TRANSLATION FROM ALEXANDRIA TO VENICE OF THE BODY OF ST. MARK.

ACCORDING to Daru, (Histoire de Venise, tom. i., p. 54,) the body of St. Mark, which, as tradition stated, had been preserved at Alexandria, in the church bearing his name, is said to have been brought from thence to Naples. Briefly narrating the events of the life of the Doge, Justinian, who succeeded his father A. D. 827, the historian says,—

"A more celebrated event occurred during the life of this obscure Doge: this was the translation of the body of the Evangelist Mark from Alexandria to Venice. As this fact serves to illustrate the manners of the times, I shall here only translate the simple recital of an ancient historian.

"The King of Alexandria, having ordered that a magnificent palace should be built for him, bid his men look out everywhere for the most precious marbles to be used in its construction; and they, for this purpose, robbed the very churches. The church of St. Mark, one of the finest in the city, was not excepted. Two holy Greek Priests, who were placed in the church to guard it, groaned over this profanation. Their names were Theodore and Stauratius. Ten Venetian ships were then in the harbour: two of the mariners, Bon de Malamocco, and Rustic de Torcillo, having come on shore, went to this church, to pay their devotions there; and they, being struck with the sadness of the servitors, asked them the cause of it. Having learned it, they asked very earnestly that the body of the saint might be delivered to them, promising and assuring them that the Venetians would thankfully receive and guard it. The Priests at first denied them; for they feared they would be committing a great sacrilege in taking out of their place the remains of their holy patron. But while they were thus discoursing, Divine Providence so willed it that those who had the King's commandment to search for precious marbles, came into the church. They had no respect for the sacred place, but directly set to work to carry away all they deemed proper for the construction of the palace of the King. The church was built wholly of rare marbles; and as the servitors saw that it was going to be demolished, they were so affrighted, that they yielded to the

importunity of the two Venetians. At the same time, they had need to avoid letting any one find out that they were carrying away the remains of that holy Evangelist, because the people had them in great veneration, because of the miracles that were wrought there every day. With very great carefulness, and in the place where they were least likely to be seen, they prepared the covering which was to enclose these venerable remains, and they substituted in their place the body of St. Claudian. Such a perfume spread around at that instant, even to neighbouring places, that the crowd ran after the bearers of the holy relics. But the fastenings of the linen which covered the body were unbroken, and no one could discover that a pious theft had been committed. But it was still necessary to deceive the people and the unbelievers, that they might bear these precious remains to their ships without any peril.

"Those who tell the story would not be believed if there were not to be yet seen, in our own church of St. Mark, a marvellous image which attests the fact. To put those who had to carry the body beyond the searchings, and the bad treatment, too common with that barbarous people of the false Prophet, the body itself was placed in a large basket, with many herbs all around it, and covered with pork-flesh, which the Moslems have in great horror, as everybody knows. They then called for their men who had to bear the basket, and recommended them, when anybody came to look into it, to

This was the usual proof that the body was that of a martyr or saint. Superstition had, at a very early period, caused ignorance to believe that such bodies were not like common bodies; not like that of Lazarus, as his sister believed, when she shrank from its exhumation because he had been dead several days. There was no decomposition to liberate offensive gases. On the contrary, some Phoenix had carried, in some way or other, some of the "spices of Araby" which had been collected by her for her own funeral pyre; so that whenever the place of interment was opened, all about was filled with fragrancy: and this proved the saintship. It is a wonder that the Alexandrians did not look more closely into so suspicious a matter. This odour spoils the whole tale. But seriously; it is not improbable that the bodies of some good men might be embalmed, and that after the dry soil of a hot climate had exhaled the gases of decomposition, the odour of the spices might in some degree continue; and a single instance of fact would furnish, in the hands of such logicians, a broad foundation for a theory including hundreds.

cry out, Khanzir, Khanzir,' which in the tongue of these barbarians signifies pork. In this manner did they get back to their ships in safety. The body was then wrapped up in a sail, and fastened to one of the yards of the main-mast, where it hung till they went away; for it was necessary to conceal this precious theft from the knowledge of any one that might yet come to visit the vessel while it was still in the bay of the city. 'At last the Venetians set sail, full of joy. But scarcely were they out at sea, when a great tempest arose. They tell us that St. Mark then appeared to Bon de Malamocco, and told him immediately to lower his sails, that so the ship, which was driven along by the fury of the wind, should not be broken against any sunken rocks. They owed their safety to this miracle.

