adoured and worshypped it." With such attributes it is no wonder that he should be at the head of a feast appropriated to all the angels, at a time when the beautiful simplicity of the christian faith had become perverted, and in most of its rites and ceremonies had degenerated into paganism. At a very early period we find a whole army of saints in array, each of whom took under his especial charge some favoured class of mankind, or protected against some especial malady.* Some were less restricted in their function, or, to use a medical phrase, were general * Amongst these we find that ANNA gives riches; SEBASTIANUS drives away the pestilence; VALENTINUS cures the epilepsy; STAPINUS, the gout; LIBORIUS, the stone; SYMPHORIANUS, hernia; PETRONIlla, fever; WOLFGANGUS, paralysis; MARCUS protects against sudden death; ANTONIUS, against erysipelas; ST. JOHN the Evangelist and BENEDICTUS, against poison; Anastasius, against head-aches; OTILIA, against diseases of the eyes; APOLLONIA, against tooth-ache; BLASIUS, against angina; AGATHA, against diseases of the breast; LAURENTIUS against diseases of the back; in torture Lurus lends his aid; in childbirth, MARGARETA; to obtain the safe bringing forth of a son, FELICITAS must be invoked; in melancholy, MATURIUS; against the cough, catarrh, and warts, QUIRINUS; against colicky pains, ERASMUS ; against the itch and ulcers, ROCHUS; while JOHN THE BAPTIST and ROMANUS help madmen and those possessed with a devil; THEODORUS was to be addressed in storms and tempests; EUTYCHIUS for obtaining rain; GERVASIUS and VINCENTIUS for finding out thieves ; JOBUS against the venereal disease; FLORIANUS against fires and lightning; and JOHN THE EVANGELIST, against hail. Then again every trade and occupation had its own patron Saint. Divines had Thomas and Augustine; Physicians and Pharmacopolists, Cosmas and Damian; Philosophers, Catharina; Scholars and Students, Gregory; Merchants, Frumentius and Guido; Musicians, Leo, Romanus, and Cecilia; Painters, Luke; Goldsmiths and Melters, Elizius and Januarius; Statuaries, Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorianus, Castorius, and Simplicianus; Blacksmiths, Leonhardus, Dumstanus (St. Dunstan) and Longinus; Shoemakers, Crispinus, Homobonus, Zachæus, and Deusdedit; Clothiers, Michael, Meningus, and Severus; Tailors, Gutmanus; Potters, Goarus; Carpenters, Wolfgang, Jacobus, Baeticus, and Josephus; Horsemen, Georgius; Grooms, Eulogius; practitioners* and fought indiscriminately against all the plagues and accidents to which human life and the human frame are liable. Others again presided over cities; and indeed there was hardly any city of note in the Christian world that Wheelwrights, Josephus; Locksmiths, Leonhardus; Porters, Christopherus; Glaziers, Clarus; Huntsmen, Eustachius; Vine-dressers and Vintagers, Urbanus; Curriers and Sadlers, Bartholomæus; Weavers, Onuphrius; Gardeners, Adelranus; Soldiers, Adrianus; Charcoalburners, Alexander; Shepherds, Wendelinus, Cutbertus, and Simeon Stylita; Sailors and travellers by water, Nicolaus, Christophorus, and of late Petrus Gonsalez; Swineherds, Antonius, Eberhardus, Harmogastes, and Ulmarez; Agriculturists, Albanus, Fortunatus, Isidorus, Lambertus, and Leontius; Widows, Gertrudis; Wives, Anna; the Betrothed, Dorothea; the unchuste also invoke the same; Maid-servants, Dula and Agothoclea; Servants, Eunus, Vitalis, and Justus; Harlots pray to Maria Magdalene and Afra; and Captives call upon St. Leonard. (J. A. FABRICII BIBLIOGRAPHIA ANTIQUARIA, p. 267. 4to. Hamb. and Leips. 1713.) In addition to this S. Agatha presides over fire; S. Nicolaus and Christophorus, over water; S. Justus, over the earth and its fruits; Valerianus and Theodorus over the air and storms; Gertrudis and Nicasius drive away mice and dormice; Lupus expels weasels; Rupert and Vitus are the patrons of dogs; Wendelinus of sheep; Eulogius, of horses; Pelagius, of oxen; Antonius, of hogs; Gallus, of geese; Urbanus and Medardus, of the vine. Lastly, every month has its tutelar saint against the pest, and indeed in most cases more than one saint was appointed to the office. It should be observed too, though it can hardly have escaped the reader's notice, that there is some want of certainty and precision in these saintly regulations, as we often find a saint presiding over one thing by himself, and over another in company with some of his brethren. The catalogue too might be extended beyond what is given to us by Fabricius. * These however were only fourteen in number, and were respectively known as St. Blasius, Dionysius, Erasmus, Pantaleo, Vitus, Georgius-by some called Gregory-Cyriacus, Christophorus, Achatius, Eustachius, Ægidius, Barbara, Catharina, and Margareta. was left unprovided of a patron saint, while in many cases whole kingdoms were taken under their protection.* It is impossible not to see in all this a direct imitation of the Pagan world. If England has its St. George, France its Saint Denys, and Rome its Saint Peter, for their especial protectors, so also had the Ephesians their Diana, the Egyptians their Isis and Osiris, the Babylonians their Bell, the Rhodians the Sun, and the Paphians their Venus. In the angels too we are not less reminded of the guardian genii of antiquity: for if the Egyptians allowed three tutelar genii to every man, the Pythagoreans two, and the Romans a good and evil attendant spirit, their Christian descendants did the same thing in fact, though not in name, when they allowed to every one his good and evil angel. True it is that at one time the Council of Laodicea forbade the adoration of angels, but the heresy, if it were one, in later times obtained the full sanction of "Scotiæ *Thus Moresinus in his PAPATUS says, (p. 48, Edit. 