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diff --git a/36127.txt b/36127.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4defa1f --- /dev/null +++ b/36127.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5880 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Sabine Baring-Gould + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Curious Myths of the Middle Ages + +Author: Sabine Baring-Gould + +Release Date: May 17, 2011 [EBook #36127] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOUS MYTHS OF THE MIDDLE AGES *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sam W. and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Illustration captions in {brackets} have been added by the transcriber +for the convenience of the reader. + + + + + CURIOUS MYTHS + OF + THE MIDDLE AGES. + + + BY + S. BARING-GOULD, M.A. + + + BOSTON: + ROBERTS BROTHERS. + 1867. + + + STEREOTYPED AT THE + BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, + No. 4 Spring Lane. + + + University Press: Welch, Bigelow, & Co., + Cambridge. + + + + + [Illustration: POPE JOAN. + From Joh. Wolfii Lect. Memorab. (LavingA|, 1600.)] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + The Wandering Jew 1 + + Prester John 30 + + The Divining Rod 54 + + The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus 92 + + William Tell 110 + + The Dog Gellert 132 + + Tailed Men 144 + + Antichrist and Pope Joan 160 + + The Man in the Moon 189 + + The Mountain of Venus 207 + + Fatality of Numbers 221 + + The Terrestrial Paradise 242 + + + + +MEDIA†VAL MYTHS. + + + + +The Wandering Jew. + + +Who, that has looked on Gustave DorA(C)'s marvellous illustrations to +this wild legend, can forget the impression they made upon his +imagination? + +I do not refer to the first illustration as striking, where the Jewish +shoemaker is refusing to suffer the cross-laden Savior to rest a +moment on his door-step, and is receiving with scornful lip the +judgment to wander restless till the Second Coming of that same +Redeemer. But I refer rather to the second, which represents the Jew, +after the lapse of ages, bowed beneath the burden of the curse, worn +with unrelieved toil, wearied with ceaseless travelling, trudging +onward at the last lights of evening, when a rayless night of +unabating rain is creeping on, along a sloppy path between dripping +bushes; and suddenly he comes over against a wayside crucifix, on +which the white glare of departing daylight falls, to throw it into +ghastly relief against the pitch-black rain-clouds. For a moment we +see the working of the miserable shoemaker's mind. We feel that he is +recalling the tragedy of the first Good Friday, and his head hangs +heavier on his breast, as he recalls the part he had taken in that +awful catastrophe. + +Or, is that other illustration more remarkable, where the wanderer is +amongst the Alps, at the brink of a hideous chasm; and seeing in the +contorted pine-branches the ever-haunting scene of the Via Dolorosa, +he is lured to cast himself into that black gulf in quest of +rest,--when an angel flashes out of the gloom with the sword of flame +turning every way, keeping him back from what would be to him a +Paradise indeed, the repose of Death? + +Or, that last scene, when the trumpet sounds and earth is shivering to +its foundations, the fire is bubbling forth through the rents in its +surface, and the dead are coming together flesh to flesh, and bone to +bone, and muscle to muscle--then the weary man sits down and casts off +his shoes! Strange sights are around him, he sees them not; strange +sounds assail his ears, he hears but one--the trumpet-note which gives +the signal for him to stay his wanderings and rest his weary feet. + +I can linger over those noble woodcuts, and learn from them something +new each time that I study them; they are picture-poems full of latent +depths of thought. And now let us to the history of this most +thrilling of all mediA|val myths, if a myth. + +If a myth, I say, for who can say for certain that it is not true? +"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not +taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom,"[1] +are our Lord's words, which I can hardly think apply to the +destruction of Jerusalem, as commentators explain it to escape the +difficulty. That some should live to see Jerusalem destroyed was not +very surprising, and hardly needed the emphatic Verily which Christ +only used when speaking something of peculiarly solemn or mysterious +import. + +Besides, St. Luke's account manifestly refers the coming in the +kingdom to the Judgment, for the saying stands as follows: "Whosoever +shall be ashamed of Me, and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man +be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, +and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some +standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the +kingdom of God."[2] + +There can, I think, be no doubt in the mind of an unprejudiced person +that the words of our Lord do imply that some one or more of those +then living should not die till He came again. I do not mean to insist +on the literal signification, but I plead that there is no +improbability in our Lord's words being fulfilled to the letter. That +the circumstance is unrecorded in the Gospels is no evidence that it +did not take place, for we are expressly told, "Many other signs truly +did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in +this book;"[3] and again, "There are also many other things which +Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose +that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be +written."[4] + +We may remember also the mysterious witnesses who are to appear in the +last eventful days of the world's history and bear testimony to the +Gospel truth before the antichristian world. One of these has been +often conjectured to be St. John the Evangelist, of whom Christ said +to Peter, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" + +The historical evidence on which the tale rests is, however, too +slender for us to admit for it more than the barest claim to be more +than myth. The names and the circumstances connected with the Jew and +his doom vary in every account, and the only point upon which all +coincide is, that such an individual exists in an undying condition, +wandering over the face of the earth, seeking rest and finding none. + +The earliest extant mention of the Wandering Jew is to be found in the +book of the chronicles of the Abbey of St. Albans, which was copied +and continued by Matthew Paris. He records that in the year 1228, "a +certain Archbishop of Armenia the Greater came on a pilgrimage to +England to see the relics of the saints, and visit the sacred places +in the kingdom, as he had done in others; he also produced letters of +recommendation from his Holiness the Pope, to the religious and the +prelates of the churches, in which they were enjoined to receive and +entertain him with due reverence and honor. On his arrival, he came to +St. Albans, where he was received with all respect by the abbot and +the monks; and at this place, being fatigued with his journey, he +remained some days to rest himself and his followers, and a +conversation took place between him and the inhabitants of the +convent, by means of their interpreters, during which he made many +inquiries relating to the religion and religious observances of this +country, and told many strange things concerning the countries of the +East. In the course of conversation he was asked whether he had ever +seen or heard any thing of Joseph, a man of whom there was much talk +in the world, who, when our Lord suffered, was present and spoke to +Him, and who is still alive, in evidence of the Christian faith; in +reply to which, a knight in his retinue, who was his interpreter, +replied, speaking in French, 'My lord well knows that man, and a +little before he took his way to the western countries, the said +Joseph ate at the table of my lord the Archbishop of Armenia, and he +has often seen and conversed with him.' + +"He was then asked about what had passed between Christ and the said +Joseph; to which he replied, 'At the time of the passion of Jesus +Christ, He was seized by the Jews, and led into the hall of judgment +before Pilate, the governor, that He might be judged by him on the +accusation of the Jews; and Pilate, finding no fault for which he +might sentence Him to death, said unto them, "Take Him and judge Him +according to your law;" the shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, +he, at their request, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus +to them to be crucified. When, therefore, the Jews were dragging Jesus +forth, and had reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the hall in +Pilate's service, as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck +Him on the back with his hand, and said in mockery, "Go quicker, +Jesus, go quicker; why do you loiter?" and Jesus, looking back on him +with a severe countenance, said to him, "I am going, and you shall +wait till I return." And according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus +is still awaiting His return. At the time of our Lord's suffering he +was thirty years old, and when he attains the age of a hundred years, +he always returns to the same age as he was when our Lord suffered. +After Christ's death, when the Catholic faith gained ground, this +Cartaphilus was baptized by Ananias (who also baptized the Apostle +Paul), and was called Joseph. He dwells in one or other divisions of +Armenia, and in divers Eastern countries, passing his time amongst the +bishops and other prelates of the Church; he is a man of holy +conversation, and religious; a man of few words, and very circumspect +in his behavior; for he does not speak at all unless when questioned +by the bishops and religious; and then he relates the events of olden +times, and speaks of things which occurred at the suffering and +resurrection of our Lord, and of the witnesses of the resurrection, +namely, of those who rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, +and appeared unto men. He also tells of the creed of the Apostles, +and of their separation and preaching. And all this he relates without +smiling, or levity of conversation, as one who is well practised in +sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with dread to the +coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the Last Judgment he should find him +in anger whom, when on his way to death, he had provoked to just +vengeance. Numbers came to him from different parts of the world, +enjoying his society and conversation; and to them, if they are men of +authority, he explains all doubts on the matters on which he is +questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered him, being content +with slight food and clothing.'" + +Much about the same date, Philip Mouskes, afterwards Bishop of +Tournay, wrote his rhymed chronicle (1242), which contains a similar +account of the Jew, derived from the same Armenian prelate:-- + + "Adonques vint un arceveskes + De ASec.A mer, plains de bonnes tA"ques + Par samblant, et fut d'Armenie," + +and this man, having visited the shrine of "St. Tumas de Kantorbire," +and then having paid his devotions at "Monsigour St. Jake," he went on +to Cologne to see the heads of the three kings. The version told in +the Netherlands much resembled that related at St. Albans, only that +the Jew, seeing the people dragging Christ to his death, exclaims,-- + + "AtendA(C)s moi! g'i vois, + S'iert mis le faus profA"te en crois." + +Then + + "Le vrais Dieux se regarda, + Et li a dit qu'e n'i tarda, + Icist ne t'atenderont pas, + Mais saces, tu m'atenderas." + +We hear no more of the wandering Jew till the sixteenth century, when +we hear first of him in a casual manner, as assisting a weaver, Kokot, +at the royal palace in Bohemia (1505), to find a treasure which had +been secreted by the great-grandfather of Kokot, sixty years before, +at which time the Jew was present. He then had the appearance of being +a man of seventy years.[5] + +Curiously enough, we next hear of him in the East, where he is +confounded with the prophet Elijah. Early in the century he appeared +to Fadhilah, under peculiar circumstances. + +After the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, Fadhilah, at the head +of three hundred horsemen, pitched his tents, late in the evening, +between two mountains. Fadhilah, having begun his evening prayer with +a loud voice, heard the words "Allah akbar" (God is great) repeated +distinctly, and each word of his prayer was followed in a similar +manner. Fadhilah, not believing this to be the result of an echo, was +much astonished, and cried out, "O thou! whether thou art of the angel +ranks, or whether thou art of some other order of spirits, it is well; +the power of God be with thee; but if thou art a man, then let mine +eyes light upon thee, that I may rejoice in thy presence and society." +Scarcely had he spoken these words, before an aged man, with bald +head, stood before him, holding a staff in his hand, and much +resembling a dervish in appearance. After having courteously saluted +him, Fadhilah asked the old man who he was. Thereupon the stranger +answered, "Bassi Hadhret Issa, I am here by command of the Lord Jesus, +who has left me in this world, that I may live therein until he comes +a second time to earth. I wait for this Lord, who is the Fountain of +Happiness, and in obedience to his command I dwell behind yon +mountain." When Fadhilah heard these words, he asked when the Lord +Jesus would appear; and the old man replied that his appearing would +be at the end of the world, at the Last Judgment. But this only +increased Fadhilah's curiosity, so that he inquired the signs of the +approach of the end of all things, whereupon Zerib Bar Elia gave him +an account of general, social, and moral dissolution, which would be +the climax of this world's history.[6] + +In 1547 he was seen in Europe, if we are to believe the following +narration:-- + +"Paul von Eitzen, doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and Bishop of +Schleswig,[7] related as true for some years past, that when he was +young, having studied at Wittemberg, he returned home to his parents +in Hamburg in the winter of the year 1547, and that on the following +Sunday, in church, he observed a tall man, with his hair hanging over +his shoulders, standing barefoot, during the sermon, over against the +pulpit, listening with deepest attention to the discourse, and, +whenever the name of Jesus was mentioned, bowing himself profoundly +and humbly, with sighs and beating of the breast. He had no other +clothing, in the bitter cold of the winter, except a pair of hose +which were in tatters about his feet, and a coat with a girdle which +reached to his feet; and his general appearance was that of a man of +fifty years. And many people, some of high degree and title, have seen +this same man in England, France, Italy, Hungary, Persia, Spain, +Poland, Moscow, Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and other places. + +"Every one wondered over the man. Now, after the sermon, the said +Doctor inquired diligently where the stranger was to be found; and when +he had sought him out, he inquired of him privately whence he came, and +how long that winter he had been in the place. Thereupon he replied, +modestly, that he was a Jew by birth, a native of Jerusalem, by name +Ahasverus, by trade a shoemaker; he had been present at the crucifixion +of Christ, and had lived ever since, travelling through various lands +and cities, the which he substantiated by accounts he gave; he related +also the circumstances of Christ's transference from Pilate to Herod, +and the final crucifixion, together with other details not recorded in +the Evangelists and historians; he gave accounts of the changes of +government in many countries, especially of the East, through several +centuries; and moreover he detailed the labors and deaths of the holy +Apostles of Christ most circumstantially. + +"Now when Doctor Paul v. Eitzen heard this with profound astonishment, +on account of its incredible novelty, he inquired further, in order +that he might obtain more accurate information. Then the man answered, +that he had lived in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of +Christ, whom he had regarded as a deceiver of the people, and a +heretic; he had seen Him with his own eyes, and had done his best, +along with others, to bring this deceiver, as he regarded Him, to +justice, and to have Him put out of the way. When the sentence had +been pronounced by Pilate, Christ was about to be dragged past his +house; then he ran home, and called together his household to have a +look at Christ, and see what sort of a person He was. + +"This having been done, he had his little child on his arm, and was +standing in his doorway, to have a sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +"As, then, Christ was led by, bowed under the weight of the heavy +cross, He tried to rest a little, and stood still a moment; but the +shoemaker, in zeal and rage, and for the sake of obtaining credit +among the other Jews, drove the Lord Christ forward, and told Him to +hasten on His way. Jesus, obeying, looked at him, and said, 'I shall +stand and rest, but thou shalt go till the last day.' At these words +the man set down the child; and, unable to remain where he was, he +followed Christ, and saw how cruelly He was crucified, how He +suffered, how He died. As soon as this had taken place, it came upon +him suddenly that he could no more return to Jerusalem, nor see again +his wife and child, but must go forth into foreign lands, one after +another, like a mournful pilgrim. Now, when, years after, he returned +to Jerusalem, he found it ruined and utterly razed, so that not one +stone was left standing on another; and he could not recognize former +localities. + +"He believes that it is God's purpose, in thus driving him about in +miserable life, and preserving him undying, to present him before the +Jews at the end, as a living token, so that the godless and +unbelieving may remember the death of Christ, and be turned to +repentance. For his part he would well rejoice were God in heaven to +release him from this vale of tears. After this conversation, Doctor +Paul v. Eitzen, along with the rector of the school of Hamburg, who +was well read in history, and a traveller, questioned him about events +which had taken place in the East since the death of Christ, and he +was able to give them much information on many ancient matters; so +that it was impossible not to be convinced of the truth of his story, +and to see that what seems impossible with men is, after all, possible +with God. + +"Since the Jew has had his life extended, he has become silent and +reserved, and only answers direct questions. When invited to become +any one's guest, he eats little, and drinks in great moderation; then +hurries on, never remaining long in one place. When at Hamburg, +Dantzig, and elsewhere, money has been offered him, he never took more +than two skillings (fourpence, one farthing), and at once distributed +it to the poor, as token that he needed no money, for God would +provide for him, as he rued the sins he had committed in ignorance. + +"During the period of his stay in Hamburg and Dantzig he was never +seen to laugh. In whatever land he travelled he spoke its language, +and when he spoke Saxon, it was like a native Saxon. Many people came +from different places to Hamburg and Dantzig in order to see and hear +this man, and were convinced that the providence of God was exercised +in this individual in a very remarkable manner. He gladly listened to +God's word, or heard it spoken of always with great gravity and +compunction, and he ever reverenced with sighs the pronunciation of +the name of God, or of Jesus Christ, and could not endure to hear +curses; but whenever he heard any one swear by God's death or pains, +he waxed indignant, and exclaimed, with vehemence and with sighs, +'Wretched man and miserable creature, thus to misuse the name of thy +Lord and God, and His bitter sufferings and passion. Hadst thou seen, +as I have, how heavy and bitter were the pangs and wounds of thy Lord, +endured for thee and for me, thou wouldst rather undergo great pain +thyself than thus take His sacred name in vain!' + +"Such is the account given to me by Doctor Paul von Eitzen, with many +circumstantial proofs, and corroborated by certain of my own old +acquaintances who saw this same individual with their own eyes in +Hamburg. + +"In the year 1575 the Secretary Christopher Krause, and Master Jacob +von Holstein, legates to the Court of Spain, and afterwards sent into +the Netherlands to pay the soldiers serving his Majesty in that +country, related on their return home to Schleswig, and confirmed with +solemn oaths, that they had come across the same mysterious individual +at Madrid in Spain, in appearance, manner of life, habits, clothing, +just the same as he had appeared in Hamburg. They said that they had +spoken with him, and that many people of all classes had conversed +with him, and found him to speak good Spanish. In the year 1599, in +December, a reliable person wrote from Brunswick to Strasburg that the +same mentioned strange person had been seen alive at Vienna in +Austria, and that he had started for Poland and Dantzig; and that he +purposed going on to Moscow. This Ahasverus was at Lubeck in 1601, +also about the same date in Revel in Livonia, and in Cracow in Poland. +In Moscow he was seen of many and spoken to by many. + +"What thoughtful, God-fearing persons are to think of the said +person, is at their option. God's works are wondrous and past finding +out, and are manifested day by day, only to be revealed in full at the +last great day of account. + + "Dated, Revel, August 1st, 1613. + "D. W. + "D. + "Chrysostomus DudulA"us, + "Westphalus." + +The statement that the Wandering Jew appeared in Lubeck in 1601, does +not tally with the more precise chronicle of Henricus Bangert, which +gives: "Die 14 Januarii Anno MDCIII., adnotatum reliquit LubecA| fuisse +JudA|um illum immortalem, qui se Christi crucifixioni interfuisse +affirmavit."[8] + +In 1604 he seems to have appeared in Paris. Rudolph Botoreus says, +under this date, "I fear lest I be accused of giving ear to old wives' +fables, if I insert in these pages what is reported all over Europe of +the Jew, coeval with the Savior Christ; however, nothing is more +common, and our popular histories have not scrupled to assert it. +Following the lead of those who wrote our annals, I may say that he +who appeared not in one century only, in Spain, Italy, and Germany, +was also in this year seen and recognized as the same individual who +had appeared in Hamburg, anno MDLXVI. The common people, bold in +spreading reports, relate many things of him; and this I allude to, +lest anything should be left unsaid."[9] + +J. C. Bulenger puts the date of the Hamburg visit earlier. "It was +reported at this time that a Jew of the time of Christ was wandering +without food and drink, having for a thousand and odd years been a +vagabond and outcast, condemned by God to rove, because he, of that +generation of vipers, was the first to cry out for the crucifixion of +Christ and the release of Barabbas; and also because soon after, when +Christ, panting under the burden of the rood, sought to rest before +his workshop (he was a cobbler), the fellow ordered Him off with +acerbity. Thereupon Christ replied, 'Because thou grudgest Me such a +moment of rest, I shall enter into My rest, but thou shalt wander +restless.' At once, frantic and agitated, he fled through the whole +earth, and on the same account to this day he journeys through the +world. It was this person who was seen in Hamburg in MDLXIV. Credat +JudA|us Apella! _I_ did not see him, or hear anything authentic +concerning him, at that time when I was in Paris."[10] + +A curious little book,[11] written against the quackery of Paracelsus, +by Leonard Doldius, a NA1/4rnberg physician, and translated into Latin +and augmented, by Andreas Libavius, doctor and physician of Rotenburg, +alludes to the same story, and gives the Jew a new name nowhere else +met with. After having referred to a report that Paracelsus was not +dead, but was seated alive, asleep or napping, in his sepulchre at +Strasburg, preserved from death by some of his specifics, Libavius +declares that he would sooner believe in the old man, the Jew, +Ahasverus, wandering over the world, called by some ButtadA|us, and +otherwise, again, by others. + +He is said to have appeared in Naumburg, but the date is not given; he +was noticed in church, listening to the sermon. After the service he +was questioned, and he related his story. On this occasion he +received presents from the burgers.[12] In 1633 he was again in +Hamburg.[13] In the year 1640, two citizens, living in the +Gerberstrasse, in Brussels, were walking in the Sonian wood, when they +encountered an aged man, whose clothes were in tatters and of an +antiquated appearance. They invited him to go with them to a house of +refreshment, and he went with them, but would not seat himself, +remaining on foot to drink. When he came before the doors with the two +burgers, he told them a great deal; but they were mostly stories of +events which had happened many hundred years before. Hence the burgers +gathered that their companion was Isaac Laquedem, the Jew who had +refused to permit our Blessed Lord to rest for a moment at his +door-step, and they left him full of terror. In 1642 he is reported to +have visited Leipzig. On the 22d July, 1721, he appeared at the gates +of the city of Munich.[14] About the end of the seventeenth century or +the beginning of the eighteenth, an impostor, calling himself the +Wandering Jew, attracted attention in England, and was listened to by +the ignorant, and despised by the educated. He, however, managed to +thrust himself into the notice of the nobility, who, half in jest, +half in curiosity, questioned him, and paid him as they might a +juggler. He declared that he had been an officer of the Sanhedrim, and +that he had struck Christ as he left the judgment hall of Pilate. He +remembered all the Apostles, and described their personal appearance, +their clothes, and their peculiarities. He spoke many languages, +claimed the power of healing the sick, and asserted that he had +travelled nearly all over the world. Those who heard him were +perplexed by his familiarity with foreign tongues and places. Oxford +and Cambridge sent professors to question him, and to discover the +imposition, if any. An English nobleman conversed with him in Arabic. +The mysterious stranger told his questioner in that language that +historical works were not to be relied upon. And on being asked his +opinion of Mahomet, he replied that he had been acquainted with the +father of the prophet, and that he dwelt at Ormuz. As for Mahomet, he +believed him to have been a man of intelligence; once when he heard +the prophet deny that Christ was crucified, he answered abruptly by +telling him he was a witness to the truth of that event. He related +also that he was in Rome when Nero set it on fire; he had known +Saladin, Tamerlane, Bajazeth, Eterlane, and could give minute details +of the history of the Crusades.[15] + +Whether this wandering Jew was found out in London or not, we cannot +tell, but he shortly after appeared in Denmark, thence travelled into +Sweden, and vanished. + +Such are the principal notices of the Wandering Jew which have +appeared. It will be seen at once how wanting they are in all +substantial evidence which could make us regard the story in any other +light than myth. + +But no myth is wholly without foundation, and there must be some +substantial verity upon which this vast superstructure of legend has +been raised. What that is I am unable to discover. + +It has been suggested by some that the Jew Ahasverus is an +impersonation of that race which wanders, Cain-like, over the earth +with the brand of a brother's blood upon it, and one which is not to +pass away till all be fulfilled, not to be reconciled to its angered +God till the times of the Gentiles are accomplished. And yet, probable +as this supposition may seem at first sight, it is not to be +harmonized with some of the leading features of the story. The +shoemaker becomes a penitent, and earnest Christian, whilst the Jewish +nation has still the veil upon its heart; the wretched wanderer +eschews money, and the avarice of the Israelite is proverbial. + +According to local legend, he is identified with the Gypsies, or +rather that strange people are supposed to be living under a curse +somewhat similar to that inflicted on Ahasverus, because they refused +shelter to the Virgin and Child on their flight into Egypt.[16] +Another tradition connects the Jew with the wild huntsman, and there +is a forest at Bretten, in Swabia, which he is said to haunt. Popular +superstition attributes to him there a purse containing a groschen, +which, as often as it is expended, returns to the spender.[17] + +In the Harz one form of the Wild Huntsman myth is to this effect: +that he was a Jew who had refused to suffer our Blessed Lord to drink +out of a river, or out of a horse-trough, but had contemptuously +pointed out to Him the hoof-print of a horse, in which a little water +had collected, and had bid Him quench His thirst thence.[18] + +As the Wild Huntsman is the personification of the storm, it is +curious to find in parts of France that the sudden roar of a gale at +night is attributed by the vulgar to the passing of the Everlasting +Jew. + +A Swiss story is, that he was seen one day standing upon the +Matterberg, which is below the Matterhorn, contemplating the scene +with mingled sorrow and wonder. Once before he stood on that spot, and +then it was the site of a flourishing city; now it is covered with +gentian and wild pinks. Once again will he revisit the hill, and that +will be on the eve of Judgment. + +Perhaps, of all the myths which originated in the middle ages, none is +more striking than that we have been considering; indeed, there is +something so calculated to arrest the attention and to excite the +imagination in the outline of the story, that it is remarkable that +we should find an interval of three centuries elapse between its first +introduction into Europe by Matthew Paris and Philip Mouskes, and its +general acceptance in the sixteenth century. As a myth, its roots lie +in that great mystery of human life which is an enigma never solved, +and ever originating speculation. + +What was life? Was it of necessity limited to fourscore years, or +could it be extended indefinitely? were questions curious minds never +wearied of asking. And so the mythology of the past teemed with +legends of favored or accursed mortals, who had reached beyond the +term of days set to most men. Some had discovered the water of life, +the fountain of perpetual youth, and were ever renewing their +strength. Others had dared the power of God, and were therefore +sentenced to feel the weight of His displeasure, without tasting the +repose of death. + +John the Divine slept at Ephesus, untouched by corruption, with the +ground heaving over his breast as he breathed, waiting the summons to +come forth and witness against Antichrist. The seven sleepers reposed +in a cave, and centuries glided by like a watch in the night. The +monk of Hildesheim, doubting how with God a thousand years could be as +yesterday, listened to the melody of a bird in the green wood during +three minutes, and found that in three minutes three hundred years had +flown. Joseph of ArimathA|a, in the blessed city of Sarras, draws +perpetual life from the Saint Graal; Merlin sleeps and sighs in an old +tree, spell-bound of Vivien. Charlemagne and Barbarossa wait, crowned +and armed, in the heart of the mountain, till the time comes for the +release of Fatherland from despotism. And, on the other hand, the +curse of a deathless life has passed on the Wild Huntsman, because he +desired to chase the red-deer for evermore; on the Captain of the +Phantom Ship, because he vowed he would double the Cape whether God +willed it or not; on the Man in the Moon, because he gathered sticks +during the Sabbath rest; on the dancers of Kolbeck, because they +desired to spend eternity in their mad gambols. + +I began this article intending to conclude it with a bibliographical +account of the tracts, letters, essays, and books, written upon the +Wandering Jew; but I relinquish my intention at the sight of the +multitude of works which have issued from the press upon the subject; +and this I do with less compunction as the bibliographer may at little +trouble and expense satisfy himself, by perusing the lists given by +GrA¤sse in his essay on the myth, and those to be found in "Notice +historique et bibliographique sur les Juifs-errants: par O. B." +(Gustave Brunet), Paris, TA(C)chener, 1845; also in the article by M. +Mangin, in "Causeries et MA(C)ditations historiques et littA(C)raires," +Paris, Duprat, 1843; and, lastly, in the essay by Jacob le Bibliophile +(M. Lacroix) in his "CuriositA(C)s de l'Histoire des Croyances +populaires," Paris, Delahays, 1859. + +Of the romances of EugA"ne Sue and Dr. Croly, founded upon the legend, +the less said the better. The original legend is so noble in its +severe simplicity, that none but a master mind could develop it with +any chance of success. Nor have the poetical attempts upon the story +fared better. It was reserved for the pencil of Gustave DorA(C) to treat +it with the originality it merited, and in a series of woodcuts to +produce at once a poem, a romance, and a chef-d'A"uvre of art. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Matt. xvi. 28. Mark ix. 1. + +[2] Luke ix. + +[3] John xx. 30. + +[4] John xxi. 25. + +[5] Gubitz, Gesellsch. 1845, No. 18. + +[6] Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, iii. p. 607. + +[7] Paul v. Eitzen was born January 25, 1522, at Hamburg; in 1562 he +was appointed chief preacher for Schleswig, and died February 25, +1598. (Greve, Memor. P. ab. Eitzen. Hamb. 1844.) + +[8] Henr. Bangert, Comment. de Ortu, Vita, et Excessu Coleri, I. Cti. +Lubec. + +[9] R. Botoreus, Comm. Histor. lii. p. 305. + +[10] J. C. Bulenger, Historia sui Temporis, p. 357. + +[11] Praxis AlchymiA|. Francfurti, MDCIV. 