Chapter III: Science and the Press (2)

Francis Hülskamp, of Münster, is one of the youngest among our German journalists, but he has outstripped many older men, for he was the first to give a decisive impetus to the Catholic press. Three years ago Hülskamp and his friend, Hermann Rump, founded the "Literary Index." Now, in December, 1864, the "Index" can boast of 6,000 subscribers and 30,000 readers. All the other German literary papers together, Protestant as well as Catholic, do not equal the "Index" in circulation. Success like this is unheard of in Germany, and proves that for the Catholics the time of inaction is past. Hülskamp is not only a critic, but also well-versed in philology, exegesis, and ecclesiastical history. In poetry, too, he has made some creditable essays, and at Frankfort, in 1863, he proved conclusively that he is a promising {347} speaker. Long may this energetic son of Westphalia's red soil live and flourish!

Among the most regular members of the Catholic conventions is Dr. Louis Lang, of Munich, who has distinguished himself by his ability as secretary. The Catholic press also owes him a debt of gratitude. He has greatly enlarged and improved the Munich "Sonntagsblatt" and secured for it the services of the best writers in Germany, succeeding, by these means, in making it rival the "Heimgarten" and the "Sonntagsfreude." The "Josephsblatt," a monthly published by Lang, has already a circulation of 40,000 subscribers, and bids fair to number 100,000 by the end of 1865. Our illustrated papers, too, have improved wonderfully since 1862; therefore let us not despair, but trust in God.

At our Catholic conventions there were no meetings of journalists exclusively. But there were many complaints of the inefficiency of the press, and the journalists were severely blamed. Nor is the press so numerously represented as at Malines, and the journalists present are not so independent as the members of the Belgian, English, and French press, who are fully conscious of the importance of their position.

Among the journalists whose acquaintance I formed at the Catholic conventions, the most distinguished are Dr. Max Huttler, of Augsburg, a man who has the welfare of the Catholic press deeply at heart; Hoyssack, of Vienna, Dr. Krebs, of Cologne, Dr. Stumpf, of Coblentz, Hermann Kuhn, of Berlin, Daumer, of Würzburg, Planer, of Landshut, Dr. Frankl, of Gran in Hungary, Dr. von Mayer, of Hungary, Aichinger, of Pondorf, Riedinger and Hällmayer, of Spires, Stamminger, the enterprising editor of the "Chilianeum" at Würzburg, Thüren, of Cologne, and a number of others.

It is but proper to give at least a passing notice to the latest offspring of the Catholic conventions, the "Society for the Publication of Catholic Pamphlets." It was founded at Würzburg, but the seat of the executive committee is at Frankfort. On motion of Heinrich and Thissen, of Frankfort, it was recommend by the Catholic convention at Würzburg. Previous to the Würzburg convention, Thissen had already made some attempts at Frankfort.

The scheme was well received in Germany. Already the number of subscribers amounts to 2,000 and at the end of 1865 it will probably reach 25,000. Canon Thissen has been one of the leading spirits at every convention which he attended. He has an artful way of suggesting ideas and gaining for them the favor of the assembly; to carry them out, however, he needs the help of others. A thorough master of parliamentary tactics, he is a capital manager, and in debate he may safely trust to the inspiration of the moment. His brother, A. Thissen, of Aix-la-Chapelle, is well suited to be the secretary of our conventions.

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From The Month.

FALLING STARS.

(FROM THE GERMAN.)

Oh, know'st thou what betideth
When from the heavens afar.
Like fiery arrow, glideth
An earthward-falling star?

Yon glorious myriads, streaming
Their quiet influence down,
Are little angels gleaming
Like jewels in a crown.

Untiring, never sleeping,
God's sentinels they stand;
Where sounds of joy and weeping
Rise up on every hand.

If darkling here and dreary,
One patient cheek grow pale;
If in the conflict weary
One trusting spirit fail;

If to the throne ascendeth
One supplicating cry,--
Then heavenly mercy sendeth
An angel from on high.

Soft to the chamber stealing,
It beams in radiance mild.
And rocks each troubled feeling
To slumber like a child.

This, this is what betideth
When from the heavens afar.
Like fiery arrow, glideth
An earthward-falling star.

--------

{349}

From Once a Week.

A BUNDLE OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS.

Carols, as the name implies, are joyous songs for festive occasions, at one period accompanied with dancing. In an old vocabulary of A.D. 1440, _Caral_ is defined as _A Songe;_ in John Palsgrave's work of A.D. 1530, as _Chanson de Noël;_whilst in Anglo-Saxon times the word appears to have been rendered _Kyrriole,_ a chanting at the Nativity. The earliest carol in English, known under that name, is the production of Dame Berners, prioress of St Alban's in the fourteenth century, entitled _A Carolle of Huntynge_. This is printed on the last leaf of Wynkyn de Worde's collection of Christmas carols, A.D. 1521, and the first verse modernized runs thus:

"As I came by a green forest side,
I met with a forester that bade me abide,
Whey go bet, hey go bet, hey go how.
We shall have sport and game enow."

Milton uses the word carol to express a devotional hymn:

"A quire
Of squadron'd angels hear his carol sang."

And that distinguished light of the English Church, Bishop Jeremy Taylor, speaks of the angels' song on the morning of the Nativity as the first Christmas carol: "As soon as these blessed choristers had sung their Christmas carol, and taught the Church a hymn to put into her offices for ever," etc.

