaptured and again put in chains, -stronger than before. - -Again she broke loose, ran to Liège, where she rushed headlong into the -Church of St. Christopher, and insisted on the priest whom she found there -giving her the Holy Communion. He naturally enough demurred to do so. Her -wild appearance, with hair flying, her galled wrists, her flashing, -frantic eyes, the condition of dirt and raggedness in which she was, made -him conclude she was an escaped maniac. He made an excuse, and she was -unable to force him to act against his conscience by any representation -she made. Then, as suddenly as she appeared, so suddenly did she rush away -again into another church, where she frightened the priest into -compliance. But what was his disgust and dismay to see the communicant -jump up, leave the church in flying leaps, and run as fast as she could -tear down the steep hill that falls towards the Meuse. He hastily laid -aside his surplice and stole, and ran after her. Then he came on the -priest of St. Christopher, who was also in pursuit, and the two ran after -her to the quay, where she made a plunge, went head foremost into the -water, and swam to the farther shore. The Meuse, as any one who is -acquainted with Liège knows, is no inconsiderable stream there, and the -two priests watched, breathless and alarmed, till the girl had reached the -farther shore. Then only did they breathe freely. - -Christina's conduct became daily more outrageous. She crept into bakers' -ovens, and there howled with pain at the heat, but would not come forth, -till dragged out by the heels. Sometimes she would run into a fire and -kick the brands about with her bare feet. When she saw water hot in large -vessels for a washing, in she leaped, souse, and then shrieked with the -pain. In winter she would run into the river and remain there squealing -with cold, till the parish priest came and ordered her out. One of her -favourite pursuits was to dive under the sluice of a miller's -water-conduit, and go with the water, head over heels, over the wheel. -These exploits attracted a crowd, and excited her to renewed attempts, not -always most decorous, but greeted with roars of approval and encouragement -to re-attempt the feat. - -Another of her freaks was to frequent the places of execution, and climb -the poles with wheels at top on which robbers and murderers had been -broken, and to writhe her own legs and arms in and out of the spokes, -with more dexterity than delicacy, to amuse the vulgar rabble that -followed and applauded her proceedings. Or she would provide herself with -a rope and hang herself between two criminals on the public gallows, with -happy indifference to the savour the corpses emitted. All these -proceedings were, she affirmed, eminently grateful to the souls in -Purgatory, and afforded them consolation and relief. - -At night it was her delight to run through the streets of St. Trond, with -all the dogs of the town barking and snapping after her; she led them a -chase over the country, running like the wind, they tearing her tattered -garments, and also biting and wounding her limbs. She, however, seemed -insensible to pain, in her enjoyment of the race. Finally, when exhausted, -she went up a tree like a chased cat. - -One great source of entertainment she provided during divine service was -to coil herself up into a ball, so that neither head, hands, nor feet -appeared, and so roll about the church. Then all at once, when no one was -expecting it--snap! out flew head, feet, and hands, and she lay flat on -the floor, rigid as a log of wood, all her limbs extended and motionless. -Another of her devotional vagaries was to pirouette on one toe on the top -of a paling, whilst vociferously praying. All which not only edified the -living, but afforded vast gratification to the souls in Purgatory. - -At length her sisters could stand her vagaries no longer,--her biographer -candidly admits that Christina put them to the blush,--and they engaged a -strong man to catch her and chain her up again. He went after her, and she -ran. Unable to catch her, he flung a club at her that brought her down -and, as was thought, broke her thigh. As she could not walk, a cart was -brought to the spot, and she was placed in it and conveyed to a surgeon, -who had a bed of straw strewn for her in his cellar. He put her leg in -splints, but to ensure her remaining quiet and not tearing at the -bandages, bound her hands and fastened them to a ring in the cellar wall. -In the night she succeeded in disengaging her hands. Then she ripped off -the bandages, threw away the splints, and stood up. Her thigh was not -broken. She got a stone, and with it broke a way through the wall of the -cellar, and escaped into the open country once more. - -After this her relatives gave up all further attempts to control her. - -Finding herself unmolested, she ventured back to the haunts of men, and -begged for food or whatever she required. If refused what she wanted, she -became angry and took it. Few dared resist her importunities or violence. -When she had a sleeve of her gown torn off she went to the first woman she -encountered and asked for hers. If not at once given, she rushed at the -person, and with teeth and claws tore the sleeve off the gown, and then, -with crazy laughter, she slipped her own bare arm into it. Her dress was a -mass of tatters and incongruous patches, sewn on with willow-bark thread, -or pinned together with thorns. Her hair, dark, utterly uncombed, hung -wildly about her head, and fell over her tanned, dirty face. Her limbs -were covered with scars. One day she visited the parish church of Wellen, -near St. Trond, and finding the cover off the font, and the sacred vessel -pretty full, since the recent benediction of the sacred water, with one -jump reached the brim, and then flopped herself down in the hallowed -water. This, says her biographer solemnly, had the effect of subduing in -her the more extraordinary manifestations of ecstatic devotion; and after -this souse in the baptismal water, she professed herself less distressed -by the odour of human beings. - -She was not gracious to those who gave her food. As she ate what she had -begged, she growled, "Why am I eating this nastiness? Why am I thus -plagued?" and told them that what they gave her tasted like the insides of -newts and toads. - -Her biographer assures us that "she avoided, with the utmost solicitude, -all human honour and praise," but it would be hard to find that either was -shown or offered her whilst alive; for then she certainly was esteemed -crazy. Only after her death did it occur to people that she was a saint. - -In her old age she was often given shelter by the kind sisters of St. -Catherine at St. Trond, and she returned their hospitality by her amusing -antics. One day, as she was talking with them, she suddenly curled -herself up into a ball, and began to roll round the room, "like a boy's -ball, without any token of her limbs appearing." Then, all at once, she -expanded flat on the floor, and ventriloquised. "No voice or breath issued -from her mouth and nose, but only her breast and throat resounded with an -angelic harmony." She concluded this exhibition by singing the "Te Deum" -from the pit of her stomach, and then jumped up and ran away. - -We can understand that at a time when hysterical disorders were completely -misunderstood, such marvellous contortions and tricks were reputed to be -due to spiritual agency, either divine or diabolic. Towards the close of -her days she spent most of her time in the Convent of St. Catherine, and -she was there when attacked by her mortal sickness. - -When she was apparently insensible the Superior, Sister Beatrice, said to -her, "Christina! you have always been obedient to me; return now to life, -I have something I desire to ask of you." - -Then Christina opened her eyes and said, "Why have you disturbed me? Be -quick, I cannot tarry; tell me what you want, that I may be gone." - -Then the Superior put the question, received her reply, and the next -moment the poor clouded spirit fled. She died on 24th July 1224, at the -age of eighty-four. - -Twenty-five years after her death an old woman told the Superior, "I have -come to you with a divine revelation, to say that the body of that most -holy woman, Christina, is not receiving proper respect from you. If you -neglect to give it sufficient honour it will fare ill with you." - -On the strength of this vague message the body of the poor old creature -was dug up, and enshrined. Miracles attended the elevation of the bones, -and thenceforth St. Christina the Wonderful came to be regarded as a saint -in the Low Countries. Her body is still preserved as that of one of the -elect of God in the Church of St. Catherine at Milin, near St. Trond; and -her name has been inserted in a good number of martyrologies--amongst -others, that of France. It is not in the Roman Martyrology, where, -however, she has a better right to figure than have St. Symeon Salos and -St. Nicolas of Trani, who were loose fishes as well as fools. - - - - -THE JACKASS OF VANVRES - -A CAUSE CÉLÈBRE - - -On the 1st July 1750 Madame Ferron, washerwoman of Vanvres, entered Paris -riding on a jackass in the flower of its age. The good lady had come -a-marketing; and on reaching the house of M. Nepveux, grocer, near the -Porte S. Jacques, she descended from Neddy's back, and entered the shop, -leaving the animal attached to the railings by his halter. After having -made some purchases of soap and potash she asked the shopman to keep his -eye on her ass whilst she went a few doors off to purchase some salt. This -he neglected to do--_Hinc illæ lacrymæ_. A few moments after Madame Ferron -had disappeared there passed Madame Leclerc, wife of a florist in Paris, -mounted on a she-ass of graceful proportions and engaging appearance. - -It has been questioned by some whether love at first sight is not -altogether a fiction of poets and romancers. We are happy to be able to -record an instance of this on unimpeachable historical evidence. A mutual -passion kindled in the veins of these two asses simultaneously, during the -brief space of time occupied by Madame Leclerc in passing before the -grocer's shop. Their eyes met. - -The she-ass, unable to express the ardour of her affection by any other -means, brayed thrice in the most tender and impassioned manner. The -jackass replied with corresponding sentiment. He panted to approach her, -but was restrained by his halter. To love, however, nothing is impossible; -or, as the Latin syntax has it, "Amor omnia vincit." He tossed his head, -broke the cord, and trotted after the mistress of his affections. - -Madame Leclerc adjured Neddy. Ladies do not like their servants to -encourage followers. She shook her head at the lover and bade him return. -But passion sometimes renders its victims insensible to the dictates of -duty; Neddy still pursued. - -On arriving at her door, near the Porte du Demandeur, the florist's wife -caught up a stick, and charged from her doorstep upon the young and ardent -lover. The lady was exasperated at the silent contempt he had exhibited -for her entreaties and objurgations. She hit him on the nose, she whacked -his ribs, she beat his back, and the poor ass brayed with pain and rising -indignation. The she-ass brayed sympathetically. - -Madame Leclerc's blows fell faster and more furiously, and then the lion -under the ass's skin became apparent. Neddy reared, and falling on the -old lady, bit her in the arm. - -The brayings of the animals and the cries of the lady attracted a crowd, -and the combatants were parted. The washerwoman's ass was consigned, with -back-turned ears and palpitating sides, to confinement in a stable. Madame -Leclerc retired to her apartment exhausted from her battle, and fainted, -with feminine dexterity, into the extended arms of monsieur the florist, -her husband, and monsieur the deputy florist, his assistant. By slow -degrees the lady was brought round, by means of feathers burned under her -nose, and a drop of cordial distilled down her throat. And where was the -she-ass, the cause of all this mischief? She had been turned out into a -clover-field. Such is the way of the world. - -Next day the gardener's wife sent notice to the shop of M. Nepveux that -"If any one had lost an ass he would find it at the house of a floral -gardener, Faubourg S. Marceau, near the Gobelins." - -Jacques Ferron, husband of the lady who had gone a-marketing on Neddy, had -spent the night, as we learn from his express declaration in Court, on the -borders of insanity. Not a wink of sleep visited his eyes during the hours -of darkness, and the dawn broke upon him tossing feverishly on his pillow, -with all the bedclothes in a heap upon the floor. - -The news of his Neddy's whereabouts being discovered, restored his spirits -to equanimity. He wept for joy, and despatched his wife to claim the -truant, whilst he himself remained in his doorway, with palpitating bosom -and extended arms, ready to embrace the returning prodigal. - -But, alas! Madame Ferron, on reaching the gardener's house, learned to her -dismay that she was involved in further misfortune. Madame Leclerc -demanded damages for the bite she had received, to the amount of 1500 -livres, and the ass would not be given up till the sum demanded was paid. -Tears and entreaties were in vain; and the washerwoman returned to her -husband with drooping head and a soul ravaged by despair. - -On the following day, 4th July, a claim against Jacques Ferron for the sum -of 1500 livres damages, and 20 sous a day for the keep of the ass, was -lodged with the Commissaire Laumonier. - -On the 21st August the Court ordered Leclerc to bring forward evidence to -establish his claim, and the defendant was bidden challenge it. The case -was heard on the 29th of the same month. - -The plaintiff urged that his wife had been brutally assaulted by an -enraged jackass belonging to the defendant, had been seriously alarmed by -its ferocity, and had been severely bitten in the arm. - -The damages claimed were reduced to 1200 livres, and payment was demanded, -as before, for the keep of the delinquent. - -The defence of Ferron was to this effect:-- - -"The ass of the washerwoman was tied to a railing. It was not likely to -break away unless induced to do so by some one else. The she-ass of the -plaintiff was the cause of the jackass breaking its halter and pursuing -Madame Leclerc. Consequently the defendant was not responsible for what -ensued. - -"The distance between the Porte S. Jacques and the Gobelins is -considerable, and the streets full of traffic. Had the florist's wife -wished to get rid of the jackass, there were numerous persons present who -would have assisted her; but from her not asking assistance, it was -rendered highly probable that she had deliberately formed the design of -profiting by the circumstance, and of appropriating to herself the -pursuing ass. - -"The plaintiff pretends that 1200 livres are due to her because she was -bitten by the ass of the defendant. No medical certificate of the date is -produced, but only one a month after the transaction. No evidence is -offered that this bite was given by Ferron's ass, and the wound attested -by the medical certificate may have been given by the ass of the -plaintiff. But supposing the bite were that of Ferron's ass, was not the -poor beast driven to defend itself from the blows of the defendant? Is an -ass bound to suffer itself to be maltreated with impunity? - -"Asses are by nature gentle and pacific animals, and are not included -amongst the carnivorous and dangerous beasts. Yet the sense of -self-preservation is one of the rudimentary laws of nature, and the most -gentle and docile brutes will defend themselves when attacked. Is it to -be wondered at that the tender-spirited and love-lorn Neddy, when fallen -upon by a ferocious woman armed with a thick club, her eyes scintillating -with passion, her face flaming, her teeth gnashing, and foam issuing from -her purple lips, whilst from her labouring bosom escape oaths and curses, -at once profane and insensate--such as _sacré bleu_, and _ventre gris_, -suggesting the probability that the utterer of the said expressions was a -raving maniac; is it to be wondered at that Neddy when thus assaulted, and -by such a person, should fall back on the first law of nature and defend -himself? - -"The opinion of Donat. (_Loix Civiles_, tom. i. lib. 2, tit. 8) is -conclusive, for it enunciates the law (xi. tit. 2, lib. 9) _Si quadrupes -paup. fec._, ff. - -"'If a dog or any other animal bites, or does any other injury because it -has been struck or wilfully exasperated, he who gave occasion to the -injury shall be held responsible for it, and if he be the individual who -has suffered he must impute it to himself.' - -"Now the woman Leclerc was not content with merely exasperating the -jackass of Ferron, she almost stunned it with blows. She has therefore -little reason for bringing so unfounded a claim for damages before the -Court. _Si instigatu alterius fera damnum dederit, cessabit hæc actio_ -(Liv. i. § 6, lib. I). - -"The more one reflects," continued the counsel for the defendant, "upon -the conduct of Madame Leclerc on this occasion, the less blameless appear -her motives. If, as seems probable, she designed to gain possession of the -donkey, she richly deserved the bite which she complains of having -received. Pierre Leclerc cannot plead that his wife did not irritate the -ass, for this is proved by the very witnesses whom he summoned to sustain -his case. They stated in precise terms that 'they saw Madame Leclerc pass, -mounted on a she-ass, followed by a jackass, to which the said woman -Leclerc dealt sundry blows, with the intention of driving it off; that, on -reaching her door, and the animal approaching nearer, she beat him -violently, and that then the said jackass bit her in the arm.' - -"But further, who induced the ass to break his halter and follow the woman -Leclerc as far as the Gobelins? Madame Leclerc's ass, and none other but -she. Having thus drawn another person's animal away from its owner, and -having placed it in her own stable, she claims 20 sous a day for the keep -of an ass which Pierre Leclerc has retained on his own authority, against -the will of the legitimate owner, from 1st July to 1st September, using it -daily for going to market; thus, in all, he demands 60 livres for the keep -of the beast. Although the price is twice the value of the ass itself, -Ferron does not dispute the amount; he contents himself with observing -that the woman Leclerc having brought upon herself the wound from the bite -of the ass, which is the subject of litigation, she was not thereby -morally or legally justified in detaining the animal that bit her till -her demand for compensation was satisfied. If she fed and tended it, she -was amply repaid by the use she and her husband made of it for carrying -heavy burdens daily to market. - -"On the other hand, Ferron has suffered from the loss of his ass, through -its unjustifiable detention. He has been compelled to hire a horse during -two months to carry on his business, and this has involved him in expenses -beyond his means. For this loss Ferron will claim indemnification at the -hands of Leclerc." - -Such was the case of the defendant. Along with it were handed in the two -following certificates, the latter of which, as giving a character for -morality and respectability to a donkey, is certainly a curiosity. - - Certificate of the Sieur Nepveux, grocer, at whose shop-door the ass - was tied. - - I, the undersigned, certify that on the 2nd July 1750 the day after - the ass of the defendant Jacques Ferron, which had been attached to my - door, had followed the female ass of the person Leclerc, there came, - at seven o'clock in the morning, a woman to ask whether an ass had not - been lost here; whereupon I replied in the affirmative. She told me - that the individual who had lost it might come and fetch it, and that - it would be returned to her; and that it was at a floral gardener's in - the Faubourg St. Marcel, near the Gobelins: in testimony to the truth - of which I set-to my hand. - - (Signed) NEPVEUX, grocer. - - PORTE SAINT JACQUES, PARIS, - _20th August 1720_. - - Certificate of the Curé, and the principal inhabitants of the parish - of Vanvres to the moral character of the Jackass of Jacques Ferron. - - We, the undersigned, the Prieur-Curé, and the inhabitants of the - parish of Vanvres, having knowledge that Marie Françoise Sommier, wife - of Jacques Ferron, has possessed a jackass during the space of four - years for the carrying on of their trade, do testify, that during all - the while that they have been acquainted with the said ass, no one has - seen any evil in him, and he has never injured any one; also, that - during the six years that it belonged to another inhabitant, no - complaints were ever made touching the said ass, nor was there a - breath of a report of the said ass having ever done any wrong in the - neighbourhood; in token whereof, we, the undersigned, have given him - the present character. - - (Signed) PINTEREL, _Prieur et curé de Vanvres_. - JEROME PATIN, } - C. JANNET, } - LOUIS RETORE, } _Inhabitants of Vanvres_. - LOUIS SENLIS, } - CLAUDE CORBONNET,} - -The case was dismissed by the Commissaire. Leclerc had to surrender the -ass, and to rest content with the use that had been made of it as payment -for its keep, whilst the claim for damages on account of the bite fell to -the ground. - -But if dismissed by the Commissaire, it was only that it might be taken up -by the wits of the day and made the subject of satire and epigram. Some of -the pieces in verse originated by this singular action are republished in -the series _Variétés Historiques et Literaires_; allusions to it are not -infrequent in the writers of the day. - -About the same time an action was brought by a magistrate of position and -fortune against the curé of St. Etienne-du-Mont, a M. Coffin, for refusing -him the sacrament on account of a gross scandal he had caused. A wag -contrasted the conduct of the two priests in the following lines:-- - - De deux curés portant blanches soutanes, - Le procédé ne se ressemble en rien; - L'un met du nombre des profanes - Le magistrat le plus homme de bien; - L'autre, dans son hameau, trouve jusqu'aux ânes - Tous ses paroissiens gens de bien. - - - - -A MYSTERIOUS VALE - - -In the _Gretla_, an Icelandic Saga of the thirteenth century, is an -account of the discovery of a remarkable valley buried among glacier-laden -mountains, by the hero, a certain Grettir, son of Asmund, who lived in the -beginning of the eleventh century. Grettir was outlawed for having set -fire, accidentally, to a house in Norway, in which were at the time the -sons of an Icelandic chief, too drunk to escape from the flames. He spent -nineteen years in outlawry, hunted from place to place, with a price on -his head. The Saga relating his life is one of the most interesting and -touching of all the ancient Icelandic histories. - -In the year 1025 Grettir was in such danger that he was obliged to seek -out some unknown place in which to hide. In the words of the Saga:--About -autumn Grettir went up into Geitland, and waited there till the weather -was clear; then he ascended the Geitland glacier and struck south-east -over the ice, carrying with him a kettle and some firewood. It is supposed -that Hallmund (another outlaw) had given him directions, for Hallmund -knew much about this part of the country. Grettir walked on till he found -a dale lying among the snow-ranges, very long, and rather narrow, and shut -in by glacier mountains on all sides, so that they towered over the dale. - -He descended at a place where there were pleasant grassy slopes and -shrubs. There were warm springs there, and he supposed that the volcanic -heat prevented the valley from being closed in with glaciers. - -A little river flowed through the dale, and on both banks there was smooth -grassy meadow-land. The sunshine did not last long in the valley. It was -full of sheep without number, and they looked in better condition and -fatter than any he had seen before. Grettir now set to work, and built -himself a hut with such wood as he could procure. He ate of the sheep, and -found that one of these was better than two of such as were to be found -elsewhere. - -An ewe of mottled fleece was there with her lamb, the size of which -surprised him. He fattened the lamb and slaughtered it, and it yielded -forty pounds of meat, the best he had tasted. And when the ewe missed her -lamb, she went up every night to Grettir's hut and bleated, so that he -could get no sleep. And it distressed Grettir that he had killed her lamb, -because she troubled him so much. Every evening, towards dusk, he heard a -lure up in the dale, and at the sound all the sheep hurried away towards -the same spot. Grettir used to declare that a Blending,[19] a Thurse -named Thorir, possessed the dale, and that it was with his consent that -Grettir lived there. Grettir called the dale after him, Thorir's dale. -Thorir had two daughters, according to his report, and Grettir entertained -himself with their society: they were all glad of his company, as visitors -were scarce there. When Lent came on, Grettir determined to eat mutton-fat -and liver during the long fast. There happened nothing deserving of record -during the winter. But the place was so dull that Grettir could endure it -no longer; so he went south over the glacier range, and came north over -against the midst of Skjaldbreid. There he set up a flat stone, and -knocked a hole through it, and was wont to say, that "if any one looked -through the hole in the slab, he would be able to distinguish the place -where the gill ran out of Thorir's dale." - -It is surprising that this account should not have stirred up the interest -and curiosity of the natives to rediscover the rich valley, but we know of -only two such attempts having been made: one by Messrs. Olafsen and -Povelsen, at the close of last century, which was unsuccessful, and -another, made in 1654, by Björn and Helgi, two Icelandic clergymen, an -account of which is found among the Icelandic MSS. in the British Museum, -and which has been kindly communicated to the writer of this paper by a -native of the island, now in London. This account is of exceeding -interest; it corroborates the description in the _Gretla_ in several -points, and opens a field for exploration and adventure to members of the -Alpine Club more novel than the glacier world of Switzerland, and not less -interesting to science. - -The writer, who visited Iceland in 1862, purposed exploring this -mysterious valley from the south, but was unable to find grass for his -horses within a day's ride of the glaciers, and was obliged to relinquish -his attempt; had he then seen the account of the visit of Björn and Helgi -to the valley, he would have attempted to reach it from the north. - -In order that the position of this valley, and the course pursued by its -explorers, may be understood, it will be necessary briefly to describe the -glacier system in the midst of which it is situated. - -Lang Jökull is an immense waste of snow-covered mountain, extending about -forty-three miles from north-east to south-west, of breadth varying -between eight and twelve miles. The mass rises into points of greater -elevation along the edge than, apparently, towards the centre; and these -mountains go by the names of Ball Jökull, Geitlands Jökull, Skjaldbreid -Jökull, Blàfell Jökull, and Hrutafell. Skjaldbreid Jökull is opposite the -volcanic dome of Skjaldbreid, an extinct volcano, with its base steeped in -a sea of lava. Due east of Geitlands Jökull is another glacier-crowned -dome, called Ok, from which it is cut off by a trench of desolate ruined -rock filled with the rubbish brought down by the avalanches on either -side--a rift between black walls of trap, crowned with green precipices -of ice, which are constantly sliding over the rocky edges and falling with -a crash into the valley: this valley is called Kaldidalr, or the cold -dale--a title it well deserves. Those who traverse it from the south -encamp at a little patch of turf around some springs, at the foot of -Skjaldbreid, Brunnir by name, and thence have twelve hours' hard riding -before they see grass again on the Hvitá, north of Ok. Half-way through -this Allée Blanche is a mountain of trachyte, which has been protruded -through the trap, from which it is clearly distinguishable by its silvery -gray and ruddy streaked precipices, so different in colour from the -purple-black of the trap. - -This mountain is called Thorir's Head, and is popularly supposed to mask -the dale discovered by Grettir. - -The elaborate map of Iceland published by Gunnlaugson indicates the valley -as winding from opposite Skjaldbreid to this point, but this is -conjectural; and it will be seen by the sequel that it is inaccurate. - -North of Geitlands Jökull is an extraordinary dish-cover-shaped cake of -ice raised on precipitous sides, called Eîrek's Jökull, a magnificent, but -peculiar pile of basalt, ice, and snow. - -Before proceeding with the narrative of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen, and -of the two clergymen, we may observe that several circumstances tend to -give a colour of probability to the account in the _Gretla_. - -In the first place, the phenomenon of the edges of the great glacier -region of Lang Jökull rising above the centre, makes it possible that -towards that centre there may be a considerable depression. Next, the -stone asserted to have been set up by Grettir on Skjaldbreid still stands, -but has fallen out of the perpendicular, so that the hole in it does not -point to any opening in the glaciers; but a little to the right appears a -small ravine between piles of ice, through which runs a small river, which -shortly after enters a lake, and, after having fed two other lakes, -finally enters the Tungafljot, and flows past the geysers. And once more, -throughout Iceland, the junction of the trap and trachyte is marked by -boiling jetters; so that the mention of the hot-springs in the _Gretla_ is -quite in accordance with what the geological structure of Thorir's Head -would lead us to expect. - -The suspicious portion of the account is the mention of Thorir and his -daughters; but in all probability this Troll was nothing more than an -outlaw, like Grettir himself, and, indeed, Hallmund, who is alluded to as -having given Grettir his direction to the valley, and who was a personal -friend of Grettir's, and an outlaw, is called a Troll in the Barda Saga, -which speaks of him and the Thorir of the mysterious vale. - -It is a curious fact that, in the south-east of the island, in the Vatna -Jökull, a tract very similar in character to Lang Jökull, but on a far -larger scale, is a valley full of grass and flowers and glistening birch, -completely enclosed by glaciers, which sweep down on this little fairy -dell from all sides, leaving only one narrow rift for the escape of the -water, and as a portal to the glen. - -The expedition of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen is given in their own -words. "On the 9th of August we started from Reykholtsdal on our way to -the glacier of Geitland; our object was not so much to discover a region -and inhabitants different from those we had quitted, as to observe the -glacier with the most scrupulous accuracy, and thus to procure new -intelligence relative to the construction of this wonderful natural -edifice. The weather was fine and the sky clear, so that we had reason to -expect that we should accomplish our object according to our wish, but it -is necessary to state that in a short time the Jökulls attract the fogs -and clouds that are near. On the 10th of August in the morning the air was -calm, but the atmosphere was so loaded with mist that at times the glacier -was not visible. About eleven o'clock, however, it cleared up, and we -continued our journey from Kalmanstúnga. - -"The high mountains of Iceland rise in gradations, so that on approaching -them you discover only the nearest elevation, or that whose summit forms -the first projection. On reaching this you perceive a similar height, and -so pass over successive terraces till you reach the summit. In the -glaciers these projections generally commence in the highest parts, and -may be discovered at a distance, because they overtop the mountains that -are not themselves glacier-clad. We found that it was much farther to the -Jökull than we had imagined, and at length we reached a pile of rocks -which, without forming steps and gradation at the point where we ascended, -were of considerable height and very steep: these rocks extend to a great -distance, and appear to surround the glacier, for we perceived their -continuance as far as the eye could reach.[20] Between this pile of rocks -and the glacier there is a small plain, about a quarter of a mile in -width, the soil of which is clay without pebbles and flakes of ice, -because the waters which continually flow from the glacier carry them off. -On ascending farther, we discovered, to the right, a lake situated at one -of the angles of the glacier, the banks of which were formed of ice, and -the bed received a portion of the waters that flowed from the mountains. -The water was perfectly green, a colour it acquired by the rays of light -that broke against the ice.[21] - -"After many turnings and windings we found a path by which we could -descend with our horses into the valley. On arriving there we met with -another embarrassment, as well in crossing a rivulet discharged from the -lake, as in passing the muddy soil, in which our horses often sank up to -the chest. In some parts this soil is very dangerous to travellers, many -of whom have been engulphed and have perished in it. - -"Our object was so far attained, that we were now on Geitland, but we -found it a very disagreeable place. We observed a mountain peak rising -above the ice, and which, as well as the other peaks, had been formed by -subterranean fires. We led our horses over the masses of ice, after which -we left them, and travelled the remainder of the way on foot. We had taken -the precaution of providing ourselves with sticks armed with strong -points, and with a strong rope in case of either of the party falling into -a crevasse, or sinking in the snow. Thus prepared we began to escalade the -glacier at two o'clock in the afternoon; the air was charged with dense -fog covering all the mountain, but, hoping it would disperse, we continued -our difficult and dangerous route, though at every instant we had to pass -deep crevasses, one of which was an ell and a half in width, and the -greatest precaution was required in crossing it. - -"As we mounted higher the wind blew much stronger, and drove larger flakes -of snow before it: fortunately we had the wind in our backs, which -facilitated our ascent; but we met at the same time with so much loose -snow that our progress was but slow. Hoping, however, that the weather -would change, we agreed not to return till we had gained the summit, from -which arose a black rock. - -"At length, after two hours' longer tramp, we found that we could discover -nothing in the distance. A rampart of burnt rock of no considerable height -rose above the ice, and at this we paused to rest. The snowflakes now -obscured the air so much that we hardly knew how we should get back: we -examined the compass, but without observing any change; and we were -prevented by our guides from going towards the north-west, where the -mountain is highest and least accessible. The weather continued the same, -so that we found it impossible to resist the cold much longer, and deemed -it prudent to return. - -"Although the sky was very heavy and dark, we discovered, on our return, -the entrance to a valley; if the weather had been more favourable we -should doubtless have had the pleasure of investigating it; but we doubt -whether we should have found Thorir's dale. As we descended we found the -wind in our face, which threw the snow so much against us that we could -not discover the traces of our ascent." - -This expedition was frustrated by the inclemency of the weather. Messrs. -Olafsen and Povelsen made the mistake of starting in the morning. In -Iceland vapours form over the mountain tops directly that the evening sun -loses its power, and although there is no night, the air is sensibly -colder after 6 P.M. They had the fine part of the day for the ascent from -Kalmanstúnga to the snow, and their journey over the glacier was at a time -when they might almost have calculated on cloud and snow. - -Probably they had not seen the description of the discovery made by Björn -and Helgi in 1654. They allude to the expedition of these clergymen, but -give one of them a wrong name, and speak of their journal as vague and -confused, which it is not. - -The account of the expedition of the two clergymen, Björn and Helgi, -written in the same year that it was undertaken, is now, in Icelandic, in -the British Museum. It is full of interest, and sufficiently curious to -deserve attention. Björn and Helgi were brothers-in-law. In the summer of -1654, they met at Nes, where they had some conversation about Thorir's -dale, and Helgi told his brother-in-law that he was convinced that either -the valley itself, or some traces of it, could be seen by any one who -would ascend the highest ridge of Geitlands Jökull. In consequence of this -conversation, Björn, attended by two men, rode to Húsafell, where lived -his sister and brother-in-law, and persuaded Helgi to accompany him on the -glacier. Húsafell lies just under Ok. They started at an extremely early -hour on St. Olaf's Day (28th July), without mentioning their intention to -any one. This was on Thursday. They soon turned from the highway, -following the west side of a cleft that enters a trunk-ravine near -Húsafell,[22] and then, reaching the north side of Ok glacier, they -halted. There was a young man, Björn Jónsson by name, with the two -clergymen, a well-educated man; to him they now, for the first time, told -their purpose, and they positively declared that they were determined to -go at once across Kaldidalr, and thence ascend Geitlands Jökull, striking -due east. His curiosity was aroused, and he agreed to go with them. They -took with them, also, a little boy, intending, if they reached a precipice -commanding the valley which they could not descend themselves, to let the -boy down by a rope, that he might examine the place. They had with them a -tent, and provisions for several days. - -"They now struck due east, and kept their eyes fixed on a point where they -thought they could discern a black ridge of mountains on the north side of -the Jökull, and a hollow on the south. Till they reached the glacier, they -met with no obstacle except a stony ridge of hills, which stretches all -the way from the glaciers in the east, and crosses Kaldidalr in a northern -direction. On the north side of this ridge was a heap of snow, and a small -lake, formed by the water from the glaciers. Apparently, the horses could -not descend; but Björn pushed his horse down a narrow pass, into a small -river, flowing below the rocks. The river is very deep, but is full of -soft mud, and sluggish. From the eastern bank of it, towards the glacier, -is a sandy, muddy plain; here they saw a raven flying from the north side -of the glacier towards Ok. It did not make any noise, but seemed to be -rather startled by the sight of human beings in that solitude. After a -while they lost sight of it and saw it no more. They crossed the sandy -plain towards the glacier, and scrambled up a spur of loose shingle, till -they reached a river that burst out from beneath the ice. There the -glacier became very steep, and they did not see how to take their horses -farther, as on all sides were seracs of ice, and fissures and crevasses of -immense depth. Then Björn made a vow that he would take his horse, named -Skoli, over the glacier, and not leave the ice-mountain except on the -eastern side, provided this was not contrary to the will of God. Then -Helgi made a vow that if he met with any human beings, male or female, in -Thorir's dale, he would endeavour to Christianise them; and Björn promised -to assist him in this to the best of his power. And they agreed to baptize -immediately all the people in the valley who might be willing to embrace -Christianity. They thought it prudent to leave behind them one of their -horses, their baggage and the tent, at a rock near the river. On this rock -they piled up three cairns as evidence that they had been there; and -there, also, they left the boy in charge of the horse, with strict orders -not to stir till their return, which would be in the night or on the -following day. They took with them a bottle of corn-brandy, remarking that -the men of Aradalr would probably be quite ignorant of its properties. -They took no weapons, except small knives, and each had a spiked staff, to -assist him in climbing the ice. Both the clergymen and Björn Jónsson rode -all the way over the glacier, and on its northern side ascended a strip of -rubble as far as they could. Then they pushed the horses down on a -snowdrift, above the course of the river and the ravine through which it -flowed. This snow-bed extended over the glacier an almost interminable way -due south, or perhaps a little south-west. The crust was sufficiently hard -to bear up the horses. Where the glacier began to rise again, it was -entirely free from snow and ice, full of drifts and chasms in a direction -from north to south, and as they were bearing to the east they had to -cross every one of them. Most were filled with water which overflowed the -glacier, and disappeared in the snowdrift, and in some places they rode -through the water on the ice. None of these rifts were too broad to be -crossed in one place or another, either higher up the glacier towards the -south, or at its lower and north end. If they had met with a rift which -they could not pass, they intended to have made a snow-bridge over it, -rather than return. In this way they crossed the ice of the glacier. Next -came another bed of snow, over which they rode for some while; but it was -very heavy, as the day was exceedingly warm and mild. - -"When they were within a short distance of what seemed to them to be the -highest point of the glacier on the east, a mist set in on both sides from -the north and south, leaving a clear space towards the east, so that they -could see the bright sky exactly opposite their faces; and the reason of -this was that the mountains rose on either side, leaving a sort of -depression between them, along which they were going as they held on due -east. This was not discouraging, as it showed that the mountain peaks -caught the mist, and left the lower ground clear. At the same time, they -heard the rush of water beneath their feet without being able to see the -stream. The noise indicated a volume much larger than that which they had -seen pouring through the ravine, and they conjectured that the sub-glacial -river divided into several streams before discharging itself. - -"They now passed from the snow to a gravelly soil, devoid of grass. It was -a smooth ridge of sandstone, like the bank of a mountain torrent. The -glaciers now sloped towards the north-east, whilst some tended towards the -east; but right across the glaciers there lay a hollow trough, and in many -places along the edge black rocks shot out of the snow. On the north side -were lofty and craggy fells, connected by snowdrifts and strips of shale; -and the glacier range rose considerably on the north side. - -"The party followed the sandstone ridge till it terminated abruptly in a -precipice with ledges. Then they climbed a height, and looked about them. -On the east of the glaciers they saw distinctly a desert track, not -covered with snow, which they conjectured lay in a straight line north of -Biskupstungur sands. East of the glacier were two brown fells; that which -was most to the south was not large, and it had a castellated appearance, -whilst the other was oblong, stretching from north to south, and full of -snowdrifts. From the same height they saw a great valley, long and narrow, -running in a semicircle. At the end were heaps of shingle, precipices, and -ravines. The valley began about the middle of the glacier, and ran -north-east; then bent towards the east, and finally turned south. Towards -the east the glacier became lower, and in the same proportion as the -mountain ranges fell, did the valley become shallower; but it seemed -nowhere to dive to the very bottom of the mountains. Towards the higher -end of the valley, the glacier hemmed it in with steep sides. Where the -valley was deepest, the mountain slopes were bare and weather-beaten, -consisting of swarthy or brown terraces and hollows, having a colour like -that of the fell close to the southern extremity of Geitland.[23] - -"In some places there were dry watercourses. It was so far to the bottom -of the valley that the explorers could not discover exactly whether there -was not grass on one of the slopes; but possibly the hue was the peculiar -colour of the sandstone. Anyhow, they could not discover green pasturage. -At the bottom of the valley were sandy flats, and in some places -avalanches had fallen from the glaciers, and strewn the ground with blocks -of ice and other débris. The slopes were very uneven. No water or -waterfalls were to be seen, except two pools glittering towards the south, -where the valley became shallow, and where it spread into gravelly plains, -with the glacier sliding almost to the bottom of the vale on both sides. -At the north-east bend of the valley were two small bare hills, beneath -which the explorers thought they perceived two grassy plains on both sides -of a watercourse. Neither hot spring, wood, heather, nor grass, beside -these patches, were visible anywhere." In one point the account of these -men differs from that in the _Gretla_, for there it is stated that the -valley was narrow, and covered with grass; but possibly the ice has -encroached on the turf and destroyed it. - -"The clergymen having erected a pile of stones in memorial of their visit, -they went towards an immense rifted rock at the higher extremity of the -valley, and there discovered a cave, with an opening towards the north, -and looking down the valley. There was another opening, like a window, -into the cavern, commanding the east. The door was exactly square, and -just opposite it was a big square stone. This, as well as the cave, was of -sandstone. This was the only block of stone thereabouts. The clergymen -found that they were half the height of the cave; so that it must have -been from ten to twelve feet high. The window on the east was oblong, and -they conjectured that it had been made by the wind and rain, though it had -possibly been the work of former inhabitants of the cave. The explorers -supposed that the slab opposite the door had been thrown down from above, -and that there had originally existed no door, except the rift they first -discovered. The rift faces the west, and to enter the cave one must climb -several ledges in the rock. This cavern is sufficiently extensive to hold -a couple of hundred persons. Its floor is of sand, and it is well lighted -through the window. They did not find any antiquities; but they supposed -this to have been the cave occupied by Thorir and his daughters. - -"The men cut their initials on the rocks; Björn cut B. S. on that opposite -the door, and Helgi cut a single H. on the eastern wall of the cave, just -below the window. Björn Jónsson cut his opposite, but Helgi's was the -deepest engraved, and will stand longest. When they had finished this, -they sat down and took some refreshments, and remarked, as they drank -their brandy, that this was in all probability the first time that the -smell of brandy had been snuffed in that place. - -"It was now getting late; however, they ascended a mountain peak, on the -west side of the cave, and separate from it by a sweep of snow, and this -peak they believed to be visible from Kaldidalr; it was very steep and -difficult to climb, so they rested twice on their way. They went up on -different sides as the clink-stone rolled away beneath their feet on -those behind. Björn, the priest, was the first to attack the peak, but -Helgi reached the summit first, and found it so sharp at the top as to -afford hardly enough standing-ground for the three. They heaped a cairn on -the top and put in it a flat stone, which they placed in a vertical -position, and made fast with other stones. In it is a small rift; and they -arranged it so that, by placing the eye at this rift, it looks eastward, -through the door of the cave. - -"The party then returned the same way that they had come, and parted in -the morning in the middle of Kaldidalr, Björn going southward, and Helgi -towards the north." - -We think that the clergymen were mistaken in supposing that this -clink-stone cone is visible from Kaldidalr, for we saw no appearance of -it. From Skjaldbreid a peak is distinguishable, however, but more to the -south-west than that described by the priests. - -Apparently, three ways of entering the mysterious vale present themselves, -that which we ourselves intended being impracticable. One is to follow the -route of the bold explorers, Björn and Helgi; a second is to camp the -horses at Hlitharvellir, grassy plains between Skjaldbreid and Hlothufell, -and to follow the stream that issues from the glacier ravine into the -recesses of the Jökull. A third course, and that which we expect would -prove the easiest, though the least interesting, would be to encamp on -the grass-land round the lake Hvitarvatn, to the east of the Jökull, where -the mountains are lower, and the existence of a large sheet of water, from -which issues a considerable river--the Hvitá--points to this being a place -to which the drainage of a very considerable portion of the glacier -converges. - -It is not a little remarkable that the huge extent of Lang Jökull feeds -scarcely any other rivers. It is true that the Nordlinga fljot, another -Hvitá and Asbrandsá, have their sources under the Lang Jökull, but they -are only small streams, whereas the Hvitá bursts out of its lake a wide -and deep river; and we think that this is accounted for by the presence of -a depression towards the interior of the range which gathers the drainage -from the surrounding glaciers, and then pours the flood in a sub-glacial -torrent into the lake. The opening to this valley we suppose to be blocked -above the lake by the glaciers from Hrutafell and Blàfell's Jökull, which -meet and overlap. - - - - -KING ROBERT OF SICILY - - -Next to the Saga of King Olaf, without doubt the most beautiful and -successful of the _Tales of a Wayside Inn_, is that of King Robert of -Sicily. The legend is of a remote antiquity, has passed through various -modifications and recastings, and, after having lain by in forgotten -tomes, has been vivified once more by the poetic breath of Longfellow, and -popularised again. It is singular to trace the history of certain -favourite tales; they seem to be endowed with an inherent vitality, which -cannot be stamped out. Born far back in the early history of man, they -have asserted at once a sway over the imagination and feelings; have been -translated from their original birth-soil to foreign climes, and have -undergone changes and adaptations to suit the habits and requirements of -the new people amongst whom they have taken root. Political disturbances -cannot obliterate them; war sweeps over the land they have adopted, famine -devastates it, pestilence decimates its inhabitants, and for a while the -ancient tales hide their heads, only to crop up again green and fresh -when the springtide of prosperity returns. - -Sometimes a venerable myth disappears for an exceptionally long period, -and its vitality is, we suppose, extinguished. But though ages roll by, if -it have in it the real essential power of development and assimilation, it -is only waiting for its time to start a fresh career, full of concentrated -vigour. Like the ear of wheat in the hand of the mummy, it has lain by, -wrapped in cere-cloths, without giving token of germ, till the moment of -its liberation has arrived, when, falling on good ground, it brings forth -a hundredfold. - -Such was the history of Fouque's exquisite romance, _Undine_. It was a -very ancient tale, but it had been forgotten. The German poet found it in -the dead hand of the whimsical pedant, Theophrastus Paracelsus, swathed in -barbarous Latin. He writes:--"I ceased not to study an old edition of my -speechmonger, which fell to me at an auction, and that carefully. Even his -receipts I read through in order, just as they had been showered into the -text, still continuing in the firm expectation that from every line -something wonderfully magical might float up to me, and strike the -understanding. Single sparks, here and there darting up, confirmed my -hopes, and drew me deeper into the mines beneath ... then, at last, as a -pearl of soft radiance, there sparkled towards me, from out its -rough-edged shell--_Undine_." And he tells us how that his story has been -translated into French, Italian, English, Russian, and Polish. The mummy -wheat was soon multiplied. - -The legend of King Robert of Sicily, which the American poet has rescued -from oblivion, is one of those few which can be traced with rare precision -through its various changes, and tracked to the country where it -originated. It is instructive to note how in one form, it did service in -the cause of one religion, and how, in another form, it pointed a striking -moral in behalf of an entirely different creed. - -Two methods of procedure lie open to us in the examination of this story, -analysis and synthesis. We might trace the legend back from the form in -which it is known to the modern public, by sure stages, to the ultimate -atoms out of which it is developed, or we might take the original germ, -and follow it in its expanding and varying forms, till it has assumed its -present shape in the pages of the _Tales of a Wayside Inn_. - -We shall adopt the latter method, as the most suitable in this peculiar -instance. - -In the _Pantschatantra_, a Sanscrit collection of popular tales, the date -of the compilation of which is uncertain, but that of the tales is -unquestionably earlier than the Christian era, is the following story: - -"In the town of Liavati, lived a king, called Mukunda. One day he saw a -hunchback performing such comical actions that he invited him to become -an inmate of his palace, and, as his court fool, to divert him in his -hours of idleness and depression. The king was so taken up with this droll -rascal, that his prime minister was seriously displeased, and he said, in -reproof, to his master-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears.' - -To which the king laughingly replied-- - - 'The man is an idiot, so have no fears.' - -"Grumbling still, the old and prudent minister said-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree, - The monarch descend to beggary.' - -"One day a Brahmin came to the palace, and offered to teach the king -various magical arts. The monarch agreed with delight, and for a small sum -of money acquired power to send his soul from his own body into any -disengaged carcass that he wished to vivify. The hunchback was in the room -when the king learned his lesson. - -"A few days after, Mukunda and his fool were riding in the forest, when -they lit on the corpse of a Brahmin who had died of thirst. Here was an -opportunity for the king to practise what he had learned. But first he -asked the hunchback if he had given attention to the instruction of the -Brahmin. The fool replied that he never bothered his head with the -pedantry of professors. The king, satisfied with the answer, pronounced -the magical words. Down fell his body, senseless, and his soul animating -the corpse, the dead Brahmin sat up and opened his eyes. Instantly the -crafty hunchback repeated the incantation, and took possession of the -carcass of his majesty, mounted the king's horse, and rode off to Liavati, -where he was received by the courtiers, the servants, the ministers, and -the queen as if he were the true Mukunda, whilst the real monarch, in the -shape of a begging Brahmin, roved the forests and the villages, cursing -his folly, half starved on the scanty charity of the faithful. - -"Suspicions that all was not right forced their way into the queen's mind, -and she mentioned her doubts to the minister. - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears,' - -said he, addressing the false king, who shrugged his shoulders, and -laughed. Again the minister tried him with-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree,' - -and received a peremptory order to be silent as he valued his head. - -"'He is not the king,' said the minister to the queen. 'We must find the -true Mukunda, wherever he may be.' - -"In order to effect this, to every one whom the vizier addressed he -uttered the two half-verses-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears,' - -and - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree,' - -but with no results. One evening, however, as he was walking home, deep in -thought, a poor Brahmin clamoured for alms. The minister made no answer; -but when the pauper continued his importunities, he said, sharply,-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears'; - -to which the Brahmin promptly answered-- - - 'The man is an idiot, so have no fears.' - -"Hearing this, the old man was arrested by his interest. He hastily -continued-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree'; - -and the Brahmin responded without hesitation-- - - 'The monarch descend to beggary.' - -"The minister caught him at once by the hand, and insisted on hearing his -story. No sooner was he made aware of what had been done by the hunchback, -than he hastened to the palace, where he found the queen bathed in tears -over a favourite parrot, which lay dead on her lap. The old man concerted -with her a plan for the destruction of the hunchback and the restoration -of the true king; then he secretly introduced the transformed Mukunda into -the chamber, and summoned the false king. - -"'O sire,' said the queen, 'if you love me restore my pretty parrot to -life.' - -"'That is easily effected,' answered the fool. - -"In an instant his body fell rigid, and his soul entered the bird, which -sat up, plumed its feathers, and began to chatter. At the same moment the -true Mukunda pronounced the magic words, dropped his adopted body, and -darted into that which had originally been his. At the sight of the -reviving monarch, the queen wrung the parrot's neck, and thus destroyed -the impostor." - -This story is based on the great Buddhist doctrine of the transmigration -of souls, and was evidently a very popular illustration of that -fundamental dogma, for variations of it are common in most ancient -Sanscrit collections. Thus in the _Katha Sarit Sagara_, a work of Soma -Deva, written between A.D. 1113-1125, the story reappears considerably -altered, but still told with the design of insisting on the doctrine of -transmigration of souls. Soma Deva's tale is this in brief:-- - -Vararutschi, Vyâdi, and Indradatta desired to learn the new lessons of -Varscha, but could not pay the stipulated fee--a million pieces of gold. -They determined to ask King Nanda--a contemporary of Alexander the Great, -by the way--to pay it for them, and they visited his capital. They are too -late: Nanda is just dead. However, determined to obtain the requisite sum, -Indradatta leaves his body in a wood, guarded by his companions, and sends -his soul into the dead king. Then Vararutschi goes to him, asks, and -receives the gold, whilst Vyâdi sits beside the deserted body. - -But the prime minister suspected that the revived master was not quite -identical with the deceased master. Indeed, King Nanda now exhibited an -intelligence and vigour which had been sadly deficient before. The -minister knew that the heir to the throne was but a child, and that he had -powerful enemies. He therefore formed the resolution of keeping the false -king on the throne till the heir was of age to govern. To effect his -purpose, he issued orders that every corpse in the kingdom should be -burnt. Amongst the rest was consumed that of Indradatta, and the Brahmin -found himself, with horror, obliged to remain in the body of a Sudra, -though that Sudra was a king. - -There is another story, similar to that in the _Pantschatantra_, told of -Tschandragupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, and one of the most -renowned of the ancient Indian kings. But, indeed, the variations -occurring in the ancient Sanscrit Buddhist tales are very numerous. - -From India the story travelled into Persia--when, is not known; but it was -probably there long before A.D. 540 when the Persian translation of the -_Pantschatantra_ was made. In Persian it occurs in the _Bahar Danush_, and -in the version of the _Çukasaptati_. It is in the Turkish _Tûtînâmeh_. It -is in the famous _Arabian Nights_, as the story of the Prince Fadl-Allah. -It is also in the Mongolian _Vikramacarita_. But, though it was translated -with small variations from the Sanscrit in these works, popularly the -story had gone through great adaptations and alterations to suit creeds -which did not believe in the transmigration of souls. - -When it was made known to the Jews is not certain; probably at the -captivity. Yet there are passages in the Psalms, and especially in the -song of Hannah, which bear a striking resemblance to the verses of the -prime minister, and seem almost like an allusion to the fable. Thus, "The -Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He -raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the -dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne -of glory." This may be a reference or it may not. The sentiment is not -unlikely to have been uttered without knowledge of the Indian fable; but -if Hannah had been acquainted with it, no doubt to it allusion was made. - -It is certain, however, that the story did popularise itself among the -Jews, and when it did so, it was in a form adapted to their belief, which -had nothing in common with metempsychosis. And it is exceedingly probable -that they derived it from Persia, for one of the actors in the tale, -Asmodeus, is the Zoroastrian Aêshma. The story is found in the _Talmud_ -and is as follows:-- - -"King Solomon, having completed the temple and his house, was lifted up -with pride of heart, and regarded himself as the greatest of kings. Every -day he was wont to bathe, and before entering the water, he entrusted his -ring, wherein lay his power, to one of his wives. One day the evil -spirit, Asmodeus, stole the ring, and, assuming Solomon's form, drove the -naked king from the bath into the streets of Jerusalem. The wretched man -wandered about his city scorned by all; then he fled into distant lands, -none recognising in him the great and wise monarch. In the meanwhile the -evil spirit reigned in his stead, but unable to bear on his finger the -ring graven with the Incommunicable Name, he cast it into the sea. -Solomon, returning from his wanderings, became scullion in the palace. One -day a fisher brought him a fish for the king. On opening it, he found in -its belly the ring he had lost. At once regaining his power, he drove -Asmodeus into banishment, and, a humbled and better man, reigned -gloriously on the throne of his father David" (_Talmud_, Gittim, fol. 68). - -The Arabs have a similar legend, taken from the Jews:-- - -"One day Solomon asked an indiscreet question of an evil Jinn subject to -him. The spirit replied that he could not obtain the information required -without the aid of Solomon's seal. The king thoughtlessly lent it, and -immediately found himself supplanted by the Jinn. Reduced to beggary, he -wandered through the world repeating, 'I, the preacher, was king over -Israel in Jerusalem.' The constant repetition of this sentence attracted -attention; the disguised demon took alarm and fled, and Solomon regained -his throne." - -Finally the Jews or Arabs introduced the story to Western Europe, where it -soon became popular. In the _Gesta Romanorum_, a collection of moral tales -made by the monks in the fourteenth century, the Emperor Jovinian takes -the place of Solomon, and the story is thus told:-- - -"When Jovinian was emperor, he possessed very great powers; and as he lay -in bed reflecting upon the extent of his dominions, his heart was elated -to an extraordinary degree. 'Is there,' he impiously asked, 'any other god -than me?' Amid such thoughts he fell asleep. - -"In the morning he reviewed his troops, and said, 'My friends, after -breakfast we will hunt.' Preparations being made accordingly, he set out -with a large retinue. During the chase the emperor felt such extreme -oppression from the heat, that he believed his very existence depended -upon a cold bath. As he anxiously looked round, he discovered a sheet of -water at no great distance. 'Remain here,' said he to his guard, 'until I -have refreshed myself in yonder stream.' Then, spurring his steed, he rode -hastily to the edge of the water. Alighting, he divested himself of his -apparel, and experienced the greatest pleasure from its invigorating -freshness and coolness. But whilst he was thus employed a person similar -to him in every respect arrayed himself unperceived in the emperor's -dress, and then mounting his horse, rode to the attendants. The -resemblance to the sovereign was such, that no doubt was entertained of -the reality; and straightway command was issued for their return to the -palace. - -"Jovinian, however, having quitted the water sought in every possible -direction for his clothes, but could find neither them nor the horse. -Vexed beyond measure at the circumstance, for he was completely naked, he -began to reflect upon what course he should pursue. 'There is, I remember, -a knight residing close by; I will go to him and command his attendance -and service. I will then ride to the palace, and strictly investigate the -cause of this extraordinary conduct. Some shall smart for it.' - -"Jovinian proceeded naked and ashamed to the castle of the aforesaid -knight, and beat loudly at the gate. 'Open the gate,' shouted the enraged -emperor, as the porter inquired leisurely the cause of the knocking, 'you -will soon see who I am.' The gate was opened, and the porter, struck with -the strange appearance of the man before him, exclaimed, 'In the name of -all that is marvellous, what are you?' 'I am,' replied he, 'Jovinian, your -emperor. Go to your lord and command him to supply the wants of his -sovereign. I have lost both horse and clothes.' - -"'Infamous ribald!' shouted the porter, 'just before thy approach, the -emperor, accompanied by his suite, entered the palace. My lord both went -and returned with him. But he shall hear of thy presumption.' And he -hurried off to communicate with his master. The knight came and inspected -the naked man. 'What is your name?' he asked roughly. - -"'I am Jovinian, who promoted thee to a military command.' - -"'Audacious scoundrel!' said the knight, 'dost thou dare to call thyself -the emperor? I have but just returned from the palace, whither I have -accompanied him. Flog the rascal,' he ordered, turning to his servants: -'flog him soundly, and drive him away.' - -"The sentence was immediately executed, and Jovinian, bruised and furious, -rushed away to the castle of a duke whom he had loaded with favours. 'He -will remember me,' was his hope. Arrived at the castle, he made the same -assertion. - -"'Poor mad wretch!' said the duke, 'a short time since, I returned from -the palace, where I left the very emperor thou assumest to be. But, -ignorant whether thou art more fool or knave, we will administer such a -remedy as will suit both. Carry him to prison, and feed him with bread and -water.' The command was no sooner delivered than obeyed; and the following -day Jovinian's naked body was submitted to the lash, and again cast into -the dungeon. In the agony of his heart, the poor king said, 'What shall I -do? I am exposed to the coarsest contumely, and the mockery of the people. -I will hasten to the palace and discover myself to my wife,--she will -surely know me.' - -"Escaping therefore from his confinement, he approached the imperial -residence. 'Who art thou?' asked the porter. - -"'It is strange,' replied the aggrieved emperor, 'that thou shouldest -forget one thou hast served so long.' - -"'Served _thee_!' returned the porter indignantly; 'I have served none but -the emperor.' - -"'Why!' said the other, 'though thou recognisest me not, yet I am he. Go -to the empress; communicate what I shall tell thee, and by these signs, -bid her send the imperial robes, of which some rogue has deprived me.' -After some demur, the porter obeyed; and orders were issued for the -admission of the mad fellow without. - -"The false emperor and the empress were seated in the midst of their -nobles. As the true Jovinian entered, a large dog, which crouched on the -hearth, and had been much cherished by him, flew at his throat, and but -for timely intervention would have killed him. A falcon also, seated on -her perch, no sooner saw him than she broke her jesses, and flew out of -the hall. Then the pretended emperor, addressing those who stood about -him, said: 'My friends, hear what I will ask of yon ribald. Who are you? -And what do you want?' - -"'These questions,' said the suffering man, 'are very strange. You know I -am the emperor, and master of this place.' - -"The other, turning to the nobles who stood by, continued, 'Tell me, on -your allegiance, which of us two is your lord?' - -"They drew their swords in reply, and asked leave to punish the impostor -with death. - -"Then, turning to the empress, he asked, 'Tell me, my lady, on the faith -you have sworn, do you know this man who calls himself thy lord and -emperor?' - -"She answered, 'How can you ask such a question? Have I not known thee -more than thirty years, and borne thee many children?' - -"Hearing this the unfortunate monarch rushed, full of despair, from the -court. 