1596.) Andream, Angliæ Georgium, Galliæ Dionysium (St. Denys) &c.; Edinburgo Egidium, Aberdoniæ Nicolaum❞—and here he breaks off, as if weary of the detail, which might however be considerably extended. Stephen in his WORLD of Wonders (p. 315) as quoted by Brand, gives a few of them-St. Eligia and St. Norbert for Antwerp; St. Hulderich, or Ulric, for Augsburg; St. Martin, for Boulogne; St. Mary and St. Donation, for Bruges; St. Mary and St. Gudula, for Brussels; the Three Kings of the East, for Cologne; St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, also for Cologne; St. George and St. John the Baptist, for Genoa; St. Bavo and St. Liburn, for Ghent'; St. Martial, for Limosin; St. Vincent, for Lisbon; St. Mary and St. Rusnold, for Mechlin; St. Martin and St. Boniface, for Mentz; St. Ambrose, for Milan; St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Januarius, for Naples; St. Sebald, for Nuremberg; St. Frideswide, for Oxford; St. Genevieve, for Paris; St. Peter and St. Paul, for Rome; St. Rupert, for Salzburg; the Virgin Mary, for Sienna; St. Ursus, for Soleure; St. Mark, for Venice; and St. Stephen, for Vienna. the church.* Surely then it is not pronouncing a harsh or unfounded judgment if we say that the whole web of popery is thickly interwoven with paganism, and has at least as much of Heathen fancies in its fabric as of the simple code of Christ. Nothing can be more direct to this purpose than the evidence of the prefect Symmachus in his touching and beautiful appeal to the Emperor Valentinian for the restoration of the ancient altars. † Besides being one of the four quarterly days, Michaelmas is distinguished as the general time for the election of civic magistrates throughout the country. "Nunc ex Papismo angeli duo cuique assident; bonum his conceptis precantur verbis Angele, qui meus est custos pietate superna, MORESINI PAPATUS, p. 10. + Symmachus, who flourished in the fourth century, was a Roman senator, strongly attached to the religion of his forefathers, and a vehement opponent of Christianity. His address to the Emperor Valentinian the Second for the re-establishment of the vestals and of the altar of Victory is still extant in his letters (Epist. 54, lib. x. in the Paris 4to. of 1604-Epist. 61, lib. x. in the edition of the same, by Scioppius, 1608.) Notwithstanding the unfavourable opinion pronounced of his writings by Gibbon, I must confess that this appeal to Valentinian in behalf of the unfashionable faith appears to me both sensible and impassioned, and I am fully borne out in my judgment by Ambrosius, who, while vigorously endeavouring to repel his arguments, yet does justice to his genius. "I reply to him," says the bishop, "not as being doubtful of your faith, O Emperor, but from prudent caution, and only begging that you will not take elegance of language for force of things." And a little farther on he 66 says aurea est lingua sapientium litteratorum."-Golden is the tongue of the learned wise.-(S. AMBROSII Libellus Sec: contra Relationem Symmachi.) But let the reader take the following extract from Symmachus, and judge how far such a writer deserves the sneer of Gibbon, that his "luxuriancy consists of barren leaves without fruits, and even without flowers." "Noster autem labor pro clementia vestra ducit excubias; cui enim magis commodat quòd instituta majorum, quòd patriæ jura et fata de The Lord Mayor of London* is now elected for the ensuing year, and the two sheriffs, who have been previously chosen, are solemnly sworn into office. The custom of eating geese upon this day has been a sad puzzle to antiquarians, and to the present time no reasonable cause has been assigned for it. Some have sug fendimus, quam temporum gloriæ, quæ tum est major cùm vobis contra morem parentum intelligitis nil licere? Repetimus igitur religionum statum 'qui Reip. diu profuit. Certe numerentur principes utriusque sectæ, utriusque sententiæ; proximus eorum ceremonias patrum coluit, recentior non removit. Si exemplum non facit religio veterum, faciat dissimulatio proximorum. Quis ita familiaris est barbaris ut aram Victoria non requirat? Cauti in posterum sumus, et tristium rerum ostenta vitamus; reddatur tantùm nomini honor qui numini denegatus est. Multa Victoriæ debet æternitas vestra, et adhuc plura debebit. Aversantur hanc potestatem quibus nihil profuit; vos amicum triumphis patrocinium nolite deserere. Cunctis potentia ista votiva est. Nemo colendam neget quam profitetur optandam. Quod si numinis non esset justa curatio, saltim ornamentis Curiæ decuit abstineri. Præstate, oro vos, ut ea quæ pueri suscepimus, senes posteris relinquamus. Consuetudinis amor magnus est." Now, so far from there being any of that luxuriance, which Gibbon reprehends, the style is extremely terse, simple, and energetic. The corruptions of the text are evident, but I have not ventured to touch them. * It would seem that in former times the Lord Mayor of London was always elected, or supposed to be elected, from one of the twelve privileged companies. If he did not actually belong to any of them, the difficulty was got over by translating him, as it were, to one of the twelve; nor was the custom discontinued till the time of Sir Brook Watson, in 1796. Pennant, when speaking of the Mercers, observes, "this company is the first of the twelve, or such who are honoured with the privilege of the Lord Mayor's being elected out of one of them. The name by no means implied originally a dealer in silks ; for mercery included all sorts of small wares, toys, and haberdashery. But as numbers of this opulent company imported great quantities of rich silks from Italy, the name became applied to the company and all dealers in silk." PENNANT'S LONDON, p. 440. 4to. Lond. 1793. |