8vo. + +[12] Mitternacht, Diss. in Johann. xxi. 19. + +[13] Mitternacht, ut supra. + +[14] Hormayr, Taschenbuch, 1834, p. 216. + +[15] Calmet, Dictionn. de la Bible, t. ii. p. 472. + +[16] Aventinus, Bayr. Chronik, viii. + +[17] Meier, SchwA¤bischen Sagen, i. 116. + +[18] Kuhn u. Schwarz Nordd. Sagen, p. 499. + + + + +Prester John. + + [Illustration: Arms of the See of Chichester.] + + +About the middle of the twelfth century, a rumor circulated through +Europe that there reigned in Asia a powerful Christian Emperor, +Presbyter Johannes. In a bloody fight he had broken the power of the +Mussulmans, and was ready to come to the assistance of the Crusaders. +Great was the exultation in Europe, for of late the news from the East +had been gloomy and depressing, the power of the infidel had +increased, overwhelming masses of men had been brought into the field +against the chivalry of Christendom, and it was felt that the cross +must yield before the odious crescent. + +The news of the success of the Priest-King opened a door of hope to +the desponding Christian world. Pope Alexander III. determined at +once to effect a union with this mysterious personage, and on the 27th +of September, 1177, wrote him a letter, which he intrusted to his +physician, Philip, to deliver in person. + +Philip started on his embassy, but never returned. The conquests of +Tschengis-Khan again attracted the eyes of Christian Europe to the +East. The Mongol hordes were rushing in upon the west with devastating +ferocity; Russia, Poland, Hungary, and the eastern provinces of +Germany, had succumbed, or suffered grievously; and the fears of other +nations were roused lest they too should taste the misery of a +Mongolian invasion. It was Gog and Magog come to slaughter, and the +times of Antichrist were dawning. But the battle of Liegnitz stayed +them in their onward career, and Europe was saved. + +Pope Innocent IV. determined to convert these wild hordes of +barbarians, and subject them to the cross of Christ; he therefore sent +among them a number of Dominican and Franciscan missioners, and +embassies of peace passed between the Pope, the King of France, and +the Mogul Khan. + +The result of these communications with the East was, that the +travellers learned how false were the prevalent notions of a mighty +Christian empire existing in Central Asia. Vulgar superstition or +conviction is not, however, to be upset by evidence, and the locality +of the monarchy was merely transferred by the people to Africa, and +they fixed upon Abyssinia, with a show of truth, as the seat of the +famous Priest-King. However, still some doubted. John de Plano Carpini +and Marco Polo, though they acknowledged the existence of a Christian +monarch in Abyssinia, yet stoutly maintained as well that the Prester +John of popular belief reigned in splendor somewhere in the dim +Orient. + +But before proceeding with the history of this strange fable, it will +be well to extract the different accounts given of the Priest-King and +his realm by early writers; and we shall then be better able to judge +of the influence the myth obtained in Europe. + +Otto of Freisingen is the first author to mention the monarchy of +Prester John with whom we are acquainted. Otto wrote a chronicle up to +the date 1156, and he relates that in 1145 the Catholic Bishop of +Cabala visited Europe to lay certain complaints before the Pope. He +mentioned the fall of Edessa, and also "he stated that a few years ago +a certain King and Priest called John, who lives on the farther side +of Persia and Armenia, in the remote East, and who, with all his +people, were Christians, though belonging to the Nestorian Church, had +overcome the royal brothers Samiardi, kings of the Medes and Persians, +and had captured Ecbatana, their capital and residence. The said kings +had met with their Persian, Median, and Assyrian troops, and had +fought for three consecutive days, each side having determined to die +rather than take to flight. Prester John, for so they are wont to call +him, at length routed the Persians, and after a bloody battle, +remained victorious. After which victory the said John was hastening +to the assistance of the Church at Jerusalem, but his host, on +reaching the Tigris, was hindered from passing, through a deficiency +in boats, and he directed his march North, since he had heard that the +river was there covered with ice. In that place he had waited many +years, expecting severe cold; but the winters having proved +unpropitious, and the severity of the climate having carried off many +soldiers, he had been forced to retreat to his own land. This king +belongs to the family of the Magi, mentioned in the Gospel, and he +rules over the very people formerly governed by the Magi; moreover, +his fame and his wealth are so great, that he uses an emerald sceptre +only. + +"Excited by the example of his ancestors, who came to worship Christ +in his cradle, he had proposed to go to Jerusalem, but had been +impeded by the above-mentioned causes."[19] + +At the same time the story crops up in other quarters; so that we +cannot look upon Otto as the inventor of the myth. The celebrated +Maimonides alludes to it in a passage quoted by Joshua Lorki, a Jewish +physician to Benedict XIII. Maimonides lived from 1135 to 1204. The +passage is as follows: "It is evident both from the letters of Rambam +(Maimonides), whose memory be blessed, and from the narration of +merchants who have visited the ends of the earth, that at this time +the root of our faith is to be found in the lands of Babel and Teman, +where long ago Jerusalem was an exile; not reckoning those who live in +the land of Paras[20] and Madai,[21] of the exiles of Schomrom, the +number of which people is as the sand: of these some are still under +the yoke of Paras, who is called the Great-Chief Sultan by the Arabs; +others live in a place under the yoke of a strange people ... governed +by a Christian chief, Preste-Cuan by name. With him they have made a +compact, and he with them; and this is a matter concerning which there +can be no manner of doubt." + +Benjamin of Tudela, another Jew, travelled in the East between the +years 1159 and 1173, the last being the date of his death. He wrote an +account of his travels, and gives in it some information with regard +to a mythical Jew king, who reigned in the utmost splendor over a +realm inhabited by Jews alone, situate somewhere in the midst of a +desert of vast extent. About this period there appeared a document +which produced intense excitement throughout Europe--a letter, yes! a +letter from the mysterious personage himself to Manuel Comnenus, +Emperor of Constantinople (1143-1180). The exact date of this +extraordinary epistle cannot be fixed with any certainty, but it +certainly appeared before 1241, the date of the conclusion of the +chronicle of Albericus Trium Fontium. This Albericus relates that in +the year 1165 "Presbyter Joannes, the Indian king, sent his wonderful +letter to various Christian princes, and especially to Manuel of +Constantinople, and Frederic the Roman Emperor." Similar letters were +sent to Alexander III., to Louis VII. of France, and to the King of +Portugal, which are alluded to in chronicles and romances, and which +were indeed turned into rhyme, and sung all over Europe by minstrels +and trouvA"res. The letter is as follows:-- + +"John, Priest by the Almighty power of God and the Might of our Lord +Jesus Christ, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to his friend Emanuel, +Prince of Constantinople, greeting, wishing him health, prosperity, +and the continuance of Divine favor. + +"Our Majesty has been informed that you hold our Excellency in love, +and that the report of our greatness has reached you. Moreover, we +have heard through our treasurer that you have been pleased to send to +us some objects of art and interest, that our Exaltedness might be +gratified thereby. + +"Being human, I receive it in good part, and we have ordered our +treasurer to send you some of our articles in return. + +"Now we desire to be made certain that you hold the right faith, and +in all things cleave to Jesus Christ, our Lord, for we have heard that +your court regard you as a god, though we know that you are mortal, +and subject to human infirmities.... Should you desire to learn the +greatness and excellency of our Exaltedness and of the land subject to +our sceptre, then hear and believe:--I, Presbyter Johannes, the Lord +of Lords, surpass all under heaven in virtue, in riches, and in power; +seventy-two kings pay us tribute.... In the three Indies our +Magnificence rules, and our land extends beyond India, where rests the +body of the holy Apostle Thomas; it reaches towards the sunrise over +the wastes, and it trends towards deserted Babylon near the tower of +Babel. Seventy-two provinces, of which only a few are Christian, serve +us. Each has its own king, but all are tributary to us. + +"Our land is the home of elephants, dromedaries, camels, crocodiles, +meta-collinarum, cametennus, tensevetes, wild asses, white and red +lions, white bears, white merules, crickets, griffins, tigers, lamias, +hyenas, wild horses, wild oxen and wild men, men with horns, one-eyed, +men with eyes before and behind, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, pygmies, +forty-ell-high giants, Cyclopses, and similar women; it is the home, +too, of the phA"nix, and of nearly all living animals. We have some +people subject to us who feed on the flesh of men and of prematurely +born animals, and who never fear death. When any of these people die, +their friends and relations eat him ravenously, for they regard it as +a main duty to munch human flesh. Their names are Gog and Magog, Anie, +Agit, Azenach, Fommeperi, Befari, Conei-Samante, Agrimandri, +Vintefolei, Casbei, Alanei. These and similar nations were shut in +behind lofty mountains by Alexander the Great, towards the North. We +lead them at our pleasure against our foes, and neither man nor beast +is left undevoured, if our Majesty gives the requisite permission. And +when all our foes are eaten, then we return with our hosts home again. +These accursed fifteen nations will burst forth from the four quarters +of the earth at the end of the world, in the times of Antichrist, and +overrun all the abodes of the Saints as well as the great city Rome, +which, by the way, we are prepared to give to our son who will be +born, along with all Italy, Germany, the two Gauls, Britain and +Scotland. We shall also give him Spain and all the land as far as the +icy sea. The nations to which I have alluded, according to the words +of the prophet, shall not stand in the judgment, on account of their +offensive practices, but will be consumed to ashes by a fire which +will fall on them from heaven. + +"Our land streams with honey, and is overflowing with milk. In one +region grows no poisonous herb, nor does a querulous frog ever quack +in it; no scorpion exists, nor does the serpent glide amongst the +grass, nor can any poisonous animals exist in it, or injure any one. + +"Among the heathen, flows through a certain province the River Indus; +encircling Paradise, it spreads its arms in manifold windings through +the entire province. Here are found the emeralds, sapphires, +carbuncles, topazes, chrysolites, onyxes, beryls, sardius, and other +costly stones. Here grows the plant Assidos, which, when worn by any +one, protects him from the evil spirit, forcing it to state its +business and name; consequently the foul spirits keep out of the way +there. In a certain land subject to us, all kinds of pepper is +gathered, and is exchanged for corn and bread, leather and cloth.... +At the foot of Mount Olympus bubbles up a spring which changes its +flavor hour by hour, night and day, and the spring is scarcely three +days' journey from Paradise, out of which Adam was driven. If any one +has tasted thrice of the fountain, from that day he will feel no +fatigue, but will, as long as he lives, be as a man of thirty years. +Here are found the small stones called Nudiosi, which, if borne about +the body, prevent the sight from waxing feeble, and restore it where +it is lost. The more the stone is looked at, the keener becomes the +sight. In our territory is a certain waterless sea, consisting of +tumbling billows of sand never at rest. None have crossed this sea; it +lacks water altogether, yet fish are cast up upon the beach of various +kinds, very tasty, and the like are nowhere else to be seen. Three +days' journey from this sea are mountains from which rolls down a +stony, waterless river, which opens into the sandy sea. As soon as the +stream reaches the sea, its stones vanish in it, and are never seen +again. As long as the river is in motion, it cannot be crossed; only +four days a week is it possible to traverse it. Between the sandy sea +and the said mountains, in a certain plain is a fountain of singular +virtue, which purges Christians and would-be Christians from all +transgressions. The water stands four inches high in a hollow stone +shaped like a mussel-shell. Two saintly old men watch by it, and ask +the comers whether they are Christians, or are about to become +Christians, then whether they desire healing with all their hearts. If +they have answered well, they are bidden to lay aside their clothes, +and to step into the mussel. If what they said be true, then the water +begins to rise and gush over their heads; thrice does the water thus +lift itself, and every one who has entered the mussel leaves it cured +of every complaint. + +"Near the wilderness trickles between barren mountains a subterranean +rill, which can only by chance be reached, for only occasionally the +earth gapes, and he who would descend must do it with precipitation, +ere the earth closes again. All that is gathered under the ground +there is gem and precious stone. The brook pours into another river, +and the inhabitants of the neighborhood obtain thence abundance of +precious stones. Yet they never venture to sell them without having +first offered them to us for our private use: should we decline them, +they are at liberty to dispose of them to strangers. Boys there are +trained to remain three or four days under water, diving after the +stones. + +"Beyond the stone river are the ten tribes of the Jews, which, though +subject to their own kings, are, for all that, our slaves and +tributary to our Majesty. In one of our lands, hight Zone, are worms +called in our tongue Salamanders. These worms can only live in fire, +and they build cocoons like silk-worms, which are unwound by the +ladies of our palace, and spun into cloth and dresses, which are worn +by our Exaltedness. These dresses, in order to be cleaned and washed, +are cast into flames.... When we go to war, we have fourteen golden +and bejewelled crosses borne before us instead of banners; each of +these crosses is followed by 10,000 horsemen, and 100,000 foot +soldiers fully armed, without reckoning those in charge of the luggage +and provision. + +"When we ride abroad plainly, we have a wooden, unadorned cross, +without gold or gem about it, borne before us, in order that we may +meditate on the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ; also a golden +bowl filled with earth, to remind us of that whence we sprung, and +that to which we must return; but besides these there is borne a +silver bowl full of gold, as a token to all that we are the Lord of +Lords. + +"All riches, such as are upon the world, our Magnificence possesses in +superabundance. With us no one lies, for he who speaks a lie is +thenceforth regarded as dead; he is no more thought of, or honored by +us. No vice is tolerated by us. Every year we undertake a pilgrimage, +with retinue of war, to the body of the holy prophet Daniel, which is +near the desolated site of Babylon. In our realm fishes are caught, +the blood of which dyes purple. The Amazons and the Brahmins are +subject to us. The palace in which our Supereminency resides, is built +after the pattern of the castle built by the Apostle Thomas for the +Indian king Gundoforus. Ceilings, joists, and architrave are of Sethym +wood, the roof of ebony, which can never catch fire. Over the gable of +the palace are, at the extremities, two golden apples, in each of +which are two carbuncles, so that the gold may shine by day, and the +carbuncles by night. The greater gates of the palace are of sardius, +with the horn of the horned snake inwrought, so that no one can bring +poison within. + +"The other portals are of ebony. The windows are of crystal; the +tables are partly of gold, partly of amethyst, and the columns +supporting the tables are partly of ivory, partly of amethyst. The +court in which we watch the jousting is floored with onyx in order to +increase the courage of the combatants. In the palace, at night, +nothing is burned for light but wicks supplied with balsam.... Before +our palace stands a mirror, the ascent to which consists of five and +twenty steps of porphyry and serpentine." After a description of the +gems adorning this mirror, which is guarded night and day by three +thousand armed men, he explains its use: "We look therein and behold +all that is taking place in every province and region subject to our +sceptre. + +"Seven kings wait upon us monthly, in turn, with sixty-two dukes, two +hundred and fifty-six counts and marquises: and twelve archbishops +sit at table with us on our right, and twenty bishops on the left, +besides the patriarch of St. Thomas, the Sarmatian Protopope, and the +Archpope of Susa.... Our lord high steward is a primate and king, our +cup-bearer is an archbishop and king, our chamberlain a bishop and +king, our marshal a king and abbot." + +I may be spared further extracts from this extraordinary letter, which +proceeds to describe the church in which Prester John worships, by +enumerating the precious stones of which it is constructed, and their +special virtues. + +Whether this letter was in circulation before Pope Alexander wrote +his, it is not easy to decide. Alexander does not allude to it, but +speaks of the reports which have reached him of the piety and the +magnificence of the Priest-King. At the same time, there runs a tone +of bitterness through the letter, as though the Pope had been galled +at the pretensions of this mysterious personage, and perhaps winced +under the prospect of the man-eaters overrunning Italy, as suggested +by John the Priest. The papal epistle is an assertion of the claims of +the See of Rome to universal dominion, and it assures the Eastern +Prince-Pope that his Christian professions are worthless, unless he +submits to the successor of Peter. "Not every one that saith unto me, +Lord, Lord," &c., quotes the Pope, and then explains that the will of +God is that every monarch and prelate should eat humble pie to the +Sovereign Pontiff. + +Sir John Maundevil gives the origin of the priestly title of the +Eastern despot, in his curious book of travels. + +"So it befelle, that this emperour cam, with a Cristene knyght with +him, into a chirche in Egypt: and it was Saterday in Wyttson woke. And +the bishop made orders. And he beheld and listened the servyse fulle +tentyfly: and he asked the Cristene knyght, what men of degree thei +scholden ben, that the prelate had before him. And the knyght +answerede and seyde, that thei scholde ben prestes. And then the +emperour seyde, that he wolde no longer ben clept kyng ne emperour, +but preest: and that he wolde have the name of the first preest, that +wente out of the chirche; and his name was John. And so evere more +sittiens, he is clept Prestre John." + +It is probable that the foundation of the whole Prester-John myth lay +in the report which reached Europe of the wonderful successes of +Nestorianism in the East, and there seems reason to believe that the +famous letter given above was a Nestorian fabrication. It certainly +looks un-European; the gorgeous imagery is thoroughly Eastern, and the +disparaging tone in which Rome is spoken of could hardly have been the +expression of Western feelings. The letter has the object in view of +exalting the East in religion and arts to an undue eminence at the +expense of the West, and it manifests some ignorance of European +geography, when it speaks of the land extending from Spain to the +Polar Sea. Moreover, the sites of the patriarchates, and the dignity +conferred on that of St. Thomas, are indications of a Nestorian bias. + +A brief glance at the history of this heretical Church may be of value +here, as showing that there really was a foundation for the wild +legends concerning a Christian empire in the East, so prevalent in +Europe. Nestorius, a priest of Antioch and a disciple of St. +Chrysostom, was elevated by the emperor to the patriarchate of +Constantinople, and in the year 428 began to propagate his heresy, +denying the hypostatic union. The Council of Ephesus denounced him, +and, in spite of the emperor and court, Nestorius was anathematized +and driven into exile. His sect spread through the East, and became a +flourishing church. It reached to China, where the emperor was all but +converted; its missionaries traversed the frozen tundras of Siberia, +preaching their maimed Gospel to the wild hordes which haunted those +dreary wastes; it faced Buddhism, and wrestled with it for the +religious supremacy in Thibet; it established churches in Persia and +in Bokhara; it penetrated India; it formed colonies in Ceylon, in +Siam, and in Sumatra; so that the Catholicos or Pope of Bagdad +exercised sway more extensive than that ever obtained by the successor +of St. Peter. The number of Christians belonging to that communion +probably exceeded that of the members of the true Catholic Church in +East and West. But the Nestorian Church was not founded on the Rock; +it rested on Nestorius; and when the rain descended, and the winds +blew, and the floods came, and beat upon that house, it fell, leaving +scarce a fragment behind. + +Rubruquis the Franciscan, who in 1253 was sent on a mission into +Tartary, was the first to let in a little light on the fable. He +writes, "The Catai dwelt beyond certain mountains across which I +wandered, and in a plain in the midst of the mountains lived once an +important Nestorian shepherd, who ruled over the Nestorian people, +called Nayman. When Coir-Khan died, the Nestorian people raised this +man to be king, and called him King Johannes, and related of him ten +times as much as the truth. The Nestorians thereabouts have this way +with them, that about nothing they make a great fuss, and thus they +have got it noised abroad that Sartach, Mangu-Khan, and Ken-Khan were +Christians, simply because they treated Christians well, and showed +them more honor than other people. Yet, in fact, they were not +Christians at all. And in like manner the story got about that there +was a great King John. However, I traversed his pastures, and no one +knew anything about him, except a few Nestorians. In his pastures +lives Ken-Khan, at whose court was Brother Andrew, whom I met on my +way back. This Johannes had a brother, a famous shepherd, named Unc, +who lived three weeks' journey beyond the mountains of Caracatais." + +This Unk-Khan was a real individual; he lost his life in the year +1203. Kuschhik, prince of the Nayman, and follower of Kor-Khan, fell +in 1218. + +Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller (1254-1324), identifies Unk-Khan +with Prester John; he says, "I will now tell you of the deeds of the +Tartars, how they gained the mastery, and spread over the whole earth. +The Tartars dwelt between Georgia and Bargu, where there is a vast +plain and level country, on which are neither cities nor forts, but +capital pasturage and water. They had no chief of their own, but paid +to Prester Johannes tribute. Of the greatness of this Prester +Johannes, who was properly called Un-Khan, the whole world spake; the +Tartars gave him one of every ten head of cattle. When Prester John +noticed that they were increasing, he feared them, and planned how he +could injure them. He determined therefore to scatter them, and he +sent barons to do this. But the Tartars guessed what Prester John +purposed ... and they went away into the wide wastes of the North, +where they might be beyond his reach." He then goes on to relate how +Tschengis-(Jenghiz-)Khan became the head of the Tartars, and how he +fought against Prester John, and, after a desperate fight, overcame +and slew him. + +The Syriac Chronicle of the Jacobite Primate, Gregory Bar-HebrA|us +(born 1226, died 1286), also identifies Unk-Khan with Prester John. +"In the year of the Greeks 1514, of the Arabs 599 (A. D. 1202), when +Unk-Khan, who is the Christian King John, ruled over a stock of the +barbarian Hunns, called Kergt, Tschingys-Khan served him with great +zeal. When John observed the superiority and serviceableness of the +other, he envied him, and plotted to seize and murder him. But two +sons of Unk-Khan, having heard this, told it to Tschingys; whereupon +he and his comrades fled by night, and secreted themselves. Next +morning Unk-Khan took possession of the Tartar tents, but found them +empty. Then the party of Tschingys fell upon him, and they met by the +spring called Balschunah, and the side of Tschingys won the day; and +the followers of Unk-Khan were compelled to yield. They met again +several times, till Unk-Khan was utterly discomfited, and was slain +himself, and his wives, sons, and daughters carried into captivity. +Yet we must consider that King John the Kergtajer was not cast down +for nought; nay, rather, because he had turned his heart from the fear +of Christ his Lord, who had exalted him, and had taken a wife of the +Zinish nation, called Quarakhata. Because he forsook the religion of +his ancestors and followed strange gods, therefore God took the +government from him, and gave it to one better than he, and whose +heart was right before God." + +Some of the early travellers, such as John de Plano Carpini and Marco +Polo, in disabusing the popular mind of the belief in Prester John as +a mighty Asiatic Christian monarch, unintentionally turned the popular +faith in that individual into a new direction. They spoke of the black +people of Abascia in Ethiopia, which, by the way, they called Middle +India, as a great people subject to a Christian monarch. + +Marco Polo says that the true monarch of Abyssinia is Christ; but that +it is governed by six kings, three of whom are Christians and three +Saracens, and that they are in league with the Soudan of Aden. + +Bishop Jordanus, in his description of the world, accordingly sets +down Abyssinia as the kingdom of Prester John; and such was the +popular impression, which was confirmed by the appearance at intervals +of ambassadors at European courts from the King of Abyssinia. The +discovery of the Cape of Good Hope was due partly to a desire +manifested in Portugal to open communications with this monarch,[22] +and King John II. sent two men learned in Oriental languages through +Egypt to the court of Abyssinia. The might and dominion of this +prince, who had replaced the Tartar chief in the popular creed as +Prester John, was of course greatly exaggerated, and was supposed to +extend across Arabia and Asia to the wall of China. The spread of +geographical knowledge has contracted the area of his dominions, and a +critical acquaintance with history has exploded the myth which +invested Unk-Khan, the nomad chief, with all the attributes of a +demigod, uniting in one the utmost pretensions of a Pope and the +proudest claims of a monarch. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[19] Otto, Ep. Frising., lib. vii. c. 33. + +[20] Persia. + +[21] Media. + +[22] Ludolfi Hist. A†thiopica, lib. ii. cap. 1, 2. Petrus, Petri filius +LusitaniA| princeps, M. Pauli Veneti librum (qui de Indorum rebus +multa: speciatim vero de Presbytero Johanne aliqua magnifice scripsit) +Venetiis secum in patriam detulerat, qui (Chronologicis Lusitanorum +testantibus) prA|cipuam Johanni Regi ansam dedit IndicA| navigationis, +quam Henricus Johannis I. filius, patruus ejus, tentaverat, +prosequendA|, &c. + + + + +The Divining Rod. + + +From the remotest period a rod has been regarded as the symbol of +power and authority, and Holy Scripture employs it in the popular +sense. Thus David speaks of "Thy rod and Thy staff comforting me;" and +Moses works his miracles before Pharaoh with the rod as emblem of +Divine commission. It was his rod which became a serpent, which turned +the water of Egypt into blood, which opened the waves of the Red Sea +and restored them to their former level, which "smote the rock of +stone so that the water gushed out abundantly." The rod of Aaron acted +an oracular part in the contest with the princes; laid up before the +ark, it budded and brought forth almonds. In this instance we have it +no longer as a symbol of authority, but as a means of divining the +will of God. And as such it became liable to abuse; thus Hosea rebukes +the chosen people for practising similar divinations. "My people ask +counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them."[23] + +Long before this, Jacob had made a different use of rods, employing +them as a charm to make his father-in-law's sheep bear pied and +spotted lambs. + +We find rhabdomancy a popular form of divination among the Greeks, and +also among the Romans. Cicero in his "De Officiis" alludes to it. "If +all that is needful for our nourishment and support arrives to us by +means of some divine rod, as people say, then each of us, free from +all care and trouble, may give himself up to the exclusive pursuit of +study and science." + +Probably it is to this rod that the allusion of Ennius, as the agent +in discovering hidden treasures, quoted in the first book of his "De +Divinatione," refers. + +According to Vetranius Maurus, Varro left a satire on the "Virgula +divina," which has not been preserved. Tacitus tells us that the +Germans practised some sort of divination by means of rods. "For the +purpose their method is simple. They cut a rod off some fruit-tree +into bits, and after having distinguished them by various marks, they +cast them into a white cloth.... Then the priest thrice draws each +piece, and explains the oracle according to the marks." Ammianus +Marcellinus says that the Alains employed an osier rod. + +The fourteenth law of the Frisons ordered that the discovery of +murders should be made by means of divining rods used in Church. These +rods should be laid before the altar, and on the sacred relics, after +which God was to be supplicated to indicate the culprit. This was +called the Lot of Rods, or Tan-teen, the Rod of Rods. + +But the middle ages was the date of the full development of the +superstition, and the divining rod was believed to have efficacy in +discovering hidden treasures, veins of precious metal, springs of +water, thefts, and murders. The first notice of its general use among +late writers is in the "Testamentum Novum," lib. i. cap. 25, of Basil +Valentine, a Benedictine monk of the fifteenth century. Basil speaks +of the general faith in and adoption of this valuable instrument for +the discovery of metals, which is carried by workmen in mines, either +in their belts or in their caps. He says that there are seven names by +which this rod is known, and to its excellences under each title he +devotes a chapter of his book. The names are: Divine Rod, Shining Rod, +Leaping Rod, Transcendent Rod, Trembling Rod, Dipping Rod, Superior +Rod. In his admirable treatise on metals, Agricola speaks of the rod +in terms of disparagement; he considers its use as a relic of ancient +magical forms, and he says that it is only irreligious workmen who +employ it in their search after metals. Goclenius, however, in his +treatise on the virtue of plants, stoutly does battle for the +properties of the hazel rod. Whereupon Roberti, a Flemish Jesuit, +falls upon him tooth and nail, disputes his facts, overwhelms him with +abuse, and gibbets him for popular ridicule. Andreas Libavius, a +writer I have already quoted in my article on the Wandering Jew, +undertook a series of experiments upon the hazel divining rod, and +concluded that there was truth in the popular belief. The Jesuit +Kircher also "experimentalized several times on wooden rods which were +declared to be sympathetic with regard to certain metals, by placing +them on delicate pivots in equilibrium; but they never turned on the +approach of metal." (De Arte Magnetica.) However, a similar course of +experiments over water led him to attribute to the rod the power of +indicating subterranean springs and water-courses; "I would not affirm +it," he says, "unless I had established the fact by my own +experience." + +Dechales, another Jesuit, author of a treatise on natural springs, and +of a huge tome entitled "Mundus Mathematicus," declared in the latter +work, that no means of discovering sources is equal to the divining +rod; and he quotes a friend of his who, with a hazel rod in his hand, +could discover springs with the utmost precision and facility, and +could trace on the surface of the ground the course of a subterranean +conduit. Another writer, Saint-Romain, in his "Science dA(C)gagA(C)e des +ChimA"res de l'A%cole," exclaims, "Is it not astonishing to see a rod, +which is held firmly in the hands, bow itself and turn visibly in the +direction of water or metal, with more or less promptitude, according +as the metal or the water are near or remote from the surface!" + +In 1659 the Jesuit Gaspard Schott writes that the rod is used in every +town of Germany, and that he had frequent opportunity of seeing it +used in the discovery of hidden treasures. "I searched with the +greatest care," he adds, "into the question whether the hazel rod had +any sympathy with gold and silver, and whether any natural property +set it in motion. In like manner I tried whether a ring of metal, held +suspended by a thread in the midst of a tumbler, and which strikes the +hours, is moved by any similar force. I ascertained that these effects +could only have rise from the deception of those holding the rod or +the pendulum, or, may be, from some diabolic impulsion, or, more +likely still, because imagination sets the hand in motion." + +The Sieur le Royer, a lawyer of Rouen, in 1674, published his "TraitA(C) +du BActon universel," in which he gives an account of a trial made with +the rod in the presence of Father Jean FranASec.ois, who had ridiculed the +operation in his treatise on the science of waters, published at +Rennes in 1655, and which succeeded in convincing the blasphemer of +the divine Rod. Le Royer denies to it the power of picking out +criminals, which had been popularly attributed to it, and as had been +unhesitatingly claimed for it by Debrio in his "Disquisitio Magica." + +And now I am brought to the extraordinary story of Jacques Aymar, +which attracted the attention of Europe to the marvellous properties +of the divining rod. I shall give the history of this man in full, as +such an account is rendered necessary by the mutilated versions I have +seen current in English magazine articles, which follow the lead of +Mrs. Crowe, who narrates the earlier portion of this impostor's +career, but says nothing of his _exposA(C)_ and downfall. + +On the 5th July, 1692, at about ten o'clock in the evening, a +wine-seller of Lyons and his wife were assassinated in their cellar, +and their money carried off. On the morrow, the officers of justice +arrived, and examined the premises. Beside the corpses, lay a large +bottle wrapped in straw, and a bloody hedging bill, which undoubtedly +had been the instrument used to accomplish the murder. Not a trace of +those who had committed the horrible deed was to be found, and the +magistrates were quite at fault as to the direction in which they +should turn for a clew to the murderer or murderers. + +At this juncture a neighbor reminded the magistrates of an incident +which had taken place four years previous. It was this. In 1688 a +theft of clothes had been made in Grenoble. In the parish of CrA'le +lived a man named Jacques Aymar, supposed to be endowed with the +faculty of using the divining rod. This man was sent for. On reaching +the spot where the theft had been committed, his rod moved in his +hand. He followed the track indicated by the rod, and it continued to +rotate between his fingers as long as he followed a certain direction, +but ceased to turn if he diverged from it in the smallest degree. +Guided by his rod, Aymar went from street to street, till he was +brought to a standstill before the prison gates. These could not be +opened without leave of the magistrate, who hastened to witness the +experiment. The gates were unlocked, and Aymar, under the same +guidance, directed his steps towards four prisoners lately +incarcerated. He ordered the four to be stood in a line, and then he +placed his foot on that of the first. The rod remained immovable. He +passed to the second, and the rod turned at once. Before the third +prisoner there were no signs; the fourth trembled, and begged to be +heard. He owned himself the thief, along with the second, who also +acknowledged the theft, and mentioned the name of the receiver of the +stolen goods. This was a farmer in the neighborhood of Grenoble. The +magistrate and officers visited him and demanded the articles he had +obtained. The farmer denied all knowledge of the theft and all +participation in the booty. Aymar, however, by means of his rod, +discovered the secreted