'Why was I born?' he exclaimed. 'My friends shun me; my wife and -children will not acknowledge me. I will seek my confessor. He may -remember me.' To him he went accordingly, and knocked at the window of his -cell. - -"'Who is there?' asked the priest. - -"'The Emperor Jovinian,' was the reply; 'open the window that I may speak -with thee.' The window was opened; but no sooner had the confessor looked -out than he closed it again in great haste. - -"'Depart,' said he, 'accursed creature! Thou art not the emperor, but the -devil incarnate.' - -"This completed the miseries of the persecuted man. 'Woe is me,' he cried, -'for what strange doom am I reserved?' - -"At this crisis, the impious words which in the arrogance of his heart he -had uttered, crossed his recollection. Immediately he beat again at the -window of the confessor. - -"'Who is there?' asked the priest. - -"'A penitent,' answered the emperor. - -"The window was opened. 'What is your majesty pleased to require?' asked -the confessor, recognising him at once. Then he made his confession, and -received of the old father a few clothes to cover his nakedness, and by -the priest's advice returned to the palace. The soldiers presented arms to -him, the porter opened immediately, the dog fawned on him, the falcon flew -to him, and his wife rushed to embrace him. Then the feigned emperor -spoke:--'My friends, hearken! That man is your king. He exalted himself, -to the disparagement of his Maker, and God has punished him. But -repentance has removed the rod.' So saying, he disappeared. The emperor -gave thanks to God, and lived happily, and finished his days in peace." - -The same story, with some alterations, is told of Robert of Sicily. An old -poem or metrical romance on the subject is given by Warton; and on it -Longfellow has founded his poem. - - Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane - And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, - Apparelled in magnificent attire, - With retinue of many a knight and squire, - On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat - And heard the priests chant the Magnificat. - And, as he listened, o'er and o'er again - Repeated, like a burden or refrain, - He caught the words: 'Deposuit potentes - De sede, et exaltavit humiles.' - -He inquired of a clerk the meaning of these words; and, having heard the -explanation, was mightily offended:-- - - ''Tis well that such seditious words are sung - Only by priests, and in the Latin tongue; - For, unto priests and people be it known, - There is no power can push me from my throne.' - And, leaning back, he yawned, and fell asleep, - Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep. - -When he awoke he was alone in the church. An angel had assumed his -likeness, and had swept out of the minster with the court. The story then -runs in the same line as that of Jovinian. Robert is unrecognised, and is -at last received into the palace as court fool. At the end of three years -there arrived an embassy from Valmond, the emperor, requesting Robert to -join him on Maundy Thursday, at Rome, whither he proposed to go on a visit -to his brother Urban. The angel welcomed the ambassadors, and departed in -their company to the Holy City. We place side by side the Old English -metrical description of Robert's appearance, as he accompanied the false -emperor, with the modern poet's rendering: - - OLD ENGLISH - - The fool Robert also went, - Clothed in loathly garnement, - With fox-tails riven all about: - Men might him knowen in the rout. - An ape rode of his clothing; - So foul rode never king. - - - LONGFELLOW - - And lo! among the menials, in mock state, - Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait; - His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind, - The solemn ape demurely perched behind, - King Robert rode, making huge merriment - In all the country towns through which they went. - -Robert witnessed in sullen silence the demonstrations of affectionate -regard with which the pope and emperor welcomed their supposed brother; -but, at length, rushing forward, he bitterly reproached them for thus -joining in an unnatural conspiracy with an usurper. This violent sally, -however, was received by his brothers, and by the whole papal court, as an -undoubted proof of his madness; and he now learnt for the first time the -real extent of his misfortune. His stubbornness and pride gave way, and -were succeeded by remorse and penitence. - -After five weeks in Rome, the emperor, and the supposed king of Sicily, -returned to their respective dominions, Robert being still accoutred in -his fox-tails, and accompanied by his ape, whom he now ceased to consider -as his inferior. When the angel was again at the capital of Sicily, he -felt that his mission was accomplished. - - And when once more within Palermo's wall, - And, seated on the throne in his great hall, - He heard the Angelus from the convent towers, - As if a better world conversed with ours, - He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher, - And, with a gesture, bade the rest retire; - And when they were alone, the Angel said, - 'Art thou the king?' Then, bowing down his head, - King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast, - And meekly answered him: 'Thou knowest best! - My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, - And in some cloister's school of penitence, - Across those stones that pave the way to heaven - Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven!' - The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face - A holy light illumined all the place, - And through the open window, loud and clear, - They heard the monks chant in the chapel near, - Above the stir and tumult of the street: - 'He has put down the mighty from their seat, - And has exalted them of low degree!' - And through the chant a second melody - Rose like the throbbing of a single string, - 'I am an angel, and thou art the king!' - King Robert, who was standing near the throne, - Lifted his eyes, and lo! he was alone! - But all apparelled as in days of old, - With ermined mantle, and with cloth of gold; - And when his courtiers came they found him there, - Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer. - -We think it would be scarcely possible to find a more pointed illustration -of the purifying, humanising, and refining nature of Christianity, than to -observe the course pursued by this story. Among Buddhists the false king -is vivified by a crafty rogue's infused soul; among Jews he is a -transformed devil; but among Christians he is an angel of light. - - - - -SORTES SACRÆ - - -It is not an uncommon case, nowadays, for pious persons at times of great -perplexity to seek a solution to their difficulties in their Bibles, -opening the book at random and taking the first passage which occurs as a -direct message to them from the Almighty. - -The manner in which this questioning of the sacred oracles is performed is -serious. A considerable time is previously devoted to prayer, after which -the inquirer rises from his knees and consults the family Bible in the way -described. Whether such a manner of dealing with the Word of God be under -any circumstances justifiable, I do not pretend to judge. St. Augustine in -his 119th letter to Januarius seems not to disapprove of this custom, so -long as it be not applied to things of this world. - -Gregory of Tours tells us what was his practice. He spent several days in -fasting and prayer, and in strict retirement, after which he resorted to -the tomb of St. Martin, and taking any book of Scripture which he chose, -he opened it, and took as answer from God the first passage that met his -eye. Should this passage prove inappropriate, he opened another book of -Scripture. - -The eleventh chapter of Proverbs, which contains thirty-one verses, is -often taken to give omen of the character of a life. The manner of -consulting it is simple; it is but to look for the verse answering to the -day of the month on which the questioner was born. The answer will be -found in most cases to be exceedingly ambiguous. - -The practice of consulting certain books for purposes of augury is of high -antiquity. Herodotus speaks of the custom, and of the fraud of -Oxomacritus, a celebrated diviner, who made use of Musoeus for reference, -and who was driven out of Athens by Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, -because he had been detected inserting in the verses of Musoeus an oracle -predicting the disappearance in the waves of the islands near Lemnos. -Homer, and afterwards Virgil, were the poets most frequently consulted, -but Euripides was also regarded as divinely inspired to foretell the -future. - -Two hundred years after the death of Virgil, his poems were laid up in the -temple at Proeneste, for consultations. Alexander Severus sought the -oracle in the reign of Heliogabalus, who feared and hated him; and the -line of Virgil he read told him that "if he could surmount opposing fates, -he would be Marcellus." The Emperor Heraclius, when deliberating where to -fix his winter quarters, was determined by an oracle of this sort. He -purified his army during three days, and then opened the Gospels. The -passage he found was understood by him to indicate that he should winter -in Albania. - -Nicephorus Gregoras relates how Andronicus the Elder was reconciled to his -nephew Andronicus in consequence of lighting on the verse of the Psalm -(lxviii. 14), "When the Almighty scattered kings for their sake, then were -they as white as snow in Salmon." Whereby he concluded that all the -troubles that had been undergone by him had been decreed by God for his -purification. - -With the same intent during the consecration of a bishop, at the moment -when the book of the Gospels was placed on his head, it was customary to -open the volume and gather from the verse at the head of the page an -augury of the prelate's reign. This is illustrated in a curious ancient -painting of the consecration of St. Thomas à Becket by Van Eyck, shown in -the Leeds Fine Art Exhibition of 1868. - -Chroniclers and biographers have not failed to mention several -prognostications given in this manner which were verified in the event. - -At the consecration of Athanasius, nominated to the patriarchate of -Constantinople by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a patriarchate which he -stained with his crimes, "Caracalla, bishop of Nicomedia, having brought -the Gospel," says the historian Pachymerus, "the congregation prepared to -take note of the oracle which would be manifest on the opening of the -book, though this oracle is not infallibly true. The bishop of Nicæa, -noticing that he had lighted on the words, 'Prepared for the devil and his -angels,' groaned in the depth of his heart, and putting up his hand to -hide the words, turned over the leaves of the book, and disclosed the -other words, 'The birds of the air come, and lodge in the branches': words -which seemed far removed from the ceremony which was being celebrated. All -that could be done to hide these oracles was done, but it was found -impossible to conceal the truth. It was said that they did not forbid the -consecration, but that, nevertheless, they were not the effect of chance, -for there is no such a thing as chance in the celebration of the Sacred -Mysteries." - -"Landri, elected bishop of Laon," says Guibert de Nogent, "received -episcopal unction in the Church of St. Ruffinus; but it was of sad portent -to him, that the text of the Gospel for the day was, 'A sword shall pierce -through thine own soul also.'" After many crimes he was assassinated. He -was succeeded by the Dean of Orleans, whose name is not known. "The new -prelate having presented himself for consecration, people looked to see -what the Gospel would prognosticate; but it was opened at a blank page, as -though God had said, 'I have nothing to foretell of this man, because he -will be, and will do, nothing.' And in fact he died at the end of a very -few months." - -Guibert tells a story of himself, which shows that the same practice was -in vogue at the installation of an abbot. "On the day of my entry into the -monastery," he writes, "a monk who had studied the sacred books desired, I -presume, to read my future; at the moment when he was preparing to leave -with the procession to meet me, he placed designedly on the altar the book -of the Gospels, intending to draw an omen from the direction taken by my -eyes towards this or that chapter. Now the book was written, not in pages, -but in columns. The monk's eyes rested on the middle of the second column, -where he read the following passage, 'The light of the body is the eye.' -Then he bade the deacon, who was to present the Gospel to me, to take -care, after I had kissed the cross on the cover, to hold his hand on the -passage he indicated to him, and then attentively to observe, as soon as -he had opened the book before me, on what part of the pages my eyes -rested. The deacon accordingly opened the book, after I had, as custom -required, pressed my lips upon the cover. Whilst he observed, with curious -eyes, the direction taken by my glance, my eye and spirit together turned -neither above nor below, but precisely towards the verse which had been -indicated before. The monk who had sought to form conjectures by this, -seeing that my action had accorded, without premeditation, with his -intentions, came to me a few days after, and told me what he had done, and -how wondrously my first movement had coincided with his own." - -Thomas Cantipratensis relates how that Cardinal Conrad, Archbishop of -Paris, was in doubt as to what reception he should give to the Order of -Preachers, some members of which had lately entered the city. He hesitated -as to their having been legitimately constituted, and questioned their -value. Whereupon he betook himself to prayer; and then going to the altar -opened the Missal at the words, "Laudare, benedicere, et predicare," -whereupon his scruples vanished, and he extended to them the right hand of -fellowship. - -"I know a religious man who had designed to serve God in the secular -life," writes Paciuchelli (_In Jonam_, vol. i. p. 9); "he once poured -forth his prayers to God, and asked that he might be permitted, if it were -His will, to fulfil some desire or other that he had. Having asked the -opinion of certain persons of authority, he was recommended, after the -most sacred service, to open the Missal and to take note of what should -first arrest his attention. He followed this advice, and lo! the first -words which presented themselves to him were those of our Lord to the sons -of Zebedee, in St. Matt. xx. 23, 'Ye know not what ye ask'; from which he -gathered clearly that were his wishes to be gratified, his eternal welfare -would be imperilled." - -I have heard of a young man in doubt as to his vocation for holy orders, -when he found his desire strongly opposed by his parents, inquiring of his -Bible in a similar spirit and manner, and reading, "He that loveth father -or mother more than me is not worthy of me." I have been told of another -man in somewhat parallel circumstances, having lately awakened to -religious convictions after a life of great laxity, who sought guidance in -the same manner, and read, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how -great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on -thee." - -A story of the baleful effects of this practice among Scotch Presbyterians -appeared in a collection of _Legends of Edinburgh_ by a recent writer. The -story related how a designing mother persuaded her reluctant daughter into -a marriage with a wealthy but dissipated youth, the son of their employer, -towards whom the girl felt great repugnance, by manipulating the Sortes -Sacræ so as to make the girl read, "Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take -her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath -spoken." As the name of the young woman was Rebekah, the sentence seemed -to her to be a message from heaven. - -Gregory of Tours mentions a couple of instances of omens taken from -Scripture. The one was that of Chramm, who had revolted against his father -Clothaire, and who marched to Dijon, where he consulted the Sacred -Oracles, by placing on the altar three books, the Prophets, the Acts, and -the Evangelists. In like manner, according to Gregory, Merovius, flying -from the wrath of his father Chilperic, and Fredigunda, placed on the tomb -of St. Martin three books, to wit, the Psalter, the Kings, and the -Gospels, and kept vigil through the night, praying the blessed confessor -to discover to him what was to happen to him. He fasted three days and -continued incessantly in prayer; then he opened the books, one after -another, and was so dismayed at the replies which he found, that he wept -bitterly beside the tomb, and then sadly left the basilica. - -In 1115, differences having arisen touching the elevation of Hugh de -Montaigu to the Bishopric of Auxerre, the case was brought before Pope -Pascal II., who decided in favour of his consecration, and ordained him -himself. It was urged by his friends in his favour, that on the opening of -the book above his head, during the ceremony, these words stood out at the -head of the page, "_Ave Maria! graciâ plena!_" and this was regarded as a -token of his chastity, humility, and exemplary piety, and of the favour in -which he was held by the Blessed Virgin. - -According to the use of the ancient church of Terouanne, on the reception -of a new canon, it was customary to open at random the Psalter, after that -the volume had been sprinkled by the dean with holy water, and the -paragraph at the head of the page was transcribed in the letters patent of -the new canon. The same custom was in force, as late as last century, in -the cathedral of Boulogne, and the bishop, De Langle, tried in vain in -1722 to abolish it. - -The Bollandists relate that St. Petrock of Cornwall, when in doubt -whether to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or not, was decided by -opening his Bible at the passage in Isaiah, "_Et erit sepulchrum ejus -gloriosum_." A similar story is told of St. Poppo, a Belgian saint of the -eleventh century. - -The anecdote is well known of King Charles and Lord Falkland consulting -the Sortes Virgilianæ in the library at Oxford. The lines they met with -and which were so singularly verified afterwards, are marked with their -initials in the book, which is still preserved. - -Rabelais refers to the Sortes Virgilianæ when he makes Panurge consult -them on the subject of his marriage. - -Gregory of Tours, sad at heart because of the desolation produced by the -ravages of Count Leudaste in and around the city, entered his oratory; -"and," as he tells us himself, "full of trouble, I took up the Psalms of -David, in hopes of finding, when I opened the book, some verse which might -bring me consolation. And I found this: 'He brought them out safely, that -they should not fear; and overwhelmed their enemies with the sea.'" - -Gregory relates another story akin to the subject. Clovis, at the moment -when he was marching against Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sent his -deputies to the Church of St. Martin, at Tours, saying to them, "Go, and -maybe, in the holy temple you will find some presage of victory." After -having given them presents for the sacred place, he added: "O Lord God! -if Thou art on my side, if Thou art determined to deliver into my hands -this unbelieving nation, hostile to Thy name, grant that I may see Thy -favour, or the entry of my servants into the basilica of St. Martin, that -I may know if Thou deignest to be favourable to Thy suppliant." - -The envoys having hastened to Tours, entered the cathedral at the moment -when the Precentor gave out the Antiphon: "Thou hast girded me with -strength unto the battle: thou shalt throw down mine enemies under me. -Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn their backs upon me: and I shall -destroy them that hate me" (Ps. xviii. 37, 40). - -Hearing this, they gave thanks to God, presented their offerings, and -returned with joy to announce the omen to their king. - -Divination by Scripture has been forbidden by several national councils, -probably on account of the superstitious use made of it. The sixteenth -canon of the Council of Vannes, held in 465, forbids clerks under pain of -excommunication, consulting the Sortes Sacræ. This prohibition was -extended to the laity by the forty-second canon of the Council of Agde, in -506. "Aliquanti clerici sive laici student auguriis, et sub nomine fictoe -religionis, per eas, quas sanctorum sortes vocant, diviniationis scientiam -profitentur, aut quarumcunque scripturorum inspectione futura promittunt." -It was also forbidden by the Council of Orleans in 511; again by that of -Auxerre in 595; by that of Selingstadt in 1022; by that of Enham, in -1009; and by a capitulary of Charlemagne, in 789. - -Related to Sortes Sacræ are those messages which are supposed to be -conveyed by the chance hearing or reading of a passage of Scripture. These -are not, however, to be regarded in the light of superstition, and it is -quite possible, and indeed probable, that certain texts accidentally met -with may influence for good or bad those who are in a disposition of mind -to be so affected. - -The well-known story of St. Augustine's conversion is to the point. He -relates himself how sitting in a garden-house, in great trouble of mind, -he heard a voice say, "Tolle, lege"; whereupon he took up the sacred -Scriptures and read, "Not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and -envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for -the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Rom. xiii. 13, 14). - -St. Anthony was moved to the assumption of the religious life by -accidentally hearing--"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou -hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and -come and follow me" (St. Matt, xix. 21). - -St. Louis when trying a murderer was much inclined by his natural -tenderness of disposition to pardon the man; but his resolution to let -justice take her course was strengthened by opening his Psalter at the -words, "Feci judicium et justitiam." - -But, to conclude, the true use of Holy Scripture is best learned from our -English Collect, which asks that we may read, mark, learn, and inwardly -digest its glorious lessons, taken as a whole, and not wring disjointed -directions for conduct from stray passages. - - - - -CHIAPA CHOCOLATE - - -Gage, the Dominican, a great admirer of chocolate, a man who combated with -all his energy the objections which medical men of the seventeenth century -made to its use, derived its name from _atte_, the Mexican word for water, -and the sound it makes when poured out,--choco, choco, choco, choco! - -O Professor Max Müller! what do you say to this? Whatever the derivation -of the name may be, the composition of the beverage is well known. Cacao, -sugar, long-pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, almonds, mace, aniseed, are -the main constituents, and the cake-chocolate used in Britain is believed -to be made of about one-half genuine cacao, the remainder of flour or -Castile soap. - -We are not going any further into the mysteries of its composition, which -may be ascertained from any encyclopædia, for our business is with a -circumstance in connection with its history probably known to few. - -And first for our authority--the afore-mentioned Dominican. Thomas Gage -was born of a good family in England; his elder brother was Governor of -Oxford in 1645, when King Charles retreated thither during the Great -Rebellion. Whilst still young, Thomas had been sent to Spain for -education, and had entered the Dominican order, and having been, like so -many Spanish ecclesiastics, fired with missionary zeal, he embarked at -Cadiz for Vera Cruz, whence he betook himself to Mexico, near which town -he made a retreat, previous to devoting himself to a life of toil in the -Philippines. - -However, the accounts he received of these islands were so discouraging, -and the monastic life in Mexico was so inviting, that he postponed his -expedition indefinitely. But Gage had no intention of spending his life in -ease: he hurried over the different districts of Mexico and Guatemala, -making himself acquainted with the languages spoken wherever he went, and -he laboured indefatigably as priest to several parishes of great extent. - -Gage's account of the cultivation of the cacao and the manufacture -of chocolate is interesting, his treatise on its medical -properties--conceived in the taste and spirit of his day--curious, and his -personal narrative lively and amusing. - -One little statement must not be passed over. Chocolate, it seems, is -useful as a cosmetic; Creole ladies eat it to deepen their skin tint, just -on the same principle, observes Gage, as English ladies devour whitewash -from the walls to clarify their complexion. - -Chiapa was a central point for Gage's labours during a considerable -period. At that time it was a small cathedral town, containing 400 Spanish -families, and 100 Mexican houses in a faubourg by itself. - -The cathedral served as parish church to the inhabitants: one Dominican -and one Franciscan monastery, besides a poverty-stricken nunnery, supplied -the religious requirements of the diocesan city. No Jesuits there! quoth -Gage, with a little rancour. Those good men seldom leave rich and opulent -towns; and when you learn the fact that there are no Jesuits at Chiapa, -you may draw the immediate inference that the town is poor, and the -inhabitants not liberally disposed. - -Liberally disposed! The high and stately Creole Dons, who claimed descent -from half the noble families of Spain; the grand representatives of the De -Solis, Cortez, De Velasco, De Toledo, De Zerna, De Mendoza, who lived by -cattle-jobbing and by pasturing droves of mules on their farms, and who -gave themselves the airs of dukes, and were as ignorant and not so well -behaved as the donkeys they reared; who ate a dinner of salt and -kidney-beans in five minutes, and spent an hour at their doors picking -their teeth, wiping their moustaches, and boasting of the fricasees and -fricandoes they had been tasting--these men liberally disposed! - -They contributed nothing to the treasury of the Church, but gave the -clergy considerable trouble. These Creoles particularly disliked and -resented any allusion to their duty of almsgiving, and a request for -charity was by them regarded as a personal affront. - -Gage was soon intimate with the bishop, Dom Bernard de Salazar, a very -worthy prelate, perhaps a little _wee_ bit too fond of the good things of -this present life, but otherwise most exemplary, very energetic, and as -bold as a saint in reforming abuses which had crept into the Church. - -Talk of abuses, and you may be sure that woman is at the bottom of them! A -certain czar, whenever he heard of a misfortune, at once asked, "Who was -_she_?" knowing that some woman had originated it. The same view may -perhaps be taken of abuses and corruptions in the Church. - -Dom Bernard de Salazar had the misfortune to live in a perpetual state of -contest with the ladies of his flock, and the subject of dispute was -chocolate. It was a brave struggle--bravely fought on both sides. - -The prelate fulminated all the censures at his disposal in his -ecclesiastical armoury; the ladies, on their side, made use of all the -devices and intrigues stored in their little heads, and gained the day--of -course. - -Now the great subject of altercation was as follows. The ladies of Chiapa -were so addicted to the use of chocolate, that they would neither hear Low -Mass, much less High Mass, or a sermon, without drinking cups of steaming -chocolate, and eating preserves, brought in on trays by servants, during -the performance of divine service; so that the voice of the preacher, or -the chant of the priest, was drowned in the continual clatter of cups and -clink of spoons; besides, the floor, after service, was strewn with -_bon-bon_ papers, and stained with splashes of the spilled beverage. - -How could that be devotion which was broken in upon by the tray of -delicacies? How could a preacher warm with his subject whilst his audience -were passing to each other sponge-cake and cracknels? - -Bishop Salazar's predecessor had seen this abuse grow to a head without -attempting to correct it, believing such a task to be hopeless. The new -prelate was of better metal. He commenced by recommending his clergy, in -their private ministrations, to urge its abandonment. The priests -entreated in vain. "Very well," said the bishop, "then I shall preach -about it." And so he did. At first his discourse was tender and -persuasive, but his voice was drowned in the clicker of cups and saucers. -Then he waxed indignant. "What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? -or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall -I say to you?" The ladies looked up at the pulpit with unimpassioned eyes, -while sipping their chocolate, then wiped their lips, and put out their -hands for some comfits. - -The bishop's voice thrilled shriller and louder--he looked like an apostle -in his godly indignation. Crash!--down went a tray at the cathedral door, -and every one looked round to see whose cups were broken. - -"What was the subject of the sermon?" asked masters of their apprentices -every Sunday for the next month, and the ready answer came, "Oh! chocolate -again!" - -After a course on the guilt of church desecration, the bishop found that -the ladies were only confirmed in their evil habits. - -Reluctantly, the bishop had recourse to the only method open to him, an -excommunication, which was accordingly affixed to the cathedral gates. By -this he decreed that all persons showing wilful disobedience to his -injunctions, by drinking or eating during the celebration of divine -service, whether of Mass (high or low), litanies, benediction, or vespers, -should be _ipso facto_ excommunicate, be deprived of participation in the -sacraments of the Church, and should be denied the rite of burial, if -dying in a state of impenitence. This was felt to be a severe stroke, and -the ladies sent a deputation to Gage and the prior of the Dominican -monastery of St. James, entreating them to use their utmost endeavours to -bring about a reconciliation, and effect a compromise, a compromise which -was to consist in Monseignor's revoking his interdict, and in -their--continuing to drink chocolate. - -Gage and the prior undertook the delicate office, and sought the bishop. - -Salazar received them with dignity, and listened calmly to their -entreaties. They urged that this was an established custom, that ladies -required humouring, that they were obstinate--the prelate nodded his -head--that their digestions were delicate, and required that they should -continually be imbibing nourishment; that they had taken a violent -prejudice against him, which could only be overcome by his yielding to -their whims; that if he persisted, seditions would arise which would -endanger the cause of true religion; and, finally, the prelate's life was -menaced in a way rather hinted at than expressed. - -"Enough, my sons!" said the bishop, with composure; "the souls under my -jurisdiction must be in a perilous condition when they have forgotten that -there must be obedience in little matters as well as in great. Whether I -am assaulting an established custom, or a new abuse, matters little. It is -a bad habit; it is sapping the foundations of reverence and morality. -God's house was built for worship, and for that alone. My children must -come to His temple either to learn or to pray. Learn they will not, for -they have forgotten how to pray: prayer they are unused to, for the -highest act of adoration the Church can offer is only regarded by them as -an opportunity for the gratification of their appetites. You recommend me -to yield to their vagaries. A strange shepherd would he be, who let his -sheep lead him; a wondrous captain, who was dictated to by his soldiers! -As for the cause of true religion being endangered, I judge differently. -Religion _is_ endangered; but it is by children's disobedience to their -spiritual legislators, and by their own perversity. I am sorry for you, my -sons, that you should have undertaken a fruitless office; but you may -believe me, that nothing shall induce me to swerve from the course which I -deem advisable. My personal safety, you hint, is endangered; my life, I -answer, is in my Master's hands, and I value it but as it may advance His -glory." - -When the ladies heard that their request had been refused, they treated -the excommunication with the greatest contempt, scoffing at it publicly, -and imbibing chocolate in church, "on principle," more than ever; "Just," -says Gage, "drinking in church as a fish drinks in water." - -Some of the canons and priests were then stationed at the cathedral doors -to stop the ingress of the servants with cups and chocolate-pots. They had -received injunctions to remove the drinking and eating vessels, and suffer -the servants to come empty-handed to church. A violent struggle ensued in -the porch, and all the ladies within rushed in a body to the doors, to -assist their domestics. The poor clerks were utterly routed and thrown in -confusion down the steps, whilst, with that odious well-known clink, -clink, the trays came in as before. - -Another move was requisite, and, on the following Sunday, when the ladies -came to church, they found a band of soldiers drawn up outside, ready to -barricade the way against any inroad of chocolate; a stern determination -was depicted on the faces of the military--that if cups and saucers _did_ -enter the sacred edifice, it should be over their corpses. - -The foremost damsels halted, the matrons stood still, the crowd thickened, -but not one of the pretty angels would set foot within the cathedral -precincts: a busy whisper circulated, then a hush ensued, and with one -accord the ladies trooped off to the monastery churches, and there was no -congregation that day at the minster. - -The brethren of St. Dominic and of St. Francis were nothing loath to see -their chapels crowded with all the rank and fashion of Chiapa; for, with -the ladies came money-offerings, and they blinked at the chocolate cups -for--a consideration. This was allowed to continue a few Sundays only. Our -friend the bishop was not going to be shelved thus, and a new manifesto -appeared, inhibiting the friars from admitting parishioners to their -chapels, and ordering the latter to frequent their cathedral. - -The regulars were forced to obey; not so the ladies--they would go when -they pleased, quotha! and for a month and more, not one of them went to -church at all. The prelate was in sore trouble: he hoped that his froward -charge would eventually return to the path of duty, but he hoped on from -Sunday to Sunday in vain. - -Would that the story ended as stories of strife and bitterness always -should end; so that we might tell how the ladies yielded at length, how -that rejoicings were held and a general reconciliation effected:--but the -historian may not pervert facts, to suit his or his readers' -gratification. - -On Saturday evening the old bishop was more than usually anxious; he paced -up and down his library, meditating on the sermon he purposed preaching on -the following morning--a fruitless task, for he knew that no one would be -there but a few poor Mexicans. Sick at heart, he all but wished that he -had yielded for peace sake, but conscience told him that such a course -would have been wrong; and the great feature in Salazar's character was -his rigid sense of duty. He leaned on his elbows and looked out of a -window which opened on a lane between the palace and the cathedral. - -"Silly boy!" muttered the prelate. "Luis is always prattling with that -girl. I thought better of the fair sex till of late." He spoke these words -as his eyes caught his page, chattering at the door with a dark-eyed -Creole servant-maid of the De Solis family. Presently the bishop clapped -his hands, and a domestic entered. "Send Luis to me." - -When the page came up, the old man greeted him with a half-smile. - -"Well, my son, I wish my chocolate to be brought me; I could not think of -breaking off that long _tête-à-tête_ with Dolores, but this is past the -proper time." - -"Your Holiness will pardon me," said the lad; "Dolores brought you a -present from the Donna de Solis; the lady sends her humble respects to -your Holiness, and requests your acceptance of a large packet of very -beautiful chocolate." - -"I am much obliged to her," said the bishop; "did you express to the -maiden my thanks?" - -Luis bowed. - -"Then, child, you may prepare me a cup of this chocolate, and bring it me -at once." - -"The Donna de Solis's chocolate?" - -"Yes, my son, yes!" - -When the boy had left the room, the old man clasped his hands with an -expression of thankfulness. - -"They are going to yield! This is a sign that they are desiring -reconciliation." - -Next day the cathedral was thronged with ladies. The service proceeded as -usual, but the bishop was not present. - -"How is the bishop?" was whispered from one lady to another, with -conscious glances; till the query reached the ears of one of the canons -who was at the door. - -"His Holiness is very ill," he answered. "He has retired to the monastery -of St. James." - -"What is the matter with him?" - -"He is suffering from severe pains internally." - -"Has he seen a doctor?" - -"Physicians have been sent for." - -For eight days the good old prelate lingered in great suffering. - -"Tell me," he asked very feebly; "tell me truly, what is my complaint?" - -"Your Holiness has been poisoned," replied the physician. - -The bishop turned his face to the wall. Some one whispered that he was -dead, when he had been thus for some while. The dying man turned his face -round, and said: - -"Hush! I am praying for my poor sheep! May God pardon them." Then, after a -pause: "I forgive them for having caused my death, most heartily. Poor -sheep!" - -And he died. - -Since then there has been a proverb prevalent in Mexico: "Beware of -tasting Chiapa chocolate." - -Gage, the Dominican, did not remain long in Chiapa after the death of his -patron: he seldom touched chocolate in that town unless quite certain of -the friendship of those who offered it to him; and when he did leave, it -was from fear of a fate like the bishop's,--he having incurred the anger -of some of the ladies. - -The cathedral presented the same scene as before; the prelate had laboured -in vain, and chocolate was copiously drunk at his funeral. - - - - -THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE - - -"There are many ways," says Del Rio, "in which the Philosopher's Stone is -made. Writers contest with each other which is the right way. Pauladamus -opposes the opinion of Brachescus; Villanosanus will have none of the mode -of Trevisanus. So one assails another, and all call each other foolish and -ignorant." But however they may have disputed how to make it, no one -succeeded in finding the right way, for no one knew where to look for it; -and yet the Philosopher's Stone was before all their eyes to be enjoyed by -all alike, but to be appropriated by none. This precious stone, which went -by various names, the "Universal Elixir," the "Elixir of Life," the "Water -of the Sun," was thought to procure to its happy discoverer and possessor -riches innumerable, perpetual health, a life exempt from all maladies and -cares and pains, and even in the opinion of some--immortality. It -transmuted lead into gold, glass into diamonds, it opened locks, it -penetrated everywhere; it was the sovereign remedy to all disease, it was -luminous in the darkest night. To fashion it--so the alchemists -said--gold and lead, iron, antimony, vitriol, sulphur, mercury, arsenic, -water, fire, earth, and air were needed; to these must be added the egg of -a cock, and the spittle of doves. Really, said one shrewd and satiric -writer, it only wanted oil, vinegar, and salt, to make of it a salad. - -Now the curious thing is--as we shall see in the sequel--the alchemists -were not far out in their opinion. All these ingredients, or rather most -of them--the cock's egg and the dove's spittle only excepted--are to be -found combined in the Philosopher's Stone, and only recent science has -established this fact. - -As the possessor of this stone was sure to be the most glorious, powerful, -rich, and happy of mortals, as he could at will convert anything into -gold, and enjoy all the pleasures of life, it is not surprising that the -Philosopher's Stone was sought with eagerness. It was sought, but, as -already said, never found, because the alchemists looked for it in just -the place where it was _not_ to be found, in their crucibles. Medals were -struck on which were inscribed "Per Sal, Sulphur, Mercurium, Fit Lapis -Philosophorum," which was a simplification of the receipt. On the reverse -stood, "Thou Alpha and Omega of Life, Hope and Resurrection after Death." -It was identified with Solomon's seal; it was called Orphanus, the One and -Only. It was thought at one time that the Emperor had it in his crown, -this Orphanus, and that it blazed like the sun at night; but the German -emperors enjoyed so little prosperity that philosophers came to the -conclusion that the stone in the imperial crown was something quite -different; it brought ill-luck rather than good-fortune. - -Zosimus, who lived in the beginning of the fifth century, is one of the -first in Europe to describe the powers of this stone, and its capacity for -making gold and silver. The alchemists pretended to derive their science -from Shem, or Chem, the son of Noah, and that thence came the name -al_chem_y, and _chem_istry. All writers upon alchemy triumphantly cite the -story of the golden calf in the thirty-second chapter of Exodus, to prove -that Moses was an adept, and could make or unmake gold at his pleasure. It -is recorded that Moses was so wroth with the Israelites for their -idolatry, "that he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the -fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the -children of Israel drink of it." This, say the alchemists, he never could -have done had he not been in possession of the Philosopher's Stone; by no -other means could he have made the powder of gold float upon the water. - -At Constantinople, in the fourth century, the transmutation of metals was -very generally believed in, and many treatises upon the subject appeared. -Langlet du Fresnoy, in his _History of Hermetic Philosophy_, gives some -account of these works. The notion of the Greek writers seems to have been -that all metals were composed of two ingredients, the one metallic matter, -the other a red inflammable matter which they called sulphur. The pure -union of these substances formed gold; but other metals were mixed with -and contaminated by various foreign ingredients. The object of the -Philosopher's Stone was to dissolve and expel these base ingredients, and -so to liberate the two original constituents whose marriage produced gold. - -For several centuries after this the pursuit flagged or slept in Europe, -but it reappeared in the eighth century among the Arabians, and from them -re-extended to Europe. We are not going to trace the history of alchemy -_downwards_, and see one student after another wreck his genius and time -on this rock, nor see what use was made of the belief in it by impostors -to enrich themselves at the expense of the credulous--we will follow the -superstition _upwards_, and track the stone to the spring of the belief in -its supernatural powers. The search for the stone will take us through -strange country, give us many scrambles; but, if the reader will -condescend to accompany me, I believe I shall be able to bring him to the -very real and original stone itself. - -The following story I give as it was told to me by some Yorkshire mill -lasses, in their own delightful vernacular. I forewarn the reader that the -golden ball in the story is the same as the Philosopher's Stone, as we -shall hear presently: - -"There were two lasses, daughters of one mother, and as they came home -from t' fair, they saw a right bonny young man stand i' t' house-door -before them. He had gold on t' cap, gold on t' finger, gold on t' neck, a -red gold watch-chain--eh! but he had brass. He had a golden ball in each -hand.[24] He gave a ball to each lass, and she was to keep it, and if she -lost it, she was to be hanged. One o' t' lasses, 'twas t' youngest, lost -her ball. She was by a park-paling, and she tossed the ball, and it went -up, up, and up, till it went over t' paling, and when she climbed to look, -t' ball ran along green grass, and it went raite forward to t' door of t' -house, and t' ball went in, and she saw 't no more. - -"So she was taken away to be hanged by t' neck till she were dead, acause -she'd lost her ball. - -["But she had a sweetheart, and he said he would get the ball. So he went -to t' park-gate, but 'twas shut; so he climbed hedge, and when he got to -t' top of hedge, an old woman rose up out o' t' dyke afore him, and said, -if he would get ball, he must sleep three nights i' t' house. He said he -would. - -"Then he went into t' house, and looked for t' ball, but couldna find it. -Night came on, and he heard spirits move i' t' courtyard; so he looked out -o' t' window, and t' yard was full of them, like maggots i' rotten meat. - -"Presently he heard steps coming upstairs. He hid behind t' door, and was -still as a mouse. Then in came a big giant five times as tall as he, and -t' giant looked round, but did not see t' lad, so he went to t' window -and bowed to look out; and as he bowed on his elbows to see spirits i' t' -yard, t' lad stepped behind him, and wi' one blow of his sword he cut him -in twain, so that the top part of him fell in t' yard, and t' bottom part -stood looking out o' t' window. - -"There was a great cry from t' spirits when they saw half t' giant -tumbling down to them, and they called out, 'There comes half our master, -give us t' other half.' - -"So the lad said, 'It's no use of thee, thou pair o' legs, standing aloan -at window, so go join thy brother'; and he cast the bottom part of t' -giant after top part. Now when t' spirits had gotten all t' giant they was -quiet. - -"Next night t' lad was at the house again, and saw a second giant come in -at door, and as he came in, t' lad cut him in twain; but the legs walked -on to t' chimney and went up it. 'Go, get thee after thy legs,' said t' -lad to t' head, and he cast t' head up chimney too. - -"The third night t' lad got into bed, and he heard spirits stirring under -t' bed; and they had t' ball there, and they was casting it to and fro. - -"Now one of them had his leg thrussen out from under bed, so t' lad brings -his sword down and cuts it off. Then another thrusts his arm out at t' -other side of t' bed, and t' lad cuts that off. So at last he had maimed -them all, and they all went crying and wailing off, and forgot t' ball, -and let it lig there, under t' bed; and the lad took it and went to seek -his true love.[25]] - -"Now t' lass was taken to York to be hanged; she was brought out on t' -scaffold, and t' hangman said, 'Now, lass, tha' must hang by thy neck till -tha' be'st dead.' But she cried out: - - 'Stop, stop, I think I see my mother coming! - O mother! hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'I've neither brought thy golden ball - Nor come to set thee free, - But I have come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.' - -"Then the hangman said, 'Now, lass, say thy prayers, for tha' must dee.' -But she said: - - 'Stop, stop, I think I see my father coming! - O father! hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'I've neither brought thy golden ball - Nor come to set thee free, - But I have come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.' - -"Then the hangman said, 'Hast thee done thy prayers? Now, lass, put thy -head into t' noose.' - -"But she answered, 'Stop, stop, I think I see my brother coming,' etc. -After which she excused herself because she thought she saw her sister -coming, and her uncle, then her aunt, then her cousin, each of which was -related in full; after which the hangman said, 'I wee-nt stop no longer, -tha's making gam o' me.' But now she saw her sweetheart coming through the -crowd, and he held overhead i' t' air her own golden ball; so she said-- - - 'Stop, stop, I see my sweetheart coming! - Sweetheart, hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'Ay, I have brought thy golden ball - And come to set thee free; - I have not come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.'" - -In this very curious story, the portion within brackets reminds one of the -German story of "Fearless John," in Grimm (_K. M._ 4), of which I remember -obtaining an English variant in a chap-book in Exeter when I was a -child--alas! now lost. It is also found in Iceland,[26] and is indeed a -widely-spread tale. The verses are like others found in Essex in -connection with the child's game of "Mary Brown," and those of the Swedish -"Fair Gundela." But these points we must pass over. Our interest attaches -specially to the golden ball. The story is almost certainly the remains of -an old religious myth. The golden ball which one sister has is the sun, -the silver ball of the other sister is the moon. The sun is lost; it -sets, and the trolls, the spirits of darkness, play with it under the bed, -that is, in the house of night, beneath the earth. - -But the sun is not only a golden ball, but it is also a shining stone; and -here at the outset we tell our secret: the sun is the true Philosopher's -Stone, that turns all to gold, that gives health, that fills with joy. - -In primeval times, our rude forefathers were puzzled how to explain the -nature of sun and moon and stars, and they thought they had hit on the -interpretation of the phenomenon when they said that the stars were -diamonds stuck in the heavenly vault, and that the sun was a luminous -stone, a carbuncle; and the moon a pearl or silver disk. Even the classic -writers had not shaken off this notion. Anaxagoras, Democritus, -Metrodorus, all speak of the sun as a glowing stone,[27] and Orpheus[28] -calls the opal the sunstone, because of its analogy to that shining ball. -So Pliny also.[29] The old Norse spoke of the stars as the "gemstones of -heaven," so did the Anglo-Saxons.[30] - -But perhaps the clearest idea we can have of the old cosmogony is from the -pictures preserved to us of the world of the dwarfs. When a superior -conception of the universe was general, then the old heathen idea sank, -and what had been told of the world of men was referred to the underground -world, peopled by the dwarfs, who were the representatives of the early -race conquered by the Britons, and by Norse and Teuton, a race probably of -Turanian origin. Our British and Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian forefathers -knew of the cosmogony of the conquered race, and came to suppose that they -inhabited another world to them, a world of which the vault that -overarched it was set with precious stones; and as the aboriginal -inhabitants were driven to live in caves, or in huts heaped over with turf -so as to be like mounds, they regarded them as a subterranean people, and -their world to be underground. In a multitude of stories the trolls or -dwarfs are said to live in tumuli or cairns. This is nothing more than -that their hovels were made of sticks stuck in the ground, gathered -together in the middle and turfed over. The Lapp hut, even the Icelandic -farmhouse, look like grass mounds. In many tales we hear of human children -carried off by the dwarfs, and when these children are recovered they tell -of a world in which they have been where the light is given by diamonds -and a great carbuncle set in a stony black vault. - -William of Newburgh[31] says that at Woolpit (Wolf-pits), near Stowmarket -in Suffolk, were some very ancient trenches. Out of these trenches there -once came, in harvest-time, two children, a boy and a girl, whose bodies -were of a green colour, and who wore dresses of some unknown stuff. They -were caught and taken to the village, where for many months they would eat -nothing but beans. They gradually lost their green colour. The boy soon -died. The girl survived, and was married to a man of Lynn. At first they -could speak no English; but when they were able to do so they said that -they belonged to the land of St. Martin, an unknown country, where, as -they were once watching their father's sheep, they heard a loud noise, -like the ringing of the bells of St. Edmund's Monastery. And then, all at -once, they found themselves among the reapers at Woolpit. Their country -was a Christian land and had churches. There was no sun there, only a -faint twilight; but beyond a broad river there lay a land of light. -Giraldus Cambrensis in his _Itinerary of Wales_ tells another queer story -of the underground world, and notices that some of the words used in it -are closely related to the _British_ tongue.[32] But in neither story are -the sun and stars spoken of as stones incrusting the vault. - -The underground _Rose-garden of Laurin the Dwarf_, by Botzen, is, however, -illumined by one great carbuncle.[33] The same sun-stone--a white, -marvellous stone--reappears in the "Grail Story," which is from beginning -to end a Christianised Keltic myth. In it the Grail is originally not -invariably a basin or goblet, but a stone. It is so in Wolfran von -Eschenbach's _Parzival_. In that there is no thought of it as a chalice: -it is a stone which feeds and delights all who surround, cherish, and -venerate it. - - Whatsoever the earth produces, whatsoever exhales, - Whatever is good, and sweet, in drink and meat, - That yields the precious stone, that never fails. - -In the Elder Edda, in the _Fiölvinnsmal_, Svipdagr is represented as -climbing to the golden halls of heaven, and when he comes there he asks -who reigns in that place. The answer given him is:-- - - Menglöd is her name ... - She here holds sway, - And has power over - These lands and glorious halls. - -Now Menglöd means she who rejoices in the _Men_, the Precious Stone,[34] -that is, the sun. She is the holder of the sun, as in the Yorkshire story -the lass holds the golden ball. - -Matthew Paris says that King Richard Coeur de Lion was wont to tell the -following story:--"A rich and miserly Venetian, whose name was Vitalis, -was wandering in a forest in quest of game for his table, as he was about -to give his daughter in marriage. He fell into a pit that had been -prepared for wild beasts, and on reaching the bottom found there a lion -and a serpent. They did not injure him. By chance a charcoal-burner came -that way and heard the lamentations of those in the pit. Moved with pity, -he fetched a rope and ladder and released all three. The lion, full of -gratitude, brought the collier meat. The serpent brought him a precious -_stone_. The Venetian thanked him and promised him a reward if he would -come to his house. The poor man did so, when Vitalis refused to -acknowledge any debt, and threw the collier into prison. However, he -escaped, and went with the lion and serpent before the magistrates and -told them the tale, and showed them the jewel given him by the serpent. -The magistrates thereupon ordered Vitalis to pay to the collier a -reasonable reward. The poor man also sold the jewel for a very large -sum."[35] - -Richard must have heard this story in the East; there are no lions in -Venetian territory. Moreover the story is incomplete. We have the same -story in a fuller form in the _Gesta Romanorum_. - -A seneschal rode through a wood and fell into a pit, in which were an ape, -a lion, and a serpent. A woodcutter saved them all. Next day the -woodcutter went to the castle for the promised reward, but received -instead a cudgelling. The following day the lion drove to him ten laden -asses, and he had them and the treasure they bore. Next day, as he was -collecting wood and had no axe, the ape brought him boughs with which to -lade his ass. On the third day the serpent brought him a stone of three -colours, by the virtue of which he won all hearts, and came to such honour -that he was appointed general-in-command of the emperor's armies. But when -the emperor heard of the stone he bought it of the woodcutter. However, -the stone always returned to the original owner, however often he parted -with it. - -The same story occurs in Gower's _Confessio Amantis_. The story spread -throughout Europe, and is found in most collections of household tales. It -occurs in Grimm's _Kinder Märchen_ (No. 24), and in Basili's book of -Neapolitan tales, the _Pentamerone_ (No. 37). - -All these were derived from the East, and were brought to Europe by the -Crusaders. The story occurs in various Oriental collections. The Pâli tale -is as follows:-- - -In a time of drought, a dog, a serpent, and a man fell into a pit -together. An inhabitant of Benares draws them up in a basket, and they all -promise him tokens of gratitude. The man of Benares falls into great -poverty; the dog thereupon steals the king's crown whilst he is bathing, -and brings it to his preserver. The man who had been helped by the other -betrays him, and the preserver is imprisoned. The poor man is about to be -impaled when the serpent bites the queen; and the king learns that she can -only be cured by the man who is on his way to execution. So the poor -fellow is brought before the prince and the whole story comes out.[36] In -this version the stone does not appear; nor does it in the Sanskrit -_Pantschatantra_.[37] But in the Mongol _Siddhi-kür_ (No. 13) we have the -stone again. A Brahmin delivers a mouse from children who teased it, then -an ape, and lastly a bear. He falls into trouble and is put in a wooden -box and thrown into the sea. The mouse comes and nibbles a hole in the -box, through which he can breathe, the ape raises the lid, and the bear -tears it off. Then the ape gives him a wondrous stone, which gives to him -who has it power to do and have all he wishes. With this he wishes himself -on land, then builds a palace, and surrounds himself with servants. A -caravan passes and the leader is amazed to see the new palace, buys the -stone of the man, and at once with it goes all the luck and splendour, and -the Brahmin is where he was at first. Again the thankful beasts come to -his aid. The mouse creeps into the palace of the new owner of the stone -and discovers where he hides it, and with the aid of the bear and ape it -is again recovered. Here we have the serpent omitted, which is the -principal animal to be considered, for really the serpent is the owner of -the stone that grows in its head. This idea is very general--that the -carbuncle is to be found in a serpent's head. Pliny has this notion; -indeed it is found everywhere.[38] The origin of this myth is that the -great serpent is the heaven-god--and on the gnostic seals we have the -Demiurge so represented as a crowned or nimbed serpent. In the head of -this great heaven-god is the sun, the glorious stone that gives life and -light and gladness and plenty. In the West the story was told that the -Emperor Theodosius hung in his palace a bell, and all who needed his help -were to ring the bell. One day a snake came and pulled the bell. The -emperor, who was blind, came out to inquire who needed him; then he -learned that a toad had invaded the nest of the serpent. So he ordered the -toad to be removed. Next day the grateful serpent brought the emperor a -costly stone, and bade him lay it on his eyes. When he did this he -recovered his sight. - -The same story is told of Charlemagne. He was summoned to judge between a -toad and a serpent, and decided for the latter. In gratitude the snake -brought the Emperor a precious stone. Charles gave it, set in a ring, to -his wife Fastrada. It had the power to attract love. Thenceforth he was -inseparable from Fastrada, and when she died he would not leave her body, -but carried it about with him for eighteen years. Then a courtier removed -the jewel and flung it into a hot spring at Aix-la-Chapelle. Thenceforth -the emperor loved Aix above every spot in the world, and would never leave -it. - -In the story of Eraclius, the hero finds a stone that has the power of -preserving the bearer from injury by water. Eraclius, armed with this -stone, lies at the bottom of the Tiber, as one asleep, and is not drowned. -In _Barlaam and Josaphat_ the hermit undertakes to give his pupil a stone -which will afford light to the blind, wisdom to fools, hearing to the -deaf, and speech to the dumb. - -There is a strange story in the _Talmud_[39] of a serpent that has a stone -which gives life. A man goes in quest of it. The serpent tries to swallow -the ship in which he sails. Then comes a raven and bites off the serpent's -head and the sea is made red with its blood. A dragon catches the falling -stone and touches the dead serpent with it; it revives and again attacks -the ship. Then another bird kills the creature, and this time the man -catches the stone. The power of the stone was so great that it revived -salted birds that lay on the table ready to be eaten, and they flew away. - -In Buddhist stories, the original signification of the marvellous stone is -completely lost, as completely as in the European mediæval stories. The -Indian Buddhists remembered that there was a wondrous stone of which -strange stories had been told, and which possessed the most surprising -powers, and they made use of the idea to illustrate their doctrine--the -stone was no other than the secret of Buddha. He who attained to that was -rich, happy, serene. It is called the "Tschinta-mani," that is, the -Wishing-stone, because he who has it has everything that can be desired. - -In the Buddhist collection of stories entitled _The Wise Man and the Fool_ -is the tale of the king's son, Gedon, who, grieved at the misery there is -in the world, goes in quest of the "Tschinta-mani." He takes with him his -brother Digdon. They reach a castle, where he is warned to strike at the -door with a diamond bat. Then five hundred goddesses will come forth, each -bearing a precious stone, but only one of these is the Wishing-stone. He -must select the stone without speaking. He does so, and chooses the right -one. On his way home, on board ship, a storm arises, and he is wrecked; -but, as he bears the precious stone, he is not drowned, and he saves his -brother. Digdon, envious, steals the stone, and puts out his brother's -eyes, and goes home. Gedon follows, forgives his brother, recovers the -stone and his sight. - -Elsewhere the Wishing-stone is described as giving light by night as well -as by day, as far as one hundred and twenty voices could be heard calling, -the one catching and repeating to another; and by this light could be -seen the seven kinds of treasures falling from heaven like a rain, which -are offered to all. - -The idea of the marvellous, luminous, enriching, health-giving stone -remains, its original significance absolutely lost, and is given a new -spell of life, in that it is used as a symbol of the teaching of Buddha. - -In Europe, also, the idea of the marvellous stone remains; it is not used -allegorically, except in the Grail myth, but it haunts men's minds; they -believe in it, they suppose it must be found, and they try to manufacture -it out of all kinds of ingredients.[40] - -Neither Arab nor European alchemist, nor Buddhist recluse, dreamed that -the stone that gave light, that nourished, that rejoiced, that enriched, -was the sun shining above their heads. The conception of the sun as a -stone was so old, so rolled and rubbed down, that they had no notion -whence it came. The idea remained, and influenced their minds strangely; -but it never occurred to them to ask whence the idea was derived. - -There is something pitiful in looking at the wasted lives of those old -seekers, bowed over their crucibles, inhaling noxious vapours, wearing out -the nights in fruitless experiment; but, like all history, that of the -alchemists teaches us a lesson--to look up instead of looking down--a -lesson to seek happiness, wealth, contentment, in the simple and not the -complex, in light instead of in darkness. - -I believe that this is the only one of my articles in which I have drawn a -moral, but the moral is so obvious that it would have been inexcusable had -I passed it over. But I know that as a child I resented the applications -in _Æsop's Fables_, and perhaps my reader will feel a like objection to -having a moral appended to this essay. That I may dismiss him with a smile -instead of a frown, I will close with a copy of verses extracted by me -some thirty and more years ago, from--I think--a Cambridge University -undergraduates' magazine, verses probably new to my readers; but as they -enforce the same moral in a perfectly fresh and charming manner, and as -they deserve to be rescued from oblivion, I conclude with them: - - I was just five years old, that December, - And a fine little promising boy, - So my grandmother said, I remember, - And gave me a strange-looking toy: - - In its shape it was lengthy and rounded, - It was papered with yellow and blue, - One end with a glass top was bounded, - At the other, a hole to look through. - - 'Dear Granny, what's this?' I came, crying, - 'A box for my pencils? but see, - I can't open it hard though I'm trying, - O what is it? what can it be?' - - 'Why, my dear, if you only look through it, - And stand with your face to the light; - Turn it gently (that's just how to do it!), - And you'll see a remarkable sight.' - - 'O how beautiful!' cried I, delighted, - As I saw each fantastic device, - The bright fragments now closely united, - All falling apart in a trice. - - Times have passed, and new years will now find me, - Each birthday, no longer a boy, - Yet methinks that their turns may remind me - Of the turns of my grandmother's toy. - - For in all this world, with its beauties, - Its pictures so bright and so fair, - You may vary the pleasures and duties - But still, the same pieces are there. - - From the time that the earth was first founded, - There has never been anything new-- - The same thoughts, the same things, have redounded - Till the colours have pall'd on the view. - - But--though all that is old is returning, - There is yet in this sameness a change; - And new truths are the wise ever learning, - For the patterns must always be strange. - - Shall we say that our days are all weary? - All labour, and sorrow, and care, - That its pleasures and joys are but dreary, - Mere phantoms that vanish in air? - - Ah, no! there are some darker pieces, - And others transparent and bright; - But this, surely, the beauty increases,-- - Only--_stand with your face to the light_. - - And the treasures for which we are yearning, - Those joys, now succeeded by pain-- - Are _but_ spangles, just hid in the turning; - They will come to the surface again. - B. - -So the old ideas, old myths, are turned and turned about, and form new -combinations, and are ever evolving fresh beauties, and teaching fresh -truths. Perhaps in the consideration of these ancient myths, and seeing -their progressive modifications, their breaking up, their coalitions, we -may find the fresh application of the old saw, that there is nothing new -under the sun. - - -THE END - - -_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Jones, _Trad. N. American Indians_ (1830), vol. iii. 175. - -[2] Original edition in Latin. A translation by John Campbell, LL.D., -under the title of _Hermippus Redivivus_, London, 1743. A second edition -much enlarged, under the title _Hermippus Redivivus, or the Sage's Triumph -over Old Age and the Grave_, London, 1749, 8vo. We have seen also an -Italian translation. That from which we quote is the German edition. - -[3] It is possible that, by the engraver's fault, the L in the last -inscription may have been substituted for an X. - -[4] [Greek: Estrepsen ta tablia tôn plakountariôn.] - -[5] [Greek: Eis phouokarios.] - -[6] [Greek: Eis Theos, abba Symeôn, eis ton cheira sou thymias.] - -[7] [Greek: Ti estin exêche, ide, ouk eimi egô monos apergês.] - -[8] [Greek: Thelôn oun ho Hosios analysai tên oikodomên autou, hina mê -thriambeusê auton, en mia koimômenês tês gynaikos autou monês, kakeinou -proballontos oinon, epebê pros autên ho abbas Symeôn, kai echêmatisato -apodyesthai to himation autou, k.t.l.] - -[9] [Greek: Hôste estin hote eballon tas cheiras autôn ta asemna gynaia -eis ton kolpon autou, kai esiainon, kai ekoptazon, kai egargalizon auton.] - -[10] [Greek: Ebastazen auton mia proistamenê, kai allê elôrizen auton.] - -[11] [Greek: Pollakis de prospoieisthai kataphilein tas doulas.] No wonder -if one of them said, [Greek: "O Salos Symeôn ebiasato me."] The maid's -mistress indignantly scolded Symeon, who replied with a smile, [Greek: -"Aphes, aphes, tapeinê, arti genna soi, kai echeis mikron Symeôn."] - -[12] [Greek: Seiran salsikiôn.] - -[13] [Greek: Silignia, kai plakountas, kai sphairia, kai opsaria, kai -oinaria diaphora, psathyria, kai glyky, kai haplôs hosa panta echei ho -bios limba.] - -[14] [Greek: Esti gar hote kai touto elege pros mian tôn etaipidôn; -theleis echô se philên kai didô soi hekaton holokotina.] - -[15] Both are published in the _Acta Sanctorum_ for June, T.I., pp. -237-260, with notes by Papebroeck, the Bollandist. - -[16] "Monachus aspectu venerabilis, barba prolixa, corpore nudus, capillis -canus." This old monk was St. Luke the Stylite, appearing in vision. - -[17] "Unus--cum gravi baculo ascendens ad eum, ipsum graviter ac dure -cædens, de ecclesiæ trullo descendere fecit, cum multa festinantia et -furore."