According to Durandus, it was customary in early days for bishops to sing with their clergy in the episcopal houses on the feast of the Nativity. _"In Natali praelati cum suis clericis ludant, vel in domibus episcopalibus."_ These merry ecclesiastics sung undoubtedly Christmas carols.

But carols, like everything else, must be divided into two sorts, religious and secular--the carols "in prayse of Christe" and the merry songs for the festive board or fireside. These may be broken up into further varieties, thus:

RELIGIOUS
Scriptural,
Legendary,
Lullaby.

SECULAR
Convivial or festive.
Wassail,
Boar's head,
In praise of holly and ivy.

Of the variety called _Legendary_, I propose now to speak. These are, as a rule, the most popular of all carols, deriving mainly, as I said before, their origin, and many of their expressions, from the ancient mysteries. In the old plays songs are frequently introduced which resemble, in a very striking manner, what are commonly called carols. The following song of the shepherds occurs in one of the Coventry pageants:

"As I rode out this endenes [Footnote 50] night,
Of three Jolly shepherds I saw a sight,'
And all about their fold a star shone bright;
They sang terli, terlow,
So merrily the shepherds their pipes can blow."

[Footnote 50: Last]

The last lines actually form the chorus of one of the carols in the fifteenth-century manuscript formerly in the possession of Mr. Wright:

"About the field they piped full right,
Even about the midst of the night;
Adown from heaven they saw come a light,
Tyrle, tyrle,
So merrily the shepherds began to blow."

Again, in _Ludus Coventriae_:

"Joy to God that sitteth in heaven,
And peace to man on earth ground;
A child is born beneath the levyn,
Through him many folk should be unbound."

A sixteenth-century carol commences:

"Salvation overflows the land.
Wherefore all faithful thus may sing,
Glory to God most high
And peace on the earth continually,
And onto men rejoicing."

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In the Coventry Plays again we find:

"Of a maid a child should be born,
On a tree he should be torn,
Deliver folks that are forlorn."

A genuine carol of the sixteenth century supplies us with the following:

"Jesu, of a maid thou wouldst be born.
To save mankind that was forlorn,
And all for our sins."

And one of the reign of Henry VI.:

"Thy sweet Son that thou hast borne,
To save mankind that was forlorn.
His head is wreathed in a thorn.
His blissful body is all to-torn."

The "Cherry-Tree Carol," formerly a great favorite throughout England, recollections of which yet linger amongst the country-folk, is in many instances a literal copy from the Coventry Mysteries. I give the popular version of the "Cherry-Tree Carol:"

"Joseph was an old man.
And an old man was he.
When he wedded Mary
In the laud of Galilee.

"Joseph and Mary
Walked through an orchard good.
Where were cherries and berries
As red as any blood.

* * * * *

"O then bespake Mary
With words both meek and mild,
'Gather me some cherries, Joseph,
They ran so in my mind.'"

St. Joseph refuses "with words most unkind" to grant her request, apparently unaware that his spouse is about to become the mother of the Son of God. The unborn Saviour, however, directs the Blessed Virgin to

"'Go to the tree, Mary,
And it shall bow to thee,
And the highest branch of all
Shall bow down to Mary's knee.'

* * * * *

"Then bowed down the highest tree
Unto his mother's hand:
Then she cried. 'See, Joseph.
I have cherries at command.'

"O eat your cherries, Mary,
O eat your cherries now,
O eat your cherries, Mary,
That grow upon the bough.'"

Another version gives the following reply of S. Joseph:

"O then bespake Joseph.
'I have done Mary wrong.
But cheer up, my dearest.
And be not cast down.'"

I give a portion of the rest of the carol, some of the verses being remarkably touching and beautiful:

"As Joseph was a-walking,
He heard an angel sing,
'This night shall be born
Our Heavenly King.

"He neither shall be born
In honsen nor in hall,
Nor in the place of paradise.
But in an ox's stall.

"He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall,
But all in fair linen
As were babies all.

"He neither shall be rocked
In silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden cradle.
That rocks on the mould.

"He neither shall be christened
In white wine nor in red.
But with the spring water
With which we were christened.'"

In the fifteenth pageant of the Coventry Mysteries the following lines occur:

"_Mary_, Ah, my sweet husband, would you tell to me
What tree is yon, standing on yon hill?

"_Joseph_, Forsooth. Mary, it is yclept a cherry tree.
In time of year you might feed you thereon your fill.

"_Mar._ Turn again, husband, and behold yon tree.
How that it bloometh now so sweetly.

"_Jos._ Come on, Mary, that we were a yon city.
Or else we may be blamed, I tell you lightly.

"_Mar._ Now, my spouse, I pray you to behold
How the cherries (are) grown upon yon tree;
For to have thereof right fain I would.
And it please you to labor so much for me.

"_Jos._ Your desire to fulfil I shall assay sekerly,
How to pluck you of these cherries, it is a work wild.
For the tree is so high, It would not be lightly (easy).

* * * * *

"_Mar._ Now, good Lord, I pray thee, grant me this boon,
To have of these cherries, and it be your will;
Now I thank God this tree boweiht to me down,
I may now gather enow, and eat my fill.