property, and restored it to the persons from +whom it had been stolen. + +On another occasion Aymar had been in quest of a spring of water, when +he felt his rod turn sharply in his hand. On digging at the spot, +expecting to discover an abundant source, the body of a murdered woman +was found in a barrel, with a rope twisted round her neck. The poor +creature was recognized as a woman of the neighborhood who had +vanished four months before. Aymar went to the house which the victim +had inhabited, and presented his rod to each member of the household. +It turned upon the husband of the deceased, who at once took to +flight. + +The magistrates of Lyons, at their wits' ends how to discover the +perpetrators of the double murder in the wine shop, urged the +Procureur du Roi to make experiment of the powers of Jacques Aymar. +The fellow was sent for, and he boldly asserted his capacity for +detecting criminals, if he were first brought to the spot of the +murder, so as to be put _en rapport_ with the murderers. + +He was at once conducted to the scene of the outrage, with the rod in +his hand. This remained stationary as he traversed the cellar, till he +reached the spot where the body of the wine seller had lain; then the +stick became violently agitated, and the man's pulse rose as though he +were in an access of fever. The same motions and symptoms manifested +themselves when he reached the place where the second victim had lain. + +Having thus received his _impression_, Aymar left the cellar, and, +guided by his rod, or rather by an internal instinct, he ascended into +the shop, and then stepping into the street, he followed from one to +another, like a hound upon the scent, the track of the murderers. It +conducted him into the court of the archiepiscopal palace, across it, +and down to the gate of the Rhone. It was now evening, and the city +gates being all closed, the quest of blood was relinquished for the +night. + +Next morning Aymar returned to the scent. Accompanied by three +officers, he left the gate, and descended the right bank of the Rhone. +The rod gave indications of there having been three involved in the +murder, and he pursued the traces till two of them led to a gardener's +cottage. Into this he entered, and there he asserted with warmth, +against the asseverations of the proprietor to the contrary, that the +fugitives had entered his room, had seated themselves at his table, +and had drunk wine out of one of the bottles which he indicated. Aymar +tested each of the household with his rod, to see if they had been in +contact with the murderers. The rod moved over the two children only, +aged respectively ten and nine years. These little things, on being +questioned, answered, with reluctance, that during their father's +absence on Sunday morning, against his express commands, they had left +the door open, and that two men, whom they described, had come in +suddenly upon them, and had seated themselves and made free with the +wine in the bottle pointed out by the man with the rod. This first +verification of the talents of Jacques Aymar convinced some of the +sceptical, but the Procurateur GA(C)nA(C)ral forbade the prosecution of the +experiment till the man had been further tested. + +As already stated, a hedging bill had been discovered, on the scene of +the murder, smeared with blood, and unquestionably the weapon with +which the crime had been committed. Three bills from the same maker, +and of precisely the same description, were obtained, and the four +were taken into a garden, and secretly buried at intervals. Aymar was +then brought, staff in hand, into the garden, and conducted over the +spots where lay the bills. The rod began to vibrate as his feet stood +upon the place where was concealed the bill which had been used by the +assassins, but was motionless elsewhere. Still unsatisfied, the four +bills were exhumed and concealed anew. The comptroller of the province +himself bandaged the sorcerer's eyes, and led him by the hand from +place to place. The divining rod showed no signs of movement till it +approached the blood-stained weapon, when it began to oscillate. + +The magistrates were now so far satisfied as to agree that Jacques +Aymar should be authorized to follow the trail of the murderers, and +have a company of archers to follow him. + +Guided by his rod, Aymar now recommenced his pursuit. He continued +tracing down the right bank of the Rhone till he came to half a league +from the bridge of Lyons. Here the footprints of three men were +observed in the sand, as though engaged in entering a boat. A rowing +boat was obtained, and Aymar, with his escort, descended the river; he +found some difficulty in following the trail upon water; still he was +able, with a little care, to detect it. It brought him under an arch +of the bridge of Vienne, which boats rarely passed beneath. This +proved that the fugitives were without a guide. The way in which this +curious journey was made was singular. At intervals Aymar was put +ashore to test the banks with his rod, and ascertain whether the +murderers had landed. He discovered the places where they had slept, +and indicated the chairs or benches on which they had sat. In this +manner, by slow degrees, he arrived at the military camp of Sablon, +between Vienne and Saint-Valier. There Aymar felt violent agitation, +his cheeks flushed, and his pulse beat with rapidity. He penetrated +the crowds of soldiers, but did not venture to use his rod, lest the +men should take it ill, and fall upon him. He could not do more +without special authority, and was constrained to return to Lyons. The +magistrates then provided him with the requisite powers, and he went +back to the camp. Now he declared that the murderers were not there. +He recommenced his pursuit, and descended the Rhone again as far as +Beaucaire. + +On entering the town he ascertained by means of his rod that those +whom he was pursuing had parted company. He traversed several streets, +then crowded on account of the annual fair, and was brought to a +standstill before the prison doors. One of the murderers was within, +he declared; he would track the others afterwards. Having obtained +permission to enter, he was brought into the presence of fourteen or +fifteen prisoners. Amongst these was a hunchback, who had only an hour +previously been incarcerated on account of a theft he had committed at +the fair. Aymar applied his rod to each of the prisoners in +succession: it turned upon the hunchback. The sorcerer ascertained +that the other two had left the town by a little path leading into the +Nismes road. Instead of following this track, he returned to Lyons +with the hunchback and the guard. At Lyons a triumph awaited him. The +hunchback had hitherto protested his innocence, and declared that he +had never set foot in Lyons. But as he was brought to that town by the +way along which Aymar had ascertained that he had left it, the fellow +was recognized at the different houses where he had lodged the night, +or stopped for food. At the little town of Bagnols, he was confronted +with the host and hostess of a tavern where he and his comrades had +slept, and they swore to his identity, and accurately described his +companions: their description tallied with that given by the children +of the gardener. The wretched man was so confounded by this +recognition, that he avowed having staid there, a few days before, +along with two ProvenASec.als. These men, he said, were the criminals; he +had been their servant, and had only kept guard in the upper room +whilst they committed the murders in the cellar. + +On his arrival in Lyons he was committed to prison, and his trial was +decided on. At his first interrogation he told his tale precisely as +he had related it before, with these additions: the murderers spoke +patois, and had purchased two bills. At ten o'clock in the evening all +three had entered the wine shop. The ProvenASec.als had a large bottle +wrapped in straw, and they persuaded the publican and his wife to +descend with them into the cellar to fill it, whilst he, the +hunchback, acted as watch in the shop. The two men murdered the +wine-seller and his wife with their bills, and then mounted to the +shop, where they opened the coffer, and stole from it one hundred and +thirty crowns, eight louis-d'ors, and a silver belt. The crime +accomplished, they took refuge in the court of a large house,--this +was the archbishop's palace, indicated by Aymar,--and passed the night +in it. Next day, early, they left Lyons, and only stopped for a moment +at a gardener's cottage. Some way down the river, they found a boat +moored to the bank. This they loosed from its mooring and entered. +They came ashore at the spot pointed out by the man with the stick. +They staid some days in the camp at Sablon, and then went on to +Beaucaire. + +Aymar was now sent in quest of the other murderers. He resumed their +trail at the gate of Beaucaire, and that of one of them, after +considerable _dA(C)tours_, led him to the prison doors of Beaucaire, and +he asked to be allowed to search among the prisoners for his man. This +time he was mistaken. The second fugitive was not within; but the +jailer affirmed that a man whom he described--and his description +tallied with the known appearance of one of the ProvenASec.als--had called +at the gate shortly after the removal of the hunchback to inquire +after him, and on learning of his removal to Lyons, had hurried off +precipitately. Aymar now followed his track from the prison, and this +brought him to that of the third criminal. He pursued the double scent +for some days. But it became evident that the two culprits had been +alarmed at what had transpired in Beaucaire, and were flying from +France. Aymar traced them to the frontier, and then returned to Lyons. + +On the 30th of August, 1692, the poor hunchback was, according to +sentence, broken on the wheel, in the Place des Terreaux. On his way +to execution he had to pass the wine shop. There the recorder publicly +read his sentence, which had been delivered by thirty judges. The +criminal knelt and asked pardon of the poor wretches in whose murder +he was involved, after which he continued his course to the place +fixed for his execution. + +It may be well here to give an account of the authorities for this +extraordinary story. There are three circumstantial accounts, and +numerous letters written by the magistrate who sat during the trial, +and by an eye-witness of the whole transaction, men honorable and +disinterested, upon whose veracity not a shadow of doubt was supposed +to rest by their contemporaries. + +M. Chauvin, Doctor of Medicine, published a "_Lettre A Mme. la +Marquise de Senozan, sur les moyens dont on s'est servi pour dA(C)couvrir +les complices d'un assassinat commis A Lyon, le 5 Juillet, 1692_." +Lyons, 1692. The _procA"s-verbal_ of the Procureur du Roi, M. de +Vanini, is also extant, and published in the _Physique occulte_ of the +AbbA(C) de Vallemont. + +Pierre Gamier, Doctor of Medicine of the University of Montpellier, +wrote a _Dissertation physique en forme de lettre, A M. de SA"ve, +seigneur de FlA(C)chA"res_, on Jacques Aymar, printed the same year at +Lyons, and republished in the _Histoire critique des pratiques +superstitieuses du PA"re Lebrun_. + +Doctor Chauvin was witness of nearly all the circumstances related, as +was also the AbbA(C) Lagarde, who has written a careful account of the +whole transaction as far as to the execution of the hunchback. + +Another eye-witness writes to the AbbA(C) Bignon a letter printed by +Lebrun in his _Histoire critique_ cited above. "The following +circumstance happened to me yesterday evening," he says: "M. le +Procureur du Roi here, who, by the way, is one of the wisest and +cleverest men in the country, sent for me at six o'clock, and had me +conducted to the scene of the murder. We found there M. Grimaut, +director of the customs, whom I knew to be a very upright man, and a +young attorney named Besson, with whom I am not acquainted, but who M. +le Procureur du Roi told me had the power of using the rod as well as +M. Grimaut. We descended into the cellar where the murder had been +committed, and where there were still traces of blood. Each time that +M. Grimaut and the attorney passed the spot where the murder had been +perpetrated, the rods they held in their hands began to turn, but +ceased when they stepped beyond the spot. We tried experiments for +more than an hour, as also with the bill, which M. le Procureur had +brought along with him, and they were satisfactory. I observed several +curious facts in the attorney. The rod in his hands was more violently +moved than in those of M. Grimaut, and when I placed one of my fingers +in each of his hands, whilst the rod turned, I felt the most +extraordinary throbbings of the arteries in his palms. His pulse was +at fever heat. He sweated profusely, and at intervals he was compelled +to go into the court to obtain fresh air." + +The Sieur Pauthot, Dean of the College of Medicine at Lyons, gave his +observations to the public as well. Some of them are as follows: "We +began at the cellar in which the murder had been committed; into this +the man with the rod (Aymar) shrank from entering, because he felt +violent agitations which overcame him when he used the stick over the +place where the corpses of those who had been assassinated had lain. +On entering the cellar, the rod was put in my hands, and arranged by +the master as most suitable for operation; I passed and repassed over +the spot where the bodies had been found, but it remained immovable, +and I felt no agitation. A lady of rank and merit, who was with us, +took the rod after me; she felt it begin to move, and was internally +agitated. Then the owner of the rod resumed it, and, passing over the +same places, the stick rotated with such violence that it seemed +easier to break than to stop it. The peasant then quitted our company +to faint away, as was his wont after similar experiments. I followed +him. He turned very pale and broke into a profuse perspiration, whilst +for a quarter of an hour his pulse was violently troubled; indeed, the +faintness was so considerable, that they were obliged to dash water in +his face and give him water to drink in order to bring him round." He +then describes experiments made over the bloody bill and others +similar, which succeeded in the hands of Aymar and the lady, but +failed when he attempted them himself. Pierre Garnier, physician of +the medical college of Montpellier, appointed to that of Lyons, has +also written an account of what he saw, as mentioned above. He gives a +curious proof of Aymar's powers. + +"M. le Lieutenant-GA(C)nA(C)ral having been robbed by one of his lackeys, +seven or eight months ago, and having lost by him twenty-five crowns +which had been taken out of one of the cabinets behind his library, +sent for Aymar, and asked him to discover the circumstances. Aymar +went several times round the chamber, rod in hand, placing one foot on +the chairs, on the various articles of furniture, and on two bureaux +which are in the apartment, each of which contains several drawers. He +fixed on the very bureau and the identical drawer out of which the +money had been stolen. M. le Lieutenant-GA(C)nA(C)ral bade him follow the +track of the robber. He did so. With his rod he went out on a new +terrace, upon which the cabinet opens, thence back into the cabinet +and up to the fire, then into the library, and from thence he went +direct up stairs to the lackeys' sleeping apartment, when the rod +guided him to one of the beds, and turned over one side of the bed, +remaining motionless over the other. The lackeys then present cried +out that the thief had slept on the side indicated by the rod, the bed +having been shared with another footman, who occupied the further +side." Garnier gives a lengthy account of various experiments he made +along with the Lieutenant-GA(C)nA(C)ral, the uncle of the same, the AbbA(C) de +St. Remain, and M. de Puget, to detect whether there was imposture in +the man. But all their attempts failed to discover a trace of +deception. He gives a report of a verbal examination of Aymar which is +interesting. The man always replied with candor. + +The report of the extraordinary discovery of murder made by the +divining rod at Lyons attracted the attention of Paris, and Aymar was +ordered up to the capital. There, however, his powers left him. The +Prince de CondA(C) submitted him to various tests, and he broke down +under every one. Five holes were dug in the garden. In one was +secreted gold, in another silver, in a third silver and gold, in the +fourth copper, and in the fifth stones. The rod made no signs in +presence of the metals, and at last actually began to move over the +buried pebbles. He was sent to Chantilly to discover the perpetrators +of a theft of trout made in the ponds of the park. He went round the +water, rod in hand, and it turned at spots where he said the fish had +been drawn out. Then, following the track of the thief, it led him to +the cottage of one of the keepers, but did not move over any of the +individuals then in the house. The keeper himself was absent, but +arrived late at night, and, on hearing what was said, he roused Aymar +from his bed, insisting on having his innocence vindicated. The +divining rod, however, pronounced him guilty, and the poor fellow took +to his heels, much upon the principle recommended by Montesquieu a +while after. Said he, "If you are accused of having stolen the towers +of Notre-Dame, bolt at once." + +A peasant, taken at haphazard from the street, was brought to the +sorcerer as one suspected. The rod turned slightly, and Aymar declared +that the man did not steal the fish, but ate of them. A boy was then +introduced, who was said to be the keeper's son. The rod rotated +violently at once. This was the finishing stroke, and Aymar was sent +away by the Prince in disgrace. It now transpired that the theft of +fish had taken place seven years before, and the lad was no relation +of the keeper, but a country boy who had only been in Chantilly eight +or ten months. M. Goyonnot, Recorder of the King's Council, broke a +window in his house, and sent for the diviner, to whom he related a +story of his having been robbed of valuables during the night. Aymar +indicated the broken window as the means whereby the thief had entered +the house, and pointed out the window by which he had left it with the +booty. As no such robbery had been committed, Aymar was turned out of +the house as an impostor. A few similar cases brought him into such +disrepute that he was obliged to leave Paris, and return to Grenoble. + +Some years after, he was made use of by the MarA(C)chal Montrevel, in his +cruel pursuit of the Camisards. + +Was Aymar an impostor from first to last, or did his powers fail him +in Paris? and was it only then that he had recourse to fraud? + +Much may be said in favor of either supposition. His _exposA(C)_ at Paris +tells heavily against him, but need not be regarded as conclusive +evidence of imposture throughout his career. If he really did possess +the powers he claimed, it is not to be supposed that these existed in +full vigor under all conditions; and Paris is a place most unsuitable +for testing them, built on artificial soil, and full of disturbing +influences of every description. It has been remarked with others who +used the rod, that their powers languished under excitement, and that +the faculties had to be in repose, the attention to be concentrated on +the subject of inquiry, or the action--nervous, magnetic, or +electrical, or what you will--was impeded. + +Now, Paris, visited for the first time by a poor peasant, its +_salons_ open to him, dazzling him with their splendor, and the +novelty of finding himself in the midst of princes, dukes, marquises, +and their families, not only may have agitated the countryman to such +an extent as to deprive him of his peculiar faculty, but may have led +him into simulating what he felt had departed from him, at the moment +when he was under the eyes of the grandees of the Court. We have +analogous cases in Bleton and Angelique Cottin. The former was a +hydroscope, who fell into convulsions whenever he passed over running +water. This peculiarity was noticed in him when a child of seven years +old. When brought to Paris, he failed signally to detect the presence +of water conveyed underground by pipes and conduits, but he pretended +to feel the influence of water where there certainly was none. +Angelique Cottin was a poor girl, highly charged with electricity. Any +one touching her received a violent shock; one medical gentleman, +having seated her on his knee, was knocked clean out of his chair by +the electric fluid, which thus exhibited its sense of propriety. But +the electric condition of Angelique became feebler as she approached +Paris, and failed her altogether in the capital. + +I believe that the imagination is the principal motive force in those +who use the divining rod; but whether it is so solely, I am unable to +decide. The powers of nature are so mysterious and inscrutable that we +must be cautious in limiting them, under abnormal conditions, to the +ordinary laws of experience. + + [Illustration: {How to hold a divining rod.}] + +The manner in which the rod was used by certain persons renders +self-deception possible. The rod is generally of hazel, and is forked +like a Y; the forefingers are placed against the diverging arms of the +rod, and the elbows are brought back against the side; thus the +implement is held in front of the operator, delicately balanced before +the pit of the stomach at a distance of about eight inches. Now, if +the pressure of the balls of the digits be in the least relaxed, the +stalk of the rod will naturally fall. It has been assumed by some, +that a restoration of the pressure will bring the stem up again, +pointing towards the operator, and a little further pressure will +elevate it into a perpendicular position. A relaxation of force will +again lower it, and thus the rotation observed in the rod be +maintained. I confess myself unable to accomplish this. The lowering +of the leg of the rod is easy enough, but no efforts of mine to +produce a revolution on its axis have as yet succeeded. The muscles +which would contract the fingers upon the arms of the stick, pass the +shoulder; and it is worthy of remark that one of the medical men who +witnessed the experiments made on Bleton the hydroscope, expressly +alludes to a slight rising of the shoulders during the rotation of the +divining rod. + +But the manner of using the rod was by no means identical in all +cases. If, in all cases, it had simply been balanced between the +fingers, some probability might be given to the suggestion above made, +that the rotation was always effected by the involuntary action of the +muscles. + +The usual manner of holding the rod, however, precluded such a +possibility. The most ordinary use consisted in taking a forked stick +in such a manner that the palms were turned upwards, and the fingers +closed upon the branching arms of the rod. Some required the normal +position of the rod to be horizontal, others elevated the point, +others again depressed it. + +If the implement were straight, it was held in a similar manner, but +the hands were brought somewhat together, so as to produce a slight +arc in the rod. Some who practised rhabdomancy sustained this species +of rod between their thumbs and forefingers; or else the thumb and +forefingers were closed, and the rod rested on their points; or again +it reposed on the flat of the hand, or on the back, the hand being +held vertically and the rod held in equilibrium. + +A third species of divining rod consisted in a straight staff cut in +two: one extremity of the one half was hollowed out, the other half +was sharpened at the end, and this end was inserted in the hollow, and +the pointed stick rotated in the cavity. + + [Illustration: POSITIONS OF THE HANDS. + From "Lettres qui dA(C)couvrent l'Illusion des Philosophes sur la + Baguette." Paris, 1693.] + +The way in which Bleton used his rod is thus minutely described: "He +does not grasp it, nor warm it in his hands, and he does not regard +with preference a hazel branch lately cut and full of sap. He +places horizontally between his forefingers a rod of any kind given to +him, or picked up in the road, of any sort of wood except elder, fresh +or dry, not always forked, but sometimes merely bent. If it is +straight, it rises slightly at the extremities by little jerks, but +does not turn. If bent, it revolves on its axis with more or less +rapidity, in more or less time, according to the quantity and current +of the water. I counted from thirty to thirty-five revolutions in a +minute, and afterwards as many as eighty. A curious phenomenon is, +that Bleton is able to make the rod turn between another person's +fingers, even without seeing it or touching it, by approaching his +body towards it when his feet stand over a subterranean watercourse. +It is true, however, that the motion is much less strong and less +durable in other fingers than his own. If Bleton stood on his head, +and placed the rod between his feet, though he felt strongly the +peculiar sensations produced in him by flowing water, yet the rod +remained stationary. If he were insulated on glass, silk, or wax, the +sensations were less vivid, and the rotation of the stick ceased." + +But this experiment failed in Paris, under circumstances which either +proved that Bleton's imagination produced the movement, or that his +integrity was questionable. It is quite possible that in many +instances the action of the muscles is purely involuntary, and is +attributable to the imagination, so that the operator deceives himself +as well as others. + +This is probably the explanation of the story of Mdlle. Olivet, a +young lady of tender conscience, who was a skilful performer with the +divining rod, but shrank from putting her powers in operation, lest +she should be indulging in unlawful acts. She consulted the PA"re +Lebrun, author of a work already referred to in this paper, and he +advised her to ask God to withdraw the power from her, if the exercise +of it was harmful to her spiritual condition. She entered into retreat +for two days, and prayed with fervor. Then she made her communion, +asking God what had been recommended to her at the moment when she +received the Host. In the afternoon of the same day she made +experiment with her rod, and found that it would no longer operate. +The girl had strong faith in it before--a faith coupled with fear; and +as long as that faith was strong in her, the rod moved; now she +believed that the faculty was taken from her; and the power ceased +with the loss of her faith. + +If the divining rod is put in motion by any other force except the +involuntary action of the muscles, we must confine its powers to the +property of indicating the presence of flowing water. There are +numerous instances of hydroscopes thus detecting the existence of a +spring, or of a subterranean watercourse; the most remarkably endowed +individuals of this description are Jean-Jacques Parangue, born near +Marseilles, in 1760, who experienced a horror when near water which no +one else perceived. He was endowed with the faculty of seeing water +through the ground, says l'AbbA(C) Sauri, who gives his history. Jenny +Leslie, a Scotch girl, about the same date claimed similar powers. In +1790, Pennet, a native of DauphinA(C), attracted attention in Italy, but +when carefully tested by scientific men in Padua, his attempts to +discover buried metals failed; at Florence he was detected in an +endeavor to find out by night what had been secreted to test his +powers on the morrow. Vincent Amoretti was an Italian, who underwent +peculiar sensations when brought in proximity to water, coal, and +salt; he was skilful in the use of the rod, but made no public +exhibition of his powers. + +The rod is still employed, I have heard it asserted, by Cornish +miners; but I have never been able to ascertain that such is really +the case. The mining captains whom I have questioned invariably +repudiated all knowledge of its use. + +In Wiltshire, however, it is still employed for the purpose of +detecting water; and the following extract from a letter I have just +received will show that it is still in vogue on the Continent:-- + +"I believe the use of the divining rod for discovering springs of +water has by no means been confined to mediA|val times; for I was +personally acquainted with a lady, now deceased, who has successfully +practised with it in this way. She was a very clever and accomplished +woman; Scotch by birth and education; by no means credulous; possibly +a little imaginative, for she wrote not unsuccessfully; and of a +remarkably open and straightforward disposition. Captain C----, her +husband, had a large estate in Holstein, near Lubeck, supporting a +considerable population; and whether for the wants of the people or +for the improvement of the land, it now and then happened that an +additional well was needed. + +"On one of these occasions a man was sent for who made a regular +profession of finding water by the divining rod; there happened to be +a large party staying at the house, and the whole company turned out +to see the fun. The rod gave indications in the usual way, and water +was ultimately found at the spot. Mrs. C----, utterly sceptical, took +the rod into her own hands to make experiment, believing that she +would prove the man an impostor; and she said afterwards she was never +more frightened in her life than when it began to move, on her walking +over the spring. Several other gentlemen and ladies tried it, but it +was quite inactive in their hands. 'Well,' said the host to his wife, +'we shall have no occasion to send for the man again, as you are such +an adept.' + +"Some months after this, water was wanted in another part of the +estate, and it occurred to Mrs. C---- that she would use the rod +again. After some trials, it again gave decided indications, and a +well was begun and carried down a very considerable depth. At last she +began to shrink from incurring more expense, but the laborers had +implicit faith; and begged to be allowed to persevere. Very soon the +water burst up with such force that the men escaped with difficulty; +and this proved afterwards the most unfailing spring for miles round. + +"You will take the above for what it is worth; the facts I have given +are undoubtedly true, whatever conclusions may be drawn from them. I +do not propose that you should print my narrative, but I think in +these cases personal testimony, even indirect, is more useful in +forming one's opinion than a hundred old volumes. I did not hear it +from Mrs. C----'s own lips, but I was sufficiently acquainted with her +to form a very tolerable estimate of her character; and my wife, who +has known her intimately from her own childhood, was in her younger +days often staying with her for months together." + +I remember having been much perplexed by reading a series of +experiments made with a pendulous ring over metals, by a Mr. Mayo: he +ascertained that it oscillated in various directions under peculiar +circumstances, when suspended by a thread over the ball of the thumb. +I instituted a series of experiments, and was surprised to find the +ring vibrate in an unaccountable manner in opposite directions over +different metals. On consideration, I closed my eyes whilst the ring +was oscillating over gold, and on opening them I found that it had +become stationary. I got a friend to change the metals whilst I was +blindfolded--the ring no longer vibrated. I was thus enabled to judge +of the involuntary action of muscles, quite sufficient to have +deceived an eminent medical man like Mr. Mayo, and to have perplexed +me till I succeeded in solving the mystery.[24] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] Hos. iv. 12. + +[24] A similar series of experiments was undertaken, as I learned +afterwards, by M. Chevreuil in Paris, with similar results. + + + + +The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. + + +One of the most picturesque myths of ancient days is that which forms +the subject of this article. It is thus told by Jacques de Voragine, +in his "Legenda Aurea:"-- + + "The seven sleepers were natives of Ephesus. The Emperor + Decius, who persecuted the Christians, having come to + Ephesus, ordered the erection of temples in the city, that + all might come and sacrifice before him; and he commanded + that the Christians should be sought out and given their + choice, either to worship the idols, or to die. So great was + the consternation in the city, that the friend denounced his + friend, the father his son, and the son his father. + + "Now there were in Ephesus seven Christians, Maximian, + Malchus, Marcian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine + by name. These refused to sacrifice to the idols, and + remained in their houses praying and fasting. They were + accused before Decius, and they confessed themselves to be + Christians. However, the emperor gave them a little time to + consider what line they would adopt. They took advantage of + this reprieve to dispense their goods among the poor, and + then they retired, all seven, to Mount Celion, where they + determined to conceal themselves. + + "One of their number, Malchus, in the disguise of a + physician, went to the town to obtain victuals. Decius, who + had been absent from Ephesus for a little while, returned, + and gave orders for the seven to be sought. Malchus, having + escaped from the town, fled, full of fear, to his comrades, + and told them of the emperor's fury. They were much alarmed; + and Malchus handed them the loaves he had bought, bidding + them eat, that, fortified by the food, they might have + courage in the time of trial. They ate, and then, as they sat + weeping and speaking to one another, by the will of God they + fell asleep. + + "The pagans sought everywhere, but could not find them, and + Decius was greatly irritated at their escape. He had their + parents brought before him, and threatened them with death + if they did not reveal the place of concealment; but they + could only answer that the seven young men had distributed + their goods to the poor, and that they were quite ignorant as + to their whereabouts. + + "Decius, thinking it possible that they might be hiding in a + cavern, blocked up the mouth with stones, that they might + perish of hunger. + + "Three hundred and sixty years passed, and in the thirtieth + year of the reign of Theodosius, there broke forth a heresy + denying the resurrection of the dead.... + + "Now, it happened that an Ephesian was building a stable on + the side of Mount Celion, and finding a pile of stones handy, + he took them for his edifice, and thus opened the mouth of + the cave. Then the seven sleepers awoke, and it was to them + as if they had slept but a single night. They began to ask + Malchus what decision Decius had given concerning them. + + "'He is going to hunt us down, so as to force us to sacrifice + to the idols,' was his reply. 'God knows,' replied Maximian, + 'we shall never do that.' Then exhorting his companions, he + urged Malchus to go back to the town to buy some more bread, + and at the same time to obtain fresh information. Malchus + took five coins and left the cavern. On seeing the stones he + was filled with astonishment; however, he went on towards the + city; but what was his bewilderment, on approaching the gate, + to see over it a cross! He went to another gate, and there he + beheld the same sacred sign; and so he observed it over each + gate of the city. He believed that he was suffering from the + effects of a dream. Then he entered Ephesus, rubbing his + eyes, and he walked to a baker's shop. He heard people using + our Lord's name, and he was the more perplexed. 