infinitely more skill and spirit than in the rude old frescoes in the church of San Lorenzo.

Doublet, in his history of the abbey of St. Denis, cites a passage in an ancient chronicle wherein the demons lament," that wishing to carry away the soul of Charlemagne, they did not succeed because of the opposition of Michael, the archangel, and the weight of the offerings made to the Church, which, being thrown into the scale of good works, weighed it down." Such fabrications were frequent in those days, and are very suggestive in ours.

As the story of St. Hippolytus is closely connected with that of St. Laurence, I place it here.

ST. HIPPOLYTUS.

Ital. Sant' Ippolito. Fr. Saint Hippolyte. Aug. 13. A.D. 258.

HIPPOLYTUS was the name of the soldier who was stationed as guard over the illustrious martyr St. Laurence, by whose invincible courage and affectionate exhortations he was so moved that he became a Christian with all his family. After the terrible death of St. Laurence, at which he had been present, he, with some other Christians, carried away the body of the saint by night and buried it: all which has been already related; and it remains only to show how Hippolytus honoured the teaching of his master, and proved his faith.

Being brought before the tribunal of Decius, and accused of being a Christian, Hippolytus acknowledged himself as such, and declared that he was ready to die like St. Laurence rather than deny his Redeemer. Decius sent his lictors to the house of Hippolytus with orders to arrest all who were found there; and among others was his aged nurse, whose name was Concordia, and who, in consequence of the boldness with which she replied to the demands of the judge, was condemned to be scourged until she died; and Hippolytus, looking on, thanked God that his nurse, from whose bosom he had fed, had died worthily for Christ's sake; and having seen nineteen of his family beheaded, and still refusing

to listen to the temptations of these wicked pagans, he was tied to the tails of wild horses, and, in this cruel and terrible martyrdom, perished.

By a curious mingling of the Pagan mythology and Christian traditions, Hippolytus has partaken of the attributes of his namesake the son of Theseus, and has been chosen as the patron saint of horses. His name in Greek significs "one who is destroyed by horses." His popularity in France is probably owing to the translation of his relics from Rome to the Abbey of St. Denis in the eighth century; but in the legends of this saint there prevails a more than usual degree of obscurity and uncertainty.

1. In the old mosaic in the church of San Lorenzo, Rome, St. Hippolytus in a warrior's dress stands behind St. Laurence.

The ancient devotional pictures of Hippolytus often represent him as the jailer of St. Laurence, with a bunch of keys hanging to his girdle. 2. In a little picture in the Academy at Florence he is thus represented, and also holds in his hand an instrument of torture something like a currycomb with iron teeth.

3. The Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus was painted by Subleyras. The picture, which is one of his most beautiful, is in the Louvre1; Hippolytus lies on the ground, his hands bound, his feet tied to the tails of two wild horses, which, starting, rearing, and with their manes blown by the wind, are with difficulty restrained by a number of soldiers; the head of the saint is remarkably fine as he looks up to heaven with an expression of enthusiastic faith.

4. El Mudo painted for the Escurial, which, it will be remembered, was dedicated to St. Laurence, Hippolytus and his companions burying the body of the Saint by night. It is praised for the solemn and pathetic effect of the composition, and is in truth a beautiful subject.

5. In St. Salvator, Bruges, is the Martyrdom of Hippolytus by Hans Hemling.

I have seen the story of Hippolytus frequently in the stained glass and sculpture of the old French churches. In the modern church of

École Française, 506.

Notre Dame de Lorette at Paris the story of St. Hippolytus is painted 1. He is baptized by St. Laurence. 2. He

in three compartments.

buries the body of the saint. 3. He is tied to a wild horse.

ST. VINCENT, DEACON AND MARTYR.

Lat. St. Vincentius Levita. Ital. San Vincenzio Diacono, San Vincenzino. Fr. Saint Vincent. Patron of Lisbon, of Valencia, of Saragossa; one of the patrons of Milan; patron saint of Chalons, and many other places in France. Jan. 22. A D. 304.

THIS renowned saint and martyr of the early Christian Church has been most popular in Spain, the scene of his legend, and in France, where he has been an object of particular veneration from the sixth century. It is generally allowed that the main circumstances of the history of Vincent, deacon of Saragossa, of his sufferings for the cause of Christ, and his invincible courage, expressed by his name, rest on concurrent testimony of the highest antiquity, which cannot be rejected; but it has been extravagantly embroidered. I give his legend here, as accepted by the poets and artists.

