Part 5
But Solomon, who muſt needs have all that was rare and coſtly to adorn his temple, caſt his eyes upon this precious tree, and ordered it to be cut down.[18] It was duly felled, and ſquared, and trimmed, and it meaſured thirty cubits in length.[19] But when the carpenters came to put it into a place of that length, it was a cubit too ſhort, and when it was fitted into a place of twenty-nine cubits, lo! it meaſured thirty, and the carpenters marvelled much, and were greatly aſtoniſhed, and ſo, being uſeleſs, it was laid aſide.[20] Yet the people came to ſee this wonderful tree, and amongſt them was a maid named Maximilla, who ſat down upon it, and inſtantly her clothes were in a blaze.[21] Then ſhe began to lift up her voice, and propheſy, crying, “My God, and my Lord Jeſu Chriſt.”[22] Then the Jews took her, and ſcourged her to death.[23]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 24._]
[Sidenote: _No. 25._]
[Sidenote: _No. 26._]
[Sidenote: _No. 27._]
[Sidenote: _No. 28._]
[Sidenote: _No. 29._]
[Sidenote: _No. 30._]
The Jews, not knowing what to do with this miraculous tree, laid it acroſs a brook,[24] and, when the Queen of Sheba came to viſit Solomon, ſhe recognized the virtue of the wood; and, refuſing to defile it with her feet, ſhe diſmounted, and adored it, and waded through the brook.[25] Then, when ſhe met Solomon, ſhe reproved him, and told him that on that tree would the Saviour of the world ſuffer death.[26] And Solomon commanded the holy wood to be taken up,[27] and cauſed it to be carried into the Temple, there to be placed over the door, ſo that all men might bleſs, and adore it, and he coated it over with gold and ſilver.[28] There it remained until Abias ſtripped it of its coſtly coverings,[29] and the Jews buried it deep in the earth.[30]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 31._]
[Sidenote: _No. 32._]
There it remained for many years, until the Jews wiſhed to make a pool, where the prieſts might waſh the beaſts, to purify them, previous to ſacrificing them, and, unknowingly, they dug over the burial-place of the Holy Croſs.[31] This imparted ſuch a virtue to the water of that pool, which was called Betheſda, that the ſick were healed thereat, and an angel at times deſcended from heaven, and ſtirred the waters, and then whoever could get firſt into the waters was ſtraightway healed of any infirmity he might have.[32]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 33._]
[Sidenote: _No. 34._]
[Sidenote: _No. 35._]
[Sidenote: _No. 36._]
We now come to the Crucifixion, and there was a lack of wood to make Chriſt’s croſs—when, ſuddenly, from the depths of Betheſda, leaped up the tree of the Croſs, and floated gently to land. One ran to the High Prieſt,[33] and told him of the timely find of ſuitable wood, and he at once gave orders for it to be faſhioned into a Croſs.[34] Then comes the mournful proceſſion to Calvary, with our Saviour fainting under the weight of the Croſs, and Simon the Cyrenean is preſſed into the ſervice to help Jeſus.[35] And then the Crucifixion.[36]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 37._]
[Sidenote: _No. 38._]
[Sidenote: _No. 39._]
[Sidenote: _No. 40._]
[Sidenote: _No. 41._]
[Sidenote: _No. 42._]
[Sidenote: _No. 43._]
[Sidenote: _No. 44._]
And whilſt the croſſes were ſtill ſtanding, the diſciples came to them and prayed, and many were healed of their infirmities, and many devils were caſt out.[37] This ſo angered the Jews that they took the croſſes down, and buried them,[38] and there they remained until their invention by St. Helena, A.D. 326. On her arrival at Jeruſalem,[39] ſhe convened a meeting of the principal Jews, and they denied all knowledge of it, but, on threat of being burnt, they ſaid that one of their number, named Judas, knew where the croſſes were buried.[40] Judas, however, refuſed to tell, and, to compel him to impart his knowledge, St. Helena had him lowered into a dry well, “and there tormented hym by hongre and evyl reſte.”[41] Seven days of this treatment made him ſubmiſſive, and at the end of that time he capitulated. He was then drawn up,[42] and prayed to God to direct him to the right ſpot.[43] His prayer was heard, and after ſome digging, the croſſes were diſcovered.[44]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 45._]
[Sidenote: _No. 46._]
[Sidenote: _No. 47._]
[Sidenote: _No. 48._]
[Sidenote: _No. 49._]
[Sidenote: _No. 50._]