'Yesterday, + no one dared pronounce the name of Jesus, and now it is on + every one's lips. Wonderful! I can hardly believe myself to + be in Ephesus.' He asked a passer-by the name of the city, + and on being told it was Ephesus, he was thunderstruck. Now + he entered a baker's shop, and laid down his money. The + baker, examining the coin, inquired whether he had found a + treasure, and began to whisper to some others in the shop. + The youth, thinking that he was discovered, and that they + were about to conduct him to the emperor, implored them to + let him alone, offering to leave loaves and money if he might + only be suffered to escape. But the shop-men, seizing him, + said, 'Whoever you are, you have found a treasure; show us + where it is, that we may share it with you, and then we will + hide you.' Malchus was too frightened to answer. So they put + a rope round his neck, and drew him through the streets into + the market-place. The news soon spread that the young man had + discovered a great treasure, and there was presently a vast + crowd about him. He stoutly protested his innocence. No one + recognized him, and his eyes, ranging over the faces which + surrounded him, could not see one which he had known, or + which was in the slightest degree familiar to him. + + "St. Martin, the bishop, and Antipater, the governor, having + heard of the excitement, ordered the young man to be brought + before them, along with the bakers. + + "The bishop and the governor asked him where he had found the + treasure, and he replied that he had found none, but that the + few coins were from his own purse. He was next asked whence + he came. He replied that he was a native of Ephesus, 'if this + be Ephesus.' + + "'Send for your relations--your parents, if they live here,' + ordered the governor. + + "'They live here, certainly,' replied the youth; and he + mentioned their names. No such names were known in the town. + Then the governor exclaimed, 'How dare you say that this + money belonged to your parents when it dates back three + hundred and seventy-seven years,[25] and is as old as the + beginning of the reign of Decius, and it is utterly unlike + our modern coinage? Do you think to impose on the old men and + sages of Ephesus? Believe me, I shall make you suffer the + severities of the law till you show where you made the + discovery.' + + "'I implore you,' cried Malchus, 'in the name of God, answer + me a few questions, and then I will answer yours. Where is + the Emperor Decius gone to?' + + "The bishop answered, 'My son, there is no emperor of that + name; he who was thus called died long ago.' + + "Malchus replied, 'All I hear perplexes me more and more. + Follow me, and I will show you my comrades, who fled with me + into a cave of Mount Celion, only yesterday, to escape the + cruelty of Decius. I will lead you to them.' + + "The bishop turned to the governor. 'The hand of God is + here,' he said. Then they followed, and a great crowd after + them. And Malchus entered first into the cavern to his + companions, and the bishop after him.... And there they saw + the martyrs seated in the cave, with their faces fresh and + blooming as roses; so all fell down and glorified God. The + bishop and the governor sent notice to Theodosius, and he + hurried to Ephesus. All the inhabitants met him and conducted + him to the cavern. As soon as the saints beheld the emperor, + their faces shone like the sun, and the emperor gave thanks + unto God, and embraced them, and said, 'I see you, as though + I saw the Savior restoring Lazarus.' Maximian replied, + 'Believe us! for the faith's sake, God has resuscitated us + before the great resurrection day, in order that you may + believe firmly in the resurrection of the dead. For as the + child is in its mother's womb living and not suffering, so + have we lived without suffering, fast asleep.' And having + thus spoken, they bowed their heads, and their souls + returned to their Maker. The emperor, rising, bent over them + and embraced them weeping. He gave them orders for golden + reliquaries to be made, but that night they appeared to him + in a dream, and said that hitherto they had slept in the + earth, and that in the earth they desired to sleep on till + God should raise them again." + +Such is the beautiful story. It seems to have travelled to us from the +East. Jacobus Sarugiensis, a Mesopotamian bishop, in the fifth or +sixth century, is said to have been the first to commit it to writing. +Gregory of Tours (De Glor. Mart. i. 9) was perhaps the first to +introduce it to Europe. Dionysius of Antioch (ninth century) told the +story in Syrian, and Photius of Constantinople reproduced it, with the +remark that Mahomet had adopted it into the Koran. Metaphrastus +alludes to it as well; in the tenth century Eutychius inserted it in +his annals of Arabia; it is found in the Coptic and the Maronite +books, and several early historians, as Paulus Diaconus, Nicephorus, +&c., have inserted it in their works. + +A poem on the Seven Sleepers was composed by a trouvA"re named +Chardri, and is mentioned by M. Fr. Michel in his "Rapports Ministre +de l'Instruction Public;" a German poem on the same subject, of the +thirteenth century, in 935 verses, has been published by M. Karajan; +and the Spanish poet, Augustin Morreto, composed a drama on it, +entitled "Los Siete Durmientes," which is inserted in the 19th volume +of the rare work, "Comedias Nuevas Escogidas de los Mejores Ingenios." + +Mahomet has somewhat improved on the story. He has made the Sleepers +prophesy his coming, and he has given them a dog named Kratim, or +Kratimir, which sleeps with them, and which is endowed with the gift +of prophecy. + +As a special favor this dog is to be one of the ten animals to be +admitted into his paradise, the others being Jonah's whale, Solomon's +ant, Ishmael's ram, Abraham's calf, the Queen of Sheba's ass, the +prophet Salech's camel, Moses' ox, Belkis' cuckoo, and Mahomet's ass. + +It was perhaps too much for the Seven Sleepers to ask, that their +bodies should be left to rest in earth. In ages when saintly relics +were valued above gold and precious stones, their request was sure to +be shelved; and so we find that their remains were conveyed to +Marseilles in a large stone sarcophagus, which is still exhibited in +St. Victor's Church. In the MusA|um Victorium at Rome is a curious and +ancient representation of them in a cement of sulphur and plaster. +Their names are engraved beside them, together with certain +attributes. Near Constantine and John are two clubs, near Maximian a +knotty club, near Malchus and Martinian two axes, near Serapion a +burning torch, and near Danesius or Dionysius a great nail, such as +those spoken of by Horace (Lib. 1, Od. 3) and St. Paulinus (Nat. 9, or +Carm. 24) as having been used for torture. + +In this group of figures, the seven are represented as young, without +beards, and indeed in ancient martyrologies they are frequently called +boys. + +It has been inferred from this curious plaster representation, that +the seven may have suffered under Decius, A. D. 250, and have been +buried in the afore-mentioned cave; whilst the discovery and +translation of their relics under Theodosius, in 479, may have given +rise to the fable. And this I think probable enough. The story of +long sleepers and the number seven connected with it is ancient +enough, and dates from heathen mythology. + +Like many another ancient myth, it was laid hold of by Christian hands +and baptized. + +Pliny relates the story of Epimenides the epic poet, who, when tending +his sheep one hot day, wearied and oppressed with slumber, retreated +into a cave, where he fell asleep. After fifty-seven years he awoke, +and found every thing changed. His brother, whom he had left a +stripling, was now a hoary man. + +Epimenides was reckoned one of the seven sages by those who exclude +Periander. He flourished in the time of Solon. After his death, at the +age of two hundred and eighty-nine, he was revered as a god, and +honored especially by the Athenians. + +This story is a version of the older legend of the perpetual sleep of +the shepherd Endymion, who was thus preserved in unfading youth and +beauty by Jupiter. + +According to an Arabic legend, St. George thrice rose from his grave, +and was thrice slain. + +In Scandinavian mythology we have Siegfrid or Sigurd thus resting, +and awaiting his call to come forth and fight. Charlemagne sleeps in +the Odenberg in Hess, or in the Untersberg near Salzburg, seated on +his throne, with his crown on his head and his sword at his side, +waiting till the times of Antichrist are fulfilled, when he will wake +and burst forth to avenge the blood of the saints. Ogier the Dane, or +Olger Dansk, will in like manner shake off his slumber and come forth +from the dream-land of Avallon to avenge the right--O that he had +shown himself in the Schleswig-Holstein war! + +Well do I remember, as a child, contemplating with wondering awe the +great KyffhA¤userberg in Thuringia, for therein, I was told, slept +Frederic Barbarossa and his six knights. A shepherd once penetrated +into the heart of the mountain by a cave, and discovered therein a +hall where sat the emperor at a stone table, and his red beard had +grown through the slab. At the tread of the shepherd Frederic awoke +from his slumber, and asked, "Do the ravens still fly over the +mountains?" + +"Sire, they do." + +"Then we must sleep another hundred years." + +But when his beard has wound itself thrice round the table, then will +the emperor awake with his knights, and rush forth to release Germany +from its bondage, and exalt it to the first place among the kingdoms +of Europe. + +In Switzerland slumber three Tells at Rutli, near the +VierwaldstA¤tter-see, waiting for the hour of their country's direst +need. A shepherd crept into the cave where they rest. The third Tell +rose and asked the time. "Noon," replied the shepherd lad. "The time +is not yet come," said Tell, and lay down again. + +In Scotland, beneath the Eilden hills, sleeps Thomas of Erceldoune; +the murdered French who fell in the Sicilian Vespers at Palermo are +also slumbering till the time is come when they may wake to avenge +themselves. When Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, a +priest was celebrating the sacred mysteries at the great silver altar +of St. Sophia. The celebrant cried to God to protect the sacred host +from profanation. Then the wall opened, and he entered, bearing the +Blessed Sacrament. It closed on him, and there he is sleeping with +his head bowed before the Body of Our Lord, waiting till the Turk is +cast out of Constantinople, and St. Sophia is released from its +profanation. God speed the time! + +In Bohemia sleep three miners deep in the heart of the Kuttenberg. In +North America Rip Van Winkle passed twenty years slumbering in the +Katskill mountains. In Portugal it is believed that Sebastian, the +chivalrous young monarch who did his best to ruin his country by his +rash invasion of Morocco, is sleeping somewhere; but he will wake +again to be his country's deliverer in the hour of need. Olaf +Tryggvason is waiting a similar occasion in Norway. Even Napoleon +Bonaparte is believed among some of the French peasantry to be +sleeping on in a like manner. + +St. Hippolytus relates that St. John the Divine is slumbering at +Ephesus, and Sir John Mandeville relates the circumstances as follows: +"From Pathmos men gone unto Ephesim a fair citee and nyghe to the see. +And there dyede Seynte Johne, and was buryed behynde the highe +Awtiere, in a toumbe. And there is a faire chirche. For Christene mene +weren wont to holden that place alweyes. And in the tombe of Seynt +John is noughte but manna, that is clept Aungeles mete. For his body +was translated into Paradys. And Turkes holden now alle that place and +the citee and the Chirche. And all Asie the lesse is yclept Turkye. +And ye shalle undrestond, that Seynt Johne bid make his grave there in +his Lyf, and leyd himself there-inne all quyk. And therefore somme men +seyn, that he dyed noughte, but that he resteth there till the Day of +Doom. And forsoothe there is a gret marveule: For men may see there +the erthe of the tombe apertly many tymes steren and moven, as there +weren quykke thinges undre." The connection of this legend of St. John +with Ephesus may have had something to do with turning the seven +martyrs of that city into seven sleepers. + +The annals of Iceland relate that, in 1403, a Finn of the name of +Fethmingr, living in Halogaland, in the North of Norway, happening to +enter a cave, fell asleep, and woke not for three whole years, lying +with his bow and arrows at his side, untouched by bird or beast. + +There certainly are authentic accounts of persons having slept for an +extraordinary length of time, but I shall not mention any, as I +believe the legend we are considering, not to have been an +exaggeration of facts, but a Christianized myth of paganism. The fact +of the number seven being so prominent in many of the tales, seems to +lead to this conclusion. Barbarossa changes his position every seven +years. Charlemagne starts in his chair at similar intervals. Olger +Dansk stamps his iron mace on the floor once every seven years. Olaf +Redbeard in Sweden uncloses his eyes at precisely the same distances +of time. + +I believe that the mythological core of this picturesque legend is the +repose of the earth through the seven winter months. In the North, +Frederic and Charlemagne certainly replace Odin. + +The German and Scandinavian still heathen legends represent the heroes +as about to issue forth for the defence of Fatherland in the hour of +direst need. The converted and Christianized tale brings the martyr +youths forth in the hour when a heresy is afflicting the Church, that +they may destroy the heresy by their witness to the truth of the +Resurrection. + +If there is something majestic in the heathen myth, there are +singular grace and beauty in the Christian tale, teaching, as it does, +such a glorious doctrine; but it is surpassed in delicacy by the +modern form which the same myth has assumed--a form which is a real +transformation, leaving the doctrine taught the same. It has been made +into a romance by Hoffman, and is versified by Trinius. I may perhaps +be allowed to translate with some freedom the poem of the latter:-- + + In an ancient shaft of Falun + Year by year a body lay, + God-preserved, as though a treasure, + Kept unto the waking day. + + Not the turmoil, nor the passions, + Of the busy world o'erhead, + Sounds of war, or peace rejoicings, + Could disturb the placid dead. + + Once a youthful miner, whistling, + Hewed the chamber, now his tomb: + Crash! the rocky fragments tumbled, + Closed him in abysmal gloom. + + Sixty years passed by, ere miners + Toiling, hundred fathoms deep, + Broke upon the shaft where rested + That poor miner in his sleep. + + As the gold-grains lie untarnished + In the dingy soil and sand, + Till they gleam and flicker, stainless, + In the digger's sifting hand;-- + + As the gem in virgin brilliance + Rests, till ushered into day;-- + So uninjured, uncorrupted, + Fresh and fair the body lay. + + And the miners bore it upward, + Laid it in the yellow sun; + Up, from out the neighboring houses, + Fast the curious peasants run. + + "Who is he?" with eyes they question; + "Who is he?" they ask aloud; + Hush! a wizened hag comes hobbling, + Panting, through the wondering crowd. + + O! the cry,--half joy, half sorrow,-- + As she flings her at his side: + "John! the sweetheart of my girlhood, + Here am I, am I, thy bride. + + "Time on thee has left no traces, + Death from wear has shielded thee; + I am agA(C)d, worn, and wasted, + O! what life has done to me!" + + Then his smooth, unfurrowed forehead + Kissed that ancient withered crone; + And the Death which had divided + Now united them in one. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[25] This calculation is sadly inaccurate. + + + + +William Tell. + + +I suppose that most people regard William Tell, the hero of +Switzerland, as an historical character, and visit the scenes made +memorable by his exploits, with corresponding interest, when they +undertake the regular Swiss round. + +It is one of the painful duties of the antiquarian to dispel many a +popular belief, and to probe the groundlessness of many an historical +statement. The antiquarian is sometimes disposed to ask with Pilate, +"What is truth?" when he finds historical facts crumbling beneath his +touch into mythological fables; and he soon learns to doubt and +question the most emphatic declarations of, and claims to, +reliability. + +Sir Walter Raleigh, in his prison, was composing the second volume of +his History of the World. Leaning on the sill of his window, he +meditated on the duties of the historian to mankind, when suddenly +his attention was attracted by a disturbance in the court-yard before +his cell. He saw one man strike another whom he supposed by his dress +to be an officer; the latter at once drew his sword, and ran the +former through the body. The wounded man felled his adversary with a +stick, and then sank upon the pavement. At this juncture the guard +came up, and carried off the officer insensible, and then the corpse +of the man who had been run through. + +Next day Raleigh was visited by an intimate friend, to whom he related +the circumstances of the quarrel and its issue. To his astonishment, +his friend unhesitatingly declared that the prisoner had mistaken the +whole series of incidents which had passed before his eyes. + +The supposed officer was not an officer at all, but the servant of a +foreign ambassador; it was he who had dealt the first blow; he had not +drawn his sword, but the other had snatched it from his side, and had +run _him_ through the body before any one could interfere; whereupon a +stranger from among the crowd knocked the murderer down with his +stick, and some of the foreigners belonging to the ambassador's +retinue carried off the corpse. The friend of Raleigh added that +government had ordered the arrest and immediate trial of the murderer, +as the man assassinated was one of the principal servants of the +Spanish ambassador. + +"Excuse me," said Raleigh, "but I cannot have been deceived as you +suppose, for I was eye-witness to the events which took place under my +own window, and the man fell there on that spot where you see a +paving-stone standing up above the rest." + +"My dear Raleigh," replied his friend, "I was sitting on that stone +when the fray took place, and I received this slight scratch on my +cheek in snatching the sword from the murderer; and upon my word of +honor, you have been deceived upon every particular." + +Sir Walter, when alone, took up the second volume of his History, +which was in MS., and contemplating it, thought--"If I cannot believe +my own eyes, how can I be assured of the truth of a tithe of the +events which happened ages before I was born?" and he flung the +manuscript into the fire.[26] + +Now, I think that I can show that the story of William Tell is as +fabulous as--what shall I say? any other historical event. + +It is almost too well known to need repetition. + +In the year 1307, Gessler, Vogt of the Emperor Albert of Hapsburg, set +a hat on a pole, as symbol of imperial power, and ordered every one +who passed by to do obeisance towards it. A mountaineer of the name of +Tell boldly traversed the space before it without saluting the +abhorred symbol. By Gessler's command he was at once seized and +brought before him. As Tell was known to be an expert archer, he was +ordered, by way of punishment, to shoot an apple off the head of his +own son. Finding remonstrance vain, he submitted. The apple was placed +on the child's head, Tell bent his bow, the arrow sped, and apple and +arrow fell together to the ground. But the Vogt noticed that Tell, +before shooting, had stuck another arrow into his belt, and he +inquired the reason. + +"It was for you," replied the sturdy archer. "Had I shot my child, +know that it would not have missed your heart." + +This event, observe, took place in the beginning of the fourteenth +century. But Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish writer of the twelfth century, +tells the story of a hero of his own country, who lived in the tenth +century. He relates the incident in horrible style as follows:-- + +"Nor ought what follows to be enveloped in silence. Toki, who had for +some time been in the king's service, had, by his deeds, surpassing +those of his comrades, made enemies of his virtues. One day, when he +had drunk too much, he boasted to those who sat at table with him, +that his skill in archery was such, that with the first shot of an +arrow he could hit the smallest apple set on the top of a stick at a +considerable distance. His detractors, hearing this, lost no time in +conveying what he had said to the king (Harald Bluetooth). But the +wickedness of this monarch soon transformed the confidence of the +father to the jeopardy of the son, for he ordered the dearest pledge +of his life to stand in place of the stick, from whom, if the utterer +of the boast did not at his first shot strike down the apple, he +should with his head pay the penalty of having made an idle boast. The +command of the king urged the soldier to do this, which was so much +more than he had undertaken, the detracting artifices of the others +having taken advantage of words spoken when he was hardly sober. As +soon as the boy was led forth, Toki carefully admonished him to +receive the whir of the arrow as calmly as possible, with attentive +ears, and without moving his head, lest by a slight motion of the body +he should frustrate the experience of his well-tried skill. He also +made him stand with his back towards him, lest he should be frightened +at the sight of the arrow. Then he drew three arrows from his quiver, +and the very first he shot struck the proposed mark. Toki being asked +by the king why he had taken so many more arrows out of his quiver, +when he was to make but one trial with his bow, 'That I might avenge +on thee,' he replied, 'the error of the first, by the points of the +others, lest my innocence might happen to be afflicted, and thy +injustice go unpunished.'" + +The same incident is told of Egil, brother of the mythical Velundr, +in the Saga of Thidrik. + +In Norwegian history also it appears with variations again and again. +It is told of King Olaf the Saint (d. 1030), that, desiring the +conversion of a brave heathen named Eindridi, he competed with him in +various athletic sports; he swam with him, wrestled, and then shot +with him. The king dared Eindridi to strike a writing-tablet from off +his son's head with an arrow. Eindridi prepared to attempt the +difficult shot. The king bade two men bind the eyes of the child and +hold the napkin, so that he might not move when he heard the whistle +of the arrow. The king aimed first, and the arrow grazed the lad's +head. Eindridi then prepared to shoot; but the mother of the boy +interfered, and persuaded the king to abandon this dangerous test of +skill. In this version, also, Eindridi is prepared to revenge himself +on the king, should the child be injured. + +But a closer approximation still to the Tell myth is found in the life +of Hemingr, another Norse archer, who was challenged by King Harald, +Sigurd's son (d. 1066). The story is thus told:-- + +"The island was densely overgrown with wood, and the people went into +the forest. The king took a spear and set it with its point in the +soil, then he laid an arrow on the string and shot up into the air. +The arrow turned in the air and came down upon the spear-shaft and +stood up in it. Hemingr took another arrow and shot up; his was lost +to sight for some while, but it came back and pierced the nick of the +king's arrow.... Then the king took a knife and stuck it into an oak; +he next drew his bow and planted an arrow in the haft of the knife. +Thereupon Hemingr took his arrows. The king stood by him and said, +'They are all inlaid with gold; you are a capital workman.' Hemingr +answered, 'They are not my manufacture, but are presents.' He shot, +and his arrow cleft the haft, and the point entered the socket of the +blade. + +"'We must have a keener contest,' said the king, taking an arrow and +flushing with anger; then he laid the arrow on the string and drew his +bow to the farthest, so that the horns were nearly brought to meet. +Away flashed the arrow, and pierced a tender twig. All said that this +was a most astonishing feat of dexterity. But Hemingr shot from a +greater distance, and split a hazel nut. All were astonished to see +this. Then said the king, 'Take a nut and set it on the head of your +brother Bjorn, and aim at it from precisely the same distance. If you +miss the mark, then your life goes.' + +"Hemingr answered, 'Sire, my life is at your disposal, but I will not +adventure that shot.' Then out spake Bjorn--'Shoot, brother, rather +than die yourself.' Hemingr said, 'Have you the pluck to stand quite +still without shrinking?' 'I will do my best,' said Bjorn. 'Then let +the king stand by,' said Hemingr, 'and let him see whether I touch the +nut.' + +"The king agreed, and bade Oddr Ufeigs' son stand by Bjorn, and see +that the shot was fair. Hemingr then went to the spot fixed for him by +the king, and signed himself with the cross, saying, 'God be my +witness that I had rather die myself than injure my brother Bjorn; let +all the blame rest on King Harald.' + +"Then Hemingr flung his spear. The spear went straight to the mark, +and passed between the nut and the crown of the lad, who was not in +the least injured. It flew farther, and stopped not till it fell. + +"Then the king came up and asked Oddr what he thought about the +shot." + +Years after, this risk was revenged upon the hard-hearted monarch. In +the battle of Stamfordbridge an arrow from a skilled archer penetrated +the windpipe of the king, and it is supposed to have sped, observes +the Saga writer, from the bow of Hemingr, then in the service of the +English monarch. + +The story is related somewhat differently in the Faroe Isles, and is +told of Geyti, Aslak's son. The same Harald asks his men if they know +who is his match in strength. "Yes," they reply; "there is a peasant's +son in the uplands, Geyti, son of Aslak, who is the strongest of men." +Forth goes the king, and at last rides up to the house of Aslak. "And +where is your youngest son?" + +"Alas! alas! he lies under the green sod of Kolrin kirkgarth." "Come, +then, and show me his corpse, old man, that I may judge whether he was +as stout of limb as men say." + +The father puts the king off with the excuse that among so many dead +it would be hard to find his boy. So the king rides away over the +heath. He meets a stately man returning from the chase, with a bow +over his shoulder. "And who art thou, friend?" "Geyti, Aslak's son." +The dead man, in short, alive and well. The king tells him he has +heard of his prowess, and is come to match his strength with him. So +Geyti and the king try a swimming-match. + +The king swims well; but Geyti swims better, and in the end gives the +monarch such a ducking, that he is borne to his house devoid of sense +and motion. Harald swallows his anger, as he had swallowed the water, +and bids Geyti shoot a hazel nut from off his brother's head. Aslak's +son consents, and invites the king into the forest to witness his +dexterity. + + "On the string the shaft he laid, + And God hath heard his prayer; + He shot the little nut away, + Nor hurt the lad a hair." + +Next day the king sends for the skilful bowman:-- + + "List thee, Geyti, Aslak's son, + And truly tell to me, + Wherefore hadst thou arrows twain + In the wood yestreen with thee?" + +The bowman replies,-- + + "Therefore had I arrows twain + Yestreen in the wood with me, + Had I but hurt my brother dear, + The other had piercA(C)d thee." + +A very similar tale is told also in the celebrated Malleus Maleficarum +of a man named Puncher, with this difference, that a coin is placed on +the lad's head instead of an apple or a nut. The person who had dared +Puncher to the test of skill, inquires the use of the second arrow in +his belt, and receives the usual answer, that if the first arrow had +missed the coin, the second would have transfixed a certain heart +which was destitute of natural feeling. + +We have, moreover, our English version of the same story in the +venerable ballad of William of Cloudsley. + +The Finn ethnologist CastrA(C)n obtained the following tale in the +Finnish village of Uhtuwa:-- + +A fight took place between some freebooters and the inhabitants of the +village of AlajA¤wi. The robbers plundered every house, and carried off +amongst their captives an old man. As they proceeded with their spoils +along the strand of the lake, a lad of twelve years old appeared from +among the reeds on the opposite bank, armed with a bow, and amply +provided with arrows; he threatened to shoot down the captors unless +the old man, his father, were restored to him. The robbers mockingly +replied that the aged man would be given to him if he could shoot an +apple off his head. The boy accepted the challenge, and on +successfully accomplishing it, the surrender of the venerable captive +was made. + +Farid-Uddin A,ttar was a Persian dealer in perfumes, born in the year +1119. He one day was so impressed with the sight of a dervish, that he +sold his possessions, and followed righteousness. He composed the poem +Mantic UttaA-r, or the language of birds. Observe, the Persian A,ttar +lived at the same time as the Danish Saxo, and long before the birth +of Tell. Curiously enough, we find a trace of the Tell myth in the +pages of his poem. According to him, however, the king shoots the +apple from the head of a beloved page, and the lad dies from sheer +fright, though the arrow does not even graze his skin. + +The coincidence of finding so many versions of the same story +scattered through countries as remote as Persia and Iceland, +Switzerland and Denmark, proves, I think, that it can in no way be +regarded as history, but is rather one of the numerous household myths +common to the whole stock of Aryan nations. Probably, some one more +acquainted with Sanskrit literature than myself, and with better +access to its unpublished stores of fable and legend, will some day +light on an early Indian tale corresponding to that so prevalent among +other branches of the same family. The coincidence of the Tell myth +being discovered among the Finns is attributable to Russian or Swedish +influence. I do not regard it as a primeval Turanian, but as an Aryan +story, which, like an erratic block, is found deposited on foreign +soil far from the mountain whence it was torn. + +German mythologists, I suppose, consider the myth to represent the +manifestation of some natural phenomena, and the individuals of the +story to be impersonifications of natural forces. Most primeval +stories were thus constructed, and their origin is traceable enough. +In Thorn-rose, for instance, who can fail to see the earth goddess +represented by the sleeping beauty in her long winter slumber, only +returning to life when kissed by the golden-haired sun-god PhA"bus +or Baldur? But the Tell myth has not its signification thus painted +on the surface; and those who suppose Gessler or Harald to be the +power of evil and darkness,--the bold archer to be the storm-cloud +with his arrow of lightning and his iris bow, bent against the sun, +which is resting like a coin or a golden apple on the edge of the +horizon, are over-straining their theories, and exacting too much from +our credulity. + +In these pages and elsewhere I have shown how some of the ancient +myths related by the whole Aryan family of nations are reducible to +allegorical explanations of certain well-known natural phenomena; but +I must protest against the manner in which our German friends fasten +rapaciously upon every atom of history, sacred and profane, and +demonstrate all heroes to represent the sun; all villains to be the +demons of night or winter; all sticks and spears and arrows to be the +lightning; all cows and sheep and dragons and swans to be clouds. + +In a work on the superstition of Werewolves, I have entered into this +subject with some fulness, and am quite prepared to admit the premises +upon which mythologists construct their theories; at the same time I +am not disposed to run to the extravagant lengths reached by some of +the most enthusiastic German scholars. A wholesome warning to these +gentlemen was given some years ago by an ingenious French +ecclesiastic, who wrote the following argument to prove that Napoleon +Bonaparte was a mythological character. Archbishop Whately's "Historic +Doubts" was grounded on a totally different line of argument; I +subjoin the other, as a curiosity and as a caution. + +Napoleon is, says the writer, an impersonification of the sun. + +1. Between the name Napoleon and Apollo, or Apoleon, the god of the +sun, there is but a trifling difference; indeed, the seeming +difference is lessened, if we take the spelling of his name from the +column of the Place VendA'me, where it stands NA(C)apoleA cubed. But this +syllable _Ne_ prefixed to the name of the sun-god is of importance; +like the rest of the name it is of Greek origin, and is I1/2I. or I1/2I+-I¹, +a particle of affirmation, as though indicating Napoleon as the very +true Apollo, or sun. + +His other name, Bonaparte, makes this apparent connection between the +French hero and the luminary of the firmament conclusively certain. +The day has its two parts, the good and luminous portion, and that +which is bad and dark. To the sun belongs the good part, to the moon +and stars belongs the bad portion. It is therefore natural that Apollo +or NA(C)-ApoleA cubedn should receive the surname of _Bonaparte_. + +2. Apollo was born in Delos, a Mediterranean island; Napoleon in +Corsica, an island in the same sea. According to Pausanias, Apollo was +an Egyptian deity; and in the mythological history of the fabulous +Napoleon we find the hero in Egypt, regarded by the inhabitants with +veneration, and receiving their homage. + +3. The mother of Napoleon was said to be Letitia, which signifies joy, +and is an impersonification of the dawn of light dispensing joy and +gladness to all creation. Letitia is no other than the break of day, +which in a manner brings the sun into the world, and "with rosy +fingers opes the gates of Day." It is significant that the Greek name +for the mother of Apollo was Leto. From this the Romans made the name +Latona, which they gave to his mother. But _LA|to_ is the unused form +of the verb _lA|tor_, and signified to inspire joy; it is from this +unused form that the substantive _Letitia_ is derived. The identity, +then, of the mother of Napoleon with the Greek Leto and the Latin +Latona, is established conclusively. + +4. According to the popular story, this son of Letitia had three +sisters; and was it not the same with the Greek deity, who had the +three Graces? + +5. The modern Gallic Apollo had four brothers. It is impossible not to +discern here the anthropomorphosis of the four seasons. But, it will +be objected, the seasons should be females. Here the French language +interposes; for in French the seasons are masculine, with the +exception of autumn, upon the gender of which grammarians are +undecided, whilst Autumnus in Latin is not more feminine than the +other seasons. This difficulty is therefore trifling, and what follows +removes all shadow of doubt. + +Of the four brothers of Napoleon, three are said to have been kings, +and these of course are, Spring reigning over the flowers, Summer +reigning over the harvest, Autumn holding sway over the fruits. And as +these three seasons owe all to the powerful influence of the Sun, we +are told in the popular myth that the three brothers of Napoleon drew +their authority from him, and received from him their kingdoms. But if +it be added that, of the four brothers of Napoleon, one was not a +king, that was because he is the impersonification of Winter, which +has no reign over anything. If, however, it be asserted, in +contradiction, that the winter has an empire, he will be given the +principality over snows and frosts, which, in the dreary season of the +year, whiten the face of the earth. Well, the fourth brother of +Napoleon is thus invested by popular tradition, commonly called +history, with a vain principality accorded to him _in the decline of +the power of Napoleon_. The principality was that of Canino, a name +derived from _cani_, or the whitened hairs of a frozen old age,--true +emblem of winter. To the eyes of poets, the forests covering the hills +are their hair, and when winter frosts them, they represent the snowy +locks of a decrepit nature in the old age of the year:-- + + "Cum gelidus crescit _canis_ in montibus humor." + +Consequently the Prince of Canino is an impersonification of +winter;--winter whose reign begins when the kingdoms of the three fine +seasons are passed from them, and when the sun is driven from his +power by the children of the North, as the poets call the boreal +winds. This is the origin of the fabulous invasion of France by the +allied armies of the North. The story relates that these invaders--the +northern gales--banished the many-colored flag, and replaced it by a +white standard. This too is a graceful, but, at the same time, purely +fabulous account of the Northern winds driving all the brilliant +colors from the face of the soil, to replace them by the snowy sheet. + +6. Napoleon is said to have had two wives. It is well known that the +classic fable gave two also to Apollo. These two were the moon and the +earth. Plutarch asserts that the Greeks gave the moon to Apollo for +wife, whilst the Egyptians attributed to him the earth. By the moon he +had no posterity, but by the other he had one son only, the little +Horus. This is an Egyptian allegory, representing the fruits of +agriculture produced by the earth fertilized by the Sun. The pretended +son of the fabulous Napoleon is said to have been born on the 20th of +March, the season of the spring equinox, when agriculture is assuming +its greatest period of activity. + +7. Napoleon is said to have released France from the devastating +scourge which terrorized over the country, the hydra of the +revolution, as it was popularly called. Who cannot see in this a +Gallic version of the Greek legend of Apollo releasing Hellas from the +terrible Python? The very name _revolution_, derived from the Latin +verb _revolvo_, is indicative of the coils of a serpent like the +Python. + +8. The famous hero of the 19th century had, it is asserted, twelve +Marshals at the head of his armies, and four who were stationary and +inactive. The twelve first, as may be seen at once, are the signs of +the zodiac, marching under the orders of the sun Napoleon, and each +commanding a division of the innumerable host of stars, which are +parted into twelve portions, corresponding to the twelve signs. As for +the four stationary officers, immovable in the midst of general +motion, they are the cardinal points. + +9. It is currently reported that the chief of these brilliant armies, +after having gloriously traversed the Southern kingdoms, penetrated +North, and was there unable to maintain his sway. This too represents +the course of the Sun, which assumes its greatest power in the South, +but after the spring equinox seeks to reach the North; and after a +_three months'_ march towards the boreal regions, is driven back upon +his traces following the sign of Cancer, a sign given to represent +the retrogression of the sun in that portion of the sphere. It is on +this that the story of the march of Napoleon towards Moscow, and his +humbling retreat, is founded. + +10. Finally, the sun rises in the East and sets in the Western sea. +The poets picture him rising out of the waters in the East, and +setting in the ocean after his twelve hours' reign in the sky. Such is +the history of Napoleon, coming from his Mediterranean isle, holding +the reins of government for twelve years, and finally disappearing in +the mysterious regions of the great Atlantic. + +To those who see in Samson, the image of the sun, the correlative of +the classic Hercules, this clever skit of the accomplished French AbbA(C) +may prove of value as a caution. