Part 57 (1/2)

[138] John xvii. 12.

[139] 'But,' says Professor King (Gnostics, p. 52), 'a dispa.s.sionate examiner will discover that these two zealous Fathers somewhat beg the question in a.s.suming that the Mithraic rites were invented as counterfeits of the Christian Sacraments; the former having really been in existence long before the promulgation of Christianity.' Whatever may have been the incidents in the life of Christ connected with such things, it is certainly true, as Professor King says, that these 'were afterwards invested with the mystic and supernatural virtues, in a later age insisted upon as articles of faith, by succeeding and unscrupulous missionaries, eager to outbid the attractions of more ancient ceremonies of a cognate character.' In the porch of the Church Bocca della Verita at Rome, there is, or was, a fresco of Ceres sh.e.l.ling corn and Bacchus pressing grapes, from them falling the elements of the Eucharist to a table below. This was described to me by a friend, but when I went to see it in 1872, it had just been whitewashed over! I called the attention of Signor Rosa to this shameful proceeding, and he had then some hope that this very interesting relic might be recovered.

[140] Op. iv. 511. Col. Agrip. 1616.

[141] For full details of all these superst.i.tions see Eisenmenger (Entd. Jud. li. Armillus); D'Herbelot (Bib. Orient. Daggiel); Buxtorf (Lexicon, Armillus); Calmet, Antichrist; and on the same word, Smith; also a valuable article in M'Clintock and Strong's Cyc. Bib. Lit. (American).

[142] Deutsch, 'Lit. Remains.' Islam.

[143] Weil's 'Biblical Legends.'

[144] Eisenmenger, ii. 60.

[145] See vol. i. pp. 58 and 358.

[146] 'Zoroastrische Studien,' pp. 138-147. With which comp. Spiegel, Transl. of Avesta, III. xlvii.

[147] 'Studies in the Hist. of the Renaissance.' Macmillan.

[148] 'Chald. Genesis,' by George Smith, p. 84.

[149] This text was engraved by Mrs. Rose Mary Crawshay on a tomb she had erected in honour of her humble neighbour, Mr. Norbury, who sought knowledge for its own sake. Few ancient scriptures could have supplied an inscription so appropriate.

[150] Mr. Baring-Gould, quoting this (from Anastasius Sinaita, Hodegos, ed. Gretser, Ingolst. 1606, p. 269), attributes this s.h.i.+ning face of Seth to his previous character as a Sun-G.o.d. ('Old Test. Legends,'

i. 84.)

[151] King's 'Gnostics,' p. 53, n.

[152] Tertullian's phrase, 'The Devil is G.o.d's Ape,' became popular at one time, and the Ape-devil had frequent representation in art--as, for instance, in Holbein's 'Crucifixion' (1477), now at Augsburg, where a Devil with head of an ape, bat-wings, and flaming red legs is carrying off the soul of the impenitent thief. The same subject is found in the same gallery in an Altdorfer, where the Devil's face is that of a gorilla.

[153] S. Cyp. ap. Muratori, Script. it. i. 295, 545. The Magicians used to call their mirrors after the name of this flower-devil--Fiorone. M. Maury, 'La Magie,' 435 n.

[154] This whole subject is treated, and with ample references, in M. Maury's 'Magie,' p. 41, seq.

[155] 'La Sorciere.'

[156] Dasent's 'Norse Tales,' Introd. ciii.

[157] 'Chips,' ii.

[158] 'Chester Plays,' 1600.

[159] 'Declaration of Popish Impostures,' 1603.

[160] So Shakespere, 'The Devil d.a.m.n thee black.'

[161] In an account, 1568, we find:--'pay'd for iij li of heare ijs vjd.'

[162] The Directions for the 'Castle of Good Perseverance,' say: '& he t schal pley belyal, loke t he have gune powdr brenng in pypysih's hands & i h's ers & i h's ars whne he gothe to batayle.'