--_Fr. Barth._ - -[18] The biographer thinks a dolphin must have bitten his cords, and thus -freed him. - -[19] A blending is a changeling, or one who is half troll, half human. - -[20] They form a huge ancient moraine. - -[21] It much resembles the beautiful Marjelen Sea, familiar to the visitor -to Aegischhorn. - -[22] The writer has been over this portion of the ground, and knows the -course pursued. - -[23] It is not easy to make out what fell is meant. Possibly it may be the -ridge called Thorir's Head. - -[24] In another version one ball was _gold_, the other _silver_. I sent -this story to Mr. Henderson, and it is included in the first edition of -his _Folklore of the Northern Counties_, but omitted in the second. - -[25] The portion within brackets I got from a different informant. The -first version was incomplete; the girls had forgotten how the ball was -recovered. They forgot also what happened with the second ball. - -[26] Powel and Magnusson, _Legends of Iceland_ (1864), p. 161. - -[27] Cf. Xenoph. _Memor._ IV. vii. 7. - -[28] The apocryphal Lith. 289. - -[29] "Solis gemma candida est, et ad speciem sideris in orbem fulgentes -spargit radios" (_Hist. Nat._ xxxvi. 10, 67.) - -[30] Grimm, _D. M._ p. 665. - -[31] _Hist. Anglic._ i. 27. See also Gervase of Tilbury, cxlv., for an -account of the subterranean world reached by the cave in the Peak of -Derby. - -[32] _Itin. Camb._ i. 8. - -[33] See for account of the gem-lighted underworld, Mannhardt, _Germ. -Mythol._ (1858), p. 447. - -[34] Egilson, _Lex. poet. linguæ Sept._ Men = monile, thesaurus, saxum, -lapis. - -[35] Roger of Wendover's _Flowers of Hist._, s.a. 1196. The story is an -addition made to the original by Matthew Paris. - -[36] Spiegel, _Anecdota Pâlica_ (1845), p. 53. - -[37] Benfy, _Pantschatantra_ (1859), ii. p. 128. - -[38] Cf. Benfy, _op. cit._ i. p. 214. - -[39] Bababathra, 74, 6. - -[40] I said at the beginning of this article that the alchemists were -right in believing the Philosopher's Stone to be complex, made up of many -metals. We know now that the germ idea of the stone is the sun, and the -spectroscope allows us to analyse the sun's light and discover in the -solar atmosphere a multitude of metals and ingredients, in fusion. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES*** - - -******* This file should be named 41546-8.txt or 41546-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/5/4/41546 - - - -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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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: Curiosities of Olden Times - - -Author: S. Baring-Gould - - - -Release Date: December 3, 2012 [eBook #41546] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES*** - - -E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (http://archive.org/) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 41546-h.htm or 41546-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41546/41546-h/41546-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41546/41546-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - http://archive.org/details/curiositiesofold00inbari - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - The original text includes Greek characters that have been - replaced with transliterations in this text version. - - The original text includes a dagger symbol that is - represented as [dagger] in this text version. - - The original text includes a cross symbol that is - represented as [cross] in this text version. - - The original text includes the prescription symbol that is - represented as [Rx.] in this text version. - - The original text includes the section sign that is - represented as [S] in this text version. - - The original text includes the paragraph sign that is - represented as [P] in this text version. - - -CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES - -by - -S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. - -Author of 'Iceland, Its Scenes and Its Sagas,' 'Mehalah,' etc. - -Revised and Enlarged Edition - - - - - - - -Edinburgh -John Grant -31 George IV. Bridge -1896 - - - - -PREFACE - - -An antiquary lights on many a curiosity whilst overhauling the dusty tomes -of ancient writers. This little book is a small museum in which I have -preserved some of the quaintest relics which have attracted my notice -during my labours. The majority of the articles were published in 1869. I -have now added some others. - - LEW TRENCHARD, - _September 1895_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THE MEANING OF MOURNING 1 - - CURIOSITIES OF CYPHER 17 - - STRANGE WILLS 39 - - QUEER CULPRITS 57 - - GHOSTS IN COURT 74 - - STRANGE PAINS AND PENALTIES 89 - - WHAT ARE WOMEN MADE OF? 102 - - "FLAGELLUM SALUTIS" 119 - - "HERMIPPUS REDIVIVUS" 135 - - THE BARONESS DE BEAUSOLEIL 153 - - SOME CRAZY SAINTS 167 - - THE JACKASS OF VANVRES 207 - - A MYSTERIOUS VALE 217 - - KING ROBERT OF SICILY 237 - - SORTES SACRAE 256 - - CHIAPA CHOCOLATE 268 - - THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE 280 - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES - - - - -THE MEANING OF MOURNING - - -A strip of black cloth an inch and a half in width stitched round the -sleeve--that is the final, or perhaps penultimate expression (for it may -dwindle further to a black thread) of the usage of wearing mourning on the -decease of a relative. - -The usage is one that commends itself to us as an outward and visible sign -of the inward sentiment of bereavement, and not one in ten thousand who -adopt mourning has any idea that it ever possessed a signification of -another sort. And yet the correlations of general custom--of mourning -fashions, lead us to the inexorable conclusion that in its inception the -practice had quite a different signification from that now attributed to -it, nay more, that it is solely because its primitive meaning has been -absolutely forgotten, and an entirely novel significance given to it, that -mourning is still employed after a death. - -Look back through the telescope of anthropology at our primitive ancestors -in their naked savagery, and we see them daub themselves with soot mingled -with tallow. When the savage assumed clothes and became a civilised man, -he replaced the fat and lampblack with black cloth, and this black cloth -has descended to us in the nineteenth century as the customary and -intelligible trappings of woe. - -The Chinaman when in a condition of bereavement assumes white garments, -and we may be pretty certain that his barbarous ancestor, like the Andaman -Islander of the present day, pipeclayed his naked body after the decease -and funeral of a relative. In Egypt yellow was the symbol of sorrow for a -death, and that points back to the ancestral nude Egyptian having smeared -himself with yellow ochre. - -Black was not the universal hue of mourning in Europe. In Castile white -obtained on the death of its princes. Herrera states that the last time -white was thus employed was in 1498, on the death of Prince John. This use -of white in Castile indicates chalk or pipeclay as the daub affected by -the ancestors of the house of Castile in primeval time as a badge of -bereavement. - -Various explanations have been offered to account for the variance of -colour. White has been supposed to denote purity; and to this day white -gloves and hat-bands and scarves are employed at the funeral of a young -girl, as in the old ballad of "The Bride's Burial":-- - - A garland fresh and fair - Of lilies there was made, - In signs of her virginity, - And on her coffin laid. - Six pretty maidens, _all in white_, - Did bear her to the ground, - The bells did ring in solemn swing - And made a doleful sound. - -Yellow has been supposed to symbolise that death is the end of human -hopes, because falling leaves are sere; black is taken as the privation of -light; and purple or violet also affected as a blending of joy with -sorrow. Christian moralists have declaimed against black as heathen, as -denoting an aspect of death devoid of hope, and gradually purple is taking -its place in the trappings of the hearse, if not of the mourners, and the -pall is now very generally violet. - -But these explanations are afterthoughts, and an attempt to give reason -for the divergence of usage which might satisfy, but these are really no -explanations at all. The usage goes back to a period when there were no -such refinements of thought. If violet or purple has been traditional, it -is so merely because the ancestral Briton stained himself with woad on the -death of a relative. - -The pipeclay, lampblack, yellow ochre, and woad of the primeval mourners -must be brought into range with a whole series of other mourning usages, -and then the result is something of an "eye-opener." It reveals a -condition of mind and an aspect of death that causes not a little -surprise and amusement. It is one of the most astonishing, and, perhaps, -shocking traits of barbarous life, that death revolutionises completely -the feelings of the survivors towards their deceased husbands, wives, -parents, and other relatives. - -A married couple may have been sincerely attached to each other so long as -the vital spark was twinkling, but the moment it is extinguished the dead -partner becomes, not a sadly sweet reminiscence, but an object of the -liveliest terror to the survivor. He or she does everything that ingenuity -can suggest to get him or herself out of all association in body and -spirit with the late lamented. Death is held to be thoroughly demoralising -to the deceased. However exemplary a person he or she may have been in -life, after death the ghost is little less than a plaguing, spiteful -spirit. - -There is in the savage no tender clinging to the remembrance of the loved -one, he is translated into a terrible bugbear, who must be evaded and -avoided by every contrivance conceivable. This is due, doubtless, mainly -to the inability of the uncultivated mind to discriminate between what is -seen waking from what presents itself in phantasy to the dreaming head. -After a funeral, it is natural enough for the mourners to dream of the -dead, and they at once conclude that they have been visited by his -_revenant_. After a funeral feast, a great gorging of pork or beef, it is -very natural that the sense of oppression and pain felt should be -associated with the dear departed, and should translate itself into the -idea that he has come from his grave to sit on the chests of those who -have bewailed him. - -Moreover, the savage associates the idea of desolation, death, discomfort, -with the condition of the soul after death, and believes that the ghosts -do all they can to return to their former haunts and associates for the -sake of the warmth and food, the shelter of the huts, and the -entertainment of the society of their fellows. But the living men and -women are not at all eager to receive the ghosts into the family circle, -and they accordingly adopt all kinds of "dodges," expedients to prevent -the departed from making these irksome and undesired visits. - -The Venerable Bede tells us that Laurence, Archbishop of Canterbury, -resolved on flying from England because he was hopeless of effecting any -good under the successor of Ethelbert, king of Kent. The night before he -fled he slept on the floor of the church, and dreamed that St. Peter -cudgelled him soundly for resolving to abandon his sacred charge. In the -morning he awoke stiff and full of aches and pains. Turned into modern -language, we should say that Archbishop Laurence was attacked with -rheumatism on account of his having slept on the cold stones of the -church. His mind had been troubled before he went to sleep with doubts -whether he were doing right in abandoning his duty, and very naturally -this trouble of conscience coloured his dream, and gave to his rheumatic -twinges the complexion it assumed. - -Now Archbishop Laurence regarded the Prince of the Apostles in precisely -the light in which a savage views his deceased relatives and ancestors. He -associates his maladies, his pains, with theirs, if he should happen to -dream of them. If, however, when in pain, he dreams of a living person, -then he holds that this living person has cast a magical spell over him. - -Among nature's men, before they have gone through the mill of -civilisation, plenty to eat and to drink, and some one to talk to, are the -essentials of happiness. They see that the dead have none of these -requisites, they consider that they are miserable without them. The writer -remembers how, when he was a boy, and attended a funeral of a relative in -November, he could not sleep all night--a bitter, frosty night--with the -thought how cold it must be to the dead in the vault, without blankets, -hot bottle, or fire. It was in vain for him to reason against the feeling; -the feeling was so strong on him that he was conscious of an uncomfortable -expectation of the dead coming to claim a share of the blanket, fire, or -hot bottle. Now the savage never reasons against such a feeling, and he -assumes that the dead will return, as a matter of course, for what he -cannot have in the grave. - -The ghost is very anxious to assert its former rights. A widow has to get -rid of the ghost of her first husband before she can marry again. In -Parma a widow about to be remarried is pelted with sticks and stones, not -in the least because the Parmans object to remarriage, but in order to -scare away the ghost of No. 1, who is hanging about his wife, and who will -resent his displacement in her affections by No. 2. - -To the present day, in some of the villages of the ancient Duchy of Teck, -in Wuertemberg, it is customary when a corpse is being conveyed to the -cemetery, for relatives and friends to surround the dead, and in turn talk -to it--assure it what a blessed rest it is going to, how anxious the -kinsfolk are that it may be comfortable, how handsome will be the cross -set over the grave, how much all desire that it may sleep soundly and not -by any means leave the grave and come haunting old scenes and friends, how -unreasonable such conduct as the latter hinted at would be, how it would -alter the regard entertained for the deceased, how disrespectful to the -Almighty who gives rest to the good, and how it would be regarded as an -admission of an uneasy conscience. Lively comparisons are drawn between -the joys of Paradise and the vale of tears that has been quitted, so as to -take away from the deceased all desire to return. - -This is a survival of primitive usage and mode of thought, and has its -analogies in many places and among diverse races. - -The Dacotah Indians address the ghost of the dead in the same "soft -solder," to induce it to take the road to the world of spirits and not to -come sauntering back to its wigwam. In Siam and in China it is much the -same; persuasion, flattery, threats are employed. - -Unhappily all ghosts are not open to persuasion, and see through the -designs of the mourners, and with them severer measures have to be -resorted to. Among the Sclavs of the Danube and the Czechs, the bereaved, -after the funeral, on going home turn themselves about after every few -steps and throw sticks, stones, mud, even hot coals in the direction of -the churchyard, so as to frighten the spirit back to the grave so -considerately provided for it. A Finnish tribe has not even the decency to -wait till the corpse is covered with soil; they fire pistols and guns -after it as it goes to its grave, and lies in it. - -In _Hamlet_, at the funeral of Ophelia, the priest says-- - - For charitable prayers, - Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her. - -Unquestionably it must have been customary in England thus to pelt a ghost -that was suspected of the intention to wander. The stake driven through -the suicide's body was a summary and complete way of ensuring that the -ghost would not be troublesome. - -Those Finns who fired guns after a dead man had another expedient for -holding him fast, and that was to nail him down in his coffin. The Arabs -tie his legs together. The Wallacks drive a long nail through the skull; -and this usage explains the many skulls that have been exhumed in Germany -thus perforated. The Icelanders, when a ghost proved troublesome, opened -the grave, cut off the dead man's head, and made the body sit on it. That, -they concluded, would effectually puzzle it how to get about. The -Californian Indians were wont to break the spine of the corpse so as to -paralyse his lower limbs, and make "walking" impossible. Spirit and body -to the unreasoning mind are intimately associated. A hurt done to the body -wounds the soul. Mrs. Crowe, in her _Night Side of Nature_, tells a story -reversing this. A gentleman in Germany was dying--he expressed great -desire to see his son, who was a ne'er-do-well, and was squandering his -money in Paris. At that same time the young man was sitting on a bench in -the Bois de Boulogne, with a switch in his hand. Suddenly he saw his old -father before him. Convinced that he saw a phantom, he raised his switch, -and cut the apparition once, twice, and thrice across the face; and it -vanished. At that moment the dying father uttered a scream, and held his -hands to his face--"My boy! my boy! He is striking me again--again!" and -he died. The Algonquin Indians beat the walls of the death-chamber to -drive out the ghost; in Sumatra, a priest is employed with a broom to -sweep the ghost out. In Scotland, and in North Germany, the chairs on -which a coffin has rested are reversed, lest the dead man should take the -fancy to sit on them instead of going to his grave. In ancient Mexico, -certain professional ghost ejectors were employed, who, after a funeral, -were invited to visit and thoroughly explore the house whence the dead had -been removed, and if they found the ghost lurking about, in corners, in -cupboards, under beds--anywhere, to kick it out. In Siberia, after forty -days' "law" given to the ghost, if it be still found loafing about, the -Schaman is sent for, who drums it out. He extorts brandy, which he -professes to require, as he has to conduct the deceased personally to the -land of spirits, where he will make it and the other guests so fuddled -that they will forget the way back to earth. - -In North Germany a troublesome ghost is bagged, and the bag emptied in -some lone spot, or in the garden of a neighbour against whom a grudge is -entertained. - -Another mode of getting rid of the spirit of the dear departed is to -confuse it as to its way home. This is done in various ways. Sometimes the -road by which it has been carried to its resting-place is swept to efface -the footprints, and a false track is made into a wood or on to a moor, so -that the ghost may take the wrong road. Sometimes ashes are strewn on the -road to hide the footprints. Sometimes the dead is carried rapidly three -or four times round the house so as to make him giddy, and not know in -which direction he is carried. The universal practice of closing the eyes -of the dead may be thought to have originated in the desire that he might -be prevented from seeing his way. - -In many places it was, and is, customary for the dead body to be taken out -of the house, not through the door, but by a hole knocked in the wall for -the purpose, and backwards. In Iceland in the historic period this custom -was reserved for such as died in their seats and not in their beds. One or -two instances occur in the Sagas. In Corea, blinders made of black silk -are put on the dead man's eyes, to prevent him from finding his way home. - -Many savage nations entirely abandon a hut or a camp in which a death has -occurred for precisely the same reason--of throwing out the dead man's -spirit. - -It was a common practice in England till quite recently for the room in -which a death had occurred to be closed for some time, and this is merely -a survival of the custom of abandoning the place where a spirit has left -the body. The Esquimaux take out their dying relatives to huts constructed -of blocks of ice or snow, and leave them there to expire, for ghosts are -as stupid as they are troublesome, they have no more wits than a peacock, -they can only find their way to the place where they died. - -Other usages are to divert a stream and bring the corpse in the river-bed, -or lay it beyond running water, which according to ghost-lore it cannot -pass. Or again, fires are lighted across its path, and it shrinks from -passing through flames. As for water, ghosts loathe it. Among the Matamba -negroes a widow is flung into the water and dipped repeatedly so as to -wash off the ghost of the dead husband, which is supposed to be clinging -to her. In New Zealand, among the Maoris, all who have followed the corpse -dive into water so as to throw off the ghost which is sneaking home after -them. In Tahiti, all who have assisted at a burial run as hard as they can -to the sea and take headers into it for the same object. It is the same in -New Guinea. We see the same idea reduced to a mere form in ancient Rome, -where in place of the dive through water, a vessel of water was carried -twice round those who had followed the corpse, and they were sprinkled. -The custom of washing and purification after a funeral practised by the -Jews is a reminiscence of the usage, with a novel explanation given to it. - -In the South Pacific, in the Hervey Islands, after a death men turn out to -pummel and fight the returning spirit, and give it a good drubbing in the -air. - -Now, perhaps, the reader may have been brought to understand what the -sundry mourning costumes originally meant. They were disguises whereby to -deceive the ghosts, so that they might not recognise and pester with -their undesired attentions the relatives who live. Indians who are wont to -paint themselves habitually, go after a funeral totally unbedecked with -colour. On the other hand, other savages daub themselves fantastically -with various colours, making themselves as unlike what they were -previously as is possible. The Coreans when in mourning assume hats with -low rims that conceal their features. - -The Papuans conceal themselves under extinguishers made of banana leaves. -Elsewhere in New Guinea they envelop themselves in a wickerwork frame in -which they can hardly walk. Among the Mpongues of Western Africa, those -who on ordinary occasions wear garments walk in complete nudity when -suffering bereavement. Valerius Maximus tells us that among the Lycians it -was customary in mourning for the men to disguise themselves in women's -garments. - -The custom of cutting the hair short, and of scratching and disfiguring -the face, and of rending the garments, all originated from the same -thought--to make the survivors irrecognisable by the ghost of the -deceased. Plutarch asserts that the Sacae, after a death, went down into -pits and hid themselves for days from the light of the sun. Australian -widows near the north-west bend of the Murray shave their heads and -plaster them with pipeclay, which, when dry, forms a close-fitting -skull-cap. The spirit of the late lamented on returning to his better -half either does not recognise his spouse, or is so disgusted with her -appearance that he leaves her for ever. - -There is almost no end to the expedients adopted for getting rid of the -dead. Piles of stones are heaped over them, they are buried deep in the -earth, they are walled up in natural caves, they are enclosed in -megalithic structures, they are burned, they are sunk in the sea. They are -threatened, they are cajoled, they are hoodwinked. Every sort of trickery -is had recourse to, to throw them off the scent of home and of their -living relations. - -The wives, horses, dogs slain and buried with them, the copious supplies -of food and drink laid on their graves, are bribes to induce them to be -content with their situation. Nay, further--in very many places no food -may be eaten in the house of mourning for many days after an interment. -The object of course is to disappoint the returning spirit, which comes -seeking a meal, finds none, comes again next day, finds none again, and -after a while desists from returning out of sheer disgust. - -A vast amount of misdirected ingenuity is expended in bamboozling and -bullying the unhappy ghosts; but the feature most striking in these -proceedings is the unanimous agreement in considering these ghosts as such -imbeciles. When they put off their outward husk, they divest themselves of -all that cunning which is the form that intelligence takes in the savage. -Not only so, but although they remember and crave after home comforts, -they absolutely forget the tricks they had themselves played on the souls -of the dead in their own lifetime; they walk and blunder into the traps -which they had themselves laid for other ghosts in the days of their -flesh. - -Perhaps the lowest abyss of dunder-headedness they have been supposed to -reach is when made to mistake their own identity. Recently near Mentone a -series of prehistoric interments in caves have been exposed. They reveal -the dead men as having had their heads daubed over with red oxide of iron. -Still extant races of savages paint, plaster, and disfigure their dead. -The prehistoric Greeks masked them. The Aztecs masked their deceased -kings, and the Siamese do so still. We cannot say with absolute certainty -what the object is--but we are probably not far out when we conjecture the -purpose to be to make the dead forget who they are when they look at their -reflection in the water. There was a favourite song sung some sixty years -ago relative to a little old woman who got "muzzy." Whilst in this -condition some naughty boys cut her skirts at her knees. When she woke up -and saw her condition, "Lawk!" said the little old woman, "this never is -me!" And certain ancient peoples treated their dead in something the same -way; they disguised and disfigured them so that each ghost waking up -might exclaim, "Lawk! this never is me!" And so having lost its identity, -did not consider it had a right to revisit its old home and molest its old -acquaintances. - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF CYPHER - - -In 1680, when M. de Louvois was French Minister of War, he summoned before -him one day a gentleman named Chamilly, and gave him the following -instructions: - -"Start this evening for Basle, in Switzerland; you will reach it in three -days; on the fourth, punctually at two o'clock, station yourself on the -bridge over the Rhine, with a portfolio, ink, and a pen. Watch all that -takes place, and make a memorandum of every particular. Continue doing so -for two hours; have a carriage and post-horses awaiting you;, and at four -precisely mount, and travel night and day till you reach Paris. On the -instant of your arrival, hasten to me with your notes." - -De Chamilly obeyed; he reached Basle, and on the day and at the hour -appointed, stationed himself, pen in hand, on the bridge. Presently a -market-cart drives by; then an old woman with a basket of fruit passes; -anon, a little urchin trundles his hoop by; next an old gentleman in blue -top-coat jogs past on his gray mare. Three o'clock chimes from the -cathedral tower. Just at the last stroke, a tall fellow in yellow -waistcoat and breeches saunters up, goes to the middle of the bridge, -lounges over, and looks at the water; then he takes a step back and -strikes three hearty blows on the footway with his staff. Down goes every -detail in De Chamilly's book. At last the hour of release sounds, and he -jumps into his carriage. Shortly before midnight, after two days of -ceaseless travelling, De Chamilly presented himself before the minister, -feeling rather ashamed at having such trifles to record. M. de Louvois -took the portfolio with eagerness, and glanced over the notes. As his eye -caught the mention of the yellow-breeched man, a gleam of joy flashed -across his countenance. He rushed to the king, roused him from sleep, -spoke in private with him for a few moments, and then four couriers who -had been held in readiness since five on the preceding evening were -despatched with haste. Eight days after, the town of Strasbourg was -entirely surrounded by French troops, and summoned to surrender: it -capitulated and threw open its gates on the 30th of September 1681. -Evidently the three strokes of the stick given by the fellow in yellow -costume, at an appointed hour, were the signal of the success of an -intrigue concerted between M. de Louvois and the magistrates of -Strasbourg, and the man who executed this mission was as ignorant of the -motive as was M. de Chamilly of the motive of his. - -Now this is a specimen of the safest of all secret communications, but it -can only be resorted to on certain rare occasions. When a lengthy despatch -is required to be forwarded, and when such means as those given above are -out of the question, some other method must be employed. Herodotus gives -us a story to the point: it is found also, with variations, in Aulus -Gellius. - -"Histiaeus, when he was anxious to give Aristagoras orders to revolt, could -find but one safe way, as the roads were guarded, of making his wishes -known: which was by taking the trustiest of his slaves, shaving all the -hair from off his head, and then pricking letters upon the skin, and -waiting till the hair grew again. This accordingly he did; and as soon as -ever the hair was grown, he despatched the man to Miletus, giving him no -other message than this: 'When thou art come to Miletus, bid Aristagoras -shave thy head, and look thereon.' Now the marks on the head were a -command to revolt."--Bk. v. 35. - -In this case no cypher was employed; we shall come, now, to the use of -cyphers. - -When a despatch or communication runs great risk of falling into the hands -of an enemy, it is necessary that its contents should be so veiled, that -the possession of the document may afford him no information whatever. -Julius Caesar and Augustus used cyphers, but they were of the utmost -simplicity, as they consisted merely in placing D in the place of A; E in -that of B, and so on; or else in writing B for A, C for B, etc. - -Secret characters were used at the Council of Nicaea; and Rabanus Maurus, -Abbot of Fulda and Archbishop of Mayence in the ninth century, has left us -an example of two cyphers, the key to which was discovered by the -Benedictines. It is only a wonder that any one could have failed to -unravel them at the first glance. This is a specimen of the first: - - .Nc.p.t v:rs:.:s B::n.f:c.. :rch. gl::r.::s.q:.:: m:rt.r.s - -The secret of this is that the vowels have been suppressed and their -places filled by dots,--one for i, two for a, three for e, four for o, and -five for u. In the second example, the same sentence would run--Knckpkt -vfrsxs Bpnkfbckk, etc., the vowel-places being filled by the -consonants--b, f, k, p, x. By changing every letter in the alphabet, we -make a vast improvement on this last; thus, for instance, supplying the -place of a with z, b with x, c with v, and so on. This is the system -employed by an advertiser in a provincial paper which I took up the other -day in the waiting-room of a station, where it had been left by a farmer. -As I had some minutes to spare, before the train was due, I spent them in -deciphering the following: - - Jp Sjddjzb rza rzdd ci sijmr, Bziw rzdd xr ndzt: - -and in ten minutes I read: "If William can call or write, Mary will be -glad." - -A correspondence was carried on in the _Times_ during May 1862 in cypher. -I give it along with the explanation. - - Wws.--Zy Efpdolj T dpye l wpeepc ez mjcyp qzc jzf--xlj T daply qfwwj - zy lww xleepcd le esp tyepcgtph? Te xlj oz rzzo. Ecfde ez xj wzgp--T - lx xtdpclmwp. Hspy xlj T rz ez Nlyepcmfcj tq zywj ez wzzv le jzf.--May - 8. - -This means--"On Tuesday I sent a letter to Byrne for you. May I speak -fully on all matters at the interview? It may do good. Trust to my love. I -am miserable. When may I go to Canterbury if only to look at you?" - -A couple of days later Byrne advertises, slightly varying the cypher: - - Wws.--Sxhrdktg hdbtewxcv "Tmwxqxixdc axzt" udg pcdewtg psktgexhtbtce - ... QNGCT. "Discover something _Exhibition-like_ for another - advertisement. Byrne." - -This gentleman is rather mysterious: I must leave my readers to conjecture -what he means by "Exhibition-like." On Wednesday came two advertisements, -one from the lady--one from the lover. WWS. herself seems rather -sensible-- - - Tydeplo zq rztyr ez nlyepcmfcj, T estyv jzf slo xfns mpeepc delj le - szxp lyo xtyo jzfc mfdtypdd.--WWS., May 10. - -"Instead of going to Canterbury, I think you had much better stay at home -and mind your business." - -Excellent advice; but how far likely to be taken by the eager wooer, who -advertises thus?-- - - Wws.--Fyetw jzfc qlespc lydhpcd T hzye ldv jzf ez aczgp jzf wzgp xp. - Efpdol ytrse le zyp znwznv slgp I dectyr qczx esp htyozh qzc wpeepcd. - Tq jzt lcp yze lmwp le zyp T htww hlte. Rzo nzxqzce jzf xj olcwtyr - htqp. - -"Until your father answers I won't ask you to prove you love me. Tuesday -night at one o'clock have a string from the window for letters. If you are -not able at one I will wait. God comfort you, my darling wife." - -Only a very simple Romeo and Juliet could expect to secure secrecy by so -slight a displacement of the alphabet. - -When the Chevalier de Rohan was in the Bastille, his friends wanted to -convey to him the intelligence that his accomplice was dead without having -confessed. They did so by passing the following words into his dungeon, -written on a shirt: "Mg dulhxcclgu ghj yxuj; lm ct ulgc alj." In vain did -he puzzle over the cypher, to which he had not the clue. It was too short: -for the shorter a cypher letter, the more difficult it is to make out. The -light faded, and he tossed on his hard bed, sleeplessly revolving the -mystic letters in his brain, but he could make nothing out of them. Day -dawned, and, with its first gleam, he was poring over them: still in vain. -He pleaded guilty, for he could not decipher "Le prisonnier est mort; il -_n'a rien dit_." - -Another method of veiling a communication is that of employing numbers or -arbitrary signs in the place of letters, and this admits of many -refinements. Here is an example to test the reader's sagacity: - - [S] [dagger]431 45 2+9 +[S]51 4= 8732+ 287 45 2+9 [dagger][P]=+ - -I just give the hint that it is a proverb. - -The following is much more ingenious, and difficult of detection. - - +-----------------------------------+ - | | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | - |---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---| - | A |_a_|_d_|_g_|_k_|_n_|_q_|_t_|_x_| - | | | | | | | | | | - | B |_b_|_e_|_h_|_l_|_o_|_r_|_u_|_y_| - | | | | | | | | | | - | C |_c_|_f_|_i_|_m_|_p_|_s_|_w_|_z_| - +-----------------------------------+ - -Now suppose that I want to write _England_; I look among the small letters -in the foregoing table for _e_, and find that it is in a horizontal line -with B, and vertical line with B, so I write down _B_B; _n_ is in line -with A and E, so I put AE; continue this, and England will be represented -by _Bbaeacbdaaaeab_. Two letters to represent one is not over-tedious: but -the scheme devised by Lord Bacon is clumsy enough. He represented every -letter by permutations of _a_ and _b_; for instance, - - A was written _aaaaa_, B was written _aaaab_ - C " " _aaaba_, D " " _aabaa_ - -and so through the alphabet. Paris would thus be transformed into _abbba, -aaaaa, baaaa, abaaa, baaab_. Conceive the labour of composing a whole -despatch like this, and the great likelihood of making blunders in writing -it! - -A much simpler method is the following. The sender and receiver of the -communication must be agreed upon a certain book of a specified edition. -The despatch begins with a number; this indicates the page to which the -reader is to turn. He must then count the letters from the top of the -page, and give them their value numerically according to the order in -which they come; omitting those which are repeated. By these numbers he -reads his despatch. As an example, let us take the beginning of this -article: then, _I_ = 1, _n_ = 2, _w_ = 3, _h_ = 4, _e_ = 5, _m_ = 6, _d_ = -7, _l_ = 8, _o_ = 9, _u_ = 10, _v_ = 11, omitting to count the letters -which are repeated. In the middle of the communication the page may be -varied, and consequently the numerical significance of each letter -altered. Even this could be read with a little trouble; and the word -"impossible" can hardly be said to apply to the deciphering of -cryptographs. - -A curious instance of this occurred at the close of the sixteenth century, -when the Spaniards were endeavouring to establish relations between the -scattered branches of their vast monarchy, which at that period embraced a -large portion of Italy, the Low Countries, the Philippines, and enormous -districts in the New World. They accordingly invented a cypher, which -they varied from time to time, in order to disconcert those who might -attempt to pry into the mysteries of their correspondence. The cypher, -composed of fifty signs, was of great value to them through all the -troubles of the "Ligue," and the wars then desolating Europe. Some of -their despatches having been intercepted, Henry IV. handed them over to a -clever mathematician, Viete, with the request that he would find the clue. -He did so, and was able also to follow it as it varied, and France -profited for two years by his discovery. The court of Spain, disconcerted -at this, accused Viete before the Roman court as a sorcerer and in league -with the devil. This proceeding only gave rise to laughter and ridicule. - -A still more remarkable instance is that of a German professor, Hermann, -who boasted, in 1752, that he had discovered a cryptograph absolutely -incapable of being deciphered, without the clue being given by him; and he -defied all the savants and learned societies of Europe to discover the -key. However, a French refugee, named Beguelin, managed after eight days' -study to read it. This cypher--though we have the rules upon which it is -formed before us--is to us perfectly unintelligible. It is grounded on -some changes of numbers and symbols; numbers vary, being at one time -multiplied, at another added, and become so complicated that the letter -_e_, which occurs nine times in the paragraph, is represented in eight -different ways; _n_ is used eight times, and has seven various signs. -Indeed the same letter is scarcely ever represented by the same figure; -but this is not all: the character which appears in the place of _i_ takes -that of _n_ shortly after; another symbol for _n_ stands also for _t_. How -any man could have solved the mystery of this cypher is astonishing. - -Now let me recommend a far simpler system, and one which is very difficult -of detection. It consists of a combination of numbers and letters. Both -parties must be agreed on an arrangement such as that in the second line -below, for on it all depends. - - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - 4 7 2 9 1 10 5 3 6 8 - -Now in turning a sentence such as "The army must retire" into cypher, you -count the letters which make the sentence, and find that T is the first, H -the second, E the third, A the fourth, R the fifth, and so on. Then look -at the table. T is the first letter; 4 answers to 1; therefore write the -fourth letter in the place of T; that is A instead of T. For _h_ the -second, put the seventh, which is _y_; for E, take the second, _h_. The -sentence will stand "Ayh utsr emma yhutsr." It is all but impossible to -discover this cypher. - -All these cryptographs consist in the exchange of numbers or characters -for the real letters; but there are other methods quite as intricate, -which dispense with them. - -The mysterious cards of the Count de Vergennes are an instance. De -Vergennes was Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XVI., and he made -use of cards of a peculiar nature in his relations with the diplomatic -agents of France. These cards were used in letters of recommendation or -passports which were given to strangers about to enter France; they were -intended to furnish information without the knowledge of the bearers. This -was the system. The card given to a man contained only a few words, such -as: - - ALPHONSE D'ANGEHA. - - Recommande a Monsieur - le Comte de Vergennes, par le Marquis de Puysegur, - Ambassadeur de France a la Cour de Lisbonne. - -The card told more tales than the words written on it. Its colour -indicated the nation of the stranger. Yellow showed him to be English; -red, Spanish; white, Portuguese; green, Dutch; red and white, Italian; red -and green, Swiss; green and white, Russian; etc. The person's age was -expressed by the shape of the card. If it were circular, he was under 25; -oval, between 25 and 30; octagonal, between 30 and 45; hexagonal, between -45 and 50; square, between 50 and 60; and oblong showed that he was over -60. Two lines placed below the name of the bearer indicated his build. If -he were tall and lean, the lines were waving and parallel; tall and stout, -they converged; and so on. The expression of his face was shown by a -flower in the border. A rose designated an open and amiable countenance, -whilst a tulip marked a pensive and aristocratic appearance. A fillet -round the border, according to its length, told whether the man was -bachelor, married, or widower. Dots gave information as to his position -and fortune. A full stop after his name showed that he was a Catholic; a -semicolon, that he was a Lutheran; a comma, that he was a Calvinist; a -dash, that he was a Jew; no stop indicated him as an Atheist. So also his -morals and character were pointed out by a pattern in the angles of the -card, such as one of these: - -[Illustration] - -Consequently, at one glance the minister could tell all about his man, -whether he were a gamester or a duellist; what was his purpose in visiting -France; whether in search of a wife or to claim a legacy; what was his -profession--that of physician, lawyer, or man of letters; whether he were -to be put under surveillance or allowed to go his way unmolested. - -We come now to a class of cypher which requires a certain amount of -literary dexterity to conceal the clue. - -During the Great Rebellion, Sir John Trevanion, a distinguished Cavalier, -was made prisoner, and locked up in Colchester Castle. Sir Charles Lucas -and Sir George Lisle had just been made examples of, as a warning to -"malignants": and Trevanion has every reason for expecting a similar -bloody end. As he awaits his doom, indulging in a hearty curse in round -Cavalier terms at the canting, crop-eared scoundrels who hold him in -durance vile, and muttering a wish that he had fallen, sword in hand, -facing the foe, he is startled by the entrance of the gaoler who hands him -a letter: - -"May't do thee good," growls the fellow; "it has been well looked to -before it was permitted to come to thee." - -Sir John takes the letter, and the gaoler leaves him his lamp by which to -read it: - - WORTHIE SIR JOHN--Hope, that is ye beste comfort of ye afflictyd, - cannot much, I fear me, help you now. That I wolde saye to you, is - this only: if ever I may be able to requite that I do owe you, stand - not upon asking of me. 'Tis not much I can do: but what I can do, bee - you verie sure I wille. I knowe that, if dethe comes, if ordinary men - fear it, it frights not you, accounting it for a high honour, to have - such a rewarde of your loyalty. Pray yet that you may be spared this - soe bitter, cup. I fear not that you will grudge any sufferings: only - if bie submission you can turn them away, 'tis the part of a wise man. - Tell me, an if you can, to do for you any thinge that you wolde have - done. The general goes back on Wednesday. Restinge your servant to - command. - - R. T. - -Now this letter was written according to a preconcerted cypher. Every -third letter after a stop was to tell. In this way Sir John made -out--"Panel at east end of chapel slides." On the following even, the -prisoner begged to be allowed to pass an hour of private devotion in the -chapel. By means of a bribe, this was accomplished. Before the hour had -expired, the chapel was empty--the bird had flown. - -An excellent plan of indicating the _telling_ letter or word is through -the heading of the letter. "Sir," would signify that every third letter -was to be taken; "Dear sir," that every seventh; "My dear sir," that every -ninth was to be selected. A system, very early adopted, was that of having -pierced cards, through the holes of which the communication was written. -The card was then removed, and the blank spaces filled up. As for example: - - MY DEAR X.--[The] lines I now send you are forwarded by the kindness - of the [Bearer], who is a friend. [Is not] the message delivered yet - [to] my Brother? [Be] quick about it, for I have all along [trusted] - that you would act with discretion and despatch.--Yours ever, - - Z. - -Put your card over the note, and through the piercings you will read: "The -Bearer is not to be trusted." - -The following letter will give two totally distinct meanings, according as -it is read, straight through, or only by alternate lines:-- - - MADEMOISELLE,-- - - Je m'empresse de vous ecrire pour vous declarer que vous vous trompez - beaucoup si vous croyez que vous etes celle pour qui je soupire. Il - est bien vrai que pour vous eprouver, Je vous ai fait mille aveux. - Apres quoi vous etes devenue l'objet de ma raillerie. Ainsi ne doutez - plus de ce que vous dit ici celui qui n'a eu que de l'aversion pour - vous, et qui aimerait mieux mourir que de se voir oblige de vous - epouser, et de changer le dessein qu'il a forme de vous hair toute sa - vie, bien loin de vous aimer, comme il vous l'a declare. Soyez done - desabusee, croyez-moi; et si vous etes encore constante et persuadee - que vous etes aimee vous serez encore plus exposee a la risee de tout - le monde, et particulierement de celui qui n'a jamais ete et ne sera - jamais - - Votre ser'teur M. N. - -We must not omit to mention Chronograms. These are verses which contain -within them the date of the composition. In 1885 I built a boathouse by a -lake in my grounds. A friend wrote the following chronogram for it, which -I had painted, and affixed to the house: - - Thy breaD upon the Waters Cast - In CertaIn trust to fInd. - sInCe Well thou know'st God's eye doth Mark, - Where fIshes' eyes are bLind. - -This gives the date. - - D = 500 + W= 510 + C = 610 + I = 611 - + C = 711 + I = 712 + I = 713 + I = 714 - + C = 814 + W = 824 + M = 1824 - + W = 1834 + I = 1835 + L = 1885. - -The W represents two V's, _i.e._ 10. - -A very curious one was written by Charles de Bovelle: we adapt and explain -it:-- - - The heads of a mouse and five cats M.CCCCC - Add also the tail of a bull L - Item, the four legs of a rat IIII - ------------- - And you have my date in full M.CCCCCL.IIII - (1554.) - -It is now high time that we show the reader how to find the clue to a -cypher. And as illustration is always better than precept, we shall -exemplify from our own experience. With permission, too, we shall drop the -plural for the singular. - -Well! My friend Matthew Fletcher came into a property some years ago, -bequeathed to him by a great-uncle. The old gentleman had been notorious -for his parsimonious habits, and he was known through the county by the -nickname of Miser Tom. Of course every one believed that he was vastly -rich, and that Mat Fletcher would come in for a mint of money. But, -somehow, my friend did not find the stores of coin on which he had -calculated, hidden in worsted stockings or cracked pots; and the savings -of the old man which he did light upon consisted of but trifling sums. -Fletcher became firmly persuaded that the money was hidden _somewhere_; -where he could not tell, and he often came to consult me on the best -expedient for discovering it. It is all through my intervention that he -did not pull down the whole house about his ears, tear up every floor, and -root up every flower or tree throughout the garden, in his search after -the precious hoard. One day he burst into my room with radiant face. - -"My dear fellow!" he gasped forth, "I have found it!" - -"Found what?--the treasure?" - -"No--but I want your help now," and he flung a discoloured slip of paper -on my table. - -I took it up, and saw that it was covered with writing in cypher. - -"I routed it out of a secret drawer in Uncle Tom's bureau!" he exclaimed. -"I have no doubt of its purport. It indicates the spot where all his -savings are secreted." - -"You have not deciphered it yet, have you?" - -"No. I want your help; I can make neither heads nor tails of the scrawl, -though I sat up all night studying it." - -"Come along," said I, "I wish you joy of your treasure. I'll read the -cypher if you give me time." So we sat down together at my desk, with the -slip of paper before us. Here is the inscription:-- - -[Illustration] - -"Now," said I, "the order of precedence among the letters, according to -the frequency of their recurrence, is this, e a o i t d h n r s u y c f g -l m w b k p q x z. This, however, is their order, according to the number -of words begun by each respectively, s c p a d i f b l b t, etc. The most -frequent compounds are th, ng, ee, ll, mm, tt, dd, nn. Pray, Matthew, do -you see any one sign repeated oftener than the others in this -cryptograph?" - -"Yes, 8; it is repeated twenty-three times," said Fletcher, after a pause. - -"Then you may be perfectly satisfied that it stands for e, which is used -far oftener than any other letter in English. Next, look along the lines -and see what letters most frequently accompany it." - -"2 [S] undoubtedly; it follows 8 in several places, and precedes it in -others. In the third line we have 2 [S] 8--82 [S]--[S] 8--8 [S] 8 and -then 2 [S] 8 again." - -"Then we may fairly assume that 2 [S] 8 stands for _the_." - -"_The_, to be sure," burst forth Fletcher. "Now the next word will be -money. No! it can't be, the e will not suit; perhaps it is treasure, gold, -hoard, store." - -"Wait a little bit," I interposed. "Now look what letters are doubled." - -"88 and 22," said my friend Mat. - -"And please observe," I continued, "that where I draw a line and write A -you have e, then double t, then e again. Probably this is the middle of a -word, and as we have already supposed 2 to stand for t, we have--ette--, a -very likely combination. We may be sure of the t now. Near the end of the -third line, there is a remarkable passage, in which the three letters we -know recur continually. Let us write it out, leaving blanks for the -letters we do not know, and placing the ascertained letters instead of -their symbols. Then it stands--e[Greek: ch]the[Greek: ch]eth--he[Greek: -ch]ehe[Greek: ch] ethe--. Now here I have a [Greek: ch] repeated four -times, and from its position it must be a consonant. I will put in its -place one consonant after another. You see r is the only one which turns -the letters into words.--_erthereth--here_ . _here the--_surely some of -these should stand out distinctly separated--_er there th-- here_ . _here -the_. Look! I can see at once what letters are wanting; _th--_ between -_there_ and _here_ must be _than_, and then [cross] _here_ is, must be, -_where_. So now I have found these letters, - - 8 = e, r = t, [S] = h, [Greek: ch] = r, -- = a, + = n, [cross] = w, - -and I can confirm the [Greek: ch] as _r_ by taking the portion marked -A_--etter_. Here we get an end of an adjective in the comparative degree; -I think it must be _better_." - -"Let us next take a group of cyphers higher up; I will pencil over it D. I -take this group because it contains some of the letters which we have -settled _--eathn_. Eath must be the end of a word, for none begins with -athn, thn, or hn. Now what letter will suit eath? Possibly _h_, probably -_d_." - -"Yes," exclaimed Fletcher, "_Death_, to be sure. I can guess it all: -'Death is approaching, and I feel that a solemn duty devolves upon me, -namely, that of acquainting Matthew Fletcher, my heir, with the spot where -I have hidden my savings.' Go on, go on." - -"All in good time, friend," I laughed. "You observe we can confirm our -guess as to the sign ) being used for _d_, by comparing the -passage--29[S]--)*8228[Greek: ch], which we now read, _t. had better_. But -_t. had better_ is awkward; you cannot make 9 into _o_; 'to had,' would be -no sense." - -"Of course not," burst forth Fletcher. "Don't you see it all? _I had -better_ let my excellent nephew know where I have deposited----" - -"Wait a bit," interrupted I; "you are right, I believe. _I_ -is the signification of 9. Let us begin the whole cryptograph -now:--_N.tethi.i.t.re.ind.e._" - -"_Remind me!_" cried Fletcher. - -"You have it again," said I. "Now we obtain an additional letter besides -_m_, for _t. remind me_ is certainly _to remind me_. We must begin -again:--_Note thi.i. to remind me_." - -"_This is_," called out my excited friend, whose eyes were sparkling with -delight and expectation. "Go on; you are a trump!" - -"These, then, are our additional letters:--) = d, 7 = m, [Greek: b] = s, -9 = i, [Greek: l] = o. _To remind me i.i. ee. m. death ni.h_; for _m. -death_, I read _my death_, and _i.i. ee._, I guess to be, _if I feel_. So -it stands thus:--'Note.--This is to remind me, if I feel my death nigh, -that I had better----'" - -I worked on now in silence; Fletcher, leaning his chin on his hands, sat -opposite, staring into my face with breathless anxiety. Presently I -exclaimed: - -"Halves, Mat! I think you said halves!" - -"I--I--I--I--my very dear fellow, I----" - -"A very excellent man was your uncle; a most exemplary----" - -"All right, I know that," said Fletcher, cutting me short. "Do read the -paper; I have a spade and pick on my library table, all ready for work the -moment I know where to begin." - -"But, really, he was a man in a thousand, a man of such discretion, such -foresight, so much----" - -Down came Fletcher's hand on the desk. - -"Do go on!" he cried; and I could see that he was swearing internally; he -would have sworn _ore rotundo_, only that it would have been uncivil, and -decidedly improper. - -"Very well; you are prepared to hear all?" - -"All! by Jove! by Jingo! prepared for everything." - -"Then this is what I read," said I, taking up my own transcript:-- - -"_Note.--This is to remind me, if I feel my death nigh, that I had better -move to Birmingham, as burials are done cheaper there than here, where the -terms of the Necropolis Company are exorbitant._" - -Fletcher bounded from his seat. "The old skinflint! miser! screw!" - -"A very estimable and thrifty man, your great-uncle." - -"Confounded old stingy--," and he slammed the door upon himself and the -substantive which designated his uncle. - -And now, the very best advice I can give to my readers, is to set to work -at once on the simple cypher given near the commencement of this paper, -and to find it out. - - - - -STRANGE WILLS - - -Of course we ought to begin with Adam's will, the father of all wills; and -if we could produce that patriarchal document, we should undoubtedly find -in it the germs of all the merits, faults, and eccentricities of wills to -come. But, unfortunately, though a testament of Adam does exist, it is a -forgery; and nothing will convince us to the contrary,--not even the -Mussulman tradition, which asserts that on the occasion of our great -forefather beginning to make his bequests, seventy legions of angels -brought him sheets of paper and quill pens, nicely nibbed, all the way -from Paradise; and that the Archangel Gabriel set-to his seal as witness. -What! four hundred and twenty thousand sheets of paper!--surely a needless -consumption of material, when there was nothing to be bequeathed but a -view over the hedge of an impracticable garden. - -If we pass to Noah's testament, we are again among the apocrypha. In it, -Noah portions his landed property, the globe, into three shares, one for -each son: America is not included in the division for obvious reasons. It -was left for "manners" sake, and manners has never got it. - -The testament of the twelve Patriarchs must be glanced at, which is -received as semi-canonical by the Armenian Church, though it is -unquestionably apocryphal. Reuben speaks of sleep as having been in -Paradise, only a sweet ecstasy; whereas, after the Fall, it has become a -continually recurring image of death. Simeon bewails his former hostility -to Joseph; and relates, that his brother's bones were preserved in the -Royal treasury of Egypt. Levi is oracular; Judah rejoices in the sceptre -left to his race; Issachar unfolds the future of the Jews; Zebulun relates -that the brethren supplied themselves with shoes from the money which they -got by the sale of Joseph. There seems to be some allusion to this -tradition in the Prophet Amos (ii. 6; viii. 6). Dan recommends his -posterity to practise humility; Naphtali sees visions; Gad is contrite; -Asher prophesies the coming of the Messiah; Joseph, the incarnation; -Benjamin, the destruction of the Temple. - -There exists a very curious and ancient testament of Job, which was -discovered and published by Cardinal Mai, in 1839; it relates many details -which we may look for in vain in the Canonical Book. In it Job's faithful -wife, when reduced to the utmost poverty, sells the hair of her head to -procure bread for her husband. - -What a remarkable document a will is! It is the voice of a man now dead, -coming back in the hush of a darkened house--from the vault, low and -hoarse as an echo. It speaks, and people hearken; it commands, and people -obey; law supports and enforces its wishes; no power on earth can alter -it. We expect to hear the voice calm, earnest, and speaking true judgment; -terrible indeed if it breaks out with a snarl of hate--more terrible still -if it gibbers and laughs a hollow, ghost-like laugh. For, surely, the most -solemn moment of a life is that when the will is written: that will, which -is to speak for man when the voice is passed as a dream; when the heart -which devises it has ceased to throb; the head which frames it has done -with thinking--under the fresh mould; the hand which pens it has been -pressed, thin and white, against a cold shroud, to moulder with it; surely -he who, at such a moment, can write words of hate must have a black heart, -but he who ventures then to gibe and jest must have no heart at all. - -There is some truth in the old ghost-creed; man _can_ return after death; -he does so in his will. He comes to some, as Jupiter came to Danae, in a -shower of gold; to others, as a blighting spectre, whose promised -treasures turn to dust. What excitement the reading of a will causes in a -family! and what interest does the world at large take in the bequests of -a person of position! The last words of great men seem always to have -possessed a peculiar value in the eyes of the people. - -"Live, Brutus, live!" shouts the Roman mob in _Julius Caesar_; but on -hearing what Caesar's will promises, how - - To every Roman citizen he gives,-- - To every several man,--seventy-five drachmas. - His private arbours, and new-planted orchards, - On this side Tiber: he hath left them you, - And to your heirs for ever;---- - -then the mob changes note, and with one voice shouts, "To Brutus, to -Cassius;--burn all!" - - Testamenta hominum speculum esse morum vulgo creditur.--Plin. jun., 8 - Ess. 18. - -So they are! They are the last touch of the brush in the great picture of -civilisation, manners, and customs, lightening it up. - -Would that space permitted me to enter into the history of wills: a few -curious particulars alone can we admit. - -To die without having made a will was formerly regarded with horror. A -very common custom in the Middle Ages was that of leaving considerable -benefactions to the Church. This was well enough, but the clergy were not -satisfied until it was made compulsory. - -Ducange says that neglect of leaving to the Church indicated a profanity -which deserved punishment by a refusal of the rites of the last sacraments -and burial. The clergy of Brittany, in the fourteenth century, claimed a -third of the household goods; the death-bed became ecclesiastical property -in the diocese of Auxerre; and Clement V. settled the claims of the -Church by deciding that the parish priest might take as his perquisite a -ninth of all the movables in the house of the dead man, after the debts of -the deceased had been paid off. - -A sufficiency of historical notes. I will proceed at once--perhaps -somewhat strangely--to give the reader a specimen of a will coming -decidedly under the heading of this article. It is that of a _Pig_. The -will is ancient enough. S. Jerome, in his "Prooemium on Isaiah," speaks of -it, saying, that in his time (fourth century) children were wont to sing -it at school, amidst shouts of laughter. Alexander Brassicanus, who died -in 1539, was the first to publish it; he found it in a MS. at Mayence. -Later, G. Fabricius gave a corrected edition of it from another MS. found -at Memel, and, since then, it has been in the hands of the learned. The -original is in Latin; I translate, modifying slightly one expression and -omitting one bequest: - - I, M. Grunnius Corocotta Porcellus, have made my testament, which, as - I can't write myself, I have dictated. - - Says Magirus, the cook: "Come along, thou who turnest the house - topsy-turvy, spoiler of the pavement, O fugitive Porcellus! I am - resolved to slaughter thee to-day." - - Says Corocotta Porcellus: "If ever I have done thee any wrong, if I - have sinned in any way, if I have smashed any wee pots with my feet; O - Master Cook, grant pardon to thy suppliant!" - - Says the cook Magirus: "Halloo, boy! go, bring me a carving-knife out - of the kitchen, that I may make a bloody Porcellus of him." - - Porcellus is caught by the servants, and brought out to execution on - the xvi. before the Lucernine Kalends, just when young colewortsprouts - are in plenty, Clybaratus and Piperatus being Consuls. - - Now when he saw that he was about to die, he begged hard of the cook - an hour's grace, just to write his will. He called together his - relations, that he might leave to them some of his victuals; and he - said: - - I will and bequeath to my papa, Verrinus Lardinus, 30 bush. of - acorns. - - I will and bequeath to my mamma, Veturina Scrofa, 40 bush. of - Laconian corn. - - I will and bequeath to my sister, Quirona, at whose nuptials I may - not be present, 30 bush. of barley. - - Of my mortal remains, I will and bequeath my bristles to the cobblers, - my teeth to squabblers, my ears to the deaf, my tongue to lawyers and - chatterboxes, my entrails to tripemen, my hams to gluttons, my stomach - to little boys, my tail to little girls, my muscles to effeminate - parties, my heels to runners and hunters, my claws to thieves; and, to - a certain cook, whom I won't mention by name, I bequeath the cord and - stick which I brought with me from my oak-grove to the sty, in hopes - that he may take the cord and hang himself with it. - - I will that a monument be erected to me, inscribed with this, in - golden letters: - - M. GRUNNIUS COROCOTTA PORCELLUS, who lived 999 years,--six months - more, and he would have been 1000 years old. - - Friends dear to me whilst I lived, I pray you to have a kindness - towards my body, and embalm it well with good condiments, such as - almonds, pepper, and honey, that my name may be named through ages to - come. - - O my masters and my comrades, who have assisted at the drawing up of - this testament, order it to be signed. - - (Signed) Lucanicus. Celsanus. - Pergillus. Lardio. - Mystialicus. Offellicus. - Cymatus. - -Whilst on this subject we might say a word about the epitaph on the mule -of P. Crassus; or about that written by Rapin on the ass, which, poor -fellow, was eaten whilst in the flower of his age, during the siege of -Paris, in 1590; or about Joachim du Bellay, who composed an epitaph on his -cat; or about Justus Lipsius, who erected mausoleums for his three -cats--Mopsus, Saphisus, and Mopsulus; but we are not writing on epitaphs -or gravestones. - -We proceed to give a few instances of animals which have received -legacies. - -If it is a keen trial for a husband to leave his wife, for a young man to -be taken from his pleasures, or a commercial man from his business, can we -wonder at old ladies feeling the wrench sharp which tears them from the -society of their dear cats--the companions of their spinsterhood or -widowhood; or at old bachelors being distressed at having to part with -their faithful dogs?