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] This anecdote is taken from the _Journal de Paris_, May, 1787; +but whence did the _Journal_ obtain it? + + + + +The Dog Gellert. + + +Having demolished William Tell, I proceed to the destruction of +another article of popular belief. + +Who that has visited Snowdon has not seen the grave of Llewellyn's +faithful hound Gellert, and been told by the guide the touching story +of the death of the noble animal? How can we doubt the facts, seeing +that the place, Beth-Gellert, is named after the dog, and that the +grave is still visible? But unfortunately for the truth of the legend, +its pedigree can be traced with the utmost precision. + +The story is as follows:-- + +The Welsh Prince Llewellyn had a noble deerhound, Gellert, whom he +trusted to watch the cradle of his baby son whilst he himself was +absent. + +One day, on his return, to his intense horror, he beheld the cradle +empty and upset, the clothes dabbled with blood, and Gellert's mouth +dripping with gore. Concluding hastily that the hound had proved +unfaithful, had fallen on the child and devoured it,--in a paroxysm of +rage the prince drew his sword and slew the dog. Next instant the cry +of the babe from behind the cradle showed him that the child was +uninjured; and, on looking farther, Llewellyn discovered the body of a +huge wolf, which had entered the house to seize and devour the child, +but which had been kept off and killed by the brave dog Gellert. + +In his self-reproach and grief, the prince erected a stately monument +to Gellert, and called the place where he was buried after the poor +hound's name. + +Now, I find in Russia precisely the same story told, with just the +same appearance of truth, of a Czar Piras. In Germany it appears with +considerable variations. A man determines on slaying his old dog +Sultan, and consults with his wife how this is to be effected. Sultan +overhears the conversation, and complains bitterly to the wolf, who +suggests an ingenious plan by which the master may be induced to spare +his dog. Next day, when the man is going to his work, the wolf +undertakes to carry off the child from its cradle. Sultan is to attack +him and rescue the infant. The plan succeeds admirably, and the dog +spends his remaining years in comfort. (Grimm, K. M. 48.) + +But there is a story in closer conformity to that of Gellert among the +French collections of fabliaux made by Le Grand d'Aussy and EdA(C)lA(C)stand +du MA(C)ril. It became popular through the "Gesta Romanorum," a +collection of tales made by the monks for harmless reading, in the +fourteenth century. + +In the "Gesta" the tale is told as follows:-- + +"Folliculus, a knight, was fond of hunting and tournaments. He had an +only son, for whom three nurses were provided. Next to this child, he +loved his falcon and his greyhound. It happened one day that he was +called to a tournament, whither his wife and domestics went also, +leaving the child in the cradle, the greyhound lying by him, and the +falcon on his perch. A serpent that inhabited a hole near the castle, +taking advantage of the profound silence that reigned, crept from his +habitation, and advanced towards the cradle to devour the child. The +falcon, perceiving the danger, fluttered with his wings till he awoke +the dog, who instantly attacked the invader, and after a fierce +conflict, in which he was sorely wounded, killed him. He then lay down +on the ground to lick and heal his wounds. When the nurses returned, +they found the cradle overturned, the child thrown out, and the ground +covered with blood, as was also the dog, who they immediately +concluded had killed the child. + +"Terrified at the idea of meeting the anger of the parents, they +determined to escape; but in their flight fell in with their mistress, +to whom they were compelled to relate the supposed murder of the child +by the greyhound. The knight soon arrived to hear the sad story, and, +maddened with fury, rushed forward to the spot. The poor wounded and +faithful animal made an effort to rise and welcome his master with his +accustomed fondness; but the enraged knight received him on the point +of his sword, and he fell lifeless to the ground. On examination of +the cradle, the infant was found alive and unhurt, with the dead +serpent lying by him. The knight now perceived what had happened, +lamented bitterly over his faithful dog, and blamed himself for having +too hastily depended on the words of his wife. Abandoning the +profession of arms, he broke his lance in pieces, and vowed a +pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he spent the rest of his days in +peace." + +The monkish hit at the wife is amusing, and might have been supposed +to have originated with those determined misogynists, as the gallant +Welshmen lay all the blame on the man. But the good compilers of the +"Gesta" wrote little of their own, except moral applications of the +tales they relate, and the story of Folliculus and his dog, like many +others in their collection, is drawn from a foreign source. + +It occurs in the Seven Wise Masters, and in the "Calumnia Novercalis" +as well, so that it must have been popular throughout mediA|val Europe. +Now, the tales of the Seven Wise Masters are translations from a +Hebrew work, the Kalilah and Dimnah of Rabbi Joel, composed about +A. D. 1250, or from Simeon Seth's Greek Kylile and Dimne, written in +1080. These Greek and Hebrew works were derived from kindred sources. +That of Rabbi Joel was a translation from an Arabic version made by +Nasr-Allah in the twelfth century, whilst Simeon Seth's was a +translation of the Persian Kalilah and Dimnah. But the Persian +Kalilah and Dimnah was not either an original work; it was in turn a +translation from the Sanskrit Pantschatantra, made about A. D. 540. + +In this ancient Indian book the story runs as follows:-- + +A Brahmin named Devasaman had a wife, who gave birth to a son, and +also to an ichneumon. She loved both her children dearly, giving them +alike the breast, and anointing them alike with salves. But she feared +the ichneumon might not love his brother. + +One day, having laid her boy in bed, she took up the water jar, and +said to her husband, "Hear me, master! I am going to the tank to fetch +water. Whilst I am absent, watch the boy, lest he gets injured by the +ichneumon." After she had left the house, the Brahmin went forth +begging, leaving the house empty. In crept a black snake, and +attempted to bite the child; but the ichneumon rushed at it, and tore +it in pieces. Then, proud of its achievement, it sallied forth, all +bloody, to meet its mother. She, seeing the creature stained with +blood, concluded, with feminine precipitance, that it had fallen on +the baby and killed it, and she flung her water jar at it and slew it. +Only on her return home did she ascertain her mistake. + +The same story is also told in the Hitopadesa (iv. 13), but the animal +is an otter, not an ichneumon. In the Arabic version a weasel takes +the place of the ichneumon. + +The Buddhist missionaries carried the story into Mongolia, and in the +Mongolian Uligerun, which is a translation of the Tibetian Dsanghen, +the story reappears with the pole-cat as the brave and suffering +defender of the child. + +Stanislaus Julien, the great Chinese scholar, has discovered the same +tale in the Chinese work entitled "The Forest of Pearls from the +Garden of the Law." This work dates from 668; and in it the creature +is an ichneumon. + +In the Persian Sindibad-nAcmeh is the same tale, but the faithful +animal is a cat. In Sandabar and Syntipas it has become a dog. Through +the influence of Sandabar on the Hebrew translation of the Kalilah and +Dimnah, the ichneumon is also replaced by a dog. + +Such is the history of the Gellert legend; it is an introduction into +Europe from India, every step of its transmission being clearly +demonstrable. From the Gesta Romanorum it passed into a popular tale +throughout Europe, and in different countries it was, like the Tell +myth, localized and individualized. Many a Welsh story, such as those +contained in the Mabinogion, are as easily traced to an Eastern +origin. + +But every story has its root. The root of the Gellert tale is this: A +man forms an alliance of friendship with a beast or bird. The dumb +animal renders him a signal service. He misunderstands the act, and +kills his preserver. + +We have tracked this myth under the Gellert form from India to Wales; +but under another form it is the property of the whole Aryan family, +and forms a portion of the traditional lore of all nations sprung from +that stock. + +Thence arose the classic fable of the peasant, who, as he slept, was +bitten by a fly. He awoke, and in a rage killed the insect. When too +late, he observed that the little creature had aroused him that he +might avoid a snake which lay coiled up near his pillow. + +In the Anvar-i-Suhaili is the following kindred tale. A king had a +falcon. One day, whilst hunting, he filled a goblet with water +dropping from a rock. As he put the vessel to his lips, his falcon +dashed upon it, and upset it with its wings. The king, in a fury, slew +the bird, and then discovered that the water dripped from the jaws of +a serpent of the most poisonous description. + +This story, with some variations, occurs in A†sop, A†lian, and +Apthonius. In the Greek fable, a peasant liberates an eagle from the +clutches of a dragon. The dragon spirts poison into the water which +the peasant is about to drink, without observing what the monster had +done. The grateful eagle upsets the goblet with his wings. + +The story appears in Egypt under a whimsical form. A Wali once smashed +a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. The exasperated cook +thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali within an inch of +his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his efforts at +belaboring the man, to examine the broken pot, he discovered amongst +the herbs a poisonous snake. + +How many brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins of all degrees +a little story has! And how few of the tales we listen to can lay any +claim to originality! There is scarcely a story which I hear which I +cannot connect with some family of myths, and whose pedigree I cannot +ascertain with more or less precision. Shakespeare drew the plots of +his plays from Boccaccio or Straparola; but these Italians did not +invent the tales they lent to the English dramatist. King Lear does +not originate with Geofry of Monmouth, but comes from early Indian +stores of fable, whence also are derived the Merchant of Venice and +the pound of flesh, ay, and the very incident of the three caskets. + +But who would credit it, were it not proved by conclusive facts, that +Johnny Sands is the inheritance of the whole Aryan family of nations, +and that Peeping Tom of Coventry peeped in India and on the Tartar +steppes ages before Lady Godiva was born? + +If you listen to Traviata at the opera, you have set before you a tale +which has lasted for centuries, and which was perhaps born in India. + +If you read in classic fable of Orpheus charming woods and meadows, +beasts and birds, with his magic lyre, you remember to have seen the +same fable related in the Kalewala of the Finnish Wainomainen, and in +the Kaleopoeg of the Esthonian Kalewa. + +If you take up English history, and read of William the Conqueror +slipping as he landed on British soil, and kissing the earth, saying +he had come to greet and claim his own, you remember that the same +story is told of Napoleon in Egypt, of King Olaf Harold's son in +Norway, and in classic history of Junius Brutus on his return from the +oracle. + +A little while ago I cut out of a Sussex newspaper a story purporting +to be the relation of a fact which had taken place at a fixed date in +Lewes. This was the story. A tyrannical husband locked the door +against his wife, who was out having tea with a neighbor, gossiping +and scandal-mongering; when she applied for admittance, he pretended +not to know her. She threatened to jump into the well unless he opened +the door. + +The man, not supposing that she would carry her threat into execution, +declined, alleging that he was in bed, and the night was chilly; +besides which he entirely disclaimed all acquaintance with the lady +who claimed admittance. + +The wife then flung a log into a well, and secreted herself behind the +door. The man, hearing the splash, fancied that his good lady was +really in the deeps, and forth he darted in his nocturnal costume, +which was of the lightest, to ascertain whether his deliverance was +complete. At once the lady darted into the house, locked the door, +and, on the husband pleading for admittance, she declared most +solemnly from the window that she did not know _him_. + +Now, this story, I can positively assert, unless the events of this +world move in a circle, did not happen in Lewes, or any other Sussex +town. + +It was told in the Gesta Romanorum six hundred years ago, and it was +told, may be, as many hundred years before in India, for it is still +to be found in Sanskrit collections of tales. + + + + +Tailed Men. + + +I well remember having it impressed upon me by a Devonshire nurse, as +a little child, that all Cornishmen were born with tails; and it was +long before I could overcome the prejudice thus early implanted in my +breast against my Cornubian neighbors. I looked upon those who dwelt +across the Tamar as "uncanny," as being scarcely to be classed with +Christian people, and certainly not to be freely associated with by +tailless Devonians. I think my eyes were first opened to the fact that +I had been deceived by a worthy bookseller of L----, with whom I had +contracted a warm friendship, he having at sundry times contributed +pictures to my scrapbook. I remember one day resolving to broach the +delicate subject with my tailed friend, whom I liked, notwithstanding +his caudal appendage. + +"Mr. X----, is it true that you are a Cornishman?" + +"Yes, my little man; born and bred in the West country." + +"I like you very much; but--have you really got a tail?" + +When the bookseller had recovered from the astonishment which I had +produced by my question, he stoutly repudiated the charge. + +"But you are a Cornishman?" + +"To be sure I am." + +"And all Cornishmen have tails." + +I believe I satisfied my own mind that the good man had sat his off, +and my nurse assured me that such was the case with those of sedentary +habits. + +It is curious that Devonshire superstition should attribute the tail +to Cornishmen, for it was asserted of certain men of Kent in olden +times, and was referred to Divine vengeance upon them for having +insulted St. Thomas A Becket, if we may believe Polydore Vergil. +"There were some," he says, "to whom it seemed that the king's secret +wish was, that Thomas should be got rid of. He, indeed, as one +accounted to be an enemy of the king's person, was already regarded +with so little respect, nay, was treated with so much contempt, that +when he came to Strood, which village is situated on the Medway, the +river that washes Rochester, the inhabitants of the place, being eager +to show some mark of contumely to the prelate in his disgrace, did not +scruple to cut off the tail of the horse on which he was riding; but +by this profane and inhospitable act they covered themselves with +eternal reproach; for it so happened after this, by the will of God, +that all the offspring born from the men who had done this thing, were +born with tails, like brute animals. But this mark of infamy, which +formerly was everywhere notorious, has disappeared with the extinction +of the race whose fathers perpetrated this deed." + +John Bale, the zealous reformer, and Bishop of Ossory in Edward VI.'s +time, refers to this story, and also mentions a variation of the scene +and cause of this ignoble punishment. He writes, quoting his +authorities, "John Capgrave and Alexander of Esseby sayth, that for +castynge of fyshe tayles at thys Augustyne, Dorsettshyre men had +tayles ever after. But Polydorus applieth it unto Kentish men at +Stroud, by Rochester, for cuttinge off Thomas Becket's horse's tail. +Thus hath England in all other land a perpetual infamy of tayles by +theye wrytten legendes of lyes, yet can they not well tell where to +bestowe them truely." Bale, a fierce and unsparing reformer, and one +who stinted not hard words, applying to the inventors of these legends +an epithet more strong than elegant, says, "In the legends of their +sanctified sorcerers they have diffamed the English posterity with +tails, as has been showed afore. That an Englyshman now cannot +travayle in another land by way of marchandyse or any other honest +occupyinge, but it is most contumeliously thrown in his tethe that all +Englyshmen have tails. That uncomely note and report have the nation +gotten, without recover, by these laisy and idle lubbers, the monkes +and the priestes, which could find no matters to advance their +canonized gains by, or their saintes, as they call them, but manifest +lies and knaveries."[27] + +Andrew Marvel also makes mention of this strange judgment in his +_Loyal Scot_:-- + + "But who considers right will find, indeed, + 'Tis Holy Island parts us, not the Tweed. + Nothing but clergy could us two seclude, + No Scotch was ever like a bishop's feud. + All Litanys in this have wanted faith, + There's no--_Deliver us from a Bishop's wrath._ + Never shall Calvin pardoned be for sales, + Never, for Burnet's sake, the Lauderdales; + For Becket's sake, Kent always shall have tails." + +It may be remembered that Lord Monboddo, a Scotch judge of last +century, and a philosopher of some repute, though of great +eccentricity, stoutly maintained the theory that man ought to have a +tail, that the tail is a _desideratum_, and that the abrupt +termination of the spine without caudal elongation is a sad blemish in +the origination of man. The tail, the point in which man is inferior +to the brute, what a delicate index of the mind it is! how it +expresses the passions of love and hate! how nicely it gives token of +the feelings of joy or fear which animate the soul! But Lord Monboddo +did not consider that what the tail is to the brute, that the eye is +to man; the lack of one member is supplied by the other. I can tell a +proud man by his eye just as truly as if he stalked past one with +erect tail; and anger is as plainly depicted in the human eye as in +the bottle-brush tail of a cat. I know a sneak by his cowering glance, +though he has not a tail between his legs; and pleasure is evident in +the laughing eye, without there being any necessity for a wagging +brush to express it. + +Dr. Johnson paid a visit to the judge, and knocked on the head his +theory that men ought to have tails, and actually were born with them +occasionally; for said he, "Of a standing fact, sir, there ought to be +no controversy; if there are men with tails, catch a _homo caudatus_." +And, "It is a pity to see Lord Monboddo publish such notions as he has +done--a man of sense, and of so much elegant learning. There would be +little in a fool doing it; we should only laugh; but, when a wise man +does it, we are sorry. Other people have strange notions, but they +conceal them. If they have tails they hide them; but Monboddo is as +jealous of his tail as a squirrel." And yet Johnson seems to have been +tickled with the idea, and to have been amused with the notion of an +appendage like a tail being regarded as the complement of human +perfection. It may be remembered how Johnson made the acquaintance of +the young Laird of Col, during his Highland tour, and how pleased he +was with him. "Col," says he, "is a noble animal. He is as complete an +islander as the mind can figure. He is a farmer, a sailor, a hunter, +a fisher: he will run you down a dog; _if any man has a tail_, it is +Col." And notwithstanding all his aversion to puns, the great Doctor +was fain to yield to human weakness on one occasion, under the +influence of the mirth which Monboddo's name seems to have excited. +Johnson writes to Mrs. Thrale of a party he had met one night, which +he thus enumerates: "There were Smelt, and the Bishop of St. Asaph, +who comes to every place; and Sir Joshua, and Lord Monboddo, and +ladies _out of tale_." + +There is a Polish story of a witch who made a girdle of human skin and +laid it across the threshold of a door where a marriage-feast was +being held. On the bridal pair stepping across the girdle they were +transformed into wolves. Three years after the witch sought them out, +and cast over them dresses of fur with the hair turned outward, +whereupon they recovered their human forms, but, unfortunately, the +dress cast over the bridegroom was too scanty, and did not extend over +his tail, so that, when he was restored to his former condition, he +retained his lupine caudal appendage, and this became hereditary in +his family; so that all Poles with tails are lineal descendants of +the ancestor to whom this little misfortune happened. John Struys, a +Dutch traveller, who visited the Isle of Formosa in 1677, gives a +curious story, which is worth transcribing. + +"Before I visited this island," he writes, "I had often heard tell +that there were men who had long tails, like brute beasts; but I had +never been able to believe it, and I regarded it as a thing so alien +to our nature, that I should now have difficulty in accepting it, if +my own senses had not removed from me every pretence for doubting the +fact, by the following strange adventure: The inhabitants of Formosa, +being used to see us, were in the habit of receiving us on terms which +left nothing to apprehend on either side; so that, although mere +foreigners, we always believed ourselves in safety, and had grown +familiar enough to ramble at large without an escort, when grave +experience taught us that, in so doing, we were hazarding too much. As +some of our party were one day taking a stroll, one of them had +occasion to withdraw about a stone's throw from the rest, who, being +at the moment engaged in an eager conversation, proceeded without +heeding the disappearance of their companion. After a while, however, +his absence was observed, and the party paused, thinking he would +rejoin them. They waited some time; but at last, tired of the delay, +they returned in the direction of the spot where they remembered to +have seen him last. Arriving there, they were horrified to find his +mangled body lying on the ground, though the nature of the lacerations +showed that he had not had to suffer long ere death released him. +Whilst some remained to watch the dead body, others went off in search +of the murderer; and these had not gone far, when they came upon a man +of peculiar appearance, who, finding himself enclosed by the exploring +party, so as to make escape from them impossible, began to foam with +rage, and by cries and wild gesticulations to intimate that he would +make any one repent the attempt who should venture to meddle with him. +The fierceness of his desperation for a time kept our people at bay; +but as his fury gradually subsided, they gathered more closely round +him, and at length seized him. He then soon made them understand that +it was he who had killed their comrade, but they could not learn from +him any cause for this conduct. As the crime was so atrocious, and, if +allowed to pass with impunity, might entail even more serious +consequences, it was determined to burn the man. He was tied up to a +stake, where he was kept for some hours before the time of execution +arrived. It was then that I beheld what I had never thought to see. He +had a tail more than a foot long, covered with red hair, and very like +that of a cow. When he saw the surprise that this discovery created +among the European spectators, he informed us that his tail was the +effect of climate, for that all the inhabitants of the southern side +of the island, where they then were, were provided with like +appendages."[28] + +After Struys, Hornemann reported that, between the Gulf of Benin and +Abyssinia, were tailed anthropophagi, named by the natives +_Niam-niams_; and in 1849, M. Descouret, on his return from Mecca, +affirmed that such was a common report, and added that they had long +arms, low and narrow foreheads, long and erect ears, and slim legs. + +Mr. Harrison, in his "Highlands of Ethiopia," alludes to the common +belief among the Abyssinians, in a pygmy race of this nature. + +MM. Arnault and VayssiA"re, travellers in the same country, in 1850, +brought the subject before the Academy of Sciences. + +In 1851, M. de Castelnau gave additional details relative to an +expedition against these tailed men. "The Niam-niams," he says, "were +sleeping in the sun: the Haoussas approached, and, falling on them, +massacred them to the last man. They had all of them tails forty +centimetres long, and from two to three in diameter. This organ is +smooth. Among the corpses were those of several women, who were +deformed in the same manner. In all other particulars, the men were +precisely like all other negroes. They are of a deep black, their +teeth are polished, their bodies not tattooed. They are armed with +clubs and javelins; in war they utter piercing cries. They cultivate +rice, maize, and other grain. They are fine looking men, and their +hair is not frizzled." + +M. d'Abbadie, another Abyssinian traveller, writing in 1852, gives the +following account from the lips of an Abyssinian priest: "At the +distance of fifteen days' journey south of Herrar is a place where all +the men have tails, the length of a palm, covered with hair, and +situated at the extremity of the spine. The females of that country +are very beautiful and are tailless. I have seen some fifteen of these +people at Besberah, and I am positive that the tail is natural." + +It will be observed that there is a discrepancy between the accounts +of M. de Castelnau and M. d'Abbadie. The former accords tails to the +ladies, whilst the latter denies it. According to the former, the tail +is smooth; according to the latter, it is covered with hair. + +Dr. Wolf has improved on this in his "Travels and Adventures," vol. +ii. 1861. "There are men and women in Abyssinia with tails like dogs +and horses." Wolf heard also from a great many Abyssinians and +Armenians (and Wolf is convinced of the truth of it), that "there are +near Narea, in Abyssinia, people--men and women--with large tails, +with which they are able to knock down a horse; and there are also +such people near China." And in a note, "In the College of Surgeons +at Dublin may still be seen a human skeleton, with a tail seven inches +long! There are many known instances of this elongation of the caudal +vertebra, as in the Poonangs in Borneo." + +But the most interesting and circumstantial account of the Niam-niams +is that given by Dr. Hubsch, physician to the hospitals of +Constantinople. "It was in 1852," says he, "that I saw for the first +time a tailed negress. I was struck with this phenomenon, and I +questioned her master, a slave dealer. I learned from him that there +exists a tribe called Niam-niam, occupying the interior of Africa. All +the members of this tribe bear the caudal appendage, and, as Oriental +imagination is given to exaggeration, I was assured that the tails +sometimes attained the length of two feet. That which I observed was +smooth and hairless. It was about two inches long, and terminated in a +point. This woman was as black as ebony, her hair was frizzled, her +teeth white, large, and planted in sockets which inclined considerably +outward; her four canine teeth were filed, her eyes bloodshot. She ate +meat raw, her clothes fidgeted her, her intellect was on a par with +that of others of her condition. + +"Her master had been unable, during six months, to sell her, +notwithstanding the low figure at which he would have disposed of her; +the abhorrence with which she was regarded was not attributed to her +tail, but to the partiality, which she was unable to conceal, for +human flesh. Her tribe fed on the flesh of the prisoners taken from +the neighboring tribes, with whom they were constantly at war. + +"As soon as one of the tribe dies, his relations, instead of burying +him, cut him up and regale themselves upon his remains; consequently +there are no cemeteries in this land. They do not all of them lead a +wandering life, but many of them construct hovels of the branches of +trees. They make for themselves weapons of war and of agriculture; +they cultivate maize and wheat, and keep cattle. The Niam-niams have a +language of their own, of an entirely primitive character, though +containing an infusion of Arabic words. + +"They live in a state of complete nudity, and seek only to satisfy +their brute appetites. There is among them an utter disregard for +morality, incest and adultery being common. The strongest among them +becomes the chief of the tribe; and it is he who apportions the shares +of the booty obtained in war. It is hard to say whether they have any +religion; but in all probability they have none, as they readily adopt +any one which they are taught. + +"It is difficult to tame them altogether; their instinct impelling +them constantly to seek for human flesh; and instances are related of +slaves who have massacred and eaten the children confided to their +charge. + +"I have seen a man of the same race, who had a tail an inch and a half +long, covered with a few hairs. He appeared to be thirty-five years +old; he was robust, well built, of an ebon blackness, and had the same +peculiar formation of jaw noticed above; that is to say, the tooth +sockets were inclined outwards. Their four canine teeth are filed +down, to diminish their power of mastication. + +"I know also, at Constantinople, the son of a physician, aged two +years, who was born with a tail an inch long; he belonged to the white +Caucasian race. One of his grandfathers possessed the same appendage. +This phenomenon is regarded generally in the East as a sign of great +brute force." + +About ten years ago, a newspaper paragraph recorded the birth of a +boy at Newcastle-on-Tyne, provided with a tail about an inch and a +quarter long. It was asserted that the child when sucking wagged this +stump as token of pleasure. + +Yet, notwithstanding all this testimony in favor of tailed men and +women, it is simply a matter of impossibility for a human being to +have a tail, for the spinal vertebrA| in man do not admit of +elongation, as in many animals; for the spine terminates in the os +sacrum, a large and expanded bone of peculiar character, entirely +precluding all possibility of production to the spine as in caudate +animals. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] "Actes of English Votaries." + +[28] "Voyages de Jean Struys," An. 1650. + + + + +Antichrist and Pope Joan. + + +From the earliest ages of the Church, the advent of the Man of Sin has +been looked forward to with terror, and the passages of Scripture +relating to him have been studied with solemn awe, lest that day of +wrath should come upon the Church unawares. As events in the world's +history took place which seemed to be indications of the approach of +Antichrist, a great horror fell upon men's minds, and their +imaginations conjured up myths which flew from mouth to mouth, and +which were implicitly believed. + +Before speaking of these strange tales which produced such an effect +on the minds of men in the middle ages, it will be well briefly to +examine the opinions of divines of the early ages on the passages of +Scripture connected with the coming of the last great persecutor of +the Church. Antichrist was believed by most ancient writers to be +destined to arise out of the tribe of Dan, a belief founded on the +prediction of Jacob, "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in +the path" (conf. Jeremiah viii. 16), and on the exclamation of the +dying patriarch, when looking on his son Dan, "I have waited for Thy +Salvation, O Lord," as though the long-suffering of God had borne long +with that tribe, but in vain, and it was to be extinguished without +hope. This, indeed, is implied in the sealing of the servants of God +in their foreheads (Revelation vii.), when twelve thousand out of +every tribe, except Dan, were seen by St. John to receive the seal of +adoption, whilst of the tribe of Dan _not one_ was sealed, as though +it, to a man, had apostatized. + +Opinions as to the nature of Antichrist were divided. Some held that +he was to be a devil in phantom body, and of this number was +Hippolytus. Others, again, believed that he would be an incarnate +demon, true man and true devil; in fearful and diabolical parody of +the Incarnation of our Lord. A third view was, that he would be merely +a desperately wicked man, acting upon diabolical inspirations, just as +the saints act upon divine inspirations. St. John Damascene expressly +asserts that he will not be an incarnate demon, but a devilish man; +for he says, "Not as Christ assumed humanity, so will the devil become +human, but the Man will receive all the inspiration of Satan, and will +suffer the devil to take up his abode within him." In this manner +Antichrist could have many forerunners; and so St. Jerome and St. +Augustine saw an Antichrist in Nero, not _the_ Antichrist, but one of +those of whom the Apostle speaks--"Even now are there many +Antichrists." Thus also every enemy of the faith, such as Diocletian, +Julian, and Mahomet, has been regarded as a precursor of the +Arch-persecutor, who was expected to sum up in himself the cruelty of +a Nero or Diocletian, the show of virtue of a Julian, and the +spiritual pride of a Mahomet. + +From infancy the evil one is to take possession of Antichrist, and to +train him for his office, instilling into him cunning, cruelty, and +pride. His doctrine will be--not downright infidelity, but a "show of +godliness," whilst "denying the power thereof;" i. e., the miraculous +origin and divine authority of Christianity. He will sow doubts of our +Lord's manifestation "in the flesh," he will allow Christ to be an +excellent Man, capable of teaching the most exalted truths, and +inculcating the purest morality, yet Himself fallible and carried away +by fanaticism. + +In the end, however, Antichrist will "exalt himself to sit as God in +the temple of God," and become "the abomination of desolation standing +in the holy place." At the same time there is to be an awful alliance +struck between himself, the impersonification of the world-power and +the Church of God; some high pontiff of which, or the episcopacy in +general, will enter into league with the unbelieving state to oppress +the very elect. It is a strange instance of religionary virulence +which makes some detect the Pope of Rome in the Man of Sin, the +Harlot, the Beast, and the Priest going before it. The Man of Sin and +the Beast are unmistakably identical, and refer to an Antichristian +world-power; whilst the Harlot and the Priest are symbols of an +apostasy in the Church. There is nothing Roman in this, but something +very much the opposite. + +How the Abomination of Desolation can be considered as set up in a +Church where every sanctuary is adorned with all that can draw the +heart to the Crucified, and raise the thoughts to the imposing ritual +of Heaven, is a puzzle to me. To the man uninitiated in the law that +Revelation is to be interpreted by contraries, it would seem more like +the Abomination of Desolation in the Holy Place if he entered a Scotch +Presbyterian, or a Dutch Calvinist, place of worship. Rome does not +fight against the Daily Sacrifice, and endeavor to abolish it; that +has been rather the labor of so-called Church Reformers, who with the +suppression of the doctrine of Eucharistic Sacrifice and Sacramental +Adoration have well nigh obliterated all notion of worship to be +addressed to the God-Man. Rome does not deny the power of the +godliness of which she makes show, but insists on that power with no +broken accents. It is rather in other communities, where authority is +flung aside, and any man is permitted to believe or reject what he +likes, that we must look for the leaven of the Antichristian spirit at +work. + +It is evident that this spirit will infect the Church, and especially +those in place of authority therein; so that the elect will have to +wrestle against both "principalities and powers" in the state, and +also "spiritual wickedness in the high places" of the Church. Perhaps +it will be this feeling of antagonism between the inferior orders and +the highest which will throw the Bishops into the arms of the state, +and establish that unholy alliance which will be cemented for the +purpose of oppressing all who hold the truth in sincerity, who are +definite in their dogmatic statements of Christ's having been +manifested in the flesh, who labor to establish the Daily Sacrifice, +and offer in every place the pure offering spoken of by Malachi. +Perhaps it was in anticipation of this, that ancient mystical +interpreters explained the scene at the well in Midian as having +reference to the last times. + +The Church, like the daughters of Reuel, comes to the Well of living +waters to water her parched flock; whereupon the shepherds--her chief +pastors--arise and strive with her. "Fear not, O flock, fear not, O +daughter!" exclaims the commentator; "thy true Moses is seated on the +well, and He will arise out of His resting-place, and will with His +own hand smite the shepherds, and water the flock." Let the sheep be +in barren and dry pastures,--so long the shepherds strive not; let the +sheep pant and die,--so long the shepherds show no signs of +irritation; but let the Church approach the limpid well of life, and +at once her prelates will, in the latter days, combine "to strive" +with her, and keep back the flock from the reviving streams. + +In the time of Antichrist the Church will be divided: one portion will +hold to the world-power, the other will seek out the old paths, and +cling to the only true Guide. The high places will be filled with +unbelievers in the Incarnation, and the Church will be in a condition +of the utmost spiritual degradation, but enjoying the highest State +patronage. The religion in favor will be one of morality, but not of +dogma; and the Man of Sin will be able to promulgate his doctrine, +according to St. Anselm, through his great eloquence and wisdom, his +vast learning and mightiness in the Holy Scriptures, which he will +wrest to the overthrowing of dogma. He will be liberal in bribes, for +he will be of unbounded wealth; he will be capable of performing great +"signs and wonders," so as "to deceive--the very elect;" and at the +last, he will tear the moral veil from his countenance, and a monster +of impiety and cruelty, he will inaugurate that awful persecution, +which is to last for three years and a half, and to excel in horror +all the persecutions that have gone before. + +In that terrible season of confusion faith will be all but +extinguished. "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the +earth?" asks our Blessed Lord, as though expecting the answer, No; and +then, says Marchantius, the vessel of the Church will disappear in the +foam of that boiling deep of infidelity, and be hidden in the +blackness of that storm of destruction which sweeps over the earth. +The sun shall "be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and +the stars shall fall from heaven;" the sun of faith shall have gone +out; the moon, the Church, shall not give her light, being turned into +blood, through stress of persecution; and the stars, the great +ecclesiastical dignitaries, shall fall into apostasy. But still the +Church will remain unwrecked, she will weather the storm; still will +she come forth "beautiful as the moon, terrible as an army with +banners;" for after the lapse of those three and a half years, Christ +will descend to avenge the blood of the saints, by destroying +Antichrist and the world-power. + +Such is a brief sketch of the scriptural doctrine of Antichrist as +held by the early and mediA|val Church. Let us now see to what myths it +gave rise among the vulgar and the imaginative. Rabanus Maurus, in his +work on the life of Antichrist, gives a full account of the miracles +he will perform; he tells us that the Man-fiend will heal the sick, +raise the dead, restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, +speech to the dumb; he will raise storms and calm them, will remove +mountains, make trees flourish or wither at a word. He will rebuild +the temple at Jerusalem, and making the Holy City the great capital of +the world. Popular opinion added that his vast wealth would be +obtained from hidden treasures, which are now being concealed by the +demons for his use. Various possessed persons, when interrogated, +announced that such was the case, and that the amount of buried gold +was vast. + +"In the year 1599," says Canon Moreau, a contemporary historian, "a +rumor circulated with prodigious rapidity through Europe, that +Antichrist had been born at Babylon, and that already the Jews of that +part were hurrying to receive and recognize him as their Messiah. The +news came from Italy and Germany, and extended to Spain, England, and +other Western kingdoms, troubling many people, even the most discreet; +however, the learned gave it no credence, saying that the signs +predicted in Scripture to precede that event were not yet +accomplished, and among other that the Roman empire was not yet +abolished.... Others said that, as for the signs, the majority had +already appeared to the best of their knowledge, and with regard to +the rest, they might have taken place in distant regions without their +having been made known to them; that the Roman empire existed but in +name, and that the interpretation of the passage on which its +destruction was predicted, might be incorrect; that for many +centuries, the most learned and pious had believed in the near +approach of Antichrist, some believing that he had already come, on +account of the persecutions which had fallen on the Christians; +others, on account of fires, or eclipses, or earthquakes.... Every +one was in excitement; some declared that the news must be correct, +others believed nothing about it, and the agitation became so +excessive, that Henry IV., who was then on the throne, was compelled +by edict to forbid any mention of the subject." + +The report spoken of by Moreau gained additional confirmation from the +announcement made by an exorcised demoniac, that in 1600, the Man of +Sin had been born in the neighborhood of Paris, of a Jewess, named +Blanchefleure, who had conceived by Satan. The child had been baptized +at the Sabbath of Sorcerers; and a witch, under torture, acknowledged +that she had rocked the infant Antichrist on her knees, and she +averred that he had claws on his feet, wore no shoes, and spoke all +languages. + +In 1623 appeared the following startling announcement, which obtained +an immense circulation among the lower orders: "We, brothers of the +Order of St. John of Jerusalem, in the Isle of Malta, have received +letters from our spies, who are engaged in our service in the country +of Babylon, now possessed by the Grand Turk; by the which letters we +are advertised, that, on the 1st of May, in the year of our Lord +1623, a child was born in the town of Bourydot, otherwise called +Calka, near Babylon, of the which child the mother is a very aged +woman, of race unknown, called Fort-Juda: of the father nothing is +known. The child is dusky, has pleasant mouth and eyes, teeth pointed +like those of a cat, ears large, stature by no means exceeding that of +other children; the said child, incontinent on his birth, walked and +talked perfectly well. His speech is comprehended by every one, +admonishing the people that he is the true Messiah, and the son of +God, and that in him all must believe. Our spies also swear and +protest that they have seen the said child with their own eyes; and +they add, that, on the occasion of his nativity, there appeared +marvellous signs in heaven, for at full noon the sun lost its +brightness, and was for some time obscured." This is followed by a +list of other signs appearing, the most remarkable being a swarm of +flying serpents, and a shower of precious stones. + +According to Sebastian Michaeliz, in his history of the possessed of +Flanders, on the authority of the exorcised demons, we learn that +Antichrist is to be a son of Beelzebub, who will accompany his +offspring under the form of a bird, with four feet and a bull's head; +that he will torture Christians with the same tortures with which the +lost souls are racked; that he will be able to fly, speak all +languages, and will have any number of names. + +We find that Antichrist is known to the Mussulmans as well as to +Christians. Lane, in his edition of the "Arabian Nights," gives some +curious details on Moslem ideas regarding him. According to these, +Antichrist will overrun the earth, mounted on an ass, and followed by +40,000 Jews; his empire will last forty days, whereof the first day +will be a year long, the duration of the second will be a month, that +of the third a week, the others being of their usual length. He will +devastate the whole world, leaving Mecca and Medina alone in security, +as these holy cities will be guarded by angelic legions. Christ at +last will descend to earth, and in a great battle will destroy the +Man-devil. + +Several writers, of different denominations, no less superstitious +than the common people, connected the apparition of Antichrist with +the fable of Pope Joan, which obtained such general credence at one +time, but which modern criticism has at length succeeded in excluding +from history. + +Perhaps the earliest writer to mention Pope Joan is Marianus Scotus, +who in his chronicle inserts the following passage: "A. D. 854, +Lotharii 14, Joanna, a woman, succeeded Leo, and reigned two years, +five months, and four days." Marianus Scotus died A. D. 1086. Sigebert +de Gemblours (d. 5th Oct., 1112) inserts the same story in his +valuable chronicle, copying from an interpolated passage in the work +of Anastasius the librarian. His words are, "It is reported that this +John was a female, and that she conceived by one of her servants. The +Pope, becoming pregnant, gave birth to a child; wherefore some do not +number her among the Pontiffs." Hence the story spread among the +mediA|val chroniclers, who were great plagiarists. Otto of Frisingen +and Gotfrid of Viterbo mention the Lady-Pope in their histories, and +Martin Polonus gives details as follows: "After Leo IV., John Anglus, +a native of Metz, reigned two years, five months, and four days. And +the pontificate was vacant for a month. He died in Rome. He is related +to have been a female, and, when a girl, to have accompanied her +sweetheart in male costume to Athens; there she advanced in various +sciences, and none could be found to equal her. So, after having +studied for three years in Rome, she had great masters for her pupils +and hearers. And when there arose a high opinion in the city of her +virtue and knowledge, she was unanimously elected Pope. But during her +papacy she became in the family way by a familiar. Not knowing the +time of birth, as she was on her way from St. Peter's to the Lateran +she had a painful delivery, between the Coliseum and St. Clement's +Church, in the street. Having died after, it is said that she was +buried on the spot; and therefore the Lord Pope always turns aside +from that way, and it is supposed by some out of detestation for what +happened there. Nor on that account is she placed in the catalogue of +the Holy Pontiffs, not only on account of her sex, but also because of +the horribleness of the circumstance." + +Certainly a story at all scandalous _crescit eundo_. + +William Ocham alludes to the story, and John Huss, only too happy to +believe it, provides the lady with a name, and asserts that she was +baptized Agnes, or, as he will have it with a strong aspirate, Hagnes. +Others, however, insist upon her name having been Gilberta; and some +stout Germans, not relishing the notion of her being a daughter of +Fatherland, palm her off on England. As soon as we arrive at +Reformation times, the German and French Protestants fasten on the +story with the utmost avidity, and add sweet little touches of their +own, and draw conclusions galling enough to the Roman See, +illustrating their accounts with wood engravings vigorous and graphic, +but hardly decent. One of these represents the event in a peculiarly +startling manner. The procession of bishops, with the Host and tapers, +is sweeping along, when suddenly the cross-bearer before the +triple-crowned and vested Pope starts aside to witness the unexpected +arrival. This engraving, which it is quite impossible for me to +reproduce, is in a curious little book, entitled "Puerperium Johannis +PapA| 8, 1530." + +The following jingling record of the event is from the Rhythmical VitA| +Pontificum of Gulielmus Jacobus of Egmonden, a work never printed. +This fragment is preserved in "Wolfii Lectionum Memorabilium +centenarii, XVI.:"-- + + "PriusquA m reconditur Sergius, vocatur + Ad summam, qui dicitur Johannes, huic addatur + Anglicus, Moguntia iste procreatur. + Qui, ut dat sententia, fA"minis aptatur + Sexu: quod sequentia monstrant, breviatur, + HA|c vox: nam prolixius chronica procedunt. + Ista, de qua brevius dicta minus lA|dunt. + Huic erat amasius, ut scriptores credunt. + Patria relinquitur Moguntia, GrA|corum + StudiosA" petitur schola. PA squaredst doctorum + HA|c doctrix efficitur RomA| legens: horum + HA|c auditu fungitur loquens. Hinc prostrato + Summo hA|c eligitur: sexu exaltato + Quandoque negligitur. Fatur quA squaredd hA|c nato + Per servum conficitur. Tempore gignendi + Ad processum equus scanditur, vice flendi, + Papa cadit, panditur improbis ridendi + Norma, puer nascitur in vico Clementis, + ColossA"um jungitur. Corpus parentis + In eodem traditur sepulturA| gentis, + Faturque scriptoribus, quA squaredd Papa prA|fato, + Vico senioribus transiens amato + Congruo ductoribus sequitur negato + Loco, quo Ecclesia partu denigratur, + Quamvis inter spacia Pontificum ponatur, + Propter sexum." + +Stephen Blanch, in his "Urbis RomA| Mirabilia," says that an angel of +heaven appeared to Joan before the event, and asked her to choose +whether she would prefer burning eternally in hell, or having her +confinement in public; with sense which does her credit, she chose the +latter. The Protestant writers were not satisfied that the father of +the unhappy baby should have been a servant: some made him a +Cardinal, and others the devil himself. According to an eminent Dutch +minister, it is immaterial whether the child be fathered on Satan or a +monk; at all events, the former took a lively interest in the youthful +Antichrist, and, on the occasion of his birth, was seen and heard +fluttering overhead, crowing and chanting in an unmusical voice the +Sibylline verses announcing the birth of the Arch-persecutor:-- + + "Papa pater patrum, PapissA| pandito partum + Et tibi tunc eadem de corpore quando recedam!" + +which lines, as being perhaps the only ones known to be of diabolic +composition, are deserving of preservation. + +The Reformers, in order to reconcile dates, were put to the somewhat +perplexing necessity of moving Pope Joan to their own times, or else +of giving to the youthful Antichrist an age of seven hundred years. + +It must be allowed that the _accouchement_ of a Pope in full +pontificals, during a solemn procession, was a prodigy not likely to +occur more than once in the world's history, and was certain to be of +momentous import. + +It will be seen by the curious woodcut reproduced as frontispiece +from Baptista Mantuanus, that he consigned Pope Joan to the jaws of +hell, notwithstanding her choice. The verses accompanying this picture +are:-- + + "Hic pendebat adhuc sexum mentita virile + FA"mina, cui triplici Phrygiam diademate mitram + Extollebat apex: et pontificalis adulter." + +It need hardly be stated that the whole story of Pope Joan is +fabulous, and rests on not the slightest historical foundation. It was +probably a Greek invention to throw discredit on the papal hierarchy, +first circulated more than two hundred years after the date of the +supposed Pope. Even Martin Polonus (A. D. 1282), who is the first to +give the details, does so merely on popular report. + +The great champions of the myth were the Protestants of the sixteenth +century, who were thoroughly unscrupulous in distorting history and +suppressing facts, so long as they could make a point. A paper war was +waged upon the subject, and finally the whole story was proved +conclusively to be utterly destitute of historical truth. A melancholy +example of the blindness of party feeling and prejudice is seen in +Mosheim, who assumes the truth of the ridiculous story, and gravely +inserts it in his "Ecclesiastical History." "Between Leo IV., who died +855, and Benedict III., a woman, who concealed her sex and assumed the +name of John, it is said, opened her way to the Pontifical throne by +her learning and genius, and governed the Church for a time. She is +commonly called the Papess Joan. During the five subsequent centuries +the witnesses to this extraordinary event are without number; nor did +any one, prior to the Reformation by Luther, regard the thing as +either incredible or disgraceful to the Church." Such are Mosheim's +words, and I give them as a specimen of the credit which is due to his +opinion. The "Ecclesiastical History" he wrote is full of perversions +of the plainest facts, and that under our notice is but one out of +many. "During the five centuries after her reign," he says, "the +witnesses to the story are innumerable." Now, for two centuries there +is not an allusion to be found to the events. The only passage which +can be found is a universally acknowledged interpolation of the "Lives +of the Popes," by Anastasius Bibliothecarius; and this interpolation +is stated in the first printed edition by BusA|us, Mogunt. 1602, to be +only found in two MS. copies. + +From Marianus Scotus or Sigebert de Gemblours the story passed into +other chronicles _totidem verbis_, and generally with hesitation and +an expression of doubt in its accuracy. Martin Polonus is the first to +give the particulars, some four hundred and twenty years after the +reign of the fabulous Pope. + +Mosheim is false again in asserting that no one prior to the +Reformation regarded the thing as either incredible or disgraceful. +This is but of a piece with his malignity and disregard for truth, +whenever he can hit the Catholic Church hard. Bart. Platina, in his +"Lives of the Popes," written before Luther was born, after relating +the story, says, "These things which I relate are popular reports, but +derived from uncertain and obscure authors, which I have therefore +inserted briefly and baldly, lest I should seem to omit obstinately +and pertinaciously what most people assert." Thus the facts were +justly doubted by Platina on the legitimate grounds that they rested +on popular gossip, and not on reliable history. Marianus Scotus, the +first to relate the story, died in 1086. He was a monk of St. Martin +of Cologne, then of Fulda, and lastly of St. Alban's, at Metz. How +could he have obtained reliable information, or seen documents upon +which to ground the assertion? Again, his chronicle has suffered +severely from interpolations in numerous places, and there is reason +to believe that the Pope-Joan passage is itself a late interpolation. + +If so, we are reduced to Sigebert de Gemblours (d. 1112), placing two +centuries and a half between him and the event he records, and his +chronicle may have been tampered with. + +The historical discrepancies are sufficiently glaring to make the +story more than questionable. + +Leo IV. died on the 17th July, 855; and Benedict III. was consecrated +on the 1st September in the same year; so that it is impossible to +insert between their pontificates a reign of two years, five months, +and four days. It is, however, true that there was an antipope elected +upon the death of Leo, at the instance of the Emperor Louis; but his +name was Anastasius. This man possessed himself of the palace of the +Popes, and obtained the incarceration of Benedict. However, his +supporters almost immediately deserted him, and Benedict assumed the +pontificate. The reign of Benedict was only for two years and a half, +so that Anastasius cannot be the supposed Joan; nor do we hear of any +charge brought against him to the effect of his being a woman. But the +stout partisans of the Pope-Joan tale assert, on the authority of the +"Annales Augustani,"[29] and some other, but late authorities, that +the female Pope was John VIII., who consecrated Louis II. of France, +and Ethelwolf of England. Here again is confusion. Ethelwolf sent +Alfred to Rome in 853, and the youth received regal unction from the +hands of Leo IV. In 855 Ethelwolf visited Rome, it is true, but was +not consecrated by the existing Pope, whilst Charles the Bald was +anointed by John VIII. in 875. John VIII. was a Roman, son of Gundus, +and an archdeacon of the Eternal City. He assumed the triple crown in +872, and reigned till December 18, 882. John took an active part in +the troubles of the Church under the incursions of the Sarasins, and +325 letters of his are extant, addressed to the princes and prelates +of his day. + +Any one desirous of pursuing this examination into the untenable +nature of the story may find an excellent summary of the arguments +used on both sides in Gieseler, "Lehrbuch," &c., Cunningham's trans., +vol. ii. pp. 20, 21, or in Bayle, "Dictionnaire," tom. iii. art. +Papesse. + +The arguments in favor of the myth may be seen in Spanheim, "Exercit. +de Papa FA"mina," Opp. tom. ii. p. 577, or in Lenfant, "Histoire de +la Papesse Jeanne," La Haye, 1736, 2 vols. 12mo. + +The arguments on the other side may be had in "Allatii Confutatio +FabulA| de Johanna Papissa," Colon. 1645; in Le Quien, "Oriens +Christianus," tom. iii. p. 777; and in the pages of the Lutheran +Huemann, "Sylloge Diss. Sacras.," tom. i. par. ii. p. 352. + +The final development of this extraordinary story, under the delicate +fingers of the German and French Protestant controversialists, may not +prove uninteresting. + +Joan was the daughter of an English missionary, who left England to +preach the Gospel to the recently converted Saxons. She was born at +Engelheim, and according to different authors she was christened +Agnes, Gerberta, Joanna, Margaret, Isabel, Dorothy, or Jutt--the last +must have been a nickname surely! She early distinguished herself for +genius and love of letters. A young monk of Fulda having conceived for +her a violent passion, which she returned with ardor, she deserted her +parents, dressed herself in male attire, and in the sacred precincts +of Fulda divided her affections between the youthful monk and the +musty books of the monastic library. Not satisfied with the restraints +of conventual life, nor finding the library sufficiently well provided +with books of abstruse science, she eloped with her young man, and +after visiting England, France, and Italy, she brought him to Athens, +where she addicted herself with unflagging devotion to her literary +pursuits. Wearied out by his journey, the monk expired in the arms of +the blue-stocking who had influenced his life for evil, and the young +lady of so many aliases was for a while inconsolable. She left Athens +and repaired to Rome. There she opened a school and acquired such a +reputation for learning and feigned sanctity, that, on the death of +Leo IV., she was unanimously elected Pope. For two years and five +months, under the name of John VIII., she filled the papal chair with +reputation, no one suspecting her sex. But having taken a fancy to one +of the cardinals, by him she became pregnant. At length arrived the +time of Rogation processions. Whilst passing the street between the +amphitheatre and St. Clement's, she was seized with violent pains, +fell to the ground amidst the crowd, and, whilst her attendants +ministered to her, was delivered of a son. Some say the child and +mother died on the spot, some that she survived but was incarcerated, +some that the child was spirited away to be the Antichrist of the last +days. A marble monument representing the papess with her baby was +erected on the spot, which was declared to be accursed to all ages. + +I have little doubt myself that Pope Joan is an impersonification of +the great whore of Revelation, seated on the seven hills, and is the +popular expression of the idea prevalent from the twelfth to the +sixteenth centuries, that the mystery of iniquity was somehow working +in the papal court. The scandal of the Antipopes, the utter +worldliness and pride of others, the spiritual fornication with the +kings of the earth, along with the words of Revelation prophesying the +advent of an adulterous woman who should rule over the imperial city, +and her connection with Antichrist, crystallized into this curious +myth, much as the floating uncertainty as to the signification of our +Lord's words, "There be some standing here which shall not taste of +death till they see the kingdom of God," condensed into the myth of +the Wandering Jew. + +The literature connected with Antichrist is voluminous. I need only +specify some of the most curious works which have appeared on the +subject. St. Hippolytus and Rabanus Maurus have been already alluded +to. Commodianus wrote "Carmen Apologeticum adversus Gentes," which has +been published by Dom Pitra in his "Spicilegium Solesmense," with an +introduction containing Jewish and Christian traditions relating to +Antichrist. "De Turpissima Conceptione, Nativitate, et aliis PrA|sagiis +Diaboliciis illius Turpissimi Hominis Antichristi," is the title of a +strange little volume published by Lenoir in A. D. 1500, containing +rude yet characteristic woodcuts, representing the birth, life, and +death of the Man of Sin, each picture accompanied by French verses in +explanation. An equally remarkable illustrated work on Antichrist is +the famous "Liber de Antichristo," a blockbook of an early date. It is +in twenty-seven folios, and is excessively rare. Dibdin has reproduced +three of the plates in his "Bibliotheca Spenseriana," and Falckenstein +has given full details of the work in his "Geschichte der +Buchdruckerkunst." + +There is an Easter miracle-play of the twelfth century, still extant, +the subject of which is the "Life and Death of Antichrist." More +curious still is the "Farce de l'AntA(C)christ et de Trois Femmes"--a +composition of the sixteenth century, when that mysterious personage +occupied all brains. The farce consists in a scene at a fish-stall, +with three good ladies quarrelling over some fish. Antichrist steps +in,--for no particular reason that one can see,--upsets fish and +fish-women, sets them fighting, and skips off the stage. The best book +on Antichrist, and that most full of learning and judgment, is +Malvenda's great work in two folio volumes, "De Antichristo, libri +xii." Lyons, 1647. + +For the fable of the Pope Joan, see J. Lenfant, "Histoire de la +Papesse Jeanne." La Haye, 1736, 2 vols. 12mo. "Allatii Confutatio +FabulA| de Johanna Papissa." Colon. 1645. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[29] These Annals were written in 1135. + + + + +The Man in the Moon. + + [Illustration: From L. Richter.] + + +Every one knows that the moon is inhabited by a man with a bundle of +sticks on his back, who has been exiled thither for many centuries, +and who is so far off that he is beyond the reach of death. + +He has once visited this earth, if the nursery rhyme is to be +credited, when it asserts that-- + + "The Man in the Moon + Came down too soon, + And asked his way to Norwich;" + +but whether he ever reached that city, the same authority does not +state. + +The story as told by nurses is, that this man was found by Moses +gathering sticks on a Sabbath, and that, for this crime, he was doomed +to reside in the moon till the end of all things; and they refer to +Numbers xv. 32-36:-- + +"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a +man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him +gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the +congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared +what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man +shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him +with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him +without the camp, and stoned him with stones till he died." + +Of course, in the sacred writings there is no allusion to the moon. + +The German tale is as follows:-- + +Ages ago there went one Sunday morning an old man into the wood to hew +sticks. He cut a fagot and slung it on a stout staff, cast it over his +shoulder, and began to trudge home with his burden. On his way he met +a handsome man in Sunday suit, walking towards the Church; this man +stopped and asked the fagot-bearer, "Do you know that this is Sunday +on earth, when all must rest from their labors?" + +"Sunday on earth, or Monday in heaven, it is all one to me!" laughed +the wood-cutter. + +"Then bear your bundle forever," answered the stranger; "and as you +value not Sunday on earth, yours shall be a perpetual Moon-day in +heaven; and you shall stand for eternity in the moon, a warning to all +Sabbath-breakers." Thereupon the stranger vanished, and the man was +caught up with his stock and his fagot into the moon, where he stands +yet. + +The superstition seems to be old in Germany, for the full moon is +spoken of as _wadel_, or _wedel_, a fagot. Tobler relates the story +thus: "An arma mAe ket alawel am Sonnti holz ufglesa. Do hedem der +liebe Gott dwahl gloh, A¶b er lieber wott ider sonn verbrenna oder im +mo verfrura, do willer lieber inn mo ihi. Dromm siedma no jetz an ma +im mo inna, wenns wedel ist. Er hed a pA1/4scheli uffem rogga."