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OLD CHRISTOVAL'S ADVICE, So, on a dark night, I took my flight,

AND THE REASON WHY HE GAVE IT.

And stole like a thief away;

It happen'd that by St. Andrew's Church
The road I had chosen lay.

As I past the Church door, I thought how I swore
Upon St. Isidro's day;

That the Saint was so near increased my fear,
And faster I hasten'd away.

So all night long I hurried on,

Pacing full many a mile,
And knew not his avenging hand
Was on me all the while.

Recibió un Cavallero, paraque cultivasse sus tierras, a
un Quintero, y para pagarle algo adelantado le pidió
fiador; y no teniendo quien le fiasse, le prometió de-
lante del sepulcro de San Isidro que cumpliria su
palabra, y si no, que el Santa le castigasse. Con lo
qual, el Cavallero le pagó toda su soldada, y le fib.
Mar desagradecido aquel hombre, no haciendo caso
de su promessa, se huyó, sin acabar de sirvir el tiempo
concertado. Passó de noche sin reparar en ello, por
la Iglesia de San Andrès, donde estaba el cuerpo del
siervo de Dios. Fuè cosa maravillosa, que andando
corriendo toda la noche, nose apartó de la Iglesia, sino
que toda se le fuè en dar mil bueltas al rededor de
ella, hasta que por la mañana, yendo el amo à quex-
arse de San Isidro, y pedirle cumpliesse su fianza,
halló a su Quintero alli, dando mas y mas bueltas,
sin poderse haver apartado de aquel sitio. Pidió
perdon al Santo, y à su amo, al qual satisfizo despues I shook like a palsy, and fell on my knees,
enteramente por su trabajo.-VILLEGAS. Flos Sanc-

torum.

"IF thy debtor be poor," old Christoval said,
"Exact not too hardly thy due;

For he who preserves a poor man from want
May preserve him from wickedness too.

Weary I was, yet safe, I thought;
But when it was day-light,

I had, I found, been running round
And round the Church all night.

And for pardon devoutly I pray'd;
Wheny master came up-" What, Christoval:
You are here betimes!" he said.

"I have been idle, good Master," said I,
"Good Master, and I have done wrong;
And I have been running round the Church
In penance all night long."

"If thou hast been idle," Henrique replied,

"Henceforth thy fault amend!

I will not oppress thee, Christoval,

And the Saint may thy labour befriend."

Homeward I went a penitent,

And from that day I idled no more; St. Isidro bless'd my industry,

As he punish'd my sloth before.

"When my debtor was poor," old Christoval said,

"I have never exacted my due;

But remembering my master was good to me,
I copied his goodness too.

Two hideous horns on his head he had got,
Like iron heated nine times red-hot;
The breath of his nostrils was brimstone blue,
And his tail like a fiery serpent grew.

"What wouldst thou with me?" the Wicked One cried,

But not a word the young man replied;
Every hair on his head was standing upright,
And his limbs like a palsy shook with affright.

"What wouldst thou with me?" cried the Author of ill;

But the wretched young man was silent still;
Not a word had his lips the power to say,

"When my neighbour hath sinn'd," old Christo. And his marrow seem'd to be melting away.

val said,

"I judged not too hardly his sin,

But thought of the night by St. Andrew's Church, And consider'd what I might have been." Westbury, 1798.

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA;

A BALLAD,

OF A YOUNG MAN THAT WOULD READ UNLAWFUL BOOKS, AND HOW HE WAS PUNISHED.

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VERY PITHY AND PROFITABLE.

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA went out one day;
His Study he lock'd ere he went away,
And he gave the key of the door to his wife,
And charged her to keep it lock'd on her life.

"And if any one ask my Study to see,

I charge you to trust them not with the key;
Whoever may beg, and entreat, and implore,
On your life let nobody enter that door."

There lived a young man in the house, who in vain

Access to that Study had sought to obtain;
And he begg'd and pray'd the books to see,
Till the foolish woman gave him the key.

On the Study-table a book there lay,
Which Agrippa himself had been reading that day;
The letters were written with blood therein,
And the leaves were made of dead men's skin;-

And these horrible leaves of magic between
Were the ugliest pictures that ever were seen,
The likeness of things so foul to behold,
That what they were is not fit to be told.

The young man he began to read

He knew not what; but he would proceed,
When there was heard a sound at the door,
Which, as he read on, grew more and more.