--to part with them for ever, too, unless we believe -in the suggestion of Bishop Butler and Theodore Parker, that there is a -future for beasts, and enjoy the confidence of Mr. Sewell of Exeter -College, who dedicated one of his published poems "To my Pony in Heaven." - -The Count de la Mirandole, who died in 1825, left a legacy to his -favourite carp, which he had nourished for twenty years in an antique -fountain standing in his hall. In low life we find the same love for an -animal displayed by a peasant of Toulouse, in 1781, who doted on his old -chestnut horse, and left the following will: - - I declare that I institute my chestnut horse sole legatee, and I wish - him to belong to my nephew N. - -This testament was attacked, but, curiously enough, it received legal -confirmation. - -The following clause from a will was in the English papers for March 1828: - - I leave to my monkey, my dear, amusing Jackoo, the sum of 10_l._ - sterling, to be enjoyed by him during his life; it is to be expended - solely in his keep. I leave to my faithful dog, Shock, and to my - beloved cat, Tib, 5_l._ sterling a-piece, as yearly pension. In the - event of the death of one of the aforesaid legatees, the sum due to - him shall pass to the two survivors, and on the death of one of these - two, to the last, be he who he may. After the decease of all parties, - the sum left them shall belong to my daughter G----, to whom I show - this preference, above all my children, because she has a large family - and finds a difficulty in filling their mouths and educating them. - -But a more curious case still is that of Mr. Berkley of Knightsbridge, who -died 5th May 1805. He left a pension of L25 per annum to his four dogs. -This singular individual had spent the latter part of his life wrapped in -the society of his curs, on whom he lavished every mark of affection. -When any one ventured to remonstrate with him for expending so much money -on their maintenance, or suggested that the poor were more deserving of -sympathy than those mongrel pups, he would reply: "Men assailed my life: -dogs preserved it." This was a fact, for Mr. B. had been attacked by -brigands in Italy, and had been rescued by his dog, whose descendants the -four pets were. When he felt his end approaching, he had his four dogs -placed on couches by the sides of his bed. He received their last -caresses, extended to them his faltering hand, and breathed his last -between their paws. According to his desire, the busts of these favoured -brutes were sculptured at the corners of his tomb. - -In 1677, died Madame Dupuis, who, under her maiden name of Mademoiselle -Jeanne Felix, had been known as a great musician. Her will was so -extraordinary and malicious that it was nullified. To it was attached a -memorandum, which is still more extraordinary. We shall not quote the -passages wherein she vilifies her son-in-law, imputing to him every vice -she can think of, but translate the final clause: - - I pray Mademoiselle Bluteau, my sister, and Madame Calogne, my niece, - to take care of my cats. Whilst these two live, they shall have thirty - sous a month, that they may be well fed. They must have, twice a day, - meat soup of the quality usually served on table; but they must be - given it separately, each having his own saucer. The bread must not be - crumbled in the soup, but cut up into pieces about the size of - hazel-nuts, or they cannot eat it. When boiled beef is put into the - pot with the soaked bread, some thin slices of raw meat must be put - in as well, and the whole stewed till it is fit for eating. When only - one cat lives, half the money will suffice. Nicole Pigeon shall take - care of the cats, and cherish them. Madame Calogne may go and see - them. - -Certainly people show their love in different ways. Councillor Winslow of -Copenhagen (d. 24th June 1811) ordered by will that his carriage horses -should be shot, to prevent their falling into the hands of cruel masters. - -We need only mention the "cat and dog" money, which is yearly given to six -poor weavers' widows of the names of Fabry or Ovington, at Christ Church, -Spitalfields, and which, according to tradition, was left in the first -instance for the support of cats and dogs; and remind our readers of the -cow and bull benefactions in several English parishes, where money has -been left to the parish to provide cattle whose milk may go to the poor. -The poor have been often remembered by testators, as our numerous -almshouses, benefactions, and doles prove. - -It were difficult to choose a better sample of a charitable bequest, which -could properly come under our title, than the following simple and -touching will of a French priest, Jean Certain, cure of a little parish in -the Cote d'Or, who died in 1740, worth some L1200: - - I brought with me nothing into my parish but my cassock and - breviary,--these I leave to my heirs: the rest I bequeath to the poor - of my parish. - -Wives, poor bodies! do not come off well, for a crabbed husband will -sometimes control and torment his good woman after he is dead and buried, -or even play a bitter jest, as did one man, who left his wife 500 guineas, -but with the stipulation that she was not to enjoy it till after her -death, when the sum was to be expended on her funeral. Or, as the author -of the following: - - Since I have had the misfortune of having had to wife Elizabeth M----, - who, since our marriage, has tormented me in a thousand ways; and - since, not content with showing her contempt for my advice, she has - done everything that lay in her power to render my life a burden to - me; so that Heaven seems only to have sent her into the world for the - purpose of getting me out of it the sooner; and since the strength of - Samson, the genius of Homer, the prudence of Augustus, the skill of - Pyrrhus, the patience of Job, the subtlety of Hannibal, the vigilance - of Hermogenes, would not suffice to tame the perversity of her - character; and since nothing can change her, though we have lived - separated for eight years, without my having gained anything by it but - the loss of my son, whom she has spoiled, and whom she has persuaded - to abandon me altogether; weighing carefully and attentively all these - considerations, I have bequeathed, and do bequeath, to the aforesaid - Elizabeth M----, my wife, _one shilling_. - -The clause in Shakespeare's will must not be forgotten: - - I gyve unto my wief, my second-best bed, with the furniture, and - nothing else. - -We hope that this was not intended as a spiteful jest; but men are -irritable, and women are so trying! The best bed would not have been a bad -gift, as the grand four-poster was an expensive article in Elizabethan -days; but the second-best seems _rather_ a paltry legacy. However, as we -are perfectly sure to have the noble army of Shakespearean commentators -down upon us if we venture to impute other than the highest and purest of -motives to their idol, for the sake of peace we are perfectly willing to -believe the bed to have been the most valuable gift that could have been -made,--that sovereigns, roses, and angels were stitched into the coverlets -and stuffed into the pillows; just as the miser Tolam bequeathed: - - To my sister-in-law, four old stockings which are under my bed, on the - right. - - _Item_: To my nephew, Tarles, two more old stockings. - - _Item_: To Lieut. John Stone, a blue stocking, and my red cloak. - - _Item_: To my cousin, an old boot, and a red flannel pocket. - - _Item_: To Hammick, my jug without a handle. - -Imagine the disgust of the legatees, till Hammick kicking the jug, smashed -it, and out rolled a quantity of sovereigns. The stockings, boot, and -flannel pocket were soon seized now, and found to be as auriferous as the -old pot. Now why should not the second-best bed left to Mrs. Shakespeare -have been as valuable a bequest? - -Whilst talking about beds, let us not forget a very odd story. In the -earlier part of this century, there lived in the neighbourhood of Caen, in -Normandy, a Juge de Paix, M. Halloin, a great lover of tranquillity and -ease; so much so indeed, that, as bed is the article of furniture most -adapted to repose, he rarely quitted it, but made his bed-chamber a hall -of audience, in which he exercised his functions of Justice of Peace, -pronouncing sentence, with his head resting on a pillow, and his body -languidly extended on the softest of feather-beds. However, his services -were dispensed with, and he devoted himself for the remaining six years of -his life to still greater ease. Feeling his end approach, M. Halloin -determined on remaining constant to his principle, and showing to the -world to what an extent he carried his passion for bed. Consequently, his -last will contained a clause expressing his desire to be buried at night, -in his bed, comfortably tucked in, with pillows and coverlets as he had -died. As no opposition was raised against the execution of this clause, a -huge pit was sunk, and the defunct was lowered into his last -resting-place, without any alteration having been made in the position in -which death had overtaken him. - -Boards were laid over the bed, that the falling earth might not disturb -this imperturbable quietist. - -Many testators leave directions for the treatment of their bodies: some -are over-solicitous for their preservation, whilst others choose to show -their contempt for that body, which, after all, will rise again. Dr. -Ellerby, the Quaker, for instance, bequeathed his lungs to one friend and -his brains to another, with a threat that he would haunt them if they -refused to accept the legacy. Others, from motives of humility, act -somewhat similarly. The Emperor Maximilian I. willed that his hair should -be shorn, and his teeth brayed in a mortar and then burned publicly in his -chapel; also that his body should be buried in a sack with quicklime, -beneath the foot-pace of the altar of S. George at Neustadt, so that his -heart might be beneath the celebrant's feet. His intentions were carried -out at the time; but afterwards his remains were translated to Inspruck, -and they now lie under that goodly monument raised by Ferdinand I., his -deeds graven tenderly in white marble about him, and eight-and-twenty -mighty bronze paladins and princes standing guard about the choir wherein -he sleeps. - -If some folk leave injunctions about their bodies, others are as -particular about their names. Henry _Green_, for instance, by will dated -22nd December 1679, gave to his sister, Catharine Green, during her life, -all his lands in Melbourne, Derby, and after her decease to others in -trust, upon condition that the said Catharine Green should give four green -waistcoats to four poor women in a green old age, every year, such green -waistcoats to be lined with green galloon lace, and to be delivered to the -said poor women on or before 21st December, yearly, that they might be -worn on Christmas Day. - -That the good men do may live after them, at least on their tombstones, -has induced some to leave money as bribes to the writers of their -epitaphs. The Abbe de la Riviere, son of an appraiser of wood, who became -Bishop-duke of Langres, devised 100 ecus for that purpose. But La Monnoye -wrote the following: - - Here lies a notable personage, - Of family proud, of ancient lineage; - His virtues unnumbered, his knowledge profound, - Remarkably humble, remarkably wise;-- - Come, come! for twenty-five pound, - I've told enough lies! - -Another clause in the Abbe's will deserves to be recorded, from its -pithiness: - - To my steward, I leave _nothing_; because he has been in my service - for eighteen years. - -This reminds one of an anecdote told of the Cardinal Dubois, whose -servants came to him every New Year's Day to present their -congratulations, and to receive a New Year's box. When the steward came in -his turn, the Cardinal said to him: - - Monsieur, I present you with all that you have stolen from me. - -The pleasure of receiving a legacy must be generally mingled with pain, -more or less intense, according to the nearness of relationship of the -deceased, or the affection we have had for him: but, when a plump legacy -drops into our laps from a totally unexpected quarter, and left by one for -whom we did not care, or possibly whom we did not know,--the amount of -pain must be very minute. Such a case was that of a lady who came in for -a large fortune from an eccentric individual to whom she had never spoken, -though she had seen him at the opera, or in the park. The wording of the -will was: - - I supplicate Miss B---- to accept my whole fortune, too feeble an - acknowledgment of the inexpressible sensations which the contemplation - of her adorable nose has produced on me. - -The following is as curious. A good citizen of Paris, who died about 1779, -inserted this clause in his will: - - _Item_: I leave to M. l'Abbe Thirty-thousand-men, 1200 livres a year: - I do not know him by any other name, but he is an excellent citizen, - who certified me in the Luxembourg, that the English, that ferocious - people which dethrones its monarchs, will soon be destroyed. - -On opening the testament, the executors were sorely puzzled to know who -this Abbe Thirty-thousand-men could possibly be. At last, several people -deposed that this citizen, a sworn enemy of the English and a great -politician, had been wont every day to march up and down the Alle des -Larmes in the Luxembourg; there he used to meet with an Abbe who had as -great an abhorrence of the English as himself, and who was perpetually -urging:--"Those English rascals aren't worth a straw. 30,000 men only are -wanted,--30,000 men raised,--30,000 embarked,--30,000 landed,--and London -would be in the hands of 30,000 men. A mere trifle!" - -This was verified, and the legacy was delivered over to the intrepid Abbe, -who had little dreamed of the spoil his 30,000 men were to bring him. - -There is a question which we have been asking ourselves repeatedly, and -which we now put before the reader. Is it possible to classify these -wills? We have tried to do so, and have failed in every attempt. First, we -have distributed them according to the bequests contained in -them;--legacies of money, goods, animals, persons. There is no reason -which can justify such an arbitrary system. Then again, when we arrange -them according to the motives of the testator, as, wills indited by a -perverted moral sense, or those composed under the influence of an -aberration of the intellect, then we are obliged to exclude that of -Corocotta Porcellus, of Jean Certain, beside many others, which can hardly -be forced into position under either of these heads. And it is because the -mind of man is too intricate, his motives too involved, his feelings too -transient, his principles too obscure, for us to divide and subdivide the -actions springing from them, as we can settle the classes of molluscs, or -determine the genera of butterflies,--that in this paper we have attempted -nothing of the kind. For wills are, as has been shown, as diverse as the -hearts of men, of which they are the transcripts. An anatomist may dissect -the heart, may name and register every muscle and fibre,--but he can tell -us nothing of the motives which impelled that heart to throb faster, or -chilled it to a sudden stillness. The bitterness of hate has left no -poison in its cavities, in it the fleeting passion has set no seal, -emotion left no trace, pity relaxed no nerve. The impulses which brought -forth so full a leafage of action are lost, as the sap from the bare tree. - -So surely as the berry indicates the soundness of the root, the flower of -the bulb, so does man's last will tell of the goodness or foulness of the -heart which conceived it. The cankered root sends up only a sickly germ, -which brings forth no fruit in due season; whilst the wine that maketh -glad the heart of man, the oil which maketh him a cheerful countenance, -and the bread that strengthens his heart, have burst from roots which -mildew has never marred, nor worm fretted. - - - - -QUEER CULPRITS - - -According to Jewish law, "If an ox gore a man or a woman that they die, -then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten: but -the owner of the ox shall be quit." After giving this command, Moses -proceeds to enforce the doctrine of the responsibility of the beast's -owner, and to ensure his punishment, should he wittingly let a dangerous -animal run loose; also to make provision for his security under some -extenuating circumstances. These commands were carried into the laws of -mediaeval Europe; the jurists, at the same time, introducing refinements of -their own, and enforcing them in numerous cases, which afford matter for -curious inquiry, and are full of technicalities and peculiarities, at once -amusing and instructive, as throwing light on the customs and habits of -thought in those times. - -Now take the case of a child injured by a sow, or a man killed by a bull: -the trial was conducted in precisely the same manner as though sow and -bull were morally criminal. They were apprehended, placed before the -ordinary tribunal, and given over to execution. - -Again: an inroad of locusts or snails takes place. Common law is helpless, -it may pronounce judgment, but who is to execute its decrees? Temporal -power being palpably unavailing, the spiritual tribunal steps in; the -decision of the magistrates being useless, perhaps excommunication may -suffice. This, then, was an established maxim. If the criminal could be -reached, he was handed over to the ordinary courts of justice; if, -however, the matter was beyond their control, he fell within the -jurisdiction of Ecclesiastical Courts. Poor culprit, not a loophole left -by which to escape! - -Let us consider the manner of proceeding under the former circumstance. A -bull has caused the death of a man. The brute is seized and incarcerated; -a lawyer is appointed to plead for the delinquent; another is counsel for -the prosecution. Witnesses are bound over, the case is heard, and sentence -is given by the judge, declaring the bull guilty of deliberate and wilful -murder; and, accordingly, that it must suffer the penalty of hanging or -burning. - -The following cases are taken from among numerous others, and will afford -examples: - - A.D. 1266. A pig burned at Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, for having - devoured a child. - - 1386. A judge at Falaise condemned a sow to be mutilated in its leg - and head, and then to be hanged, for having lacerated and killed a - child. It was executed in the square, dressed in man's clothes. The - execution cost six sous, six deniers, and a new pair of gloves for the - executioner, that he might come out of the job with clean hands. - - 1389. A horse tried at Dijon, on information given by the magistrates - of Montbar, and condemned to death, for having killed a man. - - 1499. A bull was condemned to death at Cauroy, near Beauvais, for - having in a fury "occis" a little boy of fourteen or fifteen years - old. - -A farmer of Moisy let a mad bull escape. The brute met and gored a man so -severely that he only survived a few hours. Charles, Count de Valois, -having heard of the accident whilst at his chateau of Crepy, ordered the -bull to be seized and committed for trial. This was accordingly done. The -officers of the Count de Valois gathered all requisite information, -received the affidavits of witnesses, established the guilt of the bull, -condemned it to be hanged, and executed it on the gibbet of -Moisy-le-Temple. The death of the beast thus expiated that of the man. But -matters did not stop here. An appeal against the sentence of the Count's -officers was lodged before the Candlemas parliament of 1314--drawn up in -the name of the Procureur de l'Hopital at Moisy, declaring the officers to -have been incompetent judges, having no jurisdiction within the confines -of Moisy, and as having attempted to establish a precedent. The parliament -received and investigated the appeal, and decided that the condemnation of -the bull was perfectly just, but found that the Count de Valois had no -judicial rights within the territory of Moisy, and that his officers had -acted illegally in taking part in the affair. - -Here is a list of the expenses incurred on the occasion of a sow's -execution for having eaten a child:-- - - To the expenditure made for her whilst in jail 6 sols - - _Item._ To the executioner, who came from Paris to - Meulan to put the criminal to death, by orders of - the bailiff and the Procureur du Roi 54 sols - - _Item._ To a conveyance for conducting her to - execution 6 sols - - _Item._ To cords to tie and bind her 2 sols 8 deniers - - _Item._ To gloves 2 deniers - -The charter of Eleanora, drawn up in 1395, and entitled "Carta de logu," -containing the complete civil and criminal code for Sardinia, enjoins that -oxen and cows, whether wild or domesticated, may be legally killed when -they are taken marauding. Asses convicted of similar delinquencies--common -enough, by the way--are treated more humanely. They are considered in the -same light as thieves of a higher order in society. The first time that an -ass is found in a cultivated field not belonging to its master, one of its -ears is cropped. If it commits the same offence again, it loses the second -ear; should the culprit be hardened in crime, and inveterate enough to -trespass a third time, it is not hanged, does not even lose its tail, but -is confiscated to the Crown and goes to swell the royal herd. - -During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the guilty animals suffered -death on the gallows, and our sires considered that such a punishment must -strike terror into the minds of all cattle-owners and jobbers, so as -effectually to prevent them from suffering their beasts to stray at large -over the country. Later on, however, these capital condemnations were done -away with, the proprietor of the animal was condemned to pay damages, and -the criminal was killed without trial. - -One more specimen, and we shall pass to cases coming under Ecclesiastical -Courts. - -Country folk believe still that cocks lay eggs. This is an old -superstition, people holding, formerly, that from these accursed eggs -sprang basilisks, or horrible winged serpents. - -Gross relates, in his _Petite Chronique de Bale_, that in the month of -August 1474, an abandoned and profligate cock of that town was accused of -the crime of having laid one of these eggs, and was brought before the -magistrates, tried, convicted, and condemned to death. - -The court delivered over the culprit to the executioner, who burned it -publicly, along with its egg, in a place called Kohlenberger, amidst a -great concourse of citizens and peasants assembled to witness such a -ludicrous execution. - -The poor cock no doubt suffered on account of the belief prevalent at the -period that it was in league with the devil. A cock was the offering made -by witches at their sabbaths, and as these eggs were reputed to contain -snakes--reptiles particularly grateful to devils--it was taken as a proof -of the cock having been engaged in the practice of sorcery. - -The annals of Ireland relate that in 1383 a cock was convicted of a -similar offence in that island, and that it suffered at the stake; the -heat of the flames burst the egg, and there issued forth a serpent-like -creature, which, however, perished in the fire. - -We shall pass now to the second part of our subject--namely, proceedings -against snails, flies, mice, moles, ants, caterpillars, etc. - -It has frequently happened, in all parts of the world, that an unusual -number of vermin have made their appearance and destroyed the garden -produce, or that flies have been so abundant as to drive the cattle mad -from their bites. In such cases the sufferers had recourse to the Church, -which hearkened to their complaints and fulminated her anathema against -the culprits. The method of proceeding much resembled that already stated -as being in vogue in the ordinary tribunals. The plaintiff appointed -counsel, the court accorded a counsel to the defendants, and the -ecclesiastical judge summed up and gave sentence. - -All requisite forms of law were gone through with precision and -minuteness. As a specimen we shall extract some details from a -consultation on the subject, made by Bartholomew de Chasseneux, a noted -lawyer of the sixteenth century. - -After having spoken, in the opening, of the custom among the inhabitants -of Beaume of asking the authorities of Autun to excommunicate certain -insects larger than flies, vulgarly termed _hureburs_, a favour which was -invariably accorded them, Chasseneux enters on the question whether such a -proceeding be right. The subject is divided into five parts, in each of -which he exhibits vast erudition. - -The lawyer then consoles the inhabitants of Beaunois with the reflection -that the scourge which vexes them devastates other countries. In India the -_hureburs_ are three feet long, their legs are armed with teeth, which the -natives employ as saws. The remedy found most effectual is to make a -female in the most _degage_ costume conceivable perambulate the canton -with bare feet. This method, however, is open to grave objections on the -score of decency and public morality. - -The advocate then discusses the legality of citing insects before a court -of justice. He decides that such a summons is perfectly justifiable. He -proceeds to inquire whether they should be expected to attend in person, -and, in default of their so doing, whether the prosecution can lawfully be -carried on. Chasseneux satisfies himself and us that this is in strict -accordance with law. - -The sort of tribunal before which the criminals should be cited forms the -next subject of inquiry. He decides in favour of the Ecclesiastical -Courts. The advocate proceeds to convince his readers, by twelve -conclusive arguments, that excommunication of animals is justifiable; -having done so, he brings forward a series of examples and precedents. He -asserts that a priest once excommunicated an orchard, whither children -resorted to eat apples, when--naughty chicks!--they ought to have been at -church. The result was all that could have been desired, for the trees -produced no fruit till, at the request of the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, -the inhibition was removed. - -He mentions, as well, an excommunication fulminated by a bishop against -sparrows, which, flying in and out of the church of S. Vincent, left their -traces on the seats and desks, and in other ways disturbed the faithful. -Saint Bernard, be it remembered, whilst preaching in the parish church of -Foligny, was troubled by the incessant humming of the flies. The saint -broke off his sermon to exclaim, "O flies! I denounce you!" The pavement -was instantaneously littered with their dead bodies. - -Saint Patrick, as every one knows, drove the serpents out of Ireland by -his ban. - -This is the form of excommunication as given by Chasseneux:--"O snails, -caterpillars, and other obscene creatures, which destroy the food of our -neighbours, depart hence! Leave these cantons which you are devastating, -and take refuge in those localities where you can injure no one. I. N. -P.," etc. - -Chasseneux obtained such credit from this opinion that, in 1510, he was -appointed by the authorities of Autun to be advocate for the rats, and to -plead their cause in a trial which was to ensue on account of the -devastation they committed in eating the harvest over a large portion of -Burgundy. - -In his defence, Chasseneux showed that the rats had not received formal -notice; and, before proceeding with the case, he obtained a decision that -all the priests of the afflicted parishes should announce an adjournment, -and summon the defendants to appear on a fixed day. - -At the adjourned trial, he complained that the delay accorded his clients -had been too short to allow of their appearing, in consequence of the -roads being infested with cats. Chasseneux made an able defence, and -finally obtained a second adjournment. We believe that no verdict was -given. - -In a formulary of exorcisms, believed to have been drawn up by S. Gratus, -Bishop of Aosta, in the ninth century, we find unclean beasts -excommunicated as agents of Satan. - -From such a superstition as this sprang the numerous legends of the Evil -One having been exorcised into the form of a beast; as, for instance, by -S. Taurinus of Evreux, and by S. Walther of Scotland, who died in 1214, -and who charmed the devil into the shapes of a black dog, pig, wolf, rat, -etc. The devil Rush, in the popular mediaeval tale of _Fryer Rush_, was -conjured into a horse, and made to carry enough lead on his back to roof a -church. - -Felix Malleolus relates that William, Bishop of Lausanne, pronounced -sentence against the leeches which infested the Lake of Geneva and killed -the fish, and that the said leeches retreated to a locality assigned them -by the prelate. The same author relates at large the proceedings -instituted against some mosquitoes in the thirteenth century in the -Electorate of Mayence, when the judge before whom they were cited granted -them, on account of the minuteness of their bodies and their extreme -youth, a curator and counsel, who pleaded their cause and obtained for -them a piece of land to which they were banished. - -On the 17th of August 1487, snails were sentenced at Macon. In 1585, -caterpillars suffered excommunication in Valence. In the sixteenth -century, a Spanish bishop, from the summit of a rock, bade all rats and -mice leave his diocese, and betake themselves to an island which he -surrendered to them. The vermin obeyed, swimming in vast numbers across -the strait to their domain. - -In 1694, during the witch persecutions at Salem, in New England, under the -Quakers Increase and Cotton Mather, a dog was strangely afflicted, and was -found guilty of having been ridden by a warlock. The dog was hanged. -Another dog was accused of afflicting others, who fell into fits the -moment it looked upon them; it was also put to death. A Canadian bishop in -the same century excommunicated the wood-pigeons; the same expedient was -had recourse to against caterpillars by a grand vicar of Pont-du-Chateau, -in Auvergne, as late as the eighteenth century. - -The absurdity of these trials called forth several treatises during the -middle ages. Philip de Beaumanoir in the thirteenth century, in his -_Customs of Beauvoisis_, complained of their folly; and in 1606, Cardinal -Duperron forbade any exorcism of animals, or the use, without license, of -prayers in church for their extermination. - -A book published in 1459, _De Fascino_, by a Spanish Benedictine monk, -Leonard Vair, holds up the practice to ridicule. Eveillon, in his _Traite -des Excommunications_, published in 1651, does the same. - -One curious story more, and we shall give a detailed account of one of -these trials. - -We have taken this from Benoit's _Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes_ (tom. v. -p. 754), and give a translation of the writer's own words. "The Protestant -chapel at La Rochelle was condemned to be demolished in 1685. The _bell_ -had a fate sufficiently droll: it was _whipped_, as a punishment for -having assisted heretics; it was then buried, and disinterred, in order to -represent its new birth in passing into the hands of Catholics.... It was -catechised, and had to reply; it was compelled to recant, and promise -never again to relapse into sin; it then made ample and honourable -recompense. Lastly, it was reconciled, baptized, and given to the parish -which bears the name of Saint Bartholomew. But the point of the story is, -that when the governor, who had sold it to the parish, asked for payment, -the answer made him was, that it had been Huguenot, that it had been -_newly converted_, and that consequently it had a right to demand a delay -of three years before paying its debts, according to the law passed by the -king for the benefit of those recently converted!" - -We propose now giving the particulars of a remarkable action brought -against some ants, towards the commencement of the eighteenth century, for -violation of the rights of property. It is related by P. Manoel Bernardes -in his _Nova Floresta_ (Lisboa, 1728), and is quoted by M. Emile Agnel -among his _Curiosites Judiciaires et Historiques_; to whom and to the -paper of M. Menabrea, entitled "Proces fait aux Animaux," in the twelfth -volume of the _Transactions of the Chambery Society_, we are indebted for -much of our information. - - Action brought by the Friars Minor of the province of Pridade no - Maranhao in Brazil, against the ants of the said territory. - -"It happened, according to the account of a monk of the said order in that -province, that the ants, which thereabouts are both numerous, large, and -destructive, had, in order to enlarge the limits of their subterranean -empire, undermined the cellars of the Brethren, burrowing beneath the -foundations, and thus weakening the walls which daily threatened ruin. -Over and above the said offence was another, they had burglariously -entered the stores, and carried off the flour which was kept for the -service of the community. Since the hostile multitudes were united and -indefatigable night and day-- - - Parvula, nam exemplo est, magni formica laboris - Ore trahit quodcumque potest, atque addit acervo - Quern struit ... (Horace, _Sat._ i.)-- - -the monks were brought into peril of famine, and were driven to seek a -remedy for this intolerable nuisance: and since all the means to which -they resorted were unavailing, the unanimity of the multitude being quite -insurmountable, as a last resource, one of the friars, moved by a superior -instinct (we can easily believe that), gave his advice that, returning to -the spirit of humility and simplicity which had qualified their seraphic -founder, who termed all creatures his brethren--brother Sun, brother Wolf, -sister Swallow, etc.--they should bring an action against their sisters -the Ants before the divine tribunal of Providence, and should name counsel -for defendants and plaintiffs; also that the bishop should, in the name of -supreme Justice, hear the case and give judgment. - -"The plan was approved of; and after all arrangements had been made, an -indictment was presented by the counsel for the plaintiffs, and as it was -contested by the counsel for the defendants he produced his reasons, -requiring protection for his clients. These latter lived on the alms which -they received from the faithful, collecting offerings with much labour -and personal inconvenience; whilst the ants, creatures whose morals and -manner of life were clearly contrary to the Gospel precepts, and were -regarded with horror on that account by S. Francis, the founder of the -confraternity, lived by fraud; and not content with acts of larceny, -proceeded to open violence and endeavours to ruin the house. Consequently -they were bound to show reason, or in default be concluded that they -should all be put to death by some pestilence, or drowned by an -inundation; at all events, should be exterminated from the district. - -"The counsel for the little black folk, replying to these accusations, -alleged with justice to his clients, in the first place: That, having -received from their Maker the benefit of life, they were bound by a law of -nature to preserve it by means of those instincts implanted in them. -_Item_, That in the observance of these means they served Providence, by -setting men an example of those virtues enjoined on them, viz. prudence--a -cardinal virtue--in that they (the ants) used forethought, preparing for -an evil day: 'Formicae populus infirmus, qui praeparat in messe cibum sibi' -(Prov. xxx. 25); diligence, also, in amassing in this life merits for a -life to come according to Jerome: 'Formica dicitur strenuus quisque et -providus operarius, qui presenti vita, velut in aestate, fructus justitiae, -quos in aeternum recipiet, sibi recondit' (S. Hieron., in Prov. vi.); -thirdly, charity, in aiding each other, when their burden was beyond their -strength, according to Abbat Absalon: 'Pacis et concordiae vivum exemplum -formica reliquit, quae suum comparem, forte plus justo oneratum, naturali -quadam charitate alleviat' (Absalon apud Picinellum, _in Mundo symbolico_, -8); lastly, of religion and piety, in giving sepulture to the dead of -their kind, as writes Pliny, 'sepeliuntur inter se viventium solae, praeter -hominem' (Plin., lib. xi. 36); an opinion borne also by the monk Malchus, -who observes, 'Hae luctu celebri corpora defuncta deportabant' (S. Hieron., -_in Vita Malchi_). - -"_Item_, That the toil these ants underwent far surpassed that of the -plaintiffs, since their burdens were often larger than their bodies, and -their courage greater than their strength. - -"_Item_, That in the eyes of the Creator men are regarded as 'worms'; on -account of their superior intelligence, perhaps superior to the -defendants, but inferior to them morally, from having offended their -Maker, by violating the laws of reason, though they observed those of -nature. Wherefore they rendered themselves unworthy of being served or -assisted by any creatures, since they (men) had committed greater crimes -against heaven than had the clients of this learned counsel in stealing -their flour. - -"_Item_, That his clients were in possession of the spot in question -before the appellants had established themselves there; consequently that -the monks should be expelled from lands to which they had no other right -than a seizure of them by main force. - -"_Finally_, he concluded that the plaintiffs ought to defend their house -and meal by human means which they (the defendants) would not oppose; -whilst they (the defendants) continued their manner of life, obeying the -law imposed on their nature, and rejoicing in the freedom of the earth; -for the earth belongs not to the plaintiffs but to the Creator: 'Domini -est terra et plenitudo ejus.' - -"This answer was followed by replies and counter-replies, so that the -counsel for the prosecution saw himself constrained to admit that the -debate had very much altered his opinion of the criminality of the -defendants. He had, the learned counsel for the defendants argued, -admitted that the action was brought by brethren against sisters, brethren -Monks against sister Ants. The sister Ants, conform to the law of nature -imposed on them, continued the counsel for the insects; the brother Monks, -claiming to be ruled by an additional law, that of reason, violate it, so -that they place themselves only under the law of animal instinct, the same -which regulates the ants. The latter are not raised to the level of man, -but the friars have lowered themselves to that of brutes. Consequently, -the action is not between man and beast, but between beast and beast. All -arguments founded on the assumption of higher intelligence in man -consequently break down. - -"The judge revolved the matter carefully in his mind, and finally rendered -judgment, that the Brethren should appoint a field in their neighbourhood, -suitable for the habitation of the Ants, and that the latter should -change their abode immediately under pain of major excommunication. By -such an arrangement both parties would be content and be reconciled; for -the Ants must consider that the Monks had come into the land to sow there -the seed of the Gospel, and that they themselves could easily obtain a -livelihood elsewhere, and at less cost. This sentence having been given, -one of the friars was appointed to convey it to the insects, which he did, -reading it aloud at the openings of their burrows. - -"Wondrous event! 'It nigrum campis agmen,' one saw dense columns of the -little creatures, in all haste, leaving their ant-hills, and betaking -themselves direct to their appointed residence." - -Manoel Bernardes adds, that this sentence was pronounced on the 17th of -January 1713, and that he saw and examined the papers referring to this -transaction, in the monastery of Saint Anthony, where they were -deposited. - - - - -GHOSTS IN COURT - - -The following very curious story is from the _Eyrbyggja Saga_, one of the -oldest and noblest of the Icelandic histories. As it results in an action -unique in its way,--a lawsuit brought against a party of ghosts who -haunted a house,--it well merits attention from all lovers of curiosities. - -In the summer of 1000, the year in which Christianity was established in -Iceland, a vessel came off the coast near Snaefellness, full of Irish and -natives of the Hebrides, with a few Norsemen among them; the ship came -from Dublin, and lay alongside of Rif, waiting a breeze which might waft -her into the firth to Dogvertharness. Some people went off in boats from -the ness to trade with the vessel. They found on board a Hebridean woman -called Thorgunna, who, hinted the sailors, had treasures of female attire -in her possession the like of which had never been seen in Iceland. Now -when Thurida, the housewife at Frod river, heard this, she was all -excitement to get a glimpse of these treasures, for she was a dashing, -showy sort of a woman. She rowed out to the ship, and on meeting -Thorgunna, asked her if she had really some first-rate ladies' dresses? Of -course she had, was the answer; but she was not going to part with them to -any one. Then might she see them? humbly asked Thurida. Yes, she might see -them. So the boxes were opened, and the Iceland lady examined the foreign -apparel. It was good, but not so very remarkable as she had anticipated; -on the whole she was a bit disappointed, still she would like to purchase, -and she made a bid. Thorgunna at once refused to sell. Thurida then -invited the Hebridean lady home on a visit, and the stranger, only too -glad to leave the vessel, accepted the invitation with alacrity. - -On the arrival of the lady with her boxes at the farm, she asked to see -her bed, and was shown a convenient closet in the lower part of the hall. -There she unlocked her largest trunk, and drew forth a suit of bed-clothes -of the most exquisite workmanship, and she spread over the bed English -linen sheets and a silken coverlet. From the box she also extracted -tapestry hangings and curtains to surround the couch; and the like of all -these things had never been seen in the island before. - -Thurida opened her eyes very wide, and asked her guest to share -bed-clothes with her. - -"Not for all the world," replied the strange lady, with sharpness; "I'm -not going to pig it in the rushes, for _you_, ma'am!" - -An answer which, the Saga writer assures us, did not particularly gratify -the good woman of the house. - -Thorgunna was stout and tall, disposed to become fat, with black eyebrows, -a head of thick bushy brown hair, and soft eyes. She was not much of a -talker, not very merry, and it was her wont to go to church every day -before beginning her daily task. Many people took her to be about sixty -years old. She worked at the loom every day except in haymaking time, and -then she went forth into the fields and stacked the hay she had made. The -summer that year was wet, and the hay had not been carried on account of -the rain, so that at Frod river farm, by autumn, the crop was only half -cut, and the rest was still standing. - -One day appeared bright and cloudless, and the farmer, Thorodd, ordered -the house to turn out for a general haymaking. The strange lady worked -along with the rest, tossing hay till the hour of nones, when a black -cloud crossed the sky from the north, and by the time that prayers had -been said such a darkness had come on that it was almost impossible to -see. The haymakers, at Thorodd's command, raked their hay together into -cocks, but Thorgunna, for no assignable reason, left hers spread. It now -became so dark that there was no seeing a hand held up before the face, -and down came the rain in torrents. It did not last many minutes, and then -the sky cleared, and the evening was as bright as had been the morning. - -It was observed by the haymakers on their return to their work that it had -rained blood, for all the grass was stained. They spread it, and it soon -dried up; but Thorgunna tried in vain to dry hers, it had been so -thoroughly saturated that the sun went down leaving it dripping blood, and -all her clothes were discoloured. Thurida asked what could be the meaning -of the portent, and Thorgunna answered that it boded ill to the house and -its inmates. In the evening, late, the strange woman returned home, and -went to her closet and stripped the stained clothes off her. She then lay -down in her bed and began to sigh. It was soon ascertained that she was -ill, and when food was brought her she would not swallow it. - -Next morning the bonder came to her bedside to inquire how she felt, and -to learn what turn the sickness was likely to take. The poor lady told him -that she feared her end was approaching, and she earnestly besought him to -attend to her directions as to the disposal of her property, not changing -any particular, as such a change would entail misery on the family. -Thorodd declared his readiness to carry out her wishes to the minutest -detail. - -"This, then," said she, "is my last request. I desire my body to be taken -to Skalholt, if I die of this disease, for I have a presentiment that that -place will shortly become the most sacred in the island, and that clerks -will be there who will chant over me; and do you reimburse yourself from -my chattels for any outlay in carrying this into effect. Let your wife -Thurida have my scarlet gown, lest she be put out at the further -distribution of my effects, which I propose. My gold ring I bequeath to -the Church; but my bed, with its curtains, tapestry, coverlet, and sheets, -I desire to have burned, so that they go into nobody's possession. This I -desire, not because I grudge the use of these handsome articles to -anybody, but because I foresee that the possession of them would be the -cause of innumerable quarrels and heart-burnings." - -Thorodd promised solemnly to fulfil every particular to the letter. - -The complaint now rapidly gained ground, and before many days Thorgunna -was dead. The farmer put her corpse into a coffin; then took all the -bed-furniture into the open air, and, raising a pile of wood, flung the -clothes on top of it, and was about to fire the pile, when, with a face -pale with dismay, forth rushed Thurida to know what in the name of wonder -her husband was about to do with those treasures of needlework, the -coverlet, sheets, and curtains of the strange lady's bed. - -"Burn them! according to her dying request," replied Thorodd. - -"Burn them?" echoed Thurida, casting up her hands and eyes; "what -nonsense! Thorgunna only desired this to be done because she was full of -envy lest others should enjoy these incomparable treasures." - -"But she threatened all kinds of misfortunes unless I strictly obeyed her -injunctions; and I promised to do what she bid," expostulated the worthy -man. - -"Oh, that is all fancy!" exclaimed the wife; "what misfortune can these -articles possibly bring upon us?" - -Thorodd still stood out; but in his house, as in many another, the gray -mare was the better horse, and what with entreaties, embraces, and tears, -he was forced to effect a compromise, and relinquish to his wife the -hangings and the coverlet in order that he might secure immunity for -burning the pillow and the sheets. Yet neither party was satisfied, says -the historian. - -Next day preparations were made for flitting the corpse to Skalholt, and -trustworthy men were appointed to accompany it. The body was swathed in -linen, but not stitched up; it was then put into the coffin and placed on -horseback. So they started with it over the moor, and nothing particular -happened till they reached Valbjarnar plain, where there are many pools -and morasses, and the corpse had repeated falls into the mire. Well, after -a bit they crossed the North river at Eyar ford, but the water was very -deep, for there had been heavy rains. - -At nightfall they reached Stafholt, and asked the farmer to take them in. -He declined peremptorily, probably disliking the notion of housing a -corpse, and he shut the door in their faces. They could go no farther that -night, as the White river was before them, which was very deep and broad -and could only be traversed in safety by day; so they took the coffin -into an outhouse, and after some trouble persuaded the farmer to let them -sleep in his hall; but he would not give them any food, so they went -supperless to bed. Scarcely, however, was all quiet in the house before a -strange clatter was heard in the shed serving as larder. One of the farm -servants, thinking that thieves were breaking in, stole to the door, and -on looking in, beheld a tall naked woman, with thick brown hair, busily -engaged in preparing food. The poor fellow was so frightened that he fled -back to his bed, quaking like an aspen leaf. In another moment the nude -figure stalked into the hall, bearing victuals in both hands, and these -she placed on the table. By the dim light the bearers recognised -Thorgunna, and they understood now that she resented the churlishness of -the host, and had left her coffin to provide food for them. The farmer and -his wife were now speedily brought to terms, and leaving their beds they -displayed the utmost alacrity in supplying the necessities of their -guests. A fire was lighted; the wet clothes were taken off the travellers; -curd and beer, and a stew of Iceland-moss were set before them. - -Hist!--a little noise in the outhouse! It is only Thorgunna stepping back -into her coffin. - -Nothing transpired of any moment during the rest of the journey. The -bearers had but to narrate the story of the preceding night's events, and -they were sure of a ready welcome wherever they halted. - -At Skalholt all went well; the clerks accepted the gold ring, and chanted -over the body: they buried her deep, and put green turf over her. So, -their errand accomplished, the servants of Thorodd returned home. - -At Frod river there was a large hall, with a closed bedroom at one end of -it. On each side of the hall were closets; in one of these closets dried -fish were stacked up, and flour was kept in the other. Every evening, -about meal-time, a great fire was lighted in the hall, and men used to sit -before it ere they adjourned to supper. The same night that the funeral -party returned the men were sitting chatting round the fire, when suddenly -they perceived a phosphorescent half-moon grow into brilliancy on the wall -of the apartment, and travel slowly round the hall against the sun. The -appearance continued all the while the men sat by the fire, and was -visible every evening after. Thorodd asked Thorir Stumpleg, his bailiff, -what this portended; and the man replied that it boded death to some one, -but to whom he could not say. - -One day a shepherd came in, gloomy, and muttering to himself in a strange -manner. When addressed, he answered wildly, and they thought he must have -lost his wits. The man remained in this state for some little while. One -night he went to bed as usual, but in the morning when the men came to -wake him, they found him lying dead in his place. - -He was buried in the church. - -A few nights after, strange sounds were heard outside the house; and one -night when Thorir Stumpleg went outside the door, he saw the shepherd -stride past him. Thorir attempted to slip indoors again, but the shepherd -grasped him, and after a short tussle cast him in, so that he fell upon -the hall floor bruised and severely injured. He succeeded in crawling to -his bed, but he never rose from it again. His body was purple and swollen. -After a few days he died, and was buried in the churchyard. Immediately -after, his spectre was seen to walk in company with that of the shepherd. - -A servant of Thorir now sickened, and after three days' illness died. -Within a few days five more died. The fast preceding Christmas approached, -though in those days the fashion of fasting was not introduced. In the -closet containing dried fish, the stack was so big that the door could not -be closed, and when fish were wanted, a ladder was placed against the pile -and the top fish were taken away for use. In the evening, as men sat over -the fire, the stack of dried fish was suddenly upset, and when people went -to examine it, they could discover no cause. Just before Yule, also, -Thorodd, the bonder, went out in a long boat with seven men to Ness, after -some fish, and they were out all night. The same evening, the fires having -been kindled in the hall at Frod river, a seal's head was seen to rise out -of the floor of the apartment. A servant girl, who first saw it, rushed -to the door, and catching up a bludgeon which lay beside it, struck at the -seal's head. The blow made the head rise higher out of the floor, and it -turned its eyes towards the bed-curtains of Thorgunna. A house-churl now -took the stick and beat at the apparition, but he fared no better, for the -head rose higher at each stroke till its forefins appeared, and the fellow -was so frightened that he fainted away. Then up came Kiartan, the bonder's -son, a lad of twelve, and snatching up a large iron mallet for beating the -fish, he brought it down with a crash on the seal's head. He struck again -and again, till he drove it into the floor, much as one might drive a -pile; he then beat down the earth over it. - -It was noticed by all that on every occasion the lad Kiartan was the only -one who had any power over the apparitions. - -Next morning it was ascertained that Thorodd and his men had been lost, -for the boat was driven ashore near Enni; but the bodies were never -recovered. - -Thurida, and her son Kiartan, immediately invited all their kindred and -neighbours to a funeral feast. They had brewed for Yule, and now they kept -the banquet in commemoration of the dead. When all the company had -arrived, and had taken their places--the seats of the dead men being, as -customary, left vacant--the hall door was darkened, and the guests beheld -Thorodd and his servants enter, dripping with water. All were gratified, -for at that time it was considered a token of favourable acceptance with -the goddess Ran if the dead men came to the wake; "and," says the Saga -writer, "though we are Christian men, and baptized, we have faith in the -same token still." The spectres walked through the hall without greeting -any one, and sat down before the fire. The servants fled in all -directions, and the dead men sat silently round the flames till the fire -died out, then they left the house as they had entered it. This happened -every evening as long as the feast continued, and some deemed that at the -conclusion of the festivities the apparition would cease. The wake -terminated, and the visitors dispersed. The fire was lighted as usual -towards dusk, and in, as before, came Thorodd and his retinue, dripping -with water; they sat down before the hearth, and began to wring out their -clothes. Next came in the spectres of Thorir Stumpleg and the six who had -died in bed after him, and had been buried; they were covered with mould, -and they proceeded to shake the mould off their clothes upon Thorodd and -his men. - -The inmates of the house deserted the room, and remained without light and -heat in another apartment. Next day the fire was not lighted in the hall -but in the other room; the farm-people reckoning upon the ghosts keeping -to the hall. But no! in came the spectral train, and upon the living men -vacating their seats, the ghosts occupied them, and sat looking grimly -into the red fire till it died out, whilst the terrified servants spent -the evening in the hall. - -On the third day two fires were kindled--one in the hall for the ghosts, -and another in the small chamber for the living men; and so it had to be -done throughout the whole of Yule. - -Fresh disturbances now began in the fish closet, and it seemed as though a -bull were among the fish, tossing them about; and this went on night and -day. A man set the ladder against the stack and climbed to the top. He -observed emerging from the pile of stockfish a tail like that of a cow -which had been singed, but soft and covered with hair like that of a seal. -The fellow caught the tail and pulled at it, calling lustily for help. Up -ran men and women, and all dragged at the tail, but none of them could -pull it out; it seemed stiff and dead, yet suddenly it was whisked out of -their hands, and rasped the skin off their palms. The stack was now taken -down, but no traces of the tail could be found, only it was discovered -that the skin had been peeled off the fish, and at the bottom of the stack -not a bit of flesh was left upon them. - -Thorgrima, the widow of Thorir Stumpleg, fell ill shortly after this; on -the evening of her burial she was seen in company with Thorir and his -party. All those who had seen the tail were now attacked, and died--men -and women. In the autumn there had been thirty household servants at Frod -river, of these now eighteen were dead, the ghosts had frightened five -away, and at the beginning of the month of May there remained but seven. - -Things had come to such a pass as to render ruin imminent, unless some -decisive measure were pursued to rid the house of the spectres that -haunted it. Kiartan, accordingly, determined on consulting Snorri, the -Lawman, his mother's brother, and one of the shrewdest men Iceland ever -produced. Kiartan reached his uncle's house at Helgafell at the same time -that a priest arrived from Gizor White, the apostle of Iceland. Snorri -advised Kiartan to take the priest with him to Frod river, to burn all the -bed-furniture of Thorgunna, to hold a court at his door, and bring a -formal action at law against the spectres, and then to get the priest to -sprinkle the house with holy water, and to shrive the survivors on the -farm. Along with him Snorri sent his son Thord Kausi, with six men, that -he might summons Kiartan's father, considering that there might be a -little delicacy in the son bringing an action against the ghost of his own -father. - -So it was settled, and Kiartan rode home. On his way he called at -neighbours' houses and asked help: so that by the time he reached Frod -river his party was considerably swelled. It was Candlemas day, and they -drew up at the farm door just after the fires had been lighted and the -ghosts had assumed their customary places. Kiartan found his mother in -bed, with all the premonitory symptoms of the same complaint which had -carried off so many others in the house. The lad passed the spectres, and -going up to the bed of Thorgunna, removed the quilt and curtains and every -article which had belonged to her. Then he pushed boldly up to the fire -past the ghosts, and took a brand from it. - -In a few minutes he had made a pile of brushwood, and had thrown the -bed-furniture on the top. The flames roared up around the luckless -articles and consumed them. A court was next constituted at the door, -according to proper legal forms, and Kiartan summoned Thorir Stumpleg, -whilst Thord Kausi summoned Thorodd for entering a gentleman's house -without permission, and bringing mischief and death among his retainers. - -Every spectre there present was summoned by name in due and legal form. -The plaintiffs argued their case, and witnesses were called and examined. -The defendants were asked what exceptions they had to plead, and upon -their remaining silent, sentence was pronounced. Each case was taken -separately, and the court sat long. The first action disposed of was that -against Thorir. He was ordered to leave the house forthwith. Upon hearing -this decree of the court, Stumpleg rose from his chair and said-- - -"I sat whilst sit I might," and hobbled out of the hall by the door -opposite to that before which the court was held. - -The case of the shepherd was next disposed of. On hearing the sentence he -rose,-- - -"I go; better had I been dismissed before," he vanished through the door. - -When Thorgrima was ordered to depart, she followed the others, saying,-- - -"I remained whilst to remain was lawful." - -Each who left said a few words which evinced a disinclination to desert -the fireside for the grave and sea depths. - -The last to go was Thorodd, and he said,-- - -"There is now no peace for us here; we are flitting one by one." - -After this Kiartan went in, and the priest took holy water and sprinkled -the walls of the house; then he sang mass, and performed many ceremonies. - -So the spectres haunted Frod river no more; Thurida got better rapidly, -and the prospects of the farm mended. - - - - -STRANGE PAINS AND PENALTIES - - -Punishment is efficacious in deterring from crime only if it be certain -and speedy. Severity is quite a minor point, and it will be found that the -deterring effect of punishment is by no means proportionate to its -cruelty. - -The first requisite is certainty, for human nature is so constituted that -if there be a chance of escape, ninety-nine out of a hundred will be found -to run the risk. A slight punishment, if certain, is infinitely more -likely to produce the required results than the most terrible exhibition -of cruelty upon representative criminals. If certainty be a main -requisite, speediness is also necessary; lasting and cruel punishments -harden but do not reclaim. - -Of this our forefathers in the middle ages were profoundly ignorant. With -an inefficient police, it was not to be expected that one tithe of the -malefactors, then so numerous, should fall into the hands of justice, and -the authorities endeavoured to make up for this imperfection by -exaggerated severity, and by grotesqueness in the punishments they -inflicted. - -I have said our forefathers in the middle ages, for the Anglo-Saxons and -Danes were far too sensible to resort to cruel or absurd penalties, when -milder and reasonable ones would answer their purpose. - -Thus the laws of Canute direct that the correction of a criminal should be -so regulated that it may appear seemly in the eyes of Him who said, -"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us," -and they enjoin that the judge should not be unduly severe, but lean -rather to a gentle punishment; and also that if it appeared likely that -the criminal was fully penitent and inclined to amend, full mercy should -be shown to him. - -Indeed it was a feature characteristic of Saxon and Danish laws, that -compensation should be aimed at and the reclamation of the criminal, -rather than retribution. Capital punishments were sanctioned, but in all -cases an opportunity was offered for the substitution of a fine. Thus, by -the law of King Ina, if a thief were caught, he was sentenced to death, -but his life could be redeemed by pecuniary satisfaction being made to the -persons robbed. So the fine inflicted on a murderer was regulated -according to the sum at which the life of the murdered party was valued; -thus, if a man slew a freeman, he had to make compensation to the amount -of one hundred shillings, but for the murder of a thrall a much less sum -was demanded. If a freeman slew his thrall, he paid a nominal fine to the -king for a breach of the peace; but if a slave killed his master, the -doctrine of blood for blood was carried into effect, as the thrall had no -personal property to pay in compensation for his crime. - -Fines were imposed by the Anglo-Saxons for all kinds of personal injuries. - -Thus by the laws of King Ethelbert, for breaking a man's front tooth the -fine imposed was six shillings, but a molar was regarded as worth only one -shilling, and a canine tooth was valued at six. King Alfred however, -revised these laws, and taking into consideration the fact that the molar -is a double tooth, and that it is a very serviceable tooth besides, he -raised its market value to fifteen shillings. - -If a man struck out the eye of another and blinded him, he was obliged to -make satisfaction with fifty shillings, and one who was in a troublesome -mood and had plenty of loose cash to dispose of, might break a neighbour's -rib for three shillings, and dislocate his shoulder for twenty. According -to the decrees of the Witan, a fine of one shilling was enacted for -crushing the finger-nail of a neighbour, but if the thumb-nail had -suffered, three shillings was its value. - -A testy Saxon might venture to pull the nose of his enemy if he had three -shillings to spare, but then he had to be cautious, for if the pull were -sufficiently violent to make the nose bleed, he had to pay six shillings. -It was the almost universal custom throughout Europe that forgiveness -should be judged according to the laws of their native country, and not -according to the law of the land in which the offence was committed; and -"thus," says Dr. Henry, "the nose of a Spaniard was perfectly safe in -England, because it was valued at thirteen marks, but the nose of an -Englishman ran a great risk in Spain, because it was valued at twelve -shillings. An Englishman might have broken a Welshman's head for a mere -trifle, but few Welshmen could afford to return the compliment." - -Among the Anglo-Saxons the penalty inflicted on coiners was the loss of -one hand; hardly a cruel sentence in comparison with that which was -inflicted during the middle ages, up to the close of the sixteenth -century, namely, boiling alive in oil or water. - -An old German code of laws gives the following horrible directions: -"Should a coiner be caught in the act, then let him be stewed in a pan, or -in a caldron half an ell deep for the body, so that the man may be bound -to a pole which shall be passed through the rings of the caldron, and -which shall be tightly strapped and bound to upright posts on either side, -and thus he shall be made to stew in oil and wine." A scene such as this -was witnessed in Sweden in 1500, by Archbishop Olaus Magnus of Upsala, and -instances without number might be cited from German and French city -registers. Taking one town alone, Luebeck, we find that a poor fellow who -gave himself out to be the dead king Frederick II., and who was probably -an inoffensive madman, was thus put to death in 1287. - -A second instance occurred in the year 1329, when the man was boiled in -the market-place in the midst of a vast concourse of people. A similar -sentence was pronounced in 1459, and again in 1471, but in this instance, -at the last moment, in consideration of the earnest entreaty of the -bishop, the sentence was commuted to burning alive on a pile of faggots, -at the Muehlenthor. This poor wretch was less fortunate than the coiner -Jacob von Juelich, who, when crouching in the caldron, and shrieking with -agony, obtained the mercy of having his head struck off. - -In the sixteenth century, coiners were hanged instead of boiled: till -lately, however, the caldron which was used for this horrible purpose was -visible in the market-place of Osnabrueck. - -A punishment much in vogue during the middle ages for those who were -guilty of stabbing with intent to wound, but without causing death, was -sufficiently terrible. The hand which had dealt the blow was placed upon a -table with the fingers spread out, and the weapon which had been used was -struck violently into the back of the hand, pinning it to the table, and -the criminal had to draw his hand away without removing the knife. This -was statute law pretty nearly throughout Europe, and it continued in force -till the middle of the seventeenth century, but the Frisian laws permitted -the penalty to be remitted if the culprit chose to pay compensation to -the amount of twenty-five gulden. - -In 1638, Count Anthony Gunter of Oldenburg ordered a post to be erected -before the church, or in the market, and the criminal to be fastened to it -by a knife driven through his hand; and thus he was to stand for three -hours. This law was not abrogated in Germany till 1661. - -Mutilation was common enough in the middle ages. We find in the laws of -William the Conqueror-- - -"We forbid that criminals of any sort should be killed or hanged, but let -their eyes be plucked out, or let their hands and feet be chopped off, so -that nothing may remain of the culprit but a living trunk, as a memorial -of his crime." How different this from the tone of Saxon laws. - -At Avignon, in 1245, false witnesses had their noses and upper lips cut -away, and the same penalty was inflicted in Switzerland on blasphemers. - -Eugene Sue suggested that capital punishment should be replaced by -privation of sight. But if his system were carried into effect, those -unhappy individuals who have either been born blind or have lost their -sight by accident, would be compelled to carry about with them a -certificate to the effect that they were honest men, as did the Arab -grammarian Zamakuschari, who died in 1144. This writer, having had a foot -frost-bitten in Kharism, carried ever about with him an attestation to the -fact, signed by a number of persons of credit, so that no one would -regard him as a criminal who had suffered mutilation. - -Our own King John, according to Matthew Paris, invented a punishment of -great cruelty. Geoffry, Archdeacon of Norwich, having offended him, he had -him encased in a sheet of lead, which was folded round him and fitted to -his shoulders like a cloak. The unhappy man died of the burden and of -horror. "This," says an Anglo-Norman writer, "is the judgment of 'pain -fort et dure'; to wit, the condemned shall be placed in a low chamber -locked. And he shall lie naked on the ground without litter, bedding, or -cloth, and without anything over him; and he shall lie on his back with -his head to the west, and his feet to the east, and one arm shall be drawn -to one quarter of the room by a rope, and the other arm in like manner to -the other quarter, and in the same way shall his legs be extended, and -upon his body shall be placed iron and stone, as much as he can bear; the -first day he shall have three lumps of barley bread, but nothing to drink, -and next day he shall drink thrice, as much as he wants, of water brought -from near at hand to the prison, excepting that it be running water, and -he shall have no bread, and this succession shall be followed till he -dies." - -Can it be believed that such a terrible death as this was inflicted in the -reign of Queen Elizabeth, on the 25th of March 1586, and that the person -who suffered was a woman, on the indictment "that she had harboured and -maintained Jesuit and seminary priests, traitors to the Queen's Majesty -and the laws; and that she had heard mass, and the like." The law of the -land required that those who would not plead "guilty" or "not guilty," -should be made to plead, "by being laid upon the back on the ground, and -as much weight laid upon the accused as he or she can bear, and that the -accused shall so continue for three days, and should he or she still -refuse to plead, then to be pressed to death, the hands and feet tied to a -post, and a sharp stone set under the back." The unfortunate woman,--her -name was Margaret Clitheroe,--labouring under the idea that she was being -martyred for her religion, whereas she was simply a victim to her own -obstinacy in refusing to plead, endured this fearful death. Had she -pleaded she would have escaped, for the evidence against her was of so -slender a nature that she must have been acquitted. The judge, Clinch, who -gave the sentence, did so with great reluctance, and only because, as the -law stood, it was impossible for him to evade it. - -In the reign of James I., we learn from Sir Walter Scott, a Highland chief -in Ross, of the name of M'Donald, hearing that a poor widow had determined -to go on foot to Edinburgh to see the king, and obtain from him justice -against the chief, sent for her, and telling her that the way was long, -and that she would require to be well shod for the journey, had a -blacksmith brought, and made him nail her shoes to her feet, in the same -way in which horses are shod. The widow, however, was a woman with a will -of her own, and as soon as she had recovered, she betook herself on foot -to Edinburgh, and casting herself at the feet of the king, besought of him -punishment on the tyrannical chief. King James, indignant at her -treatment, had M'Donald seized along with twelve of his accomplices, and -had iron soles nailed to their feet. They were exposed in this condition -to the public gaze, and were then decapitated. - -When Richard Coeur de Lion was on his way to the Holy Land he drew up a -code of criminal laws by which discipline was to be maintained among his -troops. One of these contains the following article:--"If any one is -convicted of theft, boiling pitch shall be poured over his head, and then -a pillowful of feathers shall be shaken over it, so that the fellow may be -certainly recognised. And he shall be abandoned on the first land where -the vessel touches." - -This reminds me of the trick played by certain wags on a poor nun in 1198. -They covered her with honey, rolled her in feathers, mounted her on -horseback, and paraded her about the town. Philip Augustus, hearing of -this, had the unfortunate jokers seized and plunged into a vat of boiling -water. - -A curious ordinance in force at Dortmund, in Westphalia, A.D. 1348, -required that, "if two women quarrel so as to come to blows, and at the -same time use abusive language, they shall be required to carry, the whole -length of the town along the High Street, two stones weighing together one -hundred pounds, attached to chains. The first woman shall carry them from -the east gate to the west gate, whilst the second goads her on with a -needle fastened to the end of a stick," and both are directed to wear the -lightest of all possible costumes. "The second is then to take the stones -upon her shoulders and to carry them back to the east gate, the first -applying the same stimulus." This punishment was common all over Germany. -In Luebeck the stones were shaped like bottles, in other places they were -rudely-carved heads of women with protruding tongues; and in some towns -they were in the shape of cats. At Hamburg a procession of women sounding -cows' horns was part of the programme, and at Worms a band of -bell-ringers. - -The old English cucking-stool for shrews is well known; it was common -abroad also, with some customs peculiarly foreign. For instance, the -unfortunate persons who had to do penance for their shrewish tongues were -sometimes put into a large hamper, or a cage, and so suspended to a -gallows, in the evening to be plunged, basket and all, into the nearest -pond. - -In the museum at Cahors the iron cage in which shrews were dipped is still -shown. - -Fools' caps have long served as punishment in village schools, but their -use in them was probably derived from the legal practice of condemning -certain delinquents to the use of peculiar caps. Thus in Germany some -minor crimes were punished by the culprit being sentenced to sit all day -on a post in the middle of a canal, with a tall scarlet steeple cap on his -head. In Rome, bankrupts were condemned to wear in public black bonnets of -a sugar-loaf form. At Lucca they wore them of an orange colour; and in -Spain they bore in addition an iron collar. - -The ancient Roman manner of punishing parricide, by casting the murderer -into the water in a sack which contained as well a cock, an ape, and a -serpent, was not unused in the middle ages, and we find it threatened in -an ordinance of the Provost of Paris, published on 25th June 1493, in -which all persons sick with smallpox are bidden leave Paris at a day's -notice, or suffer the penalty above mentioned. - -I might extract accounts of the most fearful of punishments which the -cruelty of man could devise, from Oriental sources, but the barbarities -practised by the Mussulmans are sickening through their excessive cruelty. -Suffering enough has been undergone in our own quarter of the globe, and -that too at no great distance of time from the age in which we live. - -I will instance, in conclusion, the painful account of the execution of -Balthazar Gerard, who assassinated William of Orange, on the 10th of July -1584, as given by Brantome. "First he was racked with extraordinary -cruelty, without his uttering a word, except that he persisted in his -former assertion. - -"Then, before he died, for eighteen days he was tortured with excessive -cruelty. On the first day he was taken into the public square, where -there was a caldron of boiling oil, into which was thrust the arm which -had dealt the blow. On the morrow this arm was chopped off, and it fell at -his feet. He calmly moved it with his foot, and pushed it before him down -from the scaffold. On the third day his breast and the front of his arm -were plucked with red-hot pincers; on the following day his back and the -back of his arm, and legs, were treated in the same manner. This was -continued for eighteen days, and after each torture he was conducted back -to prison, he all the while enduring his sufferings with great constancy. -The greatest torture of all that he endured, except death, was when he was -bound naked in the middle of the square, and around him at a little -distance waggon-loads of charcoal were set on fire, and thus he was -wrapped in flame. The poor sufferer bore the roasting for a long while, -and then at last he lost patience and cried out; whereupon he was removed. -For the final torture he was broken on the wheel, but he did not die at -once, for they had only broken his legs and arms, so as to make him -linger. Thus he lived for six hours, imploring some one to bring him a -drop of water, but no one had the courage to give it him. At length the -officer was entreated to put an end to this scene, and to strangle him, -lest he should die in despair, and so his soul perish. The executioner -approached, and when close to him asked how he felt. The tortured man -replied, 'As you left me.' But when the cord was produced to be put round -his neck, he raised himself, as though fearing death, as he had not feared -it before, and said to the executioner:--'Ah! pray leave me alone. Do not -torture me any more! Pray let me die as I am!' So having been strangled, -his life closed. Awful were the torments he endured!" - - - - -WHAT ARE WOMEN MADE OF? - - -In the palmy days of childhood we were taught in nursery jingle, and we -implicitly believed, that little girls were made of - - Sugar and spice - And all that's nice. - -But, growing older, we learned to our disappointment that they were -produced from Adam's rib; and when we asked why woman was made of that -particular bone, we were told because it was the most crooked in Adam's -body. - -"Observe the result," preached Jean Raulin, in the beginning of the -sixteenth century: "man, composed of clay, is silent and ponderous; but -woman gives evidence of her osseous origin by the rattle she keeps up. -Move a sack of earth and it makes no noise; touch a bag of bones and you -are deafened with the clitter-clatter." - -This observation did not fall to the ground; it was repeated by Gratian de -Drusac in his _Controversies des Sexes Masculin et Feminin_, 1538. The -learned in medieval times did not spare women. Jean Nevisan, professor of -law at Turin, who died in 1540, is harder still on them in his _Sylva -Nuptialis_. Therein he audaciously asserts that woman was formed by the -Author of Good till the head had to be made, and _that_ was a production -of the great enemy of mankind. "Permisit Deus illud facere daemonio." - -But the Rabbis are equally unsparing. They assert that when Eve had to be -drawn from the side of Adam she was not extracted by the head, lest she -should be vain; nor by the eyes, lest they should be wanton; nor by the -mouth, lest she should be given to tittle-tattle; nor by the ears, lest -she should be inquisitive; nor by the hands, lest she should be -meddlesome; nor by the feet, lest she should be a gadabout; nor by the -heart, lest she should be jealous; but she was drawn forth by the side; -yet, notwithstanding these precautions, she has every fault specially -guarded against, because, being extracted sideways, she was perverse. - -Another Rabbinical gloss on the text of Moses asserts that Adam was -created double; that he and Eve were made back to back, united at the -shoulders, and that they were severed with a hatchet. Eugubinus says that -their bodies were united at the side. - -Antoinette Bourignon, that extraordinary mystic of the seventeenth -century, had some strange visions of the primeval man and the birth of -Eve. The body of Adam, she says, was more pure, translucent, and -transparent than crystal, light and buoyant as air. In it were vessels and -streams of light, which entered and exuded through the pores. The vessels -were charged with liquors of various colours of intense brilliancy and -transparency; some of these fluids were water, milk, wine, fire, etc. -Every motion of Adam's body produced ineffable harmonies. Every creature -obeyed him; nothing could resist or injure him. He was taller than men of -this time; his hair was short, curled, and approaching to black. He had a -little down on his lower lip. In his stomach was a clear fluid, like water -in a crystal bowl, in which tiny eggs developed themselves, like bubbles -in wine, as he glowed with the ardour of Divine charity; and when he -strongly desired that others should unite with him in the work of praise, -he deposited one of these eggs, which hatched, and from it emerged his -consort, Eve. - -The inhabitants of Madagascar have a strange myth touching the origin of -woman. They say that the first man was created of the dust of the earth, -and was placed in a garden, where he was subject to none of the ills which -now afflict mortality; he was also free from all bodily appetites, and -though surrounded by delicious fruit and limpid streams, yet felt no -desire to taste of the fruit or quaff the water. The Creator had, -moreover, strictly forbidden him either to eat or to drink. The great -enemy, however, came to him, and painted to him in glowing colours the -sweetness of the apple, the lusciousness of the date, and the succulence -of the orange. In vain: the first man remembered the command laid upon -him by his Maker. Then the fiend assumed the appearance of an effulgent -spirit, and pretended to be a messenger from heaven commanding him to eat -and drink. The man at once obeyed. Shortly after a pimple appeared on his -leg; the spot enlarged into a tumour, which increased in size and caused -him considerable annoyance. At the end of six months it burst, and there -emerged from the limb a beautiful girl. - -The father of all living turned her this way and that way, sorely -perplexed, and uncertain whether to pitch her into the water or give her -to the pigs, when a messenger from heaven appeared, and told him to let -her run about the garden till she was of a marriageable age, and then to -take her to himself as a wife. He obeyed. He called her Bahouna, and she -became the mother of all races of men. - -There seems to be some uncertainty as to the size of our great mother. The -French orientalist, Henrion, member of the Academy, however, fixed it with -a precision satisfactory, at least, to himself. He gives the following -table of the relative heights of several eminent historical personages:-- - - Adam was precisely 123 feet 9 inches high - Eve 118 " 9.75 in. " - Noah 103 " " - Abraham 27 " " - Moses 13 " " - Hercules 10 " " - Alexander 6 " " - Julius Caesar 5 " " - -It is interesting to have the height of Eve to the decimal of an inch. It -must, however, be stated that the measures of the traditional tomb of Eve -at Jedda give her a much greater stature. "On entering the great gate of -the cemetery, one observes on the left a little wall three feet high, -forming a square of ten to twelve feet. There lies the head of our first -mother. In the middle of the cemetery is a sort of cupola, where reposes -the middle of her body, and at the other extremity, near the door of -egress, is another little wall, also three feet high, forming a -lozenge-shaped enclosure: there are her feet. In this place is a large -piece of cloth, whereon the faithful deposit their offerings, which serve -for the maintenance of a constant burning of perfumes over the midst of -her body. The distance between her head and feet is 400 feet. How we have -shrunk since the creation!"