The news was brought to St. Helena, who viſited the ſpot,[45] but although there were certainly three croſſes, no one knew which was the one upon which Jeſus ſuffered. A teſt, however, was applied, which proved to be ſatiſfactory. The body of a maid was being borne on a bier for burial, but the funeral proceſſion was ſtopped, and the body was touched by the different croſſes. The two firſt produced no effect,[46] but when the third touched the dead maiden, ſhe was at once reſtored to life.[47] Here, then, was proof poſitive; this was the very Croſs; and St. Helena, mindful of her ſon Conſtantine, divided the ſacred wood; part ſhe encloſed in a caſe of precious metal, and kept at Jeruſalem;[48] and part ſhe ſent to her ſon, at Byzantium, who received it with due reverence,[49] and depoſited it in the church, with great ceremony.[50]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 51._]
Here it remained, until it was taken away, with other ſpoil, by Choſroes, the King of Perſia, who, aware of the ſanctity of the relic, had it placed on the right hand of his throne. He was ſo puffed up with pride, that he ordered himſelf to be adored. His people, hitherto, had worſhipped the ſun, but now he ordained that henceforth he was to be conſidered the principal Perſon in the Trinity (the Father), and that the relic of the Croſs was to be looked upon as the Son, whilſt a golden cock which he had made was to repreſent the Holy Ghoſt.[51]
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 52._]
[Sidenote: _No. 53._]
[Sidenote: _No. 54._]
Then Heraclius made war againſt Choſroes, and meeting with a Perſian army under one of the ſons of that monarch, it was agreed that, in order to prevent a uſeleſs effuſion of blood, the two commanders ſhould fight it out between them, and whoever was vanquiſhed ſhould ſubmit.[52] The duel was fought on a bridge over the Danube, and Heraclius vanquiſhed and killed the ſon of Choſroes.[53] The Perſian army then made their ſubmiſſion,[54] and the penance impoſed upon them by the conqueror was that they ſhould all be baptized, which was duly done.
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 55._]
[Sidenote: _No. 56._]
[Sidenote: _No. 57._]
[Sidenote: _No. 58._]
[Sidenote: _No. 59._]
[Sidenote: _No. 60._]
[Sidenote: _No. 61._]
[Sidenote: _No. 62._]
Heraclius then went to Choſroes, and told him what he had done, offering him his life if he too would embrace Chriſtianity,[55] but the Perſian monarch refuſed, and Heraclius ſmote off his head.[56] He then crowned a ſon of Choſroes, and cauſed him to be baptized,[57] himſelf ſtanding ſponſor, and buried the ſlain king with befitting honours.[58] Then, taking poſſesſion of the holy relic,[59] he ſet out with it for Jeruſalem. But, as he was bearing it in great ſtate, he came to that gate of the City through which Jeſus went to His paſſion, worn, buffeted, ſcorned, and weary, carrying the heavy burden of His croſs. And ſuddenly the gateway became ſolid maſonry, ſo that he could not paſs through, and an angel appeared in the heavens, and reproved him for his oſtentatious diſplay in a place which his Saviour had previouſly trodden in ſuch deep humility.[60] Heraclius diſmounted from his horſe, and, ſtripping himſelf of all the trappings of royalty, barefoot, and in his ſhirt,[61] he meekly bore the Croſs to its appointed place,[62] the maſonry diſappearing as ſoon as he had humbled himſelf.
[Sidenote: _Woodcut No. 63._]
[Sidenote: _No. 64._]
A piece of the Croſs was afterwards ſent to Rome, where it duly arrived after a very ſtormy voyage,[63] and it was there preſerved for the adoration of the faithful.[64]
JOHN ASHTON.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] “And for as moche as this ſayd worke was grete & over chargeable to me taccompliſſhe, I feryd me in the begynnynge of the tranſlacion to have contynued it / bycauſe of the longe tyme of the tranſlacion / & alſo in thenpryntyng of y^e ſame and in maner halfe deſperate to have accompliſſd it / was in purpoſe to have lefte it / after that I had begonne to tranſlate it / & to have layed it aparte ne had it be(en) at thynſtance & requeſte of the puyſſant noble & vertuous erle my lord wyllyam erle of arondel / whych deſyred me to procede & contynue the ſaid werke / & promyſed me to take a reſonable quantyte of them when they were acheyeued & accompliſſhed / and ſente to me a worſhypful gentylman a ſervaunt of his named John Stanney which ſolycyted me in my Lordes name that I ſhold in no wyſe leve it but accompliſſhe it promyſyng that my ſayd lord ſhold duringe my lyf geve & graunt to me a yerely fee / that is to wete a bucke in ſommer / & a doo in Wynter / with whiche fee I holde me wel contente,” &c.