{351}

"_Jos._ Now I know well, I have offended my God in trinity.
Speaking to my spouse these unkind words.
For now I believe well it may none other be,
But that my spouse beareth the King's Son of Bliss."

It is interesting to note the way in which the more modern composition retains all the incidents and traditions of the mediaeval mystery. Our popular carol speaks of St. Joseph as _an old man, and an old man was he,_ while the mystery represents him as saying (p. x.), _I am an old man, and I am so aged and so old._The tree is the same, there is the same desire of the Virgin Mother to taste the fruit, the same refusal and bitter retort of her husband, the bowing-down of the tree, and the regret of St. Joseph for his unkindness. Mr. Hone was not ashamed to say of the "Cherry-Tree Carol:" "The admiration of my earliest days for some lines in it still remains, nor can I help thinking that the reader will see somewhat of cause for it."

The following example is still given on almost every broadside annually printed: it is called "The Three Ships." I ought perhaps first to state that the Three Ships are supposed to signify the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation being, as the _Speculum Vitae Christi_ hath it, "the high work of all the Holy Trinity, though it be that only the Person of the Son was incarnate and became man:"

"I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day:
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas day in the morning.

"And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas day? etc.,
And what was in, etc.,
On Christmas day in the morning?

"Our Saviour Christ and our Lady, etc..
On Christmas day in the morning.
Pray whither sailed those ships all three? etc.,
On Christmas day in the morning.

"O, they sailed into Bethlehem, etc..
On Christmas day in the morning;
And all the bells on earth shall ring, etc.,
On Christmas day in the morning.

"And all the angels in heaven shall sing, etc,
On Christmas day In the morning.
And all the souls on earth shall sing, etc.,
On Christmas day in the morning.

"Then let us all rejoice amain, etc..
On Christmas day in the morning."

Another rude and rather amusing version is sometimes given of this carol, called "The Sunny Bank:"

"As I sat on a sunny bank,
A sunny bank, a sunny bank.
As I sat on a sunny bank,
On Christmas day in the morning,

"I spied three ships come sailing by, etc..
On Christmas day, etc.;

"And who should be with those three ships?
On Christmas day, etc.,

"But Joseph and his fair lady, etc.,
On Christmas day, etc.

"Oh, he did whistle, and she did sing,
And all the bells on earth did ring.
For joy that our Saviour they did bring
On Christmas day in the morning."

An old Dutch carol, given by Hoffman, commences:

"There comes a vessel laden.
And on its highest gunwale
Mary holds the rudder,
The angel steers it on."

And thus explains the mission of the ship:

"In one unbroken course
There comes that ship to land:
It brings to us rich gifts,
Forgiveness is sent to us."

This translation is taken from Mr. Sandys' book on "Christmas-tide." About the sixteenth century a similar carol was sung at Yule, which is given by Ritson:

"There comes a ship far sailing then,
Saint Michael was the steersman;
Saint John sat in the horn:
Our Lord harped, our Lady sang,
And all the bells of heaven they rang
On Christ's Sunday at morn."

Another specimen I take from a Birmingham collection; it is called "The Seven Virgins." This is given also by Mr. Sylvester from "the original old broadside." It is singular, however, that his old copy should include a line which he confesses to be a "modern interpolation!"

"All under the leaves, and the leaves of life,
I met with virgins seven.
And one of them was Mary mild.
Our Lord's mother in heaven.
O, what are you seeking, you seven pretty maids.
All under the leaves of life?"

{352}

'We're seeking for no leaves, Thomas,
But for a friend of thine.
We're seeking for sweet Jesus Christ,
To be our heavenly guide.'
'Go down, go down to yonder town,
And sit in the gallery,
And there you'll see sweet Jesus Christ
Nailed to a yew tree.'
And they went down to yonder town
As fast as foot could fall,
And many a bitter and grievous tear
From our Lady's eyes did fall.
'O, peace, mother, O, peace, mother,
Your weeping doth me grieve,
I must suffer this, he said.
For Adam and for Eve.

* * * * *

'O mother, take you John Evangelist
To be your favorite son,
And he will comfort you sometimes.
Mother, as I have done.'

* * * * *

"Then he laid his head on his right shoulder.
Seeing death it struck him nigh,
'The Holy Ghost be with your soul,
I die, mother. I die.'"

Many of my readers will recollect the famous carol of "The Seven Joys," still croaked out in the streets of London and elsewhere about Christmas time. Very similar carols to this exist of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, one of which I select from Mr. Wright's manuscript. I have, as in all other cases, modernized the orthography:

OF THE FIVE JOYS OF OUR LADY.

* * * * *

"The first Joy that came to thee
Was when the angel greeted thee.
And said, 'Mary, full of charity,
Ave, plena gratia.'
The second joy that was full good
When God's Son took flesh and blood.
Without sorrow and changing of mood,
'Enixa es puerpera.'
The third joy was full of might,
When God's Son on rood was put.
Dead and buried, and laid in sight,
'Surrexit die tertia.'
The fourth joy was on Holy Thursday,
When God to heaven took his way,
God and man withouten nay.
'Ascendit supra sidera.'
The fifth joy is for to come.
At the dreadful day of doom,
When he shall deem us all and some
'Ad coeli palatia.'"