--_Lettre de H. A. D., Consul de France en -Abyssinie, 1841._ - -But to return to the substance of which woman was made. This is a point on -which the various cosmogonies of nations widely differ. Probably the -discoverers of these cosmogonies were men, for they seldom give to woman a -very distinguished origin. But then the poets make it up to her. Nature, -the singer of the Land of Cakes tells us, - - Her 'prentice hand she tried on man, - And then she made the lasses, O. - -Guillaume de Salluste du Bastas (b. 1544; d. 1590) composed a lengthy poem -on the Creation, in which he does ample justice to the ladies. His poem -was translated into Latin by Dumonin, and into German, Spanish, Italian, -and English. - -A specimen will suffice:-- - - The mother of mortals in herself doth combine - The charms of an Adam, and graces all Divine. - Her tint his surpasses, her brow is more fair, - Her eye twinkles brighter, more lustrous her hair; - Far sweeter her utterance, her chin is quite smooth, - Dream of Beauty incarnate, a lover and a love! - -Our own Milton has done poor Eve justice in lines which need no quotation. - -Pygmalion, says the classic story, which is really a Phoenician myth of -creation, made a woman of marble or ivory, and Aphrodite, in answer to his -prayers, endowed the statue with life. We do not believe it. No woman was -ever marble. She may seem hard and cold, but she only requires a sturdy -male voice to bid her - - Descend, be stone no more! - -to show that the marble appearance was put on, and that she is, and ever -was, genuine palpitating flesh and blood. - -"Often does Pygmalion apply his hands to the work. One while he addresses -it in soft terms, at another he brings it presents that are agreeable to -maidens, as shells, and smooth pebbles, and little birds, and flowers of a -thousand hues, and lilies, and painted balls, and tears of the Heliades, -that have distilled from the trees. He decks her limbs, too, with -clothing, and puts a long necklace on her neck. Smooth pendants hang from -her ears, and bows from her breast. All things are becoming to -her."--Ovid, _Metam._ x. 254-266. - -There is something tender and kindly in this myth; it represents woman as -man would have her, pure as the ivory, modestly arrayed, simple, and -delighted with small trifles, birds, and pebbles, and flowers--a thing of -beauty and a joy for ever. But Hesiod gives a widely different account of -the creation of woman. According to him, she was sent in mockery by Zeus -to be a scourge to man:-- - - The Sire who rules the earth and sways the pole - Had spoken; laughter fill'd his secret soul: - He bade the crippled god his hest obey, - And mould with tempering water plastic clay; - With human nerve and human voice invest - The limbs elastic, and the breathing breast; - Fair as the blooming goddesses above, - A virgin's likeness with the looks of love. - He bade Minerva teach the skill that sheds - A thousand colours in the gliding threads; - He call'd the magic of love's golden queen - To breathe around a witchery of mien, - And eager passion's never-sated flame, - And cares of dress that prey upon the frame; - Bade Hermes last endue, with craft refined - Of treacherous manners, and a shameless mind. - Hesiod, _Erga_, 61-79. - -If such was the Greek theory of the creation of woman, it speaks ill for -the Greek men; for woman is ever what man makes her. If he chooses her to -be giddy and light and crafty, giddy, light, and crafty will she become; -but if he demands of her to be what God made her, modest, and thrifty, and -tender, such she will ever prove. This our grand old Northern forefathers -knew, and they made her creation a sacred matter, and fashioned her from a -nobler stock than man. He was of the ash, she of the elm; they called the -first woman Embla, or Emla, which means a laborious female--from the root -_amr_, _aml_, _ambl_, signifying "work." "One day as the sons of Bor were -walking along the sea-beach, they found two stems of wood, out of which -they shaped a man and a woman. The first, Odin, infused into them life and -spirit; the second, Vili, endowed them with reason and the power of -motion; the third, Ve, gave them speech and features, hearing and vision." -This reminds one of the ancient Iranian myth of Ahoura Mazda creating the -first pair, Meschia and Meschiane, from the Beivas tree. But the -Scandinavians also spoke of three primeval mothers: Edda -(great-grandmother), Amma (grandmother), and Mother, from whom sprang the -three classes of thrall, churl, and earl. It is noticeable that these -primeval women are represented as good housewives in the venerable -Rigsmal, which describes the wanderings of the god Heimdal, under the name -of Rig. The deity comes to the hut of Edda, and at once-- - - From the ashes she took a loaf, - Heavy and thick, with bran mixed; - More beside she laid upon the board; - There is set a bowl of broth on the table; - There is a calf boiled, and cates the best. - -Then he goes to the house of Amma, the wife of Afi. - - Afi's wife sat plying her rock - With outspread arms, busked to weave. - A hood on her head, a sark over her breast, - A kerchief round her neck, and studs on her shoulders. - -He next enters the hall of Mother. - - The housewife looked on her arms, - Smoothed her veil, and fastened her sleeves, - Her headgear adjusted. A clasp was on her bosom, - Her robe was ample, her sark blue; - Brighter her brow, fairer her breast, - Whiter her neck than purest snowdrift. - She took, did Mother, a figured cloth - Of white linen, and the table decked. - She then took cakes of snow-white wheat, - On the table them she laid. - She set forth salvers, silver adorned, - Full of game, and pork, and roasted birds. - In a can was wine, the cups were costly. - -Not a word of disparagement of woman is found in those old cosmic lays. -The sturdy Northerner knew her value, and he respected her, whilst the -frivolous Greek despised her as a toy. - -The Provencal troubadours caught the classic misappreciation of woman. -Massillia was a Greek colony, and Greek manners, tastes, and habits of -thought prevailed for long in the south-east of France. The troubadours -idolised her, as an idol-puppet, but they knew not how to commend, and by -commending develop in her those qualities which lie ready to germinate -when called for by man--devotion, self-sacrifice, patience, gentleness, -and all those homely yet inestimable treasures, the domestic virtues. -Pierre de Saint Cloud, in the opening of his poem on Renard, has his fling -at poor Eve. He says that Adam was possessed of a magic rod, with which he -could create animals at pleasure, by striking the earth with it. One day -he smote the ground, and there sprang forth the lamb. Eve caught the rod -from his hand, and did as he had done; forthwith there bounded forth the -wolf, which rent the creation of Adam. He struck, and the domestic fowls -came forth. Eve did likewise, and gave being to the fox. He made the -cattle, she the tiger; he the dog, she the jackal. - -Turning to America, we encounter a host of myths relative to the first -mother. The sacred book of the Quiches tells of the gods Gucumatz, Tepu, -and Cuz-cah making man of earth, but when the rain came on he dissolved -into mud. Then they made man and woman of wood, but the beings so made -were too thick-headed to praise and sacrifice, wherefore they destroyed -them with a flood; those who escaped up tall trees remain to this day, and -are commonly called monkeys. The three gods having thus failed, consulted -the Great White Boar and the Great White Porcupine, and with their -assistance made man and woman of white and red maize. And men show by -their headstrong character that the mighty boar had a finger in their -creation, and women by their fretfulness indicate the great porcupine as -having had the making of them. - -The Minnatarees have a story that the first woman was made of such rich -and fatty soil that she became a miracle of prolificness; she came out of -the earth on the first day of the moon of buffaloes, and ere it waned, she -had a child at her breast. Every month she bestowed upon her husband a son -or a daughter, and these children were fertile equally with their mother. -This was rather sharp work, and the Great Spirit, seeing that the world -would be peopled in no time, at this rate, killed the first parents, and -diminished the productiveness of their children. - -The Nanticokes relate that their great ancestor was without a wife, and he -wandered over the face of the earth in search of one: at last the king of -the musk rats offered him his daughter, assuring him that she would make -the best wife in the world, as she could keep a house tidy, was very -shrewd, and neat in her person. The Nanticoke hesitated to accept the -obliging offer, alleging that the wife was so very small, and had four -legs. The Micabou of the musk rats now appeared, and undertook to remedy -this defect. "Man of the Nanticokes," said the spirit, "rise, take thy -bride and lead her to the edge of the lake; bid her dip her feet in -water, whilst thou, standing over her, shalt pronounce these words: - - "For the last time as musk rat, - For the first time as woman. - Go in beast, come out human!" - -The spirit's directions were obeyed to the letter. The Nanticoke took his -glossy little maiden musk rat by the paw, led her to the border of the -lake, and whilst she dipped her feet in the water, he used the appointed -formulary; thereupon a change took place in the little animal. Her body -was observed to assume the posture of a human being, gradually erecting -itself, as a sapling, which, having been bent to earth, resumes its -upright position. When the little creature became erect, the skin began to -fall from the head and neck, and gradually unveiling the body, exhibited -the maiden, beautiful as a flowery meadow, or the blue summer sky, or the -north lit up with the flush of the dancing lights, or the rainbow which -follows the fertilising shower. Her hand was scarce larger than a -hazel-leaf, and her foot not longer than that of the ringdove. Her arm was -so slight that it seemed as though the breeze must break it. The Nanticoke -gazed with delight on his beauteous bride, and his gratification was -enhanced when he saw her stature increase to the proportions of a human -being. - -Other American Indian tribes assert that the Great Spirit, moved with -compassion for man, who wasted in solitude on earth, sent a heavenly -spirit to be his companion, and the mother of his children. And I believe -they are about right. But the Kickapoos tell a very different tale. - -There was a time throughout the great world, say they, when neither on -land nor in the water was there a woman to be found. Of vain things there -were plenty--there were the turkey, and the blue jay, the wood duck, and -the wakon bird; and noisy, chattering creatures there were plenty--there -were the jackdaw, the magpie, and the rook; and gadabouts there were -plenty--there were the squirrel, the starling, and the mouse; but of -women, vain, noisy, chattering, gadabout women, there were none. It was -quite a still world to what it is now, and it was a peaceable world, too. -Men were in plenty, made of clay, and sun-dried, and they were then so -happy, oh, so happy! Wars were none then, quarrels were none. The -Kickapoos ate their deer's flesh with the Potowatomies, hunted the otter -with the Osages, and the beaver with the Hurons. Then the great fathers of -Kickapoos scratched the backs of the savage Iroquois, and the truculent -Iroquois returned the compliment. Tribes which now seek one another's -scalps then sat smiling benevolently in each other's faces, smoking the -never-laid-aside calumet of peace. - -These first men were not quite like the men now, for they had tails. Very -handsome tails they were, covered with long silky hair; very convenient -were these appendages in a country where flies were numerous and -troublesome, tails being more sudden in their movements than hands, and -more conveniently situated for whisking off the flies which alight on the -back. It was a pleasant sight to see the ancestral men leisurely smoking, -and waving their flexible tails at the doors of their wigwams in the -golden autumn evenings, and within were no squalling children, no -wrangling wives. The men doted on their tails, and they painted and -adorned them; they platted the hair into beautiful tresses, and wove -bright beads and shells and wampum with the hair. They attached bows and -streamers of coloured ribbons to the extremities of their tails, and when -men ran and pursued the elk or the moose, there was a flutter of colour -behind them, and a tinkle of precious ornaments. - -But the red men got proud; they were so happy, all went so well with them, -that they forgot the Great Spirit. They no more offered the fattest and -choicest of their game upon the memahoppa, or altar-stone, nor danced in -his praise who dispersed the rains to cleanse the earth, and his -lightnings to cool and purify the air. Wherefore he sent his chief Manitou -to humble men by robbing them of what they most valued, and bestowing upon -them a scourge and affliction adequate to their offence. The spirit obeyed -his Master, and, coming on earth, reached the ground in the land of the -Kickapoos. He looked about him, and soon ascertained that the red men -valued their tails above every other possession. Summoning together all -the Indians, he acquainted them with the will of the Wahconda, and -demanded the instant sacrifice of the cherished member. It is impossible -to describe the sorrow and compunction which filled their bosoms when they -found that the forfeit for their oblivion of the Great Spirit was to be -that beautiful and beloved appendage. Tail after tail was laid upon the -block and amputated. - -The mission of the spirit was, in part, performed. He now took the severed -tails and converted them into vain, chattering, and frisky women. Upon -these objects the Kickapoos at once lavished their admiration; they loaded -them as before with beads, and wampum, and paint, and decorated them with -tinkling ornaments and coloured ribbons. Yet the women had lost one -essential quality which as tails they had possessed. The caudal appendage -had brushed off man the worrying insects which sought to sting or suck his -blood, whereas the new article was itself provided with a sharp sting, -called by us a tongue; and far from brushing annoyances off man, it became -an instrument for accumulating them upon his back and shoulders. Pleasant -and soothing to the primeval Kickapoo was the wagging to and fro of the -member stroking and fanning his back, but the new one became a scourge to -lacerate. - -However, woman retains indications of her origin. She is still beloved as -of yore; she is still beautiful, with flowing hair; still adapted to -trinketry. Still she is frisky, vivacious, and slappy; and still, as of -old, does she ever follow man, dangling after him, hanging at his heels, -and never, of her own accord, separating from him. - -The Kickapoos, divested of their tails, the legend goes on to relate, were -tormented by the mosquitoes, till the Great Spirit, in compassion for -their woes, mercifully withdrew the greater part of their insect -tormentors. Overjoyed at their deliverance, the red men supplicated the -Wahconda also to remove the other nuisances, the women; but he replied -that the women were a necessary evil and must remain.[1] - -This is worse treatment than that which the ladies received from Hesiod. -We have all heard of a young and romantic lady who was so enraptured with -the ideal of American Indian life as delineated by Fenimore Cooper, that -she fled her home, and went to the savages in Canada. We hope she did not -fall to the lot of a Kickapoo. - -Poor woman! it is pleasanter to believe that she is made from our ribs, -which we know come very close to our hearts, and thus to explain the -mutual sympathy of man and woman, and thereby to account for that -compassion and tenderness man feels for her, and also for the manner in -which she flies to man's side as her true resting-place in peril and -doubt. But we have a cosmogony of our own, elucidated from internal -convictions, assisted by all the modern appliances of table-rapping and -clairvoyancy. According to our cosmogony, woman is compounded of three -articles, sugar, tincture of arnica, and soft soap. Sugar, because of the -sweetness which is apparent in most women--alas! that in some it should -have acidulated into strong domestic vinegar; arnica, because in woman is -to be found that quality of healing and soothing after the bruises and -wounds which afflict us men in the great battle of life; and soft soap, -for reasons too obvious to need specification. - - - - -"FLAGELLUM SALUTIS" - - -There is a strange old book with the above title to be found in the -libraries of the curious, so quaint in character as to deserve to be -better known. It was composed by Christian Franz Paullini, a German -physician, and was published at Frankfort-on-Maine in 1608. It is a -treatise on the advantage of the whip for curative purposes in various -disorders. - -Dr. Paullini, in the first section of his work, directs attention to the -consecration of corporal punishment by Scripture and the Church. Did not -St. Paul assert, "Castigo corpus meum et in servitutem redigo"? Does not -the bishop in confirmation box the ear of the candidate, in token that he -is to be ready to endure suffering and shame as a good Christian soldier? -And look at the saints of the calendar, were they not mighty in -flagellation, fervent in rib-whacking? - - Shall precious saints and secret ones, - Break one another's outward bones? - When savage bears agree with bears, - Shall secret ones lug saints by the ears? - -asks the Puritan in his metrical version of Psalm lxxxiii, and Dr. -Paullini promptly answers: "Certainly, it is good for health of soul and -body that they should so act towards one another." - - Scorpius atque fabae nostra fuere salus. - -Had our learned author been acquainted with the Rabbinical gloss on the -account of the Fall of Man, he would, maybe, have hesitated to attribute -universal benefit to the application of the rod. For, say the Rabbis, when -Adam pleaded that the woman gave him of the tree, and he did eat, he means -emphatically that she _gave_ it him palpably. Adam was recalcitrant, Eve -_dedit de ligno_; the branch was stout, the arm of the "mother of all -living" was muscular, and the first man succumbed, and "did eat" under -compulsion. - -There is nothing like the rod, says the doctor; it is a universal -specific, it stirs up the stagnating juices, it dissolves the -precipitating salts, it purifies the coagulating humours of the body, it -clears the brain, purges the belly, circulates the blood, braces the -nerves; in short, there is nothing which the rod will not do, when -judiciously applied. - - Antidotum mortis si verbera dixero, credas! - Attonitum morbum nam cohibere valent. - -Having laid down his principle, the doctor proceeds to apply it to various -complaints, giving instances, the result of experience. - -And first as to melancholy. - -One predisposing cause of melancholy, observes Paullini, is love, and that -eventuates in idiotcy or insanity. - -To parents and guardians our author gives the advice, when the first -symptoms of this complaint appear in young people under their charge, let -them grasp the rod firmly, and lay it on with vigour and promptitude. The -remedy is infallible. Valescus de Taranta says, in the case of a young -man--and his words are words of gold--"Whip him well, and should he not -mend immediately, keep him locked up in the cellar on bread and water till -he promises amendment." - -I saw, continues our author, an instance of the good effect of this -treatment at Amsterdam. A stripling of twenty, comely enough in his -appearance, the son of an artisan in the town, fell in love with the -mayor's daughter. He could neither eat, drink, sleep, nor do anything in -the remotest degree rational. The father, unaware of the cause, put him -into the hands of a medical practitioner, who did his utmost to cure him, -but signally failed. At last the father's eyes were opened by means of an -intercepted letter. Like a sensible man he packed his son off to the -public whipping-place, there to learn better _moralia_. And this had the -desired effect; for the youth returned perfectly cured and in his right -senses. - -But for this treatment he might have sunk into his grave, like him -mentioned by P. Boaysten, who died of a broken heart through unrequited -love; and, at the post-mortem examination, his bowels were discovered to -be uncoiled, his heart shrivelled, his liver shrunk to nothing, his lungs -corroded, and his skull entirely emptied of every trace of brains. - -For short sight there is nothing like a good thrashing, or at least a -violent blow, says our doctor. - -An old German, aged eighty, who had all his lifetime suffered from short -sight, was one day jogging to market on his respectable mare, Dobbin. -Dobbin tripped on a stone and flung her rider. The old man fell upon a -stone, which pierced his skull. The dense vapours which had obscured his -vision for so long were enabled to escape through the aperture, and on his -recovery the venerable gentleman had the sight of an eagle. - -A cavalier was troubled with the same infirmity. He saw a large salmon -hanging up outside a fishmonger's shop, and, mistaking it for a young lady -of his acquaintance, removed his cap and addressed it with courtesy. -Another youth having made great fun of the mistake, the short-sighted -cavalier felt himself constrained in honour to call him out. In the duel -he received a sword wound over his left eye, and this completely cured his -vision. - -For deafness Dr. Paullini recommends a box on the ear. Especially -successful is this treatment in the case of children who do not attend to -the commands and advice of their parents on the plea of "not having -heard." In such cases the employment of corporal punishment cannot be too -highly estimated. The doctor tells the story of a boy destined for the -ministry who ran away from school and apprenticed himself to a tailor, and -who was cured of deafness and tailoring propensities by the application of -a large pair of drumsticks to a sensitive part of his person, and who -eventually became a Lutheran pastor, and was, to the end of his days, able -to mend his own clothes. - -This story furnishes the author of _Flagellum Salutis_ with matter for a -digression on clerical education. He quotes with approval the sentiments -of his old patron, Dr. Schupp, expressed thus: "Nowadays that every -bumpkin makes his son study for the ministry, we have them scrambling -about the country begging for promotion, and grumbling because it does not -come as fast as they expect. The learned son is a poor curate, with no -benefice. Such a to-do about this--complaints, murmurs, and what not! Why -did he not learn a trade in addition to his theology? Luke the Evangelist -was a theologus and medicus as well, and a painter to boot. Paul in his -youth studied divinity at the feet of Gamaliel, but he was a carpet -manufacturer besides. Was the Kaiser Rudolph a worse Emperor for being as -well a clever craftsman? 'If I could recall my past years and begin life -again,' said Dr. Schupp, 'I would not become a student only, but learn a -trade besides. Then, if the thankless world kicked me, I would measure -its foot for a boot; if it made faces at me, I would paint its portrait -for it; if my divinity did not agree with its stomach, I would dose it -with purgatives like Luke. I would make the world respect me for my -diligence in trade, if it turned up its nose at my theology. Anyhow, I -would not go about snivelling and crying poverty and want of promotion.'" - -To this speech of Dr. Schupp, Paullini adds a few pertinent remarks. "The -lad I was telling you about," he says, "had a hankering after tailoring. -Well, tailoring is an honourable and useful profession. Was not Moses -bidden, 'Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory -and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom -I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron -garments.' Tailors filled with the spirit of wisdom! Why despise the craft -which God has honoured?" - -It must be allowed that there is sense in this little digression. -Doubtless it would be well if not only those destined for the ministry, -but all the sons of the higher classes of society, were taught some manual -employment in addition to the cultivation of their intellectual faculties. -That our grammar schools should take the hint is not to be anticipated; -masters and governors have the same implicit confidence in classic studies -as the universal panacea that Dr. Paullini professes for the rod and Dr. -Sangrado for cold water and blood-letting. I do not dispute the fact that -the most useful knowledge for a lad to acquire who is destined for -colonial farming, or for a mercantile life at home, is Greek prosody; but -I suggest that an acquaintance with carpentering, land-surveying, or -book-keeping might be found advantageous in a secondary degree. - -Lockjaw is to be treated in the same manner, asserts our author, and he -tells an amusing anecdote on the subject from Volquard Iversen. - -Nicolas Vorburg was an Oriental traveller. In the course of his wanderings -he reached Agra, the capital of the Great Cham. The European was -introduced to His Majesty at the dinner-hour, and found the monarch just -returned from the expedition, and as hungry as a hunter. A bowl of rice -was brought in. The Great Cham dipped his hands into it, and ladled so -much rice as they would hold into his capacious mouth, distended to the -utmost conceivable extent. But the Great Cham had overestimated the -capabilities of the distension of his jaws, and they became dislocated. At -the sight, the servants were distracted with fear. The nobles stroked -their chins in uncertainty how to act, the priests had recourse to their -devotions, but no one assisted the monarch out of his dilemma. He sat upon -his imperial throne purple in the face, his eyes distended with horror, -his mouth gaping, and full of rice. Suffocation was imminent. Nicolas -Vorburg, without even prostrating himself before the emperor, ran up the -steps of his throne, and hit him a violent crack with the palm of his -hand upon the cheek. The rice fell out of his mouth upon the imperial lap, -some, it is surmised, descended the imperial red-lane. Another slap -accomplished the relief of the monarch, and set the jaw once more in -working order. At the same moment the servants screamed at the outrage -committed upon the sacred majesty of the emperor, the nobles drew their -swords to avenge it, and the priests converted their prayers for the -recovery of their king into curses on the head of him who had -sacrilegiously raised his hand to violate his divinity. Poor Vorburg would -have been made into mincemeat, had not the emperor providentially -recovered his breath in time to administer a reproof to his over-zealous -subjects. He acknowledged the relief afforded him by the stranger by a -present of a thousand rupees. - -A tailor had a son who was half-witted. The father was out one day, and -the child, who was left in the house, after the manner of children, looked -about him in quest of some mischief which he might perpetrate. A pair of -elegant breeches, just completed by his father, and designed for the legs -of a nobleman, hung suspended from the wall. The child made a figured -pattern upon the amber silk with his finger, dipped at intervals in the -ink-pot. The mother was the first to discover the transformation of the -breeches, and, not regarding the alteration in the same light as did her -child, caught up the yard-measure and administered a castigation to the -culprit, sufficient to "stir up the stagnating juices, dissolve the -precipitating salts, and purify the coagulating humours," in at least one -portion of the lad's body. The youth, under the impression that high art -is never appreciated at first sight, made himself scarce for some hours. -The father, on his return, used every effort to obliterate the flowering -of ink which his son had drawn over the amber breeches, but with only a -limited degree of success--so limited, in fact, that the nobleman for whom -they were destined utterly refused to invest his person in them, and they -were returned on the tailor's hands. The boy, towards evening, impelled by -hunger, had returned home, and was soothing his injured feelings with -bread and butter, when the father re-entered the house. In a moment the -parental left hand had grasped the scruff of his neck, whilst the right -hand dexterously completed the stirring up the stagnant juices, dissolving -of precipitating salts, and purifying of coagulating humours with such -success, that Dr. Paullini assures us the child grew up a miracle of -discretion, and never after decorated articles of clothing other than his -own pinafore. - -Under the heading of "Swollen Breasts," the learned doctor gives us his -ideas on the subject of schoolmasters and their titles. These remarks are -sensible enough in their way, but hardly come under the heading he has -selected for the chapter. Connected still more vaguely with swollen -breasts is the commentary on some verses in the twenty-first chapter of -St. John's Gospel, which closes the section. - -To those who suffer from toothaches he recommends the practice of a -learned professor under whom he studied. This man suffered excruciating -torture from his teeth at night. The professor, the moment that his -sufferings began, was wont to leave his bed and spend his night in jumping -on to his table, and then jumping down again, till the pain ceased. -Paullini does not state the feelings of those who slept in the room -immediately underneath that occupied by Dr. Erasmus Vinding; neither does -it seem clear at first sight how the jumping diversion is connected with -the subject of the rod, concerning the merits of which the book treats; -but on further consideration the connection becomes apparent. Dr. Paullini -being silent on this point, we have but the light of nature to guide us to -the conclusion that the saltatory performances of Dr. Erasmus would arouse -and exasperate the other lodgers into an application of the universal -panacea to his scantily protected person. - -For constitutional indolence the rod is inestimable; the monotony of its -use as a specific may, however, be pleasingly varied by an application of -corporal punishment in the following disguised form, which, if severe, is -nevertheless infallible as a cure. Hermann Habermann, a native of Mikla, -deserves the credit of being the first to communicate it to the medical -profession. Habermann had spent many years in Iceland, and it was there -that he saw the treatment in use. An artisan suffering from indolence was -recommended by a native doctor to let himself be sewn up in a sack stuffed -with wool, and then be dragged about, rolled down hill, thumped, kicked, -and jumped upon by his friends and acquaintances. When he emerged from the -sack he was to take a draught to open his pores, and to go to bed. The -remedy was tried, and succeeded. - -A somewhat similar cure came under Paullini's personal observation. A -nobleman had a jester who was dotingly fond of fowls. He stole all his -master's poultry, so that his master was obliged to do without eggs for -his breakfast. The fool, moreover, was deficient in fun, and was by no -means worth his keep. At last his master determined on correcting him -severely. He had him sewn up in a hop-bag and well thrashed, and then -rolled down hill and thrashed again. The fool never stole eggs from that -day forward, and from being but a poor fool he became one famous for his -brilliant parts and sparkling humour. - -For tertian fever, the rod is an admirable specific. A lawyer once -suffered from this complaint, which left him at times able to continue his -avocation. He had brought upon himself the ill-feeling of a certain -gentleman whom he had, in one of his pleadings, turned into ridicule. This -person determined to punish the advocate as soon as a convenient -opportunity presented itself. The opportunity came. The lawyer was riding -home one day, past the house of the nobleman, when the latter descried -him, and immediately sent him a message requesting a moment's private -conversation. The unfortunate advocate fell into the trap. Expecting to -get employment in a fresh suit, he hurried eagerly to the castle, only to -find the gates closed upon him and all egress prevented. In another moment -the insulted gentleman stood before him. - -"Vile bloodhound of the law!" he exclaimed, "you have long escaped the -punishment due to you for your insolence and temerity. You disgraced me -publicly, and I shall revenge myself upon you by degrading you in a manner -certain to humble your pride. Yet I am merciful. I give you your choice of -two modes of suffering. You shall either sit on an ant-hill, in the -clothing provided you by nature, till you have learned by heart the seven -penitential psalms; or you shall run the gauntlet in the same _degage_ -costume round my courtyard, where will be ranged all my servants armed -with rods wherewith to belabour you." - -The hapless lawyer cast himself on his knees before the nobleman, and -implored mercy. He pleaded that he had his wife and children to provide -for; but the other replied that this was not to the point, as he had no -intention of injuring the lady or the infants. Then the lawyer alleged his -illness, saying that the access of fever would be on him next day, and -that the punishment wherewith he was threatened--either of them in -fact--might terminate fatally. - -"That," replied the injured gentleman, "can only be ascertained by -experiment. My own impression is that the ants or the whips will produce a -counter irritation, which may prove beneficial. Still," he continued, -stroking his chin, "we mortals are all liable to err, and my impression -may be unfounded. I will frankly acknowledge my mistake if convinced by -the result taking the direction you anticipate." - -Reluctantly the poor advocate made his election of the treatment he was to -undergo. From the ants and the penitential psalms he recoiled with horror, -and he chose shudderingly to run the gauntlet. So he ran it. - -Black and blue, bruised and bleeding, the wretched man was dismissed at -last, to return to the bosom of his family. The nobleman was right, the -lawyer was forever cured of his tertian fever. - -In another work of the same author (_Zeitkuerzende, erbauliche Lust_, 8vo, -Frankfort, 1693) the doctor argues the case, whether an honourable man may -thrash his wife; and concludes that such a course of action entirely -depends on the behaviour and temperament of the wife. - -Woman was created to be good, quiet, and orderly; when she is otherwise -she is going contrary to her vocation, and art must be employed to -correct nature. Eve was given to Adam, reasons Paullini, to be a helpmeet -to him, and not to be the plague and worry of his life. Woman's vocation -is to be a modest and gentle angel, and not to be a brazen, furious demon. -Every woman is either one or the other. If she is as heaven made her, she -takes to the bit and rein readily, is easily managed without the whip, and -is perfectly docile. If, however, she is what the evil one would have her, -she takes the bit in her teeth, sets back her ears, plunges, and kicks; -and woe to the man who comes within reach of her tongue, her claws, or her -toes. Then there is need for the rod. To a good wife, "there is a golden -ornament upon her, and her bands are purple lace: thou shalt put her on as -a robe of honour, and shalt put her about thee as a crown of joy." But as -for the bad wife, deal with her after the advice of the poet Joachim -Rachel:-- - - Thou wilt be constrained her head to punch, - And let not thine eye then spare her: - Grasp the first weapon that comes to hand-- - Horsewhip, or cudgel, or walking-stick, - Or batter her well with the warming-pan; - Dread not to fling her down on the earth, - Nerve well thine arm, let thy heart be stout - As iron, as brass, or stone, or steel. - -For no wrath is equal to a woman's wrath; and better is it to live in the -cage of an African lion, or of a dragon torn from its whelps, than to live -in the house with such a woman. Of all wickedness the worst is woman's -wickedness. Why, asks the doctor, what sort of a life did Jupiter lead in -heaven with his precious Juno? Poor god! he let her get the upper hand of -him. Had he but taken his stick to her instead of scolding, he might have -had Olympus quiet, and have saved himself from being badgered through -eternity. - -They managed things better in Rome. A man had a wife full of bad tempers. -He went to the oracle and asked what should be done with a garment which -had moths in it. "Dust it," was the oracular response. "And," added the -man, "I have a wife who is full of her nasty little tempers; should not -she be treated in a similar manner?" "To be sure," answered the oracle, -"dust her daily." And never was a truer or better bit of advice given by -an oracle. - -The work of Dr. Paullini called forth others in response, and doubtless -enthusiastic devotees of the rod abounded. His views were, however, -combated by others. From a tract against the use of the rod I cull one -curious and droll story, wherewith to conclude this article:-- - -A husband accompanied his wife to confession. The lady having opened her -griefs, the father who was shriving her insisted on administering a severe -penitential scourging. The husband, hearing the first stroke inflicted on -his better half, interfered, and urged that his wife was delicate, and -that as he and she were one flesh, it would be better for him, as the -stronger vessel, to receive the scourging intended for his helpmate. The -confessor having consented to this substitution, the man knelt in his -wife's place, while she retired from the confessional. Whack! whack! went -the cat, followed by a moan from the good man's lips. - -"Harder!--harder!" ejaculated the wife; "I am a grievous sinner!" - -Whack! whack! whack! - -"Lay it on!" cried she; "I am the worst of sinners." - -Whack! whack! and a howl from the sufferer. - -"Never mind his cries, father!" exclaimed she; "remember only my sins. -Make him smart here, that I may escape in purgatory." - - - - -"HERMIPPUS REDIVIVUS" - - -"Man," said the learned Prioli, "is composed of soul, body, and goods. In -his pilgrimage through life these component parts are constantly exposed -to three mortal enemies: the devils, who are ever seeking the destruction -of his soul; the doctors, who are intent on ruining his constitution; and -the lawyers, who seek to rob him of his goods." - -We will put the devils aside for a moment, the lawyers, too, with the -tongs, and devote our attention to the doctors. We have already examined -the medical treatise entitled _Flagellum Salutis_, wherein was exposed the -excellence of the whip for the cure of every disorder to which mortality -is heir. We propose considering another equally startling tractate in this -paper, one more modern by a few years than that of Dr. Paullini, but its -superior in absurdity. The title of the work is "Hermippus Redivivus, or a -curious physico-medical examination of the extraordinary manner in which -he extended his life to 115 years by inhaling the breath of little girls; -taken from a Roman memorial, but now supported on medical grounds, as -also illustrated and elucidated by a wondrous discovery of philosophical -chemistry, by Johan Heinrich Cohausen, M.D." 8vo, 1743.[2] This -extraordinary book is adorned with an illustration, representing a -pedagogue with a big nose, of Brobdingnagian proportions, keeping a mixed -school of solemn little girls in jackets and aprons, and little prigs of -boys in stocks, knee-breeches, coats, and wigs. One little boy, whose body -is the size of the master's hand, sits reading a book on his right knee. -On the ground at his left is a little maiden, just reaching to the top of -the master's gaiters. A tiny dog is sitting up begging in the midst of a -class in the middle distance; and in the background, behind a row of -urchins who are not looking at their books, is a cat as big as any one of -them, attacking a cage containing a singing bird. The whole of this -strange work is built on a Roman inscription, said to have been found in -the seventeenth century, and figured by Thomas Reinsius in his _Syntagma -Inscriptionum Antiquarum_, and afterwards by Johann Keyser in his -_Parnassus Clivensis_. This inscription, which is almost certainly not -genuine, runs as follows:-- - - AESCULAPIO . ET . SANITATI . - L . CLODIUS . HERMIPPUS. - QUI . VIXIT . ANNOS . CXV . DIES . V . - PUELLARUM . ANHELITU . - QUOD . ETIAM . POST MORTEM - EIUS. - NON . PARUM . MIRANTUR . PHYSICI . - IAM . POSTERI . SIC . VITAM . DUCITE . - -That is to say: "To Aesculapius and to health, L. Clodius Hermippus -dedicates this, who lived 115 years, 5 days, on the breath of little -girls, which, even after his death, not a little astonishes physicians. Ye -who follow, protract your life in like manner." - -Other old writers, as Cujacius and Dalechampius, quote similar -inscriptions, as "L. Clodius Hirpanus vixit Annos CXV. Dies V. alitus -Puerorum anhelitu," and "L. Clodius Hirpanus vixit Annos CLV. Dies, V. -Puerorum halitu refocillatus et educatus." - -These inscriptions are sufficiently like and unlike to make it more than -probable that they are all forgeries. It is hardly to be conceived that -there should have been two individuals with names so very similar, living -similar lengths of time,[3] the one on little girls' breath, the other on -that of little boys. If, however, we are to suppose them genuine, we -have:--"Lucius Clodius Hermippus dying aged 115 years, 5 days"; "Lucius -Clodius Hirpanus dying aged 155 years, 5 days." - -However, the authenticity of these monuments is of little importance. Let -us to our book. - -Dr. Cohausen enters on a minute verbal commentary on the words of the -inscription, after having relieved his enthusiasm in a lengthy preface, -and a still longer epistle dedicatory to a doctor of his acquaintance. - -The commentary is as careful as though life hung upon each letter of the -text. Having completed this portion of his work, the author gives rein to -his fancy, and elaborates from his internal consciousness a life of L. -Clodius Hermippus. This is too curious to be passed over. Dr. Cohausen -asks how the subject of the inscription managed to live upon the breath of -little girls. He inquires whether Hermippus was a very wealthy man, and -enters into reasons which appear to him conclusive to the contrary. He -makes elaborate calculations as to the number of children who would have -been necessary to supply breath to Hermippus, supposing them to have been -changed every five years, and he to have adopted his system of prolonging -life at the age of sixty. After having discussed the question whether -Lucius Clodius were a schoolmaster, or the director of an hospital for -children, he concludes that he was the head of an orphanage supported by -Government; and when he has quite satisfied his mind upon this point, Dr. -Cohausen proceeds to sketch the daily routine of the life of Hermippus, as -follows:-- - -"The orphanage, which was like a palace, had many handsome dwelling and -dining-rooms, adapted for the daily uses of himself and the children, so -that the breath and exhalations from such a number of little girls might -fill the enclosed air, and might mingle to compose a salubrious vapour; -which, absorbed into the lungs of Hermippus, might the better exercise the -desired properties. In these rooms he spent with them the greater part of -the day, occupying the time in friendly and agreeable conversation, -unfolding to them good rules of life, relating innocent stories, and -wisely pronouncing exhortations on the practice of virtue. Early in the -morning, when the noise of the awaking children aroused him, at his -command they kindled in the room a fire, in order that the air, which had -become thickened during the night, might be rarified. In damp weather they -perfumed it with the best perfumes several times in the day, because they -had been instructed by their master how necessary this was to the -preservation of health. When the aged man left his room the little damsels -waited on him in the breakfast-chamber, and wished him a happy morning. -Often he explained to them the dreams which they related to him, making -them conduce to their moral edification. Some of those sufficiently old to -have an inkling of the art of flattery, combed out his snow-white hair; -others smoothed out his long white beard; others, again, rubbed his back -with a coarse towel, which is considered good for the health of old -people. And if, at that period, tea or coffee had been drunk, -unquestionably they would have supplied him with it. At all events, we -may conclude, as these beverages were not then in vogue, that it is quite -possible to reach a great age without imbibing them. When school-time was -over they passed the rest of the day in childish sports, with the -permission of Hermippus. They jumped about, they played with their dolls, -sometimes they also sang, for old people consider nothing so good for -health, and so invigorating, as vocal music. And in this manner everything -conduced to assist the expirations of the little girls in supporting our -old man. If ever he was compelled to leave the room, one might see the -children dragging at his coat-tails to detain him, and fervently desiring -his return. Adjoining the orphanage was a pleasant garden, in which were -plants and flowers calculated by their odour to quicken the vital spirit, -and assist in the prolongation of life. With these the maidens daily -adorned the rooms. Into this garden Hermippus betook himself with all the -little girls, each provided with a doll; and he walked about with them in -it, chaffed them, romped, danced and sang, acting as though his limbs were -those of youth. A thousand little rogueries, a thousand little jokes on -the part of the tiny lasses assisted in enlivening him, for they possessed -the art of making themselves cheerful. They wreathed flowers, and placed a -crown of spring-blossoms on the white head of Hermippus, and thus he -spited the fates and reached an advanced age." - -Will it be believed that all this detail is pure invention on the part of -Dr. Cohausen? - -The learned author next proceeds to reason upon the cause producing these -results; he solves the question why the breath of little girls should tend -to prolong life. - -"The breath," says Dr. Cohausen, "consists of an inhalation and an -exhalation: and if I speak scientifically, I say that when man breathes he -lets forth the thick and thin airs through his mouth and nostrils, which -he had before received into his lungs, where they had become impregnated -with the evaporations from his body, the subtilised watery particles and -vitalising blood, the balsamic and sulphuric atoms. Wherefore the human -breath when outside the spiracles has a material character, namely, an -exhalation from the vapours and gases which are intermixed with the blood -and sap of the human body; and it is so especially in the breath of little -girls. So observes Ficinus. This air is warm or tepid, and it moves and is -endowed unmistakably with life, and like an animal is composed of joints -and limbs, so that it can turn itself about, and not only so, but it has a -soul also; so that we may certainly predicate that it is an animal -composed of vapour, and endowed with reason. Consequently, any one who -draws into his lungs this breath or conglomerated vapour, must necessarily -absorb into his system the properties of that body from which it emanated, -and from which it derived its being. For we know by experience that the -air which enters the lungs dry, goes forth carrying with it moisture, as -may be seen by breathing on a glass, or in cold weather. Also, when we -inhale the breath of any one who is ill, we are conscious of receiving -infection. On the other hand, it is manifest that the breath of a young -and vigorous person, charged with powerful volatile salts, will have a -balsamic and vitalising capacity, or at the least a mechanical elasticity, -which must communicate vigour." The doctor quotes with approval the -opinion of Van Helmont, that the air absorbed into the lungs penetrates -the whole system, and circulates through every part, to the very hair, -catching up volatile salts on its passage. Thence he concludes that the -exhalations of little girls, who are brimming over with vitality, and -heaven knows what life-giving salts, must be charged with some of their -redundant vitality; and if this breath be inhaled by an old man, he -assumes into himself, and absorbs into his constitution, that life which -had been cast off as superfluous by the children. - - Quae spiramina dat puella? Nectar. - Dat rores animae suave olentes, - Dat nardumque thymumque cinnamumque, - Et mel, quale jugis tegunt Hymetti - Aut in Cecropiis apes rosetis, - Quae si multa mihi voranda dentur, - Immortalis in iis repente fiam. - -The third line, with its repetition of "_umque_," is peculiar rather than -elegant. The doctor rates the schoolmasters of his day for smoking during -class hours: he tells them that they are losing an opportunity of -inhaling the most invigorating salts at no expense. - - Quando doces pueros, tibi fistula semper in ore est, - Atque scholae fumos angulus omnis habet. - -"Oh, my Orbilius!" he exclaims, "wherefore dost thou do so? Dost thou -complain of the stuffiness of the schoolroom. Thou art mistaken, Orbilius, -these vapours are full of volatile salts, by which, if thou wert wise, -thou wouldst attain a long life. Away with thy nasty pipe, and suck in -rather these redolent exhalations whereby thou mayest become healthy and -aged." - -It must not be supposed that the scientific--or physico-medical, as the -doctor calls it--portion of the subject is dismissed in such few words. -The author dilates on the theory, turns it over, tosses it about, takes a -bite, squeezes it, holds it up for admiration, and then reluctantly puts -it aside. In the course of his physico-medical argument, he introduces a -few illustrative anecdotes. One of these, taken from P. Borellus, is to -this effect: A servant much devoted to his master, on his return from a -journey, found his lord dead and prepared for burial. Full of grief, he -cast himself on the deceased, and kissing his pallid lips poured forth a -whirlwind of sighs. The breath thus emitted penetrated to the lungs of the -corpse, inflated them, and the dead opened his eyes, winked, and sat up. -The sighs of the faithful domestic had fanned into flame the expiring, -and as all had deemed expired, vital spark. From Orubelius our author -quotes another story in confirmation of his hypothesis:-- - -A woman had died in her first confinement, or, at all events, had fallen -into a state which was believed by the attendants and by Orubelius, who -was the physician present, to be death. She lay thus for a quarter of an -hour devoid of sense and feeling, with pale face, stationary pulse, and -with lungs which had ceased to play. A maid-servant who thus beheld her, -opened her mouth, and breathed into it; whereupon the patient revived. The -physician then asked the girl where she had learned the use of this simple -yet efficient restorative, and the servant replied that she had seen it -practised upon new-born children with the happiest results. The author -also assures us of the beneficial effect produced by wringing the necks of -poultry before a person _in articulo mortis_, and making the cocks and -hens breathe out their souls into the mouth of the dying, whereby he is -not unfrequently restored, and becomes quite well and chirrupy. - -But, continues Dr. Cohausen, it is not only the exhalations from the lungs -which are life-generative, but also those from the pores. The pores are -little mouths situated all over the body, constantly engaged in the -aeration of the blood; they inhale the surrounding atmosphere and then -exhale it again, charged with balsamic and sulphurous particles taken up -from the system. Men's bodies are pneumatic-hydraulic machines, composed -of fluid and solid materials, and health depends on the fluids being -prevented from coagulating, by being stirred up by the constant operations -of the currents of air which penetrate the frame through the pores and -mouth. The solid portion of the body is disposed to harden and dry up and -become stiff, and this produces age and decay; but if the circulation of -the fluids be kept up by the healthful infusion of fresh vital force and -living energies, then decrepitude and death may be almost indefinitely -postponed. - -Now the lips of the little mouths or pores all over the person can be kept -flexible by oil, and therefore enabled to perform their functions with -facility. Thus Pollio, an ancient soldier of the Emperor Augustus, when -asked how he had succeeded in prolonging his energies over a hundred -years, replied that he had daily moistened his outer man with oil, and his -inner man with honey. Dr. Cohausen proceeds to lay down that it is better -to absorb the exhalations of little girls than those of little boys, -because females are more oily than males--a view we in no way feel -inclined to dispute, without having recourse to the receipt of Mocrodius -for wholesale incremations, which the doctor quotes to establish the -fact:--"Lay one female body to six male bodies, in a great pyre, for -thereby the male corpses are the more speedily consumed." No doubt about -it: there is enough combustible material in one woman to set any number of -men in a blaze. - -Johannes Fabricius, in his _Palladium Chymicum_, relates that he knew of a -lady whose hair when combed emitted sparks. - -Bartholinus mentions in his _Tractatus de Luce Hominum_ the case of a -female who flashed fire whenever her limbs or back were rubbed with a -towel. These examples lead our author to conclude that in women there is -not merely a considerable amount of oil, but that there is also no small -item of latent fire; we are inclined to add, explosive material as well. - -The advantage of old men marrying young wives is next discussed by Dr. -Cohausen; and he strongly urges all who have entered on the sere and -yellow leaf, to take to themselves wives of very early age; that, if -Providence has not made them superintendents of orphanages, or -schoolmasters, they may be enabled at small expense to inhale youthful -breath. Men already possessed of wives are to spend their days in the -nursery. As an instance of the advantage of patriarchs taking girl-wives, -he relates the story of a certain ancient man with snow-white hair and -beard, who married at the advanced age of eighty. After a while the old -man fell ill; all his hair and skin came off. On his recovery, he had a -fresh transparent complexion, and a magnificent bushy head and chin of -vivid red hair. - -"Whatever you do!" earnestly entreats the doctor, "never marry an old -woman; she will absorb all the vital principle from your lungs. Alas for -him who, in hopes of gaining money, marries a rich old spinster! She -becomes youthful, and he prematurely aged. For old women," he continues, -"are like cats, whose breath is poisonous to life. From the eyes and mouth -a cat discharges so much that is hurtful, that it has been the cause of -innumerable complaints. Indeed, Matthiolus relates that a whole monastery -of Religious died because they kept a number of cats." - -"My dear reader," says Cohausen, "if you are young and wish to marry, -follow the advice of Baron von Hevel, late member of the Imperial Council, -which he gives in his 'Psalmodia Sacra':-- - - "Si cupis uxorem quae praestet ubique decorem, - Formidetque marem, dilige sorte parem, - Prolificam, bellam, prudentem quaere puellam, - Non genium vanum, nec viduam nec anum. - -That is:--If you want a wife who may be a credit to you, and respect her -husband, choose a girl your equal, prolific, comely, prudent; not a giddy -head, nor an old widow." If this is a specimen of the Baron's Sacred -Psalmody, we must allow the book to be very light reading for a Sunday. - -In reading this extraordinary work, one is astonished at the manner in -which the author seems to regard the fair sex as merely pharmaceutic -agents, putting them much on a level with pills and powders, created for -the purpose of keeping men in good health, and prolonging their lives. The -idea scarce suggests itself to him, that they may object to be so -regarded and administered. Dr. Cohausen would, as soon as look at you, -write a prescription containing, among other items, so many respirations -of the breath of little girls to be taken in scented smoke. - - lb. oz. drm. - [Rx.] Gum Olibani 1 8 - " Styrac 2 - " Myrrhi 2 - " Benz. 4 - Corb. casc. pulv. 4 - Anhel. puellarum. quant. suff. - -When the question does arise, how the damsels will like this treatment, -the doctor brushes it aside with imperturbable coolness. It will be a -great honour to them, to be thus rendered conducive to the prolongation of -male life. Indeed, it will cause them not to be held as cheap as they are -now. At present they are good-for-noughts; but employed to infuse the -breath of life into men's lungs, they will be respected and valued. - -And now, with a flourish of horns, he introduces the "Wondrous discovery -of philosophical chymistry," of which he boasted on his title-page. "Now -then, O ye cooks of Gebri, or, that I may give you your better title, ye -sons of Hermes, who has taught you to extract the marvellous stone of the -philosophers from the fire, that thereby ye may be skilled to sustain a -protracted life! Now will I disclose to you a new philosophy! The once -famous hermetic philosopher in France, Johann Petsus Faber of Montpelier, -boasted of a certain _arcanum animale_ which would cause any one who used -it to be free from injury caused by the inclemency of the weather, from -the gray hairs of age, from exhaustion through bodily fatigue, or through -mental tension, whom no sickness would enfeeble, but who would reach the -term fixed by Providence for his days, free from injury from every foe. I -shall prove that Hermippus protracted his life by the use of such an -_arcanum_. For although, hitherto, it has been an unknown _arcanum_ to use -the crude breath of little maidens for the prolongation of the mortal -existence, still it will be regarded a far higher _arcanum_ if this can be -concentrated and cooked into an essence by chymical process, so that it -should have in itself the invisible spirit of nature, and the subtilised -fundamental principle of life. Let no one consider what I am now about to -relate as a fable, but let him hold it as genuine fact. In my youth I had -the good fortune to have the _entree_ of the house of an illustrious -personage, whose lady was immeasurably learned in the hermetic science, -and laboured at it along with her husband; with her I had the opportunity -of discussing the primordial matter of universal substance, which the -philosophers have veiled under enigma and fable. She boasted that she had -learned the secret of this from an Italian _Adeptus_ at Rome, and thereby -she aroused my curiosity to hear what it was: although, at the time, I was -by no means slightly acquainted with hermetic philosophy. - -"Once, as I urgently besought her to do me the favour of disclosing to me -this mystery, she began, after the manner of philosophers, to speak in -similitude: she said the _ens spirituale_ was that without which no man -could exist. It was common to all, to rich and poor alike. Adam brought it -with him out of Paradise, and in it lay a nourishing principle of life -attenuated in water and exhaled in air. I will not refer to other enigmas, -which she knew how to propound from the writings of philosophers. - -"In order to make the matter more conclusive, she ordered to be brought -from her cabinet a vessel containing cold water, which she held under my -nose, telling me that it was the true _subjectum_ of science, distilled, -as one might conclude, from female exhalations, which Flamellus terms -corporeal vapour. With this she roused to the highest pitch my anxiety to -thoroughly sound the mystery, as I had already seen hints of these -properties