[B]
[Sidenote: _Length of Adam’s life._]
This apparently long life of Adam is admitted on all hands, even in the Reviſed Verſion of the Bible. The Talmud ſays that God promiſed him one thouſand years of life, and it is recorded that he begat Seth when he was a hundred and thirty years old. On this the Talmud (_Eruvin_, fol. 18, col. 2) has the following comment: “Rav Yirmyah ben Elazer ſaid: All thoſe years, which Adam ſpent in alienation from God, he begat evil ſpirits, demons, and fairies; for it is ſaid, ‘And Adam was an hundred and thirty years, and begat a ſon in his own likeneſs, after his image’; conſequently, before that time, he begat after another image.”
This term of one hundred and thirty years ſeems to have been a period in Adam’s exiſtence, for we again find (_Eruvin_, fol. 18 b.): “Adam was a Chaſid, or great ſaint, when he obſerved that the decree of death was occaſioned by him; he _faſted_ a hundred and thirty years, and all this time he abſtained from intercourſe with his wife.”
[Sidenote: _Talmud legends reſpecting Adam’s length of life._]
There is a Talmudical tradition that God ſhowed the future to Adam (Avoth d’Rab. Nathan, chap. 31): “The Holy One—bleſſed be He!—shewed unto Adam each generation, and its preachers, its guardians, its leaders, its prophets, its heroes, its ſinners, and its ſaints, ſaying, ‘In ſuch and ſuch a generation ſuch and ſuch a _King_ ſhall reign, in ſuch and ſuch a generation ſuch and ſuch a wife man ſhall teach.’” This is amplified in Midraſh Yalkut (fol. 12), where it is ſaid that God ſhowed Adam all future generations of men, with their leaders, learned and literary men, and there he obſerved that David was credited with only three hours of life, and he ſaid, “Lord and Creator of the world, is this unalterable?” “Such was my firſt intention,” was the reply. “How many years have I to live?” aſked Adam. “One thouſand.” Then Adam ſaid, “I will lend him ſome of my years.” And a document was drawn up whereby Adam tranſferred ſeventy years of his life to David.
S. Baring-Gould, in his legends of _Old Teſtament Characters_, vol i. p. 77, referring to a Muſſulman legend, ſays: “Finally, when Adam reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the Angel of Death appeared under the form of a goat, and ran between his legs.
“Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, ‘God has given me one thouſand years; wherefore comeſt thou now?’
“‘What!’ exclaimed the Angel of Death, ‘haſt thou not given ſeventy years of thy life to the prophet David?’
“Adam ſtoutly denied that he had done ſo. Then the Angel of Death drew the document of tranſfer from out of his beard, and preſented it to Adam, who could no longer refuſe to go.”
[C] The Feſtival of the Invention, or finding of the Croſs, is kept in the Roman and Engliſh Churches on May 3.
[D] Piſcina, a fiſh-pond: _Lat_. In this inſtance it is ſuppoſed to be the Pool of Betheſda.
[E] Nicodemus, chap. 14:—
[Sidenote: _v._ 1.]
But when the firſt man our father Adam heard theſe things, that Jeſus was baptized in Jordan, he called out to his ſon Seth, and ſaid,
[Sidenote: _v._ 2.]
Declare to your ſons, the patriarchs and prophets, all thoſe things which thou didſt hear from Michael the Archangel, when I ſent thee to the gates of Paradiſe to entreat God that he would anoint my head when I was ſick.
[Sidenote: _v._ 3]
Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets, ſaid: I, Seth, when I was praying to God at the gates of Paradiſe, beheld the angel of the Lord, Michael, appear unto me, ſaying, I am ſent unto thee from the Lord; I am appointed to preſide over human bodies.
[Sidenote: _v._ 4.]
I tell thee, Seth, do not pray to God in tears, and entreat him for the oil of the tree of mercy, wherewith to anoint thy father Adam for his headach;
[Sidenote: _v._ 5.]