[30] That +is to say, he was given the choice of burning in the sun, or of +freezing in the moon; he chose the latter; and now at full moon he is +to be seen seated with his bundle of fagots on his back. + +In Schaumburg-Lippe,[31] the story goes, that a man and a woman stand +in the moon, the man because he strewed brambles and thorns on the +church path, so as to hinder people from attending Mass on Sunday +morning; the woman because she made butter on that day. The man +carries his bundle of thorns, the woman her butter-tub. A similar tale +is told in Swabia and in Marken. Fischart[32] says, that there "is to +be seen in the moon a manikin who stole wood;" and PrA|torius, in his +description of the world,[33] that "superstitious people assert that +the black flecks in the moon are a man who gathered wood on a Sabbath, +and is therefore turned into stone." + +The Dutch household myth is, that the unhappy man was caught stealing +vegetables. Dante calls him Cain:-- + + "... Now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine, + On either hemisphere, touching the wave + Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight + The moon was round." + _Hell_, cant. xx. + +And again,-- + + "... Tell, I pray thee, whence the gloomy spots + Upon this body, which below on earth + Give rise to talk of Cain in fabling quaint?" + _Paradise_, cant. ii. + +Chaucer, in the "Testament of Cresside," adverts to the man in the +moon, and attributes to him the same idea of theft. Of Lady Cynthia, +or the moon, he says,-- + + "Her gite was gray and full of spottis blake, + And on her brest a chorle painted ful even, + Bering a bush of thornis on his backe, + Whiche for his theft might clime so ner the heaven." + +Ritson, among his "Ancient Songs," gives one extracted from a +manuscript of the time of Edward II., on the Man in the Moon, but in +very obscure language. The first verse, altered into more modern +orthography, runs as follows:-- + + "Man in the Moon stand and stit, + On his bot-fork his burden he beareth, + It is much wonder that he do na doun slit, + For doubt lest he fall he shudd'reth and shivereth. + + ... + + "When the frost freezes must chill he bide, + The thorns be keen his attire so teareth, + Nis no wight in the world there wot when he syt, + Ne bote it by the hedge what weeds he weareth." + +Alexander Necham, or Nequam, a writer of the twelfth century, in +commenting on the dispersed shadows in the moon, thus alludes to the +vulgar belief: "Nonne novisti quid vulgus vocet rusticum in luna +portantem spinas? Unde quidam vulgariter loquens ait:-- + + "Rusticus in Luna, + Quem sarcina deprimit una + Monstrat per opinas + Nulli prodesse rapinas," + +which may be translated thus: "Do you know what they call the rustic +in the moon, who carries the fagot of sticks?" So that one vulgarly +speaking says,-- + + "See the rustic in the Moon, + How his bundle weighs him down; + Thus his sticks the truth reveal, + It never profits man to steal." + +Shakspeare refers to the same individual in his "Midsummer Night's +Dream." Quince the carpenter, giving directions for the performance of +the play of "Pyramus and Thisbe," orders: "One must come in with a +bush of thorns and a lantern, and say he comes in to disfigure, or to +present, the person of Moonshine." And the enacter of this part says, +"All I have to say is, to tell you that the lantern is the moon; I the +man in the moon; this thorn-bush my thorn-bush; and this dog my dog." + +Also "Tempest," Act 2, Scene 2:-- + + "_Cal._ Hast thou not dropt from heaven? + + "_Steph._ Out o' th' moon, I do assure thee. I was the man in + th' moon when time was. + + "_Cal._ I have seen thee in her; and I do adore thee. My + mistress showed me thee, and thy dog, and thy bush." + +The dog I have myself had pointed out to me by an old Devonshire +crone. If popular superstition places a dog in the moon, it puts a +lamb in the sun; for in the same county it is said that those who see +the sun rise on Easter-day, may behold in the orb the lamb and flag. + +I believe this idea of locating animals in the two great luminaries of +heaven to be very ancient, and to be a relic of a primeval +superstition of the Aryan race. + +There is an ancient pictorial representation of our friend the +Sabbath-breaker in Gyffyn Church, near Conway. The roof of the +chancel is divided into compartments, in four of which are the +Evangelistic symbols, rudely, yet effectively painted. Besides these +symbols is delineated in each compartment an orb of heaven. The sun, +the moon, and two stars, are placed at the feet of the Angel, the +Bull, the Lion, and the Eagle. The representation of the moon is as +below; in the disk is the conventional man with his bundle of sticks, +but without the dog. There is also a curious seal appended to a deed +preserved in the Record Office, dated the 9th year of Edward the Third +(1335), bearing the man in the moon as its device. The deed is one of +conveyance of a messuage, barn, and four acres of ground, in the +parish of Kingston-on-Thames, from Walter de Grendesse, clerk, to +Margaret his mother. On the seal we see the man carrying his sticks, +and the moon surrounds him. There are also a couple of stars added, +perhaps to show that he is in the sky. The legend on the seal reads:-- + + "Te Waltere docebo + cur spinas phebo + gero," + +which may be translated, "I will teach thee, Walter, why I carry +thorns in the moon." + + [Illustration: {Representation of the moon in Gyffyn Church.}] + + [Illustration: {The seal with the legend visible.}] + +The general superstition with regard to the spots in the moon may +briefly be summed up thus: A man is located in the moon; he is a thief +or Sabbath-breaker;[34] he has a pole over his shoulder, from which +is suspended a bundle of sticks or thorns. In some places a woman is +believed to accompany him, and she has a butter-tub with her; in other +localities she is replaced by a dog. + +The belief in the Moon-man seems to exist among the natives of British +Columbia; for I read in one of Mr. Duncan's letters to the Church +Missionary Society, "One very dark night I was told that there was a +moon to see on the beach. On going to see, there was an illuminated +disk, with the figure of a man upon it. The water was then very low, +and one of the conjuring parties had lit up this disk at the water's +edge. They had made it of wax, with great exactness, and presently it +was at full. It was an imposing sight. Nothing could be seen around +it; but the Indians suppose that the medicine party are then holding +converse with the man in the moon.... After a short time the moon +waned away, and the conjuring party returned whooping to their house." + +Now let us turn to Scandinavian mythology, and see what we learn from +that source. + +MAcni, the moon, stole two children from their parents, and carried +them up to heaven. Their names were Hjuki and Bil. They had been +drawing water from the well Byrgir, in the bucket SA"gr, suspended +from the pole Simul, which they bore upon their shoulders. These +children, pole, and bucket were placed in heaven, "where they could be +seen from earth." This refers undoubtedly to the spots in the moon; +and so the Swedish peasantry explain these spots to this day, as +representing a boy and a girl bearing a pail of water between them. +Are we not reminded at once of our nursery rhyme-- + + "Jack and Jill went up a hill + To fetch a pail of water; + Jack fell down, and broke his crown, + And Jill came tumbling after"? + +This verse, which to us seems at first sight nonsense, I have no +hesitation in saying has a high antiquity, and refers to the Eddaic +Hjuki and Bil. The names indicate as much. Hjuki, in Norse, would be +pronounced Juki, which would readily become Jack; and Bil, for the +sake of euphony, and in order to give a female name to one of the +children, would become Jill. + +The fall of Jack, and the subsequent fall of Jill, simply represent +the vanishing of one moon-spot after another, as the moon wanes. + +But the old Norse myth had a deeper signification than merely an +explanation of the moon-spots. + +Hjuki is derived from the verb jakka, to heap or pile together, to +assemble and increase; and Bil from bila, to break up or dissolve. +Hjuki and Bil, therefore, signify nothing more than the waxing and +waning of the moon, and the water they are represented as bearing +signifies the fact that the rainfall depends on the phases of the +moon. Waxing and waning were individualized, and the meteorological +fact of the connection of the rain with the moon was represented by +the children as water-bearers. + +But though Jack and Jill became by degrees dissevered in the popular +mind from the moon, the original myth went through a fresh phase, and +exists still under a new form. The Norse superstition attributed +_theft_ to the moon, and the vulgar soon began to believe that the +figure they saw in the moon was the thief. The lunar specks certainly +may be made to resemble one figure, and only a lively imagination can +discern two. The girl soon dropped out of popular mythology, the boy +oldened into a venerable man, he retained his pole, and the bucket +was transformed into the thing he had stolen--sticks or vegetables. +The theft was in some places exchanged for Sabbath-breaking, +especially among those in Protestant countries who were acquainted +with the Bible story of the stick-gatherer. + +The Indian superstition is worth examining, because of the connection +existing between Indian and European mythology, on account of our +belonging to the same Aryan stock. + +According to a Buddhist legend, SAckyamunni himself, in one of his +earlier stages of existence, was a hare, and lived in friendship with +a fox and an ape. In order to test the virtue of the Bodhisattwa, +Indra came to the friends, in the form of an old man, asking for food. +Hare, ape, and fox went forth in quest of victuals for their guest. +The two latter returned from their foraging expedition successful, but +the hare had found nothing. Then, rather than that he should treat the +old man with inhospitality, the hare had a fire kindled, and cast +himself into the flames, that he might himself become food for his +guest. In reward for this act of self-sacrifice, Indra carried the +hare to heaven, and placed him in the moon.[35] + +Here we have an old man and a hare in connection with the lunar +planet, just as in Shakspeare we have a fagot-bearer and a dog. + +The fable rests upon the name of the moon in Sanskrit, ASec.aASec.in, or "that +marked with the hare;" but whether the belief in the spots taking the +shape of a hare gave the name ASec.aASec.in to the moon, or the lunar name +ASec.aASec.in originated the belief, it is impossible for us to say. + +Grounded upon this myth is the curious story of "The Hare and the +Elephant," in the "Pantschatantra," an ancient collection of Sanskrit +fables. It will be found as the first tale in the third book. I have +room only for an outline of the story. + + +THE CRAFTY HARE. + +In a certain forest lived a mighty elephant, king of a herd, Toothy by +name. On a certain occasion there was a long drought, so that pools, +tanks, swamps, and lakes were dried up. Then the elephants sent out +exploring parties in search of water. A young one discovered an +extensive lake surrounded with trees, and teeming with water-fowl. It +went by the name of the Moon-lake. The elephants, delighted at the +prospect of having an inexhaustible supply of water, marched off to +the spot, and found their most sanguine hopes realized. Round about +the lake, in the sandy soil, were innumerable hare warrens; and as the +herd of elephants trampled on the ground, the hares were severely +injured, their homes broken down, their heads, legs, and backs crushed +beneath the ponderous feet of the monsters of the forest. As soon as +the herd had withdrawn, the hares assembled, some halting, some +dripping with blood, some bearing the corpses of their cherished +infants, some with piteous tales of ruination in their houses, all +with tears streaming from their eyes, and wailing forth, "Alas, we are +lost! The elephant-herd will return, for there is no water elsewhere, +and that will be the death of all of us." + +But the wise and prudent Longear volunteered to drive the herd away; +and he succeeded in this manner: Longear went to the elephants, and +having singled out their king, he addressed him as follows:-- + +"Ha, ha! bad elephant! what brings you with such thoughtless frivolity +to this strange lake? Back with you at once!" + +When the king of the elephants heard this, he asked in astonishment, +"Pray, who are you?" + +"I," replied Longear,--"I am Vidschajadatta by name; the hare who +resides in the Moon. Now am I sent by his Excellency the Moon as an +ambassador to you. I speak to you in the name of the Moon." + +"Ahem! Hare," said the elephant, somewhat staggered; "and what message +have you brought me from his Excellency the Moon?" + +"You have this day injured several hares. Are you not aware that they +are the subjects of me? If you value your life, venture not near the +lake again. Break my command, and I shall withdraw my beams from you +at night, and your bodies will be consumed with perpetual sun." + +The elephant, after a short meditation, said, "Friend! it is true that +I have acted against the rights of the excellent Majesty of the Moon. +I should wish to make an apology; how can I do so?" + +The hare replied, "Come along with me, and I will show you." + +The elephant asked, "Where is his Excellency at present?" + +The other replied, "He is now in the lake, hearing the complaints of +the maimed hares." + +"If that be the case," said the elephant, humbly, "bring me to my +lord, that I may tender him my submission." + +So the hare conducted the king of the elephants to the edge of the +lake, and showed him the reflection of the moon in the water, saying, +"There stands our lord in the midst of the water, plunged in +meditation; reverence him with devotion, and then depart with speed." + +Thereupon the elephant poked his proboscis into the water, and +muttered a fervent prayer. By so doing he set the water in agitation, +so that the reflection of the moon was all of a quiver. + +"Look!" exclaimed the hare; "his Majesty is trembling with rage at +you!" + +"Why is his supreme Excellency enraged with me?" asked the elephant. + +"Because you have set the water in motion. Worship him, and then be +off!" + +The elephant let his ears droop, bowed his great head to the earth, +and after having expressed in suitable terms his regret for having +annoyed the Moon, and the hare dwelling in it, he vowed never to +trouble the Moon-lake again. Then he departed, and the hares have ever +since lived there unmolested. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[30] Tobler, Appenz. Sprachsbuch, 20. + +[31] Wolf, Zeitschrift fA1/4r Deut. Myth. i. 168. + +[32] Fischart, Garg. 130. + +[33] PrA|torius, i. 447. + +[34] Hebel, in his charming poem on the Man in the Moon, in +"Allemanische Gedichte," makes him both thief and Sabbath-breaker. + +[35] "MA(C)moires ... par Hjouen Thsang, traduits du Chinois par +Stanislas Julien," i. 375. Upham, "Sacred Books of Ceylon," iii. 309. + + + + +The Mountain of Venus. + + +Ragged, bald, and desolate, as though a curse rested upon it, rises +the HA¶rselberg out of the rich and populous land between Eisenach and +Gotha, looking, from a distance, like a huge stone sarcophagus--a +sarcophagus in which rests in magical slumber, till the end of all +things, a mysterious world of wonders. + +High up on the north-west flank of the mountain, in a precipitous wall +of rock, opens a cavern, called the HA¶rselloch, from the depths of +which issues a muffled roar of water, as though a subterraneous stream +were rushing over rapidly-whirling millwheels. "When I have stood +alone on the ridge of the mountain," says Bechstein, "after having +sought the chasm in vain, I have heard a mighty rush, like that of +falling water, beneath my feet, and after scrambling down the scarp, +have found myself--how, I never knew--in front of the cave." +("Sagenschatz des ThA1/4ringes-landes," 1835.) + +In ancient days, according to the ThA1/4ringian Chronicles, bitter cries +and long-drawn moans were heard issuing from this cavern; and at +night, wild shrieks and the burst of diabolical laughter would ring +from it over the vale, and fill the inhabitants with terror. It was +supposed that this hole gave admittance to Purgatory; and the popular +but faulty derivation of HA¶rsel was _HA¶re, die Seele_--Hark, the +Souls! + +But another popular belief respecting this mountain was, that in it +Venus, the pagan Goddess of Love, held her court, in all the pomp and +revelry of heathendom; and there were not a few who declared that they +had seen fair forms of female beauty beckoning them from the mouth of +the chasm, and that they had heard dulcet strains of music well up +from the abyss above the thunder of the falling, unseen torrent. +Charmed by the music, and allured by the spectral forms, various +individuals had entered the cave, and none had returned, except the +TanhA¤user, of whom more anon. Still does the HA¶rselberg go by the name +of the Venusberg, a name frequently used in the middle ages, but +without its locality being defined. + +"In 1398, at midday, there appeared suddenly three great fires in the +air, which presently ran together into one globe of flame, parted +again, and finally sank into the HA¶rselberg," says the ThA1/4ringian +Chronicle. + +And now for the story of TanhA¤user. + +A French knight was riding over the beauteous meadows in the HA¶rsel +vale on his way to Wartburg, where the Landgrave Hermann was holding a +gathering of minstrels, who were to contend in song for a prize. + +TanhA¤user was a famous minnesinger, and all his lays were of love and +of women, for his heart was full of passion, and that not of the +purest and noblest description. + +It was towards dusk that he passed the cliff in which is the +HA¶rselloch, and as he rode by, he saw a white glimmering figure of +matchless beauty standing before him, and beckoning him to her. He +knew her at once, by her attributes and by her superhuman perfection, +to be none other than Venus. As she spake to him, the sweetest strains +of music floated in the air, a soft roseate light glowed around her, +and nymphs of exquisite loveliness scattered roses at her feet. A +thrill of passion ran through the veins of the minnesinger; and, +leaving his horse, he followed the apparition. It led him up the +mountain to the cave, and as it went flowers bloomed upon the soil, +and a radiant track was left for TanhA¤user to follow. He entered the +cavern, and descended to the palace of Venus in the heart of the +mountain. + +Seven years of revelry and debauch were passed, and the minstrel's +heart began to feel a strange void. The beauty, the magnificence, the +variety of the scenes in the pagan goddess's home, and all its +heathenish pleasures, palled upon him, and he yearned for the pure +fresh breezes of earth, one look up at the dark night sky spangled +with stars, one glimpse of simple mountain-flowers, one tinkle of +sheep-bells. At the same time his conscience began to reproach him, +and he longed to make his peace with God. In vain did he entreat Venus +to permit him to depart, and it was only when, in the bitterness of +his grief, he called upon the Virgin-Mother, that a rift in the +mountain-side appeared to him, and he stood again above ground. + +How sweet was the morning air, balmy with the scent of hay, as it +rolled up the mountain to him, and fanned his haggard cheek! How +delightful to him was the cushion of moss and scanty grass after the +downy couches of the palace of revelry below! He plucked the little +heather-bells, and held them before him; the tears rolled from his +eyes, and moistened his thin and wasted hands. He looked up at the +soft blue sky and the newly-risen sun, and his heart overflowed. What +were the golden, jewel-incrusted, lamp-lit vaults beneath to that pure +dome of God's building! + +The chime of a village church struck sweetly on his ear, satiated with +Bacchanalian songs; and he hurried down the mountain to the church +which called him. There he made his confession; but the priest, +horror-struck at his recital, dared not give him absolution, but +passed him on to another. And so he went from one to another, till at +last he was referred to the Pope himself. To the Pope he went. Urban +IV. then occupied the chair of St. Peter. To him TanhA¤user related the +sickening story of his guilt, and prayed for absolution. Urban was a +hard and stern man, and shocked at the immensity of the sin, he thrust +the penitent indignantly from him, exclaiming, "Guilt such as thine +can never, never be remitted. Sooner shall this staff in my hand grow +green and blossom, than that God should pardon thee!" + +Then TanhA¤user, full of despair, and with his soul darkened, went +away, and returned to the only asylum open to him, the Venusberg. But +lo! three days after he had gone, Urban discovered that his pastoral +staff had put forth buds, and had burst into flower. Then he sent +messengers after TanhA¤user, and they reached the HA¶rsel vale to hear +that a wayworn man, with haggard brow and bowed head, had just entered +the HA¶rselloch. Since then TanhA¤user has not been seen. + +Such is the sad yet beautiful story of TanhA¤user. It is a very ancient +myth Christianized, a wide-spread tradition localized. Originally +heathen, it has been transformed, and has acquired new beauty by an +infusion of Christianity. Scattered over Europe, it exists in various +forms, but in none so graceful as that attached to the HA¶rselberg. +There are, however, other Venusbergs in Germany; as, for instance, in +Swabia, near Waldsee; another near Ufhausen, at no great distance from +Freiburg (the same story is told of this Venusberg as of the +HA¶rselberg); in Saxony there is a Venusberg not far from Wolkenstein. +Paracelsus speaks of a Venusberg in Italy, referring to that in which +A†neas Sylvius (Ep. 16) says Venus or a Sibyl resides, occupying a +cavern, and assuming once a week the form of a serpent. Geiler v. +Keysersperg, a quaint old preacher of the fifteenth century, speaks of +the witches assembling on the Venusberg. + +The story, either in prose or verse, has often been printed. Some of +the earliest editions are the following:-- + +"Das Lied von dem Danhewser." NA1/4rnberg, without date; the same, +NA1/4rnberg, 1515.--"Das Lyedt v. d. Thanheuser." Leyptzk, 1520.--"Das +Lied v. d. DanheA1/4ser," reprinted by Bechstein, 1835.--"Das Lied vom +edlen Tanheuser, Mons Veneris." Frankfort, 1614; Leipzig, 1668.--"Twe +lede volgen Dat erste vain DanhA1/4sser." Without date.--"Van heer +Danielken." Tantwerpen, 1544.--A Danish version in "Nyerup, Danske +Viser," No. VIII. + +Let us now see some of the forms which this remarkable myth assumed in +other countries. Every popular tale has its root, a root which may be +traced among different countries, and though the accidents of the +story may vary, yet the substance remains unaltered. It has been said +that the common people never invent new story-radicals any more than +we invent new word-roots; and this is perfectly true. The same +story-root remains, but it is varied according to the temperament of +the narrator or the exigencies of localization. The story-root of the +Venusberg is this:-- + + The underground folk seek union with human beings. + + I+-. A man is enticed into their abode, where he unites + with a woman of the underground race. + + I squared. He desires to revisit the earth, and escapes. + + I cubed. He returns again to the region below. + +Now, there is scarcely a collection of folk-lore which does not +contain a story founded on this root. It appears in every branch of +the Aryan family, and examples might be quoted from Modern Greek, +Albanian, Neapolitan, French, German, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, +Icelandic, Scotch, Welsh, and other collections of popular tales. I +have only space to mention some. + +There is a Norse ThAittr of a certain Helgi Thorir's son, which is, in +its present form, a production of the fourteenth century. Helgi and +his brother Thorstein went on a cruise to Finnmark, or Lapland. They +reached a ness, and found the land covered with forest. Helgi explored +this forest, and lighted suddenly on a party of red-dressed women +riding upon red horses. These ladies were beautiful and of troll race. +One surpassed the others in beauty, and she was their mistress. They +erected a tent and prepared a feast. Helgi observed that all their +vessels were of silver and gold. The lady, who named herself +Ingibjorg, advanced towards the Norseman, and invited him to live with +her. He feasted and lived with the trolls for three days, and then +returned to his ship, bringing with him two chests of silver and gold, +which Ingibjorg had given him. He had been forbidden to mention where +he had been and with whom; so he told no one whence he had obtained +the chests. The ships sailed, and he returned home. + +One winter's night Helgi was fetched away from home, in the midst of a +furious storm, by two mysterious horsemen, and no one was able to +ascertain for many years what had become of him, till the prayers of +the king, Olaf, obtained his release, and then he was restored to his +father and brother, but he was thenceforth blind. All the time of his +absence he had been with the red-vested lady in her mysterious abode +of GlA"sisvellir. + +The Scotch story of Thomas of Ercildoune is the same story. Thomas met +with a strange lady, of elfin race, beneath Eildon Tree, who led him +into the underground land, where he remained with her for seven years. +He then returned to earth, still, however, remaining bound to come to +his royal mistress whenever she should summon him. Accordingly, while +Thomas was making merry with his friends in the Tower of Ercildoune, a +person came running in, and told, with marks of fear and astonishment, +that a hart and a hind had left the neighboring forest, and were +parading the street of the village. Thomas instantly arose, left his +house, and followed the animals into the forest, from which he never +returned. According to popular belief, he still "drees his weird" in +Fairy Land, and is one day expected to revisit earth. (Scott, +"Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.") Compare with this the ancient +ballad of Tamlane. + +Debes relates that "it happened a good while since, when the burghers +of Bergen had the commerce of the Faroe Isles, that there was a man in +Serraade, called Jonas Soideman, who was kept by the spirits in a +mountain during the space of seven years, and at length came out, but +lived afterwards in great distress and fear, lest they should again +take him away; wherefore people were obliged to watch him in the +night." The same author mentions another young man who had been +carried away, and after his return was removed a second time, upon the +eve of his marriage. + +Gervase of Tilbury says that "in Catalonia there is a lofty mountain, +named Cavagum, at the foot of which runs a river with golden sands, in +the vicinity of which there are likewise silver mines. This mountain +is steep, and almost inaccessible. On its top, which is always covered +with ice and snow, is a black and bottomless lake, into which if a +stone be cast, a tempest suddenly arises; and near this lake is the +portal of the palace of demons." He then tells how a young damsel was +spirited in there, and spent seven years with the mountain spirits. On +her return to earth she was thin and withered, with wandering eyes, +and almost bereft of understanding. + +A Swedish story is to this effect. A young man was on his way to his +bride, when he was allured into a mountain by a beautiful elfin woman. +With her he lived forty years, which passed as an hour; on his return +to earth all his old friends and relations were dead, or had forgotten +him, and finding no rest there, he returned to his mountain elf-land. + +In Pomerania, a laborer's son, Jacob Dietrich of Rambin, was enticed +away in the same manner. + +There is a curious story told by Fordun in his "Scotichronicon," which +has some interest in connection with the legend of the TanhA¤user. He +relates that in the year 1050, a youth of noble birth had been married +in Rome, and during the nuptial feast, being engaged in a game of +ball, he took off his wedding-ring, and placed it on the finger of a +statue of Venus. When he wished to resume it, he found that the stony +hand had become clinched, so that it was impossible to remove the +ring. Thenceforth he was haunted by the Goddess Venus, who constantly +whispered in his ear, "Embrace me; I am Venus, whom you have wedded; I +will never restore your ring." However, by the assistance of a +priest, she was at length forced to give it up to its rightful owner. + +The classic legend of Ulysses, held captive for eight years by the +nymph Calypso in the Island of Ogygia, and again for one year by the +enchantress Circe, contains the root of the same story of the +TanhA¤user. + +What may have been the significance of the primeval story-radical it +is impossible for us now to ascertain; but the legend, as it shaped +itself in the middle ages, is certainly indicative of the struggle +between the new and the old faith. + +We see thinly veiled in TanhA¤user the story of a man, Christian in +name, but heathen at heart, allured by the attractions of paganism, +which seems to satisfy his poetic instincts, and which gives full rein +to his passions. But these excesses pall on him after a while, and the +religion of sensuality leaves a great void in his breast. + +He turns to Christianity, and at first it seems to promise all that he +requires. But alas! he is repelled by its ministers. On all sides he +is met by practice widely at variance with profession. Pride, +worldliness, want of sympathy exist among those who should be the +foremost to guide, sustain, and receive him. All the warm springs +which gushed up in his broken heart are choked, his softened spirit is +hardened again, and he returns in despair to bury his sorrows and +drown his anxieties in the debauchery of his former creed. + +A sad picture, but doubtless one very true. + + + + +Fatality of Numbers. + + +The laws governing numbers are so perplexing to the uncultivated mind, +and the results arrived at by calculation are so astonishing, that it +cannot be matter of surprise if superstition has attached itself to +numbers. + +But even to those who are instructed in numeration, there is much that +is mysterious and unaccountable, much that only an advanced +mathematician can explain to his own satisfaction. The neophyte sees +the numbers obedient to certain laws; but _why_ they obey these laws +he cannot understand; and the fact of his not being able so to do, +tends to give to numbers an atmosphere of mystery which impresses him +with awe. + +For instance, the property of the number 9, discovered, I believe, by +W. Green, who died in 1794, is inexplicable to any one but a +mathematician. The property to which I allude is this, that when 9 is +multiplied by 2, by 3, by 4, by 5, by 6, &c., it will be found that +the digits composing the product, when added together, give 9. Thus:-- + + 2 A-- 9 = 18, and 1 + 8 = 9 + 3 A-- 9 = 27, " 2 + 7 = 9 + 4 A-- 9 = 36, " 3 + 6 = 9 + 5 A-- 9 = 45, " 4 + 5 = 9 + 6 A-- 9 = 54, " 5 + 4 = 9 + 7 A-- 9 = 63, " 6 + 3 = 9 + 8 A-- 9 = 72, " 7 + 2 = 9 + 9 A-- 9 = 81, " 8 + 1 = 9 + 10 A-- 9 = 90, " 9 + 0 = 9 + +It will be noticed that 9 A-- 11 makes 99, the sum of the digits of +which is 18 and not 9, but the sum of the digits 1 + 8 equals 9. + + 9 A-- 12 = 108, and 1 + 0 + 8 = 9 + 9 A-- 13 = 117, " 1 + 1 + 7 = 9 + 9 A-- 14 = 126, " 1 + 2 + 6 = 9 + +And so on to any extent. + +M. de Maivan discovered another singular property of the same number. +If the order of the digits expressing a number be changed, and this +number be subtracted from the former, the remainder will be 9 or a +multiple of 9, and, being a multiple, the sum of its digits will be 9. + +For instance, take the number 21, reverse the digits, and you have +12; subtract 12 from 21, and the remainder is 9. Take 63, reverse the +digits, and subtract 36 from 63; you have 27, a multiple of 9, and 2 + +7 = 9. Once more, the number 13 is the reverse of 31; the difference +between these numbers is 18, or twice 9. + +Again, the same property found in two numbers thus changed, is +discovered in the same numbers raised to any power. + +Take 21 and 12 again. The square of 21 is 441, and the square of 12 is +144; subtract 144 from 441, and the remainder is 297, a multiple of 9; +besides, the digits expressing these powers added together give 9. The +cube of 21 is 9261, and that of 12 is 1728; their difference is 7533, +also a multiple of 9. + +The number 37 has also somewhat remarkable properties; when multiplied +by 3 or a multiple of 3 up to 27, it gives in the product three digits +exactly similar. From the knowledge of this the multiplication of 37 +is greatly facilitated, the method to be adopted being to multiply +merely the first cipher of the multiplicand by the first multiplier; +it is then unnecessary to proceed with the multiplication, it being +sufficient to write twice to the right hand the cipher obtained, so +that the same digit will stand in the unit, tens, and hundreds places. + +For instance, take the results of the following table:-- + + 37 multiplied by 3 gives 111, and 3 times 1 = 3 + 37 " 6 " 222, " 3 " 2 = 6 + 37 " 9 " 333, " 3 " 3 = 9 + 37 " 12 " 444, " 3 " 4 = 12 + 37 " 15 " 555, " 3 " 5 = 15 + 37 " 18 " 666, " 3 " 6 = 18 + 37 " 21 " 777, " 3 " 7 = 21 + 37 " 24 " 888, " 3 " 8 = 24 + 37 " 27 " 999, " 3 " 9 = 27 + +The singular property of numbers the most different, when added, to +produce the same sum, originated the use of magical squares for +talismans. Although the reason may be accounted for mathematically, +yet numerous authors have written concerning them, as though there +were something "uncanny" about them. But the most remarkable and +exhaustive treatise on the subject is that by a mathematician of +Dijon, which is entitled "TraitA(C) complet des CarrA(C)s magiques, pairs et +impairs, simple et composA(C)s, A Bordures, Compartiments, Croix, +Chassis, A%querres, Bandes dA(C)tachA(C)es, &c.; suivi d'un TraitA(C) des Cubes +magiques et d'un Essai sur les Cercles magiques; par M. Violle, +GA(C)omA"tre, Chevalier de St. Louis, avec Atlas de 54 grandes Feuilles, +comprenant 400 figures." Paris, 1837. 