Part 26

“This inscription, with its bad Latin and other defects, and by reason of the parts that are lost, can ill be translated. Nevertheless I shall render it, in order that it may be enjoyed by all. It says thus: Know all the congregation of Catholic people, worthy of God, whose the famous relics are, which they venerate within the most precious sides of this ark. Know then that herein is great part of the wood or cross of our Lord. Of his garment for which they cast lots. Of the blessed bread whereof he ate at the supper. Of his linen, of the holy handkerchief (the Sudario), and of his most holy blood. Of the holy ground which he then trod with his holy feet. Of the garments of his mother the Virgin Mary, and also of her milk, which is a great wonder. With these also there are many capital relics of saints, whose names we shall write here as we can. Saint Peter, St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew. Bones of the prophets, and of all the Apostles, and of many other saints whose names are known only to the wisdom of God. The noble King Don Alonso, being full of humble devotion for all these holy relics, made this repository, adorned and ennobled with pledges of the saints, and on the outside covered with silver, and gilded with no little cunning. For the which may he deserve after this life the company of these Saints in heaven, being aided by their intercession.—These holy relics were placed here by the care and by the hands of many clergy and prelates, who were here assembled with the said King D. Alonso, and with his chosen sister called Donna Urraca. To whom may the Redeemer of all grant remission and pardon of their sins, for the reverence and rich reliquary which they made for the said relics of the Apostles, and for those of the Saints, St. Justus and Pastor, St. Cosme and St. Damian, St. Eulalia the Virgin, and of the Saints Maximus, Germanus, Baudilus, Pantaleon, Cyprianus and Justina, Sebastian, Facundus and Primitivus, Christopher, Cucufatus, Felix and Sulpicius.——

“The sum of the manner in which this Holy Ark came into Spain is this, conformably to what is written by all our grave authors. When Cosroes the King of Persia, in the time of the Emperor Heraclius, came upon the Holy Land, and took the city of Jerusalem, the bishop of that city, who was called Philip, and his clergy, with pious forethought, secreted the Holy Ark, which from the time of the Apostles had been kept there, and its stores augmented with new relics, which were deposited therein. After the victory of Cosroes, the Bishop Philip, with many of his clergy, passed into Africa, carrying with them the Holy Ark: and there it remained some years, till the Saracens entered into that province also, and then Fulgentius the Bishop of Ruspina, with providence like that which had made Philip bring it to Africa, removed it into Spain. Thus it came to the Holy Church of Toledo, and was from thence removed to Asturias, and hidden in the cave of Monsagro: finally, King D. Alonso el Casto removed it to the Camara Santa; and afterwards K. D. Alonso the Great enriched it. Thus our histories write, and the same is read in the lessons on the festival which the church of Oviedo celebrates of the coming there of this Holy Ark, with a sermon proper for the day, and much solemnity, the service being said on the 13th of March after vespers, above in the church of the Camara Santa. This is a most weighty testimony which the Holy Ark possesses of its own authenticity, and of the genuineness of the most great treasure which it contains.—These also are strong testimonies, that K. D. Alonso the Great should not only have made the Ark so rich, but that this king should also have fortified the city of Oviedo, surrounding it with walls, and making for it a castle, and building also the castle of Gauzon upon the shore, for the defence and security of this holy treasure, and for another end, as he left written upon the stone of which we have elsewhere spoken. Another testimony of great authority, is the great reverence which has been shewn to this Holy Ark, from the time which is spoken of by Alonso the Great in the inscription, to these our days. This is so great that no one has dared to open it, melancholy examples being related of some daring attempts which have been made. That which occurred in our days is not mournful, but rather of much devotion and holy joy. The most illustrious Señor D. Christoval de Rojas y Sandoval, who is now the most worthy Archbishop of Seville, when he was Bishop of Oviedo, determined to open the Holy Ark. For this, as the singular devotion and most holy zeal for the glory of God which he has in all things, admonished him, he made such pious preparations as the fame of so celestial a treasure shewed to be necessary. He proclaimed solemnly a fast of forty days in his church and through all his diocese, commanding that prayers should be made to our Lord, beseeching him that he would be pleased with what was intended, his Most-Illustriousness giving the example, which is very common and very edifying in his church, in himself, and in the ministers thereof. Three days before the Sunday on which the Ark was to be opened, he ordered all persons to fast, and to make greater prayers with processions. When the day arrived, he said pontifical mass, and preached, infusing with his holy exhortations much of his own devout desires into the hearts of the hearers. The mass being finished, clad as he was, he ascended to the Camara Santa, with much outward solemnity, and with much fervour of devotion internally in his heart; and having there again renewed his humble prayers to our Lord, and quickened the ardour of that sacred desire which had influenced him; on his knees as he was before the Holy Ark, he took the key to open it. At the moment when he stretched out his hand to put the key in the lock, suddenly he felt such horror and dismay, and found himself so bereft of all power (_tan impossibilitado_) to move it in any way, that it was impossible for him to proceed, or do any thing but remain in that holy consternation, without having strength or ability for more. And as if he had come there to oppose and prevent that which purposely, and with so much desire and preparation, he had intended to do, he desisted from his intent, and gave it up, his whole holy desire being turned into a chill of humble shrinking and fear. Among other things which his most Illustrious Lordship relates of what he then felt, he says, that his hair stood up in such a manner and with such force, that it seemed to him, as if it lifted the mitre a considerable way from his head. Now, we all know that this famous prelate has vigour and persevering courage for all the great things which he undertakes in the service of our Lord; but in this manner the Holy Ark remained unopened then, and thus I believe it will always remain fastened more surely with veneration and reverence, and with respect of these examples, than with the strong bolt of its lock.