* * * * *

The following carol for St. Stephen's day is from a manuscript of the time of King Henry VI. The reader will be amused to find the great proto-martyr here introduced as a servant of King Herod, and intrusted with the task of bringing in the boar's head, a famous dish, and "the first mess" at Christmas and other high festivals. There was evidently some honor attached to this office, for Holinshed tells us that King Henry II., in 1170, on the day of his son's coronation, served him as sewer, bringing up the boar's head, _according to the manner_; and in 1607, at St. John's College, Oxford, the "first mess was carried by the tallest and lustiest of all the guard."

"Saint Stephen was a clerk in King Herod's hall.
And served him of bread and doth as ever king befall.

"Stephen out of kitchen came, with boar's head in hand.
He saw a star was fair and bright, over Bethlem stand.

"He cast adown the boar's head, and went into the hall,
_S. Stephen._ I forsake thee, King Herod, and thy works all,

"I forsake thee, King Herod, and thy works all,
There is a child in Bethlehem born, is better than we all.

"_Herod._ What aileth thee, Stephen? What is thee befall?
Lacketh thee either meat or drink in King Herod's hall?

"_S. Stephen_. Lacketh me neither meat nor drink in King Herod's hall.
There is a child in Bethlehem born, is better than we all.

* * * * *

"_Herod_. That is all so sooth, Stephen, all so sooth, I wit,
As this capon crow shall lyeth here in my dish.

"That word was no soon said, that word in that hall.
The capon crew _Christus natus est_ among the lords all."

* * * * *

This brings us to the more modern legendary carol of "The Carnal [a bird] and the Crane," in which the same incident occurs of the bird crowing in the dish:

"As I passed by a river side.
And there as I did rein [run],
In argument I chanced to near
A carnal and a crane.

"The carnal said unto the crane,
'If all the world should turn,
Before we had the Father,
But now we have the Son.'

"'From whence does the Son come?
From where and from what place?
He said, 'In a manger,
Between an ox and ass.'

* * * * *

"'Where is the golden cradle
That Christ was rocked in?
Where are the silken sheets
That Jesus was wrapt in?'

"'A manger was the cradle
That Christ was rocked in;
The provender the asses left
So sweetly he slept on.'

{353}

"There was a star in the west land,
SO bright it did appear
Into King Herod's chamber.
And where King Herod were.

"The wise men soon espied it,
And told the king on high,
'A princely babe was born that night,
No king could e'er destroy.'

"'If this be true,' King Herod said,
'As thou tellest unto me.
This roasted cock that lies in the dish,
Shall crow full fences three.'

"The cock soon freshly feathered was,
By the work of God's own hand,
And then three fences crowed he
In the dish where he did stand."

Herod then gives orders for the general massacre of the young children, and the Saviour, with Joseph and his mother, travel into Egypt amongst the "fierce wild beasts." The blessed Virgin being weary, "must needs sit down to rest," and her son desires her to "see how the wild beasts come and worship him:"

"First came the lovely lion,
Which Jesu's grace did spring.
And of the wild beasts in the field
The lion shall be the king."

The Holy Family continuing their flight, pass by a husbandman "just while his seed was sown:"

"The husbandman fell on his knees,
Even before his face;
'Long time thou hast been look'd for,
But now thou'rt come at last.'

* * * * *

"'The truth, man, thou hast spoken,
Of it thou mayst be sure.
For I most lose my precious blood
For thee and thousands more.

"'If any one should come this way,
And inquire for me alone.
Tell them that Jesus passed by,
As thou thy seed did sow.'"

King Herod comes afterward with his train, and furiously asks of the husbandman whether our Saviour has passed by; the husbandman replies that

"'Jesus passed by this way
When my seed was sown.

"But now I have it reapen,
And some laid on my wain.
Ready to fetch and carry
Into my barn again.'"

Herod, supposing that it must be "full three quarters of a year since the seed was sown," turned back, and "further he proceeded into the Holy Land." A manuscript of the fifteenth century, preserved in the British Museum, contains a representation of the flight into Egypt, in which the above legend is introduced. The city of Bethlehem stands in the background, and on the right, in the distance, a field of corn and a reaper, who is in conversation with a soldier by his side. A curious Scotch tradition states that when Herod and his soldiers made their inquiry of the husbandman, "a little black beetle lifted up his head, and exclaimed, _The Son of Man passed here last night_." Black beetles are probably not more popular here than in Scotland, but Highlanders, whenever they find the dastardly insect, kill it, repeating the words, "_Beetle, beetle, last night_."

"The Holy Well" is a very favorite carol with the broadside printers; I have seen it side by side with a very lively "legendary" production, "Flyaway Carol:"

"There good old Wesley, and a throng
Of saints and martyrs too,
Unite and praise their Saviour's name.
And there I long to goo.
Fly away! Fly away!
While yet it's called to-day!"

The Magi or three Kings of Cologne form the subject of many an old carol. The names of these "famous men" are supposed to have been, Kasper or Gaspar, King of Tarsus, young and beardless; Melchior, King of Nubia, old, with long beard and grey hair; and Balthazar, King of Saba, a negro. Their offerings were, as is well known, symbolical; to use the words of the Anglo-Saxon Hymnary, translated by the recorder of Sarum:

"Incense to God, and myrrh to grace his tomb,
For tribute to their King, a golden store;
One they revere, three with three offerings come,
And three adore."