in the writings of Sandivogius and other philosophers. I did -not fail to use my utmost persuasion on every available opportunity to -penetrate the secret of this _Lixivium microcosmi_. At last the favour was -accorded me, and I ascertained that this holy _arcanum_ consisted in human -breath, which was collected from this lady's servant girls, and liquefied -in glass instruments curved like trumpets. The water thus gathered was -concentrated in retorts and other chymical apparatus, and was the very -essence fixed of impalpable matter. - -"By means of this discovery, life may be easily prolonged over a hundred -years, for this vapour of breath collected from maidens in trumpets, when -distilled, becomes an elixir of life, and by the copious use of this -concentrated vitality steamed down to an essence, man becomes -interpenetrated with living energy capable of resisting disease and -repelling the inroads of age." - -If we consider that the substances we absorb into our bodies become part -of ourselves, and that our systems are undergoing a perpetual assimilation -of the particles taken into us and renovation thereby, so that every seven -years we have totally changed our substance, it is evident that, in the -words of a learned friend of Doctor Cohausen, "This entire Hermippus, -since he lived over one hundred years, must have been completely composed -of the transmutated breath and porous exhalations of little girls; so that -his career must have closed by evaporation." - -It is certain that men can live a long time on what they inspire, without -eating; for the famous laughing philosopher Democritus, who lived to a -hundred and nine, when near his death observed that his sister was -depressed, and on inquiring the cause, ascertained that she had -anticipated great pleasure by attending an approaching festival of Ceres, -but that she feared his death would render it an infringement of etiquette -for her to be present at the public festivities. Democritus consoled her -by promising to live over the day. And, in order to extend his life the -required time, he ordered her to keep warm bread poultices under his nose, -that by constantly inhaling the nourishing vapours he might be preserved. -When the festival was over he ordered the bread pap to be removed, -whereupon he gently expired. - -Now, argues our doctor,--and this is a signal illustration of his method -of drawing conclusions from insufficient premises,--if the vapour of bread -could sustain the fleeting spirit of Democritus,--then the still more -invigorating outbreathings of little maidens will prolong life -indefinitely;--for only consider how much better are little girls than -soft pap! - -At the startling results of this discovery:-- - - Non parum mirantur physici; - -therefore ye-- - - Posteri, sic vitam ducite! - - - - -THE BARONESS DE BEAUSOLEIL - - -"Madame de Beausoleil, astronomer and alchemist in the seventeenth -century, who came from Germany to France in the exercise of her -profession, was incarcerated at Vincennes in 1641, by order of Cardinal -Richelieu; the date of her death is unknown." Such is all that the great -French biographical dictionaries have to say concerning a woman of -surprising talent, indomitable perseverance, and a martyr of science. She -was the first to draw attention to the mineral resources of France, and to -indicate the profit which might accrue to the treasury by the working of -the mines. And how did France repay her services? By despoiling her of her -private wealth, by casting her into prison, and leaving her to perish -forgotten in its dungeons. And even now her very name and services are -passed over and ignored. A sad chapter is that in the history of science -which relates the names of its martyrs, and records their services and the -ingratitude and ignominy with which they have been repaid. Among these -martyrs the good Baroness of Beausoleil deserves commemoration, and -merits now the attention that the age in which she lived refused to yield -to her. - -The date and place of her birth cannot be fixed with accuracy; but, as a -memoir published in 1640 says that for thirty years she had been engaged -in mineralogical studies, it seems probable that she was born about 1590. -She belonged to the noble family of Bertereau, in the Touraine; her -Christian name was Martine. In 1610 she married Jean du Chatelet, Baron de -Beausoleil and d'Auffenbach, a Brabantine nobleman of great learning and -abilities. The Baron had borne arms in his youth, but his natural tastes -lay in the direction of natural philosophy, and his attention was chiefly -directed to mineralogy, then a science in its earliest infancy. Following -the bent of his inclinations, and impelled by the desire of obtaining a -practical acquaintance with the working of mines, and the character and -conditions of the different metal ores _in situ_, he visited in order the -mines of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Tyrol, Silesia, Moravia, Poland, -Sweden, Italy, Spain, Scotland, and England. By this means he obtained a -practical knowledge of his subject possessed by no other in his day, and -an intimate acquaintance with ores and their indications, which made him -the first of mineralogists. The German Emperors, Rudolph and Matthias, -recognised his abilities, and constituted him Commissary-General of the -Hungarian mines. The Archduke Leopold created him Director-in-Chief of -the Trentin and Tyrolean mines, and the Dukes of Bavaria, Nieubourg, and -Cleves conferred upon him similar offices in their territories; lastly, a -brevet of like nature was given him by the Pope for the States of the -Church. In 1600, at the recommendation of Pierre de Beringhen, -Controller-General of the French mines, the Baron came to France. - -Ten years after he married Martine de Bertereau, who thenceforth became -his companion in all his travels, his fellow-labourer in the same field of -science, and who even surpassed him in ability and skill in detecting the -indications of ore. The couple examined together the German, Italian, and -Swedish mines. She then crossed the Atlantic to investigate those of the -New World. She next applied herself to the study of chemistry, geometry, -hydraulics, and mechanics, and became accomplished in each of these -sciences. She was able to speak fluently Italian, German, English, -Spanish, French, and was a Latin and Hebrew scholar. In 1626, Cinq-Mars, -then superintendent of the mines, gave the Baron a commission to traverse -several of the provinces, and open mines wherever he found indications of -ore. Whilst thus engaged, the Baron published a volume on _The True -Philosophy concerning the First Matter of Minerals_, a work of no great -value, as it is overloaded with the absurd theories of the metamorphosis -of metals then in vogue. - -The course of his investigations led him and his wife to Morlaix, in -Brittany, and there, in 1627, an event took place which gave them -considerable annoyance, as well as proving a severe pecuniary loss. The -Baron was engaged in examining a mine in the forest of Buisson-Rochemaree, -and his wife was at Rennes seeing to the registration of their commission. -Taking advantage of the absence of both at the same time, a provincial -provost, Touche-Grippe by name, of the race of _Dogberry_, made an entry -into their house, under the plea of search after magical apparatus, for, -as the provost said, "How can mortal man discover what is underground -without diabolical aid?" On this pretext, then, the house was ransacked, -and _Dogberry_ laid violent hands on every article which aroused his -curiosity or attracted his cupidity. The boxes were broken open, the -cupboards burst into, the drawers searched, and gold, silver, jewels, -mineralogical specimens, scientific instruments, legal documents, notes of -observations made in the course of travel, every fragment of manuscript, -private letters, and maps, were carried off by Touche-Grippe and -appropriated to his own use. - -On the return of the Baron and Baroness to Morlaix they found that, in -addition to this robbery in the name of justice, a charge was laid against -them of magic. They were constrained to appear before Touche-Grippe and a -fellow-magistrate of like nature, and free themselves of the charge. They -were allowed to depart exculpated, but without their property, which the -magistrate refused to surrender. The Baron appealed to the Parliament of -Brittany, but without obtaining any redress; he then applied to that of -Paris, but Touche-Grippe had friends at court, and the appeal of the Baron -was rejected. Twelve years after, in 1640, we find the Baroness still -asking for redress, and still in vain. - -The failure of the couple in obtaining any attention so irritated them -that they left France and returned to Germany, which had always recognised -their services, and treated them with the respect due to their abilities -and attainments. Ferdinand II. at once placed the Baron de Beausoleil in -charge of the Hungarian mines. - -But, unfortunately, the nobleman and his wife were not content to remain -in Germany, and after a few years resolved on trying their fortune once -more in France. This time they determined on carrying on their operations -upon a more extensive scale, and in 1632 they entered the kingdom of Louis -XIII., accompanied by fifty German and ten Hungarian miners, together with -private servants. The king at once renewed the commission given by -Cinq-Mars in 1626, and the Baron commenced a series of explorations in -Brittany and in the south of France. The Parliaments of Dijon and Pau -having objected to the commission, the king issued an order to them to -recognise the Baron and his wife, and to aid them in their search after -minerals by affording them every facility which lay in their power. -Notwithstanding this apparent royal support, the two mineralogists -obtained no pecuniary assistance from Government, but were expected to -carry on all their operations at their private expense. The maintenance of -sixty miners, the prosecution of extensive works, and the travelling from -province to province, could not fail to reduce the means of the couple -very considerably. A little glory might accrue to them, but they were sure -of becoming the objects of jealousy; they obtained praise from the king, -but no money; and after having expended 30,000 livres--in fact, their -whole fortune--they were as far from obtaining any pecuniary -acknowledgment of their services as they were when first entering France. -In 1632 the Baroness addressed a memoir to the king on the mineral -treasures of the country; it was entitled, "Veritable Declarations made to -the King and his Council of the rich and inestimable Treasures lately -discovered in the Kingdom"; but as this met with no response, she -reprinted it under the title "Veritable Declarations of the Discovery of -Mines and Minerals in France, by means of which his Majesty and his -subjects will be enabled to do without Foreign Mineral Trade; also -concerning the Properties of Certain Sources and Mineral Waters lately -discovered at Chateau-Thierry by Madame Martine de Bertereau, Baroness de -Beausoleil." In this interesting memoir one hundred and fifty mines are -indicated as having been discovered by the Baron and his wife. The -Government, satisfied of the value of the services of the two foreigners, -but unwilling, for all that, to pay them, now, as acknowledgment, -conferred on them a new brevet, giving them extended powers, and elevating -the Baron to the grade of Inspector-General of all the mines in France. If -glory alone could suffice as a reward to merit, the Baron du Chatelet and -Madame de Bertereau must have felt content with the dignity now conferred -upon them. But a glory which cost them their whole fortune, and which in -no way repaid their labours, must have seemed to them a bitter deception. - -Little by little the worthy couple had to reduce their retinue and to -curtail their expenses, and after ten years of unrequited exertion in -behalf of the crown, their train was scanty enough. However, their hopes -were not yet exhausted, promises had been made to them of the most -brilliant description, and they relied upon the honour of the French crown -to redeem them. - -In 1640 the Baroness appealed to Cardinal Richelieu in a pamphlet entitled -"La Restitution de Pluton a l'Eminentissime Cardinal Duc de Richelieu," a -second title-page adds, "with a refutation of those who believe that mines -and subterranean matters are only discovered by magic and by the aid of -the devil." - -Whether the Cardinal read the memoir or not, we cannot say, but -undoubtedly he perused the dedicatory epistle, or, at all events, the -sonnet it contains, which sums up its flatteries and hyperbolic -compliments. - - Esprit prodigieux, chef-d'oeuvre de nature, - Elixir epure de tous les grands esprits, - Puisque vous conduisez notre bonne aventure - Arretez un peu l'oeil sur ces divins ecrits. - - Ces ecrits sont dresses pour une architecture, - Dont la sainte beaute vous rendra tout epris; - Le soleil et les cieux conduisent la structure, - Et vous, vous conduisez cet ouvrage entrepris. - - La France et les Francais vous demandent les mines; - L'or, l'argent, et l'azur, l'aimant, les calamines, - Sont des tresors caches par l'esprit de Dieu. - - Si vous autorisez ce que l'on vous propose, - Vous verrez, Monseigneur, que, sans metamorphose, - La France deviendra bientot un _Riche-Lieu_. - -_The Restitution of Pluto_ is a book most interesting, not only on account -of the erudition and rare acquaintance with natural philosophy which it -displays, but also from the stately and vigorous writing of the authoress. -It contains passages glowing with energy, and is composed in a style of -dignified and manly eloquence. Maybe the publication of this work opened -the eyes of the Cardinal to the fact that the State certainly was indebted -to this illustrious couple for services gratuitously rendered during -upwards of ten years. The most convenient method of paying them was that -of silencing the voices which cried for acknowledgment, and thus stifling -the claims on the royal exchequer. Slanderous reports were circulated -relative to the Beausoleils, and they were accused of various crimes. The -suspicion of magic, which had attached to them from the time of the -inquisition of the provost of Morlaix, was revived, and the prejudices of -the age tended to give it force to overthrow the noble pair. Old -superstitions concerning gnomes of the mines and subterranean demons were -not yet extinct. The Baroness herself believed in them, and in one of her -works speaks of her having encountered some of them. In the mines of -Neusol and Chemnitz in Hungary, she says, "I saw little dwarfs about three -or four palms high, old, and dressed like miners, that is, clothed in an -old suit, and with a leather apron, a white tunic and cap, a lamp and -staff in hand--terrible spectres to those who are unaccustomed to mines." -Several times already, as appears from her writings, she and her husband -had been exposed to the violence of the rude and ignorant rustics, who -thought their scientific instruments means for conjuring up the devil, and -the authorities were, as we have seen at Morlaix, quite prepared to second -the popular superstition when profit could be obtained thereby. The -divining rod, then much in vogue in Germany, was used by the Baron and his -wife, who had strong belief in its magnetic properties, and the employment -of it may have given some colour to the charges now raised against them on -all sides of being necromancers in league with evil spirits. - -In 1642, by order of Cardinal Richelieu, the Baron de Beausoleil was cast -into the Bastille, and the Baroness was shut up in the state prison of -Vincennes, without trial and sentence. Thus, after forty years of labour -together in the same pursuits, in the same manner of life, in the decline -of their days this worthy couple were separated, to spend the rest of -their life in prison. Such was the reward accorded to them for their -devotion to the cause of science, and the recompense for the benefits they -had afforded to France. - -The Baroness died in the prison of Vincennes. The date of her death is -unknown, but probably it was not long deferred. Her ardent soul would not -long endure the torture of imprisonment, and the sorrows of finding all -her labours repaid with ingratitude. Her husband died in the Bastille -after lingering for three years behind bars. - -One last glimpse of the noble woman we obtain from the _Memoires de -Lancelot touchant la vie de M. de Saint-Cyran_. The Abbe de Saint-Cyran -was shut up in Vincennes in 1638 as a Jansenist. On the 14th of May in -that year he was arrested by Richelieu, who then made use of the -remarkable words, "Had Luther and Calvin been imprisoned the moment they -began to dogmatise, Government would have been spared much trouble." -Saint-Cyran remained in Vincennes till 1642. He died the next year. During -his imprisonment he observed in church the Baroness de Beausoleil and her -daughter, prisoners like himself. Touched with the scantiness of their -clothing, he endeavoured to procure for them the dresses which they -needed, and those necessaries which the sickness of the noble lady -demanded. The following are the words of the memoir:--"Whilst M. de -Saint-Cyran was in Vincennes he met a lady named the Baroness de -Beausoleil, who was there with her daughter, whilst her husband was -prisoner in the Bastille. Seeing her in church, poorly clad, he made -inquiries about her, and sent to Madame le Maitre, telling her whom he had -seen, and begging her to purchase some chemises for this person, expressly -desiring that they might be long, for nothing escaped his charity, and -also that the material should be good. When they had been sent, it was -ascertained that what had been made for the mother would only fit the -daughter, and he gave them to the latter, and ordered fresh ones for the -mother. Afterwards he requested to have fustian under-garments, shoes and -stockings, sent to them according to measures which he procured, and also -after the fashion of the day. - -"At the approach of winter he wrote to say that he found that the lady was -menaced with dropsy, and that she was extremely sensitive to cold. He -therefore begged the person I have mentioned to make for her a dress of -thick ratteen, of the best description, and trimmed with black lace, -because he heard that such was the fashion, and he added that his maxim -was, that people should be served according to their rank. He also had a -gown made for the daughter.... He also sent to the Bastille to have the -husband well dressed; and I know that the person who brought the tailor to -him asked him to choose his material and the trimmings, for he had orders -to have him dressed as suited his taste." - -In Saint-Cyran's own letters we find additional details, very sad they -are, but full of interest to those who have followed this worthy couple -through their labours into disgrace. - -"This letter," writes the Abbe to his friend M. de Rebours, "is to entreat -you, at your convenience, to execute with the utmost secrecy, without -allowing it to transpire who sends you and who you are who make the -inquiries, a work of great charity upon which I am engaged. There is a -person imprisoned here who is the authoress of the book I send you; will -you kindly go to M. Marechal, glassmaker, and consequently a gentleman, -and inquire what has become of the children of the Baroness de Beausoleil, -a German lady; and lest he should mistrust you, say you do it in charity; -and should he still have suspicions, promise him any token of sincerity -which he may require. He lives near the House of Charity in the Faubourg -St. Germain. Perhaps you had better inquire at the House of Charity for M. -Marechal, and of the girl named Madlle. Barbe, with whom the Baron de -Beausoleil, now in the Bastille, and his wife, now here in prison, had -left one of their daughters, named Anne du Chatelet, aged twelve, whom her -mother had instructed in Latin, so as to make her useful in the search -after mines, a science hereditary in the family. By this means you may be -able to learn what has become of the other children. - -"If you know yourself, or by any of your friends, M. Maturel, advocate, or -his brother, who favoured these good people, and who know all their -affairs, and are aware of all the circumstances of the robbery committed -upon them in Brittany, and estimated at a hundred thousand crowns, you -will obtain their entire confidence, and be able to learn what has become -of the children. This must be done with the utmost circumspection. You -must say that your friends, who lived formerly in Paris, want to know -particulars of the family. The eldest son, having gone to the Bastille -without proper precautions, to make inquiries concerning his father, was -arrested. But we desire to learn something about the other children, some -five or six, and who has got charge of them.... What a strange thing it -is, that there is no surer means of falling into trouble than to love the -faith and Catholic verity." - -Such is the last glimpse we obtain of this unfortunate family. Two noble -and devoted servants of science cast into dungeons, and their children -scattered or imprisoned--because they served the State too well. - -On the 4th of December 1642 Richelieu was called to his account before the -throne of a just Judge, to answer for that as well as his other crimes; -and in another century the accursed Bastille was torn down stone from -stone by an exasperated people and laid low in the dust, never to rise -again. - - - - -SOME CRAZY SAINTS - - -Among the ignorant there is always admiration for the not-understood, and -in former times nothing was less understood than hysteria. The original -source of a thousand superstitions, and of most idolatries, lies in the -sense of surprise, wonder, into which the mind is thrown by seeing that -which it cannot explain. A remarkable rock, a queer shell, peculiar eyes -in a man or woman, a curious fruit, like the _coco-de-mer_, awaken -admiration, perplex the untaught mind, and superinduce religious -reverence. What strikes the imagination thenceforth provokes the -instinctive awe felt for the supernatural. Now nothing is more calculated -to astonish those who know naught of nervous disorder than the phenomena -attending hysteria and its allied maladies. Consequently, not only have -hysteric patients been for a long period regarded as specially allied with -the spiritual powers, but so also have the insane, because insanity is -particularly amazing to the man with his wits about him. To the present -day in the East epilepsy is regarded as something sacred, and idiocy and -madness as divine possession. It is not marvellous that some men and women -in rude times, who were subject to fits, were scrofulous, hysterical, and -lived out of the ordinary mode of life, should have been given a character -for sanctity that scarcely perhaps was their due. Hysterical persons have -a strange craving after sympathy, a hunger after notoriety, and will -endure much self-imposed torture to obtain that which to their vanity is -dearer than bodily ease. - -Motives in this world are much mixed, and nowhere more mixed than in -hysterical saints, where the glory of God and the glorification of self -are inextricably involved. - -It is not in the least surprising that some of the crazy saints we shall -now consider should have been canonised by the popular voice; what is -extraordinary is that they should have been accepted and inserted in the -lists of those who are recognised by the Church as models of holiness, and -that in a later and more critical age they have not been kicked out of the -association to which they were ill qualified to belong. We will begin with -the story of St. Symeon the Fool. - - -I - -ST. SYMEON SALOS - -The life of this saintly personage comes to us on excellent authority. The -patron of Symeon in Edessa, and the witness of his acts, was a certain -simple-minded John the Deacon. Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, -whose _Apology for Sacred Images_ was accepted and approved by the Second -Council of Nicaea, was acquainted with this John the Deacon, and from his -account of the doings of Symeon wrote the life, in Greek, which has come -down to us entire. It is one of the most curious and instructive of early -Christian biographies. - -Evagrius, the historian, also a contemporary of Symeon, makes mention of -him in his _Church History_ (lib. iv. c. 34). - -The story of Symeon is as follows:-- - -In the reign of the Emperor Justinian, two young Syrians came to Jerusalem -to assist at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The name of -one was John, and the name of the other was Symeon. John, a young man of -two-and-twenty, was accompanied by his bride, a beautiful and wealthy -girl, to whom he had been very lately married, and by his old father. With -Symeon was his widowed mother, aged eighty. - -The festival having terminated, the pilgrims started on their return to -Edessa, and had reached Jericho, when John, reining in his horse, bade the -caravan proceed, whilst he and his comrade Symeon tarried behind. The two -young men flung themselves from their horses on the coarse grass. In the -distance, near Jordan, glimmered the white walls of a monastery, and a -track led towards it from the main road followed by the caravan. - -"What place is that?" asked Symeon. - -"It is the home of angels." - -"Are the angels visible?" Symeon inquired. - -"Only to those who elect to follow their manner of life," answered John, -and descanted to his companion on the charms of a monastic life. "Let us -cast lots," he said, "whether we shall follow the road to the convent, or -that which the caravan has pursued." They cast lots, and the decision was -for the life of angels. - -So they turned into the road that led to Jordan and the monastery, and as -they went they encouraged each other. For, we are told, John feared lest -the love Symeon bore to his old widowed mother would draw him back, and -Symeon dreaded the effects of the remembrance of the fair young bride on -John. - -On reaching the monastery, which was that of St. Gerasimus, the abbot, -named Nicon, received them cordially, and gave them a long address on the -duties and excellences of the monastic life. Then both fell at his feet -and besought him at once to shear off their hair. The abbot hesitated, and -spoke to each in private, urging a delay of a year, but Symeon boldly -said, "My companion may wait, but I cannot. If you will not shear my head -at once, I will go to some other monastery where they are less -scrupulous." Then he added, "Father, I pray thee, ask the Lord to be -gracious to and strengthen my comrade John, that the remembrance of his -young wife, to whom he has been only lately married, draw him not back." - -And when the abbot spoke to John, "My father," said he, "pray for my -comrade Symeon, who has a widowed mother of eighty years, and they have -been inseparable night and day; he dearly loves her, and has been wont -never to leave the old woman alone for two hours in the day. I fear me -lest his love for his mother make him take his hand from the plough and -look back." - -So the abbot cut off their hair, and promised on the morrow to clothe them -with the religious habit. Then some of the members crowding round them -congratulated the neophytes that on the morrow "they would be regenerated -and cleansed from all sin." The young men, unaccustomed to monastic -language, were alarmed, thinking that they were about to be rebaptized, -and went to the abbot to remonstrate. He allayed their apprehensions by -explaining to them that the monks alluded to their putting on the "angelic -habit." - -John and Symeon did not long remain in the abbey before a wish came upon -them to leave it. Accordingly, in the night, they made their escape, and -rambled in the desert to the east of the Dead Sea, till they lighted on a -cave which had once been tenanted by a hermit, but was now without -inhabitant. The date-palms and vegetables in the garden grew untouched, -and the friends settled in the cave to follow the lives of the desert -solitaries. - -Their peace of mind was troubled for long by thoughts of the parent and -wife left behind. "O Lord, comfort my old mother," was the incessant -prayer of Symeon; "O Lord, dry the tears of my young wife," was the -supplication of John. At length Symeon had a dream in which he saw the -death of his mother, and shortly after John was comforted by a vision -which assured him that his wife was no more. - -After a while Symeon informed his comrade that he could not rest in the -cave, but that he was resolved to serve God in the city. He felt there -were souls to be saved in the world, and that he had a call to labour for -their conversion. - -This announcement filled John with dismay. He wept, and entreated Symeon -not to desert him. "What shall I do, alone, in this wild ocean of sand? O -my brother, I thought that death alone would have separated us, and now -thou tearest thyself away of thine own will. Thou knowest I have forsaken -all my kindred, and I have thee only, my brother, and will my brother -desert me?" - -"Do thou, John, remember me in thy prayers here in the desert, whilst I -struggle in the world; and I will also pray for thee. But go I must." - -"Then," said John solemnly, "be on thy guard, brother Symeon, lest what -thou hast acquired in the desert be lost in the world; lest what silence -has wrought, bustle destroy. Above all, beware lest that modesty, which -seclusion from women has fostered, fail thee in their society; and lest -the body, wasted with fasting here, surfeit there. Beware, also, lest -laughter take the place of gravity, and worldly solicitude break up the -serenity of the soul." - -He had good cause to give this advice, as the sequel proves; but Symeon -gave no heed to the exhortation, answering, "Fear not for me, brother; I -am not acting on my own impulse, but on a divine call." - -Then they wept on one another's shoulders, and Symeon promised to revisit -his friend before he died. - -John accompanied Symeon a little way, and then again they wept and -embraced, and after that John sorrowfully returned to his cell, and Symeon -set his face towards the world, and came to Jerusalem. - -He spent three days in the Holy City, visiting the sacred sites, and then -went to Emesa. - -Hitherto his life had been, if not altogether commendable, yet at least -respectable. But from this point his character changes. He simulated -madness, his biographer says, with the motive of drawing down on himself -the ridicule of the world. - -This ill-conditioned fellow is venerated by Greeks and Russians as a -saint, and Cardinal Baronius with culpable negligence introduced his name -into the modern Roman Martyrology. - -Alban Butler, the Pere Giry, and the Abbe Guerin, and indeed all Roman -Catholic hagiographers, give the former part of this history with some -detail, and draw a curtain of pious platitudes over the second act of the -drama. They state that the saint made himself a fool for Christ, but are -very careful not to give the particulars of his folly. - -It is hardly necessary to point out how untrue to history, how morally -dishonest, such a course is. - -The Jesuit Fathers, who continued the work of Bollandus, give the original -Greek _Life_ in their volume for July, but with searchings of heart. "If," -say they, "our lucubrations could be confined to such small space as would -suffice to give only the lives of those men whose memory is edifying and -deserves imitation, never for a moment would it have entered into our -heads to give and illustrate the life of St. Symeon Salos. For towards the -close of that life many things occur, silly, stupid, absurd, scandalous to -the ignorant, and to the learned and better educated worthy of laughter -rather than of faith." - -But the unfortunate Bollandists were not at liberty to avoid the -unpleasant task, as Symeon figured among the Saints of the Roman Calendar -in these words: "At Emesa (on 1st July) St. Symeon, Confessor, surnamed -Salos, who became a fool for Christ. But God manifested his lofty wisdom -by great miracles." 1st July is a mistake for 21st July, the day on which -St. Symeon is venerated in the East. Baronius was misled by a faulty -manuscript of the _Life_, which gave [Greek: a] for [Greek: ka], as the -day on which the saint died. It is a pity that, when he was transferring -the day, he did not place St. Symeon Salos on the more appropriate 1st of -April. - -The only way in which I can account for this insertion in the Calendar is -that Baronius read the first part of the _Life_, and was pleased with it, -and did not trouble himself to conclude the somewhat lengthy manuscript. -He therefore placed Symeon in his new Roman Martyrology, which received -the approbation and imprimatur of Pope Sixtus V. and afterwards of -Benedict XIV. - -But to return to St. Symeon. - -On reaching the outskirts of Emesa, Symeon found on a dung-heap a dead, -half-putrefied dog. He unwound his girdle and attached the dog with it to -his foot, and so entered the gate of the city and passed before a boys' -school. The attention of the children was at once diverted from their -books, and, in spite of the expostulation of their preceptor, they rushed -out of school after Salos, like a swarm of wasps, shouting, "Heigh! here -comes a crack-brained abbot!" and kicked the dog and slapped the monk. - -Next day was Sunday. Symeon entered the church with a bag of nuts before -him, and during the celebration of the divine mysteries threw nuts at the -candles and extinguished several of them. Then, running up into the -ambone, or pulpit, he threw nuts at the women in the congregation, and hit -them in their faces. Laughter and outcries interrupted the sacred service, -and Symeon was expelled the church, not, however, without offering a -sturdy resistance. - -Outside, the market-place must have resembled one on a Sunday abroad at -the present day, for it was full of stalls for the sale of cakes. In -rushing from the church officials, he knocked over the stalls,[4] and the -sellers beat him so unmercifully for his pains that he groaned in himself: -"Humble Symeon, verily, verily, they will maul the life out of you in an -hour!" - -A seller of sour wine[5] saw him racing round the market-place, and, being -in want of a servant, hailed him, and said, "Here, fellow; if you want a -job, sell pulse for me." - -"I am ready," answered Symeon. So he gave him pulse and beans and peas to -sell, but the hermit, who had eaten nothing for a week, devoured the whole -amount. - -"This will never do," said the mistress of the house; "the abbot eats more -than he sells. Here, fellow, what money have you taken?" - -Symeon had neither money nor vegetables to show, so the woman turned him -out of the house. The monk placidly seated himself on the doorstep, and -proceeded to offer up his evening devotions. But these were not complete -without the ritual adjunct of smoking incense. Symeon looked about for a -broken pot in which to put some cinders; but finding none, he took some -lighted charcoal in the palm of his hand, and strewed a few grains of -incense upon it. The mistress of the house, smelling the fumes, looked out -of the window, and exclaimed, "Gracious heaven! Abbot Symeon, are you -making a thurible of your hand?"[6] At that moment the charcoal began to -burn his palm, and he threw the ashes into the lap of his coarse -goat's-hair mantle. - -The taverner and his wife were so moved by the piety of Symeon that they -received him into the house, and employed him in selling vegetables, which -duty he executed satisfactorily when his appetite was not exacting. They -speedily found that Silly Symeon drew customers to their house, for Symeon -laid himself out to divert them, and it became the rage for a time in -Emesa for folk to visit the tavern, saying, "We must have our dinner and -wine where that comical fool lives." - -One day Symeon Salos saw a serpent put its head into one of the wine -pitchers in the tavern, and drink. He took a stick and broke the pitcher, -thinking that the serpent had spit poison into the wine. The publican was -angry with Symeon for breaking the amphora, and, catching the stick out of -his hand, cudgelled the poor monk with it, without listening to his -explanation. On the morrow the serpent again entered the tavern, and went -to the wine jars. The host saw it this time, and rushed after it with a -stick, upsetting and breaking several amphorae. "Ha, ha!" exclaimed -Symeon, peeping out from behind the door, where he had concealed himself, -"who is the biggest fool to-day?"[7] - -The taverner did not show much kindness to Symeon; but this is hardly to -be wondered at, when we hear that, summoned to his wife's bedroom by her -cries one night, he found it invaded by the saint, who was deliberately -undressing in it for bed. This he did, says Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis, -in order to lower the high opinion entertained of him by his master.[8] -After this, as may well be believed, the taverner told the tale over his -cups with much laughter to his guests, and with confusion to his man. In -Lent the saint devoured flesh, but would not touch bread. "He is -possessed," said the inn-keeper; "he insulted my wife, and he eats meat in -Lent like an infidel." - -In Emesa he picked up a certain John the Deacon, who admired his -proceedings. To this John, the saint related the events of his former -life; and from John Leontius heard the story. - -One day John the Deacon was on his way to the public baths, when he met -Symeon. "You will be all the better for a wash, my friend," said the -Deacon; "come with me to the baths." - -"With all my heart," answered the monk, and he forthwith peeled off his -clothes, wrapped them in a bundle, and set them on his head. - -"My brother!" exclaimed the Deacon, "put on your clothes again. I cannot -walk with you in the public street in this condition." - -"Very well, friend, then I will walk first, and you can follow." And stark -naked, bearing his bundle "like a faggot" on his head, he stalked down the -crowded thoroughfare. - -The baths were divided into two parts, one for women, the other for men. -Symeon ran towards the women's entrance. - -"Not that way!" shouted the Deacon in alarm; "the other side is for men." - -"Hot water here, hot water there," answered Symeon; "one is as good as the -other"; and throwing down his bundle, he bounded into the ladies' -compartment, and splashed in amongst the female bathers. - -The women screamed, flew on him, beat, scratched, pushed him, and drove -him ignominiously forth. - -The biographer gravely informs us that on another occasion an unbelieving -Jew saw Symeon privately bathing with two "angels," and would have told -what he had seen had not Salos silenced him. It was only after the death -of the saint that the Jew related the circumstance. The Christians -concluded that the two lovely forms with whom Symeon was enjoying a dip -were angels. "To such a pass of purity and impassibility had the saint -attained," continues the Bishop of Neapolis, "that he often led the dance -in public with an actress on each arm; he romped with actresses, and by no -means infrequently allowed them to tickle his ribs and slap him."[9] - -Indeed, his biographer tells some stories of his association with very -fallen angels, which are anything but edifying. - -His antics in the streets and market-place became daily more outrageous. -"Sometimes he pretended to hobble as if he were lame, sometimes he -capered, sometimes he dragged himself along to the seats, then he tripped -up the passers-by, and sent them sprawling; sometimes at the rising of the -moon he would roll on the ground kicking. Sometimes he pretended to speak -incoherently, for he said that this above all things suited those who were -made fools for Christ. By this means he often refuted vice, or spat forth -his bile against certain persons, with a view to their correction." - -A Count, living near Emesa, heard of him, and said, "I will find out -whether the fellow is a hypocrite or not." - -As it happened, when the Count entered the city, he found that Symeon's -housekeeper[10] had hoisted her master upon her back, whilst another young -woman administered to him a severe castigation with a leather strap. The -Count, we are told, went away much scandalised. Salos wriggled off his -housekeeper's back, ran after the Count, struck him on the cheek, then -stripped off his own clothes, and danced in complete nudity before him up -the street and down again. - -Passing some girls dancing one day, and noticing that some of them had a -cast in their eyes, he said, "My dears, let me kiss your pretty eyes and -cure you of your squint." - -One or two of the young women permitted him to kiss them, and, we are -assured, were cured; after which, all the girls who thought they had -something the matter with their eyes ran after Symeon to have theirs -kissed. The Deacon John invited him to dinner one day. Symeon went, and -devoured raw bacon which was hanging up in the chimney, instead of what -was provided for the guests. Symeon was fond of frequenting the houses of -the wealthy, where, says his biographer, he sported with and kissed the -maids.[11] - -Two Fathers were troubled that Origen should be regarded as a heretic, and -they asked the hermit John the reason. John bade them inquire of Symeon in -Emesa. On reaching Emesa they found the monk in the tavern, with a bowl of -boiled pulse before him, eating as voraciously "as a bear." "What is the -use of consulting this Gnostic?" said one of the Fathers; "he knows -nothing but how to crunch pulse." - -"What is the matter with the pulse?" asked Symeon, starting up and boxing -the hermit on the ears, so that his face bore the mark for three days. -"The pulse has been soaking for forty days, and is soft enough, I warrant -ye! As for your Origen, he can't eat pulse, for he is at the bottom of the -sea. And now take this for your pains!" and he flung the scalding pulse in -their faces. His reason, Leontius tells us, was to prevent them from -telling all men how he had read their purpose before they had spoken about -Origen. - -One Lord's Day, Symeon was given a chain of sausages.[12] He hung it over -his shoulders like a stole, and filled his left hand with mustard. He ate -all day at the sausages, flavouring them with the mustard, and smearing -his face with it. This highly amused a rustic, who mocked him. Symeon -rushed at him, and threw the mustard in his eyes. The man cried with pain, -and Symeon bade him wash the mustard out of his eyes with vinegar. Now it -happened that this man was suffering from ophthalmia, and the mustard and -vinegar applied to his eyes loosened the white film that was forming over -them, and it peeled off, and thus the man was cured. - -Symeon had long ago left the service of the publican, and had taken a -small cottage, which was only furnished with a bundle of faggots and a -housekeeper. John the Deacon supplied him with food, but somehow Symeon -managed to secure a store of excellent provisions, and the beggars and -tramps of the town were accustomed to assemble in his hut occasionally for -a grand feast. John the Deacon unexpectedly dropped in on one of these -revels, and wondered where the "white wheaten bread, cheesecakes, buns, -fish, and wine of all sorts, dry and sweet, and, in short, whatsoever is -to be found most dainty,"[13] had come from, which Symeon and his -housekeeper were serving out to the beggars and their wives. But when -Symeon assured him that these good things had come down straight from -heaven in answer to prayer, the Deacon went away wondering and edified. In -the same way Symeon always had his pockets full of money. We find him -bribing a woman of bad character with a hundred gold pieces to be his -companion.[14] Many of these ladies sought his society with eagerness, -"for," says his pious biographer, "he was always showing them large sums -of money, for he had as much as he wanted, God always invisibly supplying -him with funds for his purpose." Whence came this money? For what purpose -was it used? Why was the saint so continually found in the society of -these women, or among the female servants of the wealthy citizens? - -Early in the morning Symeon was wont to leave his hut, twine a garland of -herbs, break a bough from a tree, and thus crowned and sceptred enter the -city. John the Deacon asked the monk how it was that he never saw him -having his hair cut, nor with his hair long. Symeon assured him that this -was in answer to prayer. He had supplicated Heaven that he might be saved -the trouble of having recourse to a barber, and Heaven had heard him; all -which John the Deacon fully believed. - -When death approached, Symeon revisited his friend John in the wilderness, -who probably did not find his old comrade much improved in morals and -manners by his residence in town. - -He then returned to Emesa, and was found dead one morning under his bundle -of faggots. - -The remarks of Alban Butler are not a little amusing. "Although we are not -obliged in every instance to imitate St. Symeon, and though it would be -rash even to attempt it without a special call; yet his example ought to -make us blush"--we should think so, indeed--"when we consider"--ah!--"with -what an ill-will we suffer the least things that hurt our pride." Symeon -slipped into the Roman Martyrology by an inadvertency. Let us trust that -at the next revision, he may be turned out. - - -II - -ST. NICOLAS OF TRANI - -The life of this extraordinary man is given to us with much detail by two -eye-witnesses of his doings. Bartholomew, a monk, who associated himself -with Nicolas, travelled with him, admired, and after his death worshipped -him, wrote one of these lives. He had heard from the lips of Nicolas the -account of his childhood and youth, and he faithfully recorded what he -heard. Therefore Nicolas himself is our authority for all the earlier part -of his history, whilst he was in Greece. For the latter part we have the -testimony of Bartholomew, his companion night and day. - -Secondly, we have an account of the close of his strange career by a -certain Adalfert of Trani, also an eye-witness of what he describes; thus -there is every reason for believing that we have an authentic history of -this man.[15] - -Nicolas was the child of Greek parents, near the monastery of Sterium, -founded by St. Luke the Stylite. His parents were poor labouring people, -and the child was sent, at the age of eight, to guard sheep. About this -time he took it into his head to cry incessantly, night and day, "Kyrie -eleison!" The mother scolded and beat him, thinking that she might have -too much even of a good thing. But as he did not mend or vary his -monotonous supplication when he had reached the age of twelve, she angrily -bade him pack out of the house, and not come near her again till he had -learned to keep his noisy cries to himself. - -The boy then ran away to the mountains, where he turned a she-bear out of -her cave, and settled himself into it, living on roots and berries; and -climbing to dizzy heights, spent his days in yelling from the crags where -scarce a goat could find a footing, "Kyrie eleison!" - -His clothes were torn to tatters, so that scarce a shred covered his -nakedness, his feet were bare, and his hair grew long and ragged. - -The poor mother, becoming alarmed at his disappearance, offered a small -sum of money to any one who would find the boy and bring him home. The -peasants of the village scattered themselves among the mountains, caught -the runaway, and at the mother's request took him to the monks of St. -Luke's monastery to have the devil exorcised out of him, for she believed -he must be mad. But Nicolas in his cave had one night seen come to him an -old man of venerable aspect, with long beard and white hair, stark -naked,[16] who bade him be of good cheer, and pursue his admirable course -of conduct. The monks of Sterium brought him into the church and -endeavoured to exorcise the demon, first with prayers, and afterwards with -kicks and blows. Nicolas rushed from the gates of the church shrieking, -"Kyrie eleison!" He was brought back and shut up in a tower, with a slab -of stone against the door, to keep him in. During the night the sleep of -the monks was broken by the muffled cries of "Kyrie eleison!" issuing from -the old tower. A thunderstorm burst over the monastery at midnight, and -Nicolas dashed the door open, threw down the stone, and leaped forth, -shouting between the thunder crashes, "Kyrie eleison!" The monks caught -him, put shackles on his wrists, and thrust him into a cell. As they sat -next day at their meal in the refectory, the door flew open, and in -stalked Nicolas with the chains broken in his hands; he clashed them down -on the table before their eyes, and shouted "Kyrie eleison!" till the -rafters and walls shook again. The monks rose from table, and thrust him -forth, whilst they proceeded with their meal. - -Nicolas ran to the church, scrambled up the walls--how no one knew; his -biographer Bartholomew thinks he must have swarmed up a sunbeam--reached -the dome, and mounting to the apex, began to shout his supplication, -"Kyrie eleison!" - -In the meantime the monks had retired for their nap after dinner, when the -reiterated cries from the top of the church cupola roused them and made -sleep impossible. They came forth in great excitement. One, by order of -the hegumen, or abbot, took a stout stick, and ascending to the roof by a -spiral staircase, crawled after the boy, reached him, dislodged him, and -with furious blows drove him off the roof.[17] - -The monks now thought the best thing they could do would be to get -summarily rid of the maniac by drowning. Papebroeck, the Bollandist, at -this point appends the curious note: "If amongst ourselves, better -instructed, it is customary to suffocate those who have been bitten by a -mad dog--an atrocious custom--lest they should bite and hurt others, and -this is regarded as a rough sort of mercy, is it any wonder that these -rude monks should have supposed it proper to make away with a madman upon -whom exorcism had failed to produce any effect?" - -The monks accordingly tied the hands and feet of Nicolas, drew him down to -the shore, threw him into a boat, rowed some way out to sea, and flung him -overboard. - -But Nicolas broke his bonds,[18] as he had shivered the shackles, and -swimming ashore, reached land before the monks, and mounting a rock, -roared to them as his greeting, "Kyrie eleison!" - -The monks despaired of doing anything to him, and abandoned him to follow -his own devices. He ran wild among the mountains, and constructed a -little hut of logs and wattled branches for his residence. One day he -descended to his mother's house and carried off a hatchet, a knife, and a -saw, and amused himself fashioning crosses out of the wood of the cedars -he cut down, and erecting them on the summit of rocks inaccessible to -every one else. - -On another occasion he carried off his brother; but the boy was so -frightened at the wild gestures and cries of Nicolas, that he refused to -remain more than a night in his cell and ran away home, to the -inexpressible relief of his mother. - -Nicolas rambled over the country, dirty, dishevelled, and naked, asking -and enforcing alms. He was well known to the monks of the monasteries -throughout the neighbourhood as an importunate beggar at their doors. The -lonely traveller hastily flung him an offering, glad to escape so easily. -On one occasion Nicolas waylaid the steward of the monastery of Sterium, -and arresting the horse he rode, reproached him with stinginess. The monk, -who was armed with a cudgel, bounded from his saddle, fell on Nicolas, and -beat him unmercifully, then mounted and joyfully pursued his road. - -Nicolas picked himself up, and followed him at a distance with aching -bones to the village where the steward slept that night. Then, stealing to -his bedside in the dark, he roared into his ear, "Kyrie eleison!" and woke -him with a start of terror. - -The monk jumped out of bed, called up the house; the watch-dogs were let -loose, and Nicolas fled from their fangs up a tree, where he crouched -till daylight. - -On the Feast of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Nicolas went to the monastery of -Sterisca to receive the Holy Communion, but was repulsed as being in an -unsound state of mind, and driven out of the church, where his religious -emotions found noisy vent, to the confusion of the singers and the -distraction of the congregation. Nicolas was much distressed at the -treatment he had received; he cried bitterly, and then resolved, as he was -despised in the Greek Church, to secede to the Roman obedience; and -according to his own account this excommunication was the reason of his -flying from his native land to visit Italy. - -But he makes an admission which gives this pilgrimage West quite another -complexion. He started on his journey with a very pretty girl as his -companion, whom he seduced from her home, whose hair he cut short with his -own hands, and whom he disguised in male costume. But the parents of the -damsel, anxious at her loss, made search for her, and found her, to their -dismay and disgust, in company with Nicolas, dressed as a boy, sharing his -bed and board, yelling "Kyrie eleison!" with him through the Greek -villages, and making the best of their way to the sea to escape to Italy. - -It is not difficult to see through this incident as it comes to us with -Nicolas's own explanation. The motive which Nicolas gave afterwards to -Bartholomew to account for his running away from his native land was an -afterthought. He had formed this discreditable connection, and the couple -were escaping when caught by the parents and brought before the -magistrates. Nicolas was tried for the seduction of the young girl. -According to the young man's own account, the girl took all the blame on -herself, and Nicolas was allowed to depart unpunished. How far this is -true we cannot say. - -Greece was now too hot for Nicolas, and he hurried to Lepanto, to take -ship for Italy. There he met Brother Bartholomew, who was so edified by -his frantic piety and the odour of sanctity which pervaded the vagrant, -that he attached himself to the young pilgrim as an ardent disciple. - -Nicolas and Bartholomew took ship and crossed over to Otranto. Before -entering the port, however, Nicolas cried, "Kyrie eleison!" and jumped -overboard. Every one on board ship supposed he would be drowned, and -Brother Bartholomew tore his beard with dismay. - -But Nicolas was not born to be drowned. He came ashore safely, and -declared that he had seen a beautiful lady draw him out of the water by -the hair of his head. - -One day at Otranto a procession was going through the town, bearing an -image of the Virgin, when Nicolas, who had walked for some time gravely in -the train, suddenly started out of it to make humble obeisance to an old -man who attracted his respect. - -"See! he is worshipping a Jew!" exclaimed the people; "this strange fellow -is no good Christian. Bring hither the image." - -Then the Madonna was brought before Nicolas, and he was told to bow before -it. He refused. Then the people fell on him with their fists and sticks, -and beat and kicked him into a ditch. - -Papebroeck suggests that his reason for refusing to worship the image was -humility, hoping to draw on himself the indignation of the multitude, and -thereby acquire the merit of enduring insult and suffering wrongfully. -Perhaps, as a Greek, Nicolas was unaccustomed to images other than -pictures; perhaps he did not understand the language of his assailants; -but probably he was actuated by no reason but a mad freak. In the Italian -versions of the _Life of St. Nicolas_ sold at Trani, this incident is -omitted for obvious reasons. - -Leaving Otranto, Nicolas came to Lecce, which he entered bearing a cross -on his shoulders, and uttering his usual cry. He spent the alms given to -him in the purchase of apples, which he carried in a pouch at his waist, -and these he threw among the boys who followed him in crowds and shouted -after him, "Kyrie eleison!" - -The noise he made in the streets, the uproar caused by the children, were -so intolerable that two brothers named John and Rumtipert seized Nicolas, -and binding him hand and foot, locked him into a room of their house. But -he suddenly disengaged himself from his bonds, and was again in the -street, calling, "Kyrie eleison!" - -Early in the morning he went under the windows of the bishop, and broke -his slumbers by his shouts. The bishop ordered him to be severely beaten -and driven out of the city. Nicolas went forth triumphantly bearing his -cross, shouting, "Kyrie eleison!" followed by a train of capering boys -roaring, "Kyrie eleison!" and then bursting into peals of laughter. -Nicolas gravely turned, cast a handful of apples among them, and passed -out of the gates. - -He took up his abode outside the town, and continued to astonish and edify -the peasants who came into Lecce to market. - -One day an officer of the prince was issuing from the gate, followed by a -troop of servants. Nicolas rushed before his horse brandishing his cross -and howling, "Kyrie eleison!" The horse plunged and threw his rider, and -Nicolas was well beaten for his pains. - -At St. Dimitri he was locked up in the church, heavily ironed; but at -midnight he broke off his chains, and entering the tower pealed the bells. - -Thence he went to Tarentum, where he stationed himself outside the -bishop's palace, under his bedroom window, and through the night yelled, -"Kyrie eleison!" It was the duty of the bishop to watch and pray, and not -to sleep, thought Nicolas. But the prelate differed from him in opinion, -and sent his servants to dislodge Nicolas. He returned to his post, and -continued his monotonous howls. The bishop could endure it no longer, and -revenged his sleepless night on the back and ribs of Nicolas, already blue -with the bruises received at Lecce and St. Dimitri; and he was -ignominiously expelled the city. - -He proceeded thence to Trani, which he entered on 26th May 1094, carrying -his cross and distributing apples among the boys who crowded about him and -made a chorus to his cry. - -The archbishop, hearing the disturbance, had him apprehended and brought -before him. He asked Nicolas what he meant by his eccentric conduct. The -crazy fellow replied, "Our Lord Jesus Christ bade us take up our cross and -follow after Him, and become as little children. That is precisely what I -am doing." - -The archbishop began a long discourse, but Nicolas impatiently shook -himself free from his guards, and without waiting for the end of it, -bounded out of the hall to the head of the steps leading into the street, -crying, "Kyrie eleison!" which was responded to by a shout from the boys -eagerly awaiting him without. - -At the head of a swarm of children he rushed madly through and round the -city, making the streets resound with his monotonous appeal, and bringing -the wondering citizens to their doors and windows. - -But the blows he had received at Tarentum had done him some serious -internal injury, and he now fell sick at Trani. There was hardly an -inhabitant of the city who did not visit his sickbed, that he might hear -the poor madman howl, "Kyrie eleison!" with his fevered lips, and depart -marvelling at his sanctity. - -The boys who had run after him and partaken of his apples came to see him, -and the dying man gave them his cross, and bade them march about the -dormitory of the hospital where he lay, bearing the cross, and -vociferating, "Kyrie eleison!" Night and day the dormitory was crowded, -and the excitement of the fevered man kept constantly stimulated. He died -on 2nd June 1094, and till his burial his body attracted ever-increasing -crowds. - -He was buried at Trani with considerable ceremony, for already the notion -had spread that the crazy Greek was a great saint, and the infatuated -Brother Bartholomew did his utmost to fan the growing popular enthusiasm -into a flame. Almost immediately after the burial highly imaginative -individuals began to believe they had been miraculously healed of diseases -at his tomb. He appeared in visions, cured cripples, uttered forebodings. -The Archbishop of Trani made formal investigation into the miracles, after -the manner of ecclesiastical investigations, and pronounced them genuine. -Trani was without a patron; no blood of martyrs had reddened its soil, no -saint had occupied its episcopal throne. It was discreditable to be -without a patron, and the good people of Trani were not nice as to whom -they had as patron so long as they had one whom they could claim as -peculiarly their own. - -A statement of the virtues, acts, and miracles of Nicolas was forwarded -with gravity by the Archbishop of Trani to the Pope and Council at Rome in -1099. Urban II. with equal gravity, by special bull, canonised this -pitiable fool, and hoaxed Christendom into worshipping a man in whose -career no single spark of godliness appears; a man driven, to all -appearance, from his own country for having led astray an innocent girl, -whom he persuaded to elope with him from her home, and join him in his -vagabond life. - - -III - -ST. CHRISTINA THE WONDERFUL - -The life of this extraordinary saint, so extraordinary that even those who -canonised her--the vulgar and ignorant--called her "The Wonderful," comes -to us on the best possible authority. Her life was written by Thomas de -Chantpre, or Catimpre, born at Leuve in the Low Countries in 1201; he was -canon in the abbey of Catimpre, and then entered the Dominican Order in a -convent at Louvain, in 1232, and there taught theology. He was a -contemporary and fellow-countryman of Christina; he had all the -particulars necessary from those who had seen and conversed with -Christina, whom he survived by many years. Indeed, she died when he was -aged twenty-three. Christina the Wonderful was born at the village of -Brustheim, near St. Trond in Hesbain, in the year 1150. When aged fifteen -she was left an orphan, the youngest of three sisters, and spent her -childhood in the fields tending sheep and cows. As now, so then, there -were no hedges, and cattle sent into pasture had to be subjected to -supervision lest they transgressed into the land of neighbours. Christina -was employed as thousands of little girls have been employed since in -Germany and Belgium. It was a solitary occupation for a child, and she was -thrown much in on herself, on her own thoughts, her own imaginations. - -Nothing remarkable about her was observed till she began to pass from -childhood into womanhood, a critical period, and then it was that her -malady first manifested itself. She fell down one day in a cataleptic fit, -and was taken up as dead. Her sisters, with whom she lived, had her -washed, laid out, placed on a bier, and conveyed to church, where the -funeral mass was ordered to be said. - -Christina had been in a cataleptic fit, or had been shamming death. All at -once she scattered the funeral party and the worshippers by a leap off her -bier, in winding-sheet, with a shrill cry, and then by a scramble up one -of the pillars of the sacred edifice, which she managed to surmount. She -then got upon one of the tie-beams of the roof, and there seated herself, -as her biographer tells us, "like a bird." The congregation, frightened -out of their wits, ran helter-skelter in all directions. One of her -sisters alone had courage to remain, or possibly knew enough of -Christina's eccentricities not to be alarmed. The priest at the altar -faltered, stopped, turned and looked about him, and went forward headlong -with the service to the end. When he had retired to the sacristy, -probably, Christina's sister came to him and explained matters. Anyhow we -learn that he reappeared in the church showing no signs of fear, and very -peremptorily ordered the young woman down from her perch, and demanded the -reason of this extraordinary freak. Christina meekly descended, and on -being again asked the reason of her proceedings, condescended to inform -the priest that she had scrambled aloft to escape the strong odour emitted -by the peasants, which to her refined perceptions was especially -repugnant. It must be admitted that it continues the same to the present -day, and that to the noses of those who are not saints. - -Christina was now conducted home by her sisters, and was given something -to eat. When she had fed, she told them a long and marvellous story of her -having visited the regions of the dead; she said that she had been in -Hell, where she recognised the familiar features of a good many -acquaintances, no doubt of all such as had slighted and offended her in -the past and were dead. Then she had visited Purgatory, where also she -found herself among acquaintances. After that she ascended to Heaven, -where she was offered her choice, whether she would remain there -eternally, or return to earth and there perform the meritorious work of -liberating, by her prayers and self-tortures, the souls of those still -undergoing purification in Purgatory. With the utmost heroism and -self-denial she chose the latter alternative, probably not to the -satisfaction of her sisters, who seem to have regarded her as a -self-willed, troublesome piece of goods, and would have preferred to have -her at a distance, as an intercessor in heaven, than on earth an object of -much solicitude and annoyance. - -She speedily gave them cause enough to regret the choice she had made, for -she took it into her head to race about the country, leaping hedges, -climbing walls, as she pretended, to get away from the scent of men, which -specially distressed her. She did not specify whether this odour was -spiritual or carnal, but left it to be inferred that moral turpitude was -the most odoriferous. She was repeatedly found on the tops of trees, or on -the summit of church towers, balancing herself beside the weathercocks, -gasping for wholesome air. - -Naturally enough her relatives held her to be deranged; and they proceeded -to have her bound, as mad folk were chained and held in bondage till -comparatively recently. But one night she broke away from her prison, tore -off her fetters, declaring that the "odour of men" was suffocating her, -and ran away into the nearest forest, where she swarmed to the tops of -the highest trees and there gasped for untainted air. There for a while -her relatives left her, she must starve or return to them. As Thomas of -Chantpre says, she lived for a while like a bird among the boughs of the -trees, and though sorely in want of food, would not return to association -with odoriferous human beings. - -Her biographer gives us an outrageous story which accounts for the way in -which she lived; but in all likelihood she fed on eggs. - -After five weeks thus spent, she was recaptured and again put in chains, -stronger than before. - -Again she broke loose, ran to Liege, where she rushed headlong into the -Church of St. Christopher, and insisted on the priest whom she found there -giving her the Holy Communion. He naturally enough demurred to do so. Her -wild appearance, with hair flying, her galled wrists, her flashing, -frantic eyes, the condition of dirt and raggedness in which she was, made -him conclude she was an escaped maniac. He made an excuse, and she was -unable to force him to act against his conscience by any representation -she made. Then, as suddenly as she appeared, so suddenly did she rush away -again into another church, where she frightened the priest into -compliance. But what was his disgust and dismay to see the communicant -jump up, leave the church in flying leaps, and run as fast as she could -tear down the steep hill that falls towards the Meuse. He hastily laid -aside his surplice and stole, and ran after her. Then he came on the -priest of St. Christopher, who was also in pursuit, and the two ran after -her to the quay, where she made a plunge, went head foremost into the -water, and swam to the farther shore. The Meuse, as any one who is -acquainted with Liege knows, is no inconsiderable stream there, and the -two priests watched, breathless and alarmed, till the girl had reached the -farther shore. Then only did they breathe freely. - -Christina's conduct became daily more outrageous. She crept into bakers' -ovens, and there howled with pain at the heat, but would not come forth, -till dragged out by the heels. Sometimes she would run into a fire and -kick the brands about with her bare feet. When she saw water hot in large -vessels for a washing, in she leaped, souse, and then shrieked with the -pain. In winter she would run into the river and remain there squealing -with cold, till the parish priest came and ordered her out. One of her -favourite pursuits was to dive under the sluice of a miller's -water-conduit, and go with the water, head over heels, over the wheel. -These exploits attracted a crowd, and excited her to renewed attempts, not -always most decorous, but greeted with roars of approval and encouragement -to re-attempt the feat. - -Another of her freaks was to frequent the places of execution, and climb -the poles with wheels at top on which robbers and murderers had been -broken, and to writhe her own legs and arms in and out of the spokes, -with more dexterity than delicacy, to amuse the vulgar rabble that -followed and applauded her proceedings. Or she would provide herself with -a rope and hang herself between two criminals on the public gallows, with -happy indifference to the savour the corpses emitted. All these -proceedings were, she affirmed, eminently grateful to the souls in -Purgatory, and afforded them consolation and relief. - -At night it was her delight