... gli occhi su levai,
E vidi lei che si facea corona1,
Riflettendo da se gli eterni ral
Dante: Paradiso, xxxi. 70-72.
I lifted up my gaze,
And looked on her who made herself a crown,
Reflecting from herself the eternal rays.
It was not long before the doctor again walked over to the Tower, to propose to his young friend to co-operate in the Aristophanic comedy.
He found him well disposed to do so, and they passed a portion of the afternoon in arranging their programme.
They dined, and passed the evening much as before. The next morning, as they were ascending2 to the library to resume their pleasant labour, the doctor said to himself, 'I have passed along galleries wherein were many chambers4, and the doors in the day were more commonly open than shut, yet this chamber3 door of my young friend is always shut. There must be a mystery in it.' And the doctor, not generally given to morbid5 curiosity, found himself very curious about this very simple matter.
At last he mustered6 up courage to say, 'I have seen your library, dining-room, and drawing-room; but you have so much taste in internal arrangements, I should like to see the rest of the house.'
Mr. Falconer. There is not much more to see. You have occupied one of the best bedrooms. The rest do not materially differ.
The Rev8. Dr. Opimian. To say the truth, I should like to see your own.
Mr. Falconer. I am quite willing. But I have thought, perhaps erroneously, it is decorated in a manner you might not altogether approve.
The Rev. Dr. Opimian. Nothing indecorous, I hope.
Mr. Falconer. Quite the contrary. You may, perhaps, think it too much devoted9 to my peculiar10 views of the purity of ideal beauty, as developed in Saint Catharine.
The Rev. Dr. Opimian. You have not much to apprehend11 on that score.
Mr. Falconer. You see, there is an altar, with an image of Saint Catharine, and the panels of the room are painted with subjects from her life, mostly copied from Italian masters. The pictures of St. Catharine and her legend very early impressed her on my mind as the type of ideal beauty—of all that can charm, irradiate, refine, exalt12, in the best of the better sex.
The Rev. Dr. Opimian. You are enthusiastic; but indeed, though she is retained as a saint in the Reformed Church, I am not very familiar with her history. And to me some of these pictures require explanation.
Mr. Falconer. I will tell you her legend as briefly13 as I may. And we will pass from picture to picture as the subjects arise.
THE LEGEND OF SAINT CATHARINE
Catharine was a Princess of Alexandria in the third century. She embraced the Christian14 religion by divine inspiration. She was pre-eminent in beauty, learning, and discourse15. She converted her father and mother, and all with whom she came into communication. The Emperor Maxentius brought together the fifty wisest men of the empire to convert her from the error of her way, and she converted them all to the new faith. Maxentius burned her proselytes, and threatened her with a similar death. She remained firm. He had her publicly scourged16, and cast her into prison to perish by famine. Going on an expedition, he left the execution of his orders to the empress and his chief general, Porphyrius. Angels healed her wounds and supplied her with food; and in a beatific17 vision the Saviour18 of the world placed a ring on her finger, and called her His bride.{1} The presence of the ring showed to her the truth of the visitation. The empress and Porphyrius visited the prison, and she converted them also. The emperor, returning, put the empress and Porphyrius to death; and after many ineffectual expostulations with Catharine, determined19 on putting her to death by the wheel which bears her name.
1 Maria, Vergine delle Vergini, e Misericordia delle
Misericordie, vestita de i lampi del Sole, e coronata de i
raggi delle Stelle, prese il sottile, il delicato, ed il
sacro dito di Catarina, humile di core e mansueta di vita,
ed il largo20, il clémente, ed il pictoso figliuol suo 'o
cinse con7 lo anello.—Vita di Santa Catarina, 1. ii.
Vinegia, 1541.
Four of these wheels, armed with iron teeth, and revolving21 towards each other, were to cut her to pieces. Angels broke the wheels. He then brought her to the stake, and the angels extinguished the flames. He then ordered her to be beheaded by the sword. This was permitted, and in the meantime the day had closed. The body, reserved for exposure to wild beasts, was left under guard at the place of execution. Intense darkness fell on the night, and in the morning the body had disappeared. The angels had borne it to the summit of the loftiest mountain of the Horeb range, where still a rock, bearing the form of a natural sarcophagus, meets the eye of the traveller. Here it was watched by angel-guards, and preserved in unchanging beauty, till, in the fulness of time, it was revealed to a holy man, who removed it to the shrine22, under which it lies to this day, with the ring still on its hand, in the convent which was then founded, and which bears her name—the convent Saint Catharine of Mount Sinai.
The Rev. Dr. Opimian. Most of this is new to me. Yet I am not unfamiliar23 with pictures of the marriage of Saint Catharine, which was a favourite subject with the great Italian masters. But here is a picture which the legend, as you have related it, does not illustrate24. What is this tomb, with flames bursting from it, and monks25 and others recoiling26 in dismay?
Mr. Falconer. It represents a remarkable27 incident at the tomb of the saint. The Empress Catharine II. was a great benefactress to the Convent of Mount Sinai, and desired to possess Saint Catharine's ring. She sent a mitred abbot as an envoy28 to request it from the brotherhood29.
The monks, unwilling30 to displease31 the empress, replied that they did not dare to remove it themselves, but that they would open the tomb, and the envoy might take it. They opened the tomb accordingly, and the envoy looked on t............