From an old commentary on the gospel of St. Matthew, we gather some curious matter relating to the history of the Three Wise Men. A certain nation dwelling close to the ocean, in the extreme east, possessed a writing, inscribed with the name of Seth, concerning the star which was to appear:

{354}

"Twelve of the more learned men of that country * * * has disposed themselves to watch for that star; and when any of them died, his son or one of his kindred * * was appointed in his place. These, therefore, year by year, after the threshing out of the corn, ascended into a certain high mountain, called _Mons victorialis_, having in it a certain cave in the rock, most grateful and pleasant, with fountains and choice trees, into which, ascending and bathing themselves, they prayed and praised God in silence three days. And thus they did, generation after generation, watching ever, lest peradventure that star of beatitude should arise upon themselves, until it appeared descending on the mountain, having within itself, as it were, the form of a man-child, and above it the similitude of a cross; and it spake to them, and taught them, and commanded them that they should go into Judaea. And journeying thither for the space of two years, neither food nor drink failed in their vessels."

Other old accounts state that their journey occupied twelve days only: "they took neither rest nor refreshment; it seemed to them indeed as one day; the nearer they approached to Christ's dwelling, the brighter the star shone." [Footnote 51]

[Footnote 51: Early Christian Legends.]

There appears to have been no decided opinion or tradition as to the form of the star; it is shown thus by Albert Durer, in an old book which I have by me of 1519: it is drawn with eight points, the lowest one being much longer than the others; in another book, 1596, I find it represented as a star of six points; in some old pictures it is shown as a sort of comet, and it is described to have been "as an eagle flying and beating the air with his wings," having within the form and likeness of the Holy Child.

In "Dives and Pauper," printed in 1496, we gather the following account of it:

"_Dives_. What manner of star was it then?

"_Pauper_. Some clerks tell that it was an angel in the likeness of
a star, for the kings had no knowledge of angels, but took all heed
to the star. Some say that it was the same child that lay in the
ox-stall which appeared to the kings in the likeness of a star, and
so drew them and led them to himself in Bethlehem."

I wish it were possible to give here a quaint illustration of the journey of the Three Wise Men, from a sheet of carols printed in 1820, which forms one of the wood-cuts procured with no little difficulty from the publisher by Mr. Hone, and is but little known.

The history of the Magi is even traced further; after their return to their own country they were baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle, became missionaries with him, and were, it is said by some, martyred.

Their journeyings did not, however, end with their deaths--their bodies were translated to Constantinople, thence to Milan, and afterward to Cologne, where they are still preserved in the cathedral, and their history recorded in a series of frescoes. Their shrine at Cologne was once exceedingly rich and magnificent, but during the excitement of the first French revolution many of the jewels which adorned the monument were sold and replaced by paste or glass counterfeits. The following description of their tomb I gather from Mr. Fyfe's book on "Christmas:"

"The coffin is stated to have two partitions, the lower having a
half, and the upper a whole, roofing. The former compartment
contains the bones of the three kings, whose separate heads appear
aloft through the aperture in the half-roofing; and on this roofing
are inscribed the names _Gaspar, Melchior, Balthazar_, encrusted in
rubies. {355} The heads are adorned with crowns weighing six pounds
apiece, of gold, diamonds, and pearls. It is asserted (but doubted)
that the tomb and its contents are of the value of £240,000."

From the offerings of the three kings arose the practice of Christmas gifts, and the festival of the Epiphany has always been observed in remembrance of their visit to Bethlehem; it has also been the custom from earliest times for our sovereigns to offer the three mystic gifts of gold, myrrh, and incense at the altar on the day of the Epiphany, which custom is still observed at the Chapel Royal, the royal oblations being received by the dean or his deputy in a bag of crimson and gold. The Epiphany is also a "scarlet day" at the universities. After this long roundabout discourse, I am almost afraid to weary my readers with a second edition of the wanderings of the Wise Men, but I must rely upon their generous forbearance; the accompanying carol is from a manuscript of the time of King Henry VII.:

"Now is Christmas i-come,
Father and Son together in One,
Holy Ghost, as Ye be One,
In fere-a:
God send us all a good new year-a.

"There came iij kings from Galilee
Into Bethlehem that fair city
To seek him that ever should be,
By right-a,
Lord, and King, and Knight-a.

"At they came forth with their offering,
They met with Herod that moody king,
This tide-a,
And this to them he said-a.

"_Her_. Of whence be ye, you kings iij?
"_Mag_. Of the East, as ye may see,
To seek him that ever should be,
By right-a.
Lord, and King, and Knight-a.

"_Her_. When you at this child have been,
Come home again by me,
Tell me the sights that you have seen,
I pray you,
Go no other way-a.

* * * *

"The Father of heaven an angel down sent,
To these iij kings that made present
This tide-a.
And this to them he said-a,
My Lord hath warned you every one
By Herod King you go not home
For an you do, he will you slay,
And strew-a,
And hurt you wonderly-a.

"Forth then went these kings iij
Till they came home to their countree.
Glad and blithe they were all iij,
Of the sights that they had seen.
By dene-a.
The company was clean-a."