And more and more the knocking grew;
The young man knew not what to do;
But, trembling, in fear he sat within,

Till the door was broke, and the Devil came in.

KING CHARLEMAIN.

François Petrarque, fort renomme entre les Poëtes Italiens, discourant en un epistre son voyage de France et de l'Allemaigne, nous raconte que passant par la ville d'Aix, il apprit de quelques Prestres une histoire prodigeuse qu'ils tenoient de main en main pour tres veritable. Qui estoit que Charles le Grand, apres avoir conquesté plusieurs pays, s'esperdit de telle façon en l'amour d'une simple femme, que mettant tout honneur et reputation en arriere, il oublia non seulement les affaires de son royaume, mais aussi le soing de sa propre personne, au grand desplaisir de chacun ; estant seulement ententif à courtiser ceste dame: laquelle par bonheur commenca à s'aliter d'une grosse maladie, qui lui apporta la mort. Dont les Princes et grands Seigneurs furent fort rejouis, esperans que par ceste mort, Charles reprendroit comme devant et ses esprits et les affaires du royaume en main: toutesfois il se trouva tellement infatué de ceste amour, qu' encores cherissoit-il ce cadaver, l'embrassant, baisant, accolant de la meme façon que devant, et au lieu de prester l'oreille aux legations qui luy survenoient, il l'entretenoit de mille bayes, comme s'elle eust esté pleine de vie. Ce corps commençoit deja non seulement à mal sentir, mais aussi se tournoit en putrefaction, et neantmoins n'y avoit aucun de ses favoris qui luy en osast parler; dont advint que l'Archevesque Turpin mieux advisé que les autres, pourpensa que telle chose ne pouvoit estre advenue sans quelque sorcellerie. Au moyen dequoy espiant un jour l'heure que le Roy s'estoit absenté de la chambre, commença de fouiller le corps de toutes parts, finalement trouva dans sa bouche au dessous de sa langue un anneau qu'il luy osta. Le jour mesme Charlemaigne retournant sur ses premieres brisees, se trouva fort estonne de voir une

carcasse ainsi puante. Parquoy, comme s'il se fust resveillé d'un profond sommeil, commanda que l'on l'ensevelist promptement. Ce qui fut fait; mais en contr' eschange de ceste folie, il tourna tous ses pensemens vers l'Archevesque porteur de cest anneau, ne pouvant estre de là en avant sans luy, et le suivant en tous les endroits. Quoy voyant ce sage Prelat, et craignant que cest anneau ne tombast en

mains de quelque autre, le jetta dans un lac prochain de la ville. Depuis lequel temps on dit que ce Roy se trouve si espris de l'amour du lieu, qu'il ne se desempara de la ville d'Aix, où il bastit un Palais, et un Monastere, en l'un desquels il parfit le reste de ses jours, et en l'autre voulut estre ensevely, ordonnant par son testament que tous les Empereurs de Rome

The physicians to counsel together repair,
And with common consent, one and all they
declare

That his senses are bound by a spell.

8.

Then, with relics protected, and confident grown,
And telling devoutly his beads,

The good old Archbishop, when this was made
known,

Steals in when he hears that the corpse is alone,
And to look for the spell he proceeds.

9.

eussent à se faire sacrer premierement en ce lieu. He searches with care, though with tremulous

PASQUIER. Recherches de la France. L. 6, C. 33. This very learned author has strangely mistaken Aix in Savoy, the real scene of the legend, for Aix-laChapelle. The ruins of a building said to have been Charlemain's palace are still to be seen on the Lake of Bourget.

haste,

For the spell that bewitches the king;
And under her tongue, for security placed,
Its margin with mystical characters traced,
At length he discovers a ring

10.

Rejoicing he seized it, and hasten'd away;
The Monarch re-enter'd the room;

Ir was strange that he loved her, for youth was The enchantment was ended, and, suddenly gay, gone by,

And the bloom of her beauty was fled:

'Twas the glance of the harlot that gleam'd in her

eye,

And all but the Monarch could plainly descry
From whence came her white and her red.

2.

Yet he thought with Agatha none might compare,
And he gloried in wearing her chain;
The court was a desert if she were not there;
To him she alone among women seem'd fair,
Such dotage possess'd Charlemain.

3.

