CHAPTER IV.

Account of Pope Joan--Artifice of Pope Sextus V.--Some Christian Ceremonies borrowed from the Jews and Pagans--Melting of the Blood of St. Januarius--Addison’s opinion of it--Description of the Performance of the Miracle--Miraculous Image of our Saviour at Rome--Ludicrous Metamorphosis of a Statue--Relics--Head of St. John the Baptist--Sword of Balaam--St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins--Self-Tormenting--Penances of St. Dominic the Cuirassier--The Crusades--Their Cause and Progress, and the immense numbers engaged in them. 62