* * * *

I will conclude with a modern specimen of a legendary carol written by the Rev. Dr. Neale, and published in Novello's shilling collection. The story of St. Wenceslaus, the good King of Bohemia, is given by Bishop Jeremy Taylor in his "Life of Christ:"

'"One winter night, going to his devotions in a remote church, barefooted in the snow, * * his servant Podavius, who waited on his master's piety, and endeavored to imitate his affections, began to faint through the violence of the snow and cold, till the king commanded him to follow him, and set his feet in the same footsteps which his feet should mark for him; the servant did so, and either fancied a cure, or found one, for he followed his prince, helped forward with shame and zeal to his imitation, and by the forming footsteps for him in the snow."

"Good King Wenceslaus look'd out.
On the Feast of Stephen;
When the snow lay round about.
Deep and crisp and even:
Brightly shone the moon that night,
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gath'ring winter fuel.

"'Hither, page, and stand by me.
While thou know'st it telling,
Yonder peasant who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
"'Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence,
By Saint Agnes' fountain.'

"'Bring me flesh and bring me wine.
Bring me pine logs hither;
Thou and I will see him dine,
When we bear them thither.'
Page and monarch forth they went.
Forth they went together:
Through the rude wind's wild lament,
And the bitter weather.

"'Sire, the night is darker now.
And the wind blows stronger.
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.'
"'Mark my footsteps, good my page;
Tread thou in them boldly;
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.'

"In his master's steps he trod.
Where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men--be sure--
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
Shall yourselves find blessing."

------

{356}

From The Dublin Review.

THE FORMATION OF CHRISTENDOM.

_The Formation of Christendom_. Part First. By T. W. ALLIES. London: Longmans.

It is somewhat paradoxical, but strictly true, to say that the greatest and most important revolution which ever took place upon earth is that to which least attention has hitherto been paid, and concerning which least is known--the substitution of "Christendom" for the heathen world. Before our own day no historian, no philosopher of modern times has felt any interest in this vast theme, and whatever information with regard to it is attainable must be sought in the fragmentary remains of ancient writers, or in works very recently published on the continent. In the volume before us Mr. Allies has taken ground not yet occupied by any English author. He has availed himself of two works--Döllinger's "Christenthum und Kirche" and Champagny's Histories--and he acknowledges in the most liberal and loyal manner his obligation to them; but, in the main, he has been left to find his way for himself, and no man could well be more highly qualified for the task, whether by the gifts of nature or by the acquirements of many years. We infer from the work itself that his attention was immediately turned to the subject by his appointment as professor of the "Philosophy of History" in the Catholic university of Dublin, under the rectorship of Dr. Newman. The duties of his post obliged him to weigh the question, "what is the philosophy of history?" and the inaugural lecture with which the volume before us commences, although it gives no formal definition of the phrase (which is to be regretted), supplies abundant considerations by the aid of which we may arrive at it. History, in its origin, was far more akin to poetry than to philosophy, and even when it passes into prose it is in the half-legendary form, which makes the narrative of Herodotus and of the annalists of the middle ages so charming to all readers. They are ballads without metre. Next came that style of which Thucydides is the model, and which Mr. Allies calls "political history." "Its limit is the nation, and it deals with all that interests the nation." "Great, indeed, is the charm where the writer can describe with the pencil of a poet and analyze with the mental grasp of a philosopher. Such is the double merit of Thucydides. And so it has happened that the deepest students of human nature have searched for two thousand years the records of a war wherein the territory of the chief belligerents was not larger than a modern English or Irish county. What should we say if a quarrel between Kent and Essex, between Cork and Kerry, had kept the world at gaze ever since? Yet Attica and Laconia were no larger."

And yet it needed something more than territorial greatness in the states of which he wrote to enable even Thucydides himself to realize the idea of a philosophical history. For the five hundred years which followed the Peloponnesian war brought to maturity the greatest empire which has ever existed among men, and although, at the close of that period, one of the ablest and most thoughtful of writers devoted himself especially to its history, yet, says our author, "I do not know that in reading the pages of Polybius, of Livy, or even of Tacitus, we are conscious of a wider grasp of thought, a more enlarged experience of political interests, a higher idea of {357} man, and of all that concerns his personal and public life, than in those of Thucydides." Great, indeed, was the genius of those ancient historians, magnificent were the two languages which they made their instruments--languages "very different in their capacity, but both of them superior in originality, beauty, and expressiveness to any which have fallen to the lot of modern nations. It may be that the marbles of Pentelicus and Carrara insure good sculptors." "In the narrative--that is, the poetic and pictorial part of history--they have equal merit. Their history is a drama in which the actors and the events speak for themselves. What was wanting was the bearing of events on each other, the apprehension of great first principles--the generalization of facts." And this no mere lapse of time could give. It is wanting in the works of the greatest ancient masters. It is found in moderns in all other respects immeasurably their inferiors. "What, then, had happened in the interval?" Christianity had happened--Christendom had been formed. '"There was a voice in the world greater, more potent, thrilling, and universal, than the last cry of the old society, _Civis sum Romanus_, and this voice was _Sum Christianus_. From the time of the great sacrifice it was impossible to sever the history of man's temporal destiny from that of his eternal; and when the virtue of that sacrifice had thoroughly leavened the nations, history is found to assume a larger basis, to have lost its partial and national cast, to have grown with the growth of man, and to demand for its completeness a perfect alliance with philosophy."