2 vols. 8vo., the first of 593 +pages, the second of 616. Price 36 fr. + +I give three examples of magical squares:-- + + 2 7 6 + 9 5 1 + 4 3 8 + +These nine ciphers are disposed in three horizontal lines; add the +three ciphers of each line, and the sum is 15; add the three ciphers +in each column, the sum is 15; add the three ciphers forming +diagonals, and the sum is 15. + + 1 2 3 4 1 7 13 19 25 + 2 3 2 3 18 24 5 6 12 + 4 1 4 1 10 11 17 23 4 + 3 4 1 2 22 3 9 15 16 + 14 20 21 2 8 + + The sum is 10. The sum is 65. + +But the connection of certain numbers with the dogmas of religion was +sufficient, besides their marvellous properties, to make superstition +attach itself to them. Because there were thirteen at the table when +the Last Supper was celebrated, and one of the number betrayed his +Master, and then hung himself, it is looked upon through Christendom +as unlucky to sit down thirteen at table, the consequence being that +one of the number will die before the year is out. "When I see," said +Vouvenargues, "men of genius not daring to sit down thirteen at table, +there is no error, ancient or modern, which astonishes me." + +Nine, having been consecrated by Buddhism, is regarded with great +veneration by the Moguls and Chinese: the latter bow nine times on +entering the presence of their Emperor. + +Three is sacred among Brahminical and Christian people, because of the +Trinity of the Godhead. + +Pythagoras taught that each number had its own peculiar character, +virtue, and properties. + +"The unit, or the monad," he says, "is the principle and the end of +all; it is this sublime knot which binds together the chain of causes; +it is the symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, of +conservation, and of general harmony. Having no parts, the monad +represents Divinity; it announces also order, peace, and tranquillity, +which are founded on unity of sentiments; consequently ONE is a good +principle. + +"The number TWO, or the dyad, the origin of contrasts, is the symbol +of diversity, or inequality, of division and of separation. TWO is +accordingly an evil principle, a number of bad augury, characterizing +disorder, confusion, and change. + +"THREE, or the triad, is the first of unequals; it is the number +containing the most sublime mysteries, for everything is composed of +three substances; it represents God, the soul of the world, the spirit +of man." This number, which plays so great a part in the traditions of +Asia, and in the Platonic philosophy, is the image of the attributes +of God. + +"FOUR, or the tetrad, as the first mathematical power, is also one of +the chief elements; it represents the generating virtue, whence come +all combinations; it is the most perfect of numbers; it is the root of +all things. It is holy by nature, since it constitutes the Divine +essence, by recalling His unity, His power, His goodness, and His +wisdom, the four perfections which especially characterize God. +Consequently, Pythagoricians swear by the quaternary number, which +gives the human soul its eternal nature. + +"The number FIVE, or the pentad, has a peculiar force in sacred +expiations; it is everything; it stops the power of poisons, and is +redoubted by evil spirits. + +"The number SIX, or the hexad, is a fortunate number, and it derives +its merit from the first sculptors having divided the face into six +portions; but, according to the Chaldeans, the reason is, because God +created the world in six days. + +"SEVEN, or the heptad, is a number very powerful for good or for evil. +It belongs especially to sacred things. + +"The number EIGHT, or the octad, is the first cube, that is to say, +squared in all senses, as a die, proceeding from its base two, an even +number; so is man four-square, or perfect. + +"The number NINE, or the ennead, being the multiple of three, should +be regarded as sacred. + +"Finally, TEN, or the decad, is the measure of all, since it contains +all the numeric relations and harmonies. As the reunion of the four +first numbers, it plays an eminent part, since all the branches of +science, all nomenclatures, emanate from, and retire into it." + +It is hardly necessary for me here to do more than mention the +peculiar character given to different numbers by Christianity. One is +the numeral indicating the Unity of the Godhead; Two points to the +hypostatic union; Three to the Blessed Trinity; Four to the +Evangelists; Five to the Sacred Wounds; Six is the number of sin; +Seven that of the gifts of the Spirit; Eight, that of the Beatitudes; +Ten is the number of the commandments; Eleven speaks of the Apostles +after the loss of Judas; Twelve, of the complete apostolic college. + +I shall now point out certain numbers which have been regarded with +superstition, and certain events connected with numbers which are of +curious interest. + +The number 14 has often been observed as having singularly influenced +the life of Henry IV. and other French princes. Let us take the +history of Henry. + +On the 14th May, 1029, the first king of France named Henry was +consecrated, and on the 14th May, 1610, the last Henry was +assassinated. + +Fourteen letters enter into the composition of the name of Henri de +Bourbon, who was the 14th king bearing the titles of France and +Navarre. + +The 14th December, 1553, that is, 14 centuries, 14 decades, and 14 +years after the birth of Christ, Henry IV. was born; the ciphers of +the date 1553, when added together, giving the number 14. + +The 14th May, 1554, Henry II. ordered the enlargement of the Rue de la +Ferronnerie. The circumstance of this order not having been carried +out, occasioned the murder of Henry IV. in that street, four times 14 +years after. + +The 14th May, 1552, was the date of the birth of MarguA(C)rite de Valois, +first wife of Henry IV. + +On the 14th May, 1588, the Parisians revolted against Henry III., at +the instigation of the Duke of Guise. + +On the 14th March, 1590, Henry IV. gained the battle of Ivry. + +On the 14th May, 1590, Henry was repulsed from the Fauxbourgs of +Paris. + +On the 14th November, 1590, the Sixteen took oath to die rather than +serve Henry. + +On the 14th November, 1592, the Parliament registered the Papal Bull +giving power to the legate to nominate a king to the exclusion of +Henry. + +On the 14th December, 1599, the Duke of Savoy was reconciled to Henry +IV. + +On the 14th September, 1606, the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XIII., was +baptized. + +On the 14th May, 1610, the king was stopped in the Rue de la +Ferronnerie, by his carriage becoming locked with a cart, on account +of the narrowness of the street. Ravaillac took advantage of the +occasion for stabbing him. + +Henry IV. lived four times 14 years, 14 weeks, and four times 14 days; +that is to say, 56 years and 5 months. + +On the 14th May, 1643, died Louis XIII., son of Henry IV.; not only on +the same day of the same month as his father, but the date, 1643, when +its ciphers are added together, gives the number 14, just as the +ciphers of the date of the birth of his father gave 14. + +Louis XIV. mounted the throne in 1643: 1 + 6 + 4 + 3 = 14. + +He died in the year 1715: 1 + 7 + 1 + 5 = 14. + +He lived 77 years, and 7 + 7 = 14. + +Louis XV. mounted the throne in the same year; he died in 1774, which +also bears the stamp of 14, the extremes being 14, and the sum of the +means 7 + 7 making 14. + +Louis XVI. had reigned 14 years when he convoked the States General, +which was to bring about the Revolution. + +The number of years between the assassination of Henry IV. and the +dethronement of Louis XVI. is divisible by 14. + +Louis XVII. died in 1794; the extreme digits of the date are 14, and +the first two give his number. + +The restoration of the Bourbons took place in 1814, also marked by the +extremes being 14; also by the sum of the ciphers making 14. + +The following are other curious calculations made respecting certain +French kings. + +Add the ciphers composing the year of the birth or of the death of +some of the kings of the third race, and the result of each sum is +the titular number of each prince. Thus:-- + +Louis IX. was born in 1215; add the four ciphers of this date, and you +have IX. + +Charles VII. was born in 1402; the sum of 1 + 4 + 2 gives VII. + +Louis XII. was born in 1461; and 1 + 4 + 6 + 1 = XII. + +Henry IV. died in 1610; and 1 + 6 + 1 = twice IV. + +Louis XIV. was crowned in 1643; and these four ciphers give XIV. The +same king died in 1715; and this date gives also XIV. He was aged 77 +years, and again 7 + 7 = 14. + +Louis XVIII. was born in 1755; add the digits, and you have XVIII. + +What is remarkable is, that this number 18 is double the number of the +king to whom the law first applies, and is triple the number of the +kings to whom it has applied. + +Here is another curious calculation:-- + +Robespierre fell in 1794; + +Napoleon in 1815, and Charles X. in 1830. + +Now, the remarkable fact in connection with these dates is, that the +sum of the digits composing them, added to the dates, gives the date +of the fall of the successor. Robespierre fell in 1794; 1 + 7 + 9 + 4 += 21, 1794 + 21 = 1815, the date of the fall of Napoleon; 1 + 8 + 1 + +5 = 15, and 1815 + 15 = 1830, the date of the fall of Charles X. + +There is a singular rule which has been supposed to determine the +length of the reigning Pope's life, in the earlier half of a century. +Add his number to that of his predecessor, to that add ten, and the +result gives the year of his death. + +Pius VII. succeeded Pius VI.; 6 + 7 = 13; add 10, and the sum is 23. +Pius VII. died in 1823. + +Leo XII. succeeded Pius VII.; 12 + 7 + 10 = 29; and Leo XII. died in +1829. + +Pius VIII. succeeded Leo XII.; 8 + 12 + 10 = 30; and Pius VIII. died +in 1830. + +However, this calculation does not always apply. + +Gregory XVI. ought to have died in 1834, but he did not actually +vacate his see till 1846. + +It is also well known that an ancient tradition forbids the hope of +any of St. Peter's successors, _pervenire ad annos Petri_; i. e., to +reign 25 years. + +Those who sat longest are + + Years. Months. Days. + Pius VI., who reigned 24 6 14 + Hadrian I. " 23 10 17 + Pius VII. " 23 5 6 + Alexander III. " 21 11 23 + St. Silvester I. " 21 0 4 + +There is one numerical curiosity of a very remarkable character, which +I must not omit. + +The ancient Chamber of Deputies, such as it existed in 1830, was +composed of 402 members, and was divided into two parties. The one, +numbering 221 members, declared itself strongly for the revolution of +July; the other party, numbering 181, did not favor a change. The +result was the constitutional monarchy, which re-established order +after the three memorable days of July. The parties were known by the +following nicknames. The larger was commonly called _La queue de +Robespierre_, and the smaller, _Les honnAªtes gens_. Now, the +remarkable fact is, that if we give to the letters of the alphabet +their numerical values as they stand in their order, as 1 for A, 2 for +B, 3 for C, and so on to Z, which is valued at 25, and then write +vertically on the left hand the words, _La queue de Robespierre_, +with the number equivalent to each letter opposite to it, and on the +right hand, in like manner, _Les honnAªtes gens_, if each column of +numbers be summed up, the result is the number of members who formed +each party. + + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 + A B C D E F G H I J K L M + + 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 + N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z + + L--12 L--12 + A-- 1 E-- 5 + S--19 + Q--17 + U--21 H-- 8 + E-- 5 O--15 + U-- 5 N--14 + E-- 5 N--14 + E-- 5 + D-- 4 T--20 + E-- 5 E-- 5 + S--19 + R--18 + O--15 G-- 7 + B-- 2 E-- 5 + E-- 5 N--14 + S--19 S--19 + P--16 ----- + I-- 9 181 + E-- 5 + R--18 + R--18 + E-- 5 + ----- + 221 + + Majority 221 + Minority 181 + ---- + Total 402 + +Some coincidences of dates are very remarkable. + +On the 25th August, 1569, the Calvinists massacred the Catholic nobles +and priests at BA(C)arn and Navarre. + +On the same day of the same month, in 1572, the Calvinists were +massacred in Paris and elsewhere. + +On the 25th October, 1615, Louis XIII. married Anne of Austria, +infanta of Spain, whereupon we may remark the following +coincidences:-- + +The name Loys[36] de Bourbon contains 13 letters; so does the name +Anne d'Austriche. + +Louis was 13 years old when this marriage was decided on; Anne was the +same age. + +He was the thirteenth king of France bearing the name of Louis, and +she was the thirteenth infanta of the name of Anne of Austria. + +On the 23d April, 1616, died Shakspeare: on the same day of the same +month, in the same year, died the great poet Cervantes. + +On the 29th May, 1630, King Charles II. was born. + +On the 29th May, 1660, he was restored. + +On the 29th May, 1672, the fleet was beaten by the Dutch. + +On the 29th May, 1679, the rebellion of the Covenanters broke out in +Scotland. + +The Emperor Charles V. was born on February 24, 1500; on that day he +won the battle of Pavia, in 1525, and on the same day was crowned in +1530. + +On the 29th January, 1697, M. de Broquemar, president of the +Parliament of Paris, died suddenly in that city; next day his brother, +an officer, died suddenly at Bergue, where he was governor. The lives +of these brothers present remarkable coincidences. One day the +officer, being engaged in battle, was wounded in his leg by a +sword-blow. On the same day, at the same moment, the president was +afflicted with acute pain, which attacked him suddenly in the same leg +as that of his brother which had been injured. + +John Aubrey mentions the case of a friend of his who was born on the +15th November; his eldest son was born on the 15th November; and his +second son's first son on the same day of the same month. + +At the hour of prime, April 6, 1327, Petrarch first saw his mistress +Laura, in the Church of St. Clara in Avignon. In the same city, same +month, same hour, 1348, she died. + +The deputation charged with offering the crown of Greece to Prince +Otho, arrived in Munich on the 13th October, 1832; and it was on the +13th October, 1862, that King Otho left Athens, to return to it no +more. + +On the 21st April, 1770, Louis XVI. was married at Vienna, by the +sending of the ring. + +On the 21st June, in the same year, took place the fatal festivities +of his marriage. + +On the 21st January, 1781, was the _fAªte_ at the HA'tel de Ville, for +the birth of the Dauphin. + +On the 21st June, 1791, took place the flight to Varennes. + +On the 21st January, 1793, he died on the scaffold. + +There is said to be a tradition of Norman-monkish origin, that the +number 3 is stamped on the Royal line of England, so that there shall +not be more than three princes in succession without a revolution. + +William I., William II., Henry I.; then followed the revolution of +Stephen. + +Henry II., Richard I., John; invasion of Louis, Dauphin of France, who +claimed the throne. + +Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., who was dethroned and put to death. + +Edward III., Richard II., who was dethroned. + +Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI.; the crown passed to the house of York. + +Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III.; the crown claimed and won by +Henry Tudor. + +Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI.; usurpation of Lady Jane Grey. + +Mary I., Elizabeth; the crown passed to the house of Stuart. + +James I., Charles I.; Revolution. + +Charles II., James II.; invasion of William of Orange. + +William of Orange and Mary II., Anne; arrival of the house of +Brunswick. + +George I., George II., George III., George IV., William IV., Victoria. +The law has proved faulty in the last case; but certainly there was a +crisis in the reign of George IV. + +As I am on the subject of the English princes, I will add another +singular coincidence, though it has nothing to do with the fatality of +numbers. + +It is that Saturday has been a day of ill omen to the later kings. + +William of Orange died Saturday, 18th March, 1702. + +Anne died Saturday, 1st August, 1704. + +George I. died Saturday, 10th June, 1727. + +George II. died Saturday, 25th October, 1760. + +George III. died Saturday, 30th January, 1820. + +George IV. died Saturday, 26th June, 1830. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[36] Up to Louis XIII. all the kings of this name spelled Louis as +Loys. + + + + +The Terrestrial Paradise. + + +The exact position of Eden, and its present condition, do not seem to +have occupied the minds of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, nor to have +given rise among them to wild speculations. + +The map of the tenth century in the British Museum, accompanying the +Periegesis of Priscian, is far more correct than the generality of +maps which we find in MSS. at a later period; and Paradise does not +occupy the place of Cochin China, or the isles of Japan, as it did +later, after that the fabulous voyage of St. Brandan had become +popular in the eleventh century.[37] The site, however, had been +already indicated by Cosmas, who wrote in the seventh century, and had +been specified by him as occupying a continent east of China, beyond +the ocean, and still watered by the four great rivers Pison, Gihon, +Hiddekel, and Euphrates, which sprang from subterranean canals. In a +map of the ninth century, preserved in the Strasbourg library, the +terrestrial Paradise is, however, on the Continent, placed at the +extreme east of Asia; in fact, is situated in the Celestial Empire. It +occupies the same position in a Turin MS., and also in a map +accompanying a commentary on the Apocalypse in the British Museum. + +According to the fictitious letter of Prester John to the Emperor +Emanuel Comnenus, Paradise was situated close to--within three days' +journey of--his own territories, but where those territories were, is +not distinctly specified. + +"The River Indus, which issues out of Paradise," writes the mythical +king, "flows among the plains, through a certain province, and it +expands, embracing the whole province with its various windings: there +are found emeralds, sapphires, carbuncles, topazes, chrysolites, onyx, +beryl, sardius, and many other precious stones. There too grows the +plant called Asbetos." A wonderful fountain, moreover, breaks out at +the roots of Olympus, a mountain in Prester John's domain, and "from +hour to hour, and day by day, the taste of this fountain varies; and +its source is hardly three days' journey from Paradise, from which +Adam was expelled. If any man drinks thrice of this spring, he will +from that day feel no infirmity, and he will, as long as he lives, +appear of the age of thirty." This Olympus is a corruption of Alumbo, +which is no other than Columbo in Ceylon, as is abundantly evident +from Sir John Mandeville's Travels; though this important fountain has +escaped the observation of Sir Emmerson Tennant. + +"Toward the heed of that forest (he writes) is the cytee of Polombe, +and above the cytee is a great mountayne, also clept Polombe. And of +that mount, the Cytee hathe his name. And at the foot of that Mount is +a fayr welle and a gret, that hathe odour and savour of all spices; +and at every hour of the day, he chaungethe his odour and his savour +dyversely. And whoso drynkethe 3 times fasting of that watre of that +welle, he is hool of alle maner sykenesse, that he hathe. And thei +that duellen there and drynken often of that welle, thei nevere han +sykenesse, and thei semen alle weys yonge. I have dronken there of 3 +of 4 sithes; and zit, methinkethe, I fare the better. Some men clepen +it the Welle of Youthe: for thei that often drynken thereat, semen +alle weys yongly, and lyven withouten sykenesse. And men seyn, that +that welle comethe out of Paradys: and therefore it is so vertuous." + +Gautier de Metz, in his poem on the "Image du Monde," written in the +thirteenth century, places the terrestrial Paradise in an +unapproachable region of Asia, surrounded by flames, and having an +armed angel to guard the only gate. + +Lambertus Floridus, in a MS. of the twelfth century, preserved in the +Imperial Library in Paris, describes it as "Paradisus insula in oceano +in oriente:" and in the map accompanying it, Paradise is represented +as an island, a little south-east of Asia, surrounded by rays, and at +some distance from the main land; and in another MS. of the same +library,--a mediA|val encyclopA|dia,--under the word Paradisus is a +passage which states that in the centre of Paradise is a fountain +which waters the garden--that in fact described by Prester John, and +that of which story-telling Sir John Mandeville declared he had +"dronken 3 or 4 sithes." Close to this fountain is the Tree of Life. +The temperature of the country is equable; neither frosts nor burning +heats destroy the vegetation. The four rivers already mentioned rise +in it. Paradise is, however, inaccessible to the traveller on account +of the wall of fire which surrounds it. + +Paludanus relates in his "Thesaurus Novus," of course on +incontrovertible authority, that Alexander the Great was full of +desire to see the terrestrial Paradise, and that he undertook his wars +in the East for the express purpose of reaching it, and obtaining +admission into it. He states that on his nearing Eden an old man was +captured in a ravine by some of Alexander's soldiers, and they were +about to conduct him to their monarch, when the venerable man said, +"Go and announce to Alexander that it is in vain he seeks Paradise; +his efforts will be perfectly fruitless; for the way of Paradise is +the way of humility, a way of which he knows nothing. Take this stone +and give it to Alexander, and say to him, 'From this stone learn what +you must think of yourself.'" Now, this stone was of great value and +excessively heavy, outweighing and excelling in value all other gems; +but when reduced to powder, it was as light as a tuft of hay, and as +worthless. By which token the mysterious old man meant, that Alexander +alive was the greatest of monarchs, but Alexander dead would be a +thing of nought. + +That strangest of mediA|val preachers, Meffreth, who got into trouble +by denying the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, in his +second sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, discusses the locality +of the terrestrial Paradise, and claims St. Basil and St. Ambrose as +his authorities for stating that it is situated on the top of a very +lofty mountain in Eastern Asia; so lofty indeed is the mountain, that +the waters of the four rivers fall in cascade down to a lake at its +foot, with such a roar that the natives who live on the shores of the +lake are stone-deaf. Meffreth also explains the escape of Paradise +from submergence at the Deluge, on the same grounds as does the Master +of Sentences (lib. 2, dist. 17, c. 5), by the mountain being so very +high that the waters which rose over Ararat were only able to wash the +base of the mountain of Paradise. + +The Hereford map of the thirteenth century represents the terrestrial +Paradise as a circular island near India, cut off from the continent +not only by the sea, but also by a battlemented wall, with a gateway +to the west. + +Rupert of Duytz regards it as having been situated in Armenia. +Radulphus Highden, in the thirteenth century, relying on the authority +of St. Basil and St. Isidore of Seville, places Eden in an +inaccessible region of Oriental Asia; and this was also the opinion of +Philostorgus. Hugo de St. Victor, in his book "De Situ Terrarum," +expresses himself thus: "Paradise is a spot in the Orient productive +of all kind of woods and pomiferous trees. It contains the Tree of +Life: there is neither cold nor heat there, but perpetual equable +temperature. It contains a fountain which flows forth in four rivers." + +Rabanus Maurus, with more discretion, says, "Many folk want to make +out that the site of Paradise is in the east of the earth, though cut +off by the longest intervening space of ocean or earth from all +regions which man now inhabits. Consequently, the waters of the +Deluge, which covered the highest points of the surface of our orb, +were unable to reach it. However, whether it be there, or whether it +be anywhere else, God knows; but that there _was_ such a spot once, +and that it was on earth, that is certain." + +Jacques de Vitry ("Historia Orientalis"), Gervais of Tilbury, in his +"Otia Imperalia," and many others, hold the same views, as to the site +of Paradise, that were entertained by Hugo de St. Victor. + +Jourdain de SA"verac, monk and traveller in the beginning of the +fourteenth century, places the terrestrial Paradise in the "Third +India;" that is to say, in trans-Gangic India. + +Leonardo Dati, a Florentine poet of the fifteenth century, composed a +geographical treatise in verse, entitled "Della Sfera;" and it is in +Asia that he locates the garden:-- + + "Asia e le prima parte dove l'huomo + Sendo innocente stava in Paradiso." + +But perhaps the most remarkable account of the terrestrial Paradise +ever furnished, is that of the "Eireks Saga VA-dfA¶rla," an Icelandic +narrative of the fourteenth century, giving the adventures of a +certain Norwegian, named Eirek, who had vowed, whilst a heathen, that +he would explore the fabulous Deathless Land of pagan Scandinavian +mythology. The romance is possibly a Christian recension of an ancient +heathen myth; and Paradise has taken the place in it of +GlA"sisvellir. + +According to the majority of the MSS. the story purports to be nothing +more than a religious novel; but one audacious copyist has ventured to +assert that it is all fact, and that the details are taken down from +the lips of those who heard them from Eirek himself. The account is +briefly this:-- + +Eirek was a son of Thrand, king of Drontheim, and having taken upon +him a vow to explore the Deathless Land, he went to Denmark, where he +picked up a friend of the same name as himself. They then went to +Constantinople, and called upon the Emperor, who held a long +conversation with them, which is duly reported, relative to the truths +of Christianity and the site of the Deathless Land, which, he assures +them, is nothing more nor less than Paradise. + +"The world," said the monarch, who had not forgotten his geography +since he left school, "is precisely 180,000 stages round (about +1,000,000 English miles), and it is not propped up on posts--not a +bit!--it is supported by the power of God; and the distance between +earth and heaven is 100,045 miles (another MS. reads 9382 miles--the +difference is immaterial); and round about the earth is a big sea +called Ocean." "And what's to the south of the earth?" asked Eirek. +"O! there is the end of the world, and that is India." "And pray where +am I to find the Deathless Land?" "That lies--Paradise, I suppose, you +mean--well, it lies slightly east of India." + +Having obtained this information, the two Eireks started, furnished +with letters from the Greek Emperor. + +They traversed Syria, and took ship--probably at Balsora; then, +reaching India, they proceeded on their journey on horseback, till +they came to a dense forest, the gloom of which was so great, through +the interlacing of the boughs, that even by day the stars could be +observed twinkling, as though they were seen from the bottom of a +well. + +On emerging from the forest, the two Eireks came upon a strait, +separating them from a beautiful land, which was unmistakably +Paradise; and the Danish Eirek, intent on displaying his scriptural +knowledge, pronounced the strait to be the River Pison. This was +crossed by a stone bridge, guarded by a dragon. + +The Danish Eirek, deterred by the prospect of an encounter with this +monster, refused to advance, and even endeavored to persuade his +friend to give up the attempt to enter Paradise as hopeless, after +that they had come within sight of the favored land. But the Norseman +deliberately walked, sword in hand, into the maw of the dragon, and +next moment, to his infinite surprise and delight, found himself +liberated from the gloom of the monster's interior, and safely placed +in Paradise. + +"The land was most beautiful, and the grass as gorgeous as purple; it +was studded with flowers, and was traversed by honey rills. The land +was extensive and level, so that there was not to be seen mountain or +hill, and the sun shone cloudless, without night and darkness; the +calm of the air was great, and there was but a feeble murmur of wind, +and that which there was, breathed redolent with the odor of +blossoms." After a short walk, Eirek observed what certainly must have +been a remarkable object, namely, a tower or steeple self-suspended in +the air, without any support whatever, though access might be had to +it by means of a slender ladder. By this Eirek ascended into a loft of +the tower, and found there an excellent cold collation prepared for +him. After having partaken of this he went to sleep, and in vision +beheld and conversed with his guardian angel, who promised to conduct +him back to his fatherland, but to come for him again and fetch him +away from it forever at the expiration of the tenth year after his +return to Dronheim. + +Eirek then retraced his steps to India, unmolested by the dragon, +which did not affect any surprise at having to disgorge him, and, +indeed, which seems to have been, notwithstanding his looks, but a +harmless and passive dragon. + +After a tedious journey of seven years, Eirek reached his native land, +where he related his adventures, to the confusion of the heathen, and +to the delight and edification of the faithful. "And in the tenth +year, and at break of day, as Eirek went to prayer, God's Spirit +caught him away, and he was never seen again in this world: so here +ends all we have to say of him."[38] + +The saga, of which I have given the merest outline, is certainly +striking, and contains some beautiful passages. It follows the +commonly-received opinion which identified Paradise with Ceylon; and, +indeed, an earlier Icelandic work, the "Rymbegla," indicates the +locality of the terrestrial Paradise as being near India, for it +speaks of the Ganges as taking its rise in the mountains of Eden. It +is not unlikely that the curious history of Eirek, if not a +Christianized version of a heathen myth, may contain the tradition of +a real expedition to India, by one of the hardy adventurers who +overran Europe, explored the north of Russia, harrowed the shores of +Africa, and discovered America. + +Later than the fifteenth century, we find no theories propounded +concerning the terrestrial Paradise, though there are many treatises +on the presumed situation of the ancient Eden. At Madrid was published +a poem on the subject, entitled "Patriana decas," in 1629. In 1662 +G. C. Kirchmayer, a Wittemberg professor, composed a thoughtful +dissertation, "De Paradiso," which he inserted in his "DeliciA| +A†stivA|." Fr. Arnoulx wrote a work on Paradise in 1665, full of the +grossest absurdities. In 1666 appeared Carver's "Discourse on the +Terrestrian Paradise." Bochart composed a tract on the subject; Huet +wrote on it also, and his work passed through seven editions, the last +dated from Amsterdam, 1701. The PA"re Hardouin composed a "Nouveau +TraitA(C) de la Situation du Paradis Terrestre," La Haye, 1730. An +Armenian work on the rivers of Paradise was translated by M. Saint +Marten in 1819; and in 1842 Sir W. Ouseley read a paper on the +situation of Eden, before the Literary Society in London. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[37] St. Brandan was an Irish monk, living at the close of the sixth +century; he founded the Monastery of Clonfert, and is commemorated on +May 16. His voyage seems to be founded on that of Sinbad, and is full +of absurdities. It has been republished by M. Jubinal from MSS. in the +BibliothA"que du Roi, Paris, 8vo. 1836; the earliest printed English +edition is that of Wynkyn de Worde, London, 1516. + +[38] Compare with this the death of Sir Galahad in the "Morte +d'Arthur" of Sir Thomas Malory. + + +THE END. + + + + +_The Genius of Solitude._ + +THE SOLITUDES OF NATURE AND OF MAN; OR, THE LONELINESS OF HUMAN LIFE. +By WM. ROUNSEVILLE ALGER. + +CONTENTS. + + The Solitudes of Nature. + + The Solitudes of Man. + + The Morals of Solitude. + + Sketches of Lonely Characters: or, Personal Illustrations + of the Good and Evil of Solitude. + + Summary of the Subject. + + In one handsome volume. 16mo. Cloth. Price $2.00. + + "This volume is the result of much investigation, much + meditation, and much experience; and is very comprehensive in + its scope.... The author has shown the influence of solitude + on every grade of mind and character, has discriminated its + beneficent form and its morbid action, and has shown how it + nurtures lofty thoughts as well as how it pampers self-will, + and, in the throng of his personal illustrations, has + indicated its effect on representative men of genius in + almost every department of human effort."--_Boston + Transcript._ + + "We know of no work like it, and question whether any of its + size has appeared in this generation with an equal amount of + intellectual enrichment and stimulus, moral nutriment, and + invaluable ethical instruction."--_The Liberal Christian._ + + "This book is a worthy mate to Burton's famous Anatomy of + Melancholy. The fortunate reader may learn from it how to win + the benefits and shun the evils of being alone."--_N. Y. + Express._ + + "We envy the heart of no one who, unmoved, and with tearless + eye, can read them (The Solitude of the RUIN and the Solitude + of DEATH)."--_West. Missionary._ + +Mailed, post paid, to any address, on receipt of the price, by the +Publishers, + + ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston. + + +_Memoirs and Correspondence of Madame RA(C)camier._ + +Translated and Edited by MISS LUYSTER. 1 vol., 16mo., with a finely +engraved Portrait. Price $2.00. + + "The diversified contents of this volume can hardly fail to + gain for it a wide perusal. It has the interest, in a greater + or less degree, of history and romance; of truth stranger + than fiction; of personal sketches; of the curious phases of + an exceptional social life; of singular admixtures of piety + and folly, of greatness and profligacy, fidelity and + intrigue, all mingling or revealed in connection with the + prolonged career of one who was, in certain respects, the + most remarkable woman of her time."--_Boston Transcript._ + + "With nothing like the talents which immortalized the author + of _Corinne_, Madame RA(C)camier won herself a place of not less + social influence among the men and women of her day. We must + clearly look elsewhere than either to intellect, wealth, + beauty, or all three combined, for the secret of that + witchery which was so distinctive of her. There was + something, we are led to infer, in her constitutional + temperament, which, even beyond her delicate and indefinable + tact, may afford the real clew to much of her mysterious + ascendency. Love seems to have existed in her as a yearning + of the soul almost entirely free from those elements of + passion which are grounded in the difference of the sexes. + There was in it not so much of the desire which centres in a + single object, as of the emotion which seeks to diffuse + itself over the very widest sphere of objects. It could thus + be warm and deep, while pure and inaccessible to evil. + Sainte-Beuve's remark, that she had carried the art of + friendship to perfection, helps us here to give the true key + to her character. A warm and constant friend, she never + admitted, never showed herself, a lover. Satisfied with the + arrangement which gave her from an early age nothing more + than the name and status of a wife, she could let her natural + affection range with freedom and security wherever it met + with a response that left intact her dignity and + self-respect. Such coquetry as she showed arose rather from + an instinctive desire to please and attract, than from + anything approaching to a vicious instinct, or a silly desire + to swell the list of her conquests. What seemed to begin in + flirtation never went to the point of danger, and men who at + first sight loved her passionately usually ended by becoming + her true friends."--_The London Saturday Review._ + +Mailed, post paid, to any address, by the Publishers, + + ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston. + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Archaic spelling is preserved as printed. Variable spelling is also +preserved as printed, where both forms are recognised; for example, +Gervase/Gervais of Tilbury, Sir John Mandeville/Maundevil. + +Unk-Khan is given as another name for Prester John. There is one +instance of Un-Khan; however, this is in quoted material, and so is +preserved as printed. + +Page 46 includes the phrase, "it was Saterday in Wyttson woke"; the +word 'woke' may be a typographic error for 'weke', but as it cannot +be ascertained for certain, it is preserved as printed. + +At page 118, Hemingr is described as throwing a spear rather than +shooting an arrow as challenged. This is presumably an error in the +story, but is preserved as printed. + +Page 168 includes "He will rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, and making +the Holy City the great capital of the world." The 'and making' may be +an error for 'and make' or simply 'making'; as it is impossible to be +sure, it is preserved as printed. + +Minor punctuation errors have been repaired. Hyphenation and accent +usage have been made consistent. + +The following amendments have been made: + + Page 21--Labavius amended to Libavius--"... Libavius declares + that he would sooner believe ..." + + Page 88--repeated 'a' deleted--"... possibly a little + imaginative, for she wrote not unsuccessfully; ..." + + Page 118--it at amended to at it--"... and aim at it from + precisely the same distance." + + Page 175--Wolffii amended to Wolfii--"This fragment is + preserved in "Wolfii Lectionum Memorabilium centenarii, XVI.:" + ..." + + Page 215--omitted word 'on' added--"Helgi and his brother + Thorstein went on a cruise ..." + + Page 222--multiplication sign changed to plus--"... but the + sum of the digits 1 + 8 = 9." + +The frontispiece illustration has been moved to follow the front +matter. Other illustrations have been moved where necessary so that +they are not in the middle of a paragraph. + +Advertising material has been moved from the beginning of the book to +the end. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by +Sabine Baring-Gould + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOUS MYTHS OF THE MIDDLE AGES *** + +***** This file should be named 36127.txt or 36127.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/2/36127/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sam W. and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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