“In the inscription of this Holy Ark, mention is made of the relics of St. Baudilus, and by reason that he is a Saint very little known, it will be proper to say something of him. This Saint is much reverenced in Salamanca and in Zamora, and in both cities he has a parochial church, and in Zamora they have a good part of his relics. They have so much corrupted the name, calling him St. Boal, that the Saint is now scarcely known by his own.

“They of the church say, that the cope of St. Ildefonso, which Our Lady gave him, is in the Ark. This may well be believed, since our good authors particularly relate that it was carried to Oviedo with the Holy Ark, and with the other relics, and it does not now appear among them, and there is much more reason to think that it has been very carefully put away, than that it has been lost. Also they say, that when the celestial cope was put into the Holy Ark, they took out of it the piece of the holy Sudario, in which the head of our Redeemer was wrapped up for his interment, as is said in the inscription of the Ark. This is one of the most famous relics in all Christendom, and therefore it is most richly adorned, and reverently preserved, being shown only three times in the year with the greatest solemnity. The box in which it is kept is wrought without of gold and azure, with beautiful mouldings and pictures, and other ornaments of much authority. Within this there is a square piece of wood, covered entirely with black velvet, with silver handles, and other decorations of silver round about; in the hollow of this square, the holy Sudario is stretched and fastened upon the velvet; it is a thin linen cloth, three quarters long and half a vara wide, and in many places full of the divine blood from the head of our Redeemer, in divers forms and stains of various sizes; wherein some persons observe marks of the divine countenance and other particularities. I did not perceive this; but the feeling which came upon me when I looked at it is sufficient to make me believe any thing of it; and if a wretch like me was thus affected, what must it be with those who deserve of our Lord greater regalements on such an occasion? It is exhibited to the people three times in the year; on Good Friday, and on the two festivals of the Cross in May and in September, and there is then a great concourse from all the country, and from distant parts. This part of the cross of the church where the Camara Santa is, is richly hung, and in the first apartment of the Camara, a corridor is erected for this exhibition, which is closed that day with curtains of black velvet, and a canopy that extends over the varandas. The Bishop in his pontificals, with his assistants and other grave persons, places himself behind the curtains with the Holy Sudario, holding it by the silver handles, covered with a veil. The curtains are undrawn, and the quiristers below immediately begin the _Miserere_. The Bishop lifts the veil, and at the sight of the Holy Sudario, another music begins of the voices of the people, deeply affected with devotion, which verily penetrates all hearts. The Bishop stands some time, turning the Sacred Relic to all sides, and afterwards the veil being replaced, and the curtains redrawn, he replaces the Holy Sudario in its box. With all these solemnities, the very Illustrious and most Reverend Señor, M. D. Gonzalo de Solorzano, Bishop of Oviedo, exhibited this Holy Relic on the day of Santiago, in the year of our Redeemer 1572, in order that I might bear a more complete relation of the whole to the King our Lord, I having at that time undertaken this sacred journey by his command.