The soldier, the statesman, the courtier, the maid,
Alike the proud leman detest;

And the good old Archbishop, who ceased to up-
braid,

He bade the attendants no longer delay,
But bear her with speed to the tomb.

11.

Now merriment, joyance, and feasting again
Enliven'd the palace of Aix;

And now by his heralds did King Charlemain
Invite to his palace the courtier train
To hold a high festival day.

12.

And anxiously now for the festival day
The highly-born Maidens prepare;
And now,
all apparel'd in costly array,
Exulting they come to the palace of Aix,
Young and aged, the brave and the fair.

13.

Oh! happy the Damsel who, 'mid her compeers,
For a moment engaged the King's eye!

Shook his gray head in sorrow, and silently pray'd Now glowing with hopes, and now fever'd with

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17.

"Oh come where the feast, and the dance, and

the song,

Invite thee to mirth and to love;

Or at this happy moment, away from the throng, To the shade of yon wood let us hasten along,The moon never pierces that grove."

18.

As thus by new madness the King seem'd possess'd,

In new wonder the Archbishop heard ;` Then Charlemain warmly and eagerly press'd The good old man's poor, wither'd hand to his breast,

And kiss'd his long, gray, grizzle beard.

19.

Let us well, then, these fortunate moments employ !"

Cried the Monarch with passionate tone; "Come away then, dear charmer,-my angel,— my joy,

Nay, struggle not now,-'tis in vain to be coy,And remember that we are alone."

20.

Blessed Mary, protect me!" the Archbishop cried;

"What madness has come to the King!"
In vain to escape from the monarch he tried,
When luckily he on his finger espied
The glitter of Agatha's ring.

21.

Overjoy'd, the good prelate remember'd the spell, And far in the lake flung the ring;

The waters closed round it, and wondrous to tell, Released from the cursed enchantment of hell, His reason return'd to the King.

22.

But he built him a palace there close by the bay, And there did he love to remain ;

And the traveller who will, may behold at this day
A monument still in the ruins at Aix

Of the spell that possess'd Charlemain.
Bath, 1797.

ST. ROMUALD.

Les Catalans ayant appris que S. Romuald vouloit quitter leurs pays, en furent très-affligés ; ils deliberèrent sur les moyens de l'en empêcher, et le seul qu'ils imaginèrent comme le plus sûr, fut de le tuer, afin de profiter du moins de ses reliques et des guerisons et autres miracles qu'elles opéreroient après sa mort. La dévotion que les Catalans avoient pour lui, ne plut point du tout à S. Romuald; il usa de stratagème et leur échappa.-ST. Foix, Essais Historiques sur Paris.-T. 5, p. 163.

St. Foix, who is often more amusing than trustworthy, has fathered this story upon the Spaniards, though it belongs to his own countrymen, the circumstances having happened when Romuald was a monk of the Convent of St. Michael's, in Aquitane. It is thus related by Yepes: En esta ocasion sucedio una cosa bien extraordinaria, porque los naturales de la tierra

donde estava el monasterio de San Miguel, estimavan en tanto a San Romoaldo, que faltandoles la paciencia de que se quisiesse yr, dieron en un terrible disparate, a quien llama muy bien San Pedro Damiano Impia Pietas, piedad cruel: porque queriendose yr San Romoaldo, determinaron de matarle, para que ya que no le podian tener en su tierra vivo, alomenos gozassen de sus reliquias y cuerpo santo. Supo San Romoaldo la determinacion bestial y indiscreta de aquella gente: y tomo una prudente resolucion, porque imitando a David, que fingio que estava loco, por no caer en manos de sus enemigos, assi San Romoaldo se hizo raer la cabeca, y con algunos ademanes, y palabras mal concertadas que dezia, le tuvieron por hombre que le avia faltado el juyzio, con que se asseguraron los naturales de la tierra que ya perpetuamente le tendrian en ella y con semejante estratagema y traça tuvo lugar San Romoaldo de hurtarse, y a cencerros topados (como dizen) huyr de aquella tierra, y llegar a Italia a la ciudad de Ravena.-Coronica General de la Orden de San Benito.-T. 5, ff. 274.