to run through the streets of St. Trond, with -all the dogs of the town barking and snapping after her; she led them a -chase over the country, running like the wind, they tearing her tattered -garments, and also biting and wounding her limbs. She, however, seemed -insensible to pain, in her enjoyment of the race. Finally, when exhausted, -she went up a tree like a chased cat. - -One great source of entertainment she provided during divine service was -to coil herself up into a ball, so that neither head, hands, nor feet -appeared, and so roll about the church. Then all at once, when no one was -expecting it--snap! out flew head, feet, and hands, and she lay flat on -the floor, rigid as a log of wood, all her limbs extended and motionless. -Another of her devotional vagaries was to pirouette on one toe on the top -of a paling, whilst vociferously praying. All which not only edified the -living, but afforded vast gratification to the souls in Purgatory. - -At length her sisters could stand her vagaries no longer,--her biographer -candidly admits that Christina put them to the blush,--and they engaged a -strong man to catch her and chain her up again. He went after her, and she -ran. Unable to catch her, he flung a club at her that brought her down -and, as was thought, broke her thigh. As she could not walk, a cart was -brought to the spot, and she was placed in it and conveyed to a surgeon, -who had a bed of straw strewn for her in his cellar. He put her leg in -splints, but to ensure her remaining quiet and not tearing at the -bandages, bound her hands and fastened them to a ring in the cellar wall. -In the night she succeeded in disengaging her hands. Then she ripped off -the bandages, threw away the splints, and stood up. Her thigh was not -broken. She got a stone, and with it broke a way through the wall of the -cellar, and escaped into the open country once more. - -After this her relatives gave up all further attempts to control her. - -Finding herself unmolested, she ventured back to the haunts of men, and -begged for food or whatever she required. If refused what she wanted, she -became angry and took it. Few dared resist her importunities or violence. -When she had a sleeve of her gown torn off she went to the first woman she -encountered and asked for hers. If not at once given, she rushed at the -person, and with teeth and claws tore the sleeve off the gown, and then, -with crazy laughter, she slipped her own bare arm into it. Her dress was a -mass of tatters and incongruous patches, sewn on with willow-bark thread, -or pinned together with thorns. Her hair, dark, utterly uncombed, hung -wildly about her head, and fell over her tanned, dirty face. Her limbs -were covered with scars. One day she visited the parish church of Wellen, -near St. Trond, and finding the cover off the font, and the sacred vessel -pretty full, since the recent benediction of the sacred water, with one -jump reached the brim, and then flopped herself down in the hallowed -water. This, says her biographer solemnly, had the effect of subduing in -her the more extraordinary manifestations of ecstatic devotion; and after -this souse in the baptismal water, she professed herself less distressed -by the odour of human beings. - -She was not gracious to those who gave her food. As she ate what she had -begged, she growled, "Why am I eating this nastiness? Why am I thus -plagued?" and told them that what they gave her tasted like the insides of -newts and toads. - -Her biographer assures us that "she avoided, with the utmost solicitude, -all human honour and praise," but it would be hard to find that either was -shown or offered her whilst alive; for then she certainly was esteemed -crazy. Only after her death did it occur to people that she was a saint. - -In her old age she was often given shelter by the kind sisters of St. -Catherine at St. Trond, and she returned their hospitality by her amusing -antics. One day, as she was talking with them, she suddenly curled -herself up into a ball, and began to roll round the room, "like a boy's -ball, without any token of her limbs appearing." Then, all at once, she -expanded flat on the floor, and ventriloquised. "No voice or breath issued -from her mouth and nose, but only her breast and throat resounded with an -angelic harmony." She concluded this exhibition by singing the "Te Deum" -from the pit of her stomach, and then jumped up and ran away. - -We can understand that at a time when hysterical disorders were completely -misunderstood, such marvellous contortions and tricks were reputed to be -due to spiritual agency, either divine or diabolic. Towards the close of -her days she spent most of her time in the Convent of St. Catherine, and -she was there when attacked by her mortal sickness. - -When she was apparently insensible the Superior, Sister Beatrice, said to -her, "Christina! you have always been obedient to me; return now to life, -I have something I desire to ask of you." - -Then Christina opened her eyes and said, "Why have you disturbed me? Be -quick, I cannot tarry; tell me what you want, that I may be gone." - -Then the Superior put the question, received her reply, and the next -moment the poor clouded spirit fled. She died on 24th July 1224, at the -age of eighty-four. - -Twenty-five years after her death an old woman told the Superior, "I have -come to you with a divine revelation, to say that the body of that most -holy woman, Christina, is not receiving proper respect from you. If you -neglect to give it sufficient honour it will fare ill with you." - -On the strength of this vague message the body of the poor old creature -was dug up, and enshrined. Miracles attended the elevation of the bones, -and thenceforth St. Christina the Wonderful came to be regarded as a saint -in the Low Countries. Her body is still preserved as that of one of the -elect of God in the Church of St. Catherine at Milin, near St. Trond; and -her name has been inserted in a good number of martyrologies--amongst -others, that of France. It is not in the Roman Martyrology, where, -however, she has a better right to figure than have St. Symeon Salos and -St. Nicolas of Trani, who were loose fishes as well as fools. - - - - -THE JACKASS OF VANVRES - -A CAUSE CELEBRE - - -On the 1st July 1750 Madame Ferron, washerwoman of Vanvres, entered Paris -riding on a jackass in the flower of its age. The good lady had come -a-marketing; and on reaching the house of M. Nepveux, grocer, near the -Porte S. Jacques, she descended from Neddy's back, and entered the shop, -leaving the animal attached to the railings by his halter. After having -made some purchases of soap and potash she asked the shopman to keep his -eye on her ass whilst she went a few doors off to purchase some salt. This -he neglected to do--_Hinc illae lacrymae_. A few moments after Madame Ferron -had disappeared there passed Madame Leclerc, wife of a florist in Paris, -mounted on a she-ass of graceful proportions and engaging appearance. - -It has been questioned by some whether love at first sight is not -altogether a fiction of poets and romancers. We are happy to be able to -record an instance of this on unimpeachable historical evidence. A mutual -passion kindled in the veins of these two asses simultaneously, during the -brief space of time occupied by Madame Leclerc in passing before the -grocer's shop. Their eyes met. - -The she-ass, unable to express the ardour of her affection by any other -means, brayed thrice in the most tender and impassioned manner. The -jackass replied with corresponding sentiment. He panted to approach her, -but was restrained by his halter. To love, however, nothing is impossible; -or, as the Latin syntax has it, "Amor omnia vincit." He tossed his head, -broke the cord, and trotted after the mistress of his affections. - -Madame Leclerc adjured Neddy. Ladies do not like their servants to -encourage followers. She shook her head at the lover and bade him return. -But passion sometimes renders its victims insensible to the dictates of -duty; Neddy still pursued. - -On arriving at her door, near the Porte du Demandeur, the florist's wife -caught up a stick, and charged from her doorstep upon the young and ardent -lover. The lady was exasperated at the silent contempt he had exhibited -for her entreaties and objurgations. She hit him on the nose, she whacked -his ribs, she beat his back, and the poor ass brayed with pain and rising -indignation. The she-ass brayed sympathetically. - -Madame Leclerc's blows fell faster and more furiously, and then the lion -under the ass's skin became apparent. Neddy reared, and falling on the -old lady, bit her in the arm. - -The brayings of the animals and the cries of the lady attracted a crowd, -and the combatants were parted. The washerwoman's ass was consigned, with -back-turned ears and palpitating sides, to confinement in a stable. Madame -Leclerc retired to her apartment exhausted from her battle, and fainted, -with feminine dexterity, into the extended arms of monsieur the florist, -her husband, and monsieur the deputy florist, his assistant. By slow -degrees the lady was brought round, by means of feathers burned under her -nose, and a drop of cordial distilled down her throat. And where was the -she-ass, the cause of all this mischief? She had been turned out into a -clover-field. Such is the way of the world. - -Next day the gardener's wife sent notice to the shop of M. Nepveux that -"If any one had lost an ass he would find it at the house of a floral -gardener, Faubourg S. Marceau, near the Gobelins." - -Jacques Ferron, husband of the lady who had gone a-marketing on Neddy, had -spent the night, as we learn from his express declaration in Court, on the -borders of insanity. Not a wink of sleep visited his eyes during the hours -of darkness, and the dawn broke upon him tossing feverishly on his pillow, -with all the bedclothes in a heap upon the floor. - -The news of his Neddy's whereabouts being discovered, restored his spirits -to equanimity. He wept for joy, and despatched his wife to claim the -truant, whilst he himself remained in his doorway, with palpitating bosom -and extended arms, ready to embrace the returning prodigal. - -But, alas! Madame Ferron, on reaching the gardener's house, learned to her -dismay that she was involved in further misfortune. Madame Leclerc -demanded damages for the bite she had received, to the amount of 1500 -livres, and the ass would not be given up till the sum demanded was paid. -Tears and entreaties were in vain; and the washerwoman returned to her -husband with drooping head and a soul ravaged by despair. - -On the following day, 4th July, a claim against Jacques Ferron for the sum -of 1500 livres damages, and 20 sous a day for the keep of the ass, was -lodged with the Commissaire Laumonier. - -On the 21st August the Court ordered Leclerc to bring forward evidence to -establish his claim, and the defendant was bidden challenge it. The case -was heard on the 29th of the same month. - -The plaintiff urged that his wife had been brutally assaulted by an -enraged jackass belonging to the defendant, had been seriously alarmed by -its ferocity, and had been severely bitten in the arm. - -The damages claimed were reduced to 1200 livres, and payment was demanded, -as before, for the keep of the delinquent. - -The defence of Ferron was to this effect:-- - -"The ass of the washerwoman was tied to a railing. It was not likely to -break away unless induced to do so by some one else. The she-ass of the -plaintiff was the cause of the jackass breaking its halter and pursuing -Madame Leclerc. Consequently the defendant was not responsible for what -ensued. - -"The distance between the Porte S. Jacques and the Gobelins is -considerable, and the streets full of traffic. Had the florist's wife -wished to get rid of the jackass, there were numerous persons present who -would have assisted her; but from her not asking assistance, it was -rendered highly probable that she had deliberately formed the design of -profiting by the circumstance, and of appropriating to herself the -pursuing ass. - -"The plaintiff pretends that 1200 livres are due to her because she was -bitten by the ass of the defendant. No medical certificate of the date is -produced, but only one a month after the transaction. No evidence is -offered that this bite was given by Ferron's ass, and the wound attested -by the medical certificate may have been given by the ass of the -plaintiff. But supposing the bite were that of Ferron's ass, was not the -poor beast driven to defend itself from the blows of the defendant? Is an -ass bound to suffer itself to be maltreated with impunity? - -"Asses are by nature gentle and pacific animals, and are not included -amongst the carnivorous and dangerous beasts. Yet the sense of -self-preservation is one of the rudimentary laws of nature, and the most -gentle and docile brutes will defend themselves when attacked. Is it to -be wondered at that the tender-spirited and love-lorn Neddy, when fallen -upon by a ferocious woman armed with a thick club, her eyes scintillating -with passion, her face flaming, her teeth gnashing, and foam issuing from -her purple lips, whilst from her labouring bosom escape oaths and curses, -at once profane and insensate--such as _sacre bleu_, and _ventre gris_, -suggesting the probability that the utterer of the said expressions was a -raving maniac; is it to be wondered at that Neddy when thus assaulted, and -by such a person, should fall back on the first law of nature and defend -himself? - -"The opinion of Donat. (_Loix Civiles_, tom. i. lib. 2, tit. 8) is -conclusive, for it enunciates the law (xi. tit. 2, lib. 9) _Si quadrupes -paup. fec._, ff. - -"'If a dog or any other animal bites, or does any other injury because it -has been struck or wilfully exasperated, he who gave occasion to the -injury shall be held responsible for it, and if he be the individual who -has suffered he must impute it to himself.' - -"Now the woman Leclerc was not content with merely exasperating the -jackass of Ferron, she almost stunned it with blows. She has therefore -little reason for bringing so unfounded a claim for damages before the -Court. _Si instigatu alterius fera damnum dederit, cessabit haec actio_ -(Liv. i. Sec. 6, lib. I). - -"The more one reflects," continued the counsel for the defendant, "upon -the conduct of Madame Leclerc on this occasion, the less blameless appear -her motives. If, as seems probable, she designed to gain possession of the -donkey, she richly deserved the bite which she complains of having -received. Pierre Leclerc cannot plead that his wife did not irritate the -ass, for this is proved by the very witnesses whom he summoned to sustain -his case. They stated in precise terms that 'they saw Madame Leclerc pass, -mounted on a she-ass, followed by a jackass, to which the said woman -Leclerc dealt sundry blows, with the intention of driving it off; that, on -reaching her door, and the animal approaching nearer, she beat him -violently, and that then the said jackass bit her in the arm.' - -"But further, who induced the ass to break his halter and follow the woman -Leclerc as far as the Gobelins? Madame Leclerc's ass, and none other but -she. Having thus drawn another person's animal away from its owner, and -having placed it in her own stable, she claims 20 sous a day for the keep -of an ass which Pierre Leclerc has retained on his own authority, against -the will of the legitimate owner, from 1st July to 1st September, using it -daily for going to market; thus, in all, he demands 60 livres for the keep -of the beast. Although the price is twice the value of the ass itself, -Ferron does not dispute the amount; he contents himself with observing -that the woman Leclerc having brought upon herself the wound from the bite -of the ass, which is the subject of litigation, she was not thereby -morally or legally justified in detaining the animal that bit her till -her demand for compensation was satisfied. If she fed and tended it, she -was amply repaid by the use she and her husband made of it for carrying -heavy burdens daily to market. - -"On the other hand, Ferron has suffered from the loss of his ass, through -its unjustifiable detention. He has been compelled to hire a horse during -two months to carry on his business, and this has involved him in expenses -beyond his means. For this loss Ferron will claim indemnification at the -hands of Leclerc." - -Such was the case of the defendant. Along with it were handed in the two -following certificates, the latter of which, as giving a character for -morality and respectability to a donkey, is certainly a curiosity. - - Certificate of the Sieur Nepveux, grocer, at whose shop-door the ass - was tied. - - I, the undersigned, certify that on the 2nd July 1750 the day after - the ass of the defendant Jacques Ferron, which had been attached to my - door, had followed the female ass of the person Leclerc, there came, - at seven o'clock in the morning, a woman to ask whether an ass had not - been lost here; whereupon I replied in the affirmative. She told me - that the individual who had lost it might come and fetch it, and that - it would be returned to her; and that it was at a floral gardener's in - the Faubourg St. Marcel, near the Gobelins: in testimony to the truth - of which I set-to my hand. - - (Signed) NEPVEUX, grocer. - - PORTE SAINT JACQUES, PARIS, - _20th August 1720_. - - Certificate of the Cure, and the principal inhabitants of the parish - of Vanvres to the moral character of the Jackass of Jacques Ferron. - - We, the undersigned, the Prieur-Cure, and the inhabitants of the - parish of Vanvres, having knowledge that Marie Francoise Sommier, wife - of Jacques Ferron, has possessed a jackass during the space of four - years for the carrying on of their trade, do testify, that during all - the while that they have been acquainted with the said ass, no one has - seen any evil in him, and he has never injured any one; also, that - during the six years that it belonged to another inhabitant, no - complaints were ever made touching the said ass, nor was there a - breath of a report of the said ass having ever done any wrong in the - neighbourhood; in token whereof, we, the undersigned, have given him - the present character. - - (Signed) PINTEREL, _Prieur et cure de Vanvres_. - JEROME PATIN, } - C. JANNET, } - LOUIS RETORE, } _Inhabitants of Vanvres_. - LOUIS SENLIS, } - CLAUDE CORBONNET,} - -The case was dismissed by the Commissaire. Leclerc had to surrender the -ass, and to rest content with the use that had been made of it as payment -for its keep, whilst the claim for damages on account of the bite fell to -the ground. - -But if dismissed by the Commissaire, it was only that it might be taken up -by the wits of the day and made the subject of satire and epigram. Some of -the pieces in verse originated by this singular action are republished in -the series _Varietes Historiques et Literaires_; allusions to it are not -infrequent in the writers of the day. - -About the same time an action was brought by a magistrate of position and -fortune against the cure of St. Etienne-du-Mont, a M. Coffin, for refusing -him the sacrament on account of a gross scandal he had caused. A wag -contrasted the conduct of the two priests in the following lines:-- - - De deux cures portant blanches soutanes, - Le procede ne se ressemble en rien; - L'un met du nombre des profanes - Le magistrat le plus homme de bien; - L'autre, dans son hameau, trouve jusqu'aux anes - Tous ses paroissiens gens de bien. - - - - -A MYSTERIOUS VALE - - -In the _Gretla_, an Icelandic Saga of the thirteenth century, is an -account of the discovery of a remarkable valley buried among glacier-laden -mountains, by the hero, a certain Grettir, son of Asmund, who lived in the -beginning of the eleventh century. Grettir was outlawed for having set -fire, accidentally, to a house in Norway, in which were at the time the -sons of an Icelandic chief, too drunk to escape from the flames. He spent -nineteen years in outlawry, hunted from place to place, with a price on -his head. The Saga relating his life is one of the most interesting and -touching of all the ancient Icelandic histories. - -In the year 1025 Grettir was in such danger that he was obliged to seek -out some unknown place in which to hide. In the words of the Saga:--About -autumn Grettir went up into Geitland, and waited there till the weather -was clear; then he ascended the Geitland glacier and struck south-east -over the ice, carrying with him a kettle and some firewood. It is supposed -that Hallmund (another outlaw) had given him directions, for Hallmund -knew much about this part of the country. Grettir walked on till he found -a dale lying among the snow-ranges, very long, and rather narrow, and shut -in by glacier mountains on all sides, so that they towered over the dale. - -He descended at a place where there were pleasant grassy slopes and -shrubs. There were warm springs there, and he supposed that the volcanic -heat prevented the valley from being closed in with glaciers. - -A little river flowed through the dale, and on both banks there was smooth -grassy meadow-land. The sunshine did not last long in the valley. It was -full of sheep without number, and they looked in better condition and -fatter than any he had seen before. Grettir now set to work, and built -himself a hut with such wood as he could procure. He ate of the sheep, and -found that one of these was better than two of such as were to be found -elsewhere. - -An ewe of mottled fleece was there with her lamb, the size of which -surprised him. He fattened the lamb and slaughtered it, and it yielded -forty pounds of meat, the best he had tasted. And when the ewe missed her -lamb, she went up every night to Grettir's hut and bleated, so that he -could get no sleep. And it distressed Grettir that he had killed her lamb, -because she troubled him so much. Every evening, towards dusk, he heard a -lure up in the dale, and at the sound all the sheep hurried away towards -the same spot. Grettir used to declare that a Blending,[19] a Thurse -named Thorir, possessed the dale, and that it was with his consent that -Grettir lived there. Grettir called the dale after him, Thorir's dale. -Thorir had two daughters, according to his report, and Grettir entertained -himself with their society: they were all glad of his company, as visitors -were scarce there. When Lent came on, Grettir determined to eat mutton-fat -and liver during the long fast. There happened nothing deserving of record -during the winter. But the place was so dull that Grettir could endure it -no longer; so he went south over the glacier range, and came north over -against the midst of Skjaldbreid. There he set up a flat stone, and -knocked a hole through it, and was wont to say, that "if any one looked -through the hole in the slab, he would be able to distinguish the place -where the gill ran out of Thorir's dale." - -It is surprising that this account should not have stirred up the interest -and curiosity of the natives to rediscover the rich valley, but we know of -only two such attempts having been made: one by Messrs. Olafsen and -Povelsen, at the close of last century, which was unsuccessful, and -another, made in 1654, by Bjorn and Helgi, two Icelandic clergymen, an -account of which is found among the Icelandic MSS. in the British Museum, -and which has been kindly communicated to the writer of this paper by a -native of the island, now in London. This account is of exceeding -interest; it corroborates the description in the _Gretla_ in several -points, and opens a field for exploration and adventure to members of the -Alpine Club more novel than the glacier world of Switzerland, and not less -interesting to science. - -The writer, who visited Iceland in 1862, purposed exploring this -mysterious valley from the south, but was unable to find grass for his -horses within a day's ride of the glaciers, and was obliged to relinquish -his attempt; had he then seen the account of the visit of Bjorn and Helgi -to the valley, he would have attempted to reach it from the north. - -In order that the position of this valley, and the course pursued by its -explorers, may be understood, it will be necessary briefly to describe the -glacier system in the midst of which it is situated. - -Lang Jokull is an immense waste of snow-covered mountain, extending about -forty-three miles from north-east to south-west, of breadth varying -between eight and twelve miles. The mass rises into points of greater -elevation along the edge than, apparently, towards the centre; and these -mountains go by the names of Ball Jokull, Geitlands Jokull, Skjaldbreid -Jokull, Blafell Jokull, and Hrutafell. Skjaldbreid Jokull is opposite the -volcanic dome of Skjaldbreid, an extinct volcano, with its base steeped in -a sea of lava. Due east of Geitlands Jokull is another glacier-crowned -dome, called Ok, from which it is cut off by a trench of desolate ruined -rock filled with the rubbish brought down by the avalanches on either -side--a rift between black walls of trap, crowned with green precipices -of ice, which are constantly sliding over the rocky edges and falling with -a crash into the valley: this valley is called Kaldidalr, or the cold -dale--a title it well deserves. Those who traverse it from the south -encamp at a little patch of turf around some springs, at the foot of -Skjaldbreid, Brunnir by name, and thence have twelve hours' hard riding -before they see grass again on the Hvita, north of Ok. Half-way through -this Allee Blanche is a mountain of trachyte, which has been protruded -through the trap, from which it is clearly distinguishable by its silvery -gray and ruddy streaked precipices, so different in colour from the -purple-black of the trap. - -This mountain is called Thorir's Head, and is popularly supposed to mask -the dale discovered by Grettir. - -The elaborate map of Iceland published by Gunnlaugson indicates the valley -as winding from opposite Skjaldbreid to this point, but this is -conjectural; and it will be seen by the sequel that it is inaccurate. - -North of Geitlands Jokull is an extraordinary dish-cover-shaped cake of -ice raised on precipitous sides, called Eirek's Jokull, a magnificent, but -peculiar pile of basalt, ice, and snow. - -Before proceeding with the narrative of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen, and -of the two clergymen, we may observe that several circumstances tend to -give a colour of probability to the account in the _Gretla_. - -In the first place, the phenomenon of the edges of the great glacier -region of Lang Jokull rising above the centre, makes it possible that -towards that centre there may be a considerable depression. Next, the -stone asserted to have been set up by Grettir on Skjaldbreid still stands, -but has fallen out of the perpendicular, so that the hole in it does not -point to any opening in the glaciers; but a little to the right appears a -small ravine between piles of ice, through which runs a small river, which -shortly after enters a lake, and, after having fed two other lakes, -finally enters the Tungafljot, and flows past the geysers. And once more, -throughout Iceland, the junction of the trap and trachyte is marked by -boiling jetters; so that the mention of the hot-springs in the _Gretla_ is -quite in accordance with what the geological structure of Thorir's Head -would lead us to expect. - -The suspicious portion of the account is the mention of Thorir and his -daughters; but in all probability this Troll was nothing more than an -outlaw, like Grettir himself, and, indeed, Hallmund, who is alluded to as -having given Grettir his direction to the valley, and who was a personal -friend of Grettir's, and an outlaw, is called a Troll in the Barda Saga, -which speaks of him and the Thorir of the mysterious vale. - -It is a curious fact that, in the south-east of the island, in the Vatna -Jokull, a tract very similar in character to Lang Jokull, but on a far -larger scale, is a valley full of grass and flowers and glistening birch, -completely enclosed by glaciers, which sweep down on this little fairy -dell from all sides, leaving only one narrow rift for the escape of the -water, and as a portal to the glen. - -The expedition of Messrs. Olafsen and Povelsen is given in their own -words. "On the 9th of August we started from Reykholtsdal on our way to -the glacier of Geitland; our object was not so much to discover a region -and inhabitants different from those we had quitted, as to observe the -glacier with the most scrupulous accuracy, and thus to procure new -intelligence relative to the construction of this wonderful natural -edifice. The weather was fine and the sky clear, so that we had reason to -expect that we should accomplish our object according to our wish, but it -is necessary to state that in a short time the Jokulls attract the fogs -and clouds that are near. On the 10th of August in the morning the air was -calm, but the atmosphere was so loaded with mist that at times the glacier -was not visible. About eleven o'clock, however, it cleared up, and we -continued our journey from Kalmanstunga. - -"The high mountains of Iceland rise in gradations, so that on approaching -them you discover only the nearest elevation, or that whose summit forms -the first projection. On reaching this you perceive a similar height, and -so pass over successive terraces till you reach the summit. In the -glaciers these projections generally commence in the highest parts, and -may be discovered at a distance, because they overtop the mountains that -are not themselves glacier-clad. We found that it was much farther to the -Jokull than we had imagined, and at length we reached a pile of rocks -which, without forming steps and gradation at the point where we ascended, -were of considerable height and very steep: these rocks extend to a great -distance, and appear to surround the glacier, for we perceived their -continuance as far as the eye could reach.[20] Between this pile of rocks -and the glacier there is a small plain, about a quarter of a mile in -width, the soil of which is clay without pebbles and flakes of ice, -because the waters which continually flow from the glacier carry them off. -On ascending farther, we discovered, to the right, a lake situated at one -of the angles of the glacier, the banks of which were formed of ice, and -the bed received a portion of the waters that flowed from the mountains. -The water was perfectly green, a colour it acquired by the rays of light -that broke against the ice.[21] - -"After many turnings and windings we found a path by which we could -descend with our horses into the valley. On arriving there we met with -another embarrassment, as well in crossing a rivulet discharged from the -lake, as in passing the muddy soil, in which our horses often sank up to -the chest. In some parts this soil is very dangerous to travellers, many -of whom have been engulphed and have perished in it. - -"Our object was so far attained, that we were now on Geitland, but we -found it a very disagreeable place. We observed a mountain peak rising -above the ice, and which, as well as the other peaks, had been formed by -subterranean fires. We led our horses over the masses of ice, after which -we left them, and travelled the remainder of the way on foot. We had taken -the precaution of providing ourselves with sticks armed with strong -points, and with a strong rope in case of either of the party falling into -a crevasse, or sinking in the snow. Thus prepared we began to escalade the -glacier at two o'clock in the afternoon; the air was charged with dense -fog covering all the mountain, but, hoping it would disperse, we continued -our difficult and dangerous route, though at every instant we had to pass -deep crevasses, one of which was an ell and a half in width, and the -greatest precaution was required in crossing it. - -"As we mounted higher the wind blew much stronger, and drove larger flakes -of snow before it: fortunately we had the wind in our backs, which -facilitated our ascent; but we met at the same time with so much loose -snow that our progress was but slow. Hoping, however, that the weather -would change, we agreed not to return till we had gained the summit, from -which arose a black rock. - -"At length, after two hours' longer tramp, we found that we could discover -nothing in the distance. A rampart of burnt rock of no considerable height -rose above the ice, and at this we paused to rest. The snowflakes now -obscured the air so much that we hardly knew how we should get back: we -examined the compass, but without observing any change; and we were -prevented by our guides from going towards the north-west, where the -mountain is highest and least accessible. The weather continued the same, -so that we found it impossible to resist the cold much longer, and deemed -it prudent to return. - -"Although the sky was very heavy and dark, we discovered, on our return, -the entrance to a valley; if the weather had been more favourable we -should doubtless have had the pleasure of investigating it; but we doubt -whether we should have found Thorir's dale. As we descended we found the -wind in our face, which threw the snow so much against us that we could -not discover the traces of our ascent." - -This expedition was frustrated by the inclemency of the weather. Messrs. -Olafsen and Povelsen made the mistake of starting in the morning. In -Iceland vapours form over the mountain tops directly that the evening sun -loses its power, and although there is no night, the air is sensibly -colder after 6 P.M. They had the fine part of the day for the ascent from -Kalmanstunga to the snow, and their journey over the glacier was at a time -when they might almost have calculated on cloud and snow. - -Probably they had not seen the description of the discovery made by Bjorn -and Helgi in 1654. They allude to the expedition of these clergymen, but -give one of them a wrong name, and speak of their journal as vague and -confused, which it is not. - -The account of the expedition of the two clergymen, Bjorn and Helgi, -written in the same year that it was undertaken, is now, in Icelandic, in -the British Museum. It is full of interest, and sufficiently curious to -deserve attention. Bjorn and Helgi were brothers-in-law. In the summer of -1654, they met at Nes, where they had some conversation about Thorir's -dale, and Helgi told his brother-in-law that he was convinced that either -the valley itself, or some traces of it, could be seen by any one who -would ascend the highest ridge of Geitlands Jokull. In consequence of this -conversation, Bjorn, attended by two men, rode to Husafell, where lived -his sister and brother-in-law, and persuaded Helgi to accompany him on the -glacier. Husafell lies just under Ok. They started at an extremely early -hour on St. Olaf's Day (28th July), without mentioning their intention to -any one. This was on Thursday. They soon turned from the highway, -following the west side of a cleft that enters a trunk-ravine near -Husafell,[22] and then, reaching the north side of Ok glacier, they -halted. There was a young man, Bjorn Jonsson by name, with the two -clergymen, a well-educated man; to him they now, for the first time, told -their purpose, and they positively declared that they were determined to -go at once across Kaldidalr, and thence ascend Geitlands Jokull, striking -due east. His curiosity was aroused, and he agreed to go with them. They -took with them, also, a little boy, intending, if they reached a precipice -commanding the valley which they could not descend themselves, to let the -boy down by a rope, that he might examine the place. They had with them a -tent, and provisions for several days. - -"They now struck due east, and kept their eyes fixed on a point where they -thought they could discern a black ridge of mountains on the north side of -the Jokull, and a hollow on the south. Till they reached the glacier, they -met with no obstacle except a stony ridge of hills, which stretches all -the way from the glaciers in the east, and crosses Kaldidalr in a northern -direction. On the north side of this ridge was a heap of snow, and a small -lake, formed by the water from the glaciers. Apparently, the horses could -not descend; but Bjorn pushed his horse down a narrow pass, into a small -river, flowing below the rocks. The river is very deep, but is full of -soft mud, and sluggish. From the eastern bank of it, towards the glacier, -is a sandy, muddy plain; here they saw a raven flying from the north side -of the glacier towards Ok. It did not make any noise, but seemed to be -rather startled by the sight of human beings in that solitude. After a -while they lost sight of it and saw it no more. They crossed the sandy -plain towards the glacier, and scrambled up a spur of loose shingle, till -they reached a river that burst out from beneath the ice. There the -glacier became very steep, and they did not see how to take their horses -farther, as on all sides were seracs of ice, and fissures and crevasses of -immense depth. Then Bjorn made a vow that he would take his horse, named -Skoli, over the glacier, and not leave the ice-mountain except on the -eastern side, provided this was not contrary to the will of God. Then -Helgi made a vow that if he met with any human beings, male or female, in -Thorir's dale, he would endeavour to Christianise them; and Bjorn promised -to assist him in this to the best of his power. And they agreed to baptize -immediately all the people in the valley who might be willing to embrace -Christianity. They thought it prudent to leave behind them one of their -horses, their baggage and the tent, at a rock near the river. On this rock -they piled up three cairns as evidence that they had been there; and -there, also, they left the boy in charge of the horse, with strict orders -not to stir till their return, which would be in the night or on the -following day. They took with them a bottle of corn-brandy, remarking that -the men of Aradalr would probably be quite ignorant of its properties. -They took no weapons, except small knives, and each had a spiked staff, to -assist him in climbing the ice. Both the clergymen and Bjorn Jonsson rode -all the way over the glacier, and on its northern side ascended a strip of -rubble as far as they could. Then they pushed the horses down on a -snowdrift, above the course of the river and the ravine through which it -flowed. This snow-bed extended over the glacier an almost interminable way -due south, or perhaps a little south-west. The crust was sufficiently hard -to bear up the horses. Where the glacier began to rise again, it was -entirely free from snow and ice, full of drifts and chasms in a direction -from north to south, and as they were bearing to the east they had to -cross every one of them. Most were filled with water which overflowed the -glacier, and disappeared in the snowdrift, and in some places they rode -through the water on the ice. None of these rifts were too broad to be -crossed in one place or another, either higher up the glacier towards the -south, or at its lower and north end. If they had met with a rift which -they could not pass, they intended to have made a snow-bridge over it, -rather than return. In this way they crossed the ice of the glacier. Next -came another bed of snow, over which they rode for some while; but it was -very heavy, as the day was exceedingly warm and mild. - -"When they were within a short distance of what seemed to them to be the -highest point of the glacier on the east, a mist set in on both sides from -the north and south, leaving a clear space towards the east, so that they -could see the bright sky exactly opposite their faces; and the reason of -this was that the mountains rose on either side, leaving a sort of -depression between them, along which they were going as they held on due -east. This was not discouraging, as it showed that the mountain peaks -caught the mist, and left the lower ground clear. At the same time, they -heard the rush of water beneath their feet without being able to see the -stream. The noise indicated a volume much larger than that which they had -seen pouring through the ravine, and they conjectured that the sub-glacial -river divided into several streams before discharging itself. - -"They now passed from the snow to a gravelly soil, devoid of grass. It was -a smooth ridge of sandstone, like the bank of a mountain torrent. The -glaciers now sloped towards the north-east, whilst some tended towards the -east; but right across the glaciers there lay a hollow trough, and in many -places along the edge black rocks shot out of the snow. On the north side -were lofty and craggy fells, connected by snowdrifts and strips of shale; -and the glacier range rose considerably on the north side. - -"The party followed the sandstone ridge till it terminated abruptly in a -precipice with ledges. Then they climbed a height, and looked about them. -On the east of the glaciers they saw distinctly a desert track, not -covered with snow, which they conjectured lay in a straight line north of -Biskupstungur sands. East of the glacier were two brown fells; that which -was most to the south was not large, and it had a castellated appearance, -whilst the other was oblong, stretching from north to south, and full of -snowdrifts. From the same height they saw a great valley, long and narrow, -running in a semicircle. At the end were heaps of shingle, precipices, and -ravines. The valley began about the middle of the glacier, and ran -north-east; then bent towards the east, and finally turned south. Towards -the east the glacier became lower, and in the same proportion as the -mountain ranges fell, did the valley become shallower; but it seemed -nowhere to dive to the very bottom of the mountains. Towards the higher -end of the valley, the glacier hemmed it in with steep sides. Where the -valley was deepest, the mountain slopes were bare and weather-beaten, -consisting of swarthy or brown terraces and hollows, having a colour like -that of the fell close to the southern extremity of Geitland.[23] - -"In some places there were dry watercourses. It was so far to the bottom -of the valley that the explorers could not discover exactly whether there -was not grass on one of the slopes; but possibly the hue was the peculiar -colour of the sandstone. Anyhow, they could not discover green pasturage. -At the bottom of the valley were sandy flats, and in some places -avalanches had fallen from the glaciers, and strewn the ground with blocks -of ice and other debris. The slopes were very uneven. No water or -waterfalls were to be seen, except two pools glittering towards the south, -where the valley became shallow, and where it spread into gravelly plains, -with the glacier sliding almost to the bottom of the vale on both sides. -At the north-east bend of the valley were two small bare hills, beneath -which the explorers thought they perceived two grassy plains on both sides -of a watercourse. Neither hot spring, wood, heather, nor grass, beside -these patches, were visible anywhere." In one point the account of these -men differs from that in the _Gretla_, for there it is stated that the -valley was narrow, and covered with grass; but possibly the ice has -encroached on the turf and destroyed it. - -"The clergymen having erected a pile of stones in memorial of their visit, -they went towards an immense rifted rock at the higher extremity of the -valley, and there discovered a cave, with an opening towards the north, -and looking down the valley. There was another opening, like a window, -into the cavern, commanding the east. The door was exactly square, and -just opposite it was a big square stone. This, as well as the cave, was of -sandstone. This was the only block of stone thereabouts. The clergymen -found that they were half the height of the cave; so that it must have -been from ten to twelve feet high. The window on the east was oblong, and -they conjectured that it had been made by the wind and rain, though it had -possibly been the work of former inhabitants of the cave. The explorers -supposed that the slab opposite the door had been thrown down from above, -and that there had originally existed no door, except the rift they first -discovered. The rift faces the west, and to enter the cave one must climb -several ledges in the rock. This cavern is sufficiently extensive to hold -a couple of hundred persons. Its floor is of sand, and it is well lighted -through the window. They did not find any antiquities; but they supposed -this to have been the cave occupied by Thorir and his daughters. - -"The men cut their initials on the rocks; Bjorn cut B. S. on that opposite -the door, and Helgi cut a single H. on the eastern wall of the cave, just -below the window. Bjorn Jonsson cut his opposite, but Helgi's was the -deepest engraved, and will stand longest. When they had finished this, -they sat down and took some refreshments, and remarked, as they drank -their brandy, that this was in all probability the first time that the -smell of brandy had been snuffed in that place. - -"It was now getting late; however, they ascended a mountain peak, on the -west side of the cave, and separate from it by a sweep of snow, and this -peak they believed to be visible from Kaldidalr; it was very steep and -difficult to climb, so they rested twice on their way. They went up on -different sides as the clink-stone rolled away beneath their feet on -those behind. Bjorn, the priest, was the first to attack the peak, but -Helgi reached the summit first, and found it so sharp at the top as to -afford hardly enough standing-ground for the three. They heaped a cairn on -the top and put in it a flat stone, which they placed in a vertical -position, and made fast with other stones. In it is a small rift; and they -arranged it so that, by placing the eye at this rift, it looks eastward, -through the door of the cave. - -"The party then returned the same way that they had come, and parted in -the morning in the middle of Kaldidalr, Bjorn going southward, and Helgi -towards the north." - -We think that the clergymen were mistaken in supposing that this -clink-stone cone is visible from Kaldidalr, for we saw no appearance of -it. From Skjaldbreid a peak is distinguishable, however, but more to the -south-west than that described by the priests. - -Apparently, three ways of entering the mysterious vale present themselves, -that which we ourselves intended being impracticable. One is to follow the -route of the bold explorers, Bjorn and Helgi; a second is to camp the -horses at Hlitharvellir, grassy plains between Skjaldbreid and Hlothufell, -and to follow the stream that issues from the glacier ravine into the -recesses of the Jokull. A third course, and that which we expect would -prove the easiest, though the least interesting, would be to encamp on -the grass-land round the lake Hvitarvatn, to the east of the Jokull, where -the mountains are lower, and the existence of a large sheet of water, from -which issues a considerable river--the Hvita--points to this being a place -to which the drainage of a very considerable portion of the glacier -converges. - -It is not a little remarkable that the huge extent of Lang Jokull feeds -scarcely any other rivers. It is true that the Nordlinga fljot, another -Hvita and Asbrandsa, have their sources under the Lang Jokull, but they -are only small streams, whereas the Hvita bursts out of its lake a wide -and deep river; and we think that this is accounted for by the presence of -a depression towards the interior of the range which gathers the drainage -from the surrounding glaciers, and then pours the flood in a sub-glacial -torrent into the lake. The opening to this valley we suppose to be blocked -above the lake by the glaciers from Hrutafell and Blafell's Jokull, which -meet and overlap. - - - - -KING ROBERT OF SICILY - - -Next to the Saga of King Olaf, without doubt the most beautiful and -successful of the _Tales of a Wayside Inn_, is that of King Robert of -Sicily. The legend is of a remote antiquity, has passed through various -modifications and recastings, and, after having lain by in forgotten -tomes, has been vivified once more by the poetic breath of Longfellow, and -popularised again. It is singular to trace the history of certain -favourite tales; they seem to be endowed with an inherent vitality, which -cannot be stamped out. Born far back in the early history of man, they -have asserted at once a sway over the imagination and feelings; have been -translated from their original birth-soil to foreign climes, and have -undergone changes and adaptations to suit the habits and requirements of -the new people amongst whom they have taken root. Political disturbances -cannot obliterate them; war sweeps over the land they have adopted, famine -devastates it, pestilence decimates its inhabitants, and for a while the -ancient tales hide their heads, only to crop up again green and fresh -when the springtide of prosperity returns. - -Sometimes a venerable myth disappears for an exceptionally long period, -and its vitality is, we suppose, extinguished. But though ages roll by, if -it have in it the real essential power of development and assimilation, it -is only waiting for its time to start a fresh career, full of concentrated -vigour. Like the ear of wheat in the hand of the mummy, it has lain by, -wrapped in cere-cloths, without giving token of germ, till the moment of -its liberation has arrived, when, falling on good ground, it brings forth -a hundredfold. - -Such was the history of Fouque's exquisite romance, _Undine_. It was a -very ancient tale, but it had been forgotten. The German poet found it in -the dead hand of the whimsical pedant, Theophrastus Paracelsus, swathed in -barbarous Latin. He writes:--"I ceased not to study an old edition of my -speechmonger, which fell to me at an auction, and that carefully. Even his -receipts I read through in order, just as they had been showered into the -text, still continuing in the firm expectation that from every line -something wonderfully magical might float up to me, and strike the -understanding. Single sparks, here and there darting up, confirmed my -hopes, and drew me deeper into the mines beneath ... then, at last, as a -pearl of soft radiance, there sparkled towards me, from out its -rough-edged shell--_Undine_." And he tells us how that his story has been -translated into French, Italian, English, Russian, and Polish. The mummy -wheat was soon multiplied. - -The legend of King Robert of Sicily, which the American poet has rescued -from oblivion, is one of those few which can be traced with rare precision -through its various changes, and tracked to the country where it -originated. It is instructive to note how in one form, it did service in -the cause of one religion, and how, in another form, it pointed a striking -moral in behalf of an entirely different creed. - -Two methods of procedure lie open to us in the examination of this story, -analysis and synthesis. We might trace the legend back from the form in -which it is known to the modern public, by sure stages, to the ultimate -atoms out of which it is developed, or we might take the original germ, -and follow it in its expanding and varying forms, till it has assumed its -present shape in the pages of the _Tales of a Wayside Inn_. - -We shall adopt the latter method, as the most suitable in this peculiar -instance. - -In the _Pantschatantra_, a Sanscrit collection of popular tales, the date -of the compilation of which is uncertain, but that of the tales is -unquestionably earlier than the Christian era, is the following story: - -"In the town of Liavati, lived a king, called Mukunda. One day he saw a -hunchback performing such comical actions that he invited him to become -an inmate of his palace, and, as his court fool, to divert him in his -hours of idleness and depression. The king was so taken up with this droll -rascal, that his prime minister was seriously displeased, and he said, in -reproof, to his master-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears.' - -To which the king laughingly replied-- - - 'The man is an idiot, so have no fears.' - -"Grumbling still, the old and prudent minister said-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree, - The monarch descend to beggary.' - -"One day a Brahmin came to the palace, and offered to teach the king -various magical arts. The monarch agreed with delight, and for a small sum -of money acquired power to send his soul from his own body into any -disengaged carcass that he wished to vivify. The hunchback was in the room -when the king learned his lesson. - -"A few days after, Mukunda and his fool were riding in the forest, when -they lit on the corpse of a Brahmin who had died of thirst. Here was an -opportunity for the king to practise what he had learned. But first he -asked the hunchback if he had given attention to the instruction of the -Brahmin. The fool replied that he never bothered his head with the -pedantry of professors. The king, satisfied with the answer, pronounced -the magical words. Down fell his body, senseless, and his soul animating -the corpse, the dead Brahmin sat up and opened his eyes. Instantly the -crafty hunchback repeated the incantation, and took possession of the -carcass of his majesty, mounted the king's horse, and rode off to Liavati, -where he was received by the courtiers, the servants, the ministers, and -the queen as if he were the true Mukunda, whilst the real monarch, in the -shape of a begging Brahmin, roved the forests and the villages, cursing -his folly, half starved on the scanty charity of the faithful. - -"Suspicions that all was not right forced their way into the queen's mind, -and she mentioned her doubts to the minister. - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears,' - -said he, addressing the false king, who shrugged his shoulders, and -laughed. Again the minister tried him with-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree,' - -and received a peremptory order to be silent as he valued his head. - -"'He is not the king,' said the minister to the queen. 'We must find the -true Mukunda, wherever he may be.' - -"In order to effect this, to every one whom the vizier addressed he -uttered the two half-verses-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears,' - -and - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree,' - -but with no results. One evening, however, as he was walking home, deep in -thought, a poor Brahmin clamoured for alms. The minister made no answer; -but when the pauper continued his importunities, he said, sharply,-- - - 'Far flies rumour with three pairs of ears'; - -to which the Brahmin promptly answered-- - - 'The man is an idiot, so have no fears.' - -"Hearing this, the old man was arrested by his interest. He hastily -continued-- - - 'The beggar may rise to royal degree'; - -and the Brahmin responded without hesitation-- - - 'The monarch descend to beggary.' - -"The minister caught him at once by the hand, and insisted on hearing his -story. No sooner was he made aware of what had been done by the hunchback, -than he hastened to the palace, where he found the queen bathed in tears -over a favourite parrot, which lay dead on her lap. The old man concerted -with her a plan for the destruction of the hunchback and the restoration -of the true king; then he secretly introduced the transformed Mukunda into -the chamber, and summoned the false king. - -"'O sire,' said the queen, 'if you love me restore my pretty parrot to -life.' - -"'That is easily effected,' answered the fool. - -"In an instant his body fell rigid, and his soul entered the bird, which -sat up, plumed its feathers, and began to chatter. At the same moment the -true Mukunda pronounced the magic words, dropped his adopted body, and -darted into that which had originally been his. At the sight of the -reviving monarch, the queen wrung the parrot's neck, and thus destroyed -the impostor." - -This story is based on the great Buddhist doctrine of the transmigration -of souls, and was evidently a very popular illustration of that -fundamental dogma, for variations of it are common in most ancient -Sanscrit collections. Thus in the _Katha Sarit Sagara_, a work of Soma -Deva, written between A.D. 1113-1125, the story reappears considerably -altered, but still told with the design of insisting on the doctrine of -transmigration of souls. Soma Deva's tale is this in brief:-- - -Vararutschi, Vyadi, and Indradatta desired to learn the new lessons of -Varscha, but could not pay the stipulated fee--a million pieces of gold. -They determined to ask King Nanda--a contemporary of Alexander the Great, -by the way--to pay it for them, and they visited his capital. They are too -late: Nanda is just dead. However, determined to obtain the requisite sum, -Indradatta leaves his body in a wood, guarded by his companions, and sends -his soul into the dead king. Then Vararutschi goes to him, asks, and -receives the gold, whilst Vyadi sits beside the deserted body. - -But the prime minister suspected that the revived master was not quite -identical with the deceased master. Indeed, King Nanda now exhibited an -intelligence and vigour which had been sadly deficient before. The -minister knew that the heir to the throne was but a child, and that he had -powerful enemies. He therefore formed the resolution of keeping the false -king on the throne till the heir was of age to govern. To effect his -purpose, he issued orders that every corpse in the kingdom should be -burnt. Amongst the rest was consumed that of Indradatta, and the Brahmin -found himself, with horror, obliged to remain in the body of a Sudra, -though that Sudra was a king. - -There is another story, similar to that in the _Pantschatantra_, told of -Tschandragupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, and one of the most -renowned of the ancient Indian kings. But, indeed, the variations -occurring in the ancient Sanscrit Buddhist tales are very numerous. - -From India the story travelled into Persia--when, is not known; but it was -probably there long before A.D. 540 when the Persian translation of the -_Pantschatantra_ was made. In Persian it occurs in the _Bahar Danush_, and -in the version of the _Cukasaptati_. It is in the Turkish _Tutinameh_. It -is in the famous _Arabian Nights_, as the story of the Prince Fadl-Allah. -It is also in the Mongolian _Vikramacarita_. But, though it was translated -with small variations from the Sanscrit in these works, popularly the -story had gone through great adaptations and alterations to suit creeds -which did not believe in the transmigration of souls. - -When it was made known to the Jews is not certain; probably at the -captivity. Yet there are passages in the Psalms, and especially in the -song of Hannah, which bear a striking resemblance to the verses of the -prime minister, and seem almost like an allusion to the fable. Thus, "The -Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He -raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the -dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne -of glory." This may be a reference or it may not. The sentiment is not -unlikely to have been uttered without knowledge of the Indian fable; but -if Hannah had been acquainted with it, no doubt to it allusion was made. - -It is certain, however, that the story did popularise itself among the -Jews, and when it did so, it was in a form adapted to their belief, which -had nothing in common with metempsychosis. And it is exceedingly probable -that they derived it from Persia, for one of the actors in the tale, -Asmodeus, is the Zoroastrian Aeshma. The story is found in the _Talmud_ -and is as follows:-- - -"King Solomon, having completed the temple and his house, was lifted up -with pride of heart, and regarded himself as the greatest of kings. Every -day he was wont to bathe, and before entering the water, he entrusted his -ring, wherein lay his power, to one of his wives. One day the evil -spirit, Asmodeus, stole the ring, and, assuming Solomon's form, drove the -naked king from the bath into the streets of Jerusalem. The wretched man -wandered about his city scorned by all; then he fled into distant lands, -none recognising in him the great and wise monarch. In the meanwhile the -evil spirit reigned in his stead, but unable to bear on his finger the -ring graven with the Incommunicable Name, he cast it into the sea. -Solomon, returning from his wanderings, became scullion in the palace. One -day a fisher brought him a fish for the king. On opening it, he found in -its belly the ring he had lost. At once regaining his power, he drove -Asmodeus into banishment, and, a humbled and better man, reigned -gloriously on the throne of his father David" (_Talmud_, Gittim, fol. 68). - -The Arabs have a similar legend, taken from the Jews:-- - -"One day Solomon asked an indiscreet question of an evil Jinn subject to -him. The spirit replied that he could not obtain the information required -without the aid of Solomon's seal. The king thoughtlessly lent it, and -immediately found himself supplanted by the Jinn. Reduced to beggary, he -wandered through the world repeating, 'I, the preacher, was king over -Israel in Jerusalem.' The constant repetition of this sentence attracted -attention; the disguised demon took alarm and fled, and Solomon regained -his throne." - -Finally the Jews or Arabs introduced the story to Western Europe, where it -soon became popular. In the _Gesta Romanorum_, a collection of moral tales -made by the monks in the fourteenth century, the Emperor Jovinian takes -the place of Solomon, and the story is thus told:-- - -"When Jovinian was emperor, he possessed very great powers; and as he lay -in bed reflecting upon the extent of his dominions, his heart was elated -to an extraordinary degree. 'Is there,' he impiously asked, 'any other god -than me?' Amid such thoughts he fell asleep. - -"In the morning he reviewed his troops, and said, 'My friends, after -breakfast we will hunt.' Preparations being made accordingly, he set out -with a large retinue. During the chase the emperor felt such extreme -oppression from the heat, that he believed his very existence depended -upon a cold bath. As he anxiously looked round, he discovered a sheet of -water at no great distance. 'Remain here,' said he to his guard, 'until I -have refreshed myself in yonder stream.' Then, spurring his steed, he rode -hastily to the edge of the water. Alighting, he divested himself of his -apparel, and experienced the greatest pleasure from its invigorating -freshness and coolness. But whilst he was thus employed a person similar -to him in every respect arrayed himself unperceived in the emperor's -dress, and then mounting his horse, rode to the attendants. The -resemblance to the sovereign was such, that no doubt was entertained of -the reality; and straightway command was issued for their return to the -palace. - -"Jovinian, however, having quitted the water sought in every possible -direction for his clothes, but could find neither them nor the horse. -Vexed beyond measure at the circumstance, for he was completely naked, he -began to reflect upon what course he should pursue. 'There is, I remember, -a knight residing close by; I will go to him and command his attendance -and service. I will then ride to the palace, and strictly investigate the -cause of this extraordinary conduct. Some shall smart for it.' - -"Jovinian proceeded naked and ashamed to the castle of the aforesaid -knight, and beat loudly at the gate. 'Open the gate,' shouted the enraged -emperor, as the porter inquired leisurely the cause of the knocking, 'you -will soon see who I am.' The gate was opened, and the porter, struck with -the strange appearance of the man before him, exclaimed, 'In the name of -all that is marvellous, what are you?' 'I am,' replied he, 'Jovinian, your -emperor. Go to your lord and command him to supply the wants of his -sovereign. I have lost both horse and clothes.' - -"'Infamous ribald!' shouted the porter, 'just before thy approach, the -emperor, accompanied by his suite, entered the palace. My lord both went -and returned with him. But he shall hear of thy presumption.' And he -hurried off to communicate with his master. The knight came and inspected -the naked man. 'What is your name?' he asked roughly. - -"'I am Jovinian, who promoted thee to a military command.' - -"'Audacious scoundrel!' said the knight, 'dost thou dare to call thyself -the emperor? I have but just returned from the palace, whither I have -accompanied him. Flog the rascal,' he ordered, turning to his servants: -'flog him soundly, and drive him away.' - -"The sentence was immediately executed, and Jovinian, bruised and furious, -rushed away to the castle of a duke whom he had loaded with favours. 'He -will remember me,' was his hope. Arrived at the castle, he made the same -assertion. - -"'Poor mad wretch!' said the duke, 'a short time since, I returned from -the palace, where I left the very emperor thou assumest to be. But, -ignorant whether thou art more fool or knave, we will administer such a -remedy as will suit both. Carry him to prison, and feed him with bread and -water.' The command was no sooner delivered than obeyed; and the following -day Jovinian's naked body was submitted to the lash, and again cast into -the dungeon. In the agony of his heart, the poor king said, 'What shall I -do? I am exposed to the coarsest contumely, and the mockery of the people. -I will hasten to the palace and discover myself to my wife,--she will -surely know me.' - -"Escaping therefore from his confinement, he approached the imperial -residence. 'Who art thou?' asked the porter. - -"'It is strange,' replied the aggrieved emperor, 'that thou shouldest -forget one thou hast served so long.' - -"'Served _thee_!' returned the porter indignantly; 'I have served none but -the emperor.' - -"'Why!' said the other, 'though thou recognisest me not, yet I am he. Go -to the empress; communicate what I shall tell thee, and by these signs, -bid her send the imperial robes, of which some rogue has deprived me.' -After some demur, the porter obeyed; and orders were issued for the -admission of the mad fellow without. - -"The false emperor and the empress were seated in the midst of their -nobles. As the true Jovinian entered, a large dog, which crouched on the -hearth, and had been much cherished by him, flew at his throat, and but -for timely intervention would have killed him. A falcon also, seated on -her perch, no sooner saw him than she broke her jesses, and flew out of -the hall. Then the pretended emperor, addressing those who stood about -him, said: 'My friends, hear what I will ask of yon ribald. Who are you? -And what do you want?' - -"'These questions,' said the suffering man, 'are very strange. You know I -am the emperor, and master of this place.' - -"The other, turning to the nobles who stood by, continued, 'Tell me, on -your allegiance, which of us two is your lord?' - -"They drew their swords in reply, and asked leave to punish the impostor -with death. - -"Then, turning to the empress, he asked, 'Tell me, my lady, on the faith -you have sworn, do you know this man who calls himself thy lord and -emperor?' - -"She answered, 'How can you ask such a question? Have I not known thee -more than thirty years, and borne thee many children?' - -"Hearing this the unfortunate monarch rushed, full of despair, from the -court. 'Why was I born?' he exclaimed. 'My friends shun me; my wife and -children will not acknowledge me. I will seek my confessor. He may -remember me.' To him he went accordingly, and knocked at the window of his -cell. - -"'Who is there?' asked the priest. - -"'The Emperor Jovinian,' was the reply; 'open the window that I may speak -with thee.' The window was opened; but no sooner had the confessor looked -out than he closed it again in great haste. - -"'Depart,' said he, 'accursed creature! Thou art not the emperor, but the -devil incarnate.' - -"This completed the miseries of the persecuted man. 'Woe is me,' he cried, -'for what strange doom am I reserved?' - -"At this crisis, the impious words which in the arrogance of his heart he -had uttered, crossed his recollection. Immediately he beat again at the -window of the confessor. - -"'Who is there?' asked the priest. - -"'A penitent,' answered the emperor. - -"The window was opened. 