“Another chest, with a covering of crimson and brocade, contains a good quantity of bones, and some pieces of a head; which, although they are very damp, have a most sweet odour, and this all we who were present perceived, when they were shown me, and we spoke of it as of a notable and marvellous thing. The account which they of the church give of this holy body is, that it is that of St. Serrano, without knowing any thing more of it. I, considering the great dampness of the sacred bones believe certainly that it was brought up to the Camara Santa from the church of Leocadia, which, as it has been seen, is underneath it. And there, in the altar, the great stone-chest is empty, in which King Alonso el Casto enclosed many relics, as the Bishop Sampyro writes. For myself I have always held for certain, that the body of St. Leocadia is that which is in this rich chest. And in this opinion I am the more confirmed since the year 1580, when such exquisite diligence has been used by our Spaniards in the monastery of St. Gisleno, near Mons de Henao in Flanders, to verify whether the body of St. Leocadia, which they have there, is that of our Saint. The result has been, that it was ascertained beyond all doubt to be the same; since an authentic writing was found of the person who carried it thither by favour of one of our earliest kings, and he carried it from Oviedo without dispute; because, according to my researches, it is certain that it was there. Now I affirm, that the king who gave part left part also; and neither is that which is there so much, that what we saw at Oviedo might not well have been left, neither is this so much but that which is at Mons might well have been given.

“In the church below, in a hollow made for this purpose, with grates, and a gate well ornamented, is one of the vessels which our Redeemer Jesus Christ filled with miraculous wine at the marriage in Galilee. It is of white marble, of an ancient fashion, more than three feet high, and two wide at the mouth, and contains more than six _arrobas_. And forasmuch as it is in the wall of the church of K. Alonso el Casto, and all the work about it is very ancient, it may be believed that the said king ordered it to be placed there.”—_Coronica General de Espana_, l. 13. b. 40.

Morales gives an outline of this vessel in his Journal, and observes, that if the Christians transported it by land, particular strength and the aid of God would have been necessary to carry it so many leagues, and move it over the rugged mountains of Europa;—but, he adds, it might have come by water from Andalusia or Portugal, and in that case this would have been a land journey of only four or five leagues.—In his Journal, Morales mentions certain other relics of which the church of Oviedo boasted, but for which he required better evidence than could be adduced for them. Such were a portion of Tobit’s fish, and of Sampson’s honey-comb, with other such things, which, he says, would lessen the credit of the Ark, where, according to the Bishop of Oviedo, D. Pelayo, and Sebastian, Bishop of Salamanca, they were deposited. Of these precious relics he says nothing in his history, neither does he mention a piece of Moses’s rod, a large piece of St. Bartholomew’s skin, and the sole of St. Peter’s shoe, all which he enumerates in his Journal, implying rather than expressing his doubts of their authenticity. As a scrupulous and faithful antiquary, Morales was accustomed to require evidence, and to investigate it; and for these he could find no other testimony than tradition and antiquity, which, as presumptive proofs, were strong corroborants of faith, but did not suffice of themselves. The Holy Ark has all the evidence which he required, and the reverence with which he regarded it, is curiously expressed in his Journal. “I have now,” he says, “described the material part of the Camara Santa. The spiritual and devout character which it derives from the sacred treasures which it contains, and the feeling which is experienced upon entering it, cannot be described without giving infinite thanks to our Lord, that he has been pleased to suffer a wretch like me to enjoy it. I write this in the church before the grating, and God knows I am as it were beside myself with fear and reverence, and I can only beseech God to give me strength to proceed with that for which I have no power myself.”—T. 10. _Viage_, p. 91.

Morales, like Origen, had given in his youth a decisive proof of the sincerity of his religious feelings, and it sometimes seems as if he had emasculated his mind as well as his body. But with all this abject superstition, he was a thoroughly pious and good man. His life is deeply interesting, and his writings, besides their great historical and antiquarian value, derive additional interest from the picture of the author’s mind which they so frequently display. The portrait prefixed to the last edition of his work is singularly characteristic.