Villegas in his Flos Sanctorum, (February 7th,) records some of St. Romuald's achievements against the Devil and his imps. He records also the other virtues of the Saint, as specified in the poem. They are more fully stated by Yepes.-Tenia tres cilicios, los quales mudava de treynta en treynta dias: no los labava, sino ponialos al ayre, y à la agua que llovia, con que se matavan algunas immundicias, que se criavan en ellos.-f. 298. Quando alguna vez era tentado de la gula, y desseava comer de algun manjar, tomovale en las manos, miravale, oliale, y despues que estava despierto el apetito, dezia, O gula, gula, quan dulce y suave te parece este manjar! pero no te ha de entrer en provecho! y entonces se mortificava, y le dexava, y le embiava entero, o al silleriço, o a los pobres.

There is a free translation of this poem, by Bilderdik, in the second volume of his Krekelzangen, p. 113.

ONE day, it matters not to know
How many hundred years ago,

A Frenchman stopp'd at an inn door;
The Landlord came to welcome him, and chat
Of this and that,

For he had seen the Traveller there before.

"Doth holy Romuald dwell
Still in his cell?"

The Traveller ask'd, "or is the old man dead?"
"No; he has left his loving flock, and we
So great a Christian never more shall see,"
The Landlord answer'd, and he shook his head.

"Ah, sir, we knew his worth!

If ever there did live a Saint on earth!Why, Sir, he always used to wear a shirt For thirty days, all seasons, day and night: Good man, he knew it was not right For Dust and Ashes to fall out with Dirt; And then he only hung it out in the rain, And put it on again.

"There has been perilous work

With him and the Devil there in yonder cell;
For Satan used to maul him like a Turk.
There they would sometimes fight
All through a winter's night,

From sunset until morn,

He with a cross, the Devil with his horn;

The Devil spitting fire, with might and main,
Enough to make St. Michael half afraid;
He splashing holy water till he made
His red hide hiss again,

And the hot vapour fill'd the smoking cell.
This was so common that his face became
All black and yellow with the brimstone flame,
And then he smelt,-O Lord! how he did smell!

"Then, Sir! to see how he would mortify
The flesh! If any one had dainty fare,
Good man, he would come there,
And look at all the delicate things, and cry
'O Belly, Belly,

You would be gormandizing now, I know;
But it shall not be so!-

Home to your bread and water-home, I tell ye!'"
"But," quoth the Traveller, "wherefore did he
leave

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A flock that knew his saintly worth so well?"
Why," said the Landlord, "Sir, it so befell
He heard unluckily of our intent

To do him a great honour; and, you know,
He was not covetous of fame below,
And so by stealth one night away he went."

"What might this honour be?" the Traveller

cried.

"Why, Sir," the host replied,

The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surge's swell,
The mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.
The Sun in heaven was shining gay;
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream'd as they wheel'd round
And there was joyance in their sound.
The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk'd his deck,
And he fix'd his eye on the darker speck.
He felt the cheering power of spring;
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover's mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape float;
Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok."

"We thought perhaps that he might one day The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row,

leave us;

And then should strangers have

The good man's grave,

A loss like that would naturally grieve us;
For he'll be made a Saint of, to be sure.
Therefore we thought it prudent to secure
His relics while we might;

And so we meant to strangle him one night."
Westbury, 1798.

THE INCHCAPE ROCK.

And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sunk the bell with a gurgling sound;
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, "The next who comes to the
Rock

Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok."

Sir Ralph the Rover sail'd away;
He scour'd the seas for many a day;
And now, grown rich with plunder'd store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.
So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the Sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day;
At evening it hath died away.

On the deck the Rover takes his stand;
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, "It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon."

An old writer mentions a curious tradition which may be worth quoting. "By east the Isle of May," says he, "twelve miles from all land in the German seas, lyes a great hidden rock, called Inchcape, very dangerous for navigators, because it is overflowed everie tide. It is reported, in old times, upon the saide rock there was a bell, fixed upon a tree or timber, which rang continually, being moved by the sea, giving notice to the saylers of the danger. This bell or clocke was put there and maintained by the Abbot of Aberbrothok, and being taken down by a sea pirate, a "Canst hear," said one, the breakers roar? yeare thereafter he perished upon the same rocke, For methinks we should be near the shore." with ship and goodes, in the righteous judgement of Now where we are I cannot tell, God." STODDARD's Remarks on Scotland.

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion;
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flow'd over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

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But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell."

They hear no sound; the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,-
"Oh Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!"

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair;
He curs'd himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side;
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

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