Thus, then, the "philosophy of history" is the comparison and arrangement of its great events by one whose mind is stored with the facts which it records, and who at the same time possesses the great first principles which qualify him to judge of it. We may, therefore, lay it down as an absolute rule, that without Christianity no really philosophical history could have been written.

Not unnaturally, then, the first example of the philosophy of history was given by a man whose mind, if not the greatest ever informed by Christianity, was at least among a very few in the first class, was moreover so thoroughly penetrated by Christian principles, that to review the events of the world in any other aspect, or through any other medium, would have been to him as impossible as to examine in detail without the light of the sun the expanse of plains and hills, rivers and forests, which lay under him as he stood on some predominant mountain peak. God, the Almighty Creator--God incarnate, who had once lived and suffered on earth, and now reigned on high until he should put all enemies under his feet, and who was coming again to judge the world which he had redeemed--the Church founded by him to enlighten and govern all generations throughout all nations, and in which dwelt the infallible guidance of God the Holy Ghost--the evil spirits, powerless against the divine presence in the Church, but irresistible by mere human power--the saints, no longer seen by man, but whose intercession influenced and moulded all the events of his life,--all these were ever before the mind of St. Augustine, not merely as articles of faith which he confessed, but as practical realities. To trace the events of the world without continually referring to all these, would have been to him not merely irreligious, but as unreal, unmeaning, and fallacious as it would be to a natural philosopher of our own day to investigate the phenomena of the material world without taking into consideration the attraction of the earth and the resistance of the air. This should be noticed, because we have all met men who, while professing to believe most, if not all, of these things, would consider it bad taste to introduce such considerations into any practical affair. They are, in short, part of that very {358} remarkable phenomenon, the "Sunday religion" of a respectable English gentleman, which he holds as an inseparable part of his respectability, but which is well understood to have no bearing at all upon the business of the week. Living as St. Augustine did at the crisis at which the civilization of the ancient world was finally breaking up, his eye was cast back in review over the whole gorgeous line of ancient history, which swept by him like a Roman triumph. Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome, each had its day; the last and greatest of them all he saw tottering to its fall. But far more important than this comprehensive survey, which the circumstances of his times made natural to so great an intellect, was his possession of fixed and certain principles, the truth of which he knew beyond the possibility of doubt, and which were wide enough to solve every question which the history of the world brought before him. Great men there had been before him, but the deeper their thoughts, the more had they found that the world itself and their own position in it were but a hopeless enigma without an answer, a cypher without a key. A flood of light had been poured upon the piercing mental eye of St. Augustine when the waters of baptism fell from the hand of the holy Ambrose upon his outward frame. Every part of the Old Testament history glowed before him, as when from behind a cloud which covers all the earth the light of the sun falls concentrated upon some mountain-peak; and the man who reverences and ponders as divine that inspired history has learned to read the inner meaning of the whole history of the world as no one else can. In every age, no doubt, Almighty God rules and directs in justice and mercy the world which he has created; but in general he hides himself behind an impenetrable veil. "Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment the establishment of his throne." To many an ordinary spectator, the world seems only the theatre of man's labor and suffering. He passes through it as he might through one of the arsenals of ancient Greece or Rome, where indeed great works were wrought, but where the hand of the workman was always as visible as the result produced. A more thoughtful man might see proofs of some unknown power, just as in an arsenal of our day works, compared to which the fabled labors of giants and cyclops were as child's play, are hourly performed by the stroke of huge hammers welding vast masses of glowing metal, while nothing is seen to cause or explain their motion. All this is understood by one who has once been allowed to see at work the engine itself which sets all in motion. So does the Old Testament history unveil to the eye of faith the hidden causes, not only of the Jewish history, but of the great events of secular history. All that seemed before only results without cause, is seen to be fully accounted for; not that we can always understand the ends which the Almighty Worker designs to accomplish, or the means by which he is accomplishing them, but everywhere faith sees the operation of Almighty power directed by infinite wisdom and love, and, while able to understand much, it is willing to await in reverent adoration the development of that which as yet is beyond its comprehension. It sees that the history of other nations is distinguished from that of the children of Israel, not so much by the character of the events which it records (for the extraordinary manifestations of divine power were chiefly confined to a few special periods), as to the principle and spirit in which it has been written, and that secular history viewed by eyes supernaturally enlightened assumes the same appearance.

In fact, it is not difficult to write a history of the reigns of David and Solomon and their successors down to the fall of the Hebrew monarchy which sounds very much like that of any other Oriental kingdom. The {359} thing has been done of late years, both in Germany and in England. It was by this that Dean Milman, many years ago, so greatly shocked the more religious portion of English readers. Nor were they shocked without cause; for his was a history of the Jews from which, as far as possible, Almighty God was left out, while the characteristic of the inspired narrative is, that it is a record not so much of the doings of men as of the great acts of God by man and among men. Only Dean Milman was more consistent than those who condemned him. He was right in perceiving that the greater part of the history of the Jews is not materially different from that of other nations. But he went on to infer that, therefore, we may leave God out of sight in judging of Jewish history, as we do in that of other nations, instead of learning from the example of the Jews that in every age God is as certainly working among every nation. That by which he offended religious Protestants was the application of their own ordinary principles to the one history in which they had been taught from childhood to see and acknowledge with exceptional reverence the working of Almighty God in the affairs of the world.