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_The proud array, Of ermines, aureate vests, and jewelry, With all which Leuvigild for after kings Left, ostentatious of his power?_—XVIII. p. 165.

“_Postremum bellum Suevis intulit, regnumque eorum in jura gentis suæ mirâ celeritate transmisit. Hispania magna ex parte potitus, nam antea gens Gothorum angustis finibus arctabatur.—Fiscum quoque primus iste locupletavit, primusque ærarium de rapinis civium, hostiumque manubiis auxit. Primusque etiam inter suos regali veste opertus in solio resedit. Nam ante eum et habitus et consessus communis, ut populo, ita et regibus erat._”—S. Isidor. Hist. Goth.—Espana Sagrada, 6. 498-9.

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_The Sueve._—XVIII. p. 166.

As late as the age of the Philips, the Portugueze were called Sevosos by the Castillians, as an opprobrious name. Brito says, It was the old word Suevos continued and corrupted, and used contemptuously, because its origin was forgotten.—_Monarchia Lusitana_, 2. 6. 4.

When the Sueves and Alans over-ran Spain they laid siege to Lisbon, and the Saints Maxima, Julia, and Verissimus (a most undoubted personage) being Lisbonians, were applied to by their town’s people to deliver them. Accordingly, a sickness broke out in the besieger’s camp, and they agreed to depart upon payment of a sum of money. Bernardo de Brito complains that Blondus and Sabellicus, in their account of this transaction, have been so careless as to mention the money and omit the invocation of the Saints.—_M. Lus._ 2. 5. 23.

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_Lord God of Hosts, &c._—XVIII. p. 168.

The substance of these prayers will be found in the forms of coronation observed by the Anglo-Saxons, and in the early ages of the French monarchy. I am indebted for them to Turner’s most valuable History of the Anglo-Saxons, and to Mr. Lingard’s Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, a work not more full of erudition than it is of Romish sophistry and misrepresentation.

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_Roderick brought The buckler._—XVIII. p. 169.

_Toman, diziendo aquesto, un ancho escudo El Duque y Conde y hombres principales, De pies encima el Principe membrudo Lo levantan assi del suelo iguales: Y alçarlo en peso, quanto alçar se pudo De alçarlo por su Rey fueron señales, Real, Real, Real, diziendo todos, Segun costumbre antigua de los Godos._

Ch. de Messa. Rastauracion de Espana, l. 4. ff. 34.

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_Rejoice, O Leon, for thy banner is display’d._—XVIII. p. 170.

“_La primera ciudad que gaño dizen fue Leon, y desde alli se llamo Rey de Leon, y tomo por armas un Leon roxo en campo blanco, dexando las antiguas armas de los Godos, que eran un Leon bermejo rampante, en campo azul, buelta la cara atras, sobre tres ondas blancas y azules._”—Fran. de Pisa. Desc. de Toledo, l. 3. c. 2.

_Fue la del quinto globo roxa estrella rayo de su valor, voz de su fama, y Leon de su escudo y luzimiento, heredado blason, Signo sangriento._

Coro de las Musas, p. 102.

“_Les anciennes armes estoient parlantes, comme l’on void en celles des Comtes de Castille, et des Rois de Leon, qui prindrent des Chateaux et des Lions, pour signifier les noms vulgaires des Provinces, par le blason de leurs armes; qui ne se reportent pas a l’ancienne denomination de Castulo et de Legio, chés Pline._”—Pierre de Marca, Hist. de Bearn, l. 1. c. 12. § 11.

“The Lion’s grinders are, _relevées de trois pointes un peu creusées dans leur centre, dans lesquelles les speculatifs croyent voir la figure d’une fleur de lys. Je n’ay garde de dire le contraire_,” says P. Labat, “_il est permis a bien des gens de voir dans les nuës et dans les charbons ardens tout ce qu’il plaît à leur imagination de s’y representer; pourquoy ne sera-t-il pas libre de voir sur les dents du Lion la figure des fleurs de lys? Je doute que les Espagnols en conviennent, eux qui prennent le Lion pour les armes et le symbole de leur monarchie; car on pourrait leur dire que c’est une marque que sans le secours de la France, leur Lion ne seroit pas fort a craindre._”—Afrique Occidentale, T. ii. p. 14.