"He was born in Saragossa, in the kingdom of Aragon. Prudentius, in his famous Hymn, congratulates this city on having produced more saints and martyrs than any other city in Spain. During the persecution under Diocletian, the cruel proconsul Dacian, infamous in the annals of Spanish martyrdom, caused all the Christians of Saragossa, men, women, and children, whom he collected together by a promise of immunity, to be massacred. Among these were the virgin Eugracia, and the eighteen Christian cavaliers who attended her to death. At this time lived St. Vincent: he had been early instructed in the Christian faith, and with all the ardour of youth devoted himself to the service of Christ. At the time of the persecution, being not more than twenty years of age, he was already a deacon. The dangers and the sufferings of the Christians only excited his charity and his zeal; and after having encouraged and sustained many of his brethren in the torments inflicted upon them, he was himself called to receive the crown of martyrdom. Being brought before the tribunal of Dacian, together

with his bishop, Valerius, they were accused of being Christians and contemners of the gods. Valerius, who was very old, and had an impediment in his speech, answered to the accusation in a voice so low that he could scarcely be heard. On this, St. Vincent burst forth with Christian fervour, 'How is this, my father! canst thou not speak aloud, and defy this pagan dog? Speak, that all the world may hear; or suffer me, who am only thy servant, to speak in thy stead!' The bishop having given him leave to speak, St. Vincent stood forth, and proclaimed his faith aloud, defying the tortures with which they were threatened; so that the Christians who were present were lifted up in heart and full of gratitude to God, and the wicked proconsul was in the same degree filled with indignation. He ordered the old bishop to be banished from the city; but Vincent, who had defied him, he reserved as an example to the rest, and was resolved to bend him to submission. by the most terrible and ingenious tortures that cruelty could invent. The young saint endured them unflinching. When his body was lacerated by iron forks, he only smiled on his tormentors: the pangs they inflicted were to him delights; thorns were his roses; the flames a refreshing bath; death itself was but the entrance to life.' They laid him, torn, bleeding, and half consumed by fire, on the ground strewn with potsherds, and left him there; but God sent down his angels to comfort him; and when his guards looked into the dungeon, they beheld it filled with light and fragrance; they heard the angels singing songs of triumph, and the unconquerable martyr pouring forth his soul in hymns of thanksgiving: he even called to his jailers to enter and partake of the celestial delight and solace which had been vouchsafed to him; and they, being amazed, fell upon their knees and acknowledged the true God.

"But Dacian, perfidious as he was cruel, began to consider what other means might remain to conquer his unconquerable victim. Having tried tortures in vain, he determined to try seduction. He ordered a bed of down to be prepared, strewn with roses; commanded the sufferer to be laid upon it, and allowed his friends and disciples to approach him they, weeping, staunched his wounds, and dipped their kerchiefs

:

'Prudentius, Hymn to St. Laurence. He calls the iron forks rastrelli, or rakes.

in his flowing blood, and kissed his hands and brow, and besought him to live. But the martyr, who had held out through such protracted torments, had no sooner been laid upon the bed, than his pure spirit, disdaining as it were these treacherous indulgences, fled to heaven; the angels received him on their wings, and he entered into bliss ineffable and eternal.

"The proconsul, furious that his victim had escaped him, ordered his body to be thrown out to the wild beasts: but behold the goodness of God! who sent a raven to guard his sacred remains; and when a wolf approached to devour them, the raven obliged it to retire. And when Dacian was informed that after many days the body of Vincent remained untouched, he was ready to tear himself for despite: he ordered his minions to take the body of the holy martyr, to sew it up in an oxhide, as was done towards parricides, and to throw it into the sea. These impious satellites therefore took the body, and, placing it in a bark, they rowed out far into the sea, and flung it, attached to a millstone, overboard: they then rowed back again to the shore; but what was their astonishment, when, on landing, they found that the body of St. Vincent had arrived before them, and was lying on the sand! They were so terrified that they fled; and there being none to bury him, the waves of the sea, by the command of God, performed that pious office, and hollowed a tomb for him in the sands, where he lay, protected from all indignity, hidden from all human knowledge; until, after many years, the spot was miraculously revealed to certain Christians, who carried his body to the city of Valencia, and buried it there.

"In the eighth century, when the Christians of Valencia were obliged to flee from the Moors, they carried with them the body of St. Vincent. The vessel in which they had embarked was driven by the winds through the straits of Hercules, until they arrived at a promontory, where they landed and deposited the remains of the saint; and this promontory has since been called Cape St. Vincent. Here the sacred relics were again guarded by the ravens or crows, and hence a part of the cliff is called el Monte de las Cuervas. About the year 1147, Alonzo I. removed the relics to Lisbon, two of the crows, one at the prow and one at the stern, piloting the ship. Thus, after many wanderings, the blessed St. Vincent rested in the Cathedral of Lisbon; and the crows which accom