'What is your majesty pleased to require?' asked -the confessor, recognising him at once. Then he made his confession, and -received of the old father a few clothes to cover his nakedness, and by -the priest's advice returned to the palace. The soldiers presented arms to -him, the porter opened immediately, the dog fawned on him, the falcon flew -to him, and his wife rushed to embrace him. Then the feigned emperor -spoke:--'My friends, hearken! That man is your king. He exalted himself, -to the disparagement of his Maker, and God has punished him. But -repentance has removed the rod.' So saying, he disappeared. The emperor -gave thanks to God, and lived happily, and finished his days in peace." - -The same story, with some alterations, is told of Robert of Sicily. An old -poem or metrical romance on the subject is given by Warton; and on it -Longfellow has founded his poem. - - Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane - And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine, - Apparelled in magnificent attire, - With retinue of many a knight and squire, - On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat - And heard the priests chant the Magnificat. - And, as he listened, o'er and o'er again - Repeated, like a burden or refrain, - He caught the words: 'Deposuit potentes - De sede, et exaltavit humiles.' - -He inquired of a clerk the meaning of these words; and, having heard the -explanation, was mightily offended:-- - - ''Tis well that such seditious words are sung - Only by priests, and in the Latin tongue; - For, unto priests and people be it known, - There is no power can push me from my throne.' - And, leaning back, he yawned, and fell asleep, - Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep. - -When he awoke he was alone in the church. An angel had assumed his -likeness, and had swept out of the minster with the court. The story then -runs in the same line as that of Jovinian. Robert is unrecognised, and is -at last received into the palace as court fool. At the end of three years -there arrived an embassy from Valmond, the emperor, requesting Robert to -join him on Maundy Thursday, at Rome, whither he proposed to go on a visit -to his brother Urban. The angel welcomed the ambassadors, and departed in -their company to the Holy City. We place side by side the Old English -metrical description of Robert's appearance, as he accompanied the false -emperor, with the modern poet's rendering: - - OLD ENGLISH - - The fool Robert also went, - Clothed in loathly garnement, - With fox-tails riven all about: - Men might him knowen in the rout. - An ape rode of his clothing; - So foul rode never king. - - - LONGFELLOW - - And lo! among the menials, in mock state, - Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait; - His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind, - The solemn ape demurely perched behind, - King Robert rode, making huge merriment - In all the country towns through which they went. - -Robert witnessed in sullen silence the demonstrations of affectionate -regard with which the pope and emperor welcomed their supposed brother; -but, at length, rushing forward, he bitterly reproached them for thus -joining in an unnatural conspiracy with an usurper. This violent sally, -however, was received by his brothers, and by the whole papal court, as an -undoubted proof of his madness; and he now learnt for the first time the -real extent of his misfortune. His stubbornness and pride gave way, and -were succeeded by remorse and penitence. - -After five weeks in Rome, the emperor, and the supposed king of Sicily, -returned to their respective dominions, Robert being still accoutred in -his fox-tails, and accompanied by his ape, whom he now ceased to consider -as his inferior. When the angel was again at the capital of Sicily, he -felt that his mission was accomplished. - - And when once more within Palermo's wall, - And, seated on the throne in his great hall, - He heard the Angelus from the convent towers, - As if a better world conversed with ours, - He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher, - And, with a gesture, bade the rest retire; - And when they were alone, the Angel said, - 'Art thou the king?' Then, bowing down his head, - King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast, - And meekly answered him: 'Thou knowest best! - My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, - And in some cloister's school of penitence, - Across those stones that pave the way to heaven - Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven!' - The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face - A holy light illumined all the place, - And through the open window, loud and clear, - They heard the monks chant in the chapel near, - Above the stir and tumult of the street: - 'He has put down the mighty from their seat, - And has exalted them of low degree!' - And through the chant a second melody - Rose like the throbbing of a single string, - 'I am an angel, and thou art the king!' - King Robert, who was standing near the throne, - Lifted his eyes, and lo! he was alone! - But all apparelled as in days of old, - With ermined mantle, and with cloth of gold; - And when his courtiers came they found him there, - Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer. - -We think it would be scarcely possible to find a more pointed illustration -of the purifying, humanising, and refining nature of Christianity, than to -observe the course pursued by this story. Among Buddhists the false king -is vivified by a crafty rogue's infused soul; among Jews he is a -transformed devil; but among Christians he is an angel of light. - - - - -SORTES SACRAE - - -It is not an uncommon case, nowadays, for pious persons at times of great -perplexity to seek a solution to their difficulties in their Bibles, -opening the book at random and taking the first passage which occurs as a -direct message to them from the Almighty. - -The manner in which this questioning of the sacred oracles is performed is -serious. A considerable time is previously devoted to prayer, after which -the inquirer rises from his knees and consults the family Bible in the way -described. Whether such a manner of dealing with the Word of God be under -any circumstances justifiable, I do not pretend to judge. St. Augustine in -his 119th letter to Januarius seems not to disapprove of this custom, so -long as it be not applied to things of this world. - -Gregory of Tours tells us what was his practice. He spent several days in -fasting and prayer, and in strict retirement, after which he resorted to -the tomb of St. Martin, and taking any book of Scripture which he chose, -he opened it, and took as answer from God the first passage that met his -eye. Should this passage prove inappropriate, he opened another book of -Scripture. - -The eleventh chapter of Proverbs, which contains thirty-one verses, is -often taken to give omen of the character of a life. The manner of -consulting it is simple; it is but to look for the verse answering to the -day of the month on which the questioner was born. The answer will be -found in most cases to be exceedingly ambiguous. - -The practice of consulting certain books for purposes of augury is of high -antiquity. Herodotus speaks of the custom, and of the fraud of -Oxomacritus, a celebrated diviner, who made use of Musoeus for reference, -and who was driven out of Athens by Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, -because he had been detected inserting in the verses of Musoeus an oracle -predicting the disappearance in the waves of the islands near Lemnos. -Homer, and afterwards Virgil, were the poets most frequently consulted, -but Euripides was also regarded as divinely inspired to foretell the -future. - -Two hundred years after the death of Virgil, his poems were laid up in the -temple at Proeneste, for consultations. Alexander Severus sought the -oracle in the reign of Heliogabalus, who feared and hated him; and the -line of Virgil he read told him that "if he could surmount opposing fates, -he would be Marcellus." The Emperor Heraclius, when deliberating where to -fix his winter quarters, was determined by an oracle of this sort. He -purified his army during three days, and then opened the Gospels. The -passage he found was understood by him to indicate that he should winter -in Albania. - -Nicephorus Gregoras relates how Andronicus the Elder was reconciled to his -nephew Andronicus in consequence of lighting on the verse of the Psalm -(lxviii. 14), "When the Almighty scattered kings for their sake, then were -they as white as snow in Salmon." Whereby he concluded that all the -troubles that had been undergone by him had been decreed by God for his -purification. - -With the same intent during the consecration of a bishop, at the moment -when the book of the Gospels was placed on his head, it was customary to -open the volume and gather from the verse at the head of the page an -augury of the prelate's reign. This is illustrated in a curious ancient -painting of the consecration of St. Thomas a Becket by Van Eyck, shown in -the Leeds Fine Art Exhibition of 1868. - -Chroniclers and biographers have not failed to mention several -prognostications given in this manner which were verified in the event. - -At the consecration of Athanasius, nominated to the patriarchate of -Constantinople by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a patriarchate which he -stained with his crimes, "Caracalla, bishop of Nicomedia, having brought -the Gospel," says the historian Pachymerus, "the congregation prepared to -take note of the oracle which would be manifest on the opening of the -book, though this oracle is not infallibly true. The bishop of Nicaea, -noticing that he had lighted on the words, 'Prepared for the devil and his -angels,' groaned in the depth of his heart, and putting up his hand to -hide the words, turned over the leaves of the book, and disclosed the -other words, 'The birds of the air come, and lodge in the branches': words -which seemed far removed from the ceremony which was being celebrated. All -that could be done to hide these oracles was done, but it was found -impossible to conceal the truth. It was said that they did not forbid the -consecration, but that, nevertheless, they were not the effect of chance, -for there is no such a thing as chance in the celebration of the Sacred -Mysteries." - -"Landri, elected bishop of Laon," says Guibert de Nogent, "received -episcopal unction in the Church of St. Ruffinus; but it was of sad portent -to him, that the text of the Gospel for the day was, 'A sword shall pierce -through thine own soul also.'" After many crimes he was assassinated. He -was succeeded by the Dean of Orleans, whose name is not known. "The new -prelate having presented himself for consecration, people looked to see -what the Gospel would prognosticate; but it was opened at a blank page, as -though God had said, 'I have nothing to foretell of this man, because he -will be, and will do, nothing.' And in fact he died at the end of a very -few months." - -Guibert tells a story of himself, which shows that the same practice was -in vogue at the installation of an abbot. "On the day of my entry into the -monastery," he writes, "a monk who had studied the sacred books desired, I -presume, to read my future; at the moment when he was preparing to leave -with the procession to meet me, he placed designedly on the altar the book -of the Gospels, intending to draw an omen from the direction taken by my -eyes towards this or that chapter. Now the book was written, not in pages, -but in columns. The monk's eyes rested on the middle of the second column, -where he read the following passage, 'The light of the body is the eye.' -Then he bade the deacon, who was to present the Gospel to me, to take -care, after I had kissed the cross on the cover, to hold his hand on the -passage he indicated to him, and then attentively to observe, as soon as -he had opened the book before me, on what part of the pages my eyes -rested. The deacon accordingly opened the book, after I had, as custom -required, pressed my lips upon the cover. Whilst he observed, with curious -eyes, the direction taken by my glance, my eye and spirit together turned -neither above nor below, but precisely towards the verse which had been -indicated before. The monk who had sought to form conjectures by this, -seeing that my action had accorded, without premeditation, with his -intentions, came to me a few days after, and told me what he had done, and -how wondrously my first movement had coincided with his own." - -Thomas Cantipratensis relates how that Cardinal Conrad, Archbishop of -Paris, was in doubt as to what reception he should give to the Order of -Preachers, some members of which had lately entered the city. He hesitated -as to their having been legitimately constituted, and questioned their -value. Whereupon he betook himself to prayer; and then going to the altar -opened the Missal at the words, "Laudare, benedicere, et predicare," -whereupon his scruples vanished, and he extended to them the right hand of -fellowship. - -"I know a religious man who had designed to serve God in the secular -life," writes Paciuchelli (_In Jonam_, vol. i. p. 9); "he once poured -forth his prayers to God, and asked that he might be permitted, if it were -His will, to fulfil some desire or other that he had. Having asked the -opinion of certain persons of authority, he was recommended, after the -most sacred service, to open the Missal and to take note of what should -first arrest his attention. He followed this advice, and lo! the first -words which presented themselves to him were those of our Lord to the sons -of Zebedee, in St. Matt. xx. 23, 'Ye know not what ye ask'; from which he -gathered clearly that were his wishes to be gratified, his eternal welfare -would be imperilled." - -I have heard of a young man in doubt as to his vocation for holy orders, -when he found his desire strongly opposed by his parents, inquiring of his -Bible in a similar spirit and manner, and reading, "He that loveth father -or mother more than me is not worthy of me." I have been told of another -man in somewhat parallel circumstances, having lately awakened to -religious convictions after a life of great laxity, who sought guidance in -the same manner, and read, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how -great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on -thee." - -A story of the baleful effects of this practice among Scotch Presbyterians -appeared in a collection of _Legends of Edinburgh_ by a recent writer. The -story related how a designing mother persuaded her reluctant daughter into -a marriage with a wealthy but dissipated youth, the son of their employer, -towards whom the girl felt great repugnance, by manipulating the Sortes -Sacrae so as to make the girl read, "Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take -her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath -spoken." As the name of the young woman was Rebekah, the sentence seemed -to her to be a message from heaven. - -Gregory of Tours mentions a couple of instances of omens taken from -Scripture. The one was that of Chramm, who had revolted against his father -Clothaire, and who marched to Dijon, where he consulted the Sacred -Oracles, by placing on the altar three books, the Prophets, the Acts, and -the Evangelists. In like manner, according to Gregory, Merovius, flying -from the wrath of his father Chilperic, and Fredigunda, placed on the tomb -of St. Martin three books, to wit, the Psalter, the Kings, and the -Gospels, and kept vigil through the night, praying the blessed confessor -to discover to him what was to happen to him. He fasted three days and -continued incessantly in prayer; then he opened the books, one after -another, and was so dismayed at the replies which he found, that he wept -bitterly beside the tomb, and then sadly left the basilica. - -In 1115, differences having arisen touching the elevation of Hugh de -Montaigu to the Bishopric of Auxerre, the case was brought before Pope -Pascal II., who decided in favour of his consecration, and ordained him -himself. It was urged by his friends in his favour, that on the opening of -the book above his head, during the ceremony, these words stood out at the -head of the page, "_Ave Maria! gracia plena!_" and this was regarded as a -token of his chastity, humility, and exemplary piety, and of the favour in -which he was held by the Blessed Virgin. - -According to the use of the ancient church of Terouanne, on the reception -of a new canon, it was customary to open at random the Psalter, after that -the volume had been sprinkled by the dean with holy water, and the -paragraph at the head of the page was transcribed in the letters patent of -the new canon. The same custom was in force, as late as last century, in -the cathedral of Boulogne, and the bishop, De Langle, tried in vain in -1722 to abolish it. - -The Bollandists relate that St. Petrock of Cornwall, when in doubt -whether to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or not, was decided by -opening his Bible at the passage in Isaiah, "_Et erit sepulchrum ejus -gloriosum_." A similar story is told of St. Poppo, a Belgian saint of the -eleventh century. - -The anecdote is well known of King Charles and Lord Falkland consulting -the Sortes Virgilianae in the library at Oxford. The lines they met with -and which were so singularly verified afterwards, are marked with their -initials in the book, which is still preserved. - -Rabelais refers to the Sortes Virgilianae when he makes Panurge consult -them on the subject of his marriage. - -Gregory of Tours, sad at heart because of the desolation produced by the -ravages of Count Leudaste in and around the city, entered his oratory; -"and," as he tells us himself, "full of trouble, I took up the Psalms of -David, in hopes of finding, when I opened the book, some verse which might -bring me consolation. And I found this: 'He brought them out safely, that -they should not fear; and overwhelmed their enemies with the sea.'" - -Gregory relates another story akin to the subject. Clovis, at the moment -when he was marching against Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sent his -deputies to the Church of St. Martin, at Tours, saying to them, "Go, and -maybe, in the holy temple you will find some presage of victory." After -having given them presents for the sacred place, he added: "O Lord God! -if Thou art on my side, if Thou art determined to deliver into my hands -this unbelieving nation, hostile to Thy name, grant that I may see Thy -favour, or the entry of my servants into the basilica of St. Martin, that -I may know if Thou deignest to be favourable to Thy suppliant." - -The envoys having hastened to Tours, entered the cathedral at the moment -when the Precentor gave out the Antiphon: "Thou hast girded me with -strength unto the battle: thou shalt throw down mine enemies under me. -Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn their backs upon me: and I shall -destroy them that hate me" (Ps. xviii. 37, 40). - -Hearing this, they gave thanks to God, presented their offerings, and -returned with joy to announce the omen to their king. - -Divination by Scripture has been forbidden by several national councils, -probably on account of the superstitious use made of it. The sixteenth -canon of the Council of Vannes, held in 465, forbids clerks under pain of -excommunication, consulting the Sortes Sacrae. This prohibition was -extended to the laity by the forty-second canon of the Council of Agde, in -506. "Aliquanti clerici sive laici student auguriis, et sub nomine fictoe -religionis, per eas, quas sanctorum sortes vocant, diviniationis scientiam -profitentur, aut quarumcunque scripturorum inspectione futura promittunt." -It was also forbidden by the Council of Orleans in 511; again by that of -Auxerre in 595; by that of Selingstadt in 1022; by that of Enham, in -1009; and by a capitulary of Charlemagne, in 789. - -Related to Sortes Sacrae are those messages which are supposed to be -conveyed by the chance hearing or reading of a passage of Scripture. These -are not, however, to be regarded in the light of superstition, and it is -quite possible, and indeed probable, that certain texts accidentally met -with may influence for good or bad those who are in a disposition of mind -to be so affected. - -The well-known story of St. Augustine's conversion is to the point. He -relates himself how sitting in a garden-house, in great trouble of mind, -he heard a voice say, "Tolle, lege"; whereupon he took up the sacred -Scriptures and read, "Not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and -envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for -the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Rom. xiii. 13, 14). - -St. Anthony was moved to the assumption of the religious life by -accidentally hearing--"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou -hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and -come and follow me" (St. Matt, xix. 21). - -St. Louis when trying a murderer was much inclined by his natural -tenderness of disposition to pardon the man; but his resolution to let -justice take her course was strengthened by opening his Psalter at the -words, "Feci judicium et justitiam." - -But, to conclude, the true use of Holy Scripture is best learned from our -English Collect, which asks that we may read, mark, learn, and inwardly -digest its glorious lessons, taken as a whole, and not wring disjointed -directions for conduct from stray passages. - - - - -CHIAPA CHOCOLATE - - -Gage, the Dominican, a great admirer of chocolate, a man who combated with -all his energy the objections which medical men of the seventeenth century -made to its use, derived its name from _atte_, the Mexican word for water, -and the sound it makes when poured out,--choco, choco, choco, choco! - -O Professor Max Mueller! what do you say to this? Whatever the derivation -of the name may be, the composition of the beverage is well known. Cacao, -sugar, long-pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, almonds, mace, aniseed, are -the main constituents, and the cake-chocolate used in Britain is believed -to be made of about one-half genuine cacao, the remainder of flour or -Castile soap. - -We are not going any further into the mysteries of its composition, which -may be ascertained from any encyclopaedia, for our business is with a -circumstance in connection with its history probably known to few. - -And first for our authority--the afore-mentioned Dominican. Thomas Gage -was born of a good family in England; his elder brother was Governor of -Oxford in 1645, when King Charles retreated thither during the Great -Rebellion. Whilst still young, Thomas had been sent to Spain for -education, and had entered the Dominican order, and having been, like so -many Spanish ecclesiastics, fired with missionary zeal, he embarked at -Cadiz for Vera Cruz, whence he betook himself to Mexico, near which town -he made a retreat, previous to devoting himself to a life of toil in the -Philippines. - -However, the accounts he received of these islands were so discouraging, -and the monastic life in Mexico was so inviting, that he postponed his -expedition indefinitely. But Gage had no intention of spending his life in -ease: he hurried over the different districts of Mexico and Guatemala, -making himself acquainted with the languages spoken wherever he went, and -he laboured indefatigably as priest to several parishes of great extent. - -Gage's account of the cultivation of the cacao and the manufacture -of chocolate is interesting, his treatise on its medical -properties--conceived in the taste and spirit of his day--curious, and his -personal narrative lively and amusing. - -One little statement must not be passed over. Chocolate, it seems, is -useful as a cosmetic; Creole ladies eat it to deepen their skin tint, just -on the same principle, observes Gage, as English ladies devour whitewash -from the walls to clarify their complexion. - -Chiapa was a central point for Gage's labours during a considerable -period. At that time it was a small cathedral town, containing 400 Spanish -families, and 100 Mexican houses in a faubourg by itself. - -The cathedral served as parish church to the inhabitants: one Dominican -and one Franciscan monastery, besides a poverty-stricken nunnery, supplied -the religious requirements of the diocesan city. No Jesuits there! quoth -Gage, with a little rancour. Those good men seldom leave rich and opulent -towns; and when you learn the fact that there are no Jesuits at Chiapa, -you may draw the immediate inference that the town is poor, and the -inhabitants not liberally disposed. - -Liberally disposed! The high and stately Creole Dons, who claimed descent -from half the noble families of Spain; the grand representatives of the De -Solis, Cortez, De Velasco, De Toledo, De Zerna, De Mendoza, who lived by -cattle-jobbing and by pasturing droves of mules on their farms, and who -gave themselves the airs of dukes, and were as ignorant and not so well -behaved as the donkeys they reared; who ate a dinner of salt and -kidney-beans in five minutes, and spent an hour at their doors picking -their teeth, wiping their moustaches, and boasting of the fricasees and -fricandoes they had been tasting--these men liberally disposed! - -They contributed nothing to the treasury of the Church, but gave the -clergy considerable trouble. These Creoles particularly disliked and -resented any allusion to their duty of almsgiving, and a request for -charity was by them regarded as a personal affront. - -Gage was soon intimate with the bishop, Dom Bernard de Salazar, a very -worthy prelate, perhaps a little _wee_ bit too fond of the good things of -this present life, but otherwise most exemplary, very energetic, and as -bold as a saint in reforming abuses which had crept into the Church. - -Talk of abuses, and you may be sure that woman is at the bottom of them! A -certain czar, whenever he heard of a misfortune, at once asked, "Who was -_she_?" knowing that some woman had originated it. The same view may -perhaps be taken of abuses and corruptions in the Church. - -Dom Bernard de Salazar had the misfortune to live in a perpetual state of -contest with the ladies of his flock, and the subject of dispute was -chocolate. It was a brave struggle--bravely fought on both sides. - -The prelate fulminated all the censures at his disposal in his -ecclesiastical armoury; the ladies, on their side, made use of all the -devices and intrigues stored in their little heads, and gained the day--of -course. - -Now the great subject of altercation was as follows. The ladies of Chiapa -were so addicted to the use of chocolate, that they would neither hear Low -Mass, much less High Mass, or a sermon, without drinking cups of steaming -chocolate, and eating preserves, brought in on trays by servants, during -the performance of divine service; so that the voice of the preacher, or -the chant of the priest, was drowned in the continual clatter of cups and -clink of spoons; besides, the floor, after service, was strewn with -_bon-bon_ papers, and stained with splashes of the spilled beverage. - -How could that be devotion which was broken in upon by the tray of -delicacies? How could a preacher warm with his subject whilst his audience -were passing to each other sponge-cake and cracknels? - -Bishop Salazar's predecessor had seen this abuse grow to a head without -attempting to correct it, believing such a task to be hopeless. The new -prelate was of better metal. He commenced by recommending his clergy, in -their private ministrations, to urge its abandonment. The priests -entreated in vain. "Very well," said the bishop, "then I shall preach -about it." And so he did. At first his discourse was tender and -persuasive, but his voice was drowned in the clicker of cups and saucers. -Then he waxed indignant. "What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? -or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall -I say to you?" The ladies looked up at the pulpit with unimpassioned eyes, -while sipping their chocolate, then wiped their lips, and put out their -hands for some comfits. - -The bishop's voice thrilled shriller and louder--he looked like an apostle -in his godly indignation. Crash!--down went a tray at the cathedral door, -and every one looked round to see whose cups were broken. - -"What was the subject of the sermon?" asked masters of their apprentices -every Sunday for the next month, and the ready answer came, "Oh! chocolate -again!" - -After a course on the guilt of church desecration, the bishop found that -the ladies were only confirmed in their evil habits. - -Reluctantly, the bishop had recourse to the only method open to him, an -excommunication, which was accordingly affixed to the cathedral gates. By -this he decreed that all persons showing wilful disobedience to his -injunctions, by drinking or eating during the celebration of divine -service, whether of Mass (high or low), litanies, benediction, or vespers, -should be _ipso facto_ excommunicate, be deprived of participation in the -sacraments of the Church, and should be denied the rite of burial, if -dying in a state of impenitence. This was felt to be a severe stroke, and -the ladies sent a deputation to Gage and the prior of the Dominican -monastery of St. James, entreating them to use their utmost endeavours to -bring about a reconciliation, and effect a compromise, a compromise which -was to consist in Monseignor's revoking his interdict, and in -their--continuing to drink chocolate. - -Gage and the prior undertook the delicate office, and sought the bishop. - -Salazar received them with dignity, and listened calmly to their -entreaties. They urged that this was an established custom, that ladies -required humouring, that they were obstinate--the prelate nodded his -head--that their digestions were delicate, and required that they should -continually be imbibing nourishment; that they had taken a violent -prejudice against him, which could only be overcome by his yielding to -their whims; that if he persisted, seditions would arise which would -endanger the cause of true religion; and, finally, the prelate's life was -menaced in a way rather hinted at than expressed. - -"Enough, my sons!" said the bishop, with composure; "the souls under my -jurisdiction must be in a perilous condition when they have forgotten that -there must be obedience in little matters as well as in great. Whether I -am assaulting an established custom, or a new abuse, matters little. It is -a bad habit; it is sapping the foundations of reverence and morality. -God's house was built for worship, and for that alone. My children must -come to His temple either to learn or to pray. Learn they will not, for -they have forgotten how to pray: prayer they are unused to, for the -highest act of adoration the Church can offer is only regarded by them as -an opportunity for the gratification of their appetites. You recommend me -to yield to their vagaries. A strange shepherd would he be, who let his -sheep lead him; a wondrous captain, who was dictated to by his soldiers! -As for the cause of true religion being endangered, I judge differently. -Religion _is_ endangered; but it is by children's disobedience to their -spiritual legislators, and by their own perversity. I am sorry for you, my -sons, that you should have undertaken a fruitless office; but you may -believe me, that nothing shall induce me to swerve from the course which I -deem advisable. My personal safety, you hint, is endangered; my life, I -answer, is in my Master's hands, and I value it but as it may advance His -glory." - -When the ladies heard that their request had been refused, they treated -the excommunication with the greatest contempt, scoffing at it publicly, -and imbibing chocolate in church, "on principle," more than ever; "Just," -says Gage, "drinking in church as a fish drinks in water." - -Some of the canons and priests were then stationed at the cathedral doors -to stop the ingress of the servants with cups and chocolate-pots. They had -received injunctions to remove the drinking and eating vessels, and suffer -the servants to come empty-handed to church. A violent struggle ensued in -the porch, and all the ladies within rushed in a body to the doors, to -assist their domestics. The poor clerks were utterly routed and thrown in -confusion down the steps, whilst, with that odious well-known clink, -clink, the trays came in as before. - -Another move was requisite, and, on the following Sunday, when the ladies -came to church, they found a band of soldiers drawn up outside, ready to -barricade the way against any inroad of chocolate; a stern determination -was depicted on the faces of the military--that if cups and saucers _did_ -enter the sacred edifice, it should be over their corpses. - -The foremost damsels halted, the matrons stood still, the crowd thickened, -but not one of the pretty angels would set foot within the cathedral -precincts: a busy whisper circulated, then a hush ensued, and with one -accord the ladies trooped off to the monastery churches, and there was no -congregation that day at the minster. - -The brethren of St. Dominic and of St. Francis were nothing loath to see -their chapels crowded with all the rank and fashion of Chiapa; for, with -the ladies came money-offerings, and they blinked at the chocolate cups -for--a consideration. This was allowed to continue a few Sundays only. Our -friend the bishop was not going to be shelved thus, and a new manifesto -appeared, inhibiting the friars from admitting parishioners to their -chapels, and ordering the latter to frequent their cathedral. - -The regulars were forced to obey; not so the ladies--they would go when -they pleased, quotha! and for a month and more, not one of them went to -church at all. The prelate was in sore trouble: he hoped that his froward -charge would eventually return to the path of duty, but he hoped on from -Sunday to Sunday in vain. - -Would that the story ended as stories of strife and bitterness always -should end; so that we might tell how the ladies yielded at length, how -that rejoicings were held and a general reconciliation effected:--but the -historian may not pervert facts, to suit his or his readers' -gratification. - -On Saturday evening the old bishop was more than usually anxious; he paced -up and down his library, meditating on the sermon he purposed preaching on -the following morning--a fruitless task, for he knew that no one would be -there but a few poor Mexicans. Sick at heart, he all but wished that he -had yielded for peace sake, but conscience told him that such a course -would have been wrong; and the great feature in Salazar's character was -his rigid sense of duty. He leaned on his elbows and looked out of a -window which opened on a lane between the palace and the cathedral. - -"Silly boy!" muttered the prelate. "Luis is always prattling with that -girl. I thought better of the fair sex till of late." He spoke these words -as his eyes caught his page, chattering at the door with a dark-eyed -Creole servant-maid of the De Solis family. Presently the bishop clapped -his hands, and a domestic entered. "Send Luis to me." - -When the page came up, the old man greeted him with a half-smile. - -"Well, my son, I wish my chocolate to be brought me; I could not think of -breaking off that long _tete-a-tete_ with Dolores, but this is past the -proper time." - -"Your Holiness will pardon me," said the lad; "Dolores brought you a -present from the Donna de Solis; the lady sends her humble respects to -your Holiness, and requests your acceptance of a large packet of very -beautiful chocolate." - -"I am much obliged to her," said the bishop; "did you express to the -maiden my thanks?" - -Luis bowed. - -"Then, child, you may prepare me a cup of this chocolate, and bring it me -at once." - -"The Donna de Solis's chocolate?" - -"Yes, my son, yes!" - -When the boy had left the room, the old man clasped his hands with an -expression of thankfulness. - -"They are going to yield! This is a sign that they are desiring -reconciliation." - -Next day the cathedral was thronged with ladies. The service proceeded as -usual, but the bishop was not present. - -"How is the bishop?" was whispered from one lady to another, with -conscious glances; till the query reached the ears of one of the canons -who was at the door. - -"His Holiness is very ill," he answered. "He has retired to the monastery -of St. James." - -"What is the matter with him?" - -"He is suffering from severe pains internally." - -"Has he seen a doctor?" - -"Physicians have been sent for." - -For eight days the good old prelate lingered in great suffering. - -"Tell me," he asked very feebly; "tell me truly, what is my complaint?" - -"Your Holiness has been poisoned," replied the physician. - -The bishop turned his face to the wall. Some one whispered that he was -dead, when he had been thus for some while. The dying man turned his face -round, and said: - -"Hush! I am praying for my poor sheep! May God pardon them." Then, after a -pause: "I forgive them for having caused my death, most heartily. Poor -sheep!" - -And he died. - -Since then there has been a proverb prevalent in Mexico: "Beware of -tasting Chiapa chocolate." - -Gage, the Dominican, did not remain long in Chiapa after the death of his -patron: he seldom touched chocolate in that town unless quite certain of -the friendship of those who offered it to him; and when he did leave, it -was from fear of a fate like the bishop's,--he having incurred the anger -of some of the ladies. - -The cathedral presented the same scene as before; the prelate had laboured -in vain, and chocolate was copiously drunk at his funeral. - - - - -THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE - - -"There are many ways," says Del Rio, "in which the Philosopher's Stone is -made. Writers contest with each other which is the right way. Pauladamus -opposes the opinion of Brachescus; Villanosanus will have none of the mode -of Trevisanus. So one assails another, and all call each other foolish and -ignorant." But however they may have disputed how to make it, no one -succeeded in finding the right way, for no one knew where to look for it; -and yet the Philosopher's Stone was before all their eyes to be enjoyed by -all alike, but to be appropriated by none. This precious stone, which went -by various names, the "Universal Elixir," the "Elixir of Life," the "Water -of the Sun," was thought to procure to its happy discoverer and possessor -riches innumerable, perpetual health, a life exempt from all maladies and -cares and pains, and even in the opinion of some--immortality. It -transmuted lead into gold, glass into diamonds, it opened locks, it -penetrated everywhere; it was the sovereign remedy to all disease, it was -luminous in the darkest night. To fashion it--so the alchemists -said--gold and lead, iron, antimony, vitriol, sulphur, mercury, arsenic, -water, fire, earth, and air were needed; to these must be added the egg of -a cock, and the spittle of doves. Really, said one shrewd and satiric -writer, it only wanted oil, vinegar, and salt, to make of it a salad. - -Now the curious thing is--as we shall see in the sequel--the alchemists -were not far out in their opinion. All these ingredients, or rather most -of them--the cock's egg and the dove's spittle only excepted--are to be -found combined in the Philosopher's Stone, and only recent science has -established this fact. - -As the possessor of this stone was sure to be the most glorious, powerful, -rich, and happy of mortals, as he could at will convert anything into -gold, and enjoy all the pleasures of life, it is not surprising that the -Philosopher's Stone was sought with eagerness. It was sought, but, as -already said, never found, because the alchemists looked for it in just -the place where it was _not_ to be found, in their crucibles. Medals were -struck on which were inscribed "Per Sal, Sulphur, Mercurium, Fit Lapis -Philosophorum," which was a simplification of the receipt. On the reverse -stood, "Thou Alpha and Omega of Life, Hope and Resurrection after Death." -It was identified with Solomon's seal; it was called Orphanus, the One and -Only. It was thought at one time that the Emperor had it in his crown, -this Orphanus, and that it blazed like the sun at night; but the German -emperors enjoyed so little prosperity that philosophers came to the -conclusion that the stone in the imperial crown was something quite -different; it brought ill-luck rather than good-fortune. - -Zosimus, who lived in the beginning of the fifth century, is one of the -first in Europe to describe the powers of this stone, and its capacity for -making gold and silver. The alchemists pretended to derive their science -from Shem, or Chem, the son of Noah, and that thence came the name -al_chem_y, and _chem_istry. All writers upon alchemy triumphantly cite the -story of the golden calf in the thirty-second chapter of Exodus, to prove -that Moses was an adept, and could make or unmake gold at his pleasure. It -is recorded that Moses was so wroth with the Israelites for their -idolatry, "that he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the -fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the -children of Israel drink of it." This, say the alchemists, he never could -have done had he not been in possession of the Philosopher's Stone; by no -other means could he have made the powder of gold float upon the water. - -At Constantinople, in the fourth century, the transmutation of metals was -very generally believed in, and many treatises upon the subject appeared. -Langlet du Fresnoy, in his _History of Hermetic Philosophy_, gives some -account of these works. The notion of the Greek writers seems to have been -that all metals were composed of two ingredients, the one metallic matter, -the other a red inflammable matter which they called sulphur. The pure -union of these substances formed gold; but other metals were mixed with -and contaminated by various foreign ingredients. The object of the -Philosopher's Stone was to dissolve and expel these base ingredients, and -so to liberate the two original constituents whose marriage produced gold. - -For several centuries after this the pursuit flagged or slept in Europe, -but it reappeared in the eighth century among the Arabians, and from them -re-extended to Europe. We are not going to trace the history of alchemy -_downwards_, and see one student after another wreck his genius and time -on this rock, nor see what use was made of the belief in it by impostors -to enrich themselves at the expense of the credulous--we will follow the -superstition _upwards_, and track the stone to the spring of the belief in -its supernatural powers. The search for the stone will take us through -strange country, give us many scrambles; but, if the reader will -condescend to accompany me, I believe I shall be able to bring him to the -very real and original stone itself. - -The following story I give as it was told to me by some Yorkshire mill -lasses, in their own delightful vernacular. I forewarn the reader that the -golden ball in the story is the same as the Philosopher's Stone, as we -shall hear presently: - -"There were two lasses, daughters of one mother, and as they came home -from t' fair, they saw a right bonny young man stand i' t' house-door -before them. He had gold on t' cap, gold on t' finger, gold on t' neck, a -red gold watch-chain--eh! but he had brass. He had a golden ball in each -hand.[24] He gave a ball to each lass, and she was to keep it, and if she -lost it, she was to be hanged. One o' t' lasses, 'twas t' youngest, lost -her ball. She was by a park-paling, and she tossed the ball, and it went -up, up, and up, till it went over t' paling, and when she climbed to look, -t' ball ran along green grass, and it went raite forward to t' door of t' -house, and t' ball went in, and she saw 't no more. - -"So she was taken away to be hanged by t' neck till she were dead, acause -she'd lost her ball. - -["But she had a sweetheart, and he said he would get the ball. So he went -to t' park-gate, but 'twas shut; so he climbed hedge, and when he got to -t' top of hedge, an old woman rose up out o' t' dyke afore him, and said, -if he would get ball, he must sleep three nights i' t' house. He said he -would. - -"Then he went into t' house, and looked for t' ball, but couldna find it. -Night came on, and he heard spirits move i' t' courtyard; so he looked out -o' t' window, and t' yard was full of them, like maggots i' rotten meat. - -"Presently he heard steps coming upstairs. He hid behind t' door, and was -still as a mouse. Then in came a big giant five times as tall as he, and -t' giant looked round, but did not see t' lad, so he went to t' window -and bowed to look out; and as he bowed on his elbows to see spirits i' t' -yard, t' lad stepped behind him, and wi' one blow of his sword he cut him -in twain, so that the top part of him fell in t' yard, and t' bottom part -stood looking out o' t' window. - -"There was a great cry from t' spirits when they saw half t' giant -tumbling down to them, and they called out, 'There comes half our master, -give us t' other half.' - -"So the lad said, 'It's no use of thee, thou pair o' legs, standing aloan -at window, so go join thy brother'; and he cast the bottom part of t' -giant after top part. Now when t' spirits had gotten all t' giant they was -quiet. - -"Next night t' lad was at the house again, and saw a second giant come in -at door, and as he came in, t' lad cut him in twain; but the legs walked -on to t' chimney and went up it. 'Go, get thee after thy legs,' said t' -lad to t' head, and he cast t' head up chimney too. - -"The third night t' lad got into bed, and he heard spirits stirring under -t' bed; and they had t' ball there, and they was casting it to and fro. - -"Now one of them had his leg thrussen out from under bed, so t' lad brings -his sword down and cuts it off. Then another thrusts his arm out at t' -other side of t' bed, and t' lad cuts that off. So at last he had maimed -them all, and they all went crying and wailing off, and forgot t' ball, -and let it lig there, under t' bed; and the lad took it and went to seek -his true love.[25]] - -"Now t' lass was taken to York to be hanged; she was brought out on t' -scaffold, and t' hangman said, 'Now, lass, tha' must hang by thy neck till -tha' be'st dead.' But she cried out: - - 'Stop, stop, I think I see my mother coming! - O mother! hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'I've neither brought thy golden ball - Nor come to set thee free, - But I have come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.' - -"Then the hangman said, 'Now, lass, say thy prayers, for tha' must dee.' -But she said: - - 'Stop, stop, I think I see my father coming! - O father! hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'I've neither brought thy golden ball - Nor come to set thee free, - But I have come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.' - -"Then the hangman said, 'Hast thee done thy prayers? Now, lass, put thy -head into t' noose.' - -"But she answered, 'Stop, stop, I think I see my brother coming,' etc. -After which she excused herself because she thought she saw her sister -coming, and her uncle, then her aunt, then her cousin, each of which was -related in full; after which the hangman said, 'I wee-nt stop no longer, -tha's making gam o' me.' But now she saw her sweetheart coming through the -crowd, and he held overhead i' t' air her own golden ball; so she said-- - - 'Stop, stop, I see my sweetheart coming! - Sweetheart, hast brought my golden ball - And come to set me free?' - - 'Ay, I have brought thy golden ball - And come to set thee free; - I have not come to see thee hung - Upon this gallows tree.'" - -In this very curious story, the portion within brackets reminds one of the -German story of "Fearless John," in Grimm (_K. M._ 4), of which I remember -obtaining an English variant in a chap-book in Exeter when I was a -child--alas! now lost. It is also found in Iceland,[26] and is indeed a -widely-spread tale. The verses are like others found in Essex in -connection with the child's game of "Mary Brown," and those of the Swedish -"Fair Gundela." But these points we must pass over. Our interest attaches -specially to the golden ball. The story is almost certainly the remains of -an old religious myth. The golden ball which one sister has is the sun, -the silver ball of the other sister is the moon. The sun is lost; it -sets, and the trolls, the spirits of darkness, play with it under the bed, -that is, in the house of night, beneath the earth. - -But the sun is not only a golden ball, but it is also a shining stone; and -here at the outset we tell our secret: the sun is the true Philosopher's -Stone, that turns all to gold, that gives health, that fills with joy. - -In primeval times, our rude forefathers were puzzled how to explain the -nature of sun and moon and stars, and they thought they had hit on the -interpretation of the phenomenon when they said that the stars were -diamonds stuck in the heavenly vault, and that the sun was a luminous -stone, a carbuncle; and the moon a pearl or silver disk. Even the classic -writers had not shaken off this notion. Anaxagoras, Democritus, -Metrodorus, all speak of the sun as a glowing stone,[27] and Orpheus[28] -calls the opal the sunstone, because of its analogy to that shining ball. -So Pliny also.[29] The old Norse spoke of the stars as the "gemstones of -heaven," so did the Anglo-Saxons.[30] - -But perhaps the clearest idea we can have of the old cosmogony is from the -pictures preserved to us of the world of the dwarfs. When a superior -conception of the universe was general, then the old heathen idea sank, -and what had been told of the world of men was referred to the underground -world, peopled by the dwarfs, who were the representatives of the early -race conquered by the Britons, and by Norse and Teuton, a race probably of -Turanian origin. Our British and Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian forefathers -knew of the cosmogony of the conquered race, and came to suppose that they -inhabited another world to them, a world of which the vault that -overarched it was set with precious stones; and as the aboriginal -inhabitants were driven to live in caves, or in huts heaped over with turf -so as to be like mounds, they regarded them as a subterranean people, and -their world to be underground. In a multitude of stories the trolls or -dwarfs are said to live in tumuli or cairns. This is nothing more than -that their hovels were made of sticks stuck in the ground, gathered -together in the middle and turfed over. The Lapp hut, even the Icelandic -farmhouse, look like grass mounds. In many tales we hear of human children -carried off by the dwarfs, and when these children are recovered they tell -of a world in which they have been where the light is given by diamonds -and a great carbuncle set in a stony black vault. - -William of Newburgh[31] says that at Woolpit (Wolf-pits), near Stowmarket -in Suffolk, were some very ancient trenches. Out of these trenches there -once came, in harvest-time, two children, a boy and a girl, whose bodies -were of a green colour, and who wore dresses of some unknown stuff. They -were caught and taken to the village, where for many months they would eat -nothing but beans. They gradually lost their green colour. The boy soon -died. The girl survived, and was married to a man of Lynn. At first they -could speak no English; but when they were able to do so they said that -they belonged to the land of St. Martin, an unknown country, where, as -they were once watching their father's sheep, they heard a loud noise, -like the ringing of the bells of St. Edmund's Monastery. And then, all at -once, they found themselves among the reapers at Woolpit. Their country -was a Christian land and had churches. There was no sun there, only a -faint twilight; but beyond a broad river there lay a land of light. -Giraldus Cambrensis in his _Itinerary of Wales_ tells another queer story -of the underground world, and notices that some of the words used in it -are closely related to the _British_ tongue.[32] But in neither story are -the sun and stars spoken of as stones incrusting the vault. - -The underground _Rose-garden of Laurin the Dwarf_, by Botzen, is, however, -illumined by one great carbuncle.[33] The same sun-stone--a white, -marvellous stone--reappears in the "Grail Story," which is from beginning -to end a Christianised Keltic myth. In it the Grail is originally not -invariably a basin or goblet, but a stone. It is so in Wolfran von -Eschenbach's _Parzival_. In that there is no thought of it as a chalice: -it is a stone which feeds and delights all who surround, cherish, and -venerate it. - - Whatsoever the earth produces, whatsoever exhales, - Whatever is good, and sweet, in drink and meat, - That yields the precious stone, that never fails. - -In the Elder Edda, in the _Fiolvinnsmal_, Svipdagr is represented as -climbing to the golden halls of heaven, and when he comes there he asks -who reigns in that place. The answer given him is:-- - - Menglod is her name ... - She here holds sway, - And has power over - These lands and glorious halls. - -Now Menglod means she who rejoices in the _Men_, the Precious Stone,[34] -that is, the sun. She is the holder of the sun, as in the Yorkshire story -the lass holds the golden ball. - -Matthew Paris says that King Richard Coeur de Lion was wont to tell the -following story:--"A rich and miserly Venetian, whose name was Vitalis, -was wandering in a forest in quest of game for his table, as he was about -to give his daughter in marriage. He fell into a pit that had been -prepared for wild beasts, and on reaching the bottom found there a lion -and a serpent. They did not injure him. By chance a charcoal-burner came -that way and heard the lamentations of those in the pit. Moved with pity, -he fetched a rope and ladder and released all three. The lion, full of -gratitude, brought the collier meat. The serpent brought him a precious -_stone_. The Venetian thanked him and promised him a reward if he would -come to his house. The poor man did so, when Vitalis refused to -acknowledge any debt, and threw the collier into prison. However, he -escaped, and went with the lion and serpent before the magistrates and -told them the tale, and showed them the jewel given him by the serpent. -The magistrates thereupon ordered Vitalis to pay to the collier a -reasonable reward. The poor man also sold the jewel for a very large -sum."[35] - -Richard must have heard this story in the East; there are no lions in -Venetian territory. Moreover the story is incomplete. We have the same -story in a fuller form in the _Gesta Romanorum_. - -A seneschal rode through a wood and fell into a pit, in which were an ape, -a lion, and a serpent. A woodcutter saved them all. Next day the -woodcutter went to the castle for the promised reward, but received -instead a cudgelling. The following day the lion drove to him ten laden -asses, and he had them and the treasure they bore. Next day, as he was -collecting wood and had no axe, the ape brought him boughs with which to -lade his ass. On the third day the serpent brought him a stone of three -colours, by the virtue of which he won all hearts, and came to such honour -that he was appointed general-in-command of the emperor's armies. But when -the emperor heard of the stone he bought it of the woodcutter. However, -the stone always returned to the original owner, however often he parted -with it. - -The same story occurs in Gower's _Confessio Amantis_. The story spread -throughout Europe, and is found in most collections of household tales. It -occurs in Grimm's _Kinder Maerchen_ (No. 24), and in Basili's book of -Neapolitan tales, the _Pentamerone_ (No. 37). - -All these were derived from the East, and were brought to Europe by the -Crusaders. The story occurs in various Oriental collections. The Pali tale -is as follows:-- - -In a time of drought, a dog, a serpent, and a man fell into a pit -together. An inhabitant of Benares draws them up in a basket, and they all -promise him tokens of gratitude. The man of Benares falls into great -poverty; the dog thereupon steals the king's crown whilst he is bathing, -and brings it to his preserver. The man who had been helped by the other -betrays him, and the preserver is imprisoned. The poor man is about to be -impaled when the serpent bites the queen; and the king learns that she can -only be cured by the man who is on his way to execution. So the poor -fellow is brought before the prince and the whole story comes out.[36] In -this version the stone does not appear; nor does it in the Sanskrit -_Pantschatantra_.[37] But in the Mongol _Siddhi-kur_ (No. 13) we have the -stone again. A Brahmin delivers a mouse from children who teased it, then -an ape, and lastly a bear. He falls into trouble and is put in a wooden -box and thrown into the sea. The mouse comes and nibbles a hole in the -box, through which he can breathe, the ape raises the lid, and the bear -tears it off. Then the ape gives him a wondrous stone, which gives to him -who has it power to do and have all he wishes. With this he wishes himself -on land, then builds a palace, and surrounds himself with servants. A -caravan passes and the leader is amazed to see the new palace, buys the -stone of the man, and at once with it goes all the luck and splendour, and -the Brahmin is where he was at first. Again the thankful beasts come to -his aid. The mouse creeps into the palace of the new owner of the stone -and discovers where he hides it, and with the aid of the bear and ape it -is again recovered. Here we have the serpent omitted, which is the -principal animal to be considered, for really the serpent is the owner of -the stone that grows in its head. This idea is very general--that the -carbuncle is to be found in a serpent's head. Pliny has this notion; -indeed it is found everywhere.[38] The origin of this myth is that the -great serpent is the heaven-god--and on the gnostic seals we have the -Demiurge so represented as a crowned or nimbed serpent. In the head of -this great heaven-god is the sun, the glorious stone that gives life and -light and gladness and plenty. In the West the story was told that the -Emperor Theodosius hung in his palace a bell, and all who needed his help -were to ring the bell. One day a snake came and pulled the bell. The -emperor, who was blind, came out to inquire who needed him; then he -learned that a toad had invaded the nest of the serpent. So he ordered the -toad to be removed. Next day the grateful serpent brought the emperor a -costly stone, and bade him lay it on his eyes. When he did this he -recovered his sight. - -The same story is told of Charlemagne. He was summoned to judge between a -toad and a serpent, and decided for the latter. In gratitude the snake -brought the Emperor a precious stone. Charles gave it, set in a ring, to -his wife Fastrada. It had the power to attract love. Thenceforth he was -inseparable from Fastrada, and when she died he would not leave her body, -but carried it about with him for eighteen years. Then a courtier removed -the jewel and flung it into a hot spring at Aix-la-Chapelle. Thenceforth -the emperor loved Aix above every spot in the world, and would never leave -it. - -In the story of Eraclius, the hero finds a stone that has the power of -preserving the bearer from injury by water. Eraclius, armed with this -stone, lies at the bottom of the Tiber, as one asleep, and is not drowned. -In _Barlaam and Josaphat_ the hermit undertakes to give his pupil a stone -which will afford light to the blind, wisdom to fools, hearing to the -deaf, and speech to the dumb. - -There is a strange story in the _Talmud_[39] of a serpent that has a stone -which gives life. A man goes in quest of it. The serpent tries to swallow -the ship in which he sails. Then comes a raven and bites off the serpent's -head and the sea is made red with its blood. A dragon catches the falling -stone and touches the dead serpent with it; it revives and again attacks -the ship. Then another bird kills the creature, and this time the man -catches the stone. The power of the stone was so great that it revived -salted birds that lay on the table ready to be eaten, and they flew away. - -In Buddhist stories, the original signification of the marvellous stone is -completely lost, as completely as in the European mediaeval stories. The -Indian Buddhists remembered that there was a wondrous stone of which -strange stories had been told, and which possessed the most surprising -powers, and they made use of the idea to illustrate their doctrine--the -stone was no other than the secret of Buddha. He who attained to that was -rich, happy, serene. It is called the "Tschinta-mani," that is, the -Wishing-stone, because he who has it has everything that can be desired. - -In the Buddhist collection of stories entitled _The Wise Man and the Fool_ -is the tale of the king's son, Gedon, who, grieved at the misery there is -in the world, goes in quest of the "Tschinta-mani." He takes with him his -brother Digdon. They reach a castle, where he is warned to strike at the -door with a diamond bat. Then five hundred goddesses will come forth, each -bearing a precious stone, but only one of these is the Wishing-stone. He -must select the stone without speaking. He does so, and chooses the right -one. On his way home, on board ship, a storm arises, and he is wrecked; -but, as he bears the precious stone, he is not drowned, and he saves his -brother. Digdon, envious, steals the stone, and puts out his brother's -eyes, and goes home. Gedon follows, forgives his brother, recovers the -stone and his sight. - -Elsewhere the Wishing-stone is described as giving light by night as well -as by day, as far as one hundred and twenty voices could be heard calling, -the one catching and repeating to another; and by this light could be -seen the seven kinds of treasures falling from heaven like a rain, which -are offered to all. - -The idea of the marvellous, luminous, enriching, health-giving stone -remains, its original significance absolutely lost, and is given a new -spell of life, in that it is used as a symbol of the teaching of Buddha. - -In Europe, also, the idea of the marvellous stone remains; it is not used -allegorically, except in the Grail myth, but it haunts men's minds; they -believe in it, they suppose it must be found, and they try to manufacture -it out of all kinds of ingredients.[40] - -Neither Arab nor European alchemist, nor Buddhist recluse, dreamed that -the stone that gave light, that nourished, that rejoiced, that enriched, -was the sun shining above their heads. The conception of the sun as a -stone was so old, so rolled and rubbed down, that they had no notion -whence it came. The idea remained, and influenced their minds strangely; -but it never occurred to them to ask whence the idea was derived. - -There is something pitiful in looking at the wasted lives of those old -seekers, bowed over their crucibles, inhaling noxious vapours, wearing out -the nights in fruitless experiment; but, like all history, that of the -alchemists teaches us a lesson--to look up instead of looking down--a -lesson to seek happiness, wealth, contentment, in the simple and not the -complex, in light instead of in darkness. - -I believe that this is the only one of my articles in which I have drawn a -moral, but the moral is so obvious that it would have been inexcusable had -I passed it over. But I know that as a child I resented the applications -in _Aesop's Fables_, and perhaps my reader will feel a like objection to -having a moral appended to this essay. That I may dismiss him with a smile -instead of a frown, I will close with a copy of verses extracted by me -some thirty and more years ago, from--I think--a Cambridge University -undergraduates' magazine, verses probably new to my readers; but as they -enforce the same moral in a perfectly fresh and charming manner, and as -they deserve to be rescued from oblivion, I conclude with them: - - I was just five years old, that December, - And a fine little promising boy, - So my grandmother said, I remember, - And gave me a strange-looking toy: - - In its shape it was lengthy and rounded, - It was papered with yellow and blue, - One end with a glass top was bounded, - At the other, a hole to look through. - - 'Dear Granny, what's this?' I came, crying, - 'A box for my pencils? but see, - I can't open it hard though I'm trying, - O what is it? what can it be?' - - 'Why, my dear, if you only look through it, - And stand with your face to the light; - Turn it gently (that's just how to do it!), - And you'll see a remarkable sight.' - - 'O how beautiful!' cried I, delighted, - As I saw each fantastic device, - The bright fragments now closely united, - All falling apart in a trice. - - Times have passed, and new years will now find me, - Each birthday, no longer a boy, - Yet methinks that their turns may remind me - Of the turns of my grandmother's toy. - - For in all this world, with its beauties, - Its pictures so bright and so fair, - You may vary the pleasures and duties - But still, the same pieces are there. - - From the time that the earth was first founded, - There has never been anything new-- - The same thoughts, the same things, have redounded - Till the colours have pall'd on the view. - - But--though all that is old is returning, - There is yet in this sameness a change; - And new truths are the wise ever learning, - For the patterns must always be strange. - - Shall we say that our days are all weary? - All labour, and sorrow, and care, - That its pleasures and joys are but dreary, - Mere phantoms that vanish in air? - - Ah, no! there are some darker pieces, - And others transparent and bright; - But this, surely, the beauty increases,-- - Only--_stand with your face to the light_. - - And the treasures for which we are yearning, - Those joys, now succeeded by pain-- - Are _but_ spangles, just hid in the turning; - They will come to the surface again. - B. - -So the old ideas, old myths, are turned and turned about, and form new -combinations, and are ever evolving fresh beauties, and teaching fresh -truths. Perhaps in the consideration of these ancient myths, and seeing -their progressive modifications, their breaking up, their coalitions, we -may find the fresh application of the old saw, that there is nothing new -under the sun. - - -THE END - - -_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Jones, _Trad. N. American Indians_ (1830), vol. iii. 175. - -[2] Original edition in Latin. A translation by John Campbell, LL.D., -under the title of _Hermippus Redivivus_, London, 1743. A second edition -much enlarged, under the title _Hermippus Redivivus, or the Sage's Triumph -over Old Age and the Grave_, London, 1749, 8vo. We have seen also an -Italian translation. That from which we quote is the German edition. - -[3] It is possible that, by the engraver's fault, the L in the last -inscription may have been substituted for an X. - -[4] [Greek: Estrepsen ta tablia ton plakountarion.] - -[5] [Greek: Eis phouokarios.] - -[6] [Greek: Eis Theos, abba Symeon, eis ton cheira sou thymias.] - -[7] [Greek: Ti estin exeche, ide, ouk eimi ego monos aperges.] - -[8] [Greek: Thelon oun ho Hosios analysai ten oikodomen autou, hina me -thriambeuse auton, en mia koimomenes tes gynaikos autou mones, kakeinou -proballontos oinon, epebe pros auten ho abbas Symeon, kai echematisato -apodyesthai to himation autou, k.t.l.] - -[9] [Greek: Hoste estin hote eballon tas cheiras auton ta asemna gynaia -eis ton kolpon autou, kai esiainon, kai ekoptazon, kai egargalizon auton.] - -[10] [Greek: Ebastazen auton mia proistamene, kai alle elorizen auton.] - -[11] [Greek: Pollakis de prospoieisthai kataphilein tas doulas.] No wonder -if one of them said, [Greek: "O Salos Symeon ebiasato me."] The maid's -mistress indignantly scolded Symeon, who replied with a smile, [Greek: -"Aphes, aphes, tapeine, arti genna soi, kai echeis mikron Symeon."] - -[12] [Greek: Seiran salsikion.] - -[13] [Greek: Silignia, kai plakountas, kai sphairia, kai opsaria, kai -oinaria diaphora, psathyria, kai glyky, kai haplos hosa panta echei ho -bios limba.] - -[14] [Greek: Esti gar hote kai touto elege pros mian ton etaipidon; -theleis echo se philen kai dido soi hekaton holokotina.] - -[15] Both are published in the _Acta Sanctorum_ for June, T.I., pp. -237-260, with notes by Papebroeck, the Bollandist. - -[16] "Monachus aspectu venerabilis, barba prolixa, corpore nudus, capillis -canus." This old monk was St. Luke the Stylite, appearing in vision. - -[17] "Unus--cum gravi baculo ascendens ad eum, ipsum graviter ac dure -caedens, de ecclesiae trullo descendere fecit, cum multa festinantia et -furore."--_Fr. Barth._ - -[18] The biographer thinks a dolphin must have bitten his cords, and thus -freed him. - -[19] A blending is a changeling, or one who is half troll, half human. - -[20] They form a huge ancient moraine. - -[21] It much resembles the beautiful Marjelen Sea, familiar to the visitor -to Aegischhorn. - -[22] The writer has been over this portion of the ground, and knows the -course pursued. - -[23] It is not easy to make out what fell is meant. Possibly it may be the -ridge called Thorir's Head. - -[24] In another version one ball was _gold_, the other _silver_. I sent -this story to Mr. Henderson, and it is included in the first edition of -his _Folklore of the Northern Counties_, but omitted in the second. - -[25] The portion within brackets I got from a different informant. The -first version was incomplete; the girls had forgotten how the ball was -recovered. They forgot also what happened with the second ball. - -[26] Powel and Magnusson, _Legends of Iceland_ (1864), p. 161. - -[27] Cf. Xenoph. _Memor._ IV. vii. 7. - -[28] The apocryphal Lith. 289. - -[29] "Solis gemma candida est, et ad speciem sideris in orbem fulgentes -spargit radios" (_Hist. Nat._ xxxvi. 10, 67.) - -[30] Grimm, _D. M._ p. 665. - -[31] _Hist. Anglic._ i. 27. See also Gervase of Tilbury, cxlv., for an -account of the subterranean world reached by the cave in the Peak of -Derby. - -[32] _Itin. Camb._ i. 8. - -[33] See for account of the gem-lighted underworld, Mannhardt, _Germ. -Mythol._ (1858), p. 447. - -[34] Egilson, _Lex. poet. linguae Sept._ Men = monile, thesaurus, saxum, -lapis. - -[35] Roger of Wendover's _Flowers of Hist._, s.a. 1196. The story is an -addition made to the original by Matthew Paris. - -[36] Spiegel, _Anecdota Palica_ (1845), p. 53. - -[37] Benfy, _Pantschatantra_ (1859), ii. p. 128. - -[38] Cf. Benfy, _op. cit._ i. p. 214. - -[39] Bababathra, 74, 6. - -[40] I said at the beginning of this article that the alchemists were -right in believing the Philosopher's Stone to be complex, made up of many -metals. We know now that the germ idea of the stone is the sun, and the -spectroscope allows us to analyse the sun's light and discover in the -solar atmosphere a multitude of metals and ingredients, in fusion. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF OLDEN TIMES*** - - -******* This file should be named 41546.txt or 41546.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/5/4/41546 - - - -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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