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_And Tagus bends his sickle round the scene Of Roderick’s fall._—XVIII. p. 171.

There is a place at Toledo called la Alcurnia. “_El nombre de Alcurnia es Arabigo, que es dezir cosa de cuerno, o en forma de cuerno, lo que Christianos llamavan foz, o hoz de Tajo. Llamase assi porque desde que este rio passa por debaxo de la puente de Alcantara, va haziendo una buelta y torcedura, que en una escritura antigua se llama hoz de Tajo. Lo mesmo acontecio a Arlança cerca de Lara, de donde se llamo la hoz de Lara, como lo nota Ambrosio de Morales; y en el Reyno de Toledo ay la hoz de Jucar._”—Francisco de Pisa. Desc. de Toledo, l. i. c. 14.

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_Amid our deserts we hunt down the birds Of heaven, ... wings do not save them!_—XX. p. 187.

The Moors have a peculiar manner of _hunting_ the partridge. In the plains of Akkermute and Jibbel Hidded in Shedma, they take various kinds of dogs with them, from the greyhound to the shepherd’s dog, and following the birds on horseback, and allowing them no time to rest, they soon fatigue them, when they are taken by the dogs. But as the Mooselmin eats nothing but what has had its throat cut, he takes out his knife, and exclaiming _Bismillah_, in the name of God, cuts the throat of the game.—_Jackson’s Morocco_, p. 121.

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_A hasty grave, scarce hidden there from dogs And ravens, nor from wintry rains secure._—XXII. p. 204.

In composing these lines I remembered a far more beautiful passage in one of the Eclogues of the Jesuit Bussieres:—

_Artesius ruit ecce furens, finesque propinquos Insultans, stragem agricolis fugientibus infert. Quid facerem? matrem, ut potui, tenerumque puellum Raptabam, et mediis abdebam corpora silvis. Aspera jam frigebat hyems, frondosaque quercus Pro tecto et latebris ramos præbebat opacos; Algentem fovi matrem; fovet illa rigentem Infantem gremio. Sub prima crepuscula lucis Progredior, tectum miseris si forte pateret; Silvam fusus eques telis infensus habebat; Bona fugio, et capio compendia tuta viarum. Conditur atra dies; cœlo nox horrida surgit. Quam longis mihi nox misero producitur horis! Quos gemitus fletusque dedi: quam proxima votum Lux fuit! heu tristi lux infensissima clade! Currebam ad notam quercum per devia tesqua. Dux amor est. Annam video, puerumque jacentem Affixum uberibus, duræ succumbere morti. Ipsa parens, postquam ad vocem conversa vocantis In me amplexantem morientia lumina fixit, Eluctantem animam glaciato e corpore mittit. Obrigui, frigusque novum penetravit in ossa: Felix, si simili potuissem occumbere letho; Sors infesta vetat. Restabat cura sepulchri, Quo foderem ferrum deerat; miserabile corpus Frondibus obtexi, puerum nec ab ubere vulsi Sicut erat foliis tegitur; funusque paratur, Heu nimis incertum, et primis violabile ventis._

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——_their white signal-flag._—XXIII. p. 212.

A white flag, called _El Alem_, the signal, is hoisted every day at twelve o’clock, to warn the people out of hearing, or at a great distance, to prepare, by the necessary preliminary ablutions, to prostrate themselves before God at the service of prayer.—_Jackson’s Morocco_, p. 149.

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_The Humma’s happy wings have shadowed him._—XXIII. p. 213.

The humma is a fabulous bird: The head over which its shadow once passes will assuredly be encircled with a crown.—_Wilkes_, _S. of India_, v. i. p. 423.

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_Life hath not left his body._—XXIII. p. 217.

Among the _Prerogatives et Propriétés singulières du Prophète_, Gagnier states that, “_Il est vivant dans son Tombeau. Il fait la prière dans ce Tombeau à chaque fois que le Crieur en fait la proclamation, et au même tems qu’on la recite. Il y a un Ange posté sur son Tombeau qui a le soin de lui donner avis des Pri res que les Fidèles font pour lui._”—Vie de Mahomet, l. vii. c. 18.