This it is which gives its peculiar character to many of the chronicles of the middle ages. It is impossible not to feel that the writers see no broad distinction between the history of the nations and times of which they are writing and that of the ancient people of God. And hence in their annals we have far more of the philosophy of history, in the true sense of the word, than was possible to any ancient author. For with all their ignorance of physical causes, which led them into many mistakes, their main principles were both true and vitally important, and were wholly unknown to Thucydides and Tacitus. But the circumstances of their times made it impossible that they should survey the extensive range of facts which lies before a modern historian. In many instances, also, they were led by the imperfect state of physical science to attribute to a supernatural interference of God in the world things which we are now able to refer to natural causes. That God has before now interfered with the course of nature which he has established in the world, and may whenever he pleases so interfere again, these were to them first principles. And so far they reasoned truly and justly, although their imperfect acquaintance with other branches of human knowledge sometimes led them to apply amiss their true principle. Their minds were so much accustomed to dwell upon the thought of God, and upon his acts in the world, that they were always prepared to see and hear him everywhere, and in every event. When they heard of any event supposed to be supernatural, they might be awestruck and impressed, but could not be said to be surprised; and hence, no doubt, they sometimes accepted as supernatural events which, if examined by a shrewd man who starts with the first principle that nothing supernatural can really have taken place, could have been otherwise explained. Beside, their comparative unacquaintance with physical science led them into errors in accounting for and even in observing those which they themselves did not imagine to be supernatural. But their first principles were true. And the modern who assumes, whether explicitly or implicitly, that the course of the world is modified and governed only by the passions and deeds of man, is in his first principles fundamentally wrong. They fell into accidental error; he cannot be more than accidentally right.

Our author says:

"In the middle ages, and notably in the thirteenth century, there
were minds which have left us imperishable memorials of themselves,
and which would have taken the largest and most philosophical view
of history had the materials existed ready to their hand. {360}
Conceive, for instance, a history from the luminous mind of St.
Thomas with the stores of modern knowledge at his command. But the
invention of printing, one of the turning points of the human race,
was first to take place, and then on that soil of the middle ages,
so long prepared and fertilized by so patient a toil, a mighty
harvest was to spring up. Among the first-fruits of labors so often
depreciated by those who have profited by them, and in the land of
children who despise their sires, we find the proper alliance of
philosophy with history. Then at length the province of the
historian is seen to consist, not merely in the just, accurate, and
lively narrative of facts, but in the exhibition of cause and
effect. 'What do we now expect in history?' says M. de Barante; and
he replies, 'Solid instruction and complete knowledge of things;
moral lessons, political counsels; comparison with the present, and
the general knowledge of facts.' Even in the age of Tacitus, the
most philosophic of ancient historians, no individual ability could
secure all such powers" (p. 12).

Thus philosophical history is one of the results of Christianity. Professor Max Müller makes a similar remark with regard to his own favorite study of ethnology. Before the day of Pentecost, he says, no man, not even the greatest minds, ever thought of tracing the genealogy of nations by their languages, because they did not know the unity of the human race. The unity of mankind is naturally connected in the order of ideas with the unity of God. Those who worshipped many gods, and believed that each race and nation had its own tutelary divinity, not unnaturally regarded each nation as a separate race. So far was this feeling carried by the most civilized races of the old world, that they thought it a profanation that the worship of the gods of one race should be offered by a priest not sprung from that race. The most moderate and popular of the Roman patricians rejected the demand of the _plebs_ to be admitted to the highest offices of the state, not as politically dangerous, but as profane. The Roman consul, in virtue of his office, was the priest of the Capitoline Jove, to whom, on certain solemn occasions, he had to offer sacrifice. It would be a pollution that a plebeian, not sprung from any of the tribes of Romulus, should presume to offer that sacrifice. In fact, the consulship would hardly have been thrown open to the _plebs_ until the long continued habit of intermarriage had welded the two portions of the Roman people so completely into one that the plebeian began, at last, to be regarded as of the same blood with the Furii, the Cornelii, and the Julii. The first measure by which the tribunes commenced their attack upon the exclusive privilege of the great houses was wisely chosen; it was the Canuleian law, by which marriages between the two orders were made legal and valid. Before that, patricians and plebeians were two nations living in one city, and, according to the universal opinion of the ancient world, this implied that they had different gods, different priests, a different ritual, and different temples. But the day of Pentecost blended all nations into a new unity--the unity of the body of Christ; and its first effect was, that the preachers of the new law proclaimed everywhere, that "God had made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell upon the face of the whole earth." The professor points out what curiously completes the analogy between the two cases, that while Christianity, by collecting into one church all the nations of the world, and by teaching their original unity, naturally suggested the idea that all their different languages had some common origin, any satisfactory investigation of the subject was long delayed by the unfounded notion that the Hebrew must needs be the root from which they all sprang. Thus, in both cases, the germ of studies, whose development was delayed for ages by the {361} imperfection of human knowledge, appears to have been contained in the revelation of the gospel of Christ.

It is important to bring these considerations into prominence, because the knowledge which would never have existed without Christianity, is, in many cases, retained by men who forget or deny the faith to which they are indebted for it. Our author draws comparison between Tacitus and Gibbon (page 14):