Becauſe thou canſt not by any means obtain it till the laſt day and times, namely, till five thouſand and five hundred years be paſt.
[Sidenote: _v._ 6.]
Then will Chriſt, the moſt merciful Son of God, come on earth to raiſe again the human body of Adam, and at the ſame time to raiſe the bodies of the dead, and when he cometh he will be baptized in Jordan;
[Sidenote: _v._ 7.]
Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all thoſe that believe on him; and the oil of his mercy will continue to future generations, for thoſe who ſhall be born of the water and the Holy Ghoſt unto eternal life.
[Sidenote: _v._ 8.]
And when at that time the moſt merciful Son of God, Chriſt Jeſus, ſhall come down on earth, he will introduce our father Adam into Paradiſe, to the tree of mercy.
[Sidenote: _v._ 9.]
When all the patriarchs and prophets heard all theſe things from Seth, they rejoiced more.
[F] Alban Butler, in _The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal Saints_, denies that St. Helena was an Innholder (_Stabularia_) in Bithynia, when Conſtantius married her, and ſays: “We are aſſured by the unanimous tradition of our Engliſh hiſtorians that this holy empreſs was a native of our iſland. William of Malmeſbury, the principal hiſtorian of the ancient ſtate of our country after Bede, and before him, the Saxon author of the life of St. Helen, in 970, quoted by Usher, expreſſly ſay that Conſtantine was a Briton by birth.” Leland, in his _Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis_, ſays that St. Helena was the only daughter of King Coilus, the King Cöol who firſt built walls round Colcheſter, and the Engliſh Church has generally recogniſed her Britiſh origin. Her feſtival is kept on Auguſt 18.
When her huſband, Conſtantine Chlorus, entered into an arrangement with Diocletian, by which he had the countries this ſide the Alps, namely, Gaul and Britain, he was obliged, as part of the bargain, to divorce St. Helena, and marry Theodora, the daughter-in-law of Maximinianus. According to Euſebius, ſhe was not converted to Chriſtianity at the ſame time as her ſon Conſtantine, who, when he came to the throne, paid her the greateſt deference, and gave her the title of Auguſta, or empreſs. After the Council of Nice, in 325, he wrote to Macarius, Biſhop of Jeruſalem, concerning the building of a ſplendid church upon Mount Calvary, and St. Helena, although ſhe was then 79 years of age, undertook to ſee it carried out.
It was then that the reputed Invention of the Croſs, together with the nails, took place, and ſhe ſoon afterwards died, but the exact year is uncertain, ſome authorities giving A.D. 326, others 328.
[G] Other accounts ſay the Croſſes were found by Macarius, then Biſhop of Jeruſalem.
[H] The book of the office of Mithras or Mithra, the Sun, worſhipped by the Perſians.
[I] Heraclius, Emperor of the Eaſt, who from A.D. 622 to 627 fought Choſroes II., defeated him, and concluded peace.
[J] St. Equitius was a hermit, and looked after the welfare of other hermits and monks. He took a ſpecial intereſt in a convent of young virgins; died about A.D. 540.
[K] I quote from the tranſlation by Steven Withers, 1561.
[L] From this book I have taken the head and tail piece here given.—J. A.
[M] Arundel, No. 507, and Add. MSS. 6524.
[N] His life and labours may be read in Mr. Hottrop’s _Monuments Typographiques des Pays-bas_—.
[O] See _The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the 15th Century_, by W. M. Conway, and an article by him in the _Bibliographer_ of May, 1883, p. 32.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Edits made:
Page ix, number added to sidenote (2 _Hadrian is said to_)
Page xxii, number added to sidenote (7 _Of old._)
Page xxxvii, anchor for sidenote [28] added to text (torne thys bane[28])
Page lii, anchor for sidenote [39] added to text. (had been peasyd[39])
Page lxxvii and following, the totals were removed until the final one. Each page ended with a total, such as:
Chalmarques " ------- Carried forward 1,674,145
The following page began with something similar to:
Brought forward 1,674,145 Châlons 200
Page cii and following, the sidenotes listing the woodcut numbers were originally formed with the first sidenote of each page including the word _Woodcut_. As this sometimes landed in the middle of paragraphs and the notes were moved to the start of paragraphs, the form was changed to listing the word _Woodcut_ in the first sidenote of each paragraph instead of each page.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Legendary History of the Cross, by John Ashton