for nothing had faded either of their garments or of their bodies. And Marinus, the Bishop, with the Prefect, fell at their feet and worshipped them, and all the people glorified God, who had vouchsafed to show such a miracle to his servants, and the Saints related what had befallen them in the time of Decius. Then the former despatched messengers to Theodosius, the Emperor, saying, "hasten with what speed you may, if you wish to behold a great miracle, which by the will of God has been made manifest to our times. For if you come, you will see how greatly useful is the hope of a resurrection, according to the word of promise by the Evangelist."

Now when Theodosius, the Emperor, heard these tidings, he arose with much joy, and, extending his hand. to Heaven, said, "I thank thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, thou sun of justice, for that thou hast vouchsafed to sprinkle the darkness of us mortals with the light of thy trutn; I thank thee that thou hast not permitted the lamp of my confession to be obscured by the foul shades of heresy." Thus saying he mounted his horse and hastened to Ephesus, when he was met by the Bishop with the Prefect and a multitude of the citizens. And as they ascended the Mount, the Martyrs came forth, and Augustus fell upon the earth, and adored them, glorifying God. Then arising, he kissed them, and wept upon the neck of each, saying, "I look on your faces, as if I beheld our Lord Jesus Christ, when he called Lazarus from the grave, and greatly do I thank him that he has not deprived me of the hope of the resurrection."-To whom Maximianus, "Know, O Emperor, that the Lord has bidden us to arise in order to confirm your belief. Therefore be of constant faith in the resurrection of the dead, since you have found us arising after death, and relating to you the wonders of God."

When they had spoken this and many other things,

they again fell asleep on the earth, rendering up their spirits to the Almighty. And now the Emperor fell upon their bodies, and with tears kissed them, and taking off his garments covered them, and ordered golden chests to be made that they might be preserved therein. But in the night the Saints appeared to him, saying, "Do not so, but leave us upon the earth, from which the Lord will raise us all in the great day of resurrection." Then the Emperor built over them a large church, and made there a receptacle for the poor, commanding that they should be maintained at the public expense, when the bishops being convoked they celebrated the feast of the Saints, and all glorified God, to whom in the Trinity are perfect honour and glory now and for evermore.

One would suppose that a fable of this kind could hardly be made the subject of serious discussion. Yet so it is. Baronius, a man of infinite learning, gravely argues against the truth of the latter part of the legend-not, as it would seem, that he finds any thing in such an event contrary to reason, but because the heresy, as it was called, that denied the corporeal resurrection, did not show itself till after the time of Theodosius, the younger. insists upon it that the word, sleep, is not to be taken in its common acceptation, but is to be received in its scriptural sense of sleeping in the Lord, that is to say, of dying after a life of piety. This no doubt strips the legend of the marvellous, but what then remains? the mere fact that seven men were persecuted and died, an event not very

He

* "Sententiæ illorum, qui putant hos non ob mortem dictos esse dormientes, sed quòd verè eo temporis spatio somno fuerint oppressi, magnoperè refragatur quod ipsi aiunt id miraculù divinitùs factum ob eam causam, quòd eo tempore de resurrectione carnis hæresis esset orta; cùm re vera nihil tale temporibus Theodosii Junioris contigisse reperiatur." MARTYROLOGIUM ROMANUM. Auctore C. Baronio Sorano-Julii 27: p. 470.

likely to be chronicled by the spirit of tradition. The truth, as I imagine, is simply this. In the early ages of Christianity the corporeal resurrection was an admitted article of faith, but in process of time a schism on this subject arose in the church itself; bishops even were found who maintained that we should rise again, not in the body, but in the spirit, and to oppose this heresy the more orthodox invented the legend of the Seven Sleepers; or, I should rather say, adopted a common fable and moulded it to their purposes, for it is one of those that belongs to all ages and all countries. Thus Pliny tells us of Epimenides, the Cretan, that when a boy, being weary one day from heat and travel, he laid himself down in a cave and slept for fifty-seven years. Waking-the next morning, as he imagined—he was of course, like the Sleepers of Ephesus, and the more modern Emperor Barbarossa, greatly surprised at the changes that had taken place. We have the same story, though with some slight variations, in the life of Epimenides by Diogenes Laertius. The tale of the latter author is briefly as follows: Being one day sent out by his father to tend a sheep, the boy strayed into a cavern, where he fell asleep and slumbered for fifty-seven years. On awaking he sought his sheep, but was astonished to find the whole face of the country altered, upon which he made the best of his way home, where he was scarcely recognized by his youngest brother, who had now become an old man. In consequence his fame was spread throughout all Greece, and hence, as we learn from many authorities, came the phrase "to sleep the slumber of Epimenides."+

* C. Plinii Sec. Nat. Hist. Lib. vii. cap. 53. (52) p. 107. 8vo. Bipont.

"Dormire somnum Epimenidis." This story is to be found in Diogenes Laertius De Vitis Claror. Philosoph. Lib. i. cap. 10, sect. ii. p. 116. 8vo. Curiæ Regnitianæ. 1639.

To us in the present day it may seem strange to quote a miracle in proof of any doctrine; seeing that there is nothing stands so much in need of proof as a miracle itself. But such was not the notion of the darker ages; the use of reason was denied to the mass as a crime; and belief, that asked nothing, doubted nothing, was a virtue. In every case of difficulty some pious person would be favoured with a vision, or some miracle would be said to have been wrought, and either was accepted as conclusive. What still farther tends to disprove the dictum of Baronius is the fact of the legend having been repeated by a multitude of Mahommedan writers, and Mahomet has even inserted it in the Koran.*

"SEPTEM DORMIENTIUM historia Dionysii quoque tempori assignatur, quam non modo Arabes Christiani, sed Muhamedani, credunt et miris coloribus exornant. Eam absque ullo insigni discrimine circumstantiarum referunt Eutychius, Elmacinus, Abulfaragius, Makrizius, Chronicon. Omnes tandem eos sub Decio passos asserunt, etiam Muhamedani, atque inter eos Autor COMPENDII PERSICA HISTORIE UNIVERSALIS, cui titulus MOGEMAL TOUARICH; ut alii multi, atque et præter alios celeberrimus Emir-Condus, et ejus epitomator CondEmirus. Nec mirum cum ipse Muhamed impostor eam historiam qualis in ore vulgi circumferebatur, Alcorano inseruerit."-HISTORIA PATRIARCHARUM ALEXANDRIN. p. 38.-Dionysius Patriarcha, Parisiis, 1713, 4to. The writer's name does not appear in the title-page, but from the dedication to Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, we find that Eusebius Renaudot is the author.

CUSTOMS AT HARTLEPOOL.* (Durham.)

"THE first time a child visits a neighbour or relation, it is regularly presented with three things, salt, bread, and an egg; this practice however (not noticed by Bourne or Brand) is widely extended over the north of England. Valentine's Day is duly observed; the swains vent not their passions on sheets speckled with tinsel, and interlarded with Cupids, yet their epistles abound with the usual inflated hyperbole, which would not disgrace modern gallantry, and their Dulcineas are seldom deficient in comprehension. The solemnities practiced every where on Carling, Palm, and Easter Sundays, of which a full account is given in Brand's Popular Antiquities, are here most scrupulously observed.

A custom prevails on the Monday immediately following the latter festival for the men to take off the women's shoes or buckles, and on the Tuesday for the women to retaliate in like manner; these petty thefts are only to be redeemed by presents.† The trifling sums obtained by

*Cuthbert Sharp's History of Hartlepool, 8vo. Durham, 1816. ✦ I have already made mention of this custom, but repeat it rather than interrupt the current of our author's narrative.