66

"When they landed in the city, all the people were filled with gladness. On all sides it was said that the presence of the saint would secure to the republic perpetual splendour; agreeing with the ancient tradition, known to every one, that St. Mark, in the course of his life, sailing by the coasts of Aquilea, and touching at our Venetian isles, had been visited by a celestial vision, which foretold him that his bones should one day repose in that land, then uninhabited.

"There was nothing in all the city but feasts, and chants, and music, and prayers. They called upon the saint to take the city under his protection, that it might endure as long as the world stands. When the venerable body was brought to the shore, there was a very grand procession. All the people went before it as far as the fortress, and the Clergy too, who sang hymns, and burned incense. This noble present was received with all possible devotion; it was deposited in the Ducal chapel; the Doge, who died a little time afterwards, left, in his last will and testament, a sum of money to build a church to St. Mark."

[How often do extremes meet! Voltaire and his helpers taught the French to laugh at their foolish superstitions; foolish enough, certainly, and worse than foolish, because they are too frequently, in the mind of those who practise them, so ultimately blended with important truth, that in endeavouring

to expose the folly, care must be taken not to endanger the truth. The modern free-thinkers of France imitated their patriarch, and laughed at the whole, the good as well as the bad. But turn from this procession, and look at another. Respect for St. Mark, if most unwisely expressed, did yet include something good. But a body has been fetched from St. Helena to France, borne up the river Seine in triumph, and then conveyed (the body of Napoleon) in a procession royal, military, and sacred, to a church where religious services are performed, before it is committed to its second grave. Were the Venetians more foolish than the French, the latter living nearly a thousand years subsequently? What would Voltaire have said?]

CONVENTUAL LIFE IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. EXTRACT XVI.

[IN continuing our palavers with the old Chronicler, we cannot help smiling (though, when considered in other points of view, it is no smiling matter) at the manner in which the old monastic vow of poverty was observed. Poverty was regarded as one way of securing religious perfection; perfection beyond the ordinary rules of Christian life. And yet, all history brings the monasteries before us as abounding in wealth. The monasteries had often far larger possessions than many of the noblest families of the land. But there was a way of evading this vow; and as it was allowed (allowed! nay, encouraged) by an infallible Church, of course it could not be wrong. Individual members had no property, it is true; but the collective society had. Bodies personal were poor; but bodies corporate were rich; and when the bodies personal personally partook of the good things which the wealth of the bodies corporate could procure, they managed to persuade themselves that their participation was only as parts and parcels of the bodies corporate. But where was the religious perfection all this while? As they could thus, at the same time, be both poor and rich, could they also be, at the same time, both saints and sinners? But the subject is too serious for amusement; or we could almost have asked how they

would manage their distinctions in eternity? Could they be both rewarded for their religious perfection, and punished for the want of it? It is a dangerous thing even for an infallible Church to leave the plain path of simple truth, unless it be one property of infallibility to reconcile absolute inconsistencies.

Another thing will likewise be noticed, one which has been pointed out before; that is, the fear with which the Martyr King was regarded. Whether the providence of God was regarded or not, there was no lack of fear as to the power of these dead saints. As yet, much as we have found about St. Edmund, his merits, intercession, and power, we have met with no reference to Christ. Practically, as to any exercise of goodness or power, it was not to Christ the Saviour, but to Edmund the Martyr, that the people and their teachers referred it. In effect, the religion of the day, among the successors of the Apostles, had become Christless.-ED. Y. I.]

AND now the long-hoped-for time, the long-wished-for day, has arrived, whereof I write not but with great joy, myself having the care of the guests. Lo! at the command of the Abbot, the court-lodge resounds with spades and masons' tools, for pulling down the guest-house, and now it is almost all prostrated. Of the rebuilding, let the Most High take thought. The Abbot built for himself a new larder in the court-lodge, and gave the old larder to the convent, for the accommodation of the Chamberlain, which, very inconveniently, was under the dormitory. The chapels of St. Andrew, and St. Katherine, and St. Faith, are new covered with lead; many repairs also are made, both inside the church and without. If you will not believe, open your eyes and see. Also in his time was built our stone almonry, which previously was of wood, and out of repair; whereto a certain brother of ours, Walter the Physician, attributed much of what he had acquired by his practice of physic. The Abbot also observing that the silver table of the high altar, and many other precious ornaments, had been alienated on account of the recovery of Mildenhall and the redemption of King Richard, was not desirous of replacing that table or such like matters, which upon a similar